1,587 words wrote:Honestly, Quinn wasn't sure how she'd blown up.
Much like an overnight sensation, she had been posting images and makeup tutorials as an over-compensating teenager when she'd been spotted with her unique eyes, her unique, uneven colors, her gothic look even naturally -- and she took the gothic and fashion world by storm.
She was never comfortable with cameras. Quinn was only a good actress, someone who had done well in theater class in high school but hadn't done enough to consider it a calling -- and in front of nothing but a machine without a soul and judgment in its single eye to watch her, she could pull off her best performance as a cool, composed vixen with enchantment in her eyes and mysticism in her very breath, something to marvel at and pay attention to. She stole the breath away of her fans.
At least, that was how her fans addressed it and how her agents described her in the magazines. She was never able to attach such thoughts to her own image, being far too afraid of seeming vain or snarky to accept compliments or positive remarks about herself. Still yet, she had matured during her career; she was comfortable in her own skin once she was years down the line, and in her work, it showed. Up until she had planned to hold a show to meet and greet her fans, nearly sold out the small auditorium that had been booked...and drove her little heart wild with glee and fear alike. Mostly fear.
Could she do this?
--
"You've seen her in your favorite magazines. You've gazed upon her work everywhere. Fans of the things that go bump in the night, rally up some applause and welcome your Midnight Empress...Elvira!!"Oh god. Oh, god. This was such a terrible idea.
Breathe. You can do this. Her eyes squeezed shut nervously, ears pinned back against her head as she paced behind the curtains. Her tail swayed delicately, oh so meekly skirting around the things she could have been trampling or knocking down deliberately.
"Oh, no, I can't," she whispered to herself, feeling frustrated tears welling in her eyes. "This was such a bad idea. Why did I let them talk me into this-!?"
"Quinn, hon? You doing okay?" Her shoulders jumped as a voice entered the small space and her agent, Isabelle, perked her ears. "They're crying your name out there. Aren't you excited?"
"No!" Her retort was a little sharp, making her own muzzle sting as if it had been bitten. However, Isabelle still gently clapped a paw on her shoulder.
"Hey, now. It's okay to be nervous," she said comfortingly, and Quinn's eyes shifted to look away. "Look at me, sweet pea," she insisted softly, until Quinn hesitantly obeyed, trying desperately not to cry in front of the other viscet. "You're alright. How do you pep yourself up for a video or a shoot, hm?"
"D-don't talk to me like I'm a little kid," she muttered, as if stubbornly trying to avoid the question...before she swallowed hard and forced out a reply. "I just--I don't know, I do it."
Isabelle was quiet, then, simply watching her with a mild look in her eyes.
"...I...I remind myself that I'm me, and Elvira is a character. And...I made her. She can be whatever I want because I understand her more than anyone else ever could. Because she's a part of me I can't be every day." She relaxed a little, wiping away her tears.
Distantly, she could hear the cries growing louder.
"Elvira!! Elvira!!"Her heart throbbed in her chest as she looked up at Isabelle, who smiled warmly at her.
"What's the difference between those times and now?" she asked, although from the way her tone carried, it wasn't meant for an answer. It was a prod for action.
Quinn hesitated before she straightened herself up and ran her paws under her eyes to dry her tears again, taking a small breath and composing herself. Isabelle was right; she just had to try her best to pretend that the people outside were...just a bunch of cameras. With voices. And eyes...
N-no, c'mon, you can do it. A small snort of breath left her nose and she composed herself, tipping her chin up as she pushed the curtains aside, hearing the cheers split the air harder than ever. Her spine stiffened and she felt her heart nearly stop as she stared out at the crowd, all the sorts of people she never thought she would have actually interacted with before.
Her fans.
"...." She made her way to the center of the stage, waiting patiently for the crowd to simmer down. It didn't, really; it was like a mass that couldn't be tamed from her perspective, something that made her stomach twist with anxiety even after her agent's pep talk.
Her voice spilled into the microphone before she realized what she was doing.
"U-uh.."
Her blood ran cold as all eyes bore into her and silence swept over the room in a rush, making her somehow even more nervous than she'd ever been with all of the noise before. Silence was her enemy here. "Th-thank you all for coming out," she stammered, forcing herself to move as she flinched from the excited cheers that answered her words. Didn't they see how ridiculous she looked, wallowing when she had an image to uphold?
Remember your blocking. Don't get nervous.Don't get nervous? Hah!
--
"Honestly, Elvira is such an amazing icon. I mean, she's, like...beautiful AND awkward. She's totally cool and I think she shows that you don't have to be flawless and perfect to be good at stuff."A clatter of a book onto the table Quinn was reading her phone off of made her jump as Emeric slid into his seat across from her,
fidgeting a little with a soft, meek 'hey' before Bernadette swung around, fur flying from her mouth.
"Quinn! Oh, darlin', I saw how good you did at that show. Well, I couldn't see it. Bucko here could." She aggressively nudged her host body, who fidgeted and glanced around with an apparently embarrassed look on his face. "
Anyway...details!! How on earth did you not fall apart on-stage!?"
"I-I don't know. Uh...I'm kind of surprised I still have a fanbase," Quinn muttered, adjusting the glasses resting on her muzzle. In all honesty, it had tanked. She was too nervous to stay on stage for more than a few minutes, having hardly gotten through her introduction and beginning of her show before she'd finally felt so sick she had to flee the stage. The ringing cries and pleas for her to come back still haunted her mind. God, she was such a screw-up.
"Hey." Her ear twitched as Emeric's soft voice sounded again, her teary eyes lowering to see that he'd sufficiently clamped his elbow atop Bernadette's hair to keep her mouth shut while she squirmed. The sight made her giggle and she shifted, sniffling as he spoke.
"People...um." Emeric shrugged a little.
"When people think you're perfect, it's...not as good as it sounds. They expect a lot out of you." He picked her phone up, scanning the comments Quinn had been reading and smiling a bit. "We've all known you're kind of...you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she muttered softly, feeling her fur grow hot, but she let him finish.
"Your fans, I mean. They already knew you weren't a paradigm of perfection, and they liked that. You're not normal or stuck-up or amazing with people or attention -- and I don't mean bad...um..." He shifted again. "I-I'm sorry. It's coming out all wrong.."
Bernadette finally flung her mouth open again with glee, jerking so harshly that Emeric was nearly jostled to his feet again.
"Q, you're lame. People know you're lame and they
relate to it. It's a good lame!!"
Quinn snorted and shifted, smiling a little at the way the sentient tail spoke. "I-I guess? I mean...that's what they're all saying, anyway. They're just being kind of nice about it."
"They could be saying a lot worse..." Emeric mumbled. "And it's not often that celebrities get cut so much slack for something like that. It just goes to show how much people care about you. Or--how inspired by you they are."
"B-but I'm just a model," she argued. "I'm not that great. I just...advertise stuff and try to look cool."
"Yeah, but you
also make trends, make people think being goth is
cool--" Bernadette was cut off by the stern, soft sigh from Emeric - "and, ya know, you're pretty. I think. Can't see ya."
"I-I guess." She couldn't hide her little smile at the thought. "What do you think...if I made some daily videos or something? Vlogs? To show I'm just, y'know...me. An everyday person."
"That's great!" Emeric replied, an excited look in his eyes. "I think everyone would love that. If not everyone, then...well, almost everyone. It's worth a shot."
"I think so, too!" Excitement bubbled inside of her and she grinned, taking her phone back. "I'll make a post about it later today,
I think. Say cheese!!" She had to act fast before he fled.
She gave an eager grin to the camera as she turned and held her phone up, clicking a picture while Emeric let out a noise akin to a squawk of surprise.
"Quinn!!"
"Sorry. Gotta show off my family, y'know~"
Family. Yeah, that would be a good caption for this photo.
Her family away from her family of fans.
