Chaosandgunpowder

Author of such things as Plausible Deniability and that Jamilton mob!verse series. Say hello! Or read them here (@AO3)

[chaosandgunpowder]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapter 2 of A Face for Radio, now up 😊😊

[chaosandgunpowder]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

I’ve got something new to share! Not at all nervous 😅

[chaosandgunpowder]

You guys, I've so far written 2.5/5(?) chapters of something kinda out of left field and I need to work through my thoughts on it. Please forgive me.

Serious question, though, out there into the ether, what do we think of having multiple WIPs on the go? (Feel free to respond honestly). I really, really don't want to do anything to make anyone nervous that I'm not going to finish PD. Again, I am. I am I am I am.

Plausible Deniability Ch13 is circa 8k words currently and I'm happy with how it's progressing. All good. nothing more to report there.

But I've been bobbing back and forth cleansing my palate, so to speak, with this thing, because it's fairly different in style, and it feels a waste to have these chapters sitting here, when they could be being enjoyed (hopefully).

I'm quite removed from fandom etiquette, I mostly just show up to reply to messages and asks every so often and then log off, but posting something else incomplete while still working on PD feels like it has the potential to piss someone off. (Nameless, faceless 'someone's' that may not even exist outside of my people-pleasing brain. Should I care? Probably not. Will I? Absolutely).

On the other hand, I'm writing what I like, when I can. I'll ultimately be working on whatever feels good for my brain at the time, including this new story, whether I post it or not, so why not share it?

Fuck me, if anyone wondered why I write PD Alex as such a chronic overthinker - look no further. Christ. Does anyone want to bill me for this therapy session? God bless you if you read this entire brain dump. Argh.

[chaosandgunpowder]

Heya, I've been in your comments over on ao3 recently under the name of That_BiPotato / NotKittenJefferson and as I might have mentioned over there that I'm a huge fan of both Plausible Denyability and Carved in gold and ice. I've been rereading both constantly and I wanted to ask you for permission to turn either of them into a podfic. I'd of course make sure you get the proper credit and everything :3 thank you fro writing these amazing stories, the next chapter always gives me something to look forward to

Hello!

Oh my god, YES.

(Okay, so it's me, and we know I'm going to write more words than necessary now, but ultimately, HOLY SHIT YES).

You can absolutely podfic my works, I'm so fucking mindblown that you would want to do that!

I know as well as anyone that life gets in the way, so there is absolutely no expectations on you, but if you DO podfic them, it would be amazing if you could post them on AO3 and connect them via the "inspired by" so they are all officially linked to the originals (then I can come and hear them and lose my absolute shit!). OMG, I'm so excited!!

I'm so happy you enjoy my stories so much - thank you immensely for the giant damn compliment.

<3

[chaosandgunpowder]

Hey there, I binged Plausible Deniability during the last few days (while ignoring all my other responsibilities, wupsie) so I just wanted to give you a heads up, I loved it, and I'll make sure to stick around for the following chapters even if it takes some time!

I love the way you characterized both Alex and Thomas, their dynamic as well as the dynamic with all the other characters ('emotional unstable Alex x any emotional stable love interest with a dominant streak' may just be my favorite Hamilton dynamic lol). One thing I particularly like is that them getting together isn't the big finale, that you're also showing that the problems, trust issues, miscommunications etc don't just disappear once they're in a relationship, but that both of them (but especially Alex bc let's be real here) still have to work on that.

Also, the corporate plot - chefs kiss, has me on the edge of my seat, I adore Alex's scheming so much :D (though hopefully the poor guy isn't gonna get crushed under all the expectations everyone, especially Washington, has for him)

Anyways after finishing the fan mail, I hope you have a good day <3

Thank you thank you thank you for this lovely fan mail haha. I adored it. I'm really happy you like the post-getting-together complexities. It's selfishly validating, ha. I may have mentioned before, but once I realised this thing was getting a little unwieldy, I considered giving in on that, and splitting it down the middle and having them be two separate stories, to be able to "complete" the first story and ease off the pressure of posting the second half, but I couldn't make myself do it, as you've so eloquently said - one of the main things I wanted to explore was that getting together isn't the finale of this story. Alex (and yes, it's Alex) has a hell of a lot of progress to make yet!

He's getting there though, thankfully.

(I'm also glad people are here for the plot as well as the romance, I fully need a little plot with my porn, which is how this story was born, incidentally, but I do sometimes fear the plot takes over too much, so good to hear it's got you gripped. I worry too much, clearly.) Thank you again for such a lovely message - I know I'm around sporadically, but I do appreciate you readers who reach out, and I will get to them all eventually (hopefully!)

:)

[chaosandgunpowder]

Thomas has mentioned (more than once I think) that Alex is a shit shot. Is this a reference to the duel? If so, fucking hilarious.

Hahahahahaha yes we're at 3 so far and I snort-laugh every time I sneak another reference in, and then again just now thinking about it, so thanks for noticing and making me laugh on a dreary afternoon.

[chaosandgunpowder]

(Snuck another in to 12, and did indeed laugh at my own joke, yet again, because I clearly have no shame).

[chaosandgunpowder]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/68583396

Soooooooo in the pure motivation buzz after posting PD12, I’ve somehow not only started cracking on with 13, but also captured this little fever dream that assaulted me and wouldn’t leave me alone. Fucking wild. I actually had a blast writing this, if only for playing with super-cocky-Thomas.

Pleasant surprise? I hope so! 😊

[chaosandgunpowder]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

It's live it's live it's live! Chapter 12 is up!

Adding the link here, because those notifs go out so slowly sometimes.

Enjoy!

[chaosandgunpowder]

dude i'm so excited for the new chapter. re-reading chapter 11 now in preparation!

I LOVE hearing when people are re-reading my stuff, it's amazing! So thank you!

Also, a really good idea, because I'm at 22916 words and 100%.

YES, THAT IS A FINISHED DRAFT OF CH12.

It still needs some editing, because I know for a fact I have at least 4 separate janky paragraphs and one awkward conversation that need some TLC before they're final, but STILL. Honestly, nobody is more excited about this than I am.

ETA-wise, now I have a full chapter, I can reasonably safely say that I am aiming for posting next weekend.

(I reserve the right to hyperfixate and post before then, but next weekend is the goal).

This is not a drill. Ch12 is incoming within the week. ARGH.

[chaosandgunpowder]

20,156 words and approx 85-90% done. Folks. FOLKS. I am HYPED about this.

[chaosandgunpowder]

As a fellow Brit, no one has said "oi guvna" or "ello, luv" yet and so you must be doing American vibes writing.

Also no one has left the word "the" just south of Sheffield. Propa American, innit?

I jest but carry on having fun with writing. :) At this point we get a whole novel every time you upload so it's worth the wait :P

Hahahahaha "oi guvna", coming soon to a chapter near you. After Alex goes t' bloody pub.

[chaosandgunpowder]

Hi,

I hope you are doing wonderfully and I hope you can someday come back and finish your lovely story.

Hi!

I am doing well right now, thank you! (I hope you and your teen are, too?)

Just wanted to say thanks, for the continuing understanding. You, and everyone else who is sticking around to read the rest of PD are the most gracious readers. I'm ever grateful for the grace and space to finish at my pace. That's rare, in fandom, and awesome.

(I'm even more blown away by the fact that people are waiting, and being kind enough to come back each time, like...that's amazing. Argh.)

I will finish it. I'm aware it might sound silly to be so sure, considering how long it's taken so far, but I don't know how to explain just how much this shit stays with me all of the time. Like, even if I've not posted in a year, I'm off living my life, sure, but I'm still sitting on nearly every bus or train I take alone, adding just one sentence, or word, or line of dialogue at a time to my google docs or notes app. It's tough going sometimes, but I can honestly say there's not a week that goes by that I don't plot, or plan or think about this story. Even if it's tiny. Even if it's just in my head.

(What's morbidly hilarious is the multitude of other stories I have backed up also waiting to be told. Feel like I'll just be here slowly slogging out Jamilton for the next twenty years for whoever comes around to read them, but I guess I'll get there, eventually.)

Basically, thank you for waiting. As always, it is madly appreciated.

(It's also wonderful getting nice asks, so thanks for that, too).

[chaosandgunpowder]

I agree with what the other poster said, but also one dead giveaway for me is when someone treats a collective noun as plural. Like saying "My family are late" or "The team are going to win." In American English, we pretty much always match the verb with the the noun. Examples: My family is mad. The team is winning. The Yankees are winning. New York is winning. It's a small thing but instantly sounds wrong, as I'm sure the opposite does to you.

But you are actually really good at not sounding British. It is very small things so please don't feel bad about it! I think a lot of people wouldn't even notice.

Also - I hope you're doing well! I love when you come around and post things here. How's the new chapter coming along?

Hey! This is another really cool insight, thanks a lot! While I'm not stressing about it (I do my best, but no self-recrimination here) it's always really interesting to hear what things I might never have considered could pull a reader out of the immersion.

Thanks all for the interesting input :)

Chapter 12 is actually going...great? (agh, don't jinx it).

I'm at 16,143 words, and I estimate being about 3/4 done ("one day it'll be a short chapter", as I apparently love to say, but clearly it will not be this day.)

I'm actually on a real good writing stint right now (may have been given away because I'm logging in and hanging around here, and not hiding in shame, beating myself up about not writing) and quite honestly, I'm enjoying writing this one a hell of a lot more than I did the last one. It's making me so happy (as opposed to fighting through ch11 knowing I was building up to that fight...). I hope it makes you guys happy too when you get it.

Sooo, we're on the home stretch? I never like to give dates until I can be 100% certain, because life happens to us all, and the last thing I want is to feel crap for not meeting arbitrary self-imposed deadlines.

But I feel good about it right now. I'm in that part where I get so much more motivated because I can see the end of the chapter coming, like a lovely loop of positive reinforcement of I am nearly there, therefore I am excited and write more, and therefore I am even closer to the end and even more excited and productive-

Eee!

(TL;DR - Ch12 is going well thanks, I'm really happy with it and hopeful it'll not be another thousand years away.)

[chaosandgunpowder]

tbh, the main britishisms i notice as an american are the grammatical constructs. like, brits will say "I've got [an object]"/"I've got to [verb]," which aren't incorrect in american english, but it's way way more common to say "I have"/"have to." that's a giveaway to me.

a less obvious one that makes text feel british to me is like...if you say you're going to do something, british people tend to insert the word "and" before the verb. "I'm going to go and shower" vs. "to go shower." I think both are actually pretty common in american english, but so sometimes passages total lack the no-"and" version and that seems british.

also "bloody." or "arse."

This is super helpful actually, thank you! Weirdly I do tend to somewhat monitor the extra "and"s but I don't think I'd ever have thought about got to / have to. Very interesting (to me, at least!).

Thankfully, can confirm there are definitely no misplaced bloody arses in PD.

Thanks again for the insight! :)

[chaosandgunpowder]

I'm not the one who asked before, but I just started reading one of your Umbrella Academy fics. If I was given a few different fics, and asked to pick yours out, then I definitely could. First, I can tell it was written by a Brit. But more than that, you do have a style to writing and I think the biggest thing is your flow and pacing. It just moves so wonderfully. And of course the characters are so well fleshed out. And then there's a section where you included just some dialogue without anything else (which I love btw). And you use italics in a way that makes me read it a certain way in my head and so it sounds like you. Oh and you are great at only including interesting things and aren't afraid to make some time jumps. I get really annoyed when authors think I need to know everything a character does even when it has nothing to do with the story.

Thank you thank you thank you, for putting so much effort into such a thoughtful answer to my question, I really appreciate it (and the lovely compliments, and you going to read my UA stuff in the first place!)

It's really interesting to hear what carries over between fandom, though the perfectionist in me really wants to pick apart how and where the British comes through, but I think it's probably always going to be somewhat noticeable, even if I manage to catch all the annoying words and "ises" instead of "izes", just from the fabric of the world the characters live in, so I'm just gonna have to leave that scab alone and live with my best effort, heh.

I'm glad you like the dialogue-only bits as much as I do, I'm such a sucker for it (and so helpful for moving things along while keeping things feeling fresh).

Thanks again for coming back to tell me! :)

[chaosandgunpowder]

Seeing you on tumblr made me go re-read chapter 11 and it's just as good as I remembered. Or maybe somehow even better. I can't wait for the next one.

Eee! Thank you :) This makes me so happy! and I'm glad it holds up! I can't believe it's been a year since I posted 11, it feels like 2 months max, ugh.

Lil update snapshot; Ch12 word count currently sitting at 11204 (yay!), and being in PD Alex's head is a RIDE as always (hello there ch10's insane do-I-sit-on-the-couch doomspiral, I'm looking at you).

[chaosandgunpowder]

omg it's so good to hear from you!!

My word for the game is "heavy"

Hello anon! Thanks for playing!

"Heavy" was a surprisingly difficult one! I would have sworn there was a heavy in one of the PD upcoming chapters, but nope (at least not yet). So you've got a chunk of Chapter 1 of the Sci-fi AU instead :)

“Well, isn’t that a sight,” comes an obnoxious, amused voice from behind him and Alex yelps, tumbling abruptly backward out of the crate he’s shoulder-deep in, startling in surprise so violently he bangs his head hard on the heavy lid, seeing stars. It’s Jefferson. Of course it is, because no one else on this damn ship speaks with that aristocratic core-world lilt, not even the Schuylers, and definitely not with that much fucking self-satisfaction.  It’s only when Alex rights himself, still blinking away the pain behind his eyes, that he realizes he’s still holding the godsdamned ring, and immediately hides it guiltily behind his back.

(yes I'm a masochist and the sci-fi AU is yet another multi-chapter menace that will no doubt torture me for years to come).