One of y’all commented on Will They Come? today and mentioned how funny it was that Jack has no idea that Ziggy & Floyd are a couple.
And that made me realize. NO ONE knows that Ziggy & Floyd are a couple. Ziggy never told Mylo or Xyloto why he had to go back to England so badly, and if they don’t know, they can’t tell Julie. Haushinka only met Ziggy that one time and had way bigger things to deal with than inquire about his romantic life. None of Jack’s friends even know who Floyd was. So like… If Floyd & Ziggy show up and reunite with Mylo & Xyloto, there’s going to be this HUGE moment of “wait……. YOU GUYS ARE DATING?!?!?!?!” And now I want this to happen so badly.
"In the darkness, Jack could almost feel Julie’s pulse in his hand. Another round of cheers rose up from behind and around him. The concertgoers, familiar with the routine, had spotted the people they had come to see. Jack had to strain his eyes to make out the shapes of humans onstage. One slipped behind the drum kit, while others plugged their guitars into the small boxes Jack had observed earlier. Suddenly the stage lights flashed on, bathing the backing band in white. Screams rocketed through the Hole in the Wall, so loud that Jack could barely hear it when the instrumentalists began the first song. And then the man himself walked out onto the stage..."
Several months ago, I commissioned @themetalhiro to draw my OCs from a story that I thought I was going to be able to start posting this year… Well, I’m still not ready yet but today I’m really jazzed up about this story & art and felt like sharing it! Here’s two besties, Jack & Julie, enjoying the first concert they’ve ever been to. Thank you Metal Hiro for drawing my children so nicely!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Warning: This story will make absolutely zero sense to anyone who hasn't read Will They Come?. Other warning: The main character in this story is a trans girl written by a cis woman. I have some VERY strong opinions about gender roles and cisnormativity, some of which are shared by Julie in this story, but I do not have any firsthand experience to write from and thus, parts of this story may not ring true. Other, other warning: This story contains references to transphobia, gender dysphoria, and non-explicit, consensual underage sex (between a sixteen-year-old and a fifteen-year-old). Any questions?
Following the events of Will They Come?, Julie is struggling to navigate Jack's feelings for her, her feelings for Jack, and human society's feelings on gender roles. A chat with Ziggy Stardust helps her deal with at least one of these things.
Since there was a timeskip between the final chapter of Will They Come? and the epilogue, and since the follow-up stories I plan on posting don't get into too much detail about this, I thought I'd make a post talking about how Ziggy and Floyd end up getting along with the main cast of characters from Will They Come?, and what they think of them!
Jack
Ziggy: Having a child is something that Ziggy can't quite wrap his head around at first. In his youth, he had very much wanted to have children, but after everything that happened on Earth and getting together with Floyd and all the time they spent together helping the Venusians build a new home for the people of Earth, he had pretty much resigned himself to the likelihood of it never happening. And he was okay with that. So meeting Jack, on the very first day of his new life in Hunger City no less, is a jarring mental readjustment. At first, while he obviously recognizes Jack as his own son and he accepts the responsibility of being a parent, Ziggy feels a bit distant from Jack as a person. He and Floyd have pretty much carved out their own sort of two-person family (read: slightly toxic codependent relationship), so it feels weird to have a third person disrupt the rhythms of their way of life. However, the more time Ziggy spends with Jack, the more he likes him. He thinks he's a fine, upstanding kid who is probably a much better person than Ziggy himself is, and he fully believes he's going to do great things in life. No matter what Jack needs, Ziggy will try to provide it for him, and he'll always be cheering him on and championing him as much as he can. As it turns out, the feeling is mutual- Jack not only greatly admires Ziggy, but truly enjoys his company, even if he does think he's a bit silly at times.
Floyd: It took Floyd a long time to warm up to Jack. At first, he saw Jack as an intruder, someone who got in the way of his life with Ziggy. He even went as far as to try to persuade Ziggy that he didn't need to parent Jack and that he should ignore his responsibility. After spending some time apart from Ziggy, Floyd starts to come to his senses, but he still feels distant from Jack and rarely initiates conversation or any kind of interaction. Things change, however, on a day when Ziggy and Floyd accompany Jack and Julie to the riverside to go swimming. Jack ends up going too far out and nearly drowns, and while Ziggy is in a panic because he doesn't know how to swim and can't do anything, Floyd swims out to rescue Jack. In that moment, seeing how much Jack truly means to Ziggy makes Floyd start to reconsider his relationship with Jack. Though he still doesn't initiate conversation very often, he does become an active participant in Ziggy and Jack's conversations, and he starts taking an interest in what Jack is doing and what he likes. Eventually he realizes he's actually quite fond of Jack. He doesn't really consider himself to be Jack's father, but he does consider Jack to be part of the family, as evidenced by the fact that he passes down his old wedding ring to Jack for Jack to propose sometime in the future. In turn, Jack starts out trying to befriend Floyd, and then begins to avoid him once he realizes how much Floyd doesn't want him around. After Floyd and Ziggy reconcile, he still finds it hard to warm up to Floyd, but once Floyd starts showing interest in him, he's touched and begins to open up to him more. He does come to consider Floyd as his second father/third parent, though he never tells Floyd that because he knows it would embarrass him.
Haushinka
Ziggy: While Ziggy gets along very well with Jack, he never quite figures out what to make of Haushinka. Their co-parenting is very civil and involves minimal interaction- not because they dislike each other, but because Ziggy just has no idea how to interact with Haushinka. He doesn't see much of a point in trying to get close to her, either, other than to coordinate their schedules and discuss Jack's needs. Eventually, Ziggy comes to realize that Jack, while understanding that they'll never be united as a family, still wishes that Haushinka and Ziggy could spend a little more time together, if only because he thinks they'd get along better if they just got to know each other a little more. So on the rare occasions when the whole family is together (like on Jack's birthday, or other such big events), Ziggy will often go out of his way to talk to Haushinka, even dancing with her on Jack's 21st birthday. Interestingly enough, Ziggy and Haushinka only really become close after Floyd dies. Over the weeks that follow, Ziggy ends up spending much of his time with Haushinka, mourning and remembering Floyd with her, until Haushinka realizes that it's time to move on and tells Ziggy so. They still see each other a lot during that last year before Ziggy eventually dies as well, to the point where those who are only cursorily familiar with the family begin to speculate that they've begun a relationship, but Jack knows that Ziggy will never fall in love again, especially not with his mother. As for Haushinka, she finds Ziggy much too brazen and ridiculous for most of the time that they know each other, but she's also aware of his kindness and his love for Jack, and that makes him tolerable to her. She comes to respect him a little more as they both mature, and even develops a strange friendship with him after Floyd dies, but at the same time, being around Ziggy brings up bad memories of her time in Suffragette City, so she tries to minimize her interactions with him as much as possible.
Floyd: At first, Floyd hates Haushinka. Right away, he doesn't like it when Ziggy tells him that he's just discovered he has a son and that the son's mother wants him to step up as a parent. The resentment deepens when he sees Ziggy become an emotional wreck upon finding the messages that his family left behind on the walls in Hunger City. How could Haushinka demand that Ziggy start to co-parent Jack when he's going through such a rough time?? And then, on the first night that Jack spends with Ziggy and Floyd, Haushinka comes over in a blind panic because it's the first time she's ever stayed in her house alone (she stayed with the Mercurians while Jack was with Mylo and Xyloto- also, this isn't counting the times when Jack stayed out in the city without telling Haushinka) and she NEEDS to know that Jack is okay. And that's the final straw for Floyd. This results in him going over to her house the next day and cursing her out for dumping Jack on him and Ziggy. Unfortunately, THAT results in Ziggy breaking up with Floyd, because he is not happy that Floyd went behind his back and against his wishes, and he realizes how codependent their relationship has become. So, what's the solution? Why, have Floyd move in with Haushinka while Jack moves in with Ziggy, of course! This forced proximity actually improves their relationship, believe it or not (though it is ROCKY those first few days). When Floyd overhears Haushinka crying over Jack one night, he goes to her and sits with her while she basically trauma-dumps on him, and afterwards he feels that not only does he know and understand Haushinka a bit better now- he actually EMPATHIZES with her. Together, they begin to open up, trade thoughts, and finally heal. By the time Ziggy is ready for Floyd to move back in, he discovers that he's actually made a friend- a best friend. This friendship continues and never wavers for the rest of Floyd's life.
Julie
Ziggy: Ziggy likes Julie almost as soon as he meets her, although more in a vague, "she's a nice friend for my son" sort of way than as a friend for himself. He approves of Jack staying with her and her family while he and Floyd are getting settled, but mostly because Mylo and Xyloto are there, too. It isn't until Julie confronts Ziggy with questions about Aresian genders and how gender roles worked on Ares that he starts to really get to know her. At first, it's hard for Ziggy to understand just how important that conversation is for Julie, but when Julie starts reaching out to Ziggy more often following that conversation, he humors her and starts to gets to know her. Ultimately, he ends up adoring Julie and happily provides her with advice or just a person to talk to when she doesn't feel like talking to her parents or friends (though he does suggest that she should talk to Mylo and Xyloto first because he knows Mylo and Xyloto are good people who will sympathize with whatever Julie is going through).
Floyd: Floyd doesn't really make an effort to get to know or befriend Julie, because he doesn't consider himself to be that close with Jack. But he eventually starts to enjoy hearing Jack's stories about Julie, and he doesn't hate it whenever Julie comes over to see Jack. On the whole, Julie is far more interested in Floyd than he is in her, since she loves Pink Floyd's final album. Ziggy actually has to stop her from pumping Floyd with questions about it the first time they spend an extended amount of time together.
The OG Nadsats (Jagger, Sledge, Widdy, Dice)
Ziggy: Just like with Julie, Ziggy starts off only vaguely liking the Nadsats in a "those are friends of my son so I have to be nice to them" sort of way. He's lowkey horrified when he finds out how deeply they worship rock music, and this almost makes him continue his retirement from music, but with some persuading from Jack and Floyd, he realizes that he has nothing to do with how his music affects people. It's a creative expression on his part, and if someone takes it a little too far, that's not his fault. Still, he does try to persuade the Nadsats to see him as a normal person and not a rock god, which works for most of them, except Jagger. His fanaticism is so strong that Ziggy actually has to have a talk with him. In fact, he's never really sure if Jagger is a good friend for Jack, although he does have immense sympathy for him and starts to understand him better once Jagger goes on his own journey of self-discovery (but that's another story). He also doesn't see Sledge a lot, because Sledge keeps to himself and mostly prefers to interact with Jack. He seems to be the one Nadsat who is least affected by Ziggy's reputation. Widdy and Dice, on the other hand, Ziggy comes to adore as much as Julie, and they adore him. They even find his relationship with Floyd to be inspiring, as it's the first queer relationship that they've been exposed to outside of their own, though Ziggy doesn't fully understand the significance of this. They're also the biggest champions of Ziggy's music, and they actually learn to play music on their own with the goal of being in Ziggy's band one day.
Floyd: Floyd could take or leave the Nadsats. They remind him of the Sparks, and he doesn't like to remember the Sparks. He especially finds Widdy and Dice's interest in him to be annoying, and would prefer not to interact with Jagger if he can help it. Sledge is all right in his book, but only because Sledge pretty much ignores him. Still, they're his partner's son's friends, so he has to tolerate them (though he often slips away if he knows they're going to be coming over to see Jack).
Unlike with Strange Fascination: A Love Story, I don't have a fanmix for Will They Come? (that would just be the first side of Diamond Dogs, tbh), but I have to say that I've always imagined this song to be Haushinka talking to Jack. Just replace "piano" with "the guitar," and "buried you in the ground" with... tried to jump out the window while I was holding you, I guess.
“I’ll miss you,” Jack offered, unsure of what else to say.
“Yeah, I’ll miss you too.” Julie ruffled his hair, a gentle smile on her face. “But it’s for the best, believe me. Maybe you’ll even find some nice girl to hang out with now that I’ll be gone.”
“Maybe,” Jack muttered. I won’t ever, ever forget you. How could he? Julie was his best friend and his first love, and he had the memory of a half-Aresian on his side. No matter how long he lived– which could potentially be very long indeed– Julie would always remain in his heart.
And with that, I’m going on a two-week vacation. I will begin posting some follow-up short stories, starting with a story about Ziggy and Floyd acclimating themselves to Hunger City, the week that I return.
