Chapter Text
Present, October 2011.
“It’s now time for our feature presentation! Coming straight to your house LIVE, she’s the one, the queen of prime time TV, she’s groovy and NEVER glooby, the sensation of your screen, the show that makes you scream! Say it all together folks!” The curtain rose as the packed audience joined in with her; “Ms. Anne Tenna’s T! V! Time!” Ms. Tenna smiled and bowed, waving to her adoring audience as they cheered for her. She was a tall woman, made taller by her yellow heels. She wore a red tailcoat, a big yellow ribbon tie, flared black pants; her hair was a slightly faded strawberry blonde, curls straight from the 80s, perfectly intact, bangs hiding her eyes. She had a pop of purple that stood out amongst the red and gold, a headset with TV engraved on the sides. Practiced fingers in white gloves twirled the microphone in her hands as she danced around, to the enthusiastic cheers of her audience. They couldn’t see it thanks to her bangs, but her eyes were brimming with tears. Tears of joy, of course. Of course.
This was the biggest audience she had in years, and to think so many people were going to get to see this live! A live show! She smiled widely, blowing kisses. “Thank you, oh thank you! What a turn out tonight! You have no idea how happy I am to see all of you here!” She motioned for the audience to quiet down, and cleared her throat. “Now, I’m sure all of you are excited to meet tonight’s special contestants! I am too, so let’s bring them on out!”
The spotlight flickered on, revealing three unusually dressed teenagers, the crowd murmured in confusion but clapped nonetheless. A nervous but cheerful boy in green, a baffled girl in purple, and the one in blue staring blankly at the floor. Ms. Tenna smiled sweetly at them. “This is my number one fan, Kris Dreemurr! We go way back,” she said fondly, “and these are their friends, Susie and-” she leaned in for a whisper- “how do you say it?”
“Ralsei, ma’am,” the boy smiled. “And Ralsei! Give it up for our special guests!” The audience cheered, Ms. Tenna grinned and clapped along. “Alright, why don’t we start off with a pop quiz?”
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April, 1985.
“Alright sweetheart, what’s your name?” the casting director asked. The eighteen year old girl smiled proudly. “Anne Tenna, sir.” The casting director glanced down at the ref sheet before looking back up at her. She did a subtle pose that showed off her bust. The man leaned forward in his chair and set the ref sheet to the side. “Go on ahead, Ms. Anne Tenna.” She cleared her throat and began her audition. She enunciated each important word, and didn’t look at the script once. She had memorized each and every word. When she was done, she returned to that same smile, pleased that everyone clapped politely. “Thank you Ms. Anne, we hope to see you again very soon.”
“Thank you, sir,” she did a little curtsey, and left the audition room. She knew in her heart she’d get a call back. As she left the building she ignored the other young women waiting for their turn. Amateurs, they were. She deserved this, not them. She deserved to be a star.
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June 4, 1989
Anne set her puppet bag on the counter, and reached into her fridge to get her orange juice. She really needed it, after the shitshow that was today. Did no one else take this movie seriously? Well, she was the star of the damn thing, of course no one cared as much as her. It was the final day of the press tour, thankfully. She’d only have to go to the film premiere after this, and then she wouldn’t have to see anyone from this goddamn film again. She pounded back her orange juice, this was supposed to make her a real star, separated from her family, making it on her own! And the idiocy of her co-stars would ruin that.
Her phone rang. She bit back a sigh, brow furrowing as she picked up. “Hello?”
“Is this Anne Tenna?”
She smiled at the use of her stage name. “Yes, that’s me!” she said jovially.
“Wonderful. I’m a representative of DRT, you’ve heard of us, yes?” Anne nodded along before remembering it was just a call. “Yes, of course!”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on you, Ms. Tenna. Your personality is just infectious, it really shines from the screen.”
“Oh gosh, you’re just saying that,” she giggled and twirled the phone cord. “On the contrary Ms. Tenna, we believe you’re the perfect fit for our new prime time program. It’s a blend of game shows and late night TV, but at an earlier time, for families. We’d love for you to be the host, with your family friendly image, you know, despite your looks, being the draw in.”
Anne was taken aback, she had always imagined herself on the big screen, but pretty much everyone had a TV! More people to fall in love with her! “Yes, yes I accept, thank you!”
“Excellent. Meet us at our studio, on Wednesday at 10 AM.” She hastily jotted it down in her notebook, followed by the address.
“We look forward to working with you, Ms. Tenna.” And then they hung up.
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June 24, 1989
A new red suit dress, new gold heels, and a new make up and hairdo combo. Pure 80s magic is what Anne looked like. She was given a tour of her brand new studio. It had two different stages, one for studio audiences, one a sound stage, a series of offices, for herself and employees, a mailroom- oh she felt warm thinking about the fanmail that would come in! There were plenty of crew members; props department, stage hands, make up and costume crew, musicians, even security guards!
She was introduced to the man in charge of the in studio bar and breakroom, Ramb, she thought? Yea, Ramb! She had only ever met a handful of British people in her life, so it was neat to meet one in the wild. The Network paid attention to her desire for puppets for her show, so they held an audition process for her to monitor. Among the new puppeteers she hired, Anne liked the couple who auditioned together, Nino and Nina. She would make unique puppets just for them! it’d be so cute if they’d always stick together! Anne personally made sure to introduce herself to everyone at the welcome party; if they were her employees, she’d have to make sure she knew all of them! And there were so many-! An eccentric photographer, Mx. Shuttah, gathered everyone together. Anne, being the tallest, stood in the center back, her puppet duo on either side of her, the rest of the cast and crew scattered. “Smile, darlings!” it squealed, taking multitudes of pictures, Anne’s smile perfect in each one.
She took a moment to herself, sitting in her brand new office, the sounds of the other neighboring office comforting her. All the others were having fun even if she wasn’t present. As she sat down, she noticed a present hidden under the desk, from DRT. She carefully opened it, and smiled wide. A purple headset, with antennae that reminded her of a bug, and a glittery gold TV pin. She’d workshop the headset later, for now, putting on her shiny new pin. This was going to be perfect. She was going to be perfect.
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November, 1994
“Wow, wasn’t that wild,” Cathy Cathode chirped, covering her felt mouth as she giggled, exaggerated pointed nose poking over it. “We’ll catch up with Ms. Tenna later, it’s weather time!” The little jingle played and Elnina’s puppet popped up in front of the weather graph, her little pointer stick tapping against it. “It looks like we’ve got rainy clouds all around the tri-state area, with lows of 45 degrees!” Lanino’s puppet popped up as a magnifying glass hovered over the estimated location of the studio. “But here at Ms. Tenna’s TV Time, we’re experiencing a heat wave so cool, you don’t wanna miss it! Get your tickets to Ms. Tenna’s TV Time, turn page over- oh- shoot-”
“CUT!” Anne shouted, pinching the bridge of her nose. She walked over, hand on her hip, Cathy Cathode in the other. “Nino, for Pete’s sake you don’t read that part, we’ve been doing this for what, five years now?” He nodded. “Sorry Anne, I just- get focused on getting the voice right-” Her grip on her puppet softened, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. “Alright, alright just- if you get it wrong again, we’ll have Elnina say it.” The weather duo nodded, and Anne went back in place, crouched behind the table. “3, 2, 1, action.”
“Wow, wasn’t that wild,” Cathy Cathode chirped, covering her felt mouth as she giggled, exaggerated pointed nose poking over it. “We’ll catch up with Ms. Tenna later, it’s weather time!” The little jingle played again, and Elnina’s puppet popped up in front of the weather graph, her little pointer stick tapping against it. “It looks like we’ve got rainy clouds all around the tri state area, with lows of 45 degrees!” Lanino’s puppet popped up as a magnifying glass hovered over the estimated location of the studio. “But here at Ms. Tenna’s TV Time, we’re experiencing a heat wave so cool, you don’t wanna miss it! Get your tickets to Ms. Tenna’s TV Time at the number on screen! Hurry, tickets are going fast!” Oh thank god. She could rely on them, she just needed to have a little more trust in the process. She could be perfect, they could have their mess ups. “Back to you, Cathy!” Her puppet popped back up, all smiles, she could only smile. “Thank you! Let’s find out what game we’ll be playing with Ms. Tenna this time!”
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February, 1999
Anne opened her office door with her hip, coffee and scripts in her hands. With a sigh she set them down on her desk, next to the soft pink envelope- Wait a what? She furrowed her brow and picked it up, examining it. It was simply labeled as “To Annie.” No one ever called her Annie. She carefully peeled it open, and was taken aback by the flowery prose and cursive. OK, well, the cursive was a bit sloppy, but it made her blush all the same.
“To Annie, the queen of entertainment. None could hold a candle to your beauty and talent, how you make even the grumpiest of us laugh with your wit and humor. A beauty of a classic era, eyes brighter than the silver screen, enchanting my soul.” She chewed her cheek as she paused reading. This secret admirer knew what her eyes looked like. No one knew what her eyes looked like except her eye doctor. And more surprisingly, they actually liked her eyes. She’d have to pay attention to everyone’s line of sight now- for anyone who could somehow peek up and see. “Shall I ever catch a second glimpse, I can say I’ve seen an angel twice.” What a flatterer, how mesmerizing! How she wished she knew who it was, oh but that would ruin the fun, wouldn’t it? She’d just have to be on the lookout for coincidences now.