I think if you go over and say nice things to them when they lose, they don’t accuse you of cheating they defend you instead.
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The smart angle appears to be writing for Underground Wastebasket, giving them a good song and relying on Seven still being in love with you.
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Absolutely.
Similarly, if we choose go on the bus with Underground Wastebasket near the beginning - gee, Rowan, I wonder why the MC doesn’t want to be stuck on a bus with their ex? Perhaps because it could be emotionally painful for them? Just a thought.
Such a total lack of consideration for the MC.
This, but also the fact that she was part of the band when the vote with Seven went down. I can give her some leeway with regards to what’s going on with most of the current story (because she isn’t actually there), but that’s it. She’s just as culpable as the rest of them for the things that happened before.
I think this is a fair interpretation, but personally I saw Seven’s reaction as less that they knew the vote was coming, and more that they weren’t surprised that it did happen (maybe there’s some beef between them and the rest of the band that we as players don’t yet know of?).
Considering that they’re meant to be our friends as well (not just our bandmates), I actually think they are a bit worse.
I can appreciate that the entertainment/music industry can be ruthless and that sometimes you need to make uncomfortable decisions in your pursuit of being successful. If they thought that demoting Seven to a backup vocalist was what was best for the band, that’s something that should have been discussed calmly between everyone first; conspiring behind the MC’s back and then springing this decision on them to pressure them to go along with it under the pretence of a vote is both cowardly and scummy.
To then also mostly refuse to properly acknowledge that they hurt us with what they did after the fact (not giving us a proper chance to gradually heal), and sometimes even making the odd joke about it, simply shows a distinct lack of care for MC’s feelings (especially considering that Seven wasn’t just, you know, a fellow bandmate but MC’s best friend/lover).
Just shows to me they value being successful over being friends - which doesn’t inherently make them bad people, but rubs me the wrong way with how two-faced they’re being. Acting like we’re close friends who should stick together (which they try to emphasise in the scene in an earlier chapter when reminiscing about our high school days), yet have no issues making such monumental decisions about the future of the band even if causes intense emotional trauma to the MC (who surely they would realise would take the brunt of it).
If you’re going to be that transactional about it, at least own it.
That’s the thing for me. If they ever just admitted that they fucked up, that they shouldn’t have sprung the vote on MC like that, and acknowledged how they’ve hurt MC in the process, I’d be much more receptive to seeing them in a positive light.
As is, the way they keep dancing around it, combined with the other ways they’ve behaved so far, makes me see our band/friends less as flawed individuals who messed up, and more as arseholes looking out for themselves who don’t actually care if we get hurt in the process as long as the band is successful.
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Yeah, I mean I get where people are coming from when the conversation turns to “friends would never do [insert anything the band does here]” but friends do this sort of thing all the time. Especially really close friends who might take your presence and friendship for granted. It’s not a good thing, but it’s a believable thing. A human thing. They aren’t monsters for it (not that that’s what you’re saying).
I mean, if I knew MC personally, I’d gently suggest that they expand their circle a bit and put some distance between them and their high school friends but 1) that’s nice and normal and this is a melodrama that needs conflict and 2) sometimes it’s really hard to face that sort of change.
And I’ll also add that… generally, as someone who’s been on this thread for over a year now, our collective interpretations of the MC’s friends can sometimes feel a little lacking in empathy?
Totally understand. It’s easy to do in a role playing game! It’s good that we care this much! I tend to go back and forth between playing “storyteller”, where I’m thinking about it from a top-down, writing perspective, and just getting super deep into the roleplay and being a little more emotionally reactive to the events of the story (which, sometimes I also do when I’m writing for myself).
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That’s a fair comment. And yeah, the band definitely aren’t monsters by any means, just flawed, very human people who can make bad decisions (like everyone else in the story).
It’s probably also worth pointing out that there’s still a long way to go with this story. There’s surely going to be more twists, turns, and information that we haven’t learned yet that will possibly affect our opinions on these characters (so we should maybe hold back a bit on that front for now).
I’ll be perfectly honest, I definitely get a bit too emotionally invested in my characters and see things wholly from their perspective sometimes (especially if I feel like they’re being treated unfairly). It’s why even when usually I can understand why other characters in a story might act in the way they do, the part of my brain that would usually be more empathetic can sometimes dial itself down (or even switch off entirely).
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Honestly i tend to think MC should stick with his boy Rowan and fire everyone else.
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Eh if the band was to reach a point of firing people i wouldnt be able to say he would gonout unscathed. Out of all the current members august is whom i would protect and ride and die with lol. Though i have concerns about whats going on with him that we get to see in thevlast chapter something going on there that defintly affecting him.
An at least he isnt taking it out on the MC unlike the other three whom are suppost to be their freinds since highschool. That said as flawed and hurtfull they could be exspecially depending on the choices made i am curious to see if we can get them to eventually own up and if we can be successfully win the competition while remaining as a band after not just freinds.
Real big issues within the band/freind group even before you count in the whole competion and all thats tied to it.
An lastly i so so want there to be a time we can put victor on display for all the world to see for what he is. While havent seen anything criminal yet there very much red flags with that man that go beyond just being asshole for corporate cash grab stakes. Some of which seems to stem from something in the company itself that makes me think they are desperate for success in this seasons competition in ratings and having a viable star of talent to whom they can cash in on for decades to come.
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To other things. Love how vicious Blake can get; it indicates how bad they were burned by industry in general and G in particular. It will be fun to be there when it inevitably explodes. 
Based on hints so far, that demo of G’s was either a collab or written by Blake solely with G just performing it. What about Viktor then? He should have known – Blake didn’t make noise then, meaning someone, say, told the label would sic their army of lawyers on them if they blabbed. But then why Viktor added Underbasket to the roster? Paid little attention then and does not remember Blake? Thought the risk would be worth it? Is unhappy with G and thought perhaps they needed a little reminder? Hmmm. Everything is so promising.
Then, G hinting at something possibly not nice they did to us, and that ghosting from label. Did G disappear our demo before suits could see it? If so, then why? Might not be out of malice - they know our songs well enough to mouth along, read our social media stuff, are unhappy with being “corporate cardboard cutout of a rockstar” – might be “I don’t want you to turn into another me” thing, without the thought of asking us if we are okay with it ever crossing their mind, as it is always with rich entitled people. If something like this is going to happen…and MC is angling for G’s love…hoo boy, this going to be more fun than fire in firecracker factory! 
Speaking of romances. There are some delightful trackers sprinkled around that have a chance to fire in the most entertaining way. Like, romanced 7 notices if MC is also after G and is not exactly happy with it. “Romanced” Dakota goes “Lol I did both of you” in the pool scene. 7 got positivity and negativity trackers that are separate from relationship and romance trackers, what do these do? Defines toxicity (of our city, of our cityyyyy~ 
) of relationship? Very interesting. All in all, cannot wait for other shoes to start dropping in cascades in following chapters. 
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Ha, same. The band as a whole I’m not digging the actions but I still love Rowan. He’s my favorite RO even though he’s not one. 
I’m not a fan of how many “solo career” versus “band till I die” choices there are. It feels very leading and obvious without an in-between state, like a normal person who can both like being in a band while also considering other things for the future.
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If you smoke weed with Dakota and G, they mention that living right next to MC and this week’s challenge were both meant to punish MC, Victoria and G. When Viktor also snaps at G near the buses, he mentions the fact they would not have been on tour if G didn’t hand TV producers a storyline by fighting at the party.
I think Viktor is getting tired of star couple’s shit and seeks another star quality type - if MC reacts to him somewhat neutrally or nice, he follows along and responds in kind. Hell, he even laughs along if MC calls G stupid, genuinely. And then there’s this snippet, too…
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So the band does a vote on something without MC involved again?! …
If I recall, they WERE Sevens friends before we show up.
Yep. I definitely would of walked away and NOT talk to them, ghosting. Feels like MC is to be the underdog everytime. As long as Author doesn’t love an NPC too much that the NPC becomes a DMNPC. (One that IS the hero and always wins.)
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Man, Seven really does appear to have Main Character Derangement Syndrome.
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I’d be fucked up too if the band didn’t talk with me after the vote and then came crawling back like nothing’s happened. Christ, this shit would give mental illness to the most stable normalcore person, and it’s Seven. I think he’s borderline, he has pretty obvious signs.
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Me personally the only way I see an MC staying (which is what I’m playing as here) in the band is if they have abandonment trauma and prefer to deal with the band’s bullshit compared to being completely alone, essentially enmeshed to the idea of a band after Seven. Which is my MC hence them being happy when their mom’s voicemail asks them to come home and focus on that or even after all going “My band is good” or not doing the solo career choices.
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Dude, Seven is the one who left, AND the one who keeps saying they want me to stay away from them and acting offended when I do. At some point you have to just write them off until THEY make an approximation move.
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Which he did in the end of ch.3, at least somewhat? And I’d say he has more patience than pre-rewrite Sev. given the fact he sang as backup for audution and waited at least several weeks before blowing up while the band celebrated. I doubt he’d last that long if not for MC, though.
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So… they DID talk after the vote then? I’m still on chapter 1 post-rewrite.
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Debatable if they actually did.
My MCs want to win this thing and we have to have a band for that, simple as that. Rowan’s a guitar wizard and eyecandy, August is excellent on drums and meshes with the band really well despite of being a newbie, the lovebirds are competent at least, musically the band functions very well and that’s all I need. Trauma shmauma, MC’s the leader, takes decisions they think will propel them forward and little disagreements like “You picked wrong bus” or “You picked the wrong song” is a completely normal thing between friends, bandmates and friends-bandmates and so far gets resolved with no problemo. So what if they briefly pout when things don’t go their way? People do that all the time!
MC’s spawners have some nerve with “Come home” after everything we know of them. Fuck these guys, I wish the author toned them down a little, they’re Wayhaven’s Rebecca of Infamous.
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