#or maybe he goes back to the music stall and buys some more instruments lol

[innytoes]

May I please have some "Fuck therapy I'm becoming a knight" for Flynn &/ anyone? Cause like. She would.

When Reggie dragged them all to the renaissance faire when it was his turn to pick a date, Julie couldn't feel too bad. She got to wear a pretty dress, there were some fun shows and cool stalls, and well, the view wasn't too bad either. Between the boys in leather pants, Carrie and Flynn in some corseted dresses that definitely showed off their assets, there was plenty of eye candy to go around.

Luke had of course bought a lute at the first chance he got, and had figured it out well enough in like an hour that he'd accidentally earned ten bucks in tip money. Because of course Alex had been smart enough to put the ridiculous poofy hat Reggie made him wear at Luke's feet when it became clear they'd lost him to a new instrument for the time being. They passed him from time to time, but he seemed to be having the time of his life, writing a song on the spot about princesses and dragons for a group of very excited kids.

Carrie seemed to enjoy playing princess, and Julie also didn't really mind the way Reggie gallantly carried her over a puddle so she wouldn't get her dress wet. (Also, the piggyback he gave Willie when he demanded the same was pretty funny as well.)

There were also some more questionable sides the the Ren Faire that Julie had her doubts about. The giant turkey legs, for one. The fact that anyone thought it was a good idea to let Willie have a bow and arrow.

The axe throwing.

The fact that Flynn seemed to be scarily good at it gave her pause, but she did win a certificate. When Carrie asked her how she'd managed it (especially the fact that the guy working the stall had to put his foot on the target to pull the last axe out), she just shrugged and said: "Pictured Samantha."

Samantha, Flynn's super toxic ex who still came out of the woodwork every few months to find a new way to mess with her.

"That makes sense," Carrie said. "Next game, I'm picturing that reviewer that called Dirty Candi 'cheap and slutty'."

It did not make her hit the target (shooting tiny catapults trying to knock down a castle), but her little beanbag did nearly take out the eye of the lady running the stall.

Then there was the jousting. There were two wooden horses on rails you had to pedal to move towards each other and you got to try and knock off your opponent. Julie and Alex immediately opted out. "I like my head un-concussioned, thank you," she said, and Alex agreed.

Carrie versus Reggie ended in disaster, mostly because she lost her balance trying to ride sidesaddle and his lance hit the ground and catapulted him off the horse, but at least they both came up laughing.

Willie volunteered to next, and while Alex noped out, Flynn was more than willing to take a turn.

The lance broke beautifully on Willie's shield, and he landed on his back so hard 'for a moment there I questioned my sexuality because that was really hot, Flynn'. Flynn of course beamed with pride.

"Fuck therapy," she declared, after they made sure Willie was fine (and still very gay). "I'm becoming a knight."

"Heck yeah!" Willie cheered. "Let's go buy you a sword!"

As they ran off together, Alex took a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "I blame you for this," he told Reggie, who seemed unperturbed. In fact, he looked rather excited of the idea of a pretty girl with a sword.

"Come on," she said, pulling Alex along. "Before they buy a crossbow as well."

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Thirty-Four: A Harp ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Divine Light ] [ AO3 Link ]

“All right...this is the last town of any decent size we’ll pass through for a good while. We will head inside, find an inn, take a few days’ rest, and restock on any supplies we might need. Keep your guard up, and travel in pairs. Try not to attract any unwarranted attention, and always be back by dark.” 

Gathering the reins of his mount, Sasuke looks over his group critically. As well as the healer has been doing treating his brother, he’s eager to give Itachi a few nights of proper rest in a bed, and a break from the road. Hinata too looks tired from their last leg of the journey. Best to take the opportunity while they have it.

When he hears no opposition to his plan, he gives a curt nod before turning to lead the way. There’s decent traffic in and out of the city, and that only helps them blend in all the more as simple passersby. Hoods drawn and eyes scanning, they make it in with little resistance save for the crowds around them.

Once beyond the gates, their path is still as busy, flowing with the others around them before the groups disperse through the main thoroughfares. Their first stop is the inn. Best to have a place to retreat to and reorganize before attempting anything else. Thankfully a place with as much traffic and commerce as this has many of decent upkeep, and the group soon finds a set of viable rooms to spend a night or two.

“You two stay here,” Sasuke instructs, nodding to his brother and the light mage. “Hinata and I will scout things out and pick up some supplies. Itachi...get some rest, and see what the healer can get done now that we’re stopped. We’ll be back before sundown.”

“Be careful,” the elder brother offers softly, nodding as the younger pair take their leave, the door shut behind them.

Taking inventory, Sasuke and Hinata compile a list of necessities, comparing it to the coin they’ve left after renting their rooms.

“We should be able to manage,” the Hyūga murmurs, tracing a finger down their list. “But sooner or later, we need to find a way to make some coin.”

“Easier said than done,” Sasuke mutters in reply. “We rarely stop anywhere long enough to find work worth our time and effort. And we can’t trust jobs based on our ven in case those against elves happen upon us.”

“I know...it’s indeed frustrating. But we’ll find a way. We always do.” She offers what she hopes is an encouraging smile. Rolling up the parchment, she tucks it into a pocket as they take up their coin purses. “Best we get started.”

“Hn.”

The pair strike out back into the streets. It’s early afternoon, but navigating busy markets can often be far more time consuming than one may think. Wanting to be efficient, Sasuke wastes no time in making his way toward the streets of stalls and shops. The sooner they finish, the sooner they can get back to their rooms and feel just a little bit safer. While larger cities tend to be more forgiving of their kind, it’s still best not to take any risks. You never know who you  might bump into.

An hour passes in a blur of bartering and trading, Sasuke refusing to pay more than he must. They need to save whatever currency they can for any future stops they may have to make. It quickly sours his temper, but Hinata steps in when necessary with her calm demeanor, somehow still managing to fetch them decent prices.

Nearly finished, Sasuke looks over a selection of dried meats before noticing he’s suddenly alone. Where the hells did she go? Looking back the way they’ve come, he spots her a few stalls down, looking rather intently at something he can’t see. A curt breath huffs through his nose. What happened to sticking together and not wasting time?

Making his way back, he pauses as he sees what she’s eyeing. It’s a stall selling a few different instruments: flutes, harps, drums, and other completely frivolous things.

“Hinata,” he cuts in quietly. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking.”

Red eyes roll. “What use do you have for something like this?”

Rather than reply right away, she takes up one of the small stringed instruments. Fingers gently strum them, earning sweet notes. “I know how to play harp. I thought maybe it could be a way to bring in a few extra coins.”

“And it’ll cost you coins to buy one. You really think you can make up the difference and then some?”

“One way to find out,” is her answer, trading over the handful of gold for the instrument. It’s a rather basic little thing: a c-shaped wooden crescent attaches to a cross bar, strings drawn taut with rotating pins to tune them. Nothing to write home about, but...well, Sasuke isn’t exactly well-versed in such things either way.

“So, now what?”

“Now, I find a place to play, and we see if I can earn my keep. But first, the rest of our errands. I’ll set up in front of the inn. Should get plenty of traffic that way.”

Still skeptical, Sasuke nevertheless does as asked, gathering up their last few items before retreating back the way they came. They put away their things, checking on the elder pair to find them sound. Already Itachi’s taken to sleeping, the healer keeping a dutiful watch and mending garments.

And then, they make their way to the busy street before the inn. A narrow sidewalk is all that’s afforded from the crowds of carts, horses, and people on foot hurrying back and forth. Hinata sets up a spare jar for coin in front of a stack of crates, seating herself atop one and taking out her new instrument. Sasuke, with nothing else to do, leans nearby with folded arms and senses piqued for danger.

After a brief pause, she starts a song. It’s one of mild pace, a bit somber in its tune, but nonetheless entrancing. Watching from the corner of his eyes, Sasuke listens. 

He had no idea she could do this.

Smiling softly, Hinata keeps up her playing, winding through the song with hardly a hiccup. And the longer she plays, the more people stop to listen, a few darting forward shyly to drop coppers, silvers, and even a few gold pieces into her jar.

Sasuke just...blinks. He’s seen such performers in towns before, but admittedly has never spared any pay himself. It had always seemed so...silly before. For someone to sit on the roadside and play music.

But now...he feels as though he understands.

Once her song finishes, Hinata pauses a bit sheepishly as a few bystanders clap. Her cheeks go a bit pink before beginning another.

For nearly an hour she goes through song she still recalls from her lessons her father had her take. By the end, her jar is decently full, and her well of songs nearly dried up. Bowing thankfully to anyone remaining, she takes up her spoils and beams at Sasuke, who just smiles and shakes his head.

Once back in their rooms, she counts out the coin she made, finding the total to be nearly what they spent in the market that day.

“...all right, consider me impressed,” Sasuke admits at her look. “You’ll have to get back to it tomorrow a few times. We might even make a decent profit by the time we leave.”

“We?” she asks with a light laugh. “I didn’t see you strumming any harp strings!”

“Perhaps Sasuke could give you a vocal accompaniment,” Itachi can’t help but tease from his seat, smiling as his brother goes red.

“There’s no way in the twelve hells you’d get me to sing in public,” Sasuke rebukes with a mutter.

“Oh? But would you in private?”

“I never said that.”

“Well, either way,” Hinata cuts in, wanting to avoid frayed tempers. “We’d all best turn in for the night. Tomorrow we’ll rest and take in the news, and then leave the following morning…?”

“That will be best. Thank you, Hinata, for your work with the harp. It will be quite the contribution,” Itachi offers sincerely.

“It was my pleasure. I’ve not gotten to play since I left home. It was...nice.”

Considering that quietly, Sasuke gives a nod as the women retire to the other room. He’ll be glad to sleep in a proper bed. And come tomorrow...he can hear her play again.

                                                              .oOo.

     More fantasy verse! A bit random, but I like how this turned out n_n Still getting back into my groove, lol - but we have Sasuke learning a bit more about Hinata...and Hinata proving she can have her own clever ideas!      Anyway, I'd say more but I'm honestly wiped, so...best head off for the night! Thanks for reading~

[hime-guma]

takanori (inazuma) saturday 💖

i just got back from Shiga and I need to put down everything in my brain before I forget it! (It will mostly be me yelling about TMR and finally seeing him live)

Sorry that it's looong, I'm on mobile and I can't seem to add a read more!

Unfortunately tomorrow is canceled because of the typhoon ☹

it literally rained all day. not heavily but constantly enough that my clothes were completely soaked through. umbrellas aren't allowed in the live area so i brought a collapsible raincoat but it didn't help much lol. i did end up buying a giant raincoat/かっぱ (CHEERS, learnt a new word 2day) later when i saw them selling them at the venue, but it was a bit late... already soaked.

when i got to the platform for biwako line I was like "wow I'm actually goin... GOIN' what a good song" (not knowing how relevant this would be later)

i was impressed with all the organisation of it? everything had been thought of in advance. like we all got off at kusatsu station to walk down biwako road to the shuttle bus stop, and there were IRF staff on the streets helping to direct traffic so we didn't annoy all the shiga residents (there were a LOT of us haha)

i want everyone to know there are cans of shoushuu riki in all the toilets.

i accidentally went in the "goods for each performing artist" queue first, not realising that T.M.Revolution doesn't fit into that category because he has surpassed all the mortal artists to become a god. my bad.

eventually I ended up with one TMR shirt and towel, 3 IRF shirts and various bracelets. yeah i went a bit wild...

it was nearly 12 so i wandered around looking for the live area entrance. i think this was the only time i got a bit lost bc you had to queue along a footpath which was kind of secluded/off to the side/hiding behind stalls? anyway you then had to find the queue for your block - I was B1.

they started calling us in by ticket number then, mine was like 1540 or something. i was rly glad i knew japanese so i could listen for my number lol

when we got in i was shocked at how close i was to the stage despite being in a B block! Also the stage and live area somehow seemed smaller than they do when they televise IRF. it was really surreal seeing the stage as well.

they had some radio hosts MC'ing for the next hour or so, introducing all the artists performing for the day, reminding us of the rules (take ur trash to the trash area and sort it! alert medical staff if u feel unwell! don't take photos of perfornances! if you see someone doing it please dob them in to staff!)

at one point the MC said "so i was supposed to have a part here where i warn you about heatstroke and how to prevent it but uh.... nevermind. stay hydrated tho" she also went through all these leg stretches we could do to keep our circulation going while we're standing all day, cheers!

the opening act was kankaku pierrot, a group from osaka i think? the singer was at inazuma in the crowd in 2013 and he couldn't believe he was standing on the stage in 2017. he said something like "i thought the distance from the crowd to the stage was massive, but here i am four years later on the same stage!" you go buddy, chase ur dreams!!!

when it came up with FIRST ARTIST: T.M.REVOLUTION i was still not believing i was actually about to see him! they had people squeegee-ing (?) the rain off the stage before he came on and i was like damn he is totally gonna do thunderbird it's perfect conditions for it

when his set started i swore i heard a bit of "We Make Revolution" and i was like NO WAY... and then it segued into JUST A JOKE and Promised FORCE and all these album instrumentals???

he opened with AMAKAZE and he was in a black shirt with "T N" on the front and "FEAR OF BUDDHA" on the back (internet tells me this is a parody of the brand Fear of God?)

I could actually see him on the stage from where I was standing, unbelievable tbh. when the staff were wiping down the stage some people behind me were saying "I wonder if Nishikawa is gonna run around like he usually does..." but he totally ran all over the stage and I got to see him from the left side! I couldn't see his face that well but I could see him grinning!

at the end of one of the songs he got down on the stage and started doing pushups ALRIGHT TAKANORI WE GET IT YOU LIFT... after another song he just lay down on the stage in the rain #big mood

He played Pearl in the shell second and I started crying a bit lmao... I remember Pearl in the shell was the new song he debuted at IRF in 2010, and it was the time just before CLOUD NINE came out and everything was exciting because we were getting new all these new TMR songs for the first time in ages! Pearl in the shell is also one of my faves and I've loved it ever since I heard the first live version of it in 2010. Anyway it kind of hit me all at once that I was seeing it live NOW and I was actually at Inazuma and TMR was not only right in front of me but also a Real Person?

Then I heard the synth riff from ウルワシキセカイ and I could NOT believe my ears. No way is he playing this obscure album track from 2004 that is one of my faves?? BUT NO HE WAS ABSOLUTELY PLAYING IT. he could have ended the live there and I would have been satisfied

Then he played Juggling, Goin', and Pied Piper!?!?!!!!?? As someone who knows his discography back to front I was absolutely beside myself. I expected to hear his popular anime songs and a couple of his singles (which I'd be very happy to hear too!) but here he was playing B-sides and album deep cuts. Also Pied Piper totally goes off

The last song was Wheel of Fortune which is also the first TMR song I ever heard, so that was weirdly fitting. (he played it 4 me obvs thx m8)

His voice is amazing and he sounded so good live!!! At one point he was being extremely extra with the vibrato on purpose to make everyone laugh. And he has so much stage presence. it was just a REALLY GOOD TIME and it lived up to all my expectations.

He tweeted later that he chose songs with special meaning in relation to today's IRF performance, interpret that how you will!

After he left I headed to get food and Keytalk came on next, blasting WHITE BREATH as their entrance music which I was living for since that's my fave TMR song

I hung around the free area for a bit and caught migimimi sleep tight's performance which was really fun and had good basslines! I swear the vocalist kept making eye contact with me hahahaha

Later I went back to the live area to catch Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'd looked up some of their stuff on youtube and they seemed like a lot of fun (great synths, dance beat BUT ALSO SCREAMING). I really enjoyed their set! I love that they seem to have simple choreography to each of their songs (at least I thought so, I was copying everyone's hand movements?) But then you get these metalcore screaming sections so you gotta start thrashing around. It was an experience! Gonna try to pick up their album while I'm here.

I thought about staying for UVERworld but I only know their Bleach song and I thought I had better conserve my energy for tomorrow... (I'm sure they were great though!) I made my way out of the block and tried not to get stuck in the mud as I walked to the exit gate...

When I got out someone approached me with a camera and introduced himself as someone from a TBS program. I said something super brief like "oh wow really" in japanese and he was like "ah so you can speak some japanese? is it okay if I interview you?" me: 😂😂😂 sure you can but my japanese is not that great...

we talked about where I'm from, why I'm at the festival, what I like about TMR, fave things about the festival, did you know Nishikawa-san did all this what do you think about that, wow you came from Australia all by yourself but people in Australia mustn't know much about TMR, what made you get into him? Also I went on about the setlist lmao

Afterwards he said it was for an IRF special and apologised that I probably won't be able to watch it in Australia "but maybe Nishikawa-san will see it!" We thanked each other and I walked off to the bus in total disbelief. (Also later I thought of more things I wanted to say but didn't in the heat of the moment 😭)

wow. I was supposed to see him again tomorrow but the typhoon says no! Such a shame. But I'm so grateful that I got to see TMR live just once! FINALLY 😭

I'd love to go back and see Lake Biwa in nice sunny weather - it was very foggy and hard to see today. I also want to come back and see TMR when he tours again at some point! 😊