#I don’t know why they made him play bass in that one concert part when bro is a trumpet player | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

asirensrage · 3 years

Text

there's a heaven above you (don't you cry) - part 6

Rating: M Pairing: Lost Boys/OC Fandom: The Lost Boys Warnings: swearing Summary: The thing no one ever tells you about time travel is that you don’t have any control over where you end up or when you leave. It just happens. It also hurts like a bitch. Notes: This will be a poly pairing, so if you’re not into that, don’t read. previous/masterlist also on ao3

Part 6: Addicted to Love

She did.

She dreamt of people calling her name, of bodies pressed against her and teeth scraping against her neck. She dreamt of being kissed at a concert, pushed up against the wall, her legs wrapped around a waist and being able to feel the bass of the music through it.

Her alarm went off, breaking the dream and forcing her back to reality. She lay there for a moment, trying to remember just who it was she had been dreaming about. No one specifically came to mind, but she was left wanting now that she was awake. She felt oddly empty and alone.

She sat back, feet propped up on the counter while she tried to ignore the heat that was settling in the store. She had opened the store a bit later than usual since she moved slowly after that dream. It was hard to get out of bed knowing she only had a thrift shop waiting for her and not someone to kiss the sense out of her. At least, not like her dream. Which she was remembering less and less as the day went on.

Her hair was pulled up in another high pony with a giant curl pinned up in the front again. It was an easy hairstyle, especially since her braids came loose from the motorcycle rides and how she slept. It also kept her hair off of her neck.

There was a clang of something moving on the other side of the store. She ignored it. The ghost was real in her opinion, even if Sampson didn’t believe in it. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that something they had in this place could be haunted.

“Just don’t break anything,” she called out. It took her the entire first week she had worked here to actually get the place in some sort of order.

“Who are you talking to?”

She glanced up to see Clark walking in. He looked around, trying to see who else was in the store.

“The ghost,” she said. “Miss me?”

“Like the plague,” he retorted back, just as fast.

She grinned at the kid. She liked him more and more the longer she knew him. Something about him reminded her of herself. Maybe it was the steadfast determination that he could take care of himself.

“I thought you’d be closed.”

“I got in late,” she said. “Figured I’d stay open later to make up for it. What brings you to my humble abode.”

“Nothin’. My parents were just bagging on me. Needed space.”

“Well, you’re always welcome here while I’m around. In fact, I’ll put you to work.” She ignored the face he made at that and dropped her feet on the ground to grab some change. It was only a couple dollars but she handed it over. “Go grab me a coke and some chips. Just not salt and vinegar.”

He took the money. “Anything else.”

“Whatever you want,” she waved him off. “Just bring me my stuff.”

He left without a word. She put her feet back up and leaned back in her chair. She could probably close without any problem or cash loss, but she had nothing better to do. Might as well stay open.

There was a clang that came from the back. She froze. That wasn’t in the shop. Motherfucker. It was probably the thieves who kept breaking into the donation box. She got up and grabbed the only bat in the tiny sports section they had. There were mainly golf clubs, though why anyone thought they would play golf in this place made no sense to her. She unlatched the back door before kicking it open in order to startle them.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She snarled, raising the bat. The person was bent in front of the open box which still hadn’t fully been fixed. They looked up at her.

“Darcy!”

There was no fear like she had intended. Paul’s face practically lit up as he saw her. “What are you doing here?” His gaze dropped and traced up her bare legs to her shorts and then higher till he reached her face.

“Me?” She pointed the bat at him. “Are you the one who’s been breaking into this thing?”

“What? No,” he closed the door to it quickly and stood up. “I saw it open.”

“Liar. That latch was shut tight. If I find out you’ve been breaking into my donation box--”

“Yours?” He grinned. “This your store?”

“No.” She lowered the bat and placed her free hand on her hip. “But I work here. Now, why the hell are you breaking into my donation box?”

He motioned to his legs. “I need new pants.” His acid-washed jeans had a tear up the side, opening over his thigh.

“And what? You can’t afford to buy them?” She raised her eyebrows, giving him an unimpressed look. “If you can buy pizza and concert tickets, you can buy your own pants.”

“Babe, if I knew you were here, I’d have walked right in.”

She rolled her eyes and turned and walked back inside. Paul followed.

“So this where you’ve been hiding?” He wandered around as she went back behind her counter. She kept the bat at her side. Just in case.

“It’s called having a job.” She leaned on the counter, watching as he pulled different things from the racks, considered them and threw them back. Aside from the rip in his jeans, they also had some rust-brown stains on them. The black shirt he wore seemed fairly intact in comparison. He pulled an old tuxedo jacket from one of the racks and tried it on.

“Aren’t you here for pants?”

“What?” he stepped more into her view and turned. “Don’t like what you see?” He threw her a wink.

“I just don’t want you to waste my time. I’m already open late.”

Paul headed towards her and hopped up on her counter. He turned to face her. “You just waitin’ for me? Or are you planning more vandalism?” His eyes seemed to shine. “Want help? I’ll fuck him up for you.”

“Gee and they say romance is dead,” she said dryly.

Paul burst out laughing. “It is!” he choked out before nearly falling off of the counter in his hysterics.

“Am I interrupting?” Clark stood in the doorway, looking hesitant. His hands were full with the spoils of his search.

Darcy shoved Paul off of her counter. “No, come on, give me my stuff. No chips?”

Clark entered slowly, keeping an eye on Paul as he handed over her drink and a bag of popcorn. “They were out. You alright?”

She gave him a smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Paul is just being obnoxious.”

“She’s so mean,” Paul said with a grin that looked a bit cruel. “Stole my heart and won’t give it back.”

She rolled her eyes and threw a piece of popcorn at him. He tried to catch it with his mouth. “Ignore him,” she said. “Thanks for getting this for me.” She caught Clark’s eye. “You don’t have to stay. It’s cool.” She was well aware of the presence any of them had and she’d rather Clark be gone before the others found Paul. They were never far behind.

“And miss the party?”

Speak of the devil and he appears. She looked over at David. “How do you guys keep finding me?”

“Maybe we can’t stay away,” he suggested. He walked in like he owned the place. Marko was biting at his thumbnail as he followed. Dwayne glanced around quickly before his eyes settled on her.

“I would be so lucky,” she drawled. “Go Clark, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

The kid glanced between them before he nodded and took off. She definitely didn’t blame him one bit.

She glared at the men as some of them glanced his way as he left. “Leave him alone.”

“Who is he?” Marko asked.

“My minion. So I expect he returns to me every day, got it?” She didn’t need them scaring the kid off. He got enough of that with those Surf Nazi assholes.

“He did bring her food,” Paul said with a shrug.

The others moved closer to stand in front of her and she offered the bag of popcorn to Dwayne. He did share a cigarette last time...and she should not have thought about that. The memory of his breath against her skin reminded her of the dream she had had. She ignored the way her face heated and how their eyes darkened in response. Dwayne grinned at her as he took a handful. She pulled it back before the others could take some.

“Not going to share?” David asked.

“No. Why are you here?”

Marko leaned on the counter and grinned at her. “Just want to see you.”

“Do you have-” she cut off her thought. It wouldn’t have made sense to ask if they had tracking chips implanted on each other. Not now at least.

“Have what?” Dwayne asked.

“Bloodhound in your veins? Considering the way you all keep finding each other.”

They laughed harder than she expected at that. She was not that funny. David reached behind his ear, pulling down a cigarette. She hopped up slightly, pressing her stomach into the counter as she pulled it from his hand. He let her take it and she tucked it on the shelf under the counter. “The clothes are clean. I don’t want them to smell before I can sell them.”

The boys seemed to take that as permission to browse the shop.

“Come on, babe, get yourself a better view.” Marko stepped around the counter and made a show of slowly reaching for her.

“Don’t-” she tried to stop him from trying to lift her. He didn’t listen. Instead, his hands grabbed her waist and he lifted her with more ease than she expected from him. He placed her on top of the counter, his hands trailed down her bare legs, goosebumps prickling in their wake and she jolted away, trying not to laugh.

He grinned widely before he moved away. Another hand reached for her, helping her lift her legs as he turned her to face the shop. David stood at her legs, hand on her thigh. The leather of his glove felt cool on her skin despite him wearing it.

“You better not steal anything!” she called out as Marko joined Paul in his search.

“They won’t,” David said. He seemed content to stay next to her and touch her. She lifted the hand from her thigh and dropped it. He just grinned and proceeded to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to the edge of the counter.

She glanced at him, curious as to why he was still touching her. “Why are you here, David?”

“Why do you think, Darcy?” He turned to look at her. His eyes scanned her face, pausing on her lips before they met hers. His thumb started stroking the bit of skin that showed between her shorts and the shirt she had tied up at her waist.

Her mouth went dry. “You’re stalking me.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Obviously, since I said it,” she snarked back. “I met you once and now you’re everywhere.”

“We’re right where we want to be.”

“Hey, Darcy girl!” Paul called out. “What do you think?” He strutted forward to show off his outfit. She burst out laughing. Apparently, while she was distracted by David and his touch, Paul decided to find the most most vintage dress he could in the place and cram himself in it. It was definitely a challenge considering she tended to swipe the best stuff that came in.

“You really pull that off,” she said.

He looked like he didn’t know whether or not to be offended by it but Marko laughed hysterically. Paul decided to grab him in a headlock.

“Hey!” She yelled, getting ready to jump off the counter. “Hey! Not in the store!”

“Boys,” David cut through, holding her in place. “Outside.”

They glanced at her before they left, each of them shoving each other until they got outside. Dwayne stepped up on her other side and she found herself surrounded again. They smelt like the ocean, leather…and something metallic. It was oddly appealing. Dwayne’s hand touched her thigh and she tried to ignore the cool weight of it.

“Come with us tonight,” David said, leaning slightly closer.

“Come, Darcy,” Dwayne added, his voice a bit softer. She swallowed tightly. God, to take those words in a completely different context.

“No,” she shook her head. “Not tonight.” Dwayne’s hand went a bit higher and David grabbed her chin so she would look at him.

“Darcy,” the world faded around her and it almost sounded as though his voice was echoing. “Come with us.” She heard Dwayne say her name behind her.

She tried to focus, instead of getting distracted by them. She turned away from them, facing forwards. She bit the inside of her cheek, still sore from the other day.

There was a growl next to her before suddenly lips were on hers. The kiss was demanding and she reached up, digging her fingers into thick hair as she parted her lips. She felt his tongue touch the side of her cheek that was bleeding and the grip on her thigh tightened. Dwayne pulled back suddenly, letting go and moving away from her.

She blinked, slightly dazed before David moved in between her legs and pulled her closer to him. His hand went to the back of her neck, holding her in place before he kissed her. He nipped at her lips before deepening the kiss. She clung to the front of his jacket. For all the near-constant desire to hit him, he knew what he was doing. He pulled back slowly before kissing her again, this time harder. It felt more desperate as if he expected her to disappear from his grasp.

The kiss broke. His lips moved across her cheek and jaw before reaching her neck. He paused, burying his nose then pulling back. His eyes met hers. “Still don’t know?” he teased, almost maliciously.

She shook her head.

He leaned forward and nipped at her ear before he stepped back. “You can’t run from us, Darcy.” He grabbed Dwayne and they both seemed to pull each other out of the store.

She sat on the counter, trying to come back to herself. What the fuck just happened?

taglist: @raith-way @ocfairygodmother @lokitrasho @zeleniafic @jewelswrites-ish @tessasocs @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle @chickensarentcheap

#there's a heaven above you (don't you cry)#there's a heaven above you #the lost boys fanfic #the lost boys x oc #the lost boys/oc #the lost boys fanfiction #the lost boys fic #darcy and the lost boys

80 notes · View notes

path-of-my-childhood · 4 years

Text

Musicians On Musicians: Paul McCartney & Taylor Swift

By: Patrick Doyle for Rolling Stone Date: November 13th 2020

On songwriting secrets, making albums at home, and what they’ve learned during the pandemic.

Taylor Swift arrived early to Paul McCartney’s London office in October, “mask on, brimming with excitement.” “I mostly work from home these days,” she writes about that day, “and today feels like a rare school field trip that you actually want to go on.”

Swift showed up without a team, doing her own hair and makeup. In addition to being two of the most famous pop songwriters in the world, Swift and McCartney have spent the past year on similar journeys. McCartney, isolated at home in the U.K., recorded McCartney III. Like his first solo album, in 1970, he played nearly all of the instruments himself, resulting in some of his most wildly ambitious songs in a long time. Swift also took some new chances, writing over email with the National’s Aaron Dessner and recording the raw Folklore, which abandons arena pop entirely in favor of rich character songs. It’s the bestselling album of 2020.

Swift listened to McCartney III as she prepared for today’s conversation; McCartney delved into Folkore. Before the photo shoot, Swift caught up with his daughters Mary (who would be photographing them) and Stella (who designed Swift’s clothes; the two are close friends). “I’ve met Paul a few times, mostly onstage at parties, but we’ll get to that later,” Swift writes. “Soon he walks in with his wife, Nancy. They’re a sunny and playful pair, and I immediately feel like this will be a good day. During the shoot, Paul dances and takes almost none of it too seriously and sings along to Motown songs playing from the speakers. A few times Mary scolds, ‘Daaad, try to stand still!’ And it feels like a window into a pretty awesome family dynamic. We walk into his office for a chat, and after I make a nervous request, Paul is kind enough to handwrite my favorite lyric of his and sign it. He makes a joke about me selling it, and I laugh because it’s something I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. That’s around the time when we start talking about music.”

Taylor Swift: I think it’s important to note that if this year had gone the way that we thought it was going to go, you and I would have played Glastonbury this year, and instead, you and I both made albums in isolation.

Paul McCartney: Yeah!

Swift: And I remember thinking it would have been so much fun because the times that I’ve run into you, I correlate with being some of the most fun nights of my life. I was at a party with you, when everybody just started playing music. And it was Dave Grohl playing, and you...

McCartney: You were playing one of his songs, weren’t you?

Swift: Yes, I was playing his song called “Best of You,” but I was playing it on piano, and he didn’t recognize it until about halfway through. I just remember thinking, “Are you the catalyst for the most fun times ever?” Is it your willingness to get up and play music that makes everyone feel like this is a thing that can happen tonight?

McCartney: I mean, I think it’s a bit of everything, isn’t it? I’ll tell you who was very... Reese Witherspoon was like, “Are you going to sing?” I said “Oh, I don’t know.” She said, “You’ve got to, yeah!” She’s bossing me around. So I said, “Whoa,” so it’s a bit of that.

Swift: I love that person, because the party does not turn musical without that person.

McCartney: Yeah, that’s true.

Swift: If nobody says, “Can you guys play music?” we’re not going to invite ourselves up onstage at whatever living-room party it is.

McCartney: I seem to remember Woody Harrelson got on the piano, and he starts playing “Let It Be,” and I’m thinking, “I can do that better.” So I said, “Come on, move over, Woody.” So we’re both playing it. It was really nice... I love people like Dan Aykroyd, who’s just full of energy and he loves his music so much, but he’s not necessarily a musician, but he just wanders around the room, just saying, “You got to get up, got to get up, do some stuff.”

Swift: I listened to your new record. And I loved a lot of things about it, but it really did feel like kind of a flex to write, produce, and play every instrument on every track. To me, that’s like flexing a muscle and saying, “I can do all this on my own if I have to.”

McCartney: Well, I don’t think like that, I must admit. I just picked up some of these instruments over the years. We had a piano at home that my dad played, so I picked around on that. I wrote the melody to “When I’m 64” when I was, you know, a teenager.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: When the Beatles went to Hamburg, there were always drum kits knocking around, so when there was a quiet moment, I’d say, “Do you mind if I have a knock around?” So I was able to practice, you know, without practicing. That’s why I play right-handed. Guitar was just the first instrument I got. Guitar turned to bass; it also turned into ukulele, mandolin. Suddenly, it’s like, “Wow,” but it’s really only two or three instruments.

Swift: Well, I think that’s downplaying it a little bit. In my mind, it came with a visual of you being in the country, kind of absorbing the sort of do-it-yourself [quality] that has had to come with the quarantine and this pandemic. I found that I’ve adapted a do-it-yourself mentality to a lot of things in my career that I used to outsource. I’m just wondering what a day of recording in the pandemic looked like for you.

McCartney: Well, I’m very lucky because I have a studio that’s, like, 20 minutes away from where I live. We were in lockdown on a farm, a sheep farm with my daughter Mary and her four kids and her husband. So I had four of my grandkids, I had Mary, who’s a great cook, so I would just drive myself to the studio. And there were two other guys that could come in and we’d be very careful and distanced and everything: my engineer Steve, and then my equipment guy Keith. So the three of us made the record, and I just started off. I had to do a little bit of film music - I had to do an instrumental for a film thing - so I did that. And I just kept going, and that turned into the opening track on the album. I would just come in, say, “Oh, yeah, what are we gonna do?” [Then] have some sort of idea, and start doing it. Normally, I’d start with the instrument I wrote it on, either piano or guitar, and then probably add some drums and then a bit of bass till it started to sound like a record, and then just gradually layer it all up. It was fun.

Swift: That’s so cool.

McCartney: What about yours? You’re playing guitar and piano on yours.

Swift: Yeah, on some of it, but a lot of it was made with Aaron Dessner, who’s in a band called the National that I really love. And I had met him at a concert a year before, and I had a conversation with him, asking him how he writes. It’s my favorite thing to ask people who I’m a fan of. And he had an interesting answer. He said, “All the band members live in different parts of the world. So I make tracks. And I send them to our lead singer, Matt, and he writes the top line.” I just remember thinking, “That is really efficient.” And I kind of stored it in my brain as a future idea for a project. You know, how you have these ideas... “Maybe one day I’ll do this.” I always had in my head: “Maybe one day I’ll work with Aaron Dessner.”

So when lockdown happened, I was in L.A., and we kind of got stuck there. It’s not a terrible place to be stuck. We were there for four months maybe, and during that time, I sent an email to Aaron Dessner and I said, “Do you think you would want to work during this time? Because my brain is all scrambled, and I need to make something, even if we’re just kind of making songs that we don’t know what will happen...”

McCartney: Yeah, that was the thing. You could do stuff - you didn’t really worry it was going to turn into anything.

Swift: Yeah, and it turned out he had been writing instrumental tracks to keep from absolutely going crazy during the pandemic as well, so he sends me this file of probably 30 instrumentals, and the first one I opened ended up being a song called “Cardigan,” and it really happened rapid-fire like that. He’d send me a track; he’d make new tracks, add to the folder; I would write the entire top line for a song, and he wouldn’t know what the song would be about, what it was going to be called, where I was going to put the chorus. I had originally thought, “Maybe I’ll make an album in the next year, and put it out in January or something,” but it ended up being done and we put it out in July. And I just thought there are no rules anymore, because I used to put all these parameters on myself, like, “How will this song sound in a stadium? How will this song sound on radio?” If you take away all the parameters, what do you make? And I guess the answer is Folklore.

McCartney: And it’s more music for yourself than music that’s got to go do a job. My thing was similar to that: After having done this little bit of film music, I had a lot of stuff that I had been working on, but I’d said, “I’m just going home now,” and it’d be left half-finished. So I just started saying, “Well, what about that? I never finished that.” So we’d pull it out, and we said, “Oh, well, this could be good.” And because it didn’t have to amount to anything, I would say, “Ah, I really want to do tape loops. I don’t care if they fit on this song, I just want to do some.” So I go and make some tape loops, and put them in the song, just really trying to do stuff that I fancy.

I had no idea it would end up as an album; I may have been a bit less indulgent, but if a track was eight minutes long, to tell you the truth, what I thought was, “I’ll be taking it home tonight, Mary will be cooking, the grandkids will all be there running around, and someone, maybe Simon, Mary’s husband, is going to say, ‘What did you do today?’ And I’m going to go, ‘Oh,’ and then get my phone and play it for them.” So this became the ritual.

Swift: That’s the coziest thing I’ve ever heard.

McCartney: Well, it’s like eight minutes long, and I said, “I hate it when I’m playing someone something and it finishes after three minutes.” I kind of like that it just [continues] on.

Swift: You want to stay in the zone.

McCartney: It just keeps going on. I would just come home, “Well, what did you do today?” “Oh, well, I did this. I’m halfway through this,” or, “We finished this.”

Swift: I was wondering about the numerology element to McCartney III. McCartney I, II, and III have all come out on years with zeroes.

McCartney: Ends of decades.

Swift: Was that important?

McCartney: Yeah, well, this was being done in 2020, and I didn’t really think about it. I think everyone expected great things of 2020. “It’s gonna be great! Look at that number! 2020! Auspicious!” Then suddenly Covid hit, and it was like, “That’s gonna be auspicious all right, but maybe for the wrong reasons.” Someone said to me, “Well, you put out McCartney right after the Beatles broke up, and that was 1970, and then you did McCartney II in 1980.” And I said, “Oh, I’m going to release this in 2020 just for whatever you call it, the numerology...”

Swift: The numerology, the kind of look, the symbolism. I love numbers. Numbers kind of rule my whole world. The numbers 13... 89 is a big one. I have a few others that I find...

McCartney: Thirteen is lucky for some.

Swift: Yeah, it’s lucky for me. It’s my birthday. It’s all these weird coincidences of good things that have happened. Now, when I see it places, I look at it as a sign that things are going the way they’re supposed to. They may not be good now, they could be painful now, but things are on a track. I don’t know, I love the numerology.

McCartney: It’s spooky, Taylor. It’s very spooky. Now wait a minute: Where’d you get 89?

Swift: That’s when I was born, in 1989, and so I see it in different places and I just think it’s...

McCartney: No, it’s good. I like that, where certain things you attach yourself to, and you get a good feeling off them. I think that’s great.

Swift: Yeah, one of my favorite artists, Bon Iver, he has this thing with the number 22. But I was also wondering: You have always kind of seeked out a band or a communal atmosphere with like, you know, the Beatles and Wings, and then Egypt Station. I thought it was interesting when I realized you had made a record with no one else. I just wondered, did that feel natural?

McCartney: It’s one of the things I’ve done. Like with McCartney, because the Beatles had broken up, there was no alternative but to get a drum kit at home, get a guitar, get an amp, get a bass, and just make something for myself. So on that album, which I didn’t really expect to do very well, I don’t think it did. But people sort of say, “I like that. It was a very casual album.” It didn’t really have to mean anything. So I’ve done that, the play-everything-myself thing. And then I discovered synths and stuff, and sequencers, so I had a few of those at home. I just thought I’m going to play around with this and record it, so that became McCartney II. But it’s a thing I do. Certain people can do it. Stevie Wonder can do it. Stevie Winwood, I believe, has done it. So there are certain people quite like that.

When you’re working with someone else, you have to worry about their variances. Whereas your own variance, you kind of know it. It’s just something I’ve grown to like. Once you can do it, it becomes a little bit addictive. I actually made some records under the name the Fireman.

Swift: Love a pseudonym.

McCartney: Yeah, for the fun! But, you know, let’s face it, you crave fame and attention when you’re young. And I just remembered the other day, I was the guy in the Beatles that would write to journalists and say [speaks in a formal voice]: “We are a semiprofessional rock combo, and I’d think you’d like [us]... We’ve written over 100 songs (which was a lie), my friend John and I. If you mention us in your newspaper...” You know, I was always, like, craving the attention.

Swift: The hustle! That’s so great, though.

McCartney: Well, yeah, you need that.

Swift: Yeah, I think, when a pseudonym comes in is when you still have a love for making the work and you don’t want the work to become overshadowed by this thing that’s been built around you, based on what people know about you. And that’s when it’s really fun to create fake names and write under them.

McCartney: Do you ever do that?

Swift: Oh, yeah.

McCartney: Oh, yeah? Oh, well, we didn’t know that! Is that a widely known fact?

Swift: I think it is now, but it wasn’t. I wrote under the name Nils Sjöberg because those are two of the most popular names of Swedish males. I wrote this song called “This Is What You Came For” that Rihanna ended up singing. And nobody knew for a while. I remembered always hearing that when Prince wrote “Manic Monday,” they didn’t reveal it for a couple of months.

McCartney: Yeah, it also proves you can do something without the fame tag. I did something for Peter and Gordon; my girlfriend’s brother and his mate were in a band called Peter and Gordon. And I used to write under the name Bernard Webb.

Swift: [Laughs.] That’s a good one! I love it.

McCartney: As Americans call it, Ber-nard Webb. I did the Fireman thing. I worked with a producer, a guy called Youth, who’s this real cool dude. We got along great. He did a mix for me early on, and we got friendly. I would just go into the studio, and he would say, “Hey, what about this groove?” and he’d just made me have a little groove going. He’d say, “You ought to put some bass on it. Put some drums on it.” I’d just spend the whole day putting stuff on it. And we’d make these tracks, and nobody knew who Fireman was for a while. We must have sold all of 15 copies.

Swift: Thrilling, absolutely thrilling.

McCartney: And we didn’t mind, you know?

Swift: I think it’s so cool that you do projects that are just for you. Because I went with my family to see you in concert in 2010 or 2011, and the thing I took away from the show most was that it was the most selfless set list I had ever seen. It was completely geared toward what it would thrill us to hear. It had new stuff, but it had every hit we wanted to hear, every song we’d ever cried to, every song people had gotten married to, or been brokenhearted to. And I just remembered thinking, “I’ve got to remember that,” that you do that set list for your fans.

McCartney: You do that, do you?

Swift: I do now. I think that learning that lesson from you taught me at a really important stage in my career that if people want to hear “Love Story” and “Shake It Off,” and I’ve played them 300 million times, play them the 300-millionth-and-first time. I think there are times to be selfish in your career, and times to be selfless, and sometimes they line up.

McCartney: I always remembered going to concerts as a kid, completely before the Beatles, and I really hoped they would play the ones I loved. And if they didn’t, it was kind of disappointing. I had no money, and the family wasn’t wealthy. So this would be a big deal for me, to save up for months to afford the concert ticket.

Swift: Yeah, it feels like a bond. It feels like that person on the stage has given something, and it makes you as a crowd want to give even more back, in terms of applause, in terms of dedication. And I just remembered feeling that bond in the crowd, and thinking, “He’s up there playing these Beatles songs, my dad is crying, my mom is trying to figure out how to work her phone because her hands are shaking so much.” Because seeing the excitement course through not only me, but my family and the entire crowd in Nashville, it just was really special. I love learning lessons and not having to learn them the hard way. Like learning nice lessons I really value.

McCartney: Well, that’s great, and I’m glad that set you on that path. I understand people who don’t want to do that, and if you do, they’ll say, “Oh, it’s a jukebox show.” I hear what they’re saying. But I think it’s a bit of a cheat, because the people who come to our shows have spent a lot of money. We can afford to go to a couple of shows and it doesn’t make much difference. But a lot of ordinary working folks... it’s a big event in their life, and so I try and deliver. I also, like you say, try and put in a few weirdos.

Swift: That’s the best. I want to hear current things, too, to update me on where the artist is. I was wondering about lyrics, and where you were lyrically when you were making this record. Because when I was making Folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escapism and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining I was, like, a pioneer woman in a forbidden love affair [laughs]. I was completely...

McCartney: Was this “I want to give you a child”? Is that one of the lines?

Swift: Oh, that’s a song called “Peace.”

McCartney: “Peace,” I like that one.

Swift: “Peace” is actually more rooted in my personal life. I know you have done a really excellent job of this in your personal life: carving out a human life within a public life, and how scary that can be when you do fall in love and you meet someone, especially if you’ve met someone who has a very grounded, normal way of living. I, oftentimes, in my anxieties, can control how I am as a person and how normal I act and rationalize things, but I cannot control if there are 20 photographers outside in the bushes and what they do and if they follow our car and if they interrupt our lives. I can’t control if there’s going to be a fake weird headline about us in the news tomorrow.

McCartney: So how does that go? Does your partner sympathize with that and understand?

Swift: Oh, absolutely.

McCartney: They have to, don’t they?

Swift: But I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids. Whether that’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture - the idea of privacy feels so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just trying to find bits of normalcy. That’s what that song “Peace” is talking about. Like, would it be enough if I could never fully achieve the normalcy that we both crave? Stella always tells me that she had as normal a childhood as she could ever hope for under the circumstances.

McCartney: Yeah, it was very important to us to try and keep their feet on the ground amongst the craziness.

Swift: She went to a regular school...

McCartney: Yeah, she did.

Swift: And you would go trick-or-treating with them, wearing masks.

McCartney: All of them did, yeah. It was important, but it worked pretty well, because when they kind of reached adulthood, they would meet other kids who might have gone to private schools, who were a little less grounded.

And they could be the budding mothers to [kids]. I remember Mary had a friend, Orlando. Not Bloom. She used to really counsel him. And it’s ’cause she’d gone through that. Obviously, they got made fun of, my kids. They’d come in the classroom and somebody would sing, “Na na na na,” you know, one of the songs. And they’d have to handle that. They’d have to front it out.

Swift: Did that give you a lot of anxiety when you had kids, when you felt like all this pressure that’s been put on me is spilling over onto them, that they didn’t sign up for it? Was that hard for you?

McCartney: Yeah, a little bit, but it wasn’t like it is now. You know, we were just living a kind of semi-hippie life, where we withdrew from a lot of stuff. The kids would be doing all the ordinary things, and their school friends would be coming up to the house and having parties, and it was just great. I remember one lovely evening when it was Stella’s birthday, and she brought a bunch of school kids up. And, you know, they’d all ignore me. It happens very quickly. At first they’re like, “Oh, yeah, he’s like a famous guy,” and then it’s like [yawns]. I like that. I go in the other room and suddenly I hear this music going on. And one of the kids, his name was Luke, and he’s doing break dancing.

Swift: Ohhh!

McCartney: He was a really good break dancer, so all the kids are hanging out. That allowed them to be kind of normal with those kids. The other thing is, I don’t live fancy. I really don’t. Sometimes it’s a little bit of an embarrassment, if I’ve got someone coming to visit me, or who I know…

Swift: Cares about that stuff?

McCartney: Who’s got a nice big house, you know. Quincy Jones came to see me and I’m, like, making him a veggie burger or something. I’m doing some cooking. This was after I’d lost Linda, in between there. But the point I’m making is that I’m very consciously thinking, “Oh, God, Quincy’s got to be thinking, ‘What is this guy on? He hasn’t got big things going on. It’s not a fancy house at all. And we’re eating in the kitchen! He’s not even got the dining room going,’” you know?

Swift: I think that sounds like a perfect day.

McCartney: But that’s me. I’m awkward like that. That’s my kind of thing. Maybe I should have, like, a big stately home. Maybe I should get a staff. But I think I couldn’t do that. I’d be so embarrassed. I’d want to walk around dressed as I want to walk around, or naked, if I wanted to.

Swift: That can’t happen in Downton Abbey.

McCartney: [Laughs.] Exactly.

Swift: I remember what I wanted to know about, which is lyrics. Like, when you’re in this kind of strange, unparalleled time, and you’re making this record, are lyrics first? Or is it when you get a little melodic idea?

McCartney: It was a bit of both. As it kind of always is with me. There’s no fixed way. People used to ask me and John, “Well, who does the words, who does the music?” I used to say, “We both do both.” We used to say we don’t have a formula, and we don’t want one. Because the minute we get a formula, we should rip it up. I will sometimes, as I did with a couple of songs on this album, sit down at the piano and just start noodling around, and I’ll get a little idea and start to fill that out. So the lyrics - for me, it’s following a trail. I’ll start [sings “Find My Way,” a song from “McCartney III”]: “I can find my way. I know my left from right, da da da.” And I’ll just sort of fill it in. Like, we know this song, and I’m trying to remember the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll just be inspired by something. I had a little book which was all about the constellations and the stars and the orbits of Venus and...

Swift: Oh, I know that song - “The Kiss of Venus”?

McCartney: Yeah, “The Kiss of Venus.” And I just thought, “That’s a nice phrase.” So I was actually just taking phrases out of the book, harmonic sounds. And the book is talking about the maths of the universe, and how when things orbit around each other, and if you trace all the patterns, it becomes like a lotus flower.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: It’s very magical.

Swift: That is magical. I definitely relate to needing to find magical things in this very not-magical time, needing to read more books and learn to sew, and watch movies that take place hundreds of years ago. In a time where, if you look at the news, you just want to have a panic attack - I really relate to the idea that you are thinking about stars and constellations.

McCartney: Did you do that on Folklore?

Swift: Yes. I was reading so much more than I ever did, and watching so many more films.

McCartney: What stuff were you reading?

Swift: I was reading, you know, books like Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, which I highly recommend, and books that dealt with times past, a world that doesn’t exist anymore. I was also using words I always wanted to use - kind of bigger, flowerier, prettier words, like “epiphany,” in songs. I always thought, “Well, that’ll never track on pop radio,” but when I was making this record, I thought, “What tracks? Nothing makes sense anymore. If there’s chaos everywhere, why don’t I just use the damn word I want to use in the song?”

McCartney: Exactly. So you’d see the word in a book and think, “I love that word”?

Swift: Yeah, I have favorite words, like “elegies” and “epiphany” and “divorcée,” and just words that I think sound beautiful, and I have lists and lists of them.

McCartney: How about “marzipan”?

Swift: Love “marzipan.”

McCartney: The other day, I was remembering when we wrote “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”: “kaleidoscope.”

Swift: “Kaleidoscope” is one of mine! I have a song on 1989, a song called “Welcome to New York,” that I put the word “kaleidoscope” in just because I’m obsessed with the word.

McCartney: I think a love of words is a great thing, particularly if you’re going to try to write a lyric, and for me, it’s like, “What is this going to say to that person?” I often feel like I’m writing to someone who is not doing so well. So I’m trying to write songs that might help. Not in a goody-goody, crusading kind of way, but just thinking there have been so many times in my life when I’ve heard a song and felt so much better. I think that’s the angle I want, that inspirational thing.

I remember once, a friend of mine from Liverpool, we were teenagers and we were going to a fairground. He was a schoolmate, and we had these jackets that had a little fleck in the material, which was the cool thing at the time.

Swift: We should have done matching jackets for this photo shoot.

McCartney: Find me a fleck, I’m in. But we went to the fair, and I just remember - this is what happens with songs - there was this girl at the fair. This is just a little Liverpool fair - it was in a place called Sefton Park - and there was this girl, who was so beautiful. She wasn’t a star. She was so beautiful. Everyone was following her, and it’s like, “Wow.” It’s like a magical scene, you know? But all this gave me a headache, so I ended up going back to his house - I didn’t normally get headaches. And we thought, “What can we do?” So we put on the Elvis song “All Shook Up.” By the end of that song, my headache had gone. I thought, you know, “That’s powerful.”

Swift: That really is powerful.

McCartney: I love that, when people stop me in the street and say, “Oh, I was going through an illness and I listened to a lot of your stuff, and I’m better now and it got me through,” or kids will say, “It got me through exams.” You know, they’re studying, they’re going crazy, but they put your music on. I’m sure it happens with a lot of your fans. It inspires them, you know?

Swift: Yeah, I definitely think about that as a goal. There’s so much stress everywhere you turn that I kind of wanted to make an album that felt sort of like a hug, or like your favorite sweater that makes you feel like you want to put it on.

McCartney: What, a “cardigan”?

Swift: Like a good cardigan, a good, worn-in cardigan. Or something that makes you reminisce on your childhood. I think sadness can be cozy. It can obviously be traumatic and stressful, too, but I kind of was trying to lean into sadness that feels like somehow enveloping in not such a scary way - like nostalgia and whimsy incorporated into a feeling like you’re not all right. Because I don’t think anybody was really feeling like they were in their prime this year. Isolation can mean escaping into your imagination in a way that’s kind of nice.

McCartney: I think a lot of people have found that. I would say to people, “I feel a bit guilty about saying I’m actually enjoying this quarantine thing,” and people go, “Yeah, I know, don’t say it to anyone.” A lot of people are really suffering.

Swift: Because there’s a lot in life that’s arbitrary. Completely and totally arbitrary. And [the quarantine] is really shining a light on that, and also a lot of things we have that we outsource that you can actually do yourself.

McCartney: I love that. This is why I said I live simply. That’s, like, at the core of it. With so many things, something goes wrong and you go, “Oh, I’ll get somebody to fix that.” And then it’s like, “No, let me have a look at it...”

Swift: Get a hammer and a nail.

McCartney: “Maybe I can put that picture up.” It’s not rocket science. The period after the Beatles, when we went to live in Scotland on a really - talk about dumpy - little farm. I mean, I see pictures of it now and I’m not ashamed, but I’m almost ashamed. Because it’s like, “God, nobody’s cleaned up around here.”

But it was really a relief. Because when I was with the Beatles, we’d formed Apple Records, and if I wanted a Christmas tree, someone would just buy it. And I thought, after a while, “No, you know what? I really would like to go and buy our Christmas tree. Because that’s what everyone does.” So you go down - “I’ll have that one” - and you carried it back. I mean, it’s little, but it’s huge at the same time.

I needed a table in Scotland and I was looking through a catalog and I thought, “I could make one. I did woodwork in school, so I know what a dovetail joint is.” So I just figured it out. I’m just sitting in the kitchen, and I’m whittling away at this wood and I made this little joint. There was no nail technology - it was glue. And I was scared to put it together. I said, “It’s not going to fit,” but one day, I got my woodwork glue and thought, “There’s no going back.” But it turned out to be a real nice little table I was very proud of. It was that sense of achievement.

The weird thing was, Stella went up to Scotland recently and I said, “Isn’t it there?” and she said, “No.” Anyway, I searched for it. Nobody remembered it. Somebody said, “Well, there’s a pile of wood in the corner of one of the barns, maybe that’s it. Maybe they used it for firewood.” I said, “No, it’s not firewood.” Anyway, we found it, and do you know how joyous that was for me? I was like, “You found my table?!” Somebody might say that’s a bit boring.

Swift: No, it’s cool!

McCartney: But it was a real sort of great thing for me to be able to do stuff for yourself. You were talking about sewing. I mean normally, in your position, you’ve got any amount of tailors.

Swift: Well, there’s been a bit of a baby boom recently; several of my friends have gotten pregnant.

McCartney: Oh, yeah, you’re at the age.

Swift: And I was just thinking, “I really want to spend time with my hands, making something for their children.” So I made this really cool flying-squirrel stuffed animal that I sent to one of my friends. I sent a teddy bear to another one, and I started making these little silk baby blankets with embroidery. It’s gotten pretty fancy. And I’ve been painting a lot.

McCartney: What do you paint? Watercolors?

Swift: Acrylic or oil. Whenever I do watercolor, all I paint is flowers. When I have oil, I really like to do landscapes. I always kind of return to painting a lonely little cottage on a hill.

McCartney: It’s a bit of a romantic dream. I agree with you, though, I think you’ve got to have dreams, particularly this year. You’ve got to have something to escape to. When you say “escapism,” it sounds like a dirty word, but this year, it definitely wasn’t. And in the books you’re reading, you’ve gone into that world. That’s, I think, a great thing. Then you come back out. I normally will read a lot before I go to bed. So I’ll come back out, then I’ll go to sleep, so I think it really is nice to have those dreams that can be fantasies or stuff you want to achieve.

Swift: You’re creating characters. This was the first album where I ever created characters, or wrote about the life of a real-life person. There’s a song called “The Last Great American Dynasty” that’s about this real-life heiress who lived just an absolutely chaotic, hectic...

McCartney: She’s a fantasy character?

Swift: She’s a real person. Who lived in the house that I live in.

McCartney: She’s a real person? I listened to that and I thought, “Who is this?”

Swift: Her name was Rebekah Harkness. And she lived in the house that I ended up buying in Rhode Island. That’s how I learned about her. But she was a woman who was very, very talked about, and everything she did was scandalous. I found a connection in that. But I also was thinking about how you write “Eleanor Rigby” and go into that whole story about what all these people in this town are doing and how their lives intersect, and I hadn’t really done that in a very long time with my music. It had always been so microscope personal.

McCartney: Yeah, ’cause you were writing breakup songs like they were going out of style.

Swift: I was, before my luck changed [laughs]. I still write breakup songs. I love a good breakup song. Because somewhere in the world, I always have a friend going through a breakup, and that will make me write one.

McCartney: Yeah, this goes back to this thing of me and John: When you’ve got a formula, break it. I don’t have a formula. It’s the mood I’m in. So I love the idea of writing a character. And, you know, trying to think, “What am I basing this on?” So “Eleanor Rigby” was based on old ladies I knew as a kid. For some reason or other, I got great relationships with a couple of local old ladies. I was thinking the other day, I don’t know how I met them, it wasn’t like they were family. I’d just run into them, and I’d do their shopping for them.

Swift: That’s amazing.

McCartney: It just felt good to me. I would sit and talk, and they’d have amazing stories. That’s what I liked. They would have stories from the wartime - because I was born actually in the war - and so these old ladies, they were participating in the war. This one lady I used to sort of just hang out with, she had a crystal radio that I found very magical. In the war, a lot of people made their own radios - you’d make them out of crystals [sings “The Twilight Zone” theme].

Swift: How did I not know this? That sounds like something I would have tried to learn about.

McCartney: It’s interesting, because there is a lot of parallels with the virus and lockdowns and wartime. It happened to everyone. Like, this isn’t HIV, or SARS, or Avian flu, which happened to others, generally. This has happened to everyone, all around the world. That’s the defining thing about this particular virus. And, you know, my parents... it happened to everyone in Britain, including the queen and Churchill. War happened. So they were all part of this thing, and they all had to figure out a way through it. So you figured out Folklore. I figured out McCartney III.

Swift: And a lot of people have been baking sourdough bread. Whatever gets you through!

McCartney: Some people used to make radios. And they’d take a crystal - we should look it up, but it actually is a crystal. I thought, “Oh, no, they just called it a crystal radio,” but it’s actually crystals like we know and love.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: And somehow they get the radio waves - this crystal attracts them - they tune it in, and that’s how they used to get their news. Back to “Eleanor Rigby,” so I would think of her and think of what she’s doing and then just try to get lyrical, just try to bring poetry into it, words you love, just try to get images like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,” and Father McKenzie “is darning his socks in the night.” You know, he’s a religious man, so I could’ve said, you know, “preparing his Bible,” which would have been more obvious. But “darning his socks” kind of says more about him. So you get into this lovely fantasy. And that’s the magic of songs, you know. It’s a black hole, and then you start doing this process, and then there’s this beautiful little flower that you’ve just made. So it is very like embroidery, making something.

Swift: Making a table.

McCartney: Making a table.

Swift: Wow, it would’ve been so fun to play Glastonbury for the 50th anniversary together.

McCartney: It would’ve been great, wouldn’t it? And I was going to be asking you to play with me.

Swift: Were you going to invite me? I was hoping that you would. I was going to ask you.

McCartney: I would’ve done “Shake It Off.”

Swift: Oh, my God, that would have been amazing.

McCartney: I know it, it’s in C!

Swift: One thing I just find so cool about you is that you really do seem to have the joy of it, still, just no matter what. You seem to have the purest sense of joy of playing an instrument and making music, and that’s just the best, I think.

McCartney: Well, we’re just so lucky, aren’t we?

Swift: We’re really lucky.

McCartney: I don’t know if it ever happens to you, but with me, it’s like, “Oh, my god, I’ve ended up as a musician.”

Swift: Yeah, I can’t believe it’s my job.

McCartney: I must tell you a story I told Mary the other day, which is just one of my favorite little sort of Beatles stories. We were in a terrible, big blizzard, going from London to Liverpool, which we always did. We’d be working in London and then drive back in the van, just the four of us with our roadie, who would be driving. And this was a blizzard. You couldn’t see the road. At one point, it slid off and it went down an embankment. So it was “Ahhh,” a bunch of yelling. We ended up at the bottom. It didn’t flip, luckily, but so there we are, and then it’s like, “Oh, how are we going to get back up? We’re in a van. It’s snowing, and there’s no way.” We’re all standing around in a little circle, and thinking, “What are we going to do?” And one of us said, “Well, something will happen.” And I thought that was just the greatest. I love that, that’s a philosophy.

Swift: “Something will happen.”

McCartney: And it did. We sort of went up the bank, we thumbed a lift, we got the lorry driver to take us, and Mal, our roadie, sorted the van and everything. So that was kind of our career. And I suppose that’s like how I ended up being a musician and a songwriter: “Something will happen.”

Swift: That’s the best.

McCartney: It’s so stupid it’s brilliant. It’s great if you’re ever in that sort of panic attack: “Oh, my God,” or, “Ahhh, what am I going to do?”

Swift: “Something will happen.”

McCartney: All right then, thanks for doing this, and this was, you know, a lot of fun.

Swift: You’re the best. This was so awesome. Those were some quality stories!

#this just might be the longest post I have ever posted #I have so much work so I'll read and edit later #taylor swift #paul mccartney #Rolling Stone magazine #interview #folklore era

1K notes · View notes

heartcal · 3 years

Text

“who do you believe?”; l.h.

Disclaimer: i didn’t want to write sierra as a bad person because i personally cannot see that, and i know there’s some discourse about her within in the fandom but i don’t want any of that here! so i named the girlfriend after a girl who bullied me in elementary school lol (but another disclaimer: i do not want to see any hate towards the boys’ s/o! pls don’t send any asks that talks bad about them, i will not answer them!)

thank you for requesting! :^)

a/n: while transfering this from microsoft word, the formatting kept screwing up for some reason so if there are some janky paragraphs, i apologize! not too comfortable with this one compared to my previous fic (this feels rushed) but it is long and i did not mean for that to happen lol. enjoy!

if there are any mistakes, please tell me!

pairing(s): not really a mention of luke hemmings x reader but it’s mostly luke hemmings x named gf (rachel/oc) (gender neutral but if i slipped up, please let me know!)

summary: having known luke for years, it was bound to happen eventually. the crush you developed happened before you could stop it, and you did your best to keep it a secret. you told no one, did your best not to show it, so what do you do when his girlfriend finds out?

genre: angst, and mostly angst >:^)

warnings: swearing, luke’s gf being mean, bullying?

wc: 4,057 (she’s a long one)

my masterlist!

You don’t know when it happened, or frankly how it happened, but one thing is for sure: you don’t want to feel this way.

Was it when he bought you a stuffed animal version of a pet you had as a kid, one that you remember so fondly and still tear up about it to this day? Or was it when he would always bring back a certain candy you can only find in its country of origin, and bring as much as customs would allow? Maybe it was when he printed out every photo he could find from the beginning of your friendship to the present day (at that time) and made a scrapbook for your birthday since you cherish memories?

Whatever memory it was, you want to track it down and destroy it. It wasn’t fair that you developed such strong feelings for your best friend, knowing he doesn’t feel the same since he’s taken.

It’s not that he isn’t attractive – far from that because if anything, you wish you could draw just so you can draw him because there’s no way someone can look that good – but it’s more of the fact that he’s your best friend, someone you hold dear to you.

You two grew up together; saw each other’s worst phases, styles, and embarrassing moments (it was well documented towards the middle of the scrapbook). He was with you when you went through bad break-ups, and you with him. Throughout school, you two were inseparable, and when the band got big he made sure to keep you close and to never lose contact. It was hard in the beginning but you two managed.

Now finished with college, you’ve taken on the role of working with the team when they’re on tour and helping plan aesthetics for the next album. He offered the jobs after you struggled to find a job after graduation, and in the end, you enjoyed being with the guys and doing the tasks needed.

Tonight, the band was set to play their new album to an intimate crowd. It was to welcome back old fans and welcome new fans, introducing both sides to a new sound they worked hard on. You couldn’t be any more proud.

You sat on the couch as the guys walked around the room, pepping themselves up and hyping each other. You had finished doing your tasks with the crew and spent your free time watching the band prepare as the audience began to fill in the theater seats.

A nudge on your arm makes you direct your eyes from Michael styling his hair with a nervous expression to the person on your left.

“What’s up?” you asked, smiling at the curly-haired individual.

Luke shrugs, glancing around the room before his eyes land back on you. He has a small smile on his face as he leans back onto the couch, “Nothing.”

You scoff, shaking your head with a smile, “Yeah, sure, ‘nothing,’” you mimic, tilting your head to the side, “I doubt that.”

“What do you want me to say?”

You give him an incredulous look, crossing your arms as you turn to face him. You can tell he’s nervous, like the rest of the team and the band, but he won’t admit it. He’s always wanted others to view him as strong and unbothered, especially when those around him feel off.

He mirrors your position, a smirk on his lips because he knows you’re about to lecture him.

And he’s right.

“Your band has a new album out in a couple of days—an album you guys have worked hard on even when your management gave you shit, mind you—and you’re about to perform a majority of the songs in front of 500. Are you not nervous?”

He shakes his head, smugly smiling as he returns to his position leaning against the couch, watching Ashton dry the wet ends of his hair.

“Liar,” you mumble, uncrossing your arms and taking your phone out to check the time.

“Alright,” Luke sighs, giving in, “maybe I’m a little nervous, but I’m not a wreck.”

He’s still a liar. The success of their last album was astounding, so creating an album to reach that level and hopefully top it was hard enough. Playing it in front of an intimate crowd who may or may not like it was tough.

Luke isn’t cocky. He’s a humble man, but he likes to joke around in stressful situations. He’s used to concerts, so he doesn’t have any anxiety when it comes to performing. But when he is nervous for any reason, he won’t show it. He’ll act cool, completely collected with his head held high in confidence. If he needs to relieve the stress, he’ll either do it himself with a strong pep talk, or he’ll go to you.

“What are you nervous about?” You ask, wanting to make him feel better.

“Will they like it? Will it even chart? Is it too bold?” he continues listing out his insecurities about the album and the performance, finally lifting everything off his chest.

And you listen. The way his eyes stare into yours with slight confidence, covered by worry makes your heart sore. Luke’s kept everything inside and now that he’s listing his grievances, it makes you wonder just what else you can get out of him that he’s kept buried inside.

However, before you can give him your insight on this particular problem, “Luke!”

His head immediately turns to the door, the worry in his eyes fading out into sheer happiness and adoration. Something you’ve always wanted to see directed towards you.

Luke stands arms wide as he captures his girlfriend in his arms for a hug. Her arms wrap around his waist as his arms go around her shoulders, dipping his head down to kiss her on the head.

“I can’t believe you made it!” you hear him speak with excitement, expressing more words of happiness as he guides her to another part of the room.

You don’t miss the way her eyes glare in your direction, and you’re not afraid to give her a look back.

Rachel was nice when you met her. You actually liked her, despite your crush on Luke, and you were rooting for the two. But, a couple months ago during a stressful week, she turned on you. Her attitude towards you shifted, almost as if you had disrespected her and her bloodline. She would always act as if you weren’t in the room, and when plans were made with the boys, she would “accidentally” leave you out. It was embarrassing for you when you’d find out your friends went out, calling you to find out why you didn’t come. Due to the embarrassment, you would go along with it, making up some excuse as to why you were absent.

None of the boys, to your knowledge at least, have caught on to her antics, and you honestly hope they don’t. Whatever it is you did to her, you want to find out for yourself so you can fix it.

With a sigh, you stand from the couch, stretching your arms briefly before wandering to Calum, who stood in the shower room connected to the dressing room.

“Hey,” you greeted him with a warm smile.

He smiles back, finishing his drink before tossing the plastic cup in the trash. He grabs his bass, which was placed on the counter, and holds it out to you.

“You want me to see if it sounds out of tune?” you jokingly ask.

He nods, “Yeah, I feel like one of the chords might be flat.”

You chuckle as you pluck a random chord. His instruments are always tuned before it’s time to play. One of his pre-show nervous ticks was the constant doubt of his instruments being playable.

“It’s fine, Calum.”

The doubt shows on his face as he brings his guitar back to himself, putting it on and checking the chords himself, but it doesn’t last long as Ashton’s voice calls everyone to the center of the room.

Walking with Calum to where the rest of the crew was, you notice how attached Luke was to Rachel. Joint at the hip, arms wrapped around each other; it was annoying.

“Show starts in ten,” Ashton gains your attention, holding up a cup as Michael hands Calum a similar cup before doing the same to Luke. The three follow the drummer’s action as he continues, “let’s make this show fuckin’ awesome.”

The crew cheers, dying down quickly as Michael gives his thoughts, “We worked our asses off for this album, I don’t have any doubts about it. We got this, guys!”

The cheers resume as those with a drink take a celebratory sip before placing their empty cup on a surface near them.

Calum leaves your side to join Michael while Ashton heads to you.

“You excited?” he asks, putting his right arm around your shoulders with a large smile.

“Yeah!” you return the smile, “What about you? Nervous like the others?”

He shakes his head, crinkling his nose, “I’m not too nervous. I’m just happy to play again.”

You’re about to ask him what song he was the most excited to play, starting to get into the conversation but yet again you are interrupted by Rachel.

“Hey, Ash,” she greets him, Luke following close behind her as his arms make their way back around her shoulders again.

“Hi, Rachel,” Ashton nods his head at her – his eyes dance to Luke briefly before returning to Rachel’s, “didn’t think you’d make it.”

“Couldn’t miss your big show,” she smiles, looking up at her boyfriend as she pats his stomach.

Luke laughs, gently pushing her hand away from him, “I’m surprised, too—“ he grabs the guitar a crew member hands him, left arm lifting itself from Rachel’s shoulder as he slips the strap over his head, “—because her schedule did not look clear enough, but here she is.”

“Three minutes,” a different crew member rushes out, patting Luke and Ashton’s shoulders before rushing to tell the others.

“See you after,” Luke shifts his guitar away from Rachel before leaning down to kiss her on the lips – something you wish you didn’t see – and turning around to head out of the dressing room.

Ashton gives you a quick hug, “Excited for the lights,” he mumbles in your ear before turning to Rachel to give her a side hug.

It doesn’t go unnoticed how Rachel’s eyes glared at you by Ashton, but he doesn’t mention it as he heads out with the other guys towards the stage.

As a majority of the crew follow them out, you stay behind to clean up the empty cups and other trash, trying to occupy yourself as Rachel too stayed behind.

Her eyes followed you as you moved about the room, carrying the small plastic bag with you as it fills up with cups and wrappers. You could feel the glare burning into your side and back as you paid her no mind.

When it was just you two left, the bass from their opening song was heard and felt as you finished picking up the garbage.

“For how long have you liked Luke?”

You froze. Your head whipped towards Rachel, wide-eyed as you glanced around the room to make sure it was just the two of you.

“What…what are you talking about?” You can feel an extreme warmth rising up from the bottom of your back, all the way to your face, nervousness clouding your brain as she stares you down.

“Luke—,” she crosses her arms and moves to the couch, “how long have you liked Luke?”

“I don’t—I,” you stutter, your stomach dropping as you realize you’ve been caught.

His girlfriend knows you like him.

“Cut the bullshit,” she spits, “I can see it. You’ve been friends with him for years, you obviously caught feelings for him.”

You shake your head, standing up straight to give off the illusion of confidence. Turning your back to her and towards the door, “I don’t have to talk to you.”

You opted for walking out of the dressing room and go watch the band from the side of the stage, but you made a quick stop in the bathroom to splash cold water on your face.

You did what you could to avoid her during their performance. You knew she was watching you, seething at how you ended the conversation so fast.

Rachel wanted to break you down, find the reason why you like him and separate you two for as long as it takes to make him fall in love with her. She finds you a problem in their relationship because of how close you and Luke are, because of how long you’ve known each other. A threat to her and her relationship.

An hour and a half later, the show is finished and the whoops and cheers from the crowd indicate the album was very well received. That thought swept the interaction with Rachel from earlier under the rug as the boys’ adrenaline spread throughout the crew.

Ashton was first to greet you, sweaty and ready to envelop you in a hug but you’re quick to avoid it, ducking down just as his arms closed around the space where your head was. He laughs it off, heading for his next victim.

Next was Calum, who grabbed a drink from Andy and gulped it down. He had a smile on his face after, only growing wider when he saw you. “I think they liked it!”

“Bass in tune, huh?” you return, patting his back as he passes you to go to the next person.

Michael is the third, taking off his hat (which made you question why he was so worried about his hairstyle that he spent at least fifteen minutes playing with before the show). He stops in front of you, phone in hand as he takes a picture of the two of you: a tradition he started a few tours ago as a joke.

Finally, Luke makes his way towards you, ready to ramble about the show but is brisked away by Rachel. He doesn’t even glance over at you after he’s taken away towards the hall.

Entering the dressing room where the rest of the boys sat, you saw Michael talking animatedly on the phone, Calum laying across the couch with an arm over his eyes, and Ashton wiping off excess sweat with a towel. He was the first one to notice you.

“Ready for that hug?” he asks as you approach him.

“Why not.”

You hug each other, smiling as you pulled away. In the distance, over the cool-down music, you hear Luke’s laughter in the hall. Knowing he’s with Rachel makes you wonder if she’s told him about her suspicions, and that thought alone makes you clam up all over again.

Ashton immediately notices, tilting his head as he asks you what’s wrong.

“Nothing,” you quickly reply, eyes focusing on him.

He notices how jittery you seem, but he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable so he says nothing.

“Guys,” Andy comes in with his camera in hand, “we need to take a few photos.”

The three agree and follow the photographer out. You move to the snack table for a bottle of water, but before you can take a sip, someone clears their throat in the doorway.

You roll your eyes immediately because you know who it is. You don’t pay her any attention and instead take the sip of water you need.

“We need to finish that conversation you oh-so rudely ended,” Rachel moves into the room, keeping her voice down as she crosses her arms.

“We don’t need to finish anything.”

She scoffs, “I asked you a question, and you were so quick to avoid it. I think you’re proving a point.”

“What point?” you turn to look at her, “I know you don’t like me but I don’t know why, can we start with that?”

“Like I said before, I know you like Luke. He’s my boyfriend, and I don’t like how he’s close to you.”

“We grew up together,” you state, standing tall as you glare at her, “of course we’re going to be close.”

“Well I don’t like it,” she huffs.

You shake your head with a sigh, closing the lid to the bottle as you turn your back to her. You were getting angry at the fact that someone who didn’t know Luke as long as you did was hinting that you should stay away from him.

“Stop hanging out with him.”

A curt laugh escapes you before you can stop it, “Are you jealous of our friendship?”

“No,” she smirks, “but I know you’re jealous of our relationship.”

She’s right; you’re only a little jealous of their relationship, but it’s not something you want to risk your friendship with.

You open your mouth to defend yourself, but you’re caught off-guard when nothing comes out. The one opportunity to make her believe you don’t like her boyfriend and you can’t say anything.

Giving up with sinking shoulders, you glance at the door before looking back at her. Grimacing at her knowing smile, “How did you find out?”

She hums, “It was easy. I love him, so I know what it looks like to look at someone you love. You made it so obvious, I’m surprised no one else found out!”

You grit your teeth. You did your damn best to make sure no one, especially Luke or Rachel, know how you feel about him.

“I’m not intimidated by you,” she walks closer to you, arms uncrossing as her hands move to her hips, “but I won’t deny the fact that you and Luke have chemistry.”

“What will it take—” you place the bottle back on the table, “—for you to leave me alone?”

“Do the same to him.”

“What?”

“Leave him alone, unfriend him,” she shrugs, “simple as that.”

“That’s ridiculous,” you walk around her to the door, ready to end the conversation.

“Do that or I’ll tell him,” with a harsh tone she walks towards you, grabbing your arm to stop you from walking.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Okay,” another voice from the doorway makes the two of you jump, “that’s enough.”

Ashton walks into the room, grabbing Rachel’s hand and removing it from your arm.

“W—” she stutters out as she watches the tall man move to stand in front of you.

“I came back for my drumsticks—” his eyes shift to the object sticking out of his bag before dropping down to Rachel, “—but instead I find you, what, threatening a good friend of ours?”

Rachel is speechless while you’re frozen. It was embarrassing enough for one person to find out about your crush on Luke, but now Ashton might know and you want to go into hiding.

“Let it go,” you tug on Ashton’s shirt to get his attention but he doesn’t move.

“Telling someone who’s known your boyfriend longer than your relationship to just abandon him is low, Rachel. Don’t think the way you’ve been treating our friends has gone unnoticed.”

You hear more footsteps approaching the room, and now you wish the ground can swallow you up. You don’t want all this attention on you.

“What’s happening here?” Michael says as he peeks into the room, Luke behind him as Calum leans against the other side of the doorway.

“Nothing—,” Rachel tries to deflect but with four pairs of eyes on her, it becomes too much. Tears start pouring out, and you’re in disbelief.

How can she be the one crying after she was the one who was rude to you?

Luke immediately rushes in, creating a beeline right to her side to wrap her in his arms.

His eyes dart to yours, an emotion on his face of something you’ve never seen, but you know it’s not good.

“What did you do?”

You’re taken back by his tone and the way his angry eyes stare you down. It hurts because instead of staying neutral and finding out what exactly happened, he immediately chose a side: a side of someone he’s known for only for a short amount of time.

“Mate,” Ashton speaks up for you, “I think you’re asking the wrong person that.”

“No,” Luke’s voice raises, eyes moving from yours to stare into his band mate’s, “I’m asking the right person.”

You swallow the lump in your throat, your eyes welling with tears as the weight of everything happening within the last ten minutes starts to bring you down. Your eyes move away from the ones boring into yours, and with a tremble in your voice, “I didn’t do anything. She’s the one who started—.”

“Bullshit!” Luke’s roar cuts you off, “Absolute bullshit, because if she started it, then why is she the only one crying?!”

The two other guys move in to the room to mediate the situation.

“Luke, calm down,” Michael’s hands raise to the motion of ‘calm down’ as he tries to get Luke’s attention.

“There’s gotta be more to the story,” Calum moves to your side, checking on you briefly.

“Don’t,” Luke states as he watches Calum grab your shoulders to move you out of the room.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Ashton questions. He watches Luke soothingly rub Rachel’s back, wiping her tears with his free hand.

“My girlfriend is crying and you two were the only ones in here,” Luke replies, gently grabbing Rachel’s arms so he can look directly into her eyes, “what happened, babe?”

“I asked them—,” Rachel sniffles, continuing her façade, “—if they needed any help cleaning the room earlier and they yelled at—at me and told me to go away. Then after the show when you guys went for your photos, I came here to apologize to her, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”

She was selling it; the tears, the sniffling, the stutters, and hiccups. A great actress who knows what she wants.

“That’s not true,” you inhale, your ears feeling warm and ringing, “she has had a problem with me lately and I don’t know why!”

Luke scoffs, shaking his head, wrapping Rachel in his arms again.

“C’mon,” Michael mumbles, wanting to leave the room.

Ashton turns around, watching your face go from pleading to blank as the tears fall from your eyes. He turns his head to face Luke, “You’re unbelievable,” he grabs your shoulders and starts to move you out of the room, “let’s go.”

Michael is already out of the room, the tension too much for him and ruining the after-show vibe. Calum is waiting by the door ready to help lead you out. Ashton has you turned around, pushing you towards the door.

“Wait, Luke,” you mumble, getting out of Ashton’s hold and turning back to face Luke.

He doesn’t look at you, sighing as he rubs Rachel’s head as it’s against his chest.

“Please,” you plead, begging him to look at you and when he does, you ask, “who do you believe?”

“What?”

“Who do you believe, Luke,” you gulp with a sniffle, “me or her?”

For a moment, you think you see hesitation. His jaw tenses as he stares you down, his best friend for years and someone he turned to when times got tough. He then looks down at the girl in his arms, someone he loves crying into his chest.

He sighs again, this time soft, before looking up to meet your eyes. He does notice the tears, the pain etched on your face as his other best friends watch them. “I believe Rachel.”

“This is fucking stupid,” Ashton mutters as he gently grabs your shoulders again to lead you out of the room.

You let the tears fall freely, not meeting any of the boys’ eyes as you kept your head face down.

You’ve lost your best friend. He chose someone else over you, a lie he chose to believe.

Whatever it was that made you catch feelings for your best friend, you wish you can find it and destroy it, along with any other memory you’ve made with him. After tonight, you want him erased from your cherished memories.

---

part two!

#5sos imagines #5sos blurbs #5sos drabbles #5sos one shots #5 seconds of summer imagines #5 seconds of summer blurbs #5 seconds of summer one shots #5 seconds of summer drabbles #luke hemmings imagines #luke hemmings blurbs #luke hemmings drabbles #req #5sos preferences #5 seconds of summer preferences #5sos imagine #5sos preference #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer preference

198 notes · View notes

sgt-paul · 4 years

Photo

MUSICIANS ON MUSICIANS: Paul McCartney & Taylor Swift

❝ During the shoot, Paul dances and takes almost none of it too seriously and sings along to Motown songs playing from the speakers. A few times Mary scolds, ‘Daaad, try to stand still!’ And it feels like a window into a pretty awesome family dynamic. ❞

interview below the cut:

Paul McCartney: Yeah!

McCartney: You were playing one of his songs, weren’t you?

McCartney: I mean, I think it’s a bit of everything, isn’t it? I’ll tell you who was very … Reese Witherspoon was like, “Are you going to sing?” I said “Oh, I don’t know.” She said, “You’ve got to, yeah!” She’s bossing me around. So I said, “Whoa,” so it’s a bit of that.

Swift: I love that person, because the party does not turn musical without that person.

McCartney: Yeah, that’s true.

Swift: If nobody says, “Can you guys play music?” we’re not going to invite ourselves up onstage at whatever living-room party it is.

McCartney: I seem to remember Woody Harrelson got on the piano, and he starts playing “Let It Be,” and I’m thinking, “I can do that better.” So I said, “Come on, move over, Woody.” So we’re both playing it. It was really nice.… I love people like Dan Aykroyd, who’s just full of energy and he loves his music so much, but he’s not necessarily a musician, but he just wanders around the room, just saying, “You got to get up, got to get up, do some stuff.”

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: Well, I’m very lucky because I have a studio that’s, like, 20 minutes away from where I live. We were in lockdown on a farm, a sheep farm with my daughter Mary and her four kids and her husband. So I had four of my grandkids, I had Mary, who’s a great cook, so I would just drive myself to the studio. And there were two other guys that could come in and we’d be very careful and distanced and everything: my engineer Steve, and then my equipment guy Keith. So the three of us made the record, and I just started off. I had to do a little bit of film music — I had to do an instrumental for a film thing — so I did that. And I just kept going, and that turned into the opening track on the album. I would just come in, say, “Oh, yeah, what are we gonna do?” [Then] have some sort of idea, and start doing it. Normally, I’d start with the instrument I wrote it on, either piano or guitar, and then probably add some drums and then a bit of bass till it started to sound like a record, and then just gradually layer it all up. It was fun.

Swift: That’s so cool.

McCartney: What about yours? You’re playing guitar and piano on yours.

Swift: Yeah, on some of it, but a lot of it was made with Aaron Dessner, who’s in a band called the National that I really love. And I had met him at a concert a year before, and I had a conversation with him, asking him how he writes. It’s my favorite thing to ask people who I’m a fan of. And he had an interesting answer. He said, “All the band members live in different parts of the world. So I make tracks. And I send them to our lead singer, Matt, and he writes the top line.” I just remember thinking, “That is really efficient.” And I kind of stored it in my brain as a future idea for a project. You know, how you have these ideas… “Maybe one day I’ll do this.” I always had in my head: “Maybe one day I’ll work with Aaron Dessner.”

McCartney: Yeah, that was the thing. You could do stuff — you didn’t really worry it was going to turn into anything.

Swift: That’s the coziest thing I’ve ever heard.

McCartney: Well, it’s like eight minutes long, and I said, “I hate it when I’m playing someone something and it finishes after three minutes.” I kind of like that it just [continues] on.

Swift: You want to stay in the zone.

McCartney: It just keeps going on. I would just come home, “Well, what did you do today?” “Oh, well, I did this. I’m halfway through this,” or, “We finished this.”

Swift: I was wondering about the numerology element to McCartney III. McCartney I, II, and III have all come out on years with zeroes.

McCartney: Ends of decades.

Swift: Was that important?

Swift: The numerology, the kind of look, the symbolism. I love numbers. Numbers kind of rule my whole world. The numbers 13 … 89 is a big one. I have a few others that I find…

McCartney: Thirteen is lucky for some.

McCartney: It’s spooky, Taylor. It’s very spooky. Now wait a minute: Where’d you get 89?

Swift: That’s when I was born, in 1989, and so I see it in different places and I just think it’s…

McCartney: No, it’s good. I like that, where certain things you attach yourself to, and you get a good feeling off them. I think that’s great.

Swift: Love a pseudonym.

McCartney: Yeah, for the fun! But, you know, let’s face it, you crave fame and attention when you’re young. And I just remembered the other day, I was the guy in the Beatles that would write to journalists and say [speaks in a formal voice]: “We are a semiprofessional rock combo, and I’d think you’d like [us].… We’ve written over 100 songs (which was a lie), my friend John and I. If you mention us in your newspaper…” You know, I was always, like, craving the attention.

Swift: The hustle! That’s so great, though.

McCartney: Well, yeah, you need that.

McCartney: Do you ever do that?

Swift: Oh, yeah.

McCartney: Oh, yeah? Oh, well, we didn’t know that! Is that a widely known fact?

Swift: [Laughs.] That’s a good one! I love it.

Swift: Thrilling, absolutely thrilling.

McCartney: And we didn’t mind, you know?

McCartney: You do that, do you?

McCartney: Well, that’s great, and I’m glad that set you on that path. I understand people who don’t want to do that, and if you do, they’ll say, “Oh, it’s a jukebox show.” I hear what they’re saying. But I think it’s a bit of a cheat, because the people who come to our shows have spent a lot of money. We can afford to go to a couple of shows and it doesn’t make much difference. But a lot of ordinary working folks … it’s a big event in their life, and so I try and deliver. I also, like you say, try and put in a few weirdos.

McCartney: Was this “I want to give you a child”? Is that one of the lines?

Swift: Oh, that’s a song called “Peace.”

McCartney: “Peace,” I like that one.

McCartney: So how does that go? Does your partner sympathize with that and understand?

Swift: Oh, absolutely.

McCartney: They have to, don’t they?

Swift: But I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids. Whether that’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture — the idea of privacy feels so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just trying to find bits of normalcy. That’s what that song “Peace” is talking about. Like, would it be enough if I could never fully achieve the normalcy that we both crave? Stella always tells me that she had as normal a childhood as she could ever hope for under the circumstances.

McCartney: Yeah, it was very important to us to try and keep their feet on the ground amongst the craziness.

Swift: She went to a regular school .…

McCartney: Yeah, she did.

Swift: And you would go trick-or-treating with them, wearing masks.

Swift: Ohhh!

Swift: Cares about that stuff?

Swift: I think that sounds like a perfect day.

Swift: That can’t happen in Downton Abbey.

McCartney: [Laughs.] Exactly.

McCartney: It was a bit of both. As it kind of always is with me. There’s no fixed way. People used to ask me and John, “Well, who does the words, who does the music?” I used to say, “We both do both.” We used to say we don’t have a formula, and we don’t want one. Because the minute we get a formula, we should rip it up. I will sometimes, as I did with a couple of songs on this album, sit down at the piano and just start noodling around, and I’ll get a little idea and start to fill that out. So the lyrics — for me, it’s following a trail. I’ll start [sings “Find My Way,” a song from “McCartney III”]: “I can find my way. I know my left from right, da da da.” And I’ll just sort of fill it in. Like, we know this song, and I’m trying to remember the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll just be inspired by something. I had a little book which was all about the constellations and the stars and the orbits of Venus and.…

Swift: Oh, I know that song — “The Kiss of Venus”?

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: It’s very magical.

Swift: That is magical. I definitely relate to needing to find magical things in this very not-magical time, needing to read more books and learn to sew, and watch movies that take place hundreds of years ago. In a time where, if you look at the news, you just want to have a panic attack — I really relate to the idea that you are thinking about stars and constellations.

McCartney: Did you do that on Folklore?

Swift: Yes. I was reading so much more than I ever did, and watching so many more films.

McCartney: What stuff were you reading?

Swift: I was reading, you know, books like Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, which I highly recommend, and books that dealt with times past, a world that doesn’t exist anymore. I was also using words I always wanted to use — kind of bigger, flowerier, prettier words, like “epiphany,” in songs. I always thought, “Well, that’ll never track on pop radio,” but when I was making this record, I thought, “What tracks? Nothing makes sense anymore. If there’s chaos everywhere, why don’t I just use the damn word I want to use in the song?”

McCartney: Exactly. So you’d see the word in a book and think, “I love that word”?

Swift: Yeah, I have favorite words, like “elegies” and “epiphany” and “divorcée,” and just words that I think sound beautiful, and I have lists and lists of them.

McCartney: How about “marzipan”?

Swift: Love “marzipan.”

McCartney: The other day, I was remembering when we wrote “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”: “kaleidoscope.”

Swift: “Kaleidoscope” is one of mine! I have a song on 1989, a song called “Welcome to New York,” that I put the word “kaleidoscope” in just because I’m obsessed with the word.

Swift: We should have done matching jackets for this photo shoot.

McCartney: Find me a fleck, I’m in. But we went to the fair, and I just remember — this is what happens with songs — there was this girl at the fair. This is just a little Liverpool fair — it was in a place called Sefton Park — and there was this girl, who was so beautiful. She wasn’t a star. She was so beautiful. Everyone was following her, and it’s like, “Wow.” It’s like a magical scene, you know? But all this gave me a headache, so I ended up going back to his house — I didn’t normally get headaches. And we thought, “What can we do?” So we put on the Elvis song “All Shook Up.” By the end of that song, my headache had gone. I thought, you know, “That’s powerful.”

Swift: That really is powerful.

McCartney: What, a “cardigan”?

Swift: Like a good cardigan, a good, worn-in cardigan. Or something that makes you reminisce on your childhood. I think sadness can be cozy. It can obviously be traumatic and stressful, too, but I kind of was trying to lean into sadness that feels like somehow enveloping in not such a scary way — like nostalgia and whimsy incorporated into a feeling like you’re not all right. Because I don’t think anybody was really feeling like they were in their prime this year. Isolation can mean escaping into your imagination in a way that’s kind of nice.

Swift: Get a hammer and a nail.

McCartney: “Maybe I can put that picture up.” It’s not rocket science. The period after the Beatles, when we went to live in Scotland on a really — talk about dumpy — little farm. I mean, I see pictures of it now and I’m not ashamed, but I’m almost ashamed. Because it’s like, “God, nobody’s cleaned up around here.”

But it was really a relief. Because when I was with the Beatles, we’d formed Apple Records, and if I wanted a Christmas tree, someone would just buy it. And I thought, after a while, “No, you know what? I really would like to go and buy our Christmas tree. Because that’s what everyone does.” So you go down — “I’ll have that one” — and you carried it back. I mean, it’s little, but it’s huge at the same time.

I needed a table in Scotland and I was looking through a catalog and I thought, “I could make one. I did woodwork in school, so I know what a dovetail joint is.” So I just figured it out. I’m just sitting in the kitchen, and I’m whittling away at this wood and I made this little joint. There was no nail technology — it was glue. And I was scared to put it together. I said, “It’s not going to fit,” but one day, I got my woodwork glue and thought, “There’s no going back.” But it turned out to be a real nice little table I was very proud of. It was that sense of achievement.

Swift: No, it’s cool!

McCartney: But it was a real sort of great thing for me to be able to do stuff for yourself. You were talking about sewing. I mean normally, in your position, you’ve got any amount of tailors.

Swift: Well, there’s been a bit of a baby boom recently; several of my friends have gotten pregnant.

McCartney: Oh, yeah, you’re at the age.

McCartney: What do you paint? Watercolors?

Swift: Acrylic or oil. Whenever I do watercolor, all I paint is flowers. When I have oil, I really like to do landscapes. I always kind of return to painting a lonely little cottage on a hill.

McCartney: She’s a fantasy character?

Swift: She’s a real person. Who lived in the house that I live in.

McCartney: She’s a real person? I listened to that and I thought, “Who is this?”

McCartney: Yeah, ’cause you were writing breakup songs like they were going out of style.

Swift: That’s amazing.

McCartney: It just felt good to me. I would sit and talk, and they’d have amazing stories. That’s what I liked. They would have stories from the wartime — because I was born actually in the war — and so these old ladies, they were participating in the war. This one lady I used to sort of just hang out with, she had a crystal radio that I found very magical. In the war, a lot of people made their own radios — you’d make them out of crystals [sings “The Twilight Zone” theme].

Swift: How did I not know this? That sounds like something I would have tried to learn about.

McCartney: It’s interesting, because there is a lot of parallels with the virus and lockdowns and wartime. It happened to everyone. Like, this isn’t HIV, or SARS, or Avian flu, which happened to others, generally. This has happened to everyone, all around the world. That’s the defining thing about this particular virus. And, you know, my parents … it happened to everyone in Britain, including the queen and Churchill. War happened. So they were all part of this thing, and they all had to figure out a way through it. So you figured out Folklore. I figured out McCartney III.

Swift: And a lot of people have been baking sourdough bread. Whatever gets you through!

McCartney: Some people used to make radios. And they’d take a crystal — we should look it up, but it actually is a crystal. I thought, “Oh, no, they just called it a crystal radio,” but it’s actually crystals like we know and love.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: And somehow they get the radio waves — this crystal attracts them — they tune it in, and that’s how they used to get their news. Back to “Eleanor Rigby,” so I would think of her and think of what she’s doing and then just try to get lyrical, just try to bring poetry into it, words you love, just try to get images like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,” and Father McKenzie “is darning his socks in the night.” You know, he’s a religious man, so I could’ve said, you know, “preparing his Bible,” which would have been more obvious. But “darning his socks” kind of says more about him. So you get into this lovely fantasy. And that’s the magic of songs, you know. It’s a black hole, and then you start doing this process, and then there’s this beautiful little flower that you’ve just made. So it is very like embroidery, making something.

Swift: Making a table.

McCartney: Making a table.

Swift: Wow, it would’ve been so fun to play Glastonbury for the 50th anniversary together.

McCartney: It would’ve been great, wouldn’t it? And I was going to be asking you to play with me.

Swift: Were you going to invite me? I was hoping that you would. I was going to ask you.

McCartney: I would’ve done “Shake It Off.”

Swift: Oh, my God, that would have been amazing.

McCartney: I know it, it’s in C!

McCartney: Well, we’re just so lucky, aren’t we?

Swift: We’re really lucky.

McCartney: I don’t know if it ever happens to you, but with me, it’s like, “Oh, my god, I’ve ended up as a musician.”

Swift: Yeah, I can’t believe it’s my job.

Swift: “Something will happen.”

Swift: That’s the best.

McCartney: It’s so stupid it’s brilliant. It’s great if you’re ever in that sort of panic attack: “Oh, my God,” or, “Ahhh, what am I going to do?”

Swift: “Something will happen.”

McCartney: All right then, thanks for doing this, and this was, you know, a lot of fun.

Swift: You’re the best. This was so awesome. Those were some quality stories!

#paul mccartney #old paul #taylor swift #*m #💖#grandpaul #silver stubble #(aahh king)#(I LOVE HIM SO MUCH F*CK OFF EVERYONE)#(the thumbs lads. its always about the thumbs)

594 notes · View notes

eggmarr · 3 years

Text

genshin boys but they’re orchestra nerds

characters: zhongli, diluc, childe, kaeya

a/n: this is literally the most random thing but i’m feeling really self indulgent right now so here, maybe a part two with something different idk. also my orchestra knowledge only extends to the high school level so far so just keep that in mind kk? (also if you wanna know i play violin so yes i am the leading expert on orchestra nerds/j)

(kinda high school au/vaguely modern au, gender neutral but mentions of girl-majority fan clubs, mild “i’m not like others” mentality of teen age, and very little suggestive themes)

———-/

zhongli

he is the upperclassman first violin who takes his school breaks to help teach the other younger classes, the one each member looks up to with some mix of envy and attraction when the teacher continuously praises his posture and technique. the younger girls swoon over him, and you swear he must be keeping the program running just from the new recruits hoping to catch the eye of such a talented young man. you’re really only there with him for the extra credit, but he’s just so...him. does that make sense?

first violins in a string orchestra generally carry the melodies of pieces, and as a result the section itself is highly desired. nothing is wrong with being a second violin, it just couldn’t be zhongli aha; concert black is like all black dresswear, which differs from place to place. it’s usually dress pants and a nice shirt, but different areas can have things like uniforms or specific dress.

you are quite staunchly against being a cliche, but by the stars if he doesn’t stop being so charming and smart with that voice of his every time you join him with the younger grades, you’re going to make a very stupid decision the next time you see him in concert black.

diluc

most definitely a bass player. mysterious and somewhat enigmatic, a quiet private lessons kid who volunteered to play with your class to offset the amount of smaller instruments. the others gossip amongst themselves about how his backpack is emblazoned with the crest of a famous academy and how they’d very much like to “test his vibrato technique” (wink-wonk), but you spot how a small cord of blue beads dangles from his backpack and the way he keeps a small smile even as he’s rolling his eyes at someone on the other line of the call.

vibrato is a technique used to warble and waver the sound of the string, which you may have seen used in media occasionally (it’s basically that finger movement they do while playing). the string bass is a big instrument and i mean,,, diluc in a blazer and collared shirt with a high ponytail feels like something that appeals to a lot of people

his brother is rather moody, but at least kaeya knows when to back off (most of the time). but the way diluc looks at you when you’re looking away - he wouldn’t be so mad with a wingman, would he?

childe

first chair viola. this smug, flirty little rich boy has been a pain in your ass since you met him at the organized rehearsal, and were (begrudgingly) sat to his right at the connection of your sections. i mean, this is a collective of the best student players in the state, and he’s…challenging you to bowfence with him? there’s someone strange about this “childe,” and you’re going to find out before the three days are up.

childe would play viola just because it’s the most slandered instrument so naturally he wants to master it and become best at it. bowfencing is like the young orchestra kid’s show of dominance and only flirting technique until they adapt. this is based lightly off of my time with all state/all city orchestra, but it differs from place to place.

you’ve finally got some free time right before the performance, when you see the boy you babysit on the weekends; teucer, with his older siblings tonia and anthon at the door. oh, they’re not here with your family, but here for their brother? you’ve heard a lot about this sweetheart, why don’t they point him out before the concert so you can finally meet the elusive ajax?

kaeya

also viola, but much more casual about it. it’s his hobby, which is code for he saw how his adoptive family treasured their expensive talents and wanted something to share with his new and distant brother. a new student transfer; he says he’s practically inept at it but the calluses on his fingertips beg to differ. the teacher makes you his tour guide, and you squint at his mannerisms when a wave of deja vu overcomes your senses. but, who is this boy, and why does the look of blue hair in low light look so familiar?

kaeya originally wanted to play bass but in typical brotherly fashion, he and diluc made a bet which he lost. chamber music is usually played by a small group of players, with each one having a single part. yes, this is a childhood friends/light amnesia trope, don’t blame me blame netflix for making wish dragon so cute ok? good.

you and he are from two different lives, but he’ll be damned if he lets those circumstances tear the two of you apart again. being partnered for the end-of-year chamber project is supposed to be his saving grace, but perhaps a red-haired deux ex machina may be of better use here?

#i finished this while listening to one direction #i honestly don't know what this is i just know bass player diluc #this looks so messy but i don't understand dividers yet so #fellow orchestra players tell me how accurate i am before i combust/j #i put so many tropes in here lmao #i would have done more characters but i know nothing about band or chorus other than that orchestra is better/hj #zhongli is just eddy from twosetviolin ok i realize it now #genshin x reader #diluc x reader #kaeya x reader #childe x reader #zhongli x reader

117 notes · View notes

mah-gah-lee · 4 years

Text

What a weird family reunion Reggie x Reader (xLuke)

gif originally posted by @jatpsource

Word Count: 3515 words

Summary: You’re Reggie’s little sister. You were 3 when he died. You’re now a ghost for a decade. One night, you recognize your brother and jumped into him to an unexpected family reunion. How is it going to happen? Will Reggie believe you? In a mysterious way, that’s Luke who help you to convinced Reggie.

Warnings: cuss (language), mention of death, mention of divorce, mention of drugs

A/N: This is my first fic about jatp characters. Hope you’ll enjoy! keep in mind that french is my first language, so i’m so sorry if there’s some mistakes in my fic

disclaimer: It takes place during episodes 6 and 7. I do not take into account the possibility of a Juke. The chemistry while they sing is there but no romantic feelings.

Tagged: @asdfghjkl-fanfics @standingtalllove

_______

Losing a child is the worst thing a parent could live, losing two is unimaginable. It’s seems being 17 years old was a new malediction in Peters family.

You were 3 when your older brother, Reginald, died in a weird hot dog accident. At that point, your parents were literally a fight away from a divorce but never did it because of you. You were too young to be in a divided family, according to them. But Reggie's death separated them for good. Yet they really tried to support each other, to overcome that and give you all the attention you needed. But your mother overprotected you and made you live in the shadow of your late brother. Your dad couldn't stand it. And when they finally divorce, moving out from reggie’s childhood house, you went to live with your dad.

Even though you were too young to form a strong bond with your brother, in a way you missed him. Your mother’s house was full of pictures of him, some of his clothes were still in a room, dedicated to him. When you visited your mother, you didn’t understand why you always found yourself in this room. You were drawn like a magnet to the comforting room. Reggie’s presence in this new house brought you such a sense of security that your mother had repeatedly found you asleep on a pile of your brother’s T-shirts.

And then you died in 2009. Kanye West had interrupted Taylor Swift's speech at the VMAs, Miley Cyrus hadn't gone crazy yet and One Direction didn't exist yet. What an era! You didn't know why the great light didn't come looking for you but you were there, as a ghost in 2009. And the time has passed ... You've had your best concerts, the best parties. A forever teenager who couldn't eat, drink or sleep.

And then 2020 came.

…

You were tired of always doing the same thing for over a decade, but you couldn't help but go to every open scene that came up in your beautiful city. It was as if an inexplicable force was pushing you to go there.

This evening was no exception to the rule and you were in a very hip little bar in the city center. You wore one of those sleeveless, gray crop tops with high waisted pants, your leather jacket draped over your shoulders. Your eyes were directly drawn to a group of girls in colorful costumes. You couldn't help but roll your eyes. It's been 10 years since you died and it seemed to you that these girls looked like the same plagues that ruined the lives of so many teenagers in your time. You put on an expression of disgust when they all took the stage, but when the music started you couldn't help but admit it was pretty catchy. However, you didn't expect a ghost to appear in the middle of the stage, improvising a choreography. Was that part of the show?

But looking at the audience's non-reaction, you knew it wasn't. The ghost disappeared for the first time, and your gaze sought directly the distinctive light source of another apparition in the room. Your gaze lingered on a small group of three boys - the blond boy included - and two girls. You have wrinkled your eyes to better distinguish the teenagers, and your face expressed confusion.

“Reggie? “

You wanted to go see him so badly. You were pretty sure it was your brother but it all came too fast. The moment you decided to walk towards them, the organizer announced a new band.

“Okay, looks like we're close the night out with one more group…Julie and the fat ones.”

What was that for a name? Your attention had been diverted and when you looked back at the group, the boys had disappeared as one of the young girls took the stage. Your heart was beating so fast. You couldn't go wrong; you had seen so many pictures at your mother's house that it was impossible that this boy was not your brother. But you missed your chance…

Julie started to sing and your eyes were captivated, as much as your ears were. This kid was so talented! When she sang a rather high note, the tension in the room charged into electricity. The next second, the young singer was joined by the group of boys you had seen in her company. Appearing distinctly as the ghosts did. On drums there was the blond boy you had seen dancing a few moments earlier, on the electric guitar, a boy with tousled brown hair who seemed slightly familiar to you ... and on bass, with a flannel shirt, there was your brother ... Reggie was there, identical to the photos you had admired so much.

The bar was on fire as Julie and The Phantoms performed. What a sick name for a group made up of two-thirds of ghosts! The song was so catchy that your heart beat to the sound of the music. But your eyes did not leave your brother, you were unable to move, frozen in place. What should you do ? Will you introduce yourself after the performance? And, what would you say? "Hey hi Reggie, I'm your sister, I died ten years ago and you twenty-five years ago. Unbelievable, right?! Nice to see you again" And once again, before you knew it, the song was over and the boys were gone again, leaving Julie alone on stage in the bewilderment of the many people in the facility.

“for God's sake, where are they?”

You didn't want to miss it anymore. Even though the whole situation was strange, you wanted to see your brother again.

Your eyes flew over the room before seeing the scene play out before your eyes. Julie seemed petrified in front of a man. The boys watched in amazement and as Julie left with what appeared to be her father, you rushed over to the group of three musicians before they disappeared again.

“omg please don't poof out again.” You said almost out of breath

The boys looked at you like you were crazy before the guitarist jumped off the bar counter, bursting with energy.

"Wait, you can see us?"

“as much as when mister "all eyes on me" made his performance”, you were pointing your head at the blond boy.

The group looked at each other in puzzlement and Reggie finally spoke, his blue eyes full of mischief.

“So…hi there cutie, how can we help you?”

Your face expressed disgust and you stuck your tongue out mimicking vomiting.

Luke gave Alex an amused smile, seeing Reggie flirting and your spontaneous reaction. The bassist couldn't help but charm the pretty ladies.

“Wow Reggie, that's gross ... you're my brother.”

Reggie burst out laughing at your response, not noticing that you called him by his first name when he hadn't even introduced himself to you yet.

“Yeah right, for sure. You just could tell me you weren’t interested. But I’m charming...”

It was the first time he had been given such an excuse but you looked so serious that he stopped dead in his tracks as Luke and Alex watched you. They always knew Reggie had a sister. But the scene unfolding before their eyes seemed impossible. (Y / N) was so young when they died and now must have been around 28, something like that. But the girl in front of them was a teenager, their age. How was this possible?

You didn't want to drop the information like that. It was worse than anything you could have imagined. But it had escaped you. Now he didn't take you seriously. Your eyes were wet with tears. It was scary to find you in front of your brother for the first time as a ghost teenager. Luke looked panicked when he noticed your eyes, squeezing Reggie's shoulder as you seemed to beg.

“Can I ... can I meet you in a quieter time please, Reginald?”

Your brother's eyes widened as Luke's hug on his shoulder tightened a bit. The eagerness and desperation in your voice had made both boys react, Alex was just looking at all of you like all of this wasn't real. The use of Reggie's name made him tense, surprised. Few called him Reginald. In fact, only his family, and the boys when they wanted to annoy him, called him that way. And although his nickname is obvious enough to deduce his

full first name, he deeply felt that you weren't just anyone.

He seemed a little panicked and looked around for his friends to support him. As if the solution would fall by itself just by the presence of Luke and Alex.

“Okay, but I want Luke and Alex’s there! What about tomorrow? I’ll give you the address!”

Wow, that was quick.

“hm, yeah, yeah sure, as you want”

You nodded and Reggie silently slipped a note to the drummer. Alex took a pen, write something on a paper towel and gave it to you. You weren’t surprise, you also can make some tricks. And you just had the time to thanks them before they poofted again.

…

The next day, you landed in front of Julie's garage. Lucky she's at school because you shouldn't be explaining your presence, so she managed to see you the way she saw boys.

Before entering, you peeked out the window and frowned. There seemed to be only Luke so far. He was leaning over the piano, his head in a notebook. Your body went through part of the garage door and you cleared your throat.

“hmm, hi ... i came to see Reggie ..”

Luke instantly raised his head and you caught his attention.

“oh uh, hi! He should be here soon, come in.….”

Silence felt as Luke motioned for you to sit on the couch. It was a rather pleasant studio; the plants gave a warm atmosphere to the room and the music set sent you good vibes.

"Does your girlfriend mind that I'm here? I mean, that seems to be your HQ"

"girlfriend?"

"The girl you sing with" I simply said.

"Julie? Um, yeah, she's not my girlfriend. She-sh-she’s great and we have this powerful connection but…not, not in a romantic way. Music tied us. Music and friendship "

Luke chuckled lightly as he scratched his head. You were surprised they weren't dating. Yesterday the tension was intense. He seemed authentic when he had continued his momentum. You let out a smile amused by so much overflow.

“It's okay, I don't need to know your full relationship statute or your social security number.”

The guitarist gave you a frank smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement. For a ghost, his gaze was really alive.

“ I’m Luke, by the way”

"Y / N… Re .."

"Reggie's little sister… I-I remember you a little."

"You look familiar to me. Maybe I saw you in a few pictures with Reggie."

Silence fell and you started to feel anxious. Maybe it was a bad idea? You had grown up since Reggie died ... were you still his little sister after all? Luke seemed to notice your dismay and put a comforting hand on your knee.

“hey, is something bothering you?”

“What if he doesn't believe me ... if he definitely thinks I'm not his sister.”

“Let's be honest, it's a little hard to believe. The last time I saw you, you were three years old.”

It was as if the memories flooded into your mind and let you carried away in your words.

“Yeah, you gave me this teddy bear with a guitar and told Reggie you wanted to be my favorite.”

Luke chuckled slightly before staring at you, speechless. He seemed dazed. This anecdote dates back to twenty-five years anyway. He himself had a hard time remembering it until you said it a few seconds earlier.

“what was the smell of the stuffed animal?” he asked, confused about that funny fact

“sorry, what?”

“the plush, what did it smell like?”

“hot waffle, why?”

“okay ... maybe you are his sister ... tell me more about what you remember”

You looked at him with a puzzled expression. Everything had been so natural before he stopped in all the movements. And now, it was hard to think about for the memories you had of Reggie on demand. The teddy bear given by Luke story had slipped out of your mind without you realizing it. As your brain seemed to boil, the fog of your thoughts cleared.

“can I use your guitar?”

“hell no ... why?” Luke exclaimed with far too much anticipation

“I have this lullaby stuck inside of my head ... I think Reggie sang it to me when I was a child”

Your pleading and desperate gaze fell on Luke who categorically refused to let you take his guitar. He ends up grabbing his six acoustic strings, terminated. There was something about you that made him weak.

“Maybe you can teach me but ... my guitar is my guitar, nobody touches it.”

You nodded and the lead singer moved closer to you. You were stunned by its smell, like a distant memory. Luke had definitely been a part of your life before he died, you were sure of that. You leaned over her shoulder, humming the lullaby that was left in your head. It didn't take long for him to find the right chords. Luke continued several times before you stopped singing, looking at him intently.

“that's exactly it ... this lullaby”

You both looked at each other, an indecipherable expression in your eyes. You both jumped at the sound of the garage door. Reggie appeared with Alex.

"Ready to compose hellish songs! oh did I interrupt something?”

"No, no I was there to see you. I guess you have a lot of questions."

"hell yeah, can we start from the beginning?"

You smiled to approve his request. The boys settled down on the sofa, while you sat down on one of the single armchairs. And the flow of questions began

“When are you born?”

“(your birthday date) 1992” you simply answered.

“What’s your name?”

(y/n) (y/m/n) Peters

It’s seemed to convinced a little Reggie but doubt was all over his face. It was information you could easily get on the internet nowadays.

“What’s my favorite food?”

“Pizza, mom said your favorite was the extra cheese with pepperoni”

“And what was my favorite toy?”

“I freaking don’t know, how can I suppose to known that?”

“ah ah!” he pointed the finger at you, as if that answer was proof that you were lying. It broke your heart but you didn't show it.

Instead, you rolled your eyes and Reggie kept going to ask you some question. Of course, you would have liked to have answered his questions correctly. Your mother told you some anecdotes about him but not to the point of knowing all the details.

“What’s the most terrible thing I said to my mom?”

“Omg I don’t fucking know! I was 3 when you’re died, asshole!”

Luke smiled when you exploded. Reggie was Reggie, as weird as possible. Now you were angry and desperate. Your brother didn’t believe you and he kept dragging you into this miserable feeling that you were never going to get your brother back. You had spent your short life living with a faint memory of him. Your blankie was one of his t-shirts, his voice reasoned in your head when you couldn’t sleep.

But then, in front of him, you were a stranger to him. Your heart was bruised from not being able to hug him and to finally meet this brother who had left far too soon.

“Okay, okay… So, how can you proof me you’re really my sister?! “

In the room’s corner, Luke looked at you, you looked desperate, about to cry again. He grabbed his guitar and cleared his throat. Reggie turned to him as the guitarist still had his eyes on you, a heartwarming smile hanging across his face. You had managed to convince him in a few minutes. He felt connected to you and the things you told him were disturbing. You could only be Reggie's sister; it was impossible otherwise.

"Hey…What about the song you told me earlier." he said with a soft and comfort voice

Your eyes caught his gaze, grateful for the initiative. You nodded and Luke started playing the few notes you had taught him a few minutes earlier. It was so different from all the songs the brunette could play before. It was a lullaby, such easy children's music with just a few notes. Of course, the band wasn’t supposed to play when Julie wasn’t in the room but, Luke had thought it was the best thing to do to encourage you to keep going. He didn’t know why, but he wanted Reggie to believe you. Luke believed you, hard as nails. There only had to look at your eyes to understand this reality, and Luke had noticed that. You had the same blue eyes as your brother. How could Reggie still doubt that? You started to sing

You're so sleepy

Very much sleepy

You want to go to the fairyland

You close your eyes

And jump into your dream.

When you'll wake up

I’ll still be on your team.

The instant Reggie heard the first notes, he knew. But hearing you sing the lullaby he had invented for you when you didn't want to sleep as a child, was a magical moment. You were his baby sister. He gave you that sad little puppy face, so overwhelmed. Reggie opened his arms and you jumped into a hug, so glad he finally accepted the fact that you were his sister.

You felt oddly safe again, like taking a nap in Reggie's pile of old t-shirts. You were so happy to find your brother and to be able to live your non-life by his side. Nothing would be as boring as it used to be. Reggie pushed you away with a concerned look

"but wait ... how did you die?"

"Yeah ... I don't really know ... I was at a really, really good rock concert and I bought this drink ... and I think I got drugged up there and ... I guess I'm dead? tadaa " you tried to tell him in a light tone.

He had just learned that he had a little sister. He didn't have to know that she was sneaking out at rock concerts and drinking alcohol before she was old enough. Right? Alex looked at Luke and Reggie with his half amused half confused smile. As for Luke, he fidgeted from foot to foot at the discovery. Y / N was as much rock and roll as they all were. Rebellion had to be his middle name

You loosened Reggie's embrace and lowered your head, pursing your lips so as not to show your embarrassment. He asked if you wanted snacks and you nodded. There was a slight silence. You didn't notice the urgent look Luke gave Alex but the next moment the blond jumped up to accompany the bassist, leaving you alone in the garage with the lead singer.

The silences were a little longer until Luke cautiously approached you. You could feel the awkwardness from miles away.

“ Sooo, you made this.”

“ yeah ...” you answered in a shy voice

It was the moment you had to thank him but your words seemed frozen. You mustered all the courage to plant your gaze in Luke's eyes.

“Thank you ... for helping me earlier.”

“oh it was nothing”.

“I ... yes, yes it was. You can't imagine how important seeing Reggie again is to me. Thanks for ... for helping me open his eyes.”

A slight smile caught his lips and he reached for your cheek before stopping his gesture. Instead of stroking your skin, he simply put a section of your hair back behind your ear.

“I would do anything for my best friends.”

And Reggie was definitely one of Luke’s best friend. You hardly swallowed, your stomach contorting under the effect that the guitarist made you. Time had seemed to fly at an incredible speed as the moment was interrupted by Reggie and Alex coming back to you.

“OMG LUKE DON’T FLIRT WITH MY SISTER, SHE’S 3!”

You cleared your throat and stepped aside to pull yourself away from Luke as far as possible. Your gaze fell on your brother and you raised an eyebrow at the last remark. 3 years old, really? You were 3 years old twenty-five years ago ... now you were eternally a teenager

“I’m seventeen.”

“Listen, i'm your big brother, you’re three, end of discussion.”

Your face wanted to laugh and you pursed your lips to keep from succumbing. But your eyes… Your eyes met Luke's in a complicity that slowly settled. Could you fall in love with your big brother's best friend? Definitely yes...

#jatp #jatp cast #jatp cast x reader #jatp imagines #jatp fic #julie molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #reggie peters #reggie x reader #reggie peters x reader #luke patterson x reader #charlie gillespie #jeremy shada #writing #owen patrick joyner #madison reyes

368 notes · View notes

ayatakami · 4 years

Text

Singer!Reader HCs

feat. Alt MHA bois Part 2 Here

Pairings: Bakugo x Reader, Sero x Reader, Hawks x Reader, Dabi x Reader, Shoji x Reader, Tokoyami x Reader, Kirshima x Reader Notes: The songs I put at the bottom just imagine them with a fem! singer bc its the overall vibe I went for. There is a part two bc it got pretty long whoops

⇩ ⇩ ⇩ ⇩

Doesn’t openly talk about loving your music or you per se, but owns so much merch of you and your band. I’m talking posters, postcards, albums, shirts, etc.

Listens to your voice R E LI G I OU SL Y

If he thinks he’s alone then he’ll try to duet some of your songs, convincing himself that you two would make such a great singing duo

UPLOADS DRUM COVERS OF YOUR SONGS AND FREAKS OUT WHEN YOU LIKE/RESPOND TO THEM!!!11

ALWAYS goes to your signings if he has time and when you signed his drumsticks with a heart mans is deceased

Always opts for more of your heavier/faster songs bc this man just needs the fuel to his anger. But on days when he’s really down or feels lonely he listens to your more softer and melodic songs, soaking in your vocals.

Rewatches your music videos and likes every single picture you post.

Favorite song of yours: Calm Snow - I See Stars

Tells EVERYONE about you and your band, plays your songs on blast and recommends them to everyone.

Doesn’t really own much posters of you/your band but he does have lots of apparel. (Shirts, beanies, keychains, etc)

LOVES attending your concerts, always gets front row seats to see your pretty smile.

This dude man, he has pictures of you two on his page from every concert/meet and greet/ signings/etc that he’s ever attended. Like so many you know his name now.

He’s more drawn to your easy-going, light vocals type songs

But isn’t afraid to listen to your heavier stuff

Mans STREAMS your music videos and loves making edits of solely you

Favorite song of yours: Silence Speaks - While She Sleeps

SIMPING FOR YOU!!!! HE EVEN HAS A BODY PILLOW OF YOU IM--

Several posters, photos, stickers, albums, you name it he has it

Brings you lots of gifts to each backstage concert bc yk he buys that VIP shit

He will absolutely DIE if he sees pictures of you wearing an expensive necklace he gifted you or any sort of jewelry

Hangs out and talks to you so much that you guys actually become good friends!!

I feel like he would lowkey make fanfics about the two fo you. You cant tell me he wont

Has an ALT ACC WITH THIRSTY EDITS OF YOU!! Calls you his baby bird/dove/songbird/etc

I also feel like Hawks plays guitar or bass and he would def make covers or even collab with you bc yall besties now

Mans has a tiktok account and will def post videos of yall singing together

Although he’s a really chill guy I feel like he leans more towards your slower songs that hit harder than the others

Favorite song of yours: The Fear Of Letting Go - Too Close To Touch

Being a villian and all, you know he cant come to your concerts/events but he damn well tries to.

Doesn’t own much merch of yours as he accidentally burnt a poster he had of yours after a certain incident (he felt really bad bc he got mad)

I feel like he would def have a funko-pop or figurine of you on his desk

Loves jamming to your songs (blasting it so loud in his room that its literally shaking in there LMAO)

Watches ALL of your music videos, streams and BUYS YOUR MUSIC TO SUPPORT YOU HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH

Sings along with you omg even tho it hurts to reach your high notes

Thrives off of your more aggressive songs especially the one where he can feel the pain in your voice over whatever subject or whoever you were singing about

Definitely wishes he was that ex you sung about LMAO

Why can I see him punching drywall to your songs bc hes so into it LMAOOOO

Favorite song of yours: Crooked Smile - Too Close To Touch

One of the bois who don’t talk about their love for you super much, but instead is a closeted fan!

Watches your music videos on REPEAT, knows the lyrics to all of your songs

Whenever you smile at the screen or do something cute, he is STRUCK with love

Binge-watches all of your interviews/funny moments/etc, just loves getting to know you and seeing all the sides of you that isn’t the perfect singer that everyone sees

He does attend your concerts/events but he stays in the back for he doesn’t want to scare anyone or you with how he looks like

Why can I see him running an appreciation blog like-

Posting about your cute smile or laugh and he’s internally panicking bc you mentioned his blog in your latest interview saying that seeing all the kind things he posted about you made your day whenever you were down

Prefers the slower, melodic songs or where you’re just messing around

Favorite song of yours: All I wanted - Paramore

Have you SEEN THIS MANS ROOM

Like there is no doubt in my mind that he has posters covering every inch of his wall. Limited edition posters, signed posters, you name it he has it

Doesn’t really talk about you but if he knows his friends also listen to you, then he will def rant about you

“Hey Tokoyami have you heard _’s new song yet-” Man has bags under his eyes bc he streamed that song so many times last night listening to it on repeat. When the music video dropped he shared that shit on all of his social medias.

Def does covers of your songs, it fills him with joy when you repost his covers on your account with a nice message ‘You’re so talented omg!! <3 <3′

Also to me he would be the type of guy who posts lyrics in the comments if there isn’t any and would def go into detail about the lyrics meaning and such

Has a jacket full of patches of your band logo and album covers

He’s met you on a few occasions and he’s more than happy to stop and chat with you. Although he doesn’t go into full fan mode with you around, he respects you and instead asks about your day and such

Has no preference on your style, just that its you singing

Favorite song of his: Dance Macabre - Ghost

323 notes · View notes

lilyeholland · 4 years

Text

Before It’s Too Late.

[Reggie Peters x Reader] PART ONE - PART TWO

Summary: Y/N is Reggie’s complicated love interest from the 90′s and is trying to figure out where she stands with Reggie before him and his band make it big by playing at the Orpheum. *only semi based off of Stranger by Jeremy Shada -GO STREAM MAD LOVE!!!*

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: Maybe like 1 swear word, and like anticipated angst???

A/N: It’s been a looooooonnngg time since I’ve written fanfic - I used to write for Tom Holland, Peter Parker and Harrison Osterfield lol but I think those days are way behind me. I miss writing so much, I decided to try it out with my new obsession; Julie and the Phantoms. Please like, reblog, and share with friends if you like it!!!

As far as high school relationships go, your relationship with Reggie was as complicated and confusing as they get. He’s a natural flirt - a charmer, and a performer - so it never really surprised you that you never became official and exclusive, although it definitely that way at times. For instance, Reg would invite you to band practice just to watch them rehearse, telling the boys to “play their very best because Y/N’s coming and I don’t want her to think we suck”. And during said practice, he’d go extra hard with extra hair flips and bass riffs, the occasional wink making it across the room to you.

And of course, you can’t forget that one time Reggie turned into a true cliché Romeo-type, throwing rocks at your window at 2am, begging you to sneak down with him and go somewhere.

“Reginald Peters!” you whisper-shouted at him from your window on the top floor of your house. “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe a little bit,” he chuckled at his own comment. “Get dressed, I wanna take you somewhere.” He smirked at you and held his bottom lip between his teeth for a few moments as he watched you from your driveway.

“Oh, you’re definitely insane,” you said softly as you rolled your eyes, earning another small laugh from Reggie. You stepped out of the window frame and back into your room to grab a pair of pants and a coat. “I’ll be down in a second.” You said before shutting your window and slowly, steadily creeping down the stairs of your house and through your front door.

Reggie had waited patiently for you, tapping his foot and humming tunes of his own songs. His eyes lit up as soon as he met yours face to face at the same level. The first thing he did was hold out his hand for you to grab - how could you NOT be exclusive when he looked at you like that?

He began to run down the street towards his dad’s parked pick-up truck (smart boy for not parking in front of your house). “Where are we going?” you asked as he helped you into the vehicle. No reply, just a sly little smirk and then you were off.

You made it to your final destination where Reggie made you cover your eyes to surprise. “Keep your eyes closed!” he warned you as he parked the car again and got out to let you out on the passenger’s side.

“Reg, I know we’re at the beach. I can hear the waves.” You opened your eyes to find him beside you, looking up with puppy eyes.

“Dang it,” the excited gleam left his eyes, but the puppy-effect remained. “You still don’t know what we’re doing!” It’s like his ears perked up as he said this. This boy really is comparable to a dog.

It wasn’t like he had this big romantic gesture planned out, he just brought a beach blanket and a guitar. It turned out you didn’t really need the guitar, just the blanket to lay under the two of you as you looked up at the clear sky and star-gazed. As the early morning grew later, you had moved closer and closer to him, eventually resting your head on his chest and soaking up the syncopated breaths and heart beats of his. The warm fuzzy feeling that had already taken its place in your chest spread to your whole body as he kissed the top of your head and whispered, “thank you for coming here with me.”

“Of course,” you whispered back to him, being grateful that he couldn’t see your embarrassingly rosy cheeks.

He took a deep breath before sitting up. “Did I tell you we’re playing the Orpheum in a couple weeks?” He was totally playing it cool, leaning back into his hands and staring off into the sea.

“No!” you exclaimed and sat up on your knees even taller than him. “Reggie! That’s amazing! You’re literally gonna be legit rockstars!” You almost melted into a puddle at the way he smiled at you while you say this.

“Right?! That’s exactly what I said!” he matched your energy with his excitement.

“Oh man, the Orpheum...!” you repeated, “I so wish I could come.”

“I’ll try and work something out,” he licked his lips, “I really want you to be there.”

It’s almost like his voice cracked while saying that last part, but you couldn’t be entirely sure.

“I wanna be there, too.” Both of your voices had gotten quieter and your gaze had traveled down each other’s faces a couple inches to find each other’s lips.

You leaned into each other fast, but slowed down as soon as you felt his breath on you. Sinking his behind your ear, he nudged your nose with his, signaling that he was ready to kiss when you were. Only centimeters away, a shout from the distance knocked you both to your feet.

“Hey, you kids!! What are you doing out this late?! The beach is closed!! Go home!!” The figure the voice came from starting moving closer towards you.

“Oh shit,” Reggie said under his breath through a laugh. “Go, go, go, go!” he grabbed the blanket and started dragging you by your hand towards his car. Moments of belly-aching laughter passed by before you knew the night was over.

Needless to say, even after moments like that, you and Reggie had never had “the talk” about where you stand with each other. After psychoanalyzing and overthinking the situation, you had come up with the conclusion that Reggie was just afraid of commitment. Growing up with parents who rushed into marriage just because they had gotten pregnant, he had become terribly afraid of moving too fast with someone ending up unhappy and fighting like they were. He didn’t want to end up like his parents, which is why he remained his same flirty, flamboyant self at school and with his friends.

You had formulated a plan to tell him how you really felt about him - showing up to the show at the Orpheum early to meet him at the backstage doors, hand him a letter and a quick, yet meaningful kiss on the cheek and tell him you’ll be in there cheering him on the loudest. However, that plan kind of fell through as you found out getting tickets to an exclusive Hollywood concert hall was incredibly difficult and expensive.

You didn’t give up, though. You and Reggie always found a way to each other no matter how hard the path was. To no surprise, you were able to say the things you wanted to say to him before it was too late...

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A PART TWO!!!!!

237 notes · View notes

jaskiers-sweetkiss · 4 years

Text

The Mercer Legacy - Part 1

Pairings: Reggie x Luke x Reader, Willex

Word Count: 1.8K

Warnings: none?

a/n: welcome to the first part of my social media JATP au!! Im really excited about this series and I hope you like it!! Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

Masterlist TML Masterlist

___

“Beep beep! Coming through!” You heard somebody call from down the sidewalk.

You stepped to the side, lifting your dress so that the white fabric didn’t touch the grass but Alex wasn’t as lucky. Your best friend apparently hadn’t heard the warning and before any of you knew what had happened, Alex and the skateboarder were both sprawled on the ground.

“Oh, you dinged my board!” The skateboarder whined as he stood and you saw Alex scowl.

“I dinged your board? Dude, you ran me over! You’re lucky I didn’t-“ Alex stopped abruptly and you smirked, recognizing the expression on your best friend’s face as he actually looked at the boy who had run into him.

You knew that look, that was Alex’s gay panic look. However, before Alex could regain control of his brain long enough to say something his mom interrupted, calling out from the car.

“Alexander, Y/N, let’s get a move on! We don’t want to be late!”

The skateboarder nodded apologetically to Alex before riding off, leaving Alex to stare longingly after him. When he finally turned back he was met with a teasing grin from you.

“Don’t say a word,” he grit out, glaring at you and you laughed.

“Whatever you say, lover boy.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

___

The event was about as stuffy as you’d imagined it would be. After they’d lined you all up and announced you to the attendees, the master of ceremonies turned it over to the orchestra to play for the rest of the evening.

“How much longer do we have to be here?” You huffed, plopping down very un-ladylike into the chair next to your best friend.

“At least two more hours, probably longer,” Alex responded dejectedly and you sighed, taking a sip of your fruit punch as you surveyed the room.

Most of the attendees, both debutantes and parents, were slow-dancing to whatever piece the orchestra played. You would be perfectly content if you never made it onto the dance floor though you knew it was unlikely considering Mrs. Mercer’s overbearing and controlling nature. She’d be damned if her son didn’t dance to at least one song which meant you’d be dancing with him.

“Y’know, whoever chose fruit punch as a beverage for this event is an idiot,” you declared, holding your cup up to eye level as you stared into the red liquid. “It would be so easy to spill this all over my pristine white dress. Maybe I should. We’d probably get to leave and…” You trailed off.

Though distorted and colorized due to the liquid in your cup, you thought you recognized one of the young servers. Lowering your glass slowly as to not spill your drink (sure you’d threatened to but really this was a nice dress and you didn’t want to ruin it) you peered more clearly across the room at the boy.

“Hey isn’t that your boyfriend?” You asked Alex, grinning teasingly at him.

It was hard to be certain when the guy had traded his helmet for a neat bun at the base of his neck and his street clothes for a tuxedo shirt and black slacks but you were pretty sure that was the same boy who had run Alex over with his skateboard.

“What?” Alex hissed, looking around frantically and you weren’t sure if he was checking to make sure no one had overheard (no one had, you’d checked before you’d said anything) or looking for the boy in question.

“Your skater boy,” you explained. “Isn’t that him over there with the tray of hor d’œuvres?”

“Oh my god.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go introduce yourself, get his number!”

“I can’t just go over there,” Alex exclaimed, parroting your words back at you. “He’s working!”

You huffed and rolled your eyes at his reluctance.

“Fine. Then I’m hungry let’s go get a snack,” you stood, dragging him out of his chair with you.

You looped your arm through his, not allowing him to get away as you pulled him across the room. You stopped in front of the skater boy, pretending to be occupied with selecting an hor d’oeurve from his tray. You felt Alex freeze up next to you and you nudged him with your elbow.

“Alright well, Alex, I’m going to go sit over there,” you gestured over to a table nearby, “and let you guys talk.”

You slipped your arm from Alex’s, winking no-so-discretely at him as you moved away.

“I hate you,” you heard him hiss in your direction but you just smiled cheekily in response.

“So, Alex huh?” You heard the skater boy ask before you were out of earshot and you smirked.

You sat down at a nearby table alone, keeping an eye on Alex in case you needed to rescue him. However, once you saw him relax you let your gaze wander. Your new seat afforded you a view of the orchestra and you found your gaze drifting off towards the musicians. You hadn’t realized you’d been staring at one particular musician until the dark-haired cellist winked at you.

You felt heat immediately rise to your cheeks and you quickly averted your gaze, embarrassed at being caught by the cute musician. Of course, your gaze then fell to a violinist across the orchestra setup. To your surprise he was already staring at you, a cocky smirk on his face as he continued to play, completely disregarding the sheet music and conductor in front of him.

He was undeniably attractive, though in a different way than the other musician who had caught your eye. Still, you had the undeniable urge to wipe the smirk off his face and make him as flustered as you were so you did what the cellist had just done to you moments before. You winked. However, it didn’t seem to phase him very much, the flash of surprise crossing his face quickly replaced with a smug grin and you groaned internally. Not wanting to drop your facade and surrender, you did your best to smile back demurely before you looked away, eyes going back to where Alex and his skater boy had been standing.

You couldn’t help your surprise when you discovered that they were no longer standing where you’d left them. Your eyes began to flit frantically around the ballroom, searching for the familiar frame of your best friend but you couldn’t find him. That’s when you noticed that the skater boy was nowhere to be found either and you smirked to yourself, realizing that they must have snuck off somewhere.

Yeah, Alex definitely owed you.

You had just pulled your phone out to text him as much when the orchestra stopped playing. The sudden absence of sound shocked you and you looked up to see the MC stepping up to the microphone as the musicians began filing out. The MC explained that the orchestra was taking a brief break and you tuned out the rest of his announcement, your eyes being once again drawn to the brunet violinist. He tilted his head towards the stage door, silently inviting you to join him backstage and you quirked a brow in surprise. He winked in response, smiling cheekily before he turned to follow the rest of the orchestra off the stage.

You sent a quick text to Alex in case he came back before you snuck out the back, doing your best to blend in with the musicians. You were certain you were unsuccessful given your white gown and their concert blacks but nobody stopped you so you didn’t give it much thought.

It took you a moment to locate the violinist and you were surprised to find him with the dark-hair cellist who had winked at you. The violinist was sitting backward in his chair, elbows resting on the back while the cellist sat crisscrossed on another. They both looked up at you as you made your way towards them, each smiling at you, though the violinist’s was more of a smirk.

“Pull up a chair, mystery girl,” the violinist invited gesturing to a nearby black plastic chair when you approached.

“Mystery girl?” You quirked a brow quizzically as you slung the chair around to face them. You sat down gingerly, careful of your gown before pulling off your white gloves, gratefully to get rid of the fabric now that you were away from the rest of the attendees.

“Well we don’t know your name,” the violinist explained, studying you intently as if he was trying to figure out how you fit into this whole event.

“Well I don’t know yours either,” you tossed back with a smirk of your own as you crossed your legs and leaned back in your seat.

“Oh, well, I’m Luke,” the violinist introduced before gesturing to the cellist, “and this is...”

“Reggie!” The cellist chimed in, “Can we know your name now?”

“Y/N,” you answered simply with a smile. However, that smile turned into narrowed eyes and a look of suspicion as you watched the two boys exchange looks.

“You’re Alex’s y/n,” Reggie spoke aloud and you did a double-take.

“I’m who’s y/n?” You spluttered in disbelief.

“You are Alex’s best friend right? Alex Mercer?” Luke asked, leaning forward and causing his chair to tilt onto two legs.

“I- yeah, but how do you know that?”

“We’re in a band together! I play the bass and Lu…” Reggie trailed off, his voice going from excited to confused as he watched your expressions shift. “You don’t know about the band.”

“No, I do not,” you grit out, mind starting to wonder what else Alex had left out. Your best friend seemed to be living a secret life. “I’m gonna fight him.”

You pushed out of your seat, ready to hunt your best friend down and force him to tell you everything.

“No, wait!” Luke reached out a hand to grab your wrist, stopping you in your tracks. “Why do that when we could mess with him?”

You turned, giving him a thoughtful look. “Go on.”

“Well, obviously he kept us apart for a reason, imagine how freaked out he’ll be if he finds out we already know each other!”

“I like the way you think,” you smirked, sitting back down in your chair and pulling out your phone. “Okay now smile.”

You took a couple pictures of the two boys, wanting some options to post on Instagram later.

“Oh wait! We need some of you!” Reggie exclaimed, having caught on to your plan without you having to verbalize it.

You nodded in agreement as he pulled out his phone. You did a couple quick poses before dissolving into laughter, unable to take yourself seriously. The three of you sat that way for a few more minutes, getting to know each other and plotting your revenge on Alex.

Before you knew it the orchestra’s break time was up and the musicians began to file back onto the stage, leaving you to sneak back into the ballroom. Alex was waiting by the side door with a quizzical face.

“What were you doing back there?” He asked and you had to fight to keep the smirk off your face.

“Just visiting some friends.”

Part 2

___

TML Taglist: @bright-molina @bright-patterson

JATP Taglist: @meangirlsx @morganayennefertyrell @n0wornever

#jatp #jatp fic #julie and the phantoms fic #jatp au #willex #alex mercer #luke patterson #reggie peters #reggie x luke x reader #ruke x reader #peterpatter x reader #peterpatter #ruke #reggie x reader #luke x reader #julie and the phantoms

190 notes · View notes

thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 4 years

Text

“It felt like ‘Let's go as far as we can go’. Maybe this was the biggest chance we would ever get. That was the kind of things I talked with the members. At that moment, we prepared ourselves for the worst.”

Notes before reading: This is from Kaoru’s first book “Dokugen” released on October 2015 in which his articles from “Ongaku to hito” magazine were compiled, but also an exclusive interview about his life was included. I already posted the first part of this interview (Pages 62-75 if you own the book) so for Kaoru’s birthday, I wanted to share the second part of the interview (Pages 130-143). In the first part, the interview covered his childhood to his first steps in the music scene and bands. This part covers from CHARM’s disbandment to Dir en grey’s and solo activities. ---- -Is CHARM a band that was formed by classmates? K: Well, there was one classmate and me, the rest were older. If I remember correctly, they were 3 years older? Even though they were the best guitar players among the members, as I wanted to play guitar myself,I told them one of them “play the bass” (laughs). That person and the other guitarist are siblings Originally, the brother and me were good friends so it was him who told me to form a band. It was like “There is no point in keeping (the band) at local level, I want to do a band that will be a stepping stone for the time being”, “If we don’t go out, we won’t make personal connections”. -“Let's get out of Hyogo” K: That's right. Anyway, the purpose of starting this band was to "get out". There was a live house in the local area, and there were some bands that released CDs from amateurs to indies, but the bands that were popular in the local area at that time were bands that wore long-sleeve T-shirts, slim denim pants and rubber soles shoes. There were many people like that in the local studio. There weren’t many bands like us….with long dyed hair…..That’s why I the person who worked part-time at the rental CD shop was super metal and I thought “There are real bandman in this city!”. There weren’t people like that. -You couldn’t make connections with people like you. K: That's right. I rarely meet people like that in my hometown. In order to sell/promote myself, I have to go out first. That's how the band started. -What do you think that was the best thing you did when you were in the band at that time? K: Doing my best?......what could be? (laughs) Maybe I don't have a feeling of "doing my best", or I don't think I was conscious of "doing my best" for the band. Besides playing the guitar and arranging the songs, I did several things such as miscellaneous work and making flyers but I didn’t do it with the consciousness of "doing my best", I did it anyway. -It was only for fun. K: I think so. It felt like I was making song while playing around, the members also were relaxed. Someone would go home and listen to some CD and say “let’s do something like that”, others would be reading magazines or watching tv next to them. Everyone gathered after work,from 8pm to 11pm, so it was like using that time to be together having fun. -In the series you wrote for “Ongaku to hito”, you mentioned that you were doing various part-time jobs at this time. K: I was. Sometimes I worked hard/plentifully, and sometimes I only worked for 15 minutes a day -What is a 15-minute job a day? .K: A part-time job that was just going to a pet store when it was closing and put the bird cages or the hamster basket in front of the store, inside the store. The hourly wage was about 1500 yen, but it only took 15 minutes. On the contrary, I also worked part-time for 12 hours. I had a lot of jobs, I don’t know if I was skilful or I was good at dealing with things but I looked like a competent guy. After a while, my salary went up and my position went up. -Did you want to become a full-time employee? K: That wasn’t the case. After all, I was doing it while thinking, “I’m in this place now, but I’m a man who won’t end up in a place like this”. I think I had a strong consciousness like “I’m working in this now for the band”. However, my parents told me every day, “What are you doing?” (laughs). -What did you answer to that? K: “No, it’s ok”. I didn't borrow money from my parents, so I didn't bother them. -Around this time, there was The Great Hanshin Earthquake. I'm sure you were at your part-time job when the earthquake happened. K: That's right. It happened when I was working part-time at a glass factory. It was shaking around, but that always happened when a crane truck passed so I was like “is that it?”. I thought it was different from other times. When I thought about going home, the train stopped, and the ground was also cracked. On the contrary, it was like being in a scene that didn’t seem to be a real. However, the inside of my house was messed up, but it was okay. The impact of the earthquake affected many places. Many people quit bands because of that. It was just around the time I started playing at a live houses, so I was able to get acquainted not only with the locals but also with a wide range of people, so I thought “this is terrible”. -What was a thing that you could do for the first time with CHARM? K: I think it was a demo tape. I made it for the first time, so I was happy. A few years ago, I found it at my parent’s home, I brought it here and listened to it…. Surprisingly, the song wasn’t bad. The lyrics were horrible though (laughs). -But CHARM's activities ended in a little over a year. K: Well, weren’t we playing for a year? I think that maybe there was a difference in the degree of enthusiasm between the other members and me. It was like there was a wall built between me and the other members. They would talk about giving up and I was like “should we?”. However, after disbanding, the other members except me formed a band together, so I was like “Oh, so it was my fault”. Whether the demo tape sold 3000 copies, or the live movements increased, I didn't have money anyway. The more I moved, the less money I had, so I was worried. It was like “Can I do this?”. -What did you do next after the disbandment was decided? K: I was thinking about going to various live shows and look for members, when I was thinking about doing something like that, KISAKI suddenly called me. He told me “Can you join us as the guitarist is leaving?”. -It was La: Sadie's, a band formed by KISAKI. K: He wasn’t a proper acquaintance, I just greeted him at a live house somewhere so, I should say that he kind of got suddenly in touch with me? -Why was that? K: At that time, there was the word “soft visual kei”. The thing is, there weren’t bands that looked flashy/showy and cool like that. There weren’t many guys that wearing a suit and looking stylish were heavy/ extreme. That’s why, I heard that there weren’t many people who looked flashy like me. -That’s why he had his eyes on you. K: Maybe. I hadn’t seen a live show of them, but there were La:Sadie’s posters on every live house at that time. Also, even though he didn’t see our live performance over there, he just saw the flyer and contacted me (laughs). -So, for now, you went to see them playing live. K: It's the day after (CHARM) disbanded. I didn’t know how they sounded like, but when I watched them performing live, it was the type (of band) I really liked. There was no reason to turn down the offer and in a selfish way I thought “In order to join this band, the previous disband had to happen”. And I decided to join them. -When it comes to members, you can say that this band was the predecessor band of DIR EN GREY, but what was your impression of them at that time? K: It's still the same, but (my first impression was) they weren’t that good at socializing (laughs). At first it was an exploration. It was like “What should I do when I enter the studio?”. But when I went it, it was like “Eh….is it like this?”. I mean, the song writing was the same as in my previous band but there weren’t many parts to arrange. If you could make a song to some extent, it would end there. I remember there weren’t many exchanges between us like, “I want to make this rhythm here” or “Let’s take a break”. It was done exactly what the composer has done in the studio. Well, it wasn’t interesting. -Then, you came up with various ideas. K: That's right. Even at CHARM, I was just arranging rather than writing songs. - After joining under the name of KAORU, the band's recognition has even more. K: About two months after I joined, we first appeared on the monochrome page of "SHOXX". Everyone was happy at that time. Until then, even if the band name was listed in “Pia” and appeared in live house’s information places, it was like "Oh, we appeared in a national magazine!" (Laughs). From there, we advertised ourselves to sell our name, and we did various things. -How was the planning and mobilization (people who came to the concerts) of live performances compared to the previous band? K: When I was invited (to join the band,), it was a band that had already mobilized more than 100 people, so it's completely different. I remember being so excited to be able to play in front of a lot of people, it was like “This is it!”. I finally got the feeling that I was on the start line. -Did you feel like you could make it as a professional? K: That wasn't the case. After all, no matter if 3000 tapes were sold or the people attending the lives increased, I didn't have the money anyway. Of course, there was some profit, but there was more money being spent. So, my anxiety/insecurity may had been bit. Like "Can I do it in these conditions?". -You were still working part-time as usual? K: Of course. Because when I joined, I was like “As we are going on a tour now, how much should I prepare for many days”. There were many talks about money. It was a band only could play a certain number of lives . I think we played lives about one-third of the year. Even so, I feel hopeless as I didn’t make money working and writing songs. I couldn't afford to think about the future at all. It's the same for the other members, and I felt like "I wonder if this will end someday." There were many people who said "I might not be able to play for a while”. - By the way, how did you feel as a guitarist at that time? In terms of style and playing. K: It was just like playing with a heavy sound and shaking your head (laughs). The guitar solo….it's about playing a little phrase. I'm not very interested in it now or in the past. -Are you not interested in guitar solo? K: No, I like listening to them. But I don't really want to play them myself…..it’s like, when a solo is being played I don’t feel like “Hey, I want to copy this!”…. More than that, I like when the high-volume sounds get muted (laughs). The feeling is better when I’m playing the riff like *makes the beat sounds* -I'd like to ask you about bands you liked besides X at that time. Around that time, you started listening to NIN INCH NAILS and other overseas bands. K: That's right. I also liked The Smashing Pumpkins and I went to see their live performances. Around that time, I started listening more to foreign bands than Japanese bands. From Japan, I usually listened to LADIES ROOM and Extasy Records bands (Japanese label formed in April 1986 by Yoshiki). -Was COLOR among these bands (You listened to)? K: COLOR is also included. Once around that time, I got invited by a roadie of a band that was in Free-will but I thought “Free-will is scary” (laughs). I've heard rumours about TOMMY (DYNAMITE TOMMY / COLOR vocalist, founder of Free-will, DIR EN GREY’s label). He is a senpai originally from my hometown. I've never met him there, but I heard a lot about him (laughs). Later, I got to know about COLOR, and I knew that was TOMMY in the band. - And La: Sadie ’s would be over in less than a year. K: That's right. I talked with each member like "What should we do next?" When we realized, it was like the four of us like “Do you want to do a band the four of us together?”. “The feeling of "let's go as far as we can go" Maybe this was the biggest chance we would have. That was the kind of thing I talked with the members. At that moment, we prepared ourselves for the worst.” -Was it like “going with the flow”? K: We weren’t friends like everyone would go drinking together or so, it’s a relationship more like neither too close to nor too distant since that time. There were invitations from other people (bands) to join them, but at that time there wasn’t a band like us, fierce and distant. I think it was a bit like “Let’s do it together” because there wasn’t any other place. There was no other band that I wanted to play music together. From our point of view, there were some questions like “Should the band be more intense/fierce?” and also, that it must be a visually interesting band. - From there, DIR EN GREY started. K: I think we talked about how me wanted to make a band more expansive than La:Sadie’s. But the fierce part was more extreme. Perhaps it was because I was thinking of becoming a band that no one had ever seen, and that made me feel like "we are definitely doing it!" -Was TOMMY involved since the beginning? K: TOMMY will appear later. But it seems that he has his eyes on us since La:Sadie’s. At that time, TOMMY was already in charge of bands and took care of them but at that time the chance didn’t come out. But when we were going to disband….. I was told this later but it seems that TOMMY said “I’m going to get a hold of every band that these five people do (laughs)” -By the way, how was your first encounter with TOMMY? K: The person who took care of us at that time said, "TOMMY wants to meet you." "What’s that? Did we do something wrong?" (Laughs). That’s why I was nervously waiting at TOMMY’s apartment. Speaking of him, I had this image of him wearing a floral coat, a gauze shirt, leather pants and long boots, and when he came out wearing leather pants and long boots I was like “Wow! It’s true!” (laughs) -That's scary (laughs). K: So when I told him “Thank you so much for inviting me”, he told me “Keep doing your best”….I was like “Eh?”. I just met him for a while, I didn’t understand at all why did he invite me. He just told me “Take care on your way home”. After that, I came out of Tokyo, and when I started a band here, I already wrote about it in the “Ongaku to hito” series but, it was decided that we recorded immediately. -At a mobile home? K: We made the songs there. We recorded and played lives in Tokyo. Then, we had more and more chances to talk and discuss with TOMMY about the details of the live performances. The next moment, it was decided that we enter Free-will. -The situation changed since that moment. K: That's right. Under these circumstances I could concentrate on playing in a band and from that time on, producers gradually started to do their part…..Talking about a major debut become something more solid, so we were getting to go as far as we could. For the next lives, it's was like going up the stairs, step by step. Until then, I was just rushing with the flow, but I started thinking about variations of the songs, the venues for the lives became bigger, so we thought about stage development….. I started to write songs considering the singles, like “let’s make a song like this”. - At that time, did you have any dreams or goals that you all shared as a band? K: (A goal/dream) shared with the members .. .. maybe there wasn’t anything concrete. We were trying our best to keep up with the situation. I personally wanted to make an album. -Something like “We’ll play at Budokan!”? K: I don't think there was. Of course, I thought it would be great if I could play there, but more than that, the members were excited about things like "What about the PV of the next song?" . -You talked about playing a live at Budokan before your debut, but was there anything that you feel couldn’t keep up with because of how fast things were going? K: I was worried. It was like “Is it ok,can we do this?”, But when DIR started I prepared myself for the worst, it was like “let’s go as far as we can go”. After all, when we were told to come to Tokyo after the band started, I was thinking, “Let’s do this without rushing”. La: Sadie's was just hectic, “Shouldn’t it be better to solidify the base here before going to Tokyo?”, “But maybe this is the biggest chance we are going to have?”, that was what we talked about. “If we don’t go to Tokyo this time, there might not be another chance anymore”. I talked with the members if we should prepare ourselves for any circumstance and accept it or not. And we decided to do it. -Like, don't miss your biggest chance. K: Yes. Also, at that, we weren’t competing against other bands, as there was almost no relationship or interaction with other bands. There was this feeling that everything that wasn’t us was an enemy. It might feel like “We are not going to lose to any other guys, we are going ahead”. - So, the band made their major debut, but in less than a year you were back indie. How did you feel at this time? K: TOMMY suggested to do what we could do from that moment on. To be honest, at first I couldn’t keep up with that idea. I was like “Why did we come this far?”. -It’s natural to feel like that. K: So TOMMY asked me, "Would you like to do a band where an old man, president of the record company, tell you to make a song like this?". So when I said “No, I don’t want to do that”, he said “Then, to do what we want to do, let’s protect ourselves”. That’s why while I said “That’s right” I was wondering if we could do this alone. But if we had done it as a major, the band might not have been like it is now. Maybe it would be more commercial, a band that didn’t make songs as a main thing. That’s why at that time I was grateful to TOMMY and I don't think he was wrong. - It was hard to get into the several hardships of doing a band from that moment, wasn’t it? K: That's right. It's still the case now, but to tell the truth, I didn’t really have the consciousness of playing music. The feeling of "doing a band" was stronger than the sound. Even if things were hard, it felt like "We are a band". At some point, I wonder if we were chasing a longing/aspiration somewhere. But from that moment on, I think I started thinking, "Let's make a band where we can express ourselves, something that only we can do." -Was the band activity difficult after that? K: It was hard (laughs). From that time on, it was really hard to write songs, I couldn’t make songs anyway. As I always say, I’m not the type of person that can immediately shape the sound that comes out. I’ll play what I’ve made while thinking “Is this really good?”. If my guitar skills were better, it might had been possible to shape it in a cool way, but it wasn’t the case. It seems that you can't compete with your own guitar. That’s why I couldn’t intertwined everything, the rhythm, riffs, and melody in a cool way. -In other words, you have to make a song while imagining the whole result. K: But isn’t that the most uncertain part? Don’t you do it without knowing what each member is going to play? Perhaps, the biggest thing is that I'm not confident in myself. It’s like I came to this point only with heavy work (laughs) - Well then, you've made many albums with that. K: Right? (laughs) But….. I think I can only make it that way. -What was the first album that made you think "I was able to do it!" K: After all…..it's "MACABRE" (released in 2000). I felt like "I made it!" Before this one, "GAUZE" (released in 1999) contained 5 singles, so I had a strong sense of filling the gaps, but "MACABRE" has a strong sense of creating one album. Also, from that point on, not only the songs but also the consciousness of the sounds changed. The sound became very hard. -Have you ever thought about leaving the band? K:…….. Yes. Yes, there are always moments like that. But it’s not like "let's quit" but more like "want to escape". Even now, I often feel like giving up while writing songs, I feel like "I can't do it anymore". -Still, what keeps you in the band is…. K: It’s a strange way to say it, but it’s like while I’m thinking about that, there is a part of me saying, “Will you do it?”. There is another me. This one always says "Please do your best!" and the other is like "Yes, I'll do it" (laughs). In other words, everything is up to you. Another self inspires the part of me who is about to give up. It's like that. -What do you think about bands that have disbanded? K: I think it's a waste. It’s like “Why are you quitting?”. I haven't quit, so I don't know how I would feel about quitting.So, if I quit the band, it would really end there. “Let’s do a comeback”, but after all, it’s over. So, no matter how hard I think it is, I don't want to say, "It’s over". Because it’s like "If you say it's over, it's all over". -Now, I asked you to look back on your half-life as a bandman so far. What about the future? K: That's right. It’s like…. There are times I think it's not interesting anymore. It’s not interesting so I’m like "I think I can explore more" and things like that, but I get back on the rails before I knew it. It’s like “If you don’t do it with all your heart, in the end it’s going to be a band that is just active”. The more you continue, the more troubles you will have. Constantly I'm thinking about what if we can’t go ahead, but we also value our own personality, that's why you just can't do the same thing. -I feel like you are always looking for something. K: I always think about "something more". I get worried because it doesn't come out though. But the fact that the band can still do it, it’s is there. If I think “Well, someday”, I think I’d be lost. -At this point, the members are making moves with solo activities. K: After all, there are things they can’t do with DIR EN GREY, so I think they are doing it elsewhere. So, when I think about it, in my case, there's nothing I can't do with DIR EN GREY. After all, even if it is just once, before I die I have to try to make my own album, but what I want to do now can be done with DIR EN GREY. Of course, I also want to know my limits and possibilities, so I'd like to try making a work by myself someday. It's a personal goal. -You could say that this book is the first result of your solo work. K: Yes. It’s a strange way of saying it, but it feels good the first thing I put out by myself was a book. It’s like really relaxing…..you can do it without putting too much effort. Of course, this is the first time I've made a book, so I wonder if I should just put what I want to do into it. If this were a about making one album, I would think about various things like "I'm doing this song with DIR, I'm sorry". I don't have that kind of annoyance, and I can do what I want to do within myself. Also, (expressing myself) in words like this……it's a bit exaggerated to say it in this way, but I think I had a lot of things I wanted to convey in words. I also realized that.

#dir en grey #kaoru #dokugen #translation

124 notes · View notes

bechloeislegit · 3 years

Text

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl - Chapter 1

A/N: First, I'd like to say Happy (Belated) Birthday, malexfaith (the actual day was April 14)! Second, I asked for an idea for a fic for her birthday, and this is one idea she sent me. It was originally going to be a one-shot, but it got away from me. (I hope y'all like it).

Award-winning singer Beca Mitchell has had a rough few months. Her bosses force her to take some time off to get herself together. They send her to a ranch where she meets Chloe Beale. They knew each other when they were children; can they be friends again or will a different kind of relationship develop?

Award-winning singer/songwriter Beca Mitchell stood in front of her two best friends, Stacie Conrad and Cynthia Rose (CR) Adams. The two women currently standing before Beca weren't just her friends; they worked for her. Stacie was her manager, and CR was her publicist.

"I'm not going!" Beca yelled at the two women, stomping her foot like a child.

"You have no choice!" Stacie yelled back. "Do I need to remind you why we are having this discussion in the first place?"

Three Days Earlier. . .

Beca hit the final note, and the crowd started cheering and applauding. Beca smiled out at the crowd as she waved and made her way off the stage.

"Beca! Beca! Beca!" The crowd chanted.

"Encore time, Beca," Stacie said.

"I need some water first," Beca said, trying to catch her breath.

"Here," Cynthia Rose said, handing Beca a bottle of water.

"Thanks," Beca said, chugging down half the bottle.

Beca wiped her face and ran back onto the stage. The band started playing, and the crowd started cheering.

Beca started singing and made her way over to the band. The bass player played a riff, and Beca was getting into it when she suddenly stopped and put a hand to her head. A loud "oh" went up from the crowd as Beca started to fall; the bass player grabbed Beca and eased her down to the ground. Several people came running from backstage.

CR yelled for someone to call 9-1-1 as Stacie hit her knees and grabbed Beca to her.

"Beca?" Stacie called her name as she lightly smacked her cheeks.

Beca did not respond, and Stacie yelled, "Someone call 9-1-1!"

"Already done," CR said as Stacie continued trying to rouse Beca.

An announcement was made asking that everyone leave the building in a calm and peaceful manner. The place emptied out for the most part; there were still a few who made their way close to the stage and stood watching what was happening. Security prevented them from getting onto the stage.

Beca came around about five minutes later, and a small cheer went up from the small crowd. They became quiet again when two EMTs arrived and made their way onto the stage, immediately going over to Beca.

"Want to tell me what happened?" one of the EMTs asked as he started to take Beca's vital signs.

"I'm not really sure," Beca said. "I was singing, and then I felt dizzy. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to this one," she points her thumb toward Stacie, "slapping my face."

"You passed out," Stacie said. "I was trying to wake you up."

"We should take her in so a doctor can check her out," the EMT told Stacie.

"I'll ride with her," Stacie said. "CR, you call Theo and let him know what's happened."

"Got it," CR said.

"I don't think I need to go to the hospital," Beca said.

"I don't care what you think you need, Beca," Stacie said, shaking her head. "I just knew something like this was going to happen."

The EMTs helped Beca up and onto the gurney. They proceeded to fasten the restraints to hold Beca securely. Stacie followed the EMTs out to the ambulance; Beca complained the entire way about not needing to go to the hospital.

"Shut up, Beca," Stacie said. She looked at the EMT and asked, "Is there any way you can knock her out again?"

"I heard that," Beca said.

"You were meant to," Stacie shot back.

Back to the present. . .

"You passed out because you were drunk and dehydrated," Stacie said.

"I didn't do anything!" Beca said, running a hand through her hair.

"Didn't do anything!" Stacie repeated. "Are you drunk right now?"

"Stacie, calm down," CR said. "Yelling at her is not helping anything."

"She is going to ruin us all," Stacie said. "I can't keep doing this with her. We're running out of favors to call in to keep her shenanigans out of the tabloids."

"I know," CR placated. "She just needs to understand that the studio isn't playing around this time."

"This time?" Beca questioned. "What did I supposedly do to make this time so special?"

"Have you totally forgotten the drunken brawl you started?" Stacie asked. "And let's not forget about the threesome thing. You're lucky you're not in jail."

"For what?" Beca asked. "We were in a bar, and they were both being served alcoholic drinks."

"Yeah, well, one of them was only seventeen," Stacie said. "The age of consent in California is eighteen. And don't think because you're a woman, you get a pass. Her parents have every right to have you charged with having sex with a minor. You're lucky they were more upset that the bartender was serving their underage daughter alcohol, or it could have been so much worse for you."

"I can't be blamed for not knowing how old she really was," Beca mumbled.

Stacie rubbed her temples and looked at Beca. "You'd better get your head on straight, or you're done."

"I'm still not going to wherever it is the studio wants to send me," Beca said. "I'm an adult, and they can't make me do anything I don't want to do!"

"Take it easy, Beca," CR said in a calmer voice. "I'm telling you this as your friend. You're under contract, so yes, they can make you do whatever they want you to."

"Wanna bet?" Beca said petulantly. "Tell the studio I don't want to go."

"The studio folks aren't asking you if you want to go," CR said, stepping into Beca's personal space. "They're telling you, you have to go. You need to take some time off to rest and get your head back in the game."

"I don't understand why," Beca said, lowering her voice and taking a step back.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Stacie yelled. "You literally passed out during the encore at your concert because you were drunk, Beca. You're exhausted, and you're making bad decisions; really bad decisions."

"Not to mention the fact that your daddy issues are becoming a PR nightmare," CR added. "I know you were hoping your dad came back it was to make amends . . ."

"I don't want to talk about him," Beca interrupted, crossing her arms and glaring at Stacie and CR.

"Okay, you don't want to talk about your dad; that's fine," CR said. "Let's talk about how the studio is considering canceling your contract and letting you go."

"What?!"

"CR's right," Stacie confirmed. "If you don't take time off, you're done. Fired. No more music. No more VIP treatment. No more one-night stands with your fans. No more making money. Are you ready for that?"

"And, if Khalid fires you," CR said. "Don't count on another studio wanting to sign you."

Beca ran a hand through her hair and stared at Stacie and CR. She let out a loud sigh.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Good," Stacie and CR said simultaneously.

"But. . ."

"But. . . what?" CR asked hesitantly.

"But," Beca said, smirking. "You two have to go with me."

"Not gonna happen," CR immediately stated. "Denise is due in two weeks, so I can't go."

"I'll accept that as a good reason for you not going," Beca said and then turned to look at Stacie. "What about you?"

"I don't want to go," Stacie said.

"If not wanting to go isn't a good enough reason for me not to go," Beca said. "It's not a good enough reason for you either. So, if I don't get a choice in the matter, you don't get a choice. Make sure you tell the studio honchos if you don't go, I don't go, and let's see what happens then."

Beca turned and left the room.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

A week later, Beca and Stacie were on a private jet heading to Denver, Colorado. Beca was sulking as Stacie calmly flipped through a magazine. Neither woman spoke, and they flew in relative silence for close to two hours before Beca broke that silence.

"I can't believe you caved with the studio and are making me do this," Beca huffed. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend," Stacie said, continuing to flip the pages of the magazine. "But, I'm also your manager. I love you, but I love my job more, and I'm not going to do anything to lose you or my job. So, if I have to go to Denver and babysit you, then that's what I'm going to do."

"Why exactly were we going to Denver?" Beca asked. "Is it like a spa retreat or something?"

"Nope," Stacie said, setting her magazine aside while pulling something out of her bag. She held it out toward Beca. "We're going to be spending the next three weeks at a western-style dude ranch."

"A DUDE RANCH?" Beca screeched, causing Stacie to grimace. "Whose bright idea was that?"

"Theo's," Stacie replied with a shrug.

"I should have known," Beca snarled. "That guy never did like me." Beca sighed and asked, "What the fuck am I supposed to do there?"

"You're supposed to rest and relax," Stacie said. "And they run a dry ranch, so there won't be any booze to get you into trouble."

Beca scoffed, and Stacie handed a pamphlet over to Beca.

"Read the brochure if you want to know what you'll be doing," Stacie said.

Beca took the brochure and looked through it.

"The only form of transportation on the ranch is on horseback," Beca read aloud. "The only horses I want to deal with are the ones under a car's hood."

"What part of the only form of transportation is on horseback are you not understanding?" Stacie asked. "Get it through that thick skull of yours; there are no cars, trucks, or other motorized vehicles. Just horses. I'm personally looking forward to riding again."

"Good for you! But there's no way I'm riding one of those beasts," Beca grumbled. "I hate horses."

"Just give it a shot, Beca," Stacie said. "Horses will help calm you; you're supposed to try and relax. And, you could always save a horse and ride a cowboy instead. Or in your case, a cowgirl. But only if she's over eighteen."

"Haha," Beca scoffed. "I get ridden plenty, thank you very much."

"Groupies and one-night stands don't count," Stacie said. "You need to find someone to have an adult, meaningful relationship with."

"Says the woman who calls her vagina a hunter," Beca snorted. "When was the last time you had an adult meaningful relationship?"

"We're not talking about me," Stacie said. "Plus, I'm not under contract, so what I do is nobody's business but my own."

"I'm starting to regret signing a contract," Beca said. "Almost as much as I regret hiring a friend to be my manager."

Stacie shrugged and picked up another magazine. "You know you love me."

"We both know I do," Beca said, sighing. "But would it kill you to let me live my life the way I want to?"

"Probably not," Stacie shrugged. "But, it might kill you and I'm not willing to take that chance. Believe it or not, I actually do like having you around."

Beca was saved from responding as the Captain announced, "Ladies, please fasten your seatbelts. We're making our final approach into Denver and should be landing in about ten minutes."

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

A van from the ranch was waiting in the hangar when the jet came to a stop. The pilot opened the door and lowered the stairway. Stacie stepped out first to find a man looking, every bit the cowboy in blue jeans, checkered shirt, boots, and hat, staring up at her from the bottom.

"Miss Mitchell?" the cowboy asked, tipping his hat.

"That's her," Stacie replied and pointed over her shoulder.

Beca gave a small wave over Stacie's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, ladies," the cowboy said. "My name is Tom and I'll be escorting you to the ranch. I'll get your bags while you make yourselves comfortable in the van."

Stacie got into the van and watched as Beca grabbed two of the bags and placed them in the van herself. Tom grabbed the remaining bags and placed them in the back. Tom opened the driver's door, removed his hat, and situated himself behind the wheel.

"The drive will take about forty-five minutes," Tom said, looking over his shoulder at the two women. "There's water in the cooler behind you. Help yourself."

Tom turned to face the front and started the van.

About an hour later, the van turned off the main road onto a dirt road. Beca sat up and started looking around. Off in the distance, she saw several buildings.

"Looks like something from an old Western movie," Beca said.

"I love the log cabin look," Stacie said, looking around.

"Will we be staying in a log cabin?" Beca asked Tom.

"Sort of," Tom said. "All our guests stay in individual one-room cabins. The main building houses the offices, gym, game room, kitchen, and dining room. Since this is our slow time, you'll both probably be given your own room."

"That actually sounds cool," Beca said.

Stacie lowered her window, saying "Look at all this wide-open space. And smell that clean, fresh air. We're definitely not in LA anymore."

"If I click my heels three times and say there's no place like home," Beca said. "Will I wake up from this nightmare and find myself in my own bed back in LA?"

"No," Stacie said. "And I can't believe Miss I Hate Movies, just used one to make a point."

Beca let out a snort and looked out her window.

"Those things are huge," Beca said, spying two horses being ridden by a man and a woman; they looked as if they were racing.

"Oh, wow," Stacie said, leering at the couple. "The scenery just keeps getting better."

The woman's hat flew off and red hair flew out behind her. Both riders stopped and the woman said something to the man that could not be heard in the car.

Beca's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the redhead's face as she turned and trotted back to where her hat landed. She was gorgeous.

"If she can ride a horse," Beca said, pointing at the female rider. "I may just have to take up riding myself. She makes it look hot."

"She's really pretty," Stacie said, looking the girl up and down.

"She sure is," Beca mumbled. "She kind of reminds me of someone I knew when I was a kid."

Beca and Stacie continued to watch the two riders.

"He's also really hot," Stacie said. "He can park his boots under my bed anytime."

"Ew, gross," Beca said. "Try and keep it in your pants, Stacie."

"I will if you will," Stacie said, laughing. "Who does the hot redhead remind you of?"

"Someone I knew from back when I lived in Atlanta," Beca responded. "We actually met in Kindergarten and became fast friends. I'd say she was my best friend from the time we met up until we were nine."

"What happened when you were nine?"

"Didn't I already tell you about that?" Beca asked; Stacie shook her head. Beca continued. "My grandmother got sick and my mom took me with her to Seattle to help her out. I was only supposed to be gone for the summer. But, my grandma died and left my mother her house. My mom and dad were going through a rough time and my mom decided to stay in Seattle and asked my dad to come there. He chose to stay in Atlanta and promised to come to visit, but he never did. They eventually divorced."

Stacie looked at Tom and asked, "Who are they?"

"That's Chicago and Chloe," Tom said, glancing over at the couple. "Chicago's dad owns this place and Chicago runs it. Chloe is a vet and takes care of the animals on the ranch."

"Chloe?" Beca repeated. "What's her last name?"

"Beale," Tom said as the van came to a stop in front of the main building.

"Oh, my God," Beca whispered as she continued watching the redhead. "I do know her! Or rather, I did."

"Are Chicago and Chloe a couple?" Stacie asked.

"God, no," Tom said, chuckling. "Chicago is married to Jessica and Chloe is his cousin."

"Good to know," Stacie murmured, looking at Beca watching the redhead.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

Beca and Stacie stood next to each other and watched as Chicago and Chloe rode up to them and hopped off their horses. A woman walked out of the main building and stood next to Chicago. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Good afternoon, Miss Mitchell, Miss Conrad," Chicago said, removing his hat. "Welcome! My name is Chicago Walp and this is my wife, Jessica. We run this Ranch for my dad, so if you need anything, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask either one of us."

Chloe cleared her throat and Chicago smiled over at her.

"Sorry, Chlo," Chicago said, chuckling. "And this lovely young lady is Dr. Chloe Beale. She takes care of all the animals. She also gives riding lessons for anyone who wishes to learn."

"Please, we're just Beca and Stacie," Stacie said.

"I know who Beca is," Chloe said, smiling. "I was totes excited when I heard you were going to be a guest. I'm a big fan."

"Thank you," Beca said, looking down at the ground.

Tom was retrieving the luggage from the van and Chicago moved to help him.

"Please be careful with those two bags," Beca said, rushing over to them. "I'll take them."

Beca put one of the bags over her shoulder and pulled the other over to where Stacie was talking to Jessica and Chloe.

". . .said she'd love to learn to ride," Stacie was telling Jessica and Chloe.

"Who said that?" Beca asked. "It wasn't me. I hate horses; they're just huge, scary beasts."

Jessica and Chloe both laughed.

"Didn't you also say, if Chloe was riding that you might have to reconsider riding because she made riding a horse look hot?" Stacie asked, chuckling when Beca's face turned red.

"That's not-," Beca stuttered, looking from Stacie to Chloe and back again. "I, uh, didn't, um. Ugh! I hate you so much right now."

"It's okay, Beca," Chloe said, chuckling. "I think you'd look hot riding, too. And our horses are very tame. I'd be happy to teach you to ride and show you how tame they are."

Beca blinked a few times and stared at Chloe. Chloe looked at Beca and then at Stacie.

"I'm sure Beca would love that," Stacie said, causing Beca to snort.

"I might be game," Beca said. "If Stacie takes lessons, too."

"I already know how to ride," Stacie said, smirking. "But I'll go along with you so you don't get scared."

"Good," Jessica said. "Now that's settled, let's get you to your rooms, shall we?"

"Ladies, if you'll follow us please," Chicago said as he and Tom walked past them.

Beca and Stacie followed. When they entered the main building, Tom grabbed a luggage cart and he and Chicago set the luggage on it. Beca gently placed the two bags she was carrying onto the pile and stepped back.

"Let's get you checked in," Jessica said, leading the way over to the registration desk. "Thanks, Tom, Chicago."

"No problem, babe," Chicago said, shooting Jessica a smile.

"You're welcome," Tom said. He tipped his hat at Beca and Stacie, and said, "Enjoy your stay, ladies."

"Thanks, Tom," Stacie said, winking at him.

Tom smiled at her before turning and exiting the building behind Chicago. Chloe walked over and stood by the desk; she couldn't stop looking at Beca. Beca looked back at her, blushing and looking away when Chloe smiled at her.

Jessica got Beca and Stacie checked in and grabbed their room keys, handing them to Chloe.

"Chloe, would you like to show Beca and Stacie to their cabins?"

"I'd love to," Chloe said excitedly, grabbing the keys. "Thanks, Jess."

Jessica winked at her and Chloe walked over to the luggage cart. She looked back at Beca and Stacie.

"If you ladies will follow me," Chloe said as she started pushing the cart.

Stacie nudged Beca's shoulder when she noticed Beca looking at Chloe's ass.

"Rein it in, Beca," Stacie whispered. "A bit of discretion wouldn't kill you."

Beca blushed and moved her eyes up to stare at the back of Chloe's head.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

Chloe took the cart outside and started toward a row of cabins. The path was wooden and stretched from the main building around to all the cabins. Chloe stopped at Cabin #4 and unlocked the door. She left the luggage cart outside and stepped through the doorway. Beca and Stacie followed her inside.

"This is your cabin, Miss Mitchell," Chloe said, waving an arm around the room. "Your bathroom is through that door over there."

Beca looked to where Chloe was pointing and nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"Please call me Beca," Beca told Chloe as she looked around the room.

"Okay," Chloe said, stepping back out the door. "Beca, if you'll point out your luggage I'll bring it in for you."

Chloe reached for a bag and Beca stopped her, saying, "I got it."

Beca grabbed her laptop case and another case, and took her cases over to the desk, and started to unpack them.

"No offense," Stacie told Chloe. "She's just very particular about people touching her equipment."

"Understandable," Chloe said. "I'm sure it's very expensive. What else is hers?"

"I'll help you with them," Stacie said. "This one stays here and that one there." Stacie grabbed one of the suitcases and pointed at the other.

The bags were placed near the bed and Chloe walked over to the wall, getting both Beca and Stacie's attention. She placed her hand on the thermostat and explained, "Each cabin has its own thermostat. You can control both the heat and air conditioning to your liking. It's usually mild during the day, but the temperatures drop somewhat at night. If you need an extra blanket or pillow, you can find them in the closet next to the bathroom. That's also where we keep everything you'll need for the bathroom, like towels and soap, among other things. If there's something you need and can't find, just pick up the phone and dial star zero one. That rings at the front desk in the main cabin. Someone is always there 24/7. Or you can dial star zero three and reach me; I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have."

"Thank you, Chloe," Beca said.

"Stacie," Chloe said, tearing her gaze away from Beca to look at Stacie. "You'll be right next door in cabin #5. The rooms are set up in the exact same way. Do you have any questions? Or need anything?"

"I'm starting to get a bit hungry," Stacie said. "What time does dinner start being served?"

"Oh," Chloe said as she walked over to the desk and pulled a folder out of the drawer. "There's a weekly schedule of activities and a menu for all meals inside this folder. It's updated every Sunday night. I know tonight we're having a barbecue with all the fixin's. You'll get a chance to meet some of the staff as well as the other guests." She glanced at her watch. "Aubrey will probably be ringing the dinner bell shortly."

"Who's Aubrey?" Stacie asked.

"She's my best friend," Chloe responded. "She's also the cook. You'll love everything she makes; I know I do."

"I'd like to unpack before dinner," Stacie said. "Beca, I'll swing by and get you when the dinner bell sounds. Okay?"

"Okay," Beca said. "I'll unpack and freshen up a bit."

"Great," Chloe said. "Here's your room key. We have a master key to all the rooms if you should lose or misplace it."

"Thanks again, Chloe," Beca said, taking the key.

"Stacie," Chloe said, turning toward her. "Let's get you to your room."

Stacie followed Chloe out the door. She took a deep breath. "Something smells good!"

"It's the meat from the grill."

"Whatever it is, it smells delicious."

"The meats are great, but it's the sides that make the meal for me. I'm sure Aubrey made potato salad, pasta salad, as well as a vegetable salad. Corn on the cob and baked beans for sure, and several desserts."

"Sounds like quite the feast," Stacie said.

Chloe pushed the luggage rack to the next cabin and helped Stacie take her bags inside.

"Here's your key," Chloe said as she handed the key to Stacie.

"Thank you, Chloe," Stacie said.

"You're welcome. I'll see you and Beca at dinner."

Chloe left and was surprised to see Beca looking out her door.

"Did you need something, Beca?"

"I was wondering if you had a minute?"

"Um, sure."

Beca stood aside and let Chloe enter the cabin. Chloe walked over to the desk chair and sat down.

Beca started pacing back and forth. Chloe watched her for a moment.

"So, um, what can I do for you, Beca?"

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

About ten minutes after Chloe left her, Stacie was startled by a sudden loud clanging sound. Realizing it must be the dinner bell, she laughed quietly to herself and shook her head.

It was only a few minutes later that Stacie grabbed her room key and left her cabin. Beca and Chloe were coming out of Beca's room as Stacie reached it.

"Oh, hey, Chloe," Stacie said, surprised to see her. "I wasn't expecting to see you with Beca."

"Beca wanted to know about the riding lessons," Chloe said. "You two have a lesson tomorrow morning at ten."

"We do?"

"I told you, Stacie," Beca said. "If I'm going to take lessons, so are you."

"And I told you, I already know how to ride," Stacie said. "Besides, will you even be up before ten?"

"Don't worry about me," Beca said, glaring at her. "I'll be up in plenty of time."

Stacie ignored Beca's glare and looked her up and down.

"Loving the cowgirl look, Beca," Stacie said. "I'm guessing you only brought your plaid shirts and jeans without knowing you'd end up on a ranch."

"I think she looks adorable," Chloe said, causing Beca's cheeks to redden.

"I'm not adorable," Beca mumbled.

"She does love her plaid shirts and jeans," Stacie said.

"What's wrong with that?" Beca asked. "They are good for any occasion."

Stacie snorted as she looked out over at the tables that were set up for the cookout.

"That looks like a lot of food," Stacie said. "How many guests do you have?"

"Including you and Beca, we have eight guests," Jessica's voice said from behind them. "And all the staffs' meals are provided. Come with me and I'll introduce you to some of the other people who work here."

Beca and Stacie followed Jessica and Chloe over to the huge grill that was being manned by two of the cowboys.

"Guys," Jessica calls out, getting their attention. "I'd like you to meet some VIPs that will be with us for the next three weeks."

The two men turned to look at Beca and Stacie. One had dark brown hair and was a couple of inches taller than Stacie; the other's hair was a lighter brown and he was about Stacie's height. They both have boyish faces and grinned at the two women.

"I know her," the taller of the two said, pointing toward Beca.

"No, you don't," Beca said, shaking her head. "He doesn't."

#bechloe fanfiction #beca mitchell #chloe beale

31 notes · View notes

carnationcreation · 4 years

Note

reggie x bandmember!rapper!reader

where the reggie has a crush on reader and tries to win them over.

just a suggestion

TITLE: Distractions (JATP Reggie x bandmember!reader)

✌🏻Masterlist

💕 Request an imagine here!

🥰 Join my tag list here!

Request: Yes!

Prompt/summary: Reggie has a crush on the lyricist behind the bands raps and verses and he’s trying desperately to win her over

Word Count: 1,614

Authors note: I don’t really know too much about rap so I decided to relate it more to music but she still basis her lyrics in rap so I hope this is okay!

Being the newest member to the band left me under a lot of pressure, I had to switch between different instruments and learn the parts in case something happened to one of the members so I could go on in their place. So I was like an understudy for the Phantoms as well as one of their lyricists. If Luke or Julie were having trouble getting inspiration they’d come to me and I’d help them work their way through their writers block by making them listen to famous rappers like Tupac and Eminem. After a while their minds would be focusing on the rhythms and the melodies instead of just words, because you can’t have a good song unless it flows like a stream.

The problem that seemed to keep arising was Reggie trying to get my attention.

“(Y/n) watch!” Reggie said before he swung his bass over his back making it loop around so he could catch it again.

“That’s cool Reg but we’re supposed to be working,” I responded before turning back to my notebook on top of the piano, missing Reggie’s pouting face.

He was so sweet to me, but sometimes his antics would interfere with my work. I knew he wasn’t trying to be annoying but after a long day of learning songs and writing with Julie it can feel like he’s just trying to distract me just because he can.

“Alright so then there’s a key change up to a D major,” Julie said as she played the chord effortlessly on the piano, “And then I’m thinking Luke will come in on the melody-”

“(Y/n) look what I made you!” Reggie said running up to the piano, he placed a piece of paper in my hand, looking at me expectantly. I smiled at the picture of a hand turkey colored in with different colored crayons.

“Wow, thank you Reggie,” I said and turned back to the piano with Julie.

“He really doesn’t stop does he?” she said quietly.

I nodded, “It’s endearing most of the time but right now I just really want to get this done.”

“I need a line right here, I just can’t get it right.”

Julie and I continued writing, even leaving me a space to do some free verse that acts as a counter melody as well as to pick up the tempo for the final chorus. It wasn’t too long after that when Reggie tapped me on the shoulder.

“What Reggie?” I said annoyed.

“Oh,” Reggie said, “I wanted to ask if you were ready for our bass lesson but I’ll wait.”

My face softened as I saw the time on my watch, “I’m sorry Reg I lost track of time.”

He nodded and led me over to the stools he had set up, I grabbed his bass out of the stand and plugged it up to the amp beside the piano.

“I’m sorry I annoy you all the time,” Reggie said quietly.

“What do you mean Reggie?”

He sighed, “I just want to talk to you all the time I just forget that you’re doing important stuff for the band.”

I smiled, “Reggie you could never annoy me, or at least not to the point where I wouldn’t like you.”

“So you really did like my hand turkey?”

I laughed, “Yes Reggie I promise I really did.”

Reggie grinned widely and pulled me into a tight hug making me giggle.

“Are you gonna keep it?”

I picked up the paper and walked over to the piano where my binder full of song lyrics and sheet music sat, I slid the paper into the front clear pouch on the binder so everyone could see the turkey right on the front of the binder.

Reggie threw his hands up in the air, “Yay!”

“Alright we seriously have to get to work now,” I laughed.

_________________________________

After a sold out concert at the Orpheum the night before Julie decided we should take the day off and have a movie marathon. Julie picked out the first 3 and chose all disney movies. We were watching the Little Mermaid when I started to feel myself getting mind numbingly bored from having to sit still on the couch next to Reggie and a sleeping Alex. I reached down to my feet and into my backpack to pull out my binder to scribble a few lyric ideas down before I forget them.

“What are you doing?” I heard Reggie whisper.

“Writing down some lyrics,” I said.

He scoffed, “Do you ever stop working?”

“Do you ever stop trying to get my attention?” I tease him with a smirk.

“Whatever, but you should take a break. It’s our day off you shouldn’t be working.”

“Depends on what you want to call working. Lyrics are just part of my thoughts for most of the day, I’m much more productive writing down wording and rhymes and beats from my head that can be molded into a new song otherwise I’d just forget them and be frustrated when I don’t have anything new.”

“Well, I guess I think about bass lines a lot so I see what you mean,” Reggie shrugged.

We sat quietly for a few minutes, as the credits started to roll I looked over to see Luke picking up Julie to take her to bed as she had fallen asleep. Alex stirred and stood up before walking outside to the studio. I’m assuming he went to sleep on the couch in there.

“Come on,” Reggie said, standing up.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

He smiled, “To get your thoughts on something else for a while.”

He grabbed my hand and led me out the front door, we walked out of Julie’s house and down the street. We finally hit main street and he pulled me over to a street vendor selling hotdogs and grabbed two for us before sitting down on a bench to eat.

“I’m surprised after how you died you still want to eat these,” I laughed.

“As long as it’s not from the back of a car I think I’ll be fine, they’re good!” he said before biting into his, “So what kind of lyrics were you writing down?”

I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and pulled out the binder, Reggie smiled and pointed at the hand turkey that was still on the front.

“Skies grew darker,

Current swept you out,

Inside this Eden,

No one hears us shout.”

“That’s kinda depressing,” Reggie said.

I laughed and tucked it back into my bag and put it at our feet.

“So those lyrics are just constantly in your head?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess where I’ve read and written so much poetry and listened to so much music all the time it’s just something that comes naturally to me,” I shrugged.

“Can I read through them?”

“You can read through it any time you want Reggie,” I said, I finished up my hotdog and crumpled up the wrapper.

“Really?” he asked.

I giggled, “Yes Reggie I trust you with my deepest, most depressing lyrics.”

He laughed and grabbed both of our wrappers and walked over to the trash can with me tagging closely behind him.

“I gotta head home, it’s starting to get late,” I said.

Looked at his watch, “Oh yeah, I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

Reggie scoffed sarcastically, “Can’t let a pretty lady walk home in the dark.”

I took his arm in mine, “What a gentleman.”

We walked down main street and finally turned to the street that led into my neighborhood. Reggie stopped and pointed at random things he saw along the way, and when he wasn’t doing that he was singing songs and dancing to them while walking along beside me trying to get me to laugh.

“Reggie quiet down my parents are gonna hear and ask why I’m outside with a boy.”

“Not just any boy, a formerly dead boy,” Reggie smirked.

“Shhh!” I stepped up to the gate and unlatched it, letting him and I into the garden.

“Come on (y/n). What if we rewrite the stars!” Reggie sang.

I rolled my eyes, “I shouldn’t have shown you that movie.”

“It’s catchy!” he said.

“Reggie,” I said grabbing his arm lightly and making him face me, “please be quiet for a minute.”

Reggie nodded but still giggled as I pulled out my house key and he followed me on to the porch.

“I had fun Reggie, this gave me more song ideas.”

“Well that’s good at least,” Reggie smiled, “can I drag you out tomorrow to annoy you some more?”

“For the last time Reg, you’re not annoying,” I giggled.

“If you say so,” Reggie said as he turned to walk away.

“Reggie?” I said. He turned around and I placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

Reggie smiled widely and grabbed my waist, pulling me in and kissing me on the lips this time. After a second we pulled away, “So, tomorrow?”

I smiled and shook my head, “Pick me up in the morning, and bring your skateboard.”

He grinned and turned. He ran down the steps and out onto the street, eventually tripping over the shoelaces of his converse and falling to the ground, “I’m okay!”

I laughed and turned to unlock the door. When I got to my room and pulled out my binder to put on my bed I began to mumble to myself, what if we rewrite the stars.

The rest of the night was filled with the memories of the night replaying in my head and the lyrics that poured out of them and on to the paper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @thebookwormlife @peachyxdream @catieiscute2001 @me-myself-and-my-oboe

🥰 Join my tag list here!

311 notes · View notes

tiesandtea · 3 years

Link

Simon Gilbert

Simon Says

We interviewed Simon Gilbert, Suede’s drummer, whose book So Young: Suede 1991-1993 is a journal and photographic document of the band’s early years that will be published October 8th. So Young has foreword by journalist Stuart Maconie and a vibrant, lively text by Simon himself, documenting his move from Stratford-on-Avon, his hometown, to London, the audition with Suede, life in the van, the early success years and the many amusing things that come with it. It is one of those rare books that make an outsider feel like they were there, in the van. Or in absurd mansions in L.A. belonging to industry types. Or was it record producer(s)?…

The conversation extended to Coming Up, Suede’s third album that turned 25 this year and drumming. Simon’s witty, often, one-liners contrast with my more elaborate questions, proving an interesting insight into our way of writing/replying.

by Raquel Pinheiro

So Young: Suede 1991-1993

What made you want to realease So Young?

I was searching through my archives when researching for the insatiable ones movies and found lots of old negatives and my diaries. They had to be seen.

When and why did you start your Suede archives?

As you can see from the book, it stared from the very first audition day.

From the concept idea to publishing how long did it took you to put So Young together?

30 years … I’ve always wanted to make a book since I was first in a band.

What was your selection process for which items – diary entries, photos, etc.- would be part of the book?

I wanted to form a story visually with a few bits of info thrown in here and there, also most of the photos tie in with pages from the diaries.

Which methods, storage, preservation, maintenance, if at all, do you employ to keep the various materials in your archives in good shape?

Boxes in an attic … one thing about getting the book out is that I don’t have to worry about the photos getting lost forever. It’s out there in a book!

Other than medium what differences existed between selecting material for The Insatiable Ones documentary and for So Young?

Video and photos … photos don’t translate well on a TV screen.

Do you prefer still or motion pictures and why?

I prefer photos … they capture a particular moment in time … as video does, but there’s a unique atmosphere with a photo.

So Young’s cover photo has a very Caravaggio and ballet feeling to it. Its chiaroscuro also contrasts with the images inside. Why did you choose it for the cover?

It was a striking shot and I wanted the book to be black and dark …it fitted perfectly.

How many of the photos on So Young were taken by you?

Probably about 3/4 my 3 school friends who were there with me at the beginning Iain, Kathy and Phillip took a load of us onstage, backstage, after the gig, etc., photos I couldn’t take myself.

So Young can be placed alongside books like Henry Rollins’ Get in The Van and Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, that not only chronicle and show the less glamorous, more mundane side of being in a band, but also totally immerse the reader so deep in it that we are there, feeling and going through the same things. Was your selection of materials meant to convey that “band being your(our) life” sensation?

Yes, exactly that. I was fascinated by photos of bands, not on the front cover of a magazine or on TV. The other bits of being in a band are far more interesting.

In the foreword, Stuart Maconie mentions the brevity of your diary entries which, as someone who keeps diaries, I immediately noticed. Do you prefer to tell and record a story and events with images?

I haven’t kept a diary since the end of 1993 … looking back on them they can be a bit cringeful … So, yes, I prefer images.

Contrasting with the diary entries brevity your text that accompanies So Young is lively, witty, detailed and a good description of the struggles of a coming of age, heading towards success, band. Do you think the text and images reveal too much into what it really is like being in a band, destroying the myth a bit?

I think the myth of being in a band is long gone … Reality is the new myth…

In So Young you write that when you first heard Never Mind The Bollocks by The Sex Pistols music was to be your “future dream”. How has the dream been so far?

Still dreaming … lose your dreams and you will lose your mind … like Jagger said.

Is there a reason why So Young only runs from 1991 to 1993?

Yes, I bought a video camera in 1993. It was so much easier filming everything rather than take a photo, wait 3 weeks to get it developed and find out it was blurred.

So Young has a limited deluxe numbered and signed edition already sold out. The non deluxe edition also seems to be heading the same way. How important is it for you to keep a close relationship with the fans?

So important. I love interacting with the fans and is so easy these days … I had to write replies by hand and post them out in 1993…

Playing Live Again & Coming Up

Before Suede’s concert at Qstock Festival in Oulu, Finland on 31.07.2021 you wrote on your social media “cant fucking wait dosnt come close!!!!!” and Mat [Osman, Suede’s bassist] on his “An honest-to-goodness rehearsal for an honest-to-goodness show. Finally”. How did it feel like going back to play live?

It was great. Heathrow was empty which was amazing. A bit strange to play for the first time after 2 years …., but great to get out again.

Coming Up was released 25 years ago. How does the record sound and seems to you now compared with by then?

I haven’t listened to it for a long time actually … love playing that album live … some great drumming.

Before the release of Coming Up fans and the press were wondering if Suede would be able to pull it off. What was your reaction when you first heard the new songs and realize the album was going in quite a different direction than Dog Man Star?

Far too long ago to remember.

Coming Up become a classic album. It even has its own Classical Albums documentary. Could you see the album becoming a classic by then?

I think so yes .. there was always something to me very special about that album.

Is it different to play Coming Up songs after Suede’s return? Is there a special approach to concerts in which a single album is played?

No … didn’t even need to listen to the songs before we first rehearsed … They’re lodged in my brain.

Which is your Coming Up era favourite song as a listener and which one do you prefer as a drummer?

The Chemistry Between Us.

Will the Coming Up shows consist only of the album or will B-sides be played as well?

Definitely some B-sides and some other stuff too.

Simon & Drumming

If you weren’t a drummer how would your version of “being the bloke singing at the front” be like?

Damned awful … I auditioned as a singer once, before I started drumming … It was awful!

In his book Stephen Morris says that all it takes to be a drummer is a flat surface and know how to count. Do you agree?

No.

Then, what makes a good drummer?

Being in the right band.

Topper Headon of the Clash is one of your role models. Who are the others?

He is, yes … fantastic drummer.

Charlie Watts is the other great …and Rat Scabies … superb.

She opens with drums so does Introducing the band. Your drumming gives the band a distinctive sound. How integral to Suede’s sound are the drums?

Well, what can I say … VERY!

Do you prefer songs that are driven by the drums or songs in which the drums are more in the background?

Bit of both actually … I love in your face stuff like She, Filmstar …, but ikewise, playing softer stuff is very satisfying too.

You’re not a songwriter. How much freedom and input do you have regarding drum parts?

If the songs needs it, I’ll change it.

Do you prefer blankets, towels or a pillow inside the bass drum?

Pillows.

Do you use gaffer tape when recording? If so, just on the snare drum or also on the toms? What about live?

Lots of the stuff … gaffer tape has been my friend both live and in the studio for 30 years.

What is the depth of your standard snare drum and why?

Just got a lovely 7-inch Bog wood snare from Repercussion Drums … sounds amazing. It is a 5000 year old Bog wood snare.

Standard, mallets, rods or brushes?

Standard. I hate mallets and rods are always breaking after one song. Brushes are the worst …no control.

How many drum kits have you owned? Of those, which is your favourite?

5 … my fave is my DW purple.

How long to you manage without playing? Do you play air drums?

7 years 2003 – 2010 … and never.

Can you still assemble and tune your drum kit?

Assemble, yes …tune no …have never been any good at that.

You dislike digital/electronic drum kits, but used one during the pandemic. Did you become more found of them?

Still hate them … unfortunately, they are a necessary evil.

When you first joined Suede you replaced a drum machine. Would it be fair to say you didn’t mind taking its job?

Fuck him!

Brett [Anderson, Suede’s singer] as described the new album as “nasty, brutish and short”. How does that translates drums wise?

Very nasty brutish and short.

When researching for the interview I come across the statement below on a forum: “If you’re in a band and you’re thinking about how to go about this, get every player to come up with their own track list & have a listening party. I’ve done this, not only is it great fun, it’s also massively insightful when it comes to finding out what actually is going on inside the drummer’s head!”. What actually is going on inside the drummer’s head?

Where’s my fucking lighter!

And what is going on inside the drummer as a documentarist head? How does Simon, the drummer, differs from Simon, the keen observer of his own band, bandmates, fans, himself, etc.?

There is no difference … I’m Simon here there and everywhere…

What would the 16 years old Simon who come to London think of current Simon? What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t smoke so much you fool!

#simon gilbert #suede #so young book

16 notes · View notes

dimensionwriter · 4 years

Text

Flufftober Day 3: College

M!Naga x GN! Reader

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

I’m so bad at doing these daily. Ughhhhhhhh. Also Happy Indigenous People Day!!!!!!

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

One day. One singular day is all that you are asking. Like, what idiot think it’s okay to be blasting music at 3 am. Especially during the time of exams. No one with a brain cell would be that cruel.

Except you next door neighbor. Every time he got home around 6, music would turn on at max volume and won’t turn off until 6 am. You didn’t know if he fell asleep to the music, but that’s the reason humans invented headphones for. Does he not know what headphones are?

“So, you go to the third derivate of the equation to get-” You couldn’t think. You couldn’t even hear yourself speak out loud to replace thinking. You can’t do this. He just need to turn the music off.

Quickly stepping away from your desk, you walked towards you front door with determination flowing through your blood. The door was instantly open up allowing you to walk 3 steps over to your neighbor.

Now, how shall you handle this? You can be civil and calm. Explain to him your situation and how his loud music is negatively impacting your studies. Then he will understand and turn his music off, leaving you to a quiet working space.

“Hey, Charles! Open up!” You yelled banging on the door. See, the first option would have worked if your neighbor was a decent human being. You swore this man had to be a demon hiding in a human skin or something.

Your first time meeting him was when you were moving in. Coming up the stairs, you accidently tripped on a crack in one of the steps, causing you to drop you box full of your school supplies. Everything spilled everywhere down the hallway.

Then Satan himself appeared behind you, staring down at you. He had a nice dark brown skin with curly light brown hair. His eyes were the most notable feature. You assumed he had green eyes, but they are so light that they look golden.

You expected him to help you up or maybe start help picking up things, you know, like a decent human being capable of empathy. “Always making a mess where you go. Disgusting,” he spit out, with a deep frown on his face. He stepped around your body still on the floor to walk down the hallway before stopping at the door next to yours. “At least be useful and pick up your mess.”

The interactions after that were all downhill. You would ask him for help considering he went to the same college at you and he would pretend not to hear you and walk away. You would politely ask if you could borrow some eggs or sugar to make a cake and his response was "Get it yourself."

So that's why you don't feel a miniscule of remorse for banging on his door. In fact, you felt a smidge of giddiness at seeing him crack the door open with bloodshot eyes. You were right in assuming he feel asleep.

"I know your brain is smooth all around. But you have to be capable of forming a coherent thought to not bang on doors early in the fucking morning." It's ironic that he says this when you can literally feel the bass from his music still. "Do you even comprehend that it's midterm or have you just been dozing off in class?"

Every ounce of your strength was put into stopping yourself from punching him in the face. Was he serious? He thinks you're being the rude one during this time. He's the one playing a full heavy metal concert in his apartment.

"Charles, you are the worst human being ," you ignored his scoff there," I have ever had the dishonor of meeting. However, I'm too tired to argue with you right now. I just ask one thing. Please turn the music off or just down so I can't hear."

You stated deep into his light green eyes to show him that you were being serious. You watched as his nose scrunched up in confusion at your statement.

"What music could you possibly be talking about?" He asked, as the bass dropped once again causing the floor to vibrate. You didn't even say anything but pointed in front of him. You couldn't see into his home because of the door still half shut on him, but you hoped he got the hint.

A hand appeared from behind the door and reached into his hair. After digging around for a few seconds, he shoved the hair to the side revealing his ear. Was his ears always that pointy?

He reached into it and his fingers seem to grab something causing him to pull at it. A blue cylindrical item came out and landed in his hand. The two of you stated down at it before slowly looking up at each other.

Did he- did he really put in ear plugs in... to not hear his loud music?

"Whoops, I'll guess I could turn it down," he said sliding behind the door. You stood there in disbelief as you realized that only you were suffering from the music for the last couple of days.

"Charles, what the-" you yelled grabbing the handle of the door to swing it open. You took a step forward, finally gaining that energy to yell at him, when your eyes took in your next door neighbor.

His dark brown chest was on display, but that was not the main focal point. As it go lower, instead of a pair of pants, there's golden specks in the sides. Then more specks until they bunch up into scales.

His lower half was snake body with golden scales. A few of them were extremely dull with what looked to be dead skin sticking out everywhere.

You brought your gaze up from the unnatural sight that definitely burned into your eyes to look at Charles’s face. His face was completely blank as you made eye contact. You both looked down at his tail, then back up at each other, then back down at each other, before finally stopping on each other’s face.

“You know- I gotta...I gotta go,” you stuttered out, slowly walking backwards. His eyes, which you were hundred percent sure now were golden, started to turn into slits.

You turned around to go run, but something wrapped around you waist before yanking you back. Something cold and rough was wrapped around your mouth before pulling you into something solid.

“Stupid human. Stupid human. Stupid human. You- you better not make a sound. I can- I can eat you.. yeah... I’m a big scary monster that could gobble you up, so you better do what I say.” All the fear you held melted away as you could feel Charles shaking around you. You could feel the way he was panicking from the way his breath was quickly hitting the back of your neck.

Wiggling your left hand, you managed to get it out of his coils. You grabbed his forearm and started to pull down to speak, but he just tighten his grip. “You stupid human. I was trying so hard to keep you away, so this wouldn’t happen. But you had to be so- so...”

You managed to pull his arm off. “Stupid might be the word you’re looking for.” Tilting your head back, you looked into his yellow eyes to see his pupil was as thin as a needle.

“Also, I’m not going to scream. Out of the two of us, you seem most likely to scream,” you teasing, wiggling some more. Your right arm popped out. “Also, you might want to close the door before you have to deal with someone else finds out that you’re a snake.”

All the pressure around disappear as you saw Charles quickly slither over to the door. It was slammed shut with all the locks being clicked into place. Charles glanced at the door before grabbing a nearby chair and sliding it under the door.

“So,” he turned around to look at you with a slight glare,” I guess you got some explaining to do.”

=====================

I apologize for making this into a two parter, but some stuff happen that caused me to not finish it. But this will get fluffier in part two. Nothing but fluff. You could call it cotton candy.

#exophilia #monster boyfriend #monsters #monster love #monster boy #monster boy oc #naga #monster fluff #flufftober

227 notes · View notes

yolkyeomie · 4 years

Text

[blurb] — member: minho, word count: 2489, genre: e2l-esque/rockband au/female!reader/angst(?), warning: none.

note: this is a wildly out of character verison of minho so none of this is probably accurate to his actual personality. I was just tired one hand and this is how I saved myself

[11:30 pm]: “Lee Minho!” You growled. Despite the bustling energy of the dressing room before you had entered, your voice boomed over every single person within the walls limits. Those who were speaking quickly closed their mouths and others who were walking in and out slowed their hasty pace to a creeping stalk. Their eyes turned from each other to you as you stood in the doorway, hand clenched tightly around the door knob in an attempt to keep yourself calm.

Everyone could tell just by taking one glance at you that you were not here to play around as usual. The energy you exude was far too intense for anyone to even crack a smile at you. “Where is he?” You demanded, glancing around the room for the sly cat. “Where is Minho?”

“Here,” a cheery voice informed, nearly giving yourself whiplash as you turned around. There he stood right behind you, his signature black bass guitar slung over his shoulders and his mocking smile plastered against his face. Behind him stood his bandmates nervously glancing between the two of you, unsure of what exactly was going to happen next.

This scenario was something they had seen countless times before yet they still would never get used to the sight of you breathing smoke out of your nose and Minho only looking down on you with endearment. Your anger was entertaining to him, no matter how many times the out of you spat with each other.

“What? Is there something wrong?” He asked, his statement covering for his blatant ignorance, “did you not like the concert? But you had the best seat in the house?”

His condescending words easily began to fan the flame, eagerly watching as your face flickered from a look of pure bewilderment to complete wrath.

You knew Minho was doing this on purpose, yet you couldn’t resist the urge to explode. “Was there something wrong?” You questioned him, reaching out and grabbing the sterling silver chain that hung down his neck. Gasps fluttered throughout the room at your threatening demeanor as you spoke, “You really have the audacity to be asking that right now?”

“Hey, not here,” Changbin interrupted, “Not while everyone is watching. Don’t want a video of your fight to get leaked, do you?” He used his drumsticks to separate the two of you from each other, providing himself as the unprompted middle ground as he gestured toward the staff in the room.

Usually he would be all for watching you rip into Minho without a second thought, but there were too many people around to let it go unchecked. As much as he believed that the bassist deserved every inch of karma that was going to hit him, it couldn’t happen in public. They had a reputation to uphold after all.

The two of you looked around the room for yourselves, taking note of how the entire backstage room was crawling with staff members from the concert the group had held. As much as you wanted to give him a piece of your mind, you would rather not be labeled as the crazy person that barged in and caused a fight.

Begrudgingly you stepped back and away from Minho, just enough for it not to look like you weren’t going to attack him like some rabid animal. “Fine, I won’t.”

“Take it outside, somewhere private would be ideal,” Bang Chan added, whispering as lowly as possible so that any of the more... invading staff couldn’t catch him. “Oh, and don’t do anything stupid? Please? I kinda need Minho alive.”

“You heard the man,” The boy taunted, gesturing back to the band’s leader. “He needs me alive, so keep your hands to yourself this time.”

You didn’t think you could roll your eyes as hard as you did, forcing your hands to your side so that you didn’t actually harm him. The whispers and murmurs only continued to go as you led Minho outside of the dressing room, their voices drifting to your ears despite their attempts to conceal them.

“Is she some crazy fan?” “No, I heard she knows the boys personally.”

“Should we call security? What if she actually harms him!”

“I wonder what Minho did for her to act that way? Honestly, I couldn’t blame her… he’s a little patronizing and stuck up in my opinion…”

You shook off their words as the two of you walked down the corridor of the dressing rooms in silence, a stark contrast to the other staff members who were running about the halls to clean up the aftermath of the band’s concert. Every so often someone would stop to greet the two of you and ask what was going on, the sheer intensity of your auras combined quickly made them back off.

You were always the more approachable of the two but this wasn’t the right time for any of that to happen.

Soon the crowd began to thin out and for the most part, the two of you were left completely alone. The corridor you had turned down was practically a dead end so it was the perfect place for you to antagonize the bassist without running away.

“You said you’d help me with Hyunjin, to get back together with him,” you began, turning your sharp and annoyed gaze on him once again. “You said you’d get me tickets to your concert because I mentioned he was a fan of the band, so what was with that stunt you pulled on stage at the end?”

“I don’t think I understand?” The boy questioned, leaning up against the wall as he continued to feign ignorance like he had done in the dressing room with the staff. “I did exactly what you asked me to. I got you tickets, I got you the best seats in the house, I even got the other members to put his favorite song on the set list for this concert? What could have possibly gone wrong?”

“That song!” You exclaimed, “that dumb song you had created on your own but never released it for the band to play because it was about me. You played it right before the concert ended as the encore. Are you insane, seriously?”

Minho snorted at your frustration, clearly not taking the situation as serious as you were. “Are you serious? You’re mad because I played that love song without telling you? Come on Y/N, you really think he was able to tell that it was about you?”

You scoffed, almost laughing at his answer. A love song? You wouldn’t exactly label the song as a “love song”. “I understand you don’t think very highly of Hyunjin, but he knew Minho. There was no way he wouldn’t have been able to tell.”

It was so clear that Minho knew exactly what he was doing when he was on stage. As the band got ready to play their original encore song, you had caught him skipping around to stage to each member of the band. Starting discreetly with Changbin since he was the drummer in the background all the way to whispering to the lead guitarist, Jisung, near the front of the stage.

Once his words had finally reached the ears of Bang Chan, the leader gave a skeptical glance before his eyes connected to your curious one’s. He hesitated for a moment before putting on a strained smile and speaking into the microphone.

There’s been a slight change of plans in the encore, Bang Chan had announced. The entire crowd let out a wave of confusion as his dimples distracted their fans from his clear distress. I mean, who doesn’t like an unreleased song as the ending note?

The crowd let out a cheer for the change, not bothered one bit by the band switching gears to do something off script. Even Hyunjin was excited to hear the song that even he hadn’t known existed. Though both his wide smile quickly fell once the song began to play, its piercing and strong melody rang through the stadium as Minho strummed his guitar.

Minho had the most lines out of the other members of the band in that song, which was a stark contrast to his usual in the background singing. The boy was standing front and center, hands no longer glued to his guitar but clutching onto the microphone that stood before him. His voice boomed over the speakers as he sang to the crowd, yet his attention wasn’t on his adoring fans that were calling his name.

No, his attention was on you.

Minho’s eyes almost never left your figure as he zeroed you out in the crowd, his prideful smile growing on his lips as he poured his soul into the lyrics he never thought he’d sing in person. It was like he was sending a signal to you and Hyunjin, that the bond that you were trying to rekindle between the two of you would never work out in the end.

You’re mine, Minho’s lyrics conveyed, a meaning only you and Hyunjin could decipher, and I’ll never let you go to him.

“You can’t keep… you can’t keep doing this,” you struggled to convince him (or maybe you were trying to convince yourself?). “You can’t keep trying to interfere with my relationships! I’m my own person, Minho, I like other people! You can’t keep going on like this.”

“I can’t keep going on like this?” He repeated, in shock that you would even have the audacity to say that to him. Minho pushed himself off the wall as he approached you, his stereotypical vile temperament that his staff deemed him as showing through his usual cool head. “I’m not the one who keeps running back to the same person whose heart I broke every time we have a fight!”

Ouch, what a low blow. But it wasn’t like Minho was… lying? As much as you wanted to deny it, every time the two of you got into it you’d go running to Hyunjin afterward.

You needed something different from the constant fire and ice of you and the bassist's quarrels and that was exactly what Hyunjin was. He wasn’t the sheer cold of the winter storm like Minho was, just a pleasant breeze along a hot summer day. That’s why you were so drawn to him at first, that’s why you had jumped head first into a relationship with him, and that’s why you couldn’t exactly let go of him after you had broken up.

So despite Hyunjin being the better of the two, why was it that you only ran to him for comfort? As soon as he had given you what you desired you were back to trailing behind the band’s footsteps. You were back to walking and fighting with Minho.

“Do you really like him?” Minho asked, his tone a little harsher than he planned. Though he didn’t apologize for the attitude as he continued to speak, “Do you really want to be with Hyunjin again or is this an excuse to keep playing with me?”

“It’s…,” you hesitated, why must he ask this up now of all times? “It’s complicated, Minho! Not only that but it’s none of your business to pry into my relationship with Hyunjin? You’ve already done enough damage—”

“Y/N, tell me before I figure it out in a way you aren’t going to like,” he blurted out, finally snagging the words out of your mouth for good. What did he just say? “Do you really still like Hyunjin? Or are you just using him at this point, because it really feels like the latter when you keep hanging around me and not him.”

You stared back at him wide eyed, struggling to form sentences in your head and deciding to spit out whatever you could. “What are you talking about? You mean like use him to make you jealous of something? That’s petty, Minho, I—“

“One,” he began, reaching for the guitar strap on his shoulders to discard the instrument.

“How I feel about Hyunjin is none of your business,” you tried to argue. “See you’re even doing it again! Trying to force your way through when things don’t go your way. I’m supposed to be the one who is asking for answers anyway!”

“Two,” Minho continued, ignoring your rambling as he dropped the bass onto the ground without care.

“Fine, I like him. I’m in love with Hyunjin, are you happy now?” You answer, though the words feel foreign on your tongue as you bite at him. “This fights and bickering we do mean nothing to me, your stupid encore song meant absolutely nothing to me. So stop trying to press forward already.”

Minho stood in front of you quietly, his face contorting in disapproval as he tried to process your answer. “You’re so good at fighting with me but you’re so bad at lying.” He shook his head, amused disbelief donning his face as he took a hold of your shirt collar in the same motion you took his chain necklace. “Three.”

“Why are you intent on this, hm? You don’t like being the one who is toyed with instead of the other way around?” You hissed, snatching his hand off of your shirt with as much strength as you could muster. “All you do is take, take, and humiliate. Get a grip, Minho.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, hovering just inches above your face and his eyes darting around the room. He should have known that you still would have the energy to argue with him, that never ending flame in your chest that kept lighting the cigarette of your relationship.

“Y/N!” A familiar voice called, making you and Minho glance over your shoulder and down the corridor to spot a figure at the foot of it. You immediately recognized it to be the Hyunjin, the fool peering down curiously and a sheepish smile stretching across his face when he finally saw you. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I knew you were backstage. I just didn’t know how long you’d be here for. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, of course,” you respond, your tone immediately going soft as you shoved Minho off of you. The way you spoke to Minho and Hyunjin respectively was so different from each other, one would think that you were two separate people. “Just give me one moment?”

The boy nodded, giving an awkward wave toward Minho given the fact that the last time the two had interacted was the situation during the encore. Though the bassist gave no response as you turned back to him, your original rage replenished as you finally addressed him for the last time. “Don’t ever sing that song again. Not around me, not around your bandmates, not around your fans, no one. I want every bit of its existence erased from my memory.”

56 notes · View notes