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]

[ Phew, that's a relief. The whole Valentine's dating thing is supposed to be fun for people, after all, not something that'd just drag them down. Her relief is pretty visible, just like the shock before. ]

Yeah! I think that's totally important too. We're all in this place anyway, so we might as well have some fun while we're at it!

[ Her relief turns into a smile as she looks at Ginia. ]

I'll make sure things are fun for you too, Ginia! You deserve it! [ Although it's not 100% just something she personally feels for Ginia - it's something Minako extends to basically anyone who isn't mean to her, really. ]

[unlucky7]

[Now that, that is a little more than suspicious. Ginia huffs and waves a hand, head cocking.]

Am I specifically going to be involved in something specifically fun coming up? Or is this a more general idea I could possibly find myself involved in?

[There's a lot of wiggle room in that question.]

[reloves]

Um.. The latter?

[ She's trying really hard to not give her plan with Chikusa away here, but at the same time it's not like she wants Ginia to worry about whether Minako is planning something just for her or something like that.

Even if that means kind of admitting she's planning something in general. ]

It's something fun for everyone! I'm not planning a surprise birthday party for you or anything. I mean, I don't even know when your birthday is! [ Implying that Minako would do it if she knew, despite not being super close with Ginia? Yes. She would plan all the parties for anyone!! ]

[unlucky7]

I'm not worried about a surprise party considering my birthday already passed.

[Is it weird for a shinki to know their birthday? Maybe, but sometimes you get lucky with what you remember. Fine, a general thing she could possibly find herself involved in.

As much as Ginia wants to bury herself in work and never be seen again, maybe it won't always feel that way too.]

We could all use some fun around here. I guess I'll keep an eye out for big announcements?

[reloves]

[ She claps her hands together. ]

Yes! It won't be a surprise to anyone-- or I'm pretty sure it'll be announced, at least. So stay tuned. [ Minako winks, seeming rather excited about.. whatever it is that she's been talking about. ] Don't tell anyone yet though, it's still an exclusive secret!

[ She simmers down a bit though when she considers the other point Ginia just made. ]

Your birthday passed though? Geez, and I didn't even get you a present!

[unlucky7]

[Ginia mimes zipping up her lips and smiles. She's good at keeping secrets and at this point, who would she tell things to anyway?]

Don't worry about it. It was the 1st so everyone was busy. I'm not sure it really counts since we're dead and I've only been here a few months anyway. Maybe it'll matter more once I've been here a year.

[If she makes it that long.]

[reloves]

[ The first, huh..? That's a pretty unfortunate birthday to have, considering how busy everyone is around that time of year. People just skipping over someone's birthday is kind of a sad though though, and Minako's facial expression drops for a moment in sympathy.

Not that she doesn't pick herself up easily though. Optimism! Positivity! ]

Well.. Let's just say then that I'll remember for next year. That just means I'll have a long time to think of what the perfect gift for you would be, right?

[unlucky7]

[If Minako remembers, it means she'll have been around for more than a year too. For shinki, stability is all they can hope for. With Ebisu as her god, there's a sense of reability and security, but what about Alex? or for Minako, Zelda? Is it selfish to want to keep a god around when the gods know what they have waiting?

Ginia's expression falls for a moment, but she picks herself up too.]

The perfect gift for me is everyone happy and smiling. That's all I need.

[She pauses, a coy smile sliding on as she adds:]

I'll also accept someone hot serving me a nice dinner.

[reloves]

[ Minako grins back. ]

I can make that happen! I have a list. [ Probably not an actual physical list, judging by how much she sounds like she's joking along. But with Minako being Minako, there's no doubt she at least has a mental list of all hot guys in this place.

Her smile returns to something more normal after a moment. If she has considered or is considering just how much could change here between now and next year, she sure isn't showing any signs of it. ]

That's such a sweet thing to say though-- wanting everyone to be happy. You must have a lot of friends here to be thinking of everyone like that.

[unlucky7]

I don't have a lot of friends, actually.

[It's a thing she's realized for awhile, but putting it into words is sobering. She knows a lot of people in the Far Shore, that much is true, and there are a lot of people she likes, but friends?

It's tricky when the people you know or knew the best are generally closed off. Sure, there's Shun and Chikusa, who are maybe the closest she has to friends, but ascribing the word to them feels like it's an embarrassment if it's one-sided. Alex, yes, but she's also her god so there's obligation and duty wrapped up.

It's a long list of acquaintances and professional relationships and there's truly no one better at being alone in a crowded room than her.

Perception is a tricky thing.]

[reloves]

Hm?

[ It's kind of a surprising thing to hear in return to that. Mostly since Minako doesn't know that it's more a perception problem on Ginia's part - with how easily Minako declares just about anyone her friend, it's the kind of problem she wouldn't get.

So she blinks and stares for a slight moment at Ginia in surprise and a bit of confusion. ]

Really? You've always seemed nice so far.. Why wouldn't people want to be friends with you?

[unlucky7]

I am older than most people.

[It's the only answer she can give. Everything feels a bit too personal. She's self-sabotaging, she's impulsive, she's not a good person; a deep dive into her numerous self-perceived faults is not something she wants to do.]

I guess I know a lot of people, but I don't know a lot of people well.

[reloves]

Oh.. I guess it makes a little more sense when you put it that way. [ Since then at least it doesn't mean that Ginia is friendless in the way Minako suddenly imagined when she said that just now - that she just had no one to talk to at all. Not getting into some deeper parts of yourself with others despite knowing a lot of people is something Minako most definitely understands. ]

I don't think you necessarily need to tell everything about yourself to someone else to be friends though. Like.. hmm. [ She seems to think about it for a moment. ] There's a lot of different kinds of friends, I guess? Not every one of them has to be someone who knows your deepest, darkest secrets. That's what I think, at least.

[unlucky7]

I guess so.
I bet you have a lot of friends. You're so wonderful and friendly.

[An honest statement, but it's also a shameless deflection. There are people she'll share her thoughts with, but it's also driven by a degree of obligation. A shinki should trust and confide in their god, a shinki should share how they're feeling to avoid problems. She adores Alex and likes Ebisu, but would she burden them if she didn't have to?

Maybe she should burden everyone less.]

[reloves]

You're flattering me!

[ Minako laughs, but her tone suggests that she's totally soaking up that praise all the same. It really helps when you're not always as confident and secure as you pretend to be. ]

It's mostly since everyone here is so nice, so it's easy to be friendly in return and make friends! Sure, there were a couple of guys who were total jerks, but at least every girl I've met has been totally sweet!

[unlucky7]

The ratio of nice to not does skew toward nice, thankfully. Though I'm curious which jerks you've met.

[It's not that Ginia's into gossip, but gossip is still interesting and she perks up a little. She's met her share of guys with abrasive personalities so she's curious who Minako's encountered.]

[reloves]

Well, I remember meeting someone super rude on my first day here, but I honestly don't even remember enough of him to give you a good description. [ Especially with just how much information she had gotten that first day - it means the encounter itself lingers more than the specific details of it. ]

But recently--! Oh, I met such a rude guy recently! [ She's really getting into the story, apparently, since Minako seems irritated just thinking about it. And so she just starts to ramble. ] Do you know Aymeric? I guess it doesn't really matter-- he's just a sweet guy. Anyway, so he's getting married to this guy, so I decided to be nice and try to befriend said guy as well, but he was just so rude to me instantly! That was so unnecessary!

[unlucky7]

[Gina nids. Sure, she's met Aymeric. Very polite, very nice, she's happy getting married. It's incredible people are finding happiness here in such a way.]

That's unfortunate. Think this is an opposites attract kind of thing? Aymeric is the nice one and his fiance is the acerbic one and together they balance each other out?

[reloves]

It has to be, right? Otherwise I can't even imagine what a super nice guy like Aymeric would see in him!

[ Although that's difficult for her even when thinking of opposites attract. She huffs at the very thought of it. At least he seems to be treating Aymeric well enough.. ]

Well.. You probably know this already either way since you're an adult [ - so she must've seen enough of the world by now - ] but don't ever get into a relationship with someone who's mean, Ginia! You deserve better than that! Everyone does!

[unlucky7]

[There's a gentle, soft laugh at Minako's friendly and caring advice. She may be older than most, but Ginia's pretty sure when it comes down to it, her relationship knowledge is lacking considering how spectacularly she ruined things.]

I'll do my best.

It's also possible there are things we don't know that Aymeric does. Lots of people around that are gruff and/or stoic on the outside, but quite kind and gentle once you know them. Maybe Leo is the same way.

[reloves]

[ Minako frowns, like she's struggling with the thought for a moment - especially as the frown turns into her huffing and then her pouting as her pride (never say anything good about someone who's rude!) turns into reluctant acceptance. ]

I guess he's probably like that around Aymeric..

[ Especially with how Aymeric talked about Leo. She never imagined he'd be that rude! ]

But I don't trust men who think it's okay to be rude to cute girls.