#LRPD

[an-ungraceful-swan]

I don’t read books or join fandoms stories crawl inside me and then refuse to leave

[xiaq]

Have you ever talked about LRPD’s title? Is it inspired by the Hozier song?

[wow this ended up being long]

Yes! Like Real People Do’s title came from the Hozier song.

To me, the song is about two traumatized people wishing they could love with the simple of ease of the “ordinary” and I know I’m not the only queer person to take that interpretation.

See, I knew intimately what it was like to look at someone and think I could love them, maybe, but also recognize that the process of finding out wouldn’t be simple purely because that person shared my gender.

I recall a pretty terrible moment of recognition when I was a teenager; being bisexual, I’d had a handful of crushes at that point. But when I had a crush on a boy, the scariest thing about it was if I flirted and he wasn’t interested. If he was, the rest was easy—dates and kisses and getting to know each other.

But with a girl, I wasn’t even sure what the scariest thing could be. There wasn’t just the risk of her not returning my interest. If she WAS interested, that would be far more dangerous. How would we maintain our relationship in secret? What if we were discovered? We’d certainly be kicked out of our very conservative private school. But would we also be kicked out of our homes? Would we be sent away to special schools or conversion therapy? Would our lives irrevocably be changed purely because we wanted to experience the simple teenage pleasure of falling in love?

It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t we just kiss like real people do?

And even when I moved away from home and went to college, that fear [not to mention the boatload of religious trauma] followed me and colored my interactions as I cautiously started seeking out queer spaces.

The first time I heard the song, I had an almost visceral reaction to it—I was catapulted back to being a teenager struggling with this yearning that existed within me that I felt I could tell no one without cataclysmic risk.

When I wrote Like Real People Do in my early 20’s I was still very much grappling with that feeling and I put a lot of that yearning into Alex’s character. And while I’m not sure the book does justice to the title, I certainly thought the title encapsulated the excitement-tempered-by-fear vibe I was going for with Alex and Eli’s romance.

(I had another formative moment, many years later, after I moved to the Gayborhood in Dallas [mentioned in book 4!]. It was the opposite scenario, where I found myself waiting outside the S4 club, looking around at so many unapologetically queer people and feeling like I could kiss anyone I wanted on the street without fear. And god do I wish everyone felt that way all the fucking time.)

[thegallavault]

currently locked in The Gallavault 🔒📚✨

LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO by GRAYOLA ↳ ↳ with cover art by STEORIE

Multi-Chapter | Rated: E | Word Count: 214K | Completed in: 2020

At the age of 26, Mickey Milkovich gets his first apartment, his first wifi connection, and his first kiss. How he gets from wifi to kissing is a complicated story. Mickey is socially anxious. Ian is a frustratingly lovable escort working through an app. Mickey downloads said app. The rest is history.

[ download from The Gallavault | leave love on AO3 | reblog the art on tumblr | follow the creators @/grayola & @steorie ]

[my-mild-ginger]

Sketch practice ✨✍️

He is. So tired.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

@xiaq my unsigned copies of LRDP & LYNLTP have been donated to my local library for wider readership!

[zetecx]

Enjoying the last of the warm weather with ice coffee and a great book.

[rereadanon]

Omg you can’t say shit like that within my hearing range now I want to reread LRPD!!!!! It’s been at least three months, so it’s totally time

Ugh Michelle, honestly thank you for coming here and bringing up LRPD because now I have an excuse to become unhinged a little about it!

I don’t reread it often, CG came out during a TIME in my life so I find it to be more comforting, so if I reread gray, it’s usually that but

The other day I had an urge to read one of the EAY chapters, chapter 8, when a Mickey reveals himself to Ian for the first time.

I mean, JOVI?! I’m not even a cat person! Please name something that makes your heart sing more than Mickey rescuing a cat with a notch in its ear and bringing it home and feeding it and cuddling it like please, 🤚🏻 I am only human 😭 but not to be too insane but Liza from @gallawitchxx’s An Exception to the Rule said it best about Mickey-

“You are so far from the angry little kitten that sat across from me all those years ago. Fingers itchy with magic, but brain too full of dumb hatred and rot. Little by little, we cleared out all that gunk, didn’t we?” Mickey nodded, suddenly feeling like a kid, and she patted his arm. Soothingly. “Got that big heart beating again, shined it up real nice and pretty. No wonder some Sunshine Boy’s come along to claim it.”

And is that the only reason I find so much comfort in Mickey? How he harnesses his strength and puts himself out there and finds true love and goes against what he is "supposed" to be?? Definitely not, there are so many reasons that he is my blorbo. But it definitely is one!

"And as he listens to Ian snuffle into the phone toward the end of their conversations, getting sleepy, about to say, “Goodnight, Mick,” sometimes adding in a stupid “Sleep tight” that makes Mickey's belly twist, he thinks that maybe,

just maybe,

he might be a little bit in love."

💓💓💓

[wafflesandkruge]

hello lrpd fans!!! (if yall are still around lmao)

not a new chap, but @/barodeus on ao3 has written a lovely (au-canon compliant?) little drabble for lrpd featuring a sick nikolai and zoya reluctantly taking care of him 😌 go read it!!

[lovebird17]

With the best timing ever, both my copy of Like You've Nothing Left to Prove and my Check Please kickstarter fulfillment arrived on the same day!

Thank you for sharing your amazing creativity, @xiaq and @ngoziu! I will enjoy it for a long time to come :)

[tormentedscentedcandles]

sydney: autism be damned my boy can hit a puck

[xiaq]

First batch of author copies has arrived! (Approximately 250 books). I’ll get to signing and shipping them asap. If you snagged one, keep an eye on your email. As I send them out, I’ll let you know.

[doodleddaisies]

I actually read lrpd before i read check please so it’s a bit of the opposite for me and i have to remember that when I’m like hm that seems familiar. But anyway i really hope you like the second book :)

I read cp when it was still in like year 3 so I was like !!! eveytime something reminded me of it.

I hope the second book is available soon bc I’m on a kick!

[my-mild-ginger]

Sketch practice ✨✍️

Human!Vladcard (aka LRPD-versecard, aka Dadcard)

[lifemod17]

Hozier singing the harmony for Like Real People Do save meeee

🎥: Hozier | tiktok

Your honor he is Silly with a capital S!!

[fragolinaa]

Back on my Twinkling Lights AU Bullshit. This one is Vaxleth from my half of the AU called "Like Real People Do."

I called this one "Apple Pie" in my notes so definitely listen to Apple Pie by Lizzy McAlpine for the Vibes