#refracted

[sunlit-di-s]

Hi, it’s me again asking for refracted updated. 🥺

I think you might be it's biggest fan haha. Or the biggest fan of any fic I've written ever.

My midsems are right around the corner, but after them I'll get right on refracted!

[rreeffrraacctteedd]

When “Support” Has Conditions

February 18, 2026 I used to think unfairness at work would be obvious. Loud. Easy to name. But it rarely arrives like that. More often, it shows up quietly, disguised as “support,” padded with reassurance, and held together by promises that only remain true as long as everything keeps running.

A role change was presented as a rescue. A fresh start. A way to “save” me from being fired. In reality, it meant being pushed into work I wasn’t trained for, with no structure and no proper onboarding. I had to teach myself while the help that was promised stayed just out of reach. Always “soon,” never actually there.

For a while, it still worked, because I made it work. But weeks became months of constant pressure, chasing expectations that kept shifting at the last minute. Eventually, my body called it what it was. Burnout. A forced stop. Time at home that wasn’t rest, just recovery from something that should never have escalated that far.

After that came the waiting. Because as a consultant, the system made it easy to stall without consequences. There was a bench and a steady stream of reassurance. “We’re looking.” “We’ll find something.” “Just give it time.” A few weeks passed like that, until patience became inconvenient and the tone changed. “This isn’t working.” Fired again, softened by one more promise. “We’ll still keep looking.”

Eventually, something did come. It didn’t feel like an opportunity. It felt like a leftover disguised as one, handed down to close a file rather than build a future. I hesitated. I said I didn’t feel good about it. I was persuaded anyway, again, with promises.

The onboarding was messy. Expectations were unclear. The vibe was wrong in that way that’s hard to prove but impossible to ignore. And when I refused to continue, when a boundary was set because continuing wasn’t safe anymore, the narrative flipped.

Concerns became “mistakes.” Boundaries became “non-cooperation.” Self-protection became a problem to manage. The same people who had insisted everything would be fine turned cold, defensive, coordinated. My account manager did a complete 180, and suddenly the story being told about me didn’t match the reality I lived.

A case was fought. The case was easily won. And yet winning didn’t restore dignity. It simply confirmed what had already become clear. Some systems don’t forgive you for refusing to stay convenient.

Three years is a long time to give effort, loyalty, and belief. It’s also long enough to learn the difference between support and control, between a promise and a leash.

Fairness shouldn’t be conditional. Clarity shouldn’t be punished. And any workplace that only functions when someone stays small and agreeable was never safe in the first place.

But spring is arriving soon. And with that one ugly door finally closed, there’s space to breathe again. Room, at last, to notice the softer light, and to see new paths opening.

[sunlit-di-s]

Next chapter of ‘Refracted’ dropping when? Just want Lily to met James again ASAP. No pressure.

Can't promise anything, since I have a whole load of fics to update before getting to that, but soon!

Here's a snippet of their meeting:

It seemed to occur to the kid at that exact moment that he probably should have given Lily some warning. "Hey, Mum," he said sheepishly.

Lily was nodding along to something she was hearing through her headphones, probably the only reason she hadn't seen them—they were of bad enough quality that he could make out residual noise, but not much else.

Although he doubted he would have been able to understand what she was listening to if it had been blaring out through speakers, because the breath had been smacked straight out of his chest at the sight of her—years, almost decades older, and still as beautiful as the day they had met.

[rreeffrraacctteedd]

Between What Was and What’s Next

January 9, 2026

I thought the new year would arrive carrying resolutions, maybe even a sense of direction. Instead, it arrived abruptly, stripping things back in ways I hadn’t anticipated. A few events clustered too close together, leaving me unsteady, recalibrating, and quietly processing more than I expected this early in January.

And yet, unexpectedly, I don’t feel as broken as I thought I would. There’s a lightness in the aftermath, a freedom I haven’t felt in months. Being pushed into difficult moments forced me to draw clear boundaries, to stand up for myself in ways I hadn’t before. And somehow, through that, I let go of pieces of the past that no longer belonged with me. What remains isn’t heaviness; it’s clarity, empowerment, and a happiness I didn’t see coming.

Maybe misfortune works like that. Arriving first, clearing space, making room for something kinder to follow. A necessary interruption rather than a full stop.

For now, I find myself longing for spring. For longer days, softer light, and whatever unfolds once this season loosens its grip. I don’t know what comes next, but for the first time in a while, I’m curious enough to wait and see.

[buttermilko]

[mleighsquickspot]

Mleighqs | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree

Hello Lovelies, sending you all Much Love and Good Vibes :).

[rreeffrraacctteedd]

End of an Era

September 16, 2025

It feels like a chapter has closed, leaving me at a low point while others seem to move swiftly ahead. For a while I tried to carry it alone, but I’ve finally asked for help, and it works. Not in leaps, but in steady ways that remind me I’m not walking this path by myself. Life has its highs and lows, and even here, I can almost see more prosperous times ahead.

[rreeffrraacctteedd]

On the edge of seasons.

August 28, 2025

It might still be the end of August, but summer is already beginning to slip away. Nature has a way of telling. The light shifts, the air feels different, the first quiet signs of fall arrive before we’re ready. And with them comes the reminder of how quickly the seasons move, how suddenly they end.

Maybe that’s why my thoughts turned to my great-grandparents today. I found myself rewatching old clips of them, letting nostalgia wash over me. On the edge of turning thirty, I can’t help but wonder about the wishes they held for me at the end of their lives. The hopes they carried quietly for who I’d become.

And somehow, yes, I think I’ve reached them. Not in every detail, not in perfection, but in ways that matter. Enough that I feel their presence in the life I’m living now.

Looking back at my last post, I was reminded of another truth: friendships can be just as fleeting or maybe just shifting in nature. We change, we aspire to different things, and suddenly we’re no longer the same. It’s a bittersweet realization, seeing how some bonds loosen with time. And yet, it also opens doors I never thought possible at this moment in life. New people, new stories, new connections that arrive just when I thought such special beginnings were behind me.

So here I am again, pausing to take note, knowing I’ll return when the moment calls.