idolpro | leo tsukinaga's ideal world 🌕 ♫4 (final)

☾ >> your character knows instinctively the goal, maybe a fairy whispered it to them in their sleep idk
☾ >> powers are on
☾ >> corruptions are on
☾ >> magic is REAL here and "anything you wish for can happen" (within reason don't be wishing for leo to magically believe you it doesn't work that way, you can wish for like a mojito or something though)
☾ >>>> the magic thing is not known to your character immediately they'll have to learn that on their own
☾ >> there is a special way to get around this ideal world
☾ >>>> this also is not known to your character immediately
☾ >>>>>> if they can't figure it out on their own someone might come to help them along
☾ >> leo is very likely to pop in and out of a scene. this is just how he is. there's npcs to talk to i'm sorry he's like this.
☾ >> i only made like 4 areas so if another area comes up you'll have to give me a second please have mercy i haven't slept
☾ >> you can basically assume there is constantly piano music playing unobtrusively in the background

SCORING DEPENDS ON
☆ breaking stuff just a little, as a treat
☆☆ convincing leo this world is fake
☆☆☆ convincing leo to leave even after he knows that this world is fake

You wake up to millions of stars shining above you.

Somehow you've found yourself lying on your back in a bed of grass surrounded by patches of white lilies and castle walls. It's cold, but not unpleasantly so, though your back may feel a lingering dampness from the grass as you sit up. Hopefully you're not wearing white.

You're not alone in this courtyard-- as will be immediately apparent as soft melody plays somewhere within hearing. However you might have felt upon waking up on the ground, as you hear this music you are filled with a sense of warmth and contentedness. It just washes over you like something familiar, something... filled with love.

The source of this music is not too far away-- in the middle of the courtyard encircled by lilies, playing on an immaculate white piano, is ... well, whatever you call this guy.

His eyes are closed as he plays, and he doesn't quite seem to notice you at first. Little white lights float around him and the piano, as if gathering just to hear him play... it's as if he's in his own little world.

But perhaps more notably, he looks... different. He looks normal? There's not a single crack or tail on him.

[How odd. It's almost alien to see Leo without any cracks, without that ridiculous lion tail. But of course, the cracks are on the inside now, right? Eichi has to take a moment to check his own hands, gazing down at the scales, but after a few moment he will approach Leo.]

... Mmh, did you finally let me in your castle? Fufufu~

[ he looks a little bit startled out of his reverie. but, even as he stops playing the music can still be heard. ]

... uwoh, it's Tenshi! Shouldn't I say something more along the lines of "You finally decided to visit"?

Mmmh! Maybe you should, I'm not really sure. I suppose you probably didn't invite me here though, so...

[He tests a couple of the keys.]

Will you be a good host and show me around, Leo?

Of course I send you invitations! Our Kingdoms are allies, after all! But you never respond to them! [ a bit of a sulk... but he brightens quickly enough! ]

You're just in time, my Knights are going to perform one of my new songs tonight! It's not quite ready yet, though... [ he steps away from the piano, which I completely forgot to mention is surrounded by fairies. those are what the tiny lights are. ]

Where do you want to go? [ you may notice, there are no visible doors around ]

[Fairies... Eichi will resist the urge to do anything terrible to them, but really only barely. Sometimes you just see a thing and want to see how fragile it is, but that's!!! Fine!!!]

Mmmh, I don't know. [Where would he want to see in a castle he was visiting?] Your throne room, perhaps? I'd just like to have a look before listening to your new song.

And maybe I can help you complete it... if you need some help, that is.

[ congratulations eichi tenshouin you officially have at least one more ounce of self control than the literal biblical cain ]

The song's already completed! But you can always help me write another one~ The people are insatiable! They always want more and more and more music! I never catch a break! [ he may be complaining but he doesn't actually sound upset about it at all

and while they were talking, suddenly a door just appears out of nowhere. it's standing freely amid a patch of lilis. ]

You first!

[It's all he's got left of self-control since Tenn isn't here whoops.]

I suppose it would be nice. Come to think of it, did we ever write a song together before, or was t always just you wanting to hear me sing...?

[He laughs, but he will politely go before his host. He peers around the door for a moment before opening it. Worth noting for dream manipulation reasons, he supposes???]

Hm...? I can't really remember from back then.

[ "Your throne room, perhaps?" ]

The door you enter leads to a ... rather unique throne room.

The long hallway checkered in black and white and lined with red carpet leads to an empty throne. Surrounding the throne are four giant chess pieces cracked with age, and littered around are several smaller and visibly less important pieces. A few of the smaller pieces have fallen over or been broken as if captured in a game, and others are simply missing entirely.

The walls are covered with sprawling measures of music written in gold, and they seem to glow and shift and change as if being written and rewritten before your very eyes. Spreading out from the notes are more cracks similar to the ones found in the chess pieces, and if you listen closely to the walls you can hear the faint whispers of a melody.

The dreamer of the dream is nowhere to be seen yet. Instead, there are four Knights .... just kind of fucking around, to be perfectly honest.

The red haired knight is the most animated, pacing back and forth in front of the throne in an agitated manner.

The silver haired knight is leaning against one of the larger chess pieces with his arms crossed over his chest, less animated but no less agitated.

The golden haired knight is sitting on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the throne, alternating between checking her appearance in a hand mirror and checking her cellphone fussily.

And the black haired knight. ................. is just lying face down on the ground.

There are no doors to be seen.

[Can't believe Ritsu is dead.]

Ah! So is this where your cracks have run off to?

[He gives a too-friendly wave to Knights, prodding Ritsu with his foot.]

Hello~ I hear you are performing tonight? Or... is it perhaps a solo show?

[ can't believe Ritsu is dead. ]

"Ecchan... if you keep kicking me I'll bite your foot off."

"Oh-- Tenshouin-oniisama!" [ the red haired knight, being the most activated of the bunch, immediately comes to greet him ] "Our performance is -- well, there's a problem actually, and we were looking for our Leader to help solve this problem but he's disappeared again!"

What are you talking about? I'm right here, aren't I? Jeez, you're really blind Suou~ [ annnd leo is now on the throne. his legs over the side of the thing, like he's been lounging there for hours ]

".... leeaadeeeerrr..." [ even in this world Suou is long-suffering ]

[These poor fools. Eichi always wondered how they made it with someone like Leo. Not that Leo is not amazingly talented- a genius- but of course he's flighty.]

Ah, thankfully he's followed me in, it seems! [He claps his hands together.]

Ritsu-kun, if you keep laying like that, your face is going to get all squished flat like a pug dog.

Well~ Now that he is here, can I help solve this problem as well? Fufufu, otherwise I will just feel like I am intruding. [He is intruding. He cannot keep his hands out of everyone's pie.]

"Wow, you don't say. Maybe that's because you are intruding." [ thanks sena ]

"Please senpai, don't be rude!" [ the real question is how suou survives knights at all.

at least he looks pretty grateful that eichi has volunteered to step in. ]

"You see, our Leader has composed a new masterpiece for it but-- there's a mistake. The song requires five members to perform it-- making it impossible for us Knights to perform it on our own."

"Like I saaaaaaaid,"

"I am NOT performing two parts on my own, Ritsu-senpai!"

[Oh Sena. He looks to the Knights and then to Leo, thinking.]

Well. There are five of you.

[Motions. To Leo. That bastard.]

I could always offer to step in myself of course. But I do not want Leo's crown. You are his Knights, after all.

[ leo doesn't say anything. and the knights... they all look at eichi like he just proposed they should fly to the moon and recruit an alien to be the fifth member. actually, that might be even more possible?

even suou seems bewildered by the idea. ]

"Ah... no, that won't work at all. You see, our Leader only composes our music, he doesn't ever go on stage. It is true that he's our King, but..."

[Thankfully, they do not need to fly to the moon!]

Why?

[It's not a pointed question, for once. Just. He's curious, and that doesn't fit in line with the Leo he knows of course.]

He's a good performer.

[ suou looks at naru-- who looks at sena, who doesn't look at anyone. (no one bothers to look at ritsu who has probably gone back to sleep.)

why... ]

"Oh, you know how he is don't you? It's simply impossible to make our King do anything he doesn't want to do."

[He'll nudge Ritsu again with his foot mostly because it is rude to sleep through discussing stage plans!!!]

Leo, why don't you perform?

[It is fairly impossible to make him do something he doesn't want to, but he wouldn't say COMPLETELY impossible.]

There is no place to better see the audience's reaction to your work than from the stage.

[ CLEARLY you are looking to get bit, sir. ritsu reaches up to grab eichi's leg to try and bite him-- ]

Isn't it obvious? I'm just a composer. I don't know where you keep getting this idea that I'm supposed to be on stage. [ leo's response is vague and unengaged, as he tosses a crown (that i forgot to mention was on the empty throne until just now) up in the air to catch it repeatedly. ]

[MAYBE A LITTLE BIT. Eichi will retaliate by trying to put the sole of his foot on Ritsu's face.]

Fufufu... But a king is meant to lead his men into battle, is he not?

[Struggling... with Ritsu a little. Don't worry about it.]

Ritsu-kun~ I'm negotiating your future, so you should be awake to see it~♪

[ do you think he's not afraid to topple an emperor, eichi. do you. you don't know who you're messing with. in retaliation, ritsu attempts to just pull on eichi's leg to get him to topple over. ]

"Whatever the King decides is fine with me..... until the battle starts, I'm just going to sleep."

[Awful. Eichi is nOT AS POWERFUL, so he does fall over, managing only to preserve enough dignity to fall on his ass.]

Ah!

[Well, this isn't a dream, but he can use his powers. So he'll try to kick Ritsu once more in order to shake his leg free.]

Well, come help me up then, Leo. I am sure I can find the solution to your problem.

[ leo, who has been watching all of this fold out with a self-satisfied smile, seems to take a bit to consider. ... does he want to help eichi up?

finally, he gets up from his throne. and walks down the steps to crouch in front of eichi, one hand on his chin. he hasn't reached out to help him up yet. ]

Isn't the solution obvious? Tenshi should sing the fifth part~

Mmmh, that is one solution. But I don't know the part and moreover...

[He tilts his head a little.]

Do you really want a 'Blockhead Emperor' taking all your Knights for a spin?

[ ...... that causes him to falter a bit.

apparently. the answer to that is "no".

he reaches out his hand, ]

So? What kind of solution does the "Blockhead Emperor" suggest? As King I can reject any proposal I don't like, just so you know.

[Eichi reaches out for Leo's hand, grasping tight and using In A Sentimental Mood to give him the memory of performing. It may not be a specific performance. It may be some performance that is a mishmash of the times Eichi got to see Leo perform, but it is a memory, real or fabricated, of Leo having performed before.]

I think you should do it, Leo. Face your audience.

Otherwise, I will just assume you are too weak. Should I conquer you, and make you do my bidding? Fufufu...

[ he tries to jerk back. it's more a reflex than anything, really. his eyes stare straight ahead, wide and unseeing as the memory invades. it doesn't really matter if it's real or not-- after all it is just as real as anything else in this world.

he doesn't respond, but something else does. at the point where leo and eichi's hands meet a crack begins to form... and it only continues to grow, larger and larger until it meets the point of his elbow

suou is Distressed ]

"Leader--!! What happened!?"

[Eichi releases his grip then. As long as Ritsu isn't still grappling him, he can get up on his own, after all.]

Don't worry about him. He is just remembering something important that I think he'd forgotten. Sometimes, that will crack the perfect illusion. Though I must say, Tsukinaga....

I never expected that your dream would simply be to watch others. You contributing only your music... What is it you really want out of all of this? I know it isn't just to make me sing.

[ honestly ritsu may or may not be a vampiric parasite at this point. though if eichi does try to get up, he won't stop him.

but leo stands first. his fingers curled into fists, as if he might want to punch eichi. maybe he does. just a little. ]

What I really want is to make everyone happy with my music. That's all I ever really wanted. "I want to make everyone happy" is such a small, simple, childish wish, you'd think it would be hard to mess up... right?

[ ... he backs up a step. and then two steps. ]

I can't go on stage. If I go on stage, I'll ruin everything. [ again. ]

[That's the relationship they have. Trying to help, always hurting, always fighting. Rivals. Friends. Enemies. Who knows, really?]

Fufufu... you can't 'make everyone happy' here anyway. The only people here... are me and you.

[It's. Sad. He was already in Wataru's world, and he saw fine. Those he wishes so desperately to see again, but who he's said goodbye to in his heart. And funny enough, seeing Knights again stirs some similar feelings. He left so much behind, didn't he?

But it's cruel to pretend like these "people" are those people.]

[ the knights remain silent.

Sena, who had been standing against the white knight piece this entire time, finally moves to stand beside Leo. just a quiet presence. ]

...... that's fine, isn't it? I couldn't make everyone happy in the real world, either.

Is it fine?

...You miss them terribly. [He knows Leo is. Not usually logical. Thankfully Eichi never really speaks logically. I mean he tries but he gets tangled up in his metaphors a lot.

He looks over the 'Knights'. The fact that they didn't argue makes it kinf of easy not to even really... feel bad. And he shouldn't, right? They're illusions.]

You'll never really get to see them again if you are too busy playing with fake ones. So come, why don't we see your performance. You can't mess anything up! The audience, the Knights, it all belongs to you. They're parts of your heart, and so the only one you can disappoint is yourself.

And me, but you won't disappoint me.

[ they won't interfere. they're just dolls, after all. it's such a fragile illusion, but it's all he really has. at least that's what he thinks. ]

I disappoint you all the time. [ he retorts, in a dull tone like he wants to just shut this whole conversation down.

but. for some reason he doesn't. ]

No matter what I do, no matter what I say, no matter how I try to approach you, no matter what I always disappoint you. If I'm around I disappoint you, if I disappear then I disappoint you-- so what am I supposed to do!?

You remember, don't you? How much I made everyone hate me-- hate Knights? And then after that I couldn't even stand to face the hatred I received... I just ran away. That's the kind of person I am! I just make people hate me, and then I run away!

Why...?

Why do you blame yourself...? It was my fault. So shouldn't I be the one saying I'm disappointing? I wanted to be your friend but I am a nasty little monster, so I ruined it for everyone. But no one that I want to talk to ever wants to talk about it anymore.

I understand how you must feel though. If I were in your position, I would not want to leave either. Just... build up a delusion around me in which the people that I've hurt aren't hurt anymore, where everyone just says "Don't worry Eichi, it was just growing pains, and everything is so much better now." A place where I could be happy and everything went my way, maybe something that would even assuage or erase my guilt completely.

But it's not the truth, and you can see it, and I can see it, so. It feels hollow, right? These mannequins that looks like your loved ones won't give you what you want, so you should retire them before you see your Knights again.

[He folds his arms over his chest, more holding himself than in a stance of arrogance.]

I know what I wanted from you is to try to recapture what we once had, but I don't know if it is possible. Maybe I just get disappointed in you because I'm expecting the wrong thing. After all, the past can't be changed, so that's a fault of mine, too. You have your own flaws of course, but it is just a matter of incompatibility. Me, desperately wishing for the innocent days when we could sit beside each other and play music and sing, only to alleviate my loneliness and so that you could hear my voice, not for a crowd, or ideals, or in order to conquer our opponents. That's something that made at least two people happy, right?

...You shouldn't worry so much about how I feel about you, anyway. Look at all these people here, and think about the new friends you are making, as well as the old. I'm not the only person important to you, right?

......... back then, it made me happy just to play the piano with you.

[ mutters, softly to the floor. at some point the knights have faded more into the background. this is a conversation more between eichi and leo now, after all. ]

That was back when I thought all I had to do to make someone else happy was to create music and sing and dance... back then, I thought all I had to do to be loved was to show everyone else how much I loved them. Even though I knew there were bad people in the world, I still trusted that everyone around me was just doing their best.

... that's the kind of person I was back then. ... no matter how much I want to return to being the same person I was back then in that blindingly white hospital room, I don't think I can. I can't play piano with you the same way I used to back then.

And I can't trust people the same way anymore, either. Whenever I try to get close to them I get scared... even when they say nice things to me all I can hear are the words beneath the words they're actually saying, like some ear-piercing note only I can hear. Even Rai and Tsuba... I want to trust them, I want to love them freely, but I'm scared to do it.

[ that's it, isn't it... the core of the truth of this world.

the floor begins to crack beneath eichi's feet. hundreds of tiny cracks, multiplying and branching out like spiderwebs of stars, threatening to swallow him up if he pushes much farther. ]

That's why it's better here... I don't have to be scared here. I don't have to go on stage and feel all of those eyes on me, I don't have to play games, I don't have to doubt the feelings of other people here. Because I made this. I created this world. It's mine.

This world is temporary. There's no way it's sustainable. Even if you do not choose to leave, we are at the whims of the devils. Sooner or later, you'll be forced out, and you'll be worse for it- playing only with dolls who act and feel the way you want them to, though they can never truly act nor feel. You won't be scared here maybe, but you won't be happy, and I think happiness is worth the risk.

It IS your world. You made it because you want to feel safe, and because you want to make people happy so badly that you'd condemn yourself to isolation if it meant not "messing up", is that right?

Well.

You're right that it's hard to trust. And that it's scary knowing that trust can be broken, but that's what makes the bonds we make so much more powerful. They overcome the fear of rejection or betrayal and...

[He motions to the cracks in the world, pointing through them.]

Those people are these stars. Bright, hot points of light, who can only shine because of how they are surrounded by the cold and the dark. They may be so far away, but if we never looked up into the sky for fear of that endless darkness, we'd never have noticed that the moon is right there next to us.

It's important that we don't let fear control us. You still have the power to make people happy- "everyone" is a big ask, but idols have pulled off miracles before- but don't you think that it's worth it to reach out, even if it only brings happiness to one of those stars?

leo tsukinaga's ideal world 🌕 ♫4 (final)

ooc information

capo

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights

Re: the knights