#it’s his metal band and yes he wrote It himself

[juicedpeachy]

a modern hualian doodle for you ❤️

[beenbaanbuun]

waterparks songs w/ ateez

i had to do this for teenage me! also i’ve seen parx more than any other band so like… i had to!!

also awsten writes a lot about exes so there weren’t many songs to choose from (from a non-angst standpoint point). the entirety of greatest hits is also not on here bc that man just wrote an entire banger of an album about having shitty mental health… he’s so real for that 🙂‍↕️

yes the colours of the lyrics match the colours of the era… sue me

is this proofread??? uhhhhhhh🧍🏻‍♀️

park seonghwa - sleep alone

‘i feel dead and a half, but you’re making me laugh’

miserable; that’s the only word to describe how you feel. with a stuffed up nose and a tickle in your throat that just won’t seem to leave, you’ve found yourself wanting nothing more than to stay in bed with a hot bowl of broth. you know it would help you more than the cold tablets have done, the wretched things keeping you drowsy and dull. it only serves to make you feel that much more awful.

but the clatter you hear from downstairs brings a weak smile to your face. the sound of a metal ladle against a ceramic dish makes your heart pitter-patter in a strange mix of excitement and adoration. you’re not sure which you’re hungrier for; the soup, or seeing your boyfriend poke his head into the room. it’s not difficult for you to admit how much you’ve missed him this past week, able to hear his soft snores coming from the guest room, but unable to see his tired face next to yours.

until of course, this morning.

he’s been avoiding you like the plague until roughly 7:34 am when you were rudely awoken by a pair of arms snaking themselves around your waist. you’d mumbled something incoherent about not wanting him to get sick, but he silenced you with a quick peck to your lips. “i don’t mind getting sick for you, darling,” he whispered against your lips, “i don’t like sleeping alone; you’ll never have to do it again.”

it brings a soft smile to your face to remember how difficult it had been for him to unravel himself from you to grab a portion of the soup he’d made just a few days prior. he’d whined into your neck like a puppy, telling you all sorts of pretty things about how hard it is to abandon you while you’re in such a state. you’d giggled at him, the sound quickly devolving into a coughing fit that finally convinced him to get up and grab you that soup. if you knew that would be all it took, you’d have faked a coughing fit much sooner.

kim hongjoong - peach (lobotomy)

‘you found me, and finders keep’

“i wrote a song for you,” hongjoong’s voice fills your ears the second you pick up the phone. it’s eager and bubbly, clearly full of enthusiasm for whatever it is that he’s made. you nod, despite his inability to see you, before you remember exactly what it was that you wanted to do.

“isn’t it like 3am where you are?” you scold him gently, taking a glance at your clock just to make sure you’d got it right. it takes a moment of two to do the maths in your head, but sure enough, you’re right. it’s 3am and your boyfriend sounds more awake than you do. “what are you still doing up, hongjoong?”

he chuckles nervously, clearly understanding the direction of the conversation. perhaps he should have called you as a more believable time of day, but then again, if he did that then there wouldn’t be much point to what he’s done. he stayed synced up to your time zone for a reason; so he’d never have to be awake without you.

“it’s not late over there, though,” is his justification. he says it like it explains everything to you, yet it only serves to leave you more confused than you were at the beginning of the conversation. you don’t argue, not having nearly as much energy as hongjoong seems to, despite the time difference. “besides, i’ve been busy! sleep could wait until after i’d finished my latest creation.”

you sigh, “hongjoong—”

“nope!” he cuts you off, a smile evident in his voice, “you’re the reason that i spent so long hunched over my computer making this; you have to be the first person to hear it.”

jeong yunho - i’ll always be around

‘i’m dying to be your everything… everything’

“if i died tomorrow,” it’s an odd start to a question, but as you lay on the roof of your apartment, hand in hand with your boyfriend, it just seemed right. it’s moments like this where you feel you can get all those silly thoughts out there; would you love me if i was a worm? do you think snails are sentient? and of course, if i died tomorrow— “what would you do?”

there’s a deep chuckle from yunho, grabbing your attention from the stars and stealing it all for himself. your turn your head, choosing instead to look at the man you believe holds the universe in the palm of his hands. although the stars are pretty, the twinkle that lies in his eyes when he casts them upon your face is much better to gaze upon. why would you want to stare at the far away stars when you have a much brighter one so much closer.

“i’d learn necromancy,” he smiles in a manner that is so infectious that you can’t help but join him, “and if that doesn’t work, then i’d just have to hope you’d haunt me.”

“haunt you?” you ask incredulously, “wouldn’t you be scared if things started going bump in the night?” he shakes his head, and honestly you believe him. there’s not much yunho would admit to being scared of, especially not the concept of ghosts. “well, how would you know it’s me and not just some other random dead person who’s taken up residence in our apartment?”

“oh, i’d know,” he turns into his side to get a better look at you, “in the same way i know you’re not going to die tomorrow, idiot.”

you can’t help but laugh a little at that.

“you’re right,” there’s a knowing grin on his face when you agree with him, “i’ll always be around.”

kang yeosang - sneaking out of heaven

‘if i’m not brainwashed then i’m trying to be’

he must be an angel given to you from above. with the way he treats you so gently, soft words and even softer touches, it’s not hard to believe. his beauty even matches that of a heavenly being, leaving you breathless and in awe each and every time your gaze falls upon him. he must’ve snuck out from beneath his master’s gaze to come down and visit you; it’s the only explanation as to why he’s sat beside you in your car, carefully crafting a driving playlist for your enjoyment.

“what song next?” he asks, deep voice sending shivers up and down your spine. it takes everything you have to keep your eyes on the road, although you’re sure that death by staring at your boyfriend would be an excellent way to go. “i was thinking something of a similar genre but maybe a bit more… exciting. i think i’ve let the mood drop a little with my last few choices.”

you don’t mind, although you very rarely do when it comes to yeosang. he knows best, is what you tell yourself when you hopelessly agree to everything he says. honestly, if he told you to go swimming with a group of blood thirsty piranhas, you’d probably do it without a second thought. how could you say no to someone like him?

“put whatever you want on, sangie,” you say, “whatever you choose will be good, i’m sure of it.”

he hums in uncertainty, “but you’re the one driving!” oh, so considerate… he’s perfect, “surely you should get to choose, right?”

“i am choosing,” you argue, “i’m choosing whatever it is that you want on, my angel.”

choi san - telephone

‘i’m living on a target and you shot it with an arrow’

as far as first dates go, this might be the strangest you’ve ever been on. call it love at first sight, or just pure, simple infatuation, you don’t care. all you know is that you need to know everything about this man. what can you say, you’re invested?

“what do your parents do?” you ask, trying to keep your voice from wavering too much and giving up your true feelings. sure, you might be in far too deep to go back, but you can still appreciate this for what it is; a first meeting between two strangers. the last thing you’d want to do is scare san away by being overly excitable by something as simple as his presence.

play it cool, maybe then you’ll get somewhere.

“oh, you know,” he shrugs, clearly not too excited by the question you’ve posed. perhaps it is a little surface level. maybe you were too focussed on making yourself seem normal that you’ve made yourself seem uninterested instead! it’s fine, you tell yourself, you can recover from this. “they just do a bit of everything really. we lived in the country my whole childhood so there weren’t exactly many fancy office jobs going…”

“oh, you’re from the country?” you light up with interest, happy with the tiny piece of information that you can definitely use to your advantage. “why’d you move here? any big plans, or just a change of scenery?”

he seems to light up at that question, smiling as you give him a gateway to talk about his future dreams for a few minutes. as the words tumble from his lips, passion oozes from them. every single word is full of excitement and glee, and as he rambles on and on about his future, you realise that you’re more than happy to just sit and listen and imagine yourself as a part of it all.

song mingi - funeral gray

‘i know your dying wish is to be baptised in my spit’

“i didn’t take you for much of a smoker,” a deep voice calls from your left, the tall guy you’d shared a quick conversation with earlier taking a step closer to you. he’d looked pretty under the flashing lights of the club but right now, lit by nothing but the moonlight and the dim flickering of the smoking area sign, he looks even better. his sharp features are illuminated in such a way that you’re sure they might cut you if you get too close. maybe you’re just attracted to danger, you think to yourself as you take a step closer. “that’ll kill you, y’know.”

it’s a snarky remark, meant to be taken as tongue and cheek if the annoyingly handsome grin on his lips is anything to go by. maybe if you had another drink in you, you might have leant forwards to kiss it right off of his lips. for now, although the temptation to press your lips to his is very much there, you settle for blowing a stream of smoke at him.

he waves his hand, clearing the grey cloud in mere seconds. there’s a look of mirth on his features, which only serves to make you giggle. “now you’re going to die too!” you jest, moving your hand up to take another drag. the man mutters something about you being annoying, to which you have to agree; there’s just something so fun about getting under the skin of a man you’ve never met before. it just makes it that much more satisfying when by the end of the night, you have them wrapped around your pinkie.

“what’s your name anyway?” he purrs, pushing his back against the same brick wall you’d found yourself leaning against. you shoot him a cocky look.

“you’ve got to work much harder to get that information out of me, pretty boy.”

jung wooyoung - dream boy

‘cause i was born to be your favourite’

it was a fairly easy question that had been posed to you, one that you would’ve answered within seconds on any other day, yet right now you seem to be struggling. the answer is right there at the forefront of your mind, sitting on the very tip of your tongue. realistically, it shouldn’t be that hard to come out with it, yet as wooyoung stares you down, you find yourself swallowing the answer and shrugging instead.

“oh, come on!” he whines, leaning forward to poke at your shoulder with a strangely sharp finger. you wince, yet your friend seems to have other things to care about that your pain right now. “you have to have a type! just… build him from the ground up! pick his pieces.”

any other time you would’ve answered with a smile. long black hair and sharp brown eyes, a tongue that could rival the sharpest of wits and a laugh that any self-respecting witch would be jealous of. you know exactly what you want and he’s sitting right in front of you.

“i really don’t care what my future boyfriend looks like!” you insist, giving your friend a fake laugh when he rolls his eyes and scoffs. perhaps if you’d have been paying more attention you would’ve noticed the slight smirk that he wears.

“oh, please,” he purrs, shifting until he’s sitting on his haunches, towering above you. things move quickly and suddenly his arms are either side of you, caging you between him and the arm of the sofa. “i’ve seen the way you stare at me; i know i’m your dream boy.”

choi jongho - brainwashed

‘everything’s clean except for my thoughts’

you don’t do relationships. you never have and you told yourself that you never would. it’s just not you, being tied down to one person while there’s a whole world of other people outside your door. why kiss just one person when you could kiss anyone you meet? it’s just so freeing to not box yourself in like that.

so what the fuck are you doing here? with jongho’s arms wrapped around your waist like he never wants to let you go, your fingers laced in his hair like you feel exactly the same. it was just meant to be a one night stand, and yet you’re still here! you’re still at his house a week later. what the fuck is wrong with you?

“you have work, right?” jongho groans into your shoulder, pressing his soft lips to your skin just below your earlobe. it sets something alight within your, your heartbeat quickening and your stomach stirring. something so domestic would never have had that affect on you before, so why now? why with him? you push the question out of your mind and simply nod.

you do have work today, and maybe today will be the day that you go home to your own apartment, not jongho’s.

“do you want me to fetch you lunch?” he whispers, grazing his teeth against your earlobe in a way that sends shivers down your spine. you scrunch your eyes closed, trying your rid your mind of all the filthy thoughts that are suddenly racing through your brain. “is that a no?” he chuckles lowly in your ear, “or have you just got something else on your mind?”

something else entirely. a carnal need to stay home and let him take care of you like he has done every other day this week. what’s another sick day added to the list? you’re sure your boss must think you’re dying or something with the amount you’ve had off since that first night with jongho, yet you don’t seem to care.

and as he pressed another lengthy kiss to your neck, you find yourself not caring about the no relationship rule too. you can make an exception for the man that seems to have you brainwashed.

[losergender]

masterpost of solangelo + others fic recommendations

absolutely no one asked for these but i need them all storaged in one place.

[ list goes from solangelo multi-chaptered fics to one-shots + other ships at the end ! will be updated from time to time ! ]

last edited : 17 - 09 - 2024

MULTICHAPTERED SOLANGELO FICS !

just an animal, looking for a home - ikeasharksss (https://archiveofourown.org/works/44264458)

Mortal 1987 AU. Nico is running away from his home in Washington, DC to find his sister, Bianca, at UCLA. Will is running away from his home in rural Texas to find his long-lost father, Lester Apollo Papadopoulos, in Hollywood. The two of them meet on the road and become runaway buddies, going on a journey together to survive Greyhound buses, amateur punk bands, Pizza Huts, pretentious music tastes, and their own pasts, tooth and nail.

talk your talk and go viral (i just need this love to spiral) - wrongcaitlyn (https://archiveofourown.org/works/46368430)

“Keep telling yourself that,” Will says quietly, because even though the door is closed, speaking any louder would seem wrong. “You’re too harsh on yourself. If you wrote songs or something, you’d easily get on the Billboard Hot 100. Dad would help you. I would, too.” “Promote it to your seven followers?” “Yes!” Nico laughs, and then Will is joining him, and they’re closer than before, but it’s nothing unusual. It’s been this way since before stupid feelings and stupid crushes, and Nico would be damned if he let it change just because of that. or a celebrity au ft. childhood friends to lovers, a bit of trauma, and a famous friend group (plus leo).

of crowns and claws - PawsOnTheKeyboard (https://archiveofourown.org/works/47818261)

Freshly sixteen, Nico takes off on a ceremonial quest, one meant to prove to the kingdom that he would be able to take over the throne when King Hades, his father, was gone. The issue? Nico has little desire to be king and even less motivation to do what's expected of him. Because while 'prove yourself capable of rule' was a vague task, Nico knew what his father and the kingdom expected from him. If Nico didn't return with a dead dragon, his quest would be regarded as a failure. Because his father had killed many dragons on his own quest when he was a boy, had deemed dragons and dragon shifters as the natural enemy of the Kingdom of Olympus, so it just made sense that his son would follow in his footsteps and do the same. Or, it made sense to anyone who wasn't Nico, because he shared none of the hatred his father had for dragons and dragon shifters and expected his quest to result in disappointment from his father and the rest of the kingdom. So when he left on his sixteenth birthday, he had no plan, and almost immediately injured himself. His savior is a stranger that soon becomes a dear friend. And he also might be why Nico decides to openly defy his father.

can't see you, im losing my mind this time? - rabbit_soup (https://archiveofourown.org/works/38765766)

“You’ve got micro-pieces of glass in your skin, and I can’t in my right mind let that stuff just fester in there.” “Glass…? Where—?” He racked his brain, slowly glancing up at Will. He didn’t remember breaking any glass on the quest. “Strangest thing,” Will said, pulling an orange container out of the box. On its side, it read Arm and Hammer, Baking Soda in thick white lettering. “Both Annabeth and Percy swung by a few minutes ago, talking about the exact same thing—glass in their hands! The both of ‘em! Isn’t that interesting?” The glass beaches in Tartarus... Nico thought.

The Rose of Paphos - Tundras_and_Taigas (https://archiveofourown.org/works/30327402)

During a trip up to the Big House’s attic, Will, Valentina, and Mitchell stumble across an old relic of Aphrodite’s: the Rose of Paphos. Created by Hephaestus as a courting gift, the ancient metal rose blooms whenever it's held by someone who harbours romantic love for another. When the rose reveals Will's hidden feelings for an unnamed camper, Nico isn't sure whether to hold out hope or try to move on. OR: Nico and Will need a little nudge. Aphrodite is happy to oblige.

peach tea - ghosttotheparty (https://archiveofourown.org/works/48987730)

He sits up after a moment, but Nico doesn’t let go of his fingers, so he lifts the arm that’s awkward between them and sets it behind Nico, leaning back to rest on it. Nico just looks at the tapestry. Will brushes his thumb over the side of Nico’s hand gently. His skin is soft. Nico’s fingers tighten on Will’s. It kind of feels like neither of them wants to move. Will doesn’t mind. or; Will falls in love with the new kid.

Opportunity Knocks - nikkiRa (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5690698)

Two years after the war with Gaia, Nico tries to run away again, but on the way he is ambushed by Aphrodite, who has decided to take a personal interest in him - lucky him. Nico finds himself stuck in a Groundhog Day situation, reliving the same day over and over until he can figure out what the hell Aphrodite wants from him.

SOLANGELO ONE-SHOTS !

Bigger 'n Texas - notalotgoingonatthisinstant (https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217360)

The accent. The accent was his problem. Well, it wasn’t his only problem. There were a lot of other things that drew Nico to the son of Apollo, to the point of him actually considering if he returned his feelings. All he knew was that he was going crazy and one of them would have to speak soon. . . . "'I’ll be back real quick with lunch,' Will told him. 'Don’t go anywhere. Unless I’m not back in twenty minutes, then you can hunt down my siblings until you find the culprit,' he winked. Nico told the skeletal butterflies in his stomach to quiet down and managed to keep a smile on his face until the door closed behind Will. Then he smacked himself in the forehead for being so stupid stupid stupid, again. First, get a crush on the live version of his childhood game hero. Then get a crush on the caring healer who was nursing him back to life. What was his problem?"

carving through the dark (to get so far) - doeheart (https://archiveofourown.org/works/51640546)

"Your soulmate wears all the bad things you believe about yourself on their skin. They hold it for you so you don't have to. When you look at the things you don’t like about yourself, you also have to face someone who loves you. It’s like feeling whole again. Apollo’s the god of truth, you know. So there are no lies between soulmates." Will got his first soulmark at night. Coiled around his bicep like a snake, the word 'cursed' hissed in jet-black letters. The marks kept coming after that. An au where all the worst things your soulmate believes about themselves show up on your skin. Will wants to know why his soulmate hates himself.

Those walls I built didn't even put up a fight - sazandorable (https://archiveofourown.org/works/2482184)

"Is it morally okay to stab a medic with their own scissors?" Nico asked Cecil. (Not that he usually cared about morally okay, as Octavian might demonstrate.) Nico's three days in the infirmary go by faster than he'd thought, and Will just won't stop flirting.

i could be your hero - sundaysabotage (https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528247)

“I just don’t get it,” he huffs to Will as they put up holiday decorations in the unusually quiet infirmary, “they talk to me like I’m supposed to know stuff. Like I’m the new Percy or something.” Nico expects Will to laugh at this, shrug off his concerns as unfounded and tell him he’s being over-dramatic like usual. He is wrong. “Okay, babe, don’t take this the wrong way. But, you kind of are the new Percy.”

OTHERS !

Like a New Yorker - notalotgoingonatthisinstant (https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231837)

Annabeth knew Percy was from New York City. Born and raised. She was very aware of that fact whenever she couldn’t understand what he’d said because he’d spoken so fast that there were barely any words. She had gotten used to it, having lived in New York for a while. What she hadn’t exactly gotten used to yet was… well. How many times he could let f*** slip in front of the little kids at Camp. // OR Percy curses like a true New Yorker and son of Poseidon, Annabeth's trying to keep things flowing, and Piper makes fun of him so he makes fun of her. Because, really, sometimes she sounds like a Kardashian and he sounds like he's not even speaking English.

King-sized Candy Bars - liktetolaugh (https://archiveofourown.org/works/44380360)

It takes a week or two for Percy and Grover to actually become friends, even after they're roomed together. Because Percy, twelve years old, pragmatic, and hostile, is about as easy to make friends with as Thalia was. Hopefully, Grover will pull it off in the end.

Stars on the Water - liketolaugh (https://archiveofourown.org/works/38319247) i love this one so much

"I dunno, I just think it would make a lot of things easier for a lot of people," Percy said to Thalia, when she just stared at him. His cheek rested in his hand, a rare pensive look leaving his eyes distant and unfocused. "Mom has Paul now, so it’ll be easier on her if she doesn’t have to worry about me mucking things up. Dad won’t have to keep threatening war every time Zeus gets his toga twisted. The prophecy’s done, so I won’t be bringing it down on Nico. And no one will have to worry about me blowing up another volcano."

Fathoms Below - inkncoffee (https://archiveofourown.org/works/4403855/chapters/10001051)

King Poseidon has forbidden any of his merpeople from visiting the surface and the dangerous landwalkers that dwell on it. Naturally, that made Prince Percy want to talk to the pretty blonde landwalker even more. After rescuing the princess from drowning, Percy trades his fin for legs to better understand this strange new world and the beautiful gray eyed girl he saved. Only, he has no idea what he's doing and the princess doesn't seem to either. Know what he's doing that is. "Oh, Seaweed Brain." He was pretty sure that was an insult.

forever going with the flow (but you're friction) - wrongcaitlyn (https://archiveofourown.org/works/58466251/chapters/148934692)

“Who’s the opener?” Magnus asks Blitz, signing at the same time for Hearth. He usually looks these things up beforehand, but then again, the concert had been a last-second sort of thing. Annabeth had offered some spots in the VIP section of one of her friend’s shows while he and his friends were in town, and because Magnus has gotten quite used to Annabeth throwing around random excursions, he immediately said yes. Blitz shrugs, but a moment later, the name appears across the screen, and he helpfully reads out: “Alex Fierro.” Magnus would scoff and say, “Thanks,” sarcastically if his attention wasn’t caught once again by the figure on the stage. Alex Fierro, apparently, grabs the mic just as the music starts. It’s hard to see her—or him? Them?— before Alex appears on the screen, her full frame in view. Magnus can’t help but stare. or a celebrity au ft. a world tour, no sexuality crises, and some threats of decapitation.

[corpseontheloose]

Hii! Can I please have some hunter sylvester headcanons where he has a fem s/o who has a fairy kei style and is very sweet and innocent, but also loves the same metal and things he does?

|Hunter Sylvester x fem!reader with a fairy kei style|

Note: HI ANON!! You're actually my first ask, and I'm so exciteeeed because my style is also fairy kei with a mix of lolita and this got me all smiliiin'. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. It's not the best and I'm so sorry TwT

Warnings: none

Hunter was dumbfounded when he saw you

Like literally.

Would question Kevin and/or random people about you

He would constantly beat himself up about this weird feeling,

Because having a crush on someone exactly the opposite of him was 'not metal' of him

"Dude just ask for her name"-Kevin

*visibly goes red*

Everytime he sees pink he thinks about you

He literally wrote a song about you and how much you're messing with his head

He randomly fixes his hair when sees you walking in

"Emily knows her. We could ask her"

When he hears that he would literally beg for that to happen

One time he almost crashed his car when you appeared in his mind

Would look at you in classes, questioning about this 'weird' style you have (you don't. He just doesn't understand it)

Does Google research about this

BRO LITERALLY BECOMES SHAKESPEARE AND WRITES POEMS

He smiles to himself when he thinks about you

"you good?" - Kevin

"yes, just the allergies messing with my muscles"

"????" - kevin

Emily told him your name so now he knows his mysterious crush

Literally gets TikTok videos with 'soulmates' with your initials 😭

He thinks he's in some type of spell

Totally denies his feelings sometimes because he's not used to it

At some point he talks to you

"nice weather outside, am I right?"

He literally goes ;-; and face-palms himself mentally

His eyes wide when he realises you're laughing

BABY BOY SO NERVOUS

compliments your clothing style

When he learns that you like his style and music taste, he goes blank

No thoughts, head empty

His heart races with 100 per/mile

"t-thanks. Its the trauma"

He's so awkward, he's just scared to not scare you off

That joke literally came out of nowhere

He would start talking about fairy kei because he memorised everything from Google just to impress you

You literally think it's cute

HE HAS A HELLO KITTY BACKPACK KEYCHAIN DONT ASK FROM WHERE HE JUST HAS IT

He gifted it to you

He would give you stuff every day at school, such as hair pins, bracelets, cute accessories, small stuff that reminds him of you

Would plan a picnic date night in a nearby forest with fairy lights in trees n' shit

HE PLAYS THE GUITAR FOR YOU

Would ramble at some point, talking about his favourite bands and their history

When he realises that you're listening and actually interested in what he says, he falls in love. Literally.

He's VERY surprised that you are also into metal

He actually opens up a little bit to you about his past. Just a little bit

Starts questioning on how you chose this style

Would listen to every single detail you give him

EMILY THINKS Y'ALL ARE THE SWEETEST

Would put his rings on your fingers, even if they're too big, just to see something of him on you

CONSTANTLY BLUSHES

He never thought about loving someone the opposite of him

PEOPLE ARE SHOCKED WHEN YOU TWO ANNOUNCED YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Would put stickers on your face

HE LETS YOU USE HIM AS A PERSONAL ACCESSORY TESTER

"Do you think this is cute?" - you

"Let's find out"

HE. KISSES. YOUR. HAND

"How's my floating cotton candy doing?"

You're literally his will to live 😭

His life so boring and grey, until ✨ you ✨ come in picture

People are whispering about you guys but who tf cares?

"You're like a heart"

"how so?" - you

"without you everything dies around"

💳 💥

OVERALL Y'ALL FUCKING CUTE

[theladyofrosewater]

Thinking about shadow knights and how their forms reflect their individuality when separated from Shad's direct control and they maintain their individuality and yes I will draw these later

(Content/Trigger Warning for like Body Horror, stay safe besties)

Laurance glows from the cracks in his armour, to his hair and even his footsteps leaving sparks when he's angry enough. He'll give off heat but it's never enough to really burn them, not anymore. It's more like he's a campfire or a fireplace. Something that makes you feel safe rather than threatened. Eventually the rock in his armor begins to look like wyvern scales as he ever so slowly learns to let other people back in and eventually he won't even look like a Shadow Knight....He'll look like an old friend.

Sasha seems to leach heat from the air even if she can still burn you without trying. Her hair goes short and is constantly flaking off ash as she walks, her hands ending in finger bones instead of flesh. Her armor is sharp and glass like obsidian which could cut someone if they even grazed against her. Worst of all her armour resembles the old guard uniform of Meteli and she doesn't even realize. What she does notice however is the burned in runes surrounding her left ring finger bones and reading them reveals that they were the wedding vows she wrote before her death.

Zenix's armour looks slightly childish and impractical, with twisted barbs and jagged edges, he looks how a child would imagine how a shadow knight looks instead of anything based in reality because he was a child himself when he was turned. He grows fangs just too long for his mouth to close comfortably and the heat he gives off does nothing but hurt himself and others when he loses his temper quickly. As the years go by the armor starts to shift slightly, oh ever so slightly into his old Phoenix Drop armour and he snaps at anyone who mentions it, trying to ignore the homesickness that's taking root in his heart.

Vylad is covered with ash and soot and seems to be made out of the very earth of the Nether, with regular pulses of heat that are just uncomfortable enough to make you sweat. He's made of the abyss that took him and was made to blend into it, to be forgotten in it's walls and let himself melt and become fuel for the souls in it's walls. That is except for the hole in his chest that goes all the way to the other side and glows with an inner fire that's white-hot.

Gene's armor is what one could call "fanciful" with polished rocks and glass to look like gemstones and the mix of red and gold of the earth forming a elaborate trim. Even his weapon looks perfect with it's glass sharp reflection and edge. It's almost eerie how perfect and put together he look. The perfect look for a head guard and Shad's right hand general or it would be if it weren't for the choking smoke that followed him everywhere and the fact that he can burn you without you even noticing. not to mention the rusty metal band around his neck that leaked a dark red every so often, as if it was holding a wound together.

Zane grew hanging lichen from his limbs while he was captive, with black metal growing and wrapping around his limbs and body as he grew thinner and thinner, his body desperate to stay together. Eventually the very rocks in the walls started to form together with his skin, so much so that when he finally stepped into the Overworld after decades several guards fled from the sight outright as he looked like an Eldrich being with the broken halo that seemed to form behind his head and the rocks that overtook his jaw, leaving nothing but a single burning eye to stare into your soul.

[darklydeliciousdesires]

New story announcement!

Because you beautiful besties did nothing but encourage me, I wrote the thing. I am four chapters into the thing, but I need to edit before I post it!

So yes, meet the new couple of the moment, Adrien Brody and his beautiful wife, Jade Burton-Brody. I wrote Jade as an OFC for a previous fandom, but she stayed with me, so I want to use her again as it dawned on me just how cute she and Adrien would be together, so yeah. Here they are! She's a musician in the metal world, who moves into acting, too. Especially with all the support she finds from her adoring husband.

A particularly long excerpt from the story, too, from a magazine interview they did together which serves as the opening of the story...

“Tell us something about your wife that people would find surprising.” 

He mulls it over for a few seconds, looking to his side at her, laughing as he takes in her raised eyebrows. “She’s actually quite introverted, unless she knows the people she’s with well. Then her volume and mischief amp up considerably,” he begins, which I must say is perhaps the last thing I expected him to reply with. “No, no. It’s completely true, she is. She’s often quiet, an extreme juxtapose for how she appears up on stage with a microphone in her hand, but yeah. The Jade you see performing live is a completely different entity to the woman she is away from it, and I found that out pretty quickly after we first met.”  

It is a stark contrast to the public persona of Jade Burton-Brody, a woman known for rarely shying away from being outspoken and controversial, whether it be her fiercely penned lyrics, or her opinions on the subject matters she holds dear. She was, after all, the woman who advised legions of young female rock fans to, and I quote, “Burn the patriarchy to the goddamned ground.” 

Before me today, though, I do see a much softer side to the screaming hurricane of a woman I familiarised myself with through the scouring of YouTube videos, a woman more than happy to let her husband lead in the questions, always looking to him to reply first. She has spoken in the past of him being her unequivocal strength and support, and I take her back to that, the moment she first met the man she would marry just six months after their first meeting.

“Jade, you’ve spoken about your first meeting a couple of times in the past, but for the record, would you care to share it again?”  

She laughs loudly at my question, leaning into her husband a little, combing her fingers through her hair as she remembers fifteen years into the past. “I screamed in his face, he liked it, and the rest is history.” 

Indeed, such a meeting did seal itself into history, the moment the iconic pair met captured by a photographer pointing his camera in the right direction at exactly the right time, immortalising the moment where the formidable first lady of metal took to the barriers at the Rock and Iron festival, grabbed the hand of the Hollywood heavyweight, and proceeded to scream like a harpy about an inch from his face. “She blew my eardrums out,” Adrien speaks of the moment, “I had never heard anything that loud in the whole of my life!”

Indeed, like it he did, the first stages of their fledgling relationship captured on film while a documentary team were following her and the band, shooting the footage for the 2010 documentary, “The Devil You Don’t Know.” As the footage shows, the actor found himself with a rare two-week break between projects, one of those weeks spent living on a tour bus with the band, unwilling to be parted from the woman he’d struck up such an immediate connection with. 

“I called my manager and told her to shift all my interviews to telephone, rearranged everything for the following week before I flew out to Hawaii to begin shooting Predators, and yeah, lived on a bus with five insane, but adorable women for seven days.” He smiles a little shyly, his eyes warm as he views her. “Didn’t want to let her go.”

When asked if it was love at first sight, he elaborates a little further. “I’ve never believed in that. Too many components have to fall into place for love to bloom, so I don’t think it can be so spontaneous as to simply view somebody and feel such a powerful emotion right off the bat. After that week I spent with her, though. Yeah. I departed from the tour knowing I’d left behind the girl I was going to marry someday.”

And for Jade? “I knew. He was my person. Still is fifteen years on, too.”  

Just viewing the natural ease the couple have around one another cements that, after battling with so much over their years together. They both freely admit they rarely saw one another for the first two years of their marriage, their relationship plagued by media scrutiny, storms of paparazzi, accusations of their romance serving purely as a manufactured PR pairing for publicity, others stating that it was to give Jade greater leverage as she further embarked upon her acting career away from the world of music. One only has to watch the woman on screen to see that she carries enough weight from her own talents to not need the bolstering of her husband’s surname to snare her hard-earned successes.  

Indeed, the pair have weathered many storms and come through them stronger, standing as one of Hollywood’s most illimitable power couples, yet the term is somewhat lost on them both. “We’re complete dorks,” Jade laughs, “we really are. We set one another off all the time being absolutely ridiculous.” 

“It’s true,” her husband confirms, beginning to chuckle right on cue. “Nobody makes me laugh like her. It’s so corny, but truly, she’s my best friend. Deciding to get on that bus fifteen years ago was one of the greatest decisions I ever made.”  

It can be witnessed quite easily, too. It takes only a few glimpses into their respective social media accounts to see the humorous ease they tease one another with, but always with incredible affection. ‘Baby love! <3 Love you too, Morticia!’ Adrien commented on a heartfelt post his wife recently shared to Instagram, a throwback picture of the pair kissing at the 2016 Oscar’s ceremony, where his beloved won best supporting actress for her role across from Robert De Niro in the 2016 blockbuster, Five Marked Men. 

“It took him about a month to get over me with black hair instead of blonde, so I was Morticia for four straight weeks instead of Jade!” she laughs, obviously taking his teasing with good humour.  

“I was so damned proud of her, even though I couldn’t get used to the black hair,” he laughs taking her hand in his. “Always have been. She’s incredible.” 

The story will chronicle their fifteen years together, from their first meet right up until present day. I said I wouldn't do this, write RPF again, but I did. Arrgh! I just have to hope my beautiful people enjoy it now, lmao!!

Also, as well as the obvious faceclaim of Angelina Jolie serving for Jade, I have a voice claim for her, too! Want to hear the scream she hit Adrien with? Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a98LI-arNS4 And for something a little more melodic to acquaint you with her voice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNtGoM3FVU So yes, that's how I imagine her to sound in her chosen profession. Half angel, half demon. xD

I hope you love her as much as I do, guys! Huge thanks for my darling @jemmalynette for the beautiful picture manipulation. Her work is flawless, as always!

[seeminglydark]

hi! is there are reason that you decided that cassette tapes would be john’s chosen form of physical media? how would john organize his music (i.e., genre, band name, release date) and what would john keep his cassettes in? i can imagine him either having stuff in old shoe boxes or a cassette case that he hand-painted himself!

Yes! It's my personal favorite form of media, I'm really partial to cassettes, i think from growing up in the early 90's when it was the norm, so imprinted on my brain. I love mix tapes, jumping up to smash the record button when my fave tune came on the radio, so id always miss the first 10 seconds haha, my first several cars had tape decks. i love Walkmans, it was such a HUGE thing in my life to be able to put headphones on and take my music with me for the first time. I translate a lot of that nostalgia to john. I always imagine him with his Walkman and headphones, or small portable stereo, in bed with all the lights off except the white christmas lights that criss cross his ceiling, Creaky on his chest, listening to the episodes on repeat.

John organizes his music by How Much he Currently Likes A Band, grouped by band name and then oddly enough by album color. (so if he had several cassettes by say, Social D, they'd be next to each other in rainbow or light to dark.) He does most things by color, he's slower at reading and alphabetizing is a bit of a chore and makes him feel self-conscious and stressed. He doesn't mix music and books on tape, they each have their own shelf. He does rearrange a LOT.

Right again re: shoe box and painting the cases! I actually wrote a little snippet of this a long long time ago that didn't make it into the comic, but you can have it now, under the cut.

'Caro eyes a shoe box on the shelf curiously, its covered in stickers, anti fascism and punk rock bands. 'Can i look at this?' they ask, he nods, his back to them. They pull it down and settle it in their lap, lifting off the top to discover... cassette tapes! Oh wait, John did say Maddie recorded their show for him onto cassettes. There were at least 40, all lined up in the order of episodes. Caro pulled one out, the white paper inside the case was filled in with bright colors and shapes, elaborate images of ghosts and snakes and monsters. They pulled out another. A cartoon portrait of the little blond, violet eyes wide at the barrage of brightly colored spirits hovering behind them. 'Is this me?' they ask out loud. John turns to look and freezes. 'Oh….' embarrassed. 'Uh yeah…' 'Wow the art is so…?' they murmur, pulling out another, this one done in greens and blues with metallics. 'Ive never seen anything like these before?' They saw a lot of fanart, but this was different somehow. It felt more personal. Like the person who made them really put their soul into it, like it wasn't just fanart to the artist, but something really deeply important. 'I…um….' Johns face is bright red now..' um…I mean, you know I dont have social media..' he reminds them softly, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Wait.' Caro looks up, he's so flustered now, shuffling his feet, ears on fire. 'These are YOURS? You did these?' Somehow they've forgotten he used to fill up notebooks with colorful drawings, street art and tagging. Liquid letters and cartoon animals with thick black outlines. 'Sure.' He shrugs and turns away, back to them again, 'I would draw on them while listening, you know. It just felt kinda sad to leave them blank. Maddie showed me some of the fanart online, and the box set of the first season. I can't do the same kind of art, I'm not good like those other people, but…I didn't want to leave them blank, so I made my own I guess.' he pauses. 'I'm sorry…you must think I'm so fucking weird.' 'I don't think its weird…' they murmur looking at the tapes. 'I think its really cool. I didn't know you were such a talented artist.' He laughs, a short bark that sounds like a cough. They put the box gently back on the shelf, and sit on the bed, deciding to spare him. They can see he's smiling though, even if he's trying to hide it with his fist pressed against his lips.'

[writingmia]

Okay I just had an idea and I *had* to share it. I don't even ship Valgrace but this was too good not to think about. A Leo Valdez/Jason Grace 'Red, White & Royal Blue' AU.

Note: English isn't my first language, so please keep that in mind

Leo Valdez, who is half-Mexican, the son of the first American Latina female President, the one and only goddess amongst women, Esperanza Valdez. Leo, who always wanted to fix things and decided to follow his mother's footsteps in politics as a way to solve the issues he sees in his country. Leo, whom the public loves because of his sense of humour, quick wit and charm, who becomes America's sweetheart almost immediately when the elections first started.

And then you have Jason Grace, who has been born into the Royal Family and has had those duties and expectations on his shoulders from such a young age. Jason, who knows he will become a leader at some point, because his older sister, Thalia, is a rebel who refuses to conform to his family's expectations and ran away and abdicated the second she could. Jason, who is loved by his people, who is the white boy of the month every other month.

Zeus is the king, because of course he is. His Majesty, who doesn't really approve of the USA's election of Esperanza, because he sees her as lesser.

Leo and Jason who start off at the wrong foot because of something Jason unintentionally said, something that was his father's opinion and, of course, it was offensive to Leo, who immediately figured that Jason was a racist, privileged white guy who couldn't see past the tip of his nose.

Jason who's the one wearing glasses when he's at Kingston Palace and Leo who's caught off-guard by how casual he looks with them, how relaxed, not like the heir to an entire empire with a history of blood and slavery.

Leo, whose best friend is Piper McLean, the daughter of Tristan McLean, whose gaydar is immaculate and she's the one to open Leo's eyes that maybe Jason is gay, but isn't allowed to show it.

Jason, whose best friends are Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo, who also happen to be his cousins on his dad's side (yes, it's pathetic that his best friends are his cousins but he didn't really get many chances to be social growing up, okay?!), who are both incredibly chaotic in their own ways. Percy, who immediately gets along with Leo and the two exchange sassy comments and send each other memes constantly. Nico, who knew Leo was bi before Leo himself knew, and fed into Jason's delusions until he had the balls to kiss Leo on his famed New Year's Party.

Thalia, who would be in the picture occasionally, but is mostly busy touring the US with her rock/metal band called 'The Hunters', whose first album was inspired by Greek Mythology and specifically the myths surrounding Artemis, which is so what they titled their debut album.

Annabeth, who is Piper and Leo's genius best friend and the only keeper of the singular braincell in their trio, who has been wanting to become the youngest woman to ever hold a Senate seat ever. Percy, who is completely enamoured by her the second he sees her and the two start their own romance on the side.

I'm obsessed with this idea, I think it has so much potential.

I wrote that very quickly and I've barely proof-read it, but I just felt like the idea had to get out of my head because it deserves to be shared with the fandom. If someone wants to continue developing this, I would love to read more. If someone has alr written something like this and I'm not the first genius to think of it, please let me know!

- mia

[superpyodan]

SDV music taste headcanons

I just remembered that I spent a long while ruminating on & writing down the music tastes of my mental versions of Abby, Sam, Seb, Haley and Alex (like, heavilyyyy based on the way I characterise them in the fic, so if you disagree with me - Valid). So here it is, if you’re interested! I wrote it initially for the Q&A but then realised it was wayyy too rambly and non-important LMAO

Abby: Mostly Riotgrrl, punk rock and Kpop. She’s a huge kpop fan, but keeps the secret on LOCK. Artists include:

- Mannequin Pussy, Le Tigre, Hole, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, BTS, Stray Kids, ITZY, Blackpink, Olivia Rodrigo, Grimes. Mayyybe also some Vocaloid, because she’s a nerd like that (all respect for the vocaloid listeners in the audience, though! I like it too!).

Sam: He’s somewhere between ‘stuck in his emo phase’, and ‘skateboarding stoner loser’. Artists include:

- Gorillaz, MF DOOM, Tyler the Creator, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots, Tame Impala, The Garden, Limp Bizkit, Neck Deep, A Tribe Called Quest.

Seb: I don’t have any specific artists for Seb, because I’m not really sure! He’s a bit of a musical elitist and makes fun of Sam for his music taste, but when he works, he listens to the most abhorrent shit imaginable. Think, like, dubstep. Generally, though, it’s hard rock, metal, etc. Random bands that no one’s ever heard of, that have 256 monthly Spotify listeners. He pretends that he’s over his emo phase, but listens to Black Veil Brides on the down-low.

Haley: She listens to fun, upbeat, ‘girly’ pop music. She loves it. Think Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Remi Wolf. Her and Abby bicker about music all the time. I’d like to emphasise, though, that Haley is NOT a swiftie. That part is important to me. Her music taste is gayer than that, in a way I can’t quite explain.

Alex: Now. Alex is kind of hard for me to place. I think it’s because, in my mind, he’s super gay and super nerdy. However, I can’t imagine him having a gay, nerdy music taste. It’s similar to Sam’s, but in a different way. Just hear me out, okay? We’re gonna need multiple bullet points for this one. Artists include:

- Kendrick Lamar, more specifically the ‘DAMN’ album. Yes, he’s on Kendrick’s side in the Kendrick v Drake beef.

- Tyler the Creator, but exclusively the post-Cherry Bomb albums. ‘IGOR’ quite literally changed his life and it’s his favourite album of all time.

- I associate him quite heavily with the album ‘Strange Desire’ by Bleachers, but I’m not sure he actually listens to it.

- MF DOOM - absolutely Madvillainy and Operation: Doomsday.

- Little Simz, perhaps? I’m not sure. I think he’d like the album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’.

- Pre- accepting himself as queer, he watched the music video for ‘Industry Baby’ by Lil Nas X, and considered throwing himself into the mountain lake.

- I just think he’d like rap a lot. It’s like books but …. For the ears

[mugloversonly]

He's not a Runner, He's a Rockstar

Link to part 1 part 2 part 3 ao3

this is the end of chapter 1. I'll have it posted on AO3 later this week. Mind the warnings on this one.

It's a bit longer than the others as it's both their POVs.

TW: Transphobia, slur, deadnaming

Summary: No Upside Down AU: Corroded Coffin made it big in 1983. In 1986, they are one of the biggest Metal Bands Around. After the Earthquake of the spring of '86, the boys return to Indiana to do a charity concert for their hometown.

Steve loves CC and his best friend Tommy buys him tickets to see them. Things don't go exactly as Tommy plans.

Chapter 1: Part 4

Eddie

Eddie was reconnecting with Steve Harrington of all people. When he saw him in the VIP line, he almost did a spit take all over the girl in front of him, he knew he recognized that hair.

The boy who had inspired a hit song was waiting to meet him! Meet him again technically. It was then that he noticed Tommy Hagan, hanging off of Steve like a sloth. Steve didn’t look comfortable, but he didn’t seem to dislike the affection. The closer they got, the more possessive Tommy’s hands became, until he was practically groping him. He ignored the shitty comments from Hagan and was focused solely on Steve.

In the inside of the cassette, Eddie did something either very stupid, or very brave. He wrote:

Dearest Stevie,

it was great seeing you at the show,

and if you’d like to catch up, let me know.

Call the trailer

Love, Eddie.

He reapplied his black lipstick and pressed it onto the page, and made sure to leave a solid mark. Steve was already flustered so sue him for indulging. He played it cool, holding the cigarette he was smoking out in offer. Steve took a hit and passed it back. As Eddie wrapped his lips around it, he flushed at the indirect kiss. He pretended like he needed to be reminded who was in front of him, but that all blew out the window as soon as Steve said “Steve Muns-“ before hurriedly correcting himself.

Eddie blushed furiously, pulling a lock of hair in front of his mouth. An unfortunate quirk he hadn’t been able to shake. “That’s alright” he giggled. Giggled. The two of them shared a shy glance before he was forced to move on to the next group.

In between fans, the CC boys ribbed him constantly. “Oh, we’ve met right?” Jeff teased.

“Yes, Eddie, tis I Steve Munson!” Gareth replied with a fake swoon.

“Okay, that’s enough” Eddie said as he rolled his eyes.

The last fans in line finally moved through and Eddie was eager to get over to Steve. He hurried around the room, thanking everyone, and took a seat across from the duo. As they caught up, Hagan was getting more and more irritated. Maybe he was pissed at not being included? Then he saw him slide his hand down to Steve’s waist and tuck his thumb under his shirt.

“How long have you two been together?” Eddie blurted out before he could think better of it. The cocky smile on Hagan’s face and the straightening of Steve’s spine don’t bode well for Eddie.

Steve

"We're not." Steve blurted quickly.

“Not yet.” Tommy smirked. Steve glared at Tommy and finally pulled away. He was always doing this. If anyone, but especially another guy, showed even the slightest interest in Steve, he would be a jerk to them.

“Not ever.” Steve stood and put some distance between them before turning to Eddie. “Is there somewhere the two of us could go to catch up?” He asked, clearly dismissing Tommy’s words. Eddie glanced between the two before standing and leading Steve to a table across the room. The two sat in awkward silence for a moment until Steve breaks it. “Sorry about him.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Eddie waved it off. “So, now that we got 'irrationally possessive' out of the way, how’d you like the show?” Eddie asked as he leaned into Steve’s space a bit.

“Uh, it was, it was great yeah.” Steve stuttered out blush in full affect.

“What’s your favorite song of ours?” Was there a flirty edge to his voice?

“Indiana Boy Toy.” Steve admitted.

“Oh?” Eddie asked with a cocky smile. He sang the first few lines of the chorus

Won at the county fair

Clean cut hidden slut

All I can do is stare

Oh boy won’t you be my toy

With each line he leaned in closer and closer. He whispered the next line right against Steve’s lips “Wanna taste my cum on your tongue”. Steve couldn’t take it anymore and surged forward. Their lips met in a rather chaste kiss all things considered.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder pulling him away from Eddie. At first he thought it was a bodyguard or something, but he opened his eyes to see Tommy’s seething face.

“We’re leaving Steve.” He glowered. “Now.” Steve shrugged his hand off.

“What is your problem Tommy?” He demanded. The rest of the room fell silent as Tommy made a scene.

“I bought you these tickets so you’d go out with me! Not, make out with some wannabe.” He sneered and gestured at Eddie, whose eyes narrowed. “I’m a real man, not some discount.” He continued.

Eddie stood to his full height. The rest of Corroded Coffin came up to flank him. “The fuck did you say?” He asked.

“Shut up Tommy. We can go.” Steve said gritting his teeth. But Tommy was on a roll now that he got a rise out of Eddie.

“What’s the matter, ‘Eddie’?” He taunted, air quotes around his name. “Did you think that since Stevie-boy here hasn’t been with a man before he’d settle for some tranny?” He laughed. Eddie didn’t respond and that seemed to egg Tommy on.

“Tommy stop!” Steve tried again, grabbed his arm, and tried to yank him away; but, he just ripped out of the hold and put the final nail in the coffin.

“What’s wrong, Mary-Anne? Can’t handle the truth?” Tommy jeered. Eddie inhaled sharply and Steve stepped back in shock. As shitty of a person as Tommy was, he never expected this. The three other CC boys stepped in front of Eddie, shielding him from the pair. Bear had his back to them as if he was checking on Eddie.

It was Gareth who spoke for the group. “Frank, get him out of here.” He gestured to a large man in the corner. A bodyguard if Steve had to guess. Tommy launched forward towards the band anyway, but before he could make it two steps, Jeff punched him square in the jaw so hard his head snapped to the side. Before he could recover, Frank picked him up by the waist and slung him over his shoulder. The rest of the fans clapped for him and booed Tommy. Some even going so far as to throw stuff at him, Steve wanted to join in.

Steve looked between Frank’s back and Eddie. Tommy was his ride, but he couldn’t leave after what Tommy had done. He wanted to say something, apologize. He took a step towards the group, but Gareth put his hand up.

“Not now man.” He said apologetically, before he and Jeff turned their backs on him. Steve looked over Gareth’s shoulder and saw Bear wrapped tight around Eddie. The other two boys joined the hug and the rest of the fans circled in to wrap around the band. Steve wanted to join in, but he didn’t think he’d be welcome. As he turned to follow Frank, he heard the hugging group sing one of the songs Eddie wrote

You can try to hurt me

You just don’t understand

You can hate me

But I am who I am

If you loved me you’d see

I can’t be anyone but me

[justanotherblonde]

it's sasodei week 2024!

i have precisely one thing to contribute, but ffs it's not done yet grr!! maybe we can blame my dog... she demanded i come play with her no less than nine times (i kept track) as i wrote this post (she does this by shouting at me then humping my leg to show me who's boss, sometimes pulling on my sweater sleeve with her sharp li'l teefs, beagles, man, i tell ya...) 🐶

anyway!! here's a TEASER of my Day 3 Band/Rockstar/Idol AU story ahhhhh!!! it's not even titled yet!!!!! i don't even really know what the tags will be! and i haven't had time to make a header image!! 😫

but this i know, oh this i know:

Sasori is first chair cello of the Sunagakure Philharmonic

He has a dirty little secret hobby: listening to metal (among other genres that are definitely not classical)

One of the bands he listens to is called C4

Guess who's the lead singer???

Yes, you guessed it, it's Deidara, singer/song-writer, perhaps much more...

In this AU, everybody lives!! Well... okay fine, Sasori's parents still didn't make it, i'm sorry

But that means two important things: Third Kazekage is alive! And there are a LOT of Uchiha running around.

There's more, a lot more, but you'll have to wait until i steal more minutes and hours from my dog and my work! but i'll give it to ya, come hell or high water! or wildfires, earthquakes, debilitating PM 2.5 ratings, or uh... dare i say... another pandemic??? FEAR NOT!

if you want to wait for the full thing to drop to read, i've left the teaser excerpt below the cut.

a million thanks to @sasodeiweek for hosting this event and encouraging us SasoDei creators to flex our creative muscles! loving all the contributions so far!

and without further ado...

Rehearsal ran circles round Sasori’s ears. The music followed him always, all hours.

Chapter 1

Rehearsal ran circles round Sasori’s ears. The music followed him always, all hours.

The fine, agile fingers of his left hand twitched; his right hand swayed side to side, marking the strokes of his bow. Eyes half-closed, his feet kept time on the pavement as he walked. It was Haydn this week, Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major. A weighty yet familiar responsibility for Sasori, first chair cello of the Sunagakure Philharmonic.

He sighed. Rehearsal had wrapped half an hour ago. He was on his way home, and tomorrow was a rest day. He didn’t need to torture himself like this. 

The headphones around his neck were a comforting weight, as friendly and intimate as the straps of his cello case on his shoulders. He flipped them over his ears and dug in his coat pocket for his phone. Scrolling through the saved playlists on his music app, he skipped all of the classical “homework” and went straight for his guilty pleasures: dance-pop, glam-rock, musicals… and heavy metal. 

No one at work knew about his low, low tastes.

Well, the Third had known. 

Sasori gritted his teeth, biting back unbidden memories. Now he definitely needed to blast his brain clean with some noise. 

Something heavy.

Something loud.

Something to transport him far away from the sand-scraped streets of Sunagakure.

His thumb landed on the album he was looking for.

Art is an EXPLOSION by C4. Track 1: “Light It Up.”

From that first haunting guitar chord, the tension Sasori held in his chest and face dispersed. He rode that twisting whine down, down… someplace dark and cool, far beneath the earth. As the barreling drums built to a crescendo, he held his breath—wait for it!—

A million years, through timeless stone I’m damned to walk this path alone This darkness, all I’ve ever known…

The lead singer had a deep, melodic voice. He molded each word of the verse carefully, tenderly, as if he were embarking on a ballad… then WHAM!

Cymbals crashed; the roaring chorus caught the last two notes of an electrifying riff like a surfer hopping a wave:

Light it up! Hey, light it up! Strike a match and light it up! My fuse is short, ’m ready to blow, Crush the ceiling down to the floor!

Not in a million years would Sasori admit out loud to anyone that he listened to C4, especially not now that the public were actually aware of their existence. The metal band had catapulted to fame last year with their single “Burn Down All the Discos,” but Sasori had been listening to them well before that. Three years ago, his music app had recommended him a track from Art is an EXPLOSION—C4’s debut album—based on his eclectic streaming history. 

If the first song Sasori had heard by C4 had been anything but “Artist,” he’d probably never have given them a chance: their usual sound was, on the surface, sloppy, and most of the lyrics were childish boasts. “Look at me!” their vocalist seemed to say in every song. 

But “Artist” was different. It was, inexplicably, an up-tempo perversion of Vivaldi’s Winter Largo in F Minor, lamenting how hard it was to live for art’s sake when the world ran on money and heroic virtue. Listeners without classical training would be unable to appreciate or likely even identify the subtleties of what had been done with the classical score, but the first time he heard it, Sasori had been riveted. Vivaldi’s rhythmic harpsichord had been replaced with a softly tapped snare drum; a mournful electric guitar carried the melody when it wasn’t sung. 

Curiosity piqued, Sasori had investigated the rest of the album, and found similar nods to classical music throughout the tracks, much harder to notice than the adapted Vivaldi, drowned as they were in a thunderstorm of electric guitar and percussion. C4 were more than just a metal band: they experimented with typical traits of the genre and also drew from pop rock, classical music, even musical theatre to create a sound unlike anything Sasori had ever heard. They broke all the rules and they did it with glee.

One day—a rest day—home alone and bored, Sasori had looked up the band online. It surprised him to learn that the lead singer had been only sixteen when the band was formed. That powerful voice certainly didn’t sound like it belonged to a teenager. But the band’s website was light on biographical information, and Sasori hadn’t felt like digging deeper. An overwhelming amount of fan sites and social media accounts had sprung up since “Burn Down All the Discos” and C4’s world tour. Bored as he was that day, Sasori wasn’t about to use his precious free time to obsess over some flash-in-the-pan rock band, especially one fronted by a kid.

And yet, he still listened to them.

“Artist” often competed for the position of most frequently-played song on his app, but only when he was feeling particularly moody. 

It crossed his mind that he ought to check if C4 had come out with anything new lately—the app usually sent a message when artists he’d followed released new music. Pausing to wait for a traffic light, he dug for his phone again.

Lo and behold, a new album had dropped not three days ago.

Beauty of a Moment, it was called. The cover art featured the Venus de Milo... mid-explosion.

Sasori chuckled under his breath. “He really does fancy himself an artist, doesn’t he…” 

What a fool. Popular music was not art. Rock music was not art. It came and went, but the classics stayed. For centuries. Forever.

It was the one thing Sasori and the Third had always agreed on, despite all of their differences. 

Speaking of which… 

...

[elbiotipo]

Some little author's notes that might or not enhance that little Campoestela story I just posted:

Siusini cannot hear sound by himself, his species does not have 'ears' per se but he does have a mechanic sound translator that works just as well.

He can look at Beto's gestures though, which is good because he gesticulates a lot. Because he's Rioplatense and also it helps to get him understood with species that are more visual.

The "leaves" Siusini uses to communicate are arranged in a stalk that looks like some kind of circular screen, they work like a cuttlefish's skin. Think of it as some kind of sunflower until I draw it.

Given that it wouldn't be easy for a human to understand subtle changes in patterns and colors, Beto must have learned Siusini's language while young, perhaps from Siusini himself. This is a part I'm working on.

Ragua's like for heavy metal is based on a real life study where sharks have shown preference for heavy metal (the band of course is legendary Argentine metal band Hermética)

Beto has a passion for listening to history podcasts. Since it's a bit of a retro universe, they are called tapes (inspired by many many roadtrips listening comedy and music cassettes)

They are all talking in Rioplatense Spanish (yes, even Siusini in a way), I just wrote in English a bit to test myself and to reach audience. Beto's "Mornin', people" is supposed to be "Buenas, gente." "Motherflower" can be translated as "flor de hijo de puta" or "hijo de fruta" if you want.

Beto is about 179cm tall (a bit tall but standard for a human). Ragua is long but her tail does not add height, her body is otter-like, she's about 150cm tall. Siusini is about 140cm tall and a bit wide too, like a bit potted plant (don't call him that). Being small does give you a slight advantage when space is considered, less weight to liftoff and resources to consume, easier to handle tools and structures too.

Ragua can imitate voices perfectly like a parrot, which makes her being able to pronounce any language almost effortessly and also sing... it doesn't mean she understands them though. When this story is set, her handle on Rioplatense is almost complete, writing her slowly picking up the language is gonna be a bit of a challenge.

I'm not sure if Beto has EXACTLY the voice of Ricardo Iorio, but he does have a deeper voice than Spinetta and it's a meme he cannot sing (he is Capitán Beto after all, not Spinetta, despite looking like him)

Where is the triste estampita de un santo and the malvones? in the cockpit of course, that's where the song says they are.

Beto is starting the morning shift, then who's running the ship? there's a couple of little pterodactyl-like aliens, literally a married couple like agapornis birds that can't ever be separated, who work the night shift in Mastropiero, but I haven't introduced them yet.

[scheodingers-muppet]

Nativity in Black

i forgot to post yesterday so here, take this; the first chapter to my first long fic!

Title is from N.I.B. by Black Sabbath. Yes, I know that's not what the name actually means but it sounds cool and it'll all make more sense later in the plot.

Modern AU with Rockstar!Eddie and Choreographer!Steve.

~~~

"C'mon man, it's not that bad!" Gareth couldn't have been more wrong. It was bad. It was very bad.

"I'm like Bambi, dude. No way I'm embarrassing myself for the entire world to see." Eddie went around his room like a tornado, packing all his last-minute things for the trip out to California to record the music video for their newest song; a softer love ballad Jeff wrote for his fiancé. He held his phone between his shoulder and his ear, Gareth loudly sighing at the other end.

"Just meet with the choreographer and try. If it doesn't go well, we'll think of something else. But Red pulled some major strings and got the best of the best for this shoot and you know Jeff will lose his shit if it's not perfect."

"Fine. I'll meet with the choreographer, but start brainstorming some stuff I can do when it all goes to shit!"

Eddie zipped up his suitcase and hung up the phone, heading into the kitchen to tell Wayne goodbye and thank him for cat-sitting while he's gone.

"Eh don't worry about it. Little Jynx here is probably the close I'll get to a grandkid, plus she loves me something fierce." Jynx, Eddie's little black cat he found behind a dumpster at the restaurant he used to work at before Corroded Coffin made it big, sat purring on the counter while Wayne scratched behind her ear.

"Ouch, old man. Words hurt." Eddie faked offense, knowing Wayne doesn't actually mean it, and hugged his faux-father goodbye.

~~

"Calm down, you big baby. You'll be fine!" Robin was too busy fixing her eyeliner in Steve's bathroom mirror to notice he had thrown himself onto the bed, face buried into his pillow.

"I can't do it. He's too hot, Robs. I'm gonna make a fool out of myself!" Steve was spiraling. Like, badly.

He hadn't thought much about his new gig to choreograph a music video for some metal band when Max Mayfield had reached out. He didn't really listen to them much, but the name sounded familiar and he always loved doing ballroom. Plus, they were from the same small town - probably why the name sounded familiar in the first place.

However, that confidence and ease of being picked for a job like this vanished the moment he started working. He had pulled up the bands social media, trying to get a better idea of what he's working with. And oh my god. Holy shit. This guy was like... wow.

And that leads them back here. Robin walks over and plops herself down next to Steve. He rolls over and puts his head in her lap, staring up at her like a sad puppy dog. Robin wipes the hair away from his eyes and strokes his cheek.

"You'll be fine. Just treat it like a regular gig and no one will be the wiser. Then, once it's all said and done, you ask him to drinks and get married," Steve just glared back up at her, unamused. "Now come on, we gotta get going if we want to beat the traffic. I've still got to meet with the director and lighting crew to get costumes finished."

Steve grunted and closed his eyes, not ready to face his definitely humiliating fate. Robin poked his forehead and he relented. getting up and grabbing his jacket before heading to the door.

[theworldsendandmythoughts]

lords of chaos - review 2023

What an awfully hot movie. I already had a lot of knowledge in regards to Mayhem and the history of norwegian black metal. As well as having watched a thorough documentary the weekend before the screening of this.

The casting was pretty alright, I think they nailed HellHammer and Euronymous. Tho the casting for Varg and Dead was really weird, first of all Jack Kilmer had an awful blonde wig and he was definetly not fair enough in the skin. One couldve just casted an actual metal head or just an average swedish person. The casting for Varg seemed a bit off, not to shame but Varg was a skinny lanky maniac. Even Varg himself said ¨the film where they have a fat Jewish actor play the role of me.¨. Not the jewish part, but I do agree that the actor miiiight not have had the right physical appearance to Varg in terms of size.

Finding out that Jonas Åkerlund directed this movie made a lot of sense to me. A lot of it is very choppy and overexaggerated. That has always been his way of directing (in former projects being the live concert movie and music videos for Rammstein). I think he also had a lot to say when it came to the writing of this movie. Its very clear that Lord of Chaos is a hollywood-fied movie about tragic fucked up events.

The pacing of the storyline is extremely fast paced. They do not mention the fact that Mayhem had several vocalists before Dead came along. As well as Dead's part in this story is over within like 5 minutes. He did so much for the band, there is so much to say about his contribution within the scene and band. It felt like they rushed the first part of the movie just to get to the main part of when Varg comes along and does his antics.

Who the fuck wrote Varg for this movie? In the beginning he's an unsure shy wannabe-metalhead that seeks the validation of Euronymous and the rest of the metalhead scene. THATS SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH. He played in two other bands before Mayhem, founded Burzum because he claimed that the rest of the music wasn't evil and heavy enough, and was an already pretty known figure in the scene. His influence skyrocketed Mayhem, yes, but he wasnt some shy boy before he started in the band. VARG SENT DEAD THE FUCKIN SHOTGUN AMMUNITION THAT HE LATER USED TO KILL HIMSELF. Dude, dont call Lord of Chaos a fictional documentary or mockumentary, whatever the fuck - ITS AS FICTIONAL AS YOU CAN BE WHILE THREADING ON THE VERGE OF SOME TRUTH

Also the ¨girlfriend¨ that Euronymous had? Never existed, yes he had bitches, but he didnt have any loyal long term girlfriend. Varg also never liked Scorpions, so why the fuck was he called a poser for it in the movie?? Also Euronymous never cut his hair - thats all bullshit

IN CONCLUSION: Lord of Chaos is full of shit, Jonas Åkerlund can go suck Rammstein's cock instead, and no one is allowed to make a movie on Mayhem besides the true lunatic Varg.

Peace out

[tictac-murder-spaghetti]

Finally got this working! I wrote this in October for Whumptober Day 2, and it's some good old Strychnine whump and hurt/comfort! This obviously happens after their friendship is fairly well established! As I post more I'll get an actual timeline going.

Content Warnings: Implied lab whump, implied (past) child abuse, nightmares, muzzles, dehumanization, minor horror elements, cages, nonhuman whump (he's made of goo???) Writing under the cut!

Strychnine was in the alley. Really, he had been in many alleys throughout his life, for various reasons, but tonight he had no idea why he was here. He pushed himself into a standing position, brushing the dust off his pants as he looked around, absolutely confused. How the hell had he gotten into an alley at night, just sitting on the ground? He didn’t seem hurt, besides the growling prickles of terror at the back of his neck. The stars sparkled above him, but he couldn’t seem to see the end of the alley in either direction, a feeling of cold dread washing over him. Strychnine began to run. As he did, the terror really kicked in, his heart pounding as if he was being chased, but he couldn’t see anything behind him besides the dark void of the alley and the same in front of him.

“Clunk!” Something hard and metal made contact with his knees, causing him to tumble to the ground with a cry of surprise. He tried to push himself back up, see what he had run into, but before he could he felt cold metal clamp around his neck and push his body back down onto the cobblestones. He’d seen this weapon before, he knew the man who wielded it, his best friend.

“Ambrose?” “Oh? How’d you guess it?” Strychnine had never heard his voice with such a chilling tone to it, full of malice. “Ambrose, what are you doing? Why am I here?” “Strychnine, don’t you really think it’s high time the ruse is up? That’s why you’re here. As for what I am doing, I’m doing my job. I’m arresting you.” “What?!” Strychnine was beginning to panic again, trying to figure out if there was any way for him to worm his way out of the clutches of the man catcher. Noticing his struggles, Ambrose leaned on the handle almost nonchalantly, pushing the metal band farther against Strychnine’s throat. “Ambrose, we’re friends!” “Strychnine, I’d never be friends with a criminal! And even worse, a monster! That’s what you are, Strychnine.” “What? No- no Ambrose, don’t say that. I thought we were friends.” Ambrose hadn’t said that, he couldn’t. Strychnine wasn’t a monster. He tried too hard to convince himself he wasn’t a monster, Ambrose knew that, Ambrose wouldn’t accuse him of that. The crimes? Yes, he’d committed crimes, he knew that, he was a criminal, but a monster? No, no.

Ambrose, or the thing that looked like Ambrose (Strychnine couldn’t believe Ambrose would say that to him, he couldn’t) noticed his distress, the condescending smile on his face widening, “Yes Strychnine, you thought. That’s the keyword there buddy.” “But- we hung out! You let me into your house, we did things together, we worked together!” “You broke into my house. You’re a wanted criminal, what you think I’m just going to kick you out of my house when you could kill me? Now I know you wouldn’t, you’re too weak for that, but I just went along with it. What would you do? If a little criminal bastard started following you around and wouldn’t leave you alone? I couldn’t call the rest of the police, they’d be much too suspicious of why I hadn’t taken you in in the first place.” Tears stared to well in Strychnine’s eyes, black and goopy- unnatural, but he still wasn’t a monster. Biologically different from every other mortal? Yeah, but he-he still wasn’t a monster, even if he had black radioactive goo running down his face instead of tears. “Then- what are you going to do?” He sniffled, “You said you were going to arrest me.” “Well… I am. But since I can’t bring you to jail, I know someone else who’ll take care of you. She really wants you back, you know.” Strychnine's eyes widened in fear as a mean smirk crossed Ambrose's face. “No- No Ambrose!! I’ll turn myself in, please don’t, please.” He pleaded, eyes wide, how-how could Ambrose have known? He never told him about his past, he’d considered him a friend, yes, but Strychnine couldn’t even think about what he’d gone through most of the time, and definitely couldn’t talk about it to anyone else. Ambrose released the mancatcher and Strychnine tried to make a desperate lunge away from him, but he reached out and grabbed Strychnine by the back of his shirt, painfully yanking him back and dragging the smaller man across the cobblestones. Strychnine struggled, trying to get out of Ambrose’s grip, but he wouldn’t let go no matter how much Strychnine rolled or flailed, making the dragging all the much more uncomfortable. Since he wasn’t restrained, Strychnine looked down at his gloves, considering. He could get out of here, just slip his gloves off, grab Ambrose around the ankle and Strychnine would be out. And Ambrose would be missing a foot. Even if he was mistreating him, the thought made Strychnine sick. He would have been a monster if he’d done that. He couldn’t. He told himself he wouldn’t hurt anyone like that after- her. She was the last person he’d done that to and he was going to keep it that way.

Instead he twisted around and grabbed Ambrose’s trenchcoat, trying to drag the taller man down. Ambrose swiveled around, roughly yanking the hem of his coat out of Strychnine’s grasp before letting go of his shirt and dropping him. Strychnine’s head painfully smacked against the cobblestones, letting out a wheeze of surprise. Dazed, he was helpless to even try to run again before Ambrose once again grabbed the back of his shirt and continued to drag him. The alley just kept stretching on, Strychnine’s vision blurring as his head rang, he was normally quite tolerant of pain but tonight... it hurt so bad. All he could see was dark stone wall after dark stone wall, feeling like they were falling in on top of the two of them. He clutched his head in his hands, just trying to get the pain, the tears, anything to stop, but it wouldn’t. He tried to dig his boots into the stones, slow Ambrose down, all he wanted was this hellish nightmare to stop, for this friend to be his friend again. The movement stopped. He tried to twist around, see if he could see what caused Ambrose to stop, but he couldn’t see Ambrose anymore. He couldn’t see anything anymore, just black void above and below him. And he fell.

Strychnine hesitantly opened an eye, and immediately regretted it. It was her- well, her legs, as he couldn’t see the rest from where he sat on the floor. His “mother”, the woman who had created him, and the very last woman he’d ever wanted to see. He scampered back, feeling cold metal underneath him, but he didn’t get far before cold metal pushed into his back as well-bars. He was in a cage. He was in a fucking cage. He looked down at his wrists and while his gloves were still on he couldn’t get them off, his only way to fight back taken from him by a thin strip of metal wound around each wrist, pinning his gloves to his body. He started to breathe fast, his heart pounding out of his chest.

“I really appreciate your friend here bringing you back to me #07. I missed you so much.” She kneeled down to look at him through the bars of the cage, a cruel smile on her face, sparks buzzing between her horns, showing that she was truly more happy to see him again then her voice betrayed, but Strychnine didn’t really like her view of “happy”. He watched as Ambrose passed the cage as well, his “mother” standing back up to meet him. “Really sir, thank you. My son here has been quite the menace, and after I lost him so many years ago I thought I’d never get him back. He’ll be… properly dealt with.” “Good,” Ambrose spat, with more hatred in his voice then he’d ever heard, “That's what it deserves.”

Hearing his friend- his best friend say something like that about him, he had to ask why, Ambrose why? All that came out was a pitiful whimper, as he couldn’t open his mouth fully, only now realizing part of his ringing headache was the straps tightened around his head holding a muzzle in place. His “mother” had muzzled him and thrown him into a cage like he was some sort of wild animal or… like he was a monster. He grabbed at the strap, trying to find the buckle but fumbling as his hands shook. “Oh #07, I’m so sorry I had to do that,” She leaned down again, “I was just worried you’d react like this. Last time you got angry with me you did this-'' She rolled up one of the sleeves of her lab coat and Strychnine saw the full extent of what he’d done as a child… but something was wrong, her arm was covered in deep gouges and chemical burn scars, but they still dripped with black goo just like his own hands. She reached into the cage, Strychnine desperately trying to back away from her grasp but being stopped by how small the cage was. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him towards the front of the cage and holding him in place.

“I didn’t want you doing that again when we continued where we left off-” she poked him hard in the chest, right above his heart, “Such a shame the experiment had to be delayed so long. In the last 19 years I’ve made plenty of advancements, but I kept everything how it was back then just for you.” She pulled him up to the bars of the cage again, pushing his face against them as she hissed in his ear. “I’m not letting you ruin this, or me, ever again.” The black goo started to run down her face, dark tears burning through the flesh of her face. She dropped him as more black dripped down her face, her scarred arm. Even Ambrose, who had been coldly watching him from the side of the room started to melt, black dripping out his eyes and the sleeves of his coat. Strychnine gasped in horror, scrambling back once again trying to get away from the horrific forms of his “mother” and best friend. He curled into a little ball, tears pouring from his own eyes as he tried to pretend this isn't happening. It couldn’t be happening. He tugged at the muzzle more, maybe if he could get it off- maybe if he could just scream it’d all be better. But anything would be better, anything would be better than this, prison would be better than this, he just wanted out- he wanted out- please, please could it just stop-

------------------------------

Strychnine woke up in his bed. His heart still pounded, his pillow and cheeks both still wet with black goopy tears. Just like- no. He rolled over, staring up at his ceiling. It was just a nightmare. It hadn’t happened, though the way his gloved hands were clutching the sheets and the tears wouldn’t stop coming told him the fear was so very, very real. He wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. Strychnine swung his legs off the bed before he stood up, taking a deep, shuddering breath. He slowly made his way to the window before cracking it open and stepping out onto the roof.

Ambrose woke with a start, looking around wildly, trying to find out where the assailant was coming from, trying to figure out who was breaking into his bedroom. That was until his eyes landed on Strychnine, crouched on his windowsill, eyes glowing yellow in the dark. Normally he’d just shoo the other man away like he was some sort of feral cat or a raccoon, it was the middle of the damn night after all, but something was wrong. Strychnine was usually so smiley, even when he was being an annoying little menace, but he wasn’t now. Black lines ran down his face from his eyes, looking like tear tracks, if tears could stain black. He got out of bed, throwing a robe over his shoulders before cracking open the window.

“Strych-” He was cut off as Strychnine barreled through the window as fast as he could, the smaller man wrapping his arms around Ambrose’s waist in a hug. Ambrose was a little shocked, but put his hands on Strychnine’s shoulders in a supportive gesture. Strychnine was shaking. “Strychnine, what’s wrong?” “Ambrose, I’m not a monster, right?” “What? I mean, you’re weird but you’re not a monster. What happened Strych?”

He held the smaller man close to him as he sniffled, trying to take a deep breath. Ambrose led him over to the couch in his bedroom, sitting down besides Strychnine. Strychnine was in his pajamas but still had his gloves on, Ambrose wondered if he ever took them off. “I-I had a nightmare. You were in it. You… said some horrible stuff. And I could kind of tell it wasn’t you… something felt so wrong, but it still hurt. Then some stuff from my past came up-” Tears started welling in his eyes again, “And it was scary. So-so scary. And dehumanizing, and just… it was bad. I thought I’d forgotten those things but… I hadn’t.” Ambrose pulled Strychnine into a side hug, “I’m sorry Strychnine. You don’t need to tell me what happened, if you don’t want to. But I’ll assure you, I am your friend. And I don’t know what nightmare Ambrose told you, and I don’t need to know, but hey, I’d go and get him for you. And you’re not a monster.” Strychnine sniffled, “You suck at fighting though.” A slight smile crossed Ambrose's face, “Hey, if I had to fight myself but meaner I think I’d win still. We’d both suck.” Ambrose gently grabbed Strychnine’s gloved hands with his own, “Like I said, you’re a bit… odd, but you’re not a monster. And the weirdness is what makes you fun, anyway. Who knows if we’d be friends if I didn’t find your weirdness so endearing but I do. And we are.” “Thank you Ambrose. I feel kind of bad, I just broke into your house and woke you up in the middle of the night, but could you just sit with me for a little bit longer? I’ll go back home but I just- I need to sit for a bit and it’s better to have company.” “No problem buddy.” Ambrose sat with Strychnine for a while, until the smaller guy's breath began to slow and Strychnine fell asleep again, slumped over on the couch. Ambrose carefully got up so he wouldn’t wake him and tossed a blanket over his best friend before yawning. The sun wouldn’t come up for a few more hours, and he was tired, but he didn’t want to disturb Strychnine. Another night sleeping in his office wouldn’t hurt. He hoped Strychnine wouldn’t have another nightmare but even if he did, Ambrose would be around this time. And real Ambrose would be there for him, since really Strychnine wasn’t a monster, he was his best friend.

Taglist @a-crumb-of-whump (Please ask to be added or removed!)

[estellamiraiauthor]

The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 26)

Welcome back to chapter 26! This one was also pretty straightforward, but there are a couple of fun little things to comment on.

Spoilers, including spoilers for chapters beyond this one, under the cut!

Not a lot to comment on in the beginning. Teru goes back to his own apartment to get all his winter clothes so he can essentially keep living at Rei’s. I guess Rei is probably paying the rent on Teru’s apartment at this point, even though no one is using it, and… that’s an interesting choice. I think it’s partly just that Rei is still a little afraid of rejection, and that if he says “We’re living together anyway, why not make it official?”, there is a chance that Teru might say no. (He absolutely wouldn’t at this point, but Rei is super anxious about rejection so you know he’d worry about that.) But I think it’s also for Rei to give HIMSELF a way out…

Teru runs into Yasu in a music store where they’re both looking for bands who are looking for new members (nowadays this is probably done online, but people used to post fliers in places like this). They have an interesting conversation about the rest of the band, particularly when Yasu says he thinks Seika will be doing music forever, but he’ll be just as happy if he never makes it big. That’s a little bit of foreshadowing as well, since other than Teru, Seika is the slowest to say yes to the offer they’ll get later from a record label.

They leave the music store and walk over to Tokyu Hands, which was one of the few places you could easily get stage makeup. This section ended up being really nostalgic, because the area between Shinjuku Station and Takashimaya/Tokyu Hands has COMPLETELY changed since I wrote this.

They walk past a Starbucks (which at least WAS real; I’m not sure if it’s still there) where two girls are reading a manga together at the counter by the window. Teru internally comments that the girls probably aren’t a couple any more than the schoolgirl and the biker chick on the cover of the manga, but it would be nice if they were. This is pretty much a throwaway detail, but there are a couple of things happening here. First, the schoolgirl and the biker chick on the cover are Hiromi and Emika, the main characters from a second manuscript I had written, that I expected at the time to be my second book, so I added a little cameo in editing. It’s not a REAL cameo, because those characters were 18 in 2016, when their story was set, so they’d only be toddlers, but I put them in in manga form. (Teru and the band also had a cameo in THAT manuscript, where one of the girls says to the other, “You know the singer’s gay, right?”… Even if I never write a full sequel about what happens to Teru and company going forward, I was so excited to at least be able to make it canon that he’s still performing 16 years later, and is either publicly out or at least out in an “everyone knows even though it’s never been officially announced” sense.) The other thing going on here with this wistful “it would be nice if they were a couple” thought is probably that Teru IS wanting to be a little more like a normal couple with Rei… which leads into his next conversation with Yasu.

(That second manuscript is unfortunately never going to be published BTW… I hit a brick wall with editing and just generally have a lot of trauma over the whole process.)

The department store is decorated for Christmas in garish metallic colors that were kind of meant to highlight the difference between manufactured beauty and the inherent beauty of real, imperfect things just kind of as an ongoing theme. Yasu asks Teru if he and Rei have any plans for Christmas… Christmas in Japan is mostly a secular holiday. Only 1% of the population is Christian, so unless you’re a little kid or the parent of a little kid, it’s mostly a holiday for couples… so having some kind of romantic plan for Christmas would kind of be expected. Teru sort of confides in Yasu that they don’t go out much because people stare and Rei is self-conscious, and when Yasu suggests a love hotel, Teru admits that the one time they tried that, it didn’t go so well. Then we get what’s probably my very favorite moment from Yasu in the entire book, when he admits that he’s self-conscious sometimes too, about being “the fat kid who wanted to be a rock star”, and suggests that continuing NOT to have sex with Teru probably isn’t doing much to boost Rei’s body image. This gives Teru a lot to think about, and he lets Yasu load him up with a bunch of pamphlets from a travel agency.

Here, again, he tries to come up with a plan that Rei would enjoy, and I think he does better than he has in the past. Teru rightly thinks it wouldn’t be a lot of fun to take a plane. Even though this was pre-9/11 and security in Japan is more relaxed than in the US, Rei would still need to show his face and would probably set off all the metal detectors, so Teru finds a place they can get to by train, with hot springs (good for pain) that can be accessed via a private bath attached to the room… no need to be naked in front of strangers.

I think it’s very cute that Teru has to ask Seika if the hotel he finds is going to let two men check in together… of course when you think about it, it’s kind of a silly question. People go on vacation with family members or on business trips with colleagues or whatever all the time—no one would even have to know they were a couple. But it’s something I would probably have worried about at Teru’s age, and it feels very in character for him to have that fear!

And then we have the call from Minori, which is going to completely change the fate of the band in the next chapter.