Anonymous Mon 18 Nov 2024 19:43:59 No.70923651 Report

>>70923593
Nova goes over her cassette collection and reminisces on some old songs she loved

Anonymous Mon 18 Nov 2024 20:11:02 No.70924312 Report

>>70923651
>Gah, curse you past Nova for putting this off for so damned long. I sniffle and stretch my aching back as I settle this dust coated container right onto the open space I'd cleared. Time to rip this thing open and figure out if it's trash or not.
>I pop the lid and scoot some of the newspaper away to check on the contents. Look at that, a relic older than time itself. A whole heaping piles of cassettes. The lot neatly organized into smaller cardboard boxes acting as separators. A quick thumb rub knocks off enough dust to start to reveal some ancient songs, long since tucked deep into my memory.
>I don't even remember half of these, honestly. Wonder if any of them still work. I kneel down to get a better look into the box, moving some of the cassettes around to check if they're accompanied by a player. No dice.
>It takes a long while of consideration on whether or not I want to bother even trying to get these to run or I ought to just dump 'em. The final point that moves the decision over to "keep" is the idea of getting to show these off to Nick. She's probably not going to care much for 'em, if at all but might as well show her momma used to rock the house.
>Knees creak as I rise and glance over to the rest of my work in clearing out this garage space. Damn it all.
>A few hours later and I've managed to get the wall cleared and even found my old cassette player, faded band stickers still coating it and all. Probably won't even work but it's worth a try.
>I trudge back inside, dust coated and achy but holding a small gem of the past. Nick eyes me up as I enter the kitchen, my dusty form more interesting than whatever is on her phone.
>"The hell is that?" She's pointing right at my plastic little tunes machine. I wiggle it at her as I maneuver over to drop it onto the kitchen island.
>"Cassette player. Checking to see if it works."
cont.

Anonymous Mon 18 Nov 2024 20:21:29 No.70924601 Report

Quoted By: >>70924737

>>70924312
>I get an eyebrow raised at me as I rip open the kitchen drawer, digging a couple of batteries out to feed the hungry little device. Bounty found and I slap 'em in and load up a real classic from AC/BC.
>It's not a great sound but it sputters to life, stereo waking up and shaking off the dust and age as it blares out a nice rock ballad. I light up and glance over to Nick who is, unsurprisingly, not impressed.
>"Why not just play it on your phone?"
>I give her no mind and just go right on grooving along to the sound as I thumb through a couple more of the cassettes, trying hard to remember when or how I got a hold of them. Most were just regular purchases but I distinctly remember a handful coming from birthday gifts or otherwise.
>I turn the sound down a touch and address my daughter, "These things used to be everywhere, you know? Crazy how they're just dead and replaced." I trace a claw alongside the thing, memories of coating it with whatever merch I could get my claws on. Making it 'mine.'
>Nick pipes up with a flare of genuine interest, "You got any mixtapes or anything in there?"
>I grin wide as I pinch a small personal-tape with that label exactly, "Oh you know it."
>I swap out the tapes and load it on up, some real edgy nineties songs load in, crackling the speaker as it goes. Slowly and surely the player keeps it going, barely keeping alive as it pumps out the noise.
>A sudden rush of memory hits me of recording this thing. Scrambling to record certain pieces off the radio or borrowing a friends to rip a song off of. Hours of work laid bare right on the counter, forgotten until now. A relic of an entirely different life. An entirely different Nova.
>Nick's voice pulls me back to reality, "You good?"
>A touch startled I bark back, "Oh yeah, just thinking. You know these are where the term 'mixtape' came from?"
>Nick groans and goes back to her phone while I stop the player, collecting the tapes and starting to drag them into my room.
cont, one more

Anonymous Mon 18 Nov 2024 20:27:38 No.70924737 Report

Quoted By:

>>70924601
>Before I can get to the hallway out of the kitchen I'm called to again.
>"You keeping those?"
>I pause a moment in consideration before answering.
>"Dunno. Probably not. Why?"
>A delay before she answers, "...mind if I keep one?"
>I turn to face Nick, a bit of a curious look on her face.
>"Sure." I carefully wander over to her again and set the small lot down as she quickly finds her target. My mixtape. As I watch curiously she explains, a bit awkwardly.
>"I mean these suck but they're still kinda cool. I guess."
>I happen to speak moody teenager and let me tell you, that's the nicest thing I think I've ever heard her say about anything or anyone. I smile at her and can't help but hug her, much to her chagrin.
>"Gah! Mom, cmon!"
>I don't let up and wrestle her around a bit while speaking, "Hah! Your mom's cool! Admit it!"
>After a quick bout of touch I finally let her go as she sputters and makes a grandiose gesture of beating some of the dust I happened to still be coated in off her. All the while I'm smiling ear-to-ear as she takes her prize and scurries off, refusing to verbalize that Nova is indeed, just the coolest.

Fin, gonna roll for one more methinks.