☆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

Johanna | Virgo | Passion

[wickedlyable]

[ Johanna just doesn’t get drives like this. Yeah, sometimes a really good line hits her, and she gets excited, but she never feels an overwhelming urge to work hard at her music. Instead, she usually just lets the music come to her, getting it down whenever, because she loves music, yeah, but she’s chill.

Not now. Now, she’s almost frantic with the need to get this tune down. She can be found anywhere there’s space for her, really, leaning over her bass and recording a complicated line that seems to fit right under the tune she’s hearing in her head. The slightest noise made near her, though, and she’ll jerk her head up to stare at the culprit, glaring daggers. ] Can you not see that I’m working here? Are you blind?

[ Which means that sometimes she’s going to be yelling at no one, set off by phantom noises, books falling when they shouldn’t have, weird footsteps down the hall with no owners. Feel free to find her cursing to herself in confusion as she goes back to her work. ]

[thelittlemerman]

[Finnick finds her in the hallway, taking up half of it with her bass and her writing. His footsteps must have disturbed her before he turned the corner, because she's already angry when he gets there.]

Oh, I'm... I'm so sorry I was just...

[He's far more sheepish than he usually is, shoulders curled forward shyly. He doesn't want to be alone right now, even if it means talking to an angry Johanna, so he tilts his head and takes a couple steps forward.]

Writing something?

[wickedlyable]

[ She narrows her eyes at him, a sharp retort on the tip of her tongue as he edges forward, but then, for once, she pauses. Because as much as she's annoyed right now, Finnick is a kind of, sort of, ally. In some sort of way. They've talked once and they might need to talk again in the future. Whatever.

So she grumbles under her breath, then says out loud: ] Obviously. What do you want?

[thelittlemerman]

Nothing, it's nothing.

[He's almost put off by her attitude. Almost.]

It's just, I've been feeling very strange lately. Do you mind if I sit down?

[He's going to anyway. Sorry Johanna.]

[wickedlyable]

[ Oh. A lot of her is furious that she's being interrupted. But, well. She did tell him to come talk to her if anything else weird happened.

So with reluctance, she puts her bass down and turns towards him. ] What do you mean, strange? Did you have another one of those vision things?

[thelittlemerman]

[He sits next to her and draws his knees up to his chest, pouting sadly.]

No, it's - well I have, but nothing useful - it's just that I'm feeling so lost. Like there's someone out there that needs me but I can't find them and it's making me feel sad.

[wickedlyable]

... really. [ She wants to remind him of what she said before - not coming to her to vent, of all things - but he looks genuinely weird about it. So after a couple moments, she asks- ] Okay, so how do they need you? Do you have any clue? Or are you just walking around missing someone random?

[ Yeah, this is her comforting voice. Or something. ]

[thelittlemerman]

[He shakes his head.] I don't know. It just feels like we need each other...

[He hesitates, but then looks at her, his eyes wide and pleading.]

Don't you ever feel some sort of longing?

[wickedlyable]

[ Uh. ] Like, for a person? [ Let her think for about .02 seconds. ] No. Never. People and I don't quite get along, Odair.

[giglio_madonna]

[Well, at least this isn't the first instance of someone just cursing at nothing that Luce has come across.]

Problems?

[wickedlyable]

[ Johanna's irritated enough at the latest bump she heard that she doesn't immediately snap at Luce to go away. Wonders never cease. ] Apparently, I can't get two fucking lines of a song down without something interrupting me.

[ It's setting her nerves on edge. ]

[giglio_madonna]

[Luce can see that.]

Have you tried earplugs?

[wickedlyable]

[ She raises her eyebrows as high as they can go, and there's an edge of laughter on her breath as she says: ] Yeah, I've tried earplugs. I'm not a fucking idiot. I've tried headphones, but that just drowns out the music in my head. And I've tried moving, but it looks like all of a sudden, there's no sacred place where someone can sit in quiet and write music. In the headquarters for a music label. It's fucking ridiculous.

[giglio_madonna]

Even geniuses can miss the obvious.

Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of choices. There's a bit of a... haunting problem, it seems. [Time to see how she takes to that explanation.]

[wickedlyable]

[ She just stares at Luce for a couple seconds before repeating: ] Haunting problem?

... what does that even mean? [ Yeah, she's not reacting as derisively as she once might've. She wants to hear the details about this shit before she starts being judgmental. ]

[giglio_madonna]

[That's a promising reaction. Luce goes to perch on the armrest of a nearby chair, crossing her arms.]

Well, there's no other way to really describe it, is there? Things moving on their own, strange things happening to television or music players... This has happened before a few times now.

[wickedlyable]

I guess. I assumed it was shitty utilities and weird acoustics or something. [ Assumed. Definitely past tense. Despite the itch under her skin, she sets down her bass, sitting up a little straighter. ]

So you're assuming it's ghosts? [ As much as she's wary of what's happening, that seems a little too dubious of an explanation for her. ]

[trn451]

[Parker stumbles to a stop, having been sprinting as full-tilt as she dares given her laptop and guitar, and holds her hands up in a show of surrender.]

Sorry, sorry — I got some good stuff out. It can wait, keep going, that was good.

[wickedlyable]

Yeah, I know it was good. [ Though she'll not be as grumpy as she could be, when she hears that her bandmate has been coming out with music too.

After running through a complicated pattern a couple more times, she says: ] Lucky you were able to get anything out at all. I haven't been able to get a couple notes straight without being interrupted.

[trn451]

Something about getting the notes gay instead. [Parker swallows a couple of gulping breaths, and runs a hand through her bangs, trying to look a little bit less harried before she sits down across from her bandmate.] It's been getting pretty crazy down here, yeah.

[wickedlyable]

[ Okay, so that joke was terrible. Johanna will aim a mildly unamused glare at her until she goes on. ]

Crazy how? Like randoms sounds and things?

[trn451]

That, people going nuts in the halls, weird computer glitches. I wrote my piece hiding in one of the rehearsal rooms. Thank god for soundproofing, I guess.

[wickedlyable]

[ That definitely gets her attention, and she actually sets her bass down, eyebrows raising. ] People going nuts? What do you mean?

[trn451]

Not nuts nuts, but like — have you seen Greg Universe? He's super, super friendly, in a weird way. There's a lot of people who are getting weirdly affectionate, and I think there's a couple of people from the label grabbing people for "interviews" too. They're probably saying it's for our safety or something, but I didn't feel like sticking around to find out, so.

[wickedlyable]

I've been staying away from pretty much everyone. [ So no, she hasn't seen him. But this other stuff... it's kind of worrying her.

With a completely bored expression, she shrugs and asks- ] Weird. Have you had anymore of those visions you were telling me about?