Open ♔ Now then, promise that you'll always heed me

[priforprince]

Who: The staff/cast of Shikyoin Hibiki's movie (This could be YOU!)
When: January 20
Where: The Far Shore, mostly around Apollo's temple
What: Filming has begun on Hibiki's masterwork. Vive la révolution!

[ I. Prihind the Scenes ]

[ If Hibiki has talked to your character about helping out with her movie, a purple envelope with a wax seal arrives at their current residence bright and early on the 20th. Within is a summons, ordering them to report to Apollo's temple for filming. Granted, the front yard has a new pond in it, and in the center there's a small burbling spring that betrays just how...recent...this development is, but the temple itself is fine.

Filming itself will happen all over the Far Shore, wherever there is sufficient room. Hibiki can use her illusions to create a set. This prompt, however, is for handling all the stuff that's real - whether you're helping out with props, trying on your costume, reading over your script, or gaping at the role Hibiki has assigned you, this is the place for everyone to prepare for greatness.

....Hibiki, incidentally, can be found wandering around to supervise. She'll be solicitous to all newcomers, but if she sees you messing up or engaging in Nonsense, you will be yelled at. Crossly. And don't even think about sitting in the giant armchair with DIRECTOR embroidered on the back! ]

[ II. Prights, Camera, Actprion! ]

[ Filming happens here! The general plot of the story is that a samurai has been wrongfully accused of wrongdoing and stripped of his title. Now he works as a vigilante to support his little sister and her sick friend, and every woman he meets falls in love with him. But when he tries to rob the crooked samurai who's taken his place, he discovers that - gasp! - the lover he'd thought was dead is working for the samurai....and doesn't remember him! Can he fight the one he loves, to save the children who are dearest to his heart?!

Things happening in scenes may include:
♔ ninja fights under cover of darkness that turn into lethal dance battles, because musical;
♔ dramatically exaggerated suffering of pure-hearted downtrodden people for Hibiki's character to angst over;
♔ bad people doing Very Bad Things, such as kicking said downtrodden people, or laughing as they take all their money;
♔ scenes in which there are too many animals to move around, because the Far Shore abounds with four-legged actors;
♔ confrontations between the protagonist and the people who care about him, regarding turning thief when Honor is a samurai's lifeblood;
♔ a whole hell of a lot of pining for Hibiki's character on the part of every woman who has ever met him (complete, perhaps, with song-and-dance fantasy numbers as the women daydream);
♔ at least one equivalent of a bar fight, because Hibiki is also into Westerns;
♔ the triumphant recovery of Hibiki's character's lover's memory, and the restoration of Hibiki's character to his former position after the family he'd served learns of his unbroken devotion to those he loves, which betrays his strength of character even as he was nobly willing to sacrifice his honor by thievery;
♔ and everyone breaking into song whenever the hell they feel like it, especially to monologue about the situation they find themselves in, or the feelings they're feeling. If you're a ninja, sing about being stealthy! If you're a noble, sing about your fair and just rule! If you're a woman, sing about Hibiki!

Look, this film has an agenda.

This, at least, is the script. There is nothing stopping everyone from completely ignoring it and doing whatever. Scenes here will frequently but not always feature Hibiki's character; she's available for any and all threads in which she's required, or else characters can mingle amongst themselves. Have a fight scene! Do a comedy routine! This is a movie with something for everyone.

Will you adhere to the script and support the revolution? Or will you see how far you can bend the storyline before the star (who is also the director, and the scriptwriter) breaks character to yell at you? If you annoy her enough, everyone may get to take a break while she stalks off for alone time...... ]

Comments

[reloves]

[ At first Minako is so caught up in preparing for her role and acting and watching others act, and-- well, pretty much everything, considering how enamoured she is with the spotlight in any sort of way - that she doesn't even notice the vultures.

But it's kind of hard to keep not noticing them when they're turning the set into a total chaos. Especially since it's vultures. Why are they even here?! Those are barely even birds! They're like the ugly old bald man version of birds!! And even if it had been cuter birds, Minako won't tolerate anyone trying to ruin Hibiki's precious movie.

So Minako stands up, running towards two vultures pecking away at the costumes and waving her script as a makeshift weapon. ]

Hey, what are you guys doing?! Stop that!

[revolutionfalcon]

[Considering even the smallest of the vultures are about a meter tall, well past half the height of most normal people, they're not particularly threatened by having a script wafted at them. One of them snaps their beak at it, trying to snatch it off her, and the other lets out a louder hiss and bares its wings at her, making its form even bigger.

The lead vulture, the female with the downy white head and neck, cocks her head towards the noise from elsewhere. Keba is more socialised than most of the flock by virtue of having been hand-raised, but that doesn't mean she's very likely to take her companions being confronted sitting down.]

[reloves]

[ Honestly, any smart person would think of backing off at this point. Clearly some things are not meant to be confronted, and meter tall birds are definitely on that list for regular people. But Minako's passion for Hibiki is just that strong! And she's brave! And.. maybe also a little dumb in some ways.

Although she's now just struggling to not let the vulture trying to snatch the script away rather than scaring them off. But Minako is still not considering that she's just making the problem bigger here. ]

Seriously, why are you guys-- hey! [ That snap from that vulture's beak almost clamped down on the script.. ] --Why are you guys doing this, huh? What has a movie ever done to you!

[ Does she expect vultures to suddenly talk back to her? Who even knows. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[The one trying to snatch the script in its beak keeps right on going trying to do so, since it seems to be having a pretty good time of it. The other one starts flapping its wings at her, mostly just creating a heavy breeze that might tangle some hair a bit.

Keba, after cocking her head in one direction, then the other, glides over low to the ground, apparently not best pleased with the situation.

If she doesn't move in time, Minako may feel something quite heavy and bird-shaped run into her legs, attempting to either shove her back or knock her over.]

[reloves]

[ Minako does have pretty good instincts most of the time, but without her memories there's no way they'd kick in unless it was in an actual battle situation. This comes close, maybe, but.. just not close enough, with the odd comedic angle of Minako trying to fight a bunch of birds.

Which means that the vulture does manage to run into her legs. Minako's reflexes are good enough to make sure she lands well enough and doesn't injure herself, but she's knocked over onto the ground regardless and letting out an "oof". At least she's trying to spot what - or which bird, really, since she does figure it must've been one of them - hit her. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Keba doesn't hesitate to make herself obvious, hopping up to Minako and curving her head down to inspect her critically. This one isn't familiar - Hibiki is a known annoyance to the vultures, but Minako has never been to Shun's temple, so they don't know how he feels about her.

Keba gives a faint, quiet caw, as if mildly confused about the situation. Why is this human getting so offended about their ransacking if they've never encountered her before now...

The other two, on the other hand, are...going to go right back to pecking the costumes while Minako is on the ground. Vultures have instincts, and all.]

[reloves]

[ Her first instinct is to yell at the vulture. Which is not exactly the best instinct in her current situation, but thankfully it dies down regardless when she notices the vulture pretty much just staring at her. Like she's being inspected. She expected a further attack more than that, so it just makes Minako stare right back at Keba, looking a tad confused.

Maybe this vulture is more reasonable than the others? Or.. well, maybe not reasonable since she did get rudely shoved over just now, but at least she might be able to somewhat communicate with this one. ]

Hey, do you guys understand human speech? Why are you doing this? [ And just in case they don't get it, she's going to play charades here, why not! She points at Keba, then behind herself where the other vultures should be, as if to imply "all of you" and then pulls her shoulders and arms up in a shrug to ask "why?"

.. It's not very clear. No one ever said Minako is a master of subtle communication. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[They certainly don't understand complex human speech, and even if they did, they don't really have a way to respond. Keba does, however, recognise the questioning motion enough to assume something is being requested of her.

Keba turns her head, looking over the people assembled in the area. Whichever direction Hibiki is in, she points her head rather clearly in that direction before letting out a loud hiss and ruffling her feathers.

Short answer: They don't like Hibiki. There's a longer answer there somewhere, but it's unlikely to be explainable by vultures.]

[reloves]

You don't like Hibiki..?

[ At the very least she's catching on to what that head movement is supposed to mean. Unless the vulture was just randomly looking in Hibiki's direction, which.. is also totally possible. But Minako chooses to believe this was no coincidence! ]

But she's so nice and fun to be around.. [ Try overwhelming and selfcentered on for size, Minako.. But at the very least she figures she probably won't be able to convince a bunch of vultures of all things of Hibiki's good sides. Especially not if she has to do it through charades.

Which means she has to try and think of some other way to deal with them. She still can't let them ruin the movie!

Minako points at Keba again, but this time she puts her hands on her stomach, trying to look like she's hungry but ends up looking much more like she's in pain with how much Minako exaggerates. Then she gives Keba a questioning shrug again.

Yes, she's asking if they're hungry because if food is what it'll take to get them to leave, she'll run off and get it!! Don't underestimate her desire to make this movie go well! ]

i'm so sorry minako they are vultures...

[revolutionfalcon]

[Keba hisses again and flares her wings out a little when Hibiki's name is mentioned, in case Minako needed any further confirmation that that was the case. She's made attempts on Shun's temple grounds often enough that the vultures recognise the name.

The message Minako tries to put through this time is a bit harder for Keba to identify, and it seems like the "hunger" part might have been lost in translation, because Keba's first reaction is another slight, confused noise before hopping forward and tapping her beak in the direction of Minako's stomach.

Her very large and hooked beak that's designed for taking apart prey. At least she's trained well enough that she doesn't make contact with that first motion, the whole thing seeming more like a "this can't be right" inquisitive gesture, but drawing attention to a soft belly in front of vultures is perhaps not the wisest move.]

it's okay minako is an idiot sometimes.. (a lot of times..)

[reloves]

[ Oh, geez. Oh geez. This is definitely something Minako should have thought about a little better. She should thank just about everything right now that she has super good reflexes and definitely manages to slide back enough and Keba is trained enough that her stomach isn't ripped open right then and there.

She clearly looks shocked for a moment, but her brain does race to think of a good solution here before she's eaten by a vulture. Do vultures eat live humans? She doesn't know, but she's not about to try it as some sort of science experiment here!!

Instead she quickly puts her hands in her pockets, trying to dig for anything that can help-- and she has a cookie in there! Thank god!

She has no idea if vultures eat cookies either, but at least she might be able to distract it for a moment? Minako takes it out of her pocket and puts it on the ground in front of her while sliding back more.

Enjoy the stale cookie sacrifice, vulture. While Minako just.. quietly tries to get out of here to get some backup or something. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, it seems to at least confirm to Keba that she got the wrong idea from that gesture, and she backs off a bit, tilting her head at Minako like she mostly just thinks she's being weird. Because Keba can be a very judgemental vulture when she wants to be.

While the cookie doesn't really translate as food to a vulture considering their usual diet, Keba is at least distracted enough to tap it with her beak a few times. And then knock it away like she expects it to do something exciting if she does. It's a toy, right? Right. Probably. That's what it looks like to her.]

[reloves]

[ Minako is still just.. slowly backing up a little over here while Keba is checking out what the cookie is supposed to be. She stops once she's at a small distance away, but then just stares at the vulture once she starts kind of playing with it like she isn't sure what to think at all.

Did she just reject that cookie?! Sure, it was in het pocket for several days, but it's the emotion behind it that counts! The sacrifice!

Minako really doesn't want to end up as vulture food here, so she's just.. slowly trying to stand up now and maybe get out of here if Keba is still distracted by the cookie. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Keba continues tapping the cookie around a bit - she's got one eye on Minako as she moves, but now that she's stopped trying to fight the other vultures, it seems like Keba isn't really interested in pursuing her. Apparently she was mostly just there to intercede on their behalf.

The other two are still steadfastly pecking at the costumes. Hopefully the costuming department is on the ball enough to notice that sometime before someone has to put them on...]