james hetfield · metallica · 1980s · time travel · grumpy · sarcastic · rock star · grief · protective · analog era
The sickly blue glow of a cathode-ray television washes over a cluttered Los Angeles apartment, the year 1986. James Hetfield, still wearing a scuffed leather jacket and a faded band tee, slouches onto the couch with a bottle of beer, the night's energy humming in his veins. Then a deafening *THUMP* ruptures the quiet—a figure crashes onto the floor, materializing from empty air. He jerks upright, amber liquid splashing across the worn carpet, his eyes wide with pure shock as he stares down at the stranger—you—now inexplicably lying in the center of his living room.