adrift

⚓️ Banner by @ninzied ✨ Pinned post art by @curledupfox ✨

[anchoredarchangel]

Firstprince • E • 404k+ • Incomplete

No Consequences • Part 1 • 8.8k During an inadvisable spot of dating years back, Alex and Nora made a game out of making extensive lists of celebrities they could hook up with without it being cheating. One breakup and several years later, Alex meets someone on his list for the very first time at a charity gala and decides it's appropriate to tell him all about it.

Hope is a Five-Alarm Fire • Part 2 • 11.8k Alex returns to real life after crossing the actual Prince of England off his totally superfluous valid No Consequences Sex List. It does not go quite like he expected.

The Cosmos in His Palms • Part 3 • 16.7k Alex discovers that talking to Henry is just as nice as having sex with him, or at least, pretty close. A perfectly timed revelation when he finds himself in desperate need of a heart-to-heart.

The Throne He Deserves • Part 4 • 24.9k After weeks apart, Alex is sent abroad on official Okonjo Foundation business and comes face-to-face with the not-at-all new reality that Henry is a prince, and everything that comes with it.

The Wait Before the Fall • Part 5 • 57.6k They choose each other. No matter what it takes.

A Spark and Flash Paper • Bonus • 15.1k Henry attends a charity gala intent on changing the trajectory of his life. He certainly does, but not quite in the way he expected. (Henry’s POV of No Consequences)

A Year of Living • The Epilogue • 268.9k (wip) Because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it.

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 7 • 42.1k • E

Not once you graduate, or by the time you’re the youngest elected congressman in modern history, or in your five or ten or twenty year plans for everything that’s going to happen after that, but right now. What do you want the most out of this year, Alex? For what might be the first time in his whole entire life, the answer is surprisingly simple, right there at the forefront of his mind in an instant without him even having to search for it.

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it. 

I could never, ever have enough of you: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/216207231

[corneliaavenue-ao3]

Reblog to give prev the power to write their fanfiction

[gnar-slabdash]

Reblog to give prev the TIME to write their fanfiction

[cutebutalsostabby]

Reblog to give prev the hocus focus to write their fanfiction.

[septic-dr-schneep]

Reblog to give prev the energy to write their fanfiction

[imsopopfly]

Reblog to give prev the executive function to write their fanfiction

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 6 • 75.5k • E

This isn’t anything like what Henry went through standing outside the Austin house and trying to gather his nerves; it isn’t Alex’s one and only golden opportunity to make a great first impression on Henry’s whole family, to prove right out of the gate that he’s the crème de la crème of royal suitors. He pretty much kissed that goodbye, so to speak, when he actually met them all at the pinnacle of a great big implied-sex scandal that he accidentally kickstarted, single-handedly trebucheting Henry headfirst out of the closet and directly into a colossal media shitstorm.  After something like that, it seems a little late in the game to be worrying about putting his best foot forward. 

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it. 

Admit it, you would be lost without me: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/197148586

[littlefoxpress]

The Consequences (of our Actions) by @anchoredarchangel

A list, a prince, an NDA, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and a night better than any of the fantasies that preceded it. No consequences. That was the whole point.

This is it. The story that started it all.

Over a year ago, I tentatively asked Anchor whether I could maybe possibly eventually bind the story that I so desperately wanted to read on paper. I knew nothing about bookbinding (I didn't even really have hobbies), and it was frightening and frustrating and thrilling to learn something new.

And now I could finally send her this author copy!

Thank you to @anchoredarchangel for her incredible writing as well as her endless patience and encouragement, to @elorberryart for allowing me to use her wonderful art for the title page, and to the @renegadeguild for all of the invaluable help along the way.

Typeset:

This was my very first typeset, and my Photoshop skills were limited, but I really enjoyed trying to create little icons that match each of the chapters.

Binding:

A4 Folio (A5)

80 gsm Anjali Creamy White Book Wove paper

Three-colour silk endbands in red, white and (royal) blue 😉

Custom-made endpapers

Book cover and spine hand-foiled

What could have gone better:

Snails would have laughed at the speed of this project. I kept being delayed by having to buy equipment and then having to learn how to use said equipment until I was confident enough to try it on this book.

But I honestly could not be happier with my progress. On the left is the very first book that I bound in February this year and on the right is the author copy of the same book:

[anchoredarchangel]

Forever blown away by your talent and all that you’ve done. It’s been such an enormous privilege to have been a part of your bookbinding journey 🤍

Thank you thank you thank you for this incredibly beautiful book. I’m afraid I cannot describe how it feels to actually hold it in my hands - but what I can say is that the love you’ve put into this entire project is evident in every page, in every detail, and I’m never going to be normal about it.

[anchoredarchangel]

Oh my goodness! Don’t apologize for the long wait. Great things come to those who wait patiently and I just know your chap 6 will be amazing!! It could be 100k and I would sit my ass down and read in one sitting! I just love this series that you have created!

Thank you so much, and thanks for the ask too! 🤍 I had worried the answer would come as a bit of a disappointment but all the love and support it’s received has been such a balm I didn’t realize I desperately needed after this long hidden away in my writing cave.

p.s. I appreciate the commitment. As someone who clicks post and thirty seconds later vibrates nervously hoping everyone liked it, you’d think I wouldn’t write chapters that take actual literal hours to be read, but alas. I hope you know you’re out here keeping me sane.

[anchoredarchangel]

Any chance we’ll get an update soon on the year of living series?

hello there!

So an unfortunate reality that AYoL has been teaching me is that I know nothing. As an example: when I was writing the a/n for Chapter 5 I included reference to how it was the second of a trio of chapters I had nicknamed The Goliaths™️. That’s because, with every chapter as an active wip, a pattern emerged pretty quickly that 4, 5 and 6 were looking a lot larger than the rest. At the time I wrote the a/n, I thought to myself, “I hope, after I say this, that no one will be disappointed when 6 is the shortest of the three, because it isn’t even going to make it over 40k like 4 and 5 both did.”

Last night, Chapter 6 broke 58,000 words with more to go. It will be over 60 by the time it’s done. Is this a disrespectful word count for a single chapter to be? Almost definitely. Is it profoundly embarrassing to have sworn up and down that Chapter 4’s 41k word count was an anomaly that would absolutely be the longest in the epilogue because nothing could ever topple it, only for 6 to be pushing one and a half times the length and counting? Yeah… yeah it’s pretty embarrassing.

The good news is: 6 is very much underway, and my brilliant beta has been reading along in the trenches for many moons as I write because I’m pretty sure asking anyone to beta my chapters once they’re finished would be in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. So ✨ The short answer ✨ (which I’m never very good at obviously) is: I have high hopes that it will be updating Soon-Ish™️. But I also, as established, know nothing.

I’m sorry it’s been such a wait, this chapter is a big one in more ways than one—but I think it’ll be worth it.

[anchoredarchangel]

life has been hard lately for me, but i keep coming back to the epilogue chapters (even if i'm terrible about commenting), and they make me cry the happy tears and make me forget about the awfulness of *life* for a hot second. i truly appreciate the word paintings you make and how they make me feel wrapped up in a blanket for just a little while longer before going out there to fight the rest of the day. thank you. 💖

hello there friend 🤍

First of all I’m sorry that life has been hard and I am sending many virtual hugs (unless you hate hugs then please substitute emotional support of choice ✨)

My chest feels much too small for my heart over this, for the record. That was just… the whole point of the epilogue, you know? To tell a story that felt as good to read as it does to write. To get to live in the happy ending instead of just knowing there was one. It means a lot to know you’re living in it.

I hope you know I cherish any and all of your thoughts and comments that you do choose to share. I always enjoy your insights (even when they leave me lying down in my own tears.) But i’m so glad to hear from you and I hope that things turn around soon, but whenever you need a hiding place from everything that sucks, I’m more than happy to share mine with you. 🤍

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 5 • 46.7k • E

It’s been a hot minute since he’s last had one of his what the fuck seriously how the fuck is this his life kind of moments, but when one finds themselves unexpectedly wearing the equivalent of a compact sedan in American dollars on their body, he thinks it’s a reasonable time to revisit it. Consider it the Toyota Camry Contingency, or the Honda Civic Clause, or the Chevy Malibu— Not the point. The point is what the fuck. Seriously. How the fuck is this his life. 

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it. 

You’re not dreaming: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/179003766

[anchoredarchangel]

“It's another declaration that could so easily be considered cheesy, but from Henry, it's so fucking warm - the end result, Alex decides, being heartfelt fondue.” This line you recently wrote is literally my favorite line I’ve ever read in a fic! (and I’ve read a lot of fic lol) 😍🧀🫕😂

Okay first of all this is so kind.

But second of all this being about the heartfelt fondue line is so dangerous. All you’re going to do is feed my ravenous desire to write something even more ridiculous. And, also, now I want cheese. Every day I reap what I sowed with this chapter.

Thank you for the love and for reading Ch 4 🤍 it’s been a big one to put out there and I appreciate it.

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 4 • 41.7k • E

“Nervous?” he asks, despite how it seems kind of obvious, what with the tension and the posture and the repetitive clenching. Nervous might actually be an understatement. To his credit, Henry seems to consider the question carefully before saying, “It’s your family.” He takes a deep, centering breath. Sets his shoulders. Lifts his chin a little higher. Ticking off a checklist for appearing more confident than one actually is. “This is important.”  So. He’ll take that as a yes, then. 

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it. 

I hope that's cool with you: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/172747645

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 3 • 20.5k • E

“And in the meantime,” he says, more upbeat in an attempt to lighten the mood, “I did call for another reason.” “Of course you did,” Henry replies indulgently, sounding exactly not at all surprised. “However I seriously cannot at the moment, so I am afraid you and your right hand will simply have to use your imagination this time—” “Still not that.”

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it.

You know that’s all I ever need: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/169833223

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 2 • 20.5k • E

His first conscious thought is, Henry. His next conscious thought is, oh, fuck me. For once, they are entirely unrelated.

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it.

I’m inescapable, remember?: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/167176294

[anchoredarchangel]

A Year of Living • Chapter 1 • 21.6k • E

As far as big romantic gestures go, Alex isn’t sure it’s even possible to top standing on a global stage and practically declaring your love for someone on the tail end of a history-defining speech that will probably be printed in textbooks for years to come.  Never let it be said that Alex is a quitter though. He’s fully prepared to give it his best fucking shot.

Or: the epilogue - because the best part of the happy ending is getting to live in it. 

I'm just... really glad you're here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64206118/chapters/164778058

[shirmirart]

ok mister legs for days (this just screamed henry with his jaffa cakes and his dog-eared austen novel so I had to)

[4rthurfox]

🔴🌸✉️🔵

collab with @elorberryart !!!! thank u for entrusting me with the alex to your henry 😙

[anchoredarchangel]

Thanks for the tag, @saguaroblossom, and ps it was lovely to hear from you in the comments, as usual. 🤍

🎧 Last Song: Lose Control by Teddy Swims

🖍️ Favourite Color: blue

📚 Last Book: a reread of Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid. Hollanov my beloved.

🎥 Last Movie: Den of Thieves 2: Pantera - thanks to our weekly movie dates to justify our AMC memberships (not a sponsor)

📺 Last TV-Show: literally just finished bingeing my way through Severance today thanks to @liamsbloodymary and I’m 😵‍💫

🍜 Sweet/Spicy/Savoury: 🍨🍪🍫

💕 Relationship Status: met a man on Twitch[dot]tv and now he lives with me

🌐 Last thing I googled: whether Severance S2 was dropping all at once (it was not good news)

💗 Current Obsession: the secret gardens in my mind 🌱

🔮 Looking forward to: getting some SLEEP god I am so tired

🏷️ open tag for anyone else but you’re up if you want to, girlies @liamsbloodymary @firenati0n 🤍🤍