Yuki rose to the occasion and introduced herself first, dusting off her black leather jacket and approaching her superiors, she said...
"I'm Yuki Hasegawa, the Greaser Prince Idol. I know in my heart that Rock & Roll is coming back, and if I can reach the hearts and minds of the people, they will catch on. I'm talking real Rock & Roll, none of that "Alternative" Garbage! The Cruisin' hits of the 50's and 60's is just what this new generation needs to rejuvenate both Rock Music and the Music Industry in general. All we need is a new idol to perform it and reintroduce it to the youth of today. Imagine the wonders of the 21st Century with the great musical styles of the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's, but reinvented for the new generation! It's gonna rock!"
Yuki wanted this message to get across, and she wanted in her heart for Rock & Roll to come back, but deep down, she was worried. She hoped her new agents would understand her, and that her music would reach to the youth like she wanted.
Bojan had arrived ten minutes early, and had told the secretary, in broken, halting, and heavily accented Japanese, that he always arrives early when he's nervous, and remarking that he had arrived twenty minutes early for the interview, though he had, in fact, arrived a full hour ahead. He had waited for the others to arrive standing nervously in a corner, fidgeting and looking at his feet, his hands hiding a sweet and genuine smile. He had remained silent for Kaito's introduction, carefully surveying the four people being introduced, and giving Kaito a cursory glance, as he'd already inspected him during their interview. As he does so, he nervously runs the fingers of his left across his plain white dress as his white hand plays with a strand of his brown hair that had somehow escaped the braid that was running down his back, all perfectly showing off his white painted nails.
At Yuki's introduction, his head shoots up, now looking at Yuki, and not his feet. His face sports a sweet and innocent smile showing off her white lipstick. After Alexander's introduction, he speaks up, speaking slowly, clearly to cover up his accent, though not entirely successfully, and just loud enough to be heard, "Hello, I am Bojan Milošević." He takes a step forward, seemingly gaining more confidence as she speaks louder, faster, and with more energy, "I am very excited to be working with you all, and being your friends!" He smiles wide, showing off his pearly white teeth.
Ryu smiled and shook Yuki's hand. "Always wonderful to meet a young person who hasn't had their ears desecrated by modern music."
"True," replied Sora in a flat tone.
"By the way, I'm Ryu," he began to the group at large. "That's Sora," he said pointing at his younger brother. "Just call us that to avoid confusion. We're not going to strangle you guys or anything for not using an honorific with us." He went over to Alex. "Nice to meet you, Alex. You're okay with me calling you that, right?"
Sora peered around the room without moving from his spot, holding his hands behind his back rigidly.
Ryu and Sora were identical twins, but it couldn't be said that they were that hard to tell apart or were at all capable of pulling off a successful twin switch. They were far older than everyone else in the room, and looked it- their formerly jet-black hair was graying and their faces were deeply lined, beaten by decades of the sun, wind, and salt of Honolulu. Both were painfully tall and willowy for being Asian, almost six feet, and their black business suits had to be tailored to match lest they drape in an unsightly manner.
When Ryu shook the next idol's hand, he said to her, "Of course, I believe you already know both of us."
The girl smiled and nodded. "Hi, Ryu." He moved on to shake Bojan's hand, revealing the girl's diminutive stature. Her visage was a little sickly and pale-skinned, her chestnut-colored hair was about medium length, and she sported wide, violet-colored eyes. Her clothes were rather simple- a knee-length, vertically striped dress mingled with warm colors and a deep- but not too deep -v-neck, paired with a belt, cardigan, and flat shoes. She stood and pulled the cardigan a little more around her, smiling demurely. "My name's Micaiah Cline."
Any minute now, she thought.
edited 14th May '12 11:59:31 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."Derek took his seat in the corner, closely examining each musician in turn. There were certainly younger people here, but the young black boy in the jeans and white t-shirt still felt like they'd be calling him 'boy.' Like back home. All these other artists had talent and training behind them, Derek had... what, tenacity and two hundred dollars? It'd certainly be interesting story to tell...
As the rocker, Yuki, stood to speak, his pen flew across the paper. He tapped out a beat with his foot—slower than 4/4, but not that slow. A lack of formal music lessons left Derek without a name to the time signature.
Great Prince Idol wants time to idle
Concerned with 50s an 60s, no hint of Fifty in 'er skull
First Hasegawa, Yuki last.
Optimistic of the future, looking back to the past.
He smiled slightly. Might want to hold onto that quatrain. The second person introduced themselves. A foreigner, but from Serbia. He once again set to work scribbling out lines as they flooded his head.
Bojan Milosevic, fellow Gaijin
Showed up early, came to win
Small country, home to Tesla
Thunder and Lightning, nobody could best us.
Perhaps the Tesla reference was a little incongruous. Or perhaps incorrect. He'd have to look it up later. Then a pair of men, twins it seemed, stood. Twins led to themes of duality; Derek kept writing.
Sora, Ryu,
Brother I'll support you
Weathered—should glower—a bond—brings power
Where others would hide—they refuse—to cower
Micaiah. Quite the looker. Very quiet.
T-Pain would say shawty
Too much of a gentleman to say hawty
Haughty maybe, but for me to say certainly
I'd have to get to know her person'ly.
His verse ground to a halt as he realized his pen was done, the final squick of ink used to dot his period. Realizing that the scratching of his pen was probably way louder than first appeared, Derek stared in embarassment, then, as if trying to remain as covert as previously thought, grabbed the tip of his pen between thumb and forefinger and flung it end over end into a trash can at the far side of the room. He carefully set down the notebook, weathered with pages loaded with similar writings, then stood. He did a little wave with one hand, and smiled. Being the FILTHY GUTTER TRASH WHO DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE THERE that he was, Derek's teeth weren't the perfect white of everyone else's. He shunted that thought back for now.
"Hey, uh, hi there. Name's Derek. Martins. Really nice to be meeting you all. It's great to have this privilege to, to get my stuff out there."
edited 14th May '12 1:17:10 PM by Taco
Isoko had arrived promptly about ten mintues before the meeting was to take place; too early and she'd appear to be overeager, late and she'd be irresponsible. Even as she was incredibly excited about pursuing an Idol's career, she didn't want to give the wrong impression. The train had been pretty crowded, and she'd been bumped into a few times, but she could forgive those incidents. Things happened like that when everyone needed to get around. Being a native of Tokyo she was used to just how maddeningly difficult navigating the public transportation system could be. It didn't help that she'd had to hurry from school to arrive on time and had sacrificed eating lunch. As a result when she'd arrived her stomach growled a little, but she took it in stride.
The variety of performers recruited by the company was staggering to her. So many foreigners! And that Yuki girl was definitely taking some clues from foreign sources as to her musical stylings. But that was all great in the end, because everyone should have their own tastes and strengths. A diverse group would be a fascinating and effective one. She felt at a loss for being possibly the only more traditional wannabe idol present. Her western-style school uniform contrasted sharply with the lot of them, but she didn't feel terribly out of place. When her turn came she stood and bowed slightly to the group, then more deeply to her bosses.
"Ishii Isoko," she introduced herself cheerfully in eastern order, "I really hope we all work well together to make the best music possible! Before this I sang in a choral group that performs for senior citizens and on national holidays. It's a pleasure to meet everyone!" After this she bowed again a couple of times and sat.
Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 SYuki walked up to the black boy in the white T-Shirt, judging by his appearance and name, he was obviously American.
Bowing in respect, Yuki said to him...
"Hi, my name is Yuki, as you obviously know by now. It's a pleasure to meet you, Derek. Hey, do you and the Serbian kid want to go out for lunch? I know a place that's just swell. It's a burger joint, one of the best in Tokyo. They specialize in Americana and all that jazz, and it's my favorite place to eat. Lunch is on me."
edited 14th May '12 1:29:14 PM by PaulieRomanov
Derek smiled wide and bowed in return. "Yeah, it's great to meet someone as into America as me. I'm honestly a bit more modern, but I'll enjoy some good Johnny Cash as much as the next guy. I'd love to do lunch with you and Mr. Milosevic. And, you know, it'd be nice to speak in English to someone again. I've had a hard time since I came here because of that whole language barrier, and I can't really get a good track across in a foreign language."
Yuki smiled and said "I totally understand. I learned English as a child, but it was difficult. I'd imagine you're having a difficult time learning Japanese. Johnny Cash is awesome, and while the modern stuff isn't really my thing, I hope you do well in your endeavors. Come on, let's head to my car. It's a '57 Chevy Bel-Air, black and neon green. After we get some stuff in the studio done."
Looking up at Derek and the Serbian girl, she said....
"You'll love Ken's Diner, it's styled like a good old-fashioned 50's American Diner. Plus, they have arcade games! If you like burgers, fries, pizza, and desserts, you'll love this place."
edited 14th May '12 3:08:13 PM by PaulieRomanov
"I like all of those things." Derek said, somewhat stunned by the fact that a place like that actually existed in Japan. "Arcade games are definitely more my thing than, ah, more modern games. The Call of Duty games are too much like an average Monday back in Detroit." Derek laughed as well as he could. "Oh, god, uhm, I shouldn't laugh at that, because it's—uh—we're not going to get into what Detroit's like. Jay-Z's reference to it as the murder capital where we murder for capital is a really bad understatement."
Donovan looked around.
Good... I'm not completely surrounded by females.
"Donovan Penn. Pleased to meet you all," he said, bowing to the room at large.
edited 14th May '12 5:09:08 PM by Dragon573
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.Isoko felt like she had missed the boat on what the gaijin and the tomboy were talking about. Probably about 90% of that went way over her head - especially references to American video games and music. She sat there nervously kicking the leg of her chair, smiling awkwardly and watching everyone else. There wasn't anything she could contribute to the conversation, especially if some of the foreigners were wanting to speak in English. That wasn't one of her strong suits. No one else present seemed like someone she could talk to either, so she just.. sat.
And quietly started singing one of the only three English songs she knew, "God save our gracious Queen.. long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen.."
Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 S"Okay... Donovan, Isoko, Derek," Ryu said as he pointed to each in turn. After confirming that he had matched the correct names to each one, he gave them a friendly smile and raised his hand in a sort of wave. "Ryu. Sora," he said, pointing at himself and Sora in turn. Derek's writing caught his eye, and he snuck a glance as if busting someone for passing notes. Well... it wasn't notes anymore; it was more texting. "Getting to work already?"
Sora had been silently scanning the room with his distinctively icy eyes, barely moving at all and generally seeming off-putting. His gaze settled on Isoko. She was uncomfortable. Shy. Singing the British national anthem in a thick accent. He approached her gently with a stiff walk, as though his joints hadn't been oiled properly that morning. He looked at her, and his gaze almost began to thaw, even a tad. "Are you alright?'
In the meantime, Micaiah had been smiling demurely, fixing her dress and hair in an attempt to look cute and unassuming. Just so that the payoff would be that much greater.
"So, how has everyone been? I'm especially curious about the visitors from overseas- did any of you get to see a pervert in his native habitat, or passed a vending machine selling soiled panties, perhaps? I did." She smiled cutely.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."Not long before the meeting had begun, Lei Huian drifted into the room, saying nothing. As the man who evidently led the company extended his hand to her, she politely gripped his hand, noting the man's apparent enthusiasm. His cheerfulness bothered Huian, yet his vigor, if not impressive to her, was not left unnoticed. She was left with the seat by the wall and mindlessly let her attention wander as her fingers rapped her knee.
As the President called everyone's attention to him, she glanced towards at those in whose care she would be for what would hopefully be short. The entire staff was Japanese. Of course they were; she was in Japan. After the past year in this country, she had become accustomed to being surrounded by them.
What came as a surprise was the obvious ethnic diversity of the idols. Two girls were Japanese, yet the rest appeared to be foreign devils to her. There was an outlandish majority of foreigners, so pale that she thought them to be ghosts. "Green eyes, purple eyes" she muttered to herself in Mandarin. "I'm surprised that I don't see red eyes here".
The African man seemed an anomaly to her, having never seen a man of his race, much less with his manner of speech. Still, he had not shocked her as much of the westerners; many of the minorities back in China were of a darker shade than the rest, and at least his eyes were normal colored.
All of those foreigners speaking together in a language she had only begun to learn quickly left her pointedly isolated. With her words slow and steady, she managed to lightly chime in after they were apparently finished. "Hello, I am Lei Huian; it is very nice to meet you", were the first words to escape her, still being tripped up by her Japanese. "Please pardon my Japanese. I look forward to working with you".
In the hope that nobody had paid attention to her, she quickly returned her gaze to the wall, contemplating the hours until the day was over: the days until the year was over.
[[Sorry for being so late; I was held up by a four hour conference. Also school.]]
I'm still trying to come up with some kind of clever joke, or catchphrase to fill my title, location, and signature.Before President Hamasaki could open his mouth again, Producer Mori stood up and shot him a look that could easily be interpreted as a nonverbal "shut up". The two seemed to be old friends, as rather than taking offense the company president just put a dejected look on his face not unlike a puppy that had just been scolded for barking or soiling the sofa. The Producer rolled her eyes, smirking with faint amusement with her boss's joking around before composing herself and speaking to the group as a whole.
"Very good question, Wantanabe-san*," she said, "And unfortunately, things are going to be somewhat slow at first- especially for new studios like ours. The idol industry is tough, particularly with hard-hitters like 765 and 961 out there. It'll take a lot of time, patience, fundraising, and careful planning."
She skimmed through some of her paperwork again, seeming to take a few mental notes, "For the most part, I'll be the one in charge of organizing and planning. The rest of you really just have to go along with whatever gets scheduled- I advise everyone to purchase a weekly planner of some sort. This week is going to be rather loose, and is mostly a preparation period of sorts; get comfortable with your new coworkers, do our promotion shots, lessons, and possibly an audition or interview for a TV appearance at the end of the week. It depends on how quickly they get back to me. In any case, I feel that a group lesson might be a nice way to start, if only so our instructors can get a feel of all of your strengths and weaknesses. Plus, it'd give you time to doll up and choose any outfits you'd want to wear for your promotional shots."
“DAMMIT WHEN I HEAR 'SPACE CQC' ALL I CAN THINK OF IS BIG BOSS WITH A FISHBOWL ON HIS HEAD, STRANGLING AN ASTRONAUT OUTSIDE THE ISS."The presence of so many foreigners wasn't just making Isoko uneasy, it was actually making her a little put off in a different way. They all had something in common, most likely, and even Yuki knew about at least American culture fairly in depth. That left her the odd girl out. She really wished she knew enough to contribute to and participate in any activities they might begin. Even the non-Americans probably spoke better English than her. It was a relief then when one of the Japanese staff came over to check on her.
In response she just smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'm doing fine, thank you. I just.. expected different things out of an idol agency's clients."
After the boss gave his speech she felt a bit more comfortable with the situation. While she might not know English or American culture, being an idol was something she had some better idea about. All it would take was some hard work and joint efforts and everyone would be doing great! She wondered whom the instructors would group her with if they broke down into slightly smaller groups. Likely at least one guy, since there were so many of them. The one who'd rapped, or whatever that was, made her nervous for some reason; thankfully he hadn't done one of those rhymes about her. That would be awkward.
"So what are we starting with for our lessons? Singing? Dancing?" she spoke the latter with a slight sense of dread, "And we'll be singing in Japanese, right? My English isn't very good.."
Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 S"Oh. That'll be nice, good to get right down to business." said Derek, still smiling. He asked, "Should I maybe look for a job here or something like that? I'll need some way to kill time while I'm not recording or practicing."
Lei Huian, mysterious like a ley line
Not sure if she's mean or nice, but she sure acts fine
Chinese perhaps, another 'foreign devil' in our eyes
Speaking mandarin, because God wants to keep Babel alive.
Isoko Ishii, awkward as hell
Doesn't really seem to really get English that well
Looks like she just wants a friend, a well-spoken dude
Or girl, to get her in a better mood.
Certainly not me. Derek felt a twinge of guilt as he watched the Isoko girl get all left out of everyone else's social interaction. He frowned and turned to her. In his best Japanese, he said, "Oh, and uh, are you all right?" In that he actually said the word for "all" followed by the word for "good/right/okay." Awkward, but still functional.
edited 15th May '12 9:31:21 AM by Taco
Rio shot a very hard-to-read glance at Derek, "Hon, you probably should've thought of that beforehand."
"Don't comment unless you have something productive to say," Kaede scolded, before addressing Derek, "If you need it, there's usually several odd-jobs that need done around here before working hours, usually tidying up or picking up supplies or groceries. It'd certainly count as a bonus towards your pay, if you're willing to do it. Now, as for Ishii-san's question regarding songs-"
"See, see, here's the deal with that," Hamasaki hopped in, cutting off the now slightly-irritated producer, "Seeing as we're only really small-name, all we can do at the moment is covers of songs, until someone accepts our commission requests for some original pieces. A large majority of our songs will be in Japanese, seeing as most lyricists around these parts are, in fact, Japanese. But we fully intend to have some songs written in our non-Japanese idols' native languages, when the time comes*."
After their explanations, Rio chimed in again, "So, yeah, about those lessons. I'll be happy to start everyone off with one in dance or visuals, seeing as it's probably time for our centenarian compatriots to take their naps or their oxygen or something. and the visuals would be good, since that photo shoot's coming up."
“DAMMIT WHEN I HEAR 'SPACE CQC' ALL I CAN THINK OF IS BIG BOSS WITH A FISHBOWL ON HIS HEAD, STRANGLING AN ASTRONAUT OUTSIDE THE ISS."

Signup Thread
Discussion Thread
To be Number One Idol. For whatever reasons they may have, it is the dream they all chase, the goal that they all strive for.
April 10th, 2:00 P.M. Tokyo, Japan.
On the corner of a small commercial street in Western Tokyo sat an unobtrusive, two-story building; its most defining feature being a large "246" painted in a row of upper-story windows. It had the appearance of an office building, and in that assumption one would be at least partially correct. It was the headquarters of 246 Productions, a small idol agency just getting its start in the idol business. Whether they'd succeed or bomb, no one knew for sure.
Today was a special day for the agency: the day their selected prospective idols would all be meeting, face to face. Inside the main meeting room -a rather simple room furnished with a whiteboard and a somewhat large table surrounded by reasonably comfortable chairs - the president of the company, Hamasaki Kaito, eagerly awaited their arrival. The 30-year-old was once an idol himself, but his days of glory were long over with. He straightened his rather striking pink tie out of habit, awaiting the arrival of his new employees. Mori Kaede, his main producer, seemed to be shuffling through some files and papers, no doubt reviewing her idols' files. Every so often, she would stop to blow a few strands of dyed red hair out of her face, or to scratch at a rather annoying scab on her ankle. Lounged somewhat lazily in the chair across from Kaede was the dance instructor, Nakamura Rio, idly folding various origami figures out of some paper she would produce out of her bag. Akamura Ryu and Sora seemed to just be minding their own business. They all waited in silence for their new coworkers to arrive.
Eventually, the door opened and gradually, their new charges entered the room, having been led to their destination by the rather lovely secretary. Rio hastily swept her origami off of the table and into her bag, whilst Kaede simply looked up and smiled at the newcomers as she put her files away. President Hamasaki beamed, flashing a charming smile that was no doubt a remnant of his own career as he eagerly approached and shook the hands of each of his new idols as they entered and seated themselves. With formalities done, he once again made his way to the front of the room to address the company in whole.
"Right then, right then!" he projected enthusiastically, clapping his hands as he brought them together, "Well, I'd just like to give you all a nice, big welcome to 246Pro! We're all very excited and eager to begin working with all of you young talents!"
He moved around the room and gestured somewhat excessively as he talked- he was obviously a very animated person. He stopped briefly, seeming to immediately recall something before continuing, "Ah, but where are my manners? I'm President Hamasaki, pleased to meet you! Now, around the room, you'll notice Producer Mori, Nakamura Rio - your dance and visuals instructor, and Akamura Ryu, and Akamura Sora, your vocal lesson instructors." He gestured towards each as he said their names, pointing them out, "But enough about all of us; you probably know who we are already. And we know some about you, having gone through your resumes. But you all don't really know each other, so that's what we'll be starting off today with! So, let's all introduce ourselves, shall we?"
“DAMMIT WHEN I HEAR 'SPACE CQC' ALL I CAN THINK OF IS BIG BOSS WITH A FISHBOWL ON HIS HEAD, STRANGLING AN ASTRONAUT OUTSIDE THE ISS."