#mrhappyending

millie’s long list of malex fics | i can make your body echo (like we're in an empty room) / fic has been orphaned​

He’s still wearing turtlenecks at his high school graduation.

A character study of Alex Manes with regards to his relationship with his body and his sexual partners (and Michael specifically).

comment: there is so much beautiful language in this fic and it just bowls me over every time i reread it. it touches on some issues that alex has with sex, and how michael is a safe space for him. it’s about how much they want each other always. it’s so good. i feel something different every time i read it. remember to check those tags before you read!!

millie’s long list of malex fics | leave the light on by sabrinachill / @sabrinachill​

“Explain it to me again — why do we need to pretend to be married?”

It’s a question Michael knew was coming, but not one he has a good answer for. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

He cuts his eyes away from the road to steal a glance at the passenger’s seat for the seventeenth time in the past hour; the view is the same as always. Alex, frowning so deeply his entire face is drooping downward, his dark hair dancing in the wind that whips through the windows as he stares at the simple silver band circling his ring finger.

Its twin sits on Michael’s hand.

A Malex Fake Marriage fic.

comment: the absolute joy that this fic brought me (and others) during may/june cannot be accurately described. i eagerly awaited an update every day and mattie never disappointed. now that i can read over the whole thing, it’s only gotten better. the ramp up of tension, the action of the second half, it involves a list of amazing tropes, the main of course being fake marriage. god, it’s just so good. but don’t take my word for it! get over there and read it!

millie’s long list of malex fics | Shoulder to Shoulder; Cheek to Cheek by Tasyfa / @tasyfa

G,

Today I learned I can shoot. Well, any idiot can shoot, that's kind of part of the whole gun problem, but I mean, I'm actually good at it. Like, scary good. And it's weird because it feels good to be really good at something here? I'm pretty middle of the pack on the physical stuff, all the running and push-ups and wall climbing and whatever, but this, I'm great at.

Becoming an airman had been an anti-goal until that day in the shed. When Alex subsequently finds himself in Basic Training, he resolves to make the best of the situation. But he never quite lets go of his first love. A story told in glimpses of a young man's life, spanning a decade and beyond.

comment: tas is incredibly good at telling a story in snapshots. coupled with the romance of written letters, and the beauty of the last scene, this fic is sweet and devastating in equal measures. i love the thought of alex keeping michael close like this, keeping in touch with him, even if it couldn’t be a reality. 

millie’s long list of malex fics |  Alienated by mansikka / @mansikkaomenabanaani

His head is pounding. His tongue feels both dry and like the final resting place for something rotten, which it might be, judging by the taste in his mouth. Michael rolls his neck, forehead pressing into the wafer-thin pillow provided in his cell. Are there normally pillows? He can't remember. Michael can't even think clearly enough to remember what happened last night. He knows alcohol was had, and maybe a little acetone in between. There was a lot of physical activity judging by the way his entire body aches. When Michael sits up to investigate the split knuckles and ache suggesting a bruise forming on his jaw, it speaks of brawling instead of fucking. That kind of night then. Could be worse.

After Caulfield and Max's death, Michael hits rock bottom and then just keeps on digging. Alone in the world, how the hell can he dig himself back out? In which, Michael Guerin learns to trust; other people and himself.

comment: this is a “michael is a total mess post-season one” fic. it’s a malex fic but at its heart, it’s a michael fic. i honestly just like fics where michael pulls himself together for himself, where he realises he has friends and doesn’t have to push people away. the malex is a wonderful bonus! the flirting is very sweet and it never feels as though one of them is earning the other; they’re just working on their own stuff separately and working their way back to each other. mansikka always writes heartwarming malex, plus there’s a (pre season two) buffy cameo!!

millie’s long list of malex fics | The Red Name by BeStillMySlashyHeart / @bestillmyslashyheart

Maria blinked and stared at him incredulously. “What’s wrong?” She pulled the sheet up to her neck as she sat up. “Did you think I wouldn’t be a little concerned about this?”

Michael looked around himself. “Concerned about what? What’s wrong?”

She laughed breathlessly. “You get your ex’s name tattooed on your chest and you’re honestly asking me what’s wrong?”

According to the Project Shepherd files, when an alien reaches the age of maturity (approximated to be 30 years old), a name appears on the skin over their heart. This name will reveal the person they love most in the world. The name appears in colored ink, in shades of pink or red. The darker the color, the stronger the love. Max, Isobel, and Michael received their marks 22 years after waking up in the pods. It's a damn shame none of them are actually with the people whose name they get.

comment: marlo is the queen of soulmate fics and this one... whew! this one. i remember waiting anxiously as it updated (so quickly! it was crazy) because it was so juicy right from the get go. it’s heavily malex but the way that it swaps between POVs to update the movements of the other pairings is SO INTERESTING. i especially love the interactions shown through the emails; sometimes it’s about the stuff you have to imagine in your mind. the point is, i was hooked the whole way through. remember to check out the tags, and despite the initial angsty chapters, look forward to a wonderfully fluffy ending!!

millie’s long list of malex fics |  fish bowl by sabrinachill / @sabrinachill

Alex makes a series of phone calls and bad choices that lead him directly here — an Airstream on the edge of a junkyard with a distractingly attractive mechanic showing him how the dining table converts into a bed that he can sleep on for just $75 a week.

It is, of course, completely absurd.

But there’s something cozy about the fuzzy yellow blanket on the bed/table and the sparkling sunlight streaming through the mostly-clean windows, in the smell of leather and motor oil and aftershave and summer storms, in the hopeful half-smile on Michael’s face.

That’s his name — Michael. Alex’s potential new roommate and landlord. 

(AKA An AU About Quarantined Roommates Who Fall in Love).

comment: can you believe mattie came screeching back into our lives with this delightful thing? (i can; what joy she brings me). she, and this fic, appeared during quarantine when i needed them most and provided the most delightful quarantine-based au i’ve ever read. if you can’t get behind alex being bamboozled into renting the fold-out-table-bed in the airstream by michael’s disarming charm, then i really don’t know what to tell you. she just writes a slow-burn so well.

millie’s long list of malex fics | I see sparks fly, whenever you smile by SuchASeeweedBrain / @daffietjuh​

‘It’s my favourite day of the year.’ Liz said as she settled against the wall next to Michael.

‘If I had known this was a yearly thing, I would have moved to Santa Fe sooner.’ Michael said, and Liz laughed.

‘Well that’s why we’ve got to keep this on the DL. Otherwise we’d lose our front row seats to this.’ She motioned at the scene in front of them. There were at least twenty five firefighters on the grass behind the hospital. They were here for a “freshening up” of their medical training. It was partially an excuse to keep the ties between the first responders and the hospital good, and partially actual training. But, because this was New Mexico and it was hot as fuck, all of the firefighters had taken off their heavy fire-proof overcoats and most of them were now left in either formfitting t-shirts or tank tops.

Michael is a doctor and Alex is a firefighter. (Can I make it any more obvious?)

comment: daphne is so good at these au fics and we were absolutely missing a fireman au. as well as firefighter alex, this fic has some of my favourite things; dr guerin, michael + liz friendship, first dates, hurt + comfort... if you’re not interested yet i don’t know what to tell you!! the whole first chapter is michael and liz watching the firefighters in their form-fitting shirts as they do their training.

millie’s long list of malex fics | A Soft and Elegant Semaphore by InsidiousIntent / @insidious-intent

It was the kind of day that required a solid sartorial armor before venturing out into the world, and Alex had spent the last six months cultivating an entire wardrobe. The neutral oversized clothing he had hid under since his return to Roswell was now solidly folded and packed away in space bags, replaced with deeper hues of navies and burgundies.

He moved to pick the black wool coat, draping it over his arms. While he was never overjoyed about these occasional visits to Master Sergeant Jesse Manes, he had kind of resigned himself to the reality of spending a lot of time around people (and things) who had tried to kill him. 

Roswell New Mexico is moving forward. Alex Manes is not.

comment: this is the kind of spooky shit i like!!! the underlying tension throughout the fic, the way that alex solves the mystery and how michael intervenes... i don’t want to say too much and spoil the way things unfold through the fic but it gave me goosebumps, and then came for my heart with the malex. it’s weird and beautiful and i was really captivated by it.