#it took me way too long to find information about it because Nobody has even mentioned it by name ever

[funkbun]

Muskratvader from the hit game Cassette Beasts my enemy

[ponyosmom35]

Fight

simon ghost riley x reader

synopsis: simon finds out that Makarov was back, and he had information on them all, putting all of their loved ones in danger. He had to go back, despite the big wedding in a few months. Now he had to break it to his fiance.

warnings: cursing, angst, fighting, yelling, crying

Takes place hours before ' Nightmares'

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/724577494896885760/nightmares-simon-ghost-riley-x-reader-synopsis?source=share

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Simon asks as she walks into the house holding their coffees. 

“Sure” she says as she walks into the kitchen where he stood. She sits at the barstool and hands him his coffee. “Whats going on, you sound upset” 

“I have to leave” he admits, watching as her happiness disappears, being replaced with a hurt expression. 

“What?” she asks 

“There’s a mission, Price needs me to come back”

“Can’t you say no?” she asks, he scoffs and shakes his head. 

“Not exactly” 

“Laswell has no other options?” 

“Because there is nobody else who can get this job done the way that we can” he responds, instantly getting frustrated at her reaction. 

“But you said you didn’t have to go back until after the wedding”

“Can’t control the bad guys love” he says sarcastically

“Thats bullshit” 

“Why is that?” he asks crossing his arms 

“We’re getting married in 4 months, Simon! I need you here, I can’t do this all by myself” 

“I wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t necessary” 

“Jesus christ” she responds shaking her head 

“What do you expect me to do about this huh? You think I should sit back and let the most dangerous man in the world roam free to do whatever he pleases? All of that blood would be on my hands, that ain’t somethin’ I’m okay with” he responds, raising his voice. He couldn’t understand why she was refusing to see the bigger picture. 

“No I obviously don’t think you should sit back! I know how important you are, and I know that you’re the only ones who could take this guy down” she says, throwing her hands up in the air. 

“So what’s the issue then eh?” 

“The issue is that once again I have to watch you walk out of that door, and I fear that it’ll be the last time I ever see you. The fucking issue is that we can’t even have a few months of peace before you get pulled back in!”

“You knew what you were gettin’ into bein’ with me”

“You also told me that you wanted to retire, you wanted to be done with this life”

“You’re taking my words too literally love, I didn’t mean I was gonna retire right this second” he snaps 

“Why say it then? Why get my hopes up, because I was under the impression that this was something you had really been considering, now you’re talking to me like I’m the fucking crazy one for wanting you to be here to plan our wedding!”

“You’re right I should’ve kept that to myself” he nods “didn’t think this would be a fight, there ain’t shit I can do about it. I go when I’m needed end of story”

“And what about me? What if you miss our wedding?”

“I can’t give you a timeline on how long it takes to bring down a terrorist, could be a week, could be months. It ain’t up to me”

“Jesus” she says running her hands through her hair angrily as tears fill her eyes and her lips tremble. “No don’t worry about me Simon, I’ll just be here at home, wondering if you’re alive or not. I’ll be here waiting for you to come home. What you’re not understanding is that I won’t be there on base to patch you up. I won’t see you everyday, it was hard enough back then, but now? You took me off the team! You had Laswell send me home! Now I’m stuck here while I‘m fucking terrified that I’ll lose you before you’re even fully mine!”

“You know why I did that! I had no choice!”

“But you did have a choice and you chose wrong!”

“I did it to protect you! you were a hostage! I almost lost you, I can’t risk that happening ever again. Do you have any how fucking scared I am to lose you? You are everything to me! I chose you always. Don’t tell me that I don’t fucking understand. I see it all perfectly clear! I don’t wanna hear anything else about something I have no control over!” he roars, his chest rising and falling as he stares at her in anger. 

“I’m allowed to be upset Simon, thats not a crime” she says wiping her tears as she leaves the kitchen and runs up the steps, leaving her coffee untouched and cold. 

Simon curses and runs his hand through his hair in anger. He knew he should’ve handled that better. He wasn’t even truly upset with her. What he would never tell her is the reason he’d accepted the job was due to the fact that the man they were going after, Vladimir Makarov had information. Simon refused the offer at first, for the same reason she’d been upset, their wedding. However Price showed him the intel they picked up. Makarov had names, he knew Simon and he knew her. He knew instantly what he would have to do, Price helped him with the plan. After he left for the mission, he would have to fake his death, in order to keep attention off of his lover. He would break her heart in order to save her. He knew that she’d never be safe as long as he was still ‘alive’. She’d be used against him and he would never risk that. Price expressed how delicate this mission was, they weren’t sure who to trust as there had been so much corruption. This will be for the better.

ghost master list:

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733401347573088256/simon-ghost-riley?source=share

[bear-remn]

— ⋆✮ Deadly Eyes ✮⋆

n/t: hii, hope you enjoy even if its a little too short for my liking, but the next one is gonna be long asf, just wait for me cooking. and sorry if there are any mistakes on my writing.

tw: this chapter contains mention and use of drugs.

sinopsis: kirari finds in a complicated situation with shu and mako feels... different.

⋆༺ chapter three ༻⋆

kirari walked trough the hallways looking for shu, she remember him a little bit but not entirely, faces and names don't stick easily in her memory if she doesnt hear or see them constantly. she enter every room class and even the mens bathroom being very carefull nobody sees her.

she was anxious, in any minute her friend can call her so they can go, either way she didnt really care about coming back to the manor with shu, she could manage to make up an excuse. but at least kirari wanted to tell him and hope he didnt listen to her, that would be credible right?

every minute was a torture for kirari, she hates to search things, when she lost something she freak out easily, this time it was something new, looking for someone which face she cant quite remember. until she sees a familiar girl looking out the window and quickly kirari came up to her.

"hey... you" the girl turn her way and smiled instantly.

"omg hi, i see you didnt go with the sakamakis, they just left" so thats what she was looking out the window? a little too crazy for kirari, considering this girl crearly has a fascination with the sakamakis.

"yeah its ok, um... actually i was hoping you could help me" the girls eyes sparkled as kirari smiled with her best smile.

"what kind of help?" oh... kirari knew that tone.

"im looking for shu, im supposed to tell him something important before i go" kirari needed to be carefull, she already can tell that this crazy girl was obsessed with the sakamakis so giving to much information of what she does with them would totally become a big and annoying rumor, and she hates rumors.

"you dont know where to find him?"

"no... do you know perhaps?"

"i know some places he might be, but... now that you need my help" and there it comes "ill like something in exchange for my information, what can you give me in return?" kirari smiled, of course she wanted something, this girls was smart.

"what would you like?"

the girl crossed her arms and closed her eyes while thinking, until her face become a little blushed and opened her eyes excited.

"i dont have big preferences, im just asking for an object of a sakamaki who has interested me for some years by now"

"which... one?" the girl smiled and came closer to kirari.

"i want something that belongs to subaru, the youngest sakamaki, he is... the boy i have been in love since i got into this academy, i dont ask for much, even a pen would do it" the peticion take kirari off, she did not know that the girl was so intense, maybe it was something like a stalker or just a loyal an devoted followers of a boy with whom perhaps she has never spoken to.

"ok... i can do that for you"

"sweet, ill be expecting it by the next week" kirari sighed.

"as you wish... now, shu is where exactly?" the girl took some steps back and smiled wide.

"he can be in the library, the music room or the stairs from the building B, always sleeping in places with less noise" kirari felt relieved, by luck she knew all those places so her mind made a quick rute to look for the lazy guy.

"thanks, ill see you around then"

"good luck, and take care!"

kirari walked fast towards the stair the girl mentioned before, but she didnt see shu anywhere, so she quickly went to the music room, and for her bad luck, the lights didnt work so she just walked carfully into the room. she had never entered the room before, because it is under maintenance due to the malfunctioning of the lights, a huge piano catches her attention, kirari had never seen one before, because her life has been nothing but poor and simple. kirari's fingers touch the keys gently, until it reached the last key of the row, pressing a finger thus creating a loud, low sound, resonating in the room and giving her chills.

kirari was not sure if her excitement was about having a real instrument in front of her or just being surprised by the live sound of an instrument, as she has never heard live music, only through her cell phone or radio in her childhood. the idea of joining the music club passes through her head, perhaps she would enjoy it more than a chess club reiji suggested early.

"dont make noise... " she hears behind her a deep voice, new to her ears and jumps scares for the unexpected sentence. she turns back to barely notice the boy in the floor, confortably sleeping... or just resting.

"sorry... i did'nt see you" the piano had her attention so badly that she almost forgot what she was doing before, looking for the brother which face cant remember.

"dont care.." his voice was so indiferent and distant, like if he was sleep talking.

"you must be shu right?..." kirari got a little close, so she did'nt bother him by being loud. the blonde opend one eye and followed her body, slowly creating a strange tension and incredibly, kirari felt nervous for the look of someone in a way she never felt, her pulse accelerated and unconsciously her fingers played between them.

he is kinda... cute.

"yea.. now go away and let me sleep in peace" kirari nervousness died by that sentence, this dude was rude, unconsciously rude.

"actually..." she smiled trying to be nice "i need a little bit of your help, not entirely but a little".

"dont feel like helping you..." even if this boy was mean and rude she wasnt really angry, pretty privilege, or maybe she just wanted to get this deal finished as soon as possible.

"c'mon, i just need you to come back at the manor with me, i have to go..." she hesitated a little, telling him so many details migt not be a great idea "somewhere before... so reiji told me that i can go but i have to return with you" the silence was killing her, her anxiety was throught the roof.

"dont care what reiji wants"

ok... unexpected.

even if he didnt care about anything, everybody has a price.

"ok... i get that um... but i dont really ask for much, just to coordinate so we both arrive to the mansion at the same time, you dont have to come with me to..." what excuse can she tell him to not ask qestions? wait, he doesnt care "... meet a friend, i just want to get to the manor together, i really dont want beef with reiji, the dude is scary" the silence response was driving kirari crazy, she felt her phone buzz, maybe the guy was close to her location.

"whatever your saying has no appeal to me" the disinterest was making her nervous, besides feeling the vibrations of her cell phone in her pocket indicating a new message, her patience was not eternal. shu seems to be someone who only thinks of himself, he is not interested in helping or following someone's instrucsion and least his brother, what can she do to make someone like him listen?

oh, but he already have done this, she can make the same again, it wouldnt hurt, right?

"you know what? if you help me on this, i will do something for you as well, anything you want i'll do it so please... will you?" she hated begging but if it's the only way, plus she doesn't mind leaving her pride aside, it wouldn't be the first time either. clearly the offer caught shu's attention, who opened one eyes and a small smirk appeared on his face, the only thing kirari expected was that he would not ask her for any favor out of her personal bounds, nothing sexual, nothing that could hurt her or get her into potential trouble. outside of those conditions, she has no problem.

"anything... you say?" maybe it was the tone shu spoke in just now, but he didn't look like someone asking her for something questionable, maybe cooking for him or do some homework for him, her pulse calmed down for it.

"yes"

"alright" kirari felt a weight lifted off her shoulders, she sighed throwing her head back in relief.

"thanks, ill come back to meet you at the enter of the school in an hour ok?" the vibration along with a buzzing sound comes from her pocket, indicating a message, kirari quickly took it out of her bag and saw that the car was already on its way, which would not take more than ten minutes to arrive. instinctively kirari takes one of the strands of her hair and puts it on her lips, as if she were hiding from the screen, shu watch kirari's body language, noticing how her foot moves nervously and her eyebrows furrow under the little light of her phone.

his blue eyes ran over her anatomy, analyzing why so much nervousness to see a friend, was it her boyfriend? a dangerous group? Perhaps she was being harassed and should meet with this group to settle accounts? many possibilities flashed through shu's mind, and a plan to get to it.

shu didnt responded, just noded and closed his eyes.

kirari smiles uncomfortably at shu and turns to leave, as he leaves the music room, shu takes out his cell phone and sends a message "we need to talk, and you must explain".

...

kirari rushes through the hallways until reach the exit, good luck to her, the car still did not arrive. she pulls out her phone to check if she got any messages, but on the screen there is no notification. kirari sighs anxiously and hugs herself feeling the night breeze, looks around by inertia and see a boy lying on a bench, she does not pay attention to him but when kirari realizes it, a shiver runs through her body. Then approaches the bench and sees Shu, lying comfortably while listening to music.

how did he..? just how?.. kirari wonders.

"what? how did you get here so quickly?"

the blond just settles down and moves his head to see her, his cold gaze doesn't convey anything to kirari, who can't help but think that shu is just bothering her, the reason, no idea.

"you're slow"

oh, maybe kirari knew what he was doing, maybe her anxiety was getting these ideas into her head, but what if he was really following her? But why? They have never spoken before, and for him to behave in this way only makes his mind complex. even if he was actually following her, what did he get out of all this? and following her? for what?

"damn, ok" kirari wouldn't take the matter too seriously, imagining the worst scenarios wouldn't get her anywhere.

her thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing on her pocket, an incoming call. took a few steps so that Shu wouldn't hear her call, just in case.

"hi? yeah im outside... ok ill wait, youre not gonna charge me for the ride is init?" she joked.

but a vampire's ear is like no other.

shu found strange the complicity with which Kirari spoke on the call, despite her calm tone, she did not stop moving restlessly, the discomfort and nervousness were visible.

"I'll see you then, byebye"

After a while the car arrives, Kirari rushes to open the door and leave, hoping that Shu does not see her or approach but great was her surprise to see how he opened the back door first, Kirari and Shu looked at each other, a strange look for Kirari, Shu's expressionlessness surprised her and she could not understand his intentions, Shu gets into the car and in order not to cause any confusion for the driver in front, he played along, so as not to arouse suspicion.

"woah, whos your friend baby?" the man turned around in the driver's seat to watch kirari get in, looking at Shu and Kirari confused but with a smile. for him, kirari is always a pleasure to watch.

"something like my new.. friend" despite her sending accusatory glances at Shu, which was only staring at her with a cold look "apparently hes coming with me"

the driver nodded and smiled happily, began to drive while occasionally looking in the rearview mirror.

"its nice to meet your friends, he is into this?"

but of course, Kirari knew that if Shu came with her it would seem as if she was taking a new client to the boss, and worse, Shu would find out what Kirari does, although if he knows, wouldn't know much if he would do something. Maybe he'd tell everyone and they'd force her to leave it as a condition of living in the mansion, but she really hates living on the streets. The mansion is a comfortable place that caters to all her needs. It's better, just in case, that Shu doesn't know anything for the moment, keep him out of this.

"no! he is not!" the most convenient thing is to leave him out, even for the driver, it would only be more problematic for her.

"oh, just a little company then, thats alrigth"

luckily for kirari, the driver didn't ask any more questions, however she was still uneasy about shu's presence, trying to beckon him to tell her something, with his eyes or with his hands, a minimal explanation of why he is here, but Shu just ignores her and turns to look out the window for the rest of the ride.

"we are here, I'll wait for you two here" kirari saw how Shu was ready to get out of the car, but she knew that maybe he wouldn't get out if she clarified it out loud, just like before, when she said that he wasn't involved in this, shu doesn't have to go inside with her.

"my friend will stay here, ill be right back" kirari smiles at the driver and Shu, pretending that the situation was natural, but the murderous glanze Shu gave her just confirms it, he wouldn't do anything if she said it out loud, it would only raise suspicion of his presence there.

Kirari gets out of the car and approaches the door of the house, which had locks on the windows, as soon as her fist hits the door you can hear the barking of the familiar dogs, then looked at the car while waiting for the door, shu looked at her, those blue eyes were something she couldn't stand, like two blades cutting through her body, kirari had never felt that kind of look before. but didn't think much of it and the door opened, revealing a well-dressed man with a large scar on his eye.

...

kirari enters the room and closes the door behind her, still holding the cold knob in her hand as she looks at the man sitting in the chair of a large desk, a joint on one hand and his dark eyes looking at her anatomy.

"hi gorgeous, long time no see" the man stands up, he was not an unpleasant man, he was rather quite handsome, of course, kirari does not see the outward beauty in this man, she knows how wicked this man can be. he reached out to hug her, burying his face in her hair and caressing her back with his big hands.

"hey... how you doing?" hiding her discomfort, she returned the hug and smiled falsely.

"good as always..." he moved away from the hug and looked at her, caressed her face and smiled at her"...want the usual?" he finally separated from her.

"yes, what do you have at the moment?" the man walked to his desk and from a locked drawer he takes out three bags.

"well, since you called i went to get your favorite, fentanilo, and i have some new stuff for you, if you want to try something new" even if the offer was tempting, I didn't want to be beholden to him.

"ill be good with my usual" she was about to take her bag, but a big hand take it firts.

"are you sure? its on the house" at this moment she wished to have someone else selling to her, because the tone and look that the man gave her did nothing but make her anxious.

"i know what on the house means you know"

"that's just a little tip"

"i think im good with my usual"

"you know the price"

"this time..." kirari takes out of her bag some money and put's it in the table "... i'll pay, normally"

the discontent in her face was pasmable, clearly not liking the idea that her obsession with her was being hindered, and much less formal legal, or well, clean.

"whatever you say"

...

Mako was walking through the halls of the mansion, since she knew that they were all vampires she has been more depressed, but in her head everything fit, was her convent involved in this? or was it just a coincidence? I hated to think that she intentionally came to this place, and worse, to die. Then she would try to connect someone from her convent but for now, she preferred to keep a low profile, Reiji called her to her room a while ago, she just hoped that it would not be like ayato. mako reach the door and knock softly.

"come in" when the door opened, Mako thought about whether to enter or not, but Reiji's sharp gaze forced her to enter, despite being Ayato's brother, their gazes were so different, like if they werent brothers at all.

"why did you call me here?" Mako closed the door behind her and kept her distance from Reiji, who was just looking at her sitting on an armchair with a cup of tea in her hands.

"come closer" Reiji put his cup aside and took off his glasses to leave them on the table as well, mako wondered if he really needed those glasses to see better.

Even if Mako didn't want to move, something was driving her to move, she didn't know if it was Reiji's influence or something inside her.

"ayato has played with you enough dont you think?" Something in the tone in which he said that phrase just now, sounded like a mockery.

"i have no choice" Mako didn't understand Reiji's expression, it's as if being a vampire had a different way of expressing than humans, she didn't know if she was afraid or intrigued.

"but you do" Was this a vile game on Reiji's part? or was he trying to help her in some way?

"what do you mean?"

a sly grind appear in reiji face, like if was trying to... flirt?

"you can choose one of us" the way Mako's jaw opened almost dropping to the floor was impressive, what kind of information is it?, like a game? What did Reiji mean by this? so many questions were overshadowed by surprise.

"w-w-haaat? excuse me?" It's hot all of a sudden, isn't it? mako thought.

"you see, being a bride its completly different than being just... food" In Mako's mind everything sounded very contradictory, like a trick "in this case, you must choose one of us to make a good match"

"wait wait, why are you even saying this to me?" maybe it was the way Reiji looked at her, with his sharp eyes that penetrate the depths of her soul, in how that same look made her feel naked despite wearing clothes that covered almost her entire body, her skin burns from just those eyes, not knowing if it was because of her nature as a vampire or it was something darker "is this suppose to make me feel safe? in peace?" this was definitely a bad joke.

"I only imagined that this information could be of use to you" Reiji got up from his seat and walked until he was close to Mako, the only thing he wanted was to get away but as if it were magic, the air itself did not let her take a step back.

"i dont care" this must be some kind of joke, to fool her, maybe, to play with her, but even worse, she must be the one who chooses who will end her life, who will finish draining the blood from her body completely, in other words, she would choose who would be her executioner "i will not be part of this, i dont care what this is for you, but for me... its death" again that feeling, a palpable anguish that he could not understand, the mere thought that his death could easily be tomorrow, gave him a bad taste in his mouth and squeezed his stomach, it was a strange emptiness that he could not know where he was, in what part of his body, as if her body was incomplete.

"i had my exprectations much high on you" quickly, reiji pushed her to the ground and climbed on top of her, cornered, unable to move for some reason, it wasn't the first time she felt this power over her, reiji could move mako at her convenience. she was terrified of not knowing for sure what it was that scared her, the fact that it looked like she was about to be bitten, or the fact that this place was her death cage.

mako on that one exact moment.

[beaconfeels]

WIP Wednesday

Nobody tagged me but I felt like sharing something this week. I think most of the people I tag in this sort of thing have already been tagged this week, but if you see this and want to share, please say I tagged you! More from my Steter runs away fic. The plot thickens.

”So I took pictures, and researched, and I became convinced that this family had a stolen artwork just hanging out in their wine cellar. Long story short, I took the painting. It was easy, really. They weren’t werewolves, and they threw a lot of parties where security was lax. I suppose they thought nobody would notice the painting, or think it was real if they did. Just like that, it was mine.”

Peter smiles at the memory, and Stiles shakes his head. Smiling too.

“How’d you get rid of it? I read that it’s often when people are trying to sell stolen artwork that they get caught.”

“Exactly. It took me about a year to find a suitable buyer, by which I mean someone unscrupulous enough to buy it, and one who I had enough dirt that they wouldn’t rat me out to anyone given the chance.”

“Of course,” Stiles says, laughing. “So you were always this devious, huh?”

Peter shrugs. “Some of us are born to deviousness, some of us have it thrust upon them. I was born to it. You seem like the thrust upon type to me,” he adds.

“Maybe,” Stiles admits with a smile. “So who’d you sell it to?”

“A pack in Colorado. The alpha had an obsession with art, and they were so sure of their power that they left a nice paper trail for a lot of things that the DA would have loved to get her hands on. I drove it over to them on spring break, and walked away with more cash than I could have imagined when I started dreaming about building my own wealth.”

“How much?”

“Two million. Which was a fraction of what the painting was worth, but that’s how it can go when you’re selling stolen goods, and my options were limited at the time.”

“Wasn’t there a reward out for the painting? I thought a lot of famous stolen ones are worth millions if you can find them.”

“On that particular painting the reward was only a half million more than what I was paid for it, and it wouldn’t have been worth it even if it was three times as much. All the red tape, the questions, the wait for the money, if it ever came through. Even if it had all gone smoothly, my pack would have known I had money, and I didn’t want them to.”

Stiles leans forward, his interest piqued even further. “Why not?”

Peter has always liked this about Stiles, the way he is so curious about werewolves in every aspect, from how their bodies work, to how packs function. Even given the very limited accurate information available on the internet and through a reticent Derek, Stiles had figured out how to help Scott control his wolf. If only everyone involved had been as curious and intelligent as Stiles, everything could have gone very differently. But that was a regret for another time.

“Because traditional packs are very communal. What’s mine is yours, what’s yours is mine, that kind of thing.”

Stiles wrinkles his nose in distaste. Peter couldn’t agree more.

“Even though in my pack that still meant plenty to go around, like I said, it still meant nothing was really yours. Any money you earned went to build pack wealth, and that meant only a couple people in power got to decide who had access to what, and how much. They would have forced me to hand that money over, and had I wanted to go live on my own, they would have refused to help me. The pack is stronger together, blah blah blah.”

“That’s fucked up,” Stiles says. “That’s like, cult level shit.”

“It can be, when the power is abused. And as you know, power is often abused.”

“You said ‘traditional packs,’ does that mean not all packs do that now?”

“There are thankfully many packs who recognize how dangerous it is to live like that, how harmful it can be to someone stuck in a bad situation. Many have abandoned it, but unfortunately many of the most powerful and influential packs still live like that.”

“Gross,” Stiles says. “So what happened after you sold the painting?”

[aiyexayen]

Oh oh oh!!! Do an AITA for your choice of HanWenZhou *chin hands* pretty please *blinks my big brown doe eyes at you* 💜

AITA for stalking my boss after he quit the job and didn't tell me?

Good morning, internet. I need a wider range of opinions on this issue.

You don't need my name. I (23M) have been working for my boss (30M) for approximately ten years. He saved my life and took me in off the streets. Obviously, my dedication to serve him in turn will last even into the next life. Technically we both work for someone else, but my boss's boss (details confidential) has little to do with our department and barely knows of my existence beyond a name in a list so I have always considered my loyalty to be to my boss above all else and considered my boss's boss and the job as a whole to be secondary.

A year ago, my boss quit the job suddenly. He didn't say, but it's likely due to the death of his family who also worked the job with us, even though it had been something like eighteen months since that incident and my boss had shown no indication that he was slowing down or preparing to leave. If anything, he worked everyone harder than before.

One day he sent me out on an errand and then not only quit but vanished completely before I got back. Nobody knew where he'd gone, he left no contact information, and his position was already being filled.

My life is devoted to my boss entirely. Wherever he goes, I will follow; whatever he needs, I will be. I know he knows this for a fact, so I expected to find some instruction left for me or some word sent back. I waited weeks and heard nothing. I would have quit, too, in a heartbeat, but I stayed so I could use the resources at my job to look for him. I even got myself sent out on a business trip to a few cities where I thought I might find some clues.

It wasn't only for myself that I was searching--no one had reliable information about his departure, but I gathered that he seriously injured himself as an excuse to quit and I was deeply concerned for his health. Luckily, I know him well enough and I found him in only a matter of months.

My boss didn't seem upset to run into me, but he wasn't thrilled, either. I was glad to see him in good health--he had found a significant other in his travels and also taken on an apprentice. However, something seemed off in the way he dismissed me.

Even though he told me to go back to work and leave him be, I hung around town for a couple of weeks, still on my job's dime, following him through the streets to keep an eye on things. It was fortuitous that I did, because one night he went and got drunk after a fight with his new S.O. and only the fact that I was able to carry him out of there and to my hotel room kept him out of the gutter. And I was correct--something worse was wrong. He was refusing treatment for his self-inflicted injury, and it was secretly killing him.

He insisted that I leave him to die. I know him, though, and if he took on an apprentice and started dating again, what sense does that make? I offered to travel with him to take care of him, but he said he didn't need my help and ordered me to go back home.

Technically, I did, but only so I could keep using my position at my job to do research on methods of healing and recovery. Meanwhile I kept tabs on my [old] boss and his S.O. and apprentice's whereabouts. I knew he'd be pissed, but I was certain if I presented a comprehensive treatment plan with all the tools he needed, I could change his mind.

It got more complicated over the following months due to my boss's boss also trying to hunt down my boss (long story, irrelevant) to try and get him to come back to work while I was put under investigation for suspected unauthorized use of company resources.

Long story short, I stole what I could from my job and fled to the house where my informants told me my boss had settled down. I didn't make it out cleanly. I guess my boss's boss and my boss's replacement saw it coming and had me followed and shot and I arrived at my boss's place half-dead.

That was a few weeks ago now. I'm recovering just fine, and my boss seems to have reached some agreement with the company. He also seems to be doing a lot better mentally and has finally agreed to not die. However, he won't talk to me at all now. He hasn't kicked me out of his house, and his S.O. and apprentice seem to like me quite well, but they also seem to be on his side.

I will be the first to bow my head and accept correction, but in this case I can't imagine having done anything different, save being quicker on my feet to not get shot, or stealing more on my way out. I would give my life for his without question; how could I do less? I don't expect gratitude. I just don't know what's going to happen next, or if I'm missing something about this situation.

Am I the asshole?

[9w1ft]

Yeah ever since TTPD dropped my brain has been like "In a crowded room a few short years ago, and sometimes there's no proof, you just know" -> "If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary, You and I go from one kiss to getting married" whenever I listen to loml and it's been making feel insane and feral like I'm about to start howling at the moon at any second and I feel like the alleged Timeless that was supposed to be on reputation would make me feel even more feral and insane so I want it as a reputation TV vault track so bad 🫠

for me the current thing on my mind is the peace parallels, like

“you paint dreamscapes on the wall, i talk shit with my friends” and “give you a child” with “when your impressionist paintings turned out to be fakes well you took me to hell too” and “you shit talked me under the table talking rings and talking cradles”

and like

“i never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near” with “oh what a valiant roar what a bland goodbye the coward claimed he was a lion”

sometimes i wonder if taylor keeps a spreadsheet or table or notes as to what keywords or metaphors belong to what perspective because it’s usually consistent but sometimes there’s overlap or inconsistency and i find the confusion all very funny. not to say of course that two people cant feel the same way about something sometimes.

one thing though in the postmodern post- dear reader world that has eased my analysis paralysis a bit is that i think she’s more aware of how people pick away at the meat and bones of her songs like a thanksgiving turkey and i don’t think she’s above messing with people. therefore i no longer look for a 100% hit rate with things i track in her music.

smokescreens and the like have always been the case throughout her career but i do think that in recent times there’s less of a definitive truth hidden within her music to be conquered by True Fans. not none, but less, it’s like a puzzle with some extraneous pieces or a mystery with unnecessary information added in. it’s a different level difficulty of puzzle. nobody is truly above the traps. but i think that’s actually comforting sometimes.

[pink-tonic]

Week One🔪

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Warning: Stalking

For the past week, I've been following around (Y/N) and Taeko. I've seen them walk to school together, hang out together before break, walk to class together, eat lunch together, go to the club together, and walk home together.

Together, together, together...

They're inseparable... and I hate it.

I even went to go talk to (Y/N) before the club started to get an answer, but when I heard his answer, I couldn't help but walk away. I didn't care if he became confused or frustrated at my actions because he doesn't know I feel those emotions harder than him.

How could senpai even like (Y/N)? What does he have that I don't?

I'm filled with confusion and anger. Confusion that I wish I didn't have and anger I wish I could take out on him.

I've been asking these questions since I found out Taeko had a crush on (Y/N). Nobody can answer it except Taeko. I've tried talking to Info to give me information on the reasons for Taeko's crush, but she refuses to. Telling me that I have to work more in order to get that information.

Following Taeko is the only way I can gain information, and I've noticed something interesting these past two days.

During lunch, I see her writing, but she doesn't write for long. I see her write a few words on a bright pink piece of paper before crumbling it up and throwing it into the trash.

I couldn't help myself, and I ended up rummaging through the trash to get it. Getting another item that was touched by my senpai? How could I not resist?

I got the paper today during lunch. (Y/N) had to go and talk with one of the teachers about his grades. This left Taeko in the club room by herself.

I had to sit on one of the benches that are outside of the clubroom. The seats gave me a clear view of the inside of the club room. I didn't want to look suspicious, so I took out a book that Taro gave me. I would look at the book, but then I would look up from it so I could watch Taeko.

Every time I looked up, I would see Taeko with a frustrated look on her face. She tapped her pen on the table, and then she would write something. She would then look at the paper and then shake her head. She grabbed the paper and crumbled it into a ball. She throws the paper into the trash bin. I see her unzip her school bag and get out an identical piece of paper. The process then starts all over again.

I wondered what she was writing about? It doesn't look like an essay or any school assignment for that matter, so what could it be?

When I heard the school bell ring, I took it as my chance to get the piece of paper out of the trash bin.

I saw Taeko get up and leave the club room. When I saw her turn the corner, I got up and went inside of the clubroom.

I went towards the trash bin and bent over to look through it. It didn't take long to find the pieces of paper. I decided to take all of them.

Now I'm at home sitting on my bed as I stare at the three crumbled pieces of pink paper.

I grab the one closest to me and open it up from its balled up state. As I unfold it, I am met with a wrinkled piece of paper. I try my best to straighten out the paper before I read it.

I place the pink wrinkled paper in front of me and start to read it.

Dear (Y/N),

I've admired you since the first time I spoke to you. I was too scared to talk to you, but now I feel ready to tell you everything I've been thinking.

I want to tell you everything and so much more, and I hope you'll accept and understand.

Please meet me at the cherry tree behind the school right after school ends on Friday.

I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Your admirer

As I read through the letter, I couldn't help but grip the paper out of frustration. I crumble the paper back into a ball and throw it into my trash bin, and then I take the other letters and throw them inside as well.

Why should I even bother to read the other letters anyway? It's just going to be the same message but in a different order.

Yet the fact that my senpai has written different versions shows that she wants this letter to be the best.

But why?

Does she really love (Y/N) that much, where she has to constantly remake the same letter?

What does he have that makes her want to do this?

Why him over me?

I lay down on my bed and look up to my ceiling. I hoped that an idea would come to me.

On how to get rid of (Y/N).

I can't stand to think about him or even look at him school after this. How cruel, isn't it? My childhood friend is the one to take my love away from me.

I need to stop thinking about that. I need to start thinking about how I'm going to get rid of (Y/N).

I could text Info about any elimination methods she has in mind since she said she would help me out with taking out my rivals, but I feel like doing this by myself.

Today is Wednesday, so I have barely two days to get rid of (Y/N). Taeko is going to confess after school on Friday, so I have to take him out before then.

I know that (Y/N) is usually the one to put up the newspaper after school ends, and he sends out two people from the club to distribute the paper to the whole school.

I know that Taeko is one of the helpers to distribute the paper since I heard them talk about it, so in order to put my plan into motion, I will have to follow her.

I get up from my bed and walk over to my desk. I take out a piece of paper from one of the notebooks that are laying around and start to write.

I write well into the night, but this is more important than sleep.

[lemmilemura]

it’s ur girl pine back with another request that’s secretly an unfinished draft from my notes app

okay so the reader is friends with maeve, and one day she invites them to a party (specifically one that jake hosts, this is important) (no it’s not i just like drama)

but the reader is kind of put off by the idea since they don’t really like parties. but yk it’s just this one time and maeve seems like she really wants them to go with her so they decide to get a little more information on it so they can be prepared (idk i honestly didnt think about why they ask questions but just go along with it 😭) so they ask maeve who’s gonna be there. she says smthn like “eh idk, jake, probably the rest of his group, me obviously, and simon” (reader hasn’t met simon yet, but they know who he is, they also don’t think AT is as bad as everyone makes it out to be) (very odd take but were gonna roll with it). and so when the reader eventually goes, them and simon eventually get like alone together and he starts conversation with them (prob says like “hey, are you y/n? i think maeve has mentioned you a few times.” or something)

IM SORRY THIS IS SUCH A LONG REQ BUT YEAH!! also you can decide what happens after simon and the reader are alone together, im thinking the reader like kind of realizes ‘oh shit this guys kind of fine’ in the like 30 minutes they talk to each other BUT YOU CAN CHANGE IT HOWEVER YOU WANT🫡 (also sorry this isn’t as good as my others it was kind of rushed)

At this point, you should just become my source of ideas xD Because truth be told I am running out and you always have great ones, Pine!!!!!🌲(I tried looking for a ferret emoji too, but I didn’t find one, so now you’re just 🌲 hope that’s okay)

All kept gender-neutral Based on the show

 "I’m really not sure, Maeve. I mean, I brely know anyone at Bayview, let alone Jake." Maeve was trying to convince me to go with her to a party hosted by a guy at her school. We didn’t go to the same school and I didn’t know anyone, besides Maeve and that one Simon guy, but only because he has an app or something that people are making way bigger a deal than it should be. "Oh c’mon! For all I know, you barely leave the house! I mean, if nobody knows you, that’s even better! No way for you to embarrass yourself. Pleeeease just come with I beg you."

In the end, it took a few more minutes, but she did manage to convince me. The days leading up to the party, she kept talking about it, telling me about all of the people I'd probably see. She kept bringing up Janae, I was convinced she had a thing for her, and Simon. The day of the party, though, I was considering just telling her I was sick, I wasn't really feeling like it'd go well. But I still decided to go, I said 'fuck it' and went.

Though, after only a few minutes, I had already lost Maeve. Great. I was alone at a party at someones house who I did not know, with people I didn't know. The kitchen always seemed like a good palce to go, especially when most people were outside by the pool. Also in the kitchen you can get drinks, just water to be honest, but sometimes that's really all you need. I find an unused cup and just get some water from the tap.

Suddenly, this guy walked in, and my god he was hot. Like goddamn what god or demon did his parents make a deal with to make him that attractive? I’m not even kidding, he was just that good looking. I damn near choked on my water, I had to turn around and face away from him out of embarrassment. He didn’t say anything, maybe he didn’t even notice me. He walk around like he owned the place, he knew where everything was, every cup, drink. Maybe he’s Jake’s brother or something. Or maybe that is Jake? I thought.

He suddenly seemed to notice me. "You’re new." He simply stated. I nodded, trying to stay calm. "Maeve invited me." I replied. He raised an eyebrow, making him only more attractive for some reason. "That mean you’re (Y/N)?" He asked. Holy shit hot guy knows my name. Stay cool, stay calm, you’ve got this. I nodded. "Funnily enough, I dragged her here. ‘m Simon."

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? THAT’S SIMON? MAEVE WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE WAS HOT?

I tried my best to stay calm and not let my shock come through. I took another sip of my drink, hoping it would help. "You don't go to Bayview, do you?" He asked. Again I just shook my head. He looked me up and down, making me even more flustered, somehow. "Shame." He said, and just... walked off. Just liek that. This man flustered me to my core and walked off like it was nothing.

Honestly I don't remember much of the rest of the party, I was really just trying to calm down, also half debating if I should switch schools. Genuinely. Luckily, Maeve soon (maybe, I do not know how long it was) came back and we decided to leave.

"So, how was it?" Maeve asked. I grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her. "WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THAT SIMON’S HOT? THAT IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW!" Maeve only laughed at my reaction. "Okay, while I do agree, he is good looking, he can be a pain in the ass sometimes." I must admit my face did betray me in that moment. I found that out because Maeve gave me a look, then started laughing again.

[ineffable-endearments]

This is the most specific season 3 "prediction" I have so far. I'm not very committed to it and there are SO MANY loose ends I'm aware it doesn't tie up, but pieces of it feel right enough to put here for curiosity's sake.

Background: This is not something I know much about, but I'm pretty sure the Book of Life is what determines who is Saved when the Second Coming happens. In other words, it doesn't work immediately, as Michael threatened, but people who are not in there will eventually be erased. Michael doesn't have the "authority" to erase anyone because they don't have the ability to start the Second Coming.

Imagine: Aziraphale spends years thinking he can rules lawyer the Second Coming by adding literally everyone to the Book of Life. He works his ass off, simultaneously following all of Heaven's rules and editing the Book during every moment he would have to actually think about anything.

Except when coming up with Great Plan-related stuff, Aziraphale does not think. Does he miss Earth and its people, its hot chocolate and concerts and wine? Well, he would, if he thought about it, which is why he doesn't think about it. Instead, he adds names. Even the names of people who've been in Hell for millennia. Forgiveness is one of his favorite things, and as long as he moves the Great Plan along, nobody cares if he hands forgiveness out like candy.

Over a hundred billion names he has to add. It wouldn't be possible for a human, but this is the scale angels work with. Still, it keeps him busy.

Yes, it will mean sacrificing Earth as a physical thing, the natural wonders and the material pleasures. But everyone will be together for eternity. It's an opportunity to ensure no one has to lose anybody ever again, to take away all the pain of mortality. Loss, programmed into the fabric of the universe?! If Aziraphale thinks about it - which he doesn't - it seems like a stupid idea. Surely the Almighty, being, well, Almighty, could have come up with a painless existence, right?

BUT.

The Book of Life will only recognize Heaven-given names. It's all in angelic language, whatever that language is that we see in S2E6 when Crowley is in Heaven. The Book of Life is, after all, a tool of the system that created it.

And guess who's erased his own former angelic name from...well, from everywhere, including his own head, leading to patchy memories? The one person Aziraphale wants to Save the most.

Aziraphale comes to Earth with Jesus on some kind of pretense, but the real motivation is to come find Crowley again and try to figure out how he might be able to figure out his angelic name.

Crowley flatly refuses to even try. You'll have to let them destroy me, he says, if you go through with this bullshit. Creation has value besides as a temporary testing ground before the Afterlife. It's not just here to twinkle. Maybe Crowley even says this as an Archduke of Hell. Maybe he took that position specifically to fight the Second Coming.

That's how Aziraphale realizes consciously what he actually loves about Crowley: his love of choice, his fierce individuality, the very way he has connected Aziraphale to life on Earth. Perhaps there are adventures on Earth that help him extend this realization well beyond Crowley, too, to the rest of the world, to the material things he assumed could be sacrificed for the sake of the people. But he's troubled. He knows the Heavenly machine is way bigger than him. Accepting that the Book of Life plan is wrong would also mean giving up any hope of controlling the damage that Heaven intends to do.

At some point, the Metatron, having realized his Supreme Archangel went predictably off the rails and withheld information until this very moment, tries to tempt Aziraphale by revealing that he alone remembers Crowley's angelic name, and if Aziraphale proceeds with the Second Coming, he can easily save Crowley.

But Aziraphale is now armed with the understanding that Crowley isn't truly himself when he's in Heaven's Book. His most Unpredictable Decision so far is to refuse the Metatron's offer. And the Second Coming starts, and Aziraphale and Crowley once again have no plan but show up anyway because they care too much to lie down and die without a fight, and humanity saves them once again.

Yes, obviously in all this, Aziraphale becomes disillusioned with Heaven. But it's more about figuring out that he doesn't want a universal Goodness Police than about any one particular incident.

[sleepless-writes]

Kitty Gang (Part 1)

Pairing: Agust D x Reader, Baby J x Reader

Genre: Cyber Punk Au, Unrequited love, f2l

Warnings: Swear Words

Words: 1.505

Note: Hi, this is the first part of my first fic. I really apologize for any spelling errors, but English is not my first language. If you find some mistakes please let me know. Thanks for reading! :)

It's been a while since I became a part of the (not really well-known) Kitty Gang. Baby J told me the gang had six members and their boss Hope. He was an influential businessman who makes his money with shady gangs just like the Kitty Gang. We don’t know a lot about his business but Baby J is sure that some of the greatest gangs work for him and that’s an honor to be a part of his „company“. I moved in with Baby J about a month ago because I had no safe place to stay after the dude I worked for was pissed at me and wanted me to pay for almost getting caught at a job I did for him. It didn’t sit well with him and he wanted a shit ton of money or my head for losing his cash. He said it’s my decision what to give him but, to be honest, I’m not too sure about that.

Baby J took me under his wing and introduced me to his roommate Agust D. He was a part of the Kitty Gang as well and he sells drugs that RM a pharmacist and also a Kitty Gang member cooks for him as a side job. Agust doesn’t talk much but he looks annoyed most of the time. Baby J said, that is just the way he is and I am fine with that. He is really quiet and I know his real name is Yoongi because Baby J called him like that a few times before. Some nights when he comes back home from his work we chill on the couch together. I’m awake most of the nights. I can’t sleep well. I never could. And as I said, he doesn’t talk much but the silence is never awkward. Actually, it’s really calming and I can fall asleep better while watching tv with him next to me. He is quiet.

Baby J isn’t. Sure he is charming but boy he has too much energy. He could talk about all the plans he has the whole day. But I wonder sometimes if he actually believes what he says about making the big money and living carelessly or if it's just comforting to him. I personally think that we’ll be dead in the next five years. Nobody’s life is long in Nightlife City. One big difference between the two boys is, that Agust brings no people to have sex with home. Baby J shares his bed frequently. I couldn’t stand the noise anymore and I also spent too much time wondering how it would feel to be underneath him, so I had to spend my last money on noise-canceling headphones. Agust already has a well-working pair and he recommended me some as well.

That brings us to this rainy day in early spring but seasons don’t really matter in Nightlife City. The tall buildings swallow the colors and it always feels like there is not enough air for all the people living here. Sometimes I can’t even tell if it’s night or day because the sky is so far away and down here the darkness never seems to fade. I can’t remember if it always felt like that but especially today my head felt like the foggy weather outside and the grey sky. I was awake the whole night to gather information for our next job for Hope. It was something about a nightclub he put a lot of money into but he never got it back. It’s always about the money, how exhausting. Dawn wasn’t far but I couldn’t stop. I was too afraid of making a mistake again and the Kitty Gang feels like my last straw before drowning. The work consumed me whole at this point but I knew I needed some rest. Couldn’t look at this stupid screen anymore. When I rested my eyes for a little I looked out of the window and the night wasn’t that dark anymore. More voices could be heard on the streets down below and I wondered where Agust was. He normally is at home around that time and I really need some of his calming aura to fall asleep. It was almost a habit at this point. He sitting on the right end of the couch, looking for something to watch while I curl myself into a ball on the left side and fall asleep slowly. Is it selfish or am I worried? I only know for a fact that I am fucking sleepy. I thought about Agust for a while and decided that it was concerning so I called JK, the bouncer he takes with him sometimes. I swear this boy has a face like an angel but he is fucking strong. I heard he does some underground boxing too. That's kind of cool. I secretly hope to watch him someday. His abs are hot and his smile is unbeatable. Focus Y/N.

The phone rang a few times then JK picked up. „Hi JK it’s me, is Agust with you?“ „Y/N! Sorry I’m still at work. I didn’t see him today. You could ask V.“ „Sure…thanks.“ „Hey, how are you?“ „Sleepy. I'm preparing the information for our next job. That’s why I need Agust. I want to sleep.“ „Okay…well…I let him know if he comes around but I have to go now.“ „Bye Jk.“

I threw my phone on my desk and felt even more frustrated than before. He was probably out drinking whit V or Jin but what should I do. Maybe going for a walk could help, but I hate people and I’m sure everyone is drunk on a Saturday night. Too dangerous. Maybe I could do some workouts or meditation. I almost laughed, almost. Maybe I could…

A few moments later I stood in front of Baby Js room. It was a stupid idea. There was no way that he was awake, he came home at 4 in the morning. He was a little drunk and a little high and the only time he isn’t Prince Charming is if he gets woken up. Still, I need sleep to continue my work later. He would understand, I tried to convince myself. I knocked. „Baby J, are you awake?“ I asked into the darkness of the room after not getting a reaction I just opened the door. I must be crazy. I heard a muffled sound and some ruffling where his bed was located. He had his heavy curtains closed and no city lights nor the upcoming daylight could shine through. „What is it, princess? Is the apartment on fire?“ „No, but…“ „You know this is the only reason to wake me up after my Saturday shift.“ „I know, but listen, please. I can’t sleep and I’m feeling frustrated and normally Agust helps me with that but he isn’t here and I can’t work anymore and…“ „Okay okay, stop it. How is he helping you?“ „He just… he is just next to me I guess.“ „Fine. I knew his boring personality was good for one thing.“ Baby J switched his night lamp on and I saw him putting his blankets up for me to get underneath it. I was a little taken aback cause I never thought he would do that. For me. He didn’t bother to open his eyes but he was drowsy from sleep. His puffy lips formed a pout and I really wanted to press my… „Let's go, Love.“ He now looked at me with a waiting look, so I got myself moving. And as fast as I was under the cover as fast I fell asleep and I could smell him, it was a sweet flowery scent mixed with strong alcohol. After a second of adjusting he put his arm around my body and suddenly I was not cold anymore. I prayed to all the gods and spirits that he couldn’t hear my heart beating faster than it should. I wasn’t used to physical contact and I tried to tell myself that I don’t like it at all. What a lie, our bodies were fitting perfectly together and I loved the comforting feeling of his nose brushing against my neck. I tried to get even closer and accidentally pressed my butt against his length. He chuckled quietly. „Sleep now, princess. I need you well rested.“ That was all I needed and I was gone.

Agust D came home about 50 minutes later. He was covered in blood and he had a piece of fabric pressed against his right eye. He slammed a knife and his freshly earned money on the table in front of the couch but struggled with keeping himself on his feet. He put the fabric away from his eye but it was still bleeding. „Fuck that.“ Was all he could say before he sat on the couch. A sharp pain shoot through his body but he knew he couldn’t even afford to think about going to the hospital. „Y/N…“ he mumbled. Then he passed out.

[muthaz-rapapa]

The signs were there going far back as vol 3, ch 13 but where I really think the idea of Kaito wishing to leave Akiho in the care of the Kinomoto family cemented in my head...was vol 9, ch 40 when he attended class visitation day. He had two aims when he went.

One, in hopes that Sakura would generate the card he needed.

Two, to see what kind of person Fujitaka was.

I've always thought he wanted to make sure the only parental member of Sakura's family was someone he could entrust Akiho, his most important person, to. And that night when Akiho told him about her day, his comment about Fujitaka was indicative that Sakura's father had his approval.

And that was confirmed as of ch 70 with the success of the exchange and Kaito rewriting everyone's memories to make it appear that Akiho was born to the Kinomoto family.

But there was also vol 12, ch 55 where he stopped time when Sakura turned her attention away from him. Nobody could hear him but he started talking about how Akiho was so happy with her new friends, her new life here in Tomoeda.

And that, too, was indicative of the intention he harbored all along.

"She's happy here with you (Sakura and co). As long as she's happy, it will be fine. Even if I'm not here anymore, I know you (Sakura and co) will be able to take good care of her in my place."

Finally, vol 12, ch 58. When Akiho stood up to Kaito about him not wishing for her to worry about anything but herself.

"I want you to think of yourself foremost. More than anything, more than anyone."

He's basically saying "Please choose the happiness you can have with that family (the Kinomotos). Please forget about me. When this is over, you can have a normal life, the life you truly deserve, away from all these dangers of magic."

Kaito really believed that if everything went according to plan, Akiho would naturally choose to keep this reality he rewrote for her.

However, it is a very fragile world. In his haste to transfer the book inside Akiho over to himself and throw the European magicians' off her trail, he left many loose threads that will undo his (admittedly very sloppy) handiwork.

Namely, the pocket watch he had exchanged that is now in Akiho's possession.

Everybody knows she's going to question where this watch came from and then eventually realize who it belonged to, who that person was to her, how important that person was to her and ultimately, lead her to find a way to get him back.

But also, Akiho has not been presented with the "choice" yet that Kaito said was hers. She has not voiced her decision regarding how she wants to live her life yet.

And that's what's going to happen after she remembers Kaito.

Because one very important thing to keep in mind is that only the memories were written with the power of Momo's book, not people's lives. You may be able to mess with people's heads, make them believe something, but you can't mess the records that are already established.

And the mind has been shown to be capable of many extraordinary things, including outright defying magic, so remembering what truly happened is definitely not impossible either.

Akiho being a member of the Kinomoto family and Sakura's twin is indeed false information in a similar way that Yukito's grandparents never existed.

Like the veil Kaito put over the two "Alice"s' eyes in Clockland, it is a superficial spell that won't completely block them from seeing the truth. Akiho has lifted that veil before, with her own hands, without any assistance and remembered him. She will do it again. This "dream" she's living in now (as someone else's twin) is just a thought in the brain. It's not the actual reality she lived.

What was real for Yukito was the time he spent with Touya and Sakura. Those events actually took place and cannot be erased from his identity as Yukito.

The same goes for Akiho. All those years, those times, those moments she spent with Kaito and Momo, those were real.

Not this fabricated life where she was inserted as Sakura's fake twin.

There is nothing substantial about this existence. Because it has never been real and therefore, has never been a part of the real Akiho.

And what the real Akiho wants most, to think of most, is Kaito. Always him.

The person she loves most. The person most important to her.

He told her not to think of him, essentially to forget him and live a (false) happy life.

But she's not going to do that. She'll keep thinking and thinking and thinking about who's missing in her life until she gets him back. She'll keep saying:

"This is wrong! This isn't what I want! None of this is as I remembered! This isn't the real me! I want the real me! I want the only person who knows the real me!"

The false reality that Kaito weaved will be torn apart and returned to normal.

Time will rewind to before he was consumed by the book.

And he will be saved from his fate and rewarded for his efforts to save Akiho with everything he deserves. To be together with the person he loves most.

Akiho's love saved him and will continue to save him. It was always meant to be that way.

[mundanesalad]

for the violence ask game: 3, 16? >:) (for any fandom)

[Choose Violence ask game] I chose to give some different examples. For variety.

3: screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Ok. This one will take some time to think about and I want to come up with a few different examples because i've been on this hellsite for so long. And the thing about tumblr is that "you curate your own experience" so its really easy to NO WAIT I CHANGE MY MIND THE WORST TAKE I EVER SAW WAS FROM THE USSR FANDOM "Jews weren't persecuted in the USSR and everything you've heard about the pogroms was USamerican propaganda" which is just straight up wrong and historical revisionism.

Disco Elysium: Every single absolutely noteworthy bad discopost has been from the subreddit, which i do not look at. Therefore the only infamous tumblr take I can remember are the terfs who say nobody can be trans in Revachol. I think they should take a long walk off a short plank.

Guilty Gear: I see frequent bad takes from both the fandom and the fighting game community side of GG, but nearly all that shit is on twitter and reddit. (I'm not kidding when i say the GG subreddit has some of the worst moderation I've ever seen on a game subreddit. It's all shitposts and you cannot find any helpful information there. I can and WILL complain about horrible twitter takes all the time.) Anyway theres a gg confessions tumblr (i will not link it but its not hard to find) is an entertaining trainwreck. The worst take I saw there was "Sol, Jack-o, and Asuka would be the best polycule ever!" which is like. You had to have engaged with the story enough to come to that conclusion but you used absolutely zero brain cells in that thought processing. No critical thinking skills. You saw some pretty people on a screen and shipped them without listening to anything they were saying. (TL;DR One of Sol's defining characteristics throughout the entire series is that he wants to kill Asuka and not in a "hot rivalry way" but in a "you deeply and unforgivably betrayed my trust and bodily autonomy and that's not even the tip of the iceberg" kind of way.)

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: [Long, drawn-out pantomime of opening a bottle of whiskey, pouring a generous amount into a glass, and downing it in one go] It's not worth talking about in public.

16: you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Disco Elysium: To put it lightly, I do not think Kim would have anything more than a mere tolerance for Jean.

Guilty Gear: Everyone is wrong about Faust except for me and my friends. I'm writing this 30k word fanfic, and oftentimes I think "Is my characterization of Faust too serious? Am I making him too solemn? Like yeah, his combat is silly but otherwise he's very straightforward when he speaks." and then I look at his story dialogue and think to myself "No. It's the fanon's perception of him that is wrong." ALSO. Anyone saying that his characterization in Strive is "him returning to being a serial killer" will die by my hand. Regardless of his uncanny appearance now, mentally that's the best he's ever been in the whole franchise. FUcking fight me on it. I'll 214s->PRC->236h* your ass.

Fallout: The Legion do NOT get a pass because they "allow gay men"!!!!!!!

(* teleport on top of you and give you a haircut. I'm not kidding that's what that combo does.)

Thanks Yarrow! This took me too long.

[tsukidrama]

please like this post if you read the rant because im literally just screaming into rhe void and i need literally anyone to listen to me right now

the family member i was closest to for most of my life and who basically guided me through being a teenager and coming out just verbally degraded me for 10 minutes using the exact same trigger words that my abusive dad always did.

i typed out what happeneed 3 times in 3 different ways and it only makes me feel worse. there was a point in my life where she was my safe person. she was the person that i could go to whenever i didn't have anyone else to talk to or i felt like no one would listen to me. she has always gone out of her way to offer her home as a safe space for me no matter what has been going on in my life.

very very long story short, my grandma's health is declining because she has heart failure. my aunt does not take care of her own health and has had to undergo emergency surgery 3 times in the past year (2022). she is getting a knee replacement on Monday.

i don't want to give out too much information because of privacy reasons but basically my grandma is in heart failure. she's 79 years old and has a lot of other medical problems that generally make her very high risk in general.

basically my grandma has convinced herself that she absolutely needs to accompany my aunt to her knee surgery. and my aunt is just, letting it happen? even though my aunt has told me multiple times that having grandma in a car for long periods of time is very dangerous for her health. it's the reason i take an 8 hour fucking road trip to see her as often as i can.

all i said was "i gotta say that i'm really worried about grandma coming along with you when you have used the words 'very dangerous' to describe car trips for her."

these are the exact words that i used.

immediately it's like a flip switched. i didn't even have time to breathe before she started shrieking like a banshee telling me that i'm disrespecting her by saying that she can't take care of my grandma and disrespecting my grandma by saying that she can't do what she wants. she kept saying "well i'm sorry that you feel that way" a lot more shit that i'm not going to sit here and upset myself by typing out.

i've been crying on and off for almost 6 hours now. i don't know what i did wrong. i don't know what to do. i want my grandma to be a part of my life but my access to her is entirely through my aunt. i want to talk to my grandma about all of this but my aunt won't let me talk to her. i'm so fucking scared for her and i feel really helpless and triggered about things that happened with my dad.

i dont want to get into it fully but basically my dad lied to my face for years about the status of his health and instructed his doctors to reiterate those lies so i wouldn't find out. two days after my 18th birthday he signed me up as his new medical proxy and continued to lie to me about his health despite forcing me to sign legal documents that would give me power of attorney if he were to go unconscious and i had to make choices for him. i only found out that he was dying when he screamed "you need to do [whatever he was yelling about] because i'm dying!" in my face. he was.

cut to a few years later and i have now developed crippling anxiety when people tell me they're having issues with their health. there will always be a part of me that feels like i'm being lied to, or that someone is either overexaggerating or underexaggerating how bad their illness is to manipulate me. most of the time when i feel like this i can recognize it as anxiety. i really do feel like i've made a lot of progress regarding that, because i know that nobody besides my dad would lie to me like that.

she understood how i felt like the choices that my father made took that relationship away from both of us. everyone else tried to convince me to show my dad sympathy, but my aunt made a point to validate my feelings in that his "out of sight out of mind" mindset was extremely damaging and traumatic for me and my brother.

except for my aunt, now, apparently??? which really fucks me up because she knows how much it damaged me emotionally. our relationship began to deteriorate when i hit my early 20s and it became clear to me that she doesn't even try to take care of HERSELF. she knew her knees were bad but she didn't go to the doctor until she couldn't walk. she knew she had kidney and gall bladder problems but she didn't go to the doctor or attempt to change her diet until she literally went into organ failure and almost died from sepsis. sinks, bathtubs, countertops, lights, the oven. all have broken and she just, did not fix it! she and my grandma washed their hands in the bathtub for months until my brother came to visit and fixed it for her. instead of saying thank you she yelled at him that she didnt need help . just including this to help paint the picture of how bad at managing literally everything is. oh, and there was a week in the Louisiana summer heat where the AC broke and she waited a week before calling someone to fix it. A WEEK. IN THE LOUISIANA SUMMER TIME. A 79 YEAR OLD WOMAN.

now i just feel like. well who the hell is this cunt and what did she do with my aunt? why the fuck is she talking to me like this???? i haven't felt like this since i was a teenager. i'm angry that she feels comfortable putting my grandma's health at risk. i'm horrified by the way that she spoke to me. i'm disgusted that i ever thought it could emotionally connect with someone who is related to my dad.

there are more reasons that we have grown apart (including a recent interest in alt-right conspiracy theories) but overall it was important to me to have a relationship with the people in that house because they're the only one left on that side of the family. so i would bite my tongue because i knew she wasn't actually going to change. she would just brush it off. but it's different when you're letting my grandma put herself at risk. and why? "because grandma wants to come"

well personally i would rather grandma be mad than dead. but apparently expressing this is extremely rude and i am a "nasty little girl that needs to learn her place"

if it wasn't for grandma i would have already gone no contact. it would hurt me a lot to cut them off but i feel the red flags popping up more than ever. aunt won't let my grandma talk to me for more than a minute or two and when i see her in person she won't let me back into her bedroom. i have caught aunt in multiple lies concerning covid safety, hanging around meth users, and an abusive ex-husband of the woman who lives with her (don't even get me started).

it doesn't seem like a possibility for me to stay in my grandma's life when i've gone no contact with her caretaker. all i want to do is talk to her. i don't know what to do. i don't want her to die. she's the only grandparent i have left and i already rarely see her because she lives so far away. all my other family is dead.

it genuinely shocks me how well people can hide their true colors. if this bitch kills my grandma i will never let her forget about it until the day she dies.

[a-mag-a-day]

MAG 98 - mowing the lawn

Glad that at least Tim and Martin are kind of alright together.

Elias wanting Martin to continue reading statements really is super suspicious for the BackupArchivist!Martin theory.

MARTIN "He did suggest I try to get you involved and –" - God, my boss is like this and I hate it… Pushing the task of telling my colleagues what to do onto me. It's not my job to do that, I don't even think it's my place to do that. But if I don't, the work gets stuck on me…

TIM [Sigh] "Look, have you talked to Jon about them?" - Aw, that's so cute. I'm sure at this point Tim totally knows about Martin's crush. Must have happened some time after he thought Jon's seeing Basira?

TIM [Grunts] "Kind of. We tried to talk, but he, he reached for that – Ah, he, he wanted to turn on his recorder. I freaked out a bit" - Also good to see that Jon and Tim at least tried to talk. Wonder why Jon wanted to turn on the tape recorder though…

MARTIN "Yeah, we talked. Not long, he – Y’know, I think he thinks that the distance keeps us safe, you know? Like, like, if he just makes sure that we’re not involved, we’re somehow fine." TIM "He’s an idiot. Look, we didn’t know what that door was, and it still trapped us. Ignorance isn’t going to save anyone." - I mean, Jon is a bit of an idiot [affectionately]. But I don't think that's what Tim meant here?

MARTIN "No, I mean, you’re right, I guess. He was… Y’know, we know about Sasha now, and… he said he doesn’t want to lose anyone else. Like, y’know, it’s his fault." TIM "Isn’t it?" MARTIN "No! No, it isn’t! I mean, you heard Elias… We never really stood a chance." TIM "Yeah. Maybe. But Elias wasn’t actually the one who offered me the job down here." - OFFERED! And YOU TOOK IT. This is a really unhealthy mindset, constantly blaming others, especially for things that are just so out of everybody's hands. I know, Tim's mental health is too far gone at that point to realize this and Jon is an easy target since he was actually very guilty of stalking Tim.

MARTIN "No, I – Sure." - Martin realized there is no possible way of convincing Tim otherwise even when providing him with objective information. Tim has a certain mindset and won't deviate from this so easily. This is also why the deficit model for science communication won't work for a lot of people. The problem roots in cognition.

Hehehe Martin talking to tape recorders as if they are pets xD Does this also count as part of Web!Martin?

"It was an oilskin packet of documents, supposedly from the log-books of Franklin’s lost ship, the HMS Terror." - OMG how have I never noticed this until now (I mean, I know why, because it's an old-ass statement and I always have a hard time following them). By that I mean the mention of the HMS Terror.

"It was a German tome titled Die Nachtstücke" - Almost, Alex. ST in German is pronounced SHT. But he managed the CH and Ü, so props to him.

"and contained several morbid tales by a man named Hoffman." - God, I almost didn't recognize the name. Nobody here just says "Hoffman", it's always E.T.A. Hoffman. I never read any of his works, though someone in my class did a presentation of Das Fräulein von Scuderi. The Cardillac Syndrom described in it always spoke to me (just not to THAT extent xD)

"Far from the comforting friend of children he is so often portrayed as, he was rendered as quite the monster." - tbh, a lot those old German folk or fairytales (for children) were quite brutal and scary. I knew of the Sandman as both as a kid, of this benevolent little being as well as the one punishing kids with their sand until their eyes bled. Thought it was cool.

MARTIN "I wish Jon kept better organised notes because I know he’s mentioned someone called Maxwell Rayner, but I cannot find much in the way of any info –" - I love how both of them complain about the other one's working style xD Interesting, that we now got the information that Rayner seems to be old af.

Hm, is it a coincidence that Martin and Melanie talking about recording statements when he just did one of the Dark and Melanie also did one of the Dark?

MELANIE "Al-Although I was just going to have a talk with Elias, so, uh, maybe I can convince him to cut you some slack." - That's very nice of Melanie. Though I believe she thought they would be rid of Elias in about an hour XD

MELANIE "Right. Fair. Listen, you really look like you could use a drink. Um, me and Basira were just about to pop out. So… do you want to join us?" - Also very nice of her. Glad to see that the archival team sticks a bit more together here.

ELIAS [Chuckles slightly] "I don’t know everything, Melanie. Do you know how exhausting that would be?" - Slight nod to the state he'll be in after the Change? Or how much it's also gonna be a strain on Jon.

ELIAS "Let’s have no more clumsy assassination attempts, alright?" - So, is he alright with not-clumsy assassination attempts? XD

All the Archival assistants are going through a hard time this season. Melanie especially in this episode.

[candikin]

Toppat Leadership Timeline

(Mostly made so I don't lose this information)

Not actually inspired, wanted to do this for a very long time but never knew when so might as well do it now since I can't draw... anything at all (yes bluetorchsky's post about their timeline reminded me to do this)

______________________________________________________________

Dusty-Led in the 1800s to very early 1900s, died in leadership

Cloudface-Led for only a few months, got dethroned, died shortly after leadership from unknown causes

Reynaldo the Brute-Led for roughly 5 years, died in leadership, cause of death is blood loss from a severe wound

Jaques Kensington-Led for exactly 6 years, mysteriously disappeared

[ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST] [ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST] [ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST] [ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST] [ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST] [ERROR, THIS FILE DOESN'T EXIST]

Randy Radman-Led in 1990-1998, died in leadership, cause of death is a bullet to the head

T.R.N.K-Led for almost 2 weeks, "died" in leadership

Billy G.-Led in 1998-2000, died in leadership, cause of death is severe blood loss from several wounds

Sir Wilford IV-Led in 2000-2008, died in leadership, cause of death is from a bullet to the eye and head

Terrence Suave-Led in 2008-2012, died in leadership, cause of death is unknown but implied to be a bullet to the eye and head

Reginald Copperbottom-Led in 2012-Now

Extra Info:

Dusty

He became leader once he was 20, and was the first ever Toppat Leader according to records, but everyone knows he wasn't the first Toppat Leader. Nobody knows who the first really is though. He was a very kind leader and only hurt people when needed. He died from old age, it took several days from anyone to find out though

Cloudface

He became leader after Dusty's death was noticed, but he was too sad to be a leader. He tried his best but Dusty's death really did affect him, and it didn't help that nobody could hear him. He eventually got dethroned safely, and died peacefully

Reynaldo the Brute

He never really wanted to be leader, not because he didn't like being in the spotlight but he just thinks that role wouldn't fit him. But too much time has passed for the Toppat Clan to make a actual decision so they picked in a rush, which was him. He led with confidence despite it being very sudden, and was a pretty good leader. He died in battle, but nobody knows who killed him

Jaques Kensington

Nobody remembers him being a Toppat before his leadership, he just appeared out of thin air and claimed he was leader exactly 48 hours after Reynaldo's death. Since nobody wanted to be leader, they just let him lead. He's always exactly on time, even when he's too busy to be reasonably on time. Many say he can teleport and clone himself, but those are just some silly rumors... right? Nobody really has enough information, but he mysteriously vanished after he had led for exactly 6 years. There's no realistic theory as to why he vanished

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Randy Radman

He actually started leading when he was 14, which was why people weren't so hard on him. He was the most open-minded Toppat leader. Many were chill with him, even when he was dating a straight up real monster named Muffet. People started getting mad at him when he bankrupt the clan, so he got very depressed and didn't know how to handle his depression. He felt like everyone and everything hated him, and thought he could never repair the damage he did. He eventually... did something very triggering to himself and died...

T.R.N.K

Muffet was supposed to the leader next, but people did not accept Muffet, they only accepted him when Randy was around. So instead they made their own leader from other leaders... it didn't go so well as you can imagine

Billy G.

He became leader once he found a way to destroy T.R.N.K, which was by burning it. He wasn't that great of a leader, he mostly put his focus in flirting instead. Well at least he made the clan some money though. He later got killed by Wilford

Sir Wilford IV

Due to tradition, if a leader dies from another Toppat member, that Toppat member becomes leader. Wilford didn't want to kill Billy, yeah sure he started the fight and yes he did want to be leader... but he didn't want to kill Billy to get there. However, Sir Wilford IV ended up being one of the best leaders in the clan. He did everything for the clan, but eventually ended up getting shot by Terrence

Terrence Suave

One of the worst leaders in the clan. He was reckless, most of the heists and raids he made were on the most random stuff. He did try to be a good leader at first, but eventually he got a bit corrupted with power due to his extreme supporters. He lets his emotions control his actions, which leads to a lot of changes and actions that come out of nowhere. He eventually got killed... by L̷͈͓̬̝̹͙̹̥̂́̋̔̄̒̍ę̷̡̧̣͕͚̽̕x̴̢̨͓̘̪̭̣̖͗͑͝į̶̡̯̝̺̯͖̿̀̚

Reginald Copperbottom

He got framed for killing Terrence, which made him leader. He wasn't very prepared at first... but eventually he got used to it. He wants to be the opposite of Terrence, but since he was only around for Terrence's reign and all people say are just "Yeah Wilford was better" his example is literally just... don't be Terrence. This is hard for him as he never really wanted to be leader, and he's... very emotional. He lets his emotions get to him, but he can't show or lead with emotion so he tries to hide it (it never works and he ends having a mental breakdown when he's finally alone)

______________________________________________________________

There's two other leaders before the Toppat Clan gets destroyed but... I don't want talk about those two until later. I also didn't mention Sven and RHM as I felt like I didn't really add anything and the things I did add are basically spoliers

[lsdunesarchive]

Interview: Frank Iero & Tucker Rule Are “Reborn” In Emo Punk Group L.S. Dunes

Frank Iero and Tucker Rule discuss their new band L.S. Dunes, the state of live music in 2023, and the freedom that’s come from starting over. With members from My Chemical Romance, Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, and Thursday, L.S. Dunes is a cross section of the modern rock canon – and five friends having the time of their lives.

Words by Mitch Mosk Photos by Mark Beemer, Luke Dickey and Zachary Spangler January 26, 2023

We’re from punk rock and hardcore. It’s DIY; it’s making something out of nothing. You’re being told that your industry is dead and you should go work for Amazon, so what do we do against all odds? Start another band. Punk is punk.

The end of 2022 year brought us an incredible development in rock and hardcore music, by the name of L.S. Dunes: A supergroup so unlikely, yet so obvious, that as we struggle to comprehend their very existence, we also can’t help but wonder why it took them this long to get together.

After forming virtually during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and recording largely in their own makeshift home studios over the past two years, L.S. Dunes arrived this past August in a maelstrom of surging guitars, searing drums, and feverish, fiery vocals.

Past Lives - L.S. Dunes

Debut single “Permanent Rebellion” represented the start of something very special, itself an unapologetic uproar of passion, polish, and pure energy channeled through a volatile volcanic eruption of sonic fury. It’s a stunning, hard-hitting post-hardcore song that all-too-perfectly blends alt-rock and punk with a touch of metal, and just as well: Released in mid-November via Fantasy Records, L.S. Dunes’ debut album Past Lives is sonically supercharged and all-consuming: A cinematic outpouring of raw, radiant music and intense emotional vulnerability.

The Jersey mentality is, you don’t boast about yourself. You don’t complain. You put your head down and you do the goddamn work, because nobody cares. There’s 1000 bands here; we all want it, so you better be really good. Get up there, shut up, and be great.

L.S. Dunes © Mark Beemer

What makes L.S Dunes so exciting is the way they push themselves and their music forward.

“Taking out the ego of everything has been a very important part of this process,” Tucker Rule tells Atwood Magazine.

Rather than resting their laurels on what they know, the five-piece spend their debut album taking risks that pay off big time in the form of explosive, instantly memorable choruses, gut-wrenching lyrics, bold guitar lines, and even bolder drum beats.

“The Jersey mentality is, you don’t boast about yourself, you don’t complain, you put your head down and you do the work,” Frank Iero explains. He and his L.S. Dunes band members certainly put in the work, and the result is a fresh-sounding band whose familiar faces are more than ready (and willing!) to carry a generation’s worth of angst and edge forward and through the 2020s.

Atwood Magazine sat down with Frank Iero and Tucker Rule to dive deep into L.S. Dunes’ music.

Read our interview below for a candid conversation about the band’s origins, the songs on Past Lives, the state of live music in 2023, and the freedom that’s come with starting over.

“It truly is a phenomenal time because we’re just all buds,” Iero says. “We’re all friends, and so that, I think, is the cornerstone of the band. When the band is having a good time, you can tell!”

“You can’t not see how much fun we’re having,” Rule adds. “A good time is infectious, and we’re having the time of our lives. We’re reborn in our 40s musically. This band and this record has made me fall in love with playing music all over again.”

L.S. Dunes are here for a good time, and they’re loving every minute of it. Here’s to hardcore’s newest titans.

The band are currently on tour in Europe. Grab tickets and find more information at lsdunes.com!

People sacrifice quite a lot, and you need to have your head on straight and realize that you do it for you and you do it because you have to. It’s like breathing; you don’t even know why you’re doing it, but you have to in order to survive.

A CONVERSATION WITH L.S. DUNES

ATWOOD MAGAZINE: FRANK AND TUCKER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SPEAK TODAY! I ACTUALLY HAD THE PLEASURE OF SEEING BOTH OF YOU THREE TIMES IN CONCERT THIS YEAR, ALBEIT FOR DIFFERENT BANDS BACK IN SEPTEMBER. I CAUGHT MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE’S SEPTEMBER 10TH AND 11TH SHOWS, AND THE HOMECOMING SHOW IN NEWARK.

Frank Iero: Oh wow. Those were some good shows, man. I liked those shows.

EVERYBODY WAS FANTASTIC! THERE'S BEEN AN ENERGY IN ALL THE CONCERTS I'VE SEEN RECENTLY, ACTUALLY. I FEEL LIKE FOLKS ARE EXCITED TO BE BACK TOGETHER. THE CONCERT INDUSTRY ITSELF IS F--ED, BUT THERE'S THIS ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR OF COMING TOGETHER.

Frank Iero: Well, I think that’s the thing, right? I mean, when you love something so much, right? It’s human nature to end up taking it for granted ’cause you just feel like it’s always gonna be there. But then when that thing gets taken from you and you don’t know if you’ll ever see it again you have this newfound respect for it, newfound appreciation. And it really does change every second that you’re on that stage. I think collectively, when we were starting Dunes, we had no idea if we would ever play another show.

I mean, honestly, people were dying. They were losing their livelihoods. We were watching our industry crumble. We were the first to be removed from our work and the last to go back. So when you got a bunch of guys that collected, [chuckle] we don’t know how to do anything else. This is all we know how to do. And that’s what… Tucker will always say to me. He’s like, “I don’t understand people that get nervous before shows. Like this is all we know how to do. This is the only thing you’re good at.”

Tucker Rule: Only thing we’re good at, but yeah…

Frank Iero: And then when they tell you, like, “Hey, that thing that you’re good at, get good at something else.”

Tucker Rule: Yeah. Figure it out. It’s crazy. Like two constants in the whole pandemic thing were like Netflix and music. You know what I mean? People had to sit and watch movies and watch shows and people had to listen to music ’cause there was nothing else to do. So we’re supposed to be thriving. However, we can’t go to work. You know what I mean? So it was crazy.

THERE'S SOMETHING TO BE SAID THAT PEOPLE KEEP LISTENING TO MUSIC; IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE THEY ARE. AT THE VERY LEAST, WE HAD THAT THROUGHOUT.

Frank Iero: But in the same breath, you got to understand like, yeah, people are listening to music and they’re listening to recorded music through streaming – and the labels are the first to get paid and the artists are not. The artists are the last ones. The way that we make money is by touring, selling cloth, selling yourselves on stage. So alive and well, it’s alive. Well, we haven’t figured out the faucets yet. You guys get turned on first and we’re still trickled.

YOU'RE RIGHT TO POINT THAT OUT.

Tucker Rule: We’re the invisible people that put your hand under the faucet and the water just never comes out. You know what I mean? Like it doesn’t recognize your hand. So you’re just like, ghost hands and you’re dry and then you just have pee on your hand.

SO NICE, THANKS FOR THAT VISUAL. IN THE EXACT SAME BREATH, YOU BOTH HAVE GONE FROM NOT TOURING AT ALL FOR TWO YEARS TO GOING HARD INTO IT, BEYOND THE MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE AND THURSDAY SHOWS. YOU RECENTLY WRAPPED UP YOUR FIRST L.S. DUNES TOUR. HOW HAS THE LIVE RECEPTION BEEN TO THE BAND?

Frank Iero: I mean, it’s been phenomenal in my aspect of it. I didn’t know what to expect. I think, we all thought there might be some residual trickle in fan base from our collective projects. But that stuff is fleeting. Sometimes it’s real loud online, but it doesn’t translate to shows. This was above and beyond anything that I could have imagined or expected.

DO YOU FEEL THAT FOLKS COMING OUT TO THESE SHOWS WERE COMING TO SEE YOU FOR YOU OR YOU FOR TUCKER RULE OF THURSDAY FOR FRANK IERO OF MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, ETC?

Tucker Rule: I think that was the gateway drug. You know what I mean? Like the names in the interim were the gateway drug. But I think that like I think the record speaks for itself. You know what I mean? I think that it delivered a little bit of the hype. I would hope it did, you know what I mean? Because I know that we love it so much. So I definitely think like, yes, the names got the people in the door. But we did what we do.

Frank Iero: I think that’s the thing. I’ve seen shows where it’s obvious that people are just waiting for the music to end to get a photo up. You know what I mean? This was not that. This was like everyone knew the words from front to back. Records are selling, but kids already have the record. They know the songs. They’re fans of the band. It was pretty remarkable how the crowds went off. And yeah, I gotta say, like Tucker said, I feel very fortunate. I love the record so much. And I think putting that record out and seeing the reaction just it was even overwhelming. It was even to love it so much, but like, you know your kid’s cute or you think your kid’s cute. Like when you show it up to other people like, oh, yeah, you can tell on their faces like… You know what I mean? If you actually have a cute kid or not or just an ugly baby. This felt like we had a beautiful baby.

Tucker Rule: Beautiful baby. And also you can’t not see how much fun we’re having. You know what I mean? So I think that that kind of shines through a little bit. You know a good time is infectious. And we’re definitely having… I mean, I feel like I could speak for you here, Frank, but I think we’re having the time of our lives. You know what I mean? We’re reborn in our 40s musically. I feel like this band and this record has made me fall in love with playing music all over again. I’ve always been in love with it. But I always say it’s like this. It’s like when you’re driving through somewhere and you see the mountains like in Colorado, say and then people who you’re with are like, Oh, whatever, it’s just the mountains. But you’re just like, “Holy shit.” When you live near the mountains you don’t appreciate them all the time.

Frank Iero: Hard to see the forest for the trees, right?

Tucker Rule: For sure.

FOR THOSE OF US WHO WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT OUT FOR THIS FIRST ONE, WHAT ARE THE HALLMARKS OF AN L.S. DUNES' CONCERT?

Frank Iero: The hallmark of an L.S. Dunes show. Well, you got 11 songs. And I think honestly, it goes back to what Tucker just said, it’s enjoyment. I’ve never gotten to play with everybody else in this band. Me and Tucker have played together before. We did… Was it one My Chem tour or two that you came on? Let’s say two.

Tucker Rule: I played one My Chem tour with you and then we did another one Thursday, and you guys.

Frank Iero: Right. Right. But like us playing together on the same band on stage.

Tucker Rule: Oh, yeah. Just one My Chem tour.

Frank Iero: Alright. So we did a My Chem tour together and then we did a Future Violents record together. And then we did a couple of Thursday performances during the pandemic and stuff. And then this live stream stuff. And then this is like another. So I’ve had the opportunity and the pleasure to get to play with Tucker and to know his playing style and getting to write with him is just it’s so easy. He’s the type of musician where he zigs when he’s supposed to zig, he zags when he’s supposed to zag and sometimes he’ll zig when I think he’s gonna zag and it totally makes my brain shit inside my head. And I’m like, “Oh, my God, that’s perfect. We got to exploit that and do that.” He writes hooks all over the drum set. It’s crazy. So I’ve had that experience before and I love it. But I’ve never gotten to play.

Tucker Rule: Thank you.

Frank Iero: You’re welcome. [laughs] I’ve never gotten to play…

Tucker Rule: I mean, the red is this right now.

Frank Iero: Oh, I’ve never got to play with Tim, Travis or Anthony, but we’ve toured together and stuff like that. We’ve known each other in different circles. And it was always one of those things we’re like, “Oh, yeah, yeah, that’d be fun to write together. That’d be fun. We should do this.” But you always say that and it’s something that never comes to fruition, but this was the first time doing that. And I love that this band started like your first high school band. It’s just a bunch of friends. Oh, you happen to play an instrument. You like the same music that I like. Hey, we should start a band. And that’s basically how this started. We enjoyed each other’s company. We already had like a text chain that we would send dumb stuff back and forth, make each other laugh. And it was just like, oh, well, why don’t we do that and also play music while we do it? And that’s what you’re getting. I think you like, we laugh on stage as much as I was many… As many notes as we play, I think is how many laughs are heard.

It’s like, it truly is a phenomenal time because we’re just all buds. We’re all friends, and so that, I think, is the cornerstone of the band. And I think it’s like Tucker said, it’s infectious. I think when the band is having a good time you can tell. It’s just like when you can tell, like a band is fighting or they’re having a really rough time of it. Sometimes that push and pull and that, not the animosity, but the tension can add to the performance. Right. I’ve never enjoyed that too much. I mean, I’ve enjoyed it like watching a fight is enjoyable, you know what I mean?

But ultimately, I don’t feel like I’m invested in it. Right. So I enjoy a band that likes playing with one another. I enjoy a band that has each other’s backs and I enjoy a band that’s having fun doing what they’re doing. ‘Cause if you’re not having fun up there, what the f*** like, I can’t have fun watching you. You know what I mean?

L.S. Dunes © Mark Beemer

ABSOLUTELY. SO, WE'RE EXACTLY ONE MONTH OUT FROM PAST LIVES' RELEASE.

Frank Iero: Thank you. You mean like right now, like this moment?

EXACTLY THIS MOMENT, YES. WHAT'S IT BEEN LIKE TO HAVE THIS ALBUM OUT IN THE WORLD?

Tucker Rule: Dude, it’s been amazing because for so long we did it under the darkness of the cloud. You know what I mean? We couldn’t tell anybody anything. We didn’t tell anybody anything. So when we were first able to talk about it, it was like a huge relief. And then you get that weird pressure like, “Oh, man.” We love it so much. I hope people receive it in a way that it’s meant to be received. And then it’s out and you’re like, Oh, my God. And it’s been really great. And I can’t stress enough how proud we are of this record and what we accomplished in the box that we accomplished it in. You know what I mean? It was… I’m sure, you’ve heard us talk about this before, but none of us were in the same room when this record was created. This was literally just deep in the cloud file sharing over the interweb.

There’s a series of firsts in this band, and writing this particular way was definitely a first for me, because I’m used to going to Frank’s house and hashing out songs and hashing out parts and getting things out perfect, together. And then just to do that in a way where you’re like, you’re just so excited and you’re moving, you’re sending parts back and forth as fast as possible to keep the interest peaked. You got to keep every member involved, like psyched and wanting to write more. And I think that in that we trimmed the fat. We really captured that youthful spirit that we did when we wrote all of our first records. We kind of tried to capture that lightning in a bottle in the speed that we did things. So I just, having the record out has been life changing. It’s amazing.

THIS BAND HAS A VERY DIFFERENT ORIGIN STORY THAN MOST OTHER BANDS. HAD ANY OF YOU PREVIOUSLY WORKED ON MUSIC VIRTUALLY THE WAY YOU DID FOR THIS RECORD, SENDING THINGS BACK AND FORTH RATHER THAN BEING ALL TOGETHER IN THE SAME ROOM.

Frank Iero: I’ve done a few minor projects here and there where you just send your parts along, get some feedback, maybe change some things that. But never like starting a band doing the first record like that. Yeah, this was unique.

Tucker Rule: I at the same time when we were kinda doing the Dunes stuff, I did a Jim Ward solo record with with Ben Kenny from Incubus. We kind of did that over the interweb and then I did a Sparta record. So I kind of learned by doing Dunes how to do that. You know what I mean? So this project has been multifaceted for me ’cause it taught me how to record. It taught me how to do this with other bands. So it’s really just a huge stepping stone and a foothold.

AND I HEARD TIM TOOK ON THE LEAD ROLE AS ENGINEER FOR THE BAND? HE WAS COLLECTING ALL THE STEMS AT THE END OF THE DAY?

Frank Iero: He was. He’s fantastic, man. He’ll tell you he’s not but he’s lying. He’s a really great engineer. He’s a fantastic arranger. And I mean, and all that is dwarfed by the way that he plays. He is a phenomenal bass player. A wonderful musician.

Tucker Rule: Absolute monster.

GOING BACK TO THE MAGIC THAT TUCKER WAS TALKING ABOUT JUST EARLIER... EVERYONE FROM THE BAND IS A SEASONED RECORDING ARTIST WITH WELL OVER TWO DECADES EXPERIENCE IN THE BUSINESS. BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, DID YOU STILL FEEL ANY OF THE MAGIC ASSOCIATED WITH RELEASING YOUR DEBUT ALBUM?

Frank Iero: Oh yeah. Dude, when that stuff becomes un-fun or like unexciting, then you need to stop. I mean, like it’s always fun. It’s funny, as we’re talking like the group chat is still going. We were talking earlier that this kind of thing, man, when you have the opportunity to hear a song and fall in love with it and then realize it’s your song. It’s a song that you and your friends made from nothing, that feeling is second only to having kids or to making a human being. Like it’s, you made this wonderful thing that wasn’t here before you. You know what I mean? And you made it from, with your hands from nothing. That feeling of, I guess of bringing beauty into the world is, it’s unmatched. And that’s what keeps us, at least for me, I mean, that’s what keeps me going and doing this kind of thing. Because this is an industry that very rarely loves you back. You know what I mean?

You sacrifice your time, your money, your body, all of it to just put out a record and do this thing and play these shows and people are like, “Alright, what’s next?” You know what I mean? So yeah, you’re only as good as your last release. And so if you’re looking for fame or riches or a pat on the back, you’re in the wrong place. You know what I mean? You have to provide your own level of success and your own barometer for that. You know what I mean? Because very often people will tell you…

ANYBODY WHO'S TRYING TO MAKE IT IN MUSIC.

Frank Iero: Yeah, man. I mean, music, art, all that stuff. It’s a subjective industry. And very rarely the people that deserve it get the accolades. It’ll go to the prettiest or it goes to the flavor of the month and that’s fine. You know what I mean? Whatever, dude, that’s cool. But people sacrifice quite a lot, and you need to have your head on straight and realize that you do it for you and you do it because you have to. It’s like breathing, you don’t even know why you’re doing it. You don’t even know that you’re doing it, but you have to in order to survive. And that’s what creating is like.

Tucker Rule: “Making it” in this industry is basically just making something you love. That’s the only way to make it, you know what I mean? Is to believe in something that you did. Like Frank said, you’re only as good as your last release. And if you love that, then you’ve made it. You know what I mean? In my opinion.

“Making it” in this industry is basically just making something you love.

ESPECIALLY WITH L.S. DUNES, IT DIDN'T HAVE TO EXIST. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR IT TO EXIST. EVERYBODY WAS HOME WATCHING NETFLIX. YOU COULD HAVE JUST WATCHED MORE TV, BUT INSTEAD YOU GOT TO WORK.

Tucker Rule: It’s where we’re from, man. We’re from punk rock and hardcore. It’s DIY, and it’s making something out of nothing. And it’s against all odds. Like you’re being told that your industry is dead and you should go work for Amazon, to get a regular job. Because it’s never coming back. So what do we do against all odds? Start another band. Like you’re not supposed to do that. Punk is punk.

L.S. Dunes © Luke Dickey

You’re being told that your industry is dead and you should go work for Amazon, because it’s never coming back. So what do we do against all odds? Start another band. Punk is punk.

I'VE HEARD YOU AND OTHER BAND MEMBERS TALK ABOUT THIS SENSE THAT YOU CAN DO THINGS WITH THIS PROJECT THAT YOU CAN'T DO IN YOUR OTHER BANDS. DO YOU GUYS MIND EXPANDING ON THAT SENSE OF FREEDOM THAT YOU GET WITHIN L.S. DUNES?

Tucker Rule: We were able to create something brand new that doesn’t have really anything to do with other bands. So there’s a freedom of no one knowing what it’s gonna sound like, not having to sound like a certain thing, not having to appeal to a certain demographic, just literally writing stuff that we love. Every riff that came in, every drum beat that came in, every bass line that came in was fully explored. Whether it made it or not, it didn’t matter. It was fully explored. There was no no. You have a song like “Permanent Rebellion,” which is heavy. And then you have a song like “Sleep Cult,” which is which is a doo-wop song. And they’re both on the same record, because we can. Because no one has an expectation. No one had an expectation. Like Frank said, it literally came out of nowhere, came out of nothing. And I just feel like that’s the difference. When you have a band that’s been a band for 20 years, you kind of you want to do stuff…

Frank Iero: It’s a blessing and a curse, right?

Tucker Rule: It’s a blessing and a curse because you have to still sound like your band. But you wanna do something new ’cause you’ve grown as a musician. But you also you don’t wanna take such a sharp left that people are like, who are they anymore? There’s no resemblance of what they used to be. So with this particular project we didn’t have to look like anybody, which is very freeing.

Frank Iero: I love that. Yeah, there is a pressure that comes along with the legacy of a band that’s been around for 20 years. A band that has such a dedicated following. You wanna put out the best thing, you always do. And sometimes with a band like that you’ll have a stutter step or a trepidation of wanting to do anything at all in fear of f*ing anything up or tarnishing that, you know what I mean?

So that pressure can be so overwhelming that it just paralyzes you? And sometimes it takes all the interest out of doing anything new. But with the new band, who gives a f**k? You know what I mean? Nobody knows. You have nobody to impress or nobody to disappoint. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

THERE'S A SAYING SOME ARTISTS SAY THAT THEY DO IT FOR THE FANS.

Frank Iero: F**k that. No.

YOU THINK ABOUT IT LIKE, DID YOU START MAKING MUSIC “FOR THE FANS”? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

Frank Iero: I know. I get it. I get it. But the other side of that coin is say, and this is all like, this isn’t like taken from… Ripped from real life and any one specific band, but just a hypothetical all around thing. The other side of that coin is the fans are now holding this legacy band up, right? So say like a band that hasn’t put out a record in 10 plus years, right? Say like, System of a Down or something like that. I don’t know if this is the case for them, but a band like that. They haven’t put out a record in a very long time or Rage Against the Machine. But then they started touring, I think it would be very hard for either of those bands to want to put out a new record because in fear that you would have a misstep and lose a fan base that is holding that legacy secure. You know what I mean?

IT'S WEIRD HOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT NEVER CAME TO MIND PROBABLY IN THE FIRST COUPLE OF RECORDS. BUT THEN ONCE YOU START TO GO DEEPER...

Frank Iero: Of course, of course. I back that shit, dude. I back that. I would rather see you fall and try something new. I love that. I love, I’ll buy every goddamn Weezer record that comes out, ’cause I want to hear what he’s doing. I love that that motherf*er writes like 10 songs a day that shit. I back the process because I love the craft of it, and I know what goes into it. So that shit to me is inspiring. And to the end, even if you put out a record full of like 808s and fart noises, like, all right, let’s hear it. I want to hear what you did with it.

L.S. Dunes © Mark Beemer

RIGHT. BECAUSE L.S. DUNES STARTED WITH THIS GIVING NO F’S MENTALITY. I ASSUME THAT IT COULD POTENTIALLY ALSO CONTINUE WITH THAT SAME SET OF MENTALITY. THERE'S NOWHERE FOR YOU TO GO, BUT OUT IN EVERY DIRECTION. SO WHO GIVES?

Frank Iero: That’s what we’re hoping for, yeah.

Tucker Rule: We joke about the LS meaning low stress because that’s literally how it feels. It’s like we love to create. You know what I mean? We really enjoy the process of making music. And we’ve been so deep in this process because we literally did it ourselves from minute one. There was no help. There was nobody in the room. So it was like everybody was literally on their own. So having a low stress situation where it’s like literally see us on stage. We’re having fun. We’re writing music. We’re like giddy kids. We’re like 20 again, sharing these files, getting excited to work on things. In my mind, like this morning there was a song sent around and I cannot wait to get home, so I could go record my part to it. You know what I mean? So it’s really like just fun. And is it a full time job? Yes, we hope so. But it’s also like the fun one. You know what I mean? We’re the fun uncle here. Like let’s go rip and have the best time. And like when I wake up in the bus and I walk out and I go to make coffee and Frank comes stumbling out of the bunk area as well, I get so psyched because I’m like, whoa, what the f– are you doing here? And then Travis will trickle out. I’m like, Oh, my God. And then Anthony is somewhere and I’m like, what the f–? You know, it’s like the best.

HELL OF A TIME. SO, YOU SPOKE ABOUT THE “L.S. DUNES” NAME. I'M CURIOUS ABOUT PAST LIVES. ANTHONY SINGS IN THE CHORUS OF THE TITLE TRACK, “I'M NOT ALL MY MISTAKES, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT IT. THERE'S NO USE GIVING UP. I KNOW WE CAN GET WELL.” WHICH REALLY, REALLY STUCK WITH ME.

Frank Iero: I still get chills every time I hear that shit, I swear. Just you even just saying it, I got chills. I love that chorus. It’s one of my favorites.

FOR A GENRE THAT HAS A TENDENCY TO BE SO DARK, I FEEL LIKE YOUR BAND'S MUSIC IS SO LIFE AFFIRMING, ESPECIALLY AT A TIME WHEN EVERYONE WAS DYING AND GETTING SICK. WHAT DOES THE ALBUM'S NAME PAST LIVES MEAN TO YOU AND WHAT DROVE THAT TO BE THE TITLE?

Frank Iero: Well, I think that was, actually it was one of the names there or the collection of names that went around that could have been the band name, first off. But I think it fit better off as a song title and as a record title. Thus, I think it means that we’ve all had these pasts, the places that you’ve been bring you to where you are now. And all of our collective experiences have felt like lifetimes. And I think no matter what you’ve done to get to where you are, it’s important, but it’s not the only thing that’s important. And I think that what’s about, say, for this band, the important thing is what we’re doing now, not where we’ve been.

Drained, fountains Counting footsteps out of sync Truth, running bow line Out a sheep shank Tied two tin cans together

I hear the whistle blowing Mississippi one and two I got the comment section grammar correction blues I hear the numbers calling Mississippi three and four Reject the influence Reject the influenza

I’m not all my mistakes No matter what they say about it (I can’t shake it now) there’s no use giving up (I can’t shake it now) I know we can get well Know we can get well

IF YOU HAD A SUCCESSFUL BAND TO CLAIM OR STAKE TO, BUT THIS IS A FRESH START.

Frank Iero: Right. Exactly.

Tucker Rule: Yeah. Again, this is falling in love with music all over again. You know what I mean? We’ve been in love with it the whole time, but I feel like falling in love with it all over again, as a middle aged man is a beautiful thing. And it’s like, this is what we do for a living, and to wake up psyched to go to “work” is pretty awesome.

I'D LOVE TO TALK ABOUT BOTH OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ALBUM. FRANK, HOW DID YOU AND TRAVIS GO ABOUT SPLITTING UP GUITAR DUTIES?

Frank Iero: We didn’t. It was just whoever got there first, kind of set the tone, to be honest. And I thought it was going to be real hard to be honest. I really did think it was going to be more difficult. I thought we were going to have to go in and start editing and kind of taking stuff out and going back and forth. And I didn’t know… I’d never worked with Travis before. And sometimes, when working with another musician that’s been in a writing process and stuff like that, like they get very precious about their parts. But he was unbelievably easy to work with.

I think we come from the same aspect of like, if it’s not right for the song, if it’s not good for the song it doesn’t matter. And that is, I think that’s a really hard lesson to learn. It comes with experience and maturity over time, that not everything you write needs to be in there. We have to service the song. And it wasn’t even a discussion that needed to come up. It was just like, this isn’t working or this is working. I want to exploit what you’re doing here. I want to work with you here. I think what you did in the verses, what the verse should be. I’ll just focus on what the chorus is. And it was like two halves of one brain going. It was crazy.

YOU'VE RELEASED SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC OVER THE YEARS. HOW DO YOU SWITCH YOUR BRAIN ON AND OFF BETWEEN MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, L.S. DUNES, AND MORE? DO YOU HAVE A MEANS OF DIVIDING UP THE TYPE OF GUITAR WORK THAT YOU PUT IN DEPENDING ON WHO IT'S FOR?

Frank Iero: There’s not like a defined way to do it. It’s a feeling you get when you write a song, or when you come up with the parts. It’s like this feels not like this project. This feels like something else. Or this feels like Dunes or this feels like Death Spells or this feels like Leathermouth or whatever the heck you’re working on at the time. There’s definitely things I’ve written over the past couple of years where I’m like, this is something I want to sing and I just, I’ll file it away. But when I’m working on something… I think that’s also to why I have so many projects is that I despise writer’s block so much that I find if I hit a barrier somewhere, I can break through it by just jumping ship to the next thing.

MAKE A NEW BAND.

Frank Iero: Yeah, you make a new band or you just start like, hey, I’m gonna work on this song for this this project. And even if that doesn’t come to fruition it somehow gets you out of that rut that you were in on the other thing and opens another door.

MY VOICE NOTES APP IS FILLED WITH LITTLE RIFFS...

Frank Iero: Exactly man. You may never listen to it, exactly. It’s like all getting the muscle working.

Tucker Rule: There’s no doubt that we’re all hired for what we sound like and how we play, you know what I mean? For other projects. There’s no doubt about that. But I think that the… Like Frank said, it feels different. Every riff feels different. Every band feels different. Every situation feels different. And I think that you learn how to be a little bit of a chameleon, and do what’s right for the song. You know what I mean? And I feel like that, yes, that does come with age to learn how to be a part of the song rather than to be you in the song. So I also feel that speaking of L.S. Dunes, like ego, taking out the ego of everything has been a very important part of this process. You know what I mean? Actually serving the song in the way that the writer intended is a huge part of this process. It’s been quite a learning experience to be like, “oh, alright.”

Like, Frank and I did a record with Steve Albini. It was like, he would joke about like, oh, do that, Lars Ulrich thing that you do. You know what I mean? Like that’s such a stupid thing to do. Like do that Frank Iero thing. It’s like, no, let’s write the song the way that it’s supposed to be. Don’t do that Frank Iero thing. Don’t do that Tucker Rule thing. You know what I mean? Do what the song is supposed to do, and the song will navigate you.

I'M STARTING TO SEE THAT WORKING AS A MUSICIAN FULL TIME, YOU MIGHT GET JADED FROM CERTAIN THINGS THAT KIND OF PICK AT YOU OVER THE YEARS, WHEREAS THIS WAS REALLY JUST A FRESH, NO F*S GIVEN, NO HOLDS BARRED PROJECT. AND THAT'S ACTUALLY REALLY HARD TO FIND.

Frank Iero: It is. It is, man. You know, every project is different. Every situation is different. You can’t allow yourself to get defeated by one and have it ruin the next one. I’ve seen that. I’ve seen that happen. And it’s like in those cartoon where all the life has been sucked out of the entity. You know, you see musicians like that, man. They’re not having any fun. I remember touring early, early on with My Chem. And we got asked to go on tour. I’m not going to say the name of the band, but I’ll tell you later, Tucker.

Tucker Rule: Thanks Frank.

Frank Iero: We got to go on tour with this band that I really, really liked. And I was very excited about it. And we show up and I found out really quickly that this band was over it. Like they were done. And to the point where like, I remember one time, we had come off stage and the guitar player from the headlining band came in and said, “Ah, you guys are so lucky. You guys are done. I got to go up there and play now.” I was like, “Motherf*er, I’ll go up there again.” Like, are you serious? I didn’t get it then. I still don’t get it. I’m old now, too. Probably older than that person was when he said that to me. But I don’t know, man, like I love this stuff so much. And there’s definitely times where you don’t feel like… The last thing you feel like is getting up in front of like a hundred people or a thousand people or whatever and playing a show because you feel sick and you’re tired. You got this going on or something happening back home. But once you get up there and that music starts, a switch flips, man. And it’s like you’re either a lifer or you’re a dickhead.

Tucker Rule: Dude, jumping on that, too, Frank, I mean, I definitely go through that from time to time where I just don’t feel like doing it. You know what I mean? But then I get up there. Note one, that’s what makes you remember. It’s the 23 other hours in the day that I don’t want to do because that’s the only hour that I want to actually do. You know what I mean? It’s funny how you’re just you know, you’re about to put your body through the paces. So you’re kind of like, oh, man, I don’t really feel like doing this. I don’t have the energy. And then all of a sudden you’re on fire. You know what I mean? There’s just nothing like it. There’s nothing like it. And I think that’s what the addiction to what we do is, is that that like your hair stands up even if you’re playing a song that’s 22 years old. You know what I mean? You’re just on fire because it’s like you belong there.

Frank Iero: That’s what you’re meant to do. Yeah.

L.S. Dunes © Zachary Spangler

Don’t do that Frank Iero thing. Don’t do that Tucker Rule thing. Do what the song is supposed to do, and the song will navigate you.

IT’S BEAUTIFUL TO HEAR. IT'S FUNNY, I WAS THINKING SOMETIMES I ASK ARTISTS, DOES THE ALBUM REFLECT THE LIVE SHOW OR DOES THE LIVE SHOW REFLECT THE ALBUM? AND WELL, YOU GUYS DIDN'T MAKE THE ALBUM IN A WAY THAT YOU COULD MAKE IT LIVE. AND YET, I FEEL LIKE THE ALBUM REFLECTS THE LIVE SHOW SOMEHOW.

Frank Iero: Isn’t that weird?

YEAH, I THINK THAT EVERYBODY HERE LIVES TO PLAY MUSIC, NOT TO RECORD MUSIC NECESSARILY, WHICH IS ALSO FUN. BUT I THINK YOU GUYS LIVE TO PLAY IT.

Tucker Rule: Right before we go on stage, we always have this little meeting where we’re all walking around and we’re talking about how we’re getting possessed and like going up there to get completely satanic and spit fire. Because that’s literally how it goes. We’re the people that lose ourselves in what we’re doing. You know what I mean? There’s nothing else that matters up there than a good time and like literally just feeling it.

Frank Iero: Agreed.

TUCKER, THIS ALBUM IS ADMITTEDLY PRETTY HEAVY ON THE DRUMS. WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITE MOMENTS AS A DRUMMER ON THIS RECORD AND HOW IS PLAYING IN L.S. DUNES COMPARED TO PLAYING WITH OTHER BANDS OF YOURS?

Tucker Rule: Oh man, a personal favorite of mine is “Grey Veins.” There’s a pre-chorus that Frank actually wrote and he wrote the drums for it as well. And it turned out to be my favorite thing. And again, taking the ego away from myself, having a guitar player write the drum part was like I was super excited about because it worked. I heard it and it worked. And I was like, okay, I’m going to go in the studio. I’m going to do what you gave me and I’m just going to put my drums on it, my idea on it. And it just worked. And it’s like, I don’t know, I just love that. I always think about that. It’s like when your favorite part of your record is a part that you didn’t write. That means that you love the record and you love the process and you love how it… It’s just very rewarding to have that feeling.

FRANK, YOU’VE GOT AN ADMIRER.

Frank Iero: I got to tell you, my favorite part of the record is is the drums on “Past Lives.” If you notice, Tucker never goes to a crash cymbal until the second, like that very last chorus, the second half of it where it opens up. Everything on that song is close hi-hat to open hi-hat. And it’s all like that very straight, like you’re getting this, the meter of it. But then when he opens up and gets syncopated it just explodes. And it’s crazy. The amount of reserve, I guess, or like… Yeah, the ability to hold back until that last chorus of that song. Holy shit, man. It’s like, how do you do that? I don’t have that in me to not eat that last cookie or like, you know what I mean, to not…

Tucker Rule: Totally. It’s trust, man. It’s trust in your dude, just trust to know that you all don’t need me to get heavy. It’s happening. It’s happening around the whole thing. And it’s like, all right, you wanna… Let’s make this thing explode at the end. And I think that the reserve there is trusting the rest of the people in the band. Trusting that everyone’s got it and you can move around the drums. It doesn’t need to be like, “Okay, the crash cymbal means it’s heavy now.” The bass can make it heavy, the vocals can make it heavy. The lyrical content can make it heavy.

Frank Iero: I got to tell you, it took me maybe 10 listens on that song to realize that you weren’t opening up like a normal drummer would. Like you get the chorus. All right I’m gonna crash and then I’m… It’s gonna expand the sound, right? And then where do you go from 11? How do you turn up from 11 to get that last chorus over the hump? This motherf*er like it’s crazy, dude, it’s nuts. It’s nuts. Higher and like those little junkie junks. I don’t know what they’re called, like whatever.

Tucker Rule: Yeah, we had a lot of drum crap.

L.S. Dunes © Mark Beemer

LIKEWISE, WHAT ABOUT FRANK FOR GUITAR PARTS? HOW DOES PLAYING IN L.S. DUNES' COMPARE, AND WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITE PARTS TO PLAY ON THE RECORD?

Frank Iero: Oh, man. I think my favorite song to play live would be maybe “It Takes Time.” Just because there’s just so much going on. I mean, this record is pretty riffy. And it really is. You can get lost in that ramen a bit. And I feel like a lesser group of guys would make a pretty shitty record with the amount of noodling happening. But I mean, kudos to Anthony, really, for being able to find a collection of melodies when there’s already so much melody happening. I mean, you have a bass player that is running around that beat. I mean it’s incredible what Tim and Tucker can do. Honestly, I feel like you could probably take all the guitars off the record and you would still be a very interesting, amazing listen if you just listen to bass and drums with Anthony on top. So I’ve always felt like for a good record or my favorite records it’s drums and vocals. The rest is kind of like it’s the cream inside the Oreo like the cookie makes it. It’s like, that is just the icing on top. So I’m going off on a tangent. I apologize. But there’s a lot of different moments on this where I feel like I took maybe some liberties or got myself out of a comfort zone. There’s a tapping part on “Grey Veins” that I never would have attempted if it wasn’t like, Oh, yeah, I’m just gonna hang out and impress my friends kind of thing.

Tucker Rule: That’s my favorite part.

Frank Iero: Thank you. So there’s there’s stuff like that. I think “It Takes Time” is one of the songs that I enjoy playing the most too, because I feel like that was like, when I finally did go in the studios, Tucker came and my friend James Bowman, who’s been teching for me. And we sat down and was like, us and Will, who produced the record. And there was a couple of parts on that song where I was like, “I don’t know if this is gonna work. I listened to the song at the hotel. And and I came up with this part last night, so I want to try it”

And that was one of those songs that was like, I had changed a lot from the demoing. It was also a moment where I had recently broken my wrist in like 10 places, right? So I felt off this ladder, it was f–ed up. And I had to have surgeries. And so I had to postpone my recording from September to December. I had my last surgery in November. So I think I may have still had like stitches and stuff like that. It was one of those things where it was like, “All right, this is a make or break moment. I don’t know if I’m able to play, but this is the only time we can do it. So I got to try.” And so that song in particular was one of those where it was like, “Hey, listen, I don’t know if this is gonna go well, but if I can do this, if I can pull this off, then I know I’ll be able to play and a lot of the anxiety that I’m feeling will be lifted.” So that was a make or break moment for me.

Tucker Rule: I don’t think anybody understands the gravity for real of the fact that like, literally, maybe two weeks before Frank went into record, he didn’t think that he was going to be able to go record, he literally had fresh stitches in and was like, celebrating small victories.

YOU’VE ENDURED A LOT OF PHYSICAL HARDSHIP IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, FRANK. CREDIT YOUR PARENTS FOR MAKING YOU DRINK MILK AS A CHILD OR SOMETHING.

Frank Iero: I’m lactose intolerant. [laughs] It goes back to like Tucker said, like, we come from the East Coast… It’s weird, man. The Jersey mentality is, you don’t boast about yourself. You don’t complain. You put your head down and you do the goddamn work, because nobody cares. Nobody wants to hear it and when that translates into musicianship to it’s like, there’s 1000 bands here. We all want it, so you better be really good. And nobody cares if you’re not feeling good that day. Nobody cares about whatever happened to you, because everybody’s got hard times. So get up there, shut up, and be great.

ALONG THOSE LINES, YOUR DEBUT SINGLE HAS STUCK WITH ME EVER SINCE I FIRST HEARD IT. YOU GUYS SAY ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU HAD FUN, BUT YOU ALSO MADE SOME DAMN GOOD SONGS. WHY INTRODUCE YOURSELVES WITH “PERMANENT REBELLION”?

Tucker Rule: As soon as I heard it with vocals on it I was like, “Shit, man, that’s crazy.” And even my wife was like, “Oh, my God, that’s so cool. That should be your first song.” And like, I always joke that my wife is such a huge barometer because she’s very hard on me musically. It’s like, “Ah, what is that?” Like very honest and brutal, straight dagger to the heart. So any bad review that could ever come out, like I don’t even care my wife’s already given it to me. So when she heard it, I was like, “Oh, you like that?” And then like the rest of the band was like, “That’s so sick.” That’s when… It was just, we didn’t really need to talk about it. It makes your hair stand up. It’s crazy.

Frank Iero: Jamia [my wife] hates everything I do. She’s not a fan of any of the music that I make. She’d be like, “Oh, that’s all right.” But like she’s not listening to that stuff. She doesn’t like it. And it keeps you humble, it does.

Tucker Rule: Yeah, they are New Jersey.

TO ME, SO MUCH OF THIS ALBUM IS ABOUT SURVIVAL AND PERSEVERANCE. “I'M NOT AFRAID TO TRY,” ANTHONY SINGS AT THE VERY TOP OF THE ALBUM. “DON'T WANNA FILL THE SPACE WITH SOMETHING THAT I'M NOT, CHEW ON THE IRON. IF I CAN'T MAKE IT 'TIL 2022 AT LEAST WE'LL SEE HOW LONG I CAN SWIM.” AT FIRST I FOUND THIS LINE REALLY DARK, BUT THE MORE I THOUGHT OF IT, IT ACTUALLY FEELS VERY FULL OF LIGHT AND DETERMINATION.

Frank Iero: I think it’s one of those things that when you’re at your darkest is when you can find the light. If you’re looking to get out of it. Sometimes it’s very comforting to stay in that darkness. And like when you’re sad, you want to listen to sad songs and stuff like that. Sometimes our depression is comforting. But when you finally had enough or you feel like I can’t do this if I continue on this path, it’s not going to be good and you start to look for the silver lining and things or start to look for a way out. I think that this band was a way out of that darkness and I think a lot of lyrics ended up reflecting that.

Tucker Rule: I had just had my first daughter in the pandemic. She was born in March of 2020. And that was such a bright spot. And all her firsts were such a bright spot in the pandemic, but this band was like really, really also a huge bright spot. So I think that the hopeful sound of the record, I think really is how we lived the record, how we lived making it, how we were excited to wake up and work on these parts, how we were excited to give accolades to one another for just being so excited. And I don’t think there was a day that didn’t go by that we were like, “I can’t believe we’re in this band. I can’t believe I get to do this with you guys.” Like it was truly a really, really bright spot in a dark time. And even in the brightest of times it would have been the brightest spot. I just think that it’s meant to be, it was supposed to be, and it was supposed to happen now. This couldn’t have been made five years ago. This couldn’t have been made three years ago. It had to be now.

I KNOW THAT WAS A LIFELINE FOR YOU GUYS, BUT NOW IT'S TAKEN ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN. PANDEMIC IS NOT OVER BY ANY MEANS, BUT WE'RE BACK AT IT. TUCKER, YOU'RE ON TOUR RIGHT NOW. WE'RE ABLE TO BE OUT OF IT. DOES L.S. DUNES' CONTINUE TO BE A LIFELINE OR DOES IT GET TO TRANSITION INTO SOMETHING ELSE NOW THAT THE PURPOSE IT FIRST SERVED IS KIND OF IN THE PAST, KNOCK ON WOOD.

Tucker Rule: I think the purpose hasn’t even been scratched yet. The surface hasn’t been scratched and the purpose is not even fully realized.

Frank Iero: I agree.

THE LAST THING I'LL SAY ABOUT THE SONGS THEMSELVES, I LOVE A MASSIVE WALL OF SOUND JUST LIKE THE NEXT GUY, BUT I HAVE TO SAY I FELL HEADFIRST FOR THE CLOSER, “SLEEP CULT,” WHICH YOU MENTIONED EARLIER. TO ME THAT WAS THE SONG THAT SORT OF SAID, THIS BAND CAN DO ANYTHING THEY PUT THEIR MINDS TO, ANYTHING THEY WANT, MAKE ANY KIND OF MUSIC THEY WANT. ARE THERE ANY SONGS THAT WE HAVEN'T MENTIONED YET THAT YOU WOULD HOPE THAT LISTENERS REALLY LISTEN TO OR TAKE A DEEPER DIVE INTO IF THEY'RE JUST GETTING TO KNOW L.S. DUNES FOR THE FIRST TIME?

Frank Iero: What’s funny that you say “Sleep Cult” too, because that’s one of those songs too that I feel like ‘Live’ has even taken on just a different life, ended up creating more of an outro for it. And if one of your questions was like, “Hey, what’s your one regret or thing that you want to go back and change on the record?” It’d be like, I want to record “Sleep Cult” again so that we could get that ending in there. So I think that that though is testament to the band still being a living, breathing entity and evolving and changing and writing together. And so I love that stuff so much. As far as other songs on the record, man, it’s hard to to pick a favorite. I do feel though that “2022” is essential listening. I mean, I think it’s the perfect opener, but even if it didn’t feel like an opener I feel like it should be the first song people hear.

And I don’t mean heavy like breakdown heavy. I mean like it’s a heavy song and what he’s singing about and the way that, I mean, Tucker really started the ball rolling on getting that song to be different from Anthony’s original demo, which was just very delicate, still hauntingly beautiful. I mean, like gorgeous on its own, but it wasn’t a full band song until Tucker came in and started to play that beat behind the opening. And as soon as I heard that I knew… It forced me to do something that I’d never done before the way those chords are changing. And it’s a really special moment. It feels like… Sometimes as a musician you write something and other times it just flows through you. Just like one of those, like, I don’t know, like divine inspiration kind of things is kind of silly, but like, I truly believe that in order to be an artist you have to be in tune with the universe and allow things to kind of flow through you. And that was one of those moments where I heard the drum beat and I just started to play.

And the funny thing about that song as well is that’s the first time I played the song all the way through. That is what’s on the record. That song was recorded in my basement here in this chair, actually. So, yeah. Did I answer the question? What was the question?

GUYS, THIS HAS BEEN SO MUCH FUN TODAY. THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR HOPPING ON.

Frank Iero: It’s a pleasure, Mitch. Seriously.

AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BEST IS YET TO COME! WHAT DO YOU HOPE LISTENERS TAKE AWAY FROM PAST LIVES, AND WHAT HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM CREATING IT AND NOW PUTTING IT OUT?

Tucker Rule: I think that we’re all just really grateful. Like this is 20 years later in our careers and to have a first again is just really special. And the fact that people go out of their way to make artwork and get tattoos and all this stuff and really back a band that they had never heard a note of before. It’s just really, really special. And then I don’t know man, for me, I’m just so grateful. I literally can’t believe that I get to do this and I can’t believe I get to do it with some of my best friends. There aren’t many more words that I have.

I BELIEVE YOU BOTH HAVE YOUR FINGERS ON THE PULSE OF TODAY'S MUSIC. IN CLOSING THIS CONVERSATION, IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE WITH BOTH OF YOU. WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS AND BANDS TODAY AND WHO ARE YOU REALLY EXCITED ABOUT OUTSIDE OF L.S. DUNES?

Frank Iero: Let’s see. Well, I had the pleasure of touring with a bunch of bands this year with My Chem. I feel like, Turnstile is killing it. The phenomenal, phenomenal band and, ‘Glow On’ is a wonderful record. So I definitely expect a lot of wonderful things from them. So psyched that they got some Grammy knobs too. Like that’s amazing. So definitely, it turns out Dilly Dally, I think is fantastic as far as like younger bands. Love playing with them. Chat Pile, oh, I love. Gosh, this is like one of those things where you go into a record store and you’ve been looking for records like for 10 years and you’re like, “Oh, shit, what am I looking for?”

Tucker Rule: Cheesecake Factory Menu.

Frank Iero: There’s a young band called Hong Kong Fuck You that I really like too. It’s a wonderful name. It really is.

Tucker Rule: I’m on tour with Cursive, right now and that band is just… They’re doing Domestica front to back and it’s ridiculous, but like Cursive is just, it’s next level.

Frank Iero: Yeah. Agreed. I remember someone for my birthday, like, this is years and years when Burst and Bloom the EP first came out, like handed me the CD and was like, “Yo, listen to this.” It changed the way I thought about music. Definitely. Hands down. They’re wonderful.

Tucker Rule: And I think Tim said it best when he said art is hard. And it really is, but it’s also so much fun.

Frank Iero: Yeah, man. But it’s that James Dean thing, right? Like you have to make it look… When it’s good it looks so easy. That’s the point. Everybody wants to be cool without trying to be cool. That’s the James Dean effect, but that shit is hard. It really is.