Maru's World
A Mally-kun production
Episode 1
The Phantom Maru
Author's Note: Hi! I'm Mally-kun, and thank you for reading my new story. The basic gist of this story is that this is set in a world not too unlike our own, except for that anime is shot in studios with live actors just like any other show. It's an anime world, we just live in it. Our hero is Maru Haboku, a mid-twenties worker at one of these studios. For those who want to keep a timeline of events for some reason, It's Nov. 30th in this story. The technical stuff:
None of these characters are mine, except for Maru. The title is done in 22 pt. Valiant, this author's note in 11 pt. Tubular, and this chapter in 13 pt. Trekker.
See if you can't catch all the character modifications and various references along the way! Never mind when there's bad grammar in people's thoughts and speech, because that's the way they talk, not the way I write. I guarantee the other notes will be smaller than this.
"aaaaaaaand...CUT!"
Maru couldn't believe it. He had only been to an anime studio one time before, and that had only been so the Studio Director could decide to hire him... His first day of work was just about over, and he smiled, reflecting on how many people were passed over before he got the job. It was exciting, and even more exciting was tonight he was invited to a party, and many of the big names in anime were slated to be there. He'd get to meet some of his favorite stars, and the wait was killing him. He looked at his watch. "5 o'clock. I got three hours till the –"
"WHERE THE HELL IS MY COFFEE!"
Maru sighed, brought back to the present by Kagome's yell. She seemed to be a lot nicer once the cameras were rolling, but the success of her series had gone to her head. Maru had already experienced how violent she would get when she didn't get her way quickly, and some idiot had forgotten to give her her latte. 'Oh... wait... I'm that idiot.'
Maru quickly scurried over to the young star, handing her the beverage. She grabbed it, acknowledging his presence with a curt nod, and took a sip.
"BLECH! What IS this crap!"
"i'm terribly sorry, Miss Higurashi. They were out of your normal blend, and –"
"GOD! Can't you do ANYTHING right? Get out of my sight!"
Good... she hadn't started chucking things yet. Maru Quickly ducked out one of the doors, and heard the crash of a cup hitting the all behind him. 'Just in time' he thought with a chuckle. He walked off, into the next part of the studio, where they were just wrapping up an episode of Ranma ½. He spied Ryoga off to the side, obviously not in this bit, and quietly made his way over to him. Ryoga smiled as he noticed the elfin1 man. "Hey! What's up? Why are you here? Doing a bit of work as an extra?" Maru smiled at his long time friend. "Nah. I work the studio... mostly a gopher2. I haven't seen you since high school... well.. besides on the TV." Ryoga and Maru had gone to school together for 8 years, and now Ryoga, who was in his twenties, made it big playing a high school age character. 'Come to think of it, they seem to like using older people for younger chars3... I think Kagome's like 20ish.'
"So you goin' to the party, P-chan?" Ryoga grimaced. "God I hate that nickname... no, I'm gonna be busy tonight." Maru laughed at this, and nudged Ryoga conspiratorially. "Ooh... got yourself a lady friend, do ya?" Ryoga blushed. "No, it's not that. I'm-" Unfortunately, the conversation was cut short, as at that moment one of the anti-fire sprinklers came on, dousing Ryoga in cold water. Sadly, his curse was real, and a little black pig squirmed it's way out of the pile of clothes.
"Oops... lemme fix that" someone from up above said, and Maru
sweat-dropped4. "Meh... I gotta go pig, I'll see you later." Maru walked away, leaving P-chan to sit and squeal.
1 I haven't decided if Maru is actually an Elf, or if he just is elf-like... he does have pointy ears though. For now Elfin will just refer to his Elf like qualities
2 Gopher is a term used in studios, offices, and many other jobs. It refers to someone who for the most part is there to go out and get stuff for the actors/boss/someone else. They get to "go-fer" whatever is needed (or wanted) and thus they get the nick name. Other common names would be "intern", "slave", and "Fetchboy" (or girl)
3 Chars is a commonly used abbreviation for characters, in this sense
4 a common sight in anime/manga, the little teardrop of sweat that appears for pretty much any occasion.