☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

[interdimanagers]

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.”

Comments

VIRGO HAUNTINGS

[interdimanagers]

If you need a haunting, post a top level here! The top level must have actual content, and explain what your character is doing at the time of the haunting. It can be anything, but you need to set the scene.

[giglio_madonna]

[In the privacy of her bathroom, the steam of her shower helping to fog up the mirror- and any cameras her paranoia whispers might actually be there- Luce takes out a certain ring.]

[Dangerous, she knows, to keep it around her neck on a thin chain of silver hidden beneath her clothes, but it's even moreso to hide it in her room where the searching hands and sharp eyes of housekeeping could find it. It's so hard to know who to trust here outside her band, yet somehow.... That feels familiar.]

[She thinks of the vision where there was blood at her feet. And, looking at the ring that seems to fit perfectly on her finger, metal extended gracefully in the shape of wings from a stone of brilliant gleaming orange when it had been dull gray before- ]

[They all lay bright and powerful in their box, just like they had the day her mother had first shown them to her, and Luce reaches out with a hand that is not quite that of a child's to trace a finger over each of them. She knows the order of them by heart, even if the gems are all as colorless as the metal they're set in.]

[Rain. Cloud. Mist. Lightning. Sun. Storm. Then, at the top, what she's reaching for-]

The sky.

[She murmurs it to herself in a quiet daze, bathrobe still wrapped around her and the shower forgotten even for how humid the room gets.]

[interdimanagers]

[She probably can't even be surprised when she comes out of the shower to find the oldest trick in the book: words written into the steam on the glass, as if done by the finger of a stranger. "help please listen" they say.

Or maybe she still can be surprised, I mean, that's some pretty intense ghosting.]

Ivan Karelin | Duty

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan plucks a few stings of his shamisen while sitting on his bed. He's still wearing his yukata that he wears to sleep (as much of it as he can get), and his hair hasn't even been brushed yet. Sheets, blankets, and pillows are a mess around him. Today feels like a day when he'll skip on as much as possible and work on suppressing that feel he gets when his power wants to activate. Like he feels now.

But, he can't seem to get a song out of his head. Ivan shuffles a bit and plays a few more notes. Focus on the music. Accept that the urge to shapeshift is there, but breathe and focus on the music.

He sees himself in a gym area throwing shuriken towards a round target hanging on a partition. The shuriken aren't so haphazardly thrown anymore like they had in an earlier memory. They fly truer towards their target and strike closer to where he wants them to.

Breathe. Focus. Throw. A thunk. It hits the target, but it's not dead center.

Breathe. Focus. Pluck. A note.

Breathe. Focus. Throw. A thunk. A bullseye.

He will become a hero that people can depend on, who can protect people. He won't stay in the background anymore.

Ivan lowers his bachi and shamisen. That... was another vision-memory, wasn't it? ]

... Maybe I should start thinking about who I am instead...

[interdimanagers]

Yes!

[It's not clear where the voice came from, as the sound seems to have no particular source. It's as if it's something he thought himself, but louder, and in a different voice.]

Marty | Duty

[heymcfly]

[ The tv blares, but Marty hardly pays attention. The computer's screen brightens up now and then, always alerting him of Twitter's feed. Stuff happens here and there, but he doesn't even notice. Marty's completely dedicated to the music that's blaring away inside of his head, and the notes he plays on his guitar.

He doesn't take the liberty of jotting down notes, or anything to record his sudden inspiration. His brain tells his fingers to place themselves on these strings, and his other hand strums away. To some, it may sound like he's playing a bunch of crap; it's more like the heavy metal of old where all you did was throw up a bunch of notes and slam your super expensive guitar into the ground after then. But just having at it like that is soothing, in a way. It's a freedom of expression that Marty absolutely loves.

The music moves him; he sways left and right, growing more erratic the faster he plays. Soon Marty is completely out of control, to the point where he's playing the guitar from behind and over his head, performing all kinds of crazy tricks that would probably be cringeworthy in some places. But he absolutely loves this.

Something spurs Marty to hop onto his bed, shoes and all, only to turn just as quick and leap off of the edge. At the exact moment he jumps, he strums hard, and-

There's a crowd among a sea of blue. They bob and weave and dance, all spinning in rhythm with the guitar. A saxophone. A cello to his side. A drummer has at it behind him; Marty can feel the vibrations of the drums through his bones. In front of him is a microphone. He's performing, front stage. This entire performance is his.

He can feel himself continuously sucking in air, only to release it just as hard. It almost feels like he's singing, but Marty's not sure quite what yet. It must be good though, because the people in front of him are going absolutely crazy. They're all dressed in suits and dresses, and there is not one of them standing still. The building around them says gym, but the decorations say sea. Water. A dance.

The kids are happy because it's been a good night filled with punch, dancing, maybe a few kisses here and there in the dark where that disciplinary guy won't find you. But Marty's celebrating for a different reason: the couple square in the middle, stuck in the crowd with smiles plastered onto their faces. She's dressed in pink, he's in a white tux. They look absolutely smitten, and the feeling it gives him is almost indescribable.

He's safe, they're all safe. Safe and sound again, in good old-

Marty finds himself standing in the middle of his room. The only thing that makes any kind of noise is the tv, which he totally forgot was on. His laptop was probably almost dead; he keeps forgetting to plug that damn thing in. As he goes to fix this problem, that image plays over again in his mind. It's kind of weird, since...it didn't really come from anywhere, did it? ]

...The hell was that?

[interdimanagers]

[When he makes it over to the computer, he will find that something has been typed into the search bar on his web browser.]

DON'T CLOSE THE LAPTOP PLEASE

Cloud | Love alignment

[off_the_edge]

[Cloud's trying to think about what the hauntings could possibly be, but his mind keeps wandering and he's powerless to do anything about it. All he wants to do is what he's ended up doing - sitting at his keys, set to a bland piano sample, and fiddling with chords, daydreaming about an idea that's been stuck on his head. He's become attached to the concept of a sort of vibrant urban samurai, a rock-and-roll ronin high on the city around him, and it's concerning because he doesn't usually come up with original ideas, so he must have stolen it from somewhere.

He wonders if it was what Yuffie was talking about, the beautiful city with the tower. He wonders what Yuffie's up to right now. He wants to be held onto, to touch someone, just to feel someone next to him, to bask in that stream that connected everyone alive to one another -

Forget it, he tells himself, setting up his playing to record into the DAW and immediately losing any tune he had. He's right on edge, fingers spread out and elbows poised, waiting for something significant and beautiful to pull him somewhere. But that's fine, he decides, stopping the recording, not every evening can be a productive evening.]

[interdimanagers]

[As he waits for that burst of beautiful inspiration, something else strikes him instead. He sees...a face. A face of a man he's never seen before, with all the shapes and contours of a human visage except with skin in a deep shade of blue. He'll feel his hand reach out to touch that skin with a set of pale white fingers, before pulling back in surprise, like he didn't expect it to be real.

"I don't understand," Cloud will feel himself say softly, in a woman's voice. The man moves to cup her hand in his his, the grip warm and reassuring.

"That's okay. I promise I'll help you figure it out."]

Haru Miura - Love Alignment

[costumechange]

{Haru's become used to the imaginings of funerals and the crawling feeling that she's always being watched or followed, looking over her shoulder for suits or people that aren't Virgos fine security minions. She knows there's something wrong with her, she shouldn't feel like she's on the run all the time, but nothing's stopping it. She still dreams of falling off bridges and not dying.

The past couple of nights, though, instead of waking up crying or terrified, she wakes up with her feet already on the floor and in motion like she's going somewhere. She gravitates to her bandmates' doors and stands there wishing and hoping for something, but she's not sure if they're the company she's seeking. She just wants to reach out and hold someone, take care of them, do anything they need and show her love for them.

This isn't a foreign feeling. She always wants to show people she cares, but she's never felt like it this much. She's never had this compulsion to-She doesn't even know what the compulsion is, but whatever it is she thinks it's getting worse. She can hardly feel her usual paranoia through it and sometimes during practice when she looks at her hands on her mallets or sticks she doesn't recognize them anymore.

It happens the worst at night when she's failed to knock on anyone's bedroom and she trails instead to her instruments picking up the soft headed mallets she knows will make he quietest smoothest sound, and then failing to hold them properly. She's expecting different fingers, a different arm's length and her first note is struck on the incorrect bar.}

[interdimanagers]

[She should be playing a guitar, she realizes, with four solid strings. Each pluck smoothly follows the rhythm of the others of the others playing, their beats effortlessly in sync to the drums and the flow of her bass. Once upon a time she remembered this being a happy feeling, but it's not anymore. The others seems as sad and confused as she has been feeling for weeks now.

The stage lights blind her.

We'll stay together, she thinks, and closes her eyes, her fingers finding their way easily even without her sight.]

Roxas | Hope

[inversekeyblade]

[As a drummer, Roxas is coming to find how important having quality drum sticks can be. But even with the right equipment, the hands, wrists, arms, feet and body all need extra focus, to ensure great coordination, control and speed. Tonight is going to be dedicated on improving grip strength with.. a bag of rice.

Hey, it works.

So, while sitting in an office chair that rotates (because those are the only ones worthy of sitting in times like this) and spinning slowly in it, with giant headphones on of course, Roxas will be here with a decent sized bag of rice in grip, practicing squeezing and releasing while filling his head with obscenely loud beats that any passerby could hear.

Maybe during these exercises something will come to mind, something to feed his currently malnourished creativity. If only this bag of rice was creativity, he'd cook it find someone to cook it and eat it.]

[interdimanagers]

[It's in those giant headphones that he first hearts it - like a voice is speaking to him through the music, against the flow of the lyrics, but is being drowned out by the sheer volume of what he's listening to. It's like they are trying to talk over the ambient noise.]

Tsuna | Hope and Nia |Love

[dame_tsuna]

[Strange occurrences have been happening in and around HQ, things mysteriously disappearing, objects flying off shelves for no reason, weird noise, etc. Ghosts is really a logical conclusion. And other people have been whispering that word in hallways for a while.

Tsuna had been hoping the problem would just go away on it's own. When it becomes clear that isn't going to happen, the next step is to try to find a solution. Or maybe just kill some time. Either way, he and Nia are in the Surviving Friday penthouse setting up a Ouija board. He takes a quick glance at the instructions.]

Um, I think we're just supposed to put the plastic thing in the center of the board and then put our fingers on it. And then... ask questions, I guess.

[loveconservative]

That's exactly it! [Nia is way more into this than she should be. She's been more upbeat since her eyes went over well and she is going to pull his hands onto the board stop reading and start asking omg.]

And then we'll be able to find out why this is happening... I think.

Greg | Love

[panspermia]

[ Ah yes, Greg Universe. Professional rock star, famed celebrity, and grown-ass man. Singing in the shower. Shampoo bottle for a microphone. No consideration to remaining on key. ]

WOAH YEAH! HELL YEAH!!!
IT'S AN ALL-OUT DINOSAUR LASER FIGHT!
IN SPACE! WITH SHARKS!!
IT'S A BALLS-OUT DINOSAUR LASER FIGHT!!!

[interdimanagers]

[While it starts off with a Dinosaur Laser Fight, in a seemingly natural shift, Greg will find himself beginning to sing along with a totally different tune in his head - and once he's into it, it will feel like the only thing he had intended to sing at all.

He can imagine the notes he would play to this song, even though the only instrument he can hear right now is that of the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. They hadn't planned this out in advance, and all they brought was his guitar. At the right moment, the boy at his side begins to sing.

"Run, run, run away..."

Her own voice is shy as she begins to chime in, soft and sweet but unused to the spotlight. The boy, with his soft brown hair and eyes, is one of the few that makes her feel that she can do it, and his voice supports hers effortlessly.

"Buy yourself another day..."

As they sing together, she can feel the warm buzz of something between them - the first flutters of their magic intertwining. Though the song is sad, she feels it give her strength.

"A cold wind's whispering secrets in your ear,
So low only you can hear..."]

Lenneth Valkyrie (Meril) | Duty

[nibelungvalesti]

Meril was going nothing more complicated or less prosaic than sitting on her bed and brushing her hair.

It was an effort towards normalcy, trying to reestablish a normal routine and normal behaviors after she and Greg had let themselves slip. With a new band and new music to be made, she had to pull herself together -- and that meant, among other things, taking care of herself.

So she sat on her bed, ran the brush through her hair, and did her very best not to think too much.

[interdimanagers]

Some of her makeup abruptly falls off of her mirror equipped desk. The cap is notably off of the lipstick, with a line of it drawing a hasty "L" followed by an ambiguous wiggle left from it dropping to the floor. Like someone fell over while writing.

Duty

[agains]

[ In the wake of losing so many band members, Keith has been trying to keep himself occupied by picking up new hobbies. He tries to sketch a dog from memory; he buys a coloring book but the only colors he feels like using are purple and blue, gold and silver; he even tries to write lyrics but they sound repetitive, like the song he'd written for Kido. He begins to doubt originality is his strong suit. He even practices some vocal exercises in case he needs to step up -- it's unfair to make Finnick take the brunt of everything as the only other member who hasn't been fired.

He's watching the news as he exercises. A guy who plays the theremin doesn't have to be in perfect shape but Keith has always been meticulous about working out; it's a leftover habit from the false years of his life when he thought he'd be a policeman, not to mention general health and vanity.

While jogging in place, he can see an aura around himself. He feels lighter than usual. It's this moment that his powers have returned. Keith Goodman is a NEXT again, and just as soon as he realizes he's started to levitate one... two... three inches off the ground, he's fallen on his face.

He wipes sweat off his forehead with a towel. A newscaster continues talking, announcing a breaking story, something about a crime in progress. If you have a tip, please call the hotline below.

Why does he want to help so badly? ]

[interdimanagers]

[The TV buzzes into static, the image mostly fading away except for the occasional flashes and blips of the regular programming. But, gradually, the voice that starts coming through isn't the newcaster from before. It's a new voice, and they're saying:]

I need -our help.

Celty | duty

[losingherhead]

[Its the middle of the night. Celty is tired but she can't sleep. Which are interests that never stop being in conflict with each other, as you might expect.

Worry was part of it. Everyone seemed to be recovering from the party well enough but... the knowledge of whatever went down that day isn't something that's gonna leave anytime soon. So she worries. Sans felt even harder to read. Shen was toeing lines he probably shouldn't, Bill was... well. Bill. Then you add in Kido, Nia, Greg, and more... Everyone seemed to be trying to crawl out of the shitter, as far as she was concerned.

She wonders how her sister would deal with this, if she was here. She can't think of any examples on the top of her head of Sarah dealing with stressful situations like this, no matter how long Celty thinks it over. Probably just because she's tired.

She lifts herself out of bed and heads toward the kitchen. She needs a distraction. Food is distracting. She can't even be bothered to bring her helmet. Does it even matter? Like ten people heard her voice by now and who'd be up at this hour?]

[interdimanagers]

[When Celty gets into the kitchen, she may notice that Sans's alphabet magnets on the fridge have been rearranged to say "HI LISTEN PLEASE". In fact, the last one might be still falling into place as she enters.]

parker | duty

[trn451]

[Catch Parker in a studio, knee-deep in the writing process. She sits on a bench with her laptop next her, mapping a beat into her DAW, singing the vocal harmonies into a mic. Eventually, the backing is enough, and she strums her guitar and—

I'm tired.

>You're too young to be tired.

D, you knew my dad. Was he a cool guy?

>Well,

>He was calm, and he never had a whole lot to say, but even through the machine, you could feel a sadness. Like something was missing from him.

>But I thought he was pretty cool.

Her hand falls for a second, before she stops the sound coming through the laptop.

Until terminal failure. Parker has never made a promise like that in her life. She doesn't even think she's capable of it.

But if the other girl had...

She grabs her laptop and opens the lyrics document again. There's something there now, she knows it.]

BAI SHEN / VIP/ LOVE

[hanginginthere]

[he's wandering.

he keeps trying to find who's calling him, and he's on edge, because part of him wonders if he's just hearing things- but there's something in him, something must be tied to his deja vu, something just out of reach...

it has to be around here somewhere, doesn't it? even if it's in the places where he shouldn't be. normally he'd hesitate, but there's little to none here as he moves right past the doors.]