☆TRACK X: PLAY ALONG

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone!
What: Vista City amps up for Pride and Virgo's WORLD TOUR with HYPE WEEK.
When: May 1st - May 5th 2055
Where: Various places in Vista City
Warnings: Could be anything.

“Try to make it look like it's all somehow getting better, 'Cause I know how to play it pretty good against the measure. Everyone started out a little insane, But we learn pretty quick how to fake it for the game.” ☆PLAY ALONG Hype Week is less an official label event, and more something that the media has created in response to a particularly odd situation. Pride and Virgo appear to be functioning in unison - launching separate world tours on practically the same date, launching vast quantities of new material and media events, and making a point of never mentioning or acknowledging the actions of the other. Could this be some kind of collaborative event? A viral marketing campaign? No one is really sure, but the local economy is happy to capitalize on it in order to make it as big of a city-wide ordeal as possible. For musicians, this means all kinds of event that they have to attend and cooperate with - everything from photo shoots, to signing, to music video premiers. For rescuers, this means one last opportunity to track down those still trapped before they are whisked away on a world spanning journey. Events that will be happening: ► NEW SINGLES: Hot new singles are getting released by bands all over the place. While actual concerts and performances are not actually happening much during the hype period, each band is probably releasing at least one new single and hyping it all to hell with one song performances here and there on TV and the like. You can have fun defining that single for your band, or leave it ambiguous! Up to you. ► PANELS AND INTERVIEWS: Musicians will get carted all over to various talk shows and public question panel events - a lot of questions will be asked about the World Tour and its specifics, of which the musicians themselves seem to know very little. This goes for the veterans as much as it does the fledglings. ► MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERS: In which a bunch of fancy music people go to fancy theaters and watch all the new music videos for the new singles, and then write articles about this. This is also something you are welcome to create specifics for. ► SIGNINGS AND PUBLIC APPEARANCES: While many of the veterans and doing things like autobiographical books signings and what not, the newer musicians are more likely to just be signing millions of World Tour specific posters and CD releases. Its quite likely that they are going to be totally run down after all these appearances and preparations - try to stay awake at the table! ► WORLD TOUR PREMIER: This will be covered in a second log a few days from now. For now, the musicians are just being prepped for a music festival to end all music festivals, that will start May 5th and cover the entire weekend. They've been practicing rigorously all month - they'll have to hope they have the stamina to make it to the actual performance. All the while, Gold and Silver have been mysteriously absent. Silver has been here and there, handing out supplies and necessary tech, but guidance for rescuers has been minimal. Gold hasn't been seen at all. Part way into the week, at least, Shep will return with a new batch of rescuers, just in time for the premier! New musicians and band combinations will slowly be announced over this week as well, with some of them being saved for the premier festival itself. That is, any OOC changes made to bands and last minute new members are going to get announced like they are big exciting unveilings, because spin doctoring is what the labels do! ☆SINGULARITY Everyone hearing the new singles will be able to tell that they seem especially ear wormy - extra hip, extra catchy, like the best examples of each bands radio popularity. Rescuers in particular, though, will notice something sort of strange about them. It's more than just song being catchy. People who are not musicians themselves will find themselves being unnaturally charmed by them, as if each time they hear these singles they are being slowly brainwashed into becoming more and more fixated on the artists performing. Of course, this can be stopped by just not listening to them for a few days, but it's hard to avoid when pretty much every public location has been playing these singles non stop. Along with this effect, there are some particulars: ► PREDATOR DREAMS: The Pride band Predator is the same as the others, in that it has a particularly intrusive single that's just been introduced. There is one difference. It may take a while to notice, but it can be noted that one starts to feel somewhat tired and dazed after listening to it repeatedly, like they are somehow drained. The single is called The Spaces In Between and it is somewhat unusual that Cass, the member who usually primarily focuses on instrumentals and back up singing, is now performing lead. If your character hears this song several times, they may suffer some weird DREAMS - especially if they received a dose of Gold's magic powder in the Better To Pretend event. If you'd like to receive a dream, please write "DREAM PLEASE" in your subject line, along with a written section describing an instance of your character having regular dreams that I can manipulate. Anywhere else and I might miss it. ► ESCAPED MUSICIANS: Musicians that have escaped and are now in hiding will find themselves particularly mentally manipulated by the singles released by their home label. They will find their minds unusually filled with thoughts of returning to their labels, as well as increased paranoia about being caught. Any remaining programming will be particularly triggered and brought to the surface. They'll be able to push it down with self control and assistance from other characters, but the thoughts will become more invasive the more they listen to it. “'Cause everybody's so scared, We don't wanna go there. We don't wanna make a move, We got all our lives to lose. Screaming in the dark while we just play our part out. I play along, Like I don't know what's going on.”

Comments

[exhumerus]

Papyrus's rapid fire backpedaling of his initial suggestion is almost funny to hear, in how similar it sounds to his own thoughts. He doesn't think Papyrus really understands what he was saying, though, and for some reason saying it again feels somehow forbidden.

Like it's a secret for him to keep inside. Like he shouldn't let anyone interfere with his desires to go back, because it will be so much more complicated to leave if they know it's coming-

He shudders, suddenly, as if waking up from having fallen asleep for just a moment. His hand starts clenching his t-shirt. The music keeps playing.

"It would be really easy to go," he says, hedging on the concept uneasily. His voice is increasingly thin. "I wouldn't even have to walk anywhere. I can't... stop thinking about it, you know?"

[spaghettimonster]

Something about the change in Sans' voice finally clues Papyrus into the fact that this might not be hypothetical. That it might be...

"Is it because you're unhappy here?!? I can clean up more!" Papyrus pushes off the couch to sit closer to his brother again. He plucks the communicator off the floor, and tosses it back to where it slips between the cushions, its tinny sound muffled by the fabric. "See?"

But... no. That doesn't fit the way Sans is barely holding himself together, clutching at his shirt like that. "Or do you mean, you can't, can't. Like... you couldn't remember me."

[exhumerus]

God, a silent part of him yells, it isn't Papyrus fault. Of course it isn't! None of this is his fault, but why won't these thoughts go away? Keeps gnawing at his mind at unexpected times, and the longer he lays here the worse it seems to get.

It's as overwhelming as struggling with a real, physical force. Except all it would take is one little push to get him to shortcut, and he knows it.

"I can't get it out of my head," he says, the edges of his tone beginning to sound like he's almost pleading. He shakes his head, closing his eyes and bracing his hands over his ear holes and curling up on his side. It feels like a surging wave of panic is just beginning to ease, like his ability to speak is abruptly returning. "Something's wrong with me, bro. I don't... I don't know what's going on."

somehow this wasn't on my thread tracking page D:

[spaghettimonster]

That doesn't make sense. That doesn't make any sense. Nothing like this seemed to be bothering him before. And all the rescued people were chip-free! No more mind control stuff!

So why did it seem like there was something new, getting worse? And if it didn't have anything to do with the chips... why was Sans feeling it, but Papyrus wasn't?

"W-well! You know what would be even easier than going? Not going!" Sure, the idea might be pushing and nagging at him, but, well. "Then there's no need to walk, no need to teleport... You could just lay here for a while. Maybe take a nap?"

He's never been sure how Sans' teleportation power works... But maybe he has to be touching somebody to take them with him? Hopefully that's the case. So if Papyrus just... casually sits, so he's in contact with his brother... Maybe Sans won't do anything impulsive, for fear of bringing someone else along.

[exhumerus]

Heh. Appealing to his sensibilities. Sans almost laughs, but it comes out more like a stuttered, heavy breath, like he got punched in the gut. Taking a nap would be really nice, after all, if he was capable of feeling anything approaching restful.

It takes a while for things to start calming down, and the fact that the strength of the compulsion is fading is hard to notice at first. He can't think about much else beyond keeping him grounded, for fear of doing something unforgivable.

Which is why he finds himself reaching around and wrapping his fingers around Papyrus's arm, without every looking up or opening his eyes. He just stays there, still, and holds on. He doesn't want Papyrus to go there with him. That is the worst thing he can imagine.