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thank you @afiendishthingynisba @actuallylemon and @carlos-in-glasses for the tags! for my latest wip, the kindred spirit sequel:

Carlos kneels before TK, lowering his head in the ultimate show of respect he could give. He did all of it for him, and it is indescribably satisfying to know that out of all the competitors, his victories are what has put Texas in first place. The blood, sweat, tears—all of it for his prince.

TK places the crown of flowers on his head with a delicate touch, fingers brushing as much as they dare against Carlos' curls. Instantly, Carlos knows the crown was not just another symbol of victory meant to be handed out to the athletes—TK grew it himself. The poppies woven into its intricate braid are too vibrant, too beautiful to be grown with anything other than the prince's magic. Fiery oranges and reds stained with dark purples and blacks at their centers. Pure things being stained to make it more perfect than before.

Carlos feels himself heating up on the inside at the notion. He thinks, ridiculously, that this was all TK's design for him. TK put up with the royals, the manners, the endless hoops to jump through to please everyone and prove whatever it is they wanted to see, just so that he could stand here and crown Carlos the winner. He hates the decorum, loathes the formality. He rolls his eyes whenever someone points out his un-prince-like behavior. And yet, he did all of that for him.

"Sir Reyes," TK says, and Carlos tilts his head up to look at him. The look in his half-lidded gaze says everything that Carlos wants to hear. He's proud, he loves him, he wants him in every way. There's not a thing Carlos could do wrong. Nothing could sully this moment, or the way TK sees him. Carlos is his knight, his protector, his lover. His.

Carlos tilts his chin up further, imagining what it would be like to lean in and take him into a kiss. He holds himself back, but only just. When he refocuses on TK's face, it's clear the man is thinking the same thing.

"Congratulations," TK whispers, and it's only for him.

I've been thinking lately that perhaps when this is done being written (currently sitting at an unedited ~55k! wow!) I might commission an artist to do a little drawing of one of the scenes. if any of u have suggestions, lemme know ;) also hopefully one day I'll decide on a name for this bad boy

Good morning everyone! This is from chapter 2 of my new fic Sweet. He's Adorable. coming soon! And to those of you who are also melting in a heatwave at the moment, may you get to splash around in cool waters any day now ❤️

Jonah throws open the door and springs inside, for some reason dressed wonkily in his Sunday best navy pull-up corduroy pants, a misbuttoned blue gingham shirt, and a tweedy jacket. And, Carlos sees now, his green dragon feet slippers.

“Surprise!” Jonah yells, “It’s Father’s Day.”

TK pops his head up to look at their boy with squinting eyes. Then he flops down again so hard Carlos feels the mattress bounce. “Jonah…”

“What do you mean surprise?” Carlos laughs. “We know it’s Father’s Day. We’ve been telling you.”

“But it can be a surprise. Like Auntie Tommy.” Jonah marches bouncily in his slippers towards their bed and climbs on up. He stands proudly on the end of the bed with his hands on his hips.     

“You mean like Auntie Tommy’s surprise birthday party?” Carlos says, glancing down to see TK smile. Using that as an example of a nice surprise has clearly made an impression on the guy.

“I’m a surprise!” Jonah says, and starts lightly bouncing closer to them.

“You sure are.” TK paws at his pillow like kneading bread and props himself up against it. “And why are you wearing a suit?” The image of what Jonah’s bedroom floor must look like comes to him in a technicolor burst of clothes strewn everywhere.

“Are you dressing up like a dad?” Carlos offers.

“No, silly,” Jonah replies, although he elaborates no further. He reaches the papas and drops himself down between them at a diagonal, leaning his head against TK’s chest and propping his slippers up on Carlos’ lap.

All stretched out like this, he looks so long. His legs are so long. Carlos cups Jonah’s face in his hand like a rare butterfly he’s privileged to encounter but knows he must release.

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Good morning everyone! This is from a fic coming soon, in which Jonah might be hiding something... 🧡

Jonah wriggles out of TK’s arms. He presses his hands over his mouth, but he can’t hold back a shrieking cackle. TK laughs because Jonah is being goofy, but he looks at Carlos curiously.

“What’s so funny?” TK asks.

“I don’t know…Nothing!” Jonah shouts.

“He’s been in a super happy mood all afternoon,” Carlos says, returning TK’s confused gaze. “I don’t know why.”

“Can I play on my swing?” Jonah shouts again joyfully, as if he’s only just realized they have a grand swing set in their backyard. “Can I? Please?”

Carlos looks at Jonah with a sympathetic smile. “I was thinking you could do with a nap, cinnamon roll.”

Jonah glares back like he’s being a total killjoy. “Papa, I’m not a baby.”

Carlos turns to TK, who shrugs. It’s ultimately a good thing if Jonah wants to tire himself out on the swing.

“Okay, go on.” TK steps out of the way to let Jonah run off.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Carlos starts once Jonah has thudded away through the kitchen.

TK folds his arms. “How much sugar did you give him?”

“He was having these random bouts of hyperactivity before any sugar, I swear.”

“So, your solution was to get him a milkshake?” TK sits down wearily on the stairs.

“It’s a hot day!” Carlos retorts. “And he needs his calcium.”

TK rolls his lips and holds up his left pinky. “You know he’s got you wrapped around this, right?”

“Oh yeah?” Carlos raises an eyebrow. He takes a step up on the stairs so he’s looming over TK, and grabs his hand. Leaning down, he puts TK’s little finger in his mouth slowly, sucks on it. “And what’s around your finger?”

“Shut up,” TK laughs despite himself, and folds like a cheap suit when Carlos kisses his neck.

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Thank you for the tag @pimento-playing-hopscotch 🧡 This is from something new, coming soon! Wherein we join our heroes for a chaotic dip:

When TK and Carlos wear shorts, Jonah is in the habit of sticking his hand into the hems and gripping hard as he walks alongside.

In the case of swimming trunks with their looser, ruched waistbands, this does result in TK half-mooning a small bachelorette party only five minutes into splashing around the turquoise waters of Tidal Wave Bay.

“Jonah, you’re gonna get me arrested for indecent exposure!” TK cries. He hoists his funky pink trunks patterned with tropical flora over his untanned ass so quickly he gives himself a wedgie. But the damage is already done. The bachelorettes can be heard laughing as far away as Dallas.

Jonah is wearing a stylish blue and green buoyancy vest, which means his ribs are hard to tickle, so TK gets his revenge by going for the armpits. Jonah shrieks and coils into Carlos for rescue, but of course the papas are on each other’s side, and Jonah finds his neck going all scrunchy when Carlos tickles him behind the ears.

If Jonah can’t beat them, he’ll join them.

He sticks his pointer finger straight into Carlos’ belly button, which is a fun trick TK taught him for making Papa Carlos lose it.

“Mijoooo-aaaaagh!” Carlos' voice bounces off the sanded concrete poolside, and now everyone within twenty feet is staring at the hunky screaming guy.

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we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

Thank you for helping with this data collection. Please rb for as big a sample as possible!