Medieval World? Prepare to be Dazzled!
"Umm, are you, like, totally sure about this, Ali?" Jude asked Alison Blair as he finished applying the super-glossy lacquer to the pop singer's lips.
"About as sure as I was when I decided that little lesbian publicity stunt with Mary Jane Watson was a good idea for that bomb of a movie we did together two summers ago," she said to her personal stylist as she stood up. She did her signature hair toss, her long, glittering blonde tresses effortlessly catching the light. Yeah. Alison Blair, the pop star lovingly called Dazzler by the media, looked ridiculously sexy and stylish.
Thank god, because this might be the last ever decent picture ever taken of her for public consumption if her latest publicity ploy backfired on her, no matter how honest this one actually was compared to her past ploys.
Alison walked up to the large podium and looked out into the sea of people as one of her biggest hits played softly in the background, signalling her arrival. The audience was filled with newspeople, bloggers, paparazzo, and adoring fans. Fans who Ali desperately prayed still adored her five minutes from now.
Shit. Maybe this was a bad idea.
The twenty-five year old's palms were starting to sweat and her heart started to thump against her all-too-real breasts. Breasts which the media were convinced were fake. As if even the most expensive fake breasts could bounce the way hers did.
For a moment, Ali wanted to run away from the scene and go into hiding somewhere. Anywhere that wasn't here, where people wouldn't recognize her. Maybe Africa. Or not. Hell, half of her peers had adopted kids from there. She'd definitely be recognized by someone.
It was weird. Alison was generally comfortable in front of a crowd. More than comfortable. She lived for it. The adulation the adoration. It was part of why she'd become a pop star in the first place. A real pop star, not like those freaks from YouTube or Disney Channel or American Idol. She had worked for it and done it on her own.
And now? Now that could possibly all go down the drain.
Ali licked her lips and cringed. She had told Jude a thousand times to switch lip products on her. This shit was too goopy! Oh, she was going to kill him when all of this was done.
"There's been a lot of speculation in recent years," she said, her voice carrying well over the speakers. "Speculation about my personal life, about the truth of who I am. Speculation which I have denied for a very long time." She took deep breath. "But it's an election year, and the world is changing. We're on the brink of a new tomorrow and I don't think it right that I start a new tomorrow with lies. Not if I want a better world. And isn't that what we all want? A better world? One where we can all get along, and let our music connect us with one another?" Crap. Her armpits were starting to sweat. That had better not ruin the outfit. She needed to look stunning on the eleven o'clock news. "Regardless of who we are, or what our station in life is? Regardless of if we're white, black, asian, latino, gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, human or mutant?" The audience gasped audibly at a few words in her speech. Most notably, the last six words. "This is why I've decided to tell the truth. To come out of the closet, as such. You see...oh hell. I'm a mutant."
Flashbulbs started blinding everyone but her and a flurry of questions suddenly flew her way. "Is your entire entourage filled with mutants?" "What's your mutant power? Is it mind control via your voice?" "Is Mary Jane Watson a mutant too?" "Is Dazzle Me, Honey, One More Time about your mutant love affair with superpowered-and-possibly-mutant actor SImon Williams?"
Shit. They didn't even take a minute to take a breath or get truly and silently horrified. They just attacked her with questions. Alison's eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open in an O of surprise. She didn't know who to answer first, or how to answer them.
Dammit, she should have just done a press release!
Just as she was about to tell the crowd to calm down, to ask her one question at a time, she disappeared.
Just...blinked out of existence.
The last thing the cameras caught of her was her horrified expression.
The next morning, all the gossip blogs had surmised that the singer known as Dazzler was either a mutant who's power was to disappear or a holographic publicity stunt by her record company. Either way, her career was over. If she ever returned, that was.
Pop!
"Aiiiieeee!" Alison Blair screeched as she fell on cold, damn grass. She struggled up to her feet, dusting off her mega-sparkly purple t-shirt [complete with super-sparkly golden starburst] off and moved for her iridescent silver pants next. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew." And then she looked around, noticing that she was...nowhere near home. "Ew? Where am I?" Gone was her podium, her microphone, her suddenly unadoring fan base. Y'know...maybe that's not such a bad thing. On the other hand...where the hell did I get transported to? She looked around, clearly worried. There was a grove of trees near her, and a dusty path. Nothing else. "Oh. Oh god. They did it. The government, like, totally did it! They sent me to like a mutant colony where they'll clean me up or something. Unmutify me and...just...ew!" Terror was clear across her face as she looked around desperately for a way out. But there was nothing except fresh, clean air and lots of open space.
"About as sure as I was when I decided that little lesbian publicity stunt with Mary Jane Watson was a good idea for that bomb of a movie we did together two summers ago," she said to her personal stylist as she stood up. She did her signature hair toss, her long, glittering blonde tresses effortlessly catching the light. Yeah. Alison Blair, the pop star lovingly called Dazzler by the media, looked ridiculously sexy and stylish.
Thank god, because this might be the last ever decent picture ever taken of her for public consumption if her latest publicity ploy backfired on her, no matter how honest this one actually was compared to her past ploys.
Alison walked up to the large podium and looked out into the sea of people as one of her biggest hits played softly in the background, signalling her arrival. The audience was filled with newspeople, bloggers, paparazzo, and adoring fans. Fans who Ali desperately prayed still adored her five minutes from now.
Shit. Maybe this was a bad idea.
The twenty-five year old's palms were starting to sweat and her heart started to thump against her all-too-real breasts. Breasts which the media were convinced were fake. As if even the most expensive fake breasts could bounce the way hers did.
For a moment, Ali wanted to run away from the scene and go into hiding somewhere. Anywhere that wasn't here, where people wouldn't recognize her. Maybe Africa. Or not. Hell, half of her peers had adopted kids from there. She'd definitely be recognized by someone.
It was weird. Alison was generally comfortable in front of a crowd. More than comfortable. She lived for it. The adulation the adoration. It was part of why she'd become a pop star in the first place. A real pop star, not like those freaks from YouTube or Disney Channel or American Idol. She had worked for it and done it on her own.
And now? Now that could possibly all go down the drain.
Ali licked her lips and cringed. She had told Jude a thousand times to switch lip products on her. This shit was too goopy! Oh, she was going to kill him when all of this was done.
"There's been a lot of speculation in recent years," she said, her voice carrying well over the speakers. "Speculation about my personal life, about the truth of who I am. Speculation which I have denied for a very long time." She took deep breath. "But it's an election year, and the world is changing. We're on the brink of a new tomorrow and I don't think it right that I start a new tomorrow with lies. Not if I want a better world. And isn't that what we all want? A better world? One where we can all get along, and let our music connect us with one another?" Crap. Her armpits were starting to sweat. That had better not ruin the outfit. She needed to look stunning on the eleven o'clock news. "Regardless of who we are, or what our station in life is? Regardless of if we're white, black, asian, latino, gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, human or mutant?" The audience gasped audibly at a few words in her speech. Most notably, the last six words. "This is why I've decided to tell the truth. To come out of the closet, as such. You see...oh hell. I'm a mutant."
Flashbulbs started blinding everyone but her and a flurry of questions suddenly flew her way. "Is your entire entourage filled with mutants?" "What's your mutant power? Is it mind control via your voice?" "Is Mary Jane Watson a mutant too?" "Is Dazzle Me, Honey, One More Time about your mutant love affair with superpowered-and-possibly-mutant actor SImon Williams?"
Shit. They didn't even take a minute to take a breath or get truly and silently horrified. They just attacked her with questions. Alison's eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open in an O of surprise. She didn't know who to answer first, or how to answer them.
Dammit, she should have just done a press release!
Just as she was about to tell the crowd to calm down, to ask her one question at a time, she disappeared.
Just...blinked out of existence.
The last thing the cameras caught of her was her horrified expression.
The next morning, all the gossip blogs had surmised that the singer known as Dazzler was either a mutant who's power was to disappear or a holographic publicity stunt by her record company. Either way, her career was over. If she ever returned, that was.
Pop!
"Aiiiieeee!" Alison Blair screeched as she fell on cold, damn grass. She struggled up to her feet, dusting off her mega-sparkly purple t-shirt [complete with super-sparkly golden starburst] off and moved for her iridescent silver pants next. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew." And then she looked around, noticing that she was...nowhere near home. "Ew? Where am I?" Gone was her podium, her microphone, her suddenly unadoring fan base. Y'know...maybe that's not such a bad thing. On the other hand...where the hell did I get transported to? She looked around, clearly worried. There was a grove of trees near her, and a dusty path. Nothing else. "Oh. Oh god. They did it. The government, like, totally did it! They sent me to like a mutant colony where they'll clean me up or something. Unmutify me and...just...ew!" Terror was clear across her face as she looked around desperately for a way out. But there was nothing except fresh, clean air and lots of open space.