#spaceskam

This is malex, obv. 

The movie ends and the credits start looping, but Alex doesn’t want to move to turn off the TV. The couch has turned into a giant blanket nest, surrounded by the softest couch cushions and pillows, and hand-knitted blankets Alex only ever uses for movie night. Next to him, Michael is a warm heavy weight on his shoulder, snuggled in close enough that they are almost lying on top of each other. 

Michael stirs a little, but doesn’t move his body too far away. “So uh,” he starts, staring at Alex with wide eyes. “Is it ok if I stay here tonight?” 

Alex smiles slowly, happy to have this back in his life. “Of course Michael, you know you never have to ask.” 

Michael swallows and shakes himself a little, but does finally sit up on the couch. His movements are a little sluggish, and Alex wills himself to not ogle openly. He pushes himself off the couch and goes to leave the den to dump their snacks into the kitchen. But a hand grabs at his wrist. He looks down to see Michael holding onto his wrist tightly, a slightly panicked look in his eyes. 

“Uh where -” Michael starts, visibly swallows, and then “where are you going Alex?”

Alex looks down at his hands full of snack containers, and looks up at Michael with confusion. “To the kitchen?”

Michael relaxes, shoulders drooping a little. “Ok good! I’ll go with you!” and sort of frog marches them both to the kitchen. Alex lets himself be led, long practiced in keeping up with Michael’s shifting moods. 

On the way back, Michael turns on every light in the house, and Alex can’t help but glare at him a little. 

“Guerin, that’s wasteful,” he says, turning around to turn off the hallway lights. Michael’s hand shoots out to stop him. 

“No!” he yells. 

Alex understands. 

“Guerin,” he starts, a smile of absolute delight growing on his face. “You’re not scared of the dark, are you?” 

Michael’s shifty look is enough of a response. “No,” he tries, but quickly changes his mind. “That was a scary movie!” 

Alex laughs outright now, slinging his arm around Michael’s shoulder, steering them back to the den. “Let’s watch a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek, you’ll feel better.”

(follow-up to this post)

Exactly. Alex and the Manes family have been established as an important part of the aliens’ history on earth since 1947 - for 70+ years as their capturers/torturers, and with Alex they flipped that completely around, and he’s now one of their most important allies.

Jesse Manes (with the help of Flint Manes) was also the main antagonist for 2 seasons (well, mostly in S1, in S2 he was more of a cardboard cutout version of a villain), and Alex’s been linked romantically to Michael (one of the four main characters) from the very first episode. It’s also established and woven into the fabric of the show, that Alex and Michael - like Echo - are an OTP and endgame.

Apart from that, Alex is a fan favorite because many fans feel represented by him in one way or another. Alex is a biracial queer disabled war veteran who experienced severe abuse and homophobia at the hands of his father growing up and struggles with PTSD. And yet he’s kind of heart and has fought and continues to fight for living his life. 

He’s an inspiration and a beacon of hope (esp. for members of the queer community) - of course fans want to see more of him, and of course they want meaningful storylines for him (preferably laced with less pain and trauma going forward...).

And even though he’s not a main character, he can and should have those. Just like Kyle, Maria and Rosa are deserving of meaningful storylines (imo they did a pretty good job with Rosa in S2, while the show basically forgot that Kyle Valenti exists...). And it’s the job of the writers to make that happen, while also telling and developing the stories of the 4 main characters. 

Other shows can do it, hell, even RNM did it in S1. S2 was just... a mess that somehow managed to treat most of its characters rather poorly, including the show’s lead. I’m sure that wasn’t the intention, but it happened, somehow they lost track of things along the way.

Alex Manes was five years old the first time he went to Caulfield.

He was curious and naive, not understanding why all these people were in little rooms and why they couldn't come out and play. His dad told him that he could observe, but that was it. He never disobeyed his dad, so that's all he did.

That sounds like an amazing thing to read but I’m not a writer, boo. I can tag some of the Malex writers if you’d like and maybe they’ll write it? Did you mean to send this to me?

What's this? I don't know. But I hope you like it.

Warnings include: Buffy Manes (meaning: warning for extreme cuteness or at least an attempt at that)

One of the things Alex loves most about winter is the snow. When he was a child, his mom would take him and his brothers out for skiing and riding sleighs; those are the memories he most cherishes from his childhood. He's missed it during his deployments, and now that he's back home he revels in the chill that zigzags up his spine when he gets outside the cabin, a bright orange ball in his hand, ready to play with Buffy in the snow that has begun to settled around the woods.

"Good girl," he says when Buffy brings back the ball for the first time, her paws tiptoeing on the snow carefully. It's her first time outside with so much cold; Alex can tell she’s excited about the novelty of it all, although Buffy growls a little when snowflakes start falling down on her head. "It's just snow, Buffy," he calms her. "You'll enjoy it, you'll see."

After a while outside, Alex is starting to freeze underneath his multiple layers — an undershirt, a thick wool sweater, a snow coat and gloves and beanie. He calls for Buffy, but his puppy is nowhere to be seen, having rushed after the ball into the woods. He becomes worried instantly; there are wild animals around and Buffy is still young. "Buffy!" he calls for her, and only breathes again when the beagle shows up again from the line of trees, no orange ball in sight.

She reaches him, tail wiggling happily and a filthy stick between her teeth. Alex crouches to pet her head, loosening the stick from her grip and trying to throw it away. Buffy growls lowly, and turns around to pick the stick once again, placing it on the ground close to Alex's foot, her snout nudging his leg. He frowns, pointing at the stick. "For me?" he asks, feeling silly for talking to a dog and expecting her to reply.

Buffy barks happily, her tail moving quickly as she looks up at him. "Uh," he starts, picking the stick and watching closely as Buffy follows his every move. He twirls it between his fingers, less and less confused. His foot is digging into the snow, his prosthesis soaking up, and he's sure he's never been happier.