#but they're not married. nuh-uh. can't commit to that

[innerbeast]

yuri wins himself a puff of laughter with that, dar'khol taking that squeeze as an invitation to make himself more comfortable. drawing closer and eventually separating their hands after a brief squeeze of his own, arms slipping around the other's shoulders.

"bondin' beyond our usual methods, then," head comes to a tilt, as if to make up for his already slanted smile, "since ya wanna be cheeky."

" 'tis also soundin' like someone else doesn't mind it all that much, or perhaps i'm merely jumpin' ahead?" the pressure of lips against his jaw cause the warrior's smile to widen, stretched into giddy, toothy display as a chuckle shakes him.

"saw flyers for a new place offerin' such services, thought it nice if we went together." as dar's tail rises into a curl behind him, his head is brought forward to gently bunt against his boyfriend's. "seemed nice to possibly get somethin' a lil' more permanent... a touch more sentimental..."

slowly, dar lowers his head, tucking it away between his own arm and yuri's neck. a nice little place to hide that returning shade of pink, and offering him a means of muffling his next words, "...somethin' nicer than a cold bracelet if ya go and disappear on me again."

between them, a beat of silence fills the space, then, a sigh ( exaggerated, too, so as to roll the mood back ).

"or, perhaps, i am a lil' obsessed."

yuri only fills the lull in dar's (valid) argument with a low 'hm', busying himself with the sight of interlocked fingers, matching bracelets, and a welcomed closeness.

"...extra bonding? we've already been doing plenty of that, dude," yuri chimes in with a squeeze of dar's waist. innuendo aside, it's bizarre how unfazed he's become of that word. 'forever'. it still throws an anxious kick in his gut, but if dar said it even just a couple months ago he would've gotten a well-earned scoff. or an eye-roll. or both.

"yeahh, i'm not so sure," yuri is rolling his eyes, actually. damned miqo'te and his lashes. "take enough 'small doses' and it might add up to..." uh. forever-forever...

he regrets opening his big mouth, though. sheepish, deflective habits die hard.

sigh. "well, sounds like someone's already got his heart set. 'theoretical', he says," a laugh leads to a kiss against the other man's jaw, thumb brushing across his waist. "what brought this on, anyway? it's like you're obsessed with me or something."

[caffeineandsociety]

One thing that I find simultaneously very baffling and very telling about the current wave of LGBT+ conservatism and sex-negativity is...

Where did this obsession with incest come from?

Pedophilia, I get where that came from - our society is creepily obsessed with youth, and while "pedophilia" is...okay look that's a whole can of worms, clinically it refers to attraction to actual living prepubescent children specifically because they are children, colloquially it implies ACTION on that/an actual literal child molester, but it's been weaponized against so many marginalized groups (especially POC and queer people) that at this point it's just turned into a rallying cry implying "ATTACK THAT GUY TO SAVE KIDS FROM GETTING MOLESTED" to get people to turn their brains off and act without noticing the subtext and most fears of it are DANGEROUSLY misguided, but even so it's PAINFULLY easy to see how you can start from critiquing how creepily socially acceptable ephebephilia can be (which genuinely needs to be criticized!!) - and you see that most of the people who care about the difference are creeps trying to use it to say "nuh-uh, I'm not a creep, I want to molest TEENAGERS, not ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS, that's fine!" and you decide "no, I'm not going to play your game, I'm going to use the word everyone recognizes as colloquially meaning 'child abuse' because call it whatever you want, abusing a 14-year old isn't 'better' than abusing a 10-year old" and that can get turned into the fear of...whatever else someone wants to demonize under the specter of pedophilia even in someone who knows about the corrupt usage of the word. Furthermore, child abusers are...somewhat good? at using the internet to find new victims - even though they're one of the least common online threats, mostly what you see is scams and most child abuse is STILL committed by family or authority figures offline, but that's another issue for another day, the point is that we know that assholes creeping on kids online is at least something that HAPPENS, so in that context, it's pretty easy to start from a place of concern for internet safety and end up destructively hypervigilant.

But incest?

One, how do you expect incest to ever be normalized? There are no even somewhat widespread phenomena you can point to that suggest this is even possible, like you can with "barely legal" being a popular porn category or manosphere memes that center on how teenagers don't know better than to run away from creeps like them. When incest shows up in media it's almost always code for deep corruption. It's a pervasive negative stereotype of the poor in red states. How do you expect a few people with taboo kinks to turn that completely on its head?

Two, if that WERE possible, what is the threat here, particularly to the people you're saying it's a threat to?

Incest is bad because some 99.something% of cases are abusive, yes. So that's definitely not something we want to encourage...not that it's exactly easy to encourage like I said, but let's pretend anyway. Let's pretend that person you called out for writing an incest fic absolutely does want to fuck their siblings, and there's a callout for them for that - that callout is likely justified by the claim that this is a DANGEROUS person, and...that's really where this falls apart, isn’t it? Sure, it's good to care about other people, but then why the big public warning of danger that...isn't to you, or any other random stranger online? You can't recruit new family members to abuse over the internet. The closest you can come is get someone to roleplay a taboo kink with you - which...isn't inherently abusive, as it turns out! Consensual roleplay isn't abuse! How about that!

....oh. Wait a second. That's right, queer people have been describing their relationships as "familial" and even legally adopting each other in lieu of being able to get married for at least multiple decades, and laws against incestuous abuse have been repurposed against us for just as long.

Hm. I think some of you got weasel-worded here. Whoops.

[shawnpetermuffins]

Pictured with You (Epilouge)

A/n: we have come to an end to this story of mine. Thank you for sticking around for so long.

Summary: It's been a year, and you're looking for something to do on this week long vacation.

Warnings: fluff

Word count: 1.9k

***

One year later

We wanted a week away from the craziness. Just one week for ourselves and our friends to hang out and not care about having to work - me on the finishing touches of the new album, which I'm actually stressing about right now because y/n still knows next to nothing about it. And that's stupid of me because literally every song is about her and if she tells me she doesn't want that then I'm screwed because I have nothing else to give the label.

She's kicking her feet softly from the edge of the pool, looking nothing less than breathtaking as the blinding sun hits her body just right. I swim away from my friends and to my rightful spot between her legs. Y/n looks down at me when I press a gentle kiss to the tops of her thighs. "Whatcha thinking about, love?"

She hums, running a lazy finger down the column of my neck. "Nothing. Just like watching you have fun, is all."

"It'd be more fun if you got in with me."

"I think you have attachment issues, Mendes."

"Yeah?" I bite playfully at her knee and she laughs, trying to push my head away. "Might have a point there… but I'm not gonna fix that."

"Gonna cling to me more?" She teases as my hands snake around her body, resting softly on the curve of her butt.

"Mmm…" I mumble against her neck. "Never gonna stop clinging to you. Gonna hold you like this forever and ever."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

"Get in with me," I beg, jutting out my bottom lip as her hands lace through my wet curls. "I'll carry you." That gets her attention.

"Okay," she nods. "Well get me in, rockstar." I smile up at her and swiftly, but carefully bring her down into the pool with me. She shudders at the feel of the cool water against her warm skin. "Fucking hell, it's cold!" Her teeth chatter as she rests her head on my shoulder, arms wrapping tightly around my neck to steal my body heat. We stay like for minute, allowing her to get used to the unfamiliar temperature. "We're good," she mumbles and I slowly move us over to our friends who are goofing around, splashing each other.

"Oh good, she came to join us!" Brian exclaims. Before I know it, y/n is tugged from my arms and being spun around until she's finally thrown into the pool, completely submerged in the chlorine filled water. "There," Brian says triumphantly, with a laugh. "Now you're on our level."

She pushes her baby hairs out of her face with a shake of her head and an exaggerated eye roll, "so thoughtful, Bri. Thanks for that." She splash him once before taking my outstretched hand.

"Sorry, honey," I mumble into her hair, pressing her back to my front. "He caught me off guard."

"S'okay." Her head rests against my chest as we watch them make fools of themselves, not a care in the world. I whisper the words of the song playing into her ear and she falls deeper into me, wrapping my arms tighter around her waist.

"Y/n/n?" I say after a while of comfortable silence drifting between us.

"Shawny," she scrunches up her nose, hating the cutesy nickname, but she can't help that it comes out when she's a little tipsy. I love it though, and kiss the tip of her nose.

"Move in with me," I request, my head buried in her neck.

"What?" She giggles, turning in my arms.

"Move in with me," I say again.

"Where's this coming from?" She wraps her arms around my neck once again.

I shrug, "I mean, you've been going over there a lot more often recently. And… I have a drawer full of your clothes already."

She hums, "well I think I'd need more than just a drawer if we decided to do this."

"I'll get you your own damn closet if you want."

"You'd have to move houses if you did that."

"Then let's look for one. We can find one with a closet just for you, and we can make you your own dark room."

"Whoa there, big spender. That's a big commitment. You sure you can handle all that?"

I nod, "Yes. Hell, I'm ready to marry you right now if you say yes."

She looks up at me with a smirk. "you asking me something, Mendes?"

"Depends on what your answer is," I counter. "What do you say, honey? Will you marry me?"

"I think… my answer is… yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes," she nods, a big smile on her face.

I laugh, pressing my forehead against hers before kissing her deeply. "Oh god, baby. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Let's do it tonight," I plead, my eyes closed.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. Let's fly out to Vegas and just get married."

"You really want to? I don't even have a dress."

"We'll get you something there. Come on, y/n. Say yes?"

"You," she pokes my chest with her pointer finger, "are completely insane."

I shake my head, "is that your way of saying you'll do it?"

"Well duh," she rolls her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing that we were gonna do this.

"Yo, what is with you two? Do you ever let go of each other?" Connor asks, splashing us.

I hold y/n's head against my chest before I ask. "You guys down for a quick road trip?"

"Where?" Brian asks, shaking out his wet hair.

"Vegas," I say with a cheeky grin.

"What's that look? What are you planning?" Connor questions.

"Y'all feel like being witnesses to a wedding?" Y/n asks, sparing only the smallest of glances to our friends. They're in complete shock. But it only takes a second before they're jumping on top of us, screaming out congratulations.

"Shit, let's go! We hit the road now, we can be there just after sunset." Brian is already pulling himself out of the water.

---

"Nervous?" Brian claps my shoulder while I fix the collar of my shirt.

I chuckle, "dude, my heart feels like it's about to burst out of my chest. I've never been more nervous in my entire life."

"Well what's that thing you always say? Nerves mean you care?"

"Yeah," I nod. "But, god, man. I'm getting married. Did you ever think that was gonna happen? Like this, no less?"

"Hey," he holds the sides of my face and slaps my cheeks. "Don't stress about it. The love of your life is just on the other side of that door. You're just minutes away from your forever. This is going to be the best day of your life."

I swallow the lump forming in my throat, "Yeah. You're right. It's y/n." I can't help but laugh. Because I say it like I'm not still a nervous wreck every time she looks at me. Like my heart doesn't skip a beat every time she smiles. Like I don't forget what I'm about to say because I get lost in those piercing -

The door opens and Connor starts walking down the aisle, arm linked with y/n's, and I swear my breath catches in my throat. She looks beautiful in the white blouse we just got her, and the high waisted, ripped jeans that she insisted on wearing because a skirt was just not her. And I agreed, but to be fair she could tell me she wanted to wear a paper bag and I would have went along with it because I just want her. It's not until she's in front of me, wiping at my cheek that I realize I've been crying watching her walk toward me.

"Hey, come on, bub. Marrying me can't be that bad," she jokes.

I laugh, wiping roughly at my face, "Jesus, no. You're just so beautiful."

She flips her hair playfully, "Well then what are you waiting for, Mendes? You gonna marry me or not?"

Mendes. She's about to be a Mendes, and I can't wait.

---

I wake up the next morning, sheets thrown haphazardly over me and the beautiful girl in my arms. I watch her figure for a few minutes, once I've adjusted to the bright light the sun brings into the room. Her hair is all over the place, but still framing her face perfectly as her eyes moved rapidly behind her eyelids. Her naked chest is just barely covered by the white bedsheets, one arm thrown over her stomach. And then my eyes land on that dainty ring she fell in love with the second I slipped it on her finger last night and it hits me that I'm laying in bed next to my wife. And I let myself think about how I get to wake up next to her forever. It's the most perfect moment.

Until my phone rings beside me and suddenly it isn't anymore.

"Hey, Andrew," I whisper as I answer his FaceTime call.

"WHAT IS THIS I'M SEEING ABOUT YOU GETTING MARRIED?!" Andrew's loud voice booms through my phone and I flinch because y/n stirs beside me.

"Shh…" I point my phone to my girl who is still sleeping, thankfully.

"You got married. Don't you think that's something you should tell your manager so that he's not blindsided early the next morning by all of these pap photos and articles and hundreds of texts and emails asking if it's true?"

"Well I am sorry I didn't tell you."

"So you did? Shawn, what were you thinking? This is everywhere right now."

"I was thinking that I have the most perfect woman by my side and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her and that I wanted the rest of my life to start right then and there. That's what I was thinking. I'm sorry I didn't tell you and I'm sorry that it's online. But I'm not sorry it happened. I have everything I've ever wanted right here next to me." I look over to see y/n looking up at me with a sleepy smile.

"Shawn," my manager tries to grab my attention, but I can't seem to focus on anything other than the smiling woman next to me.

"If you'll excuse me. My wife just woke up and I would like to give her a proper good morning." I shut my phone off and reach over to brush a strand of hair from my girl's face. "Hey there, beautiful." I say quietly and lean down to press a soft kiss to her lips.

She hums, "good morning, handsome."

"Sleep well? You were… very tired last night," I say with a smirk and she moves to slap me, but I'm quick to catch her wrist.

"Nuh-uh, Mrs. Mendes." She giggles into my chest. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, her hands on either side of my face. "It's just the first time I've heard it like that. I like it."

"Me too."

"So Andrew's mad."

I shrug. "He'll get over it. Now come cuddle," I lay on my beck and open my arms for her. It doesn't take long for her to shrink into my side, head on my chest.

"You still want to be married to me?" She murmurs, half asleep once again.

I press my lips to the crown of her head, "for the rest of my life, baby."

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