thank you so much for your kind words 🥺 i'll put all the spotify links below so you can make your own third intention ost playlist - this was the exact run of songs i was listening to on repeat for like 8 months while writing the fic (waltz of the flowers leading straight into liebestraum makes me tear up every time asdjla;)

i'll be completely honest with you, i barely knew anything about classical music when i started writing the fic. i actually picked out moonlight sonata completely randomly as a last minute addition to the first chapter while editing. nocturne in c-sharp was a recommendation from my best friend for chapter 2 and it was only from there i actually started listening to a lot of classical playlists on youtube for any songs that felt "right" for the tone of each chapter. from there i started to build each chapter around each piece (the fic actually wasn't supposed to have chapter names originally, but once i knew how important the piano pieces were, i added them after chapter 3. this was also for the waltz of the flowers moment - the reader would know that jeongin always performs the chapter name piece and once they get to the showcase scene, he hasn't played it yet... and then the lights go out...... and the reader is supposed to know at that moment exactly what he's going to do 😈)

then to actually write it the piano scenes, i just watched a lot of youtube videos, read through quora and reddit posts for answers to specific questions on learning the pieces, and tried to pick up as much jargon as possible (i did do some music in school so i can read sheet music... kinda. that helped). you can tell the piano scenes are really short and the details are shallow in the earlier chapters and then get significantly more in depth by the end once i'd learned more. my youtube algorithm for real was just pianist content for a while. and i'm a huge fan of classical music now!!! i have a whole new appreciation for it.

i think people who probably ARE professional pianists irl will likely be able to tell i don't play piano 😂😂😂 but i tried my best!!

for music i listen to when i write, i think i've pavlovian trained myself to only write while listening to kpop and kpop mashups.... so i mainly listen to that when writing. i'm not really the kind of writer who gets inspired through music? i think i get inspired through life experiences and it just happened for this fic that music was a big theme, so i was really looking for pieces that would support jeongin's journey. the piano scenes ended up becoming my favourite part of each chapter to write, it was such a fun experience!!

i don't know how helpful that was, but thank you for the question!!! 🩷

https://open.spotify.com/track/5gJvJ18ZCVdiLXfczZaKgL
https://open.spotify.com/track/5SG4Z5Tdo7XW958CDNMNsI
https://open.spotify.com/track/6jBT9MBVjX4kZ68IV6wHnH
https://open.spotify.com/track/1Ojz92vyPK4fJ5K8RVnV5u
https://open.spotify.com/track/50k1rXFbpqezeg4iyFODU0
https://open.spotify.com/track/3MHiOpWCWQQgJAplRWxsbJ
https://open.spotify.com/track/4E1Rquqd8ZAnOy3BYK0K1Z
https://open.spotify.com/track/3TGYvidg87bZPExqrsR8G7
https://open.spotify.com/track/4N0TDLJQt8VcbqpyV5zLgf
https://open.spotify.com/track/2ss0gqiiHoGYzCpyAYa1sz
https://open.spotify.com/track/2vE0UuLxVBsjY5fgHBPeeg
https://open.spotify.com/track/4PNKBMhWgJAwUawNGpVwBY
https://open.spotify.com/track/1XwAKjAZ1xDZOcuyZoqce4

(spoilers incoming) haruto was born out of a need of the way minho's character develops over the course of the story. before the twist in chapter 7, the reader is supposed to think minho is really well-adjusted and healed from the post-disbandment in contrast to jeongin. in chapters 2/3 he's kind of too perfect? at that point jeongin hiding his living situation is the only thing keeping the reader on the string of the narrative since the romantic chase is already over for minho and jeongin at this point. so in chapter 4, i needed to introduce sympathy for minho, otherwise his perceived lack of flaws would start to become really boring.

when i thought about how minho would want to explore his sexuality post-band, i didn't see him as someone who would learn about it online, rather that he would want to seek out actual communities and speak to real people, ideally older gays. it would be too risky to do that in korea, so japan was the obvious answer, considering he can speak the language. i also see minho as someone open to paying for professional services to be taught how to have sex correctly, rather than try to stumble through a series of relationships where he has no experience and no control over how it might end (with the threat of someone outing him to the media).

i did some research on japanese male prostitution and came across an article about 'urisen', and that's how i got the idea for haruto. he was his early 20's (while minho was 31 at this point in the timeline) and orphaned, so the urisen was like his family and support system. he did like being a sex worker when the clients were nice, so any of minho's attempts to 'rescue' him from that life would have ultimately failed. i can't remember if it's implied in the fic but it certainly is in the snippet i wrote, that he was a drug-user and that was ultimately the cause of his death. regardless, he was intelligent, though maybe not super book smart, and very savvy with a petulant, moody streak, so even though minho was initially drawn to him because of his appearance, minho definitely fell in love with haruto as a person and his personality.

if you can imagine a french film about a tragic romance, with intimate, quiet, almost uncomfortable cinematography - that is the vibe of minho and haruto's relationship. it was very raw and very emotional, for minho especially. he felt responsible for the disbandment of the band, believed he was the cause of jeongin cutting everyone off, he felt guilty for losing contact with the rest of the guys (not because he didnt want to, because, at that time, he can't stomach it)... on the on the other hand, he was desperate for this new experiences, to explore his sexuality after it got put on hold when jeongin was fired, lgbtq+ history was becoming something he had a serious interest in. he was very aware that it was unhealthy, borderline dangerous, but at the time it was kind of the one good thing he had, and he was clinging onto it.

at some point, i think minho probably realised he was doing the same thing that jeongin did with his secret relationship years previous. the experience with haruto helped minho understand why jeongin would make all those stupid decisions when there was so much at risk.

haruto also allowed minho to feel and outlet some of his emotions through their sessions and their time together, whether from the pleasure being so good, or haruto playing (consensual) cruel bedroom games with him. this was a very healing experience for minho. and its why minho feels like he's only able to emotionally communicate and connect with jeongin through sex in the fic, and why outside of the bounds of the bedroom, minho constantly dodges talking about what happened between them in the past.

but yeah, minho breaking down when he shows jeongin the polaroid in chapter 4 is supposed to be the first time the reader realises that there's something more under the surface of what's going on with minho. after chapters 5/6, that feeling of unease around what the hell happened with minho's backstory should grow. and then chapter 7 happens and jeongin says "you ruined my life" which should be the exact freeze frame moment the whole story flips on its head.

thank you for the great question!!!!

yes, good question, yeeeesss

firstly, i would say 2 years ago now i was having some creative issues with my fics and i realised i kept trying to force myself to write with genres, techniques and pairings i didn't actually enjoy that much. i made a mental list of everything i enjoyed doing with writing and everything i didnt, and then just stopped doing the things i didn't like. creating stories suddenly became A LOT easier when i just focused on nuturing my existing strengths

i'm obsessed with foreshadowing and chekhov's gun in media, i love a tight narrative, i love no wasted details. so i think this will always be the building blocks of my stories, with everything else coming after: genre, tropes, dialogue, prose, etc

// spoilers
for 3rd int, i knew the main story beats before i started writing it: that minho was the catalyst in jeongin being fired, that jeongin would at some point pawn his ring (and minho would buy it back), that everything would culminate with the winter showcase, that the wishbone would be key in revealing the meaning of the story name

then it was working backwards. the winter showcase gets off-handedly mentioned in chapter 1, jeongin notices the wishbones in chapter 1, the first power cut happens in chapter 2, the pawn shop is introduced in chapter 4, minho points out jeongin's ring in chapter 4 (in the same scene he also invites jeongin to the winter showcase), all the while there is this underlying tension between them that the reader doesn't yet know is coming from (minho saying "i want you, even though its wrong of me" in chapter 3, and minho getting suddenly emotional about "that night in paris" in chapter 6)

and as we get closer to where the actual event happens, these details need to be brought up more overtly so it will stick in the front of the reader's brain (an example being jeongin relying more on his ring as a coping mechanism as he approaches selling it, rather than fiddling with it being a little detail). especially when the chapters come out with 3-7 weeks gaps, it's easy for active readers to forget details. i've definitely learned from past experiences where i kept the foreshadowing too subtle and then it didn't have the intended payoff!

honestly, 3rd int is an extremely ambitious story. there are a ton of themes and moving parts happening all at once. really i think it could only be done because i knew very strongly what the spine of the narrative was from the beginning, so even when i strayed or the word count blew way over budget, anything additional i wrote had to serve some sort of purpose to reinforce the major narrative beats and themes. but i think if the story was to be edited again as a whole now that it's finished, there would be some aspects of it that would be cut to tighten other areas.

in terms of tips to keep track of the foreshadowing, i leave a ton of notes in my draft for for myself in the chapters, like "remember to mention the wishbone!" and then i'll just work it into the chapter i'm actively working on that feels right. then if there's a few notes that won't fit into a chapter draft, i move it into the next chapter... and that then happens over and over until you end up with a final chapter that has so many notes it ends up being 35k words 🥴

there were only 3 scenes that ended up getting cut, 2 very very early iterations of the first kiss and a conversation minho and jeongin had about drugs (i really liked the idea for the scene but it just didnt end up matching the tone of the story and it wasn't a major theme, so it was removed)

that was a lot, so hope i answered your question! LOL

ahh 😅😅

honestly, there's no plans for another epilogue with a big time jump, minjeong's future from here is up for reader interpretation, whether they do move to australia or not, get married or not, have a child together or not,,, whatever happens, they have the tools and the foundation to be together happily - that's the one thing for certain

in terms of expanding the canon story, there is a plan for a seungsung spin-off but it's set a couple years after the disbandment, not post-3rd int

never say never, i might want to revisit the world for a one-shot in the distant future!! but for now i need a little break to work on some other projects 🥰

what i CAN say is the seungsung foursome does happen at some point (if you've seen the challengers movie, eli is playing the role of zendaya akldjkd;)

ME ALSO CRYING, i'm excited to share the epilogue but.. then it will REALLY be over 😭😭😭😭

my next chaptered fic is to catch a dragonfly, which i posted the first chapter of back for minhyang fest in may lol 🫠

i haven't forgotten about the obsidian star either!! that will be getting finished in parallel to dragonfly

before that though, i've got a surprise breather project in the works but i don't want to post about it because it will give away the concept haha (likely similar length and tone to nude models wanted)

after that...... well, i want to write a short 3rd int seungsung spin-off, i also have an idea for an omega!minho/alpha!jeongin mpreg fic :)))))))))) nothing over 100k tho, good LORD i need a break from that hahahaha

omg, bless you for this question 🥺🥺🥺

first of all, im absolutely CRYING over the portmanteau of elisung, i never even thought to do that THAT'S SO CUTE!!!!!!!! i need to do that for the rest now....

3rd int is very much a lgbtq+ themes fic, and i wanted to explore multiple corners of that, for each of the boys to have a unique experience with it. from platonic bonds to late realisations to gender and sexuality.

i see jisung as someone who might find comfort in GNC and being part of the trans umbrella but because everyone else in the band is very much cis, there was almost.. no mentor for him about it? no one who could educate him and give him a foot into the trans community. if he was ever able to have the confidence to explore this further than less masculine outfits during his idol career, it would have to come from an outside force.

in chapter 8, when seungmin details what happened between him and jisung, he explains how when jisung was getting back on his feet, it was the adhd diagnosis first and then meeting eli that were the two main things which helped him. both things very much worked hand in hand to give jisung a lot of identity dysphoria, like he was trying to force himself into a mould he thought he was supposed to be in society, but it just wasn't working and it was making him so depressed. then, meeting eli, they helped to introduce him to these concepts and ideas of just,, life being more fluid- gender and sexuality (jisung identifies as pansexual). with eli, he was able to explore these ideas before finding the ones which felt the most like him, which right now is primarily dressing with genderless silhouettes (and lemme tell you it is VERY funny when seungmin and jisung do red carpets together, it rly looks like shit hot superstar seungmin taking his androgynous raccoon for a walk)

you might have also noticed in the group chats, jisung's handle is HAN, rather than everyone else, who has their first names. this is one small way he makes himself more gender neutral (he is okay with ppl in his close circle calling him jisung still, but for the most part, he prefers to go by han now). he wouldn't consider himself cis and uses he/him publicly, but behind closed doors, he is experimenting with he/they, though this is not something he's sure he's ready to commit to yet. it's been a long process over many, many years and how he feels about it always fluctuates and will continue to forever. but the most important part is that eli helps him feel like himself and love himself and he knows that no matter what happens, eli will be there and support him (and vice versa!!)

i could also yap for a million years about eli, they are so cool and perfect for jisung. i love love love their bond and relationship.

ooh, i guess first off i wanted to give the fic a 'hyper-realistic' feel, like a future of how things could legitimately play out in our timeline and our society, and then try and convince the reader to fully buy-in to the minjeong relationship within that environment. so, the boys get wives and girlfriends this time around - sorry!!

in regards to creating the OCs, i felt it was maybe risky to make the villain an abusive woman? so, it was really important to me to counter-act that with a cast of extremely strong, well-developed non-male characters. then, it was thinking about what kinds of personalities the guys might be drawn to (and throwing in some subconscious jeongin love, like somin having fox-shaped eyes, and kyungheon being born in the same year as jeongin)! this part was really fun 🤭🤭 especially since i had to make them interesting and sympathetic to the reader in a really short amount of time.

other minor characters like the waitress in the fake french cafe, the pawn shop auntie, the romanian couple, dawon and her mum... they're there to show that people come in and out of our lives in different and sometimes fleeting ways. however, within the story, jeongin touches each of them positively with his light and generosity. despite the chaos of his life, his sometimes manic survival instincts, he made the time to stop and be kind and caring to each one of these people - not for some idol image reasons, because that's just the kind of person he is.