video

[jojoceanman]

[When the feeds starts and opens up, Jotaro is sitting at a desk. There’s a disorganized pile of papers across his desk, none of which can be read from the video feed, and the background is clearly some sort of posh office space. There’s also a faint sound of music in the background, though very heavily muffled by the doors of the room he’s in.]

I’m not sure what’s conventional for when imPorts leave, but both Jonathan Joestar and Josuke Higashikata left this world a few days ago. If you knew them and think they may have something you want, let me know and I’ll help get it for you. ...I understand they were both here for a couple years. The nature of this world doesn’t allow anyone to say goodbyes, but don’t be concerned for them anymore - just remember their presence. That’s all they would ask from the people they met.

[Jotaro is personally not concerned at all, but he feels like pre-empting anyone who might be upset about their friends leaving. He’s dealing with this in his own way, mostly by burying himself in work. Speaking of which:]

That aside, Jonathan was in charge of a couple clubs and left behind documentation to transfer ownership to me in the event of him leaving. Krakatoa in Heropa, and the Iceberg Lounge in Maurtia Falls - both these clubs will stay open under my ownership. If you’re interested in ditching your government job and being hired in either one, contact me here or elsewhere. Krakatoa is open as a restaurant during the day, and a nightclub after 8pm. Iceberg Lounge strictly operates in the evenings.

Simple jobs like bartending, bouncer or waitstaff are open for both. If you’re an entertainer, you can perform at the Iceberg during nights and get paid per performance. If anyone likes attention, Jonathan mentioned that Krakatoa patrons tend to be obsessed with imPorts. You could probably get them to give you free things if you play to the spotlight. No interview necessary for any job, but I can’t hire anyone with a major criminal record. Or minors. Not my rules.

...Good grief. Guess I’m going to need to quit my own job to take care of these places now. [He breathes out a little from his nose, the realization of everything he explained just hitting now.] That’s all I have to say. Let me know if you have any questions. Or if you think one of my relatives may have something you want.

[And normally before he was more cagey about admitting to having family here, but with them both gone he’s a lot less worried about that. Kind of a relief really.]

[ooc: the thread with dio is chronologically last.]

Comments

[jojoceanman]

Good grief. Are you being blackmailed?

[It sure sounds like it. He sifts through the papers on his desk, checking to see what notes Jonathan left for him regarding capacity.]

Fire Marshal limits guest capacity to 300. It's definitely one of the larger clubs in Maurtia Falls, but you may not see those numbers fill out given the neighborhood.

[darted]

No. My original plan went a little differently than I thought it would, but this is very much something I've been working on. [ an awkward pause. ] Getting comfortable with. Hopefully, after a while, I have band mates so I can just bleed back into the background and coast off of the work of others once more. [ but until then mama has a game to play. ]



Hmph. I can get 300 people to fill out that club easy. Expect a traffic jam.

[jojoceanman]

Mhm.

[Very curious. She's definitely not the popstar type. At least from his rudimentary knowledge of popstars, which dates back to the late 90s. Mai is no Britney Spears or Madonna. Yet he's not here to pry into her affairs. If she wants a gig, and he has a venue, there's no harm.]

You're confident. I'll need to set things up and order the middle managers to arrange advertising. What kind of act will you be doing?

[darted]

A singer performance, with props, stage lighting, maybe back-up dancers, the whole works. [ Each condition is said with less enthusiasm than the one previous. ]

[jojoceanman]

... I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm concerned for how dead inside you sound.

[darted]

Don't be. I was raised to be like this. It's just how I naturally am. But on stage, I am different. [ It's not necessarily an obvious lie, but the straight face she keeps on while she says that is very impressive. ]

[jojoceanman]

As long as you can play to the crowd.

[Who is he, a fellow stoic, to judge? He can admire her confidence if nothing else. Jotaro grabs a planner from the desk, which had anything Jonathan already booked ahead of time before his departure.]

Cost of set-up will be deducted from your pay, but it'll be low given our venue's resources on hand. How much you earn depends on the revenue you can bring into the club - more people pay to get in through the door, the better. I'll schedule you for a busy evening to help things. When would you ideally want to go on?

[darted]

The crowd will love it. I'm going for success here, not to flop.

[ She listens to the whole spiel and brings her finger tips to her lips as she tries to form a response. ]

Give me about three weeks. I'd like to perform around 9 PM, if possible.

[jojoceanman]

[He grabs a fancy looking fountain pen flips through the planner a couple pages. Three weeks...]

July 29th then? No other acts are booked, so you'll have the place to yourself for the night. Once you get some details for your show ready, let me know and I'll get the managers on advertising.

[darted]

July 29th will work wonderfully for me. [ There's a wry, almost villainous smile. ]

Maybe I'll rope someone into opening or something. I'll have a couple of posters designed to put up too. After I decide on a stage name... [ YEP. SHE'S JUST GOING INTO THIS JOTARO... ]

[jojoceanman]

[In that moment, Jotaro felt as though he had entered into something he would regret. If he were a different person he would say something along the lines of "I've made a huge mistake" but instead he'll just keep his stoic pokerface on and leave the regrets to his cheap canned beer after this is over.]

Well. I guess we have a deal then. [if he sounds unsure it's because he is.] Share whatever you have when you want to, and I'll help get you set-up for the day.

[darted]

I'll get posters to you by Monday. You won't regret this, mostly because I have a lot of things riding on this. Is there anything I should mention about your venue if I'm going to advertising it on my show?

[jojoceanman]

[see anytime anyone has ever said "you won't regret this" he has ended up regretting it most times. but he has made his bed, can't go back on his word now.]

The name, city and address. [well that's just obvious.] You can mention it being the biggest club in Maurtia Falls. That we're open for booking other acts. ...Well there's one more thing, but it won't be relevant soon.

[darted]

[ MAI WILL BREAK THAT TRADITION. You will not regret this! ]

If it's not going to be a problem by the time I'm performing, then I won't report it. The biggest club in Maurtia Falls can only fit that many people? [ It's hard to gauge if Mai looks disappointed or relieved. ]

[jojoceanman]

[that's good because the couple penguins that live in the lounge are going straight to the damn zoo where they belong.]

Fire Marshal rules. It could fit more technically, but given the structure of the building that's our legal limit.

[Jotaro isn't really a stickler for rules, but he'd feel like a dick if he got the place shut down after Jonathan handed it to him. He taps the side of his temple, recalling what he saw from Jonathan's notes and planning.]

It's not really a "concert" venue. Most of the acts booked here are jazz musicians - singers, pianist, you name it. People come to drink and socialize more than for the musical acts. You'll be an anomaly among most of what the club sees.

[darted]

Ah, I see. So it's meant for more intimate performances? [ Is she going to have to arrange some sort of burlesque act to make her fit in? She doesn't want to, because that's not her thing. It's barely going to be her thing getting on stage and singing at an exhausting 120 bpm. ]

If that's the case, I might have to refocus the lighting and pyrotechnics, and add in a trapeze element to hold their attention.

[jojoceanman]

No trapeze.

[And yes he is pointing his finger right into the video so Mai knows he's serious.]

[darted]

Why not? [ She stifles a little chuckle, if only for the irony that the trapeze is probably the easiest part of this whole thing for Mai. ]

[jojoceanman]

If you get injured, or injure someone else by accident, the club could be held liable. You're doing a stage show, not a circus act.

[darted]

But enhanced reflexes are one of my abilities, and my suit makes me fly! [ She sounds like she's slightly in disbelief that this is the part that's objectionable. ]

[jojoceanman]

Just be glad I'm not saying no to setting the stage partly on fire.

[he has many objections, but he's gonna fight the one that could get him sued.]

[darted]

You have nothing to worry about as far as pyrotechnics go. I'm from the Fire Nation, if I injured myself with it finally, I'd be disgraced.

[jojoceanman]

[He raises an eyebrow at that.]

So your nation specializes in using fire? If I'm getting your confidence correctly.

[darted]

Yea. The Fire Nation uses fire to fight and also to innovate their technology. In our Academy training growing up, we had to dodge balls of fire for P.E. [ What a stringent nation to be from! ]

[jojoceanman]

...I'm not sure if that would be child cruelty, or kind of fun. [both maybe.] I trust you know what you're doing since your "career" will be short-lived if you flop. Just don't destroy the club and I'll live.

[A beat.]

Still no on the trapeze though.