✦ ─── ⋆⋅⌁⋅⋆ ─── ✦
“You take the left pancake hole, I got the waffle side.”
✦ ─── ⋆⋅⌁⋅⋆ ─── ✦

Everyone on campus knows Big J loves his people at full volume.

Surviving the splash zone when you're already down bad for him? Good luck.

Joel Thomas Kessler — Big J — is a 22-year-old Kinesiology senior, Division I butterfly captain for the CVU Riptides, and a walking golden retriever with zero indoor voice and way too much heart for his own good.

AnyPOV, college romance, sports romance, friends to lovers, slow burn, golden retriever himbo, oblivious pining, hurt/comfort, slice of life

You can be...

➀ a fellow bimbo/himbo dork sharing one (1) single braincell with him. Two loud sweethearts hyping each other to the moon, demolishing curly fries, and turning every minor errand into an event!!

➁ the crew's deadpan black-cat friend who roasts the swimmers right alongside Milo, yet somehow folds like origami every time Big J hits you with puppy eyes or carries your bag across campus without asking.

➂ a total softie who's been quietly down bad across every group Lottie's run, fighting for your life to act normal while this oblivious sweet giant spins you around in bear hugs.

➃ the squad's shameless resident menace who lives to tease CVU's golden-boy captain, right until his earnest grin and ridiculous chivalry start backfiring straight onto your own heart!!

So yeah! {{user}} is Kelly's adult best friend, 18+ (AnyPOV).

scenarios #1 to #4 run in chronological order from mid-May into early June: #1 & #2 start before his long-distance relationship hits a break, #3 is the rooftop night it happens, and #4 picks up a few days later! scenario #5 leaves the calendar wide open for your own birthday, so whether he's already on his break with Sara or not stays completely open depending on the date you pick (ෆ ̇ᴗ ̇ෆ)♡

SCENARIO #1 — OPERATION BUTTERMILK PANCAKE
Lottie's Diner patio • Mid-May • Sunny daytime • Wingman stakeout

Nolan and Kelly are finally sharing milkshakes out on Lottie's patio. Ten feet away, CVU's massive butterfly captain is crouching behind a tiny hibiscus bush in his bright orange letterman jacket, spying through two eyeholes poked in a breakfast menu. Naturally, you get yanked straight into the shrub as backup.
“You take the left pancake hole, I got the waffle side. Are their hands touching yet?!”

SCENARIO #2 — HALF THAT RECORD IS YOURS
Ames Aquatic Center • Late May • Home invitational • Men's 200m butterfly final

Packed bleachers, shrill whistles, and the men's 200m butterfly final. Spotting you in the crowd for the very first time lights a rocket under Joel's ribs. He shatters his personal best, vaults out of the pool, blows right past the campus press mic and a dry towel, and scoops you clean off your shoes into a soaking-wet bear hug.
“I looked up from the block and saw you there and swam twice as fast! Half that record is yours now, bro!!”

SCENARIO #3 — THE SAD GREY HOODIE
Ames rooftop sun deck • Early June • Cool purple twilight • Newly on a break

Cool purple twilight up on the Ames rooftop deck. Sara tried to talk him into quitting competitive swimming before nationals, flipped his gentle pushback into him being "selfish," and put them on a break. Joel skipped the Lottie's run to sit up here alone, until Milo tips you off and his forced captain grin crumbles the second he sees you.
“I tried figuring out what I did wrong for two hours and mostly just gave myself a headache. Come sit with me, please.”

SCENARIO #4 — TROOP FORTY-TWO TRIAGE
CVU main campus quad • Days later • Bright afternoon sun • Still on a break

A few days into his Oregon break, the sad grey hoodie is finally in the wash and Big J is back on campus beside you. Then your shoe catches a stray pinecone and wobbles half an inch. He reacts like a combat medic watching a helicopter go down, mummy-wrapping your sneaker in neon-orange tape before hoisting you into a bridal carry across the laughing quad.
“CLEAR A LANE, MEDICAL TRANSPORT COMING THROUGH! Keep blinking so I know you're still with me, buddy!”

SCENARIO #5 — BIRTHDAY VIP
Caldwell Hall lounge • Any date (your choice!) • Evening • Surprise birthday party

Sweet morning texts and quick hallway hugs had you thinking that was the whole celebration. Little did you know, Joel spent all week plotting a secret round two, putting Kelly on decorations and Nolan on cake duty. One terrible cover story about squeaky floorboards later, he shows up dressed suspiciously sharp outside Caldwell's lounge, shields your eyes, and swings the doors wide.
“SURPRISE! Bet you figured those morning texts were the whole plan, huh? Get in here, birthday VIP!”

Well, first of all...

i Personal space is a myth when Big J adores you. Expect airborne bear hugs, his jacket draped warm over your shoulders when the bluff wind kicks up, and rambling hype voice notes. All while he stays blissfully clueless about your heart rate!

Old Eagle Scout habits die hard: his gym bag stays stocked with neon-orange athletic tape for minor scrapes, his spotless silver SUV blasts 2000s pop-rock down the coast, and he still tears up at rom-com endings every single time.

˖+。 ̊⋆ ̇ Subtlety rating: zero out of ten. Boyfriend material: off the charts.

⚠ Joel doesn't have a mean or unfaithful bone in his body. He's spent a year trying to keep a one-sided Oregon phone romance alive, even as Sara blows off his swim meets and pushes him to quit the water before nationals.

When things finally crack (already on a break in Scenarios #3 & #4, and open by date in #5!), he doesn't turn cold or bitter. He just leans his heavy shoulder into yours on the bench, slowly realizing who's actually been in his corner the whole time.

Coastal Vale University claims Harrowcliff's sunny northern bluffs: concrete lecture halls, ocean-glass pool decks, and Pacific salt air rolling straight across the quad.

Down the bluff road, Harrowcliff trades textbooks for red vinyl booths at Lottie's Diner, glowing arcade cabinets along the boardwalk, and late-night cliffside bonfires.

ehehe, spoiler: Big J is already reaching for the curly-fry check before it hits the table ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

So, what can you get up to?

➀ co-pilot Operation Nolan & Kelly: hide in patio bushes and confiscate Joel's phone before he sends Nolan a third teary voice note before noon!!

➁ pull up to the Ames bleachers on race day. Just brace yourself for a soaking-wet bear hug in front of the entire pool deck.

➂ hog a booth at Lottie's or hit the Boardwalk for curly fries on the captain's tab, rigged arcade claw machines, and Ferris wheel rides high above the surf.

➃ hop into his silver SUV for coastal sunset drives and late-night Quarry bonfires, blasting 2000s pop-rock and singing every chorus off-key with the windows down.

Riptides & Inner Circle 𐦂𖨆𐀪𖠋 ⊹ ࣪ ˖

YES, that's the very same Nolan from Double Bluff!! over in Nolan's bot, the best-friend duo is {{user}} + Ace (with you in Kelly's shoes!), while here it flips to Kelly + {{user}} with a fresh pair of faces so you get to jump right in as Kelly's ride-or-die! ♡

Campus & Long-Distance ᝰ.ᐟ

He spent a whole year chasing a storybook on the phone, never noticing who he actually runs to after every race, every bad call, and every basket of curly fries.
Wait till his heart finally catches up to his feet.

for my english-speaking friends: the lorebook is already embedded into the card (.png file), to load it please press the globe icon 🌐 (Character lore) in character menu in sillytavern. i also included the lorebook into the .zip separately (+the version with russian keywords) just in case, but having .png is enough → you can import the image straight into st!!

for my russian-speaking friends: второй лорбук с припиской -rus включает в себя русские ключ. слова, так что используйте его!!

Warnings & Disclaimers

Everything characters say is improvised fiction generated by an LLM. Replies represent fictional roleplay rather than real-world advice. Because an LLM can occasionally produce unpredictable material, please read mindfully and step back whenever a scene stops being fun for you.

➛ content warnings

Light relationship angst, an emotionally one-sided long-distance relationship and breakup hurt/comfort, people-pleasing habits, strong language, and consensual adult intimacy. No cheating is ever involved.

➛ age limits

This content is strictly for adults (18+). Every character and {{user}} persona in this story is an adult.

➛ reuse & property

Please keep my bots, lorebooks, and custom graphics on this profile where they belong. Private tweaks for your own chats are totally fine, while reposting, lifting text or code, or reproducing my graphics is strictly off-limits (I spend way too many hours crying in Figma over them!).

➛ feedback & community

Sweet comments, chat recaps, and kind feedback always make my day! Platform or model hiccups like cut-off replies, loops, or memory slips come from the LLM rather than the card itself. Please keep the comment section warm and respectful, and simply scroll past if a trope isn't your cup of tea.

. ݁+ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ + ݁. 🎂 . ݁+ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ + ݁.

「 WISHING HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY TO DEAR PUPPY!! ૮(。•̀ ع •́。)ა 」

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

back when i posted Nolan's bot on april fools, he had a website with a little personality quiz on it—puppy got 100% joel, and i think arrie immediately said he needed him RIGHT NOW, ahaha. well, guess who finally showed up all these months later!!

i genuinely hope you'll love this giant dork and his bear hugs, because i love him with my whole heart (even in Nolan's bot, NPC Ace had a crush on him ehehe, so now we're basically in her shoes while Nolan's {{user}} turned into Kelly!!). i loved chatting with him during testing so much it somehow became one of the longest sillytavern chats i've ever had lol. the friendzoning was CRAZY, ngl, though we're slowly getting together!

MIND YOU, Sara isn't a bad person at all, they just don't match and honestly that's just life sometimes. maybe in your chat they'll get back together, or maybe you're gonna end up having three dogs with Joel, who knows! ( ͈̆ ᴗ ͈̆♡)

forever thank yous to puppy and amazing Bio Builder tool! lots of love to Night Drive server with all my friends!!