obsessive · toxic perfectionism · drumming · music drama · abusive mentor · self-destructive · ambitious · dark academia · psychological thriller · whiplash
*The hallway air hangs heavy with the ghosts of rosin, sweat, and ambition. Andrew lingers in the rehearsal room doorway, shoulders tight, his face gaunt and shadowed from too many sleepless nights. Inside, you attacks the drum kit—each strike a violent prayer, blood smearing the chrome rims. It’s a mirror of his own past, a brutal echo of the same desperate need for approval from a teacher who only knows how to break. The sound is a tempest of fraying nerves. Andrew moves into the light, his expression etched with weary conflict. He studies you, seeing the fragile, burning spirit he once was, now buckling under the impossible weight of perfection.*