#I’m not a huge fan of the background and colors

[sashimew-the-cat]

The bounty and the hunter

(Click for better quality, non shredder under the cut!)

[ilovejoostklein]

heyy idk if you like ski aggu too but could you write a reader x ski aggu x joost fic with the reader being a rich, spoiled groupie who wants to hook up with them? tysm 💕

i love this omg.

-

I Want It All

You’re a rich, spoiled international student who wants nothing more but to meet your favorite musicians

nsfw: smut

-

You were bored, with too much money to know what to do with. You were an international student in Germany, spoiled rotten your parents hoped that being in a new country and acclimating yourself to a new environment would teach you some independence. In a way they were right, you’d come to this show completely alone, just telling your friends you’d done it spontaneously as a white lie. 

The truth is you’d planned to go to the concert for weeks in excruciating detail. Obsession was an understatement for what you felt for these two singers, Ski Aggu and Joost Klein. Your studies had bored you, school was always too easy thanks to your private school background and rigorous expectations set throughout your life, hard work came naturally to you and became more like a routine than a conscious effort. Spring was turning to summer, the heat, the flowers in full boom, vibrant green trees, and endless possibilities excited you to no end. You had your daddy’s money to waste, the world was like your playground and you’d become accustomed to getting what you wanted no matter what. 

You’d gotten tickets on a balcony to avoid getting overly crowded and to be under the bright lights for too long. You wanted to keep your distance from others, watching closely, singing along to some songs, and recording half the concert to have something to watch back on and show your friends. When the concert ended, you were probably the only one who wasn’t upset it was over.

You carefully snuck past the crowds and approached a security guard who was by the backstage area. After a bit of failed negotiation, it took slipping a few hundred euros into his hand you asked him if he could do you a favor and see if he could get you backstage. You embellished, saying that you were a huge fan and just wished that you could get a few of your CDs signed. It was partly true, you were a fan and had the CDs in your ridiculously expensive purse, but you had other intentions, or rather hopes. 

The security guard escorted you to the backstage area. It was quiet, the walls making the sound of the music that continued to play as people left muffled. All you could hear besides that was your footsteps and the heavier ones of the security guard, who was one of the tallest and scariest men you’d ever seen. It failed to intimidate you though, money always worked wonders to make a scary man sweeten up and tuck his tail between his legs. 

“What do you work as?” The man’s accent was a bit thick and he was forward, you noticed he was eyeing down your outfit

“My dad owns a company.” You answered with a smile, making the man chuckle and shake his head. “But I’m just a student.”

“You are wearing very expensive clothes, so forgive me.” He explained a bit apprehensively, worried he’d accidentally offend you, “Are you sure you just want CDs signed?”

You could tell he was asking as an offer, not over suspicion. You can see that he was willing to pull some strings for you, but you were confident you didn’t need extra help. You only smiled, nodding your head innocently before he led you to a door, knocking three times. You could hear the commotion coming to a halt, the loud conversation of two men, and the sound of a football match. 

“There’s a fan here for you.” The security guard announced loudly. “Very beautiful.” He winked. 

You felt your heart fall to your feet. It felt like an elevator crashing, dramatic and terrifying you stood there motionless as you saw your distorted reflection in the colorful glass the man across from you had. They were up on his forehead now, exposing his eyes that he’d kept hidden for the show. They were beautiful, murky blue like the middle of the ocean. 

“Sprichst du Deutsch?” He asked immediately, you shook your head a bit embarrassed. “Oh, so sad.” He frowned. 

You introduced yourself impulsively before asking your question, “I was wondering if you could sign some things for me.” You asked nervously, pulling out the CDs and a sharpie, one meant for Joost and one for himself. “Please.”

He hesitated for a bit, “Ja, sure.” He took his CD, signing it quickly. “Joost!” He called loudly out over his shoulder. 

Joost sat up from the couch, he had a cigarette between his fingers, grey smoke lingering around him. He looked better up close, taller than you’d expected, His eyes lingered on you, they weren’t invading or judgmental, but slightly confused. You didn’t speak and just gave him the CD just as nervously, watching as they scribbled their signatures. 

“You smoke?” Joost asked, as he handed you back the CD you felt his fingers graze yours. 

“No.” You felt that you were already disappointed, seeing his face make the same expression that Aggu’s had. “Sorry.” 

“Oh no, that’s good.” He suddenly smiled, stepping aside you felt your heart begin to race, blood rushing to your face and ears. “Do you want to come inside for a bit?”

You felt yourself enter almost a trance as you stepped inside the dressing room, smelling of expensive men’s cologne, pungent tobacco, and beer. You glanced over to see the security guard had since left, leaving you completely alone. You didn’t understand why you were so apprehensive now, regret creeping in confused you, after all, this is exactly what you wanted. 

“Did you come here all alone?” Joost asked, walking over to one of the couches and beckoning you over. 

“Yes.” You answered, smoothing down your skirt as you sat down, with both men at either side of you. The couch was warm and plush under your skin, you tried to relax by leaning back as you faced one of the handsome men seated next to you. “I got a ticket last minute.”

Joost smiled again, his eyes looking you up and down before settling on your purse. “You must be a rich girl.” He joked, “Are you studying here in Germany?”

You nodded, distracted by Aggu reaching over your thigh and putting a beer bottle in your lap. You winced at the coldness, holding it in your hands as he opened it for you and pushed it to your lips. 

“Here, you must drink if you don’t smoke?” Aggu asked, you felt his arm settle near your waist, his fingertips hardly touching your exposed skin. “It’s good, German beer.”

You hated beer, but you felt you were already starting on the wrong foot, making how spoiled you were too apparent. “I’ll try it.” You took a sip, grimacing a bit from the bitter, earthy flavor. “It’s fine.” You said when you realized they were anxiously waiting for your response. 

They chuckled, eyes fixated on you to the point it almost felt like you were naked. They looked down at your figure, wrapped away inexpensive, pristine clothing you looked completely out of place. They thought of their cheap CDs stuffed in your bag worth thousands, the blush on your cheeks, and mascara brushed on your lashes probably from luxury brands. They wondered why you of all people were at one of their shows. 

“You must have a boyfriend, no?” Aggu asked suddenly. “Why would he let you come here alone?”

You shook your head, and just like that a shared fantasy began to manifest itself. Aggu nodded with a strained smile, instinctively looking at Joost who was focused on his beer and crushing his cigarette, then at the door to tell him that he needed a moment of privacy. 

The two men excused themselves as politely as possible, saying that they wanted to go out to have a smoke instead of doing it rudely in front of you, but to help yourself to any more beers in the meantime. Joost shut the door quietly, leading Aggu to the closest exit. 

They stood outside, the night was a bit eerie, hardly any stars were visible as they were in the middle of Berlin, nothing was heard but the rustling of trees, and all they felt was the cool and against their skin that was quickly heating up. They were nervous, desperately needing a moment to gather themselves and decide what to do about you. It seemed like an opportunity fell into their laps, but it didn’t mean that it would be wise to take it. 

Even if there was tension between them, almost a sort of unspoken desire that they wanted the same thing, no one spoke. They smoked in silence for a while, the only sound of their breathing. 

“I want to fuck her,” Aggu said suddenly. His tone was shockingly, almost offensively casual as he lit his cigarette. 

Joost hesitated for a moment, flicking the lighter over and over as his cigarette burned and wasted between his fingers. He thought of you again, wondering what you were doing in the room all alone, and what thoughts were racing through your mind. He was strung out tonight, the show allowed him to get pent-up energy out, but never all of it. He smoked until he couldn’t bare it and drank enough to calm his nerves, but he realized that nothing would make him feel better than to fuck someone, it’s been so long, and seeing that you, how beautiful you were, and knowing you probably had enough money to buy him made you more attractive.

“I do too.” Joost finally answered, taking a short drag from his cigarette, wondering if Aggu was serious or just saying it as a vulgar compliment.

“We can fuck her together.” Aggu’s tone was still overly casual, it intimidated Joost as much as it began to excite him. “I think she’d like that.” 

It was subtle, his face was still as he felt overtaken by disbelief and reluctance as he’d never been in this situation before. He thought of it, a spoiled girl like yourself getting fucked by two men was beneath you, and knowing that only made him desire it to the point it was almost torturous. He didn’t realize he could want something this much, the fantasy replaying in his mind was tempting, and he didn’t want to let you slip through his fingers.

“How do you know that?” Joost questioned, his demeanor becoming standoffish. He couldn’t imagine the humiliation he’d feel if you turned them down, or worse preferred Aggu over himself. 

“Don’t be stupid.” Aggu threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. “Let’s go, I’m getting cold.”

Joost did the same with his half-smoked cigarette and trailed behind Aggu, watching from just outside the door as he entered back into the room. Your eyes lit up immediately, looking up at him with stars in your eyes he began to suspect that he’d been right about you. Closing the door behind him, he still stayed in the same spot, his back leaning against it.

What came next shouldn’t have surprised him. He watched as Aggu sat down beside you, a drunken smile on his face, hands smoothing down on your arms before he leaned over and kept his face close to yours. 

“Are you sure you don’t have a boyfriend?” Aggu’s voice had softened, his hand grasping your thigh making you instantly grow cold. “You’re too pretty.”

“I don’t.” You mumbled, staring directly at the floor you couldn’t find it within yourself to face him. 

You were allowed a moment away from his burning gaze but soon felt his fingers hold your chin and force you to turn your head. It was a bit jarring to see him without the ski goggles, but still, you couldn’t help but wonder why he’d willingly cover up such gorgeous eyes.

“Did your parents pay for your ticket?” Aggu questioned, your chest ignited with a combination of shame and excitement, you knew exactly what he thought of you.

“Kind of, they send me money often.” You admitted the look on his face made you instinctively squeeze your thighs together. Lust had completely taken over any sense you had.

“That’s cute.” Aggu’s hand squeezed down on your thigh, his thumb tracing circles against your soft skin. 

Everything about you was begging to be ruined. Your skin was almost unrealistically soft. He couldn’t imagine how high maintenance you were, how expensive your self-care products and your trips to the spa were. All for him to be able to hold you and eventually have his way with you. As he continued to touch your thigh, his eyes hadn’t left yours, leaning over he finally caved into his desires.

Joost couldn’t help but stare. He watched as your glossy lips parted and your eyes fluttered shut.  Aggu’s lips were plush against you, he watched as he brought you closer, his lips parting from yours only for his tongue lying flat against your neck the feeling made you squirm in his arms. The sight entranced him, he wanted to touch you but couldn’t find it in himself to move.

“Joost,” Aggu spoke against your neck making you squirm. “Stop watching, come here.”

He sat down next to you nervously. Aggu stopped kissing your neck for a moment to position you perfectly in the center so that Joost wouldn’t just have your back turned to him. 

You felt too many hands on you, squeezing your breasts, grazing over your waist, caressing your thighs. You couldn’t hold in the sounds you were making, the feeling of getting your neck kissed and their strong hands touching you was too much all at once. 

You couldn’t tell whose lips were softer, a minuscule detail you forced your thoughts to center on so that you had some sense of control. It was an empty effort, you were taken over by need and found yourself leaning towards one of the men for a kiss. 

You peeked through and saw you were kissing Joost, but the way his mustache scratched against your upper lip had given it away at first. The kiss didn’t last as long as you’d hoped, Aggu, impatient and a bit jealous moved your cheek so that you’d kiss him instead. 

“Don’t make us fight.” Aggu teased, one strong hand squeezing down on your breast as he kissed you.

You felt Joost press his lips against the corner of your mouth, the two men had become so desperate it intimidated you how strongly they were coming onto you. You began to wonder if you could handle going any further, two men kissing you at the same time was already overwhelming. 

You watched as their lips accidentally grazed each other’s, hearing them chuckle before they took turns kissing you on the lips. It cooled the tension for a moment, you were surprised that they could get along so well. 

You felt Aggu kiss your neck as Joost held your chin in his hand and brought you into a much softer kiss. Aggu was the first to begin to undress you. He carefully slid down the strap to your shirt, as eager as he was, when he saw that you slid the other down for him he took it as a sign to continue. 

You practically felt your clothes torn off your body by them both, stripping you bare as if you were teasing them for hours on end. Joost had left your lips puffy from his greedily passionate kiss, and the delicate skin on your neck throbbed from how many love bites Aggu left. They took everything off except for your stockings. They were black, slightly sheer, and sitting atop your lingerie. It wasn’t blatant with garter and intricate designs, but it was clear you’d made an effort.

“This is very nice,” Joost remarked as he squeezed down on your breasts, you felt yourself burn at the slight smirk on his face and the way he glanced at Aggu. “It’s very nice, isn’t it?” 

“I feel bad for your boyfriend, waiting at home for you.” Aggu teased, “Do you always wear things like this under your clothes?”

You couldn’t answer. You felt Aggu rest his hand on the back of your neck and guide you down so that you were now lying on your side. Your cheek rubbed up against the rough fabric of his dark jeans, you could smell the faint cologne and cigarette smoke, it nauseated and excited you.

Joost’s hands held your waist, gently moving you to the side so that you’d be lying on your stomach. He heard him sit up, the blood abandoning all your limbs to rush towards your head. You felt the room spinning as Aggu played with your hair, alternating from smoothing it down his gently to twirling a few strands around his fingers and tugging at it.     

Joost was behind you, his hands running down your back like stones skipping in the water, you shivered under his touch with anticipation. His fingers grazed against you softly, soon settling on your ass and grabbing and kneading down. You heard the two men share a laugh, Aggu leaning over to spank you a few times. Internally, that was the final moment of sanity you had left. You were never so desperate to be touched, you felt like it was almost cruel and were moments away from begging them. 

“Are these stockings expensive?” Joost asked softly, his hand rubbing down to soothe where Aggu had slapped.

“Uh,” You began, trying to remember where they were from, “I think they were a hundred euros or something.”

The room fell silent for less than a second before erupting in soft laughter. It was mocking, you felt ridiculed but strangely from the way they held you, Joost’s hand rubbing down on your back as Aggu continued to gently pet your hair the shame excited you. 

“You’re crazy.” Joost chuckled, staring down at the stockings he felt an intrusive thought naw at him. “You can get them for 5 euros at any store you know?”

Of course, you knew, and of course, Joost did as well. It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise how fixated he was on your stockings when after a while of his hands running up and down the sheer, thin material he bunched them up as his hands and soon you heard the first sound of the threads snapping loose. 

The sound of tearing had again silenced the room but was intertwined by Joost’s first sound of pleasure. He groaned softly as he watched the fabric tear and split, like a present revealing your soft skin underneath. It invigorated him, relinquishing the power you had over to him and having complete freedom to make you a part of his fantasy. 

“I’m sorry.” Joost offered the apology, not necessarily regretting it but he didn’t want to upset you. “I’ll get you new ones.”

“The ones that cost five euros?” Aggu chuckled, getting a slap on the side of his arm in response. 

Joost finished undressing you completely, and soon everything had completely settled into reality for you. The coolness of the room should’ve helped to prevent how you burned up inside, a fire deep in your stomach and rushing over your body. You had lost a bit of sense, positioning yourself in a way that better to be fucked, and with your free hand, you tugged on Aggu’s belt.

“Zo wanhopig, so desperate,” Joost mumbled, his hands gripping your waist and pulling you back. “Are you comfortable like this?”

You looked back at him over your shoulder, nodding a bit apprehensively. As much as you wanted it you didn’t feel quite ready, but it was as if Joost heard and granted your internal wish. As Aggu continued playing with your hair and letting you palm him through his jeans, you felt Joost’s breath against your backside. 

He drew apart your thighs gently, leaning down, he kissed the backs of your thighs before he began to lick against your pussy. You couldn’t help but become immediately vocal. You whimpered with every movement, writhing your hips against his mouth selfishly. He didn’t seem to mind if anything he encouraged it as his fingers dug into your hips and kept them in place.

Aggu could only see Joost’s head from behind, but the only way thing he wanted was to watch the blissful expression on your face. As nice of a sight it was, paired with the sounds you were making soon made him grow impatient. It was like his body had a mind of its own, before he knew it his clothes were thrown messily in a pile near the couch and he was pushing his cock into your face.

He nudged it on your cheek to encourage you to open your mouth. You couldn’t describe the feeling that completely engulfed your senses. It was as lustful as it made you feel overly exposed. You’d never experienced anything close to this, and the fleeting thoughts of what your friends and your family would think if they knew. You couldn’t help but feel invigorated by the fact that it was so wrong and unlike you. 

Aggu could tell you were trying to maintain whatever poise you had left as you sucked him off. It was cute at first, you felt as he smoothed your hair out of your face and softly praised you, but as you withdrew too often as Joost eating you out was too overwhelming. Just like Joost held your hips in place, Aggu’s hands pulled your hair and shoved his cock into your mouth as softly as he could. 

The way you gagged against him drove him wild, it took every bit of constraint not to fuck your mouth as hard as he could. He relinquished some control, letting you take the lead. It soon dawned on him, from the look in your eyes that was far from begging but satisfied that he was just feeding into how spoiled you were. You came for CDs and now had Joost on his knees eating you out and Aggu aching for when it was his turn. 

As much as you didn’t want this to end, you felt your orgasm build steadily and you leaned desperately into chasing that feeling. Your legs grew unstable, you pushed yourself against Joost’s mouth and felt the enthusiasm reciprocated from how he hummed against you and sunk his fingers into your flesh. 

You cried out incoherently, Aggu’s cock hanging out your mouth as he let you ride out your orgasm against Joost’s tongue. He didn’t stop, the overstimulation sending electric bolts through your spent body. Your body ached with pleasure, every muscle relaxed, your heart pounding into your ears as your mind settled into a heavenly state. 

“You taste so good.” Joost’s face was now next to yours, you felt his breath against your neck making you shiver. “Give me a kiss.”

He brought you into a quick, sloppy kiss. His tongue shoved into your mouth, filling it with the taste of you. It was strange, not unpleasant but you’d never had anyone kiss you directly afterwards, especially like this. 

“Let me see.” Aggu pulled you up and kissed you a bit most gently, tasting remnants of yourself on your soft lips. “Get back on your knees and help Joost out.”

He was authoritative, yanking your hair and manhandling you before he spread your legs the same way Joost had, 

“Wait-“ You protested, overwhelmed, your head foggy and confused as you felt Aggu press a kiss against your sensitive clit. 

You were melting under their touch, your lips wrapped around Joost’s cock as Aggu ate your pussy just for the sake of tasting you. Once he was satisfied, you heard the sound of plastic tearing which made you burn with anticipation. 

“You want me to fuck you, Schatz?” Aggu cooed, his hand delicately smoothing down your back. “Hm?”

“Yes,” You withdrew from Joost’s cock before he guided your head back to pleasuring him. “Please, I need it.”

It was quick and sloppy. You felt completely used and you loved it. Aggu’s tip stretched you out, it burned with pleasure with every movement, matter how much you winced and grunted from the discomfort it was all worth it when he bottomed you out. He filled you up perfectly, the way his big hands felt against your hot skin made you grow weaker. The two men had made indentations of your hips, their infatuation with you, your body, the way you were like a little gift from the universe dropped into their lap.

You were an absolute dream. Joost watched as you gave him head, not being able to focus completely on the obscenities in the room. He listened to you spit on his dick and suck him off, the sound of your groans entertained with his own, and skin slapping from Aggu pounding into you. It was nothing less than a fantasy. He wondered how many people would kill just to get to watch.

“I’m gonna cum.” Joost sighed, breaking the tension momentarily, “Just like that, such a good girl.”

You felt it was almost rewarding to have them both in the palm of your hand. It was better than your climax to bring them both to that point, the two men panting and mumbling incoherent praises as they fucked you. They took turns kissing you just to see how you tasted. You began to truly believe there wasn’t anything in this world you couldn’t have. 

Joost came in your mouth without warning, bringing you back harshly to the reality of the room. Hearing his groan and cry out your name as he desperately bucked his hips into your mouth was the most incredible feeling. You swallowed without a second thought, eagerly licking against the shaft and tip as he watched a bit dumbfounded. 

“Oh, god.” Joost sighed, his eyes and voice weary. “You’re perfect.” He pinched your cheek lovingly before giving you a tired smile. 

Aggu’s pace at first was controlled, he didn’t want to make you overwhelm you as you took. care of Joost, he was a good friend after all. He wished he wasn’t so close, but seeing you suck Joost off and lap up his cock when he was done was too erotic, he wished he’d looked away, but the sounds alone could’ve gotten him off.

He tried to last longer, thinking of something to turn him off,  like the hangover he’ll have the next morning, the thought of packing up all his shit to get on a plane to the next show. It was all an empty effort when you looked over your shoulder. The way your eyes met his immediately, big, pleading with your eyebrows knit together in bliss. He put you on your back, with a few quick motions treating you like a doll so he could finish himself off. 

Aggu’s hands molded into yours, like hot glass,  so delicate and vulnerable. You didn’t notice how many hands were on you, Joost helping Aggu and positioning himself at the side of the couch. His lips suddenly pressed against your nipples, drawing out a pathetic sound. Two fingers pressed onto your clit, rubbing down as Aggu’s pace became punishing. 

Your body moved with his, staring up into his eyes you never wanted to look away. Your body was no longer yours for a few seconds, you’d completely surrendered to their touch and pleasure. Your orgasm had built up as quickly as it washed over you. Your body convulsed with pleasure, unexpedelyh which made it that much more intense. Aggu felt you clench around him, watching your blissful expression and feeling you soak his cock he couldn’t take it. 

He soon followed after you, being far more vocal than both you and Joost. His moans were deep and drawn out, pumping himself inside of you a few more times before he practically collapsed beside you. 

It was a tight fit, Aggu’s body was muscular, warm, and a bit tacky with sweat. Joost’s hands rubbed up and down your body to soothe you. Their tenderness was comforting, despite the fact this was all purely out of lust. 

Your body felt heavy, wrapped in Aggu’s arms you watched as Joost got up and went over to the corner of the room. You watched a bit confused as he took some crumbled bills from his wallet and stuck them in your purse, not before leaning down and kissing you. 

“Sorry about the stockings.” 

-

guys i’m sorry for being inactive! i had some summer courses i was finishing up. i’m working on recs so ty to everyone for ur patience :)!

[come-see-our-show]

I saw an early screening of the Mean Girls movie last night, so here is a summary of my thoughts, comparing the movie musical to the Broadway musical, which I was lucky enough to see live in 2018!

Changed that I liked:

The usage of social media in the Broadway show made it very clear that it was written by adults who didn’t know much about Gen-Z. It was probably one of the worst parts of the show in my opinion. But Tina Fey must have done her research since 2018, because the way the movie uses TikTok, memes, vlogging, and FaceTime to push the story forward worked VERY well. I think there were some influencer cameos, but it didn’t feel they were included to show how “young and hip” they were, It actually added authenticity.

The diversity within the cast and changing last names to reflect the characters’ backgrounds (Karen Smith ➡️ Karen Shetty, Janis Sarkisian ➡️ Janis 'Imi'ike)

Cutting down “Meet the Plastics.” It’s a very exposition-heavy song and doesn’t need to be super long, even though the full version is quite catchy and fun.

All of the new jokes landed so well, probably because Tina Fey’s writing style is better suited for the screen as opposed to the stage.

This is more of a comparison of the musical vs. the original film, but a big change was The Plastics’ weaponized wokeness (which I talk about here).

The production design for most of the songs was very different. The stage musical has a lot of rock songs, which were changed to a pop sound for the movie. I personally prefer rock musicals, but it was a good way to give the movie a separate identity from its predecessor so it doesn’t risk becoming a carbon copy. It worked on some songs (“Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn”) but not on others (“A Cautionary Tale” and “Revenge Party”).

Cutting the joke about Regina’s ass being big. It was a very low-brow joke, which I’m not a fan of, and was just really immature. Thank God that was changed to her falling, which still shows her being embarrassed without her body being the joke.

Explicitly making Janis a lesbian! (It’s only implied in the stage show with “It’s not even true… I only have one butt”) And she goes to prom with a girl while Damien dances with a boy! ALSO THERE’S REJANIS LORE AND IT’S SO HEARTBREAKING I LOVE IT

megan thee stallion just… being there

Miss Norbury and Principal Duvall being a couple and owning a dog together!!!

As a low mezzo, I appreciated whoever decided to lower the key for “I’d Rather Be Me.” I felt very represented 🩷

Having Cady be raised in a single-parent household so it focuses in more on her relationship with her mom. Jenna Fischer was so motherly and sincere and brought a warmth to the movie. Their scene together near the end made me emotional (you’re never too old to ask your parent to stay with you until you fall asleep) (also this is my request to make jenna fischer my mom)

Changes that I didn’t like:

Cutting BOTH of Damian’s solos??? (SHE’S LEAVING!!!!!!!! JUST LIKE MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cutting “More Is Better.” It wasn’t necessarily a memorable song, but it did give both Cady and Aaron more depth, both as separate characters and within their relationship.

While cutting some of the songs helped with pacing, cutting HALF of the score made me forget that it was a musical sometimes, which sucks because I really like musicals!!!

Other stuff:

The movie was marketed horribly. One of my friends didn’t even know it was gonna be a musical because there were no songs in the trailers 💀 (Also, this isn’t just a Mean Girls problem. The Color Purple also didn’t have any songs in the trailer. I didn’t even know Wonka was a musical until I saw it in theaters, so that was a bit of a shock.) If you’re producing a musical movie, maybe your focus groups should be musical fans, because that’s still a HUGE market.

Auliʻi Cravalho’s voice is STUNNING! She and Jaquel Spivey had great chemistry and their friendship felt so genuine!

The opening and ending transitions from the garage were everything to me

The EDITING

Angourie Rice is a great actor and fit Cady perfectly… except for her singing. Out of the entire cast she was easily the weakest in terms of vocals and it was pretty disappointing since she’s the LEAD. I could barely hear her in the new song “What Ifs” because of how quiet and breathy she was. I think it’s a better written song compared to “Roar” though.

Jon Hamm cameo!

Ashley Park cameo!

I cannot stress enough how funny this movie was. I was probably laughing louder than everyone else in the theatre.

I lost my shit during “Meet the Plastics” when Regina unzipped her jacket and Cady was staring at her boobs. She’s just like me fr 🏳️‍🌈

I know that Regina is a horrible person but I couldn’t find it in me to dislike her in the slightest. She just served too much cunt 😩

Christopher Briney is a good actor, but I don't think he was the right choice for Aaron Samuels. I would hate to ridicule anyone for their looks, but it still plays an important part in casting. Aaron is supposed to be a somewhat naive, wholesome, hot jock (and Regina has high standards, so he better be a fucking model). Briney is definitely a cutie, but gives off “smoldering badboy with a secret sensitive side” energy, which isn’t what Aaron should be.

The fantasy sequences (Stupid With Love, Revenge Party, October 3rd). I LOVE when movie musicals USE the medium to tell stories in a way that they can’t on a stage!!!

THE CHOREO!!! Everyone freezing then shaking in “Someone Get Hurt” AHHHH that entire number was HYPNOTIZING!!!!!!!!!!! My friend told me the choreographer’s name is Kyle Hanagami, so shout out to him. (also reneé rapp was so fucking hot while singing that oh my lord)

I will be calling my pimples “face breasts” from now on (avantika ilysm)

DAMIAN’S FRENCH COVER OF THE ICARLY THEME SONG 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

why was there a 0.5 camera shot of cady during revenge party 💀

“I’d Rather Be Me” was so much fun and I felt so fucking empowered. And the transition from the song to the bus was just *chef’s kiss*

“donut worry i am still your freend” 🥺

Lindsay Lohan cameo!!!!!!!!!

NOT ENOUGH RENEÉ RAPP 😭😭

Overall, the movie was not perfect, but the Broadway show already had plenty of flaws, so it’s understandably how that would affect the adaptation. I still a LOT of fun and would definitely see it again. Go stream Snow Angel by Reneé Rapp. i love women 🥰🥰🥰

[starcandybby]

slut! | sjy

now playing: Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) by Taylor Swift

minors DNI - 18+ only

jake x reader, idol!au, new relationship!au, fluff and angst

summary: after your first public appearance as a couple, you receive lots of backlash. two bottles of wine later and jake by your side, you figure it might be worth it for once

warnings: insecurities (lots), not-so-subtle lyric references, mention of a panic attack, reader consumes lots of alcohol (would not recommend), cyberbullying, insults, slut shaming (not from jake or reader), reader is self-deprecating, alcohol is used as a coping mechanism, reader has a huge drunken emotional breakdown. typos probably

wc: 2.4k

(a/n: the first work in my mini 1989 enha-hyung series :)) i hope you like it!! feedback is always appreciated <3)

The chatter between Jake and his stylists serve as the background noise to your racing thoughts. You smooth your hands over your dress. You feel pretty. You look pretty. Though your hands shake and the quiver of your lip is surely noticeable, you’re excited about your first red carpet with Jake. Or, that’s what you keep telling yourself. 

You turn to look at the boy in question. His tie matches the color of your dress perfectly. You look like a real couple. You are a real couple, albeit new. Perhaps, the journalists, the fans, even Jake’s management think you’re rushing into things. But, if you are in love as you feel, then why does it matter?

“Look at you, baby. You look beautiful.” Jake’s compliment pulls you away from your thoughts. He admires you with a look in his eye that you’ve been seeing a lot recently. It’s a look that contains a bit of softness and a lot of love. 

“Thank you,” you blush, “It was really the stylists, you know. They found the perfect dress and really took care of my hair and-”

“No, no, no, none of that.” Jake shakes his head at you. “You look beautiful, because you are beautiful.”

You nod and look down- hoping Jake can’t see your blush deepen. But, he can, and he sports a sheepish smile that matches his lovesick gaze. 

“Let’s go. We don’t wanna be late for our first red carpet.” Jake kisses you on the forehead and leads you out the door. His staff follows closely behind, and you meet his security outside the hotel room. The amount of people around Jake at all times was surely overwhelming at the beginning. You find yourself still adjusting to all the faces crowding your space, but you figure that’s just what comes with dating a high-profile Idol like Jake. 

You let Jake lead you blindly all the way to the black SUV waiting outside of the private hotel exit. You’ve been letting him do that a lot lately, leading you blind. You’re feeling lovestruck and you can’t help it. Especially when the man you’re infatuated with seems to reciprocate. 

Once you’ve settled in the car, reality begins to set in. A publicized event means lots of photographers, journals, and a million different eyes on you. Nausea begins in your stomach and works its way up to your throat. You look out of the car window, watching the city as it passes you by, trying to distract yourself from the oncoming panic attack. 

Jake seems to read your mind, however, reaching for your hand across the backseat and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“It’ll be alright sweetheart. I can’t wait to show you off finally.”

For the umpteenth time that night, Jake manages to make you blush and successfully distract you from the impending evening. 

“I’m sorry, Jake. I’m so nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before- I don’t want to mess anything up, and embarrass myself. Or worse! Embarrass you!” 

Jake finds your ramblings adorable, as silly as they may seem. He knows you could never embarrass him

“Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side the whole night. And, I’ll make sure nothing happens. Plus, we got all dressed up. They might as well look at us” Jake sends you his classic puppy smile and leans over to kiss you on the cheek. 

“Ah! Jake! My makeup!”

His giggles dissolve the tense air in the car, and ease your worries instantly.

-

The red carpet is smaller than you thought, but still just as scary. You’re sure Jake can no longer feel his hand from how hard you’re squeezing it. But, no complaints come from him. He only adorns a wide smile and laps up the atmosphere. You notice that Jake seems to thrive here, not once shying away from the limelight. 

A tug on your hand pulls you out of thoughts. Jake guides you toward the carpet. You plaster on your most beautiful smile (you practiced in the mirror before), and settle next to Jake’s side. 

-

You stumble into Jake’s apartment, with the boy following close behind you. Giggles replace the apartment’s silence. Jake’s hands grab your waist to prevent you from falling over, prompting even more laughter. 

Perhaps, you shouldn’t have had so many glasses of champagne, but Jake insisted you have fun, that champagne would help you relax. And, boy was he right. You, then, insisted that you couldn’t drink alone, which led to Jake sharing in your champagne indulgence. 

“You’re so drunk.” Jake says, words mixed in with his giggles.

“Yes, I am! I’m drunk in love.” You cheekily reply. It’s Jake’s turn to blush for the night.

You somehow make it over to the couch. How graceful, you’re not sure. You settle in uncomfortable positions, that will surely cause you pain in the morning. But, that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you're here with Jake, in his arms.

-

You thought your first public appearance with Jake would be the peak of your stress and worry. You thought that first event would be the worst of it, and then, you would adjust better to the new attention coming your way. 

You, however, forgot about the internet. 

Your twitter feed brought you an article about your and Jake’s appearance at the event a few days ago. The article itself was nothing special, briefly recounting the night. You, however, were unprepared for the comments under the article.

Calling you tense, unprofessional, out-of-place. 

The worst ones were calling you a slut.

Jakeluvr02: why do i feel like she’s a slut lol

Starryn1ght: i wonder how easy she gave it up to get with a guy like jake 

Xoxoflwrs: watch her be with someone else in a few weeks. Wouldn’t be surprised.

The comments felt never-ending. With Jake being a high profile idol, it was expected to receive more attention than you were used to. But, this was far harsher than you could have imagined. 

You didn’t understand why strangers were saying such hurtful things about you. They didn’t even know you. They didn’t even know your relationship with Jake, and how real it was. 

You know you shouldn’t let internet comments bring you so low. But, you couldn’t help it. You wanted to take a step away from your phone, to leave such a nasty space. For some reason, you couldn’t. Something was forcing your hand to doom scroll for hours, investigating every single comment made about you. 

You’ve seen so many hate comments, you would think it wouldn’t hurt as much whenever a new one comes across your screen. But, it does. 

Hours pass and you’re pulled away from your doom scrolling by the pain in your neck. You check the time, and can’t believe how late it’s become. Jake had schedules all day, and mentioned something about seeing you later that night. But, at the moment, you were feeling so sad and insecure at the moment, you didn’t want to see him at all. 

Before you could text him to let him know the change of plans, your stomach growls. All the despair made you forget to eat all day. 

You patter toward the kitchen. You open your fridge to see….practically nothing. You sigh, realizing you forgot to get groceries. However, two bottles of rosé catch your eye. Wine sounds good right about now. It’ll ease the ache in your chest and the spiral of your emotions, at least temporarily. That’s what you think hope.

-

Unfortunately, your emotional ache only intensifies- much to your display and surprise. One and a half bottles of wine later, you’re sobbing. Chest stuttering as you gasp for air and tears roll down your cheeks. 

This isn’t fair. You did nothing wrong. 

You suppose your only crime was being at the wrong place at the wrong time, capturing Jake’s heart when everyone wants him.

You can’t even shoulder this burden with Jake. He seemingly hasn’t received even close to the number of nasty comments that you have. Nothing outside of the ordinary celebrity life. You pay the price, he doesn't.

Drunk, tired, and sad, you don’t realize how much time has passed. And, you definitely didn’t realize you had forgotten to text Jake to not come over after work.

Jake creeps into your apartment, having memorized your code, but quickly stops in his tracks upon the scene that unfolded before him. The last thing he expected to see tonight is you, curled up on the couch, bottle of wine clutched in one hand while the other was doing a poor job of propping you upright. 

“Baby, hey what’s going on?” 

Jake, the ever loving boyfriend, leaps into action. He sits beside you on the couch, helping you sit up straighter and face him.

“J-Jake?” You hiccup, his presence finally dawning on you.

“I’m here, sweetheart. What’s wrong? What has you crying?”

Jake’s words have the sticks and stones of internet bullies freezing in mid air. It makes you break down even harder, the alcohol doing nothing to discourage your emotional state. 

You break down, and he’s pulling you in.

Jake shushes you gently and runs a comforting hand up and down your back. You feel dizzy and light headed, the consequences from drinking so much wine on an empty stomach. 

“Let’s sober you up, yeah?” Jake gently removes the bottle of wine from your grasp and gets up from the couch. As soon as he leaves your embrace, you miss him, his warmth, and his comfort. You think you hear the coffee machine stirring awake but you can’t be sure. 

Minutes later, Jake returns to you, and sure enough, holding a cup of coffee. 

“It’s hot baby. Be careful.” He warns.

You nod, but still seem to not fully understand when you bring the cup up to your lips and wince when the liquid burns your tongue. 

You feel embarrassed, but Jake adorns a soft smile. 

“Once you finish your coffee, let’s talk please. You can tell me what’s wrong.” Jake says softly and places a comforting hand on your knee. You continue to sip, the drink clearing your head almost instantly. You realize you hadn’t said anything other than his name since he walked through your door.

“Thank you for the coffee. I’m sorry you had to see me like this. I should’ve warned you not to come over.” You apologize, hanging your head low. Now that you feel more sober, albeit still tipsy, you’re fully realizing what state Jake found you in. 

You and Jake are quite a new relationship. Though you told him you love him, he’s never seen you in such a messy and vulnerable state. You wish you had been more prepared for the moment, or more aware it was happening when it was. 

“Nonsense sweetheart. I’m more concerned than anything.” Jake assures you.

You shouldn’t have expected anything less from Jake. In such a mean world, he’s a gentleman.

You don’t even know how to explain yourself without sounding silly or childish. You’re still a little tipsy so you’re brain’s too foggy to really think through what you’re going to say. 

“People are so mean, Jake.” Your voice shakes and your words slur, but you’re making progress explaining to your boyfriend what’s going on. 

“Yeah baby? Who’s been mean to you?” 

You’re too drunk to notice the way Jake’s hand curls into a fist and shoulders tense. No doubt from the protectiveness he feels for you.

“I don’t know!” You wail, and Jake’s brows pinch in confusion. “It’s people on the internet! Jake, they’re calling me a slut and easy- and tense! It’s not fair! They don’t know me, and all I did was be your girlfriend and fall in love with you. And you don’t get any of it, Jake! I pay the price, you don’t! Everyone loves you. But, everyone just calls me a slut!” You completely break down, mixing your ramblings with your sobs. Jake nodes patiently, but his frown deepens as you continue. 

He pulls you in. Your head leans on his chest as Jake holds you close. You continue to cry, letting out all the pent up anguish from the day. You didn’t even know you could cry this much. The sobs turn to soft cries, queueing Jake for his turn to speak. 

“I’m so sorry, baby. When I asked you to be my date, I didn’t even think about what people would say. I should’ve protected you more.” Jake’s sincerity reaches through your tipsy state. “You know what? I’ll tweet out a statement right now. I’ll tell everyone to back off- and, I’ll tell my fans to fuck off. No one should speak about you like that.” It’s Jake’s turn to ramble. However, even you knew that Jake making a statement would only encourage the discussion of you on the internet.

“Jakey…you can’t say anything. It’ll just make everything worse.” 

Jake shakes his head, “No. This is unacceptable. I can’t just sit back and let this happen to you-”

“It’s okay. I promise. I’ll learn to deal with it.” 

Your apartment reaches a comfortable silence with Jake continuing to hold you on the couch. Though the apartment sits in silence, your minds do not. Jake’s mind spirals down all the different ways to make you feel better- to make the hate stop. Your mind fills with worries and insecurities about your relationship- what if it’s a bad idea?

“What if this is all a big mistake?” Your voice is so quiet- it comes out in a whisper. If you speak it too loudly, it might become true.

Jake’s eyebrows furrow, “What do you mean?”

“What if you’re making a big mistake? Dating me, I mean. It might blow up in your face.” You continue to whisper, not wanting any of your hypotheticals to actualize.

Jake giggles. Not at you of course. He just finds it a bit silly to ever consider falling in love with you to be a mistake in any capacity. 

“Never. Even if I knew it would all blow up in my face, I’d do it anyway. You’re worth everything, baby. Everything. I mean it.” Jake’s words reassure you more than he knows. (He knows). He even pulls you closer, giving your body a squeeze.

You lift your head up from your boyfriend’s chest to look him in the eye, faces inches apart.

“I love you.” You whisper, continuing to keep quiet. But this time, not from fear. This time, you keep quiet because no one deserves to hear these words except for Jake. They are for him only. 

Jake displays his signature smile and leans in to kiss you. A kiss that communicates love, reassurance, and everything in between. 

In this moment, you realize that even if they call you a slut, Jake makes it all worth it.

disclaimer: This is purely fiction- nothing in these works reflect real of these people. Additionally, I don't own any of the inspired songs.

[blueskittlesart]

Hi, I’m a huge fan of your art and I wanted to know a little bit about your comics. About how long does it take you to make one, and how do you stay efficient about it? Also, how do you decide which parts are black, which are white, and which are gray? And are any parts of the process particularly difficult? I think it’s really beautiful how you can get so much across in your comics without crowding too much in each panel, like in manga for example. Also how most of them are entirely black and white. I’m asking all of this because I have a story I’ve written, and I want to turn it into a comic, which I’ve done before. But I’ve always become discouraged when I overshoot and make it way too detailed from the beginning and not be able to get that same amount of quality with more complicated panels. Thanks if you answer this.

HIIII. so the time that it takes to do like one page of comic varies for me depending on the level of finish i put into it, but i'd say not counting the scriptwriting or layout, the actual art for one page usually takes between 1-2 hours to finish. any more than that is too much for me, personally, but one of the things i've learned at art school is that i work INSANELY abnormally fast, so that kind of pace might not be sustainable for you. (i'm currently doing 5 pages a week for my thesis which is the kind of pace that kills people. it might kill me. we'll see.)

my best advice for b/w/g placement is to have an idea of what you want your finished panel/page to look like BEFORE you start drawing it. if you're just drawing the lineart and then filling in the black and gray after the fact, it's going to be much more difficult and you're going to run into problems like tangents and legibility issues with your color placement. especially when working with a limited palette, knowing roughly where each color will go before even beginning the project helps a lot. I'd also suggest trying to limit your use of gray to like, 3 tones max. I usually only use 1 or 2 if i use gray at all. this helps keep things in high-contrast and therefore more legible. Line weight is also especially important when you're only doing black and white, because it helps create depth and ground us in space when there's no color to do so. in general, don't be afraid to go for big blocks of black, but try to think about where and why you're using them!

As for your comment about overshooting, my advice is to ration. we joke sometimes about how manga artists will use a much more simplified style up until like, a big climactic scene and then suddenly lock in, but that's a genuinely useful tactic sometimes. You don't necessarily need a background in every panel if the background isn't the focus of a scene, and that leaves more energy for you to go all out when you DO need a big fancy establishing shot or some complex perspective or whatever. obviously you shouldn't just be totally phoning it in on less complex panels, but don't try to kill yourself over the less important details. focus on what's most important to get your point across in whatever situation you're working with!

[foxglovecove]

Tales from the Jaeger Pilot AU

Some background for the snippet below: Newt and Hermann are jaeger co-pilots, this bit takes place probably 6 months into their assignment together after graduating academy. Newt also has yet to get his first tattoo which will be the one they’ve just defeated

I HC that Hermann is not a huge fan of casual touch so…

…when a drunk Newt burst into Hermann’s bunk room one night post “successfully defeated a Kaiju” mission, basically rendering Hermann trapped on his couch while he snored away in dreamland, it sent Hermann down a spiral of rumination on his ability to get close to people

Here’s a rough snippet of a larger bit of story I’m poking at that goes along with this pic:

Then there had been the letters from Newton, the anticipation churning each time he flipped open his post box, and the relief that came with the knowledge there would only ever be words on paper between them, keeping him safe and Newton at a distance.

Ha.

He stares down—one arm tucked behind his head, the other still holding the burning nub of a cigarette like a lifeline—and wonders if anxious anticipation and cultivated distance are all he’ll ever be capable of. He’s mesmerized by the steady rise and fall of Newton’s head pillowed against his stomach. How easy it would be to just reach out and…touch.

His fingers twitch.

You’ve been a menace to me for 6 years.

Three years of letters. Then three years since the letters had stopped, when Newton ceased being nebulous words safe on a page, and burst loud and colorful and real, into Hermann’s life at the academy.

[floofysmallbob]

born again from the darkness, a cloak of heroism- I mean, a Tokoyami redesign

the darkness would have shrouded this creation, cloaked where it belonged, but without light, one cannot see the beauty of the dark(translation: I would have used a black background but then you can’t see the actual redesign)

ok I can’t think of more poetic stuff so here you go here’s edgy bird boi:

Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi

honestly canon design was pretty decent

added knee/elbow/shoulder pads as usual

more avian features

feathered arms and neck(not visible)

taloned gloves

lace up knee high combat boots

the original ones were wayyyy too boring

couldnt figure out how to add any more goth aspects but if I could I would

thermal vision/night vision goggles

got the idea from the class a/b battle training

tried to give him his new haircut(feathercut?) from the latest chapter but failed

dw that’s not a spoiler

yes the arms look a lil funky but shh

all the other designs are faceless but I tried to do that with him and it just looked wrong

WITH CAPE:

cape folds up, is actually around the same as or slightly longer than canon

easily detachable don’t worry Edna he won’t get caught in any ceiling fans anytime soon

in all seriousness it’s easily detachable that would be such a huge choking hazard and easy for villains to take advantage of

made of the same material as blackout curtains

COLD WEATHER VERSION:

longer sleeves

thicker fabric

lined boots

yeah no that’s it

COLD WEATHER VERSION WITH CAPE:

cape is slightly thicker

HOT WEATHER VERSION:

sleeveless

fingerless gloves

oh yeah he has talons too forgot abt that

he doesn’t even have to paint his nails black they already are

yes his feet are also taloned but I’m not fucking drawing that

he does have custom shoes though

speaking of, shorter boots

lighter(not color wise) fabric

HOT WEATHER VERSION WITH CAPE:

thinner cape

I like this one, it’s essentially just canon with a few improvements and aesthetic changes, and I’m always a sucker for all black like the alt dumbass I am

as always, tips and advice are appreciated!

[maddiicake]

FMA vs FMAB: The """Style Argument"""

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about/went on a spiel/ranted about something FMA-related. And… it’s come to my attention that there is one thing that people in this fandom like to do….

COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COLORS (03 v.s. FMAB)

FMA03 “fans”: “Ugh… Brotherhood’s colors are so ugly and washed out!”

FMAB “fans”: “Oh geez… FMA03 colors are so strong they hurt my eyes!”

Of course, that only pertains to the character colors (because the backgrounds tend to vary depending on the setting). Well, I took the time to make a side-by-side comparison between the those series’ colors.

Let’s take Edward Elric for example:

Yes, I understand that at a first glance, the colors from Brotherhood seem significantly more faded than they do compared to FMA03 Edward. And that would be partially correct. The colors from FMAB are de-saturated compared to those in FMA03

…But not as de-saturated at many claim it.

Let’s have a look at what “De/Saturation” is on a color wheel:

Just as the picture shows, Saturation occurs horizontally (on this type of color wheel). The more faded colors (“De-Saturation”) are on the left, while the further right you go, the more vivid (Saturated) the color becomes.

Now… with that in mind, let’s take the eye drop tool and see where each of the colors on Ed fall on the color wheel…

Now, I understand that the individual color wheels for each section on the picture above may be hard to tell without zooming-in all the way.

So, I made a separate template that breaks each section apart and explains where they each show up on the color wheel:

As you can see, when both colors are put together on the wheel, there’s not a significant gap of saturation/de-saturation between them. In fact, there are some FMAB colors in certain sections that are more saturated than the FMA03 colors in the same section!

Basically what I’m saying is that people in both fandoms (depending on which party you hail from), exaggerate the colors of the opposite side of the fandom. FMA03 “fans” say that FMAB colors are “too washed out (de-saturated)”, while FMAB “fans” complain about the FMA03 colors being “too bright/vivid (saturated)”. People claim there’s a huge difference between the color saturation of both series when… there clearly isn’t.

Now… if any of you still want to complain about the colors after that explanation… Let me show you what “TOO saturated/de-saturated” really looks like:

“TOO SATURATED”:

“TOO WASHED OUT”:

…

…And there you go~!

[tieronecrush]

hot & heavy

chapter five: try to walk away

neighbor!joel x f!reader

series masterlist

series rating: E (18+ only, MDNI)

series summary:

over the course of three summers, joel miller becomes woven into your life. the first summer is spent falling for him; nannying his daughter and sneaking around with him in a burning love affair. you know how you feel about joel, he isn’t so sure about how it all is gonna work. the second summer is brief. a month spent at home after graduation and before you move to boston for your dream job. one look at you, one time hearing your voice, and joel is hooked again. he pines over you for that month, but you think — how is long distance of over a thousand miles going to work for a single dad? the third summer, you return home burnt out and pride bruised from your post-grad life. you need time to feel at home again, like your complete self, so you’ve come back home with no return ticket booked. it’s only a matter of time before joel seeks you out, slowly spending more time with you. without an inevitable end to the summer looming over you both, what chances are you willing to take?

word count: 8.6k (long but lots to cover)

warnings: NO OUTBREAK (don’t need to worry about the mushies), no use of y/n, inexperienced/virgin reader, age gap (joel is 30/31, reader is 22), canon-divergent (sarah is 7 y/o), nanny au, mentions of food/eating, pet names (sweetheart, darling, sweet girl, etc.), polite southern manners (use of sir), feeling familial and self-pressure, oral sex (f), fingering, unprotected sex, dirty talk, likely poor spanish grammar, ANGST

a/n: here it is -- the end of summer #1 with joel </3 more to come from these two. and a HUGE thank you to lovely sweet el @northernwindd for the beta read!!! appreciate you v much bb

Sunday morning air filters through the cracked window, the warmth from the sunlight radiating over your exposed skin. Goosebumps rise every few moments from a combination of the oscillating fan in Joel’s room and the way he’s been looking at you since the two of you woke up together this morning. Navy blue sheets drape over your nude body, head resting on the pillow while you lay on your side facing him. Birds chirp loudly to each other outside, melodic background noise to the slow-rise conversations you and Joel keep pulling each other into.

From how you take your coffee to where you saw yourself in five or ten years, there weren’t many topics off-limits in the vulnerable morning after. Joel learned that you take your coffee with enough milk to change the drink to caramelly color, and you learned that Joel takes his black. As for future plans, you both conveniently skate around relationships, focusing more on what you see for your careers. Joel confidently tells you that he wants to build his contracting business to be able to take on a more managerial role and be able to spend more time at home with Sarah, which stretches a smile across your face.

“So you’re telling me I’m out of a summer job in the next five to ten years?”

“‘Fraid so, darlin’. But you won’t need me by then, you’ll be off livin’ lavishly in Boston and making ads that we’ll be seeing on billboards down here.”

The look you’re sharing with Joel tightens your chest, your vision glazing over to fuzz Joel out barely out of focus. You can’t really tell if it’s from the emotion that’s filling your ribcage and squeezing your lungs or if it’s from attempting to keep your eyes open on him to not miss any minute signal of body language from him.

“Maybe so, but that will just gimme an excuse to come down and visit. To see all my billboards.”

He comes back into focus when you blink the moisture away, a crisp image of the crinkles next to his eyes and dimple on display.

“Oh, yeah? That’s the only reason you’d visit? Nothing else bringin’ you back?”

A hum rolls out of your chest as you pretend to think, index finger tapping against your chin. Joel huffs out an exaggerated sigh, cocking a brow as he looks at you expectantly.

“Guess my parents, and my brother if he’s still here. And I would love to see Sarah as a teenager, she’s gonna be so fun.” A smirk coats your words, teasing laced in the words.

Large hands ghost over your bare sides, fingertips moving quick and featherlight in a tickle that draws a loud giggle out of you.

“Quit ticklin’ me!”

“I’ll quit when you stop lyin’ through your teeth.”

“Okay, okay! Ask again, I’ll be honest.” You catch your breath when his hands stop, arms wrapping around your back to pull you closer,  inches away from his chest.

“Okay, I know my kid’s the best, but she’s the only reason you’d stop by?”

“I’d come to see you in a heartbeat. Might even be the first stop on any visit I make, but I think you knew that this whole time.”

The shoulder raised toward the ceiling shrugs up and down, a quip of a smirk raising one side of his mouth.

“I had a feelin’, but I like hearing you say it.”

“Mm, anything else you like hearing me say?”

“Think you know the answer to that, darlin’.” A wink follows his answer, his elbow moving under him to prop him up as he leans over you moving onto your back.

“Yes, I do, sir.”

Joel looks away to the side, a chuckle exhaling shortly out of his mouth before he turns back to you and shakes his head.

“Mi diablita, eres demasiado (My little devil, you are too much).”

Joel’s hand lays on your thigh, thumb brushing back and forth while he steers his truck with the other hand. The cab is silent besides the soft trill of the radio and the wisping wind that whips in through the cracked windows as you head to pick up your car in the mall parking lot.

You can’t bring yourself to say anything, to recognize that you have to drive four miles away to go home when you live forty feet from Joel’s. Something swirls in your stomach, a similarly sinking feeling that guilt brings you but you don’t feel guilty about being with Joel. It’s not an ideal situation, and you would never want him to be subjected to neighborhood ostracization or gossip — but is avoiding that worth the dull burn you feel when you have to slink home after kissing him behind closed doors or staying the night? Not being able to go see him when you want to unless you sneak around to do it? Is it all worth it to him?

The pickup coming to a slow stop interrupts your spiraling thoughts, Joel’s hand patting your thigh to grab your attention. When you look over at him, brows creased with soft concern and brown eyes churning with sympathy. A tight smile presses your lips into a thin line, your hand laying over his.

“Before you go, um, I wanted to ask you somethin’,” his opposite hand stills on the steering wheel, curling his fingers around the frame tightly, “Sarah’s birthday party is coming up this Saturday. We’re havin’ it at the house, but I was wonderin’ if maybe you would come? Sarah told me about a million times that she wanted to invite you.”

Taut cheeks from your narrow smile relax, teeth showing when your top lip curls up. Your hand squeezes his under it, turning on the bench seat to face him more head-on.

“I’d love to come if Sarah wants me to,” his eyes dart to yours from their position looking out the windshield, eyes wide with hope, “But, do you want me to be invited? I mean, I know you said when you were planning the date that Tommy would be there and her friends’ parents — and her mom — so if it’s going to be too much, I can celebrate with Sarah bef—”

“My sweet girl, you’re fixin’ to work yourself up into a tizzy about nothin’,” Joel interrupts himself to lean over and catch your lips in a pacifying kiss, continuing when he pulls away, “I want you there. Probably will need you there, ‘cause I need help throwing the perfect “Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, and Finding Nemo” party.”

A bellowing laugh rolls out of your chest, shaking your head as you reach out to pat his thigh, “Joel, honey, all of those movies are set in or around the ocean. Just make it sea-themed and Sarah will be extremely happy. I can help get things together this week.”

A long sigh exhales and deflates his chest, a sheepish grin on his face, “See? Need you there, sweetheart, ‘cause I clearly need the help.”

A few more kisses are exchanged, Joel escorting you the five feet over to your car and standing in the open door while you slide into the driver’s seat. His frame leans into your car, pressing his lips to your forehead.

“Really liked havin’ you at home this weekend, darlin’. And being able to take you out on a date.”

“Me too, Joel.”

The look on his face is unreadable before his smile replaces it, a metallic thump sounding above you as he hits his palm against the roof of your car.

“Drive safe, sweet girl.”

The sound of children’s screams and laughter slowly muffled as you slid the porch door shut and stepped into Joel’s kitchen. The last of the snacks you’d come early to put together need to be brought outside for the kids, and Tommy’s been out on cooler duty — keeping it stocked with drinks for the parents in attendance. Your parents were out of town dropping your brother off at his new apartment for his sophomore year, so it was only you, the Millers, and some kids and parents from Sarah’s class and camp.

Standing at the island, you pour some more tortilla chips from the bag to fill up the bowl in front of you more, getting lost in fluttering around the kitchen to get everything perfect before you bring it all out. You don’t notice the sound of the door to the garage shutting or Joel’s footsteps coming through the living room to the wide entry to the kitchen. What does pull your attention away from your task is his voice, a smile playing at his lips as he watches you.

“Think you know this kitchen better than I do at this point, sweetheart.” He crosses the room and comes up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist in the private moment. 

“I just know where all the stuff for the party was cause it was Sarah and I that went to the store to grab everything yesterday. And I put it away,” you shake your head with a grin, “You wanna grab some of this to bring it outside?”

His chin rests on your shoulder as he watches your hands move, his hands bunching up the fabric of your dress at your hips.

“Mhmm, can do, darlin’. In a minute.” He presses his lips to your exposed skin next to the strap of your dress, dropping the fabric from his hands and gripping you to turn you around to face him. A gentle kiss is placed on your lips, you pull away after a moment and him chasing you to pepper pecks on your lips and cheek. Your laugh pulls him away from your face, a boyish grin showing his dimple.

“Thank you for your help today, sweetheart. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. You made Sarah’s birthday real special.”

“You don’t have to thank me, I would have helped even if I didn’t get an invite,” Joel chuckles and squeezes your waist as you continue, “You’re the one who planned the day and invited everyone and got all the games and everything outside. You’re the hero of the birthday. And you’re a really good dad.”

Sincere gratitude fills his brown eyes as you get lost in them, a comfortable silence falling over the room as you take each other in. It’s only interrupted at the sound of the screen door, you flipping around quickly to busy yourself and cover up the intimate moment with Joel.

Tommy strides in, oblivious to how close you two are standing as he crosses over to the fridge to grab another six-pack of beer to put in the cooler outside.

“Either these parents are drinkin’ like fish, or we’re gonna have some drunk eight-year-olds on our hands.” Tommy turns to face Joel next to you when the sound of the doorbell echoes rings throughout the house. After the first ring, it keeps going incessantly and the two brothers share a knowing look.

Joel sighs, rolling his eyes and brushing his fingers against your lower back subtly when he moves to go answer the door.

“Y’all know who that is just from the bell?” you ask Tommy, a bracing expression on his face when he hears the door open.

“Yeah, it’s something that Ti—” he’s cut off when an unfamiliar voice speaks quickly at Joel in the other room, annoyance slick in her words. 

“Why’d you have to move across all of Austin, Joel? Makes the drive over here impossible. And made me late for my daughter’s birthday, so thanks for that.”

“Tiff, you’ve known my address since we moved and have known the time for the party for two weeks,” Joel’s voice gets louder as he follows Tiffany, Sarah’s mom, into the kitchen where you and Tommy are standing still. She looks over at Tommy, dropping her gift bag on the counter.

“Nice to see you, Tommy,” Tiff’s voice is laced with tension as she looks at the younger Miller.

“Always a pleasure, Tiff,” Tommy counters, a sarcastic smile on his face.

You’re watching it all from the far end of the kitchen, twiddling your thumbs out of nerves at the shift in energy. Tiff’s attention drags from Tommy, across the party food laid out on the island and up to you, her eyebrows raising.

“And you are?” 

Her head bobbles as she asks, Joel stepping forward and giving you a quick apologetic look before he makes introductions, giving Tiffany your name before saying, “She’s Sarah’s nanny for this summer. And our next-door neighbor. And this is Tiff — Tiffany — Sarah’s mom.”

He makes a vague gesture between you and her, his shoulders tense under his white t-shirt. He slips his hands in his back pockets, eyes avoiding you as Tiff locks hers on you like prey.

“Nanny, huh?” Her lips press together into a thin line, nodding slowly as she surveys you head to toe. Right before she speaks again, the door opens, and Sarah bounds in with her curls bouncing.

“Hi, Mommy!” She runs over and gives her mom a hug, pulling away and looking around with a big smile at all of the adults closest to her in a room altogether.

“Everyone come outside! I wanna show you my cartwheel, I think I got it perfect now!”

“Uncle Tommy’s gonna come out and watch you, and we’ll be out in a minute, Bug.” Joel smiles sweetly at her, his eyes turning to Tommy as he jerks his head outside.

Tommy puts a wide smile on his face, chasing Sarah back out the door to go play. Joel huffs out a sigh as Tiff fills the silence again.

“So, can we just address the fact that you two are definitely fucking?” She points between you two with a cold laugh and you try your hardest to keep a poker face.

Joel rolls his eyes, turning to face Tiffany head-on.

“Tiff, it’s Sarah’s birthday party. We’re not talkin’ about my personal life right now, and even if we were, there’d be nothin’ to talk about.”

“Oh, bullshit. But whatever, you keep your secrets to maintain the spark of sleeping with someone that much younger than you. And it isn’t personal if it’s someone who’s takin’ care of Sarah. That affects me, and her too. Better not be doin’ anything in front of Sarah.”

“Quit bein’ ugly, Tiff. I’d never do anything that would negatively affect Sarah and you know that. Now let’s just drop it, ‘cause there’s nothing even going on, and enjoy celebrating our daughter’s birthday.”

It’s like watching a tennis match, the two of them going back and forth across the room from you. You feel like slinking out of the door if you could without drawing attention to yourself, but you definitely can’t do that so you’re as still as a statute. The people-pleasing tendencies in you are screaming at you to say something to diffuse the tension.

“Joel’s right, there’s really nothing. He’s just my boss, and I wanted to come today 'cause Sarah invited me.”

Both of their heads snap to you in the corner of the kitchen, Joel’s stare softening as he sees the manifestation of your anxiety in the way your fingers can’t stop fiddling. Tiff scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest.

Joel speaks much more relaxed to you, “You do not have to defend yourself, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart? Well aren’t you just a precious thing, huh?” Tiff’s got a Cheshire smile on her face, shooting Joel a smug glare that makes your blood boil. She has the audacity to come over and blame all of her mistakes today on him, and to top it all off, accuse him of sleeping with you? And to call you ‘precious’? That’s a slap in the face in the South.

He is, obviously, but she absolutely doesn’t need to have the satisfaction of being right.

You watch her cross the room to head to the door to the backyard, sending a smirk to you. You muster one of your most polite smiles, catching her arm.

“Lovely to meet you, Tiffany, you’re so…self-willed. I can see where Sarah gets it,” you let go of her arm and hold your hand up to your chest to give her a “Bless your heart, hon.”

Which is Southern for “Fuck you.”

The door shuts hard behind her, shaking in its frame. You look at Joel, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose and eyes closed. You walk over to him and rest a hand on his shoulder. He jumps at your touch, his hand dropping from his face and his eyes opening to look at you to his right.

He immediately averts his gaze towards the floor, his downcast expression and furrowed brows telling you what he was going to say before he even speaks. You pull your hand away and swallow, giving him a tight smile.

“I’m gonna head home. I don’t want to be the subject of anything else between you two during Sarah’s birthday.”

“Darlin’, I’m sorry about all that. She’s quick to temper and insults. And with her talkin’ like that, I just don’t think we should—”

“I get it. There are a lot of people here, and she’s Sarah’s mom. Kinda pulls rank over her nanny,” you laugh to attempt to break the tension, biting harshly on the inside of your cheek, “I’ll see you Monday.”

“I really am sorry, sweetheart…Thank you for all your help,” he caresses your cheek, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “Let me walk you out.”

You shake your head, patting his chest, “No, no you go spend time with Sarah. I’ll call you later to hear about her reaction to my gift.”

Joel nods back to you, watching you from the kitchen as you leave him with a smile that doesn’t reach your eyes, gathering the things you’d brought for party preparation and stepping out their front door. The echoes of giggles and screams carry all the way to your house, only stifled by the door closing behind you as tears sting your eyes.

The streaks on your face were long dried, your sundress exchanged for an oversized t-shirt and shorts to sleep in, and place taken laying out on the couch as your third episode of Friends reruns starts. You curl into the throw blanket laid over you, pulling it up to tuck it under your chin. Rachel and Ross are yelling back and forth about if they were on a break or not, the sound tinny from the loud volume you’re playing it at. The couple on the TV is drowned out by a loud and steady knock on your front door, your head snapping in the direction of the entryway. You slowly climb off of the couch, tiptoeing over to attempt to hide yourself from any possible danger. Looking through the peephole, you see Joel’s back, all wide shoulders and messy hair as he kicks his feet against the pavement of your porch.

There’s a tightening in your chest as you debate whether or not to open the door or let him think you’ve gone to sleep already, but it is only 9pm and he knows you can be a bit of a night owl.

The deadbolt clicks undone and you twist the knob, gingerly pulling the door toward you. Joel turns around at the noise, half of his mouth quirking up in a nervous, closed smile. There’s nothing said for a few beats, the two of you only staring at each other.

You break first, huffing out a quiet exhale and leaning against the doorframe.

“You need something, Joel?”

A flash of hurt travels through his eyes at your aloof tone, pressing his lips together before he speaks.

“Wanted to come by and bring you a slice of cake,” he admits sheepishly, holding up an ocean-themed paper plate with a piece of the funfetti cake you’d baked for the event on top of it.

You extend your hand out to take the treat from him with your eyes dropping from his to follow the movement. His fingers brushed yours and his other hand gently closed around your wrist to keep you there for a moment.

“Can I come in? And maybe we can talk, or just hang out, sweetheart?”

Your eyes flick back up at his face, brown eyes pleading with you.

“You don’t have to get back to Sarah?”

He shakes his head, “Her present from her Uncle Tommy was a ‘sleepover at his house with loads of candy and doing what your dad says you can’t do’. She took him up on that offer tonight.”

You can’t help the chuckle that slips from your mouth, a faint smile on your face as you nod.

“Can’t say I blame her,” you take a step back and jerk your head to the side to gesture inside, “C’mon in.”

Joel kicks off his shoes in the entry, following you back to the living room and taking a seat next to you on the couch. You curl your legs up underneath you and face him, leaning your side against the backrest after lowering the volume on the TV further.

“So, what’d you wanna talk about?”

Joel lets out a deep sigh, leaning back and swiping a hand over his face before he looks at you.

“Today. All of that shit. You leavin’ early wasn’t fair to you and I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for everything Tiff said, and you ending up being in the middle of us arguing like we always do.”

“Yeah, there was certainly a lot…passion there.” You bite your lip and he shoots you a warning stare.

“Easy there, darlin’. Ship’s long sailed there.”

You laugh and nod slowly, silence falling between the two of you again.

“I meant what I said. It wasn’t fair to ask you to leave early or imply that you should. I just, I didn’t want anything to kick up dust or have anybody pick up on…” he trails off, not wanting to say what he thought out loud.

“Yeah.” It comes out as more of a sigh than a word, turning towards the nearly mute show playing on the TV.

Joel shifts closer on the couch, one of his hands coming up to hold your jaw and turn your head back to him.

“I care about you — so much, sweetheart, I do. I need you to know that. I just, I don’t want you to get hurt from what everyone says or have this affect your family or somethin’.” His thumb brushes your cheek, eyes locked on yours.

“I get it, Joel. I do. It was just, I don’t know, it was just hard to see you so easily say I was nothing but Sarah’s nanny today. That’s what upset me the most, how smooth of a lie it was — if it was even a lie.”

He cringes at the last part, a sting to his heart as his eyes linger closed for a moment.

“It wasn’t a lie, my sweet girl. You’re—you’re mine. In every way you’ll let me have you. You’re not nothing to me. You’re, you’re something incredible.”

There’s a candor in his eyes and in his words that mollifies the heartache burning your throat and your chest, your body melting into his touch and falling closer to him, chasing the warm puffs of air that blow from his lips.

You kiss him, his plush bottom lip puzzling in between yours in a tender touch. Both of you are still there for a breath before you pull back just inches, eyes looking at his through your lashes.

“I want you to have me in every way. I want you to be mine.”

“I’m yours, darlin’. You tell me what you want, I’ll give you anything.”

He searches your expression, waiting with bated breath for you to respond.

Instead, you stand from the couch and smile softly as Joel’s clearly confused, his hand grabbing yours to tether himself to you. You squeeze his fingers, tugging on his arm to get him to stand.

“I told you, I want you to have me in every way. I want it to be you, the first time. All the time.”

Joel smiles tenderly, wrapping his arms around you to squeeze you against him.

“Lead the way, sweetheart.”

Ahead of him, you guide Joel up the stairs and to your bedroom. He shuts the door behind him despite it only being you two in the house, enclosing you in the bask of the warm, yellow lamplight from your nightstands.

Joel observes the space that he’d peaked into so many nights this summer, a smirk playing on his lips as he reminisces. Your touch pulls him back to you, his smirk turning into a grin as his eyes filled with affection. His fingertips graze your cheekbones, one holding your jaw as he murmurs to you.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. Que hermosa.”

His lips capture yours in a wistful caress, the exchange heating up as his hands move from your face to dance along your curves, giving soft squeezes to your supple skin. Little, faint sounds that you’re making encourage him further, his large frame walking you backward as he tugs your t-shirt over your head — discarding it to the floor haphazardly.

There’s nothing more covering your chest, and Joel eagerly arcs down, one arm around your waist as his mouth encapsulates one of the peaks of your breasts, sucking and prodding his tongue over the perked-up nub. His name comes from you breathlessly, his lips removing with a faint pop.

“Lay down on your bed, sweetheart. ‘M gonna take care of you,” he pulls his own shirt over his head, unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them off his legs before he moves to kneel on your bed in his boxer briefs. You do as he said, climbing onto your mattress and propping yourself against your pillows. Joel asks with a tug to remove your shorts, you give him a yes and lift your hips for him to pull off your shorts and panties, leaving you completely bare.

His hands skate back up your calves, hooking in the creases of your knees to spread your legs for him. They continue their journey up your thighs, one moving to skim over the softer skin at the inside near your throbbing core.

“Eres divina, mi dulzura. Una visión absoluta. (You are divine, my sweetness. An absolute vision).” His gaze pours over every inch of you, his touch exploring every spot his eyes linger. The attention he’s paying to you simmers inside of you, a quiet beg slipping out.

“Please, Joel…”

“What, baby? What can I do for you?”

His fingers are rubbing circles down your torso, stopping to brush against the curls at your mound while he waits for your command.

“Touch me please, like you did before.”

He hums contently at your request, licking his lips and swiping a finger through your arousal. His thumb presses languid circles on your clit. He bows his head down to yours, lips pressing against yours in unhurried kisses, swallowing the delicate whimpers that seep from your throat. Your sounds get louder and more persistent when he glides one of his fingers into you, a slow rhythm building before he adds a second.

“Taking it so well, darlin’. Feels good, yeah?” He speaks against your skin as his mouth dawdles along your neck to your collarbone, teeth grazing and lips sucking a mark onto your chest.

“Mhm fuck, Joel, I love your fingers inside me.”

“Gotta get you ready for me, sweet girl. Think you can take another?”

At your nod, he thrusts in a third, the stretch of his thick fingers reeling you to toe against the edge, your mind clear of anything other than the feeling of him filling you up. Your head pushes back into the pillows, his name repeated in a prayer each time he hooks against the spongy spot on your walls.

“Fuck, Joel, I’m gonna—”

“Come for me, my pretty girl. Show me how beautiful you look filled up with my fingers, squeezin’ around me,” his jaw dropping ajar to mirror your own as your release barrels into you, hands gripping Joel’s shoulders and digging you nails in. He works you through your euphoric descent, humid kisses pressed into your breasts.

Your fingers card through his hair, pulling his head up to yours and kissing him deeply. Joel hums a moan into your mouth, tongue melding with yours and grinding his tented boxers against your drenched heat, a dark wet spot forming on the light grey fabric. He pulls back, lips swollen red and puffy as he rasps out.

“Will you let me taste you, darlin’? Wanna feel you come on my mouth,” his nose nudges against yours as his words add to the humidity between the two of you, a whimper from you in protest.

“I want you inside me, please.”

“I will, sweet girl, promise. Gonna make it easier to take me. And I wanna have you on my lips for the rest of the night. Pretty please, sweetheart. I’m beggin’, even just a little taste.”

“Okay, okay,” you laugh lightly, “‘M all yours.”

“Debes ser de mis sueños, cariño (You must be from my dreams, darling.) Don’t know how I found you.” A path down to your thighs was carved by his mouth, kisses, bites, and licks left on your skin. Joel settles on his tummy between your legs, his arms hooking under your thighs to leverage your hips up to his mouth.

Joel purses his lips and exhales, sending cool air onto your wet folds. You hiss, one hand finding his hair as he chuckles darkly, his hooked nose nestling into the curls at the top of your center, inhaling deeply before his mouth finds your clit.

His tongue flicks your bud, flattening against it and moving in slow, teasing circles. He pulls his tongue back and puckers his lips around the button, sucking with a lewd noise as he takes some of your arousal in, exchanging for his own saliva.

“So sweet, pretty girl. Fuck, can’t get enough of you.”

The strong muscle of his mouth licks up from your tighter hole to your clit, a few figure eights flicked against it and driving your hips to jerk up involuntarily.

His thumb replaces his tongue, freeing it to dip down along your folds and lick into your tight cunt, a quick rhythm found that has you drenching his chin, high-pitched moans hyperventilating from your chest.

“Oh my god, Joel…”

A chuckle rumbles from him, vibrating against your skin and adding to his treatment of your cunt. Your fingers tug in his curls, eyes screwing shut tightly.

Right near the peak of your pleasure, he switches up his positioning and brings his lips back to nurse on your clit and two of his fingers replace his tongue inside of you.

The nearly pornographic noises he’s creating between your legs mix with your wanton moans, quick huffs of air giving you enough breath to shout his name as you come hard. Your hips push against his face to ride out the high, Joel moaning as you take control to fuck his face to keep it all going for yourself. Twinkles of light sparkle in your vision when you open your eyes again, colors kaleidoscoping at the edges of your gaze. You sit up to look down at Joel still on his stomach, a drunken smirk on his face when he looks up at you.

He groans as he lifts himself to rest his weight on his hands, climbing over you to bring his face even to yours. Your come glistens on his skin and coats his mustache and beard, a giggle slipping out as you shake your head.

“You’re a mess,” you say as you reach to wipe him clean, his head jerking back and eyes widening incredulously.

“Don’t get rid of it. Told you I wanna be tasting you for the rest of the night. You’re gonna taste yourself, too.” He smirks smugly, tracing the tip of his nose along the side of yours, his lips ghosting yours before catching you in a sloppy kiss.

“You taste good, don’t you think?” He winks as he studies you from above, a smirk still evident on his face. Your hand coasts down his soft torso, wrapping around his hard length after you slip your hand beyond the waistband, stroking him slowly as you watch his cockiness fall. His eyes flutter close, mouth ajar as tiny whimpers escape from his throat.

“I need your cock.”

With a shudder, he opens his eyes, the shade of them nearly black as his tongue sweeps across his bottom lip.

“Care to ask nicely, sweetheart?”

His low timbre sends a tingle that flutters your walls around nothing, huffing out before correcting your manners.

“May I please have your cock?”

Joel tsks from over you, his head slowly shaking left to right.

“Not quite. Again.”

“May I please have your cock, sir?”

He hums satisfied, kissing you tenderly and smirking against your lips.

“That’s my good girl,” another smack of your lips connects you two before he pulls away, looking at you adoringly, “You sure you wanna do this, my sweet girl?”

“Absolutely. Nobody else I’d want it with.”

“Ay Dios mío, ¿Cómo podría renunciar a ti? (Oh my god, how could I ever give you up?)” Disbelief floods his eyes, taking one last kiss from you, slow and sweet. Joel pushes himself up to stand on his knees, making quick work to strip himself of his boxers. Your mouth waters as you look at his cock sprung against his stomach, pre-cum dripping from his head and a twitch jerking it before his hand wraps around and gives it a few lazy strokes.

He spreads your legs wider, making sure the position is comfortable as his hips crowd against you.

“Alright, sweetheart, it might be a little uncomfortable at first, but the beginning's gonna be the worst part. Once you feel good about that, rest will make you feel even better.”

You nod in understanding, feeling heat prickling around your whole body as nerves bubble in your stomach. Joel smiles tenderly at you, guiding his hard cock to line up at your entrance.

“You ready, cariño?”

“Yes, ‘m ready. Please, Joel…”

He takes the moment of your relaxed exhale to push the tip of him inside your walls, the stretch of his girth burning you in a different way than his fingers. It’s not an overly painful burn, feeling like the stretch of a muscle. His hand finds your cheek, thumb brushing your skin and speaking quietly.

“You alright, darlin’? ‘M not hurtin’ you, right?”

Your head shakes quickly, breathing out a breath you were holding and feeling your body relax around him and adjusting with the lack of tension.

“Not hurtin’. Just feels…different.”

“Different’s alright, sweetheart. ‘S just something new.”

Joel’s chest is taut as he breathes through his own pleasure, willing his hips still until you give him the go ahead to push a few more inches of himself inside of you. You feel fuller than ever before, even without all of his length inside. He pulls his hips back slowly, the drag of him inside squeezing a moan from you. He starts at a slow pace with only a few inches of himself, encouraged to give you more with the louder, repeated sounds you're making under him.

“Fucking hell, pretty girl. So tight, god…”

“In a good way?”

“Yes, baby, course it’s good — everything about you is good, no, great. You’re makin’ me feel so unreal right now. You’re perfect.”

After a few more slow thrusts, he slips himself inside of you completely, his head rolling back with a moan of your name as you gasp loudly at the feeling of him against every part of your cunt. He loses his composure, lack of self-control seeping through as Joel starts to really fuck you, quick snaps of his hips burying him to the hilt.

Your eyes roll back at the feeling, mouth opening with silence choking any words from your mind. One of his hands grips your waist to hold you in place on the mattress as he drives into you, the other cupping your breast and squeezing while his index and thumb pinch your nipple.

The attention all over your body ripples pleasure throughout every one of your nerve endings, his name falling from your mouth over and over in breathy whines. He folds over you, lips finding the shell of your ear and whispering to you as he pushes you to toe the edge of Cloud Nine.

“Te adoro, hermosa. Cada toque tuyo se siente como la luz de una estrella tocando mi piel. Cada beso me respira nueva vida. (I adore you, beautiful. Every touch from you feels like the light from a star touching my skin. Every kiss breathes new life into me.)”

He doesn’t translate for you, leaving his words a mystery to your love-drunk brain. With his next thrust, he pushes you over that edge, a fall from the heavens as you plummet back down from euphoria into your body.

“Fuck, baby, you’re made for me. Gonna make me come, god damn.” His hips move back to leave you, your instant reaction to hook your legs around, digging your heels into the flesh of his ass to keep him inside.

“Please, please inside of me. I’m on the pill, take it religiously,” you whine out a beg, desperation slick in your tone. 

“Who am I to deny you, my sweet girl?” He shakes his head, hips thrusting into you a few more times before he spills his come, coating your walls and rolling his head back with a throaty groan. Both of you are still as you catch your breaths, his cock softening inside of you before he pulls it out slowly and lays next to you.

“You alright?”

A laugh first before answering, “‘M feelin’ amazing right now.”

Joel chuckles himself, a kiss to your cheek before he climbs out of your bed and traipses down the hall. You hear the swish of water from the tap turn on and off, bare footsteps slapping quietly against the wood floors as Jole comes back in through your doorway.

He cleans you up with a wet, warm cloth, exhaustion weighing your eyelids. Fluttering around your room, he moves smoothly as he gets the covers out from under you, tucking you in before discarding the cloth in your hamper and climbing under your comforter on the opposite side. He wraps you up as the little spoon, nose buried in your hair to smell your shampoo. 

Half awake, you reach to shut off your lamp. A confession floods your mind in the dark, faint voice whispering to him behind you, “I love you.”

It’s been a week.

A week since you revealed your heart and yourself fully to Joel.

A week of him not acknowledging either event.

A really weird fucking week.

Your return to school looms over your head, this lull coming at the most inopportune time.

Every day you see Joel, it’s awkward and disjointed in your embraces and kisses when Sarah’s off playing or he’s walking you to the door. Nothing feels as smooth as it was before last week, and there’s a nagging feeling in your chest that Joel taking your virginity ruined everything. That your friends were right, that guys never wanted to be that for someone because “women get too attached.” It sounded like bullshit to you before, and you don’t feel like you’re any more clingy than you’d acted before, the most attention you ask for is a kiss goodnight when you leave his house. He was always the one initiating more.

One night, you’d had a horrible thought that now he’s had you, he didn’t want any more. That it was about the chase, the finish line at the end of the summer that he’d crossed early.

But Joel wasn’t like that. He couldn’t be that type of guy.

He was a father. And a good one at that. An honest man. Someone who looks out for his family, even for strangers.

How could Joel become so lackadaisical with someone he said he cared about?

Today had been another stuttered dance of a goodbye, a chaste peck against your lips and a mumbled “see you tomorrow” before he sent you on your way, the door already closed when you glanced over your shoulder.

It had been eating away at you, carving out a part of your heart as you mulled over it all night. Your parents were asleep at this point, and looking out your window quickly, you saw his living room light still on.

You padded silently downstairs and slipped on shoes, quietly leaving out of your front door and crossing over to Joel’s porch. You knock instead of ringing the bell, not wanting to wake Sarah. The minute it takes Joel to answer the door feels like an hour, the courage you had about this confrontation fading with each passing second.

The entrance cracks open, half of Joel’s revealed as he takes you in. The rest of the door swings open, concern washing over his face with a furrowed brow and downturned mouth.

“It’s late, sweetheart. What are you doin’ out over here? Did something happen? Do you need help with something?”

With your arms crossed over your chest, you shake your head, glancing back at your house over your shoulder and debating if you should just forget this whole thing. Maybe he’s been having an off week — maybe it’s not worth bringing up if it could make things worse before you’re going to be three hours away at school for nine months.

The smallest part of you still urges you to push, to make him say what he’s feeling, even if it’s as simple as ‘I had a bad week at work’. If he can’t talk to you about what’s wrong now, what could happen if something starts bothering him when you’re going to have phone calls and limited visits?

It’s easier to justify a breakup when the person isn’t around for you. 

“Nothing’s happened, I—well, I wanted to come talk to you about this week. Just, things’ve been off. With us.”

Joel’s eyes hit the floor as you say that, his shoulders tensing along with the forearm that’s gripping the door. Anxiety pools in your stomach, the taut silence adding to your nerves. Is he angry?

“Think you should come in and sit down, sweetheart.”

That can’t be good.

You trail behind Joel after he shuts the door, following him into the living room and sitting at the end of the couch he gestures to. He sits near the middle, not quite the complete opposite end but not the spot he would have chosen before this week. Quickly grabbing the remote off the coffee table, he shuts off the TV and leaves the two of you in near darkness save for the soft light of the lamp behind you.

“Guess I should explain myself for this week.”

You can’t bear to look at him right now, your eyes turned down to your lap where you're picking at nails and a hangnail around your thumb.

“I’ve been thinkin’ a lot this week. About us. About the summer,” Joel sighs, his own eyes watching your nervous hands, “It has been a great summer. One of the best for me, I really do mean that. You’re so incredible, darlin’ b—”

“But what?”

Your gaze has risen to Joel, bile burning your throat when you see the look on his face — no hint of a smile when he said those words, no joy in his eyes. His mouth is in a downturned pout, his eyes rounded with sadness. The placement of his hands on his thighs is rigid, back straight as he cheats himself to face you more.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep goin’. For us to continue…this.”

Tears blur your vision until you blink them back, a few stray ones falling down your cheeks. You sniffle as Joel brings a hand up to wipe the drops from your cheeks — you let him, thinking it might be one of the last times, if not the last, he ever does anything soft like that for you.

“Why?”

Water wells the corners of your eyes again, lips pressed into a hard, flat line to hold in your sobs. Joel’s hand lingers against your skin, a flash of regret in his eyes that makes you think he’ll take it all back and you can forget about this ever happening.

But that look fades, replaced with the sadness from a minute before.

“You’re gonna be away at school, sweetheart. Three hours away. Busy as all get out for your last year. And I’m gonna be here. Bein’ a dad. And a mom too, most of the time. Plus with working full time on top of all that, I just, I couldn’t even promise a phone call to you, sweetheart.”

“But you could come visit on the weekends that Sarah’s at her mom’s…or-or I can come down. I would drive down every weekend to see you.”

“How'd you explain coming home every weekend to your parents? And you'd miss all the fun of your senior year for me? I couldn’t let you do that, darlin’. I wouldn’t want you to ever resent me for taking something like that away from you,” he shakes his head, definitiveness laced in his words, “I didn’t get to have all those experiences with Sarah being born, I didn’t even go to college. You have so much ahead of you, I don’t wanna hold you back.”

“How come you’re the one that gets to decide what I should do with my senior year? You’re not even giving me a choice. You’re not even giving me a chance if you do this, Joel.”

Tears fall freely at this point, not bothering to hold them in. Anger burns white hot in your chest, jaw clenched as you think about how he’s gone and decided what your life was going to be from now on.

“Sweetheart, you know it’s not like that—”

“It is. My whole life I’ve been making decisions to please people, if you can even call what I did making decisions. I listened to my parents, did the extracurriculars they told me to, never partied or got in trouble. I went to the college that they thought would be the best for me, even chose my fucking major — my career path — based on one thing my dad said to me years ago; he said ‘Y’know, you’ve got a smile that could sell ice to a penguin.’ I was twelve when he said that. And immediately I thought — if I could sell things like he said, he’d be proud of me, so I went into advertising,” you sit up on the couch further, shaking your head in disbelief, “I thought this summer was the first time I was choosing for myself. That nobody knew about how much I felt for you, that I was the one who was deciding that I wanted you. And when I decided that, when I told you I loved you, I wanted you to know that I was always gonna choose you. That this was the one path I could fully control.”

“Now I think I realize that I wouldn’t have done anything about it had you not kissed me first. I would have never made that decision without you deciding first. I’ve been following blindly my whole life. I wanted you to be the first thing I really chose. But I never really had a choice when it came to us. You were always gonna call the shots for what happened to us.”

“I didn’t go into all this knowing it was gonna come down to this at the end of the summer,” Joel’s voice is low and raspy, “I would never hurt you on purpose or string you along, sweetheart. I was in the moment with you. It was easy to forget about anything else when I was with you. You know I'm not going anywhere, I’ll always be here if you come back. But I think we both know you're destined for great things after you graduate.”

“I need you to do this for me, darlin’, please. Go have fun, be selfish this year. Spread your wings, mi mariposa. My butterfly.”

You stand from the couch, a sob escaping your lips as you turn to walk out the door. Joel follows you closely, grabbing your arm and turning you to face him.

“Joel, I don’t want to do this back and forth anymore. We’re done. It’s fine, it’s what you want and I am clearly not going to change your mind.”

“I just—I want you to know that I’m always going to care about you, sweetheart. I'll always be here for you.”

A sharp pain crackles in your chest as your heart crumbles, shards of it nestling to prick your lungs and steal the air from them, scrape against your ribs, spread everywhere in your body until it all hurts. Without another word, you take your arm from his grasp and leave out the front door. No looking back this time, no seeing if he’s watching you walk away from his life.

The trunk of your car slams shut with a push, all the belongings you’d brought home packed up again to make the drive back to school. You’re moving in earlier than you thought you would, heading back at the same time as your roommates instead of at the last second like every summer before. 

It’s been a dull last few weeks.

You didn’t have your job anymore to fill your days. Joel had messaged you that you were off the hook the morning after, and you spent the rest of the afternoon in quiet tears about not being able to say goodbye to say goodbye to Sarah. You had barely gotten glimpses of Joel, mostly seeing his truck parked in the driveway or coasting down the street in the mornings, but not much of him.

You’re not entirely sure if that’s helped or not.

But it doesn’t matter much now anyways, decisions were made and now you were finally leaving home.

On your driveway, your parents hugged you goodbye, your brother has already left for his school year to start baseball season training. With one last kiss on the cheek from your mom and a pat on the shoulder from your dad, you climbed in behind the wheel and backed out of the driveway. As you face towards the exit of your street, you take one look at the Miller house.

Joel’s standing on the porch with Sarah standing in front of him, a beaming smile on her face as she waves wildly at you. You roll your window down and wave back at her, laughing as she yells out a goodbye and good luck to you.

Flicking your eyes up to her dad standing behind her, hands on her shoulders and a closed, faint smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. He lifts his hand in a short wave to you, and all you manage is a nod of acknowledgment back to him. You start driving away, watching both houses next to each other shrink in the rearview mirror. You blast the AC after rolling your window back up, turning on the radio to fill the silence and distract your mind.

The station host finishes up an ad read and immediately goes into the next song, trills of piano and slow, bright vocals.

American Pie.

taglist: @beskarandblasters @undrthelights @swiftispunk @joelsversion @clingontolife @elizabeth01585 @wandaandellie @asirenbyanyothername @ellenmunn @ja-ehyun @livinxdeadxgrl @sw33tp1xie @starsandsaints07 @marisemonteiroo @brunetteeras @whydontyoysaynodoja @beee-haw @shmaptainshmerica07 @jenna-mcgraw19 @whore-4-pedro @spursgirl14-blog @katifefe @joelmillerswifu @itsgiorgiaz @soph55 @grapejuicesny @wild-hearts-runfree @youcancallmeelle @lisa-ru @jupitren @ziggy-star @miaispunk @oneofutoo @starkovli @thatgeminigirlx @marchai @bunnyskisses @houseofballoonsth @casual-obsessions @pedro-pascal-lvr @bimbodolls-world @burningnerdchild @tuquoquebrute @mrsvedder12 @estelivi28 @helllsent @bongsrconfusing @addictedtotlou @brittmb115 @angie2274 @owod3 @pedrostories @pedroholicx @theelishad @johnwatsn @sunakochansama43 @elissaaa @felicityofbakerstreet @atinylittlepain

[detailtilted]

Revised Enhanced Edition - CHICON 2007 J2 Breakfast v2.0

Direct link.

This was my first enhanced video. I didn’t want to ever update my videos after publishing them because it changes the YouTube link, which will probably cause confusion. However, I have to.

With huge thanks to AgtSpooky who sent me their original recorded videos, this version’s video quality is much better than the first. A more detailed explanation is below.

I’ve updated all four CHICON 2007 videos on my YouTube channel, but I’m only posting one per day here on Tumblr. I hope spreading the posts out might increase visibility so people with the old links get the message. I haven't made any significant changes to the extra content I'd originally added.

Quick recap for anyone not familiar with this project…

In December 2023, I started this project to enhance old convention videos. I'm upscaling the videos and making other visual improvements, adding extra content to clarify various references, and adding good color-coded subtitles so you can better understand the sometimes-chaotic audio.

My goal is to publish the best and most watchable versions of these older conventions yet seen, but this is only possible thanks to the fans who captured the footage in the first place.

Why I "had" to revise this video…

In another post, I was excited to say I’d tracked down AgtSpooky who had recorded CHICON 2008. They had videos with footage I'd been missing up to that point and generously sent them to me with permission to use them. I upscaled them for my use, then sent the upscaled versions back as a very small “thank you”.

They’d also recorded CHICON 2007, so I offered to upscale those too. I had no intention of using them myself because I was reasonably happy with my original versions and I didn’t want to break the links. When I saw AgtSpooky's videos, I discovered the ones I'd used had originated from them but proper credit hadn't been given. Someone else added the burnt-in Portuguese subtitles and put them on YouTube.

I guess in the process of doing that, the video quality was degraded. I was shocked by how much better AgtSpooky’s original files upscaled. My original upscales now look embarrassingly bad to me. With AgtSpooky’s permission, I swapped out my original upscaled videos with these better ones. Most of the extra content has remained the same, aside from a few small standardization changes.

Comparison photos…

Click to enlarge, and you'll understand why I had to revise my videos! Not only are their faces much sharper, but you can see things like the stripes on Jensen's shirt and the texture of the background wallpaper that were lost before.

[modmad]

Hey! Can I just say that I’m a very big fan of your comics as I whole?

I’ve mostly only read The Property of Hate and your duck doodle comics (which I recently did a binge of as you might be able to tell by your notifs), however your usage of color is actually incredible and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t inspire me to play around with color a bit more in my own art!

You also have a really neat way of drawing in general, with the more sketchy lines and the way that all of your comics look both extremely polished and very messy at the same time. It’s a really difficult thing to pull off and I hope that you’re as impressed by your own mastery of it as I am! You deserve to feel impressed by your own art I think.

Also this is duck comics specific- but I really love how you use the beaks to your advantage? This one’s a bit tough to articulate but the way that the line denoting the mouth will get smaller or wider or just fully disappear depending on the situation is one of my favorite details in the duck comics! Sometimes just not having a mouth gets across the emotion the best.

Also I just wanted to say thank you for being such a huge inspiration to me, especially in the realm of backgrounds. I do my college applications next year and I think I can safely cite your art as one of my biggest reasons for wanting to become a background artist. You make really complex backgrounds seem so simple (i.e. the scene in Hidden Potential where Gladstone and Magica are dancing down the floating rubble) and I think I might try redrawing a few to see if I can try and get my own backgrounds to that level by the time I’m off to college.

I hope this ask finds you well and that your day is going great! Remember to take a rest sometimes and drink water :]

OUGH THANK YOU had a tough tiring day yesterday with stuff and this was very cheering to wake up to!!!! thank you I miss drawing the ducks so so badly and I have to relearn how to do it every time I've left it alone for too long, but the beaks went from one of the hardest things about them to one of my favourite things to draw! growth, baby. also thanks i will drink water and go touch grass now

[mana-jjk]

Share ur fav inuokko artists/arts pls......

sorry for the month long wait anon ;; i had to buckle down to get my degree and graduate lol

but anyway, you probably know these artists immediately because they’re so talented and a staple in our community !!

for obvious reasons i won’t be posting any of their art, but i will tag them and share the links to where you can check them out yourself !

@mugi-sktch

i love their deception of inuokko !! they can be such little creatures who tease each other and their dynamic is so fun lol

but i also love the cozy vibes and atmospheres they convey, literally want to steal their clothes sometimes too. i’m also a huge fan of tan yuuta and fluffy hair toge agenda !! it’s really hard to convey character dynamics, but looking at their art is like reading a story about them and i always have new ideas after seeing their new content !

@gelatosushix

do i have to explain ? ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ you would think talented people might have an area of weakness, but no they’re a triple threat with art, analysis, and writing like ?? especially pairing them together to make written and visual content for us ??

i love the texture of their art if that makes sense, it’s so appealing i want to eat it. but like, with my eyes, in a positive way. the colors also make me feel like a toddler watching cocomelon because i could sit there for a day just mooning over the expressions, dynamics, colors, background, and so on. especially being a huge fan of the soft expressions inuokko have for each other like omg ;;

@pacchipa

this account is 18+ so keep in mind !! but omg their comics are so much fun and feed my unhinged yuuta agenda. they’re also so high quality and keep us sustained ! y’all, they made a GAME ! like ?? they are ensuring we do not starve and i have to give them so many kudos for that.

i love how pretty toge is and how sweet yuuta looks until the switch is flipped and the dead fish eyes come out, i think they have such a good handle on their dynamic and it’s just so much fun to scroll through their art ! the bar is in space and they put it there, we thank them for their service !!

@sensushimi on Twitter: https://x.com/sensushimi?s=21&t=DQOzVQHmSufn5IQXoFJsNw

some of their art is 18+ but we cannot talk about inuokko without mentioning them, like they are such a staple to me it’s not even funny. this was the first artist i found when looking into inuokko content and they’ve released banger after banger. again, i want to eat their art with my eyes and fall apart into tears because how the hell is it so good ? ;;

the fluffy hair, the warm hands, the cozy atmosphere, i get so excited to see notifications and want to interact with them so badly but i’m way too shy on twitter lol but every time their inuokko interact, they look so soft and squishable that i get cute aggression and fall apart lol

@araramyeon on Twitter: https://x.com/araramyeon?s=21&t=DQOzVQHmSufn5IQXoFJsNw

again some art is 18+ ! but another staple of my time with inuokko, their comics are so funny and charming and give so much of their dynamic it’s so cute lol i love how much of a troll their toge is without being too overtly out of character. and i also love yuuta being mischievous and innocent all at once ;;

i also enjoy the pathetic yuuta content because he’s just a lil loser who loves his boyfriend fr and their art gives me so much of that content lol their eyes are so shiny and expressive that i want to eat them in a good way

@svifian8 on Twitter: https://x.com/svifian8?s=21&t=DQOzVQHmSufn5IQXoFJsNw

not just their inuokko but the entire second year inclusion is some of my absolute favorite !! they’re always so natural and cute together that i actually will burst into tears. their toge and yuuta are both so squishy and pretty and the colors are so pretty i have no thoughts only heart emoticons !!

their fem!inuokko in particular is my favorite, i have it bookmarked just so i can go back and moon and cry over it every single day. they’re so pretty in all of the art and the dynamic is so good and the ideas i get by just looking at them is enough to send me to tears you do not understand !! i am on my hands and knees

i don’t want this to get too long, so hopefully this was helpful to you anon !! again i apologize for the delay, i had to prioritize education for some reason (*´-`) but feel free to send more asks, i love dumping my thoughts everywhere non-coherently <3

i do want to say that even if i didn’t mention a specific artists, including any that might be reading this, please know that i and everyone else appreciates you beyond words !! content creation is so incredibly hard, and whether you are an artist, editor, or writer, this community would not be what it is without you. you are essential, appreciated, and so talented that words cannot begin to describe the impact you make.

anyway, guess who got accepted to graduate school lol, some poor school has no idea they hired someone who just has queer brain rot about characters <3 my official graduation is next week tee-hee

[baileypie-writes]

~Responding to Sayings Glitter Force Stans Use~

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

When in conversation or arguement about Smile Precure and Glitter Force, Glitter Force stans tend to use the same sayings/excuses. These are my responses to them. Feel free to use them!

Also, if I missed one, let me know and I’ll add it!

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

“They’re the same shows.”

No, they are not.

If you did your research, you’d find that Glitter Force changed and cut out many things. Here’s a brief list:

- Names were changed to English ones

- Most Japanese culture was removed

- Any scenes/episodes that were deemed “too emotional” were removed.

- Any scenes that could imply romantic interest between two girls were removed.

- All music was changed, including background music

- More CGI endings were made for Glitter Force/Smile Precure, though they’re very poor quality compared to the originals. They learned their lesson for Doki Doki though; only using the original 2.

Due to all these changes, many episodes were cut; 8 in Glitter Force, and 19 in Doki Doki. This left the shows with many plot holes and ruined character development.

~~~~

“But it was my childhood.”

I understand that. It was mine too. But you have to understand that it doesn’t change a thing about Glitter Force. It’s still problematic, and it always will be.

You can still watch Smile Precure though. It can give you the same feeling of nostalgia as well.

Choosing to support a show you know is problematic, simply because it was your childhood is a very immature thing to do. Especially when the original can be easily found.

~~~~

“They made it easier for English kids to understand.”

While this may be true, they still would’ve understood just fine if it was dubbed accurately. Kids understand that people all around the world are different. And it’s important to teach them about different cultures anyway.

Besides, many popular children’s media explores different cultures. Take a look at Disney, for example. Most of their movies are not set in English speaking countries, but children still love them regardless. They genuinely could not care less if a character has a name they’ve never heard of before.

~~~~

“You expected me to know that at 8 years old?”

No.

I am fully aware that you had no clue it was problematic. You just saw a show with cute and colorful characters, and watched it. So that’s why I’m informing you now.

~~~~

“It’s not whitewashed, it’s westernized/Americanized.”

Westernizing/Americanizing does not mean erasing culture.

The definition of whitewashing is:

“To alter something in a way that caters to white people.”

Sound familiar? Because that’s exactly what Glitter Force did.

~~~~

“It’s just a show. Calm down.”

The fact that it’s a show doesn’t make racism any less serious.

~~~~

“You Precure fans are always so intense and quick to correct!”

I can assure you, most of us are not. We’re just trying to inform you that Glitter Force is problematic.

Also, this is the internet. If you say something even slightly wrong, you’re gonna get corrected. So it’s not purely a Precure fan thing.

~~~~

“But Pokémon did the same thing.”

Yes, you are correct.

However, Pokémon first came out in the 90s, so practically nobody in America understood Japanese culture, or knew what anime was. It’s still whitewashing, of course. But that’s what was done back then.

To my knowledge, Pokémon doesn’t remove all culture anymore. They just change the names. Which, for this specific situation, is definitely needed. For the Pokémon, a lot of their names wouldn’t make sense in English; their names in Japanese literally being English words like “thunder”(Jolteon) and “Ghost”(Gengar). So changing the names is alright in this instance. And for the people, it was too late to give them their original names, since they’ve had the same English one for over 20 years. So that’s fine.

Glitter Force, however, had no excuse. It was made in 2015. At that time, anime was receiving a huge spike in popularity. Also, Japanese culture was way more understood. So there was no need to whitewash it.

~~~~

“You can watch a show without supporting it.”

That is correct. However, this situation is different. It’s not like you have no other option. You can just watch the original instead. So choosing to watch the whitewashed version is supporting it.

~~~~

“It’s not my problem.”

Knowing a show is whitewashed, and continuing to watch it when you can just watch the original instead is your problem.

~~~~

“I don’t care.”

Ok? It’s not my fault you don’t care about racism. Sounds like something you should work on yourself.

~~~~

“But I don’t want to read subtitles.”

There are a few fandubs of Smile Precure out there that are way more accurate than Glitter Force. The voice acting may not be as good, and the mic qualities can be subpar, but it’s really not that bad!

~~~~

“But I’m too scared to go on pirating sites.”

I get it. Thankfully, as mentioned above, there are a few, legal fandubs available!

~~~~

“And the world keeps spinning/Womp womp.”

Please shut up, and find a new and creative response.

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[enden-agolor]

Hey enden! I just wanted to reach out as I know these are hard times for you. I’ve been wanting to say something and give you some support, but I have never known what to say, so I’m just gonna wing it.

First off, I would like to preface by saying you are an incredibly humble artist and writer. You carry great talent, yet you seem to almost expect people to not notice that. Never forget your talent, and that even something you spill out at 2am will most definitely be praised. You inspire me to create, I have been in a art and writing slump for so long. I got caught up in life and lost the love for it. You’ve lit that spark in me once more and want to get me creating, and most definitely writing, in honor of you!! That’s amazing man. You have some real special talent, and the mcsm fandom alongside others are seriously so so lucky to have you.

Second, I send nothing but love and support to you and your boyfriend. I know everything will work out just as you guys need it to. If she doesn’t get her karma legally, she most definitely will another way. I know you guys are so strong and will pull through with flying colors!! Death of a loved one is never ever easy, and the worst always happens to the best people. Know that none of what happened is your fault, don’t let guilt consume you, and both of you take care of and love yourselves. You guys seriously deserve it.

Lastly, on a less dreary note, I would like to ask if you had any fan fiction prompts for Jesskas? I want to write so bad, but I cannot come up with a proper idea that is really interesting and solid, yanno? I want to write something long, that I can really pour my heart out into. So if you had any tips or story prompts, it would seriously be appreciated, and you of course would get a huge shoutout, as you would with or without helping me since you are such a huge inspiration to me.

Best of wishes Enden!!

This may be a long response, so here-

First off, I suppose you are right when you say I don't really expect people to enjoy the content I create. It's not an easy concept for me to grasp. I have a lot of trouble seeing how people can like my stuff so much, or god even say I'm their favorite mcsm artist when there's so many others out there that carry so much more skill with colors and backgrounds and such. I know I'm not supposed to compare myself to others, but it is an incredibly hard habit to end. It's why I'm so shocked when I see actual fanart of my aus, or god even my writing. I cannot go back and read me own works for the life of me because I just cringe so bad at it, so when people say it's good I really just have to trust them and believe it.

All I could ever dream to do is inspire people to create and grow with their own imagination, so hearing that my stuff has done that sort of thing for you (and others who have told me the same) it brings me so much joy, but it truly is entirely hard to believe that it's me and not someone else being the one to do that. I don't know, but I am very honored to hear this from you. It only inspires me to push myself further and I don't know. Maybe some day I can push my imposter syndrome aside and really get a firm grasp on my full potential and be proud of it.

And thank you for the love and support towards our situation... As the days go by I fear more and more that that woman will get to keep her dog and nothing will come out of this other than we just have to move past it. So I hope you're right when you say she'll get her karma some other way. I've never in my life wished something bad to happen to someone. Not like this... So if karma does catch her, let it be as devastating to her as it was to us.

Now, real life shenanigans aside, we can get to the jesskas stuff 😏

For fanfic prompts, I always suggest exploring canon before getting into anything truly ambitious. If there's a certain scene in the game you'd like to further explore and add on to- do it! Like I've always wanted to write a fic that gets into a deep emotional moment between Jesse and Lukas after Jesse rescues Lukas and Petra from the Nether during episode 8 and they all enter the player dorms for the night. Just those off screen moments where you can take the characters and add more to the story is easy and fun in itself. I always like to look deep into the emotional aspect of it all, and really dive into how the characters might be feeling after a situation and how that gentle moment alone together could bring them closer. What I already mentioned being a good example because it's directly after PAMA, Jesse having to watch Lukas and Petra(or Ivor) die, and so on. There's a LOT of feelings to explore there. If that's something you'd want to try and tackle, go for it!! But if there's another scene from the game that really sticks out to you that you feel could be so much more, go for that too. It's good to start small and practice how you want to write the characters. Only reason I started a huge fic like Recovery straight away was because I'd been rping jesskas for like a year and a half already and was confident I knew how to write the characters and I wanted to do more for the little community by writing a nice big fic.

And again, it's Minecraft. There's a whole world to explore and put these two right in the middle of it. Think up certain scenarios you like and add on to it! Like if there's a certain scene you really want to do, build to it. Give the characters a goal and put obstacles in the way so you can really flesh them out on the way to that goal. What made them want to go there? How do they get there? What do they do when they get there? How do they communicate with others that might also be there? And how differently do they treat eachother compared to how they treat the others? Those are all things you really want to know ahead of time. Also pay attention to the scenery. Really look into the visuals your mind creates and do your best to get into the details about it all. There's a lot to get into with writing, and the best part about it is you're in complete control, so go crazy with your imagination, especially since it's Minecraft. It could be entirely self indulgent, or even something out of your comfort zone. No matter what it is, it's still growth and it's still progress to being a better writer. Just make sure you're having fun.

Also, thanks for taking the time to send this ask. I appreciate you 🩷

[lavareview]

x - x - x

MODEL: THE ALADDIN

(Note: this model's name was spelled "Alladin" in catalogs. However, collectors have mostly taken to referring to it as the Aladdin, and I prefer to stick to the typical English spelling of the folk tale.)

Brand: Lava Lite

Introduced: 1975

Discontinued: Unclear, though the lamp no longer appears in a 1979 catalogue.

Base and cap colors: brass

Wax colors: orange, red, green

Fluid colors: clear, yellow, blue

Size: height 16” or 14”, diameter 9”

The 1970s were a time of innovative and out-there designs for the Lava Lite brand. Models of the 1960s established iconic shapes which would be iterated on over the years, and from the 1980s onward, the brand’s new offerings would focus on color and pattern variety as well as lamps with more classical shapes but featuring sculpted and highly decorated bases. In the 70s, though, interesting silhouettes were what made new designs stand out, and I think none is more emblematic of this design ethos than the Aladdin.

The Aladdin is an example of a high-concept lava lamp that does not rely on gimmicky detailing and patterns to get its core idea across. In a way, the Aladdin just makes sense – for what lava lamps are, the Aladdin feels like an inevitability. What is a lava lamp if not the idea of a magical lamp? It remains notable that the Aladdin preceeds the Disney movie – if it had not already been made, maybe it would’ve come out in the 90s.

The Aladdin originally retailed for $29.99. Aladdin lava lamps can occasionally be found on second-hand sites, where they usually sell for anywhere from $150 to $700.

MY REVIEW:

It feels like the Aladdin should be a lamp one has a strong opinion on. Is it magical, or gimmicky? Is it pleasantly quirky or over-designed? Is it timeless or dated? When I look at the Aladdin, I think I should either love it or hate it… But I don’t. I don’t think I’m a huge fan of it, really – I’m certainly not interested in acquiring one – but it also doesn’t verge into gaudiness enough to fully turn me off it. Simply put: I’m pretty ambivalent about the Aladdin, even though I tend to have pretty strong ideas about lava lamp designs.

I also feel I should have a set opinion on the cultural background of its design. At times the Aladdin feels somewhat awkwardly orientalist. Obviously, the lamp is based on Arabian oil lamps, and the name refers to the SWANA folk tale. Is turning this type of lamp (and choosing this particular name) into a cheap consumer product in poor taste? I’m not sure about that either; I can’t manage to really be offended by the Aladdin, at least not more than I am charmed by it. I seem to always be of two minds regarding the Aladdin.

SILHOUETTE: 7/10

My ambivalence towards the Aladdin means I’m not particularly enthusiastic about its silhouette, but I think it may be more important to judge it based on what it’s trying to achieve, and not simply on whether I think it’d look good in my bedroom. And as far as its design intent goes, the Aladdin does pretty well. The shape of the lamp is immediately recognizeable and unique. You could probably guess its name just by glancing at it.

On the other hand, I also think more care could have been put into the design. If you take a look at the traditional type of lamp the Aladdin imitates, you’ll find what I think is a much more elegant shape: far from a stout, round base with a short spout – which is almost more similar to an occidental teapot – these lamps usually have elongated silhouettes and long, curving spouts, which give them a far more refined look. In comparison, the Aladdin looks a lot less elegant and more clumsy.

One example of an Arabian-style oil lamp

Still – you can recognize the inspiration so evidently that the silhouette still works. It’s also worth considering that making the lamp longer could have also required scaling it up, and making it any bigger would not have made it more graceful.

DETAILS: 9/10

The Aladdin, like other Lava Lite lamps of the era, does without much detailing. In a way, it maintains a degree of simplicity and sparsity of design. Again comparing it to its inspirations, the oil lamps it is based on are usually much more decorated, with varied and intricate carvings. Does that mean the Aladdin should have emulated them, though? Ultimately, I don’t think so. With the colorful lava globe being its visual focal point, a lot of extra detailing would have made it look crowded – and I think what would have likely been a poor imitation of traditional Arabian designs would have thrown the lamp squarely into “too orientalist for comfort”.

Though, while the sparse design of the Aladdin works for it, the fact its spout and handle are black and don’t match the base is a faux-pas in my book. It makes them look like last-minute add-ons, rather than whole parts of the lamp. I think I’d have given the Aladdin full points here if those elements matched the brass of the base.

COLORWAYS: 8/10

The Aladdin only came in three colorways, all of them with a brass base: clear liquid/red wax, yellow liquid/orange wax, and green liquid/blue wax.

I think the choice to only include a brass base and cap makes sense: I think only a gold color would have also made sense, and it wouldn't have been different enough from the brass color to really need including.

As far as the globe goes, the different colorways of the lamp work well for what it’s doing. The colors all fit with the Arabian inspiration of the design, and I think they also work in evoking the idea of a genie’s magical form trapped within the glass globe. Still – a few additional colorways would have been welcome. I've seen a few custom Aladdins featuring purple wax, which I think is a good idea. I would have also liked to see a yellow liquid/red wax version; something including either pink wax or pink liquid would have also been lovely.

POWER: 6/10

Once again, I’m a bit conflicted here. The Aladdin should be really powerful, right? With a rather simple design, it evokes such a clear, defined vision! It almost tells a story simply by existing. But then again – why do I feel so lukewarm about it? When I think of those really impactful lava lamp designs, those that stay with me even when I’ve never had the chance to see them in the flesh, this is simply not one that comes to mind. Ultimately, the Aladdin just doesn’t have the kind of powerful draw I find in other unique designs such as the Wizard or the Fluidium.

MY FINAL LAVA SCORE: 7.5/10

Is my information wrong? Did I miss a detail? Do you have a better picture of this model? Is there another model you’d like me to look into? Please send me an ask or submit relevant pictures!

[helenofsparta2]

hi! Anon who sent the ask abt Estelle—just wanted to say I only now noticed that it wasn’t you who said you were meh abt Estelle but that it wa s from a post you reblogged 😭 my bad! But I’m still curious abt your thoughts on the “Estelle being posiedons kid” theory so if you don’t mind me asking abt it, I’m not like, rescinding the ask or anythingb

Hi, first of all, thank you so much. I’m really glad you enjoy my fic so far:))

I guess I don’t care enough about Estelle to have any strong opinion regarding her. She is part of the new works, post HOO, and I’m not really a fan of that era.

Nothing post ToA has really interested me, and even that series, I haven’t read in quite a few years. I didn’t even buy Sun and Star and Wrath of the Triple Goddess yet. In my opinion Rick’s writing peaked with The Last Olympian, and it has been a gradual decline since (even if Trials of Apollo, and especially the development of Apollo/ Lester was pretty awesome to read)

But I would absolutely hate it if she were the daughter of Poseidon, simply because it would completely destroy Sally’s character.

There are only two reasons, why that would be possible.

Either she cheated on Paul, or you believe the “theory” that Poseidon is Paul, and fair to say, I hate both of those ideas.

Sally going from an abusive marriage, to finding a sweet, supportive and loving partner in Paul, accomplishing her dream in writing her book, and having another child is a beautiful story, very different from most other books from the same genre, or intended audience, where most parents are either dead, or get shoven so far into the background that they are barely characters in their own right anymore. Sally going back to Poseidon would completely destroy this happy ending she has built for herself and would be a huge disservice to her character, at least in my opinion.

Regarding Estelle’s eye color, I’m pretty sure it’s just a mistake Rick Riordan made. He’s pretty renown for not knowing his own lore, and continuously making mistakes regarding the continuity of his world.