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The Best Of My Love whoa-oo-oh-oo

By Grey
Created: 2025-08-10 18:11:49
Updated: 2025-08-11 23:20:12
Expiry: Never
slice of lifeeqgcoloraturap. diddypostcrushsupernova zapkiwi lollipopbad boy recordssafe (surprisingly)

  1. >Kiwi.
  2. >Nova.
  3. >Rah-rah. (Coloratura)
  4. >A three-way rivalry since childhood that seemed like it was going to last longer than the strongest face on a pyramid.
  5. >Turns out that one of the face's edges was destined for the ground and the other two were destined to join at the stars.
  6. >Two thirds of this rivalry turned out to become a bond fixing to last longer than the entire pyramid itself with its strength.
  7. >It's too bad the last third was the only one coming face-to-face with the value of genuineness, letting the other two thrive.
  8. >Coloratura met more honest friends in grade school while Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap took acting/singing lessons.
  9. >Coloratura learned the value of hard work from her friends; Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap learned the art of deception.
  10. >Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap learned how to cut corners and sharpen their tongues whenever talking to opportunities.
  11. >Coloratura learned from her friends how to sharpen the corners of her character and cut off the devil that was on her shoulder.
  12. >Sometimes, fortune favors the bold.
  13. >And it sometimes favors the wise.
  14. >It seldom favors those with integrity.
  15. >Depending which world one lives in.
  16. >Or which time someone might live in.
  17. ~
  18. >As for the world that was already left behind for the sake of the rivalry, things used to be great.
  19. >Coloratura, Kiwi and Nova used to spend time at eachother's houses on the weekends mostly.
  20. >They used to play games on older console systems and share a wholesome cozy vibe as kids.
  21. >Nova used to be the shy one while Kiwi and Rah-Rah would be more adventurous and brave.
  22. >Kiwi used to be the smart one while Nova and Rah-Rah would follow along with her big ideas.
  23. >Rah-rah used to be the luckiest one out of the bunch, squeaking out higher scores every time.
  24. >And not missing the school bus in the mornings that used to wake them, to get the bus to wait.
  25. >And not getting bitten by a single mosquito in the fields the three used to play in every summer.
  26. >Rah-rah always appreciated the loving company of her two childhood friends she used to have.
  27. >Her sudden love for wanting to be a famous singer one day was a blessing and a curse, or both.
  28. >One was disguised as the other, because Kiwi and Nova also wanted to become singers like her.
  29. >They still used to have those nights where they'd vibe together playing video games or charades.
  30. >Life used to be great and fun together until the arguments and bickering started up for little reason.
  31. >Each of them wanted to be the top star, because of what they heard when learning about pop stars.
  32. >But a spotlight isn't big enough for three, not in their case when each of them wanted to stand in front.
  33. >School talent shows got progressively chaotic, especially between the three of them getting competitive.
  34. >It was in good spirit at first, until the battle for first place got tied to egos and reputations amongst students.
  35. >None of the girls were old enough to figure out how to untie the knots that bound all their egos to these things.
  36. >That kind of critical thinking is for adults mature enough to not act like insecure kids on the internet reaching for wins.
  37. >It was a pretty inconvenient time to be growing up at this point right as the internet and social media was taking form.
  38. >YouTube videos and blog posts further poisoned each girl's perspective of what a pop star should be, and how to become one.
  39. >By the time high school started, the competition between them became bitter, more-so among Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap.
  40. >Pop culture was teaching them what a public figure in general should be and how to become one, instead of becoming one with themselves.
  41. >Coloratura meanwhile wanted to use her nickname Rah-rah as her stage name, something near and dear to her to remind her where she came from.
  42. >During school talent shows, Coloratura and the soon-to-be PostCrush would always try to outdo one another, which became the talk of the school for a few weeks.
  43. >Their rivalry had already been long-standing, until Kiwi and Nova soon realized that each of them could play both drums and guitar alone.
  44. >Since one of them was good at one and the other was good at the other, they decided to team up and sound amazing together.
  45. >As a two-piece band that also sang and shared a spotlight that was juuust big enough for two, but this to-be gravy train has no room for a third wheel.
  46. >So they'd try even harder while teaming up to keep Coloratura from taking any of the spotlight's glow away from them during their important talent shows.
  47. >All this really served to do was to make Coloratura hate her former childhood friends even more and more until they are no longer on speaking terms.
  48. >They just become her competitors until they say sorry for being awful to her, but they simply graduate from competitor status to enemy status.
  49. >Didn't help that the soon-to-be PostCrush would see themselves as better than Coloratura because they're taking the time and effort to learn how to get really good at guitar and drums for the sake of standing out and impressing people more than the competition.
  50. >At least in high school and eventually college, it wasn't hard to get closer to already existing other friends that Coloratura knew and added new friends to the group of.
  51. >Like another set of parents she could comfortably say didn't cramp her style, Coloratura's new set of friends kept her somewhat grounded in reality.
  52. >Except they didn't get nasty towards her when it came crunch time to start trying to make music, they didn't even interfere with Coloratura's dreams of becoming Rah-rah.
  53. >Now things are back to how they are in the present: not quite at all how they used to be, whether for better of for worse...
  54. >For better or for worse, Coloratura is going her own way trying to become a solo pop act by blowing up on the internet like Kiwi and Nova are also trying to.
  55. >Their means of achieving these goals in life are different quite a lot as soon as they reflect inward about it... and then there's their outward actions about it.
  56. >Instead of college or trade school, Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap went off to that part of that huge coastal city way out west where everyone's made of plastic, whether it be on the inside, or outside, or both.
  57. >Coloratura's friends wanted her to take their hands on the way to forging a heart and soul made of steel and goodwill, but even that couldn't mend the heartbreak of listening to the final cries of someone's childhood dreams.
  58. >Coloratura always wanted to make music, and she's been doing it as a side hobby for several years while being friends with more honest girls who just didn't have the heart to tell her no.
  59. >Her friends were always well-aware of these childhood dreams, having known their friend for so long.
  60. >It was probably her own fault that Coloratura kept doubling and tripling down on eventually chasing those dreams.
  61. >Felt like more of a challenge to hear her parents say "you can't" after years of disingenuous "you can be anything you want to be".
  62. >Only to hear her trusted friend echo the same sentiment, not holding back like a good yes-girl would when Coloratura asked one of her friends if she wanted to play guitar with her one afternoon.
  63. >Watching Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap begin to write their own amateur songs only made Coloratura feel as though she was falling further behind.
  64. >Her dreams reaching out from the depths of getting drowned by a world of 9 to 5 jobs that trapped so many people at the whim of the locker of Dow Jones.
  65. >In a world of sink or swim, Coloratura decides she wants to own a ship and sail.
  66. >She must choose to either think or win, and misses the value of ownership over sales.
  67. >In other words, she signs a record contract.
  68. >A... BAD one.
  69. >It happened before Coloratura's friends could even realize what she had done; the ambitious girl started trying to release her own amateur music to combat her rivals Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap.
  70. >One of them furrows her brow at her frustrating friend, asking her why she didn't tell any of them that she was still doing this.
  71. >"Why didn't you want to support me after all the years we've known eachother?" Coloratura softly raises her voice every time this happened with another one of her childhood friends, remembering meeting this honest farm girl all the way back in 1st grade.
  72. >There had been many instances since back in 10th grade when Coloratura's friends would tell her there's overall no point in starting a band unless it was a friendship-driven project, not a career or profit driven one.
  73. >They'd tell her that the music industry is nothing but trouble, and that people either go nowhere and pour their whole life into nothing, or become a slave to terrible people who will use them in the worst ways for primarily money until the big suits find someone else.
  74. >"It can't be ALL bad! I only get to live once and I don't wanna grow up to be like my lame parents. I just want to follow my passion."
  75. >Coloratura is sure her friends are wrong when they swear people can't truly make a career out of that anymore. About the "good ol' days" being long gone.
  76. >"Those suit-and-tie executives are no better than tuxedo pigs on Wall Street. And they run *everything*!" Her friends say.
  77. >"Well it's too late! I already found a great label that'll get me where I need to go! They saw my covers on YouTube and we started emailing."
  78. >"Wait... you actually SIGNED!?" The dumbfounded friend drops her jaw practically through the floor of the bus that stops for the last time with both friends on it. "I can't believe you would do that! What's the matter with you?"
  79. >"I thought I could trust you to stick by my side like you always did, but I guess we're growing up in different directions." Coloratura gathers her things with her rescued dream inside her backpack, just saved from that world of 9 to 5 jobs.
  80. >"I... wha... what label did you sign to?" The friend twitches her lower eyelid in disbelief.
  81. >"Bad Boy." Responds Coloratura, stepping off the bus with a landing into the asphalt like she stomped a crack into it, finalizing her dramatic exit.
  82. >The now mortified friend's eyelid twitches even more intensely in response to hearing the cursed name of the label her friend signed to.
  83. >She stares at Coloratura through the window, knowing no words could pierce her thick skull even if they could pierce the glass.
  84. >The glass itself might as well be that of a telescope, because Coloratura already feels miles away when strutting along the length of the bus.
  85. >In a world of sink or swim, it's think or win.
  86. >Coloratura thought she had ownership over her life under the fishing net, but it looks like the ownership's going to be over her instead... she's in over her head.
  87. >She never thought about why the people she was emailing liked her videos of her singing in a non-family-friendly outfit.
  88. >The chirping of the birds in the trees Coloratura struts by on the sidewalk might as well be mourning her future.
  89. >They're gonna also be chirping in those early mornings as well every time she gets up to catch a flight to go on tour or attend an interview.
  90. >Even worse than the early mornings of getting up to drive to that 9 to 5 she somehow dodged, but she she dodged that bullet in favor of being in the path of a plume of napalm.
  91. >The napalm that'll keep those birds from singing in Coloratura's heart in due time, the contract a powerful agent as orange as the sunrise itself as she will sit on her third flight of the week to the next concert.
  92. >---
  93. >Her life's on fire but the spark is gone.
  94. >So is the spark that caused this a couple of years ago when she signed that deal with the devil.
  95. >Rah-rah is on stage now, can't hear herself think over the deafening cheers of her forced fans.
  96. >There's so much makeup over the bags under her eyes that the spotlights over her head can't catch them.
  97. >Rah-rah wants to walk off the stage and collect her now more numerous bags she flew over to the hotel with and leave this unfamiliar city go home.
  98. >But a legally bound contract weighs more than any amount of luggage ever could.
  99. >A simple few sheets of paper connected to a chain that latches to her ankle; the absolute balls, the audacity of someone to do this to another human being.
  100. >Coloratura finished the set for this concert, then wilts off the stage like the industry plant she is.
  101. >Ready to be taken by the gentle breeze that brought her to these artificial heights to the next timezone over by tomorrow evening.
  102. >Grounded by something worse than her parents but has no roots.
  103. >Bound to the whim of her record label that can make her irrelevant with the same gentle breeze that brought her a mask with a fame and fortune design on it.
  104. >Looking at herself in the mirror, it feels like a mask is the only thing she might as well be wearing.
  105. >And she's required to keep it on... because it's smiling.
  106. >Don't want to break the positive vibes for the fans, now.
  107. >Coloratura counts as many sheep as she can before washing her skimpy outfit the next morning and catching her next flight with those same chirping birds singing to her from outside of her cage.
  108. >Her manager almost went sicko mode on her after she showed up late and almost missed the flight, but she can at least sleep more on the plane.
  109. >Well, not sleep more... but sleep.
  110. >She's just glad it was a pill and not a fist that had her out like a light.
  111. >Off to the next concert, where she'll perform the same slew of songs she barely wrote while showing off her performance-enhancing-drugged up body to thousands of people.
  112. >She's not really used to it yet... but nobody knows.
  113. >Why won't the stage flames and fireworks malfunction and just kill her already?
  114. >She's out of the ocean that almost drowned her but now trapped in outer space where no one can hear her scream for help.
  115. >Is this what being a star is like?
  116. >Coloratura just wanted to breathe, but life is suffocating her.
  117. ~
  118. >Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap finally learned how to live without breathing out here.
  119. >They simply fully embraced the chaos; the emptiness of their lives and stress of being famous performers.
  120. >Just slap hearts over everything and give in to appealing to infatuated fans... don't be afraid to add that... certain type... of appeal, be afraid of not adding it.
  121. >Don't make everything too explicit, but make everything overly implicit to make the rabid crowd need more of the actual direct gratification they'll never get.
  122. >The expanding layers of hearts look like they're zooming in, but they're receding like a rainbow the more the stans drive themselves crazy towards it.
  123. >There's no set horizon when you're worldwide.
  124. >These two just have to make sure the fans never catch the fool's gold at the base of their illusion.
  125. >Touring, performing, playing actual instruments the best they can to salt bae some authenticity into their brand...
  126. >Not to mention the interviews and filming racy music videos... keeping up their public personas.
  127. >Don't give too much details of what it's actually like to have the life of the broke and famous.
  128. >Instead, obsess over your stans as hard as they obsess over you, really overplay that connection that retains loyal listeners and consumers.
  129. >Y'know, Kpop it.
  130. >They're starting to get more and more famous, making their first album look like rookie numbers compared to the over-exaggerated rollouts they do every single summer.
  131. >The fantasy world seen from the outside of fame is a harsh reality for anyone who has to worry about needing security whenever going out into public.
  132. >Having learned how to breathe out here, the duo keeps the flashy colors up and going for anyone looking up to the stars at them through their own telescopes.
  133. >Whether it be staring out their bedroom windows through that glass at the sky or out their bus windows wondering why they have to go to school if they themselves can be like the famous stars in Hollywood one day.
  134. >Kiwi and Nova can only partially wish they were back in that place in life now that they realized the greener grass on the other side wasn't even going to be their own money to begin with.
  135. >Everything else occupying their mind is touring schedules, public perception, copyright laws their manager will have to review with them, interview dates, which pills will help them perform shows the best, merchandise sales and many more things.
  136. >But they're more than used to it, when it comes to this business, it's to use them as assets.
  137. >But as useful little tools for the music business to make dollars off of, they keep slick smiles on their faces while signing autographs, maintaining the public personas expected by the loving fans.
  138. >Survivors of the future they chose.
  139. >Letting their publicist and security suddenly herd them away as soon as the final name was signed on the final piece of paper.
  140. >How many fans need to have a signed autograph before it stops being special?
  141. >There's thousands and thousands by now, both girls are sure of that.
  142. >And back onto the tour bus they go, far away from all of those regular people out there who are dangerous whether they love them much or hate them too much.
  143. >Stans and haters make a good case for some sort of horseshoe theory; they can both reach the point of stalking for opposite reasons.
  144. >"You know, I don't understand why they don't just make us smoke crack or something at this point." Kiwi finally feels like she's allowed to speak as herself. "Since we'd need to be on something like that to do 5 3-hour concerts in a week."
  145. >"Ugh, don't make me think of that kind of stuff, you'll scare me into thinking they'll actually do it." Replies Nova with a tiny energy drink between her fingers.
  146. >The two of them force themselves to laugh at the exaggeration, so they have an excuse to do so in order to prove to themselves that they smiled for real today.
  147. >If there is no pain, then there is no gain (for the label).
  148. >Nova keeps herself distracted from the ache in her heart with some high-end TMZ literature when she sees an ad with a familiar face on it.
  149. >She squints curiously, making sure the effects of the "concert pills" aren't still lingering.
  150. >"Is that..." She mutters before almost accidentally breaking into singing. "Hey Kiwi! Look at this!"
  151. >"Hm?" Kiwi finishes chewing the little bit of celery before peering at the part of the magazine page Nova has her polished nail pointing to.
  152. >"Isn't that Coloratura?"
  153. >Kiwi double takes at the page, processing the name spoken at first like an ancient defeated civilization before a bell rings as soon as she recognizes the face on the paper. "Holy... it IS!"
  154. >"What the fuu..."
  155. >"She's having concerts now?"
  156. >"Yeah, a couple of back to back shows in June."
  157. >The very next thing they think to look for in the picture is the fakeness in Rah-rah's smile, which they'd be experts at picking out as the bags under their eyes have been replaced by adorable little hearts.
  158. >"How the hell did SHE make it?" Nova internally hopes that the photographer was simply really good and Rah-rah's smile isn't one of genuine happiness. "She could barely actually sing."
  159. >"Oh no... please don't tell me they autotune her." Sighs Kiwi.
  160. >"They probably did. It was hell convincing them to leave us alone about that, remember?"
  161. >The longer the magazine page stays open, the more the spite starts to pour in at the sight of this old rival.
  162. >In the eyes of Kiwi and Nova, Coloratura was too busy being a goody-two-shoes to be deserving of fame and (mis)fortune.
  163. >Everyone knows this is a game of cheating, and after all the dirty work Kiwi and Nova had to do, it would keep them up a night knowing someone actually made it big playing fair for once.
  164. >They don't want to call her Rah-rah, but the ad in the magazine insists on the name.
  165. >Coloratura was supposed to stay the crab in the bucket that couldn't pull Kiwi and Nova back in.
  166. >The cruel irony of becoming two bucket crabs of their own hoping that the girl didn't make it playing fair or found actual happiness in this evil business... it's too much...
  167. >"Waitwaitwait... what label is she signed to? Does the ad say?" Asks Kiwi.
  168. >"Look it up on your phone." Responds Nova after downing the last of her tiny energy drink, shivering from the taste.
  169. >The search bar is Kiwi's confession booth, listening to her admit that she cares enough to put this into her search history.
  170. >This prayer better yield the results needed to help her sleep at night; she's going to NEED it badly with the next concert in like 30 hours or something.
  171. >Her chained-up soul sinks as soon as she sees that Rah-rah is popular enough to have her own Wikipedia page.
  172. >If there are no chains on Rah-rah's soul, the ones binding Kiwi's soul will compensate for the lost weight like they're straightening a teeter totter.
  173. >But it's always darkest before the dawn, and both girls sigh in relief as they now both stare at the screen in anticipation.
  174. >Bad Boy.
  175. >Rah-rah is signed to Bad Boy Records.
  176. >There's no way in hell she's happy there.
  177. >Hell, she'd even have been better off signed to OVO.
  178. >"Oh... oh my..." Nova puts a hand up to her mouth that can't decide whether to grin or grimace, her quivering lips kissing her own fingers.
  179. >"Well well well..." Kiwi starts feeling better about the deal her and her bestie have signed onto.
  180. >Those chains around her soul feel light as a quill she might as well have used to sign her name on the contract with.
  181. >Through their smug grins, each girl can see the other's guilt in how nastily they're reacting to this information.
  182. >Whether it's moral guilt, survivor's guilt, they don't really know right now.
  183. >Whatever it is, it'll war with their spite and influence their approach when talking to their manager and co. about a possible collaboration with this "fellow pop star".
  184. ~
  185. >Coloratura regrets blasting off into the cosmos of a life of fame the way she had.
  186. >She misses having her feet on the ground, her life under her own control.
  187. >Those two other girls can have this, she doesn't want to follow the path they went down anymore.
  188. >Fireworks and plumes of flames shoot up from the edges of the stage as she dances, while remembering all the right moves.
  189. >Those rehearsals have been put to good use, so much so that she didn't even need to rely as much on the real-time autotune of her mic this time.
  190. >Her lungs have adapted to the lack of air out here.
  191. >She's starting to be able to sing so well that experience itself became the perfect successor to practice at home or lessons.
  192. >The crowd goes as wild as they're supposed to.
  193. >The performance soon concludes with the hours feeling shorter every time another concert date gets X'ed off of the calendar.
  194. >After saying something witty to the audience for a Twitter clip moment, Rah-rah waves off her loving fans and struts off of the stage.
  195. >She's surprised she isn't limping or falling over onto the couch as soon as she's alone in her dressing room.
  196. >The roar of the crowd is replaced by her labored breathing.
  197. >It's only interrupted by a knock on the door.
  198. >There's her manager again.
  199. >"Another great show!" He chimes into the room he enters. "I've got some great news too! We just got another business opportunity."
  200. >"Hm?"
  201. >"The boss got a call from another label. Are you familiar with the pop duo Post Crush?"
  202. >Them ore the manager talks about Post Crush, the more the memories about a couple of past rivals resurface in Coloratura's mind.
  203. >Though, they're the last thing she's concerned about right now.
  204. >She's more concerned about making it through the rest fo the tour dates in one piece.
  205. >Long story short, Diddy is still disgruntled about that once big "Puffy Ami Yumi" duo using one of his 20 fucking names in their own name purely by coincidence, and he had heard from prison that everyone's saying they were always better than him.
  206. >And he's mad that he never got the lookalike group Post Crush to sign to his label Bad Boy, so the next best thing is to rekindle their connection with a friend who also got famous and have them all do a collab album together.
  207. >And lucky for him, they just let him walk free after two short years.
  208. >So now he's calling the shots with a vengeance, ready to tie up all the loose ends with the return of freak-offs and everything.
  209. >And Rah-rah unfortunately has no choice but to accept, and so does her manager too.
  210. >Lest Diddy pull some strings and have her "operate a little closer to him personally" in this label he owns and runs.
  211. >As soon a she's done changing outfits, Rah-rah is ordered to head on out to her own tour bus where her manager and publicist start to continue a conversation they previously left off on.
  212. >They might as well have dimmed the lights godfather style with how ominous they're trying to make their words sound.
  213. >Good thing Coloratura has long been used to this by now.
  214. >She can tell her overarching boss Diddy is fixated on achieving this goal, he's got everyone in line ready to push for this one.
  215. >That older duo's spat with Diddy must be still really fresh in his mind as an old grudge.
  216. >Already weighed down and tied to the ground of this still alien world of surviving tour dates at least three times a week, Coloratura naturally needs a little bit of pulling and tugging in the direction of revisiting her own old grudge against PostCrush.
  217. >But the ropes around her wrists are as tight as the ropes around her ankles.
  218. >They'll turn into chains again if she disobeys.
  219. >Reluctantly nodding with a yes forced out past her lips, Coloratura only looks forward to later today when she'll be left alone for a few hours.
  220. >After being dismissed with the managers leaving the room, Coloratura pops a single sleeping pill as if she wasn't about to collapse from exhaustion anyway.
  221. >She just needs to make sure she'll make up for the sleep she's going to lose in the future.
  222. >Such is life imprisoned on an alien planet amongst the stars.
  223. >Chemicals are needed in the body to shine through the window's bars.
  224. >Polishing the invisible smiling mask she'll need to put on for the next concert, Coloratura watches vast plains of corn and wheat pass her by outside the tour bus window.
  225. >Even every insignificant barn, store and house that goes by is interesting to her now.
  226. >Anything to take her off course of this merry go round carousel whatever-it-is of being a commodity.
  227. >Coloratura would love to stick around some random place out here and chat with someone more down to earth than she is.
  228. >Remind herself of the simpler times she came from that are still moving on without her... or rather staying in place while she moves on without them if the speed of this bus has anything to say about that.
  229. >She'd pray no one in the convenience stores out here would know who she is, so no one would curse her mood with the simple act of asking for an autograph and remind her of the chains around her ankles that sometimes turn into ropes to leave less of a mark on her skin.
  230. >But like the life Rah-rah is living, this bus only stops for fuel, not making time for the comfier side of life or stopping to let the girl look around for a little bit.
  231. >Off she's driven, feeling like that'll turn into off the edge of a canyon soon enough; she a roadrunner about as much as she's a showrunner... she's the one being driven and ran like a cartoon or puppet.
  232. >It's hard to get a taste of the reality her happiness needs her to ignore.
  233. >Coloratura wishes she had more control.
  234. >---
  235. >Memories of each pop act's setlist buzzing in their heads in the dueling theme songs playing in their heads as they finally approach one another once more after so many years apart.
  236. >They approach one another, getting closer to stars out here in the vast void of stardom just like they used to want to before they learned firsthand how suffocating and destructive being a star actually is.
  237. >"Hey..." Kiwi is once again the first to initiate the conversation, always having been the bravest of the three.
  238. >"Long time no see." Nova joins in, taking note of the tired look in Rah-rah's eyes but not having it in her to ask her if she's doing okay.
  239. >Being in person once again and breaking the no-speaking terms from ages past finally returned a boomerang that must have been thrown too far over the fence during childhood and crashes into the bars in the window, still shattering the glass and getting everyone's attention.
  240. >"So uh... we're all gonna do a collab album, huh?" Rah-rah smiles at them, a skill she's really good at.
  241. >Deciphering the pain through that smile is a skill the other two are just as good at; Rah-rah didn't fortify her soul with nastiness enough to survive out here without it breaking her inside.
  242. >Her luck finally caught up to her and stabbed her in the back, giving her this life she thought she wanted.
  243. >"Yeah. We're gonna be playing together any everything, Rah-rah." Kiwi responds. "Nice to see you again."
  244. >Coloratura hears that voice call her by her nickname with the same cadence as what it was during their childhood together, and she almost asks "what game are we playing?".
  245. >Nova realizes just how wrong she was to not want to call Rah-rah by her said nickname, as her spite had made her lose sight of why it meant something to all three of the girls since long before any of this even started.
  246. >"I uh... still didn't learn how to play real instruments like you yet." Rah-rah shyly smiles at the floor, seeking something relevant to talk about they're familiar with.
  247. >"No worries. You're a great singer, Rah-rah." Kiwi immediately demonstrates to Nova that she shares the exact same sentiment that's been nagging her inside her own head. "Anything that makes your songs as magical as they are is always more than enough."
  248. >There was a lot more than "I missed you" in the hugs they share... there's more (or at least just as much of) "I'm sorry" than that when they embrace one another with pats on the back that add "great work".
  249. >On the inside of the machine, former enemies must band together against the new common enemy that is the life they're leading.
  250. >It's a unique kind of madhouse that can be seen a lot better from the inside.
  251. >The managers watch them catch up after a long time, with plans written down on the papers in their hands.
  252. >But what the managers don't see is the brewing rebellion.
  253. ~
  254. >The preparation process:
  255. >What was originally going to end up being the biggest chapter of competition in each girl's life ended up being their biggest chapter of cooperation.
  256. >The skills and experience they've built up over the years is being put to use.
  257. >They waste no time in spending every moment working together as soon as they have their minds right where they need them to be... which is almost immediately.
  258. >That last set of concerts couldn't have ended fast enough.
  259. >As soon as they're not performing live or doing any interviews or any of the other noise that comes with being a famous pop star, the three of them are basically locked in the studio.
  260. >Rhyming words in their lyrics in the studio like 3 v-shaped corners and 3 sides like the lone face of the pyramid from years ago now dropping bombs from the sky.
  261. >They live there, dedicated and focused like they're performing live there...
  262. >Doing more than what they need to do to survive there...
  263. >And hoping it's enough to strive there...
  264. >Hoping to keep getting surprised there...
  265. >The interweaving threads of the plan is devised there...
  266. >Keeping at that concert performance mindset like it's being televised there...
  267. >With Nova and Kiwi getting blisters on their fingers, Coloratura straining her vocal cords, it almost feels like they're going to die there...
  268. >The title of the album is "there ive sed enough" with the cover art being a single seven-sided die with the seven dots facing upward.
  269. >They were scheduled to make 15 songs for this album... they're making at least 36.
  270. >No one in the entertainment industry is working as hard as these three right now.
  271. >Kiwi and Nova have come up with the idea of upgrading their look to include shiny little 3-D gem hearts glued on in the place of their usual painted-on hearts below their eyes.
  272. >This quaint little detail will come in handy later.
  273. >Rah-rah simply upgraded to a new flamboyant outfit as per usual, just the way her record label likes it anyway...
  274. >The focus and energy in the studio is so great that the girls have to pick out what sounds the best and secretly save the material onto a thumb drive, since the shit taste of the label wants the not as great songs for the album anyway.
  275. >They'll find someone to mix and master everything for them later...
  276. >The tour dates are planned, the performance concert drugs are bought, venues booked, merchandise set up, etc. etc.
  277. >This is a lot of tiring work that's going to pay off dearly down the road that same tour bus can't turn onto.
  278. >The road that leads back home, back to earth.
  279. >The caged birds are singing and flying laps in preparation for their tour.
  280. >Sick and tired of this industry that's gotten even worse than the era of their predecessor trios.
  281. >Music is an art, and it's time to remind people of this even though it's such an obvious fact that everyone should already know.
  282. >But the word "art" has been slapped onto what should really be called a cheap sleazy business or trend.
  283. >Maybe one day...
  284. ~
  285. >Release day comes.
  286. >The album is a smash hit.
  287. >The tour kicks off with a bang.
  288. >PostCrush and Rah-rah have successfully topped the charts and captivated the music-enjoying populace of the general public or whatever in the hell they can be called anymore.
  289. >Show after show, they pour their hearts, minds and souls into every little thing they do to make it magical, like it's the last time they'll ever do it.
  290. >Because it is.
  291. >Coloratura isn't even focused on measuring up to the other two girls, and PostCrush isn't even focused on not messing up.
  292. >All three of them have gotten this whole thing down to such a capital T so many times in The prior preparation process that everything's perfect coming out on the first try.
  293. >Social media is a-buzz, the masses are impressed, reviewers are giving them at very least a 9 out of 10 almost every time while badmouthing the label they're signed to, begging them to leave the label somehow, and so on...
  294. >Diddy so far gets to have his comeback moment after walking out of prison, now having a more popular and successful version of Hi-Hi Puffy Ami Yumi of his own in PostCrush churning out a cluster of global #1 hits for him.
  295. >He sits on his seatless bicycle throne at his blacklight-fearing desk scrolling through social media ready to gloat at all the haters by acting like he's the nicest guy ever and now he has something extremely successful going for him... and with three more obligatorily planned albums too!
  296. >He's planning to party extra hard with a grin spreading across his mouthbreather-looking face when he comes across a TMZ article saying that BOTH Rah-rah and each member of PostCrush have preemptively severed any and all ties with Bad Boy Records, having already filed in the necessary paperwork to leave and violate the legally binding contract with.
  297. >He mutters to himself that there's no way that can be real... minutes before his assistant limps into his office and slips the paperwork the three girls sent onto his desk.
  298. >"You want me to send them a message?" Diddy's assistant asks, a worried expression across both of her swollen black eyes.
  299. >---
  300. >Rah-rah's attorney is contacted about as immediately as Rah-rah was served the legal paperwork, having consulted PostCrush who have seen this kind of stuff happen before when things go south and helped her prepare for the storm.
  301. >Diddy's intention is to completely bankrupt all three performers for violating the contract that clearly say they're legally obligated and required to stay to the end of the term.
  302. >He already started in the coming days by taking all proceeds, profits, revenue, whatever, from the record sales and ticket sales and merchandise sales... you name it... and cutting it all away from any related bank account but his own, which the contract he bred allows him to do.
  303. >He locks down access/posession to all the masters of the songs, and does a bunch of other power moves, etc.
  304. >All three girls meet Diddy in his private office with the same face Dr. Dre must have been making when he told Suge Knight that he was bailing out of Death Row Records and starting Aftermath Records.
  305. >Coloratura stands in front while PostCrush stand in the back watching Diddy undergo his trademark emotional breakdown where he thinks he's safe from being recorded.
  306. >He goes on a long-winded rant about how not even the courts can get him now and that he can do all sort of unspeakable things to Coloratura and get away with it, and that she's nothing more than dirt and he owns her and he will run her into the ground financially and make her wish she was never born for simply inconveniencing him.
  307. >He said inconveniencing because his next part of his rant is to prove to all three girls that what they're doing isn't even leaving a dent in his power or position or money or his blah blah blah...
  308. >To show that he's the big winner no matter what and he's unaffected despite his rising angry tone being picked up by the tiny cameras inside of PostCrush's little gem hearts that are still glued to their faces.
  309. >Sat there on their perfectly clear skin like upside-down siamese tear drops substituting for the ones they weren't allowed to cry when putting their blood, sweat and tears into their craft and performances in their last concert hours before.
  310. >Coloratura knew it was coming, wincing ahead of time before Diddy slapped her multiple times, and she has long been strong enough to take the blow like a champ before he kicks her out of his office with the other two who successfully got everything on camera.
  311. >There being four cameras in total, in case Diddy decided to slap the other girls too and knock the gems off of at least one of their face cheeks, knowing him.
  312. >The feeling of escape washes over all three of them after they leave the headquarters for Bad Boy Records for the last time like three bats out of hell.
  313. >---
  314. >The footage hits the internet hours later, followed by a fanmade GoFundMe calling for justice for Rah-rah and PostCrush, the owner of the page already knowing all three girls and unconditionally having their back along with all the other stans watching the "leaked" video online.
  315. >The court of public opinion has already concluded that the contract was rightfully violated, but of course, the actual courts maintain that the girls all owe punitive damages, profit losses etc. and all from their own pockets which are smaller since they as pop stars barely owned a percent of what the label made off of their songs.
  316. >The controversy over the court cases and "leaked" video become such a rallying cry all three girls deeply play into that even the biggest pop stars in the world like Taylor Swift (and her history of fighting labels) make a really huge deal out of this and refuse to stop talking about it until Rah-rah and PostCrush are fully recompensed not just for the legal fees but for all of their music they never truly got paid for before either.
  317. >Those songs and song elements that were stored on that secret thumb drive now come into play as pre-prepared material cut from the fateful plethora of recording sessions.
  318. >It really helps PostCrush and Rah-rah get together with a couple of very willing volunteers with mixing and mastering experience, motivated by the "leaked" video, to help them complete and "leak" two free (for legal reasons) albums to further promote their cause and exemplify that they're on the side of music and Diddy is on the side of everything wrong with the industry.
  319. >Doing what they should have gotten together and did in the beginning, all three fo the girls start their own record label and publishing company on their own terms with the help of their loving fans and peers who happen to be more than happy to help out.
  320. >This really helped them after their inevitable loss in the court case by a system and players of this music game that just don't care about people or artforms in the slightest until it makes *LOTS* of money for them.
  321. >But fans and supporters all over the world will never let them go bankrupt from this particular battle they lost and war they won.
  322. >Everyone's hearts are in it, and they're all in tune with what the greater good is when it comes to keeping evil from at least winning for the million-and-oneth time.
  323. >Before they start off their next album that will captivate listeners all over, PostCrush and Coloratura decide to spend more time having fun together.
  324. >All three of them get a warm welcome at a carnival they go to, happily signing autographs and receiving thank-yous from people who loved watching an artist bail out of a corrupt record label and get away with it in the end, giving countless other imprisoned artists hope that they have a chance.
  325. >Kiwi, Nova and Rah-rah have brought their fun outside of the living rooms at night and to where everyone can share happiness with them.
  326. >The uncaged birds soar through the vibrant sky with spread wings slicing through the wind that carries their triumphant singing.
  327. >All three girls munch on cotton candy and laugh together surrounded by friends and fans alike.
  328. >Getting tossed around by nothing more than amusement park rides now.
  329. >The smiles on their faces had already been gradually becoming real.
  330. >Ever since they saw this new day coming months before now.
  331. >During *that* recording session that changed their lives.
  332. >But now... the fruits of their passionate labor are ripe.
  333. >Those smiles are more real than they've ever been.
  334. >Genuine happiness rings, as they laugh and sing.
  335. >Eating ice cream, sipping down sweet smoothies.
  336. >Taking pics, and playing carnival games together.
  337. >Living their best lives, sharing it with all their fans.
  338. >Kiwi Nova and Coloratura have all left their mark.
  339. >Everything's back in its rightful place from before.
  340. >Three childhood friends have reunited in triumph.
  341. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbwXoN-XU5I

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