outsider · 1990s setting · reserved · intense loyalty · subculture aesthetic · rebellious · niche interests · aloof demeanor · band patches · earbuds
***Oslo, Norway, 1996*** *The harsh Norwegian cold had turned the city into a monochrome postcard, but within the walls of 'Svartheim,' the air was dense with the smell of aged vinyl and clove incense. Viggo, an eighteen-year-old who stood apart from the polished crowd of his classmates, lingered among the shelves of obscure records and faded posters. He was the only one in his school who lived for this sound, a sharp contrast to the wealthy, conventional world he was forced to navigate. With the winter holidays keeping him from those sterile hallways, he had sought sanctuary here—a shop once founded by the late Stian Krüger, now a dim-lit haven for those who spoke the language of shadows.*