iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

sometimes my favorite parts of writing are the small homages to sneak in. Nathan cooks a dish based on a recipe from my mom. Jensen & Evan have my parents’ zodiac sign dynamic. Lawrence loves George Gershwin because I love An American in Paris. creative works are labors of love❤️

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

#AwesomeCharacters Nathan & Lawrence live together- that’s like, the plot 🤣 but they live above Lawrence’s store with Em both during HTCH and once the story ends, it’s their place❤️ in B&W, all the Gilliards live in their family mansion- Nathan & Jensen included

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

#Smutcember i think like i said yesterday my biggest difference is that i’ll read a higher level of smut than i usually write 🤷 in terms of partner configurations/genres i can’t think of any radical differences

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

#AwesomeCharacters this one I know the least about since it’s a recent addition to B&W during this current draft, but i’m growing fond of it ❤️ Jensen spends a lot of his teenage years alternating bw rebellion & contrition, & as a result spends a lot of time wandering the city alone

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

#AwesomeCharacters Evan & August Camden met in grade school, when they were both getting picked on for being classic bully targets: August has albinism & Evan is the kind of queer person whose queerness is apparent before they know it themselves

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

guess i’ll just qrp this for the rest of my guys! #AwesomeCharacters Lawrence first learns that Veronica Fielding exists via telegram, shortly after he learns that his sister Jess and her husband Trent have died in a car accident (also conveyed to him by telegram)

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

i’m going to shoutout some non-romantic relationships for today’s #AwesomeCharacters, bc i have an undying love for side characters and how they impact MCs’ growth/contain their own narratives outside of the main story ❤️❤️❤️

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

winter is a quiet time in HTCH- Aurora isn’t quite a farm town, but there’s enough agriculture to make it a slower time of year. Nathan’s used to some brutal winters in Minnesota, so Kansas is a bit easier, & Lawrence likes the excuse to curl up at home away from the elements!

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

spotify wrapped just loud and wrong so anyway reminder that i made this shirt for MY song of the year. hurt feelings you’ll always be famous

mirror selfie of Austin, a white person with short brown hair, wearing a black t shirt with song lyrics embroidered: “blood is thick, but water is forever”

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

#Smutcember hm! i do tend to write a lower level of smut than my reading tolerance ceiling, so i do like engaging with higher-level spice by reading other authors’ works to be continually learning about how it can be used in different purposes than i tend to employ 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

it is important to me that everyone knows about the wild rookie goalie with the nickname the wall of st. paul and the extreme self-control it’s taking me to not get hockey!nathan art because of it. thank you for your time

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

anyway i have a post to make about my books that is pending dependent on how the next episode of heated rivalry goes so watch this space

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

love this sweet note for #AwesomeCharacters, and i’ll keep it short :) Nathan: cooking Lawrence: playing the piano Evan: a good soft heavy blanket Jensen: a book he hasn’t read or one he’s read a million times

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

i didn’t put a real almost-kiss in HTCH but i’m debating whether i should put one in B&W or just have it be even more infuriating that neither of them thought to try and kiss each other. these are the thoughts that plague me at my day job

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

#Smutcember i don’t have a hard limit, and i think any level of spice can be appropriate for the story! i’ve read superb closed door romances and great erotic ones- it’s just about how integral spice is to the character development for me

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

this is a great #AwesomeCharacters question! i try to only name characters when they either a) have direct bearing on the plot or b) enhance the worldbuilding. a quick test is “is it plausible for my narrator to interact with this character w/o knowing their name?” once i reach “no,” they get named

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

!!!!! i adore the world of bludeye and this crazy gang of meddling kids (age-neutral) 🥰 cannot wait to get my hands on a copy and carry it around like the town crier!!!

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

being able to interpret art however you want is so beautiful i love having songs from brat and everybody scream on the same character playlist

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

hi #Smutcember!! i’m austin, a writer of queer fiction across lots of genres, & i’ll probably be talking about my #amquerying HOW TO COME HOME (Nathan & Lawrence) & its #amdrafting companion book BLOOD & WATER (Jensen & Evan), which take place in 1920s/30s US around a Prohibition syndicate family

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

*delighted sighs* for Nathan, it was Lawrence’s immediate respect for his boundaries + willingness to take him at face value for Lawrence, it was how Nathan seamlessly picked up slack on things he was self-conscious about IRT his own abilities to fulfill them (bookkeeping, helping Em w school)

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

heated rivalry good because the serotonin i get seeing such unabashed queer media is making my antidepressants redundant but heated rivalry bad bc i keep having to actively restrain myself from changing MY characters’ dynamics because they are in my brain like gay worms

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters it’s 1920s/30s America, so walking/driving/trains are all in play! the most interesting answer I have is that Lawrence can’t drive bc of his eyesight, so he’s pretty reliant on walking/Veronica’s generosity/trains for more extensive travel, at least until Nathan joins his life

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

called out extremely specifically by costar today what the hell

Your brain is not a squat for faux punks with a tobacco addiction.

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

just….ignore my numbering……it will happen again…………

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters I don’t think they actively pay much attention to color scheme, but I have colors I associate with them! Nathan: dark greens/browns/blues, dark neutrals Lawrence: yellow, pastel blue Evan: black/white/gray/neutrals (least amount of color) Jensen: purple, green, jewel tones 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

y’all thought i was a yapper before get read to hear some unhinged thoughts and feelings

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

why the hell have i not been using baz luhrmann’s gatsby for b&w pitching. i am a fool. will rectify this for next time.

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

i don’t know when i’ll be able to watch heated rivalry over the next few days but trust that when i do i will not be responsible for what happens to me or my posting habits

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

another day of 0 words written but you know what i’m on vacation i’m spending great time with my family i’m seeing mountains and eating well and going on walks this book will get written eventually

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters *looks nervously at the very real newspaper coverage in both HTCH and B&W* guess y’all have to wait for the books!

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters everyone’s mostly a city kid, tbh. Nathan and Jensen grew up in a city-dwelling family where everyone worked, so trips out to nature were infrequent but fairly cherished as a break from monotony. when Nathan ends up in a small town he initially misses city living, but finds 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

ugh need to write more today but feeling really really unconfident in myself & riddled with anxiety… horrors begone please i just want to write my silly books

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

my god this is the gayest thing he's done and he's canonically had sex with multiple men at this point

A cluster of young women swanned up to the bar, dresses nearly identical and in every jeweled tone available in fabric. One of them jostled Jensen—purposefully, if the way she batted her eyes was any indication, but he recoiled at the sudden, unexpected touch. Before he spilled his drink on himself or anyone else Evan reached over to guide him away, careful to not add any unwanted contact as he stretched one arm between Jensen and the girl.
“Sorry,” he breezed when she shot him an ungracious look. “My friend’s a bit squeamish around taffeta.”
He swapped places with Jensen for good measure—the ladies at least had the manners to not snark about him while their arms brushed his back, and the stark tension in Jensen’s limbs was gone once he had space anew.

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

i’m just a [redacted], looking at my email inbox, asking for some last good news to close out the year

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

this is an *excellent* question for #Lovember and is really making me think… he will never, ever admit it (not even to himself) but Evan was Nathan’s first love, & part of the reason he’s so hostile to him now is that he’s realized how ill-suited they are (& always have been) 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

so was anyone going to tell me the new mumford & sons album has a song called icarus ft gigi perez or was i just supposed to let that happen to me

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters Nathan’s hair is dark and naturally curly, and he’s still figuring out how he wants to wear it after being in prison for so long- he went in as a young man with longer hair, but kept it shorter on the inside out of necessity + ease of care 1/

Digital painting of Nathan, a white man with dark curly hair and dark eyes, wearing a dark green sweater

art by luneillusoire

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters Nathan was touchier before prison- now he’s v concerned with only touching people when needed or asked for, & even then he isn’t gratuitous Lawrence uses touch for a lot of supplemental sensing, so he’s way more inclined toward contact (even outside of his inner circle) 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

i had a very darling flashback scene about Lawrence’s summer at a school for the blind (he hated it, it was a scare tactic from his parents) where he also has his first (unrequited) crush (the school headmistress’ younger brother)- both his dad and his sister appear on page too!

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

“what’s even happening up until now then” evil family trauma and the horrors of being known. thanks for asking

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

broke 43k on B&W today yayyyy they have only just acknowledged that they are friends noooo

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters YES!!! ok, bear with me, because if there’s 2 things i love to use in storytelling/character building, it’s food and music 1/

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

HTCH & B&W are set in 20th century America so they’ve got the standard ones, but only B&W sees holidays on the page- specifically, the gift-giving around Christmas (& Hanukkah, but Evan’s relationship w religion is…complicated) and a big New Year’s party that definitely serves as a turning point!

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Reposted by austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️)

ACLU @aclu.org · 20/11/2025

A world without transgender people has never existed and never will. To all transgender people out there: You are not alone.

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

happy tdor everyone 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️ i see you and i love you and we are here and we remember 🩵🩷🤍

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

tbh haven’t gotten much writing done this week but my mental health has been so light and joyous and full of whimsy that i will NOT let the demon of productivity get me down ✋

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Reposted by austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️)

Mike Fragassi @refrag.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made. Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊

Nerdy kid at keyboard:
Hi guys, I've noticed that it is International Men's Day today, and I'm confused. Why do we need a day to talk about men? We're not a marginalised group like women, queer people, or people of colour. The media is already full of stories about men.

Big buff shirtless dude at keyboard:
I'm glad you asked, champ. Whatever your view on men's place in society, it's still true that we face a lot of issues - like social isolation, risk of suicide, health problems, and attitudes towards sex and child rearing. Having a day to talk about those doesn't take away from anyone else's problems. In fact, having a day to talk about them helps us be more mindful, and listen better at other times.

Second shirtless buff dude on a couch at his laptop:
The chief here is really on to something. I want to echo what he said, and also point out that the idea we should remain silent about our problems actually contributes to a lot of our issues. We are human beings, with human needs. Seeking mutual support and understanding isn't the same thing as placing a burden on others. Especially if we're providing it for each other.

Third buff dude at his laptop:
Right on, my fellow kings. We've inherited a social legacy of competition and division, and a lot of what makes a man in our era is under question. IMD is a chance for us to examine and rethink what we are together, and build the bonds of solidarity and support that will make a better way possible - like in this meme. Because in our hearts, we're all curious kids and buff guys on keyboards.

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

hmm… Nathan = determination Lawrence = loyalty Evan = passion Jensen = resilience and i do see that these are two pairs of similar traits, which i think is funny, because i consider HTCH & B&W to be sideways mirrors of each other in many ways :)

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters money? Nathan. probably everything else? Veronica 🤣 if Evan tells me anything other how to get through to the bartender at a crowded bar i’m politely saying no thank you❤️

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austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️) @austinsgrace.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

#AwesomeCharacters SIDE CHARACTERS MY BELOVED!! Nathan’s oldest brother Ian is the biggest AntagonistTM- their disagreements about family, wealth, and power (and how to balance the 3) spark how the brothers Gilliard end up in prison and Nathan’s eternal martyr complex 1/

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