ic Freedom City's Got Talent [IC]

[BlazingCoconut]

January 3rd, 2018

Dorm Room, Claremont

 

Alexa sat in her room scanning through her YouTube channel at some of the comments.  Her fingers did not grace the keyboard even as the screen scrolled and flicked from topic to topic.  When she had been in Shanghai, her presence on her channel had been constant as her schoolwork had barely occupied a fraction of her time.  Yet, with the move and transition to Claremont and her work to assimilate into American society she had barely put out anything in the past couple of months.  While the comments on her work were positive, there was an undercurrent of restlessness from the posters wondering if she had dropped the channel or not.

 

"Zhu, you need to post more!"

"Where have you gone?  We miss your stuff!"

 

Of course there were some of the more rude and crude posts, but she had learned long ago to filter them out.  The inevitable crude propositions and inarticulate rage that the internet seemed rife with were taken care of with a reasonably good set of filters.  Still, she missed producing videos and now that she was feeling a little more settled in, the urge to create had crept back up on her.  The question always was what to make this time?  She was known for her special effects and short films with elaborate sets.  Ideas were always the hardest part, but once she had one, then she could start laying the groundwork for it.

 

Jumping off her own channel, she started to scan the news, looking both at current and past events.  Thankfully, Freedom City had more than enough colorful material for her to look through and she was soon awash in photos of epic struggles and colorful heroes.  As she was scanning she paused on a story about an Olympian hero, Scion.  Reading through it she grinned as an idea for a short came to mind.  She could practically picture the set with sweeping Greek architecture and who wouldn't want to do immortal special effects.  Right!  Idea found, now to find a leading lady.  She didn't think that anyone would really want to see a comically underage Chinese girl play the part, so starring in it herself was out of the question.  She didn't have the money to hire a professional, but probably could get some funds for an amateur.  Especially someone who might be looking for some supplementary income.

 

Grinning, she started a scan across social media outlets searching for someone who would have the right looks.  Her ability to work the computer without having to operate it manually was a godsend as images and threads blazed by across the screen.  Suddenly one paused and she gave it a good look.  The woman, Moira Morley, had a face that would really suit the Greek Goddess part... well with a little post processing at least.  She wasn't a professional and worked at a bar in the West End.  That was about as perfect as it was going to get.  Hopefully she would want the money and perhaps some exposure!

 

To: Moira.Morley@morleyspub.com

From: Zhu.Xieng@gmail.com

Subject: Hi!  Would you like to star in a movie?

 

Hello,

 

I know this is really kind of random, but I produce YouTube short movies and have been looking for someone to feature in my latest one.  You have a perfect look for what I want to do and was wondering if you might be willing to spend a couple of afternoons to star in my film.  I'm a student at Claremont but have some money to pay you as well as a successful channel.  While the money wouldn't be great, if you are at all interested in acting, the exposure would be pretty good.  I would love to meet with you and show you my work and talk over the possibility of you working with me.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alexa Xieng

Edited January 6, 2018 by BlazingCoconut

[Moira Morley]

Moira loved social media. She took to it like a fish out of water. Instagram - one public, one private - and Twitter - only one public! - were her her life blood ever since she got back from Olympus. Still, she stayed away from posting Youtube videos. It looked like more busy work than it was worth. But she had an account just in case. She actually started it a couple of months ago. Nothing was on it.

 

And now she got her, like, three thousandth 'you wanna shoot something' email. Though somehow this one hadn't hit the spam folder. Impressive. She opened it just for fun, wondering what sleazy offering waited for her. Much to her surprise, it wasn't! The offer was short and sweet. Nothing suspicious. Claremont student. Alexa. Couple of afternoons. Acting cred. She smiled at the last one. Before she left, she had some aspirations to be an actress. Landed her on a few casting calls. But she was too flighty back then. Living day to day. But now? Well, that sounded interesting.

 

Combing through Alexa's channel, Moira found some well done videos. Professional. Almost like it wasn't done by a high schooler. Then again, high schoolers were a lot more advanced then when she went to school almost 10 years ago. She poked around for an hour or two more, watching videos. Alexa's, then a few more... and then some others... And then sh remembered she hadn't actually responded to the email!

 

To: Zhu.Xieng@gmail.com

From: Moira.Morley@morleyspub.com

Subject: Re: Hi, would you like to star in a movie?

 

Alexa,

 

You wouldn't know how many offers I get like this a day. Though they're not honest. But you? You seem like a good one! I'll accept your offer on one condition. You help me get started on my own channel. Deal?

 

Yours,

 

Moira

[BlazingCoconut]

It had been a few hours and Zhu was walking across campus, heading to her next class.  It was cool outside, and there had been a dusting of snow that promised more to come in the often tumultuous Eastern seaboard.  Unlike many of the students who walked across campus with their eyes locked on their phones Zhu looked around, fascinated with the campus which had been transformed into a winter wonderland.  Yet, she did share one thing in common with them, she was browsing her email and scanning the comments on her YouTube channel.  For her though, no manual input was required, she could access it with her power as the messages danced through her mind's eye.

 

As Moira's message popped up she stopped and the person behind her, intent on his phone ran smack into the back of her, causing both of them to stumble in a pile of snow, arms and legs.  As he was profusely apologizing, they got up with an embarrassed grin or two and set back off to their classes.  Dusting the snow off her clothes she was already replying, thankful for the millionth time that she didn't have to have the phone out to compose anything.  It also really helped with typos too!

 

To: Moira.Morley@morleyspub.com

From: Zhu.Xieng@gmail.com

Subject: Re: Hi!  Would you like to star in a movie?

 

Moira,

 

Thank you so much for responding to me!  I am always so grateful when people want to help me out.  Yes, I would be more than willing to help you with your channel.  I already have some concept material generated that I would love to show you.  Would it be possible to meet so I can show you and talk it over?

 

I have free time most afternoons and evenings, if that helps for scheduling.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alexa Xieng

[Moira Morley]

Moira looked at her own channel and recorded a few short videos on her phone. It didn't look professional. She was used to personal stuff like Snapchat and Instagram. She sat in a chair and put her phone on a stand. "Record," she said kicking back in a chair. "Hello," she said soft and inviting, while sitting up, "I'm Moira. Welcome to my channel. I'm going to... what am I going to do? Things. Lot of interesting things." She grunted unhappily and picked up the phone. "Delete," she said as she threw away the offending video. Some people are actors and some people are directors, she thought. Luckily, Alexa had responded.

 

To: Zhu.Xieng@gmail.com

From: Moira.Morley@morleyspub.com

Subject: Re: Hi! Would you like to star in a movie?

 

Meeting would be fine. Some time during the weekend? You doing school and all, I wouldn't want to eat into your school work. Hit me back with a text.

 

Phone (609) KL5-6699

Facebook divineheart88

Twitter moiramorley88

[BlazingCoconut]

After several messages and texts, they had a meeting set up on Saturday at a local Coffee joint called the HugAMug Cafe.  It was a cute place, with quaint decor and most importantly, really good inexpensive breakfast.  It was a great place to study and enjoy a cup of coffee as well as some of their amazing deserts.  They had agreed to meet at 2:00pm on Sunday, which was fine with Zhu as she was already weeks ahead with her homework and while she still put in several hours a day, much of that time was devoted to working on her own projects and getting further ahead of the curriculum.

 

As she poked her head into the room, she didn't see Moira, although it was possible that her online photos didn't quite look like her.  Unconsciously, she checked her outfit and realized that she could not have looked more stereotypical as an Asian student if she had tried.  White blouse, ruffled skirt, long socks, she nearly groaned when she realized what she had done.  It wouldn't really add to her credibility as a up and coming director or effects artist.  Still, what was done was done. 

 

Stepping up to the Hostess, she asked, "could I get a table for two please?"

 

The girl, someone that Zhu thought worked at Claremont, nodded her head and beckoned her to follow, leading Zhu to a small table, "will this do?"

 

"Yes, thank you.  I'll be expecting one more..."

 

"No problem, I'll bring them over when they show up," the other girl replied.

 

Smiling, she sat down and ordered coffee, waiting with more than a certain amount of excitement for Moira to show up.

[Moira Morley]

Moira decided to go simple today. Denim jeans, a black tshirt with a cartoonish red imp holding a pitchfork with a halo on it, and a light brown jacket. She really didn't need the jacket, her Olympian blood made the mortal temperatures bearable, but some people were disconcerted when she wore summer clothing during winter. And she didn't want to freak anyone out.

 

HugAMug was new to Moira. Not that she hadn't heard of the business. She just never got the time or it just slipped her mind. That and Gretchen made some of the best mixed coffees. Still, Moira would oblige Alexa, as the book store wouldn't be the most opportune meeting area.

 

Walking in, she spotted Alexa easily. She waved over the busy crowd. A few people looked at her like she was waving at them. But she made her way to her 2PM meeting. "Good afternoon," she said sitting at the table Alexa was at. She reached out a hand, it was warm to the touch unlike the weather outside. "Nice to meet you."

[BlazingCoconut]

Zhu saw her just as she was approaching, and started to stand up.  However, as what seemed to be normal for her as of late, she bumped into the table and nearly spilled coffee everywhere.  Catching the table, she steadied it, and herself with an embarrassed grin, "sorry, I mean hello!  Thank you for coming!  It is really nice to meet you as well."

 

Sitting back down as Moira seated herself, she grinned, "I really do mean it.  I'm very excited by this project and I have some wonderful ideas if you wanted to see them."

 

Before Moira could even object, she slid a tablet across the table.  On the screen there was a very elaborate set design, roman columns, ivy, titans, everything to make a AAA Olympus setting.  She tapped play, and the tablet panned through the set and some of the effects.  "This is what I want to work with, but I need someone who looks like Scion... I mean, we'll have to do some post processing, but you're perfect for the role.  I've tried to reach out to her, just to make sure she doesn't object, but that's not quite so easy."

[Moira Morley]

Moira nodded about the looking like Scion part. Some people couldn't put two and two together. Not that she held it against them. "Easier than you'd think," she smirked, "I've met her a few times myself. She's very much a big talker. But she can back it up, I guess." She laughed, "when not doing all that super cool stuff, she's very... let's just say, she's pretty intense. Being a divinity and all." Moira was laughing her butt off inside her head. Half-truths, basically. Scion was herself turned up to eleven, but Moira wasn't really much below that setting herself.

 

Looking at the designs, she smiled. This was very good. It was the pop cultural vision of the Olympian realms. She couldn't hold it against the girl that had never been there. Maybe one day she'd show her. But now? Moira nodded, "I like it. It looks better than some of the grimy flicks from a few years back." That was almost a decade ago. Alexa was most likely in single digits when it came out! Moira would watch it with Gretchen to nitpick it. And boy did Gretchen love nitpicking. "How does this work? Green screen? Practical effects?"

[BlazingCoconut]

SFX
Zhu gave Moira a sly smile, "well... it's a bit of a trade secret."

 

Then she paused and shrugged, "I mean, I can show you, but you have to promise not to disclose it.  I really want to do this professionally and I can't let all my secrets out just yet!"

 

She finished her hot Chocolate, obviously excitied by the prospect of telling someone about how she did her work.  In fact, she was practially bubbling over with her desire to show the elegant woman in front of her how they would go about making all of the scenes become reality.

 

Giving her a shy look, she finally said, "would you like to come over to campus and I'll show you?  It's really cool!"

[Moira Morley]

Moira sensed the pride in Alexa's craft, it was genuine. And, after looking at all those videos she did, her talent was as well. "My lips are sealed," she said drawing a finger across her lips and and throwing away the key. She really was excited about the prospect of videos for her own channel. Maybe she and Alexa could be partners or something like that.

 

Moira had never been there, but she knew it was by invite only.A few friends of friends went there. She never thought about it. "Well, I guess I could go back to school for a few days," she said jokingly. The coffees she ordered came just in time as she was about to get up. To be fair, she thought she was going to be here longer. She explained to the waitress - what do they call servers in a coffee shop? - that she would take a carry out. She looked to Alexa, "you need transport back to your place?"

[BlazingCoconut]

SFX

Alexa looked at the coffee embarrassed, she had gotten more than a little ahead of herself.  But she really did get exited when she talked about her videos and with how busy things had started to become at school, she missed the time she had been able to spend on it in China.  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to sit back down, "we can wait here while you finish.  Really, nothing is going to go anywhere while you finish your coffee.  I get... excited.  Probably far too often and I love showing off.  Well, showing off my props and things like that.  I'm a little more shy when it comes to showing off myself.  Wait, I mean, like being in the spotlight.  I'm not an exhibitionist or anything!"

 

Covering her face with her hands, she groaned, when she got flustered her mouth often got the better of her.  Looking up at Moira, she shook her head and gave her a silly grin.  "Why don't we talk about you for a bit.  I'll try not to put my foot in my mouth then... how long have you been acting?"