☆TRACK IIX: BETTER TO PRETEND PT. 1

[interdimanagers]

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.”

Comments

[mildwildchild]

Jamie's about to tell Terry that he doesn't want to hear about whatever kind of sex he's having with Maxxie, but then the rest of what Terry's saying catches up to him and Jamie just sort of...contemplates it, head canted to the side just so. It almost sounds like maybe Terry has some self-esteem issues. Not that Jamie would know anything about that.

He watches Terry thoughtfully, frowning a little, and then he shrugs. "I dunno, I don't think he thinks he's too good for you. Like, I'm almost positive he doesn't. I don't think he'd be in a relationship with someone he thought wasn't worth it." He looks back over at Terry, calculatedly casual. "I mean, you know he's crazy about you, right?"

[traumatizing]

"Yeah, I don't get it." Terry frowns at the floor. He could compliment Maxxie all day-- Literally could write song after song about how great he is. He's not perfect - no one is - but god it's like having his own personal ray of sunshine.

"You know, I wake up sometimes and he's there and it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop." It's all coming out now, Terry can barely keep it in now he's started. That's what happens when you're not used to talking probably. "Like he's gonna look at me and realise I'm not what he signed up for."

[mildwildchild]

Wow this is - this is a lot of Honest Emotion right here and Jamie's not quite sure what to make of it. He just kind of stands there looking increasingly concerned as it slowly dawns on him that he's having real talk with his stepbanddad bandmate's boyfriend.

"Dude, c'mon, you're selling yourself short," he says - a little uncomfortably, because he's still not really sure how to say helpful things to people. "I mean when he told us about you and him getting together he was all 'you have to be nice to him! don't be weird! or I'm disowning all of you!'"

He might be exaggerating just a little. He's also using a horrible, horrible fake British accent to imitate Maxxie.

"And, I mean..." He runs a hand through his hair, wanting to express something without baring too much of his own soul. "He sticks by people, even when they might not think they deserve it. 'Cause there's something there that he likes, that makes him wanna stick around."

He looks up again, and he's trying so hard to look casual that it's really obvious he's having Feelings about things that he doesn't want to let seep out. "So sorry, man, you might be stuck with him for life."

[traumatizing]

The terrible impression of Maxxie gets a laugh out of Terry, he shakes his head and he finally looks up at Jamie. He's not really convinced, and part of him knows he's got issues that run too deep for a chat with a friend to solve. But moreover, he can sense how uncomfortable Jamie is.

"Sorry, you don't need me laying all this at your feet." He gives Jamie a little shoulderpunch to diffuse all the realtalk that just happened, "thanks though."

[mildwildchild]

Jamie makes a kind of chuckling noise, dipping his head self-consciously. "Eh, 's not a big deal." Privately he's quite pleased at the friendly shoulder-punch - little gestures of camaraderie like that mean a lot to him.

He jabs at Terry's arm in return, half-smirking at him. "I mean, you need all the help you can get screwing your head on straight."

[traumatizing]

"Ouch." Terry laughs and puts a hand on his chest, feigning hurt at the comment, "I'll have you know my head is screwed on perfectly."

[mildwildchild]

"Impossible. No one in this business has their head screwed on perfectly. Especially in Pride."

He shoots a grin over at Terry. "Besides, some level of derangement is a prerequisite if you're going to hang out with Carnies and Flashstep at the same time."

[traumatizing]

"I dunno, you guys aren't that different." Terry gives Jamie a thoughtful look, like he's not totally lying right now, "just... Instead of instead of intense rounds of Mario Kart, they're into... drink and drugs."

He looks a little perplexed, saying that out loud. That really is a bizarre cross-section of friends.

[mildwildchild]

Jamie snorts. "Well, it's not like Maxxie doesn't do that stuff too. He does it while playing Mario Kart, sometimes."

Jamie has done drunken Mario Kart, himself. He doesn't remember much of it and isn't sure if the other guys aren't embellishing what they tell him about it.

"And hey, I bet Xanxus would totally be into Mario Kart. Someday we should invite them all over for a tournament. It'd be great." Is he serious, or is he just bullshitting? Sometimes it's impossible to tell.

[traumatizing]

"You do not want to play with Yuffie," he says with the gravitas of a man who knows. Terry's not afraid to play dirty, but neither is she, and were they actually related he'd say it runs in the family. As it stands however, Yuffie is a blight and a dirty cheater and no one should have her over when there's a competitive element involved.

Be warned, Jamie.