#sarah.threads

[stcsis]

who? Sarah Smith & Ajay Gupta [@mincedoaths] where? Annual Queens World Film Festival, Queens, NKC  when? May 14, 2022 

After the oddity of the first night at the Film Festival, Sarah had gone out of her way to try and get more positive press for the event. It seemed to be working, with how the ticket sales were steadily increasing, but even then, she wanted to end the week of movies with a bang. Metaphorically, of course. Her plan for that had required multiple stages, from convincing Ajay to go to the closing ceremony with her to convincing his PR team that this was yet another good opportunity to humanize him. Normally, she wouldn’t bother going through his team, as he was old enough to make his own choices, thank you very much. But Ajay, the sweetheart that he is, had accepted her offer to appear on her stream of the night, so she wanted to make sure his sweetness wouldn’t get him in trouble for some silly reason or another. It worked because what she had told the PR team was true: the public had loved her collab with Ajay and how it humanized him, and reminding them of it would create a wave of good press before the next few reality shows he was slated to be in began airing. 

Of course, her motivations were a little more selfish than getting Valerian good ratings. Sarah simply wanted to spend time with her friend, and stick it to his haters.

“Ready?” She asks, glancing up at Ajay with a small grin as she gestures to the venue at the other side of the street. “Or do you want a moment? I know you are probably used to all this, but it is still nerve wracking every time.”

[stcsis]

who? Slapstick & Flare [ @waywardlegacies ] where? Valerian Universal Towers, Manhattan, NKC  when? May 07, 2022 

Finding Zaya in the locker room as she is going to do her daily training isn’t much of a surprise. She had worked closely with Phoenix for a long while, close enough that she had learned most of her patterns. Training is one of the things Zaya does and does consistently, without break without hesitation. Her personality might not be the most agreeable but there is no denying that the steward is beyond committed to her role and her rank. She is not one to falter under pressure, even if that does mean there have been enough PR scandals following her that had her PR team pulling their hair out more than once. One of such scandals is how Sarah had found herself working with Zaya, even. At first, she had been in awe at the opportunity to work with an A rank steward, despite the fact that it had happened around the time she had begun growing disillusioned with her role in Valerian as she had finally realized that they saw her as nothing more than a joke. 

Even then, getting the opportunity to work with a veteran in the field, with someone with such passion, had delighted her. It had been one of the many small things that had kept her going, even when she found herself in a funk. And really, as much as she hated being delegated to the comic sidestick trope, she saw the validity of being used like that as a PR strategy. Making their most powerful stewards seem more humane is important, when one considers how much weight is being put on their shoulders at every moment. She had seen how the pressure affected Ajay and Trix as well, and while she hadn’t seen the same from Zaya… Well, she isn’t as close to her as she is with the other two. Still, she respects her dedication, even if she is aware that their personalities and approaches to life tend to clash more often than not. 

“Well, hello there,” she calls out the A ranker with a Cheshire grin spreading through her lips as she walks closer, moving to peer at her from beneath her lashes. “It’s been so long, Flare! How are you doing, fireball? Still getting thrown into PR nightmares entirely by accident?”

She knows she is, after all she had been following the new rumors conflicted on whether to cackle at the idea or wince at how the media was always trying to get relationship drama from teammates. But well, Zaya probably needed to blow some steam about the whole thing, and her permutation makes Sarah sturdy enough to be the perfect punching bag for those sorts of moments… That, and honestly, she did want to get some one on one training with the other, and goading her made it more likely for people to accept an A rank training with a C rank without calling it pity.