A new idea for a djats fanfic popping into my head even though I haven't finished Sweet Melody:

Technically I've had this idea for a while, and it has been marinating over the past few months, with me adding pins to the Secret Pinterest Board and crying over characters that don't even exist on paper yet. But I have been dying to tell you guys about it, so here I am in my funny little hat with my funny little cane, presenting you with more of my brainrot.

This fic? Take everything you love about Sweet Melody and chuck it out the window. It involves a completely different storyline, character dynamics, tropes, and vibes.

I present to you.... SOUR NOTE.

(Yes, that is a deliberate contrast to "Sweet Melody.")

That's a random lil graphic I made a while ago, not the actual cover, which would obvs match my theme.

THE TITLE: Sour Note
THE FACECLAIM: Adria Arjona
THE OC: Valentina "Val" Vega
THE LOVE INTEREST: Eddie Roundtree

THE TENTATIVE EXTENDED SUMMARY:

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, Valentina Vega and Eddie Roundtree didn't always hate each other.

There was a brief moment — two whole nights, actually — where they tolerated each other. Hell, maybe they even liked each other. They were certainly attracted enough to engage in a one-night stand that was the culmination of the sizzling tension that crackled between them since they met.

After that, they were always at each other's throats.

Kill Your Darlings was one of the first female-led rock 'n' roll bands in the United States, originating in the late '60s and continuing into the '70s and '80s. The group was Texas-born just as most of its members. Emerging just outside of Dallas, all six bandmates bonded over social ostracism. For Val and Johnny, it was having immigrant parents. For Bev, it was her type 1 diabetes that forced her to take insulin twice a day, and the fact that she was a rancher with a dream of leading a rock band. Charlie always preferred books to people. Black musicians like Terri were hardly popular unless they were signed with Motown. And Donnie... well, he was blond.

Since the world tried to set them apart, they decided to come together.

Their paths crossed with The Dunne Brothers — soon to be renamed The Six — at Filthy McNasty's in 1971. None of the Kill Your Darlings members knew that they were meeting their biggest rivals in the industry. At the time, it was just Karen and Beverly bonding over their challenges of being stereotyped as dumb blondes, Donnie and Warren playing drinking games, and Eddie and Val trying not to make eyes at each other from across the room.

Though some may argue that the signs were there. Billy complained to his brother that Johnny was an asshole. Terri didn't like Billy from the start, or so she told Donnie. Graham mistook Charlie's quietness for rudeness. And Eddie and Valentina... well. Whatever they had went down in flames as quickly as the fire had started.

The two bands continued to coexist, fighting to outbeat record sales and gain more fans — though if you asked Bev, there was no rivalry at all. They were just two groups who loved rock 'n' roll and just so happened to share some similarities in music style. Their paths continuously merged without plan, constantly bringing them together whether they liked it or not, almost like fate was puppeteering them and dragging them by the strings.

In 1997, Valentina is invited to speak in the Daisy Jones & the Six tell-all interview, because everyone is dying to know... what actually happened? Was the rivalry even real?

MEET KILL YOUR DARLINGS!

Beverly "Bev" White: Lead vocals, guitar
Faceclaim: Madeline Cline
A horse girl who grew up to lead a rock band.

Valentina "Val" Vega: Guitar, vocals
Faceclaim: Adria Arjona
The spitfire of the group with a surprisingly big heart.

Jonathan "Johnny" Romano: Bass, vocals
Faceclaim: Massimiliano Caiazzo
An Italian-American who longs to be back in Brooklyn instead of enduring the dry Texas air.

Terri Palmer: Drums
Faceclaim: Yandeh Sallah
The artistic soul who is the least expected to kill it on the drums.

Charles "Charlie" Smykowski: Guitar
Faceclaim: Joe Keery
A bookworm who was only supposed to play for one gig.

Donnie Somerton: Keys
Faceclaim: Ben Hardy
The guy who ran away from his huge family to join a smaller one of his choosing.

Each yearning for something more to their lives and using their natural eclecticism to their advantage, they came together to form one of the most iconic rock 'n' roll bands to emerge from the late 1960s into the 1980s: Kill Your Darlings.

Experimental lyrics/song concepts:

"BREAKTHROUGH"

VOCALS: Beverly White
"I said there's nothin'
I wouldn't do for you
But you took it as
yet another excuse to argue
Oh, you make a mess of my head
You make me regret
So now I'm standin' here to tell you —"

VOCALS: Beverly White and Valentina Vega (with backup by Johnny Romano)
"I'm havin' a breakthrough
I've had enough
I'm done with your silver-tongued lies
and those pathetic, snake-blue eyes
Now I'm callin' your bluff

I'm havin' a breakthrough
I'm running free
You can pack your shit and go back
to the hell-hole you came from
Cuz I'm choosing me
Yeah, I'm choosing me!"

"DEAD END"
(vocals by Bev)
About a relationship that has run its course and the two people involved are still holding on without it going anywhere.

"IN MY VEINS"

VOCALS: Valentina Vega
"How did we make
such a mess of this?
I try to scrub my mind,
but you're always there
Obscuring my thoughts
like some perfect eclipse
We went down in flames
but I'd be lyin' if I said
you weren't still in my veins."

"HEART TO HEART"
(vocals by Bev)

"KNIFE IN THE BACK"
(vocals by Bev and Valentina)

"CITY SLICKER"
(vocals by Bev and Johnny)

"DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS"
(vocals by Bev and Valentina)

"SHATTERED GLASS"
(vocals by Valentina and Johnny)

"MARIPOSA"
(vocals by Valentina)

Do almost all of the band members have names/nicknames that end in an "ee" sound? Yes. Do I care? No.

Kill Your Darlings would be known for not giving two shits about whether or not their music would be popular or not. They released what they wanted to, hence why they decided to release "Mariposa", a song entirely in Spanish, and also experimented with genre blending with occasional country aspects in some songs. Beverly also takes traditional storytelling and anti-establishment, pro-worker aspects of early country music and implements them into her music, taking inspiration from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.

They are also unapologetic about who they are. Beverly is open with her health problems. Valentina is a proud Latin woman with an accent. Terri is one of the only black female drummers in the industry. At the time, Italians weren't considered "white", so she, Val, and Johnny had to deal with racism growing up (and still do), but are proud of where they come from. Charlie remains introverted even though their producer tries in vain to rebrand him as an eccentric guitarist. Lastly, Donnie flirts with both sides of the gender spectrum, dressing fluidly and ignoring traditional gender roles. In the deep red South, these things were frowned upon.

Val and Eddie are also just .... H O T. Like, they're attracted to each other at the beginning, but then BOOM, there's an *incident* and they can't stand each other. After that, it's all ignoring each other's existence, outright cursing each other out, and Valentina stabbing a pillow out of rage because she still finds him hot, and why can't she stop thinking about him?

Hehe <333 I love my little band of misfits. Maybe that should be their nickname from the press. Or an album name? Hmmmmm.

Okay I hope you enjoyed my rambling goodbye !!!