In honor of my final first marching band competition (which is delayed to next week bc of inclement weather), I figured it's time we talked about my marching band/drum corps AU called "The Marching Wellies," where everything is the same but instead of a hockey team, SMH is now a marching band! (Working title until I find out what the actual Samwell mascot is.)

Concept

Samwell is renowned nationally for their unique show concepts and generous scholarships for its members, both new and returning. With former figure skater turned color guard member, Eric Bittle comes into the band, thinking seriously as he becomes one year closer to aging out of competing in DCI and WGI.

Terminology

There are some terms and acronyms that's going to be used across this post. I'm leaving terms up at the top just to make sure you understand what the fuck is going on.

DCI - Drum Corps International. Competitive marching band circuit for independent drum and bugle corps (DBCs) targeted towards student musicians and performers (high school through college).

WGI - Winter Guard International. Competitive indoor color guard, winds, and percussion circuit targeted towards student musicians and performers (high school through college). While DCI is completely independent and so are its member corps, WGI has a separate circuit for schools called "Scholastic" that allows high school guards to compete.

Age-out. The maximum age a performer can be in DCI and WGI is twenty-one years old, although members who turn twenty-two on or after June 1st is still eligible to compete in DCI's Open and World-class corps, referred to as a "bonus year" by DCI. WGI's max age is dependent on what class a performer competes in. For the 2023 season, Independent A-class performers cannot be over 22 on April 1st, 2022 and Independent Open-class performers cannot be over 23 years old. World-class performers may be of any age, although many guards limit their members to 22-23 as their programs are focused on youth members.

Sections and Leadership

In essence, Bitty's main crew is leadership within the band; loosely based off my first band friends being leadership my freshman year and eventually being in a leadership position with the friends in my grade!

Drum Major: Jack Zimmermann

Percussion section leader/SL: Johnson

Winds SL: Ransom

Brass SL: Holster

Color Guard Captain: Shitty (We'll explain this later)

Equipment manager: Lardo

The drum major is the captain of the entire band. They oversee everyone in all the sections and act as a liaison between the band and staff. If the section leaders can't answer someone's question, the section leader goes to the drum major.

The section leader is self-explanatory. They literally lead their section. Sometimes they may lead practices outside of official rehearsals, assist in teaching music, or act as a mentor to their section. The guard captain has the same exact role as the section leaders and are on the same level.

Some bands might have an equipment manager because of the sheer amount of instruments, props, and color guard equipment used in marching band. Lardo's role as team manager for SMH directly translates as the equipment manager of the band. While she may not play something in the band (hinthintnudgenudge), she works with leadership to make sure everything is organized for transportation and storage.

Backstories

Jack arrived at Samwell as an ex-DCI competitor before realizing his time is almost up in the competitive sphere. Came into Samwell as a section leader before climbing up the ranks as drum major by his sophomore year. He's ran the band under lock and key out of his own personal outlook on life, which is quite regimented. That same regimented lifestyle and perfectionist nature has been drilled into him, mostly out of his time being in this sphere where everyone demands perfection out of you.

Bitty's experience in figure skating translated well into performing in color guard, something that led to him performing for his own high school (with HEAVY hesitation due to the worry of Bitty's sexuality being found out through guard.) Eventually, he landed himself as captain of Madison County High School's color guard and got noticed for it. With the very generous full-living scholarship, Bitty applied and signed to Samwell very quickly.

Ransom and Holster both had their typical band geek phase, but their friendship got off on the wrong foot after both of them met each other at a Bluecoats audition camp and despised each other for various reasons. (Ransom thought Holster was very loud and brash while Holster thought that Ransom had a stick up his ass and was very uptight at first.) Neither of them got in, but made it out as good friends. (you didn't hear this from me but Ransom and Holster were stuck to each other like glue during their orientation week because the Bluecoats audition was a year before their freshman year.)

Shitty is the kind of person who would literally do anything if it meant getting closer with his crush. In high school, he played saxophone and was hellbent on making sure he was able to play it in college. That is, until he met Lardo. He occasionally plays sax for the meme (and because he’s in the Samwell Korean Pops Orchestra because again, Lardo.)

Shitty "accidentally" walked in on an indoor guard rehearsal and that was the moment she fell in love with color guard. Lardo encouraged him to join and soon enough, became co-captain with Lardo his senior year at Samwell. (Or at least somewhere close to that. He never had an official leadership role, but was just one of those seniors who gave out very good advice.)

Lardo’s journey in the guard was because the band director at her high school needed a little girl for a show when she was in 5th grade and she just… stayed with the band the entire time. She learned the skills despite not being in the actual band in middle school and when it was her time to join, she almost became captain on the spot.

The Organizations They Marched With

Everyone in Bitty's crew has marched with an Open or World-class group outside of Samwell.

Jack has marched for the Calgary Stampede Showband (International Class), River City Rhythm in Anoka, MN (Open Class), The Cadets in Allentown, PA (World Class), and Boston Crusaders in Boston, MA (World Class). Boston was Jack's final corps and his age-out season was the same year Jack enrolled at Samwell.

Bitty has marched for the Madison County High School marching band back home in Madison, GA and Paramount Open in Atlanta, GA (Open Class). Bitty would have marched for Pegasus in Macon, GA (Open Class) as it was closer to him, but Pegasus moved to Central Florida the year he was going to audition.

Ransom and Holster have both marched for their respective high schools, although both of them auditioned for the Bluecoats, one of the top three world-class drum corps in DCI. Neither of them got in, but who needs a top drum corps when you have your best friend?

When Lardo was old enough, she performed with Onyx in Dayton, OH (World Class), Fusion World in Clifton, NJ (World Class), and AMP World in Camden, NJ (World Class). She is taking a break from the independent circuit in order to focus on her art career and her home team at Samwell. (Fun fact: If Lardo has performed with AMP and Fusion, this means she has spun with both my irl instructors when they were in high school.)

I don't expect a full fic for this to come out anytime soon (I wish tho), but I just wanted to throw this out there for the fun of it. It's my senior season and I'm grateful for all the memories I have of this band.

For any future posts that deal with the marching wellies (the marching band) or samwell independent (the color guard), they will be respectively tagged as "#the marching wellies" and "#samwell independent."

LGBTQ Book Recommendations

In the year that has seen the heartwarming second season of Heartstopper comes the news two school districts in the US states of Florida and Oregon have banned the graphic novels and a public library in Mississippi removed the works from the shelves claiming they were somehow “pornographic.”  It never seems to fail; every time there is societal progress, you have a wave of those throwing up restrictions trying desperately to pull everything and everyone back. 

This heinous attack on LGBTQ literature, works on the African American experience, and tragic historical events are why we fight back everyday to keep these works available for all who seek their content especially during Banned Books Week.  It’s not about corrupting or grooming the youth; it’s about truth, love, life, compassion, and understanding one another.  What follows are seven LGBTQ books by seven different authors you may want to consider reading beyond Heartstopper, Fence, and Love, Simon.  Remember, just because your favorite book isn’t here doesn’t mean I didn’t like it or you shouldn’t give try.  Always enrich your perspective by trying a variety of works in the plethora now available.  Happy Banned Books Week!

1.  Boy Like Me by Simon James Green – I first ran across this author when I read his book Alex in Wonderland a few years ago being greatly amused by the antics of boy working a summer job.  It is very fitting to begin with this recent release set in a UK High School back in 1994 during Section 28 banning books on gay relationships.  The main character, Jamie, is lead to such a disguised novel where he finds a connection to his own personal truths and to a mysterious other person who feels the same way.  Will Jamie ever find this other person or will they be forever shunned by their small community?  It’s always a important to remember where we’ve been so that we can better guide ourselves to where we need to be.

2.  The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg – Two boys operate a food truck Coq Au Vinny for the summer out in the heat of Mesa, Arizona.  Max, a baseball jock, is trying hard to forget a rough experience with a college boy while hanging out with his friends and working.  Geeky Jordan, is trying to raise the money with his late father’s old food truck and keep his mother from spiraling while hanging out with his gal pals.  Along the way they find friendship and love while working through their past traumas and current struggles.  Easily one of my favorites.

3. Check, Please!  Book 1:  #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu – Join baking vlogger Erik “Bitty” Bittle from Georgia as he makes his way through the first two years playing hockey at Samwell University in New England.  Originally an online comic, this first volume in a two part set explores Bitty’s time interacting with the team and getting closer with their Captain, Zimmerman.  This was a charming story with entertaining characters, and, of course, the love of hockey.  Be sure to also read Check, Please!  Book 2:  Sticks & Scones.

4.  Lions Legacy by L.C. Rosen – Tennessee “Tenny” Russo had tried to leave his adventuring days with his father’s reality show behind and have a normal life with his mom in Greenwich Village.  Two years later, his boyfriend is cheating on him, his “Good Upstanding Queer” friends don’t care, and his dad comes back into his life with a potential lead on the Rings of the Sacred Band of Thebes.  Tenny could stay miserable in New York or join his father in Greece to recover a lost piece of queer history to share with the world.  A wonderful, thrilling story heavily influenced by Indiana Jones exploring struggle of keeping LGBT history from being swept under the rug or modified to fit a heteronormative viewpoint.

5.  Thunder by Dylan James – Teenage Grant Peters and Logan Summers have been long neighbors and rivals on the rodeo circuit in the upper plains of the United State or Canada.  With his parents thinking of selling the ranch due to a drop in profits, Grant is desperate to find a way to keep competing with his beloved horse Thunder.  He stumbles across evidence of a cougar attack and is drawn into an investigation along the property line with his nemesis, Logan.  Along the way, the boys develop a connection and uncover a secret hidden from both families.  Will they make it out alive?

6.  Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson – When Virgil Knox stumbled into the town center of Merritt, Florida battered, bloody, and raving about the monster that attacked him, nobody would believe him, not even his own grandparents.  Already struggling to make friends in his dad’s hometown after his parents’ divorce, Virgil knows what he saw and finds himself reliving that night.  Can Virgil find a way to move on with his life?  Will the monster find him again?  Is he on his way to becoming one himself?

7.  In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens – Prince Tal has a secret.  Fire mages are not to be trusted ever since his ancestor used the ability to fight wars against the other kingdoms and practitioners of other magic, the ability has been shunned.  The mysterious castaway Athlen also has a secret that enables him to somehow survive the deep oceans.  Together the boys will survive pirates, kidnapping plots, shapeshifters, and a grand political plot threatening the kingdom and Tal’s sister, the queen.  Can they stop a war before it’s too late?

ok. samwell college of music au. i wrote all four years let's go babey

eric bittle is this lovely southern tenor (sounds kinda like mitch grassi or ben j pierce) who posts covers (& sometimes originals, but always with neutral or no pronouns because he can't post anything that says he or him ☹) on his youtube channel and has major stage fright but is very talented; he also plays ukulele

he got into samwell college of music on a voice scholarship and his dad doesn’t exactly approve but eric was never the 6′2″ masculine football player he wanted anyway so why not go for his dreams

he auditions for the very competitive samwell men’s contemporary chorus (there’s like 20 choirs; chamber choir, jazz choir, a cappella groups (lax bros do a cappella), combined choirs, etc- smcc does contemporary pop/rock music) and while he’s very very nervous and shaky as he auditions, directors hall & murray see a lot of potential in him (with major grumbling from student director jack)

(the rest of this ridiculously long au under the cut)

the group is small, for a chorus, because the point of the group is not a wall of sound but a focus on all of the very talented guys’ voices coming together in these gorgeous harmonies and basically they’re like one of the best choruses on campus and all the male singers want in

so there’s jack zimmermann, who of course eric knows because everyone knows who he is, he’s the son of bob and alicia zimmermann, both incredibly talented and famous musicians, and basically those genes were in his favor because he’s mega fucking talented

(jack was supposed to sign a recording contract to be in a band with his best friend kent parson when he was 17 but something happened between them and the pressure was too much and jack overdosed on something- there’s so many rumors no one knows what’s real- and kent signed solo in LA & went on to win grammys for his albums about a mysterious ex and jack disappeared for a few years to be a counselor at a music camp and reappears at samwell, knocking everyone’s socks off again like he’d never left, except with a renewed vigor and intenseness that freaks everyone out)

jack is a contemporary writing & production major, freaky talented and sings like a modern day frank sinatra, and he plays like 20 instruments and can read music like breathing air and writes songs like if he stopped he’d die; his music is folksy and mournful and he plays all the instruments on his tracks himself- guitar, piano, strings, drums- it sounds like a full band but nope. just jack. he’s intense

“we all get nicknames in this choir,” justin informs eric on his first day, “we’re those kinda guys.” so he’s bitty, which he finds vaguely offensive (bc he’s not that short!) but still cute, & the rest of the group is introduced to him:

“shitty” knight (voice like colyer) is a musical education major and an enigma of a singer with this awesome, earthy, raspy voice that’s really interesting to listen to and a very.... unique style & look; he writes cheesy but shockingly good raps about social justice topics and he will sing-lecture you if you’ve said something offensive (he also plays banjo)

justin “ransom” oluransi is a music business & management major with an angelic voice you can’t help but listen to; he’s sultry and has an incredible range and does runs like nobody’s business (with a voice like daniel caesar or leslie odom jr UGH)

adam “holster” birkholtz is a voice performance major, wants to be on broadway and it’s all he ever goddamn talks about basically, he’s a belter and has a lot of charisma and starpower and he’ll charm the pants off of you within one note; can also play piano and irritates everyone constantly because his regular volume is like a level 11 (voice like the frontman of my brothers and i combined w/ x ambassadors lead singer)

larissa “lardo” duan is at the local art institute because performing arts is not her jam and she’d much rather paint; she’s a barista at annie’s and supervises open mic nights and keeps the annoying choir dudes from driving away all her patrons

“i’m not even in your dumbass choir,” she says when the group gave her her nickname. holster just told her that she was an honorary member and then started sing-shouting a song at her about how good she is

bitty’s first year is hard because he’s talented and he works hard but he shies away when anyone asks him to sing outside the group and like, he can sing to a camera by himself but being on a stage with everyone looking at you and the sole responsibility of the song on your shoulders is terrifying and no thanks

jack does not. understand this. he’s been performing practically since he came out of the womb and he doesn’t really get performance nerves (what he gets is anxiety about how he did after he gets off stage that follows him home and makes it so he can’t sleep) - so he bothers bitty about it constantly like “you just need practice, you just have to sing by yourself a lot and then you’ll get over it” which like.... that’s true but it’s also hella scary and bitty’s like “no thanks!!!!”

but jack’s annoying and intense so he makes bitty do open mic with him every saturday night and it’s going okay and bitty loves his choir and loves his school and these new friends he’s making and he finally feels comfortable enough to come out to them during his second term

then during their spring choral showcase at the end of his freshman year bitty has a solo and he’s worked really hard on it and he’s feeling good- okay he’s completely freaked out but he’s trying to feel good- but when he gets up on stage there’s so many people and the stage lights are so hot on his face and he flips out a little and maybe he passes out from anxiety and stress right on stage and it’s terrible and he’s so embarrassed and ashamed that he ruined their set at the showcase

of course jack blames himself because “we shouldn’t have given you a solo before you were ready, i misjudged it, i’m sorry” - and they all feel kinda bad bc holy fuck they didn’t know his stage fright was that bad like they didn’t know someone could pass out just by being anxious to sing

he practices all the time over the summer and goes to his local open mic at jack’s insistence and it actually helps a lot because instead of a sea of strangers judging him it’s a bunch of people he knows and they’re all smiling at him and when he finishes his song they cheer for him and it boosts his self-confidence a lot

his sophomore year they have three new members- chris ”chowder” chow (voice like ieuan), an excitable music education major with impressive rapping skills, derek "nursey" nurse (frank ocean or leon bridges type), a songwriting major who can also play violin and guitar, and will ”dex” poindexter (like tom west), a production & engineering major who tried out with chowder bc he needed moral support and didn't expect to get in but impressed the directors with his voice

the year’s going pretty good, bitty’s still pretty scared of singing alone but more confident now and the open mic nights with jack haven’t stopped, so he’s getting better. and one night they’re hanging out at annie’s after closing waiting for lardo to be done so they can walk her home, and bitty suggests that jack sing with him one of these nights, and jack says he doesn’t know any of bitty’s songs and bitty says they can write one together half jokingly but then jack is like “yes.” with that Intense Look

SO they get together a couple days later in jack’s room at the house they all live in together (bitty moved in at the beginning of the year after previous smcc member john johnson called him- how’d he get his number?- and told him he could take his room if he wanted), jack with his guitar and bitty with his ukulele, and it’s a little awkward until bitty says jack should play him one of his songs

and, okay, he doesn’t really know what to expect because the only music jack ever released to the public was that one single he did with kent parson when they were 17 so bitty doesn’t even know if he has anything to play him, but he does- he starts playing these soft, sad notes on the guitar and opens his mouth and sings about being lonely and scared and unsure, about false starts and shaky ground and not knowing where you stand with someone, about expectations and lying awake at night and wishing so hard you were someone else, and bitty watches him sing and just kind of... realizes he’s head over heels for this boy and internally Freaks Out a little

he tries to put that aside and they start to write this song, at first it’s weird because jack’s like “all your songs are love songs i can’t really relate to happy love songs” and bitty’s like “listen... i’ve never even had a boyfriend i just write a bunch of sappy love stuff because it’s not about me it’s about whoever’s listening to it, they’re gonna project their own experiences on my music anyway so it doesn’t matter if it’s my real life or not” and jack’s like “alright while fake af that’s smart and i respect you” (what bitty doesn't say is that he writes about what he really wants which is to fall in love & be in a happy relationship)

they say they’re just gonna write this kinda vague sad song but they both secretly write lines about their actual lives so it ends up being really personal and real and raw for the both of them

they sing the song at open mic that saturday and the crowd at annie’s is never that big but they’ve never got a standing ovation here before, and some girl shouts “MAKE AN ALBUM” (it may or may not be lardo) and they both blush furiously and bitty’s like “... that was really nice, jack” and jack’s like “... yeah it was good good job you’re really getting some confidence out there nice work” (bitty: “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT AAAAH”)

around this time jack’s really thinking about what he’s gonna do when he’s done at samwell, talking with his parents and his agent and looking into different record companies and deciding if he wants to sign with anyone or possibly start his own company- the head of a small company called falcon records in rhode island has been talking to him a lot, and jack talks to bitty about how he thinks it’d be nice to start small, and the record exec georgia and the producer marty had both been really nice and welcoming, and bitty’s so happy for him but also just... sad that he won’t be around jack every day after he graduates

THEN at a haus party celebrating their win of a local choral competition, who shows up but none other than pop star kent parson to Ruin The Fun

bitty sees the way jack pales when kent walks in, notices them disappear upstairs together and feels a little sick worrying about jack but chalks it up to the highly alcoholic concoction shitty and lardo had cooked up but nonetheless decides he’s sick of the party and goes up to his room and hears.... a little too much

and YIKES he’s standing right there and kent parson, pop star, two-time grammy winner, is looking a little rumpled and staring right at him and he puts his hat on and clears his throat and snaps at jack- “hey. well. call me if you reconsider. but good luck with rhode island. ...i’m sure that’ll make your parents proud.” and jack’s shaking, and bitty doesn’t know what to do but jack goes back into his room and bitty’s just kind of standing there like What The Fuck

so.... he kind of stews over winter break but tries not to think about it too much and he and jack text a bit and jack tells him to practice and bitty’s like “oh, you” and jack’s like “im serious” and bitty’s like “>:( it’s christmas”

spring semester starts and they're doing well in competitions and they go to semifinals and then finals for a prestigious collegiate choir competition and the pressure is mounting but they all are so optimistic and really feel like they're on the same page and bitty’s confidence is better than ever and then.... they don't win

jack especially takes it very hard, but then he also has signing to worry about, which everyone helps him with and he decides to sign with falcon records and start work on an album after graduation

speaking of graduation, shitty and jack graduate and it's hard for them but harder for bitty who feels like he's losing jack in a way, he knows how intense jack gets when he's making music and it doesn't feel like he'll have any time for bitty anymore so when they say goodbye bitty goes back to the haus and listens to his and jack's song and just cries

but, like in canon, dadbob has words of wisdom to impart and jack has an "oh" moment and races across campus to kiss bitty

they get together and the next few months are spent with jack working nonstop on his album (which tbh, he'd had many of the songs written already so it's mostly recording and producing) and texting bitty constantly and coming to visit him and playing him demos of all the songs

jack also asks bitty if they can record the song they wrote together & have it as a bonus track on his album & bitty says of course, so when jack visits they set up an impromptu studio and record vocals in the guest bedroom and this deeply personal song they wrote before they were ever together means so much more to them now

and bitty is so happy but so scared and sad too because jack is playing him these songs telling him "they're all for you bits, & a lot of them are about you" and he just doesn't know how he's going to keep all this love inside even though it feels like jack's career is at stake

he tries to shove it down and stay strong though, especially since he's now an upperclassman and they're taking on new members- connor "whiskey" whisk (voice like finneas or the male singer in valley), a music business/ management major who seems to hate bitty's guts and tony "tango" tangredi (like chaz cardigan), a jazz composition major who astounds everybody with his endless questions but also his ridiculously impressive composition skills & naturally perfect pitch (he can also play saxophone??)

i want ford in this au so fuck it she is a composition major with dreams to write scores for musicals and she stars training as a barista at annie's (aka training to corral the smcc)

the pressure of it all proves to be a lot and bitty and jack have their hi, honey moment where bitty's like i can't be this deep in the closet!!! and so they tell the smcc and also jack's label that they're together and that eases things a bit

jack's album comes out to much critical acclaim and shouting in the groupchat ("#1 ON ITUNES BRAHHHHH!!!!!!!!") and several months later, when smcc has already been eliminated from choral competition in an earlier round, jack is nominated for SEVERAL grammys including best album, song of the year, and best new artist

when the time comes he takes his parents and bitty on the red carpet which, everyone keeps being like "who are you here with jack?" and he's like "my family and my good friend :)" and yes it is awkward

jack wins... all three awards. it's the comeback everyone is stoked to see and when his third win is announced, he and bitty are so elated that they kiss before he goes to accept the award

his speech is basically just "um... wow. thank you. i just kissed my boyfriend on live tv. this is amazing and i'm so humbled. i'd like to thank my boyfriend and georgia and marty and my parents and my friends and my boyfriend"

obviously the press has a FIELD DAY with this but bitty & jack are honestly vibing and so happy that it doesn't matter untiiiillll bitty's mom calls and he has to tell her "mama i'm gay and i'm going on tour with jack this summer okloveyoubye"

the last few months of bitty's junior year pass quickly and he's voted student director which is a huge honor considering how much he struggled with stage fright and confidence & how he'll now be stepping into ransom & holster's shoes

r&h and lardo all graduate (the smcc basically crashes the art school graduation and all scream when lardo gets her diploma lmao), which is a bittersweet occasion and they all do a bit of tearing up

that summer bitty goes on tour across the u.s. & canada with jack and his touring band (snowy is a bassist, tater is a drummer and poots does backing guitar, he also brings nursey to play violin on a few songs) as well as georgia who's there to manage logistics

and tour is so fun & chaotic with many bi and rainbow flags in the audience that end up thrown on stage and draped around jack's neck and they spend so many nights in the bus drinking and laughing and fooling around on the guitars and bitty's uke and exploring new cities bitty has never been to before and it's the freest bitty has felt in a long time

summer ends though, and jack leaves for the uk/europe leg of the tour, and with the new school year brings a few new members- river "bully" bullard (voice like gregory alan isakov), a music therapy major who draws his own cover art for his songs, lukas "louis" landmann (like jr jr), an electronic production and design major with a penchant for EDM, and johnathan "hops" hopper (like keiynan lonsdale), a film scoring major who wants to write music for movies and video games

bitty meets and befriends some of the other student directors- shruti, sd of the women’s contemporary chorus; sharon, sd of the chamber choir; and edgar, sd of jazz ensemble (even chad l., sd of the all-male a cappella group)

senior year passes similarly to the comic; coach visits and sees one of bitty’s competitions, jack comes to madison for christmas, smcc does well in competition and goes to regionals etc

however… bitty keeps putting off and putting off gathering the songs for his senior recital

he has a hard time doing that because he’s so focused on the group and making sure they’re performing well and as they advance in competition, everything else starts to fall away

eventually the rest of the smcc has to lock away his uke and change his youtube password and FORCE him to choose songs for it and start preparing because he cannot graduate without doing this recital and doing well on it

he chooses (of course) a beyonce song, a few of his own songs, an ellie goulding song, and an adele song

with all that his breath hitches and his hands shake before he goes on stage, he does really well and his voice instructor prof atley tears up a little in the audience as does his mom

meanwhile smcc goes to semifinals, then finals, of the national collegiate choral competition they participate in

and i imagine bitty faces somewhat less homophobia in this au because i mean, he’s in the performing arts, but i think it’s still there and he also faces a good amount of classism from richer students and performers who think they’re better because they had the resources and money to be performing professionally from a very young age, and he has been practicing via filming himself on a shitty camcorder and posting it to youtube

but they still get there! and the national finals are fucking HUGE and a big deal and a little overwhelming

bitty’s stage fright is Present because this is the biggest stage and the biggest stakes he's ever had and he has a big solo in one of their songs so if he fucks up, he fucks up a national championship for his whole group and school

luckily though, when he steps on the stage with his best friends and sees his boyfriend and family and smcc alums in the audience and they perform their first song, a high-energy pop medley that always gets the crowd going, everything seems to melt away and it's just him living in this moment and singing his heart out

when it gets to the next song and his solo, he forgets to be nervous and belts it out, getting screams of approval from the audience when he finishes

(dex and nursey do have a duet together that they had to practice for many long nights in the practice rooms alone but that's neither here nor there)

their time on stage seems to last both hours and no time at all and then they're done, the crowd gives them a standing ovation and it's at least 30% r&h & shitty's hooting and hollering and jack's enthusiastic clapping that makes bitty & the others beam with pride

then it's just waiting, giddy and nervous beyond belief in their green room, for the judging to be over

after what feels like forever they're back on stage, arms linked together waiting and hoping for their name to be called and it is, they win and it feels like years have built up to this moment, and bitty tears up because years ago when he was fainting from anxiety at having to perform in front of people he never could've imagined that he'd do this, that he'd be the student director that led them to a championship

they get the trophy and a ridiculous amount of flowers from their loved ones and they all are just in giddy disbelief that this is happening, they're national champs!!! they are the best choir boys in the nation!!

they come home and the rest of the school year passes by so quickly that it's very suddenly graduation and bitty can't believe his college career at samwell is over 😢

(he and ollie and wicky take pictures together, o&w talk about how excited they are to devote full time attention to their band & wedding planning and bitty's just like wait you're gay??)

bitty got plenty of offers from record companies but he likes his freedom of creativity and he has a built in fanbase from doing youtube all these years so he decides to make an album independently (jack helps him produce & master it 🥰)

when bitty's album comes out about a year later, full of bops about being gay and in love and having struggled but come out the other side more confident than ever, it doesn't get any grammy nominations- and he didn't expect or need that.

what it does do is it resonates. it makes the rounds in youtube and queer internet circles; people his age reach out to him saying this is the music they wish they had as a kid and kids reach out to him saying he's a role model and they're so glad to have his music to listen to. his album is written about as an underrated gem that shines with queer brilliance and is sure to start a party when it comes on.

his parents may not fully understand the road he's chosen for himself but they're still so proud and promote the album as hard as any of his loyal fans (especially the one country-inspired song on the album that he wrote and dedicated to them).

and jack, jack who saw this album from its infancy to its release date, who took the film photo that ended up being the album cover, who worked with bitty to make sure his vision was realized exactly how he wanted it to be, is proud beyond words.

jack starts using his semi-abandoned twitter again to tweet "stream [album name]" every day and bitty retweets them sometimes, with just a "this boy. ❤"

and they're happy. they're good. they have come so far and they are reaping the rewards of all the hard work they put in to make the music that they truly love.

the end :)

4, 7 and 18 for fic asks!

Thanks for the ask, @jonsaremembers! I really appreciate you inviting me to talk about my writing even though we don't share a fandom.

4. What piece of writing are you most proud of?

Looking over my fics from the past year, I think overall I feel more affection than pride. Like, I don't think most of them suck! But it's more "oh, that was fun!" and less "oh man, that's that Good Writing (TM)." I think the one I'm most proud of "who could ask to be unbroken (or be brave again)," partially because, at 14k, it's definitely the longest fic I've written in the last year. (What can I say? I do one-shots.)

The fic is the third installment in my a cappella AU, which got started because I thought it would be funny if SMH stood for Samwell Men's Harmonies instead of Samwell Men's Hockey (and then I spent nearly 30k exploring the idea). In this installment, it's Jack’s junior year at Samwell, and SMH adds three new singers, including a baritone named Eric whose classical vocal training is more of a liability than an asset. Somewhere along the way, Jack falls for him. This fic has so much vocal music technique and pedagogy in it, courtesy of @themeaningoflifeischeese.

7. What's the story or fic that you're most excited to work on or share next year?

I have very little in the works right now, fic-wise, largely because I'm trying to focus more on original stuff. That said, I'm participating in a New Year's exchange for the Murderbot Diaries, which is a pretty new fandom for me. So I've written a one-shot for that, and I think it'll be revealed either later today or tomorrow. It contains spoilers for the latest book in the series, which may limit its reach, but the title is a lyric from the musical version of Legally Blonde, so obviously I had fun with the assignment.

18. Do you have a fic that you wish received more attention?

I think you asked me this last year, too, and I've got a similar answer: it's a weird thing to go from writing a popular crossover of two popular fandoms as a teenager and having well over 1,000 people subscribed to one of my fics, to writing in small fandoms as an adult and struggling to exceed 1,000 hits on a fic, let alone subscribers. I know this is about the sizes of the fandoms I've been in, and about switching to AO3 late in the game and not having name recognition there, so I try not to let it be sad, and I'm pretty successful at remembering that it's not a comment on my growth as a writer, but it's still weird.

So basically: it's tempting to say I feel this way about nearly all of my fics. But the one with the most disappointing effort-to-attention ratio is probably "You Won't Grow Out of It; You Will Find Clothes That Fit." It's a Harry Potter/Check Please crossover, and I think that might be why people have avoided it, since the Check Please fandom doesn't seem super enthusiastic about crossovers. It's set in the Check Please universe, and it's about Ginny Weasley being roommates with Lardo, and how they both come to realize over the course of college that they're nonbinary. It's another one of those fics that I poured myself and my own journey into, and only one person commented (and I adore you, cricket, but ideally your comment would be one of several, you know?).

I just realized that my answer to this question last year was also a nonbinary!Lardo fic. I wrote four fics with nonbinary!Lardo this year (though I only added that tag to three of them because Lardo's pretty minor in the fourth one). Those fics are never super popular, but it's easier to let that go when they're under 1k versus over 5k. I think the overall unpopularity has more to do with people preferring my Zimbits than with people actively disliking the way I write Lardo, and I'm not mad. It can just be disappointing to put effort into something that people don't wind up reacting to all that much.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, @jonsaremembers! Get in on the ask game!

hockey daughters for the wip game?

Thank you for this ask! This is my oldest WIP (started months before I posted my first Check, Please fic) and I’ve talked about it before, but it’s been a while and I know I have some new followers since then so I’ll talk about it again.

This fic is a never-met-at-Samwell AU in which Jack and Bitty meet when their daughters are freshman roommates/teammates at Samwell. It’s a bit more ambitious than most of my other fic because the original characters play a large role. 

For Jack and Bitty, it’s about falling in love when you thought all of that was behind you (very low drama here). The subplot about their girls is about female friendship and figuring out who you are in college.

This fic is far from being in any shape to post yet it’s the one I most want to finish so it will probably be my big project once my current WIP is complete. You can tell it needs a lot of work because the two excerpts I’m about to share are in different tenses.

Here’s a bit of Jack fumbling his way through a conversation with Bitty’s daughter:

Jack chuckled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. As far as I know, your dad is just fine. I’m actually calling because Valentine’s Day is coming up and —”

“Mr. Zimmermann, are you calling because you want to give my dad a Valentine’s Day gift?” Sophie interrupted.

“It’s Jack,” Jack corrected. “And ... yes? We’ve been —” Jack never thought he’d be in the awkward position of having to explain to his daughter’s roommate that he’d been kind of dating her father for the past two months. “Um, we’ve been spending a lot of time together and —”

“Mr. Zimmermann,” Sophie interrupted again, “I’m a big girl. I can handle it if you tell me you and Dad are ... you know.”

“What! No,” Jack said, embarrassed. “Your dad and I ... it’s a little more than you know.” Jack scrubbed a hand over his forehead. “It’s still new, but I’d like to take him out for Valentine’s Day and I was wondering if you had any ideas.”

There was a short silence, during which Jack could hear pop music playing in the background. Fuck. Should he not have told Sophie that much?

Finally, Sophie cleared her throat. “Dad works hard. He’s always worked hard to make sure I have everything I need, and he built his business from nothing, but he works all the time and I can’t remember the last time he took a weekend away that was for himself, and not to watch me play in some tournament. So ...” Sophie trailed off, suddenly sounding uncertain. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s what you’ve thinking, but I’m telling you. I think Dad would really like it if somebody were to take care of him for once. Even if it’s not a weekend away. I don’t know if you’re there yet.”

Oh, we’re there, Jack wanted to say, but he didn’t. Even if he was pretty sure that Eric was on the same page, even if Sophie and Annie had all but given their enthusiastic approval of their relationship, he still wasn’t sure he was ready to say it out loud.

“Dad really likes big gestures,” Sophie continued. “Like, he’ll tell you he doesn’t want a big production and act embarrassed, but it’s all faux Southern modesty. Dad loves big gestures.”

“Noted,” Jack said, mind already spinning with possibilities.

“Oh, and Mr. Zimm — Jack?”

“Yes.”

“My dad is really special, okay? He’s a good guy and —”

“Sophie,” Jack laughed, recognizing a shovel talk for what it was. “I know. I like your dad a lot.”

“It’s just, it’s been just the two of us for so long, and he does so much. He deserves somebody who’ll make him feel as special as he makes everyone else feel.”

And a bit with the girls, under the cut.

“There’s something I should probably tell you,” Annie says. 

Sophie looks up from her phone. “Sure.”

“I, um …” Annie has done this a few times, but it never gets easier. Use your words, she can hear her dad saying. It’s what he used to tell her when she spent the entire first week of kindergarten refusing to talk to anybody. Each morning, the class filed in and sat in a semi-circle around their teacher, who greeted each student by name. “Good morning Mrs. Adams. Good morning, friends,” each student was supposed to reply. But Annie couldn’t. For weeks, she couldn’t say it, and she couldn’t explain to Mrs. Adams why she couldn’t say it. Her mom had become frustrated with the whole thing, but her dad had worked with her every day after school. “Use your words, Annie. Practice with me, and use those same words when you go to class tomorrow.”

It had been a lot of tomorrows before she’d been able to use her words in class, but eventually she had. And whenever she’d had trouble talking after that — because it sure wasn’t a one and done thing — all her dad had to do was gently remind her to use her words.

That’s what she tells herself now before she finally blurts out, “I’mgayandI’msorryifit’sgoingtobeaproblemforyouIcanseeifstudenthousingwilltransfermetoanotherroomormaybemyparentswillpayforasingleIjustdon’twantyoutobeuncomfortable.”

“What?”

“I’m … gay. I wanted you to know in case it makes you uncomfortable, some of my friends were really weird about it when I told them.”

“Oh. Cool.” Sophie falls back onto the bed and holds her phone out in front of her, adjusting the angle as though she’s about to snap a photo. Annie can’t tell if she’s taking a selfie or taking a picture of her. 

“Cool? Cool? I spent the whole summer worried about how I was going to come out to you and all you have to say is cool?” A little hysterical laugh escapes from somewhere inside of Annie. 

Across the room, Sophie meets her eye and smiles. It lights up her entire face.“I mean, the way you were going on I thought you were going to tell me you’re dying or something.”

“Dying? Do you think I’d be here playing hockey if I were dying?”

 “I don’t know! Maybe you’re really just some sort of Make-A-Wish kid whose one wish is to play NCAA hockey! My dad’s gay. I’m literally the last person you need to worry about coming out to. But, uh, thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”

Annie just stares at her.

“Are you surprised my dad’s gay?”

“I told you I had something important tell you and your mind went straight to Make-A-Wish kid?”

How about the tropiest of tropes: coffee shop au.

oh YES!! I can’t believe I’ve never written one of those either!

Jack/Bitty: I would write that gruff-coworkers-despite-my-best-efforts-to-lovers dynamic where Bitty is the newest hire at the campus coffee shop, and immediately begins winning over his new coworkers with his baked goods. Jack is like, newly installed in a work-study position or something. Maybe he had a scholarship but he’s gotten disgraced somehow and lost it, to parallel his trajectory with hockey/Samwell? He is Not Happy To Be Here but because he’s Jack and needs to excel in everything he does, he’s Very Good at this job. He is meticulous. He is diligent. He is shift manager. He is going to lose the weight he’s put on working at this café if it kills him. He is livid that Bitty has come in to ruin this with his stupid desserts. And Bitty CANNOT figure out why his shift manager hates him so much! Yes he’s clumsy and yes he has a pathological fear of the steamer and yes he’s more interested in chatting with customers than hustling during the morning rush! But he’s also charming and hardworking and most importantly, he’s doing his best! He is positive that Jack would start to warm up to him if he just tried one of the mini pies Bitty’s perfecting. Or the apple turnovers he keeps bringing Jack to thank him for the frankly ridiculous number of espresso-machine training sessions Bitty needs. Which are only partly due to Bitty’s terror of the steamer, honestly, and also partly due to the unfortunate fact that his shift manager is super, super hot, especially at 4am when he’s just woken up for the opening shift and hasn’t put his apron on yet and Bitty can ogle the soft roll of belly beneath Jack’s t-shirt. And then there’s the time Bitty ducks into the walk-in freezer to get ice cream for someone’s affogato and finds Jack, wrapped in a hoodie, face in his hands, clearly having some kind of crisis, and stays even when Jack barks at him to get out, and nervous-talks about nothing until Jack starts to come back to himself. Bitty isn’t quite sure what’s going on but when he offers Jack a turnover after leading him out of the freezer, Jack accepts. Bitty almost falls over. After that, Jack starts to soften a lot toward Bitty. And, you know. Starts to soften a lot in general. (Fuck, now I REALLY WANT TO WRITE THIS.)

Quentin/Eliot: shy, awkward barista Q has a giant, probably-super-obvious crush on tall, elegant, sophisticated regular Eliot (E-L-I-O-T, grande Americano with a shot of amaretto syrup). Eliot is really hoping Q never notices that he always checks through the window to see if Q is working before he stops in. Q is really hoping Eliot won’t clock the bulge of his college belly under his apron. Eliot thinks Q’s soft baby face and nervous hands and the way he pulls his hair back in a little bun but still tries to brush it away from his face when he’s talking are all extremely cute. Q thinks Eliot’s regal demeanor but impeccable kindness to service workers is almost as stunning as his perfectly mussed curls and dimpled smile. When other baristas give Eliot free pastries – and who doesn’t? he has a monopoly on the entire cafe’s hearts – he always graciously tucks them into his bag and takes them to go. When Q gives Eliot free pastries, he snags a seat and eats them where Q can see him enjoying them. When Q starts to notice the buttons on Eliot’s suave waistcoats starting to strain, he hopes it’s from his pastries. He imagines making out with Eliot and resting his hand on those straining buttons and has to shake the thrill out of himself. When Eliot enjoys his free pastries, he watches Q’s head bob above the espresso machine in time with the music on the stereo, and he thinks about how he’d like to take him out to a fancy dinner, really treat him, see his eyes flutter closed after a big meal, maybe kiss him after. One day, they think. One day, I’m gonna make a move.

Blue/Gansey: Blue works at the trying-too-hard-to-be-hip coffee shop down the street from Aglionby University and spends her shifts muttering curses under her breath and avoiding the eyes of the chatty regular with the stupidly perfect swoopy hair and dorky-yet-expensive-looking glasses and the garishly colored polo shirts. His only saving grace is that Blue can hear his shitbox car coming from a mile away, so she always has plenty of time to bribe someone to switch with her so she can get off register and on bar before he comes in. Sometimes he has a gaggle of cronies with him, but sometimes he’s alone, and it’s one day when he’s alone that Blue catches him at a table in the corner, looking very sad and sorry for himself. That is the day, for the first time, that Blue gives an Aglionby bastard a free pastry. But, like, extremely surreptitiously. Gansey doesn’t even know it was free. He can never know. 

What d’you think of a Holsom Shrek AU 👀 we’re watching Shrek right now and I’m Dying imagining it

wow today has been terrible so i deeply appreciate this but also i’m physically shaking what would this even look like?? also i immediately pictured shrek the musical which i think makes this 10000% better but that’s just me

holster is very clearly shrek in this scenario (giant, hates 99% of humanity, Teeth, unfortunate fashion sense) but is he an ogre? is he in duloc? or is samwell duloc? is holster an ogre who goes to a liberal arts college? ogre hockey? i can’t? ransom is fiona, clearly, because of course he would happen to have a highly diverse highly developed skill set that sets him up for success in every scenario but there’s one aspect of this that i can’t deal with

who is donkey?? who the fuck is donkey?? bitty? 

oh my god jack’s the dragon why is this au working why is it working why is IT WORKING LORD FARQUAD IS OBVIOUSLY A LAX BRO 

i don’t know what this means but i feel like chowder is the gingerbread man 

why did you make me think about this i’m not strong enough

Zimbits ‘Take Me to Church’ AU part 1/?????

Nora Valley Community College didn’t look real. Not that it appeared ethereal or haunting in any way; on the contrary, it was bland. Nora Valley looked like something out of a b-rated movie. It looked more like the stereotype than reality, as if space aliens had tried to make an Earthling college based only on their passing familiarity with “Indiana Jones.” The hallways smelled like pencil erasers and teachers wore dusty tweed and moth-eaten earth tone sweaters. The campus was a time capsule, stuck in the middle of a forgotten Georgian town, a town known only for its above average bakery and abandoned brick factory.

Much to his chagrin, Eric became a facet of that forgotten town as well when he chose Nora Valley college as his future alma mater.

Eric lived in the dorms, an untidy collection of numbered brick buildings on the edge of campus. His room was an affront to mankind, but thanks to his athletic scholarship, it was a free affront to mankind. Athletic scholarship, Eric thought, staring at the water stains on his paneled ceiling. Oh lord, what have I gotten myself into?

Nora Valley had a hockey team. It wasn’t much, but Eric knew that if he did well enough, he could earn a transfer scholarship to Samwell University and leave the stifling heat of Georgia behind for good. Two years, he thought, peering at a suspiciously dark crack in the ceiling, listening to his roommate snore in the bed across from him. I guess that’s not too long. I can handle two years.

A week later, he wasn’t so sure.

The hockey team didn’t seem to like him very much. Eric was small, round, and kind. Eric liked cinnamon dolce lattes with extra sugar and pop music with extra pop. The hockey boys were a bunch of burly football rejects with ratty mustaches and a penchant for basketball shorts. Eric was made of sugar, spice, and everything nice; the other boys were made of dirt, old spice, and everything heterosexual.

Eric collapsed no less than a dozen times over the course of his first week, sinking onto the ice as though he might be able to melt through it if he tried hard enough. It was torture.

His classes, at least, were better, easier than the ice’s torment. Most of them were core classes, filled with sleepy teenage hopefuls, exhausted single mothers, and excitable middle-aged lifelong learners. In French, Eric sat next to a girl named Jenna. She was the stereotypical ‘pretty southern girl’: tumbleweed blonde hair, a round physique, and rosy cheeks. Each day, she wore heavy makeup around her eyes and a delicate silver cross around her neck.

“Eric,” she chirped after class one day, voice like birdsong, “it’s Eric, right? I never see you outside of class. You should come hang out at the BSM sometime!”

Eric blinked at her, bleary eyed. It was his first class of the day— he was barely awake. Jenna only laughed. “Oh, you boys are so silly. Ya’ll’d be lost without us girls, huh? Here, take this,” she said, handing him a pamphlet, “I’d love to see you come join us!”

And with that, Jenna trotted away, her bulky keychain jangling against her monogrammed coffee cup. Eric looked down at the card stock she’d forced between his fingers.

Join us at the Nora Valley Baptist Student Ministry! Open every day noon to midnight. Bible study and snacks every Wednesday night. For more info, check out our Facebook page!

Eric swallowed thickly. He hadn’t planned on going to church, now that he was on his own. He didn’t think he could handle it— being lectured about ‘unconditional love’ by people who would cast him aside if they ever knew the truth.

Sighing, he slipped the paper into his backpack and shuffled off to his next class.

The day passed in a blur. Practice was cancelled thanks to the coach, a strange man named Johnson, having a last minute emergency. The e-mail seemed to suggest that Johnson cancelled class out of cosmic necessity; Eric rolled his eyes at that, unsurprised by the poor attempt at a joke. Most of the hockey boys went to go release their frustrations in the gym.

Eric didn’t go to the gym. Instead, he went to the skating rink— unlocked, but empty. Hazy and dim, the rink felt like another world, untouched by time and reality— like a middle school after hours, or an empty football stadium at dusk. Tucked away in the comfort of an empty locker room, Eric reached deep into the bowels of his hockey bag and pulled out a pair of worn Riedell figure skates.

Skating onto the ice unencumbered by hockey gear felt like coming home. Eric glided around the rink for a few moments, letting himself readjust to the sensation of lighter skates and a lighter body. Then, he built up speed, launching himself into a double toe loop. His landing wasn’t perfect, but then, he was out of practice. He tried again, this time landing with the sort of grace that can only be acquired through hours and hours of exhausting practice.

“I never understood how people were able to do that,” came a voice from the sidelines. Eric nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped around to face the intruder, and saw a dark haired boy wearing a pair of hockey skates tentatively step onto the ice.

The newcomer was tall and broad, but unlike Eric’s hockey compatriots, he wasn’t imposing. His expression was soft and kind with a twinge of melancholy. He was also, much to Eric’s horror, devastatingly handsome.

“Sorry,” the boy added quickly, “I didn’t mean to scare you! I didn’t think anyone would be in here. The hockey team cancelled practice, I thought they were all in the gym right now.”

Eric sighed. “Yeah, I know, I thought nobody would be in here either.” Eric slipped back into his charming, extroverted persona, hoping to cover his disappointment as he said, “That’s alright! My name is Eric. I’m on the hockey team, I’m a freshman, and I live in building 21. Before you ask, yes, building 21 is a nightmare, but at least the hot water works now.” Eric skated forward, extending a hand to the intruder.

The boy’s eyebrows pinched in confusion. “You’re on the hockey team?”

“Yeah, I know,” Eric sighed, used to this line of inquiry. “I’m actually a figure skater, or at least I used to be. I couldn’t really do it anymore without moving further north and getting a proper coach and, well, I didn’t have the money. But I wanted to stay on the ice. Truth is, I don’t know much about hockey.”

The boy smiled. “No, you don’t,” he chuckled. “Not that— ah, never mind. My name is Jack,” he said, finally taking Eric’s hand. Eric willed himself not to blush at the brief moment of skin-to-skin contact. Neither of them had bothered to put on gloves. “I study history, but I used to play hockey. I still practice every day—old habits.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jack,” Eric said brightly. Jacks eyes were blue, perhaps bluer than Eric had ever seen. Or maybe you’re just super gay, Eric’s subconscious supplied helpfully. Shut up, Eric thought back.

It's Yours

Relationship: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark

Characters: Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Samwell Tarly, Dickon Tarly (mentioned), Rhaegar Targaryen (mentioned) , Lyanna Stark (mentioned)

Additional information: Meeting for the first time, Jon was a bastard until his father making him an heir, lyanna is a snow, sansa is his personal angel, not literally, she’s just too sweet, modern AU

Rating: General audience.

Chapter:1/1

Summary: This is it. The moment of truth. He promised to himself if he come home with nothing to proof, he would go back to his life. Working for his father and forget about his dream.  He waiting anxiously as nobody paying attention to his work. He just want to proved that his dream mean something to anybody. He just need for someone to take a pause to admired his work. Just one person who could give him hope for doing something that he love. 

Just a glance and I would leave my family’s fortune for good.

A server offered him a drink, he took it as he felt an overwhelming sense of defeat clouding over him. This is it. He could go back now and pray that somebody would stab him in the parking lot.  He stopped looking at his work to put an empty glass on the nearest surface, and when he was about to look at it for the last time, somebody obstructing his view, a woman in a grey silvery dress with a long red hair. He didn’t realize that he’s been walking towards her, staring at her in close proximity, but she didn’t look like she noticed how close they were, too busy admiring his work.  

[moar under the cut] 

He staring at his work from a far. It’s been an hours and nobody even showed any interest in it. He didn’t have a high hope for his work to attract any buyer, but just once he want anybody to noticed it, just to proved that his dream mean something to other people.

“Don’t worry, Jon. It was just bad timing, putting your work in the same time when the centerpiece is a  Tanselle’s” Sam squeeze his shoulder to reassured him. He knew that putting his work the same time of the famous photographer in all of westeros showing her latest masterpiece was not a wise move, even Dickon, the owner of this gallery asked him to wait for another opening. But he didn’t have the time to wait, it is now or never.

His father already gave him an ultimatum, working at his company ,continuing his family legacy, and forget about his dream, or he would cut him from his family forever. He knew that he is lucky to come from a wealthy family, and it’s not like he didn’t try, he followed his father’s step going to business school and  try to enjoy his life as an heir of the Targaryen Empire. But he was miserable. He was cooped up in his office when there were so many beauty and wonder outside his world. He barely has a life of his own, his only friend, Sam was the only one that still stick around after he’s been bailing from too many hang outs. The last straw for Edd was when he forgot to met him at their usual bar, making him wait for hours.

“Jon, where are you? I’ve been here for three hours. Are you coming or not?” Jon looking at his watch, completely forgot about Edd after 5 hours of dull meeting.

“Sorry mate, I’ve been busy, I forgot I couldn’t make it. Sorry I didn’t tell you” He heard a sigh from the other side of the phone. He knew that this would be another friend that he sacrificed in the name of his father’s legacy.

“It’s alright, it’s not like you never done this before.”

He didn’t know if Edd meant to hurt him with those words or he simply just telling the truth. It is true that this is not the first time he abandoned his friend, but still, he want to make it right.”We could reschedule, how about next week? We can go to a better place than that dingy bar, my treat.”

“Jon, this is the fifth time you making a rain check on me. I get it, you busy, It is fine really, I was just trying to reach you out for old time sake.”

“I’m sorry” He didn’t know what to say. Losing a friend feels harder than losing a girlfriend, but he wouldn’t know, he never found a girl who worth his time.

“It’s alright, just drop by sometime at our place, if you had the time. Me, Grenn and Pyp still hang out every weekend at the same dingy bar for the last 10 years. Just… Take care Jon.”

After that, he living his life in autopilot. Sometime he looking at his father and wondering if he is as miserable as him. His mother used to say that back in college he like to play music and singing, he even won a couple of band competition with his college band. And then he remembered the man that he know, the one that almost never come home, always sulking in his office drowning in whisky and regret. Is that supposed to be me in the future? Do I have to be miserable just because he is miserable? No. He didn’t want this, he never want this life, so he go to his father’s office and tell him the truth.

But this is the real moment of truth. He promised to himself if he come home with nothing to proof, he would go back to his life. Working for his father and forget about his dream. He waiting anxiously as nobody paying attention to his work. He just want to proved that his dream mean something to anybody.  He just need for someone to take a pause to admire his work. Just one person who could give him hope for doing something that he love.

Just a glance and I would leave my family’s fortune for good.

A server offered him a drink, he took it as he felt an overwhelming sense of defeat clouding over him. This is it. He could go back now and pray that somebody would stab him in the parking lot.  He stopped looking at his work to put an empty glass on the nearest surface, and when he was about to look at it for the last time, somebody obstructing his view, a woman in a grey silvery dress with a long red hair.

He didn’t realize that he’s been walking towards her, staring at her in close proximity, but she didn’t look like she noticed how close they were, too busy admiring his work.  

My work

She wiped the tear from her face, instinctively he gave his handkerchief to her.

“Oh, thank you.” She took the handkerchief from him , smiling at him and then looking at her feet as she wiped her tears. “This is embarrassing”

“What? Bringing a handkerchief in the 21th century is embarrassing?” He didn’t know where he found the strength to tease her, or just simply open his mouth and not blurting something silly to her.

She’s laughing as she look back to his work. “ No, crying in public place is embarrassing.” She took a  pause before she offering her hand. “I’m Sansa Stark”

He looking at her hand like a fool before all the senses finally coming back to him. “Jon Snow” His father might as well already kicked him out from his family, this might be the perfect time to get used to using his mother’s name.

“You’re not looking at the centerpiece?” She ask him after he finally let her hand go, averting his eyes from her so he didn’t look like a creep. “ No, I was just lurking around, drinking champagne” He took two flutes from the passing server and gave one to her.”How about you?”

“Thank you.“ She take a sip and then looking at the crowd. “No, It’s too crowded, and I don’t really see what’s interesting about it.” She looking back at his work.”But this. This is beautiful. Don’t you think?”

He was stunned staring at her eyes and couldn’t believe that not long ago he was feeling down as ever, and then this angel coming out of nowhere and save him.

“What? You don’t agree with me?” She probably misreading his expression as a disagreement when he literally just lost at word.

“No! No, no, no! I was just…” He took a deep breathe, didn’t realized he’s been holding his breath the whole time. “I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s alright, I don’t really know about photography that well, I was just coming here to support my friend. He’s the owner of this gallery.”  She tilting her head towards Dickon.

“You with Dickon?” He looking at her in disbelieve, suddenly feeling a little unease. He never really close with Sam’s brother but somehow he felt a little envious toward him. Dickon got to know her longer than him.

If you could bother to spending more time with your brother’s friend you probably get to know her earlier than this, you idiot!

“I’m not with him. I was just said that he’s my friend… Wait, you know Dickon?”

“I know his brother” He staring at her face, try to see if she was flushed after he assumed her relationship with Dickon, but as far as he can tell, she didn’t look flushed or uncomfortable, she probably tell him the truth, or he was just hoping too much for her to told him the truth.

But why?

“Huh, small world.” Her eyes were sparkling as she smiled at him. But he didn’t think it was small enough. If it is, he would have met her earlier than this.

She cleared her throat to break the tension after he’s been staring at her for what it feels to be an eternity. “Why do you think it is beautiful?” He asked her suddenly, blurting the word without even thinking it first.

She looking back at the picture. It was the picture he took long time ago when he was in spring break before he went to business school. His last taste of freedom. He went with Sam, Edd, Pyp and Grenn backpacking beyond the Wall. He met an interesting native folks in there and took  a picture of a mother tossed her daughter mid-air, with the mountain of snow as a background. He thought it was beautiful with the vibrant color of their messy red hair contrast with the background of white blurred covering the ground and the mountain behind them. And their smile was so pure, like they were live without burden on their back. It was not just a good picture for him, it was the last time he ever felt happy in a long time.

“It remind me of home.” She told him without looking at him, her eyes still glued to the the picture. “My mother used to pick me up like this every time I feeling down. Until I was too heavy for her.”Her smiled faltered and the tear coming back from her eyes. He didn’t need to ask about her mother, he already know the answer and he wouldn’t want to make her more upset than this.

She wiped her tears with his  handkerchief that she was still holding, when she was about to give it back to him, she noticed the embroidery on it. It was made by her mother back when he was still a Snow, when his father was not realized yet that he had fathered a bastard from his little fling in Dorne. His mother has the same handwriting to him, down to their signature. It was the same “S” as his signature on the picture. She looking at it and the embroidery back and forth until she decided to look at the description of the picture.

“This is yours?” She open her eyes wide, it still glimmering from her tears. It looks as blue and as deep as a sunlit sea. He could’ve easily drowned in it.

“Yes this is mine.” She opened her mouth in disbelieve and playfully slap his left shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been gawking at it and tell you how much I love it, and you didn’t say anything.”

“you didn’t say you love it, and I gave you my name, if you bothered to look at the description you would’ve know right away after I told you my name.” He smiled at her as he took the handkerchief from her hand. “So you love it then? Still think it is beautiful?”

“Eh, I take it back. it’s not that good.” He stared at her with a smug look on his face, waiting for her real answer. “Alright, I admit it. It is good. Now you can wipe that smug out of your face!”

He laughed with her, feeling all kind of emotion in his chest. Most of it feels strange to him. Now he just realized how beautiful she is. Her silky red hair looks smooth and vibrant, her dazzling blue eyes, and those lips, those full red lips.

“So…”  Her voice brought him back to the ground, but he still looking at her lips, imagining how it feels like to kiss her, smearing her red lipstick all over her face. He tried so hard not to look at her chest, it didn’t help that her dress showing a generous amount of cleavage to him. He just swallowed hard as he concentrated with her voice. “Since I know the photographer, do I get a discount?”

“You want to buy a copy?’ He stopped looking at her lips, to stared at her eyes feeling dumbfounded.

“Of course I do. Didn’t I said that I love it?”

“You don’t need buy it. It’s yours” He stared at her as he said those words without a blink.

“You can’t do that! I don’t have anything in return. It feels like I owed you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Sansa.” He wanted to say that she already gave so much to him. He almost gave everything that matter to him, his dream, his friends, his life, and crawl back his old life as a living zombie, just to please his father, but he didn’t want to scared her, even he is feeling a little scare by this strong emotion. “I want you to have it. This is not just a portrait for me. This is a part of me, the one that still matter, anyway.” He didn’t lie about it, that time beyond the Wall was the best time of his life.

Until now.

“I still feels like I owed you something. How about I bought you dinner?’

[This is what I imagine what they wearing when they met, but sansa’s dress probably a little more grey than this]

Looking for fics that talk about jack and his anxiety. Any recommendations? 😘

here are some of my favs that have some some good conversations about jack and his anxiety!

Coach Z

summary: Just before the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, top prospect Jack Zimmermann overdoses on his anxiety medication and is admitted to rehab. His future turns from a clear-cut road to the top into an uncertain path filled with therapy appointments, ignored text messages, a group of boys who aren’t there to teach him a lesson about himself, and, of course, hockey.

Something Like This

summary: Jack thought his first year in the NHL would be 100% about hockey, but the reality is so much more complicated. (AU where the Goodbye for the Summer comics didn’t happen, because I had already written 80K words of this. But just because it’s canon doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy long, angsty, get-together stories, amirite?)Alternate summary, courtesy of Dracavia: What if Bad Bob didn’t say anything at graduation?

Better With Time

summary: This fic follows two similar timelines from Eric Bittle’s childhood: the past where he meets his best friend Drew, grows apart from his father the football coach, and experiences the repercussions of being a young gay boy in the South; and the present where he finds new friends and falls in love with Jack Zimmermann, star quarterback of Coach’s new high school team.Over six years Eric is faced with several difficult life lessons, but there is also joy, laughter, love, and self-discovery. More than anything Eric learns that sometimes in life, you really can only get better with time.

A Little Bit Closer

summary: Eric Bittle’s To-Do List:1.) Frame Masters in Library and Information Science diploma and send to Mama, because she never understood the lack of sleep and abuse of caffeine, but she sent cookbooks and money for good chocolate, bless her.2.) Throw away every last highlighted article, graded paper, and syllabus, because they are no longer needed, thank the sweet Lord.3.) Promote the library’s new periodic reading series, because it wasn’t the capstone project for nothing.4.) Harass Boston Bruins star Jack Zimmermann into taking a picture for @BPLWestEnd to promote the reading of his new children’s book, Jacky’s Bad Days.5.) Do not ogle Boston Bruins star Jack Zimmermann’s ass.6.) Fail step five. Repeatedly.

Production Values 

summary: ESPN Films presents… as part of the widely anticipated revival of the acclaimed sports documentary series “30 for 2030”…Out On The Ice: The Jack Zimmermann Story.How Jack Zimmermann rocked the sports community and the world when he came out as the first openly gay professional hockey player in the NHL, all while living out his storybook romance with cooking star, Eric Bittle.Produced and directed by Cassidy Hernandez***It’s hard to imagine Cassidy Hernandez’s career as a producer without Jack Zimmermann, or Eric Bittle’s career as a TV food guru without Cassidy. Their professional lives have been intertwined since the beginning. And now, years later, they’re all together again, not by chance but by choice, to tell a story more than a decade in the making.

Broken Rules

summary: Sometimes life changes really quickly. Sometimes everything happens at once. Sometimes the worst things and the best things are intertwined. Sometimes there are things that can’t be fixed, can’t be solved, only survived.Or: This is what happens when I blithely decide, “Oh, well, at least they wouldn’t end up in THAT situation,” and then my brain explains to me exactly how they COULD.

Baking is Punk as Fuck 

summary: “Yeah, dude, I guess. But, like, this is a fuckin’ liberal arts college, brah. Isn’t everyone in a band?”“I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone in a band before. I’m not in a band. Well, I’m in some school bands, but that’s not really… um. What kind of music do you play?”“…Well.”—in which instead of actually playing hockey, the guys play shitty (pun intended) DIY punk in a band called Soft Hands. classically-trained pianist eric bittle doesn’t quite know what’s hit him.

Maybe I’m Waking Up

summary: It’s almost funny. All he ever wanted was to play hockey, to play in the NHL, to win the Cup. This—Samwell, the team, the Haus—was supposed to be just a detour, but now it feels more like a destination he failed to realize he’s already reached.(Or: Jack signs with the Falconers, graduates, and leaves. It’s the hardest thing he’s ever done. What comes after is even harder.)

Book of Jubilations

summary: Jack knows logically that ACL tears are common enough that his surgeon will have done this procedure dozens, if not hundreds of times, but——but something can always go wrong. Most people in Jack’s situation will recover completely and without incident, but most is not the same as all. Nothing is sure. No one can make promises. He’s had eighteen months in the NHL and no power in the world can guarantee him any more.The plane flies over Lake Ontario. Somewhere thousands of feet below him, the Maple Leafs are preparing to take on the Capitals. His own team is thousands of miles behind him, flying south to California to play the Kings.Jack tips his head back against the seat and cries.

Of the Nature of the Wound 

summary: His first year in the NHL isn’t easy, but Jack has spent his entire life playing through the hurt.

Day 6: Dex, Jenny, and Mandy

These are some headcanons I came up with for Dex, Mandy, and Jenny’s relationship, so I hope you enjoy them.

Dex, Jenny, and Mandy: a soulmate au

Some background to set the mood, *flashback music plays*:

Hollywood, 1939. Amidst the glitz and glitter of a bustling young movie town at the height of its golden age, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star in its own right. A beacon for the show business elite. Now, something is about to happen that will change all of that...

Wait...that’s NOT right!! That’s not THIS story!! THAT’S Tower of Terror!! Then again...maybe another time...*ideas formulating*

Onward to the actual soulmate au...

Dex’s life and death

The year is 1947, 2 years after World War II ended and he survived being a medic on the front lines

He is trying to restart a more normal life and is working as a librarian at Samwell University

True, for this time period, being a librarian is considered “woman’s work,” but after the war he just wants something that’s quiet and surround himself with things that can’t physically hurt him (aside from the occasional paper cut)

He was able to purchase a cute little house near campus with his G.I. Bill, so he can easily walk to work every day...oh how he loves his house...

He has always been confused about his soul mark, because it’s always been incredibly faint, like a light grey when soul marks are typically black

When the war happened, it got him wondering if his mark was faint because this whole time it meant that he had a soulmate out there but he or they were going to die before they ever met

Upon dying, he realizes that his soul mark, an open heart that looks like it was formed by string, darkened a bit

How could this be possible?? He’s dead, a ghost, still wandering about his house and the campus...so why would his soul mark darken a bit now, of all times?? Wasn’t he supposed to find his soulmate while he was alive?? None of this makes sense!!

Mandy and Jenny’s lives and deaths

They met in high school in 1989 and were fast to become the bestest of friends

They did just about everything together and were always glued at the hip; people eventually said “Mandy and Jenny/Jenny and Mandy” as though it was one word

The icing on the cake was the day that they realize that they both had the same string open heart soul mark, even if it was technically grey in color

They realize that with high school ending and them both wanting to go to college, they couldn’t really stand to be separated from one another...so they decided to apply to and attend the same college...COLLEGE ADVENTURES WITH YOUR SOULMATE!!! YAY!!

So they attend Samwell University, rush as sisters for the Theta Alpha Theta Sorority, and move into the sorority house

All was going great until that rush incident in 1993 killed them...

However, upon dying, their soul marks darken to what a soul mark should have been from the very beginning...WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?!

The Haus

Dex’s house near campus sat on the housing market for a very long time, until people eventually gave up and left it abandoned

Poor Dex saw his first, and only, home he’s ever bought begin to crumble before his eyes and there’s nothing he could really do about it with him being a ghost

Eventually, they tear down his house to expand parts of the campus and the surrounding area

His house eventually becomes the Theta Alpha Theta Sorority house, which Mandy and Jenny move into until they both die, and then becomes the Haus for the Samwell Men’s Hockey Team

All 3 have the same soul mark which darken to a “normal” soul mark color upon dying, lived in the same house at the time of their deaths, and are now ghosts in order to have met one another without realizing why any of this has happened

When Mandy and Jenny die and become ghosts, Dex is actually very confused to see them there still in the Haus...or as it will always be known to him, his house

However, there’s no hiding soul marks right there on your arms when you’re dead and have nothing to cover them up with

Still, none of this had to have happened by coincidence...they were destined to be soulmates, right?? The marks, the house, everything else in between?? Right?? Right!!

Hauntings

Soulmates that haunt together, stay together...they don’t make the rules, that is just the way things are!!

They enjoy playing little pranks on the inhabitants of the Haus, because come on why not have some fun with it all??

Mandy and Jenny enjoy touching Ransom’s butt when he moves into the Haus, and Dex just rolls his eyes...until they recommend he join in on the fun, because Ransom has a terrific butt!!

They play music to pass the time, and as a bonus it freaks out anyone living in the Haus...”WHERE IS THAT MUSIC COMING FROM!?!?!?!”

Someone once watched Bettlejuice, and they decided to chill out and watch it too...they got so many good ideas on how to haunt the Haus inhabitants!!!

One of their favorite past times is to move things over by just an inch or so...it’s surprising what a difference that makes, because people swear that the chair moved and caused them to fall to the floor, or the remote wasn’t there a moment ago, and so on and so forth

Eternity together

They are disgustingly cute together, especially considering they have all of eternity together

True, it takes some time for Dex to get to know them and vice versa, but it’s actually easier than they all thought it would be

The universe was smart to put them all together, because they all just click and it feels right...like it was meant to be

They don’t technically have to sleep, but they all try to cuddle up together anyways just for the sake of trying

They give each other random little kisses throughout the day, just because they know they can

They leave the Haus together and roam about campus...consider it the equivalent of taking a stroll and sightseeing

They have nothing to hide, so they’re very open and honest about everything from their past, their current present, and what they want from their future together

They are sickly domestic and happy together, and the best part is that they have all of eternity to be with their soulmates

Fic I will write someday

Uh, the first version of this contained weird shit at the bottom, and Tumblr wouldn’t let me edit the post (maybe because of said weird shit?), so sorry for the repost...

I’m not allowed to really write any fic until my dissertation is done (so, September). After that I am going to write ALL THE FIC. However, even if I can’t write any of it down my brain is still churning it out.

Right now I’m taking a break from trying to understand how to interpret the results of multiple logistic regression (if anyone here knows, HELP PLEASE edit: I think I’m figuring it out), so I’m going to tell you guys about some of the fics I have either partially finished or like in outline/brainstorm form. Feel free to tell me which ones you think I should work on first!

Zimbits:

My second FTH fic, the prompt was “social media witch Bitty.” I’ve taken that and combined it with the plot of the musical She Loves Me. The 45K first draft is done, but I’ve got a LOT of editing/rewriting to do. It currently sits around 48K. My top priority once I can focus on fic again.

A couple more stories for Oh., the compilation of alternate Jack/Bitty getting together scenes.

Random compilation of canon missing scenes (right after the kiss, in Madison, etc).

ABO: Jack and Bitty are both omegas and accidentally mate. Oops!

More in the A Lot Like Life ‘verse: some Bitty coming out to his parents stuff, some Bitty in Montreal stuff, plus lots of smut. We’ve got some sensory deprivation, some Bitty making Jack watch him dance with other guys at a club, some role reversal, and one doc titled “underwear” that just contains a text conversation of Bitty having a surprise for Jack and refusing to share details, which I’m guessing was going to involve Jack in panties? IDK, at some point there will be Jack in panties.

Academia AU: Jack is a first year Assistant Prof in the history department, Bitty is a 3rd(?maybe?) year grad student who is his TA for the fall. Bitty winds up dropping out of grad school, because I was working through my issues when I conceived this plot. Not because he had bad grades or anything, just because fuck academia. Anyhow, then they can date.

Woke up married in Vegas AU: What it says on the tin. Jack went to Samwell for two years then joined the Falconers, so didn’t meet Bitty there, but Shitty has been trying to get them together for years. So when Bitty is in Vegas for some kind of youtube awards or something, and Jack is there for a game against the Aces, they meet and hey, Shitty was right, they get along really well. Oops!

Jack hooks up with Camilla once at the start of his senior year. Three months later, he finds out she’s pregnant. She doesn’t want to have an abortion; she plans to give the baby up for adoption. Jack decides he wants to keep the baby, because his rookie year in the NHL needs to be more complicated. But his parents will help and he’ll get a nanny and stuff. Bitty, being Bitty, talks Jack into hiring him as his nanny for the summer. Because covering Jack with baking ingredients wasn’t enough, now he needs to see Jack taking care of a newborn

SPN:

Okay I swear I’m going to finish Museum of Broken Relationships and The Breath Before the Phrase. Breath is… hm. I should have ended it where it is, but I thought I had one more chapter, but I’m not sure I actually do. There might be one more short chapter, or I might rewrite Ch 10 to tie it up. Either way, I actually have later stuff in the series written so I would really like to be able to move forward there.

ABO: Alternate S9, Kevin and Human!Cas are living in the bunker. Dean has to go off his suppressants to have a heat because he hasn’t had one in years and that’s not healthy. Surprise! Truemates! Who’dathunkit.

ABO Dean/Cas/Bela, Bela POV: Dean is an alpha, Cas is a beta, they’re mated. Cas can’t really handle Dean’s ruts, so they go to a sex club to find an omega when they need to. Bela has helped them out several times now. Although, this time she finds out that they aren’t quite who she thought they were.

Cas is a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Nebraska. He has a run-in with a crazy guy who tries to kill him. Two FBI agents show up to investigate; Cas discovers that their suspect, who definitely looks like the guy, is dead and they’re not FBI agents. He forces them to take him along to the grave desecration stuff, finds out it really was a ghost and the supernatural is real. Sam and Dean try to keep him from getting involved, but he’s a little shit and keeps popping up anyhow, at some point hooking up with Dean in the process. But Dean keeps pushing him away, won’t do it again. They finally give in and have their friend Charlie move in with him because at least he’ll have a babysitter if he insists on getting involved in all this shit. Then Rowena shows up, and things get really weird.

And Yet ‘verse (canon divergent D/s stuff): I actually have a story for this written, sitting there for like two years in need of editing. And an outline for a whole big series.

Academia AU: Yeah, another one. hahaha. Anyhow, I conceived of this like three years ago, then got stuck a few chapters in, I think because I just wasn’t a good enough writer to do the things I wanted. Maybe now I could finish it. Dean is a MechE PhD student, Cas is a first year Psychology Assistant Prof who needs a housemate.

Dean and Cas are MIT students who meet at a particular event. I’m not going to say more because I don’t want this post showing up on searches for particular terms (this fic would also be locked to AO3 members for that reason).

I just got my SPN ABO bingo card, so in addition to the two ABOs here you can count on a bunch more coming! I doubt I’ll get a blackout, but there will be at least 4-5 for a bingo.

Other:

I really wanna write Two/Nyx for Dark Matter.

Sherlock/Anthea pre-canon PWP that tried to grow a casefic plot so I gave up.

Sherlock/Sally pre-canon PWP, they meet at a college party and hook up

Started before S3 - John and Sherlock confess their feelings the morning of John and Mary’s wedding, which gets cancelled. They’re such assholes.

im just thinking the samwell college of music au and what everyone's fanbases are like...

kent parson stans are absolute nightmares. like the obnoxious kind of demi lovato/tswift stan. very defensive of him & loud to the point of being super annoying. comments under literally anything "STREAM [album name]" & "ok kent parson stan" is like. an insult in online spaces sometimes sjskahajgdh

kent does one of those "reading hate tweets" videos and 80% of them are just his own fans being like "i hate kent parson how dare he look like That he ruined my life" and he's just like "haha pretty sure this is one of my fans"

jack's fans are very loyal, usually very sweet & supportive, some have been fans since he was a teenager and some become fans when he releases his debut album after samwell but regardless they all love him. when falcon records pr makes him get a twitter, he basically just retweets a lot of fanart and other fan content so his fans tend to be rly creative

(the fans who have waited years and years from his first single at 17 to his debut album at like 25/26 can sometimes be like "new fans don't know what we've BEEN THROUGH for this ok?? we didn't even know if he was gonna make music again at all you don't GET IT" fjdjqjsh)

jack's fans are also the types to organize fundraisers to lgbtq+ mental health organizations around his birthday and he always feels so touched by that & will match the fans' donations

bitty’s fans are fucking hilarious. they're simultaneously so supportive and encouraging of him and also love to (with all the love in their hearts) roast him. genuinely he starts looking into an adhd diagnosis bc everyone in his comments is constantly like KING.... YOUR ADHD IS SHOWING.

he loves them and has had relationships with some of them for years and years, he's very close with his audience and loves to do chatty q&a's or ig lives and just chat with them. he also constantly reposts covers that they do of his songs & when his album comes out he does a series of taylor swift-esque small intimate shows where they're basically just hanging out

i could literally go on about the others & their fan bases (holster's fans LIVE to make fun of him, there are a lot of people out there with nursey's lyrics tattooed on them, people still share around shitty and chowder's years-old rap "compliment battles") but i'll end here lol

i'm really curious about your tags in this /post/144806550142/im-still-waiting-for-that-the-cutting-edge-au, like how would it go?

Oh, the Zimbits Cutting Edge AU :D I think it would go kind of like this (I've never thought of how the rest of the SMH team would fit in, so they don't appear here):* Jack is Jackie, a singles figure skater. He still works harder than God and wants to win an Olympic medal and make his parents proud.* * Alicia and Bad Bob are two ex figure skaters. Bob got into figure skating after a bad concussion that made him quit hockey. He paired with Alicia and together they won a gold Olympic medal.* * Jack is training for the next Olympics and he’s the best in his discipline but injuries happen. * * He breaks his leg and is out for a really long time and sadly, his leg never fully recovers. He also has a growth spurt in the months he’s recovering.* * For that, quads are off the table. The triple axel is almost too (he either underrotates it or puts a hand down).* * Without those elements, his programs are really lacking and can’t really compete in base value against the other top skaters.* * He starts training way too hard to relearn everything, but his leg won’t cooperate. * * Bob and Alicia convince him to (more like make him) go on a vacation. To LA. He meets Bitty there.* Bitty is Alex, but instead of aggressive inline skating, he’s into free slalom (and honestly, I think this makes much more sense for someone who is going to switch to figure skating later on…)* * He’s still from Georgia, but has never done figure skating (or any kind of ice skating in his life).* * Instead, he used to do ballet as a kid.* * But much like with figure skating in canon, he had to switch to another sport less “girly”. He switched to inline speed skating (because in this AU speed skating is cool and popular, okay?).* * Instead of Samwell, he goes to a college in LA (the weather is nice in LA and that allows Bitty to skate all year round).* * He meets Lardo there. She’s still an artist but she also does free slalom and that’s how Bitty gets into the sport.* * The first time he tries to do some of the tricks is with his speed skates. It’s a mess and he falls more times they both can count.* * That was 3 years ago. Now Bitty is one of the best of the area and has won a lot of competitions even though he never wanted to get serious at it. It just sorts of happened. * * He still bakes a lot and works part time in a local bakery (he’s just the server, he’s not allow to bake anything… yet).* And it’s in that bakery where they meet. They obviously hit off and kind of go on a skating date [same as in the movie]. Bitty shows off his abilities. Jack founds out how good he is and gets a bit mad because while he seems to enjoy it, he doesn’t want to take it more seriously and go on competitions? (again, let’s assume this sport it’s more popular than it is).* They argue about it. Jack goes home not expecting to see Bitty again. * Jack still tries to relearn everything until he realizes that if he wants a chance at the Olympic gold, he’ll have to change disciplines and get into pair or ice dancing. * The interview happens (where Jack is his awkward self) and Bitty sees it. He decides to try for it.* * Let’s assume than in this AU, pair skaters can be the same sex. Only requirement is that one of them has to be at least 6’’ taller.* Bitty tries ice skating. Much like Alex, he’s awfully bad at it but with help of the kid, he gets really good in a short time (it also helps that he comes from another sport that involves music and skates).* * Once he gets the hang of it, he discovers that spins are way easier in blades than in wheels (steps are not, he still catches his blade from time to time).* So, once he’s ready, Bitty tries for the position of Jack’s partner. Alicia loves him. Jack does not (or more like he doesn’t trust him).* He thinks Bitty is not going to take this serious enough and he can’t afford that. * They fight a lot. They trip each other (by accident or not) a lot. Alicia is getting tired of that. Bob is amused. * The harness thing happens; they start to get along and be more in sync until…* Bitty’s ex boyfriend shows up! (I never thought a lot about the ex, but we could say he’s the equivalent of a LAX bro –maybe a skateboarder).* [_Same drama of the movie goes here_]* * If you haven’t watched the movie, it goes pretty much like this: They fight after regionals and Bitty leaves. Jack convinces him to return and finds out that Bitty is engaged. They train for the Torino Olympics. There, Jack finds that Bitty is getting married after the closing ceremonies and hanging up his skates. Really bad short program ensues, they place 4th.* And here again, Bad Bob knew first (not really, Jack tells him he’s in love with Bitty) and makes his son go talk to Bitty.* A bit more of drama, the ex-now-fiancé leaves and Jack and Bitty perform the best program they’ve ever done. They end up placing first (both in the FS and overall).* [_Happy Ending_](Yeah, the last part goes pretty much like in the movie)

i just think that in the samwell college of music au jack was going to release a pop album with kent when they were teens but the pressure was too much so jack went on to attend samwell and eventually becomes a folk/indie artist and kent went on to win grammys for his albums full of songs about his ex that people definitely speculate is jack (and they wouldn't be wrong) and also becomes besties with taylor swift

Are they all singers in the college of music au? Holster obvi ofc but where do you put the others?

yes! so in this au they're all in a contemporary men's chorus together, they all sing but they're not all voice performance majors, & some play other instruments. bitty plays ukulele and uploads covers and the occasional original song to youtube, jack plays guitar and a shitton of other instruments bc he's a child prodigy like that, nursey is a violin performance major but joined the chorus bc he was sick of the stifling perfectionism and needed an outlet. i love dex as a production & engineering major who tries out with chowder to be his moral support, never expecting to be accepted, & sort of accidentally falls into being in the group. oh also holster beatboxes and chowder has impressive rapping skills

and lardo goes to the nearby visual arts school but is a barista at annie's which does open mic nights that they all frequent, so she ends up having to basically manage their chaos and make them not drive away the other patrons of the cafe lol