#the excel spreadsheet has already been made

[rano-the-rando]

Everytime I find out that behind the scenes info about drawtectives has been revealed on stream, my blood boils with rage. I NEED to know everything there is to know about this show, I cannot stand the idea of missing any information about it.

So, is there a list/compilation of drawtectives trivia or do I need to make it myself?

[vampirejuno]

Remember that discworld dream I had the other day? Well, lads.... I wrote it. At the encouragement of @catstrophysics, @lilenariinpink and @theygotlost, I present to you...

Something Fishy

His Grace, His Excellency, Sir Samuel Vimes the Duke of Ankh, Blackboard Monitor, sighed emphatically and tried to shoulder his way through the throng. Sator Square was packed with people. Never before in his life, he reflected, had he ever seen such a crowd turn up at six in the bloody morning to watch what was, essentially, a man tossing a dead fish onto the ground. Is this what passes for entertainment these days? he thought bitterly. We used to be a great city when it came to entertainment. After some further consideration of past greatness, he stopped, shook his head, and silently offered praise to whatever god was responsible for making sure it stayed in the past.

It had been a little over a month since the Fish Craze, and already Vimes wished he could permanently ban the import of all seafood into the city. Nobody remembered what had started it, but the fad had spread faster than wildfire, with no fashion-brigade to stop the madness. Everyone had taken it up. Even perfectly reasonable people, the kind that sneered at their grannies for fretting over a broken mirror, would, in all sincerity, say things like, “Thank goodness for another Right Day, I could use the luck”, or, more frequently, “No wonder it all went tits up, it was a Left Day”.

Vimes failed to see the appeal. The whole process consisted of taking a fish (preferably a sardine, though most made do with herring or, in desperate times, even anchovies), tossing it in the air, and checking which side up it landed. At first, everyone did it individually. This had led to much disagreement and, eventually, an event that would go down in history as “Most Organic Weapons Riot”. The watchmen who’d been on duty that night were given two days off to try and wash the smell out of their uniforms.

The following day, the Patrician had announced the instatement of an Official Fish Thrower, which soon turned into “the Offishal Tosser”, or simply “the Tosser”, and whose entire job it was to go into Sator Square every morning, toss a sardine for the city, and announce to the enraptured masses what sort of day they were going to have. It was rumored that the Tosser was a retired magician who had specialized in sleight of hand, and that he ensured the fish always landed precisely according to the Patrician’s specifications. Knowing Vetinari, Vimes thought, the man probably has a spreadsheet planned out for a month in advance.

His musings were interrupted by a current of movement in the crowd, which parted hastily to reveal a figure with a tray.

“Right Fish! Get your Right Fish! Guaranteed Day goes Right! Turn your day ‘round with just one toss!”

Vimes sighed. Only one man would try to sell you fish at the Offishal Tossing.

“Morning, Throat,” he said distantly. There was a commotion at the front of the crowd as people tried to dislodge someone from the Tosser’s podium. It looked like an Omnian preacher had taken advantage of the audience to spread the good word to the unenlightened masses, whether they liked it or not.

“A good morning to you, Commander! Can I interest you in some nice sardines? Three for tuppence, and that’s cutting my own throat!”

Vimes risked a glance at the tray as Ankh-Morpork’s least successful merchant approached him in a hopeful sidle. It was laden with row upon row of little strangely misshapen fish. Picking one up and turning it over in his fingers, Vimes saw the reason for this. Someone had taken some pains to cut them in two lengthwise, discarded all the left halves, and rejoined the things by gluing two right halves together with some mysterious sticky substance. He put it back down and inconspicuously wiped his hand on his trousers. Like many of Dibbler’s products, it was precisely what you paid for.

“Sardine? Seems more like smelt to me.”

“Yes, very fragrant, indeed,” said the merchant without missing a beat. “Perhaps some fish’n’chips, then, Commander? Only ten pence for our brave lads in the Watch!”

I don’t think I’m that brave, Vimes thought. Aloud, he said, “Is that where the left halves go, then?”

“I don’t know what you mean, sir. Ah, hello, miss, you look like you could do with a nice nourishing breakfast! Some delicious fish’n’chips to start the day off right, how about it?”

The crowd was so packed now – hah, like sardines in a can – that Vimes gave up all hopes of pushing through it. Most of these people had turned up early to get a good spot and were now whiling the minutes away until the much-awaited Tossing. There was a conversation taking place just behind him, where an argument of Morporkians was standing around, doing what it did best. The current object of ire appeared to be a young man’s drawling voice, which was questioning Tradition.

“-don’t see why we couldn’t put a new spin on it. This is…too restrictive, like.”

“How’s that, then?”

“It’s just awfully specific, is all I’m saying.”

“What are you babbling about, Harold?” responded a higher, slightly irritated voice that instantly filed itself away as “unhappy wife” in Vimes’s copper brain.

“I mean, why’s it got to be a sardine? Why not a, uh,” the young man cast around for seafood-related ideas, “a crab, or something?”

“Come now, that’d never work,” a stout little man next to him laughed good-naturedly. He was smoking a pipe and had the look of someone who used words like “indubitably” and “perfunctory” despite only having a very approximate idea of what they meant. “Crabs are not remotely suitable for the task.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Well-known fact,” nodded the crustacean connoisseur. “Divination is congenitally tied to the noble art of fishing, you know. It’s called forecasting, after all.”

There were more nods and approving laughs. The man puffed on his pipe with a chuckle, clearly satisfied with the pun. Vimes managed not to punch him.

“Y’know, that sounds about right. Never ‘eard of someone telling the future with a crab,” an old woman nodded wisely. “You never know where you are with crabs. Now, fish, that’s reliable.”

The group pondered this.

“Look at it this way. We’ve had, what, twenty-three Left Days so far – not counting Floppy Friday* – and every single time, somethin’ bad happened.”

The others murmured their agreement. There were several thoughtful comments recounting various misfortunes that the participants had suffered on past Left Days. Vimes pinched the bridge of his nose.

“This is Ankh-Morpork, something bad is always happening.”

“Right, that’s what I’m saying,” nodded the young man, who hadn’t been saying that. “Besides, plenty of perfectly good fortune tellers in the city. A man tossing a sardine on the cobbles is not a valid method of divination, in my humble opinion.”

“Harold, you are embarrassing me.”

“Oh, come off it, Mathilda, you got by just fine without any of this business for thirty years of your life. Now it’s all Sardines this, Herring that, Why don’t we get an ornamental trout lake-”

At that moment, the Offishal Tosser stepped onto his little podium, and the couple was shushed into outraged silence. 

* * *

“Come on, before ol’ Stoneface gets here. You know he doesn’t approve of this sort of thing.”

The Pseudopolis Yard watch house was buzzing with excitement uncharacteristic for six in the morning on a Wednesday. Most of the night shift had signed off and the day guard were trickling one by one into the main room. An ever-growing group was clustered in a vague circle, in the center of which Corporal Nobbs could just be made out (if that was your idea of a good time). The men all had the vague air of middle school students asking their teacher about his dog in order to delay math class by another five minutes.

“Might that have anything to do with the fact that, last time, it took three hours and a bucket of armour polish to get the smell out of the floorboards?” Angua smiled. It was a very friendly smile.

“Right, sarge, but… We-ell, you’re…”

“Yes?” The smile widened.

Constable Fernsby shifted uncomfortably. There were a few sniggers. It was true that werewolves had considerably sharper senses than humans and would therefore be able to smell a fish long after it had departed the material plane, but, the sniggers seemed to indicate from a safe distance, you didn’t go around pointing this out to them. Fortunately for the boy, he was saved from any further smiles by a very timely interruption in the form of the Captain.

“Good morning! Everyone had a nice rest, I hope? Ready for another day of work?”

Carrot strutted in, wearing his usual genuine smile and gleaming armor. There was a not-so-subtle change in the atmosphere; a sudden nonchalantness enveloped the room. All around him, the squad commenced their very best impression of the Walls And Ceiling Inspection Division. One or two of the simpler lads even clasped their hands behind their backs and started to whistle**. Carrot sighed.

“Alright, what did you do?... And don’t look at me like that, I can see something smells fishy here.”

This was greeted with one or two coughs and a sudden interest in last night’s heaps of paperwork. Only Lance-Constable Whippet, who had joined three days ago and was, therefore, not yet acquainted with the minutiae of his commanding officers’ tempers, and sergeant Detritus, who could be a little slow on the uptake, met the captain’s inquisitive gaze. Finally, he looked to Angua for help. She shrugged meaningfully.

“Well… er,” said Sergeant Colon, who felt obliged to make some sort of contribution on behalf of his insubordinates, “we was just…engaging in some…cultural activities, captain. To boost morale for the day, like. Er.”

Carrot sniffed at the air – never a very good idea in a watch house, where, at any given point in time, half the men had just returned from patrolling and the other half were emerging from the locker room – and understanding began to dawn.

“Ah, I see. And I expect, Sergeant, that such…team-building activities are best carried out without the involvement or presence of, say, senior officers?”

“Could be, sir. I’m sure you’d know best, sir.” Colon’s big round face was a picture of cherubic innocence.

“Well, in that case, I believe Sergeant Angua and I have a case to attend to. Corporal Thighbiter up at Dolly Sisters needed some help with that Money Trap Lane break-in...”

“Actually, he just sent word the other day – it turned out Mister Mason had got drunk and lost his key again and crashed through the oomph-” Constable Ping bent over slightly from several democratic elbows in the ribs. With a true officer’s tact, Carrot feigned temporary deafness. He held the door for Angua, who detached herself from the wall with one last pleasant smile that could’ve cut steel, and the two stepped out briskly into the safety of fresh air***.

After they had gone, the squad waited a few moments and then turned back to the center of the room, where someone had dragged a mysteriously stained stool from the canteen when the kitchen lady wasn’t looking. Corporal Nobbs was shuffled towards it with extreme care.

The little man**** dusted himself off and scrambled onto the rickety stool. As the other watchmen leaned in closer, he reached into the unspeakable depths of his inner pockets and, with a certain air of ceremony, produced…

“A sardine!”

“Cor, is that real?”

“Dat a very small fish.”

“Where did you get it, corp?”

Nobby basked in the approving murmurs of his colleagues. It had, indeed, been a challenge to find – sardines were very rare these days, outside of the occasional coveted freak shower – but he was nothing if not resourceful.

“We-ell, it weren’t easy, that’s true,” he rolled a dog-end from one corner of the mouth to the other, savoring the moment. He rarely commanded so much attention without attracting a variety of insults and the occasional ballistic eel. “Pays to know the right people, o’course. I have connections, me. Contacts. Ties, even.”

“Aye, but that floral one you nicked last week really don’t suit you very well.”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you, Stronginthearm. All your accessories are made of chainmail! Everyone knows jewel tones are for winter, anyway.”

Colon raised a placating hand. “All right, all right, lads, no need to get all up in arms just ‘cos some folks are a little…stylistically challenged.”

“Thanks, sarge.”

“I meant you, Nobby.”

The corporal threw up his arms. “I go to all this trouble,” he wailed, “I talk to people, I find a contraband seafood shipment from Klatch, I explain matters to the fishmonger – on my day off, too, might I add – I procure a real, genuine, only-slightly-nibbled actual sardine, and this is the thanks I get?”

The watchmen watched, transfixed, as he flourished the fabled fish in their faces. It had, indeed, already been chewed on; the tail was sticking out rigidly and the whole thing smelled as if it was a few weeks beyond consumption, but it was a sardine nonetheless. Most of the lads, coming from humble (and sometimes humbling) backgrounds, felt slightly awed at the idea of Tossing a fish that these days was available only to the very richest observers of the fad. It was, they felt, unbecoming to wave it around like a paper flag at a parade. The damn things tended to be slippery. Probably would be bad luck, they figured, if it was flung down by accident; who knew what sort of fortune that would foretell?

“Where’s the appreciation, I ask you?” Nobby continued in woeful tones. “Every time I’ve Tossed a fish for you lot, it’s landed Right! Now, how many of you can say that, eh?”

The watchmen exchanged doubtful glances.

“Er… Well, you never let anyone else do it, corp,” Ping reasoned. “You just nicks the fish and eats it afterwards.”

“Oh, now, that does it! I won’t stand here and be slandered at!”

“Woah there, Nobby, watch that sardine-”

“If you’re gonna be like that, then I’m not doing it. And good luck finding someone who’ll do it as well as me!”

“Careful with that-”

“And I’m taking the sardine.”

“-not the tail-”

 “You can beg, but I won’t change my mind, and that’s that!” Nobby flung out his hand in a grandiose gesture. Unfortunately, it was the wrong hand.

Time slowed to a crawl. Every head in the room swiveled as one, following the trajectory of the airborne fish. It sailed head first towards the front door, which was creaking, doorknob turning, and slowly, slowly opening…

* * *

The Offishal Tosser tossed the fish, which landed damply. There was a satisfying splat. The crowd held its breath as the first few rows near the podium craned to see.

“Today is the fourth of April in the year of the Significant Woodlouse, and it is a… Left Wednesday!” the man proclaimed.

A disappointed groan spread through the crowd. Slowly, people started dispersing with occasional complaints, casting sour looks at the offending fish. Here and there, members of the Gamblers’ Guild were exchanging coins.

Vimes shook his head again as the grumbling current carried him through the square, into the Plaza of Broken Moons, and out to the Patrician’s palace. At last he disengaged himself from the throng and elbowed his way towards the Brass Bridge. It wasn’t far to the watch house from here, but he still picked up the pace. Despite not having official working hours, Vimes liked to get there early in the morning, just as the day shift was coming in, to get a headstart on ignoring his paperwork.

As he walked, his copper mind took over and he mentally leafed through the agenda of the day. Let’s see, what was there… He had that audience with Vetinari at eleven, probably concerning last night’s diplomatic dinner – not that it was Vimes’s fault that he saw the unlicensed thief and that the Klatchian ambassador happened to be standing there, and anyway who drinks red wine while wearing a white robe… Then the interview with the Times at noon… Then briefing the lads on the unsolved contraband seafood case… Then he’d have to do something about the river division, they can’t just keep sinking the damn boat, this is getting ridiculous…

A distant glint caught Vimes’ eye as he stepped off the bridge. Carrot’s shiny breastplate could be seen from a mile away on a clear day, and the captain was, indeed, proceeding along the river with Angua in tow. 

What the hell are they doing out? They’re not on patrol today…

Briefly, he considered catching up to them, but then dismissed the idea. They were only a couple streets away from the watch house, and Carrot seemed relaxed enough, stopping to chat with every other passer-by in his usual manner. No emergency, then. On the other hand, they had a batch of new recruits at the main office, the gods alone knew what those yahoos would be getting up to without a senior officer present. And under Colon’s command…

A few minutes later, Vimes was rounding the corner of Lower Broadway and trotting up the steps of Pseudopolis Yard. There seemed to be quite a commotion going on inside; he’d heard the shouting from half a block away. With his hand on the doorknob, mentally preparing his best Not Yelling Voice, he pushed the door open…

…and very briefly saw something shiny flying full speed at his head. Before he could react, the thing clanked off his helmet, bounced on a nearby desk and, finally, lodged itself between the floorboards with a sproinnnng.

Silence fell like a gavel. A dozen horrified watchmen gaped at their Commander, the life quickly draining out of their eyes*****. Sergeant Colon’s face, pale as the moon and just as round, tried unsuccessfully to hide behind his high collar.

Wordlessly, Vimes approached the thing stuck between the floorboards. He crouched down. He examined it. He gave it a tentative flick. It made a noise not unlike a ruler twanging off the side of a table, or a very thin sheet of metal being shaken vigorously. After a moment’s contemplation, he felt moved to speak.

“Well, lads, I don’t think Left and Right suffices anymore. Seems we ought to add a third Day to the list.”

Ahhh. Relief rose off the squad like morning mist. Their laughter had the strained quality that came with trying very hard to pretend that whatever was happening was entirely intentional. At this point, they’d have laughed at anything, as long as it meant Ol’ Stoneface was Not Yelling At Them. Whatever they may think to themselves, the one motivation that all coppers in all the worlds have in common is to Not Get Yelled At.

“Bottom Day, sir?” someone suggested. There was another bout of slightly forceful sniggers.

“Er… Perhaps not.” Vimes gave the fish a few fruitless tugs and gave up. “Alright, someone get this damn thing out of there and, uh…”

“Throw it away, sir?”

“No, good gods, you could hurt someone… Look, just get rid of the…fish and we’ll say no more about it. Fred, a word upstairs?”

With the watch house returning slowly to its normal daily bustle, Vimes went up to his office and sat down wearily at his desk, which was hidden underneath an impressive pile of paper. He’d signed a few dozen forms and…dealt with half a fireplace’s worth of complaint letters last night, but the stacks looked suspiciously bigger this morning. They entirely refused to melt away under his glare.

“Alright, what is this bloody nonsense? I thought I’d made it clear I don’t want any Tossing in the watch house,” he said to Colon, once the man had huffed and puffed his way up the stairs.

“Well, Mister Vimes, I just thought I’d indulge the lads this once. Raise their spirits with some good ol’ cultural team building. For tradition’s sake and all.”

“Tradition? It’s not been two months, Fred!”

“We-ell, they’ve taken to it, sir. Besides, you can’t deny we’ve had crimes happen on every single Left Day since the Offishal Tossings started.”

“Good grief, you could say that about every bloody day since the founding of the city! I thought you weren’t a superstitious man, Fred.”

“No, sir, but the fish don’t lie,” said Colon fervently.

“Ugh. Next thing you know, the bloody Times will be printing it alongside the bloody date in their bloody papers.”

There was a guilty silence.

Vimes stared at the sergeant’s carefully blank face. A single droplet of sweat was slowly making its way down the man’s forehead. The beady little eyes flickered momentarily to a relatively unoccupied corner of the desk.

With a sinking dread, Vimes followed his gaze and beheld a newspaper lying there on top of the forlorn paperwork, all neatly rolled and still crisp from the press. Belatedly, he noticed the smell of fresh ink. At the top of the front page, a small print line proclaimed today’s date to be April 4th, Left Wednesday.

Five minutes later, sergeant Colon walked down the stairs and into a perfectly silent room full of watchmen. His face had the distant look of someone who had just seen a ghost, and was fairly sure everybody else had, too, but would be damned if he’d mention it first.

With nothing else to do, he cleared his throat. This seemed to break the spell; all at once, the room regained its normal level of noise as the coppers went back to their coppery activities. Only Nobby sidled closer and offered up a slightly bent cigar.

“What’s up with ol’ Stoneface today, sarge?”

“Dunno what’s gotten into him.” Colon took the cigar gratefully and lit it, trying not to think too hard about where it came from. “It’s this job, I expect. All this responsibility is wearing on his nerves.”

“Ah, right.”

“I mean, what’s so wrong with a little tradition once in a while, eh?”

“Beats me, sarge.”

“Doesn’t hurt no one, having some mores and values ‘round the place.”

“You never said a truer thing.”

“Ah, anyway, Mister Vimes is just overworked. Not his fault he’s got a bit of a cultural blind spot when he’s cranky,” Colon concluded magnanimously. “Maybe he could do with a coffee and a nice meal. I know I could… Say, Nobby, what’ve we got for breakfast in the cantine today?”

“Fish’n’chips, I think. Er… You alright there, sarge? …Sarge?”

* An unfortunate misunderstanding at the fishmonger’s that had led to the Offishal Tosser being handed a very live fish, foreboding a day of extreme mood swings for the populace.

** This is the social cue equivalent of climbing onto the roof at three in the morning and setting off a barrage of fireworks while waving an enormous fluorescent red flag. Not even a 6’6’’ dwarf could remain oblivious.

*** Only comparatively. This was Ankh-Morpork, after all.

**** Allegedly.

***** Except for Corporal Shoe, for whom it was a little late******.

****** heh.

[1eos]

mx kendra, do you have any advice for job hunting? I'm about to start looking(again), but its always so intimidating - have a lovely day!

how it feels to start job hunting in the 2020s:

but yes i have advice for you anon! last time i went job hunting i got serious enough where i was reading 'askamanager' blogs and shit like that to really make sure i wasn't wasting my effort

so kendra's advice to job hunting in the most effort effective way:

first and most importantly is to understand that job hunting rn is simply a numbers game. it's not you it's just that the society we're living in is full of shit. for every 10 job postings, 4 are fake, 1 has an internal candidate in mind already, 3 are just posting jobs to look good and the rest are legit but slow af

bc job hunting is a numbers game its easy to be discouraged if you're not receiving responses consistently as proof that you're not just throwing shit into the void so its superrr imperative to try your best to apply to legit jobs. ive found my best success using indeed as a method of jobs being brought to me and then going on the company website myself and applying. this also doubles as a way to make sure a job posting/company is real

keep a spreadsheet of applied jobs. i just googled 'job application spreadsheet template' and picked one of the first ones i saw, made a copy, and then modified it to suit my needs. keeping a spreadsheet was one of the best things i did bc it can help keep track of jobs you've found and haven't applied to/ones you have applied to/and if you're like me and had a goal of getting a state job i could pre-empt when the interview requests were gonna come in lol 😭

resumes/cover letters. whew. probably the most important part of job hunting. ai scanning or not its a good rule of thumb to have skills mentioned in the job description to match the job posting. what i did was dedicate a folder in my google drive to job stuff and made a folder for each kind of jobs i was interested in. from there i would find a job i wanted to apply to and tailor an old resume to have a bunch of the shit mentioned in the posting on the new resume. i'd save it in the appropriate folder with the date i edited it. if you haven't been in the habit of tailoring your resume you may be doing this a lot but eventually you'll have so many variations you won't have to do much editing if at all. and i do the same with cover letters. i have a general template for my cover letter and then tweak them for each kinds of jobs im looking for. this + ditching linkedin helped me A LOT

create an interview cheatsheet. you probably already know the job hunting sphere has a language and culture all its own. personally as someone with a touch of the 'tism it do not make sense to me so i have unknowingly not navigated interviews as well as i could have. what's helped? ask a manager. seriously. miss allison has helped me blend in as a normie soooo much 😭😭😭😭 if you have any specific questions/have any specific weaknesses just search the site but what really helped me was the list of good interview questions. oh and for the longest i could never come up with a good question to ask my interviewer but one day google recced me this article and now every time i ask 'so what would separate a good candidate from an excellent candidate in this role' and when i tell you my interviewers gag every time lollllll. i also went through 'boost your interview iq' [pdf download link here <3] and jotted down notes on how i can answer common interview questions to quickly be able to go over the night before

study the job posting before the interview btw and try to drum up at least one correlating anecdote for some of the major points of the job bc they WILL ask you that lollllllll

[haveyouheardthispodcast]

400* Completed Polls!

I have noticed that we get tags from people shocked that so few people have heard of specific podcasts, and overwhelmingly these tags are left on polls that have a much higher heard-of-rate than normal.

So here's some stats about what has been "normal":

The mean "Haven't heard of this podcast" results is 75.1%.

The median is 82.1%.

(The mode is 91.1%, but this type of stat isn't particularly relevant for this data. It represents 5 datapoints.)

According to Microsoft Excel, if more than 69%** of our voting base has heard of a podcast, then it is an outlier.

The first quartile (which means 25% of the polls are under this number, and 75% are over this number) for "Haven't heard of this podcast" is 67.0%. The third quartile is 91.0%.

Only 54 podcasts have been recognized by half or more of our voters. Below the cut are the 30 podcasts that have been recognized by 60% or more of our voters.

There is a loose correlation (r²=0.427) between the number of votes a poll receives and the proportion of people who have heard of it. This correlation could be messed up with outliers — that is the polls about podcasts that leave our normal audience are often ones that are very well known on Tumblr. Unfortunately, Google Sheets does not have an easy way to recognize outliers, like Microsoft Excel does. Additionally, what is considered an outlier for how many votes a poll seems to change with how many polls we posted that day.

So frankly I do not know how do control for these outliers to give a more accurate r².

If you want to see the other stats I've compiled, a copy of the Google Spreadsheet is here.

Without further ado, the thirty podcasts that at least 60% of our voters have heard of:

The Magnus Archives

Welcome to Night Vale

Critical Role

The Ben Shapiro Show

My Brother, My Brother, and Me

Dungeons and Daddies

Alice Isn't Dead

The Penumbra Podcast

Wolf 359

I Am In Eskew

Friends at the Table

Malevolent

Not Another D&D Podcast

The Silt Verses

The Bright Sessions

Sawbones

Within the Wires

The Daily

Dateline

Wooden Overcoats

The Last Podcast on the Left

You're Wrong About

Hello From The Hallowoods

Where Do We Begin

Hello from the Magic Tavern

Stellar Firma

My Favorite Murder

SCP Archives

The Orbiting Human Circus

The White Vault

*Not counting the accidental 24 hour poll that is currently being rerun (although those stats are included in our averages, it lowered the minimum votes from 168 to 135 and is an outlier that should not have been counted for some stats but I want to keep it for other stats, so it's still in the data).

**Technically 68.8%, but a) 69% is a funnier number, and b) most of our polls get between 200 and 400 votes, so Tumblr's rounding to the first decimal is already too precise to be frankly accurate.

***This chart is not actually by how many posts were made that day, but by the date ranges surrounding the queue rates. The 24-hour poll has been removed from this data.

[coconut-cluster]

Logan has never regretted his decision to move off campus after freshman year. He lived in a dorm that first year, by requirement from the university - something about finding a community and getting used the campus, i.e. paying thousands more in room and board on top of tuition to fill the university's pockets - and sure, he'd been excited about it, to some extent. He met Patton and Roman and Virgil from the experience, and he'd gotten lucky with a room that looked out over the forest that surrounded the campus, much to his delight. It certainly could have been worse. But he was an only child who grew up with an entire townhouse mostly to himself - he needed his space. One can only stomach communal bathrooms for so long.

He was on his own when it came to financing an apartment, but after rooming with Patton for a year already and crunching the numbers of his scholarship reimbursements, it was the only logical option. Patton's eye for decorating and his own proclivity for Excel-spreadsheet budgets made the transition smooth, almost comfortable. He's never looked back.

He does, however, regret getting an apartment so damn far from campus.

By the time he's finished with editing the latest batch of articles and desperately craving caffeine, it's late evening, the sunset hidden by trees and a storm rolling over the hills outside his window. He pauses at his desk and hears the distant crash of thunder - it's perfect weather for coffee in front of the window-nook Patton's carved out with pillows and bookshelves. He could brew a pot now and be cozied up before the rain starts.

Patton's in the kitchen, though, with a singsong medley of dishes and off-key humming to the radio that drifts down the hall to Logan's room. Patton never minds company, but Logan minds the loose-limbed energy of Patton's cooking. Too many potholders to the face would put anyone on high alert. Besides, it's Thursday.

It's Thursday, and Logan chose an apartment light years away from campus, so he has to start driving now if he wants to catch the end of the evening shift.

Patton shoots him a bright smile as he cuts through the living room, raincoat and umbrella in hand.

"Going out?" he calls over the radio. Before Logan can answer, he glances at the calendar hung by the breakfast nook, and his smile colors with knowing. "Oh, Solipsis night. Get me a hot chocolate?"

Logan grabs his keys with a nod. "Cinnamon?"

"Yes sir-ee. Be safe on the roads, it's gonna come down real soon." Logan gives another nod, and just before he closes the door, Patton calls out with that knowing grin, "Give Jan a kiss from me!"

Logan slams the door before he can react.

-

Solipsis is, in many ways, a college student's approximation of paradise. It's on the historic main street of the city, where all the buildings are entresol-style and made of old brick - the café sticks out against a row of random university offices, shedding golden light onto the street through a big window with its name painted in big, blocky letters. It's got two levels, connected by a winding metal staircase; the first floor stretches deep into the building, lined with big, oaken tables for study groups or impressive spreads of journals and textbooks and laptops. The second is a smaller loft, dotted with round tables where solo students hole themselves up for hours at a time in relative silence. The whole place is covered in hanging plants and warm bauble lights - it's ridiculously easy to forget how late it is when everything is golden and set to indie folk music. It's a genius business venture in a town full of exhausted college kids.

("It's pretentious," Janus insists, frequently. "Unfinished oak with iron stairs, I mean, Jesus, really? And calling it Solipsis- you can tell it's owned by some uppity philosophy student."

"You're an uppity philosophy student," Logan reminds him every time. He does not remind him that he willingly chose to work there in the first place.

Janus just rolls his eyes. "At least I've got taste.")

Regardless of taste (or lack thereof), Solipsis is a hotspot. Logan steps in just as evening thunder starts a steady beat outside, hardly surprised to see most of the tables occupied by students in various states of distress and exhaust.

Roasted coffee and rain mix as he takes a deep breath past the doorway. Behind the counter, a lone barista mans the espresso machine, pushing stray hairs out of her face and eyeing him like she'd rather he walk right back out the door than up to the counter. He pretends to read the sandwich board of specials and simply waits.

A moment later, the door to the back room flips open and Janus bustles over to the register, arms full of paper cups in neat towers. He ditched the black jacket he'd worn to class for the cafe's uniform apron, with the sleeves of his sweater - as they rarely are - pushed up to his elbows, baring his wrists, where the beaded friendship bracelet Patton made for him years ago sits. His face is set in a focused frown as he sets to restocking the counter.

Logan waits a moment longer at the specials board, giving Janus a minute to finish a stack before he ambles up to the register. Janus looks up - his hair is pushed back in a hurried swoop, a very Roman style that he's picked up in recent months - and the frown gives way to a familiar almost-smile.

"Oliveira," he sighs, grabbing two cups from the fresh stack and scribbling shorthand on their sides. "Come to harass me yet again in my place of work. Never a day's reprieve from your antics."

"I didn't say anything yet," Logan deadpans as he pays, "and I don't think ordering drinks at the ordering-drinks-establishment counts as harassment."

Janus tils his head with a saccharine smile. "You're so creative."

The barista working at the espresso machine takes the cups from his hands, pulling milk and syrups out with practiced speed, still eyeing Logan with thinly veiled disdain.

Janus joins her in mixing the drinks as Logan idles by the counter, with no one else lined up behind him to prompt movement. After a moment, Janus returns to his cup stacks, moving to restock the empty spots on the back wall. Logan eyes the clock above his head.

"You're here late," he comments, and Janus glances back before following his gaze to the time with a grimace.

"I agreed to stay a half hour longer," he says with an unmistakable air of regret. "They had a new hire close last night, and he majorly screwed up waste inventory- surprise, he wasn't trained before they stuck him on the shift, no clue how that happened." The other barista snorts. "Anyway, the manager opened this morning and lost their shit, said they're really cracking down on the closing checklist being done perfectly, whatever the hell that means. I stayed behind to get as much started for Freya as I could before I head out."

The other barista - Freya - looks completely dead-eyed at the prospect of closing, but she sends Janus a small smile regardless.

"Of course, the one night I stick around is the night it starts pouring," Janus huffs. It storms more than the sun shines here, but Logan just nods sympathetically, glancing out the window to find the rain has started up with a crack of lightning. He looks back as Freya slides two drinks across the counter to him, flashing a practiced, split-second smile in response to his nod.

He eyes Janus for a moment, blowing into the little hole on the lid of his drink to cool it down and listening to Janus' barely audible grumbling about his hair and his shoes and his forgetting an umbrella, somehow, until Logan pipes up, "Do you need a ride?"

Janus pauses - grumbling and stacking - and shoots a frown over his shoulder. "You drove here?"

"I always do, if I'm not coming from campus," says Logan. He gets a blank stare in return. "It's too far to walk from my apartment."

Instantly, cup stacking is no longer Janus' top priority. He turns to face Logan again, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Freya swiftly takes over his task, sending a furtive glance at them as Janus studies him. "You drive here every week?"

"Yes."

Janus stares at him, really stares. "There's, like, five coffee shops near your apartment."

"Six, actually." There's even one on the first floor of his apartment building. It's stuffy and the coffee is always burnt. Cheap, though.

"You could walk to any of those."

"I suppose."

"Why are you wasting gas to come all the way here?"

"It's not a waste," Logan frowns, and Janus' eyebrows shoot up.

"Our coffee's not that good, Oliveira. I promise you can get a mint mocha at the place on 3rd-"

"I like your coffee."

Freya, now refilling lids, shoots a very overt, smug glance over her shoulder at Janus, but he doesn't look away from Logan. The lighting in the café is dim near the counter; Logan must be imagining the pink flush on Janus' face.

"My coffee," Janus repeats.

"Your coffee," Logan says with a nod, and Janus gets that same blank stare as before, uncomprehending. "The way you make it. It's not the same at other cafes." He lifts his cup, pushing the sleeve down with a small smile. "And other baristas don't do this."

Janus' eyes fall to the heart doodled under Oli, and the pink on his face deepens to a pretty red.

"Well," he putters, uncrossing his arms to smooth his apron, then crossing them again, then picking at a loose thread on his sleeve that conveniently tears his attention from the cup. Logan holds it up still. "They might, if you spent all your time bothering them at work. It's not my fault you've chosen me as the target of your idle drivel."

"Oh, of course." Logan entertains the idea of teasing him - there is this barista at the café in my building, they asked for my number once, I guess I could bother them - but instead he just sips his drink and watches Janus with a little smile. "I just prefer Solipsis, I suppose."

Janus unties his apron with a huff. "You're annoying."

"Very creative."

"Shut up."

He disappears into the backroom before Logan can respond, emerging a minute later with his bag and coat in hand. Freya waves goodbye as he stalks out past the counter and up to Logan. Like every Thursday - every Solipsis trip before, coffee in hand and Janus off work and the walk to his apartment a trip Logan silently insists on making with him - he's acutely aware of the stray hair falling in Janus' face, the pink still lingering under his freckles, the smell of coffee and caramel on him.

"Driving here in a storm just to torment me is ridiculous," Janus says, significantly more composed than before, haughty once more, "but lucky for you, walking home in this weather would be more ridiculous. So I will grace you with my presence and take the ride home."

Logan raises his eyebrows. "Oh, but I thought I was annoying-"

"I will steal your car."

"...Come on."

(Living so far off campus, at least, gives him this exchange to look forward to.)

[theeeveetamer]

Rune Factory Tides of Destiny (extended thoughts)

@saficswrites asked me to go a little more in depth and I've actually been planning on talking more in depth anyway, so this is a good opportunity! I'm also going to throw in some of the resources I used while playing because there's a lot of great ones but they're kind of scattered.

So I will start by saying that I started on the series with RF4 back when it originally came out for 3DS and I played the heck out of it. Like, tried taming every single monster in the game levels of played the heck out of it. I've since played all of RF1, RF2, most of RF3 and RF5, and now RFToD. I chose to go back and play 1, 2, 3, and ToD after RF5 was announced. The only one I haven't touched is Frontier.

And yeah, Tides of Destiny does have some quirks and I can see why some people don't love it as a Rune Factory game. Just starting with some of the criticisms (because they lead into one of the things I actually really like about the game): The farming is very pared down and it's entirely reliant on the monsters you tame. Basically you just plant generic seeds and the monsters you put on the seasonal island determine what they grow into. Different monsters can grow different things.

That is somewhat annoying because you can't see what the monsters are called or what they plant before you tame them, the game doesn't really give you a clear list of everything you can plant, and you only get to tame 30 total so you're going to be doing a lot of swapping. It is possible to get everything with some planning tho (I borrowed the monster setups from this GameFaqs thread).

That said, I personally kind of prefer this? Micromanaging the farming has always been my least favorite aspect of the Rune Factory games. In Tides of Destiny you don't have to worry about that. There's no watering, no harvesting, no spreadsheets keeping track of exactly what seeds you need to buy, and the crops grow so fast (most are done in 1-2 days when you have your monster friendship maxed out) that you don't really feel the randomness. I'm in summer of year 2 and I've already got a storage full of full stacks of basically every crop in the game. That means you can focus 100% on the exploration, dungeons, making friends, etc.

And the exploration is. My god. I love it. It's basically if you threw Rune Factory and Legend of Zelda Wind Waker into a blender. For reference, Wind Waker is one of my favorite Zelda games ever so that colors my impressions of the game. The exploration is 100% riding around through the ocean on a giant golem, fighting giant monsters, and digging up islands and salvage points. The quests usually point you toward specific islands to unlock and there's no point where I felt like I needed an external tool to explore, but if you want help someone made an excellent, detailed map of the stuff you can find in the ocean. You also eventually unlock a fast travel and there is a way to speed up getting from point A to point B, so I never felt like wandering through the ocean was too intrusive.

I also really, really, really like the characters. Each one has a little required "friendship event" you need to watch to unlock their next friendship level, and each of the main island inhabitants has at least 6. All the friendship events are connected to a little character arc which is completed with level 6. The bachelor/ettes get an additional 3 event arc if you unlock their love events as well, though you can't access that until after the main plot is over (and gender locked unfortunately). And there's actually a reason to get them up to the max (level 6) before the endgame, since you get a benefit in the final boss battle.

IMO they're all just really likable, funny characters. Some of the events actually made me laugh out loud, and I was usually smiling the whole time any of the them were talking!

I also really like they way they handled the main characters (Aden and Sonja). The plot of the game is that Sonja gets trapped in her childhood friend Aden's body, and the story is about figuring out how to separate them again. You can play as Sonja once they're separated at the end of the main plot, but you do have to do the entirety of the main story as Aden. Initially I was kind of miffed about this, since I vastly prefer playing as female characters in games, but I actually really like how they did it. For two reasons.

One, I just really like Aden as a protagonist. I was expecting him to be kind of the goody two-shoes amnesiac like a lot of Rune Factory protags are, but no. He's sassy as hell. There was at least one point where one of the characters (I think Joe) is like "hey buddy ol' pal" and Aden is just like "Yeah we're not friends sorry you thought that tho."

Two, initially I was thinking that the whole "my best friend is living in my head" thing was going to be some secret they kept. Like Sonja was going to be there, but she was going to be quiet most of the time or not really interact with the world. But no. The first thing that happens is the obligatory RF starter girl (Odette) finds Aden, and the first thing out of his mouth is "Sonja is stuck in my head, isn't that weird?" and EVERYONE just goes with it. I love it. They really lean into the wackiness/silliness of it all. Sonja is very present in the dialogue and the plot. On her birthday characters wish Aden happy birthday to pass it along. The writing frequently plays around with the dynamic of them being stuck together (such as the two of them arguing over how Aden is going to take a bath), and they frequently swap off in dialogue and give different perspectives. They each kind of have their own relationship with the various characters around town. Most of the friendship events feature both of them in some way. It's also really nice how they'll talk to each other throughout gameplay. They'll say good morning to each other, Sonja will warn you when your health is getting low or what time it is, etc.

Despite playing as Aden (physically) I really feel like you're actually playing as both of them to some degree, and I really like that. It actually feels kind of lonely once they split at the end of the main plot and you don't get Sonja's little quips in your head anymore.

I think those are the big things. There's also lots of little things I enjoyed. I love the aesthetic of the world, and the gameplay systems relating to RP management and stuff are much more refined than the older games. I'd say the only mane difference between it and RF4 is that swinging your weapons still costs RP. The crafting is a little annoying until you get the hang of it (you can craft anything up to 20 levels higher than your current level, so it doesn't suck to grind too badly). There's a bizarre amount of spelling errors, which isn't super intrusive but it is kind of funny lol.

On the negative side, the story is pretty short. You can easily beat it in less than one in game year if you're rushing. I'm also not a huge fan of the main story needing to be 100% completed before you can do marriage and the like, since the game is basically done at that point. I don't think there's much post-game other than the goals you make up for yourself. I do think playing as Sonja was a bit of an afterthought. She has like a quarter of the romance options Aden has and there's some odd mistakes I've noticed playing as her (like trying to knock on Sierra's door while she's asleep will have Sonja saying a line about how the bath is closed ???) but it doesn't bother me too much so far.

Those are pretty minor negatives though. I still had (and am having) so much fun with the game!

I also heavily used this website as a guide. The only thing is that I wish they had pictures of the monsters because I think they have slightly different names from the rest of the series, and it can be confusing cuz some monsters have different colorations and therefore do completely different things.

[kelzebub]

3, 2, 1, go favorite ZR missions and moments from the first two seasons or the 5k training prequel

Well, I'm sick and avoiding my family (so I don't spread germs... and because I honestly have no energy for them right now lol) so I'm finally getting to this.

My favorite ZR missions from way back in s1 and 2? Man, everyone's favorite is obviously A Voice in the Dark and I'm not immune to it. I love it too. But another that really sticks with me is s1m15, Virtuous Circle. On the surface it's silly: oh sure, let's risk Runner Five's life for a dumb game she's not even interested in playing, that doesn't even really matter when survival is at stake.

Turns out, Runner Five had a lot to learn. And by Runner Five, of course, I mean me.

When you're young, you think that people in their 30s and 40s are old, and that we either have everything figured out, or that we know nothing. Neither of those are true (unless you're talking about Knowing in the Socratic sense) - we're actually always learning, always growing, and always able to be influenced if we allow ourselves. And this app has taught me some things even at my advanced age, so bear with my ancient crone ramblings here, especially since I'm sick and fuzzy-headed.

First off, fun is important. Sam and Maxine talk about morale, but they're really onto something. We really do need fun to thrive. We need art, music, games, dancing, stories, whatever, in order to feel human and enjoy life. It looks a little different for everyone. Maybe your idea of fun is meticulously lining up columns of numbers on an Excel spreadsheet, maybe it's wild parties full of drugs and sex that go on all night, or one of millions of other things people do - but it really matters that you have something you enjoy in life. In short, without fun, we get sick, both mentally and physically.

Secondly, We don't just need it as individuals. We need it collectively. Humans need bonding not just over the bad times - not just taking care of each other when we're sick or working together to survive - but good times too. Otherwise social dynamics get messed up. There's cliques and squabbles and gossip and all kinds of bad feelings, and groups fall apart, even erupt into violence in some cases, but generally it's just like... have you ever had a job where nobody has a sense humor? Or have you had a teacher, as a little kid, who never let the class have time to play?

Third, and this is a me thing, I spent years unpacking this internalized sort of shame that comes from being a geeky person with geeky interests. I got picked on relentlessly in school, it was really horrendous, probably because I was an undiagnosed neurodivergent girl whose family lived in poverty to boot, but I had this shame and embarrassment attached to some of my geekier interests for so, so long. This app had a medical doctor expressing interest in a tabletop RPG, and making it like this thing that everyone was into - it's mainstream in Abel - and I realized, that's real life. I'm an adult now and have been for years. I can like whatever I want and it's not even weird, and if it is weird, nobody cares. In fact, being open about my interests has helped me find out who shares them - not like when I was a kid going on a forum where the only common interest was that one thing, but with people I knew and liked already in real life, going "omg, me too!"

It was the final piece of the puzzle I needed after years of working on unraveling that sense of shame, even with geeky friends IRL and a successful career and kids. Now? I absolutely rock my Doctor Who scarf that I knit myself, I sometimes play D&D with my husband and kids, and most importantly - tying all of the above together - I realized that I had to prioritize fun and enjoyment in my own life and my family's lives. So I did, and it's made a real difference for all of us.

I was in therapy at the same time I started playing ZR, so it's not like I'm giving the app all the credit! My therapist and I worked hard too. But this episode, man, it really had a lot packed into it. I thought about the concept of a virtuous circle a lot, discussed it with my therapist, and tried to embrace the philosophy - and I'm better off for it.

And I just sort of realized that today. So, thank you for asking. And for reading, if you've made it this far.

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Outlining and Tracking

it's November Ist! The big day is here!

Hopefully you have your minimum and maximum word count goals set, and have found a good time to fit in your writing. Now it's time to start writing.

I have a few final (well not final, I’ll be making a lot more posts!) suggestions to help you stay on track.

Firstly, regarding outlines. Now you may have noticed that I haven’t really talked about outlines before now. That’s because I am a pure discovery writer, or pantser. That is, I don’t even think about outlining before I start writing. If you are someone who likes having one made in advance, I assume that you have found and used one of the excellent methods that others have created.

That is not what I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about what you do while writing. I believe that building an outline as you write is an absolutely essential part of the process of writing a novel, even if you, like me, never ever prepare one in advance.

What I want you to do is this. Each day after you have written, write a few sentence description of what you’ve written. Do this even if you have an outline already, do this especially if what you’ve written diverges from your previously prepared outline. The goal is to create an outline of what you’ve actually written.

I like to use the index card function on Scrivener for this, because it becomes the chapter and scene titles so my outline in progress is right there in the sidebar of my document and easy to refer to. (Yet another reason I highly recommend Scrivener) But you can do it in whatever function your program has, a separate google doc, or even on physical paper.

I’ve found nothing keeps a novel on track like an ongoing outline. So please give it a go!

Secondly, there's the matter of tracking your word count. Of course all programs will give you an ongoing total word count. Some will also track your daily word counts for you.

Still, I find it helpful to track my daily word count separately. It keeps me honest, and something about the process of manually updating a tracker makes it all feel official. There’s a few ways to do this.

A spreadsheet. (feel free to make a copy of this one to use)

Track yourself in an app (I've been liking this one)

Join the WIP discord and report your word count in the check-in channel.

No matter what method you choose, keeping an eye on your daily progress will help you tweak your schedule to continue making writing most days a priority.

So that’s it! Create an ongoing outline, keep track of your word count and get busy writing your novel!

And don’t forget to keep me updated on your progress. Use the tag #slomowrino on your posts, send me an ask, or @ me on the WIP discord.

[hoghtastic]

Hello, everyone! How are you? I've been following this blog for about a year and a half and I was very happy to have a place where we can talk about common topics. 😊 I've been wanting to tell you about something that happened to me in 2022 for a while now, which was somewhat tragicomic. I live in Brazil and I found out that Alex came here in 2019, a year before I became interested in Vikings (bad luck). Even so, at the time I couldn't go because of the distance and also because of my work schedule.

But in 2022, I found out about a post-pandemic event in Paris that would take place in November. I got organized, saved money, talked to my boss at the time and he authorized it (as long as I worked from Paris). That's when I booked flights and a hotel for just one weekend, the weekend of the event, and bought tickets for the meet and greet, plus an autograph session. 💃🏼

I was very excited and anxious, not knowing how I would manage at the airport and explain to immigration that I would be there for ONE weekend just for an event. I made a spreadsheet explaining my work schedule in Paris to my boss, I calculated everything correctly, including that I wouldn't be able to stay at the event until the end due to my work schedule. I also agreed not to post any photos, because no one at work should know that I was outside my country. But it was okay, even with all these restrictions I was happy. One week before my trip, my boss had a meeting with me to tell me that it wouldn't be possible to make the trip, because of the Black Friday work schedule, and that I would have to work on call. I explained all the schedules and alternatives, and even so it wasn't possible, because if my boss covered for me, I could lose my job. I canceled everything, EVERYTHING (and lost 80% of the money). I was sad, but I knew that I couldn't spoil my boss because of my "leisure". 😵‍💫

Well, it was expected that there would be a lot of contact from customers that weekend due to Black Friday sales, hence the on-call service. But no. Contrary to what was imagined, on those days, on the Friday of the trip and Saturday of the event, I did not deal with any cases. No one contacted me, because it was the World Cup season and everyone stopped to watch Brazil's game. As if that were not enough, on Friday my bank decided to block my card because a branch was closed. So I could not make transactions. I went to the bank to resolve the issue during my lunch break and nothing was done. Like in a movie scene, I left the bank frustrated, unable to resolve my problem, got into an Uber car and opened Instagram. He had just posted a story about arriving in Paris, at the same time and day that I would also be arriving. I cried silently the whole way, got home, went to the computer to work and cry, staring at the blank screen, with no work to be done.

Nowadays I laugh when I remember how dramatic that day was and that, sometimes, the universe gives us a lot of hints that we shouldn't insist on things that are already going wrong hahaha. And, reading this blog, I identify with many people who have also started to follow his career less often. Today I see how much he is involved in small productions and, yes, we are happy if he is happy like that. But recently Brazil achieved something incredible for our national cinema, when actress Fernanda Torres won the Golden Globe for best actress for the film "I'm Still Here". You have no idea how much of a celebration that was here, almost like winning a World Cup 🤣

And I was thinking about how cool it would be if Alex, with all his talent and effort to be an excellent actor, acted in bigger productions that could bring more recognition to Danish productions. I am sad that he has been so absent lately.

Well, that was my story. And I apologize if I got too carried away with these reflections. And also sorry for my English. I tried my best 😅

Kisses and have a good week! 😊

Hello, dear anon! 😃

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us! 💖 I can’t imagine how sad and frustrated you might have felt back then! It truly was an unfortunate situation, even if today you can look at it from a different, more positive perspective. 😊

And also thank you for sharing your thoughts on Alex’s career direction and current absence. I personally agree with you!

Congratulations to Brazil on Fernanda Torres winning the Golden Globe! It’s always nice to see true talent being recognised! 😃

I wish you a wonderful week as well! And you’re always welcome to share everything you want here on the blog! 🥰

[thefringespod]

Its #AudioDramaSunday once again my dear wanderers and there were so many good things listened to this weekend

Starting off with @thesiltverses because I'm about half way through season 2 and it's marvelous. Every ep leaves me going "Huh. That was fucked up!" in the best way!! Also Michelle Kelly was in one of the episodes I listened to this week and while her character does get brutally murdered she did a great job 🥰

@re-dracula has officially entered the list of podcasts that have made me cry at my desk at work. Even knowing what happens to Lucy I was still there, sobbing in front of a spreadsheet. Excellent excellent work by everyone involved

My beloved Shed GangTM has returned in Tiny Terrors which means its officially spooky season. Also there was a patreon episode that has been haunting me since I heard it. I love Tiny Terrors and can't wait to hear more from the Shed Gang

Speaking of patreon, patreon early access for @malevolentcast was this week and whooboy. Another fantastic episode from Malevolent and that is all I will say on that

At Louis @ethicstownpod'srec I listened to episode one of @thewyrdsidepodcast and wowowowowow. I need to finish the Silt Verses first so I can fully devote myself to the Wyrd Side but it's scratching that perfect spooky season/Ghost Files itch I adore it so much already

And of course we had @kingmakerpod triumphant return for season 2! I love this show so so much and this episode was so fucking fun. They sent my favorite criminals to prison and gods it was great. Brilliant foley work and sound designing this ep. Also @doctorloup . That is all.

On the Fringes front I'm starting to edit in earnest and gods this CAST!!! Writing is also underway for season 3 and its a hell of a ride so far :)

In other podcast news, writing is also underway for @forgedbondspod and im sending some emails to see if I can fill out the last 2 spots on my lead cast 👀 I'm so excited about this show! And I can't wait to announce the 2 cast members I've got already, yall are gonna love them

I'm training a new hire this week which means less podcast time at work but hopefully there will be enough time to Audiodrama Sunday next week

I've got a lot going on both with writing and with day job and I'm just

I'm in a really good spot and am so happy to see it

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Fic Recs | Vol. 8

Hi darlings! This week's digest is a little small because I took the time to catch up on a bunch of WIPs I've been reading (and they've all already been rec'd). That being said there are some bangers on here if I do say so myself. Oh also I'm at Pride this weekend, that's why this is like 5 hours later than usual.

The spreadsheet is here! It's up to 217 fics now!

cute lil joel pic to kick us off ;)

Feelings on Fire - a Joel series by @joelscruff

This one is for my religious trauma girlies lmao. I personally relate a little bit to how this Reader was raised (southern baptist instead of catholic) with the grades and the extracurriculars and stuff, but I was nowhere near as sheltered. I say all that to say that while I usually have trouble immersing myself into a fic where the reader is this level of innocent, I did not have that issue at all. And GOD do I want to immerse myself in this fic.

Landlord from Hell - a (dark) Frankie one shot by @absurdthirst

If you like You, this one is for you. I loved it but I also was hollering at Reader the whole time to run the fuck away. I was so fucking uncomfortable the whole time, but also the smut was fucking excellent lmao. Incredible horror/thriller fic AGH

more - an Ezra one shot by @ezrasbirdie

This did very unexpected things to me. I'm a pretty firm no on not one, but two of the kinks in this fic but... I'll do anything for Ezra I guess lmao. Read the warnings friends, this one is a (beautiful) doozy

What he deserves - a Dave York one shot by @absurdthirst

Dave is so.... daddy. This is one of those completely indulgent fantasy fics for me. Live in nanny fucks the super hot dad and the kids are also a dream and the ex wife is evil so there's no guilt... perfect!

Sold to Joel Miller - a Joel one shot by @beskarandblasters and @wannab-urs

Totally serious and not a joke fic at all, what?

In My Hometown - a Joel series by @swiftispunk

Oh boy. I got pining, smut, AND angst all in one fic? Hell yes. And it's like... believable angst, which isn't always the case. I felt so fucking bad for Joel, I just wanted to wrap him up in my arms and hold him forever. I love a man who is just absolutely pathetically in love. Just completely pitiful. Down bad. There's so many good things about this, I'm doing it a disservice with this explanation. Just read it.

Thought That I Was Dreaming - a Dieter one shot by @haylzcyon

Ohhh this Dieter made me unreasonably happy. He's such a cutie... and so fucking sexy. Oh how I dream about getting high with Dee and spending a whole weekend fucking each other silly.

-------Pre-Digest Fic Recs-------

adding more of these than usual since I didn't read much new stuff this week :)

Seams - a Joel series by @fuckyeahdindjarin

I'm Starvin' Darlin - a Joel series by @me-and-your-husband

All Work, No Play - a Javi P one shot by @loquaciousferret

I Think of You - a Din series by @prolix-yuy

No Drug Like Me - a Dieter series by jazzelsaur (ao3)

Tied - a Din series by @radiowallet

Friendly Fire - Joel series by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

Designated Person - a Frankie series by @whatsnewalycat

Not from around here - an Oberyn series by @mishasminion360

-------- My Fics --------

I wrote one (1) tiny little drabble, but hey better than nothing!

Bruise - a Dieter drabble set in my A Ghost of You universe (deadbeat druggie artist boyfriend with severe mental health issues + reader is his entire universe. She has a savior complex. It's a lot. Read that here). Dieter and Reader get unreasonably high and decide to paint each other. Written in a style I've never shown anyone before, sorry if it's weird lol

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Happy Reading!

[megaeralwrites]

5 Things I Learned While Querying + Helpful Resources

Writing and publishing a novel has been a lifelong ambition for me. I achieved the first half of that dream when I wrote my first novel at age 9 or 10. It was called The Pharaoh’s Ghost, which is, well, extremely on-brand for me. Although I’ve worked on many other writing projects over the years, I didn’t make a serious effort to get a book published until 2022. My debut novel will be coming out next year, shortly after my 40th birthday. It only took me 30 years to get there!

I hit the querying trenches in the summer of 2022 with little sense of how it all worked. By February 2023, I had signed a contract with CamCat Books. The whole process was an exhausting emotional thrill ride and one of the most interesting learning experiences of my life.

I’m by no means a grizzled veteran of the querying and publication process at this point, but as someone fresh from the trenches, I have a pretty good sense of what it looks like right now. I thought it might be helpful to other writers starting their own querying journeys—or coming back after a long hiatus—if I discussed a few of the things I learned along the way.

If you’d rather skip my rambling and get straight to the helpful resources, scroll down to the end of the post. Every link I’ve listed there played an immensely valuable role in the querying process for me.

It helps to go in with a game plan.

Querying a manuscript for the first time feels nebulous and scary. One thing I’ve seen a lot of my fellow authors grappling with is the question of how long to keep at it before shelving a project. How many agents should you query before you set it aside and move on to the next book—or go to Plan B (which, for many authors, is self-pub)?

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It depends on your personal goals, the nature of the book you’re trying to publish, and your stomach for dealing with the querying grind, which takes a lot of time and emotional energy. But one of the best decisions I made for the sake of my mental health during this process was setting those limits for myself ahead of time.  

I read an article that advised querying 80 agents before giving up on finding representation for a project. I’ve also seen similar pieces recommending other numbers, like 100 or 150. Those are arbitrary numbers, of course. Some (incredibly lucky!) writers get picked up after querying fewer than a dozen agents, and others query hundreds before getting their “yes”. But I liked 80—it felt attainable, realistic, and not completely overwhelming.

(By the way, no matter how many agents you decide to query, you’ll want to make a spreadsheet. There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of when you’re querying multiple agents. I had a big spreadsheet o’ agents and publishers that I made in Excel that helped me stay on top of things like who I’d already queried and who I still planned to query, expected response times, whether I’d heard back from an agent yet, whether I had already queried someone else at the same agency, etc. There’s no way I could have managed it all without the spreadsheet.)

I also came up with a backup plan. Two of them, actually—for me, plan B was to submit my book directly to presses that take unagented manuscripts. Plan C was to self-publish. Having these other options in place was incredibly comforting as I waded around in the querying trenches. I knew that one way or another, my story would find a home. Ultimately, no matter what happened, I was in control of its final destiny.

I didn’t get all the way through Plan A before my path took an unexpected and delightful turn. I had queried 70-some agents and gotten a few bites (but no offers yet) when I joined an indie press’s Twitter pitching event on the spur of the moment. One of the editors liked my pitch, so I submitted my MS to them. A couple months later, I had a book deal. Which brings me to my next point:

2. Getting an agent and self-publishing aren’t the only paths to publication.

If you’re gearing up to try and get a book traditionally published, brace yourself. You’re going to be buried under an avalanche of well-meaning friends, relatives, and total strangers advising you to self-publish.

Self-pub is a completely viable and valid path to publication, and some authors are mind-bogglingly successful at it. I have nothing but admiration for those who can pull it off, and as I mentioned above, it was on my list of options if other avenues didn’t work out for me. I wanted to try the trad approach first, though. I may be a personage of many talents, but I have the business acumen of a sea sponge. I went into this venture knowing that I would benefit greatly from the support and guidance of a professional team that knows the ins and outs of bringing a newborn book into the world.

But for those who are struggling to connect with an agent, there is an alternative that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough—submitting directly to presses that take unagented manuscripts. These are not typically Big Five publishers. They may refer to themselves as indie presses or small presses, but they publish on the traditional model. This means that they take care of the costs and logistics of designing, printing, and distributing your book. They also pay their authors (in the form of royalties, advances, or both).  

This is the path I ended up taking, and I couldn’t be happier. The publication process is personalized and collaborative in a way that, from my understanding, you aren’t likely to get with one of the Big Five. I'll still need to do a lot of my own marketing, but that's increasingly true of authors working with major publishing houses as well.

All that said, be careful. Do your research before signing with any press (or agent, for that matter). Read up on them on forums like Absolute Write and check if they have a Writer Beware entry. Talk to other authors who have worked with them, if possible. And if a publisher asks you for money, either run away or go in fully informed about what you are dealing with—i.e., not a traditional publisher, but a hybrid, assisted, or vanity press. Also keep in mind that even established trad publishers sometimes engage in unsavory business practices (or they might just not be the best fit for you, personally, for whatever reason), so dig a little deeper even if you’re pretty sure you’re dealing with an outfit that’s legit.  

(Incidentally, one of the big green flags for me with CamCat was that the publisher, Sue, advised me right up front to get my contract reviewed by the legal team at The Authors Guild before I signed it. This is excellent advice for any writer, whether you’re signing with an agent or a publisher. The Authors Guild gives free legal advice and support to all dues-paying members, so your only investment is the price of membership—we’re talking about $100-ish per year, depending on your membership level—which is much, much more affordable than hiring a lawyer.)  

For more information about the possible paths to publication and the pros and cons of each, check out this helpful breakdown from Jane Friedman.

3. The waiting is the worst part (or it was for me, anyway).

Querying a book takes forever. There is so. Much. Waiting. Most agents are overwhelmed. Some of them take months or even years to get back to querying authors . . . that is, if they respond to you at all. For me, the waiting was harder than the actual rejections. At least a quick rejection brings closure! You know you can move on and stop worrying about it.

Waiting to hear back after you’ve gotten a request for additional pages or a full manuscript is even harder. Once you get a request, you have a tantalizing sliver of hope to hold onto, but a request is no guarantee you’ll get an offer of rep. So you spend the next several weeks (or months) on tenterhooks, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And if you do get an offer, then you get to hurry up and wait some more. Authors who manage to land an agent and crawl out of the hell that is querying are then plunged into the purgatory of being “on sub.” Your agent must shop your book around to different potential publishers, another process that can take months or years.

Since I skipped the agent bit, I was lucky enough to be spared some of that additional waiting. But even after you sign with a publisher, there’s still a lot of waiting involved in the process of preparing a book for publication. The time from signing the contract to release is typically about 12-18 months. At this point it’s happy waiting, of course. There’s light at the end of the tunnel! Really exciting things are happening during the waiting! Still, if you’re an anxious or impatient sort of person, just . . . be prepared. It’s a looooong process.  

4. The Twitter writing community is incredibly helpful.

Twitter is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, we all know this. It’s always had these tendencies, and the recent Muskening has only made them worse. If you want to use it for, well, anything, it’s important to curate your experience carefully. Be judicious about the accounts you follow. Be prepared to block liberally. I’ve found it helpful to use my writing Twitter strictly for writing stuff. Honing in with a laser focus will help you avoid the soul-deadening morass of literal Nazis, flat-Earthers, and Bitcoin bros.

Despite all those caveats, the Twitter writing community is full of kind, helpful, brilliant, and creative people. Dive into tags like #WritingCommunity, #amquerying, and #MSWL to connect with both authors in the trenches and agents/editors who are open to queries. You’ll find people who are happy to discuss writing, commiserate about the woes of querying or being on sub, help you come up with comps or fine-tune your pitches and query letters, and trade advice in DMs about which agents and presses are good to work with and which ones to avoid. It’s a great place to look for beta readers and critique partners.

You’ll also see agents, publishers/editors, and writers behaving badly, which can be alarming and discouraging. But that stuff is helpful in its own way. You’ll get a sense of the major pitfalls to watch out for and how to keep yourself safe.

One of the most useful things, for me, has been participating in Twitter pitching events. As the name suggests, these are events where you post pitches for books you are querying—sometimes accompanied by moodboards or other visuals, sometimes not—and industry people will like pitches they are interested in. A like from an agent or a publisher is an invitation to query them. Sometimes industry folks who are otherwise closed for submissions will consider queries based on pitch event likes. This tweet contains a list of upcoming pitching events (although it is not exhaustive).

Some pitching events, like #moodpitch, have several days of bonus activities leading up to the main event. This can be a fantastic opportunity to network with other writers and finetune your pitches.

Not only are these events good for connecting with potential agents and publishers, but they’re amazing community building opportunities. Querying writers get together to critique each other’s pitches, swap support during the event (this involves retweeting and commenting on each other’s pitches so the algorithm doesn’t eat them--no liking, since that's just for agents and publishers), and cheer each other on. I’ve seen some incredible pitches and found a lot of writing community mutuals this way.  

I connected with CamCat Books through #CamCatPitMad, a pitching event just for CamCat that currently takes place four times a year. You can check out the dates and event rules here. Although this particular event is more limited in scope than your average Twitter pitchfest since it’s just for one publisher instead of an industry free-for-all, the rules and setup are pretty typical.

Unfortunately, agents and authors alike have recently raised alarms about sharing pitches and snippets online at events like these due to concerns about the theft of ideas—both by humans and AIs. You can see a thread about this issue here. I honestly don’t know how concerned anyone should be about either possibility, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re weighing the risks and benefits of joining a pitching event.  

5. You don’t need a massive social media following to get published.

When you’re new to the querying process, you’ll see a lot of well-meaning advice that isn’t necessarily accurate. One thing I’ve seen pop up a few times is this idea that agents and publishers won’t even look at you unless you already have a major social media presence and tons of followers. This is alarming news for new writers trying to break into the industry, but fortunately, it’s simply not true.  

Sure, it’s a good idea to already have a basic author website and some social media platforms set up, and a lot of agents and publishers will ask to see them. But you don’t need to be a successful influencer with a huge ready-made fanbase to find representation or get a book deal. Just relax, focus on the monumental tasks of writing and querying your books, and put yourself out there on social media whenever you have the spoons to manage it. Engage with other writers and readers and just have fun. After a while, you’ll start to build a following naturally. Don’t sweat it.

On a related note, you don't necessarily have to hire a pro editor before querying, either. Get your book as polished as possible before you query or submit it, of course. But keep in mind that if you get an agent, they'll most likely help you edit your book, and then it will be edited again once it hits the publishing house. In the meantime, find some readers with a good grasp of the things you struggle with the most, whether it's SPAG or story structure.

Finally, here are some invaluable resources I stumbled across during my querying journey:

Manuscript Wish List: If you’re not sure where to look for agents or publishers, this is an excellent place to start. Industry people post information here about what they want (and don’t want!) as well as instructions for querying them. Make sure to check the agency or publisher website before submitting, since the info on the MSWL website isn’t always up-to-date.

QueryTracker: Any writer who’s seriously querying a book is going to end up using this website in some capacity. Many agents require you to query them through forms on the industry-end website, QueryManager. You can then monitor the status of your queries through the sister site, QueryTracker. QueryTracker also allows you to search for agents by genre and other filters. I found it worthwhile to subscribe to the premium version (just $25 per year) and get access to the additional features, such as the ability to view individual agents’ query response rates and other data.

Writer Beware: One of the biggest industry watchdogs. Want to find out if a potential agent, agency, or publisher is legit? Start here.

Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity: Erica Verrillo does a great job keeping on top of industry news. Her website is an invaluable source of information about agents, publishers, writing contests, conferences, and other resources and opportunities for writers at all stages of the querying and publication journey.

Jane Friedman’s website: Jane Friedman has decades of experience in various aspects of the publishing industry, and her website is a great resource for new writers trying to get a sense of how it all works. She offers tips on topics like how to find agents and publishers, the differences between trad and self-publishing, and how to write an effective query letter.  

Absolute Write Water Cooler: This is a forum for authors and an excellent place to find advice and informative industry gossip. If you’re wondering whether a particular agent or publisher is good to work with, search for them here. You’re likely to find a discussion thread where writers are sharing their experiences.

The Authors Guild: This is America’s oldest professional organization for authors. In addition to offering free legal services to members, they provide website hosting and building services, discussion forums, educational materials and events, and assistance for writers seeking various types of insurance (from media liability to dental!).

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Chapter 16 is live! That makes two more chapters past this before we reach the end of the Second Act. Oooo things heat up this chapter as Danny has a fight with his friends, and realizes something important about his feelings...

Still not convinced? Have a sample of the chapter below!:

The beeping of the scanner grated against his limited patience. His nose itched ferociously, nerves mocking him with increased signals once he’d been stuck in place on the bed. He stared at the tepid blue of his bedroom wall, willing himself to ignore it a few seconds longer. If he wiggled, they’d have to start from the beginning. The final beep rang out into the room, and he breathed a sigh of frustration. “Please tell me that is the last one.”

“Last one for now. We still have to drag a few more scanners up from the basement.” Sam tossed the thin rectangle back onto his bed, then leaned down to pick up another, “Whoops, I actually forgot this one.”

“No, you didn’t,” he pleaded.

“Yeah, I think I did,” she trailed off, turning the device a few times in her hands, “I don’t remember holding this one up until everything below my shoulders screamed.” She poked at it until its screen flashed on, pale blue washing out the delicate peach tones in her skin. “Or...we’ve done so many of these, I’m losing count. This one has your updated signature in it already.”

“Told you, I remember the noise it made. You know the—”

“Ugh right, that weird jingle.” She tossed that one on his bed as well, joining the pile in the completed scanner graveyard. “One of these has to be useful, they all check different things.” She looked over towards Tucker, an exasperated grimace on her face. “Please tell me that last one looked different? I can’t feel my fingers anymore.”

“Uh…no? Maybe nothing the Fentons have can actually capture the changes. This is supposed to be a micro-wave inside his signature.”

“I think,” Jazz said, typing with dainty taps on her new laptop keyboard, “we just can’t read it in human form. We should wait for mom and dad to go out so you can transform.”

“It’s not a bad idea. We’ve tried every scanner in FentonWorks.” Tucker’s mechanical keyboard clacked away near his desk as the geek saved the last bit of data. “Aren’t your parents going out on patrol later this evening? Sam will get a scan then.”

“Nuh uh, no way! This time, Jazz is holding up the scanners while I update the Excel spreadsheet.”

“Do I get a bathroom break anywhere in there? I’ve been stuck in one place the last four hours.”

[turtlecleric]

Things in Symphony that I'm still wondering about, even after Chapter 22

1. This line: Now that you’re keeping your window locked pathologically, the old game of sneaking in via the fire escape is off the table.

2. The guy who beat up the asshole in the coffee shop. Is he actually just a random person? Or will he come back and turn out to be important later?

3. "lbjean_87’s Insta profile" is a reference, I'm sure, but idk what exactly other than the "87" for the 87 cartoon

4. “Oh, that’s such a relief,” he says, closing his eyes and sighing into your palm. “I’ve been making spreadsheets of things I’ve wanted to try for several days and wondering how best to bring it up, especially considering—well. It’s quite helpful that you did so yourself. Excellent work, consultant.” What would Donnie have said after "especially considering" if he hadn't cut himself off? Is that a nod to him thinking she likes Leo?

5. “I won’t change my mind,” he [Donnie] assures, making you shake your head. He sighs. “Yes. I promise.” In his mind, why is he so sure he won't change his mind about conducting the touch experiment? Because it's such a relief to touch someone again? Because he loves her? Because he's just that curious about the results/committed to seeing it through so he can touch his family again? Does he even know why he's so sure?

6. Sinclair at one point refers to a Ren. Renet, maybe?? 👀 Will we ever meet her?

7. Vi's visceral reaction to Leo scaring her in the kitchen vs. All the times she's been in genuine danger. With strangers she isn't afraid to stand her ground, even with guys much bigger and stronger than her who are actively trying to hurt her, she still doesn't react like she does with Leo. Is that because Leo is Just That Scary or does she have a history of people, specifically people she trusts, people who are close to her, being violent?

8. [Raph talking] "you can’t be stupid like that,” he says, making you flinch. I've noticed, even before chapter 20 when it gets really really bad, she often refers to herself as stupid or uses stupid as an adjective when describing what she's doing. Her flinching when Raph uses that word specifically has me wondering if "stupid" was used against her a lot in the past (by Alopex maybe?) or if she's always had A Thing about thinking she's stupid.

9. Donnie's various reactions to Vi being in danger/insulted. He reacts VERY strongly to her being bruised by coffee shop guy and when they run into her old standmate and he insults her. But after the thing with the guy in the park and the time she was almost SHOT his reaction is really... mellow. It confuses me.

10. Engage alarm 16-44-SD - I wonder what the significance of the numbers and letters are?

11. Why does Vi call Sinclair by her last name instead of her first name (June)? Grace calls her June... Is it because Vi is so bad at names and by the time she finds out Sinclair's first name is June she's already spent too much time referring to Sinclair by her last name to really change it?

12. What WAS Leo doing while Vi was showering before the 4th of July party? Was he really just eating cookies?

13. “He’s got me on security protocol 27-L-Alpha, but family’s allowed through on that one, so you can go ahead in,” Shelldon says - Again I wonder about the significance of these numbers and letters.

14. Donnie uses italics in the group chat. You can't do that in regular text chains, right? Is this like a discord-type situation? Or is it because they're all using phones (most likely) made by Donnie and he somehow added that feature? (This is so not important, I know, I know, but I'm curious okay?)

15. Chapter 20, during sex - He’s saying something; his mouth is moving but you’re too fuzzy to think, too lost to hear. I wonder what he said?

16. Also Chapter 20, after she Realizes - If Donnie says anything, you don’t hear it. I wonder if he said anything here. Was he still talking to her, trying to figure out what was wrong? Or watching her in confused, shocked silence? I don't know which is worse.

[concerningwolves]

This could very easily just be me being blind and incompetent when it comes to spreadsheets, but in the word count tracker you made for this year, is there a sheet that lets you look at the total words you’ve written for X project over the year, rather than just in a certain month? I just want to make sure I haven’t completely missed something (it’s quite likely I have lol).

Also, this is definitely me being dumb, but is there a way to delete project columns? I tried to delete one but it made a bunch of the other sheets freak out and stop loading info so I’m wondering if there’s a work around I don’t know about. For a person that doesn’t know the first thing about spreadsheets your trackers have been ridiculously easy to use, it’s pretty much just been these things and the fonts that I’ve been having any trouble with (speaking of which, thank you for helping me fix the fonts and dates earlier!).

If you could tell me whether you're using Google sheets or excel and maybe show screenshots of the problem I can definitely do my best to help :)

As for project totals, that information is (should be?) represented in the pie chart! If you can't see it, unhide the "Comps. Data" sheet and check for a table like this one:

(numbers are sample numbers. alas i haven't actually already written 141,57 words for a project this year......)

Make sure that each box for the total number has the formula for the sum of the project column in rows 3–367, e.g., project 1 has the formula =SUM(Daily!B3:B367), project 2 =SUM(Daily!C3:C367), and so on. That'll give you your project's yearly totals.

If your pie chart just isn't showing numbers, here's how to change that in

Excel: Add or remove data labels from a chart.

Google Sheets: Add data labels, notes or error bars to a chart.

[three-headed-monster]

27 dresses but kate ends up with george EXPLAIN PLS

ok ok ok so it's not like 27 dresses fic lmao

ship is bords/briss. jist of it is that bords is briss' assistant at CAA and has been since their years in college. sure, he's a little in love with him but that's not a crime if he doesn't act on it.

anyways, briss wouldn't be his boss anyways if he accepted the job pat keeps offering him, but he likes working with briss. it's practically the only time they ever spend together.

briss has a boyfriend though...matty beniers. and what's gonna happen when matty becomes the fiance and suddenly briss already has someone to fill the co-CEO role pat keeps asking bords to take? and when briss starts ignoring him and bords' role in briss life isn't as solid as it seems...well the job was getting boring anyways, maybe it's time to quit

in the end though obviously bords/briss get together and there's a dramatic midnight office kiss scene as there is in these romances

snippet below the cut!

Email engagement party invitations has been the top item on Thom’s to-do list for the past month, and it’s slowly going from a yellow “you might want to get on this” to a red “do it or Brendan will fire you” task.  He has the mailing list set up, has for months now, but he just can’t seem to find it in himself to hit the “send” button and get it over with.  Maybe it’s because when he finally does it, it’ll finally feel real.  Brendan’s getting married, and there’s nothing Thom can do about it.

Thom and Brendan had met in college, at some preppy rich person club that both of their parents had forced them to.  At the time, Thom had wanted to piss off his dad spectacularly, a little payback for the way he acted when Thom decided to quit hockey and come out.  Thom couldn’t think of a better way to anger him than to go work for the son of his father’s biggest hockey rival, Patrice Brisson.  After all, his dad had always said Brendan was a troublemaking, party boy who didn’t know up from down and left from right.  It was just a perfect position for Thom to jump into, considering his dad blew a gasket when he found out Thom was running around taking care of that millionaire, playboy, idiot, philanthropist. But as the years went on, and his dad and him made up, Thom found that he started to enjoy his job.  His days were always filled with endless client bookings and Excel spreadsheets and contracts, but he grew to like what he was doing.  He was good at it, damn good at it, and sometimes, it even felt like he knew more about CAA than Brendan did.