Subject: [Spoilers] It's almost February, so Valentine's Day interlude
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Posted on: 2023-01-28 07:49:37 UTC
In which RC 381 have a slightly different Feb 14 than usual. Contains spoilers for a story arc that ends with this entry. Warning for non-explicit sexuality.
I've only laid out groundwork, so anyone can feel free to write further stories set in this 'verse. There's also something exciting at the end.
It sounds like a fun concept! I don't really have the time to expand on it right now, but it would be fun to play with it in the future.
Some thoughts, in disorder:
-Are the instruments performing the functions of the Prime equipment? (Like, play a recorder at a character, and it scans their out-of-character level?) Or is the music itself the critical element? (Like, rather than only exorcising wraiths, as music can already be used for in the Prime PPC, it also destroys Suvian bodies, merges crossed canons, destroys non-canon locations, etc?)
-With music being so culturally important to this version of HQ, I bet the Wrecked Music Department never closed, and is a major department in modern times.
-Similarly, the Audio/Visual Division of DoSAT is probably a much better known and respected element than in the Prime HQ. Maybe they keep recordings of what songs are particularly effective in certain situations?
-Oh dear. My Nursery kid, WIlma, would not have stuck around HQ in this timeline! In fact, I wonder if she would try to lead her cult back to HQ to purge it . . .
—doctorlit is going skating with some coworkers now. Bye!
Althea Gold put her notebook down and looked across at her partner. "Lan, do you think?"
"Not a chance." Oriana Gardner was lounging. She had finally managed to persuade the Quartermaster that a Roman-style lounging couch was essential equipment for their RC, and she wasn't getting up for anything. "Far too sedate. Since we 'got back together', she's been more of a rat-tat-tat-tat girl."
"Hmm." Althea got up with the usual grunt of effort and pulled open the door. "And it's-- Tracer?!"
The woman outside was in fact dressed in professional-quality Tracer-from-Overwatch cosplay, but that wasn't the reason for Althea's outburst. "Agent Gold," said Department of Bad Parody Agent Tracer. "Your reserve commission has been reactivated. Get your kit."
Althea blinked. "Say that again, but this time make it make sense."
Tracer shrugged one-sidedly. "That's about all I've got. Partner and I were, um, off-duty when the call came in-"
"Is that the same as 'distracted'?" Oriana called from the background. "I remember Lan dropping a few 'modesty quotes' like that."
Tracer rolled her eyes, then pulled off her orange goggles so she could roll them more effectively. "All right, yes, we were making out. You'd know all about that."
Althea gave a long-practised huff of annoyance. "We're really not together like that, whatever the tabloids say."
Tracer propped a hand on her hip. "Are you telling me the Real Actual Honestly Truly Multiverse Monitor (Promise!) lied to me?" she demanded. "The nerve of you!"
Oriana coughed. "You're getting distracted by banter," she noted. "Honestly, when I have to be the sensible one, you know it's bad."
"Right." Tracer pulled herself upright and dropped back into a formal tone. "Agent Gold, the Inverted Cactus requires your presence. There is-"
"The Cactus?" Althea's hand dropped to the custom, spikeless DMS flashpatch on her shoulder. "This is WMD business?"
Tracer nodded. "It seems the Board have discovered some sort of music-based alternate multiverse. You heard how DoSAT and DAS were roped in to deal with the mathsy people last year?"
"Vaguely." Althea frowned. "But I was only in the WMD for about a year, surely I'm bottom of the list."
Tracer shrugged. "There were only about six of us to start with," she said, "not counting Intern Intern. I know the Cats got one, two have retired, and another is on long-term snapped... I think we're the experts, Althea." She held out her hand as if to shake, then turned it palm-up to reveal a metal badge: gold wire, twisted into a mathematically perfect spiral. "You've been reactivated. Welcome back to the Wrecked Music Department."
Yes, when the Board of Flowers heard rumours of the Bandverse, someone had the bright idea of dragging in what's left of their own Wrecked Music Department to help out. Frankly, even if Althea and Tracer actually encountered the crossovers, I doubt they'd be any use, but that's never stopped Upstairs before.
WMD: Ephemerals
Althea (& Oriana): By Any Other Name, Constance's Recruitment, Talk Like 15 Pirates
Tracer (& Partner): Talk Like 15 Pirates
hS
That part of the 'verse will be expanded upon with the three stray inhabitants that wandered into the Prime verse. I'll give them their own arc.
This Vocaloid song apparently came out 8 days ago as of this writing and hoo boy is it the hottest music video I've ever seen.
In which RC 381 have a slightly different Feb 14 than usual. Contains spoilers for a story arc that ends with this entry. Warning for non-explicit sexuality.
I wasn't going to comment on this, since romance is pretty far out of my wheelhouse, but I actually really liked the detail at the end, that Kaguya had kept Momoka's gift all those years, and wore it out of respect for her. Very nice!
—doctorlit learned today that there's apparently a difference between lip gloss and lipstick!?
it's a different tube of lip gloss. Cosmetics expire, y'know 🤣. But indeed he wears that as a "special" gesture.
...I kinda want to create a melodic bass producer character solely because it's my favorite musical style.
Though I'm surprised there's only been five Vocalists who are also Instrumentalists. Seems like that'd be way more common.
--Ls
Both the real world and the fictional ones have good examples of artists who are good both at singing and playing one (or maybe even more!) instruments. In the very famous series K-On, the main character group's guitarist and bassist double as vocalists, and the same do the Fire Bomber band in Macross 7.
I'm pretty sure there are some bands in real life who do the same, but one of my favourite artists, Edoardo Bennato, takes the cake here. He's not just a singer-songwriter, but he also can play the guitar, harmonica and a drum... simultaneously, with the help of an harmonica support and of course the drum being pedal-operated.
Granted, we can't have all Agents be musical geniuses - just like most Agents of the Prime Multiverse are not spec-ops operatives but people just scraping by. But the fact that an Agent can sing and play an instrument doesn't mean that they can do both well. Or any. Heck, I technically can sing and play the recorder (not simultaneously, of course!), but I'm definitely not pleasant to listen to doing either.
and of course, feel free to expand on the AU.