☆MINGLE LOG: SOUTH VISTA MUSIC FEST

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone!
What: An open mingle log for everyone from everywhere.
When: November 18th-24th, 2054
Where: South Vista
Warnings: Could be anything!

☆THE FESTIVAL Welcome to the South Vista Music Fest! An enormous, weeklong festival with hundreds of bands performing nearly 24/7, the Music Fest is a quarter annual event that celebrates all manners of local talent, both big time and small time. Every band from Pride Records and Virgo Entertainment will have performances to do, including the freshly recruited – you better have your act together, because now is your time to shine! Player bands will be performing roughly once a day, with bands from the first app round predominantly with evening slots and the newest bands with predominantly afternoon slots. There is definitely a hierarchy to the scheduling - Pride and Virgo claim almost all of the prime performance times, while other labels are forced to deal with the leftovers. You've definitely been chosen by the winners of the music industry in these parts, that's for sure. Shuttles will be available to take people back to their relative HQs in their downtime, but they're also allowed to hang out and enjoy the festivities if that's what they prefer. Stuff is happening all day and night, so it's really just a question of how much you can party while still being conscious for your own show. Your managers will tell you that the company CEOs pay extra close attention to this event, so that you need to be on your best behaviour. The festival takes up a massive amount of floor area with multiple stages of various sizes and a large amount of glowy display screens. It's set up on the ground floor of the cityscape, meaning that the suspension roads and walkways above have been programmed to add to the ambient lighting all day and night. ► TRAILER PARK KIDS: For those that just want to chill, there is a massive VIP area reserved for labels to park various trailers for their musicians to hang out in during downtime - one for each band. They aren't quite as big as the tour buses, but they are comfortable and well stocked. Each is equipped with two beds and a bathroom/shower. Pretty much every local band you know of is here, including the notorious Predator. Nose around their trailer at your own risk. ► IN THE SPOTLIGHT: With at least six performances in a span of six days, there is plenty of time for shenanigans to go down both back and center stage. Time to show your mettle, and to hope that some asshole doesn't take all the best food items from the backstage catering tables before you can get to them. ► ATMOSPHERIC NOISE: If you dare brave the storm, there is a massive quantity of merch, vendor, and food booths available for your perusal. Many fans endeavor to spend as much time at Music Fest as possible, and so the space is very lived in, with large groups of people hanging out in well populated lounge areas. Depending on how popular you are, it may be difficult to get around without getting swarmed by your fans. ► DON'T FORGET TO REMEMBER: And all the while, the strange memories continue. The label's newest members will have started to feel strange as of November 6th, and by the time of the Fest almost all of them will be discovering their first memories regains. The first one should be based on the alignment you chose, but the rest can be whatever you want. New character may regain up to 4 memories between their arrival and the end of November.

Comments

[consocius]

Honestly, Sora's always happy about fans. Both for himself and for his friends, his band mates. Seeing people cheer them on was a powerful experience. "Yeah, I guess we're gaining popularity or something."

He laughs at Jamie's waggled eyebrows, shaking his head and drinking his water with a smile. "You might have to start disguising yourself when you go outdoors so you won't get chased!"

[mildwildchild]

"You say that like being chased is a bad thing." Jamie's grin widens. "And don't think I haven't noticed how many girls are ogling you. If we combine our chick-magnet powers, we could have some pretty sweet parties." He elbows Sora playfully.

[consocius]

His laugh this time is a little less amused and more, almost-kinda forced. "Yeah, I guess..." Fans were really nice and Sora's flattered to have any, but everyone keeps saying he's gonna be a heartbreaker now and in all honesty that only makes him feel uncomfortable.

"I think I'm just gonna direct any girls I 'magnet' toward you," he says while taking a seat on a nearby chair and giving the food on the table nearby a curious glance. It's obviously an attempt to be teasing, but mostly his words just echo his uneasiness.

[mildwildchild]

Jamie might not have quite the knack for reading people that Sora does, but he can pick up easily enough that something's bothering his bandmate. He tips his head to the side a little, watching Sora move away; takes another sip from his water bottle as he thinks this over and then ambles over to settle into the chair next to him.

"What's up?" His posture and tone are casual, but there's a little crease to his forehead and a look in his eye that betray his concern.

[consocius]

Bothering him it may be, but only in the way a fly does, a little nagging thing that is bothersome one second and gone the next. It's this little insinuation that's been flying his way recently though, that he should be excited about collecting girls like trophies or something, because it's what musicians do. Which was fine for other people if everyone was having fun and no one was getting hurt, but it felt too empty to him. Not fun. Talking to girls was fun, making friends with people was fun, but...

"Nah, it's nothing, I guess." He leans back in his chair a little, then begins balancing his water bottle on Jamie's shoulder, keeping his hand close and catching it again each time it slips. Just for something to do. "Just don't think I'm as into getting girls as you and Yosuke are," he says this with a smile, though.

[mildwildchild]

Jamie watches with amusement as Sora starts playing with the water bottle, joggling his shoulder every now and again just to mess with him a little.

He looks contemplative for a moment and then says, "Well, I mean...that's no big deal, man. There's plenty of guys who'd be happy to have some of your attention too, if that's what you're into."

He means well, he just...sucks at understanding these kinds of conversations.

[consocius]

Considering that wasn't at all what he was trying to get at, that response is pretty unexpected. So much so that he fumbles the bottle for a second in surprise before it falls and rolls away under the table. Thankfully he'd screwed the lid back on earlier, but. Wow, awkward.

Though he does appreciate the sentiment. And shows that with a smile. As awkward as this is. "Uh, that's not... I mean... I think I'm just into friends right now. I mean, being friends. With people. Instead of, you know... Not that I wouldn't be happy if like, I fell in love with someone or something! But... I think I just... Would deal with that... When it happens...?" He trails off, voice getting smaller, and he just looks SO CONFUSED. SO, SO CONFUSED. LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE.

[mildwildchild]

Not too long ago Jamie would have probably laughed at how bewildered Sora looks, but now he actually feels sort of alarmed. He was trying to help for once! Clearly he needs more practice.

"...hey, if that's what works for you, that's okay too! I mean, whatever makes you happy, man." Though Jamie personally can't imagine why anyone wouldn't be interested in people basically offering to have sex with them, he gives Sora a grin and a friendly little bump in the shoulder. "Don't look so embarrassed. At least you won't make a jackass out of yourself trying to pick people up in bars."

[consocius]

The good thing is though, Sora's usually pretty quick to be back to happy and smiling, and this time is no exception. He laughs as Jamie bumps his shoulder, and gives a bump back for good measure. "Hey! I wouldn't have done that, anyway."

His grin drops back to a more comfortable, relaxed smile, and he looks down at his shoes for a second. "But yeah, it's just... a little weird to talk about right now I guess because it's still stuff I'm trying to figure out, you know?"

[mildwildchild]

"The desire for companionship makes us all do crazy things, man." Jamie grins over at him.

He doesn't totally understand what it is that Sora's trying to figure out - you like one or the other (or both, or neither) and that's the end of it, right? - but he supposes that everyone's different, and maybe Sora's just a late bloomer, or whatever the term is. "Well, it'll happen someday, I guess. Maybe you just haven't met the right kinda person to get things started yet."

[consocius]

After another small laugh, Sora stretches in the chair as he thinks... Then goes on a hunt for the runaway water bottle. Technically he could just get another one, but...

"Yeah... Maybe... Although..." He pauses while he's on the floor next to the table, looking at Jamie with a frown before he prepares to dive under it to search. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you something that's kind of embarrassing and also kind of weird. Just let me--" Scoot, scoot. Water bottle retrieved. Sora re-emerges with it. And then sits back down in his chair with a very serious, almost comically solemn expression. "Ryouta kissed me."

[mildwildchild]

Jamie leans forward in his chair, arms on his knees, and watches as Sora ducks under the table. If Jamie didn't know better he'd think Sora was avoiding something.

And, well...his phrasing and that frown are a little concerning, although Jamie could almost believe that Sora's just joking around once he returns to his seat - Sora never looks this serious. Except when really bad shit goes down, which sends a little flare of alarm shooting through him.

When he hears what Sora actually says, however, he just...blinks, looking a little puzzled and a little concerned. He purses his lips as though he's trying to respond but not really sure how.

"...okay, like..." He angles his head to look at Sora askance. "...why?"

Is he asking for contextual details or Sora's insights into Ryouta's psyche? It is difficult to tell.

[consocius]

This is actually a fair question, and Sora was planning on adding context to it anyway. "It was at the awards gala. And like we had this dance-off 'cause Ryouta likes to compete with me sometimes, just for fun. And I was really exhausted that night, remember? So he won. And then he kissed me and said it was his reward. Like, right on the dance floor."

Less solemn expression now, but he's back to looking so confused. Like this has been bugging him since. That's practically, what, two months? He has been carrying this confusion for two months. Well, off and on; admittedly he does get distracted by things but it comes up again every so often and he's confused all over again. "Do friends do that? Like, reward each other with kisses? Because that's kinda new for me."

[mildwildchild]

Oh. Well, that explains things, sort of. He'd obviously missed seeing that, probably because he was too busy choking on ham blintzes or being shoved into a wall by Bali Pope. Jamie nods slowly, though he still looks all kinds of unsure about this conversation.

The look that crosses Jamie's face at that last question, though, almost defies description, like he's torn between laughing and screaming. It's not actually that horrific, just - what a weird question.

"Uh - no, I don't think they do. I mean, I'm pretty sure none of my friends have ever kissed me...ever. Especially as a prize for winning a contest." Ignoring, for now, the fact that Jamie can't clearly remember any of these friends.

"So he just - kissed you without even asking or anything? I'm gonna punch him next time I see him. You don't just slobber all over people like that without asking 'em." He's mostly blowing smoke because Ryouta is a freakish behemoth who could throw him into the middle of next week, but gosh, Ryouta, that's sort of rude.

Jamie goes silent for a little bit, thinking, and then asks, "So did you, y'know. Like it, or what?"

[consocius]

That was pretty much what Sora had been going on, that it was not a normal thing. For friends. Unless they liked you or something. Which was the reason all of this was pretty confusing. "It wasn't like... a really, really serious kiss or anything, just kinda... a peck? But it was still on the mouth, so..."

His frown gets a little more stern when Jamie mentions hurting Ryouta, and he turns to look at him. "You don't have to do that. I mean, yeah, I was ticked for the same reason at first, 'cause he didn't ask..." He sighs. Seeing either of his friends get hurt though, isn't something he wants. Especially not them hurting each other. "Just, promise me you won't pick a fight, okay? It's fine. Really."

This all actually seems a lot less awkward and embarrassing than he'd been expecting it to be, maybe because it's Jamie and even though he's as confused as Sora is, at least he's not like, threatening to go around telling everyone or anything. At least, it was bordering on not-awkward, until that question is asked. Because it's something he's been avoiding thinking about, like there was too much potential to just... screw things up if he thought about it too hard maybe, thought about any of this too hard. But... Now he has to think about it. When he does though, he finds that he probably could have done it sooner, because the answer is not life-shattering.

"No, I don't think so. I don't think it was bad, but it... wasn't great, either. Not that I've got anything to compare it to... Mostly it just happened really fast? And I was too shocked and kinda mad. Maybe, if it weren't for all those reasons, I coulda liked it, but... I don't know." He shrugs, and leans back in the chair, sliding down in it a ways.

[mildwildchild]

Jamie makes a sheepish kind of "yeah, well, okay" shrugging motion when Sora gives him that stern look. He wouldn't start something with Ryouta, really, except to maybe give him a good talking-to. Maybe.

He listens to Sora trying to sort things out, thinking this through. As awkward as the conversation is, he wants to try to say something helpful. He's just so bad at this.

"Well, uh...so maybe that was just a bad kiss, y'know? For you, I mean. It kinda sounds like you weren't in a very good frame of mind to, like. Enjoy it. Maybe next time you will be."

He looks over at Sora with a hesitant grin. "At least now you do have something to compare stuff to. Y'know, if it happens again."

[consocius]

To be fair, Sora didn't actually start telling this all to Jamie with the expectation that he help him solve it. More like... it was something he'd been holding on to and Jamie felt like the best person to use as a sounding board. Not that there were a whole lot of people he was uncomfortable around, but Jamie was still probably one of the people he'd met since joining a band that he felt the most comfortable with.

"Maybe..." Then the 'next time' sinks in and he ends up with red cheeks and wide eyes. "N-next time? What, you.. You think he's gonna do it again?"

He's not even sure if he'd want Ryouta to do it again or not. Kind of yes because then maybe he could figure this all out, but then kind of no because... well, it's still weird. And he doesn't really know why he did it either. Yes, he said it was a reward, but like... If you take something as a reward, you have to want the thing, right? Unless he was just teasing him or something.

"Or do you mean like the next time it happens with someone else?" Admittedly, it does make him feel a little better to think that it gives him something to compare any possible future kisses to. He ends up laughing at that thought. "Heh, maybe I should thank him for giving me something to compare stuff to, then."