#i know i know my bandom is showing

[obscurecurse]

talking about putting a man in a situation and it's not even saturday

i want???? them to be in a band together?????? there are some realllyyyyyyyy good AUs that Kind Of scratch the itch. but i want kimchay band love triangle au. i want kim to be a guitar player dating the lead singer of their band. i want chay to be like the bassist or the drummer (statistically speaking - the chiller/weirder band members, those two. there are Exceptions of course)

so they are friends/constantly stuck together on tour? maybe chay walks in on them hooking up and it just awakens something in him. but he lives with it bc dating someone in a band? it's kind of verboten especially when you are in a love triangle. but he always sees him in the spotlight/across the stage. a born superstar. the girls scream when he walks out.

..........and then they break up on the last night of tour. not some cheating arc, maybe they really were in love but they're just too different. (i dont want tHe OtHeR mAn to be a villain. that's boring.) and chay's like "hm that's weird. ok. i hope the band doesn't break up. it's a good thing we have some time to figure this out now."

but then they're all splitting up/dividing gear /luggage /gaming consoles/ the porno mag from the bathroom in some parking lot. and chay sees kim standing there looking kind of lost and spaced out. it's not hard to guess that kim was planning to partake in a bit of domesticity in the privacy of four walls of their singer's apartment instead of a tourbus and now he doesn't know what to do with himself. so chay is like ".........hey do you wanna go get a drink?"

to help him with the weirdness of the transition. getting back from tour is weird. your brain is in travel/survival mode. constantly checking that you have your stuff/getting lost, different weather, different levels of feelings of safety depending on what city you're in. and then you kind of stagnate, you know? maybe you get annoyed with these people you're stuck on a bus with but then they're gone. you can't count fields of livestock together on the long drives. there's no "i can't find my FUCKING PASSPORT" "...yeah bro i know. that's because you gave it to me to hold for you, remember?" or like "oh god do u have any toothpaste left?"

but then they just don't stop hanging out......................... B) kim stays. and chay is noooooooooot even trying to swerve on brokenhearted kim like that. but it just happens that way, ok?

[jettlawrence]

the way i thought it was br*ndon ur*e singing all the spidey and his amazing friends songs and it's p*trick st*mp

[w04hxo]

.

[hiddenintheveil]

i have been introduced. to kpop

[greenestkite]

Star Wars Fic Wips

ok i wanted to compile some of my favourite of my own star wars fic wips (all pre empire bc i cant even with the empire), because its gotten to the point where im drowning in folders and documents of ideas, so without further ado!

please ask me questions about them bc i need a reason to think about them!

Angry Queer Punk Obi-Wan: 17 yr old Obi-Wan returns from a shit show of a mission, and ends up at a punk bar, whereupon he's adopted by a group of punks and pulled into political demonstrations and organized resistance against incompetent politicians (also a songfic featuring a plethora of punk songs but mostly Against Me!)

Cody crash lands on Obi-Wan's farm Basically what it says on the tin and Obi-Wan takes care of Cody while he's injured. Codywan, no war/sith, they're both mandalorians

Jedi Mandalorian Culture Exchange: Arla Fett and Jaster Mereel both live, and Galidraan goes very differently; Jaster and Dooku realize they were set up, and in a bid to fix jedi/mando political relations decide to start an exchange program between senior padawans and mandalorians (ages like,, 16-25), this is the type of exchange where theres overlap in timing, so both partners are in the same place at the same time. Cody and Obi-wan are paired up and also mandalore (the planet) is probably not actually desolate

Mandalorian!Obi-Wan fics: theres about 5 different flavours of this one, with a plethora of mandalorian OCs, and in varying shades of obi-wan: before Obi-Wan goes to the jedi, post bandomeer, post mandalore mission, phantom menace timeline (basically i've thought about this one a lot lol)

QuinObi Missions: Mandalorian Obi-Wan keeps running into Jedi Shadow Quinlan Vos while trying to complete mission, and Quin keeps interfering. Quinlan falls in love (with the mandalorian he knows as Ben, who's face he's never seen) while Obi-Wan slowly puts together the clues that the hinderance to his missions is his childhood friend and first crush. possibly a 5+1 fic if i can think of enough points (bc i think the format would work well for the idea)

[steddieunderdogfics]

Today is all about @verdantcactus! In today’s Mod Spotlight, we’re highlighting Shane and all they bring to this space!!

Shane is the mod behind our Writer's Spotlights! Each week, she reaches out to authors, creates the recs, and coordinates the schedule! She also handles the questions and getting everything queued up to share with you.

Shane (She/They) has been in fandom for over 20 years and currently splits time between bandom and the Stranger Things fandom (with a strong Steddie focus). She doesn’t publish fic at the moment (but always has things vaguely in progress and at various stages of completion). Instead, she spends all of her time reading at least 100k words of fic a week on average (but frequently more honestly). She is fairly new at participating in the Stranger Things fandom and modding for Steddie Underdog Fics is her first step at participating more!

Shane has been a delight to have on the team! The spark they've shared with us has renewed the energy behind the scenes, inspiring all of us to come up with new ideas! It's been a pleasure to get to work with them. - @oh-stars

As a part of our mod spotlight, Shane answered some questions from you all and our team! You can read them below.

Be sure to stay tuned for more recs and future mod spotlights in the future!

What drew you to Steddie?

Watching their interactions in gifs to be honest. Their energy transcended needing audio for me I guess, I was just so sold. I really like the dynamic of the jock that fell from grace and the kinda awkward nerd. The fact that Eddie is into music and is kind of a wet and pathetic mess throughout the show is just icing on the cake for me. I find that I really get into ships where one of the characters is putting on a facade so to speak about who they are for the public and then in fic you get to see the takedown of that and realize who the character really is. Steddie fics seem to have a TON of that, because Steve is the popular jock who seems to be very bad at being popular and Eddie is the metalhead nerd who isn’t actually as tough as he projects and I will eat that up over and over and over.

What is your favorite thing about modding this page?

Seeing author reactions for sure! I thought coming into it that my favorite part would be seeing fics that are recced and adding to my own rec list, but honestly it’s seeing people be happy.

What are your favorite tropes to read?

SO MANY. Happy ending required but the ones I come to most often are Hurt/Comfort bc I like a little angst to drive a story forward I think. I also have been reading a lot of Fake Dating and weirdly enough Sports AU’s recently? Which is only funny bc I do not do sports IRL at all. I truly do not even know which sports go to which seasons of the year other than football and that is only because I worked retail and saw superbowl displays every year. A sports AU though? Eat that shit up.

What’s your guilty pleasure trope?

Ooooooh I don’t know that I really have a guilty pleasure trope to be honest! I will read most any trope, and also tell you about it if you ask and keep my AO3 bookmarks public too so it’s just… all out there to see if you look haha. I maybe talk less about reading like monsterfucker stuff or A/B/O stuff but that’s less bc it’s a guilty pleasure and more I have less people to rec those fics to haha. Basically cringe is dead and I’m happy that way! (:

What is your preferred way to read and find fics?

Always rec lists! I love to know that someone else was passionate enough about the fic to rec it going in. I follow a lot of people in fandom, and always make sure to follow people who post rec lists and I pillage those like it's my job for things to read. Very rarely if I want a SUPER specific trope, I will go to AO3 and filter to find a fic, but I have to really have a super specific craving for that. As for reading, I have kind of built reading fic into my daily routine. I wake up every morning and read specifically fic for at least an hour before I get up and feed my cat and get ready for the day. If I skip it because I overslept or something it feels like my whole day is off.

What makes a fic an instant yes for you to read?

A real good and unique premise! If the fic sounds like it is going to be a good time, I want to inhale it instantly.

Anonymous - Is there any older or lesser-known Steddie event from the past few years that you particularly love (if ongoing or recurring) or loved? Did you participate in any?

I really love the @subeddieweek event that happened this past summer, bc I think those fics are less common in the fandom and they were all great. I read through that event posting extensively. As for participating in events I actually haven’t. I write a little bit, but my problem is that I NEVER FINISH ANYTHING so I feel irresponsible joining an event knowing that my likelihood of finishing is so low…. I always say I want to join with the intent of finishing a WIP but either miss the sign up period or feel like I don’t have a solid enough draft to join with. Basically I and my anxiety are my own worst enemy. Maybe someday though!

@sidekick-hero - What makes a fanfic stand out for you?

I will read very nearly anything as long as it has a happy ending, but if someone has a snappy summary that is like an excerpt of the fic and then “OR Steve has X job and Y happens! The fic!” or whatever I will tend to be like hell yeah I wanna read that idea, you’ve sold me! And tend to move things up the endless TBR

@worldswcollide - What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a mod in the future?

I think primarily just getting up the nerve to volunteer to do it! Fandom really is driven by the people in it, and cool things can only exist because people volunteer for them. Other than that once you start the best advice is to create some kinda routine around checking things which will help you with communicating effectively and getting things done. For me, I use a lot of phone alarms and reminders in the Finch app to make sure tasks get done when they need to lol.

Anonymous - Do you participate in any other fannish activities, like making playlists, gif edits, fanart, podcasts, Pinterest boards, etc?

Not much honestly! I wish I was more creative in those ways, but honestly I MOSTLY read. I write a tiny bit but never post anything bc I get nervous. I do bind fics into books sometimes and do it a lot for friends, but I don't really share them online. It’s just a quiet little hobby for me that makes birthday gifts for fandom people really easy.

@sidekick-hero - What motivates you to mod for steddieunderdogfics?

I really believe in the idea behind the blog. Author’s are so important and engagement really drives authors. I think it’s sad that so many really great fics get a little buried just because of the nature of the fast past of this fandom so to be able to shine a light on fics is just really great to me!

@worldswcollide -  Are there skills you’ve learned as a mod that have helped you in your everyday life?

Honestly? Formatting google sheets is the legit answer hahaha. I have been keeping track of fics I read on a massive google spreadsheet since like 2020 (because I love to reread fics and nothing bothers me more than being unable to find this one random fic that I remember a single scene from or just the vibe of) and when I became a mod I saw that big spreadsheet we have of all the recc’d fics and was like wait we can do dropdowns in google sheets?? Life changing. Currently I am in the process of sloooooowly redoing my own tracking sheet.

Anonymous - Have you had a particular favorite Challenge Monday or weekend theme so far (maybe because of the theme, the recs, or the engagement, or for some other reason)?

Oooh one that I was really excited for was the Prominent Pets challenge, that was one that I had suggested as a challenge bc I read Looks like we're in for nasty weather by prufrocks and loved Steve hanging out with Bruce so much I was like yes I want a hundred more fics with one of them hanging out with pets. And all the fics from that challenge I have either read or they are on my TBR waiting to be read now haha. I also am really excited for RomCom au’s coming up in Sept bc they are my fave to read, they are just so fun and that was a challenge I recommended!

@sidekick-hero - What do you like best about fandom?

My favorite part about fandom has always been reading fic. I CONSUME fic like nobody's business and honestly if a fandom doesn’t have fun and engaging fic for it, I probably will not stay active in that fandom for very long even if I LOVE the media property.

@worldswcollide - If you absolutely HAD to choose—enemies to lovers or friends to lovers? (At least when it comes to Steddie)

Oooh Friends to lovers every time. Enemies to lovers can be great, and I certainly read a ton of it! But also I love that kind of awkward shifting from becoming friends and really getting to know a person and then it's like oh shit actually I feel really intense about that person?? I will eat that up every single time.

Anonymous - Was there a specific moment or fandom interaction or show event that drew you into the ST fandom?

Really it was seeing all of the gifs on tumblr of Eddie. I had been meaning to watch Stranger Things for YEARS because my friend was like “this show is made for you” knowing that I love horror tv shows with really good cast dynamics but I hadn’t made the jump bc as soon as you tell me to watch something….. I suddenly am unable to watch it! Until I saw gif makers getting to work during volume 1 of season 4 and I was like look at this guy, I am obsessed. And then I was like “I want to read fic about this guy” and then I binged all of Stranger Things in like 2-3 days whoops. And now here I am probably forever!

@sidekick-hero - What makes you happy about modding?

A bunch of different things! I like working with both of my fellow mods on this project that I think is really important in a fandom with so many active events. It’s so great to see all the notes on posts for authors seeing their fics get recommended. I also get to reach out to authors for the Writer’s Wednesday spotlights as it is the area of modding I spend most of my time on and so I get to talk to everyone who has been nominated and they are always so happy to see someone nominated them! (so please always nominate your fave authors! It makes their day all the time! (: )

@worldswcollide - What gave you the last little shove you needed to become a mod for this fandom?

In general I am such a shy person that I never really put myself out there in any way. BUT at the same time I am always trying to push myself further because I long for fandom friends despite the overwhelming shyness. So when I saw the call for more mods I thought I should prob try it because it seemed like a kind of small scale way to start to be more active in fandom since you are only working with a few people at a time! It’s less overwhelming than a massive discord server to me.

Anonymous - Do you feel like your participation in bandom bleeds over into your engagement with ST fandom? For instance, being drawn to fics with a focus on band/rockstar/musician themes, or some other example you'd be comfortable highlighting?

Oooh this is a really good question actually. I think yes, but not always in ways you expect? Like it mostly gave me a love for really really niche au’s hahaha. I LOVE a niche weird job kind of au, like give me all of the Steve is a park ranger AU’s. I will say though that I also have likeeee 13k of a fic written where Steve goes on tour with Corroded Coffin as a merch guy and they eat in a lot of diners that I will maybe finish up someday and post and that definitely has bandom energy from watching so many tour diaries over the years.

@sidekick-hero - Reading as much as you do (WOW!): When does a fanfic stay on your mind even after finishing it? (I would love to hear about the last one that did stay with you)

I think most commonly fics stay with me when there’s some detail that’s like really unique or specific to that fic (like I read so many post season 4 fics they have to do something really new for me to remember like ‘OH THAT FIC RIGHT’ off the top of my head.) or they have to have some vivid character details that made me really really obsessed with the fic. I do remember a shocking amount of fics considering the sheer volume of what I read though so it’s not like I just read and instantly forget haha. Some ones that I’ve read recently that are still kicking around in my head are: better by you, better than me by palmviolet which I read while it was posting so that fic lives rent free in my head forever now as thee fic where Eddie was there from the beginning and the level of historical and musical detail in that fic is beautiful, Of Paper Stars And Pudding Cups by SameShipDifferentFont which I read slowly over a week because I was busy but as soon as I started it I was like “oh I wanna INHALE this” bc I was obsessed with Steve and Eddie’s interactions in it, and blinking red light by cuips_not_cute which is my current in progress fic that I’ve been on my edge of my seat waiting for every chapter update bc I want to see them actually COMMUNICATE someday bc that tension makes me feral.

Anonymous - What kind of fic formats do you prefer: longfic, one-shots, short chapters, long chapters, series-as-chapters, etc? Do you find that you read faster or slower with particular formats?

So I will read mostly anything that’s at least 1000 words (anything shorter and my brain doesn’t QUITE kick into focus mode for me to even have a thought about what I read). Preference wise though I LOVE LOVE LOVE a mega long fic. On weekends when I don’t have a lot of commitments I will love to pick like a massive 200-300k or longer fic and just INHALE it for the entire weekend till I’m like “wow I wonder why I have a headache? -said in the tone of someone who has been staring at a screen in the dark for the past 13 hours-” As for formats.. I tend to read best and fastest when I send fics to my kindle. That little device is a fic machine for me and I love it dearly. A very common sight is me cooking or doing dishes in my apartment with the kindle propped in a cabinet or something. But I will sometimes randomly just swap formats for a week and read exclusively on my phone or on a tablet or print something out and be carrying around sheets so really I am a mood reader that way!

@sidekick-hero - How can we make participating in the steddie fandom even more fun for you?

Always feel free to reach out to me on tumblr (@verdantcactus)! I read so much and always want to talk about fics I’ve read. So if you ever want to just chat about fics or even have some kind of specific recs you wish someone could give you.. My inbox and messages are always open (:

Today, all of our recs are from @verdantcactus specifically! You can always see their recs on our Fic Fridays by checking our #mod shane rec tag.

[leprosycock]

how do i explain to my roommate that rpf is not any more "unethical" than fictional incest. i had her exact mindset and then i stumbled upon your blog and bandom and something clicked, i just dont know what. does the intrigue outweigh the possible consequences? help... or i might stay a closet rpfer forever

i think it’s worth it to point out that this, too, is also fictional. it is real person fiction. it’s in the name. every biopic that exists is rpf to some degree. it’s also on a far, far different scale if you’re writing it about rich celebrities with extremely comfortable lives; even if it’s about streamers and not near-billionaire musicians, you’re still writing about people who who are projecting a persona to the internet somewhat and you’re just writing about that persona. i would say. like. don’t write rpf about your neighbors or something. that’s weird. but if it’s a pair of celebrities with a vast history and a connection and an intimate storyline then like who caaarrreeeesssss… i know you hear the argument “they’re still people” sometimes over that but i would venture to say that they are people who live outside the context of our everyday functioning world. these are people who can probably handle the idea that someone is writing about them having gay sex with their friend because they have millions of dollars in their bank account as we speak and if they are seeking these things out and become upset by it, that is on THEM. if you’re the type of person who also intends on showing rpf to the people involved, i think that’s really fucking cringe and lame and weird and i cast that mindset out, as do most people who ship rpf.

tl;dr rpf is fine and it’s weird that people who agree that fictional shit is fine won’t extend that to rpf lol

[zot3-flopped]

"what kind of fandoms existed before Larry" fandom oldy here! Started consuming fandom when I was 13yo, am now 32 so ...

Larries fancy themselves big thinkers but they're nothing but a degeneration of bandom slash shipping (archaic terms I know lol). Back in the 2000s there was lot of shipping among pop punk band members (MCR, FOB, etc.) and actors too.

When Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies came out, shipping RDJ e Jude Law was a whole thing. They milked it for promo, then it quietly died out after the second movie came out and no third one was in sight. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were briefly shipped after Brokeback Mountain, but that was respectfully put to rest after Ledger's death. I'm sure there're weirdos everywhere, but not to the level I saw in larry. There was no mainstream desrespect or questioning the validity of their real life relationships (Susan Downey, Michelle Williams ...) nor horrid theories about like, Matilda Ledger not being Heath's daughter.

Shippers of Supernatural J2 were a lot more degenerate, but then again, shipping the actual characters (who were BROTHERS) in the show was huge. Then there were the deranged shippers of Cumberbatch and Freeman from BBC Sherlock, that was very insane and disrespectful from what I remember, but I was never part of the fandom. Nowadays you've got some huge idiots cospiracist in Kpop fandom, but never to the Larry levels.

I grew up on Tumblr, I'm very fond of this place, cos' fandom was a huge source of comforts for the questioning ace girl born in a conservative family I was - but the echo chamber structure of this site did a lot of damage to people's critical thinking. It was especially insane in the first half of the 2010s, before mainstream media and the pop culture industry started addressing fandom directly and milking it for money. Things went quieter after than, and my generation too, we've grown up, matured, things have just changed a lot in the way media is consumed.

Larry is nothing special, but I got to say, the levels of delusion ARE insane, considering it's been YEARS since 1D disbanded. All the communities I've talke about? You've got a handful of "believers" left, very isolated, most people just have fond memories of it all. All of them died out slowly after the corrisponded piece of media ended. The lenght of Larry is what makes it so insane to me.

But yeah, Larries are nothing new or special, they can seat their asses down. Down to the bones of it, it's nothing but another RL shipping category on fanficion sites.

Fantastic summary. I forgot about the Cumberbitches, and then there are the Robstens who to this day think that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are secretly married and have three children together.

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg tier 3

tier 1, tier 2, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 7, tier 8

into the waters:

cricket and clover:

also known as the cabin album, this is the scrapped album that panic! wrote in 2007 when they locked themselves in a cabin in nevada (hence the nickname). according to a tweet from jon, 14 songs were written for the album, only 3 of which ever saw the light of day [i]. however, this tweet seems to have been deleted.

one song was folkin’ around, which of course made it onto pretty. odd.

another was nearly witches, which made it on vices & virtues, but the demo version is very different from the official version. you can listen to the demo here [ii].

the last song that we know of from this album is it’s true love. this song was performed once in 2007 at summerfest; unfortunately, the quality isn’t the best [iii]. however, this song still gives good insight into what the album would’ve sounded like, which is very different from fever but similar to pretty odd (although sources state the album still sounded very different from both previous and future works) [iv].

the album was intended to be a concept album, with each song leading into the next story wise. it would tell a love story between two people named cricket and clover [iv].

in 2018, jon also tweeted that he found some cricket and clover demos at his dad’s house, but it seems he does not have the authority to release them [iv]. genius also released a number of song titles, but jon also said that those names were not accurate [i].

we also have this image of ryan’s handwritten lyrics for songs unreleased from the album.

besides these small snippets of information, it’s safe to assume this album will remain lost to time forever, unless someone gives jon the permission to leak the demos (please).

i’m afraid that i:

on the 2006 summer tour, and specifically on live in denver, panic! covered karma police by radiohead. this entry refers to a part of that song in which ryan sings the line “i’m afraid that i.” ryan fans became obsessed with this clip and it’s taken on a life of its own.

you smell like a slut:

this also references a clip from the live in denver dvd. rather than explaining it, i’ll just let the video explain itself.

the moat:

in 2010, ryan tweeted at one of his friends that he could “float in [ryan’s] moat until he gets settled,” implying that ryan has a moat around his house [v].

i also found this panic! confession, but i’m not sure of the legitimacy of the claim nor of the house in the photo actually being the home ryan lived in (i hope it wasn’t) [vi].

eta: i think that actually is his house because in a podcast, he talks about how people have shown up to his house and made him scared to even open the door for the mailman :( with that being said, i removed the original image because i don't feel comfortable having a pic of his house in this (idk if he still lives there, but regardless). it is still in the source i linked if you're really curious, but it should go without saying that no one should show up to his house.

it’s the end of the electric guitar era:

this is a clip from the documentary, the calendar business, in which ryan says he was so frustrated with one of his guitars. so, he said “it’s the end of the electric guitar era” and burned it.

i’ll also link the full documentary here because it’s an interesting watch itself! [vii]

coachella:

for a few years, ryan went to coachella. i know he was definitely at 2015 and 2016, but also maybe 2011 and 2013 [viii].

he was also pictured with cristofer drew at one of them (nevershoutnever) which doesn’t mean anything significant; it’s just an interesting tidbit to me because nsn started my emo phase lmao

gabe saporta:

my king.

gabe saporta, formerly of midtown and cobra starship (both incredible bands that you should check out), was an absolute icon of fueled by ramen bandom. in the presplit days, he and ryan were buddies, as were most bands on that label, but after the divorce ryan got to keep gabe. they used to frequently post on instagram hanging out. we don’t really see them together much these days, but to be fair, ryan disappeared from the internet and gabe is the father of two kids. so i’m sure they’re still friends offline!

there is also this absolutely iconic friends or enemies interview that gabe did with ryan that everyone should watch here [ix] (also guy ripley saying “delicious” in the background at the end means everything to me).

eta: this post was made before gabe made all of those zionist comments about the genocide in palestine, so i feel i should clarify that he is no longer my king and it's free palestine and fuck israel forever :)

vicky t:

victoria asher, professionally known as vicky t, is another former member of cobra starship. she and ryan did hang out in the presplit days of course, but also some in the post split days. it seems she remained friends with all of panic! though.

however, vicky is extremely problematic and transphobic, which is detailed more here [x]. she also works with britney spears these days, and from what i can tell, britney’s fans do not have good things to say about vicky. but this is really not the place to dive into that.

keltie and jac podcast and books:

so kitty from glee and two of ryan ross’ exes start a podcast…

seriously though, keltie knight, jac vanek, and becca tobin run a podcast called lady gang, and ketlie and jac have discussed ryan on it before. in this interview from 2017, they say that they met because of a mutual ex, saying, “he was kind of known for a minute” and, “we don’t speak the name; it’s like voldemort.” [xi]. they also say they’re not sure if he’s still alive, and well…valid. in a tumblr post from 2018, an anon states that keltie talked about selling ryan’s clothes in an episode and that she and jac were saying mean things about him [xii]. also, in this podcast episode from last year, jac and keltie talk about ryan from about 05:25 to 08:10; they wonder if he has a girlfriend and what he is up to now, and keltie talks about how she regrets being messy in the relationship and writing her book, and how she tried to contact him when hobo died [xiii].

i’ve already talked about it some before, but in 2010, keltie released a book called “rockettes, rockstars, and rockbottom.” this book has an entire section dedicated to her relationship with ryan called “the dreamer” – the dreamer being the alias she uses to refer to him throughout. when describing the beginning of their relationship, she talks about how young he was very often, saying he was still a child and that he had a hard time passing for even 14, amongst other examples. as i said in tier 2, the age gap in their relationship was important because of the power dynamics, as evidenced in the book. from what i gather from the book, their relationship was messy, codependent, and, for lack of a better word, toxic. keltie is allowed to talk about her life, but it doesn’t sit right with me that she went into intimate detail about their relationship when ryan is such a private person. ryan was definitely not innocent in this relationship either, though; they both had their issues that they needed to work out on their own rather than keltie trying to fix ryan or him wanting her to. luckily, as i said before, keltie does regret writing the book at least.

if for some reason you’re interested in reading her book, you can find it for free here [xiv]. you just need to make an internet archive account and check it out hourly.

(also a side note that i did in fact listen to lady gang and read keltie’s book for this entry, so please at least give me kudos for that if nothing else)

5th member of 1d:

on march 25, 2015, zayn malik left one direction, and so naturally, people wanted to fuck with their fans. someone edited the official 1d wikipedia page and added ryan under their list of current members. 1d fans on twitter subsequently had meltdowns, exclaiming “WHO IS RYAN ROSS” (i mean c’mon they were in an emotional, vulnerable state). ryan ended up changing his twitter bio to say, “NOT in 1D” and made a tweet about it [xv].

scholarship:

when panic! was first getting its start, ryan received a full scholarship from the university of nevada las vegas for writing. however, he dropped out after one semester to focus on the band, which his dad did not approve of.

he talks about it in live in denver from 58:45 until 59:18 [xvi].

the boy who blocked his own shot:

this is song by brand new off their 2003 album deja entendu (fuck jesse lacey). it’s on this iceberg because ryan loved this song and posted about it on his lj a lot, along with the rest of the album. i know he specifically quoted another song, okay i believe you but my tommy gun don’t, as well.

blinkexists@aol.com:

when ryan was a teenager, this was his email. in fact, it is the email he used to communicate with pete wentz. pete talked about it in this interview with mark hoppus, starting at 02:00 [xvii].

moulin rouge:

this is a movie musical released in 2001 that ryan was obsessed with and one of his favorite movies. i don’t really have any other source for this than trust me bro, but i promise it’s true.

original singer for panic!:

when panic! first started, and even when brendon initially joined the band, ryan was the singer. however, they heard brendon singing back up during brand practice one day and asked him to be the singer rather than the guitarist.

ryan and brendon talk about it some in live in denver from 38:46 to 41:23 [xviii]. specifically my favorite quote from this is, “it felt right to have confident sounding lyrics behind a confident voice.”

(also i’m trying to be objective throughout this but let me just say this for context and transparency: i hate brendon urie LMAO)

guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed:

in 2015, billboard published this article for the 10 year anniversary of a fever you can’t sweat out [xix]. they reached out to multiple people to interview for the article, including brendon, jon, pete wentz, producer matt squire, manager scott magelberg, and bob mclynn. underneath this, it says spencer and brent could not be reached. it also says, “guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed.” people just thought it was funny because he would decline. he is living the hermit life for real.

so that’s all for tier 3. next we move onto a deeper layer, when i really feel like we get into some stuff the average fan wouldn’t know, which i am excited to delve into. gonna be honest though, it’s gonna be a long one.

tier 4

references:

[i] https://panicatthedisco.fandom.com/wiki/Cricket_%26_Clover

[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfsssP9lwII

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNE4U5Yy-BE

[iv] https://lostmediawiki.com/Cricket_and_Clover_(partially_found_scrapped_Panic!_At_The_Disco_album;_2007)

[v] https://failross.livejournal.com/61466.html?thread=1787418

[vi] https://panicconfessions.tumblr.com/page/138

[vii] https://vimeo.com/164855487

[viii] https://twitter.com/search?q=ryan%20ross%20coachella&src=typed_query

[ix] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGe0fR5OM80

[x] https://ocalaghan.tumblr.com/post/157422369150/vickytransphobe-master-post

[xi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwgcmUJbkE

[xii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171494458406/keltie-talks-about-selling-ryans-clothes-in-one

[xiii] https://www.podcastone.com/episode/LG-QUICKIE-Not-Gonna-Lie-Part-2

[xiv] https://archive.org/details/rockettesrocksta0000coll/mode/2up

[xv] https://www.altpress.com/one_direction_fans_think_ryan_ross_is_joining_the_bandand_theyre_furious/

[xvi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=3466s

[xvii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLD8sHVgEnA

[xviii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=2326s

[xix] https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/panic-at-the-disco-fever-you-cant-sweat-out-oral-history-pete-wentz-brendon-urie-6707864/

[neontrashman]

I think I’ve figured out why people ship people who are straight allies together (specifically in bandom spaces)

I think a lot of the reason is just how rampant homophobia was/is, or just indifference to queer struggles. As a queer person (and especially as queer youth), it’s very rare to find that heavy/unwavering support from straight people in the real world like there is from people in bandom spaces. (At least in my experience)

I’m a sense, I think it conditions a lot of queer people to believe that kind of support doesn’t exist outside of the support of other queer people/in queer spaces. And also a lot of these band members were expressing support for the LGBTQIA+ community and not expressing the same ignorance around queer topics at a time where it wasn’t typical for straight people to say/show that support.

(Too lazy to find the videos but insert here the clips of that interview from 2007 where Gerard Way and Frank Iero are talking about homophobia (which is a whole other can of worms to unpack w/ Gerard’s expression of gender queerness/fluidity and his distaste for labeling his gender/orientation), and the interview with Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman where Joe asks the interview ‘what’s wrong with gay?’)

ipso facto, (not full blown fact but whatevs), the thought process for a lot of queer people in bandom spaces becomes “this person has shown support for the queer community, and they have before it was really socially acceptable, they must be queer themselves.

This is also muddled by stage gay and the jokes about being gay that at some point don’t feel like 100% jokes after they’re made so many times (I’m looking at you Pete Wentz)

It could also just be that these lil guys act gay asf idk lemme know what you think

[saturngelato]

I have 41 followers so this likely won’t go very far but it’s worth a shot. I am a novice CapCut editor (because I don’t feel like learning Final Cut or After Effects) and I want to improve my skills so, I’m opening the floor for editing requests.

I will edit any character, show, movie, person, music video, etc. that you would like. Just send me a DM with your request and tell me a little bit about what you want me to edit and a song to go with it.

Here are some fandoms that I’m active in to give you an idea of the people, characters, and movies I know about. Don’t worry if your request isn’t in a fandom I’m active in, I will still make an edit for you to the best of my abilities.

Musicians

The Scene ™️ aka bandom (basically any emo, metal, alternative or hardcore band)

Megan Thee Stallion

Conan Gray

Olivia Rodrigo

Ashnikko

Sooo many others (I don’t want to list them all)

TV Shows and Movies

Bridgerton

Nicholas Galitzine’s filmography

Young Royals

Soooo many others (I don’t want list them all)

Below are the requests I will and will not take due to my own boundaries.

Requests I will take

Edits of characters/people from any of the fandoms above (with limitations)

Romantic scenes from any of the movies/shows above

Emotional scenes from any of the movies/shows above

Singular characters or people

Duos or groups of characters

Ship edits (with limitations)

Miscellaneous things (with limitations)

Requests I will NOT take

Real serial killers

Bigoted real people or characters

Heavily graphic or gory scenes

Highly explicit NSFW scenes

With all that being said, I can’t wait to get editing for y’all 💜

Example of an Edit I have made:

Flash warning for the beginning ‼️

[robinrunsfiction]

Merry Lux-Mas!

Author's Note: Wow, I haven't published anything in a very long time, mainly because I've been working on various things that just never get anywhere closer to being done. This is technically an excerpt of the larger fic that I've been calling The Bandom AU. There was another fic I put up a while back for an OTP challenge that has also been incorporated into that larger fic as well. I suppose I should just jump into this thing, before the note is longer than the fic itself!

~

The band reconvened in Detroit after the brief Thanksgiving break for one last sprint around the country to close out 2004. Lux’s flight from Arizona meant that she didn’t get to ride from the airport to the hotel with the rest of the band, but Shelly’s cheerful face at their shared hotel room door instantly made the travel-related stress melt off the drummer’s shoulders.

“Lux!” The small blonde threw her arms around the drummer, hugging her as if it had been months since they last saw each other, not just over a week.

“Hey Shell,” Lux replied, the air getting squeezed out of her.

“Are you so excited?” Shelly asked, letting her go and bouncing back over to her desk, where all sorts of papers and planners were spread out.

“For the show tomorrow? I guess so, but not like any more than another.”

“No! Your big day!”

Lux took a moment to rack her brain as to what Shelly was talking about, but the look of confusion must have been evident on her face.

“Your birthday, it's coming up in just over a week! What do you want to do for it?” Shelly asked.

Lux dropped her bag on the bed Shelly hadn't claimed. “No it's not.”

“Ye-yes it is?” Shelly replied, starting to flip through the pages of her planner, searching for proof that she was right. 

“I never cared much about it, but I'm pretty sure it's in September.”

“But, I thought it was December 9th! That’s what your drivers license said!”

“Did I give you one of my old fakes? I thought I passed all those on,” Lux said, pulling her wallet out of her backpack. “Nope, just the legit one. 9/12/82.”

“Nine twelve,” Shelly repeated slowly. “Oh no! When I saw the date on your driver's license my brain read it as day, month, year, not month, day, year! I'm so sorry we missed your birthday!”

Lux shrugged as she toed off her sneakers. “Don't worry about it, I hadn't even been in the band a month at that point, you didn't have to do anything for me, y’all hardly even knew me.”

“We could have at least had cake, or whatever treat you wanted!”

Lux perked up for a moment at the mention of cake, before shaking her head. “Really, it's ok, I don't need special attention, or a special day, or anything. Besides, we just had cake on Mikey's birthday right before that! And it was a really good cake!”

“I mean, yes, I do pick good bakers, but is that what you would've wanted?” Shelly asked knowingly.

Lux shrugged. “I dunno, maybe. But it really doesn't matter! I promise it's okay! Now if you don’t mind, I'm gonna take a shower. That flight was especially grody.”

Before Shelly could argue back again, the bathroom door closed behind the drummer. Shelly sighed before she got up and marched across the hall, knocking on the door. As soon as Gerard opened the door, Shelly marched right in.

“What's wrong?” Gerard asked.

“Do you know when Lux's birthday is?”

Gerard and Mikey exchanged looks of confusion with each other. “Umm,” Gerard started.

“I don’t think she’s ever mentioned it,” Mikey shrugged.

“No, but I saw it! I had to copy her driver's license for some paperwork back when she started, and I saw the date was listed as 9/12/1982, but I read it as December 9th.”

“So it was back in September.” Gerard confirmed. 

“Right after mine,” Mikey blurted out with a goofy smile that didn’t go unnoticed by his brother.

“And we didn't do anything to celebrate her! I feel so bad!” Shelly slumped down on the desk chair, putting her head in her hands. 

“Well is she upset?” Gerard asked as he rubbed Shelly’s back sympathetically.

“I don't know. I don't think so? I can't tell, it's so hard to get a read on her! She said she didn't want special attention.”

“That makes sense,” Mikey nodded. “But we could have celebrated together.”

“No! You each deserve your own special days!” Shelly scolded.

“Can we maybe make it up to her?” Gerard asked.

“It would have to be a surprise,” Shelly replied. “I really think she would have been fine letting each year go by without celebrating her.”

“We would notice eventually,” Mikey added. 

“I would hope so,” Shelly shook her head. “I should get back to our room, or she'll suspect something is up if I'm not there when she gets out of the shower.”

The brothers nodded as Shelly left just as swiftly as she arrived.

“We should get her a really good gift,” Mikey suggested. “To make up for missing her birthday.”

“Like what? What does she like or need?” Gerard asked.

Mikey thought for a moment, looking around the room, hoping inspiration would jump up at him. “What about an iPod?”

“An iPod?”

“Yea, Frank always makes fun of her Walkman and how many CDs she carries around. It would make it a lot easier for her.”

Gerard nodded. “Yea, that might work. Let's ask Ray and Frank and see if they'll kick in any money.”

“I can put in more if needed,” Mikey said before even realizing it.

Gerard just nodded and smiled at his brother.

~

A few days later, Lux yawned as she woke up once again in her familiar bunk on the bus. She did tend to be one of the last to get up, so usually there was noise from someone, or something, but today was strangely quiet. Had they arrived in… Wherever the fuck they were going and everyone had left to go explore without her?

“Rude,” she muttered to herself as she slid out of her bunk and trudged her way to the front of the bus, hoping to maybe find someone and a snack, but not expecting-

“Merry Lux-Mas!” The words hit her like a punch in the face.

“What the fuck?!” Lux exclaimed, jumping back, much to the amusement of her bandmates. She looked around the front room, and found it was covered in birthday streamers and balloons. “What the fuck is all this?!”

“An attempt to make up for missing your first birthday in the band!” Shelly explained. “I'm still so sorry I messed that up.”

“It's ok, really!” Lux reassured her. “I said I really don't need a special day or anything!”

“Everyone needs their day,” Ray replied, pulling her in for a hug.

“And not share it,” Mikey smiled. 

“But what if I want to?” Lux pouted back at him before breaking into a laugh. Mikey laughed too, but in the back of his mind, he knew that if Lux ever gave him that pout again, he’d agree to rob a bank for her, or punch a clown, or whatever she asked for. He wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Well that's a problem for next year,” Shelly replied. “For this year, this is your day, all for you.”

“Well thanks,” Lux blushed a little, not entirely comfortable with being so squarely in the middle of all the attention. “Umm, is there maybe…”

“Yes, of course there’s cake,” Shelly answered. “Double chocolate.”

“Sweet! I’m starving,” Lux grinned.

“When are you not?” Frank chidded.

“Frank!” Shelly elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ow!”

“Wait, first we got you a present!” Gerard popped up with a square box in hand.

“Oh come on! I didn't need a gift!”

“Well we wanted to give you one!” Shelly replied, as she cut the cake.

“As a thank you for putting up with us,” Gerard replied, giving Frank a look.

“And a ‘sorry again for missing your real birthday,’” Mikey added. 

Lux sighed as she took the box and unwrapped it. “Do yall really have to watch me?”

“Yes. In fact,” Ray grabbed the camcorder that always seemed to be around. “I’m gonna record it.”

“Nooo,” Lux whined, covering her face with her hands.

“No cake until you open it!” Shelly scolded.

“Ugh fine,” Lux couldn't help but giggle at that. She got back to unwrapping the box, gasping a little as she tore away the last of the paper. “You guys! An iPod?! It's way too much!”

“No it's not,” Gerard replied. “It's from all of us and you deserve it. It was Mikey’s idea.”

“Really?” Lux looked over at Mikey, eyes wide.

“Yea, you just have so many CDs, I thought this might help you travel a little lighter, and it's easier to organize and stuff,” Mikey explained.

“I love organizing my music,” Lux almost murmured, turning the box over in her hands. “Thank you. Seriously, all of you, thank you. If you hadn't picked me back in August, I dunno where I’d be right now. Probably back to living at my Grandparents’ in Arizona trying to get the guys from Jimmy to give me another merch job,” she laughed.

“You saved our asses really,” Frank replied. 

“Yea, I dunno where we’d be if you hadn't auditioned,” Gerard added.

Ray let out a scoff. “Probably still auditioning drummers in hopes we’d find one like you, kid.”

“I am pretty great huh?” Lux beamed, but Shelly could almost see the glint in the younger girl’s eye. She could have sworn Lux was almost about to cry, probably happy tears if she had to guess. But she wouldn’t bring it up, at least not at that moment.

“You are,” Mikey replied quickly, oblivious to the looks being exchanged behind his back by his bandmates.

“Well so are you guys, I don’t hang out with losers.” Lux nodded. “Now can we have some cake please? I'm starving!”

[livejournallegacy]

Coheed and Cambria primer for L.S. Dunes fans

Travis Stever and Claudio Sanchez are the two core members of Coheed and Cambria and have been since the bands inception in 1999. Coheed primarily makes concept albums based on Claudio's sci-fi comic series The Amory Wars.

The basic plot is that Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon are fighting against aspiring dictator Wilhelm Ryan, who started The Amory Wars with the goal to rule over the solar system Heaven’s Fence. Their son Claudio (we love a self insert) is a seemingly normal kid dragged into the fight, who may turn out to be the prophesied saviour.

"But what do they sound like?" Coheed mixes elements from a lot of genres and are most often described as prog rock. I would personally be more inclined to classify them as power metal or like, prog emo (emo used as a sort of catch all term for various pop influenced rock, metal, punk and hardcore music styles of the 00s). If you like Dunes there's definitely something in their discography you'd enjoy, especially given how similar Claudio and Anthony's vocals are.

You don't need to follow the storyline to enjoy their music though, here's a few of their more radio friendly songs I would recommend a new listener to start with:

Favor House Atlantic - every 00s band has at least one pop punk song

Ten Speed - slightly more prog influence, still pretty pop punk

Welcome Home - it's their most popular song for a reason

Shoulders - newer song, hard rock/metal vibes

Bonus: Jesse's Girl 2 ft Rick Springfield - Claudio wanted to write a sequel to Rick Springfield's 1981 classic Jesse's Girl, so he did.

If we define 'rock bands from the New York Metro area 1999-2002' as a scene, Coheed and Cambria were right there in the trenches with bands like Midtown, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday and My Chemical Romance. They were tour with these guys and most of the other "bandom" bands (The Used, Fall Out Boy, AFI etc.) and were hanging out in the background somewhere for a lot of iconic moments, like Warped 2004 (featured in LOTMS).

For example, you have probably seen a few photos of Adam and Gerard from backstage at the 2005 Concert for Tsunami Relief:

The handsome guy on the left is Claudio Sanchez ☝️

Or the 2003 Thursday/Thrice/Coheed tour which gave us some of the worlds most important images courtesy of Justin Borucki:

In a roundabout way Coheed is actually responsible for giving MCR their first big break. In 2002 they were opening for Jimmy Eat World and had to cancel a show last minute, they were replaced by MCR who had only released Bullets a month prior.

From Dan Ozzi's Sellout

So from what I can tell Travis has known Thursday and MCR since at least 2002 and Anthony since at least 2005 (Coheed/Thrice/Circa Survive tour). More recently Travis played with Thursday for their Signals V2 livestream (2021) and Coheed opened for MCROKC (2022).

I know I missed heaps of stuff but I hope this helps at least one Dunes fan understand Travis a little more! His connections to the band go just as deep as any of his bandmates but are a lot less straightforward.

[ashtons-lemon-tree]

We are the Fallen Angels

another old bandom fic i wrote like eons ago (back in 2020)

Inspired by this pic

. . .

You’d always seen him as an angel, not the type from the old testament with the six wings and thousands of eyes. He told you he was in league with Luci the 1st time you met. He was trying to scare you away, not wanting anything to do with humans as he shared Lucifer’s opinions of said creature. But somehow, you’d wormed your way through his heart thus being the only human Andy could tolerate. 

Today somehow felt different, as if something royalty wrong was going to occur. You’d gotten this inkling when Andy hadn’t shown up to the local diners for coffee. Granted, you were running late and while that did annoy the fallen angel, it wouldn’t cause him to blow you off completely. All he’d do was tease you about how ‘God’s perfect creation couldn’t be punctual even with the invention of a watch’.  Plus he loved that diner because it had the ol’ timey vibe without being judged for his tattoos or his disheveled appearance.

You unfortunately had work at a music store and were unable to go search for the supernatural man. But you swore you would once work ended. As much as Andy annoyed you with his constant sarcasm, you couldn’t help but admit that you like having him in your life. Having waited for the man when you'd already short on time made it to where you knew your boss would have a hissy fit. 

Your inkling had been right. It had started storming on your way home drenching you to the bone. You never liked walking home. Andy usually would walk with you, making you feel safer when having to pass through an alleyway. All hope of finding Andy had dissipated, making you feel lonelier than you had been in a while. That was until you heard crying from behind the dumpster. Figuring it was someone homeless, you could at least give them a morsel of food. You didn't expect to see Andy, crouching with his wings visible, in a upright position. He had come to hate them as they marked as unnatural. He didn't have his usual leather jacket that he'd use to hide said wings by folding them around himself. He was staring pensively at something that you couldn't. 'Andy?' 

You knew he also hated being called Andrew but he wasn't responding to the few attempts to gain his attention. '-Andrew?'

That got it real quick, a eyebrow raised at your concerned expression. 'What?' His inability to see why he had worried you making your angry. 'You! I get that you have your own life & abilities but what the hell? I'm worried almost day not knowing where'd you been. You didn't show up for coffee like we planned even though it's your favorite diner and I hate the coffee there. But sure, ask what.' The outburst sobering him as he hadn't known that you cared that much for him. He'd also didn't know that his like of the diner was so apparent. Walking up to you, he opened his wings to hug you. 

Stepping back, he held one above your head. 'Let me get you home then, I'll explain on the way.' pointing his head in the direction of where he'd just been crouching not long ago. 'Before I met you but after I'd been outcasted from above with my dear brother Luci, some angels were given the task of 'extracting' us'

'Does that mean-?'

'Yes y/n. They had been given the task of killing us that had went against him. Luci had only gotten to me years after I'd settled in and made my home on Earth. Thus I didn't go with him and didn't have the protection of hell that the others did. Today's the anniversary of the day I killed my sibling. I always mean to bring flowers but then again we both knew what we were fighting for.'

Once making sure you got home, Andy went to his humble abode that was down the street from yours. Whispering over his shoulder as he shut the door, 'night y/n'

[huntingteeth]

Random question, I guess, but what was the fandom you read your first fanfic in? (Mine was Buffy - closely followed by Dark Angel and The Tribe. I received it via email from a friend. 😅 Don’t know where she found it. The Dark Angel fic was probably from a Geocities page, The Tribe one from a Tribe forum. Partly they were in German and I did not know about fanfiction.net yet.)

Also, was the 2nd last post a hint that if your readers flail a lot at your fics, we might get a WIP? 🙈 You should know, I am flailing extensively and can hardly wait for ANY new chapter for any of your fics. ❤️

Also, I‘m currently considering to pull a "when I open my eyes to the future“ IV and move to a small town to live with friends and visit farmers markets. Alternatively I’d be up for looking for eldritch creatures in the forest, my moms says it’s ok.

i thiiiink my first fandom was lord of the rings in middle school, my friends and i would print out fic and swap it during class l m a o. and then we had proto-discord forums and ff.net for lotr and buffy and yu-gi-oh and then i transitioned into fall out boy et al bandom with livejournal. 😂😂 lot of geocities, lot of angelfire.

it could be!! i’m being a little precious with my wips lmao. it’s been a coupla years since i was active in any fandom lol; i gotta get back in the groove of it. and i know!! it’s been a little bit since i dropped anything (writing on my phone makes me want to stab my fingers i’ll be honest!!). alternatively, click the read more at the bottom of the page!

doesn’t it just sound like a dream!! oh to be a little eldritch creature in the woods, visiting farmers markets and baking bread and sharing meals with friends!!

ok here’s a sneak peak from the epilogue of ikhwghgia, just 4 u:

The time between handing off his guitar and making it to the hotel is a blur; IV couldn’t say what happened in the interim, but soon enough, he’s in the bathroom with II, scrubbing black body paint off his body.

“You missed a spot,” II says genially, reaching up to scrub a spot IV missed under his jaw with his thumb.

IV follows II into the shower and laughs against his mouth, still feeling the rush of adrenaline that follows him after every show. II wraps his arms around IV’s neck, even under the spray of hot water, as IV cradles his hips in his hands. They kiss until II pulls back with a hiss as a rivulet of water and diluted body paint runs down into his eye.

“Shit, shit,” II mutters, even as IV presses laughing apologies against the side of his head. “Could you help me instead of laughing at me?”

IV snickers one last time against the side of his head and then they scrub each other down quickly, because they’re not the only ones who need to shower.

“Why do the smalls always get to shower together?” III complains as they exit the bathroom, wrapped up in towels and tussling like puppies. The complaint is offset by the easy grin that curls its way across his face as he watches them.

Vessel huffs a laugh and drags him into the bathroom as II tips IV onto the bed and crawls in after him. II hovers over him for a moment, watching as goosebumps erupt over the expanse of IV’s shoulders and arms. “You cold?”

The air flowing from the AC under the window isn’t cool by any means – III, the maniac, always cranks up the heat as soon as they get to their rooms – but their skin is bare and they’re fresh from the steamy bathroom.

[bionicdragonguardian1]

I have jumped face first into the deep end of @fialleril Amavikka world building and even further into @booklindworm Amatakka dictionary and a thought has occurred to me.

With a phrase a heavy, both culturally and literal, as “dukkra ba dukkra” (freedom or death) I can’t help but ponder the further possibilities of how a change in the pronunciation of “ba” (or) could open this sentence to even more meanings.

I am by NO means an expert in ANY language but I’ve been exploring tonal languages- specifically how to pronounce the different tones nearly the same letter could pronounce depending on how it’s written- especially when comparing to more Eurocentric letter modifications.

(1st thru 4th tone marks or pinyin vs the vast spread of diacritical markers vs tones and accent contours. [see below cut for examples] Or something adjacent to those. All while considering consonant modifier options [specifically things like “ß, ł, ń, š, or ż” comes to mind].)

With a language as- theoretically- old as Amatakka and a culture as vast as Amavikka (looking specifically to A Call For Help by BarinSidhe on AO3 and specifically how the “freedom” euphemisms/terminology/ phrasing changes from one planet to the next [as is logical in my mind and nifty little tidbit {and it remembering Obi-wan’s time on Bandomeer which most fics seem to forget} I love this fic for] and can thus lead to some minor misunderstandings even amongst fellow Amatakka speakers and Amavikka who have been further removed from their culture when moved to new planets) I would be less surprised to find out that such things simply fell out of use and have changed greatly over time than I would be if it stayed consistent.

One of the things I’m considering that could’ve fallen out of use is tonals. Not entirely, of course, but I’m wondering if once upon a time Amatakka had words with far more nuance to them but in order to make it easier for newer learners the tonal forms of many words fell out of use, and new- different- words took their place.

Returning back to “dukkra ba dukkra” (because I SWEAR I have a point).

One: I’m half convinced that once upon a time Dukkra would’ve had two (or more) pronunciations, even if it was just the newer Amavikka doing so & it tended to fall out of use the longer they were enslaved.

Two: imagine if different pronunciations of ba had different meanings, different tonal sounds that could lead to the word meaning something entirely different than simply “or”.

Meaning, hypothetically, “dukkra ba dukkra” depending on the tones used could go from “freedom or death” to:

- freedom is death / death is freedom (these two feel okay to interchange)

- freedom from death

> death from freedom (I see a few ways this could swing interestingly)

- freedom and death / death and freedom (gotta love the implications of listing order)

- freedom of death (see next)

> death of freedom (these two are SO different that I think you’d need to have pronunciation differences between each “dukkra” to clarify which is which)

- freedom in death (largely implied already in Double Agent Darth AU)

> death in freedom (I just think this is an interesting concept)

Etc.

And Three: as a midwestern American I have the unique standing of hearing how even those of us on the same continent (the same country, the same region, the same state even) have minor changes in pronunciations of the same word that while it doesn’t change the meaning of the word it can immediately tell everyone around you where you’re from and truly shows off the limitations of the written word to correctly convey sounds in a way everyone will understand. (Long vs Short “a” sound in the word “bag”, if you want to get specific.)

While we know this occurs in Star Wars due to IRL ascents (ref: Leia), I’m ignoring it. As it leaves several more pronunciations up for grabs.

(But it also leaves me kinda scratching my head if I’m even approaching nearly half the Amatakka dictionary correctly. Which is why I bring the concept up in the first place, because I think for a Conlang these types of things need to be conveyed.)

But… yeah, that’s what’s been rattling around in my brain for the last few weeks.

Thoughts?

For reference:

Mandarin tones / Pinyin marks

Diacritical markings

Accent contours