Rise To Stardom - Chapter 160

Chapter 160: A Bit More ‘Oomph’
KYLE KESTIS, YOU WERE, AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT 10TH.

I knew it was coming.

We knew it was coming.

We expected to see the 10th Curator go by the end of season 10’s last episode.

And yet, nothing could’ve prepared us for just how emotional his departure would be.

Kyle Kestis as The Curator, was a revelation and a sight to behold.

Silly yet dangerous.

Lively but jaded.

Bubbly yet sad.

Childlike, but old and wise.

His version of The Curator, to summarize it all, was chaotically endearing.

And Kyle Kestis, played him so beautifully well.

That’s why, we won’t forget his parting words to us;

‘Everything ends and it’s sad… but everything begins again, and it’s beautiful.’

‘No. Everything begins again, and it’s brilliant!’

‘Have a brilliant life.’

And you too K.K! And you too!

Goodbye, Chaotic 10th.

You will be missed. Terribly.

And welcome, 11th.

We hope you’ll have a blast!

–

Under her already viral TweetTalk post which had already gotten over 10.7K comments, 93.8K retweets, 612K likes and over three million views, Queen Galactica herself was the first to drop a comment.

–

Queen Galactica: I’m not crying (sobs loudly)! I’m really not (Oh who am I kidding, I bawled so hard snot ran down than my nose)! I said I’m not crying! What makes you think that (sobs even louder)?! I’ll miss the 10th Curator, so, so, so, very much!

PrincessPeach: Me too @Queen_Galactica! Me too ╥﹏╥.

Adam_With_An_A: I so much love how The 10th Curator’s final words definitely seemed like something that would come from him and yet, if one really dug deeper into those parting words, you’d realize, that its more of Kyle saying his goodbyes to the role in a way.

WeDoABitOfTrolling: I know right @Adam_With_An_A. It’s such an ingenious thing to do and mark my words, I’m fairly certain, that he’ll probably start this trend where each Curator, gives a farewell speech before they go, no matter how little.

ManFromMars: Kyle was a much needed breath of fresh air for the show but now that it’s truly finalized that he’s gone, I’m going to miss him so much. Goodbye once again Chaotic 10th. You were brilliant.

Argh_MyBack: I’m forty years of age and I’ve been watching this show since its inception in my teens and I have to say, the 5th will still forever be my Curator but, I also know, that for the new and younger fans of the show, the 10th Curator will be theirs.

Peter_Writes_Fantasy: It’s so ironic, isn’t it? Most people weren’t so keen on the idea of The Curator being portrayed by a younger actor back when he was first announced to be the 10th and yet, now that Kyle’s run has come to a close, nobody wants to see him go.

Playing_Cold: ‘Am I the disease, or am I the cure?’. There’s just something about that line that I just can’t seem to place my finger on. In fact, it’s like there’s a whole multitude of hidden messages beneath it…

Cats&Dogs_MassHysteria: I’m still kind of finding it amazing how despite the 11th Curator already being announced, no one’s off to start attacking and demeaning Lily Lockhart like we did during Kyle’s time (save for a few select idiots who just don’t learn).

Toxic_Watcher 99: @Cats&Dogs_MassHysteria; Well, you heard The 10th Curator’s parting words too, didn’t you? Why not at least, give her chance first before we start judging eh?

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: Look at you @Toxic_Watcher 99; being all prim and proper. On a more serious note though, I’m so glad people are being so mature about it. I can safely stash away my rocket launcher this time.

Boy_By_The_Table: I’d already started tearing up when he said ‘Oh… I don’t wanna go…’ but, that little flick of his eyes towards the camera just as he says ‘Everything begins again and it’s, brilliant!’, instantly had me in another pool of tears. Thank you so much Kyle for being an amazing actor and an even more amazing Curator. You will be missed!

The 78th Curator: Arguably, Kyle had the hardest job out of all the previous actors whom had taken up the role of The Curator because he literally, had to rejuvenate an entire audience of both old and longtime fans of the show while simultaneously also, ushering in a new age of fans. Honestly, I don’t think anyone could’ve pulled it off as well as he did. Farewell, Chaotic 10th. You were the best thing to have happened to this show in ages.

–

Just as more and more fans of the show continued to pour into the comment section of the viral post to give their accolades and farewells to Kyle, another tweet from Collins North, suddenly dropped, one where he directly tagged Kyle himself;

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Thank you, for honoring the legacy @KyleKestis.

Your farewell speech was a masterpiece of subtle messaging and stellar acting.

–

Luckily, Kyle had been on his phone the exact moment the post was dropped and had received the notification.

As a result, his reply was almost instantaneous.

–

Thank you @TheCollinsNorth; and every other Curator till date for making my childhood absolutely fantastic. I will always, always be grateful for that.

–

No sooner had that interaction happened, William Lewis, and a few other actors whom had played the Curator, started to comment under the post while also commending Kyle for a job well done and appreciating his farewell speech as they too, resonated fully well with it.

In about a few minutes after that, the post went viral, further solidifying the belief that Kyle Kestis as the 10th Curator was truly, and unequivocally, an exceptionally brilliant take on the titular time traveler that was going to be missed by all and sundry.

At the same time, DreamLand Inc., casually dropped another post of their own, a posted picture of the metrics of tuned-in viewers for the last episode of the 10th season.

Once again, The 10th Curator’s already massive popularity, reached a new high and so did Kyle Kestis’s stocks as an actor!

40.1 million tuned in viewers after all, was something even some of the most popular A-list television stars and actors had never achieved in their long, long career in Hollywood.

* * *

(A few days later…)

As Oliver kept hectically managing calls from so many directors, producers, talent agencies, advertising agencies and the likes, all as a result of Kyle’s currently immense popularity, it further drove home the fact that he did indeed, need his own team, just as much as Kyle did.

But even then, Oliver wasn’t in a hurry to just select people who were simply, competent.

Rather, he was after people who were competent and also, had long years of experience managing other artists in the industry.

Oliver was looking for seasoned specialists, so to speak… especially since Kyle was both a singer and an actor.

Sure he knew a bunch of people here and there but most were already in a contract with other popular artists or actors.

As a result, the agent kept diligently searching, already keeping tabs on a few people whom he felt would be very suitable for the job.

Kyle on the other hand, had finally finished up the main theme for the videogame, one that he had ensured to send over the moment he was genuinely satisfied with how it turned out.

Added to that, despite already preparing for his role in the dance-movie, Kyle had also started spending a lot of his days at SpawnPoint Studios to constantly check in on how things were faring.

Sure he received a daily report every day from Carlos but, it was still key for him to show up in person every now and then.

Added to that, he would soon start travelling off to various places again, the DreamLand Inc. Gala in New York being the first of it, and then all the way to Miami, Florida for the dance-movie.

That asides, regarding the videogame, it was steadily yet efficiently getting polished up, most of the features, mechanics and contents they had previously discussed, gradually being integrated into both the story and the gameplay.

At the same time, Kyle had come to the realization that even after he restructured the bill for his employees to leave at 2pm, most still opted to leave around 5pm to 7pm as it had become almost second nature to them to leave by that time.

It was a bit of a curious scenario but Kyle understood that this was what they were accustomed and had been conditioned to for the longest time.

Breaking out of that sort of mold, wasn’t going to come easily.

Yet, he knew that in due time, they’d eventually snap out of it.

“How many platforms are we planning to release it on?” Kyle questioned as he stood before an expansive, 146′-inch OLED SmartScreen Wall TV in his company’s mini-lobby.

It was also where he’d typically sit and discuss ideas with his employees previously but he had remodeled the entire space to have a very ergonomic, high-end feel.

Currently playing on the TV’s expansive screen was the opening section of the game, Kyle gazing at the scene with genuine interest in his eyes as [Tech Wiz], swan dove out of the apartment’s window while his theme played in the background.

Sure enough the theme was great and it further elevated the adrenaline-charged feel of the opening scene but, for some reason unknown, Kyle couldn’t help but feel like it was still missing a bit more ‘oomph’…

“PC mainly. We figured we’d do that first since majority of players are on there and then, come back to the gaming consoles later.” Carlos answered casually, not finding Kyle’s question or his answer, particularly out of place.

“Well we won’t be doing that. We’ll be releasing the game across all platforms on the same day.” Kyle casually stated in response, causing the Studio Head to have a bit of a wary expression in his eyes.

“Carlos. I’m not rushing you guys so you don’t have to worry. Just make sure to optimize the games across all platforms so the gamers have a uniform experience. Same thing goes for the couch co-op feature and the other quality of life features we discussed recently.” Kyle clarified to which Carlos heaved a genuine sigh of relief while responding;

“Sure. We can do that… though I still can’t believe you want us to bring back split screens and cheat codes though. It’s almost unheard of in the gaming sphere in this day and age…”

“Split screens are cool. And so are cheat codes. Those are some of the things that made the glory days of gaming, special. So, I intend to make no compromises on that.” Kyle defended proudly as Carlos chuckled, watching as Kyle, kept his gaze on the TV.

‘Hmmm…’ the young CEO on the other hand whom was watching the opening scene’s gameplay, had a sudden, curious thought, cross his mind while musing to himself.

‘That’s a pretty interesting idea…’

‘Might add that extra punch I feel like the opening scene’s missing…’

However, Kyle didn’t ponder too much over it and instead, decided to keep the idea in mind.

‘I’ll put it on the backburner for now. Won’t be part of the album though.’