I saw this idea and got excited. Here’s a bullet fic:
They’re both active in the Disney fandom (obviously)
Roman creates these gorgeous DTIYS artworks, mainly of the princes, but he sprinkles in a few original characters too.
He notices he gets a lot of reblogs from some guy called Virgil, but the little sh*t is using the art as prompts for his own dark little fanfics. He manages to twist everything Roman draws into something creepy. Cinderella’s prince feeding her animal friends turns into Cinderella’s prince doing pest control. Eric swimming with Ariel becomes Ariel luring Eric to his death with her siren song (while the Finding Nemo seagulls circle hungrily overhead). It drives Roman crazy.
So Roman finds Virgil’s fanfic and starts reblogging it with his own illustrations (gently) mocking the story choices. Two can play at this game, after all.
Virgil is annoyed, but his readers totally love it. His engagement goes up on any work Roman does art for.
Virgil decides it’s time to escalate. He writes Roman into a story. When he posts it, he tags Roman. “Can’t wait to see what you do with this one.”
Roman does not take well to being satirised. “I am not that dramatic! And I do not put that many sparkles on my art — this is libel!”
“What are you talking about? Prince Extra is a totally original character. Any resemblance to idiots living or dead is purely coincidental.”
Not wanting to sully his dash, Roman direct messages his “illustration” to Virgil on a Discord server they’re both on. It’s a photo of himself flipping the bird at the camera.
But now a direct channel of communication has been opened. And they’ve been interacting for so long that Virgil feels like he already knows this surprisingly hot funny dramatic little weirdo. So he replies — less scathingly than he might have done before. And suddenly they’re messaging each other every day.
Time passes. Virgil keeps adding to his multi-chapter fic, and Prince Extra gets noticeably more sympathetic and nuanced, and unusually for an OC he becomes a fan-favourite with Virgil’s readers (most of whom know all about Virgil’s collabs with Roman and have been living for the drama).
Now he and Roman trade feedback all the time. They have inside jokes. Virgil even hashes out a few of their early misunderstandings. “You thought I was making fun of you? Dude, I loved your art. Finding the dark side of light things is how I get inspired to create — why d’you think I’m even in the Disney fandom in the first place? Your stuff makes me feel the same way.”
Roman has to sit and stare at the wall for a while after Virgil says that. His art? Makes someone feel?? Like Disney makes them feel??? There’s no way to process a compliment like that.
Roman’s still salty about one thing though. “You got to write me. I haven’t gotten to draw you yet. Send a photo.”
“I don’t take selfies. You don’t have to draw me — I don’t like the way I look and I’ll like it less if I’m covered in sparkles.”
“Can we meet in person then? I wanna see your face, Hot Topic.”
Whoa. That’s a step Virgil hadn’t even considered. He knows they both live in Florida, but he’s never met up with a fandom friend before. What if Roman doesn’t like him? Or realises that he’s way more boring and awkward in person than he is online?
But he’s been too intrigued by this guy for too long. He has to bite the bullet. He texts back. “Let’s do it.”
What else can they do but see a Disney movie? Technically a Pixar one, since that’s what’s in cinemas, but close enough. It turns out Roman is physically incapable of staying quiet through a movie, and he provides a constant running commentary to Virgil under his breath about every dumb decision the characters make. They’re nearly kicked out of the theatre when Roman starts shrieking at the screen, but Virgil is laughing far too hard to care.
They head back to Virgil’s place after. Nothing happens, because this definitely wasn’t a date, but they have coffee and spend the next four hours in passionate argument about everything from the hidden artistic merits of the ‘60s Batman franchise to the spiritual connections between the different goth and punk aesthetics, and they’re so absorbed that Roman almost misses the last bus home.
Before he goes, Roman sneakily snaps a picture of Virgil. Virgil pleads with him to delete it. “Sure, when I’m done with it,” Roman says, grinning. Little sh*t. Then he bounds out of Virgil’s door to run for his bus.
Virgil doesn’t hear from Roman for a few days after that. This is worrying. He thought things had gone well, but maybe the day-long bickering session wasn’t as light-hearted as he thought. His anxiety about potentially having upset a friend wins out over his anxiety about texting first, so he goes to message Roman and ask if they’re still OK.
Then he sees Roman in his inbox. “Told you I’d draw you.” He’s sent an image.
Virgil doesn’t breathe for like a full minute. It is indeed a picture of Virgil, writing at his desk. And while it’s unmistakably Roman’s art, it’s nothing like his usual fare. It’s Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired, with a dark colour palette lit by golden candlelight at strategic points. No sparkles in sight. And even though Virgil’s in the picture, it’s somehow not about how he looks, since he’s half in shadow — it’s about the dynamic of his body pressed flat to the desk, the concentration in his face and the blur of his pen. It’s like Roman drew how it feels to be in flow when you’re making something your passionate about.
There are even little references to his fics hidden in the background, like the bottle of poison from the pest control story and the hungry seagull in the window. It must have taken him days.
Holy smokes, this dude is talented. How did Roman get it so right? More to the point, how do you respond to something like this??
Virgil taps out reply after reply, but deletes them all without sending. Nothing he can say seems adequate.
After 45 minutes of gay panic consideration, he decides to call the guy. Roman picks up on the second ring. “I want to see you again,” is all Virgil can say.
