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“Country? Metallica? What are those?” Romero asked blankly. His home country had nothing of the sort. Thinking that Andrew might think him musically illiterate, he added, “In Venezuela we have joropo llanero, or plains music; gaita zuliana for Christmas; and classical. In recent days, we’ve borrowed some of Cuba’s music and perhaps some of Florida’s. The jovenes seem to really like pop and rock.

“Is your rock anything like ours?” he added suddenly. An older breed of rock music had existed in his country for a while before, and the new wave, with its exponentially growing popularity among the youth, was threatening to outpace the nation’s preexisting music. With such outlandish band names as La Vida Bohéme and Los Paranoias, Romero was beginning to grow a bit disillusioned about the younger generation.

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

"Queen and Metallica?" Tennessee repeated as he looked at his brother in the same way he might if Alabama had just spoken blasphemy. "I guess to our newer generations they consider that classic rock, but if you ask me the musicians who pioneered the genre like Elvis and Johnny Cash are the real classics..." He glanced over at Venezuela and smiled.

"Well, Rock and Roll has lots of other sub genres nowadays in America," he said, seeming a little more enthusiastic as they talked about music. "There's stuff like Punk Rock, Heavymetal and even Indie Rock... It's hard to peg it down to one particular type. I guess it would be easiest to show ya what I'm talkin' 'bout..." He adjusted his guitar so he could play a few short examples of the different types of rock and roll as well as some of the oldies that had made the genre great.

Tennessee's demeanor changed quite a bit while he played. He suddenly seemed less conservative and far more bold as music poured from Nashville. Even the generally dull look on his face suddenly seemed full of passion and enthusiasm for what he was playing. However, once the spontaneous meddly concluded, he slipped back into his more modest and reserved posture.

"Um... Well, it's somethin' like that at least," he said. "Not sure if it sounds like the stuff at your home or not..."

Grade 9
The Volunteer

Romero listened in silence as Tennessee strummed a few excerpts of American rock on his guitar. He was surprised at how similar the music sounded to that of some of his own bands, particularly when Andrew played the third excerpt. In it, he heard echoes of his own country’s old rock ’n’ roll band, Wag. It was amazing how little the genre changed with region! Or was it just Venezuela’s proximity to America that made it so?

Before he could ask that, though, Alabama cut in with his own music, supposedly an example of power metal. Romero simply held his tongue and listened to the strange new music. It wasn’t terrible, granted, but it just wasn’t what the Venezuelan was used to. “Good tunes, you two,” he told the states. “I think Andrew’s music sounds a lot closer to what I used to listen to. Johnny, your music isn’t bad either, but it does sound closer to the bizarre new music that the youth seem to love listening to nowadays. It’s odd, isn’t it?” he mused aloud. “That the younger a generation is, the more electric and synthetic they prefer their music? They’re straying farther and farther away from their roots and the real world every year.”

“Anyway, here’s a bit of my country’s classic rock,” he added, booting up his tablet and sliding to the tune he wanted. The room soon filled with 1990s rhythms.

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew almost cringed when he heard music from the 1990s being treated like classic rock. Maybe that was how most people thought of it now, but the musician shook his head at how people seemed to have forgotten what real rock was like. The sort of rock that had an actual soul and at one point was the voice of an entire generation.

"No offense meant, but that's horse s**t," Tennessee said bluntly before he could stop himself. He couldn't help it that music was such an intense part of his culture. He whipped out his guitar again and was determined to show them what REAL rock and roll should sound like. Not any of that borderline hiphop nonsense. This time he played Livin' On A Prayer, Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Carry On Wayward Son,Don't Stop Me Now, Rock You Like A Hurricane, Don't Stop Believing and Stairway to Heaven.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew was slightly out of breath from the mini concert, but turned his attention to the older state when he started scolding. The former mountaineer blinked at being called ungentlemanly. "But there ain't no ladies here..." he said as if it was only bad if a girl heard him. Tennessee never had quite gotten manners and spending the vast majority of his childhood isolated by mountains hadn't really helped his social skills beyond the basics. He was a good boy, but his manners left much to be desired.

He wrinkled his nose at being told not to curse because it was stereotypical. "I don't give a damn 'bout that," he grunted. "I ain't tryin' to please nobody an' I ain't gonna try to act like someone I'm not just 'cause of some stupid stereotype. If they don't like it then that's their problem. I got no reason to be ashamed..." He hesitated a moment before glancing Johnny over as he recalled how the older state kept mentioning being smarter than he looked earlier. Maybe his brother was ashamed of them for some reason? The Tennessean blushed faintly and glanced away. "You... worry 'bout that kinda stuff a lot, huh? I... I guess if it bothers you I'll try not to..." He didn't want Alabama to be ashamed of him. That was infinitely worse than being called a hick or redneck.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

~Freshman and still taller than many seniors~

He looked over to the Venezuelan."I'm sorry...We're very passionate about music.He'll do that at times."Johnny said apologetically as well."That music you played was great...Ummm....I never caught your name."Johnny said with a smile.

Johnny wasn't mad at his little brother.He also realized that he was babying again"It's okay Andrew."Johnny said as he rubbed the back of his head."I need to stop babying you...I'm done being the big brother...I'm just your older brother now...Granted I'm still bigger than you, but you're big now too.I shouldn't tell you how to speak, I shouldn't tell ya to do anything unless it's necessary..I'm sorry that I'm such a enforcer of southern gentlemanliness."He said with an apologetic smile."...Just...Make sure not to speak so loud net time.I think Franny heard you."He said teasingly as he looked back at the poker table."So....Apology accepted?"He asked as he extended his hand to the volunteer.

Southern Sass To The King's English
Out of fried foods~:I do too~! Freddie rocked~! Queen Rocks!!!..........that's one of their albums.

Armelle of the Forest

Nintendraw

Porkcow001

~Freshman and still taller than many seniors~

Johnny smiled as his brother shook his hand."Yea, maybe.Either that or there's something in yours that stifles growth, hehehe." He said with a smile and a joke as he let go of his hand.

Johnny smiled at the Romero's introduction."I'm sorry, I just forget names if we don't talk for a good five minutes.I'll remember now." He answered Romero with a smile."And of course you can join the game Romero."He said with a smile as he dealt another hand to the Venezuelan..

Southern Sass To The King's English
Out of fried foods~:Yea, except this one includes flushes which are like this.
flush(standard) any cards that go in numerical order
Exe:1,2,3,4,5 of any suit
flush(strait):a flush of cards in numerical order in the same suit
Exe:12345 of clubs
flush(royal) all royal cards, and or all but one's replaced by wilds,in the same suit.
Exe:10,J,Q,K,A all of hearts.

~Freshman and still taller than many seniors~

Johnny looked over at the joker."OOF~" He said as he took the card and placed it in his shirt pocket."That's a personal card.I use it in magic."He said with a smile as he dealt the Venezuelan another card.

He gave a smile as wide as the day as he took the card.The card was another summon of magic that never seemed to work.

Southern Sass To The King's English
Out of fried foods~

FlushI kinda forgot to mention the short flush and short strait.
short flush is a typical flush with only four cards in order with any suit, and a short strait is the same except the same suit.
Short flush:1234 any
Short strait:1234 of diamonds
S.Flush

52 cards are as follows
4 aces
4 twos
4 threes
4 fours
4 fives
4 sixes
4 sevens
4 eights
4 nines
4 tens
4 jacks
4 queens
4 kings
0 jokers

Jokers are only in 54 card poker decks.

Armelle of the Forest

Nintendraw

Porkcow001