#like dude not everyone can afford to go to concerts and they happen in so limited places as it is

[depressedraisin]

when zakir hussain rakesh chaurasia and niladri kumar are playing a triple concerto for sitar tabla flute conducted by alpesh chauhan and accompanied by the symphony orchestra but you're just a broke student living in the other end of the country

[theworld-accordingtocasey]

Mannnn tell me how I woke up and I’m STILL mad at them. Then they posted that cornball ass annoying 💚D–6💚 shit and I wanted to comment “😒” on it SO bad but I decided I’m in a cold shoulder mood more than I’m in a snarky mood, so they got no engagement whatsoever. I ain’t even click on the tweet and open the app, I could see it from the notification tab so I slid left and finished my breakfast. How about I took a nap and when I woke up 4 hours later to get my bunny his morning salad, I was STILL mad. Stirring my coffee. Thinking of how audacious it is to be wealthy in NYC talm bout some damn “I’m bored” boy if you catch the ferry to the island and go see Lady Liberty or some shit!? All the places they see in movies & he ain’t wanna go look at the shit irl or something?? And then Mr. “I missed Korean food as soon as the plane took off” nigga if you don’t walk over to Woori Jib! I ate there during a few of my trips to NY. If MY Floridian ass knows it exists, your manager should have been able to stumble across that information without trying. Yes you’re allowed to miss home but you just got off the plane!! Not too mad at Jeff cus he hardly talks to anyone or posts anyway. He is a man who for the most part is an Equal Opportunity Non-communicator. I’m salty at mark cus of his “finally” shit but at least while they were here he put some enthusiasm in his tweets and did so IN ENGLISH *first*, since ya know, he was supposed to be talking to US anglophones (glares at Ty and Doyoung). I heard there’s a TikTok going around of him saying how he’s happy to see all the diversity in the crowds or something to that effect. I’ll probably be un-mad at him first, unless there is an apology (which we know won’t happen) from Ty or anyone in the group. SM apparently only responds to boycotts, so i feel like justified in more ways than one for thinking that the next album’s songs can stay in Korea and in Korean charts & shows too, since they wanna gatekeep new performances for only precious kfans 🤡 Saw a post last night that stan twt cooking up a plan to make sure next release, probably a repackage, doesn’t come anywhere near the Billboard charts and ykw? GOOD.

[[MORE]]

Your treat for us was to perform the 2 songs you literally have just finished promoting in SK within 3 days of arriving to LA & that’s…it? & music from 2 releases ago or more which means most of the setlist was more than 2 years old. Yeah everyone wanted Sticker and Favorite but that was over a year ago lol. Collabs have happened since then & recent NEW solos. Not even a mini or EP but a whole ass album that we helped shoot sales through the roof, came out, like!!?

We let a wholeeeee lotta shit slide over the years but I’m seriously over it dude. SM half-assed this “tour” with poorly planned show appearances, badly organized fan event, sketchy staff…Wtf is this “new music only for Korea concert” shit?! SM fr needs to work on their marketing tactics cus this “Kfans first, kfans only” style plan, this “do whatever it takes to stay in not only the good graces of, but rather, the best graces of Korean fans (when ifans have carried them since mf 00:01 of Firetruck and we all know it. Also, we have long confirmed music sales aren’t the bulk of musicians income, it’s TOURING) who absolutely are gonna drop like a bug near a can of Raid when someone goes public with a relationship, is NOT the move.

It’s like they got too comfortable just like a guy does in a relationship. If we wanted to be ignored we can go stan a kpop group with NO foreigners & a company who can’t afford staff to ensure immediate subtitles and regular comebacks, etc. Or even someone from a midsize company who aspires to have a global audience whether they have foreigners in the group or not & is willing to put in more than the bare minimum. Like wtf is SM doing, why are they self-sabotaging when *globalalization* is supposed to be the point of 127 to begin with??

Idc what any group says, BTS’ fame is what they want. Why the hell wouldn’t it be? There’s no shame in admitting, there’s no shame in wanting to be a household name around the world lol. if you want to be at the top fr then you need to stay humble & respect all your fans, cus as someone who helped make it happen, I most certainly did not bust my ass and go that hard for them while feeling disrespected, like??Bighit (it’s past tense so I’m calling them BH) could’ve done better because there were times when they just let us do all the work without promoting the boys well but the boys themselves made it feel worth it because they were happy and thankful to be surpassing levels, that when they became trainees didn’t even register as doable. BH could’ve done better on merch for us too instead of only giving the good shit to JPN army, but that’s a separate issue & again, wasn’t BTS’ choice. Even with Namjoon’s minor goof (I think ppl who aren’t Black &/or debut stans know about it. & I sincerely think at the time that when it came out of his mouth he didn’t understand why it’s problematic…and also I mean. He wasn’t wrong…) and major goof (you know the one) and the WOH incident, he earned forgiveness because he seemed to work with sincerity. AHL definitely helped and to this day no one has done that extent of hiphop boot camp (yes, I am saying that Svt’s lil trip doesn’t compare, you interpreted that correctly).

Do I think there’s a magic formula to get a “““next BTS”””? Hell nah lol That there was a perfect storm (Bigbang had laid the framework, BAP fell off (a big fuck u to their record label btw. We don’t speak the name of that dirtbag but they were doing REALLY good intl especially over here), BlockB messing up w/ the SE fans + Zico fucking up (over… & over… again) + not playing their cards right at ALL, the consistency of their sound rather than it being a 1 era dress-up party, sns (on a shared account mind you! They didn’t have personals!) & talking to all of us not just kfans, AHL, making connections w/ Black artists & maintaining them, having a solid anglophone, helping make their own music frequently, doing their endorsements all or nothing without having 1 known member– I could go on. Point is, the exact formula isn’t possible but it’s not completely unobtainable to be in the ballpark. Neos could be in the ballpark even w/o compromising their 127-ess & sound if they worked at balancing their fandom ((+ not acting like Europe (and Africa, but idt kpop will hit that for a min)) doesn’t exist). The pandemic didn’t help them but they didn’t try to make up for not being able to travel to non-Korean fans.

Ffs kpop is becoming almost trendy instead of just a niche! And the top group is on an official hiatus! & no one has enlisted yet! There’s a void- STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT YOU FOOLS!! It’s not even just SM to blame, they have their own personal accts in various sites, they let the staff have the power by not pushing harder for using the English speakers they have more & obeying when they get told to only speak in Korean. What’s SM gonna do, yank them from the lineup?? If you have fans either as a group or akgaes & they are so flaky that you communicating in multiple languages makes them angry enough to not buy albums like I Superhuman era & leave, let them go!! You’ll get more fans just out of appreciation for the fact that you did the right thing instead of caving in to spoiled nonsensical brattiness. I am so incredibly annoyed by them having no backbones bro. Get a spine or always stay at the mercy of unreasonable ppl willing to drop you for being a fair person and a good idol.

[goldentsum]

━ thirst posts - idol! reader 

CHARACTERS: bakugou katsuki, todoroki shouto, kirishima eijirou, shinsou hitoshi, kaminari denki

GENRE: suggestive themes, crack

AUTHOR’S NOTE: finally, another bnha post-- my submissive and overstim fic on my bnha masterlist was lonely so i whipped up another bb HAHAHAHA UNEDITEDDDD

━ bakugou ♡

an angry boy that hides his feelings inside and in social media--.. he has multiple accounts that caters to different moods that he has, there’s the daddydom acct then theres the sweetbabyboi acct-- HE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN SOMEONE FINDING OUT HE HAS THE LATTER ACCOUNT

kacchan loves you because of the fact that you two were different but also similar, with him being angry and intimidating on the surface but a mess of feelings inside and with you being sweet and soft on the surface but a vixen inside 

DUALITY-! TODOROKI DOESN’T EVEN COMPARE TO YOU WHEN IT COMES TO DUALITY-! bakugou would fight anyone for you if someone calls bullshit on you. he would 100% NO HESITATION would deck someone-- 

he def has thousands of pictures of you in his phone and laptop, the ratio of pics of him and other things to you is outstanding,, 1:8 def

HE ALSO SCREAMED ONE TIME WHEN YOU POSTED A VIDEO WITH YOU SHOWING YOUR DUALITY--! everyone in the dorm thought he was angry, in actuality he was hyperventilating because you’re so hot-- also this happens so frequently, class A doesn’t even address it

bakugou: [SCREAMING IN HIS ROOM]

class a: lol, yall hear something--

[(y/n)ssweetboi]: hOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO SOFT THEN TURN SO SINFULLY PRETTY?? I’M SO ANGRY AND SO ATTACKED RN-!! mOMMY NEEDS TO CALM THE TF DOWN AND SHOULD JUST WRAP THE HOLY THIGHS AROUND MY FACE-! 

━ todoroki ♡

he’s basically the epitome of head empty just (y/n) 24/7 pls--

people would look at him and think, “huh, i wonder what goes inside that pretty head of his?” then todoroki’s brain just goes: “rAIL (Y/N) RAIL (Y/N) RAIL (Y/N) RAIL (Y/N) RAIL (Y/N) “

if someone has a mind-reading quirk, press f for them because of how sinful his thoughts are-- 

HE DOESN’T EVEN CARE IF ANYONE KNOWS HE’S THINKING OF LEWD THINGS! HE’S SO BRAVE PLS-! SO BRAVELY STUPID AND THIRSTY 

in his room, he has a wall and altar that is dedicated for you. all of your merch, the past concert tickets and bands, polaroid pics he got in your albums, and polaroid pics of when he bought the royalty ticket are all on that wall-- yall wondering how he has all that money to afford that? three words. endeavor’s credit card. 

this boy goes all out when you have a concert-! HE STAYS UP ALL NIGHT TO WAIT IN YOUR WEBSITE WAITING FOR THE SECOND THE PRE-SELLING OF TICKETS. he refreshes the site every 1 second pls--

shouto: [refreshing the site for the nth time at 3 AM] [clearly sleepy]

site: PRE-SELLING

shouto: [SHOOKEDT] [awake af] i AM SPEED-! CLICK YOU FU-

he’s also so cocky and boast-y on his account pls-! he’s so different in his main and irl 

[officially_(y/n)sbabydaddy]: i GOT THE ROYALTY TICKET-! AGAIN! you peasants can’t relate, huh. press f for all of you. i’m going to see my baby mama again <3 a little fact for yall, (y/n) smells really good <3 especially when she’s sweating 🥴 bet she tastes amazing as she smells <3

━ kirishima ♡

baby kiri is still a little shy about mentioning that he likes you and kpop but that doesn’t mean if someone ask him about kpop, he’ll act like he hates it or he doesn’t know. 

A CLOSET HARD STAN THOUGH

hard stan kiri goes HARD FR like his quirk and his dicc AND HE CAN’T BE STOPPED IF HE STARTS

he has you being pretty as usual as his lockscreen and got all giddy and happy when his grandmother ask if you were his girlfriend,, bet your ass that kiri said that you are-! 

inside his phone though, is a completely different matter-.. this boy has all sort of thirst pics of you! and he gets a little shy when he stares at your pictures for a little too long and makes eye contact with you in the pic LIKE HE WASN’T JUST THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING LEWD-! 

he and kaminari binge watches you and your group’s web series and THEY ALWAYS WATCH YOUR COMEBACK TOGETHER AND SCREAM TOGETHER

kaminari thinks kiri is a soft stan and tries to get him to join the dark side aka the hard stan side of twitter-- what kaminari doesn’t know is that kiri is on there already and also creates contents here and there 👀

kaminari: bruhh-! look at this edit of (y/n) as a demon-! 

kirishima: [looking at the video he edited all night] wow--

[rockhardfor(y/n)]: if you see something in my pants- PLEASE ITS NOT A WEAPON AND JUST MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! i don’t wanna go through that again as i try to explain that a video of a queen throwing it back is the cause of that-- </3

━ shinsou ♡

HIM AND TODOROKI ARE THE SAME WITH HOW THEIR THOUGHTS GET 0-100 REAL QUICK-! LEWD THOUGHTS ARE LIVING RENT FREE IN THEIR BRAIN PLS-- 

also that tired look on shinsou’s face is not showing what really goes on his head bUT unlike todoroki, he gets conscious of his thoughts when he gets to the real nasty parts when he’s daydreaming as he remembers there’s people with quirks around him

shinsou: [thinks about you getting your guts rearranged by him] hehe~ <3

also shinsou internally: [realizes that someone might know what he’s thinking about] 002223444212487537924 lah la la la laaa! i’m thinking of rabbits-... yeah rabbits lol fluffy rabbits that hops across the garden- nothing dirty here. just pure innocent thoughts

shinsou also creates and reads fanfiction-- as soon as that bell rings, he would zoom zoom out of that classroom and into his room to read smuts

then he gets inspired and he stays up all night to write THE DIRTIEST SMUT ANYONE HAS EVER READ-!! the piece gets A LOT of hearts and comments and he’s PROUD PROUD

now he also has commissions for fanfiction and shinsou is getting money because of how perverted his thoughts are-! he’s also so talented in writing! HE LEGIT GOES INTO DETAILS SO PEOPLE ARE LIKE: “WOAH-!! HOLY WATERRR”

it’s a win-win for shinsou, he can turn his fantasies into stories and GETS money for it? bruh, fap material AND GET CASH <3

[(y/n)as_akittycat]: so is anyone not gonna comment on what (y/n) was doing in the background? KITTY WAS ON H E R KNEESS-!! bruh, kitty is flexible- ya’ll know what this means, right? mORE POSITIONS-! <3

━ kaminari ♡

this boy has no filter THEN HAS THE AUDACITY TO GET EMBARRASS BY IT-! LIKE AREN’T YOU THE ONE WHO SAID, “i want to fuck (y/n) so hard that her ancestors could feel it-” 

so are you not gonna do it? bruh, talk about empty promises- 

HE MAKES SHINSOU SHOOKEDT WITH THINGS HE SAYS AND THAT TIRED BOY MAKES SMUTS-! shinsou def uses kaminari’s lines in his fanfics pls whatta power duo

kaminari: i wanna shove my dick down in (y/n)’s throat and cum so deep, you could see it trailing down her throat--

shinsou: [SHOOKEDT] what the fuck dude?

also shinsou internally: wRITE THAT DOWN! WRITE THAT DOWN-! 

ONE TIME, he got too excited when you posted a video of your choreography wearing those tiny shorts and he short-circuited-- he really went: “wIEEE~” 

he’s cautious now not too excited, especially when he’s outside and you post out of no where

it’s also a miracle that his twitter account is still running with how erotic and lewd he gets in his tweets-- HE ALSO RETWEETS EDITS OF YOUR MOANS IN HIS FEED-! IN HIS MAIN ACCOUNT! HE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A FAN ACCOUNT

he’s either REALLY FUCKING brave or just plain stupid. maybe both idk

[(y/n)k.denki]: have you ever just look at someone and go, “wow, i would really wanna fuck you hard right now” because i do. everytime i see my queen-- LET ME HIT (Y/N)-! I’LL BE GOOD I SWEARRRRRR

[1ddotdhq]

◟̽◞̽ Tues 24 Nov ‘20 🐠

Grammy Nominations and Live Shows OH MY!!

LOUIS’ BACK!!! And I don’t mean “oh he liked something on Instagram” or “oh he tweeted about a RHCP concert”, I mean he’s going to be doing a VEEPS LIVESHOW! And so we solve the mystery of the Spotify vids (they were a stage!): a few hours before the announcement, he tweeted, “Hope you’re all doing alright. Exciting stuff coming up!!”, and then left the masses to wonder what could possibly be happening and when. Three anxious hours later: “So excited to announce that I’m getting my band and crew back together to put on a special show for you all that will be streamed December 12 [!!!adkhfkadhfjj!!!] and will be available for 28 hours after. The show will support 5 important causes very close to my heart”. The causes Louis Tomlinson Live From London will support are FareShare (they redistribute food to communities in need), CrewNation (the LiveNation COVID crew fund), StageHand (similar to CrewNation, but UK based), Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, and paying Louis' own touring crew! The tickets go on sale TOMORROW. If you can't afford one, Luke Massie (founder and CEO of Vibe Tickets) is giving funds away on twitter to fans who want to watch the show! “I’ll do my best to help as many of you as I can see him and his amazing crew perform,” he said. Louis has said that there is no cap on the ticket sales, so I’m taking him at his word and hoping that Veeps is prepared for what's about to happen (they're REALLY not lol.)

And that’s not all!! The press release for the show promised “songs from… ‘Walls”...alongside a few surprises” (I - could it - new music????), as well as “an exclusive range of new merchandise” that comes out tomorrow! The merch proceeds will go to the charities listed above. And! The Telegraph published an interview! Louis promises AN UPCOMING NEW ALBUM (“I had basically penciled down a plan before corona took over our lives”). He says again that he wants to move into the KMM style rock sound, “I think there were some songs where I took slightly more risk and owned what I love, saying, this is who I want to be..there is a certain energy in [KMM], in its delivery, in its attitude, that I want to recreate. People are struggling at the moment so I want to create a raucous, exciting atmosphere in my live show, not a somber, thoughtful one.” He says that he wants this next album to be more optimistic, because that is who he is, but new songwriting is HARD during a pandemic: for him (like for all of us), his days have fallen into a routine, and so he has no ‘new experiences’ to draw from. And, once again, Louis brings up John Frusciante and how he “fucking wishes” he could chat with him. Louis - drop your RHCP stan account PLEASE! We also learned that fans were RIGHT in speculating that he’s been in LA recently (though likely not for the reason the Telegraph wants us to think). About his travels, Louis says, “[The spot he goes to] is remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it... it’s got some very interesting (peculiar?) locals who live there...it feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there.” ANY COMMENT, @/visiteroda??? And, in a rare look ahead, Louis reveals that he wants to manage an all-women’s rock band playing instruments (hey, friend, you know where women could play instruments? YOUR OWN BAND, MY DUDE! Just a suggestion). He said that his process with Syco had become “challenging and frustrating” because the kinds of artists he wants to develop aren’t “ready-made” - he sees a lot of artists that were “rough and ready” but labels want to see “something that works straight away”. But with Syco dust in the wind he can get back to it: HELL YEAH! The band he’s currently got his eyes on is Fickle Friends (an indie Brighton all-female rock band); he says this is the kind of band he wants to manage, “because there’s no one in that space. And I know eventually if I don’t do it, someone else will!”. Guys, I say this a lot, but really, Louis is about to make some WAVES in that space and I can’t WAIT to see it play. But first the concert, please!

AND!!!!!! Harry has been NOMINATED FOR THREE FUCKING GRAMMYS!! GUYS, HE MADE IT! The categories he is up for are: Best Music Video (Adore You - the TASTE), Best Pop Solo Performance (Watermelon Sugar), and BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM! I know that we’re always like, Grammys mean nothing, and how can we feel otherwise 1D was never nominated, but this is a MILESTONE in his career, and I am so happy to see his work getting the recognition it deserves! There were no nominations for him in the general field this year (artist or record of the year) BUT just you WAIT. Everything that Harry does makes me think that he is gearing up for a very long and successful career and I am. Very Happy for him. And so is everyone else! Harry’s friends, family, colleagues, and labels have all been quick to congratulate him on his well deserved recognition. In other Harry news, we got some stills from an Austrailian movie called “Holding the Man” which bear remarkable similarities to the Golden music video. (Were Harry's Vans really in there as a tribute to the film or did that part just work out very well for him??) The movie and the song don’t have anything in common thematically except being gay, but it really looks like a visual homage to this film (or, my personal theory, a fix-it fic to give it a happy ending!). And! Harry was papped on the DWD set with Florence Pugh again today, in a suit and an opulent background - it’s hard to make out Harry’s face, but I think we can guess that it's beaming in pride, as it should be.

GQ Spain did a piece on Liam’s Hugo capsule, praising it for being “the utilitarian style” (“the star trend of 2020”). They’re very nice about it, and seem to be genuinely interested and like the color scheme of the clothes: “the monocolor look...is an irrefutable argument in men’s clothing”. They also praise the collection for being an example that “you don’t need to spend hours in front of a mirror to dress like the best dressed men on the planet”. All of these were meant to be compliments, I SWEAR! Niall was around on Twitter yesterday, reminiscing about the time when some fans asked Justin Beiber to take pictures of them with Niall, it's true Niall that IS hilarious and also good psychic timing: that's EXACTLY how relevant Justin Beiber should be (yes I AM bitter the Weeknd was ROBBED). He also congratulated Shawn Mendes for his documentary, “So proud of this boy. He’s smashed it and always so humble. Well done to everyone involved.X”. I have not seen this documentary but if there are any more “Camila Cabello orders bananas at sushi restaurants moments” PLEASE let me know!

[vivisextion]

I first saw Slipknot at age 14.

No one knows how I managed it. I'm not sure I even remember. These days, you have to be 16 or 18 to get into Standing areas. I do know I had to buy tickets on the phone, back in the old days (2005, that is). A singular ticket, too - none of my friends, not even the classmate who had gone with me to see Linkin Park the year before, was that into Slipknot.

But I HAD to see them. This was the Subliminal Verses tour cycle, and Vol. 3 was my first and favourite Slipknot album, even to this day. It's the reliable old warm blanket for my soul whenever I need it. It's on right now, as I write this.

My memory isn't that good, but luckily I unearthed a livejournal (livejournal!) diary entry about the event I made the next day.

August 16, 2005. I went right after school. I went to a very conservative Anglican secondary school, too. I tried not to get caught in the bathroom, as I coloured my nails black with permanent marker (I know, don't laugh) and changed into my standard metalhead baby outfit - Slipknot band shirt, black cargo shorts, and my pride and joy: steel-toe boots I somehow managed to cajole my parents into letting me own.

I caught the bus to the open-air war memorial park where the gig was going to be. I got there at 4pm, 4 hours early. A couple other maggots were already hanging around. I found myself surrounded by tombstones, and I read them all. It was the middle of the Hungry Ghost Festival, too - a very fitting time for Slipknot to pay a visit to this godforsaken hellhole of a small town I lived in. (Especially given the paranormal circumstances surrounding the making of Vol. 3.)

While I wandered around the venue (no security or sound guys were around at all), I spotted two white vans pull up to the stage, in the middle of a clearing. It was them! I spotted Joey and missed him by a hair's breadth. I was quickly ushered behind the stone archway entrance by security then.

(Funnily enough, while walking around, I got mistaken for Joey more than once. I am the same height as him, had the same long black hair, same pale skin, and was wearing almost exactly what he had been. One person claimed from behind, I was a dead ringer, apart from when I turned around, and they realised I was Chinese.)

It was soundcheck time. A sound guy testing the mics would say random things, like "testing one two three two one.... fudge fudge, I like fudge...." The band even did Purity, so us earlybirds were given a rare treat, and we screamed along from the entrance, and drummed our fists on the sides of nearby porta-potties. I hope no one was in there at the time. Whenever we got a glance of any of them, we'd scream and cheer. Finally they left again, but were soon to return.

This was the first time I'd been a part of the metal community. I was barely allowed internet in those days. But here, random strangers were friendly, striking up conversations like they'd been friends for years. Two big guys, called Trevor and Ted, looked out for me the entire gig after, keeping other big dudes from crushing me too much (I'm 5'3, remember). Other people commented on me being so baby, because I was only 14, and said they would take care of me.

When we were finally let in, right after the usher cut the rope, I ran in, screamed "WOOOHOOO!" along with a few friends I'd made. I only briefly stopped to receive this RoadRunner Records compilation CD from a roadie, then resumed running like a madman screaming and dashing into the VIP cage.

I was right up against the barricade - the first time I would ever be at a gig. People from assorted magazines and press took photos of us, and I think I got my photo taken about 10 times at least.

(This is how I got in trouble with my parents the next day. My photo had ended up in a local paper - you can see examples of that here. They had no idea what I'd been to see the night before, and were horrified when they saw what Slipknot looked like.)

We saw Sid filming us from the stage with a camcorder and screamed at him. We saw Jim and screamed at him too, and he flashed the victory sign back at us. I remember Metallica playing at the time, another one of my favourite bands.

The concert was a brutal religious experience I will never forget. People with their arms outstretched, crying and screaming out loud, moving like the devil possessed them.

The new friends around me made sure I was alright after every song! There were huge guys fainting behind us who had to get carried out, but I endured, a tiny 14 year old child. We got a family speech as per tradition, of course. "Are you guys out there all looking out for each other? We're all one big family, and we gotta look out for each other." What Corey said held true - strangers hugged, shook hands, talked, and made friends. I was heartened by how close-knit the maggot community was. It really did feel like a family, and it's felt like that ever since.

Of course, I did my first Jump The Fuck Up. It is possibly the most euphoria I've ever experienced all at one go. (Later, in 2020, I was extremely disappointed that I didn't get to do it again in London.)

They did the death masks for Vermilion, and I remember Chris helping Sid fix his mask and shirt when they'd changed back. Sid hung out near Clown's drums for most of the time too, and hugged him from behind and just latched on at one point. It was pretty adorable.

Fun fact: The version of Eyeless you hear on the 9.0 Live album is from Singapore, as is Eeyore. There are very few photos and videos from the crowd of this gig, because in 2005, very few people had camera phones. The crowd at the Slipknot gig in 2020 was a sea of arms with phones, filming the gig rather than experiencing it. Yes, I'm going to be that cranky old geezer who complains about the good old days.

Joey as usual, was fucking amazing and never failed. However, due to the fact that I was right up front, only his tiny head was visible behind his vast drum set, I couldn't see him the entire gig.

Amazingly, the government told Slipknot they were not allowed to do obscene gestures, curse, vomit (possibly due to the decomposing crow pre-show ritual), simulate humping on objects, throw faeces, or jump off stage (looking at you, Sid). I don't think our totalitarian government knew who they were dealing with, because watch what happens next.

Near the end of the gig, Corey tells the crowd “your government has given us a laundry list of things we aren’t allowed to do, your government has told us we are not allowed to swear”. Crowd goes “BOOOOOOOOO” and Corey goes “BUT WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK!!” And they launch into Surfacing, the last song. Everyone riots. Best night of my life.

You can find the setlist from that gig here. It had everything I wanted and more.

This story later got immortalised when Kerrang asked maggots for gig stories, for an article which came out in 2020. I had forgotten entirely, until people began messaging me to tell me, and one friend sent me a scan of it!

On the way out, I managed to get a shirt. I remember calling my best friend at the time, and got everyone at the merch booth to go "IF YOU'RE 555 THEN I'M 666" for her. This shirt has since been lost to the landfill, because my Christian mother took it upon herself to dispose of it the first opportunity she got. Needless to say, our relationship is not very good.

After that, I even managed to get that Roadrunner compilation album they were giving out signed. The band was staying at the Carlton. Unfortunately, Joey wasn't there, neither was Clown, and Mick was swarmed by guitar nerds so, 6/9 it is. It is a great regret of mine that I'll never have anything signed by him, nor will I ever get to see him perform ever again.

The next day, I went to school, my head swimming. Yes, I went to see Slipknot ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. I was a giant bruise, from my ribs and my chest, to my hips and knees, from being slammed into the barricade like a screen door in a hurricane. Most of all, my sore, headbanged-out neck could barely hold my head up. Classmates thought I had been in a fight. I was torn between battle-scarred exhaustion and hyperactive ranting about the most amazing gig of my short life (it still is, to this day). When teachers spoke to me, I wanted to reply, "Fuck trigonometry! I've just seen SLIPKNOT. Do you not understand that my world is different? Do you not understand that *I* am now different?"

My country was a small, conservative town that Slipknot had graced with their unholy presence. Corey Taylor once said that where he grew up in Iowa had a way of making a 16 year old boy feel like a 36 year old man (or something to that effect). I felt that in my weary bones as a teenager, being from a place just like that. Years later, Watain would run into worse trouble, and wouldn't even be allowed to perform. The Christian stranglehold is stronger than ever. It was a good thing that back then Slipknot had the element of surprise, striking serpent-fast and choking this society by the neck for a too-brief time, before they departed.

After that, my desire to play the drums only grew like a weed. Joey Jordison had, has, and will always inspire me as a drummer, and seeing the beast live (or what little I could spy behind the massive riser) had only spurred me on. I had always been a noisemaker, be it driving my parents mad with chopsticks on pots and pans, or driving my teachers mad with pencils on my desk. But of course, my parents wouldn't have any of it. I'd have to wait a good 14 more years before I'd be able to afford lessons and later, a kit of my own. Better late than never, right?

There will never be enough words to describe the impact Joey has had on my life. And it isn't just Slipknot, either. I could write another essay on his time with the Murderdolls and its influence on my own gender-non-conforming ways. Suffice to say, my wardrobe doesn't look too dissimilar to his during the early Dead in Hollywood days.

I told my boss I could not come into work today. I was grieving. I said that my music teacher died, as I didn't think she'd understand the magnitude of my loss. In a way, it's true. And I am not the only one Joey has nudged on the path to being a musician, that much is certain. To the rest of us, I wish strength and love for you in this difficult time. The best way to honour Joey, who truly loved music, both the creation and appreciation of it, is to pass that gift on. Teach it to someone. He is the reason I picked up the sticks in the first place, and one day, they'll be handed on, the heavy metal baton for the next generation.

And finally: remember that the ones we have lost are never truly gone.

Vinnie

P.S. See if you can spot me in the crowd photos in this post!

[2-cute-4-school]

𝙉𝘾𝙏 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 : 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙

@cherry-jaemin ~ Hello! Can I request a dreamies reaction to you being an idol and their best friend? Thank you!! ♡ (◕‿◕✿)   ~~~  Thank you so much for your request it was really fun to write, hope you’ll like it!! :)))))

Mark Lee

he cherishes you A LOT (︶ω︶)

but i honestly see him as someone who keeps his private life private

so your close friendship is kept lowkey

but he finds time to spend time with you despite both your busy schedules even if it’s made through your phone screens :(((((

one thing he’s most grateful for is that you understand

you understand what it’s like spending hours in the practice room frustrated, you understand what it’s like constantly missing home, you understand what it’s like working nonstop with no breaks until your body forcefully gives up my heart breaks for him every damn time

you understand him

your friendship is so pure (•ˇ‿ˇ•)

like you can both be laughing your asses off one minute, mark flopping around like a fish on land

and the next one you can be having a therapy session usually consisting of wordless comfort

mark doesn’t seem an emotional person but if there’s one(1) thing that can shatter him is witnessing you on your breaking point

like you were usually the one to check up on him often and pull him away from work for a while before he drowned himself in it

so seeing you overworked and utterly exhausted made him sick

no one could convince him to leave your side for some time (⌯˃̶᷄ ﹏ ˂̶᷄⌯)ﾟ

you clung onto each other and mark softly scolded you for taking more care of him than yourself despite knowing that he’d do the same you’re like his baby he’s allowed to

other than your emotional moments you’re so playful together

‘bruh’ ‘dude’ ‘man’ - your daily vocabulary involving each other -_-

you sometimes gather in a studio and just write lyrics together or help each other with practice bonding time

basically you just vibe together so well and you’re just so grateful for each other’s presence because it eases your hectic and busy lives

you feel like a breath of fresh air to him and vice versa

Huang Renjun

friendship with him is basically clowns clowning each other 🤡

even more so since you can both joke about your shared career

he makes a tradition of reacting to your every m/v god help u he clowns you from the first second to the last

“looking a bit constipated aren’t we, y/n? i guess that hotpot didn’t sit well with you” <(￣︶￣)>

“that’s just my face when i think about u, garden troll”

*huff* *incoherent mumbles of protest*

but he secretly streams THE SHIT OUT OF YOUR M/V and forces the rest of the dreamies to watch it several times too

you watch his radio every evening and sometimes even send in cringy messages just to get a reaction out of renjun lol

so basically you’re super supportive of each other but in your own ways

imagine sleepovers ma friend that’s a wiiild ride

ghost stories, alien conspiracies, crazy theories - THE MAIN MENU

bet y’all renjun can’t sleep without someone he can hold onto after watching or talking about scary things ੧| ‾́ー ‾́ |੭

and you wouldn’t call that cuddling no, it’s more like....strangling....but with love....kinda....yeah that sure  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

on another note, you made it you personal mission to lift his confidence whenever SM doesn’t treat him right (╬ Ò ‸ Ó) y’all evil cockroaches

and renjun always promotes you subtly during his lives

“ ‘renjun can you give us a song recommendation?’ yeah sure actually there’s this song-” spoiler alert : it’s always one of your songs

one of the biggest secrets in kpop is who drew that *absolutely* gorgeous portrait of you that you proudly showed in your own live

spoiler alert x2 : it’s renjun, it’s always renjun

your friendship is really one of a kind

basically best friends lovingly clowning and supporting each other at the same time precious am i rite

Lee Jeno

jeno seems like a very comforting person to me

like he’s someone you can go and vent to about all the pressure of your career and what not

and he’d just listen to you and hold your hand tightly in his if you’re able to meet face to face, he has his own way of grounding you when everything gets hectic （＾ｖ＾）

he’s a lowkey hypeman

whenever you happen to perform at the same awards show as dream he makes sure to dance and cheer cutely for you o(≧∇≦o)

you won an award?? this man is so proud he hollers louder than your fans well basically he’s your no.1 fan soo :))))))

he always tries to shield you away from hate so it’s one of the reasons he doesn’t disclose much of your closeness lowkey protective jeno

you had an airport accident once common against idols unfortunately

lemme tell ya, jeno went NUTS  (｀⌒´メ)

he’s not a confrontational person but he CAN and WILL be when it comes to you

he babies the heck out of you for the next few days :3

and once he has the occasion to turn on vlive he takes a minute to *calmly* explain that while idols love their fans, it’s not fine for fans to invade their privacy and personal space preach sister

you were also close to flipping the sasaengs’s shit up when they kept bothering keno with calls leave the man alone jeez (┛ಠДಠ)┛彡┻━┻

he always reminds you to to take care of yourself

“don’t push yourself too hard” “don’t drink too much coffee, you’ve seen what it can do to jaemin and we don’t want that now, do we?”

he often covers your dances ⌒°(❛ᴗ❛)°⌒ and nails them

“jeno you’re dancing better than me on MY OWN SONG”

“idk what you’re talking about” (＾ω＾)

overall your cheerleader and each other’s poorly read not at all paid bodyguards

Lee Haechan

“your sun is here to enlighten your life!!!!!”

“gtfo hyuck”

this man knows no privacy

he’s ruthless and he visits whenever he wants even if it means that’s on a wednesday AT 3 AM (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

he tells you it’s because your ‘just forcefully woken up’ is the best blackmailing material

in reality it’s because he just misses you A LOT ( ⁍᷄⌢̻⁍᷅ )

this rascal is busy a lot and you’re busy a lot and so every single moment spent with you is so so precious to you both

he gets overwhelmed by this feeling of longing sometimes so he acts on instinct and just barges in wherever you are

but you can also count on him at any time

*middle of the night* *donghyuck sleepily answering his phone* *sniff* *sniff* “hyuck”

“yeah what’s wrong??? who am i beating up???? should i take johnny too???? just say the name cutie (*｀Ω´*)”

you only ended up crying about missing his cuddles

*sigh* “you only love me for my cuddles”

you once told him fleetingly that you missed breakfast and lunch

you found 2 boxes of takeout outside your apartment already paid by a certain someone i need a hyuck pls

he’s also quite vocal about your friendship and randomly mentions you

“y/n told me that i look cutest with my baby belly so unless you wanna pick a fight with them lay off gremlin” ー(￣～￣)ξ

both your dreams are to get to collab on something anything it would be heavenly for hyuck to colllab with anyone tbh

nothing can keep you 2 apart, your duo is just too strong and the world just isn’t ready for you

Na Jaemin

he’s such a warm person

he babies you but just because he wishes you’d have more time to spend with each other ( *’ω’* )

so the only way to quench his worry is texting you daily to make sure you’re alright and taking care of yourself or he’d personally do it

the way he talks about you tho (╯✧∇✧)╯ like you put the stars in the sky you did for him

“y/n is actually quite good at this game, i ate dirt when we played together”

“y/n looks so pretty in those pictures we took together” Σ(*ﾉ´>ω<｡`)ﾉ

“y/n is my favorite model end of story”

talking about his love for photography, you’re his model 80% of the time

his camera roll is filled with pictures of you every time you find enough time in both your busy schedules to meet up

he has enough to open a fanpage if he hasn’t done that already ;)

in turn you’d secretly dedicate parts of the lyrics you wrote to him

i’m telling you he would CRY hearing your sweet voice sing such beautiful words meant for him he would feel so appreciated pls ( ˃̣̣̥ω˂̣̣̥ )

he always says that he has no other friends other than his members so having you validating the strong bond he feels with you would elevate him to cloud 9  :,(((((

i can imagine you two meeting on a variety show a mess that would be

you can’t be too close in front of the cameras in order not to give the wrong impressions

but behind the scenes you’re not leaving each other’s side, chatting and clinging onto each other the entire time (≡^∇^≡)

and even on screen as long as you’re allowed to you’re attached to the hip, ALWAYS beside each other

in conclusion you’re the besties everyone is envious of and wishes to share such a precious bond with someone ∩(︶▽︶)∩

Zhong Chenle

y’all are basically the ‘you can’t sit with us’ pair -_-

another one who i think would keep your friendship private

like it is public that you two are friends but neither of you shares more about your meetups and so on

but chenle is lowkey highkey whipped

chenji making keychains for the rest of nct? +1 for y/n (/^▽^)/

surprise party for chenle’s birthday? you’re dressed as staff waiting for him to notice you after cameras are turned off he screeched so loud the entire building heard him and then proceeded to cling onto you forever

you know how chenle took jisung to him home in china? he took you with him as often as you both could afford the time to he even rescheduled a few times to make it convenient for you to come along (｡•́︿•̀｡)

he buys all versions of your albums cuz he can

going to each other’s concerts!!!!!

i can imagine you accompanying his family to the dream concert (˃̩̩̥ɷ˂̩̩̥) the same one when jeno and jaemin decided to get nakey nakey yes

you’re texting nonstop istg (◔_◔)

chenle can always be seen texting in the waiting rooms and so on

you’re his source of confidence before concert and certain schedules

also you’re probably discussing your hangout plans :))))

which often ends up in playing basketball in a park at night and then getting bored or tired and just wandering aimlessly around

you secretly record duets together unreleased unfortunately ( ب_ب )

and he teaches you how to play piano

basically your friendship is very playful and you find a comfort place in each other to remind yourselves that you’re allowed to have fun and live your lives o(*>ω<*)o

Park Jisung

i think it took quite a while to befriend him

his shyness can get the best of him sometimes it’s okay bby

but once you got hi to break out of his shell you’ve got yourself a lifelong best friend congrats (ര̀ᴗര́)و ̑̑

he shows his caring nature through small acts

texts you good luck and encourages you before award shows

becomes your dramatic weatherman

literally glitches if you ever have even a *slightly* sexy concept

“how did you like the dance, jisungie?”

“i-uh...um...it was...yeah...it was really uh *coughs* *clears throat* it was NICE, yeah...nice” (๑ּగ⌄ּగ๑)

ofc he *absolutely* loved it, he just respects you and looks up to you too much to make any further commentary

you coach each other through dance routines :3

you never fail to calm down and give confidence to jisung whenever his nerves get in the way

jaemin actually specifically asked you to look after jisung during his hiatus

jisung’s TMI’s sometimes involve you  (´ㅂ`๑)

“today’s tmi? i started working on a surprise for you czennies...and i got help from a very talented performer”

the surprise was a dance cover choreographed and performed with you that was the death of your fandoms ੧| ⊗ ▾ ⊗ |୨

you can be considered childhood friends so you understand each other with little to no words spoken

that’s why everyone loves your ‘partners in pure crime’ friendship

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

The Girl I Met on the Internet (Holy, Part 1.)

Series description: Your bestie Kim was a free-spirited person who wasn’t exactly concentrated on finding herself a partner. Yet one day, she recieves a phone number and this time, you didn’t want to keep the person on the other end hanging. And so, you text them, no matter who they are.

Part summary: A party was something unseen in Brownsville, for at least five years. You and your friends go there - and you get a hold on an unknown person’s number sent to your bestie by Stanley Barber.

A/N: I know that I’ve done this with Whatsapp series already but... This just seemed like a super-sweet idea for a closeted queer Sydney is. 

Tagging: x

Sydney’s tape: go fuck yourself

Series masterlist: H E R E

It was a wild evening. The kind of wild you knew you'll remember until the day you die. That was clear as day. Well, in the end, something like this happened once in every five years in Brownsville. What was happening, you might ask?

People puking on the toilets - some of them proceeded to do quite a variety of sexual activities in the said cabins. Drunk dudes were undressing, girls throwing their bras and/or panties (in the worse case) onto the stage. Everyone was dancing, yelling, laughing, and drinking more than they drank beforehand. Oh. And it was a concert. An indie band underground concert. Which naturally caught the attention of many youngsters living in the small town.

Naturally, everyone, there was drunk as fuck and when these said people weren't drunk, they were as high as a kite. Don't be silly - almost no-one there was over the age of 21. No, we're talking about high schoolers. Said reason was the main one for most of the parents not knowing that their children were out there, partying. The whole school was there in the underground club.

Your friend, Kim, managed to assemble the full party - you were there, your gay friend Aaron came, and on top, he brought his boyfriend with him. They disappeared for a while, leaving you and Kim and the bar to buy some beer. Naturally, you had a very vivid idea about what they were doing, but you just let the boys handle their business.

"So..." - You started quietly, looking around at all the young people. Not only your schoolmates were there, but also youngsters from the nearby towns had come there. - "You see some lucky person you like?" - At this question, Kim grinned and took another sip of her beer.

Kim was someone who didn't care about gender or relationships. She was mostly focused on having one night stands and God, she could afford it. She was, indeed, gorgeous in her way. And you were as pretty as she was, yet it wasn't in your nature to just... Approach people. For the most part, you were sure that you're into boys.

But many instances had shown you to never say never. For example, there was this so-called lesbian... Well, now, she was pregnant with a dude who was working in local 7/11, so she couldn't be such a lesbian she proclaimed to be just half a year ago, could she?

"What about you?" - Kim asked back without answering the initial question, sipping from her cup of beer while intensely looking at one chick on the dance floor who was breaking her pelvis while attempting to twerk. Or whatever she was doing.

"Nah. I'm far behind dudes for a while now. We don't wanna repeat the David thing which ended what... A month ago?" - Yeah. As you were shaking your head, there was a grin on your face. David was portraying the role of Mr. Perfect, to put it somehow. Well, in the end, he wasn't as perfect as he wanted you to believe. And when you realized how much of a fraud that person was, you brought the hell on him.

Yet as soon as Kim smirked, even more, you knew she's about to say something borderline controversial. - "Maybe you're searching in the wrong crowd? But who am I to judge." - You watched how her shoulders shrug as you rolled your eyes.

Kim wasn't as much help in the relationship advice department as you'd expect your best friend to be. Every time you've been whining about the escapades with boys, she looked you dead in the eyes, telling you to find yourself a girlfriend. To which, you usually rolled your eyes even harder, telling her that this side of things is her domain more than yours.

And again, she had a response to that - when you meet the person, there doesn't exist a thing like a gender. Sure, she was probably right, but you decided not to jump to conclusions. If you were about to live through some sort of a queer awakening, you wanted it to strike you just like that. You never talked to a girl to ask her out or whatever.

If it was about to happen, who would you be to stop it, right? But you weren't the person who would walk to meet it. So, for the last couple of years, it was Kim's mission to find you a girlfriend. And when you asked her why, she just answered that for a reason, she gets the queer vibes from you.

"Here are my favorite boys!" - Kim cried out as you both saw Aaron and his boyfriend making their way to you. They both looked relaxed as fuck, so that made you more or less sure about what these two were up to on the restrooms. Either they were doing the mentioned sexual activities or they were doing some drugs - and then doing something sexual. Aaron rose his hands above his head, straightening the football jacket on his shoulder just before he hugged one of your shoulders and one of Kim's shoulder. Kim sighed, leaning the back of her head into Aaron's broad shoulder.

"I have... This for you, miss Possible." - His fingers suddenly pulled a small paper from somewhere on his palm, handing Kim a piece of paper with a number written on it. This occurred rather frequently. For an unknown reason, guys neither girls never thought that Kim is an insufferable asshat. She was receiving numbers on pieces of paper now and then - well, she could decorate her whole room with the numbers. As usual, Kim took the paper and looked at Aaron, waiting for the story of this particular number. In the meantime, Aaron's boyfriend left you standing there, going for a cig outside. - "You won't believe this." - Aaron rose his eyebrow, shaking both of you with a childish smile. - "Stanley Barber gave me this number."

"Stan the Man is here? Why didn't you tell me earlier? He sure as hell has some good weed." - Kim widened her eyes, ready to go on a search for Stanley immediately. But Aaron was still holding her in one place, having a dead stare in his eyes. - "Hold your horses. To answer your question, yes, he has his joints with him. But this number belongs to one of his friends who was too shy to approach you. And in exchange for the weed, he wants you to text her." - Aaron explained simply.

Stanley Barber... How would you describe Stanley? You couldn't describe the boy. He was something completely out of this word. No, he and your group of friends weren't friends, but you weren't enemies either. You had more or less a neutral relationship. Sometimes you hung out around each other, sometimes you hadn't seen the boy in weeks. Well... At least you tried not to see him. Stanley himself was unmissable. This boy sometimes came stoned to school, wearing sunglasses and banging his head into walls left and right. His clothes were unmissable as well. Stan was just... Unmissable.

Yet, honestly, you never saw him with anyone who could be seen as a friend figure. Never fucking ever. There was a high probability that Stan was high once again. First and foremost - was this friend real? Second of all - was it a girl or a boy? As soon as you saw Kim's face, you knew she's not texting anyone - but for the first time, it struck you as wrong. Stanley was a cool dude for the most part. You could say that you technically liked the boy. When you realized how much weed he had already invested to keep the relationship on neutral, this was the smallest thing Kim could do.

"Not happening." - "Don't be a bitch." - Aaron rolled his eyes, sighing. - "Stanley gave you as much weed as a cow eats per month. This is nothing to repay him, huh? And... It can end in something fun for you." - The boy proposed and for once, you had to say that Aaron was right. - "Not happening, babe. Stanley's friend is just as weird as he is and I don't wanna do anything in common with that. But let's smoke some fucking pot!" - Kim put both her palms up the air, crying out cheerfully.

"You should text that person. Stan's cool for the most part." - You took Aaron's side in this not-even-an-argument. At that, Kim turned at you and put the small piece of paper into your palm. - "If you can't beat them, join them. I think I know how this would play out, so, now's your turn to try texting a stranger." - Her fingers gently patted your cheek before she turned on her heels, dragging Aaron along. You wanted to go home anyway. And as you watched Kim and the big quarterback disappearing in the distance, you turned on your heels to leave the place as well.

It was a nice evening. You had seen someone gulping down a whole fucking cup of beer under one minute without throwing it out, you saw a dude undressing in front of the stage, a shit ton of people making out, and a few of them throwing up. Sometimes doing these things simultaneously. Which was as impressive as scary. But honestly, you were fucking tired.

Silently, you snuck through the house, closing the door behind. Just when you wanted to call the whole operation a success, you almost stumbled over Mr. Skittles, your super-extra-old tomcat. Even when you almost screamed and Mr. Skittles almost hissed at you pretty loudly to put you back into your place, you both stayed silent and looked at each other. Not too long after that, you were already laying in your bed, trying to fall to sleep.

The next morning, Kim rolled to your house in her old, falling apart Beetle. She was looking worse than you - there were sunglasses on her eyes, she sure as hell hasn't done her make-up in the morning, she didn't even comb her hair, she just put a baseball cap over it. - "You look fucking disgusting." - Was the first thing you told her when you opened up the door. Kim leaned closer to you, pulling her sunglasses down for a minute to look you in the eyes. - "You. Have. No. Idea." - And with that, you set on your way to school.

There still was a mysterious number which was given to Kim. You didn't throw it away but you weren't exactly overhyped to text them. You didn't want to lose the small piece of paper, but you didn't keep it on your field of vision. But there was a day when you gladly took the gamble. It was a few days before one of the shorter holidays, so naturally, there was a big test coming your way. Kim and Aaron were shopping for your stay at your grandma's small cabin just a few minutes down the road.

You, in the meantime, were trying to study. But even the leaves falling on the ground were more interesting than the subject you were trying to study for. So, as you tried to build a small tower from your pens and markers and as it had fallen again, your eyes slowly traveled to the drawer where you stored the small piece of paper for the last few days. Well, you could try it, right? It won't hurt anyone. You didn't even know who's number that was. It would be just like snapping or texting on Omegle, huh?

Slowly, you stood up from your desk and walked to the drawer, taking it out. You were weirdly on edge. It was more than two weeks since the whole concert thingy - the person probably accepted that Kim fucked them over. So you didn't have to stress about this whole situation. You could maybe just make something up in case they would ask where you got the number? This was nonsense. You shouldn't be nervous about such bullshit. So all you had to do was that you had to text the first text. And so you went for it.

You: Is someone there?

That was a tragic first text, that had to be said. And as soon as your phone marked it as delivered, you threw the device away on your bed, turning to your table with your heart in your throat. Why were you feeling so sick? Were you about to pass out? Most likely yeah. And it got worse - because the person had responded.

(Unknown number): Yea, there is. And you are? Where did you get this number?

[thedappleddragon]

hooooo my fucking god I don't know why but recently my anxiety/sence of dread has SKYROCKETED in the last 3 days, I haven't been sleeping great and last night I had an anxiety dream about manning the register at work. idk I guess today was fine but im so fucking overstimulated I guess?? I seriously just dont fuking know. but anyway here’s a summary of some days that I may or may not remember. putting it under the cut

Wednesday I was exited to work, they didn’t need me, I hung out with my friends at their outdoor band concert and had boba and it got super cold out

Thursday I went with my dad to drop off a car, then we had breakfast together at a little restaurant I had never been to before. He told me about his childhood n stuff. Then I went to work and priced things outside and felt good about helping some people buy plants even tho I didn’t know exactly what I was doing and ended up handing them off to Becky anyway. Got off work, came home, hung out waiting to be able to go visit my friend but she took a while so dad and I made the snack he had a lot as a kid which was just handmade chocolate frosting on graham crackers. Eventually my friend got home so I grabbed one of those graham crackers in some Tupperware and some other stuff and headed out. It was a longer drive than I was expecting but eh whatever, I got there no problem with a bunch of dad’s shit in the back of the car. We had awkward hellos in her apartment and I pet her fat ass cat until she suggested we go thrifting and oh my god I had never wanted to go thrifting more in my life than right then. I had one of those moments where I realized oh I’m an adult who can go out and just DO things :D so we walked around and gossiped in goodwil and had a great time until they closed, whereupon steph frantically looked for anything that was open near us while I drove around. We settled on going to a little park nearby, where we climbed on the tube with holes on it and swung on the swings. Then we walked around a dense tree/brush like and into the middle of a field, having our main character moments as we walked to the top of a hill with a cross on it. I took a picture of the sunset and a selfie with both of us before we walked back through the field and drove back to her apartment. I gave her 2 tiny flower jars and she let me borrow her container of earring hardware and a bunch of different tiny things to make into earrings. I had a great time and I’d love to hang out again, maybe when everything isn’t closed lmao. We joked a lot about understanding why people do drugs lmao since there’s nothing else to do! everything’s closed!! Also some joke flirting mixed in for flavor. We have an excuse to hang out again so I can return her earring supplies and she can return my Tupperware lol. I thought my phone was going to die on the way home before I realized there was a charging cord in the car! Nice. Got home, watched my friend stream plasmaphobia for a bit while I finished a birthday gift, and hung out and slept when she quit streaming. 

Friend’s birthday party day!! Also dad moving day!! The first task of the day was to drive with my dad down to the nearest uhaul to pick up a big ol’ truck, and follow him home in the car while he lead the way in the truck. Then we brought his car full of shit to the apartment, got his key and paid his first month, and looked through everything to do inspection. Tbh it’s a pretty nice apartment, I’d love to spend some time there once it’s a bit more furnished. My favorite part is a Harry Potter style hidey hole closet that’s meant for storage, but it’s the perfect size for a secluded hangout spot for me. I’ll totally let him use it for storage if he wants, I just like sitting in there. I joked that I would let Emily hang out in the spare bedroom and I could get the tiny room. But we spent time cleaning and looking around and bringing in boxes before dad sent me to pick up lunch, my sister, and another car load of boxes. I left to do all 3 and came back with Mcallisters, and we all sat on the floor and ate together. A very nice way to break in a new apartment. We brought in boxes and dad sent us on a quest to pick up a car part and drop it off where the car we dropped off the day before. We got there just fine, but getting to the second location was a nightmare because of all my wrong turns and u turns and no left turns, it was awful. I mean we got there eventually but still. By then it was time for me to get home so I could wash my hair and get ready for the party!! I got everything ready, but my sister wouldn’t be home with the car on time, so I just took my mom’s van. I was on time for once!! But in exchange I didn’t realize I had forgotten Cassidy’s gift until I was like 3 minutes away. But also I found driving my moms van very easy compared to last time I tried to drive it, and I think I’m a much more confident driver now :) but I was one of the first to arrive, accidentally twinned with cass, waited for everyone to show up, met her new dog, and then we all packed up the picnic basket and walked to the top of a hill to have our little sandwiches and play cards against humanity. On the walk there we passed by a park where little kids were asking why we were all dressed up if it wasn’t Halloween, so I shouted at them that it was her birthday and handed them the branch I was carrying. We played CAH on the hill and ate little sandwiches and meatballs and drank sparkling juice and had a lovely time, and when we were done, we walked back to her house where there was pizza and we all changed out of our formal wear. My bra was sewed into my dress with 6 stitches, so I grabbed some scissors and flashed my friend’s cat as I cut my bra free of the dress because I forgot to bring an extra. I changed into my ghostbusters shirt and snake onesie and joined everyone outside for pizza and lots and lots of stories and ice cream cake and gossip and quiplash and balloons and gifts and CAH and friends leaving and new friends arriving and more quiplash and then the grass getting cold and wet and going ham on keeping the balloons up and then playing that’s what she said (basically CAH but ✨for women ✨) and by this time there was a dude I didn’t know but he was very nice and cute and already taken. Tbh I didn’t know half the people there, there was a group of 4 cool alt people I had never met and then the 4 band kids I already knew but everyone else seemed to know each other and they all had great energy so I yelled a lot and joked a ton and had an amazing time. As the crowd dwindled and the night got cooler, I helped put things away before I left so I could be a nice guest, said my goodbyes, gathered my things, and drove home past midnight. Ask walked around the house turning off lights like my mom asked, I realized that my dad wouldn’t be sleeping here anymore, and I felt bad that he had to spend the night all alone in his new apartment :( and this is going to be a huge financial burden that idk if he can afford, rent for the apartment is almost as much as my mom pays for the house. Jejdjgjt this is all a mess and I would like to go back to ignoring it all <3 Listened to a lot of two trucks by lemon demon lmao

Hoo boy howdy I did a lot of shit today. Basically as soon as I woke up I got a text from dad about us helping him move with a promise of donut holes and a fruit platter. I walked out to the garage to find our family friends the drakes helping to move boxes, so we all spent several hours loading boxes into our cars and driving back and forth from the house to the apartment, with emily and I avoiding the drakes as much as possible lmao. When we had moved as much as we could in the car, we started loading up the uhaul, shoving as much shit in there as possible so we only had to do one trip there and back. Partially through unloading the truck the drakes stopped cleaning things before we brought them in left and some randos from dad’s work came to help unload and somewhere in the middle of all this our aunt and uncle and her service dog came to visit?? Bruh idk so much stuff happened. Emily asked me to take her home so she could work on school stuff and we put things back into the garage and I went back to the apartment to help with stuff and hang out with my aunt while my dad and uncle returned the truck. We made a list of stuff I might need for college and I wrote it down on a notepad and most of the page space was taken up by ponies tbh. The men brought back burger king and eventually my aunt and uncle left. I helped my dad clean up and set up his wifi and we watched mama Mia. It was my first time seeing the film, and it was really dang fun. Then I made dad drive me ho e since emily was still gone with the silver car. I’ll spend he night over there eventually, but not yet. I’m exited to eventually invite friends over since I’ve never been able to do that before. So now I’m home trying g to go to sleep so I can work tomorrow. I keep thinking about smoking weed and making out with someone in the hidey hole in dad’s apartment............ even tho I have literally no one to do that with afsagssg I’m a CHILD. 

Had dreams last night about being stuck on the infinity train again, except there was a mechanic of switching the world between 2d and 3d and the cast of Bluey had to help bingo go through stages of grief / character moments to help her get off the train or something. I was tossing and turning for a few hours anxiously waking up thinking I was gonna be late and going back to bed so I could sleep/dream more. But then I finally got up, fed my cat, fed myself, helped clean the kitchen a little bit, got ready for work, arrived 15 minutes late on accident, worked register for 6 hours, got more comfortable with register and learned how to do stuff, lots of friendly people, lots of me struggling and my bones hurting, dad brought me food but I couldn’t get to my lunch break until everything was room temperature. The chicken sandwich reheated well but the fries did not. After work dad and I stopped by the house, I got an info card to fill out so I can be called in for jury duty eventually, dad handed me $50 for dinner for us and my sister, we laid on the floor and looked at the noodles and company menu, drove there, picked up our food, had a lovely dinner at dad’s apartment, laid around while he talked to Greg on the phone, went to target to pick up small apartment things like a clock and a trash can and some small groceries but it made me nervous because I hate spending money and watching my dad spend money he may or may not have, and by then we were tired as shit and after dropping his stuff off emily and I drove home and I tried teaching her how to crochet for a school project. Now I’m hanging out wanting to go to bed and thinking about how everybody else my age working at ACE is doing like 60 hours a week with 2 jobs and saving for college and I’m just sitting here with probably 14 hours a week and fuck. I don’t want to spiral into shit, I just want to keep busy as much as possible. Maybe I’ll ask for as many work hours as possible, maybe I’ll ask my friends to hang out, idk. Right now I jut want to be busy so I don’t have to think about anything. I’ll spend as much time as possible helping my dad set up his apartment, I don’t care.

WAAAAA TODAY AT WORK WAS SO STRESSFUL, I LEFT FELLNG SO FRAZZLED IT SUCKED. basically I worked register for 4 hours but they’re all trying to ween me off asking for help to get me more comfortable, and we were surprisingly busy, and my garden boss becky asked me to do 2 extra things and my boss boss kept asking about paperwork that I couldn't fill out because I needed my sister to text me something, and an old man got mad at me over the phone because no-one was out there to fill his propane tank and I had a lady waiting for 10 minutes for someone to help load salt into her car and a middle aged man tried to use sarcasm at me while I was in friendly cashier mode aND IM SORRY I HAVE ADHD I DONT GET IT PLEASE S T O P and I tried answering the phone more and I didnt get the things done that becky asked and I left shit there because I just wanteD OUT. afterwards I went to target to get something, idk im writing this afterwards so I not really remember 

and today, my day off. ugh god I dont remember what I did, I know I picked up a vent for my mom’s bathroom and I just went to go get Taco Bell with my sister and bought her some more about crocheting and she’s making progress :) tomorrow is my friend’s birthday and last year I made her a felt doll of her fursona, so today I started making a crochet doll for her. so far I have the body and libs, but I still need to make the muzzle, tail, ears, attach everything, and hand-sew on all the markings and glue on button eyes. or maybe felt eyes, idk. my stomach hurts and I got upset because I told my mom my cat may be sick because her pee looked suspicious so I crocheted and watched my little pony and now I have a headache and im just trying to listen to music but really I just want to watch 50 arms videos at once but it wasn't loading right and idk man I dont know what’s happening, I may be going into work tomorrow. I think now that I have a job to do 3-4 times a week, I dont feel like I can just chill and wing it anymore, it’s like I have plans forever now. and oh god I still have to sig up for college orientation night or whatever, but my mind hasn'tt been on college for like a month or longer. I think im just going to take some Advil and try to relax with my cat and my music. holy shit dude. I know none’s gonna read this but just. fuck. also I should really post these more frequently rather than let them pile up in my texts. thinking about going back and adding all the dates like I did with my early quarantine diary, but that feels like a lot of work

[helloamhere]

Surge pricing, ambiguous realities, and general fuckery

Watching dynamic ticket pricing discourse today I was just really fascinated to see how badly it seems like these systems are being handled, and here is a completely unworked dump of the thoughts pooling in my head about it: 

- A lot of systems are claiming to be “smarter” these days

- Often (not always, but often) when we say “smarter” about tech systems we mean that they can “adapt” without us building an entirely new system or manually flipping the switches ourselves

- This is indeed part of the thinking behind a lot of machine learning or even AI in our digital environments (although very few things that are called machine learning are actually machine learning and many people despair at the fact that we’ve started calling machine learning “AI” on top of it. I like to keep it simple and call most things like this “math”)

- Watching all of this ticket stuff go down, I thought about some really interesting examples of automated dynamic change that I’ve seen in my work and why it is that these systems break so easily

- First the devil’s advocate side: it can be really cool/good to build a system that dynamically responds to the pressures it feels. It’s hard for humans to accurate predict demand even when they need to (as you see every time a viral link makes a website crash, or when you first tried to download Pokemon Go—sometimes they call the kind of server crash that Pokemon Go had a “disaster success” btw which is a phrase I love). Sometimes these systems can be very helpful because you don’t have prices change solely because some bullshit market dude is gunning for a promotion and made a pseudo prediction model based on shitty data (I like to keep it simple and call it “bad math”) suddenly skyrocketing the price up arbitrarily, and it’s just faster and easier to implement so you can implement it. If the price drops because a thing need to fill, that can be cool for those who want to go and incentivize sales and everyone is happier. Student rush tickets for theaters, at scale, etc.

- but gosh these things don’t work very often. Why are they so bad? Why do they make us feel so mad?

- well, it sucks to be in a system of invisible change

-it also sucks because we can see them break during edge cases all the time. Systems that change in response to new data always do it because they are following some rule. Often the rule is extremely simple (“100 people are in the queue, therefore increase the price by X amount”). But the problem is that as soon as you get an edge case, if you didn’t build in any safeties your system will start to create bananas outcomes

- this is what we saw when Uber does things like charging people upwards of $1000 to get a ride out of a public emergency. No safety built in to tell the system, something is clearly happening here, we should control this and set a ceiling for this change

- Maybe they just don’t care about these bananas outcomes--a 1k ticket price? Whatever if someone will pay it!! But the problem I often face as a scientist in that realm is that these systems change people’s behavior and like my dudes that effect lingers way past a single point of sale 

- when you put users in a system of invisible affordances and changing realities, it feels very hostile. Because it is hostile when it hasn’t been designed with care and most of them aren’t designed with care.

- This is relatively irritating when you’re talking about buying a ticket to a concert; it’s hideously damaging when you’re talking about systems that start advertising housing to people of one race and not another.  

- maybe it’s a big jump to connect things like dynamic ticket sales to these algorithmic discrimination cases but the conceptual experience has some parallels; the reality that’s being served to you is individual, changing, not something you have control over, and it’s a black box that you’re not supposed to see inside 

- this truly annoys me because I build some of the gears in those black boxes and I know that they’re not magic :). 

- As people’s behaviors change, trust further diminishes. Now we don’t know whether the price we’re seeing is the same as the price other people are seeing and we don’t know if other people know more than we do and the whole thing becomes like layers of anxiety-provoking game theory, I hate that

- layered on top of this is the fact that the web is fundamentally broken in a lot of small ways all the time, so of course, maybe the website itself just bugs out, which is even more hostile for users

- I really wonder why they didn’t design a kinder system that would let people come into a queue and get a ticket that is price bracketed to a certain level, and then within that level, there might be some shift....like you could set a ceiling for yourself. But changing price between putting in basket and checkout, that is some real fuckery. You’ve essentially broken the user social contract after the decision point and we all hate that. It feels like being lied to because it is being lied to.

- I also think these systems very deeply fail at considering things over time in the way that humans need to; I experienced this in a wonderfully broken loop trying to get a train ticket in France this last summer where everyone was buying a ticket at once and the ticket machine kept letting all of us select the few available tickets and then telling all of us there was suddenly too much demand for any of us to buy those tickets; basically someone had not written a way to sort people all doing things at the same time in a way that made sense. More breakpoints to design for!

- I just wonder about the way this shapes and impacts people’s hopefulness about getting tickets. Even if the system isn’t as bad as it sounds or even if the most extreme prices don’t always happen it’s still overall really hostile to think that’s hanging over you. Like, if you want to grow a consumer base or a fandom you don’t professionalize it, you need to have entry points that are accessible. I mean, if you care about it. @cuethetommo thank you/blame you for encouraging me to blather on 🤗

[thecoleopterawithana]

Knowing That Love Is To Share

It’s common knowledge within the Beatles fandom that those four Liverpool lads were an acquisitive bunch. And who could blame them, having grown amidst the financial insecurity of a war-torn Liverpool? Even John Lennon, who had inarguably the most comfortable upbringing of them all (middle rather than working-class) didn’t hide his thirst for wealth. In 1963, he was singing this out in their cover of ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’.

John coveted so much the freedom and power afforded by money that he even had dreams about it.

[I once had] one really big one about thousands of half-crowns all around me, and finding lots of money in old houses and just as much of the stuff as you could carry. I could never carry enough. I used to put it in my pockets and in my hands and in sacks, only I could still never carry as much as I wanted.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Alan Smith for New Musical Express: Beatle dreams (22 July 1966).

Curiously, in an early example of John and Paul “sharing in each other’s minds”, John had this dream of finding riches around the time he met Paul, who himself had an incredibly similar one.  

The teenage Paul McCartney would love the idea of fame. That’s what he was trying to do, that was the dream. But it’s funny – life gives you minor premonitions. You don’t think of them as premonitions until the dream comes true and then you think, ‘Hey, I wonder if that was a sign.’ I remember when John and I were first hanging out together, I had a dream about digging in the garden with my hands. I’d dreamt that before but I’d never found anything other than an old tin can. But in this dream, I found a gold coin. I kept digging and I found another. And another. The next day I told John about this amazing dream I’d had and he said, ‘That’s funny, I had the same dream.’ So both of us had this dream of finding this treasure. And I suppose you could say it came true.

— Paul McCartney, The Big Issue: Letter to my younger self (16 February 2012).  

Of course, the love for the craft itself was there, but they never hid the thrill they got from being able to finally write their wealth into existence.

Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now let’s write a swimming pool.’ We said it out of innocence. Out of normal, fucking working-class glee that we were able to write a ‘swimming pool.’ For the first time in our lives, we could actually do something and earn money.

— Paul McCartney, interviewed by David Fricke for Rolling Stone (8 February 1990).

I introduce this – their love of money – because it might have made them avaricious when they finally got it. That’s not what happened.

I'll give you all I've got to give If you say you love me, too I may not have a lot to give But what I've got I'll give to you I don't care too much for money Money can't buy me love

— ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ (1964)

Paul – used to making ends meet from early on – grew up to be fairly money-conscious. This kind of preoccupations had always been on his mind, especially since his mother (who was the main provider for the family) had died.

Being able to get by is a big deal for him.

That’s why I am always overwhelmed by the sweetness of his wonderment at John’s generosity. It is one of my most treasured facets of their relationship.

One day we walked into a sweet shop, and John bought some chocolate. He said, ‘would you like half?’ I said, ‘Wow, you’re willing to share your chocolate with me?’ What a dude! [laughs] The things that stay most in my memory are the smallest things, the ordinary things.

— Paul McCartney, interviewed for Readers Digest (November 2005).

And as good as this quote is, it omits the true significance of this episode. Paul reveals just how much it meant to him in private company.

[Bono’s] like, a student of the Beatles. He’s read every book on the Beatles. He’s seen every bit of film. There’s nothing he doesn’t know. So when Paul stops and says ‘That’s where it happened,’ Bono’s like, ‘That’s where what happened?’ because he thinks he knows everything. And Paul says, ‘That’s where the Beatles started. That’s where John gave me half his chocolate bar.’ And now Bono’s like, ‘What chocolate bar? I’ve never heard of any chocolate bar.’ And Paul says, ‘John had a chocolate bar, and he shared it with me. And he didn’t give me some of his chocolate bar. He didn’t give me a square of his chocolate bar. He didn’t give me a quarter of his chocolate bar. He gave me half of his chocolate bar. And that’s why the Beatles started right there.’

— Matt Damon, interviewed by Tom Junod for Esquire (8 July 2013).

“That’s why the Beatles started.”

I’ve seen it emphasised how Paul was drawn to John because he was impressed by his powerful charisma, his biting wit, his rough teddy looks. But Paul himself has stated over and over that what attracted him to John – what won him over in the end – was the underlying softness. It was the humour and intelligence, yes. But it was also that John’s favourite songs were “Close Your Eyes” (1933) and “Little White Lies” (1930). It was the fact that John gave him not a bit, not a square, not a quarter, but half of his chocolate bar.

I may not have a lot to give but what I've got I'll give to you

These giving gestures would continue on other treasured episodes, like the ‘61 Paris Trip.

And Paul and I also did the same thing, once. We just cancelled. We’d made it, in Liverpool. We were making good money, for those days. I can’t remember what it was – maybe a couple of hundred dollars a week – but enough that you’d have a little extra. You’d have it in your back pocket. And Paul and I just— A relative of mine gave me a hundred pounds, for my birthday, which I’d never seen that much money in me life. Paul and I just cancelled all the engagements, and left for Paris… And George was furious because he needed the money – to work, you know. But that was another time when the group was in debate as whether it would exist or not.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Elliot Mintz (1 January 1976).

John and I went on a trip for his twenty-first birthday. John was from a very middle-class family, which really impressed me because everyone else was from working-class families. To us, John was upper class. His relatives were teachers, dentists, even someone up in Edinburgh in the BBC. It's ironic, he was always very 'fuck you!' and he wrote the song Working Class Hero – in fact, he wasn't at all working class. Anyway, one of John's relatives gave him £100 I would be impressed. And I was his mate, enough said? 'Let's go on holiday.' 'You mean me too? With the hundred quid? Great! I'm part of this windfall.'

[...]

We’d never been there before. We were a bit tired so we checked into a little hotel for the night, intending to go off hitchhiking the next morning. Of course, it was too nice a bed after having hitched so we said, ‘We’ll stay a little longer,’ then we thought, ‘God, Spain is a long way, and we’d have to work to get down there.’ We ended up staying the week in Paris – John was funding it all with his hundred quid.

— Paul McCartney, in The Beatles Anthology (1995).

One night, they went to a concert by France’s only rock'n'roll star, Johnny Hallyday, paying an astronomical seven shillings and sixpence (35p) each for seats at L'Olympia theatre, little dreaming they themselves would soon top the bill there.

— On John and Paul’s trip to Paris. In Philip Norman’s Paul McCartney: The Biography.

Of course, Paul also gave what he could, and that rendered the gift extra special.

JOHN: Paul got me a wimpy [a hamburger] and a coke for my 21st.

PAUL: Mind you, that was back in ‘39!

JOHN: I know! (laughter)

PAUL: (jokingly) They were more expensive.

— Sydney press conference (11 June 1964).  

And even later in 1966, despite being extremely hurt by Paul’s extramarital forays into film score composition, John still offered his financial support.

I copped money for ‘Family Way’, the film music that Paul wrote while I was out of the country making How I Won The War. I said to Paul, ‘You’d better keep that,’ and he said ‘Don’t be soft.’ It’s the concept - we inspire each other. We write how we write because of each other. Paul was there for five or ten years and I wouldn’t write like I write now if it weren’t for Paul, and he wouldn’t write like he does if it weren’t for me.

— John Lennon, interviewed by BP Fallon for the Melody Maker (1969).

While they were bound by name (and even before any official contracts were signed) Lennon/McCartney did live by “what’s mine is yours”, everything they created shared 50/50.

As Paul would put it in their beloved “Here There and Everywhere” – Paul’s favourite out of all his songs and the one John favoured most of all out of all the songs he’d heard since he’d been in the scene, as of 1966 – they knew that love is to share.

And even when the sharing stopped, the love continued.

[luciana-galvez]

A Night Of Surprises

Fandom: The Dirt

Words: 3.2k (i got carried away oops)

Pairing: nikki sixx x reader

Warnings: none i think

Notes: this doesn’t quite fulfill the last request but i hope you like it anyway anon. also if you want to be added to the taglist or be taken down for specific stories (because i get confused about who wants to be tagged in what haha) just let me know!

Request:  Anonymous Could you write an imagine for Nikki sixx where he falls in love with a girl who wears a lot of pink and is really girly and maybe not into the same scene that he’s into!? I like the soft-hard dynamic😂 I love your writing by the way and I’m so glad you’re writing for the dirt😭😭💖

@miserablecunt Can you write an imagine for Nikki?! Literally anything!! I just need more of him and I have no ideas😂

Anonymous  can u write something about nikki being with a girl who is actually quite girly and everyones like ?????? why ????? 💞

Backstage at a heavy metal concert was the last place you had pictured yourself ending up in. The more you thought about the, the more unlikely it became, but here you were, part of the team to get Mötley Crüe ready for their first American tour on a daily basis.

“Vince, where’s your choker?” you asked pointedly.

“What choker?” he retorted with a confused look.

“There’s a choker that goes with your outfit,” you said, already mentally going through the last hour to see where it might have become lost in the process.

The whole band was about to go on stage, and Vince had showed up late already, and now a piece of his outfit was missing, and the perfectionist in you was suffering. This whole rock and roll business really wasn’t for you.

“Give me two minutes,” you said as you already turned around and jogged back down the hallway, trying to check all the dressing rooms before they had to go up on stage.

When you had studied fashion and costume design, this really wasn’t what you thought you’d end up doing. You had pictured yourself working for a big designer, or even played with the idea of working for Hollywood, but designing costumes for a metal band hadn’t occurred to you even in your wildest dreams.

But then Tommy had offered for you to give it a try. You two had gone to high school together and kind of lost touch afterwards when you went off to university and he did whatever allowed him to rock and roll. His words, not yours.

And then a few months ago you had run into him again, and he had told you about this band he was in, and you had told him about finishing your degree, and he had ecstatically told you about how his band was looking for over-the-top costumes. You had laughed it off at first, but Tommy had been so persistent that you eventually agreed to at least meet the band.

You went into the meeting expecting to meet a rowdy bunch of guys that deemed themselves too cool for school and that you would part ways acknowledging on both sides that it wasn’t the right fit, but when you did meet them, things turned out differently.

Yes, it might not have been the right fit, especially when you showed up to the meeting in an outfit that was the exact opposite of what was considered metal. But when Mick and Nikki doubted your ability to make costumes for them so vehemently (“We’re not going to perform in pink fucking ruffles” you remembered Nikki saying), you were determined to prove them wrong.

And that’s how you ended up as Mötley Crüe’s official costume designer.  

Now, you were desperately rummaging through each of the dressing rooms in order to find Vince’s choker. Luckily, you eventually found it in Vince’s dressing room and cursed him out under your breath for being a slob. At some point they really had to start making your job easier.

You hurried back out of the room and jogged down the hallway until you found the band. They were standing at the stairs to the stage, ready to start their show any minute now.

“Okay, got it,” you announced and walked up to Vince, easily attaching the choker as he craned his neck.

“Let me have a look at you,” you said when you had finished, and the whole band stood up a bit straighter for you to inspect the outfits.

You tweaked at Tommy’s outfit, readjusted Mick’s harness, and eventually stopped in front of Nikki, searching your pockets for the black paint you knew you had in there somewhere.

“Your paint is smudged. Hold still,” you said and carefully held on to his chin so he wouldn’t move. “Hold still.”

You used your thumb to try to wipe away the smudged edges of the lines, but the paint didn’t come off. You sighed. “How did you already smudge this before the show even started?”

Nikki simply shrugged.

“Lick this,” you said, holding out your thumb to him.

“What?”

“I’d do it myself, but that’d be weird,” you said, and when he didn’t move, added “Just do it.”

He eventually licked your thumb hesitantly, and when you tried to get the smudges of this time, it worked without a problem.

“There we go,” you said more to yourself than to him. All that was left to do was reapply another layer of paint, and Nikki patiently let you.

“Alright,” you said, letting go of his chin and taking a step back to look at your finished work. “Try not to ruin your outfits tonight, will you, boys?”

“We don’t make promises we can’t keep,” Vince shrugged, and you rolled your eyes, but your gaze stuck to Nikki, who was looking at you with a peculiar expression.

“What?” you asked.

It looked like you had startled him out of his train of thought, because he simply shook his head in confusion and mumbled “Nothing.”

And then it was time for them to go onstage. You stayed long enough to watch them play Shout At The Devil and then retreated to one of the crew’s backstage rooms, which was now peacefully empty as most people were watching the concert.

You found your backpack in the corner, pulled out your sketchbook, and made yourself comfortable on the couch. You spend the next forty minutes playing with new ideas for costumes until the noise level outside started rising up again, which told you the show was over.

You went out into the hallway just in time for the band to turn the corner, and your eyes started scanning their outfits for damage.

“You guys listened to me,” you said in surprise as you noticed that they were, except for a few tears here and there, mostly intact.

“We have our moments,” Vince shrugged.

It was your job to make sure all the costumes were ready for every show, and on particularity bad nights it had happened that that you stay almost all night after a concert in order to fix the damage. Sure, they had multiple costumes and could afford to lose one or two, but if you wouldn’t spend so much time cleaning up after them, they would run out of outfits two weeks from now.

You waited until they had all changed out of the costumes and collected them to bring them to the bus. Seeing as they were in pretty good shape, you could take the night off and fix them up on the bus ride to the next stop tomorrow.

You knocked on Nikki’s door last and waited for him to let you in. Instead of his glamorous black costume, he was now in black leather pants, a white-and-black striped shirt, and a leather jacket. The paint on his face was still there, and you smiled as you saw that, naturally, it was smudged again.

“You’re staying to watch Ozzy?” he asked as he handed you his stage outfit and you threw it over your arm with the others.

“If I don’t watch your show, what makes you think I’d watch the prince of darkness?” you grinned.

“You don’t watch our show?”

You laughed. “Sorry. I watch bits of it, but it’s not quite my scene.”

He sat back down on his couch and gave you an inquiring look. “So, what kind of music do you listen to?”

You shrugged. “I like ABBA, Fleetwood Mac—”

“Evidently,” Nikki smirked and gestured towards your outfit. You were wearing your flowery jumpsuit with a pink belt that made you look particularly hippie.

“Evidently,” you agreed and pointed at it.

“So, what are you up to instead?”

“Now?”

“Mhhmh.”

“I’m gonna drop these,” you held up their outfits, “on the bus and then I’ll find a quiet diner and work on my sketches. And I’m starving, so I’ll head out now.” You started walking back to the door and added, “Enjoy the concert and your afterparty. Or strip club. Or wherever you end up today. Just don’t let it be jail,” you turned back around for a moment and gave him a playful wink.

“Actually,” Nikki started as you were halfway through the door. You stopped and looked back at him, and he looked like he was still contemplating what he was about to say.

“Do you mind if I join you?” he added after a moment.

You leaned your head to one side and narrowed your eyes, trying to figure out if he was fucking with you. The band was notorious for their wild afterparties, so that Nikki wanted to skip it and instead accompany you to a diner seemed entirely out of character.

“Okay,” you said, but it sounded more like a question.

He didn’t seem to notice. “Cool,” he said, took another swig from the whisky bottle that was standing on the coffee table in front of him, and then got up. “Ready.”

You lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. When you left his dressing room, Tommy was excitedly jumping towards the two of you from the other side of the hallway.

“Dude Ozzy is about to start, let’s rock and roll!”

“We’re actually gonna head out to dinner,” Nikki said simply and Tommy’s expression turned to confusion for a moment. His gaze wandered from Nikki to you and back again, and then he broke out into a big grin and clapped Nikki on the shoulder. “Alright man, make sure to use protection.”

“Jesus Christ Tommy,” you uttered exasperatedly and he laughed, already skipping further down the hallway to get the others.

Nikki and you walked to the crew bus in silence, and he stood back and waited while you handled the outfits. Then, you were on your way. It didn’t take you long to find a diner that wasn’t too busy, and you sat down in a corner booth and ordered waffles while Nikki simply opted for a drink.

“Go ahead,” Nikki said as the waitress disappeared.

You simply looked at him questioningly.

“You said you’d come here to sketch,” he explained.

“You came with me to….watch me sketch?” you asked.

Nikki shrugged. “I’m curious to see what you have in store for us.”

You looked at him for a moment longer, trying to gauge what had gotten into him today, but then decided to go with it and pulled out your sketchbook.

“I don’t have anything finished but I’ve been playing with a few ideas,” you started as you flipped through the pages until you found the one you were looking for. “Like here,” you said and pushed the notebook over to Nikki, “I’ve been wanting to introduce a bit more color, so I thought something like this for Tommy. You’ve seen him sport leopard print pants, so I’m thinking to get a bit more pattern into his look.”

“And here,” you said and flipped the page over for him, “I really like Vince’s look with only the harness and no shirt, but I want to mix up the pants a bit. So instead of having him in plain black leather pants, I want to experiment with introducing the color scheme from the harness into the pants as well and get some red patches in there.”

You paused for a moment, but Nikki remained silent. “Like I said, none of these is finished and they’re just ideas I’ve been playing with…” you trailed off and looked up at him. He had a concentrated look on his face as he studied your sketches. You watched him start to flip through the pages and realized you were anxious to know what he was thinking. The longer he remained silent, the more you thought he hated them.

“What do you have in mind for me?” he asked eventually, looking up at you for the first time.

“I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I was thinking of puffy shoulder pieces.”

You could see that he was about to protest, so you quickly added, “No, not like you think!” You laughed. “Something like this,” you trailed off and pulled the notebook back to yourself and flipped to an empty page. You rummaged in your bag for a pencil and started sketching what you were thinking off.

“See, not like housewife-puffy-shoulders,” you continued while sketching, “but more like ‘Sydney-opera-house puffy. And then add some chains or studding.”

Nikki craned his neck to watch you sketch and nodded, contemplating. “Yeah, I like that.”

You smiled. “Good.”

It was another fifteen minutes before your food arrived, and you spent it in silence as you continued sketching and Nikki watched. When he had announced that he wanted to join, you had expected it to be awkward, but you were surprised how comfortable silence was with him.

When the waitress brought your food and his drink, you put your sketchbook away and hungrily started digging into your waffles.

“So, do you do this every night?” Nikki asked. “Go to a diner after the show and sketch?”

“Mostly,” you said between bites. “When I’m not stuck fixing your costumes I tend to look for a quiet place to be alone.”

“Why?” he asked, but there was genuine interest behind the question.

You thought for a moment. “Your lifestyle can be quite overwhelming,” you shrugged eventually, “sometimes I just need to get away from it for a while.”

“My lifestyle?”

“You know, sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll,” you smiled.

“It really isn’t your scene, is it?”

“Nope.”

“Then why did you agree to do it?”

“To prove that I could,” you replied honestly. “You were so disbelieving that a girl that likes pink can design costumes for you that I made it my mission to prove you wrong. I like a good challenge.”

Nikki grinned. “I can appreciate that.”

“So,” you leaned forward, “what turned you into the badass rockstar that you are?”

“An unfit mother, a non-existent father, and a revolving door of asshole stepfathers,” he shrugged it off, but you could tell there was real pain behind his act of not caring.

“Ah, the classic story,” you replied, not unkindly. “So you fill that hole with sex and drugs?”

“And I assume you are the cheerful girl that you are because you had a rosy childhood with a picket-fence garden and Sunday night family dinners,” he challenged you, but there was no hostility in his voice.

“Well, we didn’t have a picket-fence, but our Sunday night dinners were lovely,” you grinned and he laughed.

“No wonder everyone in your family is a saint.”

“Well, my bother used to live the rockstar life,” you said. “He wasn’t unlike you. Lots of alcohol. Lots of drugs. Lots of getting arrested.”

“Oh, and he didn’t manage to influence you and pull you to the dark side?” Nikki smirked.

“No,” you replied matter-of-factly, and your expression turned serious. “Because he overdosed and died.”

Nikki’s face fell. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” you replied. “Shit indeed.”

Nikki thought for a moment. “Then why would you agree to come on tour with us? And spend all day every day around people that constantly do drugs and party?”

You shrugged. “I stayed away from it for a long time, and cut everyone that did drugs out of my life. But to be honest,” you paused, trying to find the right words, “I don’t know, it just became easier to be around it? I know the warning signs of when it turns from normal partying into an actual issue. I couldn’t save him, but maybe I can save the next one.”

You were silent for a moment, contemplating on how to formulate your thoughts. “Listen, I know you think I’m this naïve, gold-hearted girl from the Valley without a worry in the world, but I know how dark life can get. I’ve been in a really fucking dark place after he died, and it took everything I had to crawl back out of it. I’m kind to people because I know what it’s like to wish you were dead every day.”

Nikki stared at you for a long time after that, with an expression you couldn’t quite read. Eventually, he cleared his throat. “You really have your shit together, don’t you?”

And with that, the tension was broken. “Not really,” you laughed.

You ended up spending five hours in the diner, talking about anything and everything. Nikki told you about trying to get his mother arrested, about running away from home without a place to go, about coming to LA and unsuccessfully trying to make it with a bunch of bands before he finally found Tommy, Mick, and Vince, and you told him about your family, about working two jobs when you were in college because you were determined to pay it off by yourself, and about your high-school prom where you ended up having to take care of your drunk date all night.

When you walked back to the hotel, Nikki gave you his jacket, and you gratefully wrapped yourself up in it. You could see that a bunch of people that passed you gave you curious looks, surprised by the miss-matched pair of a mean-looking rocker next to the girl in the flowery jump suit, and you had to smile at their irritation.

Nikki accompanied you all the way to your room, and when you got there, he was visibly unsure about what to do. If you were honest, you were absolutely enjoying seeing Nikki Sixx, who was usually so smooth with women, be nervous.

Apparently, when you didn’t make a move, Nikki decided not to push it and awkwardly took a step back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

You couldn’t supress a smile as you told him he would, and then you turned around, opened your door, and leaned against the doorway. Nikki had already turned around and was heading back to his room, you assumed. So he really was going to just leave, huh.

“Nikki,” you called after him and he turned around. You rolled your eyes playfully, pushed the door behind you open further, and made a gesture with your head towards your room. “Get in here,” you laughed.

Nikki was clearly surprised, and he dropped his head and smiled before making his way back to you. He stopped when he was opposite you in the doorway, and the proximity of your bodies made your heart beat a little faster. He was close enough that you had to glace up to look at him.

“Are you always that smooth with the ladies?” you grinned.

“Shut up,” he said and didn’t wait before pressing his lips to yours.

The kiss was intense and sloppy and wild, and you enjoyed it more that you had enjoyed anything in a long time. You were so entangled in each other that you stumbled into your room and almost took out a small side table and two lamps, and when you took of his shirt, you were grinning to both ears.

This night really was full of surprises.

tags: @supernaturalvikingwhore  @miserablecunt  @sighsophiia  @fandomshit6000  @flizaa @hi-my-name-is-riley  @electradestiny  @starlalove  @kingbouji3  @sweetshutter  @baiabouk 

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (22) Reporting

And Marinette had thought Highschool had been hard. Right now, in this moment, she'd give anything to go back to those petty arguments and gossip fueled drama. But she couldn't. Instead, she and Adrien were trapped here, being punished, humiliated, tortured, for being heroes, all broadcasted for the world to see. At least she and her kitty were in this together. For now. Whump!Fic

Ao3 | FF.net

This chapter is so lonnnnnngggggggg.

Nothing graphic.

—

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news. I’m Nadja Chamack, you’re watching TVi news at six. It’s been two weeks since the capture of famed Superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Paris is abuzz with news, rumors, and theories. Tonight, I’ll be sitting down with the friends and family of the two heroes, to find out what they are really like beneath the mask.”

She turned in her chair, “but first, in a stunning twist, Edward Savauge walks free! On the top of the most wanted lists in six countries, Savauge was arrested after a fight with Ladybug and Chat Noir. At the scene, Ladybug told police that Savauge threatened and had his men open fire on 25-year-old Charles Exavier. The trial was set to take place at the end of the month, but Savauge was released yesterday, on the grounds of lack of evidence. No witnesses were able to take the stand, as Ladybug and Chat Noir are being held as captives, and the six men that were with Savauge the night of the murder have been pronounced dead from cranial trauma sustained by Chat Noir and Ladybug during the altercation.”

The shot changed to Minster of the Interior, Arthur Vanderguard, at a press conference. “Talking with M. Savauge, we have ruled out his involvement with Salo and the capture of Ladybug and Chat Noir. He has agreed to cooperate with us to find them, so that they can be rescued.”

The shot changed back to Nadja. “Though Savauge has stated publicly he is willing to cooperate with investigators, he hasn’t followed up on that promise, a move that has critics questioning the Minister’s choice.”

A still shot of the Le Grand Paris came up on the screen behind Nadja. “Paris Police Department has finally released the name of the body found murdered in the Le Grand Paris hotel. Detective Joseph Bertony was shot point blank in the head five days ago. The night of the murder, officers were alerted by hotel staff that there was a fire on the balcony of the hotel room, and the occupant was not responding to staff at the door. When the officers broke down the door, they found Detective Bertony’s body on the floor, and all of his belongings burning on the balcony. There was no sign of forced entry, and the security tapes were wiped clean the night of the murder. Detective Bertony was the lead investigator on the Ladybug and Chat Noir case. This marks the fourth investigator linked with the case that has been killed off duty.”

The shot again changed to the Minister of Interior at the Press Conference. “My officers assume the risk of bodily harm and losing their life when they join the force. But they don’t expect to be in danger when they go home to be with their wives and children. Being assigned to the task force of looking for M. Agreste and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, is a death sentence. We unfortunately have not made any headway in the investigation, despite all that has been broadcasted. We believe that Detective Bertony had a lead, but all information with him in his hotel room was reduced to ash on the balcony. Because of the nature of these murders, I will be launching an inside investigation among the police in Paris, conducted by an outside attorney. Mayor Bourgeois has approved the city’s plan for a comprehensive, independent, transparent investigation of the task force members' misconduct. As much as we owe to Ladybug and Chat Noir, we can’t afford to lose anyone else to these terrorists. This investigation will most likely further disrupt our work on the Ladybug and Chat Noir case.

“While this investigation goes on, I ask that everyone stop watching the stream on ‘make ladybug suffer dot com’. Giving Salo and her men attention is only fueling their torment of the victims. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be safer if we stop watching.

“To the families of M. Agreste and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, I am truly sorry.”

Nadja was back on the screen. “Mayor Bourgeois was unavailable for comment. Though the police urge everyone to stop watching and paying attention to the capture, other Parisians have a different opinion. One such case is President of the Adrien Agreste Fan club, Wayhem Marot.”

The shot changed to outside of Tom and Sabine’s Bakery, where there were heaps of flowers, gifts, and balloons strewn everywhere. Wayhem was in front of the camera, a lit candle in hand. “I’m the same age as Adrien. We’re friends. There’s not much I can do, but I have to do something, you know? So I organized this candlelight vigil for Adrien and Marinette, outside her parent’s bakery. I have a voice, and I know how much my generation can change through social media. We can make ourselves heard. Someone out there has to know something, right? I started using the hashtag #freeAdrienette on Instagram, and it’s taken off. Everyone is using it! The more we can get people talking, the better!”

There were various shots of different kids taking pictures with the bakery and their gifts that they left. Nadja was speaking over the footage. “Classmates, friends, family, akuma victims, and just plain strangers. People from all walks of life have showed up to pay respects to the heroes of our city. There’s been people praying together, singing hymns, and just sharing stories, all in the hopes that their words will reach Marinette and Adrien wherever they are.”

The shot came back to Nadja in the studio. “Several churches are offering counseling and support in wake of the traumatic footage. You can find the full list on our website.”

There was a cut to Jagged Stone, playing the keyboard on a houseboat parked in the Seine. Nadja dubbed over the footage. “It’s not just teens getting vocal. Rock legend and long time fan of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Jagged Stone, has been the biggest proponent of turning up the heat on Salo.”

“I love Marinette,” said Jagged. “She’s designed two of my album covers and these wicked sweet glasses I wear every time I’m in France. She’s just the sweetest girl with the best ‘can do’ attitude. She was the reason I decided to participate in that reality show where I tried to bake at her parents bakery. She always has good ideas! And Adrien! He’s one cool dude! I met him a few times, because of his career, and despite being a sheltered rich boy, he’s very humble and generous. As for Ladybug and Chat Noir, I really love them. They’ve saved my hide several times, and always in the most rock and roll ways!”

“Jagged Stone and Kitty Section, a young band Adrien and Marinette are both affiliated with, will be performing next week at a benefit concert under the Eiffel Tower. Entry is free, but they will be taking donations for M. Agreste and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng’s recovery.”

“I hope everyone comes. I sat down with some of their friends and planned the perfect set list, just for them. We also have some really radical surprises in store!” Said Jagged.

They went back to Nadja in the studio. “That concert will be happening next week on Thursday, at 7 pm.”

The image changed to a protest outside of the TVi news station. “Among the chorus of voices shouting to save Ladybug and Chat Noir, there’s a group singing a different tune. For the last two days, protesters have gathered in front of our news station, and they have a completely different take on the situation.”

A protestor came up on the screen, holding a sign that said, ‘This isn’t art, it’s torture porn.’ “We know the truth. This broadcast is completely fake. It’s a performance piece created to incite emotion. But it’s gone too far, and it needs to stop.”

Nadja’s voice again dubbed over the footage. “This is an opinion held by a lot of people, who are becoming more and more vocal as the stream goes on. One such opponent is long time friend and fellow model to Adrien, Lila Rossi.”

Lila came up on the screen, standing with the protestors outside the station. She was teary-eyed and delicately dabbed her cheek with a napkin. “It sickens me. Adrien isn’t actually Chat Noir, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng isn’t Ladybug. You see, Adrien and I…well, I see no point in keeping it a secret anymore, we were dating. Under the radar, of course, he’s not allowed to date. And then he told me that he came up with this idea of a performance piece and asked if I wanted to play the role of Ladybug. I said no, absolutely not, and so he broke up with me. I think the whole wedding bit was really just a ploy to make me jealous and have me crawl back to him. But now I know that he’s just sick and wants attention. Marinette has been that way since I met her. She’s always tried to get attention and lied to do so. I think we should all stop giving it to them and turn off the stream.”

They went back to Nadja in the studio. “Though Rossi’s relationship with Adrien Agreste is unconfirmed by Adrien himself, friends and classmates of the two have been vocal on social media, saying things like,” a screen shot came up. “‘Lila is a liar and attention hog. Don’t take attention away from where it should be. #saveAdrienette’ And, ‘Adrien and Marinette are Ladybug and Chat Noir in and out of the masks. That much should be obvious! #saveAdrienette’.

“If Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste are not the real Ladybug and Chat Noir, the real heroes have decided to stay silent. When we come back from the break, I’ll be sitting down with some of the people that know Mlle. Dupain-Cheng and M. Agreste the best.”

—

Commercial Break

—

“Welcome back to TVi news. I’m Nadja Chamack. Earlier this week, I had the privilege to sit down with some of the most important people in Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste’s lives. I wanted to know the truth, and in the wake of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identity reveal, there’s more fiction than fact.

“The first guest I interviewed was my own daughter, Manon Chamack. Marinette babysat her once or twice a week, for the last three years, during the entire duration of her being Ladybug. Because Manon is so young and such a fan, I haven’t told her exactly what is happening to Marinette and M. Agreste. Please keep this in mind as you watch the interview.”

The shot changed to a previous recording, of Manon sitting in a comfy arm chair, facing Nadja.

“Hi Manon, thank you for letting me interview you.”

“Of course mommy! I love being interviewed! What did you want to talk about?”

“I want to talk about your babysitter, Marinette.”

“Marinette? She’s the best! What do you want to know?”

“What words would you use to describe Marinette?”

Manon rested a finger on her chin in thought. “Um…pink.”

“Pink?” Laughed Nadja.

“Yeah! She loves pink! Her whole room is pink!”

“Alright! What about her personality? How does she act?”

“Goofy!”

“Goofy? How so?”

“Well, she tries really hard to be serious, but then she trips over her feet or drops stuff or says her words all backwards! It’s really funny! Especially when she gets around this blonde boy from her school!” Manon covered her mouth. “Whoops! That’s a secret!”

Nadja smiled. “That’s alright Manon. Would you say that Marinette is responsible?”

“Mmmm, most of the time.”

“Not all the time?”

“No, ‘cause sometimes she has to leave me with someone else while she goes and does something. She’s kind of scatter-brained.”  

“What would you say if I told you that Marinette is actually Ladybug?”

Manon jumped up on the chair. “I knew it!”

That was actually surprising. “You did?”

“Yeah! She made me these Chat Noir and Ladybug dolls! They’re at her house right now, so I can’t show you, but whenever we play with them, she always knows exactly how Ladybug and Chat Noir act! That, and she’s really smart! She always knows what to do!”

“You really like her then?”

“Of course! When is she coming back from vacation? I really miss her!”

Nadja gave her a little smile. “Hopefully soon. Thank you so talking with me, Manon.”

“You’re welcome, Mommy! Can I go play now?”

“Yes, go on ahead.”

Manon beamed and skipped off stage.

Nadja turned to face the camera.

“Our next guests are close and personal friends of both Adrien and Marinette, as well as Chat Noir and Ladybug. One of them even claims to be the foremost Ladybug expert. Nino Lahiffe and Alya Cesaire.”

Nino and Alya came from backstage, hand in hand, and sat in the chairs across from Nadja.

“Thank you for having us, Nadja.” Alya said.

“Oh, well thank you for being willing to speak! I really wanted to get both of you here because, as a mom, there’s just some things you hide from your parents.”

Alya and Nino both nodded at that.

“Now, I don’t want you to get them in trouble, but if your willing to share…”

“Ask away!” Said Nino, with a little too much gusto.

Nadja smiled. “How would you describe your relationship with Marinette and Adrien, as them, not in the masks?”

Alya spoke first. “Marinette is my best friend. I’d like to say I’m hers too…but I think Chat really gets that title…and before they were captured, there was some drama at school, and I wasn’t being a very good friend. So as of right now, she might not think too fondly of me.”

“I see. We’ll come back to that drama, though. What about Adrien?”

She laughed. “I have a love-hate relationship with Adrien. He sits in front of me in class, so we talk quite a bit, but he’s kind of oblivious. So whenever Marinette tried to get her to notice him, he would consistently put her in the friend zone. I can’t be mad at him for that though. He’s way too nice.”

“Fascinating! So Marinette had a crush on Adrien?”

“Yes. It seemed like everyone knew it except for him. We even had bets over it.”

Nadja laughed at that. “And you Nino?”

“Adrien’s my best bud, hands down, uncontested. Before he came to school, I didn’t really have any friends. Then he sat next to me and we hit it off pretty quickly. He’s the best.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you were akumatized over him, right?”

“Yep! I wanted to throw him a birthday party, so I went to his dad to ask. Mr. Agreste is pretty strict, so he turned me down, and I got super angry, and pow! The Bubbler was born! I’m not really proud of it, but I definitely think there’s worse reasons to be akumatized.”

“Of course there are.” Nadja offered with a smile. “And how would you describe your relationship with Marinette?”

“Well, she’s…we’re a quad, the four of us. Since Alya and I are dating, we usually do things as a group. And 90% of the time, Alya tries to turn it into a double date.”

“Hey! Don’t throw me under the bus!”

“Just sayin’! Anyways…I’ve known Marinette since kindergarten. But we only really became friends when Alya and Adrien came to school.” Then he laughed. “Actually, I used to have a major crush on her.”

Nadja honed in on this juicy detail. “Oh you did, did you?”

“Sure did! I asked Adrien about it, and he convinced me to ask her out on a date to the zoo. I was beyond nervous, so Adrien sat in the bushes with a mic, while I had an earpiece in.”

Nadja out right laughed. “That’s adorable! How did it end?”

“Well, before I could mention I had a crush, there was an akuma attack. Marinette and I got separated, but soon Ladybug came on the scene, and pushed Alya and I into an empty cage for several hours. After that, well…I realized I had more in common with Alya than Marinette. I think it worked out okay.”

“That is just the most precious story! I love hearing about them as normal teens! So, Ladybug is responsible for setting you two up?”

“Absolutely!” Giggled Alya. “And she knows it. I talk about how grateful I am to Marinette all the time.”

“Precious!” Nadja smiled. “Now, you also run the Ladyblog, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me a little more about that?”

“It started the day Ladybug debuted. Stoneheart appeared and my first instinct was, ‘A supervillain? There must be a superhero too!’ And so I took off after him. I always loved superheroes, and the chance to be Lois Lane was just too strong. So I was the first person to get footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir in action. I made a blog around it and made sure to chase every akuma I could, just to catch a glimpse of them.”

“You still hold the privilege of the longest interview with Ladybug to date, correct?”

“That’s right. Now that I know who she is, I know exactly how that happened. I mean, I know it’s because she trusted me, but up until that interview, Ladybug had been kind of personally closed off. She didn’t stick around after battles for more than a few minutes, and she didn’t give any reporters any clues to what she was like. Until she made it a priority to say hi to me, specifically. I had footage of her coming up and talking to me that I recorded on my phone. Right after I took it, I went to show Marinette, and she accidentally deleted it! Luckily, I had backed it up, but she didn’t know that. But, she gave me a private interview as an apology.”

“So you are pretty close to her in both aspects of her life.”

“Yep! I’ve even gotten to help her a few times, because I’m there. I mean, it’s also gotten me in trouble. But it keeps things exciting.”

“I bet! And you, Nino? Are you close with Chat Noir too?”

“Uh…not really. I mean, he’s really cool and I’m always ready to help, but I’m not as gung-ho on superheroes as Alya is. Don’t get me wrong, I love them! I just…kind of lament being dragged around town during an akuma attack.”

“Kinda scary, right?”

“Exactly. I don’t like getting caught in the crossfire of akumas.”

“That’s understandable.” Nadja said with a nod. “So, in your opinion, Alya…what do you think prevented you from noticing Ladybug was Marinette? I watched your blog plenty of times and you made some major break throughs. You’re probably the person that got the closest to ever figuring out who she was. What about Marinette ruled her out as a suspect?”

Alya laughed. “She’s so clumsy! I love her to death, but oh my god, the amount of times she’d trip on nothing or fall down the stairs was no joke. Nino and I actually had an inside joke that she was only tripping to get closer to Adrien, because nearly every time she fell, he was there to catch her.”

“Kind of like their superhero dynamic too?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“Do you think they knew who each other were?”

“No, they didn’t.” Alya said confidently.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Well, Marinette could barely talk to Adrien, and she’d get really shy around him. But out on the field, she was constantly rebuffing his flirting. I don’t think either was an act.”

“And likewise,” added Nino. “Adrien is friendly with Marinette, but never flirted with her, but when they’re Ladybug and Chat Noir, he’s almost irritating with how corny he is. That never changed the whole time they’ve known each other.”

“I see! How funny is it that they were crushing on each other, and didn’t even know it was the other?”

“It’s so ironic, and only something like this would Marinette.” Alya laughed, but her smile started to fade. “I just…wish we could have found this out some other way. I just hope that this means when they get out, they can just depend on each other and be happy.”

Nadja offered a soft smile. “Yes, I think they have more than earned a lifetime of happiness after this.” She glanced at her notes. “So, you said that Marinette is clumsy, and shy behind the mask. I’m sure there’s much more to her, right?”

“Oh of course! Those are just some of her less-Ladybug qualities. She’s also extremely creative! She’s been recognized by Audrey Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste for her fashion work. And she’d even designed stuff for Jagged Stone!”

“Manon mentioned some dolls that she made too,” added Nadja.

“Yeah! They look like something you’d buy in store! And her creativity wasn’t just a ‘Marinette’ trait. She also had these crazy ridiculous plans that she pulled off with her Lucky Charm. I think that’s why she was such a good Ladybug, because she was able to drum up these surprise solutions that Hawkmoth never saw coming.”

“That is something I’ve always appreciated about Ladybug,” Nadja said, “I always found myself asking ‘how in the world will they win this time?’” She shifted in her seat. “I’d love to just keep gushing about Marinette, but I’d like to know more about Adrien. Nino, did you ever suspect Adrien might be Chat Noir?”

“Oh, dozens of times,” he chuckled.

“What!” Cried Alya, “And you never told me?!”

“I was never sure! And you never would have believed me, anyways.”

“Why? What tipped you off?” Asked Nadja, leaning closer.

“That guy loves cat puns way too much.”

Alya looked at him blankly. “Really? That was the clue?”

“Okay, hear me out. Adrien, being a famous model, was always putting his best foot forward. He is extremely polite, well mannered, and very smart. Top of our class across the board, all around stellar guy. But one on one, he’s a huge dork.”

“Tell me more.”

“Well, I don’t want to get too deep into it on national television, but like I said, he loves his puns. He’s also a huge video game and anime nerd. He spent most of his life homeschooled, so he consumed a lot of media. His reference game is on point.”

“I think that explains some of his more theatrical performances as Chat Noir.”

“Exactly. I swear he has way too much fun with his job. Oh! And, he is not shy about his massive crush on Ladybug. When I found that out, I kind of regretted it, because he would go on and on about her beauty and elegance, and how smart and amazing she was. It was disgusting.”

“So he’s as romantic in real life as he is as Chat Noir?”

“No no, it’s way more subdued. He only talks about Ladybug in private. And to all his other girl friends, he’s just super nice. Like Marinette, he really liked her.”

“But not, like-like, right?”

“I always thought he was in denial, because he would get this soft look around her, and always compliment her. She was special to him, for sure.”

Nadja rested her hand on her heart. “I’m sorry, I just keep getting swept up in the romance of it all. I’m a hard core LadyNoir shipper.”

“Me too!” Cried Alya. “Oh my gosh! Marinette hated it when I talked about LadyNoir, and now I know why! Whenever someone would go, ‘oh they’re destined to be together’ she’d go, ‘platonically?’ I think she was the only one in our class that wasn’t a LadyNoir shipper.”

“Oh that’s hilarious! That poor girl had to listen to people talk about her love life all the time, but couldn’t do a thing about it. Meanwhile, Adrien was doing the same thing, and loving every minute of it.”

“We were probably adding fuel to his fire.”

“Okay okay okay,” said Nadja, still giggling. “Now, earlier, you said there was drama going on at school. Are you comfortable talking about that?”

“Oh…yeah. You know, this thing happened right before they went missing, so it helps put them in context. So…” Alya thought back to that day, which already felt like a year ago, even though it was only a couple of weeks. “I won’t mention any names. But the same day Ladybug and Chat Noir caught that drug dealer, a classmate of ours shared that she had seen Marinette taking pictures of Adrien while he was in the locker room.”

Nadja’s expression was doubtful. “That doesn’t sound like Marinette.”

“You’re right, it doesn’t. But the person who said this hadn’t given us a reason to not believe her, and so we did. Adrien was the only one who stood up for her, but he wouldn’t have known. Up until that point, he was oblivious to how she felt about him, so he had no reason to believe she would do such a thing.”

“But you thought otherwise?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Marinette is a very…strong person. Morally upstanding and strong sense of justice. But they always say you do crazy things when you’re in love. I, and everyone else in class, thought this was something like that. Adrien went through her phone, and found no photos, and I should have believed her at that point…but I didn’t. Adrien talked to Nino, and tried to get him to understand that both he and Marinette were aware that this person had a problem with lying. I chose not to believe it…until I was faced with the truth that Marinette was Ladybug. Then I felt like an idiot. More than just falling for a very obvious lie, but also for not using my journalistic integrity to investigate the situation and get proof. That’s something I’d like to apologize on public television for.”

Nadja gestured at the camera.

Alya turned at looked right in the lens, pretending it was the eyes of her best friend. “Marinette, and Adrien, I am so sorry. I was a bad friend, and I could have helped ease unnecessary suffering, but I listened to my head, and not my guts. I’m sorry for everything, and I will do whatever it takes to regain your trust.”

“Same for me, dudes.” Said Nino. “Adrien shouldn’t have had to convince me of anything. I should have just known. I’m sorry.”

Nadja hummed with a small smile. “That felt really genuine. I hope they see that.”

“I hope so too.” Alya stated, rubbing her wrist over her cheek.

“Well, thank you, again, for talking with me. I know this must be difficult talking about them right now.”

Alya sighed. “It hurts, but I want people to know that they were—are even more amazing in real life as they are as superheroes.”

“I believe it! When we come back, I’ll be talking to the parents of the Ladybug and Chat Noir. We’ll learn a little more about their upbringing and what they did in their free time.”

—    

Commercial Break

—

“Welcome back. Tonight I’m sitting down with friends and family of Ladybug and Chat Noir. My next guests are the parents of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, also known as Ladybug, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng.”

The couple came out from backstage, and shook hands with Nadja before sitting down.

“Thank you, both of you, for coming here to talk with me. I know this is a really hard time for your family.”

“It is,” said Sabine, “But, when we saw some of the things being said about Marinette, we couldn’t just sit silently anymore. Someone sent me an article that claimed that she was a drug addict that had been to rehab several times…and that’s just not true.”

“Well, that’s why I asked you here. I only want the truth.”

“Thank you, Nadja.”

“Of course, Sabine.” She glanced down to her notes. “Now, the big question that’s on everyone’s minds: did you know that Marinette was Ladybug?”

They both shook their heads. “No idea. There were days when I would see Ladybug on the news, and my heart would clench, because she looked so much like Marinette, and I would have this thought like, what if that was my baby girl?” Sabine swallowed. “But that’s as close as it got. I’m sure other mothers had thoughts like that.”

“It wasn’t that big of a surprise,” added Tom. “Marinette is the class president, she’s always been very vocal about justice and doing what is right. When she started having unexplained absences from class, we asked her what was wrong and she just shrugged and said ‘I don’t know.’ She couldn’t tell us she was Ladybug, but she also didn’t want to lie. I think that speaks strongly to her character.”

“Did you ever interact with her as Ladybug?”

“A few times,” answered Sabine. “There was a time were Jagged Stone came to our bakery for a reality show. While there, his assistant was akumatized and trapped all of us in our house. We really had some one on one time with Ladybug and Chat Noir then.”

“Can you tell me a little more about Marinette’s childhood?”

“Oh I love talking about baby Marinette!” Gushed Sabine, “she was just the most precious and adorable thing! Very shy. She did not like people very much. But she was definitely a girly-girl. She’s always loved pink, and making things. From a young age, we taught her all about baking, and she picked it up quickly. She’s not perfect, but she’s got macaroons down pat! She’s an avid gardener too, having her own roses and spices growing up on her balcony.”

“It’s been mentioned a few times that she’s very creative, can you elaborate on that?”

“She absolutely loves fashion. Ever since she was a little girl, she loved designing dresses out of tissue paper for her dolls. I think it really started after watching ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and watching the fairies making the dress that turns pink and blue throughout the film. After that, I saw her paying special attention to the clothes others were wearing, and she stared drawing them out more and more. A few years ago, she designed a derby hat that won a contest run by Gabriel Agreste, and even Audrey Bourgeois was impressed by it—“ She suddenly stopped, and smiled a little wistfully. “Madame Bourgeois offered her an internship in New York, and we all encouraged her to pursue it, and I thought, surely this was her big break. She was ready to go…but at the last minute, she decided to stay in Paris, saying she would miss her friends and family too much. But I realize she really stayed because of her sense of duty. She had to give up her dream of fashion, because of Ladybug.”

“She was really dedicated to Paris. Hopefully, she can still pursue that dream.”

“She’ll find a way. We’ll find a way to help her do so. I know she’d want to get in on her merit too, she wouldn’t want anyone giving her special treatment because of her being Ladybug or what’s happened to her.”

“You mentioned that someone sent you an article about her being a drug addict. There have been other rumors like that going around, that she’s a delinquent and gets weekly detentions. Is there any sort of merit to those?”

“I want to say no. She’s a good kid, and she gets excellent grades. But because of her absences, she has gotten a handful of detentions. I don’t think that’s her fault at all, of course. Her duties as Ladybug do come first. But she’s never done drugs, never committed any crimes, never even fought with us. She’s a really good kid, and I’m so proud of her.”

“You would say you had a good relationship, then?”

“Absolutely,” confirmed Tom. “We make time to spend together as a family, whether it’s preparing a meal, or playing video games. She shared everything with us…which is why I think hiding Ladybug was so hard for her.”

“Well, it’s all out in the open now, so you can work on healing when she comes home.”

“Yeah,” said Sabine, softly. “We just want her home.”

“One last question: what was your reaction to the reveal?”

Tom spoke, “I was angry at first. For the smallest, fleeting second, it was directed at Marinette, for lying, but then I realized that was completely unfair to her, and…I’ve just been angry with Salo ever since.”

“For me,” began Sabine. “I was just horrified. My baby was putting herself in danger almost everyday, for the people of Paris. She doesn’t need that responsibility. She’s just a kid. She does an amazing job, but she doesn’t deserve this.”

Nadja nodded in agreement. “Thank you for speaking with me today.”

“Thank you for having us Nadja,” Sabine stated as she stood. Together, her and Tom went backstage, as Nadja spoke to the camera. “Next, we have Adrien Agreste’s father, fashion mongol Gabriel Agreste, joining me. Despite his fame and influence, Gabriel has been relatively silent on the reveal of Chat Noir’s identity. He has graciously agreed to speak with me tonight.”

Gabriel came out, looking as stoic as ever in a black suit with a green tie. He shook Nadja’s hand briefly, and sat, one leg crossed over the other.

“Thank you for joining me this evening.”

“Thank you for having me, Nadja. I am grateful that you decided to interview us instead of pulling information from social media.”

“If there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s getting the truth. Now, you saw all the questions I had for you ahead of time, so you know what I’m going to ask. Did you have any idea that Adrien was Chat Noir?”      

“Yes, I had suspected it.” He said easily. “As my son, he only wears the clothes I design, but he always wore a silver ring, and I never knew where it came from. There were times where he would be places he wasn’t supposed to be. Little things really, things that most people wouldn’t notice. In the case where his bodyguard was akumatized, Chat Noir and someone who looked a lot like Adrien were in the same place at the same time, so I chalked up all these circumstances as coincidence. So, when it came out, I was…shocked, but it really didn’t last long. I really don’t believe there’s anyone more capable of wielding a Miraculous than Adrien. The shock just came that he had been kidnapped by some…random thug.”

“I think anyone would find that shocking. Adrien is pretty well known here in Paris. He’s been known as a teenage heartthrob both as himself and as Chat. He’s done plenty of interviews as both too. But, his persona is pretty vastly different between one side compared to the other. Which one would you say is the ‘real’ Adrien?”

Gabriel tapped his fingers on his leg. “I’m not sure if I’m the best judge of that. Loss does something to a person…the last few years, after I lost my wife, I…” he sighed, having a hard time admitting this out loud. “I wasn’t always there. I threw myself into my work. When…when Adrien was little, he was a wild child. He would run and dart and scream and just be completely out of control. As he got older, he calmed down, especially in public. When you are in the limelight as much as we are, you learn to hold yourself to a certain code of conduct, in order to reflect positively on the brand. Watching Chat Noir is like watching that same little boy running around. Adrien is good, kind, helpful, and hardworking. He’s positive and cares a lot about his friends and family. This is true no matter what he’s wearing. That’s the real Adrien.”

“I’m interested to know what Adrien does in his free time.”

“Adrien…doesn’t have a lot of free time. He’s very involved in his studies and extracurricular activities. He does fencing, piano, and Chinese. And that’s on top of school and modeling. But he does enjoy reading and playing video games.”

“My, he certainly is busy! Do you think he’ll continue to model?”

Gabriel winced. “Probably not. If he really wants to, I’ll allow him to. I wanted him to get involved with the brand somehow, so that he’d get work experience. He didn’t enjoy designing at all, but he took to modeling fairly quickly. It was something I wanted him to do. But once he’s free, he’s only doing what he wants. He’s more than earned it.”

“I’m curious to know, how do you feel about the wedding that happened?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng has always impressed me. By her talent and skill, and her strong character. I don’t think there’s a more fitting Ladybug, and I’m happy that they could have each other for support in this…terrible time.”

“Will you try to contest it?”

“No. If they want to be married, then they’ll be married. Who am I to stand in their way?”

“A common question that people are asking is: why didn’t you pay the ransom at the beginning?”

Gabriel sighed, looking down, then he collected himself and spoke calmly, almost emotionlessly. “That was the hardest decision I had to make. But for the good of Paris, I refused. Adrien was right, if I gave them millions, what else would they have done? Before he spoke, I was ready to pay any amount of money to get him back…but I wanted to respect his wishes.”

“I don’t think anyone could have made that decision. If anyone faults you for it, they clearly don’t understand where you were coming from.”

“I expect others to be angry about my choice, but it’s something I feel awful about on my own, and I choose not to listen to them.”

“One last question, M. Agreste. Are you personally doing something to look for and rescue them?”

He nodded. “I am. I can’t say what, obviously, but I can see that the authorities are having trouble on their own. So I am using my own resources.”

“Thank you for your honesty and being willing to speak with me this evening.”

“It was my pleasure.”

They went back to Nadja in the studio. “That interview was conducted a few days ago. The families have yet to speak out about Savauge’s release, or the protests outside the station. I’m Nadja Chamack, TVi news.”    

[eldritchsurveys]

850.

1. What kinds of genres of music do you listen to? >> It’d be easier to name the genres I don’t listen to...

2. Are there any types of music that you don’t listen to at all? >> ...which would be bluegrass, polka, uh... noise... K-pop... yeah, that’s all I got right now. Honestly, K-pop is probably only here because I just haven’t gone to check out any songs, not because I actively don’t like the genre.

3. Do you own any band tees? >> Yeah, most of my t-shirts are band shirts.

4. Name some of your favorite male solo artists. >> Eddie Vedder, David Bowie, Steve Vai, Orville Peck, Sam Cooke.

5. Name some of your favorite female solo artists. >> Elle King, Sia, Beyoncé, Anita Baker, Céline Dion.

6. Name some of your favorite boy-bands. >> Okay, so are we talking boy bands, like Backstreet Boys and One Direction, or just bands with dudes in them? Because I don’t really listen to boy bands anymore (aside from songs that I remember from childhood), so.

7. Name some of your favorite all-girl bands. >> Hmm... I’m not sure I listen to any all-female bands. There’s some female-fronted bands in my library, but the rest of the members are dudes.

8. Name some of your favorite bands/groups in general. >> Oof. Here’s five: Zeal & Ardor, Coheed & Cambria, Pearl Jam, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Volbeat.

9. Do you sing in the shower? >> Sometimes, if a song I know the lyrics to is playing. I listen to music every time I shower, it helps distract my hell brain.

10. Do you sing along with the radio in the car? >> I don’t sing along in the car because Sparrow has a thing about people singing.

11. Do you listen to music while you are cooking, filling out surveys, or cleaning the house? >> Sometimes I listen to music while taking surveys, but I don’t do it often because I find it too distracting. I do listen to music while cleaning, or taking walks, or doing any other task that mostly involves my body more than my brain.

12. What’s the name of the song that you’re listening to right now, if any? What’s the name of the band/singer? >> I’m not listening to music.

13. What kinds of music do your parents listen to? Do you think that their music taste differs greatly? Whose music taste is better, in your opinion? >> I grew up listening to soul, R&B, gospel, that sort of thing. I still listen to that stuff because I enjoy it.

14. Do you ever listen to music without any words? >> Sure.

15. Are there any famous musicians that you’ve met? Are there any that you would like to meet? >> Yeah, I’ve met uhh... Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed & Cambria, and Sevendust multiple times, as well as Halestorm, Steve Vai, three-quarters of Volbeat (lead singer wasn’t feeling great so he left the venue early)... yeah, I think that’s it. I used to be really into that kind of thing, but I’m largely over it now; I actually think it would be cool to see Sparrow meet Hozier, because she’s not had that experience.

16. What was the first concert you’ve been to, if any? How about the last/most recent? Which, out of all of the concerts you’ve attended, was the best? >> First concert was Avenged Sevenfold and Coheed & Cambria (co-headliner tour), in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in April 2006. The last concert I went to was Hozier here in Grand Rapids, last year sometime. I think it was last year. :x My time sense is all fucked up. Anyway, I’ve been to way too many concerts to start naming one as the best one ever, that’s crazy. Most of the shows I’ve been to were awesome as fuck (there were a couple ehhhh... ones, and then there was one I was way too high to enjoy lmao, but usually I have a great time).

17. Do you have a favorite movie soundtrack? What is it? >> I have a favourite movie soundtrack composer, actually, and that’s Clint Mansell. Everything he does is just... AAAAAAAAA for me. I can always tell when he’s done a score because I can just feel the music in my bones, and then I look at the credits and I’m like “OH OF COURSE IT WAS YOU.”

18. Would you want to be a band groupie? Why or why not? >> I had a phase way back when where I was obsessed with groupie culture (from like the late sixties through the eighties) and if you’d asked me then, I’d have said yes. I’ve wised up by now and I definitely would not want that.

19. What is a band/singer you would like to see but haven’t gotten a chance to yet? >> Yeah, there’s a lot of bands and singers like that. But I’d have to be really picky nowadays about who I went to see, because I just can’t deal with most concert environments as well as I used to anymore.

20. Do you care more about the beat of the music you listen to, or the lyrics? >> I mean, when it comes to the first listen, it’s going to be the melody that catches me. If that doesn’t happen, then I’m not even going to bother looking at the lyrics, so...

21. Does anyone in one of your favorite bands play an unusual instrument? >> I listen to some prog bands, so there’s definitely some unusual instruments happening in at least some songs.

22. What are some of the songs that you listen to the most frequently? >> I don’t know, probably Master Boot Record and Zeal & Ardor tracks. I’m a bit obsessed right now.

23. Could you make a playlist of songs that describes your life? What kinds of playlists do you have made? >> I don’t think so. I’ve definitely tried in the past, but when you really start thinking about the vast array of experiences and feelings that make up a life, it becomes fuckin impossible.

24. Do you remember listening to music on CDs and cassettes, not just on the internet? >> Yeah. Definitely don’t miss it, gotta say.

25. What kind of music device do you use in order to listen to music? (iPod, MP3 Player, etc.) >> I use my phone or computer, with Spotify.

26. Is there anyone in your family who is a musician? >> ---

27. Would you ever consider a career in music? >> No. I love music, but as a consumer.

28. What is a song that would describe your current mood? Who is it by? >> I’m not really in any kind of mood. If you know a song about being vaguely tired, then that’s it.

29. Are there any musicians of the past that you really admire? >> Well, sure...

30. Do you listen to Top 40 type music? >> I don’t even know what’s on the Top 40, so... maybe? Probably not, though, I haven’t really gotten into any mainstream-popular artists recently that I can think of.

31. What musical instrument would you like to learn how to play? Have you ever played an instrument before/taken lessons? What was it? >> I don’t really care to learn any instruments. It’s not something I feel passionate about, not like how I feel about listening to music. I’ve taken bass guitar lessons before, in like... 2008 or so? IDK. Years are fake.

32. Do you enjoy watching musicals on DVD or sitting through them as plays? Which method do you prefer, and which is your favorite? >> I would love to watch musicals live, but I definitely cannot afford it. I’m fine watching recordings of them (or movie adaptations, in some cases). My favourite stage musical is Phantom of the Opera (I say “stage musical” because I also have a favourite movie musical, and that’s Repo! the Genetic Opera).

33. What was the worst concert you’ve ever attended before, and what made it the worst? >> Taste of Chaos at Nassau Coliseum. It was the worst because arena shows are just the worst, period. I was right up in front (my friends and I camped out overnight) and I just got repeatedly slammed against the barricade and crowd-surfers landed on my head multiple times, et cetera. I’m surprised I didn’t leave with actual injuries (was wondering if I was gonna need a neck brace by the end), but I did feel pretty damn shitty the next day.

34. Have you ever crowd-surfed during a show or been a part of a mosh pit? >> Nope.

35. Have you ever gotten into an altercation with a drunken concert fan before? What happened? >> Nah, everyone I’ve met at shows have been pretty cool, if not downright awesome. That’s one thing I always loved about going to concerts, I seemed to make new friends every time.

36. Have you ever dated someone who was a musician? >> No, but I’ve fucked a few.

37. What are some of your favorite music videos to watch? >> Oh, man, it’s getting late and while I could go ham on this question, I don’t have the time right now lol. I’ll just say that I love nineties-era music videos, and some from the aughts as well. I feel like those were the best years for music videos, but that might just be nostalgia (and the fact that I haven’t really seen as many videos from the 2010s). As far as recent artists are concerned, I think Orville Peck makes really evocative and moody (not necessarily moody like pensive or depressive. mood-y. mood-evoking) videos that I appreciate.

38. Have you ever made a lyric video on YouTube? >> No.

39. Have you ever recorded a cover song and posted it? What kind of feedback did you receive? >> No.

40. Is there an album cover design that you really admire? >> I’ve seen so many excellent album covers, I couldn’t even begin to address this.

41. What are some of the most overplayed songs right now, in your opinion? >> I wouldn’t know, I don’t listen to radio or anything.

42. Do you watch music awards shows on television? >> No.

43. Have you ever competed in any sort of singing contest before? >> No.

44. Have you ever tried to start your own band before? >> No.

45. What’s the name of a band/singer that you recently have discovered? >> Dreamcar (yet another Davey Havok side project, because he just can’t be tamed, apparently).

46. What are some annoying/weird/funny songs that have gotten stuck in your head before? >> Barbara Ann gets stuck in my head all the time, but that’s okay because it’s fun and I love it.

47. Are there any songs that actually make you cry? What are they, and who are they by? >> There are many songs that make me cry. We ain’t got time for a list like that.

48. Do you listen to any music in another language? >> Sure. Off the top of my head, I can think of fave songs in German, Swedish, Japanese, Indian, and Italian. [a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

[whenjoshisjoseph]

TODODEKU/KIRIBAKU VIGILANTE AU: THE ART OF HAPPY ENDINGS

I am so, so pissed. The WiFi threw a tantrum and I couldn’t upload this on Halloween, and it’s still not letting me upload on AO3. So here, have this one shot that’s 5k words about my fav children and let me feel at peace.

The Art Of Happy Endings (whenjoshisjoseph)

Rated T. 

Summary: Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Kirishima attend UA, a prestigious music school. Bakugou has a crush on Kirishima and vice versa, and the same is true about Todoroki and Midoriya crushing on each other.

Simple enough, right?

Wrong, because all of them are also a vigilante team that work together without knowing who the others are, and it stops them from pursuing relationships

.Until Shigaraki hatches his evil plot, that is.

full fic below the cut!! expect the italics doesn’t work :/

Midoriya recognises the song before Todoroki even starts to play, simply by looking at the way his slender fingers are poised. However, he still feels a rush of pride when Todoroki does indeed, begin with the opening note of Chopin’s Waltz in A Minor.

And of course Midoriya would know it; how could he not? It’s the first song he’d ever heard the other play, as well as the first song they’d played together. Part of him wishes that he could be on stage with him, accompanying Todoroki’s piano with his own violin. Then again, he’s content to watch from his special spot backstage, flowers hidden behind him.

Because this is the moment, the perfect opportunity: tonight, after the recital is over, and Todoroki is still on a high from his stunning performance (there’s no chance that his performance will be anything less than stunning), Midoriya will present Todoroki with the bouquet of red roses that he’s oh-so-carefully picked out, and with the roses, present his feelings too.

If he’s honest, it’s slightly daunting to think about, but it’s time. His best friend must know.

The gorgeous sound of Todoroki’s playing resonates within the concert hall, and the audience hold their collective breaths at the sheer beauty of his performance. Every trill and swift note vibrates throughout the space, and Midoriya, much like the rest of the audience, is transfixed.

But the sound is only half of Todoroki’s allure, and Midoriya unabashedly stares at the man as he plays. A single strand comes loose from the tight ponytail Todoroki’s hair is in, the colour matching the shade of roses that Midoriya holds. His chin is held high in the perfect pose to catch the light, and his heterochromatic eyes closely follow the notes he plays, building to a mesmerising crescendo.

Todoroki himself is, without a doubt, easily as entrancing as the song he plays.

Just before the piece finishes, though, a rough hand grabs at Midoriya’s shoulder, and he swivels in shock. Bakugou stands in front of him, gesturing for him to follow.

“K-kacchan?” he whispers, dreading what the blonde may be about to tell him.

“We gotta go; it happened,” Bakugou replies gruffly, sparing a glance at Todoroki, then at the flowers in Midoriya’s hands. His gaze softens a little.

“P-please,” Midoriya says quietly, voice beginning to tremble, eyes starting to water. God, but he’s so weak, he thinks to himself. “Not now, not now, anytime but now.”

This isn’t only the perfect chance to confess to Todoroki; it’s also his last, because Todoroki’s father has demanded he train internationally, and Todoroki has acquiesced to his father’s request. After this recital, Todoroki will be packing his bags and heading to the airport.

(The thought of it just further threatens the tears in Midoriya’s eyes to spill over.)

Bakugou steps forwards and ruffles Midoriya’s hair in sympathy.

“I know what it means to you, Deku, but there’s no waiting. It’s a shitty situation, but we gotta work with what we got. We have to be there. Now.”

And as much as it breaks his heart, Bakugou’s right; this is dire, and he has to put others above himself.

He allows himself one last glance at what could’ve been before he turns and rushes away with Bakugou, just as Todoroki skims the wings with his eyes for Midoriya, looking for support. When he realises that the person he perhaps cares about most in the world has stood him up, he steels his expression and begins Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, the opening notes played with a dissonant detachment that does not fit the mood of the song at all.

The roses lay on the floor, forgotten, and a single petal falls from what was the freshest flower of them all.

*

The term vigilante is a little harsh, and the term villain is in a league of its own in terms of guess again, shitty ignorant civilian.

Bakugou prefers to be called a hero, please and fucking thank you, but it’s at times like this where he could maybe understand why some people disapprove of his team.

“Dude, calm down!” Red Riot pleads, holding Bakugou back lest he explode yet another rusty satellite. The friendly words juxtapose the strangely modulated voice that Red Riot’s chosen (they all wear voice modulators for the sake of protecting their real-life identities, although they all know that ‘Ground Zero’ and ‘Small Might’ know each other in real life. And no, Deku doesn’t sound any less annoying with his voice modulated).

“But Shouto’s fucking late as usual, and I’m pissed,” he growls in return, but allows himself to go limp in the hero’s grasp. There’s only one other person who can get him to calm down like this, and it’s not shitty Deku.

He glances over to Deku, or ‘Small Might’, as is his hero name, and notices the pain that flashes in his eyes at the mention of that name. It’s a bitchy coincidence, really, that Deku’s crush and his sidekick should have the same name. After tonight, it’s going to be a lot more difficult for him to face his emotions, and Bakugou once again curses the villains and their dumb-as-shit timing for hurting his nerdy ass friend like that.

No matter, though. Tonight, they’re going to take them down once and for all. Well, that is if the lame hero who calls himself ‘Shouto’ would fucking appear already.

As if spurred on by Bakugou’s grumbling, the tall man lands on the roof in an elegant crouch, straightening up and striding over to the other three in his team. His face is covered in an ornate mask that seems to be composed of half ice and half fire, like his ‘ability’, but Shouto had once explained that he’d had it made from Kevlar material to mimic the textures. Ever since, Bakugou can’t help but tease him about being a rich kid. And damn right, too. The hood that covers Shouto’s hair and the costume that cover his body are both made from freaking expensive material, and Bakugou can’t help but wonder what the fuck the guy must do in his free time to be able to afford such high quality. Not that he cares. Bakugou’s outfit is still the best.

“Fucking finally!” Bakugou exclaims, and Red Riot laughs. He turns to glare at him. “What’s so funny, Shitty Hair?”

(It’s true; the dumbass has his hair styled in some weird spiky style that really doesn’t flatter him. Not that he thinks that he’s attractive anyway. Because he doesn’t.)

“Nothing, nothing, just happy that the whole team has assembled,” Red Riot replies, grinning profusely. Deku, however, doesn’t seem to share his energy.

“Small Might, is something bothering you?” Shouto asks immediately, and Bakugou is tempted to tell Shouto that his gay is showing. But the last time he did that, the hero had burst into flames, and he’s not to keen to see that shit again.

“Personal life,” Deku mumbles, but perks up (honestly, can’t he make up his mind? Bakugou doesn’t know which one the shitty nerd is more head over heels for: his posh ass piano friend, or his posh ass hero friend). Shouto smiles sadly.

“Tell me about it,” he mutters. Red Riot, like that massive puppy dog he is, senses the morale lowering, and inserts his bright personality smack in the middle of the gay shit going on between the other two heroes. Bakugou breathes a sigh of relief.

“Don’t worry, guys; tonight’s the night we finally nail the bad guys!” he says enthusiastically. Bakugou snorts, and Red Riot flushes. “You know what I mean, bro, don’t make this weird.” Bakugou is about to reply when Shouto cuts in:

“Everyone know what they’re doing?” He looks pointedly at Bakugou as he speaks.

“Hah?” Bakugou sneers. “What you looking at me for, half n’ half? Wanna fight?” Todoroki raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I do ‘wanna fight’. To elaborate, I would very much like to fight the villains, Ground Zero, but of course, we can also wait until after I’ve knocked you down a notch or two.”

“Okay, okay, let’s all just…concentrate, right? This is our chance to take down the league once and for all, you know!” Deku tries to persuade, and Shouto simply nods, all glimmer of snarkiness gone from his eyes.

Liking someone can do that to you, it appears, and Shouto is all too obvious about how much he has fallen for Deku (although the stupid shitty nerd doesn’t realise it).

Bakugou shares a look with Red Riot, who has as much insight as he does, and rolls his eyes.

“Let’s go, already,” Bakugou announces, cracking his knuckles as he steps up to the edge of the roof. “We’ve got some villains to take down.”

And with that, he steps off the edge, all geared up to kick ass.

*

The mission yesterday had been a success. Well, duh, Bakugou had freaking smashed those weird ass freaks.

(The others were admittedly cool too, though he’d never let them know that he thinks that).

Bakugou tries not to dwell on the fact that the leader was the only member they weren’t able to apprehend (the man had yelled something to Deku about revenge as he’d ran, and god if that wasn’t so fucking cliché). But what’s a single guy gonna do by himself anyway? It’d been his underlings who’d been the real threat. Then again, Shigaraki had gotten pretty far alone before he’d recruited new members, so Bakugou thinks that he should maybe get together with the other three to see if they can track him down or some shit.

He goes from the fifth bar again, playing double time just because he can. The regular tempo’s too chill for him anyway, and drumming is meant to relieve his stress, so he can do what he fucking likes. The ride symbol harmonises perfectly with the hi-hat that he hits with his right hand (crossed underneath his left, because it’s easier like that).

Now this is real music, not whatever nerdy music Deku’s always playing with his half n’ half crush. As if some dusty uptight piece would ever beat simple, free sound. But the music school they go to offers both, so Deku can do as he likes; it’s none of Bakugou’s concern.

“Bakubro?” A voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and Bakugou comes to an abrupt halt to look up across the dimly lit practice room at his best friend. The streetlamps outside inform him that it’s after sunset, but as far as he’s aware, he’s got some time off from hero-ing tonight.

“Yeah?” he grunts, lifting himself off the seat and strolling over to where Kirishima is sat, acoustic guitar in hand. “Hold up; what’ve you got an acoustic for?”

Because Kirishima Eijirou, his best friend (and okay yes, goddamn crush too, who cares anymore?), plays the electric guitar. Although that’s sort of an understatement, he supposes. Kirishima doesn’t just play the guitar, he absolutely shreds it; his talent is unrivalled by the rest of the school.

When Bakugou had first met the cheery boy with straight, limp hair and a whole load of insecurity, he’d never expected him to be quite so…awesome.

But in the two years that he’s known him, Bakugou has never, ever seen Kirishima pick up an acoustic guitar. That’s always been something Kirishima keeps to himself; he has to practice with it, but he doesn’t do so when Bakugou is present.

“I,” Kirishima begins, taking in a deep breath. “I sorta feel like the acoustic guitar is my private self so I’ve never shown you what I can do with it, and I know it’s stupid-”

“For fuck’s sake, dumbass, it’s not stupid. Okay? You don’t have to feel pressured to-”

“No, no, no!” Kirishima hurriedly refutes, before slowing down. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just- I’ve been working on something for you, a cover, and I thought maybe you might wanna see it?”

Kirishima smiles at him so dazzlingly that Bakugou can hardly hold his gaze.

“Well, if it’s for me, you gotta fucking show it to me, dumbass. So yeah, let’s hear it.”

Bakugou sits down beside Kirishima and looks at him expectantly, so the other boy starts to strum.

It’s…it’s really good. It’s as if Bakugou is experiencing another side of Kirishima, something softer, something more personal, and the way his rough fingers gently pluck the opening of ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicci hits Bakugou straight in the chest. But he’s not even remotely prepared for what Kirishima does next.

*

“What’re you all sad about?” Uraraka greets Midoriya, setting her tray down opposite him. It’s past ten in the night, but the school is still open and the cafeteria is all Midoriya’s. Well, his and Uraraka’s now. Uraraka is in the same class as Todoroki and himself, and plays the flute so brilliantly that the music practically floats about in the space. She’s also his best friend, and knows him almost inside out.

Note the almost.

Midoriya looks at her pointedly, but she doesn’t relent.

“What? Did the night end too soon?” she giggles, offering him a wink. He blinks at her in confusion.

“What?”

“What?”

They stare at each other for a moment, before Uraraka continues, slowly:

“Okay, so let me get this straight: when Todoroki rushed out of the recital early last night without even finishing the last song, and spread an announcement through the media covering the concert that his father could go to hell and that he was staying right where he was, that wasn’t all…for you?”

Midoriya spits out his noodles.

“Wait, what?!”

“He was especially off after he finished Waltz in A Minor. That Nocturne was just…wrong,” Uraraka muses, oblivious, until she catches Midoriya’s expression. “What, you didn’t know?”

It seems that the term ‘what’ is commonly used in their conversations. Or at least in this one. But before Midoriya can even process the fact that Todoroki isn’t gone, and he has another chance, let alone launch into the whole ‘I got him roses but I had to leave early so the whole thing flopped’ story, Todoroki walks into the dining hall.

And as soon as he glimpses Midoriya, he turns on his heels and walks straight back out again.

“Wait, Todoroki!” Midoriya yells, scrambling to his feet. He glances apologetically at Uraraka who waves him off, and then runs after the taller boy. It’s like Todoroki’s some sort of mirage or something, the way that he’s only seen around the corner and never close enough, but Midoriya finally catches up to him on the steps outside the large entrance to their school.

“Todoroki!”

Said person stiffens, but stops.

“Midoriya.” The words are cold and detached, and they send an unpleasant shiver down Midoriya’s spine. Nevertheless, he runs down the steps so that he’s facing Todoroki.

“Listen, about last night-”

“Don’t. I get it; I’m not worth your time. You’ve had enough of pretending to be my friend, so you didn’t bother to show up.”

“No, I was there! I…I left after the Waltz,” Midoriya tries to explain, but Todoroki isn’t even meeting his eyes.

“Isn’t that convenient? I looked for you after that very song,” Todoroki says, chuckling humourlessly. “Stop lying to me, okay? You can’t redeem yourself, and you don’t need to. We’re clearly not meant to be friends.”

Tears fill Midoriya’s eyes, and Todoroki has the decency to look guilty for a second or two. This can’t be happening, not after everything he’s already done. Midoriya lets go of his inhibitions.

“I was there for you! I was there, listening to your music and watching the way the shortest strand of your hair come loose like it always does!” Midoriya shouts, the tears spilling over at last. “More than that, I was there with red roses behind my back that I could give to you after the concert was over because surprise, surprise, I’ve fallen for you! I really, really like you, and I would never stand you up.”

Todoroki steps closer, a dangerous fire in his eyes.

“Who told you? Who told you that I…used to like you? Was it my father?”

“I…no! A-and…used to?” Midoriya manages to say. Todoroki nods, glare so livid that Midoriya thinks he may be paralysed.

“Yes, used to. Up until yesterday. Because I can’t bring myself to like someone who stands me up and then lies about it. Leave early? Really? Why? Was it a matter of life and death that you couldn’t have stayed just a little longer for me? I think not. You liar-”

“I’m not-”

“Shut up!” Todoroki roars, the loudest Midoriya’s ever heard him, and he flinches. Even Todoroki realises he’s gone too far, and almost reaches out for him, as if to console him like he usually would. But he controls himself this time. “Just…shut up,” he says quietly, walking down the stairs and away from Midoriya, who stands there for a few minutes, frozen, before breaking down. He doesn’t know how long he weeps for, out in public, before something buzzes in his pocket; his phone.

Unknown number

I’ve found you, finally

Who is this? you may ask

I’ll give you a hint

S H G R K I

But sshh

Don’t tell anyone

Come alone to the address attached

Cos I’ve got Shouto and you reallllly don’t want me to hurt him

Be there ASAP

Midoriya reads the texts three, four times. He’s just lost Todoroki, and now, Shouto’s gone too. Kidnapped. Unless he walks into a trap for him. How the hell is a person meant to withstand this? But he’s not just Izuku, he’s Small Might, too. And he knows who to go to.

His conviction doesn’t stop the tears, though.

(He wonders if anything will ever stop the tears).

*

“Feel my way through the darkness,” Kirishima sings, almost whispering, so shy and unsure in his own ability, that Bakugou wants to yell at him that he sounds like an angel. Since when has Kirishima been able to sing? And where did he learn to sing like that? Bakugou recalls that Kirishima is doing this for him, and something begins to click into place. “guided by a beating heart. I can’t tell when the journey will end, but I know where to start.”

And Bakugou can’t help it; he joins in. He misses a line, before singing, falteringly:

“’Say I’m caught up in a dream...”

Their voices are low, hesitant, and so fragile together that even the slightest wrong movement could shatter them. But this is something they could build on. Bakugou understands now, and the moment is perfect; he wants nothing more but than to make this, the way he feels, the way Kirishima looks at him, to last for an eternity.

Which is exactly why the universe has to cut it short. The shitty nerd slams the door open, face tear-soaked. Kirishima instantly stops playing and nearly drops the guitar in surprise. But Deku is fixed on Bakugou.

“Kacchan,” he chokes out, voice cracking, “I need your help.”

And Bakugou wants to say no, wants to close the door in the nerd’s face and pretend that he and Kirishima are alone, completely alone with no-one else but themselves.

He can’t do that, though, because if there’s anything he’s learned from his shared history with Deku is that Deku is not a foe; he’s a friend. A fucking good one at that, and damn but Bakugou’s gone soft because he can’t just say no to his oldest friend anymore. And judging by the tears, it’s probably got something to with someone he cares about.

Bakugou knows how that feels.

“I’ve gotta go with him,” Bakugou mutters to Kirishima, and it breaks him to hear how much it sounds like a rejection.

“Yeah, cool; I’ll be packing up and heading home now, I guess. See you tomorrow?” Kirishima replies with forced cheeriness.

Bakugou simply nods before grabbing Deku and stomping out of the room. He turns to confront his short friend.

“Now fucking what?”

“H-he, he’s got S-Shouto, and, um, he left me, uh,” Deku stutters between tears, “a t-threat. He I have to c-come alone or he’ll, he’ll…” But he doesn’t get anymore out before he openly starts sobbing.

Bakugou sighs and pulls the nerd into a hug.

“You go after him,” Bakugou commands quietly, “but attach the comms unit and take the signal locator so Red Riot and I can follow you there. We’ll be there in half an hour to give you some time to assess the situation.” He pulls Deku back slightly so he can look him properly. “Don’t do anything stupid, don’t fall into any dumbass traps, and don’t you fucking worry; we’re going to get him back for you. Got it?”

Deku sniffles, but nods, eyes taking on a determined glimmer.

“Got it.”

And then he’s off sprinting down the hallway, and Bakugou pulls out his device, sending an emergency signal to Red Riot. But there’s one thing he’s gotta do before he join the redheaded hero:

He’s gotta stop at Kirishima’s house and sort their mess of a relationship out, because he never wants to see the guy he’s half in love with fake anything towards him again.

He wants Kirishima to be genuinely happy, for as long as humanely possible.

*

Todoroki sits uncomfortably, blindfolded, and hates himself.

He hates himself for overreacting. He hates himself for making the one he loves cry. He hates himself because he can’t stop loving him. But most of all, he hates himself because the whole situation distracted him so much that Shigaraki was able to kidnap him. And even if a future with Midoriya is gone, he could’ve maybe had something with Small Might. But Small Might is inevitably going to end up hurt if he comes after Todoroki alone like he’s meant to. Todoroki only hopes that he at least consulta Ground Zero first. As rash as the hero is, Small Might and Ground Zero know each other in person, so there has to be some sort of backup Ground Zero can offer.

“Oh, Shouto; I can scare you, you know,” the deluded villain taunts. Todoroki grits his teeth.

“As if.” Physical pain is nothing to him.

“Hmm, but I know who you are, who you really are, and I’m sure if I revealed your true self to, say, Small Might, for instance, he’d somewhat recognise your face from the media. Your cover is blown.”

Todoroki’s blood runs cold. Of course, being him, the son of the musician Endeavour, most people in the city know his face, his voice, and even his hair, which is why he so completely covers himself up with his costume. Small Might would instantly recognise him. All the…the stereotypes and the rumours about Todoroki would cloud Small Might’s judgement.

He’d lose the special connection they had.

“You’re bluffing,” Todoroki growls. Shigaraki laughs.

“Are you sure about that? Only, that was an awfully long pause…Todoroki.”

Shit.

“Now,” the villain continues. “Do you think I can scare you?”

No reply. The villain snarls and repeats his line.

“Do you think I can scare you, Shouto?”

“What does it matter? There’s nothing wrong with being scared if you can be incredible anyway!” The voice belongs to neither himself or Shigaraki. Todoroki would recognise that modulated sound anywhere: it’s Small Might.

“Small Might, don’t! Don’t come any closer!” Todoroki pleads, but it seems that Small Might isn’t going to listen, because the sounds of heavy steel boots get louder. And it’s selfish, he knows; he’s primarily trying to stop the other hero from finding out that he is a Todoroki. But his concern isn’t just for himself – he has to keep Small Might safe, too.

The echoing sound of multiple guns resonates throughout the space, and Shigaraki pulls Todoroki’s blindfold off. The hero is faced with a grotesque, peeling face, before Shigaraki steps away and says, gleefully:

“Behold, my two henchmen!” Either side of Small Might appear two men holding guns at point blank range to the hero. Shigaraki reveals his own gun and aims it at Small Might, so that the only way he can go is backwards. “Oh, it was a struggle to get anyone so short notice, but these two kind men took my limited money and accepted the job! So now, Small Might, you have a choice: flee, and live, or try to protect your dear hero friend, and die.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Shigaraki laughs, louder this time.

“But of course not; you’re a hero!” He turns to Todoroki. “So really, the choice is yours, Shouto; reveal your identity to Small Might, and allow him to live, or refuse to, and be the cause of his death.”

The air is silent for a short while, before Todoroki manages, shakily:

“My hood and mask. Take it off.”

There really isn’t a choice, and Todoroki only prays that Small Might will accept him for who he really is, and not confine him to the Todoroki Shouto that the public knows.

“Why, certainly, Your Highness,” Shigaraki quips childishly, stepping up to Todoroki again. “Brace yourself.”

And with that, he whips the mask off and shoves the hood back. Before the villain can even announce his real name, Small Might blurts:

“Todoroki?!”

Shigaraki grins, and Todoroki feels like he may possibly throw up.

“Oh, who was I kidding, of course Small Might would recognise you! You see, I also know who Small Might truly is, and you two…well, I’ll let your eyes speak for themselves.” He pushes the gun into Todoroki’s temple harshly, and turns to Small Might. “Mask, off, or I shoot him.”

And it’s the same situation, except Small Might doesn’t even hesitate for a second. The green material flops onto the floor, and the sight he sees knocks the air out of his lungs. It can’t be.

Izuku Midoriya is stood before him.

And this is the worst time to think back to yesterday, and to think back to how Midoriya said he had to leave early. Was it a matter of life and death? Todoroki had asked. And now it all makes sense.

The tears spill before he even realises he’s going to cry.

*

Bakugou hadn’t accounted for traffic. He’s now only got ten minutes left before he’s got to be with Deku, which is why he barges into Kirishima’s room without knocking. Kirishima’s parents had let him in, and Bakugou doesn’t have a second to waste.

But none of that prepares him for finding Red Riot in Kirishima’s room.

*

Kirishima steps out of the bathroom in his full Red Riot outfit. He’d gotten an alert from Ground Zero about twenty minutes ago, and it takes him at least five minutes to get his hair set, so he’d responded immediately.

(And he wants to see Ground Zero as soon as possible, too; is that really such a bad thing?)

But now he has to explain why he’s dressed like this to Bakugou, his year-long crush, and he really doesn’t know what to say.

“…Red Riot?”

Okay, so Bakugou’s heard of him. Maybe he can spin this to his favour.

“Yup, that’s me!” he starts fully intending to pretend that ‘Kirishima is out and we’re friends, haha’, but then realises he’s yet to put his voice modulator on.

Oh no.

“…Tell me you’re not the Red Riot. The one that works with Ground Zero and stuff. Please,” Bakugou utters. Okay, so now he’s a bit offended.

“Uh, yeah. Yes, I am. Like, the Red Riot, I mean. That’s me,” Kirishima tries (and fails) to assert. Bakugou sits down on the bed and groans.

“Tell me this is not happening.”

“It’s not happening.”

“…Fuck off.”

“No, no seriously,” Kirishima says, “we can pretend this never happened. I know it’s super really weird to find out that your best friend is a vigilante when you yourself are just a normal music student, and I know my motives probably don’t make sense-”

“Tch, think again, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou mutters, and Kirishima stops mid-sentence. There’s only one person who calls him by that nickname.

“Y-you’re Ground Zero?!” Kirishima screeches, and Bakugou rolls his eyes.

“Congratu-fucking-lations, you guessed it,” Bakugou deadpans.

“N-no, it’s just that- it’s good! Really good!” Kirishima backtracks. Bakugou looks at him suspiciously.

“Why’s it good?”

“C-cos….oh god, this is going to sound weird, I’m so sorry, I have to say it,” Kirishima mumbles, before clearing his throat. “Because I have a crush on you and on Ground Zero and I was really torn between the two but now it’s all sort of a lot more clear and also who wouldn’t want to be superhero partners with their best buddy?”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“You…you basically voiced my thoughts.”

Kirishima looks at him for confirmation, wondering if Bakugou could possibly mean what he thinks he means. The red tinge to his best bro’s cheeks says it all, and suddenly, Kirishima can’t stop grinning.

Without giving Bakugou a second to react, he tackles him in a bear hug, and they both topple back on the bed.

“Hey, Kirishima?” Bakugou says from underneath him, and Kirishima pulls himself up a little to look at Bakugou.

“Yeah?” he responds a little breathlessly. Bakugou smirks, surging forward and pressing a chaste kiss to Kirishima’s lips.

“We’ve got people to save.”

*

“I’m sorry,” Todoroki whispers in his broken voice, and Midoriya catches his meaning straight away, giving him a small smile that’s both sad and hopeful, and it breaks Todoroki’s heart even more to see it.

“Well, as…sickeningly sweet as this all is, I’m afraid it’s all going to come to end,” Shigaraki mocks. “But don’t worry; I’ll position your dead bodies like Romeo and Juliet, if you’d like.”

But then two figures spring down from the walls and knock out the two henchmen; Ground Zero and Red Riot have arrived.

(Really, Shigaraki should’ve hired at least a few more men).

“Maybe I’ll position your dead body like fucking Macbeth or some shit, you twerp!” Ground Zero yells…except he isn’t wearing a voice modulator, or a mask, and neither is Red Riot.

Which is why he’s seeing Bakugou and Kirishima, two people in his year at school.

To call it a coincidence would be the understatement of the century.

“Okay, yeah, yeah,” Bakugou says when he catches Kirishima, Midoriya, and Todoroki looking at each other in bewilderment. “Kirishima and I came clean to each other accidentally, and that fucktard made you reveal yourselves, I’m guessing. Can we kick ass now and ask questions later?”

Kirishima chuckles.

“That we most definitely can do, bro.”

Shigaraki doesn’t stand a chance when Midoriya knocks the gun out of his hand; the four as a team are pretty much invincible, and being able to see each other’s faces does a lot for communication.

Todoroki could get used to this.

*

“Oh my god, stop sucking face,” Bakugou groans, and Midoriya pulls away from Todoroki guiltily.

“You’re one to talk,” Todoroki says, raising an eyebrow at Kirishima and Bakugou’s joined hands.

“That’s different!” Kirishima exclaims. Midoriya simply laughs, and tucks into his food.

It’s been a month since their identities were revealed to each other, and whilst they’ve gone back to the masks to keep any other villains from finding out about them (they’ve ensured Shigaraki and his two henchmen won’t be talking), they’ve adapted the designs so that they can communicate more easily.

They’ve also discovered in school that highly controlled drums and acoustic guitar really uplift a classical song, and that electric piano and violin add a touch of unique expression that sounds pretty awesome.

But by far the best discovery they’ve made are double dates. After that night, there was no more beating around the bush. Todoroki and Midoriya had a long, meaningful talk which ended in a soft embrace and the beginning of a relationship, and Bakugou and Kirishima…well, they just sat with an acoustic guitar and sang songs together, which was good enough for them. The mutual agreement of a loving relationship came from the sound of their voices melding together (in more ways than one).

“So are we going to patrol tonight?” Midoriya asks, and Kirishima stares at him, aghast.

“Dude! We’re going to the cinema tonight!” he cries. Midoriya laughs sheepishly.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’m just nervous about that new group…”

Todoroki slings an arm around Midoriya’s shoulder comfortingly and pulls him close.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take them down if they’re a threat.”

“Damn right we will,” Bakugou agrees. “After all, we’re famous now.”

“Not us,” Midoriya insists. “Just our hero counterparts. No-one knows it’s us!”

“Yeah,” Todoroki hums. “And let’s keep it that way, this time.”

They’re so engrossed in making conversation and plans that they don’t notice their friends listening from the other table.

“Oh?” Kaminari calls.

“Famous?” Mina repeats.

“Hero counterparts?” Sero adds.

“Keep it what way this time?” Uraraka asks.

The four heroes look at each other, and collectively groan.

[a-fragment]

Best of John Mayer

John Mayer is coming to town (figuratively), and I’m not ready for that. I, as the peasant who cannot afford to go to his concert, will tell you on how to prepare yourself to meet the man; Learn his best tracks! (opinion based on my point of view). I initially planned to limit the list into five, but eventually not doing so because I swear I can’t pick out only five songs out of so many good songs of John. So, here we go.

1. John Mayer - In your Atmosphere

This is the song that introduces me to JM. I practically spent my entire 11th and 12th years of senior high school listening to this. And up until now, this is still one of my ultimate favorite songs. It’s the lyrics, the sound, the voice. Everything matches so perfectly. This song doesn’t even have the studio version, but holy crap, that what makes it more perfect.

I actually love all of the words in the lyrics but this got me;

All the street lights say never mind never mind And the canyon lines say never mind Sunset says we see this all the time, never mind, never mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K2DQ8XBRbU

2. John Mayer - Stop This Train

Whoop! Dare I say you, John is the winner of making a coming-of-age song. That statement is proven by this particular song. I shouldn’t have stated before that I love In Your Atmosphere because of the lyrics, sound, voice, since, dude, John Mayer’s songs are always perfect, lyrics-wise, sound-wise and, of-freaking-course, voice-wise.

It’s real difficult to pinpoint my most favorite part. ‘Cause rather than singing, this song seems like a conversation, between him and the listener. I’ve been in his position. To hate growing up, to prefer staying home, feeling safe and sound, to keep the life as it is without wanting a change. Everyone does, I guess, at some points in their life. Somehow, this song assures me, that; Everything will change, but you will be fine; Your people will leave, but that’s life, everyone comes and goes.

Stop this train I want to get off and go home again I can't take the speed it's moving in I know I can't But, honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older I'm only good at being young So I play the numbers game To find a way to say that life has just begun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHhhTtqWcOM

3. John Mayer - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Now, now, from this number onward, the order of my song’s preference could be changed based on the mood lol.

I think I’m obliged to include one more song of John from the Continuum album because everyone was like, “Continuum is the greatest masterpiece of Mayer.” So, besides Stop This Train, pardon for Gravity, Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is also what I’m very fond of. I mean, just please listen to how he starts off the song. The guitar, tho!

Go cry about it - why don't you? Go cry about it - why don't you? Go cry about it - why don't you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfFi4Q7ueA8

4. John Mayer - 83

I've listened to this song since years ago but only later realize the worth of it. This song, similar to Stop This Train, also depicts the dislike of growing up and the longing of the past. 

The passing of my granddad made the emphasis of; Yes, things have changed. Lots of things has changed. And, we get no turn-back. I was literally on my way home while listening to this, so I choked up for a bit at that time. And for the rest of ride, I just kept on romanticizing about the past.

I've these dreams of Walking home Home where it used to be

I love how 83 includes “I wish I was 6 again,” explicitly written yet still feels romantic.

And most my memories have escaped me or confused themselves with dreams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ep9hbz8oho

5. John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness

Well, this is the most sweetest song about separation. I just love how he sang the part below. Once again, John is a lyrical genius, also proven by these:

I called because I just Need to feel you on the line Don't hang up this time And I know it was me who called it over, but I still wish you'd fought me 'til your dying day Don't let me get away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPvYTx_3cOE

6. John Mayer - Born and Raised

Based on genius.com, “Through this song Mayer shares realization that he no longer has a lifetime of dreams and goals to look forward to – he is already an adult who has a passed a good chunk of his life.”

Another song about life. Can’t help it. So, basically this song tells a story about someone who has matured and become a bit more introspective with age. Very honest piece of art. It’s hard to decide which part is my favorite because everything is just too relatable. And we should also talk about the harmonica. Dayum!

So line on up and take your place Show your face to the morning Because one of these days you’ll be Born and raised and it All comes up without warning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Ui2MWRyw0

7. John Mayer - Dear Marie

“Anyone who has ever had a first love when they were younger should feel touched by this song. Everyone goes back and tries to google their high school sweetheart. Thank you John for being so relatable.“ from someone on youtube.

The quotation gives justice for my feeling. This is a very sweet song from John. A song not for his first love, but for someone who used to have crush on him. The lyrics is pretty short, but c'mon, being noticed by senpai (yes, I’m trying to be funny here) is everything. Gee! Imagine John tries to find your photograph online, cute.

Dear Marie, tell me what it was I used to be Dear Marie, tell me what it was I used to be And if you’re further up the road can you show me what I still can’t see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0zaNpics48

8. John Mayer - I Guess I Just Feel Like

It is a wrong of me if I don't include any newest track of John. The first time I listen to this song, I was like, this is honestly what is happening in the world right now. For me, this song is showing about a person who is so done with life. But thanks for a certain someone on youtube who’s explaining about the last verse of the song, where John is changing ‘feel’ to the past tense ‘felt’. It signifies that the exhaustion is only a passing moment. We all should keep thriving.

I guess I just feel like Nobody's honest Nobody's true Everyone's lying To make it on through I guess I just feel like I'm the same way, too

I love how he didn’t try to put all the blame on other people but also himself. Because in the end, we somehow always end up becoming the person we used to hate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQEoLHeI0tA

So, while we are at it, do also listen to these War of My Life, Back to You, Clarity, Heartbreak Warfare, Who Says, Edge of Desire, The Age of Worry, Paper Doll, All We Ever Do is Say Goodbye, No Such Thing, Shadow Days, Queen of California, Gravity, Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey, and literally every song of The Search for Everything album.

[imaginaryculturepress-blog]

In which we launch the first-ever Tales from the Pit story/review, and Why Even Try Launch “More Than”.

Hi, hello, and welcome!

My name is Skyler and the story I'm about to tell you shall include approximately twenty thousand words of insignificant information that's definitely not aimed at increasing my website traffic. ... Definitely not... ...Anyway... I'm trying to make this a regular type of post, as with all things on this blog; a sort of "concert story", if you will. It’ll mainly include photographer-orientated content such as issues that occurred whilst shooting, though I’ll attempt to add as much crowd and band information as possible. Perhaps now that I've gained the idea, I ought to start shooting a few things around the venue and whatnot to add to these posts. Maybe train stations and car rides with a Tumblr-esque theme, stray dogs and freeways at peak hour, and whatever else is deemed suitable. I needed a name for this segment, though, something memorable and preferably a reference of sorts. So I did what any Five Finger Death Punch fan would do and turned to their extensive catalogue of music to find something even remotely similar to my requirements. And then I realised: they have a live album called Purgatory: Tales from the Pit. I didn't feel  "Purgatory" was the best heading, but "Tales from the Pit" had a nice ring to it. Shorten it to TFTP and you've really got something. Sort of. So I suppose we should restart this. Hi, hello, and welcome to Tales from the Pit! *Include all the above nonsense that did nothing more than waste your time and increase my Google search rankings. * ... Let's cut to the chase, shall we? T'was the Wednesday before the With Con show when I found myself at a fish and chips shop, surrounded by drunk dudes and dogs. There were VBs on a table and a pregnant American Bulldog wagging its tail, making me question all my life decisions. Why was I at this place? Why am I a concert photographer? Why does nobody tour in Perth? What is the impact of the dog’s pregnancy on the Australian economy? Etcetera. I had one show coming up, the aforementioned one, this Saturday at Red Lighting Paradise (HQ). Plus a potential Placebo show at Perth Arena. (It later turned out that the Placebo pass was all mine. It also turned out that the concert was cancelled. Read more on that here.) But besides that, I was free and bored out of my mind. That’s the thing about concert photography; you’re either working until your brain explodes - shooting, emailing, arguing with the Internet, editing - or sitting around sending press requests. Or blogging. (School disclaimer: yes, I also study… …when I’ve no editing to work on…) And considering that in the last six months I’ve only covered nine shows and almost Placebo, that’s a lot of wasted – sorry, school-orientated - time. (Update: another show happened last Friday, Homebrand's "Shelf" launch show.) I soon returned home to a stable wifi connection to find a photographer’s favourite message: “Would you be able to cover our launch show this Friday? Sorry for the late notice!” T’was from one of my favourite local acts, Why Even Try, known for their (positively) insane sets and marvellous music. Supporting them were Grey States, Shedhead, and Crown Loser, three bands I hadn’t previously photographed but was extremely excited for. The late notice didn’t bother me, though I was left trying to back out of prior arrangements. Before long, we’d confirmed the shooting arrangements and everyone resumed with the launch show preparations: set list confirmations, instrument things that I’ve no clue about ‘cause my job is to just click a camera button, etcetera. The only problem I seemed to have (aka that my parents seemed to have) was the two-shows-in-a-row ordeal. The closest I’d gotten to this was in June, with the Boris the Blade Warpath Weekender on the 3rd and SOTA Festival two days later. Not to mention that those shows were back when I had lower self-expectations and everyone was used to waiting up to a week for photos. Nowadays, it was show day on Friday and photos by Sunday at the latest. But two shows in a row? Having to go from prep to travel to shooting to travel to sleep to editing to prep to travel to shooting to travel to sleep to editing again? Whilst suffering from an extremely annoying cold that left me coughing with every breath? This would be interesting. Friday came soon enough. T'was my first day back at school after a week of feeling sick as all hell, and the amount of work I received was definitely more than what was taught. "Test next Monday!", "This is due, erm... today!", "This is worth twenty percent of your overall mark!", "Don't forget your bibliography!", the list could go on forever. Concentrating on all those tasks was nearly impossible. There were two shows coming up and I still felt like crap. I made a mental note of everything I had to do. Prep gear, charge batteries, ensure the lenses are clean, pack, DON'T FORGET THE MEMORY CARDS, bring earplugs, and, of course, clear enough space on my laptop to load the couple thousand photos. (Photographer rant: why do laptops have such limited space and why do raw images take up so much of it?! And why aren't the affordable hard drives Mac-compatible?!) The evening rolled around rather quickly. Before I knew it, I was outside HQ, wondering why, exactly, there was a razor blade on a picnic table. As always, there were young children around with their parents, skateboarding, scootering, and just generally being really freaken loud. The weather was nice, though. T'was that perfect winter-going-onto-spring style that you usually found around there. And everybody knew each other. Well, most people did, whilst I just stalked everyone online. (Oh sue me.) Soon enough, we found ourselves inside the venue and deciphering gear. The latest edition to my kit, a beautiful 85mm f1.8 Nikkor, was my go-to lens, and I anticipated it to perform similarly to how it did at the Ambleside show. Mounted on my entry-level DSLR, the Nikon D3400, I thought I had the best setup ever. Key word: thought.   The lights dimmed shortly after, and Crown Loser - aka James and Co. - were onstage, facing a crowd of fans - aka friends - and a lens that was failing to focus - aka my heavily praised 85mm f1.8 Nikkor.

When you consider it, concert photography is rather simple: you choose a subject, have your lens focus on it, press the button on the camera, and spend thirteen hours trying to save the image the next day. But when said lens cannot focus on said subject, you my friend are fucked. Because, no matter what fancy Tumblr aesthetic you were "going for", a blurry photo is a blurry photo, and a blurry photo is shit. So I could've taken a thousand fuzzy images and made them greyscale before trying to convince the band that it was "supposed" to look like that, but I wasn't about to. I knew they'd see right through it - even my grandmother would. The problem was, I hadn't realised my lens issue automatically. It wasn't until half way through CL's set that I finally noticed that the pixels were blending into a blurry mosh pit. (That made no sense but anyway...) Was my lens dusty? Dirty? Fucked? Had my friends pulled some crude joke on me at school? Oh, that's right - I don't have friends! (I'm joking, I've around three...ish.) (I also don't usually take my gear to school.)

So I had to go clean it. Except that didn't help. Nothing helped. I messed with my ISO and threw manual mode into a frenzy. Maybe it had something to do with the fogginess? That sometimes happens. The venue either uses smoke machines to create better light illusions (which are useless if you're employing green and red lighting anyway) or has a large number of people in a small space sweating like crazy. , it created fog and wouldn't be helpful. Of course, said fog would disappear soon enough, but that's the thing: fog wasn't the problem. So what was the issue? I was fucked if I knew! I continued changing my settings and attempting new angles. I made more trips to my equipment and I wouldn't blame anyone in the audience for wanting to kill me for that, because let's face it: nobody appreciates the idiot who keeps interrupting your viewing pleasure every five minutes due to lens issues. Or angles. Or memory cards. Or batteries. Or - you get the point. It was a frantic set. I managed to get a minuscule nine photos out of the entire thing, which was disappointing but better than nothing. The band was amazing, of course. I don't know a lot about music (besides how to photograph and headbang to it) but they did really freaken well, delivering a dynamic, memorable set. I'd say something even more generic such as "the crowd seemed to enjoy themselves immesely" but if you know that crowd, and if you're reading this then you probably do, they're not exactly fussed as long as they can jump around and yell random crap. (Which, quite frankly, is the best type of audience.)

As they were playing their final song, Dion said, in the way he always does, "SHEDHEAD FUCKING SUCK!" And who was up next? You guessed it - Shedhead.

With my ineffectual lens still ineffectual, the band took to the stage, delivering a magnificent set that had the whole crowd headbanging and screaming inside jokes.

I decided to swap my gear at some point during their set, as evident in the photos. For comparison, here's a shot of their (extremely talented) (I need new adjectives) lead singer and guitarist, Alex, taken with the 85mm:

And from roughly the same angle with a 35mm:

There's obviously quite a difference, as you'd expect. It's always of great appreciation to have various lens sizes, for sometimes you're after full stage shots or landscape full-body shots and other times you want close ups, but unfortunately I didn't have that pleasure for the majority of this show.

I'm not about to lie: it pissed me off. It truly did. You've probably realised that by now. Here I was, being expected to take (relatively) professional(ish) photos, depending on this bloody combination of glass and plastic Nikon dare call a lens, and it was completely failing me. (Did I mention that it was an excess of $500? Yup.)

Now, I know that most of you photographers out there will be scoffing at me, tired of my complaining and thinking something along the lines of, "It's not about the gear you have, but how you use it." Well, that's a valid claim. It is. But this usually comes from someone who either shoots with multiple lenses, or some smart ass who doesn't even do photography. You have to go based on what the bands are after, what they typically end up posting. You send them twenty-something photos, and they'll use a couple for profile photos and some for their social media. And which ones are used for social media? Predominantly closeups.

So, if the band you're shooting for is (potentially indirectly) after zoom-ins and your 85mm is broken, you my friend, are, as previously stated, fucked. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it for the rest of the show except sit around and weep or take out your old 35mm.

But hang on, Sky! Don't you have a 50mm?

I wished I did. (Note: I purchased one soon after this gig. Like, the next day. I'll get to that in my next post on the With Con show; it was quite the drama.)

So stuck in those photographical Down Days I remained. (See what I did there? No? Go educate yourselves here.) The band continued playing adroitly, and before I became accustomed to shooting with the 35mm again, their set was over.

Halfway through.

During the intermission, I came up with a game plan: shoot the first song or two with the 85mm and hope to capture a useable image, then swap over to the 35mm.

Grey States (who I always thought were Greystates) were soon up, and I was faced with a new issue: someone - a band member's father, most likely - was Skyping a relative to show them the entire set. Whilst in the photographer spot. (Is it just me or is there an unspoken rule at HQ regarding the corner where the stage and pit meet? Like, that lil' gap? Isn't that for photographers? And, if it's a really popular band, for extreme fans as an addition to the front row? Photographers, what're your takes on this? Aren't we supposed to get stuck in that section?)

And I get it; a former member of Green Day was performing. But move out of the fucking way! If you want evidence of the set, you've got these professional(ish)(not really) photos to display. Send them to those relatives. Do what you want with them (just offer a bit of credit for ya gal here). Skype later, yeah? I was probably in the way the entire time regardless. (Side note: I can imagine that relative just saying something along the lines of, "Ko je ona budala što uvjek stoji ispred kamere? Ošni ju, jebo ju konj!" Assuming they're Bosnian. Which they most likely aren't.)

Just stay out of Sheldon Cooper's spot.

As for the band, well, damn. They delivered an incredible set, incorporating magnificent instrumentals and musical creativity. (Has anyone realised just how little I know about music and musical terminology? It's rather ironic. Comment some new words that you usually use to describe music.)

Why Even Try were soon playing, and by this point I was through with my 85mm. It wouldn't focus, it wouldn't photograph, it wouldn't function the way it was supposed to. So the 35mm it was. Back to getting ultra close to people, apologising waaaay too much, doing what I'd do anyway and taking shots from the stage, suffering, etcetera. All whilst listening to a riveting set and trying not to dance.

Honestly though, the guys were a prime example of why the Western Australian music scene isn't dead yet; their performance was dexterous and exuberant, making for a convivial night that may or may not have resulted in some pretty cool photos (if I do say so myself). "More Than" is definitely worth checking out, just as all their songs are. All the bands' Facebook links will be listed later on in this post, so leave them a like and listen to their music.

And that was that.

MUSIC SUMMARY:

Crown Loser: incredible/5

Shedhead: fuck yes/5

Grey States: outstanding/5

Why Even Try: 69/5

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY:

Lenses: kill me now/5

Camera: for the price I paid, I'm not allowed to complain/5

Lighting: if I had the money I would change the venue's entire lighting setup/5

Editing: time consuming/5

My sanity: nonexistent/5

These aren't real ratings? Well... it's not exactly a "real", "generic", "stereotypical" music blog; one moment we'll be discussing shows, the next we'll be reviewing records and considering the environmental impacts of veganism and how minimalism influences tour life. All whilst poorly referencing lyrics and incorporating weird metaphors and Shakespearean terminology. I don't understand it either.

So that was Friday. Up next: Saturday.

No shit, Sky.

Also up next: the With Con show. On the aforementioned Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Until then, go listen to all the bands mentioned in this post. Find their Facebook links here:

Why Even Try

Grey States

Shedhead

Crown Loser

Live long and headbang, xx-Skyler Slate