interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

Who: Every single one of you.
What: Interstellar's first log, and an awards ceremony for jerks you don't know!
When: October 2nd.
Where: A fancy ballroom in neutral territory.
Warnings: Could be anything.

“Oh, it's been getting so hard,
Living with the things you do to me;
My dreams are getting so strange,
I'd like to tell you everything I see.

I see a man at the back as a matter of fact,
His eyes are as red as the sun.
And the girl in the corner lets no one ignore her,
‘Cause she thinks she's the passionate one.”

☆NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

It’s the seasonal Vista Music Industry Award Gala, and attendance is mandatory. You and your band have been touring non-stop for the last two months, hitting locations all over Americana, performing and doing press appearances. This event is set less than three days after your return home, but it’s been made clear that further rest will have to wait.

Though Halloween technically isn’t until the end of the month, the gathering has a formal masquerade theme - masquerade that is, not costume. Dressing up as a mummy or a clown isn’t going to cut it. Themed formal wear is expected, and your image consultants have been pestering you about your choices for the last 48 hours. Whether or not you listen to them, how you dress feels incredibly important. At least if you let the consultants fuss over you, you can be sure it’ll be something press friendly.

Various awards are being given out, but none of them are for you. The media in attendance are starting to bubble with enthusiasm for the ‘rising stars’ of the industry, however, so this could be a moment to shine. Labels besides Pride and Virgo are also in attendance, but who cares about those guys? They seem to be a mere footnote in comparison to the buzz around the heavy hitters.

There’s food, alcohol, dancing, stage performances by notable musicians of both Pride and Virgo, and then the formal awards ceremony in the evening. Yes, you are expected to sit through them. Do try to look like you’re interested, the media is watching.

☆PRIDE RECORDS

Lesedi Santiago doesn’t always make a big deal about introductions - or at least, that’s the impression you get when she just kind of shows up in your group limousine unannounced on your way over to the party. Deep into pre-drinking a bottle of gin, she doesn’t talk with you so much as talk at you, regaling your band with weird stories about the industry while completely ignoring the fact that her presence is more intimidating than comforting. You’re not sure if it’s intentional, but at least she’s a good story teller - her speech doesn’t seem to be at all affected by the quantity of booze she’s already consumed, which is kind of bizarre if you think about it too deeply. You’re not inclined to.

You’ve all met her before, here and there, in a series of bombastic encounters. Her interest in pontificating at you and the other new label inductees seems to fade immediately upon entering the ballroom, as she quickly becomes distracted with more high profile guests. Her attention fixates on Edward Blanch from time to time, but she declines to address him specifically. If you want to get some of her one on one attention, now could be your chance - just make sure you go in ready. Handling Miss Santiago can be a bit of an...experience.

Veteran Pride members are in attendance as well, but most of them are not very good company. Their reactions vary from ‘frat members greeting a new pledge’ to ‘disinterested shoulder pats’, and ultimately it will seem your attention is better received by the other newbies. Maybe even the Virgo Entertainment stiffs, at that.

Because, of course, that crew is here as well. Lesedi suggested you “show them who’s boss,” but you’re not necessarily sure what that’s supposed to mean.

☆VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT

Tonight's event is one of considerable speculation: it marks Edward Blanche's first public appearance after a considerable period of isolation. He's a private man, a mystery and an enigma to the public, and that just seems to make him all the more intoxicating. The Managers and security staff are out in full force, and if you know what's good for you, you'll be dressed to the nines. Your image consultant will be almost desperate to do the work for you, like they're afraid of what might happen to their careers if you embarass the label on their watch.

Personal style is important, but everything in your gut tells you that your nose has got to be clean this time, or trouble is sure to follow. For many of you, this will be the first time you'll ever have seen your CEO in person, and as such, the first time he'll encounter you one on one. If you're going to brown nose, now's the time - but make sure you choose your words carefully, and don't waste his time. Blanche has little patience for it.

There are veteran musicians of the Virgo label in attendance, ones with dozens of awards to their names, but they seem to have little interest in speaking with you. Some are politely avoidant while others and just rudely dismissive, but none of them really give an answer for why they just aren't interested. It's not totally surprising - Virgo's interior politics are harsh.

Other notable guests include Lesedi Santiago and the rest of the Pride Records entourage. Though you may have acquaintances, or even friends, who have been snatched up by the other side, it's even more likely that you have enemies. Everything about your Virgo upbringing makes you feel like you should hold a certain contempt for their ilk - people in this label think of them as classless at best and crass maniacs at worst.

Did you hear about that disgusting stunt one of their front runners pulled on stage last week? Revolting.

☆THE TWIST

Some of you may remember strange events from the past few weeks. Misplaced objects, malfunctioning technology, nostalgic phantom music - it feels a lot like the last portion of your tour was haunted. Now that you're back home, all of that seems to be flaring up again. You can practically feel the otherworldly presences passing through the room, even if nobody besides your tour group seems to notice. Even though they aren't knocking glasses off tables and flickering lights like last time, their presence is somehow even more apparent.

Your programming makes one thing clear: don't make a public fuss about this. Ignore it, everything's fine. The second part only goes so far. Especially when, at some point or another, you'll be shaken by the feeling that one of these ghosts has walked straight through you. For that moment, you feel like a totally different person. At this point, one of four memory regain effects will occur:

► REMEMBER LOVE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to one of the greatest loves of your past life. Can be either romantic, platonic, or familial. It must be about a person and not a place or activity, though.

► REMEMBER DUTY: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you held a great sense of duty or loyalty to in your past life. It could be a person, a cause, a country, or anything in between.

► REMEMBER PASSION: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you were passionate about to the point of anger or determination in your past life. Not enjoyment of, but something that drove you, or one of the things most likely to make you throw a punch.

► REMEMBER HOPE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you dreamed about making come true, or an important hope you had for the future in your past life. This covers any kind of positive goal or ambition for you or the world around you.

The feeling will quickly fade, leaving you as the person you've been made into once again. Only now you have something new: the first fragment of a life you can't remember having lived. The CEOs and managers will react to this eventually, and you're probably going to get sent home early. This, however, will be covered with a top level further into the log.

“I'm reaching out for something,
Touching nothing's all I ever do.
Oh, I softly call you over;
When you appear there's nothing left of you.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Okay, so Ryouta's a little offended by Sora's outfit. Just a little. But still, that's fine. There's more important things to worry about.

Like dance offs. They had agreed that the next time they met there would be a dance off between them. He made a beeline to Sora when he saw him, grinning broadly]

Hey pumpkin boy, good thing you brought dancing shoes because it's time to throw down.

[His outfit is awesome how could anyone be offended, that's nonsense. ..Except he's already gotten "comments" on it tonight, which he's not unused to so therefor not terribly fazed by it. But this is a Halloween thing, pumpkins were totally called for! Somehow other people were not understanding this.

Sora turns when he hears Ryouta's voice, and grins back at him widely.] Hey! [At the other's commentary on his outfit, he merely lifts his head and gives a proud flick of his nose with his thumb.] It's pumpkin king.

[Probably he shouldn't be so confident, not when he's really kinda tired and therefor there's a good chance he's gonna lose a dance-off. But whatever, he's gonna do his best and it should be fun, anyway!] Oh, yeah? You ready?

Okay, your majesty.

[He did an over dramatic bow, complete with spinning his right hand in front of him and sweeping his left arm back as he dipped low. He stayed like for a beat, and then gracefully straightened back up with a beaming smile.]

I was born ready.

[Ryouta wasn't in top shape either, but that wasn't going to stop him from going all out and having fun.]

[Ryouta's bow is gonna get a good-natured roll of the eyes from Sora in return, but he's still smiling. Ryouta makes a good friend-rival.]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taking the bow as an offer to start this thing off himself, he does so with some beginning moves that really aren't complicated at all, but he works them well.]

[Kise watches while Sora gets started. He lets Sora get going before beginning to move himself. A bit more technical than Sora's opening moves, but not by much. He's grinning as he does. He loves the competition and loves being pushed to new boundries]

[Meanwhile, Sora's all grins because while he's never actually had a dance-off before, he might have to more often. This is pretty fun. And he hits some new moves once Ryouta's shown a few of his own.]

Not bad, not bad.

[Time to up the ante. He knows what to drop next, and he's already planning the set after that. Ryouta really gets into competitions. Maybe a bit too much, but Sora's having fun too, so long as they were both having fun it was all good.

He waits a beat and then jumps into his next set of moves]

[Those were some pretty quick, slick moves. Clearly Sora needs to step up his game here. He's not one afraid to give Ryouta some applause after that, either.]

Hey, nice!

[His own next set of moves start to show the tiredness he's been trying to fight all night; there are some mistakes, and he's aware of them. Even so, that doesn't make it any less fun.]

[Ryouta frowns slightly, he can tell Sora's getting tired, but still having fun. Well, so long he was having fun there was no cause for worry.]

Alright, one more round.

I do have other people to see after all.

[It's some light teasing before he drops these moves like a bomb this dance off is starting to tire him out too. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea to do it tonight after all the excitement. Still, it's a fun way to spend the night.]

[The light teasing actually gets a laugh from him, and the sound of it shows off how tired he is even more than his previous dance moves. However, he finds one last burst of energy in him to pull off a shorter set of moves, and hits the marks a lot better this time around.

When he's finished though, he walks toward Ryouta to give him a proper fist bump as congratulations, all smiles.]

I think you definitely won that one. But next time we're singing.

[And Kise finishes off the night with a set that's also a bit shorter. As he finishes he meets Sora's fist bump with a large smile]

Yeah, but you weren't at your best. So a rematch will be in order. But since I did win...

[He leans down and lightly kisses Sora. Then he straightens up and winks at the other boy]

I get a prize. See you soon~

[Well. That was unexpected. There's a series of expressions that cross Sora's face but they're all pretty easy to read: surprise, confusion, embarrassment, bashfulness, before finally he smiles and rubs his hand against the back of his neck.

He feels for a moment like maybe he should also be a little indignant, and that feeling was there too, briefly. Because hey, he never agreed to that! ...But then making a scene about it would just bring it more to everyone else's attention. They might end up in a tabloid already. Besides that, it's not like it's his first kiss ever, and Kise's not a bad guy, plus he did win!

In the end, he lets it slide pretty easily, even if he'll likely be flustered for some time yet.]

Geez. Are you gonna be doing that every time you win? Ahh-- nevermind! [There's a slight flail of hands here.] I don't wanna know! Get outta here already! [This last part is said with a laugh, not just so that the other teen knows he's not mad at him, but also in genuine amusement.]

Make sure you win next time then~

[And with a laugh, he dances away to bother other people. Later, he'll feel a bit guilty for suddenly kissing Sora, but unless Sora brings it up he probably won't mention it]

☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

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