Rogue and JPC -- Quality Television Time

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

In which Rogue and JPC watch TV and end up discussing very adult things..like lube and reality shows.


"Hurry up," Rogue called out to JPC. "The show is going to start, an' if Ah gotta miss one second of a designer treehouse, it's your ass on the line." To be honest, she didn't really care much for this stupid show, but she didn't want to be alone in her room. Instead, she went to the common room, and JPC had already commandeered the TV. It was with a lot of back and forth that they finally agreed on a home renovation show, and because Rogue refused to stay quiet at the television, Treehouse Masters it was.

So with her bottle of water at her side (because after Vegas and then Adrienne's party, she really really needed to slow down on her drinking), she lounged on the couch, waiting for it to start.

"How did I allow you to talk me into this ridiculous show?" Jean-Phillipe asked rhetorically as he settled into a chair with snacks and drinks. None of which he was sharing with Rogue, because she didn't appreciate the finer points of French dramas. But at least making cutting observations about the reality television would be a bit entertaining.

"Because there's nothing else on, and while Ah love me French shows as much as the next person, Ah wanna point and judge everyone on the tv for makin' poor choices." She looked over at him with a pout and puppy dog eyes. "Are ya really gonna tell me that ya ain't up for pokin' fun at these people? Hillbilly Moonshiners are on too..."

"Feeling a need for a taste of home?" Jean-Phillipe asked a bit archly. "Ridiculous treehouses sounds just fine to me." He put a hand to his forehead. "Besides, I feel a bit of my cousin's power coming on - there will be some manner of unexpected problem in the construction that will cause the builders to come in just slightly over budget in order to manufacture some tension in the episode. One of the owners will make pronouncements about colors popping and the like, because they think it makes them sound artistic. And we will end on some sunset view designed to make us all feel good."

Rogue laughed. "Oh mah gawd, it's like you've seen this episode before!" The theme music came on, which prompted another thought. "Think they carry around ghetto blasters and play background music, or are these people just amazing actors and know when to make things intense?". She grabbed a pillow and cuddled up to it as she watched the intro. "Or is it jus' editin'? Ah think if Ah was on one of these shows, Ah'd end up comin' off as the bitch. Edited to be like the most prissiest person evah."

"It is all editing, I am sure." Jean-Phillipe could be such a cynic at times. "Careful editing can portray the same person in a variety of different lights. Something about even the devil being able to quote Scripture, that sort of thing." He flipped a hand negligently. "I think what you were edited to portray would depend on the producers and what they thought would create the best ratings."

"Right," she said, with a nod. "And what's more fun than a bitchy southern belle?" Rogue flashed a tooth smile. "Ah'd be a ratings blutz, Ah tell ya. What do you think you'd be?"

"The sassy, fabulous gay one, of course." As if they could portray Jean-Phillipe in any other light. It just would be impossible. "And the internet would love me forever, of course, and go on about whatever latest bon mot I had dropped in the episode."

Rogue gave a little snort. "An' what makes you so sure ya got star quality in ya? If you're so amaaaazin', why don't ya got a vine or youtube account?"

"Because I would be very vocal about mutant rights, and that is not something that is liable to have many people liking me just now." That was the other truth of Jean-Phillipe: he refused to apologize for who and what he was, and damn the world if they disagreed.

"Point." There was no way she could argue that. "Too bad you couldn't do it in a sneaky kinda way.Like do make up tutorials that kinda show jow to hide mutations. Or how to dress t o cover up a tail.". On the tv, the client looked upset. Only a few minutes and already they were losing money.

"See what I mean?" Jean-Phillipe flipped his hand toward the screen. Now the designer was giving them a choice between two equally unpalatable decisions. "Manufactured drama." He shrugged. "I am of the opinion that you should not hide who you are. Though I suppose the world being what it is, that is not always realistic."

"No, it's not," she responded sadly. "But let's be real -- not many things are honest an' open these days. It's all drama and ratings and getting votes or.opinions.". She waved an idle hand in the air. "Ah mean, even those silly amish shows are so far from real an' those are supposed to be isolated people.". A pause. "Although, that being said, Ah think ah could be amish. Ah'm not sure why."

Jean-Phillipe gave Rogue his best dubious look. "You would look terrible in one of those bonnets," he pronounced after a moment. "Besides, you would miss technology and things like that too much, I would think."

"How could Ah miss it if it wasn't around?". She sat up on the couch. "It'd be a new normal, right? Here ya go,Rogue. Go milks cows, and make biscuits. Don't forget to weed the garden," she said in a sing song voice. "Sounds mighty like being Southern in the 1800s, really. Jus' less slavery."

"It sounds exhausting." Jean-Phillipe liked his creature comforts too much to be rustic and rural. An unending supply of hot water for his bath, an industrial sized refrigerator full of various meals to keep him from wasting away... "And overly religious, in the case of the Amish."

"You can't tell me you don't want to jus' disappear sometimes, go somewhere where things jus' make sense?" Rogue stopped and thought about what she had just said . "Wait, did Ah jus' basically advocate a cult? Ah don't know if Ah'd be down for that...and Ah'd be pretty useless since most of those involve crazy sex orgies."

"Well, they would have to be gay sex orgies to interest me," Jean-Phillipe observed. "And I would have to be able to bring Angelo along." He shrugged. "I suppose it would depend on the cult and what it believed."

"Ah believe coercing your loved ones to join is part o' regular cult behaviour," she pointed out, ‎drinking her water. She tuned into the show a little, still finding it as ridiculous as it was before. "And a gay sex orgy sounds slippery. Lots of lube..

"I think all sex is at least a bit slippery, no matter what Hollywood might have you believe."