#yes that is a fall out boy lyric

[kingofthecotas]

part time soulmate full time problem

soulmate au, indonesia 2022 | ~ 1.6k

fun little au where everyone has a romantic and a platonic soulmate. all the mess happened but Worse because vale has an added level of neurosis about choice etc

(this does mention marc’s crash but no details)

——

The message comes among a flurry of others, from a number Marc hasn’t saved but can’t bring himself to block.

Don’t die. Faded marks are very unattractive.

He doesn’t read it until he’s through the other side, until they’ve run every test possible and decided he’s not concussed, he’s not dying, and he can have his phone back. It makes him—not laugh, but a sharp exhale that’s almost a laugh.

You’re such a dick, he replies, and does the mental maths behind the drumbeat headache. It’s almost five in the morning in Italy, so he has some time—

His phone buzzes. Not a message tone, but insistent. Fuck.

Despite himself, he answers.

“Marc?” Valentino’s voice is sleep-rough, unpolished in a way Marc hasn’t been privy to in years. His breath catches; the silence stretches on. “Unless you’ve let Álex loose with your phone.”

“No,” Marc says simply. “It’s me.”

“Hi,” Valentino breathes, and he sounds—

Marc swallows down something he can’t quite name.

“Are you flying back soon, or waiting for the plane you had booked anyway?”

“I’m not flying until after the race.”

“You’re not racing.” Valentino’s voice drops dangerously.

“They cleared me. I’m fine.” His head hurts like a motherfucker, but Valentino doesn’t have to know that. He doesn’t get to know that.

“No—no, no. Have they tested for everything?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Valentino snaps. “Everything. How can they clear you that quickly?”

“They said I’m fine,” Marc repeats, then, because his head hurts and he’s feeling snippy with it, “Why do you care?”

He knows what’s coming by now, the usual litany of destiny is such bullshit, I can decide my own life, I hate having you on my body, but unfortunately we’re linked for the rest of fucking time. He’s surprised Uccio sticks around, to be honest, if he’s getting something similar thrown at him.

That doesn’t come. Instead, Valentino exhales down the phone, shaky.

“Valentino?”

“It woke me up,” Valentino says finally, like the words are being pulled from his throat one by one. “I woke up, and I felt—I felt it. And for a second, the mark—” He breaks off. “Just a second. And you were back.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Marc mutters.

“Don’t say that!” It’s sharp, cracking like a whip. It’s more than he’s had from Valentino for years.

“I—I didn’t mean that,” Marc whispers. “You’re right, that was—I’m sorry.” As if he’s the one who crossed the line first, as if he’s the one who sent a jokey little text about losing his mark. About losing his soulmate.

Because if Valentino isn’t lying—and he doesn’t sound like it—then Marc flickered, faded, even if for a split second. For a fraction of a moment, he was dead.

(Álex hadn’t said anything; but Álex would have had his leathers on. He might have felt something, but he wouldn’t have seen, wouldn’t have pulled up his shirt to an ashy smudge.)

That doesn’t help his throbbing headache.

“Please don’t race,” Valentino says after a long moment. “I—I can’t do that. It felt like I was dying.” More uncertain, more off-centre than he ever allows himself to be.

It’s nice he cares, Marc thinks, fighting down a burst of hysterical laughter, even if it’s to avoid himself suffering. He’ll probably add this to the long list of reasons he hates having soulmates—just another way for someone to hurt you. In the end, he snorts. “For me as well.”

“Marc.”

“Valentino.”

“You are—such a dick.”

Now Marc laughs. “I know. You told me a lot.” Not for a while; now, they just don’t talk. Sometimes Marc presses his fingers to his mark—still intact, despite it all, despite the twist of scars—and remembers. Just like always, the bad follows the good, and he stops that line of thought before it becomes too painful.

He’s doing it now, though, tracing one finger over it, again and again. Still dark and clear, despite it all. It hurts, but his arm always does, more when he pushes down on his soulmark.

“Marc,” Valentino says again, and just that, just his name, makes him close his eyes. “I know—I do not have any right to ask this—”

Marc hums.

“—and I know I spent so long telling the universe where to stick her soulmates, but please. Please do not get on the bike.”

“You didn’t call after Jerez,” Marc says instead of any promise.

Valentino makes a pained noise. It’s costing him a lot; it will have cost him to even pick up the phone, to roll over and show Marc his weakness. And yet Marc just wants to prod the wound a little more, to make Valentino run his fingers over his mark and feel the old throb of a bruise.

“After the first operation, when I woke up, I asked the surgeon.” Fine. If Valentino is going to offer him something, he can have something back. Give and take. Blood for blood. That’s how they do it. “He was so—shocked I was even asking, that I thought—but I couldn’t think straight, you know. All the drugs.” He smiles despite himself. “I didn’t want it to be gone.” I didn’t want you to be gone. “But you—you would give anything to get rid of it, no?”

It’s quiet for so long Marc wonders if his phone has died. Then—a slight hiss, a crackle in his ear. A breath.

“You don’t get to do this,” Marc says. “You don’t get to—you can’t tell me what to do. Not after everything.”

“You never listened anyway.” Valentino sounds—God. “I don’t—I don’t want to get rid of it.”

“Hm. Changed your tune.”

“Marc,” Valentino says. His name again. “It’s five o’clock in the fucking morning. I’m watching the Moto3 race because I’ve been awake since the middle of the night, and I can’t go back to sleep, because for half a second my mark faded.”

It used to be a little joke between them, whispered across sheets and pillows in the grey of early mornings in all their languages. My mark, mi marca, my Marc.

“I think—I cannot do that again. And…” A pause. Consideration. “You wouldn’t do that to Álex.”

“Bastard,” Marc growls. Low blow. Unfortunately, it’s working. He blinks, and his vision blurs, just for a second. To take his mind off it, he picks at the scab again. “Uccio must be thrilled. How many years has he had you telling him you don’t want soulmates?”

“Uccio knows what I mean when I say it.”

“Yeah?” It’s an old argument, familiar veins of hurt wound around it. Familiar pain, like pressing on a bruise.

“I want the choice. I would be friends with Uccio anyway, and I want that to be my decision. I wanted—” Valentino sighs. “I wanted to choose you. I would have anyway, back then.” Give and take. He’s never offered honesty like this, not for free.

Marc balls his fist, presses his knuckles against his forehead. It helps a little. “Do you think we would have ended up here still?”

“I think so.” It’s almost sad. “And at least then—”

“You don’t have the reminder. I know.”

“But without it—well, I would not be woken up at three o’clock in the morning. And I would not have called.”

Marc moves his hand back to his arm, presses the tip of a nail in. Traitorous thing, really, his soulmark. He understands Valentino in a way he was too hurt to, back then, back when it was unravelling like a cut thread. “That’s something.”

“Is it?”

And a hot flash of irritation, over quickly; even at their lowest he could never stay angry for long. “Not for you, then.”

Another silence—Marc is getting good at living in them—before Valentino says, “I am going to make coffee. The machine is loud. Just warning you.”

“What—?”

“It’s nearly five o’clock.”

“You keep saying.”

“If you are going to wake me up, you can wait while I have my espresso.”

You. As if Marc is the one etched into his skin.

(He is.)

“Now you avoid the conversation,” Marc mutters under the sound of beans grinding.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He pulls his phone away just to check the time, and—they’ve been on the call for eleven minutes. It should feel earth-shattering.

It doesn’t.

And Valentino wants Marc to wait.

He could hang up now. He could. It would be easy, easy as pressing down on his mark. One finger.

He doesn’t.

“Are you trying to distract me?” he says when the machine stops groaning. “Keep me on the phone so I miss the race?”

“That wasn’t the plan, but now you mention it…”

“You have a few more hours.”

“I can manage that.”

“Yeah?” And then, because he can’t just leave it the fuck alone, “Been a while, no? Lots to catch up on.”

“Marc.” It’s a wrecked noise this time, his name. “I am trying—”

Marc doesn’t apologise this time. Valentino hasn’t apologised at all, but that’s—

He expects that.

With a sigh, he closes his eyes again, accepts the white flag. “Can’t, anyway. They have to get me in a helicopter to get back to the circuit. No phones in there.”

“Ah. Thought I had convinced you.” There’s resignation now.

“You know me.”

“Yes.” He does. They do. But—they all know the deal with soulmates. You can’t be selfish with your life, not when you live on somebody else’s skin. They know that too.

“It’s not fair,” he says, half to himself into the silence that, for once, means Valentino is listening. “This was—this year, everything was supposed to be done. Start over.”

“Without me there?”

“Not everything is about you.” It’s too late when Marc realises that he’s smiling, and that there had been a laugh curled around Valentino’s words.

“This is.” More certain now. Putting his foot down. “Do not race.”

“And why is it about you?”

This time, in the quiet, he wonders if he’s pushed too far.

Until Valentino says, “Marc,” on a breath, like he’s pressing hard enough to draw blood. Like he’s feeling Marc for the first time without wanting to rip him out of his skin.

[andoutofharm]

in another life, you were the sunshine of my lifetime

what would you trade the pain for? I'm not sure

so much (for) stardust (march 24, 2023) + favorite lyrics & my photos

[automaticcomfort]

so much! for stardust!!!!

[amaliatheartist]

We’re ending it on the phone

[cultofpunksonality]

💗you're the one habit i just can't kick💗

i've been hanging onto the first two drawings since last month, so i decided to round them out with a third one today, and send them into the world. zowens nation rise up

[livingjust2beoverdramatizing]

As promised-

I also made a paper-collage style version of this poster after watching a tutorial from TextureLabs, do check that out too!

[paranoiid-corpse]

maybe fall out boy will fix me

[tombstoneswerewaiting]

fob said baseball references and they did it for me personally

[warden-melli]

Blessed be the boys time can’t capture 💙💜

[vampire-void]

🌠Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse🌠

[astranauticus]

𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳-𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴

[panukkie]

And i read about the afterlife // but i never really lived

[amaliatheartist]

Which came first, the music or the misery?

We're high-fashion, we're last chances

[floralcrematorium]

Fall Out Boy lyrics that make me want to write fics because I'm unhinged and always thinking about middle-aged gay men ᵇʸ ᶠᵃˡˡ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵇᵒʸ

Take This To Your Grave

• "And I can't forget your style or your cynicism" - Homesick at Space Camp

From Under The Cork Tree

• "Why don't you show me a little spine you've been saving for his mattress, love" Dance, Dance

• "Can I lie in your bed all day? I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake" - Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner

• "I found the cure to growing older and you're the only place that feels like home" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "I'm the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends and I am sorry my conscious called in sick again and I've got arrogance down to a science" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "So douse yourself in cheap perfume, it's so fitting, so fitting of the way you are" - I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me

• "I used to obsess over living, now I only obsess over you. Tell me you'd like boys like me better, in the dark lying on top of you" - Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows)

• "I'm casually obsessed and I've forgiven death. I am indifferent yet (I am a total wreck)" - The Music Or The Misery

• "I'm every cliché, but I simply do it best" - The Music Or The Misery

Infinity On High

• "I thought I loved you, it was just how you looked in the light" - Hum Hallelujah

• "We're so miserable and stunning... Love songs for the genuinely cunning" - The Carpal Tunnel Of Love

• "Best friends, ex-friends to the end, better off as lovers, and not the other way around" - Bang The Doldrums

• "Do you remember the way I held your hand? Under the lamp post and ran" - I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers

Folie à Deux

• "Say my name and his in the same breath, I dare you to say they taste the same" - I Don't Care

• "Does your husband know the way that the sunlight gleams from your wedding band?" - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet

• "I will never end up like him, behind my back I already am" - What A Catch Donnie

• "My head's in heaven, my soles are in hell. So let's meet in the purgatory of my hips and get well" - w.a.m.s.

Save Rock And Roll

• "I don't know where you're going, but do you got room for one more troubled soul?" - Alone Together

• "You and me are the difference between real love and the love on T.V." - Where Did The Party Go?

• "Anything you say can and will be held against you, so only say my name, it will be held against you" - Just One Yesterday

• "I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way" - Just One Yesterday

• "But even though my eyes closed, I still see you. I just hope that when you see me, I'm not see-through" - The Mighty Fall

• "I wanna see your animal side, let it all out. Oh there you go, undress to impress. You can wear the crown, but you're no princess" - Death Valley

• "Oh, c'mon, make it easy, say I never mattered" - Young Volcanoes

American Beauty/American Psycho

• "She's in a long black coat tonight, waiting for me in the downpour outside. She's singing, baby come home, in a melody of tears, while the rhythm of the rain keeps time" - Jet Pack Blues

• "You are my favorite 'what if,' you are my best 'I'll never know'" - Fourth of July

• "I wish I'd known how much you loved me, I wish I cared enough to know" - Fourth of July

• "The torture of small talk with someone you used to love" - Fourth Of July

MANIA

• "You are the sun and I am just the planets spinning around you" - The Last Of The Real Ones

• "I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me" - The Last Of The Real Ones

• "I got too high again, realized I can't not be with you or be just your friend" - HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T

• "There is nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody but you" - Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)

• "If you were church, I'd get on my knees" - Church

So Much (For) Stardust

• "You were the sunshine of my lifetime, what would you trade the pain for?" - Love From The Other Side

• "Part-time soulmate, full-time problem" - Hold Me Like A Grudge

• "I will never ask you for anything, except to dream sweet of me" - Heaven, Iowa

• "I like playing dumb, letting you figure me out" - I Am My Own Muse

• "I've got all this love I've got to keep to myself. All this effort to make it look effortless" - Flu Game

• "Self-sabotage at best, under your spell" - Baby Annihilation

• "I think I've been going through it and I've been putting your name to it" - So Much (For) Stardust

• "In another life, you were my babe. In another life, you were the sunshine of my life" - So Much (For) Stardust

• "I used to be a real go-getter, I used to think it'd all get better" - So Much (For) Stardust

[a-very-zilly-gooze]

ok but folie à deux is such an underrated album. makes me want to beat up men and wear over-the-top winged eyeliner and leather jackets and skinny jeans and drive entirely too fast down desolate roads late at night. genuinely my favorite fall out boy album, 10/10.

[looselipssinkships-x]

new york eyes chicago thighs how about that midwestern dump truck