BIG DUMPER TRUCKING BEHIND THE SCENES CONTENT

OC Kiss Week Day 6: Reach

WIP: Misfortunate Sol Pairing: Cal x Sol Timeline: an alternate universe version of events. this in no way spoils the real plot. CW: Fire, death, blood, gun violence. it's not that bad but it's better to err on the side of caution Rating: T Words: 2,150

***

Detective Calvin Logan entered the precinct at an unusually early time in the midst of utter chaos. He was so bereft of his first cup of coffee, however, that he didn't even notice the state of the place until he attempted to rectify his delayed caffeine situation.

He grumbled under his breath as he poured already-aging coffee into the first mug he got his hands on—a stout metal cup the police captain had brought in from his time in the war.

Cal looked up and squinted at the cops running around, papers flying, telephone operators being yelled at. He almost didn't catch himself in time before he overflowed the cup and coffee splashed onto the floor at his feet.

"What's goin' on?" he asked Officer Melvin Funkwhistle on his way past at nearly the speed of a barreling train. For a brief instant Cal mused to himself that perhaps the officer was running away from his unfortunate name, and he found he had trouble tamping down the distracted grin that formed on his face in response.

"There's something happening at the Majesty Hotel," Funkwhistle said over his shoulder. "Captain's sending out cars to handle it."

Cal frowned alongside his first sip of coffee and couldn't even enjoy it. "The Majesty? What's happening at the Majesty?"

Funkwhistle was already gone, but Captain O'Reilly stepped into his line of vision as a decent substitute. He tugged at his Sam Browne belt and addressed Cal with seriousness bordering unpleasant at such an early time of day.

"We got a call about an hour ago regarding a possible hostage situation," O'Reilly said, his thick mustache twitching. "We believe the guests and staff are being kept prisoner by an unknown assailant. There's been a fire allegedly set—"

Where the news of a strange person holding the hotel hostage previously did not jar Cal fully out of his bleariness, the news of a possible fire rattled him enough to send a drop of coffee into the wrong pipe.

He hacked around the offending liquid and pounded a fist into his chest. "A fire—Captain?!" He stared with wild eyes at his boss, disposing of his coffee and the cup into the trash can beside him. "I gotta...you gotta let me—"

"No," O'Reilly barked immediately, all but diving into the trash to retrieve the cup. "We have enough cars headed that way now. You'll get a chance when the situation is dealt with—"

All Cal could think about was Solomon Maxwell Iron. If the guests and the staff were being held hostage, that meant Sol, too. The strangeness of having had a heated argument with him the previous night about something trivial—about how Cal couldn't seem to leave the poor man alone regarding the deaths that followed him everywhere—and now he was likely in grievous danger...

"You got this call an hour ago?!" Cal roared suddenly. He felt the color leaving his face as surely as he felt disbelief boiling into rage in the pit of his chest. "And you're just now controlling the situation?!"

"The legitimacy—"

Cal did not think the captain was incompetent. He always respected him, held him in high regard in the day-to-day, which is why this display of suspicion surprised him.

All he could recall of the following sequence of events was grunting something about his acceptance toward being fired later, then tearing down the somewhat busy street in a screaming squad car, his arms burning from the urgency of cranking the siren and avoiding a collision all at once.

His heart leapt into his throat as soon as he careened around the final corner leading to the Majesty Hotel, and it had little to do with nearly flattening the officer directing traffic at that particular intersection.

A plume of thick, black smoke curled up from somewhere on the building, pouring into the sky not unlike Cal's unhelpful coffee into the frazzled captain's war cup.

"C'mon," Cal muttered partially to Sol, who definitively was not anywhere around, and partially to the living obstacles standing between him and the hotel. "C'mon, kid, please make a damn fool outta me."

By some miracle he managed to put the car in park somewhere he wouldn't remember later before sprinting into the gaggle of police gathered across the road from the hotel.

"Get me in there," he demanded, utterly disinterested in having a chance to catch his breath. "If that fire spreads—"

Sergeant Pickering swung around to aim a bullhorn in Cal's face. "The fire brigade is on the way," he said into the device, slowly and with force as if scolding a child for the tenth time in as many minutes, "do not even breathe at that hotel until I have given the all-clear, Logan."

"The fire brigade's on the way, meanwhile a possible mass murderer has a buffet of choice at their fingertips while we stand around waiting," Cal snapped.

"Which is precisely why we are not to rush in without a plan," Pickering retorted, waving some of his subordinate officers away. "This calamity is dangerous and sensitive. We can't risk anything going wrong, here."

Cal dropped steely eyes onto Pickering from his outside assessment of the hotel. He'd never felt this riled up, this feral with fear and determination before in his life. "Where's the assailant?"

"We've determined they're possibly based on the top floor, where the fire is located—"

"Are the elevators operational?"

"No, and furthermore—"

"If I fail, shoot me," Cal said before breaking into another sprint away from the assaulting bullhorn.

Instead of going through the front doors, he veered off to the left, keeping an eye out for the side entrance Sol had thrown him through in his attempts to get the investigations off his back. All of his effort to stop Cal from doing his job.

As he slipped through the unassuming door, the first thing he noticed was that the smell of smoke wasn't very strong in that portion of the hotel yet. The emptiness of the hallways proved eerie, sending a sprout of goosebumps over his arms.

He jogged through the kitchen and eventually the lobby, vigilant for any sign of life, his gun drawn and ready. He ascended the stairs, pausing beside a body laid out face-down on the landing floor.

He peered down at the body and his frown deepened. He didn't recognize him, but he wore a luxurious smoking jacket stained with a massive patch of blood on the back, and his hair was unruly, sticking up and out at odd angles. A guest, it seemed.

Cal's shoulders tensed and he felt a prickle at the back of his neck. Carefully, he turned toward the doors leading to the second floor.

A person wearing a Hallowe'en mask, a piece of leather with holes cut out for the eyes, nose, and mouth, stood at the door with an arm hooked tightly around Sol's neck, the muzzle of a pistol pressed against the side of his head. The masked person was taller than Sol, taller than Cal, and they breathed through their mouth as if the nose hole wasn't sufficient.

Sol coughed hard and regarded Cal with surprise, fingers gripping onto his captor's arm hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. "D-Detective?" he said meekly.

Cal ignored him. Had to. If he thought too hard about the dark, angry bruises around Sol's eyes, the officers outside would have to shoot his corpse.

He shifted his attention to the masked person, hoping the sheen of sweat forming on his forehead would go unnoticed. "...Is this what you wanted? To set fire to innocent civilians?"

"Innocent in what capacity?" they said. "Sapping society of a living? Marring the economy and deepening the Depression? You consider that innocent?"

The question confused Cal for a moment before he realized what was happening. "What part do the hotel staff have to play in that? They're just trying to make a living like anyone else."

"These people are a cancer," the masked person spat, jerking the gun in the direction of the guest's body on the floor. "And the ones working for them are even worse for providing their services. Why don't you understand?" Something dawned over what little could be seen of their face. "...I wish you'd understand."

"Don't," Cal growled in warning as the masked person cocked the hammer back on their pistol and pressed the muzzle once again into Sol's skull.

Cal lifted his gun and fired. The shot downed the person instantly, catching them between the eyes. Sol stumbled, nearly taking a header down the stairs before Cal lunged at him and pressed him backward, away from the bodies.

"Police are waiting outside," Cal said hoarsely. "Where are the hostages?"

"Top...top floor," Sol stammered. He looked at Cal as if seeing him for the first time. "There's a fire up there."

"Get outside," Cal ordered, taking Sol's hand in a firm grip and carefully turning him toward the front doors. "Stay with the cops. Stay safe."

"I won't leave you." Sol's eyes, not as swollen as they could've been, welled. He swallowed thickly. "I...don't want to leave you."

Cal's chest filled with something he couldn't decipher. A feeling of dread, something strong and intense, rotten and sour and warm and wonderful. His brow furrowed and he found his brain wouldn't form recognizable thoughts at first. All he could see when he looked at Sol was the anger and desperation in his face the last time they spoke. Despite their previous lighthearted interactions, Cal suspected Sol truly hated him in that moment, and he couldn't fathom ever seeing the expression of terror and worry on his face that he saw right now.

"I'm sorry," Cal whispered, squeezing Sol's hand. "For everything."

Sol stepped forward and drew Cal into a gentle, tentative, yet irrecoverable kiss. Then another one. But it was all quick, too quick, and Cal used the hand holding his weapon to swipe at his mouth when he stepped away.

"Get out of here before I have to let the cops shoot me," Cal said gruffly. "Will you go if I promise to make it out of here in one piece?"

Sol, fat tears streaming down his contused face and wrenching Cal's heart into a painful twist, nodded. "Go. Be careful."

Cal sniffed and swept through the doors leading onto the second floor, running through the hotel until he reached the blazing inferno on the second to last floor. To his surprise and relief, the guests were already there, hurrying down the stairs and obeying every direction Cal gave them. The group going down ran into the fire brigade going up.

"About damn time," Cal muttered on their way past.

"Wanna deal with the dead people or you want us to do that, too?" the fire captain retorted.

Cal let loose a surprised laugh painted with mild hysteria, ushering the guests and staff the rest of the way down the stairs.

The cops piled in to pull the civilians out of harm's way, ambulance attendants wrapping blankets around them and hurrying them to safety.

Cal pivoted to look back at the hotel, which, from that angle, looked unremarkable and untouched. Only when he backed up could he see the smoke rising from the top.

In doing so, he nearly bowled over Sol, who took his wrist and ran with him across the street, through the park, and under a bridge. The place was empty due to the crowd that had formed at the hotel, and Sol shivered violently under his blanket as he peered up at Cal with big, injured eyes.

"I figured they'd be angry at you," Sol said. "And I'm entitled to be angry at you, too, not just for what you did today, but after this..." He shook his head, gaze lingering on Cal's face. "It all feels so silly now."

"It's not silly." Cal realized he'd been holding the gun up to that point and he hastily opened his trench coat to holster it under his arm. "I needled you for quite a while. I wouldn't blame you for hating my guts by now."

"If something happened to you in that hotel, I wouldn't have been able to withstand the pain." Sol tipped his head, his expression unreadable. "...How could I hate someone who made me want to kiss them goodbye?"

Cal stared down at him, surprised once again. "Would you want to...kiss me hello?"

Sol looked as if he wanted to laugh and burst into tears simultaneously. He reached up to grasp Cal's face and brought him down, locking their lips together in a genuine, tender kiss that jellified Cal's knees and stole his breath from his lungs. Cal reciprocated, holding him close and gingerly as if Sol were fragile, and Cal decided he was very glad he didn't have to be shot by his colleagues after all.

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“Why’d we decide to do Christmas together again?” Javy asks.

Natasha raises a brow. “Why?”

“He hasn’t found a gift for our secret Santa,” Mickey chimes in.

“He kept saying he was busy every time we asked and now, he’s struggling,” Bob adds.

She nods, now understanding his problems.

“Finally, I beat you at something.”

“Does that really sound like a brag worthy thing?” She asks Jake.

“He’s always going on about how he's always got a plan and now he doesn’t while me, the amazing guy that I am does, yeah I’m gonna brag.” He smacks Javy’s shoulder. “How’s it feel?”

“Like a sin.”

“Here’s a Bible,” Bradley says, lifting one up for his friend.

“Where’d that come from?” Bob asks.

The mustached man shrugs, “I found it in the drawer.” He points to the night stand behind him.

Callie nods. “Right.”

“What? Did you guys think I just walked around with a Bible on me at all times? How dirty do you think I am?”

“We didn’t want to assume,” Mickey adds.

“Yeah, you know, we don’t judge,” Neal chimes in, closing the door behind him as he sets the food down on the nearest table.

“So, you guys think I’m a slut?”

“We prefer to use the term manwhore,” Jake tells him, snacking on a French fry.

“Of course, you would. You’re on the cover of them.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t hate if I have game and you don’t.”

“So, did everyone get a chance to figure out what they needed to get for their secret Santa?” Reuben asks, staring as the host of the Christmas party.

“I think everyone smart enough to walk in with something instead of coming in empty handed did,” Bob says.

“You never know.”

The bespectacled man shrugs, knowing he’s right.

“Who’s going first?”

No one raises their hand and the person beside him all nudge their seating partner.

“Okay, I’m pulling names out of a hat if we’re going that route.” Neal went first and he had-

“A mustache comb?” Bradley reads out loud, checking out the box.

“Yep.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“Everyone knew you’d love it,” Natasha tells him.

Next up was Callie and she had-

“A cocktail book.” Natasha opens the book and shakes her head. “And all the sugary “girly” drinks are bookmarked. Great, thanks, Cal.”

Mickey had Bob. “This is just for the nerds, but I found Star Trek uno and I know you don’t have a phaser, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone and get you both.”

Bob’s eyes lit up when he opened the box and he actually saw the aforementioned items. “After this were playing uno and whoever doesn’t have Spock near the end of the round has to take a shot.”

“Damn, who knew Baby on Board could get intense,” Jake says, smiling as he pats the man’s arm.

“Shut up,” Mickey tells him.

Javy was next and he chose- “Logan, my man.”

The mentioned man raises his brows.

“Too much?”

The squad nods in unison.

“Alright, fine. Anyway, my gift for you and everyone here is me. Yeah,” he opens the envelope in his hands. “That’s it, yep.” He sucks in air through his teeth. “It’s another year of friendship, you, Logan, are the first to get your friendship membership has been renewed. Congratulations.”

Mickey raises his hand. “How do you cancel that transaction? I’m not feeling it this year.”

“Hey!” Jake stands up, holding his spiked egg nog (an old family recipe). “Seriously how do you do that? I don’t know if I want this to continue.”

Javy scoffs and shoves the man, who then trips over his own feet and manages to catch himself before he can fall on his face.

Natasha, Bob, Reuben, and Logan laugh until their stomachs hurt, and they can barely breath.

Bradley and Callie reach over to help the man regain his balance and make sure he sits down before he falls and potentially injures himself.

“Maybe we should just watch a movie or something,” Bob says.

“What are we watching?”

“Christmas!” The man in Christmas glasses (Jake) giggles in Callie's ear.

“Yeah. I know but if we could without the screaming and find a movie, lets.”

-

Taglist:

@blueoorchid @kmc1989

we’ve already established how logan doesn’t get much attention because he’s a middle child, so how about he gets suspended or something for fighting a kid who was picking on him and they all get into a blowout fight at home and logan says something like “you never cared before so i don’t see why it’s a big deal” or whatever you think is best and it kinda shocks cal into realizing like yeah i really haven’t been super present with him and then you can take it from there

Teenage angst is my absolute favorite thing. Especially when it comes to my little Logan. Enjoy!!

            Calum had been working in the studio when his wife busted through the door, surprising the absolute shit out of him. Quickly, he took off his headphones and questioned her silently. “Logan got suspended.”

            “I’m sorry?” Did he hear that correctly? It was only three weeks into the school year. It was the first year that Logan and Aiden were not in the same school. Aiden had graduated in May and was preparing to move up state for college. “He got, what?”

            “Suspended, we have to go pick him up.” Calum was still in shock, she was moving, but he wasn’t, “Now, Calum.” She said sternly, bringing him out of his thoughts.

            They didn’t talk their entire way to the school, or while they walked into the school, or while they were directed into the office where they found Logan sitting. Logan was sitting with his arms crossed against his chest, and he was looking away from his parents. The principle gestured for them to take a seat, and they obliged.

            “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Logan is being suspended for a week due to fighting with another student, but do not fret, both students have been suspended.” The principle laced his fingers together over his desk and smiled a closed lipped smile.

            That was absolutely the least of their concerns, fighting? Fighting about what? “I’m sorry, there was a fight? Like physical?” She asked while looking at Logan who continued to ignore both of his parents.

            The principle nodded, “Yes ma’am, it seems Logan got into a little bit of a tussle with another student today at lunch causing quite a stir in the lunch room. No one was hurt, but it caused quite the disruption so I think it is best to suspend both of them so they can calm down for a bit.” That’s where the conversation died. It was a silent agreement to keep Logan at home until next week.

            It was a silent drive home, it was almost eerie, that was until Calum decided to speak up when they got home. “Logan, what happened? Tell us your side of the story so we can understand.” That was the best thing he could’ve said. Could he have said it a bit softer, maybe, but he was confused and angry, so it came out harsher than intended.

            Logan tossed his backpack onto the floor and shrugged, “Didn’t the principle already cover that?” His back continued to be towards his parents.

            Calum looked at his wife for support, “Logan, we’re not mad, we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on, you’ve never acted like this, you’ve never gotten into trouble, so why now?” She took a step forward, reaching a hand out to her son.

            Logan spinning like a flash of lightning caused her to recoil, “You guys never cared before this, why should this be any different?” Again, he turned, but in the other direction and ran up the stairs to his room. Both Calum and his wife flinched when the door slammed shut.

            Hours passed, it had been almost silent in the house, aside from the occasional ‘what do you think happened?’ usually followed by a shrug from the other person. After another few moments of silence passed, they locked eyes and with a silent agreement, they made their way up the stairs towards to closed door.

            Silently, they argued over who was going to knock, Calum ended up being the one to knock after his wife pushed him into the door. He grimaced at her as he knocked a few more times after his noisy first announcement. There was a quiet voice on the other side of the door inviting both of them into the room.

            When they made it inside, Logan was slumped in his chair, a video game chaotically playing on the TV in front of him. Calum looked back at his wife and she nudged him forward and his cleared his throat before approaching his son. “Can you please tell us what happened today? Your mom and I are worried about you.”

            Logan scoffed and without tearing his eyes off the TV in front of him answered, “Why would you be worried? You’re barely home, it’s been like that since I was a kid.”

            It was at that moment that Calum and his wife looked at each other like they completely understood everything that was happening. Calum grabbed another chair and sat next to his son, “Aiden told us a few years ago that there were kids picking on you, were these same kids the ones that caused todays fight?” Logan aggressively pressed the buttons on his controller and Calum took that as a ‘yes.’ Calum sighed, he knew exactly what was happening. “Aiden wasn’t there to protect you, I’ve never been there to protect you, you think that no one cares about you.”

            Logan’s face visually dropped for a split second before he intently went back to his video game. Calum stood up and grabbed his wife’s shoulders, “Go downstairs, I’ve got this.” His kissed her cheek and shooed her away before turning back to Logan. Logan’s eyes darted towards his dads before he pretended that all of his attention was on the video game. “Do you remember the weekend Aiden went on the trip with your mom for school? It was before Bailey was born, before we even knew Bailey was going to happen.”

            Logan looked at Calum and pulled his eyebrows together, “Yeah, what about it?”

            Honestly, Calum couldn’t believe he remembered, it was nearly a decade ago, but at the same time, if Logan was dealing with Calum being gone then, then he’s still dealing with it now. “You felt the same way back then as you do now, and you were 5.” Logan paused long enough for his character to die in the game. Calum smirked before taking a seat next to him again. “You asked me then why I couldn’t stay home, and I told you that to take care of you and mama and Aiden, I had to be gone for work, do you still understand that?” Logan’s swallowed and Calum continued, “I know that being the middle child isn’t easy, it makes you feel like no one cares about you because suddenly everyone’s attention is on the baby, or whatever else, but, Logan, we still love you.” Again, his character in the game died. “I’m sorry it’s been rough without Aiden, maybe your mom and I can get you transferred to a different school.”

            “No,” Logan’s protest startled Calum, his head snapping towards his son, “I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen. I am still getting picked on, I didn’t think you guys knew about it, you never made a big deal out of it.” Logan slunked back into his chair.

            “Logan, we never made a big deal out of it because Aiden told us he had control over it. It’s our faults for assuming that this year would be different. What can we do to help?” Calum rung his hand together and looked at Logan who was already shaking his head.

            It took a few seconds after he stopped shaking his head to form his thoughts, “These kids at my school make fun of me for having a dad who travels for a living, they tell me I basically don’t have a dad since you’re never here,” Calum’s heart sunk, “And I know that’s not true, because I know how you take the time to call me or FaceTime me, or take a red eye flight to be here for my band concert, or whatever, but all these…” he paused, “…Fucktards…” he looked at Calum apologetically, but Calum allowed it, “…see, is that you’re not always here.” Logan took a breath, “What happened today was one kid went as far to say that mom was cheating on you because who could be left alone that long, but I see what mom does without you, she cooks us dinner, she wakes us up in the morning, she makes us breakfast and lunch and then goes to work. She works her ass off, dad, and I just couldn’t listen to some kid who knows absolutely nothing about us talk that badly about my mom, and you too!” Logan was getting passionate at this point, sitting forward and dropping the controller to his gaming console on the ground, “I didn’t mean to hit him, it just happened!”

            It was hard, but Calum controlled his laughter as he pulled Logan in for the tightest hug he could’ve given the kid. “You’re not in trouble, you did the right thing, you stood up for your mom and that’s all that matters.” Logan nodded into Calum’s shoulder, “Why don’t you go downstairs and give your mom a hug and tell her you love and appreciate her?” There was little to no hesitation before Logan stood up and made his way out of the room. Calum sat back and ran his hands through his hair, proud of his son, and the kid he was becoming. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

taglist: @talkfastromance4

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logan/cal, 58 ! - ash lovethygoalie

red wine & blue by hailey whitters

and I gave up on you calling me up // a drink or three ago // ah, I know that you won’t, but I hope you do // and that’s just me, you know

which is ...... a breakup song, rip. this would have to be a trade au because we are manifesting logan NOT getting traded despite the rumors!! also probably to a red team to make the title/lyrics referencing red & blue feel more Thematically Significant.

they slept together towards the end of the season but never talked about why they hooked up, so when logan gets traded it feels like unfinished business that has to stay unfinished. they promise they'll keep in touch but logan, feeling heartsore, feels like the touch-and-go contact they're able to maintain from different teams on different schedules isn't enough and starts to pull back out of self-preservation. cal seems to take his cues from logan for once and lets logan pull away, & logan reads that as cal clearly not missing logan as much as logan misses cal. the first time cal reaches out first (from logan's pov which might not actually be super reliable) is when their teams play each other because he couldn't let the opportunity to see logan again just pass him up; they meet up during the series & hook up again, still without putting a name to things, and logan ends up having to leave again with things feeling unfinished.

i cannot do full angst so this is would probably have an ambiguous ending over a full on sad one, but given the song this could not be an out & out happy story! logan would have to be going through it!!

hello, choices fandom! i used to play choices ages ago (the golden old days of seeing it trending) and recently picked it up after having major it lives nostalgia (thanks to it lives within, a blessing) and i decided "why not make a side blog?"

i'm si, a fanfic writer and i would love to share my writing with all of you. my favorite books are endless summer, it lives anthology, ride or die, blades and immortal desires. i live for ships like dan x mc, logan x mc, jake x mc, aerin x mc (yes I'm a clown) and cal x mc.

just a little introduction! i would be thrilled to interactive with anyone still in the fandom and interested in the above books :3

Choices LIs

I've done something like this before, but it was nearly three years ago, so it's time for an update. (Plus, I saw this floating around, and I was bored, so why not?)

Books with a single LI: I tend to default to the female version of any customizable LI, especially on a first playthrough. I'll sometimes romance a male LI with a male MC, but I rarely do m/f romances. The exception is A Very Scandalous Proposal; I don't like the Ava sprites, so I almost always choose Simon instead.

In this category, I like Trystan Thorne, Kieran, Dakota Winchester, Simon Montjoy, Manu Nakeli, and Kit Jackson. I feel pretty neutral toward Cassian Keane, Clarke, and Jacqueline Monroe. I don't like Sam Dalton. And the entire book Surrender can kindly fuck off.

Across the Void: Gonna be honest, despite having read this through at least twice, I wouldn't be able to tell you a thing about the LIs or their personalities. I think I went for Titania my first playthrough - or was it Kepler?

America's Most Eligible: Jen's my favorite here, though I'd like to try a run where I dump someone for Bianca.

Baby Bump: Myra.

Bachelorette Party: Aisha.

Big Sky Country: I love Juliette dearly, but sometimes my Hallmark-loving brain kicks in and I have to pick Sawyer.

Blades of Light and Shadow: All four are amazing and I love them. I love my ladies the best, but I have a soft spot for Tyril as well. I'd love a big polycule here.

Bloodbound: Kamilah takes the top spot, but Lily's a close second.

A Courtesan of Rome: Sabina and Syphax are tied as my favorites, and I'm becoming more fond of Cassius the more I play. I'd like Antony to go away forever, please.

The Crown and the Flame: For Kenna, I alternate between Val and Annelyse. For Dom, I prefer Sei.

Desire and Decorum: Annabelle, always.

Distant Shores: I actually tend to go for Edward here, surprisingly. Almost always with a male MC, though.

The Elementalists: Shreya or Aster.

Endless Summer: I've tried all four. With female MCs, I tend to lean toward Quinn. With male MCs, I like Estela or Sean.

Foreign Affairs: Either Tatum or Ayna.

The Freshman: Becca is my queen. I also like Kaitlyn and Zig, but it's hard to pass up Becca's route.

The Haunting of Braidwood Manor: Eleanor. Is there even really a choice here?

The Heist: Monaco: Sonia. This is one of the few instances where a guaranteed female character is written as the "main" love interest, and she's amazing and I love her romance route.

Hero: Eva.

High School Story: Emma or Maria.

High School Story: Class Act: Skye.

Home for the Holidays: Holly.

Hot Couture: Luz.

Immortal Desires: Both. Both is good.

It Lives Beneath: Probably Imogen or Tom.

It Lives in the Woods: Andy or Ava.

Laws of Attraction: Aislinn.

LoveHacks: Ben.

Mother of the Year: I love all three equally. I literally cycle through them each time I play.

My Two First Loves: I went for Ava the first time, but I really love Noah as well.

Nightbound: Vera or Cal.

Open Heart: Jackie and Rafael are my favorites, but I think Bryce is awesome as well. I can't stand the other guy.

Passport to Romance: Um... Marisa, I suppose?

Perfect Match: Hayden, Sloane, and Alana. Though sometimes I'll go for the entire polycule, because I can.

Platinum: No strong preference here. Maybe Raleigh? Though I like Shane's vibes as well.

Queen B: Zoey, with a dose of flirting with Poppy.

Red Carpet Diaries: Teja, I guess, though the whole series is sort of meh for me.

Ride or Die: Probably Mona's at the top, though I have enjoyed doing Colt and Logan runs before.

Rising Tides: No preference. Honestly, I don't even remember who I chose the first time.

The Royal Masquerade: Kayden. Mostly because of the looks thing, honestly.

The Royal Romance: Hana. Though if I could choose Olivia, I'd be all over that.

Rules of Engagement: Dean for the MC, and Mira for the Party Twin.

Save the Date: Lindsay or Simon.

Slow Burn: Still playing for the first time, but so far I think I prefer Julia.

Sunkissed: Eliana.

The Unexpected Heiress: Gemma.

Veil of Secrets: Kate and Naomi.

Wishful Thinking: Jaime.

Wolf Bride: Morgan. Go away, wolf dude.

Minnesota Twins-Cleveland Indians Series Preview

5.5.23-Bailey Ober RHP (1-0) 1.59 ERA Vs. Peyton Battenfield RHP (0-2) 4.67 ERA

5.6.23-Sonny Gray RHP (4-0) 0.77 ERA Vs. Logan Allen LHP (1-1) 2.45 ERA

5.7.23-Joe Ryan RHP (5-0) 2.37 ERA Vs. Cal Quantrill RHP (1-2) 4.73 ERA

The Twins At A Glance- The Twins had a couple of tough games before winning a crazy game in the series finale on Thursday in Chicago. The team is (18-14) and has a 3.5 game lead on the Indians for first in the American League Central. Kyle Farmer is 0-for-6 in a couple of rehab games with the Saints. I figure he’ll be activated for the Padres series next week. Trevor Larnach went 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts in the White Sox series and maybe Alex Kirilloff gets a call-up soon. Byron Buxton is hitting .349 with five homers and eleven RBI over his past eight games. Joey Gallo is on a cold spell without a hit in his last seventeen at-bats. The Twins starting pitchers still own a 3.26 ERA, which is second-best in MLB. Brock Stewart is emerging as that fifth leverage reliever that the Twins need. He has thrown five shutout innings to start his Twins career. The Twins bullpen enters this series beat up. Caleb Thielbar hasn’t pitched since Tuesday and Josh Winder hasn’t thrown since Sunday. Griffin Jax had Thursday off, so he’s available for the series opener. 

The Indians At A Glance- The Indians have been scuffling lately with a (3-6) mark over their past nine games. The offense is averaging 3.7 runs per game, which is decent, but hasn’t been enough for the pitching staff. Jose Ramirez has been their most consistent hitter with a .286 average, three homers, and seventeen RBI. Josh Naylor is only hitting .206, but has knocked in eighteen runs. Josh Bell and Mike Zunino have been new additions, who have struggled so far. The starting rotation has dealt with injuries to Aaron Civale (oblique) and Triston McKenzie (shoulder). They have had to rely on young guys like Peyton Battenfield or Tanner Bibee. The rotation has a 4.37 ERA, which is thirteenth in baseball. The Cleveland bullpen has been solid with a 3.35 ERA. Eli Morgan has allowed just one run over fourteen innings, Trevor Stephan has a 1.42 ERA, and Enyel De Los Santos has given up two runs over 10 1/3 innings. Emmanuel Clase has locked down ten saves. 

What To Watch For- The Indians went (13-6) against the Twins in 2022, which is a big reason why they won the division. The Indians won six out of seven games against the Twins in September. Bailey Ober has a 2.40 ERA in three starts against the Indians. Sonny Gray is (6-4) with a 3.53 ERA in fifteen starts versus Cleveland. Josh Naylor has two career homers off Gray. Joe Ryan is (3-0) with a 1.42 ERA in five starts against the Indians. Cal Quantrill is (4-0) with a 3.72 ERA in ten games against the Twins. Peyton Battenfield and Logan Allen have never faced the Twins before. The Twins struggled against the Sox this week and showed a few signs of life in extra innings. The bullpen is in shambles for the opener, so hopefully Bailey Ober can go deep into the first game. It should be a fun series and we get to see the Indians for the first time. 

-Chris Kreibich-

Logan Lerman Faceclaim

Rowan Austin (Scream OC). Rowan never really wanted to move to Lakewood, but in the middle of his parents’ messy divorce he decided it was better to go live with his grandmother than it was to stay in the house. Not that he and his grandmother see eye-to-eye on a lot of things - and she refuses to accept the fact he’s gay which causes more tensions between the two of them. But, as the Lakewood Slasher rears their head, and Rowan finds himself spending more and more time with Audrey and Noah in the hopes of figuring out what the hell he’s moved into with this town, he just has to hope he’s kept a low enough profile not to become a target himself.

Justin Ingram (Noughts + Crosses OC). Nephew to Jack Dorn, Justin’s found himself to be something of a local legend off the back of that relationship. Not that he enjoys it, far from in fact. Justin hates what his uncle is doing to try and change things, hates that there needs to be that kind of violence. So, when he hears about the program to get Noughts into Mercy Point, he takes the opportunity and seeks refuge with an old friend elsewhere in the city.

Ryder Jessup (Doom Patrol OC). To most, Ryder may look ordinary. But an explosive temper isn’t just an irritant to him, it literally explodes. Following a fire at his school, Ryder almost died but was saved by Niles. Unfortunately, as a way of preventing him from dying, some of the fire had to be kept in him; whenever this temper overcomes him he is out for a few hours to recuperate. Larry is the one who helps him the most, but losing The Chief makes it even more difficult for him to keep these negative emotions under control.

Dmitry ‘Dima’ Kovalev (Grishaverse OC). Born to a low family, Dima always wanted to make something of himself and thus did everything in his power to become a guard. When he was younger, he crossed paths with Nikolai Lantsov and they ended up in the Infantry together as Ravkans. While his friends did all they could to escape Os Alta, he is the only one to return, and to train to be a guard. So, when the Darkling starts to show his true colours, and the Sun Summoner arrives in the city, Dima wonders if maybe the others didn’t have the right idea by getting out when they could.

Griffin 'Griff’ Quintero (Red Queen OC). Red Griff works in the castle as an undercover agent for the Scarlett Guard. Despite Cal’s attempts to be kind towards him, the amount of times he proves that there is more to some Silvers than meets the eye, Griff never truly lets his guard down. He tries his best to keep an eye on Mare when she arrives, and is always seen nearby despite knowing that she can look after herself; especially as she gains control over her powers.

Mason Shipton (The Larten Crepsley Saga OC). When Mason was younger he was nearly killed by a rogue Vampaneze, however upon realising how useful his affluent family links might be, another Vampaneze decided to turn him in the hopes of saving his life. Life as a half-Vampaneze is something that he doesn’t enjoy, and by the time he finally finds it in him to run away, he stumbles upon the Cirque. While there he meets Larten, and is blooded as a vampire by Paris Skyle - though, no one fully explains to him about the possible risks.

Kyle Yuris (Divergent OC). As far as anyone knows, Kyle Yuris is dead. He died in an accident when he was young, before he got the chance to go to the Choosing Ceremony. But that’s not true. At an early age, Kyle showed signs of Divergance and was removed from the city in the hopes of understanding a little more about why he presented so early. Keen to learn more about everything that’s happening, Kyle can usually be found in the labs - in keeping with his Erudite training. As he gets older, he works alongside Matthew.

Edison 'Eddie’ Zeller (All For the Game OC). Like most of the Foxes, Eddie’s life hadn’t been great. An abusive mother and alcoholic absent father meant he spent most of his life on the street, practicing Exy. He is a backliner but has tried in every position to see how well he does, to push himself at bettering his game by understanding the other positions. Despite being the year below the Upperclassmen he is closest to them - the others scare him a little with the exception of Nicky. Eddie has dyslexia, and occasionally Matt helps him with work when it’s all getting a little too overwhelming.

Penn (Zombieland OC). Penn lived near Columbus’s University dorms and the two of them are working together to get back home, despite not really knowing each other or even getting along. Where Columbus is nervous, Penn has the confidence that only a younger teenager can have; the conqueror of the world feeling that is something Columbus reminds him will get him killed. Despite their differences, however, it is obvious that the two of them look out for each other as well, having worked out a sibling-like relationship.

Damn-Behzinga’s Masterlist

angst - 🌧️

fluff - ☀️

favourite - 👑

⚡ The Eboys ⚡

Will Lenney (Willne)

The Veteran - The reader surprises Will at a panel after fighting in another country for a year. (X Reader) ☀️

Kissing In The Rain - Will’s friends meet his girlfriend for the first time but the couple is to busy having an argument. (X Reader) ☀️

Pancakes, Anyone? - You make breakfast for everyone after a night out and Will realises how much he loves you. (X Reader) ☀️

Nail Polish - You and Will have a pamper night (X Reader) 👑☀️

Moving In - Will and Gee get a new neighbour and Will happens to find her very cute. (X Reader) ☀️

Get Better - Will helps you through a bad day of depression. (X Reader)🌧️

A Little Bit More - Will and Reader recite their vows at their wedding. (X Reader)☀️

Tough Guy - Will and Reader are complete opposites but somehow have a strong bond. (X Reader)☀️

Will’s Friend Otis - Will gets a dog to help with some problems he’s having, Will can’t find his confidence to talk to his friends. (Centric) 👑🌧️

Toxic - Part Two of WFO, a look through social media as Will deals with his mental health 🌧️

Hometown - Part Three of WFO, Will goes home to take care of himself but re-lives the worst memories possible 🌧️

Will Comes Home - Part Four of WFO, Will comes home and tries to do a Livestream. Stephen doesn’t let it happen for obvious reasons. 🌧️

Taking A Leap - You are scared of love, Will isn’t (X Reader) 🌧️

Deserving - You get fired from your job and Will comforts you (X Reader)🌧️☀️

Alex Elmslie (ImAllexx)

First Kiss - You have your first kiss with Alex after he lists the things he loves about you. (X Reader ☀️)

Hurt Me Once -   Alex knows what his partner has been getting up to (X Reader)

James Marriott

Enough - Reader is content with the relationship they have with James, they decide to go public. (X Reader) 👑☀️

You Walked In And My Heart Went Boom - Reader and James have a heart to heart at 3am (X Reader)☀️

Grow As We Go - Reader thinks they need to break up with James in order to figure themselves out. Part of the Ben Platt Writing Challenge (X Reader)🌧️☀️

George (Memeulous)

Protective - George gets protective when Reader gets assaulted, he decides to do something about it. (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

Temporary Love - George doesn’t want this to be a one-time thing… Part of the Ben Platt Writing Challenge (X Reader) 👑🌧️☀️

✨ SIDEMEN ✨

Ethan Payne (Behzinga)

Baby Behzinga Meets Her Uncles - The Sidemen meet your month old daughter (X Reader) 👑☀️

“Dad, Can’t you hear me?” - Ethan opens up about his dad, the sidemen don’t realise how truly scary it is. (Centric)🌧️

Hush Hush - You are JJ’s best friend, he warned his friends not to date you, Ethan doesn’t listen. (X Reader)☀️🌧️

After Meeting A Little Early - You and Ethan have a son at the age of seventeen. the sidemen love him to pieces. (X Reader)☀️

Happy Hours - Ethan talks about you and your son on the Happy Hour podcast. Part 2 of AMALE (X Reader)☀️

Hooked - after a little too much drinking after JJ V Logan Paul, you and Ethan hook up (X Reader) ☀️

Doubt - Ethan has his doubts about being a father but you easily soothe him. (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

Top - Ethan sees you wearing his top and he decides to tell you something. (X Reader) ☀️

Losing The War Against Himself - Ethan is losing the war against his depression but other soldiers are going to fight beside him and help him win. (Cenric) 🌧️

Falling On The Battle Field - Ethan tries to take his own life, the sidemen try to cope (Centric) Part Two of LTWAH 🌧️

I Can’t Wait For Forever - The Sidemen film your’s and Ethan’s weddings, here are the fan favourite bits (X Reader)☀️

Secrets Always Come To Surface - Ethan’s secret gets revealed when someone appears out of the blue. (Centric)🌧️

Together In Isolation - Ethan loves to spend time with you in quarantine (X Reader)☀️

A Painful Memory - The Sidemen Roast is all fun and games until someone jokes about Ethan’s friend who passed away. (X Reader)🌧️

Fitting In - Ethan introduces you to his  friends, you get a bit insecure because you’re a bit bigger then other girls (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

To Be Free Again - Ethan gets into a car accident and has to learn to walk again. There are moments where he wanted to give up but he quickly had his friends help him feel better again. These are some of those moments. (centric)🌧️

Dumb Ass Love - If Ethan had to chose between men being horrid to you or a bloody nose, he would chose the latter. (X Reader) ☀️

Unclear - Ethan’s addicted to heroin, the boys have to find a way to help him (Centric)🌧️

Best Couple On YouTube - You and Ethan take part in Simon’s Best Couple On YouTube series. (X Reader) ☀️

Unconventional Family - Ethan meets his half sister for the first time and he decides she should meet his family, the sidemen.(OC & Ethan Centric)☀️

Heart Pains - Ethan has a lot of things that he wanted to do before he hit thirty, having a heart attack and almost dying was not one of them. (Centric) 🌧

Harry Lewis (Wroetoshaw)

Tranquil - You and Harry are soft when others aren’t around. (X Reader)☀️

livestream - harry watches your livestream and realises you’re not okay (X Reader)🌧️☀️

What He Thinks - Not What He Is - Harry finished filming with the weight gained video and he feels terrible about himself so you have to teach him otherwise (X Reader)🌧️☀️

Moment To Moment - This is Harry’s story of his relationship with an abusive woman. (Centric) 👑🌧️

Flustered - Harry gets flustered when a pretty girl comes in for a speed dating video (X Reader)☀️

Medication - Harry suffers from bipolar disorder and has medication, it’s awkward when his friends find out. (Centric)🌧️

Surprise - Harry thinks the biggest surprise of the day was the boys forgetting his birthday, little does he know. (Centric)🌧️☀️

Waltzing - You teach the Sidemen to waltz, Harry gets partnered up with you (X Reader)☀️

Date Night In Isolation - The activities you and Harry get up to in quarantine. (X Reader)☀️

Unexpected But Adorable - You and Harry are famous Youtubers, no one expects your relationship (X Reader)☀️

Nightmares - You have vivid nightmares, thankfully, Harry knows what to do. (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

Cuddle Time - Harry wants to cuddle, the boys happily oblige. (Centric)   ☀️  

Taken Over - Harry has a seizure after a shoot, the guys help him. (Centric) 🌧️

JJ Olatunji (KSI)

Helpless - You perform your first show as Eliza Schylur for the music Hamilton and JJ supports you. (X Reader) ☀️

Jealous, Babe? - You watch Jaackmaate, JJ is jealous (X Reader) ☀️

Caring - JJ takes care of you whilst your sick (X Reader) ☀️

Not To Blame - You go to a party with all your friends, the night takes a twisted turn and JJ tries to understand it. (X Reader/platonic or romantic) 🌧️

Josh Bradley (Zerkaa)

Not Your Anxiety - The Sidemen don’t know how to handle Josh’s panic attack, luckily Freya is the best. (centric) 🌧️

Hard Worker Shouldn’t Over Work - Josh tends to overwork himself but luckily has amazing friends surrounding him. (centric)🌧️☀️

Mine - You love Josh. Josh loves you. If only love were that simple. (X Reader) 🌧

Vik Barn (Vikkstar123)

Not Just Banter - Sometimes, Sidemen banter goes too far and Vik needs comforting (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

Meeting On Minecraft - You and Vik met online playing Minecraft and now you meet in real life (X Reader) ☀️

Tobi Brown (tbjzl)

Small Comments - You and Tobi promised each other that you wouldn’t go public, so why was the comment left in the video? (X Reader)  🌧️☀️

Falling - You and Tobi were on the lowdown, but what is he doing with that other girl? (X Reader)🌧️

Simon Minter (Miniminter)

Antics - You and Simon have a fun night out and have to get your drunken selves home (X Reader) ☀️

Simon In The Bathroom - Simon gets ditched by his one friend at a party, now he’s alone in the bathroom (Centic) 🌧️

THE GROUP

Acceptance - You come out to the sidemen as a bisexual (Sidemen & Non-specified reader)

🔥 + FRIENDS 🔥

Stephen Lawson (StephenTries)

Brother’s Best Friend - You are Will’s twin sister and Stephen might be developing an itsy bitsy, small crush on you. (X Reader) ☀️

Callum McGinley (Callux)

The Most Confident - Cal meets Harry’s old school friend, he likes her immediately but is she too cool for him? (X Reader) 🌧️☀️

Talia Mar

Strawberries + Cigarettes- Talia reveals her relationship with the reader through her music video for her song Strawberries + Cigarettes (X Reader) ☀️

best of me

ride or die | logan x mc (ellie wheeler)

a picture of logan and ellie in their thirties for @rodappreciationweek and the time capsule challenge 🌼

tags: @choicesarehard ; @lovehugsandcandy ; @pixeljazzy ; @troublemakerinspace ; @zigtheeortega ; @jaxmatsuo

~2.3k words | T

“mr. wheeler!” 

logan looked around the parking lot, squinting into the sun. one of his students was running at him full speed, holding his cell phone aloft and waving it around excitedly. “what’s up, alex?”

alex drew to a stop in front of him breathlessly. “i got in,” he said, lips splitting into a big grin. “cal tech, i got in.”

“hey, that’s awesome!” logan said, reaching out to clap the student on the shoulder. “congrats, alex. that’s a huge accomplishment.”

“dude, thank you so much for your recommendation,” alex said, nodding enthusiastically. “you’re honestly the best teacher i’ve ever had.”

“give yourself some credit,” he smiled, “you worked hard, and cal tech is lucky to have you. just don’t forget to come back and visit, yeah?”

“for sure,” alex agreed. with one last grin, he was gone, and logan finished getting his things in the car so he could head home, the rest of the students and faculty in the parking lot of mar vista high well used to the roar his devore’s engine made by now, after three years of teaching.

ellie’s car was already in the driveway when he arrived back at the house, and logan frowned when he parked on the street and jogged up the walk to their front door. it was early for her to be home; usually his day ended well before hers. as he walked inside, he wondered absently if the fact that she’d had an early afternoon meant she’d started dinner, and if he was possibly lucky enough that she was making that noodle thing he liked so much.

“ellie?” his keys landed in the bowl by the door with a familiar clink, his shoes kicked off one by one on the mat. “babe?”

“in here!” the stressed-out voice of his wife filtered in from the spare room. as soon as logan took a step towards the hallway, there was a sudden and aggressive rapid tap-tap-tap on the hardwood floor, and their dog ran at him at full speed, jumping up onto his legs with an excited bark.

“hey, clark,” he said gently, bending down to scratch the dog behind his floppy ears, “everything okay in there?”

the pointed silence that followed seemed to speak for itself. he followed the hallway down to the spare bedroom and found ellie sitting on the floor, surrounded by ripped-open cardboard boxes and indistinguishable small plastic pieces.

before logan could ask what she was doing, she frowned up at him and said, “i’ve been trying to put this baby carrier together for three hours.”

he arched his eyebrows at her, looking over the small mess she’d created in the middle of the room. “you’ve been here for three hours?”

ellie pulled a face at him, her lips twisted into a grimace. “morning sickness that lasts all day again,” she explained, scrunching up her nose. “jack caught me coming out of the bathroom and sent me home after lunch.”

“oh, no,” logan said sympathetically, dropping down onto his knees on the one free space of carpet. “i was hoping that’d’ve gone away by now.”

“you and me both,” ellie sighed, puckering her lips at him for a quick kiss. “i guess it was too much to hope for a baby without a rebellious streak a mile wide.”

“i’m still holding out for your dimples,” he grinned, “and that laugh. as long as the baby gets both of those, they’ll be set for life.”

“the baby is five minutes away from sleeping on the floor. i’m about to trash all of this and go take a nap.” the downtrodden expression on ellie’s face tugged at his heart in a way her cute little sighs always seemed to manage to. logan was already smiling when she squinted up at him hopefully and asked, “will you help me try to put it together?”

as if there was ever a chance he’d say no. “’course,” logan answered, “two heads are better than one, right? although you are an engineer...”

“believe me, graco is going to be hearing from me,” ellie grumbled, rolling gingerly to the side to shuffle awkwardly out of the way of the pile of pieces she’d already started putting together. she was just a few months along but already starting to show and moving about differently for it, unaccustomed to her new shape. “there is no reason these instructions should be more complicated than my master’s thesis.”

logan laughed, leaning over to take a peek at the paper spread out between her legs. “hey, they’re not so bad.” he easily snapped two pieces into place, forming the base of the carrier. “there we go.”

“show off.” ellie rolled her eyes, pushing another piece his way with a disdainful sniff. “i’m still calling them to complain.”

“and you totally should,” he said easily, “because they suck and you’re brilliant.”

“exactly,” she agreed. without looking up he could tell that her eyes were narrowed, her lip curling further with every piece he added onto the carrier, the methodic click of each settling into place ringing out loudly in the silent room. finally, ellie groaned, “god, i hate you. i knew this would be so easy for you.”

“okay, but that’s what i’m here for,” he reminded her with another soft smile, reaching out with his free hand to squeeze her knee. ellie huffed when he continued to turn a plastic screw one-handed. “to handle all this shit for you so you can relax. i know you have the hardest job, here.”

“you are the most annoying person i’ve ever met.” ellie’s sigh sounded wistful. when logan lifted his gaze he found her staring at him adoringly, her eyes wet. “i love you.”

“i love you too, baby. any idea what you want for dinner?” he looked away to concentrate on lining two tiny pieces up, frowning when they wouldn’t stick quite right. “come here for a sec, yeah? need some tiny fingers.”

ellie shot him a look, but leaned over anyway, wiggling her hand in the tight space he indicated until the two pieces sealed together with a pop. “maybe i don’t need a refund on my degree after all.”

“they should’ve paid you to take it,” logan agreed indulgently, nudging his shoulder gently against hers. “dinner?” he prompted again.

his wife groaned theatrically, flopping back onto the carpet. her arms and legs spread out like she was making a snow angel, disturbing the bubble wrap and cardboard that littered the room. “i want sushi,” ellie said sadly, “and a wine spritzer.”

“what about apple cider?” he asked gently, eyes still on the baby carrier even as one hand felt blindly for her calf and dug its thumb into her muscle for a massage. “it’s almost the same thing.”

“it’s not even close,” she sighed. “but fine. thank you.”

“you got it. why don’t i finish up in here, and you see what we have in the kitchen? it’ll just be a few more minutes.”

“rub it in,” ellie muttered, rolling slowly to sit up. “okay. i feel like i should do something nice for you. maybe i can make that noodle thing you like.”

logan beamed at her, leaning in to steal a kiss. “that’s sweet of you, babe. thank you.”

ellie laughed, kissing him back before she asked, “why do i feel like this was all an elaborate set up to get me to make your favorite dinner?”

“because you’re a naturally suspicious person?” he guessed, lifting his hand to smooth her hair back off her face. “i don’t know.”

“i think it’s because you’re too charming for your own damn good.” but ellie was smiling when he pulled away, and that was all that mattered. it was the only goal he ever had. 

“no such thing,” logan smiled back, gently nudging her away. “i’m right behind you.”

“yeah, yeah,” she said, waving dismissively, “show off.”

he watched her walk away, staring until she disappeared around the corner, and then turned back to the mass of plastic and screws that was slowly starting to resemble an actual baby carrier. squinting down at the instructions, it was only a matter of minutes before he had the rest of it assembled, and then a few more while he backtracked, checking over his work to find where he’d missed the one remaining piece that had been left over.

he took the time to clean up in what was eventually going to be their nursery, eyes sweeping over the boxes and gifts that cluttered their spare room. there was a ways to go before they were anything even close to ready for the baby, and he knew ellie’s due date would be here in the blink of an eye.

would he ever really feel ready? it seemed insane, when he sat and thought about it -- he and ellie were going to be parents. more than home or dog owners or two people with jobs and bills, it seemed like a responsibility he felt no where near prepared for or equipped to deal with. sometimes he still felt like a stupid kid himself.

though he had absolutely no doubts about ellie. ellie took to every kid she met like a natural -- his students adored her, riya’s twins thought she was the greatest thing in the world and were still only lukewarm where he was concerned. the kids in the program they volunteered with couldn’t get enough of her.

she kept their house running and all their plants alive. she kept him so happy he was delirious with it, in a way that had felt utterly foreign at first but now seemed so common. 

enviously, he knew she’d be mother of the year without even having to try.

the rest of the room was tidied on autopilot as logan remained lost in his thoughts, and when he finally made his way into the kitchen it was, to his delight, to the tune of ellie in the middle of making his favorite dinner, the room smelling as amazing as the sight of her rushing around so domestically looked.

his heart gave a weak lurch as he stepped up behind her at the counter and wound his arms around her waist. his nose pressed into the dip at her shoulder with a sigh. “all done. next stop... crib.”

“don’t remind me,” ellie groaned, “my dad has been on my ass for weeks.”

logan winced. if there was one thing he knew about detective wheeler, it was that he was just as opinionated as his beautiful daughter. “maybe he could come with us to pick it out.”

“maybe he could mind his own business,” she suggested instead, stirring the boiling pot of pasta on the stove. “he acts like he knows everything there is to know about babies.”

“well,” logan said, nosing at the hair at the nape of her neck, “he did raise the most amazing person in the entire world. maybe we should give him some credit.”

“okay, kiss ass,” ellie laughed, “he can’t hear you. but fine. if you really want, we’ll all go next weekend.”

he shrugged. it was personally something he felt indifferent towards, but a few extra points with ellie’s dad never hurt. most of the time he was pretty certain detective wheeler still wanted him dead. “i think that’d be nice.”

“i bet you do,” she murmured, twisting around to hold the spoon she was holding out. “taste.”

he did, chewing and swallowing slowly. “it’s done,” logan said sadly, knowing the words meant he’d have to move away. ellie laughed as he pulled his arms back and went to set the table instead.

he headed to the fridge for the bottle of sparkling cider, making a show of popping the cork like champagne and pouring ellie a generous amount into the giant wine glass she hadn’t been able to use in awhile. she rolled her eyes at him as she put the serving bowl on the table. “it’s not the same.”

“it’s pretty close,” he argued, lifting his own glass up and swirling it like he’d seen many pretentious people at restaurants that made him uncomfortable do. “it’s a beautiful vintage,” he declared, as though he had any idea what that was supposed to mean, “with notes of... apples.”

gratifyingly, ellie dissolved into giggles, shaking her head. “i can’t stand you,” she said fondly, all smiles. he grinned back at her, lifting his glass to his lips. 

“to the baby,” ellie said suddenly, lifting her glass, too, and bumping it into his.

“to you,” logan corrected her, clinking his glass into hers a second time.

ellie narrowed her eyes at him. “to you.” their glasses knocked again.

“nuh uh,” he countered childishly, “you’re the baby’s mom.”

“you’re the baby’s dad,” she laughed, bouncing up on her toes to try to get at his glass even as he lifted it above his head and twisted out of her way.

“this is ridiculous,” logan grinned, “just let me toast you, oh my god.”

“no, it was my toast,” she said, jumping up and splashing apple cider out of her glass and onto the floor, “stop trying to hijack it!”

“okay, okay.” he held his hand out to concede, backing away to drop into his seat at the table. ellie followed suit, smirking triumphantly at him. she still loved to win. “to all of us, jeez. me and you and the baby.”

“to all of us,” ellie repeated, and this time, their glasses touched gently, the sound barely audible over the giggles that were building up in her throat again.

he flashed her a goofy grin before he tipped his head back and drained all his cider in one go. 

sure, it might’ve been nice to have had something stronger, but --

“mmm,” ellie sighed, smacking her lips as she set her glass down, “you were right. this is so much better.”

Why I Think Roman is Connected to the Orange Side (more specifically, why he might end up being/working for the Orange Side)

This is a whole ass essay (I am so serious, the Google Doc I typed this out on was like two pages long), so get ready

So we’re back here again, with loony ol’ Cal calling Orange on all the Sides, huh? I swear, at some point I’m going to convince myself Thomas himself is the Orange Side. Until then, I actually have a lot of evidence that Roman is at least connected to (if not actually) the Orange Side and I think I have a pretty solid case here. Roman matches a lot of what we know for certain about the Orange Side, he has a solid connection to every known Dark Side, and, in the event that Orange is a different Side, he’s practically already working for the Orange Side.

My first point of evidence towards my theory is that Roman and the Orange Side have a lot of similar qualities - well, from the minimal amount of information we know about Orange. Well, what do we know about him? Well, he has, at least, a connection to the Dark Sides. He only ever shows up if someone is provoked. He’s associated with fire (or lions, I couldn’t quite figure out what that noise was) [in the background of the “Stop ignoring me” scene and the endcard with the orange eyes, a wooshy sort of noise is heard. Some have taken this sound to be fire, while others took it as a roar]. And what do we know about Roman? He has a connection to the Dark Sides (I’ll get into this in the next paragraph). He literally only shows up at the beginning of an already started argument or to start an argument. And he’s canonically associated with fire [In the Q&A video, when asked what their elements would be, Roman responded that his element would be fire] and lions (the lion thing is sort of implied but come on. Lions are the kings of the jungle. Tell me Roman wouldn’t adore that sort of aesthetic). Plus, they both seem to have an… interesting relationship with Janus. Pretty similar, huh?

Okay, sure, that’s not gonna convince anyone. All of the Sides have similarities. But… How about Roman’s canon connection to the Dark Sides? Well, the most obvious connections are through his brother, who is a Dark Side, and their names, of course. But there’s something else. Roman’s unapologetically antagonistic nature to the Dark Sides was something I always thought was sort of… off. Sure, he’s a Disney prince caricature and Disney princes are not generally very apologetic of villains, but it’s… wrong. I wasn’t sure what was throwing me off about it until I realized what it was. He interacts with the Dark Sides (specifically Janus) the exact same way Virgil - you know, the former Dark Side? - does. Sure, it might just be a random detail, but as I brought up before, Roman’s primary connection to the Dark Side was through their names and the Side Thomas specifically brought up to explain that connection was Virgil. They push the Dark Sides away, they want nothing to do with them.

Yeah yeah, I hear you. “But Cal, what if the Orange Side is just another Side! Your evidence is meaningless in that case!” And to that I say, you underestimate my ability to stretch information to fit my case. Let’s say that Orange is another, unrelated Side. That doesn’t mean that Roman can't still be connected to him. Hell, I’m willing to bet that, if that does end up being the case, Roman is working for him. Why’s that? Well, hear me out. As stated earlier, Roman has a real affinity for pissing off the others, especially a certain nerd who already has a connection to this carrot-y motherfucker. I’ll take this moment to remind you all that Working Through Intrusive Thoughts was not, in fact, the first time we’ve seen Orange. Hell, Putting Others First wasn’t even the first time we’ve seen Orange. No, to find our first instance of the ocherous puppetmaster, we go back to Learning New Things About Ourselves, when Logan throws the paper at Roman [looking in the background of the upwards shot, an orange glow is seen from the top of the stairs. Many people have taken this to be Orange’s first appearance]. Why did he throw the paper at him? Well, because Roman had been antagonizing him all episode. He does that a lot, actually. The breaking point in Putting Others First to turn Patton into Lilypadton was Roman and Janus (yes this connection will be brought up later) grilling him for answers to their questions. True, Roman didn’t seem to mean to upset him, but he is an actor… and he didn’t seem all that surprised that Patton was driven to become a giant frog. And then he laughed at Janus’s name, causing Janus to get mad. And of course there’s the whole “Roman is literally the most temperamental Side of any of them all and is the most susceptible to temper tantrums” thing.

What about that Janus thing? Well, I thought it was interesting that Janus and Roman often unintentionally work together to upset the others - red and yellow do make orange, after all. That’s definitely one of the biggest stretches in this damn essay but we all know how important colors are to this show. Speaking of, I do also find it funny that red and orange are so close to each other on the color wheel, and that they’re right next to each other on the Sanders Sides flower shirt.

So what? Am I saying Roman is definitely the Orange Side, or somehow double crossing his friends? Nope. Sure, it’s a pipe dream of mine that Roman might end up being the “bad guy” for the show cuz Kinnie Catharsis™, but I’m sure that won’t be the case. I’m willing to bet though that he is in fact connected to the Orange Side. Roman is such a complex character, and regardless of if this ends up being the case or if something else happens, I’m excited to see how the team handles his character arc.

mama hood being a chaperone for one of aidens school trips where they go away for a few days so calls at home with lil logan, maybe he’s toddler aged at this point, and they just have the time of their lives cause as we know, logan is obsessed with calum, and he’s just so happy to be with him cause cals been working so much and he’s not home too often

I went to "outdoor ED" when I was in middle school, and that's where I pictured mama had taken Aiden, that's not really established here, that was just the first thing that popped into my head 😂😂😂

WELCOME BACK HOOD FAMILY.

            It had been about fifteen minutes since Logan had fallen asleep on Calum’s chest. Calum’s legs were crisscrossed allowing Logan’s body weight to rest on his right leg. It was when Calum felt that deep sigh that he knew Logan was out like a light. A smile stretched across his face as he reached his free hand up towards the little guys back and gently rubbed up and down before resting his cheek on the top of his head. Calum closed his eyes out of contentment for a split second before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

            Carefully, he moved his body so he could pull his phone out of his pocket without waking Logan. When he looked at the screen seeing his wife’s name and the request to FaceTime, he smiled, although slightly confused. He slid his finger across the screen to answer and held the phone up. “Why, hello, my love. I wasn’t sure you were going to have signal?”

            “Ah, you see, there’s Wi-Fi here,” She took a sip of wine, “for the adults.” Her lips stretched into the most glorious smile as she laughed and then looked at something on the other side of her phone. “They also have alcohol and a specific lounge for chaperones.” When she shrugged and took another sip of wine, Calum laughed. “How’s everything at home? Good?”

            Calum looked down at Logan who was still deeply asleep, then back at the phone. “Everything is great here.” Calum then moved the phone to show Logan’s sleeping form and he heard his wife on the other end of the phone coo. “Tuckered him out I guess.”

            “Tell me what guys have been doing, and then I’ll tell you all about Aiden’s trip.” She said while raising her eyebrows. Calum smiled and looked down at little Logan before telling all of what they’ve done the past two days.

            Aiden and his mom left before Logan woke up. Calum was sitting at the dining room table in front of his laptop with his headphone on, drinking a cup of coffee, when Logan slowly padded his way into the room. Calum was quick to remove his headphones and summon Logan over to him. Logan rubbed the sleep from his eyes as Calum lifted him onto his leg, “Daddy, where’s mama?”

            “She left with brother, remember it’s just us this weekend.” Calum ran the back of his fingers down Logan’s soft cheek.

            Hearing that, Logan perked up and his eyes twinkled. “Just you and me?” Calum nodded then rested his forehead on Logan’s. “Can we do something fun?” He had another twinkle in his eyes.

            “What do you want to do, son? This weekend is all about you, and me.” Calum wiggled a finger on Logan’s side, causing the boy to giggle and squirm in his grip.

            Logan finally caught his breath and looked into Calum’s eyes. “I wanna swim with Daddy.” It broke Calum’s heart. The reality is that every summer Calum is on tour, Logan has never had a chance to enjoy the pool with him, only with his mom and Aiden.

            Calum let an empathetic smile stretch across his face, “Of course, let go put our swimmers on.” Together, they made their way up the stairs. Calum helped Logan change and then Logan followed Calum across the hall and sat on the edge of the bed while Calum changed. Once they were both in the correct swimming attire, they made their way to the backyard. Calum found Logan’s pool floatie and tossed it into the pool. Holding onto Logan, they both dipped into the pool. After Calum grabbed the floatie he placed Logan in it and started to drift through the pool with him. They splashed each other and played with some toys they had lying around until Logan was bored with swimming.

            They both changed into dry clothes and Calum sat Logan at the table with a coloring book while he prepared lunch. Calum looked up from his preparations to look at Logan. He was humming to himself with a marker in his hand while he swung his legs back and forth, happily scribbling on the page. After lunch was ready, Calum sat next to his son and they ate together, something they didn’t do very often, and almost as suddenly Calum had that thought, so did Logan, “Daddy?” Calum hummed in response, “you work too much.” Calum froze, than after a second focused his attention on Logan. “You never spend time with me, because you’re working.”

            Calum was pretty sure people could hear his heart shatter across the globe. “I know, baby, and I’m sorry. But I have to work to take care of you and brother and Mama.”

            “But can’t you take care of us by staying home?” It was then that Logan looked up from what he was doing, into Calum’s eyes, effectively destroying what was left of Calum’s heart.

            Calum wasn’t prepared for this. Aiden wasn’t bonded to him like Logan was. Aiden never asked these questions. Calum looked away from Logan and took a deep breath to try to gather his thoughts, “The only way I can stay home is if I work. If I don’t work, then we wouldn’t have all the things we have now.”

            “But you’d always be home.” Logan cut him off.

            His head dropped, why was he so bad at this? His wife would know just what to say if she was here. “I’m sorry I’m not home, Logan, but I’m home now, and it’s just you and me this weekend. We can do anything we want.”

            Logan’s head popped up, “Anything?” Calum nodded with a smile.

            A devious smile stretched across Logan’s face, and with that smile led to a day full of doing anything Logan wanted. Including going to the movies, playing on the playground in the park down the street, going to the mall, and getting ice cream. By the time they were on their way home, Calum couldn’t understand how Logan wasn’t exhausted, Calum was. Calum glanced in the rearview mirror, Logan was strapped into his car seat, the radio was playing, and Logan kicked his feet back and forth, singing along to the song that was on the radio. Calum smiled to himself before looking back to the road, as much as he hates to admit it, he wished he was home more too.

            It was about nine in the evening when Calum was finally able to get Logan to go to sleep. Figuring that he hadn’t taken a nap he’d sleep all the way through the night. After closing the door, Calum headed to the studio to get to work on some songs Michael had sent him.

            All four of the band members were on a zoom video working out some songs about an hour after Calum had put Logan to bed. They were trying their hardest to work through a song that no one could get onto the same page with. Calum was frustrated, and honestly reaching the point of pure exhaustion. With a frustrated sigh, he leaned back and took his headphones off, resting them around his neck. Almost at that exact moment, he heard a tiny cry from down the hall. “Fuck, hold on guys.” Calum said aloud as he removed the headphones completely before rushing to open the door.

            When he opened the door, he found Logan standing in the middle of the hallway, hands pressed to his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks. Calum rushed kneel in front of Logan, “What’s wrong, why aren’t you in bed, baby?” Calum was quick to wipe the tears off Logan’s face. 

            Logan took a few labored breaths before attempting to speak, “I th-thougt you were i-in your room, a-and you weren’t.”

            Calum enveloped Logan into his arms and coaxed his head to his shoulder before walking Logan back to the studio. He sat back down in his chair, Logan still crying hysterically against his shoulder. “Give me a minute, guys.” Calum said before muting his microphone. Calum continued to comfort his crying son before Logan finally fell silent. “Want to stay with daddy while he works?” Logan nodded against his shoulder. With that, Calum put on his headphones and motioned towards the guys that he was back. “I have a guest joining me for the rest of the night.”

            It was like Logan wasn’t even there, the only difference was Calum couldn’t get to his bass, but everyone worked around it. Eventually, Logan fell asleep, and eventually it was late enough that everyone called it a night. As Calum was walking down the hallway, he paused. Normally, it was at this time that he would put Logan in his own bed and go cuddle the woman who shares his bed, but she wasn’t here. They were both missing her, and he knew it. So, instead of dropping Logan in his own bed, Calum turned to his own room and took Logan with him. That night, they both slept in the ‘big bed’ as Logan called it when he got a chance to be in it.

            When Calum woke up, he made sure to make Logan and him a big breakfast and do everything he wanted. Together, they played board games, watched Logan’s favorite TV shows and movies, made his favorite food, swam in the pool some more, took Duke for a walk around the neighborhood, made his favorite dinner, then finally settled on the couch to watch Logan’s favorite movie, Cars. “And that catches us up to this moment when you called me.” Calum says with a chuckle.

            “Please tell me you’re still watching Cars.” She says as the wine glass touches her lips.

            “The remote is too far away to change it.”

            “Don’t lie, you like it too.”

            “Shut up.” She laughed a hearty laugh and Calum chuckled along with her. “I miss you.” 

            “I miss you too, honey.” She said as she sat forward and looked at the phone with incredible seriousness. 

            Calum smiled and looked down at Logan and kissed the side of his head, “Tell me about Aiden’s trip, love.” With that, she smiled and wiggled to get comfortable and started explaining her last two days. Calum closed his eyes to listen to her talk, absolutely content with his life. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't really have a tag list anymore? So imma just tag my number 1 friend @talkfastromance4

If anyone wants to be added back to my tag list (I'm going to start writing more on the weekends) Please send me a message 😊

A story by heroes and villains

Book 2: secrets revealed Janus Bullard: A call

Masterposts: Book 1: the way stories cross

Book2: Secrets revealed

A simple cal from a friend can gt you through the toughest of things sometimes.

“So. What do you think? Are we going to sit in silence the next forty minutes too or…?” Janus just curled in on themself tighter. They were at their first appointment with Doctor Remy Pikani. Who insisted Janus called him Remy. Not because he was one of those adults who thought they’d be more relatable that way. Doctor Pikani just found the title sounded dreadfully boring. Which was why Janus kept using it for now. “Ok. I’ve given you plenty time to be broody. But I was under the impression that you want to fix some things about your attitude and your life.” Janus huffed. “And you think you can fix me?” Doctor Pikani grinned. Taking Janus responding at all as progress. “First of all: You don’t need to be fixed. People never need fixing. Your attitude though, well you gotta admit there is room for improvement there.” Well at least one of them thought they weren’t broken beyond repair. “Okay. We clearly aren’t going to be talking about you today. Your parents mentioned a Virgil and his father, Logan?” the man said as he looked through his notes. Janus relaxed just a little. They supposed they could talk a little about them. But… What if Collector found out what he was doing right now and tried to find out what was said… They couldn’t tell this man too much. Nothing that could harm uncle Lo or Virgil. “What about them?” they said dismissively. Remy took him in for a minute, Janus just looked away, not wanting to give anything away. “Alright… Clearly you don’t trust me. You know that I made one of those fancy oaths to never reveal any information about you without your permission. Unless I have reasons to think you’re a danger to yourself or others. I could lose my job, forever, if that got discovered. So if you don’t trust me, trust that I like this cushy job and the things it affords me to buy. Like my fav Starbees order.” Pikani underlined the last statement with a long sip from his to go cup. Janus took Remy in, suddenly impressed. He might be better than they had given him credit for. Janus had given him pretty much nothing and he still figured how to get them to be more open to the idea of sharing. And maybe, maybe if the collector did ask, even if he was persuasive. Maybe Remy would hide the most important things. They were nowhere near ready to take that gamble. But they could talk a little about certain things. By the end of the session they’d laid out their life before high school in the broadest possible terms. Remy now knew how close they were to uncle Logan, that Virgil had been their friend for as long as they could remember, they knew that they’d been friends with Remus until he moved schools. But that was it. All of that Collector could learn from anyone really. And Remy could feel like they had made progress all he wanted. They had agreed to see a shrink, but they had not thought of all the risks that entailed. Still they couldn’t back out now. Their parents had made it clear that they had to make an effort to show that they were trying to change. And they were. They were done with making mistakes. They’d figure out a way to fix things. They needed to get better at controlling their powers so they wouldn’t accidently hurt others or make them do things they didn’t want to do, and they had to expose Collector for who he was asap. He was not a good person and he spent way too much time with Virgil. The fact that the artist Virgil admired was bad news, did not make what Janus did last year right though. Still they kind of wished they had succeeded, even if that had led to Virgil hating them forever. No… they had to trust that Virgil could take care of himself. Janus had to sneak out every night to meet Collector for training. To their regret they practiced their manipulation on their parents to make sure they’d believe them when they said they were going to bed. Once they realized they had done it before, they could do it quite easily on purpose actually. They were more concerned about trying to win an argument and doing it by accident. They supposed that it was a good thing that they joined the debate team this semester. That should give them practice in turning it off. They were starting to think that Collector was just pretending not to notice their little manipulations. Or maybe, their ‘Persuasion’ helped them fool him into believing they were following him blindly. Though they weren’t trying to use it for that. Which might be why it worked. When they actively tried to get him to tell them something, even just something small like “Why do you bother teaching me?” he noticed and could push against it. Collector never revealed what his gift was. Which was probably meant to make it harder for Janus to guard against it. His words kept chipping at their insecurities and last spring that would have worked. But they were different now. They had grown and they were ready to prove it. While they were trying to get their act together, the entire city was buzzing with the presence of a new hero. Their parents included. “This DreamPrince boy is going to go places. Maybe you should contact the GTH and propose a design for the fanwebsite?” Their mother suggested to their father over dinner after they watched the Prince’s first big interview together. “Hmm. Maybe I will. Who knows I might get to meet him in person. What do you think Janus? Want to meet a real life superhero with me?” Janus shrugged noncommittally. “Sure,” they muttered before finishing their meal and heading to their room. There was this thing in the pit of their stomach that grew white hot with anger at the mere mention of this guy, and they didn’t understand it. Had their old anger at Roman latched on to the next shining light it could spot? Regardless this guy had done nothing to earn their anger. He had seemed charming and confident but also modest and caring. None of which deserved a punch in his  face. They had to learn to control it. “You want anger management?” Remy surmised during their next session. It had been hard to describe what they wanted without getting into specifics. But they’d managed. “Yes,” Janus said decisively. “What makes you think you need it? From what I heard from your parents, and principal, you had no altercations that got violent…” Janus narrowed their eyes. Virgil had, of course, not told the teachers what he had done during their altercation. Even when he was mad with them he tried to protect them. They didn’t deserve it. “I hit my best friend in the stomach!” they hissed. “And just because I was kept from hitting anyone in the past… It’s like there are these embers in my stomach, and when something mildly upsetting happens they catch on fire and I lash out at anyone who’s nearby. And… You know what? It doesn’t matter why I want it. You are here to help me. This is what I need. So help me!” they demanded furiously. Remy leaned back. They hadn’t meant to go off like that, but maybe now he’d understand. “Okay… Yeah, you are right. If this is how you want to do this then we will…” he glanced at the clock. “That’s our time for today. See you again next week?” Remy wondered. “Yeah,” Janus sighed reluctantly. They weren’t eager to return, but they didn’t dare suggest quitting after only two sessions. They’d give it another try next week. Maybe now that Remy knew what they needed, the sessions would stop feeling like a waste of time and energy. They needed to make some progress. Right now they were terrified of even talking to Virgil. As long as they kept their distance Collector wouldn’t say anything to upset Virgil. Not to mention they were not sure if they could control their temper around him yet. But they did start talking to some people they’d been needlessly cruel to in the past. Rebuilding what they broke one apology at a time. They were building up to the bigger ones. Apologizing to Roman was still far ahead. After they’d really gotten a hold of their temper. One such apology was owed to their science partner of last year. “Hi Carlton,” they said softly. Despite their careful approach, their classmate jumped in fright. He took a defensive stance. Not in a fighting sense. He had his backpack clutched to his stomach, flinching away, making himself as small as possible. Janice swallowed away their frustration. This wasn’t the first apology to start out this way. After a few seconds Carlton relaxed his stance somewhat and looked them up and down. “… Hi?” he greeted hesitantly. “Listen… About how I acted last year. And, especially the year before… I was… I shouldn’t have done that. You didn’t do anything to deserve it and even if you had, I shouldn’t have. So. I’m sorry.” God it was so awkward every time. If Remy ever managed to make Janice feel like it was safe to open up, they’d tell him about this. To the doctors credit, he had suggested during their second session that starting small in getting better and making things right might be easier. And it was. It was still hard though. Carlton frowned as he studied them for a moment, first suspicious then thoughtful. “Did Virgil tell you to leave me be?” he asked. Janice shook their head. “I haven’t even talked to Virgil since they year started,” they admitted. “No…  I mean last year. Did he make you leave me alone?” Janice frowned. “No. We never really talked about you. I mean he didn’t like it when I was an ass to others in general. But he never gave anyone special mention… Why?” Carlton stared at them for another moment. “Well… Other than for like five minutes in that first class, you were pretty okay to me last year,” he pointed out. Janice shrugged. “Doesn’t excuse those five minutes or any of the times we talked before… If you can call it that. I have no explanation for Freshmen year, other than wrong place wrong time. For that class though… I was playing up the big bad bully angle to get Castile to switch seats. Figured everyone would be happy. He gets to play the hero, Virgil and I get to sit together, You get to sit next to your crush, but in hindsight-” “Wait! You thought… I was crushing on Roman?” Janice was beyond confused by that. “You were staring at him every chance you got,” they pointed out. Carlton blushed. “I… wasn’t staring at him,” he admitted. Janice let that sink in. If Carlton wasn’t staring at Roman then… “You have a crush on Virgil?” they realized, so shocked that it came out as a question “I sure hope so.” Janice nearly jumped when they heard Virgil’s voice come from behind them. In the next moment Virgil brushed past them and stood beside Carlton, draping an arm across his shoulders, making the later blush profusely. “We’re dating.” It was a statement. A challenge to say something bad about that fact. Janice was still processing. Virgil was dating a boy… But… “You… But… I thought you were with Stacey?” Had they broken up? Virgil was not fazed. “Where did you even hear that? I hung out with Stacey after school at the start of the year, yeah. We’re friends. After that, I went out with Anne, and Valery and Iris.” Janice’s head kept spinning as Virgil continued. “Didn’t work out beyond hanging out though. But me and Carlton are dating.” If Virgil went out with girls, had crushes on girls in the past and was dating a boy now… Then. “But… That means…” “I am bisexual Janus. Get over it,” Virgil huffed. Janice’s gaze drifted between the pair in front of him. Pieces slowly falling in place. “R Right… I’ll leave you be then.” They needed to get away. To process. It was their free hour so they went for a walk in the nearby forest again, ignoring the snapping branches above and around them, avoiding the clearing they’d made. One day they’d ask Collector how no one was talking about the damage they’d done. Today they had other things on their mind. All the hints Virgil dropped over the years flooded in at once and they couldn’t believe they’d been so blind. He wore the bi colors as his signature look! He’d commented on cute actors, he’d said he wouldn’t care about gender as long as the individual was cute. He had offered Janice his first kiss! Made it abundantly clear that he was comfortable with that! All of that was him testing the waters. Janice just had been so busy with their own secret that they did not pick up on it. Holy… V was bi. He had genuinely wanted Janice to kiss him back then. Probably not in a ‘I have a crush on you’ type of way. Virgil wouldn’t trick someone like that. But… When they got home that evening they were still processing the fact that Virgil had a boyfriend now. They were pulled out of their thoughts of might have beens when their phone rang. They didn’t recognize the number so they hung up. It called again. And again and so on the fourth time they picked up. “Janice speaking?” they asked distrustful. “Snakeface! Finally!” Snakeface…? “Remus?” they asked baffled. “The one and only! Scarecrow gave me your number. He said you two are going through a rough patch. Don’t tell me you two are getting a divorce!” It really was him. “Okay I’ll bite. What are you talking about?” They were curious to see how Remus’ mind was spinning this story. “Come on! You two were basically my playground parents… It was kinda nice to have you hover over me. I never thanked you two for that. Most kids thought I was too wild and weird.” Janice scoffed. “That’s part of your charm. It’s their loss,” they assured their friend. It was so good to hear him again. “But how did this happen? I haven’t heard from you since middle school!” they wondered. “Well my bro discovered I was buddies with you and Virgil back in the day and gave V my number, and now V gave me yours. Apparently my nicknames got confusing for my family. They thought I was talking about some of my creepy crawler friends and not actual humans,” Remus giggled. “Is that why we were never invited over?” Janice wondered. Another misunderstanding? “Um… Yeah… My bad?” Remus replied uncharacteristically awkwardly. “And the reason you never wanted to involve your brother was…?” Might as well get all the questions out of the way. “Well. You’ve met Romie. What do you think he would have done if he heard some bullies had it out for his brother?” They didn’t need to think twice. “He’d probably do something reckless and heroic.” “And gotten hurt or something. Also… Don’t be mad but I thought maybe if he got involved and you met him… You’d like him better.” Oh. “No chance. You were our friend. No one ever could’ve replaced you. I know Virgil felt awful for ages about being unable to protect you that day. Still does I think.” “Yeah. He hasn’t stopped apologizing since his first call,” Remus agreed. “Where did you go after they took you?” Janice wondered. “Oh, they got me in private tutoring. It was real fun. They give me time to go crazy when I need to in between the boring lessons. Only downside is that I don’t see Roman as often as I’d like. He visits all the time, but he has schoolwork and stuff to do as well. And I didn’t have you guys to annoy of course. But that’s enough about me! You spill!” So Janice told Remus that they had been kind of a jerk and that they were working on fixing things. The fact that Virgil had decided to throw them a boon by reconnecting them with Remus was a good sign. Remus cracked jokes and made innuendos. He found it hilarious that Virgil apparently had the ladies and lads lining up for him. When Janice mentioned Roman’s idea of coming out he cackled loudly. Though he did approve. They finished their conversation and agreed that Remus would call whenever possible and that Janus would either answer or call back when they had time. Unless Virgil told the collector for some reason, he didn’t need to know that Janice had a friend or hope of things going back to normal between Virgil and them. The less he knew the better. That evening Collector announced that it was time they prepared for Janice’s first heroic escapade. Which meant they’d need a codename and an outfit. They had one, actually. When they were in middle school they’d played heroes with Virgil and Remus and they all picked names. Remus was Duke. Virgil was Guardian and Janice was… “Serpentine,” they stated firmly. Collector nodded and took their face, angling it, studying it. “Making your flaws your strengths… Inspired. I can work with this,” he grinned before releasing his hold. The next day they were given their outfit. Apparently Collector had managed to get his hands on some GTH tech and fitted it for them. When they put it on their entire skin got covered in scales, their eyes were snakelike and yellow, the outfit itself was black with yellow scale patterns. A pair of yellow gloves and Yellow boots completed the look, along with a black cape. Their hair was black and straightened, pulled back in a ponytail. They looked cool, just not very heroic. They didn’t say anything about it though. Tried not to listen too closely as Collector told them their mission. Become popular, gain the new Prince’s trust and ‘most importantly’ get Virgil’s attention. Janus asked why Virgil had to see them in person. If they made the news wouldn’t that enough? Apparently not. Collector insisted they needed to impress Virgil, make sure that Serpentine was on his mind. There was a lot on Janus’ mind when they met up with Remy for their appointment. And it was a weird one. “How do you mean I don’t need help containing my temper?” Janus asked incredulously, very close to losing their handle on said temper. “Not in the way you think… I have the feeling that keeping things under lock and key, might be your problem and…” “How would you know that? We’ve talked for two hours! Not even that! And the one thing I ask you, you don’t want to even try!?” Janus exclaimed, barely keeping himself from setting of a blast in the room. Remy flinched back, but pushed onward. “See this, right here. This is actually good. Expressing your anger, letting it go, is much healthier than trying to lock it up. Take the pressure off so to speak.” Janus fell back into their seat and curled up once more. Not looking at doctor Pikani as he kept trying to explain why not teaching him how to keep his cool in stressful situations was a good idea. They didn’t even look at him when they left at the end of their hour. He’d said he’d help and now he was backing out. How were they expected to tell him anything? That Saturday, they were sent out for the first time. They did little things. There was a purse snatcher they managed to slam into a nearby set of bushes in someone’s front yard. Cushioning the impact and causing way less property damage than if they had slammed them into the nearby car as Collector suggested. Good quick thinking on their part if they said so themself. They returned the purse, tied up the purse snatcher to a nearby lamp post and ran off. Were there a lot of cameras? Yes. Did they care? Not really. Doing something right alone gave them quite the thrill. They didn’t encounter a lot of trouble after that. None that got Collector’s approval at least. They got a few toys out of drains and the like.  At some point they were directed to a different street and spotted Virgil walking with Carlton, they were holding hands and seemed to be having a good time. It was sort of cute. “Seems you have been replaced,” Collector’s voice whispered through his com. Janus wasn’t sure what that was supposed to be about. But he stealthily followed the two of them for a bit longer just out of curiosity. They liked seeing Virgil happy. Collector kept whispering in their ear about how Virgil had forgotten all about them and they might be too late even if they did become a hero. It was getting kind of annoying honestly. And just when they were about to snap at collector a nearby tire blew out, making the pair turn, Virgil instinctively pulling Carlton behind him, before moving on. That wasn’t good, they had to get away before they ruined Virgil’s date. “I’m done.” They said into their com once they felt they were far away enough. “Very well. I suppose you deserve a break. Good job  today.” And just like that they were left alone. They turned of their disguise and headed home. On their way there their phone rang. They took it out and checked the ID, expecting Remus’ name. It was not Remus. “Virgil?” They asked incredulously as they picked up. “Hi Jan…” Virgil sounded nervous, but not hostile or distrustful. A little on guard but in a familiar awkward way he had about him sometimes. Janus was scrambling for what to say. There were so many thinks they wanted to say. “I…” I’m happy to hear from you. I missed you. I am trying to make things right. “Hey. Thanks for… You didn’t have to give Remus my number. Hearing from him… It was great.” Those calls the past week were probably the only reason why they hadn’t blasted the Collector into a wall yet. “Well… You’ve missed him just as much as I did. And he missed you too I bet. And you’ve been trying. Don’t think I didn’t notice. Carlton told me you were apologizing to him last week.” Oh… Right. Usually they asked the people they apologized to not to make too big of a deal out of it. Two reasons. They wanted to apologize because it was right, not because it would get them back on Virgil or the teachers’ good side. And, again, the less collector knew, the better. But with Carlton they’d been interrupted before they could make the request. “Um… Yeah. You know. I was kind of a jerk for a while… And I don’t want to be,” They explained rather awkwardly, wishing for a change of subject. “I kissed him!” That sudden declaration caught Janus completely off guard. Virgil… Kissed… “What?” Sure they’d looked very cute and cozy. But they hadn’t expected things would go that well. “I kissed Carlton. The date went well, and the moment felt right… And I kissed him.” Virgil sounded giddy. And that made Janus happy. “Virgil that is amazing! How was it? Wait was that your first? Cause apparently you are in high demand,” they teased, getting Virgil to laugh. “Well yeah. But I’m not letting just anyone kiss me. You gotta earn that.” They laughed at Virgil’s carefree voice. They’d really needed this today. “Well I never thought I would beat you in that department that’s for sure. With the amount of crushes you had in middle school, I figured you’d go off and kiss a girl the second I turned my back.” They informed Virgil, curious if he’d catch up on the semi hidden confession. He did. “Wait… You don’t mean… Janus. Have you kissed someone? When?! Give me the details now!” he demanded. “It was nothing really. Just a summer fling. I was gonna tell you the second I got back. It really helped me put things in perspective but… Well. You know.” They’d already ruined things too much for a simple conversation to fix things. “Jan… I…” The guilt in Virgil’s voice was honestly comforting, as terrible as it may sound. But they wouldn’t let him feel that way. “No. Don’t apologize. I was not trying to guilt trip you. It was brought to my attention that I might’ve accidently been doing that.” There was more to it than that, but now was not the time. “Sorry for that by the way. There is a lot of things we need to talk about. But not yet. I… Can handle this. On the phone… But could we keep it between us? I don’t want the adults or Ca… Or Roman to pat me on the back for every good thing I do. Ok? I’m…” They couldn’t tell him everything. But they’d be as honest as they could. “I’m not ready to trust others. I barely trust my therapist…” God, they were rambling and oversharing. Well… Now Virgil knew they were trying to talk it out with someone. “Ok. Whatever you are comfortable with,” Virgil assured them. “And J?” “Yeah?” “I am proud of you.” Janus bit their lip. Hearing that from Virgil… It meant a lot. “And don’t worry. I didn’t fully trust mine right away either. It needs to click first. If you are really uncomfortable with them, then you just ask for another.” Janus let that sink in for a moment… Virgil… oh, wait… No that made sense. As long as they’d known him Virgil was very hard on himself and put a lot of pressure on his shoulders That was bound to boil over in some shape or form at some point. They were glad he was getting some help with that. And his suggestion seemed like a good idea. “I… Ok. I’ll think about it.” Maybe they’d give Pikani one more shot before asking their parents to move them to another therapist. “Thanks.” They were almost home now. “Listen. I gotta go. See you on Monday?” “Yeah?” Virgil wondered, kind of hopeful. Apparently he’d missed them too. “Yeah. And congrats. You and Carlton make for a nauseating couple,” they drawled teasingly. Virgil laughed. “Thanks. See ya J.” “Bye.” And so their first decent conversation with Virgil in months, ended on a good note. They couldn’t go back to normal yet. But for the first time this semester, they truly believed like it was a possibility for the future.

Hero au

@cirishere​ @hestianerd1​ @moonlightshow00​ @naturallyunstablegamer​ @alias290​ @meowthefluffy​ @frida0043​ @angelic-cali​ @selenechris​ @theblackveilinreverse​

The Key is Confidence

DECEMBER DRABBLES DAY 3 Sanders Sides: Roman Blurb: Confidence. That was the key, his father had told him, to getting away with anything. Fic Type: University!AU  Overall Fic Warnings: Brief mention of drunk parent, allusions to committing crimes.  Taglist in Reblog.

Confidence. That was the key, his father had told him, to getting away with anything. Confidence. Act like you belong. Act like you’re doing nothing out of the ordinary and no one will question it. 

Of course, considering his Dad had been arrested later that same day he’d drunkenly told his youngest son that little piece of advice... Roman doubted Confidence could let you get away with anything. Just most things. 

Roman pushed through the doors of the Library, carefully holding the ginormous goblet out in front of him. 

Geez. When he’d come up with this idea, he hadn’t expected the cup to be made of wood. Who in their right mind would---oh right. No one in the drama department was in their right minds. Forget the thought. At least they’d been willing to let him borrow the three foot tall prop for this hair-brained scheme of his. 

“Sir!” 

Cue barricade number one. The front desk. 

Roman kept walking, mentally picturing the distance to the elevators. 

Pretend you don’t hear them calling. Keep that head raised. 

“Roman.” A familiar exasperated voice said from in front of him, while pressure on the cup told him that unless he wanted to knock the owner of said voice over and risk the wrath of the entire library...he would do well to stop walking.

Shoot. Cue barricade number two. 

He pulled a gracious smile onto his lips as he lowered his giant cup to see the top of Callie’s head. Why did she have to be so short? It made it difficult to see her coming. “Hey there Calliroo.” Roman said, inclining his head, getting only a raised eyebrow in return. 

Back straight. Shoulders down. He was doing nothing wrong. Confidence.

“You change your hair again? It looks nice. Wavy hair suits you.” He said trying to sidle to the side. Callie rolled her eyes, side stepping with him, her delicate fingers gripping the brim of the cup tightly. Roman was sure he could tear it from her hold easily, but it never bode well to offend the library staff. 

“No, and like I’ve told you before. No drinks in the library.” She scolded quietly. “Take this back.” 

Roman gasped, wishing his hands weren’t full of giant cup so he could bring a hand to his heart. “Me? Bring liquids in? Cal, my darling, you wound me.” He lowered the cup further, so she could look into it. “Do you see any liquid within the confines of this fine vessel? Tis as empty as the brains of this year’s crop of freshmen.”

She smirked, even as she glanced down into the cup, dipping her hand in to touch the bottom. Clever of her. He hadn’t had time to make a false bottom though. “Aren’t you a freshman, Roman?” She asked with an innocent tone. 

Ooo. Burn. But true. He was still in his first year, though he’d made it to his second semester. 

Roman chuckled, ducking his head. “Hey, I’m just trying to help out the nerd on the fifth floor. You know, with the tie?” He’d glimpsed the dude a couple of days earlier when he’d been scouting out a good mark. 

Callie blinked. “You mean Logan?” 

So that was his name. The reservation desk had only shown the room being held for ‘Logic.’ 

Roman clicked his tongue and nodded. “That’s him.” 

Callie tilted her head, a strand of brown hair, falling across her face. “Why does he need it?” 

“To measure the circumference in relation to the ratio of the volume of the….” Roman trailed off, frowning. “I can’t remember the rest actually.” Considering he made that up on the spot...he didn’t need to remember any more. He shrugged. “I think it’s a Math thing.”

“He tutors Math.” 

Of course he did. And here he thought the nerd was just another medical student. 

Roman kept his smile, shrugging like he didn’t care. Though he did. His mother had always told him he needed to know his marks better than they knew themselves. But how was he supposed to have known Callie would be the one to stop him? She should have been shelving books on the third floor instead like she’d been scheduled to. “And?” 

“Why would he need such a large cup for that?”

He exhaled. Of all the rotten luck. Callie was always the type to ask too many questions. Questions that Roman needed to make up answers for if he ever tried a stunt like this again. “I don’t know, Callilicious, I’m not the math tutor here, just the messenger.” He offered her another smile, tilting his head to give her this best puppy-dog eyes. “Can I please drop it off to him now? I have my own studying I need to get to.” True enough. If everything else would go according to plan that is.

Callie blinked, giving a slight shake of her head as she tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Ro--” 

“It’s just a prop, you’ve established that there’s no icky sticky liquid inside of it.” He wheedled, lifting the cup back up so she could no longer look inside. “You know how Logami gets...” He hoped she knew because Roman had no clue beyond the fact that the Nerd had the same study room reserved at the same time everyday for the next six years. That was dedication. Dedication that Roman needed to tap into. 

Callie exhaled, shaking her head as she stepped to the side back into Roman’s view. “Alright. Go on up. IF,” she stressed the word, showing she didn’t fully believe Roman’s story. A pity. He thought it had been pretty good. “He actually needs this cup, I won’t keep you from giving it to him.” Her eyes flicked upwards, probably seeing through the ceiling to Logan’s study room. “We don’t need another Hives incident.” 

He blinked. Huh? “Hives?”

“Beehives.” She clarified, making shooing motions. “Go. Before I change my mind.” 

Roman grinned, bowing his head graciously to her. “Thanks.” He said quickly heading to the elevators before anyone else decided to stop him. 

Though no thanks for that interesting tidbit of information. He’d have to go digging for that story some other time. Beehives. That would be good knowledge to use in the future. 

Still. He’d managed to pass Barricade number two. Roman let his smile slide into a smirk as the elevator doors closed. A quick glance around showed no cameras within, which meant. Roman sighed with relief as he slipped two jars of Crofters jam out from under his jacket, setting them once more in the Cup where they would no longer be at risk of falling to the ground and shattering. 

Confidence may not always work despite what his Dad had said. But a large enough distraction would guarantee a flawless getaway every time. 

Viez looked intrigued.

“13 ft fall? And they’re called... endedmen Ah. No matter.” They waved it off though she still appeared interested.

“So I have a question for you. Who are you three favorite characters you’ve created? Is this because of their backstory, personality, or even their looks?”

YES, I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!

Okay so first up, my all-time favorite oc, is Rex Foster-Everfrost. The reason that I love him the most is because he's also my first oc. I've been building him as a character for nearly 13 years now and treasure him greatly. I love his journey because he's someone who suffers from intense anxiety, anger issues, problems with self-doubt, and a lot of other issues. I guess, in a way, I created a character I can idolize because he acted as a sort of role model and kinda helped me to mentally escape and become someone who overcame the issues I suffered with at a younger age.

My second favorite OC is Cal Vermillion. He's from one of my favorite works, Extraordinary. Cal is super interesting to me because he reflects another side of me and other issues I have. From a young age, Cal has suffered from depression that causes him to be extremely isolating and aggressive. During the events of the story, he had been living in a new place for a long time where no one knew the old him and tries to hide his angry and isolating self behind a fake smile and jokes. I also did this for a time before I managed to take the time to mentally improve myself. I just greatly relate to Cal and that's why I love him so much.

My third favorite OC is actually really hard for me to decide. It's basically a tie between Boozle and Logan. I like Logan because he has an interesting coming-of-age story over the course of the Dragonverse Saga and learns a lot on the path of becoming a superhero. However, I like Boozle because he is a part of something else with the amazing @decodamalion, wonderful @im-lilee, and astonishing @jjumppy. I love being able to be a part of something with other people and have to work with each other's ideas. Since I only really have to think about Boozle in his world, I've given him a lot of thought, effort, and small details. He's a very fleshed-out character and I love him so much, he's even become my online persona.