#jatp: skin

[onlygenxhere]

Letters from Rose 1992

[lvkereggie]

im convinced julie makes sure to use slang terms and phrases around luke to annoy and confuse him

[thedeathdeelers]

low key thinking about the stand tall juke hug scene but if julie hadn’t been wearing her hoodie 👀

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Julie Molina & Flynn Taylor, Julie Molina & Luke Patterson, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina & Flynn Taylor & Carrie Wilson Characters: Julie Molina, Flynn Taylor, Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Carrie Wilson Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Carrie Wilson Redemption, ish Series: Part 3 of Can Anybody Tell Me What's Going On? Summary:

“Good call,” Julie agrees. They rock out to Paramore and then Avril Lavigne and the suggestions remain entirely male dominated (or start to venture further toward pop). “Why are the algorithms so trash?” Julie complains. “What’s an al…go…” Reggie asks, trailing off.

OR Julie and Flynn help the boys increase their exposure to women rockers (with some help from Carrie)

[blush-and-books]

jatp/juke fanfiction masterlist!

multichapter fics:

(Fake) Lover Of Mine | julie and luke are mega-stars trying to rebuild their press images, and management's genius solution is a year-long fake-dating publicity stunt. collaboration project with @bluefirewrites and @sunjaesol. 3 chapters, COMPLETED.

what doesn't kill me makes me want you more | angels and demons au. 6 chapters, COMPLETED.

been dreaming that you feel it too | five times luke and julie try to be physical with each other in public and the one time they are in private. 7 chapters, COMPLETED.

but we're the greatest - they'll hang us in the louvre | anthology of juke drabbles. 16 chapters, COMPLETED.

call me babe for the weekend | tis the damn season-inspired au, julie leaves seattle for her career but that includes leaving luke behind. 3 chapters, COMPLETED.

covered in the colors (pulled apart at the seams) | royalty au, julie and luke are young monarchs on opposing sides of a war. 4 chapters, COMPLETED.

take me back to the light | mythology au, in which julie is the goddess of the sun, luke is the god of the moon, and he doesn't know if he can spend an eternity chasing her. 2 chapters, COMPLETED.

oneshots:

i always fall for confidence (your compliments look good on me) | modern/high school au where luke is a part-time librarian and full-time simp for julie molina. word count: 9.7k

i know it's just a number, but you're the eighth wonder | modern/high school au where luke is forced to participate in the school's production of the music man, and is cast alongside human wrecking ball julie molina. throughout the strenuous high school theater process, they fall in love while their characters do, too. word count: 21.6k

i know your heart like the back of my hand | the "best friends go ring shopping" au. word count: 4k

your paint can stain my skin anytime you want | art student julie finds her perfect muse in hot surfer/guitarist luke patterson. word count: 11.3k

please don't leave (don't leave me in the shape you left me) | julie and luke meet by chance at the peer, and she thinks she's finally found someone to help her escape the grief of her mother's recent death. word count: 6k

wisdom teeth | canon universe, julie gets her wisdom teeth taken out and luke helps to take care of her. word count: 3.3k

fate will always take the reigns (and it wants you and me) | canon universe christmas/holiday fic, julie and luke softness. word count: 9.9k

i'm going out of my mind | the band joins james cordon for some carpool karaoke. word count: 3.5k

i can't dare to dream about you anymore | five times that luke and julie let dreams dictate reality, and the one time they take control. word count: 3.4k

cinnamon | thanksgiving with the newly extended molina family. canon universe. word count: 3k

another broken-hearted good morning to the good side of your ghost | what happens once the boys cross over, and what julie makes of it. word count: 2.2k

i'm sorry, but i feel in love tonight | julie makes a promise to herself, and subsequently breaks it. word count: 2.6k

i am always yours | luke learns about panic! at the disco and gets extremely emo about it. word count: 3k

i couldn't write a love song that captures you if i tried | julie and luke can cuddle in bed whenever they want, because ray can't see luke, and therefore can't catch them. word count: 3.9k

something good | julie and luke bond over loving the sound of music. word count: 2.3k

got you tonight | rose molina reflects on her family's legacy, and what comes after. word count: 1.7k

tumblr-exclusive drabbles + prompt responses:

she lives in daydreams with me (3+1 based off of she by harry styles)

always you-shaped thoughts inside my head (written in the We Found Wonderland universe by pink-flame)

julie brings luke back to life one makeout session at a time*

luke patterson doesn’t write love songs

“I told you to take care of yourself”*

kissing someone’s cuts/bruises*

forehead kisses/big warm hugs/peppering kisses all over someone’s face*

“Kiss me”

tugging on the edge of someone’s shirt

giggly cuddles

play-biting

“You took all the pillows, so I’m using you as one”

“Is that my shirt?” x “Can I stay here tonight?”

long hugs

[preoccupied-educator]

IMAGINE THE PARALLELS WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN IF JATP HAD BEEN RENEWED

Sorry for yelling but like, the kitchen scene right??

Iconic, I know.

But imagine in s2 when the boys are ALIVE AGAIN and Julie goes down for her midnight pb&j and finds Luke looking in the fridge but this time he can actually eat!! And instead of walking through each other when Julie goes for the OJ they bump into each other and Luke reaches out to steady her and her hand lands on his bicep (iykyk) and it’s A WHOLE MOMENT of eye contact and skin on skin contact and MAYBE this is quite soon after The Hug™️ so there is a lot of Tension 👀

OH AND THEN the porch scene right??? Imagine a tense conversation, maybe a “what am I going to do about my parents? Should I tell them I’m alive again?” moment (because we love when things come full circle) and they meet on the porch afterwards for a little apology as is their way and we got an ACTUAL Hand Holding Moment™️ and Luke (the little shit) says “this really is an interesting little relationship you and I have” I would simply lose. my. mind.

Oh and don’t even get me STARTED on an Edge of Great parallel jfc I’m gonna have to go lie down 😫

[narcissusbrokenmirror]

when u think about it. Are we, humble jatp fans, really that different from Charlie and Madison, actors interpretating Julie and Luke for us, when we create and write fanfiction and they create Perfect Harmony?

like the first version of it is so damn different from the recorded version,its like a Julie and Luke thing we never saw, a different version of them. Its a different melody, different sounding, different lyrics, it's like Charlie and Madi were creating a different story for Julie and Luke through their music.

imagine if that version with more deepness was something that Luke tried writing on the 90's but he never finished bc he wasn't good at writing romantic ballads and his bandmates weren't exactly romance inspo, so he gave it up and never touched it again, focusing on other songs. And then 25 years later Julie creates the same song in her head. Like she never read it anywhere, she just created it. Like its fate for them. Let's say she ends up showing it to him — not as a song she made thinking of him, but something she wanted to try for the band, and he looks at it and is like that one song he made back when he was alive, and couldn't find the perfect ending of it.

I can go on a rant here and create a scenario where they are singing the song but it becomes a different scenario (like og perfect harmony) and is from Luke's pov this time, and they are singing together on stage but as if he was alive in the 90's, Julie would be wearing a 90's outfit and there would be lights to them, as the ending comes near, the audience and their bandmates disappear and is just them, singing it to each other.

also check out the lyrics this is perfect alright why isnt fanfic of this moment (the fic is the song already) (I'm gonna put it under a read more to reduce the post)

Step into my world,

bittersweet love story with this girl

shook me to the core

voice like an angel,

I've never heard before

Moved into the city,

shreds that guitar like I've never seen,

life can be so mean,

at least I know that he'll never leave

The other side is breaking through,

two worlds collide when I'm with you

voices come to life

why must we lie that we're

the perfect harmony

the perfect harmony

I feel the rhythm through my skin

souls collide from within

love me for who I am

The best of stories never bend

Chemistry that shines so bright

you brought music back to my life

heaven on earth is how it feels

the perfect harmony

the perfect harmony

the other side is breaking through,

two worlds collide when I'm with you

voices come to life

why must we lie that we're

the perfect harmony

the perfect harmony

we say we're friends, we play pretend

you're more to me

we create the perfect harmony

[zresources]

yet another gif coloring tutorial

Okay, so, I posted a coloring tutorial for one of my moots a few years ago on my main, @zackmartin (I believe I've since deleted it) but that was the technique I was using when I started making gifs 7ish years ago, and I’ve since updated my routine so I decided to post a new tutorial with my new technique.

I'm going to show you how I achieved this:

I'm using Photoshop for this. I'll try to make this as detailed as possible so it's beginner-friendly, but you do at least need to know how to make and export a gif. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out! just be aware, this tutorial really image-heavy

A few notes before I begin: 1) this is like, the bare minimum most basic way to color a gif. This is what I’d be doing if I was giffing a scene and that’s it. If you’re interested in different coloring styles (like my suite life episode series) then let me know! 2) When coloring gifs with POC, you need to make sure not to change their skin color by making them too light, too orange, too yellow etc. The JATP source blog posted a masterpost of different tutorials to teach you how to color gifs in different ways (like with the pastel coloring for instance) without whitewashing/orangewashing POC. But, honestly there’s a ton of tutorials out there that show you how to avoid this if you do a little digging. NO EXCUSES! 

Anyway, let's get started! Before I do the coloring, I ofc make my gif, crop it, set the frame rate, resize, and sharpen. (you can find my sharpening tutorial HERE)

I. BRIGHTENING

(as a quick note, I don't focus much on London's skin tone during this stage, because I'm going to fix it during later steps)

The first thing I do is white balance using a curves layer. To do this, I click the little circle thing in the toolbar below the layers, and then click curves like so (you'll do this every time you want to add a new layer):

And then I click the bottom eyedropper tool on the left-hand side:

Then I click the lightest white part of the gif. (I’m not sure how to explain this well, but it basically white balances that spot to make it pure white. Like, if I clicked on the gold part of London's bracelet, then the whole gif would turn out really blue because it would be trying to white balance the gold) (hopefully that makes at least a little bit of sense)

Anyway, there’s a trick I use to find the lightest part of the gif; hold down the option key (or alt if you’re on windows) and while you’re holding down the option key, drag the little white arrow on the right-hand side:

(i apologize for the quality of the screenshots, tumblr keeps destroying them :/ let me know if I need to clarify anything)

Then I use another curves layer to do the same thing with but with the blacks. So, I add another curves layer, and then click the eyedropper tool at the top this time:

And then I click the darkest, black part of the gif. You can use the same trick by holding the option/alt key and dragging the triangle on the left-hand side:

Next, I add a levels layer. I drag the middle lever thing to the left, and the left lever to the right. (I don’t usually touch the little lever thing on the far-right, but it’s really up to personal preference. I learned to color gifs by basically messing around with settings, so I’d recommend doing the same and just seeing what you like best):

Finally, if I want to go even brighter, I usually add a brightness/contrast layer. I typically turn up the brightness a bit, and turn down the contrast. But, since I brightened a lot with the curves and levels, I usually don’t go that far. These were the settings I used for this particular gif (even though I'm going to share most of the settings that I used, I wouldn't recommend using the exact same ones on your own gif as it'll really depend on the scene you're using):

II. VIBRANCE

Now I add a vibrance layer. I like my gifs to be bright and vibrant, so I usually turn up the vibrance, and turn down the saturation a bit. These are the settings I used for this particular gif:

And this is what the gif looks like so far with just brightening it up a bit and adding vibrance (it might look a bit too bright right now, but I'm going to fix that in later steps):

III. SELECTIVE COLOR

Now, I add a selective color layer. The reds and yellows typically affect skin tones, so this is where I'll start to fix London's. These are the settings I used for this gif (I usually wouldn't change all of the colors, but this is just one of those situations where they happened to be present in the scene I'm giffing):

IV. HUE/SATURATION

now I add a hue/saturation layer. I typically turn up the master saturation to +10 and the lightness between +3 - +5 regardless of the gif. Then if I still need to fix skin tones, I'll mess around with the reds and yellows. These are the settings I used:

V. PHOTO FILTER

Next, I add a photo filter. I usually stick with the default one, I keep the layer set to normal, and I turn the opacity down to 25%:

VI. B&W GRADIENT MAP

finally, I add a black & white gradient map, and I click the little box to reverse it:

Then I set the layer to soft light and I turn the opacity down, between 10% - 20% depending on the gif:

A lot of times, I'll stop here. If I'm satisfied with the way the gif looks, and London's skin isn't too pale/orange/yellow etc, then I could just add my watermark, export and be done. But, there a few other optional steps I might take if I'm still not quite happy with it.

VII. OPTIONAL

Usually the next thing I'll add if I've decided to keep going is a color balance layer. It obviously does as it says, helps balance out the colors, but some gifmakers also like their gifs to have like, a reddish tint or a bluish tint or what have you, so this can help with that too. I wanted to balance out the reddish/yellowish tint, so these are the settings I used:

and this was the gif before the color balance:

and after:

And if I want to play around with the colors a bit more, or fix the skin tones further, I might add another selective color layer or a hue/saturation layer (or both, depending).

Rarely, I might add an exposure layer. (I added one to this gif for the purposes of this tutorial). These are the settings I used for that:

And if the gif came out a bit too bright, I might add another brightness/contrast layer, except this time I would turn down the brightness and turn up the contrast (again, I did that with this gif for the purposes of this tutorial).

And, that's pretty much it! This is my finished gif!

Like I said earlier, I pretty much learned how to color by messing around in photoshop, so I would really recommend playing with the different layers and settings for yourself, as well as checking out other coloring tutorials and other gifmakers methods and see what you like and what you don't. And finally, the best thing you can do is just,,, practice. I've been gifmaking for about seven years, but I feel like I didn't really become decent at it until this year

Again, If you have any questions let me know! and feel free to tag me in your creations! #userzackmartin 💕

[gay-flyboys]

First Line Analysis

Okay, @read-and-write- tagged me in this while at work, but this is so fun.

RULES: post the first lines of your last 10 fics/chapters posted on AO3 (if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics) and try to draw some conclusions.

I went with only fics, not chapters, because otherwise it would be wholly dominated by two fics and that's not fun. Though I am curious what it would look like if I broke it down by chapter.

(This is maybe the widest variety of fandoms that could have happened, so I've labeled for ease of... something)

(Life In Full Bloom) (RWRB) "It’s 2024, and one person knows they’re engaged—a tattoo artist who spent the better part of two hours signing NDAs and etching delicate ink into the fragile skin of Henry and Alex’s hands, right where newly minted gold rings would sit."

(Hair Twined With Flowers) (RWRB) "Mud, fun fact, was a remarkably slippery substance after the first rain of the practice season."

(Tornt) (Fantasy High/Garfield) "Honestly, he doesn’t even know how he ended up in this situation."

(True Colors Shine In Darkness and in Secrecy) (RWRB) "10:54 PM, his phone says."

(Oxidation) (RWRB) "It’s in times such as these that Alex is catapulted back to his junior year of high school, studying Hamlet in his early morning English class."

(Still Singin' Here Above the Ground) (RWRB) "As long as Henry can remember back, he’s always been a watcher."

(His Greatest Fears and Wringing Hands (The Loudest Silence)) (Spiderman: ATSV) "'No. No, no no nono, Peter-'” Miguel’s voice can’t reach far enough."

(Across the Rubicon) (JATP) "When Bobby was asked by his teachers about his plans for the summer after graduating high school, he had bragged about the summer tour that Sunset Curve had managed to make happen."

(Sun Bleach) (The Hunger Games) "Despite his reputation and the several drinks he’s downed by lunch, Haymitch would say that he’s a rather perceptive guy."

(The Devil Took Your Breath Away) (Top Gun (Movies)) "The first thing he hears is from the mouth of his soon-to-be best friend."

Analysis!

Only two of these begin with dialogue. This is a thing I think I'm aware of, but not something I consciously think of as something I do.

Similarly, only one of these is less than 10 words. I be yapping. Love me some commas and dashes.

I apparently only write from the POV of masc characters (not surprising, I almost only write MM fics), and it's hit or miss if I tell you who is speaking immediately.

One of these was mostly written by one of my beta readers (i think i edited it a little) and to ME it sticks out, but I'm curious if anyone else can find it.

I feel like, despite my best efforts to encompass the fic in one sentence, I end up being really fucking cryptic all the time.

No Pressure Tags!

@littlemisskittentoes @inexplicablymine @happiness-of-the-pursuit @firenati0n @gayrootvegetable

@anincompletelist @msmarvelouswinchester @songliili @affectionatelyrs @rockyroadkylers

---

Did you make it this far? Sick. Have the first few lines from current Wips. No, i won't say what they're from

"Despite being surrounded by nearly his entire family, Henry has never felt so alone."

"The settee really isn’t made for two people to lounge on, and yet, Alex and Henry manage."

"As Alex turns off the shower, he realizes just how little the fan in his hotel room is doing to prevent condensation from building up."

[leebee128]

About me

I'm too lazy to make a whole template and stuff. But yeah This will mainly be reblogs of stuff I'm obessed with but sometimes I will send paragraphs and stuff from my own books and drawings that I made. On all platforms, I go by Kay and use She/her. I LOVE to obsess over things/hyperfixate. Its just so FUN

Fandoms:

Breaking Bad

Ride the Cyclone

The Boys (only on season 3 ep 2 NO SPOILING)

Night at the Museum (haven't seen the fourth)

Smiling friends

Skins (only gen 1)

Bojack Horseman

Shameless

Greys Antonmy (i forgot how to spell but ykwim)

911

Glee

JATP

The beatles

SNL

Epic The Musical

Hobbies:

Writing

Drawing (not that much)

Reading

Watching Shows/Movies

songwriting

guitar

LISTENING TO MUSIC

DNI: homophobes, racists, zionists, basically any of that type of stuff.

[littlemissaddict]

Hi don’t know if I ever sent in this request in but a Luke from Julie and the phantoms x reader were the reader is getting physically hit by carrie because Carrie wants the reader to steal her one of Luke’s songs seeing how successful the reader and Julie’s band is doing but the reader refuses like finds out and tries to give Carrie the song but the reader won’t let him

Hi, so I've just written one very similar to this that I don't know if you sent or someone else did and while I don't really write for jatp anymore I written a little something for you anyway. I apologise for it only being short but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

You recognised the voice immediately, the calling of your name from down the empty hallways, how could you not when you had been friends since you were tiny or you had been up until a year ago when she cut you all off when you stuck by Julie after her mom passed. Closing your locker you briefly braced yourself for the onslaught that you were about to endure before turning to greet her as civil as you could.

"Carrie" you acknowledged her as she came to a stop in front of you.

"I need you to do something for me" she spoke, skipping over the pleasantries and getting straight to the point, "I need you to steal me one of your boyfriends songs"

"Excuse me" you blinked at her, surely you had heard her wrong.

"Listen it's no secret that since you added those holograms" she added air quotes to them which gave you the impression that she had somehow worked out the boys secret but that seemed impossible, "to your little group that it has gained you all some traction in the music world so I," she pointed to herself as if it wasn't already obvious who she was speaking about, "need you to steal me a song befitting the vibe that Dirty Candi brings that will propel us to stardom"

"Listen Carrie you may think nothing of stealing from a friend but I would never do something like that so I'm sorry but you'll have to try something else to help propel you to stardom" you replied, repeating her own words back to her in hopes of her seeing how ridiculous she was being.

"Oh I'm sure you can be persuaded to help an old friend out" she smiled sweetly, trying her best as if you couldn't see right through that fake smile of hers.

"No Carrie I really can't be now please don't ask again" you told her, watching as the smile fell from her face only to be replaced with what you could only describe as rage for not getting her own way.

What happened next, you definitely did not see happening and from the shock on Carrie's face afterwards neither did she, which told you the slap you received across the face was a spur of the moment reaction that she hadn't fully thought through. Though despite it not being premeditated didn't mean that it didn't sting and Carrie didn't stick around for much longer after that so you couldn't have done much even if you had wanted to. Not that you did, you were one to let go which is what you did with what had just happened because something told you that she wouldn't be back anytime soon asking for a song.

The stinging had subsided by the time you had reached the studio but to your surprise it was empty apart from Luke whose face lit up when he saw you. Placing his guitar to the side and jumping up from the couch to come greet you but he comes to a sudden stop just before you.

"What happened to your face? Why does it look like a handprint? Did someone hit you?" You sigh realising that while your face may not sting anymore it didn't mean that the mark had gone down if Luke's quick fire questions were anything to go by.

"Carrie" was all you got out before Luke interrupted.

"Carrie? Why would she hit you?" Luke wondered out loud as he gently brought a hand up to your face, running his fingers across the marked skin all the while his eyes never leaving your face to gauge your reaction as he didn't want to hurt you anymore than you'd already been.

"She wanted one of your songs for Dirty Candi, I refused to steal one for her" you replied with a shrug, preparing yourself for the worst as you knew how protective Luke was over his songs.

"All this over a song?" he asked in disbelief, "if she's gonna hurt you over something as silly as this she can have one, she can have them all I don't care but I do care about you" he revealed. You warmed at his confession, even though you knew he cared but to hear that he cared more about you than his songs was definitely something but you still stood by your earlier statement that Carrie was not getting one of his songs.

You shook your head as you spoke, "Don't even think about giving her one, she's not taking credit for something you have worked so hard on" you told him sternly, "if she wants to get ahead in the music world then she needs to work for it and not expect it to be a given right because nothing in this world is" you finished only to find Luke staring at you with a weird look on his face.

"I love it when you get so passionate about something"

"Yeah well you better listen and not give her what she wanted" you narrowed your eyes at him knowing that he like to distract to get you off a topic then go and do exactly what you'd asked him not to.

"I did, no songs for Carrie" he confirmed, though he would talk to Julie about getting her to watch whenever she was around because he couldn't have you getting hurt again.

"Good, now lets go find everyone" you say with a tug on his hand as if you didn't know that you'd find them in the Molina's kitchen.

[locksley-cxli-polyvoresets]

Some possible Haley and Jayla looks for the last ep of part 1 of their JATP AU, made in the Lavender Valley Remade Meiker.

I'll admit right now I think I messed up Haley's skin tone. Sigh.

[interestinglittlerelationship]

For the word game— cold for jatp and/or Gilmore girls?

I didn’t have anything for this so it took me a little while to figure out where it might work! Thanks for the ask!

The chill is bone deep, it seeps through his jacket, though his shirt, through his skin, until it’s all he can feel. He can’t remember ever being this cold.

And Jess is a street kid from New York City, he knows cold nights, knows the hallow feeling of an empty stomach, knows the desperation of having nowhere to go. This isn’t the first time he’s slept in a car, that was the winter he was eight and Liz forgot to pay the rent.

But it’s worse somehow, with the diner twenty feet away, where he knows there’s a warm bed and food and an uncle who, even after everything, Jess is almost certain wouldn’t turn him away, 99.9% certain in fact.

But it’s the lingering 0.1% that stops him from climbing those front steps, that tingling doubt that Luke might be just about ready to give up on him, just like everyone else had, just like he probably deserves.

And that’s what he’s thinking when someone knocks on the car window.

Jess startles, peering through the frosted over glass. Not someone, Luke, because who else would care if Jess froze to death out here.

“Come inside, kid,” Luke says gruffly when Jess has finished cranking down the window a few inches, “No reason to waste a perfectly good bed.”

Send me a word and a fandom and I'll send you a passage where it appears in my WIPs. If I don't have that word anywhere, I'll write something new!

[thedeathdeelers]

writing pattern game

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns! (from most recent to least recent, starting from the top). Tagged by @onlygenxhere

hmmmm ok this should be interesting (i’m only counting the ones up on ao3 as Published)

1. rent is due (Hidden Love TV 2023)

“I’m a very generous and gracious person,” Sang Zhi announces one day out of the blue.

2. falling for you; falling through you (jatp)

He lands with ease on familiar linoleum flooring, having gotten the hang of this whole ghost thing.

3. mirror mirror on the wall (Hidden Love TV 2023)

Her phone rings first thing in the morning, startling her from her sleep.

4. finally (jatp)

“Come oooon Luke, just one date.” Julie slumps against Luke’s side, head resting on his shoulder as she tilts her face up towards his to better flutter her eyelashes at him, pout already in place.

5. i’m not the same as i used to be (i think i’m haunted by the things i’ve seen) (jatp)

A gentle nudge near her legs wakes her up, the old weathered leather beneath her bare arms sticking to her skin.

6. your lipstick stain is a work of art (jatp)

He straightens his collar for the millionth time, tugging at his shirt sleeve as his fingers brush over the cuffs Julie had bought him a few days ago.

7. a hike and a surprise (jatp)

She’s not sure why she agreed to this.

8. sweet sweet fantasy (jatp)

He stayed away all day in an attempt to be thoughtful — Julie has exams this week, and she has repeatedly told him that he is more distraction than company (and so what if he’s smug about it?).

9. the breathings of his heart (jatp)

It’s a quiet lazy afternoon, with only the sounds of the soft rain pattering against the studio roof keeping them company.

10. est-ce le diable qui s’est incarné en elle? (jatp)

Luke poofs back outside the studio doors, having left Reggie and Alex behind at the skatepark with Willie.

i start a lot of my fics with “he” or “she” or half way through a conversation, kinda keeping it vague to start with?? i like to jump right into the middle of the story rather than wasting my time setting it up cause im Very Impatient so yeah. there’s that?

i’mma tag @lydias--stiles, @mac-lilly & @missjoolee and literally anyone else who wants to join in!

[legolasghosty]

214 for you :D

Heheh thank you!!! This is a little more than that, from my JatP Jem and the Holograms AU!

She could feel her brothers�� anticipation gathering around her in the small space, gathering against her skin; an energy that connected the four of them. And then the elevator doors slid open with a soft ding, and she got her first glimpse of the LA skyline out the floor to ceiling windows on the other side of the room, and she felt that energy inside her too. Because they were here. Up at the top of the City of Angels.

Caleb didn’t waste any time admiring the view. He headed straight out of the elevator, motioning for them to follow over his shoulder. Julie made herself take a proper breath in as she hurried after him. Dang the guy walked fast. Even Alex, who had the longest legs out of the four of them, seemed to be struggling to keep up.

“-clothes, hair obviously, then band practice so I can see how they sound,” Caleb was telling a short, blond man with rather striking pink eye shadow when they caught up to him. 

The guy flashed him a smile and a nod, then stepped past him to offer a hand to Julie. “Dahlia, great to meet you,” he said. His makeup sort of reminded Julie of a line from some show about eyeliner being like tiger stripes: a sign to stay on your toes. “I’m Fuego, Mr. Covington’s assistant, welcome to HGC Records.”

“Nice to meet you,” Julie responded, feeling underdressed as she shook his hand. “Julie is fine though, and this is Luke, Reggie, and Alex.”

(Send me a number and I'll write that many words in one of my WIPs and show you!)

[hoeplessl0nging]

Moonglow and Sunspots

The moon and sun are two halves of a whole, forever intertwined in the dance of love and light. What is dead may never die and the music waits for no one, so why bother waiting for a "right" when the perfect harmony was there all along? This is the song of Julie and Luka. [5.6k words]

essentially this is a Julie/female!Luke fic, since im a sucker for jatp || cross-posted on ao3

A gentle tune resonated through the garage, the gentle strumming of the acoustic guitar weaving a melodic web of notes. Julie sighed and leant back against the couch. Plush pillows and old blankets pressed against her skin like a hug. She closed her eyes and soaked in the energy of the room. Her hands folded across her belly, fidgeting with her rings and tracing over the edges of her nails.

Reggie was quietly going through the bags of stuff in the loft, sorting piles of clothes and other stuff occasionally marvelling at one of the finds with an “Oh, I remember that!” or sharing an anecdote of the item. Alex was out, gone somewhere Julie knew not.

Luca was the one playing the guitar, humming along to herself before momentarily pausing to scribble something down in her notebook-songbook, like her dream journal. Julie watched her move from the corner of her eye, the slight crinkle to her brow, the way she’d worry her lip and fumble with the pen from time to time, slipping through her phantom fingers. Fingers that always moved so naturally, with such a practised ease across the frets and strings of the guitar.

The world beyond their studio, her mom’s studio, Sunset Curve’s studio, was dark, crickets chirped away in the garden. Warm golden lights, from both fairy lights and scattered floor lamps, dim and friendly gleamed against the windows, off the glossy white finish of the freshly painted-still drying grand piano. Julie blinked again, staring up at the floating furniture.

It was nice to have music back in her life again, even if she’d had  to be dragged back to it, kicking and screaming by three ghosts ever so passionate about the topic. She smiled slightly, something sweet and sad and bitter all at once – if her mom had met them, the charming ghost band Julie had begun to think of as hers, adorable Reggy, sweet Alex, and passionate Luka, Julie was certain she’d love them too.

Luka cleared her throat. “Jules, are you napping or can I run this by you?”

The curly haired girl blinked blearily, though she sat up against the couch and nodded her head. “Go for it, Lu.”

Luka’s lips rose, bearing her pearly teeth in the beginnings of a grin. She was pretty all of the time, but it was her smile that made her face come alive. - When she smiled that the world stopped. When she smiled, Julie suddenly found herself out of breath.

“Okay, so, working on a new song. Maybe for our next gig or whenever?” She screwed her nose up slightly, and shook her head, Julie furrowed her brow, she huffed out a breath and sat up only to lean forward, resting an elbow on her knee. “So what I’m thinking is..”

-

“You guys haven’t heard of Paramore?” Julie’s heart dropped from her chest to her feet. Flynn’s sudden startled-shocked-hurt shout carried across the garage, their studio, at the words of her best friend.

Reggie’s brow furrowed, “Who are they?”

“What about MCR?” Flynn cut in sharply. The ghosts all shook their heads, Julie mimicked the motion.

She put her hand over her heart and asked the empty space around the garage, “Panic! at the Disco? I mean before they split and Brendan Urie made it all suck.”

“No.” Julie relayed again, though she asked her own. “Good Charlotte?”

They all shook their heads.

“What do you mean no? I thought they formed in 1995?”

Luka raised her shoulders and threw herself onto her couch. “Yeah, we formed in 1991, but we only released our debut album the same year we died, Julie.”

“Oh, yeah.” The words tasted like ash on her tongue. How could she keep forgetting the whole being dead thing?

“Sorry, sometimes it just feels like I’ve known you all forever, I forget you’ve missed out on the last 25 years of music.”

“Twenty five years!” Flynn shouted in shock. “They haven’t started catching up on music yet?! Julie, I thought you’d’ve got them all caught up by now.”

“No, I haven’t yet.” Julie replied, a bashful look on her face. She ran a hand through her curls, pastel nails scratching her scalp.

Luka poofed behind her, the sudden appearance a cold explosion of supernatural force. She smiled at Julie as she leaned over her shoulder. “Still, it’s sweet.”

Alex nodded, as did Reggie, though it was the blonde ghost that spoke. “Feels like we’ve known you forever too.”

Her chest filled with a fuzzy feeling. They were saying she felt like one of them. Like a real part of the band, not a new member or a means to an end, they were saying she was family. 

Flynn waved her hand, pacing back and forth, parallel to the studio doors. “Julie, you know what this means?”

Julie had the audacity to shake her head.

Her best friend made a hurt expression, exclaiming. “They don’t know Beyonce, or Kanye or Taylor Swift! Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Britney Spears, all missing from their mindspace of pop culture and music experiences! The works of Florence Welch, SZA and Ethel Cain mean nothing to them. They never got to listen to good kid, m.A.A.d city or any other Kendrick album or any indie rock or, or, midwest emo.”

“Hey! I’ve listened to Texas is the Reason.” Reggie cut in, though Flynn could not hear or see him. Luka snickered and Alex whacked the back of her head, as if to scold her for laughing at him. Julie rolled her eyes. Ghosts would be ghosts. 

 She kept speaking, however, “They’ve never heard of One Direction, or 5sos, or Halsey or Demi Lovato or fucking Hannah Montanna. They’ve never seen High School Musical! They’re from a pre-Hamilton- No, a pre-Wicked world.”

Alex screwed up his face. “What the fuck is pre-hamilton meant to mean? Is it like an illness?”

Luka snorted out a laugh, brilliant like the sun in her exclamation. Once she stifled the cackles back into something manageable she said.  “No, it’s a poster in the back of Julie’s closet, near this other one with the coloured robot lions and cartoon people.”

“What were you doing in my closet?” She asked sharply, brow quirked and arms folded over her chest, interrupting Flynn’s impassioned rant. Julie could feel Flynn’s eyes boring into the back of her head in something akin to confusion, yet she chose to ignore it.

The ghost girl looked guilty, like a puppy caught doing something it shouldn’t have been doing. “Nothing.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, sure you were Lu.”

“Sorry.”

 “Flynn’s right though, guys.” Julie glanced at Flynn, a look of shared knowing passing between their minds. “You’ve never heard You’ve got the Dirtee Love, it needs to be fixed.”

“That sounds like something friends shouldn’t be talking to each other about.” Alex screwed up his face.

Luka snickered again, though she just shrugged when Julie gave her a glare.

Reggie waved a hand at both Luka and Alex, “So, we get a ghost pop-culture montage. Let’s go.”

Julie gave the nod as she turned to the other girl in the studio. Flynn’s lips split into a grin and she pulled her braids back into a ponytail. “This is going to be fun.”

The three phantoms spared an anxious-reluctant-excited look between each other.

It was a hell of music, movies, pop culture recap videos and Youtube drama videos. Several hours of the “key figures” of the last half of the 90s, 2000s, 2010s and several more blasting arguably “the most culturally significant albums and music videos in this generation’s history.” As Flynn had so eloquently put it before subjecting everyone to Jojo Siwa’s Boomerang.

Julie had nearly died of laughter at the look of absolute horror on the phantom’s faces. 

“We’re going to haunt you for this.” Reggie deadpanned. But by 1:13, Alex had a little grin on his face, barely holding back his own chuckles. Luka was still too stunned to speak.

Alex clicked his tongue, “You know what? She reminds me of Carrie.”

Julie snorted an ugly laugh, a cackle breaching her throat. How she wished Flynn could have heard it too.

The other girl looked at her in confusion. She laughed more trying to explain it. Julie couldn’t get the words out around her giggles, eventually just pointing to the screen and breathlessly stating, “Carrie.”

Flynn chuckled too, a hand clapping over her mouth as it sent her face first into the ground.

Thankfully, her best friend recovered faster from the joke, so that by the time it was over, she’d shifted the group back to the real music that defined the 2000s and 2010s, as well as a healthy mix of their upcoming and/or underground favourites, before they made the transition into movies and TV shows, some of which had so conveniently packaged away by other people into best moments compilations or character x being iconic for x minutes straight.

Julie and Flynn had made the excuse of a sleepover to her dad, said excuse also worked as an adequate reason to lock Carlos out of the garage when he came to harass them. It would be a bit weird to try and talk to the ghosts around him. What if he tried to play exorcist again?

They were curled in a blanket fort, the two living girls repainting their nails and talking quietly as they absentmindedly supervised the ghosts.

Alex had joined in on the Britney Spears choreo in the music videos, much to everyone who could perceive him’s amusement.

Reggie and Alex had in particular enjoyed Glee, though all three had been fixated on the screen as Flynn had played the video of Kurt and Mercedes performing 4 minutes. Julie had filed that information away for later.

Luka had sung along to Check Yes Juliet at the top of her lungs when it had come up on shuffle, and also to Stupid for You earlier. But now, Luka was completely and entirely fixated on the screen as they were half way through Pitch Perfect, a Lorde album playing in the background on an old cd player that her mom had stashed away. Julie had smiled sadly at the dahlia stickers on it.

Reggie had shed his leather jacket and was scribbling stuff down in a little notebook, having hijacked Julie’s old ipod to listen to After Laughter with one earbud, though he’d glance up to the screen every now and then.

It was quiet, homely, like those sleepovers where you barely had to speak but were still understood. The ones where you could do your own thing but still hang out together without feeling bad.

-

The sunset glimmered golden and pink and violet, casting the room in a dusky orange glow. The pale lilac of Julie’s bedroom walls washed out as the sun spread out against the sky. It was quiet, sort of, she laid flat on her stomach on her soft bed, eyes closed and in that state of half-asleep, a pen scratched at the paper with a fury.

It had been hours. Hours of silence, yet she was not alone. Out of the corner of her eyes, Julie spied Luka, kicking her legs back and forth, chewing on the end of her pen. She’d been there when Julie had left for school that morning, asking for somewhere quiet to work. Julie had let her in with a smile, and she had been there when she’d gotten home.

Though the ghost girl had greeted her with an absent smile and a few soft words, there was little else. Julie sighed loudly, pressing her face closer to her comforter. Luka just kept writing away. She’d already finished all her homework, spent at least an hour messaging Flynn non-stop, responded to Nick’s texts and scrolled through all her social media aimlessly, she’d even organised her pinterest – hell, it was almost dinner, and yet Luka still remained, writing with the same fervour, writing like she was running out of time.

She twiddled her fingers and peeked at the girl from the corner of her eye. Would it be rude to interrupt her? Maybe, but Julie gave in to the impulse. Luka would understand. They had that kind of easy going connection, anyways. Her dark brow furrowed. “Lu, you alright?”

 “Hmm, yeah? Why, what’s up, Jules?” Luka turned her head instantaneously, sitting up with a goofy grin on her lips. Her phantom joints popped and crunched, she winced at the sound.

“You haven’t moved all day, have you?” Julie said, worrying her lip.

“I’ve been here all day?” She asked innocently, like it was nothing out of the normal. After a painfully long second, realisation crept over her. Dark honey coloured eyes widened, her jaw dropped.

Julie sat up on her bed, “Yeah, it’s seven o’clock. Aren’t you hungry?”

Luka shrugged. “No, not really.”

“That’s not healthy.” The words slipped bluntly from her tongue. She picked at her fingers. God, why did I say that? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

A half-smile bore from her lips, “Julie, baby, I’ve been dead for 25 years. That’s not exactly healthy either.”

For some reason, the comment made her snort out a laugh. It wasn’t that funny, yet it made it all the better, but at the same time it also made a part of her wilt, a flower of sadness blooming in her chest.

She had been dead for 25 years, she should have been 42 with a successful music career and a partner and maybe even kids. Her mind darkened, sullen storms behind her eyes as Julie thought to herself of everything that could have been. Luka was robbed of her life too early. Instead of living out her future, she was naught but a memory of the past. A ghost living on, literally laying on the floor in her bedroom. A coffin cracked since the gates were barred.

Julie’s smile felt sour on her face, yet she kept her grin. Luka smiled at the grin on her face and for a moment it felt a little more genuine.

Luka sat up, hands running through her long dark brown hair. It was always so soft looking, and just the perfect amount of mess and style, it was so unfair. She just wanted to run her hands through it. Julie pursed her lips. Luka’s expression flickered. 

“Whatcha working on?” She asked, shrugging her shoulders, her mom’s old silver cardigan slipping down her forearms.

The other girl’s cheeks turned rosy, and she shut the book tightly. She waved a hand, “Oh, nothing.”

Oh really? Julie thought to herself as she raised a brow, she tapped her chin pensively. “Then what have you been doing all day?”

“Little bits of songs, some lyrics, some melodies, honestly, just whatever I can, ‘m excited for our next gig – it's got me inspired, I guess.” Luka shrugged, her tone almost bashful. She smoothed down her Nirvana shirt. She wasn’t wearing her beanie today. 

Julie smiled at her. “Cool.”

The other girl nodded and responded with a question of her own. “How was your day?”

Julie brushed her curls over her shoulder before responding. She sat up on her bed, leaning back against the headboard. “It was alright, chem was good, not much to do, oh and we’re doing dance in PE. Lit was fun, we’re studying Romeo and Juliet so Mrs Danes put on the film.”

“That really old one from the sixties?”

“No, the one from the nineties.”

“There’s one from the nineties?”

“You’ve not seen it?” Julie asked.

“Must of been after… y’know.” Luka winced in return.

“Oh.” Julie frowned.

There was a moment of pause, the silence so loud there might as well have been the ever so cliche crickets chirping.

After another moment, Julie took it upon herself to break the silence, “We can watch it, if you want.” she said, already scooting over in her bed and opening up her laptop. 

Her voice was soft as she replied, filled with a delicate warmth and almost melodic-quality. It reminded her of the honey her mother used to stir into chamomile. “I’d like that, Julie.”

Luka had a soft grin on her face, lips pulled apart to bear shiny teeth. A look like the one Julie had only ever seen her father stare at her mother with lingering in her eyes. Her eyeliner was a little more smudged than normal. Julie gave a final request. “Can you get the lights?”

“As you wish.” Luka poofed to the switch, blanketing the room in the inky darkness before proofing back, small explosion of light shining as she disappeared and reappeared beside her bed. Julie petted the space beside her and the ghost clambered onto the mattress, the bed not even dipping beneath the phantom weight. 

Julie turned to her, “Did you just quote The Princess Bride at me?”

Luka shrugged the covers over them and nestled down beside her. Julie leaned towards her, chasing the slight warm tingle and the sublime sort of feeling sinking into her skin in the place of the warmth of another body. Julie hit play and the film graced the screen.

-

“Yeah— like half an hour ago.” A voice spoke softly. It was just loud enough for her to hear over the gentle breeze and sound of leaves rustling. Julie paused, nosy, though she’d never admit it to anyone.

What were they talking about? She wondered. She had been going to talk to her bandmates, ask some mildly important questions, -y’know, the normal things friends ask each other- she’d reasoned near all day, but now listening from beyond the door sounded much more interesting.

“To her mo..” The rest grew too quiet to hear… but the voice was Reggie’s.

Her fingers coiled against the white paint on the garage door.

“Yeah, she didn’t look too good.” It was Alex’s voice, Julie furrowed her brow. Was something wrong with Luka? Worry lined her stomach, a sickly ilk…, she strained her ears to hear more. “Haven’t seen her this out of it since Cobain died.”

Reggie sucked in a breath through his teeth, a hiss, “That can’t be good.”

Alex made a sound of agreement.

“It is coming up though.” Reggie whispered back, barely loud enough. It was a struggle to hear, even with her ear pressed against the door and every moral teaching since ever, though Julie couldn’t help but listen in.

There were a few moments and the boys drew to silence. She took a breath, leaned back and ran her fingers over her curls, pretending like she hadn’t just been eavesdropping.

“Hey guys,” She announced from the doors, to give them enough time to change topics without it being obvious she was snooping. Julie gave a wave as she stepped in and the two ghosts did their best to play natural – which was entirely antithetical, as the two of them were standing at least three feet apart, Alex whistling and Reggie avoiding eye contact.

Julie spared a glance to the ceiling, her mom’s floating furniture the same as it ever was. The poster of the moon and its phases still hammered into the same spot it always had been.

 She furrowed her brows, what would be the best way to segway into her question? Julie wondered. She sucked in a breath. Better to just get it over with. “What’s Luka short for?”

The boys turned their heads sharply to each other, obviously not the question they were expecting.

A moment’s recovery and Reggie said.  “Trust me Julie, you do not want to know.”

“But I do.” She replied with a shrug.

He gave a shallow laugh. “No, you don’t. She swore us to secrecy.”

Alex nodded his head. “Yeah. I had to make a blood oath just so she’d tell me.”

Reggie looked at him in shock, brow furrowed. “Really? I just used the yearbook.”

Julie blinked.

“Guys!” She shouted, exasperated. Alex, at least had the decency to look bashful.

“Luka doesn’t like her full name.” The blonde explained with a shrug, as if to say well what can you do? His hands in the pockets of his zip up hoodie. His brow furrowed, “Why do you need to know, anyway?”

Julie paused at the question. Blinking in a rapid succession as she tried to come up with something to say other than that Flynn had definitely not shown her an actually incredibly well drawn up contract for her and Luka in math, –She’d only told her about their movie night in Spanish, damn it!– Flynn had also definitely not hushedly asked for clarification on Luka’s full name for said contract either, citing that the ghost girl was only ever listed as Luka or Ms Patterson in articles. Julie had just shrugged at her meekly and fought the flush to her cheeks at the image of a bouquet of white dahlias, dusky pink carnations, pale blue forget me nots and sprigs of fresh lavender that had danced across her mind as the teacher droned on something about quadratics.

“Uhh… no reason. Just curious?” She replied nonchalantly. “I thought Luka must be short for something, I didn’t realise it was such a big secret. Is it embarrassing?”

Reggie and Alex shared a glance. “... No?”

“Then what is it?” Julie asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Sunset Curve loyalty stays first.” Alex blurted out.

Reggie nodded along with him, “Sorry, Julie.”

The girl frowned. “Fine. Why don’t I list names and you say yes or no?”

Alex frowned at the suggestion, but Reggie replied unsurely. “.. Okay?”

And so, Julie got to work listing names. “Lucy, Louise, Lucille, Lori?” Reggie shook his head. “Lou?” 

“Lois?” A shake for no.

“Lorraine?” She tried again.

Reggie looked at her judgmentally. “Lorraine?”

Alex snickered. Julie scowled.

“Luella.”

“Lora.”

“Lana.”

“Lulu.”

“Louanne.”

“Lucas.”

“Lola.”

“Luna.”

“Lewis.”

“Luisa.”

“Lisa.”

“Nope. None of them.” Reggie shrugged and Julie scowled. How had she not said it? It was practically every L name remotely similar.. “Also, Luna? That’s a dog name, not a people name.”

Alex chuckled along with him, though he added pointedly to the other ghost, “Wait, don’t you have a cousin called Coco?”

Julie ignored the affronted look on Reggie’s face or the smug smirk on Alex’. Her jaw hung agape. “Really, none? Can you just tell me?”

“No.” The blonde frowned.

“Come on,” She whined, “A hint, at least.”

Alex sighed, though he began to sound out the beginning in almost slow motion, “Lucr-”

“Dude!” Reggie furiously wove his hand over his neck in a cut it off motion, scowling.

“Wait, there was an r there! I heard an r!” She shouted, pointing, “Let me get up babynames.com!”

“What?” They both shared a look.

Julie shrugged, “Babynames.com? It’s fairly obvious what it’s for.” 

Alex kissed his teeth. “It’s weird that that’s a thing.”

Lou-cre she sounded out in her mind as she typed into the search bar.

“Lucrezia?” She questioned.

It was the way they looked at each other that told her all she needed to know. The almost bashful glance and pursed lips and little hesitant nod was all the admission she needed. Luka’s name was Lucrezia. Sunset Curve was three ghosts called Alexander, Reginald and Lucrezia – It was almost ironic, they sure had the names ghosts would have.

“Do not tell her we told you.” Alex whispered, raising his palm and gesturing to an almost invisible scar on his palm.

She grimaced at the phantom’s hand, though she batted the limb away from her face.. or at least tried to. Her hand phased through it. Julie quickly texted the name to Flynn. If it was the thing that got her interested in contract law, so be it.

Julie’s finger hovered over the name, gently pressing on it and bringing forth the entomology. “The feminine version of Lucretius, meaning profit or wealth, that’s nice… Alternate spellings.. No one really cares … Oh, notable figures! Who’s Lucrezia Borgia?”

“Me and Luka had to do a project about her in history class.” Reggie added noncommittally.

“Where is she anyway? We need to rehearse soon.”

They shared another look. Sharp and a little sad. Alex shrugged though, “She didn’t say. But she’ll probably be back soon.”

Julie frowned. “Oh, okay. We can still get underway without her,”

“Yeah, maybe do some warm ups.”

When she got back, about another half hour later, Luka seemed sad. She played with her usual easy expertise, yet there was a certain melancholy. She didn’t make eye contact, merely hid behind her bangs and pulled her beanie lower.

The slowly setting sun dipped behind a cloud, casting the room in shadow despite the dim yellow lights that lined the ceiling. She sounded a little raspier than the usual rasp she sung with, and seemed small, wavering on other notes, as though they were as fragile as glass and they’d break. The ghost wasn’t as energetic. Worry pooled in her stomach, an almost unsteady feeling in her bones and swirling in her stomach like a sickness.

Something was wrong with Julie’s ghost. Her voice was rough and nose a little red, and when Julie looked a little closer, beneath her smudged, grungy eyeliner her eyes were red and puffy.  She frowned, forehead lines crinkled deep. All she could wonder was what happened to her ghost?

Later on, as they’d called it quits for the night, after the metronome had driven everyone a little stir crazy, Julie managed to corner her up in the loft.

She was curled up, knees to her chest on the floor. Julie sat to her side, Luka didn’t respond to direct confrontation well and sitting to her side made it feel a little less confrontational. 

Julie rested her chin on her hands, “What’s wrong?”

Luka shrugged, though their eyes did not meet. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

“You look sad, Lu.” She tried again, “You can tell me.”

“I-“ She started, though cut herself off before she could say anything else. “I don’t know.” 

She sighed, sinking deep beneath her flannel. It was quiet for a while, Julie fidgetted, still glancing at the ghost girl from the corner of her eyes and chewing at the inside of her cheek. After a moment of looking pensive, she began again, “I guess it’s kind of bittersweet, we’re just a few steps shy of our big break, again, I can feel it, Jules… but me and the boys died before we could, but here we are again. We’ve got a new band and a new lead singer, but we’re here. We’re on the edge of great.”

Julie was sensing a but. She nodded along, “But, you wish you got to do it the first time, to live your dream.”

Luka nodded, teeth digging into her lip. Julie blinked. It was their unfinished business after all, wasn’t it? Luka and Reggie and Alex had to play at the Orpheum so they could pass on fully. It wouldn’t last. It could never last. Shards of glass coiled in her belly. They’d have to go, all have to leave her too, pass on into the afterlife, heaven or wherever it was that the spirit went after death. She couldn’t love Luka, not when they both knew the end was so near. They always had. Built to end, born to die. Like Romeo and Juliet.

“Yeah… and I’m mad.” She admitted, quieter than she’d ever been. Her voice wavered with each word, emotion bubbling in each syllable and hands wiping over her face and cording through her hair. “I’m so fucking angry at Bobby-Trevor-whatever he wants to fucking call himself – he stole my songs! Over half of my book, gone like nothing. He stole all that was left of me and didn’t even give me a writing credit or my family royalties. He stole My name is Luka, but my name is Luka.” She ranted, tears in her eyes. “He made my life’s work amount to nothing and I can’t even confront him about it. A- and I’m angry I missed your dance and got you grounded and I’m sorry I hurt you. I wish- I don’t know,” Luka drew silent once more, fidgeting with one of her rings, “.. I wish we never had those street dogs..”

Julie nodded, her dark brown eyes peered into Luka’s. Her features painted with regret, tears unshed glimmering in her dark honey eyes. She just hummed - it made her own eyes well with tears, it sounded like the way her mother had used to comfort her.

It hurt in a way, even if she didn’t intend it to. She wishes they never met, a voice Julie had long since learnt to ignore hissed. A sadness circled in her stomach like a snake nonetheless.

Luka sniffed.

The slowly rising moon shone in through a window, pastel purple and twilight blue sky dotted with pink-orange clouds as the pale orb rose into the sky. Julie cracked her knuckles one by one.

The other girl sighed, a deep heavy sound. Luka reached out, as if to grasp her hand. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like that, Jules. You’re amazing, I’m so glad that you’re here, that I get to redo it all with you, Julie. Even if it wasn’t ideal, I love that I met you and get to work with you and your musical genius.”

Her lips quirked up and a warmth flooded her stomach, melancholy spots of sun streaking across the sky and dancing with the silvery moon. The warmth covered her from head to toe like a blanket danced in her belly like butterflies. “Thanks, Lu.”

Luka rested her head on her forearms, knees tucked against her chest. Julie wanted nothing more than to hug her in that moment, to wrap Luka in her arms and let her know she was not alone. Touch could not convey everything she wanted so desperately to say, nor could words, but she tried anyway.

“I love you, you know that, right?” - Is what should have come out, yet it didn’t. It was tied a way with a bundle of purple ribbon and caution tape. Don’t say it, don’t admit it, she can’t stay. Make it easier on yourself. She’s a ghost. She’s going to pass on to the other side. Don’t make it harder than it has to be. The voice screamed, hoarse and teary, like her dad’s speech at her mom’s funeral, like how her tia’s had been over a dinner none of them wanted to eat after everyone else had left.

“I like you, a lot.” Drifted from her lips instead. It sounded juvenile, immature, made her feel like a little kid, offering their crush pretty rocks and pulling pigtails - but it was all she had.

Lu’s face twisted sweetly, lips curved up and warmth deep in those dark honey eyes. An almost halo seemed to light up around her, like a gilded aura. Shimmery and barely there, but there none the less. “I like you too.”

She turned her head back to stare out at the distance, to the far horizon of where the sun had set over the distant sea. Julie reached out almost instinctively, hand wrapping around her shoulder. Warm skin on a barely there warmth that seeped through the fabric of her jumper.

Julie withdrew her hand sharply in response, yet she quickly lowered her fingertips to the back of Luka’s palm, soft textured and warm, but tangible in the way tulle was, light and airy and fragile.

“I can touch you.” She blurted out. Luka just hummed, lost in her own little world.

“Wait, what?” Luka whirled around, eyes lit with confusion and eyebrows furrowed with a sharp sort of attention. All melancholy that haunted her vanquished, at least briefly.

She shot to her feet, Julie followed.

Julie held her hands up, Luka followed. Their palms met and the ghost girl’s face exploded into a grin, breathtaking and airy, like the sun breaking through the cloud cover. Her gilded halo glimmered stronger, glowed brighter. A matching grin of her own opened on her face, like a flower in bloom.

Dark honey coloued eyes dipped down, was she looking at her lips? Julie blinked and found her own gaze trailing to the phantom’s lips. Her smile had turned soft, barely there and delicate. She leaned in, slowly, tentatively. Luka’s eyes fluttered shut.

Like that, their lips pressed together, gentle and sweet. Warm and tingly. Her stomach flipped, no, it did a full Olympic routine, butterflies swirling in every bone in her body.

They parted, and for a moment, all the vulnerability, if not more than before, had crept back onto Luka’s face. Her hands trembled. Julie was sure the same vulnerability was echoed on her own features.

“Is this okay?” The phantom asked, voice soft, the quiet meekness in her behaviour so different to the carefree, brave and fierceness of her usual self.

Julie found herself nodding as she pulled the taller girl in for another kiss. It was awkward, neither too experienced, but impassioned and warm and like the ones in the movies. Julie cradled Luka’s face in her hands, like the moon cradled the sun during an eclipse.

And rise through the night you and I

We will fight to shine together

The lyrics of the first song they’d sung together drifted through her mind. Glowing bright, growing strong. 

The moon stared down on them, pale eyes gazing with a comforting chill, the familiar sense of home the celestial body provided. Luka’s hands still felt ghostly in a way, as had her lips. But real. But there. They could do this.

Luka wrapped her arms around her, the hug tighter than any other she’d ever experienced. Julie closed her eyes and squeezed her just as tightly in turn.