Author Topic: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player  (Read 21191 times)

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guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2016, 07:43:34 PM »
Eh, maybe it was a little obvious, but we all knew it was gonna happen anyway :P

Probably gonna be a new chapter later tonight

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #16 on: April 11, 2016, 04:20:53 AM »
Yeah, I got kinda distracted until now. Regardless, new chapter.



Chapter 5: An Axe to Avoid Grinding

The next day, the two guitar players met in Dimitri's garage, early in the afternoon (not long after Logan had woken up). Unlike his friend, Dimitri lived alone, having left his parents' house while still in high school.

“So, what exactly did you want to tell me?” Logan asked, growing impatient.

“Hold your ****in' horses, man. You remember a few days ago when we were talking about how you couldn't keep blowing your amp out at shows and stuff?”

Logan rolled his eyes, obviously not very interested in playing memory games. “No, I completely forgot about that. I also totally forgot about dropping the amp on my foot and screwing it up even more.” Even though he usually spoke in a bit of a monotone, the sarcasm was still palpable in Logan's voice.

“Whatever. You remember you said something about if they self-amplifying guitars, you'd buy one, right?”

“Yes, I remember saying that. You mind getting to the point sometime today?”

Dimitri's eyes seemed to glow with anticipation. “Dude, you're gonna flip. . . .” Dimitri briefly left the garage to grab something from his car – why he didn't park his car in the garage was somewhat of a mystery – and returned with two plain, black guitar cases.

This seemed to finally pique Logan's interest. “You didn't. . . .”

“I did.” Dimitri proceeded to open one of the cases, and inside lied a particularly gorgeous instrument. The guitar contained in the case superficially resembled Logan's own Telecaster, right down to the body wood seeming to be alder and the neck looking like maple. In fact, the only real differences between this instrument and his own were in custom modifications that Logan had done to his guitar himself, plus the headstock didn't have any sort of logo on it. The lights in the garage shone off the guitar's gloss finish, and though Logan would have chalked this up to his own imagination, it seemed to reflect in the shape of a halo around the instrument.

“Oh my god,” the guitarist breathed, “that thing is gorgeous.” Cautiously, Logan picked the guitar up, and immediately felt a familiar warmth radiate throughout his body. The neck contoured to his hand perfectly, and as Logan ran his hand down the neck, he noticed the impeccable fret job. Clearly, whoever built the instrument was no slouch.

“Yeah, I couldn't get that one to work,” Dimitri said after giving Logan a chance to inspect the guitar. When his friend finally looked up, Dimitri was holding a guitar closely resembling a particular famous horned guitar. “I thought maybe you could figure out what's wrong with it.”

“You got a pick?” Logan finally asked, still practically entranced by the guitar sitting in his lap. Dimitri tossed him a plectrum, and out of habit, Logan started playing a couple of simple blues licks. At first, it seemed for all intents and purposes to be a regular, unamplified guitar. As Logan played on, though, the instrument started to project its sound more and more. Eventually, it began to sound exactly how Logan had imagined what the instrument would sound like running through an amplifier – treble-heavy, with a slight amount of crunch to the sound. “Holy ****. . . .”

“Hm, seems like you got it working alright.” Dimitri, in return, played a hard rock riff on his guitar, and Logan, recognizing the riff, joined in. Again, his instrument seemed to mold the sound that it was projecting to be appropriate for the tune being played.

“How the hell does it do that?” Logan asked, completely dumbfounded.

Dimitri shrugged. “I dunno. Probably has something to do with the wood? Maybe some hidden electronics, or-”

“No, I mean, how does it change the way it sounds? You heard this thing, it went from sounding like an old blues amp to sounding like a Tool album.”

“I got no idea, man.” Dimitri placed his guitar back in the case, making sure to lock it. “I got these things for four hundred apiece. You wanna keep it?”

“Four hundred!?” Logan asked, astounded by the figure. “How'd you manage to get them that cheap!?”

“Yeah, I sort of know a guy who knows a guy. You got the cash, man? If not, I'll be happy to take care of that thing for you. . . .”

“Get in the car,” Logan commanded. “We're going to the bank.”

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #17 on: April 11, 2016, 05:35:57 PM »
Is this when the symphokinesis comes into play? Too early?


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #18 on: April 11, 2016, 05:59:28 PM »
It'll be explained in due time

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #19 on: April 11, 2016, 09:05:34 PM »
Too early to ask. Gotcha.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #20 on: April 12, 2016, 12:08:30 AM »
New, long-ish chapter. The second half wasn't originally in my outline, but I thought I might need something that would potentially be funny.



Chapter 6: Karate

“Alright, so it goes, C, then D-sharp, then G-sharp and B?”

“Yeah. Strumming pattern is a little weird, but it's not too hard.”

It was a few days after Logan and Dimitri had gotten their guitars. The two were, again, in Dimitri's garage, showing each other various riffs and scales with their new instruments. Since receiving their guitars, Dimitri and Logan spent the vast majority of their time playing them, and understandably so, as the guitars seemed to almost be custom-tailored for their owners' respective playing styles.

“You know,” Logan said, “I think we should maybe try the whole band thing again. These guitars would make it go a lot smoother than last time.”

Dimitri nodded in approval. “I was thinking the same thing, man. We should probably change our band name, though.”

“How come?”

“'Cause Project Bargo already has a bit of a reputation. I mean, people know we were never able to even finish a show, so they probably wouldn't be too excited to go see a band that sucked so much.”

“True.” Logan thoughtfully rolled his guitar pick in his hand for a moment. “I can't think of anything right now, man. I'm kind of  . . . bagel-brained at the moment.”

Dimitri raised an eyebrow at Logan's strange word choice. “'Bagel-brained?' That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth. I kind of like it.”

This time, it was Logan's turn to raise an eyebrow. “Seriously? You're suggesting we call ourselves 'Bagel-Brain?'”

“Why not? It's a catchy name.”

“I guess. We kind of need a bassist and drummer, though.”

Dimitri sighed, taking off his guitar and resting it against the wall. “True. We're not going with Calvin again. That guy was a grade-a prick.”

“Yeah, seriously. You think I should give TJ a poke?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Logan sat back in the wooden chair that they had brought out to the garage and hung his arm over the back. “Why not? Look, the dude can sing, I don't care what you say. And he already knows all our songs. Just as long as we don't let him light up, we're good.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

The two bickered for a few minutes, until Logan was holding his phone to his ear, trying to ignore Dimitri silently rubbing his forehead. After a few rings, TJ's voice came through the phone's speaker. “Hello?”

“Hey, TJ, it's Logan.”

“Hey.”

Logan sighed. Obviously, this wasn't going to be easy for him. “Look man, I'm just going to be honest with you here. I was a douchebag. We all were. I honestly don't even know what we were thinking, but I really regret being such an ****. The thing is, me and D wanted to maybe get the band back together. And, well, you're honestly the best bass player we know.”

There was a short pause, as TJ seemed to mull over what he'd just heard. “Dude,” he finally said, “I appreciate the apology. I really do. But it's gonna take a lot more than just that to get me back in the band.”

“Alright. I didn't want to do this, but you forced my hand.” Dimitri was silently mouthing “no,” at Logan, but the latter continued. “I found a shiny Nosepass yesterday. Thing is, I really want a Gligar on my team. You wanna hook me up?”

Again, another short pause. “Hold on, I'm gonna catch the bus. I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

Daytime. Dimitri and Logan stood on opposite sides of their street, staring each other down. Logan honestly couldn't believe what he saw. Dimitri holding his own guitar . . . and Logan's. Logan crossed the street, never breaking eye contact with his supposed friend. “Hi, Dimitri,” he said, venom spewing forth with every word. “How's the guitar playing coming along?”

“I swear, it's not what it looks like.” Logan wasn't about to believe that, though. Dimitri set the two instruments down on the sidewalk, as Logan started to break into song:

With karate, I'll kick your ass,
From here to Tienanmen Square.
Oh yeah, mother****er,
I'm gonna kick your ****in' derriere, yeah.
You broke the rules,
Now I'll pull out all your pubic hair!
You mother****er. . . .

Logan jumped toward Dimitri in a gravity-defying flying kick. His foot connected directly with Dimitri's face, sending his head flying into a garbage can. Dimitri stumbled around for a moment before retrieving his head from the trash receptacle and replacing it upon his shoulders. He then proceeded to elbow Logan in the ribs, sending him careening backwards.

“Magic flying fast food sack!” Dimitri said, pulling an empty paper bag out of the garbage can. After inflating it with his breath, Dimitri hit the bottom of the paper bag, sending him into the air to land just behind Logan. He failed to capitalize on this advantage, however, as Logan reached into his pocket, only to pull his hand out after mere seconds.

“Magic spinning loose change!” Logan threw the coins at Dimitri, which became lodged into Dimitri's shirt, pinning him to a telephone pole. This only served as a small hindrance, because when Dimitri tried to move forward, the shirt simply ripped off, revealing a garment identical to his now destroyed shirt underneath.

Suddenly, Logan noticed something. A man in a ski mask, holding a gun against his beloved guitar. “Don't you dare touch her!” he screamed. The masked man turned the gun on Logan, and it was at this moment that everything seemed to slow down. He pulled the trigger, but at that exact moment, Dimitri dove in front of Logan, taking the bullet for him. After realizing that he was, in fact, not dead, Logan raucously laughed at the shooter. Upon noticing Dimitri laying motionless on the pavement, this laughter quickly turned to sounds of mourning.

“Oh, no! Dimitri, NO! WHY!?” This last word rang in the air. As the sound reverberated, it seemed to be mixed with the blaring of an alarm clock. Slowly, Logan realized, it was an alarm clock!

Logan suddenly sat up in his bed, shaking off his sleep. “What the hell,” he mumbled to himself, reflecting on his odd dream.



Source for that second half. Sorry, I know it was almost a direct rehash of the skit, but goddamn, that skit was funny as hell. . . .

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #21 on: April 12, 2016, 06:46:52 AM »
. . . I actually have both those shinies.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

redtailedsaffa

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #22 on: April 13, 2016, 01:52:06 PM »
Quote
Cautiously, Logan picked the guitar up, and immediately felt a familiar warmth radiate throughout his body. The neck contoured to his hand perfectly, and as Logan ran his hand down the neck, he noticed the impeccable fret job. Clearly, whoever built the instrument was no slouch.

This reminded me of that wand shop scene in the first Harry Potter. The guitar chooses the guitarist, Logan... ;)

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #23 on: April 13, 2016, 04:17:53 PM »
The guitar chooses the guitarist, Logan... ;)

 :o Hmmmmmm . . .


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #24 on: April 13, 2016, 07:19:58 PM »
I'm holding my tongue right now ;)

Probably gonna be a new chapter later tonight.

:edit: New chapter



Chapter 7: Welcome to the Show

A couple of weeks passed before anybody had heard of the band formerly known as Project Bargo. The band had taken their time refreshing their material, and introducing the setlist to their new drummer, an amateur mechanic named Maynard. Eventually, the time came for Bagel-Brain to play a show.

They had already managed to book an opening slot at a local bar, which Logan was sure they could get into only because Maynard was a regular. The headlining act wasn't particularly large and was doing an ill-promoted tour of the northeastern part of the country, so the bar wasn't particularly busy. Still, the band saw this as being all for the better, since if they did play a bad show, there weren't many people to embarrass themselves in front of.

Bagel-Brain took the stage right on schedule. Dimitri and Logan still kept their amplifiers behind them, mostly for set dressing. If everything went as planned, though, they wouldn't need them. Prior to the show, Logan had spent the whole day essentially babysitting TJ, just to make sure he wouldn't manage to do anything to ruin the performance.

The band quickly tuned their instruments before Dimitri started playing an intricate chord progression. As expected, his guitar's sound managed to be plenty loud enough for the venue. After a few repetitions of his chord pattern, Dimitri flashed a smile at Logan as the rest of the band came in, playing off of the same chord pattern. Dimitri stepped up to his microphone and started to sing:

Through the ages,
All the weary and the blind,
Facing the unknown.

Of the venom,
Center our lives.
Knowing not your own is unwise.
And I will return for more,
The light will lead you ashore.

Paralyzed by . . .
Paralyzed by thorn inside.

Immediately after Dimitri finished singing his verse, Logan stepped up to his microphone and began singing:

To the angel,
Breathing on me from the right,
A guilt you'll never know.
From the devil,
Staring from the left-hand side,
Souls to animal.

Recede your eyes,
Sulk in disgust.
When there is doubt, look to the obvious.
And I'll decide what you will pay,
Changing your mind seals our fate.

The more astute members of the audience recognized these lyrics from a Mastodon song. Indeed, Bagel-Brain were performing a cover, but each band member brought something different to the song – Dimitri's soft, almost ambient guitar phrases, Logan's naturally aggressive playing style, Maynard's frantic drumming, and TJ's haunting voice on the chorus of the song:

Open your eyes,
Take a deep breath and return to life.
Wake up and fight,
Fight for the love and the burning light!

The song meandered toward a short instrumental passage before returning back to the chorus. Following this, Dimitri played a short solo, and the song ended shortly afterward. The audience applauded politely; those that knew that the song was a cover seemed to appreciate the rendition, and those that weren't aware enjoyed the band's stage presence. “How's everybody doing tonight?” Dimitri said into his microphone. The vest majority of the crowd responded with applause, with a few cheers here and there. “Good, now shut up! We're Bagel-Brain, and we got some more tunes for you.”

* * *

The rest of Bagel-Brain's fifteen-minute set went relatively well. After their opening song, they stuck to playing their own original tunes, which quite a few members of the audience appeared to enjoy. TJ and Maynard manned the merchandise booth (which was shared by all of the bands performing that night) while the second opening act played, and Dimitri slipped outside for a cigarette with Logan keeping him company. The two sat on top of their guitar cases, taking care to not leave their instruments unattended.

“You know,” Dimitri said, blowing out a lungful of smoke, “I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that went really well.”

“Damn right, it did,” Logan commented. “Those guys were really getting into it. If only we had a bit more time to play, I think we would have really won them over.”

“Eh, whatever. I have a pretty good feeling that we made at least a couple fans tonight.”

The two guitarists conversed for a few minutes, going over all of what went well and what didn't during the show. Eventually, Dimitri had had enough of the less-than-ideal New York weather. “Well, I think I'd better get back inside,” he said, standing up. “You coming?”

“Yeah, just gimme a second.” Logan stretched his legs one last time, making sure he didn't accidentally tip his case over. The two of them started for the door, completely unaware of the shadowed figure approaching them. . . .



Source song. I really didn't want to use a real song by a real band, but screw it, I love this song way too much. And I actually can play the rhythm guitar part in real life, so I guess that's pretty cool.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2016, 01:16:26 AM by gh (JolKit) »

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #25 on: April 16, 2016, 01:32:36 AM »
New chapter. Sorry it's been a couple days, but I've been busy with work and just generally tired. At least it's not the as bad as the delays in Diary. ;)



Chapter 8: Brynna

The shadowed figure approached the guitarists as they were about to re-enter the building. A hand reached out and grabbed Dimitri on the shoulder, causing him to jump approximately a yard into the air. “Hey. . . .”

Dimitri spun around, only for his expression to soften when he saw the face in front of him. “Brynna?” he said, addressing the young woman in front of him with shoulder-length brown hair and a lip piercing, dressed in a black hoodie.

“Hey, D!” the girl cheerfully said, wrapping Dimitri in a short hug. “You guys killed it in there.”

“Thanks,” Dimitri said, scratching at his chin. He looked back at Logan, who was already halfway inside the building. “Hey Logan, stick around for a few? This is my friend, Brynna.”

“Sup,” Logan mumbled halfheartedly, stepping back outside.

“Nice to meet you, Logan,” Brynna said before turning her attention back to Dimitri. “How's the guitar working for you?”

“Yeah, this thing is great!”

“I'm guessing you sold him the guitars,” Logan said.

Brynna raised an eyebrow at this. “Sold? I gave them to him.” This prompted Logan to glare at Dimitri.

“Uh, anyway . . .” Dimitri was trying to avoid Logan's stare. “These things are great. We didn't even have to use our amps or anything.”

“That's awesome!” Brynna chirped, grinning from ear to ear.

It was then that Logan chimed in. “Actually, I was kind of wondering, Brynna, where'd you get these things?”

“I made them, actually.”

“Brynna's really good with her hands,” Dimitri said. Logan wasn't exactly sure if his friend had even intended the innuendo, but he decided to let it go.

“In that case,” Logan started, “how exactly do they amplify themselves? I took a look at the electronics, but they looked pretty normal.” Dimitri rolled his eyes; Logan was starting to go into “nerd mode,” as they liked to call it.

“Well . . .” Brynna seemed a little hesitant to answer the question. “It wasn't really all that complex. Honestly, I'm not sure if you're gonna believe me here, but I sort of enchanted them-”

“Hold up,” Logan said, cutting Brynna off. “So, you're telling me that you're a witch . . .”

“I prefer the word 'sorceress,' actually.”

“Sorry. But you're telling me that you're a sorceress and these guitars are, well, magic?” Logan seemed to have a bit of trouble saying that last word, almost as if he couldn't even believe he was saying it.

“It's a little more complex than that, but yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it.”

“Well, you were definitely right about one thing, and it's that I'm having a little trouble believing that.” Logan stole a glance at Dimitri, who looked just as skeptical. “I mean, I'm not completely closed off to the idea of magic, but I've never really seen it in action. You know what I'm saying?”

Brynna shrugged, seemingly unaffected by Logan's almost immediate rejection of her claims. “Hey, I really can't knock you for that. A lot of people don't believe me when it comes to stuff like that. But really, do you have any other explanation?”

“You got me there.”

“Look,” Dimitri said, “I don't really believe in all that magic stuff. But as long as these things work the way they do, I don't care if little pixies are living inside of them. They're awesome, is what I'm saying.”

Brynna nodded. “Hey, I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm just glad you like them.” She turned to walk away, only to turn back around once more. “Oh, by the way. Just be careful with those things. Don't let your feelings get the better of you, alright?”

“No problem at all,” Logan said. He liked to think that he was rather stoic, although Dimitri would definitely argue with him on this. No matter. Brynna walked away once more, and the two boys walked back inside the venue. “I want my four hundred back,” Logan said once he was sure Brynna wouldn't hear.

“No chance.”

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #26 on: April 16, 2016, 07:50:07 AM »
Huh. I'm not trying to dictate how you tell your story, but, in Memoirs, your symphokinesis comes from yourself . . .

Of course, I could be misreading this.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #27 on: April 16, 2016, 10:02:34 AM »
Again, I'll address that later on.

Offline Cloak

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #28 on: April 16, 2016, 07:35:43 PM »
I surmised, after a while.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

redtailedsaffa

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Re: Origin of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #29 on: April 17, 2016, 12:09:11 PM »
Everyone's a skeptic.