HANDSHAKE EVENT: FANSERVICE START

[idolpro]

Who: Unfamiliar faces?
Where: Tokyo-F
When: Day 424, morning

[ The cryptic countdown pauses: 999999.

Then, the video feed turns on. Who's this—why, it's Man☆Eater! ]

A big ol' congrats to our final winner, who requested: "PLEASE MAKE C KING OF HEAVEN"! Now, we could make that happen for you, but where'd be the fun in that? And hey, we've got a special occasion to celebrate: the start of our fourth season! If the third time's a charm, the fourth's gotta be even better, right? Gyahaha!

They say you should meet your heroes... eh, or wait, was it the opposite? Oh well, too late! 'Cause guess what, you lucky rascal? Instead of sitting back and watching all the action through a screen, you're getting the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the man himself! No accounting for taste if you ask your host here, but hey, go bask in his divine presence or whatever! Gyahahahaha!

[ the video shuts off before further explanation can be given, though fortunately you're receiving a text message: ]

IMEEJI'S FIRST HANDSHAKE EVENT BEGINS
FULFILL FAN REQUESTS TO BECOME MORE POPULAR ♥

[ And the ground begins to shift . . . there's a rumbling sound—an earthquake?

—no. Those are the sounds of footsteps . . . thousands of them, all at once.

Wherever idols are, they'll be able to see the streets and buildings are being invaded. Not by imps, not by demons, but rather, monochromatic people—sometimes just silhouettes, shadowy facsimiles of people rather than people themselves. Though they look lifeless, the energy they bring with them is overwhelming. Suddenly, the empty once-plastic city feels like it has the population to justify its size, and every building, communally upgraded or not, now accommodates the visitors, with non-upgraded buildings revamped inside to be bare-bones sleeping quarters for the . . . just how many people are here, anyway?

Perhaps more intimidating than the abrupt number of the Damned in Tokyo-F is the fact that they're all wearing. . . idol merchandise. Jackets with idol faces on them. Headbands. Lightsticks.

And. . . wherever you are, they're there. To get your signature. To shake your hand. Maybe to ask you to do something.

Idols will have to deal with this for . . . some time. The cryptic countdown has started again, but this time it's ticking reliably, though slowly, down.

Incidentally: far from the hotel, tall white walls have been erected around Honmachi Sakura Park. They're not magical walls, though—it seems determined idols can use any number of methods to climb over the walls to get to Heaven. It looks like it's largely there to keep fans away. . . ]

SIGN-UPS | REQUESTS | TURN-IN @ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12

Comments

[sangreine]

[ Someone quickly got tired of trying to weave her way through this mess, being as petite as she is it's hard to see over a crowd, and just started using the gathered faceless people as an obstacle course. She uses a shoulder here, a head there, springing over and around them to try and find someone she isn't incredibly twitchy around, which none of these dark figures remotely qualify for. (The weirdest part, some of them seem to like being used as a vault. What the hell?) ]

[ Whenever she sees someone with an actual face, she flips over toward them and gives a little yell to try and get their attention over the crowd. ]

I'm really hoping you know what we're supposed to do with this. [ Is it start slicing them into pieces with the sheathed katana she's carrying? Because that, she can do. Following requests is not her forte, however. ]

[at_heart]

Well, I can take a guess.

[ Has his sword, too, as it happens. ]

[sangreine]

[ Sighing, ] I was afraid of that.

[ Taking a moment to look him over assuming he's wearing the same thing as his comment below ] You look good enough to eat, which might be bad luck today.

[at_heart]

[ Oh, he very much is. ] [ Lupine's a little startled, but then he laughs, eyes lidding appreciatively. ]

Thanks. [ Wink. ] You look good enough to be eaten by.

[sangreine]

[ Someone in the crowd offers a wolf whistle at their antics, which she'd ordinarily be very irritated by -- not out of shyness but due to the impertinence -- but she can't be bothered. ] I do my best.

You get any good requests? I had a few you might like to help with.

[at_heart]

[ Well, he chuckles. He doesn't mind the fans as long as they keep their physical distance. Cheeky little wave at the crowd. ]

Oh, I've got a few. [ Chuckling. Tugs out a piece of paper, where he's written down a bunch of what he's been asked for so far. ] Depends on what you're into.

[carrionmywaywardsun]

Do what they want or tell 'em to fuck off.

Unless they want you to tell 'em to fuck off, in which case I guess you're shit out of luck.

[sangreine]

[ Laaaaaaughing, that sounds pretty much like a perfect plan, with perhaps one addition: ] Are you sure I can't just cut them up a little? [ Look, they're not even real people (probably). ]

[carrionmywaywardsun]

Well, I sure as fuck won't stop you from trying.

[sangreine]

Well, one of my 'requests' was to stab someone... [ she's fairly sure they meant one of the other idols, but it wasn't specific, so up for interpretation! ]

It beats pretending to be a vampire. [ Who came up with this crap? ]

[carrionmywaywardsun]

You objecting to the pretending part or the vampire part?

[whenshesmiles]

[ Fucko's just standing there, looking disgruntled with her tail twitching in irritation every couple seconds. When Alizarin drops next to her, she huffs and immediately starts scrolling through her phone. ]

No, but I can tell you what I'm gonna do with this.

[sangreine]

[ Oh really? Watching her, curious. ] And what's that?

[whenshesmiles]

I was thinking I'd give everyone a little chemistry lesson.

[sangreine]

[ A slow, predatory smile ]

Are you going to blow something up, by any chance?

[whenshesmiles]

That's right. Wanna come with?

[unbr8kable]

Could always give 'em some of what they want...though I dunno if that'll make 'em back off any.

[sangreine]

Yeah? Is what what you're doing? [ Some of the things they're requesting she wouldn't have a problem with, if it weren't for the requests being demanded of her by a hoard of creepy stalkers. ]

[unbr8kable]

...Not sure yet. The idea of doing a bunch of bullshit just 'cause some faceless randos asked makes me wanna do the opposite. On the other hand, some of the stuff on this list don't sound half bad.

What kinda crap they requesting you to do?

[sangreine]

Same here. I hate being ordered around. [ Her stubborn streak is as wide and wild as a white water river passage. ]

So far, they want me to stab someone, eat ten desserts [ okay that one's not too bad... ] and wear something sexy. [ gesturing at her lace corset and short ruched skirt, ] I don't know how much sexier I can get and still be wearing clothes at all.

[unbr8kable]

I mean. Those types prolly wouldn't complain about that part... Though I guess you could always try a different style of outfit; get some sweets and try on something at the mall for a change of pace...

[...Clears her throat]

But yeah, you look great as-is, don't worry. --And more importantly, you prolly don't gotta do none of this stuff if you don't want to? As in, this's never happened before, but there prolly ain't a punishment involved?

[inspiteful]

[ Don't mind this boy watching her vault across the crowd with a little bit of awe. You don't get to see this kind of thing here nearly enough. ]

I dunno, they seem really intent on getting handshakes or asking us to do stuff...

[sangreine]

[ Oh, hi there! She uses one of the shoulders of a faceless person to flip herself over their head, then lands next to him. ]

Yeah, some of what they're asking is pretty gross. [ Don't mind her displeased expression, it's extreme unhappiness with being ordered around ]

[inspiteful]

[ He gets it, while he has gotten some innocuous (if overenthusiastic) requests that he's more willing to consider, he's been put off by some more insistent fans. ]

Sounds about right for the people who occasionally send gross 'fanmail'...

[sangreine]

[ Fanmail? Oh, this gets worse and worse. But she's not trying to get more angry, so she'll just stew about that later. ]

What're they asking from you, so far?