Let's make a film or sue Royal Mail, it's almost the same... [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 21st-28th of October
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. Without further ado, please welcome Nel, Mary Ann and Feste!

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I.

Pinewood Studios is looking for extras for some seafront scenes of a 19th century drama they're going to film in front of the white cliffs. The drama's working title is "The Major from India" and they've expressly put out a casting call for people of all ages and all ethnicities.

A few students from the local uni get to participate behind the scenes this time. Three lucky film students have scored internships that will let them experience the proccess of film making under the aspect of how to deal with extras, from casting to employing and placing them in the film (how do I make an extra NOT look at the camera or main character all the time?) to cutting to everything else. They will, of course, also have the opportunity to look into other areas of the making of this film, but the work with the extras is what they're supposed to focus on.

The casting takes place in the Mossgate outpost of Pinewood Studios.


II.

In Moss Manor (the village), the rumour mill is going wild. News have made it to the village that the local post office is going to be shut down, and the villagers won't have it. It's not like it is a big one! Two employees, neither of whom works full hours, and it's located in the village store so it doesn't even need its own house! Surely there is no economic sense in shutting it down!

And most certainly it's just unfair, targeting the villages despite all that talk to strengthen them - nobody is talking about Tarwich or Mossgate losing their post office!

In short, Moss Manor is in an uproar, and quick action is taken. Residents go from door to door with a petition to not shut down the post office, asking for people to sign. Posters are made and hung outside the church, in the pub, at the railway station, at the entrances of the village, and in the village store. And on the 27th, a very well attended protest is being organised outside the village shop, which just so happens to block the main road, causing diversions. And thus the protest affects quite a lot of non-Moss-Manor-residents, as that is the main road leading away from the coast into Kent and London. A few people have made protest signs, the pub has put up a little food stand outside its door selling hot dogs, burgers and drinks, and various speeches are given. First comes local MP Mary Saunders, talking about how unjust the treatment of villages by large national organisations is, then Reverend Pat Marsh who in essence asks people to remain calm and write angry letters instead of doing anything more drastic, then the captain of the local adult men's football team, who accuses the post of trying to kill small villages, and then the microphone can be taken up by anyone who feels like they have anything of substance to add to the things that have already been said.

But the angry valiant people of Moss Manor don't just speak up in their own village. With mayor Gary Russell's support, little info stands pop up on the Mossgate High Street and the Tarwich Community Centre. The aim is to inform everyone of the unfair closure plans, gather more signatures for the petitions, and try to get people from Mossgate and Tarwich to come to the protest on Saturday. Nobody does anything in Folkton. For one, the Moss Manor residents doubt that help will come that way; for two, the rumour mill will be faster in spreading the news around Folkton than any poster or stand ever could be.

Comments

[vernal_miss]

She muses with a low hum in her throat before answering, "Yeah, but wouldn't that get all over everything I touch? I want to wear my costume to school and through trick or treating... Plus, that won't make me very pale."

Nel has fair skin but not enough to pass as porcelain.

"There are other scary things... And I bet by next year those stockings will be worn out so I can save them until next year."

[fairfeste]

"I guess so." Feste thinks, tapping their pencil against their chin. "Maybe we'll figure something out. But it doesn't hurt to have a backup. What other things are scary?"

There are a great many things, but whether it's actually scary or not kind of isn't the point. It's whether Nel thinks they're scary, and they don't really want to give her any ideas on what she should find scary.

[vernal_miss]

As it seems Feste doesn't want to impart any ideas, she'll start to rack her brain once again as she tilts her head back to stare up into the sky as though a new costume might come to her in the shapes of the clouds. Softly she murmurs, "Dunno..."

Given a longer moment to think, she'll run through the usual affair of Halloween. Zombies, skeletons, monsters, ghosts, werewolves, mummies, demons... All rather overdone if sometimes scary. The doll she found to be creepy in appearance and its potential to be sinister on a more subtle level.

"Dolls aren't scary themselves until they're haunted. Other things can be haunted, right?"

[fairfeste]

Feste nods. "Yeah..." Clowns come to mind, but if Nel isn't already afraid of clowns then they really don't want to add that fear to her list of potentials, "What about, uh...." They're really bad at this, sorry Nel. "...another type of haunted toy?"

[vernal_miss]

To that line of thought of another type of haunted toy, Nel blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, "A haunted rubber duckie." Only to immediately laugh at the ridiculous notion, "It squeaks in the night and bounces on your head when you try to take a bath."

Yes, she's being silly. The creative process needs tangents every so often. Especially when their sibling is struggling to offer a serious suggestion.

[fairfeste]

Ok, Feste can't help it. They laugh too, grinning. "I like it. You should definitely do that." They're kidding, but they are 100% going to draw a comic about that now and give it to her at some point.

[vernal_miss]

Such a comic would be received with a grateful hug and immediate placement of the drawing up on the cork board over her bed on the wall.

“So would a haunted rubber duckie look different is the question. Maybe a sickly yellow-green color, and the paint of the eyes chips funny. Should the beak be crooked?”

[fairfeste]

Awww.

"The beak should definitely be crooked," Feste agrees, nodding, "And have sharp teeth." They don't think ducks have teeth but they don't really know, but in this case they should be like comically large fangs or something.

[vernal_miss]

Seriously considering the teeth, she hums, then asks for further clarity, "White teeth or more like jagged points of the... Wait, I called it a beak. I meant bill. Sorry. Jagged parts on the bill that make it more crooked between the top and bottom."

[fairfeste]

"Ummmm." Feste thinks, trying to picture both. "Kind of jagged teeth, like fangs-ish? If that makes sense?? Or it just being a weird creepy bill could work too."

[vernal_miss]

Each option has a flare to it, some more subtle than others. Still considering, she poses a very different option, “Or what if...it’s all crooked because it looks half melted? Like it got stuck under super hot running water.”

[fairfeste]

"Oooh. That's an interesting idea. Might be a little harder to make it look right, though." They know Nel is a good artist for her age, but she might get upset if she has to explain why her bill is wonky to a bunch of people. They're pretty sure that wouldn't be clear, no matter how good she gets it.

[vernal_miss]

“Maybe with wax, but I know that’s not a good idea for a costume. It’d be a hard costume to finish in time anyways, so I’ll think of something else,” she concedes, indeed not eager to dress as something that would demand explanation.

“What else can be haunted…?” she asks quietly as she tries to recall more toys or other things related to Halloween. If she could think of something that combines the two, that would be ideal.

[fairfeste]

"...Houses?" A haunted house costume might be more funny than scary, but it is the first thing that comes to their mind.

[vernal_miss]

“Oh, definitely hauntable,” she replies instantly, then she considers the concept in terms of construction, “Easy to build from cardboard, but that would make running more difficult and be at risk for being broken in a crowd. If I stuck with fabric clothing it’d be smaller, but that might work if I paint my face like the night sky...”

Her musings fall quiet as she works it over in her head in more detail. How to show the ghosts is the biggest hurdle.

[fairfeste]

"Maybe you can have like, ghost hand puppets or something. So they can shout 'boo!' at people. Stick them in door pockets or something when you're not using them."

And now the scarecrow seems lame

[vernal_miss]

To that, Nel laughs with glee, “That’d be amazing! Maybe one door, but the windows could be pockets too. I’ll give it a shot! Thanks Feste!” Careful not to jar them in the process, she’ll lean in to give her eldest sibling a hug.

Thoughts of a haunted house costume on her mind, she’ll turn her attention back to their drawing.

[fairfeste]

They lean into the hug as best they can, grinning. "Glad I could help!" But they'll focus back on their drawing now, filling in some details of the scene now.

[vernal_miss]

Ornella will quiet back down to continue watching the drawing progress a little further, releasing Feste from the hug to avoid impeding the effort. After a time, she'll scurry back inside to see what she can do about making a haunted house costume.

She'll find that the right supplies aren't around for her plan of construction, and not wanting to make a poor quality costume, switches ideas one last time with what she can find.