You are all in a small comfortable lounge. Each one of you has taken a different path to be here at this place, for this chance for fame and fortune. For now at least you wait for the director. Then the door opens and Reava Learbarg, your director in this project bursts out "Great, great a romantic horror film, why does she think those two would ever mesh well? I mean..."
Assignment Phase
The tigress looks around at each of you and sighs "Well you lot will have to do, you now know that we're doing a romantic horror film" She spits out the last three words. "We'll start with debut scenes" The director points towards the unicorn and waves at the succubus Maya. "You two do something heroic, action heroic" Reava molds together her hands while looking at Kipiru "Something masculine with a minimum of sparkle, we're not going for a musical anytime soon! Bunches and Bunches of action, we need a hero and we're holding out for one. Make yourself a beacon of light and hope or some other cheesy description but I want you to state out to the audience "YOU ARE THE HERO" in big letters!"
Reava focuses more on Maya "If you're going to be a sidekick you've better look the part, what kind of sidekick will you be then? Intelligent, Bumbling, Comedic, Romantic? Better stay consistent you don't want the audience to think that all those are were played by different people do ya?"
She then turns towards Kumiko "And you! You want to be a villain eh? Well then show here how Evil you can be! I don't want just a lady of evil or even a queen. I need a full blooded empress!"
The director spins and looks at Wilton Jodan "Well well, Mr. Jodan is it? I've actually seen you work before, very nice but since you've mentioned that you've worked in virtually every male part from the script so far I'm sorry to say I'm going to put you through the wringer. I've very few extra actors allotted and so for now you're going to be stuck with more small parts when we need it. However" she smirked "it means more camera focus...
Now for you Kumiko, you can't be showing your face entirely at this point in time. We can't be having the villain's identity being known so soon eh. So if you have to show your face do only flashes of it at a time."
"But I digress; now you two have to work something out that depicts the villain's utter disregard and of the dignity of creature and being life, something demeaning and utterly callous. No off-screen "I'm going to burn down your village!" or "What do I care if you peasants have no food" We need a dark and dirty villain that the audience instantly knows is E-V-I-L to the core with no excuse at all! Nothing too gory, I won't be having anything like that Drill series fiasco. Bloodbaths just get old and I won't have anything of the sort attached to ME!"
Reava jams her hands to her hips "Now that's all I have to tell you for now, any questions I'll be in my chair. Need make-up or costumes find Candy. Props and Sets are Cain's job. Talk to the Composer if you want music or any other sound effects. When you're ready let Bill the cameraman know." She stalks off "Now I'll be drinking coffee if you need me!"
Request Phase
Get to it, ask for stuff you need, talk to the crew, talk to each other, or do nothing (if you want to be yelled at by Reava...)
{Note: Everyone is guaranteed one free turn for each phase and may take additional actions in each phase until the next. The wait time is one week each but don't hold everyone up, there's no money in the budget to push back production and the show must go on...}
Play ALL THE ROLES!
Wil took a moment to polish the lenses of his glasses after the demoness swept through. They didn't actually need it, and as a point of fact, he didn't actually need them, but they were one more thing he could hide behind. Besides, they were distinctive, gave him an air of intellectualism, and gave him an excuse to take a moment occasionally, as he did now to process everything she had said. Once he had it all lined up in his head, however, his heart made for the floor.
He had auditioned for every role he thought he could pull off, but had done so because he was unsure what part he would be right for, he never anticipated being cast in more than one! Surely, his presence in several roles would be distracting for the audience, taking them out of the story, would it not? There was, however, only one remedy he could think of. He set off to find this 'Candy' she had mentioned. If makeup and wardrobe could disguise him, this could go well after all. If so, he had a feeling they would be spending a lot of time together.
Kipiru stood up with a glare of determination in his eyes- YOU ARE THE HERO!- she said. Damn right he was! Well he was going to be the best god damn hero they had seen. But a hero was nothing without props, so Kipiru set of to find the guy in charge of that. He stormed in the make up tent and declared out loud:
- I need a big sword!
Candy takes a brief look at him and replies:
- Me too hun, but the last few guys were all a disappointment.
Kipiru shrinks a bit after that reply and instead just sits down in front of the mirror.
- Well... at least make my mane shiny! It needs to flow in the wind... artificial air current, when I take my hero stance!
As the make up crew got under way with him his thoughts returned to the sword- No, it needs to be even bigger!.
Kumiko stared blankly as Reava chattered on about face hiding and burning villages. Her heart sank (If she even had one) when Reava mentioned no gore. Now she was walking toward Candy's workshop area. "Hey, Candy. Mind if I borrow some hair gel?" Candy handed her the hair gel and Kumiko followed by squirting it all over her bangs. Her entire face was now hidden and was starting to freak Candy out. Before she caused a problem, Kumiko quickly headed towards Cain.
"Nice outfit," scoffed Kumiko at Cain. Cain simply nodded, turned around, and then did a double-take at Kumiko's hair. "Alright, down to business as usual. I need some of those stick on scars, a dark blood-filled background, a delicate scythe yet with an intricate design and..." Kumiko paused, "some of that fake blood on the table there." Cain hurried about, collecting the things she needed and then dropped them into Kumiko's arms. Kumiko stuck on the stick-on scar right above her nose. Snatching the scythe she poured the fake blood onto the snath and chine.
"Last stop, The Composer" sighed Kumiko out loud as she ran to The Composer. Wasting no time, she quickly explained she needed creepy music that still had a nice beat. Finally, finally, she was done. "This is going to turn out pretty well," smirked Kumiko as she strutted off toward Bill the Cameraman.
Maya had sat quietly while Reava ranted and raved, enjoying the taste of the director's frustration and annoyance. She nodded when the director told her she needed to decide on a theme for her role.
When Kipiru left, she followed him, figuring that if she was going to be sidekick to his hero, she needed some idea of what the hero was like.
Coming up behind him as he sat down, she caught his thought, and murmured into his ear, "Size isn't everything, you know."
Kipiru heard Maya's whisper, but didn't turn around. That made him think "Smart girl, she's right! It needs to be flashy too!",now completely replacing any memory of the instructions given to him by Reava. He patiently waited untill his mane was done at which point he stormed out to look for the prop specialist. Cain was just sending Kumiko off with her scythe as Kipiru stormed him:
-I want a large shiny sword to carry on my back and a massive armor to match my bulk. No helmets, this face needs spotlight.
Cain smirked and got to fulfilling the star actor's requests. A few minutes later Kipiru crieked along in his armor, his sword jangling at every step against his backplate. "Now I can face any script they through at me" thought Kipiru as he took out his sword and swung it around, nearly decapitating some stage microphone booms. The fog of selfcenteredness lifted with protest for a second just enough for a thought to slip by "Wait, could Maya have meant more with that great advise?"
Maya took a seat next to Kipiru, and chatted with Candy, while he remained largely oblivious, meditating on his sword. "What kind of sidekick do you think I should be? Plucky? Or damsel in distress, always getting captured by the bad guys? Oh, I know! A combination of both – always getting captured and tied up -" Maya's wings morphed into ropes, binding her arms and legs, " - but not letting it defeat her." She stood up, and took a couple of hops forward. "Even tied up, she'll be seeking a way to escape and rejoin the hero."
Candy studied her thoughtfully, mentally designing a costume for Maya. "That could work. You'd probably want to use real ropes, though, just in case our hero decides to cut you free. Get 'em from Cain."
Maya winced. "Ooh, good point. What do you think, Kip-" She suddenly realised that he had taken off without her. "I don't think he heard a word we said," she muttered, shaking her head. "Better catch up to him, I guess."
Still "bound", she headed out, in search of Kipiru and/or the props guy, hopping all the way.
She arrived just as Cain finished equipping Kipiru, managed to avoid having her headwings sliced off by his practice swings - "Hey, careful!" - and then after consideration, morphed them away.
To Cain, she announced, "I need some ropes to be tied up with."
Kipiru jangled and creaked in his armor as he went on looking for the composer. He came to the conclusion that he needed an appropriate theme music for his heroic shots. as he delved deeper into the darker parts of the set, he started to wonder if he didn't take a wrong turn or something. just when he turned around to go back he stumbled upon...someone. By the flute in his hand Kipiru's keen intellectual prowess deduced that that must be the composer he was looking for.
-Ah, there you are noisy fellow. I, as you no doubt know, am the Hero of this production and as such I need a grand theme to make my heroicne... heroical... hero shine! Let's see what you've got.
The assumed musician stood there silent for a few moments and then took out a violin from a nearby case. After a bit of fiddling sound came pouring out from the instrument. Kipiru couldn't tell if that was heroic or not, but he suddenly felt the urge to dance with someone. Strangely a familiar face came up with that feeling, it carried with it the idea of wisdom and good advises.
Backtracking!
Meanwhile Kumiko was quickly walking backwards from Bill the Cameraman. "Idiot, idiot, idiot," mumbled Kumiko under her breath. "For the love of potatoes, how could I have forgotten to talk to the other actors!?" yelled Kumiko inside of her head. To her, acting was communicating, even if it was all fake. She had to make the viewers feel it was actually happening. She shivered when she remembered the movies she used to watch, always wondering if it actually happened even when she knew it didn't. "So, first stop, Wilton!" declared Kumiko as she turned around and started running. She knew the target, so now all she had to do was find him. Snickering, Kumiko thought of all the ways she could show her grotesque side using Wilton. Kumiko, then became very excited and started speeding towards all the stations. Fame, here I come!
Unfortunately, Kimiko was met halfway by an interruption.
Maya had an armful of ropes and other items, provided by Cain, and the combination of trying to sort them all out, combined with the natural Cubi tendency to be easily distracted, meant that she was not looking where she was going...
The two collided, and fell down in a tangle of limbs, ropes, straps, and other items whose purpose was not readily identifiable.
I don't get paid enough for this!
"Wait, am I even being paid for this?" asked Kumiko in her head as she was currently tangled in ropes. This was going to take a while...a LONG while...
Maya was having some trouble extricating herself from the mess of ropes and other binding-type items. Some of them were not being very cooperative.
"Ah fhing we are geffing paif for vhif," she mumbled, around a strap that had wrapped itself around her mouth. "I'f fretty sure vaff's what if faid on the condrag I fined for vhif fing."
She worked her mouth free, and essayed a smile at the other girl. "Sorry about this. I expected my character to be tied up by the villain, not with the villain."
Kipiru, still waltzing around, his mind ringing with the beautiful tune he had just heard, almost tripped over the bundle of Maya and Kumiko.
- Ah- exclaimed Kipiru- dance partners!- and with him being twice the size of the tied up girls, he picked them up and twirled them around as gently as one wearing half a car worth of armor could.
-Nothing like sharing a dance with a beautiful lady...ies- his mind slowly returning to automatic under the influence of the tune. Now that was heroic!
( Oh snap, I'm really late, sorry about that)
Kipiru strutted in and began to start dancing with Kumiko and Maya. "Oh heck, I give up!" yelled Kumiko and let Kipiru dance whatever he wanted to dance to.
Maya's efforts to work herself loose were not helped when Kipriu almost tripped over the duo. Good, she thought, maybe he can help us out here...
She was completely unprepared for him to pick up both of them and begin "dancing" with them, with the two still bound helplessly together.
Her ears went back at the volume of Kumiko's yell, especially given her proximity. She would have made a sarcastic comment along the lines of "Could you shout a bit louder, I can still hear on that side?", except that the motions of the "dance" had resulted in the strap wedging itself over her muzzle again, only more tightly. This got very much in the way of either communicating her opinion of people yelling in her ears, or asking Kipiru for help in getting free.
Reava from her director's chair began to shout into her megaphone. "Come on, come on, we're burning daylight!" she hollered. The demonness felt the beginnings of an ulcer in her gut. What she wouldn't give for some antacids right now.
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Cain wondered at the unicorn that walked away with that giant sword that he had conjured up with his illusion magic. The blade was for all purposes like a regular sword except it would not cut flesh for safety purposes. The incubus did wonder if the sword's structure was sound. The unicorn named Kipiru wanted a huge sword and a huge sword he got, shiny and glittering as well. It was a sword worthy enough to be "seen" used by a hero. Then again that demon cat also wanted a delicate scythe with an intricate design, and that doesn't do well for a weapon's integrity. So far the only sensible request came from the succubus, ropes and that was simple enough to supply, no gimmicks were in them at all.
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The Composer gave himself a little chuckle at the antics of the actors. Already so early in the production there were things to keep him amused. The villain and the hero asked what were relatively easy soundtracks to produce. Not some of his best work to his own ears, but it apparently struck wonder to the two. He looked forward to the coming weeks.
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"Candy" sighed a bit at the uncomplex makeup she was asked to provide. However at least she still had a job, and this would give her some credentials for the future. She kept her supplies ready. She wouldn't know if somebody would need an emergency powdering or tear drops.
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[Something has happened]
In the shadows of the production, somebody was approaching, he had tracked down the target. Not an easy task with all the false leads he had to chase. But he was sure the target was here, now all he had to do was wait for an opportunity.
The vulpine being approached the actor and incapacitated actresses with the improbable mix of annoyance and stark terror. On the one hand, he had worked on rigging long enough to know his way around ropes, and from the looks of it, they weren't going to untangle themselves. That oaf of a unicorn wasn't helping, either. Honestly, the unprofessionalism on the set these days. However, on the other hand, those two weren't going to untangle themselves, and that meant that Wilton was going to have to lay hands on the two of them, which, judging by their agitation, could potentially become hazardous to his health.
"Okay, um, sir, uh, ladies, please, I, um, I can get you untangled, but I, uh, I'll need you to stand still for a minute." he said haltingly. There was a silent "Please don't kill me..." somewhere in there, but that was of no consequence.
Finally, someone with a brain! was Maya's reaction to the offer. She tasted the mix of annoyance and terror coming off the fox, and realised (after a moment) what the cause of the latter was. Oh, I get it. The poor guy's afraid that we'll eat him for touching us...
She caught Wilton's eye, and (being still deprived of coherent speech) nodded vigorously to convey that she was accepting his offer. "Mm-hm!"
She then turned her attention to her co-captive, attempting to drain off some of the Demon girl's agitation and calm her down a bit. The last thing she wanted was for the only person who seemed to have any idea of what he was doing (and who could get them free) to get eaten for his trouble...
Tired of flinging about, Kumiko finally came to a stop and just laid there. For a second, she almost looked dead, until of course, she sneezed. The floor was so dusty! "If I ever get untangled I'll go find the janitor and knock his senses in..." grumbled Kumiko. Then he arrived, the hero! Well, not really, more of the sidekick...she supposed. She then remembered she had to talk to Wilton also, so..."Might as will kill a bird with a stone...wait...is that how it went?" she mumbled as she was untangled from the heap.
Mal burst through the studio doors into the warehouse which had been split into many sections, the first twenty minutes he had spent looking for the room with everyone in it, passing soundstages and discarded scenery, the coffee and scones he had collected to impress everyone had gotten cold and tough in that time. "I'm not off to a good start, I could swear I've seen that tentacle monster costume the first time in", only the sound of someone barking orders over a megaphone followed by music, clanking armor, and great crash directed him to the tangle of people. Things were already looking dangerous, four or possibly more people were wrapped up in ropes and the oaf with the horn was not providing much help. "Hey everyone is this the set for Balorie's movie?" As of now he was concentrating on his wings, he needed the hands for all the coffee and in a way he looked like a tree, all green with limbs holding the coffee out of flail range as he approched everyone. "Quite the snafu." He offered his help with one of his weaker remaining arms and held rope while the others tried to extract themselves. Coffee might be cold but help was always served warm. The smile was filled with teeth made less menacing by more concentration. With some effort and time the team was extracted without the loss of any rope. The first to be untangled was undoubtedly the villianess, he tried not to stare, she looked amazing, the crew must already be shooting if they were in costume already. Suddenly he worried all the positions were already filled.
"Mrrfff - ah, thank you," said Maya, as her muzzle was freed from its bindings. She regarded the helpful newcomer with an appraising look - he appeared to be some kind of Mythos. "I don't know what roles are taken, other than the obvious ones here."
A wing-tentacle came free of the tangle, and she used it to point to the other cast members. "The joker there in the tin suit is the Big Damn Hero, I'm the Plucky Sidekick slash Damsel in Distress, and the other one here is the Evil Villainess. Anything else, you'll have to talk to the lady with the megaphone. Ooh, is that coffee?"
The wing-tentacle promptly relieved Mal of one of the coffees, and brought it to Maya's lips. She took a sip, and grimaced. "Cold. Oh, well, easily fixed." She muttered a few words under her breath, and a moment later, steam rose from the cup. She took another sip, and smiled. "Mm, good."
"Thanks, but I'm a tea drinker myself, coffee tends to be a bit too harsh on my stomach." Wilton says, smiling warmly. "Besides, if I get much more caffeine in me than I've already got, there's a very good likelihood I'll not be able to sleep for the next month. Wilton Jodan, I'm... well, I seem to have been drafted into playing every single bit part they couldn't fill otherwise. That reminds me, I'm definitely going to have to talk to makeup and costume about getting me done up enough it won't be too obvious that every fifth background character is the same guy."
Mal made a note to self, Wilton = Tea. "I'm sure I could take some of those roles off of your hands, especially the female bits." His shapechanging wasn't great but he could make dummies out of his various limbs, a few minutes later in place of wings and arms he had the upper torso of a woman, non-detailed. "See? We get enough of them to wear dresses and they can suffice." Each maiden held coffee, except for the one with the bag of scones. They each were dolls, and had little emotions, nor amazing faces, but he could focus and improve them with a little time. Finally he reverted into a green and shaggy cat being, setting the coffee on a nearby table placed there by some faceless grip. "Do we have a script?"
"If we have, I haven't seen it yet," was the feline Cubi's response. "As far as I know, we're still at the 'defining character roles and organising props' stage of things."
She smiled at Mal, and introduced herself. "Maya Damsen. As I said, I'm the Plucky Sidekick," the capitals could be distinctly heard, "who gets tied up a lot. Hence all the ropes here. Speaking of which, are you any good at tying and untying knots?"
Mal chuckled a little looked at the mess of people on the floor, "Quite good! The Plucky sidekick huh? I could be a trusty steed! If we get the right angles an shots I could be everyone's trusty steed." He laughed out loud and bounced an eyebrow at Maya, he had always heard how Cubi were so good looking, now seeing one in person the idea of being ridden, originally detestable and demeaning, had a sudden bright and shiny lining. "Well I think we might have enough base components to deal with, the shapeshifting abilities and props we have go great with the scenery, though I hope she still has some nice outside shots planned. You know those super wide shots as the hero rides off in the sun set?"
He smiled and pretended to swoon, "I always did love a story with a happy, if twisted ending. So what do you think? Love story? Adventure story? Horror? The demoness looks ready to slaughter a few Wiltons in the most gruesome of ways." He made little rar hands, ending each with a long claw as he made little gurgling screams that sounded like Wilton. "Oh what if the Demoness and the Unicorn fall in love after bitter battle? Or the Plucky Sidekick falls in love with the Hero as well and the fight is really between Maya and ... and ... what's your name, madam?"
Kumiko blinks, not really knowing what was going on. "I don't care what genre as long as I get to kill..." she grins evilly.
"Well, our director said something about 'romantic horror' in the briefing," Maya said. "We still haven't seen any sign of a script yet - do they expect us to make it all up as we go along? I did do a bit of improv at SAIA, so I suppose I could manage that. How about the rest of you?"
"Just don't get too into the role, last film I was in they couldn't film the protagonist waist-down for a month after he got a little overenthusiastic and broke his leg. Given how short on cast we are as is, putting a cast member in a cast is liable to scuttle the whole operation," Wilton quipped with a nervous laugh. Inwardly, he couldn't help but cringe at Kumiko's pronouncement, but he put it down to a typically demonic sense of humor.
"I can do improv, it was one of my favorite exercises when I studied acting actually. Must say I'm glad I won't be the only extra though, I wasn't looking forward to a half dozen costume changes a day, and goodness knows what the dyeing is going to do to my pelt to begin with."
Acting Phase
"Alright enough getting tied up!" Reava screamed into her microphone. "Let's get these first scenes started. We're doing the introductory scenes first." The tigeress then turned towards Bill "And make sure that lens cap is off or someone's health insurance premium is going to go up.
Various crewman have set up scenery and backgrounds. There are all kinds of backdrops, and if you look closely there are some sets you recognize faintly from previous films.
Kumiko winced as Reava roared into her poor microphone. "So...I'm guessing there's no script eh? ...Well then, things will be MUCH more interesting this way..." grinned Kumiko with evil intentions. She then stared at the sets. "Uh, I'm also guessing we will be reusing a lot of items from other movies..." Kumiko sighed and then got ready.
Maya looked around at the sets, prompted by Kumiko's remark. "Hey, you're right. I recognise that one -" she pointed "- from Wings of Justice 5. I guess we really are on a shoestring budget here."
She ensured that she had a grip on her ropes (the grip in question being a brown-furred rabbit Being of rather Amazonian proportions, who apparently answered to "Fluffy"), and prepared herself for the first scene.
Mal grinned broadly, no script, oh fun!
"Introductary scenes eh?" He wrung his hands and flexed his wings, settling some of the scenery into the guise of a village, with much help from grips and props. When it was completed he flexed again and turned his wings into a bunch of people puppets. "All right since the demoness is bloodthristy lets do a nice razing of the village scene, lots of people screaming and getting maimed." With the help of wardrobe he was able to crawl along the floor and from the knees up and without looking at their faces too directly (they all had his face on each one) you could see a small gathering of extras. "I think we'll need a few good faces, maybe some good makeup."
He looked up at the demoness, "However you want to approach this I think I can manage terror." the puppets all lifted their hands to their faces in horror, the faces opening into a look of terror, though maybe they were all valium. "You can mangle my wings, they grow back pretty fast, it'll give us very realistic blood gushing shots. No heroes just yet though, so if you guys want to get some extra clothes on so you can add a little variety to the crowd of victims."
Wilton did a double-take, and pointed out a particular prop piece standing in for a structure. "Hey, I helped build that a few years ago! Kind of surprised it hasn't come apart by now, it wasn't meant to stand up to repeated use..." he remarked. As Mal shuffled the scenery, the vulpine ducked behind a nearby wardrobe rack. By the time the set was, well, set, seemingly a different being came back out. There wasn't much to be done about his fur color short of dyeing it, but instead of short black hair, a longish brown wig spilled out over his shoulders. He bore the attire of a village guard, and the chunky black and silver glasses were gone. Most noticeably, however, there was a visible difference in the way he carried himself. Where Wilton tended to a slouched posture naturally, he now strode forward with his shoulders square, chest out, and a confident grin on his face.
"Well, shall we get this show on the road?"
Maya blinked at the transformation. "You're good," she said, a new note of respect in her voice. "Well, if the heroes aren't in this scene..."
She closed her eyes for a moment, and concentrated. Her face shifted, taking on a new cast of features. Her hair became longer, and faded from its midnight black to a nondescript brown. Her clothing underwent a change as well, morphing from the shorts and halter combination to a peasant blouse and a long brown skirt. She opened her eyes, and grinned at the others. "... I might as well fill another 'extra' slot. The more, the better, right?"
She turned to Wilton, and clasped her hands dramatically in front of her. "Sir Guardsman, come quick!" she declaimed breathlessly, in a voice about half an octave higher than it had been a moment ago. "The town is being attacked by an evil demon!"
With a smirk, Kumiko strutted around. Wearing a dark dress with what seemed to be blood stains on it, she stepped on a few heads with satisfaction. Glaring at an annoying puppet that was shrieking, she grinned and grabbed it by the head, crushing the skull with a nice "crack". Throwing down the crushed puppet she continued to walk around and narrowed her eyes, as if she were looking for her next victim.
Maya, in her "town peasant" guise, shrieked and ran around in what she hoped was an appropriate fashion, dodging the "attacks" of the evil demon Kumiko.
Wilton dashed toward Kumiko with a stride that certainly looked dramatic, although encouragement from collapsing set pieces on previous productions had shown him he could run a lot faster if he really wanted to. Rounding the corner of one of the buildings, he scowled determinedly, drew his (blunted) sword and leapt at the feline, letting loose a battlecry of "Eat steel, Demon!"
Hissing in annoyance, Kumiko dodged to the side quickly and spun around, taking out her scythe. "It's no fun if the victims move!" she yelled as she dashed forward and a fiery glint in her eye.