#maybe listening to this album on repeat today

[stargirlbryce]

Guts is literally about 19-year-old me

[robbiefischer]

this is incredibly dumb but i'm still exhausted from hosting thanksgiving like... dear body can you please get it tf together? it's been almost a week.

[glitteronadumpsterfire]

I got a job interview today AND I'm on my period life is just beautiful isn't it

[curlyhairedprince]

.

[nwjws]

while you were sleeping - pjs

; PAIRING - jay x gn!reader

; SYNOPSIS - in which you’ve had the same album on repeat, unable to get it out of your mind. just like how jay, your roommate, can’t seem to get you out of his.

; WC - 1.4k (minus the lyrics)

; TAGS - college roommates au, fluff, from jay's pov, based off laufey's 'while you were sleeping' ; WARNINGS - not proofread

i still can't believe that you noticed me

mindlessly scrolling on your phone, you patiently wait for your roommate, park jay, to finish cooking up some breakfast. a comfortable silence has settled between you two, with the only sounds being the sizzling oil on the pan and your humming.

"you've been listening to the same 14 songs for the past week."

"what?" you ask, looking up at him. you stare at his back, broad shoulders exposed by his tank top.

he turns his head to look back at you over his shoulder, raising a perfect eyebrow. you realise then what he's saying.

laufey had released a new album last week, and you literally haven't played any other song outside of it since it dropped. you can feel jay judging you, but you just shrug at him. you were definitely not stopping.

"so what if i've had bewitched on repeat? can you deny that they're good?" you challenged him.

"no, of course not," he chuckled to himself, turning back to the pan. "i'm just surprised you haven't gotten sick of it yet."

"i would never get sick of laufey," you say with mock offence.

"alright, then," he said with a teasing undertone.

you wanted to retort, but he placed a plate in front of you, making you forget what you were going to say.

"hey, you have a later clinical today, right?" he asked as you two dug in.

"mhm."

"take the box i left in the fridge with you before you go then. its some extra lunch i made so you'd have enough energy to get through the day."

"thank you," you say appreciatively. "you really don't have to do that every time i have a heavier day."

"well, if i have time to, then i don't see why i shouldn't."

"what about you? what are you doing today?"

"my professor cancelled class today, so i'll go check out if i can bother heeseung or jake."

"i'll pray for whichever victim you choose, then," you joke.

"maybe i won't make you extra lunch next time," he pouted playfully.

"no, no. those actually really help me. god knows if i didn't score you as my roommate, i would have passed out several times by now."

"grateful to be of service"

after breakfast, jay lounges around the apartment as you're getting ready. some show plays on the tv, but it doesn't drown out the sound of must be love playing from your speakers.

you shout your leaving when you exit the shared apartment, and jay wishes you a good day. he watches you close the door, leaving him completely alone.

i'll never forget the first time i saw you then

when he drives to the shopping centre with jake later that day, he pauses mid-sentence when he realises something.

"is everything good?" his friend asks.

"yeah, i just recognised the song playing."

"really? you listen to from the start by laufey?" jake asks. he had decided to connect his phone to jay's carplay, and had been in the one in control of the playlist.

"not really, but my roommate does."

"y/n? that's pretty cool. they've got good music taste," he replies.

"they've had her newest album on repeat since she dropped it," jay laughs, eyes on the road.

"do you find that annoying?"

"of course not, it's funny seeing them prance around the apartment, belting their heart out," he laughs at a memory of you singing at the top of your lungs. "i guess i'm more of a second-hand listener now? if that's even a thing."

"probably," jake shrugs.

a light pink bouquet, a promise you'll stay and i start to believe

the two had decided to eat out at wagamama's first, before anything else.

"i think i'll get the pad thai," tells the waitor, who nods and notes it on his ipad.

"hm, i'm feeling like trying the grilled chicken ramen," jay says. "oh, could i also get the miso mixed vegetable salad to-go?"

"sure," the waitor replies. he pockets the small device in his apron, and leaves for the kitchen.

"you ordered another meal?" the younger asks curiously.

"me and y/n go here often. of course, i had to get them something. usually, they'll go for the typical miso salad, or some curry, but they've decided they wanted to try being vegan recently. so i got the vegan one," jay explains nonchalantly.

"wow, you really care a lot about them, huh?"

"of course, we're sharing the rent, after all. have to be a good roommate, otherwise they'll leave and i'll have to pay the bills on my own."

"maybe i should get a roommate," jake chuckles. "but i don't think i'd be able to get someone like you."

"i'd feel sorry for whoever ends up with you," jay teases him. "and anyway, they're a good roommate. they do the laundry for the both of us, and we usually spend the weekends cleaning together."

"you guys are so lucky," is all jake says.

i don't recognise myself ; who've i become?

jake dragged jay into their third clothing shop that day, despite jay's protests. in self-defence, jake whines about needing some new shoes.

"don't you have like, thirty pairs? what could you possibly need another one for?"

"actually, i only have twenty-eight. and i need one for graduation, of course."

"right, because none of your almost-thirty pairs suffice," jay rolls his eyes.

"don't act like you dont have seventy pairs of the same polo shirt."

"i don't!"

"i've seen your closet, don't lie to me."

jay sighs and leaves jake to wander around the shop on his own.

"there you go again, buying another shirt," jake's voice sighs from behind jay fifteen minutes later.

"not for me," jay shakes his head. he turns to show the clothing piece to his friend. "for y/n. this is definitely their style, and it'll fit them so well. they have a pair of shoes that are this exact colour, so it would be good outfit if they sandwhich it with any bottom piece they choose."

"you think a lot about your roommate," jake raises his eyebrow at him.

"i see them all the time, why wouldn't i?" jay asks.

"no, like, you think too much about y/n considering you're 'only roommates'," he says with a quote gesture.

"stop suggesting weird things," jay walks ahead to the counter, leaving jake to follow behind.

"is it really so weird, though? if you like y/n like that?"

jay just ignores him, and pays for the shirt. it's not, he thinks to himself, because it's not a new thought either.

i trace it all back, 3:30 am that night something turned in my heart

"thank you, jay," you hug him when he shows you what he got. "you really need to stop buying me things."

"i can't help it," he smiles. "when i see something that reminds me of you, i just feel like i have to get it."

"with how often you buy me things, i'd say a lot of things remind you of me, huh?"

"seems like it..." he scratches his nape, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with you. thanks jake, he scowls in his mind. now he can't stop thinking about what he said earlier.

you and jay decide to watch a movie the next night, since it was a friday, and neither of you had to be up early the next day.

but jay couldn't focus on the tv when you two were basically cuddling under the shared blanket on the sofa. his skin prickled where his arm hung around your shoulder, and the weight of your head on his made him feel light and airy.

the warmth of your body seeped through your clothes, and brought him immense comfort. your sweet scent filled his nose, subconsciously recognising it to be one of the perfumes he'd bought you.

it was only when the movie ended he realised he hadn't been watching at all. and neither were you, if your light snores were any indication.

he huffed amusedly to himself, and shifted on the sofa to get you two in a more comfortable position, actually lying down. reaching for the remote, he carefully switched off the tv, leaving the only source of light to be a soft, warm yellow coming from a corner lamp.

jay stared at your features, illuminated by the dim light. he realised right then, in the comfort of your arms, far into the night, what he felt for you.

while you were sleeping, i fell in love.

; AUTHOR'S CORNER! do u guys ever feel like throwing up at your own work? ALSO THANK YOU FOR 200 this is my offer of thanks 🤭

; TAGLIST - @lovelovelovebts @miyseung @babyy-bambii

[erwinsvow]

𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫.

summary: eddie munson is smitten and you're a little clueless.

notes: a little pining, smitten eddie munson to ease the nerves <3 it's just cute fluff. first time ever writing for st so don't laugh at my dialogue. i love eddie that's all.

wc: 2.7k

Sweet. A word that Eddie Munson thinks is perfectly suited to describe you. 

He starts to notice the little things, things he never cared to pay much attention too before, but now can hardly escape his attention. 

The way Dustin Henderson never shows up to a Hellfire Club meeting without a packed lunch. The way you fit four to five teenagers into your tiny, beaten Ford Fairmont every other weekend, splitting so-called babysitting duty with Steve Harrington. 

He doesn’t miss the way you have a lot of affection—paired with concern—in your eyes when you wave hello to him, and watch the kids head out from the back of your car. Once or twice, you even call to him with a faint ‘Take care of them’  before you drive away. 

Eddie is smitten. It’s not a state that he often finds himself in, since his interaction with people that he could potentially be smitten with is fairly limited. He’s sold to some, sat next to others in classes, but this might just be the first time that he’s smitten. 

The writing love songs, playing guitar outside your window, spending his days and nights with you kind of smitten. 

He’s not used to this, not at all. 

A nagging feeling in the back of his head reminds him continually that if he was going to feel this way about anyone, it shouldn’t be Dustin Shithead Henderson’s older sister—but no, the heart wants what the heart wants. And for the first time in a long, long time, he knows exactly what his heart wants.

He wants mornings where he picks you up, evenings spent listening to the newest Metallica album that he’s trying to learn, and more unforgettable moments where his heart pounds in his chest and his hand twitches with the overwhelming desire to brush your hair behind your ear. Moments like this.

He stands in front of you, the kids disappearing into the background as they chatter amongst themselves. All Eddie can focus on is you, in front of him, looking lovely as always, if not a touch more concerned than usual.

Your eyes look a little tired—like you haven’t been sleeping enough. That’s strange since it’s the summertime and he would expect you to be more rested than usual. You should be well rested and content and happy—tan and maybe a little sunburned on your nose, doing the things you love and not being concerned about the little shithe-Dustin.

Eddie is suddenly so concerned with the idea of you worrying that he forgets to answer the question you’ve asked him, until you repeat it back.

“Eddie?�� you ask, with a soft voice that feels hesitant. Almost as if you don’t want to bother him for the answer. “Do you know when you guys will finish today?”

“Oh-uh-” he stumbles over his words. He hasn’t done that in a long time. Damn it. “Not too late, I promise. I know the little shitheads make you come back here to get them.” You smile at that—mission accomplished. “Y’know, I can always drop them off, if you’re busy. With other plans, or something. I don’t mind.” 

He’s lying. He does mind. Actually, it’s a white lie—he minds them, and at the same time, he wants to do anything he can to make your life a little easier.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you to drive all the way there just to drive home again. But thank you,” you say, and he knows your words are genuine. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Ah, come on. Pretty girl like you? I can’t believe that.” Heat creeps over your face and you have to turn away for a second. Flustered. Another victory.

“No, no, I’m serious. Just me and maybe another rented movie from Family Video since Steve gives us a discount.” There’s a little smile teasing on your lips that Eddie thinks is the most precious thing he’s ever seen. It’s a mix of sincerity and honesty—you’ll be watching a movie tonight, but there’s nothing wrong with that. 

“Sounds like a good time.”

“Really thrilling. I might even go out of my usual genre range tonight.”

“You’d dare to be so bold? I underestimated you, Henderson,” he says, and another laugh from you draws the attention of the other Henderson.

“Eddie! Hey, Eddie! Can you get your grubby paws away from my sister and come help us set up?” Dustin’s voice calls from the doorway. 

Damn kid. 

“Well, duty calls,” Eddie says, taking a step back. You fiddle with your car keys for a moment.

“Yeah, it does. I hope you have fun tonight.” The sincerity in your voice is close to killing him. He’s never felt so much affection for someone over something so little as a sentence uttered in a tone that makes him feel like his heart is being squeezed by a hand inside his chest. “I hope they’re not too much of a bother.”

“Nothing I can’t handle, Henderson. You have fun too, going crazy with your rented movie.”

One last smile and laugh from you before you head back into your car—a third glorious triumph for him today—and you’re taking off, and he’s heading inside. He can’t wait to see you next.

Eddie can’t remember the last time he acted like this—all clammy hands and anxious foot-tapping. He’s waiting at the counter of the Family Video, Steve and Robin discussing something or other in the background. His attention is fixed firmly on the entrance, since according to the two idiots behind the counter, you always come to rent a movie around this time on a Friday night. 

“Come on, you guys, she’s still not here—what if she has a hot date or something, huh? And I’m just the chum waiting here like a-a stalker or something,” he said, meeting Steve’s blank expression. 

“Well, when you put it that way,” Robin said, cocking her head slightly as if deep in thought. 

“What—Robin, you’re not helping, okay? If this doesn’t work, you know he’s gonna come bother us every single Friday night, right?” Steve’s reply is met with a laugh from Robin and a disgruntled look on Eddie’s face.

“Gee, Harrington, thanks a lot. Loving the help here, it’s really great.”

“Listen, Munson, getting a girl is not as hard as you’re making it seem. You just gotta have charm, y’know, be funny. And the hair—that helps a lot. I mean, it’s not exactly on the same level as mine, but it’ll do the trick, probably-”

“Still not helping, Harrington,” Eddie said, shaking his head again. 

How had he ended up here? 

That was right—Dustin not shutting up about Steve’s expert advice on all topics related to women—pursuing them, acquiring them, keeping them. So here he was, seeking that very same advice, until he suddenly had a thought.

“Wait, why are you qualified to give me advice about getting Henderson’s sister when you don’t even have a girl yourself?” 

“Hey!” Steve said sharply—offended at the mere idea of being labeled as such. “I can get a girl, if I wanted—I’m just picky. Robin, back me up here. How many dates have I been on in the last month, huh?”

“Well, how many second dates have you been on in the last month?” Robin replied, absentmindedly organizing a stack of movies.

“Still not helping, Robin, okay? And by the way, Munson, if you don’t believe in the effectiveness of my theory then why are you here wasting a Friday night on trying it, huh?”

Eddie didn’t have an answer to that. Steve’s three part plan consisted of some things that Eddie supposes wouldn’t necessarily hurt his chances with you. The first was accidentally—on purpose—run into somewhere you frequent, where he could strike up a conversation. That was his mission for today.

“Oh-oh, there she is! Eddie, get ready, act natural,” Robin spoke up, directing her attention to you. Eddie scrambled, taking off in the direction his feet led him in. His instinct told him to hide, for some reason, and so he did, behind a purple velvet curtain. He was gone so quick that he didn’t hear Robin and Steve whispering frantically after him—Not there! 

“Hey, Henderson!” he hears Steve call to you. “Whatcha looking for today?” “Hey guys,” you say, and Eddie can almost hear the smile in your voice. “I’m not sure yet, I’m just gonna look around. I’m gonna be crazy, maybe, pick a new genre or something-” and now Eddie’s the one smiling wide, leaning against a shelf. 

He doesn’t realize how he looks until a man walking by shoots him a strange glance. It takes about ten seconds for him to process which part of the Family Video he’s stumbled into—the 18+ section—before he’s running out.

“What the hell, Harrington, I thought this place was a Family Video!”

But Steve’s not in front of him. You are, with a slightly confused and surprised expression gracing your pretty face. The surprise seeps away as you take in that you’ve supposedly coincidentally run into Eddie at the movie store, but the confusion sets in as you notice which section he’s just come from.

“Eddie,” you say, mustering a smile and trying not to laugh.

Eddie nods nervously. This is not what he wanted. 

“Henderson.” 

You hold up the movie in your hands—A Nightmare on Elm Street II—and try your hardest to ignore the blush settling across Eddie’s face.

“I took your advice, I-I’m being a little more spontaneous than usual. Horror is not my usual genre.”

“I’m so proud of you, that-that is really something.” “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. I’m just grabbing Breakfast Club as a backup incase spontaneity doesn’t work out for me.”

“Can’t go wrong with that,” he says, and suddenly his usual wit and general sentence forming abilities have disappeared. He must have left those behind the curtain in the adult section.

“Well, I’ll see you around, Eddie.”

“Enjoy-enjoy your movie. Movies, I guess.” 

You smile back at him one time before walking towards the desk. Technically, he had talked to you, and you had smiled, so he had partially done what Steve told him to do.

You walk out shortly after, and he turns to see Steve and Robin doubled over with laughter, nearly in tears.

…

“What the hell am I supposed to do next? How do I ever recover from that whole-” he gestures wildly in the air, “fiasco?”

“You don’t,” Robin says. 

“Thanks, Buckley. Real helpful.”

“It’s time for the second step, Munson, okay, using the resources you have available,” Steve says, tone as if he was directing his lead general in battle.

“What resources?”

“Okay, what does Henderson love?” Eddie stares blankly at him. “Her brother, you idiot. It’s time to make the little shithead do his part—y’know, some payback for free rides and shit.”

“I don’t think Dustin is going to be interested in setting me up with his sister, Steve-”

“No, no, we aren’t gonna tell him. We’re gonna play the kid like a fiddle, okay, he’s not even gonna realize that he’s helping us—”

“Us?” Robin questions, to which Steve stares back at her.

“You, okay. Helping you get the girl and maintaining my reputation, so here’s what we’re gonna do—”

In hindsight, Steve’s plan was a lot simpler than it seemed. For some reason—a reason Eddie could not grasp for the life of him—he could not maintain being a normal person around you. His words got jumbled, his hands got sweaty, and he managed to look like an idiot every time he was within ten feet of you.

The less than foolproof plan involved bringing Eddie to the Henderson household for dinner and using Dustin to sing his praises. Again, in hindsight, Eddie should have known it wouldn’t go as planned.

“Uh, why?” were the exact words Dustin uttered when Eddie asked if he could hang around for dinner. Damned kid.

“So I can, uh, y’know. Spend some more quality time with my favorite freshman. It’ll be fun.”

Dustin stared quizzically at Eddie. 

“Al-right, I guess. I’ll be back.”

Dustin takes off before Eddie can say something—yelling after his mom and you.

Eddie faintly overhears a snippet.

“What do you mean mom’s not here?”

“She went out, so it’s just me and you for dinner. What do you want?”

“Eddie’s staying for dinner too.”

“Oh.” Is that a good or bad ‘oh’? God I hope it’s a good one. “Well, what do you two want to eat then?”

“I don’t know, whatever’s fine, just call us when it’s done—” and before Eddie can pull his ear back from the door that he had pressed up against, Dustin’s back. He stares once again at Eddie.

“What are you doing?” “Me? Nothing. Listen, why don’t we go help your sister make dinner, y’know, so she’s not alone.” “She doesn’t need our help—besides, I thought we had stuff to work on for the campaign-”

“Shouldn’t we help, though?”

“If you want to help, go help, no one’s stopping you—” The attitude on this kid.

And that’s how Eddie ended up in the Henderson kitchen.

He’s pouring pasta into a pot while you cut up something on the counter. The silence is awkward, though not entirely uncomfortable. You both have the bright idea to start a conversation at the same time.

“You really don’t have to help-” meets “So how was your movie?” and you both fall silent.

You let out a laugh. Eddie’s blushing already. He feels his grip on the pasta box slip.

“I just—you don’t have to help with this. Really, it’s no trouble at all.” Your remarks have this quality about them—he believes every word you say, instantly. He doesn’t feel like an intrusion in the slightest. You make him feel like he’s exactly where he should be.

“Oh, well, what kind of a guest would I be if I didn’t try to help. And I mean, with these pasta-boiling skills, it’s a shame to let my craft go to waste.” You laugh again. Music to his ears.

“Unfortunately it’s nothing special when it’s just Dustin and me. I wish he had invited you when we were making something better.” 

“Whaddya mean? This is plenty special. I’m a big fan of-” he picks up the jar of pasta sauce. “Off-label, unnamed red sauce.” Another laugh. Either he’s America’s next big comedian or you might feel about him how he feels about you.

You reach over and take the jar from his hands, fingers brushing for a second. He wishes seconds lasted longer.

“I’m not used to company in the kitchen, okay, usually I’m just making grilled cheese or something.”

“Oh yeah, that kid’s a handful.”

“Yeah but he’s a freshman. Everyone’s like that when they’re fifteen.” A brief pause. “Thank you, by the way.”

Eddie is confused.

“For… what?”

“Y’know. All that stuff with your club and Dusty’s new friends and stuff. I know it wasn’t easy for him. I’m glad he has you as a friend. I think it’s helped a lot more than he lets on. And there’s only so much I can relate too, so, thank you.”

It takes every muscle in Eddie Munson’s body not to kiss you right then and there. 

“Y-yeah. Of course.” 

You smile at him before turning back to your chopping board. 

“The movie was good, by the way. I’m a real risk-taker now.” “Is that so?” Suddenly the food cooking for dinner and Steve’s three-step plan doesn’t matter anymore.

“Yeah, yeah it is.” 

“How would you feel about taking another risk?” He’s turned towards you, facing your back. You keep chopping as you reply.

“I’m not sure I've rebounded from this one yet, it might be a few days to make a full recovery. Why, what do you have in mind-?” you turn, just for a second, to see Eddie. He’s looking at you with big eyes, and a smile that you’re not certain you’ve ever seen on Eddie before.

“Go on a date with me, Henderson.”

You smile brightly at him, almost beaming—mission accomplished—and just as you begin to say yes, another voice interjects.

“Dude, gross. Wait—is this why you wanted to stay for dinner?”

[chaos-and-recover]

Hey, c'mere a minute. Listen to me. I know it's been a bit of a day what with the Sleep Token Instagram being wiped clean in the midst of all the doxxing bullshit going on, but I think we're maybe getting a little hysterical. There is so, so much evidence that wiping the Instagram is part of a calculated move to launch a new era, and not a signal that they're walking away. Let's lay it out.

II, III and IV revealed new looks at the Wembley show; Vessel didn't

They posted a link to Ascensionism on YouTube today, and while people are drawing a line between the doxxing and "you make me wish I could disappear" I would like to instead draw your attention to the line "You're gonna watch me ascend"

Sundowning, This Place Will Become Your Tomb and Take Me Back To Eden tell a story. They're a trilogy. The end of Euclid calls back to The Night Does Not Belong to God. It's full circle, end-of-an-era stuff. But if the end of the era was the band itself it would be absolute nonsense to put all that work into designing new aesthetics for 3/4 of the band for ONE SHOW.

The website is still up and the Twitter is still active. It's only Instagram that got cleared out, and even then the saved story highlights are all still there

As has certainly been pointed out by others this is not uncommon. Paramore has done this at leas twice. I feel like Hayley does it semi-regularly on her own account, as well as periodically just leaving social media in general. All members of AFI and their official account changed their profile images to just black ahead of the release of their 2017 album. It's a Thing.

Tour dates!! They still have tour dates. They're going to Australia with Bring Me The Horizon in April (Australia I am SEETHING WITH JEALOUSY). They have Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks and Sonic Temple

This Tweet:

This now-deleted post from a radio station in Iowa:

This also-removed listing on Ticketmaster (screenshot taken today, Jan 16, 2024:

(The removal of these two items is NOT an indication that they've been cancelled but rather an indication that someone posted them too early)

Yeah, the doxxing sucks. It's got to be stressful for them. But there's also been radio silence from the band and their camp on it and I think that's absolutely the right call -- there are potential legal consequences and it very well could be something lawyers are dealing with. Remember that this is the music BUSINESS and they are not defenseless little meow meows in this. A line has been crossed, boundaries violated, that sucks, that's unforgivable, but I genuinely don't believe we're gonna see the end of the band over it. I mean they are WAY too committed to the bit to let this slow them down.

I think instead we are going to get a tour announcement, and I think we're going to get it as early as this week. Maybe early next week.

We might even get new music or a new reveal from Vessel between now and the Australia dates.

Now let my depressed ass go back to crying to Atlantic on repeat and let's all calm down.

[pedgito]

Things we learned about Joseph Quinn from today's panel (Day Two):

Joe can count to five in German

Would cosplay as Steve Harrington

Recommends the Artic Monkeys but was going to say a techno song lmao

His favorite movie The Big Lebowski

Gaten crashes Joe’s panel for a question, asked who he’d save (him or keery) Joe said “You, obviously” waited for him to leave then said “Totally Joe.”

He wears Gris Dior

Favorite moment for S4, the max sequence in Dear Billy

How his day with Eddie in Hawkins go: He’d go see him play at the hideout then hang out.

He’d stay in a haunted house with Murray

What makes him happy at the moment: Family

What it was like to meet Metallica: Mad.

His favorite part about playing Eddie was all of it.

Eddie’s favorite musical is Hair, according to Joe. Joes not a big musical fan but is a big abba fan and has seen mamma Mia.

He’s a night owl

Christmas traditions: Family, Resolutions: None…yet.

SOMEONE ASKED ABOUT JOMIE BYE “it’s hard to get rid of that guy”

Joe met Dacre, thinks Billy & Eddie would get on well…then adds a maybe lmao

Someone repeated a question about what perfume he wears and he turned to the crowd and went “anyone remember?” pls i can’t

think it’s funny people ask about wesley, wesley got a j tattoo on his knee

did two self tapes and got his role for eddie

His core memory: time with friends between 15/18, skate boarding when he was a little boy

in low moments, he usually calls friends to talk

His favorite dish to cook for family/friends is a beef stew or a pasta dish or a lamb shoulder

he did at a play at 17 and realized he wanted to do acting

He would dress up as Gandalf if he was going to Comic Con as a visitor

Philip Seymour Hoffman is his fave actor

he thinks Eddie looks the way he was meant to look and wouldn’t change anything

when he has a bad day, he calls someone, has a bath, or goes for a run to calm down

him and Eddie are both chaotic in nature

the most memorable thing from this weekend for him is all of it

he enjoys Body Paint on the new Arctic Monkeys album

he hasn’t listened to Decide by Djo yet

his favorite color is burgundy

if he could be any singer for a day he’d be David Bowie

if he could be any dog he’d be an Old English Sheep dog

he said the filming for season 5 thing he asked in Tokyo was a joke

Glastonbury was a memorable concert experience for him

he thinks Eddie’s top artist would be Dua Lipa

he wouldn’t eat really weird foods like animal organs or something

his favorite techno artist is Mr. G

his favorite ABBA song is Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)

he would time travel to 60s London, 80s Manchester, or Renaissance Italy

he likes the song Blush by Wolf Alice

he had fun with Jamie in Brazil and Japan

if he had a superpower, it would be flight

he finds it crazy that people have Eddie tattoos

it only took him a few takes to sling the guitar over his shoulder as Eddie

he thinks Eddie would love Eleven and be impressed by her powers

This panel was a mess and people were either repeating questions multiple times or asking really odd, invasive, uncomfortable things or kinda trauma dumping on him so this is a lot shorter so I’m sorry if this is super all over the place. Lots of people asking for shoutouts and a bunch of other bullshit. It was ridiculous lol.

[ludwigplayingthetrombone]

i can't remember where i saw it (the tags of one of your posts, maybe?) but you said somewhere that a house in nebraska reminded you of post-canon kkg. well, i listened to the song for the first time today and......oh wow. wow you are SO right. listening to this song in the context of kkg was just such an Experience that i think it altered my brain in some way.

while i'm here, i wanted to also say that i really love your art! i can just feel how much love you put into each and every drawing because i can feel how much love the characters have for each other. your 8 gates comic and the comic of kakashi reacting to gai's near-death after opening the last gate are just so incredibly beautiful and emotional, and i'm so glad to have read them.

thank you so much for doing what you do <3 you're my favorite kkg artist of all time!

i listen to that song and have to lay on the floor hahaaaaa i had that album on repeat when i was writing the first 2 coma chapters

thank you i love pain and suffering but also yearning and love im so glad you also enjoy that

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 13/03/2024

Nuclear Pomeranian

Season 8 Featured on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 3

Ripped by Half Pixel

Requested by Oetam! (Discord)

I've covered a number of rips featured in Now That's What I Call Quality! 3 already on here, and I maintain that it's likely the best album the channel has yet put out in terms of raw concise quality on offer. Beautiful Dreamer, Initial Deluxe (I've Just Raced on this Course Before) and Owner of a Mahjong Board are all absolute highlights of Season 7, and it feels like the entire SiIvaGunner team came together to truly show the best of the best on the album. Yet beyond featuring classics from the Season that was then wrapping up, Now That's What I Call Quality! 3 also featured a good few rips that had yet to be uploaded to the YouTube channel - that is to say, some of the first-ever rips that you could consider to be part of Season 8. Its in this category that Nuclear Pomeranian finds itself in: the seventh rip of Rhythm Doctor makes an incredible first impression on what to expect from Season 8 in the months to come.

Honestly, it wasn't as if Half Pixel had to prove his prowess in creating these sorts of dense meme medleys: Since way back when I first heard Everybody's Special Course in Season 1, I'd known the guy had an undeniable knack for these sorts of rips. It may be coincidence, but it, Nuclear Pomeranian and Siiva Lining all just have this immense energy and adrenaline to them, a celebratory party atmosphere that never fails to bring a smile to my face. So then, I suppose Nuclear Pomeranian mainly shows just how much Half Pixel has grown as a ripper in those years, how many creative flourishes are added and implemented with complete confidence. The lyrical silliness in the opening is one of my favorite examples: transitioning Infinite's lyrics of "I am the last one that's standing, don't try and stand in my way" into a simple "okay" sound, followed by a response of "and now you're in my way" from Call Me Maybe. That's so fun! That has nothing to do with Rhythm Doctor, or SiIva's own memes, or Season 8 or anything, it's just a little bit of flavor added to the rip by Half Pixel to make it a funnier listen.

It goes through so many phases, yet compared to something like Memey Hell, it feels as if each part featured is allowed room to breathe in isolation from one another. Some of the sources. such as PSY's music, feel like they're subtly in the background almost throughout the whole rip, but segments focusing on just one source at a time feel like they strike such a perfect balance in terms of how long they're featured. The rip will for instance use Bo Burnham's Bezos I for a six second segment to give you just enough time to register the song as both funny and catchy in its context, before using a snappy Among Us sound effect break to transition into an equally-as-long segment using Boulevard of Broken Dreams, repeating the cycle. Much of that is of course owed to the structure of the original Bomb-Sniffing Pomeranian itself, but it's incredibly commendable just how well Half Pixel adapted that frantic, back-and-fourth pacing of the Rhythm Doctor song into such a different format. Very few of the sources, even when focused on as the sole joke for seconds at a time, are left completely unedited: small little quips from other sources, little interjections and pieces will play alongside or over the joke in focus, althewhile remaining completely harmonious.

I realize that a lot of what I'm describing is just the standard procedure on what to think of when creating a meme mashup medley like this in general, but what I'm aiming to say is that Nuclear Pomeranian is one of the best examples of how to do things right across the board. The amount of sources featured span across the channel's entire life, from the aforementioned PSY to appearances from Smooth of 【＝３】e-MUNO Disco (vs. 音MAD AGENT) fame in Season 2, the Season 1 classic Chip the Ripper closing the rip off, the Big Chungus-posting of Season 4 Episode 2 and AIN'T NOTHIN' LIKE A CHUNKY BEAT, the Among Us posting of Season 5 and Among Drip Drop Galaxy, and oh so many more. Yet compared to something like, say, the Season premiere collabs such as Joke-Explainer™ 7000 Fusion Collab and Bramble Blast Collab, the rip doesn't place more emphasis on these nostalgic, well-remembered sources than anything else featured in its vast list of sources. SiIvaGunner classics or not, Half Pixel uses what sounds best and what's funniest at every possible moment to create a rip that works incredibly well even outside the context of the SiIvaGunner channel, as a huge tribute to Rhythm Doctor and the art of ripping itself.

Put concisely - Nuclear Pomeranian is a banger, and was a fantastic showcase of the level of quality that we've now seen many examples of in the last month and a half. The SiIvaGunner team is truly firing on all cylinders, and I'm all here for it.

[melodygatesauthor]

Okay guys, I can't believe it's been a full year since I published the first chapter of my first fanfiction story and I'm still going strong today. - (Side note...it was actually yesterday but I wanted to get all my fics posted to AO3 so I could get an accurate word count and tell you all what I've done so...it took me an extra day)

This is going to be a really long post, and I thank everyone in advance for reading all the way through if you make it. I'm taking a moment to allow myself to talk about my accomplishments over the last year, my goals for this next year, and gas myself up just a bit. As an artist, it's really hard to talk about myself in a positive light without being critical, but I'm going to do it anyway. No one asked, but this is one of the ways I wanna celebrate my ficversary so...I'm gonna do it lol.

My First Fanfic Ever

I'd like to start by sharing my beginnings with writing. If I really think back to the very first fanfiction I wrote, I thought it was a Gorillaz fic (which I still have a handwritten copy of in my closet lol), but it wasn't. I think the very first fanfic I wrote technically was a Pirates of the Caribbean fic when I was 11. I didn't even realize that's what it was, I just knew that I was SO into POTC that I wanted to write about it. It had just come out by the way, so I'm really dating myself. This was...2003.

We had this thing we had to do for school, it was like a writing assignment or something, one of those big ones that they gave you, a standardized whatever. I managed to find a way to spin it into a POTC related thing and I went OFF writing this story. It had its own twists and turns unrelated to POTC, but it was a fanfic through and through.

The Beginning of My Fan Art

When I was 12 I started listening to Good Charlotte, to a point that it was my entire personality. Everyone who knew me, knew I loved them. Every fucking art project I had in middle school (7th and 8th grade) was revolved around this band, particularly Joel Madden.

My love for them has come and gone, but I still remember how I felt at the time (not unlike how I feel toward Oscar Isaac now lol). I mean my art teacher literally had to be like "I want you to branch out, you can't make everything about them." And as an adult, I'm wondering -why the fuck not but- ...I digress.

The First Fanfic I Ever "Published"

When I was 12 (or maybe closer to 13), I became OBSESSED with the Gorillaz. When I say obsessed I mean...I listened to the album Demon Days on repeat until it fucking broke. I changed my G's when I would write by hand to match the G in their logo. I made tons of fan art and it was a damn vibe. This was the first time I really discovered fanfiction and learned what it was.

I remember reading one fanfic from some girl on this website (I'm really dating myself here, some of you will know what site this is...) Quizilla. Quizilla was THE site at the time (other than LiveJournal I think, but I never used LiveJournal and didn't know it existed at the time) for fanfiction and what you would now call "buzzfeed quizzes". This girl's writing inspired me to write my own fanfic, which I handwrote and kept in a green folder which, as I said, I still have to this day sitting in my closet.

My very first fic, and yes at 13, included some romance, some non-con (don't fucking ask me why idk even how I knew about that at 13. I was never exposed to this type of thing as a child fortunately) and other nonsense. I published it on this site, and it made me really happy. I don't remember if anyone ever read it or not tbh, but it will forever hold a place in my heart <3

My Best Friend/Emo Era

I met my best friend in high school when I was about 14. She and I are still close to this day. Not as close, but I can still tell her my most unhinged thoughts and she loves me regardless. We met because we both wrote fanfiction and lost our minds over the fact that we did. Thus started my emo era.

She was into My Chemical Romance, and I was into The Used. 2005 was a time lol. The two of us had either a binder or a composition notebook where we'd handwrite our fics and pass them back and forth between classes. I still have the ones I wrote tucked away in my house. When we'd read them she and I would leave little notes in the margins like we all leave comments today.

Most of these fics never got published, they were just for us to enjoy. I did, however, publish a fic when I was about 15, that I wrote to completion. Quizilla ended up going down, and most of us moved to Mibba.com instead, which is still a website.

Edit: I looked at Mibba, and it looks like the website is still there, but you can't search for anything, so Mibba is gone too. Not gonna lie, broke my nostalgic heart just a bit to see...Some fics I wrote on there will be gone forever. Maybe for the best, but it's still kinda sad.

The Avenged Sevenfold Era

When I tell you that Avenged Sevenfold has been my favorite band since I was 15, I'm dead ass. Are they the best band ever? Not by a long shot, but damn the way I still lose my shit over them is unhinged. Anyone who was around during this time fucking knows...they were fucking HOT. Matt Shadows really had the bulky but not shredded body type going on, they all kinda did, and I'm so here for it.

Why I'll never post any of the fics I wrote during this time, even if I get my hands on them...

I wrote them when I was 15, and I was writing about things 15 year olds shouldn't write about.

You don't know cringe until you've read those fics.

It's about real people and I'm not a fan of rpf anymore. I'm all for writing whatever you want and fiction being fiction but there's something that gives me the ick about real people fiction. No offense to anyone who writes it, that's just my feelings.

The way these guys had a hold on me for the next 5 years was ridiculous. I wrote about them a lot, by hand, on my laptop, however I could. I had so many unhinged ideas and stories it's insane. I loved every minute of it, and I always look back on this as my true start into fanfiction.

The End of an Era

All good things come to an end. After graduation, my best friend and I stayed in touch, but grew apart. I went to college and continued writing fanfic. I was pursuing a major in graphic design with a minor in creative writing. I was convinced that even though I was writing fanfiction, I was going to write a book too and it would be a bestseller.

As time went on, probably when I was about 20 or 21, I kinda stopped writing fanfiction all together. My friend wasn't really writing it anymore, and the community around Avenged Sevenfold was slowing down. I was also in the middle of a breakup and it was a whole thing, so I kinda stopped writing around this time.

I'd also, unfortunately, felt like fanfiction was for kids/teens, so didn't feel the need to continue writing anymore. I didn't want to seem like a loser writing fanfiction in my twenties...so I didn't.

For the record, you're not a loser for writing fanfiction. It's a very valid artform and it's fun. We only live for so long, so enjoy it doing what makes you happy, period. I'll probably be writing in my 50s I fucking hope lol.

Anyway, at that time, that's how I felt. I now know it's bullshit to think that way. So fanfiction fizzled out for me, and I kinda moved on to other things.

My Not-fanfiction Era

What was I doing instead of writing? Going through an emotionally and mentally abusive relationship, working on trying to build what I thought was the 'dream' (marriage, kids, a house, e.t.c.), working and playing video games.

Fortunately that relationship ended. After years of therapy (which he told me I needed because he gaslit me into thinking I was crazy lol), I grew the balls to finally tell him to fuck off and leave. It was the best decision I ever made, especially considering this was JUST before COVID hit. I shudder to this day thinking about the fact that I was almost stuck in a house with that freak during lockdown.

When that relationship ended I moved back to Maine to be with my family. I missed them and had spent basically my entire 20s in another state with some loser.

Back to Fanfiction - Kylo Ren Era

So how did I get back here? How did I get back into writing and creating fan art? The truth is, a switch literally flipped in my brain over this guy right here...

I mean...

The funny thing is, I wasn't SUPER into Star Wars before this. I liked it, I'd seen the sequel trilogy in theaters, but to me it was just a movie series. I was literally watching a Sam Collins video on YouTube where he made fun of a Kylo Ren cosplayer's thirst trap on TikTok and was like...oh that's actually kinda hot.

Thought nothing of it though, just moved on with my day...until I dreamt about him too. And then I felt this spark inside me that I couldn't shake. I literally was like...👀 something is happening here.

So I remembered this feeling from when I was a teen and recognized the impending obsession immediately. I actually googled "is fanfiction still relevant" and "is it ok to write fanfiction as an adult?"

The short answers are - yes - and - of course it is -. This was how I discovered the VERY popular Kylo Ren fic Fix Your Attitude by Kassanovella. I read it in a matter of a week, and in that time I started writing my own fic. I also rewatched ALL the Star Wars movies, and then continued rewatching the sequel trilogy on repeat just so I could get Kylo Ren's character down. I wanted to make sure I captured his voice and personality perfectly. - When I say I watched the sequel trilogy 20 times, it's not an exaggeration, I had it on constantly.-

The fic I wrote was called, Yes, Master

The first chapter of that fic was published on 09/05/2022 (one year ago today), and the last chapter was published on 10/14/2022 with a word count of 100,701. Not only is it the longest fic I've written of all the fics I've done, but it's the one I wrote the fastest. I was posting a chapter a day every day until it was finished. I mean...I literally went OFF on this story. I was so proud of it that I went to lulu.com and made myself a physical copy of it that I intend to read as part of this celebration I'm doing lol.

Wondering if anyone would be interested in me revamping this story (rewriting and updating it) and posting here? I would definitely do it if there was enough interest.

I then wrote a sequel called By Your Side which taught me SO MUCH. Here's what I learned when creating this sequel...

Not everything needs a sequel.

Writing a chapter a day isn't realistic.

I should've planned a full outline before diving into this fic.

I'm not into pregnancy fics/domestic fics all that much as far as longfics go.

It's okay to genuinely dislike something you've written and you should try to learn from that.

By Your Side is still to this day one of my least favorite fics (if not my LEAST favorite). I am still proud of myself for finishing it, (it sits at a hefty 85,599 words). I don't have to love it though. I'm just grateful for what I learned in the process of writing it and proud of myself for finishing it despite being sick of it by chapter 8 and still writing 20 chapters after that.

I also wrote my very first Yandere fic, Just You. It's a bit darker, in my opinion, than The Fractured Moon. This fic was a blast to write, and it felt very freeing to write something so disturbing. It was fun to just let myself get into a dark headspace without holding back and not feeling bad about it. It was more

The Rainbow Six Siege Era

During my time writing for Kylo, I went back to a video game I used to play a lot, Rainbow Six Siege. My Oscar Era bleeds into the Kylo and R6S era a little but I'll talk about that soon.

The Siege fandom was an interesting one...one that I'll probably not go back to much, though I may still write a little fic for it here and there as I feel inspired to. I won't dive too much into this as I know most of you are Oscar fans, but I'll mention my accomplishments here and the things I learned.

I wrote another novel-length fic for this fandom called The Recruit and the Hunter which has another 83,888 words. I actually LOVE this story, and still look back on it fondly. It was a fun one to write, and I really challenged myself to write less smut for it, and I succeeded. It focused heavily on the relationship that built between the main pairing and in my opinion it's one of my better slow-burns I've done.

Why did I leave this fandom?

Well, I'm not going to throw shade, I don't like doing that unless I have to, so I'll keep it brief. The long and the short of it is this...

The readers were getting EXTREMELY demanding. I have comments on RATH of people saying things like "I'm going to be upset if you don't give us a happy ending" and "there better be smut or I swear...". It can get really discouraging as a writer when people seem to say "I love your fic but I'll only continue to love it if you do xyz." It puts us in a dilemma, and makes it hard for us to find a balance between providing fan service, and doing what's fun for us to write. It definitely changed the outcome of RATH and I'm not happy that I gave in like that.

The requests I got were confusing and downright weird. I didn't do some of the really weird ones, and I'm not meaning to kink shame, but it was just very niche things that I couldn't get myself into. I think part of why I felt obligated to provide fan service like I mentioned in the point above, and why I caved and wrote some fanfics for these more unique requests, is because this fandom is very small, and I felt an obligation to provide.

Some of the other writers in the fandom are fucking rude. I'm not going to mention names, like I said, but I had very poor experiences with several writers in the fandom, and since I was also integrating into the Oscar fandom at the time, I could see a stark difference in the way I was being accepted in one, versus the way I was being pushed away in the other. There aren't a lot of x reader writers in the R6S fandom, and I was one of them, and there seems to be some animosity between the people who ship characters, versus the people who write x reader and that's where this mistreatment came from. I don't know, I tried making friends over there, and felt like I was getting pushed out.

So anyway, it's not for me anymore, but I still think back to certain parts of it fondly, and I may write a little more here and there as I see fit.

The Oscar Isaac Era

This really is THE era, isn't it?

As I was working on the last 10 or so chapters of Yes, Master, and after my 12th time rewatching the sequel trilogy movies, I started to fall for Poe Dameron, naturally. How could I not? I mean look at him...

So I decided that I would give Poe a prequel to my Yes, Master story called One Hell of a Pilot. This fic was so fun to write, and it's how I became involved with the Oscar Isaac community in the first place. Immediately I started following Dee, and through her I found Mona, and it was just snowballing from there. Whitney and Romana were some of the first to follow me and my shenanigans.

In December, which is when I started writing One Hell of a Pilot, another novel-length fic that ended with 80,517 words, is when I started reading Dee's fics, along with Mona's and many others. I saw their interactions and felt excited by the prospect of making new friends who were just as into some of this stuff as I was. A place that I could be myself and lose my shit over this idiot and not be judged.

I had no idea what the hell I was getting myself into.

It all started with a fic that Dee had written, I can't remember which one, probably a dbf!Santi fic, and I asked the innocent question of...

What movie is this from?

Oh shit...I didn't realize what the fuck I was getting myself into. After she told me it was Triple Frontier and I should watch it, my brother and I watched it right away. I told him a friend of mine suggested it. The way we spent the entire 1.5 hours laughing at how bad it was is still a memory I hold dear to my heart. I still didn't know at the time that this loser (Oscar my beloved) would hold a place in my heart from that day on.

My first Santi fic was a headcanon about Santi w/ a plussize reader that I called Preciously Plump. A headcanon that later got a full fic, appropriately named Preciously Plump the One-shot.

So then I read something about Moon Knight, and between Dee and Mona shoving me into it (peer pressure ftw) I caved and watched the show.

Phew...

That gave way to the first Moon Knight fic I ever wrote, How Unexpected which came out on January 3rd, 2023 of this year. I was sure that between Steven's adorable nerdy behavior, and Marc's tough exterior, I'd be head over heels for those two. I was nervous to even TOUCH Jake, because I didn't know shit about his character, and the last thing I wanted to do was write a character without it sounding like them.

I was also afraid at the time of writing the Moon Boys with DID because I didn't know anything about it, and I didn't want to misrepresent something like that. After some time went by, I got my bearings, and started working on A Bit Dodgy.

ABD is definitely one of the fics I'm most proud of. I had learned a lot from my past fics I'd written, Yes, Master, e.t.c., and figured out what it was that works best when I'm writing to not only keep myself interested, but to create a good balance between smut for smut's sake, and pushing the story forward.

When I first started writing ABD, I was sure it was going to be a 30-40 chapter fic, but as I started writing it more, I realized quickly that a lot of the chapters were just porn. Is there anything wrong with that? No...but as someone who's written nearly a million words in this past year, I don't feel the need to draw my chaptered fics out with smut just to say I wrote something x chapters or x words wrong.

That's why ABD ended up getting cut down SO MUCH from my original plan. I just made some decisions that I felt maximized the story more and used the smut as a major plot device, rather than the fic revolving around smut as the plot...if that makes any sense lol. I'm happy to say, that as of today, A Bit Dodgy has concluded, though it's the only fic I've ever finished with such a heavy heart.

I was an Oscar stan HARD after that, diving into Sucker Punch and other silly little movies filled with that silly little man whom I love so so much.

Statistics

Numbers aren't important when it comes to kudos (AO3) and likes (Tumblr) so I'm not focusing on those. What I am going to focus on...is my personal accomplishments. Like I said, I don't normally toot my own horn, but I fucking wrote A LOT this year, and I'm going to take a minute to pat myself on the back.

So NOT including my random blurbs (since I'm not bothering to cross-post those)...

My total word count from 09/05/2022-09/05/2023 is (drumroll please):

791,829 words

OH

EM

GEE

I had thought I would've hit a million by now but I am NOT going to complain. By the grace of the horny demon that runs the smut factory in my brain, I've written more than I ever even thought possible.

In the Moon Knight fandom alone, I've written:

238,950 words

I think the only fandom I've written more for is Star Wars, but I'd have to add it all up and I'm not doing that rn haha.

Just kidding it's:

368,566 words

----

I wrote 6 novel-length fics, a total of 147 works, MK holds the record for most fics I've written at a whopping 82 fics!

----

It's shocking to look back and see what I've accomplished, and to look forward to seeing what else I can do. I know that this next year I won't have the same word count, probably not even close.

I'm focusing a lot on drawing now as well as writing, plus I'm working on my first novel that I'd like to publish so things will definitely be slowing down. I'm going to continue writing, but the speed at which I churn out fics will be slower in the future.

In Conclusion

Thank you all for the support throughout this year. There's no way in HELL I would've had the drive and desire to continue writing if not for the amazing community (most the Oscar Isaac community lol) behind me. It's not just the kudos and the reblogs, it's the people who I've grown to know since joining the world of fandom.

I never had a ton of IRL friends, and I live alone (happily btw) with my dog. Being able to make some friends here that I genuinely call friends, not just people I know online, has meant the world to me. I would list everyone out, but I have a fear of accidentally forgetting to tag someone despite how much they mean to me so I'll leave it at...those people know who they are.

And to my readers (I hesitate to use the word "fans", that makes it sound so conceited), thank you to the moon and back. Without out, I wouldn't have had the drive to keep going. Kudos, Likes and Reblogs aren't everything, I can't stress that enough, but they do help keep the drive alive. (Particularly the comments). Without the little boost of excitement I get when I see that other people are just excited about what I'm doing as I am, I probably would've given up ages ago.

You all are the reason that this was even possible.

With all that being said, I have a small celebration planned that I'll announce later tonight. In the mean time, stay amazing. You keep supporting me, and I'll keep providing the fics that you all love so much

Love, Melly

[something-bout-the-weather]

I Don't Wanna Be Your Friend / Matty Healy x Reader

Thank you to the anon that gave me the idea for this one <3 It is the friends-to-lovers story of my dreams the longest thing I've written so please let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Present Day (Aged 22)

You can’t believe how quickly the past few years have flown by. Especially, now that you somehow find yourself unpacking boxes in your new home, the home you are sharing with your best friend, Matty.  

You and Matty had only recently taken the plunge to rent a flat together in Manchester. You'd just got a job here after finishing uni and Matty's band had just finished their latest tour around the UK and he was ready to spend some time relaxing and starting work on their next album. You'd been best friends for 6 years now and it had just made sense to the pair of you to save on rent and get a place together. 

Matty was unpacking his room and you yours. Music was streaming through the house and you found yourself reminiscing on the day you and Matty met at college all those years ago. 

6 Years Ago (Aged 16)

It was your first day back at college after summer and you didn’t want to be there. You’d come prepared though, with your noise-cancelling headphones and the latest album you’d been listening to, on repeat, as you walked to the first class of the day, which was actually one of your favourite subjects, music.

Arriving into the classroom you noticed a few new people coming through the door. One, in particular, caught your eye. You’d seen him and his unruly head of curly hair in the college halls, always with a guitar case on his back, but had never spoken to him before. You’d always thought he looked cool but had been too shy to introduce yourself, maybe now was your chance.

The class had barely sat in their seats when the teacher announced a group project and explained that the pairs had already been chosen. As luck would have it, your teacher had picked the curly-haired guy as your partner, so you had no choice but to introduce yourself.

 “Hi, I’m Y/N,” you announce as he made his way over to sit in the chair next to you.

“Matty,” he replies, “I think I’ve seen you in the halls but you always seem completely engrossed in whatever you’re listening to in your massive headphones,” pointing at the headphones currently hanging around your neck.

“Yeah, they are the only things that help me get through a day in this hellhole,” you joke.

“What are you listening to at the minute then?” he asked. This turned into a huge discussion about what music you listened to and how the pair of you had extremely similar music tastes.

Both of you, it turns out, had a lot more in common besides the music you listened to. You also shared some favourite TV shows and movies and even what you liked to do when you weren’t working through the endless amounts of college work. It was clear instantly that you were both going to get along. 

The class seemed to pass quicker than normal and it wasn’t long before you found yourself heading out of the door towards your next class. 

“Hey Y/N, wait up!” Matty shouted across the hallway making you turn around to find him in the crowd of students.

“Yes?” you reply, unsure of what he is about to say to you.

“What are you doing at lunch today?” he enquires.

“Nothing other than roaming these halls,” you respond, gesturing to the bustling halls around you.

“Fancy coming to the record shop in town with me and grabbing some food?” he asks with a pleading look in his eyes.

“Yeah, sure. Sounds like a plan. Meet back here at half 12?” you suggest to which he just nods, before turning and heading in the opposite direction down the hall. 

Present Day (Aged 22)

You remember that day the pair of you had spent the remainder of the afternoon in the record store, flicking through the vinyls, getting to know one another and ditching your classes. You knew immediately you’d found a best friend in Matty and the pair of you had been inseparable since. 

You hoped you'd made the right decision by renting a place with Matty as you found yourself in a bit of a tricky situation. Over the years, you'd slowly begun developing feelings for Matty. You couldn't think of anyone better to share a place with but it was a real worry for you that it would somehow ruin years of friendship if your true feelings for Matty ever slipped out. 

You were completely unaware of the fact that Matty also had feelings for you too. His started to develop a lot earlier than yours though. They started to grow back when you gave him a Valentine’s Day card 4 years ago.

4 Years Ago (Aged 18)

The last two years had passed by in a blur. You'd made the decision to go to university and so far you were enjoying it. Matty on the other hand had joined a band and they were doing everything they could to have their music heard. He'd been so busy lately playing gigs in all sorts of venues and travelling around the country. Mix that with you being overloaded with uni work, and the pair of you hadn't seen one another for a couple of weeks. 

So, the pair of you had planned on going to watch the latest Quentin Tarantino movie, on opening night, which just so happened to be Valentine’s Day.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” you shout at your best friend as he makes his way over to where you are waiting for him outside of the cinema. 

“Y/N don’t say that so loudly, how many people do you want to make think we are a couple?” he asks worriedly. 

“People can think what they want Matty, we are just two best friends here to see a movie and catch up,” you reply nonchalantly.

After stopping at the counter to get some popcorn, sweet and salty at Matty’s request, you head for your seats.

“Before this movie starts, Healy, I have something for you,” you say as you dig into your backpack. 

Little does Matty know you’ve got him a Valentine’s Day card and some chocolates. Neither of you has a Valentine’s this year so you thought it would be quite nice to get your best friend something to put a smile on his face and let him know you appreciate him. 

Holding out the card and a box of his favourite chocolates you excitedly say “Happy Valentine’s Day Matty!”

Matty takes them from you in complete shock, before saying with a look of sheer terror on his face, “Y/N! I haven’t got you anything.”

“Don’t worry my dear,” you reply, “I’m just being silly and wanted to make you smile. Please open the card right now!”

Matty carefully opens the card with two eggs cuddled up on the front and the words ‘Thank you for being an eggcellent friend. Happy Valentine’s Day!’ surrounding them. You watch him contentedly as he reads out loud what is written inside, “To Matty, thank you for being my best friend. I will always be there for you, no matter what! Love you lots, Y/N!”

You watch as the smile grows on Matty’s face before pulling you into a hug and whispering softly “Thank you so much Y/N, you know I’m always here for you too.” He slowly pulls away before looking into your eyes and pleading “Can we make it a tradition to send each other a Valentine’s Day card each year? I’ll even give you one!”

“Of course!” you reply as Matty’s grin widens and he gently places a kiss on your cheek. You can't hide the look of surprise on your face and, it seems neither can Matty as it seems to be a shock, even to him.

Life clearly wants the pair of you to sit in your thoughts about this though as if on cue, the lights in the cinema dim and the film begins. So, both of you turn back to the screen with so many thoughts whirring around in your heads. 

Present Day (Aged 22)

Even looking back on this memory you are still completely oblivious of the fact that from that day forward Matty had been slowly falling for you.

That day was also the start of one of many friendship traditions. Every year since then you'd sent Valentine's Day cards to each other, even if you couldn't see each other on the day. Always with an excellent pun on the front and some sentimental wording inside. One day you were sure it would have to stop when you got your own partners, but for now, it was a tradition you didn't want to break.

You looked back at the memory fondly and thought of all the other random traditions the pair of you held. Your favourite tradition was one which had begun two years ago on Christmas Eve. That was also the year that you started to develop feelings for Matty. 

2 Years Ago (Aged 20)

You always spent Christmas at home no matter what. So that's why you find yourself waiting outside your hometown's freezing cold train station waiting for Matty to pick you up. He'd just finished the first leg of touring with his band, The 1975, to promote their first album.

You'd not seen him for two months now and you couldn't wait to catch up and start what you hoped would be a new tradition. The plan was to go to your parent's house straight from the station. They were celebrating Christmas with friends and wouldn't be home until late on Christmas Eve. So, your house was the perfect spot for the rest of your plan. Tonight, you were going to order a takeaway and watch a Christmas movie. Tomorrow, you were going to wake up early, exchange gifts and just enjoy the festivities. 

Just before your toes became a block of ice, a car, blaring music through its speakers, pulled into the car park. Of course, Matty had to make an entrance. 

He'd barely stopped the car before he was jumping out of it as if it had burst into flames. He ran around the front of the car with his arms wide before picking you up, spinning you around and enveloping you in the tightest hug possible as he shouted "Y/N!" 

You were certain he could feel your heart beating out of your chest. You were sure that you'd avoided the cliché of crushing on your best friend but over the past few months, a feeling for Matty had started to build which you hadn't been prepared for.

Something about seeing him live out his dream, perform to a crowd and still make sure that his best friend was happy and doing well at the end of the day, had you going weak at your knees. Let's hope you could hide it and it wouldn't ruin a friendship that you truly adored.

"Hi Matty," you say back as he gently places you down on the solid ground again. 

"How is my best friend?" He asks. 

"About to freeze to death if we don't get to a warm house soon," you joke. 

"Well, your carriage awaits m'lady," he says opening the passenger side door for you to get in. 

Hours later you were both full of takeaway pizza, cuddled up on the couch watching Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. You could feel yourself dozing off but didn't want to spend all your time with Matty asleep but knew sleep was needed.

"Matty?" You ask sleepily.

"Yes love," he replies.

"Can we turn this off and head to bed? I'm shattered" You say barely managing to keep your eyes open. 

"Of course dear," he responds before turning off the TV and lifting you into his arms carrying you towards your bedroom. 

He places you gently on your bed before softly kissing you on your forehead and whispering "Night Y/N sleep tight, I can't wait to swap gifts in the morning. I've missed you so much," before heading back to his usual spot on the couch, in the lounge, and heading to sleep himself. 

What Matty isn't aware of, is the fact you'd heard everything he said as he put you to bed last night and it was not helping your growing feelings for him, at all. 

That didn't stop you from running into the lounge at 8 am screaming "Merry Christmas!"

Matty jumped out of bed, fists at the ready, to fight whoever had broken into your parent's house. 

"It's me you idiot," you manage to get out between giggles, "I was only making sure you knew it was Christmas." 

Somehow you find yourself all of a sudden, being thrown over Matty's shoulder, and put down on the couch before being ambushed with tickles. The pair of you can't stop laughing and honestly, you couldn't think of a better start to your Christmas, with Matty. 

"Presents time!" Matty cries out as he guides you both to sit by the beautifully decorated tree. 

You exchange a whole heap of gifts including books, records and matching sweaters for one another. 

Just when you think the gift exchange is over Matty pulls a tiny box from under the tree and gestures at you to open it. 

Inside it is a stunning necklace with his band's box logo hanging from it.

"Take a closer look Y/N, I'm not just using this gift for self-promo," Matty insists. 

You turn the necklace over in your hands to see that engraved on one side of the box is 'Matty + Y/N x'. Tears start to form in your eyes. 

"Matty, this is beautiful thank you so much," you say through tears. 

"I got it so that you have a little bit of me with you every day even when I'm away on tour," he explained. 

"I love it!" You exclaim before pulling Matty into a long hug. You couldn't ask for a better Christmas. 

Present Day (Aged 22)

Toying with the box necklace that has been on your neck ever since that day you can't help but smile. You can't believe how lucky you were to have Matty as a best friend and now as a housemate. You just hope your growing feelings aren't going to get in the way of it all. 

Suddenly, there is an almighty crash right outside your bedroom door and you immediately get up to see what it is that Matty has likely broken. Instead, you find him standing in your hallway looking sheepish.

“What’s up Healy?” you ask concerned.

“Y/N I don’t think I can’t do this,” he admits.

“I’m sorry Matty, you’ll have to be a bit more specific. You can’t do what?” 

“This,” he gestures around himself, seemingly at the towers of boxes in the hallway.

“Jesus Matty, we’ve only just got here. Give it a couple of days and all these boxes will be gone,” you reply, sounding exhausted.

“No, not that,” he stresses before blurting out, “I can’t live with you and pretend I don’t have feelings for you. I’ve been crushing on you ever since you got me that Valentine’s Day card years ago. And, to be honest, I thought you were beautiful even before then.”

You stand there in shock, unsure of what to say.

“I’ve fallen for you, hard, over the past few years. I love how much you enjoy our silly sentimental traditions, I love your company even when it's just sitting together in silence. I love your laugh, your beautiful eyes and the smile you do after eating a good slice of pizza. Look, what I’m trying to say is I love you. I can’t hide my feelings anymore and I get it if you want me to leave. But, I just had to let you know before I drove myself insane.” He confesses before looking down at his feet, clearly embarrassed.

“Matty,” you say as you take his face in your hands and look directly into his gorgeous brown eyes, “I love you too, have done for years” you confess. And, with that, you do the one thing that you’ve wanted to do for years, kiss your best friend.

Your breathing is heavy as your lips press together. It was like you’d been preparing for this your whole life as you feel yourself relax into Matty’s warmth. You can feel the thud of Matty’s heart against your chest as he threads his fingers through your hair. You both know this could easily go further, without question, but there is so much that needs to be said first.

As you slowly pull away from each other, you hear Matty mutter, “Holy shit!”

You are sure your cheeks have gone bright red but you don’t mind at all as you confess to Matty, “Well, I don’t think we can exactly pretend we don’t have feelings for each other anymore.”

“According to all our friends, I was quite poor at hiding them anyway Y/N. I mean how didn't you realise I wrote Fallingforyou about you!"

You stand there shocked at the declaration Matty has just made. 

"But it seems you were completely oblivious to that and many other things,” he jokes.

“Says you,” you manage to get out between laughs, “You were just as oblivious as me!”

You both stand there for a few seconds in contented silence, holding one another, before Matty asks “So, where do we go from here then?”

“I mean we’ve seemingly missed a few crucial steps and already have a place together so, I guess we continue unpacking, take things at our own pace and see where this goes. We already know each other pretty well and we’ve got years ahead of us, so let's just take this as it comes," you suggest. 

"That sounds perfect to me! I love you Y/N” Matty professes.

“I love you too and I'm so glad I can finally say that out loud” you declare before your lips hurry to find his again.

Looking back on it now, you can’t believe how oblivious you had both been to the fact that you had been slowly falling for each other over the years. Who knows where this would go from here? But, one thing about it is certain, you cannot wait to find out.

[maxverstappensflatbrim]

Show Me Yours | Matty Healy [6]

chapter six, act one: antichrist

materlist

November 29th 2012

Tommie nudges Matty’s foot under the table to get him to look away from the menu and he looks up, raising a brow.

She grins, sliding the white serviette across the table, dimples showing on her cheeks when he smiles brightly at her.

You look so cool x <3

He tears his gaze from her when Adam and George return, Adam sliding into the spare seat by Ross and George onto the opposite side with Matty.

They place the drinks down on the table that they’d gotten from the refill machine and then pick a menu for themselves.

“We’ve got a month,” Matty starts, tucking the little piece of white tissue into his pocket, “Well, just over a month to get this album perfect.”

“I think it's pretty good already.” Tommie says, chewing on her straw.

“Pretty good isn’t perfect, Tommie.” Matty says sharply.

She holds her hands up, looking to Ross who sits beside her and shares the same look, “Alright, Jesus.”

“Sorry,” Matty mumbles, running his hands through his hair and then resting his elbows on the table, “It’s just, we have to finish this, and we’ve got a show next week with no set list yet.”

“We have like four songs, I’m sure the set list won’t be hard.” Adam shrugs, almost flinching when Matty glares at him across the table.

“Actually, Hann, we have eight songs out right now, not including any Drive Like I Do songs old fans might expect. God, maybe if you listened to me once in a while you’d know. Jesus, you fucking ign-”

“Hey,” Tommie says, brows furrowed as she kicks him, this time not in a playful manner, but a harsh one that has his knee jerking up to hit the table and the drinks spilling, “We’re all stressed, Matt. Ross and I are still working, George is trying to learn the ropes to produce this thing and Adam’s still trying to perfect that stupid guitar solo you thought was necessary. But you don’t see us snapping at one another.”

He remains silent, looking out the window beside him but she presses forward, “Huh? Do you?”

“No.”

“Then how about you talk to us a little better?”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me.” She gestures across to Adam who, like the other two, have shrunk back into his seat.

Matty sighs, looking at her then slowly across to her cousin, “I’m sorry, Hann.”

“It’s alright, mate.”

“No, it’s not, Adam,” Tommie says firmly, “Now, why don’t you calm down, we’ll order food, then go straight back to the studio, yeah?”

He nods, then she follows with her own, “Go on then.”

“What?”

“Your turn to pay, Healy.”

“I paid for our chinese last night.”

“Well, with the attitude you’ve had this morning you can pay again today, go on.”

He doesn’t move and she claps her hands in his face, “Chop chop, we’re all starving.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

“I don’t mean to.” Matty begins slowly.

He’s walking just behind the other three guys with Tommie who has her hands shoved into her jacket pockets trying to keep herself warmed up.

She looks up when he speaks for the first time since leaving the restaurant. He’s been stuck in his head for their little walk back to the studio they’re working at. Thinking of what to say to her.

“Don’t mean to be so snappy and picky, it’s just, it’s a lot and I need to prove myself, you know.”

“To who, Matty?” She questions softly, looking up at him as they walk, “Us four already know how great you are, how cool you are, who else is there to prove to?”

“I just,” He sighs, “I don’t want people thinking we’ve got this because of who my parents are. We worked hard for this, all of us, we’ve been doing this for years and this is our chance.”

He stops her from walking so he can grab her hands, “This is it, Tommie. If this goes right, we can finally make it.”

“It will go right. We deserve it, Matty. We’ve all put everything into this. Trust.”

He nods, “I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

“We’re all on the same side, Matty, you don’t have to fight against us all the time.”

“I know,” He repeats, chest heaving in a big sigh as he rubs his thumb over her knuckles, “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Good,” She smiles tugging him along a little faster so they catch up with the guys, she tugs his hand awkwardly and he winces as the uncomfortable ache, “Talk to Adam- talk to any of those three- like that ever again and I will break your jaw, Healy.”

“Okay, okay, ow, your grip is really strong.”

“Good.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

December 3rd 2012

She could feel it coming the entire gig, the way her headached and her heart pumped a little too fast. The way the lights are irritating her and the clothes she wears scratching her skin is another reminder of the incoming sensory overload. Which usually leads to an oncoming panic attack.

She’s not unfamiliar with a sensory overload, not being able to handle too many different noises all at once. But between the bass of Ross from beside her, Matty’s singing, her own guitar mixed with Adam’s, the beat of George’s drums and the many different voices yelling at the same time she’s not quite sure how much longer she can take.

But she also knows, once she’s over that barrier between the stage and backstage. Matty will be there, all attention on her, hands over her ears to block out the noise letting her cover her eyes in his chest just like always.

Matty was the one who had found her after the first gig they did, curled up in a ball in the shared bathroom with her hands over her ears and tears running down her face.

He wasn’t quite sure what was going on when he first found her there, but it didn’t take long for him to realise when he was panicking and talking a little too loud which only seemed to set her off a little more.

“Thank you, very much,” Matty says as the last few notes of sex ring out through the audience, “We have been the 1975, and you have been absolutely amazing! Thank you!”

Tommie doesn’t wait, she’s first off the stage straight away, pushing past Ross to get down the little stairs quicker and disappearing into the bathroom.

She waits anxiously, foot tapping as she sits in the closed lid of the toilet and tries to calm herself.

Usually it only takes Matty a minute or two to come after her, but as she taps her foot once more, hands anxiously picking at the skin of her elbow until it’s red raw and bleeding over her white radiohead t-shirt, she realises he’s not coming.

Her breathing is still in stuttered messes and she keeps running her hands through her hair, sometimes pulling a little too harshly.

But a loud knock on the door has her jumping up. She rips it open but gasps when she’s not met with who she thought.

“There you are, we’re all waiting for you.”

George’s brows furrow and he tilts his head, “Tom? You alright?”

She shakes her head quickly, her breathing getting worse as she walks back into the bathroom.

George follows, closing the door softly as he stands there awkwardly, “Shall I get Adam?”

“N-No.” She shakes her head and sits on the toilet lid again. “Not Adam.”

He nods softly once more, muttering ‘okay’ as he kneels in front of her.

“Here.”

“What?”

He holds his hand up for her, “Just like squeeze it or something.” 

George has no clue what he’s doing, he obviously recognises the panic attack she’s having, but he’s never had to calm anyone down from it.

The two times Matty had a panic attack as kids Adam was the one to console him and calm him down, with Ross supporting and George rubbing his back when instructed,

“Like a stress ball.” He adds when he sees her questioning gaze.

She hesitantly takes his hand and squeezes a little, then he squeezes back with an encouraging smile, “See?”

She nods and he moves so he sits crossed legged instead of awkwardly crouching in front of her.

She swallows the lump that was in her throat and George’s other hand comes up to squeeze her knee, “Uh, usually Adam makes Matty talk, which we both know isn’t really an issue for him, even when he can’t breath.”

She laughs a little and George’s smile brightens, “Shall I go get him? Matty?”

She shakes her head quickly, “It’ll pass.”

“You sure? He knows this kind of stuff, he can help.”

“Was supposed to be here,” She says, pushing her hand against her heart as if pushing against herself will calm her breathing. “He’s always here.”

“You’ve had one before?”

She nods quickly, “They pass, G.”

She squeezes his hand again, “Just, don’t leave. Please.”

He nods quickly and moves to pull her down to the floor with him, “I’m right here, Tom, just keep squeezing my hand.”

She nods, squeezing again.

They stay like that for a while, George holding her under his arm, his back leaning against the wall beside the sink until she calms.

“I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

She nods quickly, “Is everyone waiting?”

“We were gonna head to this restaurant, but if you’re not up for it I’ll head back to the hotel with you.”

She shakes her head, “I’m starving.”

“There’s a McDonald’s on the way.”

“I’m okay, George.”

He nods then and slowly gets up, helping her to her feet and guiding her out into the hallway down to where everyone else is.

“Finally.” Matty slurs, drink in hand as he walks over wrapping an arm around her, “Where’d you disappear off to, kid?” He ruffles her hair and she pushes his hand away.

“Bathroom.” She says simply.

“Come, come.” He says quickly, dragging her across the room.

George catches her other arm, hand on Matty’s shoulder, “Not right now, Matty, give her a few minutes.”

“No, no, she has to come right now, or she’ll miss her.”

George sends her an apologetic look and she raises a brow over her shoulder, “Okay, I want you to meet Gemma.”

“Who’s Gemma?”

“Hi.”

She pauses as she looks at the woman before her, much taller than her, with beautiful blonde hair and even more gorgeous eyes.

She smiles, teeth showing and Tommie grins awkwardly, “Alrite’?”

“This is Tommie,” Matty says with an arm around her shoulder, tugging her into his sweaty side causing her to grimace, “Adam’s little cousin.”

Tommie raises a brow at that, there’s no usual little speak that she’s grown to love, ‘this is Tommie, we found her on the side of the road but we love her like our own’ or ‘this is Tommie, my best mate and the third best guitarist after me, then secondly Matty Healy’.

She’s just Tommie, Adam’s little cousin.

“Hi, Tommie. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t realise you were actually in the band.”

She nods a little, feeling uncomfortable with Matty’s arm around her neck.

“Yeah, have been for almost a year now.”

“She’s being modest,” Matty adds, shaking her around a little, “She’s been with us for years.”

Matty finally moves his hand from pointing at her to the woman opposite them, “Tommie, this is Gemma. My girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

Matty grins, holding his hand for her and pulling her into him to clumsily place a kiss on her lips, missing completely and hitting her cheek.

“I uh, didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Healy.” She chuckles awkwardly, stepping away from him when he tries to place his arm around her again.

“I wanted to be sure, you know,” He says, soft eyes on his girlfriend, “Before I introduce you guys, make you become friends.”

“Well, anyone who can deal with you is instantly my friend.”

She clears her throat a little, giving Gemma another smile, “Uh, George and I were gonna head back early instead, both a bit too tired and he promised me McDonalds yesterday so…”

“Oh, of course, we can all go out tomorrow morning before we leave.”

She nods, “Yeah, yeah, maybe.”

She turns to Gemma, smiling softly, “Nice meetin’ you.”

“Sorry?”

Matty chuckles, “Nice meeting you.” He repeats her words for her, “Don’t worry, took me almost four years to understand her.”

Tommie turns, heading straight for George who’s talking with some daughter of a worker who has backstage access, hand on the wall above her head.

“G?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we go?”

He’s about to shoo her away but when he looks down at her and sees her expression he nods quickly, “Yeah, I’ll call a taxi.”

She nods, moving to Adam and Ross to tell them they’re leaving while grabbing George’s jacket and her bag.

“Do you want me to come back with you?”

She shakes her head, “No, we’re gonna get some food on the way back.”

“You’re alright, yeah?” Ross asks then, head tilting up at her.

She nods quickly with a smile, “Just, uh, tired, George said he wanted to call that bird he met yesterday so he’s gonna take me back on his way.”

“Okay.”

Adam mutters an excuse before following her out, “Tom? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just, not feeling great.”

“Tom…”

He tilts his head, in that mother hen way that she hates, “I’m fine, Ad, really.”

“Ring me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

George sighs, still searching in his pocket for the hotel room key, the five of them have one room together, it’s got a double bed, two single beds and a pull out sofa bed.

“Shit, what did I do with it?”

He tries passing the loose things in his pocket to her, a pack of cigarettes, about five lighters (none of them work), empty pack of chewing gums and his broken phone.

She doesn’t respond, standing staring into space and he tilts his head but then grins, laughing loudly which snaps her out of her trance.

“Put it in my back pocket of my jeans.”

She nods, forcing a smile but her eyes are still trained on a crack in the paint on the wall behind him.

He closes the door behind them, watching her try to get off her shoes, “You sure you’re alright? You’re acting a little weird, Tom.”

She breathes in shakily and turns to look at him, he worries even more when he sees the tears in her eyes, “Tom?”

“Gemma?”

His shoulders drop a little knowingly and he reaches over to tuck her into his chest, arms wrapping around her as she lets it out. She cries into his plain shirt as he rests his chin on her head. “Oh, Tommie.”

“I-I thought… I thought he liked me, G.”

George sighs, he doesn’t say what he’s thinking, ‘me too, with the way he gushes about you, the way he drools over you, the way he stares every single second his eyes are open, me too.’

The rest of the guys don’t come in until much later, George is sitting quietly in the double bed beside a sleeping Tommie who’s wrapped up in jackets, blankets and pillows. Which is something she does to herself when she feels like she’s getting too overwhelmed with the world.

“Hey, guys.” Matty says loudly.

George looks up quickly, shushing him and gesturing to Tommie.

“Sorry- Ow, shit! Fuck-”

Matty leans down to hold the foot he’d hit on the suitcase that he had left open in the middle of the room, “Sorry.” He says again.

Ross faceplants one of the single beds with a groan and Adam heads over to Tommie, he pushes some blankets back to look at her, “Is she alright?”

George looks over at Matty who stumbles into the bathroom, only half closing the door as he begins to take a piss.

“She was just a little overwhelmed after the gig, think she had a panic attack or something, didn't want to worry you.”

“Is that it? Is she okay?”

“She calmed down after a while, Hann, was fine after a McDonalds and a shower.”

Adam nods and gathers some clothes for him and Ross to change into for sleep.

George pulls himself out of bed to take up the other single bed as Matty stumbles out of the bathroom, he crawls into the bed beside Tommie, using one finger to uncover her sleeping face.

“Baby?”

“Leave her alone, Matty.” George says, not looking up from his laptop.

“I missed her. Was supposed to get drunk with her tonight.”

“Just go to bed.” George repeats, headphones around his neck, the faint beat of a new song coming from them.

He grumbles something but tucks himself in, until Adam is harshly tugging on his leg, “Not in this one, this is my bed.”

“Not fair, you got the double bed with Ross last night.”

“I want to make sure Tommie’s okay.”

“She’s fine.”

“She had a panic attack, Matty,” George snaps, “Told me you were supposed to meet her there…”

Matty shakes his head, suddenly sobering up a lot quicker, “Shit, I-I… ah, I got distracted, I saw Gemma, I wasn’t expecting her and then it slipped my mind what usually happens. I’m so sor-”

“No point in apologising, mate. Just go to bed.”

taglist @thereisaplaceintheheart @indierockgirrl

-let me know if you want to be added :)

[munsonsreputation]

#4 taylor x stranger things 🧣

Eddie Munson with You’re On Your Own Kid?

Maybe focused about the lyrics “Writing in my room

I play my songs in the parking lot” as soon as I heard those lyrics while first listening to midnights I thought of him immediately!

hi katya!!!!!

i love this request so much and i hope you like the take that i took on your request!! it's something different, but i thought this point of view made sense <3

thank you for this request and all the sweet comments...i means the world to me!!!! 🌎💫💘

Eddie hated getting emotional, or at least he used to especially when he was a little kid still living with his drunk off his ass dad. Living in that type of environment made it hard for him to express how he felt.

If he was angry, sad, disappointed, hurt, or even over the moon happy—he didn’t quite know what to make of those feelings and instead locked them away to avoid getting a drunken lecture or a smack across the cheek for being too emotional.

It wasn’t until Eddie moved in with his uncle Wayne that he learned how to cope with these emotions. How emotions were actually a good thing, and Wayne wanted to know how Eddie was feeling. That if there was anything he could do to make him feel better, he would do it in a heartbeat. That there was no such thing as being “too” emotional. That everything feeling good or bad meant something that it was important to talk to someone about it.

But of course, Wayne wasn’t always home. He worked his ass off to pay the bills and make rent, all while making sure his nephew continued school and had a fruitful future that could get him out of this town.

But he didn’t know that Eddie had his own ticket out and it was through something deeper that would touch the lives of many.

Songwriting had become a sort of therapy for the young boy. Most times it was just random sentences, almost like a diary entry that was written across the pages of his notebook. But those sentences later turned into lyrics, those of which would be carried by a guitar that Wayne gifted him for a birthday.

It started just as simple as it sounded. Writing in his room while strumming that guitar as he sang out the words until it became something to him. Like the words and tune had taken a life of its own and, for once in his life, Eddie felt proud of himself.

He felt even prouder to know that he kept songwriting and playing that guitar going for the last ten years. In high school, he founded his own band, others who also enjoyed writing and jamming out in empty parking lots just so people could hear them. It wasn’t until their senior that they got picked up by the bar that they played out of. Offering him and his band a weekend to play, letting his lyrics be heard by many more ears.

All of it seemed like a wild dream that he was chasing without ever having a map, but he was determined, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to quit anytime soon. He had one plan in mind: to keep making music, get the hell out of Hawkins, and bring his uncle with him.

So maybe the road wasn’t smooth. The journey wasn’t easy. But it all came down to one thing, and that was feeling. Feeling like he was where he was meant to be. Feeling like he belonged. Feeling like there was a world out there where he could be heard. Feeling like everything was going to fall into place one day.

And it felt like today was one of the days.

“I’m fuckin’ nervous as shit.” Eddie’s leg shook up and down as you giggled, clutching his hand in yours while he squeezed down on it.

“Just take a deep breath in babe.” You instructed him coolly.

Repeating the breathing exercises that he mimicked, trying to get ahold of his emotions right now. Not knowing if he could keep it together any longer. It all felt too surreal. He never thought he’d be sitting in this room with a bunch of people he looked up to growing up. That the people he listened to and inspired his own writing was coming up to him and congratulating him on an exciting debut album.

“Win or lose, you’ve had a great year kid.” Wayne spoke lowly, patting him on the back where he sat on the other side of him.

Wayne was right. Eddie had an amazing year as a solo artist and while it sucked having to watch his band, go after other dreams, you were more than proud of him for sticking around and making it through, fueled by his own determination and will to pursue this career.

You just knew that he was meant for this. That the second you heard that boy in the bar singing about sprinkler splashes and fireplace ashes that he was going to be something big. Eddie Munson was more than a pretty metal head, but surely one that had something to say and deserved to be heard—and you were just grateful that you could be along for the ride to see him grow and be loved around the world, just like you and Wayne loved him.

“And the winner for album of year goes to…”

Eddie closed his eyes, clutching your hand tighter and feeling the squeeze that Wayne was giving his shoulder in anticipation for the next words the announcers would peep.

“The Banished, Eddie Munson!”

A gasp left your lips, slinging your arms across his neck as you pulled him into a hug and the arena erupted in applauses and cheers. Wayne was busy celebrating to himself, clapping his hands and hollering out the words, “I knew! I knew it, son!”

“Holy shit! I love you,” He stammered in your ear, hugging you tight, feeling the happy tears you were weeping fall across his neck.

You sniffled, pulling away, as you grabbed his cheeks and stared at him lovingly, “I love you too! Now go get your award, rockstar!”

Eddie smiled, kissing you deeply before finally standing up. Reeling in the people who were on their feet for him as he walked through the aisle and up the velvet stairs where the presenters proudly handed him his award and gave him a hug.

“Wow….Jesus, I just need a second.” Eddie shook his head, looking out into the abyss of people that extended from the floor out into the stands where the flashing of cameras and cheers never ended.

“I just gotta say thank you to everyone who voted for me…” He paused, holding up his award and shoving it towards the camera, “and this would not be possible without the fans. Without my long-time friends, Corroded Coffin…this is for you guys. I wouldn’t be here without ya’ and I miss you guys every day.”

He paused, letting everyone clap before he continued, placing the trophy down onto the glass stand as he took a moment to breathe and try to collect everything he was feeling and put it into the right amount of words.

“For a long time, I thought I was just writing out of my ass to be honest with you,” He chucked, as did everyone else who laughed along, “but, uh, I’ve noticed that every song I’ve written has correlated to something I’m feeling in the moment…and when I was younger, when this whole dream started, it was about feeling alone.”

He shook his head, looking down as he could feel the tears springing to his eyes just thinking about how far he had come.

“But I’m thankful I found songwriting because it gave me that outlet to say anything—to be heard for once. And I just want to dedicate this award to my twelve-year-old self…”

Eddie Munson looked deeply into that camera, shooting that gaze towards the thousands in attendance and the millions watching from home in awe.

“Twelve-year-old me, I’ve got a message for ya,” He sniffled, smiling as the happy tears slipped down his cheeks, “Y-you made it! You’ve got your uncle! The love of your life! People who love your music!”

His voice cracked, as the cheers got louder and everyone at home watching from their couches seemed to get choked up as well.

“You’re not alone, kid!”

And that’s when Eddie Munson knew he made it. To see himself finally up on the stage that he once dreamed of being on with his girlfriend and his uncle clapping proudly because they knew it, too. All of those empty parking lots and dingy bars brought him here. The blood, sweat, and tears poured out into something good.

Something that would last and let the outcasts like Eddie know that they weren’t alone.

leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!!

taglist: @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world @givemeth @steveharringtonswife @fckthtgetmoney @loving-and-dreaming @awkotaco24

[bluedalahorse]

Getting to know you tag game

Kiitos and tack to @sflow-er for tagging me! This was fun. Going to answer all my questions below. Maybe people will learn something new about me.

Do you make your bed?

No. It’s a loft bed so it’s sort of difficult to make, and no one sees it so there’s minimal incentive to do much with it. I mostly prefer to sleep in a nest of blankets.

What's your favourite number?

Nine. Odd numbers are fun and it’s three threes.

What is your job?

I don’t like to talk about it on tumblr, but it’s something in the education sector.

If you could go back to school, would you?

I am technically back at school at present, since I’m in a graduate program in writing part time. Honestly, I could just study forever and get paid to do so, without much extra strings attached, I would just go to university forever and major in a thousand different things while studying a thousand more.

Can you parallel park?

I cannot even drive, as it happens.

A job you had that would surprise people?

I used to work catering at my college, where I learned a lot about how to chop and prepare different vegetables and similar. The best thing about working catering was getting to take home leftovers. Also, chopping vegetables is a generally soothing thing for me to do when my anxiety is getting the better of me.

Do you think aliens are real?

Sure! Visiting earth seems unlikely (I mean why would you) but scientifically they have to be out there. I used to tell my mother I was an alien when I was a teenager.

Can you drive a manual car?

See above re: parallel parking. I think I’d be a lot more successful with a question about navigating city bus routes.

What's your guilty pleasure?

Hmm as I get older I am increasingly of the opinion that describing pleasures as “guilty” is something I’m too old and tired to do. Like, it would truly be not good for me to put food in this category. There’s also definitely favorite movies and books I have that I view with a cautious, critical eye (Lawrence of Arabia and Jane Eyre, for instance) but I don’t know if “critical consumption” and “indulging in guilty pleasures” are the same things. And I refuse to feel guilty for being an August and sargust enjoyer.

Like… I don’t know. Doll collecting? Is that a guilty pleasure? I currently wish my doll collection was making less a mess in my apartment.

Tattoos?

Not for me, but I’m glad for the people who like theirs.

Favourite colour?

Green, generally. For wearing, green again, as well as yellow and blue. (Or as I like to call them together, deconstructed green.)

Favourite type of music?

Gosh, hmm. I was going to say folk and progressive bluegrass, because a lot of stuff I like fits into that category already. (Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donavan, I’m With Her, Rhiannon Giddens, Jake Blount, etc.) If the songs are murder ballads or songs about shipwrecks or whatever (shout out to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” on the Punch Brothers album Hell on Church Street) all the better. I also realize I like a lot of music with classical/orchestral influences, but not necessarily like… traditionally classical. Today I’ve been listening to Kishi Bashi’s Omoiyari album on repeat and thinking about how Marigolds would make a great song for an ensemble YR fanvid.

I think my favorites will always be the artists who are absolute nerds for music and who will play with genre about it.

Do you like puzzles?

I don’t think I like puzzles, like they’re not always something I seek out, but I promise you that if you put a jigsaw puzzle or a logic puzzle in front of me I will hyperfixate until I figure it out. So I guess I like them.

Any phobias?

Mice. They like to come into my apartment when it’s cold. I would prefer they don’t.

Favourite childhood sport?

Gym class was the bane of my existence, but I also come from a sporty family, so I could kind of tolerate basketball for my athletic mother’s sake.

Do you talk to yourself?

Absolutely. When I was getting my neuropsych evaluation, the evaluator noticed that I was always talking myself through tasks in order to get them done. This is apparently what you need to do when you score 99th percentile on verbal intelligence but 2nd percentile on things like task initiation and executive function.

What movies do you adore?

I tend to be more of a TV and documentaries person than a movies person right now. That said, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice are good comfort watches, as is Pixar’s Luca. I really like the Georgian movie And Then We Danced.

Coffee or tea?

Tea. Specifically, green tea. Coffee is yummy (I like bitter things sometimes) but doesn’t play well with my health.

What was the first thing you wanted to be growing up?

I wanted to be a writer pretty early. That said, the earliest written record I have of “what do you want to be when you grow up” was a first grade assignment where we had to answer that question. The two jobs I named were teacher and artist, specifically an artist who paints murals. (I misspelled the word “mural” because in the Baltimore accent I grew up with, mural is essentially one slurred syllable. Make me say Aaron earned an iron urn, I dare you.)

No pressure tags to: whoever wants them! I have not been on tumblr much lately so I don’t know who’s done this already.

[mystic-headcanons]

mystic characters + what taylor swift album i'd think they'd like

what's up gamers it's been like two or three years since i've touched this blog but i'm hyperfixated on mystic again and taylor swift, so. heeeeere we go. under the cut because this became a lot longer than i actually wanted it to T_T

i think zen's favorite album would be 1989. i literally don't have any reason other than style has the cuntiest opening out of any of her songs and i think zen would obsess over it for weeks. you could find him humming it in between rehearsals and throwing it on repeat while he works out. along with style, he'd love clean, this love, and bad blood the most.

yoosung's favorite album is fearless, hands down. he has a very fairytale-esque view on love, and songs like love story and today was a fairytale and untouchable fit that view. while they're not on any of his main playlists, they are on all of the playlists he's made for you. if he's missing you especially hard, then he likes to listen to those specific songs and just. lay there and think about you. he rly is just a teenage girl in a twenty-something year old body.

saeyoung's favorite album would absolutely be speak now. it's whimsical and fantastical and just a little melancholy and sad, and i think it fits his vibe perfectly. he'll put on innocent when he needs to be reminded that he can change, that he can be better than he has been; he'll play castles crumbling when he's in a particularly self-loathing mood. and enchanted gets played on a loop the first time he meets you-- it got so bad that vanderwood threatened to tase him unless he shut it off.

jumin's taste in music is sophisticated and, often times, just straight up classical music. he wouldn't have sought out her music on his own-- maybe he became interested because you listened to paris, or perhaps he heard anti-hero on the radio in one of the rare times that driver kim has the radio on. whatever the reason, it was enough to pique his interest in her. midnights would be his favorite album- and the only one he'd listen to in its entirety. you're on your own kid would be his go-to song, but midnight rain, would've could've should've, and dear reader are all tied for second.

jaehee would love folklore. she'd be a casual taylor fan- not really fond of the singles or the hits, but would enjoy her deeper cuts. folklore would be the first album where she loved every song. this is me trying would play on a loop if jaehee was stressed or had a particularly hard day. the lakes would be her all-time favorite song, but mad woman and cardigan would be close. invisible string is near and dear to her heart because every time she hears it, she can't help but think of you.

saeran's favorite album is reputation, but not for the obvious reasons. while he does enjoy it for its darker sound, reputation is his favorite because it's about finding love in the middle of all the darkness and anger. new year's day would be his absolute favorite song- and the one that he associates with you the most. the 'i'm there through it all, through the good and the bad, and i'll help clean up any metaphorical mess you make' message is what had set it aside from any other song, and saeran listens to it on repeat on all of his bad days. he also really enjoys ready for it, don't blame me, and dancing with our hands tied.

jihyun's favorite album is lover. while he'd really enjoy her other albums, lover spoke to him in ways that the others didn't. the archer and afterglow would be tied for all time favorite song- the archer because it speaks to his generalized anxiety, and afterglow because he especially has anxiety within romantic relationships- always had, but it became intense after rika. he craves a love that is soft and delicate, so daylight would absolutely be up there with the archer and afterglow. daylight gets played often once you and him start dating, and he can and will listen to it for hours while thinking of you or cuddling with you. (you've listened to it so much that you could probably play the entire thing by ear.)