Latest / The Book-Watchers / 51. Bear, Otter, and the Kid ( Bear, Otter, and the Kid Chronicles 1/4)
Transcript
- 0:00M m. That's sounds h yeah, like yeah, I'll tell you all
- 0:46about it. Like, let's go ahead and get into it. Hi,
- 0:48how are you welcome to book watches. Welcome to book Watches. Let's good
- 0:54as prop it. Oh God, leave her out of this, leave that
- 0:59bitch at this. Don't bring anywhere, bitch fuck off. Oh real good.
- 1:08I'm Jacob, I'm your host, and of course I'm joined with beautiful,
- 1:12stunning and very annoying Devin. Oh yeah, very annoying. Okay,
- 1:18yeah, that's what you said last night. Mm hmm. Actually did call
- 1:23me annoying last night, So you know, always always, but with love,
- 1:32love and sheer Spie the SPI's a little sprinkle on top. Bye.
- 1:40Welcome to book Watchers. You know the drill description below YouTube channel link tree
- 1:49to all the links to the other podcasts of the United Woide Family. If
- 1:53you like books and ship, please calm down below on the YouTube channel.
- 1:57Tell us some books you want us to you would like for us to talk
- 2:00about and read one day. You gay, we're here for it. Bet
- 2:06we're a bunch of faggots here, so here we are. Twitter is yeah,
- 2:13Twitter, There is no Twitter for this place, for this thing at
- 2:15the moment. One of these days, maybe we'll get there. One thing,
- 2:19one thing I had time, babes, one thing I had time,
- 2:21Little ones. So today's episode, what are we talking about today? So
- 2:27today we are going to be continuing talking about my new favorite author. Like
- 2:37his name is t. J. Kloone. He loves the author just I
- 2:40love him. He is the author of the Green Creek novels, including Wolf's
- 2:47Song and It's and its sequels. He's written like, He's written a lot
- 2:54of different like dozens of different books, most if not all of them are
- 3:00gay romance. That's his primary genre writing, and I love it. I
- 3:07was, I would say, desperately needing, but I was. I was
- 3:12definitely like I needed like something different because I typically read just like fantasy and
- 3:20science fiction books and fiction or like and occasionally I'll read a horror novel.
- 3:25But most most of the horror books I've read were by Stephen King. And
- 3:30I mean, let's say said Stephen King books. They're good, but and
- 3:34while they do have those fucked up moments like you're just like, oh my
- 3:38god, dude's unhinged, I don't find them that scary like to me.
- 3:43His books aren't really that scary. But we're not here to talk about Stephen
- 3:47King. We're here to talk about TJ. Kloone. And so, after
- 3:53I read Wolf's Song and its sequels, I just wanted to continue reading his
- 3:59stuff because I was like, man, I don't want to stop. I
- 4:01want to keep. I want more cute gay romance ship all right, and
- 4:08uh, since I read I read all of the books on Kindle, Kindle
- 4:12immediately gave me a recommendation like what's read next. You know, once you
- 4:18reach the end of the books on the Kindle, it a little pop up
- 4:21comes up like, hey, you like this book, maybe you'll like this
- 4:24book. This book and by the same author. And immediately it uh,
- 4:29it recommended one of his older book series, and that is bear Otter and
- 4:38the Kid and so, and that is the book we are going to be
- 4:43reviewing today. Bear Otter and the Kid is another gay is another gay romance
- 4:47novel. It's censored around It's well, okay, it's more of like it
- 4:53has like elements of like a coming of age type story as well as like
- 4:58elements of just fair warning, there are elements of some forms of abuse in
- 5:05this book. Now, it's not like oh, like the the couple,
- 5:09the romantic couple, the romantic pair are abusing each other. It's more of
- 5:13like, uh, there's elements of neglect as well as it deals with it
- 5:17tackles issues of like mental health, abandonment, and it's also but on a
- 5:25more positive note, it has a lot of uh like found family. So
- 5:30we see like the main characters building an entirely new family around themselves, especially
- 5:36after really a traumatic event, and we see the we also see it's like
- 5:42a coming out story as well, at least his first book, because main
- 5:46character didn't even realize he was gay. And this is something this is like
- 5:53something that not many people talk about sometimes, like especially if you are a
- 6:00person who was never really exposed to like homosexuality or the LGBTQ community. Right,
- 6:09you grow up believing that it's just one way, like you can only
- 6:14you get you live, you grow up, you get a job, you
- 6:17get married, you have kids, and that's all there is to life.
- 6:19Right, And it's kind of like that, And he begins to realize that
- 6:25he's not straight and he's in love with a man, and not many people
- 6:33talk about that because like it's that kind of when people like especially like the
- 6:38people like gay people from smaller communities that it's a lot harder for them to
- 6:43come to terms with their sexuality because they don't have access to that kind of
- 6:47they or rather, they weren't exposed to that kind of to that kind of
- 6:53demographic. So when they start realizing that's what they are, it's a lot
- 6:57harder for them to accept because they don't realize like it. Outside of that
- 7:00little corner of the world, there's just so much more for them. Yeah,
- 7:08and it's okay, gay, go gay. We're all gay here.
- 7:12Yeah. Yeah. If you're not gay, you're boring, kiddy kidding,
- 7:18al killing kidding, I mean straight people, h h grouse fucking breeders.
- 7:29I'm just kidding. Damn damn Jacob to drag them. No, there's no
- 7:38hate here. There's no hate here. We might be canceled by what a
- 7:44bunch of homophobes. If you're listening to us babes, you're not You're not
- 7:50straight, You're heterosexual. The straits are the problem people. You're heterosexual.
- 7:56If you're listening to two fagots talk about books that are yeah, you mean
- 8:01homosexual? No no, no, no no no. If you're heterosexual,
- 8:07you just happen to be attracted to women. If you're straight, you're one
- 8:11of them people that like you either straight, there's all you can't be gay,
- 8:16you choose to be that way, you should be straight. Those are
- 8:20the straight people. Those the those are the homophobes. So you're not straight,
- 8:26you're heterosexual. It's like saying, what white versus white trash. They're
- 8:35just white. They're just white. They're white trash. There's like it's like
- 8:41the verison of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, anyway, So without
- 8:50further further adieu, right, yeah, right, let's get into it.
- 9:01Yes, I mean right, uh yeah, let's go. We're go ahead
- 9:09and get into this. So as the title pretty much the title the the
- 9:15title is the also the name of the three main characters. So centered around
- 9:20a young man named Derek Derek McKenna. He is the main character of the
- 9:26story, but he is often referred to by his nickname Bear. And for
- 9:31those thirsty bitches out there, no, he is not a bear. Like
- 9:37he's not. He's actually he actually fits fits more as a twink. But
- 9:43he there's a story behind his nickname and we'll get to that in a second
- 9:50then, of course, So it's center around Derek McKenna who goes by Bear
- 9:56and his love interest. His name is Oliver Thompson. But when Bear first
- 10:03met Oliver, Bear was like about six years old and Oliver was about I
- 10:09think he was like fourteen or fifteen, because there's like a good nine year
- 10:13age gap between the two of them. So when he first met him,
- 10:18he saw a note written on his on Oliver's bedroom door with his name on
- 10:24it, but the handwriting was not really legible. So he asked his best
- 10:31friend, Creede, who is Oliver's younger brother, and it's about the same
- 10:35age as Bear. Your brother is like, your brother's name is Otter,
- 10:43and Creed, who is that typical little shit of a brother. It's like,
- 10:48oh, I love that. That's it. From this day forward,
- 10:52Oliver is now Otter, so that's just what he goes by now period,
- 10:58and then the kid and then it also the story is also focused on Bear's
- 11:05younger brother, Tyson McKenna or the kid now kid is okay, let's see,
- 11:15is about twelve to thirteen years younger than Bear. So by the time
- 11:20Bear, so when Bear was like about thirteen years old, his mom had
- 11:24his younger brother and by the time he was eighteen, like he was seventeen
- 11:33eighteen years old Tyson, which is round, which is when the story actually
- 11:39begins, kid is about six years old. So to start off, this
- 11:46book starts on a very dark note, say the least because of course it's
- 11:52a it's a gay novel. All right, we gaze. We have all
- 11:56the trauma you name it, we got it. Daddy issues, we got
- 12:01that, mommy issues, we got that too. Abandonment issues, Oh we
- 12:05got that, and we got that. And also so does Bear and his
- 12:13brother ty because their mother, for starters, she is a She is an
- 12:24alcoholic and a heavy smoker. So growing up both Baron Tyson, they had
- 12:31to live with their mom's alcoholism and smoking. Now, she was never abusive
- 12:37in the like outwardly abusive in the way where she like yells, talks down
- 12:43to them, or even physically is physically violent with them. But the thing
- 12:48is the thing about this book is that it addresses that abuse is not always
- 12:54just that it's not always just yelling, screaming, kicking and punching it or
- 13:01just like put downs and condescending. No, it's neglect is a form of
- 13:05abuse. And their mom was a neglectful person. She never really did anything
- 13:15to actually take care of them. She did the bare minimum. She made
- 13:22sure that they had a roof over their head, she made sure that they
- 13:26were fed, but really she never went above and beyond for them to make
- 13:30sure that her two sons had a good life. They lived in a shitty
- 13:33Rundown apartment and there were times where Bear felt like he had to really like
- 13:43he had. Bear felt like he had to grow up a lot faster,
- 13:46especially with when his brother came along, because even though his mom did just
- 13:52the bare minimum for to make sure that a kid didn't start and was taken
- 14:01care of, she was still neglectful and there were times where Bear would find
- 14:03himself having to take care of his baby brother instead of living his life now.
- 14:09Bear never felt any kind of resentment towards his UH. Towards the kid
- 14:13UH. He's fiercely defense defensive of his younger brother. He takes care of
- 14:20him. He UH. Growing up, Ty learned to look to and rely
- 14:28on his brother more than his mom. Like you know, they didn't exactly
- 14:33hate their mom, but they knew that she was not really going to like
- 14:39she's not really putting effort into their lives or into their air, and they
- 14:45basically adopted that mindset of like, oh wait, oh great, like what's
- 14:48she doing now? Oh she drunk? Oh she she drunk again, Okay,
- 14:52like business as usual, which is which is honestly like, it's sad,
- 14:58like when you' when you're when you're a child and you grow up with
- 15:01that, it's really sad because you're not looking at that point, you're not
- 15:05looking at your parent with love or respect or adoration. It's just it's a
- 15:11form of content. And you know, it's not really outward or like open,
- 15:18they're not really outward and open about it. There's just there is a
- 15:20form of content and resentment there and there. At the beginning of the story,
- 15:28he was beginning, he was just on his uh. He was just
- 15:31on the uh in the process of getting ready to graduate from high school.
- 15:37He had plans to go to an out of state university. He had his
- 15:41own goals, his own life goals and dreams. He wanted to become a
- 15:43writer. And while he was concerned for his brother being left alone with his
- 15:50mom, he figured, Okay, well, he'll be fine. His mom.
- 15:52Their mom was never the kind of person to like mistreat them or anything
- 15:58like that. He figured, you know, Tye is a very smart kid,
- 16:03and he'll he'll be okay. He's just gonna Bear is just gonna make
- 16:07sure that to check in on Tyson from time to time, to make sure
- 16:11that the kid is not, you know, it is doing okay and has
- 16:15everything he needs while he gets himself ready for his own future. But literally,
- 16:23but unfortunately, that's not gonna happen because literally, the night before Bear's
- 16:29eighteenth birthday, their mother leaves. She just dips ew. She didn't say
- 16:41a word to them, She didn't give him any kind of clue or indication
- 16:44that she was planning on leaving, just out of nowhere she left. The
- 16:48only thing she left Bear was a note as well as paperwork for assuming power
- 16:53of attorney over Tye, which is really like which when I read that part,
- 16:59like power of attorney for a child, like I mean, I think
- 17:07like some people can get that. But like if like let's say the parent
- 17:11isn't like their parent or leader legal guardian isn't able to like do the things
- 17:17they need to take care of the kid, but they still have custody of
- 17:19the kid, I think somebody else can like take responsibility. I don't know,
- 17:22it was really weird. He just got a letter that was poorly mean,
- 17:26Like like the letter like uh, was full of typos and just like
- 17:36it just really showed how moronic their mom was, like uh. But either
- 17:44way. She told him that her her current boyfriend what had gotten a job
- 17:49out of state and wanted her to go with him, but having kids wasn't.
- 17:56Having her kids tag along wasn't in the picture, so she decided she
- 18:00was going to She decided that since Bear was already going to be eighteen,
- 18:06he's old enough to take care of the kid. And she thinkured and she
- 18:12told, and she told him in the letter like you've always been better,
- 18:15you know, taking care of top of the kid, more than I have.
- 18:18He'll do, You'll do great, you know, I believe in you.
- 18:22Blah blah blah. I'm I'm out of here, going to see the
- 18:25world and that shit. And it was heartbreaking to say, to say the
- 18:30least, or Bear, because Bear was ready to finally get out on his
- 18:41own, get away from his mom and from those responsibilities that he had put
- 18:47on him because even before his mom left, like I said, he was
- 18:49already pretty much taken care of the kid. But he wanted to live his
- 18:52own life and make his own decisions. But their mom left and instead of
- 19:00ensuring that Bear gets full custody of the kid and everything is done right,
- 19:07she just left him with some bullshit documents about granting him power of attorney.
- 19:12It was all sketchy and like was not actually legal because uh, not to
- 19:21spoil anything, but in uh one of the one of the future books that
- 19:26does come back to bite both Bear and his mom in the ass because it
- 19:32wasn't the the legal guardianship of ty was never properly addressed, was never was
- 19:37never properly handled. So they had to deal with CPS and everything. But
- 19:41but that's for the that's for another book. Right now, we're gonna focus
- 19:45on this. Uh. So Bear, even before his mom left, Bear
- 19:52had already begun, had already found himself an extended family in the forum of
- 20:00of his girlfriend Anna, as well as his best friend Creed and creates older
- 20:06brother Otter, who would who would eventually become Bear's love interests. And then
- 20:15of course Creed and Otter's family had came into got involved in the whole thing
- 20:22when he told when he told everybody what had happened, everyone immediately came to
- 20:26his aid. They were there for him. They supported him. Bear had
- 20:32his own bank account, something that his mom did not have. Like his
- 20:37mom never had a proper bank account. She was always dealing in cash.
- 20:40And when Bear opened the opened his own bank account when he started working,
- 20:45he made the mistake of giving his mom access to the bank account and when
- 20:49she dipped, she ended up stealing all of his money. Oh shit,
- 20:56yep, she stole his money. He had like about three thousand dollars saved
- 21:00up for college and she took it. And in her letter, like she
- 21:07doesn't she doesn't tell him she took all the money. She just tells them.
- 21:11She just told him, I left you a couple hundred bucks. That
- 21:15should be enough to get you, like keep you guys on your feet while
- 21:18you you know, you know, while you work and get ready to get
- 21:22everything ready. Yeah, And like he checked his bank account and was like,
- 21:26yeah, oh, that's my money's gone. That's gone. Damn and
- 21:37his uh so, Creed and Oliver's parents end up giving a Bear all that
- 21:45money back. They give him a check for three grand. He didn't want
- 21:48to take it, but they basically they basically pulled rank on him. Is
- 21:52like, Bear, if you don't take this money, we're going to force
- 21:55you to take it. You're not You're not getting out of this Bear,
- 21:59You're taking the money you like it or not. And they really came to
- 22:03they really pulled through. They helped him with taking care of the kid.
- 22:08Was only six years old at the time. Bear was about to turn eighteen,
- 22:11and he was just a couple of weeks away from graduating high school,
- 22:15which is like everything that, like, all of this just came dropping down
- 22:18on him like one after one, thing after another. So both him and
- 22:22Tyson ended up developing some serious anxiety and abandonment and trust issues as well.
- 22:33So and it was more it affected Tye the kid a lot more than it
- 22:37did Bear, since Barry was older. This was something that like, while
- 22:41he was pissed at his mom for doing this to them, it was something
- 22:45in a way. It was something that he was like, well, I
- 22:48can't say I'm surprised, but fucked that bitch. But it was a lot
- 22:53harder. It was a lot harder for the kid to adjust to because since
- 22:59he was so young, having his mom just leave like that had a lot
- 23:03had a very lasting impact on him. But for a while, there.
- 23:07The two of them were able to pull through and really make things work because
- 23:15they had the support of their new family. But not long after Bear graduated
- 23:22from high school, he was he got very depressed because he felt he felt
- 23:27the weight of everything coming down on him. All right, He's now working
- 23:32full time at the grocery store. He used to work part time, Matt.
- 23:36He now has to He now has to worry about making sure he gets
- 23:41rent and all the bills taken care of. Anytime time needs to go to
- 23:45the doctor, he has to make sure he has the money for that.
- 23:48And it just was really coming down on him. And he got one summer
- 23:53night, he got drunk and he realized like, ah, this is I'm
- 24:00in a bad place right now and don't want to be alone. And he
- 24:04always knew that he can rely on his family, his new family, especially
- 24:11his best friend, his girlfriend, and his best friend in Otter h For
- 24:18some reason that night, he Otter and Creed were at some sort of family
- 24:22dinner and his girlfriend was at work, but he ended up calling Otter out
- 24:30of the blue and told Otter what was going on, and Otter immediately dropped
- 24:37everything, just dipped from the family dinner and came over to Bear's house.
- 24:42He spent time with him and just made sure that Bear was not, you
- 24:48know, doing anything stupid, made sure and made sure Bear was aware that
- 24:53he's not alone. The thing is, Bear is a total lightweight when it
- 24:59comes to his alcohol, Like he could drink one glass of wine and he's
- 25:03out, damn. And he drank He drank a lot of beer. So
- 25:08he was definitely at that point where he was stupid drunk where he does not
- 25:12have any control of his actions. And while they were talking, Bear and
- 25:18It's Side of the Blue just ends up kissing Otter, like just kisses Otter.
- 25:22And the thing is, it wasn't one of those kisses. Like he
- 25:26kissed and Otter was like, whoa bro Otter actually kissed him back? Oh
- 25:30shit, man. Yeah. So Bear pulled back and he realized what he
- 25:37did and he was like, I'm so sorry, and he was so embarrassed.
- 25:41He wounded up going He ended up going to his room. Otter talked
- 25:44him down, made sure he knew bar knew that it was okay. Was
- 25:47in his fault. He's going through some hard times and things like that.
- 25:52Now let me tell you something. I am a stand for their relationship.
- 25:56I love two of them. Otter is a really wonderful person, and he
- 26:00does become a very a very loving and supportive partner for Bear and for the
- 26:07kid, and like I said, and like a father to the kid.
- 26:11But the thing, the next decision he makes after this event kind of like
- 26:17puts him on everybody's shit list for a few years. Because the thing about
- 26:22Otter is that he is actually gay. He came out when he was still
- 26:26a teenage when he came out right around the time he started college. Because
- 26:32remember he's about nine years older than Bear, so he was already by this
- 26:36point, he had already graduated college and he's working as a professional photographer for
- 26:41a local for a local photography photography studio. He had at this point received
- 26:49a job offer for a from a studio in California, and he wasn't planning
- 26:57initially, he wasn't an planning on taking the job because he wanted to stay
- 27:02and help Bear and be there for the kid. But after he kissed Bear,
- 27:11he felt really ashamed of himself because he didn't think Bear was gay.
- 27:17And when they kissed, he actually did reciprocate the kiss. It was something
- 27:22that he himself had always wanted to do because he started having developing feelings for
- 27:29Bear and nothing is that because of their age gap, and also because of
- 27:33the difference, because of the circumstances surrounding Bear, he did not want to
- 27:37do anything. He wasn't going to do anything to put Bear in an odd
- 27:45position or to make Bear feel uncomfortable. He was just more content to just
- 27:49be there for him. And when he kissed, when Bear kissed him and
- 27:53he kissed him back, he felt like he was projecting his feelings and his
- 28:02attraction onto Bear and making and he felt like he was God. I almost
- 28:08said grooming, not grooming, but like he he felt like he was influencing
- 28:15Bear in a negative way and he didn't want He didn't want that. So
- 28:18out of the blue, Otter took the job in California and just left.
- 28:25He And what made it worse was that he left a note too, and
- 28:30like, yeah, so this happened a few months after Bear's mother left.
- 28:37So it was just like I was like, oh, honey, no,
- 28:41oh god, you couldn't you know, Oh oh no, you fuck you
- 28:48done? You've done? Goops, man, that's no done, fucked up?
- 28:52Oh god? Yeah, yes, So he ends up leaving and Bear
- 28:59it. It was a lot for Bear. This was a lot worse than
- 29:03his mom leaving because with his mom he had no real high expectations for her.
- 29:07Yeah, it sucked, especially because she basically burned him on her way
- 29:11out by stealing his money and leaving him with, you know, leaving him
- 29:15in charge of a six year old. But it was something like, you
- 29:21know what, fucked this bitch? We never needed her, right, So
- 29:25he was able to get past that. Butter Honor had always been this like
- 29:30this stable presence in his life, just like his best friend Creed, just
- 29:33like his girlfriend Anna. Everything about them they were they were people that he
- 29:41really needed. And you know, the fact that bit that that Otter would
- 29:52just leave like that, it was just something that really fucked with Bear.
- 30:00And for the next three years Bear would end up presenting Otter. He doesn't
- 30:07really speak to Otter. For the next few years, Otter tries to live
- 30:12his life in I Believe. He went to San Diego, the studio in
- 30:18the California Photos Studio. He was doing really well for himself, even tried
- 30:22to move on with the relationship. But during that three year period, Bear
- 30:29manages to pull his life together a bit by bit, he creates a stable
- 30:33routine for him and kid, and while they're not exactly better than they were
- 30:38without their mom, they're at least like when their mom was still there,
- 30:41they're at least surviving. And Bear has a system where it all like everything
- 30:52is working, you know, everything is working for him and life for him
- 31:03at least, he tried to kid himself was good. Yeah. And then
- 31:11in that three year time span, during at Christmas party, Otter did come
- 31:17back to visit the family. They were all at his family's house and Bear
- 31:21saw him briefly and Otter hugged him and tried to like talk to him,
- 31:26but Bear was still very angry with Otter for leaving and didn't really talk to
- 31:30him and did his best to avoid Otter. And Otter was hurt by this,
- 31:36but he understood because he's like, yeah, fucked up, Like yeah,
- 31:37he knows, he knows what he did, and he tries. He
- 31:42leaves another note for Bear, telling him, like telling him he's like trying
- 31:47to apologize, and also tells him if you need to ever need anything,
- 31:49I'm always here for you, all right. I want to try to make
- 31:53this right. And now we're getting close to where we come to present day.
- 32:02It's been three years since Otters initially left. Bear has had to deal
- 32:07with other things, had had to deal with other issues concerning Otters app since
- 32:14and that is the kid. The kid is a very brilliant young man.
- 32:20Let me tell you something. At nine years old. Bear often refers to
- 32:23him as the eco terrorist in training because he has, for one thing,
- 32:29at nine years old, he's very smart. Kid is a vegetarian, and
- 32:37he's a staunch animal rights activist. And the timeframe that this book was written,
- 32:42it was in like I think it takes place sometime in the early two
- 32:46thousands, so this was before that whole controversy with Peta yeah came out.
- 32:54So like so he was a big supporter of No, he was just he
- 33:01was a big supporter of animal rights movements and that mainly sorry, I'm looking
- 33:15at my notes, like check, I'm checking something real quick. But yeah,
- 33:25so Tie supports Peter and he even uh follows like protests and it's and
- 33:34at one point he begins organizing protests and participating, like he'll actually make Bear
- 33:39go with him to protest for like I don't know, opening of a new
- 33:44butcher shop or like animal processing plants things like that, and go protests.
- 33:50You know, he's really into that, and I'm like, wow, eco
- 33:52terrorists and training like Bear often refers to Kid as like like he always says
- 33:59this, this kid is going to take over the world by the time he's
- 34:00sixteen, like he's an evil genius. But Kid is really like I said,
- 34:07he's really smart, but he's also very sweet. But with both his
- 34:10mom leaving and also Otter leaving, Kid develops extreme trust issues. He develops
- 34:20anxiety as well as panic disorders. One of the things that happens to Kid
- 34:25is so Kid had developed a coping mechanism for his anxiety and his panic disorders.
- 34:37Whenever Kid begins to become overstimulated and overwhelmed by anything by things going on
- 34:44around him. When he was a little kid, he learned that whenever there's
- 34:50an earthquake, you're supposed to crawl into a bathtub because she'll be safe.
- 34:57Because I guess like bathtubs are like reinforced building collapses, Like and you're in
- 35:00the bathtub, you'll be safe. So for him, his panic attacks or
- 35:06feels like an earthquake, like everything is becoming like everything is shaking he's losing
- 35:10his sense of stability, and so he what he'll do is climb into a
- 35:15bathtub and just ride it out. And Bart like see, Kyson had been
- 35:25doing that since he was a very since he was a young kid, even
- 35:29when their mom was still there, but it wasn't as frequent, but when
- 35:32Otter left, they became more frequent. He became the kid didn't really act
- 35:38out so much, but he often butted heads with his teachers because his teacher,
- 35:43because he often would prove that he is much smarter. He would prove
- 35:49that he is much smarter than his teachers. So this typical young genius type
- 35:54of kid, and uh, Bear begins. Bear starts to resent for that
- 36:04because like since because otters absence caused that kind of like not so much as
- 36:13caused it, but made it worse. But the kid never faulted Otter for
- 36:17that. I mean, he was sad that Otter left, but he never
- 36:21really hated him or resented him. So when we get back to modern day,
- 36:24to the modern day Bear and the kid where they had gone to the
- 36:31airport to pick up Creed. Creed had decided to attend the university and at
- 36:37the University of Phoenix in Arizona. So while Bear's back home in Seafair,
- 36:45his many of his friends have left town and the only person, really,
- 36:50the only person who he still sees regularly is his girlfriend Anna. Their relationship
- 36:55is somewhat contentious because they're typical on again, off again type relationship, like
- 37:02they'll break up during a fight and then like make up and get back together
- 37:06not even a day later. But Anna has been very supportive. She she
- 37:12often watches kid whenever Bear needs some time to himself or need or has to
- 37:15work late. He also relies on his next door neighbor, missus Paquin.
- 37:23And that's her name, right, Oh Jesus Christ, I literally just read
- 37:31this book, like these books, like about a little over a month ago.
- 37:36Yeah, and uh yeah, but like I'm terrible with names. Because
- 37:45their their neighbor, she becomes sort of like a grandmotherly figure because she's an
- 37:49elderly lady, and uh, she often takes care She often takes care of
- 38:02the kid whenever otters, whenever Bear is working late, all that kind of
- 38:07stuff. So but now, like more to the story, Creed had just
- 38:13come to create came back to town for his summer vacation for a summer break,
- 38:19and when they were when Bear picked him up and was taking him to
- 38:22his parents' house, they noticed that there was a jeep in the driveway.
- 38:27Creed didn't recognize the jeep at first, so he goes so thinking that it's
- 38:30an intruder. He goes inside the house while Bear and kid wait outside,
- 38:34but Creed comes back out a few minutes later and he's like, guess who
- 38:37it is. It's Otter. So Otter had decided to come back to Seafair
- 38:43for an extended hiatus from his job in California. Bear is not too pleased
- 38:52about this. The kid is overjoyed to see Otter again. And the thing
- 39:00is the kid be plotting on them. The kid's plotting He's let me tell
- 39:04you that right now. He is always plotting O the plan. Yeah.
- 39:09I think on some level, the kid knew that Otter felt something a lot
- 39:16deeper for I'm sorry, Like, well, yeah, Otter and Bear felt
- 39:21something more for each other, so he was always so Like throughout the book,
- 39:25he often does things to get the two of them together, like spend
- 39:30more time to uh with each other, Like he asks Bear, can I
- 39:37get can I have some soy ice cream? Because he does, since he's
- 39:42vegetarian, doesn't do he doesn't eat regular ice cream. He eats soy ice
- 39:45cream, and they didn't have any at the Thompson's house, so Bear agrees
- 39:52to go get some from the corners from the grocery store real quick, and
- 39:57uh kid tells Otter, why don't you go with him? And Bear's like
- 40:02you little ship because he still because Bear at this point still doesn't really want
- 40:07anything to do with Otter, but the two of them go together. The
- 40:12Bear doesn't really want it, doesn't really talk to Otter aside from a few
- 40:15like you know, just small talk, and on their way back from getting
- 40:20the ice cream, like Otter tries to like get Bair to open up and
- 40:29talk to him at least try to like reconcile, and at one point bart
- 40:32does go off on him and it comes to his the hurt and his anger
- 40:38towards Otter comes out, and really it was just more of like the fact
- 40:43that he was he was more upset that Otter left, and Otter promised him,
- 40:49Look, I'm here to stay. I'm not gonna leave again. Okay,
- 40:51I'm gonna be here. I'll be here for the two of you.
- 40:54And while this doesn't immediately solve their problem, like Bear still has lot of
- 41:00anger towards Otter, it does begin to He does begin to loosen up,
- 41:07and he begins to He starts to work towards forgiving Otter, so the guys,
- 41:22so pretty much everything starts to go back to normal for everybody, or
- 41:24at least some way to the normalcy that from before Otter left. Otter's presence
- 41:31actually has a very positive impact on the kid. His anxiety and panic attacks
- 41:38begin become less frequent. He's more open and talkative, and Bear sees this
- 41:44so like he's that also helps him to come to forgive Otter the thing.
- 41:51One another thing that Bear is beginning to deal with emotionally is guilt because he
- 41:58never told his girlfriend or anyone really that he kissed Otter when he was drunk
- 42:04those years, all those years ago, And that's one thing that's been weighing
- 42:07on his mind for a while, and now that Otter is back, he's
- 42:10starting to deal with these feelings, his feelings concerning Otter, because we begin
- 42:17to learn from various flashbacks and conversations that Bear has with his friends and his
- 42:24family that his feelings his relationship with Otter was a lot deeper than he himself
- 42:31even realized. He always seemed he always looked up to Otter as like an
- 42:37as his own big brother as well, but his feelings for Otter were also
- 42:40something more confusing that he didn't really understand. Like he spent countless hours spending
- 42:47like spending time with Creed at his family's house, and sometimes Preed would like
- 42:53fall asleep early and Bear would still be awake and it would just be him
- 42:57and Otter and they'll be spending time together. And he always felt like this
- 43:00like something different when it came to Otter, and his relationship with Otter had
- 43:06always been something that kind of rubbed his girlfriend the wrong way, like she
- 43:13supported she She was never that type that says, oh, I don't like
- 43:15your friends, don't hang out with them, because well, his friends were
- 43:19her friends too, So it was just one of those things that like,
- 43:22can't she can't really get she doesn't. She never really faulted him for.
- 43:27But eventually Anna begins to notice that his behavior and his attitude, especially concerning
- 43:34honor, and she tries to talk to him or at least get him to
- 43:38open up about it more. And she even calls him out, saying that
- 43:42you always seem to have whenever it comes to Otter, there's always something different,
- 43:45Like you don't talk to anyone else, you don't talk about anyone else
- 43:49that way. Hell, you don't talk about me that way. But when
- 43:52it's Otter, you just seem to it's always some it's always different. I
- 43:55mean, aside from how you felt about him leaving, even before then,
- 43:59you always it always seemed like there was something more between the two of you,
- 44:02guys. And eventually, Bear finally, like eventually, he finally tells
- 44:08her what he's been feeling, tells her about his feelings towards what happened with
- 44:16Otter and how he doesn't really understand it either, because by this point he
- 44:22and Otter had had several close encounters of the homosexual variety. And while he
- 44:30wasn't okay, well, it's cheating when you get down to it. But
- 44:37the thing is is that it wasn't really so much as like he act.
- 44:42Bear didn't really act on his feelings towards Otter, but his feelings were there
- 44:46and they were beginning to He's beginning to like understand how he feels about Otter,
- 44:52and he doesn't know what he's going to do about it. But when
- 44:57confronted with those feelings, and finally he was forced to come out to Anna,
- 45:01or rather tell Anna about what happened between him and Otter, the two
- 45:07of them do break up. And with this breakup, however, it's it's
- 45:10apparent that it's it's final, Like this is it. It's not just a
- 45:15minor This wasn't just a minor fight where it was just like, oh,
- 45:20we're breaking up, and then they get back together. This is like done
- 45:23deal. And there's Bears understandably upset, and he feels ashamed of himself for
- 45:30allowing his emotions to get the better of him, but he works through it.
- 45:35He and he turns to Otter and they begin to admit their feelings to
- 45:40each other, and Bear manages to get a full explanation from Otter why he
- 45:47like what really drove him to leave? Like why did he leave? Like
- 45:51that he told and Otter was honest. He told Bear that he had had
- 45:55feeling much deeper feelings for Bear for a long long time. And the thing
- 46:01is their age gap and also the fact that Otter was not entirely convinced that
- 46:07was not one hundred percent on Bear. He wasn't sure if Bear would feel
- 46:12the same, and when the two of them kissed all those years ago,
- 46:15he felt like he was influencing Bear in all the wrong ways. So he
- 46:20decided to leave because he didn't want to continue putting his own feelings towards Bear
- 46:25on Bear and influencing him into a relationship that he may not even want right
- 46:32and it was very His feelings on the matter were very complex. But he
- 46:37also tells Bear why he came back after all these years, and that was
- 46:42because while Otter he was doing very well for himself in California. He was
- 46:49very successful as a photographer. He made stupidly good money, and he even
- 46:54started a relationship with another man. Otter felt like there was something missing in
- 46:59his life, and it got to the point where, like not okay,
- 47:05Otter became a little obsessed with Bear because like it got to the point where
- 47:09his mental health began to decline. He felt like he everywhere he turned he
- 47:14saw things that reminded him of Bear. He there were times where he saw
- 47:17people that he thought that he seriously thought was actually Bear when really it wasn't.
- 47:22And like it got to the point where it was affecting his current relationship,
- 47:30his other relationship with a guy named Jonah, and he started to realize
- 47:35though, that the man he was with was not really in for it for
- 47:38like an actual like, oh, like we actually love love each other.
- 47:44His boyfriend seemed was definitely that kind of was definitely that kind of person who
- 47:50dates for status. Mm. So like since Bear, I'm sorry, since
- 47:55Otter was doing very well for him so and was all and you know,
- 48:01very a very attractive young man, not to say the least, his partner
- 48:07was definitely more into it, was more in for the relationship for the wrong
- 48:12reasons, and that didn't sit right with That also didn't really sit right with
- 48:16Otter. So Otter decided to not only end his pre his relationship with that
- 48:22guy, but he decided to come back to see Fair and make things right
- 48:25with Bear, even if Bear didn't want even if Bear you know, doesn't
- 48:30feel the same way for Otter, Otter just wants to make sure that Bears
- 48:34okay and that they can like you know, be friends at the very least
- 48:39have a like mend the relationship. And it's around it's just this point that
- 48:46Bear comes to terms of the fact that he's also he also does feel the
- 48:52same way for Otter, but he doesn't really consider himself gay because he's never
- 48:58felt that way for other guys, like he never even looked at other guys
- 49:01that way. But intensively the two of them begin their relationship. They actually
- 49:09start a relationship together and they keep it on the download. They don't tell
- 49:15their friends about it, like Bearfield is guilty about this for not telling at
- 49:22least preed about it because he's because he's dating his best friend's older brother.
- 49:28And he doesn't tell Anna about this one because they're not they're not speaking.
- 49:34They they don't really speak to each other for a short period of time because
- 49:37of the breakup. I mean Anna promises that uh, I mean Anna's promises
- 49:46that she's not gonna just abandon him and kid, you know, she just
- 49:52wants to She just needs ah some time to herself. But still he doesn't
- 50:01tell her about their relationship together and for a while they're very happy with each
- 50:07other Otter. Since now Otter is more present in his life, the kids
- 50:15mental health significantly improves, and for the first time in a long time,
- 50:21Bear feels like he's actually living. He's not surviving, he's living, he
- 50:24feels, he feels more alive instead of it in just this rut that he's
- 50:30been in for the past three years since his mom left. Now, this
- 50:37is where things begin to become very complicated. Oh, because Mamma comes home,
- 50:49doesn't she he comes home? Oh God, And it's not for she
- 50:54doesn't come home permanently. Thank God, she's not. It wasn't that situation
- 50:59where she's like, hey, I'm back, thanks for taking care of everything's
- 51:01I'm taking. I'm coming back for good. And it wasn't even like she
- 51:07wasn't even she didn't even come back, like, oh, can I get
- 51:08like to like take advantage of Bear like and say, hey, can you
- 51:13like help mama out and like loan me some money, I'll pay you back
- 51:15like no after like Bear and Bear and Otter they were having a nice little
- 51:23date and spending time with each other that they had left. Hang on,
- 51:31I gotta look for her name. They have this next door neighbor and see
- 51:52missus back one. That's her name. I fucking knew it anyway, So
- 51:58okay, So yes, So their mother comes back and it's completely out of
- 52:07the blue. They had no warning. Otter and Bear had they were spending
- 52:13some time together and they left kid with the with their neighbor, missus Paquin.
- 52:17She'd, like, like I said before, she had become this sort
- 52:21of grandmotherly type figure in their life. You know, she's very supportive of
- 52:23them. She makes sure that they're okay. Like first time she met them
- 52:28and she got to know their mom, she kind of became felt like she
- 52:30she immediately adopted them as as her own because her she her family have all
- 52:42passed away. She had a daughter who died in a car accident, and
- 52:45her husband passed away a few years before. So so at this point she
- 52:51was just living just the rest of her life and like she was just going
- 52:53to live the rest of her life out. You know, she's on social
- 52:57Security and all that and make the best of it. And you know,
- 53:02she always made sure that Bear knew that, like whenever he needed it,
- 53:07she would she would be there to watch the kid and he can go live
- 53:12his life when he wanted to, or if he had to take care of
- 53:14stuff. She was always there and she became like this second motherly figure for
- 53:17them. And so while they were gone, so they have their little date
- 53:25night. They come back to the part to Bear's apartment. When they go
- 53:30upstairs, the kid immediately runs out to them and he's visibly shaken. He's
- 53:39he clings to Bear and he seems to be afraid, and when Bear ask
- 53:45him what's going on, he just says she's here. And Bear's like,
- 53:49oh shit, Otter is there, and he takes control, like he doesn't
- 53:54know what's going on. He's not sure who kid is talking about, but
- 53:58he's like he takes control his like it's okay, we'll figure it out.
- 54:00Let's see what it is. So they go inside and they find missus Paquin
- 54:06sitting in the living room of Bear's apartment, and sitting across from her is
- 54:12Bear and Tyson's mom, Julie McKenna, and pon seeing Julie, Bear immediately
- 54:22like he's he starts freaking out a bit, like he's staring at her and
- 54:24he has like all these you know, all these emotions going through him,
- 54:29anger, fear, like all these things like hurt, resentment, all of
- 54:36this, and missus Paquin she quietly excuses herself from the apartment. She tells
- 54:44She tells Bear that if he needs anything, she's next door, and she
- 54:47leaves. Julie tries to initiate some small talk with him with them, but
- 54:54Bear tell like it, excuses himself from the room and take Otter and the
- 55:01kid. He takes the two of them into the other bedroom. They talk
- 55:08for a bit and Otters like listen. Like Otter immediately becomes a supportive boyfriend,
- 55:15is like, listen whatever she wants, you know, doesn't matter what
- 55:19she wants to. Just know, we're in this together, all right.
- 55:23You don't have to worry about a single thing. And they go out and
- 55:30they confront Julie. She tries to make things. She tries to like talk
- 55:37to them, try to get them to open up, but Bear's not having
- 55:39it. He's trying his damnedest to like get her to like just spill the
- 55:44beans, like why are you really here. He's not trusting her at all,
- 55:46and she's being very dodgy and not really like telling them the reason why
- 55:53they're there now. He and Otter are being careful not to really outwardly show
- 55:59that the two of them are together as a couple, because they're still keeping
- 56:02things on the down low. But at one point in the conversation they kind
- 56:07of slip up a bit. They share a bit of you know, like
- 56:09couples share those meaningful glances with each other, you know, it's almost like
- 56:14they can yep, well what they do this in front of her, and
- 56:21she gets this look on her face like she just won the lottery and uh.
- 56:28She immediately she starts pirating Bear. And she doesn't say anything outwardly home
- 56:35outwardly homophobic, but she starts, but she starts making it clear that her
- 56:39intentions were not good. And Bear's realizing that, okay, things are about
- 56:44to get very ugly between him and his mom. He tells Otter to take
- 56:47uh. He tells Otter to take kid out of the apartment, like just
- 56:57take him out and it's far away from here as possible and let him handle
- 57:00and let Bear handle his mom. When they do, when they leave,
- 57:05Bear immediately confronts his mom about that, like, so, what's what's the
- 57:07deal? So what you don't like that I'm in a relationship with a man
- 57:10or what? And his mom begins spewing like a lot of religious rhetoric,
- 57:15you know, like I don't like like I don't want my son being raised
- 57:21by gaze things like that. And it's just like when I'm when I'm when
- 57:25i'm reading, when I was reading this scene. Let me tell you something,
- 57:28my blood pressure was going up. I was mad. I was like,
- 57:30oh this bitch right here, Oh oh this bitch uh uh I would
- 57:37read like a little thing. She says, put the I put my book
- 57:38down. I'm like, oh, oh my god, I just want to
- 57:42fuck her up. Fuck this bitch. Like she doesn't say anything like really
- 57:45bad, like like like very outwardly homophobic, but she's making her position clear
- 57:51that she doesn't approve and she doesn't want uh Otter around the kid. And
- 57:55Bear's like, who do you, like, where do you get off come
- 58:00into this house after you just fucking abandon us and telling me how I can't
- 58:05how I can or cannot raise the kid all right, because you clearly didn't
- 58:07want to do that. So I'm gonna raise a kid exactly how I want
- 58:10to. But then uh Julie hits him with this, I'm taking the kid
- 58:17back if you continue that, if you continue with your relationship with Otter,
- 58:23I'm taking the kid. And this scares Bear because that's the last thing he
- 58:30wants to happen, and he's like, what are you so okay? What
- 58:37are you gonna okay? So what you're not gonna take him. She's like,
- 58:42you're right, I'm you're right. I'm not gonna take him, but
- 58:45I will if you don't end your relationship with Otter. He's like, that's
- 58:49not gonna happen. She's like, okay, that's fine, I'll take you
- 58:51to court and get custody off him back. And she even like makes these
- 58:54threats like, hey, all right, even if you use my alcoholism against
- 58:59me, all right, who do you think the court's gonna believe? And
- 59:02uh, a kid barely, a man barely in his twenties, who had
- 59:10who had some barely, who had barely legal a power of attorney over over
- 59:20a minor or, a mother who left, who could who left and easy
- 59:23could say that she left for her health and went in to get seek treatment
- 59:29for her her addiction. So she was very like she was really manipulat,
- 59:36like being very manipulative in this situation. And she makes it clear to Bear
- 59:40that if he doesn't break up with Hotter, she's going to take she's gonna
- 59:44sue for custody and she's gonna get and she's gonna take the kid back.
- 59:47Now, in a real life standpoint, no, I don't think I don't
- 59:52think she would have much of a kids, because I'm sure there are plenty
- 59:55of people that could set that could stay with first hand experience about her alcoholism,
- 1:00:02the fact that she left, especially if he still has the letter that
- 1:00:07he as she left and left the paperwork, regardless if it was actually illegal
- 1:00:12or not, that he she left the paperwork for him to get the full
- 1:00:15cussy or power of attorney or whatever, so he honestly he would have it
- 1:00:20in the bag. But when you're told that and he in the moment,
- 1:00:23it sounds scary. But in real life standpoints, I don't think she would
- 1:00:27have much of a case. Yeah, no, I'm not gonna So they
- 1:00:36do address that specific situation in the next book, but right now, I
- 1:00:44won't spoil that for you guys. But for now, Bear acquiesces, which
- 1:00:50I'm like, oh, you stupid bitch, Like, oh you dumb bitch.
- 1:00:53But whatever, he was scared. I mean, anybody would be terrified
- 1:00:59in that situation. And if you were suddenly told that, you would that
- 1:01:01your kid is gonna get taken from you, So that would terrify anybody.
- 1:01:07He breaks up with Otter doesn't really give Otter a real explanation. Which I
- 1:01:12think he should have just told Otter outright, like, dude, my mom's
- 1:01:15threatening to take the kid away if I don't break up with you. Because
- 1:01:19the thing is that Otter, aside from his own his parents, who are
- 1:01:23very well off on their own, Otter was very successful in his in his
- 1:01:29job, and he has a lot of money, and he would have gotten
- 1:01:31a very good attorney. He would have gotten a very good attorney to help
- 1:01:37Bear en sure that Bear gets custody, like full on legal custody of Tyson.
- 1:01:44But Bear was scared. He breaks He breaks it off with Otter,
- 1:01:47and Otter kind of takes a back seat in the he stops seeing Otter in
- 1:01:52general. And this also negatively negatively impacts the kid's mental health because he doesn't
- 1:02:00really explain why to the kid. I think he does, actually, I
- 1:02:06think he does tell the kid, like, listen, she's not gonna she's
- 1:02:09gonna try to take you away if he sticks around. And they have no
- 1:02:15real choice about to keep their distance from Otter at this point. And the
- 1:02:20thing is his friends they immediately notice everything that's going on, like how both
- 1:02:25Otter and Bear seemed to be at odds again, and they try to like
- 1:02:30help cheer them up and try to reconcile things, but Bear refuses because he
- 1:02:34just doesn't want to risk his mom getting involved again because after he agrees and
- 1:02:38she she after he agreed to herturns, she left. She didn't stick around,
- 1:02:43she just left. And what really scared the shit out of Bear was
- 1:02:46that how did he know? How did she know? How did she know
- 1:02:51about Otters and Bear's relationship? They weren't. Yeah, they spent time together
- 1:02:55and they went on little dates, but they weren't really like going out in
- 1:02:59public and acting like a couple. Yeah, So it just seems very off
- 1:03:05to him that she would know about this. That means there's a rat somewhere
- 1:03:09there. Yeah. That also doesn't get revealed like until the next book.
- 1:03:15So sorry, guys, I'm not gonna spoil that for you right now.
- 1:03:19But eventually Bear manages to reconcile with Anna. They don't get back together in
- 1:03:25a relationship, but they reconcile and they become good. They become friends again,
- 1:03:30on speaking terms again. But his best friend Creed does get like,
- 1:03:37does know something is off about Bear and it has to do with Otter,
- 1:03:39And he also notices how much Otter how depressed Otter has become. But at
- 1:03:45some point I think, like I think Creed was also trying to plot because
- 1:03:52he knew like something was going on between the two of them, and he
- 1:03:58wanted, like he knew that he had to get them to like reconcile some
- 1:04:01way, So he caught wind that Otter was planning on going back to California.
- 1:04:10M H. Now, now the real reason why Otter was going back
- 1:04:14to California was because he was going to make his move back to Seafair permanent,
- 1:04:17because it was just the time that he was there and Seafair was more
- 1:04:24of an extended hiatus from his job and just to get away from things.
- 1:04:28But now he wants to completely like leave California and come back to Seafair permanently.
- 1:04:32And he later reveals to Bear that he was planning on fighting for Bear,
- 1:04:36like he was gonna make he was gonna make things right with Bear again.
- 1:04:40It doesn't matter what it took, he was going to fight for Bear.
- 1:04:43And I also like, oh h this man. Uh, Like Baar
- 1:04:50didn't give him an explanation for breaking up with him, but Otter was like,
- 1:04:55that's not gonna stop me. I'm gonna I'm gonna fight for you.
- 1:05:00It's you, and I'm like, oh, oh, oh my god,
- 1:05:06I can't my heart. But the thing is is that I think Creed knew
- 1:05:13this, but he was like, all right, I need to like kick
- 1:05:15Bear in the ass. So he calls it Bear because Creed was about the
- 1:05:19summer was ending, Creed was about to go back to Arizona to finish it
- 1:05:24started his next semester at school, and he threw a party at his house
- 1:05:29and while Bear was invited, he chose not to go because Creed would because
- 1:05:31Otter would be there. But Creed calls up Bear and tells Bear, hey,
- 1:05:36listen, man, you got to get here and talk some sentense into
- 1:05:39Otter because Otter is planning on leaving. He's going back to California. And
- 1:05:42this scares the shit out of Bear because he's like no, like even though
- 1:05:46he broke up with Otter, Bear's like, no, I don't want him
- 1:05:49to leave. I can't do no. Okay, you know what, fuck
- 1:05:51it, I can't do this. I can't. I need him, I
- 1:05:54need him like SpongeBob moment right there. I don't. I don't need it.
- 1:06:00Definitely donate it. Yeah, he leaves kid in the care of his
- 1:06:09neighbor and runs to Creed's. He runs to the Thompson's house, he goes
- 1:06:15up, He ignores everybody in the party and goes up to Otter's room to
- 1:06:17talk some sense into him. As soon as he goes into Otter's bedroom,
- 1:06:20he immediately notices that Otter is not alone. There is uh Otter. There's
- 1:06:28another man in Otter's room. They're not doing anything, if anything Otter,
- 1:06:31like, when you like read the scene, you could tell Otter is very
- 1:06:34stand offish with the guy in the room. But Bear is very neurotic and
- 1:06:40his mind tends to take off when he's panicking. So he saw this man
- 1:06:45and he immediately knew who he was because the man that was in Otter's room
- 1:06:48was Otter's ex boyfriend, Jonah the drama Yep. And when he sees Jonah,
- 1:06:59he Bear jumps to conclusion the way a gazelle leaps over the over a
- 1:07:02river, yeah, and immediately turns and just walks out. He's like,
- 1:07:09you know, I can't do this, and he goes to find Creed.
- 1:07:13And up to this point, Bear had noticed that Creed and his ex girlfriend
- 1:07:17Anna were both acting weird like they were both They would both tell him like,
- 1:07:21yeah, you know, I gotta go. I'm gonna be meeting up
- 1:07:26with some friends. And Bear's like, what friends, I'm I'm your friend?
- 1:07:30You have other friends? When did this happen? Right? And it
- 1:07:35was both of them were acting dodgy. So when Bear walks out of Otter's
- 1:07:41room, Otter fallows him out, trying to explain like, hey, well
- 1:07:43hold up, it's not what you think. It's not what you think.
- 1:07:45Bear walks into Creed's bedroom and there he finds his best friend and his ex
- 1:07:49girlfriend making out. Damn treachery everywhere. Well, to be fair, the
- 1:07:58treachery started with Bear when he started seeing Otter behind both of their backs.
- 1:08:02So it's kind of like a triangle. Well it's like a cycle really,
- 1:08:06yeah, but he has no room to talk, but still seeing the shock
- 1:08:10of seeing his best friend and ex girlfriend like in that situation kind of just
- 1:08:15made his like just made him shut down. So he turns around and decides
- 1:08:20to just leave, just like all right, fuck this, I can't deal
- 1:08:24with this. When he turns to leave, like Otter had followed him and
- 1:08:28his ex boyfriend Jonah followed him too, and Jonah like has this he has
- 1:08:32that kind of personality that's just more very smuged, like like, huh because
- 1:08:38Jonah knew about Bear. Uh, because Otter had told Jonah about Bear before,
- 1:08:45not maybe not the whole situation, but Jonah was able to put two
- 1:08:47and two together. And the reason why Jonah showed up was because he was
- 1:08:54trying to get get Otter to get back together with him. And when he
- 1:09:00showed up, and when he was in the room, when he showed up,
- 1:09:03and when when Bear walked in, Jonah looked at him and he's like,
- 1:09:08oh, you must be Bear. Hey, I'm Jonah Otter's boyfriend.
- 1:09:13Like uh uh. So when Bear walked out and walked in on his best
- 1:09:19his other friends together and he turns to leave, Jonah was there too,
- 1:09:24and he had this like really smug look on his face. So as Bear
- 1:09:28was walking out of the house, he punches Jonah in the face rightfully deserved.
- 1:09:34Uh huh. Oh let me, oh dude, the tea. Oh
- 1:09:40but that's not for them, that's not gonna until the next book. Yeah,
- 1:09:43we don't, we an't. We won't learn much more about Jonah.
- 1:09:46And you know the role that he has that he plays until in the next
- 1:09:51book. But either way, Bear leaves. He gets an his car and
- 1:10:00he drops and he speeds off. Otter like actually chases him down the street
- 1:10:04like like trying to stop him, like wait, no, don't go,
- 1:10:08And I'm like, oh he he actually chased him. Oh that's love right
- 1:10:12there, like yeah, like yeah, he actually was willing to like like
- 1:10:16chase after a car. Oh like, oh, Otter, I stand top
- 1:10:27top chair man. Yeah. Anyway, so Bear doesn't go back to his
- 1:10:33house, doesn't go back to his apartment. He he just really wanted to
- 1:10:38be alone after all the shocking revelations he received, and he goes to this
- 1:10:44uh so, Seafair is a coastal town, so he drives to this stretch
- 1:10:48of beach. It's kind of this part of the beach has been is very
- 1:10:51deserted. There's not not many people go through there, and him and his
- 1:10:56family often refer to that stretch of his beat of that each has their beach
- 1:11:00because like really they're the ones that always go to that part of the of
- 1:11:04the coast. So he goes there and he just spends the rest of the
- 1:11:08night there just looking out in the sea, being very angsty. And shit.
- 1:11:12Come the next morning, like he expected his friends would eventually find him
- 1:11:16there, and they do, but it turns out but the person who finds
- 1:11:21him at the beach happens to be his little brother, Tyson, and Tyson
- 1:11:28whoises Tyson. He's he asks him what are you doing here? And he's
- 1:11:30like and Tyson tells him, well, I figured you'd be here, not
- 1:11:34about it, Come and check up on you. I heard what happened.
- 1:11:43I happened. Well everybody, well, his friends were freaking out, so
- 1:11:46they went to his apartment to see if if Bear was there, and he
- 1:11:51wasn't, and they told Bear. They told the kid like the whole thing
- 1:11:56that went down, and the kid was like, ah, Bear, that
- 1:11:58idiot. So he ends up tellinging Otter and Creed and and everything that happens
- 1:12:04with with their mom and what had actually what their mom had actually done like
- 1:12:11threatened to do. And Bear checked his phone. Later ends up checking his
- 1:12:16phone and sees all the messages from his friends and he has one message from
- 1:12:20uh Otter and Otters like like U, and Bear says, kid told me
- 1:12:30everything. I can't believe he didn't tell me. Come on, please,
- 1:12:31let's just talk about this like like, and it's not what you think.
- 1:12:34Jonah's not here for that, like, I'm not back together with Jonah.
- 1:12:39That was I don't know why he was here in the first place. Kid
- 1:12:44manages to talk Bear like. He manages to talk get some sense into Bear,
- 1:12:48and Bear agrees to come back home. They go back to He drives
- 1:12:56them both back to the apartment where they find free Anna and Missus pac Win
- 1:13:00waiting for them. Otter had gone back to the house because he wanted he
- 1:13:04had to make sure that Jonah, the whole situation with Jonah was taken care
- 1:13:10of, and made sure that Jonah was sent well on his unhappy, unmarried
- 1:13:14way. And when he was there, he explains he comes, he confesses
- 1:13:20everything to everybody. He tells them that he and Otter had been seeing each
- 1:13:27other and that he ended up. He ended the relationship because his mom came
- 1:13:33back. She somehow found out about their relationship and she threatened to take the
- 1:13:38kid away if they didn't do something if they didn't break up, and everyone,
- 1:13:45like Creed and Anna were understandably upset, and Bear had his moment of
- 1:13:53getting mad at them too because they kept their relationship from him. But they
- 1:13:57Eventually they all reckoned. They all talk it out, and they tell Bear,
- 1:14:01Okay, now quit being an idiot and go get your man, period.
- 1:14:08And yeah, so Bear goes. He he goes, finds Otter,
- 1:14:15they talk it out. He explains the whole situation, and and Otter tells
- 1:14:19Bear that he was that yes, he was going back, like what I
- 1:14:24mentioned before, he was going back to California, but it wasn't to get
- 1:14:28back with Jonah, and it wasn't to leave Seafair behind for good. He
- 1:14:31was going there to one to completely resign from his job and complete the process
- 1:14:36of moving back to Seafair and also make it very clear to Jonah that they're
- 1:14:42through. Because the thing about him and Jonah was that before came back to
- 1:14:49California, I'm sorry I came back to Seafair, he had found out that
- 1:14:55Jonah cheated on it. So they all to have broken up or had broken
- 1:15:01up for that, but Jonah wanted to try to get back with and he
- 1:15:08came back to he Uh to see Fair to try to with. But Jonah
- 1:15:15has that he has that I get whatever the fuck I want, no matter
- 1:15:19what kind of attitude, So like if he sees it, he gets it
- 1:15:24does it doesn't matter what anybody says. And I mean, it's honestly,
- 1:15:29he's just very it's just very obnoxious, like he has very it's a very
- 1:15:34obnoxious way of thinking. Uh. But Otter shuts that ship down, says
- 1:15:43they're not getting back together, and he tells Bear that I'm staying for good
- 1:15:47and if anything, there's something I want to show you. So he they
- 1:15:51get into there. So Otter takes Bair to this neighborhood, to this nearby
- 1:15:58neighborhood, and he shows this old house. Now, this house, let
- 1:16:03me tell you something. This house becomes known as the Green Monstrosity because it
- 1:16:12is it is painted a just extremely awful color of green, like it's like
- 1:16:25somebody vomited green over house. Like it's just just Bear describes it, describes
- 1:16:32it as like as a very disgusting color of green. And he showed Otter
- 1:16:38shows him this house, and he tells him I bought a house because I'm
- 1:16:43gonna be staying here for good. And Bears all like, well, that's
- 1:16:46all well and good, but what does this have to do with me?
- 1:16:48And he's like, well, I bought this house for you, and and
- 1:16:57Bear has a bit of a mini freak out. He's like, you bought
- 1:16:59me a high else and honors like yes, yes, because I'm here for
- 1:17:05good for I'm here for us, and I want us to be together and
- 1:17:09I want you to know, like this is it. You are my one,
- 1:17:15You're my one and only and I want to be with you, and
- 1:17:18I see that. I also want to get you out of that apartment because
- 1:17:25after everything's that apartment is not good for you. You've been living in that
- 1:17:32in that dump for the lot for a long time and it has too many
- 1:17:36bad memories with your mom and besides the two you and you and the kid,
- 1:17:43you deserve so much better. You deserve a real home, all right.
- 1:17:47You deserve to live, not just survive. And yeah, so I
- 1:17:54was like, this man bought a house like the four Like that is like
- 1:18:03is a way of like proclaim, like a full long rational love. I'm
- 1:18:09buying you a house and I want you to move in. I want you
- 1:18:11and the kids to move in with me. And it it took some convincing,
- 1:18:17but Bear agrees, and especially when he tells, especially when he tells
- 1:18:25the kid, the kids are like cool, why do we move in?
- 1:18:30So the two of them they do end up moving in together, and this
- 1:18:32is where pretty much the book comes to an end. They start they begin
- 1:18:38the process of moving out of their apartment, which is it was hard for
- 1:18:42them because when Bear and the kid were first on their own after their mom
- 1:18:48left, Bear thought about moving into his mom's room, but he decides not
- 1:18:59to do that because for starters, well for for the for the main part,
- 1:19:05Kid has a very bad panic episode when he when he tries to do
- 1:19:12that, and Kid says he would rather Bear stay in in the same room
- 1:19:16with him, and I realized, can't. He just can't walk into that
- 1:19:21room. There's just too many bad memories of his his mom is just like
- 1:19:27ingrained in that room and it just made him uncomfortable. That was really like
- 1:19:30a selling point for Bear, like, yeah, get out of like completely
- 1:19:33get out of that. Just move on. They like since their mom left,
- 1:19:36they hadn't even touched that room, like gone into that bedroom. And
- 1:19:42uh, I know, I got I got way ahead of myself because I
- 1:19:50forgot about the theme. But you see, Otter admitted that he was in
- 1:19:55love with Bear pretty early on, and the thing is, it took it
- 1:19:59took a while for Bear to actually say it back. And when he finally
- 1:20:02came, when he when he finally came to realize that he felt the same
- 1:20:06way like he wanted to, he decided it was time for him to say
- 1:20:11it back, like say I love you back right. But it was hilarious
- 1:20:16because when he when he told this to the kid, the kid was like,
- 1:20:19no, no, no, you can't just go up to him and
- 1:20:20tell you, hey, I love you right. No, like this is
- 1:20:23a big deal. You gotta actually like you gotta work it, man,
- 1:20:26you gotta sell it. So kid ended up orchestrating an entire date for the
- 1:20:31two of them for Bear, just for beare just for Bear to tell,
- 1:20:41just for Bear to tell Otter that he loves him, And so he had
- 1:20:45everything planned out. They bought some stuff to set up, like a date
- 1:20:50on the beach and that stretch of beach where Otter that where Bear fled to
- 1:20:57after that confrontation. Like so he set up a table, a romantic candle
- 1:21:05like dinner. Everything he was all ready to like, even and the kid
- 1:21:11wanted him to read a poem to Otter to like to confess his love for
- 1:21:18Otter, And well, Bear wasn't for it. He he eventually agreed to
- 1:21:24do it just for the kid's sake. And so he gets to the beach,
- 1:21:29he waits for Otter to show. He set up, set up the
- 1:21:33little table with their food, the candles, everything, and you know,
- 1:21:39I was like, well, I was reading the scene like getting set when
- 1:21:41he was getting set up, and I was reading the scene, I'm like,
- 1:21:43oh, that's so sweet, like that, that's adorable. And he
- 1:21:46was very like shy and nervous. But when when Otter shows up, Bear
- 1:21:50was so ready. He's like like he was about to start, like with
- 1:21:55the whole poem and everything, and like walk Otter to the uh, you
- 1:22:01know, to their little candlelight dinner. But when Otter shows up, he
- 1:22:04sees Bear dressed up and everything, and he's like, oh, Bear,
- 1:22:09this is sweet. By the way, there's a seagull trying to eat our
- 1:22:13food. And and like because Otters because Bear's back was turned to the table,
- 1:22:18so when he was looking at when he was distracted by Otter, uh,
- 1:22:21he didn't see a seagull flew down and was like began eating their food.
- 1:22:29And when and when Otter says that, Bear turns around, like what
- 1:22:31and sure enough there's a seagull and he freaks out, and he runs up
- 1:22:35to and tries to like scare the seagull off, but when the thing is,
- 1:22:39like seagull really just fly away when you run at them, they kind
- 1:22:43of just pop and uh, they spread their wings. Well this, well,
- 1:22:48this fucking bird it did that. It like just kind of hopped away
- 1:22:54on the table table and its wings and when it did that, it knocked
- 1:22:57over one of the candles and the entire table went up in flames, and
- 1:23:05Bear starts freaking out. He's trying to like put out, like scare off
- 1:23:09the seagull and put out the flames, and like he does the only thing
- 1:23:12he can do. He grabs a tablecloth and he drags it to the ocean
- 1:23:15to put it out right. But the thing is is that when that's done,
- 1:23:21he turns around looks at Otter and he's like look like like he is
- 1:23:27it. It could have been worse. But he doesn't get a chance to
- 1:23:30because at that point that's when it starts raining and when I say, it
- 1:23:35straight up starts pouring on the two of them. And the thing is the
- 1:23:41entire time that this is happening, where Bear is like trying to put out
- 1:23:44the like fire, chase off the seagull and everything is losing his shit.
- 1:23:48He is laughing his ass off. He sweetest thing he's ever seen, but
- 1:23:54also the funniest thing he ever saw. But so like it's at that point
- 1:23:59where they're they're standing in the rain and Bear just says yeah, Bear says
- 1:24:08I love you, just like just comes out with it, like, Okay,
- 1:24:12well, I was trying to do something nice. This is all just
- 1:24:14because I wanted to tell you I love you, and I when I told
- 1:24:18kid that I was ready to do that, he just he wanted he had
- 1:24:23to do this, and I wanted to do this something more romantic, and
- 1:24:28Otter was like, you don't need to do anything romantic for me. I
- 1:24:31love you too. Like this just so sweet, And you know, after
- 1:24:35after that, it was not long after that that the whole mom I'm happening
- 1:24:41and now we're here. Towards the end of the book, they begin the
- 1:24:45process of moving into the ah, begin the process of moving into the new
- 1:24:53house, which is now officially dubbed the Green Monstra, and and you know,
- 1:25:00life is good for them, and the book ends like kind of does
- 1:25:05skip too, like a few months later and uh, Otter is talking with
- 1:25:14a kid and asking him do you think we'll like it? And Otter and
- 1:25:18kid is like, yeah, yeah, he'll love it. And when kid
- 1:25:20walks away, Otter looks down at a box in his hand and I think
- 1:25:26we all know what that tiny little box is. And that's pretty much where
- 1:25:30the story ends. So there's a few, now, you'll have to forgive
- 1:25:38me. There's a few. There's some small little details that didn't really go
- 1:25:42into with the story. But this was Bear Otter and the Kid. It's
- 1:25:47a cute story. I liked it. It was very wholesome. There's moment
- 1:25:53there's good, happy, feel good moments, and then there's moments that make
- 1:25:57you want to cry, and there's just so much growth and like personal development
- 1:26:04in this story. Definitely worth the read. This was one of Klune's more
- 1:26:13popular books and is under his under his belt that he's written. So there
- 1:26:18are four books in this series in total. The first one, of course,
- 1:26:21is Bear Otter and the Kid. The next book is called Who We
- 1:26:27Are and takes place pretty much where this book left off, and it's going
- 1:26:35to be just telling me more about how just more of how Bear and Otter's
- 1:26:42relationship grows. Now that they're openly in a relationship. And yeah, there's
- 1:26:49there's just so much. There's so much that's gonna happen, and I can't
- 1:26:55wait to tell you guys about it. But I can't wait. I can't
- 1:27:00wait to hear more about it. This story is good, Yeah, it's
- 1:27:04so good. Like I read it and I was like, Okay, this
- 1:27:09is definitely more of Like this book is definitely more set in reality than most
- 1:27:15books that I'm used to reading, because I read a lot of science fiction,
- 1:27:19fantasy and just fiction. Yeah, like I read. I read books
- 1:27:24that interest me. I'll put it to you that way, and you know
- 1:27:29now, and this is definitely different from what I'm used what I'm used to
- 1:27:31reading, and it was worth the read. Like as soon as I finished
- 1:27:35the first book, I immediately bought the second book, and then so on
- 1:27:40and so forth, Like that's how good these books were. Like as soon
- 1:27:43as one book was over, I was like, I gotta read the other
- 1:27:45one. I gotta I can't stop. I don't need sleep, I need
- 1:27:47answers. And but yes, I read. I read this whole book stories
- 1:27:57within a span of like a few weeks because I was just like every every
- 1:28:02moment I had these books, and it was it was it let me.
- 1:28:08It has been such a long time since I since I found a book made
- 1:28:13me want to read it like cover to cover and like like as soon as
- 1:28:17I finished one book I was read, I was like immediately reading the next
- 1:28:20one. And I think the last series that did that for me was definitely,
- 1:28:27uh it was you know, I can't think of it, like,
- 1:28:35I think it was either person the Percy Jackson series or they Harry Potter series.
- 1:28:45No, you know what, No, I read Percy Jackson was deaf?
- 1:28:47Was actually that that book series for me? Yeah, Like and I
- 1:28:53read that series for the first time, like over twelve years ago, So
- 1:28:59it's it's been a long time since I've found a book series as is that
- 1:29:03really like got me like that I thought was so good that I just couldn't
- 1:29:09stop reading it. And if you're looking for something different for wholesome and if
- 1:29:15you're gay and you want more gay romance in your life, I'd definitely look
- 1:29:18up books by TJ. Klune. I've already read the about thirteen of his
- 1:29:28books so far, damn. Because aside from the Wolf Song novels and Bear
- 1:29:34Ouder and the Kid. There's another series I read by TJ. Klune.
- 1:29:39It's more of a silly comedic series, still gay romance, called The Tales
- 1:29:43from Varinia. And we'll eventually, I look, we'll get to those eventually.
- 1:29:48But we've got three more books and Bear Ouder and the Kid, and
- 1:29:51they're all just as good and it's great. And on top of that,
- 1:29:57I'm reading that series that you're talking about. Oh yeah, I am reading,
- 1:30:01lugging. I was bugging Devin so much about The Tales from Varinia that
- 1:30:08I pretty much bullied him into read into reading. I told him, like,
- 1:30:14you gotta read it, man, you gotta read it. Lightning struck
- 1:30:16Heart, you gotta read it. Okay, there's a character in there.
- 1:30:19He's so you. Okay, he's gay, he's a unicorn, he's missing
- 1:30:23his horn, but he glitters when he's angry. You'll love him, and
- 1:30:28I do, and that that that's gonna be a future episode at some point
- 1:30:34after this series. But on that, thank you listening today's episode, Catch
- 1:30:42the next time as we continue. As Jacob continues on talking about the Bear
- 1:30:47Bear Otter in the Kid, that series of books, what's the title?
- 1:30:51Series of it called so the title series is Bear Order in the Kid.
- 1:30:58Oh, that's the actual series name. Yeah, so that's it's well,
- 1:31:01it's actually a Bear Order and the Kid chronicles. There's third books. Yeah,
- 1:31:06there's four books in the series. First two books are like basically the
- 1:31:12early like a first book is the start of Bear and Otter's relationship. Second
- 1:31:17book is like the continuation of that. Third book is that from the kid's
- 1:31:23perspective, But that one is when kid is like in his late teens,
- 1:31:28when he's almost twenty years old, so like right now in this book and
- 1:31:32the next book, he's like nine to ten, and then later the third
- 1:31:38book, it's going to be a significant time gap. And oh my god,
- 1:31:41let me tell you something. It's their third book is the kid is
- 1:31:44going to be dealing, is going to be finally facing his mental health,
- 1:31:46especially when it comes to his panic, his panic attacks, his anxiety,
- 1:31:54and his own love, his own romance, all right, with a his
- 1:32:00own love for his own love, for what his own romance. He has
- 1:32:03his own interests, so like he will explore his budding relationship with a police
- 1:32:10officer. Oh mm hmm, okay, don't tell me the gender. Don't
- 1:32:15tell me, don't tell me who I gotta say, just the police officer.
- 1:32:18Cool. I'll look forward to that, Devin, It's it's it's still
- 1:32:24a gay romance novel. Oh so the kid's gay too, uh huh,
- 1:32:29got it. But I'm like, unlike his older brother kid, the kid
- 1:32:32was completely aware of his sexuality. He was just like, yeh, fuck
- 1:32:36it, I'm gay. Work during the next time as we continue on through
- 1:32:44this series until that. Until then, until next week, we will be
- 1:32:48reviewing book two, The Bear Otter and the Kid Chronicles Who We Are.
- 1:32:55Yes, Yeah,