a winter labyrinth

[townmusician]

断ち切るしかないんだろ
注いだ冬は心のラビリンス
後戻りなんて出来ないから
やりきるしかないんだろ
黒い気持ちと手を繋いだって構わない
抱きしめたっていいh

I have to break free
This pouring winter is my heart's labyrinth
I can't go back anymore, so
I have to finish this
I don't care if you took my hand with dark motives
I want you to hold me close

Comments

THE PERFORMANCE 🧍

[townmusician]

[Five minutes passes slowly, in the palace—it might not even be an actual five minutes, but who knows how much time is passing outside of the Nekyia right now.

The shadow comes back, though, and it will guide everyone to the stage. There's a lot fewer shadows milling around backstage, now, but there are a handful here and there, seemingly keeping the show up and running. There's a rumbling in the distance, and stepping on to stage everyone is met with loud cheers.

There's hundreds of shadows in the audience, waving pen lights, an indistinct mass of fans, here to watch a once-in-a-lifetime performance. The stage is basked in lights, and the warmth will at least be appreciated by the coldblooded amongst the group.

An unseen voice echoes across the venue.]

Well, here they are! Braphine's chosen, or at least a few of them. Are you looking forward to the show?

[The voice sounds like Haruka but nothing like him, at the same time.]

If they manage to impress me, they'll get to come face to face with ŹOOĻ, and then we can see what's better—conflict or connection? Me or them? Heh!

[The audience whoops and cheers, and music begins to play over the speakers as Haruka's voice fades away. He's watching, though.]

[prozaic]

[(19)

Conflict or connection? What if he were to utilize his connection with Haruka, instead? He knows he was watching earlier. He just has to change his performance to be more acceptable to this crowd, this sort of environment, than the deep red curtains and velvet seats that he's most comfortable with.

He already has an idea of what he can do, a recreation of one of the performances from the annual concert that Rhodes Island puts on to market the fashion designers that it likes to partner with. It's a big loud for his tastes, Shalem is too classically trained to be comfortable with screaming into a microphone, but he has to try. Especially since he knows Haruka likes his music on the louder, noisier side.

When he steps up, Shalem introduces himself as Abyss, and not the name many know him by. He has the pure black jacket he came in, and not the one he pilfered from the bag check. And then he begins.

Shalem starts out low, almost a whisper, demanding that people actually listen to him over the music that sounds quite alt. rock. But he doesn't keep them in suspense for too long, because his next line is louder, and the next one louder, he's building up to a shout as he sings. He's practically bellowing into the microphone for the chorus, but not in his usual deep-voiced way when he sings the opera, he's really working hard to sing like the vocalist of a contemporary band.

Then in the second verse he rips his jacket off and tosses it into the crowd. Is it gone forever? Is it ruined? Who knows? He did it for the performance, for the spectacle. He's not Shalem or Abyss, he is a role, an angry young man yelling at the world that treats him unfairly, while proclaiming his constant companion is the only one for him. He jumps across the stage, he screams, he points at the shadowy audience, he gestures wildly and yanks off his hair tie to let his hair fly freely.

But there is a line he repeats over and over in the lyrics, screaming into the mic: Forever young and free! And that is full of genuine emotion, moreso than the rest of the song. It resonates with him in a way, but it was written to fit a different Operator, it's just this one line that fits him the best.

By the end, he's panting, but the intensity in his expression doesn't change until the music ends completely-- how did they even know to pull the right melody... Nevermind. He gives the audience a deep bow and then slinks backstage, resisting the urge to rub his neck.

Ow, his throat... He wants some tea... His "how fucked up is his voice after this" roll came back 16 lol. lmao even]

[townmusician]

[...

There's no response, at least not immediately, but when Shalem returns to backstage there's a thermos filled with warm tea and some lozenges.

And a note.]

You don't do anything with half-measures, do you?

[Hm.]

[prozaic]

[Shalem sees the little gifts, and is taken aback... But eventually smiles. Seems like the Shadow does like him the same way Haruka does.

There's no one in the room with him, so he feels comfortable speaking, even if his throat is sore and his voice is rougher than gravel.]

That was never an option-- we're performers, you and I, beholden to the stage. You know this as well as I do, my dear.

[strawsandals]

[ (13 over here!)

Yoon is not a naturally gifted boy when it comes to performing arts, but he is a good actor and incredibly skilled at memorizing things. It's why he remembers the lyrics to a random song he heard in a cafe one day that was kind of nice.

He's not a dancer, and actually, he's realizing he doesn't have to be because this is a slow enough song. His expressions are pretty good and encapsulate the mood. He has no idea what the hell he's doing but he's giving it his best anyway and it seems to be going over decently well? Part of this is also probably because of his innocent ("innocent") charm that makes people think he's just a cute kid doing his best. He'll take it even at the expense of his pride, honestly.

After he's done, he gives a little wave and goes off stage. ... And then he promptly puts his face in his hands and screams a little. Bro... ]

[prozaic]

[He found Yoon...! And gives him a pat on the shoulder. You did good for your first time, kid.]

[strawsandals]

[ Oh. That's really sweet, actually. ]

A-ah...Shalem...

[unweathered]

[Oh. Oh no that's so cute. Schneider cheerfully claps for him when he's done]

Good work.

[strawsandals]

[ Schneider he is dying over here. He is in shambles. He'll get over himself, but his cheeks are deep red when he looks at her. ]

Thanks...

[townmusician]

[Yoon might be embarrassed, but out of the corner he can catch sight of something out of place—some carefully wrapped onigiri.]

[strawsandals]

[ He sees it.

Yoon stops and picks it up. His embarrassment dissipates almost immediately. He knows what this means. ]

...Haruka. You're still here...

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise is giving Yoon a thumbs up. He ganba'd and did well. ]

thank u tom cardi i owe u my life

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Eli... is going to combat stage fright with the only thing he has in excess: rage. After digging around the green room to no avail, he pointed at the shadow sending them on stage and demanded a guitar. Well, he got it and since avrae decided he does have some level of skill after all what the fuck and did his best to tune it before marching out on stage.

There won't be so much dancing as there will be music and singing, but he'll drag a mic along with him so that he can hold it up and shout straight into it, putting all his anger on display for the audience of shadows but mostly for Haruka. ]

My name is Elijah Walsh, and if you don't like my song, Haruka, you can eat my big, fat, werewolf dick!

[ This is a lie since McGillis made their weird polycule verbally sign an imaginary relationship contract, and Haruka was not included in that. Anyway. Obviously, Eli will never be idol material with is foul mouth. He's far better suited for a rude-ass grunge band if anything at all, although the song he's made up on the fly is... absolutely ridiculous... and yet?

Still a goddamn good time, that's what it is.

So, he strums the first few notes and launches into a stirring (17 lmao) rendition of this. ]

[townmusician]

[eli there are easier ways to flirt than this?]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ dying noises ]

[strawsandals]

[ EYOOOO! What the fuck is this song but also, Eli's killing it!! ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Yeah, he's even smashing the damn guitar at the end before walking the hell off the stage. Take that, Haruka. He's wrecking ur shit. ]

[unweathered]

[ (17) Schneider is by no means a particularly talented singer. But she is a very good performer and knows how to use her strengths to her advantage. the song she chooses suits her voice quite well, focusing on something more low and sultry than something too upbeat that required too much energy to work with.

She knows how to flaunt herself shamelessly to an audience at least. The oversized fur coat certainly helps with the vision.]

[townmusician]

[Even if they're very different kinds of fruity, he can acknowledge skill.

Schneider will find some b r e a d backstage, perfectly acceptable.]

[unweathered]

[Ah. Very nice. Much thanks]

[idealitas]

[ First of the stooges who rolled ass, let's gooo

He was put off by the idea he wouldn't try, so he does his best to sing, even if he's too awkward to keep dancing consistently. Alas, he can't match the energy of the others in captivating the audience (or Haruka) for the kind of competition this is, losing his voice halfway from the nerves (5). This is either the Iori Curse (stage fright) or the Momo Curse (no voice).

...Until this is done with, he'd like to be left alone backstage. ]

[townmusician]

[Damn. That could have been a decent performance, and yet...

It sucked, and worse than that the stage fright seems to linger, leaving Yi Sang struck with Fear.]

1/2

[cleansewithfire]

[ This is probably the first time in Sunrise's short life that she's experienced stage fright, so perhaps it's a good thing that she's unexpressive enough that it isn't immediately obvious. The other saving grace is that while she's done only backstage work, the troupe she works for does mostly musical performances, so she at least sort of knows some songs.

Her choice is song is slow ballad (and somewhere, Echo would probably both flattered and kind of concerned), and...even more surprisingly, her singing isn't bad? (13) Certainly more emotional than you'd expect given how she speaks normally. She's not even going to try to dance since she knows she can't, but her looks and the song seem to be winning her some appeal points. ]

[cleansewithfire]

[ And when it's over and she gets backstage, out of the audience's sight, Sunrise deflates like a balloon. She's tired. She's done. Let her expire here and now. ]

[townmusician]

[Well, she did her best! And honestly, her singing is pretty alright... Her stage presence could use some work, but hey. Everyone starts somewhere!

Backstage, Sunrise will find some ultra spicy chips to snack on.]