#to be honest i want to play the twin snakes .it will definitely run that smoothly

[lucky-draws]

as if mgsv is £25 on steam.... you should be paying ME to look at the horrible wet soggy animal that is revolver ocelot. and also this game came out like 10 years ago

[vidalinav]

The House as an apartment building:

Sectioned off per apartment ft. Pictures 

I’m telling you I want the House of Wind to start functioning more as an apartment building. Like the House deliberately being like “you took my baby’s apartment. Well I’m making her a new one. Improved too with nice amenities and free clean up service and an on sight cook. Suck it.”

Azriel’s Apartment:

Like Azriel’s got his own sequestered off place that’s not easily accessible to everyone. His own door. It does have a kitchen, because honestly the House doesn’t know much about him and it tries not to peek into his space too much. If the House is being honest, it’s a little bit afraid of what it might find. So it has a kitchen and a bedroom and a tiny personal library stacked with books of all kinds, and a space to play chess (The one Nesta gifts him that plays by itself-see other post). It’s pretty dark. Has a lot of black and black out curtains, Azriel prefers that. Very muted, but tasteful and mostly clean. IF he’s in a good mood. I don’t know I picture his room half-intellectual/half-angsty rocker type. Think metal work vs bookshelves vs. minimalist. 

Emerie and Gwyn’s Apartment: 

Emerie and Gwyn end up living together in their own sequestered apartment in the House. Before, they stayed in separate rooms when they stayed for long periods away from their respective homes--Gwyn just wanting to venture out but not far, and Emerie just not wanting to deal with the transportation issue. After, the house changed its layout, they each get their own apartment. BUT they just couldn’t deal with being alone. The apartment was lonely and it was too quiet and they literally lived right across the hall and they would just keep knocking at each other’s doors and leaving the door open or just not wanting to leave. It was just too large for one person. So, the House makes them a two bedroom and no one can tell if it’s small or if they have just filled with it so much that it just looks small. It’s eclectic and eccentric. Colorful. Plants. Posters and pictures on the wall. Think cottage core mixed with heavy bold fabrics. Messy but not messy. Cluttered but not cluttered. 

A kitchen that’s painted in different colors (Emerie likes to cook and the house respects this) and it juts out to hang over the mountain that overlooks the other side not facing the city, so it’s more mountains and wildflowers and snow in the winter, think picturesque. Very nature. Emerie and Gwyn (and Nesta) will drink hot coco and peer out all the time. This is their happy space. It’s very cozy.

Nesta and Cassian’s Apartment:

Nesta and Cassian’s apartment is two floors. It’s more like a townhouse I suppose. I was going to have the family library connected, but I think the family library stays a common space for everyone. But it is closer to Nesta’s place. The apartment though does have so many books everywhere. The staircase has books running up the side. 

There’s a patio/sunroom now, that overlooks the city and the windows open. There’s bookshelves there too, this is Nesta’s reading area. It has a hanging chair and if Cassian can’t find her in the morning, she is always there with a hot beverage.

This apartment has many rooms like seven and they’re like how are we going to fill this..... it’s my headcanon that the House knows they want a big family and is like whenever y’all are ready, but what really happens is that they end up adopting so many kids over the years that these rooms gets filled up easily. A twelve year old is the first from the continent, Lyra (when they get pregnant years past), then the twins who are from Hybern, then an Illyrian, etc (That’s a post for another time). Their apartment is just really cute and home-y and fun. It’s definitely kid friendly. But it also helps that the two of them are like two big kids themselves so... But it accommodates to suit the amount of people that start living there, who all just have such big, individual personalities and interests and they are all different ages so it’s tough, but it works. And Nesta and Cassian also have space for themselves, especially Nesta who sometimes just needs silence from the noise. Anyways that’s years later, back to regular scheduled programs.

Nesta and Cassian’s home just feels light and airy, and a mixture between hygge, springtime, and rainy days on the beach. Very bright and airy, and Nesta loves this place. Touches of blue of course everywhere, and mostly tans and creams. So, so many windows overlooking the city that have plant boxes on all of them, that are filled with dainty white and blue flowers (The House looks after these--it’s a great gardener too).

Shared/Common Spaces:  

The greenhouse/terrarium place that Nesta ends up practicing magic in most days, is technically located in her apartment, but it also has a door in the private library and then also has a door in the library library. It doesn’t open unless Nesta gives permission to those who enter. So, Nesta ends up giving permission to the priestesses to work up there. Because just like they didn’t mind Bryaxis they really have no concerns with Nesta practicing magic. They’re like this might as well happen. 

But again this place, as I said in my other post, has carnivorous and poisonous plants, and there’s a snake eventually running through this large garden space, and there’s a giant pond in the middle of this place. It should be more concerning but nope. Priestesses really like it up there. They start practicing alchemy too, for those priestesses who dabble in chemistry and the dark arts. Think dark academia.  

I initially thought Elain would like it here, but now that I’m thinking about it Elain would probably be iffy about this place. The plants have a mind of their own here and though she supports her sister in her arts and her magic, she is not keen on being in the center of it all, herself. There’s a certain level of control to gardening and these plants are just... uncontrollable. Elain rather likes adventuring to mean new countries and meeting new people, but not this sort of adventure where you might die if a plant decides it’s a little hungry or someone changed the temperature of the water. Magic is Nesta’s thing. She’ll leave this wild terrarium to Nesta. 

The Kitchen is also a shared space, but only for the residents of the House of Wind. Most people don’t go down there, but Elain does when she visits Nesta and wants to spend some quality time with her (also in my other post). It is alive and it sings. Like there’s something about the kitchen that is always humming as if there’s a old cook’s soul down there or something. Really large. Steam everywhere. The smell of spices wafting. Nesta “accidentally” charms the plates and silverware (think fantasia) but that’s a story for another time. This is another place that juts out in certain areas to have a lot of windows. Not the whole place but quite a bit of it. Think a kitchen that’s alive. 

The library stays the same, because Nesta loves that library and it’s perfect the way it is. <3. 

That’s it for now. I have literally so many Pinterest boards for each individual place but I clearly cannot post them all here so bye!

[quirklessidiot]

Title: coward :: old friends Pairing: Y/N x Miya Atsumu Genre: angst, romance, and very slow burn [ex to lovers au] Warnings: Cursing, alchohol, mentions of unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy, and mentions of abortion

Synopsis: Your kids openly hate Miya Atsumu and the appearance of an old friend stirs up mischief and unwanted memories of the past. [ft. aomine daiki from knb] notes:

i probably cant stress this enough but thank you so much for all the love T-T it means a lot <3 like 118 followers in a span of two weeks? That’s just shhddhbdbx anyways i hope enjoy another buttload of angst! remember to always stay safe and wash ur hands!!

i find it funny when people point out atsumu to be a player or a fuckboy because this guy looks like a one-woman (or no woman lets be honest) type of person, his whole personality revolves around volleyball i guess and being straightforward to everyone with an idgaf attitude ksksks

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“You haven’t even wiped your sweaty backs and you both think you’re good to go?” you narrowed your eyes at the two boys who sheepishly gave you a smile as you lightly scolded them for not taking care of their health, the boys had decided to join a mini sports club after class where you could play for an hour any sport you’d like in the gym. They had promised it wouldn’t affect their studies. 

Bending down to their level, you signal them to turn around. The pair furrows their brows, not wanting to be coddled by you in public, when you noticed that they were about to complain, you cocked a brow at their actions and tighten your lips. Begrudgingly they slowly turned around, not wanting a lecture from you.

You first wiped Yuuto’s back and handed him a t-shirt he could change on. As you were wiping Youta’s back with another towel, he suddenly spoke out, “Kaasan, that Atsumu-guy’s looking at you again.” he frowns.

Yes, apparently Miya Atsumu had the time to lounge around at a kids sports club and accompany his friend Hinata who would occasionally be there to help around because he was bored and they were ordered to rest (judging from your past conversations with Hinata these days, you noticed that the young man did not know the meaning of what resting was). 

You thought that the little scene at your workplace would be the last time you saw him but these past days, you saw him a lot. It seemed to be getting too frequent to the point where you wondered if it could even be called a coincidence at all, “Do you want me to spike at him, kaasan?” the oldest twin asks as he turns to you, a small pout on his lips.

“Now, now, do you remember the story I told you about the bully last night?” 

“Don’t throw stuff at people?” He blinks innocently.

You let out a soft and gentle laugh, the one only reserved for your boys, “Yes, Yo-chan. Don’t throw stuff at people.” you leaned in to give him a peck on his nose in which he immediately moved away and wrinkled his forehead in disgust.

“Stop doing that, kaasan. I’m a big kid already!”

“Hai, hai.” You patted his head and stood up while handed him his t-shirt, “Hurry along and change now, you big baby.”

Atsumu watches the bizarre interaction from afar, he’s never seen you this soft in public. Even when you were dating back then, the most public display of affection you two would have when you were dating was just you playing with his fingers and drawing small circles on his thighs unknowingly under the table (save for that one time where you wiped blood off his nose in public but then again you guys weren’t dating that time so that didn’t count) yet seeing you laughing, wiping the sweat out of the little boys back, and even giving a small peck on his nose was a very different sight to behold.

Daresay, it suited you.

“You’ve been staring at her for quite some time, Miya-san.” Sugawara comments as he puts the last grade-school volleyball on the cart. Atsumu jumps on the spot and rubs the back of his head nervously making Sugawara laugh in reply, “Funny, isn’t it? Whenever I talk to L/N-san, she’s always like ‘okay.’, ‘that’s nice.’, ‘good.’ yet when she’s with the kids, she’s the softest person ever.”

“Yeah…” The blonde mutters, “definitely funny.”

“Heard from Hinata that you and L/N-san used to be together back in college.” 

That damn orange haired snake-

“Yeah, two years.” Atsumu clears his throat, “We, we fell out of love though.”

‘You fell out of love.’ he corrects in his head.

“Oho,Fates a fickle huh? Anyways, Me and Hinata are actually planning on inviting Y/N and the boys for dinner, do you want to come with us?” 

“I have a girlfriend.” he replies in defense. 

Sugawara looks at him, completely baffled by his reply then immediately bursts out into laughter, “I doubt Y/N would care, really…” He paused, “No offense.”

“None taken.” the blonde deadpanned.

You don’t know why you ended up at a chinese restaurant that night with one kid animatedly chatting Hinata Shoyou’s ear off while the other was openly glaring at Miya Atsumu, “Youta please swallow your food before talking.” you frowned, taking a napkin to wipe the rice off the mouth of the younger twin.

The blonde kept glancing at you but whenever he did, he’d receive a very harsh glare from Yuuto, “Hey watch where you’re looking at, jiji.” Yuuto suddenly spat out loud, catching him in the act this time as he stabs his chicken with a fork.

Sugawara sweat drops at the interaction unfolding in front of him while you try to tell your oldest son to be more kind to the man sitting in front of him, “Yeah. Listen to your mom, brat.” Atsumu frowns, in which the child retaliates with a tongue out.

“Yuuto, eat your food and stop disturbing Miya-san.”

Yet their stare-off seemed to continue as soon as you turned away from the pair  and Sugawara had to intervene before Yuuto would pounce at the professional volleyball player across the table, “You should be nicer to him, Yuuto-kun. You want to be a setter right? He’s a better setter than I am.” Sugawara tries to ease off the tension between the two.

“He’s not,” Yuuto frowns, “I don’t even know why Kaasan says you’re the best setter in the whole wide world, Adler’s Kageyama Tobio’s obviously better!”

You feel yourself freeze up at Yuuto’s innocent babble, Atsumu seems to be taken aback by it too but he immediately regains himself, “Your mom’s got taste that’s all.” He leered at the six year old boy, not daring to back down from the brat’s challenge. Sugawara pales when the tension rises even higher and tries to get Hinata to ease it up but the orange-haired is too engaged into the conversation with the other twin.

“Baby, just eat your veggies and stop disturbing Miya-san.” You snap back to your senses as you evenly try to get him to calm down once again but he refuses, another trait he got from his father.

“Hey troll, the jiji won’t stop staring at kaasan!” he calls for his twin, trying to get him to back him up, “I told ya he was a crackhead!”

Your eyes widen at your son’s attitude and his uncouth table manners, “L/N Yuuto, that’s it!” You suddenly raise your voice, Yuuto’s scowl deepens as he crosses his arms. Everyone in the table turns silent by your outburst. 

Anger, Miya Atsumu realizes how many different emotions you manage to muster out today. It was a lot more than what he had experienced with you, he’d usually take these emotions by crumbs back then since it was rare but it seemed that these boys had it easy with you. You were so open to them, so vulnerable.

“We’re going home right this instant after you apologize to Miya-san.” 

“I don’t wanna.”

“Yuuto…”

“Y/N, it’s alright-” Atsumu tries to ease up the kid's burden, suddenly feeling bad since it was his fault in the first place and the kid was probably just trying to protect you.

“I said I don’t wanna!” The oldest twin immediately stands up and runs away, you grab your youngest son by the hand who was sadly saying goodbye to his idol as you placed the payment for your meal on the table. 

“He’s not usually like this.” You bowed your head, “Sorry Miya-san, I really am.”

He watches you dash away to the direction where your younger son ran off to, Youta trailing behind you as he waved goodbye to his two favorite men and a tongue out to Miya Atsumu, signaling that he too, like his brother, hated him.

“Way to go, atsumu-san” Hinata grimaced, openly judging him for picking a fight with a kid as he munched on his sweet and sour pork.

Later that same evening, you stood outside your sons room, regretting how you handled the situation. Of course, Yuuto was wrong to say that but you should’ve been more mindful with your tone and words. You were their mother and an adult for crying out loud!

“Yuuto?” You knock on the twins shared room, “Baby? Would you mind opening the door for a sec?”

“Kaasan, Yuuto says he don’t wanna!” Youta replies in his older brother's stead.

“Okay,” You calmly reply, expecting that,  “Then can you tell Yu-chan that there's a glass of milk on the counter? I know he wants to drink some after that heavy dinner.”

“He says big boys don’t need milk, kaasan…” Youta paused,  “But he says he’ll drink it later since we shouldn’t throw food.”

“Okay, goodnight boys.”

You slowly head to the couch and lay there, basking in the silence of your apartment and waiting for your son to come out of his room to be ready to talk. As you hear the door creak open, you see Yuuto slowly waddle his way towards the table where his milk was on, “Yu-chan? Can we talk?” you ask, your voice is soft as you slowly made your way to the oldest twin, bending down to his level so you could see him eye to eye, “Oh, baby...Kaasan is so, so, sorry…” You apologized, taking his small hands and resting your head on top of it.

“I don’t like yelling.”

“I know.”

“I had to protect ‘kaasan,” he frowns, his nose wrinkling, “He was looking at you badly.”

“Kaasan deserved it.”

“No one deserves to look at you badly, kaasan!” he exclaims, “You’re the bestest, kindest person in the whole wide world!”

You wondered if they’d still say that when they’d find out you were lying to them about how their father was just right in front of them tonight.

“ ‘Kaasan had hurt miya-san really bad before,” You try to explain to your son in words he could understand and digest as you run your hands through his silky black hair, “That’s why he’s like that…”

“B-But…” he tries to stammer out an explanation but you cut him off with a kiss on his cheek.

“You’ll understand what ‘kaasan means when you’re older,” you smile, slowly standing up and handing him his glass of milk, “Sometimes we hurt people really bad that even saying sorry can’t fix it.”

“W-was it really bad, ‘kaasan?” the boy asks, taking the milk to his small hands and drinking it slowly whilst trying to discern what you were saying. After placing the glass down, he asks,  “Did you break his favorite toy or something?”

“Mhm,” You hummed, picking him up as he stifled a yawn and slowly nuzzled on your neck,“ ‘Kaasan broke something so important, she couldn’t fix it with just saying sorry.”

“Babygirl, aren’t you looking better these days?” 

“You call me that one more time and I swear I’m disemboweling you.” You deadpanned, meeting his dark eyes. Aomine Daiki lets out a boisterous laugh right after when he sees your blank expression, “Still the same as ever, Y/N-chan, you really love breakin’ my heart.” he teased, clutching his heart in fake pain.

“Tch,” You clicked your tongue at the tall basketball player, “Tell that to the women you play around with.”

“I take it the boys are at school today?”

“They begged me to skip it since they heard you were back in japan.” You replied, recalling the twins fake sickness this morning just so that they could see the navy blue-haired giant.

“I’m surprised you even took the time off to see little ol’ me.”

“Don’t kid yourself.”

“Hn,” He hummed, leaning in closely as he rested his head on his palm, “I got news by the way, I was at our hometown and I bumped into obaasan.”

You cross your legs and lean back on the chair, the mere mention of your mother had you automatically on edge and annoyed.

“What did she say?”

“She asked me a favor,” He shrugged, taking in a sip of his banana milk, “Says that she wants to meet up with you… She mentions that ojisan’s gonna make time too, I think they’re going to try to make amends with you.”

“That’s nice.” You dryly remarked, clearly you didn’t care about their apology or their willingness to ‘talk’ it out.

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Daiki frowns, raising his hands in reply, “And judging by the look on your face, you’re not going to see them?”

Flashes of your childhood and the event that transpired six years ago wormed its way back to your head, it had been so long but its had severely affected and haunted you to this day, “I don’t think I’d ever want my kids near them, who knows what they’ll say around them.” you responded truthfully.

Daiki’s gaze turned soft as he noticed how tightly you were holding the coffee cup, “You got overtime again, right? How about I’ll take care of the boys in the meantime? You know how much they love the huge fridge and pachinko machine in my apartment... I’m also sure they miss their favorite ojisan.” 

“Just make sure you hide your porno magazines.” 

“That was one time, Y/N.”

You and Aomine Daiki go way back the tall boy lived right across your house and had been your companion since you were the tender age of six. He knew what went around your house, why you were so quiet and expressionless most of the time. At some point, the tall man tried to cross the line of friends to lover but he was only met with the very familiar blank gaze and harsh words of, “I don’t think I’ll ever see you that way.”

The man had no choice but to accept the scraps he was given, he couldn’t really blame you though. After the messed-up emotional trauma you experienced growing up, he knew you wanted nothing to do with the idea of families or lovers.

Yet one winter night while he was in the middle of his training for the national team, he received a phone call from you with two words he never expected to hear from you at all, “I’m pregnant.” 

It’s been three years since he last saw you that time and he’s puzzled, who took advantage of you? Where was that asshole so he could beat him to a pulp? Why couldn’t the father be a man and face you? He becomes even more confused because apparently you knew this man very well and you had an intimate relationship with him, something he never imagined from you,  “I broke up with him.”

“W-what?”

“I broke up with him,” you repeated, clutching the ultrasound picture on your hand tightly, it probably looked unrecognizable at that point, “I told him I never wanted to see him again.”

“You didn’t tell him?” He bellowed, he placed his hands on your arms and held you while shaking you lightly, “Y/N are you out of your mind? How are you going to raise a kid in this state? You may have graduated early but you’ve got student loans and yourself to fend for! How are you going to do it? Your parents disowned you for cryin’ out loud!”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What do you mean? Do you want to have it aborted, Y/N?”

“I don’t know.”

Daiki lets out a frustrated sigh as he lowers his head, realization slowly dawned upon him at that moment, you were running away. Your defense mechanism had always been to run away. Ever since Aomine Daiki met you, he always noticed that whenever you had problems, you’d run towards the opposite direction and never meet them head-on.

They’d pile up to the point that he was worried you’d burst one day.

It had happened once before and it was something he prayed he’d never see again.

“You know you can’t keep running, right?” He manages to croak out softly, looking at you dead in the eye, your face was blank but your eyes held so much emotions in them; grief, anguish, misery, and what pained him the most was that you drowned yourself in these emotions that you probably didn’t know how to express them anymore because you were used to it.

“I can try.”

“You have to tell him, what’s his name? Where does he live? Y/N-”

“Don’t.” You replied, contrasting to the blank tone you were using moments ago, your voice was now soft. He notices that you’re inching closer to him and he observes you as you melt on his arms just like that moment eleven years ago, you’re shaking uncontrollably,  “Please don’t tell him.”

“Y/N-”

“I-I- you-shouldn’t- can’t tell him, please just this one time,” You stammer, begging him with whatever strength you have left, he feels his jacket getting wet. He holds you tight, not knowing what to say anymore, whoever this jackass was, you must’ve really loved him because he’s never seen you this scared before, “just this one time, let me run away from this again.”

Miya Atsumu feels a tick on his forehead when a very tall, dark, and daresay, handsome man appeared to pick up the boys during the club activity today. He wouldn’t openly admit it but he wanted to talk to you after that little fiasco that he had with that brat but when this guy appeared out of nowhere instead of you.

He was beyond annoyed.

He couldn’t pinpoint where he actually saw this guy but he was very familiar.

“Oh, is that Aomine Daiki?” Sugawara gasped, completely surprised by the tall man’s presence.

“Wow, He’s way too tall to be japanese.” Hinata pointed out, “Is he a volleyball player? I wanna match him!”

“Shoyou no, he plays basketball for the NBA.” Sugawara comments, “I didn’t know Y/N knew him, he’s pretty big internationally and in japan too.”

Atsumu clenched his fists as he watched the brats easily cling onto him and ask him if they brought some gifts for them from abroad, judging by their body language, this guy must’ve been with you since the beginning.

“Oh, ninja shoyou was it?” The tall man suddenly exclaims, going up to Shoyou eagerly with no shame, “I watched some of your matches while I was in Brazil! I’m Aomine Daiki.”

Miya Atsumu wished this guy was an asshole but he was nothing like that, in fact, he looked like an excited kid when he started talking to the little orange-head, telling him how good he’d fit in at basketball with his jumps, “You must be the teachers?” he glanced towards Atsumu and Sugawara, the latter nodded but the blonde didn’t seem that amused by him.

“I’m Hinata’s teammate.” he said through gritted teeth, offering his hand to shake, “Miya Atsumu…”

“Nice to meet you, pal.”

“Daiki-ojisan, jiji’s an old friend of ‘kaasan back when she was studyin!” Youta exclaims randomly, Atsumu wants to snap at the brat for calling him jiji once again but he holds it back because he was still at odds with the other one and he didn’t want to strain whatever he had left with the excited one.

Daiki, on the other hand, feels his body stiffen at Youta’s random fact outburst. You had never told him who the father was until today, all he knew was that he was with you in Tokyo university and that you were very much in love with him.

Did this guy perhaps know who the boyfriend was?

“Friend, huh?” He laughs, taking his hand and shaking it, trying to lighten up the mood, “I heard she even got her first boyfriend there.”

The trio fell into silence at what Aomine said while the two kids tilted their heads at the new word they heard. The basketball player felt confused by the sudden silence and when he noticed the red ears of the blonde in front of him, realization finally dawned on him.

“That…” Atsumu clears his throat, ears tinged red by the man’s forwardness, “That would be me.”

Aomine’s eyes widen, no fucking way, “Wow,” he throws his head back, howling in laughter, were you a masochist? How could you lounge around the father of the kids without him knowing jackshit about what happened and still be alright? He immediately regains his composure, this poor blonde bastard was probably confused since he heard you just ghosted him and left him out of the blue, “You definitely get my respect, Miya-san.”

Atsumu doesn’t know why the man in front of him is so amused or why he’s taking out a scratch paper on the kids notebook to write his number on it, “I hope we can be friends, it's definitely an interesting story to hear how you two got together. Y/N never entertained me and I’ve been chasing her since we were thirteen.” he grins, as if he just hadn’t nonchalantly revealed that you had rejected him more times than Atsumu back in college.

The blonde setter is confused as the navy blue-haired man slaps a phone number on his palm, “Call me when you need a drinking company, alright? Let's talk, I’d love to hear how you ended up together.” the smile on his lips turning wider by the minute.

taglist [closed]

@fortheloveofiwaizumi ;  @svtbitch​  ; @kiyoomile​ ; @lovedanii​ @juno-multifandom​ ; @gyubit17​ ; @saeranoppa ; @nixxona ; @kyomihann @shorttstackk ; @intoomuchfandoms ; @yammmers ; @mx-minxx @itsmattsunshinehere ; @missingmystogan ; @volleybloop ; @imcravingyou ; @yams-wants-that-booty ; @liathachcapricious ; @pinknugget​ @seikamuzu ; @marigoldthoughts​ ; @sillykittt​ ; @baejinoffcl​ ; @alluring-akaashi​ ; @bnhasstuff​ ; @jungshookmeup​ ; @intheawks​ ; @bokuakadaily​ 

@misosamu  @Etherynaw  @ryaaaax  [hi, i can’t seem to tag u guys, i think you need to open your tags uwu]

[iclaimedtobethebetterbard]

stars in the sk(eyes)

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: Logan, Virgil, Roman, Remus, Janus, Patton Rating: Teen & up Relationships: Analogical, background Intrualiceit Warnings: Language, food, like 1 line that’s maybe suggestive but also said half-jokingly Word count: 5592

Read on AO3!

My writing masterpost

Starlight Universe masterpost

analogical week 2021 start - previous - here - next - masterpost

Summary: Logan has always loved stars. Virgil has always loved music. Maybe they can put those together with a little help from some friends.

Notes: Day 2 of Analogical Week 2021! @analogicalweek Takes place in my Starlight Universe, does not need context to read.  Patton, Janus, and Remus are all nonbinary folks who use he/they pronouns and masculine terms in this universe (but in the flashback scene, Janus is only using they/them); Roman, Logan, and Virgil are all men who use he/him. (I know absolutely nothing about music or concerts or anything, so please don't roast me too hard for any inaccuracies, lol.)

They were only opening the concert; the real attraction was a band from out of town with a midsize following, making a stop on their tour. Not that Virgil was complaining to have landed this gig. It would be the biggest performance his band—the band he, Janus, and the twins had formed a few years ago—had given, by a lot. And that was exciting. Sure, Virgil had absolutely spent hours stressing over how big it was, but he knew how to manage his anxiety, especially when it came to performances, and the anxiety didn’t stop the excitement.

“You’re going to do wonderfully,” Logan had told him earlier that day as he’d been getting dressed, passing his fingerless leather gloves and then holding his jacket for him to slide into. He’d spoken it with a simple, unassuming confidence, as if it were a given fact. It had been more comforting than Virgil thought Logan knew.

With the memory of his husband’s words carefully nestled against his heart, and the jacket Logan had helped him paint rainbow stripes on sitting on his shoulders, Virgil found it easier to let go of the anxiety. Some lingering tension remained as he paced backstage, running through lyrics in his head and triple checking that everyone knew the schedule, but it wasn’t as bad as usual. Most of it, if he was being honest with himself, wasn’t even about the performance—it was about the surprise the band had put together, the surprise Virgil had had to bite his tongue a couple of times to keep himself from thoughtlessly mentioning it to Logan, even though the surprise had been almost entirely his own idea and the others were just helping. But he’d successfully kept the secret, and now Logan was out in the audience, and Virgil was backstage, and there would be no more chances to spoil it.

But Logan was out in the audience, and Virgil was backstage, and the final round of jitters was setting in. And when Logan wasn’t there, Virgil’s jitters took the form of pestering the hell out of everyone in the room, to make sure everything was perfect.

He checked all the instruments, giving Janus’s keyboard a once-over without touching because he knew better by this point. Remus’s drumset was already on the stage—he was drumming with his fingers on the end of the fallout table in the corner—so there was nothing to do about that. Roman was actively tuning his guitar, so Virgil left that alone too and instead checked his bass, just in case it had gotten out of tune in the last thirty seconds.

All of the instruments were fine, great, even, and Remus and Roman were undeniably being productive; Janus, who’d been on their phone in the corner, had stepped out for just a moment, probably to get a drink of water or something.

Things were in order. Which was good. Great, even. But it gave Virgil nothing to do with his restless energy.

“Are we ready?” he asked, jiggling his leg and tracing the pattern of his fishnet tights through one of the large rips in his jeans.

Roman looked up. “Yes,” he said shortly. Roman’s nerves tended to take the form of a very short temper, which didn’t mix well with Virgil’s perfectionism.

“Yeah,” Remus agreed, running a hand through his dark green curls and straightening his denim jacket.

“We all know the order things go in?” Virgil followed up after a minute of tense silence.

“Mmhm,” Remus said easily. Remus, and Remus alone, somehow always managed to remain at ease and unbothered no matter what. Virgil didn’t know how they did it.

Virgil took stock of everyone’s outfits. He himself was wearing fishnet leggings that went all the way up past his waist. Over them he had ripped black skinny jean, and a black crop top splattered with white paint. On top of that, he wore his black denim jacket, which matched the ones the other three were wearing. Virgil’s had the rainbow pride flag painted on the front, all down the lapel area; the rest of the jacket was covered in patches. He checked his makeup, examining the black eyeshadow and lipstick in his phone’s camera; it looked fine. Perfect, even.

Roman was the neatest of the group, made to stand out as the lead singer. He wore the same high-heeled doc martens as the other three, but in white where theirs were all black. He had a tight white longsleeve shirt made of a shimmery material and a matching pair of white pants, and the black jacket contrasting nicely against it all. Roman’s jacket had the aromantic pride flag where Virgil had the rainbow, and the rest of his jacket was painted with red roses all at the ends of long, intricate, thorny stems. His eyeliner was sharp enough to cut, and his curly hair was piled up atop a black headband wrapped around his forehead like a crown.

Janus still wasn’t back, but he’d been on the neater end too, to counter Virgil and especially Remus’s scruffiness. Their outfit was sleek and all black save for a thin white belt around their waist. A black hat with a broad round brim framed their face like a dark halo. His jacket had nonbinary and pan stripes on the front, and thin white squiggly lines running up and down like warped pinstripes everywhere else. (Virgil knew where on the jacket one line ended in a tiny snake head, and where one trailed off into a tail, but you wouldn’t notice unless you knew to look.) They were wearing black lipstick to match Virgil, and winged eyeliner to match Roman, and contour that emphasized the sharpness of his cheekbones; definitely the heaviest makeup of the group.

Remus, sitting in the corner and making noises to themself, was a sharp contrast to his boyfriend Janus’s sleek elegance. His black jeans, splattered with white paint to match Virgil’s crop top, were ripped almost to shreds, open nearly entirely from mid-thigh down to his ankles, with only a few clinging strands of fabric keeping them anywhere in the realm of being pants. The tee they wore—black again, with his own name painted on it in large white letters—was also ripped full of holes, these ones much more deliberate; he’d slashed it carefully with an exacto knife, kneeling on the ground and focusing with their tongue stuck out slightly, until it was exactly how he wanted it and you could catch glimpses of their top surgery scars when they moved. His makeup consisted of dramatic green and black eyeshadow, and his jacket had the trans and polyamorous flags on it—he and Janus, who had nearly identical collections of pride flags between them, had split two and two which color schemes they wanted to use. The rest of Remus’s jacket consisted of a few jagged holes and some incredibly detailed paintings of green tentacles.

The instruments were fine. The costumes were fine. The makeup was fine. What else did that leave for Virgil to fret over as the final minutes ticked away?

“How about the blocking?” Virgil said. “We can go over it again if anyone—”

“I promise we know, Virge,” Roman snapped.

“Come on, kiddo, you know he’s just trying to help!” piped up Patton, Janus and Remus’s other boyfriend, who was suddenly somehow present and sitting in Janus’s lap, his pastel outfit completely out of place amidst the varying edgy styles everyone else in the room was sporting.

“How did you get back here?” Roman and Virgil demanded in unison. Virgil hadn’t even noticed Janus was back, let alone that he’d brought Patton, who was supposed to be in the audience with Logan until the performance was over.

“Oops,” Janus said, not sounding even a tiny bit remorseful as they played with Patton’s dark curls.

“Did you leave Logan alone?” Virgil demanded of Patton, hands on his hips.

“Only for a minute! He’s getting snacks, anyway,” Patton said, wrapping his arms around Janus’s neck. “We both know where our seats are, he’ll be fine.”

“You already have a partner backstage, stop being greedy,” Roman scolded Janus. “Patton, you know we need to focus right now, can you please not distract my horny bandmates until after the show?”

“You sound like Virgil, with all that worrywarting,” Remus commented, snickering.

“Take that back this instant!” Roman demanded as Virgil gave Remus double birds.

Remus only guffawed, looking incredibly amused.

“Seriously, though, uh, Patton, with all the love in my heart: get out,” Virgil said.

Patton wrinkled his nose, but pressed a warm smack of a kiss to Janus’s cheek and hopped to his feet.

“Do I get a kiss?” Remus asked, reaching his arms out hopefully.

“Makeup—” Roman began warningly.

“I haven’t got any on my mouth!” Remus said triumphantly. “Suck it, Jan.”

Janus smiled wryly, fingers rising to but not quite touching their black lipstick that Patton had avoided so carefully. “The prices I pay for beauty.”

Patton giggled, crossing to Remus, clasping both his hands, and leaning down to kiss him sweetly.

“Great, you’re very very cute together but now is not the time, Patton get out and stop distracting your boyfriends,” Roman said, shooing Patton towards the door.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “High strung much?”

“Not all of us possess your—your stupid coolheadedness powers, Remus!” Roman snapped.

Patton paused in the doorway and pointed at Roman, getting out his dad voice. “Hey. Be nice.” The finger moved to Virgil. “Be nice.” His eyes flicked to Remus, then Janus, and his voice shifted to a different tone, half flirty and half joking. “You two be good boys.”

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god, I said to stop being horny!” Roman shrieked, chasing a giggling Patton out of the room and down the hall. He returned moments later, Patton-less and fixing at his hair to make sure it wasn’t too messy. “We had better not have any more alloromantic bullshit from any of you until after the show is over!” he announced. “Okay?” He didn’t sound quite as annoyed as before.

“Homophobia,” Remus accused teasingly.

But instead of snapping back, Roman giggled. “Oh, shut up.”

The twins began joking back and forth, Janus making the occasional amused interjection.  Evidently Patton’s intrusion into the room, although technically unhelpful, had done wonders to break the tension, and Virgil reminded himself to thank Patton later.

Virgil’s phone buzzed with a text from Logan.

Logan: Patton found me, don’t worry. Logan: How are you doing?

Virgil: hahahahahaaaa i don’t wanna think abt it

Logan began typing, then the little bubble went away; a second later, the phone began to ring, Logan’s caller ID plain to see.

“Hi, babe,” Virgil greeted.

“Hello, dear. Would you like to walk me through your plan for the performance, to reassure yourself?”

Virgil let out a small sigh of relief. “Yes, please.”

“I am listening,” Logan assured him.

Virgil took a deep breath and launched into a detailed itinerary, knowing that Logan didn’t mind if he got a little too technical in his terminology because Logan was listening for Virgil’s sake.

“And then that’s about it,” Virgil wound down, carefully leaving off the final item from his explanation. It wouldn’t do to spoil the surprise now. “Oh, looks like we’re getting ready now, gotta go.”

“I love you,” Logan said quickly. “You’re going to do a wonderful job.”

Virgil let out a short laugh. “Thanks, L. Love you too.” He hung up, set his phone down on the table, and picked up his bass.

“You ready?” Roman asked, nudging Virgil with his elbow, as the group finally headed towards the stage.

Virgil sucked in a long breath. “Yeah. I think so. Are you?”

“Oh, you know it!” Roman grinned, a spring in his step. He paused after a second and glanced back to Virgil. “Sorry for being so wound up earlier.”

“It happens.” Virgil shrugged. “Right back at you.”

Roman nodded and put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “Hey. He’s going to love it. Just wait and see.”

Virgil looked away, half smiling. “I sure hope so.”

“He will, I know it!” Roman insisted as they climbed the steps onto the stage and emerged into what could practically have been the eye of a hurricane, for all the noise and light that surrounded the stage.

The sky above was fully dark; bright lights everywhere in the area contrasted against it. There was a decent crowd. The venue seemed almost full, as a matter of fact. The observation added a thrill of adrenaline to compliment the goosebumps from the chilly breeze across Virgil’s bare midriff.

Roman stepped forward and spread his arms wide right as the spotlights came up. “Hey, folks, thank you for being with us here tonight!” he said, his smile gleaming in the bright lights and his voice booming in the speakers. “We have some great hits lined up for you tonight! Let’s get it started, huh?”

Virgil waited a few seconds for the cheer of the crowd to peak. Janus began the melody on the keyboard; Virgil came in with his bass at exactly the same second Roman began to sing, and Remus picked up the beat on the drums on cue.

Virgil was quickly able to get lost in the music, all his focus on playing and providing backup vocals, leaving him with no more brain space for his anxiety. This was his favorite thing about music: its ability to keep him in the moment.

They played three songs. Two covers that always went over really well, and one song that the twins had written together about family that always left Roman just a little teary. Normally that would be their closing song.

But tonight was a little bit different.

Roman took a step back, nodding at Virgil; the pair of them traded places onstage, putting Virgil front and center.

“So,” Virgil said, the mic on his cheek picking up his words, “we were thinking we’d let you all be the first to hear our new song. Uh, I wrote this one. And normally Roman does our singing, because—well, you’ve heard his voice. But this song is kind of special. I wrote it for my husband. So. We thought I’d perform it tonight.”

As Janus began playing the melody, Virgil searched the front row of the crowd, squinting against the lights, until he found Logan, sitting next to Patton and gazing up at Virgil with shining eyes. “Lo, I love you so much, babe. More than every star you’ve ever shown me.” He took a deep breath and began to sing.

***

10 years earlier

Unknown Number: Hello. This is Janus. Logan’s roommate

Virgil: how’d u get this number?

Janus: I broke into Logan’s phone after you started dating and saved you to my contacts just in case

[read 3:43pm}

[3:46pm]

Virgil: i Virgil: wtf dude

Janus: Your boyfriend has been moping in his room all day, can you please come fix it? Janus: Roman is starting to mope too for no good reason, but he’s doing it in the living room and at this point it is starting to affect my quality of life

Virgil: yk i literally could not care less abt that part u asshole <3 Virgil: i’ll be over in 15 Virgil: is he ok?

Janus: He won’t talk to me, I don’t know what happened

Virgil: i’ll be over in 10

It was normally a 12-minute walk from the dorm Virgil was an RA in to Logan’s apartment just off campus, but Virgil could walk fast when he was anxious or alone, and in this case he was both. Even taking the time to grab a jacket, he still made it to the building in nine minutes flat.

Janus let Virgil into the apartment almost the second he knocked, relief plain to see on their face.

“You see?” Janus said over their shoulder in a scolding tone. “I had to resort to outside measures to deal with your bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Roman whined from where he was slumped on the couch, scrolling aimlessly through Netflix on the TV.

“Oh? And what’s this?” Janus demanded, hands on their hips. They dramatically pushed the button to open the microwave door, revealing a limp burrito wrapped in a damp paper towel.

“Lunch,” Roman mumbled defensively.

“You hate microwave food, and it’s four in the afternoon!” Janus snapped.

“I am in a creative slump, Jan! Have some sympathy!”

“No! Get your whiny ass off the couch and stop ruining my afternoon!”

Virgil took a deep breath and pointedly walked in between the pair of them down the hall towards Logan’s room. Roman and Janus’s still-bickering voices faded into the background.

“Hey.” Virgil knocked on the door, which had a piece of printer paper taped to it with Logan’s name written on it in blue sharpie and a couple of stars, both scribbles and stickers, scattered around it. He waited, and when there was no reply, he added, “Are you okay, Lo?”

“I’m fine,” Logan said, in a voice that had obviously been crying.

“Can I come in?” Virgil asked.

“Okay.”

Virgil pushed open the door and stepped into the dim room, closing it behind him. The blinds were closed, and Logan was curled up under a mound of blankets.

“Hey, baby,” Virgil murmured, kicking off his shoes and climbing to sit on the bed beside Logan and stroke his hair. “What’s wrong?”

Logan made a muffled noise of misery into the mattress.

“What?” Virgil said after a moment.

Logan rolled over. “Teacher didn’t like my essay.”

Virgil chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment. “Okay, I promise I’m not making fun of you, but you do know that that is possibly the most stereotypically you thing you have ever said to me, right?”

Logan let out a little huff that was not quite a laugh. “I guess.” He was silent for a moment as Virgil continued to stroke his hair. “And I know it’s stupid. I still got a B+ and my overall grade in the class is fine and I know I’m a good writer and everything. But it sucks. I was really proud of it.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Virgil said, choosing to ignore the squirm in his gut that always happened when grades came up. It was so easy to compare or to worry about others comparing and then to worry about others getting upset over comparisons and—he dragged himself back to the present, forcibly setting the issue aside. “You’re allowed to feel upset,” he told Logan. “About anything that upsets you. Even if you wouldn’t choose it.”

Logan didn’t respond, but after a minute his hand snaked out from under the covers and grasped Virgil’s.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Virgil asked, struck with the idea.

“Huh?”

“A walk. Get out of your head for a little bit and hang out. We can talk if you want, or just be together.”

Roman’s voice grew particularly loud outside, and Virgil picked out a teary, petulant, “I hate you!”

“Plus it’ll get you away from that energy,” he added wryly.

Logan drew in a breath and sat up. “Alright. Let’s do it.” He pulled out a denim jacket while Virgil put his shoes back on and retied the laces. They made their way out of the apartment, hand in hand.

Roman was on his feet now, releasing an angry tirade at Janus, hands clenched into fists and sounding on the verge of crying, the TV remote cast on the floor beside him. Janus was sitting on the kitchen counter with arms crossed and an intimidating glare on their face.

“Hey!” Virgil snapped, and Roman cut off abruptly. “Eat some food,” Virgil told him on a hunch. Sure, Roman could be a little immature at times, but this was on a whole different level, and a lack of food seemed like the simplest culprit.

Virgil looked over at Janus, to make it clear that they weren’t off the hook either. “We’re going out. You two better make up before we get back. Clear?”

“You can’t tell us what to do—” Roman began stubbornly.

“Janus literally called me in to fix all your problems, so yeah. I can. Also open your windows, it’s gloomy as fuck in here.” Virgil opened the door and held it for Logan, tossing one last glare over his shoulder at Roman, who looked dumbstruck, and Janus, who avoided eye contact.

Logan was quiet as the two of them walked down the stairs and exited the apartment building, hands in his pockets (one still clasping Virgil’s) and eyes on the toes of his slip-on shoes.

“Wanna talk?” Virgil asked.

Logan tilted his head to the side for a moment, his thinking face slipping over his features, and then shook his head.

Virgil nodded. “Okay.” He fished in his pocket for his earbuds and plugged them in. “Let me know if that changes, okay?” He received a small nod and turned on his go-to playlist—a 12-and-a-half-hour-long composition of all his favorite emo songs that he could loop without having to put any thought in.

The two of them wandered through the streets, hand in hand, music blaring in Virgil’s ears and Logan’s fingers soft and warm against his. They made their way towards downtown; their university was in a small city, and it was pretty walkable.

As they walked, weaving around and across different blocks, occasionally stopping to peek into particularly interesting shop windows, the tension in Logan’s shoulders slowly began to relax and his gaze migrated from the toes of his shoes upwards to take in the surrounding scenery. Virgil felt himself relaxing in turn. The subdued, almost sullen look on Logan’s face was beginning to shift back to his typical bright-eyed curiosity, which meant that while maybe not all was right with the world, a whole lot was right with the world.

As the sky began to darken, Logan’s pace quickened with sudden purpose—but he didn’t lead Virgil in the direction of the apartment. Instead, he headed in almost the exact opposite direction. Virgil was lost for a moment as to where they were going, until the park in the center of downtown came into view. Ah. That explained it. He was kind of glad; he didn’t feel ready for the quiet time they were spending together to be over.

A scent caught his attention as they entered the park, and he tugged gently at Logan’s arm, nodding towards the mediterranean food truck. A small smile answered him, and a nod, and the pair of them made their way over. They both ordered gyros—Virgil chicken, and Logan, who was trying out vegetarian food, falafel.

Fifteen minutes later, seated side by side on a park bench and finishing the last of their sandwiches, Logan cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

Virgil bumped his shoulder against his boyfriend’s. “Of course, babe.”

“I am feeling… better,” Logan said cautiously, as if he were testing out the words in his mouth to see if they felt true.

Virgil nodded. “Better is good.”

Logan nodded, eyes moving to the sky, which was now almost fully dark except for a streak of orange sunset leftover on the horizon. The stars were out, at least the brightest ones that could be seen even past the floodlights placed every so often across the park.

“You like space, and shit, right?” Virgil said, scooting closer to Logan and dragging his arm to wrap around Virgil as he rested his head on Logan’s shoulder. It was a bit of a rhetorical question, since he knew Logan had an astronomy minor and was the vice president of the astronomy club and had gone on no less than three eager rambles about space in the last month alone, but one could always do with a conversation opener.

Logan blinked and looked down at him. “I do.” You know this, his tone said, a little puzzled at the question.

“What star is that?” Virgil pointed at a particularly bright one, although he wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to the star as he was to Logan’s face.

Sure enough, Logan brightened, his eyes more interesting than any star. “Oh! That’s not a star at all—it’s actually Mercury!”

“Really?” Virgil asked, grinning and scooting closer.

Logan wrapped his arm a little more tightly around Virgil’s shoulders with an answering smile. “Yes, and it’s actually very fascinating…” And just like that, he was off, words spilling out of his mouth at a breakneck pace, gesturing eagerly with his free hand to emphasize his points.

Virgil listened, doing his best to follow along and asking a few questions whenever Logan started to wind down, but mostly just happy to watch his boyfriend’s lips as he excitedly infodumped, and his eyes, too, alight with delight, the frustration of the disappointing grade all but forgotten as he held Virgil and told him stories about the night sky.

It was nearly ten at night by the time they made their way back to Logan’s apartment, chatting back and forth in quiet voices and giggling. Logan broke off as he opened the door and got a look inside; he glanced over his shoulder at Virgil and put a finger to his lips.

Virgil hushed and followed him in, then saw what the need for quiet was: Janus and Roman were asleep on the sofa, Roman sprawled on his stomach on top of Janus with his limbs everywhere and his face buried in Janus’s chest, Janus with their arms wrapped around him and a throw pillow propping their head up and a worn copy of Crime and Punishment flopped over from where it had clearly been propped up on Roman’s back.

“Precious,” Virgil commented softly as Logan picked up the book, tucked a bookmark off the coffee table into it, and set it down with the tender care he seemed to reserve exclusively for books and Virgil.

Logan smiled. “They are, rather.” He looked down at his roommates. “Sometimes I wonder why I picked the two most dramatic people I know to live with.”

“Sometimes like this afternoon?” Virgil said with a chuckle.

Logan snorted. “Maybe. But then they do things like this, and I remember why I like them.”

Virgil noticed something on the tiny kitchen table. “Or this?” He pointed.

Logan came over to examine what Virgil had found. “Oh,” he breathed, a smile spreading across his face.

A plate of cookies sat on the table, together with a hastily handmade card.

“Sorry :( ❤️” it read in large, expressive cursive, and beneath it in smaller, neater handwriting, “I actually didn’t do anything wrong, but these are for you and I did the dishes, also you’re welcome for the date night.”

Logan laughed quietly, taking a cookie and offering the plate to Virgil, who accepted one cookie—they looked to be snickerdoodles. “Yes. Things exactly like this,” he said. He took a bite of the cookie and raised his eyebrows. “Not bad.”

Virgil grinned and leaned over to kiss him. “Not bad at all,” he agreed, pulling away.

“I literally gave you your own cookie,” Logan whispered, clearly trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, but it tastes better this way.” Virgil winked, mainly for Logan’s reaction—he pressed a hand to his mouth, stifling an amused smile that was still visible in his eyes. “I should go,” Virgil added, glancing at the time. It was Sunday tomorrow, so he didn’t need to worry about how late he was up, but he disliked walking home at night.

Logan nodded, taking another cookie and pressing it into his hand. “Text me when you get home?”

“I always do,” Virgil said, accepting the cookie and a goodnight kiss that still tasted just faintly of cinnamon and sugar.

And he did just that; he always felt a little awkward simply texting “I made it home,” or the like, so he usually tried to come up with interesting questions to send to Logan instead. Tonight, it was:

Virgil: hey Virgil: if u could pick one Thing u always wanted to do Virgil: and get a guarantee that u’d get a chance to do that thing no matter what Virgil: what would u pick?

Logan: Fascinating question! I would like the opportunity to name a star. Logan: I don’t imagine it will ever happen in real life, but I’ve always thought it would be… cool, for lack of a better word.

Virgil: ghfdkjghksdhj i will never be over ur love for space Virgil: u have a Brand and u stick to it

Logan: Well, a brand is important in life. :-) Logan: What about you? What would you pick?

Virgil: i think it’d be neat to be in a band Virgil: idk Virgil: like i don’t wanna be super famous or anything but like Virgil: being in a band would be neat Virgil: yk?

***

Ten years later, Virgil sang the last lines of his song looking right at his husband. “And I don’t even need to look to the skies/Because all of the stars are in your eyes.”

The noise around him didn’t fade away like in the movies; to the contrary, the cheering was so loud it was almost hard to focus. But Logan’s face was absolutely alight—Virgil couldn’t be sure at this distance, but he thought Logan might even be tearing up—and he was looking at Virgil like he was his whole world. Even with the bright lights and overwhelming sounds all around, it was easy to focus on Logan in the midst of it all, Logan pressing a hand to his mouth but smiling too wide for anything to hide it, Logan leaning into the side-hug that Patton—oh, and there was Patton, right beside him—was offering, but never taking his eyes off Virgil. Logan looked so happy, even though Virgil knew concerts weren’t really his favorite type of event, and Virgil was hit right in the chest with a renewed realization that Logan was Virgil’s whole world and damn, Virgil wanted to make sure everyone knew it.

But their time onstage was up, and the next few minutes were a bustle of packing equipment away and cleaning up the space they’d been allotted backstage, and it all went by in a bit of a blur, helped along by the remnants of Virgil’s performance mindset and slight overstimulation—though that was getting better now that he was offstage.

Virgil took a quick break, when the bulk of the urgent work was done, to just stand in the empty restroom and breathe for a moment, the noise of the other band who were now onstage thudding in the background so quietly he could hardly hear it. When he’d fully composed himself, feeling much calmer, he took a deep breath and headed back out.

On his way out, he ran into Roman, pushing a dolly with a box on it. “Oh, good, there you are,” he greeted Virgil. “Can you—oh, for crying out loud,” he broke off, looking ahead.

Following his gaze, Virgil snickered as he saw Remus, leaning against the wall with their hands clasped behind his head, grinning down at Patton, who was leaned forward, bracketing Remus with his arms, looking up at him and speaking, although Virgil couldn’t hear him from here.

“We still have work to do,” Roman said under his breath, but the exasperated gaze he leveled at the pair was altogether far too fond to have much real bite.

Virgil’s mind was on other matters; if Patton was here, that meant—

“Lolo!” Patton’s voice called brightly; he’d seen Roman and Virgil and stepped back from Remus, waving happily at the pair of them. “Virgil’s here!”

At the sound of Patton’s voice, Janus emerged from the room, a little further down the hall, that had served as the headquarters for the band. He bent to give the tiny man a kiss, then turned to Remus for another kiss.

Logan popped his head out just a moment behind Janus. “Virgil?” He brightened when he saw Virgil’s face, and stepped fully out into the hall. He hadn’t changed from his work outfit, still wearing a button down with the sleeves rolled up, a tie, and a pair of jeans, and a smile that he looked like he couldn’t wipe off his face.

He was still the handsomest man Virgil had ever seen.

Virgil looked to Roman. “Permission to get back on my alloromantic bullshit, captain?” he asked teasingly.

Roman rolled his eyes and swatted Virgil’s shoulder. “Go be cute,” he said benignly.

Virgil took off down the hallway to Logan, not quite running; Logan took a few steps to meet him, and Virgil caught him in a hug so eager he actually lifted the taller man off his feet for just a second.

Logan, half-laughing with surprise, grasped Virgil’s shoulders for balance as he regained his feet. “You wrote me a song?”

“Did you like it?” Virgil asked, holding him tightly.

“Virgil, I—” Logan seized Virgil’s face in his hands and kissed him.

Virgil wrapped his arms more firmly around his husband, kissing him back exuberantly and swaying slightly back and forth.

“It’s perfect,” Logan told him, breaking away only just far enough to speak. “You’re perfect.”

Virgil grinned, reaching up to run his fingers through Logan’s neat hair. “Careful, you’ll spoil me.”

“I don’t think I could ever do that,” Logan told him seriously. “It’s not spoiling if you deserve it.”

And really, what was Virgil supposed to do about that except kiss his husband again?

[crrpsebride]

the garde and the honoraries at hoGGY HOGGY HOGWARTS

nine and five as slytherin

slytherin house values ambition, leadership, self-preservation, cunning and resourcefulness. slytherins always find ways to employ their skills to their advantage, and can make the best of any situation. slytherins strive to be the best, and because of their ambition, they usually are. slytherin represents the element of water, and its house emblem is the snake.

notable characters: merlin, the malfoys, bellatrix lestrange, tom riddle

adam, ella and marina as ravenclaw

ravenclaw house values intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity and wit. all ravenclaws possess a strong thirst for knowledge and a desire to explore and inquire. ravenclaws are highly individualistic and don’t succumb to peer pressure or do what the majority decides to unless they believe in it. ravenclaw represents the element of air, and its house emblem is the eagle.

notable characters: luna lovegood, cho chang, filius flitwick, rowena ravenclaw

sarah, sam and eight as hufflepuff

hufflepuff house values hard work, dedication, loyalty and fair play. hufflepuffs make some of the most loyal friends, and won’t back down from your side. they are also some of the most hardworking people - though they may not possess ravenclaws’ passion for learning, or slytherins’ ambition - but it always pays off. hufflepuffs are honest, and always feel a desire to tell the truth and behave as such. hufflepuff represents the element of earth, and its house emblem is the badger.

notable characters: cedric diggory, pomona sprout, newt scamander, nymphadora tonks

john and six as gryffindor

gryffindor house values bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry. gryffindors stand strong in the face of adversity, and show courage in everything they do. they tend to see the world split as good and bad, white and black, and do everything they can to protect the good and innocent. gryffindors aren’t afraid to put themselves in physical danger, and will do so to defend others. gryffindor represents the element of fire, and its house emblem is the lion.

notable characters: the golden trio (harry potter, hermione granger, ron weasley), the weasley family, the marauders (james potter, sirius black, remus lupin, peter pettigrew), minerva mcgonagall

other opinions 

adam is a slytherclaw. full stop. he just gives off the sophisticated, intelligent energy that all of them possess

both nine and five’s second house is gryffindor, and six’s is slytherin

john is half-half gryffindor and hufflepuff (he has both qualities it just depends when they shine through) but i did put him in gryffindor because he’s got the main character disease

john would be a keeper for the gryffindor team, and six a chaser, and nine and five would be a beater for slytherin because they need their dose of beating the shit out of something (they’d hate each other but make a good team yk). eight would be a keeper too for hufflepuff and ella is DEFINITELY a seeker or a beater no in between

nine gives me INCREDIBLE sirius black vibes. like young sirius black they are the same‼ no i will not be taking constructive criticism on this!!

- and to tie into that, JOHN IS YOUNG REMUS LUPIN!! ALSO NOT TAKING CRITICISM!! the way he’s good when he wants to be and is overall the mother, but is batshit crazy when he’s with his friends

my friend (@picnicgrannyforpresident ) said six gives off BOOK ginny energy and i agree

also i think nine would have the same backstory as sirius, like his family tradition is being sorted into gryffindor (or ravenclaw maybe) but he got put in slytherin and they were sorta like “oh…” and he was like “no.” and hated slytherin and everyone in it at first </3 (also could be adam but... i wanted to save him from trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma)

sam gives me ron weasley vibes cause ignored best friend™ despite how loyal he is (DESPITE WHAT PEOPLE WITH COMMON SENSE HAVE TO SAY) 

on that note that does not mean i ship ginny weasley and her brother PLEASE 🤮🤮🤮  that’s so nasty i’m just saying that sam and six have the same energy and kind of character base as them both

adam would choose post-mortem studies as an elective in his third year (the study of ghosts) because… you know the irony. he would be the top of his class at everything except divination - he’d have the same problem as hermione and think it was bullshit and just quit the subject entirely

ella’s top classes would be astronomy and flying, and quidditch would be her secret passion and she’d refuse to try out until the captain saw her training with eight, nine, john, six and five and went “oh shit she’s good” (her mum was a well-known quidditch player in hogwarts for ravenclaw too). she’d try her best to hang out with all the older kids (let’s pretend adam is the same age as everyone else 😳 ) but ultimately she’d have to make friends in her year who would end up with her like this 🤞

nine’s top classes would be potions and dada (defense against the dark arts). at first he’d try and mess up his potions to piss off snape, but then he realised that he was actually pretty good at it, so he stopped and tried to do it properly. he was never top of the class, and not the teacher’s favourite but he did well and he was proud of it. his favourite dada teacher probs would have been lupin (who could blame him) and he thought he was pretty cool

sam would love history of magic classes in my opinion. like they’d be his favourite part of the week because he was a history buff and loved learning about what brought around everything in his time yk? he’d also be really good at dada and lupin would love him because he always tries his best no matter if he succeeds or not

MARINA my goddess her top subjects would be herbology and magic in art because she’s the artsy hipster 🙄  duh this is ms sea queen we’re talking about. she’d have a natural knack for plants and it would be one of her favourite things to do, just go and help out neville with his plants THEY’D BE BESTIES FOR SURE and ella would just sit in the corner munching on a treacle tart and be like “you guys are NERDS”

five’s top subject would be potions too for sure and him and nine would have like this unspoken rivalry and would constantly try and one-up each other. he’d also suck up to snape and become his favourite and rub it in nine’s face

john’s favourite subjects would be charms and transfiguration. i feel like he’d have a problem where he’d be shit at memorising spells but he’s got talent so his friends would help him memorise the words with flashcards and stuff so he’d be prepared and not fail every single one of his tests

SIX the baddie she is as soon as she got on a broom she was like “YEAH THIS IS MY JAM!! TURN IT UP!!” and she would practice every summer because she had very high standards for herself until she finally felt she was good enough. she’d try out and get in immediately and soon become captain (sike you thought i’d make john captain Y’ALL THOUGHT WRONG). she’d be one of the best chasers gryffindor had seen and she’d be one of mcgonagall’s favourites (close to harry potter on that pedestal he has set up)

sarah would love cooking with magic (yes that’s a subject) because we all know she’s practically strawberry shortcake. she’d excel at it and she’d also probably excel at charms too because we all know she’s got that talent 

EIGHT MY MAN would be the best in the year at transfiguration. like no, his parents were NOT good at it, no one in his family was, but here we are with him getting the top mark time and time agAIN! yes this ties into his shapeshifting legacy but still he’d be so good at it i just know as well as POTIONS. this man would love cooking up evil shit in a basement for hours on end and i know he wouldn’t be super at it but he’d try

nine would also be friends with the weasley twins and plan so much shit and take the fall with them. if he didn’t show up to quidditch practice, everyone would sigh and go “who wants to make a bet how long it takes him to break out of detention”

john and sarah would be prefects and so would sam <3 (ily sam)

marina would run for prefect and insist on adam running too but he’d be like “nah man no one knows me” and she would secretly hand out fliers and shit and be like “vote adamus for prefect! he’s smart and courageous and i know he’d die for his house” and at the assembly or wherever it’s announced he’d win the title and he’d be like 😳  and constantly try and make it up to marina because she knew he wanted to be one

john, sam, and six would be in the year between the golden trio and nine, marina, five, eight, sarah and adam would be in the same year as fred and george. ella would be in the same year as ginny too and you bet your ass they’d be the best of friends

okay that’s all i have so far but please reblog and tell me your opinions cause i’m DYING to hear them LMAIEJRHSFe

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 13

I’m back! Took a little break to watch Rebellion, mostly recovered from that so I can return to watching this light-hearted tale of whimsy and hahaha no. Onwards with Brotherhood!

Episode 13 - “Beasts of Dublith” Izumi’s talking about Ed seeing “it” and surviving. Ooh, do we get info on Truth this episode? [Izumi]: “Regardless, I can’t accept the decision you made. You’re expelled.” What?! Teacher turns away, tells them to get on a train. Ed just bows and thanks her for everything. ...wow, I’d forgotten how hard this show can hit. Huh, same intro? I thought this was the halfway point of the season, don’t animes usually switch things up at this point? ...at the very least, I’d like them to change the into so I don’t have to see Hughes again at the beginning of each episode YES I’M STILL BITTER. Sig’s seeing them off at the station, saying they should drop by if they’re ever in town again. Sorry buddy, but I don’t thin- [Sig]: “You idiots! You’re so busy pouting you can’t see what your expulsion means; You aren’t her students anymore, so now you’re finally free to speak to Izumi as equals!” Oh. Ohhhh. Ok, so that was her way of ‘graduating’ them. I can see it. [Sig]: “Unless, of course, you’re too chicken to try it.” Suddenly Ed facepalms? There’s something you forgot to do? I thought the point of the trip was to visit your old Teacher. [Sig]: “Don’t let her kill you.” ...Gee, thanks for the advice. Ed gets back to the butcher shop GAH good thing Ed’s quick enough to duck knives. Izumi is not happy to see him again. But the Elric Brothers say that they’ve come looking for a way to get their bodies back, and that they are staying. A staredown commences.

Izumi… relents? Huh, I thought she would have kept this up until you stopped calling her Teacher. Time to talk about “the Truth”! Al didn’t see it, doesn’t even really know what it means. Izumi says he lost his memory from the shock… oh! Yeah, if the cost of what Ed saw was his leg, for Al to lose his entire body as the “toll”? Oh good grief you two, stop talking about how “awful” and “horrifying” it was, you’re scaring the kid. Izumi’s got a lead in an acquaintance who might be able to retrieve the memory. But first, dinner! Eavesdropper! We’ve got a Gollum taking a peek in the window, confirming that Ed can transmute human souls. Oh wow that’s a tail, is this guy part-Gecko? Back at Eastern Command, some old guy with bifocals is playing chess with Roy, expositing that he’s transferring in one week. (Subtitles say) General Grumman is giving the standard platitudes of “it won’t be the same without you”, “I got to relax thanks to your hard work”, ect ect. Hmm, noting that his glasses are consistently shiny, not a good sign. Ooh, that was a flinch, and yup, checkmate. Good job Roy! Grumman plays it off as a “going away gift”, Roy presses this charitable mood. Hello there, Master Sergeant Kain Fuery. Gotta be honest here, I’m still holding the loss of Fuhrer Fury against you, here’s hoping you can be a good enough character to overcome that bias. We’ve also got Warrant Officer Vato Falman, Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc-

No, not that Jean. And First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye as well. Seems that Roy’s added them to his own transfer, they’ll join him in Central. No objections! [Havoc]: “I’ve got a problem, sir. See, I just started dating this girl and I really like her.” [Roy]: “Dump her.” Wow. Remind me not to go to Roy for relationship advice. What is it you see in this guy again, Riza? Cut to some dude working out with a crude dumbbell. Oh hey it’s Scar! How’s it going buddy? Apparently he’s not supposed to be working out, the Ishvalan kid Rick chides him for aggravating his wounds. He opens the tent for someone else, and Scar looks shocked? [Scar]: “Master!” Ooh, a parallel episode! The Elrics and Scar working with their old teachers! I like these! Master’s talking with Scar now, saying he knows that his student’s been targeting State Alchemists. But regardless of their crimes, such vengeance will only cause further violence. Senseless revenge, feeding a fruitless cycle of death? Man this Master pulls no punches. He tells Scar to end this cycle once and for all- Suddenly two non-Ishvalans poke their heads into the tent, identify Scar and start talking about a bounty. Uh oh. Either Scar’s gonna ignore his Master, or we’ll find out why this guy is called Master even in the subtitles. Third guy is hiding behind some rubble, Ishvalan bystanders yell at Yoki for bringing bounty hunters. Man, another whiny Elric antagonist? Oh yeah, I’m sure that you’ll “rise up” and take your revenge. Total faith in you buddy. Off-topic, do you mind telling me when you plan to face them? I want to know when so I can sell tickets I mean show my support. Scar realizes that he’ll only bring more trouble, however irritating, if he stays there. Yyyyeah, you bounty hunters had no idea who you were messing with. One dismembering and face-grab later, Scar doesn’t even bother with Yoki, just dons sunglasses once more.

Master tries one more guilt-trip (“Your brother would be sad”), we get a dramatic zoom at Scar’s tattooed arm. Scar just says it’s too late to turn back now, and walks off.

Al’s sweeping outside the butcher shop when a ball of paper’s thrown at his feet. A note from Gecko-Man, Bido? Oh wow a place called “Devil’s Nest”, I’m sure it’s a quite reputable business. Some guys sniffs and jumps down to join Bido and a lady in the street, to greet Al as he walks up. A meeting? Ooh, did you guys try to blackmail Al? This can only end well. Nose-Man (Dolcetto) tries to get Al to come with them, one “Ooh, I’m just a widdle kid” act later… Uh oh! So while Dolcetto went down like a punk, Tatoo-Lady (Martel) took the advantage to get inside Al’s armor, slow him down for an older guy (Roa) to show up for a turn and wrestle the armor to the ground. [Al]: “You people aren’t human, are you?” No, really? What gave it away, the guy with a giant gecko tail? [Greed]: “Good guess! They’re Chimeras… And they happen to work for me.” Wait, Greed? Aw crap it’s another Goth! The Terminator from the intro, no less! So Al’s in some sort of basement now, Martel still keeping him controlled from inside the armor while Greed is starting some sort of pitch. So wait, how is Greed connected to the rest of the Goths? I can see he has the Uroboros tattoo on his hand like the others, but I’m getting a different vibe from him. Al asks what they really are, they can’t be Chimera’s because the only “talking Chimera” we’ve seen before was something I really don’t want to remember. Greed just says to not believe everything the government says. Martel’s part-snake, Roa was… cow? Ok. Throw in a lizard (still gonna call him gecko), a crocodile, and a dog. Man, Dolcetto’s not having a good time this episode. As for how these Human-Chimeras are possible, Greed says that they were created by the military. But he’s even more uncommon than they are: he’s a Homunculus. Wait, a Homunculus? Are you sure you’re using the right term there? I can understand Chimera, a mix of species, but my understand of Homunculi is that they’re mini-humans, basically familiars. Oh ok, so apparently the definition of a Homunculus in Brotherhood is a more general “artificially created human”. Flashback to Baby!Elrics studying alchemy, raising the point that yeah that’s Human Transmutation isn’t it? Al is really upset by this claim, saying that it’s just an unproven theory. So Greed says he’ll prove it SWEET LETO WHAT THE TRUTH ok Roa just went Thor on Greed’s skull, the corpse falls. But Al barely has time to ask what the heck that was for when the body raises a hand in a “wait a moment” gesture, and red sparks fly as Greed reforms good as new. Huh. So we’ve already know that the Goths are hard to put down (knife to the forehead), but to completely regenerate after your brain is splattered? Yeah, this is gonna be tough. So, back to why they’ve captured Al? Oh, that’s why? Sure Greed’s got a body that can recover from normally fatal injuries, but he still “dies”. Meanwhile, he’s got a moving, talking suit of armor right here! A body that never dies… Now this is really interesting, looking at two concepts of immortality: a regenerating organic form, or an unchanging metal form. Transhumanism, ho! Still, I don’t think that this is a form of “immortality” that you want, Greed. You want the finer things in life? Get yourself stuck in armor like Al, and you lose your sense of touch and taste. And you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’s willing to give those up. Greed’s pushing to know how Al got his soul in the armor, Al truthfully says that he can’t remember how and that it wasn’t him who did it. So Greed’s gonna have to talk to the original caster. [Ed]: “Now where’d a seven-foot tall suit of armor run off to?” Bido tries to make Ed pay to know where his brother is. Bido gets used to open the basement door. Al tells Ed that Greed’s a Homunculus (“Hey! Way to ruin it.”), and that he might be able to help them with their body problem. But Greed shows off his Uroboros tattoo, which he has to know that Ed recognizes. Greed says that “they don’t talk much anymore.” A falling out? Greed makes his pitch: He’ll teach them how to make a Homunculus (to transfer their souls to?), if they teach him how to transfer a soul. “Classic equivalent exchange.” EEC: 8 Finally, I get to update that count! Given how much the phrase made Tephi snicker I thought I’d be hearing it more often, best I can tell the last time was… ugh, Tucker. Moving on. Well of course you don’t understand why Al would want his body back, Greed. You don’t know the limitations. [Greed]: “You’re joking, right? You don’t need to eat, you don’t need to sleep, you don’t even need to use the toilet! Sounds great to me!” Yup. Ed’s pissed. Greed can only applaud his monologue. There you go Dolcetto, go ahead and get Worfed. But Greed puts up much more of a fight, going into the terminator mode from the intro, blocking all of Ed’s attacks as an Ultimate Shield. So Ed’s basically fighting MGR’s Armstrong, then? “Homunculus, son!” [Greed]: “Oh. You’re one of those guys. You don’t care if someone beats the crap out of you, but if someone lays a hand on a family member you completely freak out. What a waste… you lose your temper like this and you’re gonna lose my information and your brother.” But Ed thinks he still has a chance. Until Greed shows that he was holding back so he didn’t have to cover up his pretty face. Sig’s found the dropped broom, evidence that the boys have gone missing. Because Leto forbid they skip out on their chores and invoke Izumi’s wrath. A passerby says they were seen going into a bar called the Devil’s Nest. In said bar, Ed is [SUFFERING IN PAIN], literally breaking his automail on Greed and getting thrown around. But he has a plan? Oh yeah, Alchemy! He shorts out Greed’s Ultimate Shield to bust up his organic hand, Greed grows it back quickly and remarks that that was bizarre. Another attack, and stalagmites to the chest! Chemistry for the win! Since Greed told Ed that he was human, Ed knew that a third of his body was made of carbon. He figured that Greed was using that to make his shield, just rearranging the atoms. So all Ed had to do was rearrange them right back, graphite instead of diamond. Alright! Big Letodamn Hero entrance by Izumi! Who throws a mook at Ed and yells at him for not putting the broom away. [Greed]: “Oh give me a break. Don’t tell me you’re going to try and start anything, lady. It’s no fun fighting a woman.”

Time for Housewife Beatdown! *credits* ...Damn it! 

[unapologeticallyjaylos]

jaylos prompt

title: look what the rain dragged in 

pairings: jaylos + malvie

ask: anon asked - “writing prompt: the first time jay realized carlos liked boys”

warnings: some mentions of child abuse/starvation - also some mentions of explicit magazines 

Jay didn’t know what rainy days were like in Auradon - or if they even existed - but on the island, rain wasn’t anything to stare at.

Sure, it made things slick, harder to grab, but Jay still found ways to slip the island’s riches (or recycled trash) into his pockets. After all, his dad wouldn’t accept rain as a valid excuse for a lighter load, and Jay didn’t have any desire to sleep on the wet streets every single time the clouds got tired of holding their water.

Sometimes, the rain worked in his favor, though: it washed blood away; once Mal boiled the water from their barrels, it made for the cleanest drinking water they could hope to get their hands on; and - on the rarest of occasions - it gave Mal’s gang an excuse to catch their breath.

That’s why, when he bounded up the stairs to their hideout and found the other three quietly busy, he had to stop and smile. Evie was stripping old, stained cloth to make bandages, sewing up frayed ends and neatly folding them into stacks on the couch. Carlos was messing with another strange, metal project, flinching every once and awhile when it gave out a strange beep. And Mal? She was spray painting an empty wall, and the familiar hiss and rattle of her paint cans blended rhythmically with the steady pounding of the rain on the roof.

The moment he stepped into the room, all three of them looked up. Mal acknowledged him with a little nod, Carlos smiled, and Evie even offered a little wave. They weren’t friends necessarily, but in quiet moments like these, Jay was man enough to admit that they were something close. The four of them were a little more than simply allies. After all, they were the only members of Mal’s gang that she allowed up here without explicit permission.

“Everything okay down there?” Mal asked, returning to her painting. The wall looked pretty good so far, with thorns and vines snaking all the way down and her signature tag in the center.

“Still pretty quiet.” Jay had been in charge of border check that morning. “There was a scuffle over where our territory meets the pirates’, but not much blood. I think people are using the rain as an excuse to plan shit. Eves, where’d we get all that new cloth?”

“It was on Mom’s reject pile.” She gestured to the fairly large mound of rags. “I figured we can use them for sanitary supplies, too. They’re relatively clean compared to the stuff we got last week.”

“Oh, thank god.” Mal put her cans down to inspect the cloth more closely. “I’m gonna need them this week.”

Evie smiled up at her. “Well, I guess we have my mother to thank.”

“No, we don’t.” The dark fairy curled her lip in disgust. “I won’t thank your mother ever in a hundred years. She doesn’t deserve it.” Jay knew Mal had a weak spot for people who treated Evie poorly (which was pretty much everyone, including her up until a few months ago), but Evie’s mother definitely headed up the top of that list. Last week, they’d found Evie passed out from dehydration at the hands of her mother’s “food and water rationing” to keep her thin, and Mal had been on edge ever since. Even now, the purple-haired girl was carefully stroking Evie’s hair, running her fingers through it soothingly. It was as close to straight up affection that Jay had ever seen her give.

“What’s in your hand?” Carlos asked from his place at the table, finally putting down his contraption.

Jay had been so caught up in admiration for his team that he’d nearly forgotten what he’d brought for them. “I have bread,” he grinned. He held up a loaf of bread with his left hand. The side was a little soggy from the rain and there was a tiny bit of mold on the crust, but it was enough for all of them to have a pretty big chunk. At the sight of it, the other three sat up a little straighter, their faces lighting up. “And some entertainment.” In his right, Jay held a magazine snatched expertly from the most coveted shelf in his father’s shop.

“Is that porn?” Mal raised an eyebrow, looking from the magazine to the bread and back to the magazine. “Shit, you really came through today.”

“What can I say,” Jay laughed. “Some days are better than others.” He handed the bread to Evie, who pulled a knife out of her waistline of her skirt and began to cut it neatly. “Dad’s gonna lose it if he realizes I stole one of the magazines. They’re his best selling item. But I figured we could use something to look at while we ate. And this is a new one! It came out only two months ago on the mainland.”

The four of them sat on the floor, each with their own thick slice of bread, and laid the magazine out where they could all see it.

“Damn.” A smirk played at the corner’s of Mal’s mouth as she opened the first page, looking on in approval. “She’s hot as hell.”

“You think all naked girls are hot as hell,” Jay reminded her, earning himself a punch to the arm. “Just telling the truth, Dragon Girl.”

Evie stared at the the women, her perfectly lined lips parted slightly. That was another thing they’d learned pretty quickly about Evie Grimhilde; she loved girls almost more than Mal did. “Look at her… fuck… I don’t know if I want to be her or do her.”

“Why not both?” Mal grinned, giving the princess a little wink.  

Even Jay had to admit the model was pretty damn sexy. Her muscles were toned nicely, and Jay wet his lips a little as he stared. He glanced over at Carlos, expecting to see at least a blush or some sign of arousal, but although the other boy was studying the woman intently, he didn’t seem to be attracted in the slightest.  

Interesting.

Jay turned the page, and both Mal and Evie sat a little closer to stare at a new girl in a new pose. Evie sighed heavily, and Mal looked on hungrily, as if she could actually somehow get to the model on the page. Jay grinned appreciatively, enjoying the sight just as much as the other two. But a quick glance over at Carlos told him that the other boy still wasn’t getting the same amount of pleasure from it.

The gears in Jay’s mind began to turn. In fact, when Mal flipped to the next page, his mind was focused more on Carlos’ reaction than the women with her legs spread on a bed of - what were those, roses? Once again, Cruella’s son didn’t blush or even shift like he had a boner.

Doubly interesting.

Whenever they’d gone out to tag-team the market place, Jay had always given Carlos female marks to try and flirt with and steal from, and the other boy had never said a thing. Most people on the island weren’t picky about the sex they were getting - from boys, girls, themselves - but he’d never thought about what he’d do if Carlos liked boys. Mostly because… Carlos was hella cute. And definitely lethal. And - if Jay were totally honest with himself - he’d had a few not-so-appropriate thoughts involving the other boy every once and awhile when his mind drifted.

Jay’s suspicions were confirmed on the next page. This time, a male model in an equally lewd position got a reaction from the boy sitting three feet away. His cheeks flushed pink under his freckles, and he bit his lip in a very attractive way.

“Holy shit,” Jay muttered, a small grin on his face. Carlos de Vil definitely, without a doubt liked boys.

Mal rolled her eyes. “We get it you like guys with big dicks.”

Jay didn’t correct her. He’d talk to Carlos about his new discovery later.

When the bread had disappeared down four hungry throats and every page of the magazine had been poured over, Mal sent everyone back to work. After all, they couldn’t sit around and stare forever. There were food runs to complete, market scans to conduct, and territory disputes to settle. In fact, she and Evie left a few minutes later to hunt down the older Gaston twins, who had made the mistake of interfering with a supply run the week before. Jay knew the two brutish boys would definitely have matching broken noses when they decided to return to school. The thought pleased him, as did the vacated warehouse, which provided an excellent opportunity to approach Carlos.

“Hey, Pup?”

Carlos - who had gone back to working on his device - glanced up. “Didn’t Mal ask you to finish stripping those bandages for Evie?”

“Yeah.” Jay huffed and began to pick up where the princess had left off. He could work and talk. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Really?” The other boy raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious. “What?”

“Would you rather me give you male marks when we go out into the market?” Jay asked, the cloth between his fingers ripping satisfyingly.

Cruella’s son blushed, his eyes widening a little. “Oh - uh -”

“It’s totally cool, dude. If I’d known, I would’ve done it a long time ago.” Jay really didn’t need him to confirm anything. He already knew. Carlos liked boys. And that was more than fine by him.

“That’s -” Carlos swallowed hard, his cheeks flushed again. “That’s okay, actually. I think I’ll be a better pickpocket if I’m not totally flustered. And stuff. So girls are fine. For stealing from, at least.”

“Mmm, that’s pretty smart, de Vil.” Jay gave him a small grin. “You’re kind of a genius, you know that?”

“I’ve been told.” The other boy’s cheeks were growing pinker by the minute.

They returned to their work, the conversation going quiet between them. Every once and awhile, though, Jay could catch the other boy moving his gaze quickly, like he’d just looked away.

And Jay smiled.

He now had a deeper understanding of Carlos de Vil, and he certainly liked the possibilities hinted at by those honey-eyed stares.

Maybe, just maybe, things were about to get interesting.

[teenybeanielinguine]

Outlander Season 5 - A Girl Can Dream

 It’s been a little over two weeks since the Season 4 finale... and DAMN, the withdrawal is hitting me hard.  I’ve rewatched all my favorite scenes, re-read all my favorite passages, and scoured Tumblr for every piece of fanfiction available.  But nothing seems capable of filling the Outlander-shaped void in my heart.

Since I clearly have nothing better to do (not true; there are A LOT of other things I should be doing), I’ve decided to grace you all with my unsolicited thoughts (no need to thank me).  Season 5 has no announced release date, but I’m not known for my patience, so I’m hopping on the crazy train a little early.  Destination: The Fiery Cross. (Spoilers ahead.)

About The Fiery Cross

I’ve read quite a few posts that label Drums of Autumn as the pivotal point in the series.  I respectfully disagree.

DoA felt like the next step in a gradual evolution.  It’s true that Bree and Roger gained their independence from the J/C plotline in DoA, but DG had been prepping us for this divergence for quite a while.  Claire was our only narrator in Outlander, and while she remains the only 1st person POV, other characters have been quietly adding their voices to hers.  Roger joined her in Dragonfly in Amber, followed by Jamie and John Grey in Voyager, and we finally get Brianna in Drums of Autumn (that’s RIGHT: in the main books, we hear Roger’s POV before we ever hear Jamie’s).  Because of these constantly expanding POVs, DoA just felt like a natural progression, rather than a huge departure from the status quo.

The Fiery Cross, on the other hand, feels like a turning point.  Not only is it the first book to not get a newly added POV, but the story starts to get a little... unpredictable.

All of the books have a fair amount of twistiness and unpredictability, but our characters have pretty clear goals in each installation so far: get back to the stones, save Jamie from Black Jack, prevent the Rising, prevent Culloden, make Brianna believe the truth, find Jamie after 20 years, rescue Young Ian, establish the Ridge, warn Jamie and Claire about the fire, rescue Roger...  I know I’m generalizing here, but you get the point.  Our heroes all have clearly defined end goals, and they’re putting all their energy into achieving them, despite the twists and turns that DG throws their way.  The characters may not always succeed, but you, the reader, always know where the story is headed.

By the start of The Fiery Cross, the goals are a little broader, more nebulous.  There may be unrest in North Carolina, the American Revolution may be looming in the distance, but basically the Fraser family just wants to live in peace on the Ridge.  That’s it.  No daring rescues, no dramatic reunions; they just want some peace and quiet.  Of course, they aren’t going to get it, because this is Outlander-verse, where Murphy’s Law is on steroids.

So the Frasers play it by ear, taking on every new challenge as it comes.  There is no clear path forward, they just have to react as best they can to the events around them.  In consequence, the reader gets a series of smaller meandering stories, with the distinct feeling that something bigger is happening in the background.  I personally love this, because I have no clue what’s going to happen next, so when something big happens, it takes me completely by surprise.  And you get to see the characters just exist in day-to-day life, which is the best.  Some of the characters still have personal goals (spoiler alert: Stephen Bonnet definitely did NOT die in that explosion), but the pursuit of those goals isn’t driving the story nearly as much as in past installments.

This is all to say that, while Season 5 is going to have to hit some major plot points, there is (in my opinion) a fair amount of breathing room for interpretation, and lots of fun to be had.  I’m fascinated to see the show tackle this new challenge.

My Wish List for Season 5

When I say “wish list”, I don’t mean to imply a series of demands.  I have no creative control over the adaptation, and I’m not listing these wishes in the vain hope that someone on the production team will notice.  This is just for fun, and I will be perfectly content if none of these make it into the show.  Also, not all of these are pulled from the book; some of them are just things I would love to see.

So here are my top ten wishes, in no particular order:

Roger the Fangirl.  In the midst of all the Roger-hate this past season, the OL fandom has forgotten one crucial fact: Roger is the ultimate J/C shipper.  This romantic idiot is the whole reason that Claire went back in time to find Jamie!  You’d think Jamie’s fists would have beaten the ship right out of Roger, but if last season proves anything, it’s that Roger doesn’t give up easily.  He’s gonna keep shipping like his life depends on it, and there are some really cute moments in TFC where he fangirls over how adorable Jamie and Claire are together (also, Jamie is going to become his new idol).  I suppose it would be unrealistic to hope that he and Murtagh form a fan club next season...?

Brothers and Sisters.  Am I the only one who wanted to scream when Brianna and Fergus were right next to each other in the Wilmington jail and they didn’t acknowledge each other?  By the end of S4, we don’t even know whether Fergus and Marsali know about Bree’s existence (I mean, Fergus helped capture Bonnet, but he and Marsali didn’t say a word about Bree), and that frustrates me to no end.  The books skipped over the getting-to-know-you stuff too, which is crazy considering that they are siblings (adopted or not)!  I would kill for a scene where Jamie and Claire are struggling to explain why they have a fully-grown daughter, as well as some bonding time between siblings.  Bree and Marsali are definitely going to get along, cause badass women stick together.

The Snake Bite.  The snake bite incident (aftermath included) is one of my favorite sequences in TFC.  It brings Roger and Jamie closer together, it shows the courage of the Fraser women in a crisis, and it rallies the entire Ridge community in their worry for Jamie.  I suppose it’s sadistic of me, but I loved watching everyone freak out when they thought Jamie was going to die or lose a leg.  And then the 20th century women come to the rescue!  An entire episode dedicated to that whole plotline would be amazing.

Grannie and Grand-da.  Claire and Jamie are not only adorable as grandparents, they’re relatable AF.  They might love their new grandson to pieces, but that’s not going to stop them from being honest about the realities of childcare.  Jamie in particular is hilarious; he builds an entire house at top speed to get away from the screeching baby (and his newly reunited parents), and then he compares Bree unflatteringly to the white sow (not to her face, of course; see Chapter 30 for a good laugh).  I’d love to see that side of Jamie and Claire next season.

Wolf’s Brother.  We might have said a tearful goodbye to Young Ian in the S4 finale, but we haven’t seen the last of him.  My guess is that he’s going to make a dramatic reappearance in the S5 finale, but I really hope we see him before then.  Showing Young Ian’s time among the Mohawk would give Outlander a chance to showcase the amazing First Nations actors that appeared in S4 (Braeden Clarke, anyone?) as well as explore how Ian slowly blends his Highland upbringing with Mohawk customs.

Claire the Science Nerd.  So far all of Claire’s medical expertise has been utilized in life-or-death situations, but establishing a medical practice on the Ridge gives her the opportunity to geek out over plants and experiment in reproducing 20th century medicine in the 18th century.  Over the course of TFC, she gives genetics lessons, performs two tonsillectomies, and produces penicillin (among other things).  This passion for her craft is one of the reasons I love Claire so much.  And her nerd moments aren’t always serious: one of my favorite scenes in the book features Claire and her microscope giving Jamie a hilarious lesson in reproductive biology.

Fraser’s Ridge.  We didn’t get to see much of the Ridge community in S4, although Jamie did allude to the farmers who contributed the grain to make whisky.  The community is comprised of a growing array of Scottish immigrants, and the drama they bring to Claire and Jamie’s lives wavers between amusing and disastrous.  I don’t think the show will have time to explore the entire cast of characters, but I’m hoping to see Thomas Christie and his children introduced, at least.  I’ve always found Tom Christie a strangely compelling character; his children, on the other hand, are nothing more than a necessary evil.  I also really hope we meet the twins, Josiah and Keziah Beardsley (Lizzie’s story is about to get really interesting).

The MacKenzie Bloodline.  Despite all the time-traveling she’s been doing, Claire has yet to meet any of her ancestors (that we know of...  DG might be holding out on us).  Roger, on the other hand, is not going to be so lucky (if you’ve read all eight books, you’ll know that Roger runs into his ancestors A LOT).  By the end of S4, I’m not sure Jamie is aware that his daughter is married to Geillis Duncan and Dougal MacKenzie’s descendant, but I wanna be there when he and Murtagh find out (a perfect opportunity for some good dialogue and tension).  And while Roger may be able to explain his ancestry to Jamie and Murtagh (both of whom are fully aware of the existence of time travel), he’s not going to be able to give the same explanation to Jocasta.  In the beginning of TFC, there’s a really great conversation between Jocasta and Roger where Jocasta is kinda fishing around for clues about Roger’s family.  Roger, of course, can’t tell her that he’s actually her great-great-grandnephew (give or take a few ‘great’s).  My hope is that the show includes some version of this conversation and continues to play around with Roger’s MacKenzie heritage (and all its implications).

Future Talk.  With three time-travelers in the family, there’s bound to be some discussion of the future.  Especially with the tension mounting in North Carolina and Murtagh aligning himself with the Regulators.  I am yearning for some deep discussion between Jamie, Murtagh, and the travelers about the events to come.  I have a hunch that either Claire or Bree has already informed Murtagh about the American Revolution, based on a comment he made to Jocasta about a “different ending”, but I want to see it actually played out on screen.  The interplay between the characters who know the future and those who don’t is fascinating to me, and I want more of it.

Jamie the Protector.  Jamie’s protective instincts have had some disastrous consequences this past season, but he is going to redeem himself next season.  Early on in TFC, Jamie claims Roger as the “son of his house”, and he proceeds to stand by that claim throughout the book, especially in the aftermath of Roger’s wrongful hanging at the hands of Governor Tryon.  This time, Jamie’s protective feelings aren’t going to result in a beating, though it’s a close call.  I love this shift, from Jamie beating Roger to Jamie protecting/avenging Roger; it’s a very satisfying development.

Bonus: Geese.  Brianna and Roger may have a child together, but they have never lived together as a married couple.  They also don’t have very much experience being in a serious relationship (S4 showed us that they really don’t know how to argue properly).  However, they have both grown up quite a bit since their hand fasting, and you get to see them learning how to coexist in Chapter 33 of TFC.  It’s a great scene, where Roger’s just come back with the militia, and he and Bree have a meaningless fight because she hasn’t had it easy since the militia left.  But they resolve their argument peacefully as Bree vents her frustrations to Roger and gives him a drawing of some geese as a Christmas present.  A really wonderful everyday moment.

There are, of course, more things I’d like to see, but these are my favorites.  I thought I’d list them out now, since this is going to be a LONG Droughtlander, and I am sure to get obsessed with something else eventually (the new A Discovery of Witches show looks promising).  Also, I’m going to temporarily forget about Season 5 if Bees comes out first.

What are your wishes for Season 5?  If you choose to respond, please be kind and respectful.

[bennwriting]

3. Twinning!

Chapter 3 of Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House Pregnancy fluff

10/21

Cara waved a hand in front of Jamie’s face. “Are you ok?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Um. Yeah. I’m just uh. I dunno.”

“Surprised?”

“Terrified.”

“Oh.”

“No, no, I’m still happy. It’s just. I mean. I was not expecting that.”

“Yeah. I knew there was a chance, but …”

“Yeah. Wow.”

“We can do this. I mean, we’ll need some help, what with your schedule and all, but it’s totally doable.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Totally.”

“At least I’ve got family with experience.”

“And obviously we can afford it.”

Cara chuckled. “Yeah at least I fell in love with a rich guy.”

That broke Jamie’s trance into a giggle. No matter the paycheck, big house, fancy car, he still couldn’t think of himself as rich. She loved to rib him about it because she thought it was cute. “Shut up.”

“I’m just saying you’re loaded.”

“We’re loaded.”

“All four of us,” she smiled.

“Four,” he grinned.

“You wanted a big family.”

“I wasn’t expecting to double it in one go.”

“Apparently your sperm are overachievers too.”

Jamie giggled. “They got a late start like me. Gotta catch up.”

“C’mon, let's go home and call our moms.”

“Oh man, mine’s gonna flip.”

“Mine is gonna laugh her head off. I gave Molly so much shit about being outnumbered.”

“Karma’s a bitch, eh?”

“Such a bitch. Someday I’ll learn to keep my mouth shut.”

“Liar.”

Cara smacked him on the arm but laughed. “Rude!”

“Honest.”

“Probably right, too,” she shrugged.

Wrapping her up in a big hug, Jamie kissed the top of her head. “Twins.”

“Yup.”

“Crazy.”

“Yup.”

“Ok baby mama, I’m ready.”

She smiled up at him. “Me too.”

…

“So does the team count as family?”

“Of course they do, J. If you want them to.”

“I do, yeah,” he smiled.

“It’s probably something you should tell management and PR anyway. In case of emergency.”

“True.”

“We should just have my family over for dinner and tell them all at once. Oh my gosh and I can get the twins — Molly’s twins I mean — in on it! They’d love that.”

“Yeah they would. They love conspiring.”

“You gonna tell your mom first? Or Jord?”

“If I tell Jordie first, our babies will be growing up without a father.”

“Mom it is!” she laughed.

“I’m gonna call her now before I explode or slip to Jord when I talk to him later. You want me to do it on speaker?”

“No, Love, you have your moment with your mama. Besides, if I see you start crying I’m gonna start bawling. Not that it takes much these days.”

“I am not going to cry on the phone with my mom.”

“Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”

“Shut up.” He couldn’t stop the blush and the grin on his face, though. “I’m going in the other room where you can’t make fun of me.”

“I’m gonna call my people. Dinner Sunday?” she called after him.

“Yeah, sure,” he yelled over his shoulder.

As his footsteps faded down the hallway, she called her mom, who picked up on the third ring.

“Hi, Mom. Are you and Dad busy Sunday? Do you think you could come up?”

“Sure, Sweetheart, I don’t think we have any plans. Everything ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, just hadn’t seen y’all in a while and Jamie’s got an off day, so we wanted to have a little family dinner. Gonna invite the sibs too. Watch the Cowboys, play some dominoes.”

“Oh that’ll be fun! Your dad can tell the boys they’ll have to yell at the tv without him this week.”

Cara laughed. “Sounds good. Y’all should spend the night so you don’t have to drive back after dinner. I’ll air out your room.”

“Yeah, that’ll be perfect. We can head back in the morning and be home in time for lunch.

“Great! See you Sunday then. Love you!”

“Love you too, Sweetie. See you then.”

After quick calls to her brother and sister, who also confirmed, she wandered into the bedroom, where she found Jamie still on the phone with his mother.

“I love you too, Mama. I’ll talk to you soon. Yeah, put him on.” He wiped at his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her when she giggled. “Hey Pops. … Yeah, twins, can you believe it? ... No, we won’t know that until probably the end of November. ... Nah, figured I’d better tell Mom before anyone else or she’d kill me. ... Yep. I’ll call Jordie next, then Jenny. ... Oh she’s gonna flip. ... Yeah thanks, Pops. Talk to you soon.”

Hanging up, he took a deep breath and smiled at Cara, motioning for her to come over to the chair where he was sitting. As she stood between his legs, he buried his face in her belly, kissing her as-yet-nonexistent baby bump before resting his forehead against it and closing his eyes. “Hi, babies. Your Nanny and Poppa said they can't wait to meet you. But it’s going to be a while before you’re ready, so just get comfortable in there.” Cara combed her fingers through his hair, tears trickling down her cheeks and falling to her shirt. After kissing her belly again, he looked up at her with a dreamy smile on his face, chuckling and shaking his head when he saw her tears.

“Everything ok?”

“Yep,” she laughed, “just hormonal and happy. And head over heels in love with the sweetest guy and his little twins.”

“Lucky guy.”

“Oh I assure you I am the lucky one.”

Pulling her down to sit on his lap, he kissed her, soft and slow but with meaning. “Let me call my brother and sister and then I’ll help you with dinner, ok?”

“Is that your way of saying you’re hungry?”

He smiled and nodded guiltily.

“Ok I’ll go get started. You can do the salad.”

“Yes, Chef.”

Cara kissed him softly. “Give Jen and Jord my love.” Then she stood and headed off to the kitchen, leaving him to blow his siblings’ minds.

45 minutes later, she was sitting on a barstool flipping through Instagram when Jamie came in, looking at his phone and saying “ok hold on just a sec.” He came up behind her and hooked his chin over her shoulder, kissing her cheek and putting his phone in front of them.

“Someone wanted to say hi to Aunt Cara.”

Jenny and her 16-month-old daughter smiled and waved at her on the screen.

“Hi girls!!” Cara squealed. “How is everybody up there?”

“We’re great,” Jenny replied. “Congratulations! I’m so excited for you guys! Has it hit you yet?”

Cara laughed. “That I’m pregnant? Yes. That it’s twins? No, not really. I’m sure all the laughing at my sister I did when she was pregnant is going to bite me in the tushie, though. How’s my favorite toddler?” she cooed.

“A handful,” Jenny laughed as Sophia tried to grab the phone. “But a joy.”

Cara, seeing Jamie’s beaming face in the corner of the screen, silently hoped at least one of their twins was a girl. His niece had him wrapped around her chubby little finger. She could only imagine the cuteness that she was in for with his own babies.

“Ok I won’t keep you. Jamie said he and Jordie got carried away and he was probably holding up dinner. Wave bye-bye, Soph!” she told the little girl in her lap, who did just that and then promptly squirmed out of her arms and ran off. “Well, I guess she’s done,” Jenny laughed. “I’m so happy for you two. Love you. Keep me updated, ok?”

“Will do. Love you,” Jamie chimed in as Cara waved and blew her a kiss.

“Sorry that took so long,” he apologized as he spun her chair around and kissed her.

“It’s ok, Love. I know Jordie’s your sounding board. I’m sure you needed it.”

“Yeah. It’s not that I can’t talk to you about it, I swear,” he said, “Jordie’s just … “

“Jamie. I get it. You think I won’t run to my sister with every fear and insecurity and hope I have about this pregnancy?”

He sighed. “Yeah, ok. That’s pretty much what I did. Feelings vomit.”

“Yep. That’s healthy. Gotta get it out.”

“He did say to give you a big hug for him.”

“Oh yay! I love hugs!” she laughed, holding her arms out.

Jamie chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her off the barstool into a bear hug.

Cara melted into the hug for a moment, then pulled away. “Ok, dinner? Maybe a movie?”

“Perfect. Salad chef on duty.”

“Chicken will be done in 10 minutes.”

“Excellent.”

They finished making dinner in comfortable silence, ate at the bar, then after cleaning up the dinner dishes, curled up on the couch, Cara’s head on Jamie’s lap and his hand absently rubbing her back. About 20 minutes into the movie, he looked down to find her fast asleep. He thought about turning off the tv and trying to move her to the bed, but she looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to disturb her. Opting to let her rest, he finished the movie before he carefully slid out from under her and then lifted her off the couch. She opened her eyes for a moment before closing them and burrowing her face into his neck contentedly as he carried her off to their bedroom.

…

While Jamie held court with the rest of the family, Cara found her nephews, who were playing bubble hockey, and motioned for them to follow her. “Hey you two, I need your help with something.” She led them into her room, where she whispered, “You wanna make your mom and granny squeal?”

“Like the time with the snake?” Keegan asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Better,” she grinned.

Harlan squinted at her. “Better?”

“Louder, probably. But it’s a secret, so you can’t yell when I tell you or you’ll ruin the surprise.”

“Gotcha,” they said in unison.

“That is so weird,” she chuckled.

The boys shrugged. “It’s a twin thing,” Harlan said.

“About that twin thing,” Cara smiled. “Did you know that twins run in families?” The boys nodded. “Well the reason Uncle Jamie and I asked everyone to dinner tonight is to tell y’all our big news. I’m pregnant, and we found out the other day we’re having twins.”

“Whoa, cool!” Keegan yelled.

Harlan clapped his hand over his brother’s mouth. “Shhhhhh!”

“Oh right, sorry. Boys or girls?”

“We don’t know that yet. But I want you two to help me surprise the rest of the family.”

“Sure, what do you want us to do?” Harlan asked.

“Just wear these at dinner.” She produced two black t-shirts with white writing. One said “Our aunt and uncle think twins are cool …” and the other “... so they’re having their own set.”

“That’s it?” Keegan asked. “That’s gonna make them squeal?”

“Oh most definitely,” she nodded.

“If you say so,” he shrugged.

“So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, sure,” Harlan agreed. “Easy. There better be squealing though or you owe us.”

“Deal.”

The boys changed into their shirts and went back to playing bubble hockey. Cara rejoined the rest of the group. No one had even noticed her absence, assuming she was bustling around getting dinner ready. She sidled up to Jamie and ducked under his arm, nibbling on an appetizer and sipping a glass of ginger ale to settle her slightly queasy stomach. She had fortunately escaped morning sickness for the most part, but when her stomach was empty, it tended to get a little upset.

When the oven timer beeped, she excused herself to finish up, her mom following and offering to help. She tried to shoo her away, but it was futile and she knew it. So the two of them gathered everything and carried it into the dining room, then called the rest of the family in. Cara volunteered to fetch the twins from the other room, and no one questioned it.

No one noticed the shirts at first, too busy passing food around the table, but when everyone had filled their plate and conversation started back up again, Molly, sitting across from where they were sandwiched in between Jamie and Cara, squinted at the boys and tilted her head.

“Did you two change clothes?”

The twins looked at each other and grinned. “Maybe.”

“Can I ask why?” their mother prodded.

“What do those shirts say?” Jamie nudged.

“I can’t see,” Molly said. “Boys, stand up please.”

Olivia had the sense to read them aloud. When she got to the end, there was a pause while everyone tried to figure out what was going on. Cara’s brother, Sean, was the first to puzzle it out. His eyes widened. “Cara, are you really?”

Beaming, she nodded. Molly chimed in, “Is she what? Oh!” she gasped.

“What the heck are y’all talking about?” Cara’s dad asked, totally confused.

“Daddy, Cara’s pregnant!” Molly squealed. Then their mother squealed. The twins high-fived each other and yelled “with twins!” Liv shrieked “Oh my god!” and jumped out of her chair, almost knocking it over in her rush to run around the table and hug her aunt. Sean came around and shook Jamie’s hand before moving on to hug his sister.

When they had all managed to hug and congratulate the expectant parents, they sat back down, chattering excitedly while they ate, asking tons of questions and telling pregnancy stories and twin stories and parenting stories. Most of them laughed till they couldn’t breathe. Cara had to excuse herself twice to avoid wetting her pants. Jamie narrowly escaped choking on his wine during Brian’s story of the boys’ eventful birth.

After dinner and dessert, the siblings and their children headed home to get ready for another week of work and school, while Patrick, Colleen, Jamie and Cara cleaned up the table and kitchen, then sat down in the den to wind down a bit before bed. It was nearing ten o’clock when Cara’s yawning started to get out of hand, and she finally agreed to call it a night, tearfully hugging her parents and then shuffling off to bed.

A little while later, nestled into big spoon Jamie, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, even though she could barely keep her eyes open. He kissed her cheek, his own grin uncontrollable as well.

“I dunno whether I’m more terrified or more calm than I was this morning. Maybe both,” he laughed.

“Definitely both for me. But also really excited.”

“Yeah me too. I’m glad they all came over. I feel like even if things don’t go smoothly, we’ll still be ok.”

“Yep. It’ll be an adventure.”

“I love this adventure,” he murmured in her ear, kissing next to it.

Hugging his arm around her and snuggling back into him, she sighed happily. “It’s the best.”

“Sweet dreams, Baby. And babies.”

Cara giggled. “Sweet dreams, Love.”

…

Jamie went in early for practice. Before his workout, he spoke to the Jims and Tom, who all congratulated him and told him to let them know if there was anything at all that he and Cara needed. Later, when the team was all in the locker room getting ready to skate, he stood at the front of the room, and Monty whistled to get their attention.

“Hey boys, Cap has something to tell you.”

“Thanks, Monty. So I have a little announcement. Good stuff, I promise, no freaking out,” he laughed.

“You finally can grow beard now?” Rads chirped, winking.

“Funny,” Jamie laughed. “Next time I shave, I’ll be sure I do it over your jock.” When the laughter died down, he continued. “So come playoff time, you guys are gonna have to pick up some slack for me, ’cause I might have to be gone for a game or two. Cara and I are expecting.”

One of the European rookies, still learning the language, didn’t understand the term. “Expecting?”

“A baby. She’s pregnant,” Bish offered, making baby belly motions with his hands. “That’s great, Jamie, congratulations.”

“Um, babies, actually,” Jamie corrected, grinning. “Twins.”

A chorus of “oh shit”s erupted around the room, followed by the guys coming up and slapping him on the back, shaking his hand, hugging him, and dumping Gatorade over his head.

When the playful shoving match died down, he peeled off his wet shirt and threw it at Klinger. “Thanks a lot, assholes, now I need to shower again,” he laughed. “Seriously though, thanks. But keep it quiet for a while, eh? We’re only telling family right now. Let us announce it officially before you start chirping me in public.”

“Aww, you hear that, fellas? We’re family.” Segs giggled, almost beaning Jamie with a tape ball. “You got it, Captain.”

“You’re obviously family, Seggy,” he grinned. “I’d pick better friends.”

“He’ll be here all week, gentlemen,” Monty shouted. “Two drink minimum, tip your servers. Now let’s get to work.”

[purplesurveys]

1218

Have you ever been to Australia?  Nope. Not really on top of my travel lists when it comes down to it, but it would be lovely to visit nonetheless. I'd be most excited to try their local food.

Who was the last person you know to have a birthday? Kate, our HR officer.

Are you wearing a necklace? If so, describe it.  I am not.

Do you know anyone who is left-handed? Aya. But we’re not really friends anymore.

Ever wear out a CD? What was it?  I don’t think so. I’ve broken CDs before but it was always because I had been a kid then and I constantly mishandled them.

What’s your favorite card game? I’m not into card games.

What’s your favorite fast food meal?  I usually flock to burgers and fries. Fast food rice is blechhh so I never get any meals with them, which are usually paired with fried chicken.

Where is the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten in at?  Torch. Prices are no joke either, so I don’t get to order from there a lot.

Lamb chops or pork chops?  I have pork chops more frequently and I love them, but I’d go with lamb chops. More expensive so I get them less often, but I do like the taste of lamb more.

If you HAD to pick ONE song to listen to for the rest of your life, and that would be the only song you ever heard, what would it be?  I imagine this would be so inconvenient after just a few hours...but idk. Based on my mood now, maybe Still With You by Jungkook.

Ever heard of Shinedown?  I have. I used to have a mutual who was obsessed with them. Never listened to their music, though.

What size is your bed?  Just a twin-size.

What is the first meal you remember eating?  I no longer remember that.

What was the first movie you ever saw?  Stuart Little 2.

What percentile of your class were you in?  I’m not sure about percentile, but I was just above average. Never topped the class but wasn’t behind academically, either. In our batch of around 165, I remember my ranking peaking at like 26. I don’t know what the equivalent percentile for that is.

Can you name every place you’ve ever had sex?  Yeah, I didn’t like being too adventurous anyway.

What forms of birth control have you used?  Same-sex relationship.

Do you use sponges or dishcloths when doing the dishes?  Sponge. OMG I hate touching wet cloths/fabric.

What’s your favorite song on the top twenty right now?  Butter.

Ever punched a wall?  Nope.

What was the last bug you killed and what did you use?  An ant. My finger.

Ever get pulled over by the cops and get away without a ticket?  Yes, because he noticed I was in uniform, as were my orgmates then. And I’m guessing it was also because he could tell we were all young, so he let us go.

What was your first legal alcoholic drink? A margarita, I think? < Hey, same!

What’s the most expensive things your parents ever bought you?  My education.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?  I’ve spent the most on my merch collection so far; but as for an individual item, I’ve spent close to 5k on a photobook set. I haven’t really ventured out to start spending on more adulting stuff yet, lol.

What is your favorite cover song?  Paramore’s cover of Passionfruit by Drake, or Hayley Williams’ cover of Teardrop by Massive Attack.

Did you ever drop out of school?  Nope, I did everything in one go.

Ever raise a child that wasn’t your own for more than 3 months?  I have not.

Strangest medical procedure ever performed on you?  I’ve only had basics done on me. 

Does the place you work have music playing? What sort?  The extremely few times I had to go to the physical office, my co-workers put on some music, yeah. It had been a very chill atmosphere and they simply turned on YouTube on the TV and put on a playlist of BTS and Taylor Swift songs.

Do you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or something else entirely?  Mac.

Do you cut tags out of clothing so they don’t itch and bother you?  Yes, I hate how the tags feel for the most part. The only time I don’t cut them off is if the brand is on the pricey side.

How many times a year do you go on vacation?  Under normal circumstances, around 3-5 with my family.

What is your favorite time period in history to learn about?  It’s easier for me to say what periods I find a little boring: medieval/dark ages and anything about wars. Every other period I’d happily soak up like a sponge.

What’s the saddest report you have ever seen on the news?  Mmmh, probably kids dying from freak accidents and seeing the parents get interviewed. Just last night I had to hear about a 4 year old who ran towards a car while playing outside. Hearing the dad cry and plead was gut-wrenching.

In your honest opinion, what is the scariest sea creature you know?  Idk, maybe those that live in the super deep sea and look nothing like what we would usually perceive as normal sea creatures.

What superpower do you think would be the most handy in times of trouble?  I guess it would have to depend on the issue you find yourself stuck in. But I think being able to control time would be convenient, since you can just easily undo mistakes.

Do you believe there is just one love for everyone, or…?  No. That would invalidate experiences for a lot of people. :/

Why are you best friends with your best friend?  She’s always been supportive and stuck by my side no matter what I’ve been through. We also have great chemistry and have always shared the same sense of goofy humor.

Do you world peace is truly a possibility in the future?  No.

Pretend you are a really good cook, what meal would you make?  I’d just make sashimi everyday.

What do you think of when you look at the stars?  I tend to reminisce when I do so. Think about what’s happened in the past, people who’ve left, what I’ve lost...and that there’s probably good reason why things are the way they are now.

If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is he homeless or naked? Dead? Their shells are part of their actual skeletal structure. < Well there we go.

What’s one thing you feel you must do in your life before it ends?  Travel the world.

What Disney princess are you most like? Personality-wise, I mean.  Ariel. Pretty fucking clumsy, prioritizes the wrong things out of love.

What do you think is the most important thing in this life is?  Happiness.

Do you use any acne medication?  Nah, I just splash my face with water every morning.

Have you ever tried to learn another language? How did it go?  [This survey seems to be a mix of a few surveys, so some of the questions - like this, I’ve already answered. I’ll be striking out the ones I’ve already delved on but if you’ll take this survey as well, feel free to remove the strike!]

Do you still have a landline phone in your home?

Throughout a typical week, which places are you likely to go?  LOL just home. I work from home, and I’m usually exhausted during the weekend to want to go out.

How often do you use your webcam, if you even have one that is?  A few times a week for work. Most of the time we communicate just through audio, but there are a few meetings or clients that prefer video.

Do you have a lock number or pattern for your phone?  It’s a number combination, but I seldom get to use it. I usually rely on thumb ID.

What was the last thing you bought from a liquor store?  Not a liquor store but I just got a few bottles of beer from 7-Eleven.

Is there any cereal in your house? What kind?  We don’t. We’re not really a big cereal-eating family.

What's the most number of people you've ever lived with?  11. That’s a set of grandparents (2), my family (4), my mom’s older brother’s family (4), and my mom’s younger brother (1).

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? 

Do you have any pets? How long have you had them?  I have two. 13 years with Kimi, a year with Cooper.

What's your favourite kind of cheese?  Feta and mozzarella.

Have you danced in the rain?  Once or twice, when I was a lot younger.

Who is your favorite person to text?  I don’t text anymore, but I frequently communicate with Angela on Messenger.

What’s your favorite brand of jeans?  My favorite pair is from Zara, but I don’t have a go-to brand for jeans per se.

Do you enjoy Mario games?  Not all of them, but sure.

What’s your favorite online game? I don’t play games.

Have you ever been hit with a ball in gym class?  Possibly. Not remarkable enough for me to remember though.

Who was last to cook for you?  Dad.

Would you ever wish to explore a cave?  I would love to. I had the chance to explore one during our trip to Sagada, but the tour guide decided against it since I had the wrong footwear and it wasn’t going to be safe if I tried. :( I did get to go to the underground cave in Palawan though, and that was a really fun experience.

You see the person you fell hardest for. What do you do?  I’d give her a small, polite/curt smile and maybe wave, then go on with whatever it was I’ve been doing. Of course, I doubt it would actually go that way because I believe she’d run for the hills if she ever spotted me.

Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who was high?  No. I would refuse to, especially if they were the one driving.

Did you ever date the last person you kissed?  Yeah, for too long.

Have you ever held a snake?  I have! A few times.

How often do you have friends over to your house?  Almost never. Angela and Hans coming over for Sowoozoo two weeks ago was just an exception.

Have you ever had a boss who acted unprofessionally?  No, I wouldn’t say that.

Who was the last person who cried around you? Why did they start crying? Was it unexpected? 

Do you have any exercises you do everyday?

Are you more of a dog or cat person? 

Have you ever had a dream of stabbing someone? 

Would you ever have a bird as a pet? 

Have you ever had to speak at a funeral? 

Do you know someone who’s been cremated? 

What is your favorite animated movie? 

Did your grandparents teach you anything?  Just some religion stuff and how to be a nice Catholic and all. Doesn’t apply to me, obvs, but I still outwardly listen out of respect.

Do you want/have a Bachelor's degree?  Yes.

Are you into superheroes? Who's your favourite?  I am most definitely not. 

Have you ever played Cards Against Humanity? Did you like it?  Sure, a few times. Yes, it was fun and hilarious.

Have you ever played a drinking game? Which ones?  Just the basic ones like truth or dare and never have I ever.

Did you ever play Neopets when you were younger?

Have you ever been to Mexico?  No, but would be nice to travel there.

Have your parents ever worked in medicine? No, not their field.

Is there anything unusual about your house?  We don’t have a gate, which has always bugged me.

How many serious relationships have you been in?  One.

Do you listen to Rise Against?  Much more when I was in high school. I haven’t revisited their music in years.

When was the last time you congratulated someone?  Reggy since she posted her graduation portrait the other day.

Have you ever taken care of a newborn baby?  Nah.

How old were you when you got your ears pierced?  Like a month old, I believe.

Do you snore when you sleep?  Rarely. A snore or two would usually come out only if I’m extremely exhausted.

What was the last type of burger you ate?  A Baconator from Wendy’s.

[niennavalier]

OC Ramble Time Pt 2!

Okay, so I'm gonna try to keep these a bit shorter (because the other post took way too long), since I'm gonna do a bit of talking about some of the other characters who are attached to the Disaster Boys (Anders and Alex) story and all that good stuff. So... just jump right in I guess?

Elias Elsker: So pretty much, if you read my whole thing about Anders, Elias is the kid that he takes in. He's real energetic and fun, very open while simultaneously being really awkward (not that it really bothers him). Honestly, he's just really friendly and loves people - animals, too (he's learned a bit of magic and usually has his snake familiar, Xanathar, somewhere nearby). (If you know D&D lore, yes, that's a reference, because Elias also started as a character for me to play. Arcane Tricksters, y'know?). Also impulsive, albeit not in a super self-destructive way. More like his cost-benefit analysis is just bad and sometimes he just does something kinda dumb. He's also pretty jumpy and very prone to running into furniture when his brain goes into panic mode.

Overall, he's just well-adjusted. Yes, he lost his parents young, but he had a good relationship with them, and then also grows really close with Anders. Just wanted a character who didn't have a bunch of issues for once, yknow?

For some other random facts: I tend to write him at either 16 or 21ish, depending - sometimes I wanna write him still learning from Anders, sometimes while he's more out on his own. Also, he's ace and some sort of romantic (AKA, he doesn't fully know and hasn't put a label on it, but if I were to say as the author, he's probably panromantic) and really fun to write/play for those relatable ace moments.

Aishah Rayyan: Alex's twin sister, so I won't go into her backstory in depth, except to say that she came out of their tragic past really differently. She got pretty much adopted into her best friend's family, so while Alex was having a rough time, she ended up having a relatively normal life - albeit with some guilt over losing contact with her brother, and, well, the effects of childhood trauma and the like. She and Alex reconnect over the course of whatever plot I actually write for them, and after all of whatever that is, they and all their other friends (talked about down below) end up all living together. And in that dynamic, she's 100% the mom friend. But less doting and more Tired. She's generally pretty laid-back, practical, and would love a quiet night in with loved ones, but ends up in this constant state of "please stop blowing up [insert kitchen appliance here], I haven't even kind of had enough coffee for this." At least before probably trying to fix the problem, until her girlfriend shepherds her to bed. (And that's assuming she's not hyperfocused in on something, because sometimes that's just what happens. Given a problem, she's gonna solve it).

(Oh, and quick note, she's the other old character who's since gotten reworked. Old tag was for "Taylor Fairfax" but then, unlike with Alex, she went through a pretty massive edit.)

Celine: Nope, no last name yet because names are hard, but she's Aishah's girlfriend. She's about the same age, just a little younger, and an aspiring theatre actress. She's really outgoing and warm, charismatic and super easy to get along with. More than a touch dramatic. Also a lot more traditionally feminine than most of the other female characters I write, and sort of the other resident mom friend, but...I guess in the more stereotypical way? (And she's really vocal about her support for Anders and Alex in particular - she finds them adorable and is one of few people who's never been intimidated by Anders. She just sees how he melts in front of people he cares about).

Oh, also, she and Aishah met at some sort of community theatre performance. The story that their friends tell is basically that in the middle of a scene, as she was on stage and Aishah was in the audience, their eyes just met, and that was it. Obviously, in reality, it wasn't that simple, but there are a lot of meet-cute vibes there.

Valon: Okay, now we get into the territory of my lovable idiot children (which, kudos to whoever knows where I'm stealing this particular name from. If you do, uh, you'll definitely know why this character is the way he is). Aishah's childhood best friend, and the one whose family adopted her. Also the one who's largely responsible for pulling her a bit more out of her shell. He's... just a big dumb idiot? Real big personality, constantly ribbing all of the people he's around and cracking jokes, just likes the energy of being around people in general. Always down to try something new and ridiculous, no matter what it is, even if that means destroying electronics (or the oven). And bluntly honest, but not in a mean way?

Also, he's bi and is pretty often just going out on casual dates for fun. Just sorta waiting to see what happens. But really, he's much more proud of Aishah's love life, though, and gladly takes credit for being the one to get her to ask Celine out.

(Oh, also, cause it was vaguely referenced above: he's the one who was - and is - intimidated by Anders.)

Arina "Ari" Varellian: My other idiot child, but also the character that I probably relate to the most? She grew up around a lot of technology as a kid and developed a good amount of skill with it (coding and stuff - I know nothing about it but she can, it's fine). But what it ultimately did was introduce her to a lot of other pieces of media - video games especially (but also TV and movies are a big part of her life, too). Basically, she's just a glutton for entertainment and fiction and keeps up with all the nerd content.

But she doesn't fall into that "introverted, awkward nerd" type. She gets along really well with Valon, actually - very similar type of big, open personality and always ready with a hearty laugh. She's just here to have a good time, and to try new things (and to force her friends to try new things with her). Basically, she's the person who would go looking for a way to learn parkour after playing something like Assassin's Creed (because it looks cool) or would - and did - plan an entire camping trip after playing Red Dead 2 (because the outside is pretty, guys). Plus, also dragging them into things like escape rooms and D&D games, because these things looked fun.

And, because this is important to me, she's aro ace and very much a way for me to write my perspective? All the "what's up with sex when you could have cake? Or dragons?" and "look, these characters are pretty but why would I sleep with/romance them?" While simultaneously making sex jokes at her friends' expense and shipping fictional characters like there's no tomorrow.

And that's all for today!

The main other characters attached to my Disaster Boys. Tried to keep it short because I'm sleepy, but, as per usual, I could and would gladly talk more about them later (even though some of them do sorta vary in terms of how much I've written and developed them).

Although, a couple last things: I've technically also been sitting on one more character to add into this crew - specifically another friend of Ari's. But I've done markedly less development there, so I'll come back to that some other day. And there are other characters attached to Anders aside from just Elias, I promise. He does have his mentor (whom I mentioned but didn't go into, since I tend to write her more into backstory) and his own found family, but some of those characters belong to a friend, cause that all developed via some D&D sessions. Didn't seem right to add that here.