Strangers on the Phone

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Fanfiction
Title: Strangers on the Phone
Author(s): rochke11
Date(s): Published July 21, 2015 – September 16, 2015[1]
Length: 86,723 words; 31 chapters
Genre(s): modern AU, celebrity AU, femslash
Fandom(s): The 100
Relationship(s): Clarke Griffin/Lexa
External Links:

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Strangers on the Phone by rochke11 is a Clexa fanfiction that was originally hosted on Archive of Our Own. It is a modern AU and was published in 31 chapters from July 21, 2015 to September 16, 2015. The fic was deleted from AO3 so that it could be republished as an original novel after filing off the serial numbers. In the commercial version, Clarke and Lexa's names were changed to Eason Rockwell and Ophelia "Fia" St. Germain respectively.[2]

The original summary from AO3:[1]

It's a Friday night when Clarke attempts to dial Octavia, only to find a woman named Lexa on the other end. The two hit it off almost immediately and continue to talk over text and phone calls. What Clarke doesn't realize, is that the woman on the other end is not just Lexa, but rather Alexandria Woods, one of the most popular singers and celebrities of the day.

The fic is a reworking and expansion of a two-shot the author had previously written. The original Author's Note from AO3:

Never let it be said that I am not a people pleaser. Many of you asked for me to change my two-shot of this in to a full story, and here it is! If you've read the two-shot, I'll have you know that this is going to be a much expanded version of that. Chapter 1 is only slightly different, but overall the story is going to be a lot more detailed and include events that are mentioned in the two-shot but never actually seen. Let me know what you all think!

On December 29, 2017, prior to being deleted, the fic had in excess of 1.5k comments, 6k kudos, 1k bookmarks, and 175k hits.[1] A sequel titled Strangers Don't Write (Love) Letters was published on AO3.[3]

Reactions and Reviews

Of the original fic:

The big reveal came a lot faster than anticipated with this one. I guess I'm used to authors drawing out the suspense in the story. And I was reading it and I was sort of thinking 'oh this is some cute fluff shit and even when they fight they get over it really quick and I just need this kind of mindless Clexa cuteness in my life'. Oh how wrong I was. Without spoiling anything, I swear to God my heart fell out of my chest, shrivelled up and died on the just before the epilogue. Be warned.

Raven's backstory is heart breaking but she's such an amazing character in this. Her and Octavia are the best friends Clarke could ask for and they are so good when Lexa comes into the picture (yet another reason why the epilogue saga broke my tender heart). Bellamy features a bit in this and I feel like I should address it. Because I really dislike canonverse Bellamy; like really dislike him. So naturally my first reaction to Bellamy in this was that he was a fake bitch and should be forcibly removed from Clarke’s affections but I take it back. He’s a good friend and, if Jroth had half the sense of rochke11, maybe canonverse Bellamy wouldn’t be such a fuckhead.

Side note: there's a sequel folks so all hope is not lost for Clexa!

Thanks for toying with my emotions and breaking my heart, rochke11![4]

Ello my lovelies, This one is pretty cute. So Clarke is trying to get ahold of Octavia and dials the wrong number. Lexa answers her cell and is immediately amused by the girl on the other end who obviously has the wrong person. Later on Clarke texts an apology and they pretty much hit it off and continue to text and talk on the phone. The thing is...that Lexa just so happens to be one of the most popular singer/songwriters in the world. Clarke has no clue and Lexa is not sure how to tell her. Octavia, Raven, Anya and a few others make their appearance. This one is part of a series that is called Artists and Muses. I enjoyed this one. Also yes there is a little smut for you thirsty hoes 😉[5]

Of the published novel:

[5 stars]

4.5 stars and a really good read.

I really enjoyed this read. It's a good length with a nice story filled with friends, little drama (though some topics were kind of heavy), and lots of cheesy but really nice romantic gestures and dialogue. The chemistry between the characters are all there weather friendship or romance. What's nice is that past is not center or driving force of the book, the present and future is.

A couple of things kept me from giving this 5 stars, heads up minor spoilers ahead. The first is this character Riley who I thought was a girl but turned out to be a guy which honestly isn't that big of deal but threw me for a loop. Second, Jessica is suppose to have prosthetic leg but she is sometimes refered to having a brace and after you find out the real story behind the reason a brace makes more sense. Third, there was a good deal of repetition in the story to explain things. Could have saved a good amount of pages cutting that out. There were also a good deal of errors through out but if you can take that in stride then it's worth it.

I really did enjoy this book and look forward to read other works from this author.[6]

[4 stars]

This is a sweet story, a bit sappy to me, i think. Though, I enjoyed reading it. I like how they first knew each other by calling the wrong number. It kind of cute, i guess.

...

I seriously dont know what else to say!

Well... this is kind of a bit different from what i normally read about celebrity characters. They tend to scare to coming out that might effect their publicity. This book though, Fia is out and still popular and also supported by her fans. So the book is more about Fia's secret girlfriend that didnt want to be in public’s eyes. They also did long distance relationship. It's quite a fun read and i enjoyed their dialogues and romance.

The important characters (the two mains and the best friends) in this book, also had some past issues but it didnt really effect or not at all to the present. Also little drama! :) all characters are likable and i like them all.[7]

[3 stars]

Soooooooo sappy and every minor side character has this hugely dramatic backstory. When everyone's special (or fucked up?) then no one is. But it's not a bad book. I'd go as far as saying it's actually pretty good for a first book. I'll follow the author to see what she puts out next.

But, girl, use Grammarly or even Google Docs next time. There are so many minor mistakes that really shouldn't be present in a published book.[8]

[4 stars]

I really did enjoy this! It was different for anything I've read before. Touch some sensitive issues which some people may find hard to read about, but it was very well written. I loved how the MC worked together, and it had all the norms that you expect to read about in a book, the characters, romance, drama, ex's, the dysfunctional family (a sensitive issue, but again, well wrote about).. etc. But what I really did enjoy about this read, that is wasn't just centered on the 2 MC, but we get more of a feel of Eason's friends, their back grounds and their stories. I would actually love to see a follow up of Elodie and Jessica.[9]

Fanworks

References

  1. ^ a b c Strangers on the Phone on AO3 via the Wayback Machine. Captured December 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Strangers on the Phone by Kristen Roche on Goodreads. Archived version.
  3. ^ Strangers Don't Write (Love) Letters on AO3.
  4. ^ "Reviewing Fanfics #23: Strangers on the Phone by rochke11", Tumblr post by allsortsoffuckedup. May 7, 2016. Archived version.
  5. ^ Review by clexa.fic.recs on Instagram. December 17, 2016. Archived version.
  6. ^ Review by CLo on Goodreads. May 5, 2018. Archived version.
  7. ^ Review by Tinything on Goodreads. May 15, 2018. Archived version.
  8. ^ Review by Arien on Goodreads. May 9, 2018. Archived version.
  9. ^ Review by Jo reece on Goodreads. May 6, 2018. Archived version.