#i've written two fics around the topic of abuse - both including warnings that they will cover this topic

[endwersed]

13 fics to me that is crazy. Can I say I truly enjoyed Striking Out. I really don't understand the hate you got for it. Understand not liking what a character is doing but in the end its truly just a story that the author is creating don't read if you don't like. It's tagged angst with a happy ending. There is going to be parts that make you feel sad or mad but it will get better. Sorry I just really loved what you have written for the story.

It's crazy to me too, anon 😁

Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say - and I do agree with you, when I read a story tagged with angst, I'm expecting angst! Over time, I've come to think that maybe some people took the actions of the characters in that story a little too personally, and that's why the reaction was as... intense as it was.

Either way, as much as I have gotten some negative and demotivating comments on that fic, I have also had some truly lovely ones that have been a joy to read - stuff a lot like this 💖

[the-al-chemist]

When Stars Ignite - Kaze’s Birthday Chapter

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N:

It’s midnight in Germany, which means that it’s @lifeofkaze’s birthday! To celebrate, I’ve been working on a little scene…

General Warning: The whole Rockstar fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We have given specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes have been more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention, and they will do so in this bonus chapter, too. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Language, drinking, references to NSFW topics

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If you would like to read the whole fic, you can find the masterpost here.

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The Rockstar AU is a collaboration with @lifeofkaze. This bonus chapter was written for Kaze’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Bestie!

Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had

I've been with you such a long time

You're my sunshine

And I want you to know that my feelings are true

I really love you

You’re my best friend

~ Queen - You’re My Best Friend ~

Night had fallen, and the streets of Soho were illuminated by the twinkling glow of Christmas lights. Lizzie pulled her coat around herself, shielding herself from the bitterly cold wind, and kept her head slightly low as she walked through the crowds that had gathered around Covent Market. She was glad for the woollen hat Charlie’s mum had given her for her birthday; it was keeping her ears warm and keeping her face ever so slightly in shadow.

She reached the bar where she was supposed to be meeting Artemis, and started to remove her many layers of warm clothes. She took a seat in the corner of the bar, out of the way of the majority of the customers: a few couples clearly on first dates, three women who looked like they must be a mother and her daughters, a rowdy group of young men dressed in Santa suits. There was no sign of her friend.

In her seat, Lizzie took out her phone and saw that Artemis had sent her a message, letting her know that she was running late. Lizzie switched the screen to her Instagram account, and to pass the time, edited and posted the video she and Orion had recorded the evening before: the two of them in the studio, improvising as they played the drums and acoustic guitar together. Not even a minute had passed before a notification appeared on the screen in her hand. Clicking on it, Lizzie opened the message.

Nice video, sunshine. Don’t forget to change accounts before you start on the tequila this time.

Lizzie shook her head, smirking to herself.

Oh, don’t you worry. I won’t be making that mistake again.

Accidental Instagram posts or drinking that much tequila?

Both. Neither of us drink tequila anymore, anyway.

Three little dots flickered in the bottom left hand corner of the screen as Charlie typed his reply, and then the phone pinged again.

Let me guess, you’re both drinking sickeningly sweet cocktails. Probably cherry flavoured.

Actually, we aren’t drinking anything yet. Artemis isn’t here, she’s running late.

Of course she fucking is.

Lizzie chuckled as she put her phone away, and in her peripheral vision caught sight of a small figure dashing through the market towards the bar, pausing briefly to look up at a large reindeer shaped topiary adorned with sparkling lights.

Soon after, Artemis Hexley walked through the door, and once Lizzie had waved to her, made her way over to the corner table. Once there, she dumped her coat and knitted scarf on the chair opposite Lizzie.

“What do you want to drink?” she asked, without saying hello first.

“I’ll have a cherry margarita if they do them,” Lizzie replied. “Do you want me to give you my card?”

“No. I want to pay.”

“But-”

“It was your birthday last week, so I’m paying,” Artemis said, decisively. She reached into her coat pocket, and pulled out a yellow purse, an envelope, and a small, haphazardly-wrapped parcel. “That’s your present, by the way. Open it while I’m getting the drinks, if you like.”

Lizzie did so, opening the card first. A picture of a cat drinking wine was on the front of it, and inside there was a short but sweet message scrawled in Artemis’ untidy handwriting. Inside the parcel was a pair of ornately painted wooden castanets.

“Thank you so much for these. They’re really sweet,” Lizzie said, as Artemis returned to her seat with a pair of pink cocktails. “Did you get them in Spain?”

Artemis nodded.

“I know they aren’t drums, but they are still percussion, so I thought you might like them,” she said, pushing Lizzie’s drink towards her. Lizzie took out a cherry from the glass and ate it.

“I do, very much so. How was Spain?”

“Good. Warmer than England and I liked the paella.”

“Paella is delicious.”

“Yeah. How was your birthday?”

“It was lovely. Orion took me to a wellness retreat for the week.”

“That sounds more like a holiday for Orion than for you.”

Lizzie laughed out loud at the look on Artemis’ face.

“Actually, I loved it,” she told her. “We did a lot of yoga and walking, I finally finished the book I’ve been reading for months, and most of the time we just chilled in the spa. I even had a hot stone massage.”

“Fancy.”

“It was. Really relaxing, too. Just what I needed with us spending so much time in the rehearsal studios at the moment.”

“How are the rehearsals going?”

Lizzie hummed in response and tilted her head from one side to the other.

“I mean, they are going very well,” she said. “Orion’s new songs are incredible, and it’s fun working out how the sound is going to be now that we have David on board for good. But Ethan wants us to be recording early in the new year-”

“Naturally,” Artemis muttered, rolling her eyes.

“- so it’s really hectic and tiring. Was nice to have a break. It is now, too,” Lizzie smiled and sipped her cocktail, savouring the sweet taste of the cherry liqueur. “This is dangerous. I’m going to end up drinking this way too quickly.”

“It’s fine. We can get more.”

“That’s not what I meant. I haven’t had a drink in almost two weeks, my alcohol tolerance has probably gone through the floor.”

“Think of it as practice for KC and Murphy’s Christmas party,” Artemis said with a shrug. She paused to take a sip of her own cocktail. “Charlie said it’s a pretty big thing.”

“Oh, yeah. The Aurora Tourealis Christmas parties are infamous,” Lizzie grinned. “I mean, you’ve seen what KC can do with a stage, you can imagine how good she is at organising a party.”

“What does everyone usually wear? Charlie was useless when I asked him. Do we have to dress all fancy?”

“Not super fancy, no. If you like, I can send you the photos from last year to give you an idea.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Obviously Andre always goes all out, outfit-wise, but everyone else just wears something vaguely nice. It’s just an excuse to get drunk, dance, and exchange Secret Santa gifts,” Lizzie smirked mischievously. “Not that it’s very secret, of course. I know who everyone has except for Ethan, Orion, and KC.”

“And me.”

“No, I know who you have. Charlie told me.”

“He did?”

“I wheedled it out of him,” Lizzie laughed. “At least KC will be easy for you to buy for. Just get her anything coffee related and she will be happy. I have Ethan.”

“What the fuck are you supposed to get Ethan?”

“I don’t really know. Probably some kind of food or drink. Whiskey, maybe.”

Artemis nodded, frowning slightly.

“Do you know who has me?” she asked.

“I do. You’ll be getting a whole haul of gifts.”

Lizzie smirked as she sipped her margarita. Artemis was the lucky one: although most of them ended up going over the price limit, Andre ignored it completely every single year. He had been Lizzie’s Secret Santa the year before, and she had ended up with a blouse, lipstick, and a very expensive looking pot of face cream made with extracts of jojoba oil and alpaca placenta. She had yet to use it, but according to Andre, it worked wonders.

“I’m surprised Orion hasn’t told you who he has,” Artemis said, and she took another sip from her drink. “Maybe he has you.”

“He might do, but he never tells anyone.”

“Some sort of weird hippy reason, I guess.”

“He says that knowing what the universe has in store for us will not change anything, and that there’s no point in trying to find out when we will become aware of our fates in time,” Lizzie told Artemis, who pulled a face that made Lizzie laugh. “I know. I had him last year, actually.”

“In more ways than one,” Artemis smirked. “What did you give him? A blow job?”

“Something like that.”

Artemis raised a single eyebrow at Lizzie, who giggled as she told her the story. They continued chatting as they finished their cocktails, ordered another pair, and drank those, too. Artemis told Lizzie about her recent backpacking adventure around the Mediterranean, and the trip around South East Asia she had planned for the new year with David’s sister Amelia. In return, Lizzie told her about the new songs for the upcoming album, and her plans for Christmas.

“What will you be doing for Christmas?” Lizzie asked her, and Artemis shrugged in response.

“Not sure yet. I’ve had a couple of offers, though.”

“Charlie said he’s invited you to stay with his family.”

“Yeah,” Artemis muttered, looking dubious. She sniffed and ate the cherry from her drink. “I dunno. Like, there’s loads of them and I don’t know them at all, so I’d just be some stranger turning up at their house at Christmas.”

“It wouldn’t be like that at all,” said Lizzie, but Artemis looked unconvinced. “It wouldn’t, honest. But if you don’t like the idea, you could always come to my family’s. Orion is, and my brother is bringing his boyfriend, so you wouldn’t be the only person who isn't immediate family.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Lizzie wanted to try and persuade Artemis some more - and a few months ago, she would have done so - but she had learnt now that trying to push her into something usually resulted in the opposite effect.

“Cool. Just let me know if you do want to come.”

Artemis smiled and nodded, and Lizzie did the same. For a moment, she was struck by the strangeness of the fact that the two of them were sitting here having this conversation.

This time last year, she hadn’t even known Artemis, let alone realised that the abrasive pyrotechnician would go on to become one of her closest friends. Then again, she wouldn’t have thought that her friendship with Orion would have developed into a relationship, either, nor that Everett would have left Equinox and that David would have proved to be not only a great replacement, but a match for Merula, too.

A lot had changed in the course of just one year, and who knew how things would change in the year that was to come. She would have dwelled on it for a while, but perhaps Orion had a point. She would find out what the future held for her in due time, and until then she would have to enjoy the journey as it happened.

The two girls finished another cocktail each and put on their coats, ready to leave. As they stood up from their seats, a waitress stopped to take their empty glasses, and did a double take at Lizzie’s face.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her cheeks blushing, “but are you Lizzie Jameson?”

“I am,” Lizzie smiled.

“Oh, wow. I’m a massive Equinox fan. I saw your set at Glastonbury this summer. It was amazing.”

“Thank you.”

“Is it true?” the waitress asked, looking at Lizzie’s empty glass. “The thing on the website, I mean. Can you really do that thing with the cherry stem?”

Lizzie laughed, picked out the discarded cherry stem from her empty cocktail glass, and put it into her mouth.

Some things would never change.