Sid Stills' Blues

by Shukyou

The headache wasn't what woke him, but it was what kept him from going back to sleep once he was up. It rolled through his head like a drum line, pounding its high school marching band arrangements of some once-golden oldie across his brain with all the embarrassing force of the time he'd been sixteen and nearly killed himself with his father's Jack. He hadn't been hung over like this in years, decades. Just one more shit side effect, he supposed, of getting old.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT, Music, Humor, Adult

257 pages, Free Online Fiction

First published December 18, 2011

About the author

I'm W2 (pronounced 'whit-two'), also known as ladysisyphus, shukyou, and Whitney Bishop.

You can find all my stories written as 'shukyou' at http://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirr..., and you can find most of those same stories (without illustrations) plus some fanfic at http://archiveofourown.org/users/lady....

I'm also the editor-in-chief of http://shousetsubangbang.com/ , where we put out nine delightfully dirty issues of short stories and art a year! We're always looking for new participants, so if you're interested, check out the website.

I also do other things in my real life, hence the pseudonymity. But I promise I'm friendly!

Reviews

[LenaRibka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where is the red carpet ?!

Where are photographers?!

Where are publishers standing in line and waiting for their chance?!

Where can we read interviews with shukyou??!!

I hope soon we'll see all of it....but now...

I'm on the stage and I have to say my thank speech.



First of all I'd like to thank Julio-Alexi Genao, for introducing me to this amazing author, because his updates made me curious. As always. Thank you very much!

Then I'd like to thank Domashita Romero and GR user Trix , because they on their part introduced Julio to shukyou. Thank you, thank you!

And my biggest thanks goes to the author herself! Thank you, shukyou for the pleasure to read your books! And thank you for the great possibility to read them for free!

And now to the story... FORGET THE COVER!!!
Sorry, but I have to say it! It doesn't do the story any justice.
Many of readers marked it as short story. It is not. It has almost 200 pages. Here you can find out how many pages has a book with 85764 words.

Sid Still, a 61 years old musician who spent his time from hangover to hangover in his NY apartment and who left his best days far behind woke by his agent one morning. "You have to see it on youtube". A cover version of his old hit song "Times Fucking Square".
It was good.

Good grief, who was this kid?! His Agent:

"Nathan Vaughn, frontman of Big in Janpan, pop-punk band from Chicago broke up about a year and a half ago, so he's doing his own solo stuff. In fact, he's going to be in your area tonight, doing a secret show at Jim's Tavern..."

And here begins the story of a wonderful friendship between Sid Still and Nathan Vaughn. And not only friendship. Excellently told and beautifully written. For me - until now the best book of this great author.
I swear I didn't know up to the very moment that it would be a romance. I didn't know and it was absolutely Okay for me. But as it turned into an amazing romance, an unusual love story(I have to warn you may be, there is a big age difference and could be not everybody's cuppa, though I would have admitted- I was sure before reading it that it was not mine also)...it blew me away.

Every book of shukyou like a miracle bag: You have no idea what is inside. And every time you open it, it is exactly what you need. And told in the best imaginable way.

This woman and her writing are

[Lisa Arbitrary - AttentionIsArbitrary M/M Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ ~ ~

Free to Read!

4.5 Stars

Well, Sid's story kicked my ass several times over. From my side of the age divide, this couldn't have been more poignant. I do think this will be appreciated more by a mature reader, to be sure, but anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking romance should truly enjoy this.

This story is about:

Life experiences and
experiencing life and
second chances and
new love and
old love and
young infatuation and
knowing your heart and
monsters and
living.

It's funny and sad and genuine and honest.

If someone had described what this book was about to me, I probably wouldn't have read it. But, having read two previous books by this author (and having been quite impressed) I just jumped right in and oh man, I can't tell you how glad I am that I did. It winds up slowly to such vivid richness that you're just suddenly surrounded by it all. You're a part of it.

It felt good to be with someone like this, where sex could be meaningful and stupid all at once.

Once again, shukyou has caught me off guard with her subtle use of words. Sid must be her perfect character, in a way. Her writing suits him perfectly. Or, he embodies all of her skills. To make me fall for this imperfect, older, hermit-man as I realized, in bits and starts, that he loves life, means that she has some serious skills.

He wanted a cigarette, so he played harder instead, filling the air with the musical equivalent of smoke clouds.

I cursed the author out a few times because she broke my heart, but she also mended it, filled it and left me smiling.

This is a self-pub read with plenty of typo's, but no real, true editing issues. Work of this caliber deserves quality editing, but that should not hold you back from this read.

Highly Recommended...again.

~ ~ ~

Take a look at my Male/Male Romance Book Blog:

http://www.attentionisarbitrary.blogspot.com

[Julio Genao · Rating 3 out of 5]

worth the ride.

i thought the author gave away her hand too early and too easily; i almost set this aside because i thought it was one kind of story, when it was actually another.

i was happy to be wrong.

uplifting.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very beautiful.

On the face of it this story should seem like a slightly perverted soul-sucking story, but it's the opposite. At first, 35 years difference in age has you thinking--no, that's just not right. There's a lot more than years between 25 and 60. Yet. like those rare times you see a couple that "makes no sense", they're so different in many ways, but they glow when they're together and you're not sure how or why. But you stop questioning and just accept.

Nathan and Sid are just like that. You just have to accept that sometimes the most incongruent couplings are perfect.

There's some great humor, touching emotions and a palpable realism in this love story.

[Domashita Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This can also be found all in one piece on Archive of Our Own.

I don't know if it's fair for me to review this considering how tied up I was in its writing (as the author is my best friend and creative partner), but the least I can do is say: read this. It's a novel of love and age and sadness and finding something sweet and new when you thought everything might be over. You will laugh! You will cry! You will probably be laugh-crying at the end.

[Fangtasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, this author manages to take some serious subjects and treat them with the right degree of respect, without taking any shortcuts, or being glib. Normally, such a large age difference between the MCs would have squicked me out, but it didn't, for very valid reasons. Sid and Nathan share a unique bond, and I felt it justified their feelings for each other. The slow build up of the relationship also helped establish how very well suited they were to the other. The angst over the main conflict was perfectly tuned, not overly dramatic, but truly as painful and emotional as it might be in real life. Had to take a break at around 84%, because I was crying too much to keep reading. The resolution felt earned, for both MCs, through the excruciating journey of growth.
The end left me as happy and wrung out as an intense orgasm. It was warm, gooey, and delicious!

Thinking it through carefully, I have only one niggle: the majority of North American people Sid's age don't behave as old as he does in this story. Though I felt a lot of his issues could have been due to his personality, and the vices and hard living inherent to his past careers, I felt it was a disservice to most mature adults to be pictured as infirm as he is at that age. Of course, there are a myriad factors influencing how "old" a person behaves, age being just one of them. If there is one place where the phrase "your mileage may vary" applies, age is it. And I also know this perception might be caused by my own mature-adult perspective and experience. Still, I thought it worth saying.

There are a few editing issues, mainly a lack of clean up of articles and prepositions after the editing, but not enough to detract from the excellent writing, wonderful story, and unforgettable characters. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable and satisfying read.

Oh, one last thing: please do NOT look at the cover. Those are not Sid and Nathan, though they might be wearing clothes similar to those described in the book. Just, no.

[Rohit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the big overwhelming typos, despite the small smatterings of grammatical chinks, despite everything shape wise which goes into novel writing, one of the best Old-Young Romance I've read.

This novel is a rendition of Love for me. Pure and simple in it's egotistical hope of more and more when one verges on the end of 'attractive' life. Sure, when you're 60 something you won't think that a 27 something charming puddle would skip you off your pedestal of hermit-like life. I didn't. I didn't believe that they could overcome their disparities and bring out something so ethereal and essential in it's attraction and resolution.

After reading this, one thing is clear. There is a lot of cuteness and smudgy bubbles of lightness involved when it comes to reading romances between characters with big age differences. Yes, some novels (most) take that through a sexual pivot but when the cuddle shit comes into play, my heartstrings just ping harder I guess. I literally thought Nathan was gonna kill that old man with his selfless adulation. But guess I was wrong there too.

The writing is pretty much simple yet wise which I've come to associate with this author. It's not overbearing but it certainly makes you read the lines twice. This novel has many ticks (I don't think I'll call them surprises) which just make the story all the more connecting and relatable. And the innocent edge to everything just makes the experience more loveable.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute gem of a story! The overall feeling I come away with is a lightness, positive, feel good vibe even though there is a serious issue that Sid & Nathan have to deal with.
So if you love M/M romance; if you don't mind a big age difference (like I'm talking 30 yrs plus, but don't let that put you off!); this story was just the sweetest, about a retired musician and a young musician who's career is just starting to take off.
Nathan's burgeoning career through Youtube is brought to Sid's attention by his Agent. He finds Nathan doing a rendition of one of Sid's early songs and Sid is intrigued to say the least. When Nathan does a gig in Sid's New York, Sid decides to go and see for himself and the story takes off from there.
There is no angst, no drama with secondary characters, this story is all about the evolving relationship between Sid and Nathan and it's witty and captivating, absolutely loved it, bravo!

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a one of those masterpieces that you just kind of stumble across and then are promptly taken aback by. By far, the best "band fictions" I've ever read.

[Day-thief]

Not sure what to think about this one yet.
Compared to Shukyou's other stories, it's quite long (8 parts, I think). Again, the romance starts late in the story. Not much happens. The pacing seemed uneven, too. There was a tad too much talk about how Sid struggles with his phone and the issues surrounding his age for my liking.

But I had no trouble finishing it, so it was good, too. I was impressed that the author seemed confident to cover yet another topic: music! (And age, of course).

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! This was AMAZING! I savored this book, absorbed it. What a pure pleasure could be had by reading a very well written story that is so good it goes straight to your heart. I'm absolutely speechless right now! I wouldn't have found this brilliant and talented author in a million years by myself had it not been for a certain GR friend of mine's recommendation. And what a loss it would've been! Because this is exactly what I like best - to read a book and feel a deep connection to it, to finish reading and treasure the memory of it. This is simply outstanding!

[Katriona · Rating 5 out of 5]

this story is fucking incredible
i love it so much
it's beautiful and real and honestly many kinds of wonderful
read it and read it and read it

it's so fucking well done
just a gem that i want to remember and keep close to my heart

[Ingie]

Lena loved it... and it's a novel (200 pages)
(Free to download here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8011...)

[ancientreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on the AO3 (it was originally posted on Shousetsu Bang*Bang), so I didn't have to wade past the cover art. The MCs are an aging musician who feels burnt out and the younger musician who wakes him up. They meet after the younger musician covers one of the older man's songs. Slow burn IIRC, bi awakening, and just really, really well written.

My one complaint, and it's trivial really but I do love to complain, is that the older man, Sid, is internet- and computer-inept to an absurd degree. I know 90-year-olds who, unlike Sid, can manage a Google search, for heaven's sake.

If age gap, bi awakening, and musicians appeal, do yourself a favor and ignore that cover.

[MM_RomanceBooks Favorites]

Contemporary, age gap.

[Marlobo ♥ epilogues · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Regencyfan93 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Sid and Nathan, though I hard to keep reminding myself that Sid is 61.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 re-read: Still loved this, and I'm going to leave my original 5-star rating due to what should be a steep, nearly insurmountable difficulty level since this is a romance between a 61-year-old and 25-year-old. It shouldn't work for me at all, and yet there's not a single second of this book that bothers me. It's slow-burn and feels 100% natural and beautiful at all times. I loved it.

Original 2019 review: Pretty sure I'll be reading everything this woman has ever written. I read Riding Drag last week when I was looking for some shorties to keep me from getting anti-social while on vacation, and I was so impressed with what she accomplished in 60-something pages. I jumped on the opportunity to read a full-length novel, and she did not disappoint. This is beautiful. The depth and vivid realness of her writing may have me spoiled for anything else. Like ever. Shit!

Shukyou is the queen of show, don't tell and could/should give a master class. Watching Sid and Nathan go from strangers to instant friends and then blossom under the affection and joy of finding your other half made my heart hurt in a good way, in that way that true love can verge on painful sometimes, like you can feel your heart trying to expand past it's natural limits to hold on to all the love. I loved it so much. The slow build is my favorite kind of story, and this is just perfection.

Nathan is adorable, but Sid is the best. And yeah, he's 61, so if the mere idea of a 61-year-old in bed is gonna squick you out, give it a pass. But this is a story about love, not lust, and these two are so clearly made for each other, it transcends the age gap. But not in a way that age doesn't factor into the story, which is really what takes this to another level in my eyes. This was the very definition of life-affirming. So good.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Like other people here, I wonder why shukyou is not more popular or published. This is another beautiful story of her: lots of emotions, humour, good writing, an unusual love story, a bit of melancholy. Warmly recommended.

BTW I had already read it a couple of years ago, and I hadn't written a review. To state that we loved a story and why may held other people to discover it.

[Mori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Päť hviezdičiek je málo na to aby som ohodnotila tento skvost, treba minimálne osem a aj tá osmička by si ľahla očarená z krásy akou to je napísané. Hotová som proste, zbohom.

Nathan's hair smelled like Sid's shampoo and alcohol and pizza and sunshine and puppies and summer and good things.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[peanut•m&ms · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet, sweet...sweet read.

[Maria Eduarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Camy]

While the story and the writing are very good, this is not for me, thus I am not rating it.