A Burst Of Light, Audre Lorde

I’m all scratched up and I can still taste spray paint in my mouth and my husband almost fell out of a tree BUT THE GHOST SCULPTURES ARE FINISHED!

They’re finally finished and I’m so happy with them!!

Some progress shots:

WIP Wednesday Word Search!

Thanks for the tag in this one, babies. @read-and-write- @firenati0n @songliili @kiwiana-writes @rockyroadkylers @gayrootvegetable and @hgejfmw-hgejhsf! 💗 Also: appreciation post for my friends who endlessly tag me in these games/challenges even though I'm not the most active and consistent person on this platform. I love you all.

RULES: use this generator to generate three random words (or however many you'd like to do!) and share the lines where they show up in your WIPs!

The words I got were acquaintance, monk, and challenge.

acquaintance - Exes to What? AU

There’s a bunch of classmates, celebrities, Nora posting a photo dump about their weekly Austen-binge with June popping in every so often in the slides. Pez in another outfit that never fails to fill Alex with awe; they’re the most stylish person he probably knows, and that’s saying something with his revolving door of acquaintances and friends. Ellen with her recent campaign publicity pictures. His dad doesn’t have instagram, but every now and then Oscar’s face shows up on news outlets as the current-seating senator of California. And then, unmistakably enough to Alex’s eyes, there’s also Henry.

monk - ATLA AU

Alex was already in the Avatar State, and finally looking around the room — littered with Fire Nation army uniforms and the remains of a monk who clearly meant something to Alex and June — it's not hard to understand why.

challenge - fake fratboy!Alex who's actually just an animal shelter volunteer AU

So Henry doesn't ask Alex where he goes or why he has new cuts on his hands or what he gets up to whenever he's not in school — only looks at him as if all the burning questions he wants to send Alex's way was his newfound telepathic skill. Does so in the next few days because he can't just let go of things like that, and ultimately only stops when Alex finally shoots back a quizzical look at him. He doesn't look angry, per se, but the littlest hint of a challenge does start resting on his eyebrows whenever he spares Henry a glance.

I combined both games so I'm not sure who to tag that hasn't done it yet but if you already did, take this as a round two I guess the word search is FUN. @blairwaldcrf @later-2-dae @dragonflylady77 @leojfitz @14carrotghoul @matherines @44whispers @movetoheavens @mudbloodpotter05 @happiness-of-the-pursuit @inexplicablymine @user-anakin @littlemisskittentoes

#The reviews are in (source)

WIP Wednesday!

I was tagged by @ssmtskw and @littlemisskittentoes this time! (both your fics look SO GOOD)

I'm really excited this week because. Okay, listen. I started a new WIP. I had, like, five already, but we were talking in the server last week about how there are almost no "Alex fell first" fics, which is kind of understandable because it's hard to come up with a scenario where it would be him instead of Henry, BUT! I was thinking about it a couple days ago, and I swear, it was an actual lightbulb moment.

Everyone who's read the book knows Alex had a massive crush on Henry way before he realized it for himself, and I'm convinced that crush goes all the way back to the days of J14 magazine. I mean, come on, sneaking into June's room to touch a picture of Henry's hair? Multiple times? 😂 Alex, bless your heart, babe.

Anyway, that led my train of thought to Alex getting snubbed at Rio, and the whole concept of unrequited crushes, and then came the lightbulb moment: Hanahaki AU. I've seen a few where Henry has it, but only, like, one where Alex does. And now there will be another! This is not the kind of vibe I usually go for with my writing, but it's been fun to branch out!

It's, um, slightly evil (big whumpy angst vibes), as I have already been told several times by multiple people in the server who have seen snippets, but I'm having so much fun writing it. So, here's a snippet from my newest WIP, which will either be titled "i picked the petals, he loves me not" OR "come and meet me in my garden"

---

Alex has been snubbed by political peers plenty of times before, and he would be probably snubbed by plenty more, but for some reason this rejection had hurt a hell of a lot more than any other. His heart had dropped into his stomach when Henry turned away from him, with that look on his face like if he didn’t get away from Alex fast enough, he might give him fleas.

The thing is (and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, even to himself), Alex used to look up to Henry. Until pretty recently, as a matter of fact.

Recently, as in, about two hours ago.

He’d always been aware of Prince Henry as a general concept. The royal family is always in the news for some reason or another, so Alex grew up seeing candid shots of Henry with his parents and siblings in magazine spreads, in waiting rooms and grocery store check-outs. But he can still remember the first time he saw a picture of Henry in one of June’s magazines where he hadn’t been with the rest of his family, just featured on his own in one of those locker-sized tear-out posters, with his name printed across the page in big block lettering and a little blurb about his hobbies in the corner. Henry had looked so bright, and happy, and full of life, and easy-going. Alex had been maybe a little bit obsessed with that picture for… a solid two years. Though his obsession with the boy in the picture ended up lasting much longer.

For all the fucking good it did him, in the end.

How does the saying go? Never meet your heroes. Alex gets it, now.

If Henry really is the reason he’s spending his evening coughing up flowers instead of getting wasted at the diving finals with his sister and best friend, Alex doesn’t know if he should be madder at Henry for being a dick, or at himself for being naive enough to believe they could be friends.

---

I think I've already seen some of these people's posts on my dash today, but I'm gonna go ahead and tag @read-and-write-, @suseagull04, @affectionatelyrs, @inexplicablymine, and @anincompletelist!

Last Line Tag!

Thank you my beloved people for the tag, as always. @littlemisskittentoes @read-and-write- @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @happiness-of-the-pursuit @rockyroadkylers 🫶

Here's the last line I've written in my Exes to What? fic (gave it a working title and all). Hehe. Cheating a bit with the enclosed line but pls don't perceive me.

Karaokes were always the easiest way to loosen up a Henry Fox, even his favourite drink could never give him enough liquid courage to do so, but give him a mic and a dream and you'll have Henry in his element. (Alex is not entirely sure why he knows that, or still knows that; it's been over a year since they broke up.)

Tagging @blairwaldcrf @affectionatelyrs @later-2-dae @user-anakin @inexplicablymine @clottedcreamfudge @movetoheavens @mudbloodpotter05 and every who hasn't done it yet! Open tag!

last line tag!

Thanks @anincompletelist :)

Forget about killing two birds with one stone, Alex, along with June and Nora, was going to take out a whole flock.

Tagging @littlemisskittentoes @suseagull04 @hypnostheory @daisymae-12 @ssmtskw @14carrotghoul and anyone else :)

Hello and welcome!

Replacing my pinned with a list of the stuff I've written for anyone checking my account out. Heh. Everything is sorted by fandom, and then word count! (And if there's something I should add to the tagging, please feel free to send me a message about it so I can make the edits.) Enjoy... hopefully!

RWRB

some part of me came alive - 10,979 words [college-ish AU, 5+1]

"Bye David." David's head snaps back to Alex's direction, eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly you'd think it wasn't even there. Alex, having just removed his glasses again as he yawns once more, doesn't see it. David takes a couple seconds before slightly shaking his head, like he's just imagining something and is now actively wiping the thought away. He opens the door before he responds. "Bye Alex."

(Or: The five times Alex unintentionally calls Henry by his dog’s name, and the one time he does it on purpose.)

Francesca - 10,189 words [graphic depictions and references of violence/abuse/injuries]

Once, in a much worse place before all of this; Alex had worked for someone with one side of his office overflowing with books. He'd read all sorts of things there: Anatomy, selected works in philosophy, Oliver Twist, war hero accounts, law. Anything he could get a hold of in the dark, really. Among those books were a bible. There's a passage there that stuck— something he'd only read past but had barraged into the walls of Alex's mind three years ago, Book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 9: The heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?

Love Songs in the Key of Liam - 8,152 words [Liam POV/centric, 5+1]

It's fucked. He's fucked — Liam, that is. There was no way this was going to work. Ever. What's the next worst thing to growing up closeted in a typically close-minded neighbourhood? Probably developing a crush on your best friend who lives in said neighbourhood. (Or: The five times love songs reminded Liam of his now estranged best friend, and the one time it reminded him of someone else.)

Terrible Things - 4,038 words [Hanahaki AU, hurt/no comfort]

"How long?" That, he can answer. "A year or so." He croaks out, not really wanting to strain himself any further.

water in my hands - 3,521 words [sickfic(?), has references to illness, hurt/no comfort]

It takes Alex a good amount of time to realise; sometimes love just isn't enough to keep the world going, even if he desperately wanted it to.

no question (he'll hold your heart if you let him) - 2,837 words [June POV/outsider POV, post-canon]

June doesn't think much about it at first, putting the box along the pile, but she belatedly realises what it is and gets an idea. A satisfied grin makes its way onto her lips when she finally finds it, an edition of Astrotalk that detailed star sign compatibilities. June doesn't open the magazine all the way to the Libra section, stopping short at someone else's instead. (Or: June finds a box that contained one of her teenage fixations and goes through it for old time's sake.)

Smoke Slow - 2,026 words [shotgun kissing oneshot basically]

“Hey.” Alex says, just for the sake of saying something, the silence between them wasn’t stifling but he didn’t want to risk their interaction coming to an end just because he’s not engaging enough. Henry gives him a sideways glance. “Teach me how to do that.”

“Do what?”

“That. The shotgun.” For a moment, Alex briefly considers how idiotic that probably sounded to Henry. It wasn’t a hard task to mimic, but Alex had long thrown out his composure out the fences of Pez’s house when Henry put the goddamn stick into his mouth. 

i'll be happy (just to have known you) - 1,855 words [hurt/no comfort]

Henry resigns himself to the reality that Alex—albeit distant and unattainable—still managed to break through his dismal world and grant him a light he never imagined was still possible to exist. This was enough. This was more than he'd ever expected for himself. It was the universe's way of extending an olive branch in response to the cards he'd been dealt with. He'd be stupid not to take it.

dreamy little you - 1,666 words [crack-ish AU, post-canon]

"Of course, love, but would you love yourself if you were a worm?" This visibly stumps Alex. If the way his mouth just opened for a rebuttal and coming up empty is anything to go by.

only got a hundred - currently at 4,008 words

An ongoing collection of 100-word drabbles written according to the Brownstone server's prompts.

Haikyuu

Ceilings (he thinks it's not real, it is) - 6,009 words [light angst and pining with a happy? ending]

“Yo, you sleepy?” Takahiro meant to say that no, he isn't. That Issei looks stupid with his hair messed up like that. That he should be asking Issei that, with the bags under his eyes speaking for themselves. Instead, what comes out is, “I miss you.” It would be so easy to take the opportunity now. But still, Takahiro is terrified of ruining things. Or: Takahiro has graduation blues, and Issei makes him feel better, but things don't just end there.

Bloom - 1,444 words [two-dialogue challenge oneshot, retrospective? angst/no comfort]

Matsukawa Issei is not much of a sentimental person, save for special occasions where he has no choice but to reminisce.

Cruel (what your mind can do for no reason) - 1,012 words [light angst/comfort, implications of dissociation]

Issei struggles through a bad mental health night, Takahiro breezes him through the tail end of it.

Shameless (US)

big guns out, shoot now - 3,257 words [first kiss oneshot]

It's kind of out of character for Ian, really, he's always careful about not blurting out or doing shit that tapped into his feelings on the brunette, around the very subject of his affections. Has been, in fact, for the last two years and counting. Not that it got any easier to maintain, there are always slip ups (Exhibit A: right here, right now), but that's solely his problem.

On the Off Chance - 5,780 words [soulmate AU, ongoing]

To say Ian was relieved when he hears Mickey confirm how he did not, in fact, get his soulmate mark just a couple days after coming of age would be a huge understatement. (Or: Soulmate marks only show up when the younger of the pair turns nineteen– which isn’t uncommon, to say the least.)

Five fics under 500

Okay, so, I read a little too much fanfiction, this isn't even a comprehensive list of the amount of options I have but these are some of my favourites.

I was tagged by @happiness-of-the-pursuit and @suseagull04 :D

1. Terrible Things - @ssmtskw (T | 4k | One-Shot) Hanahaki AU, Hurt/ No Comfort, A truly clever way of formatting a story that uses a non-linear timeline. Also just read every single of Trace's fics, they are so good. 2. How well you play... that's up to you- @happiness-of-the-pursuit (M | 4.3k | One-Shot) Grey's Inspired AU, my best advice is to just experience it, I won't tell you anything else because you need to see it for yourself. 3. All of these Minor Feelings, are Majorly Breaking Me Down - ACDs_Coffee (M | 2k | One- Shot) A story that centers around Rafael Luna, following he announcemt of the Richard's campaign, it's heavy and it's truly wonderful. 4. praying our bridges don't make waves - @anincompletelist (E | 82k | Finished Multichap) A Soulmate AU with Fake Dating that I could not put down, once I started I was so trapped I read this whole thing in one day. 5. The Anatomy of a Big Sister - politics_and_prose (T | 7.3K | One- Shot) A journey through Alex's relationship with Henry in June's eyes, it's truly one of my favourite ones.

And tagging five people so they share their recs too! no pressure! @raysletters @14carrotghoul @heybuddy-drabbles @affectionatelyrs @gay-flyboys

Seven Sentence Sunday🌟

Thank you @ssmtskw @kiwiana-writes @anincompletelist @littlemisskittentoes @happiness-of-the-pursuit and @hgejfmw-hgejhsf for the tags! :)

Here's another snippet from my Flashback When You Met Me - this is in scene one from the first time that Alex noticed Henry and it makes me laugh (and maybe I need encouragement to keep writing this fic)

Nora sneaks another investigative look over her shoulder. “I thought you usually hated the pretentious type.” She isn’t wrong. Usually, the whole stiff-collar-and-pressed-slacks thing would send Alex running — he has no interest in dating some stuck-up-dude-bro who thrives off of daddy’s money and would try to, like, sell him stocks or get him to invest in his “totally legit” pyramid scheme selling knives as pillow talk — but this man seems…different. Softer. Alex doesn’t respond. Instead, he claims, “I’m gonna go over there.”

Tagging @inexplicablymine @read-and-write- @sherryvalli @leaves-of-laurelin @myheartalivewrites and anyone else who sees this and wants to post

seven(ish) sentence sunday!

this past week and a half i’ve been in SUCH a weird headspace for writing— falling into imposter syndrome, comparing my work to others, just generally feeling stuck. but last night i was finally able to put pet to paper and be happy with what came out!

thank you SO much for the tags @kiwiana-writes and @hgejfmw-hgejhsf !

have some kensington divergence angst 😌

Loving Henry was like that.

Like he’d suddenly been able to see the world around him in high definition. Like these pieces of himself that had always been muffled and far away were suddenly at his fingertips, accessible and beckoning. Like his body was suddenly mapped entirely anew—nerve endings attuned to the electricity of Henry’s touch, fingers trained to slot perfectly against Henry’s own, or against the dip of his waist.

Alex came alive with it, ready to take the world between his teeth and savor every morsel of it. Smiling brighter, laughing louder, feeling more.

Loving Henry had awoken something in him.

Loving Henry had almost killed him.

no pressure tagging so many lovelies! @affectionatelyrs @inexplicablymine @read-and-write- @happiness-of-the-pursuit @ssmtskw @firenati0n @leaves-of-laurelin @wordsofhoneydew @anincompletelist @rockyroadkylers @mainstreamelectricalparade @gayrootvegetable @piratefalls @princehgejfmw @magicandarchery @leojfitz