#ssss hipster band AU

[worldsentwined]

“I’m gonna do it this time, Lalli! I can beat the boss, I swear!” “Mmm-hmm.”

Inktober day 11, and a happy belated birthday to @relfanalae! Just some modern AU boys playing video games. (Yes, Emil’s shirt says “kill it with FIRE”)

[worldsentwined]

Aww! I haven’t drawn these two for so long, it makes me really happy to know people still think about my poor neglected AU. (I imagine this is happening in the middle of the Mad Moose, where there are tons of other people all ringing in the new year. But Mikkel would really like Reynir to get back to work, please, they have customers!)

[worldsentwined]

Oh hey, look who’s posting ridiculous holiday-adjacent romantic stuff at least a week late? I hope you all enjoy the punny title at least, I came up with it more than a year ago and I’m SO PROUD.

Fandom: Stand Still Stay Silent (Modern AU, BIWC-verse) Relationships: Bjarni Árnason/Onni Hotakainen, Background Reynir/Tuuri and Emil/Lalli Rating: Teen (Heavily Implied Sexual Content) Warnings: None Word Count: 8,832 Additional Tags: Mistletoe Kisses, Kissing, SO Much Kissing, Implied Sex, Angst With A Happy Ending, New Year’s Eve, Modern AU

[worldsentwined]

Sweet and Savored

For this week’s @synchronisedscreaming challenge. 

Prompt: Lalli/Any - Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker  (I meant for there to be liquor too, but ended up with just candy. Also, this is set in a modern AU, possibly the BIWC-verse, and is not NSFW but gets quite suggestive).

"The popcorn is ready! Do we have everything else?" Tuuri plopped down on the couch beside Emil, knocking a few kernels of popcorn into his lap. Emil picked them up and popped them into his mouth.

"Yeah! I've got a whole assortment here." Emil was in charge of the candy for movie night, and he’d outdone himself.  He’d painstakingly poured all the candy into bowls, color-coordinated and separated by type. They looked nice, all lined up on the table in a sugary rainbow. He almost hated to eat any.

Fortunately, Tuuri had no such compunctions. "Looks great!" she said, snatching a random bowl and the remote control. She pressed 'play' and settled back to watch.

Emil, for his part, was having a hard time focusing on the movie. At first, it was his own fault. He'd wanted to get a little bit of every candy, and in taking a few pieces of each, he'd landed himself in a sticky situation. He juggled his handful carefully, trying to keep the chocolate candies from melting while also savoring the sweet fruity flavor that was currently dissolving all over his teeth. But when he finally managed to get all of the candy into one hand, and was carefully popping them in his mouth one at a time, he ran into a whole different problem.

"Mmmph!" He nearly choked at the first touch, undeniably gentle but also...moist. Tuuri shot him an odd look, but she turned back to the movie when she saw he wasn't about to stop breathing. Carefully, Emil turned his eyes to the person on his other side.

Lalli stared back at him, eyes wide and innocent. His mouth was stained with chocolate and artificial colors—Emil noticed, as if from a great distance, that the candy dishes nearest him were empty. Apparently Lalli had decided to move on to the next nearest source of sugar, which happened to be Emil's chocolate-smeared hand. While Emil watched, he lowered his head and gently sucked on the tip of Emil's finger.

It felt like Emil's heart would stop. He thought he might catch fire, or at least heat up enough to melt a hole in the couch. But he didn't move, and Lalli went from sucking to licking, running his tongue up the length of Emil's finger. Emil bit back a moan.

"Something wrong, Emil?" Tuuri asked around a mouthful of popcorn.

"Noooo, I'm fine, everything is fine!" Everything was not fine, but he couldn't bring himself to care when Lalli's tongue was snaking between his fingers, or when he moved his attention down to Emil's palm. Oh, god. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this is happening and TUURI IS RIGHT HERE so I can't do ANYTHING about it!

Afterwards, Emil couldn't have told anyone what the movie was about. But he'd tell anyone who asked that it was one of the longest movies he'd ever endured. He forced himself to sit still and try to focus, but it was completely impossible. Lalli licked his hand clean, and when he'd gleaned the last hint of sweetness, he kept hold of it. Lalli's deft fingers trailed over Emil's skin, tracing the ridges of his knuckles and the curve of his nails. It was amazing—and also maddening because there was nothing he could do but sit there unless he wanted Tuuri to notice. Or unless he pulled away, but there was no way he was going to do that.

Fortunately for Emil's sanity, halfway through the movie Tuuri got a phone call. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She looked at the screen and leaned forward to pause the movie. "I have to take this, I'll be back soon!" She hopped off the couch and dashed up the stairs, chattering away to the person on the other end.

Before she could come back, Emil whipped around to face Lalli. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

Lalli blinked, looking confused, and released Emil's hand. "I was just...I thought you'd like it." He averted his eyes.

Emil stared at him. "You thought I'd—of course I like it, do you have any idea what you're doing to me? It's, I...Lalli, I like it." Now it was his turn to look away. "Too much, maybe."

"So...you like it when I do...this?" Lalli caught his hand again, and Emil felt a faint brush of lips against his wrist.

"Yes, Lalli," he said, resigned to embarrassing himself forever, "I like that."

"And this?" The lips moved higher up his arm, and this time there was a hint of tongue.

"God, yes. Lalli—"

"This?" A soft sucking at the crook of his elbow.

"Shit, Lalli—" Emil turned to look at him, certain that his desire must be written all over his face. Lalli didn't seem to care though. He actually grinned, looking more pleased with himself than Emil had ever seen.

"I like it, too," Lalli said. And with that he abandoned his own seat and climbed right into Emil's lap. "I like you. Too much, maybe."

"Uh—" Emil couldn't seem to make his mouth form words. Not when Lalli's was so close to it, lips parted slightly and ready to devour him any second. So Emil gave up trying to talk, and pressed forward to kiss him, instead.

Lalli kissed back, filling Emil's mouth with the taste of candy and the memory of his own skin licked clean. His hands tangled in Emil's hair, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Emil sank down onto the couch, falling slowly so Lalli could fall with him. The world narrowed to bodies pressed close, fingers dancing along his scalp and Lalli's mouth going everywhere at once: mouth, throat, chest. They paused just long enough for Emil to breathe out, "Not...too much. Perfect," before pouring themselves back together.

The next time they parted, it was Lalli's doing. He pulled back, sitting up and cocking his head to the side. "Tuuri's done," he commented. Before Emil could start to panic about the state they were in—nevermind his blushing face or the uncomfortable bulge in his pants, his disheveled hair would give him away in a second—Lalli rolled off him and pulled him to his feet. "My room," he said. When Emil simply stared at him, open-mouthed, Lalli rolled his eyes and shoved Emil toward the basement stairs. "My room. Go, I'll meet you." Somehow, Emil managed to make his legs work enough to get him into the kitchen and out of sight before Tuuri came downstairs. But he could still hear her exchange with Lalli.

"Sorry that took so long, we can start—oh! Where did Emil go?"

A rattling of bowls on the coffee table, then Lalli's voice, "We're going to play video games. This movie is boring."

"Aww, but I kind of like it—well, if you're sure. I'll just take this to the kitchen, then—"

That was all Emil heard, because his legs caught up with his brain and propelled him down the stairs to Lalli's room. When Lalli joined him a minute later, he was standing awkwardly by the edge of the bed. "So. Umm...where were we? You don't really want to play video games, do you?"

Lalli flashed that grin again, and Emil had to sit down hard on Lalli's bed. "No. But I thought of something else that's fun." He held out a candy bowl half-filled with brightly colored bits—Emil recognized the chocolates that had melted all over his hand earlier. "Would you hold these? Just for a few minutes?" He poured a stream of candy onto each of Emil's hands, and Emil curled his fingers around them.

"And then what?" Emil asked.

Lalli hoisted himself onto the bed, settling his knees on either side of Emil's hips and his hands on Emil's shoulders. "Then we wait for them to melt." He leaned down to kiss Emil again, and this time there were no interruptions.

[worldsentwined]

Here is some plotless Reynir/Tuuri fluff, because I needed it. (Set loosely in my hipster band AU, though it’s not necessary to have read anything else in that series to enjoy this). 

General audiences, no warnings other than “may give you cavities”.

[worldsentwined]

Writing Meme

@vefanyar​ tagged me in this thing, so here goes! I’m going to put it under a cut because some of the answers got long. XD

1) How many works in progress do you currently have? Uh....looking at my fanfic folder I *think* about 19? So if you add in my poor neglected novel and the sequel to my poor neglected novel and my poor neglected short story, that’d be...22.

Of course, I’m only actively working on two of them now, but the others are there, watching me reproachfully every time I start something new instead of finishing one of them.

2) Do you/would you write fanfiction? *points to above ask and also 93 fanfics posted to AO3 in the past 2 years* Yeah, I’d say so. ^_^;

3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks? I like them both for different reasons! Ebooks are nice for travel (and even for going back-and-forth to work - my kindle is much lighter than a hardcover). Paper books are nice for re-reading or checking for a quote (because trying to find specific parts of a book on my non-touchscreen, keyboard-less kindle is a pain in the ass). Plus my library system usually has a longer waiting list for the ebook version. And I do like to get physical versions of books I like enough to get signed.

4) When did you start writing? I’ve been spinning stories in my head for as long as I can remember, but my early attempts to write them down tended to fizzle out rather quickly. I heard about NaNoWriMo in college, but it always seemed like too much work to add on when I already had so much to do. So it wasn’t until I was a year out of college and facing unemployment that I really started to think seriously about writing a novel, and because I was only working part time when November rolled around, I finally tried my hand at NaNo. (I won, and ended up with a terrible and complicated unfinished novel, but everyone has to start somewhere). 

5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with? I was part of a writer’s group for a few years, with some ladies who I mostly didn’t know when I started out but who became friends after a while. Due to various people moving and the remaining members being bad at planning, we don’t meet anymore, but I would still feel comfortable asking them to beta-read for me if I had some original fiction to share.

For fanfic, my usual go-to beta readers are @vefanyar​ and @minutia-r​, though I have sometimes poked other people too. (And then of course once the fics are finished, they get shared with everyone who cares to look at them.)

6) Where is your favourite place to write? Weirdly enough, my most productive place to write tends to be the circ desk computer at work - for some reason ideas flow really well when I’m standing there? But since I get interrupted there pretty often, I also tend to write at the dining room table or in bed. (I’ve been avoiding the dining room recently because the television is distracting, but I also have an unfortunate tendency to fall asleep over my computer if I write in bed. Probably I should make an effort to clear my desk off).

7) Favorite childhood book? There are so many - I went through all kinds of phases where I just loved one particular book, and I read voraciously. Standouts include the Narnia series, the Redwall books, and The Ghost of Opalina by Peggy Bacon. I honestly have a harder time remembering childhood books - it’s much easier to bring to mind books I read as a young teen, in terms of long-term impact. Many of my lifelong favorite authors (Diana Wynne Jones, Robin McKinley, Terry Pratchett, Patricia C. Wrede) didn’t find their way to me until middle school.

8) Writing for fun or publication? For the last few years I’ve pretty much been writing for fun - unless you count posting fanfics as “publication”, heh. I do still dream of being published though, I just have to get back on that horse. (Or sailing ship, as the case may be).

9) Pen and paper or computer? Usually computer, though sometimes if I get stuck it helps to scribble things down on paper first. I also have occasional bouts of late-night angsty poetry, and those go on paper too.

10) Have you ever taken any writing classes? In high school I was chosen for a special summer course in writing - I think it was because we’d had to write “journals” for the first few minutes of English class every day, and rather than writing about things in my life I wrote a serial story about two of my OCs. (Ciorra the Red-haired Magic Wolf Shapeshifter and Celander the Super Powerful And Handsome Mage. Hoooo boy.) It was a cool experience to have a writing-focused class with people from other schools, but it was focused on poetry which was not as exciting for me then.

I had one creative writing class in college too, also mostly focused on poetry, which I enjoyed except for the occasional snobbery of the English/Lit majors. 

11) What inspires you to write? In fanfiction, what usually happens is I get an idea like “wouldn’t it be funny if...?” or “Well if this happened, then...” and suddenly I’ve written 500 words. Often this is the result of conversations with other people (I’m looking at you, SynS chat) or having drawn something. Fun fact, my whole SSSS Hipster Band AU happened because I doodled Reynir and Tuuri in skinny jeans.

For original fiction, it seems like characters show up in my head and won’t leave me alone until I’ve developed a whole storyline and a world for them. 

Tagging (if you feel like it): *squints* Okay, I feel like Elleth tagged most of my usual suspects, so how about... @gaemmel and @zolotayafeya (whose new username I almost forgot, oops!)

[worldsentwined]

WIP List of DOOM

So @ilral tagged me in a thing about my WIPs so...here goes! The rules:

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on. This can be writing, art, vids, gifsets, whatever.

So, listen. I have...a LOT of WIPs, okay? A lot. Like, I just counted my writing WIPs and there are 20 files in my WIP folder, not counting things that have already been posted to tumblr but not put on AO3. So I can’t talk about ALL of them or we’ll be here forever. Instead, I’ll just talk a little about the ones I’ve been working on most recently, and I’ll dump the filenames of the other ones at the end. If anyone is curious about one of those, send me an ask and I’ll talk more about it!

[Title redacted]: First of all, I have one WIP that I can’t talk about in detail because it’s for the Every Woman exchange, and as such is secret until authors are revealed. But I will say it involves a few characters I really enjoy, and I’m excited about how it’s going! (Wish me luck, it’s due on Friday).

The Language of Florists: This one already has three chapters up on AO3, so if you haven’t read it yet, you can! For those who aren’t familiar with it, this is a Stand Still Stay Silent Flower Shop AU. Lalli is a florist, and Emil is a guy who came into the shop looking for a bouquet that would say “fuck you” - and found romance instead. ;) Chapter four is actually finished, but I haven’t posted it yet because I’m doing an illustration to go with it (all of the previous chapters have had them) and that isn’t finished yet. I also have an epilogue in the works, but I’m not sure it’s really necessary? I guess I’ll see if people want it after I’ve posted the last chapter.

Inevitable Kitten Thing: This...will not be the final title, haha! This is a Yuri!!! on Ice fic, set in an alternate universe where Otabek and Yuri are not skaters, but live in the same apartment building. When Otabek finds some orphaned kittens in the bushes, he and Yuri end up forming a friendship that quickly becomes something more. This one...is probably going to need multiple chapters, and I haven’t quite worked out the end yet, so I won’t post any of it until I know how it’s going to end. (And not until Language of Florists is done).

Oona and Puppy Fox: Also not the final title, but it’s basically what it says on the tin - a fic about Oona Kuikka encountering Puppy Fox. The first half is set when Oona is a child, and she finds a new friend in the woods. The second half is actually an aRTD/SSSS crossover, when Oona is an adult working as a scout...and finds a total nuisance in the woods. Magic, friendship, and rolled-up newspapers - what more does a fic need?

Before It Was Cool Chapter 10: Okay, I haven’t been working on this much recently, but it’s been sitting guiltily in my WIP folder for a long time. The second-to-last (hopefully) chapter of my SSSS Hipster Band AU. Or, as I like to call it “the chapter I CANNOT SEEM TO WRITE”. I know what should happen, mostly, and how it should end, but for some reason the middle bit is giving me trouble. Also, it has a heaping dose of angst, which is necessary for the plot but sooo hard to write.

Other things: I also have some art I’m working on to send out with postcards, a portrait commission for my aunt, and a crocheted blanket made of little blocks with the SSSS logo that will hopefully be finished someday. (I figured out how to make plain blocks in the same size to go in between, so maybe those will go faster). Oh, and, uh, I have a novel that I finished a draft of but haven’t touched for over a year. *guilty glance* And an original short story that needs some editing.

And in case this wasn’t enough rambling about my WIPs, this is the list of the other files in my WIP writing folder. So if anyone wants to know more about one, send an ask and I’ll give you a description and maybe a few lines from it. ;)

Flowers Creation Five Times Reynir/Onni Before it was Yule (Onni/Bjarni) Behind the Scenes Hairdresser comic Hotakainen Feels How Sir Tuuri Earned Her Sword Looking for Trouble Mismatched Spoons Objects of Affection Reyri Cuddlesmut Shepherd’s Staff Extended Shopping in Barcelona The Second Date

Tagging...hmm, let’s see... @rukkilill, @vefanyar, @drepedetihjel, and anyone else who wants to? But no pressure if you don’t want to. :)

[worldsentwined]

10, for the fic writer asks?

10. What inspires you the most?

Hmmm. When it comes to fanfic, I think my inspiration usually comes from thinking about a character or pairing and having a “what if...?” moment. Like, “what if Reynir was actually Rapunzel, and Tuuri was the knight who rescued him?” or “what if Yuri accidentally stole a bunch of Otabek’s clothes and kept wearing them?” Other times, especially for something like SSSS where we get a lot of the story visually, I want to go into a character’s head to explore how they’re handling a canon situation (A good example of this is Stupid, Useless Things, where I got hit with a mountain of feels about Lalli picking up Kitty and wanted to write it out.)

And then once in a while I doodle some fanart of Reynir and Tuuri in skinny jeans, and suddenly I’m 9 chapters deep in a Hipster Band AU. Still not even sure how that one happened. ^_^

[worldsentwined]

Since you asked (on the forum) something about Reynir and his brother, and/or how he came to the city and started working for Mikkel?

Oh hey! This ask has been sitting in my box for ages, and I finally finished the ficlet I’ve been working on to fill it. It’s sort of a combination of both - Reynir with his brother and a look at how he ended up moving to the city. 

Reynir pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and stared at the building towering over him. He paused to admire a window display–so many lights!–before someone spun him around and dragged him away.

“Come on, little brother! You can gawk later, we’re gonna be late!”

Reluctantly, Reynir tore his gaze from the window and smiled at his companion. “Aww, what’s the fun in coming to the city if I can’t stop to look at things? Your old military buddy will understand if we’re a little late, right Bjarni?”

Bjarni shook his head. It was still odd seeing him with such even, close-cropped hair, though he’d sported the navy’s requisite hairstyle for several years at this point. Reynir still half-expected him to come home with the ridge of long hair in the middle that he’d had all growing up.

“She isn’t just an old friend, she’s my former commanding officer. Retired last year, and moved here to settle down. Just because she’s out of the service doesn’t mean she won’t expect us to be right on time.”

“All right.” Reynir allowed Bjarni to steer him down the street and into a bar. The inside showed no sign of the festive decorations that covered nearly every storefront they’d seen on the way. In fact, it was pretty much lacking in any kind of decor, unless sturdy wooden furniture counted. For a place called the Mad Moose, this is pretty…dull. It seemed like a shame to drive all the way into the city just to sit in this dimly-lit room and listen to his brother swap war stories with a stranger.

Even so, Reynir relished the sense of freedom that came with being away from home and–mostly–on his own. Bjarni made sure to bring him along on excursions like this whenever he was home on leave, though that wasn’t often. His older brother knew firsthand how hard it could be to get away from the farm and cut loose. If “cutting loose” is even the right phrase to describe this. I might have more fun back with the sheep.

Bjarni must have caught what he was thinking, because he ruffled Reynir’s hair and flashed one of his signature grins. “Don’t worry, ReyRey. When we’re done here, we’ll go out on the town, see the sights. Hit up some more exciting bars, pick up some girls–or guys, whoever finds us the most charming. What do you say?”

That sounded more like the Bjarni he knew. Of course, that kind of plan usually ended with Bjarni getting a date and Reynir getting stuck listening to someone’s drunken sob story. But brother bonding was brother bonding, and he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to spend time with Bjarni.

So Reynir said, “Sure, that sounds great. Now where’s the lady we’re supposed to meet?”

Bjarni scanned the room. “Over there. Come on, let’s go say hello before we get drinks.”

Reynir wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Bjarni invited him to meet his old commanding officer, but it certainly hadn’t been anything like the person who waited at the corner table. The elderly woman knitting a scarf should have been out of place in the seedy bar, but she sat like she owned the room. When she spotted them, she sat forward and leaned her elbows on the table.

“Bjarni Árnason. You’re late.”

“Sorry, Captain,” Bjarni said, grinning too wide for his apology to ring true, “You know me, I’m always gawking at the big city sights. Total country bumpkin.”

The woman laughed. “Good to see you, boy. Who’s your friend?”

Bjarni made introductions. “Captain, this is my brother Reynir. Rey, this is Captain Ása Harðardóttir.”

The captain shook Reynir’s hand and gestured for them to sit. Another quick movement of her hand brought a bartender over with drinks. “Another Árnason, eh? Looks like this one isn’t taking the military path, judging from the hair.”

“Ah, no,” Reynir said. “I’m still at home, helping with the farm. Nothing exciting like what Bjarni is doing.”

“Hey, just because it’s away from home doesn’t mean it’s exciting,” Bjarni said. “But speaking of excitement, didn’t you say you were starting something new here in the city, Captain? Besides knitting and working your wiles on poor unsuspecting bartenders, I mean.”

The captain cackled and smacked Bjarni on the arm. “Insolent! You’d better not talk that way when you’re on duty, boy. As it happens, I am up to something. Might interest you, actually, with your background. Ever heard of community supported agriculture?”

As she launched into her explanation, Reynir felt his eyes going wide and his jaw dropping. People actually farm here, in the city? They pay people to do that? He’d always thought that the skills he’d picked up from living in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t be useful anywhere else. But growing things…he knew about that. He could do that. And I could do it here. It’s not exactly far from home, but it’s farther than I’ve ever been before.

The thought stayed with him even when the conversation moved on to other topics. When they stood to leave, Reynir cleared his throat and addressed the captain. “So…that farming thing you were talking about…are you ever looking for people to help?”

“Interested, are you?” She fished around in her knitting bag. After a moment she produced a business card. “Here. This has the website. I don’t handle that myself, but if you email the farm manager she’ll let you know. I think we’re still looking for summer interns. Something to think about.”

“Thank you so much, I…this is really helpful! I’ll do that, thank you.” He would have kept babbling his appreciation all night had Bjarni not grabbed his arm and steered him out the door.

“Close your mouth before you hurt yourself, buddy,” Bjarni said, jostling Reynir with his elbow. “She really impressed you, huh?”

“Don’t you think it’s cool though? People actually farming in the city! I had no idea! I know, I know…I get excited over every little thing.”

Bjarni laughed. “You do, but you’re right, it is pretty cool. I think you should check out that website.”

“Really?” Reynir paused in the middle of untangling his scarf from his braid. “Do you think I could really get a job with them?”

“I don’t see why not.” Bjarni tugged the braid free and slung his arm around Reynir’s shoulders. “And I think it’d be good for you to get out on your own for a while. Have your own life for once, instead of eating, sleeping and breathing farm work like Mom and Dad.”

“It…might be nice to live in the city. Just to see what it’s like,” Reynir said. Looking around at all the people bustling about their business, he could hardly imagine being one of them. How would it feel to know these streets like he knew the dirt roads back home? Would he ever get to a point where he didn’t stare in awe at the lights and sights of this place? I guess I won’t know unless I try it.

“Just you wait, little brother. This time next year you’ll be the one leading me around. And maybe you’ll finally get a date.”

Now it was Reynir’s turn to elbow Bjarni. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

[worldsentwined]

seventybyheart replied to your photoset:Since I’m apparently not getting anything done...

… Of course I have to ask about Hotakainen Feels. :D

Hehehe, of course, that one’s just so tempting! I’ll warn you though, the feels involved in this are SAD feels.

Summary: Basically an offshoot of my hipster AU in which Reynir finds out what happened to Tuuri’s parents. He also finds out what happened to Lalli’s parents (spoiler: it’s the same thing) and where Onni goes when he’s upset. It’s probably too sad to ever publish, but I keep it around in case I change my mind and decide to finish it.

Excerpt: All five stones had one thing in common: Hotakainen. The name hung in Reynir’s vision, chiseled its way into his understanding. You should get to know my family, she’d said. She hadn’t said that so many of them were under the ground.

[worldsentwined]

Since I finished part three, I decided to put the whole collection on AO3 for the sake of convenience. (Plus, that way people who don’t follow me on Tumblr can see it too!)

[worldsentwined]

After the End, Before the Beginning: Part 3

Whoops, this one didn’t follow the other two parts quite as quickly as I wanted it to. In fairness, this is the part I hadn’t thought much about before @minutia-r asked, so I had to mull it over. Anyway, this is how Sigrun meets the rest of the band.

Part 1: Emil Meets Tuuri Part 2: Emil Meets Lalli

Part 3: Troll Hunters

Tuuri closed the door behind her and took off her helmet. “Hey guys, I’m home!” The word brought a smile to her face. It was so nice to have a place she could call her own - not the stifling house that used to be Grandma’s and was now Onni’s, but somewhere that was really hers. Well, hers and Emil’s and Lalli’s. But even though Emil had lived here for more than a year and Tuuri had lived here for less than a week, she didn’t feel like Emil thought of it as his house. He seemed genuinely happy to have her there. I really lucked out with this roommate situation. 

As she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, Tuuri heard music coming from somewhere. She craned her neck to see down the hallway - sure enough, Emil’s door was open, and the volume increased as she approached. He even has good taste in music. I wonder what band this is? I’ve never heard them before. Something with a male vocalist singing over a keyboard - a little sparse on instruments, but he had a good voice, whoever he was. Tuuri poked her head around the door to ask - and got her answer without having to say anything. Oh. Not a recording, I guess. 

“Wow! I had no idea you were a musician!”

Emil jerked in surprise, fingers stuttering discord across the keys. “Ahh! Oh, Tuuri. You startled me.” 

“Sorry!” She held out her hands in apology. “I didn’t realize it was you playing, I thought you were listening to something. I was going to ask who wrote the song, it’s beautiful. Your voice is, too.”

Emil blushed to the roots of his hair. “Umm. Thank you, it’s...that’s a really nice thing to say.” He ran his hand lightly over the keys. “It’s one of mine, actually. The song. I used to write a lot, but ever since school got so crazy, I haven’t had time.” His expression turned sad, the way it usually did when he mentioned school, but then his face cleared and he shrugged. “I guess I have plenty of time now though, don’t I?”

“You do! And it’s so cool you write your own music - I wish I could do that! I can figure out rhythms no problem, but words...just don’t work for me.” She sighed. “I wish I’d been able to bring my drum kit with me, but I didn’t think there’d be space in my room. Plus, it’s not exactly easy to practice those without annoying people.”

Emil leaned forward. “Hmm. You play drums?”

Tuuri nodded. “Sure, for years. I was part of a few bands back in high school, but none of them lasted long.”

“You know...there’s a little...’battle of the bands’ thing coming up in a few weeks. Just for amateur groups, nothing fancy. I was thinking about entering, that’s why I’m practicing. So...I don’t know if you’d want to, or if you can figure out a drum part for this, but...”

Tuuri’s heart beat double-time. “Are you asking me to be in a band with you?”

Emil twisted a piece of hair. “If you want to. Like I said, don’t feel any pressure to-”

“I’d LOVE to!” Tuuri grabbed him in a hug. “We might be able to convince Lalli, too, he plays bass! Only we’ll probably have to bribe him, he hates crowds. Where do we sign up?”

Emil led the way through the music store, smiling indulgently whenever Tuuri paused to admire a display of drum sticks or run her hands over a shiny ukulele. He hadn’t been sure he really would sign up - he didn’t even know if solo acts could sign up - but her enthusiasm had convinced him. He hoped she had drum skills to match.

They reached the desk with the signup sheet, but someone else was already there. And from the sound of things, she was not a happy customer.

“Of all the stupid rules! I don’t see why I need a full band, I can take on any one of these trolls, just me and my axe!”

The clerk at the desk leaned as far away from the shouting woman as he could. “Look, I’m really sorry, but I don’t make the rules! You have to have at least two people for the battle of the bands. If you want to do a one-woman act, there’s an open mic night on Thursdays, or-”

The woman slammed her fist on the desk. “Open mic nights are a joke! I’m looking for a challenge, not a sing-along.”

“Even so, the battle of the bands-”

“Maybe she could join our band.”

Emil tore his gaze away from the angry redhead to stare at Tuuri. “WHAT?”

Unfortunately, the woman had heard her too. “What was that, Stubby?”

Tuuri frowned. “Tuuri, not ‘Stubby’. I was just saying to my bandmate here,” she nodded at Emil, “that maybe you’d want to team up with us. We don’t have a guitarist. I’m a drummer, my cousin’s on bass, and Emil plays keyboard and writes the songs.” She said it so confidently, like they had been a band for years instead of half an hour.

The woman loomed over Tuuri. “So what you’re saying is, you want to invite me, a total stranger, to join your band without either of us having heard the other play?”

Tuuri shrugged. “I guess so.”

A grin spread over the woman’s face. “I like your style.” She thrust out a hand. “Sigrun Eide. Most best guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter in the city.” She cast a glare back at the store clerk. “Not that this joker will let me prove it.”

Tuuri shook the proffered had, and so, reluctantly, did Emil. Why do I get the feeling this is a really bad idea? 

“Isn’t this the best idea?” Tuuri said, bouncing on her toes. “We’re going to take the battle of the bands by storm!”

By nearly all metrics, the battle of the bands was not a success. Tuuri broke a drum stick, Lalli missed a cue because he had his eyes closed the whole time, and Sigrun got in a fist fight with the lead singer of another band. Emil thought, privately, that on the whole it probably didn’t matter that he’d been playing in the wrong key for an entire verse. But somehow, despite the catastrophic failure...it was also the most fun Emil had had in a long time.

Apparently Sigrun thought so too, because she emerged from the brawl she’d started with a massive grin on her face. “That was AWESOME! I don’t care what those crooked judges say, we’re the most best band here.” She slung one arm around Emil and the other around Tuuri, only leaving Lalli out because he dodged away. “So what do you say? Think we should do this again? I’m in if you are.”

Despite all his reservations - I am SO going to regret this - Emil found himself nodding in agreement. 

[worldsentwined]

After the End, Before the Beginning: Part 2

So @minutia-r asked me about how the characters met in my hipster band AU. I wrote the first part and decided it was too long for one post, so it’s going to be three. This is part 2: Emil meets Lalli. Cut for length.

Also, here’s a handy link to Part 1: Emil meets Tuuri

Part 2: Emil Meets Lalli

Emil wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Tuuri said her cousin would move in to help with rent. Someone like Tuuri, probably: talkative, energetic, ready to take the world by storm. Or maybe someone like her brother, who’d introduced himself by showing up in a rage and pinning Emil to the wall, demanding to know where his sister was. Given the volume of the resulting argument, Emil wouldn’t have thought anyone in the family was particularly quiet.

“You’re living here?! In this seedy place? Tuuri, what if something happens to you? Do you even know this guy? He could be a serial killer, or a kleptomaniac, or-”

“He’s not going to kill me, he’s fine! Honestly Onni, you won’t even give him a chance!”

“A chance to kill you, or take advantage of you? You’re damn right I won’t-”

Even from the relative safety of the kitchen, Emil could hear Tuuri’s disgusted snort. “Is that what this is about? You’re worried about your baby sister living with a guy? It’s not like that, I promise he has no interest in me that way. Besides, it’s not like I’ll be living alone with him. Lalli’s moving in.”

“WHAT?!?!”

At this point Emil decided it was in his best interest to take himself elsewhere. He descended the stairs to the basement - if Tuuri’s cousin was going to live in the bedroom down there, he should probably make sure it was somewhat clean. His former roommate had moved out over a month ago, and Emil had been too busy trying to salvage his academic career to check if it was properly cleaned out. Even if the room had been clean a month ago, there were bound to be some dust and cobwebs to take care of.

There was dust. There was also a person, crouched beside the desk Emil’s old roommate had apparently left behind. He looked up from threading cables between a series of computer monitors when Emil arrived. “What do you want?”

Emil closed his mouth - it had dropped open, probably from surprise - and swallowed hard. “Uh. I...live here?” Then the rest of the man’s features registered - straight, silvery hair that fell past his chin, sharp cheekbones, and an ice-blue glare that looked oddly familiar - oh. Someone with similar features but a much heavier build had just assaulted Emil in his living room. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was down here! I’m Emil. You must be Tuuri’s cousin.”

The man jerked his head in what might have been a nod. “Lalli.” His voice barely carried to where Emil stood. Instead of standing to greet Emil, or continuing the conversation, he went back to sorting computer cords. When it was clear he had no intention of saying anything else, Emil tried again.

“So...I guess you’ve found your room. Is it okay? I meant to clean before you got here, but you must have come in while I was meeting Onni...”

“It’s fine.” This time Lalli didn’t even look up.

“Okay. Good, that’s...great. Do you need any help?” In addition to the desk, there were a few pieces of furniture left in the room - a bed, a rickety chair, a milk crate with a lamp that was missing its shade. Other than that and a few cardboard boxes, it seemed to be more or less empty. “Bringing your stuff in, I mean.”

Lalli waved a hand at the boxes. “This is it.” This time he did look up. “You can go now.”

That’s all he brought? How does he manage with so little? Emil opened his mouth to ask another question, but the look on Lalli’s face stopped him. “Oh, okay. Sure, I’ll go. Just let me know if you need - or if you have any questions - or - I’ll be upstairs.” Emil beat a hasty retreat. In the sudden quiet - Onni and Tuuri had stopped arguing - he heard the door close behind him.

Emil didn’t get another chance to talk to Lalli until later that evening. After Onni left, he’d spent the afternoon helping Tuuri settle into her new room and acquainting her with the rest of the house. She’d cooed over the kitchen - “It’s so cute! I can’t wait to cook in here!” - and politely not commented on the state of the bathroom. Emil resolved to be better at cleaning, now that he was sharing the space. Eventually Tuuri asked for directions to the nearest grocery store, leaving Emil with a quiet - but not empty - house. 

Emil hesitated at the top of the basement stairs. Should I go down? Or should I leave him alone? The basement had its own tiny bathroom, so there was nothing to say Lalli had to leave anytime soon - but maybe he would like some company, or an offer to come upstairs. Emil didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t spend time in the rest of the house, after all. Maybe he’s hungry? I didn’t see any food down there. Unfortunately, Emil didn’t exactly have a ton of food in the house, but he was sure he could find something. A search of the cupboards turned up a bag of rice - no - three cans of beans that had lived there longer than Emil had - no - and a package of cookies. Perfect. 

Lalli opened the door a tiny crack when Emil knocked. “What?”

Emil put on his best smile. “I just wanted to see how you’re settling in. Check if you have any questions about the house, or...are you hungry?” He held up the cookies, which he’d arranged on a plate in an attempt to make them look homemade.

The door opened wider. “Hmm.” A slender hand stretched out and retreated again, clutching a cookie. Emil heard a crunch, a sigh, and then the door opened all the way. Lalli took another cookie and waved for Emil to follow him.

The room was dark apart from the glow of monitors, which filled the desk and overflowed onto a little folding table Emil hadn’t noticed before. Lalli perched on a swivel chair that hadn’t been there earlier - maybe he’d brought more than those few boxes after all. Emil sat gingerly on the spindly wooden chair, still holding the plate.

“So how are you liking the room? Do you need anything else, or-” 

Lalli stretched out a hand without looking and fished around until he found another cookie. When nothing else happened, Emil leaned forward to look over his shoulder at the screens.

“Wait...is that...it can’t be. Is that the new Night Scout?” 

Lalli spun in his chair. “You know it?” He took the opportunity to pilfer another two cookies. Emil was too busy staring at the screen to care.

“Of course I know it! I’ve been dying to get an invitation to the beta, but no one can get one of those! How did you do it? Did you bribe someone? Kill someone? Whatever you did, you have to tell me!”

A smile flickered across Lalli’s face, so fast Emil almost missed it. “You play Night Scout.” 

Emil sighed. “Well, I’ve played all the old ones. I’d be playing this one too, except I thought it was impossible.”

“Hmm.” Lalli munched a cookie, then slid his chair to the side and held out a controller. “Come on, then.”

“Really?”

Another tiny smile. “Yeah. I haven’t tested the co-op mode yet. Let’s see if you can keep up.”

As it turned out, Emil couldn’t keep up - Lalli was amazing - until his character got a flamethrower. When Tuuri found them an hour later, Emil was shouting “Burn, suckers! I’m gonna flame you SO HARD-” and Lalli was still smiling. The plate lay forgotten between them, empty except for crumbs.

Part 3: Troll Hunters

[worldsentwined]

You've revealed how Sigrun and Mikkel met in BIWC, but I am curious about how Emil became Tuuri and Lalli's roommate, and how they all met Sigrun.

*gleeful cackling* Bless you for asking this, I have a whole big answer for this, but haven’t yet figured out how to bring it up in the fic. (Now that you’ve asked, I’ll probably put these bits together on AO3 at some point). Anyway, instead of just explaining I decided to write it, and it got long, so I’m going to put it under a cut. (The first part got long enough that I’ve decided I’m going to answer in three parts: Emil meets Tuuri, Emil meets Lalli, and the three of them meet Sigrun.)

After the End, Before the Beginning: Part 1

Emil sank down onto one of the hard wooden chairs outside the Student Services office and put his face in his hands. The seat was all-too-familiar; he’d spent nearly an hour in it before the adviser could meet with him. With the way that five-minute conversation had gone, he might have been better off staying in the chair.

What am I going to do now? His parents had made it clear that their financial support depended on him sticking it out and finishing school. But no matter how hard he tried - and no matter how hard he tried to make them see how hard he was trying - nothing he did was good enough. All the late nights studying, the pleading emails to professors about extending deadlines - all for nothing. He’d tried, he’d failed, and with “an academic record like his” the university was not going to give him another chance. He could blame his high school overconfidence or his freshman slacking all he liked, but that did nothing to change the fact that he was washing out as a sophomore.

I’ll have to get a job. Maybe Aunt Siv or Uncle Torbjörn know someone. They might let me babysit their kids for a few extra bucks, but…that won’t be enough. Even if he got a job, it still wouldn’t be enough. His apartment - actually a row house - was too expensive for someone living on his own without parental support. All his attempts at living with roommates had failed before, but…he could try to find someone. He had to.

Sunk in his own worries, Emil nearly fell out of his chair when the office door burst open with a BANG. He recovered in time to see a tiny ball of pure fury explode from the office, shouting as she went.

“I’m DONE with you! I’m done with ALL OF YOU, this place can burn in hell for all I care! Anarchy! Freedom from the establishment! I’m gonna tear this place apart stone by stone!” The girl - it was a girl, not a hurricane after all - threw down a stack of papers and slammed the door behind her. Then she kicked it for good measure, which didn’t seem to bother the solid wood any more than her shouting had. “Ow!”

The girl hopped on one foot, swearing, then caught Emil staring at her. “What?”

Emil blinked. “Uh…are you…okay?” Now that she wasn’t shouting, she looked a lot less intimidating - small, with a round face and short hair that fluffed over her forehead. 

She grinned. “Oh, yes. I’m better than okay, I’m free! I can’t believe I wasted so much of my life here. I’m off to better things now, no more academic drudgery for me.” She limped toward the outside door, and after a moment’s hesitation Emil followed her.

“Did you just…quit school?” he asked. He couldn’t imagine doing that, not after how hard he’d been trying to stay in it. But the girl laughed.

“Did I ever! Wow, this feels so good. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted, you know? No more research papers. No more labs, no more skeevy professors or TAs who grade based on who sucks up the most.” The rude gesture which accompanied that last statement made Emil blush. “Anyway, I decided enough was enough. I quit school, and my brother can take all his ‘you have to get a degree or you’ll never get a job’ nonsense and stick it up his-”

“Ah,” Emil interrupted, “Isn’t that…kind of true, though? I mean, jobs aren’t easy to get…”

The girl snorted. “Nah, getting a job isn’t so hard. I have one already. There’s this lady who owns a bike repair shop, and I started helping out around there to get away from school. Eventually she offered me a job! Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah…great.” Some people had all the luck, it seemed.

“The only thing is,” the girl continued, “I’m going to have to find a place to stay. My brother lives way out in the suburbs, and I’d rather live under a bridge than in his house right now.” For the first time, she looked a little worried. “He’s going to be so upset when I tell him I dropped out.”

Emil’s irritation turned to sympathy. He might not understand why someone would want to quit school, but he could understand not wanting to disappoint family. “Yeah. My parents are going to be pissed at me, too.”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What were you doing at Student Services, anyway?”

Emil grimaced. “Flunking out.”

“Ah.” The girl was quiet for a minute, then held out a fist. “Well, here’s to being done with this place and pissing off our families, I guess. Want to grab a coffee with me? I’m Tuuri, by the way.”

After a moment, Emil bumped his fist against hers. “Yeah. Sure, coffee sounds good. I’m Emil.”

Two shots of espresso and one mocha frappuccino later, Tuuri was on the phone with her cousin, chattering about this great new rental house she’d found. Hadn’t he always wanted to live in the city? Would he like to move in with her and her new roommate? Emil walked home with a stack of job applications and a spring in his step. Maybe…just maybe, this will work out.

Edit: Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

[worldsentwined]

For the fanfic ask meme: 4, 46, 47?

4. Name three authors that were influential to your work and tell whyHmm. It’s hard to say which authors have actually influenced my writing (as opposed to authors I just really love). And I’m not sure I can place influences on my fic writing, so much as authors whose work seems to have influenced my original fiction. But with that said, I think Martha Wells is a big one. She writes wonderfully immersive worlds, and her characters have all these complicated, raw emotions going on. (She’s definitely a “writing goals” type of author for me). I love Diana Wynne Jones too…I think there’s a lot of charming humor in her stories, and they’re lighthearted in a way that I think my fics can be too. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Robin McKinley, who is responsible for some of my favorite “friends fall in love at the end” romantic subplots. (Again, writing goals.) 

47. How many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time? (I’m answering these out of order so I can put the next one under a cut) I just looked, and apparently I have nine fics in progress. NINE. Which doesn’t count the additional two or three things on my WIP list that are just ideas I want to write eventually. *headdesk* I need to finish something before I start anything else, dangit!

46. Share a scene of a story that you haven’t published yetI was very seriously considering posting part of the ridiculous “Tuuri gets pregnant” fic that I will probably never finish, but…it isn’t very easily divided into scenes at this point. So instead, have some text messages from the next chapter of Before It Was Cool:

Transcript from Tuuri’s phone:Conversation between Tuuri Hotakainen and Sigrun Eide

TUURI: Hey, what are you up to tonight?

SIGRUN: FUZZY HEAD

SIGRUN: I HAVE A DATE

TUURI: Oh, okay.

SIGRUN: WITH BOOZE

SIGRUN: SO MUCH BOOZE

SIGRUN: WANNA COME BOOZE WITH ME???

SIGRUN: PLENTY TO GO AROUND

TUURI: …Sigrun, you’re drinking right now, aren’t you?

SIGRUN: MAYBE

TUURI: That’s what I thought.

TUURI: So to clarify…you don’t have a date with a person, you’re just drinking?

SIGRUN: MAAAAAAYBE

TUURI: Okay.

TUURI: Sure, I’ll join you. Let’s go out, have a girls’ night!

SIGRUN: YEAH!!!

SIGRUN: PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY

SIGRUN: BUT WAIT

SIGRUN: SPARKLY SPAWN OF SATAN ISN’T COMING

SIGRUN: RIGHT???

TUURI: Emil? No, I’m not going to bring him to girls’ night.

SIGRUN: GOOD

SIGRUN: NO WHINING TO RUIN THE PARTY

SIGRUN: PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY!!!

TUURI: Haha, okay. Party it is. I know just the place, let me text you the address.