Description: In this anti drugs public broadcast, Cammy and Lightning Spangles seem to be poles apart. But are they really?
Metro Studios Soundstage. 10 AM.
The soundstage is bustling with activity. Cameras were in place. Lights were in place. A stage, set to the official appearance of the gritty streets of Metro City, seems to be prepared for the with a green screen on the right wall and left wall of the stage, easily accessible by the actresses tonight. Even the prop rubbish was on the ground. Everything was in place for the official PSA..... except, of course, the two main stars of the anti-drug PSA. Where were they?
Why, in makeup of course.
Lightning Spangles sits in the chair, as the artists go to work. Powdering, puffing, and doing up each of the stars of the PSA. The freckled middle-aged woman leans back, letting her artist do her work. She had done this for years now, she knew how to keep out of her artist's way. She was still damn excited, barely holding back dancing in her seat. Lightning Spangles was cheery, perkily chattering with her guest in the thick drawl of her persona.
"Well, woooooooooo-wee Cammy!"
"I must have been happier than a pig in a pigsty when I heard about your pitch, Miss White!" The woman belts out, boiling over with hot-blooded energy. "Getting the message out to stop the use of drugs on the streets? Why, sure shooting I could get right behind that! I'm aaaaaaaaaaaaall about teaching the youngins' about the dangers of substance abuse! Now, you did check over the outline, right?" She smiles, not turning her head. "I want this to be your show, your message sweetie! So when you get out there, you need to be as bright and bubbly as a soapy bath right out in the town square! So come on, Miss White." She says, as her makeup artist puts on the finishing touches.
"Can I get a Yee-Haw?"
Cammy on the other hand really is not happy about this. She's the photogenic one apparently, the one who the CO chose to go to when Delta Red needed a public face. And in general she hates being a public anything. Special forces and spies are not supposed to be in the limelight, right?
So she is tense, very tense, as she waits there in her chair, looking almost unnaturally rigid and still, eyes unblinking, as she is powdered and groomed. She doesn't actually mind the powdering and grooming that much, she's not averse to being pampered after all, and neither is she necessarily averse to being made up. But she is unhappy nevertheless.
And while she doesn't actually say or do anything, the general sense of distaste and unease fair rolls off of her. Her makeup artist, as a result, is almost as tense as the former doll.
And she jumps when Cammy twitches at the spangled one's outburst. Oh god, no. And she looks over at Jezebel with a somewhat pained look; a look that says 'you are cramping my English reserve'. "The cameras aren't actually even rolling yet, are they?" she asks, somewhat anxious. "And I am /not/ yee-hawing. It's... undignified.". This is not making her happier, quite the contrary.
A debbie downer?
Not on Lightning Spangles' watch.
Content with her makeup, Lightning Spangles rises up from her chair. Dressed in full Lightning Spangles regelia, she bears a red leather vest, and a set of white chaps over her blue jeans. Eyes bright, she just looks at Cammy, bubbling over with energy. "Aw, you need to cut loose a bit, Miss White!" The woman drawls, a twinkle in her eye as she hovers over Cammy, looking at her in the mirror. "Just think about those poor kids, trying to make a decision on whether or not to throw away their lives to drug abuse!"
Oh god, she was using foul tactics.
That twinkle remains as she continue to keep bubbling it out. "Just think! They watch our PSA, and if they don't see Cammy gung-ho about stopping drug abuse, why should they care? You need to be more energetic! Turn that frown, upside down!" Freed of the make-up chair, nothing could restrain that bursting, bubbly energy.
She was now clearly bouncing on her heels, eager to bring Cammy into the world of Lightning Spangles.
Cammy frowns at that, and rises, resolute, from her chair. Manipulated. "I /am/ thinking about those poor kids, or I wouldn't be here!" she tells Jezebel. And no, she really wouldn't be here; how does Jace do something like this for a living? "But this isn't some sort of joke, people die over this. Some very, /very/ nasty individuals are involved in the Glow trade. Nobody is more gung ho about stopping it than I am, I spent weeks in the slums doing my best.". She lets out a sigh. "If Ken Masters took Adon a little more seriously then maybe that whole episode wouldn't have been as tragic as it was. But he acted like it was all a circus as well. Lives trump television ratings".
Jezebel hopping like that, brimming with enthusiasm, just makes Cammy, who is apparently 18 going on 45, sour. And maybe even a little sick - her headache is coming back as well. She cheers herself by glancing over at her pigtails, they really are resplendent now, professionally done. She's not so sure about the glittery bows near the fluffy tips, but they certainly catch the eye! It cheers her up another to force a rictus grin.
"OK, I'm ready, but just remember; I'm a soldier not a rock star." she says solemnly. "And I am /not/ yee hawing. I'm not a... cowgirl.".
Lightning Spangles shakes her head.
"Oh, believe me Miss White, I know just how serious this can be! But these aren't for rough and ready gangsters. These are for kids who just need a little light in their life! " Lightning Spangles just gives a thumbs up, before leaving a hook in her arm to escort Cammy to the stage. Eyes bright and twinkling, she just keeps up the piping. "And that's why you can make this fun! You are a soldier off the stage, but on stage, you can be anything you want! You never have to be what you really are! You can pretend to be a rock star, or a cowgirl just like me Miss White. And mark my words..."
"I'll get a yee-haw out of you soon enough!"
Whether Cammy takes her arm or not, Lightning Spangles begins to head out of the dressing room and right for the soundstage. They had places, spots to fall into place. Once they got right and ready, then Cammy could be on the center stage. Sure, she was dry. But dry could be okay. Besides, if she was REALLY boring...
That was what Lightning Spangles was for!
Cammy takes her arm, wearily, and follows along gamely enough. Thinking horrible and un-Cammy like thoughts, like how much easier it would be if she just like, kill everybody in the building and slink off home without anybody even knowing she was here. For a brief moment that almost seems preferable to the horror which is about to be inflicted upon her.
But she shakes her head vigorously, one braid batting against Jezebel's back, and dark thoughts are dismissed.
"Please, don't..." Cammy merely replies, voice suddenly plaintive. "I like being who I am as it is, and I'm not a very good actress. Besides I thought this was only going to be a few seconds of air time anyway. Now it's suddenly becoming a big deal.".
She's never yet had her faith in Colonel Wolfman shaken, but this is turning out to be some sort of exquisite torture. She knows he's been trying to get her out of her amnesiac shell, she's not stupid, but this is too much. Like prescribing shock therapy for a slight headache, she muses.
Fortunately, Lightning Spangles had the best cure for headaches.
And that was American Patriotism.
Standing tall, Lightning Spangles takes her position on the left side of the 'urban' setting. Flashing a thumbs up at her partner, she just keeps that cheery drawl. "You are a magnificent actress, if you believe in yourself. Trust me, sugar, if I can make five year olds into great co-stars, I can get you to unleash your inner thespian. Just believe in yourself, let your heart roll out, and don't treat it like a big deal, or a mission." The producer flashes fingers, giving the count down. The actress gives an a-ok, before giving the last word to Cammy.
"Just have fun!"
The film running, the cameras focusing on the pair of Lightning Spangles. The actress waits for a moment, waiting to see how Cammy would react to the camera. This was Cammy's show; Lightning Spangles was just there to give a professional presence, and to step in if Cammy needed support.
And for some reason, Lightning Spangles felt she would certainly need support.
Cammy isn't even American, dammit! "It /is/ a mission." she mutters to Jezebel. "I am under orders.". Oh god, she can see lights and lenses and things. It's just as well she's been powdered, she'd probably look white as a sheet otherwise. She closes her eyes for a moment. "Commencing mission..." she mutters, and steels herself.
She will try. She will try her /best/. Her CO ordered her to expecting her best, and she doesn't plan on letting him down. Or the glow raddled teenagers to be out there, for that matter. And if she looks like an idiot, and her commando friends mock her in the Frog and Frigate this Friday, well, too bad.
But what to say.
The cogwheels are turning, but aside from looking serious and focused, no words are coming out. Nobody needs cannon spiking around here, this isn't exactly her intended function. "Hi, kids!" she eventually says after a slight pause which will end up on the cutting room floor. "I'm Cammy White!". It's only fair to introduce herself after all, right?
Of course, Lightning Spangles won't try and dominant the stage, rig-
"HOWDY Y'ALL!"
Lightning Spangles puts her hands on her hips, belting out a chipper voice bristling with energy. "I'm Lightning Spangles, the All-American Heroine!" Grinning and picking, she does a little tap with her boots, swinging her around infront of her in a yee-haw pump. "And you better drop whatever you doing, y'all cause we got a real HUMDINGER of a message for you!" Grinning briskly, Lightning Spangle's stage presence was overwhelming.
Maybe Cammy could cheat, and let her do most of the work?
Cammy probably wouldn't mind, if she didn't have orders to the contrary. She isn't going to slack on the job after all.
"YES! Yes we do!", for once in her life while on a stage staying still and not jumping around. And also for once in her life being quite loud. But her posh voice probably doesn't exactly complement Lightning Spangles' own, except maybe as stage stooge.
"Maybe you like watching the Saturday Night Fights like everybody else! Maybe you dream one day of topping the NDP league! There are plenty of young stars out there who serve as an inspiration to us all, like... Brett! and Chiyoko!". She hardly ever watches any of these damnable circuses, she's too busy doing stuff that matters. But she knows a couple at least.
Her hands meanwhile have automatically gone to her hips, lecture mode on standby. "And if so, you know that there's only one way to properly go about it.".
"The only one way is to stay away from drugs!"
Lightning Spangle's chipper drawl is a stark contrast to Cammy's dignified tone. Where Miss White was restrained, Jezebel was free wheeling. "Now, I know that drugs can be tempting. A lot of people might tell you that the dangers of abuse are overhyped. We talked about the winners, the Brett and Chiyoko."
"But what about the losers?"
For a brief moment, the light leaves Lightning Spangles eyes. A hollow emptiness seems to permeate her, as she continues that chipper drawl. "Do you really want to be the kid staring down two bottles, one of cheap tequila, another of cheap vicodins, waking up in some strangers apartment in the middle of a foreign city. Who knows who that is. A producer? A co-actor? Maybe another nowhere job. Never knowing how defiled your body has been, numbing the pain with a deeper, darker spiral of booze and pills. Substance Abuse isn't an escape. It's a free-fall crash, and you might burn up before you even reach the point where you burn out."
Still smiling, she looks back to her partner.
"Isn't that right, Cammy?"
"Yes, that /is/ right." Cammy tells the camera firmly. "Nothing good comes of drugs. You don't need drugs anyway! You just need hard work. Thats all I ever needed." she lies. She hardly ever does any exercise! "And if you're lucky, talent, but hard work can make up! Like my lieutenant says. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.".
Some drill instructor wisdom for the masses. Fortunately, Delta Red are better at motivation than Shadaloo was.
"Drugs are just the quick and easy way, but it's a lie. Just say no!". Warming to the subject somewhat, she thinks of stubborn old Damnd. Poor guy. But never mind; she'll get him a proper job no problem. In the army maybe!
Lightning Spangles suddenly shuffles across the stage, sliding right up beside Cammy. Throwing an arm over hr shoulder, the taller woman begins the last stretch. "Cammy has it right! Losers take all their potential, and throw it away on drugs." She winks at the camera, bright smile taking over the stage.
Oh poor Cammy's personal space bubble
"Now, Cammy" Lightning Spangles begins, playfully pushing her hip, teasing her. "I heard that the big bad drug on the street right now is something call Glow!" Lightning Spangles releases Cammy, and walks over to the nearest green screen, getting in position for the Delta Red graphics provided for the PSA. "But I don't know a cotton-pickin' thing about it?"
"What is there to know about GLOW?"
Cammy lets out a mostly inaudible sigh when she's grabbed like that, but she suffers these indignities with a stiff upper lip, keeps calm, and carries on. She even lets herself be hip checked without complaint.
Her CO better appreciate this, she thinks bitterly.
And she follows Lightning Spangles over to pose in front of the graphic, one hand on hip. "So called because it glows, and has a catchy acronym, this stuff is abused by those who want a boost in a fight! But while it does provide a short term boost, in the long term Glow abuse will ruin your life. It's no substitute for real training and dedication!".
And with that Cammy flexes one arm, to show off a vat grown bicep to the cameras, before leaping up in the air, spinning madly like a top, before coming back down to earth, her back to the camera - before turning and giving a jaunty quasi-salute. VICTORY POSE!
Lightning Spangles, hand up, showing the graphic of a 'Glowhead.' "Eyes glowing, GLOW acts makes the user feel 'up' and ready and raring to fight." The cowgirl drawls, shaking her head. "That is, until their heart goes pop!" She pipes up, leaping over to the other side of the stage in tandem with Cammy. Joining her in the same salute.
DOUBLE POSE
"Remember, kids, you don't want to like a GLOWHEAD." She says, hands out, pointing to the other green screen, now bearing the mugshots of of Damnd and Cody. "Don't waste your life being a waste out and wash out." Lightning Spangles looks at Cammy. "I think the kids get the message, Cammy. Any closing comments?"
Cammy shakes her head, and her braids flutter around her, glittering with the new additions the makeup department provided. "I'm sure they will do the right thing. Nobody who has been educated as to the risks will willingly harm themselves or fund international terrorism!". Maybe the RIAA took the sting out of that accusation but in this case it's actually true!
And she points at the camera. "Winners don't take drugs!" she declares. While hoping that this is going to be over veeeeery soon.
She got glitter?
Lightning Spangles was JEALOUS. She wanted glitter! Utterly jealous, the woman swallows her envy as she gracefully turns back to her partner. Now alongside Cammy, Lightning Spangles points at the camera as well, putting her back against the Delta Red commando. "YEEEEEE-HAW!" She holds the pose, waiting. Waiting. And from the crew, a command is given to the pair of the ladies.
"AND CUT!"
The cameras stop, and the director gives the signal. Lightning Spangles breaks from the pose, and gives Cammy a hearty pat on the back. "That was great, sugar! You know the kids will love it. Have you done theater before?" The Lightning Spangles doesn't seem to be different on camera and off.
Doesn't Jezebel EVER turn it off?
"No, I have never done theatre." Cammy tells her, now scowling. She /definitely/ has a camera off mode. "I don't understand how you people can do this. You must have no shame at all.". Cammy has been deeply wounded, where it hurts the most; her dignity.
"I'm just worried that it won't just be children who see that, it'll be all my comrades in arms as well. At least they know it was all under orders. I don't think I'll ever be able to talk to Damnd ever again either if he saw that, it'll just be laughter all the way.".
Cammy is small, and deceptively innocent looking, and it is forced to wear this ridiculous getup all the time. She has to work to have any gravitas at all at the best of times, and this is going to ruin that for months! Her frown gets only more thunderous, as she runs through all manner of dismal scenarios in her mind.
You must have no shame at all.
That glimmer of darkness rears its head. Jezebel had shame once. But shame could be surpressed with the liquor, by the pills. Without shame, you could do anything. Be anything.
And that's why she became Lightning Spangles.
The darkness is driven back. Lightning Spangles continues to smile brightly. No. Brighter than ever before. She would be the brightest now. "And you call yourself a commando? Don't be so afraid of yourself! If anyone makes fun of you, wear it on your badge as a symbol of pride! You shouldn't let bullies tell you how you should live your life, Cammy. That's not a real cowgirl way of handling them!"
Was Jezebel treating this like an After School Special?
"You're right, I am a commando, not a clown!" Cammy declares, volume increasing. Giving lectures is more her thing. "And I deal with bullies every day. Thats my job. But not at the cost of my own self respect! The army is all about respect. I don't know what Colonel Wolfman was thinking, ordering me to do this, if anybody makes fun of me after this, ugh!". She clenches one small fist, seeing the good side to violence for a moment.
But then she relaxes.
"I suppose if it's done some good it's worth it." she says, though she is dubious about that. "And I'm not a cowgirl. I'm not even American! Didn't you get briefed?" she asks, exasperated by Jezebel's apparently one track mind, oblivious to her possibly working on poor Jezebel's hot button topics.
Lightning Spangles laughs.
There isn't a clear prompt for the laughter, nor is there a clear tone. She just laughs. For all purposes, she laughs because she is happy. For Jezebel, it was because if she wasn't happy, she would be sad. And once the depression, the darkness settled in, Jezebel didn't know if she could pull herself out of the hole again. When she stops, she just continue that warm, bubbly smile.
"Being a cowgirl is just like being an American."
"You don't have to dress the part, or even know how to rustle cattle. You don't need to be a citizen of the United States. What matters is that you believe in the ideals. The hopes, the dreams. You are a fighter for justice, for freedom, are you not? I mean, deep down, past the big ole' sea between us, the British and the Americans aren't so different. We should look into our similarities, not our differences."
Lightning Spangles puts a kind hand on Cammy's shoulder, eyes bright.
"And that's why I am so proud, and Colonel Wolfman is so proud, that you went out of your way to do this PSA with me. A coward would have ducked out, thinking it was beneath her. But a true heroine, a true cowgirl, would have come out, even if she didn't want to, and made it."
"Because it was the right thing to do."
Cammy is, at heart, a rather simple person (or so she thinks). So Jezebel laying it on thick does make the commando relent; she relaxes noticeably beenath that hand. "Well, obviously, or I wouldn't be here." she says, voice back to a more normal volume. "And I didn't duck it. Here I am. And I think I did okay." she mutters, expanding a bit. "I'm not going to make a habit of it all, and it doesn't mean I'm a cowgirl.".
She frowns at Jezebel, giving her a somewhat piercing blue eyed look for a moment. "The cameras aren't rolling now. Are you in character all of the time?" she wonders. "There's no need to talk about cowgirls and things now.".
Jezebel would lie.
She had run this question in her head over and over. 'Why doesn't the mask come off?' Jezebel knew why she never looked in the mirror. Why she was always Lightning Spangles. Why she believed in herself. Why she never returned to the pathetic, drunken wreck that was Jezebel. No. She was always Lightning Spangles. Lightning Spangles was always Jezebel.
Nobody would see Jezebel again.
Lightning Spangles keeps up that smile, shrugging. "You did wonderful Cammy. I better get changed out." She didn't answer her question. She avoided the piercing eyes. But her lie came out. A cryptic message she left behind for the commando, before she retreated for the changing room.
"Why shouldn't a woman be what she knows is true to her heart?"
Cammy puts her hands on her hips, not ignorant to Teflon Spangles sliding past that question there. "You have to be true to what you are. And be honest about yourself. We just did an anti drugs film! about avoiding the seemingly easy route to fighting ability, because it's based on a lie!". Irony like that isn't going to be lost on Cammy.
But as she tries to do the right thing herself, she doesn't plan on her last words with Jezebel being cutting ones. "If you are basically a good person, and I'm sure you are, you shouldn't have to be afraid of the truth.".
Whenever Cammy is in one of her frequent but often solitary moods, when the headaches are back, those very words are often on her mind.
Those words are always on Jezebel's mind.
As she leaves Cammy, she returns to her changing room. Alone. Lightning Spangles was always true to herself. Jezebel, though.... Taking off the hat, she stares into the mirror. Looks at the woman, once passed out so long ago. So desperate. Posed on the cover of those movies. She was paler then. Uglier. Sadder. So much sadder. Lightning Spangles could be true to herself. But when Jezebel looks into that reflection, she just shakes her head.
And the tears come back.
She wasn't ready for the truth.
Log created on 10:25:01 05/23/2012 by Cammy, and last modified on 09:12:50 05/24/2012.