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crowentity233 · 1 year

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Don't Tell (part 2)

Mako x Reader (secret relationship)

Part 1 Part 3 Masterlist

Mako x Earthbender reader

You being touch starved for years suddenly have an intense crush on mako after he put himself in danger for you and the safety he provides following the attack. You both keep your relationship under wrap from the krew. You both don't want to deal with everything that follows them finding out.

You woke up in a warm bed. Mako was like a personal heater. He laid on his stomach with his arms folded, laying his head on the pillow that was over his hands. His back was covered by his tank top. You both decided not to take kissing any further. It was an unspoken understanding that one night of realization didn't warrant that kind of celebration, not this early. He wanted to keep you wondering about his body. It was a torturous type of pleasure.

He rolled over and wrapped his strong arms around you. You melted into him. It was one of the best night sleeps you've had. The first night in a long time, having someone hold you while you fell into slumber. Your dreams were etched with happy moments.

Mako woke up to a warm side to the bed that was normally cold and empty. He had taken time away from dating. As his arm healed from the shock of the spirit energy, his mind and heart healed too. He kept a distance but, slowly each joke that you told about the couples, like if they ever came up for air, or if they could get their tongues any deeper down each other's throats, it made him laugh just a little harder each time. When the group would joke that he was your other half when playing games that required pairs, it slowly got more painful as you rolled your eyes and denied it.

He had taken time to reflect on his relationship with asami and korra. He came to terms with the fact that it was the fact that girls never saw him as anything but a street rat, so when he was actually viewed as 'wanted,' he couldn't decide on anyone. He was a people pleaser to an extent that was to his own detriment. It was a foreign thought that someone wanted him, and two people wanting him was an overload to his system. Hurting one over the other was horrific and yet impossible to not do. He had come to an understanding that trying to please too many people would only cause him pain. He had to make decisions and be committed. As committed as he was to protect Bolin when they were kids. He promised himself he wouldn't be the young boy on the dirty street he once was, he was now a man of honor that would find one woman and dedicate himself to her even if it hurt someone else's feelings.

He kept that in his heart as you won it over. Each time, you playfully slapped his arm and smiled sweetly to him. He kept honor in his mind. Each man that Korra or Asami pushed you towards stayed engraved in his mind as a comparison.

Then when you talked about your date. He just 'happened' to take mental note about when and where you were going when you discussed it with the others. He knew the area wasn't safe at night from being an officer and staking out the area regularly at night.

Mako didn't want to stop you, but I just wanted to make sure you were safe, so he kept an eye out on the café just to make sure you were okay. He saw the entire situation unfold unknowingly to you. He notified the other officers when you were being chased.

He made sure to be there to pick up the pieces if anything happened, and when it did, he jumped into action, having your back. He just wanted you happy and safe.

Mako breathed in your scent with his arms around you. It was a reminder that yesterday was not just a dream. You were still here in his arms. He kissed the top of your head. "Good morning."

"Good morning." You buried your face into his chest. The smell of firebenders smoke still evident on him. Your heart fluttered.

The door of Mako's apartment suddenly burst open. "Mako!!! It's time to get up." Bolins voice boomed across the room. Opal was attempting to keep him from bursting into the bedroom.

You hopped up out of the bed and hid behind a shelf. It's just in time for Bolin to come barging in. "Mako, what are you still doing in bed? We have to go get your putt putt, buddy. So we can go play."

"Sorry w-I must have over slept. Hey, why don't we stop at the café we can get those paw print pastries, and you can get a new fire ferret charm for Opal."

"But what about your date?"

"Not my date. I'll surprise her with one. I can ride with you guys, so I'm going to leave my keys to my bike on my nightstand."

"Mako, you're acting weird, but I love surprises. Let's go." You heard bolin say as the door closed, and you waited for the footsteps to be gone before making your way to the parking lot. Makos clothes still draped across you loosely.

You hopped on his bike and raced to your apartment, which surprisingly wasn't far and the opposite direction from the café buying you time. You ran up to your door and quickly got dressed, a simple green long duel split tunic with black tight pants and a belt around your waist.

You hid makos clothes under your pillow and ran to your couch pretending to read like you've been doing it all morning. You hear a knock at the door. You open it and find a pawprint shaped food shoved in your face. Bolin held it happily.

"Isn't it so cute! Look, and Mako got the fire ferret Keychain for you, too."

"Good morning, everyone. Yes, it's adorable, Bolin. Thanks, guys." You grab the food and take a bite.

"So we're going to putt putt first, and then we're going to watch the new mover at the probending stadium." Bolin wrapped an arm around opal and walked back out, leading the group. You walked next to mako, hoping you had hidden mako's bike well enough. No one seemed to notice as you walked past. Opal's bison waited as everyone got on and took off to the putt putt course.

You got situated and watched the people become smaller. "Opal, I'm so jealous. I wish I could have a furry friend to fly me in the air. You're a good boy, Juicy." You pet

the fur that you could reach from where you sat. "He is a good boy. I'm more jealous of you. I could have used earth bending with my family."

"Yeah, your brothers seem like the type that you would need to have bending to survive living with them." You laughed sure of their teasing of the young Opal.

"Yeah, they were brutal for a little bit, but we straightened out." She giggled as Juicy landed at the course.

Bolin and Mako hop off. Opal jumps off Bolin catches her. You smiled happily at the couple. You took Makos' hands as he helped you down. Your hands lingered for just an extra moment while Opal and Bolin were preoccupied with each other. Makos eyes lingered on yours as he pulled his hand away. He searched, still making sure this morning wasn't just a false memory.

Your lips were sealed in the presence of the others, but your eyes spoke clearly. Your gaze dropped down to his lips, then back to his eyes. He smirked, knowing that you remembered the way his lips melted into yours just the night before.

"Are you two ready?" Bolin turned, and you two quickly turned away from each other.

You stared at your nails. "Just waiting for you two to get done playing tounge tennis. Who won the match... never mind, I don't want to know." You laughed, walking towards the entrance. Mako followed you, chuckling.

"We didn't even kiss this time." Bolin said.

Opal giggled. "Someone needs a boyfriend. Speaking of, I take it your date didn't go well?"

"No. A bunch of gang members showed up, and he ditched me to fight them on my own. I dont need a man to fight for me, but it would have been nice to have some backup."

"What a gentleman..." opal trailed sarcastically.

"Are you okay?" Bolin asked freaking out. He knew what the gangs were capable of.

"I'm fine. I got away." You smiled thinking about the other parts to the story you left out.

"Mako, you would've stayed to fight them off." Opal smirked, baiting you for a reaction.

"I don't need him too." You spoke simply and not like you were offended by the thought of her pushing mako into you romantically.

Opals eyebrows knitted together, not getting the expected over the top heated reaction but brushed it off.

You grabbed your golf club, and Mako grabbed his. His fingertips trailed your back as the couple grabbed theirs. You blushed as his hand gripped at your hip. He pulled his hand back as Bolin paid for the round of golf.

Mako rolled his eyes playfully, landing his eyes at you. He smirked, knowing you were enjoying the secret that you shared only with him. His eyes lifted back to the couple as they led the way to the first hole.

"Alright, the first hole is here." Bolin dropped his ball on the tee and got ready to hit. He hit the ball a little hard, but it came back and landed in the hole. Opal put hers down next and hit the ball perfectly in.

You bent down, placing your ball down on the tee. You lifted back up and hit the ball. You were a little gentle but made it.

Mako lifted his brow and lips into a smirk as you lifted back up from retrieving your ball. He could tell already you were purposely teasing him as you flicked your hair back up from your bent position, making sure to catch his eye.

The other couple was standing and looking over the next hole strategizing together. the first hole was always the easiest, so strategies were needed from here on out.

You watched as Mako hit the ball perfectly. His fingers touched his lips. He held his hand out to you, teasing you with a wink after making sure the others were still distracted.

Your back was to the pair, so they couldn't see your reaction. You giggled, silencing it with your hand cupping it over your mouth.

The group completed the holes and got to the last hole. You and Mako had been very safe but playful the entire time, never being noticed. Opal was about to hit. She lined up her shot and took it. If she hit perfectly, she would win. If she hit more than twice, then it would be up to Mako to win. She took the shot. It was perfect she had hit a hole in one. She cheered. Bolin caught her and spun her around.

You took your shot and made it in a few hits. Mako made it in two swings.

"Alright, love birds, I hate to interrupt, but what's next?" You laughed at the two.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't mind if I took Opal to go get some things for the mover tonight. We can meet at the front of the stadium."

"That sounds good to me. I need to go back home and change my clothes for the mover. I don't think this really suits the night." You nodded to the pair you returned your club and walked to the sidewalk at the other side of the building, waiting, hidden from the group.

Mako slowly returned his club and kept a slow pace to make sure they had left his view as they walked in the opposite direction. You grabbed Mako's arm as he passed by. You pulled him to lean his hands on the wall, standing in front of you. You lifted your chin, looking up at him. He was so close to you. One of his hands grabbed your waist as the top of your back leaned on the wall.

"Soo?" He asked.

"Thrilling." You spoke softly and leaned up to his lips. "We should have been doing this all along."

Mako smirked, kissing you quickly. He straightens back up and starts walking away. "I have to go to the station, but I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight." You ran up to him, stealing one more kiss, then turning the other direction towards your apartment.

Tag list:

Feel free to ask to be tagged. Comment, message, or wherever you'd like to ask. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

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toastedclownery · 1 month

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I’ve made some new Monkey Wrench headcanons.

Here they are:

1. While he doesn’t have a visible nose, Shrike does still have nostrils. They’re just very hard to spot.

2. Shrike is not good with kids at all. But he would never allow them to be hurt or distressed.

3. At the end of the third episode, Shrike stole half of the human trinkets that Scratch found.

“Nyeheheh! MINE! Let’s see. And it’s all a pile of worthless crap. How anticlimactic.”

4. When Scritch and Scratch had their ship checked out at the space station following the Mushroom Incident, an engineer at the station simply responded to their queries by saying “Frankly, it’s a miracle that this bucket of bolts is still intact.”

5. Sometimes Shrike gets strange looks in public from other aliens who don’t know what he is. Which is pretty much everyone. Other cephalopods are fascinated by him, as I said before.

6. Beebs once mistook a golf club for some sort of weapon. Shrike was quick to correct him. “No, this is something terrans used for sport. I think…”

7. Shrike’s tongue is also prehensile (as well as his toes). It’s at least 15 inches long.

8. Kara was the one who sent the pictures of Chester’s mutilated corpse to the news broadcasters in the first episode. She sent it anonymously and captioned it with “Fuck around and find out.”.

9. Kara refuses to go after children or the downtrodden.

10. Shrike refuses to let anyone else touch or wear his suit. “No! MINE!!!” *grabs suit and hisses like a creature*. Except Beebs, who he insists handles it carefully.

11. 62’s suit is damn near indestructible. It has built-in energy shields, a black box, an anti-AI counter intrusion defence and repulsion system, a built-in video camera, an emergency locator beacon, waterproofing, real-time meteorological scanning and data devices, underwater and zero gravity propulsion systems, built in scanning devices, self-repair and recharge capabilities, hazmat filter and containment mechanisms, a self-destruct mechanism and an escape hatch should it be activated or compromised.

As well as an internal dwelling space for 62 proper.

Killix was baffled when he first saw it “This thing is a goddamned fortress. It’s incredible. Who built this shit anyway?”

“I told you it was provided by my union, I had it made specially. My kind use them a lot when we have to. Uncle 47 worked on a prototype he made using an old Terran spacesuit.”

12. 62’s people consider the term “Yellowman” to be a slur. Shrike doesn’t like hearing it because it gives him flashbacks to a certain Terran web video he watched. “NOT THE YELLOWMAN!”. (It’s a little inside joke, there’s a local confectionery in my country called Yellowman, it’s like a honeycomb and toffee thing. And it refers to a creature from one of Mister Manticore’s early lost videos)

That’s all I’ve got for now.

What do you think?

1. Might just confuse them with pores

2. I'd love to study Shrike's behaviour with a child. ...That isn't indestructible

3. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT TAPE MAN.

5. He is a strange critter...

7. Jel has entered the chat

8. THAT WOULD BE WILD. I think the images alone would speak for themselves

9. Good for her!

11. Imagine a love it or list it TV program where it's just these guys and their suits

#monkey wrench #ask #dougielombax

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brown-little-robin · 11 days

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10 + 18 + 22, murderbot?

thanks for the ask! <3

10: if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

INTERESTINGGGG ok so this is so dramatic but I can imagine a really angsty fun Murderbot amv set to "Get Out Alive" by 3 Days Grace. If you want to get out alive / run for your life / if you want to get out alive / hold on for—. burning on the inside / burning on the inside / burning on the inside. like!!! Murderbot with the Company, a cyber-organic sentient slave subjected to terrible things every single day by the systems around it and the torture device in its own brain. Murderbot hacking other constructs, advising humans to get out of bad contracts, run away, get out go go go..... I'd like to do an amv with a softer song too, but Get Out Alive is just so perfect.....

18: compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

Oh, well, I mean, it's like The Murderbot Diaries was grown in a lab just for me, honestly. It's fun sci-fi, always a win. I always go crazy for artificial-people stories. Especially when they have plot but the plot is half action-adventure and half straight-up just trauma healing. It's got a jaded character slowly learning to be loved yet assert its own autonomy. I go CRAZY crazy for that. Also, ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be an "it" instead of a "she" and never make eye contact <3 Murderbot's general personality and gender situation is just. extremely relatable to me personally!!!

22: FREE SPACE: say anything you want about the story!! <3

OUBHHH EVERYONE READ MURDERBOT RIGHT NOW

The series is four novellas (very short: the audiobooks are only about 3-4 hours long) followed by two novels and another novella. It's SUPER easy to get into in terms of time investment into each novella. And it's got a traumatized, deeply kind, socially awkward, sharp-tongued robot-clone-thing for a main character. it named itself Murderbot as a joke and it keeps that information VERY PRIVATE, for instance. What More Can You Ask.

story asks open!

#Robin speaks #murderbot my darling #and now.... BEDTIME

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sabrondabrainrot · 6 months

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I finished the 87 series as a whole (except the European vacay season like I can't find it anywhere) and want to cry!!! My boys!!! I can't believe it's done!!!

What an awesome show. I might have to rewatch it just to write down more notes and thoughts. ;)

Anyways here's some headcanons about my sweet 87 boys and some show observations:

Hopefully with this people might give the show a chance. It's so delightful and charming. You won't be disappointed.

🐢🧡🐢💜🐢♥️🐢💙

The turtles are all basically 3-4 years old. They make tons of comments about living half their lives in a fish bowl and when Yoshi comes across them they're still babies. When they're shown mutating, they go from baby turtles to the older bipedal forms we know them by.

They're all identical sans their voices. (In the 87 show not only does April have trouble telling them apart at the beginning but so do the animators in every episode)

They all seem to possess super strength and some levels of invulnerability. Donatello in particular had a multiple story brick building dropped on him, which he just walked off. They've all shown varying skills such as bending metal with their bare hands. Raphael as a practical joke in one episode picks up a couch and hurls it at Donatello just to be smartass. Leonardo cuts metal like tinfoil.

They still think of themselves as turtles first and foremost, so they don't refer to each other as brothers. (despite the fact they're totally brothers) and simply address each other as friends. (They're brothers tho we all know the truth 💕)

Something not explained in the opening of the 3rd season, the turtles as babies, before they mutate, are shown with different shell patterns. While it's not obvious which turtle is which it is neat the artists went out of their way to animate each turtle with a unique pattern.

When you watch the show the amount of people and mutants that dislike the turtles is shocking. For a fun kids show made in the late 80's to mid 90's, it's basically a huge allegory to the civil rights movements and you can even take relevance to human rights movements of today.

Despite being so lovable they have only a small circle of friends. Most of those friends at some point have betrayed them too.

The boys have seen two different futures of themselves. (not counting their shared apocalypse nightmares) The first future is where they get old together in a mansion and they're heralded as heroes and everyone likes them. The second future doesn't show them but in the second future it's stated being a mutant is a crime punishable by death and all mutants are criminals regardless of deeds. This is before the red skies studio era of writing. That's before it's supposed to get edgy.

They all are highly intelligent. They can each pilot every vehicle ever present in the show despite none of them having a formal education, license, or understanding of the rules of the road. Michelangelo in particular seems to have a knack for US fighter jets.

In season 7 episode 11, titled "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!" We meet two new mutants named Rahzar and Tokka. They're a gay couple. You don't believe me? Go watch the episode. I'm not pulling your leg. I swear. I promise. It's a good episode go watch it.

Master Splinter calls them his sons. He also calls Carter, his newest student, son occasionally too. It's his term of endearment.

The turtles in this version are known to get sick pretty regularly. (probably because of their still developing immune systems). They always get sick as a group and they totally soak up the pampering.

They in the first season share a 4 stack bunk bed and then after the bunk is destroyed in the season 1 finale they each get their own alcoves which they treat as their own rooms.

I didn't remember which Punk Frog said it, but one of them called Leonard and Michelangelo his Bubba which is a term of endearment for brother. The punk frogs call each other bubba too. So unlike the turtles they were either all frog brothers who mutated together or after mutating they just decided they're brothers and they also adopted the turtles as their brothers too.

Mondo Gecko seems older in this series because of his appearance but he's the same age as the turtles and actually mutated from the same ooze as them on the same day at the same time so he in 87 is like a mix of their brother and cousin? He's related regardless. (We all know the truth in our hearts)

Shredder and Krang act like a married couple who've been married too long and are on the cusp of a divorce but they've been together too long so they just keep tolerating eachother.

They all love the unhinged gross unholy pizza combos. Michaelangelo's stated combos are actually tame compared to some of the things they've eaten. One episode the boys committed to the bit so hard they ate lit candles just to mess with Michelangelo. They get pregnant sardine fudge pizza cravings at midnight. They put cereal on regular pizza for breakfast. They hate vegetables though. They literally gag when Splinter eats sushi. They refuse to eat bugs despite their turtle origins (interesting enough the Punk Frogs don't even like pizza at all first unlike them) but like they will eat out of the garbage. But not fresh handmade sushi.

They're so casual about being in public. Like they have disguises but sometimes they just go out in public as themselves. They also have so many elaborate disguises. In the first episode their first instinct to blend in was to throw on bright neon shoes, various bomber jackets, and start publicly beatboxing and breakdancing.

The turtles get called slurs by Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady. The slur in question is "Shellback" . When Donatello makes an evil clone the first thing the clone does is call him that slur. It's so funny like that's yourself. Donatello basically called himself ugly. Why is that so funny.

Shredders go to threat in the show and many other villains go to insult is to straight up threaten to eat them. Like, do none of the villains care about getting salmonella? Why do all the villains want to eat them?

Something I've noticed, they refuse to use nicknames. They only use each other's full names. It makes me wonder why? I theorize it's probably to do with the fact Master Splinter gave them their names and that's the first thing they received? It's not like they're not playful enough to use nicknames.

Despite his fatherly role in their lives, the turtle boys don't call Splinter their father and this is more than likely to do with the fact they see themselves as turtles and know they have turtle parents. (Again we know the truth)

April in this show is an adrenaline junky. She's also a child endangerer. She's helped save the day a lot but she would much rather the world burn so she can film it as her next big scoop.

The boys treat April like their mom in this show. April herself doesn't really get that. In one episode she got poison flowers and thought it was from the boys and went to "let them down gently" because she thought they romantically liked her.

April on multiple occasions reads bed time stories to them. She in one episode read the same bedtime story 4 times just because they liked it that much. She was going to read it a 5th time just for Leonardo.

When Zack, the 5th turtle, was in danger instead of helping him April shouted "What a scoop!" and filmed a child in a death trap.

Splinter believes in wholesome gaslighting in this show. He once cured three of them of permanent balloon-itis with moth balls but made up a story about how it was an ancient mythical legendary cure. Then after they were better he said it was moth balls.

April actually got fired from her job because she wouldn't badmouth the turtles on live television (also for other reasons). She focused on freelance while helping the boys on the side.

April is really bamf. She's actually saved the turtles just as much as they save her.

I just want everyone to know I love these little guys. The turtles are pure little snookie pookie baby bookies. No one knows the amount of space these silly little fictional turtles take up in my heart.

I hope maybe with more word out people might give the 1987 tmnt show a chance. It's really cute and funny. A super enjoyable time. It doesn't deserve the ragging it gets from other shows and fanbases. They're just goobers.

Thanks for reading my ramble list. :)

Also! if there's any fanfic recs please let me know I'm making a list and checking it twice ;)

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snailmail444 · 27 days

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Boo! I'm being nosy!!

2, 6, 15, 32, 38, 42, aaaaaand 50 (is there something you wish your mutuals knew about you?)!

2 Well if we’re talking food wise I would pick Pepsi over Cheetos. HOWEVER in terms of color it is Cheetos bag orange ALL the way I am having an orange love era rn. I think it’s a really fine nice color to play with :3

6 oooh well in terms of SDV I stay on discord with @maylilithreign @birdielouwho and @beegyoshiwitdaheat and I love you of course moot @hopefuloverfury there are more beloved blogs and mutuals but I don’t wanna notify a billion people so we’ll keep that list short LOL

In terms of NOT SDV we’ve got my beloved. My favorite. Bee @pbflutist love you hiiiiiii

15 Weirdest would probably be appendicitis. I had it for uhh. Too long. Perhaps. And when I say too long I mean like a month. It was chronic appendicitis and I was really sick for a decent chunk of time with that one lol. My favorite two truths and a lie factoid

32 I’m a pencil person I need to be able to ERASE!! Chronically misspelling shit lol

38 THIS ONE is a joke with bee that was basically that I would send her smut via snail mail (printed out and sent through the US postal system). And then the 444 is simply. A vibe.

42 Earphones for life. Same me earphones. Earphones save me. I work in a cubical with other people around so I gotta be able to listen to my nonsense in peace lol.

50 What I want moots to know. The biggest thing that I don’t always say but isn’t necessarily a secret is that in my day life I’m actually a graphic designer/illustrator. I don’t draw a whole ton in my free time but it’s the other half of my creative passion. It’s a little funny because most of the people in my writing sphere don’t know that I make art, and most people in my day to day life don’t know that I write. Sort of creative double life I guess. I’m super passionate about it though! I especially love graphic design and then illustration when I have time is wonderful. If I can ever get my shit together I really want to make a comic so that I can bash my passions into one big creation. Just gotta actually. You know. Do it. lol

I should draw more. I always say that but it’s true. If anybody ever missed it this is my favorite piece of art I’ve made for the fandom.

LOVE YOU MOOT SO HAPPY TO SER YOU MOOT 💞💞💞💞💞

#asks #me!#moots :3

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dearweirdme · 4 months

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Hello,

as there's still a discourse around the enlistment and the enlistment process going on I thought I might give some more information. I'm a non-shipper, so I don't have any horse in this games. I just want to share some information that I got through a Korean friend, whose boyfriend enlisted a few years ago.

First of all, I want to clear up what Jungkook said in the live before all 4 of them enlisted. Jungkook said he wants to join the special forces. The translation is correct. But what the translation didn't do is to specify which kind of special forces. There's more than one special force. Taehyung joined one. He applied to and entered the 특임군사경찰, which is the Army Military Police Special Duty Team, shortened to SDT. The lenght of enlistment is only the regular time. Now, the special forces Jungkook mentioned in the live were the 특전병 which basically is Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command, in short ROK-SWC. Now other than Taehyung's special forces, the service term for ROK-SWC lasts 4 years and 3 months. Both special forces have a different application code too. Taehyung's is 321102, while Jungkook's is 112100.

Now, and that only is an assumption on my part, Jungkook was half joking when he said he wanted to join the ROK-SWC because joining these forces would pretty much end BTS.

Now, as you already clarified, there's no such thing as "too young" for enlistment. As soon as young man hit the age of 18 they're able to enlist. And a lot of non-famous men do enlist pretty early to get it over with. My friend's boyfriend for example enlisted when he was 21 years old. As soon as you fill out the application, the military will call you up as soon as possible. Age doesn't matter here. You do not need to go when you turn 18, every men in South Korea can wait up until 28 if he wants to. Most men decide to finish school and one or two years of university before enlisting.

Now what you might have misunderstood is the postponing. No men up until 28 is "postponing" their military service, it's their right to choose when to go within that time frame. So they also don't need to revoke any postponement. That also applies to the younger BTS members. Now what's special about BTS is, is that thanks to a newish law in place, BTS was able to postpone their military until they're 30 years old. The law applies to all Koreans who received government medals for helping spread or elevate South Korea's culture influence around the world. BTS got said medal in 2018. So effectively only the older members withdrew their postponement, the rest were still in the regular time frame. To enlist they just had to apply.

I do believe the four of them went at the same time to make sure they'll be back in time for Festa in 2025. But to do so there was no need for any of them to apply for the buddy system. They could've all gone separately, if they wanted to.

Now, to the buddy system. The buddy system was implemented to give enlisted soldiers a partner and friend at their side to go through 18 months of enlistment and to protect them from mental harm. When entering through buddy system you're guaranteed to be with your buddy until you finish your service. You're guaranteed to be employed in the same unit and to live in the same barracks. The perks though also come with consequences. Buddies always get send to the harshest units, often times directly to the border to North Korea. To apply for the buddy system you have to go through a lottery system. The buddies are picked randomly. If you're not picked you have to start the enlistment process again which would then lead to a later enlistment than planned. How much the company was able to influence the lottery is obviously speculation.

Now I saw many shippers say that Jimin and Jungkook are not in the same unit anymore but that is factually wrong. After they finished their basic training, Jimin and Jungkook joined the 5th Infantry Division in one of the artillery battalions. Different to Jin who's still deployed at the training camp to assist new recruits. What I think confuses a lot of shippers is that Jimin and Jungkook work different jobs within said unit. Jungkook is working as a kitchen police and Jimin is working in the fire direction center. There are plenty of different jobs within a unit but it is still the same unit. It's just like an office worker and a car mechanic working in the same car workshop but one is doing all the paperwork while the other is repairing the cars. Jimin and Jungkook still see each other every day and due to buddy system they also share the same dormitory.

Another misconception that I saw is that couples are not allowed to enlist through buddy system. This is not true. Technically couples are able to enlist together. As long as they're not out. The military still discriminates homosexual men until this day. If you're out, it's possible that already during the examination before enlistment you can be marked as having a "mental handicap" or "personality disorder" which would lead to not being allowed to do active service. There's still a law in place that forbids any sexual activities between two men on base. If caught, you might face time in prison or, if you're "lucky", you're gonna be dishonorably discharged. Up until 2022 it was even forbidden for two enlisted men to have sexual intercourse off base. However the Supreme Court ruled that this law cannot be applied to consensual acts off base and during off duty hours. If a couple enlisted together but don't come out until after service, they wouldn't face any repercussions. Now is it smart for a couple to take that risk? My personal opinion? No, probably not. Not because them being a couple in general would get them in trouble with the law, as long as they don't have any intimate interactions on base they're good, but the risk of getting outed in an already stressful situation like the military would outweigh the pros of having my partner with me. But that's my opinion on that.

Now does it mean that Jimin and Jungkook are so much closer with each other than they're with the other members because they enlisted together? No. They simply chose not wanting to be alone. Namjoon wasn't allowed to use the buddy system, Taehyung clearly wanted to do the same thing his Wooga friend did before him. So if I had to enlist, I would also want to be with my friend if possible. Both sides, Jikookers and Taekookers, are in the wrong here, in my opinion. Jikookers make the joined enlistment more than it is, no, them enlisting together doesn't make them a couple and Taekookers downplay the joined enlistment, no Jungkook and Jimin were not forced by the company. In the end all members are close. And sometimes I have the feeling some shippers have a hard time accepting that.

Ok, I apologise for the wall of text but I hope I was able to give you guys some more information. If you have more questions, feel free to ask. Hope you have a very nice day. :]

Hi anon!

Thanks for the insight! This all does make sense.

I did especially read about the postponement though (but it’s a minor detail, so no need to make a big fuss out of things, just so I can understand the whole better). https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/12/falqs-the-conscription-system-of-south-korea/

“A Korean man also can choose when to perform his military service by requesting postponement of the day for fulfillment of duty. (MSA art. 60.) For any person who is unable to fulfill his duty on the date due to disease, mental or physical disorder, disaster, employment, education, or family issues, among other things, as prescribed by the Enforcement Decree of MSA (Decree No. 281, Feb. 1, 1950, as amended), the date may be postponed upon request. Usually, one request for postponing the call-up is for 1 or 2 years, and the maximum number of requests is five. However service must begin before one turns 30. (Id. art. 61.)”

#members #enlistment

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69constellationsinatrenchcoat · 9 months

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Welcome to 69 Otters in a Trenchcoat.. better known as the Constellation Collective

Alter Intros

Ash (they/them):🌿

Amber (she/they): 🔥

Kyle (he/him): 💜

Lillia (she/her):🪻

Kaden (he/they): 🐚

Wild (they/he/she):🗡️

Our system is studying to become a psychologist. We're formally diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, PSTD and DID, along with endometriosis (very likely adenomyosis) chronic pain, chronic fatigue, hEDS and POTS

What to expect

A lot of dissociative experiences posting; fun things and not, trigger warnings will be used where applicable

Writing and musings

Philosophy

Bookish things (including fan fiction), fandoms below

Half polished thoughts (and sometimes not even that)

Disabilities

Psychology content

Enneagram & MBTI

Poetry

A unhinged amount of s3x jokes, dunno, depends on who's posting. **nsfw content will be tagged mature.

Art

Disney & cartoons

If that sounds like a piece of you, feel free to hang around <3

Notes (DNI)

"Endogenic systems" aren't supported here, however we are open to questioning systems :) Psychologically, systems cannot be formed without trauma. If you are experiencing amnesia, identity confusion etc, it is best to speak with a psychologist or another mental health professional.

Systems under 15, unless diagnosed, please don't interact... Look, this is an odd one, but your personality doesn't finish developing until you're in your mid 20s. I don't want to be the reason some preteen gets dragged into labelling what's perfectly normal development as DID/OSDD.

Homophobia, transphobia, hate speech etc, on our blog will be cause for an instant block.

"Transautistics" (autistic trans people are welcome, I am referring to the b-llshit that is transitioning from allistic to autistic; I am not wasting my breath explaining why that is impossible).

For our piece of mind: under 16s, please do not follow.

Fandoms

'Fandom' is being used as a very loose term, some of these don't have active fan bases.

Shows and Movies (including some book adaptations)

Anne with an E

Arcane: League of Legends

Blues Clues

Bluey

Disney & Pixar

Divergent

Heartstopper

Inside Out

Monsters Inc

Narnia

Percy Jackson

Spongebob

The Hunger Games

The Owl House

Veggietales

Books (an incredibly small selection of our favs)

Alice Oseman: Heartstopper series & surrounding universe

Ana Huang: Twisted series

CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia Series

Erin Hunter: Warrior Cats Series

Francesca Zappia: Eliza and her Monsters

George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four

Jacqueline Wilson: Baby Love & Love Frankie

Jasper Fforde: Shades of Grey series (Shades of Grey & Red Side Story)

Laura Greenwood: Apprentice of Anubis series

Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables series

Michael Morpurgo: Kaspar the Prince of Cats/Kaspar the Titanic Cat

Rick Riordan: Kane Chronicles Series & Percy Jackson

Roald Dahl: everything he has ever written

She-who-must-not-be-named: Harry Potter (we do not support J. K. Rowling's views on transgender rights)

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games series

Veronica Roth: Divergent Series

Yasmin Rahman: All The Things We Never Said

Video Games

The Legend of Zelda (botw & totk mostly)

Minecraft

Pokémon

Cattails & Cattails; Wildwood Story

Disney Dreamlight Valley

MCTY: HermitCraft

Musios

AViVA

Beth Crowley

Chxlortte

Icon for Hire

Nathan Wagner

Taylor Swift

UNSECRET

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iviarellereads · 1 year

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All Systems Red, Chapter 6

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which Murderbot makes a joke, to a human, and doesn't spontaneously combust.

The humans had debated where to go, within the time they'd had, knowing their supply levels. Ratthi has coined "EvilSurvey" for the enemy, in the absence of another name, and the group knows EvilSurvey have access to their HubSystem data, including where they'd surveyed previously, so they had to pick somewhere new. The result was in some rocky jungled hills.

While MB scouts the area to make sure nothing can drag off the little hopper in the night, it thinks about its options. It's not precisely half bot and half human, because those parts aren't discrete from each other. What it knows is that it can't abandon the humans, because it can imagine them all too well being hurt by the rogue SecUnits, and it hates having emotions about reality. Besides, it has no resources here, and nothing to do, and a limited media entertainment archive.

When it returns, Mensah says she knows it's more comfortable with the opaqued helmet, but she thinks the humans will benefit from seeing, rather than a construct, a person who's helping them, since that's how she thinks of it. MB's insides melt, and it un-opaques the visor, and has the helmet tuck back into its armour. Mensah thanks it, and they go inside.

The humans all have a long discussion about what's going on.(1) The main point is that they must want something in the blacked-out regions of the map. MB brings up that EvilSurvey might believe the company and PresAux's beneficiaries won't look further than a rogue SecUnit if they can blame it on that. They can't disappear two survey teams unless their "corporate or political entity" doesn't care, so it asks if DeltFall's would care about them, and PresAux's would care about this crew.

Every human turns to stare at it, and Volescu asks if it doesn't know who they are.(2) MB says there was an info packet, but it never read it, because it didn't care. Gurathin is dismissive, but MB restates: it was indifferent and annoyed.

Gurathin asks why MB doesn't want them to look at it. It clenches its jaw so hard it gets a performance reliability alert, and snaps that it's not a sexbot, its appearance is beside the point.

Ratthi snorts, but MB realizes it's not directed at it as he tells Gurathin that MB is shy. Overse adds that it doesn't like interacting with humans, which makes perfect sense given how constructs are treated in corporate-political areas.

Gurathin asks if they could punish it by looking at it, to replace its governor module. MB says, maybe, until it remembered it has guns for arms. Mensah asks if Gurathin is satisfied at the threat but ultimate lack of violence. Gurathin says, for now, but he wanted to be sure it wasn't under outside influence.

Arada says that's enough of that, this is a learning experience for everyone, including MB, who has to learn how to interact with humans on its own terms as a free agent.

Mensah sends a private message in the feed, hoping MB is alright. MB whines that she only cares because she needs it. Mensah says she DOES need it, the humans all do, because none of them have experience in situations like this. MB is the only one who won't panic, who will keep steady.

That was absolutely true. And I could help, just by being the SecUnit. I was the one who was supposed to keep everybody safe. I panic all the time, you just can’t see it, I told her. I added the text signifier for “joke.” She didn’t answer, but she looked down, smiling to herself.(3)

Ratthi asks where EvilSurvey are stationed on the planet. MB says it left a few drones around the habitat that may pick something up on audio or visual to help. It thinks internally about how it had downloaded the SecSystem onto the big hopper and purged the whole storage in the hub, so EvilSurvey won't get anything about its functions.

Mensah points out that it will have to go back in range of the hub to retrieve that data, and asks how long they're likely to stay at the habitat. Everyone groans at the potential loss of their samples and the things they had to leave behind, but MB says there's nothing there that EvilSurvey is likely to want, so not very long.

Mensah sets up a watch schedule, including explicit time for MB to do diagnostics and recharge. It plans to use the time to also watch Sanctuary Moon and decompress after so much dealing with humans.

After the humans settle for the night, it walks the perimeter again. When it comes back, Ratthi is on watch at the big hopper's hatch. It removes its helmet again, and asks why everyone was so shocked it asked if their political entity would miss them. Ratthi smiles and says Mensah is the political entity. Preservation Alliance is a non-corporate system, and Mensah is the current elected administrator on the steering committee. One of the principles of Preservation Alliance is that admins continue their regular work, and hers required this survey.

MB is still processing this and feeling a little stupid for not reading the packet, when Ratthi adds that bots are considered full citizens in Preservation territory. MB is internally dismissive of this, noting that even "full citizen" bots require human guardians.

MB reroutes back to the subject at hand: the company knows who Mensah is, then. Ratthi confirms, and MB thinks how the company would scramble to have help here in record time if the beacon had launched. Not even a bribe would stop it.

It seems unlikely that EvilSurvey knows who Mensah is, given their behaviour, and they have no access to the SecSystem storage with the info packet that could tell them. MB isn't sure how to use that information, but thinks about it anyway.(4)

The next day, MB prepares to take the little hopper back in range of the habitat to check the drones. It wants to go alone, but Mensah, Pin-Lee, and Ratthi are also set to go along. MB is upset, because it can't stop catastrophizing the situation and focusing on all the ways every aspect can go wrong.(5) Gurathin comes up and says he's going too. MB snarks that it thought he was satisfied. It takes him a minute to remember, ah, the conversation last night. MB lies blatantly that it remembers everything it's ever heard, though it clarifies internally that it deletes most of it as useless junk.

Mensah intervenes on the feed, saying Gurathin doesn't have to come if MB is uncomfortable. MB would rather the others weren't coming, because it wants them safe, but it wouldn't mind so much(6) if Gurathin died in the events to come. It tells Mensah it's fine, and they all leave.

MB circles off further west, to prevent EvilSurvey from reverse engineering their course back to the real camp. The humans are mostly sleeping in their seats, but Gurathin is awake in the copilot's chair with it.

Eventually, Gurathin says he has a question, but waits for MB to give him permission to continue, which it thinks is "weirdly new". He asks if the company punished MB for the mining company's deaths. MB explains, not like he's thinking. They shut it down, brought it back online at intervals, and tried to purge its memory. After some silence, Gurathin asks if MB blames humans for what happened to it. MB says that's a stupid human thing to do.

What was I supposed to do, kill all humans because the ones in charge of constructs in the company were callous? Granted, I liked the imaginary people on the entertainment feed way more than I liked real ones, but you can’t have one without the other. The others started to stir, waking and sitting up, and he didn’t ask me anything else.

Eventually they make it, and move in to land, just inside the drones' range. MB keeps its transmissions brief, but all three are still active, and the downloads begin. MB realizes the drones recorded everything since they left, so it pushes half the footage into the feed for Gurathin to look at and starts skimming. It finds a good picture of the EvilSurvey ship, and footage of five SecUnits, including the two from DeltFall. It identifies the logo for EvilSurvey, which actually includes a name: GrayCris. Nobody recognizes it.

The SecUnits, no doubt with the combat overrides equipped, all get out of the hopper and go toward the habitat. Five humans follow them. MB thinks they aren't professionals, and their SecUnits are company, not private.

It's still reviewing its footage when Gurathin says they have a problem. He found something in the footage from the drone inside the hub.

The visual was a blurred image of a curved support strut but the audio was a human voice saying, “You knew we were coming, so I assume you have some way to watch us while we’re here.” The voice spoke standard lexicon with a flat accent. “We’ve destroyed your beacon. Come to these coordinates—” She spoke a set of longitude and latitude numbers that the little hopper helpfully mapped for me, and a time stamp. “—at this time, and we can come to some arrangement. This doesn’t have to end in violence. We’re happy to pay you off, or whatever you want.”

Everyone starts talking, but Mensah stops them and asks MB what its opinion is. It says that if they go, GrayCris can kill them all, and if they don't, GC has until the project end date and the company pickup to find and eliminate them anyway.(7)

Mensah says GrayCris seem to believe they know why PresAux is here. GC know by now that PA went to one of the map blackout areas, precisely where in that area, so they must think that PA has information of value. It gives PA leverage, but how can they use it?

And then MB has a wonderful, terrible idea.(8)

=====

(1) I could be annoyed at how often some of the same questions and points are reiterated each chapter, but it's also realistic that, in the absence of an answer, you would bring up "who the heck ARE they" every time you think about what's happening in this situation, so I'm once again inclined to forgive what normally I might also criticize. (2) Look, I'm a sucker for a subverted line, and "You don't know who we are?" is so well played here. Usually it's haughty, arrogant. Here's it's played straight to perfection. (3) A JOKE! A real piece of humour! Alright so it's gallows humour at best, but still! Our little construct is growing up so fast. Which is good because the book's almost over. (4) Admittedly, this is a kind of clumsy way to get it across that this information is probably going to come back. Especially since, going over it the once already told us that it's meaningful enough to include in such a short story. It only counts as the rule of threes if those three are separated enough to register separately. (5) MB is an eternal mood, honestly, but never more so than this. Part of its security programming is being able to see eventual results and compensate to prevent them. That's also how some people's anxiety works: you can imagine so many ways things go wrong, because theoretically that allows you to plan and ensure that it goes better, but sometimes the ability to see things going right is impaired so you only ever see the terrible consequences and never the good outcomes. (6) Reading between the lines: it would still mind, some. Maybe only because the other humans like him, maybe only because he's a person and people deserve continued life and not terrible murder. But it does care. (7) It's A Trap! (8) Tune in tomorrow, or, you know, keep reading to find out for yourself.

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot diaries #all systems red #murderbot #secunit #ayda mensah #bharadwaj #volescu #ratthi #overse #pin-lee #gurathin #arada

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taoofshigeru · 1 year

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Sea of Stars Final Thoughts

See this post for my initial thoughts. Comprehensive spoilers to follow, obviously.

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1) World design was the highlight of the game for me. Each area looked unique and was fun to navigate around, and the way they were able to integrate some puzzle design into it was quite nice. Using the Graplou to get around felt super-smooth, which isn't always the case in isometric-style platformers.

2) Combat was solid but really not much of a challenge. I never game-overed on a boss up to and including the final boss, and both times I did lose was just a mob where I went in without bothering to heal. The key reason for this was Seraï's Disorient was busted and allowed my team to rip through every single-enemy boss like tissue paper. And most bosses were single enemies. You just keep hitting them with turn delays and then they never take turns. Tack on Arcane Barrage and Great Eagle later on in the game and it gets pretty ridiculous.

I mean, lock-breaking is a neat idea but I've experienced very similar things done better in Octopath Traveler's break/boost system, and when I was fighting bosses I kind of wanted to just be doing a game that didn't depend so much on timed hits. Bravely Default II included similarly stunlock-focused moves like BP Depleter or the Bravebearer class' entire moveset, and the main criticism of that game was how it had a counter system where late-game bosses would randomly counter actions taken by the player in ways that many, myself included, felt were punishing and unfair design. And I feel like this game showed me the other side of what happens when you just let a move like Disorient be usable without any sort of punishment.

Crustaleon dropped minions that lasted more then one multitarget attack before he could be delayed, and the Sea Slug dropped boulders even when it wasn't its turn, and I was excited to see one or both of those mechanics be folded into the final boss battle. Given this, the final fight with Aephorul felt like a real anticlimax. It was just a literal curb stomp for the heroes. Aephorul got to take like, 5 whole turns.

All that said, I enjoyed managing and being able to swap out the party of 6 in real time was nifty. I just wish they had done more with it in terms of late-game/true ending bosses with some real teeth.

3) The music was great. Particularly a fan of the Dweller boss theme mix that plays during the Dweller of Torment fight, and that super-amped Glacial Peak theme.

4) Writing/story was where I felt the game really ran into real inconsistencies. If I divide the game into acts.

The first act, up until the Dweller of Woe fight, I was fairly consistently not enjoying the story. The second act, from the Sea of Nightmares to Swan Song of the Warrior Cook, I found to be genuinely inspired. The third act, Seraï's World, Fated Hour up until the final boss fight, did well but also felt like it was somewhat coasting to the end off the strength of the second act. (Resh'an kind of just quits the story after you fight the birds to scroll through his text history with Aephorul and I was expecting him to play a mildly bigger part in the true ending.)

And the pirate dialogue in particular had some real turds that came off as mean-spirited rather than humorous. It's okay to have a story with some whimsy and humor, and for an RPG to poke fun at itself or the genre in general. But there were some jokes there that just personally felt sour to me. Case in point:

My honest opinion is that when the entire second half of your game boils down to using one move on bosses repeatedly until they die, maybe cut the Keenathan half of that exchange. The game and the script is more than this, but that's the quote I'll remember from it the most.

5) All that said, the cast had its moments. Garl is the good boy of all time, and while I'm neutral on Resh'an and Seraï as characters they had this great dynamic during the Dweller of Strife fight that ultimately leads to the warrior cook's untimely death.

Resh'an: "The rules exist for a reason and people will get hurt if I break them." Seraï: "People have gotten hurt following your god damn rules!"

Given that a) Garl dies as a result of Seraï tossing the vial of time at the Dweller and b) Valere and Zale would have died had she not done so, the script leaves room for them to both be kind of right, which I thought was a neat and nuanced writing decision.

I kind of wished they had explored it a bit more, too. Valere and Zale understandably focus on what Garl does while living on borrowed time and that does take precedence. However, after the funeral, it may have been effective for one of them to exchange some harsh words with Seraï over her decision back there. That would have helped crystallize them as two distinct characters with a wider range of emotions. As opposed to just being Garl's matching sidepieces. (Which is itself a fine role, still!)

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To be clear, I liked Sea of Stars quite a bit! I had beef with some specific elements that keeps it out of my top tier of pixel RPGs, but more than anything I'm really, extremely appreciative that people make games like this. Will look forward to seeing whatever Sabotage does next.

#sea of stars #my two cents #sort of a rant

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artificialqueens · 1 year

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🏳️‍🌈 The Miracle of Living Pt.1 (Bianca Del Rio/BenDeLaCreme ig??) - Lita

In this world we're just beginning To understand the miracle of living

Hello everyone! Welcoe to the long-awaited prequel to the Bitney San Junipero AU that I technically started writing five years ago (???) but recently decided to try and breathe new life into and complete. In theory this can stand alone as its own story with a few vague references to Black Mirror future tech sprinkled in, but it's really just setup to the main fic that kind of got away from me. The story has gotten a complete overhaul, so if anyone from Ye Olden Days remembers it - please do stick around and read this new version, I promise it's better.

Massive thank you to @veronicasanders for giving me the kick up the ass required to get this story back off the ground, throwing her ideas at me, and being my Google when it comes to divorce court and the American college system. Love you mom - I hope this story is everything you'd dreamed of <3

Summary: Bianca is twenty-one, flunking college, and - thanks to a night of drunk bad decision-making - she's pregnant with her gay best friend's baby.

Los Angeles, California

January 17th, 2022

“BEN!”

Bianca’s furious voice rings out through the small apartment. She’s sitting on the toilet with her pajama pants and underwear around her ankles, willing the second blue line to disappear. If anything, it’s getting darker.

“Uh…yeah?” The reply comes from the other side of the bathroom door.

“I thought you said you wore a fucking condom!”

“I did!” Ben protests. Then, meek and cautious: “...It might have split.”

“It might have what?”

Two and a half months ago, Bianca and Ben had gone out drinking to commiserate the ends of their respective relationships - Ben had found out about his long-term boyfriend’s secret Grindr profile and dumped him, then Bianca’s longest-lasting FWB had called it quits with her less than a week later. When they got home, drunk and dumb and miserable, they’d started making out with each other on the couch - as a joke, just for something to do. And then, since they were shitfaced and apparently didn’t know any better, one ‘joke’ led to another, and they’d woken up naked in Ben’s bed. They had laughed it off the morning after, hunched at the kitchen table over alka-seltzer and black coffee - too much liquor, too many emotions. Shit happens.

And then tonight, Bianca had mentioned offhand that she was incredibly overdue her period, and suggested going out to buy a test half as a joke. Ben had gone along with it a little too willingly, and he’d been overly-energised and super fucking weird on the walk to the drugstore. Really, Bianca should have known something was up when he detoured via the liquor store across the street, and came back with two bottles of tequila.

“Ben, are you fucking kidding me?” Bianca says through her teeth.

“I was gonna tell you,” Ben replies, sounding flustered. “Is the door locked? Can I come in?”

Bianca wants to say no, but it was Ben’s curiosity about her vagina that got them here in the first place, so who cares about whether or not he sees her now? She reaches over to turn the lock. Ben shuffles into the room in his leopard-print boxers and an oversized pajama shirt, and perches on the edge of the bathtub, looking at the floor.

Part of Bianca wants to burst into tears - another part of her wants to scream until she throws up. Not now. Not fucking now - not like this. She’s twenty-one; Bianca doesn’t even know that she wants a goddamn kid at all, forget about one fathered by her gay best friend.

“Look, I didn’t notice until after we were done. And I didn’t want to freak you out - I figured it would probably be nothing, and then there was never a good time, and then you told me you were late and I…”

“You’re a faggot, we were hammered, we fucked because we thought it would be funny - if you knew that there was any chance whatsoever that you’d knocked me up, you should have fucking told me!” Bianca snarls through gritted teeth.

Ben doesn’t say anything for a moment. He doesn’t really react either. He just sits there and looks at her; composed, taking it in.

Bianca met Ben at a theater summer camp when they were sixteen. Ben had just moved from Seattle; he was about to start junior year at the private school across town. They led fundamentally different lives - Bianca had found herself seethingly jealous of him and his cakewalk of a fucking existence when she first met him, resolved that she had no other choice but to hate him on premise. But they’d been assigned as duet partners for the end-of-summer showcase and, faced with no other choice but to get along with him, she’d discovered that they were fucking made for each other. Ben didn’t mind that Bianca was kind of a bitch; he laughed at her jokes, he seemed to understand her. All three qualities she’d never experienced from other kids her age. One juvenile performance of Waltz for Eva and Che later, and she’d found an apparent friend for life.

And then, once high school drew to a close and Bianca was confronted head-on with the unblinking abyss of her future and its hopelessness, he’d offered her an exit route. He was freaked out by the idea of sharing a dorm with a stranger, so his dad had eventually relented after months of begging to privately rent an apartment - he just needed a roommate. She’d never expected that that offer would land her here.

“So, you’re pregnant?” He asks cautiously.

“Yeah - no shit, Sherlock.”

“Do you think you should take another one? To make sure or whatever?” Ben asks. Bianca presses the heel of her hand to her temple, still not breaking eye contact with the pregnancy test.

“Nope - that looks pretty positive to me,” Bianca shows it to him, wiping the mist of stress-sweat from her brow. Ben pulls a vaguely disgusted face. There’s a moment of pause - Bianca bites her lip, struggling to make sense of the messy cocktail of emotions swirling around inside her head.

“Are you okay?” Ben tries to take Bianca’s hand. It feels weirdly violating to have someone touching her while she’s sitting on the toilet. She swats him away.

“I think so. I need a little time to get my head around…everything.” Bianca grits her teeth.

All the scary new problems are dawning on her all at once, like she’s being descended on by a swarm of wasps. College. How to tell her parents. Hospital bills. College again. The apartment is too small for another person. She’ll probably be a shitty mother. Ben. Ben’s pending status as an absent father. She’s never changed a diaper before. College. Fucking college.

She’s currently scraping through year number four of her two-year community college program. Which, as it turns out, only takes two years if you aren’t working full-time to try and keep yourself fed and housed. Ben’s impending graduation from USC - full ride for a screenwriting major, family that gave a shit about him - made that feel even more grim.

This whole convoluted, stupid journey to something better had felt both never-ending and deeply hopeless for the last thirty-six months, and now the whole endeavor is decisively fucked. Even if she does make it to that prophesied something better - enough credits to earn her a spot in the fashion merchandising major she’d been declined acceptance to straight out of high school - there’s no way she can handle real college with a fucking screaming infant permanently attached to her. She can feel the dream crumbling in her hands.

Bianca makes a silent resolution that she’s not putting her own kid - who still feels very much like a hypothetical even though it very much isn’t - through the same shit. You’re eighteen now, you’re not our problem any more. It really didn’t help that every screaming argument with her mom in the leadup to her high school graduation had been silently spectated by her brother - in all his uneducated, unemployed, twenty-seven year old glory - from his position fossilized into the living room couch with his PlayStation controller in his hand. We’re not paying for you to stay in this house and fuck your life up - why her specifically?

Her desire not to be their problem had trailed her from NOLA to LA with Ben, and that was its own issue. She leaves on her terms and she’s abandoning her family, even though it was their sharp insistence that she got a job or an apartment or fucking something else that didn’t involve her living at home and taking up too much space that had pushed her in that direction in the first place. What the fuck was there for her at home anyway? Community college and shitty waitressing jobs? At least she could do the same shit against a prettier backdrop on the other side of the country.

Bianca realizes she’s staring dementedly at the test in her hand again. She sniffs, trying to blink away tears she hadn’t noticed forming.

“I really didn’t see being a single mom in my life plan,” she mutters - thinking out loud.

Except she had. In her bleaker moments - the ones in which she was seventeen and terrified of what would happen if she never got out of her hometown. She hadn’t had that nightmare since she and Ben had packed his car and left at the beginning of September four years ago.

“Who says you have to be a single mom?” Ben tilts his head, reaching a hand out for her again.

Bianca scoffs.

“What? No- Ben, I really don’t want to date you - one night was bad enough.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. But like…if you’re gonna go through with this, I’m not just leaving you by yourself to do it. Both of us did something dumb, and now we’re here - so, both of us should have to parent the consequence.”

There’s a quiet, sympathetic smile on Ben’s face. Bianca still wants to fucking kill him. She eyes him up, searching for any hints of deception or fake-niceness. Surprisingly, he passes the on-the-spot analysis.

“You’re just saying that so I stop being mad at you.”

“No! Anyway, I can’t let you raise it by yourself - I love you, but the world really, really doesn’t need two of you.”

“Ha-ha, go suck a dick,” Bianca rolls her eyes. She can’t help but crack a smile.

“If this is what happens when I try to go outside my comfort zone, then yeah, that’s what I’m sticking to.”

****

2nd May, 2022

“That was less excruciating than I thought it would be,” Bianca arches her back as she perches on the edge of the bed, stretching out. Her hair is still elaborately styled; what little of her makeup had survived the day still on her face.

She’d abandoned her dress on the floor the second that they got to their hotel room. She’s basically naked, which Ben seems perplexingly unbothered by; married, heterosexual life seems to have changed him quicker than she thought it would. It’s a relief, finally being alone with him. She’d have preferred to actually be alone, but after a day of forced smiles and overwhelm, he was better than nothing.

“Absolutely,” Ben nods, sitting down to untie his shoes. He’s still wearing his tux - his black curls are coiffed back from his face, and he’d almost pass for straight, were it not for his meticulously groomed eyebrows. “I mean, I could have done with maybe seventy percent less beer and sports talk from your dad - I was starting to think he was onto me.”

“I thought everyone knew there’s no home runs in football - that’s not a gay thing, you’re just dumb.”

The shotgun wedding hadn’t really been a part of the plan, but after Bianca’s mom had found out that she was pregnant, and then proceeded to call her non-stop for weeks in order to berate her for bringing shame on the family like it was the fucking 1800s, Ben had suggested it. Her mother’s bizarre and endlessly changing standards of behavior continue to baffle Bianca.

The decision to go ahead with it seemed a bit weird, but ‘weird’ had become a default preset of Bianca’s existence since January. Ben had thrown himself into the organization with immediate, over-the-top passion - opening up Pinterest and starting on the moodboard five minutes after Bianca had agreed to it. It had kept him entertained and out of the way, which was nice - he’d already started reading parenting books, and was being a little overbearing about prenatal vitamins and whether or not Bianca had made her birth plan yet.

Outside of picking out her dress, Bianca hadn’t really had to do or think about anything. Marrying a gay man had its perks. She’d had a brief reprieve from Ben’s preemptive helicopter parenting, which gave her more energy to focus on finding bigger apartments, since otherwise the kid would be sleeping in the closet, and trying to convince her job that no, four weeks definitely wasn’t enough maternity leave.

The wedding day had been quietly excruciating - her family, her mom specifically, engaging in that grim unspoken facade of keeping up appearances. Pretending that everything was completely fine and normal, denying any knowledge of Bianca’s pregnancy when asked about it. It would be embarrassing if it wasn’t so fucking normal for her. The atmosphere had been thorny, and Bianca had spent most of the day choking back alcohol-free prosecco and waiting for it to be over.

Ben’s family - who seemed confused but generally enthusiastic about the whole ordeal, probably only half-buying Ben’s assertion that he was actually bi and Bianca was definitely the one - seemed to like Bianca though, and that was refreshing. Some kind of normalcy in As Yet Unnamed Kid’s extended family was deeply necessary. They, and Ben himself, had been the only bearable part of the whole thing. Plus they’d fronted most of the expenses and organized the reception at their country club, which was a damn sight better than the social hall of the church that Bea’s family pretended to attend.

“Anyway, I’ve got proof that we’ve fucked at least once, so I don’t think anyone was super suspicious,” Ben continues as Bianca flops back onto the plush bed, letting out a heavy sigh. “How is she doing?”

“She’s fine - she let Mommy keep all of her food down today, so that’s something,” Bianca says.

She’s kind of starting to show now; although just to the point where she looks spectacularly bloated, rather than recognisably pregnant. They didn’t actually know what gender she was yet - but Bea had a feeling. Maybe it was more of a hope, actually; if it was a boy, Ben got to pick the name, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about calling it Raphael.

The kid had been a little bitch recently - whenever Bianca tried to complain about it, Ben would just laugh and remind her that she clearly took after her mom. After a lot of smugness about how she’d not had morning sickness at all, it hit her like a truck for some reason the moment she hit her second trimester. She’d spent the better part of the month before the wedding bent over a toilet bowl. Bianca is already pretty fucking sick of being pregnant, and she’s not even halfway done - she’s always tired, and her boobs hurt, and she misses comfortable sleep and coffee. She thought that nine months with no booze would be the hard part, but dragging herself through life without caffeine is proving to be the real kicker.

“This is weird,” Bianca muses, staring up at the ceiling.

“What’s weird?” Ben turns to look at her, eyes landing on and then immediately flashing away from her exposed tits.

“Try and think about it for like, slightly longer than you wanna think about it. You’re my husband, and I’m pregnant with your kid,” she says plainly. “In what universe was that ever something either of us would have wanted a year ago?"

“Okay, so maybe you’re kind of messy and annoying, and you talk with your mouth full like, all the time and it’s really gross, but I can think of worse people to spend the rest of my life with,” he shrugs. Bianca swats at him with a pillow.

“Thanks a lot.” She aims for pissed, but a smile cracks its way through. “Anyway, it’s not the rest of our lives - play pretend for a few years, then split up and go and live our truths or whatever once she moves out, like we agreed,” Bianca says. Ben nods knowingly.

That was another aspect of things that she was a little hesitant about. Ben had meant what he said about sticking around and raising the kid, but they’d always planned for something more like coparenting. They’d have the baby, and then grow the fuck up and get their own relationships and apartments and lives while splitting custody.

So, the sham marriage thing had interfered with that master plan quite a fucking lot. The situation had divulged into a years-long commitment to lying to people - no dating, since what was gonna happen when the kid started talking and blabbed to whatever set of grandparents about Daddy’s boyfriend? They were gonna be stuck living together for the foreseeable. So, even more keeping up of fucking appearances, which Bianca can’t stand doing it. But the ring on her finger is a glaring, expensive sign that she’s already committed.

They’d talked about it already; pretend to everyone, including the kid, that everything was entirely fine and normal until she was old enough to understand it, get a divorce in about eighteen years, and go their separate ways while continuing to be friends if they could still stand the sight of each other. Easy.

“Thinking about it like that just makes it sound worse,” Ben leans back to lie next to her, loosening his tie. “It’s gonna be fine. One step at a time.”

“Sure,” Bianca replies, distant.

“I mean,” Ben rolls over onto his side, lowering his eyelids into an expression that Bianca imagines is supposed to be seductive. “It is our wedding night - how about round two?”

“Ew - no, never.” Bianca cracks a smile, pushing him away. Ben laughs.

“Thank god, I barely got through saying that without puking.” He starts unbuttoning his shirt and glancing around the expansive bridal suite - still a mess from Bea getting ready that morning. “Do you want me to take the couch?”

Bianca thinks for a second.

“Nah - that doesn't feel fair. I’ve been averaging getting up to pee about ten times a night though, so you can look forward to that.” She looks down at her belly, putting both hands around her barely-noticeable bump. “I hope you know you’re already a gigantic pain in my ass, baby.”

****

September 29th, 2022

Ben had left to go and get coffee - which is probably a good thing, since Bianca was getting tired of looking at him. He’d been…way too intensely supportive, to an extent that she’d found a little smothering. But at least he’d been there. Throughout the last nine months, Bianca had been worried that he was eventually going to get sick of her shit and leave her to deal with it by herself. She’d given him no shortage of shit to get sick of.

The epidural hasn’t quite worn off yet; Bianca has no idea what sort of state her pussy is in, and she’s not sure she wants to know. She’s sweaty and exhausted, but she feels…good. For some reason.

Her water had broken that morning. Ben had been at work - fatherhood looming over him and in desperate need of something more secure than his old three shifts a week at TGI Fridays, he’d picked up a job doing data entry or some other boring crap in an office full of middle-aged straight women about two months ago. Apparently it had been hilarious to watch his reputation as the super fun token gay guy shatter in real time when he’d announced to his boss in front of most of his coworkers that he had to leave because his wife had just gone into labor.

Yeah, he’d been fucking insufferable with the constant ‘you’re doing amazing’s, but he was trying his best. Bea couldn’t exactly be mad at him - he’d just put up with eight hours of her screaming bloody murder and telling everyone who came near her to go fuck themselves. And she’s pretty sure she’d been gripping his hand so tightly she came close to breaking a couple of his fingers.

The room is quiet now. It’s bliss, compared to the chaos of the last few hours - the mad rush of doctors and nurses and blood and sweat and swearing. It’s getting dark outside, the glow of the city lights flickering through the thin curtains. There’s a plastic crib next to Bianca’s bed, with a pink label on its side. Adore Del Rio, 6lbs 3oz.

No matter how disgusting and tiring her day has been - and it was really tiring, and really, really fucking disgusting - a sense of enormous, beautiful calm had washed over Bianca when she held her daughter for the first time. Her daughter.

She’d never felt anything like this before, looking down at the tiny, squishy, pink bundle in her arms. She’s asleep now, wrapped in a blanket and held to Bea’s bare chest. She’s so…little, and so delicate, Bianca thinks as Adore - her fucking daughter - wriggles and murmurs, reaching up for her with one perfect, miniature hand. The delicate curls of her wispy brown hair, and the gentle rise and fall of her chest as Bianca holds her close - she can’t believe that she fucking made her. She’s so perfect, and so goddamn fucking small - and Bianca feels both blissfully zen, and absolutely ready to tear anybody who tries to take Adore away from her limb from limb.

She’s barely been here for an hour, and Bianca loves her more than she’s ever loved anything else before.

*****

March 18th, 2041

“Did you finish your homework last night?”

“Yes.” Adore, lacking in any semblance of enthusiasm, grunts from the kitchen table; pulling out one of her earbuds and looking at Bianca with a mix of indignation and fury.

“Then how come I’m getting emails from the school - again - about you not turning it in?” Bianca places the last clean plate on the dishrack and turns around, leaning against the counter and drying her wet hands on the ass of her jeans. That fails to elicit any form of response from her asshole teenager, and she tries again. “Come the fuck on, Dorey- it’s like you don’t even want to graduate.”

“Maybe I don’t?” She tilts her head, shit-eating grin on her face. That was a deliberate attempt at pissing her off - Bianca has gotten pretty good in recent years at telling those apart from Adore pissing her off without meaning to, and she tries not to let it. Even if her blood is already quietly simmering.

“Oh, you absolutely do if you wanna keep living in this house-”

“Leave her alone, Bea.” Ben laughs, sitting opposite from Adore, as he looks up from the article he’s reading on his tablet.

He only got home from work about an hour ago - most of Bianca’s days off fall on weekdays, so she’s been at home all day, doing pretty much nothing of note until Adore got home from school. They’d had a minor screaming match about the state of Adore’s room - Bianca had threatened to withhold phone privileges and her car keys until Adore relented, threw out the fifteen water bottles she’d been accumulating on her nightstand, and hid the rest of her mess in the closet. Fuck it, good enough.

They only seemed to either argue or ignore each other when Ben wasn’t home which was…just fucking great. It made Bianca feel totally awesome about herself. But Ben is back, order has been restored, and Bianca is cleaning up after dinner like nothing had happened.

“Whose side are you on?” Bianca replies, faux-shocked. “Fucking traitor.”

“Clearly mine, because I’m his favorite,” Adore smirks. You don’t know the fucking half of it, Dorey.

Bianca isn’t saying anything, but the way that Adore is looking at her tells her that she probably still looks mad. This recurring point of tension is getting several million miles up Bianca’s ass.

Adore’s latest thing, with her last months of high school on horizon, has been threatening not to go to college. She’d gotten her applications in by some fucking miracle, and by even further fucking miracle had been accepted for a songwriting major at some prestigious music school that Bianca couldn’t remember the name of - and was now adamant that she wasn’t going, in favour of driving around the country with the ‘band’ that her and her dumbass friends had formed last summer, playing gigs in basements and doing god-knows what else.

Bianca feels like she knows on some level that this is all talk; of course Adore is gonna graduate and go, she’s not stupid. But she’s been in the midst of a prolonged rebellious phase since she was about thirteen. Every time they fight about it, Bianca wants to shake Adore and tell her you’re gonna fucking do this because I couldn’t, stop being fucking ungrateful - but her failed aspirations aren’t Adore’s fault.

It just annoys her. Adore, in every possible way, has had an easier life than Bianca ever did and she struggles not to hate her for it. Her future is available to her on a silver goddamn platter, she’s looking for reasons to not take it, and for fucking what? Being cool?

Ben, against what had seemed like all odds when they were in their twenties, had really fallen upwards from the joint error that had changed the trajectory of both of their lives. That first ‘pay the bills’ office job doing whatever-the-fuck had unlocked Ben’s secret talent for playing corporate ball, and a little less than eighteen years later he was the CFO of an LGBT charity, and making what Bianca deemed to be a fucking stupid amount of money. Enough to afford their too-nice house in a too-nice neighborhood in West LA, and Adore’s too-nice performing arts high school.

Bianca had climbed about as far up the ladder as she’d been able to, but given that she was a college dropout with no real experience in anything else, the depressing non-failure of retail store management was about the best she could manage. It wore her down; the feeling of uselessness and guilt as she inhabited this existence that felt a million miles above her means.

“This is insane - have you guys read about this new Cookie Heaven thing they’re trialing?” Ben looks up again, breaking the frosty silence - Bianca disinterestedly flicking through her phone, Adore disinterestedly pretending to finish her homework. “Guys?”

Ben had been bizarrely fixated on this emergent technology for the last year or so - some shit about consciousness transfers and virtual afterlifes that Bianca didn’t understand and didn’t care to. It made her skin crawl, not that she had any idea why. Truly, the rate at which Cookies as a principle had been developed, outlawed, un-outlawed, given rights, made illegal again but only in certain situations - it felt like it dominated the news, and with every possible turn it got weirder. Their trajectory had felt like trying to find a point for something that had been invented pointlessly. Criminal justice, entertainment, smart home tech, medical advances, god knows what else - Bianca just thought they were a bit macabre.

“Nope, don’t want to. It’s creepy.” Bianca shudders, kicking off the process of shutting him up about it before he talks about it too much and gets under her skin. “Is this like that chick who died in that AR art thing at Burning Man and got stuck in the Cloud? Because that freaked me the fuck out.”

“Why? I think it’s really nice. According to this, they’ve been successful with people who’ve been uploaded prior to death, so now they’re looking at trialing it for long-term coma patients, end-of-life care, people with Alzheimer’s - it could be really promising.”

“Absolutely not - when I die, let me rest in fucking peace.” Bianca pulls a face. “Don't throw some gross little computer clone of me into a weird simulation and force me to live forever - it’s weird. I don’t like it."

“Bianca, Cookies aren’t just computers-”

“It’s messed up.”

Adore shuffles uncomfortably in her seat, pushing her earbuds in further. Bianca half-watches her, pursing her lips.

“I think it’s sweet. It says in the article that if this trial thing works, then they’re going to look at options for letting family members visit,” Ben says a little wistfully.

“Ah.” It takes a moment of thought, but Bianca feels like an asshole.

“Look, I just think that if something like that had been around thirty years ago, it would have been…” he stops, not sure how to finish his sentence. Ben’s mom died when he was ten, and that tragedy has been underpinning Adore’s entire adolescence; his constant anxiety over something happening to himself or Bianca, not wanting his daughter to have to suffer through the same lifelong, unshifting grief. “Think about Adore-”

“Yeah - maybe think about me enough to not have this conversation right in fucking front of me?” Adore bolts to her feet, her hands clasped at her sides. Her eyes look moist. Bianca half-opens her mouth, trying to say something, but no words make their way out. “This is freaking me out - stop it!”

She scrubs at her eyes furiously with a balled fist, storming out of the room and letting the door swing shut behind her with a thud.

“Dorey-” Ben calls out weakly after her.

“What the fuck was that?” Bianca walks around the table, slumping down into the seat Adore had just been occupying. She hears Adore’s bedroom door slam from upstairs.

“I dunno - I guess that got a little heavy? I mean, who wants to sit around and listen to their parents talking about what’s gonna happen when they die?” Ben looks uncomfortable, chewing at his bottom lip. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Yeah,” Bianca replies distantly, not really listening.

“I do mean it, though.” Ben says, leaning across the table - looking past Bianca’s folded arms and frosty expression. “If I’d had some way to still talk to my mom - even if it wasn’t fully real, even if it was just a simulation - I’d have wanted that. And I don’t think it’s fair that we should stop Adore from having that chance.”

“What, so I have to commit to being alive forever even when I don’t want to, for her benefit? I don’t think she even likes me anymore, Ben - she wouldn’t care.” Bianca sounds more morose than she wants to, but it’s true. She loves Adore, but god knows the kid is going out of her way to make that difficult.

“Believe me, she would.” Ben looks at her a little too seriously. “I’m just saying I think we should look into it.”

“Look into it all you want - I’m not doing it.”

“Seriously, Bea-” Ben is looking at her with puppy eyes and it’s making her feel nauseous. “For Adore?”

There’s loud music blasting upstairs, and Bianca is wondering if it’s Adore picking up an old habit of putting her speakers on when she’s crying, so that nobody can hear her. She wants to go and check on her, but she’s glaringly aware that any interference from her is perceived as a pending attack by Adore right now - how powerless she feels hurts. Bianca looks at the floor, picking at her cuticles.

“Fine.”

*****

August 4th, 2042

“So, I’m sure this isn’t gonna come as a shock to you, but your dad and I got a divorce.”

Adore’s eyes practically pop out of her head as she spits her coffee out. More of it gets on Bianca’s face than she would have liked.

“What?”

“I don’t think I left much room for interpretation there, Dorey,” Bianca grimaces, wiping secondhand iced latte off of her cheek with a napkin.

“Yeah, okay, whatever. Why the fuck did you get a divorce?” Adore looks sullen. Almost angry, actually.

Regardless of how different they’d seemed to become as she’d grown up, every so often Bianca was hit with a very, very strong reminder that Adore was her mother’s daughter. Calm and rational, per fucking usual.

She’d debated back and forth with Ben about who should tell her. They’d been dancing around the subject since June, when Adore had first come home for summer; practically rehearsing the conversation. Eventually they’d settled on Bianca - Ben had admitted himself that Bianca’s at times abrasive directness was the way forward. Adore didn’t hold well with people pussyfooting around her, and Ben was always a little too delicate with her feelings. He’d been the ideal Good Cop to Bianca’s bad one when Adore was little - but she was nineteen now, had moved out almost a year ago, and was as close to a real adult as she was realistically ever gonna be. She needed someone to be straight with her. And, well, out of the two of them, Bianca was probably the closest thing to straight. Even after nearly twenty years of marriage.

The split itself had been more than amicable, since years of planning had gone into it. The only slight point of contention had been, in the process of unpicking and rewriting both of their advanced directives, Ben had been pretty insistent on her keeping the part about San June-whatever-the-fuck - that weird Cookie Heaven thing which she’d hoped would just be a passing fad when Ben brought it up last spring, but had only gained more traction and more apparent success.

She’d tried to reason with him about Adore being a grown-up now, and how she’d made it through the last year without shuffling off this mortal coil, and so their respective deaths were probably a far-future issue that they shouldn’t be so worried about right now, but it hadn’t flown. Bianca had spent long enough in lawyers’ offices debating bullshit to have any useful argument left in her. She’d thought the divorce process would be less of a nightmare since it was agreed upon by both parties prior to the fucking wedding, but apparently she’d thought wrong.

“Because we…” Bianca sighs, facepalming. Adore has tears in her eyes. Shit, she really hadn’t been expecting this. “Because he’s gay, Adore.”

Adore’s eyes pop again. Bianca clamps a hand over her mouth before she gets a chance to cover her in overpriced coffee again.

“Daddy’s gay?” Adore blurts out as soon as she manages to swallow.

“Duh?” That just tumbles out of Bianca’s mouth without any real thought. “Are you really telling me that you never suspected anything?”

“No? I thought he was just like…I dunno, really into theater. Did you just find out? Holy shit, are you okay?” Adore reaches for Bianca’s hand a little frantically. Bianca laughs, shaking her head.

“Nope - I’ve always known. Dorey, I…” she sighs again, realizing how ridiculous this sounds. “Listen, when a gay man and a bisexual live together, and they get really, really drunk this one time…”

“Ohmigod, you’re bi?”

How unobservant is this fucking kid?

“Yeah - surprise. Now you know why we were so fucking chill about it when you cut all your hair off and started begging for a pair of Doc Martens when you were twelve,” Bianca says, chuckling.

A confused look washes over Adore’s face. “But I…you always seemed so in love.”

“We decided we were gonna get married and pretend to be normal so that we didn’t fuck you up,” Bianca shrugs. “Which clearly worked super well.”

Adore cracks a smile. It feels good to see her smile.

Since Adore moved out for college - miracle of fucking miracles - the rift between them that her teenage years had created seemed to fill itself in. Bianca felt closer to her; felt the warmth of her love without hesitation or denial for the first time in years. She was like a different person. Happy - blossoming into herself. She’d started posting her music on social media, and was getting enough buzz to land gigs here and there. And she hadn’t just stopped pushing Bianca away, but had started actively reaching out for her. She called her at least once every couple of days because she missed her; messaged her constantly. Just frivolous little updates about her days, or pictures of dogs that she’d seen - silly little shit. But it felt good.

She’d worried that it wouldn’t last. But Adore had come home for summer, and as it trailed to an end, there’d been no second coming of their years-long bitch-feud. Everything had been fucking glorious.

“Boo, you’re mean,” Adore says playfully.

“For the record, we were good at faking being in love because we both love you,” Bianca says, reaching out to take Adore’s hand. She’s bitten off two of her acrylics again - Bianca is a little suspicious about which two exactly, and briefly debates calling her out for it. Whatever - she’s an adult, she can do what she wants. But Bianca is taking her to get a manicure once they get done oversharing in the middle of this cafe, because it looks like shit. “That’s not gonna change. But you’re probably gonna end up with stepparents.”

Adore looks down. She’s always done this cute little smirky thing when she’s embarrassed - eyes fixed to the floor, quietly smiling to herself. Bianca loves it.

“Are you dating anyone right now?”

Bianca rolls her eyes.

“We’re not dating-dating. But yeah - her name is Katya, I met her online.”

“Is she hot?”

“None of your business - she’s too old for you anyway,” Bianca shoots Adore a warning look. “Your dad was on a date last night, too - some guy called Darius, apparently it went really well. But I’m gonna look into getting his room soundproofed.”

“Ewwww,” Adore clamps her hands over her ears, laughing. “You’re being gross. Stop being gross.”

“Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared to hear the answer to,” Bianca grins. “Are you good now? Or do you feel like spitting coffee all over me again? I really enjoyed it that first time.”

“Honestly? I always wondered why none of my friends’ parents had their own bedrooms,” Adore thinks out loud. Bianca shakes her head, chuckling.

“I love you so much, you fucking moron.”

Pride Challenge Points: 10,312

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