"Let it GOooo!!"
"Let iiit GOoOOoo!!"
"CaAan't hOold it bAack AanyMOooOOooOore!!"
((Florida Riley continued from Excuse me, may I interest you in...?))
Florida's smile rarely faltered. Not even her friend's abysmal singing could put a dent on it, barely even wincing whenever the audio peaked. Like sure, Stacy was a little off-key, but... Hey, that's just karaoke for ya!
The fundraiser was well and truly underway, a decently sized crowd having gathered in the softly lit community hall. Mostly girls from relief society and their relatives, but there was the occasional unfamiliar face amidst the crowd.
No sign of her classmates though... Yet. The night was still young, after all.
The overall vibe was... Well, about what you'd expect really. Lots of smiling faces, a depressingly tame set list and not a drop of alcohol in sight. There were several large punch bowls though, and an assortment of store brand sodas.
Florida herself was mingling close to the entrance, gently sipping from a cup of diet lemonade. There was a table set up with the set list laid out for all to see, along with a donation bucket and a neatly piled stack of pamphlets with info on the local temple - just in case you were curious, you know?
A quiet hum escaped Florida's lips as she stood there, wondering if she'd end up seeing any faces from Red Rock that evening. Whilst she managed to hand out more leaflets than anticipated, she wasn't super convinced that anyone would actually turn up. Odds are most of her classmates were just being polite - which was fine, of course! She could hardly blame folk if they had better things to do with their weekend then turn up to a silly little karaoke night.
Still, you never know...
"LET THE STORM RAGE OOooOOOoOoOOooon!!!"
"Thecoldneverbotheredmeanyway..."
The Mormon Karaoke Thread
Jan 18th - Open
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almostinhuman
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:20 am
((Sharad Narang pregame starts here))
Walking in from the night outside, a short figure would arrive, smelling vaguely of cigarette smoke, though no cigarette was visible in his hands. One hand was busy cradling a black-and-purple longboard under his arm, while the other was holding a slightly beat up smartphone that his eyes were locked to.
This wasn't Sharad's usual kind of crowd, nor his typical kind of hangout spot. The community center, worn to shit as it was, was still at least a bit respectable, the kind of place Sharad felt unwelcome in even when it was empty, nevermind now when it was kinda-sorta-almost bustling. Walking through the grounds hadn't lessened that impression, and the glimpse he was getting of the night's event only heightened it. The folks here were visibly churchy, and the Mormon flavor of that kind of crap; he'd known that coming in, but he maybe hadn't expected just how plain it would be on arrival. Sharad, grungy little punk that he was, would cut a controversial figure on first sight, and that was before he got a chance to say or do any of the shit he usually got up to that would really piss them off.
Why was he here, then? Part of it was that he'd already passed the center twice today while cruising around the neighborhood, but he'd passed it plenty of times on other days without giving it a second look. Part of it was that he couldn't go home with Robert doing his usual bullshit, but normally he wouldn't head for the church potluck just because his grandpa threw a plate at him. Mostly it was because none of his buddies were available to chill, much less to give him a place to hunker down until the old shithead wore himself out or went back to work. He'd been trying to pass the time just boarding around the neighborhood, but there was only so long he could do that alone, traversing the same streets over and over, before it became dreary and monotonous in its own right. Most spots to chill in downtown Vegas required money, something Sharad didn't have much of, and what was left was mostly abandoned lots or rundown parks that were neither fun nor safe to be in alone. A churchgroup's karaoke night fundraiser sounded lame as fucking hell, sure, but at least it was something different, in a place that was reasonably safe, and wasn't demanding money for the privilege of boring him to death.
And if it got too boring, well, he could at least get a kick out of ticking off some Mormons and spoiling their shitty party or whatever. He probably wouldn't even have to try especially hard.
But for now, he was on his best behavior. He traipsed in through the open door with a casual air like he wasn't the sorest thumb on Earth, only briefly glancing up from his phone in vain hope that someone here would stick out as familiar amidst the crowd of button-up wearing strangers.
Walking in from the night outside, a short figure would arrive, smelling vaguely of cigarette smoke, though no cigarette was visible in his hands. One hand was busy cradling a black-and-purple longboard under his arm, while the other was holding a slightly beat up smartphone that his eyes were locked to.
This wasn't Sharad's usual kind of crowd, nor his typical kind of hangout spot. The community center, worn to shit as it was, was still at least a bit respectable, the kind of place Sharad felt unwelcome in even when it was empty, nevermind now when it was kinda-sorta-almost bustling. Walking through the grounds hadn't lessened that impression, and the glimpse he was getting of the night's event only heightened it. The folks here were visibly churchy, and the Mormon flavor of that kind of crap; he'd known that coming in, but he maybe hadn't expected just how plain it would be on arrival. Sharad, grungy little punk that he was, would cut a controversial figure on first sight, and that was before he got a chance to say or do any of the shit he usually got up to that would really piss them off.
Why was he here, then? Part of it was that he'd already passed the center twice today while cruising around the neighborhood, but he'd passed it plenty of times on other days without giving it a second look. Part of it was that he couldn't go home with Robert doing his usual bullshit, but normally he wouldn't head for the church potluck just because his grandpa threw a plate at him. Mostly it was because none of his buddies were available to chill, much less to give him a place to hunker down until the old shithead wore himself out or went back to work. He'd been trying to pass the time just boarding around the neighborhood, but there was only so long he could do that alone, traversing the same streets over and over, before it became dreary and monotonous in its own right. Most spots to chill in downtown Vegas required money, something Sharad didn't have much of, and what was left was mostly abandoned lots or rundown parks that were neither fun nor safe to be in alone. A churchgroup's karaoke night fundraiser sounded lame as fucking hell, sure, but at least it was something different, in a place that was reasonably safe, and wasn't demanding money for the privilege of boring him to death.
And if it got too boring, well, he could at least get a kick out of ticking off some Mormons and spoiling their shitty party or whatever. He probably wouldn't even have to try especially hard.
But for now, he was on his best behavior. He traipsed in through the open door with a casual air like he wasn't the sorest thumb on Earth, only briefly glancing up from his phone in vain hope that someone here would stick out as familiar amidst the crowd of button-up wearing strangers.
"'CAUSE BABY, YOU'RE A FIIIIIIIIIIIIREWAAAARK!"
"COME ON SHOW 'EM WHAAAAAAAAaaaAaAT YOUR WAAARTH!"
"MAKE 'EM GO, AAAah, UUuuah, AaAauh!"
"AS YOU SHOOT ACROSS THE SKAAh, Uuuaah, UuAAaAah!"
Florida hummed along, tapping her foot to the beat as she swayed from side to side.
Good old Sister Mary, always giving it her all! Her aggressive fortissimo was quite the stark contrast to the last person who was up; poor Andrea spent the entire time mumbling incoherently into the microphone before storming off-stage in tears.
It made Florida more than a little nervous about her own turn on the mic. No way could she compete with Sister Mary's enthusiasm, nor did she want to choke up like Andrea. But, she felt reasonably confident! Certainly helped that she managed to convince Sister Vanessa to include a personal request on the set list, just for her...
But, her idle musings were quickly interrupted by the arrival of a new face to the party. And by new face, she meant a familiar face! From her school! HUZZAH!
Although... Had she handed Sharad a leaflet? She honestly couldn't remember, she was pretty sure they hadn't even spoken to each other this year, let alone the past week. Had they EVER spoken to each other? Florida was more of a front-of-the-class kind of girl, whilst Sharad always struck her as a back-of-the-class kinda guy.
Well, didn't matter! He was here now, and she felt it was her civic duty to be as welcoming as possible!
"Hiii Sharad!" she calls out, having to raise her voice as Sister Mary's mic peaked again. "So glad you could join us! Please, make yourself at home!"
"COME ON SHOW 'EM WHAAAAAAAAaaaAaAT YOUR WAAARTH!"
"MAKE 'EM GO, AAAah, UUuuah, AaAauh!"
"AS YOU SHOOT ACROSS THE SKAAh, Uuuaah, UuAAaAah!"
Florida hummed along, tapping her foot to the beat as she swayed from side to side.
Good old Sister Mary, always giving it her all! Her aggressive fortissimo was quite the stark contrast to the last person who was up; poor Andrea spent the entire time mumbling incoherently into the microphone before storming off-stage in tears.
It made Florida more than a little nervous about her own turn on the mic. No way could she compete with Sister Mary's enthusiasm, nor did she want to choke up like Andrea. But, she felt reasonably confident! Certainly helped that she managed to convince Sister Vanessa to include a personal request on the set list, just for her...
But, her idle musings were quickly interrupted by the arrival of a new face to the party. And by new face, she meant a familiar face! From her school! HUZZAH!
Although... Had she handed Sharad a leaflet? She honestly couldn't remember, she was pretty sure they hadn't even spoken to each other this year, let alone the past week. Had they EVER spoken to each other? Florida was more of a front-of-the-class kind of girl, whilst Sharad always struck her as a back-of-the-class kinda guy.
Well, didn't matter! He was here now, and she felt it was her civic duty to be as welcoming as possible!
"Hiii Sharad!" she calls out, having to raise her voice as Sister Mary's mic peaked again. "So glad you could join us! Please, make yourself at home!"
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almostinhuman
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:20 am
"Oh,"
Sharad was honestly expecting to be escorted out by one of the adults in the room, or failing that, that he'd be left to his own devices - which probably would've just lead to more aimless milling about by the entrance. He wasn't expecting anyone to try inviting him in, nor was he really expecting anyone who recognized him to be here, but here she was... Florida, he wanted to say? He'd seen her around, and he'd heard the name in classes he was pretty sure they shared, but he actually wasn't confident that was correct. He was no good at remembering names of folks he didn't actually fuck with, especially not preppy sorts he'd never even spoken to. Maybe he shouldn't say it out loud until he was sure. No need to offend anyone literally immediately upon arrival; there'd be plenty of time for that later in the night.
"Yeah, hey..." he grumbled during a lull in the fuckawful dirge playing onstage. "Uh, I'm here. Didn't have much else to do, so..."
He pocketed his phone and looked her in the eye, returning not so much as an iota of her enthusiasm.
"Honestly kinda just saw this shit popping off from the street while I was passing by. Figured I'd see what's up."
The fingers drummed across the bottom of the skateboard they were holding. Having this massive fucker on hand was almost certainly gonna be a problem. He's thought about leaving it outside, but the threat of it getting stolen had made him think better of it. Still, it absolutely wasn't something he wanted to be carting around all night if he was staying.
"Uh, is there a place I could stick this thing?"
Sharad was honestly expecting to be escorted out by one of the adults in the room, or failing that, that he'd be left to his own devices - which probably would've just lead to more aimless milling about by the entrance. He wasn't expecting anyone to try inviting him in, nor was he really expecting anyone who recognized him to be here, but here she was... Florida, he wanted to say? He'd seen her around, and he'd heard the name in classes he was pretty sure they shared, but he actually wasn't confident that was correct. He was no good at remembering names of folks he didn't actually fuck with, especially not preppy sorts he'd never even spoken to. Maybe he shouldn't say it out loud until he was sure. No need to offend anyone literally immediately upon arrival; there'd be plenty of time for that later in the night.
"Yeah, hey..." he grumbled during a lull in the fuckawful dirge playing onstage. "Uh, I'm here. Didn't have much else to do, so..."
He pocketed his phone and looked her in the eye, returning not so much as an iota of her enthusiasm.
"Honestly kinda just saw this shit popping off from the street while I was passing by. Figured I'd see what's up."
The fingers drummed across the bottom of the skateboard they were holding. Having this massive fucker on hand was almost certainly gonna be a problem. He's thought about leaving it outside, but the threat of it getting stolen had made him think better of it. Still, it absolutely wasn't something he wanted to be carting around all night if he was staying.
"Uh, is there a place I could stick this thing?"
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Dr Adjective
- Posts: 552
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:25 pm
- Location: in your walls
[On your left, it’s Hope Hynes again.]
A red-faced redhead arrived rather suddenly in Sharad’s wake, breathing heavily as she burst through the doors. She could already hear singing, not that she needed that to know she was late. Between getting held up at home and her bus being late, Hope was already well aware she wasn’t making it to the community centre on time, and yet she’d still sprinted from the bus stop anyway. Showed a desire to be there in a timely fashion, at least. If she couldn’t be punctual, at least show willing!
She hadn’t quite fully parsed the presence of Sharad at first, just sort of become aware that someone else was there talking to Florida before she herself doubled over to catch her breath.
“Hi… hi…” deep breaths. Deep breaths.
“Sorry I’m… late…”
Look up. Sharp exhale, lip angled, blowing some errant strands of hair away from her eyes. Hope regarded the duo, still sucking in oxygen. She had no idea who the boy was, but he looked out of place. That was a good sign, right? Diverse crowd? Hope took it as a good sign.
A red-faced redhead arrived rather suddenly in Sharad’s wake, breathing heavily as she burst through the doors. She could already hear singing, not that she needed that to know she was late. Between getting held up at home and her bus being late, Hope was already well aware she wasn’t making it to the community centre on time, and yet she’d still sprinted from the bus stop anyway. Showed a desire to be there in a timely fashion, at least. If she couldn’t be punctual, at least show willing!
She hadn’t quite fully parsed the presence of Sharad at first, just sort of become aware that someone else was there talking to Florida before she herself doubled over to catch her breath.
“Hi… hi…” deep breaths. Deep breaths.
“Sorry I’m… late…”
Look up. Sharp exhale, lip angled, blowing some errant strands of hair away from her eyes. Hope regarded the duo, still sucking in oxygen. She had no idea who the boy was, but he looked out of place. That was a good sign, right? Diverse crowd? Hope took it as a good sign.
Florida flinched a little when Sharad dropped a casual cuss word. Oh dear, hopefully he didn't do that too often.
Her smile didn't waver though, just happy to see that one of her classmates was curious enough to see what was up. Who knows where that curiosity could lead him!
"That's fiiine, feel free to stay as long as you like!"
There was an applause from the crowd as Sister Mary finished her song, with Sister Penelope stepping up to go next. Florida was pretty sure Sister Penelope was planning to do "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan? All the millennials were looking particularly excited about that.
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure we can fit that somewhere!" she continued, glancing towards a coat rack near the entrance. There, maybe?
She was still considering where Sharad could put his big skateboard thing when another familiar face arrived, Florida's eyes beaming with excitement! "Hiiiiii Hope! Please, make yourself at home! Both of you!"
Florida glanced between the two, before gesturing to a nearby table. "Feel free to check out the set list! Should be a little something for everyone on it!"
And by that, she meant a mix of Disney songs and family friendly pop music. Plus her special request.
Her smile didn't waver though, just happy to see that one of her classmates was curious enough to see what was up. Who knows where that curiosity could lead him!
"That's fiiine, feel free to stay as long as you like!"
There was an applause from the crowd as Sister Mary finished her song, with Sister Penelope stepping up to go next. Florida was pretty sure Sister Penelope was planning to do "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan? All the millennials were looking particularly excited about that.
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure we can fit that somewhere!" she continued, glancing towards a coat rack near the entrance. There, maybe?
She was still considering where Sharad could put his big skateboard thing when another familiar face arrived, Florida's eyes beaming with excitement! "Hiiiiii Hope! Please, make yourself at home! Both of you!"
Florida glanced between the two, before gesturing to a nearby table. "Feel free to check out the set list! Should be a little something for everyone on it!"
And by that, she meant a mix of Disney songs and family friendly pop music. Plus her special request.
"A Whole New World" - Aladdin - Harriet G
"Beauty and the Beast" - Beauty and the Beast
"Best Day of My Life" - American Authors
"Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
"Blinding Lights" - The Weeknd
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen - Jaime F
"Can't Feel My Face" - The Weeknd
"Can't Stop the Feeling!" - Justin Timberlake
"Circle of Life" - The Lion King
"Count on Me" - Bruno Mars
"Dancing Queen" - ABBA - Andrea M
"Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
"Firework" - Katy Perry - Mary P
"Good Life" - OneRepublic
"Good Luck, Babe" - Chapell Roan Florida R
"Hakuna Matata" - The Lion King - Hugh M
"Happy" - Pharrell Williams
"Hey Jude" - The Beatles
"I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas
"I'll Make a Man Out of You" - Mulan - Penelope N
"I Just Can't Wait to Be King" - The Lion King
"I Want to Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
"I Will Be Here" - Steven Curtis Chapman
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor
"I'm a Believer" - The Monkees
"Is This Love" - Bob Marley & The Wailers
"Just Dance" - Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis
"Let It Go" - Frozen - Stacy S
"Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi - Georgia D
"Love Yourself" - Justin Bieber
"On Top of the World" - Imagine Dragons - Fred F
"Physical" - Olivia Newton-John
"Roar" - Katy Perry
"Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift - Taryn G
"Shape of You" - Ed Sheeran
"Someone Like You" - Adele
"Sugar" - Maroon 5
"Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond - Caroline A
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" - John Denver
"Under the Sea" - The Little Mermaid - Zoe F
"Uptown Funk" - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
"Viva Las Vegas" - Elvis Presley
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" - Wham! - Wendy W
"Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves - Daria K
"We Are the Champions" - Queen
"You Light Up My Life" - Debby Boone - Martha B
"You've Got a Friend in Me" - Randy Newman
'A Vernet is never late; he always arrives when he's supposed to...
or something like that. Haven't watched those movies in years, probably should again. Get people 'round, make it a thing. Could call Ebs, Heather maybe.'
Mitch pushes the entrance doors open as these thoughts meander around his skull. His immense tapestry of hair is tied back into a more formal, loose ponytail (though looking more like a full-blown stallion) to not give the poor sisters a heart attack. Likewise, he'd decided not to wear an Infant Annihilator shirt today and instead put on something a little more palatable...
... Megadeth. Peace Sells, specifically.
'Hey, Mustaine's Christian. So this is probably fine, right?'
He cranes his neck as he looks around the hall for anyone he recognizes.
or something like that. Haven't watched those movies in years, probably should again. Get people 'round, make it a thing. Could call Ebs, Heather maybe.'
Mitch pushes the entrance doors open as these thoughts meander around his skull. His immense tapestry of hair is tied back into a more formal, loose ponytail (though looking more like a full-blown stallion) to not give the poor sisters a heart attack. Likewise, he'd decided not to wear an Infant Annihilator shirt today and instead put on something a little more palatable...
... Megadeth. Peace Sells, specifically.
'Hey, Mustaine's Christian. So this is probably fine, right?'
He cranes his neck as he looks around the hall for anyone he recognizes.
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-
almostinhuman
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:20 am
New partygoers arrived before Sharad could say anything - or before their host could tell Sharad where he could put the board. Guess he'd just be carrying it after all. One of the new kids - Hope - had come barreling in here like she was missing the party of the century, and received an even more excited greeting than Sharad did, like her arrival had been eagerly awaited. Sharad knew fuck-all about Hope, so maybe she was another one of these Mormons, hotly anticipating a thrilling night of drinking warm soda and listening to her friends warble along to absolutely fucking terrible music.
"Damn, bitch, you good?" Sharad muttered, more to himself than to Hope.
The other new visitor was just doing Sharad's own look-around-aimlessly routine a minute or two after the fact. Wearing a Megadeth shirt, no less. Normally it would elicit an eyeroll from Sharad, but in this scene he could respect it. The band's name alone would be provocative in a crowd that considered Metallica the height of godless corruption of The Youth, nevermind if any of them had somehow actually listened to any of their music. He wasn't sure this guy had actually come here with the intent to piss anyone off, but Sharad could at least appreciate that he ran a solid chance of doing exactly that.
With these new folks, ???Florida??? offered them a tempting chance to make an ass of themselves on stage. Sharad didn't have to think hard before responding.
"Hm. Nice offer, but eh, I'll pass. Probably not much on there I could sing along to anyway."
He didn't need to say that was because the songs listed there were probably unlistenable dogshit. The """"""music"""""" that had graced his ears so far was proof enough of that.
"Damn, bitch, you good?" Sharad muttered, more to himself than to Hope.
The other new visitor was just doing Sharad's own look-around-aimlessly routine a minute or two after the fact. Wearing a Megadeth shirt, no less. Normally it would elicit an eyeroll from Sharad, but in this scene he could respect it. The band's name alone would be provocative in a crowd that considered Metallica the height of godless corruption of The Youth, nevermind if any of them had somehow actually listened to any of their music. He wasn't sure this guy had actually come here with the intent to piss anyone off, but Sharad could at least appreciate that he ran a solid chance of doing exactly that.
With these new folks, ???Florida??? offered them a tempting chance to make an ass of themselves on stage. Sharad didn't have to think hard before responding.
"Hm. Nice offer, but eh, I'll pass. Probably not much on there I could sing along to anyway."
He didn't need to say that was because the songs listed there were probably unlistenable dogshit. The """"""music"""""" that had graced his ears so far was proof enough of that.
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Dr Adjective
- Posts: 552
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:25 pm
- Location: in your walls
Too busy catching her breath and with her focus more onFlorida, Hope missed Sharad’s under-the-breath remark. For as she was however, it didn’t take much longer to reassert control of her breathing and stand up straight again. After some mildly awkward brushing of stray hair out of her face, the girl gave a perfunctory look at the set list. Not that she’d really been planning on singing, but seeing that the whole thing was pre-selected was more than a little disappointing. Hope had at least entertained the idea of singing something if she could have the proverbial aux cord, but perhaps the hosts were worried about copyright, or they had a strict policy on age-appropriateness?
Speaking of being family friendly, as she turned back to make her excuses about performance anxiety or being a bad singer or whatever other polite way she could think up to get out of it, Hope was just in time to see another rather out-of-place face arrive, also looking a little lost. Mitch, she thought? He hung out with those tall girls in that shouty band, all of them a little too close to that one bully with the stupid name for her liking. Not yet having quite grasped the Mormon nature of the whole event, Hope at first thought nothing of Mitch’s choice of soooky skelly t-shirt.
“I uh… don’t think the nice people here did anything to deserve my singing, I just wanted to show some, you know, moral support?”
And she’d made sure to bring a bit of cash to contribute if anyone was taking donations, but saying that part out loud felt somehow improper. You don’t just go around flexing your intent to be generous, especially before you’ve even done it.
Speaking of being family friendly, as she turned back to make her excuses about performance anxiety or being a bad singer or whatever other polite way she could think up to get out of it, Hope was just in time to see another rather out-of-place face arrive, also looking a little lost. Mitch, she thought? He hung out with those tall girls in that shouty band, all of them a little too close to that one bully with the stupid name for her liking. Not yet having quite grasped the Mormon nature of the whole event, Hope at first thought nothing of Mitch’s choice of soooky skelly t-shirt.
“I uh… don’t think the nice people here did anything to deserve my singing, I just wanted to show some, you know, moral support?”
And she’d made sure to bring a bit of cash to contribute if anyone was taking donations, but saying that part out loud felt somehow improper. You don’t just go around flexing your intent to be generous, especially before you’ve even done it.
Florida let out an audible gasp the moment Sharad dropped that COMPLETELY uncalled for use of the B-Word, instantly covering her mouth to feign indifference. H-he probably meant it affectionately... Somehow, maybe? Hopefully, probably?
Anyway-ly!
"Th-thats fine! No pressure!" she replied with a strained smile, before noticing that Sharad was still holding onto his skateboard. "Oh, here, l-let me put that away for you!"
It was around that point she finally noticed the third new arrival - another fellow classmate! Oh SUPER!
"Hi Mitch!" she called out with a wave, possibly holding onto Sharad's longboard (assuming he let's her take it, of course).
"Cool shirt! Rock and roll!" exclaimed Florida, making an awkard hand gesture that more closely resembled Spider-Man's webslinging pose than the, uh... What did they call it... Sign of the horns? Wait a second, as in... HIS horns?! Oh God - GOSH - oh no, uuuh, abort! Abort!! ABORT!!!
Anyway-ly!
"Th-thats fine! No pressure!" she replied with a strained smile, before noticing that Sharad was still holding onto his skateboard. "Oh, here, l-let me put that away for you!"
It was around that point she finally noticed the third new arrival - another fellow classmate! Oh SUPER!
"Hi Mitch!" she called out with a wave, possibly holding onto Sharad's longboard (assuming he let's her take it, of course).
"Cool shirt! Rock and roll!" exclaimed Florida, making an awkard hand gesture that more closely resembled Spider-Man's webslinging pose than the, uh... What did they call it... Sign of the horns? Wait a second, as in... HIS horns?! Oh God - GOSH - oh no, uuuh, abort! Abort!! ABORT!!!
Mitch never passed up the opportunity to throw out the Horns in solidarity, even in a setting like this. Sorry God, it's tradition.
His ever-present friendly smirk widens a bit more as Florida greets him, lankily waltzing his way to the huddle of semi-familiar faces. "Heyyyy, Florida!" he replies before acknowledging the compliment to his shirt.
"Yeah, 'Peace Sells, but who's buyin'?!'." He recites with a so-so Dave impression, though can you really be any worse than him? He chuckles heartily at his attempt either way. "Hey, I should save that for the mic right? Anyway, who else we got?" He turns to the next two people he recognizes. "Hope, my man! How's it going?" he says, knuckle-bumping her nylon-plated arm. He then points to Sharad in jest. "Sharad? Haven't seen you since Fear Factory dude, where've you been? Didn't know liked this sort of stuff." he chuckles again, as though he loves doing it. Which he does.
His ever-present friendly smirk widens a bit more as Florida greets him, lankily waltzing his way to the huddle of semi-familiar faces. "Heyyyy, Florida!" he replies before acknowledging the compliment to his shirt.
"Yeah, 'Peace Sells, but who's buyin'?!'." He recites with a so-so Dave impression, though can you really be any worse than him? He chuckles heartily at his attempt either way. "Hey, I should save that for the mic right? Anyway, who else we got?" He turns to the next two people he recognizes. "Hope, my man! How's it going?" he says, knuckle-bumping her nylon-plated arm. He then points to Sharad in jest. "Sharad? Haven't seen you since Fear Factory dude, where've you been? Didn't know liked this sort of stuff." he chuckles again, as though he loves doing it. Which he does.
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Dr Adjective
- Posts: 552
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:25 pm
- Location: in your walls
Fist-bumps were always an odd prospect for Hope. Definitely easier than handshakes, for certain, but it was hard to judge just how much force to put behind her arm to make one land right. Too little and it’s just sorta weak
sauce, but that was at least preferable to too much and accidentally sort of punching someone with a solid lump of plastic. And with only the most minimal of feedback all the way back at her elbow? Difficult to perfect the art.
Anyway. She fist-bumped Mitch on cue, perhaps a bit too lightly but it was hard to tell. He seemed nice. Hope had often heard that, besides the sort of people who got really obsessed with specific subgenre gatekeeping (boy was that familiar in the comics world), metalheads were supposed to be quite nice as a rule. She supposed you’d have to be, if you were gonna go throw yourselves at each other in a room to loud music and flashing lights, you wouldn’t keep going back if the crowd wasn’t mostly the sort of people that pick you back up after you inevitably fall down. Anyway. Nice guy. Not bad looking either, but what was she even thinking? Not like they’d have anything in common…
“Oh, you know, living!” Hope responded with an awkward grin. “Even if math did try to kill me this morning. I’m built different!”
After that, not wanting to crowd Florida any more than the poor girl already was, Hope slunk away to get herself a drink. All flat, warm, diet sodas, but she could hardly complain when they were free. Throughout the process of pouring from a large bottle into a small cup there wasn’t much latitude for the girl’s eyes to wander, so it was only after she’d availed herself of the hospitality and metaphorically locked herself in that Hope took note of the donation bucket, and the…
Oh yeah, of course. Florida’s a Mormon. Relief society? Mormon thing. It’s a Mormon thing.
Well, that was awkward.
Hope didn’t exactly consider herself devout by any stretch, but it still rubbed her the wrong way somehow. Then again, would she be uncomfortable if it were Muslims or Jews or something? Hm. Food for thought. Still, from what she’d been told, the LDS church was kinda… culty, and it all seemed like a perversion of real Christianity, maybe best to just stick around and show her face for a bit before politely sneaking off. Like an hour or something, that’d be courteous enough.
So, Hope dropped a $5 in the bucket, took her lukewarm lemonade, and retreated into the background to evade notice.
[Eventually, Hope gets outta there.]
sauce, but that was at least preferable to too much and accidentally sort of punching someone with a solid lump of plastic. And with only the most minimal of feedback all the way back at her elbow? Difficult to perfect the art.
Anyway. She fist-bumped Mitch on cue, perhaps a bit too lightly but it was hard to tell. He seemed nice. Hope had often heard that, besides the sort of people who got really obsessed with specific subgenre gatekeeping (boy was that familiar in the comics world), metalheads were supposed to be quite nice as a rule. She supposed you’d have to be, if you were gonna go throw yourselves at each other in a room to loud music and flashing lights, you wouldn’t keep going back if the crowd wasn’t mostly the sort of people that pick you back up after you inevitably fall down. Anyway. Nice guy. Not bad looking either, but what was she even thinking? Not like they’d have anything in common…
“Oh, you know, living!” Hope responded with an awkward grin. “Even if math did try to kill me this morning. I’m built different!”
After that, not wanting to crowd Florida any more than the poor girl already was, Hope slunk away to get herself a drink. All flat, warm, diet sodas, but she could hardly complain when they were free. Throughout the process of pouring from a large bottle into a small cup there wasn’t much latitude for the girl’s eyes to wander, so it was only after she’d availed herself of the hospitality and metaphorically locked herself in that Hope took note of the donation bucket, and the…
Oh yeah, of course. Florida’s a Mormon. Relief society? Mormon thing. It’s a Mormon thing.
Well, that was awkward.
Hope didn’t exactly consider herself devout by any stretch, but it still rubbed her the wrong way somehow. Then again, would she be uncomfortable if it were Muslims or Jews or something? Hm. Food for thought. Still, from what she’d been told, the LDS church was kinda… culty, and it all seemed like a perversion of real Christianity, maybe best to just stick around and show her face for a bit before politely sneaking off. Like an hour or something, that’d be courteous enough.
So, Hope dropped a $5 in the bucket, took her lukewarm lemonade, and retreated into the background to evade notice.
[Eventually, Hope gets outta there.]
"O-oh, cool!" replied Florida, smiling as she moved past Mitch to put the longboard away.
Should just... There! That ought to be fine, now to just go let Sharad know before-
"Hey Florida, you're up!"
Oh? Oh, super! There was a mixed look of trepidation and excitement on her face, smiling nervously as she began to navigate her way through the crowd. On the one hand, yay! Singing! On the other, singing in front of her peers, oh no!
She supposed this WAS karaoke night - nobody was expecting a 5 star performance. Besides, there were worse ways of embarrassing yourself in front of your classmates, Florida knew that better than anyone.
With this in mind, she clambered up onto the stage with a bright smile, giving everyone a wave as she was handed the mic. Gosh, so many friendly faces cheering her on! Her relief society friends, her classmates, her...
Huh. That's odd, she couldn't see Hope. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom or something? When you gotta go, you gotta go right? Meant she'd miss the start of Florida's song, but... That's fine! It's all good!
No more dawdling, not that she had much choice now that her song started playing. A special little request she managed to sneak onto the playset, one she overheard in Crateful Dead not so long ago: Good Luck, Babe by Chapell Roan.
"It's fiiine, it's coooool~"
Should just... There! That ought to be fine, now to just go let Sharad know before-
"Hey Florida, you're up!"
Oh? Oh, super! There was a mixed look of trepidation and excitement on her face, smiling nervously as she began to navigate her way through the crowd. On the one hand, yay! Singing! On the other, singing in front of her peers, oh no!
She supposed this WAS karaoke night - nobody was expecting a 5 star performance. Besides, there were worse ways of embarrassing yourself in front of your classmates, Florida knew that better than anyone.
With this in mind, she clambered up onto the stage with a bright smile, giving everyone a wave as she was handed the mic. Gosh, so many friendly faces cheering her on! Her relief society friends, her classmates, her...
Huh. That's odd, she couldn't see Hope. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom or something? When you gotta go, you gotta go right? Meant she'd miss the start of Florida's song, but... That's fine! It's all good!
No more dawdling, not that she had much choice now that her song started playing. A special little request she managed to sneak onto the playset, one she overheard in Crateful Dead not so long ago: Good Luck, Babe by Chapell Roan.
"It's fiiine, it's coooool~"
Florida stood still. Silent as death, face red as a tomato.
In hindsight, she probably should've read through the lyrics first...
It started out innocently enough. Just your typical love song type of thing, that beautiful melody entrancing her all over again. She wasn't able to really do it justice, but that was fine! That's just karaoke for you.
The first red flag was the chorus, at the mention of "kissing a hundred boys in bars." Oo-er. She sure hoped nobody thought she was that way inclined, heaven forbid! If anything, she could proudly claim to have never ONCE entertained illicit thoughts about boys! She was a pure soul, through and through!
Then there was the line about shooting another shot, to stop the feeling? She recalled singing that line to herself a whole bunch, but what did it actually mean? Was shooting a shot, like... Drinking alcohol? Like a shot of liquor or something? Or did shooting a shot refer to something else, like... Oh goodness, like injecting drugs?! Like a flu shot, only with heroin?!? Aaaah!!
The rest of the chorus was fine, granted she was stumbling a fair bit after her little shock. But then the second verse hit her with a real doozy, going on about s-s-suh-ss-seEEeexually explict love affairs and needing a lil lovin'. From that point on, she spent the rest of the song in a perpetual state of embarrassment, cheeks flushed and eyes filled with shame.
But the worst was yet to come: "With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife"
There was... A lot to unpack there. Firstly, it seemed to present being a wife as a negative, which was a bit of a no-no given how marriage was important for the whole exaltation thing. Surely getting married was something to look forward to, right? Like sure, she never really gave it much thought until now. As far as future plans go, she was much more enthused about becoming a published author than she was about getting married. But that didn't mean... Hmm...
E-Either way, uh... Perhaps more importantly, it was at this point that she finally realised something else about the song. Up until then, it was easy to surmise that it was about someone pining for a former lover - typical stuff for a melancholic love song. But this line was very specifically referring to a woman... Which, given the narrator...
Oh. Oh dear.
As Florida stood there, visibly mortified, she found herself wondering who else amongst her peers managed to pick up on the subtext. Most were either too oblivious to notice or too polite to make a big deal about it, cheering and clapping away as if they were none the wiser. Sister Mary in particular seemed REALLY into it. But there were a couple odd looks from the crowd, most notably perhaps being the concerned glance shared between Sister Vanessa and Elder Malcolm.
Fortunately - mercifully, even - it was time for someone else to take the stage.
"Okie doke, next up we have Sister Andrea with Dancing Queen!"
The crowd started cheering again as Florida stepped away from the stand, eyes still scanning for her classmates. Still no sign of Hope, or anyone else for that matter. Oh well. She supposed she was lucky they showed up at all in the first place.
As she slunk off to find somewhere quiet to keep her head buried until the night was over, Florida couldn't help but find herself dwelling over a particular train of thought. An annoying little mindworm that burrowed its way deep.
Despite realising what the song was really about, she still couldn't deny that she really - REALLY - liked it. Maybe even loved it. Something about it just...
Maybe best to not overthink it. You can totally enjoy a good song without reading too much into it, right?
Right?
((Florida Riley continued in I like it, another!))
In hindsight, she probably should've read through the lyrics first...
It started out innocently enough. Just your typical love song type of thing, that beautiful melody entrancing her all over again. She wasn't able to really do it justice, but that was fine! That's just karaoke for you.
The first red flag was the chorus, at the mention of "kissing a hundred boys in bars." Oo-er. She sure hoped nobody thought she was that way inclined, heaven forbid! If anything, she could proudly claim to have never ONCE entertained illicit thoughts about boys! She was a pure soul, through and through!
Then there was the line about shooting another shot, to stop the feeling? She recalled singing that line to herself a whole bunch, but what did it actually mean? Was shooting a shot, like... Drinking alcohol? Like a shot of liquor or something? Or did shooting a shot refer to something else, like... Oh goodness, like injecting drugs?! Like a flu shot, only with heroin?!? Aaaah!!
The rest of the chorus was fine, granted she was stumbling a fair bit after her little shock. But then the second verse hit her with a real doozy, going on about s-s-suh-ss-seEEeexually explict love affairs and needing a lil lovin'. From that point on, she spent the rest of the song in a perpetual state of embarrassment, cheeks flushed and eyes filled with shame.
But the worst was yet to come: "With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife"
There was... A lot to unpack there. Firstly, it seemed to present being a wife as a negative, which was a bit of a no-no given how marriage was important for the whole exaltation thing. Surely getting married was something to look forward to, right? Like sure, she never really gave it much thought until now. As far as future plans go, she was much more enthused about becoming a published author than she was about getting married. But that didn't mean... Hmm...
E-Either way, uh... Perhaps more importantly, it was at this point that she finally realised something else about the song. Up until then, it was easy to surmise that it was about someone pining for a former lover - typical stuff for a melancholic love song. But this line was very specifically referring to a woman... Which, given the narrator...
Oh. Oh dear.
As Florida stood there, visibly mortified, she found herself wondering who else amongst her peers managed to pick up on the subtext. Most were either too oblivious to notice or too polite to make a big deal about it, cheering and clapping away as if they were none the wiser. Sister Mary in particular seemed REALLY into it. But there were a couple odd looks from the crowd, most notably perhaps being the concerned glance shared between Sister Vanessa and Elder Malcolm.
Fortunately - mercifully, even - it was time for someone else to take the stage.
"Okie doke, next up we have Sister Andrea with Dancing Queen!"
The crowd started cheering again as Florida stepped away from the stand, eyes still scanning for her classmates. Still no sign of Hope, or anyone else for that matter. Oh well. She supposed she was lucky they showed up at all in the first place.
As she slunk off to find somewhere quiet to keep her head buried until the night was over, Florida couldn't help but find herself dwelling over a particular train of thought. An annoying little mindworm that burrowed its way deep.
Despite realising what the song was really about, she still couldn't deny that she really - REALLY - liked it. Maybe even loved it. Something about it just...
Maybe best to not overthink it. You can totally enjoy a good song without reading too much into it, right?
Right?
((Florida Riley continued in I like it, another!))