The Acting Authority: The Sound of a Storm This thread is dedicated to a special DJ Zazzy Yas 'Acting Authority' segment. See the thread devoted to all of the 'Acting Authority' shows here.

While waiting for the commercial break to end, Yasmin looked to her sound board operator in the small room next to her, separated with a half wall covered in soundproofing material under a large plexiglass window. He was new. Yas had just gotten used to the other guy. He had just gotten used to her - was more like it. The board operators were supposed to be there to keep a bit of a leash on her. She had proven that she would fly off into any taboo topic without proper supervision. As she worked with people, they could usually tell her heart was in the right place, and they loosened the reins a bit. The last guy let go and Yas went flying off the handle again. Now, she was staring at her next target.

He motioned for her to get ready for her next speaking piece. As trivial as it sounded, Yasmin was a big proponent of music on the air. "People want to hear songs, not me," she would often say to producers. It was a vastly different tone than the self absorbed DJ Zazzy Yas persona listeners had grown accustomed to. Over time, the station insisted that she do spoken segments. They were paying her for her unique voice talents, after all. Most of the shows she did reluctantly, but she agreed to do short segments. Not wanting to talk longer than about five or six minutes at a time, she liked to get back to the music as soon as possible.

The show Yas was always excited to do was her "Acting Authority' piece. She loved being able to give the Shanachie Theater some free publicity. Since she was involved in the theater as one of its actors in its Theater Company, she was able to convince her producers at WHAM! 101.1FM to let her talk about them, and she did, every chance she could.

Today she would be doing her show a little differently. She wouldn't be mocking. She wouldn't be joking. She wouldn't be doing all of those things that made DJ Zazzy Yas infamous. Today, she purely wanted to promote the hard work of the kids that played the Von Trapp siblings. She was lucky enough to work with them in the role of Maria. They deserved every bit of praise she could give. As a result, she knew this show was going to run longer than her usual. The station didn't mind if it got her talking more. They would just cut a few songs.

"The role of Gretl, the youngest Von Trapp daughter, was shared by little ones, Olivia Gates and Lyneth Granger. Olivia" I have a seamonkey named Olivia?" This was true. "Olivia is the real life daughter to Ben and Dove Gates. Now for those of you who are up on your Shanachie culture, Ben Gates is in the Repertory Company. I'm in the Theater Company. I don't know what Repertory means?" This was not true. ?"But I know what Theater means and since we're talking about the Shanachie Theater, I think that means I'm in the more important one. Luckily for Ben, and Dove, adorable Olivia was outstanding, and dare I say better than dear ol" dad. I think she'll have a nice career in the Theater Company with me one day." Ok, so she didn't want to give many insults in this show, but hey, she still had to stay true to her character.

"Little Lyneth Granger, who also played Gretl, is the daughter of Desmond and Piper Granger. Now I'm not really sure about the whole Granger clan, but somehow one of them is related to Jonathan Granger, who is in the Repertory Company with Ben Gates. So, yes, that means I'm better than Jon and his half a dozen movies too." She would be horrifically embarrassed if she ran into Jon backstage one day. This was not the first, or the last, thing she would say about him in not the most flattering light. Of course, she would maintain that every word she said was true, just so she could keep up her persona no matter what. "But I think I have some competition, especially in the blue department, because aside from her talent, lovely Lyneth has the most beautiful shade of bright blue eyes." She figured it was pretty obvious to everyone that her favorite color was blue. The shapeshifter could look like anything she wanted and she went with blue skin. She only went with white hair so the blue would stand out more against the neutral.

"Cate Harker played the second youngest daughter, Marta. If you recognize Cate's Harker name, yes, she is the real life sister to Mairead Harker, who played the next daughter in line, Brigitta. Little Maggie is quite the thespian herself. Keep in mind, just this season, she has done The Secret Garden, Miracle on 34th Street, The Philadelphia Story, and Mamma Mia! There may even be more. I think Maggie must have helped her little sis out, because both siblings were excellent. I think performing is in this whole family's genes. I say we give full credit to their mother, Rhiannon Harker, famous for Harker's Dueling and Defense Academy in the Old Temple District." If she could help promote the girl's mother's business, that would only help to benefit the girls. Realizing that she didn't exactly get prior approval to mention the business, she glanced over to the new sound board guy. He started motioning to her and she assumed she was in trouble, but then she understood he was telling her they had to go to commercial. If that was all, she was happy to oblige.

"Ok, quick commercial break, then I'll get back to the rest of my Von Trapp family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Doran Ilnaren played eldest brother Friedrich. Connoisseurs of the Shanachie would know Doran from his role as Dickon in The Secret Garden. I thought he was fantastic in that, but I think he outdid himself this time. Doran is the son of Ebon and Phen Ilnaren. For those of you who have been living under a rock the past year, Ebon is currently the Governor of Rhy'din forcryingoutloud." She exhaled sharply as she finished, afraid to even mention the kid. She loved Ebon as Governor. He had done a lot in such a short time already. There was no way she wanted to offend him or his family, even in jest.

"Last but not least, in the role of Liesl, the eldest daughter, was Lirssa Sarengrave. This chick was rockin" it. I don't know about this sixteen or seventeen business, but I would give her a ten out of ten on her performance. I say we should get this girl signed up for the next Shanachie season. Actually, is it possible to get her on now" I'll look into it." She was extremely proud of the girl. She had an important role in the musical and she held her own. Feeling like a fraud up with the rest of the cast up on stage, Yas always felt as thought she was only able to contribute to the performances due to her innate shapeshifting and mimicry abilities. She envied those who had real skill.

"For now, let me fade out with a song." She just remembered that she spent so much time fact checking all these parents and businesses, that she didn't pick out a song. "Shoot, what am I going to pick" I can't do song from the musical- That would be too cheesy?" She would often think out loud on the air. She didn't care. She was supposed to be a ditz, so when she actually was, she would play it up. Besides, the producers didn't like dead air. She began scrolling through the station's song list on the little laptop in front of her, trying to make any comparison she could.

"This one will be good enough," she thought, then said, "Ok, to me, the whole thing comes down to this, a dude stands up for his morals, sees his country is going into a bad situation, and instead of blindly fighting for an unjust cause, he takes his family to a safer place. I hope one day we can all be that "Brave". Huh. I can be witty and corny." She clicked on her computer mouse to begin playing Sara Bareilles's "Brave", hoping no one would have paid much attention to her uncharacteristically thoughtful ending statement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The receptionist called up to the WHAM sound board operator to see if Yas would be able to see Mr. Storm. He smiled, watching Yas with her feet up on her desk, bouncing her head to the music she was screening during the commercial break. He had heard horror stories of things she would try to pass through as conversation topics during her talk segments or songs she would play without notice that were inappropriate in a variety of ways. Knowing this would be his chance to make the first strike, he quickly agreed to the request. He instructed the receptionist to let Mr. Storm know to come in once the "on air" light was on outside the door.

The sound board operator then hung up and pushed the microphone to call in to Yas in the recording room.

"Hey, Yas."

"Yep?" she said, keeping her eyes closed, still half listening to the music in her headset.

"You'll be on in one minute."

"I know," she spoke in a lower tone that indicated she knew what she was doing.

The sound board operator purposefully paused, waiting, calculating exactly how much time it would take for Johnny to get there. He wanted everything to work out just right. With about five seconds left to "on air", he spoke up again.

"Ready in five seconds."

"I know," she repeated the same way.

"You may be getting a surprise guest," he added in quickly.

She looked up and said, "I may be what?"

It was just enough to throw her off and miss her mark. By the time the "on air" lights came on inside the room and outside her door, she still had her feet up on the desk and her side music playing. She quickly leaned forward over her legs and shut down the music she had playing on her laptop so she could hear what was going on.

"HOLYSONOFA" was all that was heard from Yas's microphone before a great thud echoed across the air waves.

In the room, Yas had heard the door open, followed by Johnny's greeting. Without getting a chance to turn around, she had a sudden vision of "The Shining's Jack Torrance pounding down her door with an axe. She made her exclamation and jumped back in her seat, causing it and her to topple over backwards. She involuntarily performed a back somersault, causing a blur of blue and white from her sky blue skin and short platinum blonde hair. She wore green faded jeans and a white T-shirt with a Linkin Park logo. Her white sneakers flying over her head, she continued her roll until she was back up on her feet. She stood up quickly, acting as though all of it was planned and perfectly choreographed. Looking to see Johnny Storm, she was about to make an offhanded pop culture reference, "Well, you're not Johnny Carson at all" but thought better of it.

Smiling, she jumped back to her microphone which was suspended on a long boom arm. Though she spoke into the mic, she looked to Johnny with a smile, "Well, WHAM listeners, we have a special guest with us tonight?" She waved an open hand towards the second seat in the room, which sat facing at an angle to her's with its own mic on a small tabletop stand. "The man that gives a whole new meaning to the term 'smoking hot?" the Rhydin renowned fireman himself, Mr. Johnny Storm! Can I call you Johnny' Or do you prefer Mr. Johnny?" Before really giving him a chance to answer, she asked, "So what brings you in to the WHAM studio tonight?"

The rapidness of her questions mirrored the speed in which she moved. With a few quick steps, she grabbed hold of and up-righted her chair which had fallen over during the confusion. She quickly slid into her seat and pulled it closer to the desk. She then sat up straight, folding her hands together and placing them on the table. Suddenly sitting still, she stared at him with wide eyes, eagerly awaiting his response. Even motionless, she could remain animated.

Yasmin smiled at Johnny appreciatively as she accepted the gift. Leaning in to the microphone, she said, "Oh, my fans are always stopping by and giving me gifts. If I had a dime for every dime I was given?" Trailing off, she quickly looked the calendar over and then focused on the back. "I can't wait "til this calendar is released to the public. Here. I'm going to hold this up to the mic so you guys can see this preview." Good on her word, she held the calendar up to the side of the mic so she could still talk into it. "As you can see, the Rhy'din Fire Brigade has featured some super sexy firefighters all year round. If the length of the loincloth this troll is wearing has any indication behind it, well, I'd like to definitely see what else is behind it. And check this out' They even include some chicks, so this is not just for those who enjoy looking at the male form."

She continued, "I have to say, it is super sweet of the Rhy'din fire crews to be donating to the Orphanage." Yas was adopted herself, in a way, so the cause was close to her. She would make sure to plug the orphanage and the calendar once it became available. Luckily, the WHAM studio was always more than happy to promote good causes around Rhy'din. Yas would take the station's charity a bit further though. "I'm happy to announce that anyone who calls in until the end of my show tonight with a donation to the Rhy'din Orphanage, the WHAM studio will match that donation. So be sure to call WHAM-101, that's 942-6101, with your donations." Yas knew the company's CEO would be happy to meet the donations. Well, maybe not so much "happy' as "not willing to let the listeners down". That was close enough.

Yasmin turned towards the new sound board guy. Up until now, he was smiling, proud of his little stunt to throw her off her game. Now he looked in slight panic at her charity announcement. Yas just smiled and nodded at him, but she was thinking a mile a minute. If she actually got the chance to get Johnny Storm in the studio, she would have to take advantage of this opportunity. She hoped he wouldn't mind doing an impromptu interview, because she was volunteering him for one. Now to figure out what to ask him about. Wife. Kids. Yas quickly thought back to her Acting Authority segment where she mentioned his daughter. Did she say anything bad" She knew herself" She always said something bad. She recalled comparing his wife to one of her seamonkies. That couldn't have gone well. Oh well, damage control time. Oh, who was she kidding" She couldn't behave if her life depended on it.

"So....Johnny, I'm curious. Why is the Rhy'din Orphanage such a big deal to you? Obviously you believe in it enough to pose not naked enough for the calendar and drum up some support for it and the kids."

((The phone number for WHAM-101, 942-6101, is not an actual number.))

Yas noticed his half-naked body on the cover, just as she noticed his form-fitting, blue Fantastic Four suit when he came in. Taking careful note of the preview of him wearing only a fireman's helmet, she definitely held to her statement that he was posing "not naked enough".

The sound board operator was watching intently. It was odd she wasn't flirting with the guy since she wasn't the type to not flirt out of some obligations to the sanctity of marriage. She would flirt, insult, and joke with anyone. It was something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Yas was nervous.

Here she was just goin" along, doing her show, and this famous firefighter busts through her door. Ok, he didn't bust through the door, but she would say that he did when she told people about this later.

Nodding after he asked if he could call her "Yas", she smiled as he told her about him and his wife. To reveal that about himself and his wife to the public was amazing. Although she played the most over confident person, there was no way Yas would have the courage to talk about her past and personal life like that. He was one brave firefighter, even off the clock.

Judging from his expression, it wasn't the greatest topic to be discussed. She wanted to make it a little more lighthearted as she answered, "Oh, I completely agree. I've always told people the best way to go is adoption. It's really a complete win win for chicks anyway, you know. One" We don't have to tear up our bodies during childbirth. Two' We chicks can totally run around on the guy and not have to worry about if the baby looks like him, since it ain't going to look like either of ya anyway. Don't worry, though. I'm sure Liv is totally faithful though, cuz well, I mean, look at you for crying out loud. And I've seen her around once or twice and you better be good to that girl, cuz she's one awesome chick if she'll let you make soft porn to pimp out for a profit." It was a good thing she was starting to act up a bit. Even though it was an odd compliment, it showed she was getting more comfortable with him.

Realizing she got off topic, Yas jumped right back in randomly, "And "C?" It doesn't matter if you have a kid bio-locally or adopt, as a parent, you get every chance to mess them up all on your own as you raise them. And that's what really counts when having a kid. Speaking of kids, what about your own kids" How many kids do you have anyway, and what are their interests" How did Felicity feel about doing "The Sound of Music?" Anyone else going to be a star" They'll have to make their way out from my shadow, unfortunately.? And, with that, she was getting back to her normal cocky demeanor.

Yas was studying him. He was hesitant to talk about adoption. He was hesitant to talk about his kids. She should have connected the dots before she asked, but it all made sense now. She was hoping the kids would be an innocent topic, but she sure stepped in it. It was amazing for him to be able to say that the kids were adopted live on the air. She was happy to jump topics, though, especially when it was about her favorite subject " her.

"Oh, please. Kissing on stage is like hugging your old Aunt Bertha - you just do it for the show. Now, I try to kiss all the guys off stage. Girls too, cuz I'm equal opportunity, you know. Let's see who else I was with on stage. In Mamma Mia, my love interest was Max Yako. I have to say, that surprised me cuz I thought my character was a lesbian. In Fiddler on the Roof, my love interest was Arandir. We did the whole wedding / kid thing on that one. And then Eregor was my love interest in Miracle on 34th Street, so I was already established with him. Wait....Kris Kringle was my love interest in that, right?"

"I think I was in something else too?" she said under her breath, then continued in her normal volume, "I want to say I was in The Secret Garden, but I may have been hiding in the set to get a better view."

"Speaking of The Secret Garden!" Yas exclaimed, then continued, "You know, that was the biggest doggone audience. That, and The Sound of Music. It seems like whenever kids are involved, everybody and their brother comes to the theater. They must rake in the profits on those nights. I'll have to tell Mataya that she should do more plays with these kids in them. Oh, who am I kidding" I'm going to forget. If anyone sees Mataya next, tell her that Yas told you to suggest to her to "have more kids because she'll get more money". I'm sure that will make perfect sense to her."

In all actuality, Yasmin had been considering his fade out song since the moment she saw him. She figured she would have to go with something fire or storm related for obvious reasons. "Perfect Storm" by Brad Paisley' No, that was about a chick. "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys" definitely about a chick. "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele could fit both criteria but that didn't seem right either. She was just hoping to keep him talking until she could figure something out, but she was relieved when he did the hard part for her. "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.

"That sounds good to me," she said more sincerely, smiling to him.

Time for the fine print. She turned to look at the microphone and began speaking rapidly, even more quickly than her normal energetic pace, "Ok, quick notes here before Johnny goes, people. Be sure to call in with your donations to the RhyDin Orphanage all the way up "til the end of my show tonight so WHAM can match your donations. For serious reals. I'm going to be doing a live special show from the Midsummer Night's Bash, which is also going to be holding a fundraiser for the orphanage, so I'll bring the check then. And don't forget to pick up your calendar of the hottest firefighting hunks and ladies once it goes on sale."

Turning back to Johnny, she said, "And I want to say a big thank you to Johnny Storm for coming out tonight for a surprise visit. Just for reference, anyone is welcome to stop by my show so long as they bring a gift." She held up the calendar and gave him a smile and nod of appreciation. He would not be allowed to leave until he autographed it for her.

"So give us any parting words, Johnny, then announce us out." Secretly, she wasn't quite the diva she appeared to be. After all, no self-respecting diva would let anyone else have the final word. Getting on her computer, she began looking for the song to pull it up and play once he gave her the cue. After that, the sound board operator would be cutting to the next commercial break, so it would give them several minutes for an "off air? thanks and goodbye.

Yas stared at him with a smile as he rambled on. Yeah, no, he definitely wasn't cut out for radio hosting. It was a good thing he was cute, but wow, poor Liv.

She played "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen and switched off both their microphones. After a nod to the sound board guy, who was still on her "hit list", she turned back to Johnny.

"Yulemas" Dude, we're not that politically correct here. Well, I'm not anyway..." She paused, thinking, then continued, "Or wait. Did you not say Christmas cuz I'm Jewish' I don't mind. I'm not prejudice. Ok, well, I am, but not about religion. I'm prejudice about important things like where people stand on the subject of dragons " friend or feast?" She cupped her mouth with a hand to prevent the sound board guy from reading her lips as she leaned forward and whispered to Johnny, "I say - Try a bite before you decide." She nodded confidently as she leaned back in her chair.

Sure, the first thing out of her mouth could have been "thanks for the calendar" or "hey, I appreciate you coming out to the show", but no.

She wanted to say how he kept up with her very well, how he answered everything perfectly, was super brave in admitting some amazing stuff, selflessly promoted other people's stuff, and said such wonderfully sweet things about his wife and kids. No way the Legend-dary DJ Zazzy Yas could say something that complimentary though. Instead she said, "You did pretty awesome, though. You're welcome back anytime. Here, you got to sign this. And of course you want one of my autographs cuz who wouldn't?"" She slid a pen and his calendar sample towards him as she grabbed one of her headshots to sign for him.

He was probably right. It could have been called Yulemas here. RhyDin was weird. That must be why she seemed to fit in better here. And Yas would definitely eat a friend, in a survival situation. Although that was probably why she didn't have many friends. Oh well. At least she has her seamonkies and her pet turtle, who had been hanging out in her pocket this whole time.

Yasmin couldn't help but smile at Johnny as he said he was awesome. She enjoyed playing cocky too.

When he asked for her autograph, she said with a wide grin, "Of course." She signed off on one of her WHAM headshots, "To Johnny Storm " Stay hot! ❤ Yas". She probably would have included her number, but he was obviously happily married. The "married" part may or may not have stopped her, but the "happily' definitely did.

She slid her autograph over to him on the table and said randomly, "Now, so you know, my show's running for another hour or so. I'm gonna keep plugging the donation drive "til then. Don't worry about WHAM. The CEO loves donating money and I love giving their money away, so it's a win/win. I mentioned the bash drive thing so the readers would know they could hold me accountable and that the kids will definitely get something."

Really, Yas" "The readers?"

"Speaking of kids," she continued, "I know it's not exactly acting, but WHAM has a summer intern type program thing for teens. Well, twelve and above, I think. They're not on the radio or anything, but they help out with behind the scenes stuff and they learn some skills. I can definitely put in a recommendation for Fliss and get her right in if you think she'd be interested." Yas glanced over to the sound board guy who was preparing things for the last hour. Yas hoped Fliss could eventually get his job or something.