#queersirius

[officialalexmanes]

for anon.

[rnmfoundfamily]

[lambourngb]

ooooh so many choices!! come what may?

Millie ❤️❤️❤️ You picked something with just two lines, and because you’re truly one of my favorite people, I had to write more for you so forgive this delayed fill.

“Come what may” is the sequel to “If I should fall behind” - it’s another first line meme prompted by an anon. I wanted to explore a few moments where Alex and Michael learned more about each other- the mundane things that had gone overlooked by the drama of their lives.

***

Watching Michael's deft hands at work, Alex couldn't believe he was in love with such a nerd. 

Scattered all around Michael as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the Wash N’ Fold was the pieces of two of the most troublesome washing machines at the business. Along with the disassembled machines, there was also an audience of curious children, jostling each other to be “Miguel’s” assistant to hand him tools as he explained, piece by piece, what he was doing to repair the washer and why.

This wasn’t exactly what Alex had planned for them when he had shown up to see if Michael was interested in trying out a new food truck parked by city hall. Michael had come out of his trailer carrying a sack of clothing and a laundry basket stuffed with soap but also half-hidden were a few picture books and a soft plush soccer ball. At first, Alex had smoothly switched gears from an afternoon lunch date out, to a lazy afternoon date in, offering up his house and washer for use. Visions of sharing the couch and watching a movie while waiting for the clothes to be done, then Alex slipping an invitation to stay for dinner and maybe more, had been abruptly shattered by Michael’s wince of dismay.

“It’s a nice offer, but I can’t.” Michael had squinted with a half-pained smile and had held up his hand to Alex to stall any impulse to take offense. Past frustrations over Michael’s stubborn reliance on no one had boiled into misunderstandings between them. “It’s not about…money, or that I don’t want you to do me a favor, but this is just something I always do and there are people who are expecting me.”

If it hadn’t been clear by the expression on Michael’s face that he genuinely was worried about how turning down his offer would land, Alex might have pressed for more information in the moment. Except, this was all still so new between them, barely a week past that fortuitous practice session at the Wild Pony that led to their reunion, and Alex was reluctant to make any unwelcome demands on Michael. The thought of snapping the peace between them over a refused favor regarding laundry seemed silly to Alex then, so he had shrugged in mild disappointment. “Maybe another time, um, call me when you’re free.”

Just as he had prepared to let Michael continue on with his chores, Michael had stopped him with an even more vulnerable offer, “You could come with me. Um, if you are still interested in hanging out?” 

While it wasn’t what Alex had planned, spending more time around Michael was not something he would ever turn down if he could help it. And now here he was, a few miles outside of town, sitting in the most uncomfortable plastic chair at the laundromat with sweat dripping down the back of his neck from the heat of the driers all going, but he had never been happier. 

Michael was just amazing.

Upon arrival, the small half-circle of women sitting in the back corner talking, had all stood and greeted him with a shout of familiarity and joy. Then in the next moment, children had poured into the small business, abandoning their play from outside, to surround Michael with a chorus of questions and demands. Alex had hung back, holding the basket of detergent, and watched in wonder as Michael discarded his ‘cowboy loner’ persona that Alex was most familiar with in public for a wide beaming smile and child-like glee. Shrieks of laughter had filled the air as Michael pretended to fall to the ground, felled by one boy’s hold on his ankle. 

“Miguel is their favorite,” Lupe had confided to Alex as he watched as Michael was pulled toward the two machines that had ‘Out of Order’ signs on them by a pair of dark-haired girls. She had shared the whole story while sorting and folding now clean clothing, “He’s all of our favorites. No one has lost a quarter at this place since he started coming here. Plus he’s so good with kids.”

[caitlesshea]

follow up question - 11. What’s a fanfic idea you haven’t done yet?

11. What’s a fanfic idea you haven’t done yet?

I’ve never written a dark!fic but idk if that’s my style (I say like I haven’t written angst and MCD).

I did write a one-shot of a Malex homecoming where Alex comes home from the AF for the holidays and surprises Michael.

Would love to write a full fledged version.

I would also love to write an idiots to lovers for Joe x Nicky, where they’re best friends for 900+ years just pining for each other and everyone knows but them.

Oh and soulmates who hate each other. My favorite.

[booksandwords]

I only played casually.” “I’m beginning to think you don’t do anything casually.

Let Me Count the Ways by Milzilla/ @queersirius

It’s the 10 Thing I Hate About You Malex fic... Need I say more? It is well-blended characters and good writing. I never thought it would work as well as it does

[michaels-blackhat]

any unpopular positive opinions about s2?

I don’t know if they are unpopular? As i said earlier: I loved Liz’s arc! So much! I have feelings about her being disconnected from a lot, but I really loved the mad scientist spiral, I like how it was executed, I thought they did an excellent job of showing it in steps. Her just causally saying that she ran her and Kyle’s dna to check if they’re related? Absolutely loved that. I really cannot wait to see where it goes from there.

It wasn’t what I wanted to see for them, but a lot of the miluca scenes were really cute and showed so much genuine affection and that might be an unpopular thing to like?

Is saying basically everything about Rosa being wonderful an unpopular opinion? I wasn’t my favorite s1 decision, I felt like it undermined a lot of Liz’s arc and her emotional growth, but fuck do I just love Rosa so much.

Arturo continues to be perfect and if they want to bump up his screen time now that Jesse is dead I won’t complain in the slightest. Flashback Arturo in his uniform? Looking dapper as shit???? I just love him so much.

I may be annoyed at how quickly amnesia/dark Max ended, but bartender Max? I really enjoy that for him. It’s interesting as just a change in jobs and social position, and I’m wondering if that will get played with later. But I also feel like it fits high school Max more than deputy Max ever did.

Isobel’s black widow look from Noah’s funeral was excellent. I really enjoyed how she really couldn’t fake it until she thought about Max. It was a really good use of tonal shift and I think effective writing.

[prouvaireafterdark]

yellow + grey?

Yellow: What’s a common writing tip that you mostly ignore?

That adverbs are bad? Also I abuse the hell out of em dashes and I’m not sorry :)

Grey: What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I put the basic point of what I still need to write in brackets and skip to another part when I’m stuck - probably the best advice I’ve ever gotten

[litwitlady]

"kneel" and/or "lights"?

kneel:

He scrubs his hand over his face and laughs. ‘I should never go this long without sex ever again.’ Turning to Alex, he finds his way back between his knees, but before he can kneel, Alex’s hands are at his belt, deftly tugging it free from his jeans.

lights:

Michael stares up through the skylight over his side of the bed and tries to find the stars or the moon or anything to help him focus his erratic breathing and the violence of his heartbeat. But his vision’s too blurry, and all he sees are the stars of Alex’s making, flashing amber sparks flaring at the corners of his eyes.

[lire-casander]

Last Line tag

got tagged again by @queersirius, and yeah, I was writing this morning so, here, have a lil bit of angst!

rules: post the last line you wrote and tag others to do the same

“I’ve been a complete idiot, haven’t I?” he muses out loud.

[echo-bleu]

POV please!!

For our hands clasped so tight: after writing Alex’s POV of his and Michael’s reunion, I just had to write the song (chapter 1). There’s a spoiler if you squint really hard.

[mentions of abuse and injuries]

Alex swallows, smiling encouragingly as Michael starts beating the time with his foot. This might be a terrible idea. He probably shouldn't have suggested this particular song, the one they played together so much. He strums the first few chords almost shyly. Then Michael starts singing, and it hits him, hard.

Out of all the things he's lost, Alex sometimes thinks that losing his singing voice was the worse. It's a different kind of grief. He mourned for the loss of independence and normality, for the days and weeks wasted to pain and illness and PT, for all the every day things that have become a struggle, but singing was something he liked. Something he was good at, that was just for himself. In the midst of his long hospital stay and the trial, it was a long time before Alex really got to grieve, but in his darkest days, when his brain told him to end it all already, singing was what he missed the most.

Hearing Michael sing, his disused but beautiful voice saying the words Alex used to love so much, is a brutal kind of catharsis for that grief. Alex feels tears running down his face as he strums the guitar, and his eyes fall on Michael's scarred hand. Is he feeling the same thing right now, mourning for the music that he lost? He once told Alex that playing the guitar was the only thing that made his mind go quiet.

There's a very brief, contained wave of rage at his father, stronger than Alex has had in a while. He's glad that Michael has his eyes closed, so he doesn't see the pure fury that must cross his face. Jesse Manes took this from them, from both of them. He very nearly took everything from Alex, twice.

He's dead, now. He can't hurt anyone else like he hurt them.

“The time for sleep is now

But it's nothing to cry about

Cause we'll hold each other soon

In the blackest of rooms.”

Michael opens his eyes, and there's that connection between them again, like it never left. Like they didn't lose each other for the last ten years.

[manesalex]

Happy Birthday, @queersirius!!!

[officialalexmanes]

let him be everything because he is everything

(for anon)

[foramomentonly]

5, 6 + 7!

What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

I always identity with Alex. We are messy, judge-y, ice bitches. I love us. (But we need to get our shit together emotionally.)

What character do you have the most fun writing?

Probably Michael. His sarcasm, his intelligence, his lil' bad boy cowboy front. Super fun. But at his core he's a warm hug, and writing that is always lovely.

What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

Uh, it's not brevity. Lol I would say run-on sentences, lots of detail and background in asides (someone take em dashes away from me, I abuse the privilege). And maybe also the one-sentence mic drop.

[lambourngb]

hmmm "hat" and "hands"?

From Dress Blues (hold me lover, this is not an arms race) AKA my Army Wives AU- Michael stood in the very back of the auditorium at Maxwell Air Force Base, his black cowboy hat nervously clutched in hand, while he watched Alex solemnly accept the handshake from the Colonel and newly pinned insignia of a Second Lieutenant on his uniform.

From the title track of my AU “Summon out of these hollow places” -

Michael looked down at his hands, at his ruined left hand, and then over to the bare bones of a guitar still in the middle of assembly. "Me too, I mean... I could make these instruments, and sorta hope they brought out a sound that people liked. But what you do, what you summon, out of these hollow places, Alex - fuck, it's everything I dreamed of, you're everything I dreamed of... my guitars, they call to me when you play them, and they show me the way home."

[caitlesshea]

12. What’s the hardest thing to write for you?

12. What’s the hardest thing to write for you?

Exposition 😫

Dialogue comes easily to me. I usually don’t start writing until I already have all of the dialogue in my head.

Which is also probably why I write short fics lol

[andrea-lyn]

baby

....that is cheating when one story literally uses that word 11 times at current count, but, here is one that is not wildly spoilery:

“It’s a girl. She’s my baby girl.”

(It’s also in the Red White and Royal Blue fic:

“Oh, baby, I love you.” )