#angstapalooza RWRB edition

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

Thanks @getmehighonmagic for the early (for when it usually kicks off, but still well into Sunday afternoon for me) tag!

Not sure if this is good news or bad news (depends on how much you love emotional pain, I guess), but I've started poking at angstapalooza again... 👀

The shade of red that creeps up Henry’s face is equal parts hilarious and concerning; Zahra was on his ass about ���not embarrassing your mother on a global stage, you little shit’, and while he didn’t think to ask specifically, he’s pretty sure killing a foreign prince by flustering him to death is on the list of Things That Aren’t Allowed.  “Mr Claremont-Diaz.” Henry’s handler, or whatever he is, steps forward, one hand outstretched as if to sweep Alex away with the rest of the plebeian trash. “If you would be so kind—” “Just a moment, Shaan.” It’s weird, the way this grown man in a sharply tailored suit that looks as though it cost more than Alex’s dad’s Jeep falls back in an instant at Henry’s word. Henry turns to Alex, his expression carefully guarded as he squares his shoulders in a deliberate, measured way that is utterly at odds with the carefree boy Alex used to look at in the glossy pages of J14. “Mr Claremont-Diaz—” “Jesus, dude.” Alex’s stomach twists at the formal address. “You’re, like, my age. Alex is fine.”

Forever feeling feral for whatever y'all are up to, so tagging @affectionatelyrs @anincompletelist @blairwaldcrf @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @cultofsappho @daisymae-12 @dumbpeachjuice @firenati0n @happiness-of-the-pursuit @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @indomitable-love @inexplicablymine @leaves-of-laurelin @myheartalivewrites @orchidscript @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @ships-to-sail @smc-27 @sparklepocalypse @ssmtskw @stereopticons @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland and, as always, anyone who wants to play! (If you take the open tag please tag me so I can see!!)

[kiwiana-writes]

WIP Wednesday

I'm gonna be on Pacific Time for the next couple of weeks, so after this one I'll be doing WIP Wednesday/Six Sentence Sunday on my Wednesday/Sunday for a bit. It's all terribly exciting and novel. So have a reasonably long snippet to celebrate (don't say I never do anything nice for y'all xoxo)

“That is quite enough.” Silence falls immediately as Henry’s voice slices through the argument. The PPOs snap to attention, Cash raises an eyebrow, and Alex… Alex just stares. He’s suddenly, acutely aware that all the times they ever played with Henry’s royal authority—the kneeling, the deference, the calling him sir—it was just that: playing. It was nothing compared to the Prince Henry of Wales voice that now has grown adults, trained bodyguards, falling back in deference to a twenty-two year old giving them an order, just because said twenty-two year old was born into an institution with almost a millennium of history behind it.  “What do you all think is more likely?” Henry continues sharply. “That the notoriously media-savvy First Son, someone who is already being eviscerated in the media for an incident that he bears partial responsibility for at most, decided to take a swing at me knowing that we’d have to face the press the moment we walk out of here? Something to pass the time whilst we waited to find out whether our lives were in danger, perhaps? Or is it more likely that I fell awkwardly whilst being shoved rather unceremoniously into a cupboard?” He folds his arms, staring down each of the PPOs in turn in a way that leaves Alex vaguely impressed that they’re not wetting themselves. It doesn’t, however, escape his attention that Henry isn’t looking at him. “Frankly, I assumed employment by the Crown would require a higher level of aptitude. Was I wrong?”

Feeling absolutely greedy for snippets at the moment so tagging @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @daisymae-12 @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indomitable-love @inexplicablymine @lilythesilly @loveisembarrassingxx @maxbegone @myheartalivewrites @nontoxic-writes @orchidscript @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @smc-27 @stereopticons @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland and, as always, anyone who wants to play!

[kiwiana-writes]

HATEFUCKING PLS MJ PLS ELABORATE I NEED MORE ENEMIES TO LOVERS WITH ACTUAL HATE SEX PLS

ROOPS MY DARLING MY BELOVED THIS IS IN FACT ANGSTAPALOOZA RWRB EDITION EXPLAINED VERY VERY BADLY. LESS ENEMIES TO LOVERS AND MORE LOVERS TO ENEMIES TO LOVERS.

Please enjoy this snippet from after their first furious hatefuck, in a cupboard at a hospital OBVIOUSLY:

“Alex.” Cash doesn’t look at him when he speaks; his jaw is tight with tension as he stares out at the crowd of media who are finally starting to disperse. “As a White House employee, as a member of the Secret Service, as someone with very strict instructions as to how this trip should go—please tell me there wasn’t a fight.” Alex opens his mouth to reassure him—which is, at least, something he can do without lying—but Cash holds up a hand before he can finish.  “However,” he continues softly, “as someone who, for some goddamn reason, cares about you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt”—he finally meets Alex’s gaze, and there’s a fierceness there Alex doesn’t think he’s ever seen—“please, tell me it was a fight.” Alex is the first to look away, leaning his forehead against the cool glass of the car window. “Sure,” he murmurs, and knows from the loud exhale he gets in response that Cash doesn’t believe him in the slightest. “It was a fight.”

[Ask me about my badly summarised WIPs!]

[kiwiana-writes]

Has anyone asked about the hate fucking because I sure would like to know about that

You are the best possible person to ask about this because this is, in fact, angstapalooza rwrb edition.

RWRB gets pitched as enemies to lovers a lot, and... it's not, really? That's not a criticism! Obviously! Pining/oblivious idiots to lovers is also an EXCELLENT genre! But something I always want out of an enemies to lover story is actual, proper hate fucking and there is definitely none of that in this book. So this fic actually started as a "what would lead to them having proper, furious hate sex" and wound backwards from there to the premise, which is essentially: canon divergent from Rio, they start hooking up much earlier, and break up—spectacularly and angrily—a couple of months before Philip’s wedding. Cakegate is no longer antagonism and UST, it’s two very recent very hurt exes having to play the diplomatic bullshit in the public eye while seeing each other for the first time since breaking up. And then... you know. ✨ Tension ✨ boils over during the They're Totally Friends It's Fine media blitz. Aaaaaaaaaand let's just say that furious hate fucking does not in fact resolve all their issues and there's a whole lot more of the story to go from there 😅

[Ask me about my badly summarised WIPs!]

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

All right, I'm saying fuck it and invoking my timezone to kick off Six/Seven Sentence Sunday! We're back to a longer project (angstapalooza rwrb edition) this week. (Plus like eight other things, the scattered focus is REAL.)

“Alex.” Cash doesn’t look at him when he speaks; his jaw is tight with tension as he stares out at the crowd of media who are finally starting to disperse. “As a White House employee, as a member of the Secret Service, as someone with very strict instructions as to how this trip should go—please tell me there wasn’t a fight.” Alex opens his mouth to reassure him—which is, at least, something he can do without lying—but Cash holds up a hand before he can finish.  “However,” he continues softly, “as someone who, for some goddamn reason, cares about you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt—” he finally meets Alex’s gaze, and there’s a fierceness there Alex doesn’t think he’s ever seen— “please, tell me it was a fight.” Alex is the first to look away, leaning his forehead against the cool glass of the car window. “Sure,” he murmurs, and knows from the loud exhale he gets in response that Cash doesn’t believe him in the slightest. “It was a fight.”

Tagging @clottedcreamfudge @inexplicablymine @cha-melodius @cricketnationrise @sherryvalli @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland @myheartalivewrites @rmd-writes @smc-27 @hgejfmw-hgejhsf and, as always, anyone who wants to play!

[kiwiana-writes]

Find the Word Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @cha-melodius! A fabulous complement to yesterday's game.

Rules: Share snippets of your work containing each of the words the previous poster selected for you. Then select four words and tag friends. (I also used a random word generator rather than try to think of them myself)

My Words: spin, constant, contain, union

Your Words: owner, grand, lease, battle

SPIN

From the Stranger Than Fiction AU, and I love this snippet so much you get TWO sentences (plus the dialogue, which I usually count as part of the sentence anyway because I'm nice):

“Realistic?” Alex spins on his heel, getting right up in Henry’s face and poking him in the chest with such force, Henry stumbles back a little. Alex’s eyes are blazing hot, jaw set in a way Henry knows he’s going to have to agonise over the words to describe later.

CONSTANT

From the Big Secret Collab with @indestructibleheart:

The constant is Henry, but this time, Alex knows exactly what they are to each other—and what they will be soon enough, if the box he has hidden at the back of his nightstand has anything to say about it.

CONTAIN

From angstapalooza:

Alex has spent the whole evening indulging himself in a steady diet of champagne and barely contained rage, and it’s working for him, okay?

UNION

Nothing. Well, three posted fics, but no WIPs.

***

Like Sara before me I'm only tagging a few people because this is definitely one of those games that's fun when we all have different words, but if you want to play and haven't been tagged yet, feel free to jump in!

@affectionatelyrs @cactusdragon517 @happiness-of-the-pursuit @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart

@read-and-write- @rmd-writes @sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @whimsymanaged

[kiwiana-writes]

The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition] bc the multiminute podcast i got from u isn’t enough apparently

and also the only fans one, u know, for balance

The way we get into each other’s bones [Angstapalooza RWRB edition]

Lmaoooo the TWELVE MINUTE VOICE NOTE I sent you already gave you more info about this than I think anyone other than @ships-to-sail @celeritas2997 and @rmd-writes is privy to. BUT.

For those of you who aren’t in the middle of the Venn diagram between RWRB and Schitt’s Creek, a few years back I wrote a 53k canon divergence breakup/reconciliation fic that was dubbed “angstapalooza” while I was writing it. And based on people’s reactions… it earned the moniker. (It’s also, despite my overall reputation in SC as a smut/kink peddler, become The Work people associate with me, apparently. Or as @indestructibleheart put it: “mj being seen as someone who only writes angst is like how nick is gonna go down in history for playing gay royals. it's not their fault their angst fics just happen to be very memorable, but they actually have a full imdb of other roles.“ 😂😂😂

SO. When, halfway through writing the actor AU, I had a sudden idea for a multi-chapter canon divergence breakup/reconciliation fic… well. The appellation seemed appropriate. It also immediately terrified the RWRB/SC Venn diagrammers 😂

I really do just need to sit down and, like, focus on this one, because it’s by far my longest-languishing WIP. But here’s the start of the pitch: canon divergent from Rio, they start hooking up much earlier, and break up—spectacularly and angrily—a couple of months before Philip’s wedding. Cakegate is no longer antagonism and UST, it’s two very recent very hurt exes having to play the diplomatic bullshit in the public eye while seeing each other for the first time since breaking up.

There’s a prologue in media res that covers cakegate, then we flash back to Rio and see the progression of their relationship (before and after cakegate) from there. Angst with a happy ending, and many delicious things on the way I won’t spoil right now.

As a little treat, have the (heartbreaking!!) end of the prologue:

Later, what Alex will hate himself for the most isn’t the absolute waste of $75,000 worth of dessert. It won’t be the heartbroken look on Martha’s face, or the disappointed expression on his mom’s when he gets home, or the diplomatic shitstorm the whole thing threatens to kick off.

No, what Alex will hate himself for the most is that when they fall to the floor, Henry’s hands find their way to Alex’s hips, gripping tight enough that his fingers will probably leave bruises later—and just for a moment, it feels like coming home.

Hold up, rewind, knock me off of my feet [OnlyFans/Roommates]

I talked about this one here but have a little snippet because I genuinely love this fic. I just keep getting distracted by ooh-shinies

“I think I’m into Henry.”

“Right, no, I got that part somewhere in between hearing how pretty he is when he cries and you waxing rhapsodic about how he has, and I quote, ‘thighs that could crush a watermelon or, like, hang off a pole or something’.”

Alex blinks at her, confused. “What? I didn’t say anything about his thighs.”

“Not today.”

Two words should not be able to be that damning. He does vaguely recall saying that, actually, a few weeks after they moved in together and Alex had come home to find Henry in shorts for the first time.

Which, okay. It’s possible Alex has been ignoring a few signs. Big signs. Twelve foot tall signs that are so neon you kind of have to wonder if they’re radioactive.

[WIP tag game]

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

I thought I might do this when it's actually Sunday for me for once! This is from something that will likely be my next long-ass fic after the actor AU, so might not see the light of day for a while (and yes I know I wrote Much Ado in a month-long fever dream, but I'm travelling in October and then NaNoWriMo, so I'm not sure the next big project will be quite as fast lol)

“When you have one of these, you should do two champagne fountains instead of one. Really embarrassing to be at a wedding with only one champagne fountain.” “Alex.” Henry has his press smile plastered on, and it makes something under Alex’s skin itch. He hates that stupid fucking fake smile. He hates even more that it’s being directed at him. “I confess, I rather thought you would have the common decency to fake a stomach flu.”

Tagging @roseapothecary @inexplicablymine @cricketnationrise @nontoxic-writes @lilythesilly @rmd-writes (pretty sure it's only Sunday for one of y'all right now so consider this an early warning lmaoooo)

[kiwiana-writes]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

I'm bouncing between a truly embarrassing number of documents at the moment, but here are six sentences! (I think.)

Alex can’t avoid Henry forever. He’d like to. Alex has spent the whole evening indulging himself in a steady diet of champagne and barely contained rage, and it’s working for him, okay? He’s bracketed by the comforting duo of June and Nora, June gripping his hand under the table every time Henry appears in their line of sight and Nora dropping jokes in his ear about everyone who stops by to talk to them. But Alex has caught the odd questioning glance being thrown their way, especially when Henry joins in on the dancing. There’s probably an expectation that he asks June, and the fact that he hasn’t done so is the only positive thought Alex can muster about him.

Tagging @cha-melodius @inexplicablymine @rmd-writes @ships-to-sail @maxbegone @lilythesilly @nontoxic-writes

[kiwiana-writes]

finish, take, react and twitch please MJ

FINISH

From angstapalooza:

Alex opens his mouth to reassure him—which is, at least, something he can do without lying—but Cash holds up a hand before he can finish.

TAKE

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this appears a bunch of times, but just for you let's go with the Anastasia AU:

Once upon a time it would have been a relief, but now, with his home being ransacked and his mother’s hand trembling in his as they rush down the plush, red-carpeted stairs Henry has been running up and down ever since he could walk, he’d give anything to take back all the times he wished away his public life.

REACT

From the Big Secret Collab with @indestructibleheart (note that the square bracket isn't, like, a spoiler, it's just me not stopping to think about details as I wrote this bit lmfao):

Henry fumbles the [whatever he’s holding], barely reacting when it tumbles to the floor.

TWITCH

Also appears quite a lot, so let's go with the fic currently titled [Vegas fuckup] haha:

The corner of Henry’s mouth twitches, just slightly, but it’s enough to send a frisson of something unnameable through Alex’s stomach; some kind of weird satisfaction at making Prince Perfect’s veneer crack just a little.

[Send me a word, if it’s in my wip document I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in]

[kiwiana-writes]

WIP Word Search

Oh god I've been tagged in this three times—thanks @anincompletelist @theprinceandagcd @hgejfmw-hgejhsf—so now I have a long-ass list of words 🤣

My words were: make, hide, square, edge, atmosphere AND hope, smooth, skin, water, paper AND proud, ceaseless, worried, dark, pointless. I am very literally begging the universe to ensure I don't have all 15 of these in WIPs, but I'm putting all this nonsense under a cut just in case.

MAKE appears in: Climb up and meet the sky

“This isn’t your local flight school’s Cessna, okay? The open cockpit’s the easiest part—she’s got no starter, no brakes, no flaps, no nose wheel. She’s not going to fly her way out of trouble, either; she’ll stall or spin. She’ll make sure you’re aware of every tiny mistake you make, sweetheart.”

HIDE appears in: Chantilly lace and a pretty face

A few days ago it was Between us we have more security than a Taylor Swift concert, who else could it be?; last week was I so appreciate you announcing yourself so I have time to hide my parade of lovers; the first time, though, was Alex’s personal favourite: Are you sure you are, in fact, home, and haven’t stepped into a deeply heterosexist 1960s sitcom?

SQUARE appears in: The way we get into each other's bones [angstapalooza RWRB edition]

Henry turns to Alex, his expression carefully guarded as he squares his shoulders in a deliberate, measured way that is utterly at odds with the carefree boy Alex used to look at in the glossy pages of J14.

EDGE appears in: a super-secret collaboration with @indestructibleheart that we just started poking at yesterday (I have no idea how long it will stay super secret BUT)

There’s a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, the unrelenting glint of sunlight hitting metal, and Henry’s hands curl into fists around the edge of the sink as he looks up.

ATMOSPHERE appears in nothing!

HOPE appears in: [Henry writes]

(Also, in a very chill no-pressure way, I notice you’re not writing as often as you used to -- I hope everything’s going well for you!)

SMOOTH appears in nothing! (Well, lots of things that I've already published but no WIPs)

SKIN appears in: Introspective rimming

Alex moves like he’s trying to crawl inside Henry’s skin, letting out soft moans and shivering gasps that burrow their way between Henry’s fourth and fifth ribs and carve out a place for themselves there, somewhere only Alex has ever reached.

WATER appears in nothing!

PAPER appears in nothing!

PROUD appears in nothing!

CEASELESS appears in nothing!

WORRIED appears in nothing!

DARK appears in: [Stranger Than Fiction AU]

The man in front of him has much longer hair, for one; dark, wild curls framing a face that’s a little softer, with a less sharp jaw.

POINTLESS appears in nothing!

I AM TAGGING @anchoredarchangel @blackandwhiteandrose @indestructibleheart @onthewaytosomewhere @orchidscript @ships-to-sail @stereopticons @tintagel-or-cockleshells @whimsymanaged and, as always, anyone who wants to play!

Your words are: land, answer, spare, funeral, value

[kiwiana-writes]

wait pls could you tell (me) us more about the ansgtapalooza rwrb you're working on??? is that allowed or we only get snippets until you're able to post it??? im so behind the wip days so i had no idea about this!!! but i am excited!! i love angst!!!

It’s definitely allowed, but I don’t know how much more I have to share right now! The title is The way we get into each other’s bones and it’s a prologue (which is actually a midquel — after the prologue we jump back three years) + 10 chapters, so probably around 50k once complete. Lovers to enemy exes to lovers, fully canon divergent, angst with a happy ending of course! ❤️

[kiwiana-writes]

we're feeling angsty today so for the word association: pain, heartache, cry pls and thank you!

You know what, nonnie? I respect it.

Angstapalooza is definitely chock-full of pain.

Heartache is definitely going to make up some of the Big Secret Collab with @indestructibleheart

And while it's not quite what you meant, while lots of these fics have someone crying for sad reasons at some point, [Alex and Nora write terrible erotica fml] will feature crying with laughter pretty heavily...

[WIP word association]

[kiwiana-writes]

Hmm okay if I'm allowed a second guess, "comfort"?

Also a not 100% match but definitely closer! Ironically from the same fic, though different doc (different chapter):

He’s bracketed by the comforting duo of June and Nora, June gripping his hand under the table every time Henry appears in their line of sight and Nora dropping jokes in his ear about everyone who stops by to talk to them.

[Send me a word, if it’s in any of my wip documents I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in.]

[kiwiana-writes]

What about "patient" for the wip game?

I don't have patient but I do have this!

Alex Claremont-Diaz has no patience for rudeness; not even from literal royalty.

[Send me a word, if it’s in any of my wip documents I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in.]

[kiwiana-writes]

same anon and hello???? that premise is everything!! lovers to enemy exes to lovers??? the best kind of angst!!! sending you all the love and inspiration!!!😘

I’m glad!!! It feels kinda self indulgent so it’s nice to know I’m not the only person who’s into it lol