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tallulahgs1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
2. Turn your music player on and turn it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a drabble/ ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it’s over. No lingering afterwards!
4. Do ten of these, then post them.
As I did this in late 2007/early 2008, the fandom of choice was always going to be Death Note. I was very good and hardly cheated at all, though I may have skipped over the clips of my brother pretending to be Kazuo Kiriyama as a Dungeon Master.
Youtube links included for songs. Not horribly unsafe for work but there's a little swearing, a little violence, and/or a little non-explicit sexyteims in some of the drabbles.
1: M1-A1 - Gorillaz
There wasn't anyone on the street. And he supposed that should be a good thing because he was bleeding, he was dying, ithurtithurt, it would be shameful to have his defeat (defeat? Oh god, yes, it wasn't meant to, it shouldn't have been -) it would be shameful to have his defeat witnessed by anyone else. But. But he wanted someone, someone who understood, someone who would be -
- be kind.
(The blood was slippery under his palm. Some of it was drying on his shirt and jacket, and felt rough and crusty, but more kept coming, and it wouldn't stop, and he was dying, and it wasn't fair)
(and he was scared)
They'll only be kind because they're sorry. I don't need sympathy.
His feet catching on the pavement. He kept not being able to feel it. He wanted to run (to flee) but he couldn't. Just stumble along, like a zombie in some cheap B-movie.
Ryuzaki smiling, perhaps, Raito-kun, you are in fact dead already.
Even the fury at that didn't last long. He was just so tired.
2: One of Us - ABBA
It was afterwards that Sayu thought of Matsuda again.
Curled up on her side, looking at the sunlight. It had shone in her eyes earlier, but she couldn't move away. Crawling across her skin. Crawling -
The sunlight moving across the ceiling. Sometimes that was the only clue she wasn't still stuck in the same moment, over and over and things never changed -
But her mind hopped through old memories. Nice memories, like when Raito had made her a birthday card, like when she and her friends had gone to Spaceland for her birthday, like when Matsuda had been so amazed to see her. Had acted like she was worth amazement.
People didn't do that normally. After they'd been amazed at Raito there was nothing left for her.
Sometimes, she thought - even if she didn't believe it - that perhaps Matsuda could lead her out of herself and back into a world where things had been nice. Sometimes she wished she could see him.
3: The Unforgiven 2 - Metallica
At half-one in the morning, Ide said, "You should try and sleep."
Matsuda didn't answer. There was only a shrug.
"Things will look better in the morning," Ide said, hating that he had to resort to cliche now.
"I don't want to sleep, all right?" And then Matsuda was wriggling closer, pressing against him, and Ide kissed back before his common sense kicked in and he said, "Well, I do," and pushed Matsuda away, harder than he'd meant to.
"Maybe you shouldn't have stayed, then!" Matsuda snapped, and then his voice broke, and he curled up, hiding his face.
Ide sighed, and reached out to him, and stroked his shoulder. Outside the sky was dull blue from the streetlights.
"It wasn't your fault," he said. "And you did what you had to, anyway. You didn't want him to kill Near, did you?"
"Not... not like that," Matsuda said, very quietly, at last. "Not... I just lost it. You saw. Wasn't... wasn't being a hero or anything. Was just, I just, I just freaked out. I wanted him to... I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to say I was sorry."
"You wanted him to forgive you," Ide said, flatly, and after a moment Matsuda slumped against him again.
He wanted to say maybe you couldn't have said it. Maybe it's too hard to ask for forgiveness. He ought to know. But there was no point.
4: Rise - Origa
In the hotel bathroom Raito stood looking at his reflection. The tap was dripping, but the noise was soothing. It broke up the thoughts.
He had lost. Every time he confronted Mello, Mello took something from him. The notebook. Success. His sister. And now -
It was odd. He felt angry, but under that he didn't feel much of anything. There was just an odd, sharp pain running from his throat down into his chest, a little like being unable to breathe but mainly not like anything. And his own face in the gilt-edged mirror; and the tap dripping.
He didn't have a father any more.
I was prepared. I was prepared! We were on opposite sides, there was always a chance, why was this affecting him so much? Because the plan had failed? No, it was quieter, more painful. There was always a chance.
He closed his eyes a moment. There wouldn't be any more tears. When the new world had come, he could mourn. For now, there were more important things to do.
5: Double Bass - Gorillaz
Raito Yagami didn't give off the impression of being worried about anything. He would be concerned before exams began; sympathetic when a friend or family member was upset; thoughtful if an unexpected situation presented itself. But in school he was well-known for being able to keep a cool head.
No one would have believed that he would lie awake at night because he was too worried about the state of the world. When darkness fell and rules no longer seemed so powerful he would watch the moonlight - a pale smear on the curtains - and reflect that there was very little hope for anything to get better. The thoughts didn't hurt. They just sat, and watched him, and made it more effort to breathe.
Sometimes they made him anxious, and then he would get up, study, read a book, or just pace, and walk, not sure why, but keen to prove that he may be worried, but he was not going to be caught napping. When the time came - he was never sure what this time was, but in the night when clocks were hidden and a minute could last an hour - he would be ready.
6: Thank You For The Music - ABBA
Misa always liked watching the idol singers best. Sitting on her heels in the living room with her sleep-mussed hair already up in pigtails, bouncing excitedly as the singer of the week walked up onto stage and the beat began and the lights shone. If she knew the song, she'd get up and sing with it. Her mother would laugh. Half the time she would tell the old tale about how little Misa had waved her arms about to music before she could even walk, how she'd try and sing back if you hummed to her. Misa found this kind of embarrassing if one of her friends were present, but she sort of didn't mind, too. It was something comforting, something that stayed the same.
Afterwards, her manager said, Misa-Misa, don't you want to try and break into the singing market too? A model slash actress can do really well there.
Misa had shaken her head. Misa wants to focus on her acting.
She never sang, not even on her own with no one to hear. She listened to the birds instead.
7: Fish Out of Water - One Minute Silence
It wasn't just that Teru Mikami kept sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. It wasn't just that he kept calling everyone out on anything he perceived to be a sin. It wasn't just that he had all the sense of humour of a piece of wood. It was that he just wasn't right. He didn't listen to the right music, or buy the right clothes. He didn't even try. If you were talking about stuff, he wouldn't nod and agree, he'd say how he hadn't heard of it. It got wearing after a while.
And then when it just got so damn easy to make him cry, so easy to get to him, he got even weirder. He used to say stuff about how he couldn't keep silent, how he had to do the right thing, blah, blah, you forgot after a while. And why is it me? Why is it always me? Could've got an answer to that if he ever listened to anyone else.
Just a fish out of water. Loser.
8: Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers
For a while, it really did feel like they were going to blow up the world.
"Would you?" Matt had said once.
"What?"
"Blow up the world. If you could."
Mello had frowned. "Do I get, like, a spaceship or something? So I don't die?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Well. All right, then." Mello had smiled that smile which made all the little kids at Wammy's scared of him. "I mean, just to see how it looks."
And now it's the night before, and Mello isn't touching the chocolate which sits in front of him in the desk, and Matt's vaguely concerned about this because hell, it could be the last time he eats any and Mello's always had that live-fast-die-young thing going on, he can't be getting all cautious now.
"You okay?"
Mello turns to look at him, the scar like a shadow or a smear of dirt over his face. "What kind of fucking stupid question is that?"
"Just askin'."
"I'm fine. This is gonna blow the Kira case wide open, trust me. Near won't know what's hit him."
"Nor will Kira, right?"
Mello shrugs. "Bastard's always a step ahead."
Matt wonders why he's suddenly the one stuck with giving a pep talk, seeing as this is Mello's case; Mello's rivalry; Mello's smoke-and-chaos-filled plan. "Yeah, but he thinks you're dead."
"Huh." Mello lets his head drop. "Matt. Why haven't you called me a moron and stormed out yet? Are you stoned or something?" A pause, then, "You'd better not be. We screw this up, we're dead."
"Dunno where I'd go if I stormed out. Probably come back in five seconds later, being all 'so, yeah, right, about that dramatic exit...'"
Mello laughs.
Back then, Matt had said, "Would you blow up the world if I was still down there?"
Mello had shrugged. "You'd be in the spaceship. Duh."
9: Stirb Nicht Vor Mir - Rammstein
L has devoted possibly too much time to speculation on what death feels like. Obviously, he hasn't yet been able to test his hypotheses. Sometimes he wonders if his behaviour with Raito Yagami, the behaviour that takes place after dark, is simply an extension of this musing. When you are kissing someone, or when they are kissing you, or biting, or pinning you down (and you could break free, if you wanted, but you don't, you'd rather watch, and feel) you are supposed to feel alive. L personally finds the most energising part of this is that it is so easy to make Raito angry, that he can whisper words and feel Raito's hands tighten on his wrists and sooner or later, sooner or later -
(Just like a case. You wait until you provoke a reaction)
- sooner or later Raito's hands move up to his throat and then L knows that he is alive, because he is suddenly a lot closer to being dead.
He comments afterwards on how much Raito seems to enjoy strangling people.
10: Tonight We Fly - The Divine Comedy
"Misa would love to fly."
Misa is lying on her back, hair hanging down to brush the floor. Rem waits, because Misa never has only one sentence to say.
"If Rem could carry Misa? We could fly out over the city. Over the fire escapes and the skyscrapers. We could look in people's windows. Like, rich people. And see parties and stuff. And... and out over the bay, right?"
She sighs. "And everyone would look up at me. Raito... and Ryuzaki, he might actually be surprised... and all my friends, Nori and everyone..." She yawns, and says sadly, "and my parents could see too..."
2. Turn your music player on and turn it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a drabble/ ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it’s over. No lingering afterwards!
4. Do ten of these, then post them.
As I did this in late 2007/early 2008, the fandom of choice was always going to be Death Note. I was very good and hardly cheated at all, though I may have skipped over the clips of my brother pretending to be Kazuo Kiriyama as a Dungeon Master.
Youtube links included for songs. Not horribly unsafe for work but there's a little swearing, a little violence, and/or a little non-explicit sexyteims in some of the drabbles.
1: M1-A1 - Gorillaz
There wasn't anyone on the street. And he supposed that should be a good thing because he was bleeding, he was dying, ithurtithurt, it would be shameful to have his defeat (defeat? Oh god, yes, it wasn't meant to, it shouldn't have been -) it would be shameful to have his defeat witnessed by anyone else. But. But he wanted someone, someone who understood, someone who would be -
- be kind.
(The blood was slippery under his palm. Some of it was drying on his shirt and jacket, and felt rough and crusty, but more kept coming, and it wouldn't stop, and he was dying, and it wasn't fair)
(and he was scared)
They'll only be kind because they're sorry. I don't need sympathy.
His feet catching on the pavement. He kept not being able to feel it. He wanted to run (to flee) but he couldn't. Just stumble along, like a zombie in some cheap B-movie.
Ryuzaki smiling, perhaps, Raito-kun, you are in fact dead already.
Even the fury at that didn't last long. He was just so tired.
2: One of Us - ABBA
It was afterwards that Sayu thought of Matsuda again.
Curled up on her side, looking at the sunlight. It had shone in her eyes earlier, but she couldn't move away. Crawling across her skin. Crawling -
The sunlight moving across the ceiling. Sometimes that was the only clue she wasn't still stuck in the same moment, over and over and things never changed -
But her mind hopped through old memories. Nice memories, like when Raito had made her a birthday card, like when she and her friends had gone to Spaceland for her birthday, like when Matsuda had been so amazed to see her. Had acted like she was worth amazement.
People didn't do that normally. After they'd been amazed at Raito there was nothing left for her.
Sometimes, she thought - even if she didn't believe it - that perhaps Matsuda could lead her out of herself and back into a world where things had been nice. Sometimes she wished she could see him.
3: The Unforgiven 2 - Metallica
At half-one in the morning, Ide said, "You should try and sleep."
Matsuda didn't answer. There was only a shrug.
"Things will look better in the morning," Ide said, hating that he had to resort to cliche now.
"I don't want to sleep, all right?" And then Matsuda was wriggling closer, pressing against him, and Ide kissed back before his common sense kicked in and he said, "Well, I do," and pushed Matsuda away, harder than he'd meant to.
"Maybe you shouldn't have stayed, then!" Matsuda snapped, and then his voice broke, and he curled up, hiding his face.
Ide sighed, and reached out to him, and stroked his shoulder. Outside the sky was dull blue from the streetlights.
"It wasn't your fault," he said. "And you did what you had to, anyway. You didn't want him to kill Near, did you?"
"Not... not like that," Matsuda said, very quietly, at last. "Not... I just lost it. You saw. Wasn't... wasn't being a hero or anything. Was just, I just, I just freaked out. I wanted him to... I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to say I was sorry."
"You wanted him to forgive you," Ide said, flatly, and after a moment Matsuda slumped against him again.
He wanted to say maybe you couldn't have said it. Maybe it's too hard to ask for forgiveness. He ought to know. But there was no point.
4: Rise - Origa
In the hotel bathroom Raito stood looking at his reflection. The tap was dripping, but the noise was soothing. It broke up the thoughts.
He had lost. Every time he confronted Mello, Mello took something from him. The notebook. Success. His sister. And now -
It was odd. He felt angry, but under that he didn't feel much of anything. There was just an odd, sharp pain running from his throat down into his chest, a little like being unable to breathe but mainly not like anything. And his own face in the gilt-edged mirror; and the tap dripping.
He didn't have a father any more.
I was prepared. I was prepared! We were on opposite sides, there was always a chance, why was this affecting him so much? Because the plan had failed? No, it was quieter, more painful. There was always a chance.
He closed his eyes a moment. There wouldn't be any more tears. When the new world had come, he could mourn. For now, there were more important things to do.
5: Double Bass - Gorillaz
Raito Yagami didn't give off the impression of being worried about anything. He would be concerned before exams began; sympathetic when a friend or family member was upset; thoughtful if an unexpected situation presented itself. But in school he was well-known for being able to keep a cool head.
No one would have believed that he would lie awake at night because he was too worried about the state of the world. When darkness fell and rules no longer seemed so powerful he would watch the moonlight - a pale smear on the curtains - and reflect that there was very little hope for anything to get better. The thoughts didn't hurt. They just sat, and watched him, and made it more effort to breathe.
Sometimes they made him anxious, and then he would get up, study, read a book, or just pace, and walk, not sure why, but keen to prove that he may be worried, but he was not going to be caught napping. When the time came - he was never sure what this time was, but in the night when clocks were hidden and a minute could last an hour - he would be ready.
6: Thank You For The Music - ABBA
Misa always liked watching the idol singers best. Sitting on her heels in the living room with her sleep-mussed hair already up in pigtails, bouncing excitedly as the singer of the week walked up onto stage and the beat began and the lights shone. If she knew the song, she'd get up and sing with it. Her mother would laugh. Half the time she would tell the old tale about how little Misa had waved her arms about to music before she could even walk, how she'd try and sing back if you hummed to her. Misa found this kind of embarrassing if one of her friends were present, but she sort of didn't mind, too. It was something comforting, something that stayed the same.
Afterwards, her manager said, Misa-Misa, don't you want to try and break into the singing market too? A model slash actress can do really well there.
Misa had shaken her head. Misa wants to focus on her acting.
She never sang, not even on her own with no one to hear. She listened to the birds instead.
7: Fish Out of Water - One Minute Silence
It wasn't just that Teru Mikami kept sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. It wasn't just that he kept calling everyone out on anything he perceived to be a sin. It wasn't just that he had all the sense of humour of a piece of wood. It was that he just wasn't right. He didn't listen to the right music, or buy the right clothes. He didn't even try. If you were talking about stuff, he wouldn't nod and agree, he'd say how he hadn't heard of it. It got wearing after a while.
And then when it just got so damn easy to make him cry, so easy to get to him, he got even weirder. He used to say stuff about how he couldn't keep silent, how he had to do the right thing, blah, blah, you forgot after a while. And why is it me? Why is it always me? Could've got an answer to that if he ever listened to anyone else.
Just a fish out of water. Loser.
8: Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers
For a while, it really did feel like they were going to blow up the world.
"Would you?" Matt had said once.
"What?"
"Blow up the world. If you could."
Mello had frowned. "Do I get, like, a spaceship or something? So I don't die?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Well. All right, then." Mello had smiled that smile which made all the little kids at Wammy's scared of him. "I mean, just to see how it looks."
And now it's the night before, and Mello isn't touching the chocolate which sits in front of him in the desk, and Matt's vaguely concerned about this because hell, it could be the last time he eats any and Mello's always had that live-fast-die-young thing going on, he can't be getting all cautious now.
"You okay?"
Mello turns to look at him, the scar like a shadow or a smear of dirt over his face. "What kind of fucking stupid question is that?"
"Just askin'."
"I'm fine. This is gonna blow the Kira case wide open, trust me. Near won't know what's hit him."
"Nor will Kira, right?"
Mello shrugs. "Bastard's always a step ahead."
Matt wonders why he's suddenly the one stuck with giving a pep talk, seeing as this is Mello's case; Mello's rivalry; Mello's smoke-and-chaos-filled plan. "Yeah, but he thinks you're dead."
"Huh." Mello lets his head drop. "Matt. Why haven't you called me a moron and stormed out yet? Are you stoned or something?" A pause, then, "You'd better not be. We screw this up, we're dead."
"Dunno where I'd go if I stormed out. Probably come back in five seconds later, being all 'so, yeah, right, about that dramatic exit...'"
Mello laughs.
Back then, Matt had said, "Would you blow up the world if I was still down there?"
Mello had shrugged. "You'd be in the spaceship. Duh."
9: Stirb Nicht Vor Mir - Rammstein
L has devoted possibly too much time to speculation on what death feels like. Obviously, he hasn't yet been able to test his hypotheses. Sometimes he wonders if his behaviour with Raito Yagami, the behaviour that takes place after dark, is simply an extension of this musing. When you are kissing someone, or when they are kissing you, or biting, or pinning you down (and you could break free, if you wanted, but you don't, you'd rather watch, and feel) you are supposed to feel alive. L personally finds the most energising part of this is that it is so easy to make Raito angry, that he can whisper words and feel Raito's hands tighten on his wrists and sooner or later, sooner or later -
(Just like a case. You wait until you provoke a reaction)
- sooner or later Raito's hands move up to his throat and then L knows that he is alive, because he is suddenly a lot closer to being dead.
He comments afterwards on how much Raito seems to enjoy strangling people.
10: Tonight We Fly - The Divine Comedy
"Misa would love to fly."
Misa is lying on her back, hair hanging down to brush the floor. Rem waits, because Misa never has only one sentence to say.
"If Rem could carry Misa? We could fly out over the city. Over the fire escapes and the skyscrapers. We could look in people's windows. Like, rich people. And see parties and stuff. And... and out over the bay, right?"
She sighs. "And everyone would look up at me. Raito... and Ryuzaki, he might actually be surprised... and all my friends, Nori and everyone..." She yawns, and says sadly, "and my parents could see too..."
