pagemelt

the one with all the fanfic

In which I talk about the recent Harry Potter discourse, my star life cycle theory of fanfic, and what I’ve learned about working on (and actually finishing) long term projects.

(And a small correction: at around the 13-minute mark, I say that "Stealing Harry" by copperbadge was released in 2004 between the 4th and 5th Harry Potter books, but that's incorrect! It was released between the 5th and 6th. )

Handy links:

“Threads is the gas-leak social network...

baby's first author beef

in which I discuss my strange interaction with the author of Filterworld, my pivot to positivity on main, the simp boyfriend blueprint (Lloyd Dobler), and all the other notable media I consumed in March. (The Wolf at the Door, Snatch (2000), The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Orbital, and more.)

Helpful links

“The AI Hoax Is Destorying America with Ed Zitron” on Factually! by Adam Conover: 2025-04-01 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post

I hate hate reading

This month I talk about snobbery, hate reading, and what Mona Lisa Smile has to do with it. Also! A silly goofy St. Patrick’s Day anecdote, a fanfic publishing postmortem, and a quick update on my current reads.

Links to my stuff

Klara and the Sun: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2uGYgh3/

Diss tracks: https://ww...

fetch the hammers!

In which I chat about fanfiction, using social media in These Unprecedented Times, Luddism(!!!), and my first DNF of the year.

Links to my stuff

My fanfic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62372857/chapters/159600673

I fear there’s also an accompanying sad boi soft rock playlist: 2025-02-01 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

fish sticks ARE culture, actually

Happy Near Year! In this one I reflect on 2024's high and lows and look ahead to 2025. I also yap about the popularity of fiction set at boarding schools and what the kids are calling dark academia.

Helpful links

"The Evacuated Children on the Second World War": https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-evacuated-children-of-the-second-world-war

Ted Chiang's essay...

the republic of heaven

The His Dark Materials / post-election discourse crossover that literally nobody asked for.

(Sorry about the slight background hum. It’s my ancient mini-fridge that I forgot to unplug before filming. It’s where I store all my fun lil beverages, though, so I can’t be too mad at it.)

Helpful links

Me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pagemelt.bsky.social 

M...

buckets, romance, honest booktok-ing, and horror movies

A chatty one in which I stubbornly pronounce “valet” the British way and “sommelier” the French-adjacent way. I also invoke something called Die Hard (Hans Gruber’s version).

Handy links to stuff and people I mentioned

“The bucket theory of creativity” by Alex Dobrenko: https://sublimeinternet.substack.com/p/the-bucket-theory-of-creativity

TX ...

“Mel, how’s the big video essay coming along?”

It’s finished. I hope you like it. 🤓

I say it at the end of the video, but it bears repeating: thank you so much for your continued support. I’m being extremely sincere AND literal when I say I couldn’t have done it without y’all. ❤️

October 2024 round-up

My October wrap-up is here! I didn’t post a lot (read: any) to social media in the past month, but I did think a LOT about my relationship with social media as a whole. I also watched a lot of horror movies, read His Dark Materials, and listened to Jason Isbell.

the pagemelt CMQ companion reader

My meatiest Patreon-exclusive video yet, no pun intended 😅! In which I discuss the SMP boycott; my complicated relationship with Casey McQuiston’s work; my deep and abiding love for the Red, White & Royal Blue fandom; how Anthony Bourdain made me less of a puritanical jerk; disappointing tourist experiences; how thoroughly modern art-pilled I am; and how love is two people looking at a third thing.

Media (prominently) referenced

R4A’s webs...

September 2024 round-up

Hello, friends! I liked that monthly-social-media-roundup idea I told y’all about so much that I decided to make a whole Substack about it. I’ll cross-post it here every month so y’all don’t have to worry about subscribing over there if you don’t want to. I’ll never post anything there without sharing it here too.

Enjoy! 🤠

the hacking saga

The thrilling story of how I was MALICIOUSLY HACKED!!! Also a bit of anti-intellectualism discourse.

Programming note

In this video I also re-announce something I’ve already mentioned, which is that I’m gonna start doing a once-a-month social media digest for y’all instead of posting to Patreon every single time I make a TikTok. So much less noise that way. Expect that around the middle of the month!

Media referenced 

Yana...

we are so back!! (not really, I had to make a whole new TikTok account 😅)

I’m still locked out of my old account, and TikTok support hasn’t exactly been tripping over themselves to help me recover it. So I figured: c’est la vie! I made a new account, https://www.tiktok.com/@pagemelt2 and I think I’m gonna use this opportunity to pivot to posting more casual, lighthearted stuff on there. I’ll still update y’all when I post, but I’m thinking I’ll probably do a semi-regular ...

an update re: TikTok

Hey friends, just a quick note that my TikTok was hacked this morning. And it appears to be malicious, unfortunately. Please know that as of today, any messages or content you see coming from @pagemelt on TikTok are not coming from me. I’m still hopeful I can get my account back, but even if I don’t, my plans and projects have been more oriented towards Patreon and YouTube lately, and nothing’s changing there. Thanks for your patience, and I’ll keep y’all posted.

doing mm romance discourse 🔞

It’s discourse I swore I’d never touch it with a ten foot pole, but that was before I had a Patreon! 😃 Anyway I think this discourse throws trans men and transmascs under the bus, and I talk about that here, among other things. Also there's a lot of sex talk, so be prepared for that! Uh… enjoy? I’ll try to do something less serious next month, lol.

Videos/articles mentioned:

Don’s video: https:/...

mid year book fReAkOut tag (allegedly)

In this month’s (extremely punctual, please clap!!!) Patreon vid, I use the midyear book freakout tag as a flimsy excuse to yap about Ted Chiang, mm hockey romance, the 2020 Emma adaptation, (bad) therapy in romance novels, the literary agent who got canned for bad tweets, and ✨so much more✨

a passionate defense of winking

not sure what happened here. bon appétit!

Talking Bullshit Jobs on the Schizophrenic Reads podcast

This one goes out to all my GraeberHeads out there. I had a great time talking about Bullshit Jobs with my friend Nathan over on the Schizophrenic Reads podcast. (We recorded this back in April, so you might notice the way I talk about my own job is a bit out-of-date! 😅) I've embedded the ep here via PodBean, but you can also find the episode on any podcatcher by searching "Schizophrenic Reads".

two books and two books

a reading update

Hot takes 😈 (kinda)

By popular demand, June’s Patreon-exclusive video is a collection of hot takes! Well, kinda. It’s really more of a recent-book-discourse digest, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 😅

DOBS!

Just a lil Drink / Outfit / Books / Supporting update 😎

cheeky lil book haul

Hello again friends! I've been workin' on my next Patreon exclusive script, which I'm pleased to announce will be about my 🔥hot takes🔥 (by popular demand). Excited to get that out hopefully in the first week of June. In the meantime, please enjoy this lil book haul.

Spectrum of buffoonery

Hello friends, a couple of y’all have told me it’d be helpful for me to cross-post my TikToks here, and I’m happy to oblige. I made a chunky one today where I talk ACoTaR, Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay, and something I’m calling the “spectrum of buffoonery” 😃

Rocky Mountain Disney World (derogatory)

Hello friends, welcome to baby's first Patreon-exclusive recent reading wrap-up. (It's me, I'm baby.)

Books discussed: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant

Other books mentioned: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, A Gentleman Undone 2024-05-08 21:05:37 +0000 UTC View Post