#mrmisandrywitch

millie’s long list of malex fics | that’s not music you hear that’s the devil by misandrywitch / @leescoresbies

There’s a reason why Alex Manes doesn’t play shows in New Mexico.

It’s his own rules, unwritten but strictly enforced over the last decade. He knows a lot of people with complex and detailed pre-show superstitions, sometimes even written into riders and contracts. Chamomile tea. No red M&M’s. Forty minutes of warm-up exercises meant to encourage throat lubrication. Calisthenics. Meditation. Three rounds of solitaire. He tends towards black eyeliner, deep breathing, a little good whiskey - and a particular avoidance of geography.

That’s not superstition, though. It’s good sense. Usually, Alex has good sense in spades - with just enough seat-of-the-pants unpredictability to keep things interesting.

Alex Manes grabs his guitar and gets the hell out of Roswell in 2008, and he leaves behind a letter. Here's what happens ten years later.

comment: ahhhh we needed more band/music aus and sarah delivered tenfold. the dialogue is so witty it drives me crazy and the descriptions of the setting make me feel like i’m right there in the bar or the back of a truck in the desert. you know how i love canon divergent fics that explore an alternate path after the toolshed, and giving alex a career in music is so satisfying. he and michael hashing out their history in the back of the truck is also *chef’s kiss*. it’s everything i could have asked for in a folk band au, and the fact that it’s got two parts (alex pov and michael pov) is so so sweet.

millie’s long list of malex fics | the city where you live now by misandrywitch / @leescoresbies

“It’s the handbrake,” Alex says. “I think.”

He stares into the dust between the SUV’s wheels and Michael’s boots, which is easier than watching Michael’s face. Michael is staring into the car’s interior anyway, not looking Alex’s way. Alex can tell from the angle of his shoulders. “Huh,” Michael says, muffled as he leans through the open front door. “It’s connected to the brakes underneath?”

"a missing scene fairly early in the show; somewhere after 1x02 but before things really blow up between the two of them”.

comment: another one of these amazing fill-in-the-gaps fics! i don’t think i’ll ever get tired of reading this little moments imagined between ep 2 and 3. it’s real, it’s awkward, it’s quips and having to navigate around the newer, unknown parts of one another. i love the vulnerability!!! so much care is taken with regards to alex’s leg, with how they are to one another, and with a hopeful ending that still fits with the events in the show. it’s honestly just so good.

millie’s long list of malex fics | the whisper system by misandrywitch / @evepolastried

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Michael says. Before he loses the nerve he lays down too, his jean jacket rustling against the blankets that are permanent inhabitants of the pickup.

“You’re welcome,” Alex says. “I mean, I said I would.”

Michael wants to look at him but doesn’t risk it. “Wasn’t sure if you remembered that.”

five places michael & alex went together, and one they didn't. .

comment: i know very little about american geography, which can make roadtrip-type fics hard to follow sometimes. thankfully, this author writes about location so beautifully that i always find myself totally immersed in their fics; you can really feel the first-hand knowledge and love of these places through the characters. this is also a fascinating character journey for the boys, featuring an appearance from alex’s mum. their dynamic is super interesting, and the boys’ slow progress forward makes me warm and fuzzy.

millie’s long list of malex fics | explain everything to the geeks by misandrywitch

It feels like a cop-out. A true admission that something really is wrong with him and that his inability to look the people he cares about in the eye and just speak what’s happening inside his head is something more than just a personality trait. Collateral damage. You learn to adapt, when you live with it day after day. 

The first one is easiest. 

Valenti - it starts, addressed to the son, and not the father..

In the months after his father is admitted to the hospital, Alex starts writing letters.

comment: oh shit you guys; i’m so glad to have sarah writing for this fandom. she has this uncanny ability to write spot-on character studies of my favourite characters, making me laugh, cry, and just generally feel a lot of emotions. as a post ep 13 fic, this has it all; a theme that ties it all together (the letters), conversations in friendship, that good ol’ malex content that we all love, and stellar self deprecating jokes from alex. and that’s not even everything. go and check it out if you haven’t read it already!!