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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 1st Sep 2009 at 8:11 PM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 31st Oct 2010 at 7:34 PM. Reason: updated active characters list
Default Syrinx Music Festival - New and exciting RP! Players always welcome! Enjoy the launch party!


A sweltering sun is pouring down over a Texas grassland, and the music's been singing in your ears for so long you can't imagine sound without it, the spirits are high and the atmosphere is sublime.
Welcome to the Syrinx Music Festival.

Organized for the first time in 1989, it started out as a small scale one-day event for promising yet not all that big indie bands, with an intended vibe of a more modern Woodstock. The first couple of years, it just barely managed to raise enough money for the organizers to be able to pull it off again the next year. In 1995, however, Pilots of Death, one of the bands that had their first real breakthrough thanks to business connection made at the festival during their second year of performing there, decided to return to cradle of their success, and in doing so brought quite a bit of attention to the festival, with the mainstream audience starting to take notice.

Since then, the festival has expanded greatly in both audience and genres, as well as in length - lasting three days, Thursday through Saturday - and is now one of the bigger festivals in the country, with the record number of visitors being 60.400 in 2007. All kinds of people flock at the annual event, nowadays offering everything from the smallest indie band to the newest hip club DJ, from a "lowly" demo metal band to the bigger pop sensations.



RULES:

* All Forum and Roleplay rules apply.

* Characters may be either Male or Female.

* You may apply for two characters maximum.

* No characters under the physical age of sixteen.

* Try and keep separate posts for OOC down to a minimum, and don't spam.

* Cursing is permitted, but please make sure to censor any profanity. We will all know what you mean even if you write S**, F*** or B****.

* If you take on the role as a musician, and want them/their band to perform in-game, contact us for more details.

* You may RP as much as you like (meaning, there is no limit on the number of posts per day) but please keep in mind that some players are in this partly because it's supposed to be slow-paced.

* Be courteous to other members; even if your characters don't get along, the players should still be able to remain civil towards one another. Remember, we're here to have fun!

* If you are unsure of something, ask. Either in the thread, or in PM.

* If you for some reason have/choose to drop out, please finish up, by either RPing an end for your character, or at least telling us that you will be dropping out. Don't leave people hanging.

* When making an RP post, please include the name of your character in the header, and preferrably where they are at and what other character they are with as well. This makes it easier for people to keep up with who is where, and with whom.

* An RP post should be 8 lines minimum. This limit does not include quoted lines from a post you are replying to. While this RP is for fun, it is for roleplayers who take it somewhat seriously.
The occasional exception is, of course, allowed, as long as it doesn't turn into continually posting less than 8 lines.


These are the rules for now. Additions might be made, as we will be ironing out whatever kinks we may come across as we go along.

Applications

1. Name:
2. Age:
3. Type of visitor (artist/groupie/staff etc):
4. Occupation:
5. Bio:
6: Picture:
7. Anything else you'd like to add:

Additional info for artists, just so that the fans have something to work with.

Questionnaire:

Name:
Nickname:
Instrument:
Previous bands:
Siblings:
Food of choice:
Drink of choice:
Weapon of choice:
Accessory of choice:
Movie of choice:
Most inspirational artist (musician or not):
Never goes on stage without:
Lucky charm:
Preferred time of day and why:
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why:
Personal quote:

Now, on to the characters.



1. Dominic "Veritas" de Vere - Atropa
2. Lavinia "Sanguinette" Sinclair - Ghanima
3.
4.
5.



1.
2.
3.
4.
5.



1.
2.
3.
4.
5.



1.
2.
3.
4.
5.



1. Lara Abbott - Alissa
2. Daniel de Vere - Atropa
3. Rio Adams - Atropa
4. Kendra Kingsley - WLK360
5.

There are three different stages, Apollo, Hathor and Bragi (in descending size order) and the line-up is as follows (please PM either Atropa or myself to put your band on the line-up).


(Click to enlarge)

Band Line-up

Apollo

1.
2.
3.

Hathor

1.
2.
3.

Bragi

1.
2.
3.

Apps will be running for a week before the RP kicks off. Newcomers are, of course, always welcome.

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul" - A. Powell Davies
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Retired Moderator
retired moderator
#2 Old 1st Sep 2009 at 8:14 PM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 8th Aug 2010 at 2:34 PM. Reason: Spelling
Default Application - Dominic de Vere



Name: Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere
Age: 21 (turns 22 in November)
Type of visitor: Artist
Occupation: Lead guitarist in Deus Ex Machina
Bio:
In every band, there's usually that one member that ends up becoming the popular one, the one whom the younger girls pine for, the one with both looks and a kind of charisma so prompt and direct that it catches their fancy and makes looking past it seem, to them, redundant. He's the one who plants fantasies and ideas in their heads, that they never really bother looking past to see what he is really like, the one who knows all too well that he's hot, and gets a kick out of working it; out of entertaining those very fantasies, and encouraging them in any way that he can, especially when on stage. The one who loves to bask in the lascivious attention of his female audience.

Most of the time, that member tends to be the singer of the band, for obvious reasons since he or she is the one mostly in the limelight. Yet there are cases when other members of the band end up stealing the title of male sex object, as well as quite a bit of the attention away from the frontman. One such case, is Dominic de Vere.

The youngest member of industrial goth rock band Deus Ex Machina, newly turned twenty-one year old Dominic, with his magnetism and confidence on stage, his inhibited way of rocking out when playing, as well as his outward appearance, has become "the sexy one" in the band. The one that can act like a jerk, and still have girls stand in line to be with him, simply because "he's hot". And act like a jerk he does. Young man that he is, with an abundance of acknowledgement regarding both looks and sensuality, as well as a good dose of growing fame, his ego has started growing too.

Born and raised in the small town of Monroe, Michigan, the oldest of two brothers, both sons of an American father and a Lithuanian immigrant mother, Dominic may not have seemed the most obvious candidate to earn himself a career as a rock star. He was always a fairly bright kid, but never excelled in school. He was restless and didn't have the patience to pay attention for very long, though never expressed his dwindling interest in the form of getting disruptive or rowdy. Instead he occupied himself with drifting off into deep thoughts or possibly thinking up musical compositions for future songs he hoped to write. He had taken up playing guitar at the age of eleven, and had found it to be a big outlet for the impatience and the angst that had begun building inside of him during his early teens; the usual teenage impatience of wanting to accomplish something, to grow up to be a "somebody", and the angst derived from his far less than perfect family life. For years his parents hadn't been getting along, and their two sons, as they got older, tended to end up in the middle more and more frequently, with Dominic usually trying to take on the part of a mediator in his attempt to spare his younger brother as well as his parents from the yelling and the harsh words thrown around, and also in fear that if he didn't, things would worsen and his parents might end up actually physically hurting each other. Soon enough, playing guitar all by himself no longer sufficed to channel the building frustration and anxiety caused by this endless fighting, and the pressure of ending up in the middle over and over again, with both parents badmouthing eachother to him, and both expecting him and his brother to side with them. And so, one night, listening to his parents fighting downstairs and not daring leave home in fear of what might happen if he wasn't around to try and keep things from getting out of hand, he ended up cutting himself for the first time. His eyes locking on the small penknife on his desk, he acted on pure impulse, overcome by the thought that if he could just visualize his pain, making it go away might be easier. And in a way, it actually did work, because it did make the anxiety dissipate. Temporarily, until the next time anxiety started building inside of him, and the only relief was to slit open his skin once more.

However, although cutting himself ended up a repeat occurance, he never did get quite far enough for it to become an addiction, because thankfully, it was right around that same time that he met a girl, Lara, with whom he became infatuated, and who turned out to be equally infatuated with him. But not only that; she was someone he felt comfortable with, and to whom he could vent whenever he needed it, and she was always there to listen, and to share whatever problems she herself might have. Before long, the two had become an item, and they have been ever since. This year, they celebrate their sixth year together.

As far as his musical career goes, all through high school he played in various bands, as well as various constellations of those various bands, until finally during his junior year ending up with three other boys between whom the chemistry seemed to work in the long-run, rather than had been the case with past bands, which had mostly been formed as a spur of the moment kind of thing, based on a sudden and mutual burst of inspiration, with things then falling apart as it turned out the members' inspirations and ambitions were far too different to work. Dissonance, Dominic's last band in high school, however, did click really well, and towards the end of his senior year had become quite known and also fairly appreciated. They were asked to perform a song or two at their senior prom, and turned out to be quite the hit amongst the goths and the rockers.

Sadly, it was also to be their last official gig, for even though they kept rehearsing and playing together over the summer, once it came to an end, they went their seperate way, with half of the band - one of them being Dominic - going off to college. Though in Dominic's case, it turned out to be a blessing and a relief, for not only did it take him away from his fighting parents, but it was also during college, studying music and starting to express himself even further, artistically, that he hit it off with Shane, a drummer/musician two years his senior. Discovering a mutual taste in music, the two had soon started jamming together on a regular basis.
Also a new acquaintance was Lavinia Sinclair, a young woman whom Dominic had kept bumping into at many of the various parties constantly thrown on campus, and with whom he'd ended up getting along quite well also, due to several shared interests. What he didn't learn, however, until one evening when she happened upon him and Shane during one of their jamming sessions and asked to join, was that she too was musically skilled.
And thus begun the tale of the band that would eventually evolve into Deus Ex Machina.

Now, two years after their breakthrough into the goth rock scene, they are just starting to be embraced by the mainstream audience. Although that hasn't stopped some of the members from already having developed quite the rock star ego.





Anything else you might want to add:

Has two tattoos; a modified yin/yang symbol on the inside of his left wrist, and a vine along his right side,
running from his hip to just below his armpit.

Always wears at least two necklaces; one is a silver key given to him by his girlfriend Lara (she wears the matching
heart), and one is a dragon pendant. Sometimes also wears a third one; a flame symbol in a leather strap.

Silver ring piercing on the left side of his lower lip.

Attended college in Detroit, but dropped out when Deus Ex Machina had their breakthrough.

Recently appeared as a murder victim on a very popular forensics show on TV. The episode started with the body of Jasper Zinone (Dominic), a high school student, being found in a dirty back alley in the bad part of town. Autopsy showed he died of cardiac arrest due to Digoxin poisoning. During the investigation, the forensics team came across a Mrs Wallace; an adolescent rehabilitation therapist, who turned out to have been treating Jasper, as a result of him acting out through various wild and crazy stunts. Eventually the investigation showed that Jasper died at her house, and when confronted about it, Mrs Wallace broke down and confessed that she was the one who dumped the body in the alley. She explained that she was having an affair with Jasper, and that he did die while at her house, but that she had no idea how or why. However, because he was her patient and a high school student, and because they together had shared a bottle of wine that her husband had bought her, she had panicked, gotten rid of the body, and decided to keep her mouth shut.
As it turned out towards the end of the show, Mr Wallace and Jasper had been in cahoots with one another to murder Mrs Wallace in order to share the insurance money. Jasper had put the poison in Mrs Wallace wine glass, but had then gotten an urgent phone call which he had decided to take in another room, thus leaving the glasses with Mrs Wallace. She had accidently spilt his glass, replaced it with her own, and gone to get herself a new one, and so in the end, Jasper ended up accidently poisoning (and killing) himself.*

Band alias is 'Veritas', but is also nicknamed 'Lynx' on a more private level; partly based on his feline-like high cheekbones, but mostly on an inside
joke cracked by Shane, about how Dominic gets the Lynx anti-perspirant advert effect without using the actual product.

With his ego having grown quite a bit over the past two years, the past few months especially, and with the constant acknowledgement of his sex appeal to the opposite gender, Dominic has begun straying as far as fidelity goes, and gotten intimate with quite a few groupies, in one way or another.

Likes to party, is no stranger to alcohol and drugs - partly as a way of filling the void that still remains within him - and ultimately lived up to the rock star myth when trashing a hotel room in New York a month ago.

Recently joined Lavinia in one of her suggestive photoshoots for fetish wear; something that didn't exactly put a damper on the rumours floating around regarding the nature of their friendship.

A minor rivalry has begun developing between Dominic and Asher (singer), due to Dominic's popularity overshadowing Asher's popularity,
and Asher attempting to upstage Dominic.

Deus Ex Machina lineup:
Asher 'the King' Kingsley; vocals, rhythm guitar
Dominic 'Veritas' de Vere; lead guitar
Lavinia 'Sanguinette' Sinclair; keyboard
Shane Morton; drums
Leon Cuthbert; bass




Questionnaire:

Name: Dominic de Vere
Nickname: Veritas, Nicky, Lynx (inside joke)
Instrument: Guitar, baby
Previous bands: Dissonance, Inverted Slip, Unused and Abused, Venture
Siblings: One younger brother, Daniel
Food of choice: Sushi
Drink of choice: Jack Daniels
Weapon of choice: Athame
Accessory of choice: Sunglasses
Movie of choice: Sin City
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Lavinia
Never goes on stage without: Jack Daniels!
Lucky charm: Dragon pendant around my neck
Preferred time of day and why: Night; it's when the fun happens!
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: My mom, cuz... she's my mom.
Personal quote: "I'm not messy. I'm organizationally challenged!"






(((ooc: * thanks to Alissa for coming up with pretty much the whole plot for the forensics show.

Ghani - Let me know if something needs changing. I just went with the flow.)))


~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
Scholar
Original Poster
#3 Old 1st Sep 2009 at 8:18 PM Last edited by Alissa888 : 1st Sep 2009 at 8:45 PM.
Default Application - Lara Abbott - Other
Name:

Lara Veronica Abbott

Age:

21

Type:

Other

Occupation:

Student (studying Art and History, looking into eventually study Architecture)

Bio:

The middle child of parents who worked together to run their events planning business, Lara was always a rather shy, introverted girl in her childhood. She didn’t have the natural commanding aura of her older brother, Lucas, nor the mischievous nature of her younger sister, Louisa. However, Lara was often dubbed as the heart of the family, for her ability to hold everything together even in the worst of times. Needless to say, she was the favourite of the family.

Growing up, Lara, along with Luke and Louisa, worked in the family business whenever the need for it arose, resulting in a variety of experiences that led to her being the organiser of a lot of the school events. However, Lara’s introverted nature meant that, despite being generally well liked, she had only a few friends, the relationship with whom was often very close and enduring. While calm and understanding most of the time, she is in no way docile or passive, being more tranquilly assertive instead of fiery or aggressive and always manages to get things done or solved regardless of how long it takes. Though, she never did withdraw from her peers, but rather retained a reserved poise about it, never really lending herself excessively to the party circuit or to any truant behaviour.

Despite being a bright girl, in and out of school, Lara never did do well at the science subjects, simply because she was never very interested in them, always more prone to free creativity rather than being pushed to understand what was already there. Hence, she was referred to as the “artsy” one, contributing a lot of student murals to the community, most of which are still displayed around town. As a way to stop herself from failing history at school, she was asked to work with the town’s historical society, a move which did count considerably for the better given that her grade then skyrocketed, eventually resulting in her scholarship to study Art and History at prestigious school near Detroit… which was just as well, given that her long-time love Dominic was also headed to the same city.

Still as shy as ever when puberty hit, Lara, whilst growing into her angelic looks, didn’t have a lot of romantic interaction with the opposite sex, being more prone to just not responding – out of awkwardness more than anything else – when the boys tried to flirt with her. Then there was Dominic, Lara’s first and only love to this day. Though, the first time she set eyes on him, entirely infatuated by his charisma and his statuesque looks, she’d already made up her mind that he was entirely out of her league. Of course, maybe she was entirely wrong about that or maybe she just struck lucky, because not long after, they got together and stayed together for six years and counting because he wasn’t what she thought he’d be; he was instead honest, open, intense and in almost every way, perfect.

With Dominic came so much more, namely his music career. While she was entirely happy for him and proud of his success, Lara always tried to stay out of the limelight herself, because it made her so very uncomfortable. She eventually started getting used to it all, but struggles to draw the line between “getting used to it” and letting it consume her entirely. It seemed that beneath the glitz and glamour was a world that Lara would have been far more comfortable being oblivious to, or at least not being involved in and these days, she finds herself more and more embroiled in the delusions and the backstabbing.

While that was something she could contend with, there were other… possible… aspects of Dominic’s life that she would, under no circumstances accept; the prospect of him cheating. She knew about groupies, she knew how drunk someone could get on fame, she knew about the temptation of it all and she knew how easy it was to give in, and most of all, she knew well that her mistrust was more likely to cause the damage than anything else. However, with the tabloids and with Dominic’s gigs and ever increasing fame, the chances of him cheating also increased and these days she was finding more and more reason to believe the things she was hearing, with no real way to ascertain the truth, because she didn’t want to straight out ask him about it.
As a result, Lara remains secretly insecure about her relationship with Dominic, and somewhat suspicious of his relationship with the women around him, particularly Lavinia Sinclair.

Picture:



Anything else you’d like to add:

Has two tattoos, a rose artwork on the small of her back, and another, a phoenix, over the right side of her hip.

Has dark red hair, and green eyes.

Almost always wears a heart pendant (matching key is worn by Dominic).

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul" - A. Powell Davies
Top Secret Researcher
#4 Old 1st Sep 2009 at 10:59 PM
((OOC: So excited this is finally up!
So the character that I'm planning on entering is the manager for her band, so would that be staff or organising? Thanks))

The humor of a story on the internet is in direct inverse proportion to how accurate the reporting is.
Retired Moderator
retired moderator
#5 Old 2nd Sep 2009 at 6:16 AM
(((ooc: Furry - Glad you want to join. You'll be most welcome. A manager for a band that's playing at the show I figure would be staff, as she's not one of the organisers of the festival itself. Roadies, makeup people, and vendors etc would be staff also, I think. Will talk it over with Alissa, but in the meantime, feel free to enter your character as "Staff". )))

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
Alchemist
#6 Old 2nd Sep 2009 at 5:40 PM
Lavinia Sinclair



Name: Lavinia Sinclair

Age: recently turned 24

Occupation: keyboardist of Deus Ex Machina, and alternative model

Bio: Lavinia saw the light of day in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of an aging mother, whose pregnancy had been entirely unplanned and unexpected. The father, a man whom Lavinia would never know, left her mother as soon as she revealed the fact that she was pregnant, and gone he was for good. From a financial standpoint, they were fortunate; Lavinia's mother had worked for a reputable insurance company for ten years, during which she'd climbed through the ranks, eventually achieving a cushy managerial position. This ensured Lavinia had a plentiful childhood, albeit often having to spend her days in the company of various baby sitters. It was also during this time that she discovered a talent for music, and attended piano lessons for six years, between her 7th and 13th. She had some skill and her teachers were beginning to suggest a professional career when something intervened to change everything: Lavinia entered her dreaded teens.

Even as a little girl, she'd been outspoken and energetic and often a bit of a handful since her mother lacked both the time and temperament to discipline her, but as a teenager, those characteristics truly took off. Too old for baby sitters and with a mother who relied more and more on her daughter's growing self-reliance, Lavinia took full advantage of her freedom: she sampled drinks aplenty and the occasional drug or two, but more than anything she partied: hard. Each weekend, and sometimes in between, she could be found on various crowded dancefloors, attending concerts, or roaming the city with her group of friends. Her school performance suffered, though not to the point of failing, and as young as fourteen she'd stopped going to her piano lessons. Instead, a year later, she convinced her mother to buy her a keyboard and together with two other girls formed a band called Ladies from Hades,whose performances rarely left the garage. Nonetheless, it was a was a wonderful outlet for Lavinia's creativity, until senior year began looming in the distance and the other girls left the band to focus on school work; as for Lavinia, she wasn't sure she would pass her exams and actually make it to senior year. She found her mother in tears on the couch, berating herself (rather than Lavinia) for not investing enough time in her upbringing, at the end revealing her greatest fear: that she, an older woman, would die and Lavinia would end up on the streets, sooner or later. The way she was going, it seemed likely, and this rattled her: despite her teenage rebelliousness, she was planning some kind of future for herself, she'd just always felt she had years and years to do it. Time had apparently caught up however, since one more year separated her from college, and the chance for a higher education. As a result, Lavina hit the books, passed her exams and gradually improved her performance until time came to graduate.

When this happened, and she was accepted in college, Lavinia was older and more confident, able to strike a better balance between her effervescent personality and responsibility. In fact, as soon as she realized one did not exclude the other, she had less and less trouble focusing on being efficient, when she knew that would give her the time to kick back, relax, and have a good time. Earning it was so much more satisfying, too. Lavinia maintained an active social life throughout college, during which three important things happened. First, she became friends with a fellow student, Deborah "Debbie" Carlisle, an eclectic make up artist who convinced Lavinia to let her use her as a "canvas". Before she knew it, Lavina was asking for tips. Not long before that, she was giving Debbie ideas, and eventually they found someone willing to snap a few pictures. Lavinia enjoyed it so much, she began envisioning photoshoots with an increasing attention to detail, from makeup, to clothing, setting, and posing. As she grew more comfortable before the camera, Lavinia's personalized brand of photography took on darker and more surreal overtones, oozing unabashed sensuality. She even appeared nude a couple of times, or decked out in fetish gear. Eventually, a handpicked collection was publicized online under the alias Sanguinette, though at the time it only drew localized attention.

Another person Lavinia met at around the same time was a young man by the name of Dominic de Vere, a recurring attendance at most of the parties and outings she also frequented. Once they began talking, they discovered they had a bit more in common than just a taste for the same type of music and clothes, setting the foundations for a friendship that culminated with the time when Lavinia interrupted one of Dominic's jamming sessions with a friend. Intrigued and mostly for fun, she'd asked to join them at the spare keyboard, but what she didn't expect was for the trio to click so well, musically, or for it to lead to the conception of Deus ex Machina.

The band was two years old when their long-awaited breakthrough happened, and by that time Lavinia was newly-graduated from college, ready to dedicate herself fully to her music and modelling career, the latter taking off considerably once her face became known by the press, albeit mostly within the alternative scene. Nonetheless, Lavinia remains critical about who she works with and under what conditions, since half of the appeal is being involved in the entire process, for conception to realization: many of her projects are self-funded and independent.

Within the band, Lavinia is one of two members fans and media tend to focus on; in Dominic's case, thanks to his magnetism and shameless sex appeal, in her case due to being the only woman among four men, and one of an expressive, uninhibited nature at that. Her porcelain doll looks and rising notoriety as a risqué model contributed to it, naturally, as did the tangible chemistry existing between her and Dominic, both on stage and off it. Their recent collaboration in Lavinia's fetish cabaret photoshoot, in which they were not only portrayed as master and slave, but also nude from waist up, chained in an embrace -literally-, certainly added fuel to the fire already existing for a while, more and more rumours regarding their true affiliation beginning to emerge.



Anything else you'd like to add:

Has one tattoo depicting two stylized lilies on her right shoulderblade. She often uses elaborate temporary designs for shows and photoshoots.

Her nipples and tongue are pierced. Is considering more.

Her hair is raven black and cropped above the shoulders, but she often uses extensions, both natural and synthetic, incorporating many colours and designs.

Has majored in Medieval Literature in college.

Is currently single, and despite her "bad girl" reputation, she hasn't had many casual flings. She remains a hardened party-girl however.





Questionnaire:

Name: Lavinia Sinclair
Nickname: Lavinny, sometimes Lav, never Lavi. And Sanguinette.
Instrument: keyboard, and the human body.
Previous bands: Ladies from Hades (and we were)
Siblings: none (that I know of)
Food of choice: apple and cinnamon pie, topped with a generous helping of whipped cream.
Drink of choice: wine, red please.
Weapon of choice: steel toed boots, I'd be useless with anything else.
Accessory of choice: do hair extensions count?
Movie of choice: Sweeney Todd.
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Mark Ryden
Never goes on stage without: underwear; the rest is optional.
Lucky charm: a small silver locket which belonged to my great-grandmother; the only picture left of her is inside.
Preferred time of day and why: the small hours of the morning just before sunrise; it's so peaceful.
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Debbie, who's always been there for me.
Personal quote: "Life is a game; play it."





If wishes were fishes we'd all cast nets
Top Secret Researcher
#7 Old 3rd Sep 2009 at 2:49 AM
Default Julia Walford-App
Name: Julia Walford
Age: 24
Type: Staff
Occupation: Her business cards say manager for Speed, her training is in business communications, and she refers to herself as a logistician

Bio: Julia was always that girl. The one with the big glasses and frizzy hair that everyone made fun of in elementary school. Since she didn't have any friends, she would on a regular basis sit down with a pint of Haagen Daas she stole from her mother's ice cream stash and read. Anything and everything she could get her hands on, and the more she read the more she started thinking about what she would do when she was old enough to be like the amazing people in the books she read.

She figured the perfect time to transition, to apply all of the brilliant and applicable quotes she had memorized was when she got to middle school. She would be calm and confident and assertive and clever and everyone would love her... except that she was a fat girl with zits and frizzy hair that was way too smart to be tolerable to most people. She did get a few friends in middle school, one of whom was David Kemmers.

David was the only guy who ever gave her the time of day, and Julia found herself spending a great deal of time with him and developing something of a crush, though whenever she hinted they could be more than friends he rebuffed her. Even though he was a lot dumber than she was, she considered him to be her best and dearest friend.

As she got ready to go to high school, she decided to stop eating her ice cream. After all, she had friends now. Three months after that decision she had lost thirty pounds and five pants sizes, and been asked out by two almost-strangers. She was shocked and eagerly awaited popularity in high school.

She got it. She was an active participant in the drama club, manning the light and sound boards as a freshman, and pursuing getting equipment donated as an upperclassmen. It was there that she developed her shrewd business sense, and as drama club president her senior year she managed to get the entire auditorium refurbished, from new carpets, to re-finishing the stage, to cushier seating, to a complete new sound and lights system.

In addition to her success in drama, she got into drama for the first time. Now that she was pretty and skinny, people were asking her out, and boys were flirting with her regardless of their relationship status. She turned them all down, not knowing what she wanted in her date, but she didn't want that feature, or that one, or that, or anything. And then sophmore year David asked her out, and much to everyone's surprise, little miss picky said yes.

In a week they had kissed, and a week after that Julia knew she was completely in love. They surfed on happy couplehood for months. Then David and two friends of his, Jay Wilson and Arnold Carcher, decided to start a band. They met in Arnold's garage and when Julia heard about it she laughed herself sick.

A few weeks after that David asked her to manage their band, and Julia agreed to do it for a 20% cut. With her savvy she was able to get them to play prom, able to get them into clubs, able to get them anywhere and everywhere, and by having them play four nights a week all over town, she was able to have them make a name, even though they weren't fantastic.

She was making a huge amount of money at the managing, and the band was doing well, and then they got signed for a contract, which Julia convinced them to accept. At the end of senior year, she and her band went to Houston to record their album and David met a secretary named Yvonne Gundred. He convinced Julia to hire Yvonne on, since the band had the money to spare, and Julia was working herself into the ground between the band and pursuing her degree in communications.

Julia had a bad feeling about it, but she did it, and then before the first show before more than a thousand people, Julia walked in on David and Yvonne. Doing the nasty in her office on the tourbus. She didn't do anything then, just wrote a letter of resignation and handed it to Jay, and without her business sense and the impressive collection of contacts she had acquired over the years, the band floundered.

Two years later Julia was 23 and out of college, when Jay and Arnold approached her about reforming the band. They wanted her permission before asking David, and with two years to cool off and a number of casual flings in college, she cheerfully agreed.

Now she is back to managing Speed, and she and David have a coolly professional relationship, which is at stark odds with the close, strictly platonic relationship she maintains with Arnold and Jay. The band has been back in business for almost a year now, and Julia booked them to the Syrinx music festival to give them a relaxing weekend with far fewer performances then they usually did in a town. Despite their success and the release of their top 40 song "My Heart is Yours If You Can Pay the Price" Julia has kept them performing in close quarters, tightly secured clubs so they can interact with the fans.

Anything Else: Julia feels very strongly that artists need to be grassroots, even if there is greater profit in booking a major venue.

She stopped wearing contact lenses after David broke up with her, still wears her glasses now, though she will wear contacts for a serious date.

She refuses to date anyone she works with, as a matter of principle, but her principles could change if the right guy came along.

((OOC: Hope that's okay? I might tweak it a little more, and should I fill out band information for Speed? Julia isn't a performer, but she is intimitely involved in it, no pun intended))

The humor of a story on the internet is in direct inverse proportion to how accurate the reporting is.
Scholar
Original Poster
#8 Old 3rd Sep 2009 at 5:22 PM Last edited by Alissa888 : 3rd Sep 2009 at 8:30 PM.
(((OOC:
Ghanima - yay! :D
Furry - so glad you decided to join! And yes, filling out the info for the band would be great :D
And welcome to the RP!)))

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul" - A. Powell Davies
#9 Old 3rd Sep 2009 at 6:33 PM
Tentative Application: various Random Faces in Crowd as needed
((I`ve never done anything *quite* like this before, but it sounds interesting, and possibly fun. With your permission, I`d like to lurk here, posting occasional interactions from random throw-away characters, until I get the hang of things, and I don`t really feel I have the right kind of creativity to post the kind of backgrounds I`ve seen in the previous applications. [Impressively done, by the way! Good jobs, applicants!] Yes, I`ve read *both* of the Rules posts you`ve linked to in your opening post. Would this style of "getting my feet wet" be acceptable? I do intend to be co-operative with the other *players*, if not necessarily with their *characters*. ))

This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Scholar
Original Poster
#10 Old 3rd Sep 2009 at 8:12 PM
(((GeneralOperationsDirector - you'd be most welcome to join as various crowd characters, and as a more integrated character whenever you feel ready. I'm sure you'll be fine, and I hope you'll enjoy it! Welcome to the RP!)))

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul" - A. Powell Davies
Retired Moderator
retired moderator
#11 Old 20th Sep 2009 at 11:31 PM
Default I-I-I... wanna rock'n'roll all ni-i-ight, and party every day!
.




It's the evening before the gates of the Syrinx Music Festival open for the annual tribute to music and love, but artists and eager fans are already in town, and ready to begin. The night is young, the spirits are high and the beer tents are open, so let's get the party started!

Although the festival has yet to officially open, and the main festival area is still closed to the public, one part of the smaller areas - the one around the demo stage - is already available to visitors who'd like to kick things off with a bang. Unsigned demo bands are performing throughout the night, and the beer is flowing. Backstage, the VIP lounge is open to the bands and people in the industry, as well as those lucky few fans who have managed to get a hold of a backstage pass, be it through contests, connections, or a pure stroke of good luck. However, should you not happen to be one of them, you might still be able to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two if you keep your eyes open, because you never know who might feel like checking out the unsigned talents performing on the demo stage.





.

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
Retired Moderator
retired moderator
#12 Old 26th Sep 2009 at 1:42 PM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 27th Sep 2009 at 1:03 AM.
Default Alright, let's get this party started!
D, E... D... No, wait. D, E, C... Yeah. Yeah, that would sound much better.

With not much else to do but to stare out the window, at the scenery swishing past outside the train coach - which frankly had only been amusing for about five minutes, four whole hours ago - Dominic de Vere was trying to keep himself entertained, or at the very least occupied, by scribbling down power chords to new melodies on a wrinkled old newspaper he'd found stuffed into one of the compartments of his black leather guitar case. All the while with Lacuna Coil, Tiamat and Moonspell blasting through the earphones he'd jammed into his ears, for inspiration, as well as in order to dodge being forced to make conversation with the old bat across the aisle. He'd already heard enough about her grandkids for the first thirty miles, thank you very much, and was now careful not to give her another window of opportunity to get started all over again. Pretending to be asleep had done the trick for a while, but had eventually gotten far too boring for the young man, who wasn't really at all tired. Nor was he all that used to trying to keep himself entertained for hours on end. He was used to travelling these days, yes, but the thing was, he was used to travelling with the company of others. With the band, and with the crew, in the fairly comfortable tour bus, or on a plane where even if he had to suffer in coach, his band mates were usually there suffering right along with him, and making the whole experience tolerable by joking around, playing cards, or just plain chatting. About stuff that was actually interesting, as opposed to Peter something or other going off to Yale in the fall, to study something Dominic had already made a successful effort to forget.

But, this time, he was on his own. After Deus Ex Machina's last gig in Las Vegas two days ago, the tour bus had headed towards their next stop on the tour - the Syrinx Music Festival in Texas - carrying with it four fifths of the band, while the last fifth, Dominic, had seized the opportunity to squeeze in a bit of a detour in flying down to Los Angeles for a meeting about a possible Gibson Les Paul sponsorship. He had then been supposed to hop on a flight to Albuquerque, to catch up with the rest of the band there, but had, due to circumstances he had yet to disclose to the others, missed said flight, and thus had to wait for a later one, to Juárez, as per the alternate route that the manager's assistant figured out for him over the phone. From Juárez, he'd had to take the bus, and then - as was his current means of transportation - the train, headed for Fort Worth, after which he'd have to suffer yet another hour or so on a bus, before finally, finally getting to Pemberton Falls; the nearest city to the Syrinx Festival. From there, he'd then get to take a cab to the festival area, where the rest of the band would be waiting. Or, well, the tour bus at least, because with the festival launch party about to start in an hour or so, right around the same time as Dominic would be switching train for bus again, the young guitarist entertained little hope of finding the tour bus anything but empty. Although, he could be wrong of course, because during one of the intense texting sessions he'd had with Lavinia (among others, such as his girlfriend Lara, who always had a sympathetic ear to lend, and a couple of other friends) - exchanging banter, sarcasms and general chit chat - she had hinted at aiming to be back by the bus in time for when Dominic arrived. As long as he gave her proper warning.

It was approximately two hours later, that he would see that particular question - of whether she'd be there or not - answered. Having gotten off the train in Fort Worth as planned, he'd continued onto climbing on a cramped and stuffy old local bus, lugging with him the guitar case as well as the big army bag of the most personal stuff and "necessities"; most of which he was now wishing he'd just left on the tour bus instead. By now, he was rather sick and tired of it all, and even bit one other passengers' head off for getting in his way. Though after having been left alone for a few minutes - as alone as one could get on a crowded bus, and with a woman behind him whining loudly to her friend about how her husband didn't love her anymore - his temper had once again cooled, and so when asked by the girl across the narrow aisle if he too was headed for the Syrinx Festival, he took to chatting with her and her friends; two other girls, and one guy, all around the same age as Dominic himself. It was clear from the very start that they seemed to have no idea whatsoever about who he was, though whether it was because he was wearing big sunglasses and a black beanie, or because they were simply clueless, he didn't know. Nor did he bother to find out. Sure, at first he'd been tempted to enlighten the unenlightened, but then had ultimately decided that it would be more fun not to say anything. Especially since they claimed that Deus Ex Machina was one of the bands they were planning to check out, because they hadn't heard them before, but "apparently they're getting big", and also apparently had a former porn actress on bass; another one of the many mixed facts/misconceptions that seemed to float around about the band. And Dominic didn't bother to correct them, but instead just simply hid an amused grin behind the back of his hand, and stashed that little tidbit away to be used in teasing Lavinia later on.

However, that was all on the bus. Since then, Dominic had parted ways with the misinformed foursome, and been picked up by a cab that the manager's assistant had arranged to wait for him at the bus station in Pemberton Falls. After being informed by the cabbie that it would be about a thirty minute drive, Dominic sent another status update to Lavinia, and then one last one, when finally the cab rolled to a halt outside the gates leading into the combined backstage/tour bus area. Surrounded, of course, by a small army of burly security guards, whom all looked pretty skeptical, to say the least, as they watched the slender youth exit the far from glamorous cab and approach, struggling somewhat with the guitar case over his shoulder, and the big and obviously heavy army bag in his hand. Though neither of them protested, as they saw the performer's pass now hanging around his neck, and so after a brief closer inspection allowed him access. But that was all they did.

"It really won't kill you to give me a hand here, will it?", Dominic thus said, and dropped the army bag in front of the men with a loud thud that sent a small cloud of dust rising from the parched ground underneath. "Thanks."

Not that he was used to being waited on hand and foot, but one could still expect some service around here, right? And so with that, Dominic kept on walking, after seeing out of the corner of his eye that the man actually did pick up the bag, and follow.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Deus' bus is parked, would you?", he said offhandedly and turned around, walking backwards for a few moments in order to look at the guard, but turned back again with a dry, sarcastic "Great...", when all he got in reply was a headshake.

With the fairly big area, and dozens of busses and equipment scattered all over the place, it could take him forever to find the others. And right now, all he wanted to do was to just drop off his stuff as quickly as possible, kick back, and join the party.
Luckily, however, it seemed that not everyone had yet gone off to the party, as only a minute later, he ran into Rafe Saget, one of the guys from Nocturne, a British symphonic metal band that Deus Ex Machina had opened for a couple of times, whom after a couple of minutes of chatting and catching up, and an agreement to have a beer later on, was able to point Dominic in the right direction.

Thusly, after hours and hours of travelling, Dominic soon finally set eyes on the much longed for silver tour bus with Deus Ex Machina's logo along the side, and, much to his surprise, upon nearing the open front door, actually heard familiar voices from inside.

"Here it is", he said and turned to the guard carrying his bag. "Thanks, you can go now."

Judging by the dark look he received in return, the guard was anything but amused by it all, but that didn't bother Dominic in the least. He just adjusted the guitar case over his shoulder, left the bag outside for now, and instead climbed into the tour bus, announcing to whoever was in there;

"Okay everyone, you can all relax now; the talent of this band has arrived."

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
Field Researcher
#13 Old 27th Sep 2009 at 11:18 PM Last edited by WannabeSith : 28th Sep 2009 at 12:10 PM.
1.Name: Elaine Maynard (real name: Madison Carrde)

2. Age: 26

4. Type of visitor: artist/other

3. Occupation: C.I.A. agent, posing as lead singer for the band Borealis

4. Bio: She grew up as Madison Carrde, the precocious only child of a lounge singer from Vegas and a Navy Seal. She inherited a lot of traits from both parents- her mother’s lovely voice and social skills as well as her father’s athleticism and keen intellect. Her home life was good, but it was hard at the same time with her father’s frequent deployments. Over the years, she could see the toll it took on her mother, never knowing if an assignment would turn into the last thing he ever did.

She was often picked on in school for her straight A's. The other students got tired of her 'ruining' the curve. It didn't bother her too much. It did, however, motivate her to start taking martial arts classes about halfway through middle school. She also enjoyed her high school drama club, and displayed a natural flair for acting. Despite some envy on the part of her classmates, she never lacked for friends.

When she was sixteen, the day had arrived that she and her mother were dreading. The principal called her into the office where she found her mother sitting teary eyed in a chair across from the desk. She didn't need to utter a word. Only one thing could put that look on her mother's face- her dad had died in the line of duty. The thing that bothered her the most was that no matter how much she wanted to, since then she'd never been able to shed another tear. It was as if the grief of her father's passing had seared her tear ducts shut.

Up until that point, Madison had been considering a career in theater, but she lost all enthusiasm for following in her mother's artistic footsteps after her father's death. She became quieter, kept to herself a lot. She wanted to be like her dad, she knew, but wasn't sure if the military was quite the thing for her, so while she was in college, she started looking into her options. Shortly after she graduated she found herself picked up by a C.I.A. recruiter. The training was grueling, but she found herself adapting to it with the ease of a natural.

Never truly able to confide in anyone outside of work, she made a few friends within the agency, some of whom share a love of music. Every now and then she, Jerry, Smithe, and Diane have even been known to get together for jam sessions. It is precisely this friendship that made them perfect for her current assignment to the Syrinx Music Festival. Posing as the band Borealis, it is their job to get to the bottom of and prevent a terrorist attack at the nearby Lackland Air Force Base. Their intelligence sources dictate that the terrorist will be at the festival, possibly posing as one of the event staff, in order to meet with their supplier.

5: Picture:

6. Anything else you'd like to add: Borealis' music is an unusual combination of rock and Jazz, with Madison's (Elaine's) sultry voice being what melds it together perfectly.

Questionnaire:

Name: Elaine Maynard

Nickname: Fox

Instrument: I'm a singer, but I'll play the piano when I'm in the mood.

Previous bands: None

Siblings: None

Food of choice: Thai

Drink of choice: Water with a squirt of lemon. Alcohol just isn't my thing.

Weapon of choice: My Smith & Wesson .40 cal Baby Eagle.

Accessory of choice: My watch. I can't stand being late for anything when I don't have to be.

Movie of choice: Minority Report

Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Caravaggio

Never goes on stage without: Clothes on. I'm no prude, but I also like to keep things... intimate.

Lucky charm: Wouldn't you like to know?

Preferred time of day and why: Nighttime. Like I said before; I like to keep things intimate.

If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: No one. I'm an independent woman.

Personal quote: “Oh really? If you’re such a big boy, do you think you can handle me?”

Eagerly awaiting Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
Field Researcher
#14 Old 28th Sep 2009 at 7:16 AM Last edited by WannabeSith : 13th Oct 2009 at 3:09 AM.
Default Elaine Maynard, back of a van with her fellow 'band members'
"I don't like this, Jer," Elaine murmured, tucking a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear. The agents comprising the band Borealis sat in the back of a large van, shrouded in darkness with only a dim light illuminating the interior. None of them had thought it made any sense for a new band to have their own tour bus, so they had dispensed with that part of their cover, determining it unnecessary. They were supposed to be up and coming new performers riding the coattails of the more seasoned performers that would be present at this event. It was the perfect cover- one that explained their reason for being there and one that explained why no one knew about them.

"Don't like what, Maddy?" her friend asked, keen blue eyes raking her face with cool concern. "We succeeded in getting in. The staff certainly think we play well enough, and with your voice, you could coax information out of anyone. Failing that... you could always put out a little and any man would be dying to tell you what you want to know." He started laughing, but quickly shut up as the fists of the two females in the group connected with his shoulders.

"Ow," he said, his eyes twinkling at his own jest, uncaring of the dirty looks they were giving him. He'd had his chuckle. "Don't be so uptight- it's just another job."

"Aren't you a little young to be going for the dirty old man schtick?" she asked him, reaching for the open case that lay open on top of a large speaker. She took out a flesh-colored device no bigger than a small button and tucked it behind her ear. "Besides, you get around enough for all of us combined. When was your last physical, anyway? You sound demented enough to have syphilis."

"Were you offering to give me one?" he perversely countered, waggling his dark eyebrows at her.

Elaine just rolled her eyes and smoothed her clothes while Diane muttered, "Perv."

"You're too easily sidetracked by your libido, buddy," said Elaine. "What I was saying is that I don't like this because a stage is something risky for someone in our profession to be around, much less on. It means we have to be that much more careful. No slip ups."

Smithe, the quite one, placed a weathered hand on her shoulder, his thoughtful face crinkling around the eyes as he spoke. "Listen, Madison, we'll be all right. We'll get this guy and his contact. This isn't something we haven't done before, nor is it anything we can't handle. Not saying it will be easy, but think back on all your successes in the past. You can do this. You won't slip up. None of us will."

She smiled softly at him, then reached up and squeezed his hand. Out of all of them, Smithe was the one she felt closest to, though really, there was very little any of them actually knew about each other, and what they did know, they had no way of knowing if it were true. Still, she'd known him a long time and even worked with him on a few past assignments. He was one of those people you could always trust to watch your back and his presence always calmed her.

"Thanks, friend. You always know how to put things in perspective, even if you are an incurable optimist," she told him, turning around to make her way to the back door. "Everybody ready?" After a round of muttered yeses, they closed the lid of the case and stowed it under the seat. Then she opened the door and they filed out one by one.

She was dressed in a simple blouse and jeans that nevertheless achieved a Jessica Rabbit effect as they maximized her curves with a deep neckline and soft flare at the legs. One of her most useful talents in the field was her ability to combine class and sensuality with natural aplomb and it was with ease that she donned the bombshell image necessary for her disguise. Tossing her hair over one shoulder in a silken curtain, she hefted a case full of sound equipment and said to the others, "Let's go find out where they want us to put all of this."

Striding smoothly up to one of the security personnel, she told the man, "We're Borealis, and we're not sure where we're supposed to go from here. Do you know someone that might be willing to help us out?" Of course she knew where they were supposed to go, but using that opening gave them an excuse for talking to the other people there, and also might provide a glimpse into some of the people that knew there way around here.

((approachable))

Eagerly awaiting Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
Alchemist
#15 Old 29th Sep 2009 at 9:51 PM Last edited by Ghanima Atreides : 2nd Oct 2009 at 9:39 AM.

Accompanied by the constant crunching of earth and pebbles beneath its tyres, the dusty tourbus containing four of Deus Ex Machina's members trudged its way through the gates leading into the sizeable compound that for the following three days would play host to one of the country's largest congregations of performers, bands and their fans. At the end of a long and tedious journey, the four youngsters mustered only enough enthusiasm to shift their position and look outside the windows – having long tired of the view- but despite the exhaustion caused by all which touring the country entailed, everyone was perking up. Finally, they had arrived, and of course no-one was planning on sleeping anytime soon, not with the launch party about to kickstart the event. Everything was in place – except one thing. A certain young and scatterbrained guitarist by the name of Dominic de Vere.

As the bus followed its course to the proper parking area, Lavinia Sinclair recalled when the previous day she and her bandmates had stopped in Albuquerque which was supposed to be a meeting point with Dominic, who'd flown to LA after their gig in Vegas, except there was no Dominic to be found. With a sneaking suspicion already forming in her mind when she detected the unmistakeable beeping sound of an arriving text message, Lavinia had snatched up her cellphone and flipped it open in one single motion, squinting down at the screen: sure enough, it was from Dominic, who was informing them that he'd missed his scheduled flight from LA to Albuquerque. Her first reaction had been to shake her head at the screen, as if he could see her. Now, Dominic was known to be "organizationally challenged" as he liked to call it, but he generally managed to get where he needed to be, so Lavinia could only imagine what had kept him – and she could imagine plenty. He sounded unimpressed when faced with the prospect of making his way solo all the way to Syrinx, and Lavinia felt rather unsympathetic, though later after a thorough texting session she was coaxed into feeling just a little bit sorry for the guy. They were all worn out, but at least they had each other, and the relative comfort and privacy of their tourbus. Dominic was a cool guy, most of the time, but exasperatingly chaotic. They kept swapping messages for the rest of the day, and Lavinia could tell from their increasingly snarky tone that he was getting fed up with his journey. A lesson learned, one could hope...or not.

When the rest of the band was about to park inside the festival perimeter, Lavinia's phone was informing her of having received yet another update on Dominic's status, whose train was approaching Fort Worth, and who was trying to convince her to meet up with him at the bus when he finally made it to Syrinx. Lavinia smirked and scowled at the same time: typical. Eventually she did agree, but only after he promised to text her when he was there, so that she didn't have to sit around the bus doing nothing while she could be enjoying herself at the party – and she didn't trust Dominic's punctuality one bit.

With a final screech, the bus came to a halt which they all greeted with a round of hooting and "all right's". Energy was quickly seeping back into their tired bodies, excitement prickling their skin like an electrical current.

"Oh man, do I need a shower," announced Leon while the rest of his bandmates were crowding near the front doors, eager for some fresh air in their lungs. In the end, everyone had a very brief go under the shower and changed in fresh clothes – Lavinia opting for one of her more comfortable pair of stretch pants, a black top ripped along the sleeves and neckline and two of her favourite accessories: a spiked choker and a pyramid chain belt that encased her narrow hips. Having freshened up, the band grabbed their performers' passes and first converged backstage where their manager's assistant waited already (the manager himself was arriving in the morning), for a debriefing, of sorts. It was indeed brief, since the festival itself had yet to begin – they would discuss logistics the following day, for the moment the most important instructions were given to the handling and placement of their instruments once they were removed from the bus. After that, everyone was free to enjoy the newly-launched party, which meant listening to bands in the demo tent, mingling with other artists and fans, chugging copious quantities of beer and generally having a riotous good time. At least, it was what Lavinia had in mind. She remained close to Shane, Leon and Asher as they eased their way into the gathering crowd, but it didn't take long for each of them to find a reason to part ways: Leon spotted an old buddy from the soundcheck crew of another band they'd toured with before, as for Asher, from the way his chest was thrust forward and his gaze roved around, he was switching to gigolo mode. Lavinia and Shane, who were closer, stayed together for a while, each with a bottle of beer in hand, curious about whatever unsigned band was playing at the time. At one point, a song with a catchy sort of beat commenced, prompting a bit of dedicated dancing from the crowd – Lavinia and Shane included. That drew a bit of attention from those nearest to them, for Lavinia's dance moves were anything but subtle, or demure. She ended up being recognized by a pair of girls with eyes as big as saucers and hands already reaching for their autograph books – she obliged. Later, she met up with a sort-of-friend, the bassist of Exsanguinated, a guy with a lot of spunk and a raunchy sense of humour, and his "catch of the day", a lanky girl with flaming pink hair who was practically glued onto him. Lavinia didn't stay long, because it looked like they had their own, ah, plans, so she went back to mingling until she felt a distinct cellphone vibration in one of her pockets. It was Dominic again, and he was about to enter Syrinx.

As she made her way back to the tourbus parking area, Lavinia swiped two bottles of beer with one hand and, moments later when she spotted him alone at the back of the crowd, Shane's wrist with the other. When he shouted a protest in her ear, her response was to show him Dominic's latest text message, and give him a brilliant grin that spoke for itself. As bribery, she lifted one of the beer bottles under his nose – Shane scowled but accepted it, and followed Lavinia towards the silent parking lot.

Seated across from eachother in the bus, Lavinia and her reluctant waiting companion started doing what people always did when they had time to kill: they spent it chatting and occasionally taking a swig from their bottles. They didn't notice the sound of someone approaching, until footsteps up the stairs were heard and Dominic made his unmistakeable appearance at the front of the bus:

"Okay everyone", he declared. "You can all relax now; the talent of this band has arrived."

Lavinia and Shane, both all too accustomed to Dominic's ways, simply smirked at him across the way. Shane had his chin propped in his hand and Lavinia was crouching forward, arms resting on her legs.

"Gods be praised," Shane enunciated with gusto; Lavinia stifled a chuckle. "I was made to sit in this tin can waiting for your ass to get here, man."

"I twisted his arm into it", Lavinia confessed, though she didn't look particularly repentant.

"As lovely as this reunion may be," Shane continued as he got to his feet, "I'm not sticking around for encores. See you around!" he ended and patted Dominic on the shoulder on his way out. Lavinia got to her feet too and sashayed his way, beer bottle hanging between the index and middle fingers of her right hand, then paused close by to look him over.

"How was the trip?" she asked slyly, despite having already received the "highlights" in text form.

(( Extra: Lavinia's outfit


ooc: I hope it all works, including my brief description of festival organizational matters, of which I know almost nothing, so I went with my imagination xD))


If wishes were fishes we'd all cast nets
Top Secret Researcher
#16 Old 1st Oct 2009 at 11:06 PM Last edited by FurryPanda : 2nd Oct 2009 at 12:24 AM.
Default Julia- Arriving
Julia didn't let anything distract her when she was actually checking over the band's accounts. There was more than enough money that she wouldn't notice if a lot of it snuck off, and ever since Arnold had convinced her that playing a major venue every once in a while wasn't a bad idea, there were a lot of people who had enough access to make off with it.

She didn't glance up from her laptop and printed spreadsheet when she heard a knock on the partition of the tourbus that made up her office and bedroom half the time, and when the knocking continued, she grunted, hoping that whoever it was would get the hint.

They didn't, so when she finished checking the totals on one column she shouted across the door, "Working!" The band knew better than to bother her when she was working unless something desperately important came up that they could not handle competently. She didn't let them hire another assistant, and after a disaster in England she wouldn't let them check into a venue either, but there was no way they'd arrived already... She glanced down at the clock on her laptop, swore out loud and marked her place with a highlighter on the hard copy and the screen.

Jay's voice trickled around the partition as she slammed her laptop shut, saying in his calm, absolutely unflappable way, "We got to the festival Jules".

She readjusted her T-shirt and pulled on a blazer so she looked marginally more proffessional as she told him, in a completely condescending tone of voice, that he should have said so. He snorted and flipped her hair, and unlike most other people to whom it would occur to to play with her long hair, she didn't punch him.

"Where's Dave?" she asked, seeing that Arnold was still sleeping in his section of the bus, with the door open. Jay shifted his weight, and Julia repressed a sigh. It had been years since she and Dave dated, and her only interest in his pursuing groupies was making sure that he didn't get something nasty. It hadn't sunk in for Jay and Arnie that she didn't care about him anymore, and she supposed it was reasonable, given that they had been screwing every night in the bus for a while, and had had such a perfect relationship, but by now she was used to Jay's occasional sidelong looks and evasions on the subject.

She told Jay to go have his fun and then straightened her glasses as she tried to find the check in booth. Her opinion of Syrinx was fairly high, given that things always seemed to be nicely organized, but every time she had to find her way around a new festival or club or city she would get fairly crabby if things weren't easy to find.

It was in the same place as last year, which was a pleasure, and she politely told the frazzled looking teenager that Speed had arrived. He gave her a stack of papers, one of which was a performance schedule that almost, almost made her laugh out loud. This was their weekend off, alright, they were only performing once! It was almost as good as those few weeks that they set aside just for rehearsing, and prob. She glanced at the teenager handling the papers and looking like he'd already gotten earfuls from every other band there, so she thanked him sweetly for his help, slipped him a ten dollar bill, and told him that this was a great business.

She smiled as she turned around, glad that she could cheer up some poor grunt. Speed wasn't scheduled to perform tonight at least, thank goodness. A few years ago she wouldn't have thought that hanging around at a festival with nothing pressing for a few hours was a pleasure, but now she was close to thinking of it as bliss.

Her business taken care of, Julia dropped the papers off at the tourbus and saw that Arnold had managed to rouse himself to go somewhere. She glanced at her closed laptop, and for once, decided to go party instead of working. The accounts were so far in perfect condition, and it really wasn't pressing. This was their vacation show after all, and it had been ages since she'd seen any kind of performance from the floor with the fans.

A fairly good group was performing, and Julia slid into the throng to dance slightly more conservatively than anyone else, but a blazer, T-shirt and jeans did not mark her as someone who knew anything, although the fact she was overwhelmed with giggles at occasional technological slip ups would. It was a pleasure to let loose and dance with a stream of attractive guys and girls who were trying way too hard, in time to music she hadn't had to hear rehearsed and recorded ten thousand times.

((Approachable
Edited, good now?))

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#17 Old 1st Oct 2009 at 11:13 PM
(((ooc: Furry, and pretty much everyone else - I'm not sure if I misunderstood something in your post, but I got the impression that Speed are scheduled for more than one gig at this festival? In my experience, at these kinds of festivals, a band only performs once.)))

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
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#18 Old 2nd Oct 2009 at 12:18 AM
((OOC: They are. I'll change it. The only experience I have with music festivals is attending a local one to sell candy, and a slightly larger one frequented by many people in my state is organized by a fellow I know, and all he talks about for many months is "those idiot musicians/fairgrounds/managers/tech people" etc. From his ranting, I gathered that some smaller bands with contacts in larger bands will get them to open for them, and that the small band is acquiring the two and a half hour block, and they get to choose how to fill it however they please, as long as they let people know enough in advance to get the programs printed accurately.

Also, last minute cancellations, at the festival I'm thinking of at least, result in whatever the biggest (in terms of usual crowd sizes, which is gotten either by way over my head math, or arbitrarily, I'm not sure) of the other bands getting that block, or someone on the waiting list, if there is one.

I was thinking of Syrinx being fairly small, but if there would be a policy about openings not being allowed, and if there would have been a waiting list, then I shall assume that it is so, and edit.

ETA- edited ))

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#19 Old 2nd Oct 2009 at 6:26 AM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 2nd Oct 2009 at 8:19 PM.
(((ooc: Furry - Syrinx isn't fairly small. Like the intro says, it's quite the opposite; it's grown to be one of the bigger festivals in the country. And from my experience, which includes three rather major music festivals in Europe as well as some really small ones (and also a familiarity with quite a few other massive festivals around the world due to other circumstances) at these things, bands don't really have opening acts. Depending on how big they are, they get a specific time slot, everything from 45 minutes to two hours. The bigger the band, the later/bigger the time slot. The headlining bands usually close one of the days of the festivals. Each bands is scheduled only once, because there's not enough time for them to play more than once, plus people are there to see many bands, not the same ones over and over. Only at very last minute cancellations, do they try to fill the spot with some other band, like you suggested, which usually ends up being one of the bands at the festival. But such last minute cancellations are very rare.

ETA - About opening acts; it's not as much a policy, as it is... just not a part of the concept. With bands constantly playing, pretty much ALL of them are opening acts, except the headliners that close each day of the festival. One stage is set up, a band plays there, and while that stage is then re-arranged and put in order for the next band to play, it's time for another band to perform on one of the other stages. And more often than not, bands overlap. So when you play at a festival, you don't really have an official opening act, because the slot you have been dealt, is supposed to be filled by you and no one else. If someone else went on stage when fans were expecting a certain band at a festival, odds are they (the fans) would leave to go see another band, because the festival concept is that you don't need to sit through the opening act. You see the bands you want to see when they are scheduled to play. So Speed may very well play before another band, but they wouldn't be their opening act. They'd have their own slot.
Here's an example of a festival playlist. You see the stages listed (Hawaii, Pampas, Rookie, etc) as well as the times, and that's basically what it looks like. Each band fills their own slot.)))

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
#20 Old 2nd Oct 2009 at 7:47 PM
On the last night before the official opening of the festival, one of the No-Hit Wonders that was lucky enough to score some on-stage time on the smallest stage during the final preperations for the official opening called in with a cancelation, due to car trouble. With NO time to schedule a replacement band in the late-night time slot --the band was supposed to be there already, and due on-stage in five minutes-- the hurried, harried organizers threw the block of time open to all commers for a jam session. Word spread quickly in some directions, not at all in others, and before long a number of artists, both well known and unknown, have taken the stage and are performing. With no advance preperation, they aren`t playing anything recognizable, just jamming, and having fun improvising, though the style is clearly remenicient of most of the popular new LOUD a highly-noisy forms of rock. [Heavy Metal, Techo, Industrial, etc., melded together; "who cares how it sounds, we`re havin` FUN, man!"] Of course a crowd gathers to watch, listen, and dance.

During the performance, a striking young woman with enough alchohol on her breath to peel paint and wearing only four-inch needle-sharp spike-heeled shoes and a hot pink hat with an ostrich plume slips unnoticed[!] past the guard and onstage, where she grabs a microphone and belts out a set of improvised Blues[!] lyrics in perfect time with the music, in a voice even more stunning and beautiful than her figure. The performers are too stunned to do anything but keep playing, and the audience AND guard are so transfixed by the spectacal that at the end of the number, before anyone has time to react, she has slipped away, unnoticed[again!], into the crowd. When the audience and guard recover their wits, chaos ensues.

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#21 Old 8th Oct 2009 at 8:14 PM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 12th Oct 2009 at 8:56 PM.
Default Dominic and Lavinia - tour bus
That the young Dominic de Vere was not like most people, all of those who knew him would probably be able to attest to, without doubt or even hesitation. Fun-loving party animal that he was, he was practically always up for just about anything, often regardless of the hour - he was no stranger to midnight swims, roadtrips during the wee hours of morning, or breakfast at three in the afternoon - and regardless of whether he was on drugs or off them, he was usually a minor burst of energy wherever he went. Unless, of course, it was before noon the day after a gig, or the days following the end of a tour, in which case he could usually sleep through an earthquake. For twentyfour hours straight, in case of the latter, which was when due to giving every show his all, his batteries were not just running low, but were complete drained. Some of his friends outside of the band had even been known to claim that there had been coma patients more easily awakened than him when he was like that.

So far, however, the current tour was far from over, and Dominic was just as far from crawling under the covers and staying there until hunger drove him out. The long, somewhat lonesome trip may have taken it's toll on him, and most people in his situation would have probably longed for nothing more than to lay their head down on their own pillow in the bus that was their home away from home, and join the party only after a couple of hours of well deserved rest. Reaching one's intended destination did tend to have that effect, after all, since for most people it went hand in hand with unwinding, and finally being able to give in to fatigue.
But not for Dominic.
He was just as ready to dive head first into the party scene as ever, and stir things up by acting the part of provocateur, in order to get the cocky but friendly banter he so loved going. But darn it if the people most likely to go for the bait and swallow it hook, line and sinker, were the exact ones missing from the tour bus as he made his grand entrance.
Dammit!
The only ones there were Lavinia and Shane, who even though they were the ones Dominic was the closest to, were also the ones who for obvious reasons knew him the best and so knew how to deny him the reaction that he was looking for. Thusly, all he got in response, at first, were two rather unimpressed smirks aimed at him from the main lounge part of the bus, before Shane decided to not submit exactly, but at least play along;

"Gods be praised", he exclaimed, and didn't exactly hold back on the feigned enthusiasm. "I was made to sit in this tin can waiting for your ass to get here, man."

Dominic's reponse to that oh-so-heart-warming welcome, was to just give an innocent little grin and a shrug, though he would have surely had something appropriate to quip back, had Lavinia not interjected with her less than remorseful admittance before he could;

"I twisted his arm into it", she claimed, ending up cementing Dominic's notion that one thing was for sure; Shane so did not put the 'mate' in 'band mate'.

And had she not, Shane himself would go on to do it himself only seconds later, when standing from the comfortable couch in which he'd been seated for the past... well, however long he had been there with Lavinia, waiting for Dominic's "ass to get here", he went on to announce;

"As lovely as this reunion may be, I'm not sticking around for encores. See you around!"

And with that, he squeezed himself past Dominic in the narrow aisle, offering a friendly pat on the shoulder in the process, and earning himself a sarcastically smirking "Good to see you too, man" from the young guitarist, before he was out the door, and said young guitarist turned his attention to the person who despite her rather unsympathetic stance towards his situation throughout the day, was currently still far more deserving of the label "mate", than the rest of the band. Even with that devious glint twinkling in her eye as she too stood from her seat and came over to where he was standing, just in the process of putting down the guitar case in the first available free spot he set eyes on, behind the driver's seat.

"How was the trip?" she inquired, perhaps just teasing, or perhaps with a fragment of actually wanting to know mixed in there as well.

Though regardless of whichever it was, Dominic wasted no time seizing the opportunity to vent, because boy did he need to. And hey, if Lavinia didn't want to know, she shouldn't have asked, right?

"God it was long!", he exhaled dramatically, as he straightened his back and peered at her through the long, jet black tresses always hanging (deliberately) into his eyes. "Had I not been on the train, I would've probably jumped in front of it!"

He motioned toward the beer bottle in Lavinia's hand.

"Can I?", he asked without missing a single beat, and as soon as her hand started moving towards him, indicating her approval, grabbed the bottle from her. "Thanks."

Putting the bottle to his lips, he then tilted his head back to take three large, grateful gulps from it, and even closed his eyes, to fully welcome every last ounce of the rich flavour, before handing it back to Lavinia with a soft, telltale "ah!". Screw sleep, rest and everything in between; there was not a single thing more refreshing after hours of any sort of unpleasantness, or even work, as a nice chilled beer, and Dominic was more than ready to start enjoying them right about now, one after another.

Was he worn? Yes. Dusty? Yes. In need of a shower? Probably. But was he tired? Hell no! Nor was he interested in wasting time taking a shower, because right now, he really didn't have the patience needed to get his black tendrils back to their straight and meticuously sprayed state after a standing beneath the many tiny jets of steaming hot water. He was only interested in joining the party as soon as possible. With only one single exception;

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have found a place to eat, would you?", he said as he ventured over to his top bunk bed, to empty the pockets of his open black leather jacket on it and free himself of everything he deemed unnecessary to carry with him; a few guitar picks, some ticket stubs from his recent route to the festival, some change, one of two pens, a couple of rings, a keychain, and a paper tissue. "I'm starving."

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
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#22 Old 12th Oct 2009 at 8:32 PM Last edited by AtropaMandragora : 12th Oct 2009 at 8:45 PM.
(((ooc: Okay, I couldn't help but to notice that me and Ghani seem to be the only ones interacting, even though there are two characters approachable. It's just a suggestion, because far be it from me to tell you guys what to do, but Wannabe and Furry, maybe you could approach one another somehow? There aren't too many other players right now, sadly, so... Just a suggestion.

Also, I edited my post above, to change the picture link. :D

ETA @ post below - Oh, I thought she was. My bad. Though you could PM WannabeSith to check? )))

~ * ~ Volition ~ * ~
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#23 Old 12th Oct 2009 at 8:39 PM
((Elaine wasn't marked as approachable, the thought had occurred to me))

The humor of a story on the internet is in direct inverse proportion to how accurate the reporting is.
#24 Old 12th Oct 2009 at 9:05 PM
Quote: Originally posted by AtropaMandragora
(((ooc: Okay, I couldn't help but to notice that me and Ghani seem to be the only ones interacting, even though there are two characters approachable....)))
Quote: Originally posted by FurryPanda
((Elaine wasn't marked as approachable,...))
((("marked aproachable"?)))

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#25 Old 13th Oct 2009 at 7:05 PM
(((Hokay. Consider ALL of my characters "approachable" unless I specify otherwise, `k?)))

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