rsadelle

I was trying to decide what to post today, and then Spencer said he thought he could do something with the JoBros in the closet, which means obviously it should be the Spencer/Joe story.

The origin of this story is an email thread in which a friend who I don't think is out of the JoBros closet and will thus remain unnamed said, "I am now going to reiterate my request for Brendon/Joe. Or Spencer/Joe. Or Brendon/Nick. I'm not picky." In response, I said, "My brain just went to a happy Spencer/Joe d/s place," which doesn't seem to have come from anywhere other than her pairing suggestions and my love of d/s. So then I wrote a little bitty snippet. This note is almost longer than the story.


( They meet at a party. )

The treats for the last two days wore me out! Today's treat is one I didn't even have to type because I already had it typed out. I got this recipe from lakeeffectgirl, who got it from Vegetarian Times. I have successfully served these to omnivores, but I make them because they're vegan and gluten-free. (Note: they do call for oats and oat flour. Oats do not naturally have gluten, but are often contaminated in processing. Those of you who don't eat gluten probably know what kind of oats you can and can't eat. If you're making these for people who eat gluten-free, you might want to check with them before you purchase ingredients.)

( Walnut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies )

On December 3, 1984, a baby was born. Well, probably a lot of babies were born. But the one we're interested in grew up to be this:



That's Mike Carden. Happy 25th birthday Mike! I'm celebrating by talking about you on the internet.

Many people dislike Carden. I find him kind of fascinating. People who dislike him either dislike him because they like Tom or because they think he looks creepy. When I was first getting into bandom, one of the lectures I got about not liking William Beckett was from a friend who grudgingly allowed that I could like Bill as long as I didn't like Mike. I have a strong rebellious streak when it comes to fandom, so that probably contributed to my interest in Mike.

This was originally going to be a more general Mike Carden primer, but the reality is that there's a perfectly good, if older, one here (as of this moment, the pictures are no longer there, but the information is) and riorhapsody has written an excellent and excellently well sourced TAI primer. So this is going to be three things: interesting facts about Mike Carden, pictures I feel are worth sharing, and information about Mike Carden pairings. Enjoy!


Facts
In high school, Mike was on the swim team. He worked as a lifeguard during the summers. He was also captain of the debate team. (source, source)

Scurrilous internet gossip holds that Mike quit smoking in 2008 or so. (source)

Mike himself has said other things about living a healthier life these days:

Like Chislett, Carden also calls Los Angeles home when the band are off the road. He relocated from the Chicago suburbs to L.A. this past November, and has since taken to hiking, eating healthier and reading Nick Hornby novels. He also took some much-needed time away from his guitar. "There was a point where I probably put the guitar down for about two months, and I didn't want to see it and didn't have any interest," Carden says, having traded places with Bicket in the bus' lounge. "Then one day it just hit me. I'm like, 'I need to keep learning because that's part of it.' I think when you stop you kind of get uninspired and it's hard to move. It's like exercising the first few days - most people quit. So I think with guitar, it's breaking through that." (source)

People who met Mike on the AP Fall Ball tour described him as "chatty" and "quite the chatter box." (one source)

The Real Life Girlfriend

In about February of this year, someone or someones started posting anonymously that Mike is dating Jared Leto's assistant. (source) Her name is Emma Ludbrook. She was his date to Bob McLynn's wedding.

( Photo proof )

For those of you upset about privacy things, I am sympathetic. At the same time, Emma is a public enough figure that there is a magazine article about her:

( Scan of the article, plus more about Emma. )


Picture Time!
Let's start with a review of some of Mike's t-shirts. This might be an odd thing to fixate on, but I'm alternately baffled and intrigued. I can't figure out if these are things he chose for a reason, or if they're just shit he picked up at a thrift store.

( Mike and his t-shirts. )


Next, we move on to the section I like to call, "Bill likes to lean on people, including Mike."

( Bill leans on Mike )


Now let's take a look at Mike in his younger days.


( Younger Carden )


Mike Carden is a giant dork. This may or may not be a known fact. When I saw TAI on the Fall Ball tour, Mike waved at the crowd (and let me note that he waves like a little kid - that grasping kind of wave), then gave us a thumbs up, then waved again with both hands. At least one scurrilous internet gossip thread has a lot of conversation about him being awkward and/or thanking people a million times. (source)

( Mike being a dork )


This section is for pictures that didn't fit anywhere else. It includes Mike in bed, Mike in bathtubs, Mike on couches, Mike in a hat, Mike cuddling up to other people, Mike on stage, Mike being hot, and some other stuff.

( Other stuff )


Pairings
And now the part you're probably actually here for: pairings involving Mike Carden.

Mike/Kevin Jonas
Let's be honest: there's a good chance you've wandered over here thinking, "What the hell is up with this Jonas Brothers nonsense?" Well, let me tell you.

( Origins, questions, and recs. )

Tom/Mike

I don't read Tom Conrad fic (I know someone who knows him, so in my head, he's a friend of a friend, not a random guy in a band), so I don't actually have any recs for this. You might try the delicious tom/mike tag (read carefully; that's as likely to be Tom Welling/Mike Rosenbaum as it is Tom Conrad/Mike Carden), or perhaps someone who does read it will leave some recs in the comments.

If you don't know why you might want Tom/Mike, I recommend reading riorhapsody's TAI primer for more on their history. I will leave you with some pictures, though:

( Pictures! )

Mike/William

Remember that whole section up above where William was leaning on Mike? Why isn't there more fic about them?

( A little about them, a picture, and a rec. )

Mike/Sisky

Why would I tell you about this when dandylionsgirl has written a perfectly good primer? You should go read that.

Today there's this:

siskybusiness: I would like to take this time to wish a happy Birthday to my main man Mike Carden. I love you Santi. You are my worst best friend! Muah (source)

Then, if you want to read fic, you can browse through the delicious mike/sisky tag. There isn't that much there; you can read it all in an afternoon or so.

Mike/Michael Guy Chislett

Mike fell in mad guitar love with Michael the first time they met:

But, see, I knew Michael (Guy Chislett, Conrad's replacement), and Michael played with Butch, and I met Michael at the "Slow Down" video that we did for Almost Here. I sat down with the dude, we just talked about music, we played guitar. It's funny. I was with a friend that night, and I go back, we're shooting this video, and I go, "Dude, that dude Michael is awesome. I know I'm gonna play guitar with him someday. I just don't know when it's going to be." (source)

( Picture and recs )

TAI gsf

For whatever reason, there isn't much in the way of TAI gsf. I don't know why not; they're just as gay as any other band.

There's one here: Two boots and a spur on by modillian. I don't think I've read it, although I have read other things by her that were good.

William/Mike/Sisky

They're the three original members of the band. They used to go out for midnight pancakes together:

( Video where Mike and Sisky talk about pancakes while Mike clutches a throw pillow. )

There is one excellent William/Mike/Sisky story: Three Cheers by an anonymous author. (As far as I know, it's the only William/Mike/Sisky story.)

Except Sisky's got his tongue down Bill's throat and one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill's got one arm around Sisky's shoulders and his other hand between Sisky's legs, rubbing him through his sweatpants, and Sisky’s got one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill does something, either with his tongue or his hand (or possibly both at the same time) and Sisky gasps, squeezing Mike's thigh tightly, and Mike can't help but to gasp as well, because fuck.

Mike/Gabe

TAI went on tour with Midtown (Gabe's previous band) early in their career. Gabe was also at Mike's 23rd birthday party in Las Vegas. It's entirely possible this was because it was also Rob Hitt's 30th birthday party (Rob was also in Midtown), but Gabe and Mike clearly hung out together:

( Pictures, more source material, and a rec )

Mike/Greta Salpeter

I have no idea what the basis for this pairing is. My best guess is that it's because they're both musicians from Chicago and when you need a girl, your choices in bandom are relatively limited. That doesn't stop it from being adorable.

icanbreakthesky appears to be the main Mike/Greta writer. You should become LJ friends with her so you can read her locked entry with bits of a lovely Mike/Greta story in progress.

( More recs )

We've now come to the section of pairings that I think there should be fic about but isn't, at least to my knowledge.

Mike/Vicky-T

This does not just come from a limited choices in girls place. They clearly know each other - TAI and Cobra love to tour together - and there are a couple of pictures they're in together (and I swear there's one more out there that I can't find again:

( Pictures! )

I really want fic where they're not romantically involved, but they are friends and the sex is good, so they hook up when they're on tour together.

Mike/someone in Panic

They toured together. They're in pictures together.

( Picture that isn't up above. )

Mike said, "I like listening to Panic every night." (source) That's more than enough for their to be fic about them.

Mike/someone in Fall Out Boy

Did you know that Mike could have been a member of FOB?

BE: So I went and checked out your Wikipedia entry, and it says that you once turned down an offer to join Fall Out Boy. True?
MC: Well, I mean, "turned down"? (scoffs) I grew up with those dudes! I had another year of high school left, and they were talking about it, and Patrick used to just sing, and I knew Joe and Pete, and we joked about it, but I don't know that I really "turned it down." I guess the cards just didn't fall in the right place at the time. Which is totally cool. (laughs) (source)

I could totally go for some fic where he did join or where he didn't because one of them was an ex or where he hooked up with one (or more) of them.

Other Mike Recs

I have two other stories to rec to you that don't fit into any of the categories above.

( The last two recs )

According to the dates on the file, I worked on this over three weeks in February-March of this year. What's fascinating to me, reading it now, is how many of the plot points I reused in You Have My Heart (in your hands).

I think the last paragraph is actually the first part of the story I wrote.


( Chris, Steve, and a baby. )

You might be wondering, Ruth, who is that hot guy? I'm glad you asked! That's Matt Mixon. Today is his 29th birthday. Happy birthday Matt! I don't know what he's doing for his birthday this year, but here's what he did for his 27th birthday:

( Picture! )

That didn't quite answer your question, did it? The actual answer is that Matt is Andy Hurley's BFF and a member of Fuck City. Matt first came to fandom's attention when Fall Out Boy headlined the Honda Civic Tour. They had two buses, and Andy let Patrick have the back lounge bedroom on their bus in exchange for the right to bring along two friends: Matt and their trainer Tyler.

In the world of Fuck City, Matt is FC2. It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out that they're numbered in order that they moved into the house. Well, sort of. Andy is FC1 because he owns the house, but Matt flew home early from the HCT to move them both in, so I think technically he was the first one to move in. The story behind FC is that when Andy went full-time with Fall Out Boy, he vowed that if they made it big, he would buy a house and let his friends live there. (I highly recommend Andy's origin story blog; it pretty much reads like a polygamy AU. They also tell the origin story in the first podcast.) Andy also agreed to support Matt until he was making $60K/year, which Matt upped to $80K/year. As if that weren't enough, they sound totally married on their podcast (feed/index of streaming locations).

On Podcast 2, someone asked if they had to have "super gay sex" with someone else in FC, who would it be? Matt says Ryan, which makes Andy jealous so he chooses Kyle out of spite:



fcpodcast2clip1

Later in the same podcast, Matt talks about the comparison between his dick and Ryan's. Andy assures him that they're both pretty radical:



fcpodcast2clip2

In another podcast, Matt tells the story about how he and Ryan used to watch porn and jerk off together when they shared a room:



fcpodcast8clip1

That's only the beginning of the slashiness of the podcast. I highly recommend listening to it.

But let me get back to the real part of this treat: the pictures. Warning: There is one NSFW picture in here.

( Hot Mixon is hot. )


If I've managed to convince you that Matt and Fuck City are worth knowing about, you can read more about them here, here, and here.

Sources: the showna pictures were taken from flickr. (She no longer has them publicly available, but you can find them from Matt's dad's flickr, which I will tell you about but would feel creepy linking to. If you do go find it, he also has both a baby picture of Matt and what schuyler referred to as "the single gayest graduation photo in the history of photography.") The rest of them were taken from Matt's MySpace.

This picture is the reason lakeeffectgirl and I are writing a Joe/Nick d/s fic. Mmm, sub!Joe.

To say that my financial situation is iffy this year would be an understatement. I can't afford to buy gifts or even cards, so I'm trying to think creatively about the holidays. One of the things I'm going to do for all of you wonderful people who find me interesting enough to read this LJ is post treats every day in December. Those might be a picture, a song, a video clip, a fic snippet, a recipe, or whatever else I come up with.

This post is not just an announcement post! This is also a request post. If there's something you'd like to see as a treat, comment and tell me about it. It can be general (a pretty picture) or specific (five people Joe Jonas wishes he never slept with) and of any type of treat you might like. This is a present for you, and I want you to enjoy it! I will try to fulfill as many requests as I can.

And since we're talking requests and holidays and such, here's my wish list for this year:

( Things I want. )

As you may have noticed, I finished and posted the babyfic (You Have My Heart (in your hands)) and its soundtrack.

My other project was what I'm still referring to as the Mike/Kevin Halloween story. As you might remember, my plan was to write 1000 words per day once I finished the babyfic. Well, I got involved in another project (see below) and dropped that down to 100 words per day. It is still coming along. It's now over 14,000 words and they still haven't kissed.

About a week into November, schuyler suggested I write an erotica novel, keeping in mind that the erotica market is about quantity, not quality. So that's the other project I've been working on. My goal has been 1000 words per day, which I'm mostly not meeting. Despite that, the book is just over 11,000 words, which is about 15% done, and I wrote myself a quick outline, so it's going okay. I keep feeling guilty about not doing more work on it.

Goals for December:

• 100 words per day of the Mike/Kevin story.


• 1000 words per day of the novel.


• Annual posting of any fic snippets I'm never going to finish. (There are surprisingly few of these this year.)


• Clean up and post the ridiculously cheesy Jared/Jensen/Danneel porn.


• Put in some work on the Joe/Nick control fic, even if it's just adding something to Joe's list.


• Write anon_lovefest and request snippets as inspired.

Matthew Battles' Library: An Unquiet History was supposed to be my nonfiction book for October, but since I read barely anything in October, I decided to grant myself amnesty and skip straight to November.

Library is a roughly chronological survey of libraries and librarianship through history. It's interesting enough, and I did like that some of his older examples are not European, although later chapters are very Western focused. Battles seems to have a particular interest in library destruction. I was struck by how recent some of those are. The book is a couple of years old, which means he gets out of putting much time into libraries as sites of internet access, and is, I think, from before the Seattle Public Library's RFID implementation.

Title: We Hang Out On Fridays
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Mike/Kevin
Rating: FRT
Word Count: 1200
Disclaimer: Made up.
Summary: The next thing Mike knows, he's been hanging out with Kevin for half an hour and they're exchanging numbers before Kevin's brothers drag him away.
Notes: Originally written for an anon_lovefest prompt.


( We Hang Out On Fridays )

Today I'm thankful for everything I haven't mentioned yet. I'm thankful for my family, for my health, for having a place to live. I'm thankful for fandom and everyone in it. I'm thankful for bandom, Fuck City, and the Jonas Brothers. I'm thankful for Mercy, FlashForward, So You Think You Can Dance, and Friday Night Lights. I'm thankful for YouTube, LiveJournal, Facebook, and Twitter. I'm thankful for Jezebel, Penny Arcade, PostSecret, and Cake Wrecks.

This contains spoilers for "You Have My Heart (in your hands)," so if you have any interest in the story itself, you should read it before you read this.

( Story Origins )

( Women's Lives )

( Real People, Fake Names )

( Sex Lives of Fictional Characters )

( The Hard Part )

( Didn't Make It Into the Story )

( My Favorite Source )

Things I Did That I Might Not Have Noticed

I love it when other people pick up things I didn't know I was doing. What did you notice in "You Have My Heart (in your hands)" that I didn't mention?

Master Post - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3


( You Have My Heart (in your hands) (4/4) )

Master Post - Part 1 - Part 2


( You Have My Heart (in your hands) (3/4) )

Master Post - Part 1


( You Have My Heart (in your hands) (2/4) )

Title: You Have My Heart (in your hands)
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Gabe/Victoria
Rating: FRAO
Word Count: 37,000
Disclaimer: Made up. I learned everything I know about pregnancy, childbirth, New York State custody law, and real estate from the internet; please do not take anything in this story as medical, legal, or real estate advice.
Summary: Victoria finds out her boyfriend's cheating on her. Then she finds out she's pregnant. Cobras are never alone, and Gabe's there every step of the way.
Notes: When I was trying to come up with an idea of what I wanted to write for bandomrarepair, schuyler said, "Dude, you know what Gabe loves in real life? Babies. Dude loves babies." The next thing I knew, I was emailing her a little bit of this story every day.

Thanks to schuyler for being my cheerleader, providing advice, and loving this story even as she grew to dislike the actual Gabe and Victoria. Thanks to eleanor_lavish who was another source for things I didn't know. Thanks to lakeeffectgirl for the editing read through. Thanks to B, who, although he doesn't read fic and probably won't see this, paid attention to what I was saying about this on Twitter and cheered me on with how impressed he was by the story's length.

Title from New Found Glory's "Too Good To Be."


Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Soundtrack - Commentary Track

Today I'm thankful for norwich36. We had a lovely dinner tonight, even with our depressing talk about the economy!

Today I'm thankful to have had hellafic added to my fannish life. She is both highly entertaining and dedicated to keeping us supplied with Disney girls information and pictures.