#The ghosts of the previous drummers come after the current one

[can-u-not-14]

I swear mcr went through drummers like defense against the dark arts teachers

[creativeashproductions]

If I Stay Part One // Luke Patterson

Summary: A beautiful day Luke visits a record store to relive the times he would buy an album, but he finds more than memories. He meets you and a connection blossoms between you two and then Reggie and Alex as well. All is well until Julie discovers something.

Warning: Swearing, talk of death and car accident!

Words: 2.6k

A/N: This is based off the movie If I Stay and the movie Charlie St. Cloud. Sorry for not posting sooner, my sister in law along with my three nieces were in a car accident. Thankfully the kids are okay but my sister-in-law in currently in hospital due to minor injuries thus far.

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Masterlist

So, Julie’s life changed dramatically in the lost year and few months, firstly her family lost their mother. Secondly, Julie’s love for music faded until the melody and lyrics were haunting memories. Thirdly, after losing her place in the music program, she had to question her sanity. For in her garage lived three teenage ghosts to her disbelief and horror quite frankly; the ghosts grew on her so much she was in a band with them.

In the hours that Julie was attending school, the boys tended to tour the entire city. They enjoyed seeing the changes that had happened for the two and a half decades. Reggie really enjoyed the western-themed stores, even scaring a little girl with a floating cowboy hat that disappeared once on his head. Alex adored learning about the drastic changes within in the LGBTQ+ community, he had plans for when 2021 LA Pride came in June. Luke, of course, would go anywhere that had music such as music stores, record stores, concert venues and even followed a rock legend once.

“Ooh.” A voice spoke in the record store, “This would be the perfect gift.”

Luke turned to see you gazing at the Rock N’ Roll records with a passion in your eyes and an adorable smile that melted his heart. He couldn’t help but walk closer even if he had no clue if you could see him or not.

“Def Leppard? Definitely one of my favourite bands.” Luke spoke anticipating the usual one-sided conversation. His speculation shattered when you turned to face him with big eyes, “You can see me.”

You nodded your head, pushing your hands into your faded blue jeans glancing around the store, hoping the owner didn’t notice. To your relief the man was oblivious, Luke glanced over before stepping closer.

 “You’re alive?”

“Mhm.” You spoke, removing a single hand to play with your burgundy jacket that cinched at the waist to give form. It was open to reveal a plain black shirt that left an inch of your midsection free, “I always wondered if ghosts were real. I got my answer.”

“This is so cool! My friend is the only person that can see my friends and me.” The grin was breathtaking on the teenage ghost. There was a connection between the two that was immediate and intense.

“At least you’re not alone.” You supplied turning to pick up the record, turning it around to read the tracklist. In the end, you decided you didn’t feel like buying it, replacing it you started for the front door.

A college-aged person walked in glued to the screen of the phone not replying as you mentioned a thank you before the door closed. Luke rushed to follow your steady pace in black hiking boots.

“Where are you going?” Luke questioned coming to the same stride as the girl that had taken his attention quickly. His interest had grown when he found he could hold a conversation with her.

“It’s a nice day. I thought I would go for a walk.” You replied, stopping to look around the street with curious eyes. Luke yearned for those eyes to look in his again because he swore he saw a galaxy in them, “Would you like to join me?”

Luke’s head was nodding in response with a new pep in his step as you walked down the street filled with all different kind of stores. Luke recognized Family Living Grocery store as the one that the Molina got their groceries, he and the guys had joined Julie on a trip once. It was one of his worst memories as a ghost, surrounded by snacks and food he couldn’t indulge in.

“So, what’s your story, Caspar?” You questioned stopping to look as at a beautiful dollhouse, “My cousin had one. We actually renovated it a while back for her unborn niece.”

“Caspar?” Luke teased, watching the nostalgia faded from your expression as you continued on the walk. His hazel eyes, greener at the moment, glittered at the different banter he had with you than the guys or Julie.

“Well, I don’t know your name!” You exclaimed turning the corner at a parlour with gorgeous stencilled artwork on the glass.

“Luke. My name is Luke. Hey! I know this shop!” Luke beamed, stepping back to take in the storefront. In the twenty-five years since he last saw it, the blue faded into a teal, but the door was still the same as it always was.

“You have a tattoo?” You asked, scanning his arms bare in the cut off shirt he wore. You couldn’t see any ink on his skin. Luke couldn’t help the smirk on his face at the blatant heated gaze.

“No. It was 1994. We just played our biggest gig at the time, and Bobby decided we should get tattoos.” Luke’s mouth twisted at the mention of his former friend, “Of course we were sixteen and Alex just about fainted in the shop. The guy took one look at Reggie and laughed at our fake IDs. Told us to come back in a few years.”

One of the few memories that weren’t tainted by the betrayal that Trevor Wilson had gone on to do a year after the tattoo fiasco. It was more than not being credited or his songs being stolen, but it was also that someone he wholeheartedly trusted turned his back on them. Luke frankly didn’t care how Bobby coped after that fateful night. Still, he changed his name and refused any mention of his previous music experience. That hurt a lot.

“So, you’re a ’90s kid.” You raised an eyebrow coming to a stop on the edge of the street, pressing the button to cross.

“Technically a ’70s kid. We died in ’95 a few hours before a life-changing gig.” The mood turned sombre as Luke thought back on that one night that life decided to raise both middle fingers at his dreams, “Death by a hot dog.”

The snicker fell from your mouth before you do anything about it but sobered up quickly in the view of his painful admittance.

“So, you’re seventeen?” You asked crossing when the crosswalk light flickered on. Your attention focused on crossing while listening to the teenager.

“Forever seventeen but I would eighteen physically, but if I had survived I would be forty-three.” Luke mused shoving his hands into his staple black jeans with the chains and his constant accessory of a blue rabbit’s foot.

“Oh, damn. I’ve seventeen as well.” You replied dodging pedestrians before humming a to a song you had heard recently but where you did was unknown. You didn’t want to bump into anyone.

Luke glanced down at his watch, somehow even in death it worked, noticing that it was around the time rehearsal would commence. The thought barely ended before a flash of light preceded Alex’s presence. You slightly jumped in response.

“Luke! Julie’s wondering where you are. We have rehearsal.” Alex was surprised that Luke wasn’t already at the studio. He was always the first one holding his guitar for the rest of them.

One glance at the girl beside Luke cemented a reason for his tardiness. Alex could see that you were the reason and a pretty reason too. Alex wished he had your jacket with such a beautiful colour, but the music was more important.

“Oh, man!” Luke panicked fearing that being late would cause Julie to leave the band after the whole school dance fiasco.

“So, Luke. I like your name by the way. I’m Y/N.” You greeted holding back from offering you a hand, your theory would have been proven correct. Ghosts can’t touch other people, all the movies portrayed that.

“Nice to meet you! I’ll find you soon!” Luke shouted seconds before Alex poofed them both away with a single hand on his bandmate’s shoulder.

A content smile appeared before you continued on your way, unaware of the lack of acknowledgement from people on the street.

The next few days, Luke would find you either in the record store or just out front during his free time. He hadn’t realized how lonely he was touring the music entertainment spots until he had your company. Soon you were joined by Alex and Reggie every once in a while.

The three were planning outings with their new lifer friend as Julie grabbed her songbook from her room. She was amused when the three wouldn’t shut up.

“What are you planning?” Julie questioned scanning their animated expressions, even taking in the slight change in Alex’s appearance.

Alex had a braided bracelet of the rainbow on his left wrist that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday. He even seemed calmer and less anxious, as well.

“What happened to Alex?” Julie questioned with a small smirk, “Did you bump into Willie?”

Alex shook his head, “No, Luke met this girl at a record store and then Reggie and I met her. She’s cool! There’s this app she showed us, and it had videos of anything you could imagine!”

Julie’s teasing smile faltered at the mention of Luke meeting someone before it returned once more. She pushed the feeling away as this girl had brought peace to the drummer.

“What’s her name?” Julie asked, pushing the songbook away to listen intently to the new piece of the boys’ afterlife. The three burst into stories of the girl.

“She took me to this cool place nearby where people store their horses!” Reggie burst out, clapping his head, “I already have a country song started! This is so a hit single for our future country album!”

Alex only released an exasperated sigh at Reggie’s idea that he voiced every single day since the beginning of the band. Luke was just used to finding sheets of songs from Reggie around the studio and often his songbook too.

“She also brought me a bag of clothing she had in her house that she let me go through. Apparently, her house is the place where cousins take their old clothing.” Alex supplied striking a pose in his new white sweater with a rainbow logo on the front.

Julie grinned at the positivity radiating off the two boys.

“Is she a ghost?”

Luke shook his head, “No. She’s alive.”

A spark of happiness flits itself inside of Julie before it dissipated because Flynn had already gently let the girl down about Luke.

“What’s her name! I’m gonna find her Instagram!” Julie took out her phone waiting as Alex supplied her the name. Her thumbs froze before she could type staring down at the black screen.

The name was familiar.

Laying on a bed on San Pablo Street was a girl with her eyes closed and a serene expression. This bed wasn’t just any bed in a home. Instead, this bed was one no one wished to be in. A bed with machines surrounding and right in the middle of those machines was Y/N.

The very girl that had met Luke, Reggie and Alex were in fact in the ICU of a hospital recovering in a coma.

“Why do you look like that?” Luke demanded as the colour drained from the lead singer of their band.

“Are you sure it was Y/N Y/L/N?” Julie gulped dread filling her veins as each boy nodded their head and the girl slumped, “I go to school with her. The thing is she’s been in a coma for two weeks now.”

You were outside the record store once more as the three ghosts appeared in front of you each looking the worst you had ever seen them.

“Did you lie?” Luke questioned stepping closer to the teenage girl that furrowed her brows in confusion, “You said that you are alive. Why did you lie?”

“Lie?” You asked, taking a step back from the odd energy the boys had. A look of distraught on each face, “What are you talking about?”

“Why are you here every day at this exact time. Never late, never early.” Alex questioned sick to his stomach as your brows came together.

“I- walk…” You trailed off thinking of the last week in deep thought paling as you had no recollection of going home or getting to the store. It was like you blacked out each time.

Actually, the last time you remember not being with the guys or at the store was two weeks ago.

“I don’t re…member.” You whispered, “I haven’t seen my family since…oh my god.”

Luke stepped closer, terrified as he reached out, hoping with his entire being his hand would go through you. It didn’t. Luke’s hand rested on your arm, still wearing that burgundy jacket. Your eyes flickered between his solid hand and the same outfit you wore for weeks now. Why would you be wearing a jacket and hiking boots in Los Angeles?

“My cousin had been saving up for a trip for her eighteenth birthday. She wanted to go skiing, so we split the cost between our families.”

As if a wall broke, you realized with horror that the college boy that hadn’t held the for you like you first thought. He hadn’t seen or heard you because in his world you weren’t there. No one had acknowledged you because they couldn’t see you just like they couldn’t see Luke.

“What else do you remember?” Reggie spoke up next, noticing that Luke was getting more upset. His eyes going so light the green appeared to be blue and glittered with tears and his heart dropping.

“My parents, my cousin and I were driving up the mountain in the rented car. There-“

Two Weeks Ago

Your head leaned again Lou’s head sharing the headphones connected to your phone blasting the carefully curated playlist. Lou had been living with your parents and you the last six months as her parents were travelling for work. It was a dream because she was like a sister already and vice versa; Lou as a surprise baby with her older sister being ten years older.

“We haven’t been to the slopes since we first got married.” Dad said glancing over at your mother in the passenger seat, “Didn’t we conceive-“

“Dad! Gross!” You shouted, wrinkling your nose as he glanced in the rear-view mirror to smile at your antics. Your mother’s laugh was probably one of your most favourite sounds in the world, it was warm like hot chocolate on a cold day.

“Did you see that video of the hologram band?” Lou asked, not paying attention to your family’s antics, “It’s super cool.”

“We still have half of our playlist to go through. You should show me when we get to the cabin.” You replied, “We could put it on the projector with the others.”

The others being your extended family, including the surprise of Lou’s parents. Your mother pointed out the snow on the mountain gaining everyone’s attention. It was beautiful compared to sunny Los Angeles.

Lou’s thumb was just about to click the video of Julie and the Phantoms against your wishes. You felt the fear before the yell, snapping your head up you watched as a pickup truck hit ice swerving into your lane. The screech of tires preceded the crunch of the vehicles hitting each other. Throughout the surrounding area, the echoes of the crash bounced off the mountains scaring birds away. Miraculously Lou’s phone survived the crash and played the electric video of ‘Edge of Great’ by Julie and the Phantoms. A song you would hum under your breath during your walks meeting the guys.

The snow turned red under four of five bodies. You lay nonconscious a stark difference in the burgundy jacket and black shirt you had painstakingly chosen that morning.

If I Stay Part Two (Final)

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[karlajoyner]

Edge of Great (Luke Patterson x Reader)

A/n: Hey guys so this is my first imagine on tumblr. I know it’s pretty long but my fingers just kept typing.🙃 Definitely let me know if I should make shorter ones or longer ones or even a series! Also let me know if you guys have any requests or plots that I could write and for who! Finally finally let me know if you like it in a first reader POV or if i should try a third person POV! Oh and if I should post them in a book on wattpad or keep the content strictly on tumblr!!!😁 (Ps. I’ll most likely be adding a song to every chapter whether it goes with the chapter or not!) Check out my last post for more information on my writing.

Warnings: None

————

I sat in the studio along with my bandmates tuning my guitar. We were currently waiting on Julie to return from school so we could begin to practice for tonight. Her dad got us a gig playing for a couple of her friends to start a following. Which made a lot of sense when Julie explained it to me. Right after Luke sent me into a frenzie of confusion.

"Hey y/n/n you think you could help me with these lyrics for tonight?" Luke called from the couch. I stood up from my comfortable spot on the chair under the loft and flashed myself onto the spot right next to him.

"Sure Lukey" I said taking his writing journal in my own hands and sitting back to scan over the words.

Y/n- I believe, I believe that we're just one dream

I mumbled hearing Luke start to strum on his six string the melody of the song.

Away from who were mean to be that were standing on the edge of

Y/n, L- Something big something crazy our best days are yet unknown that this moment is ours to own

He joined in.

Y/n- Cause we're standing on the edge of great

L- (On the edge of great)

Y/n- Great

L- (On the edge of great)

Y/n- Great

L- (On the edge of great)

Y/n- Cause we're standing on the edge of

We sang to each other back and forth with smiles plastered on our faces.

Y/n, L- Shout shout. C'mon and let it out, out. C'mon and let it out, out. Don't gotta hide it. Let your colors blind their eyes. Be who you are no compromise. Just shout, shout. C'mon and let it out

We paused running out of lyrics. My mind racing searching for the next line.

Y/n- What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive

I sang softly as he leaned in closer with a smirk plastered on his face.

Y/n, L- Ooh-oh. I believe, I believe that we're just one dream. Away from who we're meant to be. That we're standing on the edge of great

We finished out of breath. My smile grew as Alex and Reggie began to clap.

"That was great"

"Yeah we’re gonna rock Julie's garage tonight" Reggie said making it sound less cool than it actually was.

"Definitely" Luke said standing up.

"Thanks for the help boss" He said sending me a smile.

"Anytime" I grinned before turning around to go take my previous seat to finish tuning my guitar.

"I'm gonna go find Julie and let her know we've got the song ready for tonight thanks to our amazing rhythm guitarist"

"Sounds like a plan" Alex said.

"Don't forget to mention how beautiful I am as well" I teased earning a smirk from Luke.

"I never do baby" He winked at me before disappearing. A small laugh escaped my lips before going back to my guitar.

"So" Alex said catching my attention.

"So?" I repeated looking up at the drummer boy.

"So you and Luke?"

"Me and Luke what?"

"You and Luke are like in love each other"

"We are not. Well I'm not. Can't say the same about pretty boy" I said teasingly.

"Yeah sure you're not. Reggie back me up here. Please tell your best friend that she's totally in love with Luke"

"You're totally in love Luke"

"I am not. Reggie your supposed to have my back"

"And I will. Once you admit you have a thing for Luke" He said smirking at me. I glared at the two boys in front of me who weren't as oblivious as I had thought they were.

"Okay so I have a thing for Luke. So what?"

"So you should tell him"

"Why on earth would I do that?"

"So he can admit he's in love with you too"

"And why would he do that when he's clearly not"

"Seriously? Didn't you see the way he was looking at you when you were singing? It looked like Reggie when he sees pizza"

"Pizza?" Reggie perked up excitedly. "There no pizza" Alex said a frown appearing on the bassist face.

"Just because looks at me a certain way does not mean he loves me"

"Really because last time I checked constantly touching each other means you like each other, constantly flirting means you like each other, and when was the last time you wore one of your own shirts" Alex said pointing at my outfit. I sunk back into my seat. He was right about everything down to one of the many shirts Luke had let me have.

"Come on y/n just admit it after we died something more changed with you two. We all see it. Even Reggie sees it and that's saying something"

"Yeah. So it's not like he's ever gonna say anything. So why should I put myself out there to possibly get rejected and heartbroken by my best friend? I mean how do we even know for sure if he's in love with me. Or even likes me for that matter?"

"We don't. Yet" Alex said smirking.

"Oh that's his thinking face. I haven't seen that since 94" Reggie said backing up slightly.

"I think we're in trouble"

It had been a couple hours after Julie had gotten out of school. Yet her or Luke were nowhere to be found. I groaned walking out of the bathroom in the back of the studio.

"Seriously Alex. This is your great idea"

"No my great idea is to have you and Reggie flirt like there's no tomorrow. This is just small details" He said fixing the fit of the flannel on my body. It was Reggie's lucky flannel that took a lot of convincing to get off his body.

"Okay but why'd I have to change my shirt" I said looking down at my own crop top that I hadn't worn in a very long time.

"Because it was Luke's. We need him to think that you don't need his clothes anymore"

"Why did I let you drag me into this?"

"Because deep down you want him to say something about it don't you?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice popped into the garage.

"Luke" I spoke pushing Alex away from me.

"Hey man what happened to practice?" Alex asked casually.

"Julie had some stuff to do after school so I went along. But she's on her way so we should get a few runs in-" His words slowly came to a halt sending me a strange look.

"Isn't that Reggies lucky flannel?"

"Uh yeah. He let me barrow it. For good luck. Here's your shirt back by the way. I don't think I'll need it anymore" I said trying to hand him back the shirt I was wearing previously.

"You know you don't have to give it back. It's yours" His lips simpered.

"I know but Reggie said if I needed to I could just barrow his"

"Oh" was all Luke before taking the shirt out of my hands.

Suddenly the garage door opened and in walked Julie.

"Hey guys" She smiled.

"Ready for tonight?"

"Definitely"

"Flynn's coming over before to help me get ready. Girl time?" Julie asked looking at me.

"I'll be there" I smiled.

"So are we ready to rehearse?"

"Where's Reggie?"

"He went out said he would be back in a bit"

As if on cue the other ghost popped in with a smile on his face.

"Luke" He said his eyes going wide.

"Your back"

"Yeah I am. Who are the flowers for?" Luke asked eyeing the bouquet of roses in his hand.

"They’re for y/n. You know she deserves the best" Reggie said nervously sticking his hand out for me.

"Thanks Reggie" I smiled lightly.

"She also deserves her favorite flowers. Sunflowers in case you were wondering"

"Luke" I scolded him taking the bouquet.

"I think it's a sweet gesture Reggie. Seriously thank you"

"Your welcome" He smiled pulling me into a light hug.

"I think we should rehearse before it gets any later" Alex suggested trying to ease the now very notable tension in the room.

"Sounds good" Julie said awkwardly stepping past Reggie and Luke who were standing a few feet apart. I looked at Alex who gave me a small nod.

"Uh Reggie can you come here for a sec I need your help" I said pulling him away to my guitar stand. I placed strap around my body waiting for the brunette to turn his attention to me.

"Uh sure. Cutie?" He spoke in a questionable tone before looking down at me.

"You need his help with guitar?" Luke asked clearly confused.

"Well yeah"

"But I always help you with guitar" "He offered earlier if I needed help to come to him"

"Yeah. I did that" Reggie said trying to act tough.

"Whatever" Luke scoffed.

I watched as he swung his guitar around his shoulder aggressively. I glanced at Julie who was sending me a confused look so I quickly shrugged my shoulder not knowing what else to do.

It was mere minutes before we were heading out to perform. The tension in the air was now overpowered by excitement.

"I'm so nervous" I said bouncing my leg up and down anxiously.

Suddenly I felt a hand land on it stopping my movements. I looked up to see Luke smiling down at me.

"Don't be nervous your gonna do amazing out there"

"Thanks" I smiled back.

"Yeah. Your always amazing. Did I mention you look beautiful tonight? Wearing my flannel. My lucky flannel" Reggie said with a pestering smile as he swung an arm around my shoulder.

"We get it. It's your flannel" Luke interrupted immediately removing his hand from my leg. I looked at Alex who was stifling a laugh.

"Uh thanks Reg. You look good too"

"Oh I know. And I'm gonna look better singing up there with you. It'll be like old times. You and me. And a microphone"

"You and me. And a microphone" Luke mimicked him. I almost laughed only to be startled by someone walking in.

"Hey guys are you ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be" I spoke. Julie simply nodded her head walking out.

I stood up pacing around as I heard Julie begin the opening notes on the piano outside.

"Hey your gonna do great out there" Luke said stopping me from walking anymore.

"Thanks. You are too. You and Julie have great chemistry"

"Well yeah. But I think we have great chemistry too" He said taking my hands in his.

I finally looked into his eyes see him staring into mine in. A small smile forming on my face.

"Guys!" Alex called knocking us out of our trance. I panicked immediately flashing outside with Luke. Landing beside Reggie with my guitar at hand. Luke only a few feet away in his own place.

J- I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of

Y/n- Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

I joined in singing into Reggies microphone beaming with excitement. I scanned the crowd seeing smiles on people faces. This is all we ever wanted.

J- Cause we're standing on the edge of great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- Great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- Great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- 'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

L- We all make mistakes

But they're just stepping stones

To take us where we wanna go

It's never straight, no

Luke sang sending me a wink before continuing to sing with Julie.

L,J- Sometimes we gotta lean

Lean on someone else

To get a little help

I giggled as Reggie leaned on me. Back to back. Both of us playing our guitars to the same beat.

J- Until we find our way

I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of

Y/n- Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

J- Cause we're standing on the edge of great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- Great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- Great

All- (On the edge of great)

J- 'Cause we're standing on the edge of...

J- Shout, shout

C'mon and let it out, out

Don't gotta hide it

Let your colors blind their eyes

Be who you are no compromise

My heart rate picked up. The scene from earlier replaying in my head as Julie sang the next lines. Taking a chance I looked in Luke's direction to see him already looking at me with a grin on his face. I smirked walking over to the piano.

J- And Just shout, shout

C'mon and let it out, out

J, Y/n- What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive

Ooh-oh

J- I believe

Julie sang as Luke and I let off a similar guitar riff making me laugh.

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of great

Making my way over to Luke I let out a giggle as I pulled his beanie down slightly messing up his look. Before making my over back to Reggie. I looked back at the brunette to see him grinning from ear to ear.

All- Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

Cause we're standing on the edge of great

(On the edge of great)

J- On the edge of great

All- (Great, on the edge of great) On the edge

All- (Great, on the edge of great)

J- 'Cause we're standing on the edge of...

L- Running from the past

Y/n- Tripping on the now

J- What is lost can be found

It's obvious

Luke, Julie, and I finished singing towards the audience.

Making eye contact with a few kids before flashing out myself back into the garage where Alex and Reggie were already waiting. Adrenaline coursing through our veins as another presence poofed into the room.

"That was amazing!" Luke shouted excitedly.

"I can't believe we just did that. Did you see how pumped they were?" I asked falling back onto the couch besides Reggie.

"Yeah. They loved us!" "Remind me to thank Julie for playing our CD later"

"Tonight it's her garage tomorrow it's- it's clubs, dances, and worldwide tours" Luke said eagerly. Taking the free spot to my left.

"God I wish we could feel like this all the time" I said leaning into Luke.

"Me too y/n/n" He said placing an arm around me. A sudden fake cough erupting from Alex's lips. I looked over to see him staring at me with a look.

"Oh uh- Reggie you were great out there" I complimented the boy sitting up.

"Thanks. You uh- you looked hot" He tried to sound cool but failed miserably.

"You think?"

"Oh yeah- I mean the sweat on your forehead and like the heat and-"

"What are you going on about?" Luke asked confusion plastering itself on his face.

"I think what he means is y/n is attractive. Right Reggie?" Alex asked.

"No, no don't answer for him. Reggie be straight with me do you like y/n or not?" Luke asked standing up.

"Why does it matter if I do or don't?" Reggie questioned standing up as well.

"Because you out of everyone know that I like her so why are you letting her wear your clothes, buying her flowers, and calling her hot. I thought I made it clear she was off limits" Luke said my mouth widening in shock.

"I'm off limits?" I asked looking at him.

"How many people did you make it clear to that I was off limits?" I asked not really wanting an answer I was expecting.

"A few"

"A few? Micheal Brookes?" I asked remembering a guy I began to talk to at the beginning of our senior year who randomly stopped talking to me one day. I watched as his head dipped in a short nod.

"Jacob Miller?" I continued watching his nod once again.

"Grant Dean?" Nod.

"Nick Harper?" Nod.

"Derek Johnson?" Nod.

"Seriously Luke? Your the reason I never had a boyfriend my senior year. To make it worse I died a virgin. You asshole" I shouted standing up. I was fuming at this point. He had no right. And he still did it. My head whipped towards the garage door heading it creak open.

"Hey guys" Julie and Flynn smiled walking it.

"You guys did great out there" Flynn said happily. Julie immediately noticing the tension in the room and the frown upon my lips.

"Are you okay y/n?"

"I don't know why don't you ask Luke?" I spoke before flashing out.

I landed in the only place I could think of. A single tear escaped my eye as I sat on the marquee of the Orpheum. Our dream. His dream. I stared out onto the lit up street of Sunset Boulevard. If he didn't want me seeing anyone he could've said something. For the longest time I wondered why guys were such assholes. It wasn't them. It was Luke. It was always Luke.

"I know your mad" I heard his voice speak from behind me.

"I think I'm beyond mad Luke. How could you?" I asked standing up and turning towards him.

"I came crying to you all those times wondering why guys didn't want me. And-and you made me think that it was all me when it was really you. Telling them to back off. Why? Why would you do this to me?"

"Because-" He was at a loss for words. Looking like a kicked puppy.

"I-I wanted you" He finally spoke up.

"You what?"

"I wanted you" He spoke more confidently.

"I wanted you to myself. I- I every time you came and told me you were talking to someone new it hurt because I know it should've been me who asked you out. Who got the courage to just tell you that I-" He went silent the anger in me evaporating in a matter of seconds.

"That you what?" I asked quietly.

"That I love you. I know I'm late but I can't hold it in anymore. After seeing you and Reggie today I got jealous just like I used to back in high school. I know this'll probably ruin our friendship but I don't want to lose you so I really need you to say something right now before I go insane not hearing your beautiful voice" He finished off finally looking at me. The look in his eyes was as hurt. And I wanted to be mad. But I couldn't be. Not when he just admitted what I had been wanting to hear for so long.

"Your 25 years late. But I think we have an eternity to make up for that" I said his eyebrows flying up in surprise.

"Really?"

"You really think I wanted to wear my own shirt today Patterson? Alex told me that if I kept wearing your clothes I'd only fall deeper in love you" I spoke a smile reaching both our face.

He quickly made his way towards me. Leaning forward until his lips attached themselves onto mine. I giggled as he lifted me in his arms holding me close. Our lips molding perfectly like they were made for each other.

"This isn't real" He whispered putting me down.

"Your mine. God your mine" He mumbled pressing open mouth kisses down my neck before connecting his lips back to mine.

"It's definitely real Lukey"

"I love it when you call me that" He mumbled into my lips.

"Don't get all soft on me now Patterson" I laughed pulling away.

"I'm sorry for what I did before I really am. For making you upset and I'm gonna spend an eternity making it up to you"

"It's okay Luke. It's in the past now. I just would've preferred if you would've not scared away every guy that tried to talk to me"

"I promise I'll never hurt you like that again" He said holding me close by the waist. As I began to suck on his neck to begin leaving a hickey.

"And I promise you won't be a virgin for much longer" He whispered reattaching our lips again.

[undiscovered-horror-icon]

SlipKnot Members [Part Two]

[All of this info was copied form the archive of this blog on Skyrock.com circa 2009 -2010: User: maggot777 on Skyrock. com ]

[I’m just sharing it and take no credit]

[This post will include the current members, circa 2010]

Name: Sidney George Wilson Position: DJ N ° 0 Nickname: Monkeyboy or Ratboy Born March 15, 1978, Sid is the youngest of the group and by far the craziest. His scenic escapades helped to build the reputation of SlipKnoT in its early days. Since the European tour where he accidentally injured a fan during the concert in London, he has calmed down somewhat. Although with British origins, Sid is American and was born in Des Moines. Passionate about music, he creates a posse of Djs called Sound Proof Coalition. It is thanks to this posse that he will meet the group during Dotfest in 1998. “I don't know why, but this skinny dude with his red T-shirt and green shorts caught my eye that day. And then it must be said that a guy who listens to punk while scratching on hip-hop is not common, ”Shawn declared. Six months later, Sid will go to the Hairy Mary Club to see the band in concert. That night Shawn jumps into the audience and comes face to face with Sid. From this impromptu meeting was born the friendly rivalry between them, the goal being to knock out the other during the concert. For the record, this is the only time Sid has beaten Shawn. After this concert, Sid will meet SlipKnoT and tell them that he wants to be part of the group. The legend says that Shawn will not think more than ten seconds before saying yes, estimating the man enough barjo to join the group. Since then, Sid has been a mainstay of the band, justifying his presence with samples and scratches on many tracks, he's also working on a more personal project for which he took over his DJ name Starscream and released a solo album called Full Metal Scratch It in reference to the movie Full Metal Jacket. The album announced for 2001 did not actually see the light of day until 2004 following a number of problems with the label that was to release the CD. In the end, it was N2O that played the role of distributing the CD containing most of the samples that Sid uses in SlipKnoT as well as in various other projects. He also collaborates with Ampt, a band from New Jersey that he joined as a DJ.

Name: Nathan Jonas '' Joey '' Jordison Position: Drums N ° 1 Nickname: Speedball Born April 26, 1975 at the Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Joey spent all his childhood and adolescence in the small town of Yankee, located fifteen kilometers from Des Moines. Very introverted because of his small size (1.60 m), Joey has often served as a pain reliever for his classmates, but he knew deep down that one day he would prove to them that he was better. than them. Arrived in high school, he is deeply into Kiss and Black Sabbath and decides to start a group; he held the position of guitarist there. The guitar has always been his passion and he plays it whenever he can. However, the pitiful level of the drummer in his group pushes him to get behind the barrels. He finished his studies in high school and decided to get into music. One of his groups (Modifious, of which Paul and Craig were part) has had some success but not enough to make a living from it. There is a job at a gas station. Working at night, he occupies his days rehearsing with the group. One evening, his best friend comes to see him with a certain Corey Taylor. Corey doesn't make a good impression on him and the evening ends with a sentence to his friend about Corey (who is red-haired and had long hair at the time): "Bring Dave Mustaine (singer-guitarist of Megadeath) to to treat, it is too serious this guy. " Some time later, he will be contacted by Paul to join an even more obscure called SlipKnoT group. Outside of the group, Joey is involved in various side projects, the most successful of which is Murderdolls, a punk / glam band in which he is a guitarist and with whom he released an album. one owes the magnificent tribal S and as well as the logo of the group. SlipKnoT's capital K is due to the fact that at the time he drew it Joey was a mega-fan of Korn.

Name: Paul Dedrick Gray Position: bass, vocal backing N ° 2 Nickname: Porky or Balls Born April 8, 1972, Paul is the only member of SlipKnoT who is not originally from Des Moines. Born in Los Angeles, he followed his family when they moved to Iowa. Paul is one of the creators of the group along with Shawn. Very discreet and yet very influential, he played with Joey in Anal Of Blast and in various other groups before creating SlipKnoT. He had moved back to Los Angeles when Shawn asked him to come back one evening because he had an extra project he couldn't miss. He died at the age of 38 on May 24, 2010 of an overdose.

Name: Chris Fhen Position: percussion, vocal backing N ° 3 Nickname: Pornochio or Mr Piklenose Born February 24, 1972 in Des Moines, Chris is the little comic of the group. Always playing the puppet, he does everything to be noticed and is happy to go on stage. Chris is one of the last to join SlipKnoT. He joined the group after Brandon left and his integration was not without difficulty ... for him. Shawn called him in for a rehearsal in which he had to prove himself. After two hours of playing, the group reunites in the garden while Chris, alone at the other end, paces. After letting him run around in circles for thirty minutes, Shawn finally waved him over and said, "Sorry man, you're not up to par." Annoyed, Chris lowered his nose and said, "Okay, it's okay guys," turning on his heels. This is the moment that Joey chooses to say to him, “We're kidding, man! », Before bursting out laughing with the rest of the group. But that was just a little taste of what to expect. He's the one we hear vomiting on the hidden SlipKnoT track while Paul laughs beside him. This memorable streak was actually Chris' initiation into the "SlipKnoT spirit", the others having forced him to watch a hardcore movie. Chris played an important role in the recording and mixing of SlipKnoT. He helped Ross Robinson and Joey with the post-production work. Ross Robinson says of him, “Chris is a great guy. He really has his heart set on his feet. "

Name: James Root Position: guitar N ° 4 Nickname: The Peach Born October 2, 1971, James (or Jim) is the giant of the group, dominating the situation of his 1.90 m. He joined the group at the end of the recording of SlipKnoT as a starting point for the previous guitarist, Josh. Prior to being a part of SlipKnoT, James was playing in Atomic Opera and Deadfront with which he released an album and was about to record another when Joey called on him. The latter explains: “James was one of the best guitarists in Des Moines. With Atomic Opera, they were by far the leaders of the Iowa metal scene. And then I knew the guy, he had the job profile. He also stars in Stone Sour.

Name: Craig Jones Position: sample N ° 5 Nickname: 133 mhz (we nickname him like that because he's crazy about machines and 133 times 5 plus 1 equals 666) Born February 11, 1973, “This guy is definitely the most crossed out of the nine. He never says anything and that's what gives me the fuck. It is there and yet we forget it. Having said that, it's better if he doesn't say anything. The only time he opened it we had nothing but shit. This is how Craig is described by Ross Robinson. This is hardly flattering but nevertheless very true: Craig is the “ghost” of the group, always the last to arrive on stage and the first to leave. He joined SlipKnoT as a guitarist to replace Donnie Steele. He will prove himself during the recording of Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat .. He also contributed to the ambiences with his samples, which really impressed Shawn in addition to his performance on the guitar. Seeing his mad passion for machines and computers, Joey and Shawn decided to promote him and integrate him full time into SlipKnoT. In three weeks, Craig went from replacement guitarist to official sampler of the band.

Name: Shawn Michael Crahan Position: percussion, vocal backing N ° 6 Nickname: Clown or Kong Born September 24, 1969, Shawn is at the same time the leader, the pillar and the dean of the group. SlipKnoT is her baby. It was he who chose who would be part of the adventure and that from the start. Before joining SlipKnoT, he set up various groups which were only successful with critics. Unable to live on his music, he then manages with the means on board. He was first hired as a welder (this experience would later be used for the creation of drum-kits). The savings he made enabled him to buy the Hairy Mary Club, a bar in Des Moines called to become the SlipKnoT's lair for a few years. As a wise businessman, he will regularly organize metal evenings in his club and the Saturday night concerts will quickly become an institution in Des Moines for any metal and rock fan. It is during this period that SlipKnoT is formed. The future members of the group all hanging out regularly in the club, convincing them to play together will not be very difficult. Next is the recording of Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. Which costs Shawn all his savings and pushes him into heavy debt. He sells the Hairy Mary Club to repay his debts, before the scale gained by SlipKnoT allows him little by little to live on music. The Hairy Mary Club having been sold, the group had no room to rehearse, and it was only natural that Shawn put his family to contribution: SlipKnoT invests in his parents' cellar. They spent almost two years there, Ross Robinson came to see them rehearse before signing them on his label. It was also in his parents' garage that the photo was taken that served as the cover for SlipKnoT (album). Married with four children, Shawn is a very cultured person; he adores Cézanne and Picasso, which contrasts quite a bit with the image of the slightly psychotic Clown that we see at concerts (I confirm). He also likes to philosophize about life around a bottle of wine, which makes tell Corey, “Shawn is a very smart guy, even if you don't always understand what he's saying. "

Name: Michael Thompson Position: guitar No. 7 Nickname: Log Born November 3, 1973, Mick spent his childhood in Des Moines. Big fan of music, his tastes range from Jimi Hendrix to the Beatles through Morbid Angel and Deicide. He joined a group for the first time at the age of sixteen. Subsequently, he is part of various formations with the future members of SlipKnoT, but seeing that it is hard to make a living, he decides to give guitar lessons. It was then that one evening, taking advantage of Donnie's departure, Paul called him and asked him to join SlipKnoT. “I was really pissed off at that time. When Paul called me I jumped at the chance, ”says Mick to explain his arrival in the group. Outside the group, Mick is a very discreet person; he describes himself as a person who likes to live at night.

Name: Corey Taylor Position: Vocals N ° 8 Nickname: Faith or The Sickness Born December 8, 1973, Corey is in a way the guru of the maggots. His singing, his tone of voice and his charisma (I also confirm) make him a unique singer in the metal scene. Corey initially wanted to be a drummer but decided to write songs after listening to Screaming Life by Soundgarden and Bleach by Nirvana. Born of an unknown father, (but now we know who he is) he lived for a long time with his mother and his sister, traveling the North-East of the USA and sometimes (even often) finding himself homeless to sleep. Completely addicted to cocaine from the age of fifteen, he overdoses twice. The second made him realize the fragility of life and he went to settle in Ohio with his grandmother, to be far from his bad company. It was there that he developed a taste for music thanks to his grandmother's record who listened to rock 'n' roll and in particular Elvis Presley, of whom he became a very big fan. At eighteen, he chose to take his independence and return to the roads to finally return to his hometown of Des Moines. There, he assembles the group Stone Sour, with which he begins to record some titles. On several occasions, his path crosses the path of the members of SlipKnoT. And it is finally after a Stone Sour concert that Corey sees Joey, Mick and Shawn unload in the sex shop where he works. Corey sums it up in a few words: “Basically, they told me that if I didn't join their group they would give me my birthday. I admit I hesitated a little but finally I said to myself that it was the right choice for me. " Corey is very involved in songwriting; his difficult childhood is a source of inspiration for him. However, he refuses to talk too much about it. In early 2004, he married Scarlet, his long-time fiancée, with whom he had a son, eighteen months earlier.

[Might do a part three on new guys, maybe] 

[feel free to leave corrections in the replies]

[aion-rsa]

Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This RIVERDALE review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 15

“Our story is about three young women bursting with talent.”

When last we saw Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), she was in New York City trying to make her dreams come true on the ill-fated (and gone-too-soon) Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. Often when characters are spun-off and their subsequent shows fail, they vanish into the pop culture ether — The Ropers from Three’s Company being the textbook case of this phenomenon. But not so for Josie. This latest episode debuts a new iteration of the character, one who has achieved her dreams but still finds herself wanting more. It is a decidedly more mature take on the previously underwritten character, and one that allows Murray’s considerable acting and musical abilities to shine.

In short, it is the Josie that fans have always wanted to see.

But what good is the character without the backing of her Pussycats? Drummer Melody Valentine (Asha Bromfield) and multi-instrumentalist Valerie Brown (Hayley Law) have been estranged from Josie since she blew off the Pussycats for a solo career when they were in high school. Seven years later and the wounds are still raw, even though Melody has since become a renowned author with movie rights optioned by Tyler Perry, and Valerie is a talented artist and actress.

When Josie returns to Riverdale to take stock following the sudden death of her father, she finds herself coming to terms with her past. More than that though, she has found her voice in every sense of the word. She dismisses Mr. Lodge, the show’s big bad in a hilarious kiss off that sums up many viewers’ opinions on the often irksome character. Better still, the episode allows her to get meta to discuss how Riverdale often sidelined the Josie character in her previous iteration on the series. “I didn’t have much to say in old times,” she plaintively declares, commenting on the problem that Riverdale had with diversity in its early seasons. She then accurately dismisses Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead not as old friends but as acquaintances. It’s a bold and surprising scene that takes responsibility for past sins that the series committed, further illustrating that it is aware that it can do better and has been attempting to do so.

After a steamy reunion with old flame Sweet Pea (Jordan Connor), Josie begins the work of reaching out to Valerie and Melody. It is here that the episode goes from great to an all-timer. The chemistry that Murray, Bromfield and Law possess is lightning in a bottle. As old injustices are aired and attempts to repair wounded hearts and egos are undertaken, these actresses embody the old friends they portray fully. But this backdoor pilot, fortunately, has zero interest in having its women of color tear each other down. The characters candidly discuss their shared past, and begin to repair the rift that will — if The Pussycats goes to series — lead them to becoming the global superstars they are destined to be.

Josie, Melody and Valerie are icons. They know it, and the world will soon follow.

Inspired by her renewed friendship with her once and future bandmates, Josie decides to do a concert with the Pussycats that will raise money to help reincorporate the town of Riverdale. It is a performance that highlights each of the women’s musical strengths, even if Josie does steal the spotlight for an emotional rendition of Nina Simone’s “Stars.” Despite being cut short when Toni goes into labor, the concert is enough of a success for The Pussycats to agree to go on the road together — playing in towns where Josie’s late father wanted his ashes scattered. The women consider themselves to be equals now, thus the “Josie and” is jettisoned from the band name. This still being Riverdale, a friend of Josie’s dad appears moments before she leaves town to tell her that her father may have been murdered in New Orleans, and that voodoo might be involved.

With this incredible/ridiculous plot development thrown at us, the full image of what The Pussycats will be as a series comes into view: A mixture of Fame and 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo that celebrates these characters and their comic/cartoon legacy in an unexpected way. (As an Archie comics historian even I was taken off guard by the last-minute introduction of the potential show’s mystery angle, and my mind reels at the possibilities).

Hopefully sooner rather than later a series order for The Pussycats will be announced. There is so much potential here to tell exciting, fun, music-packed stories featuring strong women of color that it feels like a surefire hit. “The Return of the Pussycats” is not only the best episode of Riverdale this season, but a perfect pilot episode. There desperately needs to be lots more long tails and ears for hats in our future, for these are the Pussycats we’ve been waiting for.

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Riverdale Rundown

While nothing has been officially announced as of yet, it feels ridiculous for The CW to not do a full series of The Pussycats, yes? This logo appearing at the end of the episode instead of the usual Riverdale bumper bodes well for things to come. Fingers crossed…

My guess is that this episode didn’t have Alexandra and Josie cross paths due to their Katy Keene past, which had the characters begin as enemies who were slowly forming a friendship before that series was cancelled. By not having them interact, the writers didn’t have to figure out where their relationship currently is — making this a narrative thread that The Pussycats could potentially pull on down the line.

The character of Alan M. briefly appears as Melody’s love interest, which indeed he is in the comics and fondly remembered 2001 movie.

Speaking of the Josie and the Pussycats movie, that film’s ever-growing cult continues to delight me. Thanks to multiverses, there’s no reason why that version of these characters and the ones of The Pussycats can’t co-exist in the same pop culture landscape.

Let’s give a special shoutout to Robin Givens, who not only reprises her role as Sierra McCoy here but also did a terrific job directing this installment.

Melody narrates this episode a la Jughead, except that her writing is bright and full of hope, a sharp and intentional contrast to her brooding counterpoint.

If you didn’t cheer when Josie and the Pussycats took the stage to their cartoon theme song, you are dead inside.

“Entertainment Tomorrow” enters the Riverdale fake product lexicon in this episode (which also includes the returning chestnut “Vanity Flair”).

Toni gives birth to a boy, Anthony.

Expect to see more about the franchising of Pop’s in upcoming restaurants, and Tabitha’s speech about the importance of the Chok’lit Shoppe being a black-owned restaurant in a time when Riverdale had no other such establishments was one of the most powerful scenes this series has ever done.

It’s worth noting that a franchise for real-life Archie restaurants did exist in the early 1970s. However the idea never really took off, and pictures of the three diners that were opened have never surfaced online.

What the hell was up with the Old Navy product placement in this episode, which felt like it was ripped from the Josie and the Pussycats movie, minus the irony.

Kevin’s dancing during the Little Shop of Horrors musical number was, unsurprisingly, everything.

Melody’s book being named Summer Storm is a sly reference to actress Asha Bromfield having a newly released novel called Hurricane Summer that was released in May.

Josie uses the alias Ms. Newmar to check into hotels. Julie Newmar famously portrayed Catwoman on the Batman TV series, which not only plays into Josie’s feline motif, but also is yet another of the show’s near-constant DC Comics references of late.

Mr. Lodge being called a “little bitch” was so unbelievably pleasing to watch. Josie is just SO OVER Riverdale’s bullshit.

In a nice character moment, Cheryl immediately leaps into action to help deliver ex-lover Toni’s baby.

Dr. Curdle Jr. being a Josie and the Pussycats superfan is comedic brilliance (as is the fact that nobody trusts him enough to have him anywhere near Toni’s delivery.

The post Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3BQYwym

[bastillewolf]

Midnight In Sheffield (III)

Pairing: Alex Turner/Reader

Summary: When a soon-to-be-wedded insomniac author heads back home to visit her parents, she comes across the likes of a mysterious musician whilst on her sleepless escapade in the AM.

Notes: Took a bit longer to edit this chapter, and made it longer. Hope you enjoy!

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list!

@alexbandguy86​​​​​ @bettyschwallocksyee​​​​​ @fookingsummertime​​​​​ @juicebox-baby​​​@darksydork7​​​​ @edgythought​​​ @toolateformcrtooearlytoleaveemo​

Song recommendation: ‘Bistro Fada’ by Stephane Wrembel

Chapter III - No. 1 Party Anthem

It couldn’t be.

Surely, she hadn’t been that drunk.

If so, she would’ve felt more than embarrassed.

She was standing in the very street she had wandered through the night before, yet nothing seemed familiar. There were no vintage sales, or shops for that matter, or Ford Roadsters that were illuminated by the antique streetlights perched on cobblestone roads.

Instead, she was faced with boring old Sheffield; cracked and bruised asphalt. A few clothing stores and a newspaper office. There was one pub, but not the one she’d been looking for.

“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Mark said.

“I- Uh, yeah. I could’ve- I could’ve sworn it was here,” she stuttered in response.

“The pub you went to?”

She nodded silently.

“Maybe you went in a different direction. You were tired, happens to the best of us.”

She shot him a look. “I grew up here, Mark. I know my way around this place like the back of my hand, yet that street I went into… I’d never seen it before in my entire life.”

“Hm, strange,” he noted. She knew he was mostly humouring her, and couldn’t shake off the feeling he had been judging her ever since they talked over what happened. It must look crazy, she realized, but to her that was no excuse to not be understanding. He was to be her husband, after all, and weren’t those things most important in a healthy relationship?

“Call me crazy if you want, but I’m telling you; I went to a different pub last night.”

“I know, I believe you.”

She gave a slight sigh of relief.

“Now, come on, let’s go find a restaurant, because we’re not going to that pub on an empty stomach.”

 They had searched all over town, with Mark generously tipping the cabby to take them everywhere they wanted. Not necessarily an odd request, but when she started to ask the driver about an old pub with the exact descriptions, - not failing to mention that smoking had been allowed - he gave her a strange look and told her he’d never heard of such a place before.

He must know, as he’d worked as a cabby for ages.

And so, she was currently sat at a random local bar Mark picked out, slumped in her seat, while her fiancée chatted on with Rachel and James. She couldn’t even bring herself to be annoyed with the pair, her mind too clouded to think of anything other than that very clear night.

She touched Mark’s shoulder, and muttered in his ear that she was going back to the hotel.

He nodded, “I’ll text you when I’m coming back. Don’t stay up too late.”

She smiled lightly, and kissed him on the cheek, before slipping out of the door, and leaving the musky scene behind her.

She didn’t really pay attention to where she was going. She was staring down at her feet, which kept their leisure pace on the tiled sidewalk.

She didn’t even bother giving the man in a tracksuit she nearly bumped into a second glance, or the dog that barked at her.

She walked up the few steps, through an alley, until she rounded a corner and was back at what appeared to be the main street. Only then did she actually bump into someone.

“You just keep appearing out of nowhere, don’t you?”

“Miles?”

She rubbed her tired eyes, until the flickering had disappeared, and she could look around again.

A cobblestone street, antique metal streetlights and shop windows filled with antique wear. The man that stood in front of her wore the same suit as yesterday, but without the tie and the top buttons of his shirt undone.

She couldn’t help but throw her arms around his neck in relief.

He huffed in surprise, “Good to see you again too, love. Hope that man of yours hasn’t been treating you poorly again, has he?”

“I’m just relieved to see you again,” she replied, avoiding his question, “I can’t believe I didn’t find this street earlier this afternoon! I went looking all over the place for it! Even asked a cabby, but he didn’t know what I was talking about. I’m so glad I found you.”

A mysterious glint flashed across his eyes. “Look for me, did ya? Worry not, love. You can always find me prancing about in the AM. I’ll most likely still be in bed in the afternoons. Best stay away from me then.”

She snorted as he linked her arm with hers and followed his lead into the pub, missing the way he’d given her a worried glance as she tried to memorize the name of the residence, which was painted in a neat cursive on the sign above it.

Mardy Bum.

 “Taken that bird with you again, Miles?” Alex asked from his seat at the wooden table, his foot sliding a chair out for each of them from underneath the table.

“Couldn’t help myself, Al. I just keep running into her. It’s like fate.”

“Call it fate or whatever you want, mate, but there’s no hiding you’ve always fancied the married girls.”

“Sorry, could you repeat that for me?” Miles held a hand to his ear facetiously. “I couldn’t hear you over the tune of ‘The Bad Thing’.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Are you playing cards with us, or what?”

Miles looked back at her, waiting for her answer. She shrugged, “As long as it’s not strip poker.”

“Shame,” one of the other men at the table muttered, who she recognized from the previous night as Alex’s drummer.

“This is Matt, by the way,” Miles pointed at him, before turning to the other two band members. “And that’s Jamie, and Nick. You remember them from yesterday, no?”

“Of course, you put up a great show.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere in a game of cards, love,” Matt teased, as he shuffled the deck of cards like he’d do every evening.

 And so, the night went on, filled with light and pleasant conversation, and a few more antsy rounds of cards. The beer gradually switched to something stronger, which she identified as a very fine whiskey. Not wanting to think about their tab yet which was bound to arrive at the end of the night, she enjoyed the smooth liquid burning her throat, and beat Jamie once again at his own game.

“I don’t like her,” he grumbled.

“Don’t be petty, Jamie. It’s not her fault you’re shit at cards,” Matt said.

“I’m not shit! I won last time!”

“Last time we let you win because it was your birthday,” Alex smoothly chimed in.

“What?!”

Matt burst out laughing at the guitarist’s aghast facial expression, and she noted even Alex himself smirked along with the merriment. She had only known him for two evenings, but from the lack of lines around his mouth, he didn’t seem like he smiled often, so it was nice to be graced with one.

What she did want to be able to unsee was the way he kept looking at her over the deck in his hands with those dark brown eyes. It made her squirm a bit in her seat.

“So, if we asked you to write an autobiography on the band, would you do it?” Nick asked. She’d told them about her career path, and how she hadn’t been able to write anything for a long while.

“I mean, if that’s what you’d want.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Matt quickly intervened.

“Well, why not?”

“She’d never believe us,” Alex drawled.

She met his eyes once more, and they looked awfully calm.

“No offence, but unless you’re going to tell me you go to Hogwarts and practice magic, I’m afraid you can’t say much that makes me find the story of a band who plays in pubs unrealistic.”

“A band who plays in pubs?! You must be joking,” the bartender suddenly intervened, setting the glass down which he had been drying with a towel for the past half hour. “They’re the most famous band in England! Even have their records played in America, they do. I’m lucky they still play in here, or it wouldn’t be so packed every Friday night.”

“We’d never abandon this place, John. This is where we became men and had our first beverages as adults,” Jamie said, raising his glass.

“Don’t play the fool with me, Jamie. You’d had too many pints before you got drunk to be a first-time drinker, and I’ve seen you sneak through the back when you were younger.”

“I didn’t know there was a certain age you’re supposed to be,” Alex quipped.

“Cause nobody told me!” Miles suddenly shouted, rising from his chair and humming a tune to himself as he cradled his drink closer to his chest.

“For the last time, Miles, if you’re going to dance, please find yourself a partner that isn’t the alcohol.”

The man in question pursed his lips thoughtfully at Alex. “Great idea, mate. I’m gunna take a piss and when I get back, I’ll have found my partner.”

He stumbled off in the direction of the restroom, and the group shared a look, for the hour was growing late and they were the only ones left in the pub.

“Sorry about Miles. He gets awfully vague when he’s drunk,” Nick told her.

She smiled. “Don’t worry about it, I’m having a laugh. I wish I could spend the whole night here. Haven’t had this much fun in a while.”

She noticed Matt trying to subtly glance down at his watch, which was close to striking 3 AM. “Probably not the best idea, love. I think it’s time to go home.”

Alex gave him a look. “Why? She could stay a bit longer, wouldn’t hurt anyone,” he slurred.

“You know why.”

“My fair lady!”

Their heads turned towards the back of the bar, where Miles had gotten down on one knee in front of a mop perched in a dirty bucket. “Please, grace me with a dance.”

The silence that followed seemed to be the cue for Miles to think the mop had accepted his offer, and for Matt to definitely call it a night.

Nick and Jamie helped Miles across the street – after managing to pry the ‘fair lady’ from his arms –  while Matt chatted away with John as he was closing the bar, and she was suddenly left alone with the singer himself.

“May I walk you home?” He asked her. “No funny business, I promise.” Though he’d held his hands up in surrender, the action was contradicted by the mischievous glint in his orbs.

“Sure,” she replied, and a very small part of her wished she had just said ‘no’.

 “So, since you’re famous and all,” she started, her gaze trained upon the way her feet carefully stepped on the individual stones cemented into the street’s dirt. “Have I heard any of your songs before? What were you guys called again?”

“I don’t think you would have. And we’re called the Arctic Monkeys.”

She raised her brow, the name sounding vaguely familiar.

“Stupid name, I know.”

“No,” she quickly said, “Not at all, actually. It’s somehow… Very fitting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 She smiled at him, until her eyes turned up to the sky, which was filled with flickering lights in the darkest of blues. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”

He hummed. “You must not be one to stay up late often, then. It’s beautiful, sure. But not the best sight I’ve ever seen.”

“What is the best sight you’ve ever seen?”

He studied her for a moment, and couldn’t tell if he was deciding on whether to answer her or not, or thinking of long-lost memories. “France. On the countryside. I’ve been all around the world, but that one night – probably caused by the empty bottles of tequila, might I add – was incomparable. Starry, with a really thin crescent moon in the sky, which Jamie described as ‘the moon’s side boob’. I thought that was quite profound. So, I wrote it down. Might even slip it into a song one day.”

The corners of her lips quirked up mischievously, the tingling sensation of the alcohol running through her system finally catching up with her. “Sing me a song, Alex.”

“A song?”

“Yesss,” she pleaded.

“Not sure your husband would agree with that.”

“He’s out and about with Mark and Rachel. Said he’d text me if he’d get back. I think we’ve got time.”

There was a quiver in his stride. “A text, you say?”

She nodded absentmindedly. “Anyways, he’s not my husband, so being serenaded isn’t illegal just yet.”

He let out a chuckle, but it was short-lived. “Could you humour me for a bit?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Could you tell me who’s the ruler of England right now?”

“What?”

“Just- Just answer the question, please.”

“The… the queen.”

“Ah.”

“I didn’t get that wrong, did I? I’m quite plastered, I’m afraid.”

“No, not at all. Perhaps we do have to save that serenade for another night, though.”

They’d halted, but the building in front of them was not one she recognized, and the route they’d taken too short to have been able to get to the hotel. “I don’t think this is-“

He kissed her on the cheek, more gently than she would’ve expected, which left her hanging with her mouth slightly open, numb from sudden surprise.

“Have a good night, love.”

He spared her one last glance, until he turned, and walked back through the dark and deserted street.

She sort of stumbled through the doors, and her eyes widened at the sight, for she was back in her hotel, and when she looked outside, she no longer met with the cobblestone street, but only the cracked asphalt of New Sheffield.

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (8.19-8.25.20):

NEW MUSIC:

Asking Alexandria’s Danny Worsnop released a cover of Gnarls Barkley's classic hit “Crazy.” The song follows his other cover of Amy Winehouse's song “Back to Black,” which was released back in May.

Biffy Clyro released a music video for the song “Space,” which comes off of their new album A Celebration of Endings. The recent LP is currently standing at the top of the midweek UK Albums Chart. 

Neverkept released a new single titled “Sundown, Somehow,” which narrates the “ups and downs you face in recovery or struggles in any capacity.” The song follows two previous singles, “Complicated” and “Reunion Tower.”

You Me at Six released a brand new single, “MAKEMEFEEALIVE,” along with a music video. The song marks the first new music from the band since the song “Our House (The Mess We Made)” back in February.

Point North released a music video for their track “No One's Listening,” off of their debut album Brand New Vision. The song and video narrates a message towards the abolishing of ICE in the United States.

Movements released the second single from their upcoming second album No Good Left to Give, titled “Skin to Skin.” The band recently released a previous single, “Don't Give Up Your Ghost,” alongside an animated music video.

Neck Deep released a cover of the classic song “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger for Amazon Music. The original song was notably used as the theme music for the British TV sitcom Peep Show.

This Wild Life released a cute ukulele cover of the viral track “Death Bed (Coffee for Your Head),” originally by Powfu and Beabadoobee. The original song previously received a remix featuring Blink-182.

Girlfriends returned with their highly-awaited follow up single “Eyes Wide Shut,” after the release of their debut single “California.” The group’s co-founder, T.Mills, originally made a name for himself in music thanks to MySpace.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Thursday played a special livestream gig last Wednesday, supported by a pre-filmed set from Cursive as well as And So I Watch You From Afar. As an added bonus, My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero filled in on guitar.

The Maine's John O'Callaghan performed a one-take live version of the band's song “Numb Without You” from the studio. The band are bidding farewell to the You Are OK era with “Flowers on the Grave,” a livestream concert, this Saturday.

Rock Sound held its “Rock Sound Summer Show” digital event last Friday, featuring a lineup of 13 acts. Among the lineup included performances by PVRIS, Against the Current, Enter Shikari, State Champs and more.

Slam Dunk Festival revealed its second wave of bands for its 2021 event. Joining the lineup are the likes of NOFX, Billy Talent, the Used and State Champs, among several others.

Parkway Drive rescheduled the dates for their Viva the Underdogs headlining North American tour. The tour will now take place in 2021, with Hatebreed, Knocked Loose and Fit for a King returning for the new dates.

OTHER NEWS:

Apple Music Hits announced several exclusive shows from various artists including Blink-182's Mark Hoppus. His show, titled After School Radio, focuses on songs, artists and the culture he experienced over his career.

Jimmy Eat World's Jim Adkins released the latest episode of his new podcast Pass-Through Frequencies, this week featuring Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba. The friends first met at a show in New Jersey two decades ago.

On Thursday, Never Shout Never frontman Christofer Drew took to social media to announce his new psychedelic project Dryymy. He went on to assure fans that a new single and record through the project are coming soon.

Frankie Banali, legendary drummer of Quiet Riot, passed away at the age of 68 due to pancreatic cancer. According to his wife Regina, Banali passed away Thursday night in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends.

Machine Gun Kelly and Blackbear‘s latest collaboration “My Ex’s Best Friend” dethroned Twenty One Pilots‘ “Level of Concern” on Billboard’s Rock Streaming Songs chart. The TØP single formerly held the No. 1 spot for four months.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[tisthenightofthewitch]

Ghost frontman Tobias Forge on the band’s 5th album, songwriting and what’s to come

In less than a decade, enigmatic rock band Ghost has earned a Grammy, released four albums, two EPs, a live album and its latest double-single, Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, but it has built and continuously expanded upon a deep backstory about the band members themselves — the “Nameless Ghouls.”

Each album cycle welcomes a brand new ringleader/singer, each portrayed by frontman Tobias Forge, who is the founder and sole songwriter of the band. The mythos of Ghost is now massively popular among many of its diehard fans.

Now that the Swedish group has wrapped the final North American leg of its highly extensive Ultimate Tour Named Death tour, they’re gearing up to put out their fifth album — a “heavy” one that Forge promises will be “seminal” in Ghost’s timeline.

So does that mean fans should expect to see a new frontman in the near future? Very likely, but not for a little while. For now, Forge, 38, still portrays Cardinal Copia, a charismatic and theatrical character who adds a tinge of humour to Ghost’s explosive two-hour set.

The Cardinal claimed the throne after the “death” of Forge’s Papa Emeritus III character in 2018. He was the first to break the tradition of Pope singers in the Ghost timeline, and it seems his run will soon come to an end. Or will it? We don’t actually know.

What we do know is that next March, the “Final Gig Named Death” is set to take place in Mexico City. It will wrap the heavy promotional cycle for the band’s latest album, Prequelle (2018) — which kicked off in 2018 with the Pale Tour Named Death.

Prequelle launched the Swedes into mainstream success with its first single, Rats, which spent seven weeks on top of the rock charts. The album also included the unexpected disco-inspired smash-hit, Dance Macabre

Ahead of the band’s show in Hamilton, Ont., on Oct. 17, Forge/Cardinal Copia spoke with Global News about Ghost’s newest singles, their live spectacle, progress on the upcoming fifth album, and why he doesn’t like to record with heavy metal producers.

Global News: You’ve outdone yourself on the Ultimate Tour Named Death with not only the beautiful stage setup, but the extensive setlist and detailed choreography. It’s very humorous too, yet you still want more. Is it even possible for you to top the current show?

Tobias Forge: I’m certain, yeah. [Laughs] But it’s hard to say that without sounding like I’m soiling the one that we’re currently doing. [Laughs] I am fairly certain that a lot of the things that I have in mind right now, I will be orchestrating about a year from now. It will definitely be a vast and advanced version of what we’re already doing. You have to remember that the even though the show we’re doing right now is our most accomplished one so far, it started with us playing in theatres, and now we’re playing arenas… so the stage setup is still in its Frankenstein phase, meaning that we’re still working with the smaller production we had from first year of this tour. Right now, it’s like we’re repairing an old house, whereas next time we can start something fresh.

Similar to the production jump that Iron Maiden took from the World Piece Tour to the World Slavery Tour in the ’80s then? [Earlier on, Forge reminisced on touring with the band, which he called one of his “old heroes.”]

TF: That would be a very good analogy for it actually. [Laughs] I compare it a lot to what bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica have done and continue to do. They’ve always done it right, and so will we. Next time we can start from scratch with a production that is purpose-built for our album and tour, whereas this is more of a mixture between the stuff that we did on the last album cycle, too. It’s just extended, right? We’ll build the set from the ground-up.

Did you always know that Ghost would become such a theatrical band?

TF: I definitely always had a picture of there being a stage show, but 10 years ago, I had no idea it was going to be as [vivid] as it is now.

Are we going to be introduced to Ghost’s new frontman at what you’re calling the “Final Gig Named Death” next March? Will we meet Papa Emeritus IV? Or is it possible that Cardinal Copia might live on?

TF: Well, it’s the last show of this touring cycle, so something will definitely happen. I just can’t tell you anything about it. [Laughs] But this tour has been really incredible, it’s just time for us to do something new. As much as I love being here in Canada, I think we picked a great time (and place) to end this tour. I genuinely love being on the road. I love playing the show, and ultimately, I’m feeling very good about the band this year — who are so extremely fluid.

Overall, everything is working out really well for us, but now it’s like ‘OK, so the restaurant is just running now?’ [Laughs] You start thinking about the next one. It’s just not enough. You go, “I feel like I’ve pretty much done my thing here…” Except of course for coming in and making the infamous carbonara every night; going through the old ancient recipe, you know? [Laughs] My mind is always thinking forward though, and I’m already thinking about the next time we’re coming back here.

You actually paid homage to one of Canada’s greatest songwriters recently, Leonard Cohen. What prompted your decision to cover something as iconic as Avalanche for your latest album, Prequelle?

TF: I think it was the one song that right off the bat just felt most Ghost-like.  It would feel weird to cover Take This Waltz or something like that. It just doesn’t fit our script. It isn’t actually my favourite Leonard Cohen song. Intuitively, I’d probably choose one of his prettier songs, but Avalanche felt very Ghost-like.

What about the future of Ghost? With such a busy schedule have you even had time to think about a plan of attack for the fifth album?

TF: Oh, I think about that a lot. Currently, we’re in the planning stages of it all, which means that I’m hamstering all my material as we figure out scheduling and who’s actually going to be producing it. I’m working very hard on it right now, and as much as I often contest ideas by thinking about what I should and shouldn’t do, I know it’s easier to define that just by looking at your previous experiences.

So for example, our last four records. Having said all of that, overall, I have a fairly good idea of where I’m going with this one. I want to create a record that lives up to my lifelong dream of being able to kick-off a touring cycle in arenas, so by that logic, this album needs to be by a band that starts touring cycles in arenas. You know? You just can’t f**k around with that. You really need to be on your absolute top game.

Is Seven Inches of Satanic Panic a taste of what’s to come for this album?

TF: It’s not a taste of the new record, no. Those songs are like a side note of Ghost — still fitting in the universe, I think — but they’re definitely not close to what I have in mind. [Laughs] The new record will be more in line with the previous four, in the sense that it will feel like part of the whole story. Whereas that of the singles and cover EPs, which are a little bit more tongue-in-cheek. [Laughs] There’s a dichotomy between a lot of the things that we do though, like for example, the records and the live show.The records are like the script, or Bible, they’re not meant to feel humouristic. Whereas in our live show, we present the ideas in a humorous way. Not in a sense where we are mocking our bible or story, but in the same way that a church might go through rituals with children. Where people are giggling a little because they think it’s silly. “A-ha.” Everybody knows it’s a little stupid, but for some reason, it feels purposeful, because your kid is being baptized or whatever. [Laughs] So that’s that’s what I’m shooting for. I don’t want the records to be too fun or silly, I want them to convey a message and have a clear meaning.

Your lyrics contain such unique concepts and qualities too. Do you write Ghost’s albums all by yourself? After all, this band is your project.

TF: Usually. But what I’ve learned and cultivated a liking to do in the last few years, is collaborating with outsiders. I’ve always been accused of — especially in my own bands — not being able to work well in a team. People have said I’m just overall bad at teamwork, and that was the fact for a long time. But when I made Meliora, I did so together with a producer named Klas Åhlund — who is both a producer and a songwriter. And that’s when it dawned on me that I can work really well with people, but I need to choose who I work with. It’s like … I like kissing people, but I just want to choose who I kiss. [Laughs]I’ve been in bands where there’s always someone, or some people, who just f**king crowbar themselves into the process, and that does not work for me at all. That’s unfortunately when I become like a dictator. Whereas if I choose to work with someone, I’m actually quite flexible. Like working with any professional songwriter, you need to establish a little bit of a vibe together. [Laughs] We need to be aiming for a very similar thing. That person needs to have some sort of … hard-on for rock music, or for what we do in Ghost, otherwise, it might be hard if it’s someone who works against that.

Do you find that collaborating helps with the songwriting, then?

TF: Oh yes. You can make incredible progress in your songwriting that way, because all of a sudden you have this person who’s not at all locked into the traps of being in your band; someone who is not the bass player that suddenly wants a bass solo or the drummer who wants to make the album very drummy. If I find those collaborators, it’s like a catalyst for me to write more, write better and ultimately, step up because I want to impress that other person.

In one or two days, I’ll come up with a skeleton of a song and go, “This is my idea, this is the chorus, but I don’t really have a pre-chorus yet. What do you hear? What do you think?” And then once I hear someone else tinkering with it … I become a little bit like a husband who agreed to a wife-swap. In this case, the song would be my partner, and when I see someone else [kissing] her, I’m like, “No! Let me do this.” Then you go and you do it properly, because it wakes you up. [Laughs] It’s really all about just having to impress someone else. If I don’t make the changes right then and there, then the idea is just gonna drift away. It’s a perfect way for me to write, because it really brings me to life.

You produced Opus Eponymous by yourself, and since then you’ve worked with a completely different producer for each of Ghost’s albums, including Dave Grohl. Do you just not want to do the same thing twice, or are you ultimately trying to find the perfect collaborator?

TF: I believe that there are exceptions to all rules of course, and I believe that a good team truly is a good team. But I also believe that it’s very healthy to make sure that you don’t get stuck in your comfort zone, because it can become too comfortable. I’ve had that in the past with at least a couple of my previous producers, where we’re almost too good of friends; we’ve actually hung out so much, that we’re buddies now. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t always allow for further growth, which is exactly what I want to do. In this case, I have to make our fifth record. I want it to be a seminal record for us. That’s why the process right now is to find that perfectly balanced producer that is gonna make sure that we’re making a rock record — it needs to be a heavy record — but it needs to be someone who understands the factor of, “This needs to be relevant, now.”

Ghost is unique for a metal band in the sense that you don’t often work with metal producers. Is there a reason for that?

TF: I’m sure people in the heavy metal sphere might have noticed that too. … And there’s a reason for that: metal producers are very purpose-driven. They do a fantastic job and they know exactly what they’re going for. They’re experts in doing exactly that. And I have nothing against it, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. So I need to be fully aware and completely awake in trying to find the right producer for Ghost in that moment.

Klas was perfect for me. His whole professional life, he has been writing pop music and playing in Teddybears and writing records for Robyn and Ellie Goulding. You have all these different artists and this huge variety, but he started off playing prog music. He was a guitar virtuoso playing Yngwie Malmsteen/Ritchie Blackmore-type stuff. So when I came and talked with him about making a rock record, he was just like, “Yes, I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time.” It was perfect for both of us, because we were able to talk about all the common denominators. We could reference things from Euro Disco all the way to Slayer just to explain a simple idea. Whereas if you end up with the typical metal producer, they might say, “Slayer, of course. But everything else you mentioned is just ‘ordinary music.'”

I’m not saying that every heavy metal producer is like that, I just feel like metal today, as opposed to 1975, is such a defined genre, that people our age and younger have lived their entire lives knowing exactly what heavy metal is. But people who were around when they made Back in Black didn’t really know what that was. There’s so many rules now. It’s too refined. The whole culture breathes a little bit of a puritan-like conservatism. In order to make new records, I think sometimes you need to try not to think too much about all of these rules.

GLOBALNEWS.CA

[lukescaboose]

Phantom - c.h.

I’ve been writing this Danny Phantom inspired fic for what seems like forever at this point and I’m so happy it's finished and I get to share it on the interwebs. I have to really thank my besties @  the I’m into Drummers GC because without them this fic wouldn’t have made it past the first paragraph. As always I hope you enjoy it. Really hope it lives up to Jay’s ( @angelbabylu ) expectations. 

Warnings: none

Part: 1

Wordcount: 7.1k

The bookshop fell quiet. Not too unusual for a Wednesday evening, but it was enough to make Kori look up from the stack of misplaced books in front of her. She was alone in the shop - had been for a few hours and the last customer had left ages ago. Working on the routine cleanup, she hummed to herself as she realigned the shelves. That was until she felt the cool breeze. It was odd, not like the usual breeze that often drafted the small shop. It was enough to raise goosebumps under the sleeves of her sweater. She shook her head, returning to her task with the tune returning to her lips. Her hands fumbled with a book, fingers tracing over the engraved gold letters. Hemingway. She pushed a curl away from her face, opening the book she’d read about a thousand times before, running her hand over the smooth page. The book was placed on the shelf with a sigh, it was too late to even debate reading a few pages. She knew better than to tease herself. A few pages always turned to her finding comfort in the nearest chair and devoting the rest of her time to that sole activity. Besides, she had applications for corporate publishing companies due in the morning and she couldn’t risk her chance at freedom. She craved a new scenery, needed to explore more than the town of which she grew up in. The bookstore was nice, it always gave her that odd feeling of nostalgia, but it wasn’t making much use of the English degree she had worked so hard for.

She pushed the cart filled with books idly over the oak floorboards of the dimly lit shop. She thought about a desk in a large city, New York perhaps, reading over manuscripts and contacting aspiring authors. She thought about a life outside of this one, where she could let her personality run free instead of harboring her inner thoughts. With every book, she placed in their spot she thought about the bigger picture. The life with the career, and plans, and opportunities. She thought about her mother, living two towns over, sitting on the porch swing reading those same books Kori had come to love herself. For it was her mother who instilled the love of literature in her. From the classics that demanded to have respect paid to them, to the new modern independent works paving a way for a new direction in storytelling. It was reading and writing that had pulled Kori through her toughest times, homage was well deserved.

With another push of the squealing cart, a gust of wind flew through the store, followed by a sound that had Kori freezing in her white tennis shoes. The light chatter of voices of those who passed by was gone, the only sound now was the beating of her heart in her chest. Her hand dragged along a shelf as she dared to take a step in the direction of the noise. Rounding the corner she peaked her head out slowly, eyes darting to find the intruder. The door had been locked an hour prior, she was certain she was alone in the store. Then the sound came again. Louder, clearer. Followed by a wind so powerful to knock her off her planted feet and to the ground with a huff. The cart shook on its old wheels behind her, rumbling with the thunder of the current. Kori scrambled to her feet quickly, running towards the front desk for the telephone. The sound ascends once more, knocking the books off the shelf with a crash, loud enough to excite a yell from Kori whose palms clammed with adrenaline as she prepared to face the unseen.

She didn’t believe in ghosts, never had, and the way the movies had portrayed them had made her believe they were no more than fiction. The idea of this act of supernatural being a ghost hadn’t even crossed her conscious as she scrambled under the desk to prepare for an earthquake. Because that seemed more likely than anything else. As more shelves began to fall and the air grew colder by a noticeable degree, she held tight to the legs and prayed the structure of the building was secure. With eyes closed, all she heard were the sounds of breaking material. She failed to realize the man entering the store without opening the door. Green eyes and fitting assembly with an unwavering stature.

“Way to make a mess by yourself.” He muttered as the clashing and banging continued, books seeming to fly off the shelves by themselves. The silence presumed over the store again and he stepped over the mess, making his entrance into the store. Kori opened her eyes at the company, shaking hands unsticking from the desk leg. She dared to peak her head from under the desk, rising to her knees to see him standing there in all his glory. Silver boots and a black fitted suit that made him look superhuman. “H-How did you?” Her eyes flashed between his figure and the door. His own head snapped in her direction, unaware of the presence of someone else. His green eyes were wide, no one besides the exception of one other had seen him in this state. He debated phasing back to his normal state but there was too much risk. She had discovered him like this, so this is how he would stay.

“T-There was an earthquake.” She muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. “How did you get in here?” She walked to the door, finding it locked as she left it. Then the fear coursed through her body like an untamed river, starting from her head and flowing towards her feet in a cold sweat. She turned slowly to see him standing in the same spot, looking around the shop as if something were to resurface. She hadn’t a clue what he was looking for, what he was listening for, but he made no advances to answer her questions. And before she could form another question, the same gust of wind rendered her defenseless against the door, the chime banging against the glass as she stood bewildered. Her hair flew into her face as she struggled to stand, gripping the bar on the door that read ‘push’. But he stood there still, unphased, planted in his silver boots that seemed heavier than they actually felt.

“Must be an aftershock!” She yelled over the howling that whipped her hair, and his, around. But that was before she saw it. Saw the green glowing monstrosity that rounded the corner of a still standing shelf that had been bolted to the floor a week prior. The air left her lungs, eyes bulging twice their size, as she gripped the door handle now out of pure fear rather than for stability. “That ain’t no aftershock, love.” He smirked at her over his shoulder. He neared the creature without fear, prepared for a fight that only he could handle. The monster had no feet, rather a tail that glided behind it when it moved. It slithered more than anything else, menacing and ethereal. It was almost comical the way it looked. For it looked like a chef, an owner of an old-timey Italian restaurant. A handlebar mustache paired with a cliche chef’s hat and apron, which appeared to be littered with...grease stains? Kori rubbed at her eyes, blinking furiously, waiting to wake up from this fictional fantasy. But there he was, ghostly more than anything, menacing maybe not.

“My pizzeria what have you done!” With a raise of his ghastly fist, another shelf fell to the ground, sending its contents flying to their death. Kori winced at the loud crash, cowering down towards the floor, her previous thought long gone. “This is a book shop, no place for loud noises.” She heard the more humanly figure raise his voice, a deep sound, slow and even. She was befuddled as to how his composure remained steady under such circumstances. His words only seemed to anger the creature, it’s hand rose again, this time directed at the man in the suit. A green goo ejected from its palm, aiming to kill. The man moved swiftly dodging its attack, the goo hitting the wall behind him creating a mess Kori was certain nothing could clean up.

She was beginning to believe this was a ghost. She had no reason to believe it wasn’t. No other being could do this amount of damage without the ability to be something else. But if this was a ghost she had every inkling of a thought that nothing could stop its wrath. How could anyone, anything, that looked human like this man did have the power to defeat the undead? It was a ghost, after all, it couldn’t be killed. But that wasn’t stopping the man from trying. He charged towards the beast and an unworldly speed, dodging the goo and broken ornaments in the ground. Kori dropped to the floor crawling back to the safety on the desk. She peeked from underneath just in time to catch the man whizz through the air, no longer having legs, but a tail that matched that of the ghost’s. Kori couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her because it was more than evident that this man was not human. He was flying, taking jabs at the ghost in some kind of ghost on ghost combat. Her mind was preoccupied with the scene unfolding before her, the goo, the flying, that she hadn't heard the relentless banging at the door of the bookshop.

“You’ve gotta open the door, love. I can't do this without him!” He shouted, simultaneously wrangling the ghost to the floor, only for it to slip from his grasp once more. Kori looked around in disbelief, there was another man frantically banging and pulling at the door handle, shouting words that fell on deaf ears. The flying man-ghost flew into a nearby wall, crashing and falling along with the frames that once hung steady. “Come on, love, don't have much time here!” He scrambled to his feet once more, flying through the air to take another strike at the figure. Kori stood now, stunned in place, an internal fight hindering her from following the man’s directions. She didn’t want to be seen by the ghost, he was more or less distracted and she was safe here. As safe as she could be, behind the desk out of harm's way. The goo splatter proved far more dangerous than anything else, and attracting the ghost’s attention was not something she wanted to do. But the flying man really seemed to need the other guy’s help. He was asking for him, wasn’t he? He was losing time, that she knew, his momentum was fading and without him, her safety was definitely not secure.

So she made the move, unwillingly running to the door. Shaking hands failed to twist the lock, her head twisting to look behind her back to the scene of the battle. The man outside was growing impatient, pulling at the handle at every fail of an attempt of Kori’s fingers. Feebly, she twisted the lock and he pushed himself inside. Kori debated running into the cool night’s air, but she couldn’t. She had responsibilities here, the shop was her responsibility. But wasn’t her safety more important? The door remained open as she compared the two evils in her mind, the dark night quiet and sidewalks empty. But the door was closed before she could make a run for it. The lock turned on its own accord, shutting her out from the slim chance of safety she had. Realizing the choice was made for her, she turned back around to see that she now most definitely had the ghost’s attention. She cowered under the stare of the creature, seemingly all the eyes were on her. Not what she was used to and she wished for nothing more to return to the hour ago when she was alone and it was silent, and most importantly not a mess.

“You’re responsible for this?!” The accusation took her by surprise. She didn’t know what “this” was, but she was sure the mess in the bookshop was not her fault. Her mouth felt dry, the ghost expected an answer she wasn’t going to give him. Her mouth gaped opened and closed, eyes flashing from the two men to the ghost wishing someone, anyone, would help her out here. The ghost began to raise its palm, the man in the suit at her side in an instant, pushing her out of the way of the wave of green goo to follow. She hit the floor with a thud, her eyes closing and wishing she had taken the out when she’d had the chance.

“Ash, open the thermos!” He was gone. Back in the air, his warmth gone and her fear radiating. She had felt safer in those few seconds then she had felt all night. She stayed where he had placed her, cowering in the corner, watching what seemed to be the end of this battle. With a final punch, the ghost hit the ground and “Ash” opened the canister in his hand that the suited man was calling a “thermos”. Kori wasn’t sure what the tin cylinder would do for any of them. It wasn’t like they could harbor the ghost -

“Ready?!” He called over his shoulder and Ash stepped forward. With another gust of wind, the ghost was sucked into the thermos and the shop fell still. Kori stood with wide eyes, realizing that the worst was over, and not quite sure what it was she saw exactly. She stepped gingerly over the broken items discarded onto the floor, a shaky breath escaping her lips now that the danger was gone. She had a new issue now, that being the mess in the store. There was no way she’d be able to clean, or even explain, this to her boss. She could forget those applications due tonight. Kori bent down to pick up a tattered book, her hand trembling with disappointment. Her eyes flashed up to the two men who were already watching her. Her mouth was agape, breathing slowed, and mind frayed with bewilderment. Her hand gestured around the place with anew found fury boiling in her chest. “Please tell me you can turn this place back to normal.” She begged, lifting yet another tattered book from the floor. Ash chuckled, kicking at a broken frame near his foot. “We’re not genies, love.” This only infuriated Kori further, tossing the book at his feet she stormed around, feebly attempting to lift a fallen bookshelf. The suited man shifted on his feet before pacing over to her. It was unusual for them to stay this long after a job, but he worried for her, obviously this shop held some kind of value to her.

“We can help you sort this out.” He offered, stepping in front of her to lift the bookshelf with no struggle at all. Ash scoffed from the middle of the room, throwing his hands into the air. “That is not our job! We have to go, Cal.” He began to walk towards the door, Kori glaring at his back. “Not your job? Well, it certainly wasn’t your job to wreck the place.” She chided, arms crossing over her chest. Her remark was enough to make Ash turn around, losing his grip on the door handle. “Well, what would you rather us have done, lovie? Leave the ghost to wreck the place and save you for dessert?” She cowered slightly at his words, his ego clearly shining brightly through the malice in his tone. “Lucky Calum here was around in the first place. You should be thanking us.” He spat, eyes darting towards Calum for backup. Of which he didn’t offer. Instead, he shook his head in disbelief as he continued to clean the mess around the store. “You need to get off your high horse, Ashton.” He mumbled. Kori was satisfied with that, she couldn’t understand why such a complex was radiating off of him. By the looks of it, he was no more than a sidekick.

Ashton huffed, slouching in a nearby armchair, muttering something about Calum being too soft. Calum ignored him, all too familiar with his antics and flawed personality. Ashton was a good guy, Calum’s best friend, he just had an odd way of showing it. And it was no doubt he was giving Kori the wrong impression. “I’m sorry about him, he’s...Ashton.” Calum sighed whilst placing a book back on its respected shelf. Her shoulders deflated with a roll of her eyes. “I’m Calum by the way.” He side-eyed her, his failed attempt at conversation going unanswered. Her only response was, “I gathered,” with another groan falling from her lips. Lips Calum couldn’t help but realize were so pouty and adorable. He smirked, lifting another bookshelf. He’d never taken the time to conversate with the people he diverted from harm’s way. Usually would dash out quickly in hopes that no one would recognize him. In fact, no civilian would ever dare to stay. He couldn’t help but wonder why she had. Why she had succumbed to doomed fate if anything had gone astray. He was glad they hadn't, didn’t think he could live with that on his conscious.

“I think after the night we’ve had, we could at least talk a bit.” He offered once more, grabbing the book from her hand and placing it on a shelf she couldn’t quite reach. She huffed, turning her body towards him. “Name’s Kori, I work here. And after tonight, it's looking like I’ll be working here for the rest of my life.” She forced a half smile, one that held nothing but resentment. He smiled at the girl...Kori. He decided he liked that name.

“Kori? Like the guy’s name?” Ashton chimed in from across the shop. A leg was crossed over the other, his hands idly flipping through a book Kori could bet he’d never even heard of before. “Something like that.” Kori sneered. Calum flashed Ashton a look, a face that read ‘what the fuck’ as clear as day. Ashton shrugged, returning his attention back to the book he definitely wasn’t reading. Kori began to grumble to herself about how much of a pretentious asshole Ashton was.

“I think your name is great.” Calum tried to back peddle, instantly regretting it when he saw the look of distaste on Kori’s face. He wanted to smile again, but he fought off the urge. Her face could hide no emotion, he liked that. “Thanks, I definitely needed that reassurance after bearing the name for 22 years.” Calum sighed, deciding to end the not so rich conversation right then. The idea of getting to know her was well expired and she had made that clear. He thought it best to finish cleaning the shop and get out of here so he could chew Ashton out for how difficult he had made this. So he did what he had to do. He was way past the point of hiding his super skills and figured he had nothing else to lose. He flashed through the store, ignoring the condescending look Ashton was sporting. Kori tried her best to watch as the store became clean faster than she could blink, but it was giving her whiplash. Ashton laughed from his chair, the book in his hand gone as Calum whizzed by him. “She’s starstruck!” He bellowed, kicking a foot up on the nearest coffee table. In another flash, Ashton was gripping the back of his head and it was Kori’s turn to laugh. She turned around, rearranging the books that Calum was strewing onto the shelves. Of course, he couldn’t replace the broken items, but his help was more than enough and Kori was grateful. At the rate Calum was moving, she would have time to finish those applications.

When Calum was finished, he decided now was as good a time as any to phase back to his normal state. Kori watched in surprise as the black suit that fit him so nicely was now regular joggers and a t-shirt. The blonde hair was now brown along with his eyes, and Kori couldn’t decide which look she liked better. She wanted to slap herself for even having the thought, she knew nothing about him. She didn’t even know what he was. A shapeshifting ghost boy, who was inhumanly handsome, and way too nice for the way Kori was treating him. He offered a soft smile when her eyes lingered a bit too long. She turned around quickly, back to switching the books around and thanking God that her melanin was enough to hide her blush. What it wouldn’t hide was the embarrassed look evident in her eyes and written clear as day on her face. But the embarrassment was quickly replaced with fury when Ashton opened his mouth again. “So, it is human.” His remark earned yet another slap on the back of the head from Calum. Kori bit her tongue, holding back from spewing all the witty remarks that rose to the forefront of her mind. She clenched her fist, waiting for the wistful moment that this would be all over.

“You guys should get going, I can finish up here.” She sighed. Her palms began to sweat as soon as the words fell from her lips. She’d suddenly been reminded of why they were here in the first place. She was overcome with an aftershock of fear. She was afraid of being left alone again, as much as she wasn’t enjoying their company. The guys could sense her sudden change in demeanor, shifting wary eyes towards each other. They made no effort to leave, or even respond, and Kori was not willing to admit that she was happy that they hadn't gone. She cleared her throat, turning back to the books. “I can help if you need, tell me what order they go in and I’ll be done in a jiffy.” Ashton snorted behind him at his use of the word ‘jiffy’, knowing all too well what Calum was like when he was attempting to sway a girl into liking him. Not that Kori didn't like him, rather she didn’t understand him. She wasn’t quite sure how this had all happened, not able to wrap her head around what had actually conspired here tonight. She knew the danger was gone, but now she had an insight into a whole world she had no idea existed and she wasn’t sure if she could just let this go.

“Fiction over here, nonfiction over there, alphabetical order.” She hummed, head hanging low on her shoulders. “Okay. Just take a seat, this will only take a second.” He ushered her to the sofa next to Ashton, his hands idly on her shoulders and she complied. She didn’t bother with small talk with Ashton, certain he was someone she’d like to avoid, as Calum buzzed around the shop. And he was right, it only took a second and before she knew it he was standing in front of her, out of breath. “Thank you,” She offered. “The shop looks almost exactly the same.” She breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. She was more than ready to be home, wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to go home, but she knew that this moment was inevitable. Calum stared at her face, finding it easy to gauge her reaction. “What do you need us to walk you home, love?” Ashton beat him to the punchline, offering his opinion when no one had asked. “No, you annoying piece of sh-”

“I will walk you home. Ashton, I’ll meet you back at our place.” Calum interjected. He tightly smiled at Ashton and he stood, but not without a menacing chuckle. “I get it. I’ll see you at home, assuming you don’t get lost on the way there.” He headed out the door with a wink, the chime going off making Kori’s head swivel in the direction of the sound, her heartbeat picking up its pace. She couldn’t find the space in her head to be furious at Ashton’s remark, she was too preoccupied with how she knew she could never be alone in this place again.

Calum squatted down in front of her, totally out of his depths here but he was more than willing to try. “I know you’re afraid.” He placed a gentle hand on her knee, drawing her attention back to him. Her eyes shifted from his hand to his face. How gentle he looked, sincere even, and her heart was slightly put at ease. “Who are you?” She whispered, the words not much louder than a murmur, but he heard. He gave her a grin that crinkled the sides of his eyes, a light sound falling from his lips. “That’s a story for another time, love.” He rose to his feet, patting her knee on his ascend. Her eyes followed him, full of wonder and confusion, all of which were evident in her expression. “Let’s get you home.” He chuckled, offering her his hand.

—

“So, you’re telling me that you’re half human and half ghost.” Kori followed slightly behind him, kicking a cobblestone along the sidewalk. The night was unusually warm, the wind breezing through her sweater. “Ratios are inconclusive.” He chuckled, looking over his shoulder at the girl who had her eyes on the ground. Although he was walking ahead of her, he had no idea where he was going and he was beginning to wonder if she had a clue. She hadn’t looked up from the ground since she’d discovered the pebble. He didn’t mind that much, the conversation was light and growing. He was interested in her, to say the least, wasn’t often he had the time to talk to someone about his secret that wasn’t Ashton. He wasn’t opposed to someone new getting to know him, even if this was short term. He wasn’t worried that she would tell the next person she saw, the likelihood of anyone believing such a thing was rare. So he told her what she wanted to know, answered any questioned she could conjure up.

“How’d it happen? Were you born like this? Like some type of ghost baby?” She widened her strides to keep up with his pace, curls falling over her face as she looked up at him with true curiosity. Calum slowed down, angling his body towards her with his hands in his pockets. “No, love, wasn’t a ghost baby.” His smile was genuine as he looked at her. “Stepped into this ghost portal my parents were trying to build, they were scientists,” He shook his head. A smirk pulled at his lips as he remembered himself on that day, 14 years old, and more scared than he’d ever been in his entire life. “I was in there and turned the machine on by accident, haven’t been the same since.” He shrugged. “Didn’t think the damn thing would actually work.” There was a furrow in Kori’s brown as she listened to him speak. She was trying to make sense of his story, expected it to be more bizarre than it had been, and over thinking the way Calum had used the word ‘were’ when talking about his parents. He watched as her face contorted from a look of disbelief to relinquished acceptance. The reality of the story acquiesced and she settled with a curt nod of her head. Calum couldn’t help but notice the short curls bouncing along with the movement, fighting the dire urge to pull at one and watch it recoil back into place. “Tell me about yourself, Kori.” He smiled softly, gently bumping her with his arm. Her hair fell over her face as she looked down, the side of her mouth pulling down into a frown. “Nothin’ much to tell.” She shrugged. Calum turned towards her, waiting for her to continue. “C’ mon there’s gotta be something.” He prodded and she shook her head with a smile. “Promise there’s not! I’ve lived here forever, went to school downtown, and now I work at the bookshop.” She threw her hands up in a way that made Calum grin. She was simple, he liked that. He hummed at her response, eyes looking forward into the dark of the street.

“My house is up there on the left.” Kori sighed. Her hands were shoved deep into her pockets, fighting out the cold and desperately praying this departure wouldn’t be awkward. She didn’t know what this was, how this had happened and the strange pull of connection she felt towards him wasn’t helping. She wanted to keep talking, wanted him to pry more into her dull life. She wished she had more to tell him, something that would make him interested in her. But she had applications to complete, and a life to get back to in the morning despite tonight’s events. Unbeknownst to her, Calum was feeling the same way. He wondered if he would ever see her again. He wondered if he would wander into the bookshop time to time just to see her. But then he thought about how that might make her feel. If she would be worried about seeing him again. Worried about his purpose for being there. He wanted to see her again, definitely under different circumstances, and with premeditated purpose.

He followed her up the steps to the quaint front door, wondering how he’d pull this goodbye off. With hands deep in his pockets, he watched as she placed a hand onto the doorknob. Kori turned slightly to face him, gnawing at her bottom lip. “Let’s meet differently next time, yeah?” Calum offered, interrupting the silence before it got too tense, and expertly hinting that he wanted to see her again. She smiled softly, eyes casting down as they often did when she got nervous. She hadn’t a clue what to say, she wanted to see him again, knew that she somehow would even if she decided to ignore the pull. “Differently sounds good.” She decided, nodding her head slightly. Calum leaned against her porch railing, arms crossed over his chest as he smiled at her. He wasn’t quite ready to leave yet, wasn’t ready to wonder when the next time he’d talk to her would be. “So...this is goodnight?” Kori leaned against the door now, her back pressed against the cool glass of the storm door. She wasn’t making any moves to leave and he could tell, her eagerness to continue this conversation made his stomach twist in excitement. “Only if you want it to be,” Calum smirked, pushing himself off of the railing to move towards her.

Kori was all too aware of the current time and the applications lingering in the back of her mind. She knew it would be irresponsible to hang out with Calum for just a little longer. But that didn’t stop her from inviting him into her house. She figured she could submit the applications in the morning. All she had to do was attach her resumé and it would be quick and easy. Or she could do it now while Calum kept her company. She felt better about him being around, quite liked his unassuming presence. She’s never really minded being alone before, but tonight was enough to have her flinching at every suspicious noise and shivering at every cool gust of wind.  

Calum looked around her home. Books littered every flat surface of the area, the living room they’d walked into small and inviting. She had plants and a cat, that he wasn’t too sure about, laid idly on the back of the sofa. It felt cozy and lived in and he felt her space suited her. It was exactly what he would have imagined it to look and feel like. He sat gingerly on the sofa, careful not to disturb the cat, and inhaled the smell that smelled somewhat nostalgic to a time he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Sorry about the mess,” Kori muttered, picking up a book and placing it on a stack of others. Calum shook his head vehemently, his arm coming up to rest along the back of the sofa. Again, careful of the cat named, Cat. “No, it's nice. Feels homey.” He shrugged, “Exactly how I would’ve pictured it.” Kori shot him a weird look and she picked up her laptop and sat on the other end of the sofa.

“Not that I was thinking about what your house looks like.” He hurried to fix it, catching the odd glance she gave him. “Just suits you is all.” Kori chuckled and Calum ran a hand over his face in embarrassment, a small chuckle leaving his own lips. She smiled at the computer screen, satisfied that he wasn’t as confident in himself as he seemed. “So tell me something, ghost boy, how’d you know about the ghost in the bookshop?” She tucked her legs underneath her, shifting the computer in her lap. “Ghost boy?” He smiled, turning his body so he was facing her. She nodded with a small smile, her eyes connecting with his for a brief second. She wasn’t big on eye contact, it always made her nervous - especially when the other person was a stranger.  “Just suits you is all.” She countered earning a grin and a shake of Calum’s head. “I have my ways of knowing.” He shrugged. He rested his chin in his hand, eyes watching her face, anticipating her next question. “And how’s that?” She pried. Her eyes were focused on the screen, teeth biting at her fingernails as she perfected her resumé. He contemplated telling her, wanted to be as honest as he could. But he really liked being here with her, getting to see a different - more simple - side of life. He didn’t want to say something that would jeopardize this feeling.  “Story for another time, love.” Kori rolled her eyes at that, setting the laptop on the coffee table. Her fingers mindlessly tugged at the lint on the blanket that she’d pulled into her lap.

“Come on, lovie, gotta save some conversation for next time.” He chuckled, although he felt that the conversation would never run out with her. Kori felt the same, smiling beside herself. “So, let’s talk about something other than your ghost tendencies.” She shrugged. He leaned in closer to her, fully engaged in their conversation, wherever it was headed. “Like what?” He hummed. Her eyes cast downward under his intense stare, countless thoughts of things she wanted to ask him whizzing through the forefront of her mind. “How about Ashton?” She suggested and watched as his face turned to one of displeasure. She cocked an eyebrow at that. She had supposed they were closer than friends, more like brothers in a sense. She was aware that they lived together, so she couldn't quite place why Calum had such an indifferent look on his face. “He’s, Ashton.” A breathy laugh fell from his lips as he repeated that same phrase. He brushed a hand through his curly tuffs. “He’s not always like that I promise. He can just get too excited about things, comes out looking like a douchebag most times.” Kori snorted, agreeing more than Calum understood. But she also could see how much love Calum held for Ashton in his eyes. “Is he like a ghost boy too?” She couldn’t help but ask. Calum shook his head once more. “No, we’ve been best friends since we were kids, he’s been around for it all.” He explained, hands picking at the same blanket she was picking at now. “What about you? Any best friends with complexes I should know about?” She smiled with a shrug of her shoulders, eyes looking past him to the pictures the hung on the wall. “Not many, none worth mentioning.” She decided. Calum turned his head to see what her eyes had lingered on for so long. There was a picture of her, accompanied by another woman. She looked happy. He decided not to ask more about it and judging by the sad look in her eyes, she didn’t want him to.

“Ashton is the only person that knows who I am. He’s a great friend, can’t imagine my life without him. Not to mention we make a pretty badass team.” Kori smiled as he talked about his sidekick. She didn’t particularly like Ashton but she was willing to believe he had some good in him even if he had a funny way of showing it. “You gotta get to know him, Kori. I think you and him would get along nicely.” Her face crumpled at the thought of that, which only made Calum’s smile widen. “I don’t think so.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Maybe someday.” She offered to his pleading eyes, finding it bizarre that they were even having this conversation. A conversation about more. A conversation about what they wanted for tomorrow. She wanted tomorrow, admittedly or not.

“Is it hard?” She asked, brown eyes shifting up to his. Calum cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Keeping such a huge secret?” She continued, suddenly aware of his close proximity. If she would move her hand forward half an inch, she would be touching his. She debated touching his hand, wondering if he was cold like a ghost, or if his human portion kept him warm. “Sometimes,” He sighed. “It’s nice that I have Ashton, he understands. Keeps me level headed.” Kori nodded, eyes focused on the blanket. “But now you know too.” He stared at her, gauging her reaction. “That’s one more person to share it with.” He smiled when she looked at him, feeling like a teenager. She hummed, accidentally brushing his hand with her fingertips. She pulled her hand away, staring down at where the offense was made. She noticed the tattoos littering his left hand. There were initials adjacent to his thumb, ‘JKH’ and written higher was the word “Alive” on his wrist. The tattoos most definitely suited him. She wondered if they disappeared when he transformed, what they meant to him. Her eyes followed up his arms, more dark ink covered his skin, each one more beautiful than the last. Calum watched her as she gazed at him, wishing he knew what she was thinking. She was fighting the urge to reach out and trace the dark ink, wanted to know his story fully. She didn’t ask or touch him, rather broke her gaze to find his eyes already watching her. She cleared her throat, leaning back against the arm of the sofa.

She was feeling almost superior because now she was in on a huge secret the world hadn’t even begun to suspect about. She knew something no one would believe even if she tried to tell them. She had seen it, first hand lived it, and knew that she wouldn’t ever be able to forget it. And no she was sitting here, on her couch, with the man that had all the answers. It was hard to fathom that seemingly only two, now three, people knew what the world was genuinely like. And that there was a man out there willing and able to defeat these beings without fear. Kori’s mouth was dry as she began to really think about it. She began to comprehend what all of this meant and she wondered if she would now be subject to this underworld of mystery. This excited her in a way, gave her some type of relinquished freedom that she didn’t know she’d been searching for. Her second feeling was that of uncertainty. That, yes, she felt liberated but this wasn’t her life to live or story to tell. This was Calum’s identity, the rush wasn’t hers to feel.

This was unlike any novel of any genre that she’d read before. This was something entirely obscure. “Are you ever scared?” She asked, eyes falling to his hands that seemed abnormally large. “Used to be.” He answered. “Then it just became normal. I was fighting ghosts more than I was doing anything else.” He sighed. He didn’t resent his life, knew it was something he hadn’t been able to control. But sometimes he wished he’d never went into that portal in the first place, then the problem wouldn’t have been his. “Ever wish you could just stop?” She queried as if she had been reading his mind. Calum shrugged, having never given the question much thought. He’d always wondered what if this had never happened, had never considered giving up ghost fighting altogether. “Don’t know who I’d be without it.” She hummed in response to that, eyes finally meeting his for longer than a few seconds. He studied her face easier now, the task was somewhat difficult as she was always looking at the floor. She had soft features, an inviting face. Browns eyes, wide and framed by thick long lashes. Freckles dotted over her cheeks and nose, with beautiful brown skin beneath them. Her cheekbones were prominent, evident that she’d have a beautiful smile. Which, Calum could confirm, she did.

“My one friend, Desi, always said my life was too boring.” Kori snorted, head tilting as she looked at Calum some more. “Bet she’d change her mind if she’d seen tonight.” She shook her head and a smile grew on Calum’s face. “She definitely would.” He agreed. Kori sighed, shrinking deeper into her couch as the exhaustion from the day crept up on her. It was well after midnight now, their conversation was lighter as they both felt the evil hands of time ticking around them. Kori didn’t want Calum to leave, his company was refreshing. He wasn’t someone who was worried about what her plans were for the future. He wasn’t one to plan and study his own. She didn’t have to worry about the inevitable disappointment being sprung on her - that was common in her life. This relationship had begun from a strange beginning, and she had no doubt that it would be more adventurous than she could anticipate. As Calum typed his name in her phone as ‘ghost boy’ with a childish grin on his face, she grew excited for just that. Adventure. As frightening as that adventure might be. With a wave goodnight, Calum descended her porch steps excited for tomorrow even though tomorrow hadn’t promised him anything.  

4.19.19 x

Masterlist

[this-is-for-the-record-blog]

Pearl Jam - Riot Act - Album Review

Riot Act is the seventh record from the alternative rock band and is the first Pearl Jam record I purchased upon release in 2002. It was a few months after the albums release that I saw the band live for the first time, my first major concert. The concert was at the Irvine Medows Amphitheater, the last time the band would play the beautiful outdoor venue and is a venue that sadly was just recently torn down. Riot Act contained the bands most politically driven work and offered a very gloomy and angsty sound. After the release of Binaural the band had played the Roskilde Festival, where nine Pearl Jam fans were trampled to death and 30 others injured during the bands rainy, muddy set. This led to the band questioning continuation as a band and ultimately became the factor for why they quit playing festivals for the next 7 years. Seemed everything the band did from then on had more purpose and meaning especially when it came to social and political issues. Also, republican governor of Texas George W. Bush would be elected for president of the United States who manipulated the country into a war in the middle east after the tragic events that took place in New York on September 11 2001 and finally Dee Dee Ramone, bassis for the Ramones and Layne Staley singer of Alice in Chains and Mad Season both died in 2002 of an overdose to heroin. All of this played a role in the writing and production on Riot Act. The record would mark the first album produced by Adam Kasper, producer for Soundgarden and is also the first record with organist Boom Gasper who gets a big spotlight on the tracks “Love Boat Captain” and “I Am Mine” and was the last record with major label Epic Records.

With the band out of the spotlight completely now and many of the 90s bands disbanded the genres of new metal (Slipknot, Korn, Disturbed, System of a Down, Deftones) emo/pop punk (AFI, Green Day, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, The Used) and post grunge (3 Doors Down, Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Seether, Creed, Nickleback) were dominating the radio. Pearl Jam didnt seem to fit the mold anywhere and nor did they want to, but after some time staying away from music videos on MTV, a silence they broke with the release of Yield in 1998, the band made a pretty big return offering 4 music videos from Riot Act that actually featured the band members and this time produced in a similar fashion as the record live raw and seemingly uncut. The videos feature the band paying the respected song live in a room and even the audio was captured in live form rather than the typical conceptual lip sync video you normally see. Pearl Jam would also partake in published interviews for the first time in 10 years with the release of this record. Some background behind the records concept, the name Riot Act comes from an English statute of 1715 which provided that if 12 or more persons assemble unlawfully and riotously, to the disturbance of the public peace, and refuse to disperse upon proclamation would be considered guilty of a felony. Being a very political record that stands against the President and the current policies, in a very tumultuous way, the records title would have likely been named after this Act, however an act that was implemented here domestically in the United States after 9/11 was the Patriot Act an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush. With its ten-letter abbreviation (USA PATRIOT) expanded, the full title is “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”. The Act led to a lot of racial profiling and seemed to legally allow the FBI to wrongfully accuse individuals based on these racial profiles, which went against the 14th amendment in the US Constitution. The band may be calling this Act that president Bush signed as riotous or the patRIOT ACT. Either way the band is rioting in protest against the government on this record and for good reason. The records cover art was an artistic photo taken by Jeff Ament which features two skeletons wearing crowns appearing to be a king and prince. Two monarchs who lie dead smoldering in a tomb. A kingdom now just dusted ruins of what was. Based on the records themes Its safe to assume this fallen kingdom depicted had crumbled due to the greed, corruption and deception of its leadership and that tge skeletons may represent presidents Bush senior and Bush Jr.

Like the last couple records from the band each member brought songs to the table and collaboratively contributed to the writing process. The songs again here are more structured like their previous two records. Many times in the past, despite a couple records in the mid 90s, the band would redo parts over again when they feel mistakes were made in the recording of the songs or when they feel they could perform better with a second or third take, with this record many times the band would do one take and not overthink it. The record has a live soundscape and went through very little editing in the production department and written last minute and recorded in a very natural way, much like the bands No Code and Vitalogy records. If errors were made they were left in and would be apart of the final cut. Much of this record experiments with many sounds and styles like folk rock, and art rock. After the turn of the century organ and keyboards were a big instrument in music especially in the alternative rock genre. Bringing Boom Gasper into the band and incorporating him on their old songs in the live setting really opened the band to a much more dynamic sound and new styles. The guitars on the record are very textured. At times Mike McCreadys guitar tremolo effect mimics a Hammond Organ’s Leslie rotary speaker. Other times is soaked in tube driven distortion, delay and reverb. McCready and Stone Gossard really seems to be channeling guitarists Jimi Hendrix, John Fogerty,  Larry Parypa, Joe Strummer, Pete Townshend, Johnny Marr and Jimmy Page.

Riot Act opens up with “Cant Keep” a song that reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s “Poor Tom” with its rumbling drum beat and triad of guitars, slowly building with a gloomy, melodic, atmosphere like an impending storm. The song was originally written on ukulele by Eddie Vedder, but then transposed into the full band version. Many of the songs on Riot Act feature alternate tunnings like on the experimental and rhythmically unique love song “You Are” written by drummer Matt Cameron. The track features a guitar played through a drum machine giving a sound similar to The Smith’s “How Soon Is Now”, “All or None” a bittersweet, somber and folky tune and the dark and moody spoken word of “Bu$hleaguer” all feature varied tunnings. A few of the songs have a live, warm and acoustic rich ambiance to them like the tracks “I Am Mine”, “Bu$hleaguer”, “Cant Keep”, “All or None” and “Thumbing My Way” a song played by Jeff Ament on the upright bass. The track “Save You”, the fuzzy and grungy Mudhoney inspired “Ghost” and “Get Right”, and the blues stomping, bar rocking “1/2 Full” are some of the heavier tracks on the album; in fact “Save You” got so intense in the studio during the recording of the song, drummer Matt Cameron lost his headphones. He was able to finish the recording of the song by watching bassist Jeff Ament’s fingers as he played the bass. Cameron said “It was me watching Jeff’s fingers and hoping I was in time, you know? There’s a breakdown of just me and Jeff. I hit a cymbal, moved my head, and the headphones went flying.”  These songs capture a very Vitalogy era Pearl Jam while the song “Green Disease” has a drum driven pacing that reminds a bit of “Reviewmirror” from VS. and “Cropduster” is a midtempo rocker that contains a pounding tambourine and has a riff and rhythm very similar to Skid Rows “Into Another”, a band that also just so happens to have a song called “Riot Act”. Experimentation with vocals and harmony is more present this time around like on the tracks “Help Help”, and “Bu$hleaguer” as well as the track “Arc” is an experimental track that features layers of Eddies vocal harmony and is a tribute to those who died at Roskilde. Eddie’s vocals for the most part on this record are very subdued and laid back. Hes very much the mumbler hes always been but a bit more calm and centered even on the more energetic songs a sound and vocal style very similar to The Boss Bruce Springsteen especially on one of Eddie Vedders first acoustic written songs, “Thumbing My Way”.

Lyrically, much of the records messages revolve around love, loss and the struggle to stay positive after mournful events such as the September 11 attacks and the accidental death of nine fans during Pearl Jam’s performance at the 2000 Roskilde Festival, with a big emphasis on the theme of love and seeking positive leadership. The track “Love Boat Captain” a song that promotes love as an answer in a time of anger, grief and mourning and mentions those 9 fans who died when Vedder sings “Lost nine friends we’ll never know… two years ago today”. The song “Ghost” is about TV adds and their manipulative agenda and expresses how true love never fails. Vedder said “Love is one resource that the corporations aren’t going to be able to monopolize.” Empirical tracks like these as well as “Cropduster” a song about a self centered egoist, addresses the idea of Darwinism v Creationism and the optimistically determined and inner spirited waltzing “I Am Mine” were born from tragedy and in response to political angst and personal struggles. The words “We’re safe tonight” in “I Am Mine” are a reminder that the band and their audience or America in general will make it through ok, a hopeful notion in response to the Roskilde tragedy and 9/11. Also in the song Eddie writes “And the meaning it gets left behind. All the innocents lost at one time.” could refer to either Roskilde or 9/11. Eddie said “There’s been a lot of mortality…It’s a weird time to be writing. Roskilde changed the shape of us as people, and our filter for seeing the world changed.” Themes of exile, war, peace, friendship, past, greed, politics, changes and love as higher salvation, similar subjects found on their previous record Binaural but are presented with a bit more explicitness and passion here. “You start feeling like, ‘What do I have to say? What is my opinion?’ Then I realized I did have an opinion. Not only did I have one, but I felt like it was formed by processing a lot of information and having good influences.” Vedder said. Bassist Jeff Ament also added “I think the time’s right to turn our voice up a bit… And Ed did it in a great way, with humor and a mystical, magical approach. It isn’t just, ‘We’re pissed off, and fuck you! Riot! Anarchy!’ Cos I don’t think that’s the method. At least at this point.”

Many of the lyrics on Riot Act Eddie wrote last minute before recording and were written raw on a typewriter. Eddies lyrics can be seen in their typewriter form errors and all in the bands liner notes. Riot Act is Pearl Jam’s most politically direct and forward record up to its point. Its a record of protest and at times seems to attempt to change society for the better with songs like “Green Disease”, “Bu$hleaguer” and “1/2 Full,” being politically driven songs about a world lead by disconnected politicians and business men, and point out social classes, big corporate CEO business profits, the destruction of capitalism and President George W Bush’s influence on the country at the time. Vedder said, “I have to admit this record came out a bit one-sided, but I think we as a country need to understand why we’re involved in the Middle East. This hollow patriotism frightens me.” Singer Eddie Vedder said that Riot Act‘s lyrics “represent my state of mind these days. I’m optimistic yet disillusioned, hopeful yet frustrated.” “1/2 Full” reprises some lyrics and themes from their song “Porch” when Eddie sings “There’s ain’t gonna be/No middle anymore/It’s been said before.” The track “Save You” is an angry track that expresses the frustration of watching some one you care about waste their life away. The song may reflect the struggles with drug addictions that led to the fatal overdoses of Dee Dee Ramone, Layne Staley and John Entwistle in 2002. Eddie commented on the song that “One thing I’ve learned about addiction in the last few years is that having seen other folk go through it, and really not having done that, with heroin which can grip you that intensely. I didn’t have a complete understanding and a lot of times it was easy to come to the conclusion that you place blame on the person or accuse them of weakness or ask, “Why couldn’t Kurt [Cobain] keep it together?” There was always that in the back of your mind.” The song “Thumbing My Way” is a song about walking wounded with a broken heart but has hope for something positive down the road. Sometimes you hope for anything to come along and pick you up when you are down.

Finally Riot Act is one of my favorite Pearl Jam records, definitely in my top 5 and maybe from a bias stand point, but i truly think the band was very driven and inspired in a very deep way at the time even if it was being channeled from some dark places, a spark had ignited in the band. Where Eddie faced severe writers block on Binaural, Riot Act came at the perfect time when Eddie had a lot to say because he had a lot he was feeling. I love the diversity on Riot Act from experimentation to the rich folky art rock tunes to angsty moody garage rock vibe. It brings to mind an older more angry Pearl Jam. The record is like Vitalogy meets Yield. The angsty rebellion of Vitalogy meets the maturity and melodic drive of Yield. Its a record with determination for hope, love and positivity during a bleak and hopeless time. With the heavy collaboration in song writing on Riot Act, many songs were cut from the record. Songs like the Social Distortion inspired “Down”, as well as the folky Neil Young meets Phil Ochs “Last Soldier”, “Undone”, “Other Side”, and “4/20/02” a song written in tribute to Alice In Chains lead singer Layne Staley after his tragic heroin overdose. The date reflects the day Eddie Vedder had heard the news of the singers death. A spoken word song “Im Still Here” similar to “Im Open” sounds like it may have been more of the story behind Black or his recent divorce with ex wife Beth. Their cover of Sonics’ “Dont Believe In Christmas was recorded at this time too. If you like Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, The Rockfords, Soundgarden, Skin Yard, Brad, Wellwater Conspiracy, Hater, Candlebox, Three Fish, Mother Love Bone, Neil Young, Our Lady Peace, 3 Doors Down, Pete Yorn, The Doors, The Who, The Walkabouts, The Wallflowers, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Seether, Green River, Mudhoney, Seven Mary Three, Credence Clearwater Revival, Skid Row, Electronic, Sleater Kinney, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, or John Lennon you will love this record. If you voted for Bush youll probably hate it. My favorite songs are “Love Boat Captain”, “I Am Mine”, “Thumbing My Way”, “You Are”, “1/2 Full”, and “All or None”.

[creativeashproductions]

Magician Behind the Music // Owen Joyner

sagSummary: Being in a studio recording songs is an intimidating experience for anyone regardless of age. Wanting the best in the business for his soundtrack Kenny Ortega brings his cast to the best in the business. Heading the production is no ever than Y/N with a certain sparkle when it comes to the tall blonde.

Warning: Swearing, insecurity, oblivious!reader and fluff

Words: 2.1k

A/N: I know nothing about producing songs so I ended up winging it. About time I make a fic for Owen

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Masterlist

The studio had the sound of music as a group of people walk down the hall of the building that housed world-renowned recording studio. The office chair was leaning back as a figure sat listening to the nearly finished album. Forest green Sanuk slip-on shoes on the feet of the individual the door opening wasn’t heard.

“Girls you wanna hear the finished product?” You questioned from your seat behind the large control panel. The four girls on the video chat excited responded enthusiastic band members.

Not needing anymore push the song replaced the one that had been playing as background noise. Sliding the volume up the music, you had both produced and featured played through the speakers. As the pre-chorus and the chorus came, you couldn’t help but start singing.

 I find peace in every story you told

 I think of you, I’ll never be alone

 It’s true, true, true

 You know I do, do, do

 Oh, I need you more than words can say

 Oh, you save me in ways that I can’t explain

 Always been there for me, now I’ll do the same

 Oh, I need you more than words can say

All five that poured themselves on the song couldn’t help but bop along with the catchy words and beat. By far, one of your most favourite songs you ever co-wrote, feature and produce. You and little Mix had been desiring to co-work on something for years now.

“That pre-chorus and chorus are the favourites of my career!” You excitedly announced glancing up the glass separating the booth from the control room. Your face found a handful of young adults and Kenny in the reflection.

“It’s gonna be a bop to sing!” Perrie agreed with her hair in messy space buns sitting at her computer desk in comfy clothes.

Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Jade wore similar loungewear in the safety of their homes after travelling out of LA back to England. An entire week spent solely on writing music and recording with a few sleepover nostalgic of the teen years.

“I gotta go. My next clients are here.” You told the excited British girl group before your cursor ended the video chat.

Pushing off with your toe on the floor, you faced the group seated taking in the awed expressions from the song. Part of you is annoyed at the blatant disregard of professionalism and the potential of the song being leaked.

“Charlie, Owen, Jeremy, and Madison this is my friend Y/N. She’s a musician, songwriter and a producer.” Kenny spoke, waving towards your seat position at the forefront of the control panel.

Your eyes gleamed brighter with the teal blue cable knit sweater paired with a pair of fitted blue jeans. The pros of being a producer in a recording studio meant the work attire was relaxed compared to desk jobs. It appeared this group was similar.

“Hello.” You spoke standing up to be closer to the group, “I believe you have a soundtrack needed? I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’d like to ask that the song you overheard not be spoken about again.”

“I’m Charlie.” The brunette with a white hat put on backwards immediately shook your hand. Even with the hat, you could tell his hair was a gorgeous brown that contrasted his pretty eyes hazel green eyes.

“Hi Charlie.” You smiled at the male before stepping around him to the other three people in the room. The only other girl in the room was most definitely the lead of whatever show Kenny was currently doing.

“You’re Madison.” You spoke, taking in her youthful appearance and the quiet wisdom flowing within her eyes, the colour of dark coffee grounds. Her hair was down in her natural texture, resting on the shoulders of her muted olive green shirt.

“Jeremy.” Came from the shorter boy with startling rich dark brown almost black hair and eyes you couldn’t discern between blue or green. His cheeks a permanent pink flush but an infectious grin, “How are you?”

“My collaborators for a song liked it, and I’m not going to explain what you’ll be doing in the booth.” You replied gesturing to the enclosed space with the microphone and a stand of instruments.

Brushing off any other details you finally came to the only nameless individual in the room with the only blonde head of hair.

“Owen.” The blonde spoke softly with his eyes nearly begging to leave your expression with the anxiety building. This was so new for Owen, and unlike anything, he had ever experienced before in his life.

“Take a seat.” You motioned towards the long couch against the wall opposite the recording booth. It was a plus that extended couch perfect for a short nap after a near all-nighter. Your studio was the only one with such a good sofa.

“I’ve worked with Kenny on his Descendants series with the cast along with strictly only musicians. I say this with respect with Kenny, but if you don’t respect me or my process, I won’t hesitate to end this. It’s in the contract.” You sternly told the young individuals, “That being said. Your voice is an instrument that needs to be cared for. You need to be careful with it.”

The vocal coach dove into a more detailed list of the items not to be ingested by actors. The same thing happened with every new client you met after the horror film of a massacre a few years previous. As they went over, you looked over the schedule.

The binder was thick with the different songs in the series with jot notes in the margins. Kenny sat in the other chair, looking at them.

“So, Jeremy is the only one with experience?” You questioned glancing up at your elder with a look of curiosity. Kenny nodded with a fond smile, “Okay so let’s get his vocals for the first song recorded. That way, the others have a first-hand look at how it happens.”

Jeremy was quick to rid himself of his jacket to slide into the booth with the headphones resting on only one ear. In two hours, you had guided Madison and Charlie through their parts of this session. Your mouth opened to invite Owen into the booth but his demeanour concerned you.

“Kenny, how about we take a break for lunch?” You subtly guided Kenny to look at Owen before he quickly agreed.

Charlie was practically skipping out of the recording studio with his hands nudging Jeremy on his way out. Madison, led by her father, left right after leaving Owen to just about exit the room.

“Hey Owen?” You spoke, bringing the tensed young man’s attention, “Can you give me a moment?”

His head of thick blonde hair hesitantly nodded as Kenny followed the other cast members out of the room. Gently nudging the door closed you guided him to sit on the couch with you stationed in the office chair.

“First time recording is a bitch of pressure. I completely understand because I’ve guided people and been guided in the booth.” You began leaning forward to meet his eyes, “I know as someone with anxiety it’s intimidating. Let me know. Whatever you tell me will stay between us.”

Owen was quiet, “I’ve done other projects. I’ve never had the opportunity to have a role as a drummer. I guess this is overwhelming.”

“How about you hop into the room, and we mess around with a song?” You questioned, “I can show you how I produce if you’d like.”

“I’d like that.” Owen’s lips curved just a fraction into a ghost of a smile with the tension in his shoulders melting.

For the next two hours, you spent time in the booth explaining the equipment’s role in the recording. After he gave a short lyric, you invited him to sit by the soundboard with you to walk him through it. All the while, you shared the pizza you had ordered for both of you.

 “I started in the business as background vocals for a few bands before I delved into my own career as a musician. I believe I was about seventeen when I got to be part of people getting the songs ready for fans. I fell in love and find it more fun behind the soundboard.” You informed the blonde listening to a recent song you had finished.

“This is insanely cool. I think I’m ready to record my parts.” Owen admitted playing with his fingers. In response, you typed out a quick message to Kenny, bringing the other people back after a long break.

As much as you would have loved creating the soundtrack, it wasn’t possible with your other commitments. Leaving the work in Alana’s capable hands, you had been packing for your visit to the UK for performing the song with Little Mix. Owen, having the day off, had found himself in your apartment as he had for the last few weeks.

“Do you really have to go?” Owen whined, staring at with his head tilted back on the couch. Lips pursed in a pout and blue eyes shining sadly.

“As much as I would adore falling for that look, we both know I have to.” You admitted dropping packing to snuggle into his side, “What’s up with you lately?”

“What do you mean?” He questioned, rolling his head on the back of the couch you look at you. From the position, he couldn’t see your face, but that didn’t stop him from staring.

“It’s hard to describe, but you get flustered when certain songs come on. You’ve been ditching the cast to spend time with me.” You listed off, staring off into the distance, “You got Charlie to drive in the opposite direction of your work to pick me up.”

“What kind of songs?” Owen inquired with one arched eyebrow high. You shifted to stare up at the soft look in his pretty blue eyes.

“It was some duet from that tv series about the High School Musical films…” Your sentence trailed off as everything clicked, “You have feelings for me.”

“Thought it was blatantly obvious. I danced with you in the rain at midnight while I sang to you. I think that’s the most obvious action.” Owen chuckled brushing a strand of hair behind your ear as he took in the startled expression

Owen had walked you home after a late recording session with the cast talking each other’s ear off with different subjects. His hand had slid into yours as he tugged you into the ice cream shop on the way; a scoop each. His eyes glued to every move you made with passion behind every single word.

“-they came to me about a song. It’s a surprise for Kenny, I suppose.” Your one holding the ice cream cone nearly went flying with the motion you made. Your other clasped in Owen’s without even realizing it.

“So, it’s the last song you’ll be helping us on, right?” Owen asked halting to toss the napkin from his cone in the closest bin. You followed suit while intertwining your fingers back together.

“The girls want to do a short little radio tour to promote the single. It would be a month most likely to brainstorm new ideas for songs. We’ve all agreed to collaborate in the future.” You informed the nineteen-year-old. He was a year and a half younger than you.

“When-”

Your sudden squeal cut him off as the sky opened up to a sudden pouring of rain on the two of you. Had you not been so focused on the conversation you would have seen the cloudy sky and the light drizzle of rain.

“Whoa!” Owen laughed, tugging you into his arms in a complete act of spontaneity. His voice softly singing one of your favourite songs.

As he twirled you around in the rain, he serenaded you with Edwin McCain’s song ‘I’ll Be’ unapologetically sharing a piece of himself. It seemed the universe took pity on the male by allowing him to dance smoothly with his friend.

“This is my favourite song.” You giggled as he dipped you with one of your legs in the air. The joy in your features melting the actor’s heart.

“You’ve been playing it every day for the last week.” Owen beamed, leaning his forehead on yours as he trailed off the end of the song, “I’ve memorized every lyric in it.”

With rainwater dripping down your nose the words settled in your mind cementing something you had been only slightly aware of. Playing that song often meant one thing: you had deep feelings for someone.

The someone being Owen Joyner.

“I’m kind of stupid.” You snorted turning to wrap your arms around his neck, “I’ve got no doubts I fell in love with you in that dance.”

Owen’s grin preceded a toe-curling kiss that was the first of many that would happen.

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[daggerzine]

Matt Addison from Mythical Motors gives us the skinny on the band and their new record (Moon Pies, too!).

I first heard about Mythical Motors from a Facebook friend. Mike Brown and I became FB friends a several years ago and I noticed from his posts that he’s a huge music fan and then, seemingly out of the blue, he told me he was in a band in his hometown of Chattanooga, TN. Mythical Motors is the name and rocking out is their game (thank you ladies and gentlemen). I went to the band’s Bandcamp page and noticed they had a lot of releases out. I then became FB friends with the band’s main songwriter Matt Addison as I’ve continued to check out their stuff. Off the bat you’ll hear a Guided by Voices influences, but here’s lots of other stuff brewing under and over the band’s sound (I hear The Beatles, The Who, a touch of prog and as you’ll see below Addison is a fan of Wire!).

The band recently released its latest record, the terrific Leviathan Messiah (on Painted Blonde Tapes). It’s definitely my favorite by them. If you’re not familiar with the band give a listen and then you will become a (instant) fan because you folks all have great taste in music.  Read on, music fans!

When the set ends the rumble begins.  

  Were you born and raised in Tennessee?

 Yes, I was born in Nashville, but I've lived in Chattanooga for most of my life. 

Was there a record store in town that got you interested in music?

When I was in high school, a store opened up nearby called Chad's Records.  Some friends and I would walk there after school, and I remember buying "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" single by Guided By Voices and Pavement's "Pacific Trim" EP on the day of their release.  A lot of my GBV collection came from Chad's: Alien Lanes, BOX, etc.   

When did you first pick up the guitar? How about any other instruments?

I starting playing guitar and writing songs when I was 14.  As soon as I got a guitar, my brother and I immediately started playing and recording on a boom box.  He would sing and I would play guitar, and we took turns playing other instruments.  We had a small Casio keyboard (which I still occasionally use on our albums), various drums, and we would even bang on pots and pans.  We'd basically use whatever was lying around.  

Eventually, we graduated to recording on a cassette 4-track.  My Dad found one at a pawn shop that was old, but very well made.  He surprised us with it one day, and I never looked back.  I was hooked on recording.  

Was there any specific concert/gig that really was like a watershed moment that made you want to play music?

When I was 16, I saw Sebadoh play at the Masquerade in Atlanta.  The next year, I saw Guided By Voices at the same venue.  I had already started playing music by then, but those are the first two shows that had a big impact on me.  

Were you in any bands before Mythical Motors?

In high school, I would occasionally get together with a friend or two and play music, but it was never a full band.

However, our guitarist, Johnny Wingo, was in a band called The Value in the early '80's.  They were Chattanooga's first punk band.   

”A higher stage, please.” 

Where did you come up with the name, Mythical Motors? It’s got a nice ring to it.

When the band first started, we were called Heaven's Basement.  We soon discovered that there was already a British hair metal band with that name, so it was time for a name change.  I think we had a show already lined up at the time, so I had to think of something quickly.  I've been keeping a running list of song titles for a long time.  I found "Mythical Motors" on that list, and just went with that!   

Tell us about the beginnings of the band. Was it the early-mid 00’s?

In 2006, I met our drummer, Brad Smith, at the first ever Robert Pollard show at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA.  We played as a duo for a while, before adding Mike Brown on bass.  Johnny Wingo started playing guitar with us a few years later. Before Johnny joined the band, we went through several lineup changes.  At one point, we had Daryl Black playing with us on baritone guitar, and there was another lineup that included Hollie Stockman on cello.   

Tell us about the making of Leviathan Messiah. I know you played all of the instruments….is that the way it is on most records?

Most of our albums have a few full band songs mixed in with songs where I play all the instruments.  But, Leviathan Messiah is the 4th album that's just me.

Did the name Leviathan Messiah come to you in a dream? It’s a cool title.

Thanks!  I came up with the title while writing the song "Faceless At The Altar."  I think I had just watched the remake of Suspiria, which contains a great deal of evocative and horrific imagery.  So, I was attempting to convey those types of images lyrically.  

Big stage for a big sound. 

Recording-wise, how is Leviathan Messiah different than your previous record 2019’s This Is What the Twilight Zone Was Preparing Us For?

Recording-wise they're pretty similar, but I definitely took a different approach to the songwriting on those two albums.  I had written "Ring The Bells Burning" and "Twin Sun Trajectory" while working on This Is What The Twilight Zone Was Preparing Us For.  Those two songs were a bit longer and didn't seem to fit on that album, so I saved them for the next one, which became Leviathan Messiah.  I also included a pair of even older songs, "Liquid Mirror Measuring Cups" and "The Lifted Heart," which were left off of our album Elevated Levels. 

So, Leviathan Messiah basically evolved in a sort of collage-like way.  These longer, more fleshed out songs stood in stark contrast to the spontaneous and rapid fire nature of This Is What The Twilight Zone Was Preparing Us For.So, I decided to keep writing in that style for Leviathan Messiah, and eventually came up with the multi-part title track, which is one of my longest songs.  Ultimately, I would say the album is a bit of a departure from our previous releases, despite still sounding like Mythical Motors. 

Is Chattanooga a good place to be into independent/alternative music? Decent scene?

There's definitely a thriving punk scene in Chattanooga, and several great venues to play, including Sluggo's North, JJ's Bohemia, Barley, and The Spot.    

I ask everyone, what are your top 10 desert island discs?

Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes 

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs 

Genesis - Selling England By The Pound

Superchunk - Tossing Seeds

Bevis Frond - North Circular

Ghost - Second Time Around

The Beatles - White Album

Wire - 154

Guided By Voices - Suitcase: Failed Experiments And Trashed Aircraft

The latest record: Leviathan Messiah 

What are some of your current favorite bands?

Lately, I've been listening to some of the other bands on Painted Blonde, the cassette label that released Leviathan Messiah. So far, I've heard great releases from Red Pants, Soda Pop, Be Cool Cowboy, and Pen Palindrome. 

I've also been really into the label Paisley Shirt Records, who have great releases from R.E. Seraphin, Portabella, Sad Eyed Beatniks, Hits, Quad Super Six, and many others.   

Didn’t you guys play one of the Athens Pop Fests? Tell us about that….sounds like a dream festival.

It definitely felt like a dream!  We were the first band that played on the first day, and I thought it went really well.  We became friends with a few of the bands that played that year, and have played shows with them in Chattanooga since then. It was an amazing experience, and I'm glad we got to be a part of it.   

When not on lockdown, do you tour much or is it mostly local shows/regional tours?

Since everyone in the band has commitments with family, work, and school, we've never actually done a full tour.  In fact, even though we've been a band for about 14 years, we've only played shows in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.  Whenever the pandemic finally ends, I would love to get out more and finally do a short tour.  

RAWK 

What’s next…more recording?

Definitely!  I'm currently working on our next two albums, the first of which will be called Sleepwalking On Main Street.  Before the pandemic, we recorded 3 full band songs, which will be included on these albums.  I'm also planning to release a digital EP on Bandcamp tomorrow (June 19th) and any profit will be donated to Black Lives Matter.

Any final thoughts, closing comments …anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask?

I think that covers it!  Thanks again for doing this interview!   

BONUS QUESTION; Tell us something cool about Chattanooga that we might not know otherwise. 

Krystal and Moon Pies both started in Chattanooga, so I guess our junk food is well-renowned.  

 www.mythicalmotors.bandcamp.com

 www.paintedblonde.bandcamp.com

[jazzviewswithcjshearn]

A deeper look at: Thana Alexa: ONA (Self produced, 2020)

This review is dedicated to my mother, my best friend, Bonnie Marino Shearn (July 9, 1948-August 9, 2016)

Thana Alexa: vocals; ROSA Vocal Group (Nicole Zuraitis, Sophia Rei, Claudia Acuna, Sarah Charles): vocals; Carmen Staaf: piano, keyboards; Jordan Peters: guitar; Matt Brewer: acoustic and electric bass; Antonio Sanchez: drums; with guests Staceyann Chin: spoken word; Regina Carter: violin; and Becca Stevens: vocals.

Women are the most powerful creatures on the planet, they have been the bedrock of society since time began, a stabilizing life force.  Yet, twenty years into the 21th century, despite paradigm shifts made throughout history from the likes of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Indira Gandhi, and Malala Yusef among countless others around the globe, women are still fighting for basic human rights.  Vocalist Thana Alexa's sophomore album, ONA follows five years after her debut Ode To Heroes (Harmonia Mundi/Jazz Village, 2015).  Not only is it a stunning, powerful statement on what it means to be a woman in all aspects: giver of life, friend, sister, daughter, lover, it is the most complete artistic statement to date from the PORIN (Croatian Music Academy) nominee and Downbeat Rising Star vocalist.  ONA, is Croatian for she, (coincedentally, onna no hito, is woman in Japanese) and the complete tale Alexa tells on womanhood from start to finish is riveting.  Her excellent group with keyboardist Carmen Staaf, guitarist Jordan Peters, bassist Matt Brewer, husband/co producer Antonio Sanchez on drums  in addition to the ROSA vocal group, spoken word from LGBT activist and poet Staceyann Chin and guests violinist Regina Carter and vocalist Becca Stevens, come together in a sparkling unified vision.

The title track is a rallying cry of sorts, both primal and unmistakably modern.  A drone of  voices fade in from the Rosa Vocal Group. Some of the voices utilizing striking use of quarter tones, setting the stage for a hypnotic chant in an equally so 11/8 meter.  Alexa's lead vocal assertively takes the center with arresting lyrics for the first verse:

I am Woman

My roots reach into the ground

Man wants to keep me down

But my Wolfpack won’t allow

They call us nasty when

We speak above the Man

Won’t teach our girls their version of

What they want as feminine

We must be better than

Just to be equal to

Even when we succeed

We don’t get paid like you

Stop all your staring, boy

Your disrespectful noise,

You’re wrong if you think

I Was born to be your toy

With these passionate searing words, the vocalist takes no quarter in expressing her stance as a human, an indictment on the political and social institutional sexism that is an unfortunate part of the modern culture.  Women are speaking up, and rising, making  so many waves, threatening the conventional power structure who are absolutely clueless as far as the struggles of people of color, LGBTQ, disabled, poor and mentally ill- the rhetoric of Alexa is challenging such forces and calling them out.  As the paradigm is finally starting to crumble,  those in power are using baseless fear tactics that are catering toward the current anti intellectual climate.  She also flexes her chops as a sensational improviser here who has grown by leaps and bounds since her work in Gene Ess' Fractal Attraction, Michael Olatuja's Lagos Pepper Soup, Antonio Sanchez & Migration and most recently SONICA.  Alexa glides over Sanchez' truly interactive comping and deep listening; his drums becoming more open and resonant from the t-shirt deadened tom colors found earlier in the track.  The vocalist's inventive improvisation punctuated with growls and wails calls upon the type of stylings found from Urzsula Dudziak and Meredith Monk, in addition to soaring high note swoops recalling Ella Fitzgerald.  

Women rising is a fitting motif continuing on to “The Resistance”  Sanchez's deadened toms, and an effects treated snare with tiny tambourine bells frame a stone groove as the singer puts forth more provocative lyrics inspired by her visit to the Women's March.  The gathering was the biggest single day protest in American history. Critics of the protest (as told in the documentary White Savior: A History of Racism In American Churches) argued that this protest, which has done so much to move women forward, was primarily a vehicle of white women-- however the impact it made was for all women.  It was an immediate mobilization of social justice, right after the election of Donald Trump, and one of the most heartening things to see in years.  Sanchez' deep pocket groove, Brewer's vamping bass and Staaf's Fender Rhodes  lay a wonderful cushion as Alexa moves through the verse, the drummer's Bonham cum Blakey bass drum triplets  add considerable momentum.  The spoken word from LGBTQ activist Staceyann Chin’s fiery invocation, appropriately places volcanic drums underneath echoing her scorching fervor.  The reprise of the chorus with it's marching snare is positively adrenaline pumping and the tune ends cathartically with layers of melodic development over attractive chords.

“Pachamama” is a moving lament to Pachamama, the goddess of the Andes, and is a deep reminder that Earth is a mother to us all.  Alexa sings with some of the deepest tenderness and maturity on the album, Matt Brewer's gorgeous melodic bass solo hangs the gentle caress of Sanchez' cymbals, and guest Regina Carter's violin solo drips with emotion and a deep cerulean hue that makes the 11 minute ballad more than engaging.

Alexa's second offering to her late brother and best friend Niki, “Set Free” is another treasure of a ballad.  The lyrical content explores the nature of the soul, and the concept of the soul as energy.  The track, a follow up to “Ghost Hawk” on the debut album is every bit as moving  and deeply emotional, the listener can imagine the kind of person Niki was, and how much a part of the ever present.  He lives through the vocalist, and through this touching piece, the listener truly gets to know him.  “Teardrop” a hit from trip hop group Massive Attack. has been a tour de force live staple for Alexa for years.

The piece is a vehicle for her voice as if it was a horn or drums, taking advantage of her interests in these areas.  Sanchez, with dead snare, faithfully stays true to the original rhythm, with a bit of extra seasoning, and Alexa's interpretation of the lyrics are nuanced, as to her, the line between reality and fantasy is blurred when one deals with, love, obsession, attraction desire and all the things that entails.  The expert use of multi tracking and her flexible rich alto voice are major contributions to the overall mood of the piece.  Themes of love, desire, and sexuality are followed up on with “Animal Instinct” . Alexa's comfort with her own sexuality in the poetic lyrics create a vivid, erotic soundscape for the listeners.  Aside from the extended technique aspect of Sanchez' drums, Jordan Peters contributes a sensual, smoky, distorted guitar solo heightening the sensuality. “He Said, She Said” is a wonderful paean to the marriage of one of Alexa's best friends, featuring guest vocalist, Becca Stevens.  The album closes with a truly inventive spin on Tears For Fears, classic “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.  Alexa's arrangement begins with an ingenious vocal vamp intro in 7/4, with the familiar lyrics section being driven by Sanchez in that time signature, while the 6/4 shuffle is only explored at the tune's coda which one again brings back the previous layers to an immensely rewarding conclusion.

Sound:

ONA is leaps and bounds above Ode To Heroes on a production level.  Alexa's debut was produced  like your garden variety jazz record, everything sounding quite live in the studio with minimal overdubs.  Like the best pop, rock, jazz-funk and jazz-rock records, Alexa uses the studio as an instrument and explores it to the fullest capacity.  The record, largely cut at The Lab, Alexa and Sanchez's home studio,  took over a year to complete and the effort shows.  Her skills as a producer have increased ten fold as has her comfort level with technology. Antonio Sanchez, as co producer has lended his considerable chops, so those familiar with albums such as Bad Hombre, Lines In The Sand, and his work on Sargeant Pepper Revisited, will find some familiar sonic terrain.  Sanchez uses dampening techniques and additional percussion to expand the sound of the drum set, and some of his favorite production tricks appear here.  These techniques include the reverse drums on “The Resistance”, a wide stereo spread, pans, and little sub mix details.  Alexa's use of devices such as the TC Helicon and loopers from Boss have come in handy too, turning her voice into a virtual choir.  Everything is mastered nicely too without a lot of audio evidence of extreme brick walled, compression.  The album is a studio piece of art.  

Closing thoughts:

With ONA, Thana Alexa has established herself as the pre eminent vocalist of her generation.  Her deep conviction to her feelings as a woman and social change is a victory not just for biological women, LGBTQ women, women with disabilities, but ALL women, and humanity.  Alexa just doesn't sit on the sidelines talking about what's wrong, she actively (along with Antonio Sanchez) pursues social justice, and uses her art to create  positive change.  It is very early in the year, but ONA is already staking claim to being one of the best albums of the year, and her future development is going to be very interesting. Rise up! Rise up!

Music: 10/10

Sound: 9.5

[thisisheavynews]

Steven Wilson: “I fall in love with music more than the tools to make it”

When MusicRadar checks in with British art-rock pioneer Steven Wilson, he’s at residence in the studio doing precisely what anybody would count on him to be doing.

“I’m grappling with a new synthesizer as we speak,” he laughs, revealing his newest acquisition to be an Arturia MatrixBrute, “which has roughly a million knobs on the front… and that appeals to me, of course!”

Read more: Anderson Guitarworks Guardian Angel

He’s speaking as we speak to mark the launch of Home Invasion: In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall, filmed on the closing night of his three-night residency in one in every of London’s most prestigious venues, scorching on the heels of final 12 months’s prime 5-charting masterpiece To The Bone.

Released this week through Eagle Rock, the footage captures the progressive visionary and his band in full flight, utilizing breath-taking sounds and imagery to transcend their viewers by a three-hour rabbit gap of dreamy escapism and nightmarish actuality, reaching inventive extremes on its title observe, The Creator Has A Mastertape and Song Of I.

That notion of exposing mass audiences to the unconventionally darkish is nothing new, nevertheless, believes a firmly grounded Steven Wilson…

“I always used to feel that way about Depeche Mode,” he says. “They had been this million-selling band however they’d moments that had been extremely nihilistic. Same with Nine Inch Nails. Rammstein are one other instance. We’ve all acquired that darker aspect in our psyche, so it’s nonetheless doable to attain a more mainstream viewers even when music faucets into that massive-sounding, however very heavy and darkish place.

You will be profitable and nonetheless maintain your allegiance to the darker feelings and heavier textures

“You will be profitable and nonetheless maintain your allegiance to the darker feelings and heavier textures. So I assume it doesn’t utterly shock me that I can get it by to a bigger viewers. I’m very joyful it does… as a result of I love to blast out a violent, brutal riff from time-to-time!”

Featuring a virtuoso solid of musicians together with bassist Nick Beggs, drummer Craig Blundell, guitarist Alex Hutchings and one-time Miles Davis band musical director Adam Holzman on keys, Home Invasion’s masterfully shot renditions focus totally on the singer-songwriter/producer’s more current solo endeavours, sometimes unearthing some shock gems from the previous.

For these in attendance, it was the occasion of the 12 months – and this newest launch succeeds in documenting precisely why that was the case. Here Steven Wilson talks us by his reminiscences from these three unforgettable nights, the gear he’s been utilizing on stage and what he seems for in the session musicians that get to carry out alongside him…

You’ve described the Royal Albert Hall as your favorite venue to play… what goes by your thoughts strolling out on that stage?

When you stroll out on stage, you’re feeling the presence of all these ghosts, alive and lifeless – everybody that has stepped on that stage – and it’s this magical feeling

“I believe to everybody introduced up in England the Albert Hall is famous. I assume should you had been introduced up in France, it will be the Olympia Theatre whereas in Japan it will be the Budokan. It’s the British equal of that… this historic place that everybody has performed. When you stroll out on stage, you’re feeling the presence of all these ghosts, alive and lifeless – everybody that has stepped on that stage – and it’s this magical feeling.  

“Sometimes it’s troublesome to articulate precisely why a venue can have that magical feeling. There are many in the world that appear to be they’d be wonderful, fantastically laid out, nice sound, pretty stage however they simply lack that vibe. It’s virtually inexplicable why the RAH has that, but it surely actually did dwell up to the legend that first time I walked out.

“It felt precisely the manner I’d have needed to, having seen so many reveals there over the years beforehand. It actually works. Although it was basically designed for classical repertoire, it’s nice for my music as a result of there’s numerous area and atmosphere. It simply has this lovely sound.”

The core footage is from the closing evening of three. How did you defend your voice and heat up for that final present, particularly contemplating there’s more weak falsetto work in your newer tunes?

“I’d love to inform you I’ve this regiment that I adhere to for shielding my voice. I don’t… I’m actually unhealthy at it! The RAH reveals had been at the finish of a run by Europe, which began manner again at the finish of January. Over that point, the voice is like all muscle in the physique, should you use it lots, it will get stronger. Obviously there’s the different aspect, the place should you use it an excessive amount of, you’ll be able to harm your self.  

“Even although my present comes up to three hours, numerous the time I’m not really singing. There’s numerous instrumental content material, there are songs which are utterly instrumental. So I’m not singing continuous. Quite the opposite, there’s numerous time for my voice to be resting. The mixture of it being warmed up after two nights and the greatest a part of two months on tour plus these rests meant I didn’t have to fear an excessive amount of over these sorts of issues.  

“And I don’t push my voice very onerous; I’m not the sort of singer that’s shredding my vocal chords each evening, so perhaps I’m lucky in having the ability to be a bit lazy. I’ll sing a number of songs to myself earlier than going out simply to heat up and I don’t drink alcohol as a rule as a result of, as we all know, it dries the vocal chords in a short time. Or fruit juice for that matter! It’s simply water and tea. That’s about as disciplined as I get.”

You’ve stated you fell in love with the Telecaster on [last year’s fifth full-length] To The Bone, which resulted in you buying a 1963 Custom…

“I’ll inform you precisely what occurred. I used to be at residence in studio sooner or later and had an thought for a tune. I used to be touring lots, perhaps it was the latter phases of the final album run. The guitars had been in the lockup, ready to exit on the subsequent leg. I didn’t have many accessible to me at the moment.  

“But there was this low-cost Mexican Telecaster I’d purchased years and years in the past. I figured I ought to personal one, similar to most guitarists assume they need to have a Strat, Tele and no matter else, so I acquired it virtually as a result of I felt like I ought to have one, slightly than desperately wanting one. It sat in the nook for 10 years, utterly unloved and unplayed.  

“On this event it was the solely guitar in my studio. I reluctantly went over, picked it up and the strings had been virtually rusted to the neck. I modified them, plugged it in and fell in love straightaway proper there after which. I began engaged on the tune People Who Eat Darkness, which is a really simple tune and got here to be partly as a result of that Tele sounded so good for issues that in all probability wouldn’t have impressed me on one other guitar…”

It’s humorous how the guitar in your arms can inform your chord selections, really feel and phrasing…

The guitar you employ is answerable for a giant a part of the sound world and musical vocabulary to have for a selected tune

“Honestly, that first E chord I performed sounded so good. This new sound opened up and that was it… I ended up utilizing it as my guitar of selection by the writing course of. What guitar you select to write on can change into the signature of the entire tune. You can’t transition to one other guitar after that, at the least that’s what I discover. The guitar you employ is answerable for a giant a part of the sound world and musical vocabulary to have for a selected tune.  

“It grew to become the sound of the album after which I figured I ought to exit and purchase a high-end one, so I did! But I nonetheless love that low-cost Mexican factor; it has its personal nice sound. That’s the great thing about guitars, they’re all distinctive. Funnily sufficient, I went to see the Nick Mason present at the Roundhouse final week. It was implausible… a whole Telecaster orgy! There’s Gary Kemp and Lee Harris enjoying these outdated Syd Barrett tunes and it simply sounded so good. I used to be in Tele heaven.”

The ‘63 had some actual chunk whenever you plugged into your Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 5 on Even Less. What drew you to that amp?

“Again, it was one other factor born out of necessity. It was in my studio at the similar time as the Mexican Tele, it’s what I plugged into that day. The mixture sounded so good, and numerous the monitoring for To The Bone was finished similar to that. The TubeMeister 5 has a factor referred to as a Red Box on the again, which suggests you’ll be able to bypass the speaker and report straight out. Purists may be up in horror about that, however you recognize what? It sounded nice.

“I went to Daniel [Steinhardt] at TheGigRig and we began experimenting with a setup that had the little H&Okay virtually as a pre-amp on stage, as a result of I used to be so in love with the sound I acquired on the album. It didn’t fairly work out; it doesn’t have the balls for a dwell context. I nonetheless needed to use it in some way, so got here up with the thought of me turning up on stage virtually like a busker, carrying the amp with my Tele strapped over my shoulder. It really grew to become one in every of the highlights of the present – I beloved doing that.”

(Image credit score: Future)

That stated, you caught with Bad Cat Lynx 50 as per for the remainder of the set. A most loyal servant over the years…

“Yes, it’s such a beautiful piece of equipment. Those guys have been incredibly supportive of me. They’re a small company, they’re quite limited in resources yet they’ve been so helpful. I think everyone that hears that amp notices how good and organic it sounds. It’s old-school in a way. It’s glowing valves. There’s no substitute for that and air moving, is there? At least not for me!”

You’ve stated you keep away from getting too connected to devices in the previous, however what do you search for when shopping for guitars and what number of do you personal roughly?

“I don’t personal as many as individuals would assume. I’m not a guitar fetishist. I fall in love with music more than the tools to make it. I did make a joke onstage once I introduced the ‘63 out, saying it was the first guitar I ever actually beloved. Which is kinda true!  

“I in all probability personal about eight Paul Reed Smiths (one is a baritone, one has a piezo, varied fashions like that), one Strat which is pretty generic, a pair made by AlumiSonic which are lovely and utterly manufactured from aluminium, actually unique-sounding however onerous to management dwell with numerous suggestions and reflection. So I’d say I’ve about 12 or 13 electrical guitars… which could sound like lots, however most guitarists I do know have at the least twice that, if not triple.

I don’t actually perceive the mechanics of guitars. What I do perceive is that if I get a buzz once I choose it up

“In phrases of what I’m searching for, I’m simply trying to be impressed. When it’s in your arms, you begin to play it and hope to really feel that inspiration. I don’t actually perceive the mechanics of guitars – all the pickups, completely different necks, et cetera. What I do perceive is that if I get a buzz once I choose it up. That’s all I’m searching for. When I went to the Fender Showroom to play all their guitars, the ‘63 was the one. I couldn’t inform you why. Someone who is aware of more may in all probability say it has this neck, these pickups, however all I can say is it gave me the feeling I wanted.”

As for the pedalboard, is there something new blowing your thoughts or making an look on Home Invasion?

“One factor I used to be actually eager to get was a superb phaser. I did a little bit of analysis and realised the one I favored the greatest was the Electro-Harmonix Small Stone, but it surely’s a type of issues the place you’ve to get the proper classic as a result of they modified the elements proper by the ’70s and ’80s. Different ones have completely different sounds – anybody who has Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène album will know precisely which one I used to be searching for made round 1974 to 75. Daniel managed to choose one up for me, in order that’s in the rig now. It’s an actual piece of classic gear!

“I nonetheless have all the Strymon stuff for reverbs and delays; it’s the BigSky and TimeLine. I’ve a few Nano POGs as a result of I want an octave up and an octave down for stuff off To The Bone. I modified my compressor – I’ve this one referred to as the Cali76 made by an organization referred to as Origin Effects. They’ve very old style, it’s virtually like a 1176 – the outdated Universal Audio rack compressors that everybody swears by in the studio. The relaxation is just about the similar as earlier than.”

What have been your favorite dwell releases over the years and what do you search for as a fan?

“One factor that places me off numerous dwell DVDs is that there isn’t any cinematic high quality to them. Bands really feel like after they make one thing, it’s as straightforward as a few cameras out entrance, some shut ups and filming in a really straight manner. I discover that a bit boring. My first live performance movie was Live In Pompeii, which is as cinematic as you’ll be able to probably get. It was that and the Sigur Rós one, shot in completely different areas by Iceland, that are actually particular to me.  

“Okay, I’m not in Pompeii or Iceland on this DVD, however what I did need to do is embrace these cinematic methods like split-screen, photos overlaying, slow-motion, blurring… issues that really feel more like a film than a live performance movie. That’s what attracts me in. If you’re making individuals watch one thing for 3 hours, you’ve acquired to maintain them fairly effectively entertained. I inspired the editors to embrace these summary filmic methods.”

You’ve been working with Danish artist Lasse Hoile since 2002 and his twisted surrealism has been included into your dwell reveals…

“He comes from that tradition – dark surrealism like Francis Bacon. He’s also very influenced by the world of cinema, directors like David Lynch are very important to him. That manifests the stuff of nightmares, but not in a crass Hollywood horror way. It’s more insidious. It has a sense of nostalgia, some of it could be from the 19th century, like a Victorian ghost story with the use of dolls and grading the images to near sepia-like textures at times. When we did In Absentia, I thought he captured a perfect visual counterpoint to how the music sounded and that’s still the way I feel.”

Though the internet between you and the viewers felt very completely different this time spherical, particularly on Song Of I…

“It’s not a internet any more; it’s what is named a holographic display. I used to use that net-like gauze, however the new one has a 3D impact and can be utterly invisible whenever you don’t undertaking something on it. Funnily sufficient, one tour we’d overlook it was there and stroll into it as a result of it’s utterly opaque, manufactured from very advantageous silver threads… It was fucking costly, I’ll inform you that!  

“But I believe it was price each penny as a result of the high quality of the photos and jaw-dropping results are unimaginable. I can see jaws actually dropping when that second occurs, as a result of individuals have forgotten the display is even there. It was an excellent funding, really!”

Was the inclusion of Porcupine Tree songs a simple choice? In that you’re more profitable and inventive fulfilled than you’ve ever been… however there’s all the time somebody someplace crying to revisit the previous?

I’m not conscious of what individuals count on or need as a result of I don’t learn any feedback on any social media

“Your query is completely legitimate, but it surely’s very onerous for me to reply as a result of I don’t consider them as Porcupine Tree songs. I consider them as my songs, Steven Wilson songs. We’ve even performed a Blackfield tune in our present too.

“I suppose there was a interval instantly after the band once I began making the solo data the place I used to be fairly cautious of enjoying that repertoire for worry that folks might understand my new profession as a side-project. I’m fairly positive now everybody should realise that is what I do now. This is the future. There isn’t any query of going again to my previous. The work beneath my very own identify is what I do.  

“I really feel more snug now drawing on my entire repertoire, throughout all the tasks, however I’m not conscious of what individuals count on or need as a result of I don’t learn any feedback on any social media. I’m positive there’s numerous noise about wanting a reunion, I’m positive there may be, and that’s flattering in a manner… individuals are connected to that trademark and that band. But for me, the solo undertaking was a continuation of these songs. It’s all a part of my catalogue. I really feel more relaxed now about bringing them in. I don’t assume individuals will assume it’s an indication of any reunion, which they could have finished early on.”

And, really, the Porcupine Tree songs you selected had been fairly sudden…

“I’m not searching for the apparent selections, slightly songs I’ve my very own attachment to. On this tour we did The Creator Has A Mastertape from In Absentia, which is a tune Porcupine Tree by no means even performed, or perhaps solely a couple of times. No one favored it in the band besides me… additionally it was a tune that I felt the present band would rip and do one thing particular with. Especially our drummer, Craig [Blundell], as a result of he loves that pacey drum ’n’ bass vibe.  

“It’s not an apparent selection. I’m not simply going again and choosing the quote-unquote hits, not that we ever had any. But that and Sleep Together, they’re not apparent songs to do. It may be seen as attempting to please the older followers, however really I’m being fairly egocentric and self-indulgent.”

(Image credit score: Kevin Nixon/Future)

As on the recordings, Ninet Tayeb joins the band for Pariah, People Who Eat Darkness and Blank Tapes. What’s the secret to your musical partnership?

“She’s incredible. I can put her on stage, but the reason she blows everyone away is pure and simple. She’s incredibly gifted, I’m happy to give her the forum and there’s no question, she definitely enhances my music. The duets we’ve done I’m very proud of because it can be hard to write one with a man and woman; it can come across as cheesy and kitschy if you don’t get it right.”

You’ve all the time used world-class musicians in this solo band. What do you search for in a session participant and the way gamers make themselves more employable?

“One of issues that’s most essential has nothing to do with music in any respect. It’s about character and chemistry. You’re going to spend a number of months of your life collectively on the highway, you’ve acquired to have the option to get on and have the option to talk collectively. There are a few guys I’ve had in the previous the place that wasn’t straightforward and I had issues. Great musicianship however very onerous to talk with and folks I couldn’t truthfully say I’d change into buddies with by the finish of a tour. The guys in the present band get on so effectively; we’re all good buddies.

I do stress and get anxious about each facet of the present, but it surely takes such a burden off my shoulders once I know everybody else concerned is conscientious

“They all care virtually as passionately as I do, from [long-serving guitar tech] Tonto Jhowry to the musicians. They’re all making the present as wonderful as it may be. That means I can loosen up lots more, I don’t have to fear about the particulars. I’m a little bit of a management freak, I do stress and get anxious about each facet of the present, but it surely takes such a burden off my shoulders once I know everybody else concerned is conscientious.

“They’re not simply turning up to do the gig, they’re participating with the significance points and particulars. From them to my sound man Ian who has been with me for 20 years now, getting the absolute best sound out of problematic rooms each evening, they’ve been so important to making all of it work evening after evening.”

Even although 2013’s The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) felt extremely technical and improvised in locations, it was all the time extremely musical…

“My stuff isn’t super-hard to play, but it isn’t easy. It’s somewhere in the middle. You need chops to be in my band, but the one thing I can’t stand is shredding. I cannot abide and it has nothing to do with music and everything to do with sport. And music is not sport! It never should be. Being able to play fast has got nothing to do with my music at all.”

One of the struggles with Guthrie [Govan] was attempting to get him to cease enjoying quick… as a result of when he performs slowly, as everybody is aware of, he’s elegant

“One of the struggles with Guthrie [Govan] was attempting to get him to cease enjoying quick… as a result of when he performs slowly, as everybody is aware of, he’s elegant. But his pure setting is to play fairly quick and shred. I had this sort of battle with him the place I’d strive to pull him again and say, ‘Play slower, play less notes…’ which he did completely fantastically when he did.  

“That’s the primary prerogative for me: each musician has to come in understanding the significance of enjoying sluggish, enjoying nothing, enjoying with area and feeling. They sound like actually apparent issues, however you’d be amazed at how many individuals and youngsters on the market haven’t discovered that lesson. Be artistic, play with area, perceive the significance of silence and be a pleasant individual I can get on with and boss round, haha!”

You have a tendency to goal pentatonic notes on solos like The Same Asylum As Before, in a manner that feels like Jonny Greenwood jamming over a minor blues. What lead gamers impressed that sort of phrasing?

“I assume I like lead guitar traces that really feel like an extension of the vocal melody. That feels like an apparent factor to say, however should you’re the songwriter, you’ll write a solo that comes off the melodies you hear in your head such as you do with your voice. That’s a part of it.

“I grew up at a really attention-grabbing time, when up to date music was post-punk and new romantic bands, from Depeche Mode to Japan to Talk Talk and The Cure or Joy Division. There was nothing intelligent about the manner these guys performed the guitar; it was all about texture, emotion and context.  

“At the similar time, I used to be going again and discovering guys with a more natural, bluesy method like David Gilmour, Andy Latimer from Camel, Robert Fripp, Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac. They performed with this classical, post-Clapton and post-Hendrix bluesiness. Trying to analyse my fashion, I’d say it was someplace in between and as a consequence of all of that. And the pop music again then was more textural, like the Cocteau Twins. Their guitar participant Robin Guthrie was a giant affect on me, utilizing the guitar as textual factor.  

“Later, the more brutal steel riffing got here to play as effectively. I’d be listening to what Mikael Åkerfeldt was doing in Opeth after which listening to stuff like Swans or that brutal King Crimson music the place they performed these very atonal chord clusters. I love that shit, too; John McLaughlin did a good bit, too. People in all probability recognise David Gilmour in my enjoying more than Robert Fripp, however he’s someplace in there, too!”

Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall is accessible on 2 November through Eagle Rock.

from Heavy News https://thisisheavynews.com/steven-wilson-i-fall-in-love-with-music-more-than-the-tools-to-make-it/

[askearthghoul]

Hellhound Lore and Background

It was brought to my attention that the link to the page that I posted for the hellhound lore and background didn’t work one mobile. So I’ll put it into a post for those of you who are on mobile. I am so sorry that this post is so long. I will be posting the cannons in the near future once when I have written everything.

Also, everything that I have written for this post, minus the paragraphs before the lore and background, will be edited a few more times so it will make more since for everyone.

@sister-quiet

LORE:

This is the lore about hell hounds that I have gathered from research. I got most of my information from Wikipedia. The only thing that is head cannoned is their master who have powers to train them and their two forms. They do in fact, in some folklore, protect the supernatural from the world.

Hellhounds are known to be the guardians of the entrance to hell or to the world of the dead. This means that there will be a high chance of you encountering a hellhound at a known entrance to hell or at graveyards and burial sites.

In the deepest places of hell, along with different sections of the underworld, there will be hellhounds with different abilities to help keep demons in check. In the fire tundra of hell, you have the hounds that have fire based appearances or abilities. In the frozen tundra of hell, there are hounds with ice based appearances and abilities. All hellhounds have the same characteristics when it comes to their eyes though, they have glowing red eyes. Same characteristic applies with super speed or strength.

Some hellhounds are able to live their life out on Earth. Some will have a master to help train and guide them into being the best they can be. Their master is usually a supernatural being with powers that will aid them to help train the hounds. Others will live on their own with their own pack. The hounds that live their life on Earth, have two forms. They have a hellish form and a “non-supernatural” form. Their hellish form is the form that they will use when taking a soul down into hell or when they are attacking a threat. Their non-supernatural form is the one that they use the most.

HEAD CANNONS:

These are the head cannons in depth for Earth’s hell hounds. He has six (6) hell hounds that he takes care of; Lilith, Levi, Sammy, Mayhem, Azazel, and Chaos. Three (3) of his hounds were adopted; Piaf by Madam Satan, Ursula by Aether, and Dracula by Papa Emeritus III. I will do a background on the hounds as well so that everyone can be up to par on it.

Earth’s hounds, and their children, have two forms that they use; a hellish form and a “non supernatural” form. Their forms are explained in this post that I made awhile back when I finally decided on what I wanted the hounds to look like.

Now, the hell hounds have been with The Church of Ghost even began. The reason being is because there are two (2) entrances to hell on the land that the church had purchased. Naturally, Lucifer put a pack of hell hounds on the grounds in order to prevent people from entering hell without his permission.

A few years later, the church was founded on the land. The building was erected with gardens in the back and front courtyards. It had many other things with it as well. There was an entrance in the gardens and one near the mountains in the back of the church.

When it was founded, one of the members at the time found the hounds roaming around the church grounds near one of the entrances to hell. Lucifer came onto the Earth and made a deal with the said member that found the hellhounds roaming the Earth. The deal was, take well care of His hounds then you may establish your church upon the grounds. The member agreed to the deal and was gifted with powers to help take care of the hounds.

Skip up to a few decades or centuries later when the band Ghost was formed. Era I Earth, whom is now Era II, was chosen to be the next hound caretaker for the church despite being in the band. The drummer managed to figure out a way to take care of the hounds even when he was on tour. Since he had been the first era Earth as well, this means that he is currently the person to take care of the hellhounds the longest.

Upon the arrival of the new era (Era III) for the band, a new Earth came about. This new Earth for the band joined a year or so before The Seconds reign ended. He was a chosen one for Lucifer so he was granted with the most power to help take care of the hounds. He didn’t take on the complete responsibility of taking care of them until he got over his fear of the hounds due to his last trial in order to join the church.

Despite this fear that the small drummer had, Old Earth still took him under his wing. The previous drummer taught him everything the small ghoul needed to know to take good care of the hounds. Shortly after The Seconds reign was ended, the small ghoul was ready to take on the responsibility of taking care of the hounds by himself. He had help from Old Earth occassionally when he went on tour and to figure out a routine that would work for him and his hounds.

He is still trying to figure out ways to improve the training and how he can take better care of the hounds now. The drummer is strict on what his hounds can or cannot eat. He makes their food completely from scratch every few months. There are times where the ghoul cheats completely by using his powers to fill up the large barrel he uses to store the hounds food.

A few years later after training the hounds for a long while, Lilith gets pregnant for the first time. This made Earth super happy because he absolutely adored his hounds and could not wait to be a grandfather to new hounds. Well sometime during the pregnancy, a parasitic entity attaches itself to Lilith and Earth flips his shit not knowing what to do.

A few days later, Astaroth confesses that she did a seance down in the crypt/archives where the hounds were but didn’t cleanse the room after she was finished. She removed the parasitic entity from Lilith and saw spirits for days because of it.

A week or so later on Christmas day, Lilith went into labor. Junior helped the small ghoul deliver the six pups. One was a still born due to the parasitic entity but Junior brought it back to life. Once when the pups were old enough, three of them were adopted. Two were adopted by members of the church while the last one was adopted by a La Dame Rouge member.

That is pretty much about it for the back ground for the hounds. Now onto the cannons for each one of the hounds. I have stated before that the hounds have two forms that they take on. I won’t go into anymore detail on this head cannon than what I have already explained before in this post.

Earf has a specially made bathtub to clean the hellhounds in because of their size. A normal sized bathtub will not fit the hounds because it is too small to fit a dog the size of a wild wolf.

[ohtheseboysilove]

Ghost from the past V [Roger Taylor x F!Reader]

Words : 4, 500 K + (don’t know what happened)

Warnings : language, angst, fluff, the usual 

Summary :  Reader and Roger are in love and happy. Until Ally, first love and ex-girlfriend of Roger come back after years of silence, bringing chaos in their perfect life.

Note : finally chapter 5...im posting it earlier than I thought but m not fan of this one but I can’t do better honestly, chaper 6 & 7 are much better. I’m almost done with this story, I will probably do 9 chapters, maybe 10 but not more. I really appreciate all the love you sent me guys, it’s so so cool to read all your messages, thanks again ! I love you all my cutie pies !!

 Masterlist & Requests

@/none of these  gifs are mine xx

“Why didn’t you tell me ?” You asked Roger, your eyes puffy from the poor sleep you had the night before. “You should have tell me you were fucking married Rog ! Your ex-girlfriend had to do it, I’m so embarrassed right now, my god” You sighed deeply and rubbed your face, exhausted by all the previous events.

You and the drummer were currently sitting in your bed, facing each other to talk about the situation. He just came back from Ally’s place and even if you were hurt, you were a grown ass woman and decided to stop dramatising the last events, you needed to confront Roger about this wedding. You loved him too much to throw away three years of your life together without giving him a chance to explain himself. You tried to focus on the fact that the marriage was only valid in the state of Nevada and nowhere else...well he wasn’t entire sure of that but you decided to ignore that fact, for the sake of your mental health...You had a hard time to believe that he hid this marriage from you, purposely. You needed to understand.

“(Y/N), I swear on Seth’s head, I never thought about this night again, never. I completely forget about it until yesterday. I...fuck, I will do anything to prove you this wedding never meant anything.. You’re the only one I want to marry, I don’t want you to doubt about it, not for a second” He grabbed your hands and squeezed them before pressing a kiss on your wedding ring. “I swear, I forget about it, I never declared our...engagement to the english authority or whatever. I’m not even sure it’s valid, the papers probably never left this shitty wedding chapel” He shook his head, his gaze never leaving yours. You nodded slowly, feeling a little bit lighter. You knew your Roger, he was good at a lot of things but lying wasn’t one of his talent and when he had tell you he forget about this, you believed him.

“Okay Roger” You murmured and squeezed back his hands. Of course you believed him, you wouldn’t have accepted the ring if you had any doubt about his sincerity. He deserved a second chance. You weren’t perfect and he wasn’t either, no one was and maybe you would regret it later but right now, the only thing you wanted was to forget the evening before and had your fiancé back in your arms. Nothing else. “It was humiliating to hear about your wedding by Ally”

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just never matter to me, it’s was just a drunk joke, nothing more” The blond shrugged and caressed gently your knee, trying to convince you. “And are you even surprise that something like this happened to me ? Getting drunk and married at Vegas ? You know how stupid I can be when I’m partying a bit too hard” He gave you a tentative smile and a small one creeped on your lips, he wasn’t totally wrong.

“I give you that. But this is the last time, Roger. I want to know everything, no more secret” He nodded eagerly and relieved was flowing on his features. “And I want...I want you to treat me like I matter to you more than Ally. You know I love Seth and I’m glad he is in our life but I never accepted to be the second woman in your life. Ally is her mother, I understand that and I want you to have a correct relation with her, I don’t want tension between the two of you, for Seth’s sake but for my own I’m asking you to be honest with her. I want you to tell her that I’m the one you love, not her anymore. She need to hear it from you”

“You think she still love me ?” The drummer asked with surprised face. “I never thought–“

“Of course she’s still in love with you Roger !” You snapped, how could be that blind ? He pinched his lips and nodded silently. “I can’t...I can’t just sit there and feeling like she is more important to you. I don’t want to stress every time you saw her, wondering if you’re gonna leave me for her, I...I don’t won’t live like that” I won’t marry you if the situation don’t change Roger”

“You have my words, baby. You are my priority, you and Seth, I’m sorry I had been so heartless with you. I should have noticed that my behaviour hurt you, I love you so much I thought it was enough for you to not be worry but it’s was clearly stupid” The blond sighed guiltily, he was nervous and sweaty. The fact that you talked about maybe not marrying him did make him understand how bad was the situation, much worse than he thought. “If it was you who had a baby with your ex always around, I would have completely lose my mind. I will...I will make Ally understand, she need to respect you and if she can’t do that, we will see each other only to picking and dropping Seth, nothing more. I would do anything to not losing you my love, I swear to you”

You stared at each other for several minutes before a small smile painted on your features. You were okay but he couldn’t screw up anymore. The atmosphere immediately relaxed after the intense conversation, bringing both of you at the edge of tears but it was necessary. Now you could move on.

He tried to peck your lips but put your hands on his face, pushing him away childishly. He whined and rested his head on your lap, his eyes looking even bigger from above. “Forgive me ? Please ?” He pouted and used his puppy eyes to convince you.

“Don’t think you can escape this one so easily Taylor” You pinched his cheek and slid your fingers into his messy hairs, trying to get ride of the knots. He smirked as he knew you weren’t piss off at him anymore. “I want you to cancel this wedding”

“But babe ! I need to go to Las Vegas for that ! It’s so far away and–“ He stopped talking when he saw your death stare, your fingers tugging at his hairs a bit more harder than necessary. “But I can totally do it– ouch babe ! I can do it for my beautiful fiancée”

“Good. It settled then” You let go of his hairs and he sat up, checking if his hairs were still on his head, his eyes looking at you suspiciously. “I hope you’re planning to go rapidly because I really don’t like the role of mistress you gave to me” You scoffed and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I will...really soon” He tilted pouty lips toward you and sighed happily when you reply to his kiss. “Maybe you can come with me ?”

“I’m not very fond of the idea to going somewhere where you are married to someone else” You crossed your arm with a jaded face.

“Oh come on my little sweetheart” He pushed you onto the bed and crawled on top of you, nuzzling his pretty mouth against your neck. “We can have so much fun, just you and me, tons drinks and no cloth on” He sunk playfully his teeth onto your skin, pressing his hips against yours. “We didn’t go on weekend just the both of us since Seth entered our life, we...well, especially you, deserved some good time” You hummed quietly and Roger took that as an encouragement, tangled your legs together. “I can book you some massages for the first day, meanwhile I’m going cancelling this stupid wedding. Then we can do whatever you want, babe. What do you say ?” He raised his head and pressed your forehead together, putting all his weight on you.

“You’re crushing me, blondie” you scoffed as you pretended to be annoyed but both of you knew it wasn’t true. The drummer looked at you with hope in his pretty eyes and you pretended to think about it, not wanting to give in to quickly. The man really succeeded to turn the shitty situation he was, into a little romantic weekend, damn he was good. “Alright, I’m coming with you but only because I want to see the Grand Canyon”

He grinned widely and captured your lips for a steamy kiss which quickly turned into a hot make-out session. You slid a hand between your bodies, lightly palming his bulge through his pants. He moaned lowly into your mouth, bucking his hips into your hands for more friction. When his fingers wandered under your top, brushing your tits, you quickly slapped his hand and pushed him away.

“I don’t know who you think I am but I certainly don’t sleep with married man, Roger” You scoffed before getting up.

“Babe, seriously ?” He cried like a kid who didn’t have his ice cream and he made grabby hands toward you. “Please, come back to bed”

You ignored him and picked up clean clothes from your wardrobe.

“I’m going to take a shower and you’re not invited” You walked into the bathroom in your room and took care to lock the door behind you. The drummer mumbling something from the bed and you chuckled, pretty satisfied of yourself. “You better booked us this trip quickly because you’re not touching him until this marriage is cancel” You yelled through the door.

He booked the four-days trips the very same afternoon.

******************************************************************************

The next days went pretty smooth, you were excited about this trip, totally pushing aside the thoughts about Ally and Freddie and how you were hurt. You couldn’t really do more about them anyway. One of your friend told you to fight back against Ally but it wasn’t a good idea and you knew it. First and most important she was the mother of Roger’s kid and you will be his wife in few months, you and her would see each other even you didn’t want to, starting a war with her wouldn’t be a good thing neither for Rog or Seth.

Secondly, to be honest with yourself, you definitively weren’t good with conflicts, some people had loud mouth and didn’t take shit from anyone, well you weren’t like that. People could see you as a coward as you were avoiding arguments but you simply didn’t like quarrelling, you preferred drop the subject and continued your life, minding your own business. Ally seemed to be your contrary, you saw her humiliated a poor waitress at Freddie’s party and when she chatted her back, she became even louder until the other one decided she wasn’t worth her time.

If you started to be as nasty as her, you were sure she would win, it was in her nature. So, for now, you planned to avoid her or if it wasn’t possible, to had the less interactions possible with her, focussing on Roger instead. He was important, not her.

As soon as you came home from work, around four in the afternoon, the phone rang loudly in the flat.

“(Y/N) Taylor on the phone” The cute laugh of Roger echoing through your ears, making you smiled stupidly. “Hi love”

“I do love the sound of that, can’t wait to make it official” You bit your lower lip, entangling your fingers around the phone cord as you divagated about your wedding with the love of your life. “Are you still here baby ?”

His raspy voice brought you back on earth and you giggled softly. “Yeah, Rog, I’m here. What’s up ? Is everything okay at the studio ?”

“Well, we’re officially done with the album ! The Game is all ready to be release in two weeks” His excited tone made you smiled even wider.

“That’s great guys ! I’m so proud of you”

“When are you coming at the studio ?” You frowned and closed your eyes for a second, you always came to listen before anyone else the new album, you did it for the past three years and it was a sort of tradition.

“I...I don’t want to see Freddie Rog” You whispered sadly. “I really don’t want to face him right now”

“(Y/N), you always come, please. Veronica and Chrissie will be there too, I need you by my side, it’s important for me” You sighed quietly, feeling bad to turn his offer down.

But the only thought of seeing Freddie made your stomach churned.

“Rog...I’m sorry but we can celebrate tonight, just you and me” You proposed with a timid voice. “I can make your fa–“

“I understand (Y/N), it’s alright. I will see you later” He hanged up with a weak voice, you knew he was sad about your rejection.

You sighed deeply, rubbing your forehead. Did you overacted about seeing Freddy ?

You tried to distract yourself during the next half and hour but the only thing you could think of was Roger. Alone. Brian with Chrissie and their kid. John with Veronica and their two children. Freddie with Paul. But Roger would be all by himself as all the boys’ family would listened and congratulated them for the new record.

You kicked your own ass and quickly put your shoes on, grabbed your black jeans jacket and your handbag before leaving your apartment. You climbed in the first taxi you saw and gave the studio’s address. You quickly made your way through the different corridors of the place until finding the loudest room of the building. Jacob, the oldest son of Deaky and Veronica, ran next to you as his little sister was right behind, both of them giggling like crazy and pushing the door open.

“Hi auntie (Y/N)” You waved back and followed them inside looking for Roger.

The room was filled with Freddie’s voice as the new vinyl of the band was playing in the background. Brian was cuddling his son, both of them listening attentively to the music, as Chrissie was chatting with Veronica, a timid belly, popping out slightly.

You were wrong thinking Roger would be all alone. You smiled softly as Seth was in on Roger’s lap, his father’ sunglasses perched on his head, bobbing his cute face in rhythm. The drummer was beaming with pride, singing quietly the lyrics to him.

“Do you like Daddy’s songs my little angel ?” Of course Ally was here too. She was never far away.

“I love them Mum ! When I will be older I want to be a rock star like Dada !” He clapped his little hands together and his parents chucked at his enthusiasm. “Can I have fish fingers at the restaurant tonight mummy ?”

“You going to the restaurant tonight ?” Roger asked to Ally as he passed his fingers in Seth’s blond locks.

You were standing awkwardly at the entrance of the door, not very visible to the others as you were wondering if you should have came here or not. Maybe Roger was mad at you and didn’t want you here anymore.

Ally’s face flushed a bit, a thing you never witnessed before, it was weird. She was always confident but right now she was looking at Roger like a deer caught in the headlights, her fingers toying the hem of her shirt.

“Well I was thinking, we can go, the three of us, to the restaurant ? To celebrate your album. Seth is very excited to go out with Daddy and Mommy” She smiled hopefully at him and, just by looking at her, you saw how much she still loved Roger. She was totally in love with him, her nervousness was betraying her.

You swallowed quietly and took a step back, waiting anxiously for the drummer’s answer.

“I...hum, I already have plan with (Y/N) tonight, sorry” Her smile fell immediately as relieve ran through your veins. He rubbed awkwardly his shoulder, coughing a bit to avoid the deception on Ally’s face.

“But she’s not here. She didn’t even come to support to you even if she obviously know how important it is for you” She replied with bitterness.

“Ally, stop” His cold tone surprised her. “You and me, we need to talk after, I want you to stop talking shit about (Y/N), she’s gonna be my wife, get use to it” She seemed deeply offended and you decided to make know about your presence, satisfied by Roger’s answer.

You cleared your throat and knocked on the open door, walking in everyone’ sight, almost timidly. You hoped the blond wasn’t going to tell you to fuck off after refusing to come here in the first place. You couldn’t give this satisfaction to Ally.

“Hi everyone, sorry I’m late” As soon as you stepped inside, the three kids ran toward you, happy to see their auntie. Even Seth climbing down from his father’s lap and come toward you, the sunglasses sliding on his nose. “How are doing my cutie pies ?” You gave a collective hug to all the kids and chatted for few minutes with them.

You stood up and gave a quick hug to Chrissie, Brian and John, opting for a kiss on Veronica’s cheek as her belly was on the way and you didn’t want to hurt her or whatever. Freddie seemed uncomfortable, hesitating about how he was supposed to act after his last party. You gave him a simple hi Fred and a hi Paul without even looked at them before made your way to Roger who had stand up, Ally next him.

“(Y/N), Rog said you were working” She said with a tense smile.

You glanced at the drummer who seemed still hurt, his eyes looking at his shoes. You knew you made him sad when you refused to come, he liked to pretend he was a tough guy but inside, he was a big softie in desperate need of his family’s approval.

“Yes but being here to support the boys was more important” You shrugged and tucked a strand of hairs behind your hairs. “If I’m not too late, of course” It sounded more like a question as you timidly peered to Roger, your way to ask for his pardon.

He bit his lips before cracking a small smile, grabbing your forearm and tugging you into his embrace.

“’f course it’s not too late” You wrapped your arms tightly around his neck as he did the same with your waist. “I’m glad your here” He whispered to your ear before pressing a sweet kiss to your temple.

You could feel Ally’s burning gaze on your back, still standing there but for once she was the one out of place, bitterly looking at the both of you.

“I’m so sorry Roger, I’m so stupid sometime” You murmured against his shoulder, sighing peacefully.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, (Y/N). I should have understood after what Freddie said to you” You smiled gently at him as you raised your head, giving a deep kiss.

He seemed a bit surprise at the beginning, you weren’t really fan of big kiss in public but he happily replied, his lips moving in perfect synchrony with yours. When you heard Ally’s heels clicking furiously onto the floor as she made her way to the rest of the group, you couldn’t repress a smile curling up on your face.  

*************************************************************************************

"What do you mean you going to Las Vegas next month ?" Brian asked exasperatedly at Roger who just broke the new about your little trip.

"Well, I want to spend a fun weekend with my future wife before we have to left for our tour" Roger smirked, an arm around your shoulder. "And I also have to cancel the wedding I had with Ally during our A Night at the opera tour, I mean I’m going to get married for real this time, want to do the things correctly" He gently squeezed your arm and you pressed back his thigh, where your hand was sagely resting. 

Everyone decided to all go together at the restaurant to celebrate the album, you were sat next to Roger and his son was on his other side, calmly sipping his apple juice. You pinched your lips as you saw Ally’ shocked face when the blond talked about the cancellation of their wedding, truly priceless. She glanced at you and you pretended you didn’t see her nasty look. She probably regretted to told you about it now.

"But Rog, do you know both you and Ally are supposed to sign the paper ?" John pipped as he was cutting Emily’s meat.

"What ? No...I...do I really ?" Roger frowned and you tended your jaw as Ally looked deeply relieved. And amused. 

"It make sense yes" Veronica shrugged. "She has to sign the paper to get married, it the same process to dissolve a marriage, I guess"

"Oh she’s not wrong Rog, you need me" Ally commented happily, her usual smirk back on her features. "I would love to come but I can’t bring Seth to Vegas, obviously"

Of course she would find a way to keep them married as long as she could. You cleared your throat and turned to Roger.

"Maybe your mom could watch Seth ? And Ally can go back to him as soon as the problem is solve" 

"You’re right baby. I will call my mom tomorrow and book a ticket for you Ally” He nodded, satisfied to the solution you proposed and took a sip of his champagne.

Great, now Ally was tagging along for your romantic trip, absolutely awesome.

****************************************************************************

You sighed annoyingly as you washed the dirty plates, mumbling against Ally. Who else anyway ? She was fucking rooted at your dinner’s table for the past hour, chatting with Roger. Seriously it was friday night, didn’t have something else to rather than squatting your living room ? She came to drop Seth for the weekend and Roger, always the sweetheart, offered a beer, it was a big mistake. She managed to drink so slowly that all the bubbles were popped, the thought that the beer was probably had become warm did put a smile on your face.

Then it was dinner time, earlier than usual as Seth was still young so obviously when the meal finished to cook, she was still here and the little boy asked her to eat with you and his father. Roger asked you if you were okay with that, like you could say something else than an of course. You didn’t want Seth to hate you because his mom was a bitch.

So you painfully watched Ally ate your delicious risotto and monopolizing the conversation, talking about her and as usual, the past.

“But then my mom, Seth and me went to Milan and oh I swear it’s probably my favourite city in Italy !” She was speaking too loudly and drinking your favourite bottle of red wine, giggling stupidly at every words which were coming out from Roger’s mouth. “Did you went to Italy (Y/N) ?

You contained yourself to not roll your eyes. The only time she spoke to you was to proving you how her life and love story with the drummer was better than you. It was subtle, making you even more annoyed.

“Sadly no, I never went to Italy” You gave a fake smile and took a large spoonful of your plate to stopping you from saying something nasty.

“ Oh ! That’s such a shame !” She was so over-dramatic, it was absolutely pathetic. “Roger brought me to Venice for one of my birthday, it was so romantic, right Rog ?”

She fluttered exaggeratedly her eyelashes to the drummer and this time you rolled your eyes, deeply. She was ashamed of nothing.

“I will bring you to Italy, love. We can go for our next Valentine’s day” He glanced tenderly at you and Ally’ smile disappeared into a thin line

But she kept going on, speaking about every things that could make you uncomfortable. The blond didn’t really answer, humming and nodding from time to time, focusing on make Seth eating his vegetables.

“Your risotto is really good (Y/N) !” Ally exclaimed as she pushed back her empty plate. You smiled and waited for the but coming. “The only thing, oh please don’t take it wrong...the meat had a strange taste” She made a whiny smile, shrugging.

“That’s because it’s not meat, it’s tofu Ally” You explained as you poured yourself another glass of wine, finishing the bottle but you didn’t want to grab another one, praying she would understand it was time to go.

“Tofu ? Why– can’t you to buy real meat ? Oh my...have you and Rog money’s problems ?” Roger shook his head with an amused smile.

“We don’t have any problems Ally, (Y/N) is vegetarian, that’s all”

“Oh...right. I heard it was kind of the new trend to follow” She watched her son eating the tofu without any problem and seemed almost annoyed by it. “More and more celebrities are doing it, but I didn’t think you would do it too (Y/N). Plus, I read somewhere that it wasn’t real safe for your health ya know ? Our body do need meat” She smiled gently but her ton was a tad too snobbish and pretentious for your taste.

Before the drummer could answer, you stood up to take away the empty plates, you couldn’t stand her presence for another minute.

“I’m vegetarian since I’m fifteen Ally, so thank you but you can keep your advices for someone who is interested in it” You gave her a big smile as she tensed at your mocking voice. “And I’m not doing it to follow the trend, but by personal conviction, you should try sometime”

Her outrageous face was absolutely priceless and couldn’t contain the smirk on your face. After that you heard her complain to Roger who was hiding his cheeky smile behind his hand.

You were supposed to put Seth to bed, as you wanted to bound more with the little boy but Ally ended to do it with Rog who insisted he could handle it by himself. But she insisted more. So you had to witness Roger and Ally bathed Seth, then read him a story as she was glued to the drummer’ side but Seth was so happy to have his both parent putting him to bed, it caused an ache in your heart.

“Thank you Rog, I spent a delicious evening with you, like always” She hugged a little bit too long and couldn’t resist to press a kiss on his cheek.

“See you on monday Ally” You didn’t even look at her when she finally left and sighed deeply.

Roger came to you and wrapped his arms around you waist, kissing softly your hairs. You scrunched you nose in disgust and quickly wiped away the flashy red lipstick from his cheek, making him laughed.

“She is annoying” You mumbled as you put your head on his chest.

“I know, I hope you ready for sunday, she’s gonna be even worse”

Seth’s fifth birthday was in two days and you were anything but ready to deal with Ally and her family

**********************************************************************************

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