#also a lot of the general fics I've been recommended have so many chapters

[kakyogay]

stress time ova reading fics I gotta catch up on

[cuppajoel]

Hey!

If you're reading this, you're probably wondering where this random Joel Miller blog came from- and I don't blame you.

My name is Rae, I'm 26, and I consume a lot of media. Over the past 9 months, I have been lurking in the shadows (on AO3), kindle in hand, reading and adoring the series' that many of you have created.

Over the past month or so, I have found myself dipping into Tumblr more and more and what I've found is some of the most intricate, thought-out, warm, and passionate pieces I've ever read. As someone who consumes a lot of words for a living, I have been truly astounded.

It's through you guys that I have read not only about my one true love, Joel Miller (in all incarnations), but also branched out to other characters in the P.P. fandom.

Notable mentions go to: Mando, Javier Peña, Agent Whiskey, General Acacius (jfc), Frankie bby, Dieter Bravo to name but a few...

Anyway, the point of this post is to say, thank you for the amazing work that the creators in this sphere are doing. I was in a reading slump for a good couple of years you have helped me find my love of reading again. <3

The sole purpose of my blog is to keep a record of what I'm reading (y'all I've been trying to keep tabs just by liking masterlists and it's getting outta hand lmao) and, if you're interested, give some recommendations of fics that I've been reading and loving.

I also wanted to give a quick shoutout to some of the accounts of the fics that I have been pining after for the past while. I do not claim to be the first one to come across these series'. I am well aware that it's not just me jumping on the bandwagon, but truly jumping on the Boeing 747 with the thousands of others that love your work.

Regardless, some special mentions go to:

@punkshort -Every joel miller fic you've written? I've read twice through. I'm so excited for the next chapter of Swept Away. @hellishjoel (brat tamer joel is beautiful) @fuckyeahdindjarin -You started my love affair with Dieter and Jack. I actually cannot explain the way that Joel in Seams made me blush @almostfoxglove - I think about See you at Three daily. I'm really excited to read your other series! @juletheghoul -Joel the menace is on my mind always. @covetyou - your ideas are so imaginative and such a breath of fresh air @tightjeansjavi - I started reading The Rite of Movement yesterday and its all i can think about @whocaresstillthelouvre Joel Miller fics with Taylor Swift titles? i can die happy tbh @chloeangelic (All fics on A03) @5oh5 From EDEN??? Thats all. (jk i love your other stuff too but from Eden is something else) @hier--soir every joel fic you've written is *Chefs kiss*

There are many, many more recommendations I could give and I am working my way through my over-saturated 'likes' so I can create a well organised 'recommendations' post.

I could honestly spend hours, picking your brains and gushing over the work that you guys have created but for now, I am going to reel myself in, say hi and thank you.

[blossoms-phan]

will never pass up the opportunity, so! i am asking. what are your phanfic recommendations?

ask (honoured!) and you shall receive bestie! quick preface: i returned to the wonderful world of reading phanfic around the start of this year and have admittedly missed out on years of incredible work i am now catching up on! also in terms of what i read i generally lean towards current-era fics, canon compliant/fluff/smut- although i'm always taking recs from lovely moots/whoever, you may find this isn't the largest range (no aus/long chapter fics or whatever) but this is just a selection of what i've discovered/loved in the past few months and i hope to make more of these as i discover more writings!

shoutout to everyone on here for their recs, all the incredible fanfic writers and the peeps at @phanfictioncatalogue for their work and accessibility and being the reason i discovered so many new fics/tropes i now love <3 ok lets get into ittttttttt

"you look at my face a lot" by natigail: i credit this fic for getting me into reading phanfic again in 2024 <3 one of the first ones i read post-hiatus and i've returned to it countless times! it makes my heart jump, just so sweet and so them. the slittening(s) were such an iconic moment i can't believe it's been 6+ months since them but i love the little moments like dan describing phil's hair colour to a sephora worker, always wanting to know more about each other and the soft intimacy.

"the angel in the marble" by ivylakes: OHH MY GOODNESS this one is artttt. this one is my fave of the post-phlondeing fics i can just see and feel everything that happens, the loving, lazy intimacy, and following this week's t-shirt events it absolutely cements my HC that angel is a nickname for our philly. introspection, hair-kissing, body worship- i eat it up (im having a thing for mirrors in fics rn so there's also that)

"slumber party" by possumdnp: if i wasn't already clear reality-based fics really just do it for me and i love this one!! slumber party is one of my favourite recent-ish gaming vids and i just love the cozy comfort vibes of having a sleepover and getting a little flirty with your best friend/crush going on 15 years <3

"after the birthday stream" by trashcanfromgallifrey: the birthday stream ignited something in all of us but this is just such a perfect depiction of (possible) events after hehe. feels so them, just love the loving intimacy and shower activities and fluffy endings with cake <3 (shoutout hannah ily!!)

"lovers, keep on the road you're on" by possumdnp: another personal fave. japhan 2019 is EVERYTHING to me, this is so lovely and well-researched and i just go in between reading this and watching the stories from it when i want to cry and book a flight to tokyo

"welcome home! (never leave that long again)" by natigail: this one is just soooooo soft and sweet and fluffy. so heartwarming and one of the many wad reunion fics that has my heart <3

ok i'm going to end up including all 40+ of my bookmarks (not a lot. but working on it hehe) if i don't stop myself so as much as i could write paragraphs about all of these just know that my PPA test is positive and i was probably sweating/giggling/kicking my feet at all of these so here's a speedrun list of pure smut (sorry it's a lot of what i read lmao):

"juxtaposition", "slow down", "sensitive", "some kind of mood" and literally everything written by the force that is intoapuddle

"come light me up" by JudeAraya (perhap not pure smut but I loveeee the teasing and characterization in this so so dan ugh)

"appreciation" by Scuddleduck

"a little vitamin D" by Spring_Haze

"good for you, good for you" and "under my thumb" by dvp_95

"lucky" by iihappydaysii

i could keep going but for now i'm going to stop here! i'm sorry if this is messy i have no idea what i'm doing with linking and stuff but i hope this introduces at least one person to a new fic they end up loving! i lurked/read sooo many fics before finally creating an a03 account only a little over a month ago so i def might be missing some i've forgotten to go back and bookmark! shoutout to all of these writers (i could include multiple works from them all u ppl are amazing)- again i'm soo open to discovering more phanfic and want to expand my horizons, i've started to read some chaptered fics i didn't include on here but will reblog more current reads where i can! also if we're moots pls shamelessly promote your works i'd love to check them out! need to start commenting more too but ok ok wrapping it up

[obsessivestar]

'What If It's All A RomCom?' - A Ted Nivison x Reader

{{-Theres not a whole lot to say about this chapter 7 so I'm gonna use this space to just thank everyone for the love and support lately! I've been getting a lot more likes and reblogs and ppl are recommending this fic and that's just really fucking cool. Every comment I read makes me so inspired, thank you everyone ♡ if y'all have any prompts you want me to write a quick one-shot with, don't be afraid to ask! Pretty sure my question box thingy is open LMAO. Enjoy this chill chapter!-}}

//General Warnings: 18+ Fic, NO MINORS. Reader is implied to be afab and under 5'5.

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of nudity and female genitalia, Lotta pillow talk n flirting lololol I love writing banter\\

Word count: 4.2k

☆▪︎▪︎▪︎Taglist!▪︎▪︎▪︎☆

@k-k0129 & @callsign-scully

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Also bonus points if you can guess the title reference (it's not hard to guess LOL)

Chapter 7: The Room Where it Happened

I wake up to the sound of an alarm going off, though I recognize that it's not from my phone. I'm laying on my side and my bare body is comfortably warm, somewhat still under the covers. I open my eyes, but the view of my room is blocked by something. Skin, a man's bare chest. Ted's chest.

My arms are tucked in front of me, slightly constricted by Ted's strong arms wrapped around my bare body. I can feel his hands lightly tracing and rubbing my back, making me blush and smile to myself. He's awake. More importantly, he's still here, holding me.

I move my head a little to snuggle a little closer to Ted, hearing him hum in response. "There you are.." I hear Ted's tired voice acknowledge my movement, moving his body back a little so I have more room to move, still keeping his arm wrapped around me. I get to look at Ted's face for the first time since last night and I feel a flutter in my chest, batting my eyelashes at him a little with a warm smile. I don't know what it is, but he's so much more handsome now than he was yesterday. Maybe it's the lack of glasses, maybe it's his messy hair, maybe it's the doe eyed smile he's giving me, I don't know. Looking at him now...It's like I can hear a choir cooing like angels my head.

"You conscious in there?..." Ted speaks again, moving one of his hands up to poke me in the forehead. I squint in response and chuckle, nodding slightly at him. "Yeah, sorry, I was just..." I trail off a little, my sight going to his lips once again. I can't believe I kissed this man last night. I can't believe I slept with this man last night. "I..."

"Wow...you're actually speechless, eh?.." Ted laughs a little, his hand moving to rub my upper arm. "Guess I can shut you up.."

I guess he can. It's strange. I have so much I want to say, so many more questions I want to ask and yet, I'm speechless. All I can do is giggle and gaze into his eyes, admiring the little features on his handsome face now that the room is lit up enough to see them. He's got the cutest moles along his cheek and beside his mouth, the littlest cupids bow along the top of his lip that gets thinner the bigger he smiles, the little line along his chin, the bags under his gentle eyes...

"Hey.." Ted softens his tone as he speaks to me again, his thumb caressing my shoulder. "Seriously, though. What're you thinkin' about? What's gotchu so quiet?"

I can see he's genuinely asking, I have been rather quiet. I take in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves so I can actually deliver a coherent answer to him. "I'm just...fuck.." I whisper, shaking my head with a chuckle. "I...I can't even really think straight right now. I have...no idea what to say; where to start..."

"Well, we've got about..." Ted turns back briefly to look at his phone. "...an hour to, uh...talk, so..." Ted turns back to me again, giving me a reassuring smile. "Take your time.."

His tone is so much different now, even the way he's looking at me is different. So concerning, So...affectionate. If this were yesterday, he'd be a lot more condecending. He'd be mocking me. Hell, he was mocking me last night. Now it's like...that wall is down. He's comfortable, maybe. "I just...can't believe you're in here.." I finally speak out, letting out a shaky sigh. My hand moves up to cup his cheek, his affectionate smile growing as I caress his face. "In my room...in my bed...in my arms.."

"Technically, you're in my arms.." Ted commented, getting another dopey giggle out of me. "What, did you think I'd leave?"

"I didn't think you'd ever been in here to begin with.." I admit with a little shake of the head. "I've felt things, I figured you knew I've felt things, but I couldn't tell if you felt...things."

Ted hums out a little chuckle, glancing down at my lips before pulling me in closer, connecting his blush toned lips with mine. I let out a content sigh in the kiss, wrapping my arms around him the best I can. I didn't want to get out of bed, I wanted to stay here with Ted forever, or for at least an extra hour or so. I wasn't sure how the dynamic would change once we have to go back out in front of everyone.

Ted breaks the kiss with a pleasant hum, opening his eyes once more to gaze at me. I blush at him, wondering to myself if anyone had heard us last night. I wasn't really able to be quiet with how he was...handling me and the bed had been making an awful racket as well. The frame is probably cheap. "I suppose that's...an answer.." I sigh with a little chuckle, running my fingers through his tall hair.

"I'm a little, uh...better with actions than words.." Ted admitted with a tired smile, still gently caressing my face. "But, yeah I uh...I do like you.."

It felt so nice to hear him finally admit it aloud to me. After last night, I didn't really have anymore lingering doubts, but hearing it come from his voice was relieving, the burden of the unknown finally lifting off my shoulders. "Well, last night's actions certainly made everything crystal clear.." I purr at him, moving my hand around the back of his head to rub my fingers through his messy dark hair. Ted closes his eyes for a moment, smiling with a low hum. I can tell he enjoys the little massage. He opens his eyes and moves to lean over me somewhat, holding himself up with his arm. "Oh I bet.." Ted snickered back, his eyes lingering on my bare body momentarily. "You wanna make it a habit?"

I grin up at Ted with a bashful blush on my face, wrapping my arms around Ted's neck to pull him into another intimate kiss, feeling him lower his body down as our lips slowly dance together. I could get use to this. I really could. "Mmm, That..." I purr in the kiss as I pull back, nibbling a little on my lower lip. "That wouldn't suck.."

"Oh, There'd be plenty of sucking.." Ted hums with a devilish smile, leaning down to leave little kisses along my neck. I instinctively lean my head back and a quiet moan escapes me, moving my hands down to Ted's shoulders to weakly urge him to slow down. "You fucker.." I whisper to him, my face warming up when he snickers mockingly against my sensitive skin.

We both freeze when I hear a knock at my door. I softly gasp as I sit up and Ted shifts away from me to look back at the door. "(Y/N)?" I hear Tanner's voice from the other side of the door. "You awake in there?"

Ted looks at me, making sure to keep quiet just in case. I noted that Tanner was only speaking to me. Maybe he didn't know Ted was in here? "Yeah, I'm awake.." I call back to Tanner, keeping my eyes on the door. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just wanted to let you know that there's food downstairs." Tanner explained. "Dan came back with breakfast. It's downstairs if you want some. Everyone's just kinda grabbing whatever."

"Okay, I'll be right down. Thanks.." I smile a little at Ted, hearing Tanner give me a quick 'yep' before walking away from my door. I really wasn't sure if Tanner was trying to be polite, or if he genuinely thought I was alone in here.

After knowing for sure Tanner was out of earshot, I let out a little sigh of relief and Ted starts laughing quietly, moving some of his hair out of his face.

"Did he know you're in here?.." I ask with a bashful smile, placing a hand on my cheek. "He might not, I don't know about everyone else.." Ted admitted, looking around the bed to see if he can locate his clothes.

"Why do you say that?" I ask, shifting a little in the bed towards my air conditioner.

"He fell asleep with his earbuds in."

"Oh yeah, he does that. No way he heard anything."

"Everyone else definitely heard you though."

"Oh fuck you!" I cackle, picking up one of the pillows to throw it at Ted. "Maybe if you'd taken it fuckin' easy, I would've been quieter."

"Last I checked, you were the one takin' it."

"Ted, I'm going to fucking slap you."

"Can it wait until I find my fucking pants?" Ted chuckles at me, trying to keep himself covered with the blanket. "I'm hungry."

We had scattered our clothes around quite a bit last night. His sweatpants were down by my air conditioner, his shirt by the front door, my nightgown still hanging off the edge of the bed and I couldn't spot my pajama shorts anywhere at all. "Do you know where my pants are?" Ted asked, trying to look around his side of the bed. I smirk at him, leaning back a little on the bed.

"Yes.." I give a slow nod, crossing my arms. Ted turns to look at me, giving me a suspicious smile. "Did you hide them?"

"No."

"But you know where they are."

"Mhmm.."

"Are they close to you?"

"Maybe.."

"And you're not gonna let me get to them, are you?"

"Nope.."

"Well, I've got something you need, too.."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Your clothes for the day."

Ted reaches under his side of the bed and pulls out the clothes I was going to wear that day, underwear and all. Fuck. The night before I like to pick out tomorrow's outfit and tuck it under the bed. He must've seen them last night. Sure, I have my dresser on my side, but I'd still have to uncover my body to get to it. "You wouldn't.." I playfully glare at him, sitting up a little in the bed. Ted holds the clothes up and far away from me, smiling deviously.

"Hand me my pants, and I won't.." He offered, tilting his head a little.

"Give me my clothes first, and I'll move." I countered, keeping my body covered with the blankets.

"Oh no, you started this. Hand me my pants."

"Give me my clothes."

"I will, once I get my pants."

"Oh come on, you wouldn't even need to leave the bed to get your pants.."

"Neither will you if you hand me my pants."

"You wanna miss breakfast over this?"

"I already ate last night."

"You just said you were hungry, Theo."

"Wasn't talkin' about food, princess. Now hand me my pants."

I squint at Ted, glaring daggers through him with a slight embarrassed smirk on my face.

"You're not gonna do it." I challenge him, leaning back against my pillow and crossing my arms again. Ted raises his eyebrows at me and glances down at my crossed arms before giving my clothes a good toss away from both of us, watching with a gasp as they land next to his shirt by the front door. "Fetch.."

I look over at my clothes with widened eyes before rolling them back and letting out a huff. We had spent a little too much time in here so I figured I should just go get them. I reach over my side of the bed to pick up and throw Ted's sweatpants at him before moving to get out of bed, completely naked.

When I sit up and move my legs over the edge of the bed though, I feel my thighs are still shaking a little. My face becomes a little hot when I remember how tightly I had my legs wrapped around Ted last night, I didn't expect them to still feel weak.

"Can't walk?" I hear Ted mocking me with a pleased hum, looking over to see that he'd already gotten his sweatpants and glasses on. "Can you get my clothes, please?.." I asked him, sweetening the tone of my voice. Ted tilts his head at me and hums again before getting up out of bed to move over to my clothes. I smile at him, but it falters a little when I see him pick up his shirt instead.

"Y'know, I would.." Ted begins, putting his shirt back on and leaning back against the closed door "...but now I wanna see if you can walk." He grins devishly at me and slowly beckons me over with a finger. "Come here."

I feel my face heat up and pout at his response, but honestly, this is kind of hot, so I do as I'm told. I stand up from the bed, closing my eyes for a moment when I feel the slight weakness and warmth in my legs. I'm grateful to Tanner for choosing his film to be a RomCom and not an Action movie, that's for sure . I move around the bed and approach my clothes, the heavy blush staying on my face knowing Ted is watching me. I'm sure he's very entertained. I picked up my clothes with an embarrassed huff, putting them on quickly in front of him.

"This is what we are now, eh?" I ask, turning around to get Ted's assistance with putting my bra on. I hear him sigh, planting a little kiss on the top of my head. "If you want the truth, I'm enjoying this while I have it.." He replied, successfully hooking my bra around me. "I...don't know if you want to say anything about this."

I smile affectionately when I feel him kiss my head, turning to look at him as I put my shirt on. "You don't think they heard us?" I ask with a sort of sing-song tone. "You underestimate how fucking deeply Joe and Dan sleep." Ted adds with a little chuckle. "They're heavy fucking sleepers, plus they're on the entire other side of the hallway. We might be okay."

I don't say anything for a little while, getting my pants on last so I can tuck my shirt in the way I like it. I thought I'd been loud enough to wake the whole house up, but Ted has a point. Tanner had his earbuds in, Dan's an incredibly loud snorer and Joe definitely would've knocked my door down by now if he knew Ted had spent the night in here. There's a very good chance no one out there knows a thing.

"Do you wanna keep it between us?.." Ted asks me, his tone becoming a little more serious. Once I get my pants buttoned up, I look up at him. I sigh a little. "Well, even if I did, I have to tell Joe.."

"Joe? Why?" Ted asks, a little confused.

"He...snipped at me about this the first night we stayed here." I admit with a smile. "He warned me not to get with you, but a couple days ago he...changed his mind, I guess. Told me to tell him if anything happened, I promised I would."

"'Get with me'.." Ted repeats with a little scoff, looking away for a moment and shaking his head. "Too late, I guess. You're stuck with me now."

"Oh am I?" I grin at him, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck to get his attention again. He looks at me once more, his gaze softening as our eyes meet. "Yeah, you are.."

An affectionate sigh leaves me and we both chuckle a little. I'm content with this. I lean up to give him a gentle kiss on the lips, a satisfied hum leaving me when he returns the kiss, slinking his hands around my waist. After a moment, I pull back from his lips and gaze at him once more, biting my lower lip slightly. "I'll let Joe know privately. It's up to you whether you want everyone else to know.."

Ted briefly glances up with his eyes, probably pondering the idea. "I'll think about it. Thanks."

I smile at him again before pulling back so Ted can open the door, peeking outside at first to see if anyone was up here in the hallway with us. With the coast being clear, we both exit my room. Ted tells me he's going into his room to change for the day, so I go downstairs alone. It probably looks better this way, especially if Ted wants to keep us on the downlow for now.

Everyone greets me when I enter the kitchen, seeing the different boxes of donuts and other snacks scattered around. Some members of the film crew were toasting some bagels to have while others simply had a coffee and a hashbrown. Most of the donuts were already devoured so Tanner starts to throw away the empty boxes. It's weird being in front of everyone again after last night. It's like they could just look at me and know, even though it's clear to me now that they haven't got a clue. Joe and Dan are out here as well, sitting at the kitchen table with some donuts in their hand and their coffee's on the table. After I grab a bite to eat, I head on over to hang out with them. It seemed like we were getting a slightly later start anyways, I couldn't spot any of the extras that had been here for the last week, so they all probably went home.

"Holy, I thought you were dead up there." Dan joked to me with a smile, wiping his mouth a little with his wrist. I blush a little, wondering if that was a comment about...you know. It definitely wasn't, thankfully. "I slept in a little." I admit with a shy grin and a shrug, sort of leaning against the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ted come downstairs in a new long sleeved shirt, fixing up his hair with his other hand as he heads into the kitchen. I smile to myself. Ooh, this is gonna be hard. He's more attractive now. Is this what 'post-fuck glow' is?

"Ok, we need your help settling something.." Joe speaks up after taking a long sip from his iced cappuccino, setting it down on the table. My attention returns to Joe, raising my brow a little curiously. "Okay.."

"This is gonna sound so fucking weird to you, but hear me out cause I think you'll find it funny.." Joe begins, gesturing his hands out in front of him. "We were arguing over what the ratio is--out of all of the guys here, what the ratio is of...who here would know where the clit is versus who wouldn't know."

Oh fuck me, Joe comes up with the wildest topics.

"What???" I furrow my brows at Joseph and scoff a little. Tanner joins us at the table, pulling up a few more chairs so he and I can sit down with Dan and Joe. "Hear me out! Like there's, what, 21 other guys working here, including the 3 of us." Joe explains, gesturing to Dan, Tanner and himself. Tanner's staff was more male focused. Now that the extras were gone there were about 32 of us. 24 of them were male. "So, what, you're wondering how many of them know where the clit is?" I ask with a nervous chuckle. "How fucking long have you been debating this? Why?"

"A good hour." Dan admits, his tone suggesting he's exaggerating. "This all fuckin' started because I pulled out a really small donut hole and Joe said it looked like a clit. It made me laugh and I asked why he thought that."

"I just know, bro." Joe chuckles with a little shrug.

"Joseph.." I bring my hand up to lightly squeeze the bridge of my nose with my finger and my thumb. I wanted a way to take my mind off of last night, this certainly wasn't helping.

"I'd say maybe half. At least half of us must know." Tanner suggests, gesturing to the kitchen.

"Nooo! No way." Joe quickly shoots it down, shaking his finger at Tanner. "Not fucking half, no way. 5 of us probably know. 5. Tops."

"So if we know, that leaves 3 others." Dan continues, gesturing to himself and Joe. "Tanner, do you know where it is?"

"Oh, definitely not." Tanner admits with a little chuckle. "But, like, If you give me maybe 5--maybe 10 minutes. I could, y'know, probably figure it out. For science."

I can't help but laugh at that. Knowing Tanner, he's not being dishonest about that. He'd probably want to know where it is for bragging rights and that's it, not to actually use that knowledge as a man.

"Find what?" Ted finally joins in on the conversation, half of a bagel already stuffed in his mouth.

"Ted, do you know where the clit is?" Tanner abruptly asks Ted, getting a good laugh out of the rest of us when Ted nearly coughs out his bagel. I resist the urge to touch my cheek, feeling it warm up.

"What the fuck!?" Ted asks with a laugh, shrugging with his arms out. "That's what you're discussing? At 9 in the morning?"

"We think 3 other guys here must know where the clit is." Dan explained, taking a sip from his coffee with a little chuckle. "Do you know?"

"He wouldn't fucking know! Ted wouldn't fucking know where it is." Joe scoffs with a cackle, wiping underneath his eyes when they begin to water from the laughter. Ted and I share a quick, knowing glance and I see him smirk at me.

"No. Probably not." Ted jokes, shaking his head a little. I look down at the desk to mask the big smile threatening to spread along my lips.

Act a fool

Act a fool

Act a fool

Act a fool

Act a fool.

"Oh, (Y/N), now that you're here.." Tanner gets my attention by speaking my name, swallowing the last bit of his donut so he wasn't speaking with his mouth full. "Dianne with the makeup department wanted to experiment with a few looks with you. She's in the living room whenever you're ready."

"Oh cool, mind as well go now." I shrug, standing up from my seat. "What's it for?"

"For the ballroom scene." Tanner replied, wiping any crumbs that may had been on his face. That's right. Tanner had written in a whole dream sequence in the film that involves changing the set to appear more like a ballroom and making Ted and I look like royalty. They're probably going to see what will look best on me, whether we'll be making this more historic or fantasy-based. It'll be one of the last scenes we film. I've really been looking forward to it.

"Have a good rest of your morning, guys!" I chirp and wave a little, moving aside so Ted could sit. Ted moves around me to take my spot, but not before giving me a little peck on the lips.

Uhh...

In front of everyone.

"Have fun, princess."

Everyone at the table looks very surprised as Ted sits down, myself included. Huh? What was that? He said he was going to think about both of us telling everyone! Oh, this motherfucker, he probably did that on purpose. He totally did that on purpose. Everyone stares at Ted as he takes a long sip from his coffee, with Joe eventually breaking the stare to furrow his brows at me instead.

"...What?" Ted speaks through his coffee cup, a coy smirk making the corners of his lips curl up. A nervous chuckle escapes me. I can't believe he did that.

"...Did you just kiss her?" Dan asks, a half-smile on his face. It's like he couldn't tell if this was supposed to be a bit or not.

"Yeah." Ted replied simply, setting his coffee down. "Why?"

"Wha--Yeah, that's what I was about to ask, Ted." Tanner looked more bewildered than ever. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why...did you kiss (Y/N)?"

"I wanted to again."

"Again? When did you kiss her before?"

"In her room."

My entire face feels like a boiling kettle. Is he really going to spill everything right here, right now? It seemed like no one from the film crew could hear us, he was exclusively just speaking to Tanner, Dan and Joe.

"Wait, is that where you went last night?" Tanner asked, the confusion on his face becoming more dramatic. "Well I planned to sleep on the couch, but yeah." Ted answered honestly, finishing up the last half of his bagel.

"You were in her room? Last night?"

"Yeah."

"What--What happened in there?"

"Nothin'."

Ted glances at me with a smirk as he gives no real answers to Tanner. I'm so embarrassed, I just turn away and start heading towards the living room like I said I would. As I do this, I hear Joe get up from his seat to march straight towards me, along with Tanner continuously proding Ted with more questions.

"What happened in the room?" Tanner asks, a confused laugh leaving him. "What happened in that room, Ted?"

Oh boy, here we go.

__________________________________

|| Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 (smut) || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 (smut) || Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 (smut) || Chapter 15 ||

[sadiegirl2021]

Writing tag game by @bonecarversbestie !

Describe your writing process from idea to posting/publishing?

I have a notes app called EasyNotes where I jot down all my ideas as I get them; bits of dialogue I think would work in a fic, interactions between characters (which always come to me just as I'm about to drift off to sleep) and very, very rough outlines of chapters.

Then, I'll word vomit onto a doc and copy in any notes I had.

Because I'm better at dialogue than describing the scene, I'll write out all of that first and then work from there to flesh it out. Like starting with the skeleton.

Once I have the first draft done, I start my editing process. I go paragraph by paragraph correcting spelling and grammar (I have a Chrome extension called LanguageTool), and then I play the whole chapter through another Chrome extension called Read Aloud. Because of my ADHD, it can be difficult to catch all my errors by reading alone, so hearing it out loud helps A LOT! Would recommend it. (Although the voices used are hilarious. Hearing your smut scene's read out by a monotone robot is slightly traumatising 😂)

Once I'm happy with a paragraph, I will add HTML coding to it - the <p> tag. In my head, it's just the easiest way to mark that a paragraph is complete. If I'm still not sure about a sentence or paragraph, I will mark it in red to rework. I also add all my <i> tags as I'm writing, so I don't forget about them later!

I realise I'm doing too much! But, I quite enjoy the editing process.

Once I get a chapter or One Shot uploaded, I try my best not to read it again so I'm not continuously making little changes.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I want to be a plotter SO BAD! I've got Excel sheets, multiple docs with outlines, plot points, and a solid plan. And then boom! The characters run off like a crazed toddler in the opposite direction, and all I can do is follow. So… I guess I'm a pantser!

What do you listen to when you are writing?

I have multiple Spotify playlists depending on the mood of the fic/chapter I'm writing. If I need to write emotional scenes, I'll put on some heartbreaking Emo songs from 2006! Or, if my energy drops while writing, I'll switch to 90s pop. Generally, though, I just listen to instrumental music. One of my fav playlists is this one.

What’s your drink of choice (while writing)?

Water. I am booooooring. It is sparkling, though!

Promote yourself! What’s your favourite thing you’ve written?

I think it's Hot Girl Summer. This was supposed to be a little funny, 5-10 chapter fic that wasn't serious. And it has spiralled into a multi POV, 40-chapter story with so much plot! I'm loving the process, though. And I think I will definitely have to get it bound when it's all done.

Share a fic of yours that you think is underrated/deserves more love.

I'm going to say Hot Girl Summer too. I think a lot of people aren't as interested in stories that follow both Gwynriel and Elucien (and sometimes E/riel or another pairing with their favourite characters) at the same time. I haven't seen many fics that do it, but they’re some of my favourites in the fandom, and I’m so happy to add to that list. If you're hesitant, I highly recommend giving them a try!

My favs are:

Call Me Home (by @propagandaprincess)

A Court of Vision and Bloom (by studentwriter666)

Best Laid Plans (by @trappedoutside124)

Do you have any advice for new writers?

First of all, just do it! It took me 33 years to build the confidence to try. For most of my life, I didn't think I was good enough to write, even though I had so many stories to tell. In my 20s, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the plunge. Writing opens you up to criticism (which I hate!), but I’m forever grateful that 99.9% of my readers have only ever been incredibly supportive and encouraging.

Don’t be afraid to use tools that help you. I know my limitations with ADHD, so I created a process that works for me. Everyone has a different method, and the right one is whatever works for you.

Finally, finding a community of like-minded people makes the whole process a lot more fun. I love helping others develop fic ideas or beta-reading for them, and appreciate all the support they give me. It really motivates me to keep writing.

What is a writing style/technique that others do really well that you'd like to get better at?

Flow and angst! I'm really working on improving these areas in my writing. I'm quite impatient and tend to rush through the plot rather than building up tension. I know I need to slow down and let the story breathe, but it's so hard! I just want my characters to kiss within the first 5 seconds 😂

Is there a character you were surprised you enjoyed writing as much as you did?

Eris Vanserra!

Gods, I love torturing this man! I've redeemed him so much in my fic that I'll be heartbroken if he truly turns out to be just a dickhead in the canon ACOTAR world!

Thank you for tagging me @olenvasynyt

No pressure tags: @sunshinebingo @avabrynne @thevalkyriesshadow @aldbooks @hlizr50

[askblueandviolet]

Hello! Welcome to the Blue and Violet Ask Blog!

As you might have guessed, this is an ask blog where you can ask the Mayor (Blue) and Macaque (Violet) from LMK questions! However, before anything else, there are a few things that you need to know.

General Things:

First things first, if you are not aware already, this blog is not based 'completely' on LMK canon! Instead, it is directly based and linked to the Blue and Violet Fanfiction series on AO3. Written by yours truly, me (haha!). Link to the fic series is in the bio/under the header. If you want to ask questions, please make sure you are up to date with all the chapters in ALL the fics in the series. (Also by the way YES THIS IS SHADOWPUPPET >:DDDD. If you don't like it and have a desire to assert your opinion regarding that? Then please, I kindly ask that you do not interact with this blog for your sake, my sake, and for the sake of everyone else who might want to enjoy this. Thank you :))).)

What this means is that the only things that Macaque and Mayor have experienced is within the context of this fanfiction series (which contains lots of establishment of how they know each other and their perspectives during seasons 1-3). Therefore, you definitely cannot ask these two about season four related things, because it hasn't happened to them yet!

Due to this, this blog will follow the timeline and events of what happens in the newest instalment of the series, 'Winter Mornings, Summer Nights' (previously, it was 'Colours'). After every chapter is posted, you will be able to ask Macaque and Mayor questions relating to what had happened to them in that chapter or any events prior in the fic series.

IMPORTANT: Whatever happens in this ask blog is NOT canon to the fic series. However, what happens in the fic series directly affects this blog. This means that nothing you ask or say on this blog will affect the Blue and Violet storyline.

Rules (or just... things to remember?) Regarding Asks:

I think I will be able to answer every question that you all submit. However, if I find a question too offensive, too uncomfortable, too strange (meaning I just don't understand it :'D) or something that will potentially spoil the future events of the fic series, then I will have to unfortunately ignore the ask. Either that, or I simply answer the ask with a silly picture of some sorts. On that note, please don't ask any character or me what will happen next! They probably don't know either! You'll all just have to wait and see ;D.

You can ask both Macaque and Mayor any questions you desire. However, I would highly recommend with each chapter posted, we stick to asking questions to whomever the new chapter's POV is in!

Also, if you wanted, you could also ask side characters any questions you wanted! Like Baihe, or any one of my OC's for Mayor's side of the story. But, keep in mind that this is technically a Shadowpuppet ask blog XDDD thus, they should be the main focus.

Not only can you ask the characters questions, but you can also just ask me questions about the series in general? Or just... Say something I guess? I've had people do that on my main blog, and it always makes me happy to see that people like what I am writing!

I will be honest, I am not expecting many asks to come to this blog. But, on the off chance I am overloaded with asks, please know that I can only work so fast! If it really does get too much I will temporarily shut the ask box, but I will make sure that every ask is answered to the best of my ability (Update: I look back on this statement and I realise oh how so very naive I had been)!

IMPORTANT: As of right now, it seems I should be able to answer one-two questions per day (although it could be less frequent due to potential circumstances in the future) so keep that in mind!

After experimenting with the ask box I have decided that the box will be open for 24 hours whenever it opens! This is just so that people from different time zones can like, have an equal chance to get something in if they want, haha. No cap limit on the box for now, just go wild!

Master List of Asks :D (WIP)

Key:

💙- Mayor

💜 - Macaque

🩷 - Baihe/LBD's Hostess (because of how many times she appears, she deserves her own key, haha :DDD)

Colours

Chapter One Asks 💜🩷

Chapter Two Asks 💙

Chapter Three Asks 💜🩷

Chapter Four Asks 💙

Chapter Five Asks 💜(🩷)

Chapter Six Asks 💙💜🩷

Chapter Seven Asks 💙💜🩷

Chapter Eight Asks 💙

Chapter Nine Asks 💜🩷

Chapter Ten Asks 💙

Chapter Eleven Asks 💙

Chapter Twelve Asks 💜

Chapter Thirteen Asks 💙

Chapter Fourteen Asks 💙💜

Winter Mornings, Summer Nights (Announcement Post)

Chapter One Asks 💜

Chapter Two Asks 💙💜

Chapter Three Asks 💙

Chapter Four Asks 💙💜

Chapter Five Asks 💜(💙)

Chapter Six Asks 💙💜

Chapter 'Seven' (now Eight on AO3) Asks 💙💜

Chapter 'Eight' (now Seven on AO3)💙💜🩷

Chapter Nine 💜💙

Chapter Ten 💙💜

Chapter Eleven 💜🩷

Chapter Twelve 💙💜

Chapter Thirteen 💙💜

Chapter Fourteen 💙💜

Chapter Fifteen 💙💜

Chapter Sixteen 💙💜

Chapter Seventeen 💙💜

AND THAT'S IT! I... think? This post will update as time goes on the more and more I learn how to help this blog function to the best of its ability. So please check this pinned post every time before you ask a question :DDD.

[kaelidascope]

Dude, I love this fanfic so much! I just wanted to ask where you got the idea from. Did you have any inspiration from anyone? Also, what's your favorite fanfic? And want do you recommend ?

AWE bless!! Thank you so much I'm glad you're enjoying it <33

So actually a good 80% of this is written from personal experience LOL I used to dance and was into drift building/racing in my late teens/early twenties! Most of the references or scenes in Midnight Menagerie are references to things I've seen or done in real life, OR stories friends have told me within the same field. (Nora is literally just a rebranding of this one mutual friend we had who just. Absolutely fucking unhinged) Like for example, the anticipated Hangover Chapter is just a retelling of an insane Summer weekend I had in 2017 ☠️ it's a personal delight being able to translate things into the narrative, even more so knowing people find my stupid, terrible decisions as amusing as I do in current times lol

My general rule of thumb is to write from experience. Things I understand either on a technical point or emotional connection. So, if you've read it in my work, it's probably something I've done LOL

Another reason I find drive in writing this type of narrative is that MM!Blake's type of dissociative PTSD is something I haven't seen much in media in general. I've seen people depict her in various ways (some of them good!), but none of them ever really apply directly to me, so I wanted to make something that I could relate to and how to properly navigate life, given the environmental circumstances. Plus some us need better examples on how to juggle mental illness as adults and also be in healthy long term relationships because damn I have zero reference LOL

For the fic recs, oh boy I have so many LOL time to be a pathetic fangirl on main but okay here's the ones that immediately jump to mind (also heads up most of these are mature or explicit rating);

Certified Kaeli Fresh Fics

Let You See My Wilder Side (If I Can See Your Bones)

We all know this one but it is, hands down, my favorite piece of literature of all time. Masterfully crafted and a timeless classic worth several rereads (and I have. Embarrassingly so)

Written by @/lucytara on tumblr || @/explosive_sky on twitter

honestly all her works are immaculate and beyond compare. Also a major fan of I Have A Bullet With Your Mouth On It (That was first RWBY fanfic I ever read LMAO a friend recommended it to me before I even watched the show) I aspire to write like her some day. It's what got me writing fanfiction in the first place. So, credit goes to Erin for inspiring me to post my manuscripts at all. Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation. I have two book series in the process of being published now and I wouldn't have had the nerve to do it had it not been for this specific fic.

2. One Day At A Time

Also one of the earlier fics I read before getting into the show LOL I love all of @/Frenchsoda 's work, the full list is also worth checking out. I'm a fan of disgruntled Blake who doesn't understand her attraction to Yang but it's so god damn sweet ugh

3. Fucking In Love

Written by @/Set_WingedWarrior and @/Softlight

This one circulates a lot in my social circles. Everyone I know LOVES this one and after reading it earlier this year, now I see why. As someone who worked in the sex industry for a brief period of time, this one's not only accurate but also A DELIGHT to read. The premise is fun, captivating, and worth the wait. I actually discovered a chapter update earlier this year and sent the gc into hysterics because we thought the fic was dead LMAO props to these authors!! They're doing an amazing job and deserve praise

4. You're A Mountain, Full Of Glory

written by champion author @/lescousinsdangereux

I should just preface already that every book Blake reads in MM is a fanfiction that exists because I love Easter eggs. Everyone knows I had Blake reference this in chapter 3 LOL but it's equally as immaculate as Erin's work. I LOVED especially the dynamic between Weiss, Yang, and Ruby in this one. Baby, we're complicated fucking murdered me 😭 also that fuckass Christmas scene, that's my favorite Christmas song LMAO

5. The Home Inside Your Head

Written by the ever skilled @/writeriguess . I found this fic by accident by seeing fanart for it floating around on this site. Got curious, picked at it, and. Oh, my god. It's not very often my brain gets scratched in the right way, but boy this one does it. This author does something specifically unique I haven't seen many do before, and I applaud them for it. There's great detail on the scenes that matter, and the fucking organic build up between Blake and Yang is just. God. Chef's kiss. Truly. It feels so god damn natural and healthy and it's already crossing off several of my agendas already. Give this one a read and give the author some love. SENSUAL FACE TOUCHING? CHAPTER 13????? BOOOOOOOYYYYYYY I'm normal about it

6. You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)

Written by @/WabaJaba_ on twitter

Okay so this one's completely different than what I've previously listed but HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS IT A THRILLER. It doesn't nearly have the amount of love and attention it truly deserves. A friend of mine recommended it to me because it shook them so fucking hard they were in total brainrot hell for a MONTH. NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY LMAO God I was obsessed with this for weeks myself. It obviously lives up to it's rating, horror fics aren't for everyone. But if you're able to read it, good lord you should. It's chilling, captivating, and had me on the edge of my fucking seat the entire time. Both endings are good, I still can't decide which one I prefer but RAH I will make sure this is seen god dammit

and last but certainly not least

7. You And Me and This Temptation

written by talented author @/ProfessorSpork

Okay this one was an accidental find as well. A friend sent it to me because THEY found it by accident, I clicked on it for later, went looking for a completely different fic that I mistook for this one, started skimming and realized 'wait a minute LMAO I don't recognize this'. But the thing you have to understand is I hate reading. I'm not a reader, I'm picky and it needs to be worth sitting down for long periods of time. This is one of the rare instances where I was so captivated by it I kept reading more and more from the middle where I landed, and eventually just said ykw let me just start from the beginning cus LMAO context.

This one is, by far, one the healthiest and loveliest depictions of first times I have ever seen. This shit was so inspiring to me that it literally kickstarted an essay in someone's DMs why depictions like this are so important. I didn't have this experience irl, and why MM is written the way it is is because its meant to serve as a lighthouse for those who, like me, haven't. This fic however I feel like should be a required read for anyone getting into relationships for the first time because if it's not like how these two interact, LEAVE IT. This is the standard. This is amazingly written, it's the closest I've ever seen canon Yang and Blake be written to date. The fucking souvenir bit 😭 NJKFGNFJKGNGJ killed me, I was kicking my feet laughing for a good minute. This is the kind of standard everyone should look at and go 'yeah, I want what they have' BECAUSE IT'S CORRECT. LOUD CORRECT BUZZER NOISES

Honestly everything in my bookmarks is certified Kaeli Fresh but these 7 are my top faves. They're probably also really commonly known I'm sure but LMAO like I said I don't read much 😭 which is heavily ironic considering I write myself. Anyway this ended up way longer than I intended but LOL <3 <3 go give these incredible authors love!!

[allastoredeer]

Hey! I just want to say, you are my gateway into Radioapple and Hazbin fics as a whole, and boy did you set an expectation for me!! I'm always afraid of coming across OOC fics, and I'm especially picky with what I choose to read at first when I'm still so new to fandom portrayals of characters. When I read the summary and tags of Just Kiss Already, I couldn't believe my eyes because it had everything I was looking for?!? Post season 1, Alastor whump (I squealed at the concept of the angelic wound), Luci having to face the public and his lack of knowledge regarding politics, jealous Vox, Overlord meetings, and! Fake/pretend relationship!! With the sprinkle of rumors and speculation from the public (Idk what it is with me and loving this trope). You delivered a full course meal! The characterization was so so amazing, I love the banter, and I just adore the concept of Alastor being vulnerable in front of someone stronger than him (that someone being Lucifer, who despite being the king of hell, doesn't use his powers to take advantage of Alastor's vulnerable state is ahhhhhh so good). The pacing is incredible, the interactions are golden, and I applaud you for writing POVs that feel real and authentic to canon!

One major thing that made me extremely picky about choosing and reading fics in the fandom was my fear of authors not being able to handle Alastor's Asexuality well. Thank you for doing Alastor justice, I'm so amazed at how well you wrote him in this regard. Like when Vox yelled at him "What does Lucifer have that I don't?", it didn't even cross Alastor's mind that this is a confession of sorts, and instead he thought Vox was talking about power. I love the subtleness of this so much!! The last chapter you posted was amazing in this regard, with Alastor's thoughts about relationships in general. Just, thank you for sharing your work with us, I enjoyed all of it, and I'm so excited to see where the story goes <3333

Another thing I'm still skeptical about is reading explicit fics, because... well, I'm not sure if they will handle Alastor's Ace identity well. Do you happen to have a recommendation for someone like me who's never read Radioapple smut before? And I would also love to know your overall favorite Radioapple fics as well, I've bookmarked some stuff and I don't know where to begin haha. Again thank you, and your blog and asks are so interesting to read!!

HI! HELLO! So this has been sitting in my inbox for a while and its not because I was ignoring it, its because I have come back to read it over and over and over again as I've been writing the next chapter to "Chaggie's Dating 101," and I didn't want to lose it in the void of my blog.

Thank you for this 🥺 not only is it cool being your introduction to Radiapple/HH fics, but I'm so glad you've been enjoying it too!! Hahaha I'm definitely having a lot of fun with "Just Kiss Already" and all the shenangians that are already happening, and knowing that other people are having just as much fun makes me just dlkfnvsdkgjslkgj 😭❤️

I totally get it about being picky. I'm a very picky reader too 😅 Alastor's aceness is definitely something that I can get picky about. Like, it doesn't have to be the focal point every time I read a smut fic--or any fic in general--but when it feels like its either brushed aside altogether or there's underlying aphobia (unintentionally, I'm sure), I nope out real quick. I base a lot of my own ace experiences, thoughts, and emotions on how I write Alastor, and it is so, so validating to see so many other people feeling the same way.

I'll admit, I can be a little more slack with smut fics so long as the smut itself is fantastic, but yeah, there are certain pairings or dynamics I don't stray into because I hate how Alastor is typically depicted, especially in smut fics.

I've slowly been going through all my Hazbin 'marked for later' fics, but here's some radioapple smut fics I have bookmarked (Warning: I enjoy dark and very explicit fics so be sure to read the tags when you look through these):

Bayou in the Mountain by lelepandewritium

With a Coffee and a Caress by winterveritas (<- my current fav radioapple smut fic)

Together In My Pocket by keelywolfe

Unhealthy Attachments by keelywolfe

And, of course, I always recommend checking out keelywolfe's Lucifer's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Relationship radioapple series! I haven't had time to finish it, but I think I'm up to fic 9 or 10 and I'm been loving it so much! It's so much fun! And I love the radioapple smut :3

I'm...just now realizing this is all the Radioapple smut I have in my bookmarks.

Wow.

I've been reading a LOT of smut recently, but looking back, I think it's all been RadioStatic 😂 if ya'll want any RadioStatic smut fic recs, let me know, I have a lot of those.

BUT ALSO! If anyone's read to this point! Here's an update on the chapter 3 of "Chaggie's Totally Legitimate Dating 101 Crash Course" :

The chapter is officially written and is being looked over by my beta's! I'm hoping to have it posted by Saturday or Sunday, so be on the look out for an update 😉 because it's happening very soon!

[velkynkarma]

The book you binded looks so cool!!! I've been meaning to get into book binding as well, especially for One Piece fics and I love the format you did it in with Zoro's logo. How did you edit it? Would you be willing to share tips on how you did it? Did you watch book binding YouTube videos?

Thanks, anon! I'm glad you enjoyed! And I'm absolutely willing to share what I learned!

For the general book-binding, I used a couple book binding how-to videos.

Turning Fanfiction Into the Hardcover Book it Deserves by Jess Less

This one helped with:

How to use an old book cover/used book for the cover of the fanfic (you can also MAKE covers, and she has another video on this as well, but I love the idea of recycling old unwanted books into something new and loved)

The basics for formatting the pages (her bit about adding a compass design for the chapters is what inspired me to use Zoro's flag logo)

How to print and prep the pages/signatures

How to finish putting the whole thing together and add some interesting design elements

I especially liked this video because it's very beginner-friendly and casual, which helped the whole project feel a little less daunting. You can get special tools for book binding (there are kits online) but as shown, it's also simple enough to do with a thumbtack and some corkboard if you're low on cash.

That said, I found the stitch in this video a bit confusing, so I used the stitch from this video instead:

Folding & Sewing - Rounded and Backed Cased Book // Adventures in Bookbinding by DAS Bookbinding

Stitch prep is specifically around 7min in if you just want to skip to that. But the whole thing is an interesting watch too. This is more professional bookbinding and he has a lot of other interesting videos if you want to do some more complex things. However I found this stitch to be very straightforward and easy to follow and assemble, so I ultimately used this one when I put together Seven Deaths.

As for my personal tips and things I learned while doing this project?

Turns out Google Docs is kind of useless for this. You'll want actual word processing software like Microsoft Word. If you don't have the cash to spend on Microsoft's ridiculous subscription policy, you can use LibreOffice which is free (I did, and it works very well).

Fics are way longer on paper than they are digitally. Seven Deaths is 'only' about a 50K fic (less, in fact). But it still makes a 200+ page book. Pic a smaller fic to start with while you figure out everything you want to do.

Do some research on good book fonts for the body of your text. You can get crazy with other things (chapter headers or title pages) but pic something recommended for your text body so it's legible.

To add character symbols (like Zoro's flag) you'll need a transparent copy of it to save as a png. Once you pull it into the word doc you can resize and arrange as needed.

Also look at other "real" books you have lying around for ideas for things to add to your book! I turned an author's note into a "Forward", added an "about the author/publisher" section at the back, put in a table of contents, etc. There's other things I want to experiment with next time. Go wild! Have fun!

Test print a couple pages before printing the full project, just to be sure it's actually the right page size, your font is legible and spaced well, etc. If you don't have a printer and you don't want to pay a print shop for some expensive test pages, try your local library! Many let you use their computers and printers for an extremely low cost.

If you don't have a printer (or not one that can do quality printing for 200+ pages) you'll need to go to a print shop. DON'T bother with places like Staples or OfficeMax. I tried this, but their machines automatically staple "booklets" out of your signatures, which messes up your paper and costs extra for this "service." Instead, track down a local print shop in your area. It's easier to talk to them directly about what you want and the quality is better anyway.

On that note, this is an expensive hobby! Printing for Seven Deaths was about $87USD. The quality was worth it, but definitely do not start if you don't have your own printer or a little bit of spending money.

You do not need as much glue or thread as you think you need. Go less. Waste not.

A lot of the end stages is just...waiting...for...glue...to...dry.

You will inevitably, invariably, mess things up on your first project. I sure did! I underestimated the sharpness of some tools and put holes places I didn't mean to; some things glued in a bit sloppily; I didn't set up my page organization exactly right my table of contents ended up on the left page when I envisioned it on the right. But you know what? It doesn't matter! Because at the end of the day you have a book that YOU MADE. And it's still fucking awesome! And now you've learned some things for next time. Do it anyway and have fun with it!

Happy crafting, anon. I hope you are able to add some personal favorites to your bookshelf soon :)

[thegrimreaperisanerd]

hi :) binge read your de fic that you have posted on ao3 last night and really enjoyed all of it! excited to see any updates. was wondering if you have any rec for other fic youve read and enjoyed-- i am not god's bravest soldier and do not enjoy trudging through tags and was wondering if you had read anything yourself that you really enjoyed lolol

Hey, thanks so much!!! Sorry it's taken a couple days to answer this, I'm poor as shit and have two jobs now wah... capitilism...

I'm working on the next 46' chapter, It's about 70% complete and I generally let it sit for an evening once it's done then re-read it the next day to catch the vast majority of mistakes (I edit everything myself) so I'd say expect that in the coming days.

I have some thoughts! I... Have never been asked for fic recs before so I'm gonna list a bunch in no particular order that I enjoyed, and reasons why. I will note that I tend to enjoy meaty plot-based works over fluff, so that's what I'll be recommending. Anyway!

Paddling Out (THE REPEATER CORPSE CONUNDRUM) - @transhitman - So this is the first DE fic I read and it set the bar pretty fucking high. YOU'VE GOT: a very cool and insular setting (don't get me wrong I like fics where they travel around Revachol too, but there's something to be said for building a set and living in it for a while) YOU'VE GOT: extremely harrowing tension and pale-fuckery YOU'VE GOT: some genuinely beautiful, heartfelt moments (I don't want to spoil anything but "people don't need your permission to care about you" kinda undid me) YOU'VE ALSO GOT: Amazing art?! Always a bonus, I wish I could draw people lol

Have You Heard The News That You're Dead? - Wizardlover - Time Loop shenanigans hell yeah! Basic premise: Kim is *unable* to save Harry's life after he's shot at the tribunal, each time he dies he Reawakens in Martinaise on the first day and desperately has to try and find a way to either prevent the Tribunal entirely, or survive it. I think the major draw to this one is how well it's characterised and how well that lends to the major source of tension: trying to convince THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SKEPTIC that you *a man he 'has only just met'* is actually stuck in a time loop. Juicy shit.

The Case Of The Man Who Two-Thirds Wasn't There - @glisteningceruleaneyes - We got another case fic here, gang. This is one of those "they travel around Revachol" numbers I previously mentioned. A lot to love about this fic; the minor OCs are all loveable (or at least well-written, looking at you Mr. Bigot-All-Rounder), the elements of writing in the game's style (particularly use of Harry's 'to do' list that you find in the ledger, you don't see that as often!) are all fantastic. Also without spoiling too much I'm a sucker for hurt/ comfort :) I like when bad things happen to our specialist guy :) ALSO! alternating chapters, Kim vs Harry's perspectives contrast REALLY well! Just a super enjoyable read. - On that note I also wanna include a special mention: there's a podfic for this one and since I mentioned my two jobs, I've been listening to audiobooks at work (I'm a cleaner. It's very boring) and that was a fun change of pace!

The Emergent Causeway - hal_incandenza - Now you KNOW this one is good because it's the only *unfinished* fic I'm recommending. Again, We've got art! We've got a brand new (non-Revachol!) setting that still feels excellently Elysium! We got that excellent balance of humour and misery from the get go! EXCELLENT murder mystery so far, I am intrigued AND also there's a fucking puppy. Hell yeah. This one's from Kim's perspective and does a really good job of it, nothing like a man being begrudgingly sent on holiday and being somewhat relieved to have a corpse to deal with.

A Spilled Kaleidoscope - @spilledkaleidoscope - I'm actually recommending a series here. Real definition of "came for the art, stayed for the writing" I mostly have a soft spot because I got to watch a few "haha, what if-?" musing text posts become a series of written chapters and INCREDIBLE DRAWINGS HOLY SHIT. Like, you really just draw hands for fun, huh? This person made a pact with some sort of devil beasts to draw hands very good, at the bare minimum we can read their fiction.

Nothing To Lose But Our Chains - Lepak - I almost forgot this one and I honestly can't believe it because this is one of these ones that you need a cigarette afterwards. Good fucking god. This is probably the best fic I've ever read in terms of not shying away from the heavy themes that make Disco Elysium such a beautiful, moving game. It tackles a racism in many forms, particularly how people like Kim (in working for the RCM) and immigration laws do their part in upholding racist systems, despite the way it hurts him too. Of course, it's also excellently written with tense scenes and some real funny moments. A real good'un here.

The Catacomb Killer - SupposedToBeWriting - Give Harry more memory loss. Make him convinced he killed a kid. Make *Kim* convinced he killed a kid... Then the plot thickens. I won't lie I can't remember fuck all about this one because I was mostly drunk when I read it, but if it was good enough that I kept reading instead of smoking a spliff or something then it must have been excellent... I will re-read it when I have the time, lmao.

MURDER ON THE AIRWAVES - @randomisedmongoose - I'm just a really big fan of murder mysteries and gore. You show me somebody with brain matter pouring from their earholes and I'm like "yum yum, more of that please." I am a sucker for curious methods of murder and this one's good for that. Lots of trekking back and forth like in the game again. More ACAB - always good.

I did not mean to include this many...........................

Oh well. Here's my list, there are plenty of others I've enjoyed but these are just the ones that came to mind! Thanks again for reading my fic! Always makes me happy when people let me know they enjoy my writing :3

[silverskye13]

I've been meaning to ask about this because I love love LOVE your writing but aren't really very deep into the hermitcraft fandom....

would I need to know anything prior to reading your hc fics? I've heard very many good things about redstone and skulk and I want to read it , but I dunno if walking in clueless is a good idea...

Oh. Hm. Well. I'm maybe not the best person to ask this, ironically. I have a hard time differentiating between actual common knowledge and fandom osmosis common knowledge. My thoughts under the cut because this might get long, but here are my, I guess, fandom initiation thoughts on my fics, for anyone curious?

Redstone and Skulk:

I think it can reasonably be read with little-to-no prior knowledge of the fandom. I do a decent job of explaining what the story is about, since most of it is original worldbuilding with (mostly) original characters. It's a mirror world, where in the main world death doesn't exist, but in the mirror world it does. All the mirror world characters are the bad parts / evil twins of the main world characters, and how they cope with that varies (and is sometimes explicitly stated). The first few chapters do a decent job of establishing this information, and I've had a few people mention RnS was either their first delve into hc fandom, or they had never been in the fandom and read it anyway because it came recommended by a friend. This signals to me it would be about like reading a sequel to a book series. You're clearly missing some establishing character stuff, and maybe some setting stuff, but you're not missing enough to be completely lost.

[basic knowledge of Minecraft mobs and game mechanics would definitely do you good, but that goes for all of these].

Monsters Splitting Hairs:

I personally think you can jump into this with no prior knowledge. All the characters are loosely based on the hc members they're named for personality wise, and place names [Octagon, Horsehead Farms] come from builds the players have made. Just about everything else is my personal world building though. The only upper hand knowing about HC will give you, is maybe cluing you in to who/what the different monster characters are before they're revealed [a la Rendog, who walks around with dog ears on his MC skin, is very obviously a werewolf in the fic.]

This fic is unfinished, and while I plan on finishing it eventually, it isn't being actively updated, and probably won't until RnS is done. It does have a lot of words on it though.

Hound's Tooth:

You need to know a lot of information to go into this one. Not only do you need to know a decent amount about the HC characters, knowing about both 3rd Life and Last Life is also kinda necessary, since the crux of the character motivation is Doc angsting over Ren doing Last Life after 3rd Life fucked up all his friends so bad the first time. Also, you need to know a decent amount about the early Octagon plotlines in s8 of Hermitcraft, the different adventure mode trial rooms they did.

This fic is finished.

Everything else I've written are ficlets, little one or two chapter deals. Anything tagged "RnS fic", you should probably read RnS before reading. Most of the others you need specific information for, since they're generally addressing topics that I had /just/ watched an episode for at the time, and I was responding to an idea or plot point being brought up. Anything with "Hels" or "Helsmet" in the tags or title, know it's about the mirror world and the evil twins.

[shrug]

I hope this helps?

[lord-squiggletits]

For the fic-writers' asks, if you fancy them:

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

4. What detail in We Are The Music-Makers are you really proud of?

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

Ask source

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Is it cheating to say Pay Unto Evil? It's not just because it's my most popular fic by all metrics, the longest project I've written, and the first complete novel I've ever completed, though. I just feel like, particularly in the later chapters, it's a good introduction to the themes that I often write about (mental health/suicidality, searches for meaning, bonds with other people, etc) and is the most complete summary of who I am as a writer in a way.

Though, if someone were to prefer something lighter, I'd honestly recommend An Endless Form Most Beautiful because out of all my fics that I started a year or two ago, I feel like AEFMB is the one that holds up the most strongly w.r.t. prose, characterization, romantic pacing, mystery, and so on. It's also dark, but far less grueling than PUE.

(On that note, it kind of amazes me how many people have told me they found PUE to be more depressing/hard to read than WATMM, considering the latter involves a bittersweet ending w/ major character death.)

4. What detail in We Are The Music-Makers are you really proud of?

Off the top of my head, I'd say that it'd be 1. Orion and Megatron interfacing right after escaping prison and basically cementing their love/bond with each other for the high emotion of the moment. I like how it (and moreso their later interface during their rebellion period) is incredibly romantic and affirming and shows how M/OP uphold each other's best traits, but it's also a little dark in that they're clearly codependent on each other and almost... not sane/well when they're not together.

Or 2. The major character deaths in chapter 6, both how I built up to them and how the characters actually died. That one is because that plot point was one I came up with from the very night I conceptualized WATMM, so in my mind, it had a lot of buildup to it. I knew what was going to happen from the start, and it was one of (if not the) most important climaxes of the story, so I was incredibly keen to be sure that the actual execution of it matched what had been in my mind for a year or more by the time I finally wrote it.

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

I'm really keen on the stuff I've been cooking for Cityspeaker AU Tarnma as far as the psychology of a Titan goes. Like, Tarn is a sort of eldritch being (already a fun concept in its own right) that has a sort of collectivist mindset; not in a hivemind kind of way, but his sense of scale and level of awareness is so broad, and he's literally a living nest/colony for his smaller species members to live on. The way that anatomical differences pave the way for massive differences in perspective. Hell, the concept has even opened my mind in general to the concept of like... almost insect colony-esque Cybertronian interspecies symbiotic relationships.

On top of all the mechanical and worldbuilding aspects of it, it's also been really fun to ponder how being a Titan would then in turn alter Tarn's characterization. Pharma's characterization is more or less a slightly different angle on what exists in canon, but for Tarn he has this massive shift in perspective that changes a lot. Not least of which is that Tarn is Tarn without having been converted by Megatron, but he's also not Tarn of the DJD that we know in canon, and neither is he Damus/Glitch. So there's just a lot to play around with there in terms of defining Titan!Tarn's key traits as carried over from canon, and how he'd express himself while also being an eldritch being that Pharma needs training to even talk to without dying.

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

IDW1 MegOP role reversal AU in which Megatron is a cop and Orion is a miner. No one else swapped: so for example, Megatron would be around people like Ratchet, Roller, and Senator Shockwave, and Orion would have Impactor and Terminus.

I think it'd be hella interesting to see how differently everything would go if M and OP were in swapped positions. Like as an example, Megatron probably would've been more conscious of stuff like Senator Shockwave putting the Matrix casing in him without asking and be aware that he was being manipulated somehow. Orion would very likely reject Terminus' teachings on how leadership is lonely and you have to cut off all your relationships so you can sit on the heights and do what you need to do. Or then again, maybe Terminus would be a slightly less evil (but still toxic) influence on Orion making him have the same martyr complex he has in canon.

And you could even do further splits from there like how Megatron deals with increasing evidence of corruption in the government, or how Orion would handle killing someone for the first time in the arena. You could fuck around with whether Megatron becomes the Prime or if Orion still does somehow. Honestly, I feel like in this scenario, M and OP would be way more likely to be able to meet peacefully and help each other out because... it just feels right to me that they would be able to see the evils and prevent their moral downfalls, but only when walking in the other's shoes.

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

I think there's a list of fics that've pushed me in some way or another, honestly:

Pay Unto Evil and The Wicked for finding a way to fit reasonably accurate psychology/therapy into a dramatic story, but without falling into purely clinical explanations for things or making it seem "therapy speak" ish

Cityspeaker AU/Un solo cuerpo is currently pushing me on how to accurately translate characterization from canon to an AU that's so wildly divergent from it, given that I'm normally extremely canon compliant and tend to work off canon divergence rather than completely making up a new AU with a different premise and new lore. This is my first plotfic that, imo, could be more accurately described as continuity soup/original continuity rather than being strictly IDW-based (honorable mentions to Let the Poets Pipe of Love for also having this conundrum)

Every single plug and play scene I've written, PWP or plot, for pushing me to try to describe eroticism from an entirely alien perspective without falling back on human-like sticky sex

For Once, Nothing is Burning, because writing a multichapter plot-focused story where there's literally only two characters present and they are each other's sole source of social interaction (and where the POV character is largely stuck in one place for most of the story) is harder than you think it'd be for someone who's been writing Megatron and Optimus as long as I have

Through the bitter, sweetness: Because trying to describe the eroticism of a foot fetish through strictly a written medium was a big challenge for a kink I see as way more visual/tactile and hard to make appealing with words/imagination alone.

No comment on how it's affected my ability to write moving forward because I basically forget about every story I write as soon as it's done AND because my brain is soup and I can barely keep up with real life, much less look back on hobby writing and do some sort of style study/reflection on it.

[drivestraight]

Do you think fanfic has changed you as a reader?

Every time I've been recommended a popular romance/drama novel, I read the summary or the first chapter and I literally cannot get through it for how cringe the writing is. It feels like a teenager wrote it. Grammatically it's fine, but the writing style and plot points and character names always make me stop reading. And I like to think that I've read many fanfics that were better. But I'm starting to wonder if it's because I've immersed myself in fic so much that that style of writing has become the new normal for me.

I haven't read a lot of novels in the past few years, but when I have it's been non-romance focused fiction, and mostly rereading books I already love. Sci-fi, mainly, but also children's action/adventure series (which I also find to be better written than anything YA or romance).

Do you relate to this, or am I too deep in the fanfic rabbit hole that I crave specific fanfic-isms? Has fanfic made me a lazy reader because I already know the world and characters and I just don't have patience for new characters and new worldbuilding?

I always feel like I should read other things.. but I just can't get myself to pick up a new book and actually follow through reading it.

i think it’s a mix. i think a lot of published fiction is generally bad and a lot of fanfiction is stupidly good. but that can go the other way around.

in the end they ARE different mediums. like you said, with fanfic you alr are immersed in the world, you alr know all the characters, and oftentimes you don’t have to worldbuild because the bones are alr there, and you can build off of it and a lot of the times go deeper than what is there IRL/in canon, whatever.

but also. a lot of fanfiction is Lazy writing — that’s the point. you can gloss over things/skills that are absolutely necessary when writing a story from scratch. and that leads to lazy reading. a lot of fanfic only reads as good because it IS fanfic, and i don’t think that’s a bad thing, just something to be aware of.

i do think that when u primarily read fanfic it can be hard to trust traditional books. i also don’t really read YA or romance books because if i want to read about two people falling in love oftentimes i’ll just read ff lol but it’s like — i think you’re allowed to read whatever you want at the end of the day. i don’t think you’re better if you only read fanfic or only read published media. fanfic is an easy access to community thru fandom and much more accessible, so there’s that.

i think if you really want to get back into published book reading, despite having trouble with it, you just have to be more patient, but also maybe recognize that just because a book is published doesn’t mean it’s good.

TLDR yeah, maybe ur brain has rotted from reading too much fanfiction but at the end of the day i don’t think it’s too big of a deal. have fun doing whatever you want. you’re not hurting anyone

[daydreamgoddess14]

Landslide pt. 1

MASTERLIST here

Summary: Jason approaches a singer/songwriter about a request for Ted Lasso Season 3.

Jason Sudeikis/Reader Insert (OFC, no use of y,n/l,n)

Rating: General for now... we'll see how it goes 🤭

Disclaimer: I absolutely own none of these songs, I also don’t want to diminish Sam Ryder’s contribution in creating Fought and Lost. This is all completely fictional. I also know nothing about the music industry so this is drowning in artistic license! 

Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1crFZfdqL1fspNXb80u5sK?si=e90f5f8f357b4647

It leans very Swift heavy but also has songs that I feel fit the main character and her style. I've never created a playlist for a fic before but it seemed appropriate given the main character's profession.

Songs used in Chapter 1: 

If I had a gun - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (piano cover version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xvoxDXxdok)

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac (piano cover version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5JP43fk_SM)

Chapter 1

“Have you checked your emails yet?” A voice sounded through your apartment.

“Not yet, why - anything good in there?” You ask, your head deep in the fridge searching for eggs.

“Marcus wants to talk to you, he said he’s text you?”

“Yeah, he wanted me to show up at a couple of his Canadian dates but I’ll be in Spain. Or France... Europe, I’ll be somewhere in Europe.” You emerge somewhat triumphant, a two egg omlette will have to surfice.

“You’ll be in South America actually.” Your assistant Lily takes a seat at the counter and slides a coffee over to you.

“Oh. Well, I won’t be in Canada that’s for sure. I already told him I couldn’t do it, I wonder why he’s still asking.” Lily passes your phone over and goes back to attempting to tackle your inbox while you drop a message to Marcus.

Hey, sorry I missed you. Can’t do Canada - I’m in South America that week. Thought we’d talked about it already? Would love to catch up with you & Carey when you’re back in L.A though. Let me know xx

You’d actually met Carey long before Marcus. The same age, you’d crossed paths a lot in your early and mid twenties when she’d been an up-coming actress and you’d been a struggling musician. You’d drowned many, many sorrows together in dingy South London pubs, you’d been in the audience at her first performance of The Seagull in London and you’d followed her to New York to watch her Broadway debut. In contrast, she’d cheered you on in dark clubs and pubs for endless weeks and months. When she’d reconnected with Marcus, he’d tagged along to a couple of gigs and asked you to join the band for a number of their shows. Eventually you were added to the billing on your own, and supported them on a range of tour dates. From there, your career had really taken off. Now, you were regularly selling out arenas and festivals. Next on the masterplan was a worldwide stadium tour, but that was some way off. First you had music to write for a new album and a summer of festival appearances planned.   

“Aha! Figured it out!”

“Did we miss an email?”

“Not entirely, it went to junk so it’s not really your fault. Or mine.”

“What is it?” You ask, pushing the eggs around the pan.

“Hang on, just reading now… It’s from a Tom Howe?” You look blankly in reply, the name sounds vaguely familiar but you’ve no idea where from. “Hi, I’m trying to get in contact with you regarding Ted Lasso season 3. Jason came across some of your older work and the sound is a great fit for the show. He asked if I could reach out to you to discuss further. You also come highly recommended by Marcus Mumford who I believe is a friend we all have in common. Don’t hesitate to give me a call on the number below or reach out via email. We don’t have too long on this so would appreciate speaking with you. Best, Tom” Lily finishes reading the email on her device just as your phone rings.

“Do you just not read your emails, or?”

“I’m a bit behind! It’s been a busy few weeks.” You dump the eggs onto a plate and team them with a toasted muffin.

“Ah yeah, the life of a superstar.”

“You should know, you’ve sold out more gigs than me.”

“Not true… maybe still true but not for much longer.”

“If you say so. How are you? How’s Carey and the kids?”

“All good here, they’re missing you though.”

“I’m back in a few weeks, we’ll have a day out. Lily just read me the email from Tom.” “What do you think?” “I’ve no idea, I need to hear it again. How on earth did you think of me?”

“I didn’t. Well, I did. I play your stuff all the time. We were working on Season 3 and it just so happened that Jason heard some of your really early stuff and liked it. He asked if I thought you’d work with us so I said I’d ask - or rather Tom would.”

“That makes sense. He said something about a tight timescale?”

“Kind of, the show premieres next month but we’re thinking of you for the back half of the season so wouldn’t need anything from you till early May.”

“Do I get an idea of what you need?” “That’s where you’re better off talking to Tom and Jason. I daren’t spill any secrets, I’m not getting in trouble.”

“Ok, I’ll get in touch with Tom and set something up. Is he based in L.A?”

“He’s there at the moment, yeah. Why, are you still in New York?” 

“Yeah, I’m here til the 13th I think? But I might be able to get there early.” You reply, looking to Lily for confirmation who nodded, stealing the last bit of your muffin.

“Ok, definitely call Tom, cos if the timing won’t work then he’ll need to think of something else. Let me know. I’m in L.A at the same time as you so we’ll catch up.”

“Love to Carey and the babes.”

“See ya darlin’.”

“Right, I’d better read that email again properly before I call anyone else.” You sit next to Lily who opens the email back up for you. You can see that Marcus and what appears to be Jason have both been copied in. It had been sent earlier the following week so had been stagnating in your junk folder for about 6 days. “Shit.” You mumble, realising. “What’s the time in L.A?” 

“Umm 8.30am.” Lily checks. “Acceptable enough for a work related call?”

“Fuck it, I’ll leave a message if it’s not.” You read the number from the email and dial it from your phone, taking a deep breath. “Hi, can I speak to Tom please?” Tom was, it turned out, really lovely. You’d grown up not a million miles away from each other in various parts of London and he was a similar age to your older brothers. You instantly felt at ease with his good humour and musical knowledge. He’d explained that they were looking for a specific song to be used towards the very end of the season in a highly emotional moment. Though he and Jason had heard your recent music, it wasn’t until they’d been with Marcus who was listening to your much older back catalogue that the penny had dropped for all of them. In the days that had followed, Marcus had given them a masterclass of sorts, sending them copies of your early work and showing them how it had grown as you had and how your new music still has similar themes and styles. You’d blushed furiously while pacing in your apartment. Marcus hadn’t exactly been telling the truth about just how in depth your music had been discussed in recent days. You admitted that you wouldn’t be in L.A for another two weeks and questioned whether it would be a problem, he thought not and you’d promised to respond to his email. You hung up feeling elated at the prospect of a new project to get stuck into.

From: vialilyevans@gmail.com

To: thowe@gmail.com

CC: mmumford@gmail.com, djs@gmail.com

Subject: New Project

Date: 27th February 2023

Hi Tom, 

It was great to finally speak to you earlier, I apologise for missing your email - thankfully Marcus set me straight. From what you’ve said this project sounds really interesting, I’d love to hear more about it. As discussed, I’ll be in L.A from 13th March but can be there earlier if you have time? I know that’s pretty close to the premiere so I understand if you think we can’t fit this in - there’ll always be something else! On the off chance I am still in luck, I’m going to spend a couple of days binge watching 🙂

To: vialilyevans@gmail.com

From: djs@gmail.com

CC: mmumford@gmail.com, thowe@gmail.com 

Subject: RE: New Project

Date: 27th February 2023

Hey,

Thanks for reaching out, I won’t speak for Tom on how much time we have, but I really want to make this work so happy to hang on for as long as possible. Here’s hoping you can turn a track around in 24hrs, I guess?! It would be great to meet with you as soon as you can make it to L.A, then you could also attend the premiere if that sounds OK? I'll get the details sent over to you. We can meet first and then figure out next steps. Don’t worry about timing, that's on me.

JS

You’d received a reply within minutes. Literally minutes, and you were buzzing. It was from Jason himself. You’d only been half joking about binge watching, you’d done that already with Season 1 but had run out of time recently for Season 2. Now you were even more itching to watch it. Though you had no idea of storyline or what kind of song they were looking for, you could tinker with melodies and riffs. Tom had talked specifically about family, love and fighting for what you believe in so you could use those basic prompts to get you started. Over the following week, you'd worked on some new music and planned to bring your trip to L.A forward by a week. You were going to be there for up to 4 weeks. The information had come through inviting you to the season 3 premiere of Ted Lasso, so you'd made sure to catch up on season 2 just in time. But first came the initial meeting with Jason and Tom. You almost wished you could get away with waiting till the premiere but knew that wasn't realistic and you could totally understand why they'd want to get to know you sooner. L.A afforded you a little more anonymity than New York and with Tom's studio as the meeting place, you had a reasonable cover for being there if you were to get noticed by anyone. You slipped out of your Uber and followed a path through a pretty little courtyard. You'd gone for a denim skirt and Bon Jovi t-shirt, it felt miles warmer in L.A and you'd tricked your body into believing that Spring had fully arrived. You pressed the door buzzer and waited patiently. Lily had offered to go with you but you were still very much unused to having a real life assistant and still attended most meetings, interviews and events alone. 

"Hey, you made it! Come in, I'm Tom. You're alone?"

"Yeah, it's easier to go unnoticed." You smiled stepping into the entryway. 

"I wouldn't know, thankfully no one knows who I am."

"After the few months I've had, I'd wish the same thing." You follow Tom through the building, a handful of offices, a small kitchen and then into a corridor with a recording studio on either side.

"I don't pretend to keep up with gossip so I'll just have to take your word for it." He admits, you're grateful for that. It had been a rough 6 months or so. Your last relationship with a well known actor had ended abruptly - in that you'd escaped. He'd then leaked all over social media and outlets such as Deux Moi that you were 'emotionally unavailable', 'manipulative' and 'high maintenance'. He'd placed horrible, false comments that you'd supposedly made about your fans and friends, and he'd tried to alienate everyone against you. There had been a pile-on of negative press about you. Say nothing the management team had said, do nothing, stay calm and quiet they'd insisted it'll blow over. Bullshit. You'd gotten a little drunk and joined a friend in playing a dumb Tik Tok game where she'd asked what your 'Ick' was… you'd replied "Boyfriends who gaslight you and are emotionally and mentally abusive and then try to blame you in the media to make everyone hate you'' with an arched eyebrow and a knowing look. She'd posted it to Tik Tok and within minutes Twitter was ablaze with your retort. It had completely taken over the press tour for his new movie and overshon his interviews. Other exes of his had posted similar confirmations and praise of you on their socials. You’d then gone totally dark on the subject and not commented any further. Your team were still picking up the pieces from the escapade but you had so far been hailed a bit of a hero and it appeared that people were leaning more on your side now than they had been. It was only a matter of time before he’d produce some other lies though, at which point you fully expected that you’d have to go public and go all in on substantiating your initial comments. The how and the when preyed on your mind heavily. Tom led you into the studio on the right, a huge mixing desk took up much of the space but there were a couple of desks and sofas, space for downtime and collaboration. Beyond the mixing desk you could see into the studio itself with its acoustic panels and sound deadening equipment. Jason sat at the mixing desk, elbows up on the table typing on his phone. He turned and smiled at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey, glad you could make it. I'm Jason." You hold out your hand to shake his, his large hand engulfing yours. Your skin instantly felt like it had been set alight. He was tall, broad and ridiculously handsome. Binge watching the show had given you an almighty crush, so you'd sought out his other work too. Once you'd found out how funny he was, you were done for. Get a fucking hold of yourself you thought. It had not been so long since a man had touched you that you should be this affected by him. But, oh those eyes. And that smile is really something. He takes off his baseball cap and drags his fingers through his dark hair, greying at the temples and if you’d focused for any longer than half a second on that alone you couldn’t be held responsible for your actions. He greets you like he's known you for years and as Tom gets the meeting going, he's charming, attentive and so quick witted it makes your head spin a little. "I'm looking for a song specifically about the relationship between hope and failure and perseverance. That's the basic outline at least - I can't tell you much more than that." He apologises. You whip out your phone, 

"Just taking some notes, that OK? I get it, you don't want some rando knowing the ending." He motions for you to go ahead, smiling as your fingers frantically move across the screen on your notes app. 

"Yeah you might spill the beans on Twitter."

"It was Tik Tok actually."

"Ah how's it go? 'Tik Tok made me do it'?"

"And a lot of wine." You smirk, "Can I ask, how you feel about season 3 generally? For the song, I promise I'm not fawning over you to get information."

"I don't know if it's the end of the end, if that makes sense. It could carry on in different ways." 

"I'm just trying to figure out if it’s a goodbye to the characters, or to this chapter of their lives… from what you've said the song needs to be really personal. I want to make sure the emotion is there. Are you really sure I'm the right person for this?"

"I'm sure. I've heard enough of your music to know that this is what we need, I know you're more than capable. Between what you can do and what Tom already knows I need, I'm completely confident." Tom nods in agreement having stayed silent for much of your conversation. 

"So is this like The Voice? Do you guys have a list of people to see?" Tom laughed, 

"Not at all, we're hoping you're it to be honest. Though since you're here it would be great to hear you sing if you're happy with that?" 

"I didn't bring anything with me, so as long as you don't mind sharing your piano or a guitar?"

"It's all yours." He gestures into the other room and you head through nervously. They both join you, not wanting to listen via speakers. You stop for water first, and then flip through your notebook to find a suitable song, settling on something reasonably new but not so well known. You'd been performing for the best part of 20 years, you knew every note, every line, but performing in front of two people was about a million times more nerve wracking than two hundred people, or even two hundred thousand people which was exactly what you had lined up in the summer at Glastonbury. You closed your eyes, honed in on the piano at first, allowing yourself an extended intro to give you time to compose yourself. 

If I had a gun,

I'd shoot a hole into the sun,

and love would burn this city down for you.

If I had the time,

I'd stop the world and make you mine,

and everyday would stay the same with you

Hope I didn't speak too soon,

my eyes have always followed you around the room.

'Cus you're the only God that I will ever need,

I'm holding on and waiting for the moment

for my heart to be unbroken by the sea

You didn't play the full song but it was one you were extremely proud of. You let the piano trail off and risked a glance at Jason and Tom who were grinning at each other. Jason let out a whistle, 

"Y'know how you always wonder how people are gonna sound when they sing live and it sometimes doesn't live up to expectations?" He said mostly to Tom. You’re stomach dropped, oh god, were you about to fall into that camp?

"Yeah. Yeah that was pretty special." Tom agreed, vocalising Jason's thoughts. You breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

"Thank fuck for that. I haven't done that one for ages. You scared me then!” You said more to Jason.

"It's a beautiful song. I could just use that for the show to be honest, but I'd regret not working with you on something original." Tom said, as he did so, his phone rang so he left to take the call, “Sorry, be right back.”

“Any chance of another song?”

“I don’t see why not, while we’re waiting for Tom.” You flipped back through the notebook again, this time choosing a classic cover you’d done for years and years. It had been one of the first songs you’d learned and the lyrics seemed to change meaning for you in different chapters of your life so that it always fit you.

I took my love, I took it down

I climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills

'Til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky

What is love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

“Holy shit.” He mumbled, sitting on the piano bench next to you. You could see through the glass that Tom was still on the phone. You run your hands over the keys playing mindless notes and melodies, no real intention behind, just filling the comfortable silence. You feel him leaning against you a little as he watches you play, the narrow bench not quite big enough for two.

“I played it with Stevie Nicks once.” You say quietly. “I actually thought I was going to die. It’s like I have this black hole in my memory, where I remember meeting her and then I remember coming off stage and we had a couple of drinks together, but I can’t for the life of me remember actually singing it with her.”

“I think that’s probably to be expected. Our brains do weird shit and make us feel like idiots.”

“That is definitely the truth.”

"I would really like to get to know you a little better while you work on this," Jason admitted almost hesitantly, "if that's OK with you?"

"I'd like that a lot." You smile, he returns it, relieved. 

“So how did it go?” Lily asks when you call her from the Uber ride home. You’d stayed far longer than any of you had probably anticipated, throwing ideas around and experimenting with melodies. You can’t help but gush over just how much fun you’ve had - probably for the first time in weeks. 

“I can’t wait to get started, they were both so welcoming.”

“And Jason?” Lily asked, knowing about your crush. You pause slightly, it’s been hard to know who you can actually talk to recently. With your ex on a campaign to smear your reputation, it’s hard to know who is really on your side. You know that the comments he’s made are all false but it still worries you that some people will believe him over you. 

“He’s just… lovely. And my god he’s gorgeous, like up close in person? He’s insanely handsome. I felt like a creep staring at him!” Lily giggled along with you,

“Oh my god, I didn’t realise this crush was like a full on crush?!”

“Neither did I!” You admit. “Tom had to take a call so we were just mucking around at the piano for ages.”

“You had to sing?”

“Of course I did! They want to know that I’ll be the right fit for what they need.”

“What did you sing? How was it?” Lily knew you hadn’t sung properly for weeks, you were rusty and unprepared and it made you anxious just thinking about it.

“I did ‘If I had a gun’ and ‘Landslide’. It went ok, my voice is a bit rough, but nothing some decent exercises won’t help.”

“Classics! I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you. I wasn’t expecting this… connection. It’s weird, like he saw me immediately, like he’d known me forever. I feel like someone’s just plugged me back into real life.”

“You should write a song about that.” She teased.

“Well, I need to. They want to move forward with me so I need to bring my A game.” You reply, anticipation fizzing in your belly.

~~~~~~~~

Let me know what you think! I'm excited to get started on this 😊 As usual, my inbox is open!

[thousand-winters]

just in general 😸😸😸

Alright, sorry for the wait! I'm throwing a bunch of random ones at you.

Saiki K

crossing bridges, by galacticbestbuds: It's basically Reawakened extended. It has one very fun plot twist that made me go a little insane when I realized, and overall I think it handled very well Saiki's plight about his identity related to his powers. Featuring Terusai and Kubokai as guests, though not really the focus of it. 10/10.

The Road Ahead of Us, by LilacNoctua: Kubokai on a roadtrip on their last winter holiday before graduation. It's sweet and the dynamic is written in a very fun way. Also the little bits with Saiko had me so endeared, he would act like that fr.

MP100

Mama, Just Killed a Man, by beefstatic: Absolutely delightful exploration of Serizawa's mother's journey through trying to help her son, seeing him go away with a stranger, learning about what happened and finally reuniting with him. It's so so good.

Like Acid Reflux, or Love, by partingxshot: I always recommend this one but it's just so fun. Don't be afraid of the 2nd person, it can add so much flavor to a narration and it sure does here. The fic is about this poor pawn shop person trying to date Reigen and realizing just how much their boyfriend's life is shaped around a bunch of kids.

The Owl House

Let Me Apologize, for the Mistakes I Don’t Regret, by NeonLite: I'm still thinking about this one. It's a Dadrius fic in which Darius gets hurt while protecting Hunter and Hunter does a wonderful job being normal about it (he does not). The narration is so wonderful to express Darius' panic and the interactions are so well done. I cannot recommend it enough.

love will hurt you, but love will never mean to, by randomramblingsofme: This fic always pops up in my head whenever someone asks me for recommendations. It deals with Hunter learning how to let himself be loved, interjected by verses of a poem. The style is just so beautiful and it makes me cry.

Wake, Hurt, Sleep, Repeat, by randomramblings of me: Properly the fic that got me very well hooked into Dadrius fics, I believe. Canon divergent since the show wasn't over at the time but it's just such a good one. It's been a while since I've read it, but it's very dear to me.

Precision, by Tinglecannon: One of the best Darius writers, in my opinion, and this fic really drives the point home with how good the characterization is. You have the first chapter with Hunter and Darius' playful dynamic and then the second one is the rebel trio in one of their many times working through the plans for the rebellion, all in all flawless.

Star Wars

Magic Blankets, by Lady_Lombax: This is such a sweet, comforting one. Kind of a fix it fic, featuring the magic of crocheting and the magic of love, pretty much. It's very woth reading even if you're not super familiar with SW, in my opinion.

Pen Name: Fulcrum, by twoseas: Silly romcom-like shenanigans Kalluzeb. In which Kallus secretly becomes a romance novel author and becomes unexpectedly famous while grappling with his own feelings for Zeb. Featuring a lot of fun interactions between Kallus and the Ghost Crew.

[naranjapetrificada]

Time for another Fanfic Friday!

Let's get the obligatory self-promo out of the way: Monday night, just before bedtime, I finally posted Chapter 2 of my bizarre little gay pirates arranged marriage ancient-world-inspired AU From the Firmament. I get if you don't trust WIPs, or don't think it's for you, and I'll be the first to tell you it's unusual. But if you find your curiosity piqued at all, maybe you should give it a whirl? If being in the OFMD fandom has taught me anything, it's that even things that are certifiably Not Your Thing can surprise the hell out of you.

Onto the recs (including one that absolutely wasn't My Thing and a non-OFMD rec)! Here's what I've been reading lately:

1) Of the AUs that should be "definitely Not My Thing", Wanna Fly Away is probably the least My Thing I've encountered. It absolutely, positively should not be something I'd ever consider reading, no matter how much I trust @petrichorca not to lead me astray. Monsterfucking? Nope, absolutely not for me, but blessings upon all who enjoy it. And Animorphs? I mean really, Animorphs???

So anyway I'm on Chapter 9 now, although I'll admit to having skimmed the final chapter many moons ago out of curiosity. I do that sometimes because I'm generally spoiler agnostic and sometimes I need to know ahead of time if a certain story will leave me existentially devastated. Jury's still out tbh! Crucially though, even after skimming the last chapter, I didn't start reading. What actually got me to read the fic proper was this separate one-shot that looked at Stede's character before leaving his life behind. That reminded me in a lot of ways of this pre-canon fic I've long appreciated, and that sealed the deal.

2) Next, for something ENTIRELY in the canon universe, I've been following the gentle, meditative innkeepers-era fic The Waters Around You by eimeo (not sure if they're on tumblr) and it's made for really rewarding reading. There's still plenty of work our boys need to do, but for once they actually have time to do it!

3) I've also been trying to catch up on my OMG THEY'RE ✨BOYFRIENDS✨ fics and one I heartily recommend is Tenderly the Light by the one and only @darcylindbergh, which perfectly captures that effervescent feeling you know they both had during the boyfriends scene while also not forgetting that they have to go out there and escape the British while also just being so full of LIFE. Pitch perfect.

4) Next up is the recently reposted Powder Blue by @scarrletmoon. It's a modern AU which I missed the first time around because I wasn't in the fandom yet (if such a time ever existed). Heed the tags going in, but if you're like me and heard so much about it after it got taken down, you'll absolutely want to check it out now. In particular, I love how like, grounded I feel inside Ed as a character, and how the in-world power dynamics replicate for a reader how Stede's specific brand of inscrutability would have felt to Canon Ed, who doesn't have the benefit of knowing how Stede feels. There's that little bit of distance there that just makes everything a bit more...more, I guess.

5) Lastly, for those of us anxiously awaiting the latest update to @moonyinpisces's phenomenal GO fix-it How Do We Turn On The Light (brb refreshing my email again), I want to recommend Talk to Me of Things to Come by Atsuki, which visits Crowley and Aziraphale on New Years Eve, 1988. It's flirty and sweet (although I definitely would not call it "fluff") and has some S-tier Aziraphale pining if you're into that. Not even sure how I found it tbh but I must have been throwing GO fics at the void where Chapter 16 of HDWTOTL waits to melt our collective minds.

Happy Friday, and happy reading!