interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

Who: Everyone in Pride and Virgo HQ.
What: Ghosts need your help.
When: The evening of January 30th, 2055
Where: Pride and Virgo HQ.
Warnings: Phantasmal violence, possibly some real violence.

“Hold your colours against the wall,
When they take everything away,
Hold your colours against the wall,
With me (soaking through)”

☆IN REACHING OUT

Starting around the 20th of January, the heavy lockdown and supervision of the musicians of both labels will begin to fade. While they still require escorts to be out and about, the guards that have been routinely stalking them around their own homes and HQs will be gradually phased out, until it is just the regular managers and security remaining. Sweet deal, right? Over a month after the hysteria of the ill-fated solstice party, things seem to be finally letting up a little. Whether because you've played nice for long enough, or whether their attentions are being directed elsewhere, it isn't clear.

Either way, this is the also the start of some increasingly familiar paranormal activity. All the way back to the first tour of this generation of musicians, members of both Pride and Virgo have found themselves haunted by strange and inexplicable happenings. Starting on the 23rd, these happenings begin to flare up again - lights switching on and off, TVs starting on their own, and even things falling off of shelves unprovoked. (These minor happenings can be made up by you and don't need to be mod designated - however, they should not be anything that would be threatening or dangerous to the characters.) For some people this will be completely new, and for others it may even be faintly nostalgic.

This will continue until the night of the 30th, when things finally seem to come into swing. The hauntings will become more pointed and explicit. The details are specific to each HQ, and there and you can make yourself open to an NPC haunting down below.

☆PRIDE RECORDS

About halfway through the evening on the 30th, Predator will begin prowling the halls of Pride HQ. At first it won't be clear for what, but after catching a few snippets of conversation (this can be handwaved) characters will have a change to realize that they are looking for the ghosts that have been causing a fuss recently. How crazy this will sound to you will probably depend on how new you are. They will actively shake down random musicians they meet for information about what they've seen the last couple days. As usual, Jenny is leading the pack, with Cass and Donny (nsfw) providing back up muscle.

Provided you lie well or tell them the truth, they will move along fairly quickly. If you start shit with them, they will probably rough you up a little. Any major confrontations with them will be handled on the companion OOC post, and a few top levels may appear over here that can be tagged into in limited amounts.

Beyond those activities, Pride members will feel various effects based on their EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENTS:

► ALL: Their connection and desire to create music will be especially heightened. They will find themselves subconsciously beginning to tap out rhythms, hum, peck at instruments, or straight up sing things even when it would otherwise be totally inappropriate. Strong emotions will cause them to want to sing and play to each other. They may also feel very strongly that they want to dance, to a particularly addictive beat that seems to emanate from the air. It may shift and change as the night goes on, but at any given moment everyone will hear the same rhythm. It sounds like particularly great percussion.

► LOVE & DUTY: They will have no extra special effects, but they will feel this urge to create music even more strongly than the rest, as it seems to be focused on them as they are not being directly targeted by any other sensations. When Hope and Passion musicians hear music made by these characters, they will feel stronger, like energy is being gifted to them.

► HOPE: Characters of this alignment will feel increasingly like they are being drawn somewhere, or like someone is calling for them, but they can't quite make out the direction it's coming from. The aspect of hope will be empowered within them, and they will find themselves unusually trusting towards the other characters, as if they only have the most optimistic outcomes in mind. Beyond this, they may feel dazed or confused by the sensations they are feeling. They may also experience strange visions, or the sensation of being another person they are not (and not just their true self this time, someone else completely).

► PASSION: Characters of passion will be targeted by the 'hauntings' much more directly than the others. More than random acts, the hauntings around them seem like someone is actively trying to communicate with them. Sometimes it will even feel like someone is trying to speak in their heads, though they won't quite be able to make it out. Passion characters who request haunting instances will get the most major effects.

☆VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT

Soon after things start to get extra weird on the 30th, Juno and a couple Virgo veterans (Anansi and a man you recognize as a popular folk artist named Brett Hogan) will start wandering the halls. They will pull individuals aside for questioning in private rooms, asking about the strange occurrences. They will not attempt to rough anyone up, but excessively resistance or attempts at violence towards them may result in characters being locked in their rooms for the rest of the night.

All three of them seem particularly hard to lie to for some reason, tonight. It's possible, but while you make the effort to do so, the words seem to be on the verge of falling out of your mouth. Juno seems to have something very particular in mind as she searches the HQ, like she can see something you can't. There will also be top levels for these guys appearing.

Beyond those activities, Pride members will feel various effects based on their EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENTS:

► ALL: Their connection and desire to create music will be especially heightened. They will find themselves subconsciously beginning to tap out rhythms, hum, peck at instruments, or straight up sing things even when it would otherwise be totally inappropriate. Strong emotions will cause them to want to sing and play to each other. They may also feel very strongly that they want to dance, to a particularly addictive tune that seems to emanate from the air. It may shift and change as the night goes on, but at any given moment everyone will hear the same song. It sounds like someone riffing expertly on a guitar.

► HOPE & PASSION: They will have no extra special effects, but they will feel this urge to create music even more strongly than the rest, as it seems to be focused on them as they are not being directly targeted by any other sensations. When Love and Duty musicians hear music made by these characters, they will feel stronger, like energy is being gifted to them.

► LOVE: Characters of this alignment will feel increasingly like they are being drawn somewhere, or like someone is calling for them, but they can't quite make out the direction it's coming from. The aspect of love will be empowered within them, and they will find themselves unusually loving, connected, and emotionally open to others, even if this would usually be out of character. (This can also mean they are more inclined to get physically intimate, if you want to.) Beyond this, they may feel dazed or confused by the sensations they are feeling. They may also experience strange visions, or the sensation of being another person they are not (and not just their true self this time, someone else completely).

► DUTY: Characters of duty will be targeted by the 'hauntings' much more directly than the others. More than random acts, the hauntings around them seem like someone is actively trying to communicate with them. Sometimes it will even feel like someone is trying to speak in their heads, though they won't quite be able to make it out. Duty characters who request haunting instances will get the most major effects.

☆PLOT NOTE

This will be a two part event, and the second part will be posted in a few days and will only include those that choose to help the spirits. This can be discussed OOC. Any alignment can assist, though the Passions from Pride and the Duties from Virgo will be the most directly pursued because they will be the easiest for the spirits to communicate with. Realize that participating is serious business, though: there are good odds the characters will be caught eventually, and there will be consequences. Do not volunteer your characters for this plot if you don't want them to suffer potential physical or mental trauma.

“Fading gently, soaking through,
And starting not to show at all.
In reaching out and into you, 
nothing else could touch me.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[B plops down on the couch next to him with a bright grin.]

Hey! You working on a new song or something?

[The song pretty much instantly stops once Sora realizes he's playing an actual song as opposed to random chords, and he blinks in surprise down at his ukulele before turning to B.]

Sorta I guess? Mostly just playing for the sake of playing, though. Felt like making music but I didn't really have anything in mind. What're you up to?

Huh... sure sounds like you had something going there, anyway.

[He shrugs slightly and sits back against the couch.]

Not much! Just thought I would come in here 'n see if the TV was working yet... looks like it is, though.

[It did sound like he'd been playing something. And not for the first time, either. He'd played the song a little earlier in the day too. It's weird, but he's prone to not question it to much.

Especially since B mentions the TV, which Sora looks at and nods at his friend's words.]

Yeah. For now, anyway. It was kinda messing up earlier. A lot of the electrical stuff's been doing that again, huh? Maybe something with the wiring? Though my phone was acting funny too...

Man, your phone too? [He gives a quiet snort of laughter.] I would guess the wiring if it were just one or the other, but I dunno. Maybe just... static electricity in the air or something?

[He holds up a hand and wiggles his fingers. Is this how static electricity works]

[Sora idly strums the ukulele in his lap again, the chords more random than last time but still strung together in a way that's pleasant to the ear.]

I guess that could be it... [Suddenly he grins.] You know there's a way to check for that, though.

Yeah? What would that be?

[Okay, now you've definitely got his attention.]

[He puts the ukulele down, and brings his feet up to point at his socks, then down at the carpeted floor, still grinning.]

Or there's always balloons. Or both! [Yes this sounds like a great idea. Let's produce as much static electricity as possible and nothing can or will go wrong because Sora is imbued only with Hope, even more so than usual. There are no consequences in life anymore. Only fun.]

Oh man yeah!

[B reaches down to tug his own shoes off, as well.]

Hey, both sounds good to me. Do we have any balloons around here?

[Sora reaches into his pocket to pull out a few. And decides he should probably give an explanation for conveniently having some:]

I was doin' water balloons with Artolo from Crown of Thorns earlier. Still got some left!

[He hands a couple over to his band mate.]

Aw, sweet - and hey, I didn't know you knew Artolo!

[He takes the balloons, fiddling with them and stretching them out to make sure they're not too much of a pain to blow up.]

Yep! Met him at the Music Festival. He's kinda weird, [--pot calling the kettle black--] like you never really know what he's gonna do next. But he's really fun!

[Once that's said, he starts on blowing up one of the balloons. It doesn't seem to give him too much trouble.]

Sounds about right. I met him there, too.

[Satisfied, he starts blowing up a balloon, too.]

[When Sora's got the balloon about the size he wants, he takes it and ties it with a little bit of struggling, but manages.]

Alright, here we go!

[With that done, he promptly reaches over with it to rub the balloon on B's yellow hair. Could he have done this to himself instead? Sure, but then he wouldn't get to see the results!]

[When Sora rubs the balloon on his head, B bursts out laughing - which, of course, means all the air escapes abruptly from his own balloon.

He grins and looks up toward the balloon, though the angle means that he, of course, can't see his hair sticking to the balloon.]

So, how's it going up there?

Whoops, sorry about your balloon.

[Sora lifts his balloon up slowly, snickering a little as strands stick to it.]

Yup, we got static!

[He grins as he attempts to change B's hairdo a bit using only the balloon, because why not?]

Hey, sacrifices must be made for science, right? Or something like that.

[B snickers, moving as if to push the balloon away but not making any sincere effort to stop Sora.] Hey, c'mon, man! The balloon is one thing, my hair is another.

[Laughing.]

Alright, alright. Hey! Do mine!

[He offers his own balloon to B.]

[He takes the balloon with a grin, reaching over to rub it against Sora's hair.]

Hmm... alright, sir, what style will you be wanting today?

Hmm. [B's question is given serious consideration.] Somethin' fluffy.

[The real question here is, though, will the balloon static work on Sora's naturally spiky hair? Maybe so long as B avoids the spikes.]

☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

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