Leo jolted awake at the blaring alarm. He wanted to throw it against the wall.

    His foster brother, Harley, groaned in the bunk below him. "I hate that your school starts so fu-fricking early."

    Leo smiled. "Damn, I almost caught you."

    Harley chucked a pillow at him.

-

As the musical came dangerously close to opening (two months away from opening night), Leo began spending his time in tech in the warehouse.

    It was therapeutic. He couldn't exactly use the garage in his foster home to build stuff. Sure, he might make a dollhouse for one of the ten kids in that household, but that was reserved for when Gaia needed help with gifts. There wasn't enough space to do big projects, especially not what he wanted to do.

    The Lego machines he'd managed to make have been great, but he wanted to do more. So, creating a platform would do nicely.

    This was a much easier project than some of Leo's others. This only required some basic measurements, a saw, a shit ton of wood, some stains, maybe a few dowels, and a plethora of nails and screws.

    Today, Leo was staining. Well, starting to, at least. He needed to finish sanding down one long piece and then--if he had the time--prime the wood. So, no staining. That'll probably be tomorrow.

    To him, that was fine! Staining was a pain in the ass. Too much; it looks like shit. Too little; it looks like shit. Not even; yep, it'll look like shit. All in all, if he didn't do this right, it would look like shit, and he'd need to sand everything down again and start over.

    As Leo expected, the primer didn't dry in time to stain any wood, but that's okay.

    Now, Leo had a free period.

    Leo had finished his essay yesterday because he was responsible when it came to school and also because he was hella bored. Actually, it was just because he was hella bored. It didn't matter; either way, he got a 100 and still had straight As.

    So, he spent his time on his phone when Jason texted him.

blond superman...idk: after much consideration

blond superman...idk: I have decided to name myself the gay guy from netflix movies

a literal elf: YEEEES

gay guy in netflix movies: thank you hold the applause

a literal elf: THE APPLAUSE IS TOO GREAT TO HOLD BACK

gay guy in netflix movies: are you just not doing the essay

a literal elf: I finished it

a literal elf: YOU aren't doing the essay

gay guy in netflix movies: shut

a literal elf: no

a literal elf: get off your ass and work

gay guy in netflix movies: you can't just quote kim k and expect that to sway me--

a literal elf: idk what you're talking about

a literal elf: she has had to work SO hard her entire life

a literal elf: she's just like marilyn monroe 😩

gay guy in netflix movies: ...

gay guy in netflix movies: i'm just going to ignore that

a literal elf: do you every jsut want to watch pirates of the caribean

a literal elf: rip my spelling

gay guy in netflix movies: yeah I want to stare at Orlando Bloom

a literal elf: I want to stare at all of them

a literal elf: and also say fuck you to amber heard

gay guy in netflix movies: YES

gay guy in netflix movies: we should watch it together sometime

    Leo paused for a moment and looked at Jason. His phone was face down on his desk, his cheeks bright red, and he was staring intently at his computer screen.

    Wonder what that meant.

-

king krusty: woah is this the parents gc

~gay~: yea welcome

panic academia: yes congrats on officially becoming emotionally mature for everyone but yourself!!

king krusty: I am honored

b i c e p s: i see sadie already named you

king krusty: no, that was my firned Hazel

king krusty: friend

king krusty: who is everyone

panic academia: carter

~gay~: shel

b i c e p s: Zia

panic academia: ok to the real reason we're here

panic academia: have any of you gotten homecoming help requests

~gay~: i got one

b i c e p s: SHIT, HOW DID YOU WIN

~gay~: I'm just cool like that

~gay~: I accept all forms of payment

king krusty: ??

panic academia: we give whoever gets the first homecoming ask five bucks

~gay~: you obviously didn't know so you do not owe me five bucks

~gay~: but zarter does

-

Magnus,

I must say that you indeed broke me, much more than I could possibly say. And I mean that in the best way possible.

It's odd how you find a way to console my tears even though you aren't here.

It's odd because you are the only person besides Samirah who is allowed to touch me when I cry, and your touch is the only thing that keeps me from drowning in the dark depths of my thoughts. Of my past.

And yet you manage to do just that and more without even being there. You just write.

You know that I was crying, so you told me to breathe. You know what I was thinking and forced my thoughts to halt. It's an odd feeling to describe, and yet E. E. Cummings manages to portray it perfectly:

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hand

Through that feeling, you continue to write, and I realize now that this poem isn't enough.

I want to tell you how I feel, but to quote a song no one has heard since, like, 2010:

Those three words

Are said too much

They're not enough.

Alas, those are the only words that I could possibly think of that even begins to describe the way my heart swells at the sight of you. How it cries when you leave.

I love you, Magnus. And I forever will.

Yours,

Alex.

-

Shel stretched on the floor, waiting for the middle-schoolers to enter the classroom.

    Sadie looked down at her. "What should I do on my next date with Jaz."

    "I don't know." Shel shifted, placing herself in a split.

    "Helpful."

    Shel rolled her eyes and held out her hands. She could sit in this position all day, but getting up was impossible.

    Sadie helped her up. "Seriously though."

    Shel shrugged. "What did you do last time?"

    "We went to a poetry slam."

    "Maybe live out the high school drama and go bowling."

    "Ew," Lavinia said. "That's for at least a month of dating. I don't trust Sadie with that."

    Sadie flicked her off.

    "No, she's right," Jason said.

    "Oh, fuck off."

    "Actually, now that they're saying it," Shel said, "you get very competitive."

    Sadie was silent for a moment. "Ugh, you're right."

    "You know who has the answer to this? Google," Lavinia said. "Google says in a second date to go to an escape room."

    "Yeah, but Google also says to build and launch a rocket; I wouldn't trust it, babe," Shel added.

    "Wait seriously?" Sadie laughed.

    "And also make homemade salsa," Shel said. "Oh, and bird watching. I'm loving how none of these describe the stuff that you and Jaz are into."

    Lavinia gasped. "How dare you insult Google like that?"

    "Larry Page can kiss my ass," Sadie said.

    The bell rang, and Mr. A took role. All of the kids stared at the quartet.

    "Okay, the people you've been staring at like aliens are the people who have agreed to help me today!" Mr. A said. "We have our dance captain, Lavinia. Our resident contratenor and Orpheus, Jason. An alto with an attitude, Sadie. And a triple threat that you all know and love, Shel."

    Lavinia cleared her throat. "Favoritism," she jokingly coughed.

    "I'm just that cool," Shel said.

-

Shel met Piper in front of the school, waiting for Leona to arrive.

    "You know what we should do?" Piper asked.

    "What?"

    "Go on another date."

    Shel smiled. "Yeah, we should." She gave Piper a quick kiss, and as she pulled away, she bumped into someone.

    She turned to apologize and realized she bumped into a blond-haired asshole with a start.

    He glared at her, still not even recognizing Shel. Shel hated that.

    She wanted him to look at her and feel fear because Shel could go feral. She would beat the absolute shit out of him and his friend.

    It's odd to think that she was friends with his friend.

    But that was how Luke was. He was charming.

    Shel was about 13 when she first met Luke. He was a junior, but that was fine. They were just friends anyway.

    Or so she thought.

    "I know this is sudden," Luke had said one day, "but I like you."

    Shit.

    No one had known just how gay Shel was at the time, but the truth would come out eventually, wouldn't it?

    So, she told him, and he understood.

    It's funny to look back because the truth would always come out eventually.

hi violation beans!

welcome back to random tangents with gabby

look! i alluded to some trauma!

anyway, sorry this took so long

there is really no reason

i just made the impulsive decision to make a chat fic then made another impulsive decision to publish it on AO3 it's called being gay doing crime under this same handle, if you want to read it

also, the next chapter for the percabeth fic is taking ten years, it's gonna be long (2,000 words) and requires more research. why?

annabeth chase is less emotionally mature than percy in the books. in this essay i w--

i will, actually, be writing that essay

anyway i figured i would treat you all today, because i have been treated very well today

Conan Gray released a new song and Faouzia released a whole ass album on the same day!

and i was like... why not

idk how i feel about the parents part, but whatever. i spent exactly two minutes on that part, and i regret it but it made this 1,500 words

i hope you enjoyed the Alex part, which took surprisingly long to write despite how short it is

i also started playing Hades

i know i'm, like, three years late but whatever

i suck at gaming so i took me three days to get to the Patrochilles plot line, and I desperately need to finish it--

also Good Riddance??? like damn. the vocals.

i am FINALLY finished with exams and am currently brain dead and that is being fueled with writing more of the chat fic instead of...

literally every other wip I have.

anyway, imma go pass out and wake up to y'all in the morning. hello future me, have many notifs were there when you woke up? and no, you cannot apologize, readers.

love y'all!