Lolory: Midnight Elegance/Memory

## Chapter 1: How to Be an Elegant Girl

Narration
Pretty flowers fill the greenhouse. My figure as I water them looks soft and gentle in the light.
The delicate embroidery on my blue skirt twinkles playfully in the dappled light.
My lacy layered white top strikes the perfect balance between glamor and whimsy.
Lolory
Tulips like lots of sunlight, and hydrangeas need it warm and humid.
Daisies flower for longer. The mountain lilies' scent is stronger...
Narration
Good, now turn this way, at this angle. Try to keep a bit of backlighting.
The camera is behind me, I smile at it softly, the corners of my mouth set at 35 degrees.
Lolory
I try to make sure there are flowers blooming in my garden all year round.
Player Selection
▸ Very elegant lifestyle.
Player
Quite an elegant lifestyle you lead.
Narration
Elegance comes from within. It's with you every minute of every day.
▸ It's just an act for the camera.
Player
It's all an act for the camera.
Narration
Elegance happens whether a camera is there or not.
Lolory
I like to learn about flowers, perform tea ceremonies, and spend my leisure time productively.
Every girl can spend each day elegantly if they so wish.
Narration
I am the epitome of elegance in people's minds.
[*End transcript*]

## Chapter 2: Unexpected "Reunion"

Lolory
Thank you everyone. Today has been an absolute pleasure.
Photographer
No, thank YOU Lolory! It was a great interview. No wonder they call you Ninir's Ambassador of Elegance. So enchanting!
Lolory
Thank you. In that case, I'll be going. I have other business to attend to.
Reporter
Oooh! Of course you do. I'm grateful for your time. Farewell!
Narration
As I turn to leave the studio, I come face-to-face with a middle-aged man.
He has a very plain face, but looks familiar.
Reporter
Chief!
This is Miss Lolory, our special guest. She's helping us with next month's issue on elegance!
Miss Lolory, this is our chief editor. He approved the shoot.
Narration
I put on my warmest, friendliest smile, and go to shake his hand.
Lolory
Pleased to meet you. Lolory, at your service.
Chief Editor
...Hello.
Narration
The editor hesitates, but then shakes my hand.
He frowns and stares at me through his thick spectacles, as if recalling something.
Lolory
Yes?
Chief Editor
...Just now you said you're from Starheaven, is that right?
Narration
He pushes his glasses back up his nose; perhaps they don't fit. He pushes them back two more times.
That gesture sets off alarms. Back in high school our class monitor used to push his glasses three times. He was a real weirdo.
It's him!
I try to stay calm and continue to smile.
Lolory
No, I think you've got the wrong person.
If you don't mind, I've got another appointment. I'd better get going.
Narration
The editor rubs his bald held. His smile is unsettling.
Chief Editor
Really? Hahahahaha... Bye then.
Narration
I nod and get out of there, not wanting him to look at me for another second.
[*Screen fades to white, transitions to a living room*]

Narration
My heart only slows down once I get home and lock the door.
The floor and bed are covered in discarded clothes, about a week's worth. Messy, but it's the place I feel safest in the world.
Player Selection
▸ Is this your house?
Player
This isn't... your home, is it?
Narration
Yeah, it is. I'm very busy, so it's hard to find time to clean. You understand, right?
Don't tell anyone.
▸ You held back a lot of skeletons in the closet.
Player
...You got a lot of secrets, don't you?
Narration
Not really. I just have a public persona and a private life. It's an aspect of my work.
Narration
Sure. There are things I don't want people to know about.
High school stuff I don't want people to know about, what that editor might tell people.
Narration
Calming down, I call the publishing house.
Lolory
Hi. This is Lolory. About today's interview--
My agency has amended my contract. I won't be taking interviews for a while. Can you please take down the article?
Oh, thank you so much! I know, it's a shame. I hope we get a chance to work together again.
Narration
Putting down the phone, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Hopefully that editor doesn't remember anything. I can't risk meeting him again.
Lolory
It's okay. I'm a completely different person from the girl he knew at high school.
[*End transcript*]

## Chapter 3: Hitting Rock Bottom

Narration
Three days later I appear on the cover of the magazine.
The backlighting is dim. I'm dressed as a goth punk and holding a skull cane.
Magazine Headline
Ambassador of Elegance Exposed! Rebel at Heart, A Fake Who Cheats Her Fans!
Narration
The article was incredibly detailed. Every rumor from my high school days was published as if it was true.
Cutting glass, getting into fights, smoking, tattoos, running away from home..
Hanging out in Internet cafes, bars, street stalls...
And photos of me before I competed in the Starheaven Swan Pageant.
The article went viral. "Lolory" was searched more times in 1 hour than it had been during the previous six months.
Comment
I can't believe it! It can't be true! My favorite idol was never like that! Did they photoshop it?
Are those photos from 20 year ago? How can she call herself a girl? She's old enough to be my mother!
Modelling for 20 years and still unpolished. Professional fashion disaster.
Hey, did you see Girl Idol Chen's update? She called her "Image-obsessed Party Grandma." So apt.
Hahahahaha! Classic! Party grandma! That's gonna leave a mark.
Guess what? I went to the same school as her. I even saw her once.
[*Screen fades to black, transitions to Lolory's living room*]

Narration
Slam! I close my laptop and throw it onto a pile of clothes.
Player Selection
▸ You still doing okay?
Player
OMG! That's brutal. Are you okay?
Narration
I'm okay, thanks. They won't throw me off my rhythm.
▸ What are you going to do?
Player
It looks bad. What are you going to do?
Narration
Be calm. I won't let them throw me off my rhythm.
Narration
Like usual, I'll get up early, put on my face mask, do one hundred facelifts, half an hour of yoga...
I can't show a moment of weakness. This is what it takes to be the Ambassador of Elegance.
Narration
But what if I lose the title?
I do have a bit of a headache.
Lolory
I really have underestimated that old classmate...
Narration
Withdrawing from an article about Elegance certainly doesn't deserve a hit piece trying to destroy my reputation.
How can he just let it go?
I can't deny it is a picture of me, but it's in the past, right?
I took part in the Starheaven Swan Pageant because I wanted to change. I worked so hard to become elegant.
After I won, I left my hometown and worked for many years to achieve the title of Ambassador of Elegance.
Even if it is just an image, so what? Isn't Lolory the first thing people think of when they hear the word "elegant"?
Work Cell
Blip!
Narration
A new email message. Tomorrow's shoot has been cancelled. Clients are cancelling all my appointments.
I throw my phone and it lands on the sofa. I have lost my composure.
I retrieve an old box from the bottom of my closet.
It contains the secrets of my past, old things I wanted to throw away but didn't know where to dump them.
At the time I worried that someone would find them, and use it against me.
Now that everyone knows everything, I can get rid of them without worrying.
I open it up. Black fishnet stockings with garters, skull ear studs, studded chokers, freakish wigs.
And also here is a lighter with a skull and crossbones on it.
Lolory
...I used to love this stuff.
Narration
I shake my head and keep rummaging. Memories of my youth, all the things I tried to forget, start flooding back.
...A textbook, torn in half, then stuck back together.
I tore it during a fight with Mom, and then we spent the next evening sticking it back together, sheet by sheet.
...The scooter key. So it was in here.
I used to skip class every day, driving a scooter all over town.
When I left, I had wanted to sell it for rent money, but couldn't find the key!
It's probably still in the garage at home.
I pull out a crinkled love letter. That haughty tone, as if going out with him was an honor.
The weirdo class monitor had shoved it onto my desk. Thinking back, I recall putting a lot of effort into my reply.
A threatening letter soaked in fake "blood".
Lolory
His Valentine's Day hadn't really worked out as he had planned. No wonder he wants to destroy my reputation now.
Narration
I'm grumbling, yet I can't help but laugh.
I remember that class, the class monitor shrieking and jumping up from his seat.
I remember getting scolded by the teacher and trying very hard not to laugh.
Strangely these items which once threatened to destroy me, now gave me some kind of relief.
I put down the letter and go to pull something else out of the box but stop, dumbfounded.
Inside is a gothic cane with a skull, lying still. It's the one that appeared on the cover of the magazine.
It is like me--the butt of a joke, being laughed at by millions of people.
But all I can think about is the 16-year-old me.
I worked so hard to earn the money for the materials.
I skipped class and didn't go home, just to have enough time to work on it.
The silver skull glimmers coldly, forebodingly, I did so many trial runs with plaster first.
I took it to a fancy dress party and waved it around on a stage. My memory of that night is very clear.
I take it out and start to caress my memories.
Player Selection
▸ Are they really burdens?
Player
Are they really just garbage?
Narration
Hm. Now I finally can safely throw them away...
But I find I can't bear to part with them.
▸ You don't want to shed them, do you?
Player
You can't bring yourself to part with them, can you?
Narration
Is that how it is?
That's how it is...
Narration
After a while, I take a deep breath, and call that old classmate.
[*End transcript*]

## Chapter 4: Turn the Tide

Narration
Two weeks pass.
Comment
Anyone heard from Lolory? Did I miss her comeback?
Who cares? The old lady is history.
Yeah. She's not on any billboards. I feel so much better. Now I can't see her fake smile everywhere.
Hahahaha yeah, who'd employ her now? Anyway, she's about the right age to retire...
Player Selection
▸ No more work?
Player
Really?... No work at all?
Narration
Did you forget? I am an admin for the Guild. Now that I have fewer photoshoots, I can finally get off work on time.
Anyway, things will pick up again very soon.
▸ It's good to have peace and quiet for a while.
Player
It's nice to have some quiet time. Use it to recoup.
Narration
It has been quiet. I'm doing my admin work for the Guild, going into the office every day.
Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to "rest" for much longer .
Narration
Calmly, I look down at my watch. My shift is over.
I pick up my handbag, put on my sunglasses, leave the building, and step out onto the bustling street.
[*Screen fades to white, transitions to city streets*]

Narration
It should be about time.
The next issue of the magazine is on sale.
The cover is showing on the giant digital screen over midtown. Everyone is looking up.
That's right. Still me.
Wearing the latest goth dress, and holding a skull-topped scepter, like a Queen.
I was looking down haughtily at the people from the screen.
"Lolory: The Dark Side of Elegance."
Blond Girl
Is that Lolory? Wow, she looks hot? Nice comeback! That's our one and only Ambassador of Elegance!
Woman Grocery
I knew it was all malicious gossip. So what if she was a bad girl before? Bad girls can be elegant too!
Undercover Reporter
(On the phone) Bo...Boss? You sure you want me to look for more dirt? Maybe we should apologize and re-sign her?
Narration
My phone keeps buzzing in my pocket. Hundreds of old clients are trying to book me.
If this is the reaction on the street, how crazy must it be online?
I push my way through the crowd, smiling. Briefly, the corners of my mouth exceed the elegance of 35 degrees.
It is the smile of my 16-year-old self, proud and brazen.
Lolory
I won.
[*Screen fades to white, transitions to Lolory's living room*]

Narration
Getting home, I apply a face mask, slump down on the sofa, and turn on the TV.
Host
Welcome to Host Goss! Has there been anything in recent times to match the radical transformation of the Ambassador of Elegance?
In today's program, we invited the two people at the center of this affair, the magazine editor and Miss Lolory!
Mr. Editor, I hear you're old acquaintances. Was this controversy just a case of..."
Chief Editor
Our publishing company is not biased in any way. We just report the facts.
Narration
I laugh at the TV screen, but quickly smooth out the creases on my brow.
Typical old-school editor, so pompous in front of the cameras.
Looking closely I see the hair on the top of his head looks thicker and darker.
Looks like I'm not the only one who's "image-obsessed".
Host
Miss Lolory, how do you view that chapter of your past.
Narration
The me on the screen looks thoughtfully at the interviewer. I look gentle, but also serious.
Lolory
I wasn't raised in a palace or a fancy house with big gardens. But I had dreams, and I was willing to work hard to achieve them.
It was the journey that made me the person I am today. It's what makes me different, and I embrace it.
Today, as Ninir's Ambassador of Elegance, I want to tell everyone that there are countless ways to be elegant.
It doesn't matter who you were or who you are now. As long as you believe you're elegant, you will be elegant.
Narration
I smile faintly on screen.
Lolory
My wish is that every person can find their own elegance.
Narration
Ad break: Lolory's Exclusive Fashion Line! Scan the QR Code to find your own elegance.
I turn off the TV, take off my mask, and stretch lazily. The phone rings--
Chief Editor
Happy, Lolory?
Lolory
Yes! The interview went really well. Thank you, Mr. Editor!
Chief Editor
You're welcome. I just wanna know, the letter...
Lolory
Oh! You mean the love letter you wrote me in high school?
Chief Editor
SHHH!!! I already fulfilled my half of our agreement. Now it's your turn. You have to destroy it!
Lolory
Of course. As we agreed.
Narration
I hang up, satisfied.
Player Selection
▸ What's going on?
Player
What on earth is going on?
Narration
Oh nothing. He knows my secrets and I know his. It was a fair trade.
▸ You made a deal.
Player
So... you struck a bargain.
Narration
We did. And it was a very "elegant" solution to my problem, don't you think?
Narration
Relax. I meant every word I said in the interview.
I had this inelegant past I was always trying to hide or get rid of.
But in my struggle to become elegant, I found my past provided me with the weapons and armor I needed to achieve my goals.
They were a burden I could not drop, but also the next step on the ladder.
It's a story I wish everyone could know about. That's why...
A girl's got to be versatile.
And I AM very good at writing threatening letters.
The work phone rings. I answer it in a happy-go-lucky voice.
Lolory
Hi, this is Lolory! A new shoot? Sure. No problem. Let's arrange a time to talk.
Narration
Sorry. The Ambassador of Elegance is going to be very busy for a while. You understand.
[*End transcript*]