#this is the very reason I mostly listen to rock music outside of the US because the men always look so beautiful in their eyeliner

[thewardenofwinter]

Every time I watch old movies/movies from outside the US I am just reminded of how pretty men look with eyeliner/makeup on *sighs*

(pictured left-right: Udo Kier, Ivor Novello, Conrad Veidt, Михаил Кузнецов, Дмитрий Писаренко)

[elexuscal]

So just over a year ago, I made a resolution to myself to get better at Fitness, since I was getting older and i knew if i didn't, the Consequences would begin to manifest. One problem? Historically i have always hated working out.

i knew there were two main reasons why: 1. lingering trauma from the usual Fat/Neurodivergent Kid Mistreated In PE Class Experience 2. oh my god it's so so so boring i would rather do anything more entertaining.

So. I'm not an expert, and i'm definitely not a professional fitness instructor, BUT i have genuinely come to not just tolerate but actually enjoy exercise this past year. So if these are any problems you personally have contended with, these strategies May Help.

One: Remove Barriers

a lot of flavours of neurodivergence struggle with switching between tasks and executive function generally, especially towards something you don't find fun. So first you gotta identify any barriers keeping you from exercising, and removing or mitigating them.

For me, a hurdle i recognised is that if I could not easily access the equipment, I was unlikely to use it. honestly if i couldn't see it i would probably forget it was there. So my first order of business was making a Work Out Zone. I unrolled my yoga mat and gave it a near-permanent place in my room. my weights came out of the closet and placed on a low shelf where i could easily access them, as did my resistance band. now they were always Right there.

I also realised something I detested was the general feeling of sweaty clothes, and in particular, having to change out of them. So Gross. so i started scheduling my work outs for in the the morning after breakfast or right before my nightly showers, aka: when I am changing in and out of my PJs. I'll do my routine (mostly) naked and not have to contend with the extra steps and laundry that sweaty clothes bring.

two: secondary entertainment

like i said: i found exercise very boring. and while i've gotten better over the past year, and can find it meditative, i still prefer having something else to catch my attention.

i used to like to put on video essays. but then i realised i was so often pausing my work outs because the particular video ended, or the pace got slow, or the topic turned to something dark and depressing out of nowhere and killed the vibe, so then i had to stop to find something else--

No. You need something that will keep you in the zone, and won't knock you out of it. I didn't used to listen to music much, but this year i took advantage of a Spotify subscription my sister gifted me (😔) and started just putting on upbeat rock, hip-hop, and pop mixes. it doesn't need to be my favouirte music ever it just needs to Keep Going.

i do find the loud, rhythmic music is really good for keeping my pace up, but if music doesn't do it for you, you might find audiobooks or autoplaying favourite old tv shows/sitcoms might scratch that itch.

Three: Find Other Motivators

Or, "if you can't make your own motivation, store bought is fine"

Gameification is really good here. You might be someone who'll benefit from a pedometer or step-counter app. I have a friend who swears by the Switch Ring-Fit, and I've also heard of folks who use games like Just Dance, Zombies, Run! and Beat Saber to rely on the sweet sweet endorphins generated by hitting a high score.

(BUT: do beware the dark side of gameification, which is the risk of demotivation if you don't hit your goals. For example, after doing GREAT on exceeding my step goal for a month, I got hit with COVID. For about a week and a half I was barely moving beyond the kitchen and back. My step counts plummeted, there was no way to edit the record out, and that made it harder to get back into the groove. Be mindful relying too much on gameification!)

Even outside of literal games, there are ways to scratch this itch. I used secondary objectives as a way to encourage me to keep up with my daily walks. Walking my roommate's dog when he was working long days is an obvious one, but we don't always have a furry friend at our disposal. Then I would rely on mini-challenges like, "pick up 10 cool rocks to paint", "fill this bag with wood for the fireplace", "take 10 pretty pictures", or "get to the corner store to get more milk".

And of course, consider team sports! Many folks I've talked to feel having set training/play times with a team that relies on them crucial to keep them on track!

Four: Don't Measure Success By Weight Loss

I know. I know. Easier said than done. It does not help that like 80% of workout resources online are going to mention this. but above all else, you must resist the beast. (and while not as dicey, measuring success by visible muscle gain can fall into a similar trap).

The biggest benefits to exercise are invisible. it improves cardiovascular health, brain function, tissue regeneration, immune system function, lung capacity, energy levels, literally our whole body. no matter what external changes your body does or doesn't go through, you're still going to be benefitting from exercise, and you do not want to get demotivated chasing unrealistic/irrelevant goals.

Instead, to track your progress, focus on questions like these:

How is exercise impacting my mood? Do I feel less stressed or anxious?

Am I sleeping better?

Is my balance improving?

Is my stamina increasing?

Am I becoming more flexible?

Can I lift/carry heavier weights?

Is my breath control improving?

Over the last year, I've seen marked improvements in all of these. My joints don't hurt as much; it's easier for me to to get up and move; I don't get winded as easily; I generally feel more relaxed and cheerful. Those are all amazing outcomes, and I hope that everyone on their own fitness journey can find the same joy there as I have.

[httpknjoon]

spotted | jjk

plot | This is how it started for the princess and the rockstar.

words | 3.8k

genres | fluff, modern royalty!au, celebrity!au

pairing | rockstar!jungkook x princess!reader

note | hi!! this is my first entry for this series and I'm so excited to write more about this pair in the future. let me know your thoughts! enjoy reading :)

main masterlist | drabble series

Royal Sisters, Princesses YN and Astrid Spotted Dancing at Sweet September’s Concert

On Friday night, the princesses were snapped watching the rock band at Crystalline Stadium.

Following the closing of the Royal Games earlier that day, Princesses YN, 25, and Astrid, 19, were spotted attending another big event in the country: Sweet September’s first Denim Jungle stop.

Fans of the rock band were stunned to see the two royalties in the said concert. Although the two sat in secluded seats in the stadium, they still attracted attention. Some concertgoers managed to capture pictures and short clips of the royalties enjoying the band’s performance– mostly Princess Astrid.

The usual contrast between the royal sisters is evident during their presence. Princess Astrid sported a rock-themed outfit with her oversized black leather jacket, red graphic tank top, flare jeans, and platform boots. On the other hand, Princess YN stayed true to her classy fashion style, wearing a black and white-collared Prada dress and knee-high boots. Both princesses wore black sunglasses during the whole event. The youngest sang and danced along to Sweet September’s tracks while the crown princess just nods her head to the beat. 

Worry not! Princess Astrid made Princess YN jump and dance along with her during the band’s performance of their hit song, My Fair Lady.

“You two will have your own entrance and exit spots. Ronnie and Ben would accompany you two to the entrance and would meet you at the same gate after the concert.”

Your father’s trusty courtier, Eddie, guided you and your sister with what you’re supposed to do. There were rules you have to remember. Especially since Astrid practically begged your parents to not have bodyguards with her in this event. Your father only agreed to let her come if you come too, knowing that you rarely go out outside of your royal duties. But since you love your sister, you agreed to go even though you don’t really listen to Astrid’s types of music.

After the closing of Zafiro’s Royal Games earlier this day, your parents left for a conference in Scotland. That reason made you in charge of your younger sister. But since you two don’t really live in a simple household, you are still looked after by your Royal Staff for your safety.

“Is that all, Uncle?”

Astrid already had her arms crossed as she asked that. It’s been fifteen minutes since your car arrived in front of this secret entrance to the concert. But because of the King’s instructions, you and your sister are now itching in your seats to go.

Eddie smiled, noticing your sister’s tone, “I know you are excited about this concert, Your Royal Highness. But His Majesty still has one last message… and this is a very important one so listen.”

Your sister is ready to let out an exaggerated sigh. You are ready to calm down her rising shoulders. But Eddie continued,

“Please remind my lovely girls to enjoy the night amidst my tiring instructions. Take pictures and sing along. I would love to hear stories from them about this very important concert– based on what my Astrid said– when I and my queen get back from our short trip to Scotland. Follow what your Uncle Eddie says.”

A small smile formed on your lips with that. Finally, Eddie lets you two go with your bodyguards until the gate. Then, Gerald, a nice concert staff, welcomed you into the venue and led you and your sister to your seats.

“Oh, my god. I cannot believe Papa let us come here alone.” your sister said as she slipped the Xyloband into her wrist.

“I know…” your voice trailed off when you heard the people singing along to the song playing not too far away. You turned to the staff, “Excuse me, is the concert starting already?”

“No, Ma’am. We’re just playing the band’s music videos before they perform on stage. But they will be performing in a few minutes.”

You nodded with that. You went to concerts before, but not like this one. You liked jazz and classical music and would always try to go to concerts whenever you can. Those concerts are very much different than this band’s.

“These are your seats, Your Royal Highnesses,” Gerald spoke.

“Thank you so much.” you and Astrid said as you walked to the two empty seats.

With that, the staff left you. The seats are not that close or far from the main stage and it’s in the center. For safety purposes, your father and the security team agreed to not put you two in the floor spots where you can see the band better. Still, Astrid finds these spots great.

You assumed your father pulled some strings to make this possible since you heard from Astrid that the tickets were sold out as soon as it’s started selling. It made you wonder what’s good in Sweet September. You probably heard about them before, mainly because Astrid’s a rock-music enthusiast, but you don’t really know anything about them. Except that they recently worked with UNICEF for a campaign focused on cyberbullying. But you know nothing about their music.

“Oh, look at that! Look at those signs!”

Your sister was laughing while she points her finger somewhere. Your eyes followed where she was pointing.

DEAR CARTER, I’M A DRUMMER TOO. LET ME ROCK YOU! ;)

I SOLD MY CAR FOR THIS

MARRY ME MINGYU

HAIL KING WOOSUNG

CAN Y’ALL BE MY VALENTINE <3

Among those aggressive signs, there is one that made your eyes stretch wide and look away.

JUNGKOOK LET ME PUT OIL ON YOUR ABS

What was that supposed to mean? You wanted to ask Astrid but she was already talking to another fan who’s seating beside her. The said fan seemed surprised and delighted at the same time when she locked eyes with you for a second. You just smiled. As a highly-regarded crown princess, you know that they least expect you to show up in a rock concert next to them.

You then turned to your other side, where you immediately locked eyes with a lady who seemed a bit older than you. She instantly looked away and slowly looked back after a few seconds. She probably thought you were not looking at her anymore. But you are. And you can tell who she is by her awkward aura and stiff movements.

Part of showing respect to royalties, the public cannot talk to you until you speak with them first. So you decided to say something directly.

“Did the King hire you?” you asked her in a small whisper.

You don’t Astrid to hear it. You want her to focus on the fact that she is free from your parents’ overprotectiveness tonight. You can see the hesitation on her face but you can already tell that she is a secret security Eddie hired.

“It’s fine. I understand.” you gave her a reassuring smile. “Please, enjoy the concert too.”

The woman nods and bows subtly. You turned away. Astrid already has new friends. Between you two, she definitely is the friendlier one. It’s not like you are hostile. But she is just more carefree than you. Ever since you were a kid, you already followed the rules by the book. You know that you are in line for the throne and you need to be rightful for it. So you always try to be professional in your duties. You studied and work for your country.

“It’s a surprise to see you in here, Your Royal Highness.” one of Astrid’s new friends said.

“Please, just call me Astrid or you can add that princess title if you’re uncomfortable with calling me by name.” she quipped and they laughed. “Actually, the King only let me come here when Princess YN agreed to accompany me.”

Her friends’ mouths all formed into a small o. You waved at them, and they bow their heads. Suddenly, the lights slowly dimmed down and everyone began screaming– including Astrid. To say that your sister is excited was an understatement. It’s like she slept with a hanger in her mouth with how wide she’s smiling. Your cheeks hurt for her. But you’re happy to see her happy.

Taps on the microphone can be heard before someone cleared their throat, building up everyone’s excitement. You stood there, just listening to them and observing.

“Everyone, welcome to the denim jungle!”

Someone began playing a good riff on a bass guitar. The band’s silhouette is recognizable on stage. In the first beat of the drum, the lights snapped open. There, your eyes directly spotted the lead vocalist.

Droplets of sweat made his skin feel gluey as he ran his hand through his damp dark hair. His plain form-fitting white top is almost useless with how it almost got transparent with his body. His chest heaves as he removes his earpiece.

“Great show tonight, boys!”

A staff greeted them on their way down from the stage. After almost three hours of singing, playing with instruments, and interacting with the audience, Jungkook can finally feel relief in his body. With his throat feeling a little sore earlier, he was careful with it throughout the whole concert.

“Okay, let’s take a picture first!” a staff declared.

Jungkook, Carter, Mingyu, and Woosung lined up and posed for a couple of pictures that their staff would post later. After that, the four talked about their performance as they cool off.

“My earpiece is a mess.” Woosung shared. “I cannot hear the drums well. I think it stopped working for a few seconds during Blue Skies.”

“Okay, we have extra of those. You can test your new one in your next rehearsals.” Tara, their manager, responded.

The others shared their thoughts for tonight. Jungkook just listened for the sake of his throat. When he felt it getting strained, he cleared his throat and reached for a bottle of water.

“How are you feeling now?” Mingyu tapped his shoulder.

“The same,” he answered shortly. “It didn’t feel better or worse than earlier.”

“Well, let’s go back to the hotel to let our Jungkook rest,” Carter replied.

The others agreed before standing up from the soft couch. Jungkook is already heading straight to their dressing room when Tara spoke.

“By the way, you had very special guests tonight. It made tonight’s tag trend worldwide on Twitter.”

Being trending is not new with the group. Ever since they started the tour a month ago, they have been on various social media trend lists every other day. They also had bid celebrities and personalities as part of the audience before.

“Who? The king?” Mingyu joked, making the others chuckle.

Tara clicked her tongue, “Eh, close. It’s his daughters, the royal princesses.”

The boys stopped in their tracks. Even Jungkook froze. He did not even notice his members simultaneously turning their heads in his direction. As if they were waiting for him to say something. Instead, it was Tara who spoke again.

“Maybe we can meet them.”

All while the concert was happening, a fan who was also present in the event posted a stolen picture of you and Astrid. It led to your name and Astrid’s trending. Fans were excited to see royalties in such an event.

@/rockjeykey: no one told me princess astrid is a fan

@/denimparty: SOMEONE TELL JUNGKOOK ABOUT THIS

@/CRAYONNO7: YOOOOO i was just a few seats next to them! THEY ARE SO NICE AND FUN I HAD SMALL TALKS WITH THEM PRINCESS YN SAID SHE LIKES MY BAND SHIRT

Replying to @/CRAYONNO7

- @/eunwoobass: ur so lucky!!!

@/ASTRIDLOML: i’d like to think yn is astrid’s forever chaperone in events 🤣

Replying to @/ASTRIDLOML

- @/crownprincessyn: haha going to a rock concert is not so yn 😆😆

@/multifandommyg: imagine having zafiro’s princesses as your fans

@/sweetmonthof9th: i want to see the boys' reactions 💀

@/cartermatters: lolololol mingyu would be teasing the hell out of jk 

@/ZafiroRoyaltyNews: Princesses YN and Astrid attended Sweet September’s concert after today’s royal events! 💜✨ #DenimJungleInZF [insert photos]

@/SweetSeptember_twt: Hey! Hey! Hey! Rubies are red. Sapphires are blue. You guys are a gem that is hard to find! A big 💜 to Zafiro. Thank you all for coming tonight! #DenimJungleInZF

“Thank you so much!”

Your mouth felt dry. You lost track of how many times you gulped throughout the whole performance as your eyes focused on someone. You felt like in a haze– a very hot one. 

Jungkook.

That’s his name, right? Whoever he is, he has the prettiest voice. You rarely listen to their genre of music but you managed to be entertained the whole time. But you don’t know why. When you saw him in that white shirt after he removed his leather jacket on stage, your brain stopped working for seconds. It’s probably because you didn’t expect him to have that arm sleeve tattoo. 

It’s so pretty.

He’s so pretty.

“Oh! That was so much fun! Thank you so much for going here with me.” Astrid cut off your thoughts. “I know this isn’t your type of music. So, I really appreciate you here with me.”

She jumped to hug you and you hugged her back, trying to cleanse off the thoughts in your mind. You just excuse your reaction now as a shock since this is your first rock concert. After saying goodbye to her friends, Astrid pulled you with her out of your seats. She continued talking to you about her excitement. You tried to listen but failed. You just remembered that lead singer playing with that guitar like his life depended on it. His fingers were smooth on playing that thing like he’s used to–

“Excuse me! Excuse me! Princess YN! Princess Astrid!”

Again, you snapped out of your thoughts. Both you and Astrid turned your head back when you heard your names. The lady who was next to you during the concert is now wearing her security earpiece. She was probably following you two since you walked out but you didn’t notice for obvious reason. She also looked at that someone who called for you.

That someone was also a concert staff. You read that card that she wears in her lanyard that says, MANAGER. She was almost out of breath when you stopped.

“Oh, I apologize for the informalities, Your Royal Highnesses.” she tried to speak with her hands on her knees, to catch her breath. After some seconds, she continued, “I am Tara Montez, Sweet September’s manager.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Montez.” you smiled, offering your hand for a shake, which she accepted. Astrid also did the same thing.

“Nice to meet you too, Princess YN and Princess Astrid. Thank you so much for being here!”  You see Tara paused. “It was totally unexpected and rare to see princesses at the band’s concerts. Uhm… We were hoping the band could meet you. They are big fans of your country. It would be an honor for them to meet you two even just for a short time.”

Astrid audibly gasped. You looked at her and her eyes say it all. You can even see the sparkles in her eyes. You can also hear your bodyguard communicating through her wireless device. You’re sure Eddie would definitely want you to walk out of the venue now but you know your sister would love the offer. It’s a one-time thing.

So before your bodyguard can interfere, you answered.

“Of course.”

Back in the green room, Jungkook and the other members now showered and changed into their casual clothes. Carter and Woosung munched on the chips they saw on the table. Mingyu was giggling as he secretly takes a clip of Jungkook walking back and forth.

“What should we do?” he asked them, trying to keep his cool. But everyone can tell, he’s failing. He just never thought he would meet any royalty– you.

Out of distraction from the chips, Carter replied, “Curtsy?”

Before the others can laugh with that, the door opened and they immediately stood up straight. Carter and Woosung wiped their hands and even sanitized them. Mingyu wiggled his eyebrows at Jungkook. The latter gave him an annoyed look.

“And this is Sweet September.” Tara, who got in first, introduced them.

Jungkook’s heart almost stopped when he sees you entering with your small smile. Every photograph posted in the news and articles didn’t give your beauty any justice as he found you more attractive now you’re in the same room as him. When you locked eyes with him, he swore his heart fluttered.

Following what Carter said, Jungkook was ready to curtsy when you spoke.

“Oh… Uhm, we don’t really do that here, Mister. That’s more of like the UK’s thing. A bow would be fine.”

Everyone in the room laughed except you, who tried to be professional. But you found it cute. Especially when you saw that tint of red forming across his cheeks.

“Oh— uhm— My apologies, my quee– princess.”

“It’s your royal highness, dumbass.” his bandmate whisper-shouted at the back.

Your sister scoffed, finding the lead vocalist’s mistake as funny. You looked at her sternly. She acted appropriately again. You looked back at the boys again, trying to break your sight away from Jungkook.

“Thank you so much for coming to our country. I’ve never seen a crowd as energetic as that.” you began the conversation to break the ice. “It’s a surprise for me to hear our people here singing almost every song in your set. I just learned they are a big fan of your group.”

“How about you, Your Royal Highness,” Jungkook asked. He doesn’t know where he’s getting all this strength to talk to you. But he just knows that this might be his first and last.

You replied with the truth, “Oh– I– this is actually my first time listening to your music. Princess Astrid right here just invited me to go here with her.”

“She’s more of a jazz fan.” Astrid shared and they nodded.

Before the conversation continues, your bodyguard spoke, “Excuse me. Madams. The Royal Staff is asking us to go out now.“

Woosung was quick to request when they heard that, “Can we take a picture with you, Royal Highnesses?”

“Of course!”

This time, Astrid replied with uncontained excitement. You stood in between the four members. Mingyu was supposed to be next to you but he pulled Jungkook to exchange places with him. Jungkook instantly smelled the sweet and flowery scent just by being next to you while you ignored that strange feeling in your stomach when you felt your arms touched.

“Okay, one… two… three!”

The band stood in line once again after that. You and Astrid shook hands with them in turns. You introduced yourselves and so they did too. Ever since you were a kid, when you began attending public royal events, you always followed the royal protocol. In every person you met, you would shake their hand while having good eye contact. Another part of the protocol is the public cannot physically touch you unless you initiated it first. So, you did.  

The boys seemed surprised but showed their respect by bowing their heads while you shook hands with each of them. You just hoped your hand was not stone cold since you felt like it was since you stood in front of their lead vocalist. But when it comes to the last person in the line, Jungkook smoothly managed to kiss the back of your hand when you offer it for a handshake.

You were taken aback by the action. Not because he did it. But because it felt something else. The kiss was feather-like. It was light and brief. But you felt something electric run through your veins the moment his lips touched your skin. Your heart shivered. Then, it suddenly beat fast and you’re scared that everyone around you can hear it. You gulped as you made eye contact with him again.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness,” his deep and slightly hoarse voice said. It made you feel things you don’t know and you hate and like it at the same time. “I’ve read a lot about you.”

You pursed your lips, “You did?”

“Yeah.”

You wanted to ask and know more about what he reads about you. But before you can say anything again, 

“The Royal Courtier is waiting, ma’am.” the guard interrupted.

You tried not to show annoyance. But sighed.

“Well, we shall go. Our staff is waiting outside.” you smiled. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here in our country. Congratulations on your concert.”

They bowed and you turned around with Astrid, ready to leave the room.

“Wait!” Mingyu stopped you one more time. “Is there any way we can reach out to you and invite you girls again to our future events? E-mail? Phone number? Telephone number?”

Your sister was over the moon hearing that while you tried to hide the smirk forming on your lips. Jungkook knows what his friend is doing and he is somewhat thankful for Mingyu.

“The only way to contact us is through Zafiro’s Royal Communication Office. I believe their e-mail and telephone numbers are on their websites.” you sounded like you were teasing. But you just honestly found their attempt funny. “Other than that, feel free to send us a letter through the mail.”

Of course, you would not give your personal number. Jungkook thought. Do you even have that? You probably have your own assistant who answered calls for you. It is known to almost everyone that even though every royalty in Zafiro has their own social media accounts, you just use them to share your duties and advocacies.

“Again, it was nice meeting your band. We hope you come back to our country soon.”

You left the room, sharing knowing glances with your sister.

While on their way back to their hotel, Jungkook scrolls on his Instagram account. His notifications were on blast as usual. But something caught his attention when he almost exit the app.

97.sapphire is now following you!

His eyes squinted. He clicked on the account. It only has twelve followers and two posts. It follows nothing. The account’s two posts are photos of artworks. One is a watercolor painting of a flower field during sunset. While the other is a detailed pencil drawing of what seemed like a coffee shop. Then, another notification popped out.

97.sapphire sent you a message.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow before he clicked on it. Without really expecting anything, he reads the message. As he go through the words, his eyebrow lowered while his lips formed into a smile.

let me know what do u want to read more about this pair! :) thank you so much for reading.

taglist rules

THE PRINCESS AND THE ROCKSTAR TAGLIST

@heartjiminie @rbrm094 @rjsmochii @jjkreblog @sugaslittlekookies @saintsugar @thvlover7 @alpha-mommy69 @natalia-rmnva @coralmusicblaze @stupendouscookiehumanmug @namgoogieee @yoonjinhusbands @borahaeb1ch @lilliankoo @0rubyrose0

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@dunixxd​ @cixrosie @jksjx @embrace-themagic @buttvi @starbtslove @missseoulite @vanntaesworld @kenqki @miyukihoshi @stopeatread @seolaquotes @greyrain23 @chimchimmarie @petalsofink @jayhope88 @moonchild1

[steddieas-shegoes]

Hello hello - please feel free to ignore if it's not your jam but I'm in love with future fic rockstar eddie/ non famous steve being sickeningly in love - especially outsiders getting jealous when eddie only has eyes for steve!

I got two rock star Eddie requests in a row so I had to break them up a little. I love the idea of Steve like surviving some of the worst shit to happen and then absolutely not able to deal with the crowd at a concert. He is clearly traumatized by what happened, and has to face his fears a bit, and it doesn't go so well. This could have been kind of a time skip thing, but I decided to make Steve suffer more because I'm suffering and that's just how the world turns. Thank you for this one! - Mickala ❤️

--------------------------------------------------

Steve’s favorite part of going on tour with Eddie was being able to watch soundcheck.

Eddie always put on a great show, and Steve watched from the side of the stage as often as he could, but he went to soundcheck because it felt more intimate.

He could stare openly, not hide the fact that he was one hip thrust away from drooling all over the floor.

The guys in the band just rolled their eyes, used to it for the last several years since Steve started coming with them.

They were all perpetually single, hooking up in some cities, but mostly just enjoying the ride as a group.

Steve could admit though, he was hesitant to go to actual shows, and that was the main reason he never missed soundcheck.

About a year ago, Steve was front row at a show, trying his best to just blend in. It was easier that way. But sometimes blending in wasn’t good enough, not for the hardcore groupies.

They recognized him, and while they didn’t know he was Eddie’s boyfriend, they knew he was special to the band in some way. They quickly got too close, much too close for Steve’s comfort, even for general admission at a metal concert. They crowded him.

He really thought they were just being overly friendly, trying to get backstage, tried to just suck it up and deal with it for the remainder of the show.

But then Eddie did his song. The song he wrote for Steve. He always sang to Steve, in the subtlest way he possibly could, which wasn’t very subtle at all.

He looked towards Steve the entire time. He would smile at him, sometimes even find his way to the side of the stage and blow him a kiss. With a crowd around, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to know who he was blowing a kiss to.

But for this particular show, the groupies surrounding him were almost completely blocking his view. If Eddie wasn’t elevated on stage, he wouldn’t have even been able to see the top of his head.

He knew Eddie must have seen him in the group, must have noticed his predicament.

The music stopped. Dead silence in a metal concert was never a good sign.

“Everyone take a step away from the person you’re closest to. Everyone’s pushing too much.”

Some people listened, but not the groupies surrounding Steve.

“If everyone in the front doesn’t take a couple steps back, I leave. Security will clear this place out, and we never come back. Got it?”

Steve felt the groupies to his left start inching away, and hoped the rest would follow.

Eddie was now standing right in front of Steve. He looked concerned, and Steve knew he probably looked a bit panicked.

“Stevie, give me a thumbs up if you’re good.”

Steve wanted to, he wanted the show to go on, and make this just a distant memory of one of his least favorite Corroded Coffin shows.

But the group around him didn’t seem to like the attention on Steve. Not when they wanted attention on them.

Plus, his arms were pretty much glued to his sides from how close everyone was to him, so even if he was feeling okay with the situation, he had no way to put his thumb up.

“Alright, sorry everyone. Some of you can’t listen, now all of you suffer, just like school. I need security to the front, my left now.”

The crowd was pissed, but once Steve was pulled from the crowd by security and set up on the stage, Eddie pulling him backstage, the rest of the guys following, almost as concerned.

Eddie never stopped a show, never canceled one, never postponed one, never gave less than 150% on stage every night. If he was doing this, it was for a good reason.

Once everything was explained, Eddie had security find out who it was near Steve, and make sure they got banned from all of his shows.

But they were long gone, and Steve obviously didn’t know their names, barely could have picked them out of a lineup.

He decided to stop watching shows from anywhere but backstage, and then it became only watching soundcheck.

But he and Eddie kind of loved that, loved having their moments without having to hide.

The guys would roll their eyes and complain, but they didn’t mean it. They were just happy to have some decent food waiting in leftover containers for them when they got back to the buses or hotels because Steve cooked while they performed.

Eddie would run through a few of the songs, always including Steve’s song even though he didn’t have to.

The venue for tonight was smaller than most of the rest of this tour, intended to be that way so they could go back to their “roots” and have a more intimate setting with fans.

Eddie asked if Steve would want to watch this one, maybe hang out by security at the front of the stage.

Initially, he said no. But Eddie seemed disappointed, even though he insisted he understood and he didn’t want Steve to be uncomfortable, and Steve didn’t want him to be disappointed.

So the day of the show, while watching soundcheck from a chair on stage, he yelled, “Got a ticket for me, big boy?”

He could do this for Eddie. It wouldn’t even be that many people in the crowd, and the chances of the same thing happening again were slim to none.

He’d been through worse.

The way Eddie’s face lit up at his words, his excited bouncing causing his guitar to sway around him.

‘I always got a ticket for you, sweetheart.”

One hour before the show, the guys usually ignored visitors, choosing to use their time to get hydrated and snack, sometimes smoke a bit if they weren’t focused right.

Steve was rarely part of this, even he knew this was a band thing he shouldn’t force himself into.

But tonight, Eddie used the hour before the show to make sure he was taken to a good spot by the stage with security, had a water bottle and granola bar so he wouldn’t have to leave.

Since there was no one but security there, Eddie planted a quick kiss to his forehead before walking away.

“Enjoy the show, Stevie!”

“Always do, Eds!”

The crowd started trickling in only a few minutes later, excitedly getting up to the barricade, talking amongst themselves about the set list. A few people were next to him, but there was enough space that he didn’t feel worried.

He relaxed a bit, taking a few sips of water and smiling at the security guard.

As more people came in, they crowded behind him and next to him. He was somewhat pushed further to the side, but he didn’t mind. He wanted fans to get a great experience, and if that meant he only saw some of the stage, he could live with that.

The lights went down, and he felt a few people crowd in closer to him.

It was fine.

Until the guys took the stage, Eddie immediately bouncing over to his microphone stand and starting on the first song.

The crowd moved in more.

It couldn’t be possible that he was being shoved between people, but he was.

The room was closing in, literally, around him, and he had no idea what to do. The security guard was watching the front row closest to the band, not paying attention to the way Steve had been drawn into the crowd.

He took a deep breath.

Then someone yelled in his ear.

“Hey! You’re Steve right? Like, with the band?”

He managed to nod, but he didn’t want to have a conversation. This was a concert, a loud one. It wasn’t really the time to talk.

But the guy didn’t stop.

“Are you like an assistant? Or a tech guy?”

Steve shook his head.

He couldn’t breathe.

“Well, you go to all the shows right? What do you do?”

He wasn’t going to stop. Steve had to leave.

But there were now a few people in front of him, and he was completely surrounded by people having the time of their lives.

He just needed the security guard to look his way, he could signal him, and he’d be out.

“They stopped that show for you before. People kind of hated you for a while.”

Okay, Steve was done. He knew people kind of hated him for a while, he hated himself for a while. Hated that his reaction caused a whole 2500 people to miss out on half of a show they paid for.

But he reminded himself, the same way Eddie had for weeks, that it was Eddie’s call to end the show.

Any fans that wanted to blame Steve, could take their blind idolization somewhere else.

“I was there. Actually, right next to you. I doubt you remember me.”

He got that right, he didn’t remember him.

“I told everyone you and Eddie must have something going on if he’s willing to stop a show for you. No one believed me.”

Steve remained silent, his breath coming in short pants. He could see Eddie singing to a group on the opposite end of the stage.

“But that’s what it is, right? You two are together and he’s so whipped he ended a show because you can’t handle a crowd?”

Steve had to go.

The guy was touching him in most places, half of it out of necessity, but some of it not. His hand was wrapped around Steve’s wrist, much too tight for it to be accidental or just to get him to move.

“Let go,” Steve managed to say, loud enough to be heard, but his voice was shaking.

The guy did let go, but he didn’t give him any space.

“My friend fucked him once you know.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

Eddie had slept with two people before he met Steve, and he didn’t even remember their names. One was a guy at the bar in Indy he frequented, celebrating his 18th birthday in a way he regretted the next morning. The other was a girl, admittedly a test of his sexuality and she probably knew it from the way he fumbled around the entire time.

So whichever one of those people was this guy’s friend, clearly they were telling whatever story got them attention from other fans.

“Good for them,” he said, trying to focus on Eddie.

If he focused on Eddie, he’d be okay.

“Eddie promised to call him and never did. Kind of sucks to be left like that.”

Steve knew that too. That in Eddie’s somewhat drunken stupor, he’d gotten his number and said he would call him, but lost the paper at some point and never went back to the bar.

“Happens to the best of us.”

“Yeah, but not to you apparently.”

Steve started pushing forward, desperate to leave.

Eddie was talking to the crowd now, introducing the guys like he always did after the first two songs.

“You’re not even into this music. Why does he like you?”

Well, that’s certainly a question Steve asked himself often. Couldn’t help it, really.

Eddie, especially now, could have anyone he wanted. Any famous person would probably drop whoever they were currently with to have even a moment of Eddie’s attention.

Steve loved Corroded Coffin’s music, he loved the passion they all put into creating it and performing it, loved listening to Eddie at two in the morning furiously scratching down lyric ideas. He loved hearing some of their influences over the years, even going to some shows for Metallica because he knew it meant a lot to Eddie.

But it’s true he wasn’t a huge fan of this kind of music. He liked pop, he liked stuff you heard on any standard radio station driving down the road. He liked being able to dance along to it when he was cooking.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t belong here just the same as anyone else. He did. Anyone could enjoy this band, just as anyone could enjoy any band, even if it didn’t mesh well with their other interests. That’s regardless of the relationship status between them and the lead singer.

So Steve kept pushing forward, doing his best to get out of the crowd, away from this guy who was much larger than he was.

“Where you going? Can’t handle people knowing you aren’t worth his time?”

Steve’s heart was beating fast, so many sweaty bodies pushing against his on his way to the security guard who looked like he was finally noticing what was going on.

“Can’t believe he wrote a song for someone who doesn’t even watch his shows!”

That one hit Steve in the chest, hard.

This guy was why he couldn’t watch Eddie. He wanted to. He would be at every single show if he could.

But clearly that wasn’t in the cards for him.

He could feel bad about that later.

His focus was entirely on getting backstage for now, ignoring the shouts of everyone he was pushing through.

“Dude, you can’t just push to the front!”

“Who do you think you are?”

“Should’ve been here earlier if you wanted front row!”

Steve’s heart was racing, but he was trying to get to the security guard who was coming towards the barricade.

He reached him, but got shoved hard into the barricade.

The guy from earlier had managed to follow him through the crowd and just pushed him. If there were less people around, he would’ve fallen on his face.

He felt the edge of the barricade dig into his ribs, but it was a minor pain compared to things he’s felt before. He just wanted to go.

He stood up straight, took the biggest breath he could, and let the security guard lift him over the barricade.

Somehow Eddie must have seen it, and he immediately stopped playing.

“What’s going on? Stevie?”

Steve held his thumb up, hoping Eddie would continue and he could sneak out back without causing any more of a scene.

But Eddie must have seen the way Steve was hunched over, holding his rib where he’d been pushed into the barricade.

He was immediately on the edge of the stage, asking the security guard to help lift Steve while he pulled him up.

He was honestly too far into a sudden panic attack to even resist.

Eddie’s hands were on his cheeks as soon as he was sitting on the stage, his wide eyes looking over everywhere. The rest of the guys had all come over to see what was going on.

“Stevie, what happened, sweetheart? Are you hurt? Who did this?” He turned to the guys before Steve could even try to answer. “We’re done. Send everyone home.”

Steve was shaking his head. He didn’t want this to happen again, not because of him.

“People will hate me,” he managed to say.

“What? Sweetheart, no they won’t. You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine. Just let me go backstage.”

Eddie was watching him, trying to figure out if he was faking being okay.

He was, and he knew Eddie would see it, and he would cancel the show, and even more people would hate him.

“We’re done. If people hate you for it, they can hate me too.”

The guys all agreed, because they’re the best, and they know they can’t put on a real show without Eddie anyway.

Steve focused on the way Eddie’s hands felt on his face, his neck, his shoulders. He took a few deep breaths, managing to calm down enough to see the lights come on and the tech guys come out to start breaking down.

“Think you can walk or do you need me to carry you? Where does it hurt, love?”

“I’m okay.”

“That doesn’t answer my questions, sweetheart.”

Oh. Guess not.

“I can walk. It’s just my ribs. Not broken.”

“Who did this?”

Steve knew he could probably still find him in the crowd, had managed to glimpse enough of his clothing and face to point him out if he was still inside.

But it wasn’t worth it.

This would continue to happen. As long as people loved Eddie the way they did, as long as they didn’t like Steve, this would happen.

And Steve was okay with it, he had to be. He knew Eddie would take this harder than he did, maybe even the rest of the guys would too.

“Just a guy. He didn’t like that you never called his friend.”

Eddie’s brows furrowed.

“You remember your 18th birthday?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Steve nodded.

“Fuck them. Seriously, fuck him for seriously thinking a one night stand was gonna go anywhere. Jesus Christ.”

Eddie kissed Steve’s forehead, forgetting that there was still a crowd of disappointed fans, though pretty much everything that had just happened made it pretty clear Steve was his boyfriend.

“Let’s go back to the bus, get on our way home. Wayne’s baking you a cake for the birthday you had to celebrate with us. Said there’s no way the cake we got you was as good as his homemade butter cake.”

“He’s right,” Steve smiled.

This is what it came down to, in the end.

Eddie loved him, loved him enough to come out on stage just to make sure he was okay. Eddie loved him enough to bring him home to his family whenever they could, knew Steve needed to see the kids, see Wayne and Robin whenever possible. Eddie loved him enough to make sure he had a special spot for every soundcheck, sang his song to him every time so he could get his own personal show.

Steve loved him enough to deal with the fans hating him, for some fans to hate them all for supporting Eddie despite the fact that he was queer. Steve loved him enough to let Eddie baby him even though he hated it, especially in front of others. Steve loved him enough to watch every soundcheck like it was a sold out arena show.

[spacenintendogs]

Okay okay

Here's a question you probably can answer lol

What songs are the gang listening to on repeat in your modern au :)

ksxjsodkwkkd i have had a post abt their music tastes sitting in my drafts for months so i will just share that!! my own music is kind of limited bc i just listen to the same stuff over & over (bc neurodivergent™️) so!! my apolocheese for this not being as super in depth for some of the gang vs others. i am also open to suggestions ;_; a couple of these were from me talking with a pal, mainly astrid & fishlegs (@despiteherself hiiiii!!!!)

hiccup: lots of indie stuff, leaning more towards indie folk!! he likes anything rlly with strings involved. he's a dragonboy horsegirl at heart & wants to imagine riding through the air with winds blowing through his hair & wistfully wishing he could have a different life. he does listen to indie pop, too. he liked glass animals before they were popular & wants everyone to know it. also loves woodkid.

astrid: she has 5 songs she listens to & they were just songs ppl recommended to her. she only goes out of her way to listen to music if she's at the gym & doesn't want to talk to anyone (if snotlout is there it does not work </3) tuffnut told her "you should listen to mac miller" & she picked a single song & just made it a song she listens to. every single other song she's ever heard is inflicted upon her when she's in the car, at work, etc & her friends have their stuff. she's content with that

fishlegs: everything & anything u could possibly think of. it's all put together on one giant playlist. u will hear 1940s jazz followed by georgian chants followed by sam smith followed by power metal followed by edm & it just keeps going. knows the words to every song he ever hears. any genre, any language!! collects vinyl, tapes, cds, YOU NAME IT!!! very passionate abt music!!!!!!

snotlout: 2000s & 2010s pop & edm, duchess by fergie is one of his fave albums ever. loves lady gaga. everything else is dad rock. 80s thrash metal, nu metal, & 90s grunge, mostly. he wants to be cool so so bad, he wants to be a rockstar. learns to play guitar & is annoying abt it (can shred p well tho). is the reason everyone in the friend group has at least ONE slipknot song on their individual playlists

ruffnut: grunge, hip hop, rap, & house music. lots of in this moment & garbage. big kendrick lamar fan. lots of late 80s to early 00s for rap & hip hop. she likes to groove & vibe, occasionally headbang. i think she'd love mary j blige too. i think she, outside of everything listed, has a soft spot for p!nk & listens to her when she's having a hard time (her & snotlout sometimes listen together). i think she'd also enjoy billie holiday on a quiet day & no one is around. (she is not embarrassed by it ay all, she just likes having things for herself)

tuffnut: grunge, 70s soft rock, hip hop, & rap!!! lots of overlap with ruff but obv there's also a lot of differences!! the 70s soft rock is the main outlier. he enjoys cruising around & being wistful as he listens to america, doobie brothers, seals & croft, etc. he puts pop country on his playlists as a joke but it ends up stuck in everyone's heads & smth they all jam to to have fun.

there is a massive group playlist (fishlegs is the one who puts it together but will add a song if suggested) & it is a cacophony of so much shit. they all have their tastes but by the time they're adults they all know each other's songs & sing/jam along & have a fucking blast, esp in the car or at the sanctuary. the playlist is always on shuffle & there is the chance for a rickroll. always

songs that tend to get repeated by the group are psychosocial (slipknot), custer (slipknot), anything by pitbull, fire water burn (bloodhound gang), bbc (jaboukie), anything by woodkid, somebody i used to know (gotye), & anything by they might be giants & other assorted meme songs they love torturing each other with. (they are the most obnoxious group alive)

[galaxyseclipse]

2,6,7,9,11,14,28,30,29,20 for tsunami and ivory

0-0

aight, here we go!

2* what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

I haven’t really considered this before, actually. Tsunami makes more electronic-y music, so they listen to just about anything within that genre for the most part. They do cover stuff outside of that occasionally tho, so it’s not all they listen to.

Ivory would definitely gravitate towards more pop-y sounds. I feel like she would secretly be into rock/metal though, I dunno it just feels right lol

6* how do they wear their hair? do they care a lot how their hair looks?

Tsunami tends to keep their tentacles on the shorter side, only letting them grow to about their shoulders. They have two slightly longer ones in the back that they pull back into a low ponytail most of the time. When they’re down, they look like a longer version of the in-game bob haircut. They also have the little swooshy bangs. Other than keeping up with the length and general hygiene, they don’t really care about how they look.

Ivory likes hers longer, like “down to the waist/hips” longer. She’ll pull the two on the back of her head into a high ponytail when she’s working, and if it’s particularly intense she’ll put the other two back too. Usually though she uses them to hold stuff like tools, so she keeps them loose. She will put a little more than the average amount of work into them, making sure to keep the suckers clear and stuff. She really likes when Tsunami helps her wash them too, they know how to massage them just right.

7* favorite animal? why?

Tsunami’s favorite is bunnies. This is another one of those weird, arbitrary “yeah that’s a thing just because” things, there’s no real reason why.

Ivory's is birds, mostly because there weren't any underground, but also because she thinks they're funny/cute. There have been multiple occasions where she has grabbed a pigeon on a whim.

9* favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?

I've done favorites already

I wouldn’t say either of them are super picky, but they definitely have their preferences. Tsunami likes more spicy, savory, or sour stuff. Ivory has a massive sweet tooth, but she’ll eat just about anything you put in front of her.

11* what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

Tsunami definitely has more in common with me than Ivory; general demeanor, the color purple, etc.

I think if they knew that I was the one to put them through the shit they went through, neither of them would like me lmao. If they didn't know, I feel we'd get along pretty well.

14* are they any good with numbers?

I’d say both of them are about average, all things considered.

20* if applicable, can they drive? if they have their own, what color is their vehicle? is the inside neat and tidy, or a mess?

Yeah they both can drive. Tsunami's car is some beat up old thing she got not too long after getting her license. She maintains it herself and keeps it for probably way longer than she should(you know how Diamond mentions an old car? it's the same one).

Ivory’s is some sort of basic sedan or something. Pearl wanted to get her something fancier, but she declined saying that she wanted to get it for herself with her own work.

28* how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

When Tsunami likes someone, she'll start doing stuff for them, primarily cooking. If she doesn’t, she’s a lot more curt and blunt.

Ivory will be constantly making sure they're okay, to an almost overwhelming degree. She tends to be very passive aggressive and ruthless with people she doesn’t like, usually going for the mental/emotional evisceration before the physical one.

29* are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)?

I've always associated Tsunami with electricity. There's a reason for that, but I don't want to go into that rn. I've been trying to come up with ways to actually incorporate that into their... I dunno, general vibe? But I'm not sure how exactly. I have one way(I guess two), but other than that idk really.

Ivory... I don't know, actually, I've never thought about her that way. Of the four options in the question, I'd say she'd be fire.

30* do they smell like anything notable?

Not really, for either of them. There was a brief period where Tsunami smoked frequently and she’d smell like that.

————

oogh this one was long

sorry it took a while!

[micsmasmuses]

Human Beetlejuice AU

Tw; for drug use and depression / body image issues

Name: Lawrence “Betelgeuse / Beetlejuice” Shoggoth

Age: 37

Pronouns: He / Him

Sexual Orientation: pansexual

Face Claim: Justin Collette / Alex Brightman as Dewey Finn in School of Rock

- Small Overview -

Lawrence is a history of music teacher / professor who’s currently trying to find something he’s more passionate about ( he loves music but he thinks his students are a bore ) while living with his room mates the Maitlands who support him with his creative decisions. He pays rent and helps around the house so they help him when they can.

He can get into funks at times. Mostly hanging with friends who is mainly just Lydia who is the daughter of their neighbor. She enjoys bothering him but they ended up becoming friends instead.

He can be kinda bratty and whiney, but at least it’s easy to tell his mood right?

———

Headcanons

This is where the tw’s come in

• Lawrence teaches mainly the guitar but he does know how to play piano and drums. He usually keeps that to himself though, mainly because it’s usually classical and he likes to not be seen as a nerd despite being a music history professor.

• During his teens and college years he was in a really bad crowd. That crowd led to him trying coke and messing with some other substances, experimenting a lot to get inspiration here and there. He mainly smokes pot now but if he’s ever in that depressed lonely pit again he might end up relapsing and taking again. He can also be easily influenced if no one keeps an eye on him. The Maitlands are the main reason he’s clean now.

• Depression came during college before he met Barbara and Adam. He did a lot of binge eating, he eats when he’s sad. So he’s not incredibly confident because he saw that who would want him at such a low. But when Adam and Barbara practically scooped him up and took him into their home. Lawrence and Adam met in his last year college who then introduced him to his wife Barbara. He owes it to them with how they motivated him and took him in since he ended up part of the family so easily. Hes slowly gaining confidence over his looks again. So he’s trying with help.

• Lawrence gets the nickname Beetlejuice in High school considering his middle name is Betelgeuse and well the movie / cartoon as well. He didn’t mind it so most call him Bj or Law, or Beej.

• He still has an awful relationship with his mother which of course led him to that bad crowd. He completely cut her off after moving to NY with the Maitlands. He never knew his father as his mother raised him on her own mainly. He doesn’t talk to any of his family anymore though. He stays with his now found family. Mainly because he sees Lydia as his daughter. Taking her under his wing when he met her outside their apartment building. So he’s very overprotective of her. He’s also trying to be good for Lydia as well. She needs him because who else is going to take care of and listen to that girl?

• Small hc bc I couldn’t make up my mind with whose eye color I want to use. So I’m giving Lawrence heterochromia, his right being Alex’s Brown/Green color and the left being Justin’s Blue 💙.

[firstdivisiongirl]

hii can i get a male match up please for tokyo revengers :) im a she/her - sorry if theres quite a bit here D:

- i like animals especially red pandas and i also like bugs too. i also sometimes like to read both manga and actual books, i like any theme but when it comes to manga i either like shonen or stories like goodnight punpun/ a girl on the shore

im very enthusiastic towards music, i listen to any genre. i can go from heavy mental and rock, to goth, to something like lana del ray where i feel like i need to be in the rain with red wine, to calm/ smthin indie, sole crushing, and then scene. theres a whole lot more i could add. lemme also add in midwest emo.

- i cant exactly pinpoint what i dislike aside from the wind because it messes up with my hair, i swear if the wind was a solid id have it knocked down immediately. though I also tend to get annoyed by people that don't use common sense.

- my hobies incule art, i have a lot of sketchbooks and majority of my lessons are done by doodling and getting told off by my the teacher cause i dont pay attention, but i still carry on. i also like to make jewelry such as bracelets/neclases, their mainly beaded but their still cute to wear and i like to make bracelets for close people

- (just for extra info here →) im mentaly unstable and have severe attached issues as well as issues with family on every aspect. id like to get better, however i just end up going down a loop hole so i cant/dont which makes everything much harder than it needs to be.

- my energy gets drained QUICK so im mostly a listener rather than a speaker when it comes to social interactions, however i do have my days where i can be jumpy and almost euthoric and talk like my life depends on it with a lot of excitement

- also i can get sudden motivation that i end up reorganising my room, one day it'd look that then after 4 months itd look like this. i tend to do spontanious little things here and there when im in a good mood and that includes in dying/cutting my hair. also ive pierced myself 6x with thumb tacks and their all healed very nicely. i have 9 ear piercings in total.

- never was much of an academic person in school, but i tend to be smart outside of it and i find enjoyment in observing people and using my own thoughts rather than finding sources

- i wont call myself shy, maybe at first sure but as i get comfortable i can go all out and i dont mind in making the first move as long as i get the same energy back, otherwise if that energy isn't given then ill forget all about them.

- i can be extremely clingy when i want to be, i hold back in latching onto someone on a daily basis. i wanna hold someone's hand, be on their back like a bag, and just overall connect soles. im touch starved and overall I can be very affectionate physically, though I'm awful at using my words for affection.

Hello! There isn’t too much. It’s actually a good thing. That means it’s easier to pick because I know more about you. It makes the match more accurate. So let’s go!

You Got…

Izana Kurokawa!!!!!

Boy is all about loyalty and keeping those he loves around!! So you wanting to be clingy, is perfect!!!

He’s a leader so he would do all the talking for you

Very patient (we saw his like 8 year plan to take down Mikey lol) so if you are struggling with anything, he’s there for you.

Would play music for you on his guitar. I think indie rock probably.

Idk why but I also called him a human red panda. The reason his because he looks cute but is a menance like red pandas.

At home dates or concerts! I hope you like the matchup!!!

[page-2-ids]

I know this isn’t really the thing you do, so I totally get if you just wanna delete this I just don’t really follow any other blogs I could ask this. Guns N’ Roses, like, took over my life for the past few months, and now that hyperfixations kind of… over. And I’m outta music. D’you have any idea of good music that would be a good transition from that? I don’t listen to a whole lot of rock outside of them atm so really anything is on the table

A little note before the actual post starts, half of this ended up as just me gushing about musicians I like. I think I sell them pretty well, but some of this wording stops being “this is why GnR fans would also like this artist” and turns into “here’s 30 reasons why I love x.” I would try to re-write this to make it sound more like what it was supposed to, but I know myself and that’s not gonna work out well. This is, very literally thousands of words. To anon, and anyone else interested, if this whole… fiasco is not your thing, I list some intro songs at the end of each very, very, long segment. If that’s all you’re here for, and I totally get that, then it’s there!

~~~

As someone whose life was also ruined by a GnR hyperfixation, I think I can help! I do wanna say, first, no one really sounds like Guns N’ Roses on the whole. There are similarities with groups of songs to other stuff, or somethings in general playing style, but I can’t really recommend bands saying that they completely sound like them. But! There are some bands with a really similar vibe for one reason or another (mostly their inspirations or bands that were inspired by them), and others with some very similar songs, so I’ve got those!

~~~

This one could just be me being a little off, so take it with a grain of salt. My Chemical Romance has a pretty similar vibe to a lot of GnR’s music, especially on the UYI albums. For the more… “literal” stuff,  a lot of the drumming on The Black Parade and I Brought You My Bullets reminds me of Appetite for Destruction (and also Civil War and the songs that Steven Adler did the demos for in 86), as well as Hard Skool & the Chinese Democracy tracks with Ferrer. Ray Toro’s solo style also reminds me a lot of Slash’s stuff, a good example is November Rain and I Don’t Love You feel very similar to me, and there’s just a similar energy there overall. Gerard Way & Axl Rose’s voices aren’t similar in the sense of you hear one of them and think “oh yeah, they sound like the other one” but there’s something there to me. They have a lot of the same strengths: distortion and fading from clean singing into fairly heavy distortion pretty fast, the ability to dance around their range (espeically higher up) pretty easily, incredibly emotional vocals, and some other stuff. I could talk way more about their vocals/voices, but if I do we’ll be here for thousands of words, so I’ll cut that off here. 

There’s also something that just really captivating about both bands’ lyrics that I’m not sure are exactly similar, but they’re both just incredible lyrically, storytelling, emotion, all that fun stuff. Some good intro songs, and ones that remind me of GnR in some way are: I Don’t Love You, Welcome To the Black Parade, Honey This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us Our Lady of Sorrows, House of Wolves, This Is How I Disappear, Cancer, Sleep, Foundations of Decay, Famous Last Words. Some other stuff on I Brought You My Bullets has a very My Michelle & You’re Crazy vibe to me, musically speaking. The guitars at the start of Vampires Will Vever Hurt You, Early Sunsets over Monroeville, & Skylines and Turnstiles also remind me of Paradise City in a weird way, but that’s more a vibe thing and most people probably would not agree with me here, so take all of that as you will.

Also, this is where I admit I’ve only listened to that album and The Black Parade so far, I’m working on getting to their other stuff, there’s just also a ton of other stuff on my list (help me).

~~~

Motley Crue. I’ll be honest, I’m not as big of a fan of them as I am most of the other bands I’ll mention here, but a lot of fans of GnR found them through Motley Crue and vice versa at this point, so I figured I should mention them. Also, I don’t hate them, it’s more of a personal taste thing than anything wrong with their music. Most of their songs up until Generation Swine are really good, and I do adore a lot of Shout at the Devil, Theater of Pain, and their self titled, I just don’t listen to most of them a whole lot so I can’t gush as much.

The very, very easiest point is just that they were both hair metal/adjacent, and I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot since Bon Jovi is, too, but they do have some songs that fit in a very similar niche to each other. A lot of their party songs, which is arguably most of thier music, has a very similar energy, especially to Right Next Door to Hell, My Michelle, and You’re Crazy. There are some others, too, but those are the most striking to me. They both also have very acclaimed and very unique bassists and, at least for GnR’s tracks with Steven Adler, drummers. I also think Tommy Lee and Frank Ferrer have some similarities, but a little less so.

A lot of the guitar work across Motley Crue’s first 6 albums also reminds me a lot of some of Izzy Stradlin’s work, and also feels a little Slash-y. There’s some other stuff, I think the chorus vocals on their cover of Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room is very Paradise City (also the chorus), some of the other songs on Theater of Pain remind me a little of the “western rock”/“cowboy rock” songs on UYI1 (mostly Vad Obsession, a little Dust N’ Bones) and also Back Off Bitch a little, Kickstart My Heart reminds me a lot of Right Next Door to Hell, and there’s some other minor stuff.

My best intro suggestions (more based on the ones that are my favorites & that I remember the names of off the top of my head than what’s similar) would be Merry-Go-Round, Live Wire, Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room, Shout at the Devil (most of that album, really), and Red Hot.

~~~

Quiet Riot. There aren’t a whole lot of similarities there, but they are one of the grandfathers of hair metal & 80s hard rock, along with Def Leppard & Motley Crue, so they’re here. Also I love them and need an excuse to talk about them.

Most of the similarities here are very “fundamental” if that makes any sense. A lot of times, especially looking from Mental Health to Appetite for Destruction and the UYI albums, it seems more like Quiet Riot just laid a lot of the foundation for the whole subgenre and GnR just used them as a kind of necessity. Not in a begrudging way, just that there doesn’t feel like a lot of direct inspiration in that sense. There are a lot of similar notes in the drumming across all four of the albums I just mentioned and it’s really clear that Quiet Riot’s foundation is there in a lot of GnR’s music.

The more interesting thing to me, though, is that it kind of looped around to Quiet Riot feeling kind of inspired by GnR! They’ve been making music semi-consistently since 1983, so they, in a way, outlasted GnR, until the singles in 2021. I can’t prove if they really were inspired like that, since I don’t know if there are really any recent interviews with them, but I choose to believe it. Two of their most recent albums, Hollywood Cowboys and Road Rage have a very “western/cowboy rock” feeling to them, specifically in the way that Bad Obsession and Dust N’ Bones do.

Also, just more generally, they’ve had a couple singers over time that have a very similar power to their voices that Axl Rose does. I don’t know how to make this any more coherent, but I hope it makes sense to anyone who’s listened to both of them. In specific, their original lead singer, Kevin DuBrow, and their singer for Hollywood Cowboys, James Durbin. I really can’t figure out how to put it into words, but listen to My Michelle right before Mental Health (the song) and Think About You right before Hellbender. There’s just a weird similarity there.

I’d probably recommend Arrows and Angels, Hellbender, Mental Health, and their cover of Cum On Feel the Noize as starter songs.

~~~

Avenged Sevenfold. Their the first band that I can say for sure had a lot of their sound, at least for some songs, influenced by GnR. Like, GnR is listed as one of their influences and A7x is listed as a band inspired by them. This is clear-cut. It starts really clearly in City of Evil and kicks into a whole different gear, for me, at Nightmare. 

The first thing, that I’ve never seen anyone mention also, is that M. Shadows and Axl Rose have very similar voices. There’s a very similar tone in both of them that I can’t really describe, but they also do some very similar things in their singing. The start of the outro to Danger Line reminds me a lot of Chinese Democracy, especially the start of Street of Dreams and a few parts of Prostitute, and Seize the Day reminds me of songs that are lower in Axl’s range but still a step above Mr. Brownstone or Sorry.

I am going to sound like a dork here, I tried to hold it back during the MCR section but I can’t anymore. You can also cross-apply this to the similarities with MCR, just pretend I used different names.

There’s a very specific kind of… emotionality, I guess, with a lot of the drumming and guitar work across both bands’ music. Especially for A7x with Nightmare and, in the drumming, most - if not all - of The Rev’s work, that is very similar to GnR, especially with Slash and Steven Adler. I have a very hard time explaining this - I have tried with friends and it never comes out coherent - so just… As a very general explanation, to sort of get at what I’m talking about - and why I feel like it’s important for anyone curious - imagine if November Rain had one of its first solos replaced with Eruption from Van Halen. Or, for a more real example, the end of the solo of Every Rose Has Its Thorn suddenly gets a lot faster compared to the rest of the song and it has a very different energy and it’s just very jarring. That’s kind of what I mean by emotionality, it’s capturing the energy of a song/segment, not just doing what is very technically well done. The same applies to really every aspect of music, drumming included even though a ton of people would disagree with me. That whole long thing to say, Slash, Zacky Vengeance, and Synyster Gates have a very strong grasp on that whole concept, as do Mike Portnoy (the session drummer for a lot of Nightmare), The Rev, Steven Adler, and Frank Ferrer. A lot of the guitarists that worked on Chinese Democracy do, too, I’m just way less familiar with a lot of their work. Also, I’ve learned I can’t really talk too much about Izzy Stradlin without it turning into a whole… thing, so I just can’t, right now. Anyway, in addition to a very strong grasp on the emotional side of things, they’re also all incredibly good at what they do from a technical level. I would also argue that that’s where a lot of GnR’s influence shines through most, but this always ends in me laying out very minute similarities that no one else cares about and this post is already getting way too long, so I have to move on to the beginner songs.

Nightmare (most of that album, but…), Danger Line, Seize the Day, Roman Sky, and A Little Piece of Heaven.

~~~

Now a shorter one for everyone’s sanity: Aerosmith! I will be completely honest here, I’ve only really listened to their big singles and not all of those yet. I… I know, Im getting to them, too. But, I know they did shows together a while back, GnR covered Mama Kin, and they have some other similarities (very expressive singers with killer ranges, a bit of an affinity for piano ballads, etc.). I don’t think I can really offer better suggestions other than what still gets radio play and what would show up on greatest hits playlists. I’m more mentioning them out of obligation than being able to actually give a good recommendation. I will say, thier cover of Remember (Walking in the Sand) is amazing and, imo, underrated.

~~~

The Sex Pistols. This is more in energy than anything literal, outside of a couple few things, I just figured it wouldn’t be right to completely ignore them. The big “literal” similarity is that Paul Cook and Steven Adler have very similar drumming styles, in my opinion.  I’m not very good at describing stuff like that, but it’s definitely there.

The other big, non-energy similarity I have is the style of lyrics between the Sex Pistols and Appetite for Destruction. They’re both very blunt and matter-of-fact and a very specific kind of angry, but it’s all also sort of poetic? I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I think maybe listening to or reading the lyrics for Paradise City and then God Save the Queen or Holiday In the Sun maybe makes it make sense?

Other than that, it’s just energy. Appetite for Destruction and Never Mind the Bollocks are both very intense and angry and cutting, to me. I know Appetite for Destruction has its happy moments, but they’re all “cut” by something. Sweet Child O’ Mine has the “where do we go” breakdown, the positive parts in Rocket Queen and My Michelle are preceded by just… the rest of those songs, and Think About You is very likely about drugs. There’s this underlying kind of… not pessimism, but definitely some kind of negativity and acknowledging the seedy through that whole album that’s very Sex Pistols.

Pretty much everything else is that they just feel very similar to me. I can’t reall put words to it it’s justa  feeling. They’re both pretty hard edge, I feel like you can tell both bands have a pretty solid respect for more ‘clasic’ bands (at least what was the main era of classic rock when they were big), and all the music across both groups feels very sincere to me. It isn’t all sweet, but it’s sincere.

Intro songs I’d recommend are, personal favorites, Anarchy For the UK, God Save the Queen, Problem, Liar, Pretty Vacant, and Holiday In the Sun.

~~~

Velvet Revolver. I’ll be honest, here, I’ve listened to most of their music, but I did it as a quick once-through one night and I haven’t gone back through most of it to internalize song names and favorites, so the suggested songs and some of the similarities/selling points are gonna be brief. However!…

The major point for Velvet Revolver as a GnR follow-up is that every member, other than the singer, was in GnR! That was the big selling point when they first got going. They don’t sound a whole lot like Appetite for Destruction through The Spaghetti Insident GnR, but they all, Slash and Duff McKagan especially, have a very unique sound/style that carries over to Velvet Revolver.

Their music in some ways also reminds me of parts of Chinese Democracy. Not super ‘literally’ (are you sick of that vague bs yet?), but they both exist in a similar, sort of post-grunge segment of alt-rock of the time.

Like I said, I have very little to offer for recommended songs, at the moment, but I will say that Slither took over my life for months on end after I listened to it the first time, so do with that what you will.

~~~

Bon Jovi. Okay, hear me out. I know that, on the whole, Bon Jovi and GnR don’t have a whole lot in common, they’re not even really the same subgenre of hair metal. However, I just think I should shill for Bon Jovi- I mean… Jokes aside, I think there are a couple reasons why this is actually way more of a reasonable suggestion than it might look like. A lot of that comes down to that I’m not really recommending their whole discography as a GnR replacement. Honestly, I haven’t even listened to their whole discography yet. What I will say, though, is that there are a lot of similarities between some of their songs with some GnR songs. This whole section honestly doubles for song recommendations, but I do have some extras that don’t really sound like GnR songs that I just like.

Dry County sounds a good bit like Civil War. not cut and paste, but it’s similar. It’s one of, if not definitively, Bon Jovi’s longest song. It’s borderline southern rock, the guitars are very Civil War-ish (stripped back, melancholy, that sort of thing), and some other stuff that I can’t just put in a list. Dry County doesn’t start with movie audio, but it does have an intro with slightly different music and that is sung in a slightly different cadence that feels like it leads into the “true” first verse in a similar way. The way they lead into their guitar solo(s) also feels very similar, and the drumming style is fairly similar. They’re also both melancholy as all get out and just have a very similar energy to them. If I don’t stop myself now, this is going to turn into another few thousand words, so I’ll move on.

Homebound Train reminds me a lot of Rocket Queen, of all songs. It’s a lot more western, maybe southern rock, but the similarities are there. The guitars sound very similar (I’m bad at describing riffs and stuff like that, you just have to take my word on this), there’s a very similar effect over Jon Bon Jovi’s voice in what I think is the bridge of this song that’s a lot like the one Axl Rose used in the chorus of Rocket Queen, and the drumming is very Steven Adler in a way most of their other drumming isn’t. There’s also a really long instrumental segment with no vocals (keyboard solo, guitar solo, and what I’m pretty sure is a harmonica solo) that takes up a lot of the song, like the section in Rocket Queen.

There very well could be other songs with strong similarities between some of their other songs, but I’m days deep into writing this thing at this point, so I’m gonna stop here. In addition to the song-to-song comparisons, there are also some general similarities, especially looking from GnR’s whole discography to Bon Jovi’s first five albums. Jon Bon Jovi’s voice doesn’t really sound like Axl Rose’s, but he’s also really good at portraying emotion through his singing and he also has a pretty solid upper range (obviously not comparable/anywhere near as high, but it’s still really good).

I know this isn’t really the draw for most people, but it’s there and it actually does something for me, so I figured I’d still mention it, anyway. There’s a pretty solid thread of vaguely to strongly religious lyrics between both bands. If you’ve listened to their music and think I sound like I’ve lost it, give a couple songs a listen. Strong examples would be the first verse of Homebound Train, the chorus of Born To Be My Baby, a very specific line in the pre-chorus(?) of I’d Die For You, and a few lines in Dry County, then a quick line in Sweet Child O’ Mine, parts of the chorus for Don’t Cry, a few lines in Yesterdays and a few lines in Civil War. Lay Your Hands on me is a weird case, because I don’t think the lyrics have many religious allusions iirc, but it’s very clearly based on church music. They both have more than this, but if I don’t stop now, I won’t stop, like, ever.

Some other start songs (that aren’t the massive hits) are Social Disease, The Hardest Part Is The Night, Love Lies, and Only Lonely.

~~~

Def Leppard. Again, not their whole discography. Their second album, High ‘N’ Dry, has a very Appetite for Destruction sound. Obviously there is some difference, since it’s about six years older and technically pre-hair metal, but the similarities are there. It’s sort of like the early Quiet Riot thing, but I think they’re more similar. Joe Elliot also doesn’t really sound like Axl Rose, but he’s also a very emotional singer and spends a lot of their music in a pretty high part of his range. They’re also next level at breakup songs in a way that very few artists are (Bon Jovi, too, but I can’t talk about them for too long without it becoming a thing). Admittedly, I have a lot less to say about Def Leppard, not because I don’t like them but because they’ve never taken over my life with a hyperfixation so far so I can be normal about them.

Just to summarize the rest of their music that I’ve listened to, there are still some similarities through Pyromania, but Def Leppard were clearly shifting to a more synth-y style of hard rock so there’s less common ground there. And most of this is completely out the window by the time you get to Hysteria, even though it’s still a really good album.

Good starter songs (that aren’t Pour Some Sugar On Me, because that’s too easy) are Hysteria, Too Late For Love, Bringing On the Heartbreak, Let It Go, God of War (or Gods of War?), and Foolin’.

~~~

Nine Inch Nails. This is strictly between their music and Chinese Democracy, I don’t really think there’s literally anything similar before that. Also, I don’t listen to a whole lot of NIN, so I… cannot talk a whole lot. What I’ve heard is good and you can definitely hear that Chinese Democracy was at least somewhat inspired by their music, but that’s about all I can say atm. Starter songs (really just the ones I’ve heard) could be Closer, Head Like A Hole, Hurt, and Terrible Lie.

~~~

So… this is getting really long. Because of that, and because I don’t have a lot to say about these artists (either here or at all), I’m just gonna list out a couple bands, some starter songs and then stop because this post has done some feral things to me. Also, a lot of the artists here are less literal similarities and more similar energy, just so we’re all on the same page, here.

Green Day: Are We the Waiting; Blood, Sex, Booze; She; Viva la Gloria!; Viva la Gloria?; Peacemaker; Letterbomb (there are more, I just have to stop talking about Green Day at some point, before we’re all here for another three thousand plus words)

Twisted Sister: I Wanna Rock; We’re Not Gonna Take It (look, I listened to Stay Hungry once, I didn’t internalize most of it yet, sorry)

Slipknot: Snuff; Circles; Vermillion (pt. 2, also); Til We Die; Psychosocial; The Devil In I; Duality

Adore Delano: Witch Hunt; 3 Flowers; Pretty Boys Cry; 27 Club

The Clash: London Calling; Should I Stay or Should I Go; I Fought The Law (I have not listened to a lot of their music yet)

Fastball: The Way; Out Of My Head

Pink Floyd: In the Flesh?; Waiting For The Worms; Goodbye Blue Sky; The Thin Ice; Young Lust; One of My Turns; Another Brick In the Wall pt 2; Comfortably Numb (I’ve only listened to The Wall so far)

If I haven’t mentioned someone here that anyone who’s made it through this whole post thinks that I should’ve, you’re probably right and I just haven’t listened to them yet! I think this kind of outed me on this, but most of my music knowledge stops dead before the 80s, outside of Motown, so I don’t completely know what I’m talking about yet.

All that out of the way, thank you for reading, I hope this helps, and I’m so sorry this thing is so long.

[inwintersolitude]

- May 4th 2023 -

Do you plan your meals in any way? Sometimes. I have a meal planning app on my phone, and I use it more when my husband is home from flying which is about 4-5 days a week. But if he's on a trip and I'm home alone for a few days, then I don't bother with planning as much. And my appetite can be finicky sometimes, like I won't know what sounds appetizing until the day of, so that's another reason why I don't always plan ahead.

Have you ever been front row at a concert? Which one(s), and how was the experience? Nope, I've never really had any interest in going to a concert, much less the front row of one. I wouldn't be able to nowadays with my noise-induced ear pain.

What's the strongest earthquake you've ever experienced? I've only ever felt one, in 2007 - I just looked it up and it was a magnitude 3.6. My parents and brother and I were sitting at the dinner table and the whole house shook, and at first I thought it was a sonic boom or an explosion. We were only about 5.5 miles away so we definitely felt it.

Do you know your best friend's middle name? Yep.

If you have a passport, where do you store it for safekeeping? In our safe deposit box at the bank.

What's your favourite kind of juice and when did you last drink some? Either lemonade or cranberry juice. It's been several weeks since I last drank either of those.

Were you in the scouts when you were young? Yep, I was in Girl Scouts from kindergarten through 4th grade, but then I stopped because I was frustrated that we didn't do enough camping/outdoor stuff and too much sitting around doing boring crafts lol. But then I rejoined in 7th and 8th grades because a lot of my friends were in it and we started to do more camping at that age.

How long are your fingernails right now? Very short.

Do you like the Scream movies? I've never seen any.

What sort of music have you been listening to lately? Mostly classical. A little bit of classic rock.

Are there any bills you need to pay? They're all on auto-pay.

Have you ever been told you look like a celebrity? Yes but now I can't remember who it was. Personally, I think I look like Mia Wasikowska when she was younger (we're pretty much the same age, less than 3 months apart, but she looks a little older than her age and I look younger than my age). I think she looked like me the most when she had light brown hair for her roles in Jane Eyre and In Treatment.

How many people could sleep in your home? (Not counting floor space, beds and couches only) Four. We have a queen size bed, a daybed, and a couch.

Are you a fast reader? Kind of, I think? But I'm not sure what's considered average.

Do you own a leather jacket? Nope.

Is there a university campus in your city or town? No. Well, there's a building that's a small satellite campus for a university that's in a city that's about 35 minutes away. But it's just one building off on a country road outside of town. The only reason I even know it's there is I pass it on the way to one of my favorite hiking trails.

Who last called you on the phone? Did you pick up? If so, how long did you talk? My husband, and yes I picked up. He was calling from the airport in Houston before his last flight home, and we talked for about 10 minutes.

What grocery store/supermarket do you shop at most frequently? Buehler's.

Do you know how to play the card game Hearts? Nope.

Are you a more of a light or heavy sleeper? It seems to vary a lot throughout my sleep cycles.

Have you ever done freelance work? What did you do? Nope.

Name four things you can see right now. My desk clock, my old AOPA pilot wings pin, the fence in the back yard, and a framed family tree that my great aunt drew by hand, going back to our first ancestor to come to North America in the 1620s.

Do you charge your phone every day? I charge it every night while I sleep. Sometimes during the day if I've been using it a lot and it's getting low.

Is your washing machine currently running? Nope.

How's your energy levels today? Pretty normal.

Have you ever torn a muscle? Yep, when I was doing lifeguard training and preparing for the test where you retrieve a weight from the bottom of the diving well, simulating rescuing a person who had sunk down to the bottom. I dove down to the bottom, grabbed the weight, and when I pushed off the bottom of the pool I tore/pulled a muscle in my leg.

Do you have any cereal in your house at the moment? Yep, bran flakes.

When was the last time you went out to eat? Where did you go and who with? About a week ago, with my husband. We went to the cafe in town.

Is the street you live on short, long, or somewhere in the middle? It's pretty short.

Should you be in bed right now? Nope, it's only a little after 8 p.m.

[somnolentlady]

Need to make an introductory post iggg

You can call me Lady or Som (she/they)

I'm in my 20s, very happily married, and have a kitty named Bitty. Used to engage with lots of creative hobbies (writing, sewing, drawing, etc.), but now I mostly play video games and watch the occasional anime. I watch a lot of youtube to unwind but dont engage much there. I want to get into gardening, raising lots of animals, cooking, and doing homemaking stuff, but I'm still working my way toward that stage of my life.

♡

I'd love to make some new friends here!

I know about most video games since I tend to play most genres. I don't know much music outside of my immediate interests, but I don't limit myself to certain genres there, either. I love classic fiction as far as books go and that is about my limit there. Can't say I stick to any particular anime/manga genre, though, as long as the storytelling and art are good and the character interactions are interesting! Basically, hit me up to tell me about the content you can't talk about enough, and I'll be thrilled (and maybe I'll know about it and be excited for that reason, too!).

☆

A few of my current interests include:

Working my way through watching the original One Piece and watching Dungeon Meshi (did not read manga so no spoilers pls 💕), playing Pokemon Yellow for the first time and some old Harvest Moons, playing Yugioh with my besties the One Piece Card Game at locals, passively staying on top of the Chainsaw Man manga, and listening to music (currently in my folksy-pop-rock/Jpop/alternative hard rock/folksy-bluegrass era)

Scratch it all, I am consumed by Fields of Mistria

[mo0n-water]

hello :)

you make music?? what kind? you simply must put it on spotify, purely so i can listen to it. you’re getting cooler and cooler by the day. what instrument do you play? do you sing??

i’ve added all of those fics to my very long to read list, i’m in the middle of exams at the moment but when they are over i’ll definitely be reading them. i’ll update you when i do, if you want.

questions!!:

- what’s something everyone should know about you?

- what’s your biggest red flag?

- are you observant?

- cats or dogs

- take this 🎟️ and use it as an excuse to talk about something you’ve been wanting to talk about. literally anything, i love it when people (you) go off on a rant about something they care about

have a good day, curtsying respectfully on my way out <3

ps. very interesting theories

pps. 288 HOURS

OOOH we’re in our ominous countdown era now?? i love that for us. yay!! that’s 12 days… intriguing?!?! 👀 i am so curious…

yeah i make music! usually rock / folk type stuff, depending haha. i’m in a band that mostly does rock but by myself i’m a folk girlie. i play guitar & sometimes sing <3 thank you for thinking i’m cool, that’s actually so sweet omg. i think you’re very smart so i’m flattered :)

PLEASE please please please update me on what you think of the fics!! i’m excited to hear your thoughts… & good luck with exams omg. what else is on your tbr?

for your questions… something people should know about me? oh gosh, i don’t even know? i don’t know. i have such a hard time perceiving myself lolol so questions about Me make me have to think very hard. which is probably a good thing. i think one thing people should know about me is that i’m very extroverted and I LOVE life. i like seeking out new experiences & if you’re my friend you’re probably gonna get dragged along.

red flag, hm… beyond dangerous stuff, i’m skeeved out by anyone who has strongly positive feelings about the state of california. it’s that weird hill that i’m fighting & dying on.

am i observant? observant of judaism… (laugh track) but yeah, sorta? i’m observant of all the wrong things. sometimes i’ll notice the goings on of all the plants & bugs around me, but not the mood of the person i’m with.

cats. i really do not like dogs

taking your ticket… i am sleepy & not having thoughts so i will make breakfast, read a bit, & get back to you on that

okay it is now 15:43… i’m very depressed today for some reason & i kinda feel like i can’t care about anything enough right now to rant about it? i’m trying, because i want to be enthusiastic & i like to talk (obviously, jesus fuck) but it’s not happening. a shame. i’ll share some things i’m excited about in the near future instead because maybe that’ll make me feel better

- going to nashville later this month to see a show at the opry!!

- noah kahan’s “we’ll all be here forever” is coming out SO SOON

- similarly, it’s about a month til speak now taylor’s version

- it’s warm out & it’s only getting warmer. what a blessing :) I have a few minutes before my next class so i think i’ll spend them outside

though it seems my bad mood from yesterday has carried over into today, your ask cheered me up! i think tomorrow will be a better day, & if not, there’s always another tomorrow. i hope you’re having a lovely time yourself, & that there are even better things coming to you in the future <3

& some questions for you:

- what’s something good that happened to you recently, or something good you did for someone else?

- what’s something lovely about your life right now?

- what’s something you’re looking forward to in the near future?

kind regards xx

[freefavors]

The Music That Helped Shape Me

   So for this first blog, one of my ideas was to give a brief (as possible) story of my musical affinity, and more specifically, the scene that really fostered my love for the bands and genres that I love today. In doing so, I hope whoever reads this gets a glimpse into what it was like discovering music for me, has some laughs along the way, and maybe finds out about some bands they might never have heard of.

   Music was always a constant for me. Growing up in the church, it was there from the very beginning; every Sunday from a week or two after my birth, my parents were taking me to the small Assemblies of God church that my grandpa pastored, and it was here that I suppose my affinity for it started. One my earliest memories is of me singing on the stage during the worship portion of the service, and I couldn’t have been more than five or six. And this coupled with the fact that my dad bought a keyboard that came with free lessons he didn’t want to use, my parents enrolled me in piano at age 6, which only lasted a year; mostly because my friend at the time told me that my piano teacher’s bulging finger veins on her were because of her long tenure in the ivory arts. And nobody wants that. But as horrible as it sounds, I distinctly remember that one of the other reasons I wanted to stop playing was because the teacher wanted to start teaching me church songs, but I didn’t want to learn them because they were boring to me.

 I know it didn’t come into play at that young age, but at the time, in our specific Christian circle, anything “secular” or outside of the religious music circle was deemed unacceptable listening. This meant that our car radio was tuned to the local Christian station, K-LIFE. Our stereos were bumping the tunes of Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond, and this was my musical landscape. And to be honest, I didn’t care and didn’t even know that there was a world outside of what we had.

  A turning point came a little later on, when I was first baptized as like a nine year old. My grandma gave me a Rebecca St James cd as a gift (don’t judge me), and for the most part, it was your basic CCM affair: girl singer with lyrics about Jesus, weird flute parts on one song that made it feel SUPER late-nineties and early 2000’s (still awesome), and out of nowhere, there was this song:

   Now to the musical aficionado, this song may break any boundaries for you, but for a super emo kid like me, this song was a turning point for me. I had heard Alanis Morissette-esque guitars in Sixpense None The Richer and Point of Grace songs before (please look up those bands), but not like this, or so I thought. The guitar seemed front and center here, which gave the song slightly heavier tinge. I would later find out that was just the bass and synthesizer, and the guitars weren't really upfront at all. But that was enough for me, and it produced in me a desire to find music that felt more like that.

  My eyes were now open to the fact that music could be more energetic, more exciting, and, in the words of Old Ben Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope, I had now taken my “first steps into a larger world”. But what Rebecca did in terms of expanding my horizons with one song, would continue through my discovery of a channel on a Christian satellite network called “TVU”, and its affiliate radio station “Radio U”. From POD’s Sleeping Awake to Big Dismal’s Remember IOU,  and quite possibly an Embodyment song from The Narrow Scope Of Things, new genres were being introduced to me in larger doses than I had ever experienced before. Nu Metal, Industrial Rock, Alt-Metal, they were all there, and at the time, I didn’t realize the greater impact they were having on me. But that would all change in seventh grade when I found the Skillet album Collide.

 Skillet, if you don’t know, is a Christian rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, that formed in the 90’s as a side project of their lead singer, John Cooper. What started as an outreach-oriented Nirvana style romp blossomed into a Grammy Nominated, stadium-filling powerhouse; but at the time of their seminal release Collide, they were a semi-successful CCM outfit looking to cross the cultural divide. And it was during their record cycle for the deluxe version of Collide that I picked I finally picked up their record, and little my little Jimmy-ears were floored. From the beginning riff of the first track Forsaken to the last seconds of the final track Cycle Down, I was hit by an auditory onslaught of everything I had been looking for in music: the guitars were heavy, the hooks were catchy, and as an angsty 7th grade kid, I was sure that every song was written about me. This album was on heavy rotation for me that year, and when I listen to that album today, I can still remember those times and feel what I felt in those moments of adolescence.

   To add insult to injury, I also found out that there were actual DVD’s that you could buy that had music videos. My first one of these such purchases was X2004: Christian Rock Hits. Skillet was on there of course, with their music video for the song Savior, the band Pillar had their song Battlecry I believe, the band 12 Stones with Crash, and even the video for Anberlin’s Readyfuels. There was one video on there that made me scratch my head when I first heard it, first in disgust, and then…in curiosity. That was the video for Emery’s Walls. To the early 2000’s emo kid, Emery is a household name, and are one of the heavy hitters of the third wave Emo scene (I think its third wave), or maybe more accurately, the screamo kingo’s. Either way, what I had just stumbled upon truly baffled me.

   If you didn’t watch the video, the first seconds of the song, the singer screams an entire portion of the song. No singing, just screaming. And I didn’t like it. Sure Skillet had done it in Collide, but that was icing on the cake to already tasty jams. Sprinkles on the frosted cookies from Food Max that are way too sweet but you eat seven in one sitting anyway. They aren’t meant to be eaten that way. You weren’t supposed to scream more than a few words at a time. But this weird British band Emery was doing it. I later found out they were southern but just looked British. At first, all the screaming was truly vile to me as I mentioned before. But it was that strange phenomenon in that I didn’t like the song, but there was something there that I couldn’t quite pin down, so I would keep watching the video. And the more that I watched it, the more it grew on me. And the more it grew on me, the more I actually started liking it.

  It was all over after this, and I began my descent into arguably the greatest rise of the Christian underground scene that ever occurred. After finding Emery, my desire for heavier music with screamed vocals continued, and soon, I found the band Still Remains through TVU, in a video for a song I can only describe as the quintessential metal(core) song, “The Worst Is Yet To Come”.

   This song had it all: Super fast guitar playing, crazy double bass, screaming vocals, and a really catchy chorus sung by the very cool Mike Church. And same as before, I bought the album, and loved it. This was the point of no return, and I continued to dive head first into this scene of heavy music. As I Lay Dying, Norma Jean, Demon Hunter, they were all playing this heavy style, but with different variations and their own riff on things, and I couldn’t get enough. And when I found out that a lot of these bands had record labels in common, I had a place I could go to to find out about new releases, new bands, and dream of one day being on one of these labels.

  This enthusiasm carried on, and when high school started, I had made new friends who shared my excitement for the scene, and we embarked on some of the greatest adventures of my lifetime: Concert-going. I had dabbled a little in the past with my dad, but high school really marked the beginning of regular concert going with friends. As I Lay Dying and Still Remains in San Luis Obispo, Warped Tour 07 in Ventura, we did it all, and we did it together. We sung along to our favorite bands, we got sucked into the circle pits, we braved the extreme weather conditions, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. Our journeys were legendary, and they were all because of this exploding scene in which Christians, passionate about their faith and the music they loved, brought it to the forefront for us.

  And even though I still wasn’t able to listen music that wasn’t Christian, I still didn’t care much, because for me, spiritually, the lyrics being sung made all the difference. Through all the twists and turns of growing up, finding who I was, and going through the pitfalls that come with adolescence, I was encouraged, taught, and comforted through many of these songs. And most importantly, I was shown a very real Jesus who did care, and who wanted to reveal himself to Me. 

  All these years later, the music and the scene still hold near and dear to my heart, and without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Many of the albums still hold up to modern listening, and at the very least, tell the story of of my life. And as I grow older I can only hope that I will be just as affected by, if not more, music that moves me.

[laceymorganwrites]

my favorite OP characters at the Victoria Punk cafe + some general hcs I have

A/N: obviously this is inspired by the wonderful AU @pirate-shrimpi created!

Barto:

is there way too often

he loves hanging out with friends there

and he found so many too!

everyone´s so nice and welcoming

him and Kid sometimes help out people who don´t feel confident enough to wear makeup outside 

they take makeup and the clothes they wanna wear with them when they come to the cafe

and then they do a mini fashion show there cause it´s safe and everyone supports them

Law:

 thinks he´s too cool for it and yet he´s there almost every day

enjoys the music a lot more than he is ready to admit

Kid always teases him about it

´come on, man, it´s no big deal, I can give you an autograph´

´please just shut up...´

his entertainment is being forced to listen to other people talk, he doesn´t want to pry cause that´s creepy but he usually comes alone and then just sits there and listens to the conversations around him

also he doesn´t know why but the coffee in the cafe is way too good

Yamato:

that one band kid everyone loves

on nights where he plays with his band the cafe is full

he plays the drums

Yamato always tells all his friends, neighbors and whoever he meets on the streets to come to the show and because he has got such charisma a lot of people actually end up coming

and they always come back cause he makes it so much fun

he always talks to everyone after the show as well, he´s just really chill with that

Kiku:

the waitress that´s way too cute

Kiku always loved cafes and wanted to work in one but she always got denied because she didn´t fit into the aesthetic

so the Victoria Punk is the first one she´s actually hired

she is a hard worker and always has a smile on her face

she is always rushing around so that nobody has to wait and for some reason nothing has ever broken with her, all the glasses and plates are still in tact

Kid always wonders how she does it since he knocks them over a lot 

Katakuri:

another cook

he feels more comfortable and confident in the kitchen

he mostly specializes in sweets 

Killer and Zoro always anticipate his new creations

Katakuri successfully made both Zoro and Kid sweet tooths

Killer always wants a recipe from him but he doesn´t use one

Killer is still convinced that it´s magic

Zoro:

always hangs out with Killer there

doesn´t distract him from work though

Zoro is the first to try anything new that Killer comes up with, be that drinks or food

it´s a win - win, he gets free stuff and Killer gets honest critique

also bonus points since Zoro gets a lot of new costumers without even knowing it

he´s handsome so people see him and just wanna be near him, he doesn´t mind cause he doesn´t even notice it

he is known to get people home safe after the cafe closes though

Shanks:

his  car breaks down way too many times and he´s team: drive it til it´s dead

Kid gets a freaking yelling attack every time he comes to the workshop

´how can you treat your baby like that?!´

´it´s just a car, dude, it does its job´

´you´re heartless, man...just heartless´

they bicker a lot about repairing and fixing methods

Shanks is very bad at diy, especially in tech stuff

Kid is so done, he studied this for years, he got a degree, he has been working on those things all his life

he needs all the breaks after Shanks is gone again

General hcs:

I feel like Kid would host a talent show of some sorts every now and then

the cafe is always looking for new acts to perform anyway

as for the clientel I think that it´s a youth hotspot, a lot of students go there, a bunch of college students too, young adults, but also the typical rock fan

it´s like a family, it evolved into a meeting point to hang out more than anything

and everyone is so nice to each other, they welcome new people and everyone kinda knows each other and talks about everything and nothing, exchanging advice and stories

they do great seasonal stuff too and themed things

they decorate, do themed food and even shows

one time Shanks joked around like: you should make a calendar and Kid took that personally and now they use the personell to advertise

it´s like: yk what, we´re hot, why tf should we hide it?

a lot of young people come up to Kid and ask him how he got so confident and he´s so soft and kind with them

it´s so weird to Killer and the other workers cause they know he´s not really confident, that it´s all show, that he´d never admit that and normally wouldn´t bother with it

but he sees himself in them, he would have loved someone to come to for advice when he was younger

he wants to prevent his upcoming with them and wants to show them that they´ll always have a place to belong at the cafe

[reignsan]

According to canon: how evil/ruthless is the mage association? Because first they seemed your typical rich jerkass, then you get the death matches and murder from Case file first and last file in the manga

Mages for the most part are cold and willing to do a lot of nasty stuff. Mage culture is very much, “the most important thing is passing on my Magic Crest to my descendants so that some day my family can reach the Root”, but they’re for the most part still not evil. Outside of freaks like Kirei who enjoy seeing others suffer, most mages just care more about their goals than about any innocents who get caught up in the collateral damage. A good example of a typical goals-focused at all other costs mage is probably the villain in episode 3 of the El-Melloi anime. His magecraft familiars - electric bunny things - were draining electrical power from London and killing any of the people who went into the sewers to investigate. The reason the Clock Tower arrested him wasn’t because he was a murderer, but because his methods were too obvious and risked normal people finding out about magic.

The Association didn’t care about the deaths, but they weren’t going around saying “Yeah fuck muggles, I love killing people” either.

Of course there are mages with more humane responses who reject the typical mage mindset of “research above all.” This is mostly in the younger generation, like Waver’s students and Waver himself. Here’s another example from the El-Melloi anime: when Waver took in a stray cat, a typical asshole mage named Bram (who is Kayneth’s fiancé’s brother) wondered why Waver hadn’t killed it already to use for magecraft. He was genuinely surprised when he learned Waver wasn’t going to use the cat as a sacrifice, but just wanted to heal its injured leg. That was a thought that never even crossed Bram’s mind, because to the stereotypical mage everything should just help further their magecraft.

One of the Clock Tower’s Lords, Inorai, is a politically-scheming mage from an old and powerful family, but also a friendly old lady who listens to rock music on her iPod and loves modern art. But she still has that mage coldness to her when the situation gets serious, too. Mages are complex people is what I’m trying to get at. They’re not just baby-eaters.

This has sort of been me rambling but I hope I got my point across. Mages aren’t sociopathic monsters besides a few notable exceptions. It’s just that most mages care about their magecraft more than anything, and if people get hurt during their research, then as long as it helps their magecraft that’s fine.

[hacked-by-jake]

In case no one has formally asked you yet, a part 3 of Jake being hot for 1 minute straight? 😄 I'm seriously addicted 🙈

Love your work, dear!! ❤

Headcanon

Summary: And another 25 things that show how hot jake is.

> Part 1 / > Part 2

A/n: First of all, thank you very much for your sweet words! @dreamer-writer-fangirl❤️ I am very happy that you like it and I hope that this part is just as good.🥰

And also many thanks to you, dear Anon. I’m very happy that you want a third part.❤️

So, thanks to the wish for a third part, we are here. This time it became a little more difficult to find things so that’s why it’s only 25. But I hope it’s okay anyway. 😅

Same as always: excuse the mistakes.

So, Have fun, stay healthy and take care of yourselves.❤️🌹🎭

Jake is a night person, and he has infected you a little bit with it. You have this particular place on top of a building in Duskwood where you’ve spent tons of romantic, funny, passionate evenings. You just love to talk about everything that comes to your mind. Being open and honest.

Jake will help you cook a lot. You always listen to loud music, dance (ok, mostly just you), tease each other, laughs, sings the lyrics aloud, and sometimes it ends with you not getting to finish the food

Jake sometimes uses really bad flirt attempts, he knows they are bad but he finds it far too amusing. 'Do you believe in love at first sight or should I come in again?' - 'We should go showers together, that saves water" even if he makes fun of it, you love these little jokes.

If something doesn’t work the way Jake wants it to work, sometimes he gets pretty pissed off. He then looks for your closeness every time, just wants a hug or a kiss and distracts himself with you.

Jake has a habit, sometimes, when he want to tell you that he loves you, that he asking you before if you want to hear a secret and whispering it in your ear afterwards.

Jake always kisses your forehead twice before he falls asleep, even when you’re already asleep.

Since Jake doesn’t like to go swimming when you go to Duskwood’s lake with the group, you once went swimming together in the middle of the night (A/n: I think I want to write a OneShot about it lol) Only the light of the car has given you light and you have spent hours at the lake.

Jake has the ability to notice when you’re having nightmares, whether he’s in his study or sleeping himself. He’ll wake you up and calm you down. He will always suggest you to talk about it and will always listen to you no matter how tired he is.

Jake hates arguing with you, and luckily you don’t argue much. But once, when you were really fighting, he became totally hysterical and panicked. He was afraid that this argument would escalate even further, but he was able to end the dispute quickly, even if it was accidentally. He suddenly asked in the middle of the conversation, 'If you keep yelling at me like that, can we go outside?' You were completely perplexed and looked out the window where it rained terribly. When you pointed him out, he replied, 'I know, but at least I get a melodramatic movie moment,' you couldn’t stay serious and had to laugh, just like him. You both apologized and then calmly talked about the problem.

Since you’ve been a couple, Jake loves to go to another place for a few days, just to experience something new with you. Sometimes it’s just a weekend, sometimes several days, you decide spontaneously and don’t think about where you are going.

Jake usually wants you to choose a movie because he’s afraid you might not like the movie he chooses and you only agree because you want to do him a favor. You really have to force him to pick out a movie, and he’ll keep asking you if this movie is okay with you.

Jake is always afraid that something will happen to you if you use a knife while cooking. When you’re on a ladder, he’s afraid you’ll fall. If you don’t let him help you, he’ll turn away so he won’t have to look at you. If you want to walk across a street, he’ll double-check if a car comes.

No matter what time you get the idea, if you want something from McDonald’s or a pizza, or even if it’s just an ice cream, no matter what it is, Jake will go with you and get what you want.

When you used to lie on your balcony at night and Jake came out so you could go to bed, you said you could lie here all night. So Jake took the mattress of your bed and all the pillows and blankets you have and slept on the balcony together. You’ve been doing this often since then.

Jake had a necklace made especially for you, the pendant is his mark, the eye. Even if strangers do not know that it is his sign, he always makes sure that it hangs over your top and can always see himself that you belong to him.

Jake has a list of all the things and places you’d like to see. he wants to make it possible for you to see all of it.

Since Jake is much more active at night than during the day, you experience most things together at night. Wander around, go to dinner, exploring the city at night while sharing headphones and listening to music. Or rocking on a playground at night.

There’s a flower delivery service in Duskwood. And sometimes Jake orders flowers for you there and sends them to your apartment. When it sounds and you open the door, Jake will watch from afar how you rejoice when another bouquet of your favorite flowers arrives. He will always send small messages with the flowers. Simple things like 'I love you' or 'you look beautiful today'

Jake loves photos of you, preferably those you didn’t expect to be photographed. Jake loves taking pictures of you secretly. If you’re focused, while reading a book, drawing, or just scrolling through your Instagram feed. Sometimes you don’t even know that he took a pictur. He also loves pictures where you laugh. When you are out with the group and you laugh at something, he secretly takes pictures. Actually, at all times.

At the beginning Jake had a hard time taking pictures on which you are both on, but over time he has learned to love it more and more. Most of the time you don’t see him completely on photos, mostly only half the face or not at all. Sometimes when you take a picture of yourself, Jake uses the situation to sneak up on you and kiss you. On the cheek, on the forehead, your lips. Or just hugging you from behind and hiding his head in your neck bend.

Jake sometimes changes his background image several times a day, either it’s a picture of you or one of you both. But he cannot decide and therefore changes constantly, because he finds that all images are worth seeing.

That’s why you can watch Jake sometimes while he's unlocking his phone or looking at his computer and starts to grin when he sees the pictures. Even though he sees you every day, it makes him very happy.

You always have a serie you only watch together, when you have finished one, you look for a new one.

Sometimes it takes a long time in the morning to get out of bed. When you wake up and Jake’s still with you, sometimes you’ll spend another two hours only with cuddling. You just lie down, talk, spend quiet time together where none of you say anything. Well, and sometimes there are other reasons why you can’t separate from the bed.

Regular pillow fights or tickle attacks. If you just lie on the sofa or in bed, and you tease each other, it can lead to pillow fights that take on an insane extent or just like tickle attacks that often lead to sex.

Masterlist