From here on in...

April was happy.

Very happy.

It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she was clean and no longer homeless and had a wonderful boyfriend whom she loved very much.

Not neccessarily. But probably.

So she had pulled May's guitar out and was, while Mark was out getting groceries (and hopefully Chinese food), systematically going through every love song she knew.

Her voice wasn't the best, true, but it was nice. And she was happy.

And the narration apologizes for being vaguely cracky.

Maureen did not like the rain.

Well, okay, rephrase. She loved the rain when she could come play in it, splash around for a few hours, and then go inside when the thunder started, towel off, and get a hot drink.

But when it was pouring, she had no home to go back to, and the thunder was rumbling closer to her every time, she didn't like the rain quite as much.

Hence the huddling against the side of a building, her guitar case lying behind her, ankles pressed up to it just in case anyone felt like taking the beat-up old thing. Trying to stay out of the rain, freezing cold in just a denim jacket almost as old as the guitar case, and trying to avoid notice in this state.

It had been a couple of weeks since that night April showed up screaming at the corner of 11th St. and Ave. B. A couple of weeks full of fun.
I used to shiver like that.
The sarcasm was rampant.

She felt like crap, still, though not as bad as she had a few days before. Withdrawal will do that to a person. But, regardless, she was feeling better and curled up on the couch with a blanket tucked around her legs and a mug of tea in her hands. A note on the kitchen counter (written in red marker) read: "Emcee - we're out of tea. Sorry. -Red"
Bustello, Marlboro, banana by the bunch...
But it was a good day. Even if she hadn't eaten barely anything in two days and was feeling a strange combination of guilt and nausea over it.

Lena tore through her cupboards trying to find more baking supplies. She had run out of paint and was itching to do something. Finally fed up with not having any sugar she grabbed a cup and started up stairs of her building. She stood in front of the door at the top floor and knocked.

"Whoever they are they better have sugar. I want cookies."

Mark returned home the next morning, thoroughly exhausted from his less than delightful visit home. Mom had guilted him about not coming home enough, not calling them enough, forgetting his family... the usual. By the time she was through with him, it was nearly midnight and there was no way his parents would let him start home that late. All he really wanted to do right now was collapse into bed.

There was one minor problem. There was a girl in his bed. Extremely confused and just a little panicked, Mark ran into Roger's room and flailed. "Roger! Why -- there is a girl in my bed! Why is there a girl in my bed? Don't they usually wind up in your bed?"

It was dark. Really dark.

She had no idea what time it was, but it was after midnight. They were after her. It was too dark, too dark.

April clutched her guitar case to her chest, her eyes wide and her breath coming in short panicked gasps. There was nowhere to go, there was nowhere safe, they were in every shadow, saliva dripping from their fangs, their red eyes burning her, burning her...

Then she saw it. A familiar intersection, a familiar building. She couldn't entirely remember why it was familiar, but she knew it should be safe. They couldn't get her if she got in there.

So she started banging on the door. And when the door didn't open, and she saw there was no buzzer, she started screaming. Screaming and crying and begging them to let her in, not to let the wolves get her, don't let them get her...

OOC: Backdated to before the April-Mark meeting.

Mark stared at the ringing phone. He knew if he didn't pick it up in three rings, the answering machine would click on and he'd hear the shrill voice of his mother, demanding to know why he wasn't home and why he hadn't called in almost two weeks.

One.

Two.

Three.

"SPEAK!" Beep.

"Mark?" the Voice Of His Mother inquired from across the state. "Mark? Where are you? Honey, we're worried, why haven't you called? Are you still there? Call us! We miss y- "

Mark leaped up and grabbed the phone off the reciever, "Mom? ... Hey, yeah, I'm here. ... Sorry, I was -- in the shower. ... Yeah, I'm fine. ... No, I promise, I'm fine. ... Mom, stop worrying, please? I'm here with Roger. ... Doing? Just, you know. Trying to get my work done. ... No, nothing yet. ... Yes, I promise I'll call when I get a good deal. ... Yeah, love you too, Mom. ... Yeah, okay, Roger says hi, to. ... Bye Mom."

He slammed to phone back down and collapsed on the couch, emotionally exhausted, as he usually was from speaking to his mother.

April wasn't exactly having the best day in the world. She was dirty and tired, hadn't slept in an actual bed since she left Chicago last year, and she hadn't eaten in three days.

The first three problems were everyday occurances, nothing that even really affected how she was feeling. But when you haven't eaten in three days and your hands are shaking too hard to play a guitar you can barely play anyway, therefore making it pretty much impossible for you to earn any money from fellow "artists" with a spare quarter or a tourist...

April was not having a good day. And the fact that some guy from a couple blocks over was harassing her for her accent was not helping.

Maureen was broke. Maureen was tired. And Maureen had currently been between boyfriends for four days, the longest she'd had to actually sleep on the streets this year.

Despite these facts, Maureen was actually having a pretty damn good day. At the moment, she was leaning against the wall outside the Life Cafe, which she wandered by a few days ago and thought looked interesting, playing guitar with her case open at her feet. There were a few stray dollars and some change in her case -- some people take kindly to random artists on the street. Especially when they're extremely good-looking, which Maureen is, even though she has been on the streets for four days; and when they're actually talented, which, again, she is.

She was playing the tail end of something original, but after a moment's break, launched into a rather recognizable tune: Your Song. Elton John. Don't tell me you've never heard of it.

Alright, to those of you who have been accepted, welcome to the game! I can't wait to start playing with you all. There are a few things I would like to mention before we get into the game.

joining the community
Those of you who have been accepted and have not yet joined this community (roselessrain, im_just_someguy and benevolentgod) need to do so. Thank you!

open characters
Collins and Alison are still open. We don't need them immediately, but it would be nice to have them around, especially Collins, so if anyone would like to play him or Ali, please head over to the application form and leave a comment. Now that the initial audition period is over, you won't have to wait for an acceptance either - if I like your application, I'll accept you immediately.
Also, if anyone would like to play any original characters in this game, please go ahead and apply them too. (I'm likely to make up a few to play with soon, once we get the game all started up.)

ooc community
I've created the OOC community for this game: here_ooc. Feel free to bounce over there and join on your character journal or your actual journal (or both, as I have), and start talking to people.

timeline
Not crucial, but something I'd like to figure out nonetheless. It would be nice to figure out when all of this is taking place (in part because I would like posts to be dated, just so we know what's going on when). I tend to set Rent as taking place in 1996, and was thinking this would be a few years before then - '93 or '94, maybe '95 (which would make the characters a bit older than I usually imagine them during Rent, but we can survive that). However, that's a very fuzzy idea on my part, and it's obviously subject to what you people think. Opinions on how long before Rent this takes place? Opinions on what year we want to say Rent takes place?

ummm...
I could have sworn I planned something else to say. But I've forgotten it completely. If I happen to recall it, I shall make a note of it, but for now... Welcome to the game, and feel free to start posting and such whenever you like (I'll probably get a Roger-post up tomorrow, if anyone wants to talk to him...).

we begin...
The game will begin several years before RENT. The loftmates are not yet loftmates, as such - they don't live in the loft right now, and several of them haven't even met. Until we have some players for the central group, I'm not going to pin down a specific time period, but I'm thinking that Benny has just left Brown (maybe Mark too, if Mark's player decided he stayed at Brown for all four years rather than dropping out). Roger is just starting up his band, Mark may be living with him or he and Benny may be just about to move in with Roger. Pretty much, it's all vague right now, and what's going on is very much subject to influence by what the players think. So. Opinions? Ideas? Anything?

anyone out of the mainstream
I am going to be holding auditions for the principle characters who have not yet been claimed (Alison, April, Benny, Mark and Collins) until Saturday, July 22. Characters are not given on a first-come-first-serve basis - rather, players will be chosen depending on how well they play the character, and how well that version of the character fits into the general feel of the game. My Maureen player, by the way, also needs to get me an application by July 22, but since she's already talked to me and claimed Maureen ahead of time, I'm not going to have her open for auditions.
If you'd like to audition for one of these characters (or if you'd just like to join an ensemble character or an OC), head over to the application form and leave a comment!

If you'd like to join, all you have to do is fill out an application form and post it in the comments here. Wait until you get a reply to your comment to tell you you've been accepted, and then join the community with your character's journal.

If your character is connected in any way to another character in the game, a relative or friend or whatever, make sure to consult that character's player before joining.

Currently Available Canon Characters
Alison Grey
Maureen Johnson
Thomas B. Collins
Ensemble characters (The Man, squeegee man, Life Support people, whatever)

Application Form
Character's Name:
Character's Journal:
Character's Age: (Roger is 22, 4 years out of high school. Take this into account when determining your character's age.)
Character's Gender:
History:
Any other notes: optional
Writing sample: (With the character you're applying for)
Player's Name/Journal:
Contact Info (e-mail/AIM...): optional

If you'd like an idea of the kind of thing we're looking for, look here.