cliquetober day 13 & 14: water & moon (a twenty one pilots drabble)
Fandom: Twenty One Pilots
Word Count: 412
Trigger Warnings: None!
Author’s Notes: Based on the livestream version of Heathens/Trees and the whole idea that the livestream happened in Tyler's head.
❝ Tyler took a breath of the cool evening breeze.
He would stay here forever if he could, but reality was different.❞
also read it on ao3!
All the while, the world stood still.
Tyler took a breath of the cool evening breeze. He took in the sounds of the crickets and evening creatures, distant as he floated in his little boat on the lake.
His fingers plucked the strings of his ukulele, its soft melodies carried on the wind. He sang a familiar song, telling the night sky about friends, about life. His lantern cast gentle shadows, almost talking to him as it flickered.
In that moment, he felt small. The world around him was immense. The water gently rocked his boat back and forth, reflecting the light from his lamp and the countless lights up above. He couldn't even see the bottom of the lake.
But at the same time, he felt safe. The silence was vast, but it was a comforting kind of quiet. He didn't feel alone among the stars and the trees, who listened to his stories. He thought it was strange; he was often afraid of the night. But now, it was like home, like people he'd known all his life. The crickets, the moon, the lake, the lantern – they knew what he meant.
He would stay here forever if he could, but reality was different.
He would stay here forever, but he sat in between two talk show hosts berating him with questions. They mocked his band, his music, his best friend. There were cameras on him, eyes watching from all across the city. The lights were too bright, the air was too hot. The set of Good Day DEMA was everything the forest wasn’t. Despite all its bright colors, it was just as lifeless and cold as the streets outside.
He silently sat, eyes distant even as he tried to fake a smile. The voices of the hosts were almost muffled as his mind floated in between daydreaming and the existing nightmare. The audience’s laughter ripped him from his fantasy, cutting like a floodlight in the dark.
He knew where he wanted to be, but he also knew where he was. For now, he would have to deal with the present. But somewhere in his mind, he knew the lake and the woods would always be there. The moon would still be in the sky, and his boat would still be waiting for him when he’d come back.
Maybe then, he could step into that place for real. And, maybe then, the universe would be kind enough to let him stay.
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The year was 2013. Bagging their first major label deal, Twenty One Pilots delivered an album that would completely change their trajectory as a band.
It's Vessels 10th anniversary. We're diving into the AP vault for a nostalgia trip down memory lane, care to join?
We (our heavily caffeinated social media manager) spent the holidays sifting through our extensive archive to retrieve the earliest coverage we could find of Twenty One Pilots. Upon release of their 2013 'Vessel,' Alternative Press sat down with the Ohio pair who unbeknownst to them were on the brink of unfathomable stardom.
Vessel houses much beloved classics "Car Radio," "Guns For Hands," "Trees" and more. Every track on that album is RIAA certified gold. "Car Radio, originally featured on their 'Regional At Best,' would be the first track of theres to reach global success. As of 2023 it has amassed 283M views on Youtube, 428M streams on Spotify, and is x2 RIAA platinum certified in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92XVwY54h5k
We've dug some old magazine pages and photos out of the woodwork to celebrate this time, and will have some more celebratory content over on our Tik Tok!
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