Chapter 6, The Switch is live after a freaking year. After breakfast, Orville has a photoshoot and an interview, and when he gets back things between he and Brad start to take a turn in a different direction.
Going to bury the chapter's notes behind a cut, but the TL;DR is, it's been a fucking hard year, and my editor @nectarine-migraine deserves all the thanks in the world because without her, this chapter wouldn't exist.
THIS HAS BEEN A YEAR IN THE MAKING, and for everyone who has been anxiously awaiting an update, I'm sorry it's been so long and THANK YOU for waiting, reading, re-reading, commenting, and reaching out to me now and then to let me know that this fic means something to you — that means more to me than you'll ever know.
This has been one of the hardest years of my life. Over the past year, I got a new job, moved apartments, struggled incredibly with my mental health, ended up in the ER due to work stress and anxiety, started working with a therapist and got medicated, figured out the job is killing my soul, and got covid (I'm okay). Covid actually came at a good time, and the time off is giving me time to regroup, figure out what I want to do, and finally finish this chapter.
Words can't adequately describe the sheer magnitude of this chapter. It's actually split in two, and chapter 7 is almost complete (currently maybe half the size of 6, but split just in the interest of readability). Chapter 6 alone is over 13,000 words — that's just under a third of the length of the story up to this point. This took a colossal amount of effort, and has been being worked on off and on over the entirety of this past year. Just this week, it's caused a couple all-nighters (my sleep is borked bc of being home sick though, so it's less like an all-nighter and more just consumed my and my editor's evenings). This is a labor of love. It's something I need to write, and something I know a few of you have said you really look forward to reading more of. To those folks who are invested, I want to let you know I have this outlined right through the end (which is going to be at least 5-8 more chapters, who knows, honestly). I'm seeing this through.
As a final aside, please do not use any access you may have to Brad or Orville on social media to bring their attention to this story. This is a work of fiction. Please abide by local and regional RPF by-laws and just be cool. I'm not aware of anyone who has been un-cool, but I just feel strongly this bears saying, because I want to keep writing this thing.
Lastly, this chapter simply wouldn't exist without my editor, nectarinemigraine of ao3, who has been my constant cheerleader and challenger throughout this past year. Thank you for giving me the feedback I need to hear, telling me when I need to expand a thought or an idea, for making me follow the Kiss Rule, for saying terrible words like "gerund" to me, and for letting me have the brain sometimes so I could knock this thing out. I love you, you're so talented, thank you.
