That was easy

Fanfiction
Title:	"that was easy"
Author(s):	metaleaterz
Date(s):	Aug 14, 2020 - Nov 14, 2020
Length:	88,050 words, 14 chapters
Genre:	romance
Fandom:	My Chemical Romance
External Links:	AO3
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"that was easy," better known as the staples fic, is a 2020 Frerard fic by well-known Twitter user metaleaterz. It has over 54,000 hits and 2,000 kudos as of April 2023.

Reactions and Reviews

This is a rec coming from an anon, but I also read this fic and loved it, so I’ll say my piece too! Retail isn’t fun, but this fic is a joy. It’s so easy to fall in love with every character. They’re young and stupid and written so well that they feel like people you know it real life.

mcrlibrary

first of all, i need to say that i’m absolutely in love with your writing. i’m so happy twitter made me curious enough to read this even though you’re still posting (as most people, i’m #traumatised by fics i’m really hooked up on being abandoned) because now i have an amazing au to look forward to for the next days! your characterisation is so good and this is so much fun.

detoxretox

i came here from twitter and i have to say i absolutely love this. i feel like the way everyone interacts is so realistic and i love writing style. everyone is in character and the comedy is well placed. frank and gerard’s relationship is wonderful to read about. again, i feel like it’s so realistic, the indecisiveness and worrying at the beginning, the awkwardness and them dancing around each other. i really hope that they can become more comfortable with each other and talk through their issues, like gerard being at a bit of a low point. i’m so excited to read more!! keep up the great work and please please please don’t overwork yourself:)

not_forever

i really enjoyed this! the first half was so fun, especially the dialogue and all the staples shenanigans. the scenes at subway especially, for some reason those just made me smile :’) the later chapters got difficult, but i appreciated how you built organic conflict that felt true to the characters. it was easy to empathize with a lot of their situations. i also really liked how you showed everyone’s relationships through the rotating pov’s, like how we got that inside and outside look, it just added a ton. honestly these weird, transitional parts of life can be simultaneously so impactful and so mundane, and i *felt* that energy here, and that’s always something i enjoy reading <3 this is a little scatterbrained but basically thank you for writing and sharing this!

stoplightgo

i don't know how often you check the comments on this anymore, but i just wanted to let you know this is and probably always will be one of my favorite fics ever. it's been a bit since you finished it but i always find myself coming back to read little scenes that stand out to me <3 i'm so glad to have gotten to experience it as you were writing it (& it's the first fic i actually stuck with from start to finish)!!! thank you for letting me on the team :D everything about it is so perfect--i know it's not the focus of the story but the sibling relationship between gerard and mikey really stood out to me because mine with my sister has similarities, lol. the dialogue throughout this whole thing is so natural and god it's just. this is the sweetest thing ever even if i grow away from bandom i will always hold it close to my heart :,)

cobrastarshit

Hello! It’s currently 2:30 in the morning because I stayed up way too late reading this fic! In fandom years I’m ancient, like, ‘read my first my chem fic on livejournal in 2006’ ancient, so work tomorrow morning will be fun! But I gotta say, staying up late to read your whole fic was definitely worth it. As previously mentioned, I’ve been reading my chem fics for a looong time, and I’ve seen it ALL! It was so incredible to see aspects of my chem fics I’ve loved reflected in your writing (the two they stick out the most are Unholyverse and Nightswimming). If I’m being completely honest, it warms my fucking heart to have read a my chem fic this long and this good written in freaking 2020. Although my interests have shifted over the years and fandoms have waxed and waned, the tenacity of these guys (as characters, specifically) and their unique dynamic can’t be denied. This is already a massive wall of text so I’m wrapping up but if you care at all for any critiques or nitpicking, I’m happy to bore you with the details! Fabulous job, I can’t wait to check out the rest of your works and see what you publish next!

MortalAmaranthine