#and we’re not sure if they will ok an 8 week old but i don’t think they actually need to know the age of the dog

[teabookgremlin]

I WANNA BE HAPPT IM READY TO WALK INTO MY ROOM WITHOUT LOOKING FOR YOU GO IP TO THE TOP OF MY BUILDINF AND REMEMBER MY DOG WHEN I SEE THE FULL MOON

[friendly-neighborhood-boricua]

[7] Kindergarten Graduation

Summary: Liam graduates from kindergarten, and another thing changes in your life.

Notes: Marauders modern elementary school AU, kindergarten teacher!James Potter x nurse!single mom!reader.

A/N(18/8/2024): GUYS I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!!! ok maybe not really finished, I think I may continue to add to this au as I think of ideas and please please please send me ideas/requests if you have any and I'll do my best to write them :) thank you all so much for reading my silly little story, I really appreciate all the love and support you've given me, even when I take months and months to update (sorry) all my love to each and every one of you <3<3<3<3

Previous Part: You Get A Visitor in the ER This is the last one as of right now! Click here for the series masterlist

Alright it’s taken a hot second

But we’re here guys

The end of the year!! *jazz hands*

The school year, that is

Liam has been getting more and more excited for summer break as the weeks pass by

You promised him that you’d visit your dad, whom Liam hasn’t seen since he was two because he lives so far away

You and your dad aren’t exactly the closest but you get along well and your son thinks grandpa’s the funniest thing since sliced bread

And it’s about time that you visit him anyway

But first, Liam needs to get to the end of the school year

And he has! Yay!

The administration at Liam’s school likes to put on a little graduation ceremony for the kindergarteners and the departing fifth graders, and that ceremony happens to be today

And it’s as if your car knows that you have something important to do today

Because she’s just refusing to start up

The engine makes a horrid whining-grinding sound when you turn the key in the ignition, and it makes you a little nervous that the whole thing is gonna blow

So you’ve resigned yourself to finding a different way to get to Liam’s school

Side note: you have the misfortune of being very anxious to get to events quite early in an effort to make sure you aren’t late, and you’ve definitely imparted that worry onto your son

Which means you have a nervous six-year-old switching between pacing back and forth beside your useless car and wrapping his arms around your thigh in an anxious iron grip

At least you’d left your apartment early, so there’s still some time to figure out a solution

You run through the list in your head: the school is close enough to walk to but it would take too much time, Tonks and her parents are at her own high school graduation so that’s obviously not an option, Poppy is working today so she can’t pick you up, and you absolutely refuse to ask anything more of Ms. Hope since she already does so much for you with Liam

The idea dawns on you to take an Uber just as the front door to your apartment building opens

And of course, a solution on legs walks into the parking lot

(Even if you don’t like burdening him by asking for his help)

James smiles as soon as he sees you and Liam

Liam’s face also lights up like a Christmas tree as he waves enthusiastically from his spot attached to your leg

You shouldn’t be surprised when James saunters over to you both to say good morning

And you especially shouldn’t be surprised when he offers help with your car troubles

(You were terrified slightly worried when James had left the ER that you’d crossed a line when you kissed his bandaged palm, and maybe you did, but James didn’t let it change your dynamic—if anything, he was just more and more happy-looking to see you every morning, and it was hard not to let his happiness spread to you too)

You refuse James’ help at first under the guise that his hand was still healing from that cut, but he just laughed and reminded you that he’d cut himself a month ago and his hand is perfectly fine

Which is how you’ve ended up here

The hood of your car propped up, Liam peering eagerly at the engine, James in a very nice-fitting crewneck t-shirt and formal slacks poking around inside the car, and you holding the suit jacket he’s planning on wearing to shake his kids’ hands as they walk across the gymnasium floor and blushing furiously as you try not to stare at the way the short sleeves of James’ shirt fit so nicely around his biceps

You’re plenty familiar with human anatomy, being a nurse and all, but jesus christ—

After a minute or two, James hums in understanding and Liam replicates the sound, trying to look where James is looking

You do your best to school your face, and you succeed for the most part even if you can’t really get rid of your blush

James explains to you and Liam that the bearings in your alternator have broken down and you sigh deeply

He says he’d offer to fix it but—he laughs a little sheepishly—he’s not the best with cars

Still, his friend Sirius, an administrative aide at Liam’s school, is pretty good at car mechanic stuff and James could probably ask him to do it

You aren’t super keen on agreeing (again with the asking for help thing) but either way, getting your alternator fixed right now isn’t a possibility because all three of us have a kindergarten graduation to get to, Mr. Potter

James’ eyes go wiiiiide lmao but you reassure him that you have enough time to get to the school just in time if you leave now

And of course he offers to drive you both there

You accept (not like you have much of a choice) and quickly find yourself on the way to Liam’s school with Liam in the back, sitting in James’ “emergency car seat”

(He explains that he keeps a kids’ car seat in his trunk in case he ever needs to drive a kid anywhere and that this is the car seat he used to drive Liam to and from school that one time)

(You feel alarmed and then thankful and then terribly guilty when you realize you’d never even thought about if Liam was sitting in a car seat that day)

After all that hassle, you, James, and Liam finally arrive at the school building and hurry to the gym, where the ceremony will be taking place

You send Liam down the hall with James with a kiss on the forehead (James thinks about asking for a kiss himself but thinks better of it) before going to sit in the rows of folding chairs set out for parents and family members

You sit with Molly and Arthur, the parents of Liam’s good friend Ron

Arthur is very jolly and cheery at all times and Molly, while occasionally judgemental, is usually quite kind

This graduation ceremony is very abbreviated just because six-year-olds can’t sit still for four hours like they would have to if this was a real graduation

The event starts with a few quick words from Principal McGonagall about how hard the kids have worked this year and how they deserve to enjoy their time off from school

Then it’s time for the kids to walk across the “stage”, which is really just a mobile raised platform

The principal calls a name, hands the child their very own kindergarten diploma, and sends them to have their photo taken with their respective teacher

James (now with his suit jacket back on) has a wide smile on his face as he stands with the other three kindergarten teachers

You cheer for Ron with Molly and Arthur as he walks across the stage to take a photo with his teacher, and when it’s Liam’s turn, Molly and Arthur (and Ron from the side of the stage) cheer with you

When the ceremony is over, Ron and Liam come running to you, Molly, and Arthur asking if they can go to the playground across the street to play for a while

Molly and Arthur agree to take Liam and Ron while you go let James know where you’re going and that you and Liam can walk home if he has somewhere he needs to be

It’s pretty clear from the look on James’ face that he thinks that even just the idea of leaving you and Liam without a ride is atrocious lmao

He just shakes his head like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard and promises to meet you at the playground once he’s done dealing with Draco’s overbearing parents

You laugh and nod in agreement

The playground across from Liam’s school is really fancy

The city built it pretty recently, so it’s tall with a merry-go-round and a tire-swing and metal slides that you’re sure sear children’s skin off on hot days

Liam and Ron are having the time of their lives already, and you sit with Molly and Arthur on a nearby bench under a tree

It’s easy to talk with them because they ask the same questions whenever you talk

How are you? Oh I’m good. How’s Liam doing? He’s good too. Everything good at the hospital? As good as it can be, yeah.

They’re easy to talk to but it’s difficult to relate to them sometimes

Molly and Arthur are so old they could be your parents, and they have seven kids, the oldest of which is only a couple years younger than you

But at the same time, they’re really rather cute

They’ve been married for who knows how long and they’re still so in love (even when Molly threatens to decapitate her husband)

It’s sort of inspirational in a way

Liam and Ron call over to the three of you saying they’ve found a frog under one of the slides

You sigh and get up, knowing Molly doesn’t want to see any sort of amphibian and Arthur has some back problems so he probably couldn’t bend down to see the frog anyway

By the time you reach Ron and Liam, Ron’s got the poor frog cupped in his hands, and you tell him he may want to put it down since it’s scared

Ron understands and finds a puddle to release the frog into

Molly, Arthur, and Ron end up having to leave pretty quickly

Their oldest is graduating today too and they need to make it to his ceremony, so you and Liam bid them farewell and promise to make plans to hang out over the summer sometime

James sees you being dragged by Liam towards the swings as he crosses the street towards the park

Neither you nor Liam realizes he’s there until he sits in the swing next to you

But Liam’s flying into James’ gut with the tightest hug ever as soon as he sees him

You laugh and James hugs Liam back and thinks to himself that this is just the best thing ever

He couldn’t be happier in any other place with any other people

Liam tells James about the frog and that somehow evolves into thanking him for being "the best teacher ever, not the bestest because of grammar"

(James thanks Liam for being such a good student, and Liam has the biggest smile after that)

Watching Liam talk to James makes a warm fuzz rise up in your chest

They’re just so sweet with each other :(

James is so attentive with Liam and Liam talks to James like they’re both adults and it’s just the cutest sweetest nicest thing ever

Liam decides to go searching for more frogs in the wooded park near the playground, and you and James are left watching him from the swings

It’s quiet for a little while between you and James, and James suddenly becomes starkly aware that this is the first time you’ve been alone together in the month since his ER visit

Usually you have Liam or maybe Remus, Sirius, or Ms. Hope as a buffer, but now?

Now it’s just him and you

But if there’s one thing James is good at, it’s making people feel comfortable in sorta uncomfortable situations

So he makes some cheesy joke about you being the parent of a kindergarten graduate, and you laugh along and say you couldn’t be more proud of your little boy

And just like that you two are talking like best friends again

You thank him for the kind note he wrote about Liam’s performance in school that he included in the report card from the most recent parent-teacher conference

He recommends a new kind of breakfast cereal you’d seen him buy at the grocery store a couple weeks ago

You update him on the gossip and drama between Poppy and your CNO at work

He thanks you for the black-and-white cookies you made for him as a thank-you for the oatmeal raisin cookies several months ago

You tell him about a large black dog you’d seen waltzing about in Ms. Hope’s front yard once

He asks you to check on the very-much healed scar on his palm (just to be 100% sure it’s not infected, you know?)

You laugh at his jokes and he smiles at your laugh, and eventually, you fall into a silence more comfortable than the last

Eventually, James speaks up

“Hey, um …” He sighs, unsure of how he wants to go about this. I mean, it’s fine now, isn’t it? He’s no longer Liam’s teacher; you’re no longer his student’s mom because Liam isn’t his student anymore. So it’s fine. Right?

“You alright?” you ask, brows pulled just slightly together in concern. James takes a long look into your eyes before turning and setting his gaze on Liam. Your son is crouched under a wide tree, eyes trained on the dirt and mud underneath in search of frogs.

“I … yeah, I’m alright,” James says. “I, uh … I … god, this is so much more difficult than I thought it would be.” He laughs quietly at himself in a way that’s a little too self-deprecating for you to approve of, but he starts talking again before you can comment.

“Okay.” James is firm in his resolve, but he refuses to meet your eyes as he speaks. “I—I’m gonna say something, and I’m not one hundred percent sure how you’ll react, so if I say something wrong or make you uncomfortable in any way, please—please—just tell me and I’ll never bring it up again, but I wanted to tell you how—how I’ve been feeling these past couple months and I hope you feel the same way—I think you do, but maybe I’m just reading into things—but I just wanted to say that, you know, I started to think of you as my friend when we started talking in the mornings, but as soon as I saw you at parent-teacher conferences I knew you were just the kindest, most hard-working, most beautiful person I’d ever had the honor of meeting and—and over the past year, I’ve begun to have these feelings that—but it’s been so hard because I would never ever voice them while Liam is in my class because that would be terribly unprofessional and completely unfair to you, and I just—” James heaves a breath, suddenly sharply aware of the fact that he hadn’t been breathing enough, and gasped for several deep breaths.

He looked into his lap with a self-pitying laugh. “I … sorry, I’m rambling.”

James dug the toe of his shoe into the wood chips, pushing his swing lightly. Why had he done this again? Liam was barely out of his class and he was already hounding after you. God, how desperate and creepy was that? He hadn’t even truly confessed and he was sure he’d already ruined every chance of you even talking to him again, let alone—

The crunch of wood chips made James wince. He closed his eyes, certain you would simply leave him on the swings without so much as a goodbye, until he heard your steps stop abruptly somewhere in front of him. Carefully, one eye peeked open, and he saw your ballet flats standing directly in front of his seat on the swings, facing him. He looked up.

James felt like he knew you pretty well at this point, but the face you were making was one he wasn’t familiar with at all. One moment he thought it was hope, but it would switch and look like fear next, then reluctance, then … was that excitement? Happiness? Eventually, you took a deep breath, shoulders squared and ready to speak.

“Do you like coffee?”

There was a moment of silence before James very eloquently responded, “What?”

You smiled—genuine this time, if awkward.

“I mean, if you don’t, that’s totally fine, I just … figured we could go somewhere to get coffee or—or tea, or a muffin or something before I go to work rather than just, you know, talking by the mailboxes.” You let out a meek laugh, and James feels his shoulders melt away from his ears.

“Do you like coffee?” he asks back.

“I’m a nurse—coffee is the only thing keeping me from falling apart at the seams,” you quip. James outright laughs, which makes you smile, which makes him smile.

“We can go for coffee,” he agrees. “I know a café that has muffins and stuff that’s pretty close to the hospital if you’d like to go there. The Leaky Cauldron. Have you been?”

“Oh, yeah,” you say with a nod of recognition. “Me and Poppy went there for lunch once. They have a rather nice quiche.”

“Alright, it’s a date—”

James’ eyes widen as soon as the words are out of his mouth, and he looks at you like he’s in trouble. The same look of reluctance and a drop of fear clouds your eyes once more, and James finds he loathes it. He prepares himself for the worst.

“I want to say, before we … before we move forward, there are some ground rules.”

James nods quickly, eyes wide as he peered up at you. “Anything.”

You try to strangle the blush that creeps up your neck at that.

“Well, really only one ground rule,” you amend. “No matter what, I’m Liam’s mother first. Always. He already likes you, which is part of the reason I offered to get coffee—I would never go out with someone he didn’t approve of—but when it comes down to it, he’s always going to be my top priority. No matter what.”

James’ eyes soften, and he nods, reassured.

“That was one of the first things I liked about you,” he admits. “Liam is your son—your world—and I completely understand that. I would never ask you to change that, or to think of me before him. Never in a million years.”

James watches your shoulders relax, and you take a small, relieved breath before nodding.

“Thank you,” you say quietly. James just smiles up at you, eyes adoring. You finally allow your own gaze to roam freely over his features, to take in his nose, his eyes, his lips.

You take a step closer, knees brushing lightly against James’ where he sits. Ever so gently, you reach a hand out of your pocket to brush a stray curl behind James’ ear, and your hand lingers there, fingertips brushing against his jaw. James is about even with your sternum, and he can’t help but love with all his heart how pretty you look from this angle.

Slowly, leaving plenty of time for him to pull back, you bend at the waist towards him. You don’t stop until his lips are on yours in a small, tentative kiss. It's gentle and the two of you scarcely move. Just a simple press lasting a handful of seconds before you pull back just enough to look into James’ eyes.

It takes a second for him to come back down to Earth, but you can see the moment when he realizes what just happened because his eyes seem to glow with a radiant sort of joy that has you wanting to kiss him again just so that look never goes away. He smiles broadly, and it must be contagious because you end up smiling slightly too as you slide your palm against his cheek and he reaches a hand up to cup the back of your neck. He simply holds you there for a moment before laughing disbelievingly and bringing your lips to his again.

This is the last one as of right now! Click here for the series masterlist

[smutracha]

Vellichor I

Mafia!SKZ Yandere!SKZ afab!reader POLY!SKZ 

tw: violence, blood, guns, knives, nicotine, drug abuse, alcohol, ptsd

Vol 1 Vol 2 Vol 3 Vol 4 Vol 5 Vol 6 Vol 7 Vol 8 Vol 9 Vol 10 Vol 11 Vol 12 Vol 13

Third person POV:

Y/n loved the smell of this little bookstore she visited every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the smell of coffee wafting past her as she sat under the magnificent cherry blossom tree with her new book of the week. This same tree that had sheltered her in rain and covered her in petals while she was just a student and new to the country and even now as an adult.

And when she abandons her beloved tree, he knows it is not for long. She will be back with a fresh tea and a pastry, and for him a brand new poem. So, he watches her go.

“She is heading back into the bookstore, boss. I really got to tell you I do not think there is any reason to be watching her.” “It will dawn on you all the longer you watch her.” “I’ve been watching her for 6 months, she’s beautiful but what’s with the obsession.” “Just wait.”

“Y/n you know most kids your age go out drinking and drink coffee more than anything else, and why you insist on looking after that rickety old tree I don’t understand.” “Aunty, you know I grew up reading books back home, every second I had away from school would be spent reading. I love it. It’s an escape that I need. And so, when I moved to Korea and found this place and that beautiful tree, and when I saw that you sold the rooibos we sell back home, well I fell in love. This became my escape. And that tree became my friend. The hominess of this place makes me feel almost at home, like my soul is home.”

And after she returns to the tree with a poem and tea, she sits quietly, pondering a thing or two…

“Hey, I like rooibos tea too” “You know Innie, you suck at stealth” “Where’d you two come from?” “Oh, nowhere really” “You are so dumb” “I HEARD THAT YOU DOG”

“Are you guys ok?” “We’re fine.” “Just here to enjoy the scenery.” Oh, then sure sit with me. You want my tea?” “Yes please.” “Seung, you can’t just take her tea.”

And in silence the girl read poetry to the tree while the two mysterious boys watched. And when she stopped she announced her resignation.

“We should walk you home.” “Yes, a woman should never be alone at night.”

“Say what is your command captain?” “Okay, you’re sweet. Follow me boys.”

They walked for a while, deciding outside of a convenience store that late night snacks and soju would be an amazing idea.

A little further up the road they got to a tiny but cosy loft apartment, briming with greenery and books. Simple and earthy. That is what y/n is. That is why all this fuss about her existed, they got it now. They knew now, tonight they would see the way they needed her.

She went to put her TV on. Some show about a mother and daughter who drank loads of coffee came on, she insisted that Gilmore Girls was the basics of comfort shows. They decided that she was right, because this was her and she would be right in anything she declared to them. 2 bottles of soju later and she was gone, of course Innie and Seung only had like 2 shots each. So, while Seung was getting her settled in and comfortable Innie called the boss.

“Oh yes tell that pretty boy Jisung m with her right now. She is so beautiful when she is asleep, wonder what her lips feel like… who knows? Oh well, we will be staying over here to look after her and clean up. Y’all can meet her tomorrow. But God hyung, you were right about her.”

[judysxnd]

Proofs that Pedro Pascal & Y/n Y/l/n are dating, (part 4)

I didn’t know you wanted more of those! Someone left a comment they wanted to have more of those so, you asked and you shall receive! (Idk how to answer to someone when it’s a repost, so I didn’t answer, sorry!) I sound like an old person 😂

I struggle a little to keep a good schedule when it comes to writings, because I was very focused on doing the requests more than writing my own ideas.

Also I think I didn’t really keep doing them because it was becoming the same things, like I don’t have a lot of imagination when it comes to going out and stuff. It was always going to a coffee shop, simple tasks (it shows how bad my life is)

I think this one will be related to the request I got about Pedro x reader on a beach vacation. I will follow that one. The dates here are the same ones of my beach vacation. I follow reality too much!! Ok byyyyye

———————————————————————————

21.08.2023, at 1:07pm

Y/n posted an Instagram story of her in the car, and then she showed Pedro driving, but more dancing behind the wheel. They had music playing rather loudly. She captioned “6th hours on the road but it’s going pretty good”. They seemed to be headed somewhere together, somewhere far, or they had traffic. We can’t know for sure. But we missed seeing them together!

22.08.2023, during the day

They were seen multiple times walking around in a small city, which yes is far away from where they are usually seen. They were also spotted eating at a restaurant. It looks like they are on a vacation. But.. friendly vacation? Hm, to be continued..

23.08.2023, around 4pm

Pedro and Y/n were seen at a beach. They seemed to be there alone together, no one else with them. They were in a spot where there weren’t many people, but they were still spotted. Not like they were trying to hide. Pedro stayed a lot in the water, Y/n eventually joined him. She seemed a little scared but the movement of the waves, so she stayed ver closed to Pedro, holding his arms. At some point they got out of the water, laying on their towels. This is where we suspect they are together because as they were both laying on their stomach, Pedro kept his arm around Y/n’s waist. We think they were about to kiss but a fan interrupted them, asking for a picture. So close!!!!

25.08.2023, around 10am

Two days later they were seen in a port going on a small boat together. A romantic little trip? A fan from afar posted a video of Pedro helping Y/n climbing by holding her hand when then to help steady her, putting his hands on her waist. The fan filming was ecstatic! They seemed to be on this vacation just together, it really seems like it’s romantic! But when are we going to get an official statement?

26.08.2023, at 9:13am

Pedro posted a few pictures of his vacation. The beach, a video of Y/n falling because of a big wave, the port, a picture of the two of them that she took on the boat and some food. It’s giving boyfriend vibes. But.. he. did. not. caption. anything. Especially since the picture of them together on the boat is Y/n, on her knees on a couch, Pedro in front of her sitting normally, and her having her arms around his neck. We may not get anything, but still, we’re happy they’re having a good time. They seem genuinely happy.

(Y/n reposted the post on her story, choosing the picture of them together, and she just put a heart. They are driving us crazy!!!!)

27.08.2023, at 8:36am

Y/n posted a video on her story that was actually taken by Pedro. They were in the car again, this time Y/n was driving, still music in the background. At first we can see them and then Pedro turned the camera to show the view. The ocean, a beautiful blue sky a bridge at some point. It seems like they were leaving. There was a caption “one week is too short 🥺”, yeah they’re definitely leaving. She identified Pedro on it this time.

[bellaireland1981]

Starting Over | 9

Summary: You come home to work to find your husband of three years in bed with your supposed best friend. It’s the wake up call you finally needed to take your two year old daughter and get the hell out of Texas. With nowhere to go you head to your big brother in San Diego. The Dagger squad takes you under their wings, and shows you what having a family means. You get a fresh start… will you find your happily ever after?

Characters: Jake “hangman” Seresin x Sister! Reader, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Seresin! Reader (Eventually), Hangman x Phoenix , Adorable OC Gracie!   The Dagger squad

Word Count: 10454

Warnings: Angst, fighting, cheating husband, emotional abuse, eventual fluff, SMUT, Sweet uncle Jake, Adorable Rooster with a toddler… if I miss any please let me know. MINORS DNI

A/N: I don’t own the characters or storyline for Top Gun Maverick. All OC’s are mine. I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR ANYONE TO COPY OR REPOST MY WORK TO ANY OTHER PLATFORM! DON’T STEAL! Reblogs, likes and comments ALWAYS welcomed. THANK YOU @waywardodysseys​ and  @beyondthesefourwalls​ as always for reading over my work and helping me flush out ideas!!

Taglist is open! If I missed anyone who asked to be tagged, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM  to be added. It’s getting to hard to keep track of asks.

CH 1  CH 2  CH 3  Ch 4  Ch 5  Ch 6  Ch 7 Ch 8

You’d fallen into a new normal fairly easily. Gracie was loving daycare and the friends she’d made. You’d even managed to set up some playdates for her outside of daycare. You were developing a routine at the Hard Deck, setting up your own system for doing the inventory and falling seamlessly into the work there. You actually really enjoyed it too.

It’d been almost a month since your divorce. Things with Bradley were perfect. You knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was your forever love. He stayed over at the house with you and Gracie often, other nights you’d stay at his house. Neither of you liked sleeping apart.

Trent’s initial court appearance for the violation of the order of protection had been pushed back at the request of his lawyer. You’re not sure what the endgame was, he’d broken the order twice, he was only postponing the inevitable. Your lawyer assured you that you had nothing to worry about. The hearing for custody was scheduled for the following week on Thursday... It had taken longer than you thought to be scheduled, but you tried to stay positive. Gracie’s third birthday was two days later on Saturday and you were already busy planning a party. Jake insisted she needed a huge princess party. Bradley had agreed wholeheartedly, as had the entire Dagger squad.

“Sweetheart, I think we need a castle bounce house.” Bradley said, scrolling through inflatable rentals for the area on his phone.

“Where exactly do you think we’re putting this bounce house, Babe?” You asked, “The backyard is decent sized, but not bounce house sized.”

“You’re right.” He agreed, “We need a bigger venue.”

“You and Jake are out of control.” You laughed, “She’s 3.”

“I know, but this is the first birthday she’s had all of us.” He reasoned, wrapping his arms around you, “And it’s our first birthday with her as a family.”

“You make a good argument, Lieutenant.” You smiled, your arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him down to claim his lips. “I love our little family… and I love our big extended chaotic family.”

“I love YOU.” He said, smiling against your lips, “And our family.”

“I love you too, Brad.” You replied, kissing him once more before pulling back, “Ok, we’ll find a bigger venue…and get the castle bounce house.”

“We can see if Mav and Penny would let us use their yard?” Bradley suggested, “Or Mav’s hangar?”

“I don’t want to impose on anyone.” You said.

“Sweetheart, I promise they’d jump at the chance.” He assured you. “I’ll ask Mav tomorrow at work.”

Obviously, they’d been more than happy to host the party. Bradley called on his lunch break to let you know. It was your off day from the Hard Deck so you’d taken Gracie to go play at the park and run some errands. You were just getting ready to take her home for a nap when he’d called.

“Hey, Sweetheart, how are my girls?” He asked when you answered the phone on speaker. “We’re just heading home so Gracie can nap.”

“Daddy WOOSTA!” Gracie yelled from the backseat, “Mommy, can we pwease go see Daddy?”

“Hi, Princess,” Bradley replied to her, “Daddy has to go up in his jet in a little bit, Baby Girl. I promise, I’ll come see you tonight when I get done with work, ok?”

“OK, Daddy.” She said, “Wuv you!”

“I love you too, Princess.” He replied.

“Mav and Penny are happy to have her party at their house so we can finish planning with the bigger space in mind.” Bradley said, “There was zero hesitation too, Mav was like a kid at Christmas when I asked.”

“You should have seen Jake’s face last night when I told him there was a possibility of inflatables.” You laughed, “He’s a big kid.”

“We were picking out the perfect one before I called you actually.” He laughed, “Him and Phoenix just ran to grab a quick lunch together. They’re on the ground this afternoon so they get to eat a bigger lunch.”

“Come over tonight when you’re done, I’ll make sure you have a nice big dinner to make up for it.” You promised.

“And cuddles with my girls after?” He asked.

“Definitely.” You agreed.

“I’ll see you after work, Sweetheart.” He said, “Love you.”

“Love you too,” You replied, “Fly safe, Bradley.”

“Always.” He promised.

Party planning continued to go smoothly, although with Jake and Bradley helping, you found yourself having to reign them in constantly. You’d already had to veto the live ponies dressed as unicorns, which you learned later had been Mav’s suggestion.

“Penny, he’s as bad as Jake and Bradley!” You laughed, while unboxing an order of alcohol and stocking it on the shelves in back. “He suggested ponies dressed as unicorns!”

“You should have seen him in the Disney Store the other day when we went to get Gracie’s presents.” Penny replied, shaking her head smiling, “Between him and Amelia, I’m amazed we made it out of there without buying out the entire store.”

“I have to admit though,” You said, pausing from stocking the shelves, “I love seeing how much Bradley loves her, Pen. The amount of excitement he has over making this birthday so special for her, absolutely melts my heart.”

“One thing you will never have to doubt, Sweetie, is how much that man loves and adores that little girl.” She said, “In his eyes, Gracie is already one hundred percent his little girl and it doesn’t matter if there is a piece of paper that declares it, or DNA that proves it. He’s her daddy.”

“I love him so much it sometimes scares me.” You admitted, “I’m almost afraid I’ll wake up and this will all have been just a wonderful dream and I’ll be back in that nightmare of a marriage.”

“That part takes time, Y/N.” Penny said, “But I assure you, this is absolutely real. You’re free of him. Next week, I’m confident the courts will free Gracie from him. Trust that this is now your life and it’s not going anywhere.”

“Thank you, Penny.” You said, smiling, “For everything. You’ve been absolutely amazing.”

“You’re welcome, Sweetie.” She replied, “We’re family. I know you’ve heard it a lot since moving out here, but I’ll keep reminding you. This is just what you do for family.”

Once you finished work that day you picked Gracie up from daycare and headed home. Jake’s truck was already in the driveway when you got there.

“Looks like Uncle Jakey beat us home.” You said, pulling in next to him and turning the car off. You got Gracie out of her carseat and you made your way inside

“We’re home!” You called, walking in. You set your keys in the bowl next to the door and kicked your shoes off, before taking Gracie’s backpack and hanging it on the hook.

Jake came out of the kitchen, still in his flight suit but the top part off, tied around his waist. He must have just gotten home ahead of you.

“There’s my Princess G.” He said, holding his arms out for Gracie. She went straight to him to be hoisted up into a tight hug. You could tell he must have had a rough day.

“Hey, you OK, Jakey?” You asked, concern etched on your face.

“Yeah, I’m ok, Tulip.” He replied, offering a small smile. “Just a long, frustrating day where nothing went right.”

“That why you’re home early?” You asked.

“Yeah.” He sighed, “My plane’s grounded for repairs for a few days. I had a close call in the air today. It shook me.”

You stepped forward wrapping your arms around your brother and daughter as best as you could.

“I’m glad you’re OK, Jakey.” You said, “We’d be lost without you. We love our Jakey.”

“We wuv Unco Jakey.” Gracie agreed.

“I love you girls too.” He said, hugging you both tightly. “Life kinda sucked before y’all showed up on my doorstep. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“We’re really glad we’re here too.” You agreed.

A few hours later, Bradley and Phoenix showed up, both concerned about Jake. Phoenix had been in the air with Jake when he’d ran into problems, her heart in her throat until he’d been safe on the ground. Bradley had been listening from inside his plane, waiting to go up.

“I’m glad you’re OK, man.” Bradley said, “Scared the shit outta us. Thought you’d have to punch out there for a minute.”

“Me too.” He said, “I’m lucky I was able to get the engine to refire so I could save it.”

“Now I know how you felt when I had the bird strike.” Phoenix admitted. “It’s not a great feeling.”

“Darlin’, watching you punch out and your plane actually crash about killed me that day.” Jake said, pulling her into his arms. “I couldn’t get to you fast enough. Then it killed me not to be able to hug the shit out of you and reassure myself you really were OK.”

“New rule.” You said, knowing it wouldn't be enforceable, but needing to say it nonetheless, “No punching out, no crashing, no getting hurt. If you take a plane into the air, you land that plane safely on the ground or carrier you took off from.”

“We’ll do our best, Sweetheart.” Bradley smiled, pulling you against him, kissing the top of your head. “None of us want to punch out or crash. It kinda sucks.”

“It doesn't feel great.” Phoenix confirms. “Even when it’s textbook, that shit hurts.”

Jake and Phoenix ended up heading over to her place that night. Jake knew he’d be in for a rough night and he didn’t want Gracie to see him upset.

After dinner, Bradley and Gacie were playing in the living room while you finished getting the kitchen cleaned up after dinner.

“What are you building, Princess?” Bradley asked her while they built with her legos.

“I making a big big castle.” She replied, “Fow you, mommy and me. So we wiv togever! And Unco Jakey and Aunty Nix too.”

“That is a big big castle.” He smiled, his heart melting. “You’d like it if you, mommy and I all lived together?”

“Yes, Daddy!” She beamed, excitedly at him, before continuing to build.

“Princess, Daddy would love that too.” He replied, his voice thick with emotion. He’d already been thinking about asking you to move in with him. Truth be told, he really wanted to marry you, but he knows you just got out of a really bad marriage and you might not be in a hurry to jump into another marriage. He made a mental note to talk to Jake tomorrow though, he wanted to get his blessing to proceed, knowing it would be important to you.

Later that night long after Gracie was tucked into bed you and Bradley were laying in bed cuddling before going to sleep. You were tucked into his side, your arm draped over his middle, fingers tracing patterns over his chest.

“Have you noticed that lately Gracie has started to drop the Woosta and just call you Daddy?” You asked, tipping your head up to look at him.

“I have.” He replied, a smile playing on his lips, “I’ll admit, as much as I loved hearing her say ‘Woosta’ and being ‘Daddy Woosta’, just being ‘Daddy’ is a whole new and amazing feeling, Sweetheart.”

“I know it happened really fast and we didn’t really talk about it in depth…” You said, “You’re really OK with her calling you Daddy? I just don’t want you to ever feel like you were forced into that role…”

“Sweetheart.” He said, stopping you. He pulled you up and flipped you both so you were lying eye to eye on the bed. “I am one hundred percent on board here. Being Gracie’s Daddy is an honor that I am so grateful you’re trusting me with. From now until forever, that little girl is my little Princess. I’m her Daddy.”

“I love you Bradley Bradshaw.” You whispered, tears falling down your cheeks.

“I love you too, Y/N Seresin.” He replied, gently wiping the tears away and leaning in to kiss you. “From now until forever.”

Bradley’s POV

The next day at work, he went to find Jake in one of the classrooms before he had to go up in the air to fly maneuvers.  He’d already talked to Phoenix earlier that morning, needing her take on the situation before tackling the conversation with Jake. She assured him that it wasn’t crazy to be thinking about moving in or marriage this soon, that sometimes the right people meet at the right time and it’s just meant to be. She also said that he had nothing to worry about with Jake.

“Hey, you have a minute?” Bradley asked, walking into the classroom Jake was using that day.

“I’ve got nothing but minutes until my plane’s fixed.” He replied, “What’s up?”

Bradley made his way in and hopped up on one of the tables at the front, fidgeting nervously.

“Rooster.” Jake laughed, “What’s up, man? Why are you acting so damn flighty?”

“I was playing legos with Gracie last night.” He said, deciding to start with the easier of the two questions. “I asked her what she was building and she said it was a ‘big big castle’ so that her, Y/N and I can all live together. With room for Unco Jakey and Aunty Nix of course… that might be negotiable though.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure with that one.” Jake said laughing, “Princess G is a determined little one and would find a way to make it all happen. What did you tell her?”

“I just told her it’s something I’d really like too.” He replied, “I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t deliver. She’s started to call me Daddy though more and more instead of Daddy Woosta… and I REALLY like that.”

“Have you talked to Tulip?” Jake asked, “What’s her take?”

“On the title or living arrangements”? He asked.

“Both.” Jake clarified, “I’d say both are pretty big.”

“She’s the one who asked if I’d noticed the change in my title with Gracie last night, and asked if I was really Ok with her calling me Daddy.” He said, “I definitely reassured her that I’m more than happy that Gracie calls me Daddy because as far as I’m concerned she IS my little girl.”

“Ok, so that’s good.” Jake shrugged, “And did you talk to her about moving in?”

“That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about today.” Bradley admitted. “Seemed like something I should run by you… both because you’ve become my best friend and because you’re the most important person in Y/N’s life.”

“Bradley, I’d have already run ya off if I had a problem with you being with my sister.” Jake said, smiling, “You’re probably the only one I WOULD trust with her heart and with Gracie. I pretty much knew from the beginning that they were going to steal your heart and that you’d be the one to claim Tulip’s. Moving in together is the logical next step. As much as I love them being with me, at least I’ll know that with you they’re both happy and safe…and in the same damn town.”

“Thanks, Jake.” Bradley said, “That means a lot. Honestly, it was game over for me the first day when Gracie threw her arms around me and called me ‘Woosta’. I’d have given that girl anything she wanted that day.”

“Remember that when she’s a teenager, sneaking in after curfew and trying to use those big eyes and dimples against you.” Jake laughed.

“Oh Shit” Bradley groaned, “I’m never letting her leave the house. I know what teenage boys are like. They can’t go near her.”

“Good luck with that.” Jake said, “Give me a call though, I’ll be backup. What was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?”

“It’s more of a asking now for later kinda thing.” Bradley said. “I don’t know if or when Y/N would be ready to even think about marrying again… but if she’s ever on board to give it another shot… would you be OK with  me asking your sister to marry me?”

“Of course I am.” Jake said, standing and yanking Bradley off the table into a rough hug, clapping him on the back before stepping back, smiling widely. “She might surprise you, Man. You probably won’t have to wait as long as you think until she’s ready. You may want to start thinking about rings. I see the way my sister looks at you…it’s the same way I look at Nat. Between you and me and the walls… I’ve been thinking along those lines myself lately.”

“No shit!” Bradley exclaimed, “Proposing or moving in? Both?”

“Both.” Jake said, “It’s been on constant repeat since yesterday with the not so nice reminder that with this job we never know what the next day will bring. I just don’t know if it’s too soon. I don’t want to spook her.”

“I acutally was talking to her this morning before I came to talk to you.” Bradley said, “Kinda needed reassurance that I wasn’t about to die for one, and that I wasn’t rushing things. She told me not to buy into the whole social norm timeline for relationships bullshit. Two people meet or come together when they’re supposed to and it doesn't matter what the timeline is. Plus, let’s be honest, the two of you have been flirting with the idea of being together long before you made the move to BE together so that counts towards the bogus timeline right?”

“So… ring shopping this weekend?” Jake asked, chuckling, “To be prepared…”

“I have my mom’s ring that I was planning on giving Y/N, but I will absolutely go with you.” Bradley said. “How do you think Gracie will take the news that we won’t have a castle for all of us to live together?”

“We promise her Disneyland.” Jake said, “And weekend sleepovers with her favorite Uncle and Aunty Nix.”

“So…bribery?” Bradley clarified.

“Yup!” Jake laughed.

Your POV

By the time the weekend rolled around, you knew that Jake and Bradley were definitely plotting something. There’d been a lot of hushed conversations and text messages back and forth. Friday you and Phoenix had enlisted Bob’s help at the weekly dinner to try to ferret out information without any luck. You’d even contemplated using your own daughter.

“Those two plotting together makes me nervous.” Phoenix admitted while you were cleaning up the kitchen together after dinner on Friday night.

“EXACTLY!” You exclaimed, “Whatever it is, probably means trouble. I think I saw them bringing Mav into the mix too.”

“We may need to ask Penny to see if she can put out feelers.” Phoenix suggested, “If anyone can reign in Mav and the boys in it’ll be her.”

“Or at least find out what’s going in.” You reasoned.

“If nothing else, I’ll work on Jake tomorrow night while we’re hanging with Gracie.” Phoenix said

“Am I being kicked out for a super fun fort night again?” You asked, confused. Before she could respond Bradley and Jake came in carrying the rest of the dishes.

“Not being kicked out.” Jake laughed, “So dramatic, Tulip.”

“I asked if Jake and Phoenix had plans, and if they minded if I stole you for a date night ahead the upcoming week.” Bradley said, wrapping his arms around you from behind and resting his chin on the top of your head. “I know this week is going to be a rollercoaster, so before it gets crazy, I wanted to carve out some time for the two of us.”

“And it’s a win-win, because we get time with Princess G.” Jake said.

“Speaking of…”Phoenix said, “Where is the little nugget?”

“With Mav.” Bradley chuckled. You turned in his arms so you were facing him, wrapping your own arms around his neck and stealing a quick kiss.

“I’d love time for just the two of us tomorrow night.” You told him, “I’m really hoping that by this time next week everything will be settled and we won’t have anything left to worry about.”

“You and me both, Baby.” He replied, kissing you softly.

The next morning Jake and Bradley disappeared for several hours. You definitely made a mental note to ask Penny if she knew what the two were plotting. You decided to call Phoenix to see if she wanted to go shopping for some birthday party supplies.

“Since our men are off on a top secret mission, do you want to go get some party supplies for Gracie’s birthday with me?” You asked her.

“Absolutely!” She agreed, “Give me like twenty minutes and I’ll head over.”

“We can pick you up.” You suggested, “Save you a trip.”

“I’ll need my car tomorrow anyway, this way I’ll already be there when it’s time for you and Bradley to go out.” She said.

“Makes sense.” You agreed, “Maybe we just need one giant house at this point instead of three separate dwellings.”

“You might be onto something.” She laughed.

Once Phoenix had arrived you all headed out to the party store. You put Gracie in the cart and headed straight to the Princess aisle, gathering up plates, cups, napkins and other decorations you’d need. Phoenix insisted on a helium tank and enough balloons to float the house. By the time you left the store your trunk was loaded with supplies.

“How about we run to the Disney store and let Gracie pick out a princess dress to wear to her party?” Phoenix said. “We’ve got time before the boys are done on their mission I’m sure.”

“Those dresses are super expensive.” You said, “Any luck getting info from Jake on that?”

“It’ll be my treat for her. She needs a princess dress for a princess party.” Phoenix insisted. “And nope, he kept changing the subject then distracted me.”

“Bradley did the same thing.” You laughed. “And, are you sure? We can find a princess dress cheaper I’m sure…”

“Y/N, Disney Store. NOW.” She replied, playfully glaring at you, before turning to look at Gracie in the back, “Sweet girl, do you want to go pick out a Princess dress from the Disney Store for your birthday party with Aunty Nix?”

“YES!” Gracie exclaimed, “I wuv you Aunty Nix!”

“I love you too, Gracie!” Phoenix said, turning back to smile widely at you. “See? My girl wants a princess dress.”

“When she’s a teenager and still expecting the princess treatment, I’m sending her to you and Jake.” You laughed.

“We’ll take her.” She agreed, getting a soft dreamy look on her face. “Honestly, I love the idea of still being with Jake when Gracie is a teenager.”

“I have no doubts that you will be.” You assured her. “My brother is absolutely in love with you, Nat. I’ve never seen him as happy as he is with you, nor have I ever seen him as content. He’s himself with you, he lets his guard down and is the most at peace around you. He’s never been that way with anyone else before.”

“I love him too.” She said, “Completely in love with him. Not going to lie… it scared the crap out of me at first. I started to see cracks in the cocky Hangman exterior after that last mission, but it was when you and Gracie got here that I really got to see the softer side of him. You say it’s me that brings it out in him, but I think it’s you and Gracie that brought that out in him.”

“So we call it a group effort.” You compromised, chuckling. “The point is… He’s not going anywhere. His heart belongs to you, Nat.”

“That’s good because mine belongs to him too.” She smiled.

Jake’s POV

They’d left that morning once the jewelers had opened. Phoenix had gone back to her apartment late the night before, saying she needed to get some laundry and stuff done there. It made it easier only having to get past Tulip. He knew she was suspicious, but hopefully she’d just think they were plotting something for Gracie’s birthday.

“How can I help you gentlemen this morning?” An older man asked, greeting them from behind the glass counter filled with rings. He was smiling at them as they stepped closer to the cases.

“We’re shopping for engagement rings.” Jake replied, already starting to feel overwhelmed by the sheer options.

“Well congratulations.” He said, looking at Bradley, “What do you have in mind”

“Not me!” Bradley laughed, “I’m here for moral support.”

“My apologies, Sir.” The man said, turning red. Jake looked over at Bradley laughing, relaxing immediately.

“It’s fine.” Bradley said, “That’s definitely going into the best man speech!”

“Of course it is.” Jake chucked, shaking his head. “Nat’s gotta say ‘yes’ first though.”

“She will.” Bradley said confidently, his eyes wandering over all of the options. “What are you thinking for her?”

“She’s not really into flashy jewelry.” Jake said, “I’ve never really seen her wear anything more than earrings and occasionally a simple necklace when we go out.”

“And she’s not going to want anything that’ll get in the way when we’re flying.” Bradley pointed out. “If she decides to wear it while flying. She may opt to put it on dog tags or leave it on the ground.”

“Maybe we should have let Tulip in on this mission and brought her along.” Jake groaned. “What does your mom’s ring look like? Maybe that’ll give me a starting point?”

“It’s a solitaire set in a gold band.” He replied, “It’s pretty simple, but it meant the world to her. I’m actually thinking I’ll bring Y/N in and we can get wedding bands to match it, that way she still gets something new.”

“Rooster, you know she won’t care about it not being new right?” Jake asked, “The fact that it was your moms and has meaning to you will make it the most precious thing in the world to her.”

“I know.” He shrugged, “I just figured that after everything she’s been through, she deserves a little bit of new and spoiling.”

“I have no doubt that she and Gracie will be plenty spoiled.” Jake said, “OK, so let’s start with solitaires.”

“Those are over here.” The man behind the counter said, directing them over to the case with all of the solitaire sets. “We have several options to choose from, as well as matching wedding bands.”

“Shit there are a lot of choices.” Jake sighed, “Ok, so set or solitaire and band? What’s the difference?”

“The set can be welded together so it would become one ring after the wedding.” The man replied, “Some prefer that as opposed to having two separate rings.”

“Ok, that makes sense.” Jake replied, “I think she’d probably rather have that.”

“I think so too.” Bradley agreed. “Less to keep track of.”

“Perfect. Set it is.” Jake said, “That narrows it down some.”

“Does she wear more gold or silver jewelry?” Bradley asked, “I never really pay attention.”

“I think gold.” Jake replied. “I know the necklace she normally wears is a gold pendant.”

“Ok, I’d go with a gold band then.” Bradley suggested, scanning the case of rings.

They both looked over the solitaire case but nothing really jumped out at either one of them.

“Perhaps, something a little more detailed than a solitaire set but not overly showy will be more to her taste?” The man suggested, “We have some lovely sets over here that showcase a larger center stone with smaller stones to the sides that also have matching wedding bands. They’re simple, elegant, and quite stunning.”

He directed them to a case further down the row with rings that were a little more elaborate than the solitaire sets yet still not overly flashy, just as he’d described.

Jake let his gaze wander over the options trying to picture them on Nat’s finger before falling on that looked perfect.

“That one!” He exclaimed, pointing to the set closest to him in the front. “May I see that one, please?”

“Certainly.” The man smiled, pulling the set from the case and gently setting it in front of Jake. It was a yellow gold set, the engagement ring had a larger center diamond just like the man had said then tiny diamonds making up the band about ¾ away around the band. The wedding band was contoured to fit with the engagement band and had tiny diamonds paved into ¾ of the band as well. It was beautiful and elegant without being gaudy and overly flashy. It was simple but not plain. It was perfect.

“This is the one.” Jake said. “I’ll take it.”

“Umm, shouldn’t you maybe find out a price on that first?” Bradley asked, chuckling.

“Doesn't matter.” Jake said, shrugging, “She’s worth it.”

The man went to start the paperwork and process the sale. Jake felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest. It felt like his body was on fire and breathing was becoming very difficult.

“Jake.” Bradley said firmly, seeing the change in him. He turned to the salesman, “Do you have a bottle of water at all?”

“Yes.” He said, hurrying to the back room and returning quickly with a bottle of water in hand.

“Jake, take a drink man,” Bradley ordered, “Slow deep breaths and concentrate on taking a few sips of water.”

Jake took the bottle, sipping slowly, trying to stay focused on just taking oxygen into his lungs and slowing his heart rate.

“If you’re not ready for this, we can totally come back another day.” Bradley assured him, “You don’t have to jump into anything. There is absolutely no rush.”

“It’s not that.” Jake whispered, “I am ready. I love her. I want to marry her… it just… it got real… and every time I’ve ever gotten really close to actual happiness or my life being really good… it’s all gotten yanked from under me. I guess… I just… panicked.”

“I get that.” Bradley said, putting his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “It’s easy to panic when things go well and everything falls into place when you’re so used to it all going to hell or the floor dropping out from under you when you think you’re on solid ground. But one thing I’ve managed to learn since coming back to Top Gun and even more recently since meeting your sister… is sometimes… it’s ok to trust the good stuff. Life doesn’t always have to suck. People don’t always leave. It’s ok to let others in.”

“The world won’t come crashing down?” Jake asked, a small smile finally making its way to his lips as he glanced over to Bradley.

“Nope.” Bradley replied, returning the smile, “The world just gets bigger and brighter. It gives you even more reason to come home. Hell, man it makes this life MORE worth living. Because let’s face it, were we REALLY living before we let those women in? Honestly?”

“I’d call it more existing.” He agreed. “Ok… this is me… trusting that the universe is not going to turn against me here. I’m going to buy the ring, and when the moment is right, I’m asking Nat to marry me.”

“And we’ll all be there to celebrate the two of you  when she says ‘yes’.” Bradley said, clapping him on the back. “Come on, it’s time to go drain your bank account.”

“Worse case scenario, we find that really big house that Gracie wants and we all live together to help cut down on other expenses.” Jake teased, walking over to the counter. “Sorry about that, Sir. What’s the damage?”

“Nothing I’ve not seen before, I assure you.” He smiled gently, before giving him the total. It wasn’t nearly as bad as either of them imagined. Needless to say Jake would not need to empty any accounts. He did however decide to use his credit card because while it wasn’t an exorbitant amount of money, it wasn’t chump change either. Growing up the way they had, he never felt comfortable running his accounts too low now.

Once the ring had been paid for, the salesman polished the rings and placed them both in separate ring boxes then into a small bag. After thanking him for this help, Jake and Bradley headed out of the store and towards Jake’s truck.

“Alright, now I have to hide this until the right moment…” Jake said, “And try not to panic and word vomit the second I see her.”

“That would not make for a very romantic proposal story for your children one day.” Bradley laughed. “I word vomited after buying Mommy a ring…”

“I think that’s why I love when we get to keep Gracie for Tulip when y’all have date nights.” Jake admitted, “I love watching Nat with her… it’s easy to imagine how it’ll be with our own kids one day.”

“I get it.” Bradley smiled, “I get the same feeling when I’m with Y/N and Gracie. I’d love to have more kids with her too.”

“Gracie needs a baby brother.” Jake agreed, smirking, “Maybe name him Bradford Bradley Bradshaw?”

“You know, I’m really happy nobody suggested that to my parents when they were naming me.” Bradley said, glaring at Jake. “We will not be continuing that trend…I won’t do that to my kid.”

Your POV

After the trek to the Disney store, where Gracie had indeed found the perfect dress and matching accessories (Nat had insisted they were needed), you all stopped for lunch before heading back to the house. You ended up pulling into the driveway at the same time as Jake and Bradley.

“Where did you lovely ladies adventure to?” Jaked asked, getting out of the truck.

“Unco Jakey!”  Gracie called from the backseat, “Out! Out! Pwease!”

“You’re being paged, Uncle Jakey.” You laughed, as you got out and went around to the trunk. “We went to get party supplies for Gracie’s party and then Aunty Nix insisted on a trip to the Disney Store for Gracie Girl’s outfit for the party.”

“Let me grab the bags, Sweetheart.” Bradley said, coming over and stealing a kiss, “Missed you this morning.”

“Missed you too,” You smiled, kissing him back. “Did you and Jake have fun?”

“Yeah, it was good.” He replied, smirking, “We accomplished our mission.”

“You’re not gonna tell me what it was are you?” You asked, laughing.

“Nope.” He confirmed, “Not happening, Baby.”

“Worth a shot.” You shrugged, smiling, “Come on, let’s get this inside. Gracie needs to go down for a nap.”

Phoenix came around and helped the two of you carry all of the bags inside while Jake carried Gracie into the house. You put all the bags with supplies in the laundry room for the time being so they were out of the way.

“Gracie, it's time for your nap, sweet girl.” You said, finding her sitting on Jake’s lap on the couch, telling him all about the Disney Store.

“You can show me your dress when you wake up my sweet Princess G.” Jake promised.  

“Ok, Unco Jakey.” She agreed. “Daddy, you take me nite nite?”

“I sure will, Princess.” Bradley smiled at her, walking over to scoop her up into his arms. “Give Mommy hugs and kisses first.”

“Sweet dreams, Gracie girl.” You said, hugging and kissing your daughter. “Love you.”

“Wuv you too Mommy.” She replied, hugging you back. “Wuv you Aunty Nix and Unco Jakey.”

“We love you too.” They replied as Bradley carried her off to bed.

Bradley left after Gracie woke up to go get ready for your date. He hadn’t wanted to leave while she was sleeping and risk upsetting her. As promised she immediately demanded to show off her new princess dress and accessories to Jake as soon as she’d woken up. You and Phoenix helped her into the outfit and she paraded into the living room to show her uncle. You knew right away you’d have your hands full once she hit the teenage years.

“Wow, Princess G.” Jake exclaimed, “You look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart! Just like a real life princess!”

Gracie beamed at the praise, twirling in the living room to show off the dress, full of giggles. All three of you had your phones out snapping pictures and taking video.

“You’re going to be the prettiest princess in all the land and especially the prettiest at your party, Sweet Girl.” You told her. “Let’s take it off though for now so it doesn't get ruined before your party ok? Do you want to put on one of your costume Disney dresses?”

“Yes pwease!” She exclaimed, not quite ready to be done with dress up, but not wanting to ruin her new dress either.

A while later, Jake and Phoenix send you off to go get ready for your date, taking over with Gracie. You’re not exactly sure what Bradley has planned but you know it doesn’t involve blanket forts this time. You took a quick shower and freshened up, opting to not wash your hair as that would take too much time to style afterwards.

You went through your closet, not really sure what to wear. You really needed to think about expanding your wardrobe, but really hated to shop for yourself.

“Nat!” You called out from your open door, a towel wrapped around you, “I’m having a wardrobe crisis!”

“On my way!” She yelled from the kitchen where she was helping Jake cook. A minute later she slipped into the room, “Alright, what do we have to work with?”

“Not much.” You sighed, “I don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing and I don’t have a whole lot of options.”

“Ok, no worries.” She assured you, “We’ll find something. You’ve got some pretty dresses, we can glam up or make them casual depending on what we need. Want to text Rooster to find out what the evening calls for?”

“Good idea.” You replied, “I’ll just call him though. It’s faster.”  You grab your phone from the bed and call Bradley.

“Hey, Sweetheart,” He answered, “Everything ok?”

“No.” You replied, sighing “I have no idea what to wear because I don’t know where we’re going and I’m currently hating my closet.”

“Ok, well that’s an easy fix.” He laughed, “I’m sorry you’re hating your closet, Sweetheart. We can go shopping and find clothes you don’t hate. I’ll even happily carry all your bags and will make sure you have an unlimited supply of iced coffees while we shop.”

“I love you.” You replied, smiling, all of the anxiety that had been building suddenly melted away, “I’m sorry for the mini freak out.”

“I love you too.” He replied, “And you’re allowed any sized freak out whenever. You don’t have to apologize for that. As for the date tonight… I’m picking up take out and we’re having a picnic on the beach. Then coming home to get comfy and cuddle in bed and watch a movie and eat snacks. Does that help?”

“Yes.” You replied, “It helps a lot. And it sounds absolutely perfect.”

“I’ll pick you up in a little bit, Sweetheart.” He promised, “I love you.”

“I’ll be ready.” You replied, “Love you too.”

After hanging up you took a deep cleansing breath then turned to Phoenix.

“Ok, we need something for a beach picnic.” You said, “Then we’re going back to his house and watching a movie and eating snacks, so I’ll just steal one of his tshirts at that point. The man is literally perfect.”

“He definitely knows how to read you.” She smiled, “Last night he was trying to decide between a big fancy dinner date or a more low key just the two of you no pressure kinda date. I’m guessing the phone call just now may have tipped the scales.”

“Oh God, you mean he may have had reservations somewhere and just completely threw his plan out the window because I’m a basketcase?” You said, on the verge of another freak out.

“And even if he did,” Phoenix assured you, “He would be absolutely fine in canceling it and changing it last minute if it meant making you happy. That man will do literally anything in his power if it puts a smile on your face. But more importantly, that’s what we do for those we love… we adjust as the situation calls for it. Jake and I would do the same for one another. It’s normal, Y/N.”

“I’ve never had ‘normal’” You admitted, “But, I would do the same for him.”

“See? Perfectly normal and healthy relationship.” She smiled, “Now, come on, let’s get you ready and on your way to your perfect date.”

Twenty minutes later you were dressed in a simple maxi skirt with a tshirt knotted at the waist and a pair of sandals. You were alerted to Bradley’s arrival by Gracie’s squeal of delight at her Daddy walking in the front door..

You made your way out to the living room to find Bradley already on the floor playing with Gracie. Jake and Phoenix were in the kitchen finishing up getting dinner ready for the three of them.

“You look beautiful, Sweetheart.” Bradley said looking up and smiling from his spot on the floor.

“Thank you.” You replied, smiling back at him, “You’re looking pretty handsome yourself.”

“Princess G, dinner’s ready.” Jake said coming out of the kitchen, looking over at you he smiled, “You look beautiful, Tulip.”

“Thanks Jakey.” You smiled back, “And thank you again for keeping Gracie tonight.”

“No thanks needed for that!” Jake replied, “I never turn down time with my favorite Princess.”

Bradley stood up and scooped Gacie up with him, hugging her and giving her lots of kisses making her giggle.

“Daddy!” She exclaimed, “That tickles!”

“Just getting all the kisses to power me up!” He reasoned, chuckling.

“Come give Mommy hugs and kisses, Gracie.” You said, holding your hands out to her and taking her from Bradley. “I love you, Sweet girl. Be good for Uncle Jakey and Aunty Nix and Mommy will see you tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok, Mommy.” She said, hugging you back, “I wuv you too!”

You set her down and she ran off to the kitchen.

“Have fun you two.” Jake said, winking, “See you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, man,” Bradley said, “Ready to go, Sweetheart?”

“I am,” You replied, “Let me grab my bag quickly.”

Bradley drove you to a semi private beach and pulled the Bronco into a parking spot. He came around to open your door and help you down from the passenger seat before reaching into the back to grab a blanket and a picnic basket before taking your hand and leading you down to the beach.

“Where did you find an actual picnic basket?” You asked him, as you walked to a secluded part on the beach.

“I borrowed it from Penny.” He replied, setting the basket down to spread the blanket out on the sand. You helped him to smooth out the corners, slipping your shoes off to set at the edge.

“Did you change plans last minute because I was freaking out?” You asked, wanting to confirm Phoenix’s theory.

“I decided in the moment that this would be more in line with what you needed is all.” He replied, smiling softly, “I know this week is going to be a lot for you and the last thing I wanted was to add to the stress and anxiety. This way it’s just the two of us, no stress or pressure.”

“I love you so much, Bradley.” You beamed, leaning over towards where he was seated and softly kissing him, “You’re so good to me, I’m so lucky to have you.”

“I love you too, Sweetheart.” He replied, kissing you back, “And I am the lucky one. You’ve literally given me a family, Baby… so much more than I ever thought I’d have in my life.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” You smiled. “Gracie and I are all yours.”

Bradley pulled out the food from the basket along with glasses and a bottle of wine. He’d picked up Italian take out from the restaurant you’d gone to on your first date.

“Recreating our first date?” You asked, smiling.

“The good parts.” He replied, filling your glass of wine. “Let’s change the ending though.”

“I’ll drink to that.” You laughed. “I’d say your odds of getting me in bed tonight are VERY good, Lieutenant.”

“I can work with those odds.” He smirked, “That would make for a much better ending than the first date for sure.”

“It would indeed.” You agreed. “Although, technically you got me in bed that night too.”

The two of you ate your dinner, talking, laughing and flirting with one another. You only drank a couple glasses of the wine, Bradley only drinking one because he was driving. You put the cork back into the bottle to save it for later.

“Want to go for a walk before we head back to the house?” Bradley asked, once you’d both finished eating.

“That sounds perfect.” You replied.

He stood up and reached his hand down to help you up. You both left your shoes on the blanket, walking barefoot in the sand along the water.  You walked hand in hand just enjoying the beautiful evening. The sun was starting to dip lower in the sky, casting a pinkish glow to the horizon.

“The other day, when Gracie and I were playing, I asked her what she was building…” Bradley said, stopping and pulling you around to face him. “She told me she was building a big castle for you, me and her to live in… and Uncle Jake and Aunty Nix.”

“That would need to be a pretty big castle.” You smiled.

“I don’t think we’ll find any big castles in southern California near the naval base.” Bradley said, “But… I would really love for you and Gracie to move in with me…or for us to find a place closer to Jake if need be for Gracie…I just really want to live with my girls. Will you and Gracie live with me, Sweetheart?”

“We absolutely will!” You smiled widely, wrapping your arms around his neck, your fingers threading into his hair, “Your house is already perfect, Bradley. There’s no need to find anything new. We just want to be with you too.”

“I talked to Jake about it already,” He admitted, “I wasn’t sure how Gracie would do with being separated from him again. We came up with a plan… it involves occasional sleepovers at Uncle Jake’s on the weekends and a trip to Disneyland to soften the blow.”

“So bribery?” You laughed.

“Yup!” Bradey agreed, “Also, I figured we’d recreate her Princess room for her at our house… so it’ll be a win-win for her.”

“I think the fact that she’ll be living with YOU full time will be enough of an enticement.” You smiled, “I like the sound of that though, ‘our house’.”

“As of right now Sweetheart, that’s exactly what it is.” He said.

“In that case,” You said, “How about we go collect our stuff and go home, Lieutenant?”

“That’s a fantastic idea.” He agreed, leaning down to capture your lips before spinning you both around and heading back down the beach towards your stuff.

Bradley pulled the Bronco into the driveway, shutting off the ignition and getting out to come around to help you out. Instead of helping you down from the Bronco, he swept you up into his arms, carrying you bridal style towards the house.

“Bradley!” You exclaimed, laughing, “What are you doing?”

“I’m carrying you over the threshold into our home.” He replied, winking at you as he carefully maneuvered to unlock the door without dropping you. “It’s tradition.”

“I don’t think that applies to moving in together.” You answered, smiling at him, “That’s marriage.”

“Well, we’re making our own rules here.” He said, stepping into the house and kicking the door closed with his foot. “Welcome home, Sweetheart.”

“I love you,” You said, pulling his head down to kiss him gently.

“I love you too.” He replied against your lips, “I can’t wait to move you and Gracie in here” He let you slide down so you were standing in front of him, but kept you wrapped in his arms. Leaning down again to place gentle kisses along your jawline, moving to your ear and down your neck.

“And when do you think you’re wanting that to happen?” You ask, your fingers threading into his hair, your head tipping to the slide to allow him easier access to your neck.

“Tomorrow too soon?” He asked, nipping at your ear, causing a shiver to run down your body.

“We might need more than a day to get things ready and to make that happen.” You replied, your voice shaky, “But we’ll go with soon.”

“ASAP.” He said, kissing his way back up before claiming your lips, his tongue slipping into your mouth meeting your own. His hands moved down over the curve of your hips, around to your butt, pulling you tighter into him.

Your hands wandered down to the buttons on his shirt, undoing them one by one until you could slide the shirt off his shoulders, letting it pool on the floor at his feet. He was left in a white fitted tank top that you quickly pulled from where it was tucked into his jeans and pushed it up and off of him with his help, throwing it to land with his other shirt.  You let your fingers wander over his broad shoulders, gently tracing a scar on his left shoulder…moving up on your tiptoes to gently trail kisses where your fingers had been, drawing a soft moan from Bradley. His hands are resting on your hips, giving you free reign at the moment. You continue to trail soft kisses over his chest, sternum, and collarbone, moving up to your tiptoes to kiss along the scar on his neck , letting your tongue lick along the raised edge.

“Shit, Baby, you’re driving me crazy.” He groaned, his voice thick with need, “You’re so fucking hot.”

“You’re pretty damn hot yourself, Roo.” You said, nipping at the sensitive skin on his neck by his ear. “Feel like moving this to our bedroom?”

“Jesus, Sweetheart.” He rasped, lifting you off the ground, causing you to laugh and wrap your legs around him as best as you could with your skirt in the way. He hurried up the stairs to the master bedroom, not stopping until he was in the room and falling with you onto the bed, causing you both to erupt into a fit of giggles.

“Hi.” You whispered, once you’d both stopped giggling. You were lying under him on the bed, he was bracing himself on his arms to keep the majority of his weight off of you.

“Hi, Baby.” He replied, leaning down to peck your lips in a soft gentle kiss, before moving down to slowly trail kisses to your neck and the shell of your ear, whispering “I think you’re wearing too many clothes.”

“What do you plan to do about it.” You asked, squirming against him, trying to gain friction where you needed it the most.

In reply, he sat back up, pulling you with him. He continued to kiss over your neck as he hands ran over sides, to the knot at the front of your tshirt undoing it and pulling it up over your head. He tossed the shirt off to the side, not caring where it landed.

“You’re so damn beautiful, Sweetheart.” He said, his eyes roaming over the skin he’d exposed. His hands ghosted over your  breasts, moving to your shoulders, bending his head to allow his mouth to follow the path of his hands. He reached around to undo the clasp of your bra, before gently peeling it away from your body and tossing it to join your shirt on the floor. “Lay back, Baby.”

You laid back against the pillow, giving him easy viewing access to your now half naked self.

“Bradley” You moaned, “Please… I need you…” You could feel an ache building deep inside that only Bradley would be able to satiate.  

“What do you need, Sweetheart?” He asked, leaning down to plant kisses over your collarbone, moving down towards the tops of your breasts. His hand moves to your right breast, gently squeezing before his thumb rubs over the sensitive nipple.

“Need you to touch me” You begged, your hands threading into his hair.

“I am touching you.” He teased, chuckling. He dipped his head down, his hot tongue licking over your nipple before taking the whole thing into his mouth, sucking hard and effectively stopping any train of thought you were capable of. You gasped, moaning his name, your fingers tightening in his hair.

“Brad…” You cry out, releasing your fingers from his hair and moving your hands down over his shoulders to his back, fingers digging into him wherever you can reach. “Fuck… feels so good.”

He moved his hands down to the waistband of your skirt, his mouth following over your skin, trailing kisses down your torso before he’s sitting up, and tugging off your skirt and panties in one motion. You let out a breathy giggle at his sudden impatience to have you completely naked.

“Now you’re the one wearing too many clothes, Lieutenant.” You teased, sitting up. You move your hands to the button of his jeans, undoing it and slowly lowering the zipper, your hands brushing against his arousal in the process. With the newly found access, you run your  hand over his hardened cock now only covered by his boxers, wrapping your fingers around as best as you can, stroking him with his pants still around his hips.

“Baby, as fucking amazing as that feels,” He moaned, “I have other plans that don’t include me coming in my boxers with you stroking me off.”

“Hmm and what do these plans include then?” You asked, smiling at him innocently, continuing to apply pressure but moving lower on his shaft.

“You’re a minx.” He growled, grabbing your hands and pinning you back against the bed, his lips capturing yours in a heated kiss, his tongue pushing into your mouth to dance over your own. After a moment he pulled away so you could both catch your breath while he took the time to finally divest himself of his jeans and boxers before moving back up over you. “My turn, Sweetheart.” he said, sliding his hands up your thighs, his thumbs moving to your inner thighs, pulling your legs apart to expose your already wet center.

“All this for me, Baby?” He asked, running one hand over through slick folds, drawing a moan from your lips. He maneuvered himself down onto the bed so he was now lying between your thighs, his broad shoulders now keeping you spread open, his arms coming around to brace himself and cradle your sides.  You nearly jolted off the bed at the first swipe of his tongue through your folds, the only thing keeping you secured to the bed was his body. “Fuck you taste good, Sweetheart.”

“Brad…” You whimpered, arching towards him, needing him to sooth the deep ache he’d created in your core. Your hands fisted in the sheets at your sides, desperately trying to anchor yourself to something. “Please…”

“I’ve got you, Baby.” He promised, dipping his head again and licking a stripe through your wet folds once more before latching his mouth to your clit and sucking, causing you to cry out his name. He continued to run his tongue over your pussy and clit, alternating between licking and sucking, driving your pleasure higher and higher. Your hands moved from the deathgrip they had on the sheets, to your fingernails scraping over his shoulders, to finally threading your fingers into his hair, holding his head to you.

“So close…” You gasped, “Bradley…. Gonna cum.” You panted, trying to suck in oxygen, the band of pleasure tightening in your belly, each swipe of his tongue driving you impossibly higher.

“Let go for me, Baby.” He said, looking up at you. He latched his mouth onto your clit, sucking hard as he thrust his ring and middle fingers into your pussy, curling them in a ‘come here’ motion, hitting your g spot. It was enough to snap the band and send you soaring over the ledge into an intense orgasm, your inner walls clenching down around his fingers.

“Bradley!” You cried out, “Oh fuck!” He continued to slowly move his fingers in and out of your pussy while you rode out the orgasm, waiting for you to come down, kissing your inner thigh and whispering words of praise.

“You doing, OK, Sweetheart?” He asked, smirking up at you from his position.

“Up here… now.” You replied, reaching for him. He happily complied, moving so he was once more leaning over you, his lips coming down to claim yours. You let one hand move to wander over his back, the other moving between you to stroke over his now very hard cock, precum leaking from the tip. “I need you inside me… want you to fill me up, Bradley.”

“Fuck, Sweetheart.” He growled, attacking your lips in a fiery messy kiss, tongues battling for dominance, teeth nipping at your lower lip, before he pulled back to gasp, “Guide me home, Baby.”  He returned to kissing you fiercely, bringing his hand up to thread into your hair, his other arm supporting his weight so as not to crush you. You stroked his shaft from base to tip twice before lining him up with your entrance, his tip slipping into your folds, gathering your slickness before he pushed in further. You brought your arm around so both hands were now moving over his back, fingers digging in. You wrapped your legs around his waist, opening up and allowing him more access.

“Don’t tease, Bradley.” You whined, when he still hadn’t pushed all the way in. “Need you, please!” you started to beg.

Unable to deny you, he thrust fully into you, his hips slamming against your own as he fully seated himself inside of you, the tip of his cock hitting your cervix. The movement caused you both to let out a deep moan, clinging to one another in desperate need.  He gave you a moment to adjust to his size, even though you’d been sleeping together now since your divorce was finalized, Bradley was still well endowed and you needed a moment to adjust each time.

“I’m good.” You gasped, letting him know he could move now, arching up into him and clenching your inner muscles.

“Oh, shit you feel so damn good, Sweetheart.” He groaned, “Taking me so well…” He started to pull back until he was almost all of the way out and then slammed back down, pushing all of the way in again. He set a  steady pace, moving in and out, driving you both closer and closer to a mind shattering orgasm.

“Don’t stop….” You begged, your nails digging into his back, surely leaving crescent shaped marks for later. “So close…please.”

“Not stoppin’, Baby.” He promised, slightly out of breath from the exertion, “You feel so fucking amazing… can’t get enough.”  He continued his brutal pace, slamming into you, his cock hitting your g spot with every thrust. He reached between your bodies to rub his thumb over your clit, “Give it to me, Honey, cum on my cock…let me feel it.”

The combination of him hitting so deep, his thumb relentless on your clit and his words, pushed you over the edge. You felt your walls clench down around his cock, trying to lock him inside of you, every muscle in your body tensing up as pleasure washed over your whole body.

“Mmm, shit, Bradley!” You gasped, the pleasure of the second orgasm overwhelming you, this one more intense than the first one, “Fuck… love you… so… much.”  

“Jesus you’re squeezing me so tight…” He moaned, close to his own orgasm. His rhythm becoming more erratic, “Love you so fucking much Sweetheart…. So close….. Fuck…. Cumming…”  he brought his mouth to yours, capturing your lips in a desperate kiss as ropes of his hot cum painted your inside walls, filling you impossibly full.

Once spent, he collapsed onto you, careful not to crush you. You wrapped your arms around him holding him tightly to you, enjoying the feeling of being connected as you both returned to Earth. After a few moments, he rolled over, taking you with him, so you were now lying on top of him, your head resting on his chest, content to listen to his heartbeat.

“We need to get cleaned up, Sweetheart.” Bradley said quietly after a few minutes, “I should probably get the leftovers out of the Bronco too.”

“I don’t wanna move.” You complained, snuggling in closer to him, causing him to chuckle.

“How about we grab a quick shower, I get the leftovers dealt with, then we cuddle in bed the rest of the night.” He suggested, holding you tighter, “And every night after that… because you and our baby girl are moving in!”

“We are…” You tip your head to look at him smiling brightly, “I can’t wait. I’ll get to go to bed with you and wake up with you every single night…except when you deploy…those nights will suck.”

“Those will be few and far between, Sweetheart.” He said, “We won’t worry about those just yet.”

“Ok.” You agreed, not wanting to focus on anything depressing. “How about tomorrow we talk to Gracie about moving in… maybe we can start looking at some bedroom furniture for her and make a plan on when we can make it official.”

“Sounds perfect.” He said, “Let’s take her to pick out her new bedroom decorations and we can start decorating her room. The sooner that’s ready to go, the sooner I get my girls home.”

“Someone’s impatient.” You teased, turning your head to kiss his chest. “But I get it. I’m ready too. I love you Bradley Bradshaw.”

“I love you too, Y/N Seresin.” He replied, tipping your face up to his and leaning down to gently kiss you, “You’re my whole world, Sweetheart.”

A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get out! Next chapter we return to court! It’s time to free GRACIE!  Let me know what you thought of this one! We had a lot of new developments in here <3 

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[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - No Thoughts Only Bed Friends

March 2023 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 5 of 8 - Consent King is great. The nail clipping injury thing was absurd. I love King’s admission that he’s attracted to Uea’s cool aloof meanness. Also I like that office politics and nepotism have come in to play, this is an office romance after all. King’s “back the fuck off” expression is one of the best. And then there are bits of the friendship/work dynamics that are laugh out loud funny. This is a great show. 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - I honestly can’t decide about the babe character. Do I like him or is he too much an idiot? There is a way to play innocence where it’s cheeky not frustrating, but this is edging on frustrating. Mr Boss is a hard core flirt. What is this I feel? Just… old fashioned trope exhaustion. I HATE the younger brother character but love the home family. All in all, this show still makes me smile, not sure why, but it keeps me watching.  

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - Continues to be slice of life sweet and somewhat silly. Second lead syndrome strikes... and then vanishes. 

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) 2 of 12 eps - I just don’t like any of the characters. They’re boring. Also we are back to that old pulp mistake of not matching foundation properly and not blending at the jaw line. Which I find endlessly distracting. I do like that the sunshine idiot time traveller is trying to take care of his dead bestie’s kid and said kid is hella gay for it. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT) ep 3 of 10 - I’m bored. 

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - A confession is not an excuse. Do we trust Leu or not? Now a random doctor character has shown up? It feels like we are watching the whole thing out of sequence, not just the flashbacks but as if the story hasn’t been edited together properly. what is going on? 

Our Winter (Thai & Korea YT & TikTok under ThaiMiniSeries) ep 12-13 of 14 - whatever. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dating Sim (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 3-4 of 8 - I can’t. It’s so good. They’re so good... and so bad at flirting. And SO into each other. The saddest part of my week is reading the phrase “the next episode will not be available for 7 days.”

All the Liquors (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) eps 5-6 of 8 - That’s it, that’s the reason? The chef is allergic to alcohol? I don’t understand, why such a big deal? What happened to that plot point? Why did he change his mind? OK, I guess that is the end of that conflict? Now we’re in it just for a cute romcom? Fine. Who needs story structure? Especially when they have a date that is all about tasting local food and baby boy has a cute striped sweater with extra long flappity-flappy sleeves. The credit extras sequence was GREAT! I found the two gay boys expressions over the hets flirting = one if the most relatable moments in BL cinematic history.  

Unintentional Love Story (Korea Fri iQIYI) 1-2 of 10- Ji Won Young is intent on winning over the heart of Yoon Tae Joon as he's the boss's favorite artist. Plot: evil corporation is evil, artist is DEEP and not evil. Opens with a wrongful termination, debt issues, bird poop, & broken plate = our poor sunshine cutie can’t catch a break. Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is GREAT in this role. Like really good. The tsundere ceramicist better be in hiding for a DAMN good reason. I don’t wan’t to be in another Liquors sitch. Meanwhile: “just a little kabedon to see if you’re gay“ really? That’s your excuse? Love the cafe owner & combative foodie romance boys, side dish syndrome coming on strong already. (The guy playing the muscled waiter is the lead from You Make Me Dance). [FYI I had to search on Google to find it on iqiyi, for some reason they weren’t listing the first 2 eps internally: Ep 1, Ep 2]

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea Tues Viki & Gaga) eps 1-2 of 7 - Adaptation of Dongmul's manwha, high school set, features a teasing confident gay, and a rich/poor pairing. Star idols Jaehan & Yechan BOTH from OMEGA X, a first for the industry. AND..... I don’t like it. Very bully romance, without the mature teasing of Semantic Error or the kinky hotness of My Beautiful Man. I HATE outing with false accusations (implication = to be gay is evil), aided and abetted by adults. (It’s as close to a trigger as I get.) It makes for an unforgivable bad-boy character. Lots of the “crash into me“ trope. (Who do they think they are? Taiwan?) I’ll keep watching but I’m not happy about it, and I don’t see how they can possibly redeem the bad boy - tragic past or no. Now that he switched to flirting the dynamic is better, but I will never trust him. 

Jack o’Frost (Japan Fri GaGa) ep 5 of 6 - Honestly? Perhaps their relationship should end. Why do I care? They seem ill suited. 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) stopped at ep 2 of 12 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) - saving to binge if the end is solid.

Blue Sky Complex (Japan ???) 5 eps for VR - Kei Ichikawa's manga is getting a JBL adaptation. Weird distribution though, it started Feb 27 sequentially on 360 Channel (SHOCHIKUch) a VR video distribution service. Will inter-fans ever get to see this, and if it’s filmed for VR will it adapt without being overly dark and fuzzy? I have questions. But as usual, you do you Japan and we will wait (im)patiently to see if you remember the rest of the world exists. This is my preferred kind of live action yaoi, so fingers crossed.

Boyband (Thai) ep 2 of 10 - Stopped airing on YouTube, and only available in Thailand & Japan. Not sure if they’re working a distribution deal or just fucking with us.

Cafe In Love (Thai ???) 10 eps on Ch3+ - Thai pulp, about trying to save a coffee shop. FairyGodBLer came through for me, but I’m collecting to binge just in case. It’s my new policy with the grey stuff.

Destiny Seeker (Tues WeTV Thailand) 10 eps - it’s not on any WeTV I can get ahold of. Bad Buddy the pulp rebirth meets Japanese handsome host club action. Same as above.

Heesu In Class 2 (Korea Thurs unknown, I check Viki Gaga iQIYI & WeTV nada) - A gay(er) version of Sex Education. I’m still not sure this one is actually happening.

In case you missed it

I’m putting this here because I missed it: Ready?

Laos produced their version of Boys Over Flowers called Oh My 4. It is... not very good BUT 2 of the F4 have a BL arc with each other!!! (The bad boy and the musician.) You know I’ve been wanting the all gay BoF for YEARS but this is as close as we’ve gotten. Don’t ask, I have no idea how to get it all. But some of it is on YT. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Liquors & Jack both end. 

Tomorrow: Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love) about an engineering student and a dentist. We can expect this one to be soft, it’s from the 21 Day Theory people.

3/22: Make a Wish (Thai Weds YouTube) from WaGa Creative staring Fluke Natouch (OhmFluke UWMA etc...) & Judo (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) in a medical-fantasy. It seems to be a light-hearted romance with a comedic flair. About a doctor who sees ghosts and a deity who resides in a Bodhi tree that earns merits whenever he fulfills a wish based on a y-novel by Sammon (Manner of Death, Triage). 

Full list of upcoming in March 2023 is here.

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Definitely Top 10 MINE glares (Bed Friend). 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Team B cover of Dang Dang Dang. Look the tiny corner of my heart not occupied by BL is entire taken over by Peak Time. 

[nerdieforpedro]

Weekend Update 04/14/2024

Nerdie, you’re kinda late tonight.

Yeah, it was all taxes this weekend. 😭 Ugh. But it’s done. Let’s not talk about it anymore.

OK…So what’s new?

Back to work after time off. Adjusting and writing. I did watch the Ryan Gosling SNL episode. I laughed so hard.

I did get a manicure and pedicure - 💜 purple hehe!

I did read some fics this week:

1. Something Old by @fhatbhabie (Javi G x plus size female)

2. Sexting by @reallyrallyauthor (Steven Grant x Marc Spector x Jake Lockley x You)

3. Enchanted to Meet You by @beskarandblasters (Din Djarin x f reader)

4. Fires at Midnight by @inept-the-magnificent (Lucian Flores x f reader)

5. A Midnight Plea by @soft-persephone (Marc Spector x fem reader)

6. A Galaxy Far Far Away part 6: Halloween at Juniper Cottage - Pick your own pumpkin by @grogusmum (Din Djarin x earthling f reader)

7. I’ll Give You The Moon by @soft-persephone (Marc Spector x fem reader)

8. Mi Santa by @fhatbhabie (Frankie Morales x reader)

I did write some this week 👀 I’m sorry I’m advance. Things ended up dark. 😭 Those are marked with the red.

Back & Nose, Hair and Hat - (Only Parts of you Mr. Morales Series)

Her smile was worth it - for the iamasaddie writing challenge 2.0 (Pero Tovar modern AU DARK FIC)

Interlude Two - Tell me about her and Part Seven Merging the Star Clusters - (The Lake between us Series)

Scarlet Stains and their Echoes (DARK FIC) - Post Apocalyptic Fluff and Stuff

Chapter 3: Can we talk for a minute? - This is the Neighborhood Din Series.

This week there were a few things, like the writing challenge 2.0 @iamasaddie put together. We sent in asks, pick a color (I did it to myself, I asked for mob enforcer- where else was the fic to go but dark?) Despite being kinda freaked out at what I wrote (I’ll need to process that later) I like it. I usually don’t do dark fics but given recent themes in my writing it’s there. 👀 So I’ll write it if it pops up in the brain.

And this past weekend (I totally missed but sweethearts @perotovar and @honeyedmiller tagged me in) was the @swiftiscruff friendship exchange. From what I saw, people are writing fics for each other, making gif and moodboards and proving much needed friendship and fun. 😎

I’m sure there are other things. But I dunno what they are. 🤣 I hope everyone enjoys what they’re working on. And if you need to rest, drink some water, dance around, nap, all the things.

This week there will another chapter of Din’s neighborhood, I FINALLY have more Din fluff. Well in the neighborhood and Star Ocean Series. I should have another chapter of Benny and actual fluff post apocalypse. It escaped last week. So we’re bringing it back.

No more Ezra and his gumbo or tanktop 🥺 Part 8 will be up next Sunday. His prose will be no more for now. 🙃

My Frankie miniseries will be almost done. This Friday and the next Friday of my math is right. lol

Special thanks:

@mysterious-moonstruck-musings for finding an excellent pic of Frankie’s back and giving me notes on smut that I chose not to use for now

@connectioneverywhere for letting me talk their thumbs off and putting them to sleep. 🤣

@soft-persephone I see you 👀 Two words: Dem noses. 👃 You know. 😄

@megamindsecretlair You need to write about some curls! Telling me and Softie to write about them. You know which curls. 🤭

@soft-girl-musings Songbird, Cabbie and loud ass Marcello on drums. Why did I half expect him to be playing drums on SNL? 😂 He was wearing a very loud shirt so half credit.

@tinytinymenace it’s always fun seeing your namesake laying and just relaxing. 😎 With a dope poof.

@604to647 I really appreciated your ask and messages this week. 💜

Have a great week everyone! 🥰

Love Nerdie ❤️❤️❤️

[holmesandtheroman]

The Empty Place Where Love Should Be — Abner Krill x Fem!Reader

Chapter 8

A/N: Yeah, yeah yell at me. I went through some tough shit last year. My grandfather died, I got rejected from PhD programs, I discovered some chronic illnesses I had, the Queen died... Life was a mess. Anyway my triumphant return is (somewhat) here. And, if you like, you can read the whole fic on my AO3 here.

You had gotten turned around in the grocery store unintentionally more than a few times, even though that was your regular store. You were absolutely on cloud nine to the point where you could not think straight. You had a date with Abner!

After you went back inside Coop’s Kitchen on the day of your first kiss with Abner, you both worked out the logistics of when and where you would have your first date. You had been concerned about how he would get around his mother’s grasp, but he assured you multiple times that he would find a way to get away for at least three hours the next week. He also said he wanted to surprise you with where you would have dinner. Apparently, confessing your feelings about him had made him a little bolder, and you secretly admired his growing confidence.

You shook yourself as you realized you had been staring at a six-pack of chicken ramen for several minutes. You must have looked silly, but you did not care.

You heard a bit of a scuffle on the end of the aisle and looked to find an older woman in an electric wheelchair getting her wheel caught against a wire basket that held the deal of the week. She struggled more and the basket toppled, sending plastic bottles of ketchup all over the aisle.

“Dadgum baskets!” she hissed to herself. You rushed over after seeing her struggle to turn herself to the side to pick up the items.

“Here,” you offered as you quickly kneeled and began gathering the bottles. “I’ve got it.”

The woman shook her head. “These flippin’ things. Don’t know why they put ‘em at the end of an aisle. That’s a safety hazard.”

You turned the basket upright and filled it with the bottles. “They ought to move them,” you said nervously.

“Thank you for helping me. These old legs of mine aren’t doing too good nowadays. I can barely walk and my useless son is no help,” she said, rolling her eyes at the mention of her son.

“Oh, I’m sure he does his fair share,” you remarked distractedly as you now worked to untangle the wire basket from the wheel of her wheelchair.

“His fair share of fudging everything up. I mean look around. You see his sorry behind coming to help me? No, a sweet girl like you had to come up and do it yourself.” She huffed. Under her breath, she muttered, “Useless little shit.”

You were starting to feel extremely uncomfortable in the woman’s presence, and you were quickly trying to search your mind for conversation-ending sentences. Before you could say anything, however, you heard the sharp splintering of glass behind you. You whirled around.

“Abner, you complete fuck-up! Look at what you did!” the woman screeched as you realized in horror that Abner was indeed standing in front of you, blanched as white as a sheet with his dark eyes like saucers as they stared at you.

You looked down at the shattered jar of pickles that had fallen from his trembling hands. Your mouth started to form his name in shock, but you saw him shake his head almost imperceptibly. You shut your mouth.

“Honestly, Abner, now we’re gonna have to pay for two jars! Pathetic little klutz,” the woman shouted.

You sharply jerked your head to the woman you now understood to be Abner’s mother. “It was an accident,” you snapped before you could stop yourself. You swallowed and recomposed yourself. “Let me pay for it. Please.”

“No, it’s ok—“ Abner started to whimper, but his mother cut him off.

“Shut up, you little twerp! Mouth shut when mama’s talking to someone!” She turned back to you.

“Here,” you reached into your purse and pulled out a ten-dollar bill and nearly shoved it into the woman’s hand. “Now you can buy two jars.” You turned around, seeing Abner’s form shrunken in on himself and his head hanging in defeat and embarrassment. He avoided your eye contact, but you could tell his eyes were watering. You desperately wanted to comfort him, but you knew that that action would get him into infinitely more trouble than he was already in.

You grabbed the packs of ramen you were staring at earlier and quickly made your way down the opposite end of the aisle. As you turned the corner, you heard a sound that was similar to a yelping puppy. You glanced behind you to see the older woman with a vice grip on Abner’s ear, his thin hands grasping at her wrist to let go. You could not hear what she was saying to him, but you could tell it was incredibly vile.

You walked to the cashier stand, ice cold running through your veins at what you had just witnessed. You were numb and scared for Abner. If she would do that in public, then what on earth was she doing at home? The memory of Abner’s black eye ran through your mind, and a pit formed in your stomach. What had she done to him as a child?

You paid for your groceries and grabbed the bags. As you were walking out the door, you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder. You turned around. Surprisingly, it was Abner.

With a defeated expression still on his face, he quietly said, “Mother wanted me to give this back to you.” He held out the ten-dollar bill you had given to the woman. You glanced over his shoulder to see his mother a good ten feet back, glaring at the back of his head. “She said that it wasn’t right to take your money when I’m the one who… who fudged up.” His voice wavered, and you wanted to scoop him up right there and take him home and save him from the horrible woman.

Instead, you gently took the ten from him, lingering your touch on his hand for a moment. “It’s ok. It wasn’t your fault.” You lowered your voice. “It will never be your fault, Abner. Everything is ok.” You searched his gaze for understanding what you truly meant, and as soon as you saw it, you pocketed the ten. “See you later. Yes?” you asked in earnest.

Abner swallowed and almost smiled. “Yeah. See you later.” His visage dropped again as he returned to his mother. You left the store, your mind racing.

You were troubled for the rest of the day. Not even binging Law & Order or face timing with your mother could get your mind off of what happened in the grocery store. Your mother had commented on you being distracted, but you brushed it off as being tired. You had told her that you had met a guy and were going to go on a date with him, but you had not told her the gritty details about what was going on with him. You did not know how to talk about it.

As you watched the Law & Order credits play for the eighth time that night, you heard your phone ding with a text message. You reached over and grabbed it, expecting it to be Ellie asking if you could cover another shift for her. When you read the text, however, you were surprised to see it was from Abner. You sat up, your eyes grazing over his words.

‘I’m sorry that you had to see me being a klutz today. I was just surprised to see you. You didn’t get hurt by any of the glass, did you? And mother didn’t yell at you? She can get kind of cranky with strangers.’

Your heart hurt as you realized that the one thing he was worried about was if you were all right. She might as well have yelled at you by the way she treated Abner. You wrote back, ‘No, she didn’t. And I wasn’t hurt. What about you? Are you ok?’

You stared at your phone as if to will him to text you back faster. You were, at the very least, glad that he reached out to you and still wanted to speak to you.

After quite a long while, your phone dinged again in your hand. Abner’s text read, ‘What kind of food do you like? I want to make sure I don’t pick somewhere you don’t like.’

He was eager to change the subject, then. You did not want to make him uncomfortable by dwelling on today, so you willingly went along with the new conversation thread.

‘I’m sure whatever you pick will be absolutely perfect!’ You added several heart and kiss emojis before you hit send. You followed it up with, ‘I’m always down for Italian….’

Abner returned with a smiley face. ‘I hope you sleep well. I can’t wait to see you again,’ came the next text.

You blushed and grinned from ear to ear. After you sent your good night text to him, you settled down on your sofa and wrapped a blanket around yourself, pretending it was Abner’s own warm embrace.

You heard timid knocks on your apartment door that could only have belonged to Abner. You put on your heels and stood, smoothing out your nicest dress. You were not dressed in gala attire, but you looked nice in your knee-length burgundy dress. Your heart raced as you went to the door and opened it.

Abner stood before you, an eager smile on his face, in one of the most mismatched outfits you had ever seen: it was a dark blue paisley oxford shirt underneath a brown jacket with tan and red checked pants. You almost giggled at the adorable sight, but you held it back lest he thought you were laughing at him. He held up a luscious bouquet of deep red roses and baby’s breath for you.

“Abner, you didn’t have to bring me flowers!” you said, genuinely touched by his gesture.

In an instant, his smile faded and his eyes became sad again. “Fizzlesticks, I knew it was too much. You’re embarrassed now,” he mumbled as he lowered the bouquet.

“No! Abner, I love them! I just wasn’t expecting them, but they’re absolutely gorgeous!” You reached out to take the flowers from him. “And they smell lovely.” He began to perk up again as you took the flowers to your small dining table and placed them in the only vase you had. “Roses are my favorite.”

“I-I would have gotten something bigger but… that was all I could afford,” he replied apologetically.

You made your way back to Abner and grabbed your purse. “They’re perfect. Any bigger and I’d have to move into a greenhouse,” you joked. He chuckled lightly in response. “So, where are we off to?”

Abner anxiously fiddled with the side of his pants. “Well, I wanted to go to my favorite place, but… I knew you wouldn’t want to go there…” he said.

You cocked your head. “Why wouldn’t I want to go to your favorite place?”

Abner swallowed and shrugged lightly. “Well, you’re there all the time….”

You looked at him, puzzled. “What’s your favorite place?”

Abner blushed hard and averted his eyes. “It’s… Coop’s Kitchen. I like it because it’s where I met you.”

You opened your mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. Your heart melted at his admission, and it was all you could do not to kiss him into oblivion.

He looked back up at you. “I’ve offended you,” he murmured.

“You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met, Abner. Take me wherever you want to take me,” you replied. You stepped out of your apartment and locked the door and then turned to him, holding out your hand for him to take.

He hesitantly reached out and clasped his cold hand around yours. “How does Italian sound?”

You smiled and gently squeezed his hand. “That sounds perfect.”

The first few minutes of walking toward the restaurant were filled with awkward silence. Abner would open his mouth to say something, but then decide against it and close his mouth. He just needed a bit of encouragement.

“So, besides coming and talking to me at the diner and reading about engineering, what do you like to do for fun?” you asked. You leaned your head against his shoulder, which caused him to blush and tense up.

“I, um,” he started. “I like to take walks… It clears my head.”

“Where do you like to go?”

Abner shrugged. “I don’t really have a destination in mind. I was just taking a walk when I first came to the diner.”

You furrowed your brow. “Wasn’t it raining, then?”

Abner was silent for a moment. “I really needed to get out of the house.” He changed the subject. “Do you like to take walks?”

“I kind of stopped taking regular walks when I moved here. I used to take walks all the time over in London,” you added. “Hyde Park was my favorite. You could walk by the Serpentine.” You laughed out loud. “You had to be wary of all those bloody swans, though.”

“Why is that?” Abner asked with interest.

“Ugh, those fucking birds would take your head off and feel no remorse in doing so. Utterly evil, they are. And you couldn’t do anything about them because the Queen owned all of them!”

Abner chuckled. “Why does she own all the swans?”

You rolled your eyes and smiled. “Something to do about eating them at banquets. God knows why they still have that rule. I would’ve liked to strangle a few of them in my day.” You held out your left arm and turned it so that an old scar was visible. “Look at that. A horrid prize for daring to sit down on a bench near the water. Isn’t it awful?” Abner did not answer. You let your arm fall to your side. “I’m just glad it was one swan and not a dozen. I’d be covered in scars.”

Abner suddenly stopped and you turned to him, concerned. He was averting your gaze again, and he had sunk down in on himself. He released your hand. He was starting to look very ill.

“Abner, what’s wrong?” you asked.

“If I show you something, will you… will you let me explain?” he asked, pain etching his features.

“It depends… you’re not like a vampire or something, are you?” you tried to lighten the mood.

Instead of chuckling, Abner looked around and found that the alley you both had just passed was empty. He quickly stumbled around the corner into the dark alley.

“Wait, Abner!” you called as you ran after him.

As you turned the corner, you saw Abner leaning against the wall with bright glowing bumps forming all over his skin. Each one was a different color, and they all seemed to grow bigger.

“Oh, my God, are you all right?” you nearly shrieked.

Abner opened his mouth to reply, but he then jerked forward and vomited rainbow sick all over the ground. You rushed over and began to rub his back as he kept retching.

“Oh, God, Abner, do I need to call someone?” you asked urgently. You looked back toward the entrance of the alley but found no one walking by. “I’m going to go get help.”

Abner spit and shook his head quickly. He sucked in air and began to breathe normally. When he stood straight again, you noticed that the brightly colored pustules were gone. He coughed, and you quickly reached into your purse and grabbed some tissues, holding them to his mouth. He took them.

“Are you sick?” you asked as he wiped his mouth clean.

He glanced down to make sure he did not get any vomit on his shoes. Abner nodded. “I told you my mother worked at S.T.A.R. Labs. She was inspired by the work they were doing and decided that she wanted to make us superheroes.”

“Us?” you repeated.

“My brothers and sisters,” he clarified. He folded the tissue in his hands. “She… experimented on us using S.T.A.R. Lab technology to access other dimensions.” He sniffed. “Some of them… died from her experimentation. Others… weren’t as lucky as me. I was the only one who could still function after she…” He looked away as a tear fell down his cheek. “It’s an interdimensional virus. The dots, as she calls them, present themselves at least twice a day and if I don’t—“ he gestured to the ground. “Expel them, they eat me from the inside.”

“Has she tried to find a cure? Isn’t there anyone at S.T.A.R. Labs who can help you?” you asked.

Abner shook his head. “Her experiments weren’t authorized by the government. She’s threatened me if I ever come forward.”

“So there’s nothing else that can be done?”

“She makes me live at home so she can document the effects it has on my body. The day I first came to the diner was the first time I left the house without her. I always made sure she took this medicine that made her sleep. That’s how I was able to leave so often. She found out what I was doing the night we were supposed to go see Anna Karenina. That’s why I…” he admitted through shame.

“That’s why you didn’t show,” you finished. Anger seared inside of you, but you stayed silent.

“I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear this. You probably want to leave.”

“Abner,” you said gently as you laced your arm around his. “I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath. “She doesn’t just make me live there for her research. I’m the only one who can take care of her. I do it because she was the one who figured out what I have to do to stay alive. She’s… she’s my mother. I have to do what she says. Or else…” he stopped, trying to hold back tears. He breathed out and continued, “Or else she hurts me when I disobey. I try really hard to do what she tells me to do, but sometimes it’s not enough.”

“Abner, you need to get out of that house,” you cried.

“She knows what’s best for me and my condition. Besides, she told me I could never make it by myself because I’m not smart enough. I’m not really smart enough for anything,” Abner said as though he had repeated it to himself a thousand times in his head.

You now understand why he was so hard on himself, why this man was so beaten down and broken. He had been isolated his entire life and hatred had been forced into him all that time. He had not had the opportunity for someone else to tell him otherwise. And all the abuse, all the hate, all the vitriol had only made him inexplicably kind.

You shook your head and blinked away tears. “Abner, I don’t know what to say.”

“You can leave if you want to,” he muttered, defeat seeping through his words. “I would understand if you did.”

“I’m not going to leave, Abner.” You reached up to brush away more of his tears and he leaned into your touch. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me. I can’t even imagine how you were able to hold all that in.”

Abner did not reply. He stared directly ahead at the other side of the alley.

“Are you hungry? I imagine after all that, you must be famished,” you said as you gestured to the dulling vomit on the ground. He nodded. You put your hand on his shoulder. “I am glad you told me.”

“You still want to go on a date?” he asked.

“Of course, I do!” You reached up and kissed him on his cheek. His eyes widened as he felt your lips on his skin. “And I’m here for you to talk about whatever else you want to talk about.”

Tagging: @maximumcoffeeme @asmuo @bimboshaggy @chaoticace22 @l-wannabe-l @thedumbbrunette0-0 @lennyb0benny @ravendast @gonzosestrangedbrother @kennedywxlsh @jupiters--moonxx @glytchfic @therakshawolf @phntm-snce

[taboodreamsforlife]

A few years ago at the age of 30 ish find out i have a half sister. Pops had a child from a previous relationship. He knew but his x wife left when my sister was 3 days old traveling the country hiding. (X wife was weird and crazy and still in today). I was already married and had a career in mind and a family so her and i didn’t jive much until about 2 years ago we started texting more. I find out she’s been married once for about 6 months. For the most part she’s been a government support person which i don’t condone but it is what it is. I’m now 53 and she is 58. My wife and i are open in our relationship so after i guess a year of talking i find out sis hasn’t been laid in 8-9 years and i am like how. So i eventually tell her or how my wife and i are open and since we’re not really related so to speak and honestly when i was younger i always dreamed of having a sis to play with sexually. So now she knows about me fucking other women occasionally and somehow through the conversations over text i offer her my services. She initially declined but after weeks of talking i finally accidentally on purpose send her a pic or 2 of me and someone. She liked it and would then say she had to live vicariously through me. I again offered to come help her in that area. She always laughed it off but i was serious. 3-4 weeks ago i had to be in her town for business so i asked if she wanted to do lunch. She said sure i jokingly said ima get you buzzed and see if i can finger you to where u cum. She again laughed it off. We went to lunch and had a few drinks around 2 pm. I think she drank fast on purpose but she never acted like she had any intentions. After goofing around after lunch i acted like i was tired and needed a nap so we went to her house. She showed me her room and i laid down on the bed like i was gonna take a nap. She went on to do her thing, not sure what that was but i rubbed myself til i got hard. She walked into the room i acted like i was asleep and i can hear her tell her dog wow looky there. So i finally decide to act like I’m waking up since she won’t touch it. She said damn you fall asleep fast. I said yea. Then she finally say AND you were hard while you sleep what the heck was you dreaming about. I replied i think i was dreaming that i made you cum. She says i hadn’t came in 6-7 years. I tell her to come sit down next to me. She initially says nah but finally i talk her into it. I started like i was tickling her back and sides cause she laid down on her side facing opposite of me but she finally relaxed and i moved to more sensitive areas while whispering just relax. Don’t think of anything just enjoy the moment. It took awile cause she as majorly nervous and would squirm. I honestly think she came the moment my fingered entered her panties and touched her pubes. The moment i touched her clit her body convulsed. I leaned over and nibbled her ear and neck while she came so many times. I worked my way to a point where i sank a finger deep on her pussy and she screamed. Almost a scared scream. I asked her if she was ok and she said i never dreamed my own brother would ever do this. I never dreamed i would allow it. It’s so wrong. I said but it feels so right. The first time i only entered her with my fingers. I wanted her to want more. Her panties, pants and bed were completely soaked. We never kissed during that but before i left that day she kissed me wow and rubbed my cock thru my shorts. She said maybe next time she wants to see it

Let me know if you’d like to hear more

Arrange

[henswilsons]

20 questions for fic writers!

am EXTREMELY late to the game but kisses to @usereddie @buckactuallys and @gayhoediaz for tagging me mwah!!!!

how many works do you have on ao3?

on hammersmiths, 24!! across my other 3 gazillion ao3 accounts i have done a quick tally and it’s 58 LMAOO tho i am sure i am missing some

what’s your total ao3 wordcount?

we’re just gonna stick to hammersmiths lest this get ridiculous for me sdgfhds but 237,307!!

what fandoms do you write for?

currently 911, but i have also written for percy jackson, ted lasso, stranger things, outer banks, glee, teen wolf, skam and the wilds. also again probably some more i am forgetting HAHA

top 5 fics by kudos:

everything’s coming up milhouse

in your darling i trust (lafd updates 1&2 slay!!)

you’re my whole house

your dreary mondays

if you say it with your hands (idk why this one surprises me?? i always forget about her HAHA)

do you respond to comments?

eeeek i do not dsgfhsdhfhfd but rest assured i feel extremely bad about it. i always intend to but sometimes i just get overwhelmed and don’t know how to express my gratitude in ways that arent “thank u so much!!!!!!” in my head i am greeting everyone who comments with a big sloppy wet kiss tho and i read every single one upwards of 8 million times

what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmmm i am admittedly a happy ending truther. i don’t think ive written any angsty ending fics

what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

all of them!!!

do you get hate on fics?

i am very fortunate in that i don’t!! or if i do it is very very infrequently. Mostly it is just people kindly pointing out that they can tell im british (listen pls…..i will sacrifice so much including pavement and rubbish bin but u will have to prise my british spelling out of my cold dead hands.)

do you write smut?

LMFAOO definitely not where would i even begin. i have written 1 sex scene ever and it took me about 2 weeks

craziest crossover?

ive never written a crossover i don’t think. although back in the day i did write a pjo x house of anubis crossover now that was wild

have you ever had a fic stolen?

back in ye olde ff.net days i had a few fics that were generously copied but not in recent history!

have you ever had a fic translated?

i don’t believe so!

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes yes i LOVE it

all time favorite ship?

omg how to choose. i mean buddie 5eva. like literally 5eva. having said that percabeth will always always always have such a special place in my heart as will evak

what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt that you will?

OOOO ok listen never say never and i do desperately want to finish it but the buddie actors au. eventually it will b finished. eventually.

what are your writing strength?

i think dialogue!! and my characterisation i think im ok at!

what’s your writing weakness?

PLOT HAHAHA. girl plot WHO

thoughts on dialogue in a different language?

i mean i love it.

first fandom you wrote for?

percy jackson baby!

favorite fic you have written?

OOOO hmmm. i love lafd updates. i also love the taylor book fic i wrote recently i think it kinda slayed. also extremely deep cut but i wrote an outer banks fic last year that i ended up modelling my dissertation on. im beyond beyond beyond proud of that one.

apologies if some of these are double tags/if u have already done it and i have missed it i have been a busy busy gal and not online much in the last week but tagging @bibuddie @bibibuck @littlespoonevan @clusterbuck @sibylsleaves @chronicowboy @buckttommy @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels MWAH !!!

[bekoobove]

Fazbear Fears #5: Sydnee's Unlucky Day

...Science has served Sydnee well her whole life, but a strange encounter will leave her superstitious- if she survives it…

 The ringing doorbell echoed through the house. From her room, Sydnee smiled. Lauren was here.

 She quickly dashed out of her room, keeping a firm hold on her messenger bag full of textbooks and homework. Her mom had already opened the door to see who it was. “Ah, Lauren! How are you, dear?”

 “Hi, Mrs Tanaka!” Lauren smiled, exposing her braces. She, like Sydnee, was 15, and was one of the only kids in their grade to still have them. It was just one of the things that made her easy to recognize, like her short curly blonde hair or her insistence on wearing combat boots all the time.

 Sydnee walked up and casually grabbed her shoulder. “Hey, Lauren. No time to stick around- we have a test to study for, right?”

 Sydnee’s mom frowned. “I still don’t see why you girls have to do it at the park. That place is way too close to the abandoned warehouses downtown. You know lots of kyōaku-han hang out there.”

 Lauren awkwardly glanced at Sydnee. 

 “Thugs...” Sydnee whispered.

 “Why don’t you just study here?” Sydnee’s mom asked. “We’re having tempura and udon for dinner!”

 Sydnee hugged her mom. “Thanks, Mama. But there are just some things that are easier to do at the park.”

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

 Kissing, for example.

Sure, there were some drawbacks. There was always the risk of being hit by a soccer ball from the mob of kids that played every day. Sometimes there were geese that would fly in and take the park over. And sometimes, yes, people did give awkward looks, and sometimes say rather cruel things to them. Still, Sydnee and Lauren sat on that bench overlooking the small pond, and smooched.

 Eventually, they pulled away, though not for a while. It had been a while since they had been able to kiss.

 Lauren sighed contentedly. “It’s nice whenever we don’t have to pretend that we’re just friends, cutie. We should do it more often.”

 Sydnee blushed at the first sentence and raised an eyebrow at the second. “I thought you said you’d shut up about it for now.”

 “Well, I guess I lied. If we just told your parents about us- about you- we wouldn’t have to hide anymore. You’ve admitted yourself that they’re the only reason we’re keeping this whole thing secret.”

 Sydnee shrugged. “I’m just not sure how they’d react.”

 “I thought my dad would push back, but he was pretty ok with it.” Lauren smiled. “Your parents are really cool. I know they’ll accept you.”

 “I will soon.” Sydnee promised.

 “You said that when we first got together six months ago.”

 “Which, on the geological time scale, is nothing.”

 Lauren gave her a strange look. “Is that your idea of a good comeback?”

 “No, it serves as an opening for us to start studying.” Sydnee grinned.

 “What?” Lauren groaned. “I thought this was a date, not a study session.”

 “It’s both. We have that big test next week, remember?” Sydnee responded, pulling her textbook out of her bag. “Besides, you know I love science. Maybe this is my ideal romantic outing.”

 Lauren groaned jokingly. “Such is my love for you that I will endure, nerd girl.”

 “Whatever, jock.”

 And so they studied. Lauren quizzed Sydnee on questions both knew that she could easily answer, Sydnee explained to Lauren what the lithosphere was, and they both fed the ducks stale bread Lauren found in her backpack.

 It was perfect.

 So naturally, it was interrupted.

  Sydnee saw a familiar face in the distance.

 “Crap…” she muttered.

 About a quarter of a mile away walked a small group of boys ages seven to ten, holding kites and chattering excitedly. One led the group- Sydnee’s little 8 year old brother Kai. The group hadn’t seen them yet, but they would soon.

 “Study time’s over, Lauren, we gotta hoof it!” Sydnee said, frantically packing her school stuff back into her bag as she got up.

 “Wait, why- hey, isn’t that your brother? What’s the worry?”

 “I promised Mama I wouldn’t sit this close to the warehouses yesterday. We had to come here since less people go to this area of the park. He’s a little blabbermouth. He’ll tell my parents, and they might find out the whole truth. I’m just not ready!”

 Lauren raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite the pessimist.”

 “I’m prepared for the worst case scenario. C’mon, let’s get out of here!”

 The pair ran across the park, eventually reaching the far end. Kai and his friends still advanced, not stopping for anything.

 “They’re probably coming to fly their kites in this field.” Lauren said. “Let’s just act casual. We don’t have anywhere else to run to, anyway.”

 Sydnee stopped and looked around frantically. Her eyes caught on something.

 “Yeah we do! There!”

 Lauren turned to see where Sydnee was pointing, and her jaw dropped.

 “There!? Into that warehouse!?”

 “It’s our only option.” Sydnee argued.

 “But-”

 “Please, Lauren. For me.”

 “Fine.”

 They dashed across the street, and into the decrepit old building.

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

 Honestly, Sydnee was kind of disappointed.

 Not that she’d hoped to run into a long abandoned warehouse during her date. But if she had to, she’d prefer it if it went all the way- broken, rusted machinery, stringy cobwebs, utter darkness- in general, a better atmosphere.

 Instead, the place was in relatively good condition, assuming that it had been left to rot as long as the other buildings. The machines weren’t damaged, just powered down. Even stranger, there wasn’t any graffiti inside, despite how much there had been on the building’s outside (and on all the others). Though the sun was starting to set, there was still a good deal of light pouring in. Overall, kind of a disappointment on the spook front.

 Lauren seemed to be relieved, though. “This place isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be.”

 She turned to Sydnee. “So, how long are we staying in here?”

 “I think there’s another exit that borders on the road back home.” Sydnee recalled. “Kai won’t be able to see. I’m meant to be back within half an hour anyway.”

 “It’ll be a while before we can go on another date.” Lauren said wistfully. She gave Sydnee a look. “All this secret keeping- it’s just hurting all of us.”

 An awkward silence filled the warehouse. Sydnee coughed. “Let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

 As they walked through the building, it began to dawn on both that the building was still kind of creepy. It being so undamaged, clean and lit made it seem like there should be people there, hauling boxes and driving forklifts. Now it felt empty and far too quiet.

 “What kind of stuff do you think came through here?” Lauren asked, trying to break the silence.

 “Who knows? Lots of stuff, probably.” Sydnee shrugged. Then she saw something odd.

 Between two tall shelves sat a large, industrial size cardboard box. There was a huge logo emblazoned on its side: a smiling robotic bear’s head, with the words Fazbear Entertainment wrapping around it.

 “Oh!” Sydnee exclaimed, satisfied at Lauren’s question being answered. “This was a Fazbear Entertainment Distribution Center.”

 Lauren suddenly looked much more nervous. “You mean the company with all those dead-eyed robots!?”

 Sydnee ignored her, and got a closer look inside the box.

 There was only one item in it: a smaller cardboard box with a clear plastic window, like a Barbie doll would be packaged in. But rather than an irrationally skinny blonde woman, there was a robotic black cat.

 It was constructed of shiny plastic, with all sorts of little decorations: stiff wire whiskers, articulated ears, and green LEDs in its eyes.

 It was a little too realistic, though. Sydnee had never heard of an uncanny valley effect for an animal, but this creepy little thing fit the bill.

 “Don’t worry, sweetie.” Sydnee laughed. “Looks like they made toys here, not full sized animatronics.”

 She handed the small box off to Lauren, who turned it over in her hands, and began to calm again. “Well, it’s still slightly horrifying, but I could probably take this thing.”

 Lauren began to read from the back of the box. “Following 1985’s successful Fetch™ model comes another Fazbear Entertainment toy sure to knock your socks off. Blake the Black Cat™ will serve as a great robotic companion to any kid, especially around Halloween. Just be careful of bad luck!”

 Lauren chuckled, expecting Sydnee to laugh along. But Sydnee seemed a bit annoyed.

 Lauren casually tossed the small box back into the big box. “Hey, is something wrong?”

 “What, no, it’s fine. It’s just...it’s fine.”

 Sydnee looked around, and gasped in relief.

 “There we go.”

 Even though it wasn’t lit, the red glass in the exit sign made it easy to find.

 The door had been barricaded from the inside with a few cinder blocks, but Lauren cleared them away with ease.

 “So…” Lauren said hesitantly as they left the building. “See you later?”

 Sydnee pecked her on the cheek. “Yeah.”

 They each headed off to their houses.

 The warehouse was silent.

 But not for long.

 Soon enough the sound of ripping cardboard echoed through the empty building.

 And a monster broke free.

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

 “Bad luck.”

 Sydnee laughed to herself as she walked down the quiet street, though it was still irritating her.

 If Sydnee’s experience with science had taught her anything, it’s that there are few things too far fetched to consider. A statement that seemed foolish now could be seen as concrete fact within the decade. As long as a hypothesis could be tested, it should be tested. Ghosts? Maybe. God? Worth considering. But superstitions?

 They just felt so...superficial. So interchangeable. Clearly each served a product of their own cultures, with no consistency. Sydnee honestly couldn’t believe anyone still believed in them, though things like the message on the box might have something to do with it. That’s why it had annoyed her so much. Superstitions were so hammered into kids at a young age, some might grow up really believing a plant with an extra leaf or a broken mirror could change your destiny.

 In fact, Sydnee was walking through a perfect example: 13th Street. An old family friend, Mr Cooper, has once owned an apartment block here with rent that was pretty reasonable for this city. But a lot less people had rented than he’d expected. Clearly fear of the unlucky number the street was named for had something to do with it.

 Still, over the last year or so, the area had become a lot more populated. The older buildings had been torn down, and in place came modern apartments and quaint little shops.

 Sydnee was happy to see it. Another example of logic triumphing over needless fear.

 She heard creaking metal and looked to see a lamppost falling right towards her.

 She screamed and dived out of the way.

 The post crashed through the window of the Turn Up the Volumes Record/Book Store, sending glass flying into the store and cutting the new releases to ribbons.

 Sydnee crashed to the ground. A streak of pain surged through her body as she felt her knees and hands get skinned against the rugged sidewalk.

 With some effort, she pushed herself up. She stared in shock at the scene before her. Luckily the store seemed to be closed.

 Her eyes fell on the lamppost’s base. A hunk of concrete had been pulled up with the pole. It was practically like the thing had yanked itself out of the ground. In the hole it left behind there was a black stain, with greenish lines carving through it that Sydnee could swear glowed if barely.

 What on earth had just happened?

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

 Five minutes late- of all the things to be lectured over.

 Oh well. Better that than her parents learning she was hanging out so close to the warehouses- and, y’know, dating a girl.

 A restless night followed. Her dreams were a landscape of inky black with glowing green veins forming a corrosive web. She would run across the nightmarish terrain, and see a way out, but an enormous shadowy figure appeared in her way, its viridescent slitted eyes gleaming with hatred. Every time Sydnee would wake up in a cold sweat, and every time she’d fall back asleep and the dream would repeat.

 Normally Sydnee preferred to sleep in, but today she was relieved to see the sun rise over the horizon, though it was mostly obscured by heavy clouds.

 Sydnee hauled herself out of bed and stumbled downstairs into the kitchen, catching the attention of her mother and brother, who were already eating. “Dear, did you sleep ok?” Sydnee’s mom asked, looking concerned at the dark circles under her eyes.

 “Yeah, I’m fine.” Sydnee yawned.

 Kai laughed through his mouthful of Choco-Chomps and milk. “You look like a weird zombie.”

 “Whatever.” Sydnee poured herself a bowl of the cereal. She couldn’t help but be wary as she ate. What if Kai had seen her, and was going to blurt it out any second?

 She hastily ate her breakfast, and dashed upstairs to finish preparing for school. About twenty minutes later she came back down, grabbed her bag and was about to dash out the door when her dad stopped her.

 “Just a minute, Sydnee-Chan.” He pointed outside, alerting Sydnee to the mist of rain that was beginning to fall outside.

 “Oh, shoot. Thanks, Papa.” She reached for the coat rack, and grabbed her umbrella. It was brand new, purchased only a few days prior, and not yet used.

 “Have a good day. Study hard.” Her father said, before walking back into his home office.

 Sydnee walked outside, as the rain began to fall harder.

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

 The monster watched, waiting for another chance.

 It could wait a very long time.

 It didn’t think it needed to, though.

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

 Sydnee closed her umbrella as she entered the school. She looked around the halls already crowded with rowdy high schoolers, scanning their faces for Lauren. Nothing. She sighed. Lauren’s homeroom was on the other side of the school, so she usually had to start getting there as soon as she arrived at the building. They didn’t share any other classes, so the only time they usually got to talk after school, and even then one of them or the other often had a place to be. Being with her had just been easier back in middle school.

 From behind her, she felt a tap on the shoulder. She turned around quickly, and maybe a little startlingly, causing her friend Susan to step back. “Whoa, there, Sydnee. You seem a bit high strung today. Everything alright?”

 “Wha- Oh, yeah. Just sort of a bad night of sleep.”

 “Sorry about that.” Susan’s eye caught on Sydnee’s umbrella. “Wow! Girl, I love the pattern on that!”

 Sydnee smiled tiredly. “Oh yeah, I think it looks really good. Here, I’ll give you a better look.”

 “Allow me.” Susan snatched the umbrella and opened it up in front of herself, causing a dome of opaque nylon dotted with colorful triangles to burst out.

 Susan admired it. “Nice, what store did you-”

 From above her there came a cracking sound. Sydnee looked up just in time to see a chunk of the ceiling break loose, and hit Susan right on her shoulder, banging her head as well. The umbrella fell out of her hand, and tumbled to the ground at Sydnee’s feet.

 Susan crumbled to the ground like a sack of bricks, as blood began to burst out of the raw wound dented into her head. Nearby students gasped, some gagging at the gory display.

 Sydnee was frozen, unable to move from pure confusion and fear. 

She managed to look at the ceiling chunk to see more of that green-black corrosion pulsating on it.

 That green color...now that Sydnee was getting a better look, the shade looked familiar. It was the same color as…

 No. The idea that these weird accidents had something to do with a toy black cat Sydnee had just stumbled was unacceptable. A theory too stupid to begin considering, as dumb as-

 As dumb as the number 13, or an umbrella opened indoors, or a shadow-coated cat changing destiny? Sending a lamppost or a chunk of concrete tumbling down on an innocent person? Because those things had just happened.

 All of these thoughts raced through Sydnee’s head as kids stared at Susan with panic, and teachers came out of their classrooms and began carrying her outside. One was on the phone, frantically calling 911.

 Sydnee herself pulled out her phone, walking down the hall half in a daze.

 She began texting: [Sydnee: Lauren, meet me at the warehouse tonight. I need to check on something].

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

 9:00 PM. It was showtime.

 From what Sydnee had heard, Susan was in stable condition. Good news, but Sydnee could hardly celebrate. If that cat was really behind all this, it was still out there, and it seemed to be after her. It would hurt more people she loved if she didn’t stop it.

 The sound of her mom snoring echoed through the halls. Her parents were asleep after long days of work.

 Sydnee pushed open her window and hopped out. Lucky she was on the first floor.

 She began the trek to the warehouse, careful to plan a route that went around 13th Street.

 Sydnee sighed. She couldn’t believe it’d come to this.

 If she hadn’t been distracted, she might have noticed the shadowy figure following just behind her.

 Lauren paced awkwardly in the warehouse, on guard for an animatronic ambush.

 She instead got a kiss.

 “AGHH- oh, uh, hi Sydnee. How are you doing?”

 Sydnee gave a tired grin. “A little better now.”

 “Me too, sweetie. Sooo, why’d you call me to this probably not haunted warehouse? Did you forget a textbook here?”

 Sydnee got serious. “No. I want to make sure of something. Just come with me.”

 It took a bit, but eventually the pair found the large box at the center of the maze of shelves. Sydnee quickly looked inside.

 The small box had been reduced to a mangle of clear plastic, tape, and cardboard. There were teeth and claw marks covering the whole thing.

 Lauren laughed nervously as she picked up the destroyed box. “Is this some kind of weird prank, Sydnee? Cause it’s- it’s not funny.”

 Sydnee stepped backwards, stunned. The idea had been in her head, that this thing was alive and roaming free, but seeing it missing from its box made it so much more real.

 From behind them, someone yelled “HI!”

 Panicked, Lauren threw the box as she turned. Luckily it was cardboard, so it bounced harmlessly off the head of Kai.

 Sydnee gasped, then groaned. “Kai, what are you doing here?”

 “I was getting a drink when I saw you go. Mama said we shouldn’t go out the window, or go out after they’re asleep. Why are you here?”

 “Why are you here?”

 “To ask why you’re here.”

 “Well, you did, so you can leave now. See you, love you, don’t mention this to our parents, or else. Lauren, back me up here.”

 Silence.

 “Lauren?”

 Sydnee looked at Lauren, annoyed. Lauren was petrified, staring upwards at the top of the shelves. Sydnee and Kai followed her horrified gaze.

 There, sitting and watching from the high shelf, was Blake the Black Cat. Its eyes, once dim, now glowed with a fiery green light that looked not at all mechanical in origin. It made subtle movements with surprising grace. Scariest of all, it seemed to be grinning- as much as a cat of any kind could, anyway.

 Rather than be angered at being noticed, the thing seemed happy, taking joy in the fear on the trio’s faces. It hissed in a way that sounded far too real- and leaped down towards them, jagged claws out.

 Lauren broke out of her stupor to pull Sydnee out of the way, who in turn grabbed Kai’s hand, tugging him along as they started to run.

 “The cat thing is alive!?” Lauren asked Sydnee, fear pervasive in her voice.

 “Um, yeah.” Sydnee said as they rounded a corner. “I think it cursed me- and it somehow makes bad luck real! Bad things happened when I went on 13th Street and when Susan opened my umbrella in school, and it has to be to blame.”

 Kai puffed out air, starting to get winded, though he still seemed very excited. “A real monster? That’s awesome!”

 “I’d think the same way if it wasn’t trying to kill us!” Sydnee looked over her shoulder and saw no sign of it. “Maybe we lost…”

 The cat raced around the corner and ran into the shelf. It wasn’t damaged, but the shelf was, with claw marks from Blake’s paw-first collision etched into the metal.

 Quickly the three continued to run, as sounds of whirring and scurrying echoed from behind them.

 Up ahead there stood a stepladder that went across the entire aisle. Lauren prepared to slide under it, but Sydnee stopped her. “No! Bad luck, remember? We have to go around it.”

 Kai clumsily stepped over the bottom step, with Sydnee and Lauren crossing more gracefully. It still slowed them all down, though. The cat ran towards the ladder, but slowed down as well before leaping over.

 Right in front of them, Sydnee spotted a set of stairs leading up to an elevated office. “C’mon, guys, up there!”

 Sydnee, Lauren, and Kai dashed up the stairs. The metal door into the offices was open, so they ran inside. Lauren grabbed a nearby filing cabinet, and pushed it down in front of the door.

 The door resonated when something slammed into it from the outside. There was an annoyed growl, and the sounds of claws scratching metal followed.

 “Do you think it can scratch through the door?” Lauren looked at Sydnee nervously.

 “Probably not.” Sydnee said, trying to convince herself as much as Lauren.

 A earsplitting SHRIEK screamed out from the door as a small rift got cut into it. The cat stopped scratching for a moment and peered through. A greenish spotlight shot through the hole and focused right on Sydnee before the sound of tearing metal resumed.

 “OK, maybe.” Sydnee set her head on a swivel and saw a door out of the room. She ran over to open it. To her dismay, all that lay behind it was a dirty bathroom that seemed to be the most ravaged place in the factory.

 For the first time, Sydnee truly began to panic. “I- I don’t know what to do!” she cried, slumping against the wall. “If we fight it, it’ll cut us to pieces. Even if we escape from here, it’ll keep following me, giving me more bad luck!”

 “Well maybe it’ll eventually get bad luck, too.” Kai offered.

 Sydnee glared at him. “Don’t think that’s how it works, squirt. I’m the one who’s cursed, not it.”

 Kai frowned. “But then why didn’t it go under the ladder?”

 “Wait, what?”

 “Climbing over the ladder slowed us down. If the cat had just gone under, it could’ve caught up. But it didn’t. Maybe it’s vulnerable to bad luck too.”

 Sydnee stared at him, surprised. Lauren chimed in next.

 “Oh, yeah! And Sydnee, didn’t you say Susan was the one who opened the umbrella at school? If you’re the one who’s cursed, why would bad luck affect her?”

 Sydnee tried to process this. “So...what you’re saying is it’s like...a radius around the cat? And it’s in it and could be affected too...I think you guys are right.”

 Kai grinned. “Heck yeah we are!”

 Sydnee smiled back and pulled both of them close. “We don’t have long, but I think I have a plan.”

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

  With a resonant shrieking noise the monster finished cutting a hole in the door. It slinked through and looked around the small room. There was a desk, some filing cabinets, and a long dead houseplant, but not the girl and her allies.

 A foul odor ensnared the monster’s senses. It saw the entrance to the bathroom, which was open just a crack, allowing the sound of subdued, scared breathing to escape.

 She was there.

 The monster snuck towards the door and poked its head through the door. The girl sat on the gross tiled floor, looking terrified as she saw its glowing eyes.

 Glee filled the twisted monster’s mind. Easy prey.

 With one agile leap it flew at her, claws out.

 There was the sound of movement from behind, and the sight of movement from in front. Then, the monster saw the strangest thing: itself, flying right back at it.

 That was the last thing it saw, as the shattering of glass ushered it into darkness.

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

  “Wow, Syd. I did not think you were capable of playing pathetic and defenseless.” Lauren said, as she tossed aside the frame of the mirror Blake had slammed into.

 “I even impress myself sometimes. Great coordination getting that thing right in front of it.” She looked down at the cat. The grody old glass had been covered in that black-green corrosion. All of the shards had lodged into important places: head, joints, and those two creepy eyes, which had now gone dim. She chuckled. “Seven years of bad luck for you, jerk. Though it only took a couple seconds to finish you off.”

 Lauren laughed. “C’mere, you!” She pulled Sydnee close and kissed her on the lips.

 It was perfect.

 So naturally, it was interrupted.

 “Kissing? Gross.” Kai groaned.

 Sydnee turned with a start. Kai! He’d been hiding against the wall, and she’d forgotten he was here.

 “Oh, uh, Kai! We were just…” she stopped. “You know what, whatever. Me and Lauren are in love, and we’ve been dating for months. Please, I'm begging you, for once in your life keep this quiet for now.”

 Kai mused on this. “Ok. So you were kissing on your birthday sleepover? I was never sure.”

 Sydnee and Lauren stared, stunned. “Wait…” Lauren said. “You saw us?”

 “But that was at midnight.” Sydnee argued. “Everyone else had gone to bed- including you!”

 “I was getting a drink of water when I heard you. You kiss loudly.”

 “No, we don’t- wait, do we?” Sydnee looked at Lauren, who shrugged in response.

 “But why didn’t you say something to Mama and Papa?” Sydnee asked.

 “Just didn’t seem like my business.” Kai responded.

 Sydnee smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “Thanks, my guy.”

 She looked at Lauren. “Hey, you want to come to your house after school tomorrow?”

 “Why? To study.”

 “No. Well, maybe, if there’s time. More importantly, I think I’m ready to tell my parents about us.”

 Lauren got excited. “Really!?”

 “I think I’m ready- as long as I’ve got my girlfriend and little bro backing me up.”

 “With you all the way, nerd girl.”

 “Me too!” said Kai.

 “Well, with that settled, I think I’m ready to go home. Destroying demon robotic cats really takes it out of you.”

 The trio walked out of the factory, back under the watch of the beautiful nighttime sky. Sydnee sighed contently with one hand in Lauren’s and the other one gripped by Kai.

 How lucky she was.

[melodiousvoid]

Ok, so bit of a long-winded flip-out coming under the cut. Trigger warnings for a lot of things: medical settings, child illness, child near-death experience (kinda), nausea, surgery mention, malpractice mention (no detail), gaslighting (kinda?) and general health issues. We also discuss our traumagenic system origins and a few relevant triggers. We accept the risk of this, and fyi, are difficult to trigger in a way that’s actually a problem for us. There’s a TLDR at the end if you want the short version.

For context, my name’s Zadie, and I’m the eldest (chronologically) of our alters. I was both protector and host of this body between the ages of roughly 4 and 13. At this point, we’re fairly sure that our system initially split from medical trauma, as most of our historical triggers and compensatory reactions have to do with medical things. I front somewhat randomly now, often for several weeks at a time, and have had time to process a good deal of my trauma.

As host and protector, I had one primary characteristic: stoicism. My job, from the beginning, has been to endure. Whatever happens, get through it. I didn’t question it. It felt like a sacred duty, and I treated it like one. As a kid, I had chronic pneumonia, bad stomach issues, and what I now recognize as migraine symptoms (which sometimes, in children, can present more as chronic GI problems than severe headaches). Despite all this, we were a very active and fiercely independent child. The most serious issue we ever faced was an Appendicitis, which I’ll get into later.

Flash forward to today, what we deal with on the daily is constant vestibular migraine symptoms. That started at 19 for idiotic medical malpractice reasons. Prior to this starting, we loved coffee, and drank it regularly. Then vestibular migraines became permanent, and now we can’t drink coffee without being very nauseous. Now today I decided fuck it, fuck me up my beloved bean juice, I’m at a concert and it’s a treat.

Concert ends, coffee is of course fucking me up, and I’m feeling very nauseous while walking up the hill to my car. Without thinking about it, I felt like I made direct eye contact with the physical feeling of nausea in my body, and said “the fuck are you on about?! Coffee never made us sick before, so you can’t be making us sick now! You make no fucking sense, so you don’t exist. Get the fuck out of my gut you loser.”

And the feeling of nausea decreased, like, 60%. I almost stopped walking it surprised me so much. It wasn’t permanent, I had to do it a few more times on the way home, but it stayed effective.

Then, I remembered something that happened at 7-8 years old.

We needed an appendectomy, but didn’t know it. I’d felt sick for two weeks, but it wasn’t normal stomach sick, and the stomach pain didn’t get really severe until the very end. That said, it still hurt a lot. It didn’t make any sense to me, so I just told myself “what is pain? It’s just a sensation, right? How’s it supposed to hurt you? I don’t understand why this sensation translates to ‘ouch, make it stop’ in my head, so I guess I can choose not to translate it that way.” So I couldn’t stop feeling the sensation, but I chose to interpret it as not-pain, not-bad, and not-a-problem. And I went back to running around and climbing trees. Reminder that I was literally 7, had my 8th birthday in the hospital because of this.

Now eventually it got bad enough that this wasn’t ignorable anymore, I got the appropriate medical care, and fully recovered without issue. But this method worked for way longer than it should have.

Apparently I can gaslight myself out of medical symptoms (or at least the sensations of them) by dubiously fact-checking them.

Searing stomach pain? “Pain doesn’t exist. It’s just a concept.” Oh yeah! Pain canceled.

Anxious before a dentist’s appointment? “Why? Physical pain has never scared you.” Oh yeah! Anxiety canceled.

Coffee nausea? “Why? You didn’t do this ten years ago, why are you doing it now?” Oh, sorry. Nausea canceled.

Thing is, we know this kind of logic shouldn’t hold up. Not knowing why something happens doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I think it’s a confidence thing, like scaring off a black bear: you gotta make it think you’re the boss, you’re the bigger animal, and you mean business.

And this absolutely doesn’t work if someone else tells us “you’re fine,” in a medical setting or anywhere else. In fact that’s one of my biggest front triggers, someone invalidating another person’s pain, or our own pain, because it makes me furious. I know I’m full of shit, but I’m full of helpful shit. They’re just full of horseshit.

The only person who gets to gaslight me is me, and that’s final!

This doesn’t have much of a conclusion, I just wanted to share a strange experience. I think being (as far as I know) both our first host and first protector, simultaneously, has made my existence a bit weird.

TLDR: For the vast majority of negative physical sensations, I can respond “the fuck are you on about? Idiot. Unfollowed, reported, blocked.” And at least in my perception, the sensation will decrease. Wild.

[bisluthq]

I’m also convinced that they got married and I’ll explain way:

- Saoirse goes to Italy in June and one of the people she met there is talking about this art stuff they do in that town, and says that she attended a dinner they did and that she’s getting married next month

- Right after Glasto she goes on a small 3-4 day trip with some friends

- Then Atelier Arena posts a picture of a suit jacket that they made for Jack with Lowden tartan

- Last week, all their friends go to Scotland and on friday Tom posts a video of everyone going in a lake (Eileen and her fiancé, Alex and her husband, Lucy and Ciaran, Calum and his girlfriend, Tom and his girlfriend, maybe James, another one of Jack’s old friends are some of the people I recognized). Ciaran and Tom’s girlfriend Emma also post some stuff in Scottish mountains.

- Saturday everyone goes quiet, everyone except Scarlett. Scarlett posted from an airport on Friday and then on Saturday she posted a story saying “don’t invite me to your wedding if you don’t want someone hysterically crying for 8 hours”

- Sunday Scarlett is on a plane again and Emma is back to posting some animals on a Scottish mountain

They’ve never gone on a trip with that many of their friends at once and they would’ve all shared more about a big trip like that if they weren’t trying to be private about it. I wasn’t sure about the article that talked about Saoirse getting married in July because they also said she was going back home to the US, but that coupled with the friend trip and Jack’s jacket had me convinced that the wedding was going to happen really soon. Then all of their friends were in the same place at the same time and I was convinced it was happening that weekend, Scarlett’s story about a wedding was just further confirmation for me. Could it be one huge coincidence? Sure. But an anon had already guessed that they would probably get married in June or July because they’re busy for the rest of the year and a few weeks ago everything started pointing to a wedding being imminent. That one weird blind about the dress also made it sound like it was happening fairly soon, and it was back in like May. You can never be 100% convinced that something happened unless you see it yourself (and even then, you could be remember it wrong), but I’m 99% convinced it happened and I don’t think we’re going to get any posts about it (at most something cryptic like the engagement announcement) so I think we’re going to have to wait until we see Jack wearing his ring (Saoirse’s might not be noticeable if she keeps wearing the engagement ring, and at times she wore the claddagh ring on that hand too, so it would be hard to tell with her).

I will also like to add that I was on my period and very tired and bored this past week so I had more time to observe everything that was going on, I’m usually not this eagle eyed, but I was expecting it to happen and it all went down when I had nothing better to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

ok you’ve got me 92% convinced which is as high as I’m gonna go seeing as I wasn’t there myself 😂

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - I Am SALTY

June 2022 Wk 3

A very disappointing week and I’m loopy on cold meds. 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Triage (Mon AISplay) Ep 8 - the romantic growth in this show is really well done and natural, especially from Tol’s side, you can see him go from extremely wary to actively in love, it’s very well acted. He’s a complex character so I’m not sure I like him, but I definitely like THEM especially the domesticity moments. Also cute momentum on the side couple, SingGap. Gap is gonna have to get over uke tendencies and do the heavy lifting on this one tho, or nothing will happen. We have 5 more eps to go. This is a crazy ride. 

KinnPorsche (Sat iQIYI) Ep 11 - Big Daddy interrupting a BDSM scene for the worse = a new one on me. Chay demonstrating my “please don’t make Thai actors cry��� request. VegasPete was great. But frankly I probubly would have just preferred them as the leads in a Thai remake of Sei no Gekiyaku, and yes, I actually mean that. So now Kin’s dad killed Porsche’s parents and that’s the relationship doom drama or something? What is this nonsense? Thai BLs of Our Lives? Also BJ in a helicopter much? *grumbles about shark jumping in a corner*

Sky in Your Heart (Fri YouTube) Ep 3 - GMMTV putting the big guns in this one. Always happy to see TTJ. That said, Mek clearly can’t hack BL. I get no chemistry from these two. Not a very good kiss. 

Check Out (Sat IQIYI) Ep 2 - basically this is giving me the messy cheating bisexual meets long suffering gay I was expecting from Love Mechanics but the plot is naff. Whatever. 

My Secret Love (Sat YouTube Sat) Ep 4 - there’s nothing WRONG with this show, per say. There’s nothing right with it either. 

Love Mechanics (Sun WeTV) Ep 1 - I am well over trying to find stuff that should be available international. What are they doing? It’s not like they lack for distribution options for BL these days when even China is playing in the field. Get your shit together. Why do they always squander YinWar? I LIED IT’S THERE. Messy cheating. Drunken dub-con. No sugarcoating. Ho boy. We in for a ROUGH RIDE. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

To My Star 2 (Korea Viki) Ep 3-4 - So she is a childhood sweetheart ex? Bah. ANNOYED. That said, I did love the way she touches Ji Woo and he instantly checks with baby to make sure he’s OK. For someone who’s instinctive words always cut, Ji Woo’s physical instincts are always the opposite. He’s a great character and must be a lot of fun to act. But ho boy, Korea sure does like to D.W.E.L.L. Seo Joon’s sweaters = killing me softly. Also, catfight! Good musical score on this show. Poor Seo Joon he lost his foundation. Of course, this is going to be an exploration about how he is actually Ji Woo’s foundation. But obvs that’s poetry to come. Why is this show so painfully good? 

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan Mon Viki) Ep 1-2 - We’re gonna have to talk about something up front with this one. And it has to do with the fact that I’m a huge fan of the movie Tampopo. It’s got nothing to do with BL and everything to do with Japanese cinema. Why am I bringing this up? Because what this show does out the gate (and Japanese romance does a lot) is use the most intimate filming techniques (close shots, soft focus, etc...) to portray food and eating (not people/faces). Which means the food = a metaphor/stand in for sexual intimacy, repressed desires, and sexual awakening. I could not be more here for this showing up in a BL. It’s one of my favorite things about Japanese cinema. Add that to genuine mature characters? And I already love this show to peaces, and it’s going to be hard to be objective about it. Nozue + Togawa forever!  

Senpai, Danjite Koidewa! AKA Senpai, This Can’t be Love! (Japan Fri Viki) Ep 1 - What is this with JBL opening on a kiss but not closing with one? The par de deux music mouse click thing was cute, and I like we get a JBL from both character’s POV from the start. And they were right, this is a Utsukushii Kare style worship only not whipping boy or attack dog more stalker like SCOY. (Uh oh.) All in all, this is a tense little show. I like THAT but I’m not sure i like this show yet. 

Plus & Minus (Taiwan Viki *rec* & GaGa Fri) Ep 11 - Classic ep 11 DOOM. But it will all be okay. Cute side dishes were cute. 

Want to See You (Vietnam YouTube) Ep 2 - It’s good, better with the brother character. You should read @squeakygeeky​’s analysis of the pronouns, and how they shift, it makes for a much more comprehensible, significant, and flirtatious episode.

Love in Spring (Korea grey) Ep 9-10 - Can’t find subbed anymore. So I guess it’s on hold until I can or it gets distribution. 

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai AKA I Only Want To See You (Japan Thurs Hulu JP) Ep 1 - Not available inter.  

Getaway (Singapore Mon YouTube) Ep 4 - The acting is just too terrible. DNF 

Gossip

Korean gay novel Star Struck to be adapted into a BL. Looks bog standard messy gay long term pining friends-to-lovers, but novel is a good thing, tends to have more meat to work with then a manwha. I wonder if they will do a full length series?

PT is Love announced, this (like Peach of Time) is another Korean/Thai collab project. Looks interesting: moot pining besties, enter university together. investigate MURDER, fall in love. As ya do. 

Looks like BounPrem (Until We Meet Again’s WinTeam) have a new project: Even Sun series. Looks like a tourist board promo adjacent thingy. 

In Case You Missed It

There’s a new Vietnamese BL (or just gay) movie coming out which looks pretty good, called Tie the Not. LONG trailer here. 

Dear Doctor I'm Coming for Soul looks like it’s being made available on YouTube. (Maybe only in part?) I liked this one, recommended with some reservations around an amorphous ending. Doctor and Reaper fall in love. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Unforgotten Nights starts on GaGa, thank fuck, clearly I need to get this snark out of my system. TRASH WATCH awaits. 

This week’s best moments?

I love it when a show reviews itself. 

(last week)

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 s02e01 Points of Departure

s01 table of contents • s01 wrap-up • previous episode: s01e22

I did pinky promise!

That's definitely John Sheridan. Captain (?) of the Agamemnon.

Partner: Is that the new captain? What happened to the old one?

Me: Nothing has happened to the commander. The commander of deep space 9 is still in command.

Partner: .... ???

oops, heh. Got my Star Trek brain on 100% of the time.

There is still so much going on. The episode has only been going on about thirty seconds and I already feel like there’s ten new plot threads. Sheridan, Sheridan’s deep animosity for, and ability to defeat, Minbari. Minbari warships in Earth space.

And there’s still all the old plot threads! Which I am pretty sure I remember OK. I was dead dog tired last night.

Love Ivanova’s threats! “Knock it the fuck off or I’m putting you in the fusion reactor.” I’ll help.

I appreciate Ivanova doing a little recap.

Oh, dang, that’s more abrupt than I thought Sinclair’s departure would be. Just a Gold Level message that, fyi, he left sometime in the last 8 days and he won’t be back. Bye guy.

That’s great rationale. The Minbari want Sinclair, so they get him. But we’re sending the guy who kicked the Minbari’s ass to command B5, since the Minbari picked their fave for the last one.

And Delenn never got to tell Sinclair the Super Secret Info!

Sooooo the Sheridan/Delenn endgame is going to be Enemies to Lovers?

LOVE Ivanova’s second recap. She should recap everything that needs recapping.

I can’t believe we just found out about vibe showers but haven’t gotten a single, sexy vibe shower scene. This is the 90s. Can I expect a titillating Susan/Talia life-saving co-showering scene?

Good set-up for Sheridan being a sympathetic, likeable figure. Ivanova did not enjoy running the station by herself for over a week, and anyone she’s stoked to see, I’m stoked to see!

Oooo. Betrayal and Minbari on Minbari violence. Sheridan the Star Killer! What a name!

Ivanova: I’ll say a prayer for [Garibaldi] tonight. Dr Franklin: He’s agnostic. Ivanova: Then I’ll say half a prayer.

That’s the friendly Ivanova vs Garibaldi antagonism I’ve always loved so much.

Kalain is going to be a problem, but I’m not sure how, precisely. Or how it’s going to help wrap up any of those many, many plot threads dropped last episode or this one so far.

Hostility! Sheridan vs Minbari: may it bring much interesting viewing. And Sheridan’s just super casually name dropping the Grey Council and Minbari cultural knowledge when that stuff seemed to have been extremely under wraps last season. A shift in worldbuilding, or proof of Sheridan’s Super Secret Classified Knowledge for character building? Questions, questions.

NO, you can’t hurt Lennier, he’s too adorably sweet. Even with that hilarious two-finger martial arts (??) stance. Indisposed is a way to describe Delenn’s condition, but considering how unsure she and Lennier seemed to be of her survival, very sweetly optimistic.

Yeah, where’s the Trigati? 

Oh shit! Lennier is about to drop some Super Classified Minbari Info?! Fuck yea.

I’m SO MAD that HBO is currently ahead of Firefox’s plug-ins so I can’t gif every second of Delenn in front of all those explosions.

The horrible truth is...humans are Minbari? Sort of?

This is a step up in the mysticism! I love it! How totally bonkers. So bonkers, it feels like a real religious belief. The Greater Minbari Souls aren’t reincarnating well into Minbari babies, and new Minbari have seemed lesser recently because, for some reason, they’re reincarnating into humans. What the fuck, I mean, did JMS do way too many shrooms in the 80s?

Ahhhh maybe don’t talk about the super secret Minbari-Human soul exchange in the middle of the crowded bridge, though?

OK, I now have worldbuilding answers, but way more questions. I’ve been wondering forever if they have faster-than-light communication, and they do - Sheridan sends a message through the jump point. But then he says the Minbari warship looking for the Trigati was waiting in hyperspace. A...space outside of normal space that the jump points send ships through and brings them back into normal space in other locations?

Oof, And Sheridan can’t win with the Minbari. They’re mad at him for this, too.

Ivanova: I learned awhile ago that there’s enough guilt in the world without grabbing around for more.

Nice exposition, Lennier. But how will the Earthers discover this on their own? I’m intrigued by both that, and by how Delenn’s chrysalis keeps growing. And the weeping, and the cracking.

I appreciate that, although Sheridan feels too superstitious about his speech to not give it, he just goes and gives it to an empty command dome.

Going to miss Sinclair. But I like Sheridan so far.

next episode

[fishfinngers07]

Strawberry Dress CC!Eret

Summary:  STRAWBERRY DRESS!

Genre: Fluff

Pronouns: He/Him

Eret was wearing the dress. The strawberry dress that he had been practically begged to wear by his fans. Sure, Y/N wouldn't technically wear it and he didn't think his boyfriend typically would to, but Alistair said that it was to deliver the message "Fuck Gender Roles." Y/N had taken his boyfriend to pick up all the P.O. stuff for the rest of the stream, including a Pumpkin. For no reason.

The next day, Y/N moved all the P.O. boxes into Alistair's streaming room and shut the door behind.

Together he and Alistair's other roommates sat down on the couch and opened up Eret's stream just in time.

"Ok, so Mxmtoon is the one who convinced me like, I saw her post, I saw a whole bunch of other people getting it. I was like 'okay, I gotta get it.' I sent a sneak peak to Mxmtoon and I also showed my boyfriend, who might come on later, and they both said I looked great, so I hope you guys think I look great."

Y/N shouted to Eret's room, "If they don't think you look great, then they will face the wrath of me." and he heard a faint echo on the TV.

Eret let out a nervous chuckle and then continued to talk, "So I'm debating whether to put it on now or whether I open these boxes," he indicated to the P.O. box mail that Y/N had helped him carry home, "And put it on after that. I know everyone wants me to do the dress. Let's do a poll, let's do a poll. Let's do a quick poll, right?"

Five minutes passed and a lot of votes were in.

"Oh my God! Okay, everyone is saying now, everyone is saying now. There's 11 thousand votes for now! Not only am I going to be wearing just the strawberry dress, right? I've decided that I'm also going to be doing it with these boots that were sent to my P.O. box a couple of weeks ago. Five inch heels."

"He's going to be so tall!" muttered one of the roommates.

"He didn't even tell me he was wearing them," Y/n said and the three of them had a laugh. Not loud enough that chat could hear, but loud-ish.

"...because," Eret continued, "I think that's going to be absolutely hilarious right? I think it'll look pretty good, don't you think?"

He continued to randomly chat as the votes for now continued to rise.

"TWENTY THOUSAND VOTES FOR NOW? I'm going to need to get dressed, somewhere off the side of the screen. You guys don't want to see me in my underwear. Because I will get banned off Twitch."

Y/N felt his phone ding beside him and turned to see who it was...

He walked just outside Eret's room and waited for the next text. He heard Eret talking to his chat.

"I'm going to look fucking amazing in a little bit. I don't know how to put on a dress, in case you hadn't noticed. I generally don't wear dresses." He laughed a little. "The most advanced my clothing gets is t-shirts and jeans, except one time when I met Y/N's parents and I wore a suit and tie, but I hated that. This is what I wear all the fucking time. So, Y/N will come for entertainment and to help me into this dress, but I will also set something up for you in the background to look at, while I get dressed."

He sent the text to Y/N and he walked in...

"Hey Chat. Just out of curiosity, why am I here? I'm exactly the same as you. I don't wear dresses. My clothing advancements are more caveman than you."

"Alright, can you grab Ted, and I'll grab some heels to put him in." Y/N stifled a chuckle as he grabbed the bear.

***

"Ted's looking kinda good, not gonna lie, then there's you struggling in a dress."

"You were supposed to come in to help me, not mock me!"

"I don't know how to put on a dress, cause like you, I generally don't wear dresses."

"I don't want to break thi- this dress cost me five hundred and fifty dollars by the way!"

"So... we're not eating for the rest of the month??"

"There is soo much glitter! ALL OVER MY ENTIRE ROOM!"

"I would like to eat."

Eret continued to ignore Y/N.

"You guys ready, for the grand reveal?"

"I don't think they are..."

He continued to laugh, Y/N could tell that he was slightly nervous, so he gave Eret a reassuring smile. He smiled back.

"My heart rate is beating a little bit fast. I'm going to be entirely honest. I am a bit nervous!"

He walked on.

"Insert holy bible music!" Y/N laughed.

"I'm fucking killing it dude. I think I'm fucking killing it dude."

"Yep. The bicon is killing it. Can we get #eretdress trending please? Hey, Eret, spin around."

"Spin around? Just like, whoooo! Hehe."

He then walked closer to the camera and spoke to his chat.

"The message here, is Fuck Gender Roles dude! Anyone can wear a dress."

"I'm not wearing a dress," Y/N decides to chime in and Eret chuckles.

"...and whatever the fuck they want. Look at these boots. Five inch heels. I pull them off well."

"You can't get me into Five inch heels."

"This dress cost me five hundred and fifty dollars. This dress, and I'm probably not going to wear it that much."

"Please, dear god, please Eret, wear it the next time we see my parents!"

"But, I'm doing it for you guys, I'm doing it for a sub goal."

Time skip...

"Pose?" Y/N was getting a bit tired. He had no idea how long this stream was going to last, and Eret still had to do a bunch of P.O. box openings.

"Let's do some more poses. What are some more poses? In case you haven't noticed, I am not a model."

"But you are as handsome as one."

"Whoo!"

"Cue the old camera clicking."

"I got to be careful, because if I kick towards the camera, you're going to see up the fucking dress. That's something I've never had to worry about before. Ever!"

"Eret, you're the monarch of bisexuals put on the crown!"

"Let's put on the crown."

"Look at this, I'm vibing. The vibes are immaculate. Let's do another spin, let's do another spin."

For the rest of the stream Y/N stayed silent, watching Eret do some interesting things...

Nearly falling over while spinning

Telling chat to not send him pumpkins, as he moved the pumpkin, causing Y/N to sit in the chair instead.

Spinning a different way

Grabbing the bisexual flag and using it like a spanish bull fighter

And then wearing it with the cape.

T-posing

And then Y/N being a midget and doing a T-pose in front of Eret

Denying the WAP

And then lying about what it meant

Getting to No. 8 on Trending

Making jokes "Oh it's so hot... and not just because me and Y/N are here."

Finally, Eret finished the stream and came over and gave Y/N a massive hug.

"Thank you," he whispered.