Chapter Text
“And… action!”
“I’m a- Dropped my pick, sorry.”
Stelle leaned down, picking up a yellow wedge of plastic. “Which take is this?”
“Take twelve, Stelle.”
“Oh.”
The members of Stellaron Hunt! were at an impasse.
Wolfie leaned back, letting her drumsticks drop onto her snare.
Blade merely tensed up, the bass in his hands growing heavy.
Kafka stretched her fingers over the keys, returning them to their working position.
“It’s just one video, guys,” Stelle complained. “How are we mucking it up this much?”
“We’ve never done one of these before, Stelle,” Wolfie complained. “Why is this hard? It’s not supposed to be hard! We’ve played the song before!”
“Never on camera,” Blade grunted.
“Miss Dolly’s only letting us have the room for another two hours,” Firefly warned.
“We booked the room for six!” Wolfie exclaimed, groaning as loud as possible. “How have we only had 12 takes in four hours? What have we been doing?”
“It’s just a music video,” Stelle sighed. “Let’s just run through the song without the camera once.
Perfect.
No mistakes.
“Okay… now with the camera.”
Off-key.
Off-tempo.
Just off.
“HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?”
“I-It’s a music video,” Firefly mumbled. “Surely we can cut out the mistakes and just have scenes, right? Some acting? Stelle, you did musical theater. You can act.”
“How does everyone know about that?” The grey haired guitarist groaned. How she hadn’t realized that everyone knew her secret VTubing channel was a mystery.
“But yeah. I can.”
“Then let’s do that.”
“Do you really think we can script and film a music video in less than two hours?” Kafka said, taking a sip of some unidentified liquid from a flask. There were still bets being made on what it was, whether it was alcohol she snuck into campus, her girlfriend’s coffee, or (as Blade guessed) pure vinegar. Somehow, that was the most likely answer.
“We can just… Just film us doing stuff,” Stelle said. “We can edit it together. Find something out, you know?”
“That’s gonna be a mess,” Wolfie grunted
“And I’m not filling March’s camera with useless crap.”
“Right, your girlfriend would be upset with you using the camera she gave you to film stuff to film stuff.”
“She’s not- ugh.” Why she still denied it, nobody was sure of. Wolfie and March had been on several dates and even kissed by that point. “Fine. But I’m editing it.”
“Of course. Now let’s see…”
* * *
“Okay, the final edit is rendered,” Wolfie said, panting like she had been exercising. The entire band crowded around her, looking over her and at her laptop.
“Sweet,” Stelle cheered. “Let’s see it.”
“Just so you know, I did everything I could to make it look good.”
“As long as it works,” Firefly chimed.
And as the song began, they were greeted by Stelle and Firefly, side by side.
And more Stelle and Firefly.
And more.
And more.
“Wolfie… is the entire video us?” Firefly flushed. Her face was bright red like a ladybug’s red parts (not the black parts).
“I only used the best footage and it just happened to be mostly you two,” Wolfie said. “The two guitarists. The most photogenic-”
“You cannot say that when Kafka is basically a supermodel.”
“You flatter me,” the songwriter chuckled, “but I’m not-” Out of nowhere, Stelle took three photos of her. Each of them came out perfect. “Some flukes, I’m sure-” Two more.
“ARE YOU POSING IN THESE?” Stelle squealed. “HOW?”
“Whatever could you mean?” Kafka said from a completely neutral position.
“Okay okay, but there’s not even a single shot of you! Or Blade! Well, Wolfie’s in it, but you can’t see her behind the drum kit.”
“Hey-” The drummer barely got in.
“But for real, the entire video is just me and Firefly.”
“Firefly and I,” Blade corrected.
“What- That’s not even right.”
“It is to me.”
“Okay, look!” Wolfie sighed. “You two just have the best on-screen chemistry.”
“Chemistry-” Firefly blushed. “Nonono, it’s- um.”
“It’s just acting, Firefly. No need to get all flustered.”
“Acting. Y-Yeah.”
“Okay, but what about the rest of the band?” Stelle asked. “Surely people are gonna get the wrong idea if it’s just us two. Well, us two and a girl too short to appear over her kit.” Stelle shushed the drummer before she could complain.
“Yeah! We need to get the rest of you in it, too!”
“Are you just nervous because it looks like you two are a couple?” Wolfie asked.
“What? No. Us two? Couple? Couple means two so if it’s just us then it’s a couple. Not a couple like that. Couple like two people not necessarily dating but standing next to each other. Yeah.” Everyone but Stelle looked at her incredulously. Both halves of Stellefly thought it was sound logic, it seemed.
“You know the rules. When the band votes, majority rules. All in favor of posting this version, say aye.”
“Aye,” Everyone but Stelle and Firefly said.
“H-Hey!” Stelle yelped. “Elio gets a vote too! He can make it a tie!”
“Fine.”
Ten minutes later, a single text.
@final-cat - Post it
Stelle could only sigh: “Aw man.”
* * *
“Hey, everyone! It’s Stelle!”
“And Firefly!”
“I’m sure some of you saw our earlier post and yes, Stellaron Hunt!’s debut album is in progress! As a bit of a teaser, we have our first music video! It’s written by Kafka, of course, starring the two of us.”
“Enjoy! There’s more to come!”
<Firefly and Stelle share a look, both holding their guitars.>
“I’m a ganger, I’m always like this.”
“Turned around with a finger inside my mouth.”
“Whether I go over there or over here.”
“No matter what I do.”
“I end up hiding in someone’s shadow!”
<Shots of Graphia Academy, interlaced with Stelle and Firefly’s guitars.>
<Stelle performs the opening riff as we enter a classroom.>
Doubleganger
By Stellaron Hunt!
“Come on please, take my seat, ma’am.”
“I just stayed seated where I am.”
“Oh my, that’s so kind of you.”
“I pretend not see, to see, ah ah.”
<Firefly sits on her own, gazing out a window.>
<Her guitar leans on the table beside her.>
“I hear a lot about, on and on, kids these days but then again.”
<She glances at Stelle from across the room, a popular and preppy girl with many job prospects.>
<Stelle chats with Wolfie, face off-screen>
<While Firefly watches longingly.>
“There’s no point in hiding it. I know I’m just their poster child.”
<When she can’t take it anymore, she grabs her guitar and leaves.”
“Scary!”
“Scary!”
“The depths-”
“Of others’ hearts are so scary.”
<The two of them experience flashbacks to that moment while performing together.>
“I’m not here!”
“Not here!”
“Not here!”
“No one here can see or hear me!”
<Stelle walks out at night, finding Firefly playing guitar on her lonesome.>
“I’m a ganger, I’m always like this.”
“Everywhere people are mocking me”
“Who needs a life going here, going there.”
“I don’t get much sun.”
“So I step on a lot of shadows!”
“Being a loner, I will always say.”
“I could never become just like them.”
“And look.”
“And look.”
“Distance.”
“Distance.”
“Between you and I grew and grew again.”
“I just can’t keep it up!”
<They exchange flirtatious looks, Stelle realizing that there’s more to life than just classes and studying through Firefly’s music.>
<They are together once more, Stelle playing a solo>
“I’m on my own, no one else is around.”
“I’ve spent too many nights in solitude.”
<They return to the classroom, Firefly alone>
“But there’s a flower blooming inside the corner.”
<Stelle enters.>
<Firefly is surprised.>
“It gives me some courage.”
“Peeping right into your heart.”
“I found something there that had been lost.”
<Stelle tears up a job offer, replacing it with her own guitar.>
“I don’t feel emotions the way that I should.”
“I’m an imperfect person.”
<Together. Happy. Performing with one another.>
“If tomorrow, when the sun rises again!”
“It makes a boundary between shadow and light!”
“I’ll will probably just keep on and on,”
“Running and running away!”
“I’m a doubleganger, I’m always just like that.”
“Hiding inside your shadow just like this.”
“If someday the light hits me and I just vanish.”
“That might just be okay.”
“Yeah!”
<Sharing a mic, the two of them vocalize to each other.>
“Doo doo!”
“Doo doo!”
“Doo doo!”
“A yeah yeah yeah yeah!”
“Doo doo!”
“Doo doo!”
“Doo doo!”
“A yeah yeah yeah-”
“Yeah!”
<As the song finishes, they look into each others’ eyes.>
<They finish with the most romantic of gestures, a high five.>
* * *
@Say~Cheese~ - Oh my god that was so cute you two!
@Litlle-Gui-Guinaifen - When’s the wedding?
@Worldbearer - Do we ship it guys? Stellefly?
@Galactic-Raccoon - Okay but any thoughts on the music? The video?
@Song-of-the-Sea - Very delightful. The music is good too.