I was spooked by the encounter I had with Clara, the Scientologist. After explaining to Mom what Scientology was, she was so scared she didn't want to leave the house. I might have gone overboard with the explanations and had to backtrack some things to calm her down.
'Mental note: avoid Tom Cruise,' I thought. 'I should just avoid all actors associated with those... but wait, aren't a lot of celebrities involved with the church?'
I sighed and turned to Matt, who was setting up a video for John to watch.
Matt and John were visiting today, and I had told them about the encounter. John did not know about the Church of Scientology and asked us for more info. Matt then decided to show John the South Park episode that exposed Scientology's kooky beliefs.
"Alright John, prepare to get your mind blown," Matt said, playing the episode.
The episode played, and Matt and I waited for the scene. After some time, the scene arrived where the secret beliefs of Scientology were explained to Stan by its president.
John watched with growing curiosity.
President: Usually, to hear the secret doctrine, you have to be in the church for several years, Stan. Are you ready to hear the truth?
Stan: I, I guess.
"Okay, this is getting weird already," John commented.
"Just watch" I said.
President: You see, Stan, there is a reason for people feeling sad and depressed. An alien reason. It all began 75 million years ago. Back then there was a galactic federation of planets which was ruled over by the evil Lord Xenu.
John laughed. "What the fuck?"
Matt and I laughed along as well.
President: Xenu thought his galaxy was overpopulated, so he rounded up countless aliens from all different planets, and then had those aliens frozen.
"This is real? People believe this?" John asked, gaping at the screen.
"Yepp" Matt said much to John's shock.
President: The frozen alien bodies were loaded onto Xenu's galactic cruisers, which looked like DC-8s, except with rocket engines. The cruisers then took the frozen alien bodies to our planet, to Earth, and dumped them into the volcanoes of Hawaii.
"DC-8s?" John asked, looking at us in disbelief.
"That's not even the craziest part," I said.
President: The aliens were no longer frozen; they were dead. The souls of those aliens, however, lived on and all floated up towards the sky. But the evil Lord Xenu had prepared for this.
President: Xenu didn't want their souls to return, so he built giant soul-catchers in the sky. The souls were taken to a huge soul brainwashing facility, which Xenu had ALSO built on Earth. There, the souls were forced to watch days of brainwashing material, which tricked them into believing a false reality. Xenu then released the alien souls, which roamed the earth aimlessly in a fog of confusion.
"No way. This is nuts. I refuse to believe people actually buy into this," John said, shaking his head.
President: At the dawn of man, the souls finally found bodies which they could grab onto. They attached themselves to all mankind, which still to this day causes all our fears, our confusions, and our problems. L. Ron Hubbard did an amazing thing telling the world this incredible truth. Now all we're asking you to do... is pick up where he left off.
Stan: But I don't know any of this stuff.
President: Neither did L. Ron when he started. He said he just closed his eyes, and wrote down whatever came to mind. You can do the same. Just let it flow.
As the scene ended, John burst into laughter. "Are you serious? People actually believe this stuff?" he asked, his voice filled with amusement and disbelief.
Matt nodded, grinning. "Yep, it's crazy, right? But it's a real thing. They actually believe this."
John shook his head, still chuckling. "That's insane. I can't believe they get away with it."
"And Tom Cruise too," he added.
I nodded.
"Holy shit, and now they want you too," John said.
"Maybe they think you are L. Ron as well, Danny, like Stan here," Matt said, motioning over to the episode, which was still running.
"Fuck off," I said, throwing a punch at his arm.
"But seriously, you can relax, dude. I doubt they will bother you again," Matt said.
"I hope not," I muttered.
John clapped his hands, breaking the tension. "Let's forget about the Scientology stuff. Tell us about the script you said you were writing."
"Oh yes, I can't believe Stardust and Nebula are merging," Matt said excitedly. "Now you can make movies with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman..."
Matt continued, ticking off characters on his fingers. "The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Cyborg, Shazam, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Zatanna, Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and the Question."
"Yes, yes," I said, feeling the excitement building. "I got started on the Superman one."
"That's awesome," Matt said. "So tell us, you must have a story in mind?"
"So my story skips all his introductions. No rehashing his origins," I began.
"That's fine. Everyone knows Superman's origins," Matt said.
"Clark Kent is a reporter at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. He lives a humble, relatable life, balancing his job and maintaining relationships. At first, the story follows interactions with his colleagues, especially Lois Lane to show is more human side," I explained.
"Is he Superman yet?" John asked.
"Yes, but it's very early," I replied.
"Who are the villains?" Matt asked.
"Now…. I'm thinking Metallo with Lex in the background pulling the strings," I replied.
"Clark is also Superman when the need arises. He is still a bit reluctant to use his powers but acts out of necessity and compassion."
"Haven't decided on which version of Metallo to use" I said.
"That's all I have now. The whole story might change but its better than nothing"
"Good ideas, Danny," John said. "But I'm not sold on Metallo and Lex."
"Oh, do you have any suggestions?" I asked.
"I mean, why not a bad guy who is on par with Superman? Darkseid or Brainiac or something," John suggested.
That got me thinking. Will people like how I present Superman in the story? Will they come into the theater expecting cities being totaled by fights and lots of action and be bored by the early portions of it?
'Oh no, it could be like Phantom Menace,' I thought.
"Danny, Danny," I heard Matt call. "Don't listen to this idiot. Writing something like this takes time and you will need help. You can't do it alone."
I nodded. "You are right, I'll need help," I replied.
"Maybe you should put a pin in this and work on your upcoming stuff," John said.
I nodded again. They were right. Maybe I should work on this later.
.
.
.
I sat in front of a large whiteboard on which 12 Angry Men was written in large letters. Below it, the names of the characters in the movie were listed:
Juror 1: Mark Ruffalo's picture was pinned up with casted written beneath it.
Juror 3: J.K. Simmons' picture was displayed with casted noted.
Juror 6: Pedro Pascal's picture was there with casted written underneath.
Juror 7: Bob Odenkirk's picture was marked as casted.
Juror 8: Tom Hanks' picture had casted written below it.
Juror 11: Christoph Waltz's picture was up with to be casted written beneath.
Juror 12: Jon Hamm's picture was there with, in negotiation below it.
For Juror 2, Juror 4, Juror 5, Juror 9, and Juror 10, the names were written, but there were no pictures yet.
Other people were present in the room, including Dave and Sam. The production of 12 Angry Men had officially started after much insistence from Henry.
Sam pointed to the board and began explaining the casting situation. "As you can see, we've already cast several key roles. Mark Ruffalo will play Juror 1, J.K. Simmons is our Juror 3, Pedro Pascal is cast as Juror 6, Bob Odenkirk as Juror 7, and Tom Hanks as Juror 8. Christoph Waltz is in line for Juror 11, and we're currently negotiating with Jon Hamm for Juror 12."
"Jurors 2, 4, 5, 9, and 10 are still to be decided."
Dave nodded. "We've made good progress, and now we have to pick the rest of the cast."
Sam turned to me, "Do you have any more suggestions, Danny?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Nah, I'm just here to hear your picks," I said.
"Well, we have made some picks," Dave said, turning to Sam.
"For Juror 2, we've decided on Mackenzie Astin," Sam said, pinning up his picture.
"Juror 4 will be Michael Stuhlbarg," Dave added, placing his photo on the board.
"For Juror 5, we have Stanley Tucci," Sam continued, pinning his picture next to the name.
"Jim Broadbent will be Juror 9," Dave said, securing his picture in place.
"And finally, for Juror 10, we have Gary Oldman," Sam concluded, putting up his picture.
The board now displayed a complete ensemble of talented actors, each selected to bring their unique strengths to the film.
Juror 1: Mark Ruffalo (casted)
Juror 2: Mackenzie Astin (in negotiation)
Juror 3: J.K. Simmons (casted)
Juror 4: Michael Stuhlbarg (to be casted)
Juror 5: Stanley Tucci (to be casted)
Juror 6: Pedro Pascal (casted)
Juror 7: Bob Odenkirk (casted)
Juror 8: Tom Hanks (casted)
Juror 9: Jim Broadbent (to be casted)
Juror 10: Gary Oldman (in negotiation)
Juror 11: Christoph Waltz (to be casted)
Juror 12: Jon Hamm (in negotiation)
"Looks like we have our cast," I said, feeling a sense of satisfaction.
"These are just the first choices," Sam said.
"Three are in negotiation, and four have only been approached," Dave chimed in.
"Hanks will make it happen," I said. "The man is very determined to make this movie."
Dave and Sam nodded, agreeing with me. The cast did look solid. Now all we could hope for was that they had good on-screen chemistry together.
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Read up to chapter 74 here :
p.a.t.r.eon.com/Illusiveone (check the chapter summary i have it there as well)