#he's tim burton coded

[starks-hero]

Forever fighting the urge to write a corpse bride au with him <3

Give me a listen you corpses of cheer, at least those of you who still got an ear. I'll tell you a story that'll make a skeleton gloom, of our own jubiliciously lovely corpse groom.

[sandersontheside]

contrary to what you may think “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” from Hercules is not the Disney love song for prinxiety. the titular track from Beauty and the Beast is. not only because the lyrics hit:

“barely even friends/then somebody bends/unexpectedly/just a little change/small to say the least/both a little scared/neither one prepared”

“bittersweet and strange/finding you can change/learning you were wrong”

but also because Virgil is initially perceived by the other sides as a villain, as monstrous, and his arc is all about acceptance both from them and from himself, learning both to love and to be loved. Just like Adam/Beast. and because Roman is Belle coded—head in the clouds and obsessed with stories, craving adventure and desperately looking for something more than this provincial life. you get it.

[zukkacore]

Extremely funny that 4 Different Dog’s villain origin story is that she…. doesn’t have enough trauma. Wow. Even Fantasy Suburbanites are not immune to Thinking The Poors and Pee Oh Cees Get Into College bc of Sob Story Personal Statements <3

[ogoatsuyuuta]

just saw someone make a "jjk characters are so tim burton coded" edit but didn't include yuuta... what the fuck are we doing guys?

[babieken]

WHAT IN THE TIM BURTON IS THIS?😭😭😭

[datclassicrockfan42]

I could unironically go so autistic over explaining that for yall

Thinking about the movie Edward Scissorhands, and could it be a metaphor for autistic people?

The woman who found him introduces him to being "normal," but in the end, it wasn't for him and he went back to living in isolation.

[moonsceptre]

Alchemy & Dreams in Beetlejuice Part 2

As mentioned in the last post, red represents Lydia: the material realm & sulphur. The item which falls next to Astrid's cracked photograph is a molecular structure with a red atom and a green atom. It's already common knowledge that Betelgeuse is green-coded, but I have further proof to support the atom theory.

Alchemists viewed the human body (microcosm) as a reflection of the universe (macrocosm). This suggested that atoms could give insights about human nature. Within this context, consider Rosenkreutz illustration of the Chymical Wedding, where the married couple are holding onto the structure. They're supposed to represent two atoms of the same trigonal planar molecule, because they are of the same element, thus sharing a chemical bond.

Alchemy consists of a mix of chemistry, philosophy, semiotics, and metaphysics, with much of the symbolism used to convey alchemical themes in Beetlejuice.

Before I come back to this, let's talk about...

Otho

Throughout the first movie, Otho is typically associated with black and red. He's often wearing black with either a red tie, red buttons, or red shoes (which mysteriously disappear in a couple scenes only to be replaced by different colour shoes).

Red shoes have long been used in media to represent a metaphorical journey (The Red Shoes (1948), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), and Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes are a few examples). Need I remind you of one of Tim Burton's favourite movies, The Wizard of Oz?

Otho is the only character other than Lydia who piques interest in the dead. Despite his willingness to exploit them, he is ready to believe in their existence and study the handbook. These visual cues are conveying the character's motives.

Part of the alchemical process are the stages "Rubedo" and "Nigredo". Rubedo is Latin for "redness", the stage of understanding where two opposites have joined and created harmony. Nigredo is Latin for "blackness", the stage of putrefaction or decomposition, thus symbolising the dead. In layman's terms, red and black represent the character's willingness to connect with the dead. The only other character really associated with black and red is Lydia, and that speaks for itself.

Otho is a character who inspired the creation of Rory in the second movie. Within Lydia's psyche, Rory has been manifested from guilt. In the first film, Lydia is almost complicit in helping Otho to exorcise the Maitlands after he makes it clear that he wants to capitalise on the dead. In the second film, Lydia is under Rory's management to capitalise on the dead, and she is trying to make peace with that guilt by trying to help people through exorcisms.

Guilt in dreams is often seen as a manifestation of the unconscious mind's attempt to communicate unresolved internal conflicts. This is where the shadow becomes a central concept in Jungian psychology, referring to the parts of the Self that the conscious mind rejects or ignores. Lydia rejects the traits that Otho and Rory embody, and that is why her reconciliation with Astrid is a manifestation of her own forgiveness.

More on The Chemical Wedding

We talked about the purpose of the Chemical Wedding before, but why is it so relevant to the plot of Beetlejuice? Other than the fact Betelgeuse has fallen in love with Lydia, there is an allegorical reason for why the wedding must take place between these two, and no one else but these two.

A Chemical Wedding is the marriage between the sun and the moon. In alchemical texts they are often depicted as the white queen and the red king, though this has nothing to do with literal gender roles, for we see Lydia herself portrayed as the red king in her parallel with Astrid. It is related to the Anima (the female self) and the Animus (the male self). This is also the marriage between mercury and sulfur, spirit and matter, the dead and the living.

One of the most famous works on the subject of a Chemical Wedding is a Rosicrucian allegory published in 1616 by Christian Rosenkreutz. It describes a mystical journey where the main character must attend a wedding at a mysterious castle. The journey is a symbol of the alchemical process, while the wedding itself represents the final transformative stage.

The story is filled with strange and dreamlike imagery, with many claiming it as a source of German dark romanticism.

Rosenkreuz's allegory actually represents inner transformation of the individual, with marriage being used as a metaphor, insofar as the masculine and feminine halves must be merged together in matrimony to achieve completion within oneself.

"Death and the Maiden" trope is a motif that depicts a woman being taken by Death, as he desires to marry her. It is dire for death to marry his living bride, for he wishes to venture the living world and the underworld with her.

Betelgeuse is the perfect complementary opposite to Lydia, each crafted to embody the other's symbolic missing half. Betelgeuse is the animus; he's loud, provocative, and dead; Lydia is the anima; she's quiet, thoughtful, and alive. The contrast is straightforward and uncomplicated. You could easily spend hours analysing their differences, and you'd still be right—because they are deliberately written as foils to one another.

Looking back at how Otho/Rory represents the shadow of Lydia, we should take into account who guided her through this dream sequence. Our psyche creates these thought-images in our unconscious minds as a means to roleplay scenarios where we have internal conflict. It gives us a chance to psychoanalyse ourselves and try to understand the core of our trauma.

Betelgeuse, within Lydia's dream, is acting as a guide (remember his guide outfit in the first film?). He's constantly appearing to her, influencing her and urging her to face her fears. While he's causing chaos in the way he knows best, he's also showing Lydia the bare truth, and this is especially apparent when it comes to Rory: he tells Lydia she's an enabling codependent and forces Rory to tell the truth about his intentions. Betelgeuse is what Jung would refer to as the Trickster archetype. The Trickster is often seen as a figure that disrupts the status quo and challenges the Ego through chaotic and karmic actions, serving as a profound guide in the process of one's personal development. Think of "Jester's privilege", or The Fool in tarot.

In mythological symbolism, there comes the legend of a scorpion that stung Orion to death (the giant red star "Betelgeuse" sits on Orion's belt). The scorpion was delivered as to snub Orion's pride and teach him a lesson by way of death, because the scorpion is a symbol of death and rebirth. This is the Trickster archetype again, teaching a lesson in a very karmic way. Betelgeuse does the same throughout both movies. Otho, the Deetz, and the Deans are all punished by him in the first film for acting as antagonists against the ghosts of Winter River. Despite this, he also acts as an antagonist himself by punishing the Maitlands, two loving parental figures for Lydia, for getting in the way of his plan to marry her.

"They therefore represent a supreme pair of opposites, not hopelessly divided by logical contradiction but, because of the mutual attraction between them, giving promise of union and actually making it possible. The coniunctio oppositorum engaged the speculations of the alchemists in the form of the ‘Chymical Wedding," — Carl Jung, Psychology & Alchemy

In alchemical tradition, Saturn is associated with the metal lead, which symbolises the starting point of the alchemical work—the Nigredo phase. Alchemy is mostly known as the quest to turn lead into gold, but the allegorical meaning is to refine the Self. Saturn is equated with Cronos in mythology, the father of time, who was portrayed as an old man with a scythe/sickle, similar to the grim reaper, who is associated with the end of one's time. Betelgeuse has time-warping powers and wears time-keeping devices on his wrist, all a microcosm for how we measure eternity.

The whole Alchemical Opus works through THREE stages:

Nigredo (Black Stage): Betelgeuse represents lead and Saturn. Putrefaction.

Albedo (White Stage): Before Lydia summons Betelgeuse and agrees to the marriage, he is wearing a black and white suit. White is added to the mix. Purification.

Rubedo (Red Stage): Lydia is manifested a red wedding dress to finish the ceremony. They completed the alchemical process. Lead is turned into Gold.

In the movie's original wedding scene, found here, at 9:11 on the clock the afterlife creature who marries Lydia and Betelgeuse dissipates into fire, and then the scene ends. 911 in numerology is the number of completion, and is used in occultism to symbolise new beginnings and rebirth.

For this reason, it has been theorised that the wedding vows went through, and the Chemical Wedding was completed.

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

🧚‍♀️ Anon

I’m not sure about what to suggest for your 1,000 milestone, but I want to say congratulations!!

I’m rewatching Tim Burton Batman Movies and I thought to myself, what about JJBA as a Batman AU? (But maybe different versions of Batman besides Tim Burton to give more flavor and depth)

Jonathan, Joseph and Jotaro are Batman (They all fit as Batman and I honestly couldn’t pick one) and they’re siblings

Jonathan is 28, Joseph is 26 and Jotaro is 24 (He’s in college)

Jonathan - He donates to charity and holds charity balls to help the less fortunate while working with his pal Speedwagon to make the streets better (He’s the eldest and handles the Joestar Family Company)

Joseph - The Playboy of the brothers and flirts with different women, he hangs out with his friend Caesar a detective, he’ll get serious under the mask but will mostly stay behind to keep appearances with the Public

Jotaro - The stoic and serious one of the three and is currently the only one who’s still doing school (He’s the youngest) and is friends with Kakyoin who’s an Art Major at the University they go to

Giorno, Josuke and Jolyne can fit as the Robins and Batgirl (I refuse to see how this wouldn’t work) but they’re mainly young teenagers to kid (Josuke

I’m still working on the Villains’ list but this is what I have so far

Dio/DIO - Joker (But he knows how to stay in the Shadows and hide) and his partner is Pucci who’s his Harley Quinn (I actually keep forgetting Dio is canonically Bisexual 😭)

Kars - Poison Ivy and Ra’s la Ghul (It was the earth that birthed him) and has no problem killing millions, half or all of Humanity for the planet (He also looks very cunty already)

Wammu - Bane (This works because he ‘breaks’ the Bat *Joseph*) but he’s intelligent and not an idiot (I actually rage whenever there’s versions of Bane that are unintelligent) he still has a code of honor in battle or course

Diavolo/Doppio - Two-Face (Doppio being a lawyer does sound interesting to me, but he’s seen as a joke by his fellow lawyers because he’s clumsy and timid, until his accident) Doppio and Diavolo share the same body, with one side of their Face Doppio and the other a disfigured Diavolo (Because Diavolo is the evil one) and now they’re the most dangerous Mobster out there with Passione

Darling is either a Therapist who works at the Asylum for the Criminally Insane (No she will not become Harley Quinn) or a Reporter and Photographer who thinks the Caped Crusaders are Heroes to her City instead of Threats (She’ll work with Caesar as his partner)

There’s more but I’m trying to figure out who fits where and it’s actually very fun for this AU

Ooh batman, I do love the Tim Burton adaptation, his style in my opinion really gives Gotham a stand out feel. Big fan of Tim Burton's older works. Though I do feel his modern works have lost the German impressionist roots that really drew me into his work (can you tell that I did a Tim Burton analysis for a whole semester in art class?)

Darling is a psychologist that works at the asylum and knows all three Joestars. She's very bold and speaks her mind. Both complimenting and criticizing those she speaks to.

Jonathan visits the asylum often as he wants to help reform the justice system and as one of their biggest funders it's his right to know how they are conducting their operations as well as a secret second thing...

He usually offers darling invitations to any galas as she's a huge help to him.

Joesph is a university friend of hers, they both studied criminology. Though it was Joesph's major. He has tried to ask her out but due to his playboy status she is quick to remind him that they maybe close but she doesn't believe he's serious about a relationship. (At most it'd be a secret friend's with benefits relationship)

Jotaro like his brother also chose criminology, though his major is Marine ecology. Occasionally daling comes in to help her former teacher as a guest presenter and perhaps through her was able to get an internship at the asylum.

He probably ends up going through and copying all her work files to share with the other two.

She's at this point the only one equipped enough to deal with the high risk inmates. Of course they all have specialized cells to keep them in.

Dio was adopted into the Joestar family at the age of 12 and was set to be another successful member of the Joestar family before George's death. He was found guilty of murdering him as well as planning to kill Jonathan so he could get his hands on the inheritance. Of course in the asylum he tries to gain the empathy of others with half truths. Doesn't work on darling, it's technically a conflict of interest due to her association with the Joestars but she's the only one who can work with him. She knows the other side of the story. She also knows Jonathan also visits him during his inspections and is trying his best to reason with Dio.

As she puts it

"You were set for success, you had the money, the intellect and the looks but like Icarus you flew to close to the sun"

He likes the challenge darling presents, most would have fallen head over heels for him. He just wants to get in that pretty little head of hers. He's already planned his escape with the asylum priest Pucci, who he's already charmed.

Kars was prolific scientist in the bio engineering field before his DNA was was spliced with an unknown material. He's gone mad, claims he's the apex being and that humans are destroying the natural order.

She doesn't really get anywhere with him at first. But when Wammu and Saitana (who I imagine could be clayface) got incarcerated, darling finds out they're cousins. Kars actually cared for them when they were younger but they became estranged as adults due to their careers. She brings it up and it strikes a cord. Gets him to finally start talking. He realizes that darling is a good person, just very misguided in his eyes. Perhaps he could get her to realize the truth.

Wammu was an athlete, always pushed his body to the limits and so when his body began to fail him he began relying on steroids to keep him competing. Eventually that was not enough and he underwent a experimental treatment that worked a little too well. He needs to be in a mostly metal cell in the basement as he could've easily punched through a brick wall. Even now he seems to only be getting stronger, soon steel won't be enough. The staff decide to sedate him to keep him in check. Even a specialized diet to avoid anymore muscle development.

Despite being sedated he's still awake just not entirely there. Darling does still visit him and talks. She also informs him that Kars is there and relays conversations between the two as it's giving her a lot of insight.

Doppio's life was changed when the priest who adopted him was murdered and home was set on fire. He wanted to become a lawyer to bring justice to those who who ruined the lives of the less fortunate. Little did he know the one who had ruined his was himself.

No one really took him seriously, he seemed way to soft to be in that position. Even though he was the top of his classes at university. He is hopelessly clumsy, dropping documents or tripping over himself. However during one trial he was able to put a major crime lord behind bars and it felt like he was finally getting somewhere... until one of his subordinates caught him and pushed half his face into acid.

That was when he became aware of his other, darker half. Who managed to break out of his binds and kill the perpetrator. He was let go as it was self defense but Doppio was no longer the same, two people now fully aware of one another in a shared body.

After a string of crimes he was brought in and darling was assigned to him.

Doppio is very understanding and soft spoken, and thus darling offers him the same. He knows why and has no objections to being imprisoned.

Diavolo is more cold but is prone to outbursts. Doppio is always his greatest concern and know that he has a crush on their cute psychologist and he promise him he'll get her, he promises.

[xxx-theartofsuicide-xxx]

How do you know for sure that Tim would like Lydia and Beetlejuice to be together? Has he given interviews in the past where he said this? Forgive me, I'm new to the fandom so I don't know a lot of things 🥲

Surface level analysis of his entire filmography, but the cartoon is really the most damning. Beetlebabes is not new and quirky, it's just Death and the Maiden and it's one of Burton's favorite tropes. Anyone questioning Tim's feelings should just go watch the cartoon, it's incredibly self-explanatory. They're "best friends" because that's what could be sold to the network, but they're very obviously couple-coded.

[nicoleanell]

God, Renfield 2023 and Enid from Wednesday would be best friends. I'm yanking her out of her canon right now to be his replacement daughter.

You see, the only problem with me and my imaginary relationship with Renfield (she says, delusionally) is that I like dark colors, but I wouldn’t want to damper his wholesome, colorful vibe.

[theravenandtheartist]

The way Wenvier met as children at a funeral (like Morticia and Gomez did in the 1991 movie!) and Wednesday's grandmother and Xavier's Godmother were friends and Xavier had the Addams coded idea to hide inside a casket and Wednesday saved his life and they meet again at Nevermore and when Wednesday sees him for the first time again Xavier is painting a raven and Morticia says to Wednesday "you are a raven" and this time is Xavier saving Wednesday's life and Xavier knows about Wednesday's visions before she tells him and when he hears her play he is painting the raven again and Uncle Fester who knows Wednesday very well says there's tension between them and Xavier in the nightshades society and fencing team like his mother was and Gomez is falsely accused like Xavier is and Morticia and Gomez in a flashback kiss each other in the same spot Xavier gives Wednesday the phone and Wednesday says "Xavier is right, this prophesy cannot come true if I'm not here", trusting his judgment at last and then takes an arrow for him and the last scene Wednesday has with a character is with Xavier and the way the camera frames the scene is very "couple-like" and the show has a soundtrack called Wednesday and Xavier, your HONOR this is english 101 Tim Burton planned for them to be together at some point it's just written in the show. I don't know what the plans are now, but the original plan was canon Wenvier it's just textbook analysis I-

[isleofdarkness]

Oh, you're making your own version of D4!!! That's so awesome!! I know your version of Wonderland it's highly inspired by the Burton movies and while I'm not particularly... fond of them, to put it nicely, I am SO excited to see how you'll work with it!!

What is going to be different and what is going to stay the same to the movie we got? Is Merlin Academy still a thing? And how are you going to incorporate the given lore to your own? I'll just love to know what you got planned for it!

I'm currently deciding whether the title will be Pocketwatch of Bleeding Heart, which is Rose and Ace's code word for 'catastrophe.' I'm just stealing Tim's ideas like I stole from Dismay (sorry, Disney,) cause the dude ain't that great (what the fuck do you MEAN Black people don't "fit the aesthetic?" They're just existing!) I like the horror of Underland but the dude sucks and I daresay is a bad writer if he can't write in simple diversity. Sorry for the Tim Burton rant.

It'll probably take place either before or early in Black Magick. The plot is that Uma finally lied to the Queen about where the twins were, the Queen found out, and she used a powerful magick artefact to kill Uma for it. Rose and Ace, blaming themselves, are going to use an invention from their friend, Maddox, called the pocketwatch, which will bring them back in time to where they need most to go. In this case, they're going back in time to keep the artefact out of their mother's hands. Arturius tried to stop them from altering the timeline, you heathens, and accidentally got dragged away with them (he just "grabby-grabbed" his way in with them.) The pocketwatch brings them to Underland Preparatory Institute, a school for Underland elite where their mother and aunt were (or are) students. They're trying to minimize damage to the timeline even if it could, in theory, make their lives better. They're here to save Uma, not themselves.

I can't do Merlin Academy due to the split nature of the word before the Awakening, all of those fairytales wouldn't be in the same place before Merlin broke the world by attacking a toddler. Maybe one day I'll rewrite RoR, but it won't be part of Isle of Darkness because it would decimate my timeline. I will, however, modify and keep the whole "Red" scene intro for Pocketwatch because it fits the twins. And the whole Ace blessed by Ares will come up. But Merlin Academy simply cannot happen unless Maverick sees it while studying reality at large and sees that story that she didn't draw in when she was three.

Like the rest of my AU, Pocketwatch will be basically unrecognizable as having originated from the source material

[spottheantisemitism]

where do i find media with jews in it that's not a grasping at hamentaschen flavored straws headcannon (the dragon prince) or a woefully mishandled nazi story (arrowverse) or a jew who's functionally christian and treated as the old white dude character (legends of tomorrow) or an israeli who is viewed as too political to exist in canon (marvel) or given zero effort unlike all the other representation (percy jackson) or a stolen story (corpse bride) or antisemitic tropes starred in by a racefaker (unsleeping city) or a jew who gets rewritten for tv as christian (the flash) or a million other massive antisemitic disappointments?

i am absolutely starving for good jewish rep where do i find it and why is it all so damn terrible 😭😭😭😭

Dear Pusheen,

I know seeing superhero comic book adaptations not have Jews is like discovering the orange store is no longer selling oranges since it's a Jewish medium

Best I can give you is Moon Knight and even that is surface level it make pass Ladyknightthebrave's Oy Vey test of "more than menorahs or Jewish foods" coding by showing two shivas and a shabbos table but... that's it...

None of the X-films pass either

I honestly think coding Jews in fatasy settings is basically the mutant metaphor like at least Magneto is explicitly Jewish in x-media

Legends of Tommorow is so weird because it starts with the Jewish character drugging a black man because they share a superpower and the Jewish guy wants to fight historical crime and the black guy doesn't and it just goes down from there

Listen I don't trust Marvel with Sabra at all given how they treated Wanda so maybe we dodged a bullet here

Rick Riordan is overrated in that like John Byrne he checks off boxes but never asks himself how this will affect the character. A Jew who is also a roman pagan would have a lot of trauma and guilt about the whole thing, there is a reason that Moon Knight (who serves and Ancient Egyptian god) acts like a converso (those forced into christianity during the Spanish Inquistion) . Lavania is way to blaze about this

Corpse Bride is inexcusable even for the man who said non-white people ruin his "pale white skin, sunken eyes" aesthectic. Abitfrank said it best when she said Tim Burton was no better than the gentiles who killed the corpse bride and buried her in the shallow grave.

I do not know what Max Bemis fuckery is happening in unsleeping city

but flash sounds like Wanda having a cross suddenly in her room when she's Jewish-Romani in every other media ever

yours,

Cecil

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Surprise Concert - Black Cat!Josh Dun x Golden Retriever!Reader

Warnings: None - super fluffy

Word count: 1906

A/N: This was an idea I was experimenting with so enjoy ;) I do have a bishop!clancy x bandito reader fic coming soon too so keep an eye out for that! Thanks to 🩷✨ anon for requesting this idea bc they liked it so much.

Josh had been talking about the concert for weeks. It was supposed to be a surprise—he’d slipped up and told me about it during lunch one day when I noticed how unusually antsy he seemed. He was always quiet and brooding, a shadow drifting around in a sea of high school noise, but I could tell he was excited. So, when he blurted out something about “the best concert ever,” it caught me off guard.

“Okay, but what concert are we talking about?” I’d asked, leaning closer, my yellow sundress a stark contrast to the dark flannel he always wore. Josh’s eyes went wide, and he swore under his breath, pushing a strand of hair out of his face.

“Just... nothing,” he muttered, cheeks pink. “You’ll see.”

So when the big day came, I couldn’t contain my curiosity. “Are you sure you don’t wanna tell me who we’re seeing?” I asked, for probably the tenth time, as I jumped into his beat-up car. It was a clunky old thing with scratched black paint and a half-broken radio that only played CDs, which Josh seemed to think was charming.

“Not a chance,” he said, grinning in that lopsided way that made my stomach flip. “But you better buckle up. We’re gonna be late if I don’t break a few speed limits.” His voice was playful, teasing, like he knew something I didn’t��which, to be fair, was pretty accurate.

The drive was short, but the anticipation made every second feel like an hour. Josh’s music blared from the CD player—dark, heavy songs with lyrics that were almost too fast for me to catch. It wasn’t my usual kind of thing; I liked upbeat pop songs with catchy choruses, the kind of music that made you wanna roll the windows down and sing at the top of your lungs. But I didn’t mind. The excitement radiating off Josh was contagious, and I found myself tapping my foot along to the beat.

When we finally pulled into the venue’s parking lot, I got my first hint that this wasn’t going to be a typical concert. The crowd looked like they were auditioning for a Tim Burton movie—dark clothes, piercings, dyed hair, tattoos. The occasional splash of red or purple stood out against the sea of black. I tugged at the sleeves of my sunshine-yellow sweater and suddenly felt ridiculously out of place.

“Uh, Josh?” I asked, glancing around nervously. “I think I missed the dress code.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “You’re fine,” he said, reaching out to tug playfully at my sleeve. “Besides, I like that you look like a highlighter in a sea of shadows.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Josh always had a way of making me feel better, even when I had no idea what I was getting into. I’d known him since we were kids—he’d always been the weird one, the quiet boy who hid behind oversized hoodies, while I was the one who’d drag him into games of tag or insist he come to my birthday parties. High school hadn’t changed him much; he just swapped his Pokémon T-shirts for band tees. I guess I hadn’t changed much either, still chasing after him, still dragging him out of his shell.

Josh laced his fingers with mine, and I could feel how clammy his palm was—nervous energy buzzing just under the surface. He pulled me through the throng of people, guiding me with an ease that made me think he’d been to a hundred of these concerts before.

I tried not to trip over my own feet as we pushed our way closer to the stage. “Okay, seriously,” I said, shouting a little over the rising chatter of the crowd. “Who are we here to see? This is kind of intense.”

Josh’s eyes practically glowed in the dim light. “You’ll see,” he said, his grin wider than I’d seen in a long time.

I was about to ask another question when the lights went out. The crowd roared, a deafening wave of sound that made my heart leap into my throat. My grip on Josh’s hand tightened, and I could feel him squeeze back, anchoring me in the darkness.

A single piano note cut through the noise, slow and haunting, and then the stage lights burst into life. The crowd surged forward, and I stumbled, nearly falling before Josh caught me. I barely had time to say thanks before the music hit me—a thundering wave of sound that pulsed in my chest, so loud I could feel it in my bones. And then the lead singer was there, strutting across the stage, his voice cutting through the chaos with a raw, desperate power that sent shivers down my spine.

“Who is that?” I shouted over the noise, my eyes wide as I stared at the wild-haired frontman with a voice that could shatter glass.

Josh’s eyes were bright, his lips moving in sync with the lyrics. “That’s Gerard!” he yelled back, almost drowned out by the screaming crowd. “He’s the lead singer—just listen!”

So I did. And it was... intense. The music was heavy, a mix of anger and sadness, but there was something beautiful about it too, something that tugged at my heart in a way I didn’t quite understand. The crowd knew every word, every beat, and they moved together like a single entity, like the music was in their blood. I found myself bouncing along with them, not even sure when I’d started. I just knew I didn’t want to stop.

Gerard’s voice was wild and commanding, pulling me along for the ride even though I didn’t know where we were going. There was something magnetic about him, the way he prowled the stage, hair falling over his eyes, voice raw with emotion. I felt my cheeks go hot, and I didn’t dare look at Josh, afraid he’d see the way my eyes were glued to the lead singer.

The set went on, each song blending into the next, the energy never once dropping. I lost track of time, lost in the music, in the lights, in the way Josh’s face lit up with every note. It was like seeing him come alive, his usual quietness replaced by a fierce intensity. It was... kind of amazing.

When the final song started—a song everyone around me seemed to know by heart—I felt a strange pang of sadness. I didn’t want it to end. The crowd’s voices rose as one, a chorus of defiance and hope, and for a moment, I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself, something I’d never even known existed.

When the last note faded and the stage lights went dark, I stood there, stunned, the echoes of the music still ringing in my ears. Josh turned to me, a question in his eyes, and I could only stare back, unable to find the words.

“Did you like it?” he asked, his voice hesitant, like he was afraid of what I might say.

I swallowed, my throat dry, and then I just blurted it out. “That was amazing!” I nearly shouted, throwing my arms around his neck. He stumbled back, laughing in shock as he hugged me tight. “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me it would be this cool?”

He pulled away just enough to look at me, his face split in the biggest grin I’d ever seen. “I told you! I knew you’d get it.”

“I think I love them,” I admitted breathlessly, my cheeks burning. “I mean, Gerard—his voice, it’s just...”

Josh’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as a large smirk spread across his face. “You think Gerard’s hot, don’t you?”

I tried to hide my blush, but there was no use. “Maybe,” I said, shoving him playfully. “Can you blame me? He’s, like–did you see him?”

Josh groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I knew this would happen. Just my luck—I introduce you to the greatest band of all time, and you get a crush on the lead singer.”

“Oh, come on,” I teased, nudging him with my elbow as we started walking out of the venue. “You have to admit, he’s got a certain... charm.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Josh muttered, but I could tell he wasn’t really mad. There was a lightness in his step that hadn’t been there before, and I couldn’t help but smile as we made our way through the buzzing crowd.

The parking lot was packed with kids still riding the high of the concert, talking and laughing and singing snatches of lyrics that were still stuck in my head. I couldn’t stop grinning as we walked back to Josh’s car, my ears ringing and my heart still racing.

“You seriously liked it?” Josh asked again, opening the passenger door for me.

“Are you kidding?” I said, sliding into the seat. “I loved it! I wanna know more—I wanna hear all their songs. Do you have their albums?”

He chuckled, starting the car. “I have all their albums,” he said proudly. “We can listen to them on the way home.”

As he popped a CD into the stereo and the opening chords of another song filled the car, I found myself leaning back in my seat, a warm glow spreading through my chest. Josh looked over at me, his face half-lit by the dim streetlights, and I felt a rush of affection for him, for the way he’d shared something so important to him with me, for the way he seemed to understand me in a way no one else did.

“Thank you,” I said softly, my voice barely audible over the music. “For bringing me here. I didn’t realize... I didn’t know I’d feel like this.”

Josh’s eyes softened, and he reached over to squeeze my hand, his thumb tracing small circles on the back of it. “You get it now,” he said quietly. “You understand what I’ve been talking about all this time.”

I nodded, squeezing his hand back. “Yeah,” I said. “I really do.”

The drive home was quieter, both of us lost in the music, but there was a kind of comfortable silence between us that made my chest feel warm. I watched Josh out of the corner of my eye, the way his fingers drummed against the steering wheel, the way his lips moved along with the lyrics. He looked content—more content than I’d ever seen him—and I realized that I liked this side of him. I liked seeing him happy.

“Hey,” I said suddenly, making him glance over at me. “Next time, will you take me to another one?”

His face lit up, a slow smile spreading across his lips. “Of course,” he said. “I wouldn’t wanna go with anyone else.”

I grinned back at him, feeling my heart skip a beat. “Good,” I said, leaning back in my seat. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Next time,” I said, giving him a mischievous smile, “I’m dressing the part. No more happy-go-lucky outfits. I’m going full emo.”

He laughed, a real, genuine laugh that made my heart soar. “Deal,” he said. “But only if you let me help.”

“Deal,” I agreed, feeling a thrill of excitement at the thought.

And as we drove down the dark, empty streets, the music filling the space between us, I realized that this was the start of something new, something that felt like it had been waiting for me all along.

//

REQUESTS OPEN

[captain-redacted]

Choso's design is so Tim Burton coded. Spooky™. I feel like I would meet him after crawling through a crack in a tree into another realm of Spooky™ and he would sing Spooky™ songs in a strangely captivating spooky voice and dance around me as all the Spooky™ things are happening

[talekinesis]

"Batman doesn't kill people, he has a moral code"

Tim Burton's batman 100% killed people, it just wasn't shown on screen

Dude's just tossing fuckers off buildings left and right and we don't see them die because the camera doesn't zoom in, but they are definitely splatting and he doesn't care 💀