(Dress Rehearsal) Weekly Log

[miraclelivemod]

It's early November at Harugaizumi International School. Last week, the whole school put on a cultural festival, with the School Idol Club having a performance in the gym. You got a pretty decent turnout, but that's no reason to rest on your laurels; practice and school both continue this week! Have fun, check out the setting, and keep your ears open. You never know what opportunities will pop up for you!



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YOU HAVE A VISITOR

[miraclelivemod]

[After the club has been practising for a while, you'll hear clacking footsteps and then a knock on the club room door. Before anyone can react, it opens.

The person on the other side is a third-year with glasses and a high bun, holding a clipboard and a small stack of folders. Most, if not all, of you know her -- after all, small school aside, you had to get her permission to even start up the club again. It's the Student Council President, Igarashi Wakaba.]

Oh, you are in today. Good, I won't have to track you all down later. Am I interrupting something, School Idol Club?

[saltedcarmel]

Erm... not really! What's up, Igarashi-kun?

[Haha. Ha. Oh god why's she here did Carmel miss paperwork again.]

[miraclelivemod]

[Wakaba raises her eyebrows, but walks in and opens one of the folders.]

I only wanted to congratulate you on your work at the Cultural Festival. We’ve finished tallying the numbers, and your concert attracted the largest crowd at one time compared to the work of any other class or club this year.

[She takes a paper out of the folder and passes it around to the group. The stats line up as she says, with the biggest crowd at one time going to the School Idol Club’s concert, the largest all-day patron total going to the baseball team’s batting cages, and the highest enrollment form turnout -- that is, recruiting the most prospective students to apply to this school next year -- going to Class 2-A’s play, an impassioned retelling of the story of Uriko-hime that gets derailed by the princess rescuing herself and crashing her own wedding to chase the impostor around with a gigantic paper-mâché sword. The lowest numbers for all three, by the way, went to the Manga Club’s tsundere cafe. Apparently nobody got the joke.]

I'd like to tally any comments you all might have. As the student council, we're interested in how well our clubs and activities are performing.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

[Rita, for her part, spends a fair bit of time looking over the stats in detail - she was probably one of the only people who went to the Tsundere Cafe, which reminds her that she's one of the weirdoes.

Whatever.]

I've got one point of concern. Going over a bunch of debug data from the stage lights, I've found... Three issues with the electrical hookups on and above the stage. Given that the hookups I used were essentially 'what was convenient', we probably should have some professional electricians check the whole thing out and do some wire fixes.

[Someone should probably cut Rita off before she gets into the specifics and drops into what may as well be technobabble.]

[miraclelivemod]

Issues with the electricity? I'm surprised, given how recently the gym was redone. [She writes something down on her clipboard.] I can't promise anything; the student council doesn't control the maintenance budget. Still, I'll pass it on to the faculty and see if they can manage it. We are a small-town school, I'm sure you understand. Even if KiSeKi merchandise still sells, at least to the fans of historic groups.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

... So to be sure we get it as best we can, we need to increase the budget.

Meaning more sales.

Okay, that's a new line of stuff to read up on, then. Easy enough, maybe.

[miraclelivemod]

If how these things usually go holds true, the school will be more interested in marketing the more popular you get, so you do seem to be on the right track as long as you can continue it. Just don't lag behind.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

Yup. Still feels weird being in this, but that's how it goes I guess. If I can't do more on this issue, I'll just need to focus on what I can control, I guess.

[saltedcarmel]

[Oh thank god. Like, Carmel knew a lot of people came to see them? But she didn't realize that they did that well.]

Wow. That's way better than previous years! [Carmel, the previous idol club was like. You and two other girls.] Did you come see us, prez?

["Prez" is in English, and something of a long-standing nickname.]

[miraclelivemod]

I saw everyone for at least a few minutes. I do have a job to do, you know, and most of that is making sure this school runs smoothly.

[She shakes her head.]

You're right that you're doing better than you did previously. However, your numbers... They’re still far below those of the original School Idol Club. I know you’re new, but you’ve chosen a very competitive extracurricular. When people think of this school, they still think of KiSeKi. You’re going to want them to think of you.

[saltedcarmel]

[Something complicated briefly flickers over Carmel's face at "you're going to want them to think of you" but it's gone almost as soon as it arrived. It's fine! She's not constantly living in the shadow of her older sister or anything.]

It's not all bad, Prez. Some of the girls who came in from Hikarizaka asked me to sign their programs. That never happened before.

[It's easier now that there's more distance from KiSeKi, she thinks. Everyone in her freshman year just wanted KiSeKi back.]

[miraclelivemod]

That's always good to hear. [She sighs.] Be that as it may, I'm just glad you're all keeping up with your training. If there's anything else, I'll let you know. Have you got any questions for me while I'm here?

[saltedcarmel]

I'm trying to get us a performance slot at the mall soon, but if I manage you'll sign off on us missing class, right? I promise I'll make everyone do their homework.

[She brings her hands together like she's praying and gives Wakaba her best puppy dog eyes.]

[miraclelivemod]

...I'll think about it. I do hear they've got that autumn festival coming up, even if it looks booked up. But you'd all better keep up with your grades.

[saltedcarmel]

I'll make sure of it! Even if I have to do everyone's homework for them.

[CARMEL NO]

[miraclelivemod]

I'll have to officially tell you not to do that. They won't learn anything.

[nmc0204]

[ Ryoko takes the paper and glances over it just long enough to take in the stats before she passes it along. It's not perfect, but it's certainly better than she was expecting this early on. ]

And how are we performing in comparison to previous groups?

[miraclelivemod]

I must admit, you're better than you were doing previously. But you haven't measured up to KiSeKi's heyday, either.

[She says this with a serious look on her face.]

If that's your goal, it's going to be difficult. But as student council president, I should hope that is what you're aiming for. Our school owes its continued existence to school idols, so if we have a school idol club, it only follows that it should be the best one out there.

[nmc0204]

Of course it's what we're aiming for. If we're not planning to do the best that we can, all of this is just playing around and wasting time.

[ ryoko lighten up you're school idols ]

Is there anything you can suggest that might give us the edge we need?

[miraclelivemod]

It's good to see you're taking this seriously. I suspect you're already keeping up with the news... what is that site again? B♡nd? And keeping your ears open for places you can get your name out. Most of you have good enough grades that a few more performances shouldn't be a problem.

[Miko and Usagi might be feeling some pressure here. Oh, wait, that's just Wakaba staring at them.]

Though I'll let you know what I find, too. I'm no school idol myself, but maybe... No, I'll get you what I can. Credit where credit's due, though. You are improving.

[eternalfuture]

[USAGI IS RIGHT THERE, GOSH

...but to be fair, Wakaba's right, she just shouldn't say it]

[nmc0204]

[ Ryoko gives a little nod. ]

It's good to know we've got some support at least. But I don't want to do things half-heartedly.

[miraclelivemod]

I hope you won't. Trying to coast along and being unprepared will tank you in days. This takes a lot of work, and it's good to see you understand that. In that case, just make sure you all keep at it. I'll come see you if I have anything else to pass on.

[daughterofthemark]

Goodness, the poor manga club...

[Nobody except Arianna, apparently.]

[miraclelivemod]

I'll have to speak to them later. There were a few complaints about their gimmick. "It's not like I want to give you your food or anything" is far from friendly to the average consumer.