#they love each other they love all assets of one another are supportive and there for one another

[dodecademons]

Laudna and Imogen are in a qpr. They are until they say so. But no really please talk and be on the same page in terms of what your relationship is now. We all know but I love that healthy communication

[beardedjoel]

pretty little wife | sit tight

joel x f!reader one shot collection

part four of pretty little wife ��� can be read independently series masterlist | main masterlist | ao3 summary: 6.5k words — you're hosting a dinner party in the miller household, and as usual, joel can't help but turn it into a chance to tease his pretty little wife. no apocalypse au, no use of y/n warnings: 18+ MDNI! pre-established relationship/dynamic, free use kink, unprotected piv, rough sex, free use kink, sub/dom relationship, vibrator play?, overstimulation, food play, sir kink sprinkled in there, dirty talk, pet names for reader, brief mentions of food / alcohol, very submissive reader a/n: anyone else feeling completely normal about husband!joel right now cause i for sure am..... so normal

i've decided to start a kofi in case anyone wants to consider a small donation to support my work! ♡

Joel breezes into the kitchen where you’re standing at the sink, diligently rinsing up some potatoes and vegetables for dinner tonight. You’re hosting a small dinner party, more a gathering of a few of your friends to catch up and spend some time together. You typically take turns hosting each other, and you always find yourself a bit giddy when your turn comes back around, relishing in planning the meal and getting the house just right for your guests.

He's just gotten home from work, a time he tends to lavish you with immediate attention, and today is no different - his body quickly finds its way against yours, bringing himself as close as he can get. One of his hands reaches out in your periphery, dropping a bouquet of gorgeously arranged flowers onto the counter before both hands find their way to the sides of your body.

“Pretty girl,” Joel murmurs, chin resting on your shoulder and hands brushing down your sides to your hips, fingers gathering and bunching the fabric of your dress as he goes. You’ve put on a dress you know Joel loves, a sage midi dress with a flowing silhouette but a tight top that certainly shows off your assets. “Perfect choice,” he tells you, breathing against your neck as he brushes his lips there. You giggle a little at the sensation, thanking him. 

“Thank you for the flowers,” you tell him, glancing over to inspect all the different colors and textures in the bouquet again with sparkling eyes. You know Joel has been going to the same florist for ages to get flowers for you - he’s absolutely insistent on trying to replace the bouquet as soon as it starts to die off, just another thing he does for you that has you constantly swooning over the man.

“How’s my pretty little wife today?” Joel asks you, sweet and slow with his accent coming out strong, dropping a kiss on your cheek after he asks. 

“Better now,” you tell him. “Been a long day, missing you.”

“My sweet girl,” he says, giving you a squeeze and another kiss on the cheek. The feel of his soft lips and stubble makes your heart flutter, and you can’t help but smile wider. Seeing Joel after a long day always seems to soothe something in you, and you’re grateful it’s stayed that way as long as you've known him. 

“You got everything ready for tonight, or d’ya want some help in here?” he asks you, peering over your shoulder at everything in the sink. 

“Mm-mm, I picked up everything at the store yesterday. Just a little prep work left,” you reply, turning your head to return Joel’s kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, though.”

He seems satisfied with your answer but his hands are still on your hips, pressing into you from behind and he starts swaying slightly. 

“Everythin’ looks great, doll. House is spotless, food looks perfect, you’re always workin’ so hard for me.” He presses his lips into your neck a few times, letting a quiet hum out of his throat. 

“I love it when you notice,” you reply, lips curling into a sickly sweet smile. 

“Always notice my pretty little wife, don’t I? Noticin’ her right now,” Joel quips back, pressing himself impossibly close to you, the solid wall of his torso pressing you flush against the counter. 

You nod and make a small noise of pleasure in your throat as you try to focus yourself forward to the produce in the sink, but Joel’s wandering lips and hands are making it difficult to even see straight. You’re finally able to finish getting everything rinsed and ready to dry out, wanting to move onto cutting the potatoes to get mashed potatoes started, but Joel is still pressing you close enough to the counter to stop you from moving. 

“Have a fun little idea,” Joel says, spinning you by the waist to face him. You land into place with a hand flat on his chest, looking up at him with an expectant smile. “For tonight,” he adds on, and your eyebrows raise. 

“You’re not going to… right now?” you ask, slightly taken aback, having thought you were reading Joel’s usual signals right, gearing up to have his cock inside of you any minute. 

“Could if I wanted, but we’ll have our fun later, baby,” Joel promises with another kiss on your neck that you sigh into. “No, right now I’m gonna let my wife do what she’s gotta do since she’s been doin’ such a good job.”

You feel your blood rushing through you, your ears hot and prickling, not fully understanding Joel’s motives or plans right now. “O-okay, darling. Thank you. I promise I’ll be done soon,” you tell him, flashing a smile his way. 

“Good girl, back to work, then.” Joel spins you back towards the counter and gives your ass a slap, eliciting a cheery giggle from you. “Come see me after, mkay?”

“Of course,” you coo, starting up a quiet humming again when Joel leaves the room as you start to cube your potatoes. Whatever Joel is promising has you working faster than you’d really needed to, all the potatoes cut up and in a pot in nearly record time. You’ve started to nearly ache all over with need for your husband - even with such a vague promise he gave you, your anticipation for Joel doesn’t need much to be triggered. 

You amble out of the kitchen, eager to seek him out and hear the shower running in the distance upstairs from yours and Joel’s bedroom. 

You hope to catch him in the shower and hop in with him, one of your favorite things to do, but he’s already turning the water off and emerging from the bathroom a few moments later with a towel wrapped around his waist. You feel your insides squeeze a little along with your thighs, clamping at the sight of him glistening from the water, hair slicked back, droplets dripping all down his chest. 

“That was fast,” he says, cocking a brow at you as he sees you sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently for him.

“Didn’t want to keep you waiting,” you say pleasantly, which elicits a smile from Joel. How eager you are to be there whenever he needs you makes his cock twitch under the towel and he bites back a groan.

“Got you a little somethin’.”

Joel doesn’t waste any time heading to his dresser and pulling a small box out of the drawer. Your mind immediately makes guesses as he walks it over to you - a new dress to wear tonight, lingerie for afterwards, perfume - some of the many things Joel often buys you spin through your brain as you try to predict what’s inside. 

When you open the box and see a pair of pretty but plain black underwear, you’re not necessarily surprised, but your brows furrow when you notice something slightly different about them.

“Wh- what’s this…?” you ask, gingerly touching inside and your eyes go wide as your fingers touch a small, hard rubbery piece. “Joel… you’re kidding.” He’s beside himself if he thinks you can get through the night wearing panties with a vibrator inside of them and not have a complete meltdown in front of your guests. 

“Serious as can be, honey,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Thought it’d be a little fun for the both of us tonight.” His smile curls in the devious way it does when he knows he’s got you right where he wants you, and you snap and break under that look each and every time. 

“I- I -“ you stutter, grasping the panties in your hand now and inspecting them. 

“You don’t wanna wear ‘em for me?” he asks, the smirk on his face continuing to grow. He knows his question is in vain, that you’ll put them on simply because he’s asking you to. 

“I do… I j-just. I’m worried.” 

Joel approaches closer, leaning down to press his lips to the top of your head. “Promise I’d never embarrass you, y’know that, doll,” he replies, wrapping his hand around the back of your head and splaying it out, holding you in place as he continues pressing his lips to your hairline. 

“You’re right, of course you wouldn’t,” you agree, feeling yourself becoming more confident in the idea already. Joel has never let you down, and you doubt he’s about to start today. 

“Jus’ wanna have a little fun w’ya tonight. If you’re good you know what you’ll get afterwards,” he teases, a hand dragging slowly down your bare arm and you suck in air through your teeth, shuddering at the touch. 

You whimper and breath in shakily at the thought of possibly hours of stimulation before finally being able to get Joel’s cock inside of you. You’re practically getting wet just at the idea of being constantly teased by Joel tonight. 

You wordlessly shimmy your dress up your thighs to reveal your lacy red panties to Joel, keeping your eyes locked on his as you spread your legs slightly. He crouches in front of you, settling between your knees and hooking his thumbs on both sides of your underwear, giving them a tug. You lift your ass off the bed, helping him slide them down your legs before he tosses them aside and grabs the new pair from the box. He takes his sweet time, letting his fingers brush over your skin slowly, leaving a buzzing along your thighs before he finally gets them in place. 

“Fuck, I wanna eat this little pussy so bad, doll,” he groans, his eyes trained between your legs, half just mumbling to himself. “Lay you back right here and fuckin’ taste you,” he rambles on, hands gripping tightly on either side of your thighs, pupils getting larger and eyes hungrier. He sighs, fluttering his eyes for a moment before bringing himself back and loosening his firm grip on your legs. 

“Gonna torture myself a little today, too with this thing,” he says, holding up the tiny vibrator with a smirk as he pointedly slides it into the small pocket in your underwear with two fingers. You nearly cry out at this smallest of touches from him, realizing it’s about to be a very long evening. 

You’re sweating bullets wondering when Joel is going to choose to use the vibrator first. You’re sure this is half the fun for him, watching the tension in your body, your drumming fingers as you finish setting everything up - plates and silverware perfectly placed on the table with shaky hands while you await your friends’ arrival. Once everyone is inside, hugs given, settled in and seated, your mind races as you go to open a bottle of wine, feeling the vibrator there still doing… nothing. You swear, if he turns it on while you try to pour it you’ll have his head, but he just stares at you, eyes glimmering with mischief as you narrow your eyes in his direction. 

A small smile from him sets you at ease, a reminder of his promise to never embarrass you, for this to be a fun thing for the both of you. You grin to yourself and decide to give in to him and do as he says, make it a fun evening for the both of you. 

Joel has steaks on the grill for you and the six friends you have seated and waiting for dinner while you pop into the kitchen to grab the cheese board you’d made to let everybody sate their appetites for a bit before dinner. Joel sees you through the kitchen window in the backyard, and you’re only able to catch his gaze for a moment before your entire body jolts in surprise, and you place your hands against the counter to steady yourself. 

A faint, steady vibrating had started between your legs, and you blow out a breath before peering back through the window at Joel. He has a devilishly handsome grin on his face as he gives you a single wave through the window with his phone in his hand, and you can catch from afar that there’s some kind of app open, concluding it’s the one controlling the sudden change in between your legs. You straighten yourself and wave back with a renewed sense of determination to drive Joel equally as wild as he’s driving you right now. 

You swallow hard and put on a smile as you deliver the charcuterie board to the table, thankful for the tasteful, relaxing music you’d put on throughout the house that might help cover any possible noise from this vibrator. You’re not sure you’d survive the embarrassment of everyone here finding out about yours and Joel’s little game tonight. 

Joel comes back into the house briefly while the steaks are cooking, flicking his eyes up from his phone to your face as he stands in the doorway, watching intently as he clicks on the screen and you feel the intensity between your legs increase. You squirm a little in your seat, willing your eyes not to roll back as your body starts to respond to the pleasure. 

Joel comes to stand behind your chair, a hand on your shoulder and rubbing lazy circles as he glances down to see your legs clamp together tightly underneath you. 

“Good?” he says, leaning down to whisper in your ear. You nod and smile for him, and he looks satisfied as he steps away and back outside to the grill. 

You feel the vibrator going the same, steady pace and you already feel your core tightening and heating up from the constant stimulation, although Joel has it on a relatively low vibration. He suddenly cuts off the vibration from where he’s standing outside, and you breathe an unnoticeable, long sigh of relief and feel your entire body lose all the tension that had been building.

When Joel turns the vibrator back on during dinner, pulsing it on and off a few times, leaving it on longer and higher for each turn, you start to stiffen in your seat and glare at him teasingly, and he simply raises his eyebrows in return as if to say what are you going to do about it?

You simply dig back into your meal, trying to ignore the way your body is starting to tighten and scream at you from within, a heat pooling between your legs as you start to feel yourself soaking your panties, trying to ignore the wetness and desperate thoughts of needing Joel to touch, fuck, and completely wreck you. Joel is barely giving you any mercy, seeing how far he can push it before you completely snap as he discreetly changes the settings all throughout the meal. 

“E-excuse me, everyone, I just need to check on one last thing for dessert in the kitchen,” you say to the group, trying to not expose yourself too much by clenching your teeth together as you speak. You clank your fork down harder than you mean to in your daze and push your plate away. Your eyes glance over the table as you stand up, catching on Joel’s serene but cunning expression, and you can’t decide if you absolutely love or despise your husband right now. 

You exit the room as quickly as you can without garnering any suspicion and push through the kitchen door, thankful you have such a separate space from your dining room to take a moment. You hear Joel in the distance telling your friends that he’s heading to help you out in the kitchen, to enjoy more wine and you’ll just be a few more moments. You hear him approach behind you and you whip around, trying not to show how your knees are starting to feel wobbly. 

“I can’t decide if I want to kill you or fuck you,” you say bluntly, and Joel chuckles with a deep rumble, running a hand through his beard. 

“I think we both know which one it’ll be,” he teases back, and you frown before letting a long, desire filled sigh through your nose when the vibrator speeds up after Joel clicks his phone screen. He approaches closer to you, bracketing his arms on either side of you around the counter. “You want me to stop?” he asks, quirking a brow. 

“It’s s-so much, all night…” you say more softly, quickly giving in to him. “But n-no…” 

“You wanna come now, baby? Tell me you want it and I’ll make it happen, hm?” Joel says in that sweet but condescending way as he takes in your heated face that’s starting to glisten from holding back on all the pleasure you’d been feeling. You bite your lip at his gravelly voice, the words he’s saying going straight to your aching cunt. 

You nod deeply and slowly, letting your eyes flutter shut. You lean your forehead onto his chest, clamping your legs together against the vibrator. 

“I want it, can’t take this any more Joel,” you whimper, and Joel wraps his arms around your back, keeping you tight against his body. 

Joel holds his phone in one hand and turns up the vibrator another click, and you fight the loud cry that climbs up your throat as you fall apart into his arms. He spins you around quickly, grasping at your chest, squeezing your tits into his hands and kneading at them, brushing his thumbs over your hardened nipples. He pushes you against the counter as you start to shudder, knees wobbling and completely using him as support.

One hand slips down to cup your cunt through your dress, feeling the strong vibration and pressing it harder into your begging, swollen clit. He grinds himself into your ass and groans softly, and you feel the hard bulge of him press into your plush cheeks. “Fuck,” he murmurs, seeing the effect he has on you as you’re gasping and breathing little moans for him. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” you chant quietly, starting to move your hips into his hand, trying to get as much friction as you can. You can feel the familiar sensation of you losing yourself, your core tightening deep inside of you and begging for release. You wiggle and moan, trying not to feel the pressure of finishing as fast as you can with a room full of people waiting on you.

“C’mon now, let it all go, doll. Soak these little panties for me,” Joel urges when he sees you starting to get in your head. He rubs his fingers on the vibrator, moving it against your clit and you can feel the difference immediately, breathing in sharply as you start to shudder down onto it. He immediately slaps a hand over your mouth, hearing the wild moans that threaten to sneak out loudly into the room. “Shh, shh, gotta be quiet, we got guests,” he adds on in a cocky, hushed tone next to your ear.

“I k-know,” you whine, “But I’m gonna - oh -” You feel the tight coil in your belly finally snap, letting you release all of the pent of pleasure and frustration from this evening. You breathe heavily against Joel’s hand, pathetic moans vibrating into his palm as he holds your shaking, taut body up for you.

“Tha’s it, pretty doll. Look so good when you come,” he murmurs as he gets a better look at you when your head lolls back onto his solid chest. You whimper his name repeatedly but it’s lost among the cover of his hand over your open mouth. When you start to relax and come back to reality, Joel loosens his grip, and you suck in a gulp of air and try to steady yourself. You blink dazedly a few times, pushing your arms out and leaning against the counter for several moments. 

“Thank you,” you breathe out, and Joel responds with a kiss to the back of your head before he pulls away from you. You want nothing more than for your husband to take you up to bed, peel your clothes off of you and hold you, letting you doze off until he decides to wake you up with his head, cock, or fingers between your legs. Joel’s little toy had done a number on you, and you were exhausted, but the sound of laughter in the next room pulls you back, reminding you that you still have a dinner party to wrap up. 

“I’ll hold ‘em off, you just come out with that pie in a few, mkay?” Joel says, and you turn to look at him as he walks away, flashing a wink in your direction. 

You try to get your head back on straight, taking a few more steadying breaths before heading to the fridge, pulling out the chocolate chiffon pie you’d made. You quickly get the whipped cream and chocolate shavings you’d prepared on top, barely even registering your actions as you try to stop your head from spinning. You think to smooth your clothing and hair, praying that nothing is out of sorts from your rendezvous with your husband.

You hear the unmistakable sound of Joel chuckling with your friends as you enter back into the dining room, and everyone stops to ooh and ahh at your pie, and you smile, thinking you must have pulled off your little secret with Joel well enough that nobody noticed just how long you two had been gone for.

When everyone finally heads out for the evening, Joel’s heavy footfall approaches the dining table where you’ve started to stack up plates and dishes, clearing them into a pile to take to the kitchen. You’re quietly humming to yourself, but it turns into a surprised, breathy yelp when Joel promptly wraps his forearm around the top of your chest, tucking you tightly into him. He’s already taken the liberty of pulling his cock out of his pants on the way into the room, and you can feel it in full pressing against your ass, heat immediately radiating off his length into you. A few drops of precum smear and rub onto the fabric of your dress as he grinds into you, already gathering your dress up around your hips.

He murmurs under his breath, something about needing you, tight little pussy, can’t wait and you can barely hear any of it through the blood rushing through your ears. You’d expected Joel to be a bit needy and uncontrolled after the events of this evening, the way he’d teased both of you, but he’d barely shut the door behind your friends before his cock was out of his pants and into his hand, jerking it a few times to take the sting off before he could reach you.

He tightens his grip around your chest, his forearm nearly pressing into your neck now as he gets your dress over your ass and makes a growling sound deep in his throat.

“Liked these little panties tonight, didn’t you? Bet they’re a fuckin’ mess,” he says as he reaches in between your thighs to feel evidence of his statement - evidence that is surely there from the way you’d been teased and pleasured by Joel’s new toy all night.

You nod and let out a breathy moan in reply. “Made me need you so bad, baby,” you tell him, and he loses himself, tearing your underwear to the side at the same time he presses his hips forward, using a hand to quickly guide his cock between your legs and swiftly pushing himself inside of you.

A relieved, desperate grunt escapes his lips with a sigh and he pumps himself fully into you, burying his cock fully in one movement. You breathe in sharply and spasm around him, your body not having caught up with the unexpected intrusion just yet. Joel pushes past the hesitancy, only pulling you even tighter to his body and shushing quietly in your ear, barely giving you a moment before he’s moving inside of you.

“S’okay, I know y’can take this big cock, I know y’can. Jus’ open up, little doll, relax f’me,” he says, quiet and steady, as he makes small movements inside of you.

You wince a little at the way you tighten around him, the pain and pleasure quickly mixing together as your body tries to meld with the way your mind wants Joel so badly right now.

“Jus’ breathe, that’s it. Little more, baby,” he coos, starting to pull out more each time before thrusting back inside of you. “Takin’ me so good, my good little wife, take this cock whenever I need y’to.”

“Y-yes,” you manage to stutter out between your clenched teeth, finally feeling your body relaxing under his grip, melting into him. Your muscles lose tension and you feel yourself fall back, letting him completely crush himself against you. “It’s all yours.”

“This pretty pussy is all mine, is it?” he says as he thrusts into you harder, nearly taking your breath for a moment, so you just nod eagerly for him. “Can feel it… loves my cock don’t it? She’s givin’ right in to it.”

“Mmm,” you moan out, nodding again. “Give me more, baby.”

“Harder ‘n this? That what you want?” he taunts, and you can feel the smirk against your neck as his lips clash there for a few brief moments. You moan and throw your head back into him as he sucks harder on the skin, using his teeth to bite before he releases it to inspect his work with satisfaction. He doesn’t wait for your answer, just pounds into you harder, taking everything he’d been needing from you this entire evening full of painful teasing. 

You lose yourself as you always do with Joel, letting the feel of his cock become everything to you in that moment, blocking anything else out as your eyes flutter and roll back when he grips your throat with his hand for a brief moment, squeezing it.

“Need to see your face, doll,” he mumbles with a heady voice, his mind screaming at him for even considering pulling out of you for the time it would take to turn you around. You let your body go, pliable and easy to move as he pulls out of you with a lewd noise and spins you by the shoulders, hoisting you up onto the table and you sit, heavy lidded eyes gazing at his sly smile, looking almost as if a lightbulb has gone off above his head.

“Sit tight,” he says before disappearing, leaving you to try to bring yourself back to reality, your body cold and missing him already. He glides back into the room moments later, holding the shiny bowl from the stand mixer in the kitchen. 

“Get your panties off,” he tells you as he approaches back to where you’re perched on the table.

“Don’t want to rip these ones?” you say, taunting him by spreading your legs wider and lifting your brows. 

“Swear, you’re testin’ me tonight, little doll. Do it,” he says with a wry smile. You feel your heartbeat ramp up, understanding the small shift in dynamic, the way you’re now truly Joel’s to play with from here on out. You do as he says, maintaining eye contact as you try to lift your hips and shimmy your underwear down. You fling them off your leg and they land nearby with a quiet thud. 

“Good girl,” he says, crowding between your legs. You wrap them around his torso, hooking your ankles over each other and try to pull him closer. Your hands reach out and toy with the buttons of his shirt, desperate to feel more of his skin. 

“Y’want to take this off, do you?” he asks, cocking his head and taking your chin in between his fingers. “Gonna have to ask nicely.”

“P-please, Joel, can I take it off?” you ask, hoping the pleading look in your eyes is coming through to him. 

“Little nicer,” he says, and you can feel his cock hardening against where it’s pressed on your belly, loving the way he has control over you right now. 

“Please, s-sir,” you say, casting your eyes down from his.

“Go on, then,” he says with a nod of his head, releasing your chin. Your fingers scramble forward, clumsily clutching at the buttons of his flannel, trying to quickly undo them. He shrugs the shirt off, revealing his chest to you, salt and pepper hair curling along it and you smile and run a hand down his pecs and down to his belly. 

Joel inches forward while you’re preoccupied and grasps underneath your thighs, lining himself up and pushing himself into you again as your mouth pops open to inhale a sharp breath. 

“Thas’ right, just take it so good, honey,” he murmurs as you flutter around him, your body readjusting to the size of him another time. “God, just so tight f’me.”

He rolls his hips into you, groaning as he starts to become consumed by the feeling of you giving him everything he needs. He stares into your eyes with a lustful, half lidded gaze and you see Joel’s index and middle finger dip into the bowl he’d set next to the two of you on the table. He brings them up to your eyeline, covered in leftover whipped cream from dessert.

He hooks his thumb to your chin and slides the two fingers over your bottom lip, and you don’t dare to open them until he says, knowing that’s what he’s waiting for. He spreads the cream along the seam of your lips, watching you dutifully keep them closed for him, eager eyes trained on his.

“Open up ‘n taste,” he says, “Need somethin’ in that pretty mouth of yours.”

You instantly lap your tongue out and he jams his fingers in, his knuckles smearing the cream from your lips that you hadn’t gotten yet. Your tongue wraps around his fingers, lips closing and sucking the light cream as the sweetness hits your tongue. 

“Mmm,” you moan softly, loving the combination of his fingers in your mouth while he thrusts himself gently in and out of you. Joel tugs his fingers out of your mouth and he repeats getting a finger full of whipped cream, upping the speed of his hips snapping into yours along the way. You gasp a little around his hand as he shoves his fingers deeper, making you gag for a moment. 

“Prettiest sound,” Joel comments with a smirk, and you continue to lick at his digits as they sit in your mouth. You start to nibble at them, giving them a swift bite and Joel hisses through his teeth. 

“Oh, you wanna be rough, huh? I’ll show you fuckin’ rough, sweetheart,” Joel spits out, a more menacing tone to his voice now. He sticks his entire hand into the mixing bowl and brings it to your face, smearing the cream down your cheek and trailing it to your neck as you watch on, eyes filling with shock, and unsurprisingly to you, desire. You try to catch his fingers in your mouth along the way, but he’s too quick, pulling away just in time to give you nothing. Joel goes back for more in the mixing bowl and palms your chest, pulling your dress down as he starts to spread the whipped cream all across your now exposed tits. With his palm splayed out, he presses you down, laying you flat onto your back across the table.

“Bite the hand that feeds you and you’ll get punished, got it?” Joel asks, and you tremble a little at the way his cock is now stretching you full each time, as far in as he can seat himself. 

“Yes… sir,” you manage to get out as your body starts to jostle with Joel’s increasing effort to pump himself in and out of you. His eyes train on your tits, bouncing with each movement as they pop out of your dress more and more. 

“Good girl,” he replies, keeping his palm pressed onto your chest, groping at your tits among the sloppy mess of the whipped cream, his hand slipping and sliding across your curves, brushing your nipples. You clutch onto his arm and dig your nails in as you feel the pleasure building, all the sensations he’s sicking upon your body completely taking over. 

Joel’s other hand grasps underneath your back, pulling you up slightly for his head to bend down, his mouth warm and inviting against the hard buds of your nipple. 

“So fuckin’ sweet,” Joel says, lifting his mouth off of you to lick his lips, revealing the mess of whipped cream now in his beard before he dives back in, biting and swirling his tongue on your nipple, alternating between both of them. 

“God, feels so good, don’t s-stop…” you cry out, and you hear Joel grunt a little, realizing you’d forgotten yourself momentarily. “Please… don’t stop, sir.”

He makes a noise of approval against your tits and continues the way he’s absolutely ravaging you, sending you calling his name in a few short seconds as he finds the sensitive, spongy part inside of you with his cock. 

“Tha’s right, lemme just take care of you, fuck you till you forget where you even are.” Joel’s voice is so low and rumbling, the way it gets when he’s fully enraptured in the moment, in you. 

You start to reach your second high of the night, writhing and moaning on the table as Joel looks down at you from above, watching with satisfaction at the way you’re absolutely helpless for him, face contorted in pleasure with your lips parted so perfectly as you whine his name. His name. Everything he’s seeing, everything you’ve become in this moment, is all because of him, and the thought alone spurs Joel towards his own climax, feeling the perfect shape of your cunt fluttering around him and squeezing as repeating waves of pleasure take over you. You’re shaking in his grip, and Joel scoops you up, pulling you flush with his chest as your hips buck forward into his while you come. 

He groans with the effort of slamming into you, riding your high out for you as he continues to set the pace, starting to move faster and more erratically, desperate to fall off the edge with you. 

“F-fuck, right there, gimme what I need, little doll, lemme use you.” 

You slump slightly in his hold, your body exhausted yet still needy for him, your over sensitive cunt now still fluttering around his length, begging him for more. He slips a hand between your bodies, rubbing tight circles on your clit and you cry out, your face scrunching up and tears nearly springing to your eyes, unsure of how your body can even take more from him right now, but it urges you on nonetheless. 

You can hear him sliding in and out, the obscene slickness gushing around the two of you, your thighs and dress starting to get a coating of your arousal and it makes you feel even more feral to feel just what Joel does to you. It’s never made sense to you, the way he affects you, can make you wet just by existing, but you can’t say it’s ever been much of a problem.

He doesn’t let up, panting breaths right near your ear as he buries his head in your shoulder and takes and takes and takes. You feel yourself tumble off the edge again into bliss, and Joel follows right behind, hips stalling as he pumps a few more times into you and stops with himself fully seated inside of you, releasing everything he has. 

You clench around him, not sure if you’re crying or sobbing or moaning at this point, so consumed by everything Joel is and the way he’s so much a part of you right now, your bodies melded together. 

When you both come down, you feel your vision speckled and starry, looking into Joel’s eyes, pupils completely blown out.

He dives in for a lengthy, opened mouthed kiss, running his tongue along your lip as you both clash your lips and tongues and teeth together over and over. His hips buck a few times as you start grind into him slowly, and he makes a whimpering sound, breath catching in his throat. 

“F-fuck, baby, y-you -“ Joel pants, his face twisted in a confusion of pleasure and overstimulation.

“Feels good still?”

He nods, lips finding yours again as you pleasure him a few more moments, his half hard cock grinding into your spent cunt, both of your arousals a mess around your bodies coming together. He finally tears his mouth from yours with a loud grunt and pulls back enough to signal you to stop. He’s breathing heavily, closing his eyes for a long moment before opening them and smiling at you. 

“Little devil,” he says, smile turning towards a smirk. 

You open your legs wider, and as Joel pulls out and steps back, you hold your dress around your hips so he can see the absolute mess he’s made you tonight, and he gazes in satisfaction between your thighs. A small shake of his head follows a breathy laugh. 

“Don’t fuckin’ tempt me.”

“I’d never dream of it,” you tease, and Joel lurches forward, scooping you up underneath the legs and carrying you towards the stairs. 

“Gonna get a filthy, messy little girl like you in the shower, then in that bed where you’re gonna wear absolutely nothin’ cause I said so, and I’ll teach you a few more lessons, how’s that sound?”

You laugh, genuine and clear before wrapping a hand around his cheek. 

“I’d bet anything you’ll fall asleep before I’m even out of the shower.”

Joel frowns and makes a disapproving tut before he cracks a smile he’d tried to hold back. 

“God damn it,” he murmurs quietly with a slight irritation. “Hate that y’know me so well, darlin’.” Joel shakes his head a little, and you know that you're right - you can see the sleepiness in his eyes despite how badly he wants to do everything on his little list. The combination of a hearty meal, a good fuck, and wine alone the way tends to knock your husband right out every time. 

“I’ll still wear nothing, if you want me to,” you offer teasingly, just to add insult to injury. Joel’s eyes narrow in your direction but he can’t help but picture the vision of you, angelic and asleep, body on full display for him tomorrow morning where he can pick right back up where you two left off. 

“Ain’t even a question.”

taglist: @aphterthoughtt @bbyanarchist @amy172 @hazzaismyreligion @ohheypedrito @msmorningstaarr @kamcrazy123 @madhere

[focusontheheart]

On the eve of FOTH’s release, we want to reach out and list expectations we have as a team. For the past year, we have dedicated countless hours into providing Horizon fans just like us with free content made with professional standards. We know not every romanceable character is everyone’s flavor; however, we ask that you remember they are someone’s, especially those who worked on the route. 

💟 Be Respectful. This game is a year's worth of dedicated volunteer work from fellow fans. Do not discredit their hard work by needlessly hating on another ship, narrative, or art from our game. This includes popularity polls that pit the devs and fans against each other, such as favorite love interest/route, or most common ending.  💟 NO Ship Bashing. We will not tolerate any ship bashing of the routes or characters on any of our posts. This game was made with love and respect for all characters and ships, and we expect the same from players.  💟 Do not spoil the game for others. Many players will have a different experience, depending on what route they start with and what decisions they make along the way. We kindly ask that you do not spoil a route or path for other players. To aid in this, please use the hashtags below so people can whitelist to avoid spoilers. The spoiler embargo on our socials (and any of the team!) will lift one month after release (June 24). 💟 Please do not manipulate the game assets for any reason. We do NOT consent to our assets being used for commercial purposes. 💟 No "Constructive" Criticism. Do not tag our social media or any of the individual devs with negativity or criticisms. 💟 If you do want to tag our socials with your hype, please use #FOTHreact and #FOTHcharactername (ex. #FOTHErend, #FOTHTalanah) for the respective routes to prevent spoilers for other players. 

We thank you very much for your excitement and support. We wish you happy playing, and many smooches for Aloy. 💘

[canisalbus]

Just recently discovered your tumbler and I love everything about it. Your art style, the time period you have chosen, the background you are building for the characters. Top notch.

Though I do have a question : going back through all the asks people are tending to focus on sunny boi Vasco supporting nerve wracked Machete but a relationship needs to be equal so, what's the turn around?

When/how does Machete say 'don't worry babe, I've got this'? He is after all a very accomplished and competent person inside his areas of expertise.

Because of his trusting and altruistic nature, Vasco has been burned in relationships before. Even though he's good at reading people and might sense that he's being treated unfairly, he endures it because he doesn't want to be the bad guy and upset the other person. He's from a well known noble family, he's affluent and he's considered to be very good looking. Over the years he has met countless people who wanted to take advantage of him, his status and his assets in a way or another, and he has hard time tolerating that kind of greed and dishonesty. Machete has never been interested in his pedigree or wealth, and the way he's utterly devoted to him makes Vasco feel confident and secure.

He's been forced into various boxes and moulds all his life, his family had high expectations for him and did their hardest to whip him into a shape that satisfied them (now that I think about it, Vasco's parents probably would've been proud if their son turned out more like Machete, hard working high achiever). He tries to not let it bother him, but on some level he does feel guilty for letting them down. Machete is Vasco's biggest fan, he earnestly believes in him and loves him the way he is. He feels like he doesn't have to pretend to be something he's not around him, but at the same time Machete's influence makes him want to be a better person. Vasco admires his ambition, knowledge, diligence and perseverance. Machete tries very hard to be a good person and do a good job, but because he's so difficult to get close to and puts up such a cold facade, his efforts tend to go unnoticed. Vasco sees this side of him and finds it very charming.

Machete could use a lot of tlc and Vasco is happy to be there to provide it. The fact he's able to have such a profound positive effect on someone and their quality of life makes him feel needed, he feels like he's contributing something good to the world and that gives him strength. It's not like his only job is to pat Machete's head and tell it's going to be alright though, they enjoy each other's company and feel at ease together. In a way Machete also has a calming effect on Vasco. On his good days he can be very pleasant company, he's interesting to talk to, he's kind and gentle and even awkwardly funny at times, he has an eye for beauty and is able to appreciate small good things in their lives. He isn't an expert in expressing his affection physically, but when he does, Vasco can trust that his attempts are authentic.

Machete may not always know the correct words and gestures to comfort him, but he's a good listerer and does his best to be there for him. He never belittles or makes fun of him, he's patient and forgiving when Vasco makes mistakes, and will drop everything if he's ever in a need of help. He often makes Vasco feel seen and understood like no one else. Machete is good at solving dilemmas and coming up with working solutions (or preventing problems from ever arising, more often than not), and Vasco has the nerves of steel to keep him grounded and stable at a time of crisis. Together they make a very efficient and resourceful team.

Their jobs are very similar, Machete works for the church and Vasco is a secular politician, but they both deal with diplomacy and foreign relations. They end up working together often, and since Machete is very competent in what he's doing, he often ends up helping and advising Vasco.

I think despite their differences, they're just very well in tune with each other. In the ways that actually matter, they have common interests, tastes and worldviews. They enjoy similar things. And the parts that differ tend to augment them instead of driving them apart. A lot of their fondness stems from the fact they have a lot of shared history, they met at a young age and their friendship-turned-romantic was a very formative experience for both.

Should it be necessary, Machete would face God and walk backwards into hell to protect Vasco.

[cheseely]

Hi, I'm sure you get this often but I really love your recent genshin artwork, do you think you could explain your painting process? I love the colouring effect in that piece especially. Thank you.

Thank you so much! I got a few messages like this from my previous piece (thank you guys for the staff pick & blaze btw, I really didn't expect all the support😭) so I thought I'd share a bit of my process below as thanks.

I always do my lineart first because it feels less daunting to me when applying colours. I will do some rough colours first so I can easily adjust it to my liking.

Next, I make sure to separate each character into different layers when I clean it up. I like to work one character or object at a time, it's less overwhelming for me that way, and I can use clipping masks for ease of rendering.

I'll usually apply some adjustment layers on top of the base layer for shadows and highlights. When I say base layer, I just mean a layer of the colour without any effects.

I like using 'hard light' for shadows, and 'screen' for highlights, but you can really use whatever clicks with you.

Rinse & repeat this process for every character in the illustration. Note that I make Furina the focus so everything behind her will be less rendered than the elements in front of them (Neuvillette is a lot less rendered compared to Furina, and the painting in the back barely has much shading).

Once I render out each asset in the illustration and add shadows & highlights to my liking, I then to merge foreground/ midground/ background elements so I can make the overall illustration clearer to read. I don't want it to feel messy or overcrowded, and I think it's easy to get tunnel-visioned in small details and lose the clarity of the entire illustration.

Make sure to zoom out constantly and make your illustration B&W to check the values to see if the drawing is clear.

I created a simple S curve with the values for readability, and have the foreground elements have darker values & contrasts.

As for the BG, I wanted to add more textures into the drawing, particularly the painting in the back. Here's an image of it when I only added in the base colours.

I use the smudge tool to create more texture once I fill in the base colours. Since I don't really 'paint' anything with the textures in, I just put in the base colours and take a textured brush to smudge it. However, over-smudging can lose the painterly texture I want, so I usually smudge vertically or horizontally in a single stroke to create a sense of movement.

Another thing to note is that I only textured the BG, I thought it would help it blend into the background a bit better. I usually wouldn't do this for the foreground because I want those elements to be clearer.

At the very end, I tend to spend a fair bit of time just fiddling with more adjustment layers, various filters (such as blur, or noise), or liquify small details to really finalize the piece. Just vibes...basically this is me

Anyway, I hope that was helpful & it made sense!! Feel free to message me if you have any other questions & I'll try my best to answer! I might've glazed over a lot since I didn't wanna make this too long.

[roo-bastmoon]

With 17 versions to buy and 8 versions combined for 160 streams per Spotify account, plus Melon and FLO streams now counting, of course Jungkook’s Seven is charting high and sweeping awards. Firstly because it’s Jungkook of course, and secondly because it’s been given every possible advantage.

My (perhaps controversial) opinions about that are below the cut.

Honestly? I really can’t feel good about any “first” or “most” or “fastest” records achieved by this single—catchy as it is—which wasn’t written or conceived by Jungkook and has nothing much personal or deeply meaningful about it. It’s a fun feel-good summer pop song, for sure, but no more groundbreaking than, say, Bad Decisions (in my opinion… I have no musical expertise.)

But I can’t feel super great about all the records and awards because this many versions immediately restocked and shipped and auto play and promoted to radio and ads and leadership hyping only this while Jungkook says he wants to be the one and only artist to conquer kpop and pop for the next thousand years… it all just doesn’t really sit right with me.

When compared to the 10 months Jimin forewent sleep, food, and showers to have a hand in every aspect of his first (and deeply personal and symbolic) album, which was never sent to radio or restocked, got split tracks and delayed playlisting and shady articles, plus not one kudos or congratulations from leadership even after he made history for South Korea and stocks soared…

Forgive me, but it all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It is ruining the song for me.

Some things like culled streams and sales are out of the company’s control. But the things I mentioned above were all possible for Jimin’s Hot 100 #1. Even if every Tannie has total say in their projects' sales and marketing, and everyone was on board with only Jungkook getting the Hybe America "red carpet" treatment, I can’t lie and say the stark difference feels fine. It doesn't, and I confess I leave the headphones in every time Seven comes up in the playlists now.

I’m not jealous. If anything, I have a warped sense of pride that Jimin has done so fantastically well despite so many, many obstacles stacked against him. I love to champion an underdog and I’m glad I never need to doubt his success was organic. I actually feel extra admiration for how humble and hardworking he continues to be—no resting on any laurels for the It Boy. I'm so glad he is my ult-bias.

*sigh*

Listen to me.

I know Jungkook and Jimin are both genuinely good people. I know they are sincerely talented and hard working. I know they truly love each other. I know all members are legitimately happy for each others' success.

I know what’s important to me may not be important to them, nor what they want for their careers. And even if I feel their company’s making shitty decisions, I know my place as a fan.

So I trust them. And I simply hang in. I hope lessons were learned for smoother, fairer future releases. Because neglecting assets makes zero business sense, and perceived favoritism can erode the group’s bonds and tear ARMY apart. It is, frankly, just plain stupid.

So I may dislike things about their solo era rollouts and I can't bring myself to sugar-coat it; but I mostly try to keep my negative thoughts to myself and find things I CAN celebrate with other fans on an open timeline.

I never want another Tannie to feel anguished and misunderstood the way Hobi did about JitB’s physicals.

Watching Jungkook’s face here on his London live when he talks about people hating him just haunts me. It guts me. I can't stand it. That kid was going through it and I don't believe he has a malicious bone in his body, so it just really upsets me seeing him like that.

There’s so, so much about this company, this industry, this culture that I just don’t understand. But I trust Park Jimin completely. As long as Park Jimin loves and supports his members, God knows, I will too.

So!! On that note...

We have Jungkook’s birthday to celebrate next week and Taehyung’s album to support the week after that. I’m going to do my best to rest up and gather some good energy for these things!

And of course, we must congratulate our Jimin, who made history again today, and no matter what, will always set the standard. I just know he's cooking up something else for us with all these weeks of silence, and I cannot wait to go BERSERK for it whenever it drops.

I’m not really sure I had a point to this post. It’s just that I have been mulling all this over for a long time, and finally felt well enough to sit up long enough to come online and type up my thoughts.

I guess what I mostly wanted to share with my friends here is that it’s okay to feel really disappointed and even enraged at the way some things play out over the (hopefully life-long) careers of BTS members. Don't let folks gaslight you. Call it like you see it. (Maybe keep sensitive things behind a cut or in the DMs--and of course, please change your mind if you get better insight. In the end, only the Tannies really know what's going on with the Tannies.)

But while I’m still side-eyeing the company so hard right now, I’ve decided to love and support the boys as people and artists. I'm trying to believe the best in everyone. I’m still an OT7 Jikooker.

You don’t have to agree with me, and if you need to unfollow, I understand. But I figured I should just tell you guys (especially the new followers) where I am at with all this.

Love, Roo

[turrondeluxe]

I love the concept canceled movie of Mikey becoming a foot solider it kind of makes me wonder how they would have went about setting Mikey up to be a foot solider though I know the context was that he felt unloved but like becoming a foot solider because of that is a really big thing because he's putting himself in the enemy position of his family not only that but he's apart of a league that's owned by Shredders Daughter Karai like that movie better better have heartfelt moments if were to be made than again I can see where they were going with this with how they sat up Leo in the first movie he doesn't return Mikey's hug but he does hug Donnie Raph also doesn't bother notifying Mikey that Leo's back which is really subtle building on Mikey's future feelings because they maybe small they still set up that nagging part that could be pushed and developed.

i will always mourn the fact that we never had this movie actually, because it would have shown a facet of mikey never seen before where he willingly ditches his family to join their lifelong enemy. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO INTERESTING.

Also specifically because while i can see the family slowly driving mikey away from them, there's one specific brother who would truly be completely destroyed by that: Donnie

in the movie donnie and mikey are literally inseparable, they are never not one moment away from each other, be it in a literal sense and in the non literal sense (they were always in a call with each other even when mikey was was out of the lair). So it kinda makes me wonder how they also would have had dug deeper the fact that mikey somehow felt like he lost donnie's support in the sequel? the one brother that refused to leave him?? I feel like it would have hurt a Lot.

Also taking into account that is mikey the one we are talking about, he loves his family and his family is the most important thing (this is a fact about all the brothers tbh but . ITS MIKEY...)

it would also have been really angsty because in the prequel comic we see that donnie manages to make an active tracker of sorts that doesn't need any other extra devices to track it's target, and i feel they would have incorporated that fixed tracker in the movie somehow. Maybe when he tracks for mikey after being too worried about him and finding out hes in foot clan area or smt and the family getting ambushed and demutated when trying to "save" him and oh how mikey would blame himself for it all...

another interesting story asset lost ....

Though i feel like the part of mikey joining the foot in 2007 is truly not so far fetched. In the movie karai is actually honorable and the foot clan, in this iteration at least, truly feels like the most trustworthy. Karai and her ninjas (because she is their leader here) actually helped the brothers and fought alongside them, so mikey was probably lured by this sense of trust theyve built up in their last encounter and would continue to feel safe with them until he realizes they were using him. Which, again, would have been very interesting to see.

The fact that we never got this mikey centric movie will always be a sad loss because of how mikey was actually going to prove himself by saving his family all by himself

it hurt my heart we never got it

[crescencestudio]

Intertwine Post-Mortem

i lied. i don’t know if this qualifies as a post mortem. i don’t even know what a post mortem is LMFAOkxkak

but this is my post intertwine release “devlog” chock full of dev experiences, behind the scenes looks, and more for those who want to know more about the process of creating intertwine and thoughts i’ve had in reflection of release/experiencing otojam!

it’s long bc in usual crescence fashion, a bitch loves to talk. so buckle in gamers!

my thank u offering for all the downloads and reviews

Committing to OtoJam

for those who didn’t know, i entered otojam on a sort of Whim. because i am deep in the alaris trenches, i didn’t want to distract myself for too long from my main game, especially when there are people who have paid to support development. after talking to some friends, i thought otojam would actually be good for me. i’d been struggling with burnout and was in a creative rut. on top of that, i’d been doing this dev thing for almost 2 years with no full game to show for it (cries). even if otojam would take time away from alaris, perhaps it would give me what i needed—a kick of Motivation, a dash of Creativity, and some GD Fun.

so i decided about two days into otojam to officially enter it! And thus Intertwine made its appearance

the graphic that started it all

Oh, we are Otojamming

the intertwine editing team assembled and we got to work. because i already had a pretty solid idea of the game (it had been an idea i was sitting on for a while), there was less time spent on brainstorming and more time spent on writing and editing the script. for playtesters, i already have a group for alaris, and a couple of them kindly offered to playtest intertwine for otojam. i spontaneously decided to cast a va after some discussions with the editing team, and max joined. then, with One Week left of otojam, faefield productions entered the scene!

regarding development, the first month was largely dedicated to the script. weeks 1-2 were writing and fleshing out. weeks 3-4 were dedicated to editing and fine tuning. when my editors were reviewing the script, i was creating all the art assets. after the first month, i would say we had most of the gui, one cg, and the base sprite done!

at that time i felt pretty good. we were making good progress! i even was productive on alaris and irl work!

then the Second Month happened lmao.

i always forget the Horrors of fine tuning a build. i’m projecting right now, but i’d argue a lot of developers forget or underestimate the fine tuning/ quality testing stage. during the 4th-6th weeks of otojam, i wrapped up all the assets needed for the beta build. i finished the remaining cgs, all sprite expressions, and the rest of the gui. then i coded all the features into a beta version: learning how to create a messaging system for the first time, nailing the multiple iteration mechanic, cutting and editing the voice acting audio, and other Horrors that i’m sure i’ve since blacked out from my memory all happened during the sixth week of otojam. i was truly in the Coding Trenches.

BUT i got the build done and was able to send it out to playtesters for a week of quality testing. spoiler alert: the build wasn’t perfect and there were many bugs that needed fixing. the seventh week—the second to last week of otojam—was dedicated to this as well as my own tinkering so that the build felt completely Perfect (making sure expressions r exactly how i want them, transitions and audio fade perfectly, animations are perfect, that godforsaken clickable string to get to the next iterations that No One was clicking. all of the tiny aspects that make a game feel really polished). I am Not good with grinding. Suffice to say this was probably the most miserable week.

me every hour: DID U CLICK THE STRING

But once again WE MADE IT! Near the end of the seventh week, orpheo of faefield productions reached out to me and after gushing to each other about how big of a fan we are of one another, we spontaneously collaborated for a custom OST. Enter the eighth week, and we were ALL grinding. playtesters trying out a second build within only two days. editing team making fine tuning edits for the best script. coding. voiced lines that needed the slightest bit of tinkering.

Come 3PM on june 30th (otojam ends 6pm june 30th) and i’m coding the new music room, adding and double checking the new ost, and more. Two hours pass and it’s 5PM. We have less than an hour to submit. 5:30something comes by and with shaky hands, i release the game page and submit to otojam.

flashbacks to college 11:59 deadlines fr

On top of last week crunching, i was also dealing with extreme prerelease stress. i’ve never released a full game before. a demo, i can change. i can still tinker. this isn’t the final product. But a Full Game? My god. what if ppl hate it? or worse, what if ppl are so apathetic, they don’t even look at it and it gets sent to the void? after all, this year’s entries are stunning. they are Bold and Creative and Fun and intertwine is so….

Boring?

Some Lessons—Take Them or Leave Them

lesson 1. don’t listen to prerelease anxiety. that is the devil talking to you. if u have friends at least they will play and be nice to u. if u don’t have friends and no one plays, well it’s not the end of the world!!!! there’s always the next game. and u fckn know what? at least u Made that shit. keep ur head high, icon.

lesson 2. have fun and take care of yourself. the reception to intertwine has been amazing. i couldn’t be happier with it. but at the end of the day, the reason i look back on otojam fondly is because of the very dear friends i had to support me and have fun with me thru it all. life is meant to be enjoyed. it’s meant to be about memories, not metrics! never forget what’s truly important in life (cheesy, everyone boos me, but i’m right idgaf)

where would i be without them

lesson 3. plan. there is room for spontaneity and flexibility. after all, u can’t guarantee everything will go to plan. but with otojam being a crunch, plan as much as you can beforehand to not stress urself out during it. with intertwine, i had a somewhat outline and at least a pretty good idea of the concept, game mechanics, narrative design, mood board, etc. i had character concept art of van. if i had to do all of this during otojam we wouldn’t have made it i’m so srs. i also think when u plan as much as u can before, u have more room and time to have fun during! more polished build and more loving memories it’s a win win.

early concept art tbh i never thought it’d see the light of day

Typical Brand of Crescence Cheesiness

if you’ve made it this far ur a real one. all i have left to say is thank you for the support. while i was proud of intertwine (until the last week of otojam lol), i didn’t know what the response would be. to receive so many kind words has been unbelievably heartwarming.

as i said before, i’ve been in this game dev thing for 2 years with nothing to rly show for it. but during otojam, i could really feel the skills and experiences i’ve gained shine thru. i had a better handle on narrative design, coding things, integrating gui, and even more dev friends to talk to (thank u to all my friends who have played and messaged me U DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I LUV U). it was rewarding in a different sense compared to releasing a game, and i really am glad i did otojam to give me that perspective <3

a lot of things seemed to cockblock otojam this year (or so i’ve heard) between the sheer amount of entries (go us tho), the release of a lot of aaa otome games, and then twitter literally breaking less than 24 hours after otojam ended. even with all that, i’ve been so humbled and honored to see ppl enjoy intertwine. the comments i’ve gotten have honestly made me emotional, with many of you comparing it to games that i heavily admire and or expressing emotions i never would’ve dreamed to have been able to instill.

the otojam experience has been incredible, from the memories to the game to the reception. and i’m very grateful for all the people who made it that way! thank you for enjoying our silly little game made with our grubby little fingies. i hope you all continue to enjoy intertwine (and the other otojam entries from this year) and van!

i luv u all!

[witch-and-her-witcher]

For @asnowfern, a gift for @acotargiftexchange! The support and positivity of your responses left me brimming with creative inspiration, so please enjoy this Nessian First Hybern War (and after) AU.

Thank you @popjunkie42-blog and @wilde-knight for your beta reading and handholding. <3

Ao3 | 1, 2, 3, (4)

--

nessian | E | marriage of convenience, first hybern war AU, angst, whump, emotional slow burn

War brings them together, a bond binds them - but is that enough for two broken people to find love with each other?

~*~

“Mates?”

Nesta doesn’t slow as her fingers caress the silky fabric of her last presentable gown for one final moment before folding it delicately and adding it to their lone piece of luggage.

“Correct. Mates.”

Elain ponders the word, the implication, as she peers out the foggy windowpane. She’s washed, dressed, hair plaited neatly for travel just as Nesta had assisted with first thing this morning. Her sister will always look as delicate and beautiful as she deserves, no matter if she has the energy to see to her needs herself. 

And while she does have more energy — maybe Nesta isn’t ready to give up some of the caretaking she’s been doing for Elain. It settles her, to know tacitly that Elain has been cared for each day, even if by Nesta’s cold, killer’s hands.

“And this … being mates? It’s why you stole away to wed in the middle of the night?”

“I apologize for not waking you. I had Madame Lassau from across the way sit in, if you’re concerned with your safety. She is as mean as she is ugly, you know that, no one would have dared –”

“Sister,” Elain cuts her off. “You’re married. Mated, whatever … that means. And now we are leaving the only home we’ve ever known. It’s very sudden, that’s all. Some concern is warranted.”

“Opportunity tends to present itself in that manner.”

“And love?”

Nesta pauses her packing. The weight she puts on her resting hands push Elain’s second pair of polished heeled loafers into the folded fabrics and down to the bottom of the luggage. 

Love.

No. Certainly there was no sudden eruption of love between her and the mighty warrior. But he’d slain their enemies and protected their village, Elain. He seems taken with Nesta at least physically, and even went so far as to clean up their home. And he’s fae. Automatically better off than any human can be, had to come from wealth like the stuck-up lordlings who traveled into their territory.

Nesta hasn’t forgotten the call from his brothers-in-arms: “prince.”

It can’t be true … But if Bahay is a prince’s estate …

They wouldn’t know the burr of stubborn hunger any longer.

And Nesta wouldn’t know the heel of Tomas Mandray.

Love? No. But survival? Yes.

“Don’t be silly,” she says curtly, falling back into motion once more.

Elain’s expression turns dour. “Love is a silly thing, isn’t it …”

“I didn’t mean –”

“Perhaps I’ll rest before we travel.”

Nesta watches her sister’s wistful shape drift to the bed for one last mournful slumber in the linens that will remain. It will sell with the rest of her father’s estate of assets and the funds will be transferred to her husband.

Cassian.

Cassian, who laughed when she asked after a surname.

She knows many fae with family names, but apparently in his region they aren’t kept. So Nesta will be, is, Cassian’s wife – mate, he says will be more meaningful to fae. It will all be worth it. An escape she never foresaw as a possibility.

The kettle clatters intentionally down below.

Nesta’s back stiffens.

Early, he’s arrived early.

“You move so silently for someone of your size,” Nesta says by way of greeting as she clears the stairs.

Cassian looks up from the kettle he’s using to heat water for tea. His lips tighten at the edge. Nesta angles the side of her face with blooming red stripes from the elder Mandray’s slap. Another mark of a man’s touch.

But she doesn’t have to worry if it will disgust him, her weakness and inability to keep herself out of trouble. They’re tied together now in the eyes of the court — or the bleary-eyed priest and witness Cassian had grabbed off of the streets, anyway.

It makes Nesta feel off balance.

“In my nature.”

She stands silently, watchfully, over his shoulder where he’s crouched and stoking the fire. Uncertain how they’re supposed to act now.

“Things went smoothly with the Village Clerk?”

“Yes, the marriage has been documented and the notice of the new head of the Archeron family. Should hear something in a few months and the funds will be transferred then.”

Nesta wrings her hands – stops herself, balling her fists and keeping her body still. She is not nervous. She will not look as displaced as she feels.

“The sale will take so long to process?”

It was wishful thinking that she would have her own spending money in their new home, but Nesta still had held on to that small hope for self-sustainability. To instead rely solely on the generosity of her new husband. Mother above, she hasn’t even ensured she’s his only wife – mate – what if they keep more than one? What if her and Elain will be living off of scraps?

Cassian rises gracefully to his full, lumbering height and Nesta forces herself not to take a step back. 

“Something about exchange of currency and access to the treasury now that normal processes are starting again. Sorry, not much of a head for economics.”

“Some heads are better off growing pretty hair,” Nesta says before she can contain the words. Silently wishes she can gobble them back up before Cassian can change his mind on his wicked, cold-hearted wife and dissolve their union, cancel their move. “I – that was … Not what I meant.”

Cassian cocks his head, that pretty hair of his moving with it. “Didn’t mean which part, Nesta?”

The sound of her name off of his tongue has no right to sound so intoxicating, so richly erotic in his accent, the last vowel of her name floating into the wind after the click of his tongue on the ‘t’. 

Something flutters in Nesta’s chest.

This close, without the cloy of death and battle soaking through them both, Cassian smells temptingly male in all the right ways. Lingering tobacco smoke and campfire and that strong alcohol he’d brought on their evening out. But stronger is pine and something else fresh that cuts through it all like a jolt of adrenaline. The scent makes Nesta feel alive.

“That my hair is pretty?” Cassian continues. “Or that I’m not suited for anything too intellectual?”

Nesta presses her lips firmly together. Unwilling to answer either question.

The kettle starts whistling.

Cassian winks. “Either way, you’re right.”

read more

[dinsdjrn]

i'll be gone, you'll be gone | j. miller | 2.1k

part of: devils we know

joel miller x f!reader

summary: part of 'devils we know': a series of stand-alones | a close call sends joel into a spiral, a hard conversation leaves everything on the table. [wc: 2.1k]

content warnings: 18+, mature themes, angst adjacent, hurt/comfort, talks of death, anxious!joel, (minor) injury, existentialism, poorly written/poorly edited.

timeline order | previous part | next part

💌 a/n: oh you wanted me to throw you right into a turning point in their relationship... here we are! tysm for all the love and support on this series. as always follows the same reader and joel through the pivotal points in their relationship, but can be read as a standalone. inspo: 'If We Were Vampires' by Jason Isbell

The fragile heart you protected for so long

Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong

Hope is fragile and needs to be nurtured. It can heal all wounds and tear them open anew. Hope isn’t something that is far and few between, if it was, you wouldn’t be here. For a long time is was masked as the fear of death, but it forced you to survive. Now, it is the driving force that keeps you alive, hope that you’ll live to see the day the world finds itself again. 

Hope breeds love and gentleness in an unforgiving world. Hope is something you found in Joel and Joel found in Ellie. You had so much love and hope for your little family you had formed. For the first time in years real joy, love, promise of a future and a family healed your wounded soul. 

You had only just begun building this domestic life with Joel and Ellie in Jackson. You weren’t in the dark to the hardships they had faced, but you accepted that you may never know all the details. Everyone in Jackson knows loss, but they’ve also learned how to heal. To start again. 

You and Joel were immediately drawn to one another, you knew it as soon as he took residence in Jackson. At first, you hesitated to accept his affections; having gone through so much to get to Jackson. You had a fragile heart you spent years learning how to protect. Slowly, piece by piece, Joel brought your walls down. You healed each other in places you didn’t know were broken. 

You and Joel had been together, officially, for a few months. You kept each other warm through the early spring and summer had finally settled on Jackson. The days were hot and long but as the sun set and a warmth clung in the air not willing to let go of the heat of the day, you felt comfort and peace. 

Today was not like any other day you had in a long time. Today scared you, today reminded you how fleeting time is and how careful you have to be. 

Maybe time running out is a gift

I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift

And give you every second I can find

“Joel… please, I am fine.” You huffed as he began fussing to the medic. 

“Ending up here means you were not okay!” He rubbed his hand across his chin and sighed. 

He stopped pacing and sat next to you putting his hands in yours. 

“It’s just when they said they were bringing you back to medical, I didn’t-“ he paused, “I didn’t know if you were going to be okay. I was just scared I was goin’ to lose you too.”

You sighed at his reaction. You knew going to the medical centre would cause Joel to have a full on panic, but it was procedure. 

You were never one to go one patrol, you were comfortable with it, but you were usually stationed in the barn. Horses are what you knew best before the outbreak and arriving in Jackson it was your biggest asset. This was supposed to be a safe perimeter patrol so you could monitor the progress of a gelding recovering from lameness due to cellulitis around his coffin joint.

It was supposed to be simple; go out for the morning patrol, get the horse, Blues, to do more than loping and trotting. Go home and assess the next steps. Instead you, of course, went on a patrol that had the first sign of intrusion in months. Across the river a gunshot rang out agitating Blues. You did your best to calm him down and get him to relax, but as soon as the second shot rang closer he threw you from his back. You had been on top of a fairly rocky hill and Blues wasn’t by any means a small horse. When you fell you landed on your back and hit your head in the process. 

The members of your patrol immediately came to your aid and you had been slightly confused. You swore to them you were okay once you had come to, but procedure required you ride back and get checked by medical. One patrol member, Derek, returned you and Blues to Jackson while the others went to find the source of the gunshots. You knew this is what you had to do. Head injuries were no joke, and it was better to be safe, you would just have to talk Joel down. Calm the storm that would fester and make home to his anxiety.

You don’t blame him, he was scared of losing people he cared about. His own memories often betrayed him, assuming the worst was his only way to cope. 

“Joel, I need you to look at me,” You spoke softly. 

He slowly raised his head, eyes meeting yours. 

You reached and softly touched his cheek, he leaned into your touch.

“I am okay, I fell. A few bumps and bruises, but I’ll be perfectly fine in a few days.” You gave him a soft smile. 

This side of Joel was rare for anyone but you and Ellie. He was closed off and cold until he let you in. Once you were in there was no part of your soul he didn’t take up residence. He was a good man, a great father and a survivor above all else. 

“Can we get outta here? I can’t fuckin’ breathe.” He was gruff again as soon as the medic came in. 

“Yeah, of course,” the medic, Jane, replied. “Just take it easy alright? You’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow.” 

“Thanks,” You smiled. You had already felt extremely sore and you were not looking forward to having to wake up every few hours throughout the night. 

With his hand in yours you left the medical centre and made you way to the barn. All you wanted to do was lay down, but you knew you had to talk to Joel. Make sure he was okay. 

It's not the way you talk me off the roof

Your questions like directions to the truth

“Joel, you alright?” You asked taking a seat on the steps that led to your little dwelling unit. 

He gave you a small smile and stood in front of you. It was early afternoon at this point and he looked exhausted. You’re sure waves of anxiety were hitting him over and over again. He was just trying to keep his head above water. 

“Joel..” You pressed on. Bringing him out of his thoughts and back to you.

“You don’t understand. I told them you didn’t need to go on patrol.” He sounded frustrated. 

“Hey,” you whispered, “It wasn’t up to you. And I’m still right here.” 

“But what if one day you’re not?” His voice broke.

His pain evident on his face, he was reliving every loss he has ever experienced. From Sarah, to Tess, being in arms length of losing Ellie. You could see that his mind was sinking letting the ‘what if’s?’ win.

“Then I would have fallen to the curse of living, just like everybody else. It’s okay to be scared, I’m terrified. Everyday I wake up and take breath not knowing what’s going to happen next, and that makes life so beautiful. Not knowing how brief my time will be.”

Your voice quieted to a whisper

“There’s not enough time in the world for me and you, Joel. Today just gave us a taste of that. So, let’s go lay down. Hold me and don’t let me go, okay?”

For a moment you saw his features relax. He nodded, needing rest equally as much as you. 

It's not your hands searching slow in the dark

Or your nails leaving love's watermark

By the time you had woken up the sun peeking in through the window had turned gold and you knew it was the early hours of the evening. Joels arm was draped over you, your back pressing into him, using his arm as a pillow. He was drawing a pattern on your bicep and you sighed softly. 

“I’m sorry, darlin’,” he whispered kissing you on the forehead. 

“There is nothing to be sorry for, Joel,” you voice still rasped with sleep. 

He hummed at you. You stretched your shoulders slightly and began to sit up. Your bladder betraying a slow evening in bed with Joel. 

When you had finished in the bathroom, you noticed Joel had moved to the couch. There was a small cloth wrapping on the table. 

“What’s that?” You asked.

“Take a look,” He nodded toward the item. 

You picked it up and placed in in your lap as you sat next to Joel. His arm reached around your shoulders. The other resting on a throw pillow. His leg was crossed over his knee. He looked much more relaxed than he had earlier when he was on the edge of full blow panic. 

You began to unfold the small towel that wrapped the present. It revealed a large golden tulip claw clip. It had clearly been quite the piece in its prime, the pink of the tulip had since faded. The spring and some of the fake gold had rusted, but it was one of the most beautiful things you had ever seen. You felt your heart swell and tears began to well in your eyes. 

“Oh Joel,” your voice soft. “It’s so beautiful.” 

“I’ve, uh, been holding onto that for a few weeks. You said tulips were your favourite. Felt like the right time to give it to you.”

You leaned over and kissed him softly and slowly. You had no idea he hung onto your favourite flower. You had mentioned it once earlier in the spring. You had said they were your favourite because they were the first flower to both come and go. There was beauty in their brevity. You never expected Joel to remember such a small detail. Yet here you were, with a tulip clip in hand and a man you were certain you loved beside you. 

If we were vampires and death was a joke

We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke

And laugh at all the lovers and their plans

“Hey, I have a question for you?” He asked. 

“Yeah, shoot.” You shot him a slightly confused glance. 

“Are you scared to die?” He asked softly, as if his words would send a dagger through you. 

“Of course, Joel.” You started. “I’m sorry if I made you believe otherwise.” 

“It’s just…” He shifted uncomfortably. “You didn’t seem scared earlier, and I’m fucking terrified.” 

“Well, it just,” You sighed trying to find the right words. “We don’t get forever, Joel. If we did we’d be less inclined to love so fiercely.”

You studied him, expression softening at your confession. He looked at you expectantly as if to carry-on with your train of thought. 

I hope it isn't me who's left behind

It's knowing that this can't go on forever

Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone

“Am I scared to die? Of course, I’m terrified. But to know that our time together is finite, and yet we will still choose and love each other, that makes it worth living. I will die knowing how fully I lived my life. God, I hope that it isn’t any time soon, but if it is, I was loved.”

He sighed, “I just hope I wouldn’t get left behind.” 

You smiled softly, the room had grown darker, and with it Joels features softer. 

“Just know that… that, I love you,” You admitted. 

“Always.” He hadn’t said it back. 

It squeezed at your heart that he hadn’t said he loved you in return. It would make it all too real for him. Today had already done that, in due time, he would find the courage. For now, his concern and need to be close to you would have to be enough to satisfy. There was more ways to love than words, and you had learned that with Joel. 

You kissed him softly, your lips brushing his. He took your face in his hands and put everything he couldn’t bring himself to say into the kiss you shared. He needed this to be enough for you, his desperation was present in the way his lips moved against yours. Any hope that he had for you two was carefully placed in this moment, and you felt it. 

You broke apart foreheads resting on one another. The space between you full of all the words you couldn’t bring yourselves to speak. 

It was enough for you to hope.

Maybe we'll get forty years together

But one day I'll be gone

One day you'll be gone. 

comments, feedback and rbs are so appreciated 🥺❤️

tags: @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @quality-lust @tieronecrush @beskarandblasters @pedritosdarling @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @ilovepedro @sofiparallel @happinessinthebeing @aestheticangel612 @javierpenasimp @brie-annwyl @stupidthoughtsinwriting @evyiione @cambleuu @laysmt @imonmykneessir @wand-erer5 @orcasoul @chibimosa @maviee @midgetpottermills @steveharringtonswh0re @scoliobean @tightjeansjavi @pedgeitopascalreads @joelsversion @undrthelights

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Jake Sisko

By Ames

We’ve talked a bunch of times on A Star to Steer Her By about how Jake Sisko is the best. He’s one of the best child characters in the whole Star Trek franchise, in both writing and acting (second to maybe Mezoti and/or Rok-Tahk). His relationship with his father is depicted so beautifully in so many episodes, as we’ll surely discuss below. And that kid’s personal style bypasses Wesley Crusher’s in every single way.

So this week, we’re picking up a Jake Sisko holonovel to read as your SSHB hosts declare our favorite Jake-O moments and scrape up some bad moments to consider. Our definition of what a Worst Moment is – which was shaky at best to begin with – gets really stretched this week. So enjoy them all below, listen to our chatter this week on the podcast (jump over to 1:01:52), and prepare for Jake Sisko to make a deal for you to have great damn day.

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

“A” is for Apple, “B” is for Best friend ever Jake is just a straight-up good kid. So good that we happily forgive everything on our bad list, and this early moment really established what a pure heart he has. When Rom pulls Nog out of Keiko’s school in “The Nagus” and Sisko is about to get all racist at the Ferengi for corrupting his son, we learn that Jake has been sneaking off to teach Nog to read, squashing all the jumped-to conclusions and being the example that everyone on the station needs right now.

Who wears the lobes in this relationship? Speaking of teaching things to Nog, when the two form the Noh-Jay Consortium in “Progress,” which is adorable enough on its own, Jake somehow schools Nog on the value of owning land when they start trading assets around. How a Ferengi doesn’t understand real estate is beyond me, but Jake knows a good deal when he sees one. Turns out Jake’s got the lobes!

My friend’s real sorry for what he did In our Nog coverage on the podcast, I mistakenly sullied Jake’s name, claiming he started a fight with the Skrrean kids in “Sanctuary.” Well I was dead wrong! Jake, the ever goody-two-shoes, actually tries to prevent the fight and then does one better by patching things up with Tumak in line for the replimat later. How I could think Jake would have a vicious bone in his body was my error.

I need to find what’s me While we gave Nog lots of props for pursuing his dream of being the first Ferengi to join Starfleet, Jake goes the opposite path, and we love him even more for it! You’d think with a father commanding a whole station, Jake would go the Starfleet route too, but in “Shadowplay,” he reveals he’d rather pursue something he’s more passionate about.

First let me get the hang of flying at impulse When the away team gets captured during “The Jem’Hadar,” Jake and Nog sneak aboard the runabout to escape. Despite not knowing how to pilot the thing, Jake is able to elude disaster and invaders long enough to be rescued. Add to that the fact that they were there to ensure Nog got a passing grade, and Jake comes out as the hero of this episode! (Sorry, Quark.)

If I go, you’ll be all alone Even though he wants to spend time with Leanne, Jake decides to accompany his father on the lightship in “Explorers.” This episode gives us some more of those patented lovely father-son moments of the two being honest and supportive of each other, as Jake expresses his interest in writing and also that he’s concerned about Ben coping without him if he went away to school.

Something called “Sliding into Second” An episode later in “Family Business,” Sisko relents to Jake’s insistence that he get a girlfriend by going on a date with Kasidy Yates based on his son’s matchmaking skills. And it turns out Kasidy is perfect for Ben! Now whether Ben is perfect for Kasidy is another matter altogether that we hinted at a little in our Ben Sisko post, but let’s just say Jake has solid taste.

To my father, who’s coming home I cannot overstate how beautiful “The Visitor” is, and at the center of it is Jake’s relationship with Ben, undoubtedly the strongest asset of all of Deep Space Nine. Jake’s love for his missing father is so strong and pure that he dedicates his life to getting him back from the white void. Is it what Ben would have wanted? Absolutely not. But is it perfect for Jake Sisko? Tremendously.

You may be a little rusty, but you’re still the Chief When O’Brien has gone through literal decades of torture after his brain adventure in “Hard Time,” who better than Jake Sisko to help reacclimate him to all his tools? Jake, who apprenticed briefly under the Chief earlier in the series, shows characteristic patience and empathy for the man who is clearly in need of much rehabilitation and therapy.

The line between courage and cowardice Cirroc Lofton gets his time to shine in “...Nor the Battle to the Strong,” providing an understandably terrified face to the front lines. Not only does he scrub up to help Julian and the other combat medics as injured soldiers start pouring in, AND thwart a Klingon siege by blasting out the ceiling, but he also reminds us that war is absolutely horrifying, in case we’ve forgotten.

You can always find something that’ll make you smile Yet another feel-good moment comes from Jake in the entire lovetrip that is “In the Cards.” While trying to cheer up his dad by getting him a baseball card, Jake and Nog find themselves running a series of fetch quests that add up to one thing: finding ways to make everyone have a nice day, even in the middle of the Dominion War. It was a breath of fresh air in a very serious season.

Let people read it and decide for themselves While Nog and the rest of Red Squad were entirely taken in by the opportunity to play war, Jake saw through Watters’s bullshit immediately in “Valiant.” He’s able to scrape Nog and Dorian Collins together and save them from destruction. And I’ve got to give him credit for endeavoring to write both sides of the story, without bias or condemnation, even if Watters deserves it.

—

Worst moments

Watch the wheel, not the girl Boy, that Jake Sisko has a type, and that type is older Bajorans. We first meet Mardah in the flesh in “The Abandoned,” and not only is she a Dabo Girl (whom we know have sex acts with Quark written into their contracts), but she’s also too old for him. I don’t know what age of consent laws are in the future, but when she’s 20 and he’s 16, it just feels on the wrong side of legal.

Stop calling her Nerys When things with Mardah don’t work out, Jake sets his sights on another Bajoran who’s definitely too old for him in “Fascination”: Major Kira. And sure, you could justify this one by saying that everyone on the station is affected by Lwaxana Troi’s Zanthi Fever, but out of all the uncomfortable pairings, it was this one that just felt kinda gross about it.

I guess I just forgot you’re a Ferengi While we blame Nog for his terrible behavior during their double date in “Life Support,” Jake isn’t innocent either. First, how he let Nog weasel in is just a goofy plot device to make the episode happen. But also, Jake shows naivete on his part for not understanding that this is perfectly normal for a Ferengi, and blaming his friend for his upbringing isn’t a good look.

So you’re Jennifer Sisko, but you’re just not my mom Okay, this one’s a little on Ben too for trusting mirror Jennifer to be alone with Jake, like a fool, but Jake’s whole attitude toward his mirror mom in “Shattered Mirror” plays right into her trap. He is so blindsided by her presence that he doesn’t think rationally, even if he’s heard the stories about how nefarious everyone is in the alternate universe. Jake, don’t trust this imposter!

I can spot a creative soul a galaxy away Jake’s weird thing for older women shows up again in “The Muse” when Onaya easily manipulates the poor boy. This is just an episode after “Shattered Mirror,” when his mirror mom took advantage of his trusting nature and eagerness to believe people have good intentions. And this soul-sucker preys on him so easily because he lets himself get taken in.

How much laundry is too much laundry? One last one that’s on both Nog’s and Jake’s list somewhere, since the two are so intertwined: While Nog has become a complete square in “The Ascent,” Jake has turned into a slob so comically disorganized that it stretches credulity. Nog is literally gone for several hours and when he’s returned, Jake’s laundry coats their quarters. How is that even possible?

These visions, they’re not worth dying for This is one of those instances that’s more bad for Jake than bad for us at home. When Ben is catatonic from prophet visions in “Rapture,” it’s Jake’s responsibility as next of kin to decide his fate. He chooses for his father to live, partly selfishly, even though it’s not what Ben would have wanted. But really, I say they should have put this decision on Joe and not a teenage boy.

Just remember, Bashir is spelled with an I Consistently, it’s a running joke on the show that Jake’s spelling is poor. It comes up a couple of times! Nog has to correct all his spelling in “The Ascent.” Sisko points it out when he reads Anslem in “The Muse.” And clearly he spelled Dr. Bashir’s name wrong in his article from “...Nor the Battle to the Strong” because Julian reminds him of the spelling in “Call to Arms.”

This is where I belong After all the Starfleet personnel have abandoned the station in “Call to Arms,” Jake opts to stay behind to do some journalism work, hoping that his status as the Emissary’s son will keep him safe because the Bajorans will revolt if some harm comes to him. So he effectively makes himself a hostage of the Dominion just for a writing gig. Weird flex, Jake-O.

What about freedom of the press? And then the stories Jake writes about the Dominion occupation don’t even go anywhere because Weyoun keeps intercepting them in “A Time to Stand”! Jake, my dude, you can’t go writing clearly biased stories and thinking they’ll make it to your audience. You think Weyoun’s going to let you interview him when he knows your angle? Oh you sweet summer child.

Anything for a story I’ll admit that Jake’s actions and uncharacteristic ability to see through bullshit in “Valiant” were commendable, but his reasons for being there in the first place were thin at best. He weasels into Nog’s trip to Ferenginar to try to get an exclusive interview with the Nagus. Presumptuous much, kid? This after promising to Nog that he wouldn’t be acting as a reporter on his mission.

Please, no more Vic Fontaine! When Nog returns to the station in “It’s Only a Paper Moon” after his leg replacement and clearly suffering from PTSD, the support he gets from friends, family, and professional therapists alike is laughable. Even Jake. It strikes me as out of character that Jake fails at being tolerant of Nog’s wishes during a painful time. Maybe get the guy some comically large headphones instead of kicking him out next time.

—

Send this one off to the presses because we’re done! We’ve still got some more Deep Space Nine characters to spotlight coming up, so keep following along for those. We also hope you’re watching Enterprise along with us over on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. You can play some dot-jot with us over on Facebook and Twitter, and check your spelling before submitting because evidently there’s no Clippy on DS9!

[luminiferocity]

Here be headcanons

It's happening! Kicking off the first day of 007 Fest 2023 with some MI6 worldbuilding headcanons for Headcanons Day (AKA the HCs crammed into my WIP to make sense of film-world MI6)

Q Branch is just a small part of Six (and everyone else thinks the double-oh programme is more trouble than it's worth)

Q Branch makes no sense. As film!Q is a shorthand for the mission support teams for narrative ease, Q Branch seems to run independently and Q himself is a polymath taking on all the roles.

Eh, I'm okay with genius Q because I love him 🤷 Other Q Branchers are all wildly smart and eccentric in their own ways. That's Q's hiring policy

Most analysis, missions, etc. are run through logical departments with hundreds of staff, which the problem children doubles-ohs and Q Branch build on for their specialist missions

Lots of Six staff don't like the double-ohs and Q Branch by extension – they burn through the budget, cause havoc and get away with multitudes, and a little more secrecy and intelligence in the SIS would be much preferred

Maybe it's for the best that Q Branch is away from HQ up-river at Millbank Pier (based on this excellent post)

Essentially, Mallory has hundreds, maybe thousands, of staff and assets globally, yet it's 1% of his staff that causes 99.9% of his headaches

Heracles isn't the first off-book project and it won't be the last

Mallory was used as a character to hang the Heracles plot on, but it leaves a lot of questions. Why was he even involved? Why isn't it the responsibility of the Defence Science and Technology Lab?

I figure all the UK's intelligence agencies have joint off-book operations like the Heracles research, some farmed out to private contractors, etc. So, Heracles isn't special, it's just that this secret got found out and had big consequences

Maybe Mallory had a hand in Obruchev defecting, so those consequences were extra personal

Also, imagine being Mallory: was Chair of the committee looking into MI6 shadiness, only to get hired as M and get tangled into all this shadiness

Q & Moneypenny besties: great; Q & Moneypenny & Tanner: even better

After Spectre, they didn't know who to trust, except one another. They keep Six running and they're each other's rocks and best bitching buddies

Q, despite what he says, is the most dramatic of the three. Moneypenny, of course, delights in winding Q up. Tanner isn't as catty as those two, except for when the mood strikes and he's the worst

Tanner gets swept up in various antics, often Bond's, along with Q and Moneypenny. However, he's perfected bland-faced innocence and Mallory never gives him grief for it. Q and Moneypenny find this very annoying

[childotkw]

i was wondering how do u think luke’s family reacts to the change? as in his closer family

rhaenyra watching her sweet boy go from a pure loving child to a distant predator

jace watching his brother who once couldn’t even defend himself from his own family become rabid with desire to spill blood

daemon would be especially confusing, would he indulge the boy’s violence and find a kindered soul or maybe he would be as horrified as the rest watching luke change

omg would it have any physical changes on him?

such a great au i’m overthinking the fuck outta it

An excellent question! None of them would hate Luke, there'd just be an adjustment period for all of them.

Currently, my view on them are:

Rhaenyra - At first, she would be too relieved to notice. She had thought she'd lost another child, and having him come back to her in spite of his uncle and the gods, would override any initial concern over his changes. But she's a seasoned mother and Luke is her favourite child - she'd pick up on things quickly, and then the worry would set in. She'd mourn the loss of his innocence and would cling to any glimmer of his former self that made an appearance, though she'd understand and would never reject him - because in her eyes, that would be tantamount to wishing he had died.

Jace - Similar to their mother, Jace would just be relieved that his brother survived. I'm tossing up between whether he'd deliberately ignore the more concerning changes in Luke, or if he'd be the first to catch on. Probably the second, because I like the idea of an older brother struggling to let go of those engrained beliefs, and having to confront the truth that his brother doesn't really need his protection anymore. Either way, Jace, while he'd be concerned, would still back Luke 100%, and would try to connect with this new version of his little brother. Aemond is definitely on his shit-list though and he'd hate the fact that Luke is more than a bit obsessed with their uncle.

Daemon - He'd be the one Luke goes to because if anyone can understand the dark thing building in Luke's heart, it would be his stepfather. Daemon would treat Luke carefully, watching his growth with interest and encouraging him to learn to fight more viciously. Daemon, with his mind full of war, would also see Luke and Cannibal as a massive asset, and once Luke expressed interest in it, he'd be the one to talk Rhaenyra around to letting Luke out to fight. He still loves Luke, of course, and is protective in his own way, but he understands that there are some things people never recover from. All he wants is to ensure Luke is prepared so that the next time he faces Aemond, things are more in his favour.

Rhaena - I'll mention Rhaena as well, since I want to give her friendship with Luke it's proper due. I don't see them as romantically interested in each other, instead, they'd likely be best friends. Rhaena, I feel, would be the first person Luke actually confessed to - explaining why Cannibal claimed him. He'd tell her about eating Arrax, and the shame he feels. Rhaena would be a huge pillar of support for him, and her acceptance of him would be a recurring theme of their friendship. Luke has always respected and valued her, even before their betrothal, and Rhaena can't imagine a life without Luke by her side - whether that's as her brother, her husband, or just her friend.

That's as deep as I can go at the moment, but I hope that gives you an idea! I like drawing parallels between characters, and I like the juxtaposition of the Blacks unconditionally accepting Luke, while Aemond struggles to be accepted by the Greens due to his actions.

[prettyboyeddiemunson]

ayo! p⭐️ steve hcs?

OMG I NEVER THOUGHT OF PS!STEVE EYE—

okay so first of all, i imagine he & eddie are really good friends. they knew each other before the industry, and they are still friends in it. they’ve done films together as well, but it hasn’t ruined their friendship at all. that’s how close they are, and how much they just love & adore one another. it’s actually so damn cute that it’s sickening.

but let’s talk about steve on his own now. we all know he’s got a hell of a good body and some amazing hair, all of which become his biggest asset in the industry. he does mostly straight & solo p**n, but does the occasional gay film as well. usually, those are only with eddie, because he trusts him more than he would any other guy, but he’s done a couple with other men, too. he has a good size dick—it isn’t eddie’s, but it’s not tiny or average, either. steve is more length than anything, and has pretty good girth, but again, it’s not like eddie’s.

as for the types of films he enjoys doing? for being a p**n star, he’s actually kinda picky! he loves the standard stuff—films with a lot of giving & receiving oral sex, light bdsm, messier sex, and masturbation are a few examples. i headcanon that eddie helped him with some of the more hardcore stuff that they wanted steve to do, because super rough & hardcore just isn’t in steve’s wheelhouse. i can see eddie coaching him, being super supportive, giving tips, and maybe even going to set that day so that steve had someone to turn to if things got to be too much for him.

for kinks & turn ons in films, i think steve would have such a huge praise kink, so he would do a lot of movies where that’s involved (giving & receiving, but mostly receiving). he also loves doing work with lots of dirty talk, fingering, breast play, ass play, and body worship. i can also see him doing a lot of voyeuristic films for some reason. but overall, he’s such a vanilla boy, so vanilla p**n is really where he’s going to be most comfortable. he doesn’t mind going harder and doing things out of the basic zone, but he would prefer the tamer side of things.

i’m not sure what his screen name would be. i can see “valentine” being in his name, though, for some reason. and he’s such a pretty boy, so something like beau valentine, maybe? i think that, unlike eddie, he won’t keep his real first name in his pseudonym. he will want to separate from that as much as possible, so he’s going to choose something way off of his real name.

i don’t see him as being heavy in the party & casual sex lifestyle like eddie, either. steve has sex on camera for a living, he goes home, he unwinds with a good movie and something else relaxing, and that’s it. drugs, booze, dating models, fucking anything that’s willing, it’s not for steve. he wants a serious relationship with one person, and he was never much for drugs and excessive alcohol use. the few parties he tagged along to with eddie, steve ended up being the designated driver for eddie after he got completely trashed. that wasn’t the bad part, though; he would get recognized, have to answer questions, hear uncomfortable comments, get men & women trying to get in his pants. so, he would rather just avoid them.

[cervidaedalus]

"Palworld critics are just corporate bootlickers for Nintendo" Nobody is fucking defending Nintendo's property rights. The point is that the company behind Palworld not only has shown support of generative AI and their previous titles have been a Frankenshit monster of other popular games. Craftopia used bought assets which is fine in the indie game scene so long as the rights to those assets allow commercial use, but that shows that the studio likely doesn't have the manpower and creative power to truly make their own. Another game I enjoy, Garden Paws, was made by a dev studio of two people and a musician. It's a decently large game based off Animal Crossing, but manages to still be enjoyable and stand on it's own. All art is derivative, but there's a difference between taking inspiration from something, and straight up trying to pull directly from it for personal gain. WoW and FFxiv are both tab-target mixed fantasy MMORPGs, but WoW is not FFxiv and FFxiv is not WoW, and while FFxiv was inspired by elements of WoW and other MMORPGs, the passion and commitment the dev team has put into this game has allowed it to stand on its own and be as successful as it is. Pokemon spawned an entire subgenre of monster collecting, and each individual franchise has made it's own spin on things, which is how some of them have survived for two decades or more. Palworld is- as someone on Twitter put it- "creatively bankrupt" and exists as "profits over passion". There are some monster designs- like that Serperior looking thing, or the one with Galarian Meowth's -exact- face, or the belt and arms on the Cinderace-but-grass-type that are -directly- pulled from Pokemon. So... it's either a case of generative AI which the devs are being dishonest about (as Steam requires studios to disclose AI use), or their artist simply doesn't care about plagiarism (and, miss me with the 'but parody' business, the game isn't close enough to actual Pokemon to be a true parody, it's, again, a Frankenshit Monster of Pokemon, ARK, and the currently popular Blizz/Fortnite/etc art style). If this game actually tried to be its own thing, had its own artstyle, it could truly be something of it's own, but the game and the studio's other titles are really nothing but a "lets see how many popular things we can capitalize on to make a profit". AI use or not, it's kind of disturbing that such a game can get as many sales as it did. Like it pisses me off, personally, but I'm not terribly worried about it because if the devs are this devoid of any genuine love for their IPs (and they did kinda dump Craftopia to focus on this) it's likely going to fall to the wayside and be relegated to a FotM title when they can't push enough new content to keep it interesting.

[seramilla]

I’ve found a way to distinguish the asks of Clara/ Velvette without them ret-conning Clara/kiki.

In my opinion all the asks that deal with Clara/velvette take place in the past throughout velvette and Clara’s various breakups, however all of the asks with Clara/kiki take place in the present.

It’s easier so that the relationships don’t get ret-conned because Clara/Velvette’s relationship really helps Clara open her eyes to see that not all relationships are going to work and not all relationships are going to be easy work. And it also helps Clara grow as a person and realize that her feelings towards Velvette are ones of fear and resentment but she doesn’t want to let Velvette go because in Clara’s mind, Velvette is her first serious relationship so she’s afraid to let it go.

Kiki/clara’s relationship is based off of feelings of mutual respect and love for each other. There’s hardly any yelling or arguing because they work together in order to conquer the problem that is bothering them instead of fighting. It’s not Clara v.s Velvette and the rest of hell, it’s Clara and Kiki v.s what stands in their way.

Just because they’re fictional doesn’t mean we can’t add that growth and development as a character and in relationships. And toxic relationships no matter how people disagree are a huge point in development in a character’s growth in their mind and as a person. Because it affects the way they act around people and how they do things.

Speedy for rambling I wanted to get this off of my mind lmao

Bumping up this ask because it’s relevant.

No, this is all very insightful! You’re basically on the same page as me, anon. I am just kind of flying by the seat of my pants with the Clara relationship stuff. I’ve just been leaving it up to you guys to float ideas and then trying to incorporate that into a narrative. I had no idea how it would go. Kiki came out of left field and kind of put the impetus on Velvette to start to give a damn. But it’s been a fun challenge to balance out the Velvette favorable asks with the ones supporting Kiki.

You are so right about different types of relationships contributing to a character's growth, and how learning from toxic ones can lead to healthier ones down the road. I think that's the fun part about character analysis through shipping; everyone has different ideas, and you throw them together, and it plays out like a TV drama of sorts, haha! I don't think that's a bad thing, either!

I think your analysis is pretty accurate. Not every relationship in media is a healthy one, and often characters can have very complicated, complex relationships and that evolves over the course of the work. Especially by nature of these people being in Hell, it makes sense that not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time.

This is kind of how I've mapped out the quote-unquote "canon" events around Clara in my head thus far:

Velvette is Clara's first real relationship. Velvette initially pursued her because she thought she'd be an easy route to Carmilla. She never really took the relationship seriously, treated Clara like another one of her assets, and just generally left Clara feeling confused with very off again/on again feelings. It's up for debate whether they were ever exclusive, since Velvette is also involved with Vox and Valentino to some extent.

Clara meets Kiki when Odette starts seeing Verosika. During a lull in Clara's relationship with Velvette, she and Kiki hit it off and start seeing each other. Again, not sure if they're exclusive at this point.

Velvette sees Clara with a new beau and starts making moves. She's determined to weasel her way back into Clara's life, and makes several poor, underhanded attempts, and blows up about it each time when it doesn't work.

Kiki defends Clara a lot in the beginning. As a Hellborn, she's not afraid of a Sinner, especially not Velvette. At some point, Clara gets brave enough to confront Velvette herself on her BS, and she has to do this a few times before Velvette gets the picture that it's over between them.

Velvette starts to catch real feelings. She doesn't realize what a good thing she had in Clara until it's gone. This leads to a lot of explosive, childish behavior from her. Whether or not she's willing to pursue Clara in a more genuine way, or whether it's truly over, is up for debate.

I have no real vision for what is, and isn't, endgame for these three, or if there even is one. Maybe Velvette or Kiki will reign supreme. Maybe both of them. Giving Velvette the boot? Eventual polycule? IDK! I'm just rolling with the punches!

Thanks for sharing!