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the cure to growing older
Panic! At The Disco (Brendon/Spencer)
687 words, third person, pg-13. written mostly to distract myself from the ginormous wip that's sitting on my taskbar, staring at me. and because I needed to actually finish something. also because, apparently, this is what happens when I idly think about zombies.

Comments

[denialgreen]

I actually didn't make the dead person connection till 10 minutes after I emailed you back and was like "smooth and soft and a little cold to the touch... sounds dead to me" and then I was like duh! dead spencer.

but it's a subtle touch- if I feel brendon needs a break I can pretend the baseball bat is for his stalker fans instead of an undead epidemic. but it's interesting to see how much of spencer is left, and how being around brendon makes him more himself. but the bite at the end- I'm a little worried about what happens after(the obvious answer is of course the Sixteen Candles video)

and the title worked before I made the zombie connection, but after that? awesomeness. I mean, I still say Brendon's cure to growing older is to live in the past, but that spencer's is to become some undead creature? omg WHAT?! YES. just yes.

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Oh, I'm glad that you got it! I didn't want to beat the reader over the head with it, like a giant sign saying "Look! Spencer is the shambling undead!" with arrows pointed at his head. I just wanted to imply it, and if people got it, then awesome! And if they didn't, that's cool too.

This is kind of mean to Brendon, huh? I haven't been really mean to anyone in awhile. Well, not since shining!fic anyway. (Wow, this the second undead/supernatural Spencer!being I've written. I'd totally forgotten that they were in shining!fic.) And as for what happens after the bite at the end, um. I'll leave it to your imagination?

Yay! I am super happy that you like the title, because, zombies, Molly, zombies are the cure to growing older.

[denialgreen]

well, I didn't have the benefit of you telling me you were thinking about zombies when you wrote it, but I could still connect the dots. I was like- pale cool skin... clammy... NO FINGERNAILS! that are NOT BLEEDING! FUNERAL CLOTHES! = AHA! DEAD PERSON.

Brendon is easy to be mean to. I mean, a lot of people in bandom come across as fucked up, but for Brendon it's not like he wants to be hurt, it's just that he opens himself up to people in a way that makes him getting hurt inevitable.

I wouldn't call zombies a cure for everything, but they are a solution to most things. because they are the mindless walking dead.

mmmmmm, brains. gallbladder.

[addandsubtract]

Yes, exactly! But I wasn't like, "look! Spencer is rotting! And also braindead. And kind of undead, as well?" The funeral clothes thing I wasn't sure anyone would get. BUT IT IS THERE, SO HA!

He kind of is. I agree with your assessment. I do think he seems like he's probably more fucked up than most people in bandom. It's just like, the Ways, and Pete who are more fucked up, I think. And they're pretty damn fucked up, so it takes focus away.

I love zombies. Seriously, so frightening and awesome.

YES. Also, spleen.

[denialgreen]

once I got it, it was fairly easy to find alll the clues. but not in a 'this is way too easy and obvious' way, more like 'AHA! sneaky!'

I think Brandon's is different because he's not really about self-loathing(unlike some other people and I think you know who I'm talking about)- I guess I would describe it as he doesn't understand himself?

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Oh, good. 'AHA!' was the plan, I think.

I just think he needs affirmation from a lot of people? Like, all the time. He doesn't hate himself, he just needs people to tell him that he's doing a good job/the right thing/whatever.

Molly Molly Molly I hate writing endings. It is so hard. Please make the novelist fic be finished now.

[denialgreen]

That's sort of what my impression was as well- he's like 'well, I like me, but I am me, so yeah, bias' and is a bit confused by how much other people like him.

WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT? LIKE I CAN EVER FINISH ANYTHING IN THE HISTORY OF EVER! but since you asked: ryan and gerard finish the book tour and take a plane home. it crashes and they die in a fiery wreck. the book sales take off, and in the afterlife ryan constantly angsts over if his book is only popular because of the way he died. the end hahaha.

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Yeah. I think that's probably true of a lot of them, though. I dunno. I like writing Brendon in a non-crack fashion, anyway.

Um. Um. I think I am done? (at 21,798 words right now) I am going to give it another day of so to settle, and then I'm going to reread the ending again and see if there is anything glaringly obvious that I have to fix. Would you mind betaing it for me? Like, maybe reading it over Thanksgiving when we get together and telling me how much shit I need to fix? I would really appreciate it.

[denialgreen]

LYKE OMG YAY/YES

[addandsubtract]

OH OKAY GOOD. I HOPE IT LIVES UP TO THE CAPS, HOMG.