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ladykailitha · 6 months ago

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Icarus Part 11

Again, I am working on Paper Hearts and Sweet Home Indiana until they are complete and Paper Hearts just snuck in another chapter so that was fun.

In this we have Corroded Coffin trying to change the culture of metal and the band meets Bob Newby.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

****

Celeste Baptiste was a miracle worker in her field and everyone knew it. Producers and recording studios were chomping at the bit to work with The Fallen the second she put out feelers that their current producer and studio just weren’t meeting the band’s needs.

They decided to go with Starcourt Recording studio as it was closer to home for a lot of the members. Which of course pleased Spence to no end, as it meant that he got to spend more time with Nadia.

They were currently interviewing for producers and had yet to find on that worked for them.

Enter Bob Newby.

****

Bob wasn’t used to working with bands that had alter egos. He heard of them of course. Slipknot, Daft Punk, and others. But he wasn’t a fan of secrecy for the most part and beyond the basic NDAs of contracts, he wasn’t a fan of those really, either.

But there was something about these four men that pulled him in. Especially when he learned that their previous producer had been trying to do with them. It was like he hadn’t listened to them at all and was trying to force them into what he thought metal meant.

So he thought he’d at least speak with them. If they didn’t like him or he didn’t like them, he’d walk away, no skin off his nose.

They walked in all wearing more casual versions of their onstage personas. They wore hoodies and masks of their colors to hind their face and hair, but the rest was all very down to earth. Bob supposed it made sense, after all, they couldn’t record in their tight leather outfits.

He was surprised to see that the drummer’s mask’s eyes were covered unlike the rest of the band and he couldn’t help but wonder if his eyes would give him away, like having some kind of heterochromia or something like that.

“Hey, I’m Bob Newby,” he greeted. “Everyone take a seat. Thanks for coming to meet me at my house studio, I’m two days away from a deadline and am really crunching it.”

“Of course,” the one in white said. He was the only one’s whose mask didn’t completely cover his face. “I would apologize for the subterfuge but it’s kind of our shtick.”

Bob smiled. “So I’ve been told. Tell me a little bit about yourselves.”

The one in white smiled. “I’m Abbadon, I’m the lead singer. I can play guitar, piano, and violin, but we don’t usually incorporate that stuff into our music.”

“Is there a reason why not?” he asked, clasping his hands together and leaning forward on his knees.

The band members looked at each other in shock.

“The label wanted us to stick to metal,” the one in blue said, “They were okay with Abbadon on rhythm guitar to help fill out the sound, but they didn’t want any of that other ‘stuff’.” He put air quotes around stuff.

“They do realize that metal and heavy rock have been using piano for as long as the genre has been a thing, right?” he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Again the band looked shocked.

Bob sighed. He held up his hands. “Wait, wait... we’ll get into all that once all the introductions have been made.”

The one in red and the one in white shared what he assumed was a concerned glance.

“You weren’t told about us?” the one in red asked.

“Oh, no, I was,” Bob replied with a grin. “But I want to hear it from you.”

So they went around and introduced themselves and he was starting form a picture about the band’s dynamic.

“Right,” he said, “I’ve listened to your other albums, seen recordings of your live shows, and even watched interviews and this is my takeaway on your sound. Your last producer was trying to force you into harmonies and melodies of early thrash metal of the 1980s, which isn’t your style at all.”

Astraeus, the one in midnight blue, spoke from his place on the floor, “That’s what we kept trying to tell him. He said that the sound was coming back and if we wanted to compete with the likes of Metallica and Corroded Coffin then that’s direction we needed to be heading as a band.”

Bob let out a long exasperated sigh. “But you can’t compete with them.” He held up his hands when Azrael, the one in black, and Asmodeus, the one in red, bristled. “I’m not saying you’re not as good as they are. Absolutely not. But you’re not in the same genre of metal that they are. It would be like comparing the Rolling Stones and Beatles because they were both British rock bands.”

Astraeus and Azrael shared a glance, one Bob couldn’t interpret with their masks on.

Azrael rolled his eyes. “We’re what our detractors love to call nu metal as if music can’t have more than one sound.”

Bob nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right. You’re vocals tend toward the melodic over the screaming or more guttural sounds of thrash metal. So I would focus on that. The label sent me over the demo and you’ve got a lot of great stuff here. Stuff the other guy didn’t want to touch. Some of the more...” he cocked his head back and forth, “blatantly queer? LGBTQ+? Gay stuff?”

“Queer works,” Abbadon said with a wry note to his voice.

Bob nodded again. “Who is the writer/writers?”

Astraeus and Azrael raised their hands.

“With a little lyrical help from Abbadon,” Asmodeus said darkly.

Abbadon rubbed his back to calm the other man as he bristled at his other bandmates.

“So how does your writing process work?” Bob said ducking his head to his smile.

Astraeus explained how Abbadon would write down his thoughts and feelings and that he would turn them into lyrics for Azrael to turn into songs.

“So I’m guessing that at least either Abbadon or Astraeus is some variation of the rainbow spectrum?” he pressed the band.

The two men in question shared a glance, Astraeus nodded.

“I’m bi and Astraeus is gay,” Abbadon confirmed. “Is that going to be a problem?”

Bob threw laughed. “No not at all. In fact just the opposite. I want you two to come out.”

He couldn’t see their faces but he could feel the blank stares as their eyes bore into him.

“I understand that is a daunting feeling,” he murmured kindly. “But I think it would really boost your image, allow you to be more open with your songs, especially with Starlight Eyes, and it would make more metal artists be more comfortable with an LGBTQ+ label. Because right not a lot of metal stars are out and all of them have come out while being so massively famous that they could ‘take the risk’.”

Asmodeus and Azrael shared a look.

“The two of us are straight though...” Asmodeus said, “I’m literally famous for women throwing themselves at me, is them being out going to hurt either us or them?”

Bob tilted his head to the side. That was a fair question and one that should be considered. But he shook his head. “It shouldn’t. No one is going to expect the whole band to be queer. Take Corroded Coffin for example. Other than their bassist, Brian Martin being ace, he is still attracted to women romantically,” he held up his hands in defense when it seemed that a couple of the band were about to interject, “and I’m not saying he doesn’t count as queer, because I’m not. But the only one with what the average person would consider queer is their frontman, Eddie Munson. He is an out gay man, but even he didn’t come out until they were selling out arenas.”

The other members started teasing their lead singer, ribbing him and making low probably ribald comments.

Bob raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat.

Azrael turned him and Bob could feel the absolute glee radiating off the man. “Abbadon here, has a crush on Eddie.”

His face split into a large grin. “Aren’t you scheduled to tour with them next year?”

Abbadon coughed and cleared his throat. “Yeah, we’re working on that.”

Their manager who had been waiting in the corner on her phone for the meeting to conclude turned to the band. “What do you think, boys? Is Bob our man for the job?”

He looked up at her and then back to the band. “So what do you say? You ready to rock the metal world?”

Abbadon spoke for all of them when he said, “Yeah. Yeah we are.”

****

In the end it didn’t matter what Steve and his band wanted for the tour dates because Gareth’s little stunt landed him in rehab. And Corroded Coffin’s label refused to tour without him.

Which had pissed Eddie off. They had made a deal with Gareth and he had broken the deal first. And as shit as it was, getting a touring drummer was easier than replacing anyone else in the band.

Eddie and his band were doing an interview about Gareth’s sudden stint in rehab, talking about the future of the band.

Only they weren’t dressed like they normally were. They were still in jeans and t-shirts. But their jeans were in various shades of blue and Brian wore a plain white tee, Jeff wore a Taylor Swift Eras band shirt, and Eddie wore pale pink tee with David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust on it.

In short they did not look like a metal band. They looked like three guys, just shooting shit.

It had been a slow change over the summer. Every time the band went for an interview that wasn’t at an event one of them would dress slightly different. Then two or three of them would wear something a little less ‘metal’, until they were all dressed like they were.

The interviewer, Jenna Peterson looked as uncomfortable to be interviewing them as they looked to be interviewed.

“So let’s start with something softer,” she said, crossing her legs and simpering, “so why don’t we first first talk about your shift in style.”

Jeff threw back his head and laughed. “Good god! We don’t wear the ‘uniform’ for a couple of interviews and we get the clothes question.”

Brian shook his head.

“You think all those leather and chains and shit is comfortable?” Eddie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe, maybe not. But it sure is hot as hell,” she said cocking her head.

Jeff snorted and ran his tongue over his lips. “We were getting tired of the hate metal stars get for wearing anything but leather and black denim. Do you know how fucking hot that shit gets?”

“Like there was a bassist from a huge metal band,” Eddie said, agreeing, “that was papped wearing a graphic tee and cargo shorts standing outside of a shop where his wife was shopping and suddenly everyone was talking about how he sold out and that he was disrespecting the genre. Dude was sixty or some shit. If he can’t wear what makes him comfortable without being told he’s selling out, than what hope is there for up and coming bands from being shunned because they ‘don’t conform’ to the aesthetic of being in a metal band.”

Jenna smirked and tilted her head. “Is this about The Fallen and their assertion that they wouldn’t have been welcomed if they had been themselves.”

Jeff and Eddie shared a glance.

“I won’t lie,” Jeff said, “and say that wasn’t a part of it. But it was also because one of my good friends from high school was a huge metal fan. Loved all the greats. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Dio, Black Sabbath...like was the biggest fan of all of them. Had all their albums on vinyl, posters on her wall, but other than the odd band t-shirt she sure as hell didn’t dress like a metalhead.”

Jenna leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand, elbow propped up on her knee. “So what did she dress like?”

Eddie snorted, rolling his eyes. “She was a cheerleader with a fondness for pink and frilly. She loved floral prints and cardigans for fuck’s sake.”

Jenna sat back in shock. “Wait, really?”

Brian nodded, scratching his cheek thoughtfully. “Yeah. She’s our manager now. But the push back she would get for not dressing like a metalhead and just being a girl was repulsive.”

“We apologized to her about not trying to change the culture around what a metalhead should look like,” Jeff said, “and she waved us off. Said that if it had bothered her she would have said something herself. But she was the one that helped carefully curate what we wore so that it went smoother.”

“We’ve been talking to other bands, too,” Brian said. “Getting them to help. We are supposed to the genre about non-conformity but here we are pushing a conformity on people in the same story, different font.”

Jenna returned to her simpering, she batted her eyelashes at Jeff. “Is The Fallen among those you’ve asked to help?”

“No,” came Eddie’s blunt answer.

She reared her head back in shock and blinked at him for a moment. “Why not? It seems to me that of all the bands to need to dial it back, The Fallen would be at the top of that list.”

Brian snapped his fingers. “And that would be why. They don’t need to dial it back. Maybe they would be as famous as they are without the masks and shit, but now it’s integral to who they are as a band. And we aren’t going to make them change to make other people more comfortable.”

Jenna uncrossed and crossed her legs. “Well, good luck. So you just finished your ninth album, tell me about that process.”

They talked about the album and Gareth’s battle with substance abuse.

The interview never got less awkward, but Corroded Coffin handled it with such grace that a lot of people were calling Jenna out on social media for being the absolute worst choice for that interview.

****

Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

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hmusunoo · 1 month ago

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𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈�� - 𝐒𝐉𝐘 - RELEASED DRAFT (WILL NOT CONTINUE)

▏pairings. ROCKSTAR!JAKE x REPORTER!READER

▏desc. JAKE is sick of everyone judging him. He’s famous, loves to party and loves to fuck even more, what’s so wrong with that? When a Goody-two shoes reporter makes a highly criticizing article about him and his bandmates they don’t take it very well, enacting a plan to get her to fall in love with him and change her story.

▏warnings.partying, drug use, alcohol use (I'm being fr here y'all they do a lot of drugs)the members of enhypen as SHOUT OUT(the rock band)- except ni-ki, jungwon and sunoo. Not proof read. THIS IS A RELEASED DRAFT. IT WILL NOT BE CONTINUED, the reason I posted this draft is because I've got multiple people asking for me to post my draft of this. I won't be adding tags to it though, so if you follow me you'll see this. It wont be added to my master list either, enjoy what I thought was gonna be a very very good fic lol. I might regret this in the morning oops.

Jake's gaze had only left the girl in front of him for a brief second, the sound of the door slamming open rustling the lust filled moment that was currently happening. The girl in front of Jake jumped back, spitting Jake's dick out of her mouth in surprise. Her glitter covered eyelids lifting up widening her eyes.

"Out. now." Duri, Shout out's manager spit at the girl. Gathering her things the girl stumbled out of the open door, knees red and dignity in the dirt.

"What the fuck?" Jake slurred eyes heavy lidded "Why did you do that?" Duri's eyes lit up with annoyance. "Drink water, sober up at least a little bit and get your ass out here. We're having a band meeting in ten."

The door slammed closed behind Duri as he walked out of the old backstage dressing room that Jake was cooped up in. Jake leaned against the wall the high from the coke and booze he consumed earlier dwelling down. The haze from high now replaced with a pounding in his head and an ache behind his eyes.

Just a minute ago he was on cloud nine, the feeling of that no name girl's lips wrapped around his dick coupled with the high he felt was euphoric. It's crazy how something like that can fade instantaneously.

Jake dusted his self off adjusting his open zipper and making his way out the door sluggishly. The other members of Shout out sat on couches in the old dingy dressing rooms in the backstage of the venue they had just played at not even an hour ago.

Sunghoon was lazily slung over the arm of the sofa playing on his phone, Heeseung sat next to him head in his hands most likely sporting his usual headache that he gets after concerts.

Jay stood against the wall arms crossed a sour expression on his face as he glared at the floor. Jake rolled his eyes, he knew this was going to be one hell of a shit show if Jay was in a pissy mood. It didn't take a lot to piss the fucker off and honestly Jake wasn't in the right frame of mind to hear the bitching from their leader.

"Where the fuck were you?" Jay spit looking at Jake with his usual disdain.

"I don't have to tell you shit" Jake snarled sitting down besides Heeseung on the old couch.

"Yes the fuck you do. When it comes to affecting our band I need to know what shit you're getting us into" Jay was snarling. His anger radiating off him in waves. Jake could care less though, Jay wasn't his fucking father he didn't get to boss him around whenever he felt like it. He was a grown man and last time he checked his dad was all the way in Australia, where he left him.

"I'm a grown man. When it has nothing to do with the band I don't have to say shit to you" Jake wasn't letting down, no matter how angry Jay got. He was not backing down, not one bit.

Jay pushed himself away from the wall, making his way towards Jake finger pointed out at him, Jake lifted himself from the couch fists clenched ready for anything Jay threw at him. "You're a selfish piece of shit Sim-"

"Both of you sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up now." Duri said from the door of the dressing room, He stood arms full of papers in his hands. "Arguing like little kids." He grumbled walking into the room and slamming the stack of papers down onto the table in front of them all.

No one moved a muscle staring at the stack of papers like it were a foreign object to them. The silence was palpable as Jay was the one to finally pick up the first paper from the table eyes reading over it. His expression changed from annoyance to anger in half a second. "This is such bullshit!" He roared throwing the paper back down onto the table, sending the other copies flying around the room. One landing infront of Jake conveniently. Jake took the paper in his hands noticing the title immediately.

'SHOUT OUT SHOULD CONSIDER SHUTTING DOWN' written by Y/n l/n Jakes eyebrows scrunched ion confusion reading the words with a fierce precision. Pictures of The other members flooded the front of the article, ones from moments they felt were private to them. Pictures of booze, girls and lines of coke blurred out in almost every single one of them. Someone had been sneakily taking pictures of the bands after parties and selling it to this news firm to leak out. and better yet that news decided to write a whole article about how much of a fuck they all were.

Jake felt enraged at the words he was reading, judging him like he was some museum painting on display for the whole world to seem, and in some ways he was.

"My favorite line is where they mention that you were all kicked out of the music video awards because Jake was caught fucking Nari yun backstage, or oh! How Jay got blacklisted from Givenchy for having a freak out and punching the director" Duri went onto say pointing at the article with faux excitedness.

"Our how they mention Sunghoon crashing his brand new mustang going 90 in a residential area and living, she called compared him to superman but stupider isn't that hilarious!" Duri continued to laugh at the members who sat uncomfortably on the sofa. "she even mentioned Heeseung who was so drunk during the new years ball drop in New York that he threw up all over the front row during what was supposed to be one of the best opportunities and performances of your life in this band" He was nodding now, the laughter dying down now being replaced with an expression that could only be described as a mixture of disappointment and extreme anger.

Jake didn't know what which one he hated seeing more.

"You're all lucky I convinced this same agency to send a reporter out here and record your day to day tour life for a month to prove that you're all changed men and on your best behavior." All members looked to Duri in shock.

"What?" Heeseung said "So we have to pretend to be a bunch of pussies for a month? For what? To get the media off our backs when they should just be minding their own business any fucking way" Heeseung threw his hands in the air with annoyance.

"You'll do it if you want to keep your fucking job" Duri spit out, yet again shocking every member in the room. "The label is threatening to disband and break up Shout out. They're sick of your shit and quite frankly so am i. if you four don't get your shit together in this next coming month you can kiss your careers goodbye because after the news of your split surfaces and the cause of it, no label will ever want to work with you fuck ups ever again. This is your one and final chance to not be complete fucking losers." Sat in silence the members didn't dare utter a single word awaiting the next few words from Duri.

"You're going to have to convince the same girl who wrote that article that you've cleaned yourself up" Duri said as the last thing before storming out of the room, not even giving the members a chance to respond.

"What did he just say?" Sunghoon asked, looking at everyone "The same girl who wrote the article is coming to stalk us for an entire fucking month?"

Jay was seething his face a bright red watching the door that Duri had left out of. "Thanks to you idiots we have too convince a fucking bitch that were not dumbasses"

"Thank to us?" Jake scuffed "You too man. Not just us"

"Fuck you Sim" Jay spit "You're the biggest loser of us all" Jay stormed out of the room in the same fashion as Duri, making sure to connect his shoulder with Jake's on his way out.

"Fuck" Heeseung muttered running his hands through his hair "Were so fucked"

Jake nodded along to that, not looking forward to what was coming next.

"No" You shook your head "I'm not doing it" Your senior editor, boss and ex boyfriend Soobin sat in front oof your desk informing you of what your next assignment was going to be and it was one you didn't feel like you could do. Not after writing that article about them, they most certainly hate you and you weren't sure if you want to spend a whole month following them around.

"Its apart of the job, Y/n and you're the one were assigning this project to." Soobin had a smug look on his face, one you had grown to hate.

"You just want to get rid of me for a month, I know your game." You hissed at him. Soobin folded his hands in front of him "This is not about our previous fling y/n, this is about the job." You rolled your eyes at his audacity.

"I am your boss now Y/n you're going to have to accept that fact. This is your new assignment, if you don't accept then you're forfeiting your position." He tapped the top of your desk before rising up and walking out the door, the contract on the table in front of you posed as a shot towards your dignity. Well the very little of it that you had left anyway. Snatching the paper off the desk you read the fine print over one more time before picking up your pen and signing on the dotted line. It felt like you were signing your life away for a whole month and you suppose in some ways you were.

You were going to be stuck with four boys following them around judging their movements for a whole month. This was going to be hell.

"Hell no" Jay shouted a few days after the whole dressing room debacle. His face was red and the vein that usually popped out when he was extra angry was prominent as they all sat crowded in Heeseung and Jay's shared hotel room.

"How are they going to send the same bitch who wrote that article to come and follow us around for a month?" For the first time in forever Jake had found himself agreeing with Jay. There was no way they wanted her around them, judging them more than she already had. They had been on the cusp of losing their careers because of her and now the label expected them to suck up to her like a fucking star student, like a fucking teachers pet. Hell fucking no.

"I refuse" Jay said to Duri a look of utmost discontent on his face, Duri just laughed at him something Duri seemed to be doing a lot to them. "You don't have a choice. She'll be here within the week and you'll treat her with respect." Duri was laying it into them not giving them a single choice in the matter it was suffocating, degrading even.

"Get some rest. You all have that shoot with Calvin Klein tomorrow and she'll be there briefly to watch before she joins us for the rest of the tour next week, do not embarrass yourselves." Duri declared before making his way out the room.

All four members signed in frustration the events as of late weighing on them. "I need a drink" Heeseung grunted into his hands. "Or more" Jake smirked rummaging through his pants and pulling out a small baggy containing a white powdery substance.

"What the fuck dude" Jay hissed at Jake "We were just told not even ten minutes ago to be on our best behavior and you go ahead and pull that shit out?" Jay ran his hands through his hair in frustration but all three boys stared at him knew how much he wanted a bump too.

Jake knew it wouldn't take too much convincing to get Jay to chill the fuck out and have fun with them.

"Do you know how fucking child like it makes us seem when you say shit like 'be On our best behavior' were grown men" Jake said patting Jay on the back "besides were in the hotel room, what that reporter doesn't know won't hurt her" Jay looked as if he were thinking for a second milling over the idea before nodding.

Snatching the bag from Jake, Jay muttered a "This is the last time"

Soon all four boys were lazily slung over the bed and floor of the hotel room dazed out talking about the most random of things. Sunghoon sat up suddenly from his position on the floor. "I have an idea" A smirk was on his face as he looked over at the other members. Sluggishly Jake looked to Sunghoon waiting to see what his grand idea was.

"This reporter. Let's fuck with her" Sunghoon said. "What do you mean?" Heeseung asked now sitting up himself.

"She won't write badly about us if she's a fan or something" Sunghoon posed "Maybe we make her a fan"

"and how would we do that? If she's not already a fan of us now how would we get her to like us going forward." Heeseung questioned, a good question indeed. It would be hard to get her to enjoy their music if she didn't already, she certainly has to have heard their music.

"what if we don't make her a fan though, what if we get her to fall in love with one of us...string her along until she writes something good about us and then dump her after?" Jay asked the group. Jake still laid on the floor blearily looking up at the ceiling fan as it spun round and round. Truthfully he wasn't paying much attention to what the others were saying, he was in his own world entirely.

"Jake!" Sunghoon shouted bringing Jake out of his daze. "Huh?" Jake slurred looking up at Sunghoon who now towered over him.

"You down to do that for us?" He asked, Jake had no idea what he was saying. None at all but sill he found himself nodding at him agreeing to whatever it was that they needed from him. The thought oof possibly regretting his decision not even crossing his mind.

The day Jake woke up with a pounding headache and no advil near by to relieve it. Struggling to get out his bed he sees that Sunghoon is already awake and getting ready for the shoot.

"Duri called up, we gotta be down at the lobby in ten minutes." He called from the bathroom. Jake's eyes widened, rushing to his suitcase he pulled to the first few items that he could find, throwing them on in feeble attempt at rushing.

"Why the hell didn't you wake me earlier, asshole?" Jake grunted throwing his hoodie over his head.

"You looked so dreamy sleeping, I couldn't disturb your beauty sleep" Sunghoon teased with a smirk on his face. The two boys made their way down stairs to the lobby of the hotel. Meeting up with Jay, Heeseung and Duri.

"You look like shit." Duri said with a grunt at Jake. Jake just held up his middle finger at the man before making the small journey to the private van that was waiting for them outside. The screams from fans was Jake heard as he rushed out the door of the hotel. The flashing lights of paparazzi temporarily blinded him. It made his headache ten times worse, the pounding behind his eyes not letting up for even a single second.

Heeseung groaned in frustration as soon as all four boys were seated in the back seat of the van.

"Jesus Christ" Heeseung said looking out the window of the van. "I never get used to the craziness that comes with this lifestyle."

"But hey! at least the pussies good!" Sunghoon roared with laughter gaining looks of disgust from his fellow members.

"Do you gotta be so vulgar?" Jake asked "Its 8:30am dude."

Sunghoon rolled his eyes "Its not like you weren't thinking the same thing."

The rest of the ride to the shoot was filled with a comfortable silence, everyone in the car hungover from the night before not really looking forward to doing this shoot. Unfortunately the girl who wrote that article was coming and they had to try their very best to leave a good impression so she didn't feel so inclined to write another bad review after she shadows them for thee next month.

"Alright, let's get in and get this over with." Duri spoke as soon as the van made its stop in front of the building they would be doing the shoot in. Once out of the door and in the building Jake felt like he could breathe just a little more.

He was tired of being in that moving car the hangover wasn't doing his harrowing car sickness justice, it was making it so much worse. He was just glad they had stopped and he was able to get out before he puked all over the van and its occupants.

"Hey Sim" Jay called over to Jake getting his and the other two boys attention before entering the building. "remember what we talked about last night alright?" Truthfully Jake very much didn't really recall much of their conversation last night.

The confusion must have been evident because it had Jay sighing out loud, his fist bunching before he hissed out at Jake a quick "Dumbass, you don't remember?"

Jake shook his head "I was high as shit man what the fuck"

"Get the reporter to fall in love with you." Heeseung said in Jake's ear.

"Wait!" Jake protested "Why do I have to do it?"

"We talked about this last night" Jay shook his head grabbing his nose between his fingers in frustration. "You're the best one for it."

Jake sighed out loud looking over at the three boys before nodding his head "Fine, fine fuck ill do it"

This was the last place you wanted to be at today. The sheer amount of busy people running around like chickens with their heads cut off was overwhelming. You felt it hard to breathe in the stuffiness of the close proximity of everyone.

You hadn't caught wind of shout out quite yet and for that you were thankful. You didn't want to come face to face with the four boys that you completely slandered just yet. Even though you knew that's exactly what you were here for. It didn't help that you had Soobin and his skank assistant, Somi trailing behind them watching your every move.

"They should be here any minute" Soobin whispered to you, too close for comfort might you add. You stepped back from him slightly to add room between the two of you. Sending Soobin a nod of confirmation that you heard him.

You looked around the room at all the set ups they had for the boys slightly intrigued in the artistic aspects of it.

"There they are!" The shrill voice that was Somi said from her spot besides Soobin. She pointed over at the door where the members of Shout out were walking through. The screams from their fans were heard from outside the door sending you cringing at the thought of constantly being around that for the next coming month.

Soobin began walking towards the group who were immediately being approached by a few of the staff from Calvin Klein who were more than likely just explaining the event lineup for today. Soobin inserted himself into the conversation with ease laughing and joking with the members and their Manager rather quickly.

"Here is Y/n she'll be the one following you around for the next month or so" Soobin explained pointing over at you.

"Observing, not following" You corrected Soobin rolling your eyes at him "You make me sound like a stalker and not a reporter." Surely you should not be reprimanding your boss in front go people like the members of shouts out but honestly you didn't really care.

Soobin would do any and everything to try to demean you in front of important people and you just couldn't allow him to do that. He had already taken so much of your dignity you'd be damned if you let him take more.

Soobin's eyes turned to slits at you for only a brief awkward second before a big fake smile over turned his face. He looked over to the band once more clapping his hands in faux excitedness "Yes, observing." He said.

All four boys hardly looked at you, something you were prepared for. you knew that they weren't particularly looking forward to your company and you in turn felt the same exact way. Partying and drugs wasn't something you were interested in and you were petrified to see just how much of that they truly did.

Jay's eyes were looking at you with an intense gaze. It didn't look very friendly, it had you looking everywhere but at him. Your eyes trailed to Jake Sim one of the most notorious fuck boys in the industry right now. It was polarizing how attractive he was.

You had to remind yourself to keep your resolve when his eyes met yours. A smirk ghosting his lips, it made you felt tingly and honestly a little wet. He licked his lips his eyes trailing over the expanse of your body.

You tried your best to muster up a look of disgust, shooting an icy glare his way. You looked away from him with a roll of your eyes, no matter how attractive these four men were you had to remind yourself of who they were. You could not allow yourself to fall into the trap of Jake Sim. No matter how badly your body wanted you to.

"Well the boys are going to be getting ready for the shoot you're more then welcome to shadow us." Duri sent you a small smile that was warm and welcoming. You smiled making a move to walk behind the band as they made their way to the hair and makeup stands but a hand on your elbow yanked you back before you could go.

"How dare you disrespect me in front of them" Soobin hissed in your face, it was a quiet whisper but the meaning was pretty loud.

"i didn't" You deadpanned "I only corrected you-"

"That was disrespectful" Somi interjected. Your blood boiled at the sound of her voice and her audacity to interrupt your conversation.

"Mind your own business" You hissed at Somi, She just sent a smirk your way as she snaked her arm around Soobin's in a mock towards you.

"You should really watch how you talk to your boss" Your face was red with anger and to be frank you were embarrassed. How dare she talk to you that way? The nerve of her.

"Unlike some people I'm not going to suck up to my boss" You snickered "We all know where that got you" Somi's eyes widened in surprise at your harrowing words.

"How dare yo-" She began to shriek before Soobin cut in his voice sharp "Cut it out." Her mouth closed like an obedient little house wife.

Before the conversation could go any further you spun on your heels and followed tin the direction that the band went. Not looking back to see if Somi and Soobin were behind you.

You opened your notepad that you had been carrying readying yourself to take notes on how the band reacted to hair and makeup. In truth you were mainly watching Jay. He was notorious at blowing up at things like this.

Someone always pissed Jay off, always.

"Ready to find something incriminating on us?" A voice said from behind you causing you to jump slightly whipping around to find the culprit behind the voice.

"You scared me!" You yelped out, hand against your chest. Jake sim stood in front of you in all his glory.

"Sorry about that" He smiled "Didn't mean to scare you."

“Yeah well you did.” You glared. You realized how rude you were being but you didn’t want too seem vulnerable to him. You weren’t one of these groupie impressionable girls that would fall at his feet. You were here to work, and that was all.

“sooo” Jake trailed off awkwardly “How was your day?” He asked, his accent thick.

You arched a brow at him, stifling a chuckle. “What’s with the formalities? Don’t you have a shoot to be getting ready for?”

“Well i just figured since we’d be spending so much time together that i would come over and introduce myself to you.” His sheepishly cute smile was back on his face and it made you impossibly hot to look at.

How were you to survive a whole month of this?

“I know who you are though” You stated “In fact, i know all about you.”

“You know nothing about me.” He snapped, taking you aback at his tone. You stepped back an inch surprise written all over your face. Quickly Jake shook his head.

“I’m sorry” He imposed “I just meant..you don’t know the real me, and i certainly don’t know you.” It was impressive how quickly he recovered from what seemed like such angry emotions. It had you wondering if acting was something he should have take part in.

“You don’t need to know me.” You snipped. Chin high you said “I’m here to observe you.”

“Well sure but -“ He was cut off by the voice of Jay calling to him. “Sim! We need you over here man”

“You better go” You said to Jake. Jake nodded looking you over once again, making his way towards the place that jay had called him from.

"Did you talk to her?" Heeseung whispered to Jake as they sat watching Sunghoon's portion of the shoot.

"I tried to but Jay interrupted just as I was getting somewhere" Jake said an annoyed expression on his face.

"Do you think it's going to be easy to bag her?" Heeseung asked. Jake shook his head no with a sigh. "She seemed to hate me, made all these assumptions about me."

Heeseung let out a low whistle "This is going to be hard" Hands in his pockets he sat back on his chair a defeated look on his face.

"Yup" Jake said popping the 'p' "She's definitely going to take some convincing but I think I'll be able to do it."

"I believe in you bro" Heeseung said.

Jake just wanted to take the edge off of everything going on as of late. It was the first night of tour approximately An hour and a half before shout out was due to be on stage and Jake just needed a minute.

One of the new background dancers were eyeing him all rehearsal and who was he to deny the undeniably want in her eyes. He convinced her to occupy his dressing room with him to 'talk'. That talk quickly turned into him being deep inside her instead.

If Jake was being honest her moans were kind of annoying and a little bit distracting but the feel of her tight pussy kept him grounded.

"fuck, fuck, fuck" The girl chanted from underneath him on the dingy sofa of this awful dressing room. "I'm going to cum" She panted racking her long acrylic nails down his back.

"Don't leave marks" He hissed, he hated marks. The girl didn't seem to be listening to Jake continuing to rake her nails up and down his back. Jake's hips snapped against hers in a blurry rush to get to end.

"I'm going to cum!" She chanted loudly in Jake's ear, he cringed a bit at the sound wondering if anyone from outside could hear her. She wasn't even trying to be quiet.

Soon, the girl reached her end. Jake followed suit pulling out to dump his load all over her stomach and chest. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

Jake zipped his pants and flattened his shirt out muttering a small "Thanks" he said to the girl not offering to help her clean up. He opened the door and immediately bumped into a small frame.

You stood there, face as white as a sheet fist up like you were getting ready to knock on the door. Jake cursed, judging by the color of your face and the expression of disgust you wore you had definitely heard what was going on in here. Jake knew that this was already a terrible start to this Month and that she was surely bound to write about this in her article if he didn't change her mind.

But how was he supposed to get her to fall for him if he was out here fucking different girls in random dressing rooms.

"Duri needed your for sound check" Y/n said curtly. You wanted no part in what had just transpired. The sheer embarrassment from hearing the loud moans was enough to unsettle your stomach. it was day one and you already felt sick to your stomach. Slapping yourself for ever even thinking him attractive when you first talked at the Calvin Klein shoot.

As soon as you went to turn around the door behind Jake opened again. A girl walked out, one who was clearly a background dancer of the tour. Her hair and makeup were a mess and she worse an expression of embarrassment on her face as soon as she seen the two of you standing outside the door.

"Sorry" The girl mumbled putting her head down so that her long hair would frame her face and hide the reddening of her cheeks in the process.

"Hmm" You hummed out before turning on your heels to get as far from the situation as you could.

"Hey, wait" Jake said from behind you. Jogging to catch up with your long strides. "I'm sorry" He said when he was finally caught up, walking directly next to you.

"Why are you apologizing?" You asked. You decided to act stupid too the situation, not wanting to really go over the details of it. You were going to write it down in your note pad and then hopefully burn the sounds from your memory. What a roaring start to your time here.

"Come on" Jake sighed "You and I both know what you seen-"

"I didn't see anything" You corrected. Emphasis on the see. "I did hear something though."

"I'm sorry-" You cut him off again, not in the mood of the excuses of the explanations you just wanted the whole conversation out of your head.

"Don't." You cringed at him "Lets just not talk about it" You made another move too turn around once again but Jake still hadn't felt like letting the conversation go.

"You're going to write about it in your article aren't you?" He asked walking in front of you to prevent you from moving.

Finding not reason to lie you told him the utmost truth even if you knew it was not something he wanted to hear "I am." You nodded at him. His face changed in a split second and if you weren't such an observant person you might have missed it. He was angry, something you expected but still resented.

This was your job, this is what you were here for after all. Did he expect you not to write about what you had just heard. It was obvious he needed a reality check, and soon.

He flashed me a very obviously fake grin "Of course" He nodded curtly "Of course you are." He turned away from you before joining the rest of his bandmates that were tirelessly waiting for him to start rehearsing.

The sigh you let out was heavy as you grabbed your notebook from your bag, you had a feeling by the end of this month that you were going to have filled at least three of these with things you've observed. These boys were a lot already and you were extra nervous to see just how much more was in store.

The show had ended without a hitch. The fans screamed crazily as Shout out exited the stage for the final time tonight. You'd be lying if you didn't say you enjoyed yourself. The energy was live and the band had seemed like they were really letting loose and having fun. It was exhilarating to see.

"Y/n" A voice called to you as you were packing up your stuff for the night, save for your notebook. There was an after party that you were obligated to go to (per soobin's orders) and you had a strong inkling that you would need it there.

You turned to see Duri calling you over to where him and the Members were. You caught a glimpse of Jake and mentally cringed remembering the events that happened earlier.

"I understand you'll be at the after party correct?" Duri asked you when you walked up tot them. You sent him a quick nod holding up the notebook in your hand "I sure will be" You smirked at the boys in front of you who had looked anything but happy at the thought of you being around for their party. In fact the only person who seemed even remotely excited by the idea was Duri himself.

Jay let out a soft scoff but said nothing. You sent the boy a condescending smile but said nothing further as well.

"Great" Duri said clapping his hands "You can ride with us if you'd like" He motioned towards himself and the boys beside's him. You shook your head no, you were already going to be stuck in a room with them all night you didn't also want to be stuck in a car with them.

"That's quite alright" You smiled warmly "I'll just uber over, I have to go to the hotel room anyway to get ready before."

"Well, suit yourself we'll see you there" He sent you one final nod before he was walking off leaving The four boys to awkwardly stand there next to you.

"I don't think we properly met." Heeseung said holding his hand out to you. Reluctantly you attached your hand in his. "Y/n."

"We're excited to get to know you this month" He said sticking his hands in his pockets nonchalantly.

"I'm sure you are" You spoke with an arrogance one you know had annoyed the boys, especially Jay who could not for the life of him stop glaring at you, eyes shining with a hatred you had only ever seen a few times in your life. Mainly from Somi, might you add.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay spit out. You were going tot lie you hadn't expected his brazen tone at all. You had assumed he would be keeping it a bit more cordial with you. In honestly whaat were you expecting from a hot head like Jay park.

You cocked your head at the boy, not allowing him to see you fazed at all. Choosing not to engage further you just flashed thee four a smile and said "I'll see you all tonight"

The sounds of muttered curse words were all you heard as you made your way from them, towards the door of the venue.

When you entered the club that the after party was taking place you noticed that it was in full swing, full of people drinking and dancing having the times of their lives. This was definitely not your setting whatsoever. You felt completely out of place here. You wore an outfit that was definitely not club attire. Looking for the boys you wandered around the club like a lost puppy for the better half of an hour.

"are you ok?" A deep voice spoke from behind you, stopping you in your wondering tracks. You whipped your head around coming face to face with a man you had never seen before.

"What?" You said startled by his beautiful face. "Uh, yeah i'm looking for shout out..I'm supposed to be at their after party.." You trailed off. The man chuckled quirking an eyebrow at you in a mocking way.

"Sorry sweetheart but they don't really allow fangirls in this early into the party, they wait until they're ready to ...go home. if you catch my drift.." The look of disgust you sent must have been grueling as the boy's face fell the smirk no longer on his face.

"I'm not a fangirl" You spoke with authority but you had a feeling that no matter how much you tried to appear professional this man wasn't go to hear not one word you had to say clearly. He was as drunk as a skunk, sloppily at that. "I'm working on an article on them and need to be where they are virtually at all times so if you would be please just let me know where they are that would be great."

The boy went back to laughing, at you. The anger you felt in your chest was a simmering mess. "Are you seriously laughing at me right now?" You raged. You knew how this looked; sitting here arguing with a drunk egotistical man but you couldn't help it. Your pride would not allow you to go down that easily.

"No can do sweetheart-"

"Stop calling me that." You grumbled crossing your arms over your chest like a child being scolded.

"No can do girl" You scoffed at him as he continued "Do you know how many people guise as all sorts of occupations to see them. I can't tell you-"

"Fuck you. I'll find my own way-" A hand grabbed at your forearm as you went to turn away, yanking you back against him.

"Don't even think about it" He grumbled. You moved to yank your arm from his scalding grip but he wouldn't allow it, holding on tight with a death grip.

"Let. me. go" You seethed at him.

"I told you, you can't see-"

"Hey!" A familiar voice bellowed out. Jake was walking towards the two of you, his eyebrows scrunched in what seemed like anger.

"Jake dude-" Jake cut the boy off before he could get another word out. "Let her go right now."

"dude.. she's a fucking groupie" Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance "She's that journalist we were telling you about you dumbass." A look of stark realization presented itself on the face of thee boy you still didn't know the name of.

"Oh." He said letting your now burning arm go.

"I told you that you fucking asshole" You reeled. Jake's eyes widened at your choice of words but you couldn't find it in yourself to care. The professional act left as soon as this man put his fucking hands on you. "but because I'm a woman my words mean nothing apparently you fucking-"

"Alright alright..let's go" Jake said softly putting his hand to your shoulder to guide you away from the very stupid man who stood there in silence as you got ready to berate him.

"I'm sorry about Tae.. he's a little drunk." Jake enunciated once again.

"Whatever" You clipped out at him, the situation draining all your energy for the night. You really hadn't felt like staying the rest of the night here for a bunch of drunk people if you were being completely honest.

"Do you want to get out of here? We don't even have to go to the party if you don't want to" Jake insisted, practically reading your mind.

"I have to be here." You sighed "No matter how I don't want to be here it's apart of my job."

"I'll go with you." He persisted "You'll still technically be doing your job, you'll just be observing me only."

You thought about it for a second and in all honestly it sounded like such a better idea then being here it this loud club where you were already sporting a massive headache, the strobe lights and pounding music not helping to ease the ache growing behind your eyes.

"I'm not going to sleep with you." You stood firm. Jake's eyes widened "No-no I-i wasn't I just- we just" He sputtered out. "That wasn't my intention."

"Ok" You nodded "Then lets go, I have a headache"

#hmusunoo #rain's unreleased draft

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zaidthefeederist · 9 months ago

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Giving in to gluttony : A fit to fat story (part 1)

We were both at the gym after work just like most days. This is where we first met. I saw you on the squat rack and was enamored by your beauty (and the perfect ass you had definitely helped). I approached you and we went on a date and had been dating since then. Though we both were fitness freaks (i still am) there's a part of me i haven't told you about. A part of me that would rather have you tied up in my bed sporting a fat belly so big it hangs to your knees. I've kept it in check for as long as i can, you had only gained 10 pounds in our 4 months together and a lot of that has been muscle definition since we started working out. Today however, it all changes. One faithful injury changes everything.

"This….freaking….sucks" I say grumpy as I sit next to you in the car. We just came back from the first aid room. I look at my leg and shake my head "no lifting, no cardio…and no rock climbing for 6 months?!" I cross my arms and sigh "That also means I really have to watch what I eat…else I end up like one of those fat girls at the gym" The other day we had been making jokes about a chubby girl that was struggling to do basic cardio

"god i know baby, its not fair at all. Not having you at the gym is going to make me lose all my motivation, not to mention who else will i make fun of the fatties with" i look to you after we both laugh to ourselves.."dont worry though babe. ill take good care of you, You know i've been making myself a better and better cook. Ill make sure your diet goes exactly according to plan.." i say as i keep my hand on your toned thigh, giving it a rub and feeling ecstatic and the though of having a home bound girlfriend for 6 whole months.

**2 weeks later**

"im so bored" I sigh before taking another cookie that you made me. "Im usually at the gym right now" Another cookie goes into my stomach. I dont seem to notice the little bit of pudge that was pressing on to my waistband when I sat down like this. You had noticed that I did a lot of "boredom eating"…and recently…I had also started snacking when I was stressed or feeling a little down.

"Im done babe!" i yell, having baked another batch of cookies. The last 2 weeks have been heavenly. Turns out when liz is left to her own devices with nothing else to do, she becomes rather peckish. Its nothing insane yet but she'll never say no to a little treat every now and then. With the absence of the gym and with me making sure to always make every meal of hers just a bit more heavy, she's managed to maintain her weight at 140 pounds albeit with a major bonus. If before she was toned and slightly muscular, now shes lost her definition and is even developing a little pudge. I see her belly pressing against her waistband as she snacks on one of the cookies i made her and see it press further and further against the band as she makes the tray of cookies magically disappear.

You always made sure to take the plates away or split it in multiple portions, so I had no idea how much I was actually eating in a day. after finishing the third tray of cookies that day you see I am rubbing my belly…I was getting full and I hadn't even eaten a meal! "My tummy is a bit upset" I say as I rub it. "better drink something" I grab the glass of soda that you had brought me. I drink all of it in one go. "I can't believe this is actually sugar free" I say surprised "it tastes like one of those cheap soda's that is super b-BRUUAUUAUAAAAAAAAAP-ad " I look wide eyed and cover my mouth with a blush "s-sorry!"

"Haha that was pretty cool!" i say immediately so as to not make you think i dislike it. I cant let you know that youve given me a hard on with that deep nasty belch, at least not yet. "I don't mind babe" i say as i nuzzle in right next to you on the bed. "in fact if anything it lets me know you really enjoyed whatever i made for you so no need to apologize." i say as i keep my hand on your bloated stuffed belly, giving it a good rub. "I guess you reallly loved those cookies huh, hehe"

"I-I do" I say blushing as you rub my belly…it felt good, but it also made me a bit aware of the fact that I was softer now. "I mean…its just not very lady like to burp like that right?" I smile as you roll your eyes at me "BRUUAAAAP…ooohhff but it does make my tummy feel better"

I moan to myself making sure you don't hear me. "I'm glad you like them" i reply, both to your answer and to that big burp you let out. We spend a few more minutes like this with me rubbing your rounded gut, making you get used to the feeling, making you love my hands on your tummy, making you know i like those un-lady like burps. Im slowly easing your mind into its new state. The state of pure gluttony. Before i get up from bed i decide to try one more thing, i grab your belly and give it a hard pinch and lean up next to your ear "You were a good girl today, keep eating like this and soon you'll be like those fatties at the gym". I whispered it and said it in a teasing tone, but i could tell by your breathing…it did its job. My eyes go wide and my face goes dark red. Did he really just say that?…Is he making a joke?…why do I like him teasing and humiliating me?! I look down and my heart beats even faster, judging by the bulge in your pants…you really liked seeing me like this. "w-what?….a-are you trying to make me fat?" I ask in a soft voice. You just smile, gently kiss my belly before squeezing it again and leave with the empty plates…Am I really going to get fat?

#feedee belly #feedee encouragement #feeding kink #feedee piggy #stuffed feedee #girl burp #fat belly #belly expansion #fit to fat #force fed #manipulation #feedee girl #wg text #teasing #chubby #feederist #short story #feedee story

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big-low-t · 8 months ago

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My Record Store...

This was my record store in Charleston, West Virginia. It is closing. The owners are retiring. It breaks my heart, but at the same time it stirs up great memories and nostalgia.

It's 1979, a young and innocent Tim (yeah, 10 or 11 year old me) convinced his mother to stop at Budget Tapes and Records. I needed to get the latest Bad Company album. Hey, "Rock and Roll Fantasy" was a good song, but I can't say I was impressed by much of the rest of the album. My record kept skipping, so I took it back, got another and it skipped too. One of the kind folks at Budget suggested I go to the audio store a few doors down and get a new needle for my fairly cheap stereo system. I did and it worked. No more skipping.

It was the start of some special memories. I got my first Iron Maiden record there. The "Maiden Japan" live EP. Very quickly afterwards I was grabbing everything else Iron Maiden had released up to that point. Picked up my first Motorhead album there, too.

This would be my record store of choice up until around 1990 when I moved out of state after college for a job.

Once I had my driver's license I stopped there at least once a week. It got to be where one of the main employees, John, would see me come in and yell "Hey Timmmmm, we just got something in that I think you'll like..." He was pretty much always right. I remember him playing the promo copies of "Electric" by the Cult and "Nothing's Shocking" by Jane's Addiction to me. I bought the promo copy of that Cult album on the cheap when they were done playing it in the store a few months later. I think I still have it stashed away somewhere. By the way, John still works there, has been for 48 years, but that will be ending once they close on March 3rd.

I met some cool people there while browsing for records. One dude a friend and I bumped into in the metal import section began raving about a band called Celtic Frost... before we left the store parking lot we hopped in his back seat and he blasted the song "Dethroned Emperor" to us. I just remember looking at my buddy and saying "Holy shit!" Blew me away.

Another time I bumped into the "other guy." It seems that between me and this other guy, we would be the ones who usually bought the latest heavy metal import albums. But for a long time we didn't know that. Once we met and started talking we became friends. We would record a cassette tape for each other of the albums we got that the other didn't have.

So many good memories from a place that's been around nearly as long as I have been alive.

But it will all be ending in a few days. Another piece of my past crumbling away into the dust of memories.

I can still hear this dude yelling "Timmmmm, you gotta check this new album out we just got in..."

Those were good days.

#big low t #my record store #charleston #west virginia #budget tapes & records

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bangtanhoneys · 1 year ago

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BTS MOMENTS: Seokjin & Grace - 100 Days

It wasn’t every day that your boyfriend’s nephew celebrated 100 days and it wasn’t every day you got to be in attendance of something so big. The hall Seokjin’s parents had rented out had accommodated around 50 people but from what Grace could see, there were at least over 100 people in the room.

It was a tradition in South Korea that the friends and family of the baby celebrated 100 days and while it was an old tradition, it was getting more modernised and a bit more western. Grace had been unaware of the tradition as her parents never bothered, seeing it was the two of them in Manchester and all the Korean family were still in South Korea.

Being around Seokjin’s family was always fun and noisy, food was everywhere, everyone chatted to each other and no one cared that two members of the biggest band were in the room. They were just Seokjin and Hea, though they knew to call her Grace, a couple who had been together for 5 years now.

Of course, it didn’t stop the usual questions of ‘When is it your turn?’ or ‘When are we expecting little ones from the famous couple?’

It didn’t help that the impending choice about military service was hanging over their heads and the fact their band was on a bit of a break so they could explore their solo careers and then eventual military service.

But for now, Grace was going to enjoy the food, the drinks, family and wait patiently for her turn to hold the 100-day-old baby.

“Let’s go see your sungmo (aunt),” Seokjin’s mother said as she carried her grandson over to Grace who had been busy chatting with Seokjin and some relatives.

“My turn?” Grace asked, grinning as she easily accepted the heavy child and tucked him easily against her chest, supporting him with her arms and rocking side to side when he opened his eyes from his nap.

“Natural,” Seokjin’s mother commented with a pointed look at her son who rolled his eyes but grinned anyway. He pulled out his flip-phone and asked Grace to turn to him, taking a quick picture which he sent to the group chat.

“The guys are going to go nuts over you holding your nephew,” Seokjin chuckled as he tucked his phone away after putting it on silent and reached over to smooth down what hair his nephew had.

“It’s not like I haven’t held one before and it’s not like they haven’t seen Sun either,” Grace sighed as she adjusted her hold briefly but kept up her rocking motion.

“I know but this won’t deter them from wanting a niece or nephew of their own.”

Seokjin grinned at the look on her face as he held up his hands and said nothing, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket from messages from the group. And he had a funny feeling that at least three of them would be complaining that they had been replaced.

#bts 8th member #bts additional member #bts eighth member #bts female member #bts scenarios #bts fic #bts fanfiction #seokjin x oc

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basedkikuenjoyer · 9 months ago

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Jojolands: A Charming New Addition

Well that was quick. We start off with some backstory, you know shit gets real when Araki opens with a geography lesson. We did end up recruiting the new guy! As people have pointed out, early villain turned ally with a lost little sibling fueling his backstory is immedately reminiscent of Polnareff which is neat. But here he is, the one and only Charmingman! Which of course its a musical reference...to The Smiths. Eh, I thought they were pretty pretentious even before Morrissey went all racist so not my favorite nod in this part. That's Dragona and you'll have a hard time topping my love for Smooth Operator. Coast to coast, LA to Chicago...

Where was I? Oh yeah. My lack of fondness for The Smiths aside, and I can at least respect that's a solid reference with some lyrics that play nicely into his backstory, Charmingman is a welcome addition to round out the five-man band. I loved the aesthetic of his stand in action and am more than ready to see more. This bit of him and Jodio was so fun too, immediately asking what kind of music he likes instead of other more pertinent questions. I still have high hopes Jojolands will feature my favorite core cast. And his backstory reinforces the sibling dynamics that seem to be a core idea for this part. I'm also not fully up to date on Part 8 but we have a potential rock human? Also gotta note we're keeping up this theme of hostile police which is pertinent to a modern day American setting.

Moving on, I love this dude. Just materializes out of the aether when a cutie is talking about souvenirs. Accurate. And lookit! The fancy schmancy watch made its way back to Dragona just as hypothesized. The lava rock works in mysterious ways. A lot of this chapter was getting us back home and introducing the new guy, but especially with talking about similar concepts in Egghead for One Piece it is intriguing we skipped over the conclusion to the fight and we have this bit of weirdness. But where that really came to a head...

Aww yeah Meryl Mei! It's not just that she's pointing out oddities in their return. There's an ominous edge to this, I don't know how much we should trust this lady so it troubles me that Dragona seems to be the one closest to her individually. How does this one girlboss do so many different jobs? Worth pondering given this series has a huge running theme of bad guys with time powers. Just something to think about. Hope she's not wicked because I do like Meryl but you could have a great twist having her pull the rug out from under the gang.

Still, we're back home and ready to likely embark on something new. I liked the trip to another island, fun picking up a new friend and working Rohan in the way we did. The panels of him tossing money around on the beach to study the lava rock were classic Rohan weirdness. Personally I hope we get a couple of chapters now to play with the characters a bit. Flesh them out more. Usually Jojo's parts spend a little time on that after the first big leg of the story it seems. Something like Jodio & Dragona taking their mom Barbara Ann out and having to deal with a weaker stand battle could be solid or just letting them live their lives as some weird things happen. We have such a good group and setting I'd hate to spring too fast into heavy plot stuff while we're still figuring this part out.

#jojolands #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #jodio joestar #dragona joestar #charmingman #meryl mei

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9leaguesofmirrors · 8 months ago

Text

Set Lists (a Ross Gaines x Joseph Lisgoe fanfic)

This is purely self-indulgent. Nobody asked for a Band!AU, but I love the idea of Drummer!Lisgoe, so we have a band AU!

If you wanna know the name of the song the band is playing, it's Jobseeker by Sealford Mods because the song slaps and I like irony

CONTENT WARNINGS: Smoking and car makeout sessions because that's the life of a rocker innit?

If there was one thing Ross hated about the bar he went to, it was the Open Mic that happened every Thursday night

It had gotten to the point where he was playing mental bingo just to keep his sanity:

"Open Mic Thursdays" set list

A girl screeching her way through My Heart Will Go On

A group of drunk milennials singing ABBA

Some guy with a guitar (bonus points if he plays Wonderwall)

A wannabe rock band

A couple that thinks they’re in a Disney movie

The theatre kid

The one that can actually sing and wants to make it everyone’s problem

The try-hard crooner

So far, he’d managed to tick off almost everything (tonight they had a couple that was particularly gushy and it almost made Ross want to hurl his guts up), and now he was scanning the room for those rock wannabes. It was slightly shameful, the child-like excitement this game gave him, but it was keeping his morale up. And after the day he had at work, it was the least he deserved

And right on cue...

He watched as a group of black-clad 30-somethings took the stage to set up. Surely there’s an age cap on when it’s acceptable to still be in a band was Ross’ immediate thought before turning to his whiskey

Ross could hear a voice through the microphone, but he wasn’t paying too much attention. It wasn’t until the sound of heavy guitar filled the air that he could no longer focus on just his drink due to the sheer noise of it. The joys of live music. Always a racket

What it did mean, however, was that Ross was finally able to see what exactly a bunch of washed-up rockers looked like

"Weird Rock Band" set list

The singer: A slightly weedy guy with shoulder-length hair and glasses who, in all honesty, stuck out like a sad little thumb

The guitarist: Girl in a black bomber jacket and some sort of weird, messy updo; she looked like she’d jumped straight out of an 80s music video

The bassist: Another girl. Undercut, lace button-down and a silver chain. Looked a lot like the drummer, speaking of which...

The drummer: Who was now slamming his drumsticks down on the instrument like it had done something to personally wrong him

If Ross had to pick, and he only ever would if he had a gun to his head, he’d say the drummer was perhaps the most convincing rocker. He certainly had the jewellery, and he had that look of intense anger that was very prevalent in the scene. Ross was slightly ashamed that he could recognise it

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, this band was one of the better ones. Not that it meant much, considering the last time a band performed it ended with the guitarist grabbing a drumstick and volleying it at someone in the back of the pub

In particular, something about the drummer caught Ross’ eye. He’d never seen someone give it the way he did. Despite there being four people on that stage, the drummer was the one clearly pulling focus. And it wasn’t the usual desperate pandering, he was just present in the moment. Ross was slightly concerned that he was going to put a stick through a drum, but at least he was interesting to watch

Well, he wasn’t sure about the rest of the audience, but he was intrigued

The song reached its end and recieved a generally warm atmosphere. Ross' eyes still found themselves on the drummer as he twirled his drumsticks around with his fingers. He'd hardly noticed the singer step forward until he started talking, much to the disappointment of Ross

“We enjoying ourselves!”

I was until you showed up

“I said are we enjoying ourselves!”

Clean out your ears

He spoke a little more, and the people watching were having a good time, but Ross only started really paying attention when he started introducing the band members

"Weird Rock Band" set list 2.0

The singer: Admittedly, even Ross didn’t catch his name. He just wished he’d shut up and finish the song

The guitarist: Ruby Louganis

The bassist: Jodie something

“And of course, last but not least,”

Jesus christ, this is dragging on

“Please give it up for our drummer-“

Can we wrap this up?

"-Mr. Joseph Lisgoe!”

... Joseph

Drummer of a rock band

And his name’s Joseph?

There wasn’t anytime to ponder this though, because the band had started up again, playing another song Ross didn't recognise. Ross went back to his drink, allowing the noise to fade into the background

The band weren’t up for too long, only about two or three songs, before they packed up and went off into the backrooms. Not emerging until a bit later, well, two of them did. The girls. Ruby and Jodie

The closer she was, Ross could really see the resemblance between Jodie and the drummer. It was strange, they looked so alike yet extremely different. Though that could’ve been due to the thick eye makeup she was wearing-

“Show’s over, cunt. Eyes on your glass.”

Damn it

“I was just wondering-“

“Bet you were.”

“Nothing like that! You just looked like your drummer, wondered if there was a genetic reason.”

Jodie gritted her teeth like she was about to launch at him, but was stopped by Ruby placing a hand on her shoulder

“We’ll take your word for it,” she said, zipping up her bomber jacket “Jodie and Joseph are twins.”

“Makes sense. How long have you been playing together?”

“We don’t.” Jodie piped up, still wary of whether she could trust Ross or not “This was just a laugh. I like guitar, he likes drums. Thought ‘fuck it, why not?’ and found out Ruby and Jezza were looking for substitutes. This is a one night only deal.”

Ross nodded and tapped his fingers against his empty glass. For some reason, his mind shifted to the drummer. He always thought twins were attached at the hip

“Does your brother not hang around then? Early night for Little Drummer Boy?”

It came out a lot more condescending than he’d intended, but it got a slight laugh from both of the girls, so at least it eased the tension

“He’s probably outside,” Jodie said “smoking it up-“

“Or having it on with someone.”

“I’ll break his fucking teeth if he is, I’m not staying after hours so he can get a quick shag!”

“And I’m not dragging you off him when the fight breaks out, so get a shot down you and ease up!”

Since Jodie and Ruby seemed to be enjoying their drinks, Ross figured he’d leave them to it. Besides, he needed some fresh air

As Ross approached the side of the pub, he noticed a figure wearing a vest top on the far end. Lanky, cigarette in hand, back against the wall. He couldn’t make out the face until he took a few steps closer

“Can I help you?” Came the figure’s voice, slightly nasal

“I can leave if you want.”

“Nah. Public place, innit?”

Ross leaned against the wall next to him, keeping a slight distance out of respect. Close enough to see the many tattoos that covered his arms, upper chest, and the one on his neck. Usually, Ross thought tattoos were either gross or a desperate attempt to appear intimidating. But he had to admit, the barbed wire that travelled up his arms, the black bird on his neck and what looked like a crack on his chest looked quite good

Obviously, by 'good', he meant objectively speaking

Once he saw the slicked-back hair and the hardened gaze, he recognised who the stranger was

“It’s Joseph, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” He threw the cigarette down and stomped it into the ground “Most people call me Lisgoe.”

“That a stage name?”

Lisgoe gave him an incredulous, amused look

“No. It’s my surname.”

“I’ve never known someone use their surname as a first name before.”

“Puts a boundary up. Helps with my job.”

Right thought Ross he’s not a musician

“I collect debts,” Lisgoe explained, as if he could read Ross’ mind “well, I mainly deal with desk stuff. But I deal with the more difficult targets. Ones that need an extra push.”

Ross thought back to his aggressive drumming and decided that he didn’t want to know how he convinced those ‘difficult targets’

“What?”

Ross snapped out of his thoughts with a soft “hm?”

“You went off somewhere, have you been drinking?”

“What? No! Well, a little, but I can hold my alcohol well. And I never get drunk.”

“Wowee!" Sneered the drummer "We're in the presence of Mother Theresa!"

"Was that necessary?"

"Yeah, I'd say it was."

After that rather snappy altercation, Ross was ready to turn right around and walk off, the only thing that stopped him was the sound of Lisgoe's voice

"You a regular then? At this bar, I mean."

"Yes?"

"No clue how, the drinks are shite and everyone that goes here is a twat."

"Like me?"

That, admittedly, came out as more of an accusation than a legitimate question, and he very nearly asked him to forget it, but that was stopped when he noticed the way Lisgoe was looking at him. As if he was taking the whole of him, really studying him. Reaching into his eyes and grasping his brain, taking it apart with a scalpel to see what was inside

In a word, it was exposing. But not in a creepy way. Ross was frozen in place. Under the watchful eye of Joseph Lisgoe, he felt both anxious and completely at ease. It was a strange feeling, not unpleasant but extremely unorthodox

It was the man's voice that broke him out of his thoughts

"Nah. Well, you seem a little stuck up."

Rude

"And you dress like a secondary school History teacher."

Rude, but annoyingly accurate

"But you're not a twat like most people are." He gestured vaguely with his cigarette "You go to bars and you see all kinds of people. The ones that try to fit in. The ones that think they're God's fucking gift because they don't fit in, the ones that are so desperate to fit in they'll do fucking anything."

"And where do I fit?"

"That's the thing," Lisgoe took a puff of his cigarette "you don't really seem like the kind of guy to fit any of those boxes. You're just... you. You wear your clothes, you drink your beer. And if you don't like the band that's onstage, you don't bother watching. Unless you're making eyes at the drummer."

That last part was accompanied by a playful smirk that made Ross roll his eyes

"I wasn't making eyes at you."

"Would you rather I called it 'gawking' then?"

"I'd rather you didn't exaggerate."

"Whatever," he waved his cigarette dismissively "my point still stands. You don't give a fuck about what people say, you don't seem like the kind of guy that bends to how people think you should act. It's pretty punk."

"I'd hardly call myself a punk."

"You don't look the part, but you're more punk than most twats that wear the badges."

There was something strange about Lisgoe. For someone that spoke so casually, with such a relaxed and colloquial atmosphere, he was strangely philosophical. Contradicting, that's how Ross felt it best to describe Lisgoe

As they stood in silence, Ross' eyes were caught by Lisgoe taking out his cigarette box. Well, for some reason, was specifically watching his hands. Clearly, he wasn't new to this, and his fingers were equally as skilled. That must've been due to his drumming hobby

Why he didn't just look away, Ross didn't know, he can't recognised he was staring until he was pulled out of his trance by Lisgoe's voice

"Did you want one?"

Ross just shook his head, suddenly finding the floor fascinating. Not fascinating enough to stop his eyes from darting over at Lisgoe as he let the cigarette stay in his mouth, stretching his hands down by his sides. The tendons fidgeted as he moved his fingers, bending and shifting in a way that was almost hypnotic

He had rings on. That was how Ross excused his fascination. Silver, some had small black gems, they were quite pretty. Suited him. Suited his hands

Those hands-

"If you want a smoke, I don't mind sharing."

"I was looking at your jewellery."

"Is that right?" Lisgoe's tone was smug and biting, cigarette still in his teeth "Just my jewellery?"

Usually, Ross would just deny it and move on. And he knew he was for the best. But he watched as Lisgoe moved to stand directly in front of him, slowly reaching to take the cigarette out from between his teeth. There was something about the way his canines caught his lower lip as he smiled that caught Ross' attention and refused to let it go

"What else would I be looking at?"

"Dunno," Lisgoe's right hand jolted out to grab Ross' left shoulder, standing in front of him as he brushed his forearm against Ross' throat, causing him to let out a strangled gasp "what else could have your attention?"

Well... this is new

The eye contact between them was thick and glowing like an ember. Ross' eyes darted towards Lisgoe's forearm and he made the mistake of glancing at his shoulder. Because he was instantly met with the sight of Lisgoe's hand tightly gripping it

And that made it incredibly hard to make rational decision

"I'm not a hook-up sort of person," Ross said softly, the way he spoke sounded more like a challenge than anything else "you'll have to do more than push me into a wall to convince me to spend the night with you."

"You may not wanna hook up, but you want something." This was followed by a hand slipping down Ross' back, resting on his ass "Something a little more hands-on?"

"And you're alright with acting like this in public? Where anyone could catch you?"

"No big deal," came the drummer's response as he pulled away, which caused Ross' more disappointment than he cared to admit "part of the fun. But you look like you don't get much of that."

The glare Ross gave him caused him to laugh, and he took another smoke of his cigarette

No fun, is that what you think?

He had the decency to wait for Lisgoe to stop inhaling the smoke before tugging him in by his vest. But, just as their lips brushed, he hesitated. It felt odd. Not bad, not at all. Hell, as he heard Lisgoe exhale the smoke into the tiny space between them, Ross could feel his head spin quite pleasurably. It just wasn't what he was used to, none of it was

Oddly enough, it was as if Lisgoe could read his mind through the web of thought he was tangled in

"Could leave you alone," he said casually "just say the word and I'll fuck off. The others are probably wondering where I am anyway." A pause. As if he were trying to work out how to speak without pushing "Or... if it's publicity you don't like, my apartment's free. Up to you really."

"Logical Things To Say" setlist

"No, I've just met you"

"I have work in the morning"

"This is a very bad idea"

"We could get caught"

"Not very decent, is it?"

Ross opened his mouth and responded with the first thing that came to mind

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

After a long day at work, or a long day anywhere for that matter, Lisgoe often enjoyed sitting in his car, in some secluded area, accompanied only by his thoughts and the radio

This time, however, he was in his car, in some secluded alleyway

The radio off

And his tongue down someone's throat

What a fucking night!

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

Ross' brain had been yelling at him about his complete lack of dignity as soon as Lisgoe started leading him to his car. It had been somewhat quietened by the feeling of Lisgoe's hand massaging his thigh as he drove, but it didn't leave him alone until the car was stopped and Ross felt his chin being grabbed and his head turned to face the man in the driver's seat

The man he was currently straddling the lap of, in that exact driver's seat

"Making Out With A Guy You Just Met" set list

The buzzing in your stomach at the potential for getting caught, a combination of fear and thrill

Cramped spaces that aren't exactly comfortable, but makes everything feel that much more sensual

Jesus christ, I'm making out with a stranger in the front seat of his car

All of Ross' thoughts came through as static, every time he felt Lisgoe grip at his sides, tug his shirt, run his hands across his bare skin, the static got more intense until his head was completely empty of what had happened and what might happen next. All he could focus on was cold hands on warm skin, the sound of the drummer's breathing becoming more laboured and heavy

He didn't even realise he was making gentle sounds of his own until Lisgoe broke the kiss to tell him in a breathy tone

"You sound so fucking good."

"Do I?"

Lisgoe just nodded as he pulled Ross back in, as if replying simply wasted too much time. Time he wanted to spend completely melting into him, surrounded by the combining scent of cologne and cigarettes. Strange, but somehow added to the thrill. Made it feel more rebellious

"Just realised," Lisgoe muttered against Ross' mouth, unable to pull himself away for more than a few seconds "never got your name."

"Right."

"So what is it?"

"Um, Ross."

As Ross placed a hand on Lisgoe's chest, he could feel the way a chuckle rumbled gently through him

"You didn't sound too sure, that an alias or something? Are you a spy-"

Ross put a stop to the teasing by trailing his lips along Lisgoe's jawline

"It's Ross." He said gently in his ear "Ross Gaines. And I'm an auditor at the job centre, not a spy."

As he kissed down Lisgoe's neck, taking his time as he did with most things, he could hear his saying something under his breath

"Ross Gaines. Ross Gaines."

Each time his name was said, more heat started to pool within him. The way it sounded in Lisgoe's voice wasn't quite something he'd prepared for

"It's fun to say, 'Ross Gaines' all those s sounds." Lisgoe's lips moved to his ear, nipping at the lobe "Ross..." his hand slid up his shirt, digging slightly into his skin "Fuck sake, Ross Gaines," he grabbed the hem of his trousers, moving to undo his belt "you taste so sweet."

The hissing of the sibilance, combined with the feeling of the words hitting his skin, was enough to make Ross slightly dizzy. And the feeling of his belt being unbuckled was not helping his critical reasoning skills in the slightest. The words were bubbling up through his throat, arms wrapped around Lisgoe's neck as pulled him in, as if searching for a way to distract himself. To stop himself from falling off the edge

"Ross-"

"Wait."

Lisgoe pulled his hands away, holding them up like he'd been stopped by police

"You said your apartment was free?"

"I live alone, so I'd be fucking confused if it wasn't."

That made Ross roll his eyes, laughing a little. His hands made their way to cup Lisgoe's face, looking at him with considering eyes

"Do you do this often then?"

"Not as often as people think." Lisgoe answered, his hands on Ross' hips "Yeah, sometimes I like a quick one before I go to bed, but I'm not exactly a hook-up expert. I just get horny." His hands moved slowly up his sides, sending a chill up Ross' spine "You're the first one I've invited back though, I like your company. You're hot as fuck, but you're also easy to talk to. I respect that."

"I thought it was common decency to kick the person out of bed after you're done with them."

That got a gravelly chuckle from the drummer and he let his hand travel to Ross' ass, squeezing roughly

"I like spicing things up every now and then."

"Really?" Ross, in a sudden wave of boldness, leaned in and brushed their lips together "Because I think stalling things would make it quite boring."

The sound of Lisgoe's stuttered breath bounced in Ross' head

"Was... your fucking idea." He replied with a sly smile "You changing your mind, Ross?"

"I'm allowed." He bit Lisgoe's lower lip and god! The low, raspy moan it produced caused his hips to buck, which only drew another groan from the drummer's lips "Any objections, Joseph?"

"Say my name like that again and I won't be able to fucking talk, let alone object!"

There was no more time for set lists

#reece shearsmith #league of gentlemen #the league of gentlemen #joseph lisgoe #ross gaines #gainsgoe #gainesgoe

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bbyquokka · 2 years ago

Note

Everyone asking for needy han meanwhile I'm here thinking of a convo we had of just Binge watching Studio Ghibli films with him, 🥺💖 like he keeps asking you sure you can watch one more movie? You're 2 films in, and as he goes to play another movie you're just sleeping all peacefully with your head on his chest, and then the members walk in and they're like did she really fall asleep? And he's all like looking down at you and just smiles " yeah its okay tho she's adorable "

this is something i want so badly 🥺😭

FLUFF BELOW CUT

warnings: fem!reader, she/her pronouns, a lot of floof!!

movie night. Fridays are always yours and Jisung's movie nights, you both made that apparent the day you both got together.

this Friday night, is no different. the band members were kind enough to give you and Jisung some personal space. they all opted in visiting a bar restaurant which meant that they wouldn't be home until past midnight - perfect for you and Jisung

the living area dimly lit, bowls of popcorn and sweets on the coffee table with some drinks. you're dressed in a spaghetti strap vest and shorts whereas Jisung is in grey sweats and no top - skin on skin contact is an absolute must for you both

situated between his legs, head on his bare chest, you hum in content feeling warm and loved from your better half. the fleece blanket providing you both some extra warmth on this cold, winter night.

Spirited Away being the first movie of the night. you both re-enact some scenes, going along with the voice lines and laugh softly if one of you messes up. throwing popcorn and candy into your mouths before exchanging sweet kisses.

Howls Moving Castle being the second. You nuzzle into Jisung's chest, wanting to feel even closer to him, his arms holding you gently, fingers gently tracing small patterns on your skin making it tingle and goose bumps to say hello

Halfway through the film, your eyelids start to feel heavy. you don't want to sleep, not yet at least! just a few more glorious minutes with Sungie...

but his warmth and comfort is overpowering. his soft chuckles rippling from his chest, his heartbeat providing you some soothing asmr to your ears as does his slow breathing.

don't fight this losing battle of sleep.

“another one?” Jisung says, looking down. he coos at your sleeping figure, soft snores escaping your parted lips. his heart melts as does he. you're the most precious thing to him and to see that you feel safe enough with him to fall asleep, does something to him.

his heart feels like it going to burst from all the happiness and love he feels. butterflies erupting in his stomach - this is blissful.

he reaches for his phone, careful not to wake you. he checks the time, which is currently past 1 am, meaning the band members will be back any minute now. he quickly snaps a photo of you, squealing silently to himself before saving it at his wallpaper. he kisses the top of your head gently, stroking your hair as the band members barge in in their usual noisy manner

“can't believe you lost at rock paper scissors, yet again changbin!” Chan states, the members laughing as they all pile in.

“he just sucks, that's all!” Seungmin says with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“YA! I do not suck, okay! just... bad luck” Changbin says in his usual loud tone. normally, Jisung wouldn't mind all the noise and commotion, but when he sees your nose scrunch up and a hand rubbing your eye slowly, he frowns

“hey uhm. I don't wanna sound like that guy, but could yall just keep the noise down a lil.”

the guys look at Jisung, then you before laughing softly.

“sorry, Ji!” Changbin apologies. Jisung smiles before shaking his head.

“did she really fall asleep on you?” Minho does his short, rapid blinks, not being able to gauge the scene in front of him.

“yeah.” jisung looks down at your sleeping frame, smiling softly and lovingly at you. “yeah, she did but she's adorable so I don't mind.”

→ TAGS [open]: @chaneomma | @sstarryoong | @meltheninja13 | @laylasbunbunny

#💀👑#skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz soft hours #skz soft thoughts #stray kids soft thoughts #stray kids soft hours #han jisung #jisung #han jisung fluff #jisung fluff #han jisung x you #han jisung x reader #jisung x you #jisung x reader #skz x you #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #stray kids x you

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bodypaintsculptures · 1 year ago

Text

High Priestess | Chapter 1: Why Now?

A/N: Hey lovelies!!! Welcome to the new edited version of High Priestess!! I have decided to post the full chapters on here as well as on Wattpad! I have made a few adjustments to all chapters. I have also renamed a lot of the chapters as well as adding some new chapters in! The plot has changed slightly but the overall story has remained the same! A big thank you to @alovesreading for being such a big help with the storyline! You are a gem! Please lemme know what you think and if you would like to be tagged!! H x

Synopsis: A down on their luck Welsh band, High Priestess, finally get the big break they were looking for - a supporting spot for one of the UK's biggest successes; the Arctic Monkeys. Was this finally the opportunity they needed to kick start their dream careers of being a successful rock band? Or will a tumultuous relationship between the two lead singers and a secret confession of devotion ultimately be too much to handle for the three best friends from Cardiff?

Word Count: 4.5K

Warnings: swearing, drug usage, mentions of death, mental health issues and sexual content throughout this fic.

────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────────────

"Letting the days go by, letting the water hold me down..."

The speaker sang, quietly as to not to disturb the customers in the bookstore, well all two of them.

"Letting the days go by, water flowing underground..."

Niko sighed exhaustedly, her tired frame leaning against the glass countertop, watching as the customers came and went without so much as buying a thing.

She was bored.

She always was when it was her turn to close, or even open, or just be here, she thought with a melancholy hum.

That's when she saw someone or rather, her, caught the woman's attention. Sat nose deep in a tattered old book, the cover faded and the title unreadable to the distant blonde sat at her cash register. She was always in here, reading whatever she could put her hands on, alone. But she was always smiling.

Linda.

With a heavy roll of her eyes and lethargic push, Niko got to her feet, wandering over to the gray haired woman that had taken a seat in the reading area. Her presence was enough to make the woman glance up from the book she looked very interested in. There was a moment of silence between the two before Niko spoke up, her tone flat and fed up.

"Look Linda, y'know what I'm gonna say..." Niko drew out, scratching the back of her neck. It was the same thing she always said to her; "You can't sit 'ere and read the whole book and then put it back, you have to at least buy it first." Her tone remained flat as it always did when she told the woman, sick of spitting out the same words.

Linda gave the blonde a small happy smile, the crows feet surrounding her eyes wrinkling in her old age. "My apologies Niko." She sat up, fetching her purse from the bag that leant against the leg of the sofa she had occupied for quite some time. "How much?"

Niko blew out a breath, and shrugged her shoulders. Usually she would scan the barcode of the book to see what the system would say but this book was so beaten up and falling apart at the seams, that there was no barcode, or even really a front cover. Niko shook her head, she couldn't really charge an extortionate price for something that looked like that.

"A pound." The blonde eventually said, piquing the old woman's interest but she didn't question the young lady's decision and fished out some money from her purse.

"Have a fiver, my dear." Linda responded, giving the blonde a folded up five pound note.

Frowning, Niko took the five pound note from the old lady without so much as a complaint, god knows the store needs it, letting out a small 'thank you' ash she did. She pocketed the note in her checkerboard trousers, reminding herself to deposit it into the cash register when she returned to her post in just a few seconds. However, before she could get there, Linda was trying to strike up a conversation with the uninterested blonde.

"How's life been treating you, my dear?" Linda asked with a smile, the book she'd been nose deep in, now folded close on the coffee table in front of her.

Niko stuttered for a second, muttering something about getting back to the desk but Linda quickly chuckled that away. "There's only one other person in here apart from me dear, I think you've got a bit of time, no?"

With a tentative glance around the store to the only other person in it, a middle aged man lost inside a war book, Niko sighed and decided to take Linda up on her offer of a light conversation. It would make my shift go quicker anyway.

The blonde took a seat opposite the gray haired woman and with another heavy sigh, answered the question that had been poised to her, with little enthusiasm. "Same shit, different day." Niko almost chuckled at the irony that was her life but before doing so, realised what she had said, and quickly apologised for her cursing; "Sorry."

Seeing the young woman flush in front of her, Linda let out a quiet chuckle. "It's no problem my dear."

She had always referred Niko as a dear even though every time they would speak, it was the blonde telling her to either buy the book she was reading or leave. Not usually a very amicable conversation that would warrant such a phrase to be used.

Though, Linda was a sweet woman. she always had a smile on her face, she always wanted to strike up a conversation, even with Niko's soured personality. But from those conversations, forced or not, Niko had learnt about Linda's life and how she would come by the bookstore to read and enjoy the company of others since her husband had died a few years ago and her children lived abroad. Niko had felt sorry for her, that this was her only solace to feel a sense of togetherness in this world and would usually be happy to converse with her when she first started coming by. But these days, these days, the blondes mood had soured and her patience wore thin, making it difficult for her to hold a conversation with customers in a job she had come to loathe.

"How's the band going?" Linda questioned, snapping Niko back from her thoughts and filling the silent emptiness of the bookstore.

Niko hummed, the band.

"Good." She quipped a small sweet lie. Niko didn't want to burden the gray haired woman with the depressing truth, not when she didn't really want to admit it to herself, so she continued; "Had a few auditions to support a few bands, sent some demo's to some labels..." The blonde exaggerated, slightly, as she drifted off into thought.

The truth was, it wasn't good at all. They hadn't got one call back from audiences nor had they really sent that many demo's out to places.

And if Niko was being really honest, she had contemplated quitting the band on more than a few occasions over the last couple of months. after years of trying, they weren't getting anywhere. All they seemed to do was play small gigs in pubs and small venues across South Wales and at this point there were just kind of existing. For her, there seemed to be no breakthrough in sight and she was just about ready to give up that part of her life. Of course, Niko had tried her best over the years to keep the band together, for the sake of her sanity, but it was getting to the point where even that was starting to waver. Although the band had become the only solace away from the mundane reality she had come to know as her life, there was no longer any motivation or inspiration for her, now it was more like a nightmare.

"And?" Linda pressed, seeing the vacant expression on the blondes face.

Niko shrugged, slouching back in the chair. "Tha's it... just kinda waiting." She lent Linda a small smile, hoping that would satisfy the older woman.

But Linda could see the dull emptiness in Niko's eyes. It was the eyes of someone who was ready to give up.

Leaning across the gap between them, Linda grabbed Niko's hand, and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, I'm sure someone will pick you up dear, I think you and your friends have a good thing going there." She reassured.

Though Niko was finding it hard to agree with the optimistic woman, she gave her another forced smile of appreciation nonetheless, pretending as if her words actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. Which, regrettably, they did not.

"I'm no music connoisseur, but I know something sounds good when I hear it and you, my dear, have a beautiful voice." The gray haired complimented determinedly.

She had heard Niko singing along with the music in the store on a few occasions and had found appreciating it's beautiful harmonies, so much so that it had stopped her from reading her books.

The compliment made Niko's cheeks flush and her forced smile turned more genuine on her cherry painted lips. "Thank you, Linda."

─────────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────────────────

After that quick interaction with the bookstore's regular customer, nothing much else happened for the rest of Niko's shift. Just the boring rigmarole of watching customers come and go without so much as buying anything, all the while Linda sat, reading the book she'd bought for more than it was worth.

When it came to closing time, Linda was the last one to leave the store, as she always was when she came to visit. Niko let the gray haired woman out with a forced smile and a quick 'see you again' on her lips, like they always did. But this time, before the blonde could close the door and lock it up, Linda stopped her short, grabbing her outstretched arm.

"You should believe in yourself a bit more, my dear." Linda whispered encouragingly before giving the blonde a small wave.

Niko just nodded, watching the old woman, with the permanent smile on her face, make her way down the dimly lit street with a sigh. Believe in myself, Niko found herself thinking, what was there to believe in anymore?

From then, Niko did what she always did when closing the store; cleaned up any books people had discarded after reading them and not paying; cashed up the minuscule amount of money they'd taken for the day; turned the lights off and finally locked the store up, always with the same though crossing her mind; I hope it burns down.

Now, Niko wasn't an arsonist per say, but just the thought of one day turning up for work and seeing the place burnt to a crisp brought a sense of ease to her. As if its singed state would finally release her from the boring monotony of her every day, nine to five, life she had fallen victim to.

But, unfortunately for her, that day never seemed to come. No one seemed to want to burn a bookstore down and so, depressively enough, the cycle of Niko's life continued to roll on, unchanged and uneventful.

It wasn't as if Niko hated the bookstore or the thousands of books that it held. Truth was, Niko used to love reading. Well, used to.

She used to love being sucked in by the characters and their adventures, used to love being transported to a world where she could tag along for the ride and experience the emotions of the characters would endure on their conquests for love or revenge. She used to love drawing inspiration from the pages of a book or the lines of a poem, able to dream up her own stories in the form of lyrics. But now, well, that inspiration ceased to exist. Those words she would once worship as if their own religion, were now just meaningless. They did not provoke a sense of wonder or a flicker of light inside the stone could heart she had grown over the years.

It had all become a nothingness to her. Just like her life.

Checking that the door was secure, Niko walked away from the bookstore, hoping that it would finally be the last time she was there, but it never was. She hoped nonetheless, a hoping that was slowly fading.

The blonde walked down the same dimly lit street that she had watched Linda walk down not half an hour before, but instead of walking straight ahead like her counterpart had, she took a swift left, heading down a familiar side street with only one thing on her mind. I need a strong drink.

She arrived at her preferred destination not two minutes later, staring up at the low lit sign that read 'The Queen Vaults'. It was like every other olde-worlde pub in Cardiff; dark exterior and stained glass windows, but this place evoked something inside Niko that made it seem different. It was her place, their place. And the memories that evoked inside her, brought a well-needed genuine smile to her face. It was a place she did not have to think twice about entering, giving the bouncer, Dave a customary "hello" as she did, as the familiar smell hit her senses and made her heart sing.

Stale beer and piss.

It probably sounded horrible to anyone else and would probably put them off ever stepping inside, but to her and her friends, it was the smell of home, the smell of memories; the smell of a good time.

Wasting no time at all, the blonde made her way to the bar, her small stature pushing past a group of rowdy lads who had decided to call it home for the night before she reached her destination with a heavy sigh.

"Packed in 'ere tonight." She quipped annoyedly and leaned against the sticky bar, lined with dried beer.

The bartender nodded with a roll of her eyes. "There's a footie game on tha's why, Wales playin' some... other European team." She drifted off not really caring, and neither did Niko. Sport really wasn't her thing. She did not understand why people raved about watching sweaty men chasing after a ball and falling over dramatically. It all seemed a bit too gay to her. "So we're a bit busier-- the usual?"

"Yeah please, CJ." Niko smiled, glad that she was able to get served quickly.

God knows I needed it.

CJ, or Cleo, was Niko's best friend and also the drummer of their ill fated band. They had known each other since they were six, they went to school together, grew up together. She had started working at their local when she was eighteen, just as Niko had gotten a job around the corner at the bookstore. Since then, after every shift, Niko would swing by for a drink and another and another, until it was usually those two laughing and drunkenly joking around at the bar until the early hours of the morning. Although, it was to the annoyance of CJ's boss, the man wasn't going to stop them as they paid their way through, even with the little money they had. Their drinking habits at the pub, also seemed to play in their favour, as her boss afforded them their first proper gig, even if it was in front of about ten people, most of which were the locals they begged to attend.

But that was nearly eight years ago, and since then, not much has changed. Unfortunately.

"One 'double' for the sexist lady 'ere." CJ smirked upon her return, a vodka lime soda in hand. "And a bit extra, free of charge of course." She winked.

Niko smirked at her friend's insistence on adding more alcohol that she was allowed to. If she was going to let her get drunk, she definitely wasn't going to complain about it.

The blonde let out a small "thank you" to her friend, grabbing two straws from the side and taking a healthy sip of it, immediately being hit by how strong her friend had actually made it. She pursed her lips as the strong liquor burned its way down her throat, almost making her cough, before she began looking around the packed pub.

"Are the two idiots 'ere?" She questioned the bartender, with a raise of her perfectly slicked eyebrow.

CJ nodded. "Usual spot." Gesturing towards the secluded booth in the corner where two people sat hidden away. Niko smiled seeing them from a distance and began walking over, CJ shouting that she would be joining them in a minute.

Before Niko had even got half way there, one of the idiots was already on their feet, shouting at her with their arms wide open. Larry.

"There she is!" He sang, engulfing his friend in a bear hug, making her chuckle.

Larry was another friend Niko had known since primary school. Herself, CJ and Larry had been inseparable since then. He was also the keyboardist and technician for their band, and although he wasn't officially part of the trio, Niko was insistent that he be the adopted fourth member which Larry was happy enough to accept. He was easy going, didn't really mind having a title or not. Besides, this was a side gig for him, away from his full time job as a tattoo artist, so the whole "being part of the band" thing never bothered him.

Niko slipped in next to her friend and was greeted by the other idiot she mentioned to CJ; Viola.

The woman with a permanent smile on her face. A smile that was sometimes a nice sight and sometimes the death of her. Niko was convinced that Larry had tattooed the joker-like grin on her because there was no way for someone to be happy all the time, but then she would remembered that Viola wasn't good with needles and had fainted every time Larry or any other tattoo artists had attempted to tattoo her, so that was was just how she was, naturally.

"How was work?" Viola questioned, her perfectly manicured nails playing with the ends of her long, blonde hair.

Viola stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of them. She wore more than monochrome colours they did and her skin was always perfectly tanned, not to mention her flawless hair and make up. But that's what you get for being beauty technician by day and a heavy metal lover by night.

Though was the other didn't have in Viola's flawlessness, they made up for it in tattoos. All three of them were covered. Larry from his leg, to his arms, his torso and neck, CJ -- who had now slotted herself in next to Viola -- had a sleeved arm and tattoos covering her thighs, while Niko herself was covered in them from her arms to her legs and the majority of her back.

They looked like a group of pot smoking goths who had kidnapped one of the prettiest and more popular girls at school and were holding her captive.

"Bollocks as always." Niko tutted in a fed up tone, slumping against the ripped leather seats of the booth.

She was fed up with everything at this point; her boring life, her boring job, her boring everything. But she wasn't about to start ranting, not again at least. She had done enough of that over the years and although it depressed her, she wasn't about to depress her friends.

Though it always had Niko pondering that surely there was more to life than this.

That more was yet to be found.

"Aww well, at least you're getting paid." Viola smiled at Niko trying to be positive about her friend's situation, ever the optimist.

Although her upbringing had allowed her to be, especially when her dad was famous, well famous in Wales at least. Which, if you play international rugby for Wales, you were considered just that. Now, Niko wasn't that into rugby either but Viola's dad was the sweetest man she had ever met, he had helped his daughters band out a lot over the years, even converting his one of his spare bedrooms into a recording studio for them.

Anything for his little princess, Niko chuckled to herself, envious of the relationship she had with her father. But that didn't take away from the fact that Viola had had it easier than the rest of the group. She'd been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and not had to endure the same sort of upbringings as Niko, CJ and Larry had.

But she was still a humble girl with aspirations as big as the rest of them and she was a great friend to have.

"And we gotta gig on Friday, so we can get some money from that too!" Viola smiled happily. For someone who looked like a Barbie doll from the 1970's, she didn't half love rocking out on stage.

Fat chance of that, Niko thought as she held her tongue. These days it cost more in fuel money and set up than what they actually got paid, and usually Niko would give them the money before she'd give herself a cut, which would leave her with only enough for one lousy microwaveable meal.

But Niko wasn't going to dampen the mood with that information. Instead the blonde just hummed in response, picking apart the beer mat her drink sat on as the thought of leaving the band became more attractive as time went on.

CJ whooped in her usually chirpy mood at that fact. She wasn't as positive as Viola, but she was more positive than Niko, who was a pessimist at the best of times.

"And check this out... I 'ave some news." CJ wiggled her painted on eyebrows, diving her hand into her apron to retrieve her phone.

As CJ sat doing whatever on her phone, Niko glanced around the table uninterested. However, that uninterest was quickly curbed when she saw a pair of silly smiles on the faces of Larry and Viola, making her eye them suspiciously.

Something was going on. They never usually smiled like that, even on a good day, so it confused the blonde on why they both looked so demented. She was just about to voice her curiosities at their psychotic looks, when CJ shoved her phone in her hand with the same unnerving smile gracing her lips, and began to speak up;

"I had an email today 'bout one of the demos we sent to tha label, uh fuckin' Domino?" Niko nodded remembering. "And they said tha they loved our demo and wanted to send a representative out to watch us 'n potentially being a supporting act for, get this--" The bartender paused, the silly smile still on her lips, and eyes wide with excitement as she blurted out. "The Arctic Monkeys."

Niko's head snapped up at that name. Her heart skipped a beat. Wait... what?

As quickly as her head had snapped up at the mention of the Arctic fucking Monkeys, it had snapped back down again, reading over what CJ had confirmed. It took Niko a few moments as she read it once, twice, three times over, unable to suffice if this was some kind of sick joke or stupid prank they were playing on her. She checked it again, eyebrows firmly knitted together, trying her hardest to debunk its legitimacy but she couldn't. It was true, staring her right in the face in black and white; she wasn't lying.

That was when all the air in Niko's body left, leaving her dumbfounded. She was almost numbed by the truthful information that stared back at her, greeting her with a smile. But the blonde just couldn't seem to be able to accept it, she couldn't seem to understand it. This couldn't be real, she thought in disbelief, not us.

But it was.

Overloaded with it all, Niko's eyes began to pool with tears, blurring her vision. She once again ran her eyes over the email, trying her hardest not to believe that any of this was true.

Why now? Was all she could think.

Why now? After so many years of trying, of trying so desperately to get the recognition they wanted or maybe even deserved. Why now? After all the long nights travelling around the small bars and venues of South Wales. Why now? After she had finally been ready to give this empty dream up, after she finally decided that enough was enough, she was going to quit the band.

Why now?

Niko was speechless, motionless as she finally glanced up from her friend's phone to the rest of them, sat around the table, eagerly awaiting her response. She could tell that they already knew, CJ seemingly had been too excited not to say anything the second they had walked into the bar that evening and with Niko working until late they had agreed to tell her together when she arrived.

Niko didn't know if to burst out crying or laugh.

She was stuck, confused, overwhelmed, and just as the tears threatened to spill for the woman's usually hardy exterior, she choked out a response. "Ar--are you sure?" As if couldn't believe it and part of her didn't want to believe it.

The blonde didn't know why but she was scared. Scared of what, she wasn't sure. Change? Acceptance? Everything?

"Yes I'm sure." CJ chuckled at her friends hesitance. The drummer was beaming, more than she had in a long time, though that beaming was cut short and the grin on her face fell off when she saw Niko's attention back on her phone, scrolling through it again as if she was trying to debunk it somehow. "It's legit, stop trying to check Nik." She warned, taking her phone back and shoving it in her aprons pocket.

CJ wasted no time in leaning back over the table and grabbing a hold of her best friends trembling hands in her own. She gave them a light squeeze in reassurance as she began to speak. "This could finally be the break we've waited so long for, we could finally make it -- you, me and Viola." She nodded to their friend who sat in the corner, beaming like a Cheshire Cat and one of Larry's arms draped across her shoulder, himself expressing the biggest grin on his face.

Everyone else was smiling, Niko noted, so why wasn't I?

Why couldn't she smile like they were? Why couldn't she believe what they were telling her? Why was she so stuck? She wasn't sure if she had an answer to those questions, but it seemed like CJ knew that.

"Niko, look at me." CJ demanded, seeing the shocked expression on her friends face, feeling her own tears start to well. "This is all we've ever wanted." She whispered into the crowded bar, but Niko heard her nonetheless. "We've worked so hard for this, we deserve to be happy, don't we?"

But before Niko could formulate any kind of response, a shout from across the bar brought them from their heartwarming moment. "Cleo, get back to work!"

The anger-filled shout snapped the group's head to the bar where CJ's manager stood, glaring at the bartender. CJ's eyes rolled at the man's untimely interruption, her hands reluctantly letting go of the blonde's shaking pair as she fell back into her seat with her own shout. "Shut up Tony!" She cursed loudly, before turning back to the group. "Duty calls, but I'll get us a round of shots to celebrate!" The brunette smirked happily as she stood up.

Before she left, however, CJ stopped in front of her best friend, gathering her attention with a whisper; "Smile Niko, our dreams are finally coming true." And with that she left the blonde to process everything that had just happened.

The news. The email. The chance of a lifetime thrust their way.

Their collective dream finally becoming a reality.

They were the undisputed facts, the facts that seem to ignite a small spark inside Niko. One that she had been convinced she had lost a long time ago; hope. And for the first time in forever, Niko felt a genuine smile form on her lips. Maybe this was our chance.

#alex turner #alex turner fanfic #alex turner fanfiction #alex turner x oc #alex turner smut #alex turner fluff #alex turner angst #alex turner imagine #arctic monkeys #jamie cook #matt helders #nick o'malley #the car era #fanfiction #arctic monkeys fanfic #fanfic writing

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picathartidae · 5 months ago

Note

For the most recent round of ask game I'd love to hear your answers for 5, 9, 23, and 26. 💙

I'm still answering for Alassane, despite him being a Dark Urge, because my Tavs are all from a different D&D setting and none of them are sufficiently fleshed out when it comes to the Forgotten Realms. I really hope that's okay!

5. Did your Tav have any formal or informal employment? If yes, what was their job? If no, how did they make ends meet? How did they feel about it?

The closest Alassane ever got a real job was when he was about 10/11 years old and found himself homeless and briefly wandering the Outer City. Through various wacky happenstance, a blacksmith took pity on him and he ended up becoming the man’s apprentice for a few years. It ended, as all nice things in Alassane’s backstory do, with murder, when he was 15. From that point on, he was a career criminal and assassin, and finally ending up as an adventurer/mercenary during and after the events of the game.

It all instilled a very blunt pragmatism in Alassane, as well as a general lack of respect for money or the concept of private property. He doesn’t have strong feelings about what he does, he just does whatever he has to in order to survive and achieve his goals.

9. What was your Tav doing when they were taken by the mind flayers?

He was catatonic, as he had been for maybe nine months by that point, and imprisoned in the mind flayer colony deep beneath Moonrise Towers. Then his pod was shoved onto a nautiloid, and the rest is history.

23. What are 2-3 songs that your Tav would relate to?

I always struggle with these kinds of questions, because I don’t really engage with songs based on lyrics, but rather entirely on vibes. Alassane’s vibes are mainly aggressive electronic, grunge, and alt rock — with a few bits of other extremely eclectic nonsense thrown in. The best I can do are songs I have written Alassane doing things to, and why I picked them.

1991, by Golden Features

This is literally the song I wrote the dance scene in his first chapter to, and is probably the closest I have to a ‘main theme’. It’s electronic nonsense with no lyrics at all, which I liked and thought fit him because the heavy synth feels very artificial and unnatural in a medieval fantasy setting. Since Alassane (as the Dark Urge) was created rather than born, it seemed very accurate for the character, and helps give off this terrifying and uncanny vibe. And I could so very easily imagine him doing an impromptu Fosse-style jazz ballet dance routine to this song.

Let You Go, by RY X

For slower and more introspective scenes, usually dream sequences that aren’t outright nightmares. This is very much a song for post-amnesia Alassane that kind of has come to represent his growth as a character because there is actually a bit of symmetry with his arc in the lyrics.

Elddansurin, by Heilung

It’s a good aggressive sounding song with lots of percussion and growling that flows into something a bit softer and more melodic as the song goes on. It’s got some nice dualism to it, and I think that reflects Alassane’s whole deal very nicely. Heilung is also one of my favourite bands and this song is amazing fun to write violence to.

26. Does your Tav have a treasured item with them? If yes, what is it and why is it special? If no, how do they feel about item sentimentality in general?

He’s not an overly sentimental guy, at least not about material possessions. The closest thing he has to a treasured possession is a serrated dagger he woke up with on the nautiloid, and that’s because it’s basically the only connection he has to his past after the amnesia. Before he lost his memories, I doubt that knife meant anything to him at all.

What he is sentimental about is his name, which is its own complicated mess of a subplot that relates to his foster family and how he perceives himself. It's his last connection to the person he wishes he still was, when he was still an innocent child and before Bhaal ruined everything. His foster family was desperately important to him, and their murder was what broke him. He clings to his name in the vain hope that one day, he can find that boy in himself again.

#answered asks #character asks #oc: alassane erendse #30 tav questions ask game

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nikki-ships · 10 months ago

Text

Kinda a WIP thing of Floyd and Siouxsie meeting except I don't actually know how they would approach one another lol.

I wanted to draw it, but I can't actually get the backgrounds to work with me, and they're a huge part of it all ://

Anywhore, here's the song he's walking into the scene to if you also want the full effect of his kinda scary introduction to The Underground scene: My Name Is Mud

This lil WIP is only like 500 words, so blerg

He never had to start from so low, already being a well-established artist. Well, a member of a well-known band, at least. And that’s just the problem. He knows who he is in a group. As a band, they all had their roles to play, it all seemed so cut and dry. But going solo, he just feels… lost.

Which is why he’s turned to The Underground Scene. He’s heard of it, but never been, and trying to get information on where the nearest underground was was like pulling teeth. These scenes are a well-kept secret from a great many mainstream spaces, because the Trolls that play there don’t usually have a well-developed space themselves like the other genres do. These areas are coveted by many smaller genres and subgenres. The mainstream have it easy with their whole kingdoms and villages to play in, but groups like Indie, Punk, Goth, and various others don’t have that. So, to the Underground they took, crafting widely spread out concert arenas for themselves. Literal holes in the ground.

It’s the last place anyone expects to see such a brightly colored Pop Troll, but nothing is vibing right with Floyd’s pursuit of a solo career. He’s desperate for inspiration and to experiment and possibly discover more of who he is as an individual.

The path into The Underground is a bit convoluted. Ominous, heavy noises echo off the walls. A sense of dread fills his chest as the heavy strums reverb deep in his bones. It only grows heavier as he enters the concert area. The lyrics begin as soon as he does, and he’s… not sure what to make of them starting, “My name is Mud.”

Bioluminescent fungi help to light the stage, along with other light sources that were gathered to make the artists visible to the audience. Most Trolls occupying the area are darker in color, generally from grungier music subgenres and derivatives of Rock and Metal. Some are more colorful, however, so he doesn’t immediately stick out too much.

Finally, he sees the source of the heavy reverb making his skeleton feel like it’s about to vibrate out of his body. The bassist. In the blue-toned light, she looks more grey-toned, dark red hair with bangs covering her eyes, her mouth never moving from the neutral expression it’s stuck in. She doesn’t move at all, really… only her hands as she strums such an intense bass line with the drums only making the room shake more. Such a deadpan expression and her general lack of movement around the stage while everyone else was throwing themselves about it would make one suspect that she doesn’t want to be there.

#Puttin the vibes out there for how the two met. But I don't know how they actually talk to each other here lmao #Thought it would be fun #Nikki writing #siouxsie #floyd tba

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thebowerypresents · 5 months ago

Text

Wilco Kick Off the Weekend and a Three-Night Run at the Beacon Theatre on Friday

Wilco – Beacon Theatre – June 21, 2024

Like many a Wilco fan, I look back to 2004’s A Ghost Is Born with certain fondness, not least because it was an inflection-point epoch. Before touring the Ghost material — which is to say, before Wilco rounded out the band lineup we would come to know over the two decades since with guitar sorcerer Nels Cline and multi-instrumentalist wonder Pat Sansone — Wilco had only just begun to push at the artier, more experimental edges of their invigorating, countrified indie-rock, hinting at what might come next.

After that, Jeff Tweedy and Co. were totally indulging those edges: Ghost inaugurated an era of Wilco songs and shows that could be tightly compact or sprawling and annihilating and psychedelic, and today usually are all of those things, where even the quietest and most delicate tunes have simmering noise-rock rage just beneath them and are better for it. Wilco can be so sweetly on. They can go so wildly off. It’s all good. And as the size of their playable oeuvre has doubled since — including a prolific run of new material since the pandemic — they’ve refined what they do even further. They wear their “great modern rock” bona fides well.

Wilco shows have a way of feeling casually epic. At the Beacon on Friday — the first of three for the band, back in the broiling city — they started out confident and workmanlike and then, gradually, both relaxed the vibe and upped the intensity. Tweedy was his usual affable, lightly sardonic self, steering them through a well-blended run of classics from all eras (“Handshake Drugs,” “Passenger Side,” “I’m the Man Who Loves You”), more recent tunes and obscurities.

There was some deference to Ghost material — among the standouts, the sensational, Beatles-like “Hummingbird” just never gets old, and the crowd felt it deeply — but there was at least as much from 2022’s Cruel Country and 2023’s Cousin, the pandemic Wilco albums whose songs yield some of their most interesting experiments yet. “Falling Apart (Right Now),” from the former, is an actual, chicken-pickin’ country song, but one that isn’t so much a throwback to Wilco’s early, pre-millennium alt-country days as it is what the band might sound like if they took this version of the band back to that aesthetic. And yet, “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull,” from that same album, has very little country at all: a woozy, jangling build that on record ebbs into rustic psychedelia but here, live, opened up, became a sonic voyage, the band all in protracted instrumental jamming at once.

When they go for it, they really go for it. Long masters of setlist construction, Wilco built on a strong first hour and then cranked up things, using the last third of the show on a run through some of their richest material: “Heavy Metal Drummer,” “The Late Greats,” the deceptively delicate, right-in-the-feels “Jesus Etc.,” the much-beloved hymn “California Stars,” the shoegaze-hypnotic choogle of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” at the close of a four-song encore. And every time you think you’ve previously heard the best of Cline laying waste to “Impossible Germany” — a pensive tune that in fact houses a seven-plus-minute, no-holds-barred guitar excursion — it ends up feeling like the first time, with Friday’s showstopper a wiry adventure of maybe-this-feels-like-Eddie Hazel-meets-David-Gilmour-but-no-it’s-actually-just-Nels-doing-Nels-and-holy-shit.

Wilco’s individual players get plenty of love: Tweedy, Cline, Sansone, the might-be-MVP Glenn Kotche on drums, the stalwart John Stirratt on bass, the never-not-on-point Mikael Jorgensen on keys. Less talked about, and ever more apparent as they age, is how well over 20 years they’ve jelled as an ensemble and move as one organism over songs for whom this many players and this much musicality might be too much in an arena, let alone a theater. That they’ve also kept all this from becoming mechanical — that every Wilco show still feels fresh and unforced — suggests there are many more Wilco epochs yet to come. —Chad Berndtson | @Cberndtson

(Wilco play the Beacon Theatre again tonight.)

Photos courtesy of Savannah Lauren | @savannahlaurenphoto

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llittletingoddess · 1 year ago

Text

Borderline

"This is my job, I have no other choice."

Part 1

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Genre: AU, Psychology, Drama, Angst, Character Study

Words Count: 1.2k

IMPORTANT: English is not my first language so there may be some mistakes, please be patient. Also note that it's based on real occurrences but do not claim to be accurate. Everything described is merely the author's point of view ♥

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August, 2022.

An ordinary routine summer day. Summer in Vail is one of the most interesting times of the year. And even though the number of tourists decreases over time during this period, the nature, on the contrary, surprises with its colors: Rocky mountains are submerged in greenery, the sound of waterfalls perfectly complements the tranquility present here, and the distant chirping of birds somewhere in the forest seems to transport you to a fairytale. An ideal place to live… with your family.

The life of a housewife is vastly different from the whirlwind of events she experienced all these years. His tours, red carpets, camera flashes, and universal popularity - it was like Cinderella transforming from a stepdaughter into a princess. But all of it came crashing down in one moment.

There were no signs of trouble. Francesca was cutting onions for the soup she would eat alone - the kids had long scattered to various places, and her husband… when did he ever like onion soup? Somewhere in the background, MTV was on to somewhat alleviate the deafening silence of the place. This house used to be a family nest, into which she poured her soul, but now these walls weigh her down with their emptiness. As she finished chopping the onions, out of the corner of her ear, she heard those lines:

— "…rock legend James Hetfield… divorce…25 years…"

Her heart sank. Once again, journalists referred to him as a rock legend. He would mutter something discontented about how people in the industry can't even tell metal from rock, and then he'd start comparing himself to someone like Mick Jagger, assuring everyone that he'd still be rocking at 70. This made Francesca bitterly smile at her own thoughts. She knew very well that divorce was inevitable. All these years, she lived in self-deception, hoping he would change. For the sake of the family. For her. But the more he changed, the less of that James she fell in love with remained. The one who became the father of her children. And she blamed herself for it. After all, it was her idea to get him to go for treatment for his alcohol addiction. But getting rid of the problem came at too high a cost.

With a heavy sigh, she turned off the TV with a dry hand. Sabbath, their black cat, the one James named after one of his favorite bands, gently rubbed against her leg, and her eyes began to burn intensely. Francesca couldn't tell if it was the onions or the fragments of her broken heart. Pouring the onions into the pot, she lit the stove and sat down at the table. Sabbath, slightly offended by the lack of attention, climbed onto the nearby chair, gazing questioningly at her owner. Francesca wearily smiled, petting the cat's head.

— You are constant, Sabbath. Always been a silent psychologist for me at the right moment.

A couple of days ago, he celebrated his birthday. For the first time in almost 30 years, without her. Was he happy? She hoped so. At least, it seemed that way when he answered her phone call with a barely discernible joy in his voice. Usually, he didn't like to throw parties in his honor, but this time, it was a mini-party with his favorite tracks from the 80s in the style of the series "Stranger Things" - or so she was told by mutual friends. That was so unlike him… why would he suddenly chase trends? "Better to understand the kids," Francesca answered her own question. She had often told him that he should get to know their children's interests better.

— While you're sell out stadiums, your kids need their father.

— Everything will be fine, Fran. This is my job, I have no other choice.

He always said that, and what was the result? While finding common ground with Castor was easy, as their son followed in his father's footsteps and played in a young band, with Kali, their internal connection worked - Marcela was the most difficult one. At first, he was skeptical of her boyfriend, and then he criticized her for a revealing photoshoot for some designer. As a result, Sella cut off communication with her father, adding another crack to their family.

Children… sometimes Francesca wondered what it would have been like if she hadn't met James on that tour in 1991. She was immensely proud of each of her children's endeavors, but lately, she blamed herself for choosing such a father for them. They could have been much happier without all the money in the world that James tried to earn, the most important thing was his presence. That would have been better. But… for the children, or for herself?

Francesca's gaze fell on the family photograph hanging on the wall. They were all together against the backdrop of wintry rocky mountains. Young Cali, Castor, and Marcella looked adorable with their cheeks reddened from the cold, and she and James looked happy and… right.

She embraced herself. No matter how much she blamed James for his absence, she knew what she was getting into when he asked her to date him. For a star of his magnitude, there was simply no time for family in his schedule. And she missed him so much: his warm hugs before each concert, his pleasant voice vibrating in his chest when she lay on him, his tender words towards her, the way he affectionately called her "Fran," even though she was annoyed by that form of her name… but who could resist his smile and charm? No wonder he captivated hundreds of girls. But she became special to him.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Fran… if it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be now…"

But now he's probably spending time in the studio with his guys, discussing the latest news and sharing inside jokes that only they would understand. Francesca felt that over the years they lived together, she couldn't become as close to him as his bandmates were. And it angered her. In the last few months before the divorce, they often argued about this. Well, it was one of the key issues in their fights. James tried to smooth things over, taking the family on tour with him, but it hardly changed the situation. The kids had their studies; they couldn't be a burden to their father throughout his entire tour! And he understood that.

Francesca rested her head on her hands, gazing heavily at Sabbath. The cat seemed to understand all her troubles and peacefully dozed off, closing its eyes and calmly observing its owner. Or perhaps the problem wasn't with him at all? Maybe she demanded too much. He couldn't cancel a concert, knowing that the entire fee would go to support their family. At her request, he went through alcohol addiction treatment twice, which became humiliating for him. At her request, he gave so much advice to Marcela, which made her resent him.

— It's my fault, Sabbath…

Tears rolled down her face on their own. How could she blame him when everything she saw as a problem was initiated by her? Her heart tightened in her chest, and the bitter truth suffocated her. What would happen to her life now? But she had no choice. She needed to be strong. For herself. For the children.

She need to get him back.

#james hetfield fanfiction #james hetfield fanfic #metallica #borderline

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