#also did you know? if you want to edit a post w a poll you cant. you have to delete and remake it. so everyone keep an eye on them typos

[mantaphase]

OH SHIT I HAVE POLLS

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

CANON POLYCULE SHOWDOWN

this is a contest for canonically confirmed polycules or polycules that have a lot of hints to a possibility of them being canon, even if the authors might not have intended that way!

Beware of spoilers!! Some of these only become polycules later in the media they're from, and some of the descriptions describe a tragic fate for the polycule, so keep in mind there will be spoilers

rules can be found here

bracket can be found here

honorable mentions can be found here

links for all the match ups as they go live can be found in the MASTERPOST. it will be updated each round, but i will also tag every round to make them easier to find

help me w descriptions for the honorable mentions!

Round 2 part 2 finished.

Round 3 will go live on May 19th!

(#canonround2 or #pollycule if you want to search for the polls)

tags:

#canonpolyculeshowdown - for relevant updates and the polls

#pollycule - (yes double L) specifically for the showdown polls, to make it easier to find. doesn't include the prelims cause I only thought to add this after, sorry

#canonpropaganda - for, well, propaganda. ill post asks, reblog posts and maybe reblog reblogs

#honorablemention - for the ships that did not make it in (i will still make a post introducing all of them)

#tournamnt poll - the generally agreed on tag for blacklisting purposes. let me know if i forget to use it! i cant edit polls but it will remind me for the following round

#canonroundN - N being the number of the round we're in. so, for example: canonround0, canonround1, canonround2, etc. from the quarterfinals onwards, they'll also include the specific tag (#quarterfinals, etc). Check the post's tags for that ome if you want to look at all polls from that round!

list may be updated as needed.

if you submitted something that did not get in, nor was it posted as an honorable mention, and you wish to know why, feel free to send an ask.

LIST OF CONTESTANTS:

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula (Hunger Pangs)

Rilla/Arum/Damien (Penumbra Podcast)

Nathan/Gabriel/Annalise (The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself)

Ben/Ryn/Maddie (Siren Freeform)

Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot (High Noon Over Camelot)

Quanxi/Pingsti/Cosmo/Long/Tsugihagi (Chainsaw Man)

Wu Zetian/Li Shimin/Gao Yizhi (Iron Widow)

Caleb/Astrid/Eadwulf (Critical Role)

Sadie/Walt/Anubis (The Kane Chronicles)

Rajan/Wolfgang/Kala (Sense8)

Princess Glisselda/Seraphina/Lucien (Seraphina)

Tess/Jacomo/Margarethe (Tess of the Road)

Logan/Jean Grey/Scott/Emma (X-Men)

Uzui/Hinatsuru/Makio/Suma (Demon Slayer)

Megaera/Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades)

Dianda/Simon/Patrick (October Daye)

Haruka/Michiru/Setsuna (Sailor Moon)

Asmodeus Alice/Clara Valac/Iruma Suzuki (Mairimashita, Iruma-kun!)

Aizo/Yujiro/Hiyori (HoneyWorks)

Kyle/Rogelio/Lonnie (She Ra)

Dashawn/Steve/Jose/Cupe R III/Otto/Arturo/Gregory/Quackers McQuack (Bojack Horseman)

Fluorite (Steven Universe)

Miss Piggy/Kermit/Gonzo (Muppets)

Sherlock/Watson/Mary (Sherlock Holmes movies)

Ichika Hoshino/Saki Tenma/Shiho Hinomori/Honami Mochizuki (Project SEKAI)

Tree Trunks/Mr. Pig/Alien Husband (Adventure Time)

Daniel/Sam/Jack/Teal’c (Stargate SG-1)

Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki/Nagisa Minase (Kanojo mo Kanojo/Girlfriend Girlfriend)

Eddie/Venom/Anne/Dan (Venom)

Peter Quill/Aradia/Mors (Guardians of the Galaxy)

George/Gilda/Thomas (Design for Living)

Leif/Thorn/Kale (Leif and Thorn)

Kieran/Ray/Gemma (Trigonometry)

Eugene/Rapunzel/Cassandra (Tangled the Series)

Jack/August/Rina (The Wicker King)

La’gann/Coral/Rodunn (Young Justice)

Syenite/Innon/Alabaster (Broken Earth)

Enrique/Hypnos/Sofia (The Gilded Wolves)

Max/Jack/Anne (Black Sails)

Pyrrha/Commander Wake/Gideon the First (The Locked Tomb)

Neptune/Venus/Jupiter (We Know the Devil)

Quincey/Jack/Arthur/Lucy (Dracula)

Amber/Reese/David (Adaptation)

Will/Tessa/Jem (The Infernal Devices)

Kieran/Cristina/Mark (The Dark Artifices)

Winter/Moon/Qibli (Wings of Fire)

Camille/Nyra/Dendro (Muted)

Sasha/Anne/Marcy (Amphibia)

Neal/Peter/Elizabeth (White Collar)

Turtle Heart/Melena/Frex (Wicked)

Emiya/Saber/Rin (Fate Stay/Night)

Sofiane/Victor/Luisa (Mortel)

Taylor/Theo/Josey (3)

Jack/Emma/Izzy (You Me Her)

Keiko/Miles/Kira (Star Trek)

Jade/Dave/Karkat (Homestuck Epilogues)

Anzu/Kazuki/Junta (Romantic Killers)

Shikimori/Izumi/Ai (Shikimori is Not Just Cute)

Camina/Michio Pa/Josep/Serge/Berthold/Oksana (The Expanse)

Breq/Mercy of Kalr/Seivarden/Ekalu (Imperial Radch)

Roguish Semiotician/Infamous Mathematician/Player Character (Fallen London)

Alphonse/Seth/Listener (Bittersweet)

Storm/Helen/Mira (Love and Luck Podcast)

Nicky/Joe/Andy/Booker/Niles (The Old Guard)

[queercripintersex]

On intersex questioning

I recently put up a poll asking people what motivated them to question if they were intersex. Partly to know how "typical" I am. But also because I'm curious if people who are currently questioning their intersex status are noticeably different from those of us who already identify as intersex.

And I gotta say, the spread of responses look pretty similar!

Most of the asks I see on tumblr tend to be framed in medical terms. Personally, I was motivated more by social/psychological reasons (figuring out who I am and wanting to not feel like a lone freak). Turns out people like me are in the minority but we're hardly alone.

I honestly wonder how much of the medical asks are really about other things like belonging or gender but those reasons don't seem "valid" enough.

I wanna share the replies and reblogs because I would have found them useful to read back when I was questioning if I was intersex. I have lightly edited them for readability (if you wrote one and want to be quoted by username DM me!) To see the original comments go to the original post. Replies from intersex people "I went through several years of being confused about how I felt trans fem but also was afab. The day I was diagnosed with PCOS I searched it in Tumblr and found out it fell under the intersex umbrella and I accepted that identity for myself immediately. Intersex was never a question for me, it was the answer I had been looking for." "Multiple of the above! Mislabeled trauma and ignored medical issues made more sense after finding out, and a more general discomfort with how I look lessened after finding out, oh i look like this because of that and i look like that down there because of what they did to me"

"wanted to figure out both medical and gender stuff but medical was more pressing so i picked that one"

"never thought of myself as intersex until PCOS fucked my whole hormone cycle up. Now it feels weird not to say im intersex"

"medical issues and gender stuff i guess. I had stuff like slightly too early and too intense puberty and i was like. There is no way that this is normal theres gotta be something to explain this. And then after some time i found out there are hormonal intersex variations that do that stuff. Now to just get myself to accept that im still intersex on hrt 🙃"

"It was very complicated for me because for years I had a feeling that Something wasn't right. And I didn't technically have a period of questioning but I always did feel weird calling myself perisex bc I just felt Something was wrong. And then. Almost 2 years ago now. I was told by my parents that I had my chromosomes tested as a toddler. And I had triple X. They didn't seem to think it was a big deal or anything and so just never thought to tell me?. And then I had a brief questioning period on whether that counted as intersex but within a couple of days came to terms w it"

"Picking only one was tricky for me because the medical trauma and the gender stuff have been so deeply linked for me. [...] I didn't really seriously consider [questioning] until my mid-20s once I had access to therapy for the first time in my life ... At first in therapy the issues of medical trauma and of figuring out my gender were treated as though they were parallel issues but the more we explored them the more evident it was they were linked. When I went through hyperandrogen puberty it felt normal and appropriate, and everything my mom and doctors did to force my body into a female presentation was both traumatic and a source of gender dysphoria. [...] Figuring out I was intersex connected all the dots."

"Other. Wanted to know why people kept being confused by or shocked by my genitals. which honestly answered itself but then i wanted a more in depth medical answer Just In Case (like since i have ovotestis i am at risk of ovarian AND testicular cancer)"

💛💜💛

[enniewritesathing]

I just looked at the poll result (that button was for me really) and uhm.

(i guess spoilers for the result under the cut and also cut to spare yall w/e I’m gonna say)

out of 20 (it was 20 bc i voted, but it’s 19... rounding it up is easier because i can’t do math woth shit lol)

no one voted for any of my early stuff. which, valid I guess because I was absolutely horrendous on formatting it -- not even ‘script’ style. lots of blanks in between shots. the only reason I didn’t go back an edit it is because I guess I wanted to keep it as a progress thing. Started from here, now I’m here, etc. That said, I can probably see someone skipping over them completely bc of that. (or maybe I’m just projecting a little bit idk). On the other hand, idk John fighting a literal demon?? how can you not vote for that lol

5 voted for The Werewolf 4 for The Incident (which I am surprised because that story as a whole has the least amount of notes... granted the CWs and subject matter(s)-- and it’s the only story I have that doesn’t have any sort of dialogue. Kind of a fill in the blank sort of deal. 1 each for the proposal and country side, 2 for multiple/other, 4 haven’t read any/or didnt like anything in particular, and 2 (minus me) wanted to see results.

I’m trying to think of a takeway here. I was shocked that I got 19 votes and usually when I poll things, the turn out is very low for the amount of followers that I have (that’s if they did it bc obviously anyone can vote). Let me put it this way, only 2.5% voted. (I think.) idk how many are actually active, lurking, or abandoned.

as a story teller (on/off), it’s... hm. I don’t know what to feel about it. I got ideas and half the time, I go through with it because I think it’s interesting. (that and putting the boys in A Situation is fun). but I also think they’re just niche (or I should say it’s not aesthetic enough with reshade and whathaveyou and I gave my thoughts in the post via tags; it’s not that far back).

It’s pretty rare i get a message about any of it and I guess the lack of feedback/comments is getting to me (or even rarer, an ask that’s a follow up question to what i posted). like yes, I want to talk about things!! future things! speculation even. anon’s on! links have the posts in chronological order! everything’s finished! i put nav links in each story post so in the off chance someone rb’s it, you can start from the beginning!

maybe it’s because of how i do things that work for me. parts are long. there’s a fair amount of reading. it’s in script (storyboard?) format. i’ve tried being short with things but it never plays out. i even went textless once -- what you see is what you get. it’s like ‘oh, i’m not reading all of that’. i have a sneaking suspicion that’s why. it’s too long. no words on pics. or maybe it’s not interesting. (visually or otherwise)

it feels like this when I’m RBing my own work

it feels bad, yall!! it’s like im begging and that sucks. sometimes I ask, why do I bother. why do I bother with tags, why do i bother with anything. rarely a story post will leave here. like, is it not worthy of like ‘hey check out this cool thing’ (or a rec list of sort? does anyone still do that?)

. . .

on the other hand, i don’t think there’s a takeaway here and i’m really way too much into this and hurt my own feelings. (ofc 🙄) it is what it is and I should just let this go and go to sleep it’s 330 in the morning

[throwaway-yandere]

(Nutjob anon)

Okay, I have yet to read the chapter, but based on the omake post...

...I NOMINATE FELIX AS THE NEXT UNDERBOSS-- *Wooden cane appears from one side of the stage and tugs her out of sight*

And dkrkir ANSY THAT ANIMATION??? SO COOL EJFKKTKRKE AND BY THE LOOKS OF IT, LEAVE ME ALONE FITS PERFECTLY. You out did yourself pal 😭 that was majestic.

See you later in the day when I'm done reading this novela! I want to suggest the secret secret ending were Hu Tao is involved. Only way to unlock her is killing one of the guys 😉 JWIDIFIGOFOD

MAJOR CHAPTER 3 SPOILERS

Oi PulcinELLA BRING HER BACK–

Trust me when (not if, when) one of the guys die Hu Tao will be there as "Wednesday's Garbage Pick Up" lmfaoooo. You know, there are routes that can only be unlocked with certain conditions, but you'll find that out soon by chapter 4 ehe. When you get to one character's route, the rest of the LIs are on thin ice. Hu Tao's business is booming–

Felix literally only has a few lines but him and Tartaglia are my "comfort characters". The former's just radiates tired dad energy while the latter's the sunshine bloodthirsty child in this fic. Those two (+ Dain) are the characters I don't want to be a love interest simply because they're the only light left in Capo!Reader's world. The rest are just going downhill while Tartaglia comically sobs about getting rejected–

And dhjJIwiaooa tHANK YOU!!! I had loads of fun with that animatic lmaoooo. My first thumbnail draft of that was wildly different compared to the final output (with Cyno being more prominent than the other characters due to poll related reasons, but that changed overnight–). Leave Me Alone is such a banger, I personally think that's the song that fits the first half of common route the most in Razzmatazz. It's been a long while since I listened to that album but after those asks I went "oh sht this is too perfect."

Honestly didn't expect Razzmatazz to fit Capo!Reader so well.

Nobody Likes The Opening band is kinda their vibes w/ Dain and Kaeya when they became immigrants, Modern Day Cain is the follow-up where they killed Rosaria ("then you conjured up a fiction, to get the pretty girls to listen"). Then they're the embodiment of Need You Here by chapter 2,

Sugar Pills is basically capo!reader's old addiction phase and Dottore's current one lmao,

Lights Go Down gives off Scaramouche's vibes, edit: @yostressedoutgirl mentioned it's also Capo's relationship with Alhaitham and she's so right ("Pardon me if I forget your name" "Is that any way to talk to me?" "What a shame if you misspeak now")

Clusterhug feels like a conversation between them and Tighnari (especially the first stanza), and Razzmatazz is their perspective after he joined the fascists,

Mad IQ is definitely Alhaitham's song ("I'm a voluntary victim"),

And Cyno's definitely singing New Invention. Ain't no way that's not his theme (and maybe Kaveh's as well),

(((I still stand my ground that From The Gallows is Visconti Diluc's theme ("you're beautiful and evil too, sinister and vile.") That creepy and rose-colored devotion fits too well with his character here, especially since he doesn't know that capo!reader's sick.)))

Edit: She also suggested these for 1981 EP:

Bleed Magic can be Tighnari's overall theme, especially the "you never know a single thing about me until it's far too late" line,

Social Climber as Capo!Reader's first few months/years joining the mafia (could also be Alhaitham's if you interpret the "when I'm with you." part as Capo!Reader),

Choke plays during Rosalyne's death (and I think this is also one of the secret route's theme but shhh),

Absinthe in relation to Capo!Reader's addiction (rehab), and I also think this can also relate to Kaveh but hmm we'll see in chapter 4,

And Do It All The Time is "their peak to Capo-hood lmao as they spiral to the reality of their mortality" and no truer words have ever been spoken (plus I think this also fits Tartaglia, but ironically. "Then I'm taking your girl, and I'm making her mine." He did not, in fact, take the girl lololol–.)

[deadchovsky]

Ok nvm more yapping under the cut. Tumblr is my diary and baby, I'm writing in pink glitter gel. Ignore this <3

I'm formatting this like greentext bc its funny

Big Font.

😨

Ddo you like Wilbur soot. Cuz I do

Anyways:

>be me on NYE

>one of my friends asked me to take a picture out of this end of year video thing I post on my 15 subs youtube channel every year at the end of the year.

> he says because his phone screen is visible and hes worried about what's on it. Says it might be some rp server he was on at the time the picture was taken and thinks it could he embarrassing. (This is important remember this.)

>I zoom in on the picture, it literally looks like a black screen.

> he says hes still worried about someone seeing it

>okay whatever. I try my best to remove this picture that last for like 2 seconds out of a 15 minute long video. (Sidebar, this picture was already in a different video months ago and he was fine w it then and literally has never brought up removing it from that video once.)

> I save changes to the video

> "okay I think I got it, but there might be like .5 seconds of it still, bc YouTube's editing thing sucks"

> he says its fine, because it's a 15 minute long video and the longest that clip is in there for is like. A singular second.

> 2 months later

> be me

> this mf hasnt talked to me, or basically any of my friends since new years.

> guy literally dropped out of the play despite wanting to be in it since September

>guy is literally in all 4 of my classes and hasnt attended a single one since the second day of the semester.

>I'm walking around the school bc the gender neutral bathrooms are closed, so I'm going to the least scary girls bathrooms near the front of the school.

> guy and one of my friends show up and stop me in the hallway.

> friend: "hey guy needs to talk to you."

> me: "bro I have to piss rn can it wait"

> apparently not.

> Guy: "I know you don't understand why I feel this way" (most condescending tone possible)

> turns out changes didnt save in YouTube video and the picture is still in the video for literally 0.003% of the entire runtime.

> tells me to remove it because he thinks that he was "texting his mom about his attempt at the time"

> picture was taken a month before the attempt. also he told me it was the rp server the first time I tried to remove it.

> ok whatever. I say I'll remove the picture.

> interaction is very awkward(mind you we're standing in the middle of a high school hallway while hes telling me all this) I leave and go piss

> I go back to class after pissing

>friend (who was with guy) says that was the first time guys talked to her in a few weeks.

>I show her the picture on my phone, bc I feel like I'm going crazy. The phone literally only looks turned on bc you can see a slightly outline of a white keyboard. Not to mention the photo is BLURRY.

>friend confirms that you can't see fucking shit on the phone in the picture.

>thank god because I thought I was somehow wrong for thinking you cant see shit

Also, bro saw that video that the picture was in once, freaked out bc he thought you could see his rp server in it, then tried to tell me TWO MONTHS LATER (and almost 10 months AFTER the picture was taken and posted in a different video THAT HE SAW) that he was talking to his mom about a suicide attempt in there. I didnt even remember about that bro how tf did he manage to keep that in his brain for two fucking months. Get different meds you fucking dweeb like oh my god. Clearly whatever you're on now isnt working.

[aechteaseawb]

obligatory notes on the creation of masked rider unmasked fic. this is an entire long nightmare so strap in

Part One: Why

I dunno. I saw the fuuto tantei trailer and got way too many mixed feelngs. Yes I want it to be a success but no I don't want it to be a success. I want new fans to like shoutarou but I don't want them liking that shoutarou who [MINOR FUUTO TANTEI SPOILERS] leaves the double driver at home just to prove a point of not needing philip EVEN THOUGH WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS IN THE TV SHOW UGH you can't make a sequel and then reset his progress c'mon! [SPOILERS OVER] That is not the man I fell in love with I shall not acknowledge him.

so the w brainworms start infesting my head. fuck it, time to write some married detectives being Extra Married

Part Two: Hubris

I've been self-learning html, and we all know ao3 uses html. And i thought, hey! Let's write a fic with one of those fancy formatting that makes 'em look like social media pages! So I sat down and wrote a very very ugly page w/ my very limited knowledge on html. But it wasn't too bad! It was pretty cool-looking actually, and could work out really nice! I go to ao3, and I discover that they don't support inline css. I despair.

Part Three: Giving In

I cave and looked up a reference on how to make your ao3 page look like a reddit post. Then I spent some time learning a little more css and I modified it. I also changed how the title looks in the story through the method of this guide. I learned how to style buttons and gave it a shot like so:

I've completed my very first workskin.

Part Four: Trial and Error

AO3 does this little thing and it's that it sometimes will add lines of html by itself without telling you first. Kind of like an autocorrect. But we all know autocorrect's problems, and ao3 is not perfect with it either. It keeps adding empty paragraphs that makes the whole story stretch out wayyyyy too long, and I have to manually adjust everything back to how they're supposed to be like. Very tedious, very tiring.

Part Five: Gimmicks

Initially when I wrote the story on my own laptop, there was supposed to be a cute interactive thing with the poll. Like this.

But ao3 doesn't support it, so I tried to play with css as well, to no avail. I thought about following a guide on how to make a choose your own adventure fic on ao3, but I couldn't modify it to a way that makes me happy about it, so I left it out and only styled the buttons themselves.

Part Six: It's Up, I'm Out

I spent the most of thrusday night and friday afternoon + evening trying to fix the format alone. It was an awful awful experience, and though I did learn some cool new stuff, I would never recommend this to anyone. Seriously, don't do this to yourself. It's not worth it. As I've said before I will not be fixing any mistakes the fic might have, because I can't go through the hellish editing process again. If I edit it, ao3 will no doubtedly mess up the html again and I really don't want to deal with it. I will sooner delete the story entirely than fix it.

I put a lil Next time on: at the end of the story but I will never write it, ever.

And that was my journey.

[dragmiire]

DINNER DONE, TIME FOR THOUGHTS

i liked this game! i will not take it as canon, because... obvious reasons! it is a divergent timeline completely set off the course from the original botw, which is a bit of a bummer. i had been wanting a true prequel, but yknow, i also wanted a true prequel i could explore, so i’ll be fine w/ this not being that on account of it never being able to give me an open world.

it was a neat fanfiction tbh.

honestly, i liked the contrast between botw, which felt very lonely--a hero’s journey flown solo, enduring hardships and carving out your own path without much, if any, aid from outside sources. whereas aoc, you always had allies with you, who rallied around you and boosted you up. i am STILL mad that sooga is apparently(?) dead. it seems there isn’t anything else post-game wise besides reviving terrako that might lead to more stories that’ll hint at him being alive. imma still hold out hope that maybe in a dlc he’ll return, bcuz if we ain’t killing rhoam, neglectful father of the year, then why sooga??

astor also disappointed me exclusively in his lack of relevance. i don’t know if it is simply because this isn’t a “”true”” mainline zelda game in a traditional sense, but i would’ve liked to have seen more of his presence in the story. him getting absorbed into ganon though was WILD, 10/10 enjoyed seeing sooga’s warning that u can’t control ganon come to life as rat man gets his shit destroyed.

im currently scrolling thru post-game missions rn and honestly... i don’t rly care for this map music. it feels like i should be done with the game, rather than continuing to play on--or like i should be watching the credits rolling?? idk, this is a personal preference.

ganon’s final form?? i liked it!! i’m a basic bitch though and i can already tell ppl are going to find it incredibly boring when compared to dynamic nasty spider ganon was, but honestly, i just like the sign that nintendo is at least... thinking about human-shaped ganondorf??? pls god give us human man?? i did NOT expect the evil egg to become... that. i won’t be pushing harbinger ganon on here in my goofy egg verse on account of his final form being VERY spoiler-y, but in maybe a month or later, depending on ppl’s comfort levels (i’ll put out a poll!) ill see about doing some edgy aoc verse stuff.

overall, to repeat what i’ve been saying... good game! very fun! my nitpicking is really just that, nitpicking and personal preferences. i’m just excited that i can now see everybody else’s thoughts as i don’t need to rly avoid spoilers anymore (i don’t super care about being surprised post-game) and just be DONE.

i’m honestly happy too that this game didn’t frustrate me like i thought it might in terms of story. it was just so wildly divergent while still keeping fun, it was easy to just... accept it isn’t canon and move on. i WILL be mad, however, if they try to tie this game to botw2 or in general imply it has a place connecting to canon games.  it is a fanfiction, nintendo.

EDIT: also am i the only one who got like majora’s wrath vibes from ganon’s final form it was all i could think about

[bountyofbeads]

I Worked for Alex Jones. I Regret It. https://nyti.ms/2PiTeFr

This piece by former InfoWars "video reporter" (?) Josh Owens reveals all the insanity you'd expect but also the pathetic sadness of those who continue to enable, peddle, and profit from his malicious lies.

Confession is good for the soul, but I'm trying to get my head around the fact that the author continued to work for Alex Jones for several YEARS after the latter made his vile claims about Sandy Hook.

Josh Owens was drawn to #InfoWars while "vulnerable, angry & searching for direction"; after 4 years w/Alex Jones, he saw "virulent nature of his world." Read if you can stomach Jones' deeply disturbing behavior. This model has infected right-wing media.

Josh Owens is a seriously good writer. Too bad he didn't make the subject of this piece himself. Why was he angry, why did he stay with Jones so long, how did he feel as he did his work? These unexamined questions are the heart of the story, not how disturbed a plainly disturbed man Jones is.

"Owens admits that his personal mental and emotional issues led him to Jones. We should be glad for him, that he found the strength to recognize it, address it, and walk away from a bad situation. Owens shouldn't be vilified for his past mistakes, but celebrated for his return. Prodigal son, no? But forgiveness does not imply absolution."

"This can't be the end of the road. As he is responsible for a lot of anguish and grief. Is he even an accessory to murder? The pain that he enabled will live on in families for decades and become part of our national fabric. How does he intend to make amends? This written catharsis is a good first step, but it's only a first step. Is he the little girl in the airplane, seeing the world for the first time? What does he intend to do with this revelation, and fix the damage he has done?"

"At 23, Josh Owens quit film school to work as a video editor for Alex Jones. This is his account of the years he spent within the Infowars empire." /1

"At first, he found it easy to brush off Alex Jones’s fever dreams as eccentricities and excesses. But he eventually found that he had his limits." /2

"Once, at a private ranch, Owens said, Alex Jones picked up an AR-15 and accidentally fired it in the writer’s direction. The bullet hit the ground about 10 feet away from him, he recalled. Jones claimed he had intentionally fired the gun as a joke, he said."/3

“Over time, I came to learn that keeping Jones from getting angry was a big part of the job, though it was impossible to predict his outbursts,” he writes."/4

“There was a time when I shared his anger. In fact, I was still angry. But this is where we differed: I wasn’t angry with others; I was angry with myself. And once I realized that, it was easier to walk away”/5

I WORKED FOR ALEX JONES. I REGRET IT.

I dropped out of film school to edit video for the conspiracy theorist because I believed in his worldview. Then I saw what it did to people.

By Josh Owens | Published Dec. 5, 2019 | New York Times Magazine | Posted December 6, 2019 |

On Election Day 2016, I sat in the passenger seat of Alex Jones’s Dodge Hellcat as we swerved through traffic, making our way to a nearby polling place. As Jones punched the gas pedal to the floor, the smell of vodka, like paint thinner, wafted up from the white Dixie cup anchored in the console. My stomach churned as the phone I held streamed live video to Facebook: Jones rambling about voter fraud and rigged elections while I stared at the screen, holding the camera at an angle to hide his double chin. It rarely worked, but I didn’t want to be blamed when he watched the video later.

Four years earlier, Jones — wanting to expand his website, Infowars, into a full-blown guerrilla news operation and hoping to scout new hires from his growing fan base — held an online contest. At 23, I was vulnerable, angry and searching for direction, so I decided to give it a shot. Out of what Infowars said were hundreds of submissions, my video — a half-witted, conspiratorial glance at the creation and function of the Federal Reserve — made it to the final round.

Unconvinced I could cut it as a reporter, Jones offered me a full-time position as a video editor. I quit film school and moved nearly a thousand miles to Austin, Tex., fully invested in propagating his worldview. By the time I found myself seated next to Jones speeding down the highway, I had seen enough of the inner workings of Infowars to know better.

Before we left the office, Jones instructed me to title the video “Alex Jones Denied Right to Vote” when uploading to YouTube. He knew before we left that they wouldn’t let us walk into a polling location with our cameras rolling. I don’t think Jones even intended to vote. Rather, he hoped to turn this into a spectacle, an insult to him personally, another opportunity to play the self-aggrandizing victim.

“Look at this great city shot,” he said pointing out the window at Austin’s skyline. As soon as I pulled the camera off him, he reached for the white Dixie cup. Is this really how I’m going to die? I thought to myself, imagining the scene: Jones veering too close to the guardrail, ranting about George Soros and Hillary Clinton. Sirens echoing in the distance, flashing lights reflecting off oil-soaked pavement as he grabs the camera and utters his final words, “Hillary ... rigged ... the car.” His listeners would have believed it. Years earlier, I would have believed it.

Fortunately, there were no sirens or flashing lights, and I was relieved when “Vote Here” signs began to appear. A line stretched out the door of the polling place, in a local strip mall, by the time we arrived. As I expected, Jones was told multiple times that he couldn’t film at a polling place, and he decided to leave. Walking back to the car, still taking sips from his white cup, he began noticeably slurring his words. A friend of Jones’s who tagged along — for “security purposes” — offered to give me a ride back to the office. Jones revved his engine, tires squealing as he sped out of the parking lot.

I began listening to Jones’s radio show — the flagship program of what is now a conspiracist media empire with an audience that until recently surpassed a million people — in the last days of George W. Bush’s presidency. The American public had been sold a war through outright fabrications; the economy was in free fall thanks to Wall Street greed and the failure of Washington regulators. Most of the mainstream media was caught flat-footed by these developments, but Jones seemed to have an explanation for everything. He railed against government corruption and secrecy, the militarization of police. He confronted those in power, traipsed through the California redwoods to expose the secretive all-male meeting of elites at Bohemian Grove and even appeared in two Richard Linklater films as himself, screaming into a megaphone.

But it wasn’t the politics that initially drew me in. Jones had a way of imbuing the world with mystery, adding a layer of cinematic verisimilitude that caught my attention. Suddenly, I was no longer a bored kid attending an overpriced art school. I was Fox Mulder combing through the X-Files, Rod Serling opening a door to the Twilight Zone, even Rosemary Woodhouse convinced that the neighbors were members of a ritualistic cult. I believed that the world was strategically run by a shadowy, organized cabal, and that Jones was a hero for exposing it.

I had my limits. I can’t say I ever believed his avowed theory that Sandy Hook was a staged event to push for gun control; to Jones, everything was a “false flag.” I didn’t believe that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama smelled like sulfur because of their proximity to hell or that Planned Parenthood was run by “Nazi baby killers.” But it was easy to brush off these fever dreams as eccentricities and excesses — not the heart of the Alex Jones operation but mere diversions.

Once I started working there, however, it became obvious that one was impossible to separate one from the other. Soon after I was hired, Jones’s Infowars-branded store — which sells emergency-survival foods, water filters, body armor and much more — introduced an iodine supplement, initially marketed as a “shield” against nuclear fallout. Still learning the ropes, I was tasked with creating video advertisements for the supplement, which he ran on his online TV show. One of these ads started with a shot of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as it exploded. I doubled the sound of the explosion, adding a glitch filter and sirens in the background for dramatic effect. Jones stood over my shoulder as I edited. “This is great,” he said. “See if you can find flyover footage of Chernobyl as well.”

Shortly after Jones began selling the supplements, someone posted a video on YouTube holding a Geiger counter displaying high radiation readings on a beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The video went viral, stoking fears that radiation from Fukushima was drifting across the Pacific Ocean. Jones saw an opportunity and sent me, along with a reporter, a writer and another cameraman, to California. We had multiple Geiger counters shipped overnight, unaware of how to read or work them, and drove up the West Coast, frequently stopping to check radiation levels. Other than a small spike in Half Moon Bay — which the California Department of Public Health said was from naturally occurring radioactive materials, not Fukushima — we found nothing.

Jones was furious. We started getting calls from the radio-show producers in the office, warning us to stop posting videos to YouTube stating we weren’t finding elevated levels of radiation. We couldn’t just stop, though; Jones demanded constant real-time content. On some of these calls, I could hear Jones screaming in the background. One of the producers told me they had never seen him so angry.

We scrambled to find something, anything we could report on. We tested freshly caught crab from a dock in Crescent City, Calif., and traveled to the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in Avila Beach, asking fishermen if we could test the small croakers they caught off a nearby pier. We even tried to locate a small nuclear-waste facility just so we could capture the Geiger counter displaying a high number. But we couldn’t find what Jones wanted, and after two weeks of traveling from San Diego to Portland, we flew back to Texas as failures, bracing for Jones’s rage. (Jones did not respond to detailed queries sent before publication by The Times Magazine.)

Over time, I came to learn that keeping Jones from getting angry was a big part of the job, though it was impossible to predict his outbursts. Stories abounded among my co-workers: The blinds stuck, so he ripped them off the wall. A water cooler had mold in it, so he grabbed a large knife, stabbed the plastic base wildly and smashed it on the ground. Headlines weren’t strong enough; the news wasn’t being covered the way he wanted; reporters didn’t know how to dress properly. Once a co-worker stopped by the office with a pet fish he was taking home to his niece. It swam in circles in a small, transparent bag. When Jones saw the bag balanced upright on a desk in the conference room, he emptied it into a garbage can. On one occasion, he threatened to send out a memo banning laughter in the office. “We’re in a war,” he said, and he wanted people to act accordingly.

I also saw Jones give an employee the Rolex off his own wrist, simply because he thought the employee was mad at him. “Now, would a bad guy do that?” Jones asked as he handed over the watch. Once, when I went to interview a frequent guest of Jones’s, I was sent with a check to cover a potentially lifesaving cancer treatment. A few times I came close to quitting, and like clockwork, just before I pulled the plug, I received a bonus or significant raise. I hadn’t discussed my discontent with Jones, but he seemed to sense it.

Jones often told his employees that working for him would leave a black mark on our records. To him, it was the price that must be paid for boldly confronting those in power — what he called the New World Order or, later, the deep state. Once my beliefs began to shift, I saw the virulent nature of his world, the emptiness and loathing in many of those impassioned claims. But I was certain that after four years working for Jones, I would never be able to get another job — banished into poverty as penance for my transgressions, and rightly so.

When Jones wanted to blow off steam, we would travel to a private ranch outside Austin to shoot guns. Among other firearms, we would bring the two Barrett .50-caliber rifles he kept stashed in the office. Because we never missed an opportunity to create more content, we also brought along cameras to turn whatever happened into a segment for his show.

I remember one trip in particular. It was the summer of 2014, and I rode to the ranch in the back of a co-worker’s truck, surrounded by semiautomatic rifles, boxes of ammunition and Tannerite, an explosive rifle target. A few of us left early in the morning, arriving before Jones to film B-roll and load magazines; he had no patience for preparation. When he came hours later, after eating a few handfuls of jalapeño chips, he picked up an AR-15 and accidentally fired it in my direction.

The bullet hit the ground about 10 feet away from me. One employee, who was already uncomfortable around firearms, lost it, accusing Jones of being careless and flippant. This was one of the few times I saw someone call Jones out and the only time he didn’t get angry in response. He claimed he had intentionally fired the gun as a joke — as if this were any better.

I stood by silently, considering what might have happened if the gun had been pointed a little to the right. After a while the upset employee let it go, and no one brought it up again. We cracked open a few more beers, filled an old television with Tannerite and blew it up.

One weekend, a few people from the office went hunting at a game reserve. On the following Monday, I was handed a hard drive full of video files and told to edit them for Jones to air on his show later in the week. “There are clips in here that are pretty bad, things we don’t want to get out, so let me take a look at this before we upload it,” one of my managers said.

The first video I clicked on came from a cellphone. The camera pans across a blood-covered floor in what looked like a garage. Dead animals were scattered about: eyes lifeless, tongues hanging from their mouths, crimson streaks splashed on their fur.

In another video, a bison grazed quietly in the shade of a large tree; it reminded me of a tableau at the American Museum of Natural History. Then the camera panned over to Jones, maybe 20 yards away, holding what looked like a handgun. Jones began firing at the bison, tufts of hair flying with every hit. The animal remained standing as Jones shot round after round. Finally, the hunting guide yelled at Jones to stop and handed him a high-caliber rifle. Jones took a moment to make sure the cameras were still recording and fired a few more rounds as the animal finally collapsed.

I shared a large room with three other employees, and Jones often walked into our office after he wrapped for the day. His first question was always “How was the show?” If anyone said it was great — someone, if not everyone, always said it was great — his response was the same. “Really?” he would say, moving over to their side of the room. “Did you really think it was great? What did you like about it?”

Working for Jones was a balancing act. You had to determine where he was emotionally and match his tone quickly. If he was angry, then you had better get angry. If he was joking around, then you could relax, sort of, always looking out of the corner of your eye for his mood to turn at any moment.

Late one night, after an extended live broadcast, Jones walked into my office shirtless. This was normal; he removed his shirt frequently around us. He pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose from a storage cabinet and filled his cup. He stumbled into his private restroom, changed into a clean black polo shirt and stepped back into our office. “Hit me,” he said to an employee in the room. When the employee refused, Jones got louder, his face redder. “Hit me!” He kept saying it, getting closer each time. Finally, knowing Jones would never relent, the employee gave him a weak tap on the shoulder.

“Oh, come on,” he said, “hit me harder!”

The employee punched him hard in the shoulder. Jones grunted on impact, seeming to enjoy the pain. Then, it was his turn. Smirking, he planted his feet, reared back and lunged his body weight forward as his fist connected with the man’s arm. I could hear the dull thud of impact, then a wincing sigh. They traded a few more punches, each time seeming less playful. Jones became wild-eyed, spit flying from his clenched teeth as he exhaled. On his last hit, the sound was different. Wet. I thought I could hear the meat split open in the employee’s arm. Jones roared as he punched a cabinet, denting the door in. A few weeks later, I heard that Jones had broken a video editor’s ribs after playing the same game in a downtown bar.

Having aligned himself with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, Jones might now be considered a version of a conservative, but his perspective is much more complicated than that. Infowars was like a lot of digital-media outlets, in that we reported on the things our top editor thought would go viral. But because our boss was Alex Jones, this was a peculiar process. Assignments were often handed down live on the air during his show. We were to have it playing throughout the office, always listening for directives. Ideas for stories mostly came from what other news outlets reported. Jones wanted us to “hijack” the mainstream media’s coverage and use it to our advantage. If it fit into the Infowars narrative, it played.

When I wasn’t at the office, I spent much of my time traveling for Jones. I inhaled the tear gas in Ferguson, Mo., during the Black Lives Matter protests, retching as I hid with protesters, corralled by cops in riot gear. I stood next to armed cowboys and ranch hands as they faced off against the Bureau of Land Management to retrieve Cliven Bundy’s cattle in Nevada. I had dinner with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, at his home in Phoenix and spent a weekend at the compound of Jim Bakker, the televangelist who spent time in prison for fraud. Jones’s instinctual desire to distance himself from the mainstream led us to unusual and sometimes dark places.

In December 2015, the day before Jones interviewed Donald Trump, still a candidate at the time, on his radio show, I made my way to upstate New York on assignment, along with a reporter and second cameraman. We were sent to visit Muslim-majority communities throughout the United States to investigate what Jones instructed us to call “the American Caliphate.” After the California Geiger-counter debacle, we had meetings with Jones before trips in order to ascertain exactly what he wanted. If we “hit some home runs,” he said, we would get significant bonuses.

We landed in Newark at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2015. The first stop was Islamberg, a Muslim community three hours north of Manhattan. It was founded in the 1980s by mostly African-American followers of a Pakistani cleric named Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, who encouraged devotees of his conservative brand of Sufi Islam to establish small settlements across the rural United States. Gilani was suspected of association with the organization Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which was briefly designated as a terrorist group by the State Department in the 1990s; Gilani has denied any connection to the group. His followers in Islamberg had no record of violence, and some of them had denounced the Islamic State in an interview with Reuters earlier that year, saying they didn’t believe Islamic State members to be real Muslims. But unfounded rumors circulated around far-right corners of the internet that this community was a potential terrorist-training center. Jones, who thought the media consistently ingratiated themselves with Islamic extremists, believed them.

We pulled in, unannounced, to a dirt drive leading to the community, stopping at a flimsy cattle gate guarded by two men. The reporter, wearing a hidden camera, approached the entrance as we filmed the interaction from the vehicle. The men were calm and polite, if a little suspicious — reasonable given the circumstances. They denied our entry into Islamberg but took our number and told us we could return after they verified who we were.

It was only later, after listening to the audio from the reporter’s hidden camera, that I heard what he told the two men guarding the gate. “Basically, what we do is, we go around, and we do videos debunking claims of stuff,” the reporter said. “The word is, people say this is some kind of training camp, so we wanted to come in and get some footage and kind of put that whole rumor to rest.”

He gave them his real name — a name that, with a quick Google search, would lead back to Infowars, with its headlines like “Inside Sources: Bin Laden’s Corpse Has Been on Ice for Nearly a Decade,” “Special Report: Why Obama Brought Ebola to U.S. Exposed” and “VIDEO: ‘Demon’ Caught on Camera During Obama Visit?” Those headlines could be described by many words, but none of them would be “debunking.”

Because of the conspiracy theories about the place, Islamberg was a constant target of right-wing extremists. That April, a Tennessee man was arrested and later convicted of plotting to raise a militia to burn Islamberg’s mosque to the ground. Only days before we arrived, the F.B.I. issued an alert to law enforcement to be on the lookout for a man named Jon Ritzheimer, the leader of an anti-Muslim movement in Arizona who posted a video threatening violence against Muslims less than two weeks earlier. In the video, he brandished a handgun, saying: “I’m urging all Americans across the U.S. everywhere in public, start carrying a slung rifle with you, everywhere. Don’t be a victim in your own country.”

So the phone call we received later that night from a law-enforcement agent shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The officer who contacted us said he simply wanted to verify who we were after receiving a concerned call from someone in Islamberg. We told Jones about it, and he chose to believe the call was a veiled threat, an attempt to intimidate us into silence. To him, this verified that we were onto something. He even went so far as to include Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, in the purported conspiracy, claiming he wanted to abolish the Second Amendment — and that somehow intimidating us would achieve that.

Jones told us to file a story that accused the police of harassment, lending credence to the theory that this community contained dangerous, potential terrorists. I knew this wasn’t the case according to the information we had. We all did. Days before, we spoke to the sheriff and the mayor of Deposit, N.Y., a nearby municipality. They both told us the people in Islamberg were kind, generous neighbors who welcomed the surrounding community into their homes, even celebrating holidays together.

The information did not meet our expectations, so we made it up, preying on the vulnerable and feeding the prejudices and fears of Jones’s audience. We ignored certain facts, fabricated others and took situations out of context to fit our narrative, posting headlines like:

Drone Investigates Islamic Training Center

Shariah Law Zones Confirmed in America

Infowars Reporters Stalked by Terrorism Task Force

Report: Obama’s Terror Cells in the U.S.

The Rumors Are True: Shariah Law Is Here!

Our next stop was Hamtramck, a Muslim-majority city embedded within Detroit that alarmists in neighboring communities called Shariahville. As we headed west, my phone vibrated, and a news alert appeared on the screen. There were reports that a mass shooting that week in San Bernardino, Calif., had been perpetrated by Islamic extremists, making it at the time the deadliest Islamic attack in the United States since Sept. 11.

I knew that when the details emerged, they would substantiate the lies we pushed to Jones’s audience. It didn’t matter if the attack took place on the other side of the country or if the people in Islamberg had no connection to the perpetrators in San Bernardino. Jones’s listeners would draw imaginary lines between the two, and we were helping them do it.

I quit working for Jones on April 7, 2017. When offered another job, an introductory position with a 75 percent pay cut, I jumped at the opportunity. Instead of giving two weeks’ notice, I left in three hours. Jones had gone home for the day, so I didn’t speak with him in person. I said goodbye to co-workers and managers, handed over my company credit card and hoped that would be the end of it. Two nights later, I received a call from Jones: “Let me tell you a little secret,” he said in his gravelly voice. “I don’t like it anymore, either.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I don’t want to do it anymore,” he said, “and I got all these people working for me, and you know, then I feel guilty. I don’t want to do it. You think I want to keep doing this? I haven’t wanted to do this for five years, man.” I sensed that he was pandering, but I couldn’t help thinking that for the first time since I started this job, Jones and I finally had something in common. Sure, there was a time when I shared his anger. In fact, I was still angry. But this is where we differed: I wasn’t angry with others; I was angry with myself. And once I realized that, it was easier to walk away. When I left, I tried to put myself in his shoes, to figure out why he said and did the things he did. At times I saw a different side to Jones, one that was vulnerable, desiring validation and acceptance. Then he would say something so vile and callous it became impossible to look past it.

Even though I was no longer beholden to Jones for financial security, I couldn’t be honest about how I felt. I was to blame for my actions, unequivocally, and yet I resented Jones for creating an environment of rage, fear and confusion that diminished discernment, increased self-doubt and left me feeling as if my brain had short-circuited. I wanted to say these things to Jones, but I didn’t.

He offered to double my pay, suggested I work remotely and even proposed funding a feature-length film of my own. I said it wasn’t about money and turned him down. To this day, I still don’t know why he wanted to keep me around. He said it was because he cared about me, but if I had to guess, I would say his main concern was losing control.

The next morning, he called numerous times, and then again that evening. I let the calls go to voice mail.

There wasn’t a single moment that persuaded me to leave, but there was a turning point: a moment that stuck with me long after it happened. I thought of it as I sat next to Jones speeding recklessly down the highway on Election Day, when I walked out of the office for the last time and when I decided to sit down and write this article.

It was early morning, and we were headed back to Austin after the trip that began in Islamberg. As we boarded our flight, I took my window seat close to the rear of the plane. An older woman wearing a hijab sat next to me. With her was a young girl, giddy with excitement, who bounced in the middle seat, holding a bag of pretzels. The woman leaned over and asked if I would let the girl sit by the window. “This is her first time on a plane,” she said. I agreed and moved my bag from under the seat.

I thought of the children who lived in Islamberg: how afraid their families must have felt when their communities were threatened and strangers appeared asking questions; how we chose to look past these people as individuals and impose on them more of the same unfair suspicions they already had to endure. And for what? Clickbait headlines, YouTube views?

As I sat on the aisle, the plane now lifting up into the pale blue sky, I glanced over at the little girl staring out the window in wonder, her face glowing from the light reflecting off the clouds. She was amazed, joyful, innocent, carefree and completely unaware of the world beneath her.

Josh Owens is a writer living in Texas. This is his first article for the magazine.

[nottodaylogic]

like, reblog, follow

Summary: It’s the social media AU you never wanted but got anyway! Starring: Roman, a writer gay! Virgil, an artist gay! Logan, a aesthetic/edit/headcanon/not-really-sure gay! Patton, a crafts gay! Continuity? Who’s she? Never heard of her. All we have is fluffy gays and bad attempts at everything else.

Word count: 19784 (THE LONGEST THING IVE EVER WRITTEN WOW)

Warnings: Gratuitous musical references, especially Be More Chill and Falsettos because they're my favorites and I'm trash, basic knowledge of them might be required? Also spoilers for Parks and Rec if anyone’s watching that right now, that happened apparently. Unrealistic depictions of online interactions/dating, probably. Panicking. Disappearing from the Internet. And, of course, lots of gay.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745062 (Ao3 deleted my formatting, words can’t do describe my annoyance, I’ll fix it later)

Ships: Prinxiety, Logicality, platonic lamp (every form, not gonna even try)

A/N: Well, we made it. I am happy (and relieved) to finally post this. This is my Big Bang ( @ts-storytime ) fic! It’s a weird format because my dream of making a Social Media AU has finally been realized. This is rEALLY LONG because I am a dumb child and thought, “it won’t be that bad!” It is. It is that bad.

My artist is @hghrules , they are fantastic, I’ll post a link to their part later! 

...later has become now, I’m screaming, https://hghrules.tumblr.com/post/177446248126/what-up-heres-my-ts-storytime-art-for check it outttt!

Virgil’s photos were taken by my amazing friend, she has an Instagram at @tofushoes_photography, if you like the photos please consider following her! 

And without further ado, let’s start this thing!

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces.tumblr.com

Princey!

Greetings, fair citizens! Thou mayest address me as Princey! I draw occasionally, as well as writing quite often. I am the gayest of the gay, forget this not!

———————

Logicallylo.tumblr.com

Logic.

Salutations. I am Logic, Lo if we are friends. He/him pronouns please, asexual homoromantic.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart.tumblr.com

99% anxiety, 1% mess

call me anxiety, or anx if you want. i draw. i’m a socially awkward mess. that’s all.

———————

Pattonhead.tumblr.com

Your happy pappy Pat!

Hiya, kiddos! I’m Pat, and I love puns, cute animals, and crafts! He/him, feeling ace pantastic as pawssible!!  Feel free to chat! :D

———————

Starbound-big-bang posted: After months of writers writing, artists preparing, and general anticipating, the writer/artist matchups have been made! Writers, show the artists everything you have so they can start. Artists, you can make as much or as little art as you like, but make sure it’s something you’d appreciate for 6 months of work.

Have fun!

1. @Veerleft — @perisureimace 2. @boundinboundinnrollin — @vectnxaer 3. @awkwardkitty — @veertrash 4. @disneynbroadwaynprinces — @anxiousanxietyart 5. @veertrash71 — @ilovegayrehearsal 6. @pastapastadad — @booksnstuff 7. @mewmewmew — @read-write-water 8. @mostlyhamilton — @drawing-n-art 9. @owlsareawesome — @becky-becca 10. @thefandomlife — @casey

Read more

———————

Anonymous asked: Hey, Princey! Oh my gosh I love your art??? And your fics are fantastic aahh???? Especially your collabs with LogicallyLo? How did you two meet?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: Thank you most kindly, Anon! Thou hast earned shiny Internet Golden Points! ‘Tis a long, thrilling tale, full of magic and danger! @logicallylo and I met when I rescued him from a vicious—

L: We’re brothers. That is the extent of the tale. Princey is exaggerating. As always. He is quite incorrigible.

P: You take the drama out of everything, dear Lo.

L: As the elder brother, it is my job.

P:  ANYWAYS, I introduced him to Starbound after listening to the musical soundtrack, and we read the books together. We became quite obsessed.

L: I also beta his fics. That is what brothers are for: so that they don’t make foolish spelling mistakes.

P: I do not?? Rude????

L: Sure. Lie to the Internet.

P: Everyone makes mistakes with these things!

L: I don’t.

P: October 24th, 20XX?

L: We agreed to never speak of this again. Thank you for asking, Anon.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: Greetings, Bounders! I humbly beg forgiveness for lack of content lately. I can, however, promise that that will change, very soon. No exact date yet, but keep your eyes peeled!

Veerleft replied: Dark Princey show us the Veer angst

Perisureimace replied: Ooh, can’t wait!

Veertrash71 replied: You literally posted a doodle yesterday. It hasn’t been that long…

———————

Anonymous asked: Hey there Princey! I really love your art, but I was wondering: what the heckety heck is Starbound? Thanks!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: Greetings, Nonny! Welcome to the Starbound fandom! We have red space gelatin and canon gays. Allow me to explain:

Starbound is a book-series-turned-musical-turned-almost-TV-show about space exploration and aliens with no concept of the gender binary. The cast of characters includes the protagonist, Peri, a part-human ace child who can kick some serious butt. There is also Vect, the bi/pan/is it bi if it’s in space/who even knows anymore disaster mechanic with some blaster talent. He used to date Peri, but now they’re the best platonic buds around. There’s also Xaer (Xay-eer), a pan cinnamon roll genderqueer fashion extraordinaire who has never even heard of the gender binary, zey are amazing and I love zem.

Veer is the ship Vect/Xaer. Need I say more? They are heavily coded gay and canonically queer, so it’s only a matter of time, I say.

To say any more would spoil stuff, so go read the books and listen to the musical and avoid the movie like the Black Plague and wait for Starbound: Awaken and the TV show while writing 50 tons of Veer fanfic like the rest of us!

———————

Pattonhead: Heya, Logic! I saw your concept art for a Murder Mystery Detectives Veer AU, and I was intrigued! I’m not that good at drawin’, but maybe I could make something? Or maybe just talk about it?

Logicallylo: Salutations, Pat. Please, call me Lo. Feel free to do whatever you like with my AUs, so long as you tag me in the finished product.

Pattonhead: Aw, thanks, Lo!

Logicallylo: You are very welcome. It is my pleasure.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Stop pondering the meaning of life and come eat dinner, nerd!

Logicallylo: On my way, prep.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know, you could have just typed omw?

Logicallylo: MYOB.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No one says that anymore

Logicallylo: MYOB.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Greetings, Anxiety! It has come to my attention that we have been paired up for the Starbound Big Bang!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I am Princey, it is a pleasure to meet you.

Anxiousanxietyart: umm… hi, Princey?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hello! Do you happen to have a Google Docs? I can share what I have with you so you can begin to do your drawing thing!

Anxiousanxietyart: um, yeah.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Splendid! Here’s the link: XXXXXXXXX

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Here’s to working with you, Anxiety!

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: patton why did i let you convince me to do this big bang thing, i had to meet a new person, why

Pattonhead: Now, kiddo, it’s just one new person. That’s progress! I’m really proud of you!

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, i guess?

Pattonhead: You have a lot of love to give, my child.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...okaaay then?

Pattonhead: You know I love you, you majestic and amazing sea otter giraffe, you.

Anxiousanxietyart: sea otter giraffe? that’s a new one

Pattonhead: ssh child sleep now

Anxiousanxietyart: ...it’s 2 pm

Pattonhead: s s h c h i l d s l e e p n o w :)

Anxiousanxietyart: ...okay then

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: P: So, recently, my good ol’ bro @logicallylo was an idiot, and he might have thrown his computer at a wall. It’s broken now. So he’ll be using mine for now. Because of this inconvenience, I have decided to take this opportunity to make it into a bonding excercise!

L: Bonding excercise?

P: Yes, just go with it Supernerd!

L: Essentially, you may now ask me and Princey questions, and we will answer them to the best of our ability.

P: So let’s do this thing!

———————

Anonymous asked: Are you two twins! Who’s older?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: L: I am the elder, and yes, we are twins.

P: But I’m taller!

L: Tallness has nothing to do with it. I’m older, I have always been older, I will always be older.

P: Sure, shortie.

———————

Veerleft asked: What’s your favorite Starbound book?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: P: TAKE OFF! It’s really fantastic, and very gay.

L: For once, I must agree with my brother. Yes, Take Off is the best, objectively.

———————

Perisureimace asked: Any pets?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: P: Verily!

L: ...verily?

P: Just roll with it. I have plans to procure a hamster, and will post a poll for names soon!

L: No pets here.

———————

Anonymous asked: Lo, what’s your favorite book? Princey, what’s your favorite musical?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces answered: P: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOW CAN I CHOOSE?! uMMMMMMMMM I’M REALLY INTO BE MORE CHILL RIGHT NOW, AND SINCE I’M IN A PRODUCTION OF FALSETTOS, THAT TOO?? YOU ARE TRULY EVIL ANON

L: I could not possibly pick one favorite book. There are simply too many to pick. That being said, I would be morally obligated to say that I am quite fond of detective novels, such as Sherlock Holmes and The Murder of Roger Ackwood.

P: ...that all could have been said in about 6 times less words…

L: Perhaps. However, unlike you, I prefer to use a great many words, as it shows my infinitesimal knowledge.

P: mhmm. Sure.

L: What does that mean?

P: oh, nothing! Nothing at all!

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: L: I have now procured a computer. You need not send any more questions, but thank you for the previous ones.

P: This was very fun! I thank you all most kindly, young Padawans!

———————

Anxiousanxietyart posted a photo: this is just a sketch i made. i was listening to silhouette by owl city and angst happened. i’m sorry in advance.

Veertrash71 replied: Wow I didn’t need my heart???

Veerleft replied: Why would you do this Anxietyyyyyyyy

———————

Pattonhead: Virge? You doin’ ok, kiddo?

Anxiousanxietyart: yeah, i’m fine, why?

Pattonhead: Just checkin’ in. Love you <3

Anxiousanxietyart: love you too <3

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yo, Anx!

Anxiousanxietyart: um, what’s happening?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So, my dude, if we are to work together for the Big Bang, we should know some more things about each other.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...okaaayyy?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Soooooooooo:

Anxiousanxietyart: sooooooooo?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Twentyyyy questionsssss!

Anxiousanxietyart: what.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know, twenty questions!

Anxiousanxietyart: how does guessing objects help to get to know a person?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What?

Anxiousanxietyart: what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No, I ask you a question about yourself, you answer, you ask me a question, and so on!

Anxiousanxietyart: ...i think we’re thinking of two different games here.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No kidding, Sir Glooms-a-lot

Anxiousanxietyart: what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It seemed to fit.

Anxiousanxietyart: well, you know me well enough if it seemed to fit. guess we don’t need to do the question thing.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No, we’re doing this!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’ll start us off:

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What’s your favorite color?

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Anxiousanxietyart: really?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes really!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Mine is red, specifically stage curtain red, although gold is suitably regal as well. What is your answer?

Anxiousanxietyart: um

Anxiousanxietyart: i like purple.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ah, purple! The color of kings!

Anxiousanxietyart: also black.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Let me guess, like your soul?

Anxiousanxietyart: no

Anxiousanxietyart: like the void where my soul would reside, if i were to still have one.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: …

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ooookaayyy. I asked for it.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Now you ask!

Anxiousanxietyart: are you bored or something?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: MASSIVELY.

Anxiousanxietyart: sorry, gotta go help out pat with something.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh, okay. See you later

Anxiousanxietyart: bye

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Can we do something? I’m really bored aahhh

Logicallylo: Could you bother someone else?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Anxiety left, and everyone else is offline, and my theatre friends are sick or busy

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Help me Logi-Wan Kenobi

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You’re my only hope

Logicallylo: Very well. Would you like to meet me in the kitchen?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: YES! 

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: did i mess it all up?

Pattonhead: Oh, kiddo.

Pattonhead: You didn’t mess anything up! You’re a sweet summer child and you could never mess anything up!

Anxiousanxietyart: i feel like i made him hate me. how could he not hate me after that?

Anxiousanxietyart:

why am i such a mess, patton?

Pattonhead: You just need to talk to him! Explain yourself! 

Pattonhead: And you’re not a mess! You’re Virgil Brava. You are an amazing, kind, loving person, and if you say one more self-deprecating thing I will physically fight you <3

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, pat. love you.

Pattonhead: Love you too <33

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: hey

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Greetings!

Anxiousanxietyart: sorry

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What for?

Anxiousanxietyart: it’s just

Anxiousanxietyart: i feel like we got off on the wrong foot, and i definitely should have phrased needing to go help feed the pets better, and i’ve been thinking about this slightly obsessively all day, and i

Anxiousanxietyart: i just felt like i owed you an apology or something.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hey, no biggie! Lo and I figured out how NOT to make cookies and instead make a huge mess of flour fight residue, so no harm done!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: (except to the kitchen. rip kitchen.)

Anxiousanxietyart: haha, thanks.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No problem.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I have to go now, but maybe we can finish 20 questions later?

Anxiousanxietyart: i’d love to.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: @logicallylo Trade-off poetry, go!

Logicallylo replied: I

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Saw

Logicallylo replied: It

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: In

Logicallylo replied: The

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Window

Logicallylo replied: And

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I

Logicallylo replied: Couldn’t

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Dismiss

Anxiousanxietyart replied: ...you guys are literally quoting bmc.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: ;)

Logicallylo replied: Wow.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: princey. you are the biggest nerd I’ve ever known, and i know lo.

Logicallylo replied: …he has a point.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Betrayal!! How could you do this?! I trusted you!!!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: do you know me.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:   You know BMC?!

Anxiousanxietyart: duh.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:   I can’t get any of my friends into it for some reason!

Anxiousanxietyart: maybe because “listen to this musical! it’s about a guy who takes a computer pill to boost his self-esteem but it takes over the school” is hard to promote?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: …a fair point to you.

Anxiousanxietyart: also, you have friends?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:   RUDE. Who else would put on Falsettos with me in a few weeks?

Anxiousanxietyart: who are you? jason?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ha ha, no. Too tall to be 13.

Anxiousanxietyart: maybe marvin, then. you’re self-obsessed enough, if nothing else.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Marvin is a wonderfully well-developed character, shush.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And I’m Whizzer!

Anxiousanxietyart: the one with the worst name.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Mendel. Weisenbachfeld.

Anxiousanxietyart: true.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Who would you play?

Anxiousanxietyart: trina. i’m always breaking down, it’d be easy.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I knew you were a (Michael) Well Of Despair, but no need for theatrics! Don’t say such things!

Anxiousanxietyart: we’re discussing musicals. with you, most dramatic of dramatic. theatrics are a given.

Anxiousanxietyart: also, too late :)))

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Nooooo! I’m forbidding you from saying bad things about yourself!

Anxiousanxietyart: you sound like pat.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Darn right I do! From now on, every time you say something bad about yourself, you have to come up with at least 3 good things.

Anxiousanxietyart: and if i don’t…?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’ll tell Pat and he’ll fight you. Heck, I’ll fight you!

Anxiousanxietyart: you couldn’t beat me in a fistfight. you’re too small.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces! Square up cutie, I have a black belt in karate and I’m not afraid to use it!

Anxiousanxietyart: hmm. really.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: does princey have a black belt in karate?

Logicallylo: Well, brown belt black stripe, so technically no. Why do you ask?

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, specs

Logicallylo: You are welcome, Eyeshadow^3

Anxiousanxietyart: …umm you should… probably work on your nicknames

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: you liar.

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: BETRAYAL! The karate studio closed the week before I was to get my black belt!

Anxiousanxietyart: details, details…

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: After I go fight Lo, wHO WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET HIS BELT BEFORE IT CLOSED, you’re next.

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m terrified. you’re so fierce.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Heck yeah I am!

Anxiousanxietyart: i was being sarcastic.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: rude.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted a photo: [photo] BEHOLD THE AS-OF-YET-UNNAMED HEIR TO THE KINGDOM, PRINCE HAMSTER! Help vote on his name! Here are the top cantidades as of right now: - Evan Hamsen - Alexander Hamsterton - Jeremy Heerester - Mendel Weisenbachham - Why do so many musical characters have last names with the first letter H? Opinions?

Veertrash71 replied: ALEXANDER HAMSTERTON

Logicallylo replied: You are not naming your hamster any of those.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Watch me.

Pattonhead replied: All these names are really ham-tastic!

Logicallylo replied: ...stop.

Pattonhead replied: :) no

Anxiousanxietyart replied: these are all simultaneously terrible and amazing. how.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: You all still have to VOTE…

Logicallylo replied: All of them are terrible.

Pattonhead replied: All of them are wonderful!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: nah.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: You are all the worst. I guess Alexander Hamsterton it is.

Veertrash71 replied: :D

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Thank you, Pat, for your help with finding hamster puns!

Pattonhead: My purr-leasure! :3

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Do you happen to have any more?

Pattonhead: Fur sure! Coming right ruff! :D

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m sure Lo would love for you to send him puns… :)

Pattonhead: Ooh that’s a pawsitively wonderful idea!

———————

Pattonhead: Fur reals, we need to talk more!

Logicallylo: …did you mean to send this to me?

Pattonhead: Yep, purr-etty sure you are the one :)

Logicallylo: I don’t like puns… why?

Pattonhead: Are you suuuure? That seems like a ruff decision to make.

Logicallylo: …

Logicallylo: Very sure.

Pattonhead: I coulda sworn you liked them… guess I was wrong…

Logicallylo: I am the wrong target for this. You are barking up the wrong tree.

Pattonhead: …

Logicallylo: Oh no.

Pattonhead: you mADE A PUN!!!!!!!!!!

Logicallylo: Unintentionally! This means nothing!

Pattonhead: I will get you to make more puns if it’s the last thing I do!

Logicallylo: We shall see.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: patton.

Pattonhead: Yes?

Anxiousanxietyart: you’re flirting.

Pattonhead: No?? I’m not???

Anxiousanxietyart: yes you were.

Pattonhead: What?

Anxiousanxietyart: never did I ever think I would see the day

Anxiousanxietyart: that Patton Spider

Anxiousanxietyart: my best friend and roommate

Anxiousanxietyart: flirts with someone

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m shocked.

Pattonhead: Who would I have possibly flirted with?

Anxiousanxietyart: with lo, of course.

Pattonhead: ...oh.

Pattonhead: Well, I wasn’t flirting with him!

Anxiousanxietyart: i saw your messages. that was flirting.

Pattonhead: ...you can’t prove anything!

Anxiousanxietyart: mm hmm. anyways, come over here. i have cookie dough. wanna make chocolate chip?

Pattonhead: Virgil. I love you so much. You know me so well!

Anxiousanxietyart: love you too pat.

———————

Pattonhead posted an image: Chocolate chip cookies with the best best friend in the world! <3 @anxiousanxietyart deserves the world and I’d give it to him if I could and he helped me make these so at least I can give him half of these cookies!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: no, you’re the best best friend in the galaxy, pat.

Pattonhead replied: I love you more than the stars and moons and universes.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: ...you win this time

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Those look really good??? I want one????

Anxiousanxietyart replied: too bad, princey :)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: whyyyyy

Anxiousanxietyart replied: :)

Pattonhead replied: Now, now, kiddos, be nice.

Logicallylo replied: Those do indeed look quite delicious, Pat.

Pattonhead replied: Aww, thanks Lo! :3

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Is that what you call flirting Logan?

Logicallylo: Shut up.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wrote a bit on the fic, check it out!

Anxiousanxietyart: um, okay.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: hey, so one question.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Bring it!

Anxiousanxietyart: did. you. make. a. little. mermaid. au???

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes, duh!

Anxiousanxietyart: ...well, if nothing else, it will be fun to draw.

Anxiousanxietyart: that being said, why.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It was fun! Also it fit really well! Thou mayest judge me, but that will be your loss!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Also, since I find the most plot holes (read: any) of any Disney movie in it, it is my sacred duty to fix them in this fic.

Anxiousanxietyart: i mean, it’s a good idea?????? it’s just not what i was expecting is all

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But of course, doing what others expect is not the Roman way!

Anxiousanxietyart: roman?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...Logan’ll kill me

Anxiousanxietyart: logan???

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Curse my loose lips! Ah look at that, tis time to leave! Places to be...

Anxiousanxietyart: your name... is roman?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...yes...

Anxiousanxietyart: that's a pretty name

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You think so?

Anxiousanxietyart: yeah

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: well, thanks, Anx.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...do i need to say my name? is that how it works?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No! You don’t have to!

Anxiousanxietyart: okay.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...maybe later, who knows.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: !!!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Of course, it’s only if you want to! It’s your decision!

Anxiousanxietyart: gtg, bye

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Goodbye, Anx.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Uhh, Logan? I think I did a mistake.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Logicallylo: Roman. You are an idiot.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I knoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What do I do now?

Logicallylo: Do I need to give you the Stranger Danger talk?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Please don’t.

Logicallylo: I won’t, but only because it would be more effective to tell you in person.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ughhhhhhhhh fiiiineeeeeeee. I know I deserve it. Kinda.

Logicallylo: ‘Kinda’?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Absolutely deserve it.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But he’s not a creepy stalker! He’s Anx!

Logicallylo: “Anx” could be a front in order to lure disaster gays to meeting with him in order to murder you or eat you or something.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: EAT me? Now, I know I seem delicious, but that seems just bizarre. I thought I was the creative one here!

Logicallylo: Oy vey.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And fear not, I will not be meeting with him anytime soon, if ever. Besides, there are possibly many Romans in this world, much less the US!

Logicallylo: That does seem reasonably logical… However, be careful. You never know what people’s motives are on the Internet.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yeah, alright.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And now…

Logicallylo: Roman. What are you doing.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ;)

Logicallylo: You are going to die.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Live a little, Logan!

Logicallylo: You can’t do if you’re dead.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:

Why.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: PAT! COME HITHER AT ONCE!

Pattonhead: Yes Princey?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Thou mayest call me Roman now.

Pattonhead: Oh okay!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And do you perchance like hamsters?

Pattonhead: All pets are valid!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Boom.

Pattonhead: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HE’S SO ADORABLKESJVABFHRSIHVIUHSDFIGJIRSTJHBG

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I know :)

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Your crush knows my name now.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Logicallylo: First of all, he is not my crush. I have no crush. I am unfeeling.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Nice try to the person who’s known you since you were sobbing because you lost your stuffed bee.

Logicallylo: I’m going to ignore that.

Logicallylo: Second of all, I hope I don’t have to explain to you why that was a terrible idea and if you get murdered in your bed, I won’t mourn you.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Pat won’t murder me in my bed. He’s too soft.

Logicallylo: Oh I meant by me. Out of anger at your stupidity.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: …

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Point taken.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But don’t my brave actions inspire you to do something about your situation?

Logicallylo: No. Not really.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Talk. To. Him.

Logicallylo: Why would I do that?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because he’s a soft puffball and he likes you.

Logicallylo: No he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know me. And I don’t know him. He could very well be 80 years old and wishing to murder me.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Not romantically! Not yet, at least.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: He likes you as a person! That means the spark for romance is there!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Besides, this is Pat you’re talking about. Biggest-puffball-in-the-universe Pat. Are you aware of the words exiting your fingertips?

Logicallylo: Oy vey.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: tALK TO HIM! IT IS YOUR DESTINY!

Logicallylo: ...fine.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: HUZZAH!

Logicallylo: Only because I know you will pester me until I do.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know me too well.

Logicallylo: I. Am. Your. Brother.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:

Okay, Darth.

———————

Logicallylo: So.

Logicallylo: Hello, Pat.

Pattonhead: Hiya Lo! :D

Logicallylo: How has your day been going?

Pattonhead: It’s been pretty good so far! Yours?

Logicallylo: It has been satisfactory.

Pattonhead: That’s… good?

Logicallylo: It is.

Pattonhead: Yay!

Logicallylo: ...so, how’s the weather where you are?

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: The weather? Really?

Logicallylo: Why are you still here? Why are you looking over my shoulder? ...why are you messaging me instead of talking?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because I can.

Logicallylo: But why?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because I can.

Logicallylo: Ugh.

———————

Pattonhead: It’s raining a little, but I don’t mind! Virgil and I are havin’ a lil movie night!

Logicallylo: That sounds nice. What movie(s) are you watching?

Pattonhead: Well, I say movie night. I really mean we’re rerererewatching Parks and Rec for the 45th Time.

Logicallylo: I see.

Pattonhead: It’s a good show!

Logicallylo: It is indeed. Where are you at?

Pattonhead: Season 3 :)

Logicallylo: What’s your favorite character?

Pattonhead: WHY DO YOU MAKE ME MAKE THESE IMPOSSIBLE DECISIONS LO?!?!

Logicallylo: Because I wish to know more about you.

Pattonhead: Oh.

Logicallylo: Yeah.

Pattonhead: Uhh, I would honestly die for Ann she is my child I love her

Pattonhead: Also Leslie in general? She’s just great?? AND tHE TRIPLETS!!!! I cried aah

Logicallylo: Ann is indeed a good character.

Pattonhead: :D

Logicallylo: Objectively, everything about Tom’s business strategies is terrible and ineffective and illogical. However, Roman appears to enjoy him to some extent, for what reasons I cannot fathom.

Logicallylo: Ron has earned my admiration, although the probability knowing how that happened is as unlikely as Mark Brendanawicz (how is his last name spelled again?) returning.

Pattonhead: Oh yeah I forgot about him! Aww I’m sorry now

Logicallylo: There is need to be. He was likely removed for a reason.

Pattonhead: Who’s your favorite character?

Logicallylo: …

Pattonhead: Hey, there’s no bad characters!

Logicallylo: ...while I do enjoy Ben (despite his infuriating refusals of perfectly logical job offers for Leslie, of all things), he is not my favorite character.

Pattonhead: Who is it? You can tell me!

Logicallylo: …

Logicallylo: Objectively, I respect the heck out of Jerry.

Pattonhead: That… is not what I was expecting.

Pattonhead: But Jerry is good too! He deserves love <3

Logicallylo: I agree, and when he got to be mayor it was quite satisfying.

Pattonhead: Virgil likes April, of course. He seems to find her relatable :)

Logicallylo: That makes sense.

Pattonhead: What about Roman?

Logicallylo: He is quite fond of “Treat yo self”, obviously.

Pattonhead: Ooh that’s good too!

Pattonhead: Oh! I gotta go now, Virgil’s looking at me weird.

Pattonhead: Talk to you later?

Logicallylo: Of course.

Pattonhead: YAY! See ya, Lo!

Logicallylo: ...Logan.

Pattonhead: ?

Logicallylo: You can call me Logan. That is my given name.

Pattonhead: Oh. I’m Patton!

Logicallylo: So your username is not a typo?

Pattonhead: Haha, nope! XD Night, Logan! <3

Logicallylo: Goodnight, Patton. I hope you sleep well.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: That went well ;)

Logicallylo: His name is Patton.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...you got his NAME?!

Logicallylo: His URL is a pun.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It wasn’t a typo?

Logicallylo: A self-referential pun.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Exactly your type, isn’t he?

Logicallylo: ...I am going away from you. I have no destination in mind. I simply need to exit your presence.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Rude.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wait, who the heckity heck five abs and a peck is Virgil?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Logan?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Didn't get that answer, huh?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ugh, nvm.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: patton, you’re not even paying attention.

Pattonhead: Sorry kiddo! I guess I’m a little distracted.

Anxiousanxietyart: there was a puppy onscreen. you didn't even look up, much less start screaming and crying as usual.

Pattonhead: ...a little distracted, that’s all.

Anxiousanxietyart: this isn’t distraction, this is straight up black magic.

Pattonhead: Kiddo, it’s you and me here. It cannot be straight up.

Anxiousanxietyart: true, but not the point.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...wait.

Pattonhead: What is it?

Anxiousanxietyart: you’ve been staring at your phone all night, smiling like

Anxiousanxietyart: ...oh.

Pattonhead: ??

Anxiousanxietyart: you’ve been talking to lo, haven’t you?

Pattonhead: ...yes, what about it?

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh Patton, you are not subtle at all.

Pattonhead: He messaged me, and we’ve been talking a lot, and he’s just really nice, that’s all!

Anxiousanxietyart: mm hmm…

Anxiousanxietyart: don’t lie. lying is wrong.

Pattonhead: I'm not lying!

Anxiousanxietyart: if you say so…

Pattonhead: I do say so!

Anxiousanxietyart: then come watch april be socially awkward and relateable in the corner

Pattonhead: Okay! :D

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wait, who the heckity heck five abs and a peck is Virgil?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Logan?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Didn't get that answer, huh?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ugh, nvm.

Anxiousanxietyart: ?!?!?!?!?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh, sorry Anx! I meant to send that to Logan.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...or logicallylo, since he seems to be telling everyone his name tonight.

Anxiousanxietyart: where the hell did you hear that name?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Uhh, while spying on my brother messaging with his crush, why?

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Anxiousanxietyart: no reason. i just know someone named virgil. that's all.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ah, okay.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So not because your name is Virgil?

Anxiousanxietyart: no

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m not a murderer, don’t worry. I will not use this information to find you and kill you.

Anxiousanxietyart: um.

Anxiousanxietyart: not reassuring.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What can I do to prove my identity?

Anxiousanxietyart: give me your full name? sell me your soul? sign an oath in blood that you are prince roman of singalongland?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: YOU might murder ME if I give you my full name, I already sold my soul, and how would you know it was my blood?

Anxiousanxietyart: you could take a video of you signing it?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: OF COURSE! A SELFIE!

Anxiousanxietyart: eww no.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: eWW YES!

Anxiousanxietyart: why.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You cannot dissuade me now! It is too late!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But you must take one too, so as to prove I’m not sending my beautiful visage to a random 80 year old man named Chuck.

Anxiousanxietyart: i… haven’t ever taken a selfie before… and i'm not a random 80 year old man named chuck...

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Well, I am a champ in the Great Selfie Game, so you may learn from a mASTER!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And I'll believe it when I see it, CHUCK.

Anxiousanxietyart: Okay, but until I see you, you can't prove you’re not an 80 year old woman named gertrude, so you have to go first.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m not an 80 year old woman named GERTRUDE!

Anxiousanxietyart: Whatever you say, gertrude.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Logan help me

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh wait you’re asleep

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So if I get murdered because of this, it’s your fault okay

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: For not stopping me I mean.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: patton help i don’t know how to selfie

Pattonhead: Kiddo, it’s late? I thought you were going to sleep now?

Anxiousanxietyart: sleep is for the weak.

Anxiousanxietyart: also, i might have promised roman a selfie…

Anxiousanxietyart: help.

Pattonhead: Why would you do that?

Anxiousanxietyart: i have a death wish

Pattonhead: KIDDO NO

Anxiousanxietyart: also because i'm weak and gay

Pattonhead: Don't talk bad about yourself!

Anxiousanxietyart: that’s not talking bad about myself…

Pattonhead: Anyways, I will help you with taking a selfie!

Anxiousanxietyart: Thanks, pat.

Pattonhead: Np! :D

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I HAVE RETURNED FROM TAKING THE SELFIE OF YOUR DREAMS AND AM READY TO RECEIVE THE SELFIE OF MINE!

Anxiousanxietyart: um. it’s hardly that.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Nonsense! I’m sure you look as fantastic as you are inside!

Anxiousanxietyart: uhh.

Anxiousanxietyart: can you go first?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Absolutely!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ta-da!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Feast upon my glorious visage!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...Virgil?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You there?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wow I can’t believe my stunning good looks actually killed a man

———————

Pattonhead: Kiddo, what was that thunk?

Anxiousanxietyart: i'm gay.

Pattonhead: Hi gay, I'm Patton!

Anxiousanxietyart: can you come here?

Pattonhead: We’re in the same room, Virge.

———————

"Patton please burn my phone I can't stand to see such magnificence."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

Virgil held up his phone, blushing furiously. There was the picture that had murdered him. The brown and green eyes that had captured him. The reddish brown hair that he wanted to run his hands through. The smirk on his face that he wanted to ki...

"If you ever cared about me, you will get rid of this picture of Roman so I can stop looking at it." His face was as red as Roman’s magnificent locks.

Patton looked smug. Too smug. "Sorry, kiddo, but nope."

"Dangit!"

Virgil fell over sideways on the bed, groaning, face flushing. Patton patted his head comfortingly.

Suddenly, Virgil shot up. “OH MY GOSH I NEVER RESPONDED!”

He lunged for his phone.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: you are really wow.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It took you 25 minutes to say that? My self esteem is pretty high already but wow, you could have warned me.

Anxiousanxietyart: no, like good wow.

Anxiousanxietyart: like stunning wow.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Thanks.

Anxiousanxietyart: i only speak the truth.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’d hope so!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Okay, Chuck, your turn?

Anxiousanxietyart: okay um so i’m not as pretty as you or anything or at all but um here you asked for it

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: i know i took like half an hour to respond but honestly please don’t.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Um

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wow

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You’re kind of really stellar, you know that?

Anxiousanxietyart: i most certainly am not!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You most certainly are! Beauty calls to beauty!

Anxiousanxietyart: wow.

———————

Roman gasped openly at the sight of such beauty, and didn't care if Logan heard him or not.

The purple and black hoodie covered part of the boy's face, but even in the dark room, Roman could still make out his utter splendor. His dark brown-black hair was dyed a brilliant purple, and it partially covered his eyes, which were a stunning indigo color. Black eyeshadow was smeared beneath them too carelessly to be truly careless. He had a small, almost shy smile on his face, and beneath the white foundation, were those...

"FRECKLES?!" He yelled in surprise and delight.

"ROMAN WHAT THE ACTUAL CROFTERS."

Oops.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So my brother is awake now.

Anxiousanxietyart: ???

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I screamed upon seeing you and woke him up.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oops.

Anxiousanxietyart: well there goes the last of my self esteem

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No, good scream! Very good scream!

Anxiousanxietyart: oh

Anxiousanxietyart: um

Anxiousanxietyart: okay

Anxiousanxietyart: wait what time is it for you?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Like 1 am-ish?

Anxiousanxietyart: same here, but go to hecking sleep!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Says you!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Fiiiiiiiine. But only to appease the angry monster of a brother woken from his (much-needed, if I may say so) beauty sleep.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Goodnight, Virgil. Sleep well.

Anxiousanxietyart: night, ro.

———————

Logicallylo: Why was I the only one to get any sleep last night?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh let me sleep

Logicallylo: You woke me up, I wake you up.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Why.

Logicallylo: Because I can. I believe the correct emoticon to use here would be “:)”

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You make me so proud, and yet so furious.

Logicallylo: :)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And now, LET ME SLEEP FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

Logicallylo: Sure. If you can.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: oh good lord.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: wHY ARE YOU PRACTICING THE CELLO AT 6 AM

Logicallylo: I shall not respond, for I am too busy playing the cello.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Uuuuughhhhhhhhh you’re evil. Evil.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: oh gosh what have i done

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Logicallylo: Why are you messaging me specifically with this? I play no part in this. I was asleep.

Anxiousanxietyart: because you have more common sense than anyone else i know.

Anxiousanxietyart: also, patton is asleep, and i’d rather die than wake him up.

Logicallylo: True.

Logicallylo: You were tired, I believe, and not thinking straight. Is that correct?

Anxiousanxietyart: i never think straight, lo.

Logicallylo: True. However, I did some research, and there are 81,875 people in the U.S. with the first name Virgil.

Anxiousanxietyart: how did you—you know what? never mind.

Logicallylo: I used logic. It was quite simple, but the fact that Roman has used the same password for his phone for 10 years helps.

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh.

Logicallylo: There are 6 time zones in the US, so 81,875 divided by 6 is approximately 13645.833 Virgils in this time zone, so the odds of a potential stalker finding you is very unlikely.

Logicallylo: Plus, I can vouch for Roman.

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: He’s sleeping on the couch right now. It is almost noon. He should not be sleeping. This is not promoting a healthy sleep schedule.

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, lo.

Logicallylo: Call me Logan.

Logicallylo: And you’re welcome.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...but warn me before you send me these images? i need time to prepare before another pic of roman?

Logicallylo: You mean this guy?

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: This boy right here?

Anxiousanxietyart: stooooooppppppppp

Anxiousanxietyart: i’d take a photo of patton in retaliation, but he’s asleep in the other room and i would rather be tortured in tartarus for all eternity than betray him.

Logicallylo: I see what’s happening here, Virgil.

Anxiousanxietyart: ???

Logicallylo: You cannot hide from logic and reason.

Anxiousanxietyart: yes i can.

Anxiousanxietyart: freakin watch me.

Logicallylo: Virgil. Why.

Anxiousanxietyart: because i’m in denial and i will run from my feelings forever

Logicallylo: That is not healthy, Virgil.

Anxiousanxietyart: well well well, look who’s a hypocrite.

Logicallylo: I do not run from my feelings! I simply do not have them.

Anxiousanxietyart: mm hmm. go message patton, then.

Logicallylo: That I will.

———————

Logicallylo: Salutations.

———————

Logicallylo: ...I have realized that he is asleep.

Anxiousanxietyart: yes.

Logicallylo: You knew this.

Anxiousanxietyart: yes.

Logicallylo: You said this multiple times.

Anxiousanxietyart: yes.

Logicallylo: Virgil Lastname.

Anxiousanxietyart: brava for you on your attempt at guessing.

Logicallylo: Honestly. Why.

Anxiousanxietyart: because it’s fun.

Logicallylo: You are evil.

Anxiousanxietyart: i know :)

———————

Logicallylo posted: I will now list all the reasons why a regular sleep schedule is necessary, and what not keeping one does to your body. @anxiousanxietyart and @disneynbroadwaynprinces will listen to every single reason, as payment for their crimes.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: you called me evil.

Logicallylo replied: Reason number one: sleep helps you think. Without sleep, you cannot think straight.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i have a few choice words to say about that reason, lo

Logicallylo replied: Hush, I am chiding you for your behavior.

———————

Pattonhead: Sorry Logan! I was asleep. How’s it goin?

Logicallylo: No need to apologize, Patton. It is going well here, how about you?

Pattonhead: I’m good! A wee bit tired, but that’s ok!

Pattonhead: Lolo look Khoshekh is on my legs aaaahhhhh???

Pattonhead: [image]

Logicallylo: I

Logicallylo: Um

Logicallylo: Who is Khoshekh, why did you take a picture of your whole body, how did you take a picture of your whole body when you’re not even holding the device?

Pattonhead: My cat! :3 Virge named him, of course!

Pattonhead: Virgil also offered to take the pic so he wouldn’t leave, haha!

Logicallylo: Ah, of course. I see.

———————

Logicallylo: Virgil, you evil, evil man.

Anxiousanxietyart: chaotic neutral baby :)

———————

Logan was in awe. The boy on the other end of the screen had light brown curly hair and glasses that made him look, somehow, even more adorable than he already was. He was blushing, and had freckles spanning across his entire face and neck. His eyes were the color of clear, clean, blue-green pool water. His grin radiated joy. Everything about him seemed alive alive alive.

Somehow, he was even more cute than the fluffy orange kitten on his lap.

Patton was absolutely stunning, and Logan could do nothing but sit there and attempt to control his heartbeat.

If he had had feelings before, this was nothing compared to now.

He was, objectively, done.

———————

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: I suppose that it is only logical that if you send me a picture of yourself, one of me is in order.

Logicallylo: And I thought Roman was the overtired one…

Pattonhead: Kcoadkdksskmasajxkff

———————

Patton stared at the picture of the most handsome man he'd ever seen (and he'd gazed upon Virgil's glory). He had black hair with fading blue tips, an angular face (were those freckles on the cheeks? Adorable!), and glasses with the same frames as Patton's own (who'da thunk?). The glasses framed beautiful navy eyes, the precise color of sapphires. He had the small smile of someone who didn’t smile quite as much has he deserved, but when it did, it counted.

Logan was beautiful.

Patton was in love.

He threw his iPad across the room.

A surprised yell came from Virgil in the other room.

Oops.

———————

Logicallylo: What happened?

Pattonhead: I’m sorry, Khoshekh got on the keyboard!

Logicallylo: Ah, I see.

Pattonhead: You look really nice!

Pattonhead: I mean good!

Pattonhead: I mean pretty!

Pattonhead: I mean—

Logicallylo: Thank you, Patton.

Pattonhead: ^-^

———————

Pattonhead: Soooooo, Virgil!

Anxiousanxietyart: yeah?

Pattonhead: So as it turns out, i miiiiiight have been flirting a liiiiittle with Lo

Pattonhead: Because I might have a teensy weensy itsy bitsy tiny little bitty crush…

Anxiousanxietyart: i heckin knew it!

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I have awaken from my beauty sleep!

Anxiousanxietyart: didn’t know you needed it.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Did you just

Anxiousanxietyart: i meant—i—oy vey

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You did! YOU DID! Oh happy day!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Great Zeus almighty, I thought this day would never come!

Anxiousanxietyart: we’ve known each other for only a few weeks, ro.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Forever.

Anxiousanxietyart: mm hmm totally.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I can taste your sarcasm, Virgil.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But no matter!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I only have to scroll up to remind myself what you REALLY think about me.

Anxiousanxietyart: that you’re annoying?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: That I’m hot.

Anxiousanxietyart: was that selfie really necessary?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes. Yes it was.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And you didn’t denyyyyyy iiiitttttt

Anxiousanxietyart: you’re not hot, roman.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: He said, like a liar.

Anxiousanxietyart: he said, like a man in denial.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: He said, like a man in a river in Egypt

Anxiousanxietyart: ??

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: De Nile

Anxiousanxietyart: oy vey why

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted:

I was too lazy to think of a title but it involves Hamilton so

Summary: It’s Vect and Xaer and Peri being the friendos they are, but they’re Hamilton buds and that makes it all better.

Word count: who knows? not I, not I

Warnings: a lot of Hamilton

A/N: Writer’s block sucks. It most verily does. That is why this exists. (In other words, I miiiiiiight have hit a wee bit of a snag with my Big Bang fic…) It is an attempt to salvage my writing skills.

Read more

Veertrash71 replied: I loooooveeeeee it! Aaaaaahhhhh it’s so fluffyyyyyy

Perisureimace replied: I’m pretty sure I’m gonna explode from all the Hamilton haha

Veerleft replied: This is canon now I decided

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Lo and I are having a mooooovie night!

Anxiousanxietyart: weren’t you up super late last night? why is he endorsing this behavior

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because we’re watching Rogue One and he’s gay for Cassian Andor (who isn’t tbh)

Anxiousanxietyart: i… haven’t seen it…

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: G A S P ! ! ! HOW D A R E

Anxiousanxietyart: umm i just? never did? it can’t ever be as good as the original trilogy so

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Umm, it’s pretty far up there! Worth watching at the very L E A S T

Anxiousanxietyart: you’ll have to tell me about it

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You. Me. FaceTime. Now.

Anxiousanxietyart: um??? what is happening

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You are Going to Watch this Movie with me, and you Will Like It!

Anxiousanxietyart: is there a choice?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Do you have a pressing appointment?

Anxiousanxietyart: nope, free all day

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Than nope!

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh roman

Anxiousanxietyart: i didn’t peg you for a diehard star wars fan?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: …how??? I’m like the biggest freaking Star Wars nerd since Logan (well, he likes Star Trek better, honestly how are we even related)

Anxiousanxietyart: i have realized my mistake

Anxiousanxietyart: (and star trek is totally better?)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: nO NOT YOU TOO!?!?!

Anxiousanxietyart: there are a lot of reasons, which i can and would list, but i only need one:

Anxiousanxietyart: which was first to have canon gays, hmm?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Finn and Poe came before Culber and Stamets??

Anxiousanxietyart: but stormpilot isn’t canon 

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Not with that attitude it isn’t!

Anxiousanxietyart: oy vey.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Also, Baze and Chirrut are totally married wHICH REMINDS ME, ROGUE ONE. NOW.

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: please?

Anxiousanxietyart: alright fine.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: YAY! ONWARDS, MY NOBLE KNIGHT, AND LET US B E G I N!

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Sooooooooo?

Anxiousanxietyart: so what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Whaddya think?

Anxiousanxietyart: it was alright, i guess

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ALRIGHT YOU G U E S S?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Falsehood! You cried so hard you turned off the camera!

Anxiousanxietyart: who’s falsehooding now?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Still you! You loved it and you know it!

Anxiousanxietyart: you can prove nothing

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your tears

Anxiousanxietyart: try harder, lor san tekka

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Dangnabbit!

Anxiousanxietyart: i know my star wars lor

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Did you just

Anxiousanxietyart! patton is right over my shoulder i couldn’t just not

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: well, LOGAN is over MY shoulder, and he’s absolutely done

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Well done young Padawan

———————

Logicallylo: Why, Patton. Why would you do this.

Pattonhead: Oh hello Logan! How’s it goin’ in Logantown?

Logicallylo: Alright, I suppose. I was just consoling a sobbing Roman because of Rogue One, and now he has been sent off to bed because he was up late last night, and he has rehearsal tomorrow.

Pattonhead: Ooh, rehearsal?

Logicallylo: He is in a production of Falsettos with some friends of his (yes, he has friends).

Logicallylo: How about you?

Pattonhead: I’m not in any plays, if that’s what you’re askin’, Lo.

Logicallylo: No, I meant how was your day?

Pattonhead: Ooohhh! It was good!

Logicallylo: That is good.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m a badawan, thanks very much?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yoda Chronicles, and I'm a Jedi Knight

Anxiousanxietyart: i am ready to fight

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: foR THE SITH!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ZOOM POW ZAP ELECTRICITY

Anxiousanxietyart: why haven’t more people watched that thing

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Who knows?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Honestly I was super freaking gay for Jek-14 when I was younger

Anxiousanxietyart: who wasn’t?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Truth hath most verily been spoken here

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Look look look look look

Anxiousanxietyart: it’s a lesbian from next door!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Followed by her lover who’s a lesbian from next door too!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But seriously look here

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: is that

Anxiousanxietyart: a freaking

Anxiousanxietyart: jek-14 lego set???

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: YES IT IS INDEED

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: LOOK AND WEEP

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh

Anxiousanxietyart: you freaking nerd

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Nerd?! I thought I was more of a geek!

Anxiousanxietyart: okay jeremy

Anxiousanxietyart: (nerd)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: r u d e

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: VIRGIL

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: V I R G I L

Anxiousanxietyart: three m o o n s what the heckity heck do you want?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Wings of Fire, and are you awake?

Anxiousanxietyart: no, definitely not

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh okay then

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...wait

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You little

Anxiousanxietyart: you’re welcome

Anxiousanxietyart: now why did you message me at three in the morning?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I can’t sleeeeppppppp

Anxiousanxietyart: not with that attitude you can’t

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And I have a Very Urgent Question for you

Anxiousanxietyart: shoot.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Do dryads have skin? Or is it just bark?

Anxiousanxietyart: i

Anxiousanxietyart: um

Anxiousanxietyart: what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because like if they have bark, how do they move? And like they’re tree ladies? So like how

Anxiousanxietyart: can you facetime me? i need to see your face while you say that.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Mm ok

———————

When Roman accepted the FaceTime request and was greeted with five solid minutes of Virgil laughing. Which was a nice greeting, yes, but a wee bit annoying, it being at him rather than with him.

“Rude,” he said when Virgil finally calmed down. This, of course, made him start laughing again.

“I’m sorry, haha!” He wiped away a tear. “It’s just—such a random—haha—question!”

“Doesn’t mean you had to FaceTime me JUST to rub it in.”

“Umm, yes I did. Obviously.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “But do dryads have bark?”

“I’m gonna say no.”

“But they’re trees, Virgil!”

“Tree people!”

“Trees! Have! Bark!”

“But they have to move???”

“Yeah, but if they have tree spirits, then can’t they have flexible bark?” Roman asked, trying to convince Virgil.

“No? That’s not how it works?”

“How would you know?!”

“Because I have basic sense?” Virgil sighed, laughing. “How did you even come up with this?”

“I was rererereading Percy Jackson, and I just thought of it,” Roman said.

Virgil shook his head, smiling. “Only you, Roman.”

Roman looked like he didn’t know whether to be pleased or offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re unique and hilarious and creative and dramatic.”

“Heck yeah I am!” Roman flipped his hair, and Virgil covered his mouth to keep from laughing too hard. Roman finally lost all control of his traitorous gigglebox, and let out a snort that turned into a giggle that turned into a laugh that he muffled with his pillow in order to keep from waking up Logan.

Virgil stared, his cheeks growing red in the darkness.

“I gotta gay—I—um—go.”

He hung up quickly, leaving Roman to wonder what the heck had just happened.

“Wait, but do they have skin?”

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: Patton holy crap

Pattonhead: Language, kiddo. Yes?

Anxiousanxietyart: i think i have a crush on roman

Anxiousanxietyart: i have feelings for him and i don’t even know him and it’s terrifying and i don’t know what to do

Pattonhead: Aww, kiddo, come over here.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart posted: i’m sorry guys, there’s not going to be anything for a while, maybe ever. sorry im such a failure.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I have many ideas to tell you of!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Thou must come here so I can tell you them!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh Virgil?

Anxiousanxietyart: im sorry.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What for?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You on?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hello?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: …

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Fine, I’ll give you some space

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virge you okay?

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil stop ignoring me

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Answer me! I command you!

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virge?

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Fine. You don’t want to talk to me, I don’t want to talk to you. I’m done.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m sorry Virgil I didn’t mean it just talk to meeeeee

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Is it something I did? I’m sorry for whatever it is, just tell me what to do to make it right. Please.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil, I really miss you. Please come back. I’m begging you.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: I’m sorry, all, for the lack of content. I’ve just been really sad lately. I’ll be back soon, hopefully, maybe, sometime.

———————

Logicallylo: Virgil? Are you on?

Logicallylo: Virgil, normally I would respect your privacy, but this is not a normal occurrence.

Anxiousanxietyart: what?

Logicallylo: Did something happen with Roman?

Anxiousanxietyart: ...sort of?

Anxiousanxietyart: how did you guess?

Logicallylo: It’d be impossible not to know, seeing how much he’s moping around lately. Living with him is… well, like living with him how he is usually only with more sad songs played around the house and more moping, as well as less general cheerfulness. It’s concerning.

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Anxiousanxietyart: oh crap what have i done

Logicallylo: Virgil. Breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.

Anxiousanxietyart: what do i do???

Logicallylo: You need to talk to him. Now. Before it’s too late.

Anxiousanxietyart: do i have to? can’t i keep repressing my feelings longer?

Logicallylo: No.

Anxiousanxietyart: fine, but you need to talk to patton then.

Logicallylo: What about?

Anxiousanxietyart: don’t play dumb.

Logicallylo: …fine. But if he doesn’t respond well, I’m blaming you.

Anxiousanxietyart: he won’t, but ditto.

Logicallylo: Very well. I will leave you to contact my brother. I wish you luck.

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, lo. you’re a good friend.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: ro? you there?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: SWEET MOUNTAIN DEW RED YOU’RE ON!

Anxiousanxietyart: sorry for disappearing like that. i just had to think through some stuff.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Well, warn a prince next time!

Anxiousanxietyart: um, ro?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes?

Anxiousanxietyart: i need to tell you something, and it wouldn’t really… work… over messaging. could i call you?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Of course, Virgil. Anytime.

———————

Virgil stared at the number on the screen in front of him. It seemed to dare him to do what he did best: panic enough to avoid doing this, Tell Roman to forget about it, it was nothing, go back to how it was before. Don’t risk this friendship, the possibility of the other man not being who he said he was, and just let things stay the same.

It was a tempting thought.

He looked to his left to see Patton sitting next to him, giving him a supportive thumbs-up and mouthing, ‘you can do this!’

What would he do without Patton, honestly?

He took a deep, grounding breath. I can do this. I can do this.

Virgil dialed the number, and he heard Roman pick up.

“Hello? Virgil?”

Virgil threw his phone across the room.

It hit the other wall with a thunk and hit the floor.

Problem solved.

Patton looked at him. “Uhh, kiddo, what was that?”

Virgil huddled into himself. “I can’t do this!” He hugged his knees to his chest, shaking his head.

Patton took hold of his shoulders. “Hey. Virgil. Look at me.” He did. Patton’s sea-colored eyes were wide and comforting. “I believe in you. I know Roman feels the same way. You can tell him. It’s all right. Okay?” When Virgil hesitated, the other boy continued: “You don’t have to do this today. It will be perfectly fine if you don’t. However, you will have to do it sometime. Better sooner rather than later. One step in front of the other. You have got this.”

Virgil nodded. He let go of his knees, and stood up. He crossed the room slowly, his heart in his throat. He slowly picked up the phone.

“DUDE WHAT THE CROFTERS WAS THAT?!?!?!”

...the phone had not hung up.

“Sorry Roman!” Virgil stared at Patton in panic. “I—uh—I don’t know what happened!’

“Uh huh.”

There was a silence. It was tense, awkward, expectant. Virgil knew he had to be the one to break it. He took a deep breath—

“So what was it you wanted to tell me?”

Dangnabbit!

“Uhh—I—um—” Virgil lost all control of his filter. “Ithinkimightkindareallylikeyouandthatterrifiesmeandpleasedontbemad”

There it was. His soul laid bare. Virgil had done it. Patton was grinning and giving him the thumbs up. He felt a weight lifted off his chest.

What the freaking heck had he done.

A bigger weight fell on top of him. Roman hadn’t spoken yet. He didn’t like him back. It was official. He hated him. He—

“Oh. Wow. Cool. Um. Ditto?”

What.

"What?"

Roman laughed awkwardly. "Um. Oh wow this is not how I wanted this to happen. I had a whole thing planned and it was spectacular but. The feeling is mutual. I quite like you too. Romantically."

“Wait, really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Well what do we do about that?”

“Um. Wanna date?”

“Cool.” There was silence. Neither of them knew what to say.

Suddenly, Virgil began laughing. He tipped over, giggling uncontrollably into the phone. He snorted and rolled around, laughing and laughing and laughing.

“Virgil? You alive?”

“I—I just can’t believe,” he began between laughs, “that I avoided you for all that time, and all I needed to do was just call you? It’s just—it’s really ironic, isn’t it?”

Roman caught on, snorting into the phone. “Yeah, it is.”

They finally stopped laughing minutes later, drifting into comfortable silence. No one said anything. They didn’t need to. Everything that had been needed to say had been said, and all the tension was gone.

“So what happens now?” Roman asked.

“I guess we just try and see how things work out,” Virgil answered.

“You really have no clue, don’t you?”

“I really don’t.”

Roman snorted. “Neither do I, so it’s fine.”

Virgil let out a soft laugh. It felt good to be talking to him, really talking, nothing left as a secret.

They really should do this more.

And that’s when Roman broke the spell.

“NOW, LOGAN JOAN BERRY, GET YOUR TUCHUS OVER HERE AND TALK TO PATTON!” He yelled, his mouth still next to the gather-sound-thing on his phone. How could Virgil tell? Because it was right in his ear.

“Um, ow?”

“Oh, sorry Virge!”

“No worries. My bleeding ear will recover. However, my traumatized eardrum will not.”

“My voice is lovely, your eardrum should be thanking me for allowing it to hear my magnificent voice!”

“If you say so.”

Roman made a wounded and offended noise on the other end of the phone. Virgil snorted.

“If you want Logan and Patton to talk to each other, can they have their own call? I don’t want them to be flirting over my phone.”

“...oh yeah, that’s a good idea.” Roman paused a moment. “Uhh, maybe hold the phone away from your ear.”

“What—”

There was a thunk and a faint yell. A different voice shouted, “WHAT THE CRAP ROMAN?!”

“TAKE YOUR PHONE AND GO FLIRT IN THE OTHER ROOM!”

“WHY DID YOU THROW MY PHONE AT ME?!”

“Whaaaaaat is happening?” Virgil was very confused. Patton, still sitting next to him, had even less idea of what was going on.

“Umm, kiddo, is everything alright?”

“Who knows?” He shrugged. Patton did not seem to calm down or seem less confused.

And that’s when his phone rang.

Virgil and Patton both stared at the phone vibrating and playing “Baby Bumblebee” on the table. It kept ringing, undisturbed by the stares. Phones don’t care about you or what you do. They just ring.

Roman cleared his throat, yanking Virgil’s attention back to him. “Virge, tell Patton to pick up his phone before Logan spontaneously combusts, taking me with him and rendering the world devoid of this magnificent face.”

Virgil repeated this sentence word for word, dumbfounded.

“I, um, okay?” Patton walked over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello? Hi, Logan. Umm, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Patton walked out of the room, still talking.

———————

“Lo? What’s going on?”

Logan cleared his throat, preparing himself. Now was the time. He’d say ‘it’s now or never’, but after The Last Jedi, he swore off the phrase forever. Besides, it was inaccurate. He could always procrastinate.

No. He would confess now.

It was time.

He opened his mouth.

“How was your day?”

Nailed it.

Patton sounded a bit confused. “Umm, it was okay. Steve Carlsberg died today. It was sad. We had a funeral for him.”

“...what?”

“Oh, one of our fish.”

“Ah.”

Silence on both ends.

Logan opened his mouth to ask about the other fish names.

“I kind of really like you!”

Wait what.

What in the holy name of the pythagorean theorem did he just do.

Patton was silent for a long, nerve-tearing-into-pieces minute. When he finally spoke, it was to say that, “I like you too, Logan! That’s why we’re friends.”

“I—no.” Logan took a deep breath. If he didn’t say it now, he never would. Also, he would have to live with this miscommunication on his conscience for all of eternity. “Romantic like. As Roman would say, ‘I’m gay for you’ like.”

“Oh! I like you romantically too.”

‘Wait what’ was what he would have thought if he had had the ability to form coherent thoughts.

“I. Um. What?”

“Yeah.” Patton sounded like he was probably blushing. No, definitely. He was definitely blushing. “You’re really nice and kind and smart and beautiful and amazing and yeah I like you romantically back!”

“I—that was. Um.” Logan, you’re speaking nonsense. Collect yourself. I swear, sometimes you’re just too gay to live. “That’s good.”

“I’d hope so.” Patton’s voice was filled with a feeling Logan couldn’t place, but it was good. Definitely good.

“So,” he said, “what will happen now?”

“I don’t know!” Patton giggled. “I’m honestly just happy to be here, talking to you.”

“You are simply too sweet.”

Patton made a slightly flustered noise.

Logan cleared his throat. “Shall we just continue how we’ve been continuing and just see what happens?”

“Whatever we do I know will be just fine.” Patton spoke with an air of wiseness that said he knew what he was talking about. He was more people-smart than Logan, and that was one of the many reasons they complimented each other.

“Why is that, Pat?” Logan asked.

“Because dogs exist, and nothing bad can happen in a world with dogs,” he said very seriously.

Logan snorted. While that may have not been strictly logical, Patton was correct. They would be just fine.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: Guess who’s not a single bean anymooooreeee??? This guy!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: oh my gosh

Veertrash71 replied: wait WHAT

Pattonhead replied: I was confused for a sec there, kiddo, but then I remembered.

Veertrash71 replied: UM

Logicallylo replied: Congratulations. You have found someone to deal with your nonsense. Lucky for all of us.

Veertrash71 replied: Is no one else going to freak out??

Perisureimace replied: Oh congrats!

Veertrash71 replied: WHY IS NO ONE ELSE CONFUSED THAT PRINCEY WAS EVER SINGLE?!

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: hi

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Greetings and salutations!

Anxiousanxietyart: um

Anxiousanxietyart: is there, like, protocol for talking now that

Anxiousanxietyart: um

Anxiousanxietyart: you know

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Your guess is as good as mine.

Anxiousanxietyart: oh okay

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Uhh

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Any pets?

Anxiousanxietyart: ...what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I had to think of SOME conversation topic.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Your answer?

Anxiousanxietyart: a cat and fifty billion fish.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: What are their names?

Anxiousanxietyart: the cat is khoshekh, the fish are all named after wtnv characters but i can never remember who’s alive anymore. i think janice ate carlos last week, but i’m not sure.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: How dare you Janice?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Do you perchance happen to have any pictures? If a pic of you came into the mix, I wouldn’t complain, just sayin’

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh ro

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Love you too <3

Anxiousanxietyart: ajckskskkckdkfes

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Did I break you?

Anxiousanxietyart: ...maybe

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Honey

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Sweetie

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Apple of my eye

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: My one and only

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Knight in dark and angsty armor

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: take my pet photos and freaking leave

Anxiousanxietyart: babe

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Amckskjdhdjsjsjakkadf

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh my gosh is that you with your cat???

Anxiousanxietyart: yes

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No mere mortal eyes should gaze upon such cuteness!

Anxiousanxietyart: good thing you’re not a mere mortal

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Aww!

Anxiousanxietyart: your ego alone is godly enough for ten zeuses

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...I retract all my praise.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Alexander Hamsterton and I go on all sorts of adventures.

Anxiousanxietyart: ajdkdkskfjkssa

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Fair play is turnabout, Virge >:)

Anxiousanxietyart: why would you do this terrible thing

Anxiousanxietyart: my mind is dead now

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I tease because I love <3

Anxiousanxietyart: i

Anxiousanxietyart: uhh

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh gosh I didn’t mean like that it’s too soon aah ignore me oy vey

Anxiousanxietyart: um okay

Anxiousanxietyart: so

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hey so I’m wondering

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Why do you always text with no caps???

Anxiousanxietyart: it's for the a e s t h e t i c

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh my gods you utter and complete e m o

Anxiousanxietyart: thank you for the compliment

Anxiousanxietyart: much appreciated

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It… I… I give up.

Anxiousanxietyart: :)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh you NERD

Anxiousanxietyart: said the theatre geek to the emo.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...what is that supposed to mean??

Anxiousanxietyart: no hecking clue.

———————

Logicallylo: Greetings and salutations, Patton.

Pattonhead: Oh hello! How are you?

Logicallylo: I am doing well. And you?

Pattonhead: Same here! A wee bit tired, but good all the same!

Logicallylo: I feel an urgent desire to sleep as well.

Pattonhead: Well, that’s one way to put it!

Pattonhead: HELP

Logicallylo: What’s going on?

Pattonhead: [image]

Pattonhead: SPIDER!!!!!!

Logicallylo: It appears to be a Pholcus phalangioides, or daddy long legs. It has venom, but is so small that it cannot bite or transfer venom. It is harmless.

Pattonhead: STILL! SPIDER!

Logicallylo: Do you have arachnophobia?

Pattonhead: No, but I’m terribly afraid of spiders!

Logicallylo: That’s what I said. Arachnophobia.

Pattonhead: WHERE IS VIRGIL I NEED VIRGIL TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE

Logicallylo: I have no idea of Virgil’s whereabouts.

Logicallylo: Perhaps you can message him?

Pattonhead: I’D SAY OOH THAT’S A GOOD IDEA IF I WEREN'T TERRIFIED

———————

Pattonhead: SPIDER!

Anxiousanxietyart: i’ll be there asap

———————

Pattonhead: Virgil has taken the spider outside! It cannot return any more.

Logicallylo: That is good. I am glad that it is gone.

Pattonhead: Just had a scare there!

Logicallylo: Is your emotional state better now?

Pattonhead: Much, thanks, Lo.

Logicallylo: No problem. Would you like me to call you now?

Pattonhead: Ooh yes please!

———————

Patton was now sitting on top of his bed, idly petting Khoshekh and staring at his phone intensely. Maybe if he stared hard enough, Logan would call sooner!

As if on cue, the phone started ringing. Patton picked it up without even looking at the screen.

“Hiya Lo!” He chirped, bouncing up and down.

“Salutations and further greetings,” replied the voice of Logan. Patton’s heart melted upon hearing him. “Is Virgil in the room?”

“Nope, just me! He’s trying to make brownies in the kitchen, apparently ‘to sacrifice to the great and almighty deity of removing all feelings’, so the normal reason, pretty much!”

“Ah. Usual Virgil?”

“There’s nothing usual about Virgil.” Patton’s tone was very serious. He loved his kiddo a lot. He was a small angsty baby koala kangaroo child who needed love.

“I am aware of this.” Despite the words, which would have sounded annoyed, Logan’s tone was fond, and Patton could picture him smiling as he said so.

“You may want to hold the phone away from your ear,” Logan said.

“Why is that?”

“ROMAN, WHERE IS ALEXANDER HAMSTERTON?” Logan’s voice was muffled, but he was obviously yelling.

A quiet reply that might have been “I was playing with him”, but sounded like “I mass gaying with him” was shouted from somewhere else. Patton was slightly confused about what was going on.

“Uhh, Logan? What’s happening?”

“Roman’s hamster wasn’t in his cage, but he’s back now,” explained Logan reassuringly.

“Oh okay! Thank goodness he’s back!”

And that’s when Virgil spoke.

“PATTON SPIDER, THE BROWNIES ARE BURNING AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO HELP ME!”

“Spider?”

Patton shuddered, whispering. “It’s ironic because I have a very large fear of spiders.”

Logan laughed over the phone, and Patton’s heart did some cartwheels. “Ironic indeed.”

They shared a blissful few seconds of silence, nothing to say.

“I should probably go,” said Logan. “You may want to assist Virgil with the brownies.”

“But I don’t wanna hang up! I wanna talk with you!” Patton protested.

“We can talk later, if you wish.”

“Ooh yay okay!” Patton bounced up and down. “Bye, Logan!”

“Goodbye, Patton.”

Logan hung up, and Patton ran to save some brownies from certain doom, still thinking of Logan.

———————

Logicallylo posted a photo: My boyfriend @pattonhead sent me these brownies today. They taste absolutely delicious! Love you Pat.

Pattonhead replied: Aww, so glad you like them honeybee! <3

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: THIS is a Marvelous Cookie! (or brownie, whatever)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: SWEET! With an excellent CRUNCH!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: perfect to follow a dinner

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Or just after breakfast

Anxiousanxietyart replied: and prior to lunch! (really though pat, they're probably really good)

Pattonhead replied: Aww thanks kiddo! <3

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know all my obscure references! A man after my own heart <3

Anxiousanxietyart: you cannot hide from my musical knowledge with frog and toad.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Shall we make a competition out of it?

Anxiousanxietyart: i'm listening.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: We each shall make as many references as possible without telling the other.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: If the other doesn't catch it, the referencer gets a point. If the other does get it, they get a point.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: The one with the most by the time our Big Bang project is posted wins!

Anxiousanxietyart: ro, you got yourself a challenge. let's do this thing.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Can I FaceTime you so we can shake on it?

Anxiousanxietyart: yes

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: can i call you?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Of course, Virgil! Might I ask why?

Anxiousanxietyart: i just need to talk to you rn.

———————

Roman picked up immediately. “Virgil? You okay?”

“No.” Virgil sounded out of breath and terrified to his own ears. “Patton isn’t home and he left his phone and I’m alone and there’s noises and I’m fREAKING OUT and—”

“Hey. Virge. Breathe.” Roman’s voice was calming, cool, soothing. “In. Out. In. Out. Breathe with me, okay?”

Virgil took a deep, shuddering breath. He heard Roman do the same, in sync with him. In. Out. In. Out. They continued, for how long was unknown.

After several minutes of silence, accompanied by the noise of their breathing, Roman spoke. “You feeling better?”

The hesitation of a few moments that seemed to take an eternity followed his words before Virgil replied.

“I—yeah. I’m better now, I mean.” And he was. Who knew that for once the most-recommended, least-remembered tip would actually work?

“Why were you panicking, if I may ask?”

“I kept hearing noises? Not sure how exactly.” A pause. “Thanks, Roman.”

“Anytime.” And he meant it. He would do anything to help Virgil.

He didn’t exactly know what to say after all that. “Do you want me to leave?”

“NO!” Virgil blurted out before realizing what he just said. “I mean, umm, if it’s okay, could you please stay? I don’t really want to be alone right now.”

“Of course,” Roman said softly. “Anything.”

“Is exactly what Han Solo said before getting stabbed by his son.”

“Why are you like this?”

Virgil snorted, and Roman felt a sudden urge to hug him.

“I kinda really love you, you know that?” Roman blurted out. He then slapped his hand in front of his mouth.

Virgil was silent. Utterly, completely silent.

You utter and complete dunce! You’ve driven him away!

“I—ditto.” Virgil let out a small, slightly awkward laugh. “This is not what I expected this day to be like.”

“What did you expect?”

“You can’t see because this is a call but I’m shrugging.”

Roman laughed. “That sounds about right.”

Virgil cleared his throat. “Patton just sent me a text, you don’t have to stay. He’s coming back in a few.”

“I can stay if you like,” Roman said. “I won’t leave you if you don’t want me to.”

“No, it’s fine. You can go.”

Roman shrugged. “If you’re sure. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye, Ro.” Virgil hung up, and Roman sat there, shocked and blushing.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You feeling better?

Anxiousanxietyart: yes. patton’s home now, we’re watching the princess bride.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Glad you’re ok.

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks again, ro.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: All you need to do is ask. I’m here for you, love.

Anxiousanxietyart: anfkdmfjsjfk

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Did I mess up? Oh gosh I’m sorry

Anxiousanxietyart: no

Anxiousanxietyart: i

Anxiousanxietyart: kind of like it???

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Okay love

Anxiousanxietyart: gonna pay attention now, gnight, love

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ajkfmsjdhjfjd

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: sleep well, mi amor

Anxiousanxietyart: how the heckety heck do you know spanish

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ;)

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: HAVE I GOT THE STORY FOR YOU!

Anxiousanxietyart: good morning to you too.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It’s 1 in the afternoon.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...

Anxiousanxietyart:

g o o d m o r n i n g

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ANYWAYS

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: SO

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I just saw a woman.

Anxiousanxietyart: whoa. never knew women existed.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hush, I may be gay, but I know women exist and are amazing

Anxiousanxietyart: never knew that you were gay???

Anxiousanxietyart: truly shocked

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ANYWAYS, BACK TO MY STORY!

Anxiousanxietyart: oy vey.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: At the salad restaurant.

Anxiousanxietyart: …salad… restaurant?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes it exists

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ordering a salad.

Anxiousanxietyart: wow. never would have guessed.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...wHILE EATING A FREAKING DONUT.

Anxiousanxietyart: i… what?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You heard me!

Anxiousanxietyart: no, i didn’t. we’re texting.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know what I mean!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: A chocolate covered donut. In line. Ordering a salad. To-go.

Anxiousanxietyart: why were you at a salad place?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Because they have the best gosh dang Mac n Cheese in the galaxy and I was in Urgent Need for it

Anxiousanxietyart: huh

Anxiousanxietyart: so, not because you suddenly decided to take care of yourself?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Despite Logan and Patton’s best efforts, no. Never.

Anxiousanxietyart: good, i was starting to worry you weren’t you.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Fear not, I am still my magnificently fantastic self!

Anxiousanxietyart: and that’s a reason not to worry? counterproductive.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: RUDE.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Someday, I will take you to Crunchy & Emerald, and you will see just how fantastic their Mac n Cheese is.

Anxiousanxietyart: really?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Couldn’t stop me if you tried. And don’t try.

Anxiousanxietyart: i guess it’s a date, then.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ahfkdmfjdkf

Anxiousanxietyart: :)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Evil. Truly evil.

Anxiousanxietyart: said it before, i’ll say it again:

Anxiousanxietyart: chaotic

Anxiousanxietyart: neutral

Anxiousanxietyart: :)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Chaotic good, myself

Anxiousanxietyart: i can see that. class?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Paladin, Fighter, sometimes Bard

Anxiousanxietyart: huh

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You?

Anxiousanxietyart: rogue

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You dark, angsty soul.

Anxiousanxietyart: got that right.

Anxiousanxietyart: you ever actually played d&d?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Aye, verily! Logan and I once arranged a campaign with friends (he was a sorcerer). It was quite fun!

Anxiousanxietyart: sounds like it.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yep! What about you? Have you ever embarked on the nerd adventure of a lifetime that you can take more than once?

Anxiousanxietyart: i have one (1) friend who’d consider it, and he’s clueless about these things (patton)

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Well, now you have 3! We shall organize a campaign at once!

Anxiousanxietyart: three?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Me, Patton, and Logan!

Anxiousanxietyart: he’d like that?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Are you kidding? He LOVES nerd stuff like that!

Anxiousanxietyart: ...somehow, i am not surprised.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: wait.

Anxiousanxietyart: aren’t you lactose intolerant?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: :)

Anxiousanxietyart: i forbid you from eating that mac n cheese ever again

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Try and make me. I dare you. You will never separate me from my one true love! NEVER!

Anxiousanxietyart: what about me?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Babe.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I love you.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But if you try and keep me away from Crunchy & Emerald’s sweet sweet cheesy macaroni, you will be unboyfriended.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces:

:)

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my dog.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You have a cat.

Anxiousanxietyart: umm, my point still stands

———————

Pattonhead: Lololololololololo!!!!

Logicallylo: I am here, Patton. What’s the matter?

Pattonhead: I’m at Target with Virge, and on the way we had the most magical encounter!!

Logicallylo: Would you like to tell me about it?

Pattonhead: That’s why I’m here! :3

Logicallylo: I am listening.

Logicallylo:

Or rather, watching. This isn’t a call.

Pattonhead: SO me and Virge were walkin’ to Target, and I heard? this? “meow meow” noise?

Pattonhead: I looked back aND THIS ADORABLE GRAY CAT WAS RUNNING ON ALL FOUR TINY LEGS TO MEET US, MEOWING???

Logicallylo: That does indeed sound adorable.

Pattonhead: The kitty ran up to us and went between Virgil’s legs and around my legs and I petted him and then he walked away it was amazing and pure and magical and I feel blessed

Logicallylo: Wow.

Logicallylo: That seems like a pleasant experience.

Pattonhead: It was the BEST DAY of my LIFE!

Logicallylo: I can believe that.

Pattonhead: Aaa gotta go, the friend is on the Virge of leaving me behind to shop alone :)

Logicallylo: I shall see you later, Pat.

Pattonhead: Byeeeee Lo!

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: pat and i went out shopping today for some sweet sweet starbound preparation materials, and look what i got

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Is that

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: A freaking

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: XAER PIN?!

Anxiousanxietyart: :)

Anxiousanxietyart: they had them at the store, and even though they were out of vect pins, pat got a peri one and i got this

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: That

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Is

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: So

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: COOL?!?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I am so jealous you have no idea

Anxiousanxietyart: i know

Anxiousanxietyart: whiiiich is why i lied

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ???

Anxiousanxietyart: they did have vect pins

Anxiousanxietyart: [image]

Anxiousanxietyart: and it’s for you

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ?!?!?!?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: OH MY GOSH YOURET HE BEST BOYFRIEND EVERTFHRUSNJSJZSNAKSJSDKSKHDF

Anxiousanxietyart: i wonder if he’s excited at all

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: THE M O S T!!!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: THANK YOU SO MUCH VIRGE <3

Anxiousanxietyart: you’re welcome :)

———————

Pattonhead: Lololololololo!!! :D

Logicallylo: Yes?

Pattonhead: Look look look look look I got a new beanie!!

Pattonhead: [image]

Pattonhead: I’m a cat!!!! :3

Logicallylo: I

Logicallylo: I need a moment.

Pattonhead: You like it?

Logicallylo: Patton, you are adorable. You know that?

Pattonhead: Aww, that’s so sweet! ^u^

Logicallylo: You are so cute that I fell on the floor.

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: You have slain me.

Pattonhead: Aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww! Nooooooooo don’t dieeeeeeee!

Logicallylo: Roman has taken this opportunity to “conquer the foul beast of Calculatortown”.

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: Why will he not stop stepping on me.

Pattonhead: Whyyyyyyyy Roooomannn?!

Pattonhead: Step off of my boyfriend!

Logicallylo: He is gone now.

Logicallylo: [image]

Logicallylo: With your encouragement, I have slayed the brother.

Logicallylo: Or rather, made him leave my room.

Pattonhead: YAAAAYYYYYYYYY! :DDD

Logicallylo: And now, I can get back to my book.

Pattonhead: Nooooooo keep talking to meeee!

Logicallylo: As you wish.

Pattonhead: YAYY! :D

Pattonhead: What’re you reading?

Logicallylo: Rebel Rising, by Beth Revis. I had a desire to learn more about Jyn Erso, and this is about her backstory.

Pattonhead: Ooh, sounds fun!

Logicallylo: It is, although I find it interesting how Jyn had a boyfriend before Rogue One, and the reason why she is captured by the Empire is somewhat unexpected.

Pattonhead: Huh!

Logicallylo: But enough about me, or about Jyn. What about you? How is Khoshekh?

Pattonhead: Adorable as ever!

Pattonhead: [image]

Logicallylo: You speak no falsehoods about that. Khoshekh is, indeed, adorable.

Logicallylo: However, you are even more so.

Pattonhead: Awwwwww, Lo, you’re makin’ me blush!

Pattonhead: [image]

Logicallylo: The evidence you have just sent has only strengthened my case. You are incredible, Patton. You make people feel, despite their original hesitance. You love so much, and are so many wonderful things.

Logicallylo: I haven’t the words to describe how I’m feeling. Emotions were never my forte.

Logicallylo: However, you… you are incredibly good at forcing me to feel things, and at making me like it.

Pattonhead: I

Pattonhead: I just don’t know what to say?

Pattonhead: I love you too, Logan. Always.

Logicallylo: I

Logicallylo: That

Logicallylo: You said you didn’t know what to say. But that was perfect. It was absolutely, positively perfect.

Logicallylo: I have no words.

Pattonhead: I can give you some of mine?

Logicallylo: I’m not entirely sure that’s how it works.

Pattonhead: I’m not entirely sure that I care.

Logicallylo: I feel as though you should probably care about that.

Pattonhead: I do, I just care about you more <3

Logicallylo: ajdkskndjdjs

Pattonhead: Did you just

Pattonhead: Did you just keysmash???

Logicallylo: Umm.

Logicallylo: If I said no would you believe me?

Pattonhead: YOU DID!

Logicallylo: Oy vey.

Pattonhead: Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me <3

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: help me roman i’ve been laughing at this for like 5 hours

Anxiousanxietyart: https://youtu.be/JMV3lRrduf0

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m just watching it on repeat and dying

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: AND THAT WAS THE FRIEND

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: NOW TELL ME

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: E N D

Anxiousanxietyart: this is true art right here

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Yes indeed.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart posted 6 photos:

i’ve been attempting some photography, and here’s some of my and pat’s favorites. he’s the one who talked me into posting these. if you hate them, blame him.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: HATE them? H A T E them? H A T E T H E M ? !

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I L O V E T H E M ! ! !

Anxiousanxietyart replied: oh.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: thank… you?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I do not say these things lightly, Virgil. You have real talent, my love!

Pattonhead replied: I told you, kiddo! Your photos are amazing!

Logicallylo replied: They are indeed absolutely fantastic, Virgil. Well done. You have a true eye for photography.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i don’t know what to say?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: No words needed.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Only more pictures, if you please! I haven’t seen true beauty since I saw your selfie (or maybe my mirror image), and your photography is truly stunning! Almost as stunning as you!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: ajkfmfjfhgnzkdjfm

Anxiousanxietyart replied:

Anxiousanxietyart replied: take my photos and g o

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Amazing!

Pattonhead replied: What’d I tell you, kiddo? You’re great at this!

Logicallylo replied: Spectacular. Simply spectacular.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: here’s some more, i guess

Anxiousanxietyart replied:

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I haven’t the words to describe just how talented you are, love.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: wow. i never would have thought anyone would like these? thanks, guys

Pattonhead replied: No need to thank us! You’re the one who took the photos, Virge.

Veertrash71 replied: wHOA ANX HAS TALENT???

———————

Pattonhead: Hey kiddo!

Pattonhead: I’m proud of you.

Anxiousanxietyart: why?

Pattonhead: For opening up, and showing your pictures even though you didn’t know how they would be received. I knew you were nervous, but you handled it like a champ.

Anxiousanxietyart: i

Anxiousanxietyart: thanks, pat. love you.

Pattonhead: Love you too, kiddo. Wanna draw and listen to music?

Anxiousanxietyart: gosh yes.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart posted a photo: a bunch of sketches and an actual decent fanart i made. i just really wanted to draw xaer more. zey are really fun to draw.

Pattonhead replied: Nice job!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: You have quite a lot of talent!

Logicallylo replied: Well done, Virgil.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Loooogannnnn helpppp

Logicallylo: What is it?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: It’s just

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Virgil’s so good at so many things

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And he’s really nice and sweet and amazing

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And I love him so much

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: But he doesn’t realize how talented he is?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: And I wanna tell him and help him but I don’t know hoooowwww

Logicallylo: Roman.

Logicallylo: You are helping him already. By being there and letting him know you’re there for him, you have already done more than you know.

Logicallylo: As for letting him realize his worth, just keep doing what you’re already doing. The two of you have a great support system, and you both know how good at so many things the other is.

Logicallylo: But both of you are oblivious to how amazing both of you are, and neither of you see how the other isn’t superior to you. You both are equally talented in different areas.

Logicallylo: That is how the world works, Roman. You need to let him realize how talented he is on his own, but help him in any way you can. Don’t rush it. One thing at a time.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: ...wow. Thanks, Lo.

Logicallylo: You’re welcome, Ro. Now go get that boy. Again.

———————

Logicallylo:

I should get paid for my matchmaking skills.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Hey Virge?

Anxiousanxietyart: what is it ro?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I just

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You’re really amazing, you know that?

Anxiousanxietyart: no, i’m really not, but thanks.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: No, seriously. You’re super talented and great at so many things and I feel like you don’t know that enough.

Anxiousanxietyart: i

Anxiousanxietyart: i don’t know what to say. thanks, roman.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You’re welcome.

Anxiousanxietyart: why are you saying these things, if i may ask?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I just

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Just felt like you needed to know this.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Love you, Virgil.

Anxiousanxietyart: love you too.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: @logicallylo and I will not be here for about a week? There’s a family gathering for a cousin’s bat mitzvah in another state, and we won’t be able to be on for a while. There shall be a surprise when I return, however! ;) See you soon!

Pattonhead replied: Awwww, we’ll miss you!!!!!!! Have fun!!!!!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: goodbye, ro. stay safe, and tell me when you get back.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I shall miss you very much, my love.

Pattonhead replied: You can’t really see him because we’re texting, but Virge is blushing like a tomato and I felt it important that you know :)

Pattonhead replied: [image]

Pattonhead replied: See?

Logicallylo replied: Oh my gosh I love you.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: this is complete and utter betrayal?!?!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: aaaAAAAWWWWW! Baabeeeeee, you have a crush on me?!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: we’re dating, andy

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: that was an easy one, it doesn’t count!

Pattonhead replied: Oh my gosh you totally have a crush on him!!!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: if i’m being made fun of, it totally counts.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: We’re not making fun of you! It’s just adorable, that’s all!

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: [image]

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: This face can make many a man swoon ;)

Logicallylo replied: If it helps, his cheeks are a bit flushed as well. You can see in the image.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Wow thanks Lo?? Honestly why would you point that out???

Anxiousanxietyart replied: that doesn’t help??????? it’s only worse now?????? you are e v i l

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Chaotic good, love. We’ve discussed this?

Logicallylo replied: Lawful neutral myself.

Pattonhead replied: Neutral good! :D

Anxiousanxietyart replied: chaotic neutral.

Logicallylo replied: Somehow, the fact that I am the only lawful one makes sense…

———————

Pattonhead: Viiiiiiiiirgiiilllllll

Anxiousanxietyart: yes?

Pattonhead: I miss Logannnnn

Anxiousanxietyart: i know. i miss roman too.

Pattonhead: I just wish they were here, y’kno?

Anxiousanxietyart: yeah. i know.

Anxiousanxietyart: wanna have a game night?

Pattonhead: Anytime, kiddo :)

———————

Pattonhead: I’m going to the store, want anything?

Anxiousanxietyart: a soul

Pattonhead: ...kiddo, I have 5 dollars

Anxiousanxietyart: what were you gonna buy with 5 dollars?

Pattonhead: Chips.

Anxiousanxietyart: chips… don’t cost 5 dollars…

Pattonhead: ...chips.

Anxiousanxietyart: i’ll be there in a sec

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: I AM HERE, I AM QUEER, AND I HAVE RETURNED FROM MY QUEST! Did you miss me? (oh, and @logicallylo ‘s here too)

Pattonhead replied: LOGAN!!!!!!!!!!! I MISSED YOU SO MUUUCHHHHHH

Logicallylo replied: I missed you too, Patton. A lot.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: hey, ro.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: VIIIIIIIRGILLLLLL!!! Did you miss me?

Anxiousanxietyart replied: no.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: ?!?!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i’m kidding! yeah, missed you.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Missed you too, my cruel and heartless love.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i’m not cruel and heartless.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I know that you are anything but.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: facetime me?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Of course, my dear Virgil.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted a video: In celebration of returning from a week-long hiatus, here’s a video of me singing! I chose A Whole New World because it’s Disney and it won the wheel spin of fun songs to sing haha! Enjoy!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i’m dead. you’ve killed me.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Haha thanks babe

Anxiousanxietyart replied: you? just? keep murdering me? in cold blood? honestly

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: It’s what I do best ;)

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Ughhhhhhhh help meeeeeee

Anxiousanxietyart: what’s happening? You ok?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Just having a bad day…

Anxiousanxietyart: wanna talk about it?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Just have writers block and no play rehearsal because I got the most HORRENDOUS cold and Logan is out doing things and I’m alone and in pain and bored and these few days before the new Starbound are always the most terrible and I’m just uuuughhhhhh

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m sorry, ro. anything i can do to help?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Just being here is amazing, thanks <3

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Also wanna have a Harry Potter marathon with me?

Anxiousanxietyart: how could i refuse?

Anxiousanxietyart: facetime?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I don’t really feel like my normal magnificent Princey self…

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m pretty sure that you could never be anything near less than godly in looks.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: aww, thanks

Anxiousanxietyart: besides, i see worse every time i look in a mirror.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: nO BABE

Anxiousanxietyart: kidding, i had to say that, i’ll call you

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Thanks for binge watching Harry Potter with me, Virge. I owe you one.

Anxiousanxietyart: no problem, love.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oh my gooooshhhhh

Anxiousanxietyart: did i do something wrong?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: NO

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: HEAVENS NO

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m just

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Aaaaaaaaahhhhh

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: you killed me

Anxiousanxietyart: oh my gosh

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: I’m deaded

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Slain

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: By my own boyfriend

Anxiousanxietyart: you’re so lucky i love you

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Aodkdjdakkdkslskdjdk

Anxiousanxietyart: :)

———————

Pattonhead posted: TODAYTODAYTODAAAYYYY!!! :D

Anxiousanxietyart replied: wow, I wonder if he’s excited

Logicallylo replied: Of course he is, Virgil. It is rather obvious. I’d have thought you’d have noticed. No need to wonder.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: sarcastic.

Logicallylo replied: Ah. Very well.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: Thou art a bunch of liars! All of you are most excited as well, I know this with absolute certanity!

Logicallylo replied: Certainty, and falsehood. I am not excited. I have no emotions.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I saw you dance in your room earlier. Don’t lie.

Logicallylo replied: Falsehood. That was you. I saw you.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: i never said i wasn’t excited. only a fool wouldn’t be.

Logicallylo replied: ...I suppose I shall concede a point to you. I do feel an adequate amount of excitement to read the newest book of Starbound.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: yeeEEEESSSSSS!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: woo.

Logicallylo replied: Are you satisfied?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces replied: I WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED

Anxiousanxietyart replied: god i hope you’re satisfieeeddd

Pattonhead replied: AAAAAAAAAA VIRGE TIME TO GO GET IT NOW!!!!!!!!

Anxiousanxietyart replied: coming.

———————

Logan walked into the crowded bookstore with low expectations, if any.

Roman had, of course, come down with a cold, but nothing was going to stop him from running down to the bookstore himself if Logan didn't go and get them both copies of Starbound: Awaken, so here he was. Alone. In a social setting.

Why was he here again?

Ugh, there was a line. He walked over to stand in it. While waiting, he pulled out his phone to check Tumblr. Roman was complaining on the dash about being sick, Virgil was retaliating with sass, and Patton was being cute with puppy and kitten photos and energy in the corner. Logan held back a laugh. He really loved his friends.

He turned off his phone and surveyed the people around him. There were kids with parents dressed up as Peri and Xaer and Vect and all the other characters, making Logan smile a little. One confused adult was dressed as Luke Skywalker, which made him sigh a little. Honestly.

He made his way to the front of the line, purchased two copies of the book, and began making his way towards the exit. The smell of new books was particularly strong in this bookstore, and Logan stopped to stand and enjoy it a while. He was about to continue walking when he could have sworn he heard the most familiar voice.

"C'mon, kiddo! Let’s get in line! Aaaa I'm so excited!"

"I can't tell at all..."

Logan's head swiveled around 180 degrees like R2-D2's. Standing there was a pair that looked too good to be true. There was no way Patton and Virgil could possibly be here. It just wasn't logical. And yet, a purple-hoodie-clad back and another with a blue shirt and gray cat hoodie tied around his shoulders were standing there, chatting animatedly.

"No way in Crofters," he muttered to himself, staring at the two. And yet, there must have been a way in Crofters, as they were there, weren't they?

He was debating the pros and cons of approaching them (Venn diagram and all) when Roman called. He took that as a sign to leave, but made a mental note of this day.

Logan had a lot to think about.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: How about them Starbound?

Anxiousanxietyart: it was very good.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: GOOD?! It was INFURIATINGLY AMAZING! SPECTACULAR!

Anxiousanxietyart: good.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Oy vey. You’re lucky I love you.

Anxiousanxietyart: ahsidjsndhshhsidiska

Anxiousanxietyart: why.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: You know you love iiiittttt :)

Anxiousanxietyart: i know nothing except hatred.

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: As Logan would say,

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: FALSEHOOD!

Anxiousanxietyart: how often does he say that?

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: More than you could possibly know.

———————

Starbound-Big-Bang posted: Friendly reminder that you have one more week before posting time! Authors: You must have your fanfics done and above the word limit. Artists: You must have your drawings/projects done and ready for posting.

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: gUESS WHO TOTALLY FINISHED HIS FINAL DRAFT?!

Anxiousanxietyart: oh congrats! i’ll read it in a sec

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: AAAAAAAAAAA!!!

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: it’s very good, congrats

Disneynbroadwaynprinces: Aww thanks! Call me?

Anxiousanxietyart: of course

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted: Only 3 days ‘til Showtime!

Pattonhead replied: Break a leg, kiddo! :D

Anxiousanxietyart replied: what pat said. you got this, ro.

Logicallylo replied: Fracture a femur.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: ????

Logicallylo replied: It WAS break a leg, but I improved it.

Anxiousanxietyart replied: ...never say that again.

———————

Logicallylo: Virgil, may I have a word?

Anxiousanxietyart: what is it?

Logicallylo: You are aware that Roman is to do the thing where he makes a fool of himself in front of others while pretending to not be himself?

Anxiousanxietyart: ...you mean acting?

Logicallylo: Yes, that is what I said.

Anxiousanxietyart: how could I not know?

Logicallylo: And are you aware that I believe that we do not live too far away from each other?

Anxiousanxietyart: ...how would you know that?

Logicallylo: I… may have seen you and Patton at the bookstore…

Anxiousanxietyart: WHAT

Logicallylo: On the day Starbound: Awaken released.

Anxiousanxietyart: which bookstore?!

Logicallylo: Formerly a Bruegger's Bagels

Anxiousanxietyart: and you were going to tell me WHEN?!

Logicallylo: It slipped my mind.

Anxiousanxietyart: it. slipped. your. mind.

Logicallylo: I wasn’t positive it was you.

Anxiousanxietyart: why didn’t you SAY anything?!

Logicallylo: You left before I could approach you.

Anxiousanxietyart: and how did you conclude that we don’t live too far away from each other?

Logicallylo: Roman and I live only a block away from the bookstore, and you and Patton appear to have walked. You are too lazy to have walked more than a mile, even with Patton’s puppy eyes as a factor, as well as the fact that it’s the newest Starbound. Hence, not too far.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...i could have been visiting from australia. i could have wanted some exercise for once. heck, i could be a serial killer. i know where you live now!

Logicallylo: You didn’t have an Australian accent, we are in the same time zone anyway, I don’t think that’s likely, and I highly doubt you’re a serial killer, as we’ve known each other for too long and too well. Also, you don’t know exactly where I live, as I didn’t give you the address.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...logical, as always.

Logicallylo: Of course. Necktie.

Anxiousanxietyart: what were you going to ask me?

Logicallylo: Virgil, Roman has his play in a week. It is at the school auditorium.

Anxiousanxietyart: …no.

Logicallylo: Whyever not?

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Anxiousanxietyart: i’m just anxious

Logicallylo: This is not news to me. You are always anxious.

Anxiousanxietyart: ...yes, but

Logicallylo: Your name is AnxiousAnxiety.

Logicallylo: There is an “art” in there as well, but it is not beneficial or necessary to the point I am attempting to make.

Anxiousanxietyart: yes, but

Logicallylo: So why won’t you come to see Roman preform?

Anxiousanxietyart: it’s just…

Logicallylo: You can tell me.

Anxiousanxietyart: i’ve known him for 5 months, and we’ve only ever talked here or on the phone. the thought of meeting him in person, it just…

Logicallylo: It seems daunting. Final. Real. I know.

Anxiousanxietyart: yeah, exactly.

Logicallylo: You don’t have to come. It would be fine if you didn’t. However, for Roman’s sake and yours, please consider it.

Anxiousanxietyart: …

Logicallylo: Just consider. That’s all I ask.

Anxiousanxietyart: alright. but if i die, i’m blaming you.

Logicallylo: I wouldn’t expect you not to.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart: Hey, ro.

Anxiousanxietyart: so, today's the day. showtime.

Anxiousanxietyart: i know you won't be able to read this until later, because you're backstage preparing and all, but i wanted to tell you

Anxiousanxietyart: break a leg, ro.

Anxiousanxietyart: i know as well as you that you'll do amazing, and you will rock this show, you hear? you'll blow us all away with your splendor.

Anxiousanxietyart: you always were too much for anyone, and you're so energetic and alive, and i

Anxiousanxietyart: i just really love you.

Anxiousanxietyart: i had to tell you that before the show started.

Anxiousanxietyart: break a leg. you'll be amazing.

Anxiousanxietyart: you truly are a star.

———————

The theater was dim, as one would expect.

It was packed, as one would not.

At least not from a 7-person show in the auditorium of a school that was only available for this one night. There were plenty of seats, and there was an actual stage with actual curtains obscuring it, which was honestly all it really needed to set the theatre mood, at least in Virgil's opinion.

He and Patton were roaming the isles, looking for a person they'd never actually spoken to in real life, in the same place, not on the phone. The murmur of hundreds of whispers at once was somehow almost deafening. It was certainly overwhelming, whatever else it was, and if was all Virgil could do to keep calm.

‘it's okay, you've got this, you're only going to go see your boyfriend for the first time in the same room as him, no biggie,’ he thought. This did not calm him.

"C'mon, kiddo! You excited?" Patton was bouncing up and down on his toes, clutching his gift bag (containing two homemade plushies) with all his strength. No points for guessing if he was excited at all.

"Yeah..." Virgil brushed some stray violet strands of hair out of his eyes and sank further into his hoodie. Patton looked at him, concerned.

"You alright there, Virge?"

"Just anxious… More than usual, I mean."

Before Patton could respond, his phone rang. When he answered it (the ringtone was the Baby Bumblebee song; Pat had great ringtones for all his friends. Virgil's was the Little Einsteins theme song (why? no one knows.), and Roman's was I’ll Make a Man Out of You), his face lit up.

"Heya Lolo!" Patton listened intently for a few moments, during which Virgil could barely make out Logan's voice on the other end of the call.

"Mhmm... Uh huh... Okay... Alrightie!... Love you!... See ya in a sec!" Patton hung up and turned to Virgil.

"He's in Row G, Seats 7-9. C'mon!"

If Virgil wanted to turn and run out the door screaming, he couldn't have. Patton had him by the arm in an iron grip. There was no escape.

Patton tugged him at a run to the seats, which were full of people. However, Patton had eyes for only one person.

"Logan?"

A man turned, his glasses glinting in the light. His hair was blue in the dim light despite being black, the ends lighter and in need of a re-dyeing, and his expression, which had been neutral yet nervous, now sported a fond smile.

"Patton?"

Said boy ran and tackled Logan in a flying hug. Virgil was content to watch.

"LOGAN!!!!!!!!" Logan was unable to reply, his face being smushed into the shoulder of Patton.

"Mmph," he managed to get out.

Virgil felt like he was massively intruding on a private moment.

“Um, I’m just gonna go over there, away from here.”

Logan said something that might’ve been “You do that,” but also may have been “I like hat” or “potato fat”.

Virgil edged past them, giving Logan a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he did so. He headed to his seat, and read over the program (it was a folded piece of paper with the show on the front and the cast list and people-who-helped list inside) in boredom. At one point he opened his phone and scrolled through Tumblr a bit, but he couldn’t concentrate. His nerves were up so high they’d breached the atmosphere and now couldn’t breathe because they didn’t have spacesuits.

He turned off his phone, sighing. There was nothing for him to do now but sit, wait, and check and double check and triple check that his bag was still there.

Minutes passed, and the lights did not dim, the chatter did not stop, and Logan and Patton had not returned. They were probably still catching up.

‘Or they’ve been kidnapped. Or they’re dead. Or they’re lost. Or they’ve abandoned you. Or they’re—’

“VIRGIL!”

Patton, hand in hand with Logan, was heading towards him. His freckled face was very flushed, his curly hair mussed up a little. He was waving, and almost pulling Logan behind him as he walked. Logan also appeared to be holding the gift bag Patton had given him.

“I’m baaaack!”

“I noticed.”

Logan looked a little sheepish. “Salutations, Virgil. Apologies for not greeting you earlier. I was, er, occupied.”

“No biggie,” replied Virgil, grinning. He then hugged Logan, who seemed to be a little more unaware of how these things went than he was.

They headed to their seats, chatting about life, the universe, and pie. Lots of pie.

“Pumpkin!”

“Chocolate is obviously the best!”

“No, pecan pie!”

“You’ve never even had pecan pie.”

“I know it’s good!”

“You’re allergic to nuts.”

“...it’s good!”

“Pumpkin is still the best.”

“Objectively, chocolate has the best taste.”

This discussion had been carrying on for a while when the lights finally dimmed. Virgil elbowed Logan (he wasn’t sitting next to him, but he would have rather been sucked into the dark, cold, unforgiving void than accidentally hurt Patton) to get him to stop ranting about chocolate pie and shut up.

“Shh! It’s starting!” He hissed. Patton and Logan instantly shut up, and soon, so did the rest of the theater.

There was a pause.

Then, the curtains opened.

The play began.

Virgil sat up anything-but-straight in his seat.

There, onstage, in real life for the first time, was Roman, as animated and alive as possible up in front of hundreds of people.

It was impossible to see the details of his face (beyond "beautiful") through the makeup and lighting, but it was unmistakably him. The energy was too alive and purely Roman to be anything but him. The hair was the precise shade of Roman's, the infectious grin was the same, the singing voice was obviously his. It was a judgement no one needed talent to make.

Also, Virgil knew this play. He knew who Roman was in this play. He couldn't NOT figure it out.

Whichever friend was playing Marvin started singing about being an idiot, but he wasn’t paying attention. He just kept staring at Roman, on the side, watching Marvin, still in character. Obviously. This was Roman. He had enough acting focus for all the people in this room, and then some.

When Roman actually stood up and started having an actual singing part in “Thrill of First Love,” Virgil nearly died.

"Shall we head out for chocolate?" Logan suggested.

Neither Patton nor Virgil was one to turn down chocolate.

They exited the theater, and were overwhelmed instantly by the crowds you only seem to find during intermission: every single one desiring candy, not enough time for everyone to be fortunate enough to get some.

It was quite overwhelming, and Virgil decided that Logan and Patton could be left alone for the sake of him getting a moment of relief.

"I'm going to hide over there, can you get me some MNMs?" He asked. “I’m just gonna get away from people for a little bit.”

Patton nodded, and Virgil took that as his cue to leave.

He walked away, dodging crowds and clumps of clustered humans, huddled together so as not to lose each other. He did his best to avoid contact with them; fleeting touches were hard to deal with emotionally. He managed to make it to the bathroom, where he figured he could be alone for a few moments.

Virgil stepped into the bathroom, and collided with a blur of a person.

“Oh, pardon me!”

“It was my fault.”

Virgil separated himself from the stranger, and made it a full 5 seconds before halting.

“...wait...”

He spun around at the same time as the “stranger”. His green-brown eyes were wide with surprise and recognition.

“Roman?”

“Virgil?”

“Oh my gosh it’s you!” Virgil exclaimed, eyes widening even more than he’d thought possible. Roman ran at him and wrapped him in a huge hug. Virgil hugged back, burying his head in Roman’s shoulder as he did his very best to hold back tears.

He was not prepared for this.

When they finally separated, they each kept their hands on the other’s shoulders, not ever wanting to let go of each other, even for a moment. They just looked at each other for a full one minute, not sure what to say.

“You’re still in costume,” Virgil said.

“You’re still wearing that same hoodie you always are,” said Roman, and hearing his voice and touching him and seeing him talk and him being right there, right now was just too much.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one on the verge of tears here, because if I’m the only one crying, it will be really bad.”

“Are you kidding?” Roman laughed. “If I smudge my stage makeup, I’m gonna be really upset, and so will everyone else in this gosh darn ding dang show, but they’ll just have to deal with it because I just saw my gosh darn ding dang boyfriend for the first time, in real life, so heck yeah I’m gonna cry!”

“Oh thank goodness you’re gonna cry too, I’m gonna return to Logan and Patton with smudged eyeliner and they’re gonna be so confused.”

They both laughed, wiping at their eyes. When they finally calmed down, they just kind of stared at each other some more, drinking each other in.

Roman was the one to break the silence. “Oh, here!” He fished around in his pocket. “I accidentally put the eyeliner in my pocket instead of back in the makeup bag,” he explained. “Can’t do anything about the eyeshadow, but from your selfies, I’m pretty sure at least some havoc there is normal.”

Virgil snorted. “Alright. Eyeliner me up.”

Eyeliner him up Roman did. A few moments later and Virgil had wings so sharp they could cut a man.

“There!” Roman exclaimed when done. “Your makeup-strewn beautiful mess of a face is no longer makeup-strewn!”

“Wow, thanks.”

He suddenly realized that Roman had not pulled back, and was still very much in Virgil’s space bubble. Normally the space bubble was a holy, sacred space. This was not one of those times.

They were staring at each other. Virgil could see the flecks of gold in the depths of Roman’s eyes.

He was truly extraordinary.

Finally, Virgil had had enough, and pulled Roman in by the face. Their lips met with all the pent-up passion of many months of desire. He was filled with a kind of happiness and love he'd never even thought possible.

Inevitably, regretfully, they parted. Both faces were flushed. Cheeks were very red beneath white foundation (Virgil) and loads of stage makeup (Roman).

"Ah, shoot!" Roman cursed. "I must take my leave—I must be behind the stage by the time intermission is almost over. They only let us out for bathroom breaks, and even then time is tight. My apologies, Virgil."

"I get it, Ro. The show needs you." Part of Virgil wanted to scream 'but I want you to stay here with me!', but he couldn't make himself do it. Also, his brain was short-circuiting a little. He had kissed Roman. Roman had kissed him. His brain would never work right again.

"I shall see you in a bit, then!" Roman kissed his cheek quickly, and the space where his lips touched was suddenly the place where his blood wanted to be at this moment. "Or rather," continued Roman, "you'll see me." He winked.

"Uhh," Virgil said, very intelligently.

"See you later, alligator." Roman swished out of the room with a flourish he was certainly quite proud of.

"Uhh, crocodile."

He was ruined. Ruined.

When he got back to his friends (whose hair was not as neat as it once was, but if you thought Virgil was going to point that out, you also probably thought the Percy Jackson movies were good), any hope of them not noticing his slightly messed-up makeup was shattered.

"What happened to your face?" Patton asked.

"Um, so I think I just saw Roman."

Logan tilted his head. "How do you know?"

"I made out with him in the doorway to the bathroom."

Patton squealed. "Wait, really?!"

"Why and how would I make this up?!"

Patton made some more incoherent excited noises. Logan cleared his throat.

"You were sure it was him, correct?"

"Don't worry, I didn't kiss some random stranger. He was in costume too. And he looked exactly like Roman. And sounded like him. And talked like him."

"If it looks like a tomato, smells like a tomato, sounds like a tomato, it's an orange!" Patton said.

"That's... not how it goes..." Logan sighed. "You're lucky I love you."

Patton smiled and leaned his head on Logan's shoulder. "Love you too, honeybee."

"I feel like I'm intruding," said Virgil. "Should I maybe leave?"

That's when the lights dimmed again. Apparently not.

The curtains parted, and there stood Mendel, waiting to begin the second act.

“Homosexuals!”

Mendel was pointing at them. He was freaking pointing his little airplane guide things at them.

Did he know anything?

Mendel winked at them before continuing.

Curse you, Roman.

The rest of the show went quite smoothly (and bonus, Virgil learned just how attractive Roman was with sunglasses: very attractive indeed). By the end, Patton, the only one who didn't know what was coming (Virgil was a theatre nerd and Logan was the brother of another), was sobbing openly. Virgil was, for the first time, grateful for his earlier cry. It helped to hide the tears streaking down his face at the moment. Even Logan was trying to hide that he, too, had shed more than a single tear. Lo, you good ol' liar.

Roman’s voice was beautiful, as usual.

Even when what he was singing was heartbreaking.

Many tears were shed that night.

By the time the show was done, and the cast ran out for bows, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. A roar of applause sounded around the theatre, and Virgil could feel his hands hurting from clapping so hard. One person stood up. Then another. A tidal wave of people rose to their feet, and Virgil was among them. He couldn’t have resisted if he wanted to.

In the spotlight, Roman seemed to thrive on the cheers and applause of the audience. He had never looked better, more comfortable in his own skin (which was ironic, because he was just acting).

He was, simply, stunning.

The journey from the theatre to the overcrowded hallway was a blur of wow. Logan and Patton were chatting (read: consoling Patton as he sobbed into Logan’s shoulder), but Virgil was in a daze and didn’t pay attention.

He certainly rectified that when he saw a specific, familiar grin and eyes like the prized jewels of power in some fantasy novel.

“ROMANNNNNN!!!!!” Patton ran and hugged Roman, then was confused when no one else joined him.

“Am I the only one?”

Logan cleared his throat. “I’ve known him long than any other combination of two people here have known each other.”

“And I just met him for the first time. Sorta kinda.” Virgil thought for a moment. “Is it the first time? Or not? How does this work?”

“You cannot fool me with the play I just starred in!” Roman smirked. “Oh, also, who knows? I certainly do not.”

“You know nothing.”

Roman let out an offended noise. “Rude!”

Virgil snorted. “What else is new?”

Roman looked him up and down slowly. “For once, the fact that you are actually here, in person.”

“What are you going to do with me now that I’m here?” Virgil asked.

He was answered with a smirk. “Well, first—”

“You’re going to accompany us to the nearest restaurant,” Logan interrupted, “where we will have a nice dinner, free of any icky romantic-type shenanigans. After that, you are free to do as you wish, without informing me about it, and certainly without me right here. Witnessing it. With my eyes. Which need bleach now.”

“Any romantic shenanigans?” Patton and Roman asked, for completely different reasons.

“Any. At all.”

“Pretty sure you don’t really think you can stop them…” Virgil pointed out.

Logan sighed. “I am aware. However, that will not prevent me from trying.”

“Fair enough.”

Roman raised his hand. “I vote Crunchy & Emerald!” He fingergunned at Virgil. “I hear the mac n cheese is excellent there.”

“Oy vey.” Despite his words, Virgil was smiling, and his tone was fond.

“Sounds good to me!” Patton nodded.

Logan shrugged. “Why not?”

Roman extended his arm to Virgil. It was a very olden-timey gesture. It was also adorable. “We never did finish that game of 20 questions, did we?”

Virgil grinned, taking his boyfriend’s arm. “That is indeed not something that we did.”

“I believe it’s your turn to ask a question.”

“Nah. Can you start?”

“I will gladly do that, love.”

“Shall we?”

“We shall.”

———————

Disneynbroadwaynprinces posted:

OF SEA AND SHORE

Summary: Xaer, heir to the mer kingdom, wished for more than a life of sitting (or hovering above) a throne. Vect, prince of the mainland, wanted adventure and exploration. Peri just wanted a nap in the seaweed.

Word count: 34716

Warnings: Drowning (or rather, almost-drowning), water, sharks, blood in said water, a gigantic octopus lady

A/N: At Last, posting time has arrived! I have waited anxiously for the time to come to share this with you, and now you can see for yourself! Art by my lovely boyfriend and partner for the Bang, @AnxiousAnxietyArt , is here! Enjoy!

It was all quiet under the cover of night and dark waters.

———————

Anxiousanxietyart posted a photo/photos:

here’s the art for the starbound big bang. My partner was @disneynbroadwaynprinces , and his fic can be found here.

———————

EPILOGUE

When Virgil went to ring the doorbell, he almost hesitated. For the first time since Roman and Logan had taken a trip 3 months ago to go see about 10 million musicals in New York and summer break ended, Virgil was going to see his boyfriend again. What if Roman didn't still love him? What if he was possessed? What if he got SQUIPped over the summer? What if—

Patton pushed the doorbell with enough enthusiasm and energy to power China for three years.

Okay then.

Virgil had just enough time to wonder why the doorbell was apparently the "Ma-na-ma-na" song from The Muppets (possibly from Patton messing with it) when the door opened and a very familiar voice yelled his name.

"VIRGIL!"

He was pulled into a tight embrace by his boyfriend. Virgil hugged Roman tight, ignoring the tears leaking past his eyelids. He was barely aware of Patton edging past him to greet Logan. You do that, Patton. I'll just stay right here.

"I missed you," Virgil whispered.

"I missed you too," replied Roman, dipping Virgil and kissing him passionately (like everything else he did). Any stray ends of thought that may have been there instantly vanished, gone into the void. There was only Roman, the reality of him, he who lives in fantasy. His chest filled with a jumble of emotions, and for once he didn't try to repress them.

When they finally broke apart, both were content to stand there, basking in the presence of each other. Neither wanted to break the silence.

"So, we watching this thing or not?" Virgil said finally. There would be plenty of time for saying all that needed to be said, doing all that needed to be done, all of that later.

"Not so fast, mister." Roman looked stern, but also like he wanted to laugh. "Where's that art you promised me?"

"Aren't I art enough?" Virgil joked.

"Well, yes, but a promise is a promise! Fulfill your oath, or you shall feel my wrath!"

"Spicy."

"What??"

"Nothing." Virgil reached into his bag and brought out a piece of paper that had been looked at many times over the course of the last month.

Roman stared at it. It was an image of the day the two had met the first time, Roman onstage, in his costume, radiant. He was utterly spectacular. In the spotlight, he seemed to glow.

“I—Virgil, this is…”

“Full of mistakes and terrible line art, yes, I know.”

“Shut up!” Roman’s face was very, very red. Normally, Virgil would have teased him, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the expression on Roman’s face, maybe it was how he turned to look at Virgil, maybe it was the star struck look in his eyes, maybe it was—

Maybe it was the fact that Logan chose to speak up just then.

"Come over here, you horrifyingly sappy gays! It’s starting!" Logan was standing on the doorway, arms crossed as he looked at the pair. They jumped apart, surprised, the drawing fluttering to the floor. It landed face-up.

"Rude!" Roman yelled back.

Virgil placed his arm on Roman’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go join the others.”

Roman nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They walked over to join a frantically-bouncing-up-and-down Patton on a couch with Logan, who looked extremely calm for the situation.

Roman settled himself on a comfortable armchair. Virgil perched on the armrest of said armchair.

"Why are you on the armrest?" Roman asked. “You're not an arm. You would be the blue lion, if anything. You’d be a leg. The leg of Voltron, but still a leg.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Because places that aren't meant to be sat on are always more comfortable than regular chairs. Duh."

“Oh, of course.”

Patton bounced even higher and faster, if that was possible. “Come on come on come ooooonnnnnn! Starbound is here!!!”

Logan stared at his boyfriend, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Did you happen to have any sugar within the last 24 hours?”

“...maybe…”

Virgil sighed. “I told you not to, Pat!”

“But there were MnMs! I had to have the MnMs!” Patton protested, not slowing down in his frantic movements.

Logan kissed his cheek. “Patton, I love you, but that was a very illogical decision.”

“I knoooowwwww, but MnMs!”

“There is only one way to resolve this conflict!” Roman declared. He ran into the other room, returning a minute later with a bag full of marshmallows.

“Ro, what the heckety heck are you doing?” Virgil asked.

“We must ALL eat excessive amounts of sugar in order to have Patton be less hyper by comparison!” He ripped open the bag and tossed a marshmallow into his mouth with ease.

Logan raised his hand. “That would be not only quite damaging to your health, but also illogical.” Logan walked over to Roman and stuck his hand into the marshmallow bag, grabbing a large handful.

“I cannot allow you and Virgil to consume this entire bag. It would be bad. Also, the fact that the amount of sugar in a few MnMs is quite different to the amount of sugar in marshmallows is quite different. To even it up more, we must all eat marshmallows.”

He stuffed the entire handful of gooey marshmallows into his face.

Well.

Virgil burst out laughing as Roman stood there, looking scandalized at the actions of Logan. “How dare?”

Patton made grabby hands. “Can I have some marshmallows?”

Logan grabbed one (prompting more protests from Roman) and gave it to his boyfriend. They all settled back down in their seats, prepared for what was coming.

Khoshekh ran into the room, meowing. He made a flying cat leap onto Virgil’s lap, purring contentedly. How he perched there when Virgil was sitting on the edge of a chair, no one knew. He was a cat. Cats make their own rules.

Logan, who was (after a unanimous decision) in control of the remote, set up the TV. A few minutes later, everything was up and running and ready.

Virgil put his arm around his boyfriend and cuddled him close. “Ironic, isn’t it?” He laughed softly. “This is what brought us all together.”

Roman leaned into Virgil’s touch. “Yeah. To think that we’re here now, it feels… right.” He kissed his boyfriend’s cheek.

Patton paused his bouncing long enough to nod excitedly in agreement  and give Logan a long hug. Logan closed his eyes and attempted to kiss Patton, but by then he’d resumed his bouncing.

“I can’t believe Logan is dead,” Roman whispered in his ear.

Virgil shook his head. “Rip Logan. He will be missed.”

Logan the corpse leaned over to punch Roman’s shoulder. “Shut up.”

“Shutting up now, sir.” Roman smirked and pantomimed zipping his lips.

“Let’s watch this thing!” Patton exclaimed, making grabby hands for the remote. If Logan didn’t start it soon, he would do it himself.

Lo finally managed to kiss Patton’s cheek. “Alright, let us begin.”

He pressed play.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

micah (Micah Cohen, politics editor): With former President Barack Obama’s return to the campaign trail in the last week or so, here’s our overarching question for today: Who does Obama motivate more in 2018, Democrats or Republicans?

I’m thinking first we talk a bit about what we know about Obama’s sway among Democrats. Then we dive into his standing among Republicans. Then we see how they compare. Sound good?

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): But I have numbers, Micah. Numbers that will obviate the need for this chat in the first place.

micah: $100 says that’s not true.

In any case, to start with what may be a dumb question: Democratic voters love Obama, right?

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): Well, his role seems to be that of elder statesman and moral force. Most Democrats seem to be ignoring for now that they really hated (or were at least less than thrilled with) some of his policies … drone strikes and some immigration policies, for example.

But the Obama-is-above-reproach sentiment is en vogue for Democrats right now because there’s lots of stuff to reproach President Trump for. Obama’s very feel-good.

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): According to the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of Democrats say Obama is the best president of their lifetime. That’s way above Bill Clinton at 19 percent.

So, yes.

nrakich: Or, to take a different measure, look at this June 2017 poll by Gallup (the latest I could find crosstabs for): 95 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of Obama.

micah: So how do we reconcile those numbers with the tension Clare mentioned? Like … the party does seem to have clearly become more liberal since Obama’s days.

clare.malone: I think most voters probably think of him as a lot more liberal than his policies actually were.

Obama was a pragmatist in many ways, but he also had an uncanny ability to communicate and be an empath for the moment.

nrakich: Yeah, issues are overrated as a determinant of how people feel about politicians — or even how they vote.

And the party may have moved left, but presidents almost always get more popular after they leave office, and I think that’s the stronger signal here.

Obama himself is up to a 63-36 retrospective job approval rating.

clare.malone: Issues are always overrated!

People vote with their gut.

perry: Look at this poll from YouGov. The Obama vision is way more popular among Democrats than the Bernie Sanders one.

micah: Wow.

Those YouGov numbers are really interesting — they sorta suggest that personality is the stronger force even than the “antiestablishment” pull of the moment.

nrakich: Isn’t being antiestablishment all about personality?

clare.malone: Well, no.

But it’s certainly important to have the rhetoric to back things up. Obama, of course, isn’t antiestablishment anymore. And Sanders is in some ways moving into the policy mainstream.

nrakich: Right, but the antiestablishment movement is built strongly on personality.

As we’ve said many times, style and approach (the establishment vs. insurgent divide) is different from ideology (the progressive vs. moderate divide).

micah: Is no one else surprised that Sanders gets less than a third there?

That’s worse than he did in the 2016 Democratic primary.

perry: I was surprised by the Sanders number. I would have guessed something like 40 percent of Democrats would have preferred the Sanders-style candidates to Obama ones.

Sanders is extremely popular among Democrats.

micah: IDK, maybe that poll result is more about Obama’s near-deity status in the party more than any problems with Sanders.

perry: Yeah, Obama is a deity among Democrats. I think that’s right. And Bill Clinton has the #MeToo problem now and Hillary Clinton lost, so he’s not in as strong of a position as Obama in terms of ex-Democratic presidents able to help the party in the future. I also think the median Democratic voter is not particularly supportive of ideas like “abolish ICE” and has more establishment/centrist views, like Obama.

clare.malone: There is anger out there, though. People have a lot to be angry about in the post-financial-crash world. And Sanders is good at evoking it. Obama made history, and it’s hard to not like that if you’re a Democratic voter — and also, to Perry’s point, he doesn’t have personal problems that will tarnish him. And he’s young and will be a force in the party for years. I think that’s probably comforting on some level to people.

perry: Democrats favor abolishing ICE by only 43 percent to 34 percent. Obama is personally way more popular with Democrats than abolishing ICE is.

micah: OK, so you run into a liberal friend at a coffee shop and they say, “Hey, I saw Obama was campaigning for Democrats in California — do you think he’ll help the party in 2018?”

What do you say?

perry: I would start by saying that most Democrats are pretty motivated already.

nrakich: I don’t know, Perry. I feel like Obama could help at the edges — say, with African-American voters, whose lower turnout was a problem for Democrats in 2016.

micah: Obama campaigned with Clinton, Nathaniel!

perry: Nathaniel, how much did Obama’s appearances in Alabama help Doug Jones with black turnout? (Note: Obama did not go to Alabama in person, and Doug Jones did very well with black voters in that race.)

Micah and I are making the same point. We will be more polite next time. We love you.

nrakich: Haha.

clare.malone: Shameless plug re: black voters and Jones.

nrakich: I am open to the argument that campaigns just don’t matter all that much. But then, again, that would mean there’s no more need for this chat!

#lolnothingmatters

micah: I think it matters, but the effect is just more marginal?

perry: Obama is really popular among millennials (of all parties, although millennials lean to the left). So he could help turnout among that group.

clare.malone: Because millennials like to watch inspiring viral videos on Facebook and Obama is great fodder for that. He’s perfect for a generation of people or an era of politics that’s Upworthy-ish, right? He pulls on emotion.

micah: And he could definitely help the specific candidates he campaigns for with

too?

perry: Yes. And media attention.

Like I’m sure those House candidates in California were happy to have him Obama come to campaign for them.

So I don’t think Nathaniel is wrong — I think Obama can be a help.

micah: But on the margins.

perry: Very marginal.

clare.malone: Here’s a question: Will whoever turns out to be the Democrats’ 2020 front-runner need the Obama benediction?

perry: What do you mean by benediction, Clare?

And do you mean in the primary or the general?

clare.malone: Primary.

micah: I don’t think he’ll endorse in the primary, though.

clare.malone: Yeah, or will he stay out of the primary and not tilt the scales and adjust after?

perry: If it’s down to Michael Avenatti vs. Joe Biden, Obama endorses Biden.

I mean, Obama all-but-endorsed Clinton in 2016, and I would assume that helped Clinton with black voters, a group she overwhelmingly won in the primary.

micah: Oh, yeah.

clare.malone: See.

micah: But what if it came down to Sanders vs. Elizabeth Warren?

perry: First, he’ll have to pretend not to dislike them both. (Obama had sharp tensions with Sanders and Warren when he was president.)

micah: Or Sanders vs. Biden?

nrakich: If it’s Sanders vs. Biden, he’ll do what he did in 2016.

perry: I doubt that.

clare.malone: I’m not sure he won’t endorse … he probably won’t. But he was reportedly very interested in the shadow primary of the Democratic National Committee leadership election … getting Tom Perez elected, etc.

He cares about the party direction.

nrakich: Yeah, Clare, I generally think ex-presidents are a little too cautious/tradition-bound about sticking their necks out. Why shouldn’t Obama be a little more muscular about the future direction of the party? His legacy is on the line.

micah: I think Sanders is more mainstream now than he was in 2016, so I don’t think Obama could do the same thing again.

perry: If it’s Sanders vs. Biden, Sanders might win. And I don’t think Obama wants to be on the losing side.

nrakich: But he’ll still have plausible deniability because he didn’t formally endorse.

perry: “I love Joe Biden. He was a great vice president. But I’m going to let the voters sort it out.”

I assume he would say something like that.

micah: OK, let’s take a hard turn here …

REPUBLICANS!

micah: I saw a lot of

takes after the Obama speeches that were like “#actually, Obama could hurt Democrats because Republicans hate him and Obama’s involvement in 2018 will rally the GOP base.”

Anyone buying that?

nrakich: Not really, Micah.

perry: Were any of those takes from people who aren’t “Republican strategists.”

micah: haha

nrakich: Look, it’s not rocket science. Obama has a 63 percent approval rating. That has to include a big chunk of independents and at least a non-trivial number of Republicans.

According to the 2017 poll I referenced earlier, Obama was seen favorably by 22 percent of Republicans. That’s not awful.

micah: That’s better than I expected, actually.

nrakich: And, according to a Gallup poll from February, 38 percent of Democrats now approve of George W. Bush! Some of that is the Trump effect, but in general, partisans cool their jets once their mortal enemy stops being their mortal enemy.

perry: So the data suggests that unlike 2006, 2010 and 2014, both the opposition party and the president’s party are pretty motivated. I think GOP enthusiasm is already high, as conservatives view this election as defending Trump. And that was before Obama got more involved.

nrakich: The bottom line is that Republicans don’t love Obama, but they don’t hate him the way Democrats

LOVE

him.

perry: I do think Obama has to be somewhat careful about where he campaigns. My guess is that his approval rating is higher with California Republicans than Georgia Republicans, for example. I don’t have data to prove that, but it’s my intuition.

nrakich: For sure.

I’m basically saying, Obama should look at his personal approval rating in each state or district. If it’s above water, campaign there. If not, don’t.

perry: Amy McGrath, the Democratic candidate in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, should not have Obama campaign for her.

nrakich: Right.

micah: Wait a sec, Nathaniel — you think Democratic

for Obama > Republican

?

nrakich: Absolutely.

We talk a lot about Trump’s “strongly” approve and “strongly” disapprove numbers.

Basically, a lot more people strongly disapprove of Trump than strongly approve.

For Obama, at least when he was leaving office, it was the reverse.

perry: Interesting.

nrakich: The final Washington Post/ABC News poll of Obama’s administration found that 42 percent of Americans strongly approved of him and 27 percent strongly disapproved. (His overall approval spread was 60-38.)

The same pattern shows up in other polls, like Rasmussen and YouGov.

micah: Wow. OK, so that suggests that more Democrats strongly approve of Obama than Republicans strongly disapprove of him?

nrakich: Yes. In the WaPo/ABC News poll, 77 percent of Democrats strongly approved of Obama on his way out the door; 60 percent of Republicans strongly disapproved.

micah: Aha!

nrakich: And among independents, 35 percent strongly approved of his job performance and 26 percent strongly disapproved. (Overall, independents approved 61-37.)

micah: And those numbers, if anything have probably gotten better for Obama in the time since.

OK, so …

Dem

> GOP

nrakich: And don’t discount the independent

.

micah: Those

takes are stupid. Or, at the least, the evidence suggests (if anything) the opposite.

nrakich: With swing voters, especially 2018’s swing voters, Obama is probably pretty popular.

perry: And he presumably has some appeal with Obama-Trump voters too.

nrakich: Exactly.

And I have no data to back this up, but I bet Romney-Clinton voters are pretty favorably disposed toward him too. They may not have voted for him, but they’re the kind of genteel suburbanite who probably misses his even keel.

clare.malone: OK, so let’s move out of numbers for a second and say that in practical terms this means what? That Obama must choose over the next months (and years) where he campaigns based on what?

The basic approval numbers of Democrats?

The tentative approval numbers of Obama-Trump voters?

Does he leave states like Alabama to more local pols who can turn out, say, the black vote, without turning it into a national thing when he visits?

I think he’s got an interesting thicket to pick through.

perry: Sen. Cory Booker, not Obama, went to Alabama. And that was probably best for Jones.

My guess is Kamala Harris/Booker/Sanders go to Georgia, and that is best for Stacey Abrams.

micah: I guess all these numbers make me think it’s less of a thicket than I originally thought.

But still a thicket, of course.

nrakich: Right. I think someone (you, Perry?) put it well in an earlier chat: Send the mid-level pols who will get coverage/chatter in the circles you want, like the campus newspaper or the local black community, while not breaking through into the mainstream coverage that reaches everyone. A visit by Obama would get state- or district-wide coverage, which would probably hurt Democrats in a state like Alabama or Georgia that are still majority-Republican.

micah: Would you send Obama to Obama-Trump counties?

perry: No.

nrakich: If I had the resources, I would poll them to see how his image there is holding up.

clare.malone: Well, he’s going to Cleveland to stump for Richard Cordray, who’s running for governor.

perry: So the answer is yes.

I was going to say Obama may not go to Iowa or Wisconsin. But Ohio …

clare.malone: A mostly black part of the city. But, yes, Ohio.

He’s not in, say, Youngstown.

perry: Yeah, Iowa is very white and I think sort of old.

nrakich: Take Iowa. I think he probably wouldn’t hurt Democrats there. He did, after all, win there six years ago. But to our earlier point, I think he helps Democrats more actively in more base places — areas with lots of millennials, nonwhite voters, etc.

micah: OK, final thoughts?

nrakich: I think, in general, we shouldn’t overthink this: Obama is quite popular and therefore would be an asset on net. But it definitely depends on geography.

perry: Obama will be an interesting case. He is popular. He is young. He will be able to campaign for Democrats for years and years. His presidency was not considered unsuccessful (like Jimmy Carter’s was). His wife is not planning to run (like Bill Clinton’s was when he left office). In fact, Michelle Obama is really popular too. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem like Democrats did very well in 2010, 2014 or 2016, when he was the chief surrogate. It seems like his political magic is in some ways personal to him.

micah: Will Obama have a bigger role in 2018 or 2020?

clare.malone: 2020, baby!

2018 is just the initial proving ground.

nrakich: ^^This.

[pinksausageduo]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1K+

IM SCREAMING WTF YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING genuinely can’t believe i have more than 1000 of you actually liking my blog to the point of following me??!!! I have really bad updates LIKE REALLY BAD like for 2 and half months i’ve been on tumblr i’ve probably only been posting for 1 month and a bit. AND THE FACT YOU STILL ALL LIKE MY WRITINGS AND FOLLOW ME IS CRAZY!! i seriously mean it when i absolutely adore each and everyone of you following my blog like i love you guys so so much. and please don’t be afraid to ever talk to me whether it’s on anon or message whether it’s about how annoying your life is, ranting, my writing, advice, questions, literally anything. i just love you guys sooooo much like wow i never even expected more than 100 followers like i’m mind blown.

so since it is a milestone and usually most blogs do something, i did prepare a present for my followers and another one for my mutuals because i love you all.

FOR MY FOLLOWERS: A NEW SERIES!!!!!

i know i have still my enemies to lovers series that i need to complete and i will do that but there will be a new series and YOU GUYS GET TO CHOOSE which one I write first either;

Heirs 

located in an expensive private school, wanna one is known as the Heirs. they’re all extremely rich, good looking, talented and basically the kings of the school. each guy will have a girl that catches their eye, those girls will be you! from the quick witted and sassy scholarship student to the extremely rich ice princess who no one wants to even approach to the shy sweet nobody, one member will fall for you. choose to find out!

so will you choose the heirs??

Bodyguards

wanna one is a team of bodyguards assigned to people who need protection. over the years each and every one of them finds themselves falling for someone on the job. but falling in love isn’t part of the job or is it? they’ll fall for you! from the president’s daughter to another intelligence agency’s spy to even a princess, one member will fall for you. choose to find out!

so will you choose the bodyguards??

HOW TO CHOOSE

message me by kkt or tumblr

comment below

reblog with which one

choose in poll : https://goo.gl/forms/G4GrlZEfOPL30jnP2

CHOOSING WILL CLOSE IN AROUND 2 WEEKS ON 11/11/17 

please vote!!! i’ll love you all forever if you do!!!! 

FOR MY MUTUALS/PEOPLE I ADMIRE & FOLLOW: FOLLOW FOREVER/RECS/DESCRIPTION

WANT TO GIVE OUT A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO MY MUTUALS AS WELL AND IT’LL BE KINDA A FOLLOW FOREVER/RECS (it’ll be long asf (like REALLY long) so i’ll put it under keep reading) this will be in all three person sorry :( 

EVERYONG: i love y'all sm we all so so crazy and we occasionally talk about writing but eh it’s really just a mess but making our gc was one of the best decisions i made on tumblr AND IM SO SORRY if i don’t have you down below but i’m giving you all my love and appreciation rn here!!! BUT JUST LOVE YOU ALL!!

FIRST OF ALL SHOUTOUT TO DIAMOND @woojiniee FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO START THIS BLOG I WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT YOU. lol it’s weird how my blog started from helping you w your english homework on harry potter lmao. i genuinely love you so so much and i admire you, your works and your blog and just thank you for everything!

ALSO A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO JAS @perkwoojin!!!! MY ABSOLUTE LOVE AND MY BEST FRIEND!! jas you’ve been here for me whether it’s irl problems or tumblr problems and you’ve never judged me for anything i’ve done. you are so so so special to me and i just love you soooo much i genuinely can’t imagine not meeting you on tumblr. we hit it off right from the start and we’ve only gotten closer. while the time difference may be annoying we still talk often and just thank you so much for always being there for me, love you loads!!!

MY SENPAIS (the people who inspired me to write and start this blog, i would literally check your blog for updates everyday before starting this blog) :

@imagineproduce101 genuinely think carina is the queen of writing in the pd101/wanna one fandom, she’s blessed us with so many fics on such a regular basis i’ve never talked to you personally and you probs have no idea who i am but just want to say thank you so much for inspiring me to write, your fics always made me feel so soft and fluffy i wanted to make other people feel that way so thank you!!! 

fic recs: rivals (pleaseee do pt 2), what are you waiting for, let me love you, banana milk love, red bull, new beginnings, all of mafia aus, all of hp aus, all of vampire aus 

@woojiniee i’ve already mentioned diamond^ but gonna mention her again cause she is one of my senpais LITERALLY SOOOO GOOD WRITING LIKE WTH PLEASE LET ME LIVE she’s less busy now so IM WAITING FOR UPDATES GIRLL but seriously check out all of her fics will not be disappointed

fic recs: alpaca boy saves the day, crushing on you, jaehwan soulmate au, dating a park at a park

@wanna-request-one​ such great paragraph writings mine will never live up to theirs writing is so amazing just so great if you want detailed long writing the best blog to go to all of them are AMAZING WRITERS congrats on 1.8K!!

fic recs: seongwoo soulmate, seongwoo brother’s best friend, jaehwan college, I HATE YOU IM YOUNGMIN (literally so in love w this fic)

@wanna-one-scenarios amazing writer!!! so so so niceeee she’s starting college rn so v busy i miss youuu we never get to chat but its okayyy BUT LIKE SHIT WRITING IS SOOOO ON POINT LIKE WTH just go through her whole master list won’t regret it

fic recs: DANIEL PRINCE AU!!! (like if y’all haven’t read this missing out on sm), jongyun father au, sewoon enemies to lovers au

@wannaonestars love reading her writing such great bullet points and really good ideas ALSO SO JEALOUS that like short bullet points BUT CAN MAKE ME FEEL SO FLUFF like that is a skill ppl 

fic recs: all of boyfriend series (like so fluff) ESPECIALLY SEONGWOO’S, jihoon soulmate, minhyun office au

@jsioos (was heochannies) MEIKE IS SO PRETTY AND NICE AND AN AMAZING WRITER LIKE WHAT HOW CAN YOU BE SO BLESSED has such a diverse range of works from scenarios to mtls to reactions so genuinely impressed with her blog like goals

fic recs: all of boyfriend series FOR EVERY SINGLE GROUP like she’s amazing at those, and movie night with seongwoo

@ukulelewrites ALSO LONG ASS FICS AMAZING BLOG seriously such amazing writing love so many fics of hers DESERVES MORE ATTENTION AND FOLLOWERS and super sweet as well 

fic recs: cherry picker’s club, a fanta-sea, homerun and ephiany (it’s nct ten BUT SUCH AN AMAZING FIC NEED TO PUT IT ON HERE)

@kanggdaniell STEPH IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO NICE AND RLY BUSY AS WELL but amazing writer just love her writing so much she isn’t as active as before but still should definitely check out master list cause so many amazing scenarios

fic recs: TSUNDERE (FUCK FUCK READ IT RN BEST SERIES FOR ME ON TUMBLR WOOJIN STANS COLLECT YOUR BOI), always in my heart, all of breakup scenarios, all of bad boy scenarios

ANOTHER SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO IRIS AKA @alliwannado-w1 LITERALLY RELATES W ALL MY WRITING PROBLEMS ON A PERSONAL LEVEL IS THE ABSOLUTE SWEETEST CARES SO MUCH ABOUT HER WORKS, BLOG AND FOLLOWERS I LOVE HER WRITING AND ADMIRE HOW DEDICATED SHE IS TO POST SO REGULARLY just i rly should stop writing in caps but like just genuinely she is the princess of writing in the pd101/wanna one fandom and she’s just so so amazing and all her writings are always so much fun to read like i love her so much but like no offence iris but you’re fucking crazy in the best way possible like to have so many wips like GIRL YOU NEED A BREAK 

fic recs: FUCKBOY SERIES (iris got all her fame from here lol jk), daniel werewolf au, jihoon soulmate au, jihoon vampire au, woojin youtuber au, woojin policeman au, jinyoung barista au, sewoon soulmate au, youngmin youtuber au gonna stop there cause i’ll be listing her whole master list soon ;)

AMAZING WRITERS (just to give heads up have liked these recommended fics on another private account so if you like look at the likes and i’m not there that’s the reason):

@daehwifi​​ GENUINELY LOVE THESE TWO SO SO MUCH AND THEY’RE BOTH RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED and hella sweet like cutest married couple ik TIFFY thank youuu for always making me smile and MAE for being the sweetest angel but YOUR WRITING IS ALSO HELLA GOOD like great bullet point fics and regular updates 

fic recs: bandaid guanlin scenario, movies ongniel scenario, skype calls jinyoung scenario 

@deepdickdaniel​​ ARIANE EVERYONG GC MOTHER (aurora’s dad now) and the ultimate HOE for daniel but got guys chasing after her constantly SMH and all our gc is beautiful because of your genes ANYWAYS you’re also a good ass writer and if anyone wants bomb ass daniel fics FOLLOW ARIANES BLOG YALL

fic recs: doormat, all her soulmate aus especially taste, hiking w daniel

@dong-hyucks​ oKAY so jade has only like one fic on wanna one BUT SHE’S SUPER TALENTED AND SHE DOES SO MANY GROUPS like mutlifandom ASF AND I LOVE HER ALOT 

fic recs: daniel soulmate au, na jaemin spy au, i’m with you taeyong

@donghyxns​​​ IF YALL WANT MXM SCENARIOS/CONTENT THIS SHIT IS RIGHT HERE also has a lot of wanna one scenarios but maddie is the biggest donghyun fan ik and super sweet even though we haven’t talked much!

fic recs: royalty au donghyun, actually all the royalty aus,  TIC TOK WOOJIN SOULMATE AU, youngmin as your boyfriend

@ennergetics​​ RAE my favourite drunk aunt ever like super funny and nice and talking about bts is always great with you RAE YOU ALSO LIKE AN AMAZING WRITER and make me feel all sorts of stuff when i read your works

edit: fuck me im so sorry rae lmao idk if it was the fact i wrote this at 3am or I'm terrible speller originally or it was auto correct IDEK BUT ILYSM DONT HATE MEEEEE

fic recs: bad first dates, prince aus, woojin college/barista au

@fromwannaone​​ ANNIE A COMPLETE UTTER SWEETHEART WITH WRITING SKILLS which put me to shame and fic ideas are always sooo good too just fuck meeeee i love youuu and your writing 

fic recs: ALL HER SCHOOL SERIES which is like all members basically sooo, on rainy days, sweet like candy

@hiyawoojin​​ RISSAAAA MY BABY MY PRECIOUSSSS I WANT TO PROTECT YOU AND HUG YOU AND LOVE YOU FOREVER but genuinely rissa is the sweetest person ik on tumblr and her sweetness is as equal to her writing BUT SINCE SHE’S A NEWBIE EVERYONE GIVE HER LOVE

fic recs: ALL OF THEM since there’s about 4 but i like the woojin and the minhyun in particular hehehe

@hwinkinghwi​​ XUAN WE BONDED INSTANTLY YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE AND LAUGH and we talk about the weirdest things but it’s still heaps of fun and xuan has short sweet bullet point fics which will warm your heart

fic series: both baejin fics: chicken first cuddles later, florist jinyoung, baker woojin, ___ as your boyfriend (all of them)

@jeonjeonggukks​​ I LOVE ALEX SM SERIOUSLY SO SO SO FUNNY LIKE WTH and sooooo easy to slander BUT SHE IS MY MOTHER (well one of them) AND I LOVE HER SO SO MUCH AND SHE’S ALSO AN AMAZING ASS WRITER so y’all should read her writings

fic recs: shipped jonghyun scenario, our necklaces sungwoon soulmate au, why her why him woojin

@jihoonslattee​​ AHHH WE JUST STARTED TALKING CHI BUT I ALREADY LOVE YOU AND JUST WOW YOUR WRITING IS INCREDIBLE WISH I COULD BE YOU AND HAS SOOOO MANY FICS DONE LIKE IM SO IMPRESSED wow i did that in all caps but like JIHOON STANS WHO WANT JIHOON FICS like chi’s blog like 100% recommend also does reactions SO CHECK HER OUT 

fic recs: jihoon prince au (this was sooo good), daniel CEO both parts, seongwoo boyfriend au, jihoon soulmate au

@mongniel​​ AURORA OUR SALTY ASS MOTHER/FATHER who leaves us regularly and is a daniel seongwoo stan (she says so at least) BUT LIKE GOTTA APPRECIATE HER ABILITY TO MAKE ME FEEL SO MUCH SHIT WITH HER ANGST also if y'all love angst daniel fics AURORA’S BLOG IS THE ONE FOR YOU

fic recs: BROKEN RECORD (heart BREAKING), no chance no way, in his dreams, no answer

@peachiejihoonie​​ SAYS IN DESCRIPTION SHE’S BAD AT WRITING BUT THAT’S RIDICULOUS her writing is sooooo good like not too many fics up BUT ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING like what??

fic recs: demigod series, daniel fuckboy 

@perkwoojin​​ IVE ALREADY MENTIONED JAS CAUSE SHES MY ONE ETERNAL LOVE but genuinely wtf so talented I AM SHOOK she does EVERYTHING like gifs, reactions, scenarios AND SHE HAS TWO OTHER BLOGS for the boyz and stray kids fans CHECK THOSE BLOGS OUT TOO

fic recs: basically everything but in particular wanna one as prom dates, wanna one reacting to you how to solve a rubix cube, and all her series which include: boyfriend, fallen angel, AND check out woojin badboy pt 1 & 2 and now ive literally listed her whole master list whoopss

@playfuldisaster​​ CHRISTINE IS SUCH A SWEETHEART LIKE WOW genuinely like an angel AND I LOVE TALKING TO HER but she also has so many works up! WHICH NEED MORE ATTENTION cause they’re so good

fic recs: and i’m here seongwoo, attention baejin, my boy lollipop baejin, sorry kang daniel

@producedwannaone​​ SO UNDERRATED LIKE WHAT HOW EVERYONE WAKE UP also honey I NEED A MASTERLIST like need to stalk your blog easily yooo but seriously such a great writer and a sweetheart x 

fic recs: wanna one seeing their donsaeng in their t shirt, naps with guanlin

@starrywinters​​ SHEENA YOU HAVE SHARED MY PAIN OF HAVING SEONGWOO AS A BIAS WRECKER but like other than that you mean so so much to me you are positively brilliant in every single way AND DON’T TELL YOURSELF OTHERWISE seriously AND IT INCLUDES YOUR WRITING SKILLS 

fic recs: cute bandaids, minhyun college au, 7 minutes in heaven jihoon, hugs woojin, guanlin soulmate/vampire au

@wannabeone​​ just dammnnnn girl your writing is SO GOOD LIKE WHAT?? always makes me feel all nice inside just love reading your works fic recs: all of best friend lovers (like you will not be disappointed), kissing cuddling hugging wanna one

@wannamoon​​ JUJU IK YOU’RE ON HIATUS AND YOU HAVEN’T REPLIED TO MY MESSAGES CRI but i miss your baejin fangirl squealing and your posts which will be filled with sadness cause it’s you lmao BUT COME BACK SOON I MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU but juju has such a good mix of fluff and angst fics and super unique and heart warming ideas

fic recs: crumble both parts guanlin, ALL HER LIFE AUS LIKE FUCK SUCH GOOD FLUFF, halcyon seongwoo, jihoon soulmate au

@wannaonescenarios​ SERIOUSLY SUCH GREAT SHORT FLUFF WRITINGS LIKE WHAT HOW I WISH and has a long ass masterlist WHICH IS AMAZING TO GO THROUGH just like go right now to her blog amazing writings IS AVAILABLE

fic recs: SOULMATE AU SERIES, dating series, college series (even tho it’s only youngmin), daniel cat cafe owner 

@wannasoftimagine​​ OMG SUCH AMAZING FICS BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW PHI WENT?? like she hasn’t updated in 2 weeks? or replied to messages? like does anyone know?? but if she’s on an hiatus without mentioning well idrk but phi’s works make me feel so so soft like super duper fluffy and always read them for a cheer up 

fic recs: ALL SOULMATE SERIES, classmate woojin, boyfriend woojin, and all of wanna one _____

@wannasseu​​ CYN CYN OMG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH PEOPLE CYN IS THE QUEEN OF ANGST if anyone says otherwise FITE ME drown in my tears whenever i read one of her angsts WHICH IS LIKE ALL THE TIME ugh cyn what are you doing to me BUT CONTRARY TO THE ANGSTY FICS SHE WRITES cyn is such a FLUFFY person 

fic recs: ALL HER EX BOYFRIEND SERIES especially seongwoo’s (i ranted to cyn for a straight hour about that fic lol), custard kisses, arranged marriage 

@wannatales​​ GREAT SHORT FLUFFS THAT YALL WANNA READ RECOMMENDING FOR STANS OF MAKNAE LINE since writings are only maknae line works always makes me feel all fluffy and gooey insideeee

fic recs: JACKET GUANLIN (fuck such a cute scenarios can’t deal), fool woojin, milk jihoon

@wannawrite​​ SO MANY FICS FOR SO MANY FANDOMS but like the wanna one master list IS HELLA LONG haven’t ever talked to admin N BUT I LOVE YOUUUUU LAETITA DATITA RISEEEE (is that how to spell it i can’t even remember) BUT ANYWAYS soooooo good fics like always love reading them just genuinely great writings 100% of the time

fic recs: FLOWER BOY SERIES LIKE YESSS, vamp series, i latte you very much minhyun, bffs to bf daniel, colourless soulmate au woojin, this isn’t part of the plot guanlin

@wanna-17​​ CATH OMG MY OLDER FUTURE TWIN IDEK i love you so so much and chatting you is always fun BUT you have so many mtls like wow I'm mind blown BUT YOUR FICS ARE ALSO SUPER GOOD 

fic recs: wanna one first meeting series, and any of the mtls you want to know about

@whatabrightplace​​ AHHH TINA PLEASE PLEASE WRITE FOR WANNA ONE YOUR WRITING IS ALREADY AMAZING AND DON’T BE SCARED JUST TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH wow I'm being rly dramatic but idc i want to see you produce wanna one writing content (did you see what i did there ;) ) ANYWAYS i also wanted to tell you i love youuuu

fic recs: HER RECENT DANIEL SCENARIO FUCK stars + you for our precious mother ariane and basically everything on her masterlist even tho it isn’t wanna one or pd101

@101scenes​​ JUST CUTE ASF SCENARIOS (at least the ones i’ve read) got me squealing and SOFT like such great writing 

fic recs: LATTE ART daniel scenario, guanlin soulmate au, ceo jihoon

TEXT BLOGS (not gonna do fic recommendations cause they’re texts and it’s harder to choose specific ones):

@laignlin​​ LILY I LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO TALK TO YOU MORE LIKE TIME DIFFERENCE AND SCHOOL SUCKS but our chats are always the best and it’s always hella nice talking to you BUT YOU’RE ALSO A GREAT WRITER AND AMAZING TEXT MAKER so i ended up putting you in text author lol also IM STILL YOUR PROM DATE but everyone just read through all of lily’s texts and scenarios cause they’re all on point asf

@pwjins​ I GENUINELY ADORE ALLISON BUT SHE HATES ME AND WE HAVE THIS BITCH FEUD THING GOING ON BUT WHATEVER I LOVE HER ALOT AND IK YOU GOING THROUGH A TOUGH TIME AND NEED A BREAK BUT LIKE I’M HERE FOR YOU TUMBLR HERE’S FOR YOU but i love allison’s texts they always make me smile and laugh and like my heart literally warms SHE ALSO WRITES occasionally so check those out and i don’t have any in particular but like the gc texts are always good and the CHANGING THE NAME LIKE LMAO that’s also amazing just check it all out BUT I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ALLISON 

@texts101 YOUR TEXTS ARE SOOOO GOOD JUST THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR MAKING THEM like they never disappoint I LOVE the best friend, boyfriend, gc and name switch texts the most BUT LITERALLY ALL OF YOUR TEXTS ARE AMAZING and ik you taking a hiatus now SO PLEASE TAKE A GOOD REST AND FOCUS ON SCHOOL and don’t stress at all cause all your followers will still be here and ready for your return

@w1talks ANGELA IK YOU DO SCENARIOS AND TEXTS but the scenario list was getting WAYYY TOO LONG to put you there anyways I LOVE YOUR TEXTS AND YOUR SCENARIOS your writing is amazing but your texts are also great LIKE MULTI TALENTED MUCH and I ABSOLUTELY ADORED wanna one finding you went on a date with jinyoung BUT I ALSO ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUUU

INCORRECT QUOTES BLOGS (not gonna do fic recommendations cause they’re quotes and there are hundreds):

@incorrect-produce101-quotes​ SUPER DUPER FUNNY and like totally could imagine your quotes being said by the guys and love how there’s a lot of the pd101 guys as welll 

@incorrect-wanna-one-quotes​ you were one of the first blogs i followed and your quotes NEVER fail to make me at least smile like i have properly cracked up laughing on multiple occasions because of your quotes and i just feel like my day becomes a little brighter when i see you on my dash

TALENTED ASF GIF MAKERS:

@daewi​ just really nice and cute gifs which are soooo aesthetically pleasing together also all your reblogs are just great AND I ADORE YOUR HS YEARBOOK AWARD THEMES 

@defsouldanik​ LITERALLY IM IN SUCH AWE OF YOU LIKE THE GIFS YOU MAKE IS ALWAYS LIKE THE MOMENTS I WANT GIFFED?? and like all your got7 content makes me happy as well and just THE QUALITY IS SOOO GOOD AS WELL

@kimsjaehwan​ ONE OF MY ULT FAV GIF MAKERS always gifs are so nice and the gifs are always hella good quality just always makes me smile when i see them 

@kngniel​ YOU WANT BASICALLY PERFECT GIFS OF DANIEL HERE IS THE BLOG FOR YOU genuinely so many gifs you’ve made of him smiling and just MAKES ME FEEL SOFTTT 

@ongeuigeon​ SUCH AMAZING GIFS WTF like the gifs in a set always match perfectly with each other in every way AND I LOVE IT WHEN YOU ADD YOUR OWN LITTLE COMMENTS IN it always make the gif that much better 

@parkswoojin REALLY NICE GIFS and like you regularly make new ones so thank youuu for that and just really nice quality AND IN GENERAL A GREAT GIF BLOG TO FOLLOW

@park-woojin​ I LOVE YOU JUST FOR EXISTING AND MAKING WOOJIN GIFS LIKE all of your gifs are so nice and clean and great ass quality AND SINCE ITS WOOJIN i always smile my ass off whenever i see any of your gifs 

@rosybaejin AMAZING ASS GIFS LIKE WOWOOWOWOWOW mind fucking blown y'all AND also in general amazing blog to follow great baejin content

@sungwhoon really pretty high quality edits and gifs AND LIKE THE COLOURS ALWAYS LOOK AMAZING just so nice to look at your gifs

@woojinnies WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU IN THIS FANDOM genuinely believe you are a staple piece of creating gifs in this fandom YOUVE MADE SOOOO MANY AND THEY’RE ALL SOOO GOOD like you have A GIFT just thank youuuu for making your gifs 

OTHER GREAT BLOGS:

@boo-jinyoung​​​ summer you’re an amazing ass dancer like woah and totally a baejin stan even tho you deny it CONSTANTLY and you are a  complete sweetheart everyone follow for HELLA GOOD jinyoung and guanlin content 

@crystalkpop​ I LOVE YOUUU THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR BEING ONE OF MY BIGGEST SUPPORTERS AND LIKING/COMMENTING MY WORKS JUST I APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH

@dearlydaehwi AMAZING DAEHWI CONTENT LIKE DAMN like i love seeing the smol soft bean and you DELIVER like all daehwi stand should follow you just daehwi overload in the absolute best way possible

@extraongdinary LITERALLY PROVIDES ALL THE SEONGWOO CONTENT I NEED and reblogs good ass content SO HAPPY ASF leah ily even tho we’ve never talked you just ultra great 

@fywannaone​ JUST THANK THE LORDS FOR YOU best updates such great pictures literally don’t need to follow any other blogs cause like SO FAST just constantly blessing me with wanna one content SO THANK YOU 

@ricepot-jisung​ I KNOW YOURE A WRITER BUT I HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO READ YOUR WORKS which i bet are amazing AND TBH JUST FOLLOWED YOU BECAUSE YOU REPOSTED GOOD ASS CONTENT AND SEEMED SUPER NICE AND PERSONAL POSTS WERE RELATABLE ASF (whoops wrote all that in caps) 

@soft-baejin BRI we’ve barely talked since i’m never on the gc but you’re super duper sweet and nice and also have a really nice blog and you reblog really good jinyoung content and great content in general 

@wooh00jin SUPER SWEET and adores woojin great ships and i bet you have so many flooding in when ships are open cause you put so much detail into them and GREAT WOOJIN CONTENT  

@asongofmagicandtime | @sewnho | @lai-panlin | thank you for always being nice to me on the gc and I'm sad its not as active as before but all three of you are SUCH SWEETHEARTS and have GREAT ASS CONTENT on your blogs

MY FAVOURITE MUTUALS/CLOSE FRIENDS (which have not been mentioned above or i just felt like putting you here lmao):

@danielsoftgf​ DIAN YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME NO MORE SENDING GIFS OF KOOKIE TAE N WOOJIN LIKE YOU RLY WANNA KILL ME but you so so soft for daniel it’s sweet but also so easy to exploit hehehe but i can see seongwoo just around the corner ;) but genuinely love your blog it’s so so so nice and chatting with you is the best I LOVE YOUUUU

@hyuckland​ OKAY IK WE JUST STARTED TALKING TINA AND I HAVEN’T GOT THE CHANCE TO STALK YOUR BLOG YET so i can’t really properly comment on anything BUT ONE THING I CAN is that you’re an absolute sweetheart and you made me feel SO MUCH BETTER with your messages BUT IK WE’RE GONNA BECOME HELLA CLOSE 

@jaehwansspookywife LUCY LUCY LUCY you are the funniest person ever you are so nice and sweet and hilarious and conversations never get boring w you we don’t talk THAT often but when we do i always genuinely enjoy it love youuuuu ALSO OBSESSED W JAEHWAN DON’T LET HER i don’t think he’s cute FOOL YOU

@kpopsincejune07​ JEN I LOVE YOU you were one of my first fans and you’ve been a huge supporter ever since AND WE BECAME CLOSER and talk when our stupid time zones all us lol and please don’t stress about work and take care of yourself also thank you for always reposting great fics BUT IM WAITING ON YOURSSS PLEASE PLEASE POST YOUR FIC i am waiting till this day for it ily

@ongsecngwoo​ GINNY MY LOVEEEEE i always love talking with you our conversations are always good and hella fun even tho we end up replying hours/days after EH ITS TIMEZONES but also i love your blog it’s so pretty AND THE CONTENT YOU REBLOG just yes yes yes also DONT STRESS ABOUT SCHOOL TOO MUCH AND YOU BETTER TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF but also you haven’t replied to my messages in ages so i hope everything’s okay?? i just love you loads :)))

@parkkwoojin ace we don’t talk as much as before but I STILL CARE AND LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH you’re soon easy to slander but since i promised to be sweet i’m being sweet hehehe BUT GENUINELY YOU POST BOMB ASS GIFS AND ALWAYS IMPRESSED BY THEM and your gifs of woojin OOFT MY HEART DIESSSS just thank you for existing

@porkjeojang SUMMER OMG SUMMER YOU ARE SUCH A SOFT SWEETHEART WHICH I LOVE SO MUCH but you can also be one HELL OF A BITCH sometimes ya know?? also she says she’s loyal to jihoon but IVE SEEN HER EYEING DANIEL UP but she super multi talented making pixels, gifs, mood boards and writing scenarios LIKE TEACH ME YOUR SECRETS but i love you so much and without you my dashboard wouldn’t be complete

@spooky-jihoon NAIA IK WE AIN’T THAT CLOSE BUT YOU WERE ONE OF MY FIRST MUTUALS I TALKED TO sooo i put you here hope you don’t mind I MISS YOU A LOT you’re a literal angel AND PROBABLY THE MOST DEVOTED JIHOON FAN I KNOW like jihoon content right here ppl right here and ik you won’t see this after your hiatus BUT I LOVE YOUU 

@wannabl​ okay hana we haven’t talked in fucking ages cause i felt like you just didn’t really want to chat ya know? especially cause you’re so so busy w irl stuff but like i do really really miss you and i’ve actually sent a few anons saying that i do miss you and wanting to see how you’ll react never got a reply :( but genuinely in awe of how easily you make friends and that you have so many different types of works and i’m so glad you have so many people that recognise that like your anons (and i’m sorry if i was too overly jokingly bitchy) and everyone just go through her master list or just check out her blog cause genuinely such a funny person and has amazing content on there

@wanna-one MERVE you’re my sister/protecter from all things bad (like makeout scenes lmao) but even though you “hate” daniel you have your sweet ASF moments about him you basically confess you love everything about him AND SO MUCH DANIEL CONTENT ON YOUR BLUG BUT you’re always tired and stressed and i wish you were decently okay and happy but remember you’re so sweet ridiculously smart AND i still need to see a photo of you anyways i love you sooooo much and so does daniel ;)

@woojinstinygf OMG KITTY YOU ARE SUCH A SWEETHEART AND PROBABLY THE MOST DEVOTED WOOJIN FAN IK (sorry all those woojin stans out there but like kitty takes it to ANOTHER LEVEL) i always love chatting w you and you always make feel so soft and happy ANYONE WANTS WOOJIN CONTENT OR SWEET WORDS OR ANYTHING ABOUT WOOJIN OR STRAY KIDS LMAO FOLLOW N MESSAGE KITTY (not actually her irl name but she tells ppl to call her that soooo ya)

IM SORRY IF I MISSED YOU PLEASE PLEASE MESSAGE ME SO I CAN ADD YOU ONTO THE LIST 

I LOVE YOU ALL BUT AGAIN VOTE!!!! MAGU MAGUUUUUU!!!!

[sneakers-and-shakes]

How To Build A PC Pt1: Choosing Parts

So as you may know one of my goals back in July was to build a PC. It seemed like such a daunting, expensive task and there were so many components to consider that it was easy to drag my feet. But I knew I had to just push through all that and just do it.

And so I did.

Building a PC isn’t as hard as it may seem and it’s actually a lot of fun! And based on my Instagram poll last week, you guys seem interested in learning about the process. So in this post I’ll outline the first step of building a pc: how to pick the parts.

I’m going to preface this by saying that this is by no means everything you can ever know, so I’ll do my best to leave links to places where you can learn more about things to supplement what I talk about. Tech is also constantly changing and evolving so keep in mind that depending on when you read this, some of these things might not be the newest anymore. I’m also going to be focusing on my build specifically and the parts I used.

So with that out of the way, let’s get started!

I’m going to start off with the different components and a baseline of what they do. To build a PC you only really need 7-8 things:

Motherboard: This connects all the different parts together to make everything run. This needs to be compatible with all the other components of your build.

GPU (Graphics Card): This is the component that handles all the graphics based things for your computer. For gaming or video editing, it’s especially important.

CPU (Central Processing Unit): This is responsible for interpreting and executing the commands you give your computer. So the more cores and threads your CPU has the faster your computer can compute everything.

CPU Cooler (optional): Depending on the CPU you’re getting and the workload you’re putting it under, you might be able to use the stock cooler that comes with some CPUs, so you need to buy a CPU cooler to make sure your CPU doesn’t overheat.

RAM (Random Access Memory): This is what stores the computer’s working memory. So if you have more RAM the computer will be able to process more things at once.

PSU (Power Supply): This supplies power to your whole system.

HDD (Hard drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) or both: This is the storage on your computer. Hard drives, or traditional spinning drives tend to have more storage but are more easily broken if you bang it around. Solid State Drives are also storage, but they don’t have any moving parts like the hard drives so they’re faster and more stable but usually more expensive. I’d recommend having both if your budget allows for it.

Chassis (case): This is the case that your components are going to live in. Beyond aesthetics it’s good to make sure your case is big enough to house your parts, if it has any fans and what the ventilation is like.

Cooling solutions: Your pc will get super hot and there are many ways to cool it. Fans, AIOs, water cooling.  To keep things simple I’ll just focus on fans, since that’s what’s on my build. You need at least three fans, two in the front as an intake and one in the back as an exhaust, but may need more depending on your parts.

Okay, so those are the main parts and a little about them. This is by no means an exhaustive explanation and you should do more research and reading on these parts. (I'll be attaching links to articles that further explain all this in the next part).

Alright, so now lets get a little deeper into it!

CPU:

This is the CPU I chose. Let me run through why I chose it so you can see the decision making process.

There are two main companies to buy a CPU from: Intel (which I’m sure is a familiar name) and AMD. I would say that at this point, both are pretty comparable. Intel is generally more expensive, and AMD is cheaper and usually offers more cores and threads. (Here is a link that explains cores and threads: https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-cpu-2618150 )

Basically, the more cores and threads the faster the CPU will run. So I went with an AMD CPU. Specifically the Ryzen 5 3600x. Let me explain those numbers.

Ryzen is just the name of the CPU, 3600 means it’s the 3000 series for AMD (the higher the series the newer CPU). Ryzen 5 has six cores and 12 threads. You can go higher and get the Ryzen 7 3700x which has 8 cores or go down and get the Ryzen 3 which has 4 cores.

But for me I went middle of the road with the newest series that was out at the time because not only did it give me 6 cores and 12 threads but it was cheaper than Intel. The Ryzen 5 3600x also can run with the stock CPU cooler that comes with it, especially if you aren’t doing anything crazy with it, so I didn’t have to buy a CPU cooler the way I would have had to do if I went with a Ryzen 7.

Here are some links explaining Ryzen and Intel CPUs:

https://www.windowscentral.com/amd-ryzen-which-processor-best-you

https://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/633263/which-intel-core-cpu-best-how-do-decide-between-core-i3-i5-i7-i9/?

GPU:

The graphics card I chose was the EVGA KO Ultra RTX 2060. Let’s break that down.

Nvidia is one of the biggest companies that makes graphics cards (AMD is the other big one). Currently, the latest series are the Geforce RTX 2000 series, RTX 2040 (lower end), RTX 2060 (middle of the road) and RTX 2080 (super powerful) and the RTX 2080ti (even more powerful).

Nvidia makes the graphics chip and then other companies incorporate that into their own designs to make a GPU. In my case EVGA is the company and one of the GPUs they have for the RTX 2060 is the KO Ultra which I chose cause it was compact and had good reviews.

It’s really beneficial to look at tech reviews for components like the GPU since there are multiple companies making them and they all have their own quirks.

I chose the RTX 2060 because it’s powerful and can handle a lot of gaming and rendering but I’m also not overclocking or doing anything too intense so it didn’t warrant the more money an RTX 2080 would have cost.

Links:

https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/gpu

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-buying-guide,5844.html

RAM:

I chose the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDRR RAM at 3200MHz. DDR4 RAM is the newest kind of RAM you can get. I have links below that explain more about DDR4.

16GB is a sweet spot for how much RAM you’re generally going to need. 4GB and 8GB are a bit low (Windows needs 4GB just to run) and 32GB is obviously better but usually overkill for most people.

32000MHz is the frequency of how fast the RAM can run. A RAM at 1.6MHz or 2.6MHz is not as fast as 3.2MHz, which is why I chose it.

Corsair Vengeance LPX is the name of the brand and type of RAM I got. Corsair is a pretty well-known brand and the RAM was rated well, but there are many other companies that make this. Again, I recommend looking into reviews.

Links:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-random-access-memory-ram-2618159

https://www.lifewire.com/types-of-ram-4150713

HDD:

I have the 2TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive in my build. There’s not much to say about it and I chose it because Seagate Barracuda is a well-known brand and I wanted at least 2TB of storage on my computer.

Links:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-hard-disk-drive-2618152

SSD:

I also decided to also put a SSD in my build. I’d recommend getting both an SSD and HDD if your budget allows because you can have a bulk of your storage on your hard drive but install your operating system on your Solid State Drive so that everything will boot up and run faster.

I chose the Western Digital M.2 500GB NvMe SSD. Western Digital is a good brand, 500GB is a good amount, especially since I also have an additional 2TB of storage and NvMe is faster than a SATA connected SSD.

Links:

https://www.lifewire.com/solid-state-drive-833448

https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/M2-SSD?amp=1

https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/m2-ssd-vs-sata.html

https://techterms.com/amp/definition/sata

Motherboard:

I went with the MSI B550 Gaming Edge with WiFi motherboard for my build. Now firstly, this motherboard is compatible with my AMD Ryzen 5 CPU. Secondly, it comes with wifi, which is important to me since I don’t have access to an Ethernet port where my PC is. Thirdly, B550 means that this board is compatible with PCIe Gen 4 connections, so I’m accounting for the future. Now PCIe Gen 4 isn’t the standard right now, but it will be in the future and basically it just means that connections are going to be faster.

Here is a link explaining what PCIe Gen 4 is:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pcie-definition,5754.html

It was also rated pretty well by tech reviewers. Once again, I highly recommend looking into reviews especially with a motherboard since so many brands make them and it can be hard to figure out what you want.

Things to keep in mind: make sure your motherboard is compatible with your CPU. Make sure that there’s at least two SATA ports for your HDD and SSD. If you’re going to use an M.2 NVME SSD make sure that there’s room on the motherboard for that. Motherboards come in three sizes or form factors: ATX, Micro ATX and Mini ATX. Make sure that whatever size it is, it will fit into your case. Also, make sure your motherboard has ports for any connections on your case (like USB ports).

Links:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/motherboard-buying-guide,5682.html

PSU:

The power supply I chose was the EVGA BQ 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply. EVGA is the name of the brand and BQ is what EVGA calls this version of PSU.

Wattage is important and I chose 600W because it’s a 100W more than what the GPU requires, that’s a good rule of thumb to follow. You never want to be under the required wattage.

You also want to choose a power supply that has some 80+ certification. In my case it’s bronze but even just 80+ is better than nothing and obviously silver or gold is even better.

The last part of that name is the Semi-Modular. PSUs can be completely modular, semi-modular or not modular at all. And what that really means is how many connections are already built in and how many you need to make yourself. I chose Semi-modular because I just preferred it and it was easier than making all the connections myself.

Links:

https://www.wepc.com/tips/full-semi-vs-non-modular-power-supply/

https://techguided.com/how-to-choose-a-power-supply/

Case:

Finally, we come to the case. I chose a Phanteks Eclipse P400A. Things I was looking for: a mesh front panel for proper ventilation, a PSU shroud (so you cant see the PSU on the bottom, a tempered glass side panel (cause I like the look) and thee fans.

I didn’t want to buy any extra fans and this not only came with 3 fans but 3 RGB fans. (RGB just means it as pretty rainbow lights). All three were installed in the front so all I did was remove the bottom one from the front and put it on the back as an exhaust fan. It saved me some money and now I have matching RGB fans.

The case is also ATX form factor, which is also the size of my motherboard so I knew it would fit. There are two USB ports on the case and my motherboard has USB ports so I can connect the two.  It also fit my GPU and Power Supply.

Always look at the specifications sheets for all the components your buying to get the sizes to make sure everything will fit.

Links:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3226748/how-to-buy-pc-case.html

-.-.-

And that’s how I chose all the parts for my build. I know there’s a lot that goes into it, but it’s not too bad if you have some guidance.

Here is a link to an extremely helpful video on choosing parts and how everything connects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVWQthb-20

My budget was roughly $1,000 through by no means do you have to spend that much on a PC. I’ve seen builds for $500 dollars that are still awesome. But given my budget, these were the parts that worked for me.

Here’s a link to a very helpful video on different parts list at different price points:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93SwSYQL9D4

I learned all of this from watching the videos I have linked. Three channels in particular taught me everything I needed to know, I’ll link them here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftcLVz-jtPXoH3cWUUDwYw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw

https://www.youtube.com/user/paulshardware

The website I used to create my parts list (which also has some good resources):

https://pcpartpicker.com/

This blog post has gone on long enough, so I’ll stop it here and do another post on the actual build part because that was also quite an experience. Stay tuned for that to see how all the parts I’ve mentioned came together in the build!

I hope you found this helpful and educational. By no means have I covered everything and tech is constantly changing, even as I write this there is a new series of GPUS and CPUs out that are better and faster than the ones I used. But nevertheless, I hope you guys liked this!

Please share your thoughts! I’d love to hear your experiences or questions!

And as always, thank you for taking the time to read this!

See you in the next one!

[vbutterflyeffect]

Bird Brains elect first President - Trump-Pence- Bannon Regime - Homophobia and Islamophobia used to provoke a religious war and Constitutional Convention crisis

"...But Franklin’s bombastic extremism is markedly different from his father’s diplomatic spirituality. ..."

Source: Franklin Graham Wants to Be the Next Billy Graham: He’s not even close. - http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2016/02/franklin_graham_wants_to_be_the_next_billy_graham_he_s_not_even_close.html

"... “Prepare diligently to inflict crippling losses on those who have disbelieved,” Hamza bin Laden, scion of the Sept. 11, 2001, mastermind, says in a thin baritone that eerily echoes his father. “Follow in the footsteps of martyrdom-seekers before you.” ..."

Source: Bin Laden’s Son Steps into Father’s Shoes as al-Qaeda Attempts a Comeback - https://english.aawsat.com/mwarrick/world-news/bin-ladens-son-steps-fathers-shoes-al-qaeda-attempts-comeback

"...It was at a campaign rally in August that President Trump most fully unveiled the dark vision of an America under siege by “radical Islam” that is now radically reshaping the policies of the United States. ..."

"... Mr. Trump was echoing a strain of anti-Islamic theorizing familiar to anyone who has been immersed in security and counterterrorism debates over the last 20 years. He has embraced a deeply suspicious view of Islam that several of his aides have promoted, notably retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, now his national security adviser, and Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s top strategist. This worldview borrows from the “clash of civilizations” thesis of the political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, and combines straightforward warnings Saabout extremist violence with broad-brush critiques of Islam. It sometimes conflates terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State with largely nonviolent groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots and, at times, with the 1.7 billion Muslims around the world. In its more extreme forms, this view promotes conspiracies about government infiltration and the danger that Shariah, the legal code of Islam, may take over in the United States. ..."

"... Those espousing such views present Islam as an inherently hostile ideology whose adherents are enemies of Christianity and Judaism and seek to conquer nonbelievers either by violence or through a sort of stealthy brainwashing. The executive order on immigration that Mr. Trump signed on Friday might be viewed as the first major victory for this geopolital school. ..."

"... Rejected by most serious scholars of religion and shunned by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, this dark view of Islam has nonetheless flourished on the fringes of the American right since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. With Mr. Trump’s election, it has now moved to the center of American decision-making on security and law, alarming many Muslims. ..."

"... “They’re tapping into the climate of fear and suspicion since 9/11,” said Asma Afsaruddin, a professor of Islamic studies at Indiana University and chairwoman of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. “It’s a master narrative that pits the Muslim world against the West,” appealing to Trump supporters who know nothing of Muslims or Islam beyond news reports of terrorist attacks, she said. ..."

"...Others with similar views of Islam include Sebastian Gorka, who taught at the National Defense University and is a deputy national security adviser. Mr. Gorka’s wife, Katharine, who headed think tanks that focused on the dangers of Islam, now works at the Department of Homeland Security. Tera Dahl, who was an aide to former Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, is a National Security Council official. Walid Phares, a Lebanese American Christian who has advised politicians on counterterrorism, advised Mr. Trump’s campaign but does not currently have a government post. All four have written for Breitbart News, the right-wing website previously run by Mr. Bannon. They all reflect the hard-line opinions of what some have described as the Islamophobia industry, a network of researchers who have warned for many years of the dangers of Islam and were thrilled by Mr. Trump’s election. ..."

"... Among the most outspoken of those warning about Islam are Pamela Geller, of Stop Islamization of America, Robert Spencer, of Jihad Watch, and Frank Gaffney Jr., of the Center for Security Policy. All three were hosted by Mr. Bannon on his Breitbart radio program before he became chief executive of the Trump campaign in August. Mr. GaffnDEVOSey appeared at least 34 times. His work has often been cited in speeches by Mr. Flynn. Kellyanne Conway, now counselor to Mr. Trump, did polling for Mr. Gaffney’s center. Last year, the center gave Senator Jeff Sessions, who has warned of the “totalitarian threat” posed by radical Islam and is Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, its annual “Keeper of the Flame” award. ..."

"...The day after the election, Mr. Gaffney told the Breitbart radio show how pleased he was with Mr. Trump’s win. “It is a great blessing literally from God, but also I think obviously from the candidate himself, Donald Trump,” he said. He praised the “superb people” around Mr. Trump, naming Mr. Bannon and Mr. Flynn, who he said “are actually going to lead us to saving the Republic.” ..."

Source: Trump Pushes Dark View of Islam to Center of U.S. Policy-Making - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/donald-trump-islam.html

"... Mr. Gorka came out swinging again on Thursday, after Mr. Trump’s contentious news conference in which he excoriated the media. Asked by Evan Davis of the BBC to assess Mr. Trump’s appearance, Mr. Gorka repeatedly declared the president’s performance “fabulous.” ..."

"... He has appeared in a number of television and radio interviews as a representative of the Trump administration and a member of a White House team called the Strategic Initiatives Group. The Daily Beast called it a think tank within the White House that was set up by Mr. Bannon and the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. ..."

"...This month, Mr. Gorka told CNN that the group would bring private industry expertise to bear on a range of issues, including cybersecurity, veterans affairs and the modernization of government technological systems. ..."

Source: Who Is Sebastian Gorka? A Trump Adviser Comes Out of the Shadows - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/us/politics/dr-sebastian-gorka.html?_r=0

"... In the decade since earning his doctorate, Sebastian has vaulted into the heart of the American national-security apparatus. At the White House, Gorka — who was born in Britain and became a U.S. citizen in 2012 — is a deputy assistant to the president. He reports to strategist Steve Bannon and includes the Strategic Initiatives Group, Bannon’s in-house think tank, in his email signature. ..."

"... That appointment, which includes a portfolio focusing on terrorism and national security, has befuddled mainstream counterterrorism experts, who recognize Gorka from his Fox News appearances but not as an influential thinker. ..."

"... Retired Col. Peter Mansoor, a former top aide to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq who helped rewrite the Army’s counterinsurgency manual, also said he’s never crossed paths with Gorka. “What I've heard has not been complimentary,” added Mansoor, who now teaches at Ohio State University and remains active in military circles. ..."

"... The Gorkas are also strong believers in changing official U.S. government rhetoric to include the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” which Obama, and George W. Bush before him, shunned. “We are prepared to be honest about the threat. We're not going to white it out, delete it as the Obama administration did,” Sebastian Gorka told NPR last month. In November, the Council on American-Islamic Relations described the views of both Gorkas as “Islamophobic.” ..."

Source: The husband-and-wife team driving Trump's national security policy: Before they became a Trump administration power couple, Sebastian and Katharine Gorka were prolific collaborators on research about the threat of Islamist terrorism. - http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-national-security-gorka-234950

"... A recent addition to Donald Trump’s White House team is quickly becoming the new face of the administration’s foreign policy shop: Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka. Gorka, who formally joined the administration in late January and previously served as an editor at Breitbart News, has been deployed across the cable networks and airwaves... ..."

"... In all of his appearances, Gorka communicated a singular message: the Trump White House is taking a 180-degree pivot away from Barack Obama’s foreign policy. “There is a new sheriff in town,” Gorka told Fox’s Sean Hannity. ..."

"...Like Trump, Gorka’s talking points are long on “America first” rhetoric and short on details about how the new administration’s policies will be implemented—everything remains on the table. ..."

"...Gorka declined to say whether Trump believed Islam was a religion in a Friday interview with NPR's “Morning Edition.” He went on to argue that the new administration’s overarching focus was targeting “radical Islam” as an ideology. ..."

"... “We understand that groups like ISIS have a religious verbiage, their justification for violence is always religion.” ..."

Source: Breitbart Staffer Turned Trump Aide Is Posterboy For New Admin’s Nationalism - http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sebastian-gorka-public-face-donald-trump-foreign-policy

"...Dr. Sebastian Gorka, former national security editor at Breitbart News and newly hired deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, has called himself an “expert witness” in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for years, but never took the witness stand. ..."

Source: 'Expert Witness' Sebastian Gorka Never Testified in Boston Marathon Bombing Trial - http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/02/14/sebastian-gorka-boston-marathon-bombing-expert-witness/

"...is the San Antonio chapter president of ACT for America, an organization that brands itself as “the nation’s largest grass-roots national security advocacy organization” and attacks what it sees as the creeping threat of sharia, or Islamic law, in the form of Muslim organizations, mosques, refugees and sympathetic politicians. ..."

"...“We are on the verge of playing the most pivotal role in reversing the significant damage that has been done to our nation’s security and well-being over the past eight years,” ACT’s founder, Brigitte Gabriel, wrote in a December solicitation for donations. Stephen K. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart who has described Muslim American groups as “cultural jihadists” bent on destroying American society, is Trump’s chief strategist. Breitbart has published several articles Gabriel has written. Trump’s CIA director, Mike Pompeo, has spoken at ACT’s conferences and sponsored an ACT meeting at the Capitol last year. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who sits on ACT’s board of advisers, served as the president’s national security adviser before stepping down after revelations that he might have violated the law in communications with a Russian diplomat. ..."

Source: This group believes Islam threatens America: ‘It’s a spiritupolal battle of good and evil.’ - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/this-group-believes-islam-threatens-america-its-a-spiritual-battle-of-good-and-evil/2017/02/16/3e5108c2-ed57-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html?utm_term=.d00401ab5514

More Birds Brains elect First President political cartoon series at http://vbutterflyeffect.imgur.com/

[keviniole]

People are afraid, so let’s talk, and, most importantly, listen

I used to tease my father when I was a kid about conversations I overheard him having with one of his close friends. My Dad’s buddy would go on and on telling him about his kids’ exploits. If I quizzed my Dad on what his pal said about his children, I’m fairly certain he would get a failing grade.

Instead of listening, my Dad was thinking of what he would say to brag about me and my younger brother, Keith. And then, while my father was talking, his friend would do the same thing and think of what his next line would be.

They talked a lot to each other, but they never really listened.

In a way, I think that’s what is going on in this most divided United States these days.

The 2016 presidential election has divided us in ways that no election in my memory ever came close to doing. Social media, which is a cesspool of hate and anger in even the best of times, is causing people to come unglued.

Conservatives are taunting liberals, while the liberals demean the conservatives.

When they actually listen to each other, there are always points to be made at finding common ground. But the political climate in this country is so charged that people aren’t interested in compromising and finding the best answer to a problem.

Rather, they have chosen a side and they simply parrot the talking points that support their point of view.

In 2012, NPR did a piece on this phenomenon. The lead is interesting:

When pollsters ask Republicans and Democrats whether the president can do anything about high gas prices, the answers reflect the usual partisan divisions in the country. About two-thirds of Republicans say the president can do something about high gas prices, and about two-thirds of Democrats say he can’t.

But six years ago, with a Republican president in the White House, the numbers were reversed: Three-fourths of Democrats said President Bush could do something about high gas prices, while the majority of Republicans said gas prices were clearly outside the president’s control.

It included an interesting observation from Dartmouth College political scientist Brendan Nyhan, who noted that a Republican from Massachusetts ran against incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012 while a Democrat from Massachusetts ran against incumbent Republican President George W. Bush in 2004.

And that fact, shaped the way we viewed those candidates from Massachusetts (Democrat John Kerry in 2004 and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012), Nyhan said.

“Last time it was Republicans who were against a flip-flopping, out-of-touch elitist from Massachusetts, and now it’s Democrats,” Nyhan said.

The issue, of course, is that we’re not really concerned with the policy or what the politicians are doing. The politicians have successfully divided us into teams, and we now blindly follow whatever team we’re on.

It’s certainly not productive and it’s why the four most recent polls rating voters’ approval ratings of Congress show our dislike of our Congressional leaders is one of the few areas all of us – Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents – have common bond.

Fox’s Congressional job approval poll found that 74 percent of us disapprove and 20 percent of us approve. CNN had 77 percent of us disapproving and 20 percent approving. Public Policy Polling had it 65-15 disapproval/approval and Gallup has it 76-19. 

The average of all polls (including more than just these four) from Real Clear Politics covering polling done Jan. 4 through Jan. 25 is 69.4 percent disapprove and 18.5 percent approve.

The only thing we’re united in is that we aren’t happy with our political leaders.

The key to this, though, is listening to each other. Because if we when go to Facebook, the first thing we do is post a snide comment on a thread in which we disagree, we’re never going to end the fear and eliminate the partisan divide.

Listen to your friends, most importantly those who are your friends in real life but also those with whom you are digital friends.

If someone is a friend in real life – a true friend you can count on when times are tough – then your differences in politics shouldn’t matter. It would be a tragedy to allow political views to cost you a friendship.

If a friend, or an acquaintance, makes a political point that you disagree with, ask why they believe that way. Engage him/her in conversation. Try to understand their point of view.

Celeste Headlee has a great piece on this at ideas.ted.com that is well worth reading. I think the excerpt below is particularly helpful. 

That’s what is often ending conversations now. We have stopped talking to people that we disagree with. We basically want to be able to curate and edit our conversations the same way that we curate and edit our social media. If we’re talking to somebody that we don’t want to hear from, we want to unfollow them like we do on Twitter.

The problem with that is that everybody knows something that you don’t. And so if you are stopping all of those conversations and only speaking with people who have similar experiences and opinions, you’re not going to grow, ever, and you won’t change your mind or your opinion.

They used to tell us, don’t talk about religion and politics. The problem today is that everything is religion and politics.

If we can listen to and learn from each other, we can them do a better job of picking our political leaders, so that in 2027 or 2037, the Congressional approval ratings aren’t so united against the candidates. Imagine that: A day when we elect candidates who do what we want and who we think are doing a good job.

When you encounter someone who disagrees with you, don’t arbitrarily blow them off. Make your points, but listen to theirs.

It just might make this a better world to live in.

[gavbon]

In this review we’re looking at the Genesis Thor 420 RGB, a slim mechanical keyboard with Content-branded switches. What sets this keyboard apart from others we’ve looked at is a laser focus on gaming. Many keyboards brand themselves as “gaming”, but Genesis have engineered the Thor 420 RGB specifically for blazing fast response. There’s also a host of gaming-specific features – read on for details.

Gensis Thor 420 RGB Specifications & Features

Switch Brand Content Switch Type Content Slim Blue Switch Characteristics Tactile, Clicky, Short Travel Actuation Point 1.2mm Maximum Key Travel 2.5mm Actuation Force 45g Switch Lifetime 50 Million Actuations Key Count 104 Media Keys 12 Layout US Only Interface Wired (USB 2.0 Type A) Cable Length 1.65m OS Support (hardware) Windows XP or newer, Android, Linux OS Support (software) Windows XP or newer Rollover N-Key Dimensions (mm) 418x113x24 Weight 573g Backlight Addressable RGB Accessories Cable management strap

  On top of the specs, the Genesis Thor 420 RGB has several special features;

Fast response time with 1000Hz polling rate

Windows key lock

WASD and arrow keys swap with FN+W

Five backlight presets for popular games and genres

Genesis Thor 420 RGB Closer Look

Unboxing

Unboxing the Genesis Thor 420 RGB, we find an appropriately sized box and a well protected keyboard. We do prefer recyclable packaging here at Play3r, so we do have to gripe a little. Not only are the foam blocks not recyclable, the plastic bag lacks a recycling mark. Nonetheless, the sizing is reasonable.

The keyboard comes with a small booklet with operating instructions in English, Polish, Czech, Slovak, German, Romanian, Russian and Bulgarian – you can tell Genesis are based in Poland. Otherwise, the only accessory is a cable management strap for the USB cable.

The manual covers software installation, RGB controls and the ability to swap WASD with the arrow keys using FN+W. There’s also some general housekeeping like safety information.

Visual Inspection

Genesis have topped the Thor 420 RGB in brushed aluminium, dyed to a gunmetal grey finish. A bevelled edge has a bright mirror finish. It’s a striking look, further accentuated by the visible torx head screws that hold it all together. Personally I love this – it’s nice to see metal being unapologetically bright and shiny, rather than trying to be understated. Underneath there are six round rubber feet, and a couple of basic plastic legs.

This is a very slim keyboard – a feature Genesis are enthusiastic to highlight. Even flipping the legs up doesn’t add much height. The slim profile makes the keyboard very comfortable for long gaming sessions.

The LEDs are very bright with distinct colours, and shine clearly through the keys. However, the transitions are bit… off. I can’t put my finger on it but it feels like rather than a constant colour change, the LEDs fade between fixed colours quite quickly. They’re clearly capable of producing intermediate colours, but don’t dwell on them for long.

The windows key lock function is activated by pressing FN plus the windows key. This renders the windows key inactive, keeping it from interrupting a game. A slight nitpick is that subsequently unlocking it also presses the windows key – great if you wanted the start menu, not so great if you wanted a shortcut. One good point is that Genesis have thoughtfully included a “win lock” LED in the top right as a reminder.

FPS Mode

CF mode

COD mode

LOL mode

RACE mode

There are five prebaked game modes. All are easily accessible, with FN plus a number 1-5. These light up certain keys in red, and turn off the rest of the backlighting to minimise distractions.

Use

I personally spend more time typing than gaming, and am a very heavy typist. I’m going to be honest and say that for me, typing with this keyboard is not a fun experience. With wide flat keycaps it’s very very easy to brush against an adjacent key. The sensitive switches mean that this light brush is usually turned into a keystroke. On top of this, the only available layout is US – a little jarring and inconvenient as a Brit.

The thing is, this is not a typing keyboard. This is a gaming keyboard. So naturally I have to test it properly – by playing some games. You know, for work.

I’m pleased to report that for gaming, the experience is far better. The lightness and responsiveness of the Content slim blue switches is suddenly a huge plus. In particular I’d call out wingsuiting in Just Cause 3 – a game I have nearly 800 hours in – as something that I personally found to benefit massively. Not only do the ultra-fast switches let me make delicate adjustments with ease, but thanks to short travel even my lead fingers turn into a light touch. Vehicle driving would also benefit. Outright racing games are usually considered better with a controller, but vehicle use in other games is common and tends to happen with a keyboard.

Genesis describe the switches as “giving you an unfair advantage over your competition”, and I had initially intended to refute that. After all, a keyboard is not a replacement for skill. However after using it I can honestly say it really does genuinely help in some situations. Overall, the Genesis Thor 420 RGB has serious gaming credentials. If you’re a lighter, more precise typist than I then you might absolutely love it.

Genesis Thor 420 RGB Software

The software for the Genesis Thor 420 RGB has two tabs – “PCMODE” and “SETTINGS”. The “PCMODE” tab has most of the options greyed out. The only options are profile management, and backlight settings. Moving to the “SETTINGS” tab, an individual key can be selected to unlock the rest of the options.

We have fairly powerful set of macro options here in the “SETTINGS” tab. The recording interface is a little clunky, but does the job well. By default, the delay that your human actions had is recorded. Macros can then be edited, with actions inserted or deleted and delays edited either per action or blanket. In addition, we tested if macros work without the software running. Having closed the software and manually killed the low level service (THOR 420HID.exe), our test macro kept working. However, after unplugging the keyboard and plugging it back in again the setting is lost. This is a good balance of behaviour that avoids a user thinking they “broke” their keyboard because a macro or key reassignment stuck.

When we first got this keyboard a couple of weeks ago, the only backlight options were prebaked effects. Correlation is not causation, but we queried this with Genesis and as we were finishing this review a software and firmware update was posted that adds proper backlight customisation. The Customize setting has “Background” mode, which sets the entire backlight, or alternatively there’s “Single Key” mode which allows colours to be set up per key.

The colour picker is a little fiddly and would really benefit from a few presets, but it does the job. Colour reproduction seems off but manually finetuning the R, G and B values helps a lot. For example, clicking on orange on the colour picker yielded 253/127/6, which came out more like peach. Manually setting 255/127/0 gave us a good orange.

Overall, the software is a little clunky but does everything it needs to do now Genesis have added backlight customisation.

The Genesis Thor 420 RGB Review: The Verdict

Going into this review, I was sceptical about this keyboard. I didn’t doubt the claims of responsiveness, but I did doubt that it would matter. I’m pleased to report that I was wrong.

In some games, having the light and responsive switches can make a huge difference. Tasks that were previously frustrating due to a lack of fine control became far more achievable. On the flip side, sensitive switches are unforgiving towards heavy and inaccurate typing. The slim profile also makes long gaming sessions comfortable, without needing a wrist rest.

What’s hot:

Slim design

Very responsive switches

Makes fine control much easier in some games

Comfortable even for long sessions

What’s not:

Non-slip feet could be better

US layout only

Switches this responsive aren’t for everyone

As a gaming keyboard, the Genesis Thor 420 RGB excels. For typing, it depends if you’re a light typist and comfortable with the US layout. To review the Genesis Thor 420 RGB though we are judging it against the pitch, and the pitch is gaming. Though there are one or two minor grumbles, for the overall performance and comfort it easily earns the Play3r Gold Award.

At time of writing it’s hard to find the Thor 420 in the UK, but Irish retailer Maxbitt has it in stock for £60.42.

Thanks to Genesis for sending a sample of the Thor 420 RGB in for review.

Related Reading:

SAHARA GAMING R20 Keyboard Review: The Meaning of “Value”

Cherry DW 9000 Slim Desktop Set Review

Thermaltake Challenger Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Review

MSI Vigor GK60 Keyboard Review

Thermaltake Level 20 RGB Titanium Gaming Keyboard Review

Many keyboards are branded as "gaming", but Genesis have engineered the Thor 420 RGB specifically for blazing fast response - in this review we look at how. In this review we're looking at the Genesis Thor 420 RGB, a slim mechanical keyboard with Content-branded switches.