#Top 10 divorce lawyers
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top10divorcelawyers · 4 months ago
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How to Choose the Best Divorce Lawyer in New Jersey and California
Going through a divorce is one of the most challenging experiences in life, and having the right legal representation is essential. Whether you are in New Jersey or California, finding a skilled attorney who understands the complexities of family law can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case. Knowing how to identify the Top 10 Divorce Lawyers and why it’s crucial to choose someone with local expertise will help you navigate this difficult process.
In New Jersey, divorce laws are detailed and often require an attorney with specific experience in the state’s legal system. Divorce lawyers in New Jersey are familiar with local laws, including those related to property division, alimony, and child custody. Choosing a lawyer who is deeply knowledgeable about New Jersey’s legal procedures ensures that your rights are fully protected throughout the divorce process. The right lawyer will provide you with tailored advice, guiding you through every step and working towards an outcome that meets your needs.
California, with its own set of family law challenges, also requires attorneys who are well-versed in the state’s regulations. California Family Law Attorneys must navigate the state’s unique community property laws, which govern how assets are divided during a divorce. These laws can be complex, and having an attorney who understands them is crucial to securing a fair settlement. Whether you are dealing with issues of child custody, spousal support, or the division of property, a seasoned California family law attorney will advocate for your interests and ensure that your case is handled with care and precision.
When searching for the Top 10 Divorce Lawyers, it is important to consider not just their experience, but also their reputation and the quality of their client relationships. The best lawyers are those who can handle complex negotiations, offer clear and compassionate advice, and are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for their clients. They bring a wealth of knowledge to each case, helping clients to understand their options and make informed decisions.
In both New Jersey and California, the right divorce lawyer can provide you with the support and guidance you need during this challenging time. They will work diligently to protect your interests, whether you are negotiating a settlement or preparing for litigation. Finding a divorce lawyer in New Jersey or a California family law attorney who has the expertise and dedication to handle your case will give you the confidence to move forward and achieve a resolution that is in your best interest.
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bestlawfirmdelhi · 1 year ago
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thatsonemorbidcorvid · 2 years ago
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“The women leaders in our study were considered too young or too old. They were too short or too tall, too pretty or too unattractive or too heavy. They had too much education or not enough or their degrees were not from the “right” schools. They suffered from disrespect and misperceptions due to race, color, or ethnicity. Whether they had children or were childless, the women were expected to work harder than men to prove their worth. Women were held back from leadership opportunities due to being single, married, or divorced. There was no personality trait sweet spot, as introverted women were not seen as leaders and extraverted women were viewed as aggressive. The effect, then, means women leaders are “never quite right.””
Full text under cut
https://www.fastcompany.com/90889985/new-research-reveals-critiques-holding-women-back-from-leadership-that-most-men-will-never-hear
A recent study of the 33 biggest multilateral institutions found that of 382 leaders in their history only 47 have been women. And the percentage of women running Fortune 500 companies has only just recently crested a meager 10%.
As researchers we wondered why institutions consistently fail to promote women to top jobs. Our recent study of 913 women leaders from four female-dominated industries in the U.S. (higher education, faith-based nonprofits, law, and healthcare) sheds light on this pernicious problem. As we found, there’s always a reason why women are “never quite right” for leadership roles.
Women are criticized so often and on so many things that they are acculturated to receiving such disparagement, taking it seriously, and working to make improvements. And any individual woman may take it personally, believing the criticism directed at her to be warranted.
But our research reveals that the problem lies elsewhere. Virtually any characteristic can be leveraged against a woman in a discriminatory fashion. Such criticisms often relate to facets of women’s identity in an overt or subtle way, such as race, age, parental status, attractiveness, and physical ability.
Effectively, the surface-level critique functions as a “red herring,” distracting from the inherent gender bias driving the encounter. This type of treatment is so common that we have called it “we want what you aren’t” discrimination.
More specifically, our research revealed 30 different characteristics and qualities of a woman’s identity that emerged as points of criticism creating barriers to women’s success. The clear message to women is that—whatever they are—they are “never quite right.”
Age was a consistent challenge for women leaders in our study. Some of our respondents reported being considered too young to lead, while others indicated being too old hindered them from advancing.
However, being middle-aged didn’t help women’s career prospects either. A physician shared: “I am middle-aged, and men my age are seen as mature leaders and women my age as old.”
Parental status—having children or being childless—emerged as another point of criticism. A higher-education leader described how people assume she “can’t take on a bigger role ‘because of the kids,’” which made her feel that she needed “to work extra hard” to show that she could be both a dedicated mother and a leader.
On the other hand, a childless physician was expected to “work harder/more, accomplish more” than other female colleagues. Mothers were also bypassed for career opportunities, as happened to a single divorced lawyer who was the mother of preschoolers, “due to a perception by my male bosses that I cannot or should not handle [larger matters].”
Likewise, pregnancy was problematic, particularly for lawyers in our study. There was doubt that women would come back to work after maternity leave. Some were no longer given good assignments, while others were forced to quit private practice or work part time. One lawyer described the loss of confidence from bosses:
“Once you are pregnant or trying to have kids, the way management views you deteriorates. The opposite thing happens for male coworkers. I’ve seen it in so many law firms it’s impossible to argue it was just coincidence or based on merit.”
Simply planning on having kids was enough to invoke bias. A woman in higher education reported being denied promotion because she would need maternity leave for hypothetical future children.
Women of color were targets of subtle bias. An African American faith-based leader described being “invisible” and regularly “talked over” by white men. A Native American higher-education executive described being misperceived as weak, “when in fact we are practicing ‘respect’ for ourselves and others.” And a Filipina physician described facing role incredulity, as people assumed that she was “a nurse, and not a doctor and a division chief at that.”
Even physical ability and health played into the women’s experiences. Physical disabilities led to assumptions of not being capable. One higher-education leader who uses a crutch was questioned by men about the way she walks and has been told “to hide my cane, especially for photographs,” as she said.
Regarding health, there were double standards around the way men and women with illnesses were treated. A physician developed ovarian cancer while serving as an officer in the public health service. She explained, “The plan was to discharge me . . . even though men with prostate cancer didn’t have to go through that.”
The women leaders in our study were considered too young or too old. They were too short or too tall, too pretty or too unattractive or too heavy. They had too much education or not enough or their degrees were not from the “right” schools. They suffered from disrespect and misperceptions due to race, color, or ethnicity. Whether they had children or were childless, the women were expected to work harder than men to prove their worth. Women were held back from leadership opportunities due to being single, married, or divorced. There was no personality trait sweet spot, as introverted women were not seen as leaders and extraverted women were viewed as aggressive. The effect, then, means women leaders are “never quite right.”
Organizations that fail to promote and support women in their top roles miss out on performance gains. Fortunately, there are concrete steps that organizational leaders, allies, and individual women can take to mitigate this “never quite right” bias, aiding women’s workplace advancement.
“Flip it to test it”
Leaders can be particularly effective in thwarting sexist criticisms toward women. It’s not about changing the behavior of women—who are the recipients of the unfair treatment—but it is about changing the behaviors of those who justify their actions as somehow merited. Many criticisms fail the “flip it to test it” method miserably. Ask yourself, would the following statements ever be said about a man?
He needs to smile more.
Men are going to have kids and not want to work.
Since Larry has prostate cancer, he can no longer fulfill his job duties.
The clear answer is no. Leaders can infuse awareness of this simple, yet effective, tool to reduce such bias-laden criticisms. And workplace allies can help stop unfair criticism of women by calling it out.
Constructive career-enhancing feedback
Women are almost one and a half times more likely to receive negative feedback that is subjective rather than constructive and objective feedback. Men are often given a clearer idea of where they excel and opportunities for improvement whereas women are given vague feedback that often focuses on qualities like communication style. Even when using formal performance evaluation rubrics, a disparity remains.
Developmental feedback to women focuses on operational tasks, coping with politics, developing resilience, being cooperative, and building confidence. Developmental feedback to men focuses on setting a vision, leveraging power and politics, being assertive, and displaying confidence. Leaders can reduce the gender-biased framing by encouraging all employees to develop both sets of skills.
Do not take it personally
For individual women, hear us when we say, “It’s not you.” We women are conditioned to accept feedback and internalize it as something to “fix” about ourselves. If you are criticized, consider whether it is objective, constructive, and warranted. Disregard identity-based criticisms that are part of a larger pattern of bias against women.
Our research demonstrates that practically any characteristic can be proclaimed problematic for a woman leader to question her competence and suitability for leadership. It takes deliberate effort, but we can turn the message to women from “We want what you aren’t” into “We want what you are.” Doing so will advance women in the workplace and profit the entire organization.
Amy Diehl, PhD, is chief information officer at Wilson College and a gender equity researcher, speaker, and consultant. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.
Leanne M. Dzubinski, PhD, is acting dean of the Cook School of Intercultural Studies and associate professor of intercultural education at Biola University, and a prominent researcher on women in leadership. She is coauthor of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.
Amber L. Stephenson, PhD, is an associate professor of management and director of healthcare management programs in the David D. Reh School of Business at Clarkson University. Her research focuses on how professional identity influences attitudes and behaviors and how women leaders experience gender bias.
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spideyhexx · 1 month ago
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oct. 20th - closing arguments
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Jack Prescott x Intern!FemaleReader
mdni!!! wc; 4.1k cw; power play technically, age gap, blowjob
kinktober masterlist
jack is an oc! here is his fact sheet!
a/n; aha! the first jack fic :) love you all who have loved him since his creation this is for all of youuuuu
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There is no way this day could get any worse. 
Jack prides himself on being able to handle high levels of stress. He would not have gotten through law school if he couldn’t. 
But every fiber of his being was being tested today. 
A meeting right as the clock struck eight was not always so bad, but when it was a horrid divorce case with a fumbling husband sobbing at Jack’s desk and blowing his nose into tissue after tissue, it got tiring quickly. Then of course a client cancelled last minute. This would sound like a good thing, but it sets Jack back a bit because this is the third time said client has rescheduled. 
And this time, he didn’t give a new date!
It’s a surprise Jack hasn’t popped open his liquor cabinet. 
Lunch was fine, but the leftover spaghetti he brought in tasted like a freezer burn. His afternoon became jam-packed. He expected it, yet it still caught him struggling to maintain his sanity. Between meetings, and dealing with an insolent co-worker who wrote up a report so incorrectly, Jack wondered if the guy was drunk, his secretary having to leave early, to the fact his damn computer keeps running slow…yeah. 
It was a bad day. 
Perhaps even worse, today was the day he scheduled overtime for half of the office. A little ‘bonding’ thing he learned from the law firm he worked at before having his own. He’d order dinner for everyone from a fancy place and everyone would get to know how one another works at nine p.m.
Perfect, right?
The dinner itself was okay. The food was good, which was a win in his book. Jack makes sure to jot down the restaurant name in his little notepad for future reference. The co-workers he scheduled for overtime were always on the cusp of complaining, but when he entered the room, they were all smiles and enjoying their heavy pasta. 
After food though, it was a time crunch until 10:30 when everyone could go home and Jack left everyone to their work to do his own. And maybe have some whiskey. He deserved it, didn’t he? 
That’s what he tells himself, at least. 
He stands from his desk and smooths his palms on the front of his slacks, walking the short distance to his liquor cabinet. He bends down to swat and opens it, taking out the glass and bottle that was mostly full. 
A knock on his office door almost startles the glass out of his hand and Jack puts both objects back into the cabinet. He straightens up, clearing his throat as he walks back to his desk, tugging the sleeve of his fitted dark green sweater, “Come in,” his voice rings out clear and loud to whoever is on the other side of the door, and he takes a seat in his chair. 
The door creaks open and you peek your head in first before pushing the door more open, “Uh, Mr. Prescott, can I speak with you a minute?”
The intern. You’ve been here for four months now, mostly doing the busy work of paralegals and assisting Mr. Prescott. Jack’s sure you’re the best intern he’s hired. He’s already started a draft for a recommendation letter (which you did and did not ask for, but more-so implied you would like at the end of your internship) and Jack feels quite good about your future prospects. Not that he cares too much, but it will be sad to lose you as a worker, the least he could do is help you in your next career journey. Right? 
Jack glances at the time, then over at you, leaning back in his chair, “Yeah, make it quick,” he says and you promptly walk in and close the door. 
Your palms already sweat at the fact you’re in here alone with him. Mostly because of what you need to talk about but also because it’s Jack Prescott. One of the top lawyers around the city. A bachelor. An incredibly handsome bachelor that looks like literal sex when he comes into work some days. It was torturous working for him and meeting his striking blue eyes when he held eye contact with you like he wanted you to feel it in the pit of your stomach. You did. You sure did, every single fucking time. 
You weren’t sure if he was aware of how hot he was. Or if he even thought about sex. Or if he dated. You gossiped with one of the only other women in the office about it one day, since you typically saw his calendar that included personal stuff like a lunch with his mother, doctor’s appointment, etc. But nothing on there seemed like a date. Your co-worker thinks he hooks up and that’s it, but even that you can’t get behind. The man is a mystery and good at keeping hismelf that way. 
You stop in front of his desk and pull at the hem of your skirt in a nervous tug, then open your mouth to speak, only to close it when he starts clicking at his keyboard. 
Jack takes a glance at you and gestures with his hand, “My apologies, just an email. One second.”
Jack types for another minute to finish the email, but it feels much longer than that. Much longer that you clasp your hands behind you and watch his fingers work at the keys in a manner so elegant. The metal of his watch glints off the light of his lamp at his desk. His overhead lights in his office are dimmed down, the city night skyline shining through his large windows behind him. 
His hair, which is usually slicked, has some strands out of place. Jack’s eyes are more tired and being his intern, you know the day’s been hectic. Part of you wants to ask if he’s doing okay, but his head is turning back to you and your words are caught in your throat. 
“Alright, go on,” he gestures once more with his hand to you, leaning back in his desk chair, one hand resting on his desk, the other dropping to his thigh. Your eyes couldn’t help but follow it before looking into his eyes. 
“Right, well two things uh,” you pause, shifting on your feet, “One, George messed up the printer somehow so-”
“The printer?” Jack’s brow immediately furrows and you want to smooth out the lines so bad it makes you heat up. You should not be thinking that way. 
“Yeah, I don’t know specifically what’s wrong with it but-”
“So you don’t know the specifics and you still came to me?” Jack interrupts again and you feel that urge to shrivel at his tone. 
“I thought it best that you know right away sir-Mr. Prescott,” you get out your words as calm as you can, keeping your voice level and your gaze on him. You learned it from him. To not cower. 
Jack gives one nod, his jaw setting and a hand swiping to his jaw. He taps his fingers to it, then says, “Is it gonna set us back then? I don’t have anything to print and IT won’t be able to help until Monday.”
“George still had like four copies to print and Rosie said she needed it too,” you tell him, unable to avoid the hesitancy in your voice. 
Because Jack does rub to his face again in semi-annoyance, “Can anyone try to fix it?” 
“Don’t think so.”
“Great. Thanks. What else do you need then?” He says flippantly, tugging at his sweater to fix it, and your eyes naturally follow the movement. 
The slight bite in his voice makes you very hesitant to ask him your question, but you steel yourself, squeezing your hands together, “I know it’s last minute but I need to take off on Monday and I know-”
Jack raises his hand to stop you from speaking and then runs his hand through hair. Gods he must be stressed. Annoyed. If he’s gonna mess up his hair like that. In front of you. 
“I did need you, Monday. That big client from SoHo is coming, thought you knew that.”
“I did! I did, but…,” you take a breath, “I have my like…last exam of college ever on Tuesday and I just need to study and relax and y’know it’s obviously super important and-”
“Okay,” he interrupts. He has a penchant for that tonight. “Fine. Take the day, but I’m not rescheduling with that client, so it’s your loss,” Jack tells you with a shrug, a look on his face saying he’s slightly disappointed but he’s not gonna harp on it much longer. 
The look does not make you feel any better, but you let out a deep exhale and nod to him, “Yeah, okay, thank you, Mr. Prescott, really.”
Jack’s voice is quick, almost sharp, “Don’t thank me.”
You nod again, albeit a little more awkwardly this time. A moment of silence befalls the two of you and you find yourself smoothing your skirt. 
You’re about to turn on your heel to leave his office, when he stands up, eyeing you up and down with a curious gaze, “You good? You look stressed.”
“Oh, just long day and the exams,” you say with a half-hearted chuckle, watching him closely as he stalks over towards his bookshelf. 
Jack gives a hum, then leans down to his cabinet, contemplating what he’s about to do. He shouldn’t. He knows that. But it’s close to closing. And you look as tired and stressed as he is. There’s no harm in it. He grabs the whiskey bottle he was pining for earlier and two glasses, “Do you drink?”
His question catches you off guard, but you nod, “Uh, yeah.”
Jack sets the glasses down, then looks to his office door, and back to you, popping open the bottle, “It’s whiskey. Keep this between us, I’m not sharing with the lot,” he gestures towards the door. 
A nervous tingle runs up your spine as you watch him pour the liquid into the two glasses, glancing from his hands to his face, which has a look of concentration and something else in it. 
He walks closer to hand you your glass, your fingertips brushing his as you take it from him. You’re not sure if he also felt what you felt, but you push it to the further recesses of your mind. 
You look down at the liquid in your glass as he leans back against the edge of his desk, sipping the whiskey. His eyes are on you, you know they are. You’ve sipped wine in front of him before, so what was so different about this? 
The dimmed office lights? The fact that your coworkers were probably packing up to leave? The fact he even offered a drink in the first place?
He breaks you from your thoughts, “Do you know how to drink it? The whiskey?”
You’ve not had it before. But even if you did no, you say no. 
Jack hums, “Small sip. Swish it in your mouth a little, then swallow,” then he does it himself to demonstrate. It’s pure desire what you feel when you watch him sip. How his eyes stay on yours over the rim of his glass and his free hand pushes into the pocket of his slacks. Everything about him right now is so at ease and sexy. 
You nod, and take a small sip of the drink, only swishing it in your mouth for a second, before you swallow it and grimace, “Oh…wow.”
Jack stifles his smile. Smile. He shakes his head, clearing his throat, “Yeah, it’s…you don’t have to drink all of it.”
“I won’t,” you chuckle, walking closer to him so you could put it on his desk. The lack of hesitance in your action to come over close to him has him straightening up just a little. You pause at the movement though, looking at your whiskey. “Maybe one more sip.” 
Jack lets himself chuckle. A breath of a chuckle, “It gets you.”
With your eyes on his, you sip, swish it, and swallow, trying to hide your grimace. Jack sets his glass down, then takes yours, his thumb ever so slightly brushing the tip of your thumb. He puts the glass down and maybe this is when you should move away from him but your feet feel stuck to the floor, admiring him up closer in the dim light. 
Jack doesn’t know what he’s doing either. He’s yelling at himself internally to dismiss you. He still had some work to do. But you’re there. Pretty in your work attire. Pretty. He shouldn’t think of that. 
He clears his throat and crosses his arms to his chest, “You should…head back to work and all. Think you got like 15 more minutes.”
Jack could never admit to himself he found his intern attractive. You were younger than him and again, his intern. So he avoided those thoughts like the plague, but you standing right here in front of him while you’re both tired was not helping. 
Jack picks his whiskey glass back up as you give the slightest nod, but make no move to go. “Yeah…have…some work…,” you trail off, “question?”
He raises his brow, sipping a very small sip, then he says, “Yes?”
“Just wanted to know for that uh…what that lawyer gala thing you have to go to-”
He rolls his eyes, “Yes, what about it?”
“Are you bringing your girlfriend as the plus one or?”
You don’t know what’s come over you and you know deeply how wrong this could go but you can’t stop. Not when he’s looking like this and you can smell his cologne. Fuck has it been that long of a day? 
“Girlfriend? I don’t have one,” he says, a confused look etched onto his face. 
“Oh? I thought maybe…,” you stop yourself, then say, “Well, I know you’ll have the extra ticket and I know you took Ethel last year because she mentioned it like five times to me but maybe I could go with you?”
Jack takes a second to study your face, like he thinks you’re lying about what you truly want to say, but he doesn’t press. “Yeah, maybe. It’s near the end of your internship, so it could be a good way to close it out.”
You take a mindless step closer to him, a genuine smile on your lips. You didn’t give a fuck about that gala but the idea of attending with him all dressed up certainly made you feel good. Your breath feels heavier as the two of you look at one another. 
Jack notes the step and you swear you see his eyes glance to your legs, “What’re you doing?”
You falter at the question, taking a small step back, “Nothing, Mr. Prescott.”
Jack tilts his head at you. God, he’s thinking so hard. You can practically see the gears turning in his head working overtime and you’re trying not to rub your thighs together and make it more obvious what you’re feeling. 
“Think maybe I do want another sip of whiskey,” you joke, but mean it, to break the silence. 
He huffs, a slight smile curving his pretty lips, “Come get it, then.”
You swallow. Then take the steps closer, reaching your hand to the side of him to take the glass. Maybe you purposely brush your arm to him. Maybe it wasn’t on purpose. 
When you take a small sip, your eyes find his once more. He’s so tall. And you almost catch how he’s gazing over well, all of you. “Come closer,” he says, a hint quieter, like he didn’t mean to say the words aloud, but you surely heard him. 
You listen and do so, to his surprise, but he sets his glass down, then reaches his hand out for your glass, taking it in his hand. 
He parts his lips to speak, then hesitates. Jack glances to his office door, then back to you. 
Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Until, “Open your mouth a little.”
Your eyes widen immediately and you can tell he’s about to rescind his words, but you do it. You open your mouth for him and pray that it’s not so deplorable that he scoffs and kicks you out. 
Jack swallows hard, his jaw tightening and he brings the lip of the glass your mouth, pouring just a bit of the whiskey into your mouth, then nudging under your chin with his fingers to close your mouth. You obey the action, letting the lliquid swirl in your mouth before you swallow and he puts the glass down, fingers still to your chin. 
His eyes bore into your eyes. Fucking thinking and surrounding themselves with intent. “Open…open again.”
How could you refuse?
When your mouth parts the slightest bit, Jack’s bringing his mouth in close. An embarrassing noise leaves your lips at the action and your hand holds to his wrist. 
Jack stares intensely at you, “Just…just go…back and do your work,” he whispers, his breath hitting your lips, “I shouldn’t…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence and you finish it for him, “No, you shouldn’t do this.”
Your eyes tell him a different story. The way you squeeze to his wrist and not once glance away from him tells him you’re not uncomfortable. You’re not leaving his space, you move closer until he can feel the brush of your chest to his. 
Jack doesn’t know what’s come over him, but his breath shudders and he pools the saliva in his mouth, the slowly spits onto your bottom lip into your mouth, before crashing his lips to yours. 
It’s a rough, messy kiss, as though Jack is starving for the feel of your lips on his. Like he wants them melded to him and imprinted for a long time. Your tongue slides his bottom lip and sucks on it, which is when he breaks the kiss and lets go of you, walking straight to his office door to lock it, before he’s coming back over to you, scratching a hand at his head, “You should go, I-”
“Mr. Prescott, it’s-”
He groans at the title you give him, granted the one you always call him and his hands are bringing your head closer, kissing you once more. He ends up leaned against the edge of his desk again with you pressing yourself into his fit body, taking the opportunity to slide your hands on his arms and his chest, to feel the muscle you’ve somewhat seen but knew he had. 
Jack is lost in it, clearly still fighting with himself, but also leaning into the way you suck and bite at his lips. His hands move down your body, caressing your hip and keeping you pulled in close to him. 
When you pull for a breath, his eyes are dazed and his lips much redder. You can’t think. All you can do is slip down till you’re on your knees in front of him.
Jack curses to himself, looks away from you for a moment before looking back down to you, “I can’t come back from this.”
“I’m an intern for one more month,” you say, like that makes it any better, but god does he look good from this angle.
He doesn’t like that answer, but he drops his hand to his belt to undo it, his other hand in your hair, “Have you done this before?”
“Gone down on a guy?” 
He nods, putting his belt on his desk, quickly looking to his door before looking back at you.
“Yeah, I have,” you admit to him, watching his fingers undo the button of his slacks. 
“Okay. So, you know what you’re doing?” 
You nod, eyes glued to his fucking hand, unzipping his slacks and pushes them down just a little, “Show me, then,” he says, voice a little quieter. 
You waste no time, tugging to his boxers before he could do it, exposing him in his office. There’s no time to think about how this is your boss’ cock, it’s just Jack, you tell yourself in the moment. You spits into your palm and ignore the way his hand tightens to your head, wrapping your fingers to him. 
You give him a few languid strokes to help him harden, a low groan leaving his lips before he clears his throat, “Don’t tease, right now, we can’t…it’s gotta be-”
“I know, Mr. Prescott,” you interrupt him this time, giving his tip one small lick. Jack bites to his cheek, watching you intently. 
You open your mouth a little and let the head of his cock rest on your tongue, your free hand holding to his thigh. 
“Fuck,” he says under his breath, resisting his urge to push himself all the way into your mouth. You wrap your lips to him and take more of his cock into your mouth, humming around him.
“That’s it,” he mutters, watching as you try to take more of him and immediately realize you can’t. Jack shakes his head at you, “Can’t take more of it?”
He’s just big and thick. Jack fills your mouth and it feels good to have the weight on your tongue. You bob your head on what you can fit, hollowing out your cheeks and sucking him hard to get the ball rolling since the quicker this is, the better. For now. 
Jack is good at keeping quiet, but his heavy breaths and curses right under his breath make you want to escalate this to something more than you simply sucking his cock. 
When you try to take him more into your mouth, your throat constricts and you gag, closing your eyes and breathing deeply through your nose. 
“Don’t hurt yourself. Take what you can, it’s good enough,” he says through a rushed breath, a surprisingly tender feeling coursing through you when he rubs his thumb into your temple. Once the feeling passes, you continue to work him, using your other hand to stroke what you can’t fit in your mouth. 
You know Jack likes it, even with your eyes closed, because his hand tightens to your head and he lets out a shakier breath. The Jack Prescott with a shaky breath is something you couldn’t imagine but here he was. 
“You’re so fucking good,” he whispers, the volume of his voice just enough for you to hear, but not too loud, “Really taking it, huh…this is fucked up,” he groans at himself then swallows his noises, his hand moving to the back of your head. 
“C’mon, pretty, just hurry up, make me cum, this needs to be over, c’mon,” Jack says, patting the back of your head a few times and you move faster, the slick of your spit on his cock making the most noise in the room, but you hope it can’t be heard outside of it. You pull back, only to swirl your tongue on his tip and suck on the sensitive head, your hand jerking him in quick motions
“Almost, almost,” Jack warns you, his chest breathing heavy and his hand pressing more into your head as you focus mostly on his tip, sucking it over and over again. You flatten your tongue to it, then open your mouth and slap his cock to your tongue, a desperate move to turn him on as much as possible and have him cumming down your throat.
The action does have an affect on him. Jack’s breath sutters and he pushes your head to take more of him, “what the fuck,” he whispers to himself as he tips his head back, putting his arm over his mouth and lets out a muffled, but strangled groan.
His load shoots into your mouth, coating your tongue in it’s salty sweet taste and you moan around him, swallowing every drop he give you and eagerly licking at any that beads out of his tip as he finishes. 
Jack takes his cock out of your mouth and pulls his boxers up, followed by his slacks and his quickness makes you stand. You weren’t even touched yet you feel wobbly on your feet.
He stares at you as he fumbles with his belt, “Uh…I think you better get home, it’s uh…it’s time.”
Jack clears his throat, shaking his head and trying to forget what just happened as you stand there dumbfounded.
“Um…Mr. Prescott-”
“Go home,” he repeats himself, his tone more stern than he means to come off. He smooths at his slacks and moves around his desk to sit in his chair, moving the mouse of his desktop to turn the screen on. 
“Work…on Wednesday?”
He glances at you. A blank stare coating his face. “Yeah. Work on Wednesday. 9 am. Good luck on the exam.”
You nod and turn, wiping at your mouth as you walk straight to his door, messing with the lock and leaving him alone in his office.
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simshousewindsor · 26 days ago
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THE PRESS AND THE RULES
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[Bukharat Golf Course, Dacana]
Cmd Eldridge: Hello?
[??]:"I have been notified by your wife's attorney that she plans to begin legal separation proceedings."
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Cmd Eldridge: I thought you said it would all settle down?
[??]:"When do you return to Windenburg?"
Cmd Eldridge: Four more days.
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Prince Rainier: What were you thinking? No letters to anyone. You know the rules. Those lunch club boys are not discreet.
Cmd Eldridge: Somehow the letter got back to Erica. She wrote to the palace and gave notice of her intentions to seek divorce.
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Prince Rainier: This is not good, Jason. That means it got back to you-know-who.
Cmd Eldridge: We have to assume so.
Prince Rainier: Which is why the palace approved our stay in Dacana another four days. They want us away until they decide our fate.
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- - - - - THE NEXT DAY - - - - -
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[Buckingsim Palace]
Queen Katherine: (shaking hands) Again, enjoy your retirement, Justice Dathren. Your wisdom will truly be missed on the Supreme Court.
Lord Charles: Thank you, Your Majesty.
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Martin: Your Majesty, the Simy Express is running a story tomorrow with the headline "Prince Consort's Best Friend And Wife Have Split." The Windenburg Times' top story is scheduled to be "Wife of Prince Consort's Private Secretary Seeks Divorce."
Queen Katherine: What can we do?
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Martin: Elisha is speaking to the press in the Press Briefing Room in one hour. Our contact at SNN said they're willing to assist the palace in any way.
Queen Katherine: What is Elisha planning to say?
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Lorenzo: That we are aware of the fact that Lieutenant Commander Eldridge is His Royal Highnesses's private secretary, he's a close friend, and that we are aware of the letter.
Queen Katherine: Any update on the Queen Dowager?
Martin: No, Your Majesty. The Duke of Kent has been by her side all morning.
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- - - - - THE NEXT DAY - - - - -
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[Fairsim Chateau Hotel, Dacana]
(knock on door)
Prince Rainier: Come in.
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Cmd Eldridge: Sir. Do you have a moment?
Prince Rainier: (nods)
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Cmd Eldridge: My lawyer in Easton emailed saying that although the press coverage is bad, it should quiet down in a day or two.
Prince Rainier: We both know that's wishful thinking.
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Prince Rainier: I've received my own correspondence from Easton. This next step (clears throat), I hope you're not going to make difficult for me.
Cmd Eldridge: (shocked) I... I... No.
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Cmd Eldridge: (somber) You'll have my resignation tomorrow.
Prince Rainier: I'll need it now.
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Cmd Eldridge: I hereby offer my resignation as Principal Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince consort, effective immediately.
Prince Rainier: (somber) Accepted.
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Prince Rainier: You've worked for me long enough. You know the rules. Who we are. How this works. Mistakes and scandals, there's no room for it.
Cmd Eldridge: I understand.
Prince Rainier: You should probably leave us tonight. I suggest a strict "no comment" on all counts, including letters.
Cmd Eldridge: Yes, Your Royal Highness.
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- - - - - THE NEXT DAY - - - - -
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[Buckingsim Palace]
Martin: We must depart for the train in one hour if we're to stay on schedule, ma'am. You will only have three days to spend at Sumpterson.
Queen Katherine: I'm happy you were able to re-arrange things to give me a couple of days off.
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Martin: The Prince consort returns Friday evening, and Saturday is the Duke of Norfolks ball. Is this the gown you're wearing, ma'am.
Queen Katherine: It is.
Martin: His Royal Highness has also been sent updated instructions for the disembarking. With news of Cmd Eldridge's resignation fresh on the minds of the press, they will be watching your every interaction once you step off the plane.
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- - - - - THE NEXT DAY - - - - -
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[Sable Square, Brindleton Bay]
[??]: That's it. The Castle of Annie.
[??]: Oh my! What a view.
[??]: It dates back to the mid 17th century. It was in the same family for 10 generations.
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Lord Craig Darden: If you are interested in the property, I'm going to be very honest. It needs quite a bit of work. One or two windows might need replacing and the electricity, well, still needs to be updated! Oh, and there's no dining room to speak of.
Queen Rowena: (smiles) Oh dear. You're really not a salesman.
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Lady Delores: Who is that?
Lord Darden: He seems to be on a mission.
Lady Delores: Running, and wearing a suit in this thick forest?
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William Filmore: Your Majesty! Forgive me for disturbing you. I come from the palace. They ask that you return to Easton immediately.
Queen Rowena: Whatever for?
William Filmore: This is all the information that I have?
Previous | Beginning | Next
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gasolinerainbowpuddles · 1 year ago
Text
Fly Me To the Moon║ ⒸⓄⓁⓁⒺⒸⓉⒾⓄⓃⓈ
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| FLY ME TO THE MOON | part of the A Weight Off Your Shoulders collection ║ series masterlist ║ main masterlist ║ | PAIRING(s): Joel Miller x plus sized!fem!neighbor
| RATING: explicit material | 18+ | WORD COUNT: 5.5k | CONTENT: age gap (Joel mid 40s, neighbor late 20s), struggles of body image and self-worth, Joel gives off some himbo and “he’s so babygirl” vibes (an absolute chef’s kiss of a combo), these two dorks are so down bad for each other it’s stupid
| SYNOPSIS: Joel convinces you to take a weekend trip together.
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✧this is the fourth installment of a oneshot collection but can (probably? sort of?) be read as a standalone✧
✧◦◦║ Part 1 ║ Part 2 ║ Part 3 ║ Part 5 ║ Part 6 ║◦◦✧
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“Damn, I can’t even remember, darlin’,” Joel drawls, thumbing circles against your leg absentmindedly as he looks up at the ceiling in thought. “Ppfftt. Years. Years.”
“And you were the one telling me that I needed a vacation?” you huff in a laugh.
“Time ain’t got nothin’ to do with it. I’m still right. You need a damn break,” he shoots back with firm but loving kindness.
The airport intercom buzzed with static overhead before an announcement by way of a way too chipper, absolutely-cannot-be-her-actual-voice informed you that your flight would begin boarding in 10 minutes.
“How’d you hear about this again? This deal package thing?” you ask.
“Buddy a’mine from work.” He’s studying the ticket in his hand and glancing at yours. He’d made you print yours out instead of just using the digital ones he’d been issued. Because of course he had. And in the same middle aged man fashion, he’d hauled you to the airport way too many hours before you actually needed to be there. You didn’t really mind, though. It just meant the two of you could sit and talk and relax for longer. A nice start to the quick 3 day vacation to Cabo San Lucas that Joel had all but insisted you take with him.
“Your work friends take cute little weekend trips to Cabo?” you snort. 
Joel smirks at the tickets as he reads over them for the 5 millionth time to ensure all the details haven’t magically changed since the last time he checked them. He pushes his glasses up his nose from where they had steadily crept down.
That’s one of the things you’d learned about Joel early on. He wore contacts almost exclusively when he was working on major projects or during the busier time of year for contracting - “safer’n tryna stack safety goggles on top of some glasses” - but opted for some seriously unfairly adorable glasses the rest of the time. He looked good either way, of course.
You follow the line of his nose to where the bridge of it now correctly supports his frames. There was numerous things about Joel’s appearance that you loved, but his nose had snuck into the lineup at some point. Probably something to do with how much you loved when he’d drag it into you when he was lapping you up, the tip of it bumping and stimulating your clit until you couldn’t take it anymore and–
The announcement overhead informs you that the First Class flyers could “ready themselves for boarding at this time.” 
“So do they? Bunch of manly, manly man men taking beach getaways?” you taunt.
He lifts an eyebrow and tears his gaze away from the tickets.
“No, just my dumbass buddy who’s on his third wife ‘n has managed to learn enough that a romantic gesture here ‘n there is a helluva lot cheaper than a divorce lawyer,” he chortles.
“Pretty good motivator, I guess,” you admit with amusement. “So what’s your excuse?”
“My excuse? For what? Bookin’ this trip?” he asks. You nod, and he shrugs. 
“I’ll be honest with ya, I’m tryna get into this girl’s pants, and I think a coupla beachside margaritas’ll do the trick. She seems like a bit of a slut, to tell ya the truth, but that works out just fine ‘cause I’m a slut, too.” He wiggles his eyebrows theatrically and grins at you when you playfully swat his arm. He leans in closer and grips the inside of your thigh.
“Truth be told, I’m hopin’ to catch sight’a her in this lil pink stringy bikini I’m rather fond of,” he rasps into your ear. You erupt in goosebumps and half-heartedly nudge him away with a bad impression of a chiding look.
“Yeah, well, let’s hope there’s not any turbulence or else the only thing you’ll catch sight of is that girl with her head down the toilet for the rest of the night,” you deadpan.
Joel makes a dissenting noise and trades his grasp on your leg for your hand. “Baby, it’s alright. It’s not a long flight. Promise. I checked the weather and all that. Sunny. Not even a cloud out there. It’ll be alright,” he soothes.
You’d let him know ahead of time that you did not like flying. You wouldn’t go so far as deeming it a phobia, but flying in general made you anxious enough that any amount of turbulence was enough to set you off entirely. You were too embarrassed to share the other reasons of why you hated flying. Joel wouldn’t have made you feel bad about it if you had, but you hated that it was even a thing in the first place.
It was a commonly shared experience that flying was little more than “sardines packed into a tin can” that commoners just had to deal with. Then of course there was the lost luggage or the crying babies or the seating disagreements. Common ground for just about anybody who traveled enough. There was a reason why so many comedians had made airline and flying jokes their bread and butter.
Then there were the additional drawbacks for “passengers of size,” as they were so lovingly called by airlines. Those who carried “more than their share” of poundage being seated beside - or worse, in between - smaller passengers meant you ended up a source of annoyance. An easy, uniting point of focus for disgruntled flyers to project all their grievances onto. How dare you squash into the seat like the rest of us, except you’re bigger so it’s somehow a personal insult to them that you’d make an unpleasant experience even more so. 
Because it was so preventable, right? Just be smaller. Eat less. Control yourself every once in a while. Put down the cheeseburger and go for a run every now and then. If you would just stop being so selfishly huge, the rest of us wouldn’t have to put up with your body spilling over into our seat. We wouldn’t have to deal with you shoving and squeezing past everybody because you don’t fit. You aren’t meant to be so big, that’s why you don’t fit. Take the hint and drop a few pounds. For our sake. For your sake.
Or at least have the decency to buy yourself two seats and spare us all the unpleasantries of being made to deal with your bad decisions, your lack of control, your lazy life that has made you too big. We shouldn’t have to pay for the consequences of your bad choices.
Yeah. You dreaded flying.
But how could you possibly put such a damper on this nice gesture from Joel? He’d been so eager and sweet to suggest it. He’d even bought the tickets before even talking to you so that he could guilt trip you into treating yourself to a vacation if you turned him down.
It didn’t take much convincing, though. The thought of Joel half naked and all to yourself for multiple days in a row clouded your judgment. Now that you were about to board, reality was sinking in fast. You tried your best to not let your anxiety get the better of you, but your leg was jumping up and down already.
Joel’s hand cupped the side of your face and turned you to look at him. “Hey, c’mon. I’m right here. I’ll stay beside you the whole time, alright? Get myself permanently banned from the airline when I pee into a water bottle instead’a gettin’ up to use the bathroom. Promise.” His playful attempt at distracting and comforting you works.
“That’s so gross, Joel,” you groan with a scrunched face.
“Just sayin. I’ll do whatever I hafta if it means you’re comfortable, baby,” he says in all sincerity. He brings your hand to his lips and trails a few kisses along your knuckles.
“Let’s go before I gotta chase you down and drag you onto this metal tube myself.”
You roll your eyes and laugh, feeling slightly more relaxed. You just hope nothing embarrassing happens in front of Joel. You don’t think you could stand that level of humiliation.
You hand your ticket to the woman, and she scans it wordlessly with a bored look. You walk ahead of Joel who calls for you to go ahead as he doubles back to the terminal seating where he’d dropped something from his pocket.
You move along the small boarding bridge until you reach a curve in it where you can step aside and allow others to pass. You notice the lingering looks from a few people. The tell tale “god, I hope I’m not seated next to her” expressions flashing before being politely buried and exchanged for a forced, tight-lipped smile. 
Joel finally meanders along and gives you a quick peck before you both board. Joel is walking in first and puts both of your overhead luggage away in the bin. His bicep flexes with the movement, and you think to yourself you might just be able to distract yourself enough with certain things to make this flight go faster.
You glance around the plane as Joel finishes loading up the suitcases and closes the cover. The flight is packed. You don’t spot more than 7 empty seats, and there are people behind you. Great. You should’ve looked at your tickets closer like Joel had because maybe then you’d know if either of you had the aisle seat. At least that way you could shove some of yourself into the aisle and give everyone else more room.
“You first, honey,” he prompts, placing a gentle hand on your lower back.
“Um, I’ll just- I’d actually just rather sit in the aisle seat,” you say. “I don’t know if either one of our tickets–”
“I got the aisle seat on my ticket. You take it, baby.” He slides into the middle and pats the aisle seat beside him for you to sit down. You shimmy as gracefully as you can, praying that the armrests won’t dig into your sides too noticeably. You breathe a sigh of relief when you settle into the seat without having to fight the vice grip of metal bars on either side of you.
 Joel lifts the armrests that divide the three seats. He wiggles with approval at the less confining arrangement and scoots closer to you.
“Mmmm thas’better,” he hums as he leans a kiss into the crook of your neck and grabs at the inside of your thigh again. His hand is working its way across your lower belly roll when you warn him under your breath to not get you worked up right now when you’re just gonna have to wait hours until he can do something about it. He doesn’t bother to hide the smug expression he’s wearing, all too proud of himself for getting you turned on so easily.
You anxiously await the arrival of the third person bound to put an end to the pretend private party you and Joel are having. You look around confused with a growing thrill when it appears that everyone has boarded the flight. The seat next to Joel’s is empty. You turn your neck to see if there are more open spots in the otherwise packed flight, but you can’t see any from where you’re sitting unless you stand to get a better view.
“I can’t believe we get the whole row to ourselves,” you whisper excitedly to Joel. 
He smiles softly at you, taking a moment to soak up the shift in your mood where delight has taken the place of anxiety. “You must be a lucky charm, baby,” he coos before giving you a quick kiss. 
It’s the usual spiel: exits are this way, put your own oxygen mask on first, don’t get up until the seatbelt sign goes off. Your last bit of nerves over securing the belt around yourself slip like grains of sand through open fingers when Joel leans over and buckles you in himself. As always, he plants a quick kiss on you before getting himself buckled.
He also unbuckles you once takeoff is done and everyone is “free to move about the cabin.” He cups your face, reminding you gently that he “told you it wasn’t gonna be too bad.” You grin at him. A small heat simmers from your chest to your cheeks at all the comfort and attention he’s showering on you, unaware of just how many things he’s helping you through.
When you repeatedly crane your head to look out the window, Joel asks if you still want the aisle seat.
“Oh. Sorry. I was just-No, I was just curious is all. The aisle seat is good,” you lie. 
Of course you want to have the window seat. Everybody loves the window seat. It’s the best seat.
But you never get the window seat because that would mean you would be stuck in the corner, nowhere to lean your body to give others room, having to hold your pee because you can’t scoot past the other two seats and don’t want to be the spectacle of the fat girl making everyone else in your row get up so you can get out.
So, yeah. Aisle seat is fine.
Joel rolls his eyes at you and pokes your thigh. “You’re in my seat,” he says pointedly. You start to argue with him that no, seriously, it’s fine! you want the stupid aisle seat and not the much obviously better window seat, but then he decides to play dirty.
“I’mma call a stewardess over here and have her remove the unruly passenger that’s refusin’ to give me my seat,” he challenges with a playful jut of his chin towards you.
“OHMYGOD,” you huff. “FINE.”
Joel squeezes over and past you, and you shimmy over to the window. 
“There is seriously something wrong with you, Joel,” you try to say as sternly as possible, but the wavering giggle in your tone gives you away.
“Shutup, baby, you love it,” he murmurs with a chuckle as he presses himself flush against the side of your back and rests his head on your shoulder. You both sit like that for a bit, looking out the window together with his hand holding yours in your lap.
The rest of the flight is over in record time after you amuse yourselves with the product catalogs in the seat pockets. You and Joel marvel at the dumbest shit that has ever been “invented,” and it somehow gets worse with each page. Joel mercilessly teased you at one point when you tried to hide your genuine interest at the lawn gnome that was fashioned like an accountant. Well, a banker. But still. Close enough in looks and all. And it was only $47.99 plus shipping and handling. Okay, that was an awful price for such a tacky, cheap garden decor item, but it was cute.
He still wouldn’t let it go after you landed and made your way towards the exit. “So lemme get this straight,” he starts with a devilish edge in his voice. “You give me grief for my ‘middle age man bullshit’ like, I dunno, gettin’ to the airport early enough so you’re on time for a flight, but I’m not supposed’ta say anythin’ about you tryna order from a damn airplane catalog?”
“Joel, you told me one time The Eagles made better music than Nirvana,” you scoff in defense of your position.
“That’s not what I said!” he huffs right back. 
You only have yourself to blame for the 6 minute Now That’s What I Call Dad Rock! explanation that followed with all the “complex layers” that “determine good bands from bad bands.” Joel was quick to drop the subject entirely when you casually mention that you knew he had Black Eyed Peas in his iTunes library. 
“Sarah must’a added that. Don’t even know what that is.” The nervous neck scratch and patchy pink on his cheeks suggested otherwise.
When you finally made it to your hotel, you can’t believe you’d ever considered not coming. Joel confesses that he upgraded the existing package for a “villa suite.” You considered lecturing him over “wasting his money on you,” but you settled for a “thank you” and a kiss when you correctly reminded yourself that this was for both of you.
You feel the hot burn of overwhelming contentment in your gut as you watch Joel list off all the activities included in the package. The snorkeling, sunset yacht cruise, and jet skiing all sound fun. The horseback riding, parasailing, and kayaking stand out as the biggest NOPEs for fat girls.
Joel calls down to the front desk to arrange the sunset yacht cruise for the two of you a few hours from now. He wants to shower - “fuckin’ airplane oxygen makes my skin crawl” - and you wave him off as you help yourself to some fruit the staff has left for you on a decadent looking platter arrangement. You hear the water cut on in the shower. You open the sliding panoramic glass doors to listen to the water from the beach that makes up most of your view.
You feel cliche the moment you think it, but you really do feel like you’re in paradise. Not just the location, either. Here, with Joel. Who pushed you to do something spontaneous and fun and spendy. Who comforted you the entire plane ride. Who made you feel special. Who still hadn’t pressured you to put a label on your relationship and seemed content that you were mutually exclusive and just needed more time to adjust to the idea of getting into another serious relationship so soon after you broke off your engagement with your shitbag ex Michael.
Another side of you was nervous for this trip because it was a very undeniable “couple in a serious, longterm, committed relationship” move. Not that Joel had ever mentioned it as such or even made you feel that way. It was all in your own head, like most of the things that held you back from doing what made you truly happy.
You shake your head and decide you’re going to focus on the amazing time ahead of you. Just as soon as you can get the price of your plane ticket from Joel so you could balance your digital register and pay him back. You’d talked him into letting you split the cost of the hotel package, but then he’d gone and upgraded it to this villa. You felt antsy about your airline ticket still being outstanding when you know Joel must’ve spent a good chunk of change for this nicer, more secluded lodging option.
“Hey, babe?” you call into the bathroom. He answers back with a watery yeah?
“Hey, how much did you say the ticket was? For the flight?”
A beat or two of silence. “Uhhh, I dunno off the top’a my head, baby. I can tell ya when I get out of the shower, though. Be just about 10 minutes, okay?”
“Alright,” you call back. 
You turn and walk back into the bedroom portion of the villa. You see Joel’s clothes discarded on the floor. His phone, belt, and wallet littered on the neatly made king size bed. A thought crosses your mind that makes you smile. You pick up Joel’s phone and stare at the lockscreen. You didn’t know his password, but you didn’t have to. He’d unlock it for you if you ever asked to borrow it for a second. He wasn’t anything like the “suspiciously protective of their things” guys you’d been with before who didn’t want you to go through anything of theirs, especially electronics.
You hum to yourself and take a bite of pineapple. You’ve just come up with a little game, a test for yourself, to see if you can guess Joel’s password without any help from him. Worst case scenario it’d lock you out for a little bit and you’d have to wait to get your ticket price. Best case scenario you prove to yourself and to him that you know him like the back of your hand. That, and you can check his email for the flight receipt.
Hhmmmmm. Seven numbers. Must be Sarah’s doing. Joel wouldn’t go out of his way to add more digits to a passcode just to make it harder to get into. Path of least resistance was Joel’s general approach to technology. You take a bite of a strawberry. Then a mango. Oh my god, this shit is delicious. Fresh fruit had to be one of the best things on earth. 
Seven. Seven. Seven. Hhhmmmmmmmm.
Your face lights up. You know it. You know his passcode. It HAS to be this. You’d wager a good amount of money that you’re correct. You start to punch in the numbers.
8  0  0  8  1  3  5
It unlocks the second you hit the 5. You let out a victorious cackle. This DORK. Of course his password is “boobies” in numerical form. Of fucking course it is. Just when you think you can’t fall for this man any more than you already have, he goes and has that for his phone passcode.
“Fuckin’ perv,” you giggle to yourself with immense delight.
You are giggling and smiling to yourself as you click open his email. You scroll down until you see the airline name and then tap it open. Your brow furrows. The giggle that had been bubbling up your throat goes away in an instant. You don’t notice the sound of the shower being turned off or the rustling of Joel toweling himself off.
Joel’s words from earlier echo in your mind. “I’ll do whatever I hafta if it means you’re comfortable, baby.”
You stare at the screen, scrolling up and down and back again to make sure you’re reading it correctly.
“Everything okay? You aren’t answerin’ me,” Joel asks from the bathroom doorway. 
You turn towards him, and he can now see you clutching his unlocked phone in your hand. The glow of it reflects off your glossed eyes where tears are prickling at the brim. A look of realization from Joel.
“Baby, I– Please just let me–” he starts in a hurry.
“You bought three plane seats? You bought the whole row?” you squeak out.
“I’m– I did, but it wasn’t–”
“Why’d you do that?” you demand. You already know why.
“Baby, listen. It’s not like that! I knew you’d be annoyed at me putting up the money for first class, so I just did it this way instead. You weren’t supposed’ta find out,” he implores. 
He slowly approaches you, sensing the teetering mood that’s been set. His eyes are searching yours and begging for forgiveness all at once.
“First class? Because of, because they’re bigger seats? And-And a whole row so a third person didn’t have to squeeze in? So just me and you could sit together in the row?” you mumble. 
You make a frustrated noise when you start replaying the day. 
“Oh my god. The pocket. Your thing you said you dropped from your pocket? That you went back into the terminal to get? You didn’t even drop anything! Did you? You just needed to make sure I couldn’t see the lady scan two tickets!”
Joel swallows thickly and looks like he has no idea what to do or say.
Something akin to embarrassment threatens to take hold of you, but instead an overwhelming sense of love and security takes its place. Joel wanted to buy you First Class seats for a more comfortable flight, but he knew you’d get stuck on him spending that sort of money. So instead he bought an extra seat in economy class just so you could have enough room to move around comfortably. So you’d have a good flight. So you’d have a good start to the amazing weekend trip he’d planned.
“I-I did it because I-I just wanted you to have a good flight and be comfortable. Please, it’s not what you’re thinking. I know you get anxiety flyin’, and nobody fits good in those stupid seats anyway.” He’s a bit more frantic in his explanation now that you’re just staring at him, blinking slowly. He grabs your hands in his.
“Please. Please. Don’t be mad at me. Please,” he begs.
“Mad? At you?” You’re confused. Joel thinks you’re mad at him. For doing one of the most considerate things anyone has ever done for you and without any prompting. Somebody who’d probably never been more than 10 pounds “overweight” their entire life. Somebody who had no lived experience occupying a fat body. Somebody who because of those things would have to care deeply for someone to think of them in such an intimate, personal context. To even consider what their experiences were like. To imagine how they might be able to do something to make those experiences safer, nicer, more palatable for them. Joel had come up with this idea because he cared about you that much.
His head shifts sideways, sharing in the confusion. “Aren’t you?” he wonders.
“That is… the nicest thing… that anyone has ever–,” you break off when your voice cracks with emotion.
Joel’s expression softens when he gathers you aren’t furious with him. You close your eyes and take a deep breath before opening them again and wrapping your arms around Joel’s middle.
“No. I’m not mad. At all. You… You’re … Just.. I just….” You shake your head as you look up to him. Trying to collect yourself and your thoughts feels like the hardest thing that’s ever been done in the history of doing hard things. 
He shakes his head back at you. “You can– You’re allowed to be upset with me. I shoulda told you. I shoulda just told you the truth. I just didn’t want for you to, I dunno. Didn’t want you to feel embarrassed or somethin’. Not that you should feel embarrassed. Just that I thought you might feel embarrassed ‘bout it. ‘Cause of nerves or how you’d fit in the seats. Didn’t want you feelin’ self-conscious about any of it. Jus’ wanted you to be comfortable. Thought it was the best way to go about it, s’all. I know it was dumb. Shouldn’t’a kept it from you.”
“Take this stupid towel off,” you order.
“I-what?”
The quick turn in the conversation stuns Joel for a moment. You don’t wait for him to catch up. You shove the towel off his hips and let it drop to the floor. You walk him backwards until the backs of his knees hit the bed. A hard shove lands him onto his back against the soft mattress.
“The hell?” he mutters. There’s confusion in his tone but zero resistance to the surprising but welcome turn of events.
He’s sprawled out against the large bed, and you take the opportunity of his wide spread to start licking anywhere and everywhere. His hips buck at the first pass of your flat tongue against his balls. 
“Gahh-Goddamn. Fuck. The fuck is goin’ on?” he rasps.
You laugh at his suspended disbelief and bewilderment as you slurp both of his balls into your mouth and start a pull of light suction on them. A whiny moan grumbles in his throat at the sensation.
You release him and let the slobber drip down your chin. “M’showin’ you how not mad I am at you.” 
His eyes roll back when you take his entire length into your mouth with one motion. His hips jerk when you bottom out.
“Ooohhh-hngggg jesusfuckinchrist,” his voice crackles and strains. You work his length with such fervor that your drool is running down his shaft, dripping onto the curly brown hairs at his base, sliding in hot streaks down his ass on either side of his ballsack. You so rarely got to please him like this. He always preferred you riding his face or letting him titty fuck you. You hadn’t really ever shown him your particular skillset in this department, but you were sure as hell gonna clear that up today.
“Ba-Baby. Agh fuck. Lemme tast–” Joel is sputtering through his sentence, but it drops off entirely when you start to jerk him off and bury your tongue into his asshole. His legs snap up into a loose bend at the knee. His hand flies to the top of your head.
“OH FUCK,” he blurts out, raising his hips off the bed slightly for you to have better access.
You trade off between rolling  your tongue with firm presses against his hole and darting as much of your tongue as you can inside of it, and he sounds borderline hysterical. You move up to his balls again and suck them into the vacuum of your mouth more urgently than before. By the time you make it back up to his dick, he is blabbering absolute nonsense.
“Gah-jus’ wanna— hhhngggg, oh fuck haahhhhhh, christ— if I wanna – but wanna fuck your–”
A strangled moan cuts his incoherent musings off. The fact that this man thinks he can last long enough to fuck you? In the state you’ve whipped him into? Actually hilarious. He’s about to spiral, and you’re almost done showing him how not mad you are. You know what will get him there, and quick.
“Joel, shut the fuck up already and turn my throat into a daycare,” you growl.
“JESUS CHRIST, YOU’RE GONNA FUCKIN’ END ME,” he practically sobs when you take him into your mouth again.
You bob the tip of his head in your throat and massage his balls. His entire body stiffens as he grabs for your hair. He makes a sort of pained noise just before you feel him twitching inside your mouth. The loud, distress-adjacent moans ripping from his chest are almost enough to make you get off, too.
You work him through his release, swallowing and bobbing as his spend shoots into your throat. You don’t stop until he gently pulls you off of him.
You are a complete mess. Slobber and cum dripping and sliding every which way. You couldn’t give less of a shit. Joel’s astonished, blissed out look right now makes your day. You wished your phone was closer to you could snap a picture of him, looking like he’d just seen a sleep paralysis demon do a long division math problem before running off to play hopscotch with some Keebler Elves.
“You okay?” you laugh as you crawl up next to him and wrap your arms around his neck. He turns to look at you with wide-eyed awe. You can’t help but crack up at his astonishment.
“You’re acting like nobody’s ever sucked your dick before, Joel,” you gibe.
“NOT LIKE THAT THEY HAVEN'T.” His voice perfectly compliments his expression. Bewildered. Satisfied. Reverent.
You laugh again. You made mental notes of your performance. Save that routine in your back pocket and bust it out when you need it. A real “BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” type blowjob. Always a good thing to have.
“Told you I wasn’t mad,” you titter. You place wet kisses against his neck and snuggle closer. He relaxes against the bed and slowly comes back to his senses. You feel his chest shake with a laugh.
“What? What’s so funny?” you demand.
“Turn my throat into a daycare?” he echoes your words back to you. He sniffs an impressed, incredulous laugh through his nose. “Absolutely foul, Roxanne.”
You bark a laugh at his use of your full name. You could probably count on one hand the times he’d used it, and it was always when he was being very serious about something. The fact that he’d used it in this context felt like the funniest thing you’d ever heard in your life. When your rolls of laughter subsided, you took him to task on his declaration of you being “foul.”
“Uuuhhhhh, that’s real rich coming from the guy who has BOOBIES for his passcode! If I’m a pervert, then you’re a pervert,” you assert.
“Damn, guess you’re right,” he tuts. “Sounds like we really deserve each other.”
Your breath catches, and you lock eyes with one another. You don’t think he meant for it to sound as meaningful as it did. He opens his mouth and closes it a few times before settling for silence. His face is so open yet impossible to read.
“Yeah. I think you’re right. I think we do deserve each other,” you agree in a low voice and a shy smile.
Joel wordlessly brings your mouth to his and captures you in a slow, deep kiss. It feels like he’s saying whatever it was that he couldn’t just a few moments ago. For now you greedily take what he’s able to communicate, but you know eventually you’ll both have to work up the nerve to talk about it and say all the things you’ve been saying through touches and gifts and looks and gestures and acts of service.
But for right now, you’re just going to take the time to enjoy what’s right in front of you.
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me, to the characters I am writing and putting into the very specific situations I'm reading: OH MY FUCKING GOD, YOU TWO JUST KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY AND ADMIT YOU LOVE EACH OTHER
me, before anyone can ask why this is being posted before the sub!Joel fic that was supposed to come out next:
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catch ya later, ♥Puddles♥
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darkmaga-returns · 1 month ago
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Karen Bracken
Oct 28, 2024
Edward Dowd: Global Vaccine Impact: Study Reveals Up to 15M Deaths, 60M Disabilities Worldwide - ARTICLE/VIDEO (2 min. 27 secs.)
BREAKING: ​​​​​​​Montgomery County PA Republican Committee Headquarters forced to evacuate after profanity-laced bomb threat - funny how they call us violent when the only violence we ever see comes from the left - ARTICLE
California rail workers fired for refusing Covid jab awarded $1 million each in federal lawsuit - and about 1600 NYC employees were reinstated with back pay - if people would have stood up together and got up an walked off the job believe me no one would have been forced to take the jab and no one would have lost their job - NEXT time (and there will be a next time) any employer that demands you inject poison into your body needs to be looking at an empty work place. EVERYONE no matter what business you are in needs to get up and walk out. They will be begging for you to come back within hours - We need to stop being a nation of weakling cowards - ARTICLE
Dr. Brian Hooker's Damning Testimony Against All Vaccines - ARTICLE
Alamo at The Ballot Box - ARTICLE
Divorce leads to 18 vaccine autism - I actually met this father. He lives in Tennessee. I met his 3 children. ALL 3 of these kids were court ordered to be vaccinated against the wishes of both the mother and father. This was a custody hearing and the TENNESSEE judge said the first parent that gets the kids vaccinated gets custody. Even though these parents had religious exemptions the judge flat out said he doesn’t care what the law says but in his opinion (mind you he is no doctor and was not there to make health care decisions for these children) not vaccinated these children was child abuse. He said the first parent to get the kids vaccinated immediately will get custody. The mother who has a drug problem took the kids and got them vaccinated. The youngest child who was a happy, healthy and normal 5 year old ended up in ICU and is now a regressive autistic. The 3 children were each given 17 vaccines. Both boys got the shots at all once and the girl got them in two visits. The mother abandoned the children and the father devotes his entire life to caring for his children and the youngest boy requires 24/7 care. He is fed from a bottle, is totally non-verbal and is in diapers. I cannot believe that here in Tennessee or in any state in America this man cannot get justice for what this judge did to his family. How can a mother who deserted her family over 3 years ago still have custody of these children and how is it possible this father is still ordered to pay child support? WHERE IS OUR GOVERNOR??? WHERE ARE OUR LEGISLATORS?? WHERE IS OUR ATTORNEY GENERAL?? Why has no Tennessee lawyer stepped up to help this man and his family?? If you can see it in your heart to donate to their gofundme please do so. I can vouch for this man and his children. THANK YOU. Interview with Children’s Health Defense bus in Knoxville, TN - 16 min. VIDEO
Top 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S. reveal globalist agenda is being implemented at the LOCAL LEVEL - this is a list of the most surveilled cities but they are not the only cities being surveilled. There are thousands of cities all over the US that are surveilling American citizens and collecting data. Anyone that believes they are doing this for safety reasons needs a reality check. ARTICLE
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cyborgraptor · 9 months ago
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man I'm going to rant that I'm currently screaming into a pillow about IRL family dog business destruction
I've been a part of this for 6 years and it has been slowly eating itself alive since my brother's wife started cheating on him 3 years ago. she's the co-owner. cheating [redacted] has been in and out of the business pretending to be very nice to employees and the next day ghosts everyone and doesn't give updates, and I'm stand-in manager atm. supplies? bad employee meeting? schedules? tips? payroll? fuck if I know if its been done or not! I never FUCKING know! and then. she's been laundering the money. on top of missing comptroller's calls (refuses to give my brother the number for redirecting/not giving passwords), not helping my brother with W4s, hiring random people, and she's working at another dog place and stole clients, which is illegal. and lawyers cost money. and he can't get divorced until this is done. and supposedly, my brother overheard her plotting and waiting for the business to fall apart so my brother would sign over his half, since her pedophile uncle is an actual lawyer. oh, and that's a whole other story. he actually has a website dedicated to other people who've been assaulted by him, but because he's a lawyer........:))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) there's so many other layers that I have yet to even talk about but fuck, man. my brother has known his soon to be ex-wife for over 10 years. there's no lesson out of this besides what the actual fuck
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cosmogyros · 6 months ago
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You know what's absolutely wild? Something I will never be able to wrap my mind around? Something that fills me with RAGE?!?
The fact that Phil Spector could see something like this – these sparkling ladies, overflowing with charisma and beauty and talent and charm – and decide to marry their lead singer and promptly forbid her from making music any more. And treat her like this (bolding is mine, to point out a few of the most egregious details):
Ronnie and Phil Spector began having an affair soon after she was signed to his label in 1963. Early in their relationship, she was unaware that he was married. Once, Ronnie was apprehended by house detectives for prostitution at the Delmonico Hotel in New York City after leaving a room they had booked. She was allowed to call Phil, who threatened the hotel, and then they allowed her to leave. After Phil divorced his wife in 1965, he purchased a home in Beverly Hills, where he lived with Ronnie. They married at Beverly Hills City Hall on April 14, 1968. Ronnie changed her surname and became known as Ronnie Spector. Their son Donté Phillip was adopted in 1969. Two years later, Phil surprised her for Christmas with adopted twins, Louis and Gary. Ronnie alleged in her 1990 memoir that following their marriage, Phil subjected her to years of psychological torment and sabotaged her career by forbidding her to perform. She said he surrounded their house with barbed wire and guard dogs, and confiscated her shoes to prevent her from leaving; on the rare occasions he allowed her out alone, she had to drive with a life-size dummy of Phil. She stated that Phil installed a gold coffin with a glass top in the basement, promising that he would kill her and display her corpse if she ever left him. She began drinking and attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings to escape the house. In 1972, Ronnie fled their mansion barefoot and without any belongings, with the help of her mother. "I knew that if I didn't leave I was going to die there," she said. In their 1974 divorce settlement, Ronnie forfeited all future record earnings, alleging that Phil had threatened to have a hit man kill her. She received $25,000, a used car, and monthly alimony of $2,500 for five years. She later testified that Phil had frequently pulled a gun on her during their marriage and threatened to kill her unless she surrendered custody of their children. She tried to rebuild her career, keeping Spector's surname professionally because "I needed any way I could to get back in, I'd been kept away so long." According to her, Phil hired lawyers to prevent her singing her popular songs and denied her royalties. In 1988, the Ronettes sued Phil for $10 million in damages, rescission of the contract, the return of the masters, and recoupment of money received from the sale of Ronettes masters. It took 10 years for the case to make it to trial. After a prolonged legal battle, the court ruled that their contract gave Phil unconditional rights to the recordings but Ronnie was entitled to her share of royalties.
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top10divorcelawyers · 1 month ago
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lacy-o-meter · 9 months ago
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⁽ ALL YOU NEED IS ⁾ ⁎ LACY ¸ get to know the members of the fictional four member girl group under memory bank entertainment who debuted on march 14th 2020 with their single “ love world ”
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⁎ … … HAEUN HWANG, known by her stage name LOVIE was born in south korea to a professor father and pediatrician mother, who haeun recalls being 'very strict.' despite her parents protests, haeun had a passion for the arts and was auditioning and performing whenever she could. she joined a dance team in middle school where she caught the eye of scouters from DOHE- one of the top four entertainment companies- and signed with them.
haeun left DOHE in 2018 after being removed from their debuting girl group 4TUNE and being told there was no longer a place for her there. she was immediately picked up by memory bank where eun jangmi promised her that she would debut within two years.
⋯ BIRTHDAY ⁙ june 2, 2000 ⋯ ZODIAC ⁙ gemini ⋯ BIRTHPLACE ⁙ daegu, south korea ⋯ HOMETOWN ⁙ suseong, daegu ⋯ NATIONALITY ⁙ korean ⋯ YEARS TRAINED ⁙ 8 years ⋯ POSITIONS ⁙ center, main vocal, lead dancer ⋯ FACECLAIM ⁙ kim chaewon
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⁎ … … SORA KIM, known by her stage name ADORA was born in california to a banker mother and accountant father. sora grew up with a variety of skills and interests, especially in sports. she was getting ready for college when she joined her friends to a random audition in the city, not expecting anything and just doing it for fun. the company holding the audition was CLOCKWORK CREATIVE- the company that bought out memory bank. surprisingly, sora was accepted while her friends were not.
although she previously had little interest in performing, she was feeling aimless about her future and what she really wanted to do. sora graduated early from high school, and after speaking more with eun jangmi, she decided to sign with the subsidiary company and flew to seoul a month later in 2017. ⋯ BIRTHDAY ⁙ august 6, 2000 ⋯ ZODIAC ⁙ leo ⋯ BIRTHPLACE ⁙ california, united states ⋯ HOMETOWN ⁙ san francisco, california ⋯ NATIONALITY ⁙ korean-american ⋯ YEARS TRAINED ⁙ 3 years ⋯ POSITIONS ⁙ lead vocal, main dancer, sub rapper ⋯ FACECLAIM ⁙ park chaewon
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⁎ … … CHAEYEON SEO, known by her stage name CHEY was born in south korea to a single working mother who chaeyeon calls her role model. although they struggled when she was growing up, chaeyeon has been working to support her family since she was a child by busking and helping neighbors. when she was 12, she was street casted onto a singing show looking for potential stars. although she didn't win the competition, she got far enough to show her skills and got the attention of STARSET STUDIO, a new company which had a handful of singers and actors at the time.
since chaeyeon was so young, the company was unsure of what to do with her, so she was thrown into acting and got to sing a couple of OSTs that never showed much success. chaeyeon left STARSET in 2016 to join CLOCKWORK where she finally got real training. she was then approached a year later to switch to their new subsidiary where she met eun jangmi and began training for LACY. ⋯ BIRTHDAY ⁙ may 19, 1997 ⋯ ZODIAC ⁙ taurus ⋯ BIRTHPLACE ⁙ seoul, south korea ⋯ HOMETOWN ⁙ gangseo, seoul ⋯ NATIONALITY ⁙ korean ⋯ YEARS TRAINED ⁙ 10 years ⋯ POSITIONS ⁙ main vocal, dancer ⋯ FACECLAIM ⁙ song hayoung
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⁎ … … YURINA HARADA, known as YURINA was born in japan to a lawyer father and stay-at-home mom, who divorced when she was thirteen. yurina chose to stay with her father afterwards, while her two younger brothers stay with their mom. she says she chose him because he said she could join an arts high school, which she was accepted into despite her being an amateur.
dancing came naturally to yurina, which is how she got into ONE IN A MUSIC when she was 15. yurina was one of the most talented trainees at the time, which got her on a flight to korea for a summer training camp. there, she met eun jangmi who managed to convince her that her skills her better suited for a group like LACY than whatever she was going to wind up in. ⋯ BIRTHDAY ⁙ april 17, 2002 ⋯ ZODIAC ⁙ aries ⋯ BIRTHPLACE ⁙ tokyo, japan ⋯ HOMETOWN ⁙ setagaya, tokyo ⋯ NATIONALITY ⁙ japanese ⋯ YEARS TRAINED ⁙ 3 years ⋯ POSITIONS ⁙ main dancer, lead vocal, rapper ⋯ FACECLAIM ⁙ fukutomi tsuki
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scariercnidaria · 2 years ago
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another kerapin modern au where lapin is a medieval history professor at a uni and keradin is a financial lawyer who took one of his classes because he was interested in the crusades and he needed a history credit 8 years ago. he ended up dropping the class after a semester and a half at his therapist (pastor) (who just so happened to be a friend of the police officer assigned to the case) polite "suggestion" (restraining order threat), after developing a bit of a psychosexual obsession with lapin and doing a little trolling (targetted harrassment/stalking). in the interim keradin got another therapist (real one) (court mandated) and is on mood stabilisers now but still has not stopped seething about professor cadburys evil woke cultural marxist agenda.
lapin in this scenario is living with amethar in theos Eternal Bachelor Pad. he was living with amethar and caramellina (with reduced rent in exchange for tutoring jet and ruby who are probably like 14 in this scenario [so sorry for de aging them all a little bit i know im committing old men yaoi crimes it just makes slightly more sense this way. itd still be like. lapin 56+, keradin 31, amethar 44, theo ~46, caramellina 49]) until The Divorce (over finanicial disputes - amethars business is crumbling and is bringing caramellindas down with it as she just cant keep funnelling profits from her business into amethars in order to keep it afloat any longer; amethars purported unfaithfulness is not really an issue here because um This is just politics).
theo is trying to find an excuse to kick lapin out without making amethar feel worse about the situation but the only thing he has on him is that hes a bitch and smokes weed outside the laundry room sometimes but its been legalised and anyway lapin is never late on rent cause he has like 700 jobs (on top of being a history professor, lapin also has a side hustle leading bdsm/consent workshops at the library and also moonlights as a professional dom at a local sex club) (he also is still tutoring jet and ruby (for money this time) and has a positive relationship with caramellinda (they bitch about amethar) but she wont let him move back in because she "needs space"). theo thinks they have a weird gay thing going on (and hates it) and lapin is aware that theo thinks this and plays into it (because its funny) (and also hates it)
meanwhile in the keradinosphere, he has been consistently working ~60 hour weeks at his one (1) job at the same law firm for the last 5 years with no (0) promotion. his life is literally: work (10 hours), gym (2 hours), commute (2 hours each way), doomscroll on The App (5 hours), sleep (3 hours) every day forever.
on saturdays he works from home and on sundays he has church and then spends 3 hours sitting on a bench at the park "chilling out" (staring into the distance) (he doesnt own any books) before going to his court mandated weekly therapy session. his apartment is a textbook r/malelivingspace populated with an absolutely obscene collection of anime posters, lifting equipment, nerd shit replica medieval weapons or something and also an ever-rotating cast of Windowsill Plants Of The Month because he cant stop accidentally killing them and bursting into tears. his therapist tells him this is progress and that his drywall & security deposit will thank him
at some point some disaster hits keradin or something and they make him take sometime off work, and strangely without spending 10 hours under high stress bullshit every day + some melatonin he is actually for once in his life able to get more than 3 hours of sleep per night. at the same time, keradins The App experience starts being psy-op'ed by a memepage called xXsugarPlvmF4IRY_ who has infiltrated his niche internet tradbulb /fit/ microculture and begun flooding it with """ironic""" grecian gay sex "RETVRN" propaganda. this is a big hit as far as engagement among terminally online perpetually enraged historypilled incel-adjacent men such as keradin, and 6 hours of seething at ancient femboys combined with 8 hours of sleep and his brain unshrivelling somewhat results in him starting to have Gay Sex Dreams, which metastatises into him having Regular Gay Thoughts in the conscious world. he is too mortified to tell his pastor (because it is a liberal church and hes worried hell be supported) so he tells his therapist instead in hopes that they will recommend conversion therapy.
spoiler alert they dont. they encourage him to test the waters at his own pace by passing him a flyer for a consent workshop at the library later in the week in hopes that it will help him Get Comfortable With Sex As A Concept. keradin shoves the flyer in his sock drawer hoping to ignore it but is so haunted that he stays up all night doing some inspired googling and eventually learns about bdsm and is like woah! just like bulbo from my self-flagellation! he tries his best to resist the urge but he cant stop thinking about it and hes found he quite likes getting 8 hours of sleep and this New Stress is compromising that. eventually he looks up the number for a local sex club and books an hour and a half-- the following day, so he doesnt have time to chicken out-- with "father candi" (priest roleplay) ($120 out of pocket) (he tries not to think about having to face his actual pastor after this).
keradin goes there and surprise surprise its lapin.
keradin thinks he seems a little bit familiar but he cant quite put his finger on from where... so he discards the thought, and lapin straight up doesnt recognise him either so it all goes ahead.
lapin asks about boundaries and keradin is like "what are boundaries" so lapin spends the first hour and 15 minutes explaining boundaries and trying to get keradin to come up with something, anything dear bulb please. eventually they settle on a very rudimentary list and lapins like. ok that took ages we have 15 minutes left if you want to try and scene and keradin made it this far he isnt going to leave without at least trying gay sex It Would Kill Him. so they do an incredibly light d/s scene involving a confession booth or something and keradin comes within 2 minutes and then hits lapin with the old "if by my life or death i can protect you i shall". and lapin is like. um ok. thats nice. your time is up tho do u want a warm wet towel and a glass of water. ok. cool (<- his ass is clocking out immediately)
keradin immediately goes home and books another time slot precisely one month to the hour after the last one. during that month he goes back to work, is assigned to do some donkey work noone else wanna do on some fraud investigation around some local failing businesses, replaces his windowsill plant again, spends marginally less time on The App and somehow manages to look his pastor in the eye. he doesnt tell his therapist about the experience but they do ask how the consent workshop went and keradin lies and said it was good it was interesting and they ask like is that it so he badly paraphrases something lapin said about boundaries to get them off his back. they give him a flyer for the next one and keradin still doesnt go.
the month passes and he goes back and has another epic gay sex moment with father candi. and it becomes a regular occurance. every month, on the dot, like clockwork. for a while keradin is fucking crushed under the pressure of trying to come up with a non-gaysex reason for why he has to leave work before 7pm for once every month on the exact same day but nobody actually cares enough to ask him. and hes relaxed. hes not on The App. his windowsill plant lives for 2 months this time. so its just. like. good. its just a good situation.
...maybe too good.
[EXTREMELY LOUD BULBIAN GUILT SFX]
lapin, largely unaware of this, thinks the whole thing is pretty amusing. he knows that keradin works some stuffy office job and has some major religious hangups but he mostly just wants to be beat up a little and then praised and he always walks out 5gorillion % less stressed than he came in and its like ok. lapin can do that. its literally the least weird thing anyones ever asked him to do in a scene. yeah keradin is hot but mostly lapin wants to put him under a microscope and study him like a bug. its like having a favourite customer. he doesnt really think about it outside of when he knows its coming up its literally not that deep.
besides, he has other things to worry about like more pressingly: that amethar is being investigated by the IRS for being bad at running a business and if he goes to prison then theres no way theo will let him keep staying at his flat (the novelty of playing along with theos "weird gay thing" suspicions wore off, like, so fucking quick). he could go stay with his old scene partner "sugar plum mommy" but her whole place looks like serial experiments lain and he will not be able to grade papers over the sound of her bumping grindcore out a subwoofer she stole from a nightclub 4 years ago for 13 hours straight while she joshua citarellas the target audience for europa universalis into getting gayer than they already were.
meanwhile keradin literally cannot stop thinking about hot gay sex gay religious old man sex in your area click here right now and he feels crazy wazy and conflicted and awful about it and on the verge of getting psychosexually obsessed again. he decides to bring it up with his therapist finally because what are they gonna do? court mandate that he gets More Therapy? they end up being like ok yknow what would be really good for this actually is if you Went to the consent workshop ive been telling you about all this time. it would definitely help. its at the library its free. theres one in 30 minutes. ill drive you there (maybe not precisely).
either way. keradin goes. and guess whose fucking running it.
keradin stays but sits in the back and only feels slightly awkward but for once its like. no this is. it would be a good thing if father candi saw that i was here. i am listening and learning.
and he sits there.
in the back of the library.
set out like a lecture hall.
listening and learning.
and it slowly dawns on him exactly why "father candi" seemed so familiar.
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choices-binglebonkus · 2 years ago
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Every 2022 Choices Release – Rated on a scale of 1-10
Several people have said that 2022 has been the best year for Choices since 2018. And…as sad as that is, it’s pretty true. Like 2020, 2022’s releases had high highs and low lows. As I’ve said once before, the good books were awesome and the bad ones were really, really, REALLY bad. This post is going to be covering every 2022 book release and rating them on a scale of 1-10 because I haven’t done that on this blog and felt like spicing things up. It’s the new year, bitches!
 Quick disclaimer: to qualify for this list, a book must have been initially released to wide audiences (non-VIPs) in 2022, because we don’t do that VIP shit here. So, for example, Wake the Dead was released on December 29, 2021, so it doesn’t qualify for this list even though it ended in 2022. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.
Ms. Match: January 28, 2022 – April 29, 2022
Ms. Match’s story itself was not terrible, but the general skeleton of the plot is super overdone. I am sick to death of the plots centered around rising to the top of the competition and blowing everyone else away, and that’s pretty much exactly what Ms. Match does. The idea behind it is cute, though: we join a matchmaking company and compete in matchmaking contests and challenges to determine who the next CEO will be. My biggest complaint is that the love interest is…not great. The Rival Matchmaker is far from the worst love interest, but my god, they’re so cocky, full of themselves, and overall annoying as hell, not to mention totally uninteresting. Quite frankly? The cutest couple in the book, as unexpected as it was for me, was Veronica and our character’s dad. 4/10, not a terrible book, but it was a chore to play through at times.
Surrender book 1: February 11, 2022 – June 10, 2022
There are a lot of bad books in Choices, but Surrender is definitely one of the worst. We play as a vulnerable divorce-seeking woman whose spouse has cheated on her, which got her into BDSM. As soon as I saw that that was going to be the plot, it was all over. It was not a great look for the BDSM community, which is already stigmatized enough as is. But it gets worse. Our love interest is Reagan Thorne, our billionaire lawyer who’s also into BDSM and agrees to dom for the MC and teach her about BDSM even though she’s a client, which already introduces an imbalance of power. Barring the shitty plot, terrible love interest, and horrible misrepresentations of BDSM, the dialogue is all sorts of fucked in the book. Reagan utters some of the cringiest lines in the entire app and calls us such embarrassingly bad nicknames like…ugh, little lamb. 1/10, horrible book, horrible story, horrible love interest, horrible everything. Some of the outfits were cute. That’s it.
Crimes of Passion book 1: April 6, 2022 – July 20, 2022
Crimes of Passion is one of the best books we’ve seen in a while. Sort of like Most Wanted, it has us teaming up with a love interest (in this case, Trystan Thorne) to investigate and stop a string of murders tied to a serial killer. Unlike Most Wanted, however, the murders in this book are much, MUCH grislier and more visceral, and are tied to a cult as we come to find out. The plot was very gripping and every clue we uncovered was exhilarating. I cared about pretty much all of our friends/coworkers: Mafalda, Ruby, Luke, and Trystan. I wasn’t totally sold on Trystan as a love interest, though, and I’m still not. 9/10, really good story, crazy fucking shit, love it. One point off for Trystan because I’m not really into the whole cocky/flirty and stubborn partner pairing, and I think we should’ve been able to romance Ruby and Luke.
Untameable book 1: April 15, 2022 – August 5, 2022
We return from college to help out on the family ranch which has been barely kept afloat by our controlling misogynist of a brother. We spend the whole book sneaking around with Kit Jackson, our bland-ass cowboy/cowgirl love interest because we don’t want to upset our brother. The ranch is on the brink of failure and we also have to deal with that too, but we’ve already had this same plot a whole bunch in other books, so it’s not super noteworthy. That’s it, that’s the book. 1.5/10, no interesting characters, plot is uninspired, dialogue is SUPER cringey, and goddamn it, stop reusing cowboy shit, PB! You’re never going to make it happen!
The Princess Swap: May 13, 2022 - September 2, 2022
The premise of this story is that our character studies abroad for a semester in the kingdom of Monterre, where she accidentally stumbles upon another girl, the princess, who looks just like her. Spoiler alert: they’re twin sisters and don’t know it until much later in the book. The two switch places The Prince and the Pauper style: the princess takes on the role of college student and sorority girl while our character takes on the role of princess. Both grapple with challenges unique to each other’s lives and navigate them as best they can. Yes, the story was cheesy as hell, but you know what? It was a really pleasant read. I liked Devin all right, but only as a friend for the princess, and I didn’t care for Clarke at all. Otherwise, The Princess Swap was a lighthearted, feel-good book. 6.5/10, by no means is this book amazing, but I’m a sucker for princess stories, and like I said, the book was pretty light and enjoyable.
The Cursed Heart book 1: June 8, 2022 – September 14, 2022
Let me preface this by saying that I did not like Kieran at all. They were ugly, creepy, and possessive, and yes, I’m aware they eventually change for the better, but they really left a bad taste in my mouth. The plot was centered around us being claimed by Kieran and eventually trying to find their missing heart pieces to cure them of their beastly form and general hollowness. That being said, I love the rest of the book. The outfits, backgrounds, character designs, and music are all gorgeous. No joke, The Cursed Heart, in my opinion, is the most aesthetically beautiful book in the app. Not to mention, we meet Leaf, who is absolutely precious. 5.5/10, the rating would be MUCH higher, but Kieran really takes away from the book since the plot is centered entirely around them.
The Nanny Affair book 3: June 24, 2022 – November 4, 2022
The only good things about this book were Carter, the twins, and the fact that this was the last book in this wretched series. We deal with Sam’s former wife coming back from the dead and contend with forced, trashy interpersonal conflict with her while we plan our wedding. Sam and the MC’s relationship continues to be toxic as hell, unpleasant to watch, and impossible to root for. Even worse, Jenny and Aditya start their own affair because Sam and the MC have enabled them, and unsurprisingly, we’re forced to continue enabling them. I can’t even do the horrid quality of this book justice so I’m not even going to try. 0/10, yes I know it’s a 1-10 rating list but fuck it, this book is just that bad. As I said, the only redeeming qualities of the book are Carter and the twins, but not even they can get this book any points. Speaking from experience, falling into a hole is more fulfilling than engaging with this content. This book and series as a whole are so transcendently bad that if they were an actual real-life book, it would be a Worstseller, and I’m so happy this two-year-long nightmare is finally over.
Immortal Desires book 1: July 6, 2022 – October 12, 2022
Immortal Desires is kind of a weird one for me. On one hand, the beginning to early middle is so slow and such a huge chore to play through, but on the other hand, the rest of the book plus Gabe and Cas are so awesome. The premise of a vampire serial killer and cult is honestly kinda metal as fuck, but Gabe and Cas are where the book REALLY shines. They’re each other’s perfect foils and I love interacting with them and seeing them interact with each other. Plus, my parrot loves M!Gabe. And, full disclosure, Gabe and Cas were the only love interests I actively wanted to pursue since Tom Sato from It Lives Beneath. 8.5/10, the story’s pacing was kind of fucked but Gabe and Cas are priceless.
Slow Burn: August 19, 2022 – November 25, 2022
Not much to say about this one. Generic and repetitive contest/competition plot, bland MC, uncompelling Big Bad. I didn’t care about Julian/Julia, and Everett/Yvette had absolutely ZERO chill and always got on my nerves. 3/10, super boring and uninspired, Chef Flynt Stop Losing Your Fucking Temper Challenge 2022.
Murder at Homecoming: September 14, 2022 – December 21, 2022
This one really got my attention when it was announced: our character investigates a murder at homecoming, but I bet you couldn’t guess that from the title. Our character is sort of a busybody and they’re absolutely not perfect in any way, but I truly do think they’re the best MC we’ve gotten in a very, very, VERY long time. Also, they’re named after Valentine from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and I am a shameless sucker for Shakespeare. I also like all the love interests, and I love the non-binary rep we got. The love story between Gabbie Navarro and Joanna Morgan was incredibly tragic and really made me stop and think for a while. But unfortunately, as is the case with most modern Choices books, the ending was very…lackluster, to say the least. 8/10, I love a good murder mystery and the high school setting actually made it considerably more interesting. The ending was a letdown, though.
Laws of Attraction book 2: September 30, 2022 – present
I was originally very worried about this book, because the cliffhanger at the end of book one made it seem like it was going to be an us vs. Martin book. In a way, it is, but Pixelberry really threw us a curveball when we, Aislinn, and Gabe left McGraw-Byrne and formed our own firm. We spend the book uncovering a conservatorship conspiracy which runs all the way up to the mayoral candidate of New York City. I’ve always loved the MC, and they only get better in this book. My only complaint is Joaquin. As someone who has repeatedly hooked up with him in diamond scenes, he is creepy as hell to people who aren’t interested in him. Otherwise, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the book so far, and though it still has one chapter to go, my rating isn’t going to change unless they REALLY fuck it up somehow. 9/10, likable cast of characters, interesting plot and mystery, badass MC, Sorcha fucking Flannery.
The Phantom Agent: October 19, 2022 – present
Not much to say about this one either. The Phantom Agent is basically an amalgamation of Most Wanted and Crimes of Passion. Agent Gray is an incredibly dull love interest and I can’t stand their dynamic with the MC because it’s that super boring cocky/flirty and stubborn partner pairing again. I also can’t stand the MC either because they’re so goddamn annoying. I find myself very bored and unimpressed as I progress through the book and at this point, nothing can save it for me. 3/10, everything is boring. That is all.
Surrender book 2: December 28, 2022 – present
I hate that we have to have TWO Surrender books on this list, but this one unfortunately barely meets the date cutoff. Solely based on the two chapters I’ve read so far, this book is shaping up to be just as awful as the first. 1.5/10, all the same reasons as the first book, but that extra half a point is because I think this book has the potential to improve on the original material. Because let’s be honest here, I don’t really think they could make the book worse.
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delphinesaintmleux · 2 months ago
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FOUNDATIONS MADE OF STONE CAN TURN TO DUST
Name: Delphine Saint Mleux
Nickname: Del
Gender & Pronouns: Cis woman & she/her
Age: 47
Occupation: CEO of Serres Communications, Inc
Origins: Woodside, California
Neighborhood: Oak Gardens
Relationship status: Married
Important note: serres communications, inc is the rp version of hearst communications, inc
SUMMARY: Born to be an heir Delphine was raised and groomed to be the best and brightest. Young life was routined and disciplined from private schools to every hour plotted out for music lessons, art lessons, extra education, etc. When she came out at as a teenager her mother distanced herself from Delphine and her father pushed her even harder and forced her to hide that part of herself. She went onto Yale where she earned top honors with an MBA as well as a PhD in comparative literature. By then she was working her way through the corporate ladder within her own family's company, obviously with a bit of a leg up, but her ideas and savvy business put her in charge. It wasn't until her father passed away 10 years ago that she took over as CEO of Serres Communications, Inc but it has been a role made for her. Living In Chicago and part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra board Delphine eventually found herself as the Director of Operations. She was dating Valentine Finch, a fabulous cellist within the orchestra, and they eventually married. Things crumbled two years in when Delphine was accused and arrested on embezzlement charges from the orchestra. Her lawyers worked tirelessly to clear her and her spouse's name but it was already too late and Valentine had filed for divorce and fled from the damage and their ruined reputation.
BIOGRAPHY
trigger warnings: homophobia, death, embezzlement
Some generations ago the Serres family emigrated from France to the United States where the opportunity for entrepreneurship was so fresh that a motivated businessman was able to create the beginnings of an empire. What started off as a venture into the newspaper business expanded into a multinational mass media and business information conglomerate over decades (over a century in total) and generations within a family.
Before Delphine had been born the empire had already encompassed newspapers across the country, television and film productions and channels, radio stations, publishing in books and magazines, and several business-information companies. From the start of her life Delphine was groomed into eventually being a part of the family enterprise. She was enrolled into the best private schools and institutions that money could buy, enrolled and involved in music programs with private instructors, a young equestrian, and societies that would only further her social standing and outreach.
Music had a stronger hold and influence on Delphine. Attending symphonies, concerts, and operas impacted her in a way that her other interests and things she was pushed into hadn't. Even with piano and violin lessons she didn't quite have the talent to really pursue music in a way that she quietly dreamed, she was much more like the business minded leads of generations past, she followed music throughout her life. It was her love of literature and language that sent her off to Yale when the time for university came around, in which, during her attendance there, Delphine earned an MBA and a PhD in comparative literature.
For most of her young life Delphine moved through it robotically. There was always a routine and an expectation. While she had time as a child to be just that the older she got the more it came about in means of acting out. Rebelling against the strict structure of her life. When she was just a teenager she lashed out at her mother during a fight, choosing that moment to hurt the woman with an imperfection: Delphine was gay and had no desire to get married and have children within the same societal norms and demands of what a proper life looked like. They, her parents, had invested too much time and money into their daughter to completely write her off despite the lifestyle they couldn't and wouldn't agree with so her father continued to push Delphine for success. Her mother, on the other hand, nearly ignored her existence after the spontaneous coming out.
Fear of rejection and being ostracized within her own family Delphine buried her sexuality. Plus, the social climate for such an outing was vastly different at the time and that only further instilled a fear and solidified her decision to keep that part of herself hidden. Throughout university she remained publicly single and kept her short lived affairs with women deeply secretive. By then she was already working within what was then Serres Corporation and post graduation and with freshly printed higher education degrees Delphine began her ascent up the corporation ladder. It didn't hurt that she had fresh ideas on pushing the company ahead in future business ventures.
Eventually residing in Chicago, Delphine branched out personally into her interests as she became further involved within the city she'd decided to call home. One of those interests was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and what had started merely as a donation based pledge (along with season tickets) eventually morphed into being on the board and then somehow the Director of Operations. It was fitting in the sense that Delphine was accustomed to involvement in various businesses. The only exception was that this was personal and not under the then Serres Communications, Inc brand.
In that investment into the symphony she'd met the fabulous cellist, Valentine Finch, and had fallen in love with the extraordinarily talented and intriguing musician. Thankfully she'd come out a decade earlier due to being caught on a date with a woman by the media, the relationship, like all the others in her past, had been short lived but the best outcome had come of it. Delphine no longer had to hide that part of herself. Her family be damned. Already CEO and the head of the family empire post her father's death there was no way anyone could keep her from living the life she'd wanted anymore. When she and Valentine began seeing each other it turned into the longest relationship she'd had. They'd gotten married and seemed to enjoy a charmed life with their spouse. But then accusations and an eventual arrest burned that happiness to the ground.
Charged with embezzling funds the media went wild. A billionaire and head of a mass media conglomerate siphoning funds from the orchestra, the very symphony her spouse was a part of, was violently juicy to the tabloids. Every part of her life seemed to be raked over the coals and that included her marriage. It took time but Delphine's team of lawyers were able to clear her of the charges and both her and her wife's names in the process. However, by then, the damage was already done. Marriage in shambles and unable to overcome the shame, Valentine left Delphine and she now sits with an impending divorce.
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veryflirtytransportalate · 3 months ago
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Wearing a bunny outfit to a thunderdome and dancing in front of the battle cage is kind of like bringing cookies to a divorce proceeding and icing them on the lawyer's desk. Kind of.
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Thoughts:
Credit once again to the bunny outfit mod, always a fun time busting that one out. Major props to one of my new favorite mods, the barrel armor mod. Absolutely hilarious, the legs clip through it really bad, but that's almost even funnier. I appreciate the tiny :-) drawn on the barrel too, the perfect detail.
I've actually been playing this character, not just taking pictures of her, and it's been neat. In contrast to what I usually do, I set the difficulty to very easy, and done my best to throw away every preconceived notion that I had of how to play Fallout 4. I never really do raider runs of these games, or evil runs of these games, because I feel like it's spoils 99% of the fun. If you're going to be this kind of capricious evil monster, why would you listen to anybody in a conversation? Why would you take a quest? It just doesn't make any sense. So blue it's very chaotic, sometimes I click through dialogue because I genuinely think this violent sadist would find it more interesting in this particular moment to listen to what stupid problem they have. I did that entire quest where you go to the factory that's canning meat, that one sucked. You walk in, they're arguing about the meat making people sick, he keeps complaining about mole rats, you just know for a fact he's putting people into the stuff. And I actually went and explored the entire place before I found the secret underground area, so I read his diary that he had upstairs and even looted the chest that he's next to where he's supposed to get the reward for clearing the dungeon. I actually really like that, the idea that if you explore you find a whole bunch of stuff that would normally be gated off at the end of the dungeon, but not like this. Not one it feels completely half-assed and the dungeon rewards and Fallout 4 are always so meaningless anyway, although I did get a never-ending 10 millimeter pistol which immediately made me reconsider my fist only playthrough, and then when I found that great shotgun down there I was like, oh yeah, this is no longer a fist only playthrough, these are two of my favorites, this is a sign.
One of the things I've been having the most fun with is the fact that blues bird outfit has a special ability very few hit the jump key again under the right circumstances you propel yourself into the air, but it's really bringing me back to that guy in Morrowind who would fall out of the sky and crush his entire body on the ground, and then you'd get his scrolls for this spell that he invented that caused that problem? I keep jumping up and being like I'm so cool this is just like playing prototype when I was 15 and running and jumping around the city and then my ankles get so much as a hair away from the concrete and suddenly my entire character's body is a contorted bastardized mess that is rebounding off the top of the concrete structure and flopping to the dilapidated Boston city streets below. I think it's going to be really satisfying when I get good with the, and I'm putting massive air quotes on this one even though I could put literal quotes but I'm using voice to text and I don't want to go into that much detail, flying. Getting into a firefight and flying up to the top of a building just to jump down on top of them with a really strong melee focused build? That just sounds awesome! God I hope it's awesome.
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placegrenette · 1 year ago
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Why domestic violence (against women primarily) is a big concern in Kazakhstan right now.
I haven't seen a good informal roundup so I'm going to take a stab at one. As always, do not entirely trust your ignorant American narrator.
It's not that domestic violence hasn't been on people's radars previously–y'all might recall that way back in 2019 Ninety One took part in a campaign against gender-based violence led by the US Consulate General in Almaty–and there are a good number of grassroots organizations that I know nothing about and can't do justice to. (A coalition of 16 of them, the Union of Crisis Centers in Kazakhstan, gets mentioned in this 2019 Human Rights Watch piece.) But it seems to have exploded in the last week or so as a result of several high-profile cases.
Quite possibly the biggest, and ugliest, one is the murder of Saltanat Nukenova; her husband, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, has apparently been ordered to jail as the suspected killer. I think this case is getting a lot of attention because Bishimbayev was a well-known figure who was in government at 27 and who is now suspected of corruption (apparently his father was buddy-buddy with Nursultan Nazarbayev; the top article on Orda.kz right now is an article raising questions about his mother's wealth) and because he was rich (see previous clause; also, the argument that may have led to him beating Nukenova to death apparently started at their restaurant); but friends of Nukenova's are coming forward saying that Bishimbayev had been physically abusing her for years.
I say "several cases" because the translated introduction to the latest Zamandas podcast refers to three separate cases, but I only know of the Nukenova murder. Suffice to say it seems to be the tip of a longstanding, widely-known iceberg. Here's the translation of a Facebook post by Zhanna Muhmadi, whom Eurasianet describes as a "well-known lawyer":
I would like to remind you that in Kazakhstan they give a WARNING for intentional beating of wives! You beat her once, you get a warning, but the second time you can kill her. In our country, even for the murder of wives they gave 1.5 years. P.S. Sincere condolences to the girl's family. The most severe punishment for all murderers!
(Note that Google Translate rendered "You beat her..." as "You beat him," but I changed it; I suspect Russian has the same direct object for male and female third person.)
I've found translating timestamps useful in the past, so here they are for the most recent Zamandas podcast linked above:
00:00 Start of the podcast. Why are we recording this issue and important issues of domestic violence. 03:11 Terrible news of the past week. 07:08 About justifying comments and impunity. About Bishimbayev. 09:07 About manipulation in the media and blogging sphere. About Rashev. 10:59 What is known at the moment? 12:40 About silence. 13:56 Why do men hate women in Kazakhstan? 18:49 About rape in Taldykorgan. [note: this is harder to find information about, but apparently a high-ranking police officer in Taldykorgan has been detained on suspicion of rape.] 20:46 About the law on domestic violence and the inaction of the police. 24:04 “If you don’t hear girls, listen to men” 28:30 Why are men silent? 33:36 About n*violence and emotional tyranny. 37:20 About the incident with the security guard at the nightclub. 42:02 About misogyny. 44:50 About traditions and non-violence. 47:48 “If someone raises a hand against you, leave” 50:20 About education. 54:15 We as a society cannot forgive such things. 56:20 The problem of domestic violence does not have a social portrait. 58:14 About divorce and conviction. 01:00:02 About romanticization in the media. 01:01:03 About tightening the law. See something - say something. 01:04:01 About the relationship of law enforcement agencies to victims. 01:07:07 About male solidarity. 01:08:03 About the incident on the train and the conductors. 01:10:06 About the Don’t Be Silent Foundation. 01:12:51 About the situation in bars and spiking. 01:16:55 Conclusion.
The "Don't Be Silent Foundation," by the way, is NeMolchi (Не Молчи = "do not be silent" in Russian); I don't know if they're taking donations.
ZaQ and Alem both linked (in Instagram Stories) to a petition (machine translation) currently circulating that's calling upon the Kazakhstani government to take domestic violence more seriously and create stronger criminal punishments for it. (Alem spoke in his stories before sharing the link; unfortunately, as usual, I can't tell you what he said. @ninetyonekz translated the stories: one, two, three.) Orda has an article about the petition (machine translation) that notes that it was originally created in 2021 and basically went ignored for two years. The more cynical among you might say that domestic violence is this week's Current Thing in Kazakhstan, and the guys do not want to be seen as lagging behind. To be fair, I think Veronika has been publicly and privately acknowledging these issues for much longer; she linked to the petition as well, as well as to Dr. Aigerim Turekulova, who recently wrote about the health risks to Kazakhstani women and girls from interpersonal violence. Backup dancer Diana also linked to it, and wrote (if the machine translation got her caption right) about how her ex-husband was physically abusive, and people told her not to bother reporting it to the authorities, it would be a waste of time.
I don't know if this is going to lead to longer-lasting change. I sure hope so, but there's a lot of competition for We Need to Do Something About This right now, both in Kazakhstan and globally (a week or two ago a bunch of people, including I believe all of Irina Kairatovna, were raising money to help residents of Gaza City, and we haven't even gotten to the ArcelorMittal mine disaster in Karaganda last month). Also I would put the odds of a backlash as high. But at least something is happening. And since I suspect most of my audience is either against domestic violence or pro learning about Kazakhstan, it seemed worth reporting.
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