#breakfast with scot

[qroier]

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE I watched Breakfast with Scot yesterday and it was awesome do yourself a favor and go watch it too

If you like established relationships you'll really dig this, eric (right, former NHL player and current sports broadcaster) and sam (left, sports attorney) are already in gay love and practically married when scot unexpectedly comes to live with them. and then scot proceeds to be so gay he baffles even them. go watch it!!!!! also this specific version on youtube has portuguese subtitles with english audio which was pretty cool to try to follow along with

bonus gif i found of one of my favorite lines to give you a teaser:

[batri-jopa]

Breakfast with Scot (2007) dir. Laurie Lynd

My most favorite scene:

[tinycupcakesstuff]

Unpacking Heated Rivalry and the OG Hockey Husbands

I can't unpack Heated Rivalry before covering Breakfast with Scot, who walked so the whole m/m hockey romance genre could run. The film based on the novel by the same name which explores intergenerational issues between queer adults parenting a queer child. The film ups the ante with making one of the queer adults a hockey player and the layers that come with being in the closet as a professional athlete.

The year was 2007 and we are introduced to Eric McNally, who retired sometime around 2002 (Ellen came out in 1997), so his career would have been 1990s-2002. He would have played junior hockey in the 80s. Heated Rivalry takes place covering the decade after Breakfast with Scot, 2008-2018.

For Eric, the context of AIDs epidemic, shifting social views on LGBT issues in general society let alone the sports/hockey world are very much his lived experience.

We meet Eric, now retired from hockey in his late 30s, in a long term committed relationship with his partner, Sam who is a sports lawyer (and was apparently Eric's lawyer). Eric is out to the important people in his life but not publicly because he works as an analyst for a Canadian sports network. He is living a double life, or at least his sexuality is somewhat of an "open secret" in hockey circles. One he takes great lengths to avoid drawing any attention to.

Eric is aware of how things have changed, but all of the societal progress and multitudes of public figures coming out post-Ellen hasn't necessarily changed anything for him. He is still very much under the microscope of the Toronto hockey media landscape, having become a sports caster in his retirement and hosting a Sportscenter-like hockey program on TV. Despite the fact that he is out to his assistant who relentlessly teases him for not being out at work. When Eric does finally come out at work, she confirms, "everyone already knew."

In daily life Eric seems to be comfortably out. Eric's comfortable balance of his homelife with Sam and hockey life explodes with arrival of Scot, Sam's brother's dead ex-girlfriends son, who they need to take custody of temporarily.

Scot is not the 11 year old boy Eric was expecting. He was bracing himself for a homophobic terror that would destroy their home and sell their electronics for booze. Instead they got Scot, who wears Pink Gardenia hand cream and a charm bracelet. Scot who turned down Eric's invitation to watch hockey because, he "only likes musicals."

Somehow, this was just as bad as what Eric was predicting and he starts having a harder time keeping his worlds separate. Eric attends Scot's parent teacher night with Sam, which the topic of discussion is how to manage Scot. All 3 adults have no clue. The teacher offers that he should watch TV to find more "traditional" role models. A microaggression that Eric bristles at.

Scot has no qualms being who he is, clearly his mother raised him in an affirming manner. He wears pink, glitter, make-up, and is 100% true to himself at all times. And interestingly, Scot faces little bullying and ridicule even though Eric is terrified of this. Scot is innocent and confused about homophobia, although at one point he admits to Eric that he thinks being gay means "no one likes you." To which Eric forcefully tells him, "It doesn't mean that." Which for a guy like Eric, with a pretty limited tool box in which to discuss feelings, is pretty big!

On Scot's first day with Eric and his partner, he outs Eric to a mall security guard.

Eric immediately responded above, stammering I'm not, I'm not, because he was caught off guard. I don't necessarily buy into that he is ashamed. I think Scot outing him AGAINST HIS WILL wasn't something he was prepared for and I do have a lot of sympathy for him stumbling through it. I'm not sure the film and the fandom are always very sympathetic to Eric.

Scot continues, "Him and Sam are married" and Eric's response is probably my favorite line in the film. He says, "We're not even...we're not even married."

For me, he is redeemed. He is not denying his relationship, he clarifies that they're not married, but doesn't deny that they're together. I think he did his best navigating a very nuanced public situation with an impressionable child as a gay public figure in the closet!

So what does all this have to do with Heated Rivalry?

So in the entire DECADE after we meet Eric still in the closet 5 years post retirement.....we get a fictional NHL player coming out publicly in the Game Changers universe!

Heated Rivalry covers, in excruciating detail, how difficult and painful it is navigating falling in love as a closeted NHL player. And when I say excruciating, I mean it is agony.

I don't know if it is a weird take because I am 7 years late to the Ilya/Shane party, but the angst was just so painful. I am in an emotional twist. Physical/psychic pain. Damn, their love was so hard. Damnnnnnn.

I have a Eric McNally origin story where I speculate about Eric's Heated Rivalry glory days which would have been roughly 1992-2002, and what he got up to while he was playing. I do NOT have him falling in love back then lol. But he did have a boyfriend or 2. He saves it all for Sam. It's certainly not on the level of Ilya and Shane, but I am sure he had someone to meet in hotels all across North America. The only other mm hockey romance that touches on that experience is the character Wade in Breaking the Rules.

Eric and Sam are the OG hockey husbands!!!!!

I am working on an Epic novel length Eric and Sam romance novel, full of smut a la Ilya/Shane.

This is just another part of my (and a few of my fandom comrades) ongoing effort to produce Breakfast with Scot propaganda to entice others to join our esteemed ranks which number in the DOZENS! We are dozens!

Breakfast with Scot has me in an absolute choke hold because we meet Eric and Sam as hockey husbands. They live the most stable, quaint life on the outskirts of Toronto in the cutest brownstone known to man. Their relationship is calm and safe, despite Eric being an absolute neurotic mess 100% of the time.

It's a deep well to draw from thematically. The character of Scot is an absolute delight. This is a queer family film, a hockey romance, it is everything! And the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed their logo to be in a queer film!

It's taking every shred of willpower NOT to abandon my WIPs and start working on the Game Changers x Breakfast with Scot crossover no one asked for...But I need a universe where Eric and Ilya and Shane can exist together...Soon, I hope.

[stop-ugly]

Does anyone know a movie where queer people are not the lead characters but part of a story?

I wanna play that film on family movie night. I'm still in the closet so the movie can't be too gay but I wanna remind them lgbt+ people exist, can be parents, happy and among us

If we gonna make a list of movies like that I start: Breakfast with Scot (2007). Really need to hear your variants!

[tinycupcakesstuff]

Gonna jump into my time machine and do one of these!

1. Share a song that makes you think of - Celine Dion “I drove all night” is part of the soundtrack of my Eric/Sam origins fic when after having a big fight, Sam drives all night to rescue Eric from his family after he comes out disastrously when he returns home for his fathers funeral.

2. Do you read/reread your own fics? Yes, my WIPs.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? I’m enjoying my WIPs, my pre movie and during movie fics are my babies.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now? 2-3

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? I started it, but may not post…a decades post movie fic where Sam convinces Eric to watch Fellow Travelers and he just totally loses it and adult Scot comes home to find eric a sobbing distraught mess and thinks someone had died only yo find out a Eric is in his feelings about Hawk and Tim and yells at him calling him snd *ass*hole.

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? Yes all BwS fic on repeat in perpetuity.

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? So many.

8. What project(s) are you currently working on? A Eric/Sam origin story pre movie with goal of 80k words, at 50k. I have a during movie into immediate post movie fic jm 30k words into.

9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! Not every day but I think about writing every day.

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting? Never published 🥴

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? No. I live in silence.

12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it! NA

13. How much planning do you do before writing? Lots of thinking of the scenes. I need to know what’s happening then write it down.

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? Omg yes…TV series. Multiple seasons. Lots of story to tell.

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? Still working on title for my premo is fic but my other one is a line from the film.

16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles? When it’s right. Can be at any point.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? Omg, well I’m a die hard hockey fan now. #Leafsforever

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Eric never knew he had a type, but this has to be it. Physically, Sam was a very handsome man but it was beyond that to the very dignified way he carried himself at all times.

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

Eric stared up at a group of men, the fluorescent lights created a halo effect around them. Instead of angelic and comforting, the effect was surreal. He suddenly felt frightened. 

By the tense posture and squared jaw he could immediately discern one of the figures as his coach, Bob Axelrod. Eric was careful not reveal any sign of fear or emotion on his face. There was also dad, a doctor, and a younger man he didn’t recognize. He shook his head in a lame attempt to collect himself. The feelings of fear and confusion crested into a wave of anger. 

His Dad spoke first. “It’s about time you woke up.” He and Axelrod were cut from the same cloth. Men hardened by their meager circumstances they could never quite overcome. In his father’s case, he was stuck running the family business and never got to live out his dream of being a hockey player. That was Eric’s job. Axelrod was just born angry and hateful, and had his own middling NHL career to stand on. They were equally triggered by any demonstration of humanity, that was weakness. Eric was supposed to be a hockey machine, nothing more, nothing less. This Dad and Axelrod were looking down at him with matching contemptuous scowls. They had a knack for sucking all the air out of the room.

“Yeah, I know, how embarrassing for me to be rendered unconscious by general anesthesia. What will the papers say? ‘Eric McNally is a sissy,’ right Ax?”

Axelrod snorted derisively, “Fucking faggot, more like. You caused a God damn brawl and now Sanders is out with a sprained ankle.”

Eric clocked the fourth man wincing from the use of the slur, and he self-consciously straightened his burgundy paisley tie that perfectly complemented his immaculately tailored suit.

“I don’t give a fuck about Sanders,” Eric spat out.

The nurse was still standing next to the fourth man and Eric watched them exchange an uneasy glance. He was tall and handsome and seemed to be comfortable in his own skin and pink tie. He didn’t look like someone who gets pushed around. Something in his expression changed as he stepped forward, “Mr. McNally, I’m so glad you are awake. I’m Sam Miller, your lawyer. John Thompson assigned me to your case.” He looked Axelrod square in the face and then back to Eric. “There was indeed quite a melee after you were knocked unconscious by Sanders. Multiple players engaged in a fight and sustained injuries. Some are pursuing legal action against the team. That is why I am here, and I would advise you not to speak with the team’s representatives without me being present.”

Eric’s Dad lunged forward. “They sent a lawyer up here! This is absolutely ridiculous. Bob Axelrod did nothing wrong. We don’t want you here.”

Sam then directed his cold gaze to Eric’s father, “No one sent me. Mr. McNally is a long-term client of our firm and I am here to represent him with all matters pertaining to his contractual relationship with the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club and his rights to pursue civil and criminal charges against those who assaulted him on Thursday.”

Eric’s dad wagged a finger in Sam’s face,“Get out of here! No one wants you here!”

Eric watched on in horror and sat up in the bed too fast causing an overwhelming shooting pain down his arm.“Fuck!” He cried out loudly.

They all paused in their tracks, temporarily fixated on Eric who was breathing slowly trying to ride out the wave of intense pain. He was determined to put an end to this, and pushed through the pain to yell at his father. 

“Dad! What the fuck do you think you are doing? Don’t you dare lay a finger on him! Get out of here! You and Axelrod need to get the fuck out of here and don’t ever come back! You can go out there and talk about what a fucking disappointment I am and fantasize about how you want to take me out back with your rifle and put me down. Get the fuck out of here.” 

Eric laid back down in the bed and pressed the button to his morphine drip. 

Eric’s Dad and Axelrod left grumbling to each other.. Eric breathed a sigh of relief. Sam hesitated a second, allowing them to leave first. After their voices receded down the hallway, Sam started to make his exit. 

“Hey, Sam. You can stay. I just wanted those assholes to clear out.”

He turned back into the room and approached the bed with a hint of a smile , “I’m Sam Miller. Pleased to meet you officially. And, um, thanks for that.”

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? TBD

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? YES! I originally had them meet in a totally different way. But, I will post that as a separate one shot one day.

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing? No. I am more of a pantser than a plotter. All I know is HEA!

23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? I like to end on dialogue or a nice thought that is a nice point to pause or reflect on.

24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s). OMG, I have a whole pinterest for Eric and Sam.

Sam

Eric

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? Not really.

26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see? ALL OF IT heheheheh

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? I'm nervous to post, but I know that I want this story out there.

28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”? LOL no

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Okay, I will post the above referenced fic.

“There, there.” Sam says, patting Eric’s head absently.

They’re sitting on the couch, Sam with his legs up on the coffee table and Eric sitting beside him with his head between his legs. Eric lets out a few muffled sobs. Sam hears the footsteps approaching quicker than he can think of a plausible explanation for the current state of affairs. 

Sam turns his head without removing his hand, fingers now weaving through Eric’s salt and pepper flecked hair. The contour of Eric’s skull in his hand is so familiar, it’s like the back of his hand. What is less familiar is Eric’s emotional outburst. Eric had become considerably more in touch with his feelings since Scot came into their lives, but this sort of outpouring of emotion was a first for Eric. Sam was surprised when Eric willingly watched the latest television series depicting LGBT issues. Eric didn’t typically care much, but when Sam explained the premise of the new series Fellow Travelers, Eric was intrigued.

They had met in the last few seasons of Queer as Folk which Eric would watch but roll his eyes at. It’s been more than 20 years since they met, and a lot has changed since then. Eric came out on air and became involved with several LGBTQIA sports organizations, learning the acronyms and finally embracing his community.

So they sat down on the couch each Sunday to stream it, Eric more than Sam eagerly awaiting the new episode. Yelling at the screen. He was completely and utterly captivated by the on screen depiction of two men in love.

Sam glanced over his shoulder expecting Scot to appear at any moment, his footsteps were approaching rapidly. 

“Eric is having feelings,” Sam says by way of explanation.

A look of terror washes across Scot’s handsome face. He had grown into a tall, broadchested  man in the years since they adopted him. He spent far more time in the gym than Sam would have ever predicted, much to Eric’s delight. There was a lot of truth to Sam’s theory that his strong embrace for the feminine was an expression of his grief for his mother and an attempt to stay close to her. As he moved into puberty and processed his grief he learned to embrace his masculine side. Now, he was a grown man with he/him pronouns and his partner is trans. He goes to the gym to keep up his bulky physique, but wears his hear long and styled to perfection with a full beard. He’s the product of three parents who embraced him fully and allowed him to express his authentic self.

“What the hell is going on?” He says, voice quivering, betraying a deep concern. The rich, deep, sound of Scot’s voice snaps Sam back to reality. Still, after all these years, sometimes Sam expects his prepubescent squeak after all these years. 

As if on queue, Eric pops his head up. 

“Oh, hey, Scot. How was the lecture?” 

“Eric, you’re sobbing!” Scot nearly shouts and rushes to the couch and wedging himself between them, a habit he’s had since he was a boy. Sam’s lips start to twitch up into a smile and he and Eric exchange a look behind Scot’s shoulders.

Eric, who has now fully regained his composure, opens his mouth to speak when he is abruptly cut off by Scot.

“Are you ok? Is Sam ok? Tell me. I can take it.” 

Sam’s hand is now on Scot’s head, weaving his fingers through his long, shoulder length auburn locks, “Scot, slow down.”

Eric slips an arm around Scot’s waist, “We’re fine, Scot. We were just watching Fellow Travelers.”

“Assholes!” Scot shouts as he shoots up off the couch.Sam and Eric can’t help but laugh. Sam is bemused by Scot’s swearing. He, like Sam, isn’t prone to profanities. Unlike Eric, who has very colorful language picked up of a lifetime of locker room talk.

He’s pacing in front of the TV.

“Ass—” he pauses, allowing Sam and Eric join him to complete the phrase, “holes!”

“First of all, I thought one of you were sick! I know the story of Hawk and Skippy is emotional, but Eric, really? Sobbing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry before.”

“I’m a closet romantic,” Eric snarks back.

Sam chimes in to Eric’s defense, “I mean, it’s pretty sad. Historically speaking.”

Scot shrugs and settles back in on the couch, “So, Eric, do you want to talk about it?”

Eric huffs impatiently, “I think you guys are making more out of this than it needs to be.”

Sam rubs his back gently, patiently waiting for Eric to open up.

“Fine. It’s just that I think about how when we fell in love, and what if we met at another time, and I don’t know…”

Sam smiles a knowing smile that reaches his eyes while Scot looks on confused.

Eric waves a hand dismissively. “I was thinking about what if I couldn’t have you. What if we couldn’t be together. I would have ended up like Tim, on an odyssey to get over you but never able to.”

“I love that my parents are so in love.”

30. Ask anything

I’m Bored and Anxious So I Slapped Together a List of Fan Fic Writer Asks

1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title] 2. Do you read/reread your own fics? 3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? 4. How many WIPs do you have right now? 5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? 6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? 7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? 8. What project(s) are you currently working on? 9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! 10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting? 11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? 12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it! 13. How much planning do you do before writing? 14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? 15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? 16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles? 17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic? 19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs. 20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? 21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? 22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing? 23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? 24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s). 25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? 26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see? 27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? 28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”? 29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.) 30. Ask anything!

[mech-bull]

Various fandom rambling.

This is long-ish so it's going under a cut.

It has been more than 2 years since I posted any fic, and that was a purposely incomplete one. The last finished fic I posted was almost 3 years ago. In that time, I’ve also received 108 comments on various fic, and it just seems so daunting to even begin replying to those and I’m sure most of the commenters have long since moved on, anyway. This inactivity has been partly because of stressful job and other real-life situations, and partly because I just haven’t felt any sort of creative mojo. The only fandom-related things I’ve been able to do are watch things and read things.

So, I really want to commit to writing again this summer. I still have stressors and obligations to deal with but I want to get back into being a creator and not just a consumer again. I’m going to start small – I have on-hiatus fics for The Old Guard* and Breakfast with Scot that I think I’m far enough along in, I’ll be able to complete them. After that, we’ll see. I do have lots of bunnies. Just turning them into actual fic still seems harder than it has in the past.

I’m not going to write 9-1-1 fic. I’m NOT. The fandom, frankly, both scares and annoys me. I simply refuse to be a part of it.  Oh God, I’m going to write 9-1-1 fic, aren’t I?

* Are we EVER going to get The Old Guard 2??

For the 25-some years I’ve been reading fanfic, and I have said this before many times, I have always wanted versatility in my smut. Mostly because I don’t think fantasies should be limited and also to the extent that porn serves plot and characterization, it’s vital to a story’s needs to be as flexible as some of the positions I put my OTPs in (hey-oh). But also, because as much as people like to shout otherwise, fandom as a whole is not all that progressive or open-minded when it comes to gender and relationships (and I have my own hang-ups and biases here, to be sure). Certainly, some individual writers are, and certainly fandom can often be better at it than many other parts of society, but there is still a strong tendency for an overall fanon to try to fit pairings (of any gender and sex orientation) into bizarrely conservative heteronormative dynamics. Slash fandoms in particular have a real hard time separating activities in the bedroom from individual character personality traits and relationship dynamics. To me, there is a difference between saying a character is a bottom vs. a character prefers to bottom, if that makes sense. [*PLEASE NOTE that I am not saying that a person in real life can’t identify as such or have a strict preference/role. I'm talking about fictional characters whose explicit sexual activities are typically being made up entirely by fandom.] So, because of all that, I aim to write and read as many variations as possible and often even try to contrarily go against fanon trends.

That said…Buck prefers to bottom, as far as I'm concerned. Most, if not all, of his girlfriends topped him. And Taylor definitely pegged him. I assume the same is or will be true for his boyfriends. I will read other things, and YMMV (Seriously I am not looking to fight anyone on this. Have I mentioned the fandom scares me?). I think Buck would not only willingly but actively, enthusiastically, joyfully do anything his partners want to in bed. But when he has his druthers, dude wants to get fucked. Hard. Sigh, I’m going to write 9-1-1 fic, aren’t I?

[achoo-gesundheit]

It's that time of year again, friends! If you're one of the many commenters I've had over the years who asked me if I would write more for a specific character or scene, this is your moment. Check out my FTH offerings page or shoot me a message if you have a specific idea you wanna run by me. I'm super excited to write for you!

[achoo-gesundheit]

The time has come friends! If you want me to write you a silly little story, please check out my auction page. And feel free to send me an ask with any questions about specific fic ideas, if you'd like! Super excited for a new year of auction shenanigans.

Bidding is now open!

Bidding for Fandom Trumps Hate 2024 is now officially open! Go to our dreamwidth offerings blog to place your bids anytime from now until March 9th.

The stickied post contains information about how to search tags on dreamwidth if you're still browsing what to bid on. Individual posts have instructions on how to bid; simply fill out the appropriate bidding form and your bid will be logged on the bidding spreadsheet automatically. If someone has more than one auction, make sure to bid on the correct one!

Bidding will be open until March 9th at 8:00 PM EST. Best of luck placing your bids!

[tinycupcakesstuff]

10 Reasons I am obsessed with Breakfast with Scot

Grab yourself a T shaped pancake and enjoy!

I find the theme's of the novel by Michael Downing and the screen adaptation to be very compelling. Exploration of found families, stable queer couple navigating parenthood, potentially queer/gender nonconforming kids, coming out, self-acceptance.

I am a big fan of contemporary fiction, real-life situations meets romance/rom-com. I am not really into YA or fantasy, fandom can be heavily skewed in that direction. I also like more mature protagonists beyond the early 20s into adulthood.

Love a totally stable and in love m/m couple with careers and a house in the suburbs. No romantic drama. Just a wholesome queer marriage.

LOVE that the NHL and Toronto Maple Leafs gave permission to use the logos and branding in a queer-themed film.

I love both stories, novel and film. I think that the characters stand up really well in both. Particularly, I think Eric is entirely justified in remaining in the closet professionally and as a public figure. It was 2007! Ellen was recently out. Very few celebrities and next to no sports figures were out in that time period.

Tom Cavanagh and Ben Shenkman are just so fine, this should be self-evident.

I just love the wholesome, feel-good comfort of the film. I know it isn't perfect but for its time, I think it did well and was pretty ground breaking. Queer-themed films were usually tragedies back then.

LOVE that they incorporated hockey!!!

Love the supporting characters and feeling of a sitcom. That found family and found community comes through very strongly.

And most of all, I love that there is so much story to tell. How did Eric end up getting together with Sam if he can't even say the word gay out loud yet is ok talking about their bedsheets on the street for anyone to hear? How do they deal with Scot's trauma about losing his mom? How is Sam a sports attorney yet knows nothing about hockey? Did Scot finish the hockey season? I want to know all about Nula and George Jr's wedding! I want Eric/Sam commitment ceremony. Hell, I'd even enjoy Billy and Mia's wedding lol. I want to see Scot graduate from high school and Ryan Burlington get drafted.

[devil-in-hiding]

What about farmer reader that has a habit of sleeping in underwear and just goes down like that to make breakfast...totally forgetting the four men in her house, even after months....

I'm lacking sleep and my mind has been doing this for the last hour

(Our child is a girl <3)

-🦋

(we’re naming her theodora)

okay but yes please because summer months on the farm are fucking AWFUL (spoken from true experience) and for the last 6 years you have freely slept in just a pair of soft silk shorts that stay so nice and cold and hug you j u s t right

so when it’s in the triple digits and you already have all the fans pointed at your bed, you don’t think twice about stripping off your gown, nor do you think about trotting down the stairs the next morning, rubbing sleep from your eyes and stretching your arm above your head

“Mornin pretty, do you- fuckin’ hell woman!” Price’s voice stops you dead your your tracks, your eyes locking with a red faced Soap, who is trying his fucking b e s t to keep his gaze locked on your face, but when you gasp and your chest rises, he breaks, eyes darting down and he w h i n e s, chair scrapping the floor

“No! Soap! DOWN!” Price barks, scrambling to try and pin the scot against the table, but Soap is slippery, and your brain doesn’t kick in until your being tossed on the couch, Soap towering over you

“Sweet fuckin’ jesus bonnie..” He breathes, eyes hungry and you try to cover your chest, but your hands are pinned to the couch cushion

[tinycupcakesstuff]

Hi, hello,

I also reconnected with the mm romance genre, particularly mm hockey romance while suffering pregnancy complications! I think we need to be friends. Glad to hear you and baby are doing well. We made it and baby is now a toddler and here I am STILL having a great time reading my hockey books, following hockey due to this, and writing fics. I will delve into this post and respond my thoughts, but I totally agree there is just a secret sauce in mm hockey and it’s my current obsession to use as a coping mechanism/dissociation tool.

I was a lurker, never participated in fandom. Certainly never wrote! I made a few drafts over 20 years ago. So while I was pregnant and ran out of Breakfast with Scot fics (the OG hockey husbands IMHO) I started writing my own, I was not yet aware of the hockey mm romance genre. I found it later through TikTok and I squealed **my people**

So here I am writing a mm romance novel based off my fic characters giving them the epic romance they deserve!! I went on my own epic journey of self discovery in the pregnancy and postpartum period discovering the craft of writing and the beautiful sport that is ice hockey. What began as research for my writing project turned into a true passion for the sport. I was doing research and I watched some of the Amazon documentaries to kind of understand the culture a little bit better, it also happened to be the beginning of October, which is apparently the beginning of hockey season. So I said to myself what if I watched a couple games? Well I got hooked immediately and I became a rabid Toronto Maple Leafs fan overnight.

It was a very difficult year, with the very serious pregnancy, complications, preterm, birth, postpartum recovery, breast-feeding struggles, returning to work, struggles, postpartum, depression struggles. But it was also this transformative and beautiful experience where I was for the first time in my life able to tap into my creative potential and so in love with the craft of writing and that was such a journey and I am so glad that all of these different life events came together.

Cant wait to check out your blog more!!!!

Hockey Romances. Why?

So I was taken out of work a couple weeks ago due to ~pregnancy stuff~ (mostly just stress, the baby and I are fine) which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. And as one does, I have been filling my time reading lgbtq+ romance novels. Because I can.

In this time, I have fallen headfirst into the hockey romance novel subgenre, and I ask myself, as I have done every time I see these books advertised, why? I am not a sports fan. One time, my husband was watching football (European), and a team in red kits was playing against yellow kits, and I started laughing because "it looks like ketchup is playing against mustard". His expression was great, but he hasn't taken me seriously since.

So why is hockey of all things such a draw for the mlm romance subgenre? Especially given the NHL's apparent fear of rainbow tape? Why do I now know what the word "celly" refers to and what an "enforcer" is? Why why why?

Here are my answers:

Extremely organic way to set up some of the most classic romance tropes. Forced proximity? Being on the same team takes care of that. There was only one bed? Shared hotel rooms during away games. Enemies to lovers? Rival teams.

Lots of potential for drama given that players lead very transient lives in terms of the constant possibility of trades. In mlm love stories, even more so given that the NHL is so blatantly homophobic.

Perfect level of fame. Fame and wealth as a draw for a love interest are kind of staples of the genre, and NHL players are famous, sure, but not all of them, and they aren't as famous as football stars (either kind of football). They are still filthy rich, which makes great wish fulfillment. You can have the sexy penthouse and the anonymity.

I would go on to talk about how different roles on the team lend themselves to different tropes (goalie = tightly controlled dude who needs someone to help him cut loose; enforcer = misunderstood fighter with a heart of gold; coach for all your forbidden love/sleeping with the boss desires) but that would very quickly reveal my utter lack of hockey knowledge, so let's not. Instead, here's a quick reclist.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. It's a classic in the genre for a reason and it has everything. Forbidden love? Got that, maybe the definitive example. Redemption arc? Got that. Misunderstood bruiser with a heart of gold? Got that. Age difference? Got that. Also really excellent sex scenes, not gonna lie, and satisfying endings throughout - sometimes a happy end will come a little suddenly for me, but these books really delivered, and the nice thing about how romance series are structured is that you get a little peek at what comes after for the couples in the other books.

2. Him, Us and Epic by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. This one surprised me, I don't generally go for first person POVs, but I did enjoy this! Coming-of-age story turned coming out story featuring a budding hockey star and his best friend. Lots of fun.

3. Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. This series is fun in that it doesn't focus on the NHL, it actually focuses on the minor leagues in the southeast of the US, a place almost no one associates with ice hockey. As such, there's a chance to tell different stories about professional athletes who aren't super rich and famous, which I appreciate a lot. TBH the first pairing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I'm glad I kept going because I especially enjoyed the later books, which tackle tough topics (including eating disorders, abuse etc., so content warning for that). These are still romance novels though, so rest assured that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What I especially appreciate is that these books don't have relationship drama, in that the main couples communicate and work together instead of a third act break-up-make-up!

4. Hockey Ever After series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. These are just great. Lots of fun to read, lots of cameos from character in later books, just excellent mood all around. Also features my favorite ever trope (secret relationship, sorry, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for it I just can't help myself) heavily, which is a win in my book. I especially enjoyed book two, "Scoring Position". Is that because Nico is German and I loved him? Is that because Ryan is my new blorbo? We may never know.

Happy reading and please give me recommendations for more books like these, I'm lowkey obsessed.

[kiryoutann]

An idea where Simon is a guy who posts tutorials on YouTube in his spare time outside of deployment. It was Johnny’s idea, originally—gossiping about how “th’ internet’s made increasing ‘money easy. All ya need is a wee bit of brains and a half-decent camera,” on a night when the team decided to hit the pub for a pint or two. The Scot continues, “Hell, ye dinnae even need a brain, people just shake their asses on camera and call it a day.”

And at first, Simon wasn’t interested. But somehow, he ended up posting his first tutorial video, uploaded with a half-assed, messy title. No one's going to watch it, anyway.

Until, his old laptop dinged with an email notification—someone had left a comment on his video, “Great video. Precise and thorough. Earned a sub.” Zero became one subscriber, then two, ten, until he had 98. It was a random channel, actually; it didn’t focus on one type of content. He posted whatever he wanted to post—and it ended up being something like fishing, survival tips, DIY engine modification or something like that. And sometimes even cooking.

Simon thought of making a video about disassembling and assembling different types of weapons, but ended up not doing so to avoid comments about the military. So, he uploaded that video of him cooking the easiest thing he could—English Breakfast. And you. You stumbled upon that video.

It’s funny, that this gruff-voiced, tattooed man who keeps his identity anonymous by staying behind the camera has his own way of cooking his sausages, paying attention to the details of his scrambled eggs and flipping his toast to the perfect crispness. He slips in a few tips, a few lame jokes that end up being funny because of the chuckle you hear in the video. You don’t usually leave comments or even like videos on YouTube, but—

“I never thought I’d crave a full English breakfast until now. Love the step-by-step instructions. And just wanted to say, the voice and the accent… *chef’s kiss*”

When you wrote that, you weren’t thinking anything. After all, you weren’t the only one saying that—the comment section was filled with compliments, and four of them also mentioned how his voice made them crave something and it’s not the food.

You weren’t expecting anything until a ding caught your attention from your laptop the next morning. A new email – from Youtube. A reply from Reaper777. Who's that? Oh, oh.

“Glad you liked the video. Maybe I’ll make more videos just for you then.”

… Reaper777, are you flirting? The corners of your lips tug as your smile spreads; your fingers fly to your phone screen and you quickly type a response.

“Can I make some special requests then?” and send. Then, another ding.

Reaper777: Let’s hear it.

And that was the beginning of a long thread of comments under a Youtube video on how to make a full English breakfast.

[author note: i need to get this off my system!! | CALL OF DUTY MASTERLIST. WRITING COMMISSION. CHECK OUT MY ONGOING SIMON FIC!]

[elysianightsss]

Okay I know this trope has been done time and time again but it’s a fuckingggg classic okay? Okay.

Best friend Johnny who keeps a photo of you in his pocket so he can remind himself what he is fighting to get home to.

Best friend Johnny who’s face lights up as soon as he sees you waiting for him at the airport with one of them big signs saying Johnny on it. It looks like you spent a lot of time hand decorating it.

Best friend Johnny who doesn’t argue when you ask him to stay at your house his first night home, he simply smiles with a nod because why would he ever refuse you.

Best friend Johnny who already has some of his clothes in your drawers for whenever he stays over. Brought over a duffle bag full of some a while ago and just stared filling your drawers.

Best friend Johnny who snoops around after he gets out the shower to see if you’d gotten any new toys while he was away. (You had) he grins while inspecting the new one, not a vibrator this time. No this one was moulded like a real man, very detailed he noticed. He would never tell you how he held it next to his to see the size difference.

Best friend Johnny who grins at you when he comes out of your room freshly cleaned and in new clothes to find you in one of his shirts and just underwear, dancing to the ABBA songs you were playing through Alexa.

Best friend Johnny who dances with you just so he had an excuse to have his hands on you. And oh boy does he, his thick fingers running over your body. Hot breath on your neck as you both laugh.

Best friend Johnny who feels on cloud nine while he makes dinner with you, the domesticity of it all making him yearn for more. The way you’re both moving around each other, flowing and fitting in with each other perfectly.

Best friend Johnny who even though is eating the same thing as you, still tries to feed you with an “Op’n up fa me lass.” Spoon in hand resting softly against your lips waiting patiently for you to accept, “K’mon bonnie.”

Best friend Johnny whose face drops when you tell him all about the date you had been on with a complete and utter douchebag while he was away. You don’t notice the way he freezes at your words, you don’t see the fire behind his eyes.

Best friend Johnny who finally finds the courage within him to say you don’t need to date anyone. You have him. He’s yours, always have been bonnie.

Best friend Johnny who goes crazy when you finally let him touch you. Desperately laps at your pussy, clit swollen and aching as the Scot wraps his lips around it wanting nothing more than to show you how well he can take care of you. How quick he can make you cum all over his tongue.

Best friend Johnny who is the best fuck you’ve ever had in your life. He’s all over you, he’s in your every thought, your every breath. You feel him in your throat when he slides his thick cock into your slick pussy. You’re dripping a mixture of cum and Johnny’s spit.

Best friend Johnny who’s so hot the way he’s desperate for it, pathetically desperate to slap his hips against your ass. The shlick shlick shlick sounds loud in the air with the way his heavy balls slap against your clit sending rolls of pleasure through you with each thrust. “Fuck lass, so pretty! Do ye ken what ye do to me? Dis wee cunt is addictive!”

Best friend Johnny who makes love to you well into the early hours of the morning. You’re a complete dishevelled mess by the time he’s done. Hickies anywhere his mouth could reach, hand marks on your hips, hair a mess, drool on your chin, throat dry and sore from screaming his name and your cunt dripping with his cum. But you fall asleep satisfied with a smile on your swollen lips.

Boyfriend Johnny who kisses you softly all over, whispering praises and I love yous into your skin as he uses a warm flannel to wipe away the sweat and cum from your body.

Boyfriend Johnny who makes you breakfast in bed, all your favourites and some pieces of fruit for healthiness. Who delivers it to you on your bamboo tray, an apron wrapped around him that says ‘I’m cute’ on the front. His naked arse out of full display.

Boyfriend Johnny that watches you eat with a smile on your face and happiness bubbling in his chest.

[tinycupcakesstuff]

I love this fic <3

30 Days of Writing: 25/30

winter. (breakfast with scot: Eric McNally/Sam Miller.)

Toronto isn’t always snowing but he likes the city best when it does.

Even though he has grown up in indoor skating rinks, practicing his shots with a quick burst of energy through the flick of wrist, winter is better when it is outside where there is still a layer of fresh snow over the ice beneath his blades.

“Mornin’.”

Sam greets him with a smile hidden behind his cup.

Eric leans over to give his partner a peck on the lips, eyes bleary as his mouth tastes coffee, hand still scratching lazily at an itch just above the waistband of his pants. He walks further into the kitchen for the coffee machine.

“You didn’t leave me any, Sam.”

He looks at the empty pot and it is not a pout, Eric McNally doesn’t pout when he turns back to him. The other simply chuckles before beckoning him over with a tilt of his cup, like a well-worn invitation he knows that he’ll take.

And it doesn’t always feel like they are missing anything in their lives, not when he takes the mug from Sam’s hands. Then somewhere along their shared path, Scot makes them pancakes in the shape of the missing T.

But they don’t know that yet.

At least not when he is kissing him goodbye by the door to their garage, where no one else can see and judge, and he wishes it doesn’t have to be this way.

He shivers in the doorway, and smiles when Sam’s eye-catching sports car backs out of their driveway.

And it isn’t until the tail lights disappear down their street does he shut the garage door again, hands still warm from Sam’s mug of shared coffee.

XXX Kuro

[thewritetofreespeech]

Here & Now

pairing: Aemond targaryen x Targaryen!reader [Rhaenyra & Daemon's daughter]

summary: on the morning you were set to return to Dragonstone to reunite with your family, the Greens make their move to take the throne, and Aemond comes to you.

tags: heterosexual sex, fingering, loss of virginity, targaryen incest themes, tw: blood, tw: knives

words: 3.1K

-----------------------------⚔️----------------------------------

When you were a little girl, your mother used to read you stories. Ones about knights, fey creatures, and princesses locked in towers. You never liked the tower ones. You always asked why they just didn't jump out of the tower to get away.

Looking down at the courtyard from your window, you realized that maybe they had a long way down as you did and that's why they couldn't get away.

The door opened and you sprung from your seat to face your intruder. You weren’t sure who you were expecting, but it wasn’t Aemond. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you.” His voice was even, but years of being near each other told you that his undertones were that of someone who was ashamed. “Are you alright?”

“I am a prisoner in my own home, Aemond. What do you think?!” You don’t mean to scratch at him. You are sure this is none of his doing, but he was the only one here.

You felt the fool for choosing to stay with your great-aunt Rhaenys, not wanting her to be left alone; even fierce she-dragons needed someone to lean on. But this morning you were barred from leaving your chambers by gold cloaks. You demanded to know what was the meaning of this. Demanded to know what was going on. Demanded to speak to your grandfather. Yet no one would answer you.

“Our patriarch is dead.” You felt a stone sink into your stomach. Somehow, you knew this to be true. King Viserys was very ill. It was only a collection of days in the best circumstances. “They’re going to make Aegon king this afternoon.” You felt as though the stone, and your breakfast, was going to come back up.

“So you are going to usurp my mother’s claim?! Take her birthright away!”

“It’s not my doing.” Aemond snapped at you. Clearly tired of being scratched. “It’s my mothers.” You scoff. You both know that Alicent’s clumsy maneuverings are just the attempts of her father. The King’s Hand with the knife in his back.

“So I am to what, hm? Sit here quietly while you take away my family’s future until you throw me over the walls edge?”

“I doubt you would sit here quietly, and no one is going to throw you over a wall, or any other ledge. Not if I have a say in it.”

You laugh. Despite yourself. Aemond was always funny, if you paid attention to him.

So few ever did. A second son, of a second marriage, with a princess in line for the throne. He was as meaningless as sand to the beaches to most people, then avoided completely after he was maimed. You always felt bad for that. Thought it was unfair that Lucerys got off scot-free after he crippled one of their own. People called those who took blood from their family Kinslayers, but what of those that maim their members?

“So you will let me go?”

Aemond shrugged. “Probably.” It was likely the best answer he could give. This wasn’t his decision. He couldn’t honestly tell you either way. But he did know, “you cannot take your dragon though.”

You felt your heart freeze in your chest. As if your Targaryen blood rushed out of you at the thought of abandoning your dragon. “You would take Stormsheild from me?” Your voice quaked despite your efforts. “Why not just cut off my arm? My heart….”

Aemond rushed over to you as you began to sob. Everything crashing down around you, and the thought of losing your dragon too much to bear. He wrapped his arms around you and held you close. “It doesn’t have to be this way.” He whispered in your hair. “You can stay here. With me.”

You pull back from Aemond’s chest to look at him. Blinking away tears as you must not have heard him right. “What?”

“Stay here with me.” He repeated it. You had not misheard. “Stay with me and you can keep Stormshield and your home, and be back in line for the throne. As my queen.”

You step back from Aemond to look at him. “You would…have me forsake my own mother? Turn my back on her?”

“You were always meant to turn your back on her to be with me.” He clasped at your hand. Not pulling you close again but not letting you go. Aemond speaks of course of your engagement. You had been betrothed from a young age, much like Aegon & Helaena or any other noble child in the realm. King Viserys last ditch effort to bring the two sides of his family together, you assumed. It had not gone over well with Alicent or your mother. Your father threw a chair when his side was alone. But none of them could stand against the king and his decision, so the pact stood.

You had not been upset about it like the adults. You cared for Aemond. He had been sweet when you left him. You sent him ravens. He remembered your nameday and sent your candied treats in secret. And when you return, he had grown into a fine, if not jaded, man. Fierce, refined, handsome. What had been childhood friendship and fancy turned into a blooming love overnight. One you were excited to explore. But now your blooms were burning into ash.

“My mother won’t stand for this. My father will come.”

“I have no doubt he will try.” There was no way Daemon would let his truest daughter, his favorite, stay here without a fight. He wouldn’t be so brazen about his favoritism like his father, but even with his one-eye Aemond could tell that you were his favorite over his Velaryon vipers. If Rhaenyra took the throne, he would have broken their engagement the first chance he got. A second son nowhere near good enough for his Targaryen jewel. Now he had all the more reason to break it, as Aemond wasn’t stupid enough to think Rhaenyra & Daemon were going to give up the throne without a fight. But what if he didn’t have a choice?

“I want you to be my wife. Right here. Right now.”

You looked at Aemond in shock. Suddenly afraid. “You’re not going to—“I would never hurt you.” He seemed offended you would even suggest it. Understandable. “But this was how it was always meant to be. You and me. No matter what happens, no one can take that away from us if you agree to be mine. We can be together.”

Your head was swimming. Your heart was pounding. “L…Let me think…”

“There’s no time.” Aemond insisted. “Once the coronation starts, Aegon will be King and that will be the end of it.” They will be divided. Those for Rhaenyra. Those for his brother. And Aemond did not trust his brother or family not to ruin this for him. Just as Daemon would have her taken from him, his mother and family would do the same. He couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t bear to give up one more thing for Aegon’s happiness. “Say you’ll be mine. Say you will be my wife. Say you’ll stay here with me and we will be here together. Tell me that you want that.”

“I do.”

The words leave your mouth without you even realizing it. You had spent so long imagining a future with Aemond. He was your intended. He was your future. You loved him, but you also loved your mother & your family.

Aemond doesn’t recognize your distress though and swooped in to kiss you passionately. The two of you had kissed before. Brief, as children, to see what it was like. Then again before you left as a sort of parting gift. Then once final upon your return as a welcome home and back in his arms. It had never been like this before. Aemond, for all his hard edge, was gentle and shy with you. Now, however, he kissed you like a man who meant to consume you. Taking you into his body, instead of the other way around, so you could never leave him. When he broke away from you your vision swam. Righting itself after a few deep breaths but all you could see was Aemond.

“Undress.” You blink up at him in shock. “If we do this now, there’s nothing they can do.”

You realize Aemond wants not just your words but your chastity. As a sign of good faith. He wants to consummate your marriage before your vows. Cart before the horse. Everyone would have no choice but to accept your marriage now, or your side would risk the news that you were no longer a maiden and rumors Aemond was no more than a craven opportunist who would force himself of a captured princess.

You gulp. Feeling your tears bead up again in your eyes. This was not how you pictured your life with Aemond starting. This was not the dream you were meant to share. But dreams often fall short of reality.

For Aemond’s part, he also swallowed the lump in his throat and began to undress. Paying no mind to the habitual work of undoing his jerkin and belts to look at you. He hadn’t thought much on his marriage before your return. Save that he would do it and try his best. He would do his duty and have you give the realm more Targaryen blood to reign and treat you as honorably as he could. But on the few times he did think of his marriage, he would think of the wedding and your wedding night. How he would take his time with you. Appreciate you, the way you should be appreciated as a lady, as a Targaryen royal, and as his wife. But that was all gone. They will not have time for sweet words and sweet moments. That will have to come later now. Just another thing taken from him.

You feel embarrassed to be standing naked in from of Aemond. Your hands hopelessly trying to cover your modesty. Fretful glances around as if some septa in the shadows was going to jump out and cast shame on you. “Lie on the bed.” You do as you’re beckoned and lay down. Stiff. Ridged. Your hands balled into fists at your sides to keep them from flying up and covering you again.

Aemond watched all of this and did not look pleased. Still, he climbed onto the bed on top of you, and you try to sink further into the mattress to instinctually get away. “I will try to be gentle.” His words certainly were. You relax as a bit of the Aemond you knew came back into his voice and nuzzle against the hand on your cheek. “But this may hurt. It is not my intention. None of this…this wasn’t what I wanted.”

You know he doesn’t mean ‘this’ in general, but how this has come about. “I know.” You were both doing something neither of you wanted in order to get what you did want. What was love without sacrifice?

“It should only be this time. And I swear I will never hurt you again. Please, do not hate me.” You touch Aemond’s cheek in return. You could never hate him. Be cross with him. Snap and bite at him from time to time, but never hate him. He must know that.

He nuzzled into your palm as you did his and rested there for a moment with his eye closed. He then nodded, opened it, and his hand was no longer touching your cheek but the sacred spot between your legs.

You jump at the touch with a sharp hiss. Trying to crawl out from under Aemond but blocked by the pillows. He held you back. Shushing you as he continued his touching. “It’s only this time.” He reminded you. And you try to remain calm and still as he kept going.

Aemond needed no proof that you were a maiden. Your trust and faithfulness was all he needed to know that you would not break the arrangement between you; although he had not been so chaste, but he was a man. When he touched you, however, it was clear that no one had been there before him. Your entrance was tight around his finger. Nearly barring him out. He wanted to tell you to relax, but felt he had no place for it. ‘Yes, my love, relax. Don’t think about the fact that you are about to lose your chastity to a brute. Or that my family is usurping yours. Don’t think about the fact that this still may not work and you have thrown everything away for a hairbrained plan of a desperate man who just doesn’t want to be alone.’ Yes. Those were the sweet words every girl wanted to hear on her ‘wedding night’.

He removed his finger from her entrance, bringing it up to his mouth to lick two then pushing both back in. You whine. Feeling your entrance stretch to an uncomfortable level of accommodation. Your mother had been very forthcoming on what to expect from your wedding night, although she had been clear she wished it to be far in the future. She let you know that there would be pain. That there would be times that it felt like it wasn’t worth it. But it was your duty as a wife, and, with the right man, it could be quite enjoyable. You knew what she meant now as you felt your apex burn. When would the ‘quite enjoyable’ start?

By the third finger inside you, you had gnawed on your bottom lip so hard you were drawing blood. Aemond said nothing. Just watched you. He seemed terrified to do anything than what he was doing. Finally, his fingers came free of you and shifted above you. "You need to spread your legs." They had instinctively closed when he pulled from you and you blush as you do as he says. "Please do not hate me."

You had thought your apex burned when his fingers were inside you, but if that was the case then your whole pelvis was on fire when he pushed inside you. Your hands fly up to claw at Aemond's back as you let out a wordless scream when he split you & your maidenhead open. "Stop! Wait, wait! It hurts!"

"I know." His words are apologetic as he offers you a kiss on the cheek but does not pull out. "Just bear with it for me."

He stopped long enough to give you time to adjust. Try to relax. Anything. Then he pulled his cock out and slid it back in. Your teeth grit at the pain. It’s not as bad as you thought, after the initial shock. It does hurt, but to hear people talk about it it was the same as losing a limb. You fell off Stormsheild once when you were a little girl. Bruised something fierce from the fall. That hurt worse than this, but it was no less uncomfortable.

Aemond tried to take this as slow as he could for you. He knows this is not how a maiden expects to become a woman. Some hard fast thing to be done with and move on. But the clock was ticking. They had very little time left before the coronation and the ceremony started. It needed to be finished before then.

That’s what he told himself.

In truth, he was a lost novice again inside you. Your warmth. Your tightness. Just…you. This was not how he pictured you being bonded to him, but he would be a liar if he said he wasn’t still elated that you were beneath him and soon all his.

He could feel his climax building. Unable to hold it back any longer. Aemond reached blindly for the knife at the side of your bed, as no true Targaryen would ever go to sleep without a blade at their side, and sliced your hand open. You cry out finally. Having kept your jaw tight the whole time you were doing this in order to not scream and turn wild eyed toward Aemond to ask him what the hells he was doing, only to see him cutting his own hand. He threw the knife away to the side and linked your hands together. His eye turned to you. Holding you there for a moment before he kissed you deeply to fully seal your bond. A Valyrian bond.

With the pain redirected to your hand, you can finally feel Aemond inside you with some joy. It’s not pleasurable, but it’s not painful. Your head swam at the realization that he was inside you, he was kissing you, that he was all around you until suddenly Aemond’s hips stopped and you realized that there was more than just his cock inside you.

He let your lips go after that. Panting with you. Sweaty. Whole. You hiss sharply when Aemond pulled out of you. The pain returning to your center from your hand. Still bloody, sheets bloody, why did there have to be so much blood for this?

Aemond sat up and ripped a corner of the sheets into two clean strips. One for you and one for him. He wrapped your hand first and then his own, before he pulled you close to him on the ruined bedding. “Are you alright?”

You shrug against him. Your maidenhood was sore. Your hand was throbbing. Your mother was about to be tossed aside and you were still technically a prisoner in your childhood home. You weren’t sure how to answer that question.

“I will have to go. For the ceremony.” Aemond doesn’t want to talk about it, but he does have to go. Must show a united front for the kingdom. “I’ll come back later. To check on you.”

“Will I be allowed to leave?” You ask him. That question had still not been answered.

“After it’s over we’ll go talk to my mother and King Hand.” A name you both gave his grandfather as children to tease him, in secret of course. It wasn't nearly as funny as you remembered now. “You are under my protection now. I will keep you safe.”

Safe. How strange that word sounded now. You had felt safe with your parents. You had felt safe within these walls. You had felt safe with Aemond. But all of that had suddenly changed. What was 'safe' now?

Aemond dressed quickly, then came over to you again. Tentative, shy even, he came over to give you a brief peck on the lips. Like the ones you used to give as children. “I will come back.” He promised again. “Everything will be alright.”

Then he was gone. You were alone. You pulled your knees to your chest, despite the pain in doing so, and look out your window. Maybe the other princesses stayed in the tower because they had no choice too.

[novemberheart]

{overview} Kyle and Johnny make it up to you.

{warnings} cursing, some soapxgaz, very spoiled reader, a bit sappy, you being pretty, female reader, poly 141

Chapter 5 <- Chapter 6 -> Chapter 7

“What’s got you all worked up?” Johnny hummed, sliding in right next to Kyle. Kyle scooched back a bit, chasing the warmth the Scot emitted.

“She already wants to leave.” Kyle whispered, like you would be able to hear them. Johnny curled himself tighter around Kyle, his lips brushing against the back of his neck.

“You need to get out of that head of yours.” He murmured, pressing a kiss against the base of Kyle’s neck.

“No, I’m being for real.” Kyle asserted. “I overheard her talking on the phone with- I think Kate. She thinks we’re using her.” Johnny pressed a hand against Kyle’s shoulder so his back was flat against the mattress. Johnny hovered beside him.

Johnny opened his mouth, but closed it just as quick. He went silent for a moment.

“Shite.” He growled softly, laying so he was half laying on Kyle. Looking back he couldn’t blame you. Of course you felt that way. Forced into a new pack and all they care about is their alpha. They didn’t even bother to make sure you had everything you needed. “Now I feel bad.” Johnny murmured. “Think we can make it up to her tomorrow?” Johnny questioned.

“I have a few ideas.” Kyle muttered back.

You were already awake, showered and dressed by the time there was a knock on your door. You trudged up from the floor- finally beginning to unpack your clothes. You twisted it causing the lock to pop up.

“Morning, Bon.” Johnny greeted.

“Morning.” You did your best to smile, deciding today was a new day. He sat down in the doorway, his legs crossed. You stared at him expectantly.

“How’d you sleep?” He hummed, eyeing the neat bed you had made. You had brought a blanket with you, which made him pleased that you weren’t sleeping with the coarse blankets provided by the government.

“Okay.” You answered, turning back to folding your pants.

“Just okay?” He pressed quickly. You looked away from your work, giving him a sheepish smile.

“I mean I had a bit of a hard time, but this is a new place after all.” You justified. That made his nose bunch up. He could imagine you tossing and turning in your bed, upset and maybe even scared. Out of all of them Johnny was the one that was always pressing for an omega. He would often get jealous in the cafeteria watching as other packs were surrounded by their omegas, especially the packs that didn’t deserve to have one. It was almost a pride thing with Johnny. He wanted everyone to see how good of a beta he was- how good his alphas were and how good of a pack they made. One of the clear signs of that would be a happy omega, and judging by the hint of lemons in your room- they had already failed.

“You alright?” you questioned, noticing the distant wince on Johnny’s face. He snapped himself out of it.

“Aye, Peaches. I'm alright,” he assured. “Kyle and I would like to take you out today.” his demeanor quickly changed his eyes to nervous, like was worried you would reject him. You could quickly feel hope rise in you.

“Really?” you asked, almost hesitantly. “What about Simon?” you reminded him. That was the whole reason you were here right?

“He’ll be fine. Cap, says they're going to get him up and walking today. He wouldn't want you to see him stumble around anyway.” Johnny explained.

“Alright.” you agreed. ‘Don't sound too happy’ you reprimanded yourself. “Is what I'm wearing fine?” you added.

“Might break a few necks, but it'll do.” Johnny winked down at you as he stood. “How about we go eat some breakfast, then head out.” he extended his hand to help you up and you quickly took it.

After breakfast the three of you went on the hunt for a suitable vehicle to steal for your outing. You ended up with an SUV. Johnny and Kyle both raced to open the door for you, Kyle won.

“What music do you like, Bon?” Johnny questioned, resting over the center console to fiddle with the radio.

“I listen to a bit of everything,” you responded. It was weird but sharing your favorite music sounded a bit too vulnerable after just meeting someone. “Can you tell me where we’re going now?” you pressed on. Smirks spread across their faces. Kyle's eyes flickered from the road to glance at you in the passenger seat. The excited look on your face makes him hope they won't let you down- again.

“Well, we felt bad about yesterday being your first day. So we figured today could be a do-over. Aquarium then lunch?” Kyle explained, causing you to beam even further. “Then we figured we could stop at the store and pick up anything else you might need. Snacks, shampoo”-

“Underwear,” Johnny interjected. You giggled, making Kyle rethink slamming on the brakes to make the Scot fly through the windshield.

Johnny was able to open the door for you this time. Each movement both men made seemed to be tailored to you. In the parking lot, they positioned themselves so you weren’t exposed to traffic. In line to get into the aquarium Kyle was in front of you and Johnny behind, their eyes both scanning their surroundings in a way that made you wonder what you should be looking out for.

You made your way through the aquarium, feeling like you had entered a whole other world. Kyle and Johnny took turns pointing out fish that looked like each other. (they only compared you to pretty fish).

“You've ever been to an aquarium before?” Kyle questioned, watching the way your eyes followed every flick of a tail. You pulled your eyes away, softly shaking your head.

“I'm afraid there isn't much I have done.” you sighed, turning back to the crystal water. Growing up your family didn't have much money. Not that you were ever bored. You were a fairly easy child, just enjoying spending time with your parents and taking walks. Then after that, you bounced around omega-holding houses. You quickly shook yourself out of your thoughts.

“Well, we can fix that, peaches,” Johnny smirked, nudging you gently with his arm to move you to the next tank. “We are going to have the best date nights.” he continued, watching you out of the corner of his eye. Your eyebrows rose.

“We can do things like this often?” you asked hesitantly looking between the two men.

“Hell yeah, Bon,” Johnny affirmed. “Well, when we aren't being shipped off somewhere.”

It was a realization that hit you like a bolt of lightning. You hadn't really thought about them leaving since you had arrived. You had thought a bit about it when you had first received their files, but that had always seemed so distant- so far in the future. Now your future was colliding with your present.

You chose to ignore the end of his statement and focus on the positive.

“I think these are my favorite,” you mumbled, too entranced to look away.

“Really, sweetheart? Couldn't tell.” Kyle snickered, the joke going right over your head. The two men watched you stare at the jellyfish tank going on for what was five minutes now. Not an ounce of impatience in their bones. They were too busy taking in the way your eyes were round, your pupils taking up most of the space. The blue light reflecting from your eyes adds a bit more of a twinkle than usual. Johnny had to finally break away after he spent too much time staring at your parted lips. His gaze landed on Kyle. The way he was looking at you mirrored the way you were looking at the jellyfish. He’s sure he looked the same. Kyle broke himself away quickly catching Johnny's eyes.

“We got lucky, aye?” Johnny mouthed, which Kyle agreed to without hesitation.

You were finally able to reel yourself back to reality when your stomach started to growl. Kyle looked at his watch. “Couple hours past noon. Ready for lunch?”

You were about to exit the aquarium, when something caught Johnny's eye, making him pull you into the gift shop. Kyle chuckled, following the two of you. Johnny pushed past little kids with little regard until you finally found what had caught his eye.

A row full of jellyfish plushies.

You were a bit surprised he could see them from all the way by the door.

“Which one do you like?” he beamed at you.

“I don't have any mo”-

“I'll buy. Which one?” he interjected. He looked a bit offended that you expected to buy it yourself.

Your cheeks had been stinging all day from how much you'd been smiling, and this wasn't helping. You looked through them carefully. You didn't want one that was big. A small one would be nice to cuddle with at night. You scanned through red ones, purples ones, orange ones, and rainbow ones till you finally found the perfect one for you. It was plain. A off-white color, but it was the softened fabric you had ever felt. The reason it had caught your attention was its eyes, one of them hadn't been sewn on. Yet the fluffy guy still had a little smile on its face.

“I love this one.” you smiled wickedly, pulling it from its hiding place. Johnny’s brows furrowed.

“It's missing an eye,” he said slowly like he was afraid it would break your heart.

“I know.” you hummed, curling your finger around its little tentacles. “He deserves a good home just as much as anybody,” you affirmed. The two men exhaled rather harshly. It wasn't every day they were exposed to such thoughtfulness. It was their turn to get struck by the bolt or reality. Amidst the hell they were exposed to, would there finally be a little ounce of comfort for them?

“Then let's get the lad home.” Johnny smiled.

You all ended up at a nice Italian place for lunch where you ate more than your weight in breadsticks.

After that, you ended up in a store you had never been to to pick up some essentials you might need- well according to the boys snacks were essential. They gave you no limit and actually encouraged you to pick out things. If you stared at anything- or god forbade touch it- it ended up in the cart. You ended up with two pillows, another blanket, your favorite snacks, your favorite movie, a new pack of socks, some lotion, a sweater, a few clothing items they snuck in, and finally a pair of headphones.

“This is too much really.” you started. It wasn't the first time you had insisted.

“Consider it an ‘I'm sorry’ for a shite first day yesterday,” Kyle assured. You wondered if Kate had said something to them. You doubt she would go behind your back and do something like that. Maybe they came to the realization themselves.

“You sure?” you asked. Kyle quickly nodded his head, a playful smile across his pretty face.

A part of you couldn't wait for Kate to call tonight. You almost wanted everyone you knew to call just so you could rub a little something in their face.

You just hoped you weren't getting ahead of yourself.

This chapter is pretty short, but I hope you liked it regardless! See you in two days for chapter 7! 🧡