1854/Singing and Sparkling

Singing and Sparkling
Date of Scene:	11 August 2024
Location:	Karaoke Crown
Synopsis:	The karaoke contest of the century occurs, with Glimmer and Ryoko facing off against the duo of Laura and Seiko! With an ominous, shadowy figure watching over them... While a definitive win isn't earned on either side, fun is had all around.
Cast of Characters:	Glimmer Brightmoon, Laura La Mer, Seiko Akai, Ryoko Gushiken

---

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Soraia was waiting outside the karaoke club, glancing at her phone every so often. She'd arrived a little earlier than everyone else and... today? She was SORAIA! The name that Ryoko had chosen for her.

And she was dressed up in the most over the top, sequened outfit. Of all time. She sparkled. And she NORMALLY sparkled a bit. But righ now? She was like looking at a small, miniature *sun* made of *gems.*

So, you know. Like her when she was fighting.

As the first to arrive, she was prepared... The room was reserved under the name Soraia and she was prepared to face her rivals in GLORIOUS SINGING CONQUEST!

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura is excited, she is absolutely on fire. There was hardly a moment during the whole day the challenge wasn't at least on the back on her mind, and it was reflected in the spring of her steps and the joyous radiance of her expression. She had of course carefully selected her appearance because that alone is half the battle, but frankly she had been enjoying the beauty of the products she had gotten at Pretty Holic for their own merit.

She has decorated her fingernails with a blue backdrop and pink dots, while for her toenails, she has ended up picking the two colours elegantly mixing into each other like two opposite waves. Today she is wearing a strapless dress changing from white through gradients of azure until it ends into a sapphire hue.

On top of it she is wearing a pale pink cardigan, unbuttoned so as not to hide the top of her dress, that is fasted at her waist by a pink belt with a yellow star working as its buckle.

At her feet she is wearing pale azure elevator sandals with blue ruffles and pink pearls over the straps, while her hair is secured on each side by white hairclips decorated with three blue pearls.

The enthusiastic mermaid reaches Karaoke Crown just 1 minute after Glimmer, though she is neither aware of this name nor the name she has elected to go by today. "Hey, Gloria-san!", she waves at her karaoke rival. "I see you are really sparkly today! It will be awesome, right?" she smiles. "Of course, I intend to hold nothing back", she warns, flipping back a strand of hair.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko's heart had been racing all day. This event was weighing on her. She then made a big mistake of eating breakfast this morning. That meal, regardless of how light it was, had turned into butterflies in her stomach. Hoshi had been doing her best to encourage her bearer and even helped her pick out an outfit that screams Idol! Originally it was a Halloween costume that she picked out last year. She went as a Pop Idol much to her father's dismay.

A glance down over her, she is wearing white and pink heeled boots With a pair of matching thigh high leggings that have pink diamonds on the sides. A plaid skirt in white and pink, trimmed in solid pink and white frilled skirt wraps around her midsection, held on by a pink belt with a gold buckle. A white and Pink short top wraps around her upper body leaving her belly exposed. Finally a white and pink jacket goes over her shoulders, accented with gold buttons. A pair of white and gold gloves is on her hands and on her head is a feathered tophat with pink to white feathers and a pink ribbon around it topped with a pink flower and gold chains.

She draws far more attention than she'd like as she walks her way to the Crown Karaoke. Still she does get there in one piece. She has a purse on her shoulder which holds Hoshi. "Hello! I'm not late am I?" She asks looking extremely nervous.

"Hello Gloria-san. You are really sparkly! It suits you!" She smiles. "Hi Laura. I think I'm ready to do this!" She smiles and winks as she looks almost like she's been chara changed but thankfully she has not. Hoshi would give her word if she was out of the purse. "I came to Win!" She states with a bit of confidence as she puts her hands on her hips.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Soraia grinned to Laura when she saw her. Of course her rival was already jazzed up and looking great, she wouldn't have it any better way. "I have many names, Laura. Today? I am... Soraia!" she said, pumping a fist into the air, pink light shimmering off her!

Seriously, she looked like she could be on stage... directing air traffic. Little bits of shimmering string dazzling off her arms and a thin shawl over her shoulders, shimmering as well. A shame Ryoko hadn't managed to choose her outfit today... instead she'd gotten help from some weird guy from Easter. She'd said she was going to sing and he said he had *just* the look for her.

"Well, my partner isn't here yet, but she knows where to find us. I'll just let you two start us off," she said firmly, a big, smug grin on her face. Not intending to let herself be beaten. Not today. Motioning for them to continue in, she headed into the karaoke bar and headed down towards the basement parlor.

"I hope you're not expecting me to go easy on you. I'm intending to utterly *crush* you both."

Laura La Mer has posed:
Many names? Is that her idol gimmick? Sounds fun! "Well, nice to meet you again, Soraia!", the pinkette beams at the other one, imitating Glimmer and likewise pumping her fist into the air. Only, no sparkles for her, unless you count the strong sunlight of her attitude.

"Not late at all, Seiko! I just came here myself, and we are only waiting for Soraia-san's friend", Laura reassures her before looking up and down her clothes. "You look good too, by the way! We are all so bright. This is going to be really fun."

When Glimmer makes her war declaration, Laura takes it completely in stride. "Heh, you may try, but I will have you know singing is basically part of my dna. I do expect nothing less that your best from you because our competition will be one for the ages. Right, Seiko?" she elbows her slightly.

"Let's go in then", the girl of Grand Ocean nods, walking towards their room with an assured pace.

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Thats right! And my dream to be an Idol is so strong it has taken on a life of its own! We are going to Rock your world!" She grins as she stretches and follows Laura in. "This is going to be a lot of fun! We are all dressed as idols! I wish I had a camera... aside from my phone I mean.

Peering out from her purse, a pair of small eyes just give a little bit of a dirty look to Seiko. Not supposed to talk about her so blatantly but she did and make it out to be a joke. Thats good Hoshi supposes. She ducks back down into the purse. She will have to yell at Seiko later about that one.

"I am going to be the best Idol I can be! And We are going to be super cool and popular! Just you wait!" She beams happily.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    Glimmer was not the only girl who came in full sparkle. Ryoko arrived dressed in a salsa dress made out of strips of red, orange, and gold sequined fabric made to look like flickering flames as her body moved. Ruby teardrops hung from her ears and her ever-present onyx pendant nestled into the flames against her chest. And of course, she had on her Louboutin stilettos that were black at the toe and red at at the heel. She was almost always in heels. She looked like she was here for dance contest, not a karaoke contest.

    And maybe she was, just a little. She wasn't a bad singer, and she loved karaoke, but she was so much better moving her body to the music than making it herself. But that was half the fun of doing karaoke was dancing while she sang. It's not as if she needed to read the words. She had a repertoire. Hopefully Karaoke Crown had all her favorite songs. The last time she did karaoke was in Sao Paolo.

    She was running just a little behind schedule. A villain's never really off the clock, especially not when that villain is The Grim Queen's executive assistant. She ends up getting there just as the door is shutting behind the others. She pulls it open and follows them down, pulling the door to the parlor open just a second after it clicks shut behind the others.

    "Sorry I'm late," she says, smiling to everyone but settling on Soraia. She just looks at her partner in sparkling and smiles. She walks over to her and gives her a hug. Then she turns to look to the other two. "I hope you're ready to lose. I live for karaoke."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Soraia gave a small nod to Laura. Well, it wasn't really her idol gimmick, so much as... she thought it was cool and if she was going to be trapped on this world she'd be the 'girl with many names'. Because that was cool. And she was a dork.

"Oh ho? Part of your DNA?" she asked. "Well, my DNA is full of music and it won't lose to yours at all!" She had NO idea what DNA was!

Seeing all of them so passionate and filled with excitement and sparkles and energy for this? Oh, it filled her with determination. She walked to the machine and turned it on, before motioning to the microphone. "So, since I challenged you two, I'll let you two take the first act while I go to my partner and we work out what to sing," Glimmer said, before walking towards the freshly arrived Ryoko. She looked her up and down and... "You look *amazing*. I think you have more sparkles even than *me!* I didn't know that was possible!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Soraia-san's friend, right? Nice to meet you", Laura waves at Ryoko. "We were just about ready to start. But you shouldn't count all your pearls before you have opened all the oysters. Singing is my life, and back home everyone gathers whenever I start", she grins proudly at Seiko.

"Choose well", Laura winks at Glimmer, taking up the mic and selecting the song they were going to sing. "Ready, Seiko?", she checks on her friend, and when she receives the ok from the third pinkette, Laura sings the count. "1, 2, 3, go!" And then she melodiously intonates the words, joyfully letting the melody out of her heart, pouring her enthusiasm into giving the other girls a good show, dancing with the brightness of the sun."The sparkling suns in our hearts become one
C'mon, let's all be tropical together! (1, 2, 3, GO!!)

The most important thing to do right now
Is that I always want to do my very best
When my youth comes into focus

I want to head straight towards it.

I don't want to miss
Your giant wave
Let's ride it!
Don't worry!
Your recklessness is impressive
Feel that unbreakable motivation!
Our sympathy
Is burning up!

Our tropical power becomes one in the dazzling sky
Let's be tropical to our heart's content!
Thank you for everything. I'm so glad we met
Each and every light creates an everlasting halation
Let's all be tropical together!

We're all unique, so there'll be times when we argue
(It's only natural!)
But no matter who you are, I'll always want to support you

It'll become
An important dream
...But what if it doesn't?
It'll be okay
Just do your best no matter what day it is
That doesn't sound so bad
Just look around,
The place is shining so bright!
Chase after the latest trends while staying true to yourself

C'mon,
Let's put on make-up!

The newborn shining sun holds us in its embrace
Let's shine to the max!
An original form of courage resides in our hearts
You can tell we're on your side by looking at our light!

GO!! GO!!
Let's GO!!
Peace, peace!
OK, SUNRISE!!

C'mon join us, as the best kind of youth is making an appearance!
The fact it's going by so fast is proof of this
I don't want to forget this. I can't forget this.
Let's go beyond this moment of victory!

Our tropical power becomes one in the dazzling sky
Let's be tropical to our heart's content!
Thank you for everything. I'm so glad we met
An original form of courage becomes your light
Each and every light creates an everlasting halation

Let's all be tropical together! (Hooray, hooray for youth!)

The best kind of sympathy is putting on make-up with you
This hot season will last forever
Tropical!
Our youthful sympathy is putting on make-up with you
We'll never forget this hot season."

"When the song and dance ends, she hops to the right, before swirling back in place, her free hand pointing to the ceiling.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smiles to Soraia and then to Ryoko. "Hello. A pleasure to meet you." She states to Ryoko. She extends a hand to shake and even gives a polite bow. "Yeah don't count your chickens before they hatch!" Seiko exclaims Before turning to Soraia. "Pick a good song!" She smiles. One of the trio of Pinkettes, Seiko smiles and looks at the song list that Laura has already gone through. She really wants to win but its a friendly competition so its no biggy if they don't.

Seiko nods to Laura. "I'm ready!" Then, taking a microphone in her hand, she sings out in unison with Laura, "1, 2, 3, GO!" From there she begins singing along with Laura's singing. Laura is much more at ease with this song than she is but she does her best and thats all that can be asked of her. As she gets more comfortable, she starts singing in harmony eith Laura, making the mermaid's melody that much more bright.

"We're all unique, so there'll be times when we argue
(Its only natural)
But no matter who you are, I'll always want to support you."

She happily does a little spin and dances around in rhythm with the music. She happily sings along with the song, Once again harmonizing with her friend.

"GO!! GO!!
Let's GO!!
Peace, peace!
OK, SUNRISE!!"

Seiko sings out loud and proud, Brimming with confidence. As much as she was afraid at the start, Right now, She is in her element. Seiko looks around the room, at Glimmer and Ryoko. She doesn't stay focused on them as she continues to dance as she sings. Her eyes catch sight of a small figure in her purse giving her a thumbs up.

"The best kind of sympathy is putting on make-up with you
This hot season will last forever
Tropical!
Our Youthful Sympathy is putting on make-up with you
We'll never forget this hot season."

Then right on cue, she does the same moves as Laura. She hops to the right, before swirling back in place, her free hand points to the ceiling!

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    Ryoko smiles at Soraia's compliment. She brings a hand up and brushes a strand of her long, black hair back over her shoulder as she laughs. "Well, I can go home then. I won the sparkle contest," she say with a grin. But then she gestures toward Soraia with both of her hands, and a rather pointed look. "Not that you're slouching. Look at all those sequins."

    She confers with Glimmer and the catalog, swiping through several different songs before they finally find one they can agree on. It's not one of Ryoko's regular songs, but she knows it all the same. It's a good song with lots of energy, and most importantly, it's very danceable. She's ready to go, so she turns to watch Laura and Seiko.

    They're good. They've even got a dance number. She and Soraia did not prepare. They're winging it. She glances to the pinkette eyebrows arched, and then applauds when the song is over. That's what you do. Even if you're competing. "Well done!"

    They trade spots and punch in their song and Ryoko looks to Glimmer and grins as the instantly recognizable Gershwin melody starts playing. Ryoko is suddenly one hundred percent more animated than usual as she sings.

    Days can be sunny
    With never a sigh
    Don't need what money
    Can buy

    Birds in the trees sing
    Their dayful of song
    Why shouldn't we sing
    Along?

    I'm chipper all the day
    Happy with my lot
    How do I get that way?
    Look at what I got

    She's dancing back and forth with her non-microphone holding hand moving back and forth as she keeps glancing toward Soraia. On the very last line she gestures to Soraia as they both start into the chorus.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Soraia couldn't help it. She was positively overjoyed, seeing the girls get into the music and the excitement. This. This was what she wanted. Princesses just running around having some chaotic, nonsensical dancing and singing moments! And seeing the other girls have fun? Well, it just made it better. They even had a DANCE number! That was perfect!

A shame she couldn't just let them win. There'd be expenses to explain to Takashi if she did. And Ryoko didn't strike her as the 'let others win' sort.

Once they settled on a song, well? She let Ryoko take point. The start, a bit longing, a bit softer, a bit slower...

With Ryoko's passion, with Ryoko's burning? Oh, it was perfect. Her grin got wider... and then her cue hit.

The music got faster, louder, upbeat... ier?



        I got rhythm,
        I got music,
        I got my girl --
        Who could ask for anything more?

        I got daisies
        In green pastures,
        I got my girl --
        Who could ask for anything more?

        I got daisies
        In green pastures,
        I got my girl --
        Who could ask for anything more?

        Old man trouble,
        I don't mind him --
        You won't find him
        'Round my door

        I got starlight,
        I got sweet dreams,
        I got my girl --
        Who could ask for anything more --
        Who could ask for anything more?!

As she sang, she started singing *with* Ryoko. Gesturing towards her as she sang, her 'girl'. At least for the pretense of the song, taking the other girl's hand, spinning her at one point, but swaying from side to side, their dresses sending lights all over the walls as they danced. Her hair even seeming to glitter in the light.

From the back of the room, a man with messy brown hair, plain brown glasses and a slightly ruffled suit was taking notes, occasionally glancing up at the girls as they sang. Had... he been here the whole time? Well, the back tables were darker without any lights on them, so who knew?

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smirks. She looks at Laura and smiles. "They are good. Should we prepare another one?" She asks as she starts looking through the catalog. "I have an idea." She comments as she flips through pages.

She doesn't notice the man in the back. Right now she doesn't really care. Her mind is on singing and performing the next song. Her heart pounds as the butterflies have flown. She is ready to go further. "This one." She smirks to Laura. "Any song with Chocolate in it is bound to be a good one right?"

As soon as Soraia and Ryoko are done singing she grabs the mic. The music starts with some drums and she shouts, "LETS GO! GET YOU L-O-V-E LOVE LOVE LETS GO!" Then on Cue she starts singing.

"I can't change the way that I feel
I never wanna fight, love me and hold me tight
That's right I'm in love with you boy
Its like I fell into a big jar of sweets and I don't want to come out

Chocolate sundaes and cream, you're the boy of my dreams
I'm no different than any other girl 'cause I'm just at that age.
Wanna tell you how I feel but I'm scared what you'll say (You know you shoulda)
When I think of the world my head starts to swirl
There's so much that I haven't seen, so many things I haven't done
Good thing I'm still young.

My hear goes flutter flutter flutter what can I do
'Cause it happens to me every day
You know I'm dreamin', like every teenager dreams
And I'm so happy here please let me stay

I can't change the way that I feel
I wanna dance with you, have a romance with you
That's right I'm in love with you boy
There's nothing stronger than our feelings, I know you know its true
I can't change the way I feel
No, I don't want to fight, love me and hold me tight
Thats right I'm in love with you boy
We can be happy here with just you and me
But of course, we'll need a treat
Oh! You brought one you're so sweetHersnd it's chocolate let me eat, and eat, and eat!

Seiko sings and dances happily. The idea of singing a love song complete with chocolate makes her really happy. The fact that its up beat makes all the more fun. As the song comes to a close she throws her hand with the mic in up in the air and Bows her head striking a very showy pose.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura can feel the charge in the air around them. There really is nothing like singing together with others. It makes her heart feel that much lighter. "I don't know about you, but I am really enjoying myself", she exhales happily. "Well done, both of you. Of course, Seiko and I are far from done! And this is her cue to choose!" she declares, letting her friend go ahead with their performance.

"A fan of sweets? Sounds just like what we need to melt our opponent's hearts in a river of deep chocolate", Laura nods with convinction, doing a quick skim to make sure she is on top of things. Right, no worries there. "LET'S GO! GET YOU L-O-V-E LOVE LOVE LET'S GO!" she cries out the first verse in harmony with Seiko, before singing out the rhythm.

I can't change the way that I feel
I never wanna fight, love me and hold me tight
That's right I'm in love with you boy
It's like I fell into a big jar of sweets and I don't want to come out

She winks at their 'audience', tapping the ground to signal the end of every line, the last tap ending with a jump backwards. Seiko picked a good song in more ways than one, a relaxing one is probably what they needed to let the others unwind.

Chocolate sundaes and cream, you're the boy of my dreams
I'm no different than any other girl 'cause I'm just at that age
Wanna tell you how I feel but I'm scared what you'll say (You know you shoulda)
When I think of the world my head starts to swirl
There's so much that I haven't seen, so many things I haven't done
Good thing I'm still young

She spins around, her arms extending to form the outline of a heart in the air once she stops after a full 360°, her hands joining a much smaller heart at the end of the outline.

My heart goes flutter flutter flutter what can I do
'Cause it happens to me every day
You know I'm dreamin', like every teenager dreams
And I'm so happy here please let me stay

They are doing great, she can feel the enthusiasm within both herself and Seiko. Maybe all the more since this is her kind of song. She can definitely feel she is into it.

I can't change the way that I feel
I wanna dance with you, have a romance with you
That's right I'm in love with you boy
There's nothing stronger than our feelings, I know you know it's true
I can't change the way that I feel
No, I don't want to fight, love me and hold me tight
That's right I'm in love with you boy
We can be happy here with just you and me
But of course, we'll need a treat
Oh! You brought one you're so sweet
And it's chocolate let me eat, and eat, and eat.

Synchronised with Seiko, she throws her hands in the air before bowing her head to their audience, showing off together.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
The two teams are bringing very different energy to the competition. While Ryoko watches Laura and Seiko singing she scrolls through the catalogue, landing on a classic girl rock anthem. She taps it and leans in close, murmuring quietly to Soraia, "If we go really big on this one, really feel it, I think we'll sway them."

She queues it up and then just sits back and watches the other two girls sing about chocolate and romance. When they're done she rises up to her feet and applauds. "It is fun," she agrees with a nod and a smile. "You two have such beautiful voices," she says. The music starts to change over. "And you sang about love. So are we." After a few bars of drum and rhythm guitar intro, Ryoko and Soraia start speaking the intro in unison over the music.

    We are young
    Heartache to heartache
    We stand
    No promises
    No demands
    Love is a battlefield

Ryoko's fist goes up as she belts the first line of the chorus, and then turns to sing directly toward Soraia. Continuing in unison as they sing the first chorus.

    We are strong
    No one can tell us we're wrong
    Searching our hearts for so long
    Both of us knowing
    Love is a battlefield

Ryoko continues singing, taking the first verse as a solo. And she brings a performance, singing to Soraia as if it were about her. She's very convincing.

    You're begging me to go
    Then making me stay
    Why do you hurt me so bad?
    It would help me to know
    Do I stand in your way
    Or am I the best thing you've had?
    Believe me, believe me
    I can't tell you why
    But I'm trapped by your love
    And I'm chained to your side

The same words from the intro are sung again in unison, along with another chorus before Ryoko steps back to let Soraia step into the fore.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Soraia chuckled as the other girls went into their second song. Oh, they were good, they were LOVING this. And so was she. It had been so long since she'd been able to just have a nice, silly bit of fun. Karaoke was the BEST!

The next song she let Ryoko choose. A battlefield? Oh. Oh this was SO on. She nodded along, grinning and moved up with Ryoko. "Let's rock their socks off," she said, grinning wide at her. "You two are good, but let's see if we can show you how we do it back home!"

She then took her place opposite Ryoko, joining in with her!

    We are young
    Heartache to heartache
    We stand
    No promises
    No demands
    Love is a battlefield

She'd been at more than a few battlefields, having one that was just 'singing' was kind of nice. She pumped her fist up, jumping into the air as she started, gripping the mike in both hand and turning towards Ryoko as they went into the chorus.

    We are strong
    No one can tell us we're wrong
    Searching our hearts for so long
    Both of us knowing
    Love is a battlefield

She looked into Ryoko's eyes as the other girl sang and, amazingly? She looked... unsure, herself. Reaching a hand out, then pulling it back, smiling, then frowning, squirming, pulling away, leaning in. As if she was the unsure lover of Ryoko... Though, admittedly? She was trying, desperately, to avoid thinking of the disaster that was her own love life.

Only to rejoin Ryoko in the chorus, once again.

Then, finally, it was her turn. And she reached out a hand towards Ryoko, only to pull it back, into a fist over her heard.

    When I'm losing control
    Will you turn me away
    Or touch me deep inside?
    And when all this gets old
    Will it still feel the same?
    There's no way this will die
    But if we get much closer
    I could lose control
    And if your heart surrenders
    You'll need me to hold

And in that moment, her hand reached out and took Ryoko's, pulling her in close, lips just centimeters from the other girl's... before letting her go. The two joining in together once more, Glimmer managing to match the passion and tempo of her friend, the teasing, the gentle hints towards romance...

And by the end, walking off the stage and *collapsing* into a chair. "Okay, see if you two can top THAT!" she said, voice dripping with confidence.

Oh yeah, it was going to be a fierce, glorious battle of the song between these two groups, but she was readying herself for the long haul. This was the kind of battlefield she could get behind.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko watches and listens to their opponents as they absolutely dominate with their last song choice. It was a song that she was familiar with. She smiles and applauds as their song comes to an end. "Awesome job! You guys are really good!!! Thank you for Singing with us! Or against us!!! So who won?"

She smirks and looks at Soraia. "Don't go getting a big head. You guys did amazing!" She giggles actually enjoying being a little competative. "I need to go now though. I have to get back to school. Maybe we can do this again sometime." She collects her purse and heads toward the door.