[Elise Bell]

It would be an hour of circling Bass before Elise settled down again into the city. She really didn’t want to go out to Plum or Ivy or Cedar, but she didn’t want to go home yet either. It hurt. She hurt. Why did Scarlett always have to make everything about herself? Her engagement. Her fights with Mom? Her issues. Her everything. Why did she have to say all that? Why couldn’t they all have just accepted Mom lied frequently and accept the emotions instead? She hated her so much. She hated them all so much.

As they came to land in a small park far away from the reach of the café or the home, Elise slowly climbed off the Skarmory. Stella chirped at her, clearly still worried. Elise looked sideways at her and smiled weakly. “I’ll….” She would not be ok. Elise’s voice fell off, and her eyes fell to the ground instead. Fishing out her phone, she started to text PNG in their group chat but then stopped. She didn’t want to burden them with this… not until she was stable. Not until she knew…. Just what she wanted to say. Did she want comfort? Yes, but maybe not from them.

What did she want to do? What could she do…. Maybe… Elise shifted her phone apps around and got out a song. Eliza was the lead vocalist. Elise was the pianist of the group. But that didn’t mean anything here when she was alone and just for a moment willing to sing out her feelings: not a PNG song but I want to dance with somebody. Her crisp, clear voice radiated up out louder than the singer and flowed through the area. Stella swayed a bit to the beat. In that moment, she could almost be forgiven for forgetting that Elise had been crying. She sounded... so happy? For the moment. 

---

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Busking Job: Bass City [very hard] Charisma: 15
Posts must be a minimum of 100 words to count as a post. You must post at least five (5) times. You must successfully pass at least one roll to earn rewards. Your Charisma and Performance skills can help you succeed on rolls.

Rewards: 75 Pen per rank of difficulty (4 for [Very Hard = 300]) , 2 Rare Candies, and +2 Performance [Piano]. You will receive +25 Pen per random event, and, if at least half your rolls are passed, you will receive an additional 150 Pen and +2 more Performance. 

[Jenesis]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elise Bell

Bravissima! You quickly gather a small and appreciative crowd. A girl couple starts dancing in tune to the music.

[Elise Bell]

Elise continued to sing, the force of her unmet needs becoming the song of the moment. She didn’t want to be sad. She didn’t want to be upset. She didn’t want to be broken up with and left to her family’s devices. She just wanted to dance with somebody, and she wanted it badly.

It was only as she was at the second chorus line that Elise actually opened her eyes, looked around, and noted the small group that had come around. A warm smile flashed across her features as she continued to sing and even made a few gestures out to the crowd inviting them to dance if they wanted to. One girl certainly did and began to dance about only to be captured by one of her other friends and spun in a circle. “Somebody— WHO!— Somebody— WHO!— Somebody who loves meeee!” Elise threw out her arms and called out an almost desperate note that raised an octave higher than the actual singer.

Stella continued to watch and sway. At the highest point, she could no longer stand it! Breaking into the air with a couple swipes of her wings, she circled about dramatically increasing the performance that much more!

---

Words: 203, Charisma: 15 
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[Jenesis]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elise Bell

The girls giggle and clap at your slightly melodramatic performance, and the rest of the crowd follows suit. Well played, you.

[Elise Bell]

As the song faded out, Elise took a breath and slowly straightened again. The growing crowd, however, wanted more. “You’re Elise Bell from Pixie Nightmare Girls aren’t you?” one girl chatters as she comes up to her. “Oh my gosh I didn’t know you could sing like that!!!” A few more came forward, and Elise felt warmth touch her features. The realization that this had probably been at least somewhat recorded was now dawning on her hard and fast… and this crowd was becoming a little restless.

“H-how about a different song, everyone? Any recommendations?” Elise asked hoping to dodge the questions for now. The crowd dissolved into whispers for a moment before a few shouted out titles all at once. Elise’s eyes flashed form one to another— and then landed on the girl that had been dancing. She was requesting a— Oh. That was…. Elise took in a breath and smiled. “Sure!” Fishing through her phone, she found a piano version that began. Swaying softly with the first few notes, she took in a breath and began to sing Titanium. She felt her eyes sting, but she wouldn’t stop singing now. There were people there. This had been a request, and she was going to do her best.

Stella, meanwhile, sailed overhead and released a couple of Swifts upwards showering everyone in star bits.

---

mwBuZWTUp_, 15 Charisma.

[Jenesis]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elise Bell

The girls have stopped dancing and stand politely, their arms around each other, as they watch you sing. A small child points and cheers at the shower of stars. The crowd grows to the point you can't see the back. 

[Elise Bell]

Elise felt her eyes starting to sting. She liked this song. She wanted to sing this song, but she was anything but this song. She wasn’t titanium. She was a little girl who got her heart broken by someone who swore to love her forever and ever. It wasn’t fair. Why did it have to be her Why couldn’t it have been anyone else? Hell, why couldn’t it have been Arietta with another case of ….

Suddenly her voice was wavering, and Elise felt it finally fail. The song continued playing on the phone, but she was quiet looking out on a sea of people now looking at her. When had the crowd gotten so big? Why had they come here? I should probably go…. But then one of Stella’s stars cascaded downwards in a flurry of beauty, and something in Elise tightened up. No. If they liked her voice, loved her performance, were there for her, why wasn’t he? Elise choked back a sudden sobbed and failed. Suddenly, she was crying and backing up. What was she doing? This was….

Words: 188
A87IrcJvp_, 15 Charisma 

[whimsae]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elise Bell

All over the world, emotional support pokemon raise their heads. A few of the girls, having experienced the same sort of pain in Elise's voice, start encouraging her to continue in a heartfelt display of sisterhood. In the front row one of the little children starts to sing and it's not very good, but it's clear from the look they're giving Elise that they're kind of trying to carry on the show until she can get herself together. In the far back a small cheer starts, growing and growing and it sounds like they're chanting "you-can-do it! you-can-do it!"

[Elise Bell]

It started with a simple call through the crowd. “You can do it!” and then it was repeated again. “Keep going!” And a “You’re doing great!” And slowly but surely the encouragement grew. It reverberated in her ears, and slowly Elise blinked back her tears. She could do it. She was doing it. Even if she didn’t feel it yet, someday she would be ok. This crowd was proving something to her that she wasn’t sure she believed in herself up to that point. For a moment, Elise was strong enough on her own.

A breath was taken in, and Elise straightened a little. Pulling back the bar on the bottom of the phone, she started again. The crowd clapped a couple of times and continued to encourage up until the lyrics actually started. Then it was all Elise. Then it was Elise standing there saying those words, singing those lines, out to them and the world for a moment. “Shoot me down, but I won’t fall! I am TITANIUM!” She wanted to shout it. Her musical voice wouldn’t let her. Still it echoed and reverberated out. “You shoot me down, but I won’t fall! I am TITANIUM!” And on cue, the metal bird coasting on above her released a Swift and then crushed the stars in a Metal Claw of her own talons. They burst and showered down over the crowd again.

And this time the song was stronger. And Elise was stronger. And the performance would go on for a few more songs before Elise finally felt better… and found herself flooded with persons all asking who she was and some even recognizing her. She signed a few autographs, took a few pictures, and felt better. She felt better.

---

5/5 reached.
Rewards: 75 Pen per rank of difficulty (4 for [Very Hard = 300]) , 2 Rare Candies, and +2 Performance [Piano]. You will receive +25 Pen per random event, and, if at least half your rolls are passed, you will receive an additional 150 Pen and +2 more Performance.

[Jenesis]

Congratulations!

Your thread is complete and now locked.

Elise Bell

Your thread has been locked. For completing the Busking job in Bass City [very hard] with 0 random events and at least half your rolls passed, you receive 450 pen, 2 Rare Candies, and +4 Performance (Piano).