#as well as the very painful coldwave fight at the end

[dilfmobius]

[saintapoptosis]

Dark Entries: A Goth Music Overview

The tags on that aux cord post are really grinding my gears on this Monday evening so I’m making it my responsibility to educate people on this site as to what goth music actually is. I know this is going to get on some people’s nerves and generate some discourse because the “what is goth?” debate never seems to end, but at the end of the day I’m just some stranger on the internet who’s not even old enough to be in most goth clubs in my country. This is just my interpretation and explanation of it all for the curious. 

The long and short of it is that goth is a music based subculture. there’s no requirement to being goth other than listening to the music- which seems to be what’s confusing a surprisingly high people on this site. i’m not going to judge you for calling mother mother or my chemical romance goth up until this point. the subculture is largely underground and obscure by nature. Popular legend has it that the goth scene was born in 1979 when British rock band Bauhaus released the nine-minute long single Bela Lugosi’s Dead, but if you ask me that oversimplifies how it all started and isn’t even their best classic goth song. Goth is better understood as a progression from the punk explosion of the late 70s to what came after: the aptly named post-punk genre and beyond. Goth wasn’t the only genre that came from post-punk- new wave, shoegaze, and most alternative rock as we know it did too! Post-punk (British post-punk specifically) was and continues to be a lot of things compared to punk: noisier, faster, slower, stripped-down, more “intellectual”, weirder, and more emotional than early punk rock (the early British goth scene was also heavily linked to one particular club in London called the Batcave which just makes sense). Bands like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, the Cure and the Sisters of Mercy also brought a dark, gloomy feel to the experimental do-it-yourself attitude of post-punk and are widely considered to be the founding gothic rock bands. Groups like Xmal Deutschland, Clan of Xymox, Sex Gang Children, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and Pink Turns Blue are also hugely important to understanding the sound of the early scene (as well as the look) but didn’t achieve the same mainstream success.

But to make matters more complicated, there’s more than one goth “genre” because none of this is simple and no one agrees on this stuff in the scene. The usual laundry list of “goth” genres is as follows: gothic/goth rock, post-punk (widely contested ), darkwave, ethereal wave, deathrock, coldwave, and sometimes industrial. Angela Benedict explains it well in this video. Deathrock in particular is interesting because it was basically the “American version” of goth music and subculture for a long time and is widely called “too punk for goth and too goth for punk”. Darkwave and industrial are products of the scene getting its start in the early 80s when synthesizers became commercially available. Whether or not industrial in particular counts as “goth” or not is one of the quickest ways to start a fight among goths and also because nobody seems to be able to agree on what’s “real” industrial music. Metal isn’t widely considered to be goth music proper but I have yet to meet a goth who doesn’t like at least a little bit of metal. Historically that crossover didn’t really happen until metal started getting more creative as well (after all, the 80s were the golden age of fratty hair metal and toxic masculinity and neither of those things mesh well with goth style and sensibilities). 

Now that I’m done rambling about the early history of the goth scene, here’s some short answers to the inevitable goth faqs:

Isn’t goth also about aesthetic and fashion?

Yes, but they can’t be fully separated from the music and community. The music generally inspires the fashion and we really like copying the outfits, hair, and makeup of musicians. Goths don’t own in dressing in all black and there’s plenty of goths out there who don’t “dress like it” (including myself and MANY goth and post-punk musicians).

Are you all satanists/pagans/witches? Are you all kinky?

More often than the average person but it’s more a consequence of being in a counterculture community than anything else. Goth and alternative women aren’t your fetish or your future “big titty goth gf”. We just like a certain style of music and just happen to dress weirdly sometimes.

Why don’t more people know that goth is about music?

Goth music generally doesn’t sell well because so much of it is too abrasive or weird and most artists are pretty far underground. Goth musicians also had a habit of denying involvement with “the goth scene” early on and goths, punks, metalheads, and emos are generally lumped together in mainstream media. Gothic fashion is much easier to rip off and sell than the subculture itself is. You (and more likely than not) your parents have probably heard and enjoyed semi-“goth” music before if you like Depeche Mode or The Cure.

How do I get into the goth subculture? 

Listen to the music. Spotify’s Dark and Gothic playlist is surprisingly good and I’m partial to this massive Spotify user-created playlist of old and new bands and this mix on Youtube with lesser-known bangers. Goth music varies widely but a fuckton of it is made to be danced to because we hang out in clubs a lot of the time. The map below isn’t quite accurate but may be able to help you find your local community be it a club or a nonprofit organization! It’s fine to be confused and it’s perfectly alright to ease into it slowly without worrying about how to dress. 

Where’s Your Goth At? A Worldwide Map of Goth Clubs and Events

Why do you guys like vampires so much?

They represent the pain and suffering of the human experience in a way that humans don’t plus Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire came out in the 80s and Bauhaus and David Bowie were in a movie about vampires. They also just straight up look cool.

More resources:

Before Bauhaus: How Goth Became Goth - a history of the dark music that paved the way for the scene. this channel has a couple more goth history videos.

Poseurs, Elitists, and Goth - a good explanation for why listening to goth music matters as well as why being a hardass about listening to the “right” goth music sucks. also very entertaining and made by @cadaverkelly who’s posted a TON of goth music on this site and has an entire channel dedicated to the subculture. 

The Music of the Goth Subculture: Postmodernism and Aesthetics - an academic paper for nerds like me to parse through that has a ton of context and analysis on the goth movement and its origins.

[burlveneer-music]

Virtual Intelligence - Painsync - impressive solo act fuses synthwave with gothic and prog rock with a warmth seldom encountered

Since 2012, Virtual Intelligence has been fighting the future in the name space vampires, neuromancers, sexy androids, and soul hackers.

On a very personal level, “PAINSYNC” chronicles the last fifteen years of my life--which, needless to say, hasn't been easy. If you have ever felt driven to action in times of chaos, there might be something here for you. Truth be told, “PAINSYNC” was intended to be released to coincide with my gender confirmation surgery on September 10th, 2019, but it ended up taking a lot longer than I anticipated. This is primarily due to many unexpected post-op complications that left me in tremendous debilitating pain for over seven months. My life during this time was for lack of a better term--a body horror. All of the lyrics for “PAINSYNC” were written during this period.

If I had to describe “PAINSYNC” it’s like a Western interpretation of late 1990s Japanese Visual Kei, crossed with Synthwave, Coldwave, and Gothic Rock/Metal. Fans of Depeche Mode, Malice Mizer, Christian Death, Tangerine Dream, and Cradle of Filth might find something to enjoy here. The cover artwork is by the fantastic Atom Cyber. Even though his artwork may seem explicit, please understand that it depicts a version of what I went through last year. I purposely chose Atom because he was the only artist capable of fully encapsulating what it meant for me to live through such an invasive and painful surgery...as well as the horrific recovery that followed. My surgeon says I need to settle down As she cuts into my flesh Turning my everything inside out My legs are spread and splayed No parts do I grieve. I am a throne of wounds Torn apart from my Adam to Eve.

Written, Performed, and Produced by Nikoletta Winters. Artwork by Atom Cyber.  (www.artstation.com/atomcyber)

[robininthelabyrinth]

A Winter’s Tale - 7 - Ao3 link

Fandom: Flash, Legends Pairing: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart

Summary: Mick Rory is on a mission to save his family, and if it means kidnapping Mayor Leonard Snart, so be it.

Though he’s not expecting it to go like this.

(Dragons and Faeries and Metas - oh my!)

A/N: For the coldwave winter week, run by @coldwaveevents

Chapter 7: Oculus Fix / Len Lives - 24th Dec + Christmas / Chanukah / Winter Holiday (+ New Year's Kiss)

———————————————————————————————–

“Who needs an eldritch monstrosity spell or the Fae? I'm gonna kill you."

"You're taking this too seriously," Snart says.

"Too seriously?! You're gonna die!" Mick roars. "All because you fucking gambled and lost -"

The game had, to put it politely, not gone Snart's way.

They'd played hard and fast and long, and in the end, to no one's (read: Mick) surprise, Savitar had emerged triumphant.

He won the dragon-fire spear, their only hope of fighting the Fae, and worse than that he'd won their time - virtually all of the month that Snart had bought them with his clever lies.

And with their time gone, Savitar meant for Snart to be sacrificed immediately.

"Sometimes a game is more about the play than the end result," Snart says. "Especially when you play with Central City rules."

Mick is going to strangle him.

"No, really!" Snart protests, undoubtedly in response to Mick's expression. "We played with favors and deals as part of play - you can sneak a peek at my tiles in exchange for one piece of my selection from yours, I'll put down half of a board if you put down the other half, I'll swap you one now if you swap me one later, that sorta thing -"

"Snart," Mick snarls. "I don't care about Rummikube."

Snart scowls. "Fine. Tell me more about this spell thing."

"You mean the giant eldritch monstrosity about to eat you -"

"Other than that."

"The Fae used to dominate the planet," Mick says. "They had all sorts of powers, which I guess is similar to what your world's speedsters had, and they used it to enslave humanity. Then the great sorcerer Tam Lin fell in love and fucked it up."

Snart frowns. "How's that? You didn't mention love before."

"Well, that's what happened. He fell in love with a Fae, a weaker one, and the only way they could be together was if humanity were free or something like that, I don't remember exactly. Either way, he came here on Midsummer's Day and set a spell locking the power of the Fae into the Underhill, keeping them from using all their powers and forcing them to stay there most of the time, and reinforced that spell with his love for his girl - maybe boy, maybe something else, I dunno, wasn't really paying attention - with his love for his soulmate, anyway. And the spell gets stronger every time some pair of lovers plight their troth with his name, which of course everyone does. But if you want to break it, you need the exact opposite."

"Huh. So that's why they needed you to get me, I guess? The necessary ingredient being a soulmate willingly sacrificed?"

"A seventh son's soulmate, willingly sacrificed," Mick corrects. "Tam Lin was a seventh son, too, and it's Midwinter - best time of the year to defeat a spell set at Midsummer. Besides, that's just the last ingredient - they've been pulling pain and agony out of humans for decades to build the spell up as much as it is."

"Does it matter that you ain't really willing anymore?"

"No. I agreed to a deal and as long as they keep to their half, I can't weasel out. And that means they can do whatever the hell they want to you as long as my family gets out."

"And what they want is to feed me to this spell."

"Yeah," Mick says grimly. "That spell."

He points.

The spell's even bigger than it was before: a glowing mass of blue light, snarled in on itself like a Gordian knot, pulsing with a hunger to consume and destroy.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Savitar comments, appearing by their side. He has the dragonfire spear in his hand, the asshole; he's just rubbing their loss into their faces now. "Enhancement spells built on enhancement spells - I wouldn't suggest casting a fireball anywhere near it, not if you wanted the city to remain intact."

"So it's the spell equivalent of a nuke," Snart says thoughtfully.

"A spell that gives whatever spell you cast around it nuclear force," Savitar corrects, then smiles unpleasantly. "And the spell we're going to cast is going to be a good one. Midwinter betrayal will free us all from our chains."

"Speaking of betrayal," Snart drawls, "what exactly are the terms you set for Mick's deal? He just needed to get you your items, right? Minus the ones you forgave as a 'gift'?"

Savitar frowns, and Mick frowns, too.

"That's right," he says, wondering where Snart was going with this.

"Well, then, he's done that," Snart says. "His family should be free to go already."

Mick turns to look at Savitar, who's gone from frowning to scowling, albeit with an expression that suggested that he was mildly impressed.

"You're good with words, for a human," he says.

"I used to be a politician," Snart explains. "You'd be amazed how well I eel through loopholes."

Savitar snorts, surprised into something almost human. "A politician. Really, seventh son? I would've thought you'd have better taste."

"So would I," Mick grumbles.

Snart rolls his eyes at both of them. "Deal done, yes?"

"Yes," Savitar says. "They're free to go."

A weight lifts off Mick's shoulders.

"I'll do you one better," Snart says. "I'll go down to the spell willingly if you guarantee their safe passage."

Mick's spine stiffens. He hadn't thought about that.

"Why would I care if you go willing or not?" Savitar asks, arching his eyebrows and crossing his arms. "I could carry you there in less time than it takes to blink."

Now it's Mick's turn to roll his eyes. "Because with his way, you won't have to go anywhere near the spell," he says. "Do you think we haven't noticed that it's all alone there? I bet it doesn't like you Fae all that much."

Savitar looks mutinous for a moment, then the expression fades. "Very well," he says. "Your willingness to proceed in exchange for safe passage out of the Underhill."

"Mmm," Snart says. "Not what I said. For a Fae, you really ought to be more careful with your words. Thanks for agreeing, though."

Mick frowns. "What's the difference between what you said and what he said?"

"He said 'safe passage out of the Underhill'," Snart explains. "I, however, said 'safe passage' - without any limitations."

"I'm not protecting that many people indefinitely!" Savitar exclaims.

"You should've been more cautious, then."

Savitar glares. "No. Trade down, or I'll break contract and take whatever consequences fall out."

"Oh, all right," Snart sighs, all put-upon. "You give his family safe passage out of Underhill and, hmm, seven years and a day of immunity, and I get to take whatever I like with me."

"Safe passage out of Underhill, three years and a day of immunity, and you can take whatever's yours with you. Best offer."

"Done."

Mick's head hurts. Also, Snart clearly took Mick's story about what his universe's doppelganger did far too much to heart.

Still, immunity for his family is good.

Just -

He wishes it didn't have to come at the expense of Snart's life.

He likes Snart. Even his ma likes Snart, and that's even after he finagled her into gambling against the Fae.

(Mick's dad is a little more iffy, but that won't stand up against Ma's views for very long. Everyone knows where the real power in their family lies.)

"What do you want to take with you?" Savitar asks, amused again. Fae are changeable like that. "Decide now - your time is up."

Mick swallows. It's too soon - he's just found Snart; he doesn't want to lose him -

"Mick," Snart says.

Mick looks at him.

"Come with me."

"Are you nuts?" Mick exclaims. "What, and get myself killed for no reason?"

"Please, Mick. I have a plan -"

"Oh, yeah, like the old one worked so damn well!"

"Mick. Please. Trust me?"

Mick just met the guy. They're not even together, not really, they're just a possibility, and so what if they're soulmates? Just because they affect each other doesn't mean they have to let it -

Mick's a goddamn idiot.

"Fine," he growls, ignoring Savitar doing something judgy with his eyebrows.

He grabs Snart's hand, and together, they go down to the spell.

"You take me to all the nicest places," Mick says as they draw near to the gigantic pulsing hunger of the spell.

"Next time, I'll pick a nice restaurant instead."

"There won't be a next time."

"No, there won't," Snart says. "Mick..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trusting me."

Snart turns around and waves to Savitar. He's got a piece of white paper in his fingers. "Hey, you!"

Savitar peers down at him.

"One of yours for one of mine!" Snart calls, which - what?

"Is that from your stupid Rummikube game?!" Mick exclaims, because seriously? Now?

"It is," Snart says. "We played Central City rules, where you can also trade favors. I didn't use 'em up all."

"But what's the point of bringing it here? Those apply to the game -"

"Says who? I've made political deals over a game of Rummikube. Why not magical deals, too?"

Mick starts to get a bad feeling about this. A feeling, it occurs to him, that he should've started getting way earlier.

Snart did say that he had a plan.

Mick really should've believed him.

Man with the fucking plan...

"What the hell are you trading him?" Mick demands.

Snart smiles at him. "A soulmate."

And then, with a tug, Mick's gone -

He blinks.

He's standing at Savitar's side, all the way up the hill.

"No!" he shouts.

Savitar stares at him, human disbelief bleeding into his face, and then he looks back down the hill.

Snart's still there, with the spell starting to reach out bright blue tendrils to grab him. By his side, there's a woman - dark hair, dark skin, and a very confused expression.

"Iris," Savitar breathes. The spell reaches out a tendril, and wraps around her, too. "No!"

He's gone.

No, not quite gone.

He's down the hill, speedster-quick, but the spell is closer and it realizes what Savitar is doing and it's lashing out to grab its victims first - Savitar is slowing - no, not slowing -

He's stopped, so as to better aim the spear that he throws.

The spear of dragonflame goes straight to the heart of a Fae spell.

Opposites meet.

Everything explodes.

When Mick finally manages to open his eyes again, he's lying on his back on the hill.

He sits up.

Snart is lying beside him, alive and intact, the bastard. And beside him, there's the woman - Iris? - sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Mick suspects, but checks anyway.

Yeah, she's human.

"Hey there," he says. "Nice day, huh?"

"Is it winter?" she asks. "It's freezing."

Huh, yeah, she's wearing a summery blouse and not much else.

Mick shrugs off his jacket and hands it over.

"Thanks."

"It's Midwinter," Mick says with a shrug. "Winter Solstice. Guess you were inside or something?"

"Not exactly," she says wryly. "Last I remember, it was summer, and I was walking in a park."

"Iris," Savitar rasps. He's standing right behind her. "Oh, Iris..."

She twists to look at him. "Barry," she says blankly. "What's wrong?"

(Barry? Savitar's True Name is Barry? Really?)

"You - you died -"

"You're dating a Fae?" Mick asks her, deciding that he didn't want to know. "And here I thought you had some sense."

"You don't pick your soulmate, and anyway he grows on you," Iris says wryly. "Also, Bar, what do you mean, I died?"

"Wouldn't have called that, I admit," Snart croaks, sitting up. "But I guess the swap spell didn't pay attention to where your soulmate was - and it was nuke-powered."

"Wait, what's this about nukes?!"

Mick looks down the hill, but the spell is gone. In its place, the barrier shines gold, strong and unwavering.

A Fae and a human, soulmates, rescuing each other. Just like Tam Lin.

Instead of destroying Tam Lin's spell, they've strengthened it a thousand times over.

Oh, the Fae aren't going to like this one bit.

Savitar doesn't look like he cares, though, with Iris in his arms and his head on her shoulder.

Snart pokes Mick in the shoulder.

Mick looks at him.

Snart mimes a hasty exit.

...yeah, good idea.

They sneak out of there.

To be fair, they could have probably have made a giant racket and no one would have noticed – Savitar and Iris appear to be having their New Years’ kiss a bit earlier than expected, but hey, Mick’s not going to look gift Fae in the mouth.

(Unlike Iris, apparently.)

The second Mick's pretty sure they're out of earshot, he whistles for Garima.

She comes, of course, lights flashing happily and doors sliding open.

"Good girl," Mick tells her.

After all those dimensional portals, getting back Overhill is a cinch for her.

"So," Snart says.

Mick turns to look at him.

Snart grins at him. "Restaurant?"

Mick starts laughing.

[dndbatkid]

I got tagged by @marywisdom

Ship that makes you cry: Coldwave is a bit obvious so gonna go with Janto. The whole time they were together Jack knew he would outlive Ianto but to have him die so suddenly was just heartbreaking.

Ship that makes you happy: Korrasami It was good and sweet and it ended well and it just gives me warmth.

Ship that makes you want to scream: this is kinda vague like with passion/ excitement, then kinda all of them. If its in a notp, then no I don’t do notps.

Ship that makes you ache: COLDWAVE everything​ about them hurts right now (esp after that finale) I wake up in pain from them. Len killing Mick, Mick wiping his memories to keep him on the path to legends, how Mick keeps starting fights to do an assisted suicide, just all of it.

Ship that makes you feel frisky: I mean most of them in the right situation i guess.

Ship that makes you feel dirty: Superwave I’m just gonna leave the phrases “ real man” and “ I cant I shouldnt” here and let myself out. ( plus I cant be the only one who wants to see Mongrel get set on fire)

Ship you would start a bar fight over: The very first thing I ever shiped, even before I had ever heard of shipping Xena/Gabrielle. If you want to argue about how in love they were, I will find you. And I will fight you.

Ship you didn’t think you would ship: Nate/Amaya ( Steelvixen Vixensteel idk) I saw it coming and I really had no interest, but I love how “go get them baby I got your flower” it is. I feel like nate would very proudly say “My girlfriend’s gonna kick your ass.”

Rare Pair: Wondercanary Think about it, those two together would be unstoppable. Diana would have a lot of fist hand historical knowledge and has really good fighting skills, plus think of how much fun Diana would have on the Waverider. (as much as it makes me fear for Mick’s life)

OT3:Rogue Canary. (or as I like to call them The Angry Gay Kids) The three of them were so good together,I miss them.

Ship you regret to admit you ship: Rip/Gideon I remember sitting there watching the ep and actually saying out loud “I don’t wanna and you cant make me.” I was wrong. Here I am.(Come talk to me about how the Time Masters had something that kept the AI’s from becoming sentient. Please. I have Feelings.)

Ship that is canon: Sanvers they are just so good you know. I really love how their story is playing out. Its natural and organic and PURE. I just really hope they don’t kill Maggie.

Ship you didn’t like at first both Nate/Amaya and Rip/Gideon tbh

Ship you used to like and now don’t: Mystrade I only really shipped it because I thought it was funny that people were shipping two people who had never been seen on screen together was funny. Once they were I lost intrest.

Ship you want to be canon most: Coldwave the word partner is ambiguous, and they really are not a PDA kind of couple. It would be so easy, and you really wouldn’t have to change anything. Actually married or not I don’t care. (but them sticking a shotgun in the clerks face because gay marriage wasn’t legal yet is satisfying to think about)

I tag @asian-aaron-samuels @mickrrory

[plinys]

wednesday fic recs, coldwave edition [1.11.17]

so  for the first half of last year i was putting out 8 random recs a week (as i cleaned out my bookmarks) with the occasional themed rec list. well - my 2017 tumblr resolution is to get more active and into the swing of things now that my life is semi back to normal 

i was going to do a random rec but the first 10 pages of my history were legends of tomorrow fic (most of which were coldwave) so this one gets to be themed oops:

A Whole Lotta Money (That’s Ready to Burn) by violentcrumbles

“Why not?”

“Because…” Len was at a loss for words. This was not a conversation he’d expected to have ever, and certainly not while drunk on a street corner in Las Vegas at three in the fucking morning. He said the first thing that came to mind. “Because weddings take planning.”

my comments: because these boys are basically married in canon anyways, but one of the first things i wanted upon finished season one and being dead of feels (other than a fix it) was fic where they got married and low and behold this fic exists. vegas weddings are the best sort of weddings, and i just adore this fic so much its so good and so true to them and also a wedding fic which makes me weak af like treat yourself to some pre-canon fluff

In Scorched Places by nirejseki

Jefferson Jackson gets railroaded into the Jaeger Program and meets Mick Rory. It's the best thing that's ever happened to him.

my comments: this is all from jax’s pov but it still technically counts as a coldwave fic, so i am going to rec it because oh my god, like the whole plot other than you know - fighting aliens inside giant robots (CAUSE HELLO THIS IS A PACIFIC RIM AU) - is about getting the two of them together. and i just !! so blessed to have this in my life !! a most wonderful mick! a most grouchy len! and an amazing jax to tell the whole story and just make it?? so fucking good !!

In the End by TheAutotheist

It was said that the words that appear on your forearm are the last sentence your soulmate ever says to you.

my comments: you all know how i feel about soul mate aus, and angsty soul mate aus are right up my alley. this one is technically non canon compliant cause i guess it got joss’d or whatever the dc equivalent is but its so good and hurts me so much - so uh if you are a fan of pain and soul mate aus, then you need to go read this right now 

Measuring Up by violentcrumbles

“How was it?” Mick called out behind him.

Len turned. Mick nodded toward the croissant balanced carefully on top of the pastry box, a noticeable chunk missing. “Best in the state?”

“Honestly?” said Len as the door swung closed behind him. “It was a little dry.”

In which Mick owns a bakery, and Len is secretly a professional restaurant critic who loves Mick's pastries, but will never say that to his face.

my comments: this fic appeared like two days ago? and i just finished it at work during my prep hour today - cause life has been busy - but it was so good and i def put off planning tomorrows lesson in order to finish this fic so like if that isnt a quality recommendation idk what is. this was just?? so good. the pining. the miscommunication. the delicious baked goods. would def recommend this as a feel good long fic

No Matter What Happens Tomorrow by ajremix

Len felt his mouth go dry. "You remember that Bill Murray movie? Where he re-lives the same day over and over again? Is something like that possible?"

Mick looked more intensely serious than Len could recall in years. "You telling me you're going through a Groundhog Day Loop?"

"Is that the technical term?"

my comments: okay so technically this is the second in a series, but i love this one so much i have to spot light it (probably read the first one in the series so the ending of this makes more sense, but i dont think its 100% necessary) - but basically this is a TIME LOOP FIX IT and like if y’all know me at all its that i love time loops. like the second i saw the finale, i was like “if nobodys written a time loop fix it, i gotta” thankfully someone beat me to it (cause im months late to this fucking show) and it was the most wonderful of wonderfuls, im so pleased!!

Stitch In Time by nirejseki

After the Legends' quest goes bad, Mick reassumes his identity as Kronos and decides to take the task of fixing the timeline into his own hands. His targets: teenagers Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, and Barry Allen.

(It doesn't go as he expected)

my comments: ENDLESS SCREAMING ! this fic is so good - actually everything by this author is amazing like, i read almost all their fics for this ship which is so many, and i told myself i was only allowed to pick two to rec on this list, so this is the second one. i loved this fic!! i like spent 24 hours just like thinking about this fic after i had finished it like i couldnt start another because this story - and the universe created by it - had just consumed me momentarily. 

Therapy by dragonspell

“And you!” the man wearing Mick’s face shouts, pointing at Leonard. “I’m going to kill you, do you hear me?” Leonard keeps his head against the wall but tilts it slightly towards Mick’s voice, a loose acknowledgement of the threats being made against him. “But first I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to bend you over and fuck you so hard that my cock will be the only thing that you remember.” Mick pauses. “You tell them what a cockslut you are, Snart? You tell them how much you like being fucked?”

“Yeah,” Leonard drawls, “it was right in between the discussions about liking card games and single malt scotch.”

Mick steps closer to the edge of his cell. “Mmm, how about the first time we fucked? You couldn’t stop shaking. Sixteen and didn’t know shit besides the fact that you wanted me.” Well there’s a trip down memory lane. Yes, Leonard remembers that. And it’s not something that Mick gets to toss out because he’s pissed or Chronos gets to use because he’s gunning for some kind of fucked-up revenge.

(Or, after the team captures Chronos, Leonard gets creative trying to help him remember being Mick again.)

my comments: literally so much sin, like this is the kind of sin i wanted from this fandom. sin with mick recovering from being chronos. len curing him with the power of sex, like idk why i didnt know i wanted this originally and then i read it and was like “oh yes” this was something i def needed in my life very badly bless the world for having given it to me. like man !! this is so hot !! i cannot stress enough how hot this is !! oh damn okay HOT DAMN 

Vengeance is like fire by Thei

What if Chronos had gone back to Central City for Lisa, in order to hurt Len?

my comments: my bookmark note for this one said “technically gen, but mostly pain”. also here is where at the bottom of my list, i mentioned that the first thing i did after binging season one was search for all LoT fics with “chronos” tagged in it, because i am a sucker for pain and also because i have some very specific kinks for this ship that nobody has written yet and thats a shame. but beyond that this fic is probably the best chronos!mick & len interact fic i would find. and its gen. like the chronos!mick voice in this is on point, and i am weak for snart sibling dynamic so, this just hit all of my needs and wants as far as pain goes