Post by Finland on Jun 13, 2011 20:02:08 GMT -5
[Oslo, Norway; 25 July, 2009]
Tonight’s going to be awesome, Tino thought as he reclined on the old, threadbare couch with the sag in the middle and the tattered blanket thrown sloppily over the back in an attempt to hide the decay. The Finn was stretched out from arm to coffee stained arm on the sofa, his legs crossed at the ankle and one foot tapping inside its leather boot to the beat of the song being pumped into his ears by his iPod. He mouthed the lyrics wordlessly, doing a perfect charade of a rock star screaming the lines of a hard rock song, while his hands busied themselves playing the chords of an air guitar.
Yes, he was excited. Any time his band, Ost Slottet, was lucky enough to book a gig, he got excited. Images of the night to come ran through his mind: smoky stages, flashing lights, screaming fans, copious amounts of alcohol to celebrate a performance well done… His band always got a big demand for an encore and it went straight to his ego every time. Well, okay, so it wasn’t his band, but he was a very fundamental component. After all, he had been one of the founding members.
…
With so many years of peace under his belt, the Finn had become rather bored in his neutrality. Recently, his boss had very little for him to do other than to attend the occasional meeting, but it was certainly no wartime excitement. To fill up his abundant free time, he had begun to develop a love for music, particularly hard rock and metal. His band Lordi had become quite popular a few years ago during Eurovision, and since then, he had discovered a strong taste for this style.
On a business trip to visit with Norwegian delegates some time back in May, he had spent one night visiting a bar in Oslo at which, he was told, local bands came to perform. One of the groups in particular had caught his attention – an unnamed trio of performers doing instrumental covers of well-known metal songs. Tino wasn’t exactly sure when the idea to join this group had sparked in his mind, but he found himself proposing his services as a vocalist for the group after the concert in a mix of broken English and even shakier Norwegian. He’d given them a demonstration of his abilities (which surprised even the Finn at first) and the group had agreed to give him a shot.
Of course, this meant that the hard part was next: getting President Halonen to agree. It had taken days of coaxing and almost government-level negotiations before she would even consider the possibility. At last, she had agreed and presented Tino with a list of rules.
“Don’t let them know what you are, Suomi,” she had told Tino.
“Oh, of course not,” had been his promise.
“If you are needed in Helsinki, you will return immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am. Of course.”
“Living arrangements?”
“The band has a house in Lillehammer. They said I can pay rent and live there this summer.”
“What are you going to do about communicating? I’ve heard your Norwegian; they’ll never understand you.”
Tino blushed a bit. Had his own boss just insulted him? “I speak enough Norwegian and English to get by.” After that, he pondered for a moment. “I can get Brother Norja to help.”
“To translate for you?” Halonen asked.
A grin had spread across Tino’s face, suggesting a growing excitement. “No, ma’am. To be a band mate!”
Actually getting Vidar to join had been much simpler than the Finn had first expected. After hearing the proposition, the Norwegian had merely shrugged, stated that he had nothing better to do and signed on as the band’s bassist. With that, the band was formed. Realizing the group still needed a name, Tino did some research and came up with the title East Castle. It conjured up images of dragons and Vikings and all things metal. Perfect. He even drew up a logo and had flyers printed up with the band’s name in Norwegian – he saw it as a sign of tribute to the fact that all of the members save for him were from Norway. Unfortunately, he’d made an error in translation which was met with uproarious laughter from his band mates.
“Ost Slottet!” the drummer had howled, tears of laughter streaming down his face.
Looking quite confused, Tino had cocked his head to the side and asked, “What’s so funny? I thought East Castle sounded cool.”
“East Castle,” the drummer had explained, “is Øst Slottet. Ost Slottet, on the other hand, means Cheese Castle.”
…
It had been an embarrassing blunder, but with money already invested in flyers, the name stuck. So there they were – a metal band named Cheese Castle with two members being nations. Now, about three months after forming, Tino was waiting for the other members to arrive so they could set up.
As the song he was listening to came to an end, the Nordic became aware of movement in the room. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he smiled at the other nation in the room.
“Hei, Vidar!” he chirped happily, taking the earbuds out of his ears. “Are you ready for tonight?”
....................
A/N: “Haloo Oslo” is Finnish for “Hello Oslo”. I feel like Tino would be the type to scream that before concerts. Nordic countries are known for their heavier types of rock music, including black metal, power metal, speed metal and hard rock.
Tonight’s going to be awesome, Tino thought as he reclined on the old, threadbare couch with the sag in the middle and the tattered blanket thrown sloppily over the back in an attempt to hide the decay. The Finn was stretched out from arm to coffee stained arm on the sofa, his legs crossed at the ankle and one foot tapping inside its leather boot to the beat of the song being pumped into his ears by his iPod. He mouthed the lyrics wordlessly, doing a perfect charade of a rock star screaming the lines of a hard rock song, while his hands busied themselves playing the chords of an air guitar.
Yes, he was excited. Any time his band, Ost Slottet, was lucky enough to book a gig, he got excited. Images of the night to come ran through his mind: smoky stages, flashing lights, screaming fans, copious amounts of alcohol to celebrate a performance well done… His band always got a big demand for an encore and it went straight to his ego every time. Well, okay, so it wasn’t his band, but he was a very fundamental component. After all, he had been one of the founding members.
…
With so many years of peace under his belt, the Finn had become rather bored in his neutrality. Recently, his boss had very little for him to do other than to attend the occasional meeting, but it was certainly no wartime excitement. To fill up his abundant free time, he had begun to develop a love for music, particularly hard rock and metal. His band Lordi had become quite popular a few years ago during Eurovision, and since then, he had discovered a strong taste for this style.
On a business trip to visit with Norwegian delegates some time back in May, he had spent one night visiting a bar in Oslo at which, he was told, local bands came to perform. One of the groups in particular had caught his attention – an unnamed trio of performers doing instrumental covers of well-known metal songs. Tino wasn’t exactly sure when the idea to join this group had sparked in his mind, but he found himself proposing his services as a vocalist for the group after the concert in a mix of broken English and even shakier Norwegian. He’d given them a demonstration of his abilities (which surprised even the Finn at first) and the group had agreed to give him a shot.
Of course, this meant that the hard part was next: getting President Halonen to agree. It had taken days of coaxing and almost government-level negotiations before she would even consider the possibility. At last, she had agreed and presented Tino with a list of rules.
“Don’t let them know what you are, Suomi,” she had told Tino.
“Oh, of course not,” had been his promise.
“If you are needed in Helsinki, you will return immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am. Of course.”
“Living arrangements?”
“The band has a house in Lillehammer. They said I can pay rent and live there this summer.”
“What are you going to do about communicating? I’ve heard your Norwegian; they’ll never understand you.”
Tino blushed a bit. Had his own boss just insulted him? “I speak enough Norwegian and English to get by.” After that, he pondered for a moment. “I can get Brother Norja to help.”
“To translate for you?” Halonen asked.
A grin had spread across Tino’s face, suggesting a growing excitement. “No, ma’am. To be a band mate!”
Actually getting Vidar to join had been much simpler than the Finn had first expected. After hearing the proposition, the Norwegian had merely shrugged, stated that he had nothing better to do and signed on as the band’s bassist. With that, the band was formed. Realizing the group still needed a name, Tino did some research and came up with the title East Castle. It conjured up images of dragons and Vikings and all things metal. Perfect. He even drew up a logo and had flyers printed up with the band’s name in Norwegian – he saw it as a sign of tribute to the fact that all of the members save for him were from Norway. Unfortunately, he’d made an error in translation which was met with uproarious laughter from his band mates.
“Ost Slottet!” the drummer had howled, tears of laughter streaming down his face.
Looking quite confused, Tino had cocked his head to the side and asked, “What’s so funny? I thought East Castle sounded cool.”
“East Castle,” the drummer had explained, “is Øst Slottet. Ost Slottet, on the other hand, means Cheese Castle.”
…
It had been an embarrassing blunder, but with money already invested in flyers, the name stuck. So there they were – a metal band named Cheese Castle with two members being nations. Now, about three months after forming, Tino was waiting for the other members to arrive so they could set up.
As the song he was listening to came to an end, the Nordic became aware of movement in the room. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he smiled at the other nation in the room.
“Hei, Vidar!” he chirped happily, taking the earbuds out of his ears. “Are you ready for tonight?”
....................
A/N: “Haloo Oslo” is Finnish for “Hello Oslo”. I feel like Tino would be the type to scream that before concerts. Nordic countries are known for their heavier types of rock music, including black metal, power metal, speed metal and hard rock.
