And so, Skuld is about the worst mistake you ever could during a group project- not whining about the people that are supposed to help you. -_-
Fun fact: back in March I made Anora, Skuld, Ephemer, and the Foretellers as Sims in the Sims 4. I got very, very punny with their last names. These last names are also the ones I'm using for this AU- spare for Ephemer's, since he and Ava are family.
Thank you for reading!
Already two days in, and this play was a total disaster. Skuld had been the only volunteered director to show up- she immediately set out to work despite this. No use whining about a bunch of people who couldn't keep a commitment.
To make things worse, the callbacks were possibly the worst planned part of the play. Most of the time, the actors were chosen before the play was even written. This then lead to either a shortage of actors or actors that were least than qualified to act their roles. Not this year. Not with Skuld making sure that the writers of the play started work right after the formal.
The initial scripts had looked pretty good- Skuld was able to get the main characteristics of each role for use during the callbacks. She just hoped that it wouldn't change too much in the writers' second revision. In fact, she even told the script writers that they were not allowed to add any characters, or change their basic descriptions and personalities at all. It would nip that actor shortage problem right in the bud. If you couldn't make a reasonable play with a set list of characters, then were you even a good writer?
Skuld shifted through the consistently growing dossier she had complied of notes and reminders for the play. Trying to figure out the script was only the first part. Today the callbacks were being held in the main section of the auditorium. This wasn't the best second step, but it would do.
As Skuld entered the auditorium, Mrs. Tremaine was already setting up a spot to sit at. The musical director noticed Skuld before the girl could notice the teacher.
"Is it just you?" Ms. Tremaine curiously asked. It wasn't unusual for only one director to show up for callbacks, so Skuld found the question as a rhetoric. Regardless, she wasn't going to be rude to a teacher, so the girl gave Ms. Tremaine a nod.
"There's a lot to do this year." Skuld grumbled as she took a seat. This answer seemed to assure the musical director as she nodded back.
"Every year feels like that." the older teacher agreed as she sat next to Skuld. In curiosity, Ms. Tremaine caught a glimpse of Skuld's dossier. A smirk crossed her face as she looked back at Skuld. "I assume you've got an impressive game plan?"
Skuld gave the teacher a nod a she pulled out a small envelope filled with note cards. "I have character notes." she absently announced, handed the stack to Ms. Tremaine. The older teacher raised an eyebrow before taking the note cards. Her face soon twisted into an expression boarding both amusement and surprise.
"Good grief, girl," she remarked- her voice sounding just as conflicted. "They're color coordinated!"
"And alphabetized."
Ms. Tremaine then shot Skuld an unreadable look. Based off the character notes, all of them had been written in Skuld's handwriting. Another glance over the dossier also gave snippets of Skuld's own writing without any indication of another. Being the teacher she was, Ms. Tremaine was immediately suspicious. Sure, it wasn't unusual for Skuld to take a project by its horns- she wouldn't have been the first or last student to do so, but wasn't she getting help? Ms. Tremaine had looked up at the sign up sheets herself. There was no way that Skuld was the only director…
"Are we ready to start?" Skuld asked, snapping Ms. Tremaine out of her thoughts. Ah well, she was sure Skuld would say something if anything was wrong.
"You bet." Ms. Tremaine agreed, bending down to pick up her megaphone. "First up is Hazel Hearn, trying out for a secondary female role." Then, without warning, Ms. Tremaine belted into the megaphone, "Hazel, you're up first!"
Out from the wings came a girl with bright red hair and a mousy face. Skuld took out her note cards on secondary roles as she looked from them and to the girl. As Hazel began the rehearsed one minute speech, Skuld made notes on her performance- anything ranging from voice inflections to how much confidence they gave while up on stage.
The rest of the callbacks followed in a similar manner. Ms. Tremaine would announce the student, what role they intended to fill, and Skuld would watch them while reviewing her notes. It made her job a lot easier when the students actually knew what role they wanted. When they were finished, Skuld and Ms. Tremaine discussed the student's performance and whether they were suited for that particular role. Ms. Tremaine gave Skuld freedom on which students to keep. Some of them were going to incredibly bitter that Skuld had given them a background role instead of a lead.
A whole hour of this cycle wearily droned on. Skuld all but yawned as she questioned, "Is that all?"
"Nope. Just two more left." Ms. Tremaine encouraged. "First up is someone I'm sure you're familiar with: Ephemer Ryce. Auditioning for (and I quote) 'any role you deem necessary'."
Skuld gave a small snort. "Sounds like he wants to be cast as the waterboy." she mumbled to herself.
Ms. Tremaine also afforded a laugh as she brought her megaphone back to her lips.
"Alright Ephemer," she called out. "Get your chronically late bum out here and impress your best friend!"
"Now how is that fair?" the boy teasingly whined as he came out from the wings. "I'm only late once a month."
"Watch yourself buddy." Ms. Tremaine smirked. "You're treading on thin ice with that line."
The boy gave the teacher a wide, innocent smile before turning his attention to his friend. His face immediately fell.
"Are you alright, Skuld? You look..."
"Nothing I can't handle." she quickly dismissed. "Just start reciting the speech."
But he hesitated for a moment before finally giving in. Ephemer took his time with the speech- his voice clear and his voice perfectly reflecting his emotion. When he finished, he looked back at Skuld expectantly- as if he was waiting for her to reveal that she needed help, and not because he wanted a good role.
"Thank you Ephemer." Skuld coldly told him. "You can leave the stage now."
Ephemer still hesitated, but eventually did what he was told. With him gone, Ms. Tremaine looked over at Skuld.
"So, what did you think?" she asked, having full faith in Skuld's choices now. "Think he should come back?"
Skuld tapped her pencil against her lower lip in thought. "He spoke clearly enough." she mused out loud. "His emotional range was pretty decent as well. He also fits the basic physical description for the male lead- spare the hair, but that can easily be fixed."
"So we'll pen him down for first choice on the male lead. Sound fair?"
"Yes, do that." Skuld absently replied as she wrote down notes for the costume department. "Who's next?"
"Anora Ravishta." Ms. Tremaine replied- hearing the name made Skuld look up at her. "Like Ephemer, Anora doesn't have a role in mind."
Skuld's jaw slacked as Ms. Tremaine called Anora onto the stage. The older girl stared at the other when she recited the speech. A part of Skuld relaxed when it became easy to see that Anora lacked confidence on stage; it made much more sense now. Could there had been a small pang of jealousy? Maybe. But it was incredibly short lived and was easily replaced with sympathy.
When Anora finished, she didn't hesitate to give a formidable bow to Skuld and Ms. Tremaine before quickly dashing off stage.
"She's so cute." Ms. Tremaine cooed not a moment after. "She'd make a great secondary character. What do you think?"
But Skuld shook her head. "Understudy." she determined. "She doesn't have any confidence in herself. It affected her delivery, her posture, and her overall presence on stage. But if she would go on as an understudy, learn the way theater works, she could gain that confidence. Not that I'm rooting for anyone to get sick so she could step up- but since it is her first year at this school, it would be great to get the experience in." In the back of her mind, Skuld added, 'Especially since Ephemer is helping her.'
Ms. Tremaine studied Skuld for a moment- she could understand the logic of it. It did seem a bit unfair that a newer student (especially one placed in the later years) would be considered for anything but a background character or understudy. But there was something about Skuld's response that also seemed off. It wasn't something she could quite place…
"Is that the rest, then?" Skuld questioned, once more bringing Ms. Tremaine from her suspicious thoughts.
"Yep." the teacher affirmed. "Good luck with the rest of the play. Make sure you save some work for the rest of your team, alright?"
To her surprise, Skuld gave a bitter snort as she gathered her things together. In a grumble, she told the teacher, "That won't be a problem."