☆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

Terry | Pride | Passion

[traumatizing]

COSMIC INDULGENCE PENTHOUSE;

[Spending hours holed up in his room working on music is nothing new for Terry, but he's usually more focused than this. His desk, and indeed the immediate area around him, is a mess of instruments, cables, pedals, etc. etc. And he flits between them and scrawling notes like he's just full to the brim with ideas he needs to get out ASAP.]

[What would be great though, is if the static and the lights would cut that shit out. It was annoying on tour and it's annoying now.]

PINK;

[There's only so much interference one can take when trying to work, and Terry takes himself down to the bar to try and get something done. He's got himself set up at a table with a drink, a notebook, and his foot propped up on the edge of the chair across from him. Absently he taps out a beat on the table or his knee and hums a tune quietly. Every now and then the humming gives way to singing too.]

You'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams. [He's obviously not aware of this, given the way he sings under his breath while jotting down lyrics.] He'll appear out of nowhere but he ain't what he seems...

WILDCARD; Whatever you like, buddy.

[vivelarevolution]

[the static and the lights have been freaking him out, too. But that's no problem. He has lots of coffee and a will to work his fingers off in an effort to ignore them. Still maybe it is a problem with the power grid. And if even if it isn't, who knows what may eventually happen with the power.

So that in mind, Sabo has prepared. He knocks on Terry's door, a cup of coffee in one hand and a shopping bag swinging from his arm]

[traumatizing]

[He looks up at the door like it's personally betrayed him by being knocked on, but that's hardly the door's fault.]

Come in.

[Terry doesn't pay any attention to who it is coming in, immediately picking up his guitar to lay something down instead.]

[vivelarevolution]

[Sabo notes he's pretty into whatever he's doing and he knows that feeling. So he quietly puts a box of candles on a free bit of surface and a matchbook. It's far enough to be out of the way but close enough at hand should they lose power. He doesn't want to leave anything to fate.

That done he hangs around for a second to appreciate what Terry is playing but doesn't want to interrupt whatever groove he's got going and so starts to head out]

[traumatizing]

[Once he's finished with this riff he's been trying to get down, Terry saves his work hastily and puts the guitar down to try the coffee. He glances up to see Sabo on his way out - a little surprised he's just leaving like that.]

Thanks. [He pulls his feet up on the chair.] Leaving?

[vivelarevolution]

[Sabo pauses. Surprised that Terry even asked]

You seemed busy. I didn't want to interrupt your flow.

[traumatizing]

[He can appreciate that, it's more considerate than he'd expect, but then Sabo does seem to be that kind of person. Terry gives him a considering look and shrugs, totally nonchalant right.]

I should probably take a break anyway.

[vivelarevolution]

[Sabo hesitates. He's still not entirely sure where they stand... But then he gives a light shrug and pulls up a chair, straddling it backwards and folding his arms over the top.]

What were you working on?

Pink

[iitrebel]

[So he's not the only one trying to escape from weird ghost bullshit and the beat that follows him everywhere, at it turns out. Artolo, a percussionist himself, is also dealing with this particular hell. Like with most things, he's trying to deal with that in the sensible way: alcohol and whatever lowkey drug is around.]

[Terry's tapping gets his attention and- dammit. Dammit. It draws him in like a magnet, and, before he knows it, Artolos is joining in. Picking up the beat is easy, natural, and he starts incorporating whatever he can find around into it. Different things against his glass, against the table, his knee, whatever works.]

[traumatizing]

[You know when you can feel yourself doing something you really don't want to do, but you've already started and just can't seem to make yourself stop? That's where Terry's at now. The tapping was absent before, but when Artolo joins in it makes the beat jump to the forefront of his mind. He's no percussionist himself, but he has a pretty good understanding of sound and rhythm, and after a bit he's pretty sure he's got a good thing going between his glass, notebook, and the edge of the table.]

[They... Are probably going to be asked to leave at this rate.]

[iitrebel]

[They get kicked out, then they get kicked out. It's not something that seems to be bugging Artolo as he just grins and starts experimenting with different ways to get new sound with what he has.]

[Eventually, he has to ask-]

Were you doing lyrics over there or bullshit?

[traumatizing]

Yeah. [His drumming slows to an idle tapping on his knee and he looks over at Artolo.] The electrics in our place are all fucked up, so I came down here to work.

[iitrebel]

God. [The snort that leaves him is sympathetic, if rough.] You too? I feel like it's every hour, something in ours is breaking. It's driving the others up the wall. Someone's going to flip their shit soon, I can taste it.

Mind if I hear what you got?

[traumatizing]

Uh, yeah. Sure.

[He offers up his headphones for Art to listen to his mess - it's all very growly and angry and driving. No vocals though, he's still figuring that bit out.]

[notahobby]

[Usually Maxxie would just walk up to Terry's table, take a seat, and just dive right into conversation, but the man is clearly working on something right now. So Maxxie actually displays slight hesitation before he walks up to Terry's table and starts talking.]

Writing something?

[traumatizing]

Yeah.

[He looks up at Maxxie briefly while he waits for his work to finish saving, and then back to the screen. Absently he reaches out to tug lightly on the hem of Maxxie's shirt in a gesture of affection.]

Sorry, I'll be done in a minute.

[notahobby]

[Instinctively, Maxxie looks around the bar to see if anyone saw that, but he smiles widely nonetheless.]

No worries, don't want to interrupt the genius at work.

[traumatizing]

[Terry laughs softly while he taps away something on his phone and copies the settings down in his notebook, nodding to himself with satisfaction. That'll work nicely.]

[He pushes the chair he has his foot up on out for Maxxie to sit while he scribbles away.]

How's it going?

[notahobby]

It's great actually.

[Maxxie sits down on the chair and leans forward onto the table, an excited glint in his eye.]

I've been writing so much, getting so much done. I feel... spectacular.

[traumatizing]

'Spectacular'?

[The choice of word makes Terry raise an eyebrow, but he's smiling when he looks up at Maxxie.]

I'd love to hear some of what you've been working on.

Pink

[stylistic_disloyalty]

...that boy is a monster.

[Luci has no idea what the tune or the timing is on whatever Terry is singing, but she adds her own lyric anyway, leaning over his shoulder and reading what he's writing.]

[She looks better than when last Terry saw her, but she's still a little haggard. ...and she looks actually drunk. Luci comes around the table and sits sideways in the chair across from Terry, drink in hand.]

Hi Terry.

[traumatizing]

Hey. [He smiles up at her and takes his feet off the chair.] How're you doing?

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Weird. [It's the most honest answer, and given Luci is drunk, honest is the flavor today.]

How about you?

[traumatizing]

Less weird?

[Maybe? He doesn't look 100% certain about that.]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Less weird than me? Well pin a fucking rose on you, that must've been quite a lot of work. [She laughs and slides into the chair.] What're you writing?