#to actually solve the problems the country faces

[probablyasocialecologist]

Saito has made a career of teasing out an eco-theory from the late, unpublished writings of Karl Marx. He earned his doctorate at Humboldt University, in Berlin, and now teaches philosophy at the University of Tokyo. His first book was an English version of his dissertation, titled “Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism” (2017), which tracked Marx’s study of the physical world and communal agricultural practices. (Saito is fluent in Japanese, German, and English.) In a second academic book, “Marx in the Anthropocene” (2022), Saito drew on an expanded repertoire of Marx’s unpublished notebooks to argue for a theory of “degrowth communism.” He gained a following, not only in philosophical circles but among a Japanese public facing the contradictions of tsunamis, billionaires, and same-day shipping. “Slow Down” has sold more than half a million copies in Japan and launched Saito into a rare academic celebrity. He appears regularly on Japanese television and aspires to the public-intellectual status of Thomas Piketty, the French economist who had a surprise hit in his 2013 doorstop, “Capital in the Twenty-first Century.”

The key insight, or provocation, of “Slow Down” is to give the lie to we-can-have-it-all green capitalism. Saito highlights the Netherlands Fallacy, named for that country’s illusory attainment of both high living standards and low levels of pollution—a reality achieved by displacing externalities. It’s foolish to believe that “the Global North has solved its environmental problems simply through technological advancements and economic growth,” Saito writes. What the North actually did was off-load the “negative by-products of economic development—resource extraction, waste disposal, and the like” onto the Global South.

If we’re serious about surviving our planetary crisis, Saito argues, then we must abandon capitalism, with its insatiable appetites. We must reject the ever-upward logic of gross domestic product, or G.D.P. (a combination of government spending, imports and exports, investments, and personal consumption). We will not be saved by a “green” economy of electric cars or geo-engineered skies. Slowing down—to a carbon footprint on the level of Europe and the U.S. in the nineteen-seventies—would mean less work and less clutter, he writes. Our kids may not make it, otherwise.

#kohei saito #degrowth #degrowth communism

[decolonize-the-left]

I hate democrats with all my very heart but I can't in good faith advise to vote 3rd party in these hell years when they would see every trans person hang and be off hormones. When the transphobia is not at its height (Eg, like. a few years ago) I would 100% agree with you, but the stakes are too high. If the states falls to transphobia, even more countries will follow it. I think it's harmful to consider not voting D this upcoming election. Once they got off tihs current bend, I could get behind where you are coming from.

"this is helpful and not lacking critical analysis at all"

"if the states fall to transphobia"

Where have you been?

GA & VA are blue states this year btw. It's gotten worse since May and and April, too. The mid terms didn't save anyone.

Also if you, the person reading this, have considered voting 3rd party pls know it's not nearly as unpopular or as unlikely of a win as Democrats want you to think it is.

People would vote for a good 3rd party candidate, actually.

Dems convincing you its a long shot is absolutely a self-preserving psyop hoping to convince you otherwise. Its a half-assed theory that blatantly denies what we learned from 2016 and can still see in polls.

And that's 3rd party candidates stand a shot of they can get in the primaries for the general election. People want progressives. People were pissed and turned to voting for Trump when Sanders fell out- not Clinton.

They need and want another option and it's not a long shot or unlikely. They just need to make it to the primaries.

Enter Cornel West

Cornel West is not running as a Democrat and thus does not need to battle Biden for a spot on the general ballot in November of 2024....

✨ Which gives you and all your friends plenty of time to learn about him ✨

So here are some of his policies and also his campaign site

I'm a decolonial anarchist that hates the state and sees voting as nothing as upholding the state. I make no room for Democrats because Democrats lack the ambition to challenge anything about it.

But unless Cornel West drops out or ends up being some awful closeted abused... Im going to vote for him.

A lot of his politics and campaign goals align with my politics. I wouldn't feel like I was settling if I voted for him.

And a lot of this stuff isn't unreasonable or unrealistic either. Like I just made a post about how the NDAA budget proposal for 2024 is being increased with enough money to solve clean water, homelessness, and implement free college tuition for the whole USA. And Republicans are fighting for more.

And that's just the budget for two years, it'll probably be increased by another hundred billion in a couple years. Nobody blinks when the military budget is swelling like that.

But we should when we can be using that kind of money to solve real problems that real people are having and face and would change lives literally overnight. They just throw that money at the military where most of us never see it again.

But this stuff can be real.

#asked #answered #electoral politics #cornel west #2024 election #usa election #us voters #democrats #liberals #leftist #anarchist #socialist #libertarian #communist #workers rights #trans rights #queer rights #disability rights #direct action #mutual aid #lgbt #indigenous #ndn #biden #usa polls #politics #capitalism #human rights #climate change #ndaa

[sstan-hoe]

𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — lloyd hansen x fem!reader

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — you get into a fight with Lloyd because once again he got too overprotective/jealous which ends up in you ignoring him, but he try everything, and I mean everything to get you to talk to him

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 — SMUT, oral sex, praise kink, choking, mention of killing, idk what else, minors dni

𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 — sooo we have a beautiful lloyd hansen here who will do everything for you just so you aren't mad at him anymore...@georgiapeach30513, follow @sstanhoe-updates to get notifications everytime I post!!!! It's literally 2:25 am in my country right now and I'm tired as fuck but wanted to finish this so sorry for any errors or whatever, like, comment and reblog!

The moment you entered a relationship with Lloyd Hansen – actually even before that – you knew that he was a jealous and overprotective person. That it would be this bad or get out of control you never expected.

“I was just talking to him Lloyd!” you shouted while strutting through the door of your shared home. Lloyd was right behind you having the same pissed expression on his face as you. “First of all, he was way too close, he undressed you with his eyes and when you backed off, he came even closer.”

Lloyd wasn’t completely wrong, you were uncomfortable, and the man didn’t listen however, “that doesn't mean you have to kill him.” It also wasn’t the first time either.

“You were overreacting,” you added as you walked in the kitchen with Lloyd hot on your heels. “Overreacting? Bold of you to say, aren’t you overreacting right now? I kill people for a living and that doesn’t seem to faze you though.”

“Well, I can’t really tell you to stop,” he was right it didn’t faze you but to you there was a difference between acting out of jealousy and acting because it is your job, “it’s your job after all.”

“It is also my job to protect you,” Lloyd argued. Your back was turned to him while you tried to distract yourself with cleaning the kitchen isle. His hands grabbed your waist firmly turning you around to face him. You looked up into his blue eyes, they were like an ocean consuming you, letting you get lost in their beauty.

“That may be what you’re thinking, but that doesn't justify your actions…there is a difference between telling someone off and killing him,” you sigh. Lloyd gently took your chin between his fingers.

“Sunshine, I would do everything for you.” No, no you had to stay strong, that was the only way he would learn his lesson.

“Well then stop killing people that aren’t part of your job,” with that you wiggled out of his arms walking away. “I just told you protecting you is my job!” His words went ignored by you as you loudly shut the door of the bedroom.

Lloyd sighed to himself rubbing his temple. Of course, he knew what he did was wrong, but he couldn’t control himself around you and certainly not when a man flirted with you or made you uncomfortable.

You buried your face in your hands as you sat down on the bed. You needed a battle plan, Lloyd needed to learn that he couldn’t just kill someone for flirting with you or making you uncomfortable. Yes, that person needed to be punished as well but isn’t sitting in jail worse?

Death was a blessing, jail a punishment and what if he had family?

A soft knock on the door pulled you from your thoughts, “sunshine I’m sorry, can we please make up?” Lloyd’s voice called through the door. ‘Make up’ meant sex and while make up sex was a great thing most of the time the problem wasn’t completely solved.

So, this time no make up sex. You didn’t answer him, you just laid down on your side of the bed trying to ignore his voice.

You heard how he opened the door a few minutes later, “sunshine I’m really sorry, please.”

He acted like a kicked puppy, you rolled your eyes because he always did this, and you always forgave him then seconds later he would be on his knees eating you out.

You felt the bed shift as he sat down. Lloyd lovingly put his hand on the curve of your waist wanting to turn you around, but you stopped him by taking his wrist and removing his hand from you.

Lloyd let you. That was one thing you were incredibly grateful for, Lloyd never pushed you or forced you into anything and if you didn’t want him to touch you right now that he wouldn’t.

“I’ll make you something for dinner, the pasta that you like so much.” You knew Lloyd hated cooking however you loved his pasta, you didn’t know what it was that he did, but his noodles always tasted better than yours.

“She can be lucky I love her…” “I didn’t even do anything wrong, I was protecting her.” “Yeah, maybe a bit much but that asshole deserved it.”

A small giggle escaped your lips as you heard Lloyds muffled complaints. You didn’t exactly know what he was doing until fifteen minutes later he appeared in the room again with a bowl of spaghetti topped with tomato sauce and basil. It smelled delicious.

Lloyd rounded the bed and put the bowl on the nightstand, “I made your favourite pasta.”

You ignored him which hurt him, but he didn’t act like it, “least you could do is say ‘thank you Lloyd for being such a great boyfriend’.”

Typical Lloyd. Normally you would thank him with a blowjob for making you your pasta, but you weren’t in the mood for that right now hence why he said ‘at least’. He waited for few seconds, then sighed and left.

Waiting until the door closed you sat up taking the bowl in your lap and began eating. A moan left you lips as you tasted the pasta which was as delicious as ever.

Lloyd who stood on the other side of the door and heard you, had a grin on his face. He knew you couldn’t resist him for long when he made you the pasta.

Well, he shouldn’t have said that too early.

The evening came and you still hadn’t left the room which confused Lloyd but the moment he looked inside the bedroom he knew why. You were asleep, the bowl being empty stood on the nightstand.

He shook his head and went back to the kitchen where he finished up cleaning. The left-over pasta was put in one portion container and got refrigerated.

The next morning came, and you laid cuddled up in your bed, the soft blanket and cushions hugging you like a cocoon. Lloyd was right next to you having nothing but a pillow under his head.

You were a blanket stealer and felt guilty everytime you noticed that you stole the blanket. So even on his day off he woke up earlier than you and gently took his blanket back and when you woke up you were happy you didn’t steal his blanket once again.

This morning was no different. He opened his eyes rubbing out the sleep, his body turned towards you. Smiling softly as he observed your sleeping form, never in his life had he seen someone, something as beautiful as you.

After taking the blanket he went back to sleep.

Only an hour later you woke up, just like Lloyd you turned around to face him or well the empty side of the bed.

His absence gave you time to rethink the past day and how this one would go depended on you boyfriend.

Your plan on ignoring him would continue until he properly apologized or until you saw him suffering enough.

With a yawn you got out of bed. You walked over to the mirror looking at your reflection.

God, you hoped your plan would work and Lloyd wouldn’t fuck you over the kitchen counter. You were only wearing his shirt and a thong.

Taking a deep breath, you walked into the kitchen were he was standing making breakfast in only his boxers. His back was facing giving you the perfect view on his ass, as he moved around his ass perfect with him causing you to bite your lip.

He heard you coming in and turned around, just in time you changed your expression into a blank stare.

“Good morning sunshine,” he grinned at you, but your expression didn’t change. “Oh, come on you’re still mad at me?”

Without saying a thing, you sat down on the table where he had already set the table.

“What do you want to do today? I have nothing on my plate today, we could go for a walk in the park, bake some cookies…” you raised a brow at his proposals. Lifting your fork, you gestured to the rainy weather outside as he mentioned the walk.

His eyes drifted to the window, “yeah maybe no walk but…you said your back was hurting, I could give you a massage!” Lloyd said with enthusiasm.

You looked at him sceptical, but he was already on his feet taking your hand to lead you to the living room. “You strip and lay there while I get the oil,” he instructed you. Shrugging you did as he told.

A minute later Lloyd was back with the oil in hand. He let it flow down your back and then gently rubbed it in. Kneading your soft skin at your back down around the waist.

It felt good, so good that a sigh escaped your lips as he pressed his thumbs down and whatever he hit was damn good. His hands moved up caressing your skin before manipulating the muscles in your shoulders until he heard a satisfying pop.

A gasp came past your lips, feeling the knot dissolve. “That one was good, wasn't sunshine?”

You tried to nod your head on the pillow. Lloyd moved his hands back down to your ass, kneading the flesh with pleasure.

He rested his head on your shoulder, right next to your ear. “Don’t think I didn't notice you staring at my ass this morning...,” he whispered, the edge of his moustache tickling against the shell of your ear.

Lloyd gave your ass a spank causing your body to jump up in fright, you weren't expecting that.

No, well actually with Lloyd you never know.

You bumped your head against Lloyd's making him lift his head, “that wasn't nice,” he muttered rubbing the side of his head though you both knew it didn't hurt him.

You stood up – completely naked – and walked back to the bedroom to get dressed.

Lloyd was left behind. He sat down on the couch running a hand over his face trying to think of something that would make you talk to him.

“I made her the pasta, made her breakfast, gave her a massage...what else can I do? Well she won't let me eat her out in that state, but that could do it though I need something to get her there,” he thought out loud.

Lloyd went through everything he could think of; new clothes, a purse, shoes, jewellery, a trip to Disneyland but he would say yes to everything of that so what could it be?

“Oh, what the shit,” he cursed as it downed on him. You always wanted a cat, a Maine Coon specifically and he always said no.

With a deep, very deep sigh he pulled his phone from the couch table, searching for a Maine Coon kitten on the Internet. To his surprise, he actually found a cat that he could get today, but he needed cat things.

Okay; he could get the scratch tree tomorrow with you – if the plan worked –, just like another water bowl and the cat toys. Lloyd already knew you would spoil the cat.

“Sunshine I’m going grocery shopping!” He shouted through the apartment. You were still getting dressed and furrowed your brows. Didn't the two of you just go yesterday?

Lloyd drove to the pet store to buy a litter box, cat food – dry and wet –, two toys, a cat carrier, one food and water bowl, a blanket for the box and cat litter.

“Who knew a cat needed all that shit?” He said as he got in the car two hours and four hundred dollars later.

Instantly he drove to the address of the cat breeder. He rang the doorbell waiting impatiently.

An elderly woman with grey hair that was put in a bun opened the door, “you must be the man who wants to adopt the kitten today!” She said happily inviting him in.

“Yep, that's me...where is he?” Lloyd asked as he stepped inside the old home. The woman must have been living here for at least fifty years by the looks of it. “Here he is, the little cutie,” the woman came back with a light orange cat that was at least 80 centimetres from snout to tail.

“How old did you say was he?” Lloyd asked, did those cats really get this big?

“One year and a half, he will still grow a bit but he's fully vaccinated and sterilized so no need to worry.” She sat the cat down.

The cat had a long orange tail, his belly, chest, snout and the tip of his paws were shiny white, he had amber-coloured eyes that matched his fur perfectly and he had brush ears that made him look like a lynx.

Even Lloyd had to admit, that this cat is beautiful. “Does he already have a name?” “Yes, his name is Aramis,” she explained.

He got down on his knees to pet the cat and couldn't stop the smile on his soft lips, “yeah I'll take him.”

With that they gently put Aramis in the transportation box in which laid a blanket. The woman gave Lloyd a few treats for him as a gift, “how much for him?” was his last question.

“750 euros,” she stated. Lloyd cursed under his breath, that cat was expensive and god you could be happy he loved you.

After four hours Lloyd was finally back home and found you on the couch eating ice cream.

“Sunshine, I know you're mad and I can't apologise enough so I thought maybe I will gift you something.” He stood there proud of himself in the doorway while you looked at him a big question mark above your head.

With a big grin he opened the door wider revealing Aramis in his transportation box.

Your eyes widened in shook, he bought you a cat, a cat! A Maine Coon like you always wanted. Lloyd set his ego aside and bought you a cat.

Now you couldn’t stay mad anymore. You ran over to him jumping into his arms, “you got a cat, you got me freaking cat!” You squealed and pressed your lips to his.

He snaked his arms around your waist, pulling you against his chest. “I'm sorry for how I acted with the man, I will do better I promise. You are the most important person in my life and I would do everything for you sunshine.”

A miau broke your heartfelt moment and got you back to reality. You wiggled out of Lloyd's arms and opened the box while Lloyd closed the door.

“I've got his things in the car, be right back.”

As Lloyd went downstairs again you befriended the cat. Letting him explore the apartment and sniff on everything. The first thing your boyfriend brought was the litter and box so he could see where he had to go.

Next was the rest which Lloyd unpacked and put everywhere it fitted. The food not next to the water and the toys all around while you followed Aramis.

When he was finished, he found the two of you in the bedroom. “That is Aramis by the way and his one and a half years old, vaccinated and sterilized.” “When did you plan this?” You asked as you scratched Aramis head who was already purring with delight.

“after your massage today,” he shrugged. You laughed at his answer, typical.

“I have a really important question sunshine...can we have sex again? Not getting to taste you this night and in the morning was hell”

Quickly you covered Aramis ears, “shhh! You can't say this in front of him!”

Lloyd rolled his eyes, but let it be for the moment.

The day came to an end and Lloyd finally had you alone given that you spend the rest of the day with Aramis. He closed the bedroom door to prevent the cat from getting in.

You stood in front of the mirror taking of your bra as you got pushed back on the bed, “now sunshine, it's time you give me my pussy.”

Lloyd pulled down your panties and stroked over you cunt with hungry eyes. His fingers rubbed down your juicy folds, “'lread so wet, this all for me?” You gave a strained nod as he entered you with middle finger.

“Mhm, one would think that after all this time would be stretched out but you're still as tight as a virgin...” Lloyd grinned while he added his ring finger.

Exploring your cunt he reached places that you could never even attempt to. His thumb rubbed your clit, “doing so good for me sunshine...you're gonna cum from a bit of fingering?” yes, yes you were but before you could let the knot in you stomache go Lloyd pulled his hands from you.

“You only cum on my tounge and with my permission tonight.”

His words make you shudder as you try to hold back a whine at the empty feeling.

“Lloyd please, make me cum, taste me, eat me...fuck please do something,” he gave you that shit eating grin for those words and dipped instantly down burying his face between your legs.

His tongue laps at your cunt, making your back arch against the bed. A pornografic moan left your mouth as Lloyd fucked you deeper with his tongue.

“Just like that, Lloyd,” you whine, “never stop, please.”

He put the hand laced with you wetness around your throat, your moans turned into whines as you bucked your hips up chasing your release. “Can I cum please? Please let me cum!” “Not yet sunshine.”

“You have been such a good girl so far...don't ruin it now sunshine,”

Adding his fingers, his tongue moved to the bundle of nerves. Your walls tightened around his fingers letting him know you were close.

“Cum sunshine, cum for me...” and you did, it felt like a firework exploding in your stomache, your toes curled, lips parting into loud moan followed by a 'fuck Lloyd', your pussy clenching around his fingers.

You laid there panting with Lloyd next to when you heard a light scratch noise on the door, “Aramis! I have to let him in.”

Lloyd's hand catched your wrist, “but what about my dick?” You looked down his erected member in his boxers, “tomorrow yeah? It's his first night, I don't want him to be alone.” With that you let the cat in.

Aramis jumped on the bed laying down between you and Lloyd, “great now we can't even cuddle because of that assh–” “hey! you better watch your mouth, I will just put him to the side and lay in the middle but don't direct your anger at him.”

You squeezed yourself between the two and closed your eyes. In the meantime Lloyd had a staring contest with the orange cat, “you may be cute, but–” a fist hit his arm, breaking of his sentence.

“You better sleep now before you stay outside,” “Everything for you sunshine.”

When you woke up the next morning you saw Lloyd and Aramis cuddled up next to each other. Quickly you took your phone from the nightstand taking a picture.

#lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen smut #lloyd hansen x y/n #lloyd hansen #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen x black reader #lloyd hansen x fem!reader #lloyd hansen fic #lloyd hansen fanfiction #lloyd hansen fluff #lloyd hansen au #lloyd hansen angst #my bitch lloyd 👀

[lucid-loves]

Taste Like Venom ~ Simon "Ghost" Riley Part 3

Pairing: Ghost x assassin!reader (fem!reader, no use of y/n, callsign “Hex”)

Word Count: 3.7k

CW: angst, violence, blood, strong language, scars, enemies to friends to lovers trope, slow burn, fluff, clear attraction and sexual tension, smut later on, reader POV and ghost POV, minors dni, Soap lives in this AU

Let me know if I missed any CWs.

Story Synopsis: After Makarov gets away once again, Laswell decides to force a favor from you, the world’s greatest assassin and best-kept secret. You are now expected to help the 141 with taking down Makarov in addition to playing nice with them. It’s hard to play nice when you have always worked alone. It doesn’t help that one of the team members, Ghost, gets curious about you in each interaction. 

Chapter Synopsis: The great 141 road trip is fine in the beginning, but being on the road for eleven hours clearly gets to everyone, especially you. For once, Ghost tries to show you some genuine compassion without any ulterior motives. 

A/N: Thought that this would not only be a fun part to write, but also a breather to get to develop more character dynamics. Feel free to comment what you think each member of the 141 favorite music genre is! Including your own~

Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Part 7 ~ Part 8 ~ Part 9 ~ Part 10

Such a long drive was new territory for the boys. They were so used to helicopter rides, armored cars, and jets to take them where they needed to go fast. For their size and stature, the minivan was cramped, slightly rough on the road, and just plain weird. It took a few seat adjustments before everyone was as comfortable as they could be. Save for Gaz. He just prayed that a pit stop was coming soon and someone would be willing to switch seats with him.

For the first hour, the ride was noisy with conversation. Conversation that tried to reel you in. Price, looking through the front windshield, asked you a question. “How do you know where you’re going, Hex?”

“I’ve spent time memorizing road maps around the area. We’re taking a back road. A scenic route. Any other cars on the road would further see this minivan as a family road trip through the country.” You elaborated, your eyes steady on the road ahead. There were a lot of twists and turns on this route, but you knew that it would pay out in the end.

“Hidden in plain sight.” Soap added, his tone showing that he was a bit impressed with the logic of it all. Perhaps you knew what you were doing after all. Without you meaning to or doing anything extraordinary, the group was slowly starting to trust you and your judgment as evidenced by your creative planning. You were becoming quite the leader as well. But, you weren’t completely out of the woods yet. They still kept some of their guards up, just in case.

“There’s a method to the madness. Don’t underestimate the power of assumptions.” You advised, a word of advice that would hopefully stick with them after all of this was over. If they listened, perhaps some problems the world was facing could actually be solved. 

Soap pulled out his phone with the intention of making this trip more enjoyable. Making sure that his VPN you required was turned on, he began to browse through songs using his music app. Once he added his favorite songs, he passed it to his captain. “Whatever you want, Cap. No genre limits.”

Price took the phone and rubbed his chin for a second in thought, his brick-brown beard moving with his fingers. Eventually, he added some songs to the playlist. Once he was satisfied, he passed the phone to Gaz who lit up at the idea. “Now it’s gonna feel like a real road trip!”

A few more songs were added before the phone was passed all the way up to Ghost. Hesitantly, Ghost added his own favorite songs. His teammates knew him decently well. They’re even seen his face before under the mask. However, there were still things they were learning about when it came to his personal life. One of which was his favorite kind of music. Thankfully, he was willing to share that information, trusting his team more and more with each passing day. 

He looked at you when he was done, wondering if he should even offer. Having watched the interactions from the mirror, you decided to stay out of it. When Ghost was done, you just shook your head for a silent “no.” Simon imagined that you were rejecting the idea in your mind based on the warning look you gave him. Don’t even try. That made him really wonder what kind of music you liked. The records back home were incredibly diverse. But what was your favorite? Jazz? Metal?

The phone was passed back to Soap. It was quite a diverse playlist. He didn’t realize that his team had such different tastes, but it just made him excited to give it a listen. He connected it to the car’s bluetooth and hit the shuffle button. Ghost went ahead and switched the car to bluetooth mode for him. Almost immediately, the car filled up with music, starting with one of Price’s songs. 

Instead of tuning out, you tuned in. Very much so. Small details, even favorite songs, could say a lot about a person. You were learning about the men now. Not for the sake of potential friendship, no. For the sake of information for potential future manipulation if things went sideways. You always prepared for the worst, even when times seemed like the best. 

The discussion carried forward, now with the ease of real music in the background. Gaz decided to take the plunge and ask you a question. “So. . . Hex. . . You lived a long time out in the woods. How did you survive on your own? There doesn’t seem to be a grocery store for miles around.”

You adjusted your sitting position, trying to get comfier in the driver’s seat. If you were going to deal with this for most of the trip, you might as well get as comfortable as you can. You answered, one hand on the wheel and one arm resting near the window. “I have an acquaintance who’s a farmer that gives me whatever I need. In return, I pleasure his wife, which helps save their marriage.”

His eyes got huge, not expecting the answer. He nearly tripped over his words. “Really?!”

“No, Kyle. You really think I would do such a thing?” You scowled. Internally, though, you were cracking up at his bewilderment. Soap and Price began chuckling in their seats. Even Simon was cracking a smile that no one could see. Kyle’s embarrassed blush that matched the falling red leaves outside made them even more amused. Who knew you had a sense of humor? A crude sense at that. 

He muttered an apology. At least he was a good sport about it. A part of him found it quite funny too. After the chuckles died down, you answered his question truthfully. “Kate does supply drops for me. Not all the time, just when I need more meat than the woods can provide. Everything else I grow.”

It was an answer that made sense and didn’t reveal much about yourself. Nothing too fascinating about it. At least, to everyone save for Ghost. He took note of your truth, pictured you growing fruits and vegetables, hands in the dirt and sweat dripping down your temple. He imagined you hunting too. A heavy rifle and camo. Patience, aim, fire. He thought that some of the foods he had from your kitchen tasted a little gamey. 

“Didn’t you ever get lonely being out there all by yourself?” Soap inquired, not afraid to ask the question that was on everyone’s mind. All eyes were on you as you took a deep breath.

“No, Johnny. Never.”

This was partially a lie as well as partially the truth. There were times where you did feel alone. Like the only human left on the planet. Kate’s calls every now and then help curb it a little, but it wasn’t the same as actually being in the same space with someone physically. Yet, when you were surrounded by people on a classified mission or watching disaster after disaster on TV, it made you glad that you weren’t a part of any of it. The flurry of different emotions coming from all different sides when with civilization was often too much for you. You needed control. More control than what you could usually get when you were on the outside again.

Simon was watching you carefully now, trying to pick up any indication of a cracked resolve. A twitch, a change in breathing, anything to read into further. There was no way you never felt lonely. Yet, you said it with such conviction that it startled everyone. Ghost just couldn’t believe you.

Having killed the conversation, the boy awkwardly tried to change topics. Now excluding you. Good. You preferred it this way.

~

A few hours in and the car was quiet. Light, easy music played now from the car speakers as everyone took a nap. Except for Ghost, of course. Fortunately, he did keep himself occupied by reading the book you lent him. The first couple of chapters were a miss in his opinion. After a couple more, it started to get good. It didn’t take him long to actually get invested in the story, reading between the lines as you had done when you read. You had good tastes.

Enjoying the quietness of the trip was something you didn’t think you would be able to do. Especially with Simon in the front. Surprisingly, he was being good which you hoped would like for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, you jinxed it in your head. Out of the corner of your eye, he bookmarked his spot and took a break. Now, he wanted to talk to you.

“You didn’t play your own music.” 

“So?” You shrugged, wondering where he was going with this. Nothing good probably.

“Why not?” He simply asked, himself not knowing what the big deal was. It was just music. You could have even lied. Picked out music you hated. Instead, you just opted out, not even willing to risk three minutes of any particular melody.

You suppressed an annoyed groan. Not this shit again. “What part of ‘leave me alone’ do you not understand, Simon?”

There you go again, saying his name with such disrespectful ease. It still made his heart beat faster hearing it from you. It still made his muscles tense in vexation as well. You noticed this from how the grip on his arms got tighter, his arms crossing his chest. “How much could music taste actually reveal about you as an individual?”

“A lot! God damn it, when are you going to drop this stupid shit? Quit playing your stupid fucking game?!” You spat, trying to keep your cursing at a low volume lest you wake up the rest of the team. Your knuckles were turning white with how hard you were gripping the steering wheel, desperately trying to keep your cool.

However, he didn’t drop it. He didn’t want to, so he wouldn’t. Simon could be just as stubborn as you which made you want to punch him. Have his teeth fall out of his mouth and get caught in his skull mask. “You mean to tell me that you’ve learned a lot about us based on our favorite songs alone? That’s just ridiculous, Hex.”

He could use your name as a curse too. Anything to get you to keep talking to him. Anything to keep your attention. To figure you out. As much as you didn’t want to give him what you wanted, you did anyway out of sheer aggravation. “It’s called Music Psychology, you fucking ass! Do they do anything besides tell you what to shoot in that god forsaken military?! Do they really keep you all fucking braindead?!”

“Watch your mouth, Hex! You don’t want to say anything you don’t mean.” Simon warned, his voice low like a bass about to snap its strings. He had to remind himself that you weren’t like them when it came to combat approach to cool down. The 141 employed leadership, strength, swift execution. An assassin like you employed other values, one being the art of psychology apparently. 

He wasn’t going to let you badmouth his team and those back home that don’t deserve your slander, though. Many people back home were plenty capable with their own skill sets. It wasn’t fair to put them all in one box just because they followed the orders of the government.

“Watch my mouth?! Have you even heard the shit that’s coming out of yours?! Or is your head so far stuck up your own ass that you can’t hear what you say?” You antagonized further, making the situation worse with each passing insult.

“Why are you so fucking defensive?! You cracked a joke earlier, but now asking about your music tastes is too much? You don’t make any fucking sense, Hex. What the hell are you so afraid of?” His own voice was rising with volume as he spiraled out of control as well.

You were practically yelling at this point like the rest of the world didn’t exist except for you and Simon. A personal bubble where you could really try to rip him a new one. You didn’t hold back. “I’m not afraid of anything, Ghost! I just want you to leave me the fuck alone! Why are you so desperate to know me?!

“You’re part of this team, whether you like it or not!  Whether you want to be an enemy or not! Part of that is trusting us with your life. All of it!” He argued, trapping himself in this conflict bubble with you.

Your temper was boiling over to the point you could cry. Why was he doing this to you? Why couldn’t he just let this go? “Why can’t you understand that I am never going to be part of your team?! I never can and I never will!”

At that he paused. There was something about your last retort. Never can? It was oddly specific. What did that mean?

Just then, the light for gas lit up on the dashboard. You clenched your jaw, cursing more profanities that would have anyone blush. A couple miles down was a gas station. A wave of relief washed over you. Now you had an excuse to exit the car to get away from Simon.

You didn’t realize it before with how provoked you were, but the 141 in the back was awake and clearly heard the two of you bickering. The tension thick enough to choke on made it hard for them to interfere. This pit stop would hopefully let things settle down again.

As soon as the car was parked near an empty pump, the doors slid open to let the men out. It felt good to stretch their legs and breathe in some fresh air. It was about time Gaz was relieved of the back seat too. Price, Soap, and Gaz headed into the convenience store for a moment to pick up drinks and snacks, something that was essential for their road trip experience. You leaned against the car, waiting for the gas pump to finish. The entire time, Ghost sat silently in the front doing his own breathing exercises to get his temper under control. God, you were venomous. Troublesome, irritating, infernal, a million other words. Yet, you were beautiful when you were pissed. He couldn’t understand it.

Finally, the car was loaded up once again, now complete with drinks, snacks, and a full tank of gas. The seating arrangements changed, Price now in the back to allow Gaz a chance to let his legs stretch out more. Besides that, he didn’t really want to be up front with all of the conflict. He would normally break it up, but he still didn’t know enough about you to feel comfortable doing so. It was better for this to just play out. It wasn’t like Ghost couldn’t hold his own.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Soap ripped open a bag of chips followed by a joke. “Looks like mom and dad are fighting again.”

The smirk on his face was quickly wiped away as a pair of keys jingled right near his ear, embedded in his head rest. You had turned from your seat as soon as you registered his distasteful joke, thrown the car keys like a knife, and narrowly missed pinning his ear against the fabric. The car was dead silent as you stared daggers into him. Despite being a strong man with plenty of experiences with danger along with close calls, this experience had Johnny near pissing himself. If looks could kill, he would have been six feet under already.

What was worse was the fact that you missed on purpose. 

“Shut the fuck up! You are not to insinuate that again. Ever! Now, I don’t want anyone trying to talk to me or talk about me for the rest of this fucking trip. Talk to each other, I don’t give a shit. But no more dragging me into any conversation. Are we fucking clear?!”

You were met with quick, obedient nods followed by Soap gingerly handing you back your keys. Before you all knew it, you were back on the road like you didn’t just nearly kill Soap.

Simon was speechless, not expecting you to be so. . . dangerous. His feelings about what just happened were conflicting. On one hand, he wanted to fight you to defend his trusted sergeant that meant no harm, even if he didn’t really like the joke either. On the other hand, he’s never been more attracted to a woman in his life.

The car ride was silent for the next several hours.

~

Your muscles ached from your stiff position. You’ve been driving this whole time, only allowing gas breaks to be your time to stretch out. The boys have rotated seats every stop, now including Ghost who was finally giving you some space by being in the back. Last stop, though, he moved right up to the front with you once again. 

You were getting the dreaded road trip tunnel vision. After so many hours of driving, you couldn’t see anything except for the road ahead. You weren’t so much as driving anymore. You more like just looking out the front windshield, barely keeping up with the surrounding area that passed by. What you normally would recognize as trees, road signs, and roadkill were now just a big blur.

“You’re tired.” Simon commented, treading very carefully. He didn’t want to start another fight. Far from it. He just couldn’t bear to see you so exhausted from driving. 

“I’m fine.” Your voice strained, having lost some of it from the screaming match earlier in the trip. You weren’t used to talking so much as you have been for the past week, let alone fighting with words. A warm cup of tea with honey sounded so good right now.

Ghost took a deep breath in before he gently settled his hand on your shoulder. The fact that you didn’t shrug his touch away was very telling that you were really out of it. “Come on, Hex. Just for a bit. Pull over and I’ll take over the drive. We can switch back after you recuperate.”

It took you a minute to agree. Pulling off to the side of the road, you switched places. The room to stretch out in the passenger side was very much needed. Your bones cracked as you really gave yourself time to take it easy for a moment. “Just an hour. Then, we’ll switch.”

He nodded, finally agreeing with you on something out loud. “Just an hour.”

~

You ended up dozing off for longer than intended. Despite the agreement, Simon let you rest. The trip was already almost complete anyway. What was two more hours to add to your much needed rest?

When the car slowed to a stop, the gang woke up out of their naps, eager to exit the minivan and head into the average-looking hotel you had designated as the new checkpoint. It was nearing dinner-time, the city bustling with people heading to enjoy their meals. Price was ready for something other than chips. Soap and Gaz were already discussing potential food spots as if they were tourists. 

As they unloaded the car to carry their things into the hotel, you stayed asleep. Dead asleep. The deepest sleep you have had in what felt like a lifetime. The men were careful to not wake you up as they unloaded luggage after luggage out of the trunk. When everything was squared away with checking in as well as bringing luggage up to the rooms, you were still snoozing away, much to their surprise.

Price opened up your door, ready to wake you up to get a move on. However, Ghost stopped his hand from touching you. “I’ll take her up. Just go ahead and grab some grub.”

Well, John wasn’t going to say no to that offer. He would rather not be bit by such a feral woman. Though, he did feel like he had to warn Ghost of what he was really doing, having observed just about everything he was trying to do in regards to you. “You’re playing with fire, you know.”

Ghost unlocked your seatbelt and picked you up out of the minivan in a princess carry. Miraculously, you still didn’t wake up. “I know. . .”

The hotel staff were concerned with him carrying you into the hotel. A large man with a skull mask carrying an unconscious lady certainly didn’t look good. In order to avoid interference, Simon had a lie ready for when a bodyguard approached. “I know the mask is scary, but it hides some burn scars. I’m just taking the missus up to the room. She fell asleep in the car.”

Not being paid enough to question the lie, he allowed the both of you to pass by. 

You were heavy in his arms, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He could feel the softness of your skin, the firmness of your muscles. He could make out each individual eyelash that just barely kissed under your eyes. As much as you drove him crazy, you truly were beautiful.

The ding of the elevator reaching their floor knocked him out of his trance. Using a room key, he headed into your space for the next couple of days. The room was pretty basic. A bed, a dresser, tv, bathroom, nightstands, a desk. The only thing that really made it stand out was the original art of the wall made by local, Italian artists. 

He settled your sleeping body down onto the queen-sized bed, brushing your hair out of your face as you settled into the mattress. Looking at you like this was a breath of fresh air for him. He didn’t think he would be able to see you like this so soon. 

Sleeping around others was a sign of trust. Were you just really that exhausted? Probably. Ghost would still take this as a sign of victory anyway.

For a few moments longer, he studied your features. The sound of his stomach grumbling for a meal encouraged him to leave you be for now to which his brain protested. Then again, you probably wouldn’t like it if you found out that he watched you sleep.

Before he left, he took one last look at you, burning the image into his mind. “You said you didn’t sleep, kitten.”

#simon riley fanfic #simon ghost riley fanfic #simon ghost riley #simon ghost x reader #simon ghost x you #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost smut #cod fanfic #ghost x female reader #ghost x you #ghost x reader #simon riley x reader #simon riley #simon riley x you #ghost x f!reader #ghost x y/n #simon riley x female reader #simon riley x y/n #simon riley x f!reader #simon riley smut #simon riley angst #simon riley fluff

[poohbea]

𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄.

eren yeager | smut, slight fluff, angst if you squint | aristocrat!au

wordcount: 5.8k

content: upper class shenanigans, softdom!eren, fem!reader, oral (receiving), penetration (missionary and doggy), rough sex, pet names (princess, beautiful, etc.), crying, dick drunk reader, daddy kink, eren is a liiiittle pushy and an asshole (just a tiny bit), both of them holding a very weird hatred for each other (idk how else to describe it), unprotected sex (use protection kids)

― synopsis: being the heir of the biggest company in paradis holds it's challenges but no one prepared you for eren yeager

note from pooh: this turned out to be longer than expected lmao, writing smut after a long time is so hard omg i never know what the hell to say, hopefully it's not that obvious. i'm not too happy with it but i'm so over re-writing it at this point hahaha.

WARNING: this is smut, so please ensure you have your age visible on your account before interacting. Minors (below 18+), ageless and blank blogs will be BLOCKED

Hope you enjoy ♡ reblogs are greatly appreciated

“Oh don’t look so glum,” your mother chastised, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Enjoy yourself my love.” Her diamond earrings glistened in the warm candle light cascading from the chandeliers of the grand ballroom. She was an angelic vision in her lilac dusted gown, the same diamonds as the ones in her ears speckled through the fine fabric like dew on flower petals.

You sighed, sipping from your recently refilled glass of white wine. “Easier said than done.” Your gaze moved with the dancing crowd below you, dots of assorted colours and jewellery, black, white, green, pink. You hadn’t seen him yet.

She chuckled at your seriousness. “Do you really think hiding yourself away up in the balcony is going to solve your problems?”

Yes. “What else am I supposed to do?” You sent her a questioning side glance.

“Oh I don’t know… go down there? Dance? Mingle? God forbid you have fun.” She positions herself at your side against the bannister, dress brushing against your own.

Silently you leaned your head on her shoulder, a scent of vanilla and roses floating from her skin. “Is he here?” You whispered as you played with the delicate lace on your sleeves.

“He is.” She replied solemnly, resting her head on top of yours.

Your heart sank as her words solidified your anxiety. Of course he was here, how could he not be?

The man in question was one Eren Yeager, son of Lord Grisha and Lady Carla of Maria. A man who had been a thorn in your side since you were children. Lord Grisha generated his wealth from his medical practices littered across the country, this was valuable to your family, valuable enough to do business with.

Your parents thought it a good idea for you and Eren to become acquainted, being about the same age, maybe something would blossom. Though the only thing that did blossom was the growing hatred between you both. You somehow were always getting on each other’s nerves, so much so that you began to despise him. It started with small childish things, hair pulling, petty fights over trivial topics like who got to have the last of everything, but when you hit adolescence he made it a point to make a snarky comment no matter what you were doing.

“What the hell happened to your face?” He’d scowled at you one afternoon while you lay idly in the grass reading a book. It just so happened to be the same day your mother decided you were old enough to start wearing makeup.

You threw him an irritated look. “It’s makeup.”

“Your mother let you leave the house looking like that?” His shadow covers your face as he leans over you curiously, running a finger along your cheek.

“Piss off Eren!” He laughs as you throw your book at his face, easily dodging the hardback.

It was even worse as you came of age to actually date. He somehow managed to wriggle his way in and meddle with all your potential suitors, spreading rumours, interrupting dances and private conversations. There was a time everyone believed you’d slept with all of your father’s business partners, of course it wasn’t true but that didn’t stop your parents from losing their minds over the allegations. Your reputation was an important one, it was make or break in this dog-eat-dog world you were born into. You never really did find out who or where that rumor came from, but you had a funny feeling Eren had something to do with it.

“Maybe he’ll behave himself now that he’s in public.” Your mother continued.

“Fine I’ll go, but if he says anything out of turn...” You looked to her, finding no trace of disapproval, just her soft features watching the sway of dresses below.

“You’ll be fine.” She shifts to stand upright again before kissing your temple. “What’s the worst that could happen?” She smiles, disappearing through the curtain draped over the entryway of the balcony.

Sighing, you down the last of your wine and readjust the bust of your dress, smoothing over the lace that hung off your shoulders, dress twinkling in the light like stars at dusk. With a deep breath you found your way to the staircase that led onto the ballroom floor, hesitating at the top as you watched a parade of colour flutter by. You had yet to see Yeager, you reassured yourself. And hopefully you’d go the whole night without the misfortune of running into him. As you began your descent your mother’s words echoed through your mind one last time.

What was the worst that could happen?

Foreign and familiar faces welcomed you with curtseys and bows of reverence while you walked through the crowd, head held high and a bright smile on your face, greeting your family’s many business partners.

Being the heir to one of the largest companies in all of Paradis held a lot of responsibility, the primary one, being the picturesque daughter your father sought you out to be. Proper, intelligent and scandal-free. Something that was already hard to do in a sea of people who fed off of gossip.

“Lady y/n.” A kindly voice pulled you from your thoughts. “Could I interest you in a dance?” Jean Kirstein - the newest addition to your fathers growing list of associates- greeted you coyly with a hand outstretched in invitation.

You gave a half-smile “Of course.”

He was a handsome man to say the least, with tousled blond hair and a smile that had butterflies churning in your stomach. His suit was a classic black and white three piece, a teal tie bringing a pop of colour that complimented his alluring hazel eyes.

With one hand in yours and the other securely on your waist, he whisked you out onto the dance floor, taking the lead as he began moving you in time with the music. His gentle gaze never left yours as you floated across the floor effortlessly, touch warm against your hips that he guided in a rhythm that met his own.

“You’re quite good at this aren’t you?” Your playful expression made him chuckle.

“Of course my lady,” he replied, spinning you before continuing. “I had to make a good first impression didn’t I?”

The tempo rose with the changing routine and it was time to switch partners. He laid a soft kiss on your hand before releasing you in another spin, a laugh bubbling in your chest as you landed in the arms of your next partner.

“Good to see you’re enjoying yourself my lady,” your smile faltered as you looked up to see the face of the man you’d so desperately tried to avoid all night. “Don’t look so upset, frowning was never a good look on you?” A smirk hung on his lips as he towered over your smaller frame, loose hairs framing his face as he pinned you with mischievous eyes.

“What are you doing here, Eren?” You spat, feeling your skin tingle where his touch slowly made its way down the small of your back.

A huff left his chest. “I was sent an invitation? Why were you hoping I wouldn’t come?”

“Yes,” you retort. “I was hoping for a night of peace.”

He extended an arm and spun you in place, then roughly pulled you back into his chest. “You and I both know that’s never going to happen.” There was a knowing undertone in his voice, a tone that you knew always held bad intentions.

“Why must you always ruin my night?” You carped, trying your best to maintain your composure. There were too many important people around for you to make a scene and not face the consequences, but the longer he spoke the closer he was to pushing you there.

He dipped you low and your gaze caught Jean’s, who smiled at you softly while dancing with a woman in red. How you yearned to be back in his arms again.

“So you and Kirstein? What’s that about?” Eren nodded to the man in question as he brought you back up again. Your breath nearly left you with how close his lips were to your own, too distracted by that fact you didn’t even register his question.

“What?” Your brows furrowed at him as you took a step back to put some distance between you.

He met you with an icy expression. “Are you and Jean...an item?” He pressed, voice faltering at the end as if it pained him to even say those words. Why did he care?

“No, he’s an associate of my father’s, why does it matter?” You answered honestly, unconsciously moving your hand from his shoulder to his chest, running your index finger over the key shaped pin on his jacket collar.

“You seem awfully fond of someone who cleans horse shit for a living.” You catch him glance over his shoulder to where you could only assume Jean stood, not missing the irritation in his voice.

“He does not,” your hand smacks his chest. “He runs the biggest transport company in the country, horses are just one of his divisions.”

Eren rolls his eyes at your defensiveness. “Oh so you do like him. I didn’t know you enjoyed the smell of horse shi-”

The song comes to an end and you break away from him before you do something you’d regret. You opened your mouth and closed it again, fists balling at your side as everything you ever wanted to say became stuck in your throat. For all the belittling, the mocking and the embarrassment, you wanted to let him have it, but something held you back. Your tongue was stiff as he watched you with an inscrutable expression, waiting for you to break.

Instead your face softens, an equally unreadable expression etched upon your features. “Thank you for the dance Eren, good evening.” You said simply, giving a final curtsey before turning your back to him, you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction.

With a hastened pace you pushed your way through the sea of guests, odd looks cast your way as you haphazardly bumped into a server holding champagne, making you lose your balance. The glasses clattered to the floor with a loud shatter, most of it spilling on your dress in the commotion as you landed on your hands and knees in the liquid. The crowd around you gasped and sneered, encircling your distressed figure on the floor, apologetic and frantically searching for an exit. You saw Eren among them, a taunting glint in his eyes, as if he enjoyed seeing you like this. Beneath him.

You were mortified.

“Y/n! Are you alright?” Jean’s voice broke your fixed gaze. The man knelt down to help you up, but to his surprise you tore your hand from his, offered him a pained smile and curtsied half-heartedly.

“Excuse me.” You choked before speeding up the staircase, uncaring of the array of murmurs and snickers that followed your abrupt and dramatic exit.

This was his fault, Eren fucking Yeager. You cursed as your feet blistered in the tall heels you’d been wearing the whole night, reduced to hobbling down the long hallway, body sticky and damp from alcohol. This was the worst that could happen, you thought. As if being ridiculed wasn’t enough he had to go and add insult to injury with his stupid fucking face mocking you from the crowd.

Was this his plan? To rile you up so much that you’d slip up in front of everyone that was important to you? To your family?

“Fucking Yeager!” You growl, stepping into your room and slamming the door shut behind you. You began pulling pins from your hair tossing them onto your vanity in frustration, strands falling over your shoulders as you kicked off your shoes in the process. You were done with this evening, with everyone and everything associated with it.

As you finally tore the last pin from your now disheveled curls you heard a knock at your door. “I’m not accepting guests at this time!” You called out, frustrated with the ties on your dress. There was silence, then another knock. “Go away!” A string of curses fall from your lips as your fingers continue to slip against the silky fabric. “This couldn’t possibly get any worse.” You sigh. Then you heard your door open. “I said go away-!”

The source of your fury stood leant against the door frame, an arrogant aura emanating from his figure as he watched you struggle to undress. “How unladylike-”

The shoes you had discarded on the floor found their way into your hands and you aimed for his head, disappointed when he narrowly dodges the object. “Get out!” You glowered at him, other shoe in hand ready to throw.

He gave you an incredulous look, smoothing the loose strands on his forehead displaced due to evading your attack. “Are you insane?!” He shouts, picking up the shoe you’d just tossed at his face.

You threw the other shoe, this time at his groin, to which again he narrowly dodged. “Have you not had enough of making a fool of me today? You had to come up here to see your work first hand?” You’d given up on your calm façade, letting your emotions spill as you saw fit in the privacy of your room.

“You’re blaming me for that disaster?” He brayed, both of your shoes now in his palms.

“Of course this is your fault!” You spat callously. “The constant degrading, the fucking agony you put me through every event. You love to humiliate me every chance you get! And for what? Your own twisted sense of humour?” Your chest heaved as you found yourself mere inches from him, breast almost against his in your fit of rage, defeated tears spilling down your flushed cheeks.

You hated to cry, especially in front of Eren but at this point you couldn’t think of anything else to do. The pained attempt to stop the tears from falling ended in hundred more flooding out, you couldn’t bottle it all up anymore, not this time.

Silence filled the room, save your shallow shaky breaths and his deep ones. His face was once again unreadable, eyes scouring yours, for what, you didn’t know. Abandoning your shoes on the floor, his hand brushed a stray lock of hair that curled at your collarbone, grazing the skin there as his now softened gaze lowered to your lips, then back to your watery-eyed glare. The touch set goosebumps upon your skin as he continued up your neck to your jaw, wiping a thumb over your tear stained cheek.

“Let me make it better.” He breathed onto your lips, pleading eyes piercing into yours. His thumb traced your bottom lip tenderly, time slowing as his own met yours. He walked you backward further into your bedroom by your hips, closing the door behind him with an audible sound that reverberated off the hinges. His hand shifted to caress the back of your neck, pulling you into him further to deepen the kiss, moulding against your lips as he used his other hand to loosen the knot in the ties of your dress.

When the back of your knees hit your bed you parted, out of breath and thinking a bit clearly. “Eren,” you sighed, forehead against his as your breathing fell in time with one another. “Please, we-” He places a kiss on your cheek, turning you around to have better access to the back of your dress.

“Shh.” He whispers. His fingers pry the ties free and from their loops and he watches your body visibly relax, finally released from the confines of the material. Softly he pulls the fabric from your arms and down your waist till it became a pool of colour on the carpeted floor. His jacket and tie join it as he flicked the first few buttons of his shirt open to expose the tanned expanse of his chest.

You felt oddly vulnerable in your underwear, even if this wasn’t the first time he’d seen you this way, his gaze still painted a flush upon your skin. Instinctually your arms came up to cover your bare chest, breasts almost spilling from between them.

He chuckles, neck lowering to plant a kiss on your shoulder as he smooths a hand over your stomach. “I’ve seen you like this plenty of times but you still hide from me.”

His fingers played with the waistband of your panties mindlessly, lips continuing their way up your shoulder. The heat of his touch has your mind going fuzzy, losing yourself in the way his hands trailed over your skin, familiar with every mark, every crevasse, every curve your body had to offer. Your lips part in a gasp as he bites into the soft flesh of your neck, sucking a dark bruise into the skin. “I’ll never get tired of seeing you like this.”

He turns you back around to face him, pushing you onto the mattress softly. His hips nestle between your thighs as his body envelops yours, pressing his hard-on against your clothed pussy.

“Eren.” With a sigh your hips squirm beneath his, attempting to ease the arousal rapidly pooling at your core.

“Yes, sweetheart?” You lose your voice at the way his mouth paths down your collarbone, laving marks into the depths of your skin. His hands find yours still covering your chest and pries them away, entwining your fingers to pin your hands above your head. Beneath his intense gaze the flush on your skin deepened, struggling to keep still while your heart threatened to beat out of your chest. He looked like he wanted to devour you.

“Y/n.” He whispers mindlessly against your skin. Before you could answer him a gasp caught in your throat as his tongue encircled your nipple. He released your hands to cup your tits, rolling the other bud between his thumb and forefinger. “Keep them there.”

Your back arched unconsciously, rubbing yourself against his cock — still uncomfortably strained against the zipper of his trousers — causing a deep groan to sound from his throat, the sound alone making your clit throb.

“Fuck, Eren.” Digging your nails into your palms you struggled to keep them above your head, as you whined. It was embarrassing the amount of power he had over you, the way a simple flick of his tongue birthed an impossible ache between your thighs. After doing this with him for this long you’d think it’d have worn off by now.

“That’s it beautiful, say my name.” He coos, continuing his assault down to your thighs. His fingers curl around your panties and guide them down your legs, letting it join your dress on the floor.

A breathy moan escaped you as he wastes no time drawing a long strip from your entrance to your clit, moaning at the way your arousal danced on his tongue. Pushing your thighs apart he did it again, dipping his tongue into you this time to gage your reaction.

Those sweet sounds he craved for weeks finally fell freely from your lips, like music to his ears. He drank in every gasp and every whimper as your head lulled back and your back arched, still obeying his instruction as your fingers dug into the bedsheets.

His cock twitched as you began rocking your hips into his face, matching the pace of his tongue fucking into your dripping cunt. How did he always end up here? Back in this position, on his knees, between your legs, savouring the way you tasted like it was the last time he’d ever get to experience it. How tightly did you have him wound around your finger? Pretty damn tight apparently. As much as he tried to deny it, push you away with insults, humiliation and bickering he always found himself here, worshipping your pussy.

He hated you for it.

“’Ren, please. Please, please, please, fuck.” Your thighs strained against his hold, trembling as you continued fucking his face.

Fuck, he could listen to you beg forever. “What do you want princess?” He asked in a husky tone, planting tender a kiss on your inner thigh. His eyes were glazed over, a deeper green than they were on the dancefloor. Fingertips ghosted your entrance as he waited for your reply, his breath on your clit making you clench around nothing.

“I need you... I need you inside me, please.” You panted desperately.

“Shit,” he mutters under his breath as you open your legs wider for him. “Look how wet you are.” The way your arousal dripped down your ass and onto the sheets made his mouth water, the view never got old. Reluctantly pulling away from you he finally rids himself of his clothes, sighing softly as he finally frees his cock from the confines of his pants.

The sight had your mind reeling. He reminded you of an art piece, like marble where the finest detail was carved to perfection. His skin glowed in the candle light, glistening in a thin veil of sweat with your arousal still on his lips — rosy and plush. Muscles pulsed as he reached behind his head to pull the band in his hair, freeing a cascade of long dark hair onto his back and shoulders.

He hovers over you, lips ghosting yours as he guides his cock through your folds with a hiss. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“I’d hope so.” You reply with a cheeky grin, laying a kiss on his chin.

You yelp as his hand slaps your ass harshly, the sound reverberating off the walls. There was a handprint now burning red on your ass. “What was that for?” You hiss, trying to move your hips away but find them pinned to the mattress under his weight.

He bites your neck in reply. “For being rude.”

“Oh, piss off.” He raises a warning brow as you roll your eyes.

Again he smacks your ass as punishment, this time harder in the same place. “Do that one more time, see what happens.”

The sting of your ass seemed to have clouded your judgement as you proceeded to take him up on that challenge. “Fuck yo-!”

Before you could finish your rebuttal he shoves his cock into you without warning, completely filling you to the hilt. Your hands find his shoulders instinctively, embedding crescent shaped marks into his skin. The sound you made was a mix between a gasp and a moan, both in shock and pleasure at the sudden intrusion.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Eren chuckles beside your ear, smirk evident in his tone.

A shaky breath leaves your chest. “I hate you.” You grumble in reply, the words coming out breathier than intended.

He shifts to rest his forehead against yours, a shit-eating grin still on his face. “If you hate me so much…” The pause is met with a harsh thrust of his hips, sending another moan tumbling from your lips. “Then why am I the only one that’s able to have you like this?” Your breath hicks as he repeats the same action, nose brushing his as he moved.

You didn’t have a real answer, it’s not like you didn’t seek sex from other partners, you did, but none of them could compare to the man before you. There was something comforting in how he knew your body inside and out, your expressions, the way your skin flushed under his touch, every moan and stutter. You trusted him with your body as he did you with his, but in doing so it fed into an addiction, one that could only be satisfied by Eren.

“Who said you were the only one?” You teased back.

His breath hit your nose as he huffed out a laugh. “No one can make you feel the way I do. Admit it.”

It was your turn to laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself. Anyone can do what you do, you’re not special.”

“Oh really?” His cock twitches inside of you, hips moving at an agonisingly slow pace. “Like who?”

“O-others, why do you need to know?” You stutter out, unable to draw a realistic name from the top of your head.

“I’d like to know who my competition is. That is if they even exist.” Your skin tingles as his nose traces the curve on your cheek. Eren knew exactly what that stutter meant. You were a liar. But that didn’t make going along with it any less entertaining.

“Of course they exis- fuck!” Pleasure overwhelms you as he hits a familiar spot, fingers playing with your clit as he continued his strokes.

“Mmm.” He groans against your cheek. “You know how much I hate lies, y/n.” His pace doesn’t let up as he speaks, fingers and cock moving in time with one another, a sweet harmony that had you struggling to maintain your fragile composure.

“I’m not-”

Spank.

“Stop lying to me sweetheart,” he warns again, upping the pressure on your clit. “Who’s the only one that can make you feel like this?” You could barely think, let alone speak as he continued his ministrations. Your pussy was a sopping mess, so much so that the lewd sound of your wet cunt taking his cock was audible with every delicious stroke.

Your breath fanned against his neck, hot and fast between moans and whines. The longer this went on the quicker your resolve dissipated and soon you were at his mercy. “You ‘Ren, it’s you.”

“I’m sorry?” He smiles, leaning his ear to your lips. “Say it again I don’t think I heard you.”

“Fuck, you’re the only one who can make me feel like this ‘Ren.” You repeat begrudgingly between breaths.

“Good girl.” With a kiss to your cheek he leans back on his heels, letting his cock slip out of you. “Turn over for me.”

Obediently you flip over on your hands and knees, chest brushing the mattress as you position your ass in the air. You feel him move over you, watching as he retrieves two pillows at the head of the bed to place under your hips, to which you happily lay on.

His hands slip themselves into the crease where your hips met your thighs, memorising the way your back arched in this position. He proceeds to run his thumbs over the small of your back, parallel to your spine before his grip tightens slightly and he’s pushing your hips into the pillows. Slowly he eases into you, moaning at the way your pussy engulfed him eagerly, tightening as inch by inch he drew deeper.

"Holy fuck, ‘Ren!” You cry, nails clawing the sheets. It was like he was in your stomach, if that was even possible.

His tongue paths its way up your spine, leaving spaced open mouth kisses on your skin till he reaches your ear. “Does that feel good princess?”

You could only moan in response, heavy breaths wafting your hair that had fallen over your face. He wasn’t even moving but he still managed to turn your brain to mush.

With a chuckle he pecks your shoulder. “I can’t hear you.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?” His hips shift slightly, drawing a string of whines from your throat. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Yes, daddy.”

“Mhm.” The weight of his body leaves yours as he sits back up, pausing to give your ass a squeeze. “And what if I move like this?” His hips draw back slowly before pushing back into you with a force that almost knocked the breath out of you. “That feel good too, baby?”

“Yes, fuck it feels so good, daddy.”

That was all the confirmation he needed to let go and fuck you into the bed the way he knew you loved. Hard and rough. Using your back as leverage he pressed into your skin, grip tight around your waist as he watched your ass ripple with every slap of his hips against your own.

You were so damn intoxicating it wasn’t even a joke anymore. There were days he’d actually miss this, miss you. Your face, your scent, your taste, how your pussy felt as it squeezed him at every inch, it was like you were made for him and vice versa. He’d never actually tell you any of that though.

This wasn’t love. It was sex, reoccurring mind blowing sex. Or so he continued to tell himself.

“Fuck, yes, yes, yes, yes!” By the way your toes curled he knew he was hitting that sweet spot along your walls. Satisfaction swelled in his chest at your cock drunk form scrunching the sheets between your fingers, losing your voice in the pleasure surging through your body.

“That’s it sweetheart.” Cooing, he slows his pace to pin your hands behind your back, trapping your wrists in one hand and using the other to play with your clit. “You love this dick don’t you?”

Mindlessly you reply. “Yes daddy, so deep in my pussy.” At this point you would say anything, do anything if he asked you to. With the way his dick kissed that spot inside you over and over it was hard not to lose yourself, to let your eyes roll back and just take it.

“You feel so good princess, fuck you take me so well.” He looks down to where your bodies met, almost cumming at the sight of you creaming all over his cock. Your nails were digging into the back of his hand that still pinned your hands to the small of your back, grip tightening as your thighs tensed.

“I’m gonna cum, I-I’m gonna cum.” You whine with a hick.

“Cum for me, sweetheart. Cum all over this dick.” He wasn’t going to be able to hold back much longer as you grew tighter with each passing stroke, but he needed you to cum first, he needed to watch you come undone on his cock.

“Eren!” You hold onto his hand for dear life as you fall over the edge, your whole body tightening as Eren fucks you through your orgasm, fingers still softly caressing your clit.

“Good girl, that’s it.” He praises, out of breath, soon following with his own high. White hot ropes of cum painted your insides as a variation of your name fell from his lips in an incoherent mess. Normally he’d never be caught dead cumming inside if it was any one else but because it was you he bent that rule.

You groan softly as your body grew heavy, sinking into the soft mattress. Almost ready to pass out then and there you feel Eren shuffle behind you, moaning as his cock slides against your walls, slowly drawing from your warmth.

He falls onto his back beside you with a sigh. “Come here.”

“Mmm.” You groan, still fucked out and limp with flattened pillows under your hips probably damp with his cum as you felt it leak from your hole.

He clicks his tongue and pulls you forward effortlessly by your arm, cradling you in his side. There was a long silence as you both lay there listening to the rhythm of each others breaths, content in the comfort you had both built after months of this routine.

When all this first began you refused to even look at each other after the fact, getting dressed and leaving the room immediately. But one drunken night when you woke up to find him still there beside you, arm around your waist and pulled into his chest, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull away. It soon became normal for you to lay like this, naked and vulnerable, listening to his heart beat.

“You okay?” He questions, still looking up at the ceiling.

“Tired.” You sigh softly. Your fingers traced the grooves of his chest, circling his pectoral mindlessly.

He exhales heavily. “Feel better?”

With a chuckle you trail your finger down his abdomen. “A little.”

The look he throws you has your smile grow wider. “Only a little?” He turns on his side, resting his head on his hand. “Still lying to me.”

“Gonna have to try a little harder than that, Yeager.” Teasingly you tap his nose, laughing at the way he frowns at your simple gesture.

He caresses your face with his free hand, running a thumb over your rosy lips. “You really think I don’t know you after all these years?” The question was longing, like he was reminiscing every encounter you two ever had.

“I didn’t think you paid that much attention after all these years.” You roll your eyes playfully.

“I’m observant.”

“You’re a nuisance.” You corrected, but despite your insult the smile never left your face.

“You love me.” The rebuttal caught you off guard, unsure if he was joking or not as his tone remained serious.

“Are you drunk, Yeager? Why would I ever love you?”

His face draws toward yours knowingly. “You wouldn’t still be here if you didn’t.”

“I-I could say the same for you.” You deflect, gesturing to his figure.

Did he really want to admit his feelings for you, after having pushed them down for so long? Did he even have feelings for you? When he saw you on the dancefloor for the first time tonight his stomach erupted in a flutter of butterflies. Not to mention when he watched the way you smiled and laughed with Jean. Who the fuck was he anyway? Some corporate kiss-ass who shovelled shit for a living. Transport, what was Jean’s transport company compared to the medical empire Eren was managing? Is that what impressed you? What you liked? He followed the way Jean’s hands glided along your body, like he knew where to touch you, how to make you…

“Eren.” Your soft voice breaks him from deep thought. You look at him with those eyes you do, the ones that somehow manage to break his resolve every time.

“Let’s get you to a bath.” He smiles at you sadly, laying a kiss on your forehead and getting up from the bed. His fingers rake through dishevelled hair before offering you an outstretched hand.

You witnessed the way his green eyes dulled as they bore into yours sullenly. His expression was placid, unreadable as it always was when he decided to shut you out, an action you’d become all too familiar with as you came back to the reality of the situation.

Not wanting to question him on it you take his hand. “Lead the way.”

PART TWO

© poohbea, all rights reserved. DO NOT copy, reupload or modify my work to other accounts and platforms. if you intend to translate any of my works please ask permission first ♡

#eren yeager #attack on titan #eren smut #eren x y/n #pooh's world ♡ #attack on titan eren #eren #eren x reader #aot eren #x female reader #x fem!reader #eren fluff #attack on titan x female reader #attack on titan smut #aot x fem reader #aot x reader #aot #aot x you #aot smut #aot x y/n

[unhelpfulfemme]

I feel like the Grysk work way better than the Yuuzhan Vong as the "nebulous threat" that Thrawn is fighting against because they are clearly tailor made to highlight how wrong Thrawn can be due to his own personal weaknesses.

The entire plot of the Ascendancy trilogy is the Grysk gaining footing through 100% political means - they use espionage to discover the internal divisions and weak points of a country's political system and then attack that, an issue that is probably better addressed through collaboration and the strengthening of the country's political culture and institutions (the Chiss are so quick to abandon their national interests in the face of internal divisions). Thrawn wins every single battle in that trilogy and yet everyone, including himself, is way worse off than where they started and at great risk from the Grysks simply because the Chiss political system is so unstable and because their culture sees collaboration with other races as fundamentally undesirable.

And what Thrawn, who is also either incapable of or completely uninterested in thinking about politics, concludes from all this is, "Ah, yes, this is a problem that can only be solved by throwing more military power at it. Preferably military power run by an authoritarian state that tries to eradicate any trace of political pluralism, because that will make them less vulnerable to the exploitation of the political actors' rivalries and personal interests."

And then he spends, what, fifteen years working with people like Tarkin and Krennic, while having to constantly extinguish rebellions that are popping up everywhere due to the Empire's oppressive policies, and still somehow thinks that the Grysks wouldn't be able to deal with the Empire easily. The Empire that didn't even need them to topple itself through internal conflict in less than a generation - if the Grysks wanted to conquer it, all they'd have to do is wait.

And after reading Lesser Evil I really think that at least part of it is due to some personal drives/needs he's not self-aware enough to address: he says it point-blank that he never believed the Ascendancy would give him an admiralship, and you see hints of his constant frustration at people not understanding him and him having to teach them (sometimes from a position of less power than they have, sometimes when they really don't care to be taught) both through Thrass's POV and through his very slight (but noticeable by his standards) emotional unraveling by the end of the book (e.s. the scene with Unghali where he gets all angry and scary).

Because he has never naturally arrived at the limit of his own competence but was always hamstrung by others, he has no means of differentiating between when he's theoretically right but the politics are obstructing him and when he's actually wrong and the solution is outside of his sphere of competence.

So of course that a political system where being a flag officer means that he gets to do whatever the fuck he wants as long as he convinces one guy of it, where he gets to teach people how to think better and pick only them for positions of power, in a country with no pesky norms about preemptive strikes that he constantly needs to rule lawyer around, sounds appealing.

It's not just about the Ascendancy now, it's also about showing what he can do when not too obstructed, and it's also the first time he has enough free reign to slam headfirst into the big wall of his own lack of capacity or desire to understand politics. But hey, at least he's free to fuck around and find out, not feeling constantly frustrated and overly controlled!

Truly the most character of all time, I love it. People complain about how Zahn babygirlified him in the new canon books just because they're from his POV when switching out the Vong for the Grysk makes him more unambiguously wrong than he was in Legends (where you got other people like Jacen Solo following the same rationale).

#thrawn #thrawn ascendancy

[alienpossession]

Annual Leave

I spent 16 days touring across East Asia and Southeast Asia. I made a lot of friends throughout the solo trip and that's all thanks to Pelle. You see, I did say to people that I have a solo trip and just luckily made tons of friends, but it's always been a game of two from the get go.

I was so stressed out in my first day when I landed in Japan. They don't like or feel too comfortable to converse in English and boy it was a great sight yet so draining due to all the confusion. So I resorted to my back-up plan that I stored in my suitcase once I checked in to my hotel to relieve me from the stress of this whole solo trip. Pelle is a friend of mine that came from millions of light years away. He's been very important for me as he helped me to solve my bullies problem ever since my senior year of high school until now in my 3rd year with my roommate and those frat boys. Pelle slid off the jar quickly as soon after I opened the lid and just like that, he was gone for the moment as he already knew what it meant for him when he's released.

Around an hour later, someone knocked my hotel room and when I opened the door, this Japanese guy starts speaking in an accented English telling me to skip shower and let him guide me around the bustling megacity. A quick glance to his eyes confirmed my suspicion, Pelle override whoever this guy is already and used his body as as vessel

Aki shown me around his hometown, Tokyo, and then packed his bag to the countryside for 3 days where his built and of-course-fluent Japanese helped us to survive and have fun without getting lost.

I think the time where he practically slut me out to the whole onsen where my head was pistoned in several succesive cocks truly left a memorable impact in me. Pelle's decision to take over Aki's body back in Tokyo despite me insisting on making this trip an actual solo trip was eye-opening (and hole-opening of course). Not only did that solve a lot of potential problem, having a local guide that you can have fun together with and not going to be fussy about your itinerary is a total blessing because it's still feels like the one that drive the trip is you and you only have someone to fully help you around.

But Japan was just the first out of many country I planned to visit. Pelle slid out of Aki in one of the toilet in Narita, and minutes later he messaged me that he already joined the flight directed to my next destination, Beijing. During the flight, I got informed by the flight attendant that my seat was upgraded to Business Class. I was quite suspicious to the studly flight attendant but as soon as I got escorted to the Business Class section, the flight attendant quickly shoved me to the carpeted floor much to my surprise. He then said

"Sniff and bark like the dog you are!"

I glared at him wildly, but then I realized that he's merely puppeteered by Pelle. So, Pelle is not inside the flight attendant any longer and he's instead hidden in one of this private cabin. After forced to be on all fours sniffing my way to find in which section the mysterious guy hid himself, I finally caught whiff of this leathery perfume and oaky stench. That's when I opened the private cabin to eventually stumbled with the sole passenger in the Business Class section.

"You found me,"

"Not like you can hide such strong smell,"

I once again got shoved by the flight attendant that just came outta nowhere, and then I literally fell on top of this buff young guy with his chiseled face and equally appetizing body. I can smell him even clearer now, he even smelled expensive yet super sexy too and he just giggled at me for being so awestruck with him

"Never been so up close and personal witb a hunk like me, huh?"

Which is clearly wrong because all those frat boys already left me cop a feel anyway, but I did have to admit that this guy is great on his own way.

He's a Beijing native and he own a pad overlooking the city where I stayed for 3 days having the best time getting pampered by him.

He also introduced me to his 2 best friends who willingly tag-teamed to destroy my hole from both ends while he's busy working in the next room.

Pelle's control on the young, cocky businessman is a true masterwork on its own, but the way Pelle managed to also affect the businessman's two best friends without even needed to slid into them clearly shown how amazing his computational capability to manage 3 different human being doing activities of their own.

Then, after some digging, Pelle realized that the young businessman also have private jet he rarely used because he knew it was totally monitored by his parents. After influencing the pilot (that's also in his parents paycheck) to ensure that no tracking devices left behind the private jet, he let me use his private jet for the remainder of my trip. I asked the pilot to drop me in Hanoi.

I went to Hanoi a lot during my childhood since my dad is a Vietnamese immigrant but I've never been in Hanoi ever since I graduated elementary school. My companion in Hanoi was Van, a gym cutie I stumbled in this rooftop bar I went to during my 2nd night in the city.

Pelle slid into Van when he eventually left his table that he shared with his 5 other friends for some quick fix in the restroom. Pelle did give Van a quick fix as the loud-mouthed asshole that slapped on girl's butt that went pass his table all night long turned into a horny gay motherfucker as he rode me to town in the cramped bathroom stall. We consummated our relationship all over town as he literally fucked me in his parked G-Wagon before heading for some 2 AM pho fix. Van lived in a high-rise apartment paid by this lady that frequent his gym and paid him as her boytoy. Pelle observed that Van's misogyny and rudeness came from the fact that he's self-aware that he's practically just a slut and that hurted his ego and I just nodded in silence when he explained all that. I don't know, I wanted to pity him but at the same time, isn't it his life choices? Who am I to judge anyway, he's just a guide too for me to shown me around so I decided to not be too sentimental about some life story of random meat puppet my alien friends worn

Van continued on to become my Vietnamese trip companion as I went to Sa Pa, Da Nang and closed the Vietnamese leg in Ho Chi Min.

We left his body in the hotel room in the old quarters of Ho Chi Minh as I travel to Bangkok, still with the trusted private jet Pelle made the businessman let me use. In retrospect, I think Pelle enjoyed our Thailand leg the most. The country was in the middle of a heat wave when we came so everyone was wearing the thinnest shirt possible and the club is filled with people ditching their shirts and just danced the night away. That's when I also stumbled with Pat, who didn't even need to be taken over by Pelle to be nice to me.

I just instantly have a good vibe from seeing him and talk to him briefly, but alas, I'm not here for niceties and it was actually thrilling to see how Pelle made that beautiful face of his smirked when he managed to take over Pat's body and directed me to meet him in the club's bathroom.

Pat, obviously, is a model and social media personality. An engagement for a brand in Pattaya the following day caused us to tag along for that event where Pat influenced one of his local friends to show me around while he's shooting all day. That's when I realized that Pat might be too busy of an individual to show me around so I contacted Pelle to just left his body. You know what he did instead? He wrapped up the shoot in lightning speed as he influenced the producer to not ask him for another take and then solely guided me around the places while occasionally grumbling on how I would be punished later for making him do all this work and almost jeopardizing his career.

We spent 4 days in total in Thailand and Pelle, as Pat, showered me with attention, affection and his seemingly unrelenting amount of cum. He was the light of the party so it was easy for him to lure in some friends that quickly turned into a temporary additional muscle puppet as he put his own friends under his control. We literally spent our final night in Bangkok fucking like there's no tomorrow, the crowd of Pat and his friends all trying to get a piece of action with me and with each other as if they weren't bunch of straight guys or married man themselves before Pelle's takeover of Pat and the subsequent mind control he unleashed to these oblivious men. As we finished with him and his friends, we just silently left him in the aftermath of the orgy in his apartment to close off my Thailand's leg and headed to the real closing leg of my holiday trip

The final part of the trip put me in Bali where the jet eventually returned back to China too after we landed in the airport. Pelle of course remained by my side as we went into this well-known beach side gym with outdoor setting where one of my bully, Kyle, already waited for me and Pelle. He's been taken over by Pelle before so there will be no issue for Pelle to slid back into Kyle and after that, we departed back to the States

*** 18 hrs later, Hamad International Airport, United Arab Emirates ***

"What do you think of Europe?" asked Pelle through Kyle as he already in control of the jock's brain ever since our meet-up in the beach yesterday

"Huh? What are you talking about? My leave----"

He shushed me and then he winked at me as he motioned me to look into the opposing chair where a stud comfortably manspread in the chair with his headphone on while his left hand rested on that visibly hard groin. I licked my lips, thinking about Pelle making that dude's mine for the time being until we get called to board. But then, Kyle whispered to my ear

"What if I told you that you could be him?"

#male possession #alien possession #alien transference #alien mind control

[bekaroth-reads]

Gale x Tav/reader

[Like my other BG3 ones, it's either or, but the reader is referred to as Tav at one point. Highly likely I don't have some facts right because I'm still really early in the game, and only know bits and pieces about the later stuff. I just really wanted to write something for him 🥺]

Things were getting rather busy lately. It was actually somewhat welcome seeing as things were, well, not dull, but more calm than you were used to. To be honest, you were certain that you would get used to the more stable way of life, actually enjoy it even, but it was taking you a bit to settle after everything that had happened. For awhile, you kept yourself busy by going to visit Gale’s tower, and, more importantly, Gale himself.

Though it wasn’t too far between where you lived in Baldur’s Gate and where his tower was in Waterdeep, it was enough of a trip to scratch that traveling itch you had gotten from having a cross country journey for your life. You were quickly falling in love with not only the wizard that lived in this town, but the town itself. It was still a decently sizable place, but not quite as bustling and chaotic as Baldur’s Gate.

“Are you alright, dearest?” Gale snapped you out of your pondering as you were looking over Waterdeep lighting up for the evening.

“Hm? Oh, yes. I’m alright. Just thinking about the next time I’ll get to come up to visit you.” You sighed.

Gale laughed, leaned your head toward him, and gave your temple a kiss. “You’ve only just gotten here and you’re already thinking about next time?”

You sighed again and smiled. “I’m sorry. I guess I should focus on right now, huh?”

He hummed contentedly and wrapped his arms around you. There was a few moments of comfortable silence before he responded. “How about you do whatever you like, and I’ll focus on here and now. Especially on you.”

There were a few more kisses to the side of your head. You leaned back and rested against Gale as the two of you watched the town come alive for the night. You both must have looked cozy because soon Tara fluttered down from the shelf she was prancing on to settle in you lap.

She didn’t say anything, instead choosing to stretch her wings and paws before snuggling straight into her favorite nap position. Gale, however, involuntarily made one of the most undignified noises he had ever made in whole life as his heart melted at the sight. He was quick to clear his throat to try to cover for it, and explained, “She misses you when you’re gone.” Gale gave another sigh, this one more forlorn, “We both do.”

You turned to kiss his cheek. “I missed you both too. This place is what I think paradise must be like.”

Gale answered this by turning to kiss you proper. After, he started peppering your lips and the side of your face with as many little kisses as he could manage. It seemed sweet, and it was, however you could tell that he was nervous about something and was using his loving onslaught to try to distract you from noticing; or, perhaps to distract him from his own nerves.

The squeeze you gave to his hand was the first way you questioned him. You knew he knew what that meant because you both had been using that gesture for that reason almost as long as you had been together. He either didn’t notice or was pretending not to, so you verbally question, “Gale?” This caused him to huff and rest his chin on your shoulder, his hair and beard ticking at your neck while he debated if he had the courage to say what he was thinking about.

“Love?” You use a different name for him as you leaned your head against his. It was cheating, you knew, because he always caved into what you wanted when you called him that.

His hold on you tightened to give himself assurance. “I was just thinking…” there was a pause as he thought over his words again, “Well, you know me, love. I have never been one to shy away from problem solving; especially when it’s for someone dear to me. And, of course, no one has ever been more dear to me than you.” Gale leaned his head to start kissing at your shoulder. “Lovely, lovely, lovely you-“

“Gale.” You got his attention, and he hummed between kisses.

“Gale.” This time you were more stern.

“Yes, dearest?” He looked up at you with his big, brown eyes that were shining like honey in the candle light, trying to act like he wasn’t stalling on talking to you. You didn’t want to be pushy, but it also seemed like whatever it was he was thinking of was important. The kind of important that needed to be said sooner rather than later.

“We both know what you’re doing right now.” You scolded, but tried to keep it lighthearted.

He grunted in frustration. “Curse you for knowing me so well!” He teased as he gave your shoulder one last kiss then rested his chin on it once more, still too nervous to look you in the eye.

“What if… you never had to leave?” He finally said.

Gale seemed to think he was too blunt and quickly followed the question with, “I-I know that it’s an awfully big thing to ask, and I understand if you need time to think about it. Or, if you simply don’t want to than-“

You were wondering what made Gale cut his sentence off, but a look down to Tara who was woken by the suddenly rambling let you know why. Her eyes looked annoyed from being disturbed, but still had a sparkle of amusement at Gale’s predicament.

“You listen here, you flying feline.” Gale grumbled at the Tressym, “A word of this to my mother, and I will never buy you a treat again!”

Both Tara and you knew that she was too precious to Gale for the threat to hold any weight. Either way, you decided to try to lighten the mood again.

“Gale, I would love to. I do love it here and I would love to live closer to you. But, that’s going take some time. I find out where there’s even a place for sale here, then I’ll have to figure out a good way to get all of my things here, and-“

“Tav, my darling.” Gale cut in, turning finally tuning to look at you once more. You weren’t looking forward the the no doubt smarmy look on his face as the only time that he ever called you, “my darling,” when there was something that you weren’t catching onto, and he was trying not to be condescending about it (a bad habit that he was trying to break). However, while there was still a hint of his usual attitude, the thing that was most present was a blush that was burning his cheeks and starting to dust the tops of his ears. “I’m asking you to live here- with me.”

The whole situation finally caught up with you, and all you were able to do was whisper his name.

Gale stood you both up so he could turn his whole body to face you making it easier to cup your face in his hands; Tara landing on her feet and walking away. “Again, I know this is a very serious thing- a very daunting thing- but…” once again he decided to change his approach. “This tower, it has been my safe haven, my home, for many years now. And, in many regards it still is. But, it has gotten to where it doesn’t always feel like it is anymore. The only time I truly, truly feel like I’m finally home…”

He paused a moment as he lost himself in your eyes, “…is when you are here.”

You weren’t sure what to do. You knew your answer, but all the words for it were completely void from your mind at the sheer intimacy of this moment. All you could think to do was mirror his gesture and place your hands on the sides of his face as well. It was tender and both of you were content to hold each other.

But, then, with neither of you knowing what the next move should be, the moment went from tender to comical. Gale was the first to hold back a snicker, causing him to snort just a bit; that in turn made you start to chuckle as well. Soon you were both giggling like drunkards, yet not moving your hands.

“What in the hells are we doing?” Gale asked as his fingers started to run along the back of your jaw just below your ears.

“I have no idea.” You laughed as you started to scratch your fingers through his beard.

A playful glint sparked up in his eyes, “I know something we could do instead.”

Suddenly, he used his hold to crash your lips into his. The kiss was passionate, yet light hearted. It was followed shortly by him kissing his way down to your neck where he started to kiss in a way the bristled his beard against you in a way he knew you could barely stand, playfully growling the whole time. The very undignified squawk followed by the tickled laughter let him know it was working.

“Gale! What has gotten into you?” You desperately tried to get away from his attack while trying to catch your breath from laughing. “And, to think, you were worried about Tara seeing us before.”

He stopped with a genuine kiss to your pulse point before looking up at you, his hair mussed from his little outburst. “If she had any decency, she’d be well out of the room by now. With how tired she looked I’d wager she went off to bed.”

You glance around the room and notice that Gale and you were indeed alone. Your eyes caught on one of the candles lighting the room, and you watched the little flame dace for a minute as you let out a contented sigh.

“Lost in thought again, my love?” Gale questioned.

You were silent for a bit more before you responded. “I’m going to have to return to Baldur’s Gate sooner than I thought.

Gale physically deflated when he heard this. “Oh, I see.” He mumbled before trying to put on a brave face, “Some pressing business you forgot about?”

“In a way…” you huffed as you were thinking of all the work ahead of you. “After all, it will take plenty of time to pack, find a decent wagon to carry things, put my little house for sale…”

This caused Gale’s eyes to widen and his hands to shoot up and hold your shoulders to ground himself. “You mean- this is- I-I-I can take this as a yes?”

"Yes." You confirmed.

With an excited shout and without another thought, Gale lifted you into his arms and spun you around. He overestimated his ability to do so, and after the first turn you both fell to the floor with you landing on top of him.

He seemed too elated to care though as he rolled you both over and propped himself above you on his elbows, laughing all the while.

With one of the largest, most genuine smiles you had ever seen on his face, Gale took you into his arms and whispered into your ear, "Welcome home, my love."

#gale of waterdeep #gale x reader #gale dekarios #bg3 gale #gale of waterdeep x reader #gale of waterdeep x tav #gale dekarios x reader #gale x tav #gale dekarios x tav

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 54

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

all i want for christmas by tusslee

“Listen,” Lance squeezes Keith’s fingers in his hands, “I’m as bad at this as you probably are and this is going to be really cheesy, but that’s the way I was raised and I know I act like an idiot around pretty girls, but I’m an even bigger idiot around you. Go ahead and try to guess why that is. No, actually don't do that."

this one is gonna be an xmas special!! even though im writing this before halloween lol. anyways. this was so cute!! lance being all stressed about what he should get keith bc he's all in love w him any everything. so real.

2. You're Here (Where You Should Be) by @blue-wanderer

"And if you’re worried about the cameras just take care of them.” “Take care—! Take care of them? With what, Keith?” “I don’t know?” Keith asks, busily testing his foothold in the gate and generally ignoring the rising storm cloud of ire behind him. “With a gun?” “A gun? This isn’t some sort of black ops storming an enemy base thing! This is a Christmas tree thing!” “I don’t see a difference? You’re the sharpshooter. Shoot out the cameras.” “Let me just pull a gun out of my ass, Keith!” “OK, problem solved,” Keith agrees, taking another step up the gate. “Nothing is solved you dumb country space redneck!”

Or Keith and Lance may be disasters at decorating, but Christmas still manages to work its magic on them.

i bookmarked this like a year ago and let me tell you all i needed to hear was dumb country space redneck and i was hooked 😭😭 and it lived up to the name fr. hate the canon ending? want lance to not be a farmer while still acknowledging his struggles with homesickness? want some whipped keith and meddlesome kosmo? want some cheesy xmas feels? click ahead!

3. make my wish come true by angelbolt

“A world where one has to fight for custody of one’s boyfriend is a godless one,” Lance muttered, slumping so he was leaning against Hunk. Shiro exchanged some final words with Kolivan before the screen blipped out. Ah yes, the ideal Christmas Eve: long boring talks and war meetings. Wonderful. ❆❅❆ keith comes home for christmas.

fun game idea: take a shot every time you see a klance xmas fic with a mariah carey lyric. lol. ANYWAYS yall know me and established relationship + early season dynamics!! i am obsessed!! and this fic delivers!! grumpy lance pov who just wants the rest of the world to fuck off for a couple days so he can have his bf around. he's such a voice of the people

4. i'll be home for christmas by @thespacenico

A severe bout of winter weather threatens to stop Shiro from making it home for his first Christmas with Keith. Shiro is ready to do whatever it takes to keep his promise.

okay this one is from darcy's i've got you brother, which i am obsessed with and have cried over several times, and which just recently updated! this fic is so cute and a adashi with young keith always fucking gets to me, man. they're just so. shiro being so desperately determined to keep his promise to young keith who has had so many promises broken that he doesnt even expect shiro to try. but is happy that he does. sobbing.

5. the greatest gift of all by dumpsterdiva

Keith’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before he stammered, “D-do you really mean that?” Lance looked a bit sheepish as he said, “I… It’s crazy, right? I mean, it’s way too soon. You know I was kidding.” Keith straightened up. “Well, I’m not. Marry me.” “What?!” “You heard me, you coward. Marry me.” “That’s the worst proposal ever!” “Worse than you threatening me with marriage so I would stop talking about how amazing you are?”

YOU GUYS KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT PROPOSAL FICS. i feel ksjbskdbqjdbqwlwd about them. okay. and throw in a christmas setting??? and banter?? and a MODERN AU?? i am doing my best, people. this fic had me shoving a pillow into my face and screaming.

that’s it for today!! happy holidays! merry christmas!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

#i like them being gay and stupid and soft and surrounded by xmas lights #its so healing to me #keith puts the rizz in christmas btw #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #fully almost wrote keith mcclain #u know what??? #keith mcclain #best kind of accident #keith would so do that by accident #like on a mission report or something #GASP okay i was looking for a fic tonight #well the tonight i am writing this which is october 27th. i wonder if ill actually do it lol #established klance #fic rec #fic rec friday #christmas #blade keith #soft keith #longpost #soft lance #soft klance #broganes #shiro #takashi shirogane #keith & shiro

[accio-victuuri]

Xiao Zhan “Blog World” interview section:

"Blog World": In 2023, you have three dramas starring you on the air, which have achieved very good results. If you sum up this year, what is your evaluation of yourself, or what do you want to say to yourself?

Xiao Zhan: Enrichment and gain. I hope that I can continue to work hard and give back to the audience with more and better works in the future, and also deliver more positive energy through my own actions.

"Blog World": In the period emotional drama "Where Dreams Begin", you play the role of Xiao Chunsheng, a tough and upright young man who bravely pursues his dreams. What impact does this character's character and story have on you? What did you gain from the process of creating characters?

Xiao Zhan: Xiao Chunsheng is a very vital and infectious character. I am often moved by him. He is tenacious and always sticks to his inner bottom line, and will not be easily affected by the people around him or the surrounding environment. At the same time, he has the drive to face difficulties. He often says, "The difficult road is the uphill road."

This character is actually much more outgoing than me. He also acts as the "big brother" among his friends. He is very responsible and always tries his best to take care of the friends around him and help everyone solve problems. This innocent heart is also affects me.

"Blog World": As a period drama, involving decades of time changes, how do you grasp the characteristics of the characters at each stage? For you, what is the most important element in a person's growth process, and what needs to be adhered to?

Xiao Zhan: I think the first thing is to believe and allow yourself to put yourself in Xiao Chunsheng’s shoes and experience the situations he encountered at different stages. In fact, there are subtle differences in the stages of military service, retirement, employment, entrepreneurship, etc., including the relatives around him. , friends will also slowly get closer or become separated, so when performing, I need to think about the front and back scenes, and immerse myself in the situation: with Chun Sheng’s unyielding spirit, what will he think and do when faced with these situations? .

I think for me, it means sticking to what I believe in and doing what I think is right.

"Blog World": This time you starred in the fantasy drama "Yuguya" and returned to the field of costume dramas. Do you have any new feelings and surprises?

Xiao Zhan: The new feeling for me about the character Shiying is that he is a mortal human being with all the seven emotions and six desires of a human being, which is very vivid. The surprising thing is that this character has a sense of contrast. He is reserved and sharp, cold but affectionate. He is not a single character. These all gave me a better fulcrum to understand and interpret this character.

"Blog World": Shiying in the play is a lonely and cold person, but his destiny has experienced great twists and turns. What do you think the character's attitude towards life is?

Xiao Zhan: Shi Ying’s attitude towards life is that man can conquer nature and everything depends on man-made efforts. Therefore, he will firmly do what he thinks is right, and in the end he will dedicate everything he has to the righteousness of his family and country.

"Blog World": In the urban drama "Sunshine By My Sdide, you play the role of designer Sheng Yang. The character has a sunny side of a young man, but at the same time he is very mature inside. Is this the image you want to maintain?

Xiao Zhan: As far as I am concerned, I do not deliberately maintain a certain state or image at a certain stage. In my understanding, Sheng Yang is a person who knows the world but is sophisticated. He has the energy of a young man but is not naive at heart.

As an actor, I hope that everyone will not have a fixed concept of my performance or role. It is best that every work can bring a new image to the audience, making everyone forget who Xiao Zhan should be. what does it look like. (laugh)

"Blog World": Do you imagine what your life would be like now if you had not entered the entertainment industry?

Xiao Zhan: Actually, I have never imagined that I might still be in the design industry, where I commute to and from get off work every day, and may have to work overtime frequently. Or open a bakery, paint when I have nothing to do, or go traveling with family and friends.

"Blog World": In recent years, you have participated in a variety of works and diverse roles. What method do you usually use to detach yourself from the emotions of the previous role and adapt to the next role?

Xiao Zhan: Maybe I just give myself some time off, return to my daily life, sleep, exercise, and relax for a while, that’s about it. It also takes a while to welcome a new role, to read through and become familiar with the script, and to sort out the relationships between the characters.

"Blog World": Regarding the profession of actor, do you have any new insights now compared to when you first debuted? Is there any change in mentality?

Xiao Zhan: My previous idea was relatively simple, I just wanted to act well and try different roles. My thoughts have not changed now, but I will have higher demands on myself. In addition to hoping to be recognized by the audience, I also hope to bring some strength to everyone through my roles and works. I think this will be very meaningful and valuable.

"Blog World": What is your current ideal on the road of acting? What are the requirements for yourself reflected in your work?

Xiao Zhan: My goal has always been to hope that everyone can see their own progress and changes through each work. I also hope that my performance can be affirmed and recognized by the audience.

What I can do is to fully understand and appreciate the role, discuss and communicate more with directors, screenwriters, and senior actors who I have collaborated with. At the same time, I will also listen to the audience’s well-intentioned and helpful suggestions on performance, and improve my own performance. shortcomings.

Be down-to-earth, interpret each role carefully, and do your job well.

source.

#xiao zhan #accio victuuri translation #love thissss #i just did the interview section cause that is what i’m interested in

[countryclubkook]

Too kind for your own good

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, blood, death, language, toxic father and son relationship, small mention of abuse (ward slaps Rafe), guns, spoilers for obx, language, very violent and intense situation, there is no happiness here, this is pure heartbreak and angst with no fluff in sight

Summary: You find out the truth about Rafe and he doesn’t take it so well, now he has to make a choice. You or his father, but things don’t exactly go as planned and he has to suffer the consequences of his own selfish actions.

A/N: I don’t know how I feel about the ending because I could not figure out how I wanted this to end but I needed to get it out so I hope you enjoy. The timelines in this are a bit different from the show and there are certain things mentioned here that happen at different times in the show than in the story and that is solely for writing purpose,

“Oh princess, can’t say i’m surprised to see you turn against us. You always were too kind for your own good” Rafe’s voice was slow and taunting, a sadistic look of happiness on his face at the way your body tensed up and how your eyes went dark at the sight of him.

The gun that he’d used to shoot Sarah waving around in the air as if it was his prize. Her blood still staining your mind from the picture you’d seen when they talked to the police, not knowing whether or not she’d made it after the adrenaline inevitably wore off made you sick. It wasn’t until the three of you got back to OBX and Kelce ran to the country club telling Rafe he’d seen her and John B that you’d known she was still alive. You never thought Rafe would try to kill his own sister, you didn’t think he was capable of killing anyone until you found out the truth about Peterkin.

“I’ll miss you Y/N. I’ll make sure your pretty face is the headline of every news station though, can’t just let you die without the fame of it all. And John B over there,” he nodded to the unconscious body of the innocent teen boy that was blamed for all this mess, the boy who had been through so much for wanting to find gold and be with the girl he loves, “He’ll be easy to frame for your…tragic end. I mean come on, you’re my girlfriend, you tried to reason with him and keep him away from my dad and I because he was becoming unhinged and it got ugly, he shot you and then himself. Problem solved”

Your breathing hitched as you tried backing away from him. Your legs felt like jelly and your hands were shaking uncontrollably, you’d never seen Rafe like this and it was scaring you. He wasn’t actually going to kill you right? The way he took long strides towards you was telling you otherwise, the crazy yet calm look in his eyes as if you were nothing to him hurt you more than any weapons could. You remained quiet though, something that seemed to piss him off.

“Why are you so quiet huh? Fucking answer me bitch!” it took everything in you not to flinch. Instead, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath in.

“What do you want me to say Rafe? What am I supposed to say in this situation?” your voice trembled slightly and you cursed your body for giving away your true fear. He let out a humorless chuckle and began to circle you.

“You can beg, I know you’re good at that. All those little home videos of you on your knees begging me to use you, to hurt you, to do whatever I want, they prove that” you swallowed back tears and gave him a look of acceptance. There was nothing you could do to prevent your death, why bother fighting it and giving him the satisfaction?

“Why? Why not just kill me now huh? Kill me and John B and take what you’ve always wanted Rafe, make your daddy proud” he looks at you with furrowed brows and tilted his head slightly.

“What?” he asks in confusion, watching as you slowly walked towards him with seemingly no fear.

“I said,” another step towards him until you were directly in front of him “kill me. Fucking kill me Rafe”

His face tensed, you were supposed to be scared, beg him to let you go, not beg him to kill you. What the fuck was happening right now?

“Y/N-“ you cut him off with a harsh shove to his chest.

“Murder me Rafe! Fucking murder me like you murdered Sheriff Pete” shove.

“Shoot me like you shot your sister!” another shove before you began beating on his chest with closed fists.

“Murder me Rafe! MURDER ME!” you began screaming as something inside you snapped. All the fear, all the betrayal, the confusion, all of it coming to the surface and exploding.

“Y/N stop! What-“ again he was cut off by a combination of hits and shoves as you broke down in front of him.

“MURDER ME! MURDER ME! MURDER ME! MU-“ a harsh gasp leaving your throat as you gripped onto the fabric of his shirt. Neither one of you looked down knowing it wasn’t good.

He watched in pure fear and panic as his father pulled a knife out of your back and shoved you to the ground. His face was void of emotion as he watched Rafe fall to the ground with you and cradle your bleeding out frame. Tears had fallen onto your cheeks like little rain droplets as Rafe’s eyes teared up just the same.

“Dad, what did you do? What the fuck did you do?!” his voice came out in a broken yell as he tried to apply pressure to your stomach in hopes it would stop the bleeding.

But the blood kept pouring out, staining his hands. The ring you’d bought him for your one year anniversary now covered in your blood, he was going to have to hold you as you died, all because of him, with the jewels you gave him. How fucking twisted was that? Your pained groan pulled him out of his thoughts as he quickly realized he couldn’t save you. Your clothes were soaked in blood as were his pants, and the pool of blood had soaked your hair and left small streaks on your face.

Ward stood there with a look of disappointment at the scene in front of him. “We need to take care of him now son. We can’t let emotion get in the way, I mean it’s not like you loved her that much anyway seeing as you were about to kill her” he was right. Rafe was about to kill you and pin it all on John B solely because you’d seen how much of a monster he was and wanted to leave. All his potential to be good and have a good thing ruined just for his dad’s acceptance. But it’s not like he could change it now, especially when your blood was caked onto his hands.

“W-well, I guess this is how it ends. Who would,” you cough, blood pooling in your throat as you do, “who would have thought” a sad yet lazy smile on your face.

“I-i’m sorry baby. I’m so fucking sorry” he meant for everything. For dragging you into this mess, for being the reason you died, for being so fucked up and needing his dads approval and acceptance so bad that he threw all the good down the drain just to get it.

All he could do was mutter small apologies as he cradled and rocked your cold and bloody body while your breathing got slower and slower until it stopped, one final raspy breath in and a small gurgle sound caught in the back of your throat. His face screwed up as tears formed in his eyes, he couldn’t be bothered to wipe them. He wanted to keep holding you until you were pried from his hands, but Ward had other plans. There was no time for him to mourn on his schedule.

“Rafe. come on son,” a deep sigh filled the room as Ward wiped his hands on his face “Let’s finish this. Make me proud, we’re so close to this being done”.

Right. John B was still there, this was all for gold and not just some tragic accident that he could genuinely say he had no part in. His hands reached for your face, gently moving his fingers to close your eyes that he used to look so deeply into out of pure love and admiration, to trace every last feature of yours one last time. You looked so beautiful even in death, that’s all Rafe could think about. How his girl managed to look so beautiful even after being fucking stabbed and covered in her own blood.

“I love you. I’m sorry” one last kiss to your cold and parted lips before he stood, gently laying your body on the ground.

“Good, now come on. Help me with John B, if we kill him here we can make it look like a set up” fuck, this was crazy. Sure Rafe hated the pogues and wanted to get the gold…but he also loved you. But he loved his dad as well and he was just starting to be proud of him and accept him as his son, what was he supposed to do?

“Rafe!” Ward's voice pulled him out of his thoughts “Come on son, what are you doing?”

He watched Rafe pace back and forth, his hands pulling at his hair before roughly pressing onto his eyes. He was starting to get nervous at his son’s erratic behavior and knew he needed to help ground him before he lost total control and did something that would fuck them both.

“Dad, I'm not okay. This isn’t okay, oh my god you killed her. You killed her dad, why did you do that?” he repeated to Ward over and over again before he came over and placed his hands on both sides of Rafe’s face.

“It’s okay, you’re okay son. We’re going to get the gold and everything is going to be fine'' Rafe scoffed and rolled his eyes before pushing his dads hands off his face.

“None of this is okay dad, you fucking killed her!” slap.

“Watch your tone Rafe. All of this is your fucking fault, you fucked us all! Now either you help me with John B or you go down for it all” he watched Rafe swallow harshly as he touched his face, time was running out and he couldn’t wait for his son to gather his emotions.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry dad”

“There’s my boy, let’s end this. Now” Ward moved over to where John B remained unconscious and signaled Rafe to come over.

Rafe would do anything to make his dad proud and he hated it, especially when your bloody and lifeless corpse laid just inches away from him, serving as a reminder of his choices. All he could do was look at you while his father talked to him, your hands almost as if they were reaching for him even in death, and he fucking hated himself. He wished you would have just stayed away, that you would have told him to go fuck himself months ago and left to save yourself. But you always saw the good in him, and as he always reminded himself, you always were too kind for your own good, and your kindness got you killed along with his selfishness.

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron imagine #obx imagine #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x y/n #outer banks netflix #outer banks #obx angst #rafe x reader #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron angst #rafe cameron x fem!reader #obx fic #rafe cameron fic

[reasonsforhope]

"If I wanted to convince you of the reality of human progress, of the fact that we as a species have advanced materially, morally, and politically over our time on this planet, I could quote you chapter and verse from a thick stack of development statistics.

I could tell you that a little more than 200 years ago, nearly half of all children born died before they reached their 15th birthday, and that today it’s less than 5 percent globally. I could tell you that in pre-industrial times, starvation was a constant specter and life expectancy was in the 30s at best. [Note: This is average life expectancy, old people did still exist in olden times] I could tell you that at the dawn of the 19th century, barely more than one person in 10 was literate, while today that ratio has been nearly reversed. I could tell you that today is, on average, the best time to be alive in human history.

But that doesn’t mean you’ll be convinced.

In one 2017 Pew poll, a plurality of Americans — people who, perhaps more than anywhere else, are heirs to the benefits of centuries of material and political progress — reported that life was better 50 years ago than it is today. A 2015 survey of thousands of adults in nine rich countries found that 10 percent or fewer believed that the world was getting better. On the internet, a strange nostalgia persists for the supposedly better times before industrialization, when ordinary people supposedly worked less and life was allegedly simpler and healthier. (They didn’t and it wasn’t.)

Looking backward, we imagine a halcyon past that never was; looking forward, it seems to many as if, in the words of young environmental activist Greta Thunberg, “the world is getting more and more grim every day.”

So it’s boom times for doom times. But the apocalyptic mindset that has gripped so many of us not only understates how far we’ve come, but how much further we can still go. The real story of progress today is its remarkable expansion to the rest of the world in recent decades. In 1950, life expectancy in Africa was just 40; today, it’s past 62. Meanwhile more than 1 billion people have moved out of extreme poverty since 1990 alone.

But there’s more to do — much more. That hundreds of millions of people still go without the benefit of electricity or live in states still racked by violence and injustice isn’t so much an indictment of progress as it is an indication that there is still more low-hanging fruit to harvest.

The world hasn’t become a better place for nearly everyone who lives on it because we wished it so. The astounding economic and technological progress made over the past 200 years has been the result of deliberate policies, a drive to invent and innovate, one advance building upon another. And as our material condition improved, so, for the most part, did our morals and politics — not as a side effect, but as a direct consequence. It’s simply easier to be good when the world isn’t zero-sum.

Which isn’t to say that the record of progress is one of unending wins. For every problem it solved — the lack of usable energy in the pre-fossil fuel days, for instance — it often created a new one, like climate change. But just as a primary way climate change is being addressed is through innovation that has drastically reduced the price of clean energy, so progress tends to be the best route to solving the problems that progress itself can create.

The biggest danger we face today, if we care about actually making the future a more perfect place, isn’t that industrial civilization will choke on its own exhaust or that democracy will crumble or that AI will rise up and overthrow us all. It’s that we will cease believing in the one force that raised humanity out of tens of thousands of years of general misery: the very idea of progress.

Changing Humanity's "Normal" Forever

Progress may be about where we’re going, but it’s impossible to understand without returning to where we’ve been. So let’s take a trip back to the foreign country that was the early years of the 19th century.

In 1820, according to data compiled by the historian Michail Moatsos, about three-quarters of the world’s population earned so little that they could not afford even a tiny living space, some heat and, hopefully, enough food to stave off malnutrition.

It was a state that we would now call “extreme poverty,” except that for most people back then, it wasn’t extreme — it was simply life.

What matters here for the story of progress isn’t the fact that the overwhelming majority of humankind lived in destitution. It’s that this was the norm, and had been the norm since essentially… forever. Poverty, illiteracy, premature death — these weren’t problems, as we would come to define them in our time. They were simply the background reality of being human, as largely unchangeable as birth and death itself...

Between 10,000 BCE and 1700, the average global population growth rate was just 0.04 percent per year. And that wasn’t because human beings weren’t having babies. They were simply dying, in great numbers: at birth, giving birth, in childhood from now-preventable diseases, and in young adulthood from now-preventable wars and violence.

It was only with the progress of industrialization that we broke out of [this long cycle], producing enough food to feed the mounting billions, enough scientific breakthroughs to conquer old killers like smallpox and the measles, and enough political advances to dwindle violent death.

Between 1800 and today, our numbers grew from around 1 billion to 8 billion. And that 8 billion aren’t just healthier, richer, and better educated. On average, they can expect to live more than twice as long. The writer Steven Johnson has called this achievement humanity’s “extra life” — but that extra isn’t just the decades that have been added to our lifespans. It’s the extra people that have been added to our numbers. I’m probably one of them, and you probably are too...

The progress we’ve earned has hardly been uninterrupted or perfectly distributed... [But] once we could prove in practice that the lot of humanity didn’t have to be hand-to-mouth existence, we could see that progress could continue to expand.

Current Progress "Flows Overwhelmingly" to the Developing World

The long twentieth century came late to the Global South, but it did get there. Between 1960 and today, India and China, together home to nearly one in every three people alive today, have seen life expectancy rise from 45 to 70 and 33 to 78, respectively. Per-capita GDP over those years rose some 2,600 percent for India and an astounding 13,400 percent for China, with the latter lifting an estimated 800 million people out of extreme poverty.

In the poorer countries of sub-Saharan Africa, progress has been slower and later, but shouldn’t be underestimated. When we see the drastic decline in child mortality — which has fallen since 1990 from 18.1 percent of all children in that region to 7.4 percent in 2021 — or the more than 20 million measles deaths that have been prevented since 2000 in Africa alone, this is progress continuing to happen now, with the benefits overwhelmingly flowing to the poorest among us.

Vanishing Autocracies

In 1800, according to Our World in Data, zero — none, nada, zip — people lived in what we would now classify as a liberal democracy. Just 22 million people — about 2 percent of the global population — lived in what the site classifies as “electoral autocracies,” meaning that what democracy they had was limited, and limited to a subset of the population.

One hundred years later, things weren’t much better — there were actual liberal democracies, but fewer than 1 percent of the world’s population lived in them...

Today just 2 billion people live in countries that are classified as closed autocracies — relatively few legal rights, no real electoral democracy — and most of them are in China...

Expanding Human Rights

All you have to do is roll the clock back a few decades to see the way that rights, on the whole, have been extended wider and wider: to LGBTQ citizens, to people of color, to women. The fundamental fact is that as much as the technological and economic world of 2023 would be unrecognizable to people in 1800, the same is true of the political world.

Nor can you disentangle that political progress from material progress. Take the gradual but definitive emancipation of women. That has been a hard-fought, ongoing battle, chiefly waged by women who saw the inherent unfairness of a male-dominated society.

But it was aided by the invention of labor-saving technologies in the home like washing machines and refrigerators that primarily gave time back to women and made it easier for them to move into the workforce.

These are all examples of the expansion of the circle of moral concern — the enlargement of who and what is considered worthy of respect and rights, from the foundation of the family or tribe all the way to humans around the world (and increasingly non-human animals as well). And it can’t be separated from the hard fact of material progress.

Leaving a Zero-Sum World Behind

The pre-industrial world was a zero-sum one... In a zero-sum world, you advance only at the expense of others, by taking from a set stock, not by adding, which is why wars of conquest between great powers were so common hundreds of years ago, or why homicide between neighbors was so much more frequent in the pre-industrial era.

We have obviously not eradicated violence, including by the state itself. But a society that can produce more of what it needs and wants is one that will be less inclined to fight over what it has, either with its neighbors or with itself. It’s not that the humans of 2023 are necessarily better, more moral, than their ancestors 200 or more years ago. It’s that war and violence cease to make economic sense...

Doomerism, at its heart, may be that exhaustion made manifest.

But just as we need continued advances in clean tech or biosecurity to protect ourselves from some of the existential threats we’ve inadvertently created, so do we need continued progress to address the problems that have been with us always: of want, of freedom, even of mortality. Nothing can dispel the terminal exhaustion that seems endemic in 2023 better than the idea that there is so much more left to do to lift millions out of poverty and misery while protecting the future — which is possible, thanks to the path of the progress we’ve made.

And we’ll know we’re successful if our descendants can one day look back on the present with the same mix of sympathy and relief with which we should look back on our past. How, they’ll wonder, did they ever live like that?"

-via Vox, 3/20/23

Note: I would seriously recommend reading the whole article--because as long as this post is, this is only about half of it! The article contains a lot more information about the hows and whys of human progress, and it also definitely made me cry the first time I read it.

#progress #human rights #humanity #science and technology #premature death #cw infant death #child morality #womens rights #lgbtq rights #bipoc rights #doomerism #climate change #food insecurity #extreme poverty #global south #developing countries #optimism #climate optimism #good news #hope

[2goldensnitches]

I know there’s a tendency to complain about one’s living situation (no matter how bad you actually have it), but I honestly find gringos and euros tedious when it comes to this because of a disturbing trend for some to feel guilty over the circumstances of their births. Obviously not everyone who rages against the “imperial core” will pull a snowden and move, but honestly, why not? If being born an anglo american/European or simply living there makes you feel irreparably guilty because it means you’re “complicit” with your government’s actions and your country’s history, why not change that? It’s not all that difficult to process documents as long as you have the patience to stomach bureaucracy (and the pricing). And if you absolutely can’t wait for a legal procedure, you can stow away on a boat. Thousands of people escaping poverty and conflict have literally crossed oceans with nothing but the clothes on their backs, so, honestly? A lot of this just seems like, dare i say it, virtue signalling to me, personally: that the complainant is “one of the good ones” because instead of simply acknowledging history, they are showing how good at activism they are by declaring the us and europe as the centre of all evil and that they eagerly await the day they die a fiery death.

Who do these feelings help? How does constantly repeating calls for violence in internet echo chambers improve society? All this achieves is to create a soul-suckingly negative environment that radicalises and negatively polarises people into reactionaries. There’s no care for thought or nuance. Like it or not, countries today are absolutely neutral entities that transcend the concept of borders or languages because people live in them. I don’t like Kim jong un or ayatollah khamenei, but i don’t think nuking iran and North Korea would solve anything, actually, because mass death is bad, and, ultimately, activism ought to focus on people over ideology.

And as an aside, it’s plain stupidity (and privilege) to not acknowledge that, currently, for better or worse, the us and europe and Canada are among the best places to live for many. That’s why people emigrate there at all. There’s an attempt to foster cleanliness, order, community trust, functioning social services and societal problem solving that is simply not the case in many other countries. Why would you spit on all those benefits for stupid internet points? So many people risk their lives to secure a better living for themselves and their families—and freedom of movement is a human right. Are you saying they suffered over nothing? That they should have stayed home to face war and famine instead of committing the crime of living in New York? Would it be better if they went to a more “appropriate” country? Which one and why? If not, then what’s stopping you from hauling ass elsewhere to leave your guilt behind?

#radikewl politics are exhausting #The opposite of nationalism is misguided internalised self loathing but the horseshoe is still in effect

[darkness-and-books]

How the TOS crew reacts to being stuck in the turbo lift with you

requested by anon: “how would the tos crew react to getting stuck in the turbolift with reader?”

Spock

He only briefly looks up when he realises that the turbo lift has stopped.

Has no reaction whatsoever and goes back to doing whatever work on his PADD because he figures somebody has to notice it’s out of order fairly quickly

He just goes about his business until he hears you hyperventilating

He already knows why you’re panicking.

Spock does his best to comfort you by telling you that there’s only one turbo lift and therefore someone will have to fix it soon.

He’ll 100% tell you all about the history of elevators and how the turbo lift is so much safer 🤓

If you’re still worried after that he’ll let you hold his hand until someone finally fixes the turbo lift.

Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy

Internally, he also freaks out a little bit

Bones somehow keeps his composure despite being trapped very close to you

He’s entirely in his own head about it until he realises that he can hear you freaking out even more than him

His inner country boy breaks out a little and pulls you close to him

Absolutely kisses your hands and maybe even your cheek to make you giggle a bit

He’ll remind you that you guys have been through way worse than a stopped turbo lift.

Jim Kirk

“Huh” his exact words after realising you’ve stopped.

Honestly, he really really trusts his crew so he won’t be worried at all

But the moment he hears your breathing pick up he’ll start cracking jokes

“Actually this works out perfectly, I was on my way to a meeting”

Pulls you into a big bear hug and tells you how he’d much rather be here with you

if you’re still panicking he’ll say something like “do I have to order you to calm down”

Keeps telling jokes until you laugh

and when you do laugh, he’s pretty sure his heart jumps out of his chest.

Nyota Uhura

Absolute girl boss about it

Would 100% wait it out if it weren’t for the fact that she could see you panicking

But you’re panicking and she can’t bare to see you with anything but a smile on your face

She pulls out her comm and calls down to engineering (why did no one else think to do this? 🧐)

Once she’s done that all she can really do is wait

She won’t even wait or hesitate, she’ll pull you to the floor and sit with you

10/10 would recommend getting stuck in the turbo lift with Nyota, she will cuddle until someone fixes the lift

Sulu

“Oh my”

His mind seriously blanks

But he kicks into gear when he remembers you’re here too

He pulls out a deck of cards and asks if you like magic 🪄

(I dunno why I just think Sulu can do card tricks and stuff 🤷‍♀️)

Card tricks quickly devolves into an intense game of war

Its unexpected for sure, but it works

Scotty

It takes him a moment to notice

But when he hears your breathing he looks up and realises that you’ve stopped

You’re lucky to be stuck in the turbo lift with the head of engineering

He gives you a quick wink 😉 and smirks when you blush

He’d turn around, open up a panel that you didn’t even know existed, and fix it

Bam, problem solved

If you’re really shaken up by it though he’ll probably take you for a drink after or make you tea if you don’t drink

I hope you like it, anon. I’m super sorry if this isn’t what you had in mind, feel free to re-request it with more specific parameters if this isn’t what you meant.

#star trek #headcanon #leonard mccoy x reader #spock x reader #kirk x reader #nyota uhura #tos sulu #im taking requests!!! #requested #Scotty