#I think they have new tubas? They used to have silvers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ikesenhell · 5 years

Text

Decorate Time

You can find all other IkeSen works of mine here. NOTES: I realized when @angstprincessnaga mentioned it that I haven’t written anything significant for Sasuke in QUITE SOME TIME. Have this as penance.

He liked music. He liked music just fine, honestly, though he couldn’t say that the brief time he’d spent in band class had done much more than provide him hours of daydreams for what he could do with a bit of force, a tuba, and various objects. Lab work never was the right space for it. Certainly, they had a small bluetooth speaker that they’d cobbled together a protective shield for, but he’d certainly never used it. There was serenity in the silence.

In that sense, the Sengoku wasn’t so unnerving (though sometimes everything was too silent--he’d never realized how accustomed he was to elevator music). Wind and the bubbling streams and the echo in mountain passes didn't bother him. Quiet was a friend of his.

Sasuke embraced it.

Four years of that sort of stillness, and she interrupted it in the way that only she could: on accident. They’d stolen a moment together in Azuchi when she turned and grinned at him.

“Guess what I’ve got.”

Sasuke couldn’t guess, so he didn't. “Tell me.”

Triumphant, she wriggled an iPod from her purse and wriggled it at him. “It still has battery.”

He blinked. After all these years of its absence, his brain struggled to reacclimate to the idea that, yes, Apple as a company existed. “Does it? What do you have on there?”

She laughed and shook her head, rubbing her thumb across its screen. “Honestly, I’d wiped it and was going to upload a bunch of new music when I moved here. I only really had stuff to listen to on the plane--relaxing music, that kind of thing.”

“You don’t like heights,” he noted aloud, more monotone than he meant. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“I miss just listening to things,” she said, wrapping her fingers around the screen. Sometimes, Sasuke was very glad he’d never taken anatomy. Now was one of those times. The way her body moved made him believe in magic and design. “But I don’t wanna just play it for no reason.”

“No?”

“Nah. I’m gonna save it for something. I don’t know what yet, but it’ll be good.”

He watched her store the device safely back in her purse, sunlight dappling over her hair, brushing the back of her neck with solar fingers. The sight alone had him quoting half-remembered Shakespeare to himself: As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright, that birds would sing and think it were not night...

She was staring at him.

“You good?” She asked.

“Perfectly,” he responded, and wondered if he always heard music around other people. That would be an interesting investigation.

---

Some nights, he snuck out of Kasugayama and Kenshin’s reach to sit alone on the battlements. No one bothered him there. Few saw him. Four years he’d spent doing it, thinking all manner of things--charting the movement of the stars, marveling at the planets, conducting minor investigations or writing notations from the day.

Now he thought a lot about geography and music.

Once he’d heard it said that art decorated space, but music decorated time. And time! He’d learned so much about it and nothing at all in one. Where the scientist in him fell away and he was left with just himself, just Sasuke, he just sat in awe of its expanse--and the way it separated him from her. That was what lay between them, after all. Distance and time. Azuchi was many miles away, and while the landscape was art enough, the wind wasn’t nearly enough to waste the relentless hours necessary to get to her.

It wasn’t enough. There were so, so, so few and limited hours in a lifetime, moments he could never retrieve or retrace or remake, and here he was, wishing away some of them just to be closer faster.

Sometimes he thought about that iPod. He wondered what she listened to on it, what she considered worthy of spending the valuable minutes of her life enjoying. Was it classical? Did she listen to Mozart, Debussy, Chopin? Was it lo-fi? Sasuke shut his eyes and imagined her humming along. The cool wind swept over his cheek, and he imagined it was her sighing softly against the background of Clair De Lune, or Jeux D’eau, or The Girl With the Flaxen Hair.

He was humming it too.

Somewhere behind him in Kasugayama, a great shout went up from the party he was missing. Sasuke folded his legs together and tuned them out, holding onto a memory of Debussy’s Arabesque and envisioning her under the stars with him.

---

“I want to take you somewhere.”

She peered up from her sewing, the candlelight fluttering low over her cheeks. “Oh? Where?”

He just shook his head and held out his hand. “Do you trust me enough to come anyway? It’s a surprise.”

“Of course!”

In a bundle of hissed laughter and soft feet, they snuck from Azuchi and down through the township--past the cherry blossoms and the shuttered market, past Yuki’s room in the tavern and all the Warlord’s houses, past the walls to the city and toward the lake. Its glassy surface reflected the stars so perfectly that, when they sat on the shore, the line between sky and earth all but disappeared. A silver moon hung over them like a lantern.

But her smile. Oh, that smile put it all to shame. She shivered, and without thinking, Sasuke stripped off his haori and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Thank you.”

O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven-- He offered her a small smile and patted the ground. “Shall we?”

Together, they sat in silence. The heavens rotated slowly above them. Sasuke pointed out planets and constellations in whispers, their fingers brushing against one another as they lay, knuckle-to-knuckle on the grass. When she teased her pinky finger out toward him, he linked his without a word. Not that she needed to secure it--he’d been wrapped around her little finger for longer than he liked to admit. Even so it set his soul on fire.

“Oh,” she sighed eventually. “I wish I’d brought the iPod.”

Sasuke blinked and shoved his glasses back up. “Should I sing?”

She blinked right back. “Can you sing?”

“No,” he admitted. “I can’t.”

She belted a laugh. To his heart, it sounded like Gymnopedie no. 1. “It’s okay. I’ve a better thought.”

“What’s that?”

He held his breath as she sat up in the grass, up until her knees nested with his and her chin was level with his and her fingers entwined with his. How could he risk ruining it, especially when he could still hear the soft strains of piano by her will and life alone? Moonlight glanced silver over her mouth.

Sasuke heard himself swallow.

Then her hand was on his cheek, her fingertips against his lips, and he kissed her thumb without meaning to--if only to experiment and discover what she tasted like before it went away. Repeat study is always better, he thought, and as if she heard him, she dipped forward--ah.

Ah, she tasted like music.

Now this--this was how to decorate time.

They parted. Every inch of him craved more--and grace of graces, she tilted back in and sent shivers like shockwaves to his heart. He wasn’t a musical man, but hell, her mouth made him one. When at last she pulled away again, he reached out and dragged his hand over her shoulder as if to affirm she was real in the first place.

“Do you think the iPod might’ve made that better?” He deadpanned.

She giggled. “Not really.”

“Oh,” Sasuke commented, ignoring the desperate urge to fist pump in victory, “Just thought I’d ask.”

Her hair parted forgivingly around his fingers; he carded a hand through and pulled her back in, willing the music of her never to stop.

#Ikesen #Ikemen Sengoku #Ikesen Sasuke #my writing #Sasuke Sarutobi #Decorate Time #fluff

73 notes · View notes

steve-chandler · 5 years

Text

Thanks for @darling-marvel for tagging me! I will try my best. Let’s see....

rules: answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you wanna know better

nickname: I don’t really have one. You can call me Sue or anything else you want to call me I don’t really mind. :)

zodiac sign: Cancer

height: 5'1.5"

hogwarts house: I don’t really know but I wanna choose Gryffindor.

last thing i googled: I googled how to convert cm to feet...

fave musicians: I don’t think I really have one. Well I listen to Jim Croce, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.. and some J-pop musicians and some K-pop musicians (not idols.. like musicians during 90s).

song stuck in my head: Let’s say Time in a Bottle

Following: 161

Followers: 67

Do you get asks: sometimes..

amount of sleep: 7-8 hours

what i’m wearing: a black sweater and a long skirt

dream job: writer, translator, astronomer

dream trip: New York, LA, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Sweden

instruments: I used to play piano til like 6th grade. Flute and tuba.

languages: English, Korean and Japanese. I learned Chinese and Spanish when I was in high school and in college but that’s all. I learned and tried... but I can’t speak.

10 favorite songs: It’s really hard. I don’t listen to songs recently (I don’t listen to music when I’m tired). And I listen to the songs that are used in movies most of the time. so.. I’ll just say..

Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce

I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song - Jim Croce

Photographs & Memories - Jim Croce

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

It’s Been a Long Long Time - Kitty Kallen

Wham Bam Shang-a-Lang - Silver

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra

Come and Get Your Love - Redbone

10 chill songs: it’s very hard... I usually listen to BGMs that don’t have lyrics..

Southern Nights - Glen Campbell

Your Precious Love - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

10 energetic songs: hmm...

X Gon’ Give It to Ya - DMX

Bangarang - Skrillex

Come On Get Happy - The Partridge Family

Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin

random fact: I love going to coffee shops bc I love coffee and sweets. I always search for the places from the internet and I try to go during weekends. That’s one of my hobbies. I like so many things. My tumblr is mainly for Evan and Peter Maximoff but I also like anime, Sentai (aka power rangers in other countries I believe). I am a fan of a baseball team. I play games.. I own PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS and I bought Nintendo Switch two weeks ago but I haven’t played yet. My little brother is in England for college and I hope I can go there for trip before he graduates.

my aesthetic: stars, moon, beach, coffee, cafe, sweets, bookstore, christmas, movies, green, blue... and obviously Peter Maximoff

I am tagging: @too-many-baes @trescharmant-mydear @rosesometimeswrites @thepurplebutterflythings @anin254 @evandearest @gretaahs @ultramarvelslug

of course you don’t have to do it if you don’t feel like it. I just wanna know more about you guys...!! :)

4 notes · View notes

lonelypond · 5 years

Text

Jingle Bell Jazz, Ch. 15

Love Live, NicoMaki, 3.5K, 15/?

Summary: A small army invades the Nishikino mansion and an unexpected gauntlet is thrown down.

Chapter 15

Maki had said Nico was planning to conquer Europe. As Mrs. Nishikino opened the front door of her home, she wondered if this was a preview of the diminutive singer’s army. Nico, tiny, a tall blonde behind her, arm in arm with a smiling dark haired woman, and then two others, one with fawn hair and an exquisite coat, probably couture, light with a tiny pattern of green picked out along its curves, as if Spring were sweeping in. Behind them all, was a solid, dark haired woman, with features classic enough to be seen in an Imperial samurai portrait and golden eyes that were busy sweeping everything in view to assess the situation.

“Good morning, Mrs. Nishikino. Is Maki up yet?” Nico chirped brightly.

“Yes, she’s just getting dressed. She’ll be right down.”

“Where’s her room? Kotori will need to go up anyway.”

Mrs. Nishikino met Nico’s glance, debated an interrogation, but if Maki couldn’t manage to get dressed in time to greet her guests, she probably deserved a room invasion. So Mrs. Nishikino shrugged and pointed to the staircase, “Second floor, turn right to the family wing, third door.”

“Thank you.” Nico grunted over her shoulder, “Come on, Kotori.”

The fawn haired girl bowed as she swept by, followed by the warrior of the court who stopped and spoke in a smooth, cultured tone that matched her elegance, “Thank you, Mrs Nishikino, for welcoming us into your home. My name is Umi Sonoda. I am a classmate of your daughter's. I apologize for Nico not introducing us properly.”

“Welcome to our home, Miss Sonoda.”

Umi nodded and pointed to the other two women left in the entry, “This is Eli Ayase, who is also a member of Bibi along with Maki, and Nozomi Tojo.”

“Miss Ayase, Miss Tojo. If you want to head into the kitchen, there’s coffee and pastries. Or I can show you where the music room is.”

Nozomi bumped past Umi with a wink, pulling Eli along, “We’ll take you up on your coffee. It’s cold out here and who knows how long Nico and Kotori will be in Maki’s closet.”

Mrs. Nishikino figured she might as well ask, as her own daughter was the least communicative person on the premises, as far as she could tell. “Are they packing for something?”

The blonde spoke, amused. “Sorry. Nico should have explained, I suppose. Kotori’s our stylist. She’s deciding on outfits for the New Year’s Eve gig. Nico’s not sure what Maki has.”

So the invasion would be properly uniformed. Mrs. Nishikino shook her head and led the remnants of the battalion toward the kitchen.

###

“Maki?” Nico’s voice and then a quick rap on the door. Maki panicked, pulling her pajama shirt back on and missing a button or two. Nico, hair in a ponytail, walked in, sharp as ever, in an outfit close to the first one she’d been wearing when Maki met her, pink cardigan over gray oxford shirt, tucked into black capri pants. Kotori was behind her, in a floral dress with a skirt that floated like froth where it fell from the belt at her waist. Maki had managed to get into a skirt, but her misbuttoned black with white polka dot pajama shirt made the look ludicrous.

“Nico? What are you doing here.”

Nico spared a cursory glance around Maki’s bedroom, the bed unmade, shelves full of books fairly neat, Nico took a minute to take in the framed black and white photos on the wall opposite Maki’s bed...Maki was proud of them, she’d taken them in Chicago, New Orleans, London, Buenos Aries, Tokyo...getting a chance to capture the mood of each city on film was one of her favorite things about the trips her parents would take her on. She loved wandering parks and lesser known architecture with her camera.

“Nozomi would love these.” Nico pointed to one of Maki’s favorites, a shot of a tuba player taken on the St. Charles streetcar.

Maki shrugged, not planning to invite Nozomi into her bedroom, not that she’d planned to invite Nico.

Nico continued, “Kotori needs to see what you have in your closet. We need a tighter look for New Year’s Eve. If we can find things for you, me, and Eli, Kotori only needs to alter that’ll make everything easier.” Nico took a good look at Maki finally, “Pajamas might give the sleepover vibe, but Nico bets we can do better.”

Kotori...tittered, it was the only word for the silly, high pitched reaction, Maki thought. Then she realized Nico was waiting for a response. “You said an hour. I was almost ready.”

Nico decided to just guess the door closest to her was the closet. Nope, large bathroom, huge tub, fluffier bathrobe than she’d seen on Maki yet...Nico sighed, couldn’t anything just be simple and professional, should have rehearsed at Otonokizaka, but Nico didn’t feel like dealing with staff or random wandering students. And now she had a quick flash of Maki, bathrobe, bathtub...Nico shook herself. That sort of distraction would get all of them nowhere and Nico had very specific destinations in mind today.

“That’s not the closet.” Maki was in the doorway.

“Nico figured that out.” Nico grumbled, pushing past Maki.

“Nico, if you want to go rehearse, I can just go through what Maki has and bring pieces that might work downstairs.” Kotori’s voice drifted out of Maki’s closet, “Send Umi up to help me carry things.”

“Will do. I just have to get Maki into something that doesn’t scream tuck me into bed.” Once again, Nico stopped as words hung in the air. But Maki was just staring grumpily at her opened closet door and oblivious to any unintended nuance.

“Maki.” Nico snapped, grateful for the redhead’s naivete.

“What?”

“Put on a shirt and come downstairs.”

Maki crossed her arms, “I was doing that when…”

Nico was already halfway to the hallway. “I’ll send Umi up, Kotori.”

“Thanks, Nico.”

Maki took her blouse into the bathroom, locked the door, changed into it, and fled downstairs without saying anything to Kotori.

###

Maki walked into the music room, to be faced with Nico and Umi sorting through sheets of music scattered over HER piano, while Eli tried a few bars of something Maki couldn’t recognize. Nozomi, in the corner wingback chair Maki never used, had the morning paper open but her attention was on Eli.

“What are you doing?” The door slipped out of Maki’s hand and slammed.

Nico smiled. “Umi has a few ideas about how we can make ‘Sugar Rum Cherry’ work with you and Eli.”

Maki grabbed the sheets Nico was holding, “Step away from my piano. I can do this myself.” She frowned, “And isn’t Umi supposed to be upstairs helping Kotori?”

Nico chuckled, “Kotori won’t be done with your closet for at least another forty minutes.”

Umi nodded, amber eyes fond, “She’s very thorough.”

Nozomi snorted and crackled the paper, Eli played a chord that slid into a warning, Umi continued to sort through music.

“Nico picked up the album too so we can listen to it.” Nico slid the record out, putting it on the turntable. “Nico remembered you seem to figure things out by ear pretty well…”

“Stop.” Maki shouted, throwing her hands out, and repeated her initial question, staring at Nico, wild eyed, “What are you doing?’

Nico spoke slowly, “Nico stopped on the way here and picked up some sheet music and a few records so we can decide on a set list.”

“Okay. That’s fine. But what is Umi doing?” On my piano, Maki’s inner voice snarled.

Nico’s voice was bracingly practical, as if this were an obvious solution to thing nobody but Maki considered a problem. “Working on an arrangement of Ellington’s 'Sugar Rum Cherry'.”

Maki crossed her arms, lip in a sneer, “I can do that myself.”

Nico sounded like she was trying not to sound uneasy, “Maki, you have zero jazz experience and have to learn at more than a dozen songs in two and a half days if you don’t want to sight read.”

Umi went for apologetic. “I was just planning to do a quick skeleton that you can embellish as you get more familiar with the music.”

Nico put the album cover down, but didn’t lift the tone arm, instead returning to the conversation, her expression earnest. “After hearing you play yesterday, Nico wants everyone else to know how good you are. And Ellington’s a great choice for your skills. Nico picked up a book.” Nico pointed to the music stand where The Songs Of Duke Ellington now rested. “We’ll do some seasonal things, but we can mix it up. Nico was thinking maybe ‘In A Sentimental Mood’ and ‘I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good’.”

Maki sat at the piano and started flipping through the pages. “This doesn’t have the...sugar rum sherry?”

“Cherry.” Umi corrected, “No, that’s a recent release. Brilliant mix of jazz and the classical. I believe you’ll love it, Maki, if you give it a listen. And the piano and sax combo will retain some of the intended flavor.” Umi went back to the music with her pencil, “I’m going to suggest it to Honoka as well.”

Nico dropped the tone arm, “This is the track we’re talking about.”

Forcing back exasperation, Maki closed her eyes to listen.

###

After what seemed like hours but before Maki could really get into any kind of a flow, Kotori and Umi were back with an armful of clothing. Nico slashed the air with a ‘cut’ gesture and Eli put her sax down next to her on the padded bench, Nozomi stopped working on the crossword puzzle, and Maki let her fingers rest on the keys for a moment.

“The textures and fabric are AMAZING. And the designers....” Kotori sounded even more breathless than usual as she gushed at Nico, “but the styles aren’t a great fit for your silver dress and the frost blue one Eli picked out.”

“Nico was afraid of that…”

“You could switch to that dress you wore in the Life photoshoot.” Kotori winked at Maki, “That’s memorable.”

Maki ducked her head, turning pages in the Ellington, refusing to acknowledge anyone else in the room.

Nico pulled her cardigan around her, “That’s not a winter style, freezing is not a sexy look for Nico.”

“I might be able to make this dress work with some alterations, maybe add a silver feature...I can match the fabric pretty well.” Kotori held up a dress Maki had buried in the back of her closet as it seemed more nightgown than ballgown, black with a large white bow, two fabric ribbons flapping down the front.

“The drape on that over Maki’s…” Nico whistled instead of finishing that sentence, but she flipped the ends of the ribbons that fell two thirds down the dress, “this’ll be more distracting than not.”

“And no one will see it behind the piano.” Nozomi chewed on her eraser.

“Exactly.” Nico tapped her nose and flashed her index finger at Nozomi.

Kotori hummed. “I was thinking of replacing it with a silver band around the top.”

“Ooohh, nice touch." A cheerful note from Nico.

“What about my…” Kotori and Nico spun instantly and Maki had a coughing fit at the scrutiny, “Cold...I’ll be cold too.”

Nozomi started laughing, Nico slammed her forehead into her hand as she leaned against the piano, and Kotori tilted her head, “We could add a shawl.”

“Maki might prefer the touch of discretion of a good shawl provides, as well as the additional warmth.” Umi began collecting the discarded options.

“I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable…” Maki muttered.

“You had bare shoulders yesterday…” Nico had her eyes closed and her other hand stretched out across the piano, fingers tapping.

“There was more to that dress.”

“Do you want to wear that one?” Nico raised her head.

Maki shrugged, playing scales to soothe her nervousness.

“Let me work on this one, Maki. And if you don’t like it, we’ll find something else.” Kotori’s voice was gently persuasive.

Nico was watching Maki intently, and Maki had no idea what thoughts were roiling behind those eyes. “Nico?”

Nico stood, her shrug an echo of Maki, “You’d look good in a sheet. Sounding good is what matters.”

Did Nico picture her in a sheet? When they were in her bedroom, had Nico imagined Maki there...Maki could feel the flames on her cheek...focus on the book in front of her, what song was it, “Day Dream…Funny the way I feel now/Can't keep my feet on the ground/Ev'rything seems unreal now...” Unreal, exactly that, Maki thought as her fingers drifted through the gentle beginning.

“What’s that?” Nico was suddenly behind her, hand soft on Maki’s shoulder and once again, the air around Maki was full of sweet musk, but she kept playing this time, no stumble.

“That’s amazing, but a little sleepy for a New Year’s Eve party.” Nico reached out, flipping through pages, her sweater arm rubbing Maki’s ear as the pianist tried not to shiver, “This’d be better. You can start off with a solo and then...”

Nico started to sing, “"It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing (doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah) It don't mean a thing all you got to do is sing (doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah) It makes no difference If it's sweet or hot Just give that rhythm Everything you've got”

Now both of Nico’s hands were on Maki’s shoulders and Eli had swung in, “Take it, genius.” Nico whispered in Maki’s ear and Maki’s fingers started to fly over the keys at a speed to match her heart rate.

“YES!” Nico wrapped her arms around the pianist’s shoulders as Maki and Eli finished their improvised duet. “The audience’ll love it, Ellington would love it, Nico loves it…”

Eli gleamed, taking a handkerchief from Nozomi to wipe the sweat from her face, “You’re a really fast study, Maki. I’m impressed.” She hugged her sax, “We’re going to sound so hot, Nico.”

Kotori was clapping around the dresses in her arms. “The audience’ll be kicked sideways.”

Nico had let go of Maki, but sat down next to her. Maki could feel the singer’s warmth and resisted the urge to scoot either closer or away. Why were those both choices, Maki wondered as Nico answered Eli. “Yeah, we’re going to be legends.”

“Too bad the next thing that happens is you break up the band.” Nozomi had put her pencil and the puzzle aside to search for something in her purse, making her comment seem more offhand than Nico might have suspected. The sense of camaraderie was shattered before it even had a chance to root. Maki shifted down the bench, Nico bent over, shaking her head, feeling the sweat dripping down her face. Umi sighed.

Eli, with a solemn expression, put her sax down. “Jeez, Nozomi, can’t you even let Nico have a minute.”

“Decisions have consequences.” Nozomi intoned. Kotori and Umi exchanged a look, uncomfortable on the edge of the room.

Nico sat up, Maki could see how tightly clenched the singer’s jaw was as she rubbed her hands over her cheeks, “What Nico decides is actually none of your business, Nozomi.”

“If it affects Eli, it affects me, Nico-chi.”

“Nico is not having this conversation now.” Maki was surprised to feel Nico squeeze her hand quickly but then the singer was on her feet, black ponytail bobbing as she threw herself in front of Nozomi, “Don’t cause trouble for Nico just because you get off on some fantasy you have of how things should happ...”

Nozomi leaned back, eyebrow arched, “Since you mentioned fantasies, ask Maki about them...Kotori says before she met you she couldn’t call you anything but ‘the pinup girl'.”

Kotori squeaked. Maki shoved the bench back, on her feet, open mouthed, not sure of what to say.

“Just leave it alone, Maki.” Nico hissed, “Nozomi’s just looking for ways to rile us. It amuses her.”

"This isn't for my amusement." Nozomi snapped her purse shut, chin up as Nico confronted her. “Eli just stopped crying herself to sleep; I don’t want her to get attached to the idea of the being a band with you again.”

‘Nozomi…” Eli murmured, cheeks flushed.

There was silence. Nico’s shoulders kept flexing as her hands clenched and unclenched. Eli was pulling through her hair. Maki had no idea how to divert the conversation, and then Umi spoke, “Kotori and I should start on the alterations. We’ll see you tomorrow, Nico.”

Nozomi stood before Nico could respond to Umi, “I’ll be having coffee in the kitchen until you’re done playing with their hearts, Nico~chi. Eli, find me when you’re ready to leave.”

Alone, the three members of Bibi stared at each other. Then Nico glanced down at her watch.

“Damn. It’s later than I thought.” Nico pushed up the cuff of her cardigan, giving off a nervous air Maki couldn’t quite match with the picture of Nico she was building. “Nico knows we have to talk about this, but I really have to get to work. You two should keep rehearsing.”

A suddenly shy Eli also wasn’t part of the mental picture Maki had been building of her bandmates. “You really can’t just walk out now, Nico. I know Nozomi went too far, but she’s not wrong. We need to talk about things, deal with this.” Eli’s voice caught and Maki would have bet on tears, “Don’t be Coco.”

Nico's fingertips stroked Eli’s cheek briefly, and the blonde’s head drooped as Maki stared, her own hands getting sweaty. “Eli, I know this has been rough, but have some faith in Nico. It’s going to be fine.”

“How?” Definitely tears. Maki couldn’t move.

“Nico can’t explain right now...but we just have to get through this concert without letting things throw us and then I swear, it’ll be okay.”

Eli shook her head, “I don’t know if I…”

“You can Eli. You and me and Maki, we work together and nothing’s going to stop that.” Nico was bouncing, “But I really have to run. I’ll see you tonight, at home.”

Eli moved away, to the window, and Nico was in front of Maki, speaking softly, “Nico is sorry about that. Nozomi likes emotional shrapnel. She believes it breaks up problems so they can be fixed.” Nico’s hands flung off that idea, and then she had Maki’s in hers again, “You’re doing amazing. Nico could listen to you all night.”

Maki decided emotional neutrality was a good shield against the confusing clash of emotions that had invaded her music room so she waited for Nico’s next statement.

“But not tonight. Can Nico have a raincheck?” The mildness, the hope in Nico’s ask floored Maki.

“Okay.” Christmas lights twinkled with cheer in Nico’s eyes and Maki listened to herself agree before she’d fully heard the question. Nico grinned, “All right, ladies. Don’t have too much fun without Nico.” And she was out the door.

Eli groaned and collapsed in the wingback chair, rubbing her eyes.

“Sorry, I don’t have a handkerchief.” Maki crossed to the other side of the window, wondering if Nico was going to grab a bus or call a cab. Surely her mother would offer Nico the car. Maybe she should go check...Eli took a rackety breath and Maki realized she couldn’t leave the saxophonist alone. “Do you need me to go get Nozomi?”

Eli shook her head, surprising Maki again by seeming more exasperated than upset. “No. I need a few minutes of not being caught between those two. They don’t war often but when they do…” Eli had her legs pulled up in front of her.

“Nozomi seems to be acting out of concern, though.” Maki wondered what spending so much time together did to people. And that apartment was so small for the three of them. She shuddered.

Eli’s eyes were shrewd. She’d caught Maki’s reaction, “It’s a lot sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade either of them...Nico’s…” Eli rubbed the back of her neck, “Nico’s never dull...and Nozomi’s...well, Nozomi’s…everything.”

Certain she had no response to that, Maki returned to the piano, sat and searched through pages again. “Do you know Satin Doll?”

Eli leaned forward, intrigued, “Oh, Nico will like that one.”

A/N: Howdy.

#nicomaki #Love Live #Jingle Bell Jazz #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #nozoeli #Ayase Eli #Tojo Nozomi #Bibi #jazz #music #Christmas #fanfic #holiday #Duke Ellington #piano #fun

10 notes · View notes

the-voice-of-hell · 4 years

Text

The Septagram

- Previous - First -

***

Police were running and shouting. Park woke up, not feeling as hung over as he had expected, but definitely not feeling well. Jacoby came to the door and gripped the frame as he yelled. “Something big coming! Something … fucked!”

Park wanted to ask for some clarity, but knew it wasn’t going to happen. Then he remembered his chair on the roof, strapped on his gun and picked up a radio. He didn’t know whether or not to put on his shoes, but erred on the side of speed, and hustled downstairs barefoot.

He could see some men standing tense and quiet by a radio, guns in hand. See other men running out the front door. He went out the back, heard neighborhood people shouting at random, and clambered up the ladder to the roof. The aluminum steps were surprisingly cold on his skin.

On the roof he looked around, saw what people were trying to do in the streets. Everyone was trying to look north, find the best vantage. Some people were trying to get those people to come indoors and hide, or begging them for understanding. A few within line of sight were gathering on roofs. For his part, Park couldn’t see a thing.

He climbed the tall chair. It was like a lifeguard chair, but he wasn’t sure its original purpose when he found it in somebody’s yard. Now he was going to use it to gain a few inches of vantage over the hill. He realized he was hearing a rumble like an earthquake (and what was that other sound?), but decided to give it a shot anyway.

He had barely reached the top, hadn’t come close to getting his ass in place, when he saw them crest the hill. It was a seething horde of humanoids so numerous they could march abreast and draw a line over the entire hill - and beyond. They were irregularly sized - some the size of children, some the size of monkeys, but none taller than a tall man. But their appearance was a motley of bizarre features. Some were wizened like yoda, some partially nude - tits out or pantless, some had filigreed plate armor, some looked partly or wholly animal, some had horns, some were just oddly colored - red, teal, violet and more. All had black marching band uniforms with gold buttons and red trim, and tall hats like Prussian dragoons. They clutched shining silver instruments and batons and banners embroidered with occult symbols. And they played the worst music imaginable. Was that Steve Miller’s “Jungle Love”? Yes it was.

They bounded with high jumps and high kicks, not bothering to move around obstacles, just crawling leaping or flying over them, as their particular appendages allowed. They crossed the roofs in front of him, knocking people over, spilling trash cans, roaring, beating drums, blasting their horns.

There was no time to think, no time to do anything at all. Cops and civilians started shooting and whacking and otherwise attacking. They all went down like bowling pins. Park couldn’t even tell how - the things had no weapons - but he did see Rickard wheel in place with a cymbal in his forehead.

Then the things were flying crawling and dashing over his roof. A turquoise humanoid but otherwise normal looking cat ran straight at him. He tried to draw his gun but took boots to the head, down his back, gone.

He spun around and watched them going, over the next house and the next, music blasting, guns going off here and there. Then he heard the voices from behind. He couldn’t make sense of them, but he could tell these heralds were spread more thinly than the musicians, voices sounding off from every other block.

Then they came into his field of view, running over the tops of houses to either side of him, pausing at the next street over, shouting with unnaturally loud voices. They were angels in cheerleader skirts, carrying flags with satanic emblems, wings broken but still proud. Prehensile tails with snake heads?

“QUEEN BYMAAN WALKS THE EARTH. THOU ART HEREBY SUBJECT TO THE AUTHORITY OF EXALTED LUCIFER! YOURS NOW IS THE KINGDOM OF HELL!”

“No fucking way.”

They kept on going, paying no attention to the carnage in their wake. Park got to his feet and looked down at the street. Some of them had died! Weird devil musicians lay with bullet holes in their heads, knives in their throat. But for each that had fallen, the human that dared attack them was also dead - perfect precision. They were laid out, each pair, within twenty feet of each other.

He got on the radio. Discipline had broken down completely and the channels were filled with gibberish. Then he noticed something else in the distance. Across the water there were more disciplined groups, walking in squads down every street - what must have been part of an army of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions.

He barked into the radio. “All points, silence! All points, shut the fuck UP!” Lifting his finger from the button, no dice. Somebody was yelling about how they were all dead, he’d cut out just to have someone else screaming for help.

Park practically jumped down the ladder and ran inside. Ribeira was trying to make sense of the radio or get a word in edgewise. Park snapped at him. “Ribeira! Radio’s useless. We need eyes on every troop the old fashioned way, right the fuck now. Two orders: Get the word to everyone, get indoors and hide. No civilians on the streets. Run!”

Then he headed out into the streets to do the same. The armies were marching more slowly than the heralds, but they would surely be to Hilltop in less than twenty minutes.

Ippy woke from the stampede over her head, and the music. She’d showered in the night and gone to bed wearing Elijah’s clothes, belted and cinched as necessary, so she was able to get moving without a thought to modesty. The lady across the hall was moaning. She hustled in there and turned on the light. Well, she was half asleep and able to moan, so she was still alive. Iphigenia left her to suffer and ran outside.

As she came out the front door, she saw multiple shapes disappearing over the roof across the street. She didn’t have time to make sense of them, but she did see the top of a tuba. Then, despite the lingering storm of their noisy wake, she was distracted by closer sounds.

People were starting to scream, cry, and shout. Somebody fired a hand gun until the clip was empty. She whipped her head around trying to piece it together. Some people had died, some cops too, but there were also… some kind of freaks. Marching band costumes, strange bodies. The gunman was shooting one that was apparently already dead, in a gesture of impotent rage.

Then that cop from the other night came into the street, running around yelling at the cops and soldiers. She didn’t know what to make of any of this, but she noticed a spilled trash can on the ground, and the hammer sitting in the pile of waste. She glanced to a lady kicking one of the dead monsters and crying. Apparently it and her young man had killed each other.

Then she picked up the hammer and went back inside. Iphigenia’s mind was mostly empty, just numb echoes of last night’s conversation with her anonymous roommate. She washed the hammer in the sink. Her roommate was still moaning and crying. The music hadn’t quite died off. Guns were cracking in the distance. She went to the bathroom, found some rubber hair bands in a drawer, and used them to tie her hair back. One to put it all together, another a little further to tame it, another and another to turn it into an orderly ponytail.

At last she went into Elijah’s bedroom and sat down beside her.

“Do you have anybody, ma’am? You need help of some kind?”

She calmed enough to choke out some words. “No, no… I don’t want any help. Don’t want this light.”

“Mm.” Ippy looked around. She never thought of herself as the kind of person to leave a suffering old lady unassisted, but had she ever really thought anything? Realized anything important about herself before this?

Everyone died or left me behind. All I ever did was for them and I don’t know how to do anything else... Well that wasn’t exactly true, her feelings said. She was apparently pretty good at murdering murderers. The Sibyls sang as much, whatever that meant. ...I oughtta find them before these new monsters take ‘em out. I wanna get them first.

She rubbed the old lady’s back for a moment, then stood up. “Hope it works out for you, ma’am. Goodbye.”

***

Clark had figured out he wasn’t having a stroke or dreaming and come inside the night before. Thurston helped him collect his wits and they tried to understand what was going on. That unholy band filled the streets below them, red haze hung in the air. After the initial blasts of music, they broke off into the random noise of idle musicians, playing scales or bits of tunes. Easier to ignore.

The men decided to do just that. They went to sleep and stayed that way until early the next day. The band was still out there, moving around excitedly, and they’d been joined by other creatures. Thurston’s corroboration was the only reason Clark didn’t just assume his mind had sailed forever.

They tried to prepare enough food and supplies to run away if they had to, planned how they’d get water and food if they had to stay holed up in their building long term. Clark remembered some jewish friends from long ago talking about similar experiences - in the sense of planning for disaster, not the monster hordes.

Then the building rumbled and the noise began anew. They ran outside to see. All the monsters were leaving the city, marching bands playing marching tunes, soldiers following in their wake.

“Off to take over the world?,” Thurston asked.

“I imagine so. We could go outside, but where would we go?”

“Where are they not going? We need to know.”

“The roof.”

They took the elevator. Power was still on. At the top floor they found the stairs and busted open the door to the roof. Clark was glad younger Thurston was with him. He probably would have injured himself getting the door open. Apparently, he was going to need a working body for a bit longer on this Earth.

On the rooftop they squinted in the sun, walked to the edges and looked out. The damn things were going everywhere. They were marching deep, and there were so many they could spread out from the center of the city in a ring, heading toward every horizon. Clark hustled to look out in the direction of the water. There were rafts and boats heading out into Puget Sound - an unbelievable flotilla of them, like they were going to just coat the surface of that water completely. That’s when they noticed that some of the monsters could fly - seeing them silhouetted against the water..

“Well how do you like that?” Clark clasped his hands nervously.

Thurston stretched, wiped his face, and looked out at the world again. “It’s still there. It’s no dream. Clark, my friend. We are at ground zero for a new world of beasts.”

“Gods and monsters, Thurst--” He interrupted himself, grabbed Thurston by the arm, and tried to pull him low, behind the lip of the roof. Thurston let himself fall that way with the little old man. They peered out at the roof across from them.

A group of maybe a dozen people were on it, and they were receiving a visit from an angel. It was a creature the size of a tall human, winged. But the wings weren’t quite those of a bird - they had spinning wheels built in about halfway down their length. It was wearing long black and red robes, to match the crowd that had just set out to cover the Earth. It held out hands to them.

Thurston pushed Clark into motion and they hustled for the stairwell, looking around at the sky, hoping they hadn’t been seen. Inside the stairs, Thurston set the door in place as well as he could.

Clark said, “We don’t think that’s an angel from God, do we?”

“No Clark, we do not.”

***

Jason got Maddy in the car. She was nearly catatonic, but for jumpy fits. He just went about business as best he could. Something to take his mind off things. “Alright snookums. We’re gonna go see your uncle and grandma. Then the nice men are gonna evacuate us all, and y’know? Those nonsense guys can just have Western Washington. Who needs this place? There’s too much heroin out here, that’s for sure. Yup. No more junkheads.”

He got out, pushed the switch, got the garage door opening. But then he quickly looked back to Maddy. She startled at the noise and the light coming in, shrank against her seat, wiggling as if she expected to be able to shrink inside it and disappear. He wished he could go right to her, but he needed the door open first.

Then he got back into the driver’s seat. “Hey Honey, I’m gonna need you to be real brave, OK? We don’t know what’s gonna happen out there. We might need to run or somethin’. Can you run for me if we gotta?”

Maddy grabbed the door handle and tried to get out, unable to figure it out in her panic. Jason pulled her hands down to her lap, held them gently but firmly with one hand while he reached for her seatbelt with the other.

“Maybe you’ll feel a little better once we get out there, on the road. Right?”

He hoped she would. She let him seatbelt her in place and start driving.

As soon as they got out into the daylight, she started casting about madly. There was nobody in sight. Just a few more random things broken in the world - letters knocked off signs, shingles off roofs, a few windows cracked or shattered. Jason eased the car onto the street, headed up toward Interstate 5. He reasoned the elevated road would have less evidence of the terrifying turn the world had taken just then.

The sky was clear and blue, the day warming up in a hurry. Jason turned on the AC. The car was working well. “Alright, Baby, we’re back on the road. On the way, kicking ass and taking names. If those nonsense people show up again, I’ll race ‘em like Brian O’Conner. Get their pink slips, right? Haha. Prius.”

He settled down. She wasn’t laughing yet. He looked at her. Long chestnut colored hair in a medium wave, just a little bit more than the Rachel. He knew it was naturally straw brown with hints of copper. Women and their vanities, but she chose a color and wore it well. Whatever product she used, it was still in good shape today with nothing but a light brushing. Her face is where the trouble read. Her eyes were still too wide, glassy. The mascara around them multiplied by tears and terrors. They looked like she was trying to pop them out of their sockets.

“Aw hon… Listen, I’ll stop trying to be funny if you can get a handle on yourself. At this rate, we’ll be in Beacon Hill in no time. Can’t very well make your Gran feel safe with your face like that.”

“Daddy, should she feel safe? Should any of us?”

“Baby, that’s an improvement, OK, I appreciate it. Panic is better than catatonia. But you gotta figure out how to calm down.”

“Why should I?!”

“Because you can only do what you can do. Can we stop that freaky parade back there? Keep it from scaring people? No. But maybe we can grab Mom and Kev and get the hell outta this crazy state.”

“The Kingdom...”

“You really think those weirdos are gonna take down the U S of A? We got so many guns, Princess. Don’t you worry about your ol’ Uncle Sam.”

“...I guess. Ooh, we should find some guns!”

“That’s my little fighter.”

***

Jennifer had dodged the Hell parade as it stampeded through Renton, then followed it a while, unbelieving. She considered going back to Rosemarie and seeing if she was OK, but this was beyond anything she’d ever imagined. It was hypnotic, like seeing jets at an airshow for the first time, multiplied by Cirque du Soleil multiplied by seeing someone get shot on television.

She rolled her bike up alongside one of the cheer angels. It wasn’t exactly a cheerleader outfit on him. There was a tight bodice and puffy skirt, but its layers were more like a baroque tutu with black velvet on top, red satin below, and bunches of white and red lace below that, including a long lace train which did nothing to conceal the golden scales of his serpent-headed tail. It nipped at her but didn’t come close.

She looked at him and he looked at her. What a beautiful monster. He had cinnamon red skin, black-brown shoulder length hair in perfect glossy loose curls, and big dark eyes with thick lashes, all the art of his face accentuated with flawless makeup. This close she could smell his oversized eagle wings - like a room full of lightly used feather dusters that somebody had just set on fire. Maybe a hint of raw meat smell from the wounds mid length. Was there a hint of flames licking out of his hair, burning nothing? Is that what’s left over when you lose a halo?

“Hiya,” she said, completely inaudible below the roar of the orchestra.

He stopped in his tracks and she went sideways on the bike, propping and stopping with one leg before it turned into a roadburn. He twirled his banner and proclaimed again. The voice was loud as a bullhorn, but without the painful electronic spike to it. “QUEEN BYMAAN WALKS THE EARTH. THOU ART HEREBY SUBJECT TO THE AUTHORITY OF EXALTED LUCIFER! YOURS NOW IS THE KINGDOM OF HELL!”

“I understand you gotta job to do. Mind if I uh, bug you a minute?”

It smiled at her and her heart shivered. “Just a minute.”

“Cool, huh, so we’re ruled by like, Lucifer now?”

“Bymaan upon the earth, under Lucifer’s Empire.”

“Sure. Do we hafta register for a … Social Security card or somethin’?”

“Pardon. QUEEN BYMAAN WALKS THE EARTH. THOU ART HEREBY SUBJECT TO THE AUTHORITY OF EXALTED LUCIFER! YOURS NOW IS THE KINGDOM OF HELL! Her legions follow us. Register your allegiance with them.”

“Wow. Cool.”

“Begone.”

“Sure thing, buddy. Hail Satan.”

She zipped away, but she could quickly see them. There were platoons of marching creatures, some stopping to speak with people, then rejoining the march. They had scrolls, spears, some armor. Their features were hard to make out at distance, and she hoped to not get close.

Jennifer jumped the side of the road into grass and bushes. Her legs were surely getting scratched up, but she couldn’t feel that heat above her whole body working. The insides of her thighs were on fire and she was getting sweaty again.

She tried something she’d only done once before, since her skills had leveled up. The bike sprang out of the bushes and landed in motion on a taut support wire for power lines. She rode that up to the top then bunny hopped over the junction box onto the power lines proper.

She rode them and the rooftops all the way past the legions - all the way to Rosemarie.

***

Hilltop. Park had left behind the barracks in the rush to get out his message through every block in as little time as possible. He hoped it would reach everyone, but he didn’t have time to make sure it did. He ended up in a house with two random families, some Army guys and Colonel James. One of the mothers locked the door and stepped back nervously.

“What’s out there?”

“The first ones announced the next ones - it’s an army.”

“What th-”

“Shh. Keep everyone as quiet as possible, and completely out of sight. I mean completely.”

The Army guys replaced her inside the foyer, guns drawn. Colonel James came up to stand beside Park. “What are the orders, chief?”

Park was surprised and as pleased as possible that James was still respecting the established chain of command.

“Like I said. Don’t shoot. Don’t resist. But you gotta make those calls for yourselves. All I know is they died. Everyone who attacked one died, one for one.”

“Jesus, God in Heaven.”

“We hunker down. If they break down the door, we try to deflect from the civilians. Negotiate?”

“I won’t sell my soul.”

“That’s understan--”

Marching. Park resisted the urge to draw his gun. The Army men did not. Park figured if they killed anyone with a weapon on sight, it was better for at least one man to be alive to protect and serve.

The marching was fast, odd, like they were covering more ground with each step than should have been possible at that pace. They heard knocking and shouts around the neighborhood. Then, more chillingly, some gunshots, screams. But Park and James helped steady the young soldiers.

They beat on the door. Or was that just meant to be knocking? A loud but clear voice from outside, “WHOSOEVER ACCEPTS THE MARK WILL BE GRANTED HER PROTECTION. A SUBJECT OF BYMAAN IS SAFE IN HER KINGDOM. WILL YOU ACCEPT?”

They all stood inside, paralyzed. But James and one of the other soldiers were shaking their heads, as if they had to refuse - at least silently - to keep their souls safe for Jesus. Park didn’t feel that particular need. If he could take the mark to let everyone else in the house off the hook, he would. But it was better to not have to make that deal.

It was surely the most tense moment of any of their lives. Each man is the center of his own narrative, lost in his own path and struggle. The energy of their whole lives radiated from them, like each was a guitar string and someone had played the worst chord on them. They vibrated in place, in pain.

Then it passed. The army marched away. They could hear the demons leave. Park whispered, “I’ll check,” to Colonel James and ran out the back, around the side of the house. That way if he was noticed it didn’t immediately bring a mob to the people inside.

Out in the street, people started to come out. A dozen dramas broke out at once. Someone had resisted and died, so had another. Someone had taken the mark and people who didn’t were afraid of them, trying to understand what it meant.

Park doubled back to the door to give the all clear, then came back into the street, clapping his hands to try to draw attention. “HEY! HEY! EVERYONE TRY TO REMAIN CALM.”

“Bullshit, po-lice!”

“They’re trying to reach everyone, so they’ve moved on. Right? We’re free for the moment. We need to act fucking fast. Everyone CALM DOWN.”

James pointed menacingly at a guy that looked about to go ape. He backed down.

Park told the Army boys to listen. ”Pay attention to what I say, then run, communicate it to the other blocks.”

“Yes sir.” “Yes sir.”

“EVERYONE COVER YOUR DEAD, MOVE THEM IF YOU WANT, AND GET BACK INSIDE. WE’RE GOING TO EVACUATE, BUT WAIT FOR ORDERS SO WE CAN DO THIS AS SAFELY AS POSSIBLE! IF SOMEONE HAS THE MARK, WATCH THEM IF YOU WANT, BUT NO VIOLENCE! STOW YOUR FEELINGS, THEY WILL GET YOU KILLED.”

He turned to James. “Obviously, Christian or not, our entire concept of reality just got upended. Do they train for that in the Army?”

“Sir, they do not.”

“Alright, let me think...” He mushed his sweaty forehead again. “OK. We need to know what works against what. There were different kinds of hostiles. Some seemed protected by what I can only describe as a curse. For each one that died, one of ours died too. My question is this - did anybody take one out without suffering that fate? Not just that - I want any and all intel we can muster on them. Some suicidal daredevil should get on a motorcycle and follow them, see how far they go. Shit… before that, long range DHS, try explaining this shit. Good luck, Colonel.”

“Copy that.” The Army set out for the nearest barracks with the big radio, barking orders to men he saw along the way.

Park set out to help collect that intel, and make himself useful any other way he could. Mostly that was crowd control, telling people to get back inside, sort themselves out, not hurt anyone.

He found himself on the street that made up the eastern border of the neighborhood. It was one of the spots you could get the best view of anything happening in the distance. If you got to the right spot on the hill, you could see all the way down to the main bridge out of downtown Tacoma in one direction, and then flat along a straightaway right to the other end of Hilltop. It was also the spot where they had been having radio trouble. True to Murphy, he saw trouble coming from that direction, and couldn’t get anyone to copy him on the radio.

There was a massive procession of SUVs, Jeeps, and Hummers coming his way. Someone was hanging out the sun roof of a civilian Hummer near the front. He had a bullhorn in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

First Lieutenant Alameda came onto the scene with four of the civilian volunteers. “Park, sir, what do you think?”

“An irregular force, but my guess? Murder club. Get everyone in hiding again.”

“God, why couldn’t they have showed up before the demons?”

“Let’s hustle.”

The little group split up into individuals, each running down a different street warning people to get indoors more seriously than before. Park was exhausted. He’d never worked out this much for anything before. When he was done on the block, he saw Colonel James - and Sergeant Infante - gesturing for him to come into a back yard.

He came onto a pretty crowded yard - middle class borderline hoarders - but the men pointed to the real prize underneath a disused trampoline: dirtbikes.

Infante said, “I’ll get one and try to catch up to the demons.”

“Sure. I don’t love it, but you got the spirit. Someone else can chase the murder clubs.”

“Excuse me? What about them?”

“There’s a fucking murder club parade slow rolling east on 21st. Hummers and SUVs. Don’t sweat it.”

James and Infante were both pulling out bikes. Only Infante paused at the news. “I wanna get those fucking guys. Somebody else can go for the demons.”

Park closed his eyes and sighed. “Should I make it an order?”

“You can have my badge.”

“No, fine. Colonel?”

“I’ll go demon hunting. Though Infante would be better qualified.” He popped the cap and slipped a lanyard into the tank to see how much gas the bike had. Not much. “He’s the guy you were looking for. He got one.”

Park just about collapsed. “You what?”

Infante grinned. “I got one of the cheerleaders. Didn’t get me. I didn’t notice at the moment it was a big thing.”

Colonel James said, “There’s a couple of gas cans under there. I’ll take the most gas because those things could run down to Portland.”

“That’s fair,” Infante said, picking up one of the cans.

Park looked to the teenage couple standing on the back porch nearby, looking at them. “Do these belong to your family?”

“Hell no,” said the boy. “Yeah,” said the girl, “but take them. Please.”

“Thank you. You’re going to join the evacuation, right?”

The boy looked away and seemed anguished in his macho way.

The girl said, “No. We’re staying here. I got the mark anyway.”

Colonel James had his turn to be shocked. “Oh Jesus no!”

She said, “Whatever, Captain Crunch. Get off my lawn.”

He seemed like he was going to have a break down, but Park snapped his fingers next to the man’s face a few times. “Hey Colonel. Come on. Save the world time. Don’t spill that gas. You’ll need it.”

“Oh, sorry. Thanks, sir. It’s been an honor.”

“You’re the real Army, Colonel.”

The teenagers scoffed and went inside. The macho cops and soldier got on those dirt bikes and fired them up. Infante was annoyed Park insisted on going with him, but he didn’t argue.

***

Goblins. The murder club parade flew torches and polearms, had human body parts splayed across the grills and sides of their caravan. They had dehumanized themselves on every level, making their twisted idea of fun into a reality. It only made sense they were now literally becoming inhuman as well. They were green and violet and teal, bandy legged and barrel-chested, oversized ears and noses, needle-like teeth and bulging eyes. Most had also lost a few inches of height in the last week, making the “manlet incels” among them that much more pathetic.

They were forming up for a raid on Hilltop, having heard the cops had a bunch of people hemmed in there. But a formation of starlings came out of the sky and told them they were the chosen ones, would help remake hell in their image, in crackling voices like little biological tape recorders.. It was a moving scene. Really emotional for the goblins. So they started heading north.

The heavy vehicles groaned as they rolled down the steep hill. Inside, some goblins argued in hushed tones about the meaning of the revelation. Some just lolled heads in religious excitement. They finally had a meaning in life beyond masturbatory homicidal obsession. It justified everything.

21st Street became Route 509 as it crossed the water in a beautiful little bridge with graceful white suspension cables. The caravan began to cross, but then stopped. A platoon of creatures stood in the road, clutching spears, banners, and batons. The thing at the lead had a spiralling red fire in one hand and stirred the air with the other. Starlings spun there in a vortex before it let them go with a flick of the wrist.

Big Donny stepped out of his Hummer, then Vincent Gelman. Then out of their SUVs came Henry Stroup, Cold Ginger, Pepe Fondler, and Steve Shadow. Then more and more. They came out and formed a loose crescent shape at the front of the caravan, facing the things.

The lead thing stepped forward. It was different from the others, though also garbed in a black greatcoat covered in metal sculptures, insignia, and armor plates. The ones behind it bore a random mishmash of features from goats and angels. The one in the lead was more traditionally angelic, though his broken wings exuded a raw meat smell and a serpent hung at his side - a tail, or just a snake in a pocket?

It spoke.

“What sins have brought you to this state?”

Big Donny put clasped hands forward and bowed his head. “We brought you to this world with our sacrifices - by slaughtering the innocent! Does it please you?”

“Hmm… Your transgressions against this mortal empire do not matter to us. Would you murder one with the mark of Bymaan’s protection?”

“Uh… is this a trick question?”

The angel smiled.

***

Park and Infante saw the murder clubbers roll to a stop on the 509 bridge. They pulled behind a building several blocks away and Infante hopped off to peek around the corner. He used a small telescope.

Park said, “You know we really oughtta break off this pursuit. This half of the state is abandoned. It’s not like two bikes riding a few hundred feet back is gonna be mistaken for the natural flow of traffic.”

“We can outrun them easily if we get spotted. Relax.”

“If it comes to that, remember to keep your head low. Bikes can outrun hummers but not bullets.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Mom. Now pay attention. They stopped on the bridge for a reason. I saw some fire in front, like maybe there was a burning car up there? But I don’t think that’s what it is. Some of ‘em got out of their rides to go up front...”

“What do you think?”

“There’s some kinda monsters there. Leftovers from the army or the band?”

“We should’ve brought a surveillance mic. I don’t like the idea of them having a meetup with hell’s angels.”

“Oh, they’re heading back to their SUVs now.”

Park noticed something in the sky and followed it with his eyes until it disappeared around the corner of the building - a very dense murmuration of starlings. “What’s that about?”

“The birds? Holy shit, they’re all landing on the roofs of their jeeps. Just a few still buzzing around. They’re starting to drive again. C’mon.” Infante hopped on his bike, fired the engine right up.

The noise made Park wince. Too loud. He started his up and waited for the go ahead, then they both pulled around the corner and headed down toward the bridge. The procession was moving slow now and Park didn’t like how close they ended up riding.

Then the SUVs started parking again, leaving the cops exposed on the bridge. They were made. Park whipped his bike around to ride away and Infante started to turn, when up from beneath the bridge, weird monsters appeared.

They leapt onto the road the way moths throw themselves into landings. It was a platoon of goat-angel-soldier hybrid things with spears and clubs. “Through them!,” Park suggested. He wasn’t sure if spears or guns were a better peril to brave, but knew speed was going to be essential. He gunned it.

He blasted by them at speed, then heard gunshots start to go off. Head down, speed up. He went too fast and did an unplanned jump at the first irregular part of the hill, but stuck the landing and whipped around a corner. He slowed and looked back for Infante. No Infante, and no gunshots either.

Park turned his bike around and drove up to the edge of the turn, looking down to the bridge. The goat things had Infante in the middle of three spears. His bike was on the concrete. Murder clubbers were approaching on foot, clutching swords, knives, machetes, and guns. “God no.”

His mind nagged him to stay hidden, let this sort itself out. He was completely convinced of the accuracy of his vision - Infante was going to survive this moment, at least - but he couldn’t let it go. He pulled out his sidearm and drove back down there.

On the bridge, he stepped off the bike and walked toward the things with his gun leveled. “HEY! Get the fuck off of him! Yeah, you.”

The goat things cocked heads toward him. About half had almost completely human faces - just looked like a random bunch of dudes - but they were all mish-mashed with goat parts, some in very odd ways. Their head armor was partial globe cages of thick wire, allowing horns and hair to poke out, and set with spikes. They had serpentine tails like the cheerleader angels, but furry and some capped with goat or human faces. They bleated and laughed.

An angel was at the lead of the murder clubbers, walking up the bridge from the other side, head burning. The starlings on the caravan took flight and followed their march.

Park shot one of the goat things out of frustration. It staggered, letting its spear head down to the ground, drawing sparks. But it didn’t drop its weapon, and straightened itself out. Was it even bleeding? “Come ON! Let him GO!”

Infante said, “Leave, boss! It’s my fault I got caught! Go!”

“Bullshit! I won’t do it!” He stood now also encircled by goats, but at least they were impressed enough by his gun that they didn’t press the spears into him like they did with Infante.

The angel reached them, pointed a pennoned spear at the police. “QUEEN BYMAAN WOULD HAVE YOU FOR HER SUBJECTS. WILL YOU BEAR THE MARK, AND HER GRACE?” He wasn’t shouting, but his voice boomed with supernatural power.

Infante grunted. “Hell no.”

Park saw the thing smile. The starlings behind it, above the murder goblins, were thick like a swarm of giant flies. He tried getting further to Infante’s side so he wouldn’t have to shoot through him to reach it, but the goats got brave and tried to hold him back with their spears.

He shot them. Closer now, he was aiming for heads. One fell down, then another. Then the rest skittered back, though they still held spears ready. They were also backing away from Infante enough he was able to draw his own pistol.

The two men faced the angel. He was a disturbing looking man and would have been beautiful if not for the unnatural eyes, the raw wounds on his wings, the bobbing snake head. They were held in place, in the gaze of the thing.

Infante lurched to the ground, having been knocked in the back of the head with a spear handle. Park was distracted enough to break free of the spell, just long enough to get off a few shots. Then he was knocked out too, and didn’t even get to see if the bullets landed, or what effect they had.

He would have been disappointed. The angel and the army of goblins advanced.

***

#The Septagram

0 notes

demonphannie · 7 years

Text

dan and phil - april 2017

4/12

tldr: *muffled screaming and happiness*

first week (1-7): april fools! new crafts video: DanAndPhilCRAFTS - Potato Prints. they appeared in asdfmovie 10. phil is glad attack on titan is back what a nerd. in a louise vlog: The Big Boss Of YouTube! | The Weekly #13. dan’s old teacher is concerned for his mental health after the crafts video. new gaming video: Dan and Phil play CLUB PENGUIN! (RIP). dan and phil as hedgehogs #content. new danisnotonfire video: Dan Takes Quizzes About Himself. phil tells us dan wants a weasel to nibble his finger? dan liveshow! (NOT ON HIS COMPUTER AND HIS WIRROW PAINTING ISN’T THERE AND HIS BEDSIDE TABLE STUFF ISN’T THERE IT IS A WARNING, dan does not hate us, philisnotrude, end of danandphilcrafts, shirtless phil ya ya, he has a daddies list, relocating his wirrow painting : ), wow wearing phil’s coat in public for twenty minutes why is dan more excited about this than us, wants to change his video background *cough* moving, assaches, phil and i discourse, dan is having a long puberty, he used to rp sonic). dan’s life is a long tuba note. phil thinks a drunk man is an owl. no liveshows for three weeks even though they are only in australia for two weeks? interesting. new amazingphil video: 5 Things I Regret Buying - SILVER HAIR DYE. silver hair selfie. phil is a danger to himself. new lessamazingphil video: PRANKING DAN WITH CHILLI GUMMY BEARS (iconic amazing award worthy and also the reason dan has trust issues).

second week (8-14): dan literally put his head in someone’s ass im screaming. new gaming video: DIL'S MIND CONTROL STRIPPING - Dan and Phil Play: Sims 4 #38. phil doesn’t know what elbows (arm hinges) are. miiicroowaaaves are good for phil. dan and phil go to singapore!!!! some ppl see them at the mall and a sky bar (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen). phil posts a cute selfie of them in singapore. some people see dan and phil at an aquarium?? couple goals. merlion pics from dan and phil. dan sets the goal of being a disappointment to make himself feel better. new gaming video: TWO SANDY BALLS - Dan and Phil Play: Golf With Friends #2. dan pretends to be fake deep but it’s really just a pretty pic at the aquarium that phil took of dan. phil posts a lot from the aquarium (mmm yes dad feed me the aesthetically pleasing pics of you and dan). dan posts boomerangs of the cool jellyfish. finally in australia again! phil’s a pale person on a pretty beach. dan threatens us with a stingray. dan flirts with anthony padilla. new amazingphil video: Easter Baking - PASTEL LEMON MERINGUES (also the kitchen is very empty it’s like they are moving or something). dan and phil #spotted in sydney (one, two, three). cocktail pictures with phil! the baking video is either blessed or cursed. dan needs to stop worrying about things (almost as if he is moving soon i don’t know!).

third week (15-21): HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE BEST SELFIE IN THE WORLD THANKS DAN HOWELL FOR MY LIFE. first cool for summer meet and greet (some especially good pics because i don’t want to link all of them: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen). videos of the stage event in sydney (one, two, three). special amplify shirts. professional sydney amplify pics. dan is a v v S O F T boye <3 (glittery nail polish and sexual fantasies shirt yes plz). people met dan and phil at the airport and there was some #drama over it but like,, please don’t actively search for dan and phil at the airport (pics: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty). phil has a stalker and his name is dan please help him. second meet and greet (highlights: dan messages mums, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten). melbourne stage event videos (one and two). dan is appreciative of m+g selfies with filters. phil is an L kinda guy. sixty five floors of nope. new gaming video: ARE WE EVIL OR WHAT - Dan and Phil play: What Would You Do If.. (dan’s the monkey and is into friendly kisses). dan gets laughed at by an immigration officer for being an emo fuck. dan and phil #spotted at a botanical garden (pic with some fans) and pretty pics of phil from dan (one and two). phil wants the unicorn frappes. dan finds a very phallic cocktus. dan and phil go to the science and art museum! (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen). aesthetic instagram posts of sparkly rooms and matching captions (dan and phil). new gaming video: THE YASUHATI SINGING CHALLENGE (ouchie v v loud boyes almost as if they are moving and don’t give a crap about noise complaints! also toxic covers more of those please). the roar door from phil (and extra aesthetic pic). dan’s an aesthetic bae amirite. dan thinks he has to post cute selfies with an ironic caption to justify them but really he should just post his shamelessly cute selfies all over the shop.

fourth week (22-30): phil and sad movies on a plane. phil does not like olives (what a weirdo). phil’s about to eat a cookie (cockie) bigger than his face so this week is off to a good start (also wowie it was a good week). dan shows up on bryony’s insta story. phil has a laminated hit list. dan’s a wavey dude and i love him :(. dan tweets a warning before the shitshow and i am crying as i type this. new amazingphil video: We're Moving Out (OKAY I CAN LITERALLY DIE NOW THERE IS NOTHING TO LIVE FOR THANK YOU DAN AND PHIL FOR MY LIFE AND IMMINENT DEATH I CAN’T EVEN BREATHE). dan enjoys ripping the metaphorical carpet from out under our feet good to know. so many boxes (queue many domestic tweets). the creepshot war continues (as does the increasing amount of pictures phil takes of dan). first joint liveshow in the new house! (highlights: uh phil only uploaded 40 mins of it because the rest was extremely laggy, new house is a duplex, no dog because they are still renting #killphan, a dog will be adopted when a house is bought, glass wall, phil is keeping his room basically the same and dans room apparently looks like the moon, no apartment tour #killphan, new gaming room looks about the same, dan and phil airplane adventures include rude people and dan not playing eye spy, dan loves museums and zoos and phil says they always have to see every single thing, two lounges in the house?, phil wants a fish, lester holiday after playlist, no more one direction poster #killphan, phil really likes harry styles’ new music and i have ascended, cheeky dan video from the old apartment coming soon, the new place is not a forever home, dan’s hair is soft to phil, dan is trying to peer pressure phil into painting his nails). they bought a giant floof. new dan and phil merch (mostly just japhan remakes but also aesthetically pleasing hats). first gaming video in the new house: If Dan and Phil were Girls?! - FACE APP. dan’s hands and phil’s elbows #spotted on bryony’s insta story. first interaction with the neighbors was them asking phil to not feed pigeons on the balcony (THEY HAVE A BALCONY?!).

april ripped my thrussy.

#phan #dan and phil #danisnotonfire #amazingphil #2017 timeline #i literally made this in two and a half hours i'm overwhelmed

1K notes · View notes

coolpolarbear123 · 7 years

Text

BAND CAMP DAY 7

September 1st, 2017

Albus’ first year of Hogwarts--and my last Speaking of lasts, this is it, guys. The last band camp of my high school career.

10th GRADE BC POSTS (2015) | 11th GRADE BC POSTS (2016) 12th GRADE BC POSTS (2017) | COLLEGE: FIRST YEAR BC POSTS (2018) | COLLEGE: SECOND YEAR BC POSTS (2019) | ALL

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

My 9th grade year, back in 2014, I did not have a tumblr. That’s one of the reasons those days weren’t recorded. The second was that there was no reason for me to. Why would I? I made new friends, I kept my old--just like that Girl Scout song about gold and silver circles (I should know--I’m still in Girl Scouts) And that band was the best thing of my freshman year. We had games every Friday night, we went to three competitions that year, all 60 people were the most family-like group I can remember. Practice Tuesday and Thursday until 4:30. Band was every day from 1:00-2:15. This was all in EST, of course. I have a lot of good memories from that time.

Of course, I moved, as you guys know. August 21st and 22nd of 2015. And because I moved here, I had to attend band camp here, naturally. So the July before we moved, I went to the band camp here. And it wasn’t the same. It was less strict, twice the size, not as family-like as I was told in an e-mail, and they only went to three or four games. No competitions. We didn’t march for the first days of band camp, and when we did, I was appalled. It was all Not Okay. I absolutely hated it. I went through that year pretty disgusted.

I needed a challenge--I told myself freshman year that being a drum major wasn’t for me. So there I was, as a drum major. 2016 band camp was year one of being a drum major, along with two very fun other guys (HDM and ODM). I was a nervous wreck, but it was better than 2015. Of course, marching and fundamentals were still not there.

Being a drum major was better than being on the field, so now it’s 2017, and I’m the “head” drum major. It was definitely different. The first year that I’ve known what I was doing, and it’s a very strange feeling. As long as I don’t pay attention to any of the marching--everything’s fine, right? Nah. This band will never live up to my old band for a multitude of reasons. I had so much more fun my freshman year, and it was so ordered because of how serious it was. This band will never be that serious--it wasn’t meant to be. No competitions, no away games. Not as many trips on the band bus, either, because of all of that. So, look. I will always and forever have my old band in the limelight. I was angry from moving, and I’m still angry at times. I was disappointed my 10th grade year, and it carried to 12th. Maybe not as heavily since I’ve gotten more and more used to it, but I’m kind of stubborn sometimes. And annoying. But it’s the last day of my high school band camp, and let’s get into it.

This Morning:

I started the first BC post with the word “tonight,” so it’s only right that this one is “this morning.”

I mean, I could have put “tonight”

But I doubt 9AM is counted as “night.”

I get there early, as always, hang out at the front, look at the board, see that the order for our first marching game has changed, and question reality

I don’t even remember much of the beginning

X gets there, and I talk to FHF and probably my brother

And then we start

Y isn’t there, and we’re running through all of pregame, so X and I try dividing up Y’s songs. I’ll do Seven Nation Army, and he can do Illinois Loyalty, and then I’ll do Land of 1000

Of course, while we conduct our actual songs as well

Y comes in during that, though, so they got to conduct two of their songs while I did SNA

That’s a relief, though, because all three drum majors are good to have

We finish that up, and I, of course, have to conduct the SSB at the end. Not as good as that other time, that’s for sure.

Apparently a lot of fish don’t know what SSB stands for

My brother’s doing well, by the way

Honestly the first hour and a half wasn’t anything special

A little bit of sass and sarcasm here and there, but nothing remember-worthy, apparently

There was one song that we played and the band director tossed his drum stick (I think), fell off the drum set, caused the band to completely falter, and then HDM (yes, HDM) had to clap to the beat to get everyone back on track

It was interesting. And funny

I think it was Land of 1000--Y was conducting. I think.

I think the only person who really caught what happened was FHF because she had the biggest reaction

Though she’s loud so all of her reactions are fairly big

When X conducts, HDM makes faces at him, and it’s really fun to watch

But he doesn’t make faces at me so I think that’s Rude

But ODM will occasionally nod so it’s okay

Now we’re on break

Come back, more playing. Halftime show stuff

The drum line comes in and we do a tiny bit of pregame

SSB pt 2 wasn’t good

I blame everyone who wasn’t paying attention to me. No one was.

But that’s fun because then the entire band freaks out when I start counting off. And the band director did say “start whenever.”

I did that twice--by the way. Why call them to attention when you can watch everyone freak out instead?

OH, MY GODS

I FORGOT

So there’s this fish trumpet player, and he was wearing a blue shirt today

And I swear to the gods I can’t stand the dude

The band director said we’d be running through the entirety of pregame, so get all of the music you need beforehand.

This. Kid. Did. Not. He got up to get his music every time we switched songs. Excuse me? No. No. No.

That was disruptive--waiting for him every time

AND THEN HE WOULDN’T EVEN PLAY

He would sit there and maybe dab back and forth

I swear to the gods

Like, you--

--idiot

I asked my brother later on about the kid. Apparently the dude is incredibly smart, in all of the advanced classes, a fantastic trumpet player, etc

Are

You

Kidding

I can’t stand whatever this Prodigy Kid™ is

That was pregame (the first 45 mins)

In the story, we’re in halftime (the second 45 mins)

This might end up being really out of order

We play I Just Can’t Wait to be King first, which, if you remember, is my song

For now

That was a bit of a surprise, but okay

I wasn’t on the podium for it. I was standing next to it with the band director on the podium

All of the drum majors had to do that

But I was the only one who didn’t have to start the band

Anyway, after we finish playing and the drum line is with us, we decide to teach the fish The Kick

This is a kick that we do in parades and the cue is a drum cadence called 1979 or something like that

So we teach the fish

I was on the podium while we taught them that (this was right after SSB pt 2 (after halftime rehearsal, before the halfway point of one and a half hours)

It was interesting watching them learn

I mean, I remember learning

I didn’t get it until our first parade

When someone in my grade was like, “It’s alright--you’ll know it after the parade.”

Yeah, I knew it after that parade

So, we teach them that, and then we head outside!

We decide not to do pregame drill today (yessss)

Drum Majors grab the sound system and the podium, we set up, and we stand on the sideline to figure out the salute

WE FIGURED IT OUT

I mean, a lot of messing around

And we literally high-five during it

But WE GOT IT X isn’t really the guy to have fun with Y and me, as I’m seeing

Then we watch the band because doing stuff isn’t fun

Watching people do stuff is

JUST KIDDING

Watching them wasn’t fun because their fundamentals aren’t anywhere near good, and I want to die

Oh, by the way, ODM and I nod at each other a lot. It’s fun

Eventually, we do “practice pregame” stuff. Nothing official, but it’s to get people kinda used to it. We do some of the moving and some of the run-on

The

Run-on

I ALMOST DIED

OKAY

I ALMOST DID

Basically, I have to run through the tubas and drum line, and the gaps weren’t big and Y and I had to switch places while running because of Things, and it’s going to be like that for the game

But I am not a runner

And running is not my forte

(get it)

and yeah

The band wasn’t that fast, though? We made it just fine. Nothing like last year.

We’ll see what happens when the year starts.

Anyway, we do that stuff, and we do that stuff more than once

ouch

And then the band director with the mic (the other two don’t have mics and were judging from the sidelines. It’s funny) says to gather by the podium

Logically, he’s going to climb the podium

So I do

And then after a few minutes I’m told to get down

Of course

Y climbed with me

I got down, sat in the grass

There’s a “take a knee” campaign while the band director was talking

A handful of the band took a knee and no one else did

They tried, though

And then the band director wants us to learn a cheer

And the band votes for one of the percussionists to do it, and then for ODM to do it, so they do it together.

ONE BAND

ONE SOUND

It’s not my favourite, but it works

I don’t even remember if my old band had a chant (That’s not good--that I don’t remember)

I think I just don’t like this one because it’s like “Hey this isn’t your old band.”

And then we went in

And got popsicles

Apparently “popsicle” is supposed to be capitalized?

I’m not going to

Before I forget: shouting is a thing

Anyway, those popsicles were really good

OH MAN

There was one point when the band was marching in a block, and us drum majors were sitting on the sidelines. During this block, the band would face us and march towards us until there were only feet away.

They also stopped facing us

Anyway, FHF messed up once, and she landed on her spot, but did a weird spin-thing in frustration and landed off her mark

To which I corrected her

I also made her get some of the sound stuff

Which made her lose her music

And then we “argued” about who was bossy

And she got her music back

And ODM was holding the band room door open, and when I walked in, HDM was like, “QUICK CLOSE IT ON THE DRUM MAJOR” Me: “RUDE” HDM, imitating me: “rOOd”

I have friends who spell that as “r00d”

that’s off track

Anyway, when we get to the band room, ODM and HDM have lockers really close together, so I went to them, put my arms on my shoulders and was like, “I miss you guys” “We miss you too--but you’re doing well” “Thanks! The run-on is really confusing, though” “So it’s when [this] happens, but don’t run right away. Wait a beat.” “You’re the leader. The band will follow the drum majors. Run whenever.” We then joked about running before the whistle

It was really nice conversation

Anyway, I think that’s it. I think that’s all.

I really hope I’m not forgetting anything

I’ll update if I think of anything--or if Y or FHF says something like “What about [this]?”

I usually do update it

But, yeah

It’s been fun, guys

Thank you for letting me rant

And thank you for reading

It’s been one heck of a ride

HERE’S THE DEAL GUYS. I am going into my senior (12th grade) year. This is my last year of grade school, and my last year of becoming disappointed by band camp. I do plan on continuing marching band in college, but as I am a flute player, I don’t know if I’ll be able to. It depends on where I go. I also play clarinet, but there’s no way of knowing if I’ll be good enough. I have this year to practice. I’m not one to get my hopes up, so this might be my last band camp post ever. Thank you guys so much for reading and experiencing this with me. I get absolutely no feedback whatsoever (well, now I get FHF, but besides her), so I don’t actually know what you guys think of this. It helps me and gives me something to look forward to. Thank you guys, so, so much. And if I am in marching band next year, I’ll tell you when I know. I love you guys. I miss my old band, my old friends. Just to say it one last time. Just know it’s true. I miss you guys.

4 notes · View notes

tialovestelevision · 7 years

Text

Please, Audition

Reina has confessed her love for Kumiko. Now, it’s time for auditions.

Someone’s not going to make it.

1. Previously On, then opening credits.

2. This episode returns to the format of the episodes before “Festival Triangle.” Straight from Previously On to the opening credits, with some concert band music playing over the Previously On. “Festival Triangle” had plot development before the opening credits, had its scenes timed differently from the other episodes of the show, and did away with the ending credits song entirely. I expect the ending credits song will be back here, too.

3. Shuichi is standing outside the school. Then we go to the band room - everyone is in summer uniforms now, with lighter-colored sailor uniforms for the girls. The boys, rather than any serious change, simply do without their jackets and wear short sleeves. The auditions are coming, and everyone is tense. Taki is giving people things to work on. All the sections want to meet with Taki. There’s very hard work happening, which is relatively new for this band. Asuka is chewing Midori out, which is a bit of a surprise given how good Midori is - maybe it’s nerves, or maybe Asuka thinks that Midori has even more ability to be good than she’s already showing. Midori is sad that she’s getting chewed out. Title card, then Asuka and Riko giving people advice. Hazuki is too focused on simply making sound... that doesn’t bode well for her in auditions. Goto says that Kumiko’s tone has improved. Asuka says he’s right - her playing wasn’t terribly interesting before, but now it’s gotten “juicy.” She elbows Kumiko and teasingly asks if something happened. Kumiko is blushing. Asuka starts boasting. Natsuki is giggling. Asuka moves on to Midori, asks her what’s wrong with her performing, and assigns her to get a new music stand. Asuka asks if something’s happened to Midori. Hazuki says that actually she - as in Hazuki - got rejected during the festival. Kumiko is surprised. I’m pretty sure Natsuki just offered to kick the ass of the guy who rejected her. Hazuki explains that Midori encouraged her to pursue the guy, so she feels responsible. Asuka says she doesn’t care. Very much doesn’t care. And tries to row her chair. She goes to individual practice, because she doesn’t have time for people’s issues. Ouch. Goto points out that Asuka is pissed, which seems obvious to me but surprises Kumiko. Riko is scared of Asuka. Natsuki points out that there’s nothing Asuka hates more than losing practice time; Hazuki asks Kumiko to meet with her on the way home.

4. There was once a professional wrestler they called the Great Khali. He was huge - like seven foot three or something. Seriously tall guy. He used, as his finisher, a vertical chop to the head. Hazuki is delivering Khali-chops in quick succession to Midori, announcing each with “Chop! Chop! Chop chop chop!” Kumiko finally calls Hazuki off; Hazuki asks Midori when she’s going to stop sulking. Midori is all guilty still, and announces that music is more than love and death. Hazuki is confused, and says she’s glad it turned out how it did. She’s glad someone pushed her to ask Shuichi out, because now she doesn’t have to wonder. She asks if Kumiko agrees; Kumiko says she doesn’t really know. Hazuki got Midori a contrabass-kun toy! She uses George-kun’s voice to tell Midori to cheer up. Now Midori is happy. The girls board their trains, and Hazuki thanks Kumiko for her help. Kumiko feels like what happened is her fault, and apologizes. Hazuki says it’s her fault, and they argue quietly for a moment, but Hazuki says she knew if she told Midori that Midori would back her up. She says that she thought Kumiko would back off of Shuichi if Hazuki asked him out first. Kumiko is confused. She isn’t pursuing Shuichi, but Hazuki thinks she is. She’s sitting there all stunned. Hazuki insists that Kumiko doesn’t know her own feelings, and offers to help her out. Shuichi boards the train as Hazuki gets off. We then see Hazuki with a meat treat. I want a meat treat.

5. Kumiko and Shuichi sit awkwardly on the bus. Then Kumiko is at home with her teddy bear and cactus. She’s talking to her cactus about people’s assumptions about her and Shuichi. Her sister comes in without knocking and calls her weird, then asks about the new band director. She has a friend in concert band. Turns out Taki is famous, and people will start enrolling just to be in his band. Kumiko throws her sister out. She talks with her cactus some more, and remembers the person being surprised that Reina had enrolled at Kitauji instead of some other school with a better band, like Rikka. And Reina defending Taki when Kumiko and Aoi were complaining about him. Then she gets a text from Midori asking if she’s still up, so now they’re talking on the phone. Midori asks how Hazuki is doing. She’s worried that Hazuki is depressed. Kumiko agrees with her, but says Hazuki wants to act happy so she can become happy, so they should go along with it. Midori says that Kumiko has grown up. Kumiko asks what that’s about; Midori says she likes that about her. Kumiko muses that it must be because of that night with Reina, and talks about Reina inspiring her. We get the trip to school, and Shuichi.

6. “It’s Tubacabra.” Midori has a tiny Tuba-kun toy, and is attaching it to Hazuki’s bag. Hazuki objects because Midori has been trying to get Tuba-kun forever, but Midori insists. They tease each other a bit. Now we see Kaori playing the trumpet, and Haruka approaches, telling her how good her playing is. They’re talking about last year, and Kaori’s hope that they could keep fighting from happening. This is her last shot. She wants to play her favorite parts well. Haruka says that if it doesn’t work out, she’ll buy Kaori potatoes; Kaori objects that it’s summer. Haruka tells her not to make her go looking for the potatoes. Kaori says that’s a weird pep talk. And now it’s raining hard. Kaori blames Haruka. Then they run into Reina, who greets them. Haruka asks if Reina is practicing; Reina says yes, and Haruka says “Gambatte.” Which is subtitled “Good luck,” but doesn’t really mean that. It’s a very Japanese idea. “Try hard” is a better way to put it, but that doesn’t really capture it either. Reina thanks her and keeps walking, and Kaori looks at her trumpet sadly. Reina is a better musician than Kaori.

7. Kumiko is leaving for school early because of auditions, and bringing breakfast with her. Now we see her at school, getting her euphonium out. Hazuki greets her. They both want to get practice in this morning. Midori is there too. Kumiko is practicing the bit that she keeps having trouble with. She hears another euphonium, and because it’s really good thinks it’s Asuka, but the euphonium is brass rather than silver - it’s Natsuki, playing her heart out and drinking water. Big change from the girl who spent section practice leaning on the window staring into space. Kumiko is staring at her, tears in her eyes, remembering Natsuki’s dejection. She runs back to her own euphonium. She was afraid to compete with her seniors before. She’s in the instrument room, and Reina finds her. She expresses worry, and Reina rushes over to her and grabs her face. “I’m going to do my best. So you have to, as well.” She repeats it, then demands that Kumiko promise her. Kumiko grabs Reina’s face and makes that promise.

8. Time for auditions. Taki is explaining how they will work. They can have 55 members in the band, which means not everyone will fit. He asks if people are nervous; someone says she is. He thinks everyone deserves to be in the competition, and congratulates them on their hard work. “Please stand tall and show me the fruits of your efforts.” Hazuki is freaking out a little. She wants this to be over. Riko is complaining about the stress too. Hazuki accidentally knees Kumiko’s euphonium; Kumiko expresses pain, and Midori says that the fact that Kumiko feels pain means that her soul is inside Jack. Apparently, Midori has named Kumiko’s euphonium Jack. I do not acknowledge this name, because only Kumiko can name her euphonium - Midori can name George and Hazuki can name Tubacabra. Midori has a band-aid on from practicing too much. Hazuki says it looks painful; Midori says that it’s nothing. During performances in middle school, her skin peeled off and she soaked her sheet music in blood. She’s so HAPPY, talking about that. She loves contrabass. And she’s sparkling. One of the horn players comes in and says that bass is next, starting with euphoniums. Asuka leads them to the band room.

9. Asuka’s audition ends quickly. Natsuki goes in next. Her audition is very long. Kumiko is waiting. And waiting. And waiting. It’s her turn. Taki says he heard she was experienced; she says she’s been playing for seven years. He’s impressed. She says her instrument is in tune already. Taki does that thing where someone is so interested in your comfort that they just make you more nervous, then tells her where to play from. She managed the bit she’s been struggling with. Taki tells her to play another bit. She hasn’t practiced that part as much. She remembers Reina telling her to do her best. She doesn’t know whether her turn was long or short. She’s nervous and excited when she leaves the room. We see a montage of other auditions. Now we get the results. People are tense. The homeroom teacher is reading the successful auditions. At least one saxophone didn’t make it; she’s crying and her friends are hugging her. Now on the euphoniums. Asuka and Kumiko’s auditions were successful; Natsuki’s was not. Her expression didn’t change much, but what change there was is heartbreaking. Tubas next. Goto and Riko made it; Hazuki did not. Midori did make it. Shuichi made it. Hazuki just realized she didn’t make it. Five trumpets, including both Kaori and Reina, made it. Reina will play the solo parts. Kaori’s fangirl and a lot of third years start immediately grumbling about that. Kaori herself just gets teary-eyed. Most of the band is staring at Reina in shock and dislike as the episode ends. We do, in fact, get the closing credits song again.

Overall: That was, in fact, a more normal episode, though the fallout of “Festival Triangle” drives about half its drama. Hazuki’s conviction that Kumiko is interested in Shuichi is something I don’t quite get - Kumiko has showed more interest in Goto than she has in Shuichi, and her interest in Goto has been basically zero. Ah, heteronormativity.

I’m not sure if having the homeroom teacher, instead of Taki, announce the successful auditions was kind or cruel. The woman does not have even an ounce of soft on her, and shows little if any empathy. Taki, on the other hand, is very good at demonstrating that he has empathy and very bad at not having his empathy smell a little of disappointment. It’s a wash, I guess. The school needs teachers who can actually interact with students, though.

The choice of Reina over Kaori to play the trumpet solos is both correct and socially awkward. Both are gifted, experienced artists, but Reina is both more gifted and more experienced, and it shows in the quality of their music. On the other hand, Reina is both a first-year student and very standoffish, while Kaori is a popular senior and one of those who held the band together when things came apart on them last year. This is going to be trouble.

I should also talk a bit more about villainy, and why Reina reads the way she does to the other members of the band. This actually ties back into “gambatte,” as well. As I said earlier in my synopsis, “gambatte” is a hard word to translate. It means some combination of “good luck” and “work hard,” but it doesn’t really mean either of those things. It’s a statement about karma and the nature of things, meant to be encouraging. “Do your work in a virtuous way, so that your success is guaranteed!” I’m still not getting this right, but that’s because it doesn’t really translate into English - or into ideas that show up in the English-speaking world - at all well.

In Japan, you work together, and you work at the pace of the group. To do anything else is socially disruptive. You lean on those around you, and support them in turn, then everyone succeeds and is happy. If you do not do these things, you are a bad person. You are not performing gambatte.

Reina does not perform gambatte. She does not lean on those around her, nor does she support them. She works hard, but not because working hard will gain her karma - she approaches her music in a very Western way. She works hard at it because that hard work will, itself, make her better. She only helps others as much as she needs to in order to achieve her personal goals. She stomps on the idea of seniority with reckless abandon.

In anime, someone who does these things can only be one of three types of character. They can be a comedy protagonist, like Takino Tomo in Azumanga Daioh. They can be a villain or a monster, like Beryl from Sailor Moon. Or they can be the Chosen One, like Goku from Dragonball. Reina is not a comedy protagonist, and one cannot choose to be the Chosen One, so she must be a villain.

And that is why nobody except Kumiko likes her.

#gambatte #sound! euphonium #hibike! euphonium #sound euphonium season 1 #season 1

2 notes · View notes

ciathyzareposts · 5 years

Text

Missed Classic: Asylum – Off To A Rocky Start

by Will Moczarski

Med Systems Marathon Overview: (a) 1980 Summary (b) Reality Ends (1980) (c) Rat‘s Revenge / Deathmaze 5000 (1980) (d) Labyrinth (1980)

Where I end and you begin

The first puzzle

My first hour in the Asylum is a tough one. I start the game in a cell with a locked door and I can see a bed as well as a box. The graphics are already more detailed than those of the previous 3-D maze games by Med Systems, it seems, as the bed can clearly be distinguished as an object you can interact with. I open the box and it contains a hand grenade which poses the first puzzle. I don’t find anything in, under, or on the bed, and if I pull the pin from the grenade and throw it at the door, everything blows up and the game is over. It takes more time than I’d like to admit but eventually I find the solution: the pin from the grenade is actually a key! The game and I don’t exactly start out as friends.

Apart from the pin and the grenade, I also wear a coat (“being worn”). Picking up an item displays the inventory which is handy. The interface already seems more polished than the one in Labyrinth. After typing “unlock door with pin”, I can open the door and escape my predicament. Turning left, I enter a long corridor with three doors on the left and one on the right. Looking back at my cell door, I can now see the image of an open door which is pretty nice. My actions appear to visibly change objects in the game world this time.

Now these previous two paragraphs make the first puzzle sound like a breeze when in fact I got stuck there for quite a while. It’s quite a dealbreaker and I wonder how many players just quit when they weren’t able to solve it. On the other hand, it was very educational regarding how the first few puzzles work in this game. They are short, self-contained set pieces that fortunately don’t require the player to examine the bed twice or something like that (I hate “do it twice” puzzles, I really do!) but rather use what’s laid out before her very eyes.

Second puzzle. The game is still out to get me.

Men of violence doomed in death

All of the doors are locked and none of them can be unlocked with the pin. My lock-picking skills seem to be rather bad. Behind the corner, I run into a guard. “A guard! Do something!”, screams the game. But throwing the grenade just ends in mayhem. When I try to move, I get caught. The game then tells me that I should have tiptoed (adding: “you fool”, in the fine tradition of Med Systems games insulting their players) but it doesn’t work when I try it after reloading. However, getting caught does not end the game. I am apparently back in my cell (an assumption that will turn out to be incorrect) wearing a straightjacket which is on fire. That escalated quickly. I cannot move anywhere and my inventory is empty. Nothing seems to help but the ol’ vocabulary which I can access by typing “vocab”. I am told that the straightjacket still burns which reminds me that the game is in real time – but what’s a poor boy to do anyway? After a couple of failed attempts, the verb “roll” seems suspicious enough to try it out, and voilà: “Flames smother, jacket falls away!” Two puzzles down, many more to go, I assume.

With my inventory gone, there is at least another box on the ground containing a newspaper. Reading it just reveals that “it says nothing important!”. The door is, of course, locked, and examining the bed still does not yield any results. This is already the third one-room puzzle locking me up in an environment that contains all the necessary items (if any) for the solution. So far, I like the opening a lot!

Once more, it takes some time until I get the right idea, and then it still takes some parser-wrestling. This actually feels like a classic adventure game solution, and I wonder if there are other games that made use of it. CAPs for anybody who can name other games containing this (kind of) puzzle. The first step is to examine the door as well as the keyhole which reveals that there is a silver key on the other side. I then proceed to “slide” the newspaper under the door and then try to knock the key onto the newspaper to pull it back with the key on it. At this point, I get very unfriendly with the parser. A deep breath and a few minutes later I make it work by typing “poke keyhole”. Pulling the newspaper from under the door gets me the silver key, and I can proceed to unlock the door from the inside. I still assume that I’m in my cell and that I have somehow lucked into picking the lock with the pin the first time. However, the corridor looks different – I must have been in another cell.

Moving along the corridor, I can hear somebody scream “Let me out and I’ll kill you!” That’s tempting but the silver key doesn’t fit, so I get down to something soothing for once: mapping the environment. In the next cell, there appears to be another inmate as I can hear “foolish giggling” – alas, my silver key doesn’t fit here either. The last door on the right finally can be unlocked. Behind it, I find another corridor with more cells. I seem to have entered the labyrinth proper, at last (another wrong assumption).

After a few more steps, however, I get caught by guards and it’s game over again. So far, the asylum is quite a bit harder to map than the deathmaze and the labyrinth. On the other hand, it has more dialog, more plot, more puzzles, all of which are things that keep me motivated. The game is not exactly easy but I was expecting as much after my previous experiences with Med Systems.

Friend of the devil is a friend of mine

Socializing with the inmates

Turning a corner never ends well as there always seems to be a guard ready to catch me. Fortunately, the game gave me a hint when I got caught the first time, so I know what to do right away. Tiptoeing before turning the corner lets me perform exactly one action before the guard notices me, so I’ll better make it count. Hitting the guard works smoothly enough, leaving me with an unconscious guard and his belongings: a brass key, cigarettes and a uniform. Naturally, I take all of them and can apparently roam the premises undisturbed now – at least for a while.

I attempt to map the next corridor and none of my keys work with the first two doors. However, the third one’s the charm. An inmate asks me if I have a cigarette – first the rude way (“Gotta cigarette?”), then, as I unlock his door with the silver key and enter his cell, he’s already much friendlier: “May I have a cigarette?” Saying “yes” makes him follow me around and on each screen with a door I get a message whether my new friend is able to pick the lock or not. Now that’s a good deal! The inmate is like a third key. The downside is that he needs a new cigarette every few minutes or he won’t keep following me, effectively establishing a time limit within the time limit.

In the next corridor, there are two locks the inmate can pick. Both lead to cells with more inmates who have burning questions: “May I take your coat?” and “Wanna buy a tuba?” Answering “yes” makes me realize that I don’t have my coat (anymore) so I probably have to get it back to solve this one. Trying to buy the tuba ends in a non sequitur, as the vendor laughs and tells me (s)he doesn’t have a tuba. Oh well.

Around the next corner there is another lock the inmate can pick for me. If I open the door without closing the others first, the game tells me that there are too many open doors in the asylum which is why I get caught again: game over. The next time I am more cautious and close all the doors behind me before heading onward. As soon as I open the door, though, I get pushed into a maze that looks familiar. This is proper Deathmaze 5000 or Labyrinth territory and I can finally map to my heart’s content. But who pushed me? Is this just a Zork reference hinting at the famous trap door? Or did my friend, the inmate, finally decide to betray me even if I didn’t run out of cigarettes yet? All I can say is that for all its “madhouse” cliches, Asylum is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors in terms of atmosphere.

But first I restore back to the beginning and unlock the door to the right of the straightjacket room to see what’s in that other corridor. I find that my silver key unlocks two more doors. Also, the corridor loops back to my own cell – at least that’s what I assume because I find my “belongings” (the hand grenade, the coat) there. It makes sense that the silver key also works for my cell as I wouldn’t have been able to get back the pin with the hand grenade in the room. Another case of good game design!

One more step and I get caught, however – I probably should have knocked out the guard before I went exploring this time. My next objective is to get my coat to that other inmate to see if I will get something in return, and it’s (drumroll) a round wooden peg. Not only the puzzles feel like classic adventure game challenges, the absurd objects definitely follow suit.

I enter the maze again to map it but this time something strange happens: not only do I get pushed from behind but I am also rubbed with vanishing cream. What does this mean? Did this also happen the last time? I don’t think so. If not, how did I trigger this event?

Product placement

Session time: 2.5 hrs Total time: 2.5 hrs

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-asylum-off-to-a-rocky-start/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

0 notes

theworstbob · 7 years

Text

yellin’ at songs, 4.14.2007 + 4.15.2017

the songs that debuted on the billboard chart this week and ten years ago this week. today: buttrock confessions

4.14.2007

40) "Ticks," Brad Paisley

So I watched the whole entire CMAs instead of Game 7 of the World Series and don't regret a single choice I made (the game went into extras, you don’t really have to watch baseball until the ninth inning tbh), and it struck me how much of a dorky theatre kid Brad Paisley was. He's objectively a great guitarist, like hokey as this song is and as little I know about music I think that's a dope fucking guitar line, but gosh darn, he was trying so hard the whole time at those CMAS! And that puts a song like this in perspective, because, like I said, it's hokey as fuck, but if you can just understand that Brad Paisley's sense of humor is that of someone who understands that being funny is a way to be Liked and is trying his best to be Liked, it sort of comes together and you can brush it off.

75) "We Takin' Over," DJ Khaled ft./T.I., Akon, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Lil' Wayne, Baby

FUCK DUDE LIL' WAYNE USED TO BE GOOD. Like OK I think we all know I wanted to come here and be like "look at the humble beginnings of the meme man! He wasn't such a meme in these days!" but then there was a Lil' Wayne verse where he wasn't fucking around with Auto-tune, he was just rapping, and he was such a good fucking rapper that I'm actually angrier at the two "verses" he had on those Nicki Minaj songs a couple weeks back. It's not even one of his more notable verses, I don't think, it was just a normal 10-year-old Wayne verse, but I'm still here like, what a treat, a Lil' Wanye feature I don't mind! How lucky we were in 2007!

78) "Little Wonders," Rob Thomas

it is good to remember things that are nice! the lyric video i watched for this song ended with this message from the editor: "Believe in yourself, follow your dreams, and never, EVER give up =)." i would have much rather someone had just repeated those words over and over for three and a half minutes than listened to this song. DANNY ELFMAN?! fuck are you doing here, danny elfman? are you lost?

79) "Hey There Delilah," Plain White T's

There is nothing I could say about this song that would be worth saying.

82) "I Tried," Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ft./Akon

a'ight, see, now i feel better about bumping pink and jordan pruitt from the top 20, because it won't be some buttrock heroes what bumps 'em, it'll be a legit impressive, heartfelt song. i'm kinda surprised i don't remember this! now i just gotta contend with the fact most of both top 20s are gonna be dudes. but like most of these songs are dudes. this week is all dudes. next week is a 7:2 dude-to-lady ratio. last week was 2:1. maybe less dudes? idk, recency bias is doin' work, but at least two weeks from now, we're gonna get some dope tunes.

87) "Get Buck," Young Buck

HOLY SHIT THIS FUCKING BEAT THE TUBA HAS NEVER HAD A BETTER DAY IN ITS LIFE. OK, this is the first 2007 track I think has been unjustifiably forgotten by time. “Say OK” hit me, but I think that was just a moment for me. This is objectively a classic, this fucking beat, man. Young Buck doesn't add a ton to the proceedings, but he doesn't ruin anything, his gruff, shouty flow is perfect for the beat, and I'll admit, I got a dark chuckle out of the "I can serve Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown" line. This was fuckin' rad, y'all, the best "new to me" song I've heard so far. Seriously this beat, how have we not found a better home for it, how did no one else latch onto it. A strong silver medalist in the "Southern rap songs with the word 'buck' in the title" category.

89) "A Woman's Love," Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson, last seen walking out on Beyonce's performance at the CMAs, is here singing a jaunty tune about how one time he fucked.

91) "Love Today," MIKA

i mean it's just a good song, man, i dunno. i'm allowed to just say when a song is solid and something i can jam to, right, when i don't think i have anything to justify? it's low-rent scissor sisters. I'LL TAKE THAT ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. solid week.

95) "Forever," Papa Roach

...oh goddamnit i love this song. No, you don't... Lemme explain. I need to explain, so lemme. So, I listened to a lot of the local buttrock station in my teens, because that's what the radio at the auto shop where I worked was always tuned to, was 93X. And, I dunno, there's a lot of bullshit I forgot and a lot of shit too horrible to purge from the mind, I've heard the acoustic version of Staind's "Outside" more times than any man ever should, but there were some songs where the Stockholm Syndrome hit, and you were like, "Well, maybe Chevelle isn't ALL bad." This was definitely the point where I was like, "Hey, this is the one decent Papa Roach song!" I was legit angry when I realized this was that song, I forgot I ever loved a Papa Roach song, I was 10000% sure this was a cover because there was no way I was going to go anywhere but IN on this song, but no, this is a song I shouted in the shower at least five times. I'm so disappointed in myself right now, but... But, yeah, this is, I can’t quite place where they cribbed the verses from but they cribbed well, the chorus is shouty and fake-deep like all the great buttrock songs, and I love that ending, the “one last kiss” thing over that bass line, without reservation. We have to be true to who we were, and who we are is never fully removed from who we were. I hate this. I hate having to admit this. THE ONE PAPA ROACH SONG I FUCK WITH, AND IT HAS TO BE PART OF THIS PROJECT. I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT A KENDRICK LAMAR SONG SOON, AND HERE I AM, FUCKING WITH A PAPA ROACH SONG, THROWING MY CRITICAL AUTHORITY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER.

97) "Breath," Breaking Benjamin

I have less reservations about loving a Breaking Benjamin song, though, because Breaking Benjamin wasn't fake-deep like Papa Roach. ("My feelings for you are forever." God, that's stupid. I love a very stupid thing.) No, Breaking Benjamin was legit dark, they were a buttrock band I knew was OK because my friend who ended up going to a semi-prestigious art high school of some renown was into them. Is it the same song as "The Diary of Jane?" Yeah, kinda, there's more than a little resemblance, "THE DIARY OF JANE" IS A LEGIT GREAT SONG AND BITING THAT SONG IS A SMART MOVE.

At least Papa Roach couldn’t crack the Top 20. 2007: gaining strength! 20) "Get it Shawty," by Lloyd (3.31.2007) 19) "Break 'Em Off," by Paul Wall ft./Lil' KeKe (3.10.2007) 18) "My Oh My," by The Wreckers (1.27.2007) 17) "Mr. Jones," by Mike Jones (1.27.2007) 16) "Settlin'," by Sugarland (2.17.2007) 15) "I Tried," by Bone Thugs 'n Harmony (4.21.2007) 14) "Movin' On," by Elliott Yamin (3.17.2007) 13) "U + Ur Hand," by P!nk (1.13.2007) 12) "Doe Boy Fresh," by Three 6 Mafia ft./Chamillionaire (1.20.2007) 11) "Breath," by Breaking Benjamin (4.21.2007) 10) "Beautiful Liar," by Beyonce & Shakira (3.31.2007) 9) "Cupid's Chokehold," by Gym Class Heroes ft./Patrick Stump (1.13.2007) 8) "The River," by Good Charlotte ft./M. Shadows & Synyster Gates (2.10.2007) 7) "Say OK," by Vanessa Hudgens (2.17.2007) 6) "Alyssa Lies," by Jason Michael Carroll (1.13.2007) 5) "Get Buck," by Young Buck (4.21.2007) 4) "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," by Jennifer Hudson (1.13.2007) 3) "Candyman," by Christina Aguilera (1.13.2007) 2) "Because of You," by Ne-Yo (3.17.2007) 1) "Dashboard," by Modest Mouse (2.17.2007)

4.15.2017

22) "The Heart Part 4," by Kendrick Lamar

I mean, with the way I do this thing, everything that's been said about this song has been said, and I'm hella late to the party, trying to get another round of Pin the Tail on the Donkey started. "You didn't have fun without me, I'm about to have fun WITH you!" No Bob! we already played that game Bob!. "BLINDFOLD ME!" I think it's vitally important that Kendrick Lamar remind everyone that he's the best MC alive right now, because he is, and gosh, he just fucking raps for four minutes. Barely a hook, just Kendrick Lamar verses and flows for a solid four minutes, and I'm really curious how many rappers could sustain a song for four (mostly) uninterrupted minutes just on their own. Minimalist production, it's just your voice and your words. I'd put Danny Brown in that category, but it'd be a bleak-ass four minutes. I want to put Killer Mike in that category, but I have to think there's a reason he works best in a duo. I'd want to listen to what four minutes of undiulted Young Thug would sound like?, but more out of curiosity than belief in his ability. And I mean Kendrick's the only one in the popular consciousness who could do it, no fuckin’ question, there's no one in the mainstream rap world anywhere NEAR his level. (Kendrick Lamar is barely mainstream, of course, and that fact is a source of much consternation on this song, like there's no way the entire Kendrick album breaks the Hot 100 like the entire Drake album did, but he was in a Tay Tay song the one time and that's enough.) Just listening to Kendrick Lamar rap is one of the most thrilling songs I've heard for YAS 2017. Honestly, I'm ranking it too low in the Top 20, but only because I have to think better things are on their way and am wary of that recency bias wave.

49) "XO Tour Lif3," by Lil Uzi Vert

Congratulations on being the modern rap song which followed "The Heart Part 4!" You were always going to suffer in comparison, and while I regret that it happened to you, I hope you understand it had to happen to someone. I mean, this is a three-minute song, and at some point I got bored enough that I forgot I was supposed to be paying attention to come up with an observation and/or a joke and did other things. Not even shit I needed to take care of, I checked Facebook and thought about getting a glass of milk until he started saying all his friends are dead, like what?, oh okay I guess that's how this song ends then, OH FUCK well prolly not worth dipping back in if I got that distracted.

61) "Speak to a Girl," by Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

So over the last four weeks, only three women have had tracks debut on the Hot 100. That's pretty cool. One of the three dudes who wrote this song, about what a girl REALLY wants from a man, was also a co-writer on Jason Derulo's "Wiggle," which is, I mean, I'm going off Wikipedia, I'm hopeful this is too awful to be true, but if it isn't, how does that dude sleep at night? What does that dude believe in? Who is his god, just, to what moral authority is our man Joe London holding himself accountable? Do Not Trust Joe London. Another of the songwriters worked with a band called Confederate Railroad. Country music is the coolest. I'm so proud to like this genre.

66) "Still Got Time," by ZAYN ft./PARTYNEXTDOOR

First of all, we need to take a minute to discuss the sheer disrespect for the concept of caps lock expressed by ZAYN and PARTYNEXTDOOR. This is a mumblecore pop song, and I must insist these dudes cease using all capital letters until they prove they're capable of expressing excitement. Other than that gripe, though, I dunno, I didn't have a bad time! I enjoyed it about as much as I did "Running Back" a few weeks ago, it didn't light this Tuesday evening on fire, but it was a chill groove, and I appreciated the B+ to which all involved contributed. Also, new favorite Wikipedia line: "Shane Lindstrom, professionally known as Murda Beatz." One, professionally known. Two, imagine ever asking someone to call you Murda. Gosh, what a stupid fucking stage name. (Stage name? Backstage name? Why do you need an alias bro you're a fucking producer, you don't get to have a fake name, the fuck makes you think you can have a fake name. Even Swizz Beatz rapped sometimes, what is your goddamned problem Murda Beatz.)

2017′s Top 20! I lowered “Run Up” again. I miss it dearly but I can’t pretend I liked it more than “Green Light.” 20) "Swalla," by Jason Derulo ft./Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign (4.8) 19) "Light," by Big Sean ft./Jeremih (2.25) 18) "Everyday," by Ariana Grande ft./Future (3.4) 17) "Draco," by Future (3.11) 16) "Guys My Age," by Hey Violet (2.11) 15) "Good Drank," by 2 Chainz ft./Gucci Mane & Quavo (2.11) 14) "Yeah Boy," Kelsea Ballerini (3.4) 13) "Selfish," by Future ft./Rihanna (3.18) 12) "Slide," by Calvin Harris ft./Frank Ocean & Migos (3.18) 11) "It Ain't Me," by Kygo x Selena Gomez (3.4) 10) "Now & Later," by Sage the Gemini (2.25) 9) "Shape of You," by Ed Sheeran (1.28) 8) "That's What I Like," by Bruno Mars (3.4) 7) "The Heart Part 4," by Kendrick Lamar (4.15) 6) "Chanel," by Frank Ocean ft./A$AP Rocky (4.1) 5) "Run Up," by Major Lazer ft./PARTYNEXTDOOR & Nicki Minaj (2.18) 4) "Green Light," by Lorde (3.18) 3) "Despacito," by Luis Fonsi ft./Daddy Yankee (2.4) 2) "Issues," by Julia Michaels (2.11) 1) "iSpy," by KYLE ft./Lil Yachty (1.14) how the fuck did “swalla” make it two weeks Also, I know there was a new Iggy Azalea song, and I’m just gonna say, if having to listen to 21 Drake songs was the price I paid to not have to hear 1 Iggy Azalea song, I will have been glad to have paid the toll. That is a reasonable trade, one I would never say no to. Boy I hope it doesn’t debut next week! Also: “iSpy” in the for-real top five! That’s so dope! I’m happy for that song!

Who won the week?

2007 had the stronger showing this week, and let’s be real, I think it’s out-paced 2017 at this point. 2007′s at the point where “Get It Shawty” is hanging on by a thread while “Grace Kelly” and “Outside Looking In” are outside looking in. 2017 needs to step its game up. We’re two weeks from “Umbrella.” Is that so much to ask, is for just one instant classic era-defining monster jam that shatters the world? Come on, 2017! 2007: 2 2017: 1

0 notes