hypothermia and a moustache
I've been obsessively thinking about a few stories that came out of bandombigbang and listening to amazing mixes inspired by those stories and I think you should check them out.
Two of these stories deal with addiction and it's aftermath, and that explains at least half of why I can't get them out of my head. There needs to be a word for a thing that's both a story kink and a trigger - sobriety stories, especially in bandom where they are in part canonical, can just take over my brain because I get deeply invested. They can also freak me the fuck out for days at a time, so it's something that I read with caution. But for that reason, they're also that much more powerful as a story that's just going to take you apart and put you back together.
Been Here Before by
tuesdaysgone is a story about My Chem falling apart after Three Cheers as Gerard spirals down into addiction. Four years later, he's gotten clean, he's living in Portland, he's written Umbrella Academy - and he still hasn't talked to Frank. Take a minute and catch your breath, right? Fair warning, this story is raw and intense. The first time Gerard comes back to Jersey and sees Frank is at a Leathermouth concert, and if you've ever been to a Leathermouth concert - if you've even seen a picture of a Leathermouth concert - you can imagine what a shock that is, and I'm not just talking about the moustache.
Frank and Gerard spend the whole story completely unable to communicate like sane adults. They mess up the act of having a convertsation in new and spectacular ways. Frank needs to learn to forgive Gerard and Gerard needs to come to terms with why he never sought out Frank. I loved this story even as it tap-danced all over my heart.
I'm about as obsessed with the mixes for this story as I am with the story itself. You can find both here. 'Do You Hate Me by maryangel200 is a story arc of songs about shrugging off a bitter loss and not necessarily knowing what to do - or whether or not you want it - when you get what you lost back. 'Smokers Outside the Hospital' by seimaisin is about anger and forgiveness and the pain of change, and that one person in your life who will always let cross over all your lines. Also, check out the amazing art (and the moustache!) by idktbh
Then there's torakowalski's (Not Your) Superman Tonight. Brian Schechter is a telapath, and he works for what's essentially the telepathic version of the FBI - and, you know, the kind of place where Gabe Saporta can be your boss. Brian's on a tough case when Bob shows up, under the guise of just passing through town. Bob doesn't know Brian's secret, but he's going to find out.
The story is centered around a case, and is interlaced with flashbacks, and even though it's clearly a romance, the flashbacks aren't all about Bob and Brian - in fact, Bob's not even in most of them. Instead, the flashbacks tell the story of Brian's telepathy, and his addiction.
The moment I kind of lost it was when Brian gets mad-scientist-zapped with too much telepathic awareness, enough to melt his mind. Brian takes a drug to get control of it so he can escape - but he's also just taken a drug, and he gets high - I kind of greyed out for a little bit and clicked away from the story for half an hour or so before I could get to the end. Brian's addiction in the story isn't blamed on managing his telapathy, but isn't removed from it either, which is an intriguing balance. Brian says to Bob that "It's just a reason. It doesn't stop me from being an addict." But the idea that the thing that can ruin your life is also the thing, in this one, singular instance, that can save you, is kind of devastating.
lordessrenegade wrote Somewhere In the Framework, a fabulous Brian/Bob/Patrick story that gives a happy story to three characters I generally fret about these days. Brian comes back to the business as My Chem bow out, and he ends up managing some baby bands, working with Patrick, sleeping with Patrick, and then Bob wanders through town. It's a story about history and how a lot of the time your history is a giant messy thing you need to work to get through, but sometimes it's actually the best information you have about who you are and what you need.
I've run miles to this mix already by bellheim - it's full of songs about history and work and waiting - and then not waiting anymore. And check out the cool art by howifall.
Next on my list to read is novembersmith's Anatomy of a Fall, though I'm saving it for when I am holed up somewhere alone since I suspect I'm either going to flail or cry or possibly both at the same time and I'd rather not make too much of a spectacle.
In the meantime, I'll be over here, hating summer. Well, I don't hate the season as much as I hate the heat and humidity here. I can't sleep when it's hot, so I spend most of the summer in a weird insomniac daze, and drink too much iced coffee. (Most telling detail: this morning I wrote a scene where my POV character had a bunch of giant ice packs on his chest. Projecting much?)
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comments)
Two of these stories deal with addiction and it's aftermath, and that explains at least half of why I can't get them out of my head. There needs to be a word for a thing that's both a story kink and a trigger - sobriety stories, especially in bandom where they are in part canonical, can just take over my brain because I get deeply invested. They can also freak me the fuck out for days at a time, so it's something that I read with caution. But for that reason, they're also that much more powerful as a story that's just going to take you apart and put you back together.
Been Here Before by
tuesdaysgone is a story about My Chem falling apart after Three Cheers as Gerard spirals down into addiction. Four years later, he's gotten clean, he's living in Portland, he's written Umbrella Academy - and he still hasn't talked to Frank. Take a minute and catch your breath, right? Fair warning, this story is raw and intense. The first time Gerard comes back to Jersey and sees Frank is at a Leathermouth concert, and if you've ever been to a Leathermouth concert - if you've even seen a picture of a Leathermouth concert - you can imagine what a shock that is, and I'm not just talking about the moustache.
Frank and Gerard spend the whole story completely unable to communicate like sane adults. They mess up the act of having a convertsation in new and spectacular ways. Frank needs to learn to forgive Gerard and Gerard needs to come to terms with why he never sought out Frank. I loved this story even as it tap-danced all over my heart.
I'm about as obsessed with the mixes for this story as I am with the story itself. You can find both here. 'Do You Hate Me by maryangel200 is a story arc of songs about shrugging off a bitter loss and not necessarily knowing what to do - or whether or not you want it - when you get what you lost back. 'Smokers Outside the Hospital' by seimaisin is about anger and forgiveness and the pain of change, and that one person in your life who will always let cross over all your lines. Also, check out the amazing art (and the moustache!) by idktbh
Then there's torakowalski's (Not Your) Superman Tonight. Brian Schechter is a telapath, and he works for what's essentially the telepathic version of the FBI - and, you know, the kind of place where Gabe Saporta can be your boss. Brian's on a tough case when Bob shows up, under the guise of just passing through town. Bob doesn't know Brian's secret, but he's going to find out.
The story is centered around a case, and is interlaced with flashbacks, and even though it's clearly a romance, the flashbacks aren't all about Bob and Brian - in fact, Bob's not even in most of them. Instead, the flashbacks tell the story of Brian's telepathy, and his addiction.
The moment I kind of lost it was when Brian gets mad-scientist-zapped with too much telepathic awareness, enough to melt his mind. Brian takes a drug to get control of it so he can escape - but he's also just taken a drug, and he gets high - I kind of greyed out for a little bit and clicked away from the story for half an hour or so before I could get to the end. Brian's addiction in the story isn't blamed on managing his telapathy, but isn't removed from it either, which is an intriguing balance. Brian says to Bob that "It's just a reason. It doesn't stop me from being an addict." But the idea that the thing that can ruin your life is also the thing, in this one, singular instance, that can save you, is kind of devastating.
lordessrenegade wrote Somewhere In the Framework, a fabulous Brian/Bob/Patrick story that gives a happy story to three characters I generally fret about these days. Brian comes back to the business as My Chem bow out, and he ends up managing some baby bands, working with Patrick, sleeping with Patrick, and then Bob wanders through town. It's a story about history and how a lot of the time your history is a giant messy thing you need to work to get through, but sometimes it's actually the best information you have about who you are and what you need.
I've run miles to this mix already by bellheim - it's full of songs about history and work and waiting - and then not waiting anymore. And check out the cool art by howifall.
Next on my list to read is novembersmith's Anatomy of a Fall, though I'm saving it for when I am holed up somewhere alone since I suspect I'm either going to flail or cry or possibly both at the same time and I'd rather not make too much of a spectacle.
In the meantime, I'll be over here, hating summer. Well, I don't hate the season as much as I hate the heat and humidity here. I can't sleep when it's hot, so I spend most of the summer in a weird insomniac daze, and drink too much iced coffee. (Most telling detail: this morning I wrote a scene where my POV character had a bunch of giant ice packs on his chest. Projecting much?)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth (
comments)