#ROUND 4 BABEY

[hattiestgal]

You should know the deal by now, IT'S ANOTHER DOODLE GAME FRIDAY!!! Round 4 is coming in with a little extra spice! >:3c

The rules are the same as always! Got a scenario you wanna see one or multiple of my OCs in (kink or otherwise)? Send an ask, and I'll doodle it!

This time, though, there's a fun new addition... got any ideas for some kind of outfit my OCs should wear? Send an ask, and I'll doodle 'em in it! This can be an individual thing or sent in tandem with a scenario! Either way, I look forward to your outfit suggestions!

[mysunshine-youremoonlight]

omg piracygirlboyfriend !! <3 so cute of u fr

i would love 2 be someones piracy girlboyfriend. i love piracy <3

[uselessgaywhovian]

lae’zel kicked my ass and now my bed is just always saturated with my own blood

this is the best romance path

[gaygxnslinger]

tips to make my muse fall in love // accepting!

Anon asked: ♥ also one for everyone here too, again if ur cool with that 👉👉💙 

puttin this under readmore for length

Crow

“Well,” the Hunter smiles, though the slight tinge of a flush on his cheeks alongside how he raises his hand to scratch at the back of his neck betrays the slight awkwardness he feels, “I’ve...not really put much thought into it.”

That’s a lie. Despite how little experience he has, Crow’s speculated a whole lot on what a good partner for him would have to be, now that he feels he can be assertive about that sort of thing. “But if I had to say something, I guess I’d want them to be fun and outgoing. Avoiding all the other obvious stuff I could say.” Such as, someone who isn’t actively looking to kill him.

Crow finds himself drawn to the more extroverted personalities, perhaps because he wishes he could be the same. Glint always encourages him forward but it’s still hard, having to worry about what every new Guardian is going to think, regardless of his newfound protection under the Vanguard, as well as amongst his friends. Tch. Wonder what the first few Guardians he met would do now, up against people like Zavala and Khalom.

But he’s getting sidetracked. “I just think it’s fun, to be able to banter with someone.” Is that too basic of a thing to suggest? ...Who cares, he tells himself.

-------------------------------

Saint

Saint glances up, and in a rare moment where his helmet is off, his light visibly brighten at the question. “Could I not just list everything about my Phoenix?” Saint jokes, “Though I guess if you were here to listen to me talk about Osiris, you would have asked about him.”

Not that it would stop the Exo from talking about him anyway.

“If you could not already tell, I love a man who speaks his own mind. Someone who is not afraid to make their thoughts known. Someone who is not intimidated by stature. Many back down as soon as they see me, but those who stand proud in defiance, I respect them.” The Titan hums in thought, before adding with as best a smile as he can manage, “You must appreciate my birds as well. And how much I talk about them.”

------------------------------- 

Cayde & Andal

“Yeah Andal, do tell~”

The Exo earns himself a small shove, but Cayde quickly settles leaning against Andal again. The Nightstalker rolls his eyes, but does indeed speak, “They’ve gotta be good lookin’ to start off. Handsome, charming, all that.”

Cayde nods solemnly in agreement, but doesn’t add anything. At least not yet.

“And...it’s always nice to have someone who sees me for who I am. No Vanguard, no pack leader, just me. You’d be surprised at all the Hunters who wanna be friends with me just ‘cause they think it’d get ‘em to higher places.”

Now, the Gunslinger finally chimes in, “Yeah! ‘S real important for your partner to not just want you for your position. In all seriousness though...I think I’d need someone who’s patient with me. I know I can be...” Now how does he word this? Terrible with confrontation? Awful at communication? Abhorrent at being upfront? “...difficult. At times. Just gotta take the bad with the good.”

------------------------------- 

Clovis Bray

Clovis actually laughs, vocal lights flickering in what could be considered a smile, “Pfah! Do you really think there is any advice to be given? Why would you even bother wasting your breath and energy to come here and ask?”

The frame sighs.

“Respect would be appreciated from anyone seeking my affections.”

------------------------------- 

Lord Shaxx

The towering Titan’s response comes immediately, “The greatest thing in a partner, to me, is strength. The strength to keep going, even in hard times, and to endure, knowing that things will get better, especially if you’re able to do your best to make things better. Being able to lift others up in their time of need is even more admirable, but I know that can be difficult.”

“But,” the helmet betrays nothing, “I can’t say I don’t also admire someone who can fight a good fight physically.”

------------------------------- 

Shiro

“I’m uh--” his voicebox hitches ever so slightly, “...Still a little caught up, with Tevis ‘n’ Lush being gone. So it’s a little hard to think about, I s’pose.”

It’s been a while, yeah, but thinking about things still hits just as hard. But one day he’ll have to move on, regardless of whether he finds someone new or not, so maybe thinking it over isn’t so much of a bad thing.

Shiro’s optics blink off for a decent few seconds, but his voice takes on a slightly lighter tone once they reopen and he starts to speak again. “Seems I get along best with both people similar to me, and the complete opposite, so I don’t think personalities are much of an issue. If I had to pick one thing...”

There’s a bitter chuckle, matching the cool air of the mountain peak. “I’d love for my next partner to stay alive for a decent few years.”

------------------------------- 

Banshee

Banshee looks up from the gun he’s working on, placing a mag to the side and staring for a few moments as he processes the question. “Hm. Guess the big one is tolerating my memory gaps. Sure as hell won’t remember birthdays. Or anniversaries. Heh.”

Idly, his fingers tap the worktop. Has he pondered this before? Probably. He’s no stranger to rehashing forgotten territory, though.

“Gotta be interested in guns. Don’t think there’s much point in me hookin’ up with someone who doesn’t know a damn thing ‘bout ‘em. ‘Less they’re real compellin’ in some other way.”

“...Now where’d I put that...”

[versary]

did such a fun little partner workout with caitlin after we coached today and i'm feeling so good. i love my body

[gothamcityneedsme]

i had thought i missed the screenshot here but i DIDN'T. there's my 65 just as i lost it lmao

[nat-20s]

Some of you may know that I'm an absolute fucking sucker for a weight gain as healing narrative so I'm applying that to the 14th Doctor babey!! He's finally well rested and well fed he's not quite literally running himself ragged. I think in the first year or so of living with Donna and having, you know, consistent meals he does start to lose some of that gauntness. His cheeks start to round out, his ribs stop poking through his undershirts, he no longer needs 3-4 layers of clothing to fill out his silhouette. Donna does see the change and doesn't make a comment, but it really hits her when she hugs him and he feels more there. His body changes in a way that shows that Donna has found him again and treated him with the warm sentiment of "I love you. I want us both to eat well", and isn't that such a wonderful way to change?

[exosciences]

mass effect fans seeing the new trailer are perpetually torn between “we should let commander shepard rest it’s been years it’s time for a new protagonist” and “SHEPARD IS FUCKING BACK BAYBEY❗️DUG THEIR ASS OUT OF THAT RUBBLE AND PUT THEM RIGHT BACK IN ‼️ ROUND 4 BABEY 🔔🥊 NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT 🗣️⁉️ NEVER GIVE UP 🔥💯💪”

[blond-jerk-tourney]

Blond Sweetheart Tourney: Round 4, Poll 2

Propaganda from submitters Under Cut

Bubbles

She’s a sweetie who can kick your ass

she's so sweet that there's a whole episode dedicated to how unsettling it is when she's angry. whenever she yells at anyone who isn't a bad guy, it isn't often, but it's potent, showing just how unused to her being mean everyone is. shes called "the joy and the laughter". she once saves the city of townsville from becoming monochrome and lifeless, and her first attempt is to color people in with crayons. her working attempt is to start a song about love making the world go round. bubbles is my babey you see

when it comes to sweetness, come on. Bubbles is the clear winner here. I mean, she has one pretty big reason why in her favor already: She's literally made of sugar.

GUYS COME ON CLAP FOR BUBBLES 🫧👏🫧

Vash the Stampede

Vash is super sweet, "love and peace" is his whole motto and the whole point of the anime is that he's always getting himself into situations where he's required to fight but he always tries to avoid killing people to the point to where his whole body is littered with deep scars, stitches, and missing flesh where metal had to replace it from trying to keep his fights non-lethal. He's empathetic and kind to the point of it being self-destructive. Because of all the trouble he gets into, he's framed as a dangerous person and purposely keeps up an exaggerated goofy attitude to hide his identity and make sure people aren't intimidated by him. He travels a lot, and throughout his travels he usually plays with the local children and befriends adults. That's all the examples I can think of, Vash is a huge sweetheart!!

link to Vash propaganda image board

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown, round 4 of bracket one

Propaganda:

For Yasha:

Big somft goth Viking barbarian lesbian who fights with a zweihander (and other big swords)

She's huge, she fights with a giant sword, looks intimidating but loves her friends and (eventual) gf so so much

For Zoro:

Literally training to be the greatest swordsman in the world. Has a special three swords technique (one blade in each hand plus one with the handle held in his teeth). I haven't read the manga or watched the anime but the live action adaptation gives me extremely gay vibes and based on the fandom things I've seen I'm not the only one

bro uses three swords. has one in his mouth. dont ask how the HELL he manages that. one day he will be the worlds greatest swordsman....after he beats the current greatest for both the titles of greatest swordsman and fruitiest swordsman. he's dramatic as FUUUCK like bro what the hell. has homoerotic fights with the local twink like everyday. directionally challenged, can and will get lost in a paper bag, doesnt know left from right...he probably cant read, too. hes too silly ngl

First of all, im in like episode 250 and so far he hasnt been shown attracted to any woman at all during the whole show so far, not even when one changed clothes in the same room as him and this is anime so you know there were other characters with bloody noses and shit. With that out of the way he wields three swords at once [two in his hands, one is his goddamn mouth dude. Its cool af trust me.] When he was little he made a promise to his best friend that he'd be the best swordsman in the world. Later she died in a tragic accident and left her sword which he still uses today. He also carries a cursed sword but he overpowers the curse with a combination of skill and sheer luck. He got stuck in a chimney. While his crewmates sail their ship he takes naps. He learned how to cut through metal by fighting a guy who could turn his body into metal blades. That's metal. He refuses to fight this liberal marine officer because she looks like his childhood best friend and its just understandably really awkward for him. He's autistic. He's a he/him bisexual lesbian. He's a gay man. He's ace/aro. He's whatever you want him to be babey!!

he has 3 swords, wields one in his mouth sometimes, his dream is to be the greatest swordsman in the world

three swords and big aroace-spec gay vibes

He not only has a sword he has *three* swords. He's absolutely gay there's no way to see this man as straight. Also one time he licked his sword for no reason and that was really funny to me so I had to mention it

Look, this man thinks about three things: Swords, His Captain, and Booze. He’s on a quest to be the worlds greatest swordsman. The Live action has a scene where he declares his undying, unwavering loyalty to his captain WHILE reaffirming his promise to be the worlds greatest swordsman. At this point His dream and his Captain are so intertwined it’s crazy. Man is so sword-y he’s got three of them. When one of his swords broke he carried its empty scabbard until he was able to give it a SWORD FUNERAL. He hears a sword is cursed and takes that as a challenge. He will literally tell his swords off for “bad behavior” when they “act up” due to being straight up cursed. He tests one by throwing it in the air and sticking his arm out to see if it is so blood thirsty and ill tempered that it will cut him. Even though he’s literally the first mate if you ask him what his role is he’s going to answer Swordsman.

He's dedicated his life to two things: becoming the greatest swordsman in the world and his captain, Luffy. 

He mastered the three sword style. Its his style. It would've been more swords but he could only fit one sword in each hand and one in his mouth. He wants to be the world's greatest swordsman, a deal he made with his childhood best frenemy (before she died falling down the stairs). He thought he was All That at the start and was almost completely decimated by the actual Worlds Greatest Swordsman. Now, after two years forced training with that guy, he's probably in the top tier no-doubt, and honestly could already be the best but we just don't know for sure yet. Also, did I mention: he's got the whole demon/devil imagery going on at times. And he has absolutely no sense of direction! plus is a total softie when it comes to Chopper and all the children who somehow gravitate towards him. And he loves naps!

One of the guy's main goals in life is to be the best sword fighter and he fights with three swords which I think is telling enough of his skill.

[ass-blasting-bitchaloid]

oh yea babey it's time for more probably unbalanced jokers !!!

Leftovers (Uncommon): Adds ×0.01 Mult for each remaining card in deck at end of round (Only appears after a food-themed joker– with the exception of Gros Michel and Cavendish– gets totally depleted.)

Bop Joker (Common): Adds +30 Chips if played hand triggers the Boss Blind ability

Deathcard (Uncommon): For every extra 20% of required chips scored at end of round, earn 1$

Paper Jam (Common): +? hand size for first hand (Ranges from 0 to 8 extra cards.)

Ability Card (Rare): 1 in 4 chance for each item in shop to be free

Feste (Legendary): Scored cards have a 1 in 2 chance to return to hand

[tewwor]

 🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒  🍒 

send🍒 for nice words >:) ( accepting ) — whoever sent this, ilu

anon, you're so goated 4 this. gotta crack my hand knuckles and brain knuckles for this because WHEW....... i do have that many folks i'd love to yap about in no particular order. also, this is so long — that's my only warning ❤️️

🍒 @desalvar idc if we've only written 1 thing together. i don't care if we haven't chatted an exuberant amount. i'm here to say i love nik sm and i love how passionate you are about him. those hcs i see floating around? eat them up instantly. i cannot wait to yap and explore more no matter how long it takes!!!!!!

🍒 @interxstitial YAINT SLICK. I SAW THAT OTHER ASK SO I MUST PUT YOU ON BLAST about how much i've come to cherish you. fr fr i haven't hehe'd haha'd with a relatively newish mutual this fast in a Long time. but you take the cake. the entire bakery, even. the way you just... okay, look, i said it literally when i first imed you, but your verses are so CHEFS KISS GOOD. THE WAY YOU WRITE IS SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. JIWON AS A ENTIRE CHARACTER IS SO SENSATIONAL.

you're so silly, he's so silly, we're all so silly together. the marked literally became a whole ass community because of your enthusiasm. it genuinely encouraged me to not hold back and continue to yap about all of their stupid nuanced dynamics. and the way we have soooooo many threads together, but they all feel different? juniper's just babey!!!! he's the marked's babey!!!!! don't even get me started on ravi.... i did not think anyone would pick him up by the scruff and hang onto that bro frat man bro. hes so ridiculous but you RAN WITH IT AND WE KEPT SPRINTING. you're amazing, i'm so so happy i followed you all those months ago ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️

🍒 @gollldrush okay, not going to lie. you're currently an inspiration for my writing. there, i said it. you're so well-rounded with so many genres — like how can you write the most visceral angst, fluff, action, and eerily atmospheric threads? hello? i'm knocking on your blog door, teach me?????? i absolutely adore leo and ellory both SO much. but the way you write rilen specifically has me fascinated.

also, not to mention, it's a field day to chat with you in the best way possible. you're SO nice and you, too, have contributed greatly to the inner dynamics of the marked. i can't wait to see what other shenanigans we come up in the future ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

🍒 @justsurvival KEVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gosh. DARN. sorry if this comes across as too much, but i was so incredibly excited to see you back. would also like to thank the stars for aligning, because i literally got flashbacks to hatsune miku ORYN THE OTHER DAY OUT OF NOWHERE? the picture... haunts me....... anyways. you're a phenomenal writer across the board. you're so fun to chat with and your creativity's off the fucking charts. when i said i couldn't pick who to write a starter for, i meant it. the concepts are all so GOOD it amkes me ( wails on the floor )

🍒 @cordoliae vic, this is my official appreciate blog post tweet story. i cannot for the life of me... even begin to explain / do justice to how wonderful you are. like, as a person AND a writer — i am bowing down at the steepest degree. your writing is TOP TIER and it has influenced my writing so, so much. a lot of the prosier things i type has 10000% been from our earlier threads where mister no-good chanyeol plonked himself in baby jail to bother THE love his life 💗

also, idk if i've ever told you this but i got into botw because of you. like off to the sidelines, i got that game to relive some nostalgia and try to understand that world more and got dunked into getting lost in everything for an eternity. i would also like to POINT OUT that your understanding of ANY canon you write floors me. vincenzo? that's quite literally him pulled from the kdrama itself. BONGGIL? THAT'S HIM DIRECTLY FROM THE SCREEN ITSELF — ACTUALLY? I would like to also point out how ecstatic i was when you reached out about mutually loving exh.uma. i quite literally haven't tunneled that fast before, and while my focus is severally scattered right now — the best shamans are still in my brain. also, you're one of the 3 people that got me into op, so thank you sm for that ♡♡

🍒 @huntershowl ( kicks thru the wall big bird style ). raine... you.. i cannot describe everything i adore about you, but i sure can try. let's get the obvious out of the way, alright? seph, the creature that you are........ fantastic.. feral..... so for real with the cards you've been dealt............. i want to dub you and seph as THE ones that got me to progress jie so much. also litho HELLO? NOT TO DRAG THAT BEATEN HORSE BACK IN but i'm so serious when i say this, he's like so close to being a single ship with seph. highkey the reason why he only crawls out of his stupid cave when seph's around. it still might end up happening, but either way — the influence and sheer devotion and love he has for seph clocks me over the head every single time.

NOW FOR THE NEWERISH DEVELOPMENT. i might not be immersed in jj.k and only have a pinky toe dipped into wb / bn.ha BUT i know you're taking everything and everyone by storm. anytime i see one of your posts about anxiety ( which is so totally understandable ), i'd like to try and reassure you that there's an entire group of folks that love and adore your version of canons and ocs. and if anyone else tries to muck around like a fucking buffoon, i'll send a mathematical plague upon them i s2g

🍒 @xinxiins this is my confession.... not featuring usher, hi, it's just me. i'm clearing out the entire room to say that you have reconnected jie with his culture and i am so forever grateful for that. his slice of life verse version is currently hibernating, but i Did Not Forget about our yapping and immersion in a community he so desperately wanted to be a part of. and as someone that's also struggled with that connection, i thank you so so so SO much from the bottom of my heart. it's truly so incredibly special to have experienced that, and i hope to continue that in the future!!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO, YOUR WRITING IS BREATHTAKING. I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A GIVEN BUT I HAVE TO SAY IT ANYWAYS. AND YOU'RE A GEM TO TALK TO ❣❣❣❣❣❣❣

🍒 @fangmother don't mind me scooting on by, but hi, yes, hello. i know we recently started to interact, but a) love the way you write b) love the lore you have surrounding rainer b.1) i was so immersed reading up on her bio / verses — like, truly, thank you for the meal c) cannot wait to explore more dynamics because already, i'm buckled up for more replies and will eventually reach out just to yap yap yap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🍒 @miidnighters brodie.... 100 golden stars for you. just.. gosh..... i can say with full confidence, i will never tire of your characters ever. i don't care if we have a million dynamics with the x amount of characters i have. i still want more!!!!!!!!! you're so talented. honestly very inspirational. idr if i told you this before, but you are also 100000% part of the reason why i got so involved with the marked. OH? ALSO? LETS NOT FORGET HARBORVIEW TOO? before the marked consumed me BUT HELLO???? FLYNN IS HARBORVIEW'S COLLECTIVE GROWN MAN BUT ALSO BABEY. ahem, anyways, i've learned so many new things about my own characters because of our interactions. and i always, always wish the best for you / am so grateful we're pals.

🍒 @catfcng going to be so fr, idk most of the fandoms you run with but i want to ( eventually )!!!!!!!!!! there's just something so captivating with the way you write and bring attention to your characters in the best way possible. also? your blog's entire aesthetic is So Good. i hope to write more with you and will always cheer loudly from the sidelines !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[words-for-cat-bracket]

round 5 - week 2 - 1 of 2

brought to you by: apple cider

macska (hungarian) vs 猫 (chinese)

info and propawganda under the cut!

macska /ˈmɒt͡ʃkɒ/

-ka is a diminutive so its sound like it means ""little macs"" - except there's no ""macs"", that word doesn't exist, only macska: little macs, which is very true because all cats are babies.

Macska is just a little switcheroo away from makacs (cs is a single letter in hungarian) which means stubborn which is what cats are C:

猫 (māo) /mɑu̯˥/

It sounds like Meow! Also, Cantonese is a really cool language (that I can definitely not pronounce sadly)

Little ears and a tail 🥺

sounds like meow

BRO ITSLITERALLY THE CAT SOUND IRS LITERLALY WHEN A CAT GOES ""MOW"" ANNSJSYSSHSHSHH

Because it sounds like a cat <3

It sounds like the sound cats make.

māo sounds like the sound a cat makes

this word reads as ""māo"".

real pokemon moment. we chinese really saw a cat, asked it what it wanted to be named as, and then called it that. we even kept the same intonation (the dash over the a) to ensure that everyone else who knew chinese would talk to the cat in the exact same way the cat called to us.

it's got 3 radicals; the left (犭) for quadruped animal, the cap (艹) for grass, and the base (田) for field, like rice fields. that's basically the whole backstory of how we saw and met the cat. the kitty really was just coming in from the grass on his 4 lil paws to our field and introduced themselves as mao. ily cat

if you read the cap and base section only it looks like a cat's face and ears.

every time you want to write the word cat you have to draw them!!! wont you think of a lil babey kitty while drawing them? isn't it beautiful how every time we wanted to write cat in chinese we took the time to depict a cat? decided everyone should know how or what a cat looks like and devoted our time of remembrance to just a leetol creeture?

because it's literally onomatopoeic. the cat is named after the sound it makes (which is so cute)

simple, cute, direct, just like cat

It sounds like a cat sound, and also just really nice. If you interpret the radicals in the unintended way I'm deciding to, the leftmost bit of the character could look like a cat scratching their back on a fencepost behind them, or something. Overall, it is a very cat word

it sounds like cat sounds (cute) and its easy for me to remember as a chinese novice bc it has the same radical as dog and is easy to draw

sounds like the noise cats make. cute

猫 as a character is peak cat! It's been a while since I've been in Chinese school, so bear with me, but the left side uses the claw symbol, which shows it's an animal, and the right side (苗, pronounced miáo) helps explain its pronunciation. 苗 specifically means something along the lines of seedling/young/descendant and isn't really depictive of what it means, but when I was younger, I thought it looked a little like a cat with little ears and whiskers as well. (Chinese cats say ""喵"" (miāo) which ties back to the 苗 symbol as well!) Also, 猫 ""māo"" is kind of pronounced like a meow, which I think should give it bonus points. Overall, 猫 is the peak word for cat! :3

you cannot tell me they are not the perfect word for a kitty cat. they came up to us and introduced themselves, so we decided to call them by the name they call themselves, and in mandarin, we call them ""little māo"" because they are our little meow meows!! they are our babies!! also chinese is Ancient. our writing system goes back like 4000 years!! and we are still using it! i admit we probably weren't calling them 貓 for all these 4000 years but respect your elders! /lh

[shadeswift99]

AU where each season of the life series takes place in the rewilded ruins of the previous.

These are both deeply good ideas thank you so much. The first one makes me picture them just turning up the speed of time in the world after every season and watching years go by in minutes, seeing the blood dry and wash away and the grass grow up over all the shelters and traps and torn-up sites of promises and frantic last stands alike. Unspent TNT disintegrating, towers crumbling, cosy cottage wooden beams buckling and sagging down to become mulch for new potential. Then time stopped again, the world almost - almost - unrecognizable, and back at it for another round. Maybe it helps them to process the memories, to watch that. Maybe it only makes it harder for them to put it from their minds. Maybe they prefer it that way, in the end.

Okay now funny time. 4 different worlds, the second the timer goes for the end of one session they all have to clean up like a quick change in a school play and remember what they're doing in the next world in time for the next back to back session. Ren and Mumbo and Lizzie nearly show up in seasons they're not in at least a dozen different times. Joel just about brings a whole session to a grinding halt by refusing to change out of his wizard clothes. Grian lost his mind somewhere around session 3 and isn't even making an effort to find it again. The third life finale fistfight wasn't even scripted, it just happened to be the last scheduled session to record and Grian was simply ready to beat a man to death. That's showbiz babey!!

[hotvintagepoll]

aww yeah managed to pick the (at time of asking) loser for EVERY MATCH-UP in Round 4 that's what we call niche taste babey 😎

shadow realm material right here. you have the Eye

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Erudite | In Your Own Time

Hi, I absolutely loved Erudite!!! If you're taking requests at the moment, I'd love to see a continuation of it where Virgil (or Patton, Janus or Remus) makes it obvious that they've been flirting with Logan, and he tells them he's not interested in that way and comes out to them as aromantic (preferably with the 4 of them being supportive and reassuring him they'll still want to hang out with him now they're in a relationship) – stormofstarlight

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: internalized arophobia

Pairings: NONE WE ARE ALL PLATONIC HERE BABEY

Word Count: 2502

As soon as Roman opens his door, he stands aside to let Logan in and closes the door firmly behind them.

"They won't stop," Logan grits out, adjusting his tie over and over again until he's more just pulling on it but he can't stop because his chest won't stop twitching, "they just—I can't—I don't—"

"Easy," Roman murmurs, taking him by the hand and leading him over to the bed, "hey, hey, just come sit with me for a moment, okay?"

Logan collapses to the bed in a thoroughly undignified heap, letting Roman coax him into a floppy cuddle. Hands run through his hair as he squeezes his eyes shut, fumbling to put his glasses on the nightstand so he can freely bury his face into the crook of Roman's neck. Roman hushes him with a seemingly limitless patience, breathing slowly and steadily as a gentle reminder. The mass of frenzied energy in his chest starts to slowly unravel.

"Please—my chest—can you—?"

Roman works a hand between them to rub gentle circles into his chest again and Logan whimpers from the relief of it.

"Oh, you're alright, Logan, it's okay." Roman's lips press chastely against his forehead. "I've got you, okay? You're right here with me. Everything's okay. You're okay. Shh, shh, that's it…just get it all worked out, okay? I'm right here. You're safe."

He is. He is safe here. Roman is right, he is safe here, everything's going to be okay. Roman understands and he's holding him gently and he can just—just—

Another kiss pressed to his temple. "You're alright, Erudite."

Logan shatters.

He loses track of time almost instantly, just curled up against Roman. Everything fades into a confusing swirl of soreness and euphoria, the faint pain in his chest not enough to drown out how good it feels to just let it go. And Roman stays with him for all of it, just rubbing his chest and kissing his hair and letting him be a complete and utter mess right there, on the bed, without any need for him to do anything other than feel. A luxury he would have denied himself and been all the lesser for it.

After a long, long time, he presumes, he sags against Roman, exhausted. Roman offers a small water bottle that he sips from gratefully.

"That seemed like a lot, Erudite."

"It was," he croaks, "I'm…thank you."

"You're very welcome. I'm glad you came." Roman kisses his cheek again and takes the water bottle. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Do you want me to ask questions like last time?"

"Please?"

Roman smiles, brushing a tear from Logan's cheek. "Does it have anything to do with what we talked about last time?"

"Yes."

"Are the others flirting with you again?"

Logan rounds his shoulders. "I don't think it counts as flirting."

"Let me rephrase: are they doing things to playfully squabble for your attention and get all pouty when you don't give it to them?"

"…yes."

Roman's chuckle is enough to coax the smallest smile back to his face. Roman sees it, of course, and nudges him gently. "Is that what's making you so upset?"

"In a way," he sighs. "I don't…I don't want to not spend time with them anymore, but when they keep—they just—"

At his groan of frustration, Roman tugs lightly on his sleeve. "Is it that they don't know that you're aromantic, or you still feel as though their affection isn't for you?"

"Both?"

Roman nods sympathetically. "Do you think it would be helpful to talk to them about it?"

"But what do I say? 'Hi, I'm aromantic, I feel like you shouldn't be giving me affection?'"

"Is that true?"

"In some ways, yes. But I can figuratively see Patton's face if I said something like that to them and—"

"Yes, quite." Roman winces. "I can see it too. Yeah, maybe…maybe not that."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, do you think you'd rather come out to them first, or tell them that they're making you uncomfortable by flirting with you first?"

"Aren't the two of them connected?"

"Well, yes, but them being connected doesn't mean they have to be simultaneous. I came out to Remus before I came out to the others—actually, I don't know if I'm fully out to the others, now that I think about it." He gives himself a shake. "But this isn't about me. I—do you think you would be okay with them knowing you were aro?"

Logan sighs, leaning back against Roman. Roman lets the pause hang in the air. "I don't know. I don't want them to look at me any differently."

"Of course not," Roman says softly, carding his hand through his hair again, "I understand. Maybe you could tell them that you'd like them to stop flirting with you?"

"But them flirting—I don't know if it's flirting. And they're—they—is it wrong that I like having them want to spend time with me? Or that they want my attention?"

"No, it's not bad."

"What if I ask them to stop and they don't do anything with me anymore?"

"I don't think that'll happen, Erudite."

The name sends a small jolt of warmth through him. "But I don't think I know the difference. What if all of their attention feels wrong?"

Roman's quiet for a moment.

"Sorry."

"No, no, don't apologize. We're just talking. It's okay. This is complicated. It's hard, and it's not—I don't think any of the things we could say, any of us, will completely make these feelings go away. That's not your fault, that's just how feelings are."

"I know," Logan grumbles, "it's the worst."

Roman chuckles again, the feeling reverberating through his chest. A small smile comes to Logan's face. "It is the worst, you are absolutely correct."

He toys with a loose thread at the end of his tie. "Does that mean I should come out to them first?"

"This isn't a binary answer, Logan—"

"Boolean."

"This isn't a Boolean answer, Logan, there are more than two options. You can also just tell them that things feel different now that they're in a relationship."

Logan frowns. "But it's not my relationship."

"That doesn't mean the dynamics of all of us aren't changing. It's going to feel different for everybody, not just you. That's not an unreasonable thing to bring up. Like—okay, imagine there's a pool of water and there are…oh, god, how many of us are there?"

"Six."

"There are six buoys floating in the pool. The ripples are going to all interact, right?"

"Yes."

"Now if we tied four of them together, or the four of them were connected in some way, that would change the ripples, right?"

Begrudgingly, Logan can admit to himself that it's a very solid analogy. He mumbles something to that effect as he curls up a little more. Roman kindly refrains from teasing him about it.

"It's different. It just is. It makes sense that things are going to take some getting used to for all of us. It's not your fault that you feel a certain way about it, even if you're happy it happened in the first place."

"I know, it's just…"

"Yeah," Roman agrees quietly when he can't quite finish it, "it is."

"Will you be there," he asks, turning to look up at him, "when I tell them?"

"Of course I will, Erudite. Of course."

In the end, it comes up in a rather roundabout way. Patton ordered a deck of pride-themed cards and they all decide to play a game with them. But first, they have to take the time to appreciate the quality of the artwork, and so they lay them all out so they can see them in their full splendor.

"These are sick," Virgil mumbles, looking at the array of cards spread out in front of them, "where did you say you got these from?"

"Well, they were only pre-order when I bought them—"

"Shit."

"Language, kiddo, but I can send you the link to the seller's website?"

"Yeah, gimme that. Maybe there's a way to get a hold of them."

"Why does this one have frogs?"

"Because frogs are awesome, Janny," Remus cackles, looping one arm around Patton's shoulders and pulling him in for what is probably supposed to be an affectionate side hug. "Aren't they?"

"Aww, that's so sweet, Remus!"

"Yes," Janus says, trying for his normal wry sarcasm and missing by quite a distance, "yes, it is."

Logan shuffles a little and Roman presses their shoulders together. He takes a deep breath in and out. He can do this.

"Ooh, hey, you know what'd be fun?" Virgli rubs his hands togheter. "Everyone pick the one you like the most."

"Frogs!"

"Remus!"

The carefully arranged cards scatter as Remus all but dives for the frog one, only caught by Janus quickly wrapping his arms around the exuberant green blur. Patton shakes his head fondly and places the gay pride card with the frogs on it in front of Remus. Remus squeals gleefully and snatches it up.

"No eating, Remus!"

"I won't, I won't, they're not mine."

Janus chuckles as he picks up the bisexual pride card. "Oh, Remus. We can make one you can eat later."

"Really?"

"Sure."

Virgil rolls his eyes as he puts the demisexual pride card in front of himself. "You're just encouraging him, you know."

"Oh, of course."

"I'll take the rainbow pride one, if no one else wants it?"

"All yours, Padre."

Patton claps his hands excitedly and picks it up, settling it in front of himself with a little wiggle. "This was a great idea, Virgil, they're all so pretty!"

"Right? I'm definitely stealing this deck from you at some point."

Where in the past that might have turned into a lecture about asking permission to joke that it wouldn't be stealing if Patton let him take it, instead is just another fond roll of his eyes. "Roman? Logan? Which ones did you two pick?"

Logan glances down at Roman. Roman gestures for him to go first. He looks at the pile. He could just take the asexuality pride, that would be the safer option.

It would.

But he hears Roman's soft voice calling him Erudite in the back of his mind and he makes his decision, reaching instead for the aroace pride card. After a moment, Roman picks up the aromantic pride card and puts it in front of himself.

"I don't think I know those," he hears Patton say, "what are those ones?"

"Aromantic," Roman says, leaning against Logan's side. "Mine's aromantic."

Remus wiggles an arm free from Janus's embrace to give Roman a high-five. "Hell yeah, bro. Lolo's got—did you want to say it?"

"You can."

"Lolo's got aroace."

"Oh. So…is that aromantic and asexual?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh. That's…cool."

Virgil snorts, reaching over to give Logan a pat on the shoulder. "Tone, Pop Star."

"Oh, no, not that I don't—I didn't mean it like that," Patton says quickly, "I've just never seen that one before!"

Logan nods. He swallows the lump in his throat and reaches blindly for Roman's hand. Roman squeezes it back. "What game are we playing?"

"Right." Virgil sits up taller. "So, it's called Kings in a Corner and we all have to promise we're not teaching Janus how to play Spite and Malice."

"Oh, that doesn't seem fair."

"No, no, I agree with this assertion, we will not be teaching you that game."

"Yeah, you'd take it too seriously."

"I would not!"

"We all know that's a lie."

"Hey, L?"

Logan turns. Virgil jogs up to him as the rest of them clear away the last of the cards. "Yes?"

"Are you—that was your way of coming out to us, right?"

"Yes, I had intended it to be."

"Well, um, thanks, for that. I, uh, I'm glad you felt like it was safe enough to do." Logan just nods. "I, uh, guess you figured out we've been…flirting with you, huh?"

"I did, yes." No need to mention that Roman helped with that.

"We, uh, I'm guessing you'd rather we…didn't."

"I think so, yes. I don't…feel comfortable with it."

"Yeah, I figured." Virgil shuffles a little back and forth in the hall. His hands twist into the pockets of his hoodie. "Just—you know that we still care about you, right?"

"Are you referring to the aftermath of me coming out, or the recent relationship the four of you have entered?"

"The, uh, the second one. We do—I—okay, I'm just gonna ask this." He takes a deep breath. "Does this have anything to do with why you asked me to get Roman when you had that nightmare?"

Logan blinks. "When did you lot get this perceptive?"

Virgil shrugs, offering a sheepish smile. "I…may have gone to ask Remus what was happening—"

"Why Remus? What does Remus have to do with anything?"

"'Cause he's the one who's always rambling about how much he loves spending time with you."

"He what now?"

"C'mon, L, you know he adores you. Not like that, but he—you two just get each other, you know? So yeah, he likes talking about it." Logan is still reeling from that as Virgil keeps talking. "So I asked him if you were upset or something and he said that he—he didn't know, for sure, but he said it was something that only Princey would really understand and when you, uh, you both chose aro cards and I sort of…put it together."

"Your logic is…impeccable."

"Coming from you, that's high praise." Virgil shuffles a little closer. "Look, I know this is gonna be weird for a bit while we all figure this out, you and Roman too, but I—you know we still care about you. We still wanna help you and spend time with you. I'm not saying that to be like 'hey, you shouldn't feel weird about it,' you can absolutely still feel weird about it, just—yeah."

"I understand. Thank you, Virgil."

Virgil nods. "I'll tell the others to back off about the whole flirting thing, but I'll let—you should be the one to decide when to tell them the rest."

Logan bows his head and Virgil grins, going off into his room. Logan watches him go before going into his own room, shutting the door. He just stands there for a moment, letting himself be. Virgil's words ring in his head along with another shudder of the warmth he feels when Roman calls him Erudite. He smiles.

In his own time.

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