chicago ♔ we are building a religion | a limited edition

[borrowedheaven]

♬ Comfort Eagle - Cake

WHO || Finnick, Myri, Buffy, Spike, Elena, Dawn, Des, Rafael, Gar, Kat, Mark, Jade, Burt, Violet, Archer
WHAT || Pre-concert shenanigans
WHERE || Chicago, IL
WHEN || July 1st [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's been a long time since Team Failboat's been all together, but that doesn't mean the team members have been idle. Rafael & Finnick have been working hard to refine their show and record their albums - and if they don't pull off the show of a century, NOVA records will fall entirely into the hands of the sinister Chad Becksworth and his evil Shadow-hating cabal. In the meantime, Myri & Elena have acted as members of their ensemble to keep an eye on the villains' movement at NOVA's New Orleans Headquarters - but there's been suspiciously little to indicate that they're doing anything but gearing up for their own "Back to the Fans" tour, which will be launching concurrently in Miami on the same night of Raf & Finnick's concert in Chicago. Myri & Kat attempted to interfere with the recruitment of Nadia Reichenov by Keijen Blade and Decker Greenwall, and while Myri seemed to have made some impact on the girl, she still chose to join them, and where her allegiance lies remains unknown. The other members of the team have been intermittently set out on missions to destroy the other labs across America where Chad's scientists have been conducting hideous experiments on Shadowkind, splicing their DNA with that of humans. Gar has been hard at work in the lab, unraveling the mysteries of the mind control chip they'd created. Jack and Thomas have been probing the defenses of Andres Isle, where the Talisman is rumored to have been taken by the sinister Dimitris Sarandis, Prime Minister of the Isle and member of the dark cabal. Meanwhile, Des has been babysitting Jade after her club was destroyed by Chad's forces, so that she can join Rafael and Finnick onstage at the concert.

Now everyone is en route to Chicago, where the impending concert is tied in with the opening of the brand new Chicago skyscraper office of NOVA Records, where Burt is planning to move his end of operations, further symbolizing the growing divide between the feuding brothers. Tensions mount in these last few days as final preparations are made.

Comments

[nothingsodivine]

I have never seen that guy before in my life.

[shrugs] Don't call security on him, though. He's funny. If we don't find a celebrity host, just get him drunk and shove him on stage. If the show flops, we'll get more attention for being offensive.

[starfucker]

He does have the piercing blue fuck-me eyes of a young Alec Baldwin. [ he stares at the door a sec and throws his hand up ] Fine, I'll settle for a fake. It isn't like I'm growing time out of my ass here, so my options are limited. But if he doesn't have star power, we need to pair him up with some tits. [ his eyes veer across the ladies in the room, and land between buffy and kat ] And gentlemen prefer blondes. [ with a shit-eating grin, he leans back in his chair and waves a hand extravagantly ] How's your patter, ladies?

[slay]

[ the last time buffy was on a stage was in italy with rafael and it was full of stuttering and stumbling and bad, unexpected improv. everything in her body is screaming opt out on this particular plan, but then she looks over at kat.

yeah. not really expecting that to go over nicely if she's left on her own. she has all the faith in the world in kat ... just ... not when it comes to biting her tongue.

so she tightens her smile and gives a decisive nod. ]

Better than yours, given that I know better than to categorize people by their body parts.

1/2

[shootfirst]

[ kat jerks forward, looking ready to suckerpunch burt, and without even flinching, mark and gar on either side of her grab her shoulders and pull her back down to her seat, as if automatically ] Which you might be missing some of by the end of tonight if you don't watch it.

[starfucker]

Save that sass for the stage, sweetheart. I'm making you co-host. [ and to buffy: ] And you're our 'Live from CHICAGO' intro babe so work on that million watt smile. [ oblivious to her attempts to call out his sexist remarks, apparently, he stares openly at her chest, folds his arms, and then yells at an aide: ] Also, we're gonna need some padding on this one.

[slay]

We are not!

[ her tone is sharp. ]

First one of your goons to lay a hand on me loses it. If you want me up there, this is the package. If you want some padding, you can try adding it to yours.

1/-

[starfucker]

And that's why you don't get to be co-host. [ he winks in her direction, but seems unconcerned by her opting out of his 'enhancements', because as the camera on the tv pans over a screaming crowd, he reaches over to crank it up and becomes entirely absorbed by the appearance of the first band: heatless passion. ]

2/3

[shootfirst]

[ grumbled: ] No mission is worth this. [ gar gives her a sympathetic look, as kat is dragged away to have her makeup retouched. ]

[narcosynthesis]

[ ♬ make me bad (remix) - korn

in the meantime, a grinding, dirty beat heralds the opening of the back to the fans concert, as a very goth looking band launches into a number full of low-tuned, dark sounding guitars, with the strangely alluring lead singer, keijen blade, stalking across the stage, dragging the mic. when he starts to sing, his voice alternates from a low, dangerous croon to an aggressive growl and everywhere in between with hypnotic ease. the crowd seems to be eating it up, cameras panning across head-banging fans in black t-shirts or others simply staring slack-jawed, heads nodding along. (perform 40+)]

I am watching the rise and fall of my salvation
there is so much shit around me, such a lack of compassion

I thought it would be fun and games
instead it's all the same
I want something to do
need to feel the sickness in you

I feel the reason as it's leaving me no not again
its quite deceiving as I'm feeling the flesh make me bad

all I do is look for you, I need my fix you need it too
just to get some sort of attention ... attention

What does it mean to you?
for me it's something I just do
I want something
I need to feel the sickness in you

I feel the reason as it's leaving me no not again
it's quite deceiving as I'm feeling the flesh make me bad

I feel the reason as it's leaving me no not again
it's quite deceiving as I'm feeling the flesh make me bad

I feel the reason as it's leaving me no not again
its quite deceiving as I'm feeling the flesh make me bad

I feel the reason as it's leaving me no not again
it's quite deceiving as I'm feeling the flesh make me bad

[witchwoman]

[Myri has been quiet, nervous about how all their planning might pan out in the end. No amount of practice at being in the spotlight with Finnick as his arm candy could ever get her used to this lifestyle.

But it's not until Keijen comes on screen that she actually looks physically ill. Perhaps it's good that her complexion is already so pale, else someone might notice the color drain from her face. She swallows thickly, not certain if she can play her role while still making certain that those she cares about remain safe.]

[nosdacariad]

[ mark takes notice, probably because the reminder of keijen causes him to look for the other person in the room who was on the mission where they ran into him. he looks concerned as well, and after a second he jerks his thumb towards the door and says, turning his back half to burt: ] I noticed a back doorway into the stage area that doesn't look really secured. Thinking somebody should man it, just in case. You guys need me, you know where to find me. [ as he walks past her, he gives myri a quick shoulder squeeze, although he looks just as pale ]

[nothingsodivine]

Huh? [Des glances around at Mark and then back at Myri, leaning in to whisper:] I mean, his apocarock is a little cliche, but not exactly vomit-inducing. What gives?

[witchwoman]

[She glances at Des, eyes darting to Burt to be certain that he's focused on the television before answering, keeping her voice low.]

We saw him in Romania. He took the other girl. And in the studio, he... He did something to me, mesmerized me somehow- like a dragon dream.

[rationalizes]

[ gar flashes a concerned glance between them ] It does seem to hold with your theory, Mr. Descant. [ yes, sometimes she still calls him that, it just sounds right in her accent ]

[nothingsodivine]

[It's better than her calling him Desmond. :|]

I'm telling you, guys. Nightscape's not crap. Put ideas in people's heads, make them forget it ever happened. You can do a lot of damage that way, even if it's just the people out there.

[notaroundme]

I was just lucky that she snapped out of it in time, and that they boys showed up when they did.

[Elena pipes up a bit, glad for the distraction from Keijen's number. He'd creeped her out before, but after their encounter with him? Way worse.]

[starfucker]

[ burt straightens up and clicks off the tv, looking annoyed ] Alright, ladies. Let's get this three ring shit wheel off the ground. Blondie, you're up first, so be on standby. We won't need you for more than a few minutes. Everybody else, go take your damn seats except for Golden Boy over there.

Chop, chop, people.

[nothingsodivine]

You heard the man. [And he slides on out.]

[slay]

[ she opens her mouth to ask a question, then stops short as burt makes himself known. yeah better not get too knightly with him around whoops. she clears her throat. ]

You got it.

[ and she goes to ... find where she should be on standby. and resists the urge to complain that it's buffy, but rest assured that's going on in her head. stupidhead. ]

[romanticidal]

Buffy! [ as she heads backstage, she'd run across an anxious looking rafael, who corners her to ask, glancing over his shoulder and lowering his voice: ] You cannot tell that beneath this suit I am armed, can you? [ ARCHER MADE HIM PARANOID NOW ]

[slay]

[ buffy's eyes widen in surprise at first at rafael's rushed appearance, but the startled look melts quickly into one of amusement, and she actually full-stop grins at him, giving a short laugh. ]

You're fine. Better than fine, you're - You look great. You're gonna knock 'em dead. Or ... a slightly more appropriate turn of phrase.

[romanticidal]

[ he smiles at that, all relief ] Let us hope so. [ somewhat enigmatically: ] If all goes well, this may prove to be the most important performance of my life.