The Whatnot of TJ

 

 

 

 

 First, my apologies. I seem to be incapable of making cut tags anymore. I've tried on rich and html and they just don't work. 😭😭

 

Let's see, another month, another graphic style from another reading app. This one looks pretty cool. Anyone else on Fable and want to follow each other?

 

 

So, that was my October. What about you all? What have you been reading? 

 

 

I'm so glad we have at least one tiny fandom in common, that means I already love you and think you have impeccable taste! 😍😍

---

I think you'll see a theme happening in my requests. 😉

Last year, I got myself out of a decade long reading drought by discovering queer lit (well queer romance precisely, but I'm slowly expanding on that front). Last year, I discovered Casey McQuiston and Alexis Hall and my life will never be the same. This year, it was T.J. Klune who rocked me to my core and Cat Sebastian, who always put a ridiculous smile on my face.

So, I thought I'd talk about tropes and general themes I love that these particular books hit on and then I'll touch on each of my requested fandoms with some of my favorite moments/relationships to give you some guidance if you'd like (no worries if not).

Found Family I need it like breathing. It is the one thing that pretty much spans across all my favorite books. There's just something about Queer Found Families that gives me the sighs you know? It can be the found family of Green Creek where it's an entire pack of people coming together and being there for each other in their extremely dysfunctional way, or it can be the family two people make when they get together because the really need someone to rely on when their own fathers/families let them down (looking at you Luc and Oliver!).
Lots of POVs I love stories that let me peek into all (or at least some) of those wild and wonderful brains. Or, if that's not your thing, I'm also equally crazy about delving deep into one person's psyche, especially if it's someone we didn't get to in canon.
Tropeyness in general: I like to think of tropes as hooks. They're what draws me to a story, but then it's up to the characters to make it exceptional. Feel free to get as tropey as you want.

Now, I guess it's the time to talk about what I DO NOT WANT. I have two types of DNWs.
Hard DNWs: These are the things I don't want in ANY story I receive.
✔️Incest/chan/rape fantasy
✔️Extreme kinks-- sexual exploration is one thing, watersports/pony play is quite another. If in doubt ask yourself, is this something that the characters in canon, written by their authors, would do?
✔️Character bashing

✔️cruelty/abuse/torture
Soft DNWs these are things I wouldn't want my assigned story to feature, but would be delighted to receive as a treat.
✔️Sappy, happy, overly fluffy
✔️PWP

First the ones that I, myself, nominated since these are the ones I've put the most thought into.

The Green Creek Series by T.J. Klune

Okay, first I have to explain why I nominated who I did. I was afraid I would be the only one who nominated, so I choice the MC of each book, hoping others would nominate the other characters. Some did, but a LOT of characters are not included. 😭

All this to tell you, please write about ANY character or any pairing you want (no bennettcest though, wait, is that even a thing?)

Things I'd love explored? Basically any missing scene from any of the books. How Robbie and Kelly make sex work (as an ace myself, I'd love to read more about their journey). I'd also love to hear more about Chris and Tanner's relationship, or basically anything from Rico's POV. I'm also a sucker for road stories and remember thinking that I'd read an entire book of Carter and Not!Kelly driving along the lonely highway together. ❤️

How to be Series by T.J. Klune

I love this book SO MUCH! This was the first Klune book I read and Gustavo Tiberius owns my heart forever and ever. It wasn't until reading How to be a Movie Star that I fell for Josiah Erickson. Their friendship is my favorite thing. But, I also like Gus' relationship with pretty much everyone. I'd love to have these relationships explored from the other characters' POV so we get different takes on what makes Gus tick.

Another fun idea (and this is only if you've read the GC series-- or any other Klune) is a crossover. I think Klune himself gave me this idea as he adds characters and location in multiple books in different series. And also, once I read this awesome collection of crossovers with the characters from Schitt's Creek and characters from Klune books and it was delightful!

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

Everything about this book I felt was written specifically for my favorite things. The journalism. The 1950s. The NYC of it. The whole His Girl Friday off the dialogue. The best friend becoming more. The AMAZING supporting cast.

Seriously, if you just want to write a dinner party scene with all of them (and others), I'd be ecstatic. If you want to write more newsroom shenanigans, or more interactions with Nick's mom or Andy's dad. Or maybe their 25th (or 50th) Cohabitation Anniversary. Really anything. I also really loved You Should Be So Lucky, so feel free to include any of that as well if you want. ❤️

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

I fell HARD for Luc and Oliver and their story! As a couple and individually. I could go on... and on and on... but how about a list of my favorite things instead (do with them what you'd like):

The conversations through doors. ❤️
Bacon Sandwiches. ❤️
French toast. ❤️
Rainbow Balloon Archs. 🌈
Dick Pics 😍
Oliver Calling Luc Lucien (though maybe that's just because of the narrator, but JEEEEZUS it was hot!

And I know I said in my sign up but seriously, feel free to use this opportunity to write what happens next before the official record is cast in Father Material, if you want. ♥️

Then, because others were nice enough to nominate more Alexis Hall:
The Spires Series by Alexis Hall

I came upon this series late in my devouring of Hall's catalog, only picking up the re-releases. So that means I haven't read Pansies yet. But having read the re-releases, can I just tell you, my favorite part of all this books is reading Hall's notes at the end. JEEEEEZUS but I just want to burrow into their brain and live there forever. I'd love a crossover if that's something you'd be interested in. Or if you want to write for Waiting for the Flood, it was the lightest book with the least amount of relationship building and I'd love more. Maybe the scene after they meet Marius? Or further in the future? Or maybe they get wistful every time it rains.

If you want to write about For Real, I'd love to see how these two make their lives work together. Does Toby get his restaurant? Or a degree? Does Laurie help in the kitchen from time to time? Can they ever eat Lemon Meringue without getting hard? Do they ever give up the scene?

Both of these books (and Glitterland) I've only read one, so I'm not as familiar with canon, or a stickler for it. Just have fun.

In fact, that goes for all of this. First and foremost, have fun. I find that the stories I enjoy the most are the ones I could tell the writer had a lot of fun writing. ❤️❤️

Ohhhhh, and if you're anything like me, you're going to want to stalk me a bit, so here, have some relevant links:

My book reviews gives a lot of insights into my thoughts and feelings on these books among many others.

My Tumblr Which I admit is about 95% Green Creek, so, if you aren't here for that fandom, you probably won't get too many insights besides that I'm flighty and sporadic. SURPRISE! 🤣

And that's it, for real this time. ❤️❤️