#kojimusa

As always, thank you endlessly to FlossFlowerGarden for the amazing beta!

To me, Jessie's apartment décor is the most elegant flavour of maximalism - I'm talking, like, sooo many interesting textural contrasts, wainscoting, feature walls, vintage pieces, the most luxe wallpaper (!!), oodles of personality, and all of the things she didn't get to enjoy when she was younger. My brain loves to spoil our girl.

Charming, romantic James will forever make me swoooon. Oh, what a sweetheart he is.

Wanna write more smut, but like... better than this, y'know. Guest comments have been turned on if you're in the mood for putting me on blast, but at least justify it so I can deliver improved smut.

I seem to be allergic to certain words, so writing something less serious/less blatantly romantic might be the way to go next time.

I drafted a lot of this while baked as hell. Probably explains a lot of the meandering. So much had to be trimmed.

But hey - I finally completed a multi-chapter fic (lmao it's only three chapters)! Finishing FFJ seems like a more doable prospect now.

Uhhh... not much more to add, I guess.

Again, infinite thank yous to @flossflowergarden for beta-ing this for me! ❤

A reference to Regina Spektor's Loveology is buried somewhere in there, just before Jessie's attempted kiss. There's now a studio version of this song, but this particular recording from a live set will forever have a special place in my heart.

The unnamed song that Jessie and James dance to is All of Me, specifically the cover by Billie Holiday - at least, that's what I referenced while writing. It can honestly be whatever the reader desires.

I was originally going to have James go by one of his three middle names (his legal first name would have been Percival). But then I'd need to explain that he did this in an effort to detach himself from his family, but then I'd have to figure out why his family refers to him as James and not Percival Jr., and oh god, the start of the chapter was already so convoluted.

Scrapped a whole heap of dialogue in this chapter, haha. It was just getting too wordy and would've only been there for nostalgia's sake. Jessie and James would have been reflecting on just how terrible at their jobs they were (and how that was ultimately for the best), among other things.

There was also this whole thing with James recognising Jessibelle's heartbreak - that she loved someone who would never love her back - and her view that he 'wasted away her youth and most fertile years.' I might recycle it one day.

I wanted James to have sent Jessie fan mail in the lead up to his visit, under the guise of being a fan, but it ended up getting binned, too.

First and foremost, a massive thank you to the wonderful @flossflowergarden for the beta! ♡

Also, here. Some author's notes:

Jessie is thirty-seven-years-old in this fic (my age lol). I was aiming for that average-ish age of any OG rocketshippers out there. Don't let anyone ever let you believe you're too old to enjoy the things you love.

The working title hung around until the final draft yet again. This one is a Regina Spektor song. No secondary meanings--I just felt that it fit well at the time.

I made a playlist specifically to get me into the romance-writing zone, but honestly, this was fuelled by The Smith Street Band's More Scared of You Than You Are of Me. They mightn't be most people's cup of tea sound-wise, but I am such a sucker for lyrics that tell a story while striking that wonderful balance between poignancy and taking the piss (not to mention, those distinctly Melbourne vibes get me so nostalgic). A lyric or two was probably thrown into the later two chapters during a 3am writing binge.

J&J's pokemon are immortal and no one can change my mind. Also, Stufful from SM has since evolved.

The reasons behind James' breaking of the fellowship will be revealed, I promise. Not terribly in depth, but it'll be there in Chapter Two with some half-arsed resolution in the last chapter.