so my boyfriend SUPER loves Set It Off and the few songs I've heard from them I really like!! Do you have any fav recommendations from them? (you?? super like them right??? do i have the right person??)
I do!! They’re my favorite band! And I definitely have some recommendations. Here are some of my personal favorites, but all of their songs are great!
This took longer than expected, but I got it done!
This is for a fic @voidskelly recently wrote and it was really really good so I wanted to make art for it! And yes, it’s for a very small part of the fic, but I wanted to draw it :D
(I hope you like it, GG! And please don’t use without permission, Thank you)
🌟 tell me about “say my name”? It’s different from your other works, I think, in much of a similar fashion as midas is. Many of your other works have obvious inspirations (“this is the road” came from the server, for example) but “say my name” doesn’t cite one in particular.
Oh god, okay, you had to pick that one heh
So say my name was supposed to be a short little oneshot, or at least a little mini-fic in the same style as a taste of darkness and it really wasn’t meant to grow the way it did. All I wanted initially was a smutty little story of Jack being in love with Mark, and Dark using that to drive him insane. Basically, a porn-with-feelings plot, like 90% of my shit is.
And then I started writing it, and it just hit me how . . . crushing that was? I wrote the first chapter in about two hours, and I just fell hard into this understanding of how bittersweet the whole thing would be, just loving this one person unconditionally and just wanting to be around them, to see them happy and make them happy while also having genuinely come to terms with the idea that you were never going to have them, and that was okay, because they still made you happy, and you could live with that.
And then something else coming in to just ruin all of that, to give you little tastes of what it could be, and just being this constant reminder that it’s not yours and it’s never going to be yours. And you start to come to realize that maybe you weren’t as happy as you thought. And maybe everything wasn’t as okay as you thought. And maybe this little life you’d built up around this one idea was brittle and flawed, and you needed something else.
So that whole depressing aesthetic just kind of became my new obsession, and I wanted to pair it with this absolutely alien Dark, who’s just impossible to understand and so far out of everything Jack wanted, and he’s just so confused as to why that’s still something he’s coming to want. I loved the whole blurred lines thing, of what’s Mark and what’s Dark, and what he actually wants, and just this struggle to pick up all these pieces and figuring out how he wants to put them back together.
It’s a bit of a mess, and there are still some major points I want to get to, and I wish I fucking wrote at a reasonable pace, because this could have been done literally years ago if I did, but honestly it’s been a lot of fun to write, and I can’t wait to finish it.
Thank you for the prompt! This got a little more deep than I was intending but I hope you like it still!
tw for implied depression
Chase hummed to himself quietly as he cleaned one dish after the other, letting the warmth from the soapy water spread throughout him. There was something incredibly therapeutic about taking each dirty plate, bowl, whatever, and scrubbing at it until it was spotless and could be put back in the cupboard to function again. He looked forward to it.
Part of him wished the same could happen to him.
He shook his head, a quiet sigh escaping him. He couldn’t think like that anymore. No one was going to swoop in and save him, nothing was going to magically make it all better, just like nothing was going to magically get the burnt-on... cheese, he guessed, off of that pan. Someone could show him, step by step, how to soak it, and all the different ways he could clean it. They could tell him how they cleaned their own pan and his friends could cheer him on when his arms got tired, but in the end, it would have to be him who grabbed the sponge and scrubbed. It would probably take a while, and maybe there would be some little specks of dirt left over, and, almost inevitably, at some point the pan would become dirty again. That would be okay, because now, he knew how to clean it. He knew it wouldn’t stay dirty forever.
The sound of footsteps coming into the kitchen broke him out of the weird little analogy he had found himself caught up in. He looked down and let out an amused huff as he realised he’d been cleaning the same square inch of one plate for a while. He quickly cleaned the rest of it before drying his hands and turning to see who had caused the noise.
“Venom? No way. Into the Spider-verse was way, way better than Venom!” Chase smiled to himself; he didn’t even need to see Jackie’s red hoodie to know it was him. What did surprise him was Anti following behind him as the two walked in. Though, he guessed, his defense of Venom was really to be expected. Before Jackie could reply, he noticed Chase and shock filled his expression.
“Chase, man, you’re finally up! What is it, like, 2pm? What were you doing the whole morning?” he asked with a slight scoff. Chase felt his heart start to sink as he looked at the ground, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. It wasn’t out of spite, he knew that. Jackie just... wasn’t the most understanding. Truthfully, he had spent most of the morning in a sleepy haze, the sunlight coming through his curtains and not quite letting him catch up on the sleep he had missed last night while his thoughts wreaked havoc in his head. Needless to say, he didn’t particularly want to dwell on it. He opened his mouth, hoping he could figure out something to say, but Anti beat him to it.
“Come on, Jackie. It doesn’t matter what time he got up. What matters is that he got up, and he’s done the dishes for us, so I think he deserves a thank you,” he said. He walked towards Chase and lifted his hand, letting it hover in the air as his eyebrows rose in question. Chase smiled and reached up to lift his cap and let Anti ruffle his hair. He stayed near Chase as he put his cap back on, adjusting it until it sat right. Jackie, for his part, gave him an apologetic look as he scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah, sorry, man. Thanks for washing up,” he muttered.
“No problem. It’s okay.”
Jackie gave him a quick nod and a sheepish smile before grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. He started to head towards the door, but he turned on his heel and pointed at Anti.
“You haven’t won, by the way. I bet I can convince you Spider-verse is better by the end of tonight.”
“We’ll see about that,” Anti replied with a laugh. Jackie made a ‘hmph’ sound before leaving the kitchen completely. Anti immediately started to rummage through the cupboards.
Chase bit his lip as he stood there, wondering what to do. He eyed the drying dishes on the rack, but with Anti looking for... whatever he was looking for, trying to put them away could very well result in breaking a few of them. He wanted to say something to Anti, something to show how grateful he was, he just wasn’t sure what.
After a moment, he shook his head slightly. He was overthinking. A simple ‘thank you’ would do.
“Hey, Anti?” he asked eventually, once he had seemingly gotten together what he needed from the cupboards. Anti looked back and gave him a small smile.
“Yeah?” Here goes.
“Thank you.” Anti’s brows furrowed into a slight frown, and he blinked.
“For what? Dude, you know I wouldn’t touch your hair if you didn’t want me to, you don’t have to thank me for respecting your boundaries-” he started, but Chase shook his head.
“You stood up for me.” Anti paused for a moment, and Chase could almost see the cogs turning, until realisation dawned on his face.
“Hey, of course I’d stick up for you. I’ve seen you struggling, and I’m really proud of you for the progress you’re making. We all are.” Chase tried to smile as his heart swelled at the words, but his lower lip started to wobble. He quickly bit it to try and stop it, but the tears stinging in the corners of his eyes grew bigger and bigger.
No sooner had they spilled over than Anti stepped forward and held his arms out. Chase closed the distance between them, taking shaky breaths as he felt the warmth of arms wrapping around him. He mumbled an apology, but Anti quickly shushed him, assuring him that it was fine. After a few minutes, his breathing returned to normal, but Anti didn’t let go quite yet.
“I’m making lunch. Have you eaten yet?” Anti asked. Chase let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.
“I wasn’t hungry when I got up.”
“Then I’ll make enough for both of us. Is that okay?” he asked. Chase smiled softly.
“I’m vulnerable around you, and it only gets worse when you smile.” with darkjack maybe? or a ship of your choice--I'm not picky!
Watching Jack as he dozed quietly at his side, Dark felt something in his chest, some feeling he didn’t recognize, twist around and pull on his organs. It was unpleasant, to say the least, but the warmth that spread from the twisting was… Nice. His stomach turned, and it spread warmth through his entire abdomen.
Months ago, when he’d first met the Irishman, he’d thought he was a loud, unnecessary annoyance, but bearable. He was the younger brother of one of Dark’s long-time partners - Anti - and was finally getting into the world his brother damn near ran alongside Dark and a few others. Anti wanted them to meet, wanted Jack to get a taste of the other higher ups in their world. Dark had agreed to deal with him until his and Anti’s most recent cooperative mission was complete, and he’d thought that, surely, he could forget all about Jack the moment the operation was complete, but… That hadn’t happened.
Somehow, that hadn’t happened.
Somehow, Jack had torn open his cold and empty chest and burrowed in somewhere beneath his ribs, bringing that horrible twisting, tugging feeling and the warmth that came with it. Bringing emotions Dark hadn’t felt since before he’d started down this path, emotions that Dark had been very sure he wasn’t capable of feeling anymore.
He’d buried a lot of his old self under his new one, most of his normal human emotions included in the death toll of that particular personality equivalent of a cave-in.
Once upon a time, though he’d probably never admit it, he’d been a regular person. He’d been Damien Knight, a hard-working and quiet guy fresh out of high school… And then everything changed. Damien, as far as the world outside of his new, was dead. Dark rose to power not long after, bringing about a new age to the criminal underworld of Damien’s home town and transforming it into a criminal overworld.
He’d never thought any trace of that life would return, never thought he could be tender again, until Jack fell into bed with him for the first time.
He’d wanted to break him. Wanted to take him apart piece by piece and show him once and for all that trusting anyone in this world was a horrible idea. That being attracted to him was a bad idea. That taking an invitation like this was an even worse one.
But once he had Jack under him, all of those desires had melted away. He’d taken him slow and gentle and that had been that. He’d treated him like something precious, because he was. People like Jack, people who were very genuinely good, were rare in this world. He didn’t even know why someone so sweet and kind wanted to be involved with him.
He never asked.
He sighed, running fingers that had killed dozens of men and women through the fluff of Jack’s hair with a tenderness reserved specifically for him. He let his thumb brush the smaller male’s cheek. He marveled at the softness of the skin and did it again.
The twisting in his guts got worse, but the warmth spread itself to the very edges of his body, and he found his lips quirking up at the edges.
Jack hummed softly, sleepily, and turned his face into Dark’s hand. Dark allowed it and merely began to run his fingers through his hair again.
His breath caught in his chest when Jack hummed again and snuggled closer, practically attaching himself to his chest. His chapped lips curved up on one side, hand clenching on Dark’s back. Dark wondered when he’d turned on his side to pull Jack against him like this.
He guessed it didn’t matter. But that smile…
“I’m vulnerable around you,” He mumbled, laying his head down and closing his eyes, “And it only gets worse when you smile.”
With his eyes closed, he missed the way that Jack’s smile only broadened, clearly aware of what he’d said.
my big gay comment is incoming once i have time to sit down and write it up but you BEST BELIEVE i am SO FUCKING HYPE over that ABSOLUTELY STUNNING DARKJACK THANK YOU FOR BLESSING ME THIS DAY
aaSDHJDFSD GIMME A BIG GAY COMMENT, GHOSTY. But seriously!! Thank you so much jeez, it means a lot!!! You’re my favourite writer until this day, I swear. I admire your work a lot and you’re so sweet. Just... aAAAH!!!!
