Title: Play Crack the Sky

Author: Derbobbs

Pairings: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale

Word Count: 122,797

Warnings: NSFW

Author’s Summary

Excerpt from “Hale Pulls the Plug on the Future of Rock,” Rolling Stone, Issue 1203 – Oct. 2014
“Fans and music industry vets alike are left reeling in the wake of bassist Derek Hale’s sudden departure from Smokes for Harris. At a time when the foursome from Beacon Hills, California seems to be on the cusp of rock superstardom after just one double platinum record, Smokes has everything to lose.”

Excerpt from “Smokes for Harris: Gladiator,” SPIN.com – Feb. 2015
“Smokes for Harris gives in a little to the pop punk of yesteryear in their sophomore effort, but rather than pandering to fans of a lost era they elevate the genre in a way that hasn’t been seen in quite some time. Frontman Stiles Stilinski works double duty as singer and primary songwriter and proves that he can handle the task even without former bassist Derek Hale.”

My Thoughts

First off, I have to give a big giant THANK YOU to @DazedRose for reccing me this fic. I’ve never read a rock band AU before, and while I’d seen this one on several Sterek rec lists, I’d never really had the gumption to try it out until DazedRose sent it to me on Twitter. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, for giving me my new favourite Sterek fic. 🙂

Alright, so this story is grand and sweeping and emotional and oh so sexy. Stiles is the lead singer of an extremely popular rock band, and after the abrupt departure of his bass guitarist, he goes back to Derek Hale, the original bassist, with a plea to return for one last tour. Now, almost every other celebrity AU in any fandom I’ve read has a tendency to slip into what I like to all the “Hollywood Glaze.” The Glaze is when celebrity lives become glossy and shiny and only look like what you see in People magazine. It’s all martinis and massages and MTV movie awards. Having grown up in California, maybe I’m inherently jaded, but to me, being a rockstar or an actor or whatever is just like any other job. Except with more money and better booze. So “Play Crack the Sky”‘s very gritty, realistic approach to the musician lifestyle was as a breath of much-needed fresh air. It’s a rare thing nowadays to find a fic that is so refreshingly unlike anything I’ve read before, and this is one of those. Derek, Stiles, and the rest of the band are very human–and even without the werewolf baggage they are still dealing with dark pasts. No character is left stagnant or blank, and I love this fic for that. Special tribute to the characterisation of Lydia and Stiles’ friendship–it’s possibly my favourite thing since my discovery of Nutella.

Read if you love Sterek or just really need a fucking fantastic AU to sink your fangs into.

Until next time, shippers.

-The Collectress

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