[Deleted]

You're gonna lose your soul, tonight.

What was she thinking? Agreeing to do a television appearance when the reason she (basically) only went out at night was because people paying attention to her fucking terrified her? Stupid. Dumb. An absolutely idiotic decision. One that she was very much regretting as the clock ticked ever closer to show time. Coraline sucked down panicked breaths, her throat closing up in the face of what was about to happen. She could hear her handler(?) calling her name in the distance, causing her to bury herself further into the corner she had hidden herself in.

If she stayed there long enough, everyone would just forget about her and she could go back home and finish grading the exams that needed to be handed out by Monday. Wishful thinking. Something she could acknowledge even in her panicky state. Maybe becoming a hero was the real Bad Idea. Maybe she should have just kept her head down, hidden her powers to the best of her ability, and just played normal for the rest of her sad existence. Ma—

Shit. Someone was coming. Coraline held her breath as the footsteps got closer, only for the stomach to gurgle loudly. Fuck. Of all times, her body decided now was the best moment to remind her that she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Fuck this simulation, she wanted out now. Hey, maybe the person didn’t hear the noise and would just walk past her, leaving her free to hide until all of this was over. One could hope! God who was she kidding. She was too much of a coward to really be a hero.

WORDS: 270 || TAGGED: Ashley McKenna-Chase

Costume Ref

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Help Me

“No, no, no, she needs to look much more natural. Try this foundation instead.”

Ashley – or rather, McKenna Chase – sat obediently in front of the mirror while the make-up team argued over which product needed to be generously applied to her face in order to make her look the most natural. It was ironic. Ashley understood the process of course; she needed to look natural on camera, but not shiny or washed out by the lights. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like their efforts were on the edge of transforming her face into a completely unrecognisably new one, which would definitely defeat the purpose of a publicity run.

“If it helps, I usually use that one,” she said, pointing.

It didn’t, apparently – it just added a third option for them to argue over. Eventually they settled on a choice, swiftly and skilfully working their way through the rest of the process before moving onto her hair. Fortunately, Ashley’s hair didn’t take too long and the elegant waves were hairsprayed into submission in no time.

“Okay, you’re done. There’s still a while ’til we go live so… uh, yeah…”

The most boring part of the entertainment industry: waiting around. When young Ashley McKenna-Chase had dreamed of stardom, she certainly hadn’t realised how much time she’d spend waiting around for others to be ready. Apparently the industry was just too chaotic to align anyone’s schedules perfectly.

So she wandered around the studio, casually playing with a little vocal warm-up as she walked with no particular purpose or direction. In the distance, Ashley could hear people shouting, sounding a little frantic, but what caught her attention instead was the sound that followed – a faint, but distinct, stomach rumble from the corner.

She giggled, stopping herself abruptly in case she embarrassed the stomach’s owner.

“Hello? Is there someone here?” She drew closer to the corner, now able to make out the form of a young woman dressed head-to-toe in dark fabric blending perfectly into the shadows. A Hero? “Woah, hey, are you okay?”

@ashi8848

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