Junkyard Carnival On Fast Track To “Club 27”?

[sharktrash]

Junkyard Carnival On Fast Track To “Club 27”?

by Frances Jones

With a new member, an album on the way, and a fantastic performance at this year’s South Vista Music Festival, it would appear that Junkyard Carnival is going strong as ever. But is that truly the case, or is it a carefully crafted front to assure fans that all is well with their favorite hellions, while in reality the band is barely holding on?

The management was extremely tight-lipped about the circumstances of the recent firing. Could it be that the wild Carnies lifestyle caught up to Wakana Sonozaki before the rest, possibly leaving her unfitting to fulfill her role as a drummer?

And we might be facing some much more painful replacements in near future.

The brilliant frontwoman Lucifer is reported to have posted a series of disturbing tweets a few weeks ago, detailing her early demise, giving herself as much as two years to live. Another publicity stunt, or could it be that she’s already feeling the effects of star sickness?

Moreover, the band’s bassist, who is better known for his brawls and troubles with police than music by now, has been caught on camera exclaiming regular usage of heroin. Is the bad boy Xanxus just trying to keep up his bad reputation, or is he actually overcome with addiction that’s been known to take people to the grave in the matter of months?

Is it too late? Would the music world and teenage population perhaps be better off without questionable rolemodels like this? Or can the Carnies still dispel whatever inner turmoil is causing this undoubtedly self-destructive behaviour and carry on with their legend?

In an attempt to shed some light on this situation, our reporters have reached out to the allegedly reasonable member of the group, Yuffie Kisaragi, asking her if the matters were really as dire as they seem. Unsettlingly, she happily insisted that "well, everyone's gonna be dead eventually,” and subsequently, suggested the journalist team to “fuck off”.

Make sure you get the chance to hear them live this season... just in case.

Comments

[Action]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Luci sits with her head in her hands, the tabloid under her elbows.]

[Fuck.]

[Fuck.]

[She'd gone back to delete those tweets after Nariko had set her straight, but they'd already disappeared. Luci had figured Yuffie had stolen her phone and done it for her after she'd seen them. But clearly Yuffie and Nariko weren't the only ones who had seen them and latched on.]

[Two years. The same wrinkled face, hundreds of them, surrounding her and speaking those words. 'You will be loved, you will be hated, you will be brilliant. Within two years, you will be dead.']

[And she can't say a goddamn word to anybody. She doesn't want to be turned in to Camilla or Santiago, taken to a shrink, poked and prodded and medicated to find out why she's fucking crazy. So what's left?]

[Drinking.]


((OOC: Carnie suite, Pride HQ, outside bar incognito, she's everywhere!))

[sharktrash]

[ Pride HQ it is! One of the bars/lounges/clubs that are only available to the label but not restricted to a single band. Because it's pretty much the same as "going out", right? ]

[ Which is what Squalo was doing. Sort of. He's probably only woken up today after his three day post-Vista crash, and what's a better way to celebrate that than getting pissed again? Especially when there are still those way too clear images at the back of his mind -- ]

[ He spots a familiar face nearby and raises his glass at her for a greeting. ]

You look like shit.

[ "Hello, are you feeling okay?" ]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Shockingly, not the first time someone has greeted her that way, and under almost the same circumstances. Luci's eyes flick over to Squalo, and a wave of exhaustion goes over her. Fuck, how long will she have to keep pretending everything is fine?]

[At least for the duration of this encounter, apparently.]

That's what happens when you play three days straight-- you look like shit afterwards. [She manages a weak smirk and signals to the bartender for her usual. Three fingers of Fireball on the rocks show up in short order. She folds the tabloid and puts it under her elbow.]

You look pretty okay, what's your secret?

[sharktrash]

[ Well, she doesn't have to pretend. Squalo can be pretty perceptive anyway. But he's also nice enough not to ask too much, so he leaves it at that and smirks at her slightly. ]

Sleep at least half as long as you've stayed up.

[ Aka he stayed awake for most of the festival week and then spent like 50 hours in bed with occasional half-sleepwalking trips to the toilet. ]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[She's trying. Xanxus and Alec were taken for questioning when they acted strange, Sora from Flashstep apparently disappeared for days but couldn't remember where he'd been... Shit was going down, Luci can't trust anybody but the other Carnies, Nariko, and Jamie not to turn her in for brownie points.]

Hm. Epic bedhead after? [She smirks and tips back her drink.]

[sharktrash]

[ Fair enough. Might be careful about Jamie though. That guy is like twelve but he somehow managed to down a whole bottle of vodka once. The aftermath of that is still pending. ]

[ Squalo blinks at her and his free hand goes up instinctively, brushing over the top of his head a few times. Then he snorts. ]

Damn. You got me.

[ He's brushed his hair before leaving his room, obviously, but it might still look a bit messier than usual. Three days without conditioner, after all. ]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Ply her with enough booze, you might get lucky, Squalo. She's just about at the end of her rope, this tabloid article has not helped.]

[Luci barks a laugh then gestures to his hair. She's been curious about what it feels like since she's seen it.] Can I?

* might want to be

[sharktrash]

[ That sounds like it sucks. Unfortunately, he probably won't be too fast to open up about his own woes either, which could be a catalyst for bonding in this case. ]

[ His initial reaction to that request is a knee-jerk one; he stares at her while leaning away from her in his chair. No, no you can't, it's fucking important. But the next second he convinces himself that there are no promises or mysterious someones or Higher Purposes for his weave, and even if there were, it's fucking gay and he has no obligation to hold himself to it. ]

[ He shakes his head a bit, straightening back up again, downs the rest of his glass and smirks at her. ]

Sure. So long as your hand's clean.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[...Apparently not?]

[Luci's expression goes a little guarded when Squalo's first reaction is to lean away from her. This was probably the wrong question to ask, maybe he got sick of people asking to touch?]

[But he's agreeing in the next second so... well okay. Luci shows her hand-- indeed clean-- and drags a lock of Squalo's hair over her finger. Smooth to the end, damn.]

Nice. I can't stand my hair on my neck, never had it long. [Curiosity satisfied.]

[sharktrash]

I get that a lot.

[ Because apparently he feels inclined to explain that earlier reaction. And that's it, right? Hard to believe people don't try to use his hair to grab onto him in crowds. One gets a bit defensive thanks to that. ]

[ He chuckles. ]

Hey, it's not that bad. Warmer in winter, too. [ Meanwhile summers are an endless nightmare. ] Seemed stylistically appropriate to grow it out once I got into metal.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Yeah, I imagine. Should've thought of that first-- I've had people ask to see my horns before. [Because that made total sense.] Gets irritating.

Oh of course. [Luci agrees, nodding and taking stock of its length again.] You ever try to braid it into a mohawk? [She asks, indicating the shape with her hands. She has to lift her elbow off the folded tabloid to do this.] I bet that would be sick.

[sharktrash]

[ He looks especially amused by that. ]

Heh. Don't they know it's inappropriate to ask someone you've just met to show their horns? It's like a third date kind of a deal.

[ Turning his head again, he blinks at her, because apparently the thought never crossed his mind. Luckily or not, he doesn't seem to have any interest in the tabloid - unless the band's name happens to be visible. ]

I don't know. [ slowly. ] Wouldn't that look kind of stupid?

[traumatizing]

[Terry doesn't even knock when he walks into the Carnie suite - who knows if they're all hungover and passed out or what - planning to head straight to Yuffie's room to bug her about something, but he stops when he sees Luci looking. Well, like hell.]

[He hesitates, wondering if he should say anything, but he can't just ignore someone hurting so he turns toward her. Yuffie can wait, it's not like he told her he was coming.]

Hey, what happened?

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Luci looks up from her place hunched over at the Carnie breakfast bar. Terry. Safe, sweet, Terry.]

[She picks up the tabloid and hands it to him.]

Same shit, but this time it's not even my own brain.

[traumatizing]

[He leans against the bar, reading the thing. And then he reads it a second time with a frown. What a bunch of bullshit.]

Fucking tabloids. [He sighs.] You think they sit around having a circlejerk while they write this stuff?

[stylistic_disloyalty]

They're not wrong though. [Luci says, still slumped over with her head in her hands.] ...you're not the only one, Terry. I felt like I was falling, I was on fire-- 'You will be loved. You will be hated. You will be brilliant. In two years, you will be dead.'

I was awake. It wasn't a dream, it just struck me as I was in my room. But how is that possible? How can anyone know when I'm going to die?

[traumatizing]

They can't. That... It's impossible. [Which is true, as far as he knows, but.] We've all been hearing-- Seeing things that make no sense. It's just... More of the same.

[He throws it out there like it's nothing, even though it takes everything in him some days not to think about it. Not to lose his damn mind trying to figure out where it's coming from and what it means. If he treats it like nothing then maybe that's all it is, right?]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Yeah, it is, but I can't have it both ways. Either it's real and I'm going to die, or we're all insane and about to become the new record for most musicians admitted to a madhouse in one go.

[Luci drags her hands down her face, trying to calm down, trying to banish the panic.] ...what would you do? If you only had two years to live?

[traumatizing]

What I'm doing now. [Shrug.] I've got nothing else, so fuck it.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

...yeah, same. [Luci pulls her hands down until they're resting over her mouth in thought. This shit should not get to her. This is not real, this is some crazy... asbestos-level insanity.]

I'd just keep trying to inspire the crowds. As much as I could before the end. Otherwise... what would be the point?

[traumatizing]

Exactly. [Terry parks himself at the breakfast bar next to Luci, frown thoughtful as he looks sideways at her.]

Everything I've got to give goes into the music and the shows. If what I've got in me turns out to be finite... I don't see why that should change.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

You wouldn't want to try anything else? Love? Travel? Your own underwear line? [She asks with a wry smirk.]

[gunslingerqueen]

riko @cosmicqueen u kno it's true we all die eventually but you senor(ita) frances jones are gonna go first and I'll be sure to piss on your goddamn grave bef

riko @cosmicqueen before the dirt has settled over you. the carnies will outlive your tired, pathetic ass, no worries #prideprotectstheirown #junkyardphoenixes

[sharktrash]

[ okay he probably hasn't even read the tabloid and has no idea what or why she's talking about, but. that is sure a girl he possibly banged knows and she's promising to piss over someone's grave. don't need any more details than that. A+. ]

S. Squalo @betterthanyou · @cosmicqueen 👍 #brutal

[cleartranquil]

Leviathan: @cosmicqueen is a real classy lady and a jewel of pride. Gotta love her!!!! #pridepride #honorarycarnie