#Camping chair review

[wanderguidehub]

Review of ALPS Mountaineering King Kong Chair - A Must-Have for Camping Enthusiasts

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Purchase on Amazon Pros Sturdy and Durable: With its powder-coated steel frame and 600D polyester fabric, the ALPS Mountaineering King Kong Chair is built to last, making it an excellent investment for regular campers. High Weight Capacity: This chair can support up to 800 pounds, making it suitable for individuals of all sizes. Ample Storage: It comes with…

[outdoorovernights]

iClimb Low Wide Beach Chair Review

Have you ever found yourself dragging a bulky chair across the beach, only to be disappointed by its weight, discomfort, or sheer impracticality? You’re not alone. Outdoor enthusiasts are often on the hunt for that elusive perfect chair—light, comfortable, and durable, yet easy to carry around. Enter the iClimb Low Wide Beach Camping Folding Chair with Side Pocket and Carry Bag (2, Dry Rose). A…

[p0orbaby]

Mud, Sweat and Tears

summary: you like the outdoors, leah doesn’t, what could go wrong ?

warnings: none

a/n: based on this request ! thanks !

word count: 1.5k

-

It’s Saturday morning, early. Unforgivably early. The kind of early where the sun’s still hiding behind the trees, and any reasonable person would be asleep. But you’re not reasonable, and you’re not asleep. You’re packing the car with fishing rods, a tent, and Leah Williamson, who’s standing in the driveway, half-awake, holding a thermos of coffee like it’s the only thing tethering her to this planet.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Leah asks, squinting up at the sky like she’s expecting it to open up and swallow her whole.

“Yes,” you say, a little too cheerily for this hour. You’re from a camping family—one that considers sleeping bags and bug spray essential items. For you, weekends are made for hiking trails and catching fish with nothing but a stick and a string. Leah, on the other hand, is the type of person who thinks “roughing it” means staying in a hotel without room service.

Leah sighs, long and dramatic, and you can tell this is going to be a weekend of constant commentary. You love her, but she’s never been one to suffer in silence.

You get in the car and drive. Leah stares out the window, probably counting the number of coffee shops you pass that she’s being cruelly denied. You try to distract her with stories from your childhood, tales of catching frogs and sitting in a fishing chair eating beans out the tin, but Leah’s only response is, “Couldn’t you just do that in your garden?”

-

When you arrive at the campsite, Leah’s first question is, “Where’s the toilet?” You point to the woods, and she stares at you like you’ve just suggested she eat dirt.

“You’re kidding,” she says, though she knows you’re not.

You grin. “It’s called nature. People have been doing it for thousands of years”

“People also used to die at thirty,” she shoots back.

You set up the tent while Leah hovers nearby, looking like she’s trying to work out how to teleport back to London. She’s mumbling to herself, something about bears and serial killers, and you catch the phrase “the beginning of a horror film” as you hammer in the last tent peg.

“It’s not that bad,” you say, shaking out the sleeping bags. “Look, we’re surrounded by trees, fresh air, the sound of birds—”

“—and the nearest bathroom is in the next county,” she interrupts, arms crossed.

You laugh, but she’s still frowning, looking at the tent as if it’s a creature that might bite her.

“Is it too late to go back?” she asks, and she’s only half-joking.

“Yes,” you say firmly. “You’re going to love it. Just give it a chance”

Leah doesn’t answer, but you can see her mentally reviewing the terms of your relationship, wondering if it’s really worth it.

-

The first hike is a gentle one. You choose a path that’s scenic, with views of the lake, thinking it’ll win Leah over. She starts off strong, even enjoying herself for the first ten minutes. But then she hits a rock with her boot and lets out a string of words that would make a sailor blush.

“I don’t know how you do this,” she mutters, rubbing her toe through her boot. “I’m a footballer, and even I think this is excessive”

You offer her a hand to steady herself over a tricky bit of trail, but she swats it away. “I can do it,” she insists, right before she stumbles and nearly faceplants into a bush.

You help her up, biting back a laugh. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbles. “But if I die out here, I’m haunting you”

“Noted,” you say, still smiling.

A little further down the trail, you stop to point out a bird—something you’ve seen a hundred times but you know will be new to her. Leah squints at it, trying to look impressed.

“Wow,” she says, without any real enthusiasm. “A bird”

“You’re not even trying,” you accuse, though you’re still grinning.

“I am,” she argues. “I’m trying to stay alive. This is a survival situation now”

-

Fishing is the next disaster. You’re by the lake, showing Leah how to cast a line, when she gets the hook tangled in a tree branch on her first try. She’s staring at it, hanging like a Christmas ornament, and you can see the moment she decides fishing is the worst thing ever invented.

“This is stupid,” she declares, as you untangle the line.

“No, it’s relaxing,” you correct. “It’s about patience”

“I have patience,” she retorts. “I put up with you”

You laugh, but Leah’s dead serious, looking at the water like it owes her something.

You manage to catch a fish—small, but it’s something. Leah just watches as you handle it with ease, her expression a mix of admiration and abject horror.

“Now what?” she asks, eyeing the fish like it might jump up and slap her.

“Now we let it go,” you say, holding it gently before releasing it back into the lake. “Catch and release”

“So we’re torturing fish for fun,” she sums up, crossing her arms.

You roll your eyes. “That’s not the point. It’s about being in nature, enjoying the peace and quiet”

She looks around, like she’s searching for this peace and quiet you’re talking about. “If by ‘peace and quiet’ you mean insects and dirt,’ then sure”

“Come on,” you say, leading her back to the shore. “You’re doing great”

She grumbles something about Stockholm Syndrome, but she follows you, brushing a mosquito off her arm with a look of pure betrayal.

-

The first night is the real test. You’re lying in the tent, cozy in your sleeping bag, while Leah fidgets next to you. You can hear her shifting around, trying to get comfortable, letting out exaggerated sighs every thirty seconds.

“I can hear you,” you finally say, eyes still closed.

“This ground is trying to kill me,” she replies, her voice muffled by her sleeping bag. “How is this comfortable?”

“It’s not supposed to be a hotel bed, Leah,” you say, still amused. “It’s camping”

“Right, camping,” she mutters. “Which is just paying money to pretend you’re homeless”

You laugh out loud at that, and Leah finally cracks a smile, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.

After a few more minutes of restless shifting, she huffs again. “I need to piss”

You point towards the trees, again. “Nature’s calling”

She doesn’t move. “You’re really not joking, are you”

“Nope”

Leah stares at you like you’ve just suggested she drink the lake water. “I’m not going out there alone. What if something eats me?”

“Like what?”

She thinks for a moment, then shrugs. “Bears. Wolves. A very aggressive squirrel”

You sit up, knowing you’re not going to win this one. “Fine, I’ll come with you”

You both get up and trudge out into the dark, Leah clinging to your arm like she’s convinced the woods are full of monsters. After she’s done, you’re walking back to the tent when she suddenly stops.

“What?” you ask, turning to look at her.

“Did you hear that?” she whispers, eyes wide.

“Hear what?”

She doesn’t answer, just pulls you along faster, practically dragging you into the tent. You both dive in and zip it up like you’re sealing yourselves in a bunker.

Leah’s heart is racing as she gets back into her sleeping bag, and you can’t help but smile at how seriously she’s taking this.

“Nothing’s out there,” you say, trying to reassure her.

“I’m not taking any chances,” she mutters, pulling the sleeping bag over her head like it’ll protect her from the unknown terrors of the forest.

You lie back down, still smiling to yourself. “Goodnight, Leah”

“Goodnight,” she mumbles, and you can tell she’s already planning how to survive the night.

-

By the end of the weekend, Leah’s still grumbling, still complaining, but there’s a softness to it now. You catch her smiling when she thinks you’re not looking, like maybe—just maybe—she’s starting to see why you love this so much.

You’re packing up the car, and Leah’s pretending to help, mostly by standing around and giving unhelpful advice.

“You know,” she says, as you load the last of the gear, “this wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be.”

“High praise,” you say, wiping your hands on your jeans.

“I mean, I’m never doing it again,” she clarifies, “but it wasn’t awful”

You grin, knowing that’s as close to a victory as you’re going to get. “I’ll take it”

Leah gives you a look, one that says, despite all the complaining, she had a good time in her own way. “You’re lucky I love you,” she says, and it’s the first time all weekend she’s said something without a hint of sarcasm.

“I am,” you agree, leaning in to kiss her.

And as you drive away from the campsite, back towards civilisation, Leah finally falls asleep in the passenger seat, the weekend’s adventures catching up to her. You glance over at her and smile, thinking maybe you’ll get her to go camping again one day. But for now, you’ll let her sleep, knowing you’ve survived the wilderness together.

Even if she still thinks it’s trying to kill her.

[raayllum]

It took me a little while, but I finally had time to review seasons 2-3 of The Dragon Prince on IMDB (under chaoticgoodthiefling) so I'm here to say that I would love to see your take on on Rayllum breaking both their promises in S7 in fic form! (or one of them keeping their promise, the other breaking it, whatever you wanna do) - if you're still doing the review fic-athon, that is. If not, nw!

I would be more than happy to do a fic-athon for each season if you'd like, so for whichever one I didn't do (aka Callum's) I might keep it for Snake Boi Callum Week on the 17th and shore it up then <3 learn more about review fic-athon here

Somehow, they manage to make it back to camp.

Soren helps her walk, and Ezran bandages the cut on her cheek, her eyes as red as the blood on his too-tiny fingers. She explains what happened in a hoarse whisper as near as she knows it—her silk-wings vanishing while in pursuit of Claudia, sending her tumbling, her head smashing open on the rock, Callum crying as the shadows began to cloak them, asking her to stay, asking her to forgive him—Rayla blinking blearily as Soren and Ezran had crashed through the bramble just in time to see Callum, eyes all black and mouth unsmiling, place the cube in Aaravos' outstretched palm, because she was too weak to stop him, only bruises and blood to show for her troubles, her blades unable to follow through.

You promised, Callum had rasped before he'd said the spell.

But even then, that hadn't been his last words. One last kiss to her forehead. I love you. I'm sorry.

And they won't be his last words, Rayla thinks stubbornly as they regroup at the Silvergrove. The tea Ethari prepared for her is going cold, him and Ez and Soren discussing things—Callum—in the other room. Giving her time to recuperate. Like she needs it. What she needs is her—

"Rayla."

Runaan sits down in the chair across from her, his lips pursed, eyes guarded.

She sighs and gives up on ever drinking the tea, nudging the ceramic mug towards her father instead. Runaan gives it a dubious sniff and then takes a sip.

"What?" she asks tiredly when he makes a face and sets it down; he's always liked weaker rather than stronger tea.

"Your... human. Is what the others say true? He's—not himself?"

She snorts even as her eyes sting, Runaan's uncharacteristic gentleness crushing her heart into even more pieces. Oh, you have a nicer word for it, for being possessed? Corrupted. Soren and Ezran hadn't even known Callum had cured himself—that he'd chosen to throw it all away, and for what? For her? "For now," she says. "We're..."

She curls in on herself.

If Aaravos ever controls me again, if he uses me, promise me you'll kill me.

I promise.

Her fist in Runaan's face, closer than they sat together now, reminding him that You taught me to never break my promises!

"I'm scared, Runaan," she admits, the words feeling unholy—blasphemous—this deep in the heart of the Silvergrove, even with her trial behind her. "What if he—" she chokes back a sob. "What if he's gone?"

Runaan stares at the tea and then at her, cerulean blue eyes more than contemplative. Maybe sad? "Do you truly believe that? I thought I was gone, in the Moon Nexus. You convinced me otherwise."

"But you were just trapped with dark magic. He's..." Become it, all ashy and smoky, the stark white in his hair. The unseeing red in his eyes. Like the corrupted banthers that had almost eaten them on more than one occasion. She tugs on her hair. "At the Starscraper, they told us that if he ever did it again, he'd be corrupted—overwhelmed, completely. That there'd be nothing left. And now..."

She wipes stubbornly at her eyes. "He made me promise, Runaan. That I'd kill him if it ever happened. Now it has, and I..."

"Do you want to kill him?" Runaan asks plainly.

Rayla recoils. "What? Of course not. I love him."

"Then perhaps that is your answer."

Rayla stares at him this time. "It is not that simple. Aaravos—"

"Rayla."

Her father reaches across the table for her hand, his thumb stroking over the inside of the wrist, where he'd bound her long ago. Sometimes the joint still aches; if Callum hadn't hatched Zym, and Zym hadn't removed it when they did, the binding probably would've claimed her hand anyway.

Runaan gives her wrist a gentle squeeze. "When you were growing up, I fashioned you into my little blade. You were eager for it, and I was a suitable whetstone—I thought it was the best way to protect ourselves. To protect you. But you were not made to be an assassin, and I am sorry if I have ever made you feel like it is your greatest weakness instead of your greatest strength. At the time, I did not know better; I do now. That boy loves you, and you love him. Yes, you may kill him, and save the world—but will it be a world you want to live in, afterwards? What do you want when this is all over?"

"I..."

She knows, of course. Walks in the garden. Moonberry surprise by the square. His hand, warm and wrapped around her fingers. It's all she's ever wanted: a life with the boy in peacetimes that she could've had all along, if she'd just...

"I kept my promise to kill a king, and I have regretted it each day since," Runaan says. "If I had broken it, and listened to you, we would've been better for it. I would have, too. Trust yourself, and trust him. If your situations were reversed—when they were—what would he do? What do you want to do?" He levels her with an even, steady stare. "What feels right?"

Rayla blinks back a fresh wave of tears. "Saving him," she says, "of course, but—"

"Then Ethari and myself will stand by you," he says, "as you do just that."

Her chair scrapes against the floor as she rises, throwing her arms around her father; Runaan hugs her back tightly. "Thank you," she mumbles into his chest, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years.

He takes her by the shoulders when they pull away, a small smile playing over his lips. "Now, what do you say we join the crownguard and the young king, and decide on what to do next to save your mage, hm?"

[mymindcreatedthis]

Netflix and Chill 18+

Reader x Beth Mead

Work count: 4,060

Warning: Smut, dirty talk, squirting, daddy kink, clit teasing, teasing, unprotected sex, Creampies, blow Job, throat pie, rough sex, R doming Beth, Beth Receiving, R using Beth’s folds for friction, cumshot, Positions: Missionary, on side, reverse cowgirl

*Y/n's pov*

It was the second week of camp. We had the next two days off, we were at breakfast I sit down at a table when I get my food. Leah, Lucy, Rachel and Millie join me at the table. The rest of the girls have their own conversation, Beth places her hand on my thigh and gently rubs my thigh.

I bite my lip as I get a bit turned on. "Wanna come back to my room after breakfast and we can cuddle and watch some movies?" Beth asks.

Beth grabs my dick over my shorts, I bite my lip and get more turned on. "S-Sure I'm down." I say.

Beth smiles, and nods. Coach walks in. "Okay ladies, sorry for the last minute notice but we are gonna do film when we are done eating so don't leave when you guys are done eating." We groan as coach says this.

We finish eating, coach turns off the lights so it was pretty dark in the room so we could see the screen. We had couches, and comfy chairs in the Lucy room with us. Me and Beth move to the couch.

I sit down, Lucy and Niamh sit with us on the couch, there wasn't enough room for all three of us so Beth was sitting on my lap.

Beth smiles. "Hey beautiful."

I smile. "Hi love." I smile and greet her.

I bite my lip, as she shifts around on my lap. I can feel how wet she is under her shorts. "B-Beth....you okay?" I ask her stuttering a bit.

"Y-Yes why?" Beth asks.

I didn't want the girls to hear so I lean in and whisper in her ear. "You're soaking wet baby, I can feel your wetness on my leg." I whisper.

Beth  blushes darkly as I say this. "S-Sorry." Beth pauses for a second. "I was really turned on. I was touching myself before breakfast and forgot to put my panties back on." Beth says.

I smirk and nip on her ear and whisper. "Yeah baby? Were you fingering yourself?" I ask teasing her. "So naughty not wearing any panties."

"S-Shut up." Beth says. She squeezes her thighs together and squirms a bit.

I giggle. "You're so cute mmm you're soaking wet baby."

*Beth's pov*

Fuck Y/n is really turning me on. I bite my lip as she whispers dirty things in my ear. I squeeze my thighs together as I feel myself getting more wet. I scoot back onto her lap, I blush darkly and bite my lip as I feel Y/n's bulge rub against my ass from behind.

"S-Shit." Y/n moans quietly.

"Shit baby I can feel your dick throbbing and rubbing against my ass." I moan quietly.

We finish the film and do a quick review, after a little while coach dismisses us. We leave the cafeteria and go back up to our rooms, Y/n follows me back to my room.

*Y/n's pov*

Beth unlocks the door and opens it. We go into her room, I close the door behind us and lock it. "The A/C is busted in here, so we can cuddle and watch movies in our sports bra and underwear." Beth says.

I nod. "I'm okay with that."

Beth nods. "I'll be right back. I need to use the toilet real quick."

I nod, she goes into the bathroom. I take off my shirt and shorts and lay down on the bed. I grab the tv remote and turn on the tv, I turn on Netflix and patiently wait for Beth.

Couple minutes go by, Beth comes back out. She smiles and bites her lip when she sees me in my boxers and sports bra. Beth smiles, she takes off her shirt and shorts leaving her in her sports bra and panties, she join me in bed.

I smile and cuddle her, we flip through Netflix trying to figure out what to watch. "What do you want to watch beautiful." I ask her.

"Mmm what about comedy." Beth says.

I nod, we watch Ride Along, Pineapple express and then No Hard Feelings. I get up and fix the tv, I lay back down in bed and spoon Beth.

*Beth's pov*

I smile as Y/n spoons me and holds me close to her. Y/n presses her front against my back, I blush a bit as I feel her bugle press against my ass. Y/n wraps her arm around my waist, she slips her hand under my shirt traces and slightly scratches my abs.

I bite my lip as this turns me on and makes me wet. I move my ass back against her and slowly grind against her. Y/n quietly moans in my ear, I smirk and bite my lip. I lower my hand and rub her bulge over her boxers.

Y/n moans a bit louder. I lick my palm and slip my hand into her boxers. I wrap my hand around her dick and slowly stroke her dick. Y/n moans and grabs my ass, in pleasure as I continue to stroke her dick.

Mmm fuck, I wanted to feel her inside me so fucking bad. I rub my thumb over her tip and feel her precum leak out. She was really throbbing and really needed a release, I bite my lip to keep in a moan as she squeezes my ass.

*Y/n's pov*

I bite my lip and give her ass a squeeze, I quietly moan in Beth's neck. I place kisses on her neck, Beth pulls my boxers down freeing my dick from its confinement.

She strokes my dick a bit faster I quietly moan and squeeze her boobs. "Mmm fuck." I moan In her ear. Beth presses my tip against her ass as she continues to stroke my dick faster than before.

"Take off my bra baby." Beth says.

I moan and do as she says so, I take off her bra and toss it off to the side. Beth  strokes my dick faster. I moan loudly in pleasure  as I feel myself getting close to cumming. "I'm close baby, I'm gonna cum." I moan loudly in pleasure.

"Mmm lower my panties and cum on my ass baby." Beth says.

I moan in her ear. I smirk and get an idea, I slide my dick between her legs and folds. "I'll do you one better and your folds for friction." I moan.

I smirk and rub my dick through her folds. Beth quietly moans as I slowly thrust back and forth sliding my dick between her folds. Beth moans loudly in pleasure as I thrust back and forth faster.

I moan loudly in pleasure as I feel my balls tighten.

Cumshot:

I can't take it anymore, ropes of thick cum glazes her folds, cum shoots onto her thighs, onto her abs. The cum accidentally makes my dick slip inside her. Beth blushes darkly, her eyes widen as my cum oozes and spurts inside her.

Beth bites her lip and slowly slides back and forth on my dick helping me ride out my high as the last of my cum oozes and spurts inside her painting her walls white.

"F-Fuck I'm sorry." I moan.

Beth smiles. "It's okay baby you finished in the right place." Beth says.

I smile and nod, I warp my arm around her and hold her close to me as we continue to watch the movie. I smile and kiss her neck and shoulder.

"Mm you're so beautiful." I say.

Beth smiles and leans back against me. "Mmm thank you. So are you baby." Beth says.

I bite my lip as her walls clench around me. "Mmm fuck baby you're so tight. You feel really good clenched around me." I moan in pleasure.

The movie finally ends. "Thank god." Beth says. She takes the blankets out of us, she takes my dick out of her. She lays between my legs and slowly strokes my dick, I moan in pleasure as she strokes my dick.

I bite my lip and  moan as she strokes my dick, faster. I moan as she does this, "mmm fuck." I moan.

"You like that baby?" Beth asks as she strokes my dick even faster. I moan loudly in pleasure, once I'm hard Beth takes my dick in her mouth and slowly bobs her head. I moan in pleasure and run my fingers through her hair.

"Mmm fuck." I moan in pleasure.

Beth hums against my dick and bobs her head a bit faster. "Holy shit.... Mmm fuck right there." I moan.

Beth massages my balls and sucks the soul out of my dick as she continues to give me head. "Holy shit I'm gonna cum buckets if you keep doing that." I moan.

I moan as I feel myself getting close to cumming. Beth chokes and gags a bit as the tip of my dick hits the back of her throat. Beth  deep throats me as she continues to give me head.

"Guck...Guck....Guck." Beth makes noise as she deep throats me after 5 more minutes of an amazing blowjob I feel my balls tighten.

"Beth Baby I'm gon-" I'm unable to warn her in time.

*throat Pie*

I can't take it anymore, I bust my load in her mouth. Beth chokes and gags a bit as I cum in her mouth and down her throat. Beth swallows my load, she gets the last of my cum and swallows it.

"Mmm fuck." I moan.

Beth giggles and places kisses on my V line and abs. "Mmm you taste amazing love." Beth says.

"Mmm I need more of that dick baby." Beth says seductively.

Fuck that's mmm may have been this hottest thing I've heard. Beth scoots back against me I take off my bra and toss it off to the side. I lift her leg a bit, Beth bites her lip and spreads her legs a bit giving me access to her wet pussy.

I rub my tip through her folds and slowly slide my dick inside her. I moan as her walls immediately clench around me. Beth moans as she takes my dick deep inside her.

"Mmm so tight and Warm." I moan in pleasure.

"Mmm you're really deep in there." Beth moans.

*Beth's pov*

I moan in pleasure as Y/n slowly thrusts in and out of me. Fuck she's really deep inside me, I can feel her throbbing inside me she really needed a release. I moan and rest my head against hers, I look down and watch her dick slowly slide in and out of me.

Fuck she was balls deep inside me, she was so cute and sexy. Her cute moans as she thrusts into me faster than before. I moan In pleasure, I reach down and grip her ass as she thrusts into me a bit faster and harder.

I moan loudly in pleasure. "Fuck daddy, right there right there." I moan in pleasure.

"Yeah? You like that baby? Daddy balls deep inside you stretching you out?" She questions as she goes faster and harder than before.

"Mmm I love it." I moan In pleasure as her balls slap against my skin and our moans fill the room. She was so sexy when she was a Dom, fuck her being Dom made my legs weak and made me super wet. It was a major turn on.

I moan in addition leagues as my walls clench around her. It's only been 20 minutes and I was already about to cum. "Mmm someone close?" Y/n asks seductively.

"Mmm I'm so close, I'm gonna cum." I moan in pleasure.

"Let go baby, cum for daddy." Y/n sexily whispers and nips my ear.

I moan as she kisses and sucks on my neck leaving a few hickys. I moan as I feel myself getting close to cumming. "Mmm I'm gonna squirt." I moan. I squirt all over her abs, dick and all over the sheets.

Y/n smirks and keeps going, she goes at an angle and starts to pound my g spot. Y/n and I both moan in pleasure. My legs shake and buckle in pleasure.

"Mmm fuck, so tight." Y/n cutely moans in pleasure.

I wrap my arms around her. I look deep into her eyes as she continues to bottom out in my pussy. I moan and kiss her deeply, we both moan in the kiss. Fuck she has amazing dick game.

Y/n moans as she thrusts into me faster and harder than before. My tits bounce up and down as she continues to fuck me. Her balls slap against my skin as our moans fill the room. I feel her dick throbbing inside me she was super hard and really needed a release.

I moan as I feel that familiar knot coming in my stomach. I moan and grip the sheets. "Ugh fuck, Y/n baby in close." I moan in pleasure.

"Mmm me too baby." Y/n moans.

I feel her precum leak inside me letting me know that she was close to cumming and desperately needed a release. My legs shake and buckle in pleasure as she continues to pound my g spot.

I feel my walls clench spring her dick. "Need to cum baby?" Y/n asks as she moans in pleasure.

"So fucking bad." I moan in pleasure.

"Let go baby." Y/n moans as she fucks my brain out.

I moan and squirt all over her abs and dick. Y/n moans in pleasure as she goes faster and harder. Y/n's breathing gets heavier letting me know that she was close to cumming.

"Yes, yes cum in me." I moan in pleasure.

I smile and moan as I see pleasure on her face. Her face cutely contorts as she is about to bust her load deep inside me. "Mmm F-Fuck." Y/n Cutely moans in pleasure.

I giggle and moan. "Cum baby, cum in my slutty pussy." I moan.

*Y/n's pov*

I moan in pleasure as I feel myself getting close to cumming. My breathing gets heavier letting her know that I'm close to cumming. "Mm F-Fuck." I moan.

Beth giggles and moans. "Cum baby, cum in my slutty pussy." Beth moans loudly in pleasure.

creampie #1:

I can't take it anymore, I bust my load deep inside her pussy. Beth moans and cums all over my dick. We both moan as I shoot ropes of thick sticky cum inside her painting her walls white.

"Mmm fuck." Beth moans.

I slowly thrust in and out of her slowly pumping her full of cum. I help Beth ride out her high, once we both come down from our highs I slowly pull out of her. Thick cum glazed her folds as cum pours out of her, cum drips down her thigh and oozes into the bed.

We both moan and lay there panting and trying to catch our breaths. "Fuck you can really make a girl cum." Beth pants out.

I giggle at her comment and kiss her. "Mmm so can you." I say.

Beth lays in the bed and moans as my cum continues to ooze out of her and onto the bed. After we catch our breaths I lay Beth down in Missionary. I smirk and rub my dick through her folds.

"Y/n s-stop teasing and just put it in." Beth moans.

I smirk and slowly slide my dick inside her. We both moan as her walls immediately clench around my dick. "Mmm tell me when to move baby." I say letting her get used to my size again.

"M-Move." Beth moans in pleasure.

I smile and kiss her. We both moan in the kiss as I slowly thrust in and out of her. Beth wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me closer making me go even deeper inside her. We both moan.

"Mmm so wet and warm." I moan in pleasure.

I moan as I slowly slide back and forth. Beth moans in pleasure. "F-Faster." Beth moans.

I smirk, I hover over her and thrust in and out of her faster and faster. I moan and kiss her neck, Beth moans and scratches my back.

"Ugh fuck." She moans, her toes curl.

I smirk, I go at an angle and pound her g spot. "Oh fuck, right there. Right there." Beth moans.

My dick slips out from how wet she is. Beth Cutely groans and pouts. "Put it back in, put it back in." Beth says begging.

I quickly slide my dick back inside her, I moan I go at an angle and pound her g spot fast and hard. My balls slap against her skin as our moans fill the room.

Beth screams in pleasure. "I'm gonna squirt."

Beth screams in pleasure and squirts like crazy. Her legs shake and buckle in pleasure as she squirts like crazy.

"Ahh fuck." Beth moans.

I smirk, I continue to pound her g spot going faster and faster.

"Fuck....Fuck....Fuck." Beth squeaks out with each thrust.

"Mmm so good, I don't think I can last much longer." I moan.

Beth giggles. "Is someone close to cumming again?" Beth asks teasing me.

I nod and moan in pleasure. I lean down and kiss her deeply, I smirk against her lips as I feel her walls clench around my dick.

"Need to cum again beautiful?" I ask her.

"So damn bad." Beth moans.

"Let go baby." I moan as I continue to fuck the daylights out of her. I moan as I feel myself getting close to cumming. My breathing gets heavier letting her know that I'm close.

"Yes cum in me, cum in me." Beth moans.

I lean down and kiss her as I kiss her I feel her juices on my dick and abs. I moan as I continue to thrust into her faster and faster. I moan as I feel that all too familiar feeling in my balls.

"Beth baby I'm gon-"

Creampie #2:

I can't take it anymore, I bust my load deep inside her. Beth moans and cums all over my dick. We both moan as I shoot ropes of cum inside her and paint her walls white. We both moan as I continue to pump her full of cum.

I help Beth ride out her high, once we both come down from our highs I slowly pull out of her. My thick cum oozes out of her pussy and coats her folds and oozes onto the bed.

We both lay there panting and trying to catch our breathes. "Fuck you are amazing in bed." Beth pants out. I smirk, I wrap my arms around her and pull her back. We both lay down, her back to my tits, I spread her legs a bit with my own. Laying us in the reverse cowgirl position.

Beth moans and shudders as I rub her clit with my dick. "Mmm fuck." She moans. I smirk as her legs shake and buckle in pleasure as I do this.

"Put it back in, put it back in." Beth cutely begs.

"Mmm yeah slut? You want daddy's dick back inside you?" I ask teasing her.

"Mmm fuck please daddy, Ive been such a good girl. I'm such a slut for your dick and cum. Please I want more." Beth says.

I smirk and grant her wish. I slide my dick back inside her, Beth moans as she takes my 11 inches back deep inside her. I moan as her walls immediately clench around me.

Beth moans and leans back against me as my dick is back inside her cum filled pussy. I place my hands on her hips, I spread her legs a bit more with mine and slowly thrust up into her pussy.

"Mmm fuck, right there. Ugh just like that." Beth moans.

I moan in pleasure and thrust up into her faster. My balls slap against her skin as our moans fill the room, fuck her pussy felt so good. She had amazing grip, her pussy felt like heaven. Mmm so Wet and warm.

"Fuck baby you're so tight and warm." I moan.

I thrust up into her faster and harder. Beth screams in pleasure and grips the sheets, I make her look at me and make out with her. We both moan in the kiss as I continue to bottom out in her pussy.

We break the kiss, we rest our heads against each other's. "Feels so good. Don't you dare fucking stop, don't you dare stop. we aren't stopping until you give me every last drop of cum." Beth moans.

I smirk. "Yeah slut? You want more, such a naughty girl."

We both moan as I thrust up into her pussy faster and harder. "Fuck, I'm gonna squirt!" Beth screams in pleasure.

I smirk, I slap and tease her clit. Beth moans and shudders as I do this, Beth moans loudly in pleasure and squirts. I smirk as I feel some of her juices go on my thigh. She squirts on the blankets and sheets.

We both moan, I continue to thrust up into her faster and harder. I moan as I feel myself getting closer to cumming. "B-Beth baby I'm close." I moan.

"Me too. Don't stop don't stop." Beth moans.

My balls slap against her skin as our moans fill the room. I rub her clit with my thumb at a fast pace. My breathing gets heavier letting Beth know that I was close to cumming.

"Yes cum in me, cum in me." Beth moans.

I moan loudly In pleasure as I feel that all to familiar feeling in my balls.

Creampie #3:

I can't take it anymore, I thrust up into her and bust my load deep inside her. Beth moans and cums all over my dick. We both moan as cum oozes and spurts inside her painting her walls white.

I slowly thrust up into Beth. I help Beth ride out her high. I slowly thrust up into her as the last of my cum oozes and spurts inside her.

I moan and slowly pull out of her, my dick falls limp. Cum immediately pours out of her. Cum coats her folds and drips onto the blankets and sheets.

"Mmm fuck there's so much. I feel so full With your cum inside me." Beth moans.

I smirk. "Good, hehe I stuffed you full." I say rubbing her sensitive clit.

We lay there panting and trying to catch our breaths. Once we catch our breath we shower together. Let's just say that we went another round in the shower. Once we are dried off we get dressed.

"Mmm I'm starving." Beth says.

"Mmm you wanna get dinner love?" I ask her.

"Yes I'd like that." Beth says.

I smile and nod, we finish getting dressed and get ready. We grab our phones and wallets. Beth grabs her key card, we put our shoes on and leave the room.

We leave the hotel and go to a nice Italian restaurant. We order food and make small talk, this is the happiest I've been in a long time.

Beth and I drink whine and eat our food. Beth reaches over and holds my hand. "Y/n.... I." She trails off for a second.

"Hey." I look at her. "What's going on in the beautiful that pretty head of yours?" I ask.

"I like you Y/n. I really like you, more than friends." Beth says.

I smile and kiss her hand. "I like you too Beth, more than friends."

"Y/n will you be my girlfriend?" Beth asks.

I smile. "Yes, a thousand times yes. I will be your girlfriend Beth."

Beth smiles and kisses me. I smile against her lips and kiss her back. We finish eating dinner, we pay the bill and head back to the hotel.

It was now 9 pm. We decided to call it a night, we get ready for bed. Beth smiles and cuddles with me, I smile and hold her close to me. I kiss her. Mmm I can get use to this, I fall asleep and hold Beth in my arms.

[eggtartz]

✧ 3rd October ✧

Eraserhead // Lazy (f! teacher reader)

kinktober masterlist

warnings : stressed aizawa, deepthroat, blowjobs, cum eating

these days at UA were especially stressful for the ground hero, eraserhead. not only his class getting into a direct attack with the villains, now they also needed to be held in dorms to ensure their safety after a second attack from the league of villains during their camp with pro heros, wild, wild pussycats.

then theres the whole deal of internships after the school festival and now the tired hero slash teacher classroom is going through dozens of applications of offers for his students, each must be reviewed carefully for the sake of the students quirks growth.

aizawa sighed as he slumped on the chair, putting away his scarf. his two students in particular has been fighting, after curfew and at a restricted area while using quirks. the both had amazing powers but horrendous dynamic that he frustratedly choked both of them in his binding scarf earlier. you were napping as the light from the computer screen turned on again. "hm? Is eraserhead still working on his shift?" you asked groggily, slowly sitting up to gaze at him, his long hair tied in a bun. "sorry, had to take care of the brats again. go back to sleep, i'll be there" he said without looking at you. you pouted as you silently hugged him from behind all the while rubbing his shoulders. "you haven't had a decent sleep after USJ, you realize right?" you gently said as he lightly sighed "it wasn't your fault" you said again, much softer this time as he hugged you back, tugging your forearm "im tired, so tired" he said under his breath that if you weren't behind him, you wouldn't have caught it. "i know, shouta, let me help you take some rest" you kissed the side of his head.

"really? thanks, you really know how to help me all the time" he smiled gingerly and kissed your temple. you pushed his chair slightly back as you went on your knees, unzipping his pants while he's slowly going through applications again. his boxers were strained as you fished out his half hard cock, kissing the tip that made him hiss. "haven't done this in what? three weeks?" he glanced down to you "mmh, more than a month I think" you said, giving slow and soft licks to the cockhead, warming it up as aizawa grunted in relief. your two hands are on his shaft as you lubricated it with your drool, licking and kissing it. aizawa's hand gripped the mouse he's using as his muscles got tense, until he felt a hand on his stomach "relax, shouta. let me do deal with everything" you said, swirling his cock in your mouth before slowly going down with it.

aizawa took a hair band on the desk and tied your hair in a ponytail, holding the ponytail upwards as you bobbed your head slowly, doing it repeatedly while licking his hard cock "you're.. really good. like always" aizawa frowned as he felt you humming, his cock nearing your throat. he can practically feel his sensitive dick at the edge of your tight throat but he held himself back, although it was growing difficult with how stubborn you are.

rubbing his slick cock, your lips went to find his balls and licked them. you fondled them gently as aizawa muttered curses under his breath. his balls was getting wet over how much saliva dn precum smeared on it as you gazed up to him "shouta? do you like it?" you purred, teasing his cockhead with your nails. "y-yeah.. it's really good. you give.. amazing blowjobs.." he panted as you took him inside your mouth again, this time hollowing your cheeks as you relaxed your throat and gagging on him. your nails buried on his thighs as you gurgled on his cock, enjoying the delicious girth stretching your throat and milking him dry.

aizawa in the meanwhile is moaning in pleasure, frantic hands trying not to shove you deeper to blow his aching cock. his hands rested on your jaw as he looked up to the ceiling, his Adam's apple bobbing with every saliva he's swallowing as he tried not to be too noisy. sweat started to drip on his forehead as you gagged on his cock, sounds of your whining and constant gurgles making aizawa at the edge. "h-hell.. I think I'm close.. mm, where do I cum darling?" he asked although you were adamant on keeping his cock in your throat.

you took out his dick and tapped the precum on your tongue, looking up to him "shoot it inside my throat.. please.. want your cum" you softly moaned, your hands going up and down his foreskin as he gripped your jaw again "you want help me, right?" he asked, getting a nod

aizawa smirked as he pushed his cock in your mouth again, two hands on the back of your head as he bullied himself inside you. you gurgled and gagged, eyes closed and hands are on your thighs as he used your throat like a fleshlight. he stood up from his chair and dragged you further from the desk, smearing precum on your face and bent down to kiss "look at that, such a pretty face" he cooed as he plunged himself right back in, forcing you to breath with your nose as you relaxed your throat. his cock was getting bigger (if possible) as he deepthroated you, his thrusts getting frantic as he chased his orgasm

"here it comes.. my fucking load!" he grunted, pushing his cum deep inside, choking your throat slightly as he felt his cum getting swallowed. when he pulled out, you opened your mouth as aizawa see it's already clean, smiling satisfyingly.

"that's a good girl. wanna go for another one?"

[singularattitudeofasafetypin]

The Great War: Part 1

In The Heat of the Fight

Summary: During the battle to keep another planet from falling to the Separatists, Hunter and the squad are given a new mission. One that might have unintended consequences.

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: None

A/N: This is gonna be a series, I hope you enjoy it!

Please don't copy my work

Fire rained down overhead. Hunter ducked behind the rocks, shielding his head. The ground shook and debris settled. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, he scrambled up the moment the dust began to clear, scanning the battlefield for sight of his brothers.

There was Tech... Echo, Wrecker... Crosshair! They were safe but there was no time to breathe. One second was life or death.

"Regroup!" he ordered, "Tech and Wrecker take the left flank, see if you can disable their cannons. Echo, you and me will take the right. Crosshair cover our assault!"

His brothers sprang into action, trusting his commands implicitly and without question. The droids toppled like dominos thanks to Crosshair's cover. Hunter and Echo drew the rest away, allowing Tech and Wrecker to slip through unnoticed. In ten seconds flat, the cannons powered down, groaning to a standstill.

Ten seconds, Hunter thought. Tech wouldn't be happy; his record was nine! Still, there wasn't time to worry. The battle wasn't won yet.

It was won fifteen minutes later when reinforcements arrived. Gunships obliterated the remaining droids and sent their tanks into frantic retreat. Hunter would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved. Every bone in his body seemed weighted down with exhaustion and his eyes ached with the threat of a migraine on the way.

The regs with their militaristic routine and order were already setting up camp. More gunships landed and soldiers filed out. As usual, Clone Force 99 stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Everyone alright?”

Hunter’s mask of leaderlike review hid a wealth of genuine concern. Four weeks they’d been stationed here with no promise of aid. He wasn’t sure how much longer they could have gone on. Dirt ridden and bruised as they were, no sign of injury. It was more than he could have hoped for.

“We made it through like we always do!” Wrecker grinned, nudging Crosshair’s shoulder with more force than intended.

“You almost gave away my position,” he bit back and Wrecker rolled his eyes.

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Hunter winced. Yeah, this was definitely gonna be a migraine. Echo shot him a look and took the lead. “Good work disabling those cannons, Tech!”

“Hardly, I could have beaten my record if Wrecker had not pulled the wrong wire!”

“You said the blue one!”

The battle hadn’t broken their spirits in the least. A grateful smile stretched Hunter’s mouth as he slipped away. Everyone was safe, reinforcements were here, now a dark room and a bunk were all he could think about.

“Sergeant?”

Hunter scrunched his eyes against the light. Oh, was it too much to ask? He turned. An ARC Commander was approaching, datapad in hand. More orders. Couldn’t they just rest?

“We’ll handle this front now Sergeant,” he said, tucking his helmet under his arm and pressing the datapad into Hunter’s palm. “Looks like you’re going up in the world!”

Through bleared eyes, he made out the illuminated words. His gaze shot up at once.

“What?”

*

“It makes no logical sense to assign us to the capital.” Even after Hunter had taken a well-deserved nap, Tech was still going round the same point, “There is no tactical advantage to station us so far from the front-.”

“It’s nowhere near the action!” Wrecker groaned. Crosshair flicked his toothpick at him; Wrecker swung and missed.

“Whatever they want, I’m sure it’s important,” Echo chided, ever the peacekeeper, “The royal family requested us specifically.” He eyed Hunter as he slid into the chair next to him and raised an eyebrow. “How’s the headache?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hunter heaved a sigh, “Getting there.”

“Well, take it easy,” Echo didn’t look convinced, “We’ve got half an hour before we arrive.”

“Technically twenty-eight minutes.”

Tech regretted the words as soon as they’d escaped him. After all they’d been through the last month, everyone needed a break—Hunter most of all. It was his quick thinking and heightened anticipation that had managed to keep them all safe.

Crosshair rummaged in his pack and tossed a canteen of water. Hunter caught it in his outstretched hand. Neither had made eye contact.

“Take care of yourself, Sarge,” Crosshair’s voice normally dripping with sarcasm, seemed softer, “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”

He nodded a thanks, drank deeply, and leant his head against the seatback with closed eyes. He could feel the squad exchange a look but none said a word. A hush fell over the cockpit ‘til only the Marauder’s thrumming engines could be heard. Wrecker eased a ration bar out of its wrapper as quietly as he could.

*

It felt more like ten minutes later when the ship touched down, Hunter didn’t miss the care Tech put into the landing, but at least he was starting to feel better. Tightening the straps on his armour, he checked and re-checked his gear. The squad stood to attention, no squabbling, no bickering, not a word. Maybe he should get a migraine more often!

Before they could read the notion in his eye, Hunter grabbed his helmet and opened the hatch.

From the dim ship’s interior, it was like stepping from night to day. Sunbeams streamed down from the cloudless blue, reflecting off of bright white marble and refracting through crystal glass. The palace rose before them, a lattice of towers and parapets, sweeping buttresses and exquisitely paned windows-stained gold and green. The sight was blinding, Hunter squinted against the glare, quickly averting his eyes to the approaching palace guard. The captain offered a hand and Hunter shook.

“Clone Force 99?”

“That’s us.” The captain gave a short nod and turned on his heel. “Any particular reason we’ve been called in, sir?”

Hunter’s question was met with a wooden,

“This way.”

*

The palace halls were somehow more dazzling than their exterior. Light glittered in green and gold fractals across the echoing marble floors. The captain led them wordlessly into the throne room, as wide and spacious as a dreadnaught’s hangar hung with rich silk banners and sparkling chandeliers.

Seated on the ornate throne at the end of the room, the Grand Duke of Juunath was the picture of nobility but the toll the war had already taken on his rule weighed visibly in the lines of his face.

The captain saluted and the clones followed his lead. The Duke didn’t show that he’d noticed. Beneath his helmet, Hunter frowned. Instead of addressing them, the stone-faced ruler seemed to stare through the squad, Hunter noted his white knuckles on the arm of the throne.

“In the wake of this war reaching our system,” the captain began abruptly, “And in the hopes of pressuring Juunath to surrender, the Separatists have issued a threat against the royal family.”

Here he paused.

“What kind of threat?” Hunter asked, uncertain still of the mission they had been sent to fulfil.

“A threat against the Grand Duke’s daughter.” A spasm constricted the Duke’s mouth for a split second. “You have been enlisted to protect her.”

Hunter sensed the intake of breath behind him, he could picture all his brother’s faces in his mind’s eye. A protection job? Those were rare for regs, and even rarer for them!

“Why us?” the question slipped out before he could stop it, impertinent as it was. The captain’s eyes flashed dangerously. “This place seems pretty well guarded, why do you need us?”

The Grand Duke stood.

“You are experimental Clone Force 99, aren’t you?” the query rang rhetorically around the chamber. “I have been assured you are more capable than an army.” He stepped down from the dais, keeping his eyes locked with Hunter’s visor. “I want an army protecting my daughter, Sergeant.”

And Hunter saw it. Beneath the rigid mask of dignity, Hunter saw the maddening terror of a man whose child was in danger. He lowered his gaze and held his tongue.

*

“These are the best bunks we’ve ever had!”

Wrecker didn’t complain that his legs would’ve hung over the edge. Well accustomed to the world being too small for him, he revelled in the soft padded mattress and clean sheets. Hunter had to agree. Thought he didn’t doubt they were nothing compared to the resplendent beds in the guest rooms, as barracks went, this was by far the most luxurious they’d seen.

With little in the way of unpacking, Hunter sat on the edge of his bed and took a moment to breathe and assess the charge they’d been given. This had the potential to be a very tricky task or an excruciatingly long stay.

At least the squad were comfortable.

Crosshair had already stolen Lula and Tech was tinkering with the lights over his bunk. Oh yeah, they were settling in nicely.

They reported on time for their scheduled orientation of the palace thanks to Echo’s impeccable time-management.

Fortunately, this palace was old. Juunath’s history was fraught with war, despite its more recent reputation for peace and exploring the arts. Behind its shimmering façade, this was a fortress designed to be defendable. It was always a comfort to have the walls on your side.

Even the garden they trod through now, though light and airy, had clear points of defence and multiple exits, some more obvious than others.

No doubt Tech was recording the countless twists and turns meant to confuse an enemy and would have a holomap constructed by evening, so Hunter wasn’t clinging too hard to the captain’s spiel.

Something else had caught his attention.

He wasn’t sure at first; the ghost of his migraine could still be messing with his senses but now he was certain. The familiar heartbeats of his brothers thumped in rhythm in their usual positions at his side, their footsteps and breaths almost white noise to his accustomed ears. Ahead, the new micro expressions of the palace guard were rapidly blending into the background.

But there was one more heartbeat in the garden.

One he had yet to lay eyes on.

He threw a discreet glance over the leaves and lilies but saw no one. He heard her catch their breath. She was young, curious, afraid of discovery, but not a threat.

Leaves rustled imperceptibly somewhere off to the right and she were gone. Probably just a gardener but a smile tugged at Hunter’s mouth and he wasn’t sure why.

Echo nudged him.

“You will meet the princess after they have dined.” At this point, the captain faced them, his expression more unyielding than ever. “You are not to make her aware of the threats against her life, nor are you to disrupt her regular routine, or do anything to frighten her by order of the Grand Duke.”

Not tell her? Hunter interjected, “With respect, sir. She’ll have questions-.”

“Do I make myself clear, Sergeant?”

Cold as iron was his tone. This was not a matter up for debate and the look in the captain’s eye reminded Hunter forcefully of the rank he held.

“Yes, sir.”

*

“Don’t think the palace guard are very pleased to have us around,” Crosshair mused, cleaning his rifle and checking the scope.

Tech looked up from his data pad and grimaced, “When is anyone?”

Before long, the summons came and the five clones trooped down the darkening hallways. The lowering sun turned reflections from gold and emerald to bronze and olive. The hum of after-dinner conversation wafted toward them with the scent of the sumptuous meal already enjoyed.

Hunter stopped short.

It was her. Just like in the garden. The same heartbeat.

“What is it?” Echo stepped closer, already braced for action. So were the others, as attuned to Hunter as he was to everything else.

“Nothing,” he stammered, shaking his head, “It’s nothing.”

Before they could argue, he pressed forward.

The dining room expanded, lit by flickering lanterns and rich laughter. The Grand Duke sat at the head, entertaining a handful of delegates and courtesans. He caught sight of the clones and his smile waned. Standing and dispensing a few words of polite dismissal, he watched the company filter into another room and heaved a sigh. Only one member of the party remained, she stood at his side.

The Duke motioned for them to approach and forced his features into a nonchalant expression. “Well darling, these are the clones I told you about.”

The princess turned and Hunter’s heart skipped a beat.

She smiled graciously and bowed her head in greeting. Her eyes were intelligent and calculating but something kept them from meeting his gaze. It was probably for the best; at the present moment it was all Hunter could do to keep at attention. For once, he was grateful for his helmet.

“As I said, they’ll be acting as your personal security from now on-”

“But you still haven’t told me why!” She interrupted. Her voice was sweet but an incredulous note warped its melody. “Has something happened that you aren’t telling me?”

Her father enveloped her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Everything is fine, but you can never be too careful.”

He went on to explain how one of the soldiers would be accompanying her everywhere she went as an added precaution, there was a war on after all, but her eyes scanned each member of the squad in turn and Hunter couldn’t help but feel she was drawing her own conclusions.

“There will be a security briefing tomorrow morning but I’m sure you’ll hardly notice the difference!” The Duke concluded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The princess smiled and Hunter’s heart started again.

“Hardly!”

***

Part Two

Thank you for reading! If you liked it, please leave a comment and let me know if you’d like to be tagged when/if I write more Hunter stuff.

Love you guys!

Tags: @clonethirstingisreal

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 2: Toccoa, Georgia (The Prophecy)—A Band of Brothers Fanfic

A/N: I am so so so so SO sorry this is out late. This past week was super hectic! I hope that you really enjoy the chapter. I did my best to make it my own and different from other beginnings of BoB that I've seen, so you'll have to let me know what you think! Also, as a side note—I did, in fact, live in Toccoa area for 13 weeks a couple years back, so I actually do love that place!

Winnie could say that she had never been to Toccoa Georgia for any reason in her short lifetime and would probably have no desire to ever return. Though there wasn’t any snow on the ground here, it was just as gloomy as the rest of Georgia was in the winter months.  Everywhere she looked, there were men in uniforms and people bustling towards the wartime factories that had popped up.  

Her arrival at Camp Toccoa was a rather quiet affair, and so there she sat in a wooden chair inside a small waiting area.  Occasionally, Winnie glanced over at the precipitation building on the windows.  When she was a kid, she had long periods of waiting like this one—where her father was in jail or at some bar and she would just wait for him to come back home. 

It would usually rain—and considering how the weather in Georgia changed as quickly as a summer breeze, Winnie had taken to counting droplets of water as a way to keep her focus on something that she could control. 

The simple fact of the matter was that Winnie had precious little control over a lot of the circumstances in her life.  But the things that she did have control over, she kept those things close to her chest; clung to them like they were her most precious possessions and no one would ever come close enough to take that freedom of control away from her again. 

She clicked her heeled shoes together exactly once, eyes straying to the scuff marks on her simple church shoes.  She wondered how her brothers were all faring in their training at the moment.  If they were all coping with the reality of what war would be—if they were prepared to go and be on their own. 

Richie wasn’t the one she was worried about.  He was two years younger than her and was always rather serious.  He worked harder than anyone else that she knew and wasn’t one to get distracted by a pretty face or lofty promises.  Any day now, he’d be shipping out to go to the Pacific as a Marine and it made her truthfully want to follow him all the way down there and have his back with a gun herself.  

They were Allens.  And they trusted themselves and one another.  No one else outside of their circle of siblings had proven to be someone that they would trust their lives with.  But Winnie knew that they would never allow a doctor—and a female one, at that—to go down to the Pacific and be a part of the carnage and horrors there. 

Robbie was in the same boat, proverbially speaking of course, as Richie.  Set to go to the Pacific in a few weeks.  He was always so quiet and watchful.  Winnie hoped that it would serve him well to be on his guard and pick up on the things that the other soldiers wouldn't notice.  They had yelled a lot back and forth before he had enlisted—she had told him to finish his degree and go into the JAG-Corp.  He had told her to go to hell—which he had tearfully apologized for when she dropped him off at the train station.  

Winnie stretched out her fingers over her lap, letting out a breath.  It had been nearly thirty minutes of waiting to be allowed to see the Colonel—and this was just for him to review her application to join the Paratroopers as a Doctor and training officer for his medics.  She wished that the level of urgency the war truly had would transfer over to her wait time. 

Because if she needed to haul everything back to Buford, Winnie would almost certainly rather pick up and move to the Carolinas and try to sign up for a different branch of the military that would, in fact, utilize her. She hated being idle—hated being alone, even more than that.  

The younger three boys were the ones that needed supervision—needed all the prayers of the good congregation of Buford’s Christian Non-Denominational Church.  Nathan was the first problem in Winnie’s pleas to God.  That boy had been raised wolf-wild by herself and Richie and Robbie.  They hadn’t been much, but they had had each other.  He was always picking a fight with an older boy—and she could only hope that this whole army experience was going to straighten him out.   

Then there was Joshua, also set to end up in the Pacific as a medic.  That had granted her a degree of peace, knowing that his evenings helping her study for school were going to come in handy where he was going.  It might, in fact, just be the thing that ends up saving his life.  

But Charlie? Charlie was, in every sense of the word, hers.  She had raised him from the time of his infancy and so to Winnie Allen, Charlie was her child.  Currently, he was in Texas and Winnie had never been more grateful for the fact that the Air Force programs were long.  She would take those 9 months like a sacred gift from God that he wouldn’t be anywhere near the fighting—at least for a short while. 

And then there was her.  Just her—with no idea where she’d end up, with no clue what her side of the war would entail.  Which of course, would be typical of her life thus far. 

Just then, the door opened and a man stepped inside, clipboard in hand.  “Dr. Allen?” 

“That’d be me,” Winnie said, rising to her feet. 

The man piqued an eyebrow, but said nothing about the fact that she was a woman.  He just let out a weary sigh and gestured towards the door with his head.  “If you’d follow me, ma’am.” 

Of course, a moment ago she was Doctor, and now she was ma’am.  God, she loathed the South.  

Winnie obliged, following after the man with quick steps.  As they crossed out of the building and onto a dirt path, Winnie caught sight of some of the trainees—some of them in the field and doing jumping jacks in the field, some of them running towards a trail through the trees.  There weren’t too many of them at the moment, but that didn’t deter Winnie in any way. 

“Are these the officers that are in training?” Winnie questioned, speeding up her stride to match the man in front of her. 

He let out an annoyed breath.  “You catch on quick.  Sink will like that.  Though I can’t account for how he’ll feel about a woman applying to train our medics.” 

“I’m a trauma surgeon and doctor.  I think my credentials speak for themselves,” Winnie retorted dryly. 

No response from the officer this time, just a huff of air as he came to a stop in front of one of the buildings on the camp.  “Wait here, please.” 

Winnie just crossed her arms and waited patiently, inhaling the cool air.  Not even thirty seconds later, the man had returned and gestured for her to enter the room.  Winnie was grateful for the slight reprieve from the cold air as she entered the room.  And there, sitting in a chair and smoking a cigar, was Colonel Sink. 

“If you’d please take a seat, Doctor Allen,” he gestured at the seat across from his desk with his cigar.  Usually quick to follow orders, Winnie slid into the seat, looking at Colonel Sink expectantly.  It was another moment of silence before Colonel Sink set down his cigar and fully looked at her.  “I’ll be honest, we don’t see too many female doctors come through the military.” 

“I expect you’d see more nurses, sir.” 

“Damn right, we do,” Sink stated.  “This whole war—unpleasant business, not really meant for women.” 

“If I can speak freely, sir?” 

“I’d be appreciative of the honesty, if you did.” 

“You’re right, it’s unpleasant.  But those women are still going to bury husbands, sons, brothers, and fathers.  It affects them just as much as it does the men.” 

“I can’t say I disagree.  Your point?” 

“I’m not a married woman.  I’m a trauma surgeon and head of the trauma department in Buford General.  I was the top of my class and as it so happens, I don’t have any children or brothers—they’re all off in training to fight in this war.  I don’t particularly like sitting on my ass or fancy myself a factory worker.  But I can help you train damn good medics, sir.” 

Sink stared at her for a long time.  His gaze reminded her a lot of her mentor’s, from back in college.  He was always trying to figure out her angles too.  Trying to figure out if she was as good as she claimed to be. 

“I’ll be honest with you, Allen.  We’ve got hundreds—thousands—of men coming in the next few months to train to be paratroopers.  Now I want them to be the best of the best.  And if I want them to survive more than five minutes over there, then that means I also need the best of the best doctors to train my medics.  So I’ll concede to your point.  Your application was good—I’m a self-made man myself and I respect that work.” 

“Sir?” 

“But I’ll also be honest with you.  This isn’t going to be pretty.  It’s going to be bloody and long and tiring.  This isn’t the type of place where you can just escape from whatever life you don’t want to live.  At some point, you might be elbows deep in some man’s guts and I need someone unflinching.” 

“October 27th.” 

“Pardon?” 

Winnie shifted in her seat, leaning forward.  “October 27th, a man and his two daughters are brought into Buford General.  Automobile accident.  The man flung his arm in front of his daughter sitting in the passenger seat.  His arm was hanging by a few strands of muscles and he was going to bleed out.  Now the daughter in the passenger seat got impaled by a fence post—it went straight through her stomach.  The daughter in the back was flung through the car and landed 15 feet ahead.” 

“That’s both gruesome and tragic.   Your point being?” 

“I was the surgeon on call that night.  I triaged.  I assessed.  I delegated.  The father lost his arm but he kept his life.  The daughter who flew through the car wasn’t going to make it.  She was 11.  We were short-handed and I had to tell the nurse assisting me that the little girl wasn’t going to make it and that she needed to focus on the other one.  So she did.  We lost the one—but she was mostly gone by the time she had arrived,” Winnie stated.  “My point here is that I can give your men skills that they won’t get anywhere otherwise.  Real life experience teaching practical application of the skills.  Triaging, assessing, not hesitating in doing the work and saving lives.” 

Sink leaned forward in his seat.  “You’d be hard on them?” 

“I’d be brutal. Because that is exactly what they are going to face out there.” 

“You be the hard-ass doctor that trains my medics, then.  But if you’re gonna be here, then you’re gonna train like my men train.” 

“I’m not a fragile southern belle like Melanie Hamilton, sir.” 

“No, I imagine you’re not.  I’ll give you two nurses to assist with actual injuries on base—and based on performance, you and them might just end up traveling with us wherever we end up.” 

“Sir?” 

“What?” 

“Thank you for letting me advocate my case.  I won’t let you down.” 

“You sure as hell better not.  Or lots of good men are going to die and that’s going to be on your shoulders.” 

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

Within the first hour of being there, Winnie had selected her nurses from the pile of applications.  It hadn’t been that hard of a choice to begin with—some were just practical eliminations, and the rest were a careful read-through of letters they had sent in along with the application.  

Reba Garrett and Eileen Gray were the two chosen candidates that she had landed on.  Reba was from New England and had been working as a nurse for well over five years now, placing her as one of the older and more experienced women applying for the position.  But it wasn’t her experience that attracted Winnie’s attention—it was the letter, and the way in which she described wanting to do some real good in the war and that started with saving lives rather than ending them. 

That sounded exactly like the type of person that Winnie wanted to have on her side.  

Eileen, on the other hand, was from Savannah, Georgia.  While her experience time of only two years wasn’t quite as well-established as Reba’s was, it was the picture that she had included of her brother that caught Winnie’s attention.  Eileen’s brother had been stationed in Pearl and he had been one of the many men to be immortalized under the ocean there. 

That gave her motivation, it gave her righteous anger—and in Winnie’s eyes, it was exactly the sort of thing that God would do—place Eileen in her path to ensure that justice was seen. 

So Winnie penned her first letters to the two women that would soon be joining her here in Toccoa.  And then she took those resumes straight to Colonel Sink—who wholeheartedly approved of the decision, though it was made in haste.  Just another reason for him to see her as a capable doctor—as someone he could trust. 

And in two weeks time, Eileen Gray and Reba Garrett would be joining her at Camp Toccoa.  In the meantime though, Winnie’s own training was set to begin.  And she’d be damned if she let herself be torn down by any man—her superior officer or not.  She was determined to earn her place amongst the men here—and earn their respect.  Consequences be damned. 

[tiredflowercrown]

I hate that I'm digging and digging through tumblr to find someone talking about what is going on at the USA Nationl Archives to help raise awareness and I can't find anything

So for those who are unaware

It has recently come out that head archivist Colleen Shogan and her team have been removing topics and key items from exhibits set to show in 2025. This includes removing Japanese-American Internment camps from a WW2 exhibit, switching photos of Martin Luther King JR., Dolores Huerta, and Minnie Spotted-Wolf for photos of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and removing the patent for birth control from an exhibit about patents that changed the world.

They have said that images are too negative and controversial. A senior official went so far to tell employees that visitors shouldn't feel confronted. Colleen Shogan when reviewing an exhibit on westward expansion asked, why is it so much about Indians?

All of this is horrifying amounts of censorship from an institution and a profession that is supposed to be and is rooted in nonpartisanship. The point of an archive is to keep everything without bias. To tell the truth of history. This exposes just how much rewriting of history and censorship is happening currently in America because if the Archives, the supposed last resort against this, are hiding information, what does that say about our education. About our history. About the knowledge that is available to the public.

Here are some links to read further on this news including the original article breaking the news and the official response from the Archives

[queer-whatchamacallit]

New oc just dropped, talk to me about herrrrr

(All text written in the photo will be included in this long-winded list of everything I know about her)

Isabella/Bella/Bells Terzi

She/her

23

Enneagram 2

Mostly Romani, a lot of family initially from Turkey

Living with her parents who have pretty much always been hands off if not straight up neglectful

Family split mainly between Illinois and Louisiana

Has always been very loud and brash

Similar to Richie, has some weird word choices, says things how she thinks it without regard for whether the other person will understand

Has always been very active, bit of an adrenaline junkie

In high school, treated her volleyball team like family

Was a little more wild and into it than some other girls but they definitely thought of her like family too

Then, junior year, during the season, she got transverse myelitis and could no longer be on the team

Especially with it being such a fucked up time for her, it bothered her that they continued to bond and hang out together in a way she couldn’t

She isolated herself from them, and they tried to fit her back in, but she just dug her heels in further

By senior year, she had fallen in with a much different group that she never really connected with like she did her volleyball team

All of the stress along with the distraction of always feeling pins and needles through her legs tanked her grades, and she ended up kind of lost after graduation

She went from working at a Dairy Queen to a furniture store then it was The Beef that stuck

She got hired at 19 because Mikey could tell from her interview that she would be a blast to have around and hired her on the spot without figuring out any logistics of her chair, including whether she could even get to her station (barely)

She was hired with Marcus, and they instantly hit it off

She did not however hit it off with Tina, she reminded her a little too much of the kids she met in her horrendous job search in Napkins

They got off on the wrong foot, but they definitely got used to each other

She has this sort of tray that attaches to her chair, so if she’s just kneading dough or something, she can camp out closer to everyone else

She had this sort of challenge with Mikey going all the way back to the interview for him to come up with a joke about her she’s never heard

Almost a year later, he did it with “Oh shit, you’re trademarked and everything? Should I have been copyright claimed or someshit for hiring you?” When she told him about her transverse myelitis (TM)

She’s never been the best at deescalation, especially when she’s also pissed off, so her and Michael were definitely not great to have near each other at times

Because she seems so little (she’s really 5’7”/Carmy height), it shocks people that she has absurd, insane upper body strength

She loves arm wrestling people because of this, especially big strong guys

She has beaten Richie, Chuckie, Chi-Chi and Ebra (easily), but Mike and Marcus remain undefeated

She beat Tina and was way too smug about it

Saw what was happening to Mike, and became really abrasive toward him about it “Knock it off, stop being a pussy, and get your ass up” type of deal

Thinks about that a lot, especially since Carmy came to run The Beef

Was definitely uneasy at first, but didn’t mind the changes too much

Loves cooking for people, bringing joy, comfort food specifically

Didn’t super vibe with Sydney, seemed like she wanted to change too much, and Bella was definitely on Richie’s side for that one

Once managed to convince Carmy to do an arm wrestle, and he lost, but it was unclear whether he gave up to stop wasting time or if he really just has that weird bodybuilder muscle without much strength to it

Was kind of obsessed with Carmy’s additions to the dinner menu, just straight up Italian comfort food

With Review, everyone’s positive character arcs are what fucked them up (Marcus finding a passion in baking so he makes donuts instead of cakes and Tina brings Louie because she thinks he can learn here like she did), and her contribution was being more comfortable staying home on days where the pins and needles in her legs turn into definite pain

So she comes back, and suddenly, everyone’s inexplicably on edge

Then she’s the one to spot the fire Carmy started and yells for someone to get the extinguisher

But after they start talking about renovations, she gets kind of worried

It sounds less and less like the home she’s found The Beef to be, especially the menu

When they do the renovations, she gets a lot more space and her own shortened desk space and stove, and it heals her worries a bit, knowing that she’s still included in their plans for the future

She’s happy for Marcus, but she feels like she’s missing something when she tries his dishes, they’re great but they don’t make her happy

Throughout season 3, she struggles to keep up with Marcus’ exponential growth and strongly considers quitting, but she doesn’t want to leave the family she’s found

(And just like every other thing in season 3, we’ll be left in suspense to see how it resolves in season 4 lmao)

I only learned transverse myelitis existed today, so if I got anything wrong about it or more generally, the wheelchair user experience, I’d love to learn more and correct it

But yeah, I feel very strongly about her and I think you should too. I might even write a fic about her, we’ll see

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 30, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 01, 2024

This morning, Time magazine published a cover story by Eric Cortellessa about what Trump is planning for a second term. Based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisors, the story lays out Trump’s conviction that he was “too nice” in his first term and that he would not make such a mistake again. 

Cortellessa writes that Trump intends to establish “an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.” 

He plans to use the military to round up, put in camps, and deport more than 11 million people. He is willing to permit Republican-dominated states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans. He will shape the laws by refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress (as he did in 2019 to try to get Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Hunter Biden). He would like to bring the Department of Justice under his own control, pardoning those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ending the U.S. system of an independent judiciary. In a second Trump presidency, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a European or Asian ally that Trump thinks isn’t paying enough for its own defense. Trump would, Cortelessa wrote, “gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.”

To that list, former political director of the AFL-CIO Michael Podhorzer added on social media that if Trump wins, “he could replace [Supreme Court justices Clarence] Thomas, [Samuel] Alito, and 40+ federal judges over 75 with young zealots.” 

“I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles?” Cortellessa wrote. No, Trump said. “‘I think a lot of people like it.” 

Time included the full transcripts and a piece fact-checking Trump’s assertions. The transcripts reflect the former president’s scattershot language that makes little logical sense but conveys impressions by repeating key phrases and advancing a narrative of grievance. The fact-checking reveals that narrative is based largely on fantasy. 

Trump’s own words prove the truth of what careful observers have been saying about his plans based on their examination of MAGA Republicans’ speeches, interviews, Project 2025, and so on, often to find themselves accused of a liberal bias that makes them exaggerate the dangers of a second Trump presidency. 

The idea that truthful reporting based on verifiable evidence is a plot by “liberal media” to undermine conservative values had its start in 1951, when William F. Buckley Jr., fresh out of Yale, published God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom.” Fervently opposed to the bipartisan liberal consensus that the federal government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, protect civil rights, and promote infrastructure, Buckley was incensed that voters continued to support such a system. He rejected the “superstition” that fact-based public debate would enable people to choose the best option from a wide range of ideas—a tradition based in the Enlightenment—because such debate had encouraged voters to choose the liberal consensus, which he considered socialism. Instead, he called for universities to exclude “bad” ideas like the Keynesian economics on which the liberal consensus was based, and instead promote Christianity and free enterprise.

Buckley soon began to publish his own magazine, the National Review, in which he promised to tell the “violated businessman’s side of the story,” but it was a confidential memorandum written in 1971 by lawyer Lewis M. Powell Jr. for a friend who chaired the education committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that insisted the media had a liberal bias that must be balanced with a business perspective. 

Warning that “the American economic system is under broad attack,” Powell worried not about “the Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who would destroy the entire system.” They were, he wrote, a small minority. What he worried about were those coming from “perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.” 

Businessmen must “confront this problem as a primary responsibility of corporate management,” he wrote, launching a unified effort to defend American enterprise. Among the many plans Powell suggested for defending corporate America was keeping the media “under constant surveillance” to complain about “criticism of the enterprise system” and demand equal time. 

President Richard Nixon appointed Powell to the Supreme Court, and when Nixon was forced to resign for his participation in the scheme to cover up the attempt to bug the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel before the 1972 election, he claimed he had to leave not because he had committed a crime, but because the “liberal” media had made it impossible for him to do his job. Six years later, Ronald Reagan, who was an early supporter of Buckley’s National Review, claimed the “liberal media” was biased against him when reporters accurately called out his exaggerations and misinformation during his 1980 campaign. 

In 1987, Reagan’s appointees to the Federal Communications Commission abandoned the Fairness Doctrine that required media with a public license to present information honestly and fairly. Within a year, talk radio had gone national, with hosts like Rush Limbaugh electrifying listeners with his attacks on “liberals” and his warning that they were forcing “socialism” on the United States. 

By 1996, when Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch started the Fox News Channel (FNC), followers had come to believe that the news that came from a mainstream reporter was likely left-wing propaganda. FNC promised to restore fairness and balance to American political news. At the same time, the complaints of increasingly radicalized Republicans about the “liberal media” pushed mainstream media to wander from fact-based reality to give more and more time to the right-wing narrative. By 2018, “bothsidesing” had entered our vocabulary to mean “the media or public figures giving credence to the other side of a cause, action, or idea to seem fair or only for the sake of argument when the credibility of that side may be unmerited.”

In 2023, FNC had to pay almost $800 million to settle defamation claims made by Dominion Voting Systems after FNC hosts pushed the lie that Dominion machines had changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and it has since tried to retreat from the more egregious parts of its false narrative. 

News broke yesterday that Hunter Biden’s lawyer had threatened to sue FNC for “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” Today, FNC quietly took down from its streaming service its six-part “mock trial” of Hunter Biden, as well as a video promoting the series. 

Also today, Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s criminal trial for election fraud, found Trump in contempt of court for attacking witnesses and jurors. Merchan also fined Trump $1,000 per offense, required him to take down the nine social media posts at the heart of the decision, and warned him that future violations could bring jail time. This afternoon, Trump’s team deleted the social media posts. 

For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has been found in contempt of court. We know who he is, and today, Trump himself validated the truth of what observers who deal in facts have been saying about what a second Trump term would mean for the United States.

Reacting to the Time magazine piece, James Singer, the spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign, released a statement saying: “Not since the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today—because of Donald Trump. Trump is willing to throw away the very idea of America to put himself in power…. Trump is a danger to the Constitution and a threat to democracy.” 

Tomorrow, May 1, is “Law Day,” established in 1958 by Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower as a national recognition of the importance of the rule of law. In proclaiming the holiday today, Biden said: “America can and should be a Nation that defends democracy, protects our rights and freedoms, and pioneers a future of possibilities for all Americans. History and common sense show us that this can only come to pass in a democracy, and we must be its keepers.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mariacallous]

U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision this weekend to step down from the race leaves Vice President Kamala Harris as the almost-certain Democratic candidate. As vice president, Harris has largely focused on domestic issues such as labor rights and gun violence. Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, the matter of reproductive rights has emerged as Harris’s signature issue—but her record on international affairs and her use of the office’s power, such as it is, offer important clues as to how she might use her potential role as president.

But what exactly are the criteria for being a good foreign-policy vice president?

Since the late 1970s, when then-President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale reinvented the office so that the vice president could be a governing partner and not just a spare leader in case of disaster, vice presidents have had access to both the policy process and the president. But that vice-presidential power and influence are completely derived from the president’s compliance, without any constitutional or legal force. While serving as vice president, Biden himself once said, “I’m the highest-paid staff officer in the government.”

A good staffer makes their principal more effective, identifying gaps and weaknesses in the administration and filling them. Recent vice presidents have been across-the-board advisors who have balanced policy with politics, acted as surrogates and messengers, and taken charge of critical issues or task forces. Mondale helped Carter with legislative affairs, while his relationships with Israel and U.S. Jewish communities were critical in Carter’s signature foreign-policy achievement, the Camp David Accords.

George H.W. Bush was a utility infielder with a range of administrative experience as vice president, plugging gaps in then-President Ronald Reagan’s chaotic national security process. Vice President Al Gore played a key role in the Clinton administration’s Russia policy as co-chair of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. Vice President Dick Cheney, among other things, was the architect of the post-9/11 domestic intelligence operations. As a former White House chief of staff, member of the House Intelligence Committee, and secretary of defense, Cheney and his staff developed the Terrorist Surveillance Program while keeping it secret from much of Congress and the government. And Biden played “devil’s advocate” during then-President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan policy review process in order to help prevent the president from being boxed in by the Defense Department.

Harris has faced significant barriers to helping Biden. Since the expansion of the vice-presidential role in the late 1970s, most presidents have been outsiders to Washington, D.C. These presidents tended to select experienced D.C.-insider VPs and turned to them for advice and help with Congress and international affairs. Biden, with 36 years in the Senate (during which he focused on foreign affairs) and eight years as vice president, had little need for assistance.

Further, he has a deeply experienced staff, some of whom have worked with him for decades. Harris, meanwhile, was new to D.C. four years ago. She is an experienced politician—but primarily in the context of California and domestic politics, meaning that she had limited opportunities to fill the gaps, few as they were, in Biden’s experience. Nor did she have a deep bench of experienced staffers who knew both her and Washington. The early turmoil on her staff—along with some of her poor public appearances—was the result.

But the turnover in personnel eventually produced a solid and capable team in a town where personnel is policy. Harris’s first national security advisor (VPNSA), former Ambassador to Bulgaria Nancy McEldowney, left the position in March 2022. The deputy VPNSA, Philip Gordon, then took the top spot. Gordon had worked as an assistant secretary of state and a senior National Security Council staffer in the Obama administration—and he had many options to serve in the Biden administration. His choice to remain at the vice president’s office suggests that it is not a policy backwater.

Under Obama, the VPNSA also held the title of deputy assistant to the president (the second tier in the hierarchy of White House staffers). However, Gordon is instead described by the Biden administration as an assistant to the president—the top tier of White House staffers. Gordon’s deputy is Rebecca Lissner, who had previously been the acting senior director for strategic planning on the National Security Council, where she oversaw the development of the Biden administration’s National Security Strategy. Harris also has a speechwriter dedicated specifically to foreign-policy issues as well as a military advisor.

Harris was never cut out of the process, and she had input to major decisions. Members of Biden’s team, many of whom also served under him when he was vice president, have publicly acknowledged the challenges that she faced. Vice presidents, however, are expected to be discreet in advising the president to ensure that there are no damaging leaks, and the Biden White House ran a tight ship—so until memoirs are written and documents are declassified, it is difficult to know the extent of her influence.

The foreign-policy issue that Harris is best known for is immigration and the border. The matter highlights her strengths and weaknesses. Biden assigned her to help mitigate illegal immigration after she offered suggestions for working with Central American countries to address the root causes of immigration. She had not sought the assignment, and when she received it, she tried to distance herself from the related issue of border security.

This did not prevent Republicans from dubbing her the “border czar,” and it led to a disastrous interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, in which she tried to avoid talking about the border. Holt pressed Harris about not having visited the southern border, and she replied, “And I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point you’re making.”

Her efforts to evade being tagged with the border issue only heightened her association with it—and her sometimes maladroit communication skills. But over time, she built relationships with players in Central America that paid dividends. The public-private Partnership for Central America that she led helped generate more than $5.2 billion in private sector commitments to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These efforts also supported the administration’s successful effort to ensure a peaceful transition of power after a contested election in Guatemala.

Other successes are more far-reaching. Trump reestablished the National Space Council (a traditional vice-presidential assignment) early in his term, and Harris succeeded Vice President Mike Pence as its chair. In that role, she has overseen the highly technical process of developing regulations for space commerce while doing yeoman’s work quintupling the signatories to the Artemis Accords, an agreement that encourages common standards of behavior in space, from the original eight. On April 18, 2022, Harris made a bold diplomatic stroke by announcing a unilateral U.S. commitment to not carry out anti-satellite weapons tests—which create debris that crowds the atmosphere and threatens the use of space. This was a much-lauded move to create norms for space activity, and it places China and Russia, which have not committed to a test ban, on the defensive.

Harris has also represented the U.S abroad. Vice presidents have long been high-level diplomatic envoys��not just seat-warmers at funerals. Almost exactly 45 years ago, for instance, Mondale gave a speech in Geneva that galvanized the world into action to rescue the “boat people” driven out of Vietnam. His vice presidential successor, George H.W. Bush, led the diplomatic efforts to gain European support for new intermediate-range missile deployments.

In November 2021, Harris visited France—officially to commemorate Armistice Day, but also to smooth over tense Franco-American relations. The French were perturbed by a deal between the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia that had ended a lucrative French submarine contract with Australia. While there, Harris enjoyed a good rapport with French President Emmanuel Macron and successfully persuaded the French to sign the Artemis Accords, facilitating collaboration in space. Since then, she has met innumerable foreign leaders abroad and at home, including when she represented the United States in 2022 and 2023 at the Munich Security Conference.

This limited survey of Harris’s foreign-policy work does not indicate a grand strategy or worldview. Instead, her work has been about developing a skill set of policymaking and implementation, as well as learning and using the tools available to her office.

Should Kamala Harris become president, this experience will be critical.

[outdoorovernights]

Hammock Camping Chair Review

Have you ever found yourself wishing for the perfect seating solution while enjoying the great outdoors? Whether you’re camping with friends, reading a book in your backyard, or simply soaking in nature’s beauty, the Hammock Camping Chair – 3 Heights Portable Swinging Hammock Chair offers a delightful blend of comfort and convenience that can elevate your outdoor experience. Perfectly Adjustable…

[undaughtered]

Just wanted to let you know that someone did a video essay on YouTube comparing COLLEEN HOOVER books to Wuthering heights. And I almost tossed myself out of my chair when I saw that shit. BLASPHEMOUS

this is so haunting...im so curious to watch this video (yes, i admit it- my guilty pleasure is watching "dark romance" booktube reviews. a lot.) and see the context of it. on the one hand i can see that there might be some conflation of wuthering heights and the dark romance genre, and how critics responded to wuthering heights at its publication + hoover's reception outside of her following. and the idea that both hoover's books and wuthering heights deal with dark topics. nor am i in the camp that prattles off "wuthering heights isnt a romance" because heathcliff and cathy want to bite each other to death. but what a weird way of looking at things...wuthering heights can be a romance because its self-aware. nelly dean is essentially both god and the serpent in eden, an omniscient (though not omnipotent) narrator who provides the necessary distance from the heart of the story to prevent the reader from ever viewing it from the actual viewpoint of the protagonists. in doing so the text neither validates nor ridicules its subject matter, sticky as it may be- and its an extraordinary feat, a fantastic narrative structure. (writing this i suddenly yearn to reread wuthering heights and i think i will). the problem with hoover's books is that she cannot deal with the seriousness of her own subject matter in any way other than bluntly and indelicately. we are expected to empathize with abusers and support their victims in romanticizing their own violence: it is the epitome of patriarchy masquerading as liberal feminism, its the sort of thing andrea dworkin warned us about decades ago. nowhere in wuthering heights are we expected to empathize with those beloved brats....nor do we need to torture them for what they do because they sufficiently torture themselves. but if you feel like dropping the video link i am SO curious to hear what was said sdkfshfsdf

[cock-guillotine]

more BoB modern AU headcanons please 🥺🥰

oops all webgott

as previously mentioned, web writes pop culture articles for a living, despite not actually needing the money, but he writes reviews purely for the joy of being a hater. they’re scathing. 

despite having to keep up to date with current pop culture and internet drama and such for his job, he has some weird, glaring gaps pop cultural knowledge that joe loves to bully him about. 

joe would (and did) happily live in an unfurnished straight boy house. mattress on the floor, beanbag chair and foldable camping chair in the living room, fuck off massive tv sitting on the cardboard box it came in. web is not happy with this and demands nice things, but he’s fucking awful at household chores. cannot keep things clean and tidy to save his life. leaves clothes everywhere, piles of dishes in the sink, crumbs in the bed etc. joe finds this infuriating and gross. 

neither of them can cook, they're absolutely useless. joe’s a pickier eater than he has any right to be, web is not—his food creations and combinations are equal parts horrific and fascinating. He had a brief dalliance with baking that joe had to put a stop to after a particularly heinous loaf of bread.

web also makes the worst coffee known to man. somehow makes even instant coffee feel like it has coffee grounds in. web can't seem to taste this and thinks joe is just being dramatic.

despite being rich and pretty, web was a loser in college. people would try to talk to him and invite him to things only to find out he was annoying, pretentious, and kind of a bitch. 

joe’s a baby when it comes to cold weather, thinks anything below 15 degrees is practically a blizzard.

web has terrible hand eye coordination.

joe always beats him at games and web always sulks about it. web's not really a video games person but he does occasionally play animal crossing. has to get joe to help him with fishing though

[buoyantsaturn]

C.J. buoyantsaturn's 2023 year in review

JANUARY

But I can't help getting caught up in it all [12,446 words] summary: Nico, Leo, and Will are living their happily ever after - until an old friend moves back into town.

FEBUARY

Then you hold life like a face between your palms ... and you say, yes, I will take you / I will love you, again. [4,718 words] summary: “You’re still going to marry me someday, right?” Nico’s head snapped up, drizzling paint across the floor as he lifted the roller from the pan too early - which was exactly why they’d chosen to finish up painting first. Nico snorted, a gorgeous sound that sent Will’s heart fluttering. “Of course I am. What kind of question is that?”

MARCH

crocheted mushroom [1,618 words] summary: It had started off with something Will had mentioned in passing - a specific plant that only grew in the Underworld with its own magical healing myth. The next time Nico had gone to run an errand for his father, he returned with the flower, pressed and fragile, blandly announcing to Will that - according to Persephone - the myth was bullshit, even if the flower was pretty.

APRIL

How many kinds of love might there be in the world, and how many formations might they make [5,908 words] summary: Nico turned toward his husband with a smile, crossing his arms over his chest. He took a second to admire the work that Will and Annabeth had done - she’d designed a coop that was a perfect scale replica of the Apollo cabin back at camp, complete with nesting boxes where the bunk beds were placed. Nico called back, “Where do you think we’re going to find magic chickens in the middle of Texas?” Or, five friends who come to visit Nico and Will, and one who doesn't.

MAY

Work and play, they're never okay to mix the way we do [77,579 words] summary: “We don’t have an appointment,” Reyna stated without greeting, lifting her eyes from her computer screen to look at them both, though her hands stayed where they were on her home row keys. “We shouldn’t be long,” Jason replied as he took a seat in one of the chairs opposite her desk. When Nico didn’t move to follow, Jason glanced back at him and nodded to the other open seat. He didn’t speak again until after Nico had sat down. “We want Will Solace to open for Lost Heroes when we go out on our next tour.”

JUNE

Put the Car in Drive (don't stop running 'til you're long gone) [17,487 words] summary: Because, no matter what, Will would always come home to Nico. 

JULY

lemon drops [3,753 words] summary: "Um. Did you ever do the whole…law school…thing, like you said you wanted to? Because I think I might need a lawyer.” 

AUGUST

Doctor Doctor, Give Me the News (I've Got a Bad Case of Loving You) [29,023 words] summary: As he started out from behind the reception area for the first time in four hours, Leo called out to him, “Hey, by the way, Apollo’s doing that thing again where he talks about adding more staff members. Just be prepared, ‘cause you know he’s going to ask your opinion. Since you’re his favorite, and all.”

SEPTEMBER

(all i really want is to be your) Boyfriend [2,941 words] summary: “Nico, you’re never going to believe this!” Hazel exclaimed. “CPR got back together!” Nico turned his face toward the ceiling, wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve this.

OCTOBER

yet i need to talk to you [4,116 words] summary: “Being away from you just makes me think about how I never want to be without you, and--” Nico snorted. “Are you asking me to marry you? Haven’t we done this already?” 

NOVEMBER

Remember nights we spent on hard wood floors [67,859 words] summary: A sudden, tense silence passed between them. “Is it really this easy to start a band?” Lou asked. “Probably not,” Nico replied, “but we should meet up sometime to see what we can do.”

DECEMBER

bear skin rug [1,077 words] summary: Nico spun back around, a bright smile on his face as he said to Will, “See? How cool is--” Black spots danced in his eyes, and before he could say another word, Nico passed out.