C is for Creativity, Celuloid and Cash!

Let's make those trashy blockbuster script into absolute works of... uh, palatable cinema.

It's time to grit those teeth and head for Silenus Industries. You got a script to finish and find a group of others to get invested in it with.

A) the dream has brought up memories of your childhood friends, maybe worth seeing her.

Have to run into Maebe at some point and tell her to stop making your boyfriend think you're crazy.

>>1099875
C) need to do our job in a way he may be after our collective cunts but we still got a job to do

>>1099895
This, calm before the storm.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100655 ID: 92a30c
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>Let’s make those trashy blockbuster scripts into absolute works of palatable cinema.
It’s pretty rainy waiting for the bus. I think the weatherman says it’ll last a good while. April showers, I suppose. I make sure the basin is empty before leaving.

Arriving at the studio, I think about what may have happened with that script. I have my old ID--and wonder if I’m still in the system. Nevertheless Lars lets me through. Muscle memory guides my legs through the lobby and into the elevator. It feels weird how automated my path is to the correct floor.

And here are the writers.

Bo: My, my, look who has returned.

Roy: Crawlin’ back to us, huh? Heh heh.

Marlene: Hey guys.

Dolly: Let me be the first to welcome you back, Marley! The second time’s the charm, right?

Marlene: I guess I am back, huh? Hopefully I won’t freak out like last time. I’ll have to see what Mr. Booth has in store for me.

Dolly: Oh! Yeah, Nico wants to see you in his office before you start your day. He’ll probably pit you with us. You sure know how to spot the good stuff, don’t-cha?

I utter an awkward chuckle.

Marlene: Wish me luck, then.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100656 ID: 92a30c
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I patiently wait outside Booth’s office. Someone else has just finished a meeting. The stranger notices me and pauses a moment.

Stranger: Huh. You must’ve been the one on the phone. Marlin, right?

Marlene: Marlene. But close enough. Do I know--?

Stranger: Oh! It’s me, Devon. Devon Neiro! You were the one who read my father’s story. I met your boss to sell the rights to the script.

Devon: I drove all the way here during the weekend to negotiate.

Immediately I shake his hand.

Marlene: Right! Devon! Of course! It’s nice to meet you in person! It sounds like it... went well!

Devon: Oh yeah. There are still a couple of things to sign but it’s in your hands now.

Devon: I still want to thank you for honoring my father--at least a part of him could live on in some way.

Devon: I read a bit of it; it’s not really my thing and it’s hard to follow in some parts. But you seemed thrilled and invested on the phone; maybe you’ll make something of it. I’ll just stick to crime dramas.

Marlene: It’s still good to meet you. I won’t keep ya from where you’re going. Have yourself a good day.

Devon: Let me know when the movie’s out, alright? Heh heh. You take care, Marlene.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100657 ID: 92a30c
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I walk in Mr. Booth’s office. He’s glad to see me--we make with quick pleasantries before I segue into work-mode.

Marlene: Where’s my station, boss?

Nico: You’re in the middle of a big change at Silenus. We’re wrapping up shows before the quarter’s end; the distributors we collaborate with will drop any IPs which failed to garner attention. And like I’ve said before, I’m being forced to... reevaluate... my current staff.

Nico: Out with the old, I suppose. It’ll bring in a slew of new ideas that you may have a chance to hop on.

I’m silent, but I notice how I’m standing at attention nodding at each sentence. He notices his ramblings-on.

Nico: If you haven’t heard by now, I convinced the higher-ups to purchase that script.

Nico: It wasn’t easy.

Nico: But they were mildly agreeable in the end--I’m expecting your best in this story. I’m not going to be made a fool for entrusting you. Is that understood?

Marlene: Yes. Thank you... sir.

Nico: My associates won’t let this relax either. Amused by my vouch for this unfinished, convoluted script, they ordered the whole thing to be finished within the next four weeks.

Marlene: Four goddamn weeks?

Nico: Hey, at least it’s partially done. You can work with what you’ve got.

Nico: But that’s where the favor ends. You’ll work on it as promised, but...

Nico: I’ve paired you with another writer to speed things along.

Marlene: What?! I mean--who?

Nico: I’ve passed the script around; and I’ve appointed Ms. Cameron as your co-writer.

Marlene: Dolly?

Nico: Yes! You two will work just fine. Also, feel free to sift through any more golden scripts we have lying around on your free time.

Nico: But I must usher you on out. I’m about to be flooded with calls.

Nico: And Marlene... welcome back.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)14:00 No. 1100658 ID: 92a30c
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Ushered I was. I hurry on back with the script and a notebook. I’m a bit concerned whether Dolly felt the same as I did reading the story. I’m not saying she aint clever at writing, but I feel Kaleidoscope is my baby now.

Am I going to be too obsessive? I’ll have to keep an open mind.

Marlene: So you’ve read the script, huh? And you have no problem understanding the plot?

Dolly: I’ve already caught up with it! The story is interesting and all--but I think we ought to dumb it down. Ya know?

Dolly: The average audience can barely remember what happens every twenty minutes when they see a movie. It’s our job to captivate and appeal to as many people as we can!

Marlene: I get that, sure. But... maybe it can still be a bit... ambitious?

Dolly: Let’s just get the basic plot points down first; then we’ll slap whatever ambition we have saved on top if there’s time!

Dolly: We’ll zoom through the script. And before you know it, it’ll already be May!

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)14:44 No. 1100670 ID: 92a30c
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Dolly: So we have our inciting incident and a bit of act 2; we need to keep the situation rising to a climax!

Dolly: Have you thought about an ending yet? I think we should just get that out of the way. Then fill everything in-between.

Dolly: Jason is stuck in a timeloop or something. Right? Let’s get the easy solutions out of the way. I can propose a few things to get us started:

>a. Dolly: It can all be just a dream I guess! Uh, about a kid who needs to make a hard decision! That’s just one that comes to mind first.
>b. Dolly: Or Jason is actually in a coma and has to find his way back to reality!
>c. Dolly: Or it’s the future and an old Jason wears a machine to recall and change memories!
>d. Dolly: Maybe Jason can learn how to solve an equation to turn back time! Talks to another Jason, even! Somehow.

>e. Marlene: I can think of one better... [___]
>f. Marlene: I’d rather just pick up where the story left off, first...
Last Chapters
[>>/questarch/1068908] Vodka & Soda
[>>/questarch/1070316] Conflicting Memories
[>>/questarch/1073379] The Prom
[>>/questarch/1080630] The Anchor (Kaleidoscope Rules)

Hmm, maybe Jason manages to contact other versions of himself, probably at another turning point in each of their lives, and begins steering them towards a better path, better choices.

Then he realizes that each time a Jason makes a good life choice, other worlds splinter from that timeline, worlds in which Jason took a different route.
He begins dispairing, thinking all his choices are meaningless. Then he has an experience, in the climax of the story, that drives him to realize that changing all lives and also the cosmos is more than any one person can do, but he still influenced the other Jasons a little and there is one life he can truly change.

His own.

And then he goes back. Back to his original body, permanently injured from the car crash, and his life somewhat worse for the wear because of it. But Ellz is there.And so are his friends. Memories come back to him of what his life has been since his first jump. It wasn't perfect, and he often hesitated and doubted himself, but he made the most of his limitations.

Ellz notices he's startled and ask him what's wrong.
Jason, now finally resolute in the life he wants to live, says he wants to go somewhere special with her and his buddies on vacation after graduation and ask her what place she would love to visit. Ellz then says "Hmm, I'm not sure...

What would your choice be?"

Aaaaand scene!

Jason learns that there's more to life than just his little multiple-choice life. In all his choices up to that point, he kept failing to make the one choice he should have pursued: finding out where his power came in the first place.

Jason is not a hero. There is no version of him that is a super-soldier, a teen genius, a born leader, or even a lucky guy. But he is there, where he is needed. And that ends up being enough.
This time, Jason lets himself get hit by the car, and in a fit of truly spoiled, childish rage, points all his hostility at the driver, keeping him tied up by Jason and his friends long enough for the police to arrive and discover that the driver was a monstrous slave trafficker; there is a little girl in his trunk, tied up and barely able to breathe. Jason is left with crippling injuries but 'somehow' always manages to pull through the surgeries, eventually taking an experimental one that enhances his mobility. It turns out that Jason originally didn't have superpowers, but the girl in the trunk did. The people who kidnapped her only knew that she was 'abnormally lucky' and decided to sell her to an ex-president some big corporate CEO, yep, most definitely. She visits him in secret a few times, telling him about the secret world behind the curtain, all the people with powers that are constantly exploited, and how, in a fit of desperation, she felt him about to die and tried to give him all the myriad ways of living at once so he'd come back knowing how to position himself to not get splattered.

When his mom is finally able to visit, Jason insists on adopting the girl, who is now in an orphanage. She ends up being troublesome at times - every time Jason tries to date one of the girls, she ends up hitting on them as well, encouraging a threesome no matter how discomforted the girls get - but this time, Jason and his sister aren't alone.

There's a big scene at the end where Jason and his sister are represented with little lights, and the city opens up to reveal sparse lights throughout - that, no matter how many bad choices you make or how many things you regret, as long as there's a world around you, there's always a way to find happiness - you just have to choose to look for it.

Oh and the cyber master from your dreams puppeteering a few people in the city from above.

>>1100693
Something along these lines seems right. What he needs to learn is that the other timelines he's been visiting are just as valid, there isn't a 'right' one. You have to live with your decisions and improve your life from there, not obsess on how things could have been different.

>>1100670

C'mon, Dolly, we've got TONS of media that deals with weird time-jumping stuff. Several movies have done it already, so why not stick to the central theme?

It's real. Jason has died multiple times, but as one path closes down, a new one opens if he can just hold out long enough to see it to the end.

And isn't that the point? To keep going no matter what?

Because even if it feels like you're living a dozen different nightmares and you can't remember which of it was real, you'll always be the one sure constant in your world.

If anything, it feels almost moralistic; you've got one life, so you can either wait for things to change or you can make your best attempt at living it.

No Dolly, the point here isn't "going back in time", it's learning from failures and moving forward! You are right though, establishing what his end goal is now rather than later on is going to make getting there a lot clearer.

The end goal for Jason should be pictured around him and his true love finally being able to stay together. A good way to start drawing in the audience more could be to start kicking up the action. Most of the bad things going on to Jason were focused on him directly. What if now things start to turn, it's bad things happening to the people around him and he has to use his knowledge to save them!

Whatever ending we choose, I feel his mother has to play a huge part in it. It's been established that she is an anchor to his timelines in some way.

Jason can't win, every time he tries to recover, things change to make it worse. He's given up, and walks onto the highway, intending to finish what was started all those years ago. He faces the oncoming truck that should have killed him in his youth. His brother shoves him out of the way. Roll credits!

In essence, the themes thus far have been about missed opportunities, anxiety, depressive spirals, and longing for a better life. The ending should reflect how even at his worst, he resolves to make decisions that work to make things better, not to give in to hopelessness, and find a way forward no matter the path or the whims of chance.

Once he stops trying to find the right timeline, or bemoaning what could have been or the horrors he suffers in other ones, that decision should be an inflection point that starts going all the way to the climax. Show how he works at his life, no matter what life it is, to make it better. What was previously just him throwing things at the wall trying to find a way forwards is now a determined act to improve the lives of himself and the people around him, whatever the circumstances, even when he stumbles or miscalculates.

It should start slow. One life, one agonizing decision at a time, making improvements. And then he shifts to another. Each time, he gets better and better and the shifts come more rapidly. At some point it should start to become ambiguous whether the shifts are him hopping timelines again or if the editing is showing -all- of his lives, not just where he is now.

As time goes on and he continues to work through all the timelines he can see, editing picks up. Rapid pace, every decision, every little thing he can do. Show his mother the care she deserves, his brother, whether it's him in reality or just his memory, his girlfriend, whether just having her in his life as a romantic partner, a friend, or even just a stranger given space. Finally it cuts to him dead, lying in a hospital bed, killed by a truck collision or something, and surrounded by people he cares about, the last point in any timeline that jason ever lived in, maybe. After that the conclusion can just be really normally-shot conversations of the people around him talking about how he made their lives better, how he kicked his drug problems, how he never stopped working to improve while the credits roll. Even dead, jason has a smile on his face.

The emotional core of the movie is about doing the best with what you've got. As long as that emotional core is there, you don't actually have to worry that much about dumbing things down. That part, audiences will get.

Marlene Collins 2025/08/05(Tue)17:42 No. 1112315 ID: 8179f5
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>We've got TONS of media that deals with weird time-jumping stuff
Marlene: No, Dolly, there’s no going back in time. Let’s not use that to fall back on just yet.

Marlene: You sure you’ve read the script?

Dolly: Of course! I’m only suggesting something the audience can be familiar with, after all!

Dolly: I mean, we own it now. Scripts will drastically change; it’s just a fact in this business. Before you know it we’ll be out of time so we’ll have to compromise on something.

Marlene: Well sure... possibly. W-We’ll put a pin on that for now. What matters more is how he has improved his character. Just picture it--

Marlene Collins 2025/08/05(Tue)17:43 No. 1112316 ID: 8179f5
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Marlene: There would be a low point. He’ll feel all choices are meaningless.

Marlene: He realizes he can’t win. He knows despite everything he’ll do to make things right--it won’t stay for long.

Marlene: But he has to keep going, no matter what. These reality-hops won’t be an inconvenience--it must be his curse! We must emphasize that!

Marlene Collins 2025/08/05(Tue)17:43 No. 1112317 ID: 8179f5
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Marlene: He should learn from other timelines to help his friends.

Marlene: He’ll recognize the plight of one complete stranger, yet in another life where they loved each other--he knows everything about them.

Marlene: He’ll realize it shouldn’t be about him anymore. At least for a while.

>The end goal for Jason should be pictured around him and his true love finally being able to stay together.
>You have to live with your decisions and improve your life from there, not obsess on how things could have been different.
Marlene: I imagine a bittersweet ending. He’ll have to give up something and change his outlook on what’s more important.

Marlene: His love for Elsa will always be there. And as long as he figures out a way to make sure she and all his friends are alright, he should learn to be content with that to the very end.

Marlene: In the end, there will always be a timeline where he’s happy with her. Old and still together. Somewhere out there.

Marlene Collins 2025/08/05(Tue)17:44 No. 1112318 ID: 8179f5
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Dolly: Waaaait!

Dolly ...

Dolly: What about the whole time-hopping thing? Why does it happen? You can’t leave people hanging like that.

Dolly: Jason should figure out where he got this power in the first place.

Marlene: I don’t... really see it as a superpower though.

Dolly: Howabout we just make the ending now? I’ll scribble down that Jason wakes up after being hit by a car with his brother. Everything he experienced is summed up in a coma or near-death experience. Okay? Good.

Marlene: Ugh. I guess... for now.

I don’t like that at all. But anything to get her less-than-stellar ideas out of the way so I can concentrate. I’ll bring up the ending once we get there.

Dolly: There! That wasn’t so hard. Now we have a goal to move towards. What kind of scene should we write next? Oh! Maybe he jumps into the body of a serial killer! Or another timeline where everything’s the same but a meteor hits so he must survive underground for a while.

Marlene: Ya know what? We can write our own ideas for scenes and compare them later! We can work faster that way.

Dolly: Sure! I know I have some good ideas cooking up.

Marlene Collins 2025/08/05(Tue)17:46 No. 1112320 ID: 8179f5
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While Dolly does her thing, I seclude myself and wonder which scene I should work out. I could write up a new anchor for him to solve. I have several ideas at the top of my head.

>a. I could have him try balancing his multiple relationships
>b. He could be saving a friend, learning from his other selves
>c. His intrusive thoughts win him over; he can do anything he wants
>d. It makes sense for him to seek for an answer
>e. >___

e) Some of the alternate timelines get weird and incomprehensible.

c. Challenge and disprove the notion that nothing matters just because there are infinite possibilities.

C is the only correct answer.

>>1112320

B.

Each one's tempting for its own reason, but this is the only one that will bring us to a meaningful resolution.

Maybe that's been the point: finally getting it right.

B. I think he’d feel guilty ruining his other selves lives doing C

B, but enough of C that he feels and acts liberated to take risks to help others, whether the thoughts suggest specific things or not, and it is taking risks to help others like his friend, as well as learning from others, as well as overcoming his fears, that helps.

Seems like you and Dolly are going to be butting heads quite a bit on this project.

Let's go with B. for now. Seems like the most natural approach. Might also be simple enough approach that you get some wiggle room to "negotiate" with any curve ball ideas Dolly tosses at you.

> Everything he experienced is summed up in a coma or near-death experience
> Maybe he jumps into the body of a serial killer! Or another timeline where everything’s the same but a meteor hits so he must survive underground for a while.

Oh, no. No, Dolly... she can't write serenity. You gotta help her understand that audiences will eat that shit up even if it isn't satisfying, even if it's confusing and ambiguous. They'd be outraged over an inconclusive ending, but so what? Done right, it'll just add to your notoriety and get people thinking. And moviegoers LOVE thinking.

It's the difference between a subpar B movie and a cult classic. This isn't going to be a cinematic AAA blockbuster, so going for the latter would be... good for business in the long run. Unless you've got one of those insurance schemes like they got in Germany, where you get to cash out when your movie "accidentally" flops?

Point being, do not have him wake up from a coma. Fade to black and middle finger to the audience is a better ending. (Waking up from a coma could happen in the terrible sequel no one likes though.)

E) Honestly, it feels like going through the stages of grief is a pretty good folow up to the situation: first Jason tries to look for a clue or hint as to what's going on, but with the turmoil of the situation itself and his poor ability to discern things beyond face value, he doesn't get anywhere, so he tries to simply manage the situation and his disparate relationships as best he can.
The brunt of the second act is shaped by how he tries to keep up with that unmanageable situation until the building pressure finally makes him lash out by treating his ordeal like consequence free rollercoaster, which creates the conflict that brings everything to a head in the poverbial third act of the film.

Jason Emerson 2025/08/12(Tue)18:03 No. 1112614 ID: 8179f5
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>[Dolly] can’t write serenity [...] going for [a subpar movie and cult classic] would be good for business in the long run
I can’t make him just wake up like it’s all a dream. I hope I find a much better conclusion than that. I wonder how involved the producers and Nico will be--if they’ll agree with Dolly for the popcorn-munching writing.

Alright, it’s time to put my brain to the test here. Let’s give him a goal to work towards. Something that utilizes his gift.

aHEM

--The anchors become more frequent. Sometimes they come in blips; I barely dip in the kaleidoscope and several lives compress in my head.

Like a migraine, I must wait it out until the world stands still.

Where am I?

I’m supposed to be restocking my fridge but my eye caught the newspaper: the obituaries. I felt a need to be here. I knew this person. They were nothing to the current Jason I possess until that moment.

Too many names in my head now. Others have died prematurely in my life. Who was it this time?

Oh right. Her.

Jason Emerson 2025/08/12(Tue)18:04 No. 1112615 ID: 8179f5
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Maeve.

Poor Maeve.

She didn’t deserve this.

Weeds are growing in the corner of the cemetery. The chilling breeze scoots rotten leaves here. Where is everybody? Her family? Who was she to the world?

I remember now; it was years ago when I was depressed. I attended an underground concert; it was just local emo bands spewing garbage noise. She was there and accidentally head-banged me. My nose was gushing blood and she dabbed a towel out back. She said I have beautiful eyes. I complimented her hair--I didn’t know what else to say. We ditched the venue and I smoked some pot with her.

But instead I had left the club early. It felt pointless to be there and I rented a movie nearby. We never ran into one another.

Could I have prevented this? Is it my fault she’s dead?

Jason Emerson 2025/08/12(Tue)18:04 No. 1112616 ID: 8179f5
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Is this a memory or happening simultaneously? I’m pumped full of hurt right now and I want to go away. Far away. Leave this hurt behind.

But there’s no place to go. Am I stuck here with her?

Do I really want to leave her like this? I wanted to save myself from this life.

This isn’t living.

Maeve: Nyuuuuuugh...

Maeve: Jason.

Maeve: Why are you so good to me?

"Because I know you. Like really know you."

>>1112626
This

"i don't think i'm being good. i think i'm just decent and you're used to it."

"What do you mean? I don't feel like I'm doing anything special."

Time doesn't last long enough to spend it otherwise.

Jason Emerson 2025/08/21(Thu)21:02 No. 1113076 ID: a6401c
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I’m trying to put words together; the drug vibrates under my skin.

Jase: Because I know you.

Maeve: Hmmhmm

Jase: I mean...

I need to get you out of here.

Jase: Really. Know you.

Jase: I dunno. Maybe I always know to do the decent thing.

Jase: But I wish I could fix everything. I wish it was enough to ease your pain.

Maeve: Awe, Jase.

Maeve: You’re a good drug to me. Heh heh.

We’re chilling in an abandoned warehouse. Maeve has found a little nook for herself whenever she becomes homeless. And it happens quite often. In some ways I’ve moved in with her. Saves some rent money for me during the hotter seasons and we’re just living day-to-day.

Jason Emerson 2025/08/21(Thu)21:03 No. 1113077 ID: a6401c
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The thing I know about Maeve, and possibly applying to everyone else, is that her past is constant up to my first anchor with Len.

Maeve would’ve always been born without her father.

Maeve’s mother would’ve always been eager to find love and remarry fast--and stuck with the worst husband in fear of being alone again.

Maeve would’ve always been abused by her stepdad throughout her entire childhood, and found comfort in drugs and alcohol.

She’s needy; she doesn’t like being alone. There are times where I wanted to leave her and yet I’m convinced to stay. Every job we pick up doesn’t last. She usually helps out a friend at the mall or sells pot and painkillers in the back. Sometimes harder stuff. She’s pretty resourceful when it gets tough.

Surprised she lasted this long.

Jason Emerson 2025/08/21(Thu)21:05 No. 1113078 ID: a6401c
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I feel her spine shudder. Her pale skin is cool, chilled from the breeze through the cracks of the building.

Maeve: Brrr. Can’t believe it’s autumn already. I forget how cold it gets in here.

Maeve: I’ll have you to warm me up though~

She straddles me with her naked body hovering over mine. I know she sometimes likes the tingling feeling when naked in a cold stone room. She feels me up tenderly.

Maeve: It’s still six in the afternoon.

Maeve: Nuthin’ for us to do. We’ll hang with Garvey later. I hear he’s got a new stash for us to sell.

Maeve: Let’s pass the time. We’re gonna die soon anyway--let’s get fucked or fucked up <3

>a. Have sex
>b. Take drugs
>c. Settle a minute and talk about her. (What about?)
>d. Try to give advice? (What?)
>e. >___

A) get the blood pumping before you give the speech that turns your lives around. Surely you'll think of something by the time you're done fucking.

>>1113078

A, for now. A little intimacy can make it easier to talk, sometimes, as much as help convince her to listen.

Because we need to get her -- get both of us -- out of here.

C. Talk about your living situation. The two of you can't make it through the winter like this in here.

E: notice your changing tattoo.

Have drugs, take sex

Write a different segment.