☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

[interdimanagers]

Who: Every single one of you.
What: Interstellar's first log, and an awards ceremony for jerks you don't know!
When: October 2nd.
Where: A fancy ballroom in neutral territory.
Warnings: Could be anything.

“Oh, it's been getting so hard, Living with the things you do to me; My dreams are getting so strange, I'd like to tell you everything I see. I see a man at the back as a matter of fact, His eyes are as red as the sun. And the girl in the corner lets no one ignore her, ‘Cause she thinks she's the passionate one.” ☆NOTHING LEFT OF YOU It’s the seasonal Vista Music Industry Award Gala, and attendance is mandatory. You and your band have been touring non-stop for the last two months, hitting locations all over Americana, performing and doing press appearances. This event is set less than three days after your return home, but it’s been made clear that further rest will have to wait. Though Halloween technically isn’t until the end of the month, the gathering has a formal masquerade theme - masquerade that is, not costume. Dressing up as a mummy or a clown isn’t going to cut it. Themed formal wear is expected, and your image consultants have been pestering you about your choices for the last 48 hours. Whether or not you listen to them, how you dress feels incredibly important. At least if you let the consultants fuss over you, you can be sure it’ll be something press friendly. Various awards are being given out, but none of them are for you. The media in attendance are starting to bubble with enthusiasm for the ‘rising stars’ of the industry, however, so this could be a moment to shine. Labels besides Pride and Virgo are also in attendance, but who cares about those guys? They seem to be a mere footnote in comparison to the buzz around the heavy hitters. There’s food, alcohol, dancing, stage performances by notable musicians of both Pride and Virgo, and then the formal awards ceremony in the evening. Yes, you are expected to sit through them. Do try to look like you’re interested, the media is watching. ☆PRIDE RECORDS Lesedi Santiago doesn’t always make a big deal about introductions - or at least, that’s the impression you get when she just kind of shows up in your group limousine unannounced on your way over to the party. Deep into pre-drinking a bottle of gin, she doesn’t talk with you so much as talk at you, regaling your band with weird stories about the industry while completely ignoring the fact that her presence is more intimidating than comforting. You’re not sure if it’s intentional, but at least she’s a good story teller - her speech doesn’t seem to be at all affected by the quantity of booze she’s already consumed, which is kind of bizarre if you think about it too deeply. You’re not inclined to. You’ve all met her before, here and there, in a series of bombastic encounters. Her interest in pontificating at you and the other new label inductees seems to fade immediately upon entering the ballroom, as she quickly becomes distracted with more high profile guests. Her attention fixates on Edward Blanch from time to time, but she declines to address him specifically. If you want to get some of her one on one attention, now could be your chance - just make sure you go in ready. Handling Miss Santiago can be a bit of an...experience. Veteran Pride members are in attendance as well, but most of them are not very good company. Their reactions vary from ‘frat members greeting a new pledge’ to ‘disinterested shoulder pats’, and ultimately it will seem your attention is better received by the other newbies. Maybe even the Virgo Entertainment stiffs, at that. Because, of course, that crew is here as well. Lesedi suggested you “show them who’s boss,” but you’re not necessarily sure what that’s supposed to mean. ☆VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT Tonight's event is one of considerable speculation: it marks Edward Blanche's first public appearance after a considerable period of isolation. He's a private man, a mystery and an enigma to the public, and that just seems to make him all the more intoxicating. The Managers and security staff are out in full force, and if you know what's good for you, you'll be dressed to the nines. Your image consultant will be almost desperate to do the work for you, like they're afraid of what might happen to their careers if you embarass the label on their watch. Personal style is important, but everything in your gut tells you that your nose has got to be clean this time, or trouble is sure to follow. For many of you, this will be the first time you'll ever have seen your CEO in person, and as such, the first time he'll encounter you one on one. If you're going to brown nose, now's the time - but make sure you choose your words carefully, and don't waste his time. Blanche has little patience for it. There are veteran musicians of the Virgo label in attendance, ones with dozens of awards to their names, but they seem to have little interest in speaking with you. Some are politely avoidant while others and just rudely dismissive, but none of them really give an answer for why they just aren't interested. It's not totally surprising - Virgo's interior politics are harsh. Other notable guests include Lesedi Santiago and the rest of the Pride Records entourage. Though you may have acquaintances, or even friends, who have been snatched up by the other side, it's even more likely that you have enemies. Everything about your Virgo upbringing makes you feel like you should hold a certain contempt for their ilk - people in this label think of them as classless at best and crass maniacs at worst. Did you hear about that disgusting stunt one of their front runners pulled on stage last week? Revolting. ☆THE TWIST Some of you may remember strange events from the past few weeks. Misplaced objects, malfunctioning technology, nostalgic phantom music - it feels a lot like the last portion of your tour was haunted. Now that you're back home, all of that seems to be flaring up again. You can practically feel the otherworldly presences passing through the room, even if nobody besides your tour group seems to notice. Even though they aren't knocking glasses off tables and flickering lights like last time, their presence is somehow even more apparent. Your programming makes one thing clear: don't make a public fuss about this. Ignore it, everything's fine. The second part only goes so far. Especially when, at some point or another, you'll be shaken by the feeling that one of these ghosts has walked straight through you. For that moment, you feel like a totally different person. At this point, one of four memory regain effects will occur: ► REMEMBER LOVE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to one of the greatest loves of your past life. Can be either romantic, platonic, or familial. It must be about a person and not a place or activity, though. ► REMEMBER DUTY: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you held a great sense of duty or loyalty to in your past life. It could be a person, a cause, a country, or anything in between. ► REMEMBER PASSION: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you were passionate about to the point of anger or determination in your past life. Not enjoyment of, but something that drove you, or one of the things most likely to make you throw a punch. ► REMEMBER HOPE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you dreamed about making come true, or an important hope you had for the future in your past life. This covers any kind of positive goal or ambition for you or the world around you. The feeling will quickly fade, leaving you as the person you've been made into once again. Only now you have something new: the first fragment of a life you can't remember having lived. The CEOs and managers will react to this eventually, and you're probably going to get sent home early. This, however, will be covered with a top level further into the log. “I'm reaching out for something, Touching nothing's all I ever do. Oh, I softly call you over; When you appear there's nothing left of you.”

Comments

Alec Campion | Junkyard Carnival | OTA

[campioned]

a; [At some point in the evening's performances] Waiting for a sign to smash the silence with the brick of self-control (Remember love)

Everything's fine, everything's fine, he told himself. He hated this damn band, so there was no need to feel so emotionally raw listening to them. Alec scowled. There, that was better. It was more like his proper self.

But he couldn't get over that cold, skin-crawling feeling, and suddenly the lyrics hit the word leave. His brain snapped everything into place, and his mouth formed the words to mutter, "Like leaves scattered before the wind... in the end, she made all others seem impossible."

Alec has no idea where the lines of poetry came from - certainly not the song that's being played - but he thinks they're shitty. He can almost put a voice to them. His own doesn't fit, and neither does Luci's.

Strangely, getting the words out has let him completely forget the previous feeling of discomfort.

b; [Arrival] Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you?

Alec Campion has rolled his eyes through most of the past few days. He finally surrendered when they've come up with an option devoid of as much color as possible that doesn't feature a tie or belt. It still made him uncomfortable, though, to be dressed up and fussed over. The paparazzi that had descended on the red carpet - more than descended, they swallowed the entire street, gobbled it up whole - had increased the itchy awkwardness to straight up irritation.

If Camila hadn't rasped at him to keep his mouth shut until someone else does something to become the story of the evening, he wouldn't have made it through the door. If he doesn't find a drink, he's not going to make it through the night without breaking his fist on camera.

c; [During the ceremony] Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?

"Why don't they have more technical awards?" Alec addressed no one and everyone at the table at once. The current 'winner' on stage was perhaps not the best representation of talent in the room that night, pop princess of glitter that she was. "She's barely literate; why isn't the songwriter accepting the award? There are three syllable words in it. You know she never wrote it... oh, god. Is she still talking? Idiot, they're playing the music. No one wants to hear you thank your pets."

He's finished the wine that he's brought with him to the table. "Finding the bar... that would still qualify as attending the ceremony, yes? It's not like I'm leaving."

d; [Time to leave] scream at me until my ears bleed

Alec is visibly worse for wear, bloodshot eyes barely visible under the rakishly tilted hat. He is holding a pillar down, as if he's worried it will go floating away if he stops leaning on it. He is wearing one less shirt than he started out with and slurring his words around the edges. This doesn't stop him from accosting an employee. "Who closes a bar this early?"

D

[stylistic_disloyalty]

"Not him, genius," Luci snaps, pulling Alec off of the hapless waiter by the collar of his remaining shirt. It took some doing, though at least her shoes put her on the same level as Xanxus and Alec for the evening. "He's not even a bartender for fuck's sake-- We're splitting, come on."

[campioned]

Alec doesn't fight the dragging much and releases the waiter with one final glower. He doesn't mind the interruption, suspecting that Luci knows where the bar is - or that's what he thinks at first. 'We're splitting' sloshes around in his head as they walk.

Then, it sinks.

"Oh, no," Alec yanks himself out of her grasp and stumbles over his own long limbs. One arm flails at the door to indicate what remains of the media vultures. "I'm not letting them see us leaving alone."

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Luci nearly eats it when Alec goes flailing off in another direction. She snarls, but remains upright.

"For fucks sake Alec, hitch up your jock strap and deal with it. You that worried about breaking your little stage door sluts' hearts?"

[campioned]

He flips her off and then smooths out his close before he resumes walking. Alec smirks at her. "I could pick them up regardless of whether or not you're there. I bet I could even get them to agree to a threesome."

Alec glances over her dispassionately, as if to say that that would be a feat indeed. "No, I'm not giving them anymore chances to draw little hearts around our heads on the album covers or lines that are supposedly marking how our eyes are directed to prove that we can't stop looking at each other."

[stylistic_disloyalty]

What a shocker-- Alec giving her the bird. She rolls her eyes as he straightens himself out and brags about potential threesomes. Same old, same old. "Wake me up the next time you bring two fans back at once, I'll record the momentous occasion in my diary and we'll celebrate it every year."

Luci takes out her phone and starts scrolling, looking for Xanxus' number. Fucker probably was outside, well on his way to clearing out the bail jar, but maybe he was drunk enough to play backup here, too. "Nobody is going to be looking at you tonight, Alec-- I've already macked on the lead from Cosmic Indulgence, so unless you want our page overrun with fan concerns about whether or not we're having a row, I suggest we leave like we fucking usually do."

[campioned]

No one else was making an effort to have a stab at originality tonight. Alec doesn't see why he needs to reinvent the 'fuck off' when the audience is clearly as uninvested as he is. "Why would I waste my time waking you up?"

But he lets it lie, after that. "Oh, really? I was propositioned by their drummer. He told me to meet him at Rat's - Ruby's - something with an R."

He hopes he can remember the name right soon.

C

[cleartranquil]

Yuffie rolls her eyes at Alec and then actually gives a decent look at the girl on stage.

"It probably takes four song writers and an entire publicity team to keep her from sounding pink and frosted." Her comment is likely because of the dress said pop princess it wearing. It's very fluffy and has the distinct air of someone who probably thought it was cool to look like a baked good.

She makes a note to look it up later. They probably have a huge team just for princess pink up there. There's got to be something interesting for Yuffie to dig up on her for annoying her like this. And for putting Alec in a worse mood. Now they were going to have to deal with him like this all night.

"If you're going to bar, I'm coming with you. I think I'm going to throw up if I have to listen to her any more."

[campioned]

"Yes, exactly!" Alec thinks that Yuffie is precisely on his plane of thinking, for now. "There's an entire team to produce her producing her music. Why aren't they getting awards? 'The award for best shade of pink found in a vintage lace item goes to...'"

He makes a face of supreme distaste. They probably hadn't thought of such an award before. Now that he's said it outloud, next year's award ceremony will be that much longer. "Good, if you get sick, it should be because you've had enough wine to make her outfit make sense."

[cleartranquil]

"Ugh. If they start giving costuming awards then we'll be here until next year. And then they can start them aaaall over again." Yuffie says this dramatically, and then downs the last of her drink like it's a shot. Midori sours are not meant to be finished like a harder liquor but man, she has nothing else and she will take the escape route.

"And this is why they pay you the big bucks, Alec. Come on." Yuffie stands, and salutes their table before attempting to grab him by the arm and drag him in the general direction of the bar. She wants another drink, possibly something harder, and she is sure they are in the same boat." Maybe she'll finally be done talking by the time we get back!"

[campioned]

"You're saluting them now?" It doesn't matter who the motion was directed at - bandmates, Camila, executives - none of them deserve that sort of acknowledgement.

Not even Alec himself demands that sort of respect, and he's the closest their table came to deserving it. "What's next, do we call Lesadi ma'am and drop curtsies every time she walks into the room?"

He makes a face as soon as the words leave his mouth. He needs a drink. A good one. "She'll be done, but the next one will be there. Maybe they'll let me take two drinks at once."

[cleartranquil]

Yuffie once again rolls her eyes, because she means probably the furthest thing from respect to anyone outside the Carnies, and even then it's mostly a joke.

"Yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, can we please play ma'am." Yuffie says with literally as much sarcasm as can be humanly shoved into a few words, and she does an obnoxious little bow that mostly just looks ridiculous with her extra headdress bits. "If that ever happens you have permission to kill me."

She gives a warning look at the bar as they approach.

"If they don't let us, if you keep the bartender's eye on you, I can always take the bottle."

Yuffie might be joking. She probably isn't.

a; because I must.

[honeywithpoison]

And then, the same voice speaks, quiet and smooth, in his ear.

"What, the entertainment is not up to your standard?"

Oh, he doesn't wander at all, about somebody murmuring lyrics to themselves in the middle of a performance. But he is amused, a little.

[campioned]

Alec jumps at the voice, so near to the idealized one that had fed the poetry from his subconscious to conscious mind.

Also, it's so near to his ear. He can feel the breath on his skin - it tickles, and he refuses to laugh. After all, his mantra has been 'I'll go, but you can't make me enjoy the industrialized ass-kissing.' He doesn't want anyone to have the wrong idea. "I refuse to answer the question. It means acknowledging that they qualify as entertainment."

[honeywithpoison]

Well, the choice being yelling so that everybody hears them above the din of the band, and speaking up close...

"Aw. Surely you've heard worse. Though I do wonder about the mandatory attendance and all."

And Richard is actually amused. A little.

The fact that he tends to be polite doesn't mean he has to be nice.

[campioned]

"It's the only way they'll get a shot of a packed room for their next video," Alec hypothesizes nastily, "or ever."

Now that Richard's tiny, disguised as idle, polite wondering, insult has proven that he is in fact a Person worthy of association, Alec turns to glance back at the newcomer. Striking face - it's all in the eyes, really, although the rest isn't bad. In fact, Alec recognizes the rest of it. "You're in that group. The one that messes around with saws, pots and pans, musical furniture... what's it called again?"

He is making up the experimental instruments and knows damned well that the band is Cosmic Indulgence.

[honeywithpoison]

"Well. I guess that'd depend on the size of the room." There's a hint of a smirk, when Alec looks at him. Then his eyebrows twitch.

"If you specify a bit more what you mean by musical furniture in particular, we can cover that one, too. Cosmic Indulgence, after all.

"Though I guess I can only hit on said furniture, unless I get really creative."

B

[giglio_madonna]

Good news- there is plenty of alcohol, although he'll be dismayed to know that it's none of the actual potent stuff. Luce is over at the bar herself getting something just to make herself look classy and occupy her hands when she spots the young man storming over. Smoothly, she slides out of the way.

"If I make a decent enough recommendation, will you wait to start a fight until I'm out of the area?" Although she doesn't seem particularly worried about getting decked herself. That's just how Luce is.

[campioned]

That's okay; Alec will simply drink more of it to compensate for the discrepancy. He does give her a nice nod as she steps to the side. Being able to belly up to the bar to order is appreciated by all, so Alec hurries to take up the cleared space before the crowd can ooze into.

"I give you my solemn word. I won't deliberately start a fight until I've had at least half," he tells her seriously as he leans back against the bar to settle in. "That should give you enough of a headstart - unless you're going to recommend a shot. You should keep that in mind."

[giglio_madonna]

"It's duly noted, trust me." Shaking her head in amusement, Luce takes the Manhattan the bartender slips over to her. "Besides a shot, you could always try something no one can mess up. Just in case they didn't hire the best of the best here."

If he wants to play it safe, anyway. The fact that two of the biggest labels in the industry are in attendance doesn't necessarily mean anything.

b;

[notahobby]

The only problem with finding a drink is that Maxxie is just leaving the bar, and as he turns away with a full glass of beer in his hand he nearly runs right into Alec, stopping at just the right moment to avoid a disaster.

"Oh, fuck, s--"

He cuts himself off as he notices who it is, biting back the apology. The thought occurs to him that he's not nearly intoxicated enough for this - in fact, he's not intoxicated at all. The drink in his hand, which nearly ended up on Alec and the floor, is his first of the night. He wishes he could down the thing without being impolite or draw attention to himself.

But he doesn't, instead raising his eyebrow and taking a look at Alec's outfit.

"Just come from a funeral, have we?"

[campioned]

Oh, he ran into a disaster, all right - two of them. It's just neither is the disaster that Maxxie was worried about.

The disasters are, namely, Alec and being drinkless. Maxxie being drinkless. Alec has alleviated his similar state by deftly plucking the glass out of the blond's hand. "It's like you read my mind."

He takes a long drink of it before he bothers to see who has been kind enough to water him. Alec's eye twitches subtly. He, too, isn't drunk enough for this and takes another draft of the beer. "Yes, we burned one of your records on a pyre and scattered the ashes in our limo."

[notahobby]

Maxxie lets out a humourless laugh.

"Oh right, 'cause my music's shit and I'm shit. Almost forgot." He presses his lips together and looks at the beer that has now had far too much contact with Alec's mouth to be salvageable. He puts up his hands and sighs, resigning himself to the fact that he'll have to go back to the bar, which is not ideal.

"Thank God you're here to remind me."

[campioned]

Alec's wide mouth curls into a smile. It's actually a nice mouth, the only complaints one could have about it is that it was too full for his face and that it contained such a honey-and-acid tongue.

It's a mouth many people would want to be familiar with. Maxxie should feel honored.

"Your music is shit," Alec says companionably. He offers the blond his own drink back to comfort him. "You're pretty enough to be a step up from shit. You can be piss, if you like."

[notahobby]

Maxxie takes the drink, looking down at the remaining beer with a sigh of mourning. When he looks back up at Alec, his expression is a mixture of apprehension and disgust. Alec is handsome, he'll give him that, but he's also the reason half his beer is gone before he's even had a sip.

"Pretty, am I?" he asks, his tone skeptical. He doesn't much like pretty as a compliment. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Kinda feels cheap.