#Please Don't Say You Love Me

[dailyquotes6563]

How we feel is hard to fake, so let's not give the game away.

Gabrielle Aplin, Please Don't Say You Love Me

[foundmywei]

theo decker coded

[forever-fixating]

Howdy, friend!

Here, you'll find a list of my completed projects, along with works-in-progress (both posted and ones I have behind the scenes.) Feel free to ask questions about any of the WIPs because I am a story nerd and love to geek out about what I'm writing!

Completed:

All I Want for Christmas is You (One-Shot)

“I’ve been talking with Catherine.”

Alex let out a wet laugh. “I don’t know whether to be excited or afraid.”

“Watch it, kiddo,” she chided with a light smack to the back of his head. “Anyway, we’ve been talking, and we both agree you boys deserve some alone time together.”

---

With the election drama behind them, Ellen Claremont and Catherine Fox conspire to give their boys an early Christmas present: three weeks alone in a cabin in the Rocky Mountains. Alex and Henry couldn't be more excited.

Click here to read!

Love on the Menu (Multi-Chapter)

Henry Fox has a side hustle at his job as a host in an upscale restaurant. He loves setting up romantic moments for guests who want a little something extra for their night out to dinner. A bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne for the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary? Easy. A special table with candles and a dessert with a surprise for the woman about to propose? Child’s play. But despite playing Cupid for the restaurant’s guests, Henry has never been on the receiving end of a grand romantic gesture. So imagine his surprised delight when anonymous gifts begin appearing just for him. 

Who is Henry’s secret admirer? Only Valentine’s Day will tell.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Works in Progress

Posted

living in a new normal (Multi-Chapter)

Henry Fox could write an entire dissertation based on how much information his twin nieces Penelope and Grace have told him about their favorite band, Austin Heat. The girls peppered him with neverending facts since he surprised them with tickets and meet-and-greet passes to their concert at Madison Square Garden last Christmas.

Henry Fox takes his nieces to a concert of their favorite band, Austin Heat. He gets a bit more than he bargained for when he meets singer and guitarist Alex Claremont-Diaz.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Chef Specials of Love

One-shots set in the world of Love on the Menu. These will include moments from the story from Alex's POV as well as follow-up moments to see the first year of the boys in love and beyond.

Part 1 |

A Tournament for His Heart

In the ancient island kingdom of Lerasea, Prince Henry is trapped. Following the tragic deaths of his parents and the poisoning of his beloved twin sister Bea, he has been living under the oppressive thumb of his grandmother, Queen Mary. Now she has informed Henry that he is to be the grand prize of the joust as the culmination for the month-long celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. But little does she know, Henry is aware that this so-called contest is a farse, that she intends the wicked Lord Richards of Heinsestadt to be the victor, no matter what.

But not all hope is lost…

In the fledging but progressive country of Ararbas, Prince Alexander Claremont-Diaz receives an invitation to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and a chance to compete for Prince Henry’s hand. He knows the odds will be stacked against him, but Alex's love for the golden boy he once knew has never faltered. He accepts the invitation, determined to free his love from Mary’s sinister clutches.

Will the young lovers finally get their happily ever after? Or will the gods see their story end in tragedy and heartbreak?

Prologue | Chapter One |

WIPs Behind the Scenes

Please don't say you love me (Multi-Chapter)

Summary: When Henry has his first heartbreak, he leaves England for the Southern comfort of his Granny Bea in his dad’s hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, he finds more than he was looking for in a queer community where he’s able to explore and accept his sexuality as he never had before and an infuriating server/bartender/barista Alex who challenges him at every turn. Can he set aside his heartbreak and allow himself to be truly loved for the first time? (My passionate passion project. I won’t post it until it’s done, but I’ve been slowly tinkering on it. I am beyond excited for this story and can only hope I can do its themes and my interpretations of these characters I love justice.)

Notes on International Relations (Multi-Chapter)

Summary: When First Daughter Alexa Claremont-Diaz decides to spend a year studying abroad at Oxford, her mom decides to “help” by arranging for her to room with Princess Henrietta Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. This will prove to be very awkward as Alex can’t stand the Princess due to a terrible first impression at the Rio Olympics.

But little does Alex know, two semesters in close proximity with Hen will bring a whole new meaning to “international relations.”

Practical Magic AU (Multi-Chapter)

Summary: To be a child of the 90s is to love this movie. Henry and Bea are siblings bound by a family curse that dooms the ones they love to an early grave. Can love really travel back in time and heal a broken heart? Will Henry and Bea defeat the curse that has plagued their family for generations? Will Henry get the brown-eyed boy he wished for as a child? Read to find out! (Eight-ish parts, it’s looking like? First part tentatively scheduled to be posted on Beltane because I’m pagan as fuck.)

The Crow AU (Multi-Chapter)

Summary: In a place beyond time and space, there is a bridge. Some say when you die, a crow carries your soul there on the tips of its wings. There is a stillness in this place, but it is unnatural. Souls rarely linger, eager to cross on to what is next. But some arrive with a sorrow too heavy to allow them rest on the other side.

Alex, a soldier in the US Army, and his lover Henry are murdered by a group of soldiers. But Alex's soul cannot rest until this injustice is set right. So he returns a year later on a quest for vengeance, the crow the devil on his shoulder and Henry his angel, for Henry will not cross over to their little paradise without the other half of his soul. Will Alex's thirst for vengeance destroy him? Will their paradise crumble into dust?

(The Crow is one of my favorite movies. I've always wanted to write an AU for it. I'll be pulling elements from the 1994 film (the other movies are trash, don't @ me. Well...City of Angels has some redeeming qualities, but the plot got a little convoluted for me), the TV show (where the bridge motif features), and my own personal additions for the sake of drama. This will be a dark piece, as the boys are murdered, but the violence will not be the point of the story. Likely posted in October for no a spooky Halloween special.)

[batbcomic]

Please don't say you love me, Cause I might not say it back, Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping When you look at me like that

[lwveless]

me: imagine being best friends and falling in love and being together forever and <3... sigh...

me whenever a friend starts showing attraction to me:

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[makemycitybreak]

So please hurry leave me

[asukachii]

"Why don't YOU drive for once?! Ya idiot!"

"BECAAAAUUSE! I... can't.. drive these things!"

[bonus]

(I don’t like putting watermarks so, PLEASE, if you want to post these gifs somewhere GIVE CREDITS! Also, don’t use them in edits/videos. Thanks~)

[egophiliac]

CROWLEY SSR THOUGHTS

there is zero basis for this, but I can't get this thought of my head

I don't know why I decided to draw it this way

[deep-space-lines]

okay but like. I just had the weirdest thought about that ‘don’t look I’m naked’ comic. Which is that that’s essentially the same thing Adam and Eve did after they ate the fruit of knowledge of good&evil. So I feel like the theological implications of that could kneecap Gabe if he doesn’t think V1 is a being with free will.

yeah ok. i dunno man. is this anything

((side note. this isn’t necessarily meant to be in-character or story-accurate or take place at any particular point in time, just a way to explore some Thoughts. i was also imagining more that V1’s words aren't actually spoken, more like Gabriel’s more articulate interpretation of whatever garbled mechanical noise V1 is using to communicate. I think an angel could do that.))

and then they fucked nasty the end

[chosetobethisway]

Stream Never Be The Same nowww!!!! It's a brand new gabrielle aplin bop!! don't miss it if you like taylor swift!!

[royalarchivist]

Mine: Refer to me however you want!

Mike: Yeah, for me too. I think I use all pronouns too.

[They high-five and fist-bump each other]

Mine:

[via @barbmine]

[introspectivememories]

too many of you guys think nico is the loser and not lewis for letting the divorce go on for so long. like they're both losers about each other. emotionally constipated idiots who can't talk about their toxic homoerotic friendship that imploded on itself like 8 years ago and are now making it everyone else's problem. yeah nico's on television or in beer gardens talking about lewis all the time but like every other month some reporter is like "lewis, what's your favorite moment in your career?" and lewis no hesitation is like "oh man, karting, y'know? everything was simpler then" and then spends another six months skirting around nico's name. like this whole thing they're doing in the media isn't some kinda extended foreplay for them. they're both still pressing on the bruise to make sure it's still there!!! every few months, they're literally just asking on public television, does it still hurt for you like it does for me? and like clockwork, someone will release new information about them or one of them will say something about each other (in my heart, he's still my best friend/yes... and teammate) and the answer will remain the same, yes, of course, always.

[venuscaotico]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[inkskinned]

you're grabbing lunch with a nice man and he gives you that strange grimace-smile that's popular right now; an almost sardonic "twist" of his mouth while he looks literally down on you. it looks like he practiced the move as he leans back, arms folded. he just finished reciting the details of NFTs to you and explaining Oppenheimer even though he only watched a youtube about it and hasn't actually seen it. you are at the bottom of your wine glass.

you ask the man across from you if he has siblings, desperately looking for a topic. literally anything else.

he says i don't like small talk. and then he smiles again, watching you.

a few years ago, you probably would have said you're above celebrity gossip, but honestly, you've been kind of enjoying the dumb shit of it these days. with the rest of the earth burning, there's something familiar and banal about dragging ariana grande through the mud. you think about jeanette mccurdy, who has often times gently warned the world she's not as nice as she appears. you liked i'm glad my mom died but it made you cry a lot.

he doesn't like small talk, figure out something to say.

you want to talk about responsibility, and how ariana grande is only like 6 days older than you are - which means she just turned 30 and still dresses and acts like a 13 year old, but like sexy. there's something in there about the whole thing - about insecurity, and never growing up, and being sexualized from a young age.

people have been saying that gay people are groomers. like, that's something that's come back into the public. you have even said yourself that it's just ... easier to date men sometimes. you would identify as whatever the opposite of "heteroflexible" is, but here you are again, across from a man. you like every woman, and 3 people on tv. and not this guy. but you're trying. your mother is worried about you. she thinks it's not okay you're single. and honestly this guy was better before you met, back when you were just texting.

wait, shit. are you doing the same thing as ariana grande? are you looking for male validation in order to appease some internalized promise of heteronormativity? do you conform to the idea that your happiness must result in heterosexuality? do you believe that you can resolve your internal loneliness by being accepted into the patriarchy? is there a reason dating men is easier? why are you so scared of fucking it up with women? why don't you reach out to more of them? you have a good sense of humor and a big ol' brain, you could have done a better job at online dating.

also. jesus christ. why can't you just get a drink with somebody without your internal feminism meter pinging. although - in your favor (and judgement aside) in the case of your ariana grande deposition: you have been in enough therapy you probably wouldn't date anyone who had just broken up with their wife of many years (and who has a young child). you'd be like - maybe take some personal time before you begin this journey. like, grande has been on broadway, you'd think she would have heard of the plot of hamlet.

he leans forward and taps two fingers to the table. "i'm not, like an andrew tate guy," he's saying, "but i do think partnership is about two people knowing their place. i like order."

you knew it was going to be hard. being non-straight in any particular way is like, always hard. these days you kind of like answering the question what's your sexuality? with a shrug and a smile - it's fine - is your most common response. like they asked you how your life is going and not to reveal your identity. you like not being straight. you like kissing girls. some days you know you're into men, and sometimes you're sitting across from a man, and you're thinking about the power of compulsory heterosexuality. are you into men, or are you just into the safety that comes from being seen with them? after all, everyone knows you're failing in life unless you have a husband. it almost feels like a gradebook - people see "straight married" as being "all A's", and anything else even vaguely noncompliant as being ... like you dropped out of the school system. you cannot just ignore years of that kind of conditioning, of course you like attention from men.

"so let's talk boundaries." he orders more wine for you, gesturing with one hand like he's rousing an orchestra. sir, this is a fucking chain restaurant. "I am not gonna date someone who still has male friends. also, i don't care about your little friends, i care about me. whatever stupid girls night things - those are lower priority. if i want you there, you're there."

he wasn't like this over text, right? you wouldn't have been even in the building if he was like this. you squint at him. in another version of yourself, you'd be running. you'd just get up and go. that's what happens on the internet - people get annoyed, and they just leave. you are locked in place, almost frozen. you need to go to the bathroom and text someone to call you so you have an excuse, like it's rude to just-leave. like he already kind of owns you. rudeness implies a power paradigm, though. see, even your social anxiety allows the patriarchy to get to you.

you take a sip of the new glass of wine. maybe this will be a funny story. maybe you can write about it on your blog. maybe you can meet ariana grande and ask her if she just maybe needs to take some time to sit and think about her happiness and how she measures her own success.

is this settling down? is this all that's left in your dating pool? just accepting that someone will eventually love you, and you have to stop being picky about who "makes" you a wife?

you look down to your hand, clutching the knife.

[findafight]

People have been making ST5 predictions and wishes and they're all so long so I'll give you my wishlist for season 5 it's really short because I only care about one thing:

Robin and Steve get a platonic "I love you" moment