☆MUSICIAN TEST DRIVE: ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

[interdimanagers]

☆WELCOME MUSICIANS

And welcome to our third TDM! We've got two types of prompts to use this time around: the first takes place while your character is in the process of being captured, and the second is during their first brainwashed rockstar networking gig. The former is designed to be considered 100% game canon if you make it in officially, while the later is more speculative and will only work if you get lucky during label and band selection.

☆THE TALENT SEARCH

These prompts are design to be kept as game canon after acceptance, and can be used as the official story of how your character was captured. Importantly, the kidnappers entering your timeline causes massive time distortions, which means that the outcome of this scenario will stagger and replay itself multiple times before settling on an outcome. This means that after the fact, you character may remember being captured multiple ways, or going in more than one direction, before the timeline settled on a final path. Or at least, they'll remember this until their memories are wiped shortly afterwards, but that's okay! That's what memory regains are for. Read this page for more specifics on this situation. Any powers the characters have will be weakened and prone to malfunction to the point of uselessness.



►A1) THE SEARCH: It always starts out this way, doesn't it? At some point in your life, you were just doing your thing, wherever you call home. Then, all at once, it's like you've been torn from your dimension by the roots. Time and space displace, and it's like you've been shifted one layer of reality to the left - like some kind of subspace where you can see your reality through it, like a rainbow surrealist image of your home. Even if you can see this ghost image of where you were, you can't interact with it meaningfully. Any friends or family are somewhere else. As you begin to wander, without any other options, you'll find that the scenery gradually shifts to ghost images of other places, other worlds. If you wander long enough, you'll even find other people, lost just like you are. But you probably won't have much time - you've been brought here for a reason, after all.

►A2) THE HUNT: It could happen almost immediately, or it could happen hours later - but, at some point, your dimensional kidnappers start to do their sweep. Space Men in black body suits and gas masks pursue you on foot and in small spaceships, trying to sweep you and the other displaced up like fish in a net. Their guns contain a weird pink gas that will knock out most with only a single breath - and for those more enduring, they have the heavy artillery, like electrical nets and guns. The fallen will be sealed up into stasis pods for transport and loaded onto the ships, which seem like the only way to get out of this place by choice. This is where it ends, but are you going to put up a fight?

NOTE: Characters already in game can't really tag into these sections, so try to tag around to other first time character tests if you can!

☆WELCOME HOME

By default, these prompts aren't considered canon, but if after you are accepted and sorted they can be tweaked into working for you, it'll be totally okay to keep them as a part of your rockstar's personal history. This occurrence is something that will be happening in early January game time, but of course, what remains canon and what doesn't will be subject to who is accepted and where they are placed. This takes place after being kidnapped and brainwashed, as your character is first joining their new label. As usual, this is celebrated with a party.



►B1) PLAY IT STRAIGHT: This is perhaps your second or third "New Years" party, and several days after the fact - just the industry's standard for starting the New Year with a bang and giving a change to mingle with all your exciting new business connections. Something typical to the high music society of Vista City - but maybe it's not yet typical to you. For a number of the freshly signed on newbies, this is their first real taste of what their new label has to offer - either Virgo or Pride - and the sheer glamour of it may be intoxicating. Industry big wigs scatter the floor, as do performers of all the tops labels and bands. Maybe you feel intimidated. Maybe you want to make your mark. Or maybe you're not quite as new as some, and are just trying to get through the evening. Either way, they is plenty of booze available if you need some liquid courage. Just how alcoholic is this egg nog? Probably very.

►B2) TOTALLY NORMAL: The signs of it are small, at first. Glasses you set down seeming out of place, stuff that almost looks like words written in the condensation on your glass. These little hauntings only get more and more persistent as the night continues, almost like some otherworldly presence is following you. You can feel them lurking nearby at times, like an unusual spot of cold or warmth in the air. None of the higher ups seem to notice but...to some of your new peers, this feels like old news. Eventually the signs become bolder, and at some point in the evening you'll hear it whispered in your ear or written on the bathroom mirror: "Remember."

►B3) REMEMBER: And you do. It strikes you suddenly, a feeling like a foreign presence straying through your mind. You remember something of your past, pertaining to the emotional affinity Love, Duty, Passion, or Hope - whichever feeling describes the person you used to be best. Except you know nothing of that life now, nothing except this single, strange thought in a room full strangers.

NOTE: Current characters definitely go to this party in earlier January, but it isn't required play. Besides the usual hauntings and meeting new characters, it is considered business as usual. Pride Records and Virgo Entertainment's employees are uneasily coexisting, pretty much because they have to in order to keep up appearances. Body guards are out in full force.

☆HELPFUL INFO

► Follow the mod plurk for updates: interstellar5555
► Check out the game NAVIGATION
► Check out the RESCUER TDM
► For more deets about Americana's holiday traditions check out THIS POST
► Reserves open on January 2nd at 12:01AM EDT
► Applications open on January 11th at 12:01AM EDT

Comments

Cloud Strife | Final Fantasy VII

[off_the_edge]

B1:

Cloud is continually reminding himself that he belongs here, that this is the sort of thing you're just supposed to do when you're famous, but he still can't work out what he's supposed to do with his hands. He wonders around, manoeuvring around chatting couples and listening into their conversations; after running out of new people to talk to, he finally convinces himself he deserves to sit down, taking a spot near the drinks table where he just might get in the way enough that someone might try to talk to him, and staring at his tablet.

He opens up his DAW, angling the tablet so that if anyone looked over his shoulder they might ask him what he was working on, and wedges in an earbud. He should be able to handle this, he tells himself - he blocks in a couple of bars of MIDI, decides it makes the track worse, and deletes it. It's just having fun. It's easy. He knows he could go up to any one of the industry bigwigs here and they'd be falling over themselves trying to impress him, so there's really nothing to worry about. In fact, he tells himself, they're probably beneath him - tone-deaf bean-counters who assume you're good so long as you've got a cool haircut and play loud.

But how are you supposed to go about being at a party? It just doesn't make any sense.

After closing the song and reopening it again, he reaches for a bottle of something he can't be bothered to examine too closely, just to have something to do with his hands. Looks like it's going to be a long evening.

B2:

He's not sure exactly how long it is before he just can't bear being here any longer, but the relentless thump of the music is really starting to get to his head, and his shirt is sticky with beer other people has spilled on it - he ends up making his way to the bathroom, pushing past the line with a glare that dared anyone to stop him. He's over at the sink filling his cup with water when he sees it; reflected in the mirror, another him standing behind him, arms out, spectral, flickering -

Wake up!

He tries to look away, but before he can his vision hisses white; he finds he's clutching his head with both hands, cup rolling in the basin. He catches his breath; gently, surprised he can still remember how to move, he splashes his face with water and makes his way back out.

Yeah, it's not exactly calm. Yeah, he's making his way to the exit at a full run, knocking into people as he goes, and his face is bloodless, but if anyone judges him for it, that's their problem.

B1

[traumatizing]

Well hey, at least having his nerdy-ass music out gets some attention.

Terry isn't great at parties - in fact he hates them, but he's learning to fake it bit by bit. In tonight's case, it's mostly through constantly having a drink in his hand and trying to fashion his exhaustion into something that comes across as more of a general aloofness instead.

He's wandering past the tables in search of someone he knows when Cloud's tablet catches his eye. It's more interesting than half of what's happening at this party, (and the other half is too much energy to engage with,) and he slows to a stop. Watching in silence for a moment before he speaks up to ask, "what's that you're working on?"

[off_the_edge]

Cloud's very familiar with the feeling of being watched - he might be able to say it made his hair stand on end, if that was something he needed help with. So by the time the question comes, he's prepared enough to address him as a rock star.

"Just playin' around with ideas," he explains, offering the earbuds. What he means is that he's worked hard on it and knows it's good stuff, but it looks better if he acts like it was easy, which it never is. "It's a work in progress, so don't blame me if it's not very good."

[traumatizing]

He takes the earbuds and pops them in, covering his ears to block out the ambient noise from the party. It's good. Its really good, Terry can tell that much. He bops his head along and nods extra hard at all the right bits. He even raises his eyebrows at one particularly impressive phrase and has to resist the urge to ask Cloud to replay that couple of seconds for him.

Unfortunately for Cloud, Terry does a lot of writing and sequencing on the go, so he knows when he hears something too put-together to just be a rough copy. "No way are you 'just playing around with ideas'," is his response when he takes out the earbuds, and he points to one of the tracks on the screen. (He wouldn't normally be this forward, but Terry's had a fair amount to drink, and he's always excited about music.) "That line's way too polished for that."

[off_the_edge]

As soon as Terry had taken the earbuds, Cloud had got up to walk around - few things made him as nervous as closely watching someone else listen to his music, or even music he's recommended to someone, while they've got headphones in - but it's only enough to give them both some space. He's keeping an eye on him, making sure that he's getting all the reactions he wants, and when he comes to sit back down it's with obvious pride. He got them all.

He knew he would.

"Not really," Cloud says, shrugging, winding the earbuds around his hand. "I've just been working on it for a long time between doing other things. Thing is, when you've spent that much time working on something, all you can hear is what still needs work."

He looks hard for any sign of recognition - tell me it's not just me.

"I'm Cloud," he says. "Actually, I'm Clarence, but the fans don't need to know that, right?"

[traumatizing]

"I get that. My bandmates practically have to wrestle me out of the studio or I'll be recording and editing for months." He laughs a little sheepishly and looks down at his drink, thinking about that and the harddrives full of music he never thinks is good enough to release.

"Terry," he says, offering a hand with a wry smile when he looks back up at Cloud's face, "or Trauma, if we're going by stage names."

[off_the_edge]

Cloud nods. He definitely knows that feeling. He remembers sometimes it felt like he was orchestrating some kind of crucial battle while forcing his way through long grids of menus.

"'Trauma'?" Cloud considers. Then he decides. "That's awesome. What do you play?"

He's only going by his stage name because, without in any way having a lack of perspective about it, it feels so much more like his own.

[traumatizing]

"Anything I can get my hands on." Not that he's good at them all, but he's that annoying kind of guy who'll spend half an hour trying to learn the digeridoo if you leave him to his own devices long enough. "I play synth for Cosmic Indulgence mostly though."

B1

[sailorgenerous]

He'll find a perfectly manicured hand gently but firmly pushing his hand away from the bottle. "Please." Rarity has her best oh you sweet summer child expression leveled at him: kind, but still somewhat pitying. "There's much better quality to be had here, especially for us."

[off_the_edge]

"For us?" Cloud responds, letting his tablet fall limp in his lap and looking her up and down. All right - since she's including him, he can work with it, and even though she seems like she's pitying him he's grateful for the attention. He awkwardly adjusts himself in his chair, trying to turn his charisma back on.

"You've heard of me, right?" He adjusts his hair and strikes something that looks a bit like a pose. "I'm Cloud, former member of S★O★L★D★I★E★R, right now a solo artist. I'm afraid I don't recognise you. Nice nails, so I take it you're not a guitarist." He shrugs, downplaying the neg. "So, what should I be having?"

[sailorgenerous]

"Well, yes. We are the stars of the party, you know." For never having been surrounded by such opulence before, Rarity has certainly adjusted to it well.

Her eyes widen slightly, and the smile grows a pointed, dangerous quality; she recognizes the negging, and she will not stand for it. "Thank you! I love your hair," she says in reply. It all sounds so sincere. "With a style like that, you must be signing with Flashstep." Not that there was anything wrong with being in a boy band, but she has the feeling that it'll drive Cloud crazy to be associated with them.

She'll answer his question when he stops being rude.

[off_the_edge]

Cloud wouldn't have bothered having hair like that if he wasn't expecting it to get insulted, and he's got nothing against hit-factory pop or the people who perform it, so long as they don't go around calling themselves innovators. But, still.

"Hey," he says, affronted. Then he hesitates, his cocky act replaced with genuine puzzlement. "Hang on a sec. Were you negging me just then?"

[sailorgenerous]

Rarity is fully expecting him to reply in kind, and she's a bit thrown off when he doesn't. Who knows - maybe there is some potential in this Cloud character after all. "Well, yes. I'm a firm believer in responding in kind." She pauses, giving him a very pointed look. "Now, either I can show you how to navigate a party, or we can talk about your..." She glances at the bottle he had been reaching for, then at him. "...decisions. Your choice." There's obviously only one right answer here.

[off_the_edge]

"Huh?" Cloud says, far too confused to reach for some line about not really being interested or not caring. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes spark, like he's trying not to laugh:

"All right. You're in charge of this one."

It's a lot easier than resisting, and he'll get to see what she's going to do next.

[sailorgenerous]

Which is exactly what she should be. Congratulations, Cloud, you've realized the rightful order of things. Prepare to be schooled.

"Alright, then." Rarity gives him a smile; it's just this side of a smirk, true, but it is genuine. "Lesson one: never stay at a table for longer than you have to. Tables are for two things: food and giving up, and we are doing neither. Now put your tablet away and let's get moving."

B2

[cleartranquil]

She's been trolling around the party, flitting about, doing her usual. She's gotten some good dirt on a band from a label no one's heard of that isn't total hipster trash, and is happily spilling it all over a reddit forum when someone bumps into her at full speed.

Her instant response is to get angry, hands immediately going to her hips and blocking the exit of the guy who saw fit to bowl her over.

"Hey! What's your freaking problem! Watch where you're-..." Yuffie does stop however when she actually gets a look at the guy. He looks terrible and Yuffie's face changes from angry to worried in a moment flat. There's something itching in the back of her head, the same thing that happens when things go green on her, and she can't place it, but she's got other things to worry about. Like if the guy is literally going to fall over or something.

"Woah, are you okay?"

[off_the_edge]

Cloud continues trying to force his way past her, not looking at her properly, and would not have stopped if not for the way the voice lands in his head; it doesn't raise anything as coherent as a memory, but a feeling of fondness tinged with betrayal. It distracts him for exactly long enough for him to notice her face and realise how stupid he's being.

"I'm fine," he attempts. His voice sounds faint and hesitant. He tries again, hand on his hips, "no problem. Thought I could handle my drink better than this, I guess. Do I - " he raises a hand to his mouth in thought -

I remember.

"I remember. I've seen you somewhere." He smiles, trying to flatter her - "You must be famous if even I've heard of you. Allow me to introduce myself - I'm Cloud."

[cleartranquil]

When he speaks, Yuffie's eyes widen and her thought train utterly derails.

'What are you making me do?'

She knows his voice, she's heard it before. The dreams at the party, she'd heard that voice in both of them. She'd...She'd heard it. She knows she did.

She blinks rapidly for a moment, her mouth open like she's about to speak before she sort of manages a smile, dragging it to her face even if all she wants is to scream and ask him why he's there in those dreams, why she suddenly feels like a huge weight has been lifted just by hearing that voice, because if he's here then suddenly she's sure everything that's been wrong can be fixed. It's the same feeling she gets with the Carnies, or with Terry on the balcony and she has no idea why.

"Uh." She starts, intelligently, and it takes her a moment to try to talk again, swallowing hard and forcing her smile to be more of a real thing.

"That's good. You don't want to throw up or something at one of these things. The Tabloids will literally never let you forget it."

"Nice to meet you, Cloud." She holds out a hand, grinning up at him and trying to appear normal, all attitude and no hesitation to her name. "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi. Junkyard Carnival. I'm kind of a big deal."

[off_the_edge]

Cloud stares back at her reaction. He'd won a few awards, but his few fans didn't usually react to him like this. She looks absolutely star-struck - she deserves to talk to someone who she'd be able to tell people she'd met. He makes an effort to stand up straight, and flicks his hair out of his eyes.

"Tabloids? I wouldn't know. I don't get hangovers."

He thinks something about her face reminds him of a girl he'd been on a date with once, although he can't remember her name, or even if the date had been any good. It's going to drive him crazy.

He nods and shakes her hand.

"Of course you are," he agrees, teasingly. He looks around for the entrance to a quiet room or anything - his head really can't take this. "Not that I'd know, because I don't know what that is. Is there anywhere else we can go?"

[cleartranquil]

"Why, are you lookin' to get me alone?" Yuffie teases right back, she's trying to get back on top of her game.

She still feels off, and a little confused and there's something about him that isn't right for the picture she has in her head, but it's him and she knows it. She doesn't know what it is. Maybe it's that his eyes aren't the right shade or there's something just slightly off but it's him. And it makes her watch him carefully and her smile broadens before she gestures off towards a balcony.

"Come on, follow me. I've been here a few times." The teasing drops to something kinder, and she puts her hand on his arm using her phone like a pointer. "The view from the balcony's pretty swell."

It always makes her think the stars are wrong, but she's trying to not think about that too hard.

[off_the_edge]

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cloud says, following her, "aren't you the one leading me?"

The flirting alone is enough to cheer him up a bit, and as soon as the cool air hits his face and the door shuts out the noise, he feels more like his normal self again. He walks over to the railing, braces his arms against it - for a second, it looks like he's relaxing. Then he glances over his shoulder to make sure Yuffie's watching, before scrambling up and seating himself on the edge.

"You weren't kidding about the view!"

The railing is thick, and his sense of balance is good, and the height and distance stretching down beneath him, almost like it's trying to compel him to fling himself off into it, is thrilling in exactly the right way. He pats the spot next to him and - more carefully than he makes it look - turns around to offer Yuffie a hand up.

B2

[sayonaramemories]

Not everybody is going to accept being run over without a word. Kokoro is one of the people that's going to take it as a great offense if he's not even going to say excuse me on his way out.

So he'll try to catch Cloud by the arm, eyes narrowing for a moment and pitching his voice up into the sweetest, most sugary tone he can muster. "Shouldn't you say something when you run into a pretty girl?"

Re: B2

[off_the_edge]

"'Something'," Cloud fires back, not really thinking about it. He tries, mostly instinctively, to bat away the hand, only to hesitate at the idea of hitting a girl and stopping dead.

[sayonaramemories]

"That's not very nice, you know." He pouts. "At the very least an 'excuse me' would do."

[off_the_edge]

"Sorry," Cloud says, with an expression that suggests he has no idea what he did wrong and is just hoping it will work. He attempts to pull out of the girl's grip, but not very forcefully - he doesn't want to hurt anyone by not paying mind to his own strength. "I'm sorry, but I'm not really in the mood. I just had - "

He stops. There's no way of explaining it without looking insane.

"Forget it, it's nothing," he eventually says, with a shrug, and attempts to walk off.