At the age of thirty five, Stede Bonnet could count the number of times someone had hugged him on one hand. His mother, before leaving for boarding school. His teacher, who found him crying and homesick. His aunt, at his mother’s funeral.

Touch wasn’t something Stede associated with happiness - the embraces in his life had been associated with melancholy and lonely memories. More reminders of how alone he was, than of the connection he had to others.

Stede could count the number of times he’d been held on any number of hands. Because that number was zero.

Stede had all but resigned himself to a life without intimacy of any kind until he comes across an article about professional cuddlers. Upon finding an all-male group of cuddlers called Blackbeard's, Stede books an appointment with a cuddler named Ed that will change his life in more ways than one.

*This is an updating podfic with a total of 13 chapters

Come On and Hold Me (Rated E)

Art by the amazing Mossgroves https://twitter.com/mossgroves_art/status/1549947133704404992

Podfic of CartoonMayor's  "This Could Be Love" ch 5

find CartoonMayor here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39427899/chapters/98676828

find SD_Ryan here: archiveofourown.org/users/SD_Ryan

[podfic] This Could Be Love Ch 5

At the age of thirty five, Stede Bonnet could count the number of times someone had hugged him on one hand. His mother, before leaving for boarding school. His teacher, who found him crying and homesick. His aunt, at his mother’s funeral.

Touch wasn’t something Stede associated with happiness - the embraces in his life had been associated with melancholy and lonely memories. More reminders of how alone he was, than of the connection he had to others.

Stede could count the number of times he’d been held on any number of hands. Because that number was zero.

Stede had all but resigned himself to a life without intimacy of any kind until he comes across an article about professional cuddlers. Upon finding an all-male group of cuddlers called Blackbeard's, Stede books an appointment with a cuddler named Ed that will change his life in more ways than one.



This story is based on real-life professional cuddlers - I wanted to create a universe full of gentle, non-toxic masculinity, a space for queer men to be soft and intimate and express themselves without judgement. Inspiration taken from Cuddlist.com and this article - https://gcn.ie/cuddle-club-gay-men-creates-intimacy/ Thanks to my amazing betas lookinglass, AO3Bendifferus, NifaFifa, and Dr CF for your lovely comments and gentle fixing of my run-on sentences, and to my irl bff who was kind enough (despite being very confused about the concept of fandom) to provide sensitivity reading for this fic. You are my ride or dies and I don't know what I would do without you!  Note: There are consent issues in this kind of relationship! In preparing for this story, I interviewed the CEO of a cuddling agency, to learn more about the profession and how they handle complex situations like these. I have their internal policy for when cuddlers and clients fall in love, and am following it closely so that our boys can have a healthy and enthusiastically consensual experience 🥰  Title is from "Hold Me", by Fleetwood Mac

Come On and Hold Me Ch 1 - To Have and to Hold

Stede arrives at Blackbeard's for his first cuddling appointment, and he and Ed finally meet.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 2 - The Smooth Move

Stede joins the crew at Blackbeard's for dinner, and experiences something new for the first time.

CW: Social drinking, social use of cannabis (legal in New York)

Come On and Hold Me Ch 4 - Take a Lap

The morning after Stede's dinner at Blackbeard's. Deep conversations are had, and Ed and Stede's relationship changes in a significant way.

Come On and Hold Me Ch 5 - The Mirror

Stede has his second cuddle session with Ed. Cryptid infodumping ensues. Things get deep and vulnerable, and Ed makes a split second decision.

 
CW: Discussion of discovery of sexuality/being gay, childhood bullying, features men crying - ends on a happy note!

Come On and Hold Me Ch 3 - The Courtship

2 You Are At The Top Of My Lungs By Foxtails

This is Chapter 4 for “Kalahari Down” by oatmilktruther
Rated: Explicit
Pairing(s): Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet
Fic Summary: 
"What was coming, he still couldn’t mark beyond the word “trouble” lit up in gold when it came rolling in over the east field that late May before the first licks of the summer he turned 19.
Trouble rolling over the hill and right up to Ed.
Trouble pulling his stetson, loose around his ears like it wasn’t quite fit to him, from his head, down to his chest. Trouble tilting his head to Ed, like Ed was a fine lady, like Ed was anything but a ranch hand perched on a borrowed horse. Trouble asking, soft and sturdy as fresh wheat bread, 'how do you do'?"

This is a complete 1880s-1890s cowboy AU clocking in just under 46k that will update weekly as we work through beta'ing each chapter. This is about finding yourself, finding your home, and finding the person you want to share both with. This is about doubts we have in ourselves and how they poison the rest of our judgments. This is about Edward Teach in leather chaps being the most fuckable rider this side of the Mississippi. This is about how one man can hear one Orville Peck song and turn it into 46k words with absolutely no restraint.

Chapter Summary: And I hate to say I spent it all on masquerades

Original fic found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51218605

The Intro/Outro is “Kalahari Down” by Orville Peck. You can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/track/29VSdjZG2XZCHzKwgjvsER?si=d7ebd453f57348d3

Author’s Tags:
alternate universe - cowboys, Cowboy AU, Neither of those tags are canon so whatever sticks, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Skips, Epistolary Elements, 1880s, 1890s, Rough (emotionally) sex, Reunions, Offscreen Animal Death, Offscreen animal pregnancy/birthing, Breaking Up & Making Up, Implied Period Typical Homophobia, Ed's hatred of steam locomotives, offscreen minor character death, First Kiss, Ed and Stede start the story at age 18 and are in their mid 30s by the end, Stede's love of steam locomotives, First Love, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Gun Violence, Ed's ambiguous country accent, Baking cornbread as a love language, Bareback bronc riding as actual bareback bronc riding, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, this fic deals with heavy themes but there are many moments of light and joy and love and sex, and a happy ending chapter so good it made my beta cry four times, specific content warnings in each chapter's notes, Ed POV

Chapter 4 for “Kalahari Down” by oatmilktruther (OFMD)

"I can make your storm feel sky blue" by CartoonMayor
Chapter 4

ICMYSFSB Chapter 4

This is Chapter 8 for “Kalahari Down” by oatmilktruther
Rated: Explicit
Pairing(s): Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet
Fic Summary: 
"What was coming, he still couldn’t mark beyond the word “trouble” lit up in gold when it came rolling in over the east field that late May before the first licks of the summer he turned 19.
Trouble rolling over the hill and right up to Ed.
Trouble pulling his stetson, loose around his ears like it wasn’t quite fit to him, from his head, down to his chest. Trouble tilting his head to Ed, like Ed was a fine lady, like Ed was anything but a ranch hand perched on a borrowed horse. Trouble asking, soft and sturdy as fresh wheat bread, 'how do you do'?"

This is a complete 1880s-1890s cowboy AU clocking in just under 46k that will update weekly as we work through beta'ing each chapter. This is about finding yourself, finding your home, and finding the person you want to share both with. This is about doubts we have in ourselves and how they poison the rest of our judgments. This is about Edward Teach in leather chaps being the most fuckable rider this side of the Mississippi. This is about how one man can hear one Orville Peck song and turn it into 46k words with absolutely no restraint.

Chapter Summary: Sleep now, upright / Late start, feel fine / Dreaming ‘bout the time / But you can’t now, never mind!

Original fic found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51218605

The Intro/Outro is “Kalahari Down” by Orville Peck. You can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/track/29VSdjZG2XZCHzKwgjvsER?si=d7ebd453f57348d3

Author’s Tags:
alternate universe - cowboys, Cowboy AU, Neither of those tags are canon so whatever sticks, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Skips, Epistolary Elements, 1880s, 1890s, Rough (emotionally) sex, Reunions, Offscreen Animal Death, Offscreen animal pregnancy/birthing, Breaking Up & Making Up, Implied Period Typical Homophobia, Ed's hatred of steam locomotives, offscreen minor character death, First Kiss, Ed and Stede start the story at age 18 and are in their mid 30s by the end, Stede's love of steam locomotives, First Love, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Gun Violence, Ed's ambiguous country accent, Baking cornbread as a love language, Bareback bronc riding as actual bareback bronc riding, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, this fic deals with heavy themes but there are many moments of light and joy and love and sex, and a happy ending chapter so good it made my beta cry four times, specific content warnings in each chapter's notes, Ed POV

Chapter 8 for “Kalahari Down” by oatmilktruther (OFMD)

The first chapter of The Incident at Direfold Manor by Metavenhorst: archiveofourown.org/works/52885282

Horror - Rated M

Music - Credit Quinn's Song: The Dance Begins by Kevin McLeod
incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html

Help save OFMD and sign the petition here: http://saveofmd.com

Scoring: Darkness and Unease

The Incident at Direfold Manor - Chapter 1

The second chapter of The Incident at Direfold Manor by Metavenhorst: archiveofourown.org/works/52885282

Horror - Rated M

Music - Credit Quinn's Song: The Dance Begins by Kevin McLeod
incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html

Help save OFMD and sign the petition here: saveofmd.com

The Incident at Direfold Manor - Chapter 2

13 Wolf Like Me

14 Wolf Like Me

Just want to create and chat on discord with friends

Come On and Hold Me Ch 3 - The Courtship

weonlyhavethisonelife

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