you want it? come and get it

༉ 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐂’𝐒.

featuring mitsuya takashi, ryuguji ken, sano manjiro, hanemiya kazutora, matsuno chifuyu.

SYNOPSIS ︴ random headcanons i have for tokyo rev boys as boyfriends ◛ CONTENT ︴ gn reader (no referring pronouns,) bonten timeline.

T. MITSUYA

☆ always makes sure that you two have proper meals where you sit and eat together, since he can get tied up with work and other junk and can’t be around as much as he’d like to.

☆ adores it when you cook for him. he literally could Melt.

☆ very casually touchy when you guys are alone, like grabbing your shoulders when he walks past you or standing behind you and rubbing your back if you’re doing something at the counter or table.

☆ mitsuya is a hugger. he hugs you. all the time. in his sleep, on the couch while you’re watching a show together, in the shower, he’s a hugger.

☆ noises of confirmation when you tell stories or talk to him. (humming/nodding.) he doesn’t want to interrupt you, but wants to make sure you know he’s listening.

☆ takes candid photos of you all the time.

☆ HE BUYS YOU FLOWERS!! you always have a vase of fresh flowers on your countertop.

☆ he calls you pretty a lot. he thinks you are so pretty and makes it known.

“you look so pretty right now.”

“i’ve been awake for 30 seconds. i still have sleep in my eyes.”

“you look pretty.”

☆ sometimes when mitsuya is tired he’ll just rest his head on your shoulder and mumble or groan.

☆ he is a human heater. he is so warm to sleep beside. half the time you just ditch the blanket entirely and hug him. of course he doesn’t mind one bit.

☆ he’s like a grandma sometimes.

“do you need me to sew that for you?”

“theres a hole in your sweater, let me fix it.”

“want me to patch that for you?”

☆ mitsuya pick me. pick me pick me pick m

K. RYUGUJI

☆ teases you all the time and cracks tons of jokes. you two make so much fun of each other.

☆ always calls you on his breaks at work to ask about your day, he just likes to listen to you talk.

☆ like mitsuya he’s also very casually touchy, but not just in the confines of your own home. he likes to put an arm on your head when you stand next to him or pat and hold onto your thigh when you’re sitting together.

☆ get’s you to help him do his hair in the mornings when he’s way to tired to.

☆ speaking of mornings, if you live together, draken 90% of the time relies on you to get him up in the mornings.

he gets used to you sweetly waking him up, which eventually turns into him sleeping through his alarms and you drumming on his chest to get him to wake up and turn them off.

☆ sleeps like a rock, and is about as heavy as one too.

☆ god forbid you have somewhere to be on his days off. he is not waking up unless the world sets on fire.

“ken, wake up i gotta start getting ready.”

“….ken.”

“wake up holy shit you are literally crushing me.”

☆ he’s just shnooorrreee mimimi

☆ normally makes breakfast for himself when he wakes up before work, and always leaves you a portion of what he made in the fridge.

☆ love love loves taking you for rides on his bike. literally his favourite thing to do with you.

☆ not much of a date person? he’d much rather order food and hangout with you at home where you can both relax.

☆ i like to think you guys would try to invite everyone over every so often, and it brings draken a lot of warmth to see how well you get along with his found family around a table of food and far too many drinks.

☆ (also loves to watch you bicker with mikey.)

☆ draken is someone who most definitely treasures a somewhat domestic lifestyle with you. just waking up next to someone, eating dinner with them, and leaving leftovers for the other are things he never really got to witness outside of media growing up.

☆ (you are his first real home :sob:)

M. SANO

☆ this is in my own little world where mikey got to be happy post-tenjiku like everyone else ok.

☆ a relationship with mikey would not be something that happens quickly at all. it takes a lot for him to be open and vulnerable with another person in a way he generally never has been with anyone else.

☆ so when you two start going out, you’re already beyond comfortable with each other, and have an immense amount of trust.

☆ he’s not a sappy person whatsoever, so he shows his affection by teasing you or just random acts of kindness / gift giving.

“by the way i fixed that problem with the spark plug on your bike you mentioned.”

“oh, i went back and got you that sweater i saw you eyeing at the mall the other day.”

☆ mikey and you don’t go out to big restaurants or anywhere crowded. but he does take you out a lot.

☆ you two will race down the streets of shibuya to go to your favourite cafe, or hangout at your favourite park long after dark so you’re alone.

☆ (mikey will break every road rule for a parfait.)

☆ alternatively, you two go out to eat with his friends a lot. hot pot, barbecue, bar hopping, anything. normally its you, mikey, draken, takemichi and occasionally emma and hina.

☆ you two do however also do your fair share of staying at home.

☆ mikey really treasures his alone time with you, because thats his prime time to relax and let down his walls.

☆ he loves to lay with you and tell stories about his time with shinichiro as a kid.

☆ mikey always insists you guys should watch a movie and order in on lazy nights.

he then proceeds to eat his share of food (and a good bit of yours) in 5 minutes and falls asleep on top of you 20 minutes into the movie. his ass his not waking up, get comfy.

☆ mornings with mikey are a coin flip. he’s either grumpy and refuses to get out of bed or just sleepy. normally the grumpy can be subsided with a few extra minutes in bed of messing with his hair.

☆ overall, your relationship with mikey is a very special one and he is trying his very best. you’re helping him to heal.

K. HANEMIYA

☆ literally my scrungly.

☆ he is the sweetest bf i do not CAREEE my ass is not listening he’s amazing.

☆ like draken, he calls you on all of his breaks, sometimes will convince u to come down to the pet shop and see him.

“but theres the cutest kitten here you have to come meet him!”

so you go down.

“where’s the kitten?”

“aww you just missed him, he got adopted in the 10 minutes it took you to get here. lets hangout since you’re here anyway!”

☆ you’ve really gotta stop falling for it.

☆ he sweet talks you into eventually adopting a kitten with him. that cat is so spoiled.

☆ being in a relationship with kazutora is just…comfy. you guys are just used to eachother.

☆ you two make breakfast together on the mornings when you have time, and go back and forth on who gets to decide what you eat.

(kazutora just lets you decide most of the time.)

☆ kazutora’s rather clingy with you. sometimes he gets a little insecure about it, but a little reassurance and he’ll be just fine.

☆ always puts your legs on his lap when you sit on the couch together or kisses your cheek when your pass him. he loves to play with your hair, fingers, hoodie strings, he just likes to be touching you.

☆ he’s not the same way in public, pda isn’t really his thing, but he is aaaaalways holding your hand. his friends have most definitely poked fun at him for it.

☆ sometimes kazutora struggles when it comes to being a good partner, since he never exactly had a great example growing up. but he really does try his best, and wants to make things work with you as best as he can.

☆ id say he is doing a fantastic job personally! he’s always very careful with you.

☆ hugs you in your sleep, don’t you dare wake him up he’s comfy.

☆ takes notes of things like candles and drinks and snacks that you like so he can make sure you’ve always got them at home.

☆ lots of midnight gas station snack runs, and hanging out in the car in some empty parking lot.

☆ im starting to see a reoccurring theme here, but you guys stay home instead of going out most nights. he enjoys having you to himself, in the comfort of your little home together.

☆ you make dinner together, with some shitty soap opera you both make fun of playing in the background, bickering at each other throughout the process.

“no, tora, the heats too high it’s gonna burn.”

“im watching it babe its not gonna burn.”

“i don’t wanna have to remake it if it burns just turn—“

“i’m not gonna burn it im right here.”

“but—“

☆ you are very happy and gross and domestic together.

C. MATSUNO

☆ i think chifuyu would be your boyfriend and your bestie.

☆ you like to hangout, and chifuyu gossips. idc. that boy likes to dish. he tells u about all the wack job customers he gets.

“so this chick starts FREAKING the hell out when we tell her no, we can’t refund the cat food you bought and already used.”

“mhm.”

“kazutora is trying not to pop a vein, she’s banging on the counter, i have no fuckin’ idea whats even going on—“

☆ it’s the average dinner conversation in your house.

☆ chifuyu will get stuck working late a lot, when he comes home he just absolutely crashes onto you.

☆ except u have to go to bed with him for him to actually fall asleep. soz if you had something you had to do, chifuyu said its bed time.

☆ looking at chifuyu matured and living a normal lifestyle, sometimes you wonder how he used to be in such a huge gang.

☆ he is the biggest baby.

☆ you two have your own little schedule and routines. chifuyu makes breakfast, you make dinner, you do laundry, he does dishes, etc.

☆ he likes to take you out on your days off. local restaurants mainly. sometimes you just get drive through food and go on drives around the city while chifuyu steals your french fries.

☆ he’s clingy but not in the same way kazutora is.

☆ he’ll text you lots throughout the day, will poke at you to tease you, ruffle your hair, stuff like that.

☆ you guys have a pet together, and you let chifuyu pick the name of the stray black cat you adopted.

☆ he named him kei. (bawls my fucking eyes out.)

☆ i do not doubt chifuyu takes up all of the space in your shared bed. he falls asleep holding you on his side and wakes up horizontal, with you somehow still on the bed underneath him.

☆ you sleep in his clothes a lot and every single time he’ll say some stupid shit like “nice shirt, where’d you get it?

☆ i feel like chifuyu would associate songs with you. sometimes he’ll play a song in the car and say :

“this song makes me think of you.”

☆ kickin my feet a lil….

☆ life with chifuyu is a very good one, where you both relish in each other’s company and really are best friends.

⠀ master. ꒱ send me an ask!

Part 2 of ranking 2024 WAG jackets

part 1 & part 3 (and VGK whenever that's posted)

6. Nashville Predators - Emma Barrie’s IG story (thank you @thepassionthatunitesusall for telling me where to find them)

It’s hard to tell what they are made out of but I think it’s fake leather which i don’t like

I do like that they are cream, not white, and that they are embroidered not ironed on patches or graphic t-shirt emblazing

I think these might be my favourite patches quality wise

Overall they are really classic and look comfy but aren’t very original so LA beats them

7. New York Rangers - 1. wagsofrangerstown IG, 2. natoriner23 on tiktok 

 For the first game the WAGs and kids all came in jerseys which is considered a bit of a taboo in the NHL WAG world (idk go watch Lexi’s videos on it) and since they had tons of time to plan this, it felt like a powermove and the full group photos of it are super cute (i love when the babies match)

Also Key’s mom has a jacket and if they have mom/family jackets I will scream, that is so cute

For the jacket itself, this is the only picture of it I’ve seen so idk what the front look like but the back is fine?

I like signatures a lot, they are always cute, but painted, cropped, baggy pleather isn’t interesting and they could have done so much more

8. Washington Capitals - Madison Aube Kubel’s IG

I didn't get great screenshots of this so go to her page if you want to see more

I absolutely hated these when I first saw, thought they were going to be giant pleather monstrosities but then I saw Madison Aube Kubel’s reel of her making her own since she forgot to submit her order on time and they grew on me

They seem like they are made out of a satiny/normal bomber jacket material

This is my favourite of the caps logos and I am glad they used it and the back looks good but I don’t like the giant numbers on the front, you know they are super stiff and you can’t sit down while it is buttoned up without it looking really weird

I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, I just wouldn’t design it

9. Edmonton Oilers - Lauren Kyle’s IG

As previously stated, I don’t like minimalism so they lose a few points, but these really strongly give bad bitch, cool unrealistic tv motorcycle gang

I’m 99% sure they are real leather since they are stiffer and in some close ups you could see skin texture (if it wasn’t obvious I really like real leather)

I like that it is actual stitching, instead of being painted

One personal really big pet peeve is that the c in McDavid should be lowercase

10. Florida Panthers - 1. floridapantherswags IG, found the other on tiktok a few days ago

According to God (Lexi) they have matching pants (seen partially on the right) with the number one of the back pockets, most of the women in the group photo aren’t wearing them so like do they not like their own outfits??

I really like the stitching detail on the back but not having the last name be in that giant open space on their shoulders looks really awkward so they should have put the name there (since they aren’t who they are with since they have numbers) or removed the line of white stitching and made everything else bigger

I also don’t like a baggy jacket if it’s meant to be paired with jeans where the detail is on the butt, like if they were committing to the pants they should have cropped it

I think if they wanted to keep the pants and no last name they should have made vests instead of jackets since the sleeves aren’t doing much

11. Colorado Avalanche -Sussanna Ranta’s IG story

This is the only picture of these that I have seen and they really just look like jackets, nothing special

I tiktok I think I saw something about them having caps that match with the numbers on them but hats are fucking lame

These are just aggressively mid and kind of disappointing

11/100.

Ok, I'm making some progress. I finally patched up the holes in the wall behind the fridge. The actual patching took me less than five minutes. And now I'm actually thinking of rehanging the overhead cabinet I removed (had to remove it to fit the new taller fridge I got, but I could rehang the cabinet higher). If I rehang the cabinet, it will cover the holes I patched up. So I didn't need to patch them after all. Isn't that dumb? 🤦🏻‍♀️

On the other hand, the only reason I'm thinking of rehanging the cabinet is because I successfully rehung another cabinet and now I know how to do it. 9 months ago when I removed the cabinet above the fridge I didn't know how to rehang it. It was also a 🤬 to remove and weighs a freaking ton, thought I was going to seriously injure myself. No way was I going to try and rehang it!

I'm not sure how I'm going to go about doing it myself though, since I only have two hands (the other cabinet I was able to do by myself, not going to get into explaining why but basically because there's a countertop underneath that cabinet and there isn't a countertop underneath this one).

Well, we'll leave that dilemma for another time. The point is, I've patched up the wall now and the next step is to paint it.

Here's the putty/plaster stuff I bought to fill the holes. Cost me all of five bucks.

Of course, when I went to go find the putty knife, guess what I found?

Remember I said I was loathe to buy a whole new container of filler when I thought I already had one somewhere? And then I figured I had thrown it out? Guess I hadn't thrown it out after all 🤦🏻‍♀️

On the other hand, this one is wood filler, not really for drywall, although for tiny nail holes it's fine to use. But it is pretty hard and probably needs to be thrown out anyway.

Looks like ice cream. Strawberry and mocha. 🍨

Oh right! Before I patched up the wall, I vacuumed up the dust, crumbs and cat hair that had accumulated underneath and behind the fridge.

As you can see, it's not too bad as it has been less than a year since I last cleaned back there.

Most importantly I vacuumed the vent for the fan at the back of the fridge. If you own a fridge, you should clean this up every once in a while (once a year?) to keep the fridge running well. The fridge needs to be able to circulate air properly in order to run, so keep this vent clear of dust. Otherwise you're gonna have expensive fridge problems.

Here's a closeup of the vent before and after:

What you're seeing is dust and a lot of cat hair. Yuck!

And here's the wall before and after patching up. Not much difference lol.

Oh, oops! Run out of photo room. Will show my work in the next post. For now, here's my updated to-do list:

Patch up holes in wall behind fridge. ✓

Dishes. ✓

Order cat food.

Order groceries.

Homescan.

Fill out mortgage paperwork.

Do a load of laundry

Recurring:

Alternate heat and ice on foot. ✓

Do hamstring stretches. ✓ Reference: https://www.sports-injury-physio.com/post/top-5-stretches-plantar-fasciitis

Roll out knots in leg muscle.

Do Sun Salutation x5

Take inhaler

Nokia N8 Mobile Phone Reviews

Many of us who in order to cutting inside the Mac version of Avid's Media Composer have felt a bit neglected throughout few years, and to a certain extent, rightfully which means. We sat and watched as Avid got the wind knocked out of it by Apple's introduction of Final Cut Pro. Apple's lower prices and integration with newer versions within the Mac OS came as the great success in the democratization of media and Apple ran a full court press on Avid's dominance among the digital editing tools market. Avid struggled to find their way as the price tag on editing tools dropped, and also the company that created and dominated modern digital editing found themselves having toplay catch-up. In addition, the phone supplies good connectivity options like; 3G HSDPA, HSCSD, WLAN Wi-Fi, EDGE, wireless connectivity, cabled USB connectivity and GPRS technology. An internal Internet browser allows customers to try a XHTML & HTML Web surfing experience from the B7610. It adds up Microsoft Windows Mobile ten.1 OS and Document Viewer supports Word, Excel, PDF and Power point. Somewhere in autocad download for pc , though, Syntrillium resolved to add multi-track functionality as well. autocad crack serial number and product key worked pretty well for basic stuff. Experienced a toggle button permit you to exchange between the multi-track and editing display screens. As version progressed, they added more and more to the multi-track part of the program. But things just got kind of complicated as well as the midi stuff was not great. So when Reaper (by Cockos) seemed to be in about 2006, I jumped to it as my primary DAW and stopped using the multi-track amount of Audition, though I still use it for editing and learning. I start putting 10 ApowerEdit .0 through it's paces and at the possible risk of sounding hyperbolic, it is ROCKING. No latency, no glitchiness, (my word, Colbert) picture quality is noticeably and substantially better as well as the playhead is slicing through multi-layer, real-time effects and title comps like "butta". I've got reels with 20 audio tracks, 3-5 video tracks, I'm deleting, re-patching, copying and pasting, I make tons of cuts and changes and Media Composer doesn't flinch once. I start getting a warm and fuzzy feeling and think, this can be a beautiful issue. These guys have really done their homework. The phone comes with Microsoft Windows Mobile an affordable vacation.1 OS. The document Viewer belonging to the mobile encourage all kinds of documents in many kinds of formats like PDF, Word, Excel and even Powerpoint. The special Global positioning systems facility features Way finder Navigator 7 and A-GPS function. The Quad band technology can cover GSM 850 to GSM nineteen hundred. The mobile is known as for the extensive messaging service consists of all kinds of messages like email, SMS, RSS and MMS. Do you want to appear the actual world ad as spokesperson on your own business? If so, you will make your TV commercial even more affordable. Once you've included every one of these elements, you should that you start with the final in mind when writing your program. What is it you would like your prospective customer to feel after watching your commercial and what is it you long for them to do after watching it? Keep those thoughts in head as you're posting and you absolutely need an effective ad. Do not let the television station write your script under any circumstances! Photography enthusiast can enjoy photography featuring a 3.2 mega pixels camera with few attributes such as Photo Geo Tagging Photo Editor, Auto Focus, Video Editor, and Flash. You're able to listen inside your favorite songs with its music player that learns how to play WMA, WAV, MP3, AND AAC+, files and MPEG4, H263, WMV9 and H264 format files end up being played for your video player of Samsung B7330 Omnia Pro contract mobile phone. autocad crack code can make video calling using its secondary video calling camera and can enjoy music using its FM a radio station.

⤑ made-up love song v (m).

Your first encounter with Kim Seokjin doesn’t go so well, nor your second, or your third… and maybe that’s because it shouldn’t work on paper. You’re an elementary school teacher, never left the country despite hitting the third decade of your life not so long ago, and you’re unable to remember the last time you dated. He’s the dad of one of your students, nearly a decade older than you and divorced. Oh yes, and just another minor detail – he’s a multimillionaire. 

Your lives are lightyears apart, yet somehow, your paths having now crossed, things just seem to fall into place…

pairing; kim seokjin x reader  au/genre/warnings; strangers to lovers, romance, eventual angst, single dad! seokjin, ceo! seokjin, elementary school teacher! oc, age gap (oc is 30, seokjin is 37), seokjin is a dilf, fluff, smut; a shit ton of kissing, oral (f), seokjin likes eye contact, slight overstimulation, he also seems to have a slight potty mouth when turned on, romantic sex, protected sex, shower scene, oral (m), this chapter is basically just sex, enjoy! (yes, the dilf dick is b i g) lingerie described found here for the visuals ~  words; 9,572

↪︎ chapter index

chapters; i • ii • iii • iv • v • vi • vii • viii • ix • x • epilogue (+ drabbles)

Saturday couldn’t come soon enough. You were like a little kid at the lead up to Christmas. You couldn’t remember the last time you were this excited for something. Actually, on second thoughts, you couldn’t think of a time you were this excited for anything, period. And all over the prospect of sleeping with Seokjin, and definitely not in the innocent way… He had in no way explicitly stated that you’d be having sex this week, but the insinuation was heavy in the air. Everything leading up to this moment was suggesting come Saturday night you would not be sat in front of Seokjin’s 75” television watching boxsets… 

On the morning of you decided to pack a few things in a small case. You definitely planned on returning home in the day if needed or bored while Seokjin was at work, but the essentials were required: underwear, pyjamas, a few outfits, toiletries and skincare, your iPad, miscellaneous chargers. Soojung on the other hand was acting like you were never coming back… 

“I’m going to miss you.” She whined, having been hovering around you as you packed. “Leaving me alone with smelly Tae.” 

In a bid not to be alone in the evenings she’d invited her smelly boyfriend over for the week, but although she sounded irked it was all just an act. God knows what they’d get up to while you were gone, you dreaded to think. On second thoughts, maybe it would be best to stay at Seokjin’s place all week… You had no clue what you’d walk in on in your own home.  

“I won’t be gone the whole week. Besides, we can meet up for lunch and stuff.” You often visited her at the department store, perusing the food court until it was time for her lunch break. You weren’t secluded from the whole world while away. What did she think was happening? 

She helped you fold your clothes in momentary silence, deep in thought it seemed. “What if you love it there and want to stay permanently Dilf mansion?” 

You scoffed immediately, taking the small pile of t-shirts from her to pack away. “Soo, way to jump the gun.” You’d been dating barely six weeks, hadn’t even had sex yet, moving in together was number 1 on the highly unlikely list. Although, sliding in a couple of pairs of flats into the top pocket of your case and zipping it up, you hummed in consideration. “Dilf mansion does have a ring to it though…” 

Soojung’s attention was on another pile of clothing now – one you would be wearing this evening to leave for Seokjin’s house. Her fingertips brushed along the delicate baby blue lace of your lingerie, sitting on top of the pile and she looked up at you and grinned wickedly. “You’re going to knock his socks off with this.” 

You and her had spent yesterday browsing the mall with a very important task. To decide on the most perfect lingerie set. Knowing Seokjin for a while know, you’d noticed he had an inclination for the colour blue, so your chosen piece had to be a winner – practically see-through, littered in beautiful lace flowers. You were well and truly prepared for tonight, you were a woman on a mission. 

“His Dilf socks,” you corrected your best friend, both of you instantly exploding into a fit of giggles. 

Arin had left with her grandparents this morning, and as much as Seokjin was eager to get this weekend started and see you immediately, he actually had a few things he needed to take care of at work. It wasn’t until around 5pm that you got into your car to make the short journey, Soo waving you off proudly like you were about to attend your graduation. You were honestly quite calm given the circumstances, although one look at Seokjin as he stepped out the front door to take your case and all inner composure was lost. You were one big ball of excitement, most of it flurrying around in the pit of your stomach. Yet you kept cool on the outside, grinning at the handsome man in front of you despite your lingerie burning marks into your skin. 

And handsome he was today, (as if he wasn’t every day), his dark hair parted in the centre of his forehead naturally, his eyes crinkling as he smiled and leaned in for a kiss. You tasted a hint of mango on his mouth, an obvious sheen to his plump lips, and you presumed he’d applied some chapstick before you’d arrived – the chapstick you’d bought him not too long ago after he’d complained of cracked lips to you on the phone one night. 

“Hey,” he greeted softly, his arms around your waist, body pressed snuggly into yours. 

“Hey yourself,” you murmured, wrapping your arms around his neck, gazing into one another’s eyes before you lightly teased him. “Are we going to stay out here all night?” 

Chuckling heartily, he reached behind you, lifting your case with ease. “Let’s go put this in my room.” 

You’d never once stepped foot onto the upper level of his house before, so you were very observant on your way to his bedroom, eyes catching art pieces (you noticed numerous of Arin’s) and photos along the walls, light fixtures, as well as the odd plant here and there. You had to walk two flights of stairs to get to your destination, one average in length, the other shorter, veering off to the left of the corridor to reach a landing leading into his bedroom. You remembered what he’d said about changing and designing his bedroom himself, so you were very curious as to what it looked like inside. Yet still, the sight of it stunned you to brief silence. 

His was the largest bedroom in the house, the master bedroom if you were being fancy, but in your opinion it was more like a mini home in itself. All it needed was a kitchen and you would be good to go. It smelt just like him – of his cologne and the recognisable vanilla scent his house seemed to waft of every time you visited. The walls were warm grey, décor similar with dashes of cream and gold. The bed matched the whole vibe of the room – insanely large, and you could already tell it was going to be the comfiest thing you’d ever slept on. Directly opposite, but a long way away, were a sofa and love seat sat around a TV hooked to the wall above a stunning fireplace. There were two sets of double windows, from the ceiling to the wooden floor, dark grey drapes open – not that it mattered. Seokjin’s house was out-of-the-way, no chance of being seen. All you were met with as you looked down, was a small patch of garden you hadn’t seen before, plain and simple, but very beautiful. Tranquil. 

To the left of the room a door opened into another, perhaps a quarter of the size – his closet, and you followed him inside, still pretty much lost for words. He said there was no point putting your belongings away tonight, you could do it tomorrow, but he’d saved a drawer for you and there was an empty section of hanging space you could use too. There was also a dressing table you could put to good use, because he sure didn’t, and then he whisked you away into the bathroom, which was probably the most beautiful room in the house. Everything was warm marble in colour. A separate bath and shower (both gigantic) and double sinks. 

“I got you a robe,” Seokjin pointed out, and you followed his gaze to behind the door, two fluffy white robes hooked to the wall. 

Oh, boy. You could get used to this. 

.

.

Seokjin ordered takeout for dinner – from an Indian restaurant Namjoon kept raving about apparently. With the amount he ordered you could have sworn he was feeding a whole party, not just the two of you. You were stuffed in no time, curling up on the sofa with a glass of red wine as Seokjin loaded the dishwasher. He still hadn’t cooked an actual meal for you, and when he joined you, of course you reminded him. This week he was preparing dinner for you one night, and that was final. You needed to see what Chef Kim had in him – even if he insisted his skills were long forgotten.  

You cuddled as you watched a movie, which more often than not meant you’d start to become sleepy – just ask Soojung – but tonight was different. You were wide awake and practically thrumming with excitement. You were begging for the movie credits an hour before they were due, and when they finally popped up your heart started to beat harder in anticipation. It was nearing 11pm. Your lingerie was still burning welts into your skin… 

Seokjin kissed the top of your head, your back pressed into his chest where you’d been snuggled into him, legs across the sofa, for the duration of the night. One of his arms was crossed around your front, the other free to drink his wine as he propped his feet up on the glass topped coffee table. You could really get used to this. 

“What did you think?” He hummed, reaching forward to place his glass on a coaster. You grabbed his hand, not wanting him to leave you and he chuckled, quickly resuming position to now loop both arms around your shoulders, pressing you further into the warmth of his body. 

“I enjoyed,” you replied with a small shrug. In all honesty it would’ve been a great movie if you hadn’t been so distracted. 

You felt him lower his head, breath hot against your ear as he spoke. “I’m glad you didn’t fall asleep on me.” You giggled as he started to kiss the column of your neck, his barely there presses of his lips tickling you. Yet still you pushed into his hold, letting your head fall back. He took the opportunity to suck your earlobe between his lips, eliciting a sweet sigh from you. “I really can’t wait to spend this entire week with you.”  He whispered. 

You tried to keep your voice as uninvolved as possible – which was a lot harder when he now had your earlobe between his teeth. “Eh. I’m so-so over it.” 

“Y/N!” He scolded playfully, groaning a laugh as he lifted his head away. “Stop. Now’s not the time for joking around.” 

“I’m sorry,” you giggled, latching onto his hands. 

“Face me,” he murmured almost suddenly. “Let me kiss you properly.” 

His kisses were gentle and loving, his hands cupping your face as you leaned into him, hands placed across his hard chest. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt tucked into some black pants, he’d looked irresistible all night. He pulled away slowly, lips upturned almost drunkenly. “What’s that grin for?” 

Seokjin’s gaze flicked from your lips to your eyes repeatedly as he replied, thumbs massaging circles into your cheeks. “I’m just very happy. Is that allowed?” 

Giggling, you pressed your mouth to his, wrapping your palms around his neck to pull him in closer. He hummed loudly – indulgently, and let you lick into his mouth, his own hands slipping down to your neck and down your torso, gripping your middle. Your chest was flush to his and you welcomed the heat of his body. You were happy too. It had been a long time since you’d last felt this content, and tonight you’d realised just how lovely it was to be able to lounge with Seokjin and be in his company so casually, so naturally like this. You would become spoiled this week, but you couldn’t feel too worried right now. 

Breaking away again, it seemed like he wanted to say something, but your mouth was a greedy thing, finding its way down his neck and across his throat as he leaned his head against the back of the sofa, his breathing shallow as he let you wonder. His fingers brushed up and down your back distractedly, until he seemed to remember what he wanted to tell you. “Hey,” he whispered, breath catching in his throat when you pinched your teeth into his Adam’s apple softly. “Hey, stop for a moment. There was something I wanted to say before…” He trailed off, unsure how to finish the very obvious direction of his sentence, and as much as you wanted to nosedive straight into that pool, you pulled back to look into his eyes, waiting patiently. 

He straightened his back and you eased off him a little, finding his fond smile contagious. “I’ve enjoyed these past few weeks so much.” He began, sincerity in his tone . “I know I’m not old old by any means but dating you has made me feel like I’m young again. I mean, grinding in the middle of a bar is something I didn’t even do back in my college days.” 

“I fail to believe that,” you laughed. 

“Really,” he insisted, looking amused. “I was a nerd. A handsome one, but a nerd nonetheless.” Before you could roll your eyes he was continuing. “What I’m trying to say is that, I really like you, Y/N.” His fingers played with the ends of your hair lovingly.  “You know that already. Shit, I’m crazy about you. Just hearing your voice makes my day better. No matter how short a time we spend together, even if it’s just on the phone to say goodnight, I feel happy – I feel relaxed.” He paused to take a breath before moving to cup your face with one hand. “No matter how stressed I am you make it better by just existing.” 

“…Seokjin,” you murmured, a little lost for words at his declaration. 

He chuckled warmly, tops of his cheeks tinged somewhat rosy. “Too cheesy?”

You shook your head adamantly, reaching for his face as well. “Not at all. I’m crazy about you too.” His face lit up instantly and you couldn’t help but kiss him. “I’m so happy we met,” you confessed against his mouth. “I don’t want this summer to be over.” 

“It’s not over yet,” he laughed. “We still have time to make it even better.” You wanted that more than anything. Finding it difficult to keep away from your lips, he practically had to tear himself away. He was out of breath. “I know saying this out loud is silly given everything, but… Let’s make this official.” 

Your heart started somersaulting. You felt like you were in high school again, over the moon because Kim Rowoon had asked you to prom. Only this was better than that – much, much better. Linking your arms around Seokjin’s neck you tilted your head to the side, a grin unable to keep off your face. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Mr. Kim?” 

“What do you say?” He sounded hopeful and soft. 

You hummed out loud, thinking hard. “Can I get back to you? 3 to five business days seems about right.” You immediately squealed as you finished your sentence, Seokjin’s hands finding their way around your butt to tug you forward. You gripped onto his shoulders with the surprise. 

“Too bad because I’ve already been calling you my girlfriend at the office.” 

You didn’t have a chance to reply, the hard press of his lips against yours knocking you senseless. You found yourself in his lap not long after, fingers dragging through his hair as you clung to him, mouths moving in gradual urgency until you began to feel out of breath. Your tongues seemed to grow more daring, intent, as your soft moans mingled with his quiet groans. You hadn’t quite found yourself in this position before, usually moulded to the soft leather but this time you had Seokjin pinned tight, a heat that was quickly becoming unbearable burning between your bodies, and his hands running up and down your back didn’t help. 

Each brush of his fingertips had your skin prickling with warmth, dizzying your mind, and when you felt him brush against the curve of your left breast you leaned forward into his touch, desperate for more. Seokjin grunted, encouraged by your action as he cupped the soft flesh, his thumb grazing your nipple which hardened from the touch. Your kiss turned a lot more frenzied after that, Seokjin roaming your body with confidence, his unoccupied hand cupping your butt to rock you against his crotch. 

He was hard. You’d felt it stiffening ever since you’d climbed into his lap, but now he was solid, flesh pressing (probably painfully) against his pants, and feeling emboldened you lifted your hips, hovering over him for your hand to slot in between your bodies, cupping his erection firmly. He stiffened under your grasp, his breath hitching and you took that moment to drag your tongue along his, teasing him as you slowly started to stroke him above his slacks. He felt thick and rigid between your fingers, pulsing erratically against your hold, and he broke away from your mouth, head falling back as a loud, drawn-out groan slipped from his throat. You gazed at him – eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed, mouth parted as he breathed shallowly – and took a mental picture. You wanted to remember this moment forever. He looked gorgeous, basking in pleasure and you wanted to pleasure him more. It was an urge so strong you practically dived on him, mouth slamming into his. He soon gained his bearings, kissing you just as wildly as his hands groped your body. 

“Do you – mm, do you want – mm – to take this upstairs?” He asked against your lips, fingers currently digging into the soft flesh of your ass. The veins in his neck were visible, his desperation for you obvious, and you pulled away from the kiss to nod rapidly. If he didn’t get you upstairs soon you’d surely explode. 

You let out a little squeak as you suddenly found yourself in the air, safely held up by Seokjin. You immediately wrapped your arms around his neck, clinging to him as he began to make the brisk walk to the hallway and towards the staircase. “Oh, my god,” you muttered, laughing as you realised he was about to carry you bridal style all the way up the stairs. 

“What?” He laughed back, his eyes twinkling warmly. Your heart melted at the sight and you leaned in to kiss him, uncaring that you both may fall backwards and break your necks. 

“I may have forgotten about the amount of stairs in this goddamn house,” he panted lightly once you’d made it past the first set. 

“Put me down then,” you giggled. 

“Never,” he sang out, pecking you on the mouth sweetly. 

Once in his bedroom, he placed you down, closing the door behind you before caging you against it, kissing you like he hadn’t seen you for months. You keened into his touch, whole body hot and ready for him, but in the end you couldn’t keep up with his mouth. He’d never kissed you like this, he was a man possessed, you physically felt weak at the knees and you clung to him, moaning softly when his mouth fell to your neck. 

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he confessed against the wet skin, fresh waves of arousal washing through your body. His voice was an octave lower, gruff and nothing like you’d heard before. “I can’t contain myself knowing we’re going to be alone for a whole week.” 

“What do you plan on doing to me?” You laughed weakly, but to be honest, the time for wisecracks were gone. You were hanging on by a thread, this close to begging him to tear your clothes off. 

Cupping your neck he pulled away to look you in the face. His pupils were blown out, more black than the warm brown you were used to. The tops of his cheeks were tinged red, his own arousal very evident, and when he replied he sounded as sincere as ever. “Anything you want me to.” 

Okay, if he carried on like this, he’d mess up your plan good and proper. He was rude. Very rude. And hot, and sexy, and yours. God, you really wanted him. Your body was screaming for him. You pressed a kiss to his mouth, and then another, and another, determined not to get yourself glued there no matter how much he tried to drag his tongue along the seam of your lips. “L-let me freshen up,” you managed to get out, voice shaky as you (with great difficultly) held him away at arm’s length.  

At your words, he slowly made sense of them, his eyes refocussing before he gave you a short nod and politely stepped back. “Ok.” 

Before you could be tempted by that mouth of his once more, you made a dash for his bathroom, closing the door behind you. Immediately you began to rush out of your clothes, not even bothering to fold them properly because you were in such a hurry. You’d had this planned all night, wanting him to be rendered speechless, and staring at your lingerie cladded self in the giant mirror he had hooked to the wall, you reminded yourself to take a breather. You were going to walk out there calmly, the epitome of composed as you sought out his reaction. With one last look at your reflection, you walked towards the door and opened it. 

Seokjin was sat on the edge of the bed, legs sinfully spread (but oh so casually, which just made it hotter), but he wasn’t looking your way, his eyes darting around the room a little as if he was desperately trying to find some patience. Knowing he was riled and aroused made your head even more dizzy, and stopping by the doorframe, you called out to him. 

He looked your way instantly, eyes bulging even quicker. Actually they practically popped out on storks as he took in the sight of you in the baby blue underwear. He seemed paralysed. 

“Hey,” you smiled, all of a sudden feeling a little shy as you waited for him to say something. 

It took another moment, but then he was swallowing hard, wetting his mouth as his lips parted. “Oh, shit.” 

You smiled victoriously, those simple two words satisfying you fully. 

He outstretched his hand, voice thick and raspy as he beckoned you forward. “Come here.”

You obeyed, closing the distance between you quickly and Seokjin wasted no time clasping his hands around your hips as you stood in front of him, between his legs. If felt so good to finally have his hands on your bare skin. His touch was warm, soothing, but most of all, electrifying. Goosebumps spread as he dragged his fingers up and down your sides, his eyes drowning at the sight of you. 

“Do you like it? It’s not too much?” You asked, looking down at him. You glowed under his gaze. 

He lifted his head up, arching an eyebrow. “Do I like it? Is that supposed to be a genuine question?” He sounded just as baffled as he looked and it made you giggle. His fingers started to play with the thin waistband of your panties before delicately outlining the lace flower petals on your ass. The sensation made you shiver, and a small smile grew on his face as he watched you. “You look gorgeous.” He leaned forward, beginning to place small, gentle kisses on your abdomen and your skin rippled, butterflies appearing. “You’re beautiful.” He murmured, hot puffs of air hitting you, heating you up even more. 

You curled your hand in his hair, needing something to latch on to as you watched him mouth even more kisses along your flesh. The point of his tongue dipped into your navel scandalously, and as you gasped he looked up with his eyes and smirked, tongue now swirling invisible patterns along your stomach. The sight sent you a little gooey, legs feeling weak again as your heart thrummed inside your chest. 

“However… I was looking forward to undressing you…” He teased.

You teased right back. “You still have the lingerie.” 

He couldn’t handle that, growling quietly against your stomach, his hands rounding your ass to mould the flesh in his palms firmly. He’d soon tear the panties if he kept that up. Obviously the idea of stripping you naked sent him feral – something you’d remember well for this week. You yelped when you felt him sink his teeth into your hip bone, pulling him closer to your body by his hair, desperate for more. It was when you looked behind him, did you notice the pillar candles aflame on the two nightstands that sat either side of his bed. They weren’t burning before you’d entered the bathroom. You were sure of it. 

“Seokjin, did you light candles?” You asked without realising, changing the atmosphere slightly, but you didn’t mind too much, not when the image of Seokjin rushing to burn candles for the ~ambience~ was too damn adorable. 

He lifted from your skin, looking up at you. “Um, yeah.” He sounded a little awkward before he chuckled softly. “I thought against the slow R&B music.” 

“Good choice,” you laughed, fingers rubbing small circles into the nape of his neck. That would’ve been hilarious. 

“I’m totally out of my depth here…” He admitted, nudging you backwards a little to stand in front of you. He kept his hands on your waist, ducking down to be eye level with you. “I haven’t done this in a while.” 

“Snap,” you grinned, rubbing your nose against his as you wrapped your arms around his neck to hold him close. You kissed him deeply, feeling happy and relaxed. There wasn’t a nerve in sight and despite his honest words you knew he was at ease too.  

Your hands slipped over his shoulders and down his toned chest, stopping just before the waistband of his pants to tug at his t-shirt, untucking him. “You have to get naked too.” You whined, detaching your mouths. “I’m feeling sorely underdressed.” 

He let out an airy chuckle, immediately reaching for the neck of his shirt to tug it over his head. Your hands greedily started to explore his torso, running your fingers along his faintly lined abs before trailing up his hard chest. He shivered as you brushed against his nipples, a tiny laugh slipping from his throat. 

“What?” You laughed. 

“’Tickles.” He mumbled, leaning in for another kiss. You wrapped your arms around him, loving the feeling of his bare chest against yours, but soon enough you got impatient again, hands reaching for the button of his pants. You popped it open and proceeded to unzip him, at least giving his poor erection some reprieve. It had been pressed up against your lower stomach for quite some time, still rigid but as patient as ever. 

He took over, stepping back to push them past his hips, his lips still attached to yours. “Mm–Bed.” He hummed, taking you by the hips to switch places. You pulled away and sat down, watching him kick his pants off his feet and your eyes zoned in on the curve of his erection, hidden by his Armani underwear – black with a red waistband. His thighs were perfectly toned, his skim glowing in the soft lighting. He looked good enough to eat and your heart skipped a couple of beats as he walked forward. 

You laid back against the mattress, instantly groaning at how soft it was. You practically sunk inside. “Oh, damn this is comfy.” Rolling onto your side as Seokjin climbed on the bed, you hid your smirk. “I could just go to sleep…” 

“I don’t think so,” he told you, hovering over you. His hand smacked you ass causing you to squeal, and you flipped onto your back as he took the moment to cage you under his large body. 

This time his mouth completely bypassed your lips to kiss your chest, pressing into the indents of your collarbones before slipping to the tops of your breasts. He kissed the fabric, wetting it as his tongue traced the delicate flower petals and you gripped onto his shoulders with a moan as he encased one nipple between his lips, sucking gently, soaking the lace a darker shade of blue. “You drive me crazy,” he quietly panted, his hands reaching behind your back, arched into the pleasure he was giving you. “May I?” He asked, fingers finding the clasp of your bra. You nodded hastily, moaning louder when he lifted his head to kiss your lips. His motions were firm, tight pleasure filled grunts leaving him as he freed you of your lingerie. 

Immediately he pulled away, dark eyes soaking in your bare chest like it was the most stunning thing he’d ever seen. Your back arched further when his warm palms cupped your breasts, spreading a heat down your spine that settled between your legs. “You’re beautiful,” he awed, looking into your eyes, causing a sweet moan to fall from your lips. 

He moulded the soft flesh gently, before brushing his thumbs over your hardened nipples. That had you moaning again, pleasure you hadn’t felt in a long time rocketing up your body. It felt amazing to be touched by him, and you were greedy for more. He was on the same page, his lips replacing his thumbs, his tongue flicking against the sensitive bud that had you sighing out his name, your fingers threaded in his hair. He hummed against you, squeezing your breasts and pressing his body into yours – once – his erection pressing into your thighs, before he pulled away, kissing down your sternum before licking into your navel, his hands rubbing up and down the outside of your thighs. 

His lips avoided your clothed heat, which was frustrating to say the least. You were so eager by now, unsure if you could take much more kissing before you exploded, but Seokjin was a man determined – determined on kissing every inch of your body it seemed. He made it down one thigh before moving onto the next and as he got towards your knee you couldn’t help but giggle – it was beginning to tickle, but he didn’t stop, lips pressing down your calf.  

“Seokjinn,” you whined. 

He chuckled as he made his way back up the other leg, bending you at the knee before gently getting you to spread out for him. “What?” He murmured. Although you were distracted now, realising how aroused you had become, your underwear clinging to you desperately. He was kissing the inside of your thigh now, fingers hooked under the waistband of your panties and he was so close to where you wanted him you were trembling. He nosed his way to the apex of your thigh, groaning as he smelt you and then he was hastily tugging the lace down your legs, the last of your covering. Now you were totally naked in front of him, and he looked like he wanted to eat you up. 

“What do you want me to do?” He asked, voice gruff. He sounded so sexy. His eyes were glued to your centre yet he didn’t touch. When you didn’t reply, they flickered to your face. “Y/N. Hm?” 

You mind was a blur, you couldn’t think what to say, mainly because you wanted him to do anything and everything to you. You startled when he nosed the inside of your thigh, his hands sliding down your hips to grip the flesh underneath. “Taste you? Is that what you want?” He whispered, sending your insides somersaulting. He looked up as you nodded, and grinned. “You have to say it out loud, honey.” 

The bastard. He was teasing you. Trying to get under your skin. Your forced yourself to speak. “Taste me.” He hummed in response, pressing his mouth to your hip bone. You raised your tone, more determined. “Seokjin. Taste me.” 

He dived in. Placing gentle kisses up your slit, his lips ever so slightly brushing your clitoris. You moaned quietly, letting your eyes close as you laid back against the softest pillows you had ever felt. Your fists clutched the sheets, hips raising up when you felt the first wash of his tongue. Your breath caught, warmth turning you gooey. “Taste so good,” he mumbled into you – so quietly you wondered if you’d imagined it. 

You enjoyed the sensation for a few moments, quietly moaning intermittently before you felt the urge to take a peek. Opening your eyes and looking down your body, you saw Seokjin watching you, his eyes hungry. You quickly looked away, the back of your hand coming up to cover your mouth as a groan left you, your legs falling wider apart. The scene had been erotic but in all honesty you were feeling a little shy. It had been a long time since you’d had sex, so the idea of someone watching you so intimately made you feel funny. 

Seokjin was there to reassure you though. “Don’t look away, Y/N,” he murmured, pulling back to get your attention. “I want to see your face.” You looked again, watching him kneel low as he ran a hand up your thigh. His lips shone with your arousal. He looked beautiful. 

You moaned lowly when you felt him rub a finger at your entrance, and he watched you intently as he pushed inside, feeling you squeeze around the intrusion. He slowly began to curve the digit, pressing against your inner walls. Committed to pleasuring you, he watched your every reaction and this time you didn’t look away. 

“Does it feel good?” He asked, in awe as you writhed around on the bed, chasing the feeling. 

You moaned as you replied yes, only to jerk upwards when his thumb began to rub tiny circles against your clit. “Seokjin!” 

He liked that. Hearing you cry his name. He wanted to hear it more, dropping low to replace his thumb with his lips. He sucked the sensitive bud of nerves between them, flicking the tip of his tongue against it rapidly, earning him another cry, and he moaned gruffly against you, the vibrations shooting up your body. His free hand moved to your lower stomach, palm hot against your skin as he applied gentle pressure, holding you down. 

Oh god, you were a mass of pleasure, mind addled, unable to think straight. Not when he was making you feel so good. He slipped a second finger inside of you, his eyes flicking up to yours and you made it your life’s mission not to look away, chest heaving up and down as you squeezed around his digits. Your orgasm was building, pressure below getting harder to control – harder to ignore. Seokjin guessed it, breaking eye contact to bury his face further into your heat. The image was almost crude, so were the noises, but the most beautiful kind of crude. A crude that had you desperate for more. You jerked into him, rolling into each snap of his wrist, the pads of his fingers grazing your g-spot. 

“Want to make you cum,” he rasped, before sucking your clit back into his mouth and sucking determinedly. You groaned, head flinging back into the pillow, eyes clenched closed, a hand coming out to grip the roots of your hair as you rolled your hips into his face, giving into the pleasure well and truly. This orgasm was going to blow your brains out – and it did. 

In the end you had you to clamp your legs around Seokjin’s head in a bid to get him to stop, pleasure still rolling through your body as you panted like crazy. He eased from your clit, tongue dragging down your folds instead, meeting his fingers that were almost locked inside of your pulsing walls. With a grunt, he removed himself, kissing your mound one last time before he stopped. With his hands on your thighs as he kneeled between them, he watched you adoringly. 

“Oh, my god,” you panted weakly. Unsure what else you could say to describe what you’d just experienced. Why had he not been doing that from the get-go? From as soon as he’d reversed into your car?! 

That was all he needed anyway, your simple vocalisation, because no sooner had the words exited your mouth, he dived on you, kissing your mouth, your cheeks, your eyes, your forehead – whatever he could reach. “You’re amazing,” he gushed, his lips and chin still glistening with your wetness. You could taste yourself on him. It was glorious. His hands roamed your body like it was all new to him. As if he hadn’t been it for the last forty minutes or so. “Fuck. I can’t stop touching you.”

Your stomach flipped around, the sound of him cursing sending you dizzy. You licked into his mouth, kissing him messily, your hands raking up and down his back, before they settled on his ass. You gave the meat a squeeze and he grunted, pushing his crotch into yours. He was painfully hard – and desperate. (You hadn’t missed the way he’d been rutting into the mattress while going down on you…)

“Seokjin,” you breathed, moving your head to the side to get your words out. His tongue carried on going, swirling across your cheek. You liked getting messy with him. You tugged at his underwear. “Get naked. Need you.” 

“You don’t need a minute?” He asked, tongue now in your ear. He gyrated his hips into yours, grunting as he did so. 

You shook your head. “Like hell I do.” 

He laughed at that – breathlessly, but it was something. He moved, rushing out of the last bit of clothing he had on, and your eyes drunk up the sight. The missing piece. His dick was long and thick – smooth and warm once you got your hands on him. Hovering over you, you ran your fist up and down him steadily, just enjoying getting to touch him. He dropped to your side, pecking your lips before he pulled back.  “I need to be inside you.” 

You continued to touch him, running your fingers along the rigid flesh as he stretched behind him to pull a box from the nightstand drawer. 

It caught your attention right away. You raised both eyebrows as you let go of his length. “A hundred condoms?” 

He chuckled, sounding a little sheepish. “Too enthusiastic?”

“Do you want to kill me?” Death by (Dilf) dick wasn’t how you’d expected to go, if you were being honest. 

“Not particularly,” he shrugged, pulling one of the packet. (Discarding the box to the floor.) He turned back to you with an impish grin. “That’s why I bought the bumper pack of condoms.”

You rolled your eyes, pushing at his chest, but he grabbed your hand and kissed you, distracting you successfully. “No, if I’m being truthful,” he continued, letting you steal another kiss. “They were better value for money. I’m partial to a bargain.” 

“You’re unbelievable,” you scoffed. 

“You should’ve seen me purchasing them, I have never been more embarrassed in my life.” 

“Seokjin, you’re a near 40 year old man,” you judged openly, however on second thoughts – “But yeah, I’d be embarrassed buying a 100 condoms too.” 

Seokjin shuddered, looking mortified. “Just the thought of the cashier knowing I was going to get lucky…” 

You arched an eyebrow. “Get lucky?”

He looked comically caught out, eyes wide for a second before he shook his head. “Less talking now…” And then he was kissing you again…

Between rushed mouths and eager hands, he managed to tear the condom packet, pulling out the latex to slip it over his erection. Kneeling over you, you could see perfectly when he attempted to roll it the wrong way up.  “Oh, shit. Ignore that,” he muttered, fixing it immediately. 

You stifled a laugh. “Ignored.” 

He gave himself a tug, making sure everything was secure and your mouth practically watered. “Just warning you now, this may be a three pumps and Bam! kinda thing,” he informed you as he laid over you, pressing a kiss to your lips. “I am so turned on.”

You giggled, wrapping your arms around his middle. “I don’t mind. Just want you.” 

“I want you more.” He rubbed his nose against yours. 

Hitting his ass, you shot him a look. “It’s not a competition.” 

“Isn’t it?” He asked, pretending to be confused. 

“Quit stalling,” you whined. “Let’s have sex.” 

“Let’s,” he agreed with a warm smile. You turned gooey instantly. 

Pressing his knees to the mattress, he hovered over you, wrapping his hand around his dick to direct it between your legs. He rubbed the length up and down your slit, flesh heavy and hot, coating himself in your arousal. The sensation was good for you, but for him it seemed to blow his mind, eyes practically rolling back into his skull as he grunted. He stopped at your entrance, looking up at you as he slowly pushed the head inside. 

You shifted under him, trying to stay patient. You wanted nothing more than to be stuffed full of him, but realistically you needed to take things slow. You held onto his shoulders, silently telling him to continue. He let out a strained groan as he slipped in deeper, your walls snug and hot around him, begging him for more. Inch by glorious inch, you kept on taking him, until you were filled up just right. 

“Shit,” you uttered, looking up at the ceiling as you adjusted to the sensation. 

“Was that a curse?” He asked, voice tight but greatly amused as he nosed your throat. 

“Hardly.” Your voice was barely there, desperate for him to move. 

“I’d still class it as swearing.” He was holding his breath, yet still felt the need to be a smarty-pants. You moved your hips practically a centimetre and he grunted. He didn’t want you to win though. “I want more. Maybe not tonight, but I will turn your mouth filthy by the end of the week…”

A moan tore from your throat uncontrollably, and you couldn’t look at his face because you knew you’d be met with a gloating smirk. You steeled yourself, nose in the air. “Game on.” 

Seokjin laughed obnoxiously, but couldn’t wait any longer, slowly dragging out of you and then pushing back in. His breath hitched – so did yours, and he carried on, propping himself up with one hand as he gained a steady rhythm. 

“You feel so fucking good,” he moaned, watching your face. 

“You too.” You clung to him, feeling your face heat up and ended up dropping your gaze. 

“Honey, don’t be shy,” he whined, reaching to cup your face, in the process pressing more of his body weight into you. You clutched him tighter, wanting him as close as ever. “I like watching you. Knowing I’m making you feel good.” His mouth on yours now, you sunk into the kiss, moaning softly as his thrusts got quicker. You met each one, rolling into him. 

It wasn’t long before he was on your throat, kissing and nipping the skin, his hands exploring the rest of your body. Your ran your fingers through his hair, sighing sweety when his mouth wrapped around one of your nipples, slipping the hard flesh into his mouth to suck. 

Face pressed against your chest, his movements became a little erratic, breathing heavy until he was panting. You moaned along, loving how he was making you feel. “You are honestly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He awed, voice raspy. 

You let out a weak chuckle, running your fingers through the ends of his hair. “Of course you would say that with a face full of my boobs.” 

He laughed too, kissing his way back up your chest, his hands pressing into the pillow as he leaned in for your mouth. You stared at one another for a little while, your moans mingling together, and it was the most intimate moment you’d ever shared with anyone. 

“Good?” He asked. You were unsure if he was asking how you were or if you were enjoying yourself, but regardless, the answer was the same. 

“Really good,” you smiled, running your hand down his chest. 

His thrust were getting messier, less controlled, less strategic, so it was no surprise when he had a confession to tell you, kissing you once again. “I’m-I’m… close.” 

He’d exceeded the predicted three pumps at least… “Hey, you can go a little harder,” you whispered against his mouth. 

He grunted, slacking at your words but quickly got a hold of himself. Each snap of his hips got firmer and harsher, fucking – because there was no other way to describe it – you into the expensive bed. Your cries of pleasure came out stunted and unsteady, his own grunts louder now, gruffer as he chased his end. 

“Seokjin –!” Your hands fell to his ass, holding him tight as he pounded into you. “Don’t stop,” you encouraged, which seemed to tip him over the edge – quickly. 

“Fuck. Coming…”” His face fell into the crook of your neck, panting as he tried to keep moving, and then he froze, his body hot, partly sweaty, a long drawn-out groan sounding against your ear as he came. 

You wrapped your arms around him, keeping him to you because in all honesty, you didn’t want to let him go. You could feel his heart beating against your chest rapidly, even after he’d partially caught his breath, and you knew yours was beating just as fast. You kissed his shoulder when he kissed yours, and slowly he lifted his head, turning to give you a drunken smile. He sighed contently. “That honestly beats any orgasm I’ve ever given myself lately.” 

“I should hope so!” You burst out laughing, not quite expecting those to be his first words and he immediately joined you before hugging you tight. 

.

.

You awoke naturally, light from outside peeking through the loosely closed drapes. Seokjin had his arm around you, his body curved into yours, and you could tell by his breathing he was still very much sound asleep. Proving your point, he grunted softly, rolling onto his back, his grip on you loosening. Carefully, you turned around to face him, taking in the sight of his sleeping form. His lips seemed to be pouted, eyebrows furrowed slightly – of course he had an adorable sleeping face. Of fricking course. 

The bed sheets were pushed down, draped across his pelvis, one hip sticking out, while his broad chest and toned stomach laid bare. You found yourself smiling, insanely happy, wondering if you’d been a saint in a past lifetime – you had to have been. How else had you hit the jackpot? A kind-hearted, beautiful man with a banging body? You’d struck big. 

Wanting to leave him sleep longer, you got up quietly, needing to pee, not worrying that you were butt naked, and as you left the bathroom, you moved to the closet (room) to fish for your phone in your purse. You’d left it there all evening yesterday, not wanting to be interrupted, and low and behold you had a bunch of notifications waiting for you on the screen. You got back into bed, getting comfy before you scrolled through them. Most were unimportant, news updates and social media notifications. You had a text from your mom reminding you to call your grandmother soon, one reminder regarding your phone bill going out tomorrow and then, from half an hour ago, a text message from your best friend. Why the hell was she up so early on a Sunday?! 

Soojung (8:32am) Spill the details girl! How was Mr. Dilf 🥵👨🏻🍆💦 

You snorted, pretty loudly, couldn’t help it, and when you realised you shoved a hand over your mouth, hoping you hadn’t woken your boyfriend (yes, it felt so good to finally use that word) up. You glanced over, but his eyes were still shut, a peaceful look on his face, so with a relieved inner sigh, you went back to your phone, wondering how you should reply. You had quite a lot to say, messaging her “the details” wouldn’t work. Maybe you could give her a summary? Until tomorrow when you could call her while Seokjin was at work. Maybe you could meet her for lunch. And who knew, you’d probably have more to tell her come then –

“Good morning, beautiful.” 

You jumped when you heard Seokjin’s voice, his arm wrapping around you once more as he snuggled closer, encasing you in his body warmth. 

“Seokjin,” you greeted, instantly shoving your phone onto the nightstand, face down. “Good morning.” 

“Mmm.” He rubbed his face into the crook of your neck, burrowing his arm under the covers to touch your skin, hand cupping your waist. He was still sleepy, voice groggy. You settled into his hold, closing your eyes. With a kiss to the top of your shoulder, he spoke again.  “What were you snorting at?”

Your eyes immediately flew open. He’d heard that? “Nothing,” you tried to reply casually. 

He laughed, the throaty sound shooting up your body, leaving warmth in its wake. “Come on, something made you laugh.” He lifted his head, looking at you pointedly, plump lips pressed together, mouth curving up slightly. “You have to share, it’ll be rude not to.” 

It took you a second to give in. “Fine.” It was probably time to let him know anyway. Soojung might try to kill you, but she couldn’t get you if you were gated in at Seokjin’s home…  You reached for your phone and flashed the screen on, holding it out to him. “Soojung’s an idiot,” you sighed. 

He delicately held the back of your hand, steadying the device so he could read the messages. A second later he was deeply amused, lips quirking before he let out a little laugh. “Has that been my nickname the entire time?” 

“Maybe…” Amongst other things… They could wait till later though. 

He hummed, trying to keep his expression casual, but you could tell by his eyes how amused (and smug) he was. “The emojis add a nice touch.” 

You rolled your eyes, about to tell him to shut up, but immediately his lips were pressed against yours. He kissed you sweetly – which was all just an act. When he pulled away, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, tone arrogant. “So… how was Mr. Dilf?”

“Seokjin!” You exclaimed. This couldn’t be happening. He was just as bad as Soo and Taehyung. 

Laughing loudly, he kissed you again, caging you under him smoothly. Your hands reached for his biceps, feeling them flex underneath you. “Was it good enough for a round two? Don’t expect me to keep my hands off you,” he told you, his fingers tickling your stomach as his face fell to your neck, kissing and biting the skin. 

You began to laugh, squirming under him, but no matter how much you tried to free yourself it was impossible. “Stop,” you whined. “Seokjin, you’re tickling me!” He eased off with the tickling but his mouth only seemed to ramp up, his tongue licking up your throat. “You’re so sexy,” he groaned, meeting your gaze, and instantly laughed. “I love embarrassing you.” 

You grumbled, realising you’d started to blush. “I’m not embarrassed,” you insisted. “I’m turned on.” Two could play at that game. Seokjin’s eyes widened comically, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. 

“Yeah?” He murmured, getting a hold of himself, mouth ghosting over yours. You nodded, dragging your hands down his back to settle on his ass. You could feel his dick rousing between your thighs. It was so easy to get him. He was like putty in your hands. 

“You’re okay though, mm?” He asked, tone softening as he stared into your eyes. “Did you enjoy last night?”

“I thought that was obvious,” you informed him, but his tenderness didn’t go ignored. God, you were really lucky. “I feel so happy,” you grinned, moving to clasp your arms around his neck. He grinned too, teeth on show, and then you couldn’t hold off any longer, kissing him eagerly.  

“Fuck,” he breathed, after you’d just licked a strip up his jaw line. His hands clung to hips. “I want you in so many ways.” 

You gave him a dangerous smirk. “We have all week, I’m sure you’ll be successful.” 

Groaning, he seemed beside himself, skin hot and sweaty, his hair dishevelled, falling into his eyes, cheeks patched red. Finally, he settled on a decision. “Would you like to shower with me?”

“Okay,” you replied instantly, your excitement already tenfold, and suddenly you were in his arms, rising off the bed to be carried (naked) bridle style to the bathroom. “Seokjin!” You squealed, clinging onto him tightly, but all he did was laugh. You could get used to this. 

His walk-in shower was grand, practically a separate wet room – two glass doors leading inside and a marbled tiled bench to the left with two panelled windows behind it. There were two showerheads – one large one attached to the ceiling and the other jutting out from the wall. Seokjin chose the centre one, knocking it on and enclosing you both in hot water. Warmth radiated from beneath your feet too – heated flooring, of course. 

You spent the next ten minutes wrapped together kissing, hands exploring one another’s soapy bodies. It wasn’t long before there was a very obvious erection bobbing against your stomach. “Someone says hello again,” Seokjin hummed against your mouth, nipping your bottom lip before he broke away and chuckled. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been the cause of many an awkward boner.” 

You laughed, hooking one arm around his neck. “I noticed.” Your other hand wrapped around his dick, the wetness of his skin making it easy to glide your fist along the veiny shaft. You gazed up at him, admiring the way he’d pushed his wet hair above his forehead. He looked incredibly handsome – so handsome, you were finding it hard to control yourself. “Was this one of your ways?” You murmured. 

“Maybe,” he said with a smile, huffing out a little when your thumb grazed the sensitive slit across the head of his member. 

“I have a better idea…” You whispered, pushing a little at his chest. “Sit.” 

He obeyed, sitting on the bench while watching you wordlessly (but curiously), his eyes flashing when you moved to kneel in front of him. “Fuck,” he muttered, dick twitching in anticipation. You took him in your fist again, feeling oddly confident as you flicked out your tongue. It had been a long time since you’d sucked dick but you were more than ready. 

You washed your tongue across the head, hearing him grunt above you, and encouraged, you took him in your mouth, sucking firmly around the tip. His hands instantly reached for your head, fingers carding through your hair. He groaned lowly, thighs tense, but when you started to jerk your fist along his shaft, he relaxed into the pleasure, murmuring your name. 

“Okay, this idea seems better than mine,” he admitted, voice tight. 

You hummed in agreement, vibrations travelling up his length which made him groan, fingers in your hair tightening. Taking him deeper, you washed and swirled your tongue as best you could around the thick flesh. Seokjin’s length was impressive, but you had all week to grow accustomed to it, for now, you had your hand, continuing to stimulate him with both that and your mouth. The water from the shower hit your back and calves, the heat beneath you making sure you didn’t grow cold. 

“Should we go back to the bedroom?” Seokjin asked, sounding concerned, despite how good you were making him feel. A hand ran down your back soothingly. “Your knees will start aching.” 

Pulling off him, a string of saliva that attached you breaking apart, you shook your head and ran your palm all the way up his length, twisting against the tip. He bucked into your hold. “It’ll be worth it.” 

Seokjin let out a low growl, eyes dark. “Don’t say things like that.” 

You smirked, spreading your saliva up and down him slowly before speeding up, concentrating on the head. Seokjin’s mouth was open, his breathing shallow, chest littered with red blotches, making it painfully obvious how aroused he was. You wanted to run your hands all over the muscular torso, mouth too – but that could wait. First of all, you wanted to make him cum. 

“You have a pretty big dick. Has anyone ever told you that?” You purred, eyes flicking down to his crotch. 

Seokjin grinned confidently, the hand in his hair reaching to cup your cheek. “You seemed to handle it very well last night.” 

Oh. Heat exploded through your body, settling between your legs, and you took him back in your mouth, a hiss leaving his throat. He tapped your chin, gaining your attention. “Y/N, look at me,” he commanded softly. 

And you did. You watched every bit of pleasure that flitted across his face as you continued to suck his dick, never breaking eye contact, even when he did; eyelids closed, face scrunched up as he came down your throat a few minutes later…

Written 2020 - 2021. Please refrain from posting my work elsewhere. No translations allowed. © floralseokjin 2021

Assumptions [Chibs Telford x Fem!Reader]

I honestly don't even know what this is. A v long one-shot? Also, the ending is not my best work, but it is what it is. I just love Chibs. So, here's approximately 4,250 words about it.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, smut (like, literally a third of this is just smut): oral sex (M receiving), fingering, P in V sex; language

As you pulled your car into one of the few remaining open spaces of the Teller-Morrow lot, you took a few calming breaths and wiped your damp palms on your bare thighs. In the passenger seat, your best friend Luci looked over at you with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Unlike you, she seemed completely at home. It made sense; Luci was dating Juice, a patched member of the Sons, and she spent a fair bit of time at the clubhouse. This was the first time she had been able to successfully drag you along, thanks to your hectic work schedule.

You were excited to be attending a SAMCRO party, but you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t also a little nervous. A clubhouse full of rowdy bikers, surrounded by alcohol, drugs, and half-naked women? As juvenile as the thought felt, you wondered briefly what would happen if they didn’t like you. If you were unwelcome. If Luci abandoned you and then you had no one to talk to. If you embarrassed yourself somehow.

“Babe, it’s gonna be fun!” Luci said reassuringly on your right. She opened her door and hopped out. Not wanting to get left behind, you got out and followed close behind her to the front of the clubhouse, where the party was already raging.

A couple guys were inside a big boxing ring out front, beating the shit out of each other with bare fists, and a small crowd gathered around to watch. Some others were sitting at picnic tables to the left of the front door, smoking and drinking beer. You let your gaze wander, trying to take in as much of the surroundings as possible. It was mostly men around you, and most of them were wearing kuttes. There were also plenty of scantily-clad women roaming around, hanging off of the bikers. You were suddenly glad you let Luci pick out your outfit. You weren’t showing off as much as Luci in her tight black bandage dress, but your short, blue, bell-sleeved baby doll dress advertised a ton of leg and complemented your bright red lipstick. You fluffed your hair nervously as you walked past the men out front. No one really paid you any attention, which simultaneously made you feel better and worse.

Luci grabbed your hand with a reassuring look and tugged you through the door into the clubhouse. Inside, it was… chaotic, in a word. Music pulsated through the room over the chatter of a throng of people. Inside, there were more men in kuttes; standing around the pool table, crowded around the bar on the side of the room, seated at tables or on couches. There were also more women inside, sitting on men’s laps or flitting around flirting with anyone wearing a kutte. They all seemed a little drunk, all giggles and teasing touches. A few people glanced over at you and Luci as you walked in, but paid no other mind.

Luci dragged you over to the bar, squeezing her way in between two men sitting on barstools. They made space for her and greeted her cheerfully, pulling her into tight hugs and kissing her cheeks. Luci reached around for you and dragged you up beside her.

“Bobby, Piney, this is my best friend, (Y/N)!” she exclaimed, thrusting you into her spot. (Y/N), this is Piney,” she motioned towards the man on your left, who wore a nasal cannula attached to an oxygen tank. He nodded gruffly at you as Luci continued, “and this is Bobby!”

Bobby smiled warmly at you. “Nice to meet you, sweetheart,” he said. He had a welcoming presence and you already liked him. He had long, wild gray hair and an unkempt beard. He reminded you of a big teddy bear.

“What’ll you have?” he asked you and Luci, flagging down a guy with a prospect patch working behind the bar.

Luci leaned over your shoulder to answer Bobby. “Two whiskeys, rocks,” she said cheerfully. The prospect turned to get them as Luci squealed behind you. You turned to see Juice grabbing Luci up into a giant hug and spinning her around him. She laughed, a look of pure joy on her face. You couldn’t help but smile. You knew Luci deserved the happiness she had with Juice. Somewhere deep inside, you felt the dull tick of loneliness, but you shoved it down like you always did, and your smile didn’t even falter.

Bobby tapped your upper arm with a knuckle, handing you a whiskey.

“Oh! Thank you,” you chirped. Bobby handed Luci her drink, but she was already lost in Juice’s presence, and he chuckled at the sight of them. You couldn’t help but giggle alongside him. They were pretty cute.

Bobby turned back to you with a grin. “So, how long have you been friends with Luci?” he asked conversationally.

“Oh, god,” you snorted, “basically forever. We met in kindergarten. We actually hated each other at first, but then I punched her in the face over a boy, and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

Bobby laughed aloud. It was a good laugh, and it put you at ease. “Well, we like her here,” he said. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s good for our Juicy.”

Your smile widened as the pair moved onto the makeshift dance floor and you nodded at Bobby. “Juice has been really great for her, too,” you admit quietly. “She’s been through a lot, and he makes her really happy. Treats her right.” Bobby nodded slowly and gazed out over the crowd in the clubhouse. Your gaze followed his and you noticed a Son rising off one of the couches and approaching the bar. You turned a little more towards Bobby to study him out of the corner of your eye as he approached. The man wore all black beneath his kutte. The first thing that registered in your mind was his undeniable handsomeness. He kept his graying hair swept back from his face, but a few strands fell forward around his eyes. He also had silvery facial hair and long scars that climbed from the corners of his lips up to his cheekbones. He carried himself with an easy confidence, clapping Bobby on the back as he finally reached your bar companion.

You ducked your head and took a long swig of your drink nervously, but Bobby was already introducing you, and you glanced up with a smile, trying to mask any apprehension.

“(Y/N) here is a friend of Luci’s! (Y/N), this is Chibs,” Bobby supplied.

A blush crept slowly across your cheeks under Chibs’ gaze, but you squared your shoulders and threw him a bright smile, trying to will your nerves away. You held out your hand and Chibs shook it firmly, his hands large and calloused. You wondered unexpectedly what they would feel like on your body before you flushed deeply and glanced away from Chibs. You were suddenly reminded of just how long it had been since you’d slept with anyone, and you instructed yourself mentally to cool it. Bobby cleared his throat with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Headin’ out for a smoke,” he said to his companions. “You need anything, (Y/N), come grab me,” he added.

“Thanks, Bobby,” you said sweetly.

As Bobby made his way out the door, Chibs took the bar stool beside you and smiled. You could feel the warmth in your face, despite your desire to play it cool. Chibs’ eyes were intense and perceptive and the feeling of him watching you had your heart thumping in your chest.

He motioned to your almost-empty glass. “Wha’re ye drinkin’, lass?”

Your breath caught in your chest at the unexpected presence of a Scottish accent, and you tried to recover quickly, not wanting to embarrass yourself in front of this incredibly handsome man.

You cleared your throat nervously. “Uh, whiskey,” you responded. He grinned almost approvingly and you ducked your head quickly to hide your smile upon the discovery that Chibs had dimples.

“Oi! Sack!” he called to the prospect at the other end of the bar. When he had gotten his attention, he motioned towards your glass and held up two fingers.

He turned back to you. “So, firs’ time a’ one o’ these?” he asked conversationally, gesturing vaguely towards the raging party beside them.

You nodded, tossing back the last of your drink. “Luci’s been asking me to come with for like a month,” you said with a chuckle, “but I’ve been working a ton, so this is the first time I could come out.”

Chibs’ eyes didn’t leave yours as you answered him. You liked that. He didn’t leer or openly ogle you.

“And wha’ is it tha’ ye do, darlin’?” God, that accent.

“I, uh, I own a photography company,” you told him sheepishly, but some of your apprehension abated when you realized he looked fascinated.

“So, ya do weddin’s an’ the like?” he asked as the prospect set two glasses of whiskey in front of them.

You nodded eagerly. “Weddings, milestone birthdays, maternity shoots, family photos… All kinds of shit,” you said, earning a chuckle from Chibs.

You greatly enjoyed conversing with Chibs. It felt easy. He listened attentively and appeared engaged. Periodically, you wondered if he was simply entertaining you, as you couldn’t wrap your head around what an attractive man, wearing a sought-after patch, wanted with you. But he continued to ask you questions and he seemed genuinely interested. You sat at the bar chatting with Chibs for what felt like a long time. As you spoke, you found yourself leaning closer to him, taking comfort in the low lilt of his voice. His eyes followed yours at all times, an easy smile on his lips. You realized after a while that he had begun leaning closer to you as well, his elbow propped on the bar. You saw him glance very briefly towards your crossed legs on the barstool, your skin on display as your dress rode up over the course of the evening. His eyes found his way back to yours almost immediately, not wanting to be impolite, but that glance, probably in combination with the alcohol and the long night of talking, sent heat flooding to your core. You bit your lower lip and took a chance, gently sliding your hand onto his jean-clad knee as you laughed at a story he was telling about Juice. He didn’t break stride in his tale, but you saw the hunger flash in his eyes as he registered your hand on him.

By this point in the evening, your heads were practically touching, tilted together conspiratorially as you spoke to one another. You were swooning at the scent that wafted around Chibs, a mix of leather, cigarette smoke, and good whiskey. Perhaps it was the alcohol (although, to be honest, you hadn’t had that much to drink), but you were suddenly desperate to know what it felt like to have Chibs touching you. Your earlier apprehension had been wiped away by his demeanor and company over the course of the evening. You hadn’t been with anyone in the year since you had returned to Charming, and it had been a long and lonely time. You knew that this would probably be a one-time thing, which wasn’t normally your style, but you hadn’t felt this kind of pull towards anyone in a while. Maybe it would be good for you to see it through?

So when Chibs brought his arm off the bar and placed his right hand at the top of your thigh, his thumb resting in the bend of hip, you tipped your head forward just slightly, resting it against his with a small sigh. And that, apparently, was enough for him. Chibs rose from the bar stool and you uncrossed your legs to give him space to stand between them. Both of his hands found your hips and your heart thundered against your ribcage. You bit your bottom lip and didn’t try to hide the desire in your eyes as you met Chibs’ burning stare.

“Not too old for ye, lass?” he asked, his voice tinged with such a slight edge of uncertainty that you weren’t actually positive you had heard it.

You shook your head vehemently, wanting to reassure him without openly telling him you had a thing for older men anyway. “With age comes experience,” you responded coyly. He grinned at that, his hands tightening on your hips. He grazed his nose gently against yours before capturing your lips in a soft kiss. His mustache tickled your lips and you smiled against his mouth before bringing a hand up to cup his cheek, running a thumb along his jaw. With that touch, he deepened the kiss, a low rumble in his throat. He snaked one of his hands up to the back of your neck, keeping you pressed into him as your tongue danced against his tentatively. He pulled away for a moment, his brown eyes on fire. You were both breathing heavily and, as embarrassed as you would have been to admit it, you were already soaking wet.

You let him pull you off the barstool and guide you gently towards the back of the clubhouse, where you had seen Juice take Luci. The dorms, you remembered. His hand never left yours, and you inspected the reaper patch on the back of his kutte as you followed him. Were you really about to do this with a Son? With an outlaw biker? Chibs pulled you into a sparsely decorated (but blessedly clean) room with a large Scottish flag hanging behind the bed and closed the door quietly behind you. You studied the need in his eyes, the comfortable set of his shoulders, and you knew the answer. Yes, yes you were.

He glowered at you hungrily, and you gripped the leather at the front of his kutte, letting your hips grind forward into his. You felt the firm grasp of his hands on your ass, still over your dress, and you couldn’t wait until he got underneath it. He brought his lips greedily to your neck, kissing and nipping and biting until you were whimpering under his ministrations. Your hands traveled from the front of his kutte to his sides, sliding them underneath his black t-shirt and caressing the soft skin there. You ran your nails lightly up the front of his chest and he shuddered slightly at your touch. As he growled against your ear, you couldn’t help the moan that escaped your lips. That seemed to send Chibs into overdrive. He gripped you tightly around the waist and hoisted you up so you could wrap your legs around him, his hard length pushing against you beneath his jeans. You couldn’t help the little roll of your hips, rubbing your core against him, eager to feel him against the thin fabric of your soaked panties. He moved you to the bed before setting you down with a little bounce. His hands grabbed the hem of your dress and he tugged it over your head, tossing it to the side. He stared at you for a moment, reclining on his bed in nothing but a bra and thong, a bit of wonderment in his eyes.

You watched as he shed his kutte and pulled his boots off, then tugged his shirt over his head. Before you was a strong, sturdy man, broad in the chest. The kind of man you imagined would have no problem manhandling you in bed. The thought had you squeezing your thighs together, increasing the pressure there. You studied the strand of wooden beads around his neck and the tattoos scattered across his chest and arms, licking your lips suggestively. You were a sucker for tattoos. You sat up on the bed, scooting yourself to sit on the edge and pulled him towards you by his belt loops. He grunted and exhaled hard as you deftly unbuckled his belt and undid his jeans, pulling his pants and boxers down. His cock bobbed in front of you, hard and uncut, twitching slightly with the sound of Chibs’ breath. You gazed up at him through your eyelashes and he stared down at you almost pleadingly, his jaw clenched. You wasted no time in bringing him into your mouth, swallowing as much of him as you could, letting your tongue trace the veins and ridges along his length. He groaned and wound his hands into your hair, gripping gently. You could tell he was trying not to pull or push too hard, but you wanted to hear him make more of those delicious sounds. You took him deeper, until you were gagging and tears were pricking at the corners of your eyes. You used one hand to grip and stroke what you couldn’t reach with your lips, and the other to roll his balls lightly between your fingers. Groans and growls flew freely from Chibs’ mouth and you smirked. You had always been a little cocky about your oral skills and were glad to know you hadn’t lost your touch.

“Fuck, darlin’, if ye keep on like tha’ I’m no’ gonna las’ long,” Chibs growled, his hands moving to rest below your jaw, motioning you upwards. His alluring Scottish brogue thickened in the throes of your playtime together. You hollowed your cheeks and pulled your mouth off him with a loud pop before coming to stand before him again. He guided your lips to his, kissing you fiercely, his hands snaking behind you to unclasp your bra. As it fell to the floor, he tugged your thong off, gripping your ass forcefully, his erection pressing between your bodies. You whimpered, desperate to have him inside you. His hand slipped between the two of you and he ran his deft fingers teasingly along your folds. He touched you so lightly, so tauntingly, that you actually whined, a keening sound that flew out of your throat unbidden. He chuckled darkly, then thrust a finger into you, his thumb circling your clit firmly.

You cried out, finally getting some release for all the tension you’d been holding between your legs. You buried your face into Chibs’ shoulder, dragging your nails down his back. Your hips rocked against him and he added a finger, thrusting harder, circling faster.

“Ahh – Chibs, fuck,” you hissed, your chest heaving against his. “I need you.”

“Tell me wha’ ye wan’, love,” he mumbled against your ear, his lips ghosting over your temple. Heat expanded between your bodies where you clung to him, trying to stay upright through the waves of pleasure shooting through your abdomen.

“I – Chibs, I need you to – to fuck me,” you stammered, your brain overloaded by sensation. You ran your fingers gently along his cock, still pressed between you, and through the fog you felt the clenching of his jaw against your cheekbone. You groaned quietly as he pulled his fingers from you and brought them to his mouth, tasting you. Fire burned in your cheeks, turned on beyond comprehension, and you twisted your hips against him involuntarily.

A moment later, Chibs backed himself up the bed, coming to rest finally with his back against the headboard. He leaned over towards the bedside table, his gray hair falling into his eyes as he plucked a condom out of the top drawer. He curled a stern finger and motioned you towards him. As you crawled up the bed, he handed you the packet. You wasted no time ripping it open and rolling it down his length, gripping him firmly and eliciting a sharp hiss from him. You straddled his lap, the slickness between your thighs gliding over his cock as you leaned forward to wrap your arms around his neck. His hands once again found a home on your ass, the metal of his rings warm now, and he gripped you tightly, guiding you upwards as you positioned him at your entrance.

Pleasured groans tore from both of your throats as you sank down onto him. He held you still for a moment, letting you adjust to his size, and your foreheads grazed as you leaned in to kiss him again. You thought hazily that you might never grow tired of kissing this man. Slowly, you surged higher, then ground down again, pulling another moan from Chibs. His grip on your ass tightened as you rode him, and you were sure you’d have bruises the next day. You felt incredible. He felt incredible, filling you deliciously and hitting you in just the right spot. You tossed your head back, your hair cascading down your spine as you chased your peak. Chibs attached himself to the curve of your shoulder, his lips and teeth savoring every inch of your skin.

Your thighs burned with the effort, melding with the heat building in the base of your belly. Chibs brought a hand to the back of your head, pulling your face closer to his, his lips crashing onto yours fervently.

You rode the wave higher, quickly approaching the brink that you would happily throw yourself off of under Chibs’ care. You panted against his lips, your foreheads joined as you rocked together, words tumbling incoherently off your tongue.

“Chibs – I, fuck – almost there. Please, I need – gonna come –” you whined, the pleas snatched from your mouth unchecked.

“Come for me, darlin’,” he whispered huskily, flattening one hand against your lower stomach, his thumb pressing roughly on your clit. Sparks flashed behind your eyelids as you peaked, crying out Chibs’ name. He slowed his hand on your clit, letting you ride it out, groaning under you as he continued to thrust. The feeling of you clenching around him was too much and he snapped, burying himself deep inside you one last time, a guttural, rolling grunt erupting from somewhere deep in his chest.

You remained settled in Chibs’ lap with your arms wrapped loosely over his shoulders as you both caught your breath. Your chests heaved in tandem and Chibs traced his fingers up and down your side gently.

“Jesus, love,” he finally managed to huff out.

You gave a breathy laugh and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. As your breath evened out, you gingerly climbed off of Chibs’ lap and began searching for your clothes, your unfamiliarity with this type of situation beginning to creep in. It had been a very long time since you had had a one-night stand, and you didn’t want to overstay your welcome. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched Chibs remove the spent condom and toss it into a trash can by the bed. You grabbed your dress off the floor and tugged it quickly over your head. As you circled the bed in search of your bra, Chibs watched you keenly.

“Where ye goin’?” he inquired from his spot on the bed, where he had pulled the comforter over himself.

“Oh, I just… I figured I should get going,” you answered, a flush rising to your cheeks. Was that not the right thing to do? You couldn’t imagine a scenario wherein he wanted you to stay.

You glanced back at Chibs, who was wearing a smirk that made your knees weak. “Was it that bad, love?”

Your jaw dropped and you stumbled to reassure him. “No!” you exclaimed. “No. It was – honestly, Chibs, it was amazing.” You paused, twisting your fingers nervously and staring at the floor, balking slightly at being this vulnerable. “I just figured. I don’t know. I guess, that you wouldn’t want me to stay. Just sort of a one-and-done kind of thing,” you trailed off feebly. As the words left your lips, you realized that he hadn’t actually ever given you that impression. You had just assumed. You wiped a hand over your face, even more embarrassed now.

“(Y/N). Look a’ me.”

You forced your gaze back to Chibs’ face. His eyes were soft, watching you with a small smile.

“I don’ wan’ ye to go anywhere,” he admitted. “I don’ know wha’ you’re lookin’ for, lass. Fuck, I don’ even know wha’ I’m lookin’ for.” He ran a hand through his hair, sweeping the graying strands back before continuing. “Bu’ I know tha’ I like ye. And I had fun tonigh’. So, maybe ye can come back to bed wi’ me, and we can figure the rest ou’ in the mornin’. Wha’ do ye think abou’ tha’?”

The tension that had been winding tighter and tighter in your chest suddenly unfurled, and warm relief flooded your limbs. You didn’t want to have to admit that you perhaps liked Chibs more than he liked you. You had been determined to see it through, even if it was just a one-night stand, but hearing that he was at least a little interested felt nice after such a long time alone.

Whatever was going to happen in the morning could wait, and you weren’t in any hurry to make more assumptions about Chibs anyway. So, you shot him a rueful grin and climbed back into the bed beside him, letting him slip your dress back off and pulling you into his arms.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

I got fancy and added a sketch

WIP: The Curse of Hyetal

POV: Evezik

WC: 887

TW/CW: death, missing sibling

Hye's Memorial

Zik deals with the sixth-year anniversary of his twin’s disappearance.

-----

September 22, 210. That day lived in infamy in Zik’s life. It was the day his class went on a field trip. It was the day Tohel told Hye that the nearby river showed lost loved ones. It was the day Tohel almost feel in to the swollen current.

It was the day Hye fell instead.

Zik stood on the shores of Port Barragan. He hadn’t been back here since that day. Well, actually, Avuz came to meet him and they combed the shoreline with other search-and-rescue workers, but that was six years ago. Six long, life changing years.

Since then, Zik had died, too. He didn’t like thinking about it, but the point is that Zik now had fifteen lives. Hye…didn’t. Zik realized after his death that he had felt Hye die that day, when he was running to grab a chaperone and take her to the river. Halfway through the forest, a sick, overwhelming dread washed over him, and it stayed for an hour. Three days later, they found Hye’s shoe three towns north. He could’ve washed up anywhere: on Ashor’s border, on Nerift’s, in the Kezan mountains…

The day was cloudy, stormy, just like the day Hyetal died for the first time. A heavy arm landed on Zik’s shoulders as he stared at the rocky shore, white waves lapping at the rocks. “Strangely beautiful,” Griff said, admiring the view. His blue-and-gray eyes matched the sky and the sea. His teal mohawk, naturally grown, pointed at the sky. Griff, also, tragically, gave himself a teal soul patch. He’s lucky he’s cute.

Zik’s hand crept up to Griff’s. Griff was massive, but not quite as massive as he could’ve been. He’s half-Kezan, so he stood at six-six, built muscle easily, and his reddish-brown skin glistened a bit shinier than Zik’s. Short for a Kezan, but tall for literally everyone else.

“Yeah,” Zik said, staring up at his boyfriend. “It is.”

Griff noticed him looking and smirked. He ran a finger up the underside of Zik’s chin. “Hey, priorities, lover boy,” he teased. “This isn’t a date.”

No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even a relaxing getaway. Zik sighed, the warmth that had grown in his chest cooling with the air. As they walked through town, Zik gazed at the lighthouse. It hadn’t changed in six years. Zik still had never been inside it.

The Port Barragans eyed Zik oddly. Zik tried to ignore them. He didn’t look like them. His skin was too vivid of pink, too purple. Neri didn’t like Ashons too much, not since they lived for two hundred years under a devastating curse that seem to have never been real. It’s not Zik’s fault. His grandparents hadn’t even been born when that curse was supposedly placed. Griff noticed the mean looks coming from some sailors, placing a hand protectively on Zik’s hip.

They went into the forest, tracing the same path Zik had taken that day. Zik wondered if the broken twigs were broken by him, or if the squirrels in the tree recognized him.

“You okay?” Griff asked.

“Fine,” Zik lied.

Griff stopped them, holding Zik against a tree. He pouted his bottom lip a bit. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

“Of course.” Zik carefully pried Griff’s hand off his shoulder. “This isn’t my first time mourning my brother, Griff.”

Griff didn’t look convinced. “Evezik,” he said, which is how Zik knew he was serious. “What’s bothering you?”

Zik sunk a bit. Something had been bothering him. They’d checked into the inn, eaten at the café owned by the mayor, even had to spend some time at the port…and Hye’s photo was nowhere.

Zik turned his head back toward town, pushing up his glasses with the heel of his hand. “It…it just feels like…like they forgot,” he said shakily. “Like—like Avuz and I are…all that’s looking. Even then—we haven’t been, really. We can’t afford to.”

Griff softened. He pulled Zik into his arms. “I’m sure they haven’t,” he said.

“His fliers are gone.” Zik’s fingers raked across Griff’s coat.

Griff didn’t have an answer to that. Instead, once Zik let go of him, he took Zik’s hand. His own eyes watered, and for a guy who talks for a living, he had nothing to say.

Zik sniffled as he led Griff the rest of the way through the forest. His big run flashed in his mind—burning lungs, cracking twigs, the dread consuming him. He should’ve been faster. No—he should’ve been more stubborn. Hye was stubborn as hell, and Zik never tried to match it. If he had, would Hye have grown up with him?

Griff’s breath hitched. He raised a finger. “Is…is that it, Zik?”

Following his finger, Zik hitched a breath of his own. The tree bridge was still there, slick with moss, but…at the base of the log, where they had found Hye’s shoe, was flowers. Tons of flowers, stuffed teddy bears, a framed picture of Hye’s flier photo. It all looked fresh and new—like they’d just placed it yesterday.

Zik fell to his knees in front of the memorial, holding his mouth shut. Hye grinned back at him. Hey, Evez! What took you so long? I’ve been waiting.

“They didn’t forget,” Griff said.

Zik shook his head. “No,” he choked. “They didn’t.”

Tiktok?

I recently started using tiktok more. Lot’s of cool witches I know and follow have a tiktok, and a lot of them are making some awesome content. Like, @his-craft has been at it for a while, I followed @breelandwalker for all the good witchy content and podcast reminders (but mostly for Penny and Havok, their cats), I found that @traegorn‘s been doing some great stuff on there for a bit, and recently @upthewitchypunx caved and made one too, and their garden is kicking ass. Go look up each of their tiktoks and follow them, and if anyone knows who else I should follow, let me know.

So anyway, now I’m thinking it might be fun to make my own. And I also kinda want to do awesome witchy content, like spellcraft tutorials and analysis, witchcraft discussions, personal discoveries and methods, maybe some vlogs about witchy stuff and daily life, and show off my wonderful chickens of whom I love.

But also I really love making highly edited videos with CGI. Like, part of the reason I did youtube for so long what so I had an excuse to edit together anything from animatics, to gameplay montages, to sequences set to music. It’s just really fun to me. I was bouncing around the idea of making a “dramatic recreation” parody account. Like, picture this scene:

Me “Ok, guys. I was wrapping up this other tutorial when this happened. Don’t worry, the tutorial is still coming, but check this out!”

Jump cut to me standing in front of a mirror

Me “And that’s how you lock a mirror, keeping malevolent entities fro-”

My partner, holding the camera “Oh shit! It’s back!”

Camera turns over my shoulder as we look into the hallway. A mass of black smoke, resembling a face, hovers over the railing of the stairs. We slowly approach.

Me “Hey there little buddy. What’re you doing here?”

We get a little closer. The floating face begins to turn violent looking, snarling.

I suddenly throw something at it and it darts below the railing. My partner runs to look over the railing down the stairs to a 10 foot drop where the door slams shut below.

Me “And stay out!”

I take a moment to adjust my appearance and look at the camera.

Me “and, that’s why I always have salt in my pocket.”

End Tiktok

I have the editing and SFX know how to do something like that. Also I want to do some fake ghost encounters in there. I know I could do fake ghost videos better than so many people, and I was really into practical effects when I was younger, so I want moving furniture and all that stuff without CGI. Another idea, I really want to edit my partner’s reflection out of the mirror, so it looks like there is no camera, and that’s super easy to do, just to confuse people, and could lead to a ton of other videos of me making videos without a camera entirely.

My main problems are as follows:

Firstly, I have no free time, lol. I’m already spending most of my time making 3d models and levels. It’ll have to be next year, after the game is launched and after all the post launch content and possible patches.

I don’t know if I want to real educational witchy content, which would basically be this blog but tiktok edition, or entertaining parody junkfood. I really want to do both, but that brings me to the next problem.

If I get known for making really good fake stuff, and comedic stuff, will my actual witchy content be taken seriously? Or will that line blur?

additionally, my friend really wants to make a ghost hunting channel with me for youtube. If I’m known as the guy who makes fake spirits on tictok, will anything we might be lucky enough to catch survive the accusations?

Should I just not go all out of photo realistic models, particle effects, and editing so it’s obviously fake? Does that take away some of the fun?

If I do the junkfood option, as a real practicing witch of near 20 years, does that reflect poorly on myself and/or other witches? Even if I outright state in the bio that it’s parody and for fun/entertainment. If I do a video about fighting spirits like it’s an anime irl, is that disrespectful to the other content creators giving actual spirit protection advice?

I’ve got some other thoughts and concerns, but those are the main ones on my mind. Even if I don’t do the parody account with CGI videos, I still have the option of doing real witchy content. And videos of my chickens, which is important.

Anyway, just wanted to put my thoughts into text and see if anyone had any thoughts of their own. What kind of stuff would you like to see? Any thoughts on the problems I listed? Anyone think I shouldn’t be worrying about this stuff at 4am?

hello! i really want to learn more about ww1, i saw 1917 and it sparked something in me and ww1 specifically seems so complex and interesting, but it is has a lotttt of information, do u have any advice for any specific things to read/learn about first? or should i just dive in head first and learn about random stuff?

Good question! Also, I’m REALLY happy 1917 is bringing in a lot of new people wanting to learn more about WWI!

The good news is I find WWI is a subject that naturally allows you to branch out your knowledge no matter where you start. My best tip for learning more about the history: start out with ANY area that interests you, find a fact about it, and see where it takes you! I guarantee you’ll start out just wanting to know a little more about food served in the trenches and by the end of the week, you’ll be chest deep in a million other things you got caught up in learning!

For example, one of the first things that got me interested in WWI was a memoir (which I HIGHLY recommend) by Vera Brittain: Testament of Youth. From there, I researched her brother, Captain Edward Brittain and stumbled upon the story of his death and his homosexuality. It led me to Geoffrey Thurlow, a friend he showed clear evidence of having been in love with, and then the changes in male affection during the 1900s. It led me to learn of the “Edwardian Period” and delve into the social, political, and aesthetic aspects of the era. I started watching WWI films, reading academic articles, buying books, and one piece of information led to the next!

If 1917 is what got you into this, that’s a good sign! Cos I bet you were just as hurt as I was seeing depictions of that tragedy and were moved by that heartbreak! But while you’re learning about uniforms and trench foot and so on, I think a good chunk of time should also be dedicated to understanding why it’s simultaneously important to be critical of the war, and understand more about why people were very critical of it at the time, and the lasting impact it had on soldiers all the way up to young people today because it’s a HUGE theme throughout the conflict. I do a much more eloquent job explaining it in an ask someone sent me about my interest in studying, but like I said, VERY important to understand the extent of its effects and how what happened catalysed the modern lust for violence, and why a lot of mainstream remembrance efforts today end up exploiting this tragedy for nationalist-like agendas

I will say, even though it’s not filled with as many Insufferable White Boys as the ones found lurking in WWII forums, it’s war, so you still get your fair share of nationalist, white supremacist, imperialist, pro-war, sexist/misogynist pricks, so please do research with discretion and try to avoid these people (i.e. don’t even look at the comment sections on some websites) and watch out for those boasting about how “honourable” it is for boys to have joined up and died for their country at 15 and that there is something “glorious” to be had in war (because is the biggest lie men have invented for themselves and perpetuate the bs well into the 21st century unfortunately)

Some classic things I recommend reading/watching because they got me started on bits of my own research over time and one of them might be of some interest to you:

Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain (Book)

This true memoir details how the war affected a young British university student and how the tragedies she witnessed led her to become a VAD nurse, feminist, and pacifist. If you are a more visual learner, it was made into a beautifully shot 2014 film (obviously with some inaccuracies and omitted details) and a more in depth BBC miniseries available for free on YouTube. You may also enjoy the books “Letters From a Lost Generation”, “Because You Died”, and “Vera Brittain and the First World War” which give even more information about the Brittains and the war written by the family’s historian

The Christmas Truce commercial everyone still cries over (video)

It’s a couple minutes long, perfectly sums up what draws me to keep studying the war and my love for learning about the unique changes in human connection during the war

All Quiet in the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (Book)

Another classic example of anti-war literature a lot of people start out by reading from a German perspective. You can also watch the 1930 film adaptation of the book if you would like a visual (even if it has American actors)

They Shall Not Grow Old (Film)

AMAZING first hand accounts and original newly remastered footage from the First World War. It’s arguably neautral in its stance on various factors on the war, but it does a tremendous job showing what life was like at the front and giving voices to the soldiers that lived through it to share their stories.

Oh What a Lovely War! (Film)

Another solid (and entertaining) example of media showing high criticism for the war. This film was revolutionary for its time after roughly 50 years of societal silence about the consequences and negative impacts of WWI. It is incredibly condescending and an absolute anti-war gem

Great War Tommy: the British Soldier 1914-18 (Book)

If you’re a visual learner like me and want information about the kit of a British soldier and drill among other kit care details with LOTS of photos, this a GREAT book

British Uniforms and Equipment of the First World War (Book)

Like the above but has a VERY extensive library of photos for uniforms and equipment, and even shows niche patches and what some uniforms look like inside-out! It’s available for download through MLRS Books online

Valiant Hearts (Game)

From the French perspective. Very heartbreaking game about a French soldier produced in a very unique art style and has a wonderful soundtrack. Great if you like causal, story rich games

11:11 Memories Retold (Game)

This very artistic, stylised game tells the story of a Canadian photographer hired to take photos during the war as well as a German soldier looking for his son at the front. Again, superb soundtrack, and excellent if you love causal, story rich games

Shepard’s War, by James Campbell (Book)

A lovely compilation of original artwork and biographical details about E. H. Shepard during his time as an officer in WWI. If you don’t know, Shepard is the illustrator for Winnie the Pooh! Very intriguing to see his depictions of WWI soldiers as someone who was responsible for a childhood classic

Journey’s End, by R. C. Sherriff (Play)

This play tells the story of a trio of British officers on the frontline and how the effects of shellshock has greatly impacted one of the main characters. It was also made into a film in 2018 staring Asa Butterfield, Sam Claflin, and Paul Bettany

Not About Heroes, by Stephen MacDonald (Play)

A play which tells about the gay friendship between wartime poets and officers Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen

Blackadder: Blackadder Goes Forth (Show)

You might have grown up watching reruns of this show already, but in case you haven’t, it’s the fourth series of the BBC historical comedy show Blackadder and is about as condescending as Oh What a Lovely War, but much less Heavy, aside from the last episode that is. I’ve learned it’s kind of a staple in references made by some reenactment groups :P

YouTube also has TONS of WWI documentaries from every subject under the sun, ranging anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours. Obviously it will be a little harder to tell if the information given is without bias, misinformation, or has questionable undertones, but it’s usually a good way to teach yourself how to always be critical of any information you take in, and also a low-maitence way to keep learning. I find it’s nice to keep a balance between informative non-fiction and historical fiction when doing WWI research to keep variation in my study and also to test my ability to tell apart inaccuracies, or just to take a break from the crushing reality of it all!

In conclusion, the answer is jump right in! You’ll learn the ins and outs of WWI research as you go along! The more you learn, the more you’ll get the hang of it!

Happy researching!

4 Ways to Connect with Nature During COVID-19

Hi everyone! As someone who studies pollinators and conservation biology, I have found the last few weeks difficult, because I struggle when I cannot be outside in nature most of the time. Connecting with nature is known to be beneficial for our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, and never has that been more important than right now. I thought I would compile a few of my favorite ideas that I can offer about ways you can still connect with nature while social distancing, or even if you cannot leave your home at all. Know that these are obviously not all the ways you can experience nature - just the ones I’m familiar and knowledgeable about. Most of my resources apply to the eastern United States, but these things are applicable worldwide. If you ever have questions, just message me!

1. Go Birdwatching! 

Whether you’re a pro already or someone who’s never even attempted to tell the difference between the ‘chip’ and the ‘cheep’ coming from your bushes, birdwatching is a fun hobby that can be done anytime, anywhere, by anyone. While human activities may have slowed or stopped around us, the natural world is always moving and changing. Birds are one of the easiest animals to observe and learn, and their boundless zeal for life can renew our hope and lift our spirits. Whether you live in the country or the city, there are more kinds of birds than you think to be found right outside your door. The springtime is an especially good time to see birds, because they are migrating to their breeding grounds, bringing a whole assortment of colorful and sometimes unusual species close to your home. 

It doesn’t take much to start birdwatching. Most of us have an old pair of binoculars up in the attic somewhere, and plenty decent pairs for beginners are available for under $30 online (I just bought my mother a pair of Bushnells for $15 that had very good reviews). There are countless resources online to find an overview or quick guide to birds in your area. If you live in the United States, the best all-around every-need bird resource is Cornell’s AllAboutBirds and eBird websites. Together these two resources cover almost every bird species in the entire world - let me briefly go through each individually. 

AllAboutBirds is a guide to every North American bird, with stunning photos, ecology, and identification help. But more than that, from here you can lose yourself in dozens of offshoots of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology - from their several live feeder and nest cams, to their hundreds of articles and interactive bird biology resources. One I recommend for those who want to do some basic yard-watching is the site for Project Feederwatch. This has ample information to get you started in recognizing the (North American) birds around your home. Here’s even a free download of common feeder birds! You should also check out Celebrate Urban Birds, which has ID help for city birds in the US, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Panama! 

eBird is a global citizen science site where millions of birdwatchers from Nepal to New Mexico share their sightings to build the largest database of bird knowledge on the planet! I cannot begin to cover everything you can do and learn on this website. You can scope out new places to visit with their ‘Explore Hotspots’ tool, or see where any species on earth has been seen by other people. It will keep your statistics if you enter your sightings, making a convenient way to keep track of all the birds you see! They have a helpful article here about how to start birding near your home.

Birdwatching is an activity that you can put in as much or as little time as you want into it. You will always be rewarded with getting a new perspective on the world around you, discovering neighbors you never knew you had! It can be a refreshing escape from a human-centric world, and maybe spark a curiosity you weren’t expecting! Birds are a bundle of personality, and you will find yourself falling in love with them before you know it. Consider keeping a “life list,” or entering your sightings into eBird to advance bird conservation. Birdwatching can be solitary or you can go with others. When this is all over, maybe you’ll have the chance to meet up with local birders and make new friends! There are birding clubs EVERYWHERE.

2. Plant a pollinator or wildlife garden!

As spring approaches, now is the perfect time to start planning a garden. This is a great way to be outside often but not have any risk of contact with others. Maybe you’ve never gardened before, or maybe you have one but would like to replace some of those exotic flowers with beneficial native ones. No matter your living situation or location, there’s always something you can do to make your little patch of earth a better place for all living things.

Our world is dependent on plants, which make the sun’s light available to other creatures. They interact with the most ecologically important animals on earth - insects. Insects are food for almost all songbirds, as well as the majority of all terrestrial animals in one way or another. “Traditional” gardens try to deter insects with pesticides and non-native plants that insects cannot eat. But we should try to encourage insects, because they pass a plant’s energy up the food chain, as well as pollinate flowers, keep “pests” in check (if you like growing vegetables), and are critical decomposers. The biggest thing you can do to help the local ecosystem is ditch the hydrangeas and hostas, and especially some of that turfgrass. Insects will almost exclusively only eat native plants, and being the most biodiverse animals on the planet, there’s an insect for every plant out there! It’s been shown that yards with few native plants support low levels of insect abundance and diversity, and that means fewer birds and fewer everything else too. Plus, insects are AWESOME in their own right, and once you encourage them, you will discover some incredible, colorful, brilliant species right in your own yard! 

Native gardens are easier than you think. In fact, they’re way easier than what most of us are doing now - by definition, they’re plants that want to grow here! They require less maintenance, no mowing, and no pesticides. They may not be readily available at Home Depot or Wal-mart, but they are easy to find once you locate resources from your region. There are online nurseries to buy seeds or root stock from, like Prairie Moon in the eastern US. Many regions have resources that compile lists of local nurseries and hold native plant sales. To benefit insects and wildlife, figure out what the general conditions of your yard are - soil type, moisture, climate zone - and then choose some plants that will grow there. For pollinators, you should find out what the recommended flowers are for your area - universities and cooperative extensions often produce this kind of information (example here for the northeast), as well as the Xerces Society. This kind of info is becoming much more common in the last few years, due to the popularity of pollinator gardens! Try to plant a few things that bloom in each season, so bees will have food year-round! Native grasses will support the caterpillars of many butterflies and moths too. Pollinator gardens easily overlap with wildlife gardens, which seek to support other animals too, particularly birds. Choose plants that have flowers that turn into seeds or fruit eaten by birds (native dogwoods are one of my favorites!). Plant flowers, shrubs, and trees if you can fit it - this gives insects and birds all sorts of choices for food, and places to hide or nest. Your local Audubon can provide a ton of information about bird-friendly gardening and the best plants.

Another easy way to benefit animals is to be the ‘lazy gardener,’ whether you actually have a garden or not. This means simple steps like, don’t rake your leaf litter, leave logs and rocks, and make a slash pile when you cut branches or trim bushes. This creates habitat for everything from bees to salamanders! 

Don’t have a lot of space? Try an herb garden, or patio garden. Small herb or vegetable gardens will be loved by pollinators even if the plants are not all native, and they will allow you to grow some foods you can harvest, reducing your dependence on the grocery store. Native flowers can be grown in pots as well - goldfinches, for example, will land on any coneflowers you plant, and eat the seeds right in front of you! And if you have no land at all, you can still help out by putting up a bee hotel, and sharing your knowledge with others.

3. The power of the written word - READ!

Can’t go outside? Live in the most inner of inner cities? Feel like you don’t know enough to get out there and identify what you see or know what it means? Books are a naturalist’s best friend. Now is a perfect time to dive into the wealth of literature about the natural world, from stories to field guides. I am always gung-ho to recommend books for a budding naturalist, or anyone who wants to learn more about a new topic! 

Were you intrigued by the things I talked about above - native plants, insects, birds, and the relationship between all of them? I highly recommend Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy. It is the bible of native gardening, in my opinion. It’s an incredible and humbling book explaining in detail and with beautiful photos why we need native plants, just how important insects are, and what we can and should be doing to help. 

Want to learn about pollinators and plan your garden? There’s lots of books for that, and they’re so well made that both beginners and experts can use them. Try any of these:

The Bees In Your Backyard - Olivia Messenger Carril and Joseph Wilson

Pollinators of Native Plants (OR its companion book ‘Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide’) - Heather Holm

Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees - Thor Hanson (a narrative, not a field guide, excellent read)

Books about birds? Heck, I mean there’s hundreds of those. It’s a popular genre. I don’t have any on hand but if you want to know more about gardening for birds, check out Planting Native to Attract Birds to Your Yard by Sharen Sorenson. To learn birds, I recommend a Peterson or Kaufman field guide. 

Looking for books on nature in general? Not field guides, but non-fiction narratives? There are some absolutely stellar writers in our age that regularly move me to tears with their descriptions and connections to the natural world. My top author pick is Bernd Heinrich, an ornithologist and naturalist who has written over a dozen books on a variety of topics. I particularly recommend Summer World (and its companion Winter World), One Wild Bird At A Time, The Homing Instinct, and Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death. But they’re all really really good. There are SO MANY books of folks writing about their experiences with nature, from scientists in the jungles of Borneo to the average Joe exploring the concrete jungle. I have a small collection at home, but in my current locale, I can recommend The Secret Life of Bats by Merlin Tuttle, or Unseen City by Nathaniel Johnson. But there are, really, hundreds. All will change the way you view the world around you. You cannot read enough. 

Want to learn more about how important nature is to human beings? The biophilia hypothesis that states that we as a species need nature for our very souls, our physical development, our mental wellbeing? Please read Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. It’s humbling, enlightening, and sobering. 

4. Citizen Science, Volunteering, and everything else!

You may feel alone right now, but know that everywhere, there are millions of people waiting to share their love of the natural world with you. Anyone who has a second to spare and the interest to look out your window should consider becoming a part of a citizen science project. These sorts of projects vary widely in their commitment time and energy, but most are solitary activities that you have complete control over. Some are more organized than others - many just ask you to report a sighting of a certain kind of organism, and others have a data sheet and timetable to follow. All contribute valuable information to conservation, making you a part of something bigger even when you cannot leave your yard. They also give you the opportunity to learn a new skill - like photography, or data collection - and help you notice aspects of the natural world you may have never given a second thought about before. A lot of them are a community that you can interact with online. Below are just a few of the MANY MANY citizen science projects out there. Again, this is US biased, but it is easy enough to find ones in your own country or those that are international.

eBird - I mentioned this before, but eBird is quite likely the biggest citizen science project in the entire world. There are a googleplex of ways to interact with others, learn more about the birds in your area or anywhere else in the world, find out who local birders are, and keep track of your own sightings. The data you submit has been used in countless peer-reviewed scientific papers and has a direct, significant impact on bird conservation worldwide.

iNaturalist - a worldwide platform for sharing sightings of any species, anywhere. A great community of naturalists, amateurs, and experts, here to help you identify your creature and explore what others find.

Project Feederwatch, The Great Backyard Bird Count, Christmas Bird Counts, Global Big Day, etc - offshoots of eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. These are specific events that ask backyard birders to keep track of what birds they see for a couple of weeks. This helps track migration patterns and population declines!

BugGuide - similar to iNaturalist, but for insects only and in North America only. I’ve been on this site for 12 years now, I’m a diehard! Experts will help you ID insects, and your data becomes part of a huge database to help scientists learn more about our native insects. Requires photos - a good chance to start two hobbies at once!

Bumble Bee Watch - submit photos of any bumblebee you find in North America. Bumblebees are declining and scientists need regular people to help track populations of these pollinators. 

Guys, there’s so many more. A few more quickies: iMapInvasives (for spotting invasive species), National Phenology Network (for tracking when things change - when flowers bloom, when animals nest, great if you see the same things reliably every day!), The Great Sunflower Project (plant a sunflower, monitor what bees visit it), Zooniverse (a compilation of different digital projects that need eyes and ears to help sort through data - like trail cam photos for instance! You’d be helping real researchers, often grad students at universities, but sometimes big ticket names too!). 

These are large-scale projects. But there are always smaller, local community projects that need your help. Become more aware of what’s coming up, even for after this pandemic when you can get outside and volunteer at something like a BioBlitz, a cleanup, or a tree planting. You would not believe how many volunteers we always need to make conservation possible. People like you are the backbone of what we do. Check your local and regional Audubon, your universities, your cooperative extension. They have resources, things that can give you information you need or ways to afford things you want to do. I’m sure there’s plenty I’ve forgotten to mention, since I don’t have all my things with me here. But never feel isolated. The natural world is always around you, and you are never alone! Every creature big and small is a lifetime of stories to tell. Pick one and get going!

Projection

Man, I fuckin’ loved taking control of my son; he has a hot little body, sculpted but not too muscular, a baby face, and I got to try on all the cute clothes that I bought for ‘him’. I chuckled to myself, my son Jeremy, was totally straight, and he’s quite popular with the ladies, but I had my eye more on his hot little stud friends that he hung out with. I could especially see how his ‘little’ friend Hank fuckin’ drooled over him; practically falling over himself to jump to do whatever Jeremy wanted. But I’m side-tracking a bit; I bought tons of cute underwear and other… kinkier stuff for Jeremy but as I previously mentioned, being the straight kid he was, he’d never wear any of it; he’d probably be appalled if he even knew I bought it for him… Too bad he doesn’t know he wears this shit regularly and is quite popular at the local gay clubs. All the bartenders know him quite well; or should I say they know ‘Matt’ well? That’s the name I go by when I slip into his hot little body and go out. ----------------------------------------------------------------- It happened one night when I’d come home late from work and I was extra exhausted, I barely took loosened my tie and dropped my suitcase at the door when I plopped in front of the tv on couch; too tired to even move. I began to drift off when I remembered that I still had to feed Jeremy, he’d be getting home from soccer practice soon, but I just couldn’t bring myself to move; in fact, I felt almost… paralyzed. I began to freak out and struggled to move and I fought to sit up; and with a sudden ‘pop’ I finally managed to do it. I decided I’d better change into some more casual clothes, and I made my way up the stairs and to my room. My closet was slightly ajar so I just stepped right in and casually glanced around looking for something more comfortable to wear; my eyes caught the underwear I’d boughten but were too small for me. I let out a sigh, I knew I wasn’t in as great of shape as I used to be and I could never fit those. I finally decided on some sweat pants and a plain white T but as I tried to pick them up my hands went right through! I rubbed my eyes, this couldn’t be right, I tried again and started panicking when my hands passed right through again! Even stranger, I was naked! I got really embarrassed and ran around the house trying to figure out what was happening. I arrived back at the living room again and I tried to scream; I could see my body still lying there. I didn’t know what to do, I just sat on the ground and repeated “This can’t be happening” over and over to myself. I looked at my body again and I noticed it was still breathing. This had to be a dream, I knew I was still alive if my body was still breathing… So what was going on? My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the front door open and close. “Hey Dad! I’m home!” Shit. Jeremy was here, and I didn’t know what to do. I wondered if maybe he could hear me. I walked to the entry way “Jeremy?” I let out a call, he didn’t seem to notice as he continued removing his shoes before walking upstairs to the bathroom—He always had a shower after practice. I followed and tried knocking on the door but my hand just passed through again. I heard the water start running and I began to wonder if maybe I could leave a message on the mirror from the fog or something like in the movies. I felt a bit weird because I knew I’d see my son naked, but after changing his diapers so many times as a baby, I figured it was fine as it was nothing I’d never seen before, so I walked through the door and began to wait for the steam to gather. I tried my hardest to keep from looking, but I got bored waiting for the steam. I finally just looked over and I became so envious; he still had a tight little stomach, his arms were sculpted, and he still had all his hair… A hand instinctively ran to my head, rubbing longingly at where my hair used to be. I wished I could go back to my prime, back to Jeremy’s age. I continued watching and forgot all about what I was doing when Jeremy stepped out and walked to his room. Shit! I missed my chance, I followed him hoping to find something else to catch his attention but he just lay on his bed and fell asleep. He must have been exhausted because after a few seconds he fell asleep and I could see his chest rising slowly, and falling gently. He looked so innocent, I was so proud of him, he always worked so hard in school, and he won a lot of sports trophies, he was such a good boy… I never noticed before, but I could see his aura a lot more relaxed, moving at a slower pace; A sly smirk crept across my face as I got an idea… I walked over to his bed and slowly laid down on top of him, I could feel his body give in, as it started to pull me in, the feeling of his flesh wrapping around my essence was so erotic, I wasn’t completely in but I managed to let out a moan from my new vocal chords. Fuck that was hot. I felt myself falling more and more into him before finally I was completely in. I let out a gasp. I looked down and saw… abs? And my body felt so tight… I felt my hair tussle and I ran a hand through my hair… Oh how I missed having hair… I sat up, “Wow…” apparently I was really excited being in this body because Jeremy’s cock was so fucking hard! Damn! Even in my prime I was never that thick! And it was so long! I bit my lip, and he still had his foreskin… I couldn’t… could I? Would this be wrong to do this with my own son’s body? I mean, it’s basically masturbation, since I was in control… Damn… all these hormones… I couldn’t fight it as I finally gripped my new rod; I shuddered, I barely even rubbed and this felt so fucking awesome! I tried to rub it up and down slowly, but the pleasure, I was vibrating in pleasure, a gentle purr escaping my lips, damn, this fucking foreskin… It was so sensitive… Suddenly this body’s instincts took control and damn… I was in for a fuckin’ wild ride, this body was working its shaft like a pro, I started to moan, I bit my lip to try to keep from being too loud, but then I started using my other hand to feel this body’s muscles and this was so erotic, my moans began to increase in volume, I finally said fuck it and I was moaning so loud, fuck… fuck… I was about to cum, I didn’t want this to end but this body’s instincts were still in control as it kept rubbing and I pinched my nipples a bit, I fought as hard as I could to keep from cumming but with how sensitive my new package was it was a losing battle as with one final rub I let out one long, deep, moan, as load after load began shooting out. I tried to catch as much as I could, not wanting to leave a huge mess. Jeremy didn’t have any tissues in his room and I didn’t want to dirty any of his clothing so, shrugging my shoulders, I raised it to my lips and lapped it up, playing with his cum in my mouth… Damn that was delicious… I licked up the rest off my hands then lay there basking in my wonderful afterglow of orgasm rubbing my softening cock, I closed my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, damn I wish this never had to end… Jeremy’s body began violently spasming; I could feel him waking up, I was being pushed out, I fought so hard to stay in, but with one final shake I was thrown out, I felt his flesh un-envelop me. Jeremy had a look of shock on his face, when I was thrown out I was still licking some of the cum off his fingers, he removed his finger from his mouth and he could see the cum on his finger I saw a look of disgust cross his face… I could also see a bit of cum I’d missed on his chest… Fuck I wanted back in so bad… I slammed against him, I felt his body release for a moment as some of my soul pushed through but it was thrown back out. He looked like he was just punched, the color drained from his face as he sat down before falling over and passed out. I smirked, I figured I must only be able to be inside when he’s sleeping; when his consciousness is dormant. I laid on top of his body again and I shuddered as I felt that familiar feeling of that tight body welcoming me in again. I grabbed a towel and wiped off then I remembered that underwear... I went to my room and grabbed that underwear and through it on… I gasped while a cheeky grin crept across my face. The material was so nice… I could feel my cock stiffen a bit but I wanted to take go find a mirror. I found one in the dining room (I had to walk passed my sleeping body, I smirked, definitely an upgrade as I could see my love handles through my suit, and I was disgusted at the bald patch. I looked in the mirror, strange… Jeremy never looked this groggy, and he had a moustache… He never had a moustache. He despised body hair and kept himself shaven, strange… Apparently even though it’s his skin, my essence still shows through a bit as my body did wear a moustache… I tried a few poses in the mirror; fuck Jeremy was hot… I wanted a few photos and I remembered my phone, it was in my pocket on the couch. I walked back in, disgusted at seeing my body, I reached into my pocket with disdain, feeling around for my phone, and I accidentally rubbed my package, I jumped. Even though I wasn’t in that body I still felt it, but it felt like someone else doing it… I found my phone and went and took a few photos… When I finished I set my phone down on the table beside my body, I remembered the feeling when I was looking for my phone; I shuddered again. A devilish grin crept across my face… I couldn’t… could I? I climbed on top of my body and began grinding my package, I could feel myself; or my body anyways, hardening, this only turned me on more as I grabbed my hands and ran them across this body, grinding our dicks against each other’s, I leaned down and sucked my ears the way I liked, fuck this was so hot, my happiness began showing in Jeremy’s body too as it was now sporting a massive erection, but I didn’t care, I was more worried about masturbating my old self, I began to pick up the pace in grinding and not being totally in my own body, I could still tell it was going to cum soon but I couldn’t stop it, and with one final thrust against my own package I felt it; that glorious orgasm… I could feel the cum seeping through my clothes, and this cute little underwear, I could feel it against my dick… I moaned, this was so erotic…Jeremy woke up and I was flung out of his body again but being so close to my own I was pulled right back in, I took a deep breath in and I saw the look of shock and horror on his face and he could see his own hands were guiding mine across his chest muscles, and I could still feel that he had an erection. “Son…? What’s going on? Are you okay?” I said feigning concern, knowing full well what had happened. “N-nothing, can we just… pretend I wasn’t doing this?” “Sure thing bud, I’ll go cook dinner.” “O….k..” He sputtered out slowly. He began walking towards his room and as I watched him walk away, I remembered the wonderful feeling of his cock and I was wanting to touch it again and I saw him stop in his tracks and his hand went for his package and gently rubbed it through the underwear. I was surprised… Maybe some of me had stayed inside his body? I made him go get changed (I decided to just order pizza), then I had him replace the underwear where I’d kept it, then after he had put on his actual clothes, I decided to see how far my powers would go as I decided to try to alter his memories. I could feel his eyes rolling back in his head as I was tweaking around in there, I changed his memories to that he took a nap, then he’d worked on a bit of homework then he’d gotten dressed and he remembered me calling out that we were having pizza. Then with one final tweak, I made it so that he would fall asleep whenever I said a code word to him…. Oh the things I had planned with this new ability of mine….

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment - Chapter 15

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (Canon Divergent from Book 2, Chapter 15)

Word Count: ~4900

Rating: R (all the adult language - what can I say, Drake swears)

Summary: A much needed conversation, part two.

Author’s Note: Thought I would have this up yesterday, but my Vikings broke my heart, so I couldn’t bring myself to do final edits. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! This chapter is not even remotely holiday themed, but it contains one of my favorite scenes in this story, so I hope you enjoy it!

This series diverges from TRR canon, where instead of waiting to discuss his relationship with Riley until their last night in NYC, leaving her a note while Liam is proposing to her, Drake tackles this topic as soon as possible after Tariq makes his statement and Riley’s name is cleared. To catch up on this series, you can find the previous chapters in my masterlist (link is located in my bio).

It was pitch black out when Drake awoke to a faint tapping sound. He checked his phone. It was 3:26. He figured he must have imagined the noise and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep, but the noise returned. It was a knock on his door - light, but insistent. Drake was tempted to ignore it, but deep down, he knew who it was. So he shuffled over, flipped the lock, and cracked open the door. 

“You know it’s 3:30 in the morning, right?”

Liam nodded. “I apologize. I couldn’t sleep and I thought maybe… But you’re right, it was rude of me to come by at this hour. I’ll just-”

Drake cut him off with a groan, swinging the door open fully and gesturing for Liam to enter. “No, come on in.”

But Liam didn’t enter, instead pausing in the doorway for a moment before he spoke, “Actually, I was hoping you might want to go fishing.”

Drake blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog of sleep from his mind. They hadn’t gone out, just the two of them, in a long time. And given their most recent… conversation, it seemed like an odd choice. But Drake had stuck around to support Liam, so if he needed to go out fishing in the middle of the night, well then Drake would be going with him. “Yeah, okay. Just gimme ten minutes.”

So Drake brushed his teeth and got dressed, grabbing the fishing rods, the lawn chairs, and the tackle box before making his way down to the private garage. It was just Liam there when he arrived, so either Bastien had cleared a private outing, or Liam was ducking out without his security team knowing. It didn’t matter much to Drake either way. He just loaded their gear into the back of his car and moved to hop into the driver’s seat, but Liam called out, “Actually, do you mind if I drive?” Drake shrugged and walked around, sliding in on the passenger's side and settling in for the short drive to their usual spot. Except instead of turning right after passing through the palace gates, Liam turned to the left.

“Uh, where are you going?”

Liam glanced over at Drake before returning his eyes to the road ahead of him, “There’s a different lake I want to visit. I hope you can forgive me this break from our typical routine.”

Once again, Drake found himself shrugging. Not knowing how long of a trip they’d be taking, he leaned his head against the side window. It was dark enough out that he couldn’t see much of the scenery, but he knew they were basically heading east. They drove for well over an hour, not talking, just listening to Liam’s classical music playlist, the one he used when he needed to think. Drake didn’t know what was going on, so he let Liam drive on without any questions about where or how or why. They just drove and drove, and eventually, tinges of orange and pink started to appear in the sky. As the sun began to peek above the horizon, Liam turned off the main road onto a smaller frontage road. After about five more minutes, he pulled over to the side and stopped.

“We’re here,” was all he said before he got out of the car and went to grab his half of the gear from the back. Drake followed his lead, carrying his rod, chair, and the tackle box down a gravel path, Liam just a few paces ahead of him. It was a short and easy hike, leading to a large, crystal-clear lake. The area Liam had chosen was basically a meadow, but there were thickly forested patches along the shoreline, giving rise to large hills and mountains just beyond. Across the lake, Drake noted a grand estate.

He had no idea why they were here and not at their usual lake just west of the capital, but Liam had already set up his chair and was threading his line through the guides. So Drake placed his own chair next to Liam’s, opened the tackle box in between them, and started prepping his own line. Soon enough, they were casting out, the sky lightening in color by the second as the sun continued to climb upwards. They were both silent at first, but after several minutes, Liam broke the ice.

“So, Olivia’s aunt is behind the attacks.”

Drake whipped his head over to the left, trying to gauge Liam’s mental state. That must have been why Olivia came to the palace two days ago. It certainly explained the surge of activity triggered by her visit. Liam didn’t make eye contact with Drake, choosing instead to stare out over the water as he continued to fill him in on the situation.

“She wore a wire yesterday, securing recordings of her aunt talking about the whole thing. Lucretia’s initial plan was to kill any degree of public approval I had before I abdicated, leaving Olivia poised to take the throne. Olivia somehow managed to convince her that we were sleeping together and to give her more time so that she could eventually get pregnant and a Nevrakis would become the heir to the throne.”

“Wait, her aunt thought you two were sleeping together?”

“Olivia didn’t disclose how that even became a point of conversation with her aunt, but Lucretia brought it up unprompted very early on in Olivia’s surveillance, so it must have been part of her ploy to get the initial confession out of Lucretia. Regardless, it was effective. While Olivia was informing me of her aunt’s aims, Lucretia was scrambling to strike deals with her co-conspirators since they were no longer a necessary part of her scheme.”

“How’d that work out for her?” 

“About as well as you would expect. Turns out people who are willing to destroy and kill to gain power don’t respond kindly to being cut out of a coup. Lucretia started naming them all without Olivia even asking because she was planning on having the two of them take out the other key agents in the attacks, all of whom were looking to kill Lucretia at the first opportunity after she dismissed them from her plan.”

“Ah, classic Nevrakis family bonding.”

“Heh. Olivia made a similar remark. Regardless, the strike teams will deploy today to bring the parties involved into custody. Hopefully, things will be well coordinated enough that no one will be forewarned and able to flee. One other insurgent in particular is someone we absolutely need to arrest. His name is Anton Severus, and he and Lucretia seem to be the ringleaders.”

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“We hadn’t either. Initial research turned up some… strange connections to Olivia that we’ll need to investigate further. However, this photo was even more interesting.”

At that, Liam grabbed a small piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and passed it over to Drake. He nearly dropped his fishing rod when he saw the face on the paper.

“It’s that Justin prick!”

“Indeed. Seems he was working under an alias.”

“What the fuck, Liam? He was Liu’s press secretary. He spent a shit-ton of time with her one-on-one. He could have-”

“Drake, this whole situation is a disaster. If you have concerns about the vetting that went into hiring this man, I suggest you take it up with Bertrand. There is something else I thought it prudent you know regarding him, though. He arguably stood to gain the most from the initial scheme concocted by him and Lucretia. Understandably, it sounds like he is the most upset by her recent change in strategy.

“From the way Lucretia talks about him, not only is he highly dangerous, but he also has access to key information Lucretia has been collecting. This includes the findings obtained by the PI that was following you in New York. Apparently, the goal there was a titillating piece surrounding you, me, and Riley. Unfortunately, we think it is highly probable that he will have leaked the information obtained thus far to the press given Lucretia’s description of her conversation with him. So I apologize, but it is likely you and Riley will gain some media attention.”

“So will you.”

Liam shrugged at that, “Yes, well, that comes with the job description for me. That’s not exactly the situation for the two of you.”

“Was warning me about this why you brought me out here?”

“No, that was something I obviously needed to do, but that’s not why I wanted us to go fishing.”

“Why, then? Why today?”

“It's all just been... It's been hard to handle all the…” Liam trailed off. Drake couldn't remember the last time he was at a loss for words.

“Yeah, you've had a lot of shit to deal with.” 

Liam chuckled. “I think that safely qualifies as an understatement.”

Drake smiled softly, letting the quiet of the surrounding nature keep the moment still and peaceful. When Liam got like this, it was best not to ask a lot of questions. just let him talk when he felt like it. So they sat there, lines dipping below the surface of the water. The fish weren't biting, but that didn't really matter at all. They were both silent for many minutes, but eventually Liam started talking.

“My mind is just so full all the time. As soon as I think I have a handle on one topic or issue, another one just worms its way deep into my brain. Being out here, it's nearly like all those conflicting ideas can just float away from me. For the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe, that I can decompress even slightly. I know that I can't escape the realities of my life forever, but this is a nice reprieve. So thank you, Drake. Thank you for indulging me, even if I did wake you before 4 o’clock.”

Drake nodded, “Of course, Liam. you know I'd do…”

Liam's eyes drifted over to Drake's as Drake trailed off. He wasn't sure if he had the right to finish that thought. A few months ago, there was literally nothing that Drake wouldn't have done for Liam. He couldn't imagine a single thing. But now, after everything with Riley... Well, saying something like that seemed pretty fucking disingenuous.

But Liam just shook his head sadly, “Even after I said horrible things to you the other day.”

Drake frowned at that, “Liam, I deserved nearly all of it. I should be the one apologizing. You have a shit-ton of crap to handle everyday, and my pissy attitude should not have to be part of it.” He kept his eyes focused on the water, ashamed that he couldn’t even figure out how to be the first one to apologize. But Liam chuckled lightly, seeming to be oblivious to Drake’s pain and guilt.

“Drake, since when are you worried about your attitude around me?” 

He let out a sigh before he responded, “Pretty much whenever I can tell you’re stressed.”

“But that shouldn’t be how this works,” said Liam, “We are supposed to be equals, my title be damned. That can’t happen if you are tiptoeing around me when my life becomes stressful.”

“See, I knew you would see it this way. But you’ve gotta understand that the shit you face is so much worse than the shit any of the rest of us face. I gotta be more careful with you than you are with me. Besides, you look out for me, too. You gave me a place to stay, you let me duck out and do my own thing when I get antsy, you find me lots of high quality whiskey.”

“Are you kidding me, Drake?”

He smiled at that, glancing over at Liam, “Just a little. My point is that we both have been there for each other.”

Liam shook his head. “But don’t you see, Drake, that everything you just listed didn’t really impact my life in any major way. Doing those things for you required very little sacrifice. You, on the other hand, just aggressively reminded my brother that you have uprooted your entire life for me. You put long-term plans on hold to be there for me.”

“You were a prince, Liam. Now you’re the fucking king. You made the best accommodations you could for me given the situation. I did the same. It’s no one’s fault that your life doesn’t allow you the flexibility that mine does.”

“Be that as it may, I worry I’ve taken you for granted, that I’ve treated your support as a given. You altered major life plans for me. That shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Drake waved his hand through the air, almost as if he could swat away Liam’s concerns, “Trust me, it’s really not a big deal.”

“Your screaming match with Leo would suggest otherwise.”

“Eh, Leo was just being an ass and things got outta hand.”

Drake dropped his eyes to the lake’s surface, watching his line cut through the water. He could feel Liam’s stare on the back of his neck, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Maybe, if he just sat there quietly, Liam would let it go. Accept his statement as the truth.

“So this is what you meant about keeping your attitude from me when you think I’m too stressed to handle it.”

Drake sighed slowly, rolling his head around to look at Liam. He didn’t know what to say, but his silence kind of confirmed Liam’s statement.

“I don’t need you to turn yourself into an emotional martyr for me, Drake. I would never want that for you.”

“That’s not what this is, I just-”

“Drake, I think you do it without even thinking about it. It’s become nearly reflexive for you. Remember at my coronation, after Riley was forcibly removed from the palace?”

Drake nodded. While the overall events of that night were burned into his brain, he honestly didn’t remember the details all that well. He’d been a mess. Chasing after Riley. Thinking he’d fly out to New York. He’d gone from being convinced that she was going to be this gnawing presence in his life, happily engaged to Liam and just out of reach, taunting him as the possibility that was never meant to be, to being terrified she would not even be a small part of his life anymore. It was in that moment that he decided if he ever saw her again, he would be grateful to fill whatever role she wanted for him in her life, even if that meant opening himself up to excruciating pain in the end. “Yeah, that one was pretty hard to forget.”

“As soon as I got visibly upset, you jumped into action, planning and organizing. You even told me you would go to New York, and I just assumed that you were doing that for my sake. But that wasn’t your primary motivation, was it?”

Drake closed his eyes and shook his head, “I needed to make sure she was okay. I just wanted to be there for her.”

“You loved her already, didn’t you?”

Liam’s question gave Drake pause. He’d never really bothered to think about when he’d fallen for Riley. It was just one of those things, where one day it had just hit him out of nowhere that he was completely gone on her. They’d been eating breakfast with Hana and Maxwell at Applewood the day after finding the photographer’s ID badge. She’d been giving him shit in response to some comments he’d made about mimosas and after a few moments of bickering, she’d stuck her tongue out at him, as if that would win her the argument. It had just been so stupidly silly, so damn playful, so completely her that he’d just known. And that had been it. He’d never really bothered to try and figure out when he actually fell in love, at least not until this moment.

“I think so,” he finally spoke, barely getting the words out. It felt so shameful, to admit out loud that he was in love with Riley. That he’d been in love with her for a long time at this point. It was stupid to get hung up on this. He’d moved to a new country for her. Of course Liam knew he loved her. But to explicitly state it felt wrong. Dirty. Cruel.

The silence of the surrounding nature felt unbearable. But after a painful minute or two, Liam finally responded to Drake’s confession.

“I wish you would have told me how you were feeling. I wish both of you would have told me, but I really wish you would have told me.”

“Liam, I-”

“Let me rephrase that. You should have told me. The rejection would have never been pleasant, but I would have handled it. Romantic feelings go unrequited all the time. But you lied to me, if not outright, then certainly by omission. And that Drake, is the aspect of this whole mess that I am struggling with the most. I always trusted you to be the one person in this world who was honest with me, to never have an ulterior motive during our discussions. And I’ve lost that faith, Drake. That is what hurts the most.”

“I know, Liam. I’m so sorry.”

“See, this is why you can’t just decide that you need to hide your actual emotions from me. Regardless of whether or not my royal obligations are intense, there needs to be mutual honesty between us.”

Drake shook his head roughly, “It wasn’t all about protecting you. That was part of it, sure, but it was more complicated than just that. I wasn’t exactly trying to be noble.”

“Why then?”

“I don’t want to make excuses here, Liam. I know I fucked up.”

“I just need to understand, Drake. I need to make sense of all of this. So please, just talk to me openly.”

Drake took a breath, trying to organize his thoughts before he started, “It was self-preservation really, and I know that’s selfish of me, but it’s the truth. It was going to be bad enough in the end when she chose you. That alone was going to hurt like hell. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you knowing about it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I was convinced that she was going to choose you once she cleared her name.”

“Is there some reason you thought that, or…”

“Previous experience mostly. It’s not important, though.”

“It kind of is, Drake. You are talking about this like it was some foregone conclusion that she wasn’t as interested in you as she was in me, when all I have is evidence to the contrary.”

Drake let out a huge sigh, his shoulders sagging in the process. He wasn’t sure if this topic was wildly embarrassing or just uncomfortable, but they were here now, and Drake didn’t see a way out of it at this point. “Over the years, there have been quite a few women who’ve tried to use me to get close to you. Some just feigned interest until you guys were introduced. Others seemed to have researched me and my interests pretty extensively, letting things escalate between us for quite a while before they suddenly didn’t have time for me. Usually, that was right after they met you. It didn’t take long for me to learn the drill.”

“And you thought Riley was doing the same thing? Drake, she hadn’t even heard of Cordonia when we wandered into that bar.”

Drake mustered up what was left of his courage before continuing, “I think she would have accepted your proposal that night. We snuck outside for a bit. Talked a little. We kissed. I don’t know. We both made it pretty clear that was it for us. It felt a lot like goodbye.

“Then after you got engaged and she came back, I don’t know. Things were different. She kept bringing up us actually being together. It was a strange shift, and part of me just couldn’t believe that she really wanted to be with me. I  kept wondering if she was just looking for comfort after being publicly rejected and I was the best option. So I kept telling her we should wait until she cleared her name to talk about our future. And I braced myself for the day that would happen and she would realize she could have you again. That she could go off and be with who she actually wanted.”

“You told me about your relationship the day after she cleared her name.” Liam’s voice was quiet, but calm. Understanding. Gentle.

“I know it’s not an excuse, Liam. But I just didn’t really think that she had any deep feelings for me until she told me she loved me that night. Some part of me couldn’t shake the thought that whatever the hell was going on between us was about to come to an end.”

“But it didn’t.”

“No. It didn’t.”

They both sat there, still and silent. It was tense, to be sure, but unlike the other day, Drake didn’t sense any anger rolling off Liam. He knew he was much calmer, too. Maybe they had just needed to purge their more toxic thoughts before they could have this conversation. Or maybe it needed to happen outside of the confining, binding walls of the palace. Out away from pressures and obligations, away from nosy servants and nobles. Maybe that was why Liam had wanted to go fishing. Maybe deep down he knew this was the only way either of them would talk. But that didn’t explain his choice of location.

“Why here?”

“What was that?”

“I am just trying to figure out why you wanted to come out here to… wherever the hell we are to have this conversation.”

“Valtoria. That’s where I brought us.”

“Okay, so why Valtoria?”

Liam sighed, looking around and fully taking in the surrounding woods and meadows. He was silent, with only the lapping water and the hum of last of that year’s cicadas filling the air. Eventually after several painfully long moments he answered.

“You know how Valtoria has been vacant for decades? Well, it was going to be hers.”

“What are you talking about, Liam?”

“I was going to offer her the title of Duchess of Valtoria.” He kept looking around, almost as if making eye contact would be unbearable.

Drake's mind raced as he tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about. It only took a few seconds for him to realize the truth behind it all. “You couldn't marry a commoner. You had to make her fucking suitable match.”

Liam winced at that, finally turning his head to face Drake. “I was trying to give her a home. I wanted Cordonia to feel like her country, not my country. But yes, Drake. I was also looking to appease her critics on the council. Titling her was a needed formality.” 

Drake let Liam's words wash over him. He knew that Liam himself didn’t really care that Riley came from poverty, had clawed her way to a working class lifestyle. But somehow, the fact that he would have elevated her to noble class before marrying her rubbed him the wrong way just the same. His discomfort at the idea must have shown on his face, because Liam spoke again after a brief moment.

“Come on, Drake. I know it’s your reflex to hate the nobility, but surely that wouldn’t apply to her?”

Drake shook his head. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it? Why would the mere formality of titling her upset you?”

“That’s not…. It’s just… No one needs to change anything about her.”

A faint smile crept across Liam’s face at Drake’s reply, even as he squinted his eyes in disbelief, “My god, who are you and where have you hidden Drake Walker?”

“What?”

“That was dangerously close to romantic, my friend. Certainly more saccharine and sweet than anything I have ever said.”

“Bullshit, Liam.”

“Fair enough, but you have to admit that was far more sentimental than you usually act.”

“Jesus, Liam. I’m not saying that to be romantic. I just don’t like the fact that you wanted her to change who she is to marry you.”

“It was never about changing her. It was merely adding a formal title.”

Drake squinted at Liam, trying to figure out how he could be so oblivious, but then it dawned on him. Riley hadn’t let Liam see her as she really was. She’d kept things light and polite. She’d never laid into him. Never opened up to him. She had kept playing at being princess the whole way through.

“Tell me, Liam -  how many times have you heard Liu swear?”

After a couple of seconds, Liam said, “My answer is that I can’t recall her ever swearing, but I can guess that is not her typical behavior based on that question.”

“She called me a ‘goddamn motherfucking asshole’ within her first few days here,” Drake responded, shaking his head with a smile, “You may not have asked her to change who she was, but…”

“You’re saying she just felt compelled to act differently around me.”

“I think so.”

Liam was quiet for a few moments, likely thinking about everything that had been said. Eventually, he shook his head, “Well, I think there’s some form of irony buried in this whole situation. Apparently, there have been many women out there who acted differently around you to get to know me. The one woman I actually wanted to get to know was acting differently around me as she fell in love with you.”

“Liam, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Drake. At least not for that part. I will certainly accept your apology for hiding your feelings from me and prolonging the uncomfortable situation. But the rest of it is just life. I fell for someone, but she fell for someone else. There’s no reason for her not to be with the person she loves if he loves her in return.

“I’m not blameless in this whole mess. You were right; I just assumed she was interested in me. I could blame the entire dynamic of the social season, but that wouldn’t be proper. I am a grown man, and I should have recognized her waning interest in me.”

“No, you were right. We should have talked to you sooner.”

“And I probably shouldn’t have offered up being my mistress without asking about her feelings surrounding my relationship with Madeleine. There is plenty of blame to go around.”

“Excuse me, you what?”

“It’s not my proudest moment, Drake, but I was desperate and grasping at straws. Looking back, I certainly could have done better there. However, I am guessing you have some moments you wish you could redo in this whole debacle?”

Drake was still trying to process the fact that Liam had apparently asked Riley to be his side piece, but he knew his overall point was valid. They both had made mistakes here. And maybe it was time to leave those mistakes in the past and start moving forward. So Drake just nodded, a gesture Liam returned with a smile before he looked out over the lake again. The silence between them wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it certainly felt closer to normal than it had in a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley poured the couple at the bar two more IPAs, then quickly glanced around the room, trying to see if there were any other customers who needed another round. Not seeing any obviously empty glasses or anyone trying to flag her down, she started loading up a tray with dirty glassware to bring into the back to get cleaned.

After her breakdown her first night back in New York, she’d resolved to not think about Cordonia, and she honestly felt like she’d done a pretty good job. One of the afternoon bartenders had quit unexpectedly, so she volunteered to pick up some extra shifts, which not only kept her busy and distracted, but also helped her earn some much needed cash.

She gotten some texts from Maxwell and Hana, but she’d kept her responses light and casual. She really was doing fine. She just had to convince them of that fact. If they kept asking her how she was doing, she would fixate on everything that had happened, and the would be the opposite of helpful. She needed to keep moving forward, and then she would be able to move on with her life.

Riley carried the heavy tray into the backroom and loaded up the industrial dishwasher. After washing her hands, she went back out front, but the sight in front of her stopped her dead in her tracks. She knew that hair. She knew that face. But that hair and that face were supposed to be in Cordonia, not scanning the room awkwardly, clearly looking for someone.

“Hana?” she finally called out when she found her voice, “What the hell are you doing here?” 

Tags: @addictedtodrakefanfic @kingliam2019  @dcbbw @mfackenthal @jovialyouthmusic @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @riley–walker @thequeenofcronuts @notoriouscs @butindeed @thesumofmychoices @texaskitten30 @yaushie @cosigottahavefaith @thequeenchoices @katedrakeohd @feartheendlesssummer @sirbeepsalot @ladyangel70 @ao719 @ooo-barff-ooo @octobereighth​

@sunnyxdazed @lilyofchoices

G’day everyone!

Thanks to the EA Game Changers Program, last Sunday SimGurus Jill, Morgan and Geoff hosted a super secret private live stream for those of us in the program who weren’t able to attend EA Play and I am so excited to finally be able to share all the information I learned about Island Living and the upcoming free patch with you guys!

I don’t have any new screenshots or gameplay to show you but I did take pages and pages of notes so I’ve spent the better part of today trying to condense those down and put them in order so that you guys can have a look over them and read about some of the amazing new stuff that’s coming in this pack.

Just be aware that because we weren’t able to take screenshots or record the stream, all I had to refer to while putting this all in a post is my own notes and while I did my best to simultaneously listen carefully, write everything down, fend off my cats, and stop myself falling asleep... I could have easily missed something or some information could be wrong because it was 4am in the morning and my cats get bitey when I don’t pay attention to them lol You should definitely check out some of the other Game Changers posts and videos to see if they have any information I missed too!

SO! All that being said, I’m going to put this all under a cut because it’s long and also because spoilers!

If you have any questions about Island Living, I can’t promise that I’ll know or be allowed to tell you the answer, but my inbox is always open and it never hurts to ask anyway 😊

ENJOY!

New World - Sulani

    🌴 The beautiful tropical Sulani contains 14 lots spread out over 3 island            neighbourhoods:                 - Ohan’Ali is a town/commercial area containing 6 lots.                     Festivals/Events take place every day in town, keep an eye out for                     balloons to find out where                 - Lani St. Taz is an upscale residential area containing 5 lots                 - Mua Pel’Am is a Natural Island containing 3 lots. There is also a                     beautiful (and useful) waterfall and possibly a hidden cave but                     shhh, it’s a secret!

    🌴 All lots are fully editable and can be changed to any lot type you want     🌴 There’s a new Beach venue type     🌴 The weather in Sulani is generally pretty mild, but if you have Seasons            installed you may get the occasional tropical storm

Traits + Aspirations

LOT TRAITS

    🌴 Volcanic activity               - Can be used on any lot               - Causes lava bombs to fall on the lot               - Lava bombs can catch your sim on fire if they touch them too much                   while they’re still hot               - Once cooled lava bombs can be broken open and looted or turned                    into decorative objects

    🌴 Off the Grid               - Free base game trait to be added in an upcoming patch               - Your sims bills will be lower BUT most electronics will not work on lots                   with this trait and you will have limited internet access               - Objects in the buy catalogue will display “Off the Grid Functionality” if                   they can be used on this lot. Eg there is a new sink in Island Living                   that looks like a sort of natural spring water pump, it’s perfect for off                   the grid lots

    🌴 Clothing optional               - Free base game trait to be added in an upcoming patch               - Sims will react differently depending on traits. Eg. Self-assured sims                   will be more willing to strip off than sims with other traits like Childish

ASPIRATION

    🌴 Beach Life               - This sim wants to take it slow and enjoy the beach life

SIM TRAITS

    🌴 Child of the Ocean               - Answer the call of the ocean! Sims with this trait will prefer water                   related activities and feel closer to their denizens of the sea.     🌴 Child of the Island               - These sims experience a spiritual connection to the islands of Sulani.                   Honor the islands by partaking in their culture, summon powerful                   elementals and reap the rewards of their blessings — or the                   consequences of their disfavour.     🌴 Sim trait randomization will also be added to the game in a free           upcoming patch!

Careers

   🌴 Fishing/Diving Career               - Fishing will also be getting a big update (I think in the upcoming free                   patch). There will be new fish to collect, a fish trap, a high skill cast,                   re-tuning and new fishing spots in lots of worlds

   🌴 Lifeguard

   🌴 In an upcoming patch, all teen part-time careers will be made available for          all ages

Gameplay + Activities

MERMAIDS!!!

   🌴 Sims can become mermaids via gameplay or you can make one in CAS           (they are under the occult life states menu)    🌴 There are a ton of new customization options for mermaids in CAS,           including eyes, tail shapes and textures, teeth, tops that match the tails.    🌴 Instead of a hygiene bar, mermaids have a hydration bar that will slowly           drop the longer they are out of water    🌴 Mermaids who spend too long out of water might get a cramp, or a           sudden chill, or get very tired if their hydration becomes too low    🌴 You can raise their hydration by having them drink a glass of water, take a           shower, go out in the rain, splash about under a waterfall, or have a bath    🌴 If your mermaid decides to have a bath (even a bubble bath) their tail will           reappear and hang over the side of the tub!    🌴 There was no mention of whether or not mermaids tails reappear when           they’re in a pool but I would assume so?    🌴 Mermaids can give birth to Merbabies!    🌴 While Merbabies can be born, Merchildren won’t manifest into their tales           and power until they’re teens    🌴 Mermaids have some pretty cool powers               - Siren Lullaby - Sing one of the four different siren songs to a                   human sim to provide them with a moodlet… for good or bad is up                   to you               - Summon Ocean Threat - Will drag a sim underwater and drain the                   needs of a human sim to a dangerously low level. If done on a sim                   with already low needs, this may lead to death               - If you have Seasons installed, your mermaid can summon a                   thunderstorm               - There are more but they didn’t have time to show us them all

   🌴 Using powers will drain your mermaids hydration quicker    🌴 Mermaids have their own cool little plumbob, similar to aliens and           vampires    🌴 If you’re sick of being a Mermaid (we can’t be friends anymore), you can          find some special kelp to help you with that

OCEAN SWIMMING

   🌴 Sims can now swim in the ocean!    🌴 Ocean swimming is only possible in Sulani, not other worlds BUT the           Gurus did say that extending ocean swimming to the rest of the worlds is           not off the table just yet and may come at a later date. They just really           wanted to nail it for Island Living before even thinking about making it           possible in other worlds.    🌴 Toddlers can’t swim (obviously) but there are little shallow areas of the           ocean they can sit in and splash around    🌴 If you have Cats & Dogs installed your pets will also be able to swim in the           ocean    🌴 Sims will receive moodlets depending on what’s happening while they           swim. Eg. If they see a shark, or a beautiful sunset    🌴 Sometimes while your sims are in the ocean, they might think they see a           shark… they might be right, they might not. Either way, I wouldn’t stick           around to find out!

SNORKELING + SCUBA DIVING

   🌴 Sims can snorkel around Sulani’s reefs and shallows    🌴 Snorkeling is fully animated    🌴 Sims can also scuba dive by clicking on a buoy and paying the fee for           scuba gear    🌴 Scuba diving is a rabbit hole activity, there a no animations    🌴 Sims can take photos underwater whilst snorkeling and diving and keep           them as souvenirs    🌴 There may be treasures and a secret area to be found whilst diving as           well but don’t quote me on that, I was distracted by my cat jumping on           my keyboard at the time lol

DOLPHINS

   🌴 Your sims can now befriend a dolphin!    🌴 Dolphins can be found playing around buoys (possibly only twice a day?)    🌴 Sims can work on friendship with dolphins by feeding them fish, playing           with them, and teaching them tricks.    🌴 They can even be renamed so you know exactly which dolphin is your           friend

BOATS

   🌴 Outrigger Canoe               - Sims can fish off the edge of them, nap in them, and they are able to                   be dragged into your sims inventory

   🌴 Aqua zip (jet ski)               - Sims can do tricks on the Aqua Zip. The higher your sims fitness skill,                   the better tricks they can do. Aqua Zips can also be dragged into                   your sims inventory

LOUNGERS + BEACH TOWELS

   🌴 Your sims can now relax and sunbathe on the beach (or at home) in           lounge chairs and on beach towels    🌴 One lounge chair will also be available for free in an upcoming base game           update    🌴 Floating loungers are also coming with Island Living. They have similar           interaction to regular lounge chairs but  sims can also sunbathe nude on           floating loungers and can be splashed by other sims in the water. They           can also be used in pools!    🌴 All loungers, floating and non, and towels are able to be dragged into           your sims inventory and taken with them

TANNING + SUNBURN

   🌴 Tanning and sunburns are exclusive to Island Living    🌴 You can “opt-in” to have your sim tan or sunburn using a float lounger,           lounge chair or beach towel    🌴 Tans and sunburns will take into account what your sim is wearing at the           time    🌴 Mischievous sims can also “sabotage” sims who fall asleep in the sun with           some strategically placed lotion. These “sabotaged” sunburn patterns           are completely random and there may be some funny little easter eggs in           there

VOLCANOES + WATERFALLS

   🌴 The natural island of Mua Pel’Am is home to an active volcano and your           most adventurous sims can even live right next to it if they want    🌴 There is also a gorgeous waterfall on the natural island of Mua Pel’Am           that is not only very romantic (wink wink), but also can be used as a           shower by sims living off the grid

CONSERVATION

   🌴 Your sims will be able to clean up the beaches of Sulani, which will impact           the rest of the islands    🌴 At max level conservation the scenery of the islands change to be more           beautiful, more wildlife (butterflies, turtles etc) will show up, and you           might even see some bio-luminescent algae floating around in the ocean    🌴 There was mention of a special turtle hatching event but I’m not sure if it           has to do with the conservation level or not

HARVESTABLES + COLLECTABLES

   🌴 Coconut    🌴 Pineapple    🌴 Taro    🌴 Kava    🌴 Several new fish

DEATHS

   🌴 Lava bombs are hot    🌴 Look out for sharks    🌴 Mermaids are beautiful but accidents happen

WOOHOO

   🌴 I hear the waterfall over on Mua Pel’Am is a very romantic spot…

FANS

   🌴 Coming soon with a free update, ceiling fans will now not only be able to           be switched on and off, but they will also cool things down on hot days           and dry off wet sims

Create-A-Sim

I think most of what’s in CAS was covered in the trailer and during the announcement from EA Play, and we really didn’t get much of a look at it during the private stream, but from what I did see there’s a lot of amazing stuff!

The only thing I can say for sure is that as per usual, the male options are lacking and a little lackluster compared to the female options. I also don’t think there’s much in the way of clothes and hairs for kids and toddlers either 😟

Build/Buy

There is TONS of beautiful new Polynesian and Pacific Island inspired build/buy stuff, some of which I’ve already listed above, so I can’t list them all but here’s a few that don’t really fit into any other category but were specifically mentioned by the Gurus during the stream or just plain caught my eye

   🌴 A beautiful new island-themed wedding arch made with palm leaves and           tropical flowers and urgh! Just trust me, it’s beautiful!    🌴 Sandcastles!    🌴 A grill pit, that gets covered with palm leaves while it’s cooking    🌴 So many new island plants (hopefully they’re in debug 🤞)    🌴 A new island speaker (for community lots I assume) with all new Island           Living music    🌴 Glass floors! They’re not actual flooring like carpets and tiles though,           they’re more like the Get Together dance floors where you just place           them on the floor and you can see through them.    🌴 Stilted foundations! FINALLY!! They can be placed on any lot, not just           ocean lots!    🌴 There was a ladder shown in the trailers that I know many people were           very excited about, however it acts more like a diving board than an           actual ladder you can use between house floors. If you place it on the           edge of a deck, your sims will jump off the deck straight into the water.           But that doesn’t stop you from pretending it’s an actual ladder 😉    🌴 This isn’t an object but I didn’t know where else to put it - Pools can’t be           built on the ground floor of lots built on the ocean. I didn’t catch why but           I’m assuming it would interfere too much with the ocean itself. I also           assume they can be built on any floors above the ground floor though.

Animations

This is probably not that interesting to a lot of people but I’m fascinated by a lot of the animations that are created for this game and with this pack it’s really clear the team put a lot of effort into even just the smallest of animations so I wanted to point out some of my favourites that I saw in the stream

   🌴 There is a new walk style/animation for when your sims are           entering/exiting the ocean. Just like real life they will slow down and kind           of struggle to move through the shallow water until they’re deep enough           to swim or walk up onto the sand    🌴 There are different swim styles if your sim needs to get somewhere faster           (similar to jogging instead of walking) that also use less energy than the           standard speed    🌴 There is a bunch of cool new animations added for when sims are           multitasking swimming with other things, like talking, flirting, and even           kissing in the ocean!    🌴 The mermaid tail animations in general are so smooth and organic, it’s           beautiful! Whether they’re swimming in the ocean, jumping in and out of           water, or just lounging in a bath tub; the team really outdid themselves           with the animations for the tails!    🌴 Speaking of mermaids, there’s an option whilst swimming to “Mermaid           Kiss”! I don’t know if it’s available for human sims but it looks very cute           and sweet when performed by two mermaids!    🌴 Not only do the floating loungers float, but they also drift! They slowly           move around and drift back and forth with the waves just like a real           floating lounger would!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

So i made this here post about how satisfying making my own bread is, and, by my 300 followers, 6 notes on a good day, 0 on personal post standards, it went viral. So i thought I’d give you guys the recipe. It’s a mashup of this recipe, my own shit, and an idea from another recipe that i can’t find again to give them credit. Since i only took proportions from the first one i’m calling this my own recipe. I’m also going to go a bit into bread baking tips and tricks just in case this is your first time making bread and you want to get started on that cottagecore life. Now go bake some fine ass cinnamon rolls folks! ( @good-vibes-by-noel this here’s for you!)

Photo sucks but i couldnt get a better one because they didn’t last the night. Whoops! This is what they’ll look like though!

Time: like 2 hours, give or take, but you can do other shit during most of that.

Makes: 12, frankly giant, cinnamon rolls. good luck eating more than 2 at a time, seriously.

Ingredients: 

The Rolls:

1 cup warm milk (microwave in a mug for a minute and you are good. Any milk is fine, but i used fat free)

1 tablespoon dry instant yeast (about one and a quarter packets, but one should be fine, you just might need to extend rising times if it’s not working well)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup (1 stick) and 3 tablespoons of melted butter (*** VERY IMPORTANT - melt the 3tbs and the 1/2 cup SEPARATELY or you’ll throw everything off.)

1 large egg

3 cups all-purpose flour (bread flour works too

1 cup brown sugar 

2 tablespoons cinnamon (yes the big ones) 

The Icing:

1 cup of icing (powdered) sugar (Starting point - I’ll explain later))

1 Tablespoon of milk  (Starting point)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

 I added lots of bread fun facts to help you guys with other bread making endeavors, so it got long and is now under the cut!

Activate the yeast. Warm the milk up for a minute in the microwave, and mix that, the white sugar, and the yeast together. leave to rest for 5-10 minutes. you want it to look like the photo on the bottom, but if it isn’t as good, don’t freak out because you’ll be fine. Mine never look that good tbh, there’s a reason i was so proud. Bread Fun Fact: Less of a fun fact then just some advice, but buy the bulk jars of instant yeast. They keep forever in the fridge (always store yeast in the fridge btw) and are so much cheaper than buying packets. if you intend to make bread a lot, it’s the best way to save money. Plus, most recipes give tablespoon/teaspoon amounts, not packet amounts.

Once it looks all nice and foamy, add in the flour. On top of the flour, add the salt, egg, and 3 tablespoons of butter. You need to keep these as separate from the yeast as you can until you begin mixing - especially the salt, which will outright kill it. Always keep the salt and yeast separate guys!! Bread Fun Fact: Because you are adding eggs, butter, and milk instead of water, this type of bread is called an enriched bread. These breads are softer, fluffier, usually sweeter, and more complicated as they can take longer to rise. Yay! Doughs without these things are called Lean breads and include ciabatta, focaccia, and baguettes i think.

Mix and knead the dough. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook (the one that looks like Captain Hook got robbed), and mix it together until the dough forms on medium, then crank it for like 5 minutes on medium-high. If you are making this at 7 in the morning like i was and can’t wake people up, mix it by hand until combined, then knead for 10 ish minutes to build up the gluten strands on a clean table dusted with a bit of flour. The best method I’ve found is to stretch it out with the heel of your hand, roll it up, then rotate and repeat. Over and over and over.... Bread Fun Fact: You can tell you’ve done enough kneading by using the Window Pane Test. If you can stretch the dough far enough that you can see light through it without it breaking, then you’ve got enough gluten. That or go until it doesn’t look like it’s got cellulite anymore and is nice and smooth. The other test is if it bounces back when you poke it a bit. Also, when helping with kneading, for enriched breads use flour, for lean breads use oil!

Now comes the waiting. Grease the bowl you mixed in with some butter, and plop the ball of dough in. Cover with tight plastic to prevent air getting in (and creating a crusty skin that will inhibit rising), and a clean towel, and leave in a patch of sun or a warm place for 1 hour to rise. 

Before you go play video games/do work/fuck around, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and melt the 1/2 cup of butter. Now go have fun.

When you get back, you should have a big bowl of risen dough. Now punch the sucker. Yes, you heard me, punch it. It’s called knocking it back and is absolutely essential in dough making. Now, pat the dough out into a 12 inch by 18 inch rectangle, approximately. Don’t use a rolling pin because it’ll mess the air up. Put about a quarter of the melted butter over the top, and then however much of the brown sugar - cinnamon mix you feel like (i put enough so that, when patted down a bit, it covered the whole thing evenly.) 

Roll the rectangle up along the longer edge. It helps to tack down one side by smearing it a bit onto the table. it just makes it easier to get a tight roll and helps the seam idk. Cut off the edges to get a clean roll, then cut 12 rolls, about an inch each or so. Bread Fun Fact: If you use a sharp knife, you are going to smush your rolls. The better way is to get tooth floss, though i highly advise not a mint one. Push it under the roll where you want the cut, cross over the two ends in your hands, and pull until you’ve sliced off the roll. makes it much neater and not smushy. 

Pour the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture and butter into the bottom of a 13in by 9in pan, be it glass, metal, whatever you have is fine. Mix it together and make sure the sludge of deliciousness covers the whole bottom. Plop each off the rolls in there, in a 3 by 4 set up, cover with plastic and the towel, leave in sun, and go fuck off for a half hour or so. Honestly i never leave it that long because mine always get massive, so for me it’s always more like 15-20 minutes. Really just wait till they balloon up and fill the pan a bunch, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect because they’ll grow again in the oven. 

At some point while they are rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit). When you deem them risen enough and the oven is fully heated (YOU REALLY DO WANT TO PREHEAT IT THIS TIME GUYS TRUST ME ON THIS. if you dont you’ll probably burn your bread before it’s cooked), and bake for about 20-30 minutes. i know that’s a big iffy point, but pretty much just keep checking after around 20 minutes until they are colored brown on top and smell like heaven. (i’m going to be really honest with you, I’ve never baked them at 350 degrees, only at 325 like the recipe for the dough said, but that recipe is a liar because it took me a solid 30 minutes or more when it said that it should take 14. The op was eating undercooked bread guys. So do 350, but i can’t honestly tell you the right timing because i’ve only turned it up halfway through before) Bread Fun Fact: Because enriched breads, like this recipe, have more sugar than lean breads do, they can sometimes catch in the oven - or color too quickly and burn, when the inside still needs to cook. if this happens, you can always give them a little tin foil hat wherever it’s catching to prevent more coloring while not hindering cooking!

While it’s baking, mix together the icing. The amounts i gave are a starting point, because the icing is something you feel with your heart. add more sugar or more milk until you think you have enough for all 12 rolls and its the consistency you want. I made mine fairly thick so it wouldnt sink in and make the dough soggy, but i also made a shit ton because my family loves the icing. So go with the flow. 

When the cinnamon rolls are done, put the icing on and serve warm! Congrats, you’ve made cinnamon rolls entirely homemade, and you’ve now learned some basic bread making facts!! yay!!!

WRW ‘19 Day 3: Breathless

“Weiss! I’m back!” Ruby called out, closing their door and tossing her keys into a bowl. “I have snacks!”

The sound of a cabinet closing told Ruby where to go as she skipped down the hall, poking her head through the entryway of their kitchen. Weiss was just finishing putting away plates and glasses, turning around to face Ruby once she was done.

“How was your middle school reunion?” she asked as Ruby came in and placed a bag on the counter. Ruby skirted around to place a kiss to Weiss’ lips which she happily sighed into.

“Tons of fun! It was nice seeing everyone from Patch after all this time,” Ruby responded after separating. She took her phone out to show Weiss some photos, letting her girlfriend scroll through at her own pace. “A lot of them actually moved out of the area and have been running their own businesses or starting families or just traveling. Can you believe that they thought I was lying when I said I was dating you?”

Weiss snickered as she imagined the looks of disbelief on Ruby’s old classmates’ faces. “It must’ve been very satisfying when you proved them wrong.”

“You’re dang right it was! I showed them a picture of us when we were visiting with Blake in Menagerie and they wouldn’t stop pestering me about you after that!” Ruby’s mind wandered back to the summer of last year when they spent a week on the tropical island. Weiss and heat did not pair well together, so she was always overheating and required many ice treats throughout their stay. She also wore skin-revealing clothing for the majority of their outdoor activities. Ruby hadn’t complained one bit about that.

Weiss broke her trip down memory lane by poking around the plastic bag she’d plopped between them. “You said you brought snacks?”

“Oh! Yeah! One of my friends is a baker and she brought a few things to share,” Ruby explained excitedly, pulling out some takeout boxes. “I didn’t have a chance to taste them yet. I was in a rush and sort of shoved them all into these. We should visit her in Vale next time!”

Ruby opened all the boxes and each had small portions of pastries, pies, and cakes crammed together. Weiss couldn’t really tell what was what, so she had to trust Ruby’s guidance as her girlfriend reached out for a fork, which Weiss easily handed to her. If only her cake butler were around to help.

“Are you really going to try them all now? It’s nearly eleven at night,” Weiss pointed out. She leaned an elbow on the counter, her chin resting in her palm, as she watched Ruby’s eyes dart between pastries and pies. “You’re already so full of sugar, anyway.”

“How else do you think I’m so sweet?” Ruby teased with her tongue sticking out. “It’s what charmed you in the first place.”

“I’ll think of a comeback to that later,” Weiss said with a roll of her eyes and a small smile. She then flicked Ruby’s forehead. “Don’t have too much. I won’t be able to sleep if you’re just vibrating from all the energy.”

The brunette wasn’t hurt in the slightest by the attack and just stuck her fork into the first chocolate-like item she saw. Once in her mouth, she instantly gushed about how delicious it was. “Are you sure you don’t want any?” she asked as she took a chunk of a pie. Ruby held it out in front of Weiss’ face, carefully waving the treat up and down.

Weiss was prepared to decline, but the puppy-dog eyes that Ruby was blinking at her almost instantly broke her will. Her grinning girlfriend knew all of her weaknesses and her silver eyes was one of them. She sighed in defeat. “After all this time, I’m still unable to not follow your ridiculous plans.”

“They always work, that’s why!” Ruby said triumphantly. She let Weiss take the bite off of her fork before going back for the rest of the pie. It took a few chews to recognize the taste of apple. “I wonder if she has anything seasonal at her shop right now. It’s almost fall!”

“Yes, everything will be pumpkin-flavored, I’m sure,” Weiss responded before clearing her throat, suddenly finding it itchy. She absentmindedly started to scratch the side of her neck. “Well, as soon as you’re done sampling, make sure you put them away properly. The last thing I’d want to wake up to is mice running on the counters. Again.”

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. She nodded as she bit into a cookie next. “You got it!”

Weiss smiled before walking around the counter to Ruby’s side, brushing some stray crumbs from around her mouth before kissing her. “Then I’m getting ready for bed. See you upstairs soon, I hope.”

Ruby watched with a dopey grin as Weiss walked out the kitchen and towards the stairs. She had only a couple more pastry pieces before she made true to her promise of packing up the boxes and then stacking them in the fridge for tomorrow. A few minutes later, as she was turning off the kitchen light, she heard a thud from upstairs.

“Weiss? What was that?” Ruby called out, nervousness settling in her stomach. “Are you ok?” When she didn’t hear an immediate response, she bolted up the stairs and into their bedroom, finding Weiss collapsed on her side on the floor. Her hair splayed out like spilled moonlight with a complexion to match as she weakly reached out for Ruby.

“Weiss!”

Ruby practically teleported to her girlfriend’s side, cradling her in her lap as she tried to stay calm. Weiss was heaving for breath, each one clipped and short, coming out in painful-sounding wheezes. Her eyes were open wide in fear as she focused on Ruby hovering above her with an equally-as-scared expression.

“W-Weiss, what’s happening? W-W-What do I--?” Ruby was nearly in tears at seeing her suffer. She was panicking.

Weiss lifted a shaky hand to her own throat, trying to tell Ruby what was wrong. A breathless word came from her mouth and she choked.

In an instant, Ruby knew what was wrong and how it happened.

Apples.

Weiss was allergic to apples. How could Ruby forget? A wave of intense guilt washed over her for not checking what kind of pastries she’d brought home. Even a small amount of the fruit would be enough to send Weiss into a state of shock and Ruby was the one who gave it to her.

Another choking gasp from her lap brought Ruby out of her self-scolding as she remembered what to do. Gently lying Weiss down on the floor as quickly as she could, she jumped over to their nightstand and tugged open the drawer. Thankfully, Weiss was a very organized person and Ruby found exactly what she needed in less than a second: an epinephrine injection.

Flying back to Weiss’ side, Ruby readied the pen, pulling the top cap off and falling to her knees, one on each side of Weiss’ legs. She grasped the pen firmly in her hand and, without hesitation, stabbed it into Weiss’ thigh. If her girlfriend felt the needle, then she didn’t show it, which relieved Ruby by a fraction as she counted to three in her head. She removed the pen and then tossed it to the side with one hand while the other gently massaged the area she just stabbed.

Weiss let out a feeble breath, but it was considerably much easier than a few seconds ago. She closed her eyes as she tried to relax a little bit, focusing first on her breathing. She hadn’t had an attack like that in years. Now she had to remember to get a replacement pen, just in case. She felt a timid hand brush some hair from her face and she reopened her eyes to Ruby’s full of tears.

“Ruby…”

Weiss’ voice was barely above a whisper, but the brunette heard it loud and clear. Ruby let out a sob as she brought Weiss back into her lap, holding her close. She buried her face into Weiss’ neck, feeling her pulse barely start to return to normal.

“I’m sorry…” she apologized with a hiccup. “I didn’t think -- I forgot and I -- I’m so sorry, Weiss…”

“Ruby...it wasn’t your fault,” Weiss responded, still trying to catch her breath, but feeling better. She managed to bring a hand up to cradle the back of Ruby’s head, gently stroking her hair. “You saved me, technically speaking.” She pressed a kiss to Ruby’s cheek to placate her. “I’ll be fine...but I still need to go to the hospital.”

The younger girl gave a sniffle before rubbing the tears away from her eyes. “R-Right, yeah, I’ll call an ambulance. Weiss, I’m --”

“You can apologize to me later,” Weiss chided her, suddenly feeling the fatigue from this ordeal. She let out a careful sigh. “Just...make sure I’m still breathing.”

“Don’t make jokes right now!” Ruby whimpered, her finger hovering just over her phone’s ‘call’ button. 

Weiss gave the barest of smirks. She made sure she had Ruby’s attention before she called for an ambulance. If she were to die from making this joke, then it was worth it. Maybe.

“Remember earlier...when I said I’d think of a comeback? Well… Ruby Rose, you leave me breathless.”

==========

This came about from my headcanon that Weiss is actually very allergic to apples. Considering she’s based on Snow White, I thought it matched pretty appropriately if it put her in a life-or-death situation. I also had to research allergic reactions and how EpiPens work, so that was cool. I hope it’s accurate!