#stagelight au

[1-marigold-1]

The art I've been doodling for @anpanbun 's stagelight au !!!

[anpanbun]

Stagelight AU

A modern music Lamplight adjacent AU. (Lamplight adjacent in that it uses the loose format of: guy who is powerful and can't talk + guy who will do anything for him). Thank you @liloinkoink @martynsimp69 @ilexdiapason @kingtheghast @honey-daisies and Bird for collective brainstorming this with me <3

Let's meet our guys in this AU!

Martyn is an aspiring musician, previously with the band EVO (though he left when the band signed with Watcher Records). Years later, he now works a pub called The King's Head, but attends the open mic nights hosted by The Burning Lantern down the road. He begins noticing a reoccurring audience member.

That reoccurring audience member is of course Ren Dog. An older man wearing sunglasses at every open mic night. He always sits through Martyn's performances, sometimes he leaves right after, sometimes he sticks around for a while, but he is always there when Martyn plays. Except that one time Martyn played an old rock song from Red King, the guy had left in the middle of that performance, odd.....

And that's where it starts.

Martyn, of course, immediately has his interest piqued. Originally, because there was a very attractive man staring at him intently, but afterwards because of the mystery. Who is this guy? Why does he only leave after hes had a chance to hear Martyn's sets? Why does he never come up and say something? Martyn is aware he's an attractive guy, and the musician look really does it for a lot of people, so he's no stranger to an audience member coming up for a chat after his set.

This guy never does though, so Martyn ends up taking the matter into his own hands. So he devises a little trap. If that man always waited for him to play, then how about using that to his advantage? Trading out his electric guitar for acoustic that night, Martyn delays his set until he is the last act of the night. The moment his last note finishes ringing out from the stage, he sprints down the steps to introduce himself.

Ren though does not react well to this situation at all, staring at Martyn in startled silence and before turning and walking away without a single word.

He eventually finds out Ren's name by asking the employees of the bar. Imagine his surprise to learn that his name is Ren, just like the Renthedog account that has been consistently liking his posts on AUstagram. Even after the disastrous introduction.

So the next time he reaches out to Ren, he tries to take it a bit slower. Making eye contact from the stage, a little wave. Next time he tries to talk to Ren, instead of offering to buy him a drink, he asks if he can get Ren's AUstagram, and with a laugh Ren hands it over.

A flood gate opens from there. For all that Martyn has never heard Ren speak, he sure has a lot to say when it's in writing. They hang out from there, quickly becoming friends. When Martyn finds out that Ren straight up cannot speak, and it wasn't just shyness holding his voice back, he tries to ask why. Ren just gives the vague answer of:

Stage fright, all the world's a stage

Which doesn't really explain anything.

They have a comfortable, distant, but a bit flirty, friendship. Which is something that changes when Martyn finds the photo.

He finds it when cleaning out an old box of stuff. In a box full of high school knick knacks, one of the photos stands out. It's of himself and BigB, they must be 17 or 18, and they're standing with their arms thrown around eachother at some sort of music festival or concert. That's not what gives Martyn pause on it though, it's the singer performing in the background. The face might be obscured by makeup, and time, and the noise of an old photo camera, but its Ren. Martyn is absolutely certain Ren is the one singing in that picture. It clicks what band that is, Red King, BigB’s favorite. Ren, Ren was the lead singer of Red King.

With some digging, he finds out what happened. Red King, a three man rock band, with Lead Singer/Guitarist Ren Dog, Drummer Skizz Leman, and Bassist/Harmony Singer Scar Goodtimes, was one of the bands of all time. Sold out shows, huge tours, the works. Until it suddenly broke up over a decade back because of a scandal involving the lead singer, involving Ren.

Their tour had stopped where Ren's childhood friend Lizzie lived, famous actress Lizzie Shadow, Lizzie. They had been out for dinner to catch up and Ren was driving her home when he took a corner just a little too fast, the car skids, hits a tree, Lizzie's taken to the hospital and suddenly Ren finds his life crumbling around him.

Lizzie had been fine when the paramedics had arrived, told him it wasn't a big deal and that he didn't need to worry about any bad press from this. Cause why would she want to hurt her friend?

But somehow the press does find out, and the person who tipped them off implied that it wasn't a mutual understanding but instead a cover up.

Someone reports that he was drunk when they wrecked (even though he wasnt) and that gets picked up and run with. The constant pregnant rumors that follow Lizzie also get thrown in the mix and whispers of an affair (which again he wasn't, they weren't) get picked up as fact.

Ren figures out pretty quickly it was Scar who leaked the accident, the initial reports had too many details that he'd only told a couple of people. And when he goes to confront Scar about it? Well, Scar's always been able to put on a good performance, it's why Ren had brought him into the band in the first place. To have that acting turned against him though? Used to manipulate the flashing paparazzi cameras so that it looks like Ren is lashing out against his innocent band mate? It makes him wish he'd never met Scar.

The day after that fight with Scar is flooding across the tabloid, they still have to go onto the stage to performing their show.

Ren steps up on stage and sees a sight that will haunt him for the rest of his days. The giant venue, a sold out show, stands almost entirely empty. He tries to push on, tries to sing, but his words get absorbed into the empty silence. And on that silent stage is the last time Ren Dog speaks.

Lizzie speaks out and clears up the scandal after she's leaves the hospital, but its too late for Red King to recover. Skizz returns home to his family, Scar builds a solo career off the stinking corpse of Red King, and Ren fades into the obscurity of a normal, secluded life.

Martyn takes this knowledge and uses it to help Ren on his journey to gain back his voice. They are drawn together by music and fall in love. In the end, Martyn and Ren go on tour together, The King and The Hand, not to become famous, but to travel around and continue to find the joy in music together. Ren is back in the stagelight, but Martyn is the one in the spotlight, and Ren could not be happier for him.

PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT THIS AU IT MAKES ME INSANE AND I WANNA TALK ABOUT IT MORE!!! THERES SO MUCH MORE I COULDNT FIND A WAY TO FIT IN!!!

Where it started:

[lythecreatorart]

Tying to practice drawing Ren by draw different au of himself

And then I wake up with all of this-

Stagelight au by @anpanbun design by @1-marigold-1

[jettboat]

Little comic I made for @anpanbun Stagelight AU!

Ren thought Martyn was a intruder LOL

[ilexdiapason]

All the pieces of Stagelight AU fic that I wrote when it was initially being conceived, in one easy to access ao3 work!

[max-the-silly-guy]

Chat I have a vision

[artistsunbeam]

Here's a lazy sketch of Bendy. Scrooge McDuck 2.0??

[alixartz]

WELCOME HOME AU! much fun. Yes. ANYWAYS! this au is pretty much a mix of welcome home and dialtown. So ye! Two interests of mine merging! Much fun :3

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Musician Age Gap AU Pt 3

Whatever Kara expects from the even-keeled girl in the dressing room, the absolute showstopper of an opening number is not it. Lena emerges from the black in a spotlight of silver and sparkle, hair in waves and posed with a microphone with one arm outstretched above her head.

As at home as Lena had seemed to be curled up in her small armchair downstairs, it's clear to Kara that the stage could very well be her true home as she strutted and danced across it. She practically floated through the air, and all the while played to the crowd in a way that made them all feel part of the shared experience. As though she were giving as much of herself to them as they gave themselves to her.

And she's good. Phenomenally good. Even Kara finds herself bopping to the beat, while Esme sings along with the crowd to the point Kara knows the girl would be hoarse the following morning.

More than an hour later, Kara is simply amazed. Awestruck, in a way not unlike Esme had been. When the stagelights dim, Kara expects a break for intermission, but instead Lena speaks into the microphone.

"Now, y'all, here comes favorite part of the show!"

The crowd cheers raucously, eager with an anticipation Kara can't help but get caught up in, despite not knowing what comes next.

"As you probably already know, I like to have a partner to sing one of my favorite songs."

There's another round of screaming applause. Clearly, everyone else knows what's about to happen.

"Could seat CC26 and their party make their way down here to join me on stage?"

The crowd goes nuts. Kara can hardly hear herself think, until Esme clutches her arm in a death grip.

"It's us!! Oh my god oh my god!!!!" Esme jumps and squeals.

That can't be right-- but when Kara pats for her ticket, she can't find it. Esme shoves her own in her face, showing the CC24 clearly printed on it. Then Esme points at the number on Kara's arm rest.

CC26.

"Aunt Kara, come *on*!!" Esme screams, now yanking on Kara's arm. Kara looks up, and sees a woman with a headset approaching them, no doubt to lead them down to the stage.

Kara barely remembers to collect their bags as she shuffles out of the row, Esme already out with the production assistant. As Lena performs a filler song to give them time to walk down, Esme practically vibrates, her eyes sparkling above a radiant smile.

They only have a chance to speak when they finally pause offstage.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Suddenly, Esme's excitement takes an audible turn towards dread. "I think I'm gonna barf."

"Whoa now, hey," Kara says, turning Esme to face her. "It's okay to be nervous. There's a lot of people out there, but just remember that it's just you two on stage. And she's gonna love you."

Esme swallows. "You think so?"

Kara grins. "I know so."

Before they can say anything else, the filler song finishes, and the stage manager is nudging them towards the stage.

"You good, kiddo?" the woman checks in with Esme.

With a deep breath, Esme nods. "I'm good."

"Now please," Lena calls into the microphone. "Let's give a warm welcome to tonight's guest!!"

Esme all but bounds onto the stage, bouncing into Lena's outstretched arms. Esme throws herself against in a fierce hug, and Kara notes that Lena squeezes just firmly.

"What's your name?"

"Esme!"

The crowd cheers. Lena's smile is dazzling. "Thanks for joining me Esme. I think you'll know this next one. Sing with me?"

Kara watches her goddaughter nod firmly.

"Awesome!" Lena turns to the crowd. "All right yall! Are you ready to dance!?!"

The crowd roars, and just like that, they're off. It is indeed a song to dance to. The beat thumps briskly, and the tune light and playful, lending itself easily to being screamed by a thousand fans. Kara can see Esme loosen up a little more with every line, and by the chorus she's bouncing and jumping with the energy only a hyped up teenager could have.

"Hey!" the stage manager calls over the music. Kara turns to listen. "After this we'll take you to the front row, and then collect you after the show. Lena likes to chat with her guests for a few minutes backstage."

Kara's surprised. She'd have thought anyone would be ready to pass out even now, and the show would likely go on at least another half hour, if not more. How would Lena have the energy to keep going even longer?

But she nods. "Okay," she says.

After the song, Lena gives Esme a double high five before wrapping her in another tight hug.

"Let's give it up for Esme!"

The crowd cheers as Esme gives a theatrical bow before practically sprinting back towards Kara.

"Oh my GOD!!!" Esme cries. "That was amazing!! Kara, did you see? She hugged me! Twice!"

Adrenaline has Esme trembling against Kara as they follow the PA down to the front row. It takes another two songs for her to calm, and return to a relative normal. A normal that disappears the moment the lights go down at the end of the show (after two bonus songs), and Kara tells her what comes next.

"What?!?" Esme nearly shrieks. "Really?!"

"Yeah!" Kara laughs. "You kicked ass out there! Of course she wants to meet you."

Except they don't stop backstage, but rather are led further into the building, to a door that Kara remembers keenly, despite the fact it looks exactly like every other door they pass.

"Wait," Esme blurts, stopping short. She frantically combs through her sweaty hair, patting down her shirt before finally wiping her palms on her jeans. "Do I look okay?"

Kara smiles reassuringly. "You look awesome. I promise."

Esme takes a deep breath. "Okay."

The door opens, and Kara's brain screeches to a halt at the sight of Lena's head tilted back to guzzle a large bottle of water. Her neck is lined with sweat, her previous waves now mussed and a little snarled. But she still looks....

Lena catches sight of them, giving a quick final swallow before shooting them a kilowatt smile.

"Hi!!"

"Hi..." Esme's voice is soft, still plainly self-conscious. Lena takes it in stride.

"Esme, you were absolutely AMAZING tonight! You rocked it!"

"Really?" Esme's voice turns up a little, brightening.

"I'm pretty sure you knew the words better than I did!"

Kara hovers near the door, content for Esme to be the center of Lena's attention. Her goddaughter is drinking it up, and Kara knows she'll be talking about tonight for months, if not years to come.

But then Lena glances up, and their eyes meet. Before Kara can even flush at having been caught staring, Lena flickers one eye shut in a clear wink before returning her attention to Esme.

Kara nearly swallows her tongue. She struggles to control her heart rate, until Lena urges Esme to take a look through some special not-for-sale merch to see what she'd like to take home with her.

"Then we'll take a selfie, okay?"

"Okay!"

Esme bounces to the table, allowing Lena a few moments to approach Kara. Her dress-- not the same one she started in-- is lasciviously low cut, and it sends a flash of fire through Kara's veins.

"You forgot this," Lena purrs, offering Kara's ticket between two fingers. She grins, letting Kara take it.

"Right. Uhm... thanks." Kara glances meaningfully towards Esme. "For everything."

"My original intentions were admittedly selfish, but I meant what I said. She was a  natural up there."

Kara nods, then freezes. "Selfish?"

"I might have wanted to see you again." Lena cocks a grin. "To apologize. For my venue being out of code."

"Oh. Right."

"And cuz you're hot."

Kara splutters. "Excuse me?!"

"Are you okay Aunt Kara?" Esme approaches with a trademarked backpack and a large glossy photo of Lena onstage in her hands.

"She's good," Lena assures her. "Just a little breathless."

"Riiiiight," Esme says, eyeing Kara confusedly before offering the photo to Lena. "Could you sign this for me?"

"I'd love to!" Lena swipes a silver sharpie from her dressing table and signs a large loopy autograph across the top of the photo. She even includes a personalization: To the world's best co-star-- always keep dancing!

Kara can hear the distant bustle of movement coming down the corridor, and knows their time with Lena has come to a close.

"Come on kiddo, it's time to get going."

"Do we have to?" Esme says in a whine.

Kara shoots her a look. "Yes."

Lena chuckles. "It's okay, we have to start getting out of here too. School night and all."

It's plain she means it as a joke, but Kara is struck by the fact that Lena is young enough to still be in university-- which in turn makes Kara feel ancient.

"Thank you, Lena!"

"Thank YOU, Esme," Lena says, hugging Esme again. "You truly made tonight a blast."

Just as the PA starts shuffling Kara and Esme from the room, Lena catches her eye.

"Ticket?" she mouths.

Kara lifts the offending ticket in a mock salute, and tries not to stumble when Lena grins.

The night air outside comes as a relief. Kara takes a deep breath, then tries to keep pace as Esme bounces through the parking lot, riding high on adrenaline and nervous energy.

"She said I was a blast!"

Kara listens to Esme chatter on as they climb into the car and start the drive home. It stops abruptly about halfway there.

"Turn back," Esme clips out, voice tense with anxiety as she frantically paws through her backpack. "Turn back!"

"Esme, what--?"

"My phone! I left my phone! We have to go back!"

Kara pulls the first u-turn she can, but not soon enough. By the time they reach the arena the lights are out and the doors are locked. Then all she can do is hug Esme as she bursts into tears.

"We'll call them tomorrow, sweetie," Kara tries to reassure her. She knows that the tears aren't for the texts or games on it, but the photos that were just taken, the proof of Esme's amazing night.

"We'll find it, I promise."

[agried]

okay so i saw @lunar-stagelights, @enstars-syndrome and @reblogsquire's tags on my art and went insane and had to confirm some guesses for my giselle au. here's some real sketchy pencil brush scribbles for fun

hiiro takes the place of albrecht, a nobleman visiting the village where aira lives to oversee and help with the grape harvest. after a rocky first meeting with aira, one full of misunderstandings, he only divulges that he's a traveler visiting for the harvest.

aira is giselle, a peasant boy with a weak heart but a deep love for dance. though his health makes it difficult for him to leave the village he was born and raised in, he dreams of leaving it one day... and the stories hiiro shares with him on their late night meetings makes him yearn ever more. but when hiiro's true identity is revealed, his shock and panic overtax his weak heart.

and as some folks guessed, kohaku is myrtha, the queen of the wilis. after aira dies, kohaku revives him as a wili, a vengeful spirit that dances betrayers to death. and though hiiro never meant to hurt aira... the wilis cannot disobey the orders of their queen.

i've got more plans for this au, so perhaps some of the other roles will be revealed in future... but i gotta go sleep now lol

[1-marigold-1]

more drawings for @anpanbun 's stagelight au !!

[anpanbun]

Stagelight AU: Ren of Red King

Lead singer of the chart-topping rock band Red King.

[winwintea]

the smau is almost over (we're getting to climax soon) which means im already thinking about my next work which is bad cause i need to finish my angst fic series....

(ill post the mark one today maybe haha suffer)

but anyways i was still thinking about doing another smau (i love overwhelming myself) and i have like two ideas in mind and these are the plots

"the meticulous portrayals and fame seeking parodies, all of which converge below the spotlight, and belong to me. for those stagelights, for which i'm born to die." basically murder mystery au but they're at a theatre, y/n is the detective, everyone lowkey toxic and drama ensures, many people die, y/n falls in love with renjun who's plays the male lead in the theatre. NOT A HAPPY ENDING. (which is it's only flaw lol. otherwise i love the plot)

scott pilgrim vs the world but mark lee and mark has to fight her 7 evil exes (the dreamies + soyeon bc i love women) and that's it that's the plot. go watch scott pilgrim vs the world.

[i7propagandamachine]

Binary Vampire prequel sorta?

Feat. some of my raw sketches lol. Idk first time posting here thats not some low quality shitpost ig

Since most ppl agree that Binary vampire parallels with actual revale it shouldn’t come as a surprise I made banri a vampire too. In my headcanon him and yuki were some kind of vampire duo who hunts together for food. Oh and they live together in some abandoned castle (from banri’s long dead family maybe). You could probably also put something about Yuki-vampire initially being isolated because of his vampirism and Banri-vampire opening him up a little on the idea of not having to spend eternity alone.

Then their notoriety for killing increased and got the attention of famed vampire hunter Kujo Takamasa while on his search for the First Vampire, Zero. Takamasa originally approached them peacefully and promises them safety if they join him in searching for Zero. Being a prideful vampire, Yuki doesn’t shy away from showing his disinterest and annoyance with the man. Takamasa is turned away from the castle and things were normal for a while. That is until villagers head to their castle shouting for the demons be killed. Shit hit the fan, they fend off for a while until someone shoots the chandelier it falls into the ground ala phantom of the opera (you could tell I love me my gothic fiction).

This almost falls into Yuki-vampire but Banri-vampire pushes him away just in time but ultimately gets him instead. Its basically the stagelight incident but make it

✨Gothic✨

The chandelier causes a fire trapping the vampires as the villagers make their escape. Unbeknownst to anyone this was actually a plot by Takamasa to drive the duo away from their home and maybe consider joining his side. His plan is a fail though as Yuki-vampire is too distraught over banri vampire being unable to regenrate from underneath the chandelier and himself collapses from all the smoke (I am so sorry for making vampires really weak in this one).

Years, decades, pass and the old castle is now a ruin of its former glory. Sometime in the middle, yuki-vampire regained consciousness with banri-vampire nowhere to be seen. With his hesitance to approach humans, he is unable to regain his powers causing the wild beasts of the forest to rampage (and ig he adapts vampire vegetarianism?). It was then that a young orphan enters the ruins in search of a demon but instead finds a curled-up weakened man, finally kicking off the plot of binary vampire. (Sorry for the naked yuki it is not canon my own demons possessed me)

I haven’t read any fanfics or anything of that sort after the anni released (which reminds me I definitely should) so sorry if there were any similarities 🙇‍♀️

I lowkey wished they had separate names for the charas like they do with the kujis unless we are just supposed to call them “Orphan” and “Demon/Vampire”??

I also made sketches of other charas (mostly those related to revale) as au-compliant charas in the binary vampire sequel im cooking so look forward to that. Anyways thats it from me *bites and sucks ur blood*

[wildflowerteas]

hella has officially joined the tsp book club! part 2 of our reactions pending lmao those were some very intense hours

if this was an irl socratic circle i would pay to be a fly on the wall. I FUCKED UP BY ADDING TWO MARGARETS THATS MY BAD. they'll be distinguished in upcoming dialogue. Brown goes by 'Maggie' n_n. Precinct 1 breakroom has seen some things. Also, yes! The DA prosecutes for the state! In a civil dispute, it's person to person going before a judge. But in criminal cases, the government is trying to put you away, not receive money/fair compensation for damages, so the DA does that work.

Your flabbers will be gasted 😭 might need to start using that.

BEAST tag is there for a reason! I only tagged it 'beast skk' so that people wouldn't expect the same dynamics or roles for the other characters ( like akutagawa sibling dynamic ), but of course, if skk is beast-au inspired it would naturally affect a few of the characters closest to them as well. Also, Skk is slowly but surely devolving into the aesthetic of their BEAST counterparts. Dazai hasn't been written in that brown coat for a good while now. The white suit at the New Year's party was also a deliberate choice.

never seen or read All my Sons all the way through, but i've encounted this quote in the wild:

“...he'll come back. We all come back, Kate. These private little revolutions always die. The compromise is always made. In a peculiar way. Frank is right-- every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out.”

---and i absolutely loved it and have been influenced by it.

i would be sat for that essay honestly.

. . . yes. it's the same diner. implied only, but i do have art in the drafts of skk on a case-date of milkshakes and files with skk in the same seats to parallel it.

Kouyou's assimilation!!!!! I can't believe Rori noticed that!! yes, she's almost always mentioned in a kimono, tying an obi, or wearing her haori, and even needed Chuuya to translate for her during their first years together. but she's changing. super excited to introduce the Kouyou of the present ( yes, she's alive ).

Agatha Christie was. self indulgent.

Yep! Jouno! 😭 The hunting dogs have been in my notes-app plot web since the very beginning when I decided to write tachihara into this. Since I'm translating the insane post-war politics of canon BSD into this au, they were naturally going to find themselves written into it.

TV girl .. . save me TV girl.... taking what's not yours is tsp skk i will be adding this to my on-loop writing roster.

THE JOUNO/DAZAI DIALOGUE HELLA 😭 I ACTUALLY CHOKED.

Unlike canon, TSP fyodor would, in fact die if you shot him. Not that I'm planning on writing that . . .

Jouno and Chuuya was lovely to write. They will be interacting again, unfortunately, so expect some introductions to the other members of the hunting dogs as well.

Dazai in the spotlight for once! Now he knows what it's like to be under the stagelight with Chuuya in the audience.

Kousano! Yeah that ship is preparing to set sail. Whether it's still afloat is the question. A question that hasn't been answered by Miss Medical Examiner's presence in the 1978 timeline. Yet.

[max-the-silly-guy]

Grrrrrr gay people