Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ONGOING

!!Reminder I am not OP!!

see my previous writeups here.

Trigger Warnings: child abuse/neglect, manipulation, transphobia, bad parents with serious illnesses

Mood spoiler: infuriating at first, uplifting ending

Originally posted by u/throwawayromeo on r/JustNoMIL:

Hey everyone! Prince Charming here (thanks, baby, you make me blush 😊). This isn't as fun or fluffy as my other stories, but we had a vent session this morning and I'm seething all over again and I know I promised to elaborate last time, so the hungry llamas get a snack.

I don't want to get sued, so I'll start by saying that the views expressed in this post are my personal opinion and all situations referenced are to be considered "alleged". None of what I say should be taken as fact, because I am not even a little bit objective here and that bias makes me an unreliable narrator. I'm just mad at my ILs for making my wife cry and I needed to get it off my chest.

CAST:

DW: My spouse, who in case you're new is nonbinary, these days saying "60/40 m/f, and it varies which is the 60 and which is the 40". For the sake of consistency and because it's the main sticking point here, I'm mostly using she/her & Dear Wife. (No sarcasm btw— I'm obsessed with how awesome she is, lmao. I guess you could say she's my Damn Wife if you mean 'damn, wife, you look gorgeous today'?) Her spine is so shiny she could signal aircraft.

Queen Hera: DW's JustNo Stepmother.

JNFIL: DW's father, had a long term affair that produced SIL and DW while married to QH.

SIL: DW's older sister (32F), plays the role of her parent and kicks ass doing it. My true JYMIL.

EYM: my ExtremelyYes (thanks again DW!) Mother

EYSF: my ExtremelyYes Stepfather.

KS: my kid sister (elementary school, F, she's like twice as cool as me lol)

HM1: my housemate/boyfriend; should be dating DW but they refuse to sign the paperwork

HM2: HM1's husband.

My BFF: 28m, taught DW how to sew and still makes her a lot of clothes.

Ex: we dated in high school, currently DW's GF, 26F

Usher 1: one of my best high school buddies, 26M, used to be on the football team with DW, 6'7*

Usher 2: my gf, 28F, bouncer/roller derby captain/former college wrestler, 6'3*

*this is important later.

(Side note: wife and I are super polyamorous. I mention a bunch of my significant others here, which kinda makes me seem like a slut— and tbf, I totally am and I wear it as a badge of honor, but it also makes our dynamic seem a little more lopsided than it actually is. DW is almost always involved when I hook up with my other partners and she obviously has a couple of her own; she's just a lot more introverted than I am and she hits polysaturation much faster than I do. Don't worry, she gets plenty of attention. 💙)

THE STORY:

If you read my last post, you know I got married last month (yay!!) to the most amazing person in the whole world. No relationship is perfect, but I think this one is pretty close, and I basically consider myself the luckiest guy ever. You also know I have JustNoILs (my r/JNFIL post is coming, don't you fuckin' worry) who hate my guts, especially JNFIL.

QH actually liked me for a while— or at least, she liked what I did for her golden child's SAT scores. That evaporated pretty fast when DW chose me over continuing to destroy her body in a vain effort to earn her father's approval by letting him relive his sportsball glory through her. We were NC with them for a few years after that. Watching my then-boyfriend stand up to them and tell them to shove their money up their judgmental asses and fuck off is still one of the hottest things I've ever seen.

When DW publicly came out as NB, she was already pretty well-known as an openly queer retired college athlete, so it was a big deal for a while. She started writing articles for zines and stuff about her experience as a late-blooming genderfluid person. She focused her youth advocacy, which is something she's always been intensely passionate about, on support for trans/nonbinary student athletes. Her work has trended a few times on twitter.

(You might have heard of her, depending on the circles you run in… and if you have, you've probably also guessed who she is, especially if you're following my posts. like & subscribe! Ring that bell!)

The trouble is, her father is also pretty well-known, but in a different circle: the kind that has a really, really big problem with the existence of ours, because Think Of The Children!!

You know how almost everyone has that one uncle/brother/cousin/whatever with anger issues and a massively overstuffed ego, who pretends not to understand the term "inside voice", turns every holiday dinner into an argument he then has to win, and will mock you until you cry just so he can mock you some more for being "too sensitive" about his "jokes"?

Yeah. That's my father in law. You can see why we don't get along.

QH, meanwhile, is something of a socialite: raised wealthy, married wealthy, willing to enable any and all of her husband's crap because she gets to reap the benefits of his income. I personally think she cares more about keeping up the outside appearance of a perfect family than she does about the kid she chose to take in and raise. Frankly, she and JNFIL deserve each other. They're truly a match made in hell.

As you can imagine, they both wanted my wife to be a famous public figure when she grew up, but neither of them is happy about her being, well, her.

JNFIL "didn't raise [his] son to be a [slur redacted so he can't hurt anyone else with it]". QH doesn't like having a [same slur redacted because she's too prim to say it out loud but she sure was thinking it] in the family, because it ruins her perfect, polished, fake as fuck June Cleaver image.

Last I bothered to check, both ILs were convinced I'd somehow brainwashed their Perfectly Stoic & Manly Cishet Clone of JNFIL into lighting up like a fireworks show when she sees herself in a dress. It's ridiculous, but I'm actually fine with it on a practical level, since it means I get all of the really nasty emails and DW doesn't have to deal with them directly.

Usually I just archive them, so we have proof if we need it. Sometimes I read them aloud to HM1&2 and we laugh at how ridiculous they are. DW gets emails too, but they're guilt-trippy and fake-nice. She often has HM1, SIL or Ex read them over for her a second time, just to make sure she doesn't miss any weasel words.

So anyway, we had been NC for a while when QH sent DW an email. There was nothing suspicious in it, just a "hi, congratulations on your engagement, hope you're well" kinda thing, which in itself should have been suspicious.

But I support DW in everything she does, and I knew it was bothering her. SIL is the second best mom in the universe (after my mom, of course), but I don't blame DW for being upset that her parents wouldn't be at the wedding or wishing she could dance with her dad at the reception. My bio dad couldn't make it to the wedding either and I was bummed too, even though he's missed every major event I've ever had except one (1) school play when he happened to be in NY.

(Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and he's hardly a JustNo, but he's worse than I am when it comes to ADHD flightiness and he can be a little self-absorbed, so he isn't a full JustYes either. I'm really grateful for EYSF, who's been to all of my important events since he started dating my mom when I was 14 and makes sure I always have at least two parents supporting me no matter what. I don't know what I'd do if I were in DW's shoes and all KS and I had was each other.

Or SIL's shoes, I guess, since I'm obviously the older one, which is funny because her shoes are like half the size of mine. 🤣

…Someone please remind me to hug her later. She's been DW's mom and dad since they were both little, and she did a better job than most adults who have kids on purpose—from the stories I've heard, she was almost as good as my parents, and my parents are seriously awesome.

I don't even know how DW&SIL survived to adulthood, let alone what SIL must have gone through to make sure that DW doesn't have a single toddlerhood memory of being aware that they were in a dire situation. Out of respect for SIL, I won't give details, so let's just say there's only so much a 7-9 year old can do to take care of a child under three without any help, even one as badass as SIL.

I try not to think too hard about it and SIL hates being vulnerable in front of people, so she's not exactly chomping at the bit to tell me all the gory details of her nightmarish childhood. DW has shared a few stories, but she has this godawful habit of smiling and laughing while she relates these horrific scenarios of abuse and neglect like she's telling me about a wacky encounter in the produce aisle.

(Before she points it out in the comments: yes, dear, I do know I'm a hypocrite who does the exact same thing, but it goes both ways since you call me on it too. 💙🥰)

So anyway (wow I got off track lol sorry), I don't blame DW for trying LC. She missed her parents. I think she still does, as terrible as they are, and Queen Hera is manipulative as fuck and can still get under DW's skin. JNFIL was never home, so QH did most of the parenting, which gave her plenty of time to find DW's vulnerable spots and figure out how to exploit them. (I don't want to call them weaknesses, because when they're not being used against her they're wonderful things: kindness, compassion, forgiveness, patience, understanding.)

So we figured, okay, we'll keep Hera at arm's length and take it slow, but we'll at least try it out. We decided to meet for lunch at my parents' place: not public enough for her to get anything out of it if she tried to make a scene, but with enough witnesses/backup to pressure her into behaving.

Thinking back on it, she was way too accepting and contrite way too fast. She didn't make excuses for herself or her husband. She didn't even misgender DW, although she looked a little like she was choking on a lemon when we walked through the door and she saw the dress my wife was wearing (she made it herself and I'm super proud of her; it's an adorable 50s-ish button-up in a specific shade of pink I recognize on sight but can never remember the name of [!!ETA DW says it's called "millennial pink"], swingy skirt, t-shirt sleeves that show off her guns… I loved it even before it forced QH to bite back an apoplectic fit. Swoon!)

I have to admit, I was still pretty suspicious, but I let myself think it's just because I have issues. I assumed QH'S lack of verbal response to the dress was because the last time JNFIL misgendered my wife in front of my kid sister, KS told him to his face that he was being a rude jerk and he should know better by now, since he became a dad "like, a billion years ago" and it's "Dad 101" to love your kids no matter what. She had and still has absolutely no fear. I think QH is intimidated by KS' boldness, which gives me a lot of Proud Big Brother Feelings. 🥺💙

Sadly, it was a short reprieve. We never should have believed a word QH said, but she had everyone fooled, even me— she somehow convinced me my skepticism was irrational without even looking at me! She was on a mission to convince DW she was sincere, and when QH is on a mission nothing else exists and she can't be stopped. Now that I know what her endgame was, I'm kicking myself for not seeing through it right away.

See, she's kind of an evil mastermind. When DW started talking about her struggles to build a professional feminine wardrobe, QH sucked us in by offering to help, and got us hooked by actually following through: she paid for an appointment with a personal stylist, who taught DW where to shop and what to look for and how to find cuts that flatter her figure and all that good stuff. DW came home beaming, with a bunch of snappy skirts/smart blazers/pretty blouses in all her best colors that she can wear when she's speaking at fancy events for fancy executives.

(I don't credit QH, because all she did was pay for the stylist, and the stylist did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite, actually! My favorite outfit is this elegant pencil skirt/jacket set in light navy, which she wears with a shimmery pale gray blouse. It makes her "pearl" jewelry pop like crazy, especially when she wears a darker lip. She looks so hot and polished and sexy in professional clothes and yes I have begged her to let me go down on her after she got back from a charity breakfast while still dressed up in a suit and heels.

More than once.

And I'll do it again. 😈)

But anyway. The evil mastermind thing. If you read my post about the wedding, you might remember I said there was some drama with the dress. This is that drama, so hold onto your llamas and bring out the feeding troughs.

Queen Hera booked another appointment, this time at a bridal salon, for herself, DW and DW's entire bridal party, including my mom and KS. She put on a hell of a show. She even made a whole big thing out of buying the dress as a wedding present and apology for her past behavior.

(And can I just say THANK FUCK WE DIDN'T LET HER PAY FOR ANYTHING ELSE? And also that the JNILs are never ever EVER going to be allowed within a fucking MILE of our future kids? No thanks, that generational cycle of trauma ends with us.)

I wasn't at the appointment because I wanted to see The DressTM for the first time on our wedding day, like the groom is supposed to. Ex told me later that she thought QH was putting on crocodile tears, but DW was so emotional and happy all "jacked up" in the gown + accessories that Ex didn't want to spoil the mood by telling her to watch her back. She still feels bad about it and I think on some level she blames herself. I get it. I blame myself irrationally all the time— I even spent a few days beating myself up over missing an appointment I was explicitly not invited to, and it wouldn't have made a difference even if I HAD gone.

After the wedding, I got to see a picture of her trying it on at the shop. I still love what she actually wore, and honestly it was more meaningful because it was made by a friend. But I also understand why she felt so good when she saw herself in the original. She just really, really loved that goddamn dress, and it's really, really hard for both me and Ex to see her unhappy, especially when it's something that should bring her joy.

There's no way in hell my dyslexic ass can spell the designer's name. It was shimmery and lacy and covered in crystals and it had a huge, and I mean huge skirt. DW was the prettiest, sparkliest cotton ball you've ever seen. She still looked magical on our wedding night, but the original was really something.

[excerpt from a comment by u/princess_and_the_pearl:

>Next time, you can just ask me to spell 'Pnina Tornai' for you. 💜

Reply by OOP:

>oh hush, I was too busy exercising my demons to bother with spell check.

Reply by /princess_and_the_pearl:

> …oh my god I love you. 🤣

>Thanks, honey, I needed to laugh.

Reply by OOP:

> OMG shut uuuuup >///<

>I can hear you laughing from the kitchen

> (I'd edit it, but now I'm giggling over the image of a dog park for the damned)

Reply by u/princess_and_the_pearl:

>LOL

>Make sure you clean up after your hellhound; the fire and brimstone is bad for the grass!]

Offering to pay was the first red flag. The second was when QH arranged to pick it up and bring it to us, because the bridal salon was in the city and we live on Long Island. The third was when she said that since she was driving down anyway, she'd stay with our dogs during my bachelor party, which DW attended as well (in boy mode) because she likes to watch when I get frisky with other people.

And the party was great, don't get me wrong. We had it at the first club DW and I ever went to, way back in the summer before we started college. Spouse was all decked out in this great charcoal leather ensemble that made him look like an old school Daddy from a old school gay bar. It was SO HOT OMG.

We stayed in a hotel after, just to have a night together. In the morning, DW got all dolled up in a cute white sundress and an auburn wig that kinda makes her look like Zooey Deschanel, and I put on jeans and a red t-shirt because she likes me in red, and we headed home. DW was going to meet with her bridesmaids, and I was going to pour coffee and serve snacks and generally make myself useful while the Pearl Posse did their thing.

But when we got inside, QH was standing in our living room with this fake frown on her face and white fluffy stuff all over the floor. She sighed dramatically and told us that when she let our dogs in after their morning walk, the younger one got into the garment bag, supposedly before she could stop him.

DW went white as a sheet. Steam started building behind my ears. I think the furbeasts sensed that something was wrong, because they both went up to DW and started nuzzling her (the little one is the big one's puppy; he was the runt of the litter and we kept him bc HM1 fed him with an eyedropper and got too attached to give him up, but he's half mastiff so "little" is relative. Yes they're both fixed now, it was a mistake, I didn't know Mama Dog wasn't spayed when I got her).

Obviously, the dress was ruined. It was shredded in several places and covered in dog piss and grass stains and black fur and mud and slobber and I don't even want to know what else. The veil got totally fucked up, too. Thank god neither dog ate any of the crystals they tore off (HM2 took them to the vet just to be safe), but they did wreck the steel boning in the bodice, which destroyed the shape and made it unwearable.

There was no fixing it in time for the wedding. DW sank onto the couch, put her head in her hands and cried, and QH had the fucking nerve to sit next to her and be all nicey-nice and pour on the fake sympathy so thickly it made me gag.

DW says she's skeptical, but I swear I saw peanut butter stains on the skirt, and I definitely saw that smirk when QH thought I wasn't looking. Me being me, I lost my shit and accused Her Highness of doing it on purpose, which she of course denied… but I was sure I was right when she said that maybe it was a good thing DW wouldn't have "embarrassing pictures" once she "grew out" of her "phase" and that she should try to be happy because at least now her father would be comfortable attending.

So I threw QH out, because otherwise I would have taken the cod out of the freezer and fish-slapped her with it. I barely stopped myself from dragging her by the hair. Once we were out of DW's earshot, I told QH spending more money on a dress than we do on six months of mortgage just so she could ruin her stepdaughter's big day was the pettiest, most immature thing I'd ever seen anyone do, and that we didn't want JNFIL there anyway if he couldn't accept every part of DW. Then I told her if she ever came near my family again I'd make sure she regretted it, and I went back inside and slammed the door in her face.

DW was still in tears and we had like twenty minutes until the meeting with her entourage, so I drew her a bath and set up for guests myself. While she was soaking, her bridal party started trickling in, and we came up with an action plan.

My BFF won MVP when he offered to use what was left of the dress as a foundation for a new one, and you know how gorgeous it turned out if you read the last post, but I didn't mention how much work he had to do in virtually no time. (Honorable mention to his partner for helping with the monotonous fussy work and making it go twice as fast!)

He cut off over a third of the skirt, replaced the whole overlay with a new one and completely rebuilt the bodice with brand-new steel boning. He saved some of the crystals and sewed them into the new embroidery, which he also did himself. He used some of the petticoat material for the cap sleeves and fascinator, and he made a brand-new set of petticoats in our wedding colors. He even added pockets to the skirt! The guy is a fucking textile genius, and he really saved the day.

We also decided there would be a code phrase that DW and I didn't know. Something casual and innocuous, so we wouldn't have to spend any emotional energy on it if the JNILs showed up and tried to ruin the wedding in person. Which they didn't, surprisingly— they showed up and tried to ruin the reception instead. 🙄

I still don't know exactly when it happened. SIL briefed the staff on the plan and made sure they knew what to look for. As soon as she got word that hostile forces were attempting an invasion, she took Ushers 1 & 2 out to the lobby, where the JustNos were trying to strong-arm/manipulate/sweet-talk/bribe their way in.

SIL gave them two choices: either they could leave on their own, or my ushers would make them leave. (This is why their heights are important; Usher 2 makes a living throwing belligerent jackasses out of places and Usher 1 wouldn't hurt a fly but is also the only person I know who's taller/bigger than JNFIL, who himself is 6'6 and the only person I know besides U1 who's taller than DW's 6'5 and a bit.)

And they left, but not until JNFIL lost his shit and started berating SIL for making DW "soft" and other stuff I don't care to repeat. The owner of the hotel had to threaten to call security. QH dragged him out then, I think because she didn't want the embarrassment.

Usher 2 spilled the beans at brunch the next day, but to be fair, I did ask her to thank "Monica from catering" for "fixing the hiccup with the flatware" and then immediately realized why none of the other waitstaff had heard of this person when I went looking for her at the end of the reception to thank her myself.

Huge props, btw, to SIL and U1&2 for handling it so smoothly. You never would have known anything was off. All three of them kept up incredible poker faces the whole time. Usher 2 even made out with me in the coat room while DW was dancing with Ex, and never let on that she was in any mood other than celebratory/horny!

But there's more about the wedding in this post, and you guys are here for the drama, not the sap.

For a couple weeks, there was blissful silence. The wedding was phenomenal. Our honeymoon was Elysian. Then on the last day of our trip, right as we were leaving our hotel room for our last swim (or in DW's case, her last time lounging on the beach looking like a vintage pinup), the shitbomb fell with the bzzt-bzzt of a phone alert.

DW checked her inbox and found a FIFTEEN PAGE LETTER (yes, we counted later) from QH. Apparently they just so happened to find out that day (bullshit; she knew we were out of town) that JNFIL probably has CTE, which DW and I had pretty much guessed a long time ago based on the headaches and aggressive outbursts and history of concussions. QH told us JNFIL had started getting confused easily about stuff he shouldn't be, and that he was just "stressed'' at the wedding because he didn't know where his son was (as if he ever cared, even before his brain turned to swiss cheese).

It was like she was trying to convince DW that we should feel bad for JNFIL and that being confused somehow makes it okay for him to blow his top every time anyone reminds him his youngest kid is genderfluid and transfeminine. I don't know what possessed QH to think we'd buy that, when I have a boatload of extremely vivid memories of her standing in the room doing jack nothing while I defended my then-friend from JNFIL's temper.

Queen Hera has never once stood up to her husband— even when he nearly killed DW by pushing her until her appendix blew up. He used to scream at her whenever she got a B or lost a game, and he was so fucking loud about it the neighbors called the cops on him four times in the first semester of our junior year alone. (Supposedly he got in legal trouble for repeated violations, but the dude's a fucking retired NFL star and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Officer Fanboy "lost track" of the file. Maybe even promised to do so in exchange for signed memorabilia.

(God, I'm just so hopping mad I can't shut up, apparently. There's a lot of pent-up animosity here. Sorry about that. It's the ADHD.)

ANYWAY, back to the email.

QH kept peppering in gross platitudes between weaponizing her husband's medical tragedy and wildly unsubtle lamentations about respect and duty and humility, like "I know he's not perfect but he's the only father you have" and "family is everything even when they frustrate you" and "he loves you, he's just hard on you because he wants you to be strong" and "you don't want to have regrets when he passes away" and "I worked so hard to be the mother you needed but I guess I wasn't good enough" and "can't you just put on a nice suit and spend some time with him while you still have a chance?"

It was around there that I had a rage blackout. I still don't remember what other toxic sludge was in that pile of drivel. All I remember is the way DW's face fell when she got the alert, and how she instinctively curled in on herself and tried to be small enough to fit a lifetime of impossible expectations.

In other words, QH sent DW a rank pile of bullshit marinated in bullshit with a side of bullshit salad and a sprinkling of bullshit on top. JNFIL has been a pompous, arrogant, entitled, ragey asshole since his days as a playground bully. He would have been exactly as transphobic and abusive and horrible even if he were at his peak, and QH knows it because she's just as bad as he is!

DW didn't want to read the whole email while we were on vacation, and I barely could myself (dyslexia, remember), so we tried to put it away and enjoy each other. It worked pretty well. We were halfway home when she got too stressed to have it hanging over her head any longer, so we pulled over and called Ex for a more rational perspective.

That might not have been super wise, since Ex is definitely rational, most of the time, until you hurt someone close to her. Then she goes just as scorched-earth as I do, which coincidentally is why we're better off as metamours/fuckbuddies than partners. We need DW's calming influence so we don't kill each other. 😂

Although thinking about it, maybe it was a wise decision. DW had to approach it from a bit of a distance, since both Ex & I were at HULK SMASH levels of pissed off. I think it was good that someone DW has always associated with logic and analytical prowess was also furious.

[Comment excerpt quoting the above paragraph from u/princess_and_the_pearl:

>I associate you with analytical prowess too, btw.

Reply from OOP:

>You associate me with creative and interpersonal intelligence. You associate Ex with classical logic and academic genius.

>…I just realized you came to us because you're a blend of the two.

>I'm your Shoulder Bones, Ex is your Shoulder Spock; between us, we keep Captain Kirk grounded but motivated as he commands the Good Ship Ruby's Brain.

>😘

Reply from u/princess_and_the_pearl:

>Now you're just trying to get out of putting a dollar in the self-deprecation jar.

>Which I'll accept, since you backed it up with DBT and you're being very sweet. 💜

Reply from OOP:

>Sweet and spicy, just the way you like me! 😘]

Since I'm me, DW always has at least one very loud voice around to tell her 'no, this is a hot pile of garbage', but I admitted my lack of impartiality before I even started this story for a reason. Ex is many things, but she's not cagey or dishonest or afraid to call it like she sees it. She cuts straight to the heart of the issue, and sometimes you need that.

Especially if you're like DW, and you've spent your whole existence carving away every unique part of yourself so you'll fit in someone else's cage and now you can't quite believe anyone thinks you're too beautiful not to be free.

I guess it was a smart choice regardless, since Ex is the one who came up with our revenge plot a few days after our chat.

Next year, for our paper anniversary, DW and I are going to renew our vows. My BFF is going to make another gown, one that's even bigger and more ostentatious than the one QH definitely didn't encourage our dogs to ruin on purpose (🙄)— and DW is going to wear it the whole time, ceremony included, instead of changing for the reception.

They say the best revenge is living well, right? What better way for her to live well than to pour her energy into the very self-expression and joy that her parents find so offensive? To let herself have the things she was punished for wanting and make no apologies for loving every bit of them?

What better way to spit in the faces of the jerks who tried to mold her than by smashing that mold to pieces?

As for me, I'm mostly just excited that this time I get to watch her walk down the aisle. I've learned from the wedding, and I'll make sure I have my own tissues stashed in every pocket. She'll be busy enough with her transformation into Cinderella Level 2; she doesn't need to worry about her husband's ridiculous but totally justified displays of emotion on top of it.

(…speaking of, I just imagined her walking down the aisle in a princess gown and immediately started tearing up. Dammit, eyes, we haven't even been married two months yet; save it for the renewal!)

If you got all the way through that I'm impressed, and if you came out of it still wanting to stay tuned, I applaud your commitment and am flattered by your interest in my love life!

Hopefully it goes well… for me and Wifey, anyway.

(By the way, if anyone has any suggestions for rubbing the JNIL's faces in it even more than we already do, I'm legally obligated to say I won't accept or implement them no matter how good they are.

If you catch my drift. ;)

No, I kid…

…or do I????)

ANYWAY, thanks for reading! You did better than I would have. I'm pretty sure I'd have gotten bored with me halfway through the first paragraph.

—

OOP's ETA two days later:

Hi again! My wife wants me to tell you that I show her all my reddit posts, she's super grateful for the kindness and support you've given her in the comments, and she reads and treasures every one even if she doesn't have the spoons to reply directly.

I'll add that it means the world to me when she feels happy and confident. I tell her how gorgeous she is approximately a billion times a day, but I think it hits her differently when it's coming from 100+ total strangers who aren't already biased in her favor. You guys didn't just give her a chorus of encouragement; you gave her a damn symphony, and I owe you all for helping me prove a point to my lady love.

…she really is a knockout, isn't she? 😳😍💙💜

Chapter Text

OOP (original OP): Percy 

DW (Dear Wife): Jason/Ruby

Queen Hera: Juno

JNFIL (JustNo Father In Law): Jupiter/Rex

SIL (sister in law): Thalia

EYM: Sally 

EYSF: Paul

KS: Estelle

HM1: Nico

HM2: Will

"My BFF": Grover

Ex: Annabeth

Usher 1: Frank

Usher 2: Clarisse 

"Feeding the llamas": giving redditors reading for the drama, or "drama llamas", fodder or "snacks".

"Shiny Spine": an idiom referring to the idiom of having a spine of steel (being courageous/determined).

ETA: "edited to add"

NC/LC: No Contact/Low Contact