off my mind

“the relationship you have with your little rubber duck is deeply concerning and i suggest you talk to someone about it. a professional, not me. i don’t think i could personally sit through an hour of you bringing up this duck situation again.” arlo sighs, not even sure if joey knew she was getting bored at this point, but he sure did talk a lot. “it’s a federal offence to take a tag from the ankle of a pigeon, but sure, if you feel it is your duty to free them you should go and make the world a better place. get a pigeon army or something.”

“Woah, rewind,” Xavier requests, his hand moving through the air like that might actually turn back time about twenty-three seconds to the part he was stuck on. 

“Did you actually eat all seventeen of those cheeseburgers? Because that makes me feel weirdly impressed and competitive all at once.” He had no grand excuse like a 3 month rice cake diet to explain away that kind if gluttony, just good old fashioned monkey see, monkey do. 

“No fear of me ever doing a period piece so, all good on that front. There’s a very high likelihood that I might end up a drive through menace at McDonald’s later though.”

He could do eighteen cheeseburgers. Maybe.

        so admittedly, bella definitely remembered the last time she’d seen arlo. it had felt like a pivotal moment in her career, being featured in a film with someone as well known as arlo. she was younger, much more eager in her career and when she had seen arlo at possibly her worst, bella had felt bad. even worse in the months following that she’d never approached arlo to see if she needed someone to talk to. something.           “are you sure? i really don’t mind, i mean, i literally spilled a whole coffee on you. let me make it up to you somehow, at least?”        bella tried to reason, flashing an apologetic smile.           “we, uh – ”            she pauses, not wanting to bring up what might be an embarrassing past.           “i think maybe same filming lot?”

the memory is foggy, and arlo feels a bit of shame when it comes to delving into the depth of those memories, having to bury them out from under layers upon layers of alcohol and drug abuse. she was ‘better’ now, or so she told everyone -- she hasn’t blacked out in forever, and so that is something at the very least. when she’s working it’s not so bad, she can focus, but when filming is over, the darkness tends to set back in. arlo remembers being fond of bella, really fond of bella, to the point where she avoided her knowing that she was all too messy and that bella was all too good. “you can....buy me a bear claw, i guess.” the blonde says with a dismissive shrug. “probably -- where you an extra?”

location: grand hall, a little meet & greet. 

tagging: @finalstarters​

“— and with that, I’m really excited to start creating. I’m probably going to be the last person in here when you’ve all left because currently, nobody has offered themselves up as a tour guide..” she pauses to laugh, half-joking, “… so if anyone has questions, wants to chat, or introduce themselves, please don’t hesitate. I’m going to be in here as long as you are.”

She raises her glass towards the group of people as she steps sideways, greeting the person closest to her. “I don’t think I was joking” (about the tour guide) “the site map? It’s terrible.” Getting lost had become somewhat easy to her. 

this is his first time alone on set without his father, the man who he followed around like a lost puppy on set. he didn’t want to look out of place, as a director, he really needed to look as though he knew what he was doing -- they were trusting him with a lot. gale didn’t know if his young shoulders could support the weight of an entire movie, but apparently his dad deemed him capable, and he had to appreciate the confidence he had in him. “i’ve looked at this site map fifteen times now and i’m still lost trying to find the bathrooms -- and there’s like seven of them.”

OPEN STARTER - @finalstarters​ LOCATION - final picture studios, any lot you’d like

“Absolutely not.” Gabriel shook his head, giving the other person a moment to try and explain before he cut them off anyway. “Stop. That’s going to make us both look inexperienced and idiotic and maybe you want to be seen that way but I sure as hell do not.” He folded his hands and rested them on the large dark oak desk in his office. “I can make some calls and try to figure something else out but you need to trust my judgment here. I know what I’m doing.” It was true, Gabriel had been in this business for ten years and he’d learned from all his mistakes, anyone who was coming to him for help should know that.

It would be an understatement if Gale were to say that he was inexperienced here. He was merely 25 years old in this industry, taking over from his father whom he had watched for years. This guy knew a lot more than he did, considering this was Gale’s first time working for the money, everything else before this had been nothing more than shadow-work. “I’m sorry...” he responds with a heavy sigh, already wondering if he had bitten off more than he could chew. “I don’t know how they got on set.”

𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥

WHERE - anywhere you’d see fit. 

jade had pretty much mastered almost all the cuts and gashes out there – she knew how to make them all look realistic with her makeup (thank you years of a fixation in horror art). but the one thing she has yet to get down was the rotting kind of wound that would usually be seen on zombies. this is why she was sat here now, with her makeup bag out and practicing that kind of wound on her own forearm. she turns to the nearest person to her and taps their shoulder, “what do you think of this? realistic enough?” she asks, extending her arm out. 

he had a weak stomach when it came to things such as zombies and the likes of rotting flesh. blood? he was completely fine with, but there was something about the idea of zombies that made his stomach turn. when jade turns towards him, arm on display, exposing the gaping bite wound surrounded by sickly pale mouldy flesh, he’s quickly took off guard. “oh god --” gale makes a sort of retching sound, his stomach turning. it was most certainly realistic, realistic enough to make him feel unwell so it was a job well done on her part, surely. “mmn” he hums behind tight lips, giving a firm nod of his head. “that’s disgustingly realistic.”

....gale michaels,

               but i’m a crier and a fighter.

gale michaels has walked on set. they’re a twenty-five year-old director who’s been working at chimera filmworks for one month. they’re skittish, you say? i’d like to think they’re more loyal. either way, catch them watching my best friends wedding (1997) — cameron monaghan/ he/him/ pansexual / cis male

ALEX ROLLS HIS EYES A LITTLE, but responds quickly, “THANKS, i quite like it.” did he? he wasn’t sure yet, he was still getting used to it. but ever since he got it dyed, he’s been getting a bit more attention from men and women when he was out – it’ll be hard to let go of it once he confirms that it upped his game a little, EVEN IF SLIGHTLY. alex knew who arlo was before they’d even met – he has access to the internet, and it was hard to NOT know who she was. she was certainly a lot more well-known than alex was. “so am i gonna have a hard time finding the chemistry here, or do you think you’ll remember me next time?” 

alex is probably a great guy, maybe a little too cocky but in this industry you need to be confident in order to get anything done. if you walk in with self doubt, they’ll smell it on you and eat you alive. quieter people are easy to manipulate, alex doesn’t look the type to fall for that kind of bullshit. “don’t worry princess, with a face like that it’ll be hard to forget.” she says with a small roll of her eyes. this could be fun, he seems like his ego is fragile enough to toy with, but not break entirely. “we can work on the chemistry, so long as you’re pretty.”

“YEAH, I DON’T THINK I HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANY OF THAT ANYTIME SOON.” elly responded with an obvious smug tone, while eyeing her costar with a look of annoyance. ‘who does she think she is to give her such advice? does she think she knows better than her?’ elly quietly thought. before answering arlo’s questions, she loudly sighed and leaned back in her chair, “just same old same old. i actually just finished shooting for a mini series, i can’t tell you much, though. but i think they’re in post-production now.” 

she was used to this, the arrogance, the audacity to think that you don’t need help or advice from anyone. at the sigh and roll of her eyes, arlo merely chuckles under her breath and allows her to continue, explaining to her the complexity of the mini series she was working on. arlo shouldn’t rise to it, but she does, in her own calm and collected way. “i’ve never done one of those. maybe if my next movie flops i’ll be sure to accept a smaller role, or you know, a mini series to get me back on my feet.”

“Pink streaks? Was it Rachel McAdams that inspired you? I remember that phase when everyone was going wild for the pink highlights -- my mother wouldn’t let me touch my hair. I wanted to go blue.” There was a lot Arlo hadn’t been able to do growing up, the longer it went on, the more she began to resent it all. “She gave me her number but I’ve never had the guts to call. What would I even call Lady Gaga for? To borrow a hedge trimmer?”

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓: bella & @arloashford​​ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: between studios

      bella really should keep her eyes up when she walked, in fact, she could hear her mom’s voice in her head telling her to pay more attention. and perhaps if she listened to her mom’s voice in her head, she wouldn’t be in this situation.       “i’m so sorry,”       she’d probably uttered those same words a hundred times now. lukewarm ( thank god ) coffee dripped from the mostly empty takeaway cup and she couldn’t help but stare in astonishment as to how she’d possibly managed this.       “can i, like, buy you a new shirt or something? i feel so bad for bumping into you and spilling coffee on you. i mean, you probably have so many better things to be doing than dealing with my clumsiness.”

the last time arlo had seen bella, she had been embarrassingly drunk, and high.  she remembers distinctly how she had been with her ass on the floor, too gone to pull herself back up, and the way she had been surrounded by others in other to hide the debacle she was putting on display. this girl was a fresh face, still with too much hope in her eyes and so much innocence. arlo knew that the best thing for her was to steer well clear, so they didn’t speak, no matter how much she wanted to utter a ‘hi’ in the past. “i -” the blonde sighs and wipes down at her shirt with a shake of her head. “it’s fine, i stole it from set anyway, they've got about a dozen others in storage. hi -- have we met?” 

“no, no, i think that you’d look wonderful in a corset.” arlo gives a wave of her hand over the mans frame. “you’re totally built for the era, i could see you giving real queen elizabeth vibes.” grins the blonde, finding herself actually able to tolerate this guy -- which was rare for her. most of the time she hated other actors, that’s why she spent most of her time not sober to deal with it all. sure, she was pretentious herself, there was no denying that she was insufferable, and isn’t that what makes you hate someone - seeing your own qualities in them? “i think you look....too modern. not so much so that you couldn’t travel back to the early 1900s, but i do think that 1800s would be a stretch for your vibe. does that sound rude? i don’t mean for it to sound rude -- a lot of people tend to think i’m being an asshole but i promise i’m not trying to be right now. maybe in 10 minutes, i have a recharge rate. what i mean is you’ve got a handsome face.”

everyone had that one dream role they’d been hoping for since they were a child. some were stupid enough to hope for shit like harley quinn, or batman - but if you came out with something fascinating like princess clarisse renaldi then you could hold arlo’s attention. “the dresses are cute. and no it’s not illegal to not feed you but being a woman in this industry is difficult, especially when they’ll fire you for putting on even a drop of fat, meanwhile a man will get away with everything.” she’s learned to roll with the punches at this point, made her voice loud enough to stay in work, but damn did directors suck. lately she tried to pick roles with only female directors. “make it happen if you want it so bad.”

“you are well aware that the duck is not a sentient being and therefore will not die if you cut it open. and they cost like 3 bucks i’m pretty sure you could find a replacement.” a slow smirk creeps up across her lips, realising that this kid could be just gullible enough to mess with. “besides it’s not your rubber ducks you should be worried about. i hear they plant listening devices on pigeons.” arlo says in a low whisper, leaning in closer as though she were telling him an important secret. “it’s the tags on their ankles.”

BEFORE ALEX COULD SPEAK TO HIS CO-STAR, she was questioning who he was. alex didn’t whether to be offended because they’d met a few times already, or if she was implying that he had a forgettable face. “ALEX… we MET?” he furrows his brows at her. when they first met, alex was on the fence about how he felt about her – meeting someone similar to him always either ended horribly, or in the best of ways. right now, he was leaning more towards a NO. “sure, i didn’t have the BLEACHED HAIR before, but we did spend many hours together.” 

He had a promising sort of face, the kind that brought in roles, the kind that could be moulded into anything you needed it to be. She’d see him as a threat if she wasn’t already so sure of her position in the acting community. Truth be told, she’s never seen his work, nor heard of his name, so for all she knew he could have been the coffee boy if it wasn’t for the natural air of arrogance that followed him. She gives out a slight huff at the introduction, a little ashamed that during their original meeting she had been in a sorry state. “Must be the hair.” Arlo says with a wave of her hand, dismissing the situation entirely, showing for a moment a sign of confusion - wondering how she had managed to blank out for an entire co-star. This was the guy she was going to have to pretend to be in love with? Easy enough, if she ignores the personality and focuses on the face. “Nice hair, Alex.”

“I would like, never do a period piece,” Coco concluded. “Like, don’t get me wrong I’d totally eat soup and rice cakes to fit into a corset, but I think I just look too hot to do one, you know?” It wasn’t meant as a jab to Arlo by any means, but Coco was never one to shy away from her opinions, especially when it came to her career. “No offense to you obviously, but I think my face just looks too modern. Luckily, you’ve got this whole like Grace Kelly thing going for you so you kinda fit the bill,” she explained, waving her manicured hand around. Truthfully, Coco couldn’t care less about the conversation at hand. Talking about projects was just such a bore unless there were bragging rights. That meant Coco felt like it was appropriate to pivot. “Do you wanna like, go get schwasted tonight? I kinda wanna check out this new place on Main Street.”

Coco had a point, she couldn’t really pull off much else if Arlo was to be honest. She’s met other girls like her before in the industry, they’ll get swallowed into the horror - sex - gore trend and get a fan-cult following from it and that’ll be enough. Most people were satisfied with what they had going for them, but Arlo? She was determined to do it all, she would never rest until at least one of everything was collected tightly under her belt. It was needless to say that Coco was a really bad influence on the blonde, as someone who was just fresh off of the rehab boat, she really shouldn’t be looking into getting ‘schwasted’, but the word ‘yes’ falls from her lips so easily. “OK but only alcohol. I’ve got a shoot in the morning.” Not that that ever stopped her, she’ll say she’s not doing the damn thing and then two hours later you’ll catch her with her nose against table.

“I liked it, I felt like a bit of a badass. I’ve been blonde my whole life and because I’ve been working since I was 6 I was forbidden from ever dyeing my hair -- the whole experience was pretty cathartic. Minus the dark black smears across my neck.” Arlo laughs, tapping her fingers against the table as she recalls the time she met Lady Gaga. “I think she was sweet? I was pretty hysterical the whole time so she might have just felt a lot of pity for me.”