interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK IIX: BETTER TO PRETEND PT. 1

Entry tags:

☆TRACK IIX: BETTER TO PRETEND PT. 1

Who: Famous musicians, hopeful auditioners, and random onlookers.
What: Hit gameshow series “Fairy Trial” is celebrating one of its anniversaries, and it’s invited you onboard. For more deets, check out the OOC post!
When: March 11th.
Where: Sevetop Entertainment’s studio.
Warnings: Mingle log mystery bag.

“It's so much better to pretend
There's something waiting for you here.
Every letter that you wrote
Has found its way to me, my dear.”

☆BETTER TO PRETEND

For musicians in either Pride or Virgo, the job offer is delivered by their managers- a suggestion to accept an invitation from Sevetop to participate in a successful gameshow. (A message that is delivered perhaps a bit more pressingly to some, with the unsaid words of “This is a chance to make it up to us”.) For others, strangers just trying to make a living and wait for their chance to save their loved ones, the message is delivered over their communicators by Gold, with promises that infiltrating this event will aid you in liberating the captives from their label's control. Either way, all roads lead to Sevetop Entertainment.

Sevetop might not have the weight that musical giants Pride Labels and Virgo Entertainment do, but that’s because it’s not into the musical industry. Sevetop is all about television and the big screen. For these purposes, it has its own little area of the city, a bustling kind of Hollywood filled with the more office-like buildings, auditoriums for additions, and even various sets. Whether you’re driven in style via limo, or brought to a regular line of buses, this is where you end up at.

Musicians, of course, end up at the more posh meeting room. A spread of delicate little lunch sandwiches, veggie platters, cupcakes, and assorted beverages are on a table for anyone to snatch up, and regularly refilled. Every celebrity is handed a small folder with papers inside going over both the boring legal things and explaining the purpose of the show. “Royals” are the ones to be “saved”, but they don’t have to make the journey easier on their “Heroes” and are given tools at their disposal to help or hinder. Heroes have one goal to accomplish, ‘rescuing’ their Royal, but it changes depending on the challenge.

Much to your surprise, some of those aspiring Heroes might just look familiar. Don't tell!

☆THE HEROES

In another building, next door, various people picked off the street (some coincidentally, others not so much, thanks to Gold's glamour witchcraft) are being given very much the same kind of presentation… In a room much more cramped, with not nearly enough chairs, on a slideshow. The only refreshments available are small bags of chips (try not to take more than one) and coolers full of bottled water.

After the separate presentations are done with, everyone is allowed to check out the sets for past seasons, which includes what look like giant mushroom tops that are made of very bouncy rubber, climbing walls made of fake vines, pumpkin shaped carriages (horses not included), and other such things.

Of course, it’s not all play. While you’re messing about, you’ve all been given numbers. Once you’ve been called, you’re to stand in front of Fairy Trial’s hosts and commentators: siblings Bella and Maurice Hooks. Both of them are equally friendly, although her more outgoing to his easygoing, but they have plenty of questions for this little audition. Tell them about yourself: hobbies, job, your favorite fairy tale, what you think your best skill is - and then, the most important, you get to display a choice "talent" in front of the audience. It can be whatever you like, as long as it's crowd appropriate.

Be careful, though, because the rock stars you're hoping to work with are watching, too. At the very least, don't make an ass out of yourself. Gold's enchantments are good, but there are some things that even magic can't charm its way through.

After all this, you’ll get a chance to just rest and mingle while your rides come back to take you back to the mall or HQ you were picked up at. Obviously for certain famous names, they’ll probably be the first ones out, but who knows… Maybe there was a traffic delay, and now you have some time to spare waiting around here as well. Just take note that you’re not allowed to wander too far from the Fairy Trial sets. Security is keeping an eye on folks to make sure they don’t steal or wreck anything.

And don’t worry, you’ll be told about the results within a week! They promise.

“You can make believe that what you say
Is what I want to hear.
I'll keep dancing through this
Beautiful delusional career.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ A run away prince and a scarred warrior king. It seems about right. And it also seems they always meet up around food. Perhaps it's because big guys like them need a lot. He's wishing for alcohol, because getting drunk would get him through this, but he had made himself a promise to get clean. So far, so good.

But that means more food to make up for it. ]

Hey. You clean up well, for an old man.

[It's almost like clockwork. Jecht doesn't mind much.] I clean up well for any man. Wait till they oil my pecs up, I'll jack the ratings so high that Nielsen'll roll over in his grave.

[Born showman. Really, that might be his true calling -- not drums, although he's certainly competent, but the general love of playing and entertaining. Here he's just taking another tack with it.]

[ Totally like clockwork. ] So you say. But I hope to god I'm not around when the oil you up, man. Lord knows fans write enough shit about us as it is.

Me, I'm just trying to avoid the make-up girl. If you see her, warn me so she doesn't get behind me. She's trying to hide all of this. [ A vague gesture to the huge scars on his face. ] It's like they don't think a story book king can't be a little messy or something. I don't get it.

[ A pause and then a shrug ] I mean we don't even know our stories yet, right? I mean you and me could be two of the three bears for all we know.

Got the muscles but not the orientation or the hair for that. [Wrong interpretation...] Gotcha, no make up for you. I'll send her the wrong way if she asks.

Me, I've got plans. The way I see it, we sell 'em on a good story that'll entertain the audience, they'll bite.

It's not like I have the hair for it either. But thanks man. For that. I really will owe you for that.

[ And look, he's not even stealing your food this time, Jecht. He's got his own. It's almost like he respects you now or something ]

You have plans? So a story they don't know then? I mean there are a lot of good stories out there. Or even royals rescuing them damn selves? I bet they'd go gray if some of us decided to save outselves.

Not every story goes just as planned, y'know? No one's gonna believe a guy like me is just some damsel in distress, so we play to our strengths.

[Jecht's respectable if you look at it in the right light...]

Same for you. If it's too crazy, the audience will hate it. Or watch for all the wrong reasons. We can work with that.

I don't know. I'm sure you could be some king, locked up and needing some knight or something to get you out so you can rule your kingdom justly after getting rid of your brother that locked you up or something. It's not like I know a lot of kid stories.

[ A shrug because yeah, his dad never read them to him as a kid. He remembers that. ]

You'll have to define too crazy here. I mean, wouldn't a sword fight to the death be pretty cool.

Yeah, but murdering a dude would probably not go over well. [Once again, Jecht finds himself having to explain this, and wondering how many more times he's gonna have to explain it in his musical career.]

[ Xanxus really laughs then because honestly, this guy really thought he was serious about the to the death stuff. ] You're such a killjoy. But I wasn't serious. It's pretend fighting. Pretend, just like the rest of it. I mean, I just want to make it exciting. Just sitting and waiting for someone to rescue us seems like a waste. So how about it, big man? You. Me. Foam swords at dawn?

[Jecht... well, Jecht has learned not to underestimate the fucked-up stuff musicians will do. Especially with some of them turning out to be cyborgs and stuff.]

So long as it's really foam, I don't want you thinking you can take me out and have the ladies of Vista City all to yourself. But I bet there's an angle we can sell there.

You think they'd actually give me a real sword? Nah man. It's probably going to be Nerf or nothing at all. But you bet I'll defeat you. Even if I've never used a sword before. It can't be that hard. And then I'll get all our fans to myself. And maybe they will finally stop writing me as your bottom.

[ Because he reads the fanfics. The Carnies have dramatic readings of the bad porn fans write about them all. ]

What they give ya ain't what you could smuggle in. [Seriously, Jecht doesn't underestimate Xanxus. Guy reminds him of some of his old band members, who had just enough crazy to do stupid shit and just enough determination to pull it off.]

Just keep in mind my chest can't be penetrated by steel.

[ He laughs at that. Mostly because Jecht is right in a way. But it's nice to hear that someone has faith in his skills. Even if it's skills of doing really stupid shit. ]

Oh, it can't? I don't know. But if you say so, I guess that means I'll just have to think of a different place.

Aaand then it got gay. [Not that there's anything wrong with that, but Jecht's not above cracking on it anyway.]

[ He nearly chokes laughing. ] Oh, it's me. It's only a matter of time before it does. But seriously, if I really was going to off you, it wouldn't be with a sword. I prefer guns.

[ He makes little finger pistols at Jecht. ] But kings don't get those, do they?

You'd get some old-fashioned pistol, the whatchacall it. Flint something. You know, take two days to fire and probably don't go in ten miles of your target?

Flintlock. It's called a flintlock. But I guess you can't remember guns from your childhood, hmm, old man? But you do have to admit that if anyone would use a sword here, it would probably be you.

[...welp. That's a perfect setup. He can't resist.]

You kiddin'? I got a pair of guns I've been using since I was young!

[One flex later and Xanxus is WELCOMED TO THE GUN SHOW]

[ Oh god. He should have known better. He totally left the door wide open for that. He doesn't know if he should laugh or be annoyed ot both. He chooses both. ]

Oh, you mean those little water pistols. I'm glad your so proud of those puny chicken arms.

[ It's said with a grin because he's really fighting not to just die laughing. Jecht totally won this round. ]

Naw, the Super Soaker's lower down...

[Come on, man, you're just giving 'em away at this point!]

And you were complaining I was making it gay. But I'd glad your proud of it. I'll just take my fire hose and go over there now."

Over there being like two feet away because he's not leaving the food table any time soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

☆TRACK IIX: BETTER TO PRETEND PT. 1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject