Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a thing!
Author's Note: Long time no see, huh? Sorry for my absence. I've been participating in NanoWrimo (well, more like falling behind, but I digress), so most of my writing time has been consumed with an original work. Since I recently hit a horrible writer's block, I decided to do the Song Drabble Challenge for Tokyo Ghoul to kind of get the creative juices flowing again. Basically, I just played the first 20 songs on my computer and wrote little drabbles inspired by each before the song ends. They're not very polished, so I apologize beforehand for any glaring errors. Enjoy!
Also, there's a variety of characters from Tokyo Ghoul and :Re, but no major spoilers for anything. Also, I may do a part two if you guys enjoy this, 'cause it was really fun to do. I feel like I focused on certain characters more than I should have (/cough Kaneki cough), so the next batch would explore more obscure ones.
Till My Heart Stops [Too Far Moon]
A beat of silence.
A rabbit-like heartbeat echoes loud and alone in the black night.
(Scared. So, so scared.)
A sharp breath, taunt and stinging until melting into a relieved sob and airy laughter, ghostlike and wispy in the frozen night.
Finally, another thud, dull and sluggish before gaining strength. Kaneki's never heard such a beautiful sound before.
.
Dollhouse [Melanie Martinez]
Mothers and fathers. Friends and enemies.
They all pass in and out of her life as quickly as she can cut out the paper dolls to replace them. She's even learned how to make different shapes and sizes, creating new faces from the pages of her manuscript.
She makes her dolls dance until their edges crease and tear, playing with them until they become nothing more than tinder for the fire.
Such a wonderful cast of characters, she congratulates herself.
.
War [Former Vandal]
Am I the strongest?
I am the strongest.
He screams and writhes and begs and cries—he feels nothing and he suffers because he knows he should at least feel something and the empti—and why can't it just stop?
(You aren't the strongest.)
The strongest doesn't need help. If you need help, you can't be the strongest.
(God, does he need the help.)
.
Serial Killer [Lana del Rey]
She isn't sure why she risks so much for him. There's no reason for spending days at the dusty old coffee shop, knowing that the employees circling her with plastic smiles could easily put her out of "business."
However, the risk and wasted time all seem worth it, especially when the pure horror disfigures his features so beautifully as he realizes his heartbeats are numbered.
She hardly cares about little schoolboy crushes—but this kind of crush? The kind where every bone crunches and the screams crescendo into song?
She certainly loves those.
.
You'll Be in My Heart [Phil Collins]
Haise often wonders what it would feel like to be held by someone who loved him unconditionally. Hell, he doesn't even know what it feels like to be held in something more soothing than a grappling attack.
He often thinks about him and the life he had. He wonders if he ever had something like the embrace of a mother or father, a brother or friend, to keep him warm and safe.
(Haise doesn't think so. If someone had been able to keep him from harm, he wouldn't have become the monster that lurks in the shadows of his mind.)
(Haise wants a family too, but he can't look backwards for it.)
.
For Blue Skies [Strays Don't Sleep]
Haise stands on the street corner, watching as faceless strangers pass by. He used to pay closer attention, picking out a flamboyant jacket or a flash of blond hair, because they once meant something to him.
Perhaps he used to know them at some time; perhaps they were always strangers.
The details of their features start to slip, leaving him with nothing but fragments of a memory he dares not trust. Cars pass and days go by, blurring the seconds into minutes and minutes into years.
Now he doesn't even bother to smile, because there's no point trying to revive old ghosts.
.
Circus Apocalypse [Vermillion Lies]
Uta lives on the high wire.
He thrives on the sounds of screams—some of joy, more of terror—and spotlight-born shadows that conceal their masks until the final act.
Most of all, he loves the shameless guilt of his audience as they wait with baited breath for one false step. It's the show of a lifetime, but the tickets are already sold out.
His muscles shake from the strain as he teeters above the ravenous lions with their canines glinting in the strobe lights, but, god, is it fun.
(And doesn't everyone deserve to have fun?)
.
Mars [Sleeping at Last]
She grows weary of fighting, but the blood and bruises are all she's ever known. Even if she could quit, she wouldn't know how to turn her fists into offered palms with fingers eager to caress instead of scratch.
With all that she's lost, Touka knows she can never afford to quit fighting.
The only way to escape means she would have to escape life as well. She can't do that—not when she has too many things to keep fighting for.
.
A Guy Like You [Hunchback of Notre Dame Soundtrack]
Hide takes his role as Kaneki's wingman very seriously. When Kaneki starts to fret, Hide clasps his shoulders and shakes him firmly, as if trying to physically rattle the doubt from his mind.
"Dude, she might completely change your life! You never know unless you go on that date—which if she still like you after such a boring night, then you probably found a keeper. The fact that she even agreed to go to the bookstore must be a good sign, right?"
Kaneki smiles tentatively back, unsure if Hide's words loosened or tightened the apprehensive knot in his gut.
.
Happy [Marina and the Diamonds]
There are some moments when he's truly happy.
He manages to brush away the guilt and fear and emptiness for just a few moments, uncovering a life he's always wanted to live. It's warm and comforting, like the sun peeking through the clouds after a storm.
He tries to enjoy these moments for his sake, because they both deserve a little happiness.
.
Holding on and Letting Go [Ross Copperman]
Hide never realized how much it would hurt to see his best friend again.
He has to keep a straight face, nonchalant and distant, when he passes him on the street. He does his best, staring off in the distance as Kaneki drifts past him, blessing strangers with the laugh that used to belong only to him.
When he disappears amongst the faceless crowd, Hide laughs and laughs until the tears trail down his cheek, but he can't stop laughing. It's so damn funny that Kaneki's about to slip from his life and he's going to let him, because for the first time he's better off on his own and Hide can't bear to be a selfish hindrance anymore.
.
Short Hair [Mulan Soundtrack]
She doesn't know the exact moment she hardened, but it didn't happen overnight. Sprouts of bamboo didn't shoot up and fatally impale her childish naivety while she slept. Rather, the cause was more like weeds, creeping up around her knees while she was too busy playing and ignoring death.
No, she can't quite pinpoint the moment when the transformation happened. She doesn't know if she would have stopped it or not, but the notion of hot having a choice is agonizing.
Touka absently plays with the frayed tips of her hair. At least it's her decision to cut off a few dead ends.
.
In the End [Linkin Park]
It's so cold…
Such a stupid thought to waste time on, especially when he could be dwelling on all of his regrets and failures. He could be thinking of the pain, of the goodbyes he never got to say. He could be reliving the few moments of happiness he had before life so cruelly snatched them away.
But all he can think about is the soft, quiet snowflakes, landing on his tearstained cheek like kisses from a long forgotten lullaby. He can't recall the tune, but it lulls him to sleep nonetheless.
.
Lullabies [Yuna]
Hide loops his warm, sweaty fingers around Kaneki's, giggling as he drags him towards the deserted park. Kaneki follows, because—well, what else can he do? Their breath mingles in the frosty air and Kaneki feels the sparks dance across his knuckles.
Haise's fingers seem to be perpetually frozen, not matter how many pairs of gloves he pulls on or how many times he jabs at the buttons on his thermostat.
.
Uneven Odds [Sleeping at Last]
Urie used to keep photographs of his family on the wall. After all, it's the human thing to do, isn't it? Remember and avenge those who have been taken away.
Now those photographs are gone with the only remnants being spots of chipped paint where the pictures had been ripped away too suddenly.
(It's the human thing to do, isn't it? Conceal your weaknesses, because gods and ghouls don't bleed.)
.
Control [Halsey]
What is pain? What is pleasure?
Did you used to feel it? Did you used to feel anything?
(What a silly question.)
What's one thousand minus seven?
(So silly, so silly.)
(Does it hurt? No, no, not anymore. Not ever again.)
Noro, they call me.
(Such a silly name.)
.
Formidable Marinade [Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen]
Uta can't say he's surprised they found one another. Her hair, gleaming like freshly spilt blood under the bar lights, was the beacon that drew him to the flame. He's nothing more than an intoxicated and powerless moth, drunk on the wine red glow of her crinkled eyes, but he's fine with that.
He knows that the carnage created by fire and chaos is the most twisted, most devastating kind. It's well worth the wait.
.
No Angels [Bastille ft. Ella]
Ghosts can't curse the living, he screams again and again as Rize drapes herself over his trembling shoulders and mimics his mother's strained, hoarse laugh.
The sound hurts almost as much as the scissors she uses to cut him apart like one of her paper flowers.
Kaneki can't hate his own mother, even when she's to blame for tearing him into a million pieces and stitching him back together in a thousand different ways of wrong.
.
Not One of Us (Deception) [Lion King II Soundtrack]
Saiko and Mutsuki stand on either side of him, watching with solemn, accusing eyes. Shirazu has his head tilted, hands planted on his cocked hips as he stares down at Urie. Urie says nothing to defend his actions; his intent was clear when he undertook the secretive operation.
Despite the injections and the ranking difference, he wonders when the pointy-tooth bastard actually managed to beat him.
.
Savages [Marina and the Diamonds]
Hinami grew up on stories brimming with monsters and princesses. It had been so easy to point out the dragons in the storybooks, covered in glimmering scales that were oh so obvious in the sunlight.
Onii-chan was the wizard, smart enough tell the difference; Onee-chan was the knight, strong enough to slay any dragon that flew too close to their castle.
Once upon a time, the dragon wore white and carried a briefcase. He fooled them all and every last one of them burned.
Thank you for reading! Sorry if some of them are weird or awful. I almost didn't post them, but I figured you guys might want something, since I've been AWOL for the past 289343412 years.