#Marathon Basin

[juletheghoul]

corrupted

a/n: I asked for requests and y'all came THROUGH. Freaks - all of you!! (same) hope you enjoy this fucking ovulation-fueled fever dream lmao. @quicax3 - I am dedicating everything I post today to you- Happy birthday! 🩷hope ya'll enjoy (not even a little beta'd or proofread lol all mistakes are mine)

Warnings; 18+ no minors, vague but big-legal age gap, piv sex, dirty talk, hand stuff, rough / marathon sex, homeboy paints the boobies- Marcus gets dosed with something and is * d e s p e r a t e *(a little graphic / I guess this could be hurt / comfort?), master / slave dynamic (power imbalance) he’s still pretty possessive, Marcus calls reader Girl, reader calls Marcus Dominus - let me know if I missed any! 🩷

Pairing: Marcus Acaciusx F!Reader

word count: 2.6k (😅)

reblogs are appreciated

Masterlist series masterlist

You frowned to see her darkening his doorstep once more from your place just inside the giant doorway. 

“Announce my arrival to Marcus if you would, I have brought him a gift.” She smiles her prettiest smile at you, moving to walk past you but you hold fast, blocking her path. 

“Apologies my lady, the Dominus is absent. I do not know when he will return and I am not to allow visitors in his absence.” Part of you felt a twinge of guilt at the way her face fell, but the memory of her proposal, and her apparent attempts to change his mind twisted something in your gut. She clutched at the wine bottle in her hands, cradling it as her eyes scanned what she could see of the house behind you. 

“Do you know when he left.” She frowns, eyes focusing on you once more. 

“He has been gone since first light, and as I said before, I am unsure of when he will return. He did not say when he left.” You were telling her mostly the truth, he had left early in the day, but you knew he’d be back before nightfall. He’d told you.

“I could just wait, I doubt he’ll mind–” She flashed her winning smile, thinking it would work on you as it had worked on everyone throughout her years but she had no notion of your ire for her.

“Apologies my lady, I cannot permit you inside, it will be my head.” It would never come to that, you knew it but he would not be pleased. 

“Oh come now.” She huffed just outside the door, crossing her arms and for a moment you saw a spoiled child on the verge of a tantrum. One of his guards heard the commotion and came over to assist. 

“Apologies my lady, but you will have to return another time, when the Dominus is here to greet you.” He was large, and her demeanor changed instantly. 

“I have brought him a gift, he will be happy to see me I swear it–” She held the bottle out to the guard and he took it, looking over what seemed to be a dark red wine.

“I will make sure Dominus receives your gift.” He closed the door in her face despite the widening of her eyes at having been left outside, giftless, and unwelcome. She knocked again, but the guard only put the bottle in your hands, and sent you off with a nod. You went about your business and left him to it. 

Your Dominus was true to his word. The sun had just kissed the horizon when he walked through the door. His brow was furrowed in frustration and you rushed to greet him, hoping his business hadn’t gone awry. His eyes found yours and they softened, but only a touch. 

“Shall I prepare your meal Dominus? Or would you care to rest first?” You followed as he made his way towards his study, his stride quick enough to make you hurry after him. 

“I’ll take my meal in my study, fetch me clean water and linens to cleanse before I eat–and the red wine if you would.” He sat at his desk, putting down scrolls he’d brought with him. His talk of wine reminded you of his visitor.

“Oh–I just recalled. You had a visitor while you were away today, Dominus.” You brought the empty basin from the corner and set it up at the little table beside his desk for the water you’d have to fetch. His eyes shot up, his attention solely focused on you. “I obeyed your commands, no one came in–it was Lavinia.” 

His eyebrow raised, and a small, half-smile formed on his lips. The scrolls sat on the desk, forgotten as he leaned back a little in his chair, amused now at the way your chin jut out in uncharacteristic defiance. 

“Was it now? And just what did Lavinia want?” He narrowed his eyes, his smile widened a fraction. 

“I think I can divine what she wanted.” You mumble the words under your breath, picking at your nails and he clears his throat, a gentle warning. “Apologies Dominus, I said, I think I can divine what she wanted. I do not think she took your refusal with good grace. She brought you a gift, in hopes to sway you if I had to hazard a guess.”

“Well, seems she would like me to reconsider.” He crossed his arms, watching your face and it’s hard to keep it free of emotion. “Bring me her gift, I would like to see it.” He gestured to the door with a playful smile and although your belly twisted at the thought of her working her charms on him from afar, you knew in your heart of hearts he simply liked to frustrate you.

The temptation to smash the bottle into pieces was almost too big to ignore. The thought of him being displeased however kept your grip on it tight, kept you obedient as you did everything he’d asked of you. With his hands cleansed, with his food served, you put the bottle onto his desk. 

“So this is what she offers.” He took the bottle in his hand, turning it over with more interest than you would have liked. He opened it, and put it under his nose. You watched him, fighting tooth and nail to keep your expression neutral. He only smiled the harder, reveling in your poorly disguised discomfort. 

“It smells like good wine, but fortified with something.” He poured some into a goblet, swirling it with growing interest. 

“Shall I leave you to enjoy your meal, Dominus?” You kept your head held high, reminding yourself that he had refused her after all, and a cup of wine wasn’t going to change anything. 

“No. I would have you here.” He smiled, bringing the cup to his mouth and draining it in a few gulps. 

It was almost instant, the change in him. 

“Dominus?” You approached him, heart sinking at the way his eyes momentarily lost focus, at the way his face went slack, all of him utterly empty for a moment. A wild fear gripped your heart, surely she wouldn’t poison him? “Dominus? Dominus!” You almost scream, pushing between him and the desk to pull his face up. 

“Hmmm?” For a moment he couldn’t focus, and it looked as though he might faint into a feverish sleep but then his eyes found yours and he smiled, truly smiled. 

“Dominus—“ he moved cat-quick, pulling you into his embrace roughly. 

“Gods above, why do you smell so good?” He pressed his nose to your chest, pulling in greedy sniffs of you while his hands slipped under your tunic. 

“Dominus, are you well? What is happening?” You tried to get him to look at you, but his eyes were focused on his hands, on pulling at the seams of your tunic. You can’t help but let out a little scream when he rips it open. 

“I am going to die if you don’t sit on my cock this instant, Girl, I need it, I need to feel you, I need to take you—fill you with my seed.” He moans out the words, more desperate than you’ve ever seen him and for a moment you give in, his face tilted up to beckon your mouth to his.

There is a strange taste in his mouth, something honeyed and full of an almost seductive smoke. 

You pull away despite his iron grip on your waist.

“Dominus, Dominus wait—” You try to look into his eyes again but it’s like he’s not there. Something in you awakens, and you do something you’ve never even considered, you do something that could cost you your life. You strike him clean across the face. 

The crack of it is loud enough, and hard enough to stop him cold. 

“Dominus—I beg your forgiveness but I need you to listen to my words—I think Lavinia has slipped you some sort of love potion, some magic to seduce you—“ your hands shake as you speak to him, praying to all the Gods that you aren’t punished for trying to help him. 

“Girl…” he speaks slowly, his face splotchy and red and an ache builds in your throat, fear threatening you with tears. “Girl, I think you may be right.” He trembles slightly, his skin warm where you still touch him. You can see the effort on his face to keep himself under control, to keep his wits about him as the potion works through his body.

He stands, swaying slightly and takes the bottle to the door while you watch, clutching at your ripped tunic. He hands it to one of his guards and instructs him to dispose of it, to not let anyone have any of it because it is corrupted.

“Shall I get you something else?”

“I need your body, Girl.” He holds onto the wall for a moment to steady himself, his eyes cast downwards. “I need to bury myself inside you, I am sick with it, I feel as though if I don’t I will surely die.” His eyes are red when they find yours and there is a fire there you have only ever seen after a battle. 

“If you do not desire this, then leave and lock yourself in your chambers. I will make do with my fist.” He takes a steadying breath, waiting with an almost divine patience despite his state.

The anger you feel for Lavinia knows no bounds, that she would resort to something like this to force him to give her his body makes your blood boil. The way in which he devours you however, that makes your cunt clench and drip for him.

“I am yours, Dominus.” You let the tunic fall and beckon to him with open arms. You see his prowess in the moment it takes him to cross the room and all but dig his fingers into you. His mouth is insistent, his hands are rough at your waist and on your breasts, his passion is hard as steel at your hip where it digs into your skin, all of his sharp desire, his sharp edges scraping at your softness with an inhuman strength. 

“I am in pain Girl, every fucking inch of me aches—“ his words are a painful moan as he all but tears at his layers. You help as best you can and once he is bare you gasp. His cock is so red, his balls look so swollen, you think he really might burst if he does not find his release. 

There is no time for gentle touch. 

You turn and bend over his desk uncaring of his papers falling to the floor and present your backside to him. It’s with trembling hands that he slots his cock at your entrance. He enters you with one brutal shove of his hips and moans like you’ve never heard him moan before. Despite your own arousal, you wince.

“Forgive me Girl, I cannot be gentle-“ He does not ease you into it, it is a rough pushing and pulling of himself into your sex and he is too thick, too deep, you feel him in your lungs, in your throat. 

“I do not wish to hurt you, but you feel so fucking good, so tight, so wet I cannot stop myself.” His words help, his true nature helps. You focus on the feel of him, on the reassuring grip of his big hands on your hips, on the noises he makes as his groin hits the plump of your ass with every sharp thrust.

Your cunt leaks around him, coating him, raising the volume on the sounds of your coupling and before long he’s pulled you up, his chin resting over your shoulder while one hand holds onto your breast tight enough to almost hurt. 

“Here it comes—“ he barely gives a warning before he groans long and loud, filling your poor little cunt with his gift. He presses his forehead to the back of your neck, taking greedy pulls of air into his lungs while he keeps himself buried deep. 

You catch your breath for a moment before he pulls out and turns you to face him. His eyes are shut tight, and then he looks down. His cock has not softened, it looks just as angry, just as hard as it did before, his balls still heavy and full of seed. 

“I fear I may be like this for a while, the pain returns even as I stand here.” 

You sit him in his chair and climb onto him, sheathing him inside you once more but this time, with his mess and your arousal easing his passage, and you setting the pace things are better. 

“I will take care of you Dominus, let me take the pain away.” You wrap your arms around him and slip your tongue into his mouth with a deep kiss, relishing the noise he feeds directly into your lungs. His arms are a cage around your ribs, tight enough to make you fight for every breath but it matters not. He feels so good like this, so deep and with every roll of your hips his noises become more frantic, more imploring.

He comes again almost without warning as you keep your rhythm, wincing when he tightens his grip a little more but still, he does not soften. 

He lets out a whine, a pathetic, gorgeous thing when you keep rolling your hips, clenching around him in search of your own climax.

“Please Girl, please please, I beg of you, milk my cock, I need to spill inside you again, over and over, please—“ his voice is not his own, it’s some needy, powerless creature under your spell and you want nothing more than to oblige him. You speed up despite the sweat shining on your shin, despite the ache in your body and again he spills, crying out like a teenage boy touching a woman for the first time.

“Again Dominus?” You’re tired, but it feels so good, and the desperate, slack jawed expression makes you ache for your own climax.

“Yes Girl, Gods yes- again—“ he helps you move, your sweat slicked flesh spilling between his fingers, his lap is a mess of his own seed and your arousal, you cannot stop now. He takes your nipple into his mouth just as his thumb slips into the mess between your thighs and swirls it around your clit. 

Your own climax hits you like a slap across the face- all at once making you seize and he comes again at the feel of it, both of you suspended in exquisite agony.

You are truly sore now, every muscle aches, everything burns. 

“Dominus- I don’t think my body can handle more.” You brush back his hair, placing a small kiss where you slapped him.

“It is a little better now, come to my bed with me.”

Hours pass, and he still stands at attention but he relieves himself with his fist as you lay on his bed. He begs for your hand, and you oblige him. He begs to look at your cunt, and you show him, he begs to let him paint your breasts in his seed, and you position yourself for him, until he finally softens and rests.

You cleanse him, and yourself, and fall into his arms, asleep before you’re fully settled. 

He does not leave his chambers the next day, and orders you to take a full day of rest yourself. While grateful to sleep and give your tired body time to recover, part of you fears he might not want to see you, but then one of the older women brings a feast to your chambers at his instruction, good wine and more food than you could eat in a whole day and you know you are forgiven. 

You smile around your bites of food, content with your thoughts of what he might do in retaliation. 

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[marauroon]

Part 2 to espresso I beg 🙏

W A K E U P C A L L — JAMES POTTER!

a 6am shift at the coffee shop was the last thing you needed after a students’ night out. and james is way too energetic.

james potter x fem!reader (barista!au) | 1.4k | fluff | masterlist.

a/n — no begging necessary ml, i love this au sm

You’re almost falling asleep as you clean out the basin of one of the coffee machines. It should’ve been done by yesterday’s closers, but the universe obviously hadn’t punished you enough by just giving you a 6am opening shift on a Monday morning in the middle of December.

You honestly thought your fingers were going to fall off as you fumbled the front doors unlocked, but now, nestled into the warmth of the overhead heater you really do feel like you could fall asleep where you stand.

You get it to a point, people have places to be and things to do, even at 6 in the morning, but you also have places to be, places being in your bed and not standing behind a counter serving sleep-deprived business men coffee whilst they wait for a train.

But of course, there’s James, bouncing around behind the counter like he’s ready to run a marathon. You can’t figure out how the hell he does it, even after all this time working together. He’s like an Energizer bunny, perpetually full of energy.

“Oi, what’s the matter with you today?” James asks, his voice loud enough to snap you out of your almost-sleepy stupor. He’s grinning, completely unaware that you just want to collapse into the nearest seat and sink into the floor.

You glare at him over the top of the espresso machine. “I’m fine, just living the dream,” you mutter, your voice hoarse with the faintest trace of sarcasm.

James laughs and pulls a fresh batch of croissants from the oven, his movements effortless. It’s as if he’s been awake for hours, yet you know full well that he probably didn’t get much more sleep than you did last night. Between university assignments, the social committee work, and, of course, his infamous club nights, it’s a miracle he’s even functioning.

“Yeah, you look like you’re living the dream,” he teases, his smile never faltering. “You look like you want to crawl under the counter and hibernate.”

You roll your eyes. "You’re so chipper for someone who was at the same club night as me last night."

James shrugs nonchalantly, wiping his hands on his apron before grabbing the next batch to bake. “What can I say? I’ve got an unbreakable constitution. You know that about me.”

You snort, your tiredness momentarily forgotten at the absurdity of his statement. “Unbreakable? James, you’re literally always falling asleep in the running social meetings, I’m pretty sure you just don’t notice how badly you’re functioning.”

“Me? Fall asleep?” He raises an eyebrow, a mock offended expression crossing his face as he hands over a cappuccino to a regular customer. “I’ll have you know that I’m an excellent multitasker.”

“Right.” You’re not buying it. Not when you’ve seen him slumped in the corner of the student union’s meeting room, eyes half-closed, trying to pretend he’s taking notes for the event planning. You swear he’s somehow mastered the art of sleep while looking awake, and you’re in awe of how easily he pulls it off.

“I mean, if you’re tired, I can always take over for you,” James adds, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’ve got more than enough energy to go around.”

You snort again, the sound escaping before you can stop it. “You’d be a liability on the coffee machine. I can’t risk you having a caffeine overdose and bouncing off the walls like a pinball.”

James grins, unfazed. “That’s just an extra perk! Think of how much more productive we’d be if I was bouncing off the walls. You’d get to be the lazy one, and I’d be the charming one, keeping everyone energised,”

You shake your head, though you can’t help but smile despite yourself. “Right, charming. That’s exactly what we need at 6am.”

The door to the coffee shop opens with a chime, and another customer steps inside, pulling your attention away from James. You greet them automatically, still feeling a bit dazed, your exhaustion not quite gone. As you prepare the next cup of coffee, you try to focus on the rhythm of the morning.

But it’s hard not to notice James in your peripheral vision, his energy contagious despite your best efforts to remain annoyed at him. How does he do it? It’s not just the fact that he’s awake and functioning—it’s that he’s always so alive in everything he does. Whether it’s the running social, the random nights out, or the mornings like this one, he always has that boundless enthusiasm.

“How do you do it?” you ask suddenly, barely catching yourself before you sound too curious. “How are you this... this awake? All the time?”

James doesn’t seem to be caught off guard by the question. He just leans on the counter, watching you carefully with that easy grin of his. “Let me get you onto this magical thing called micronaps,” he says, his voice dropping just slightly, jazz hands and all to sell his ‘idea’. “Otherwise, you can always leech energy from the people around you. Like I do to you.”

“Me?” You’re almost choking on your disbelief. “I’m literally half-dead right now.”

He leans in slightly, lowering his voice as if he’s sharing a secret. “That’s the point, love, I’ve stolen it all,”

You blink. For a moment, you just stare at him, the early morning fog of exhaustion making it harder to process what he’s saying.

“Okay, stop. You’re making me look bad,” you finally mutter, tiredness still edging into your tone. “You’re making fun of me now,”

James just chuckles, ruffling his hair in that way he does when he’s pleased with himself. “What can I say, it’s my favourite pass-time,”

You give him a side-eye, but you can’t quite muster up the same level of annoyance you usually would. Instead, you sigh deeply, rolling up your sleeves as you prepare for the next rush. “Whatever, you win. Happy?”

“Absolutely,” James replies, grinning from ear to ear as he hands over another order.

As the morning drags on, you notice yourself relaxing into the rhythm of the shift. James is right about one thing—he really does have a way of making everything more fun, even when you’re running on fumes. You catch yourself laughing at his jokes more than you want to admit, and despite your grumbling about your lack of sleep, you can’t help but enjoy the banter that flies between you both.

The rest of the morning passes in a blur of customers, coffee machines, and laughter. Every time you catch James’ grin or hear one of his sarcastic remarks, you feel the weight of your exhaustion lift, just a little bit.

By the time your shift ends, the early morning fatigue has started to recede, replaced by a sense of quiet contentment. You’re still tired, no doubt about that, but it’s a kind of good tired, the kind you get after a productive day. And maybe, just maybe, it’s also the result of being around someone whose energy is impossible to ignore, even if you want to.

“So,” James says, tossing his apron into the back room as you both prepare to head out, “same plan for tonight?”

You look at him, suddenly aware of how much time you’ve spent with him lately. “Absolutely not. I’m just glad I made it through this shift.”

He winks, pulling his jacket on. “Come on. Besides, the night’s still young, and the student discount on pints of strongbow is calling my name,”

You shake your head with a laugh. “Yeah, yeah, good for you mate, I’m going to sleep.”

“Boring,” James says, slinging an arm around your shoulder as you both step out into the cold December air. “I’ll see you on the run tomorrow, right?”

You can’t help but smile, even as your thoughts drift to the never-ending list of things to do. “Unfortunately,”

“I’m sure an 8k will wake you from your hibernation,” he grins.

[lipglossanon]

I’m Not A Bad Man (I’m Just Overwhelmed)

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Stepdad!Leon S. Kennedy x fem!reader part i - An Open Invitation (To A Perfect Domination)

part ii - What You Do To Me (No One Knows)

part iv (finale): Am I Your One and Only Desire?

Warnings: 18+ so minors DNI, stepcest, fingering, cockwarming, unprotected sex, oral (f and m receiving), ball teasing, ball sucking, having sex while on the phone with an oblivious caller (hopefully that makes sense, cause idk what to label it 🤣), dirty talk, daddy kink, light breeding kink, creampie, cum swallowing, face sitting, pussy slapping/spanking

not proofread brochachos 🤙 mainly just smut so if you’re looking for plot I’d look elsewhere 🤣

Title from These Things by She Wants Revenge

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Thankfully, Leon gives you a breather after the marathon sex. He kisses you one last time and helps you out of bed. You go to stand, but your legs tremble so much you nearly fall. He catches you and guides you into the master bath connected to the bedroom.

He sits you down on the edge of the tub and starts the water.

“I’m gonna go make that food order,” he kisses the top of your head, “I’ll be back in a few minutes; yell if you need me.”

Humming in reply, you watch the muscles in his back and ass as he turns and leaves the room; a low heat flares in your stomach when you see all the scratch marks you left on his skin.

You twist, running your hand under the tap and finding the water warm enough, you stopper the tub and slip down into the bottom. Sighing, you relax as the warm water slowly fills the basin, caressing your skin and helping to loosen your muscles.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now,” a warm voice murmurs causing your eyes to flutter open.

“Mmm sorry,” you look up to see Leon turning the water off.

“Raise up for me, sweetheart,” he climbs in the bath with you, sitting directly behind you and pulling you to sit between his legs.

You tense for a moment, but when he doesn’t do anything more than rub your arms you slowly relax back against him.

“So sweet for me,” he presses kisses into your neck, hands wrapping around your waist.

Your tongue feels heavy in your mouth, “‘m tired, Leon.”

“I know,” he lets his right hand drift down your body until he’s stroking your inner thigh, “let me help you.”

You whine but don’t fight him as he slips his middle and ring finger into your soft, clenching heat.

“Please no,” you whine out in discomfort as he slips his fingers out and back in.

His questing fingers begin pressing into your body more insistently, “I need to clean out the mess I made, beautiful.”

“Fuck,” you hiss as Leon fingers out the leftover cum in your hole.

His fingers slide out of your body, leaving you gasping and aching at the empty feeling left behind.

“Shh sweetheart,” he kisses the side of your head, “it’s over with now.”

A low chuckle in your ear causes goosebumps to chase across your skin.

“So good for me aren’t you?” a hot tongue traces the shell of his ear, “god, you drive me crazy.”

You gasp, “I-I’m —“

The loose hold around your waist tightens as Leon nips at your earlobe before placing open mouth kisses across the arch of your neck, tongue darting out to taste your skin.

You shiver at the sensation, baring more of your neck to him. A small whine leaves your mouth before you can quell it.

“Daddy,” you gasp out only to have Leon slip his index and middle fingers into your mouth.

You hear a tsk before his smoky voice speaks again, “Pretty, pretty girl.”

You weakly suck on the digits invading your mouth. He presses a soft kiss at your temple.

“I know how bad you want it, baby. You sound so pretty when you fall apart,” he presses his fingers harder against your tongue, “but we gotta give your little pussy a break.”

Your back arches as you squirm in arousal at those words, a whimper slipping from your throat. You eagerly lap at his fingers, wrapping your tongue around them and swallowing as drool drips down your chin.

A low hum from Leon reverberates in your chest.

“So good for me, baby,” Leon nuzzles your neck, fingertips skating across your skin.

He relaxes against the tub, hands rubbing your arms and shoulders. You slowly become less tense until you’re laying against him sleepily. Leon helps you wash off with soft kisses pressed into your skin at every step. Once finished, he helps you up and out of the tub.

After the bath, Leon slips out to get dressed leaving you to dry off on your own. You step out in a towel and Leon hands you an old sleep shirt of his and a pair of briefs.

You go to take them and he pulls them back out of reach, “What do we say, sweetheart?”

Your toes curl to stop your hands from fidgeting, “Thank you, daddy.”

“Good girl,” he smiles, kissing the top of your head and handing you the shirt and briefs.

“The food’s here so I’ll see you downstairs.”

You watch him leave the bedroom and you gaze down at the soft baggy shirt in your hands. Unfolding it you see, RPD emblazoned on the left breast pocket.  You quickly slip it on along with the briefs, which make you wrinkle your nose, and make your way downstairs.

۩۞۩۞۩۞۩

You both sit on the couch after eating the takeout Leon ordered. Sated and tired, you snuggle into the cushions to finish watching the scary movie that was playing earlier. Sitting cross legged, your shoulders brush up against Leon’s as his big hand encompasses your thigh.

“I’ve got an idea,” his voice is a low, heated timbre, “why don’t you keep me nice and warm?”

Your brows furrow in confusion as you tilt your face up to look at him, “What?”

He pulls the front of his sweats down just enough to slip his cock out. He’s half hard and slowly filling out, thickening against his thigh. He pats his legs.

“Straddle me and I’ll show you what I mean,” his hair falls over his eyes giving him a boyish air.

Leon pulls you into his lap, murmuring sweet praise in your ear. He slips his hands under the loose briefs you’re wearing and rubs your clit. His fingers dip into your slit to tease at your hole until you’re squirming and whimpering and soaking his fingers.

Pulling away, he helps you to slip the briefs he gave you off, baring your cunt— all puffy and shiny with slick. His cock slides in between your thighs, precum leaving a sticky wet trail against your skin.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he soothes you, hands gripping your hips tight enough to bruise.

He slips the tip of his fat dick into your wet spasming hole.

“Fuck, so good. Such a good girl for me huh. Shh shh, s’okay just the tip sweetheart, promise won’t go any further,” he sighs in relief, letting the head of his cock breach your spasming hole.

Leon’s biceps flex, highlighting the veins in his forearms as he holds your dripping pussy still. The fat tip stretches your sore cunt making you whine as your fingers dig into his tense shoulders.

“Daddy,” you whine, desperate at this point and not able to think past the feeling of the slight stretch of your pussy and how empty it feels inside.

Whining you work his cock further and further into your body as Leon just holds your hips, groaning until you’re sitting flushed against his pelvis.

He watches you work your sweet little pussy down on his cock. He then lifts you up just to let you slide back down.

“You put it all in by yourself, huh,” he growls, “now just let me use your sloppy hole, sweetheart.”

“Leon,” you gasp, grinding down with a moan.

He holds your hips still, not letting you shift, “Now sit here, sweet girl. You’re gonna cockwarm daddy til he’s ready to fuck your pretty pussy full of cum.”

You moan, hands tugging on his shirt. His eyes drag down your body and he pinches your nipples through the thin shirt you’re wearing.

“Look so sexy,” he gives you a messy, tongue filled kiss, “want you to wear this shirt anytime we’re home alone, okay baby?”

“O-okay, daddy,” you whimper, thighs shifting as your pussy walls clamp repeatedly on his thick cock.

“Good girl, good fucking girl,” he groans, pulling you close.

You whine and nuzzle into his neck, tucking your face under his chin.

“Settle down, baby,” he coos, running his wide palms down your spine to cup your ass in both hands.

You tense all over, but keep still with a low moan. Unsure of how long you’re made to keep Leon’s cock in your weeping pussy, you drift in and out of a daze. You can hear the tv playing in the background and Leon drops little kisses on your head, but you just coast on the floaty feeling slowly taking over your mind.

He’s so thick inside of you it’s all you can think about. The delicious stretch to your sore walls, clit swollen—begging to be touched, even the way Leon squeezes your ass, all of it keeping you in that syrupy headspace.

He jostles you accidentally, making you whine and grind down until he soothes you back into relaxing against him. Leon’s palms pet and stroke over your tired body, almost lulling you asleep. You feel his chest vibrate under your cheek.

“Hm?” You pull back with a confused sound, sleepy eyes looking into Leon’s dark stare.

“I asked if daddy’s sweet girl is feeling good?”

You give him a cute smile, “So good, daddy.”

He gives you a sly grin, “Yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” you nod.

“Maybe you should cockwarm daddy when he has to work from home, think that’s a good idea sweetheart?”

You whine, pussy clenching down on his thick cock, “Yes, daddy.”

“Yeah, you like it don’t you, feeling all stretched out from daddy’s fat cock?”

You roll your hips down with a moan, “Daddy’s the best.”

“Fuck,” he grunts, pressing his hips up into you further, “think it’s time to fill this needy cunt.”

“Uh huh,” you slur, hips humping down faster on his dick.

He grabs your waist and fucks his cock deep in your soaked pussy. After a handful of skin slapping thrusts, he slows down to deep rolling grinds. Dazedly, you hear a faint buzzing from your side.

“Daddy needs you to keep quiet, okay?”

“Wha—“

He puts his hand over your mouth as he answers his buzzing phone.

“Hey honey, how’re you?”

Your eyes widen, anxiety flaring in your stomach cutting into that cottony barrier of arousal flooding your brain. Your mom called?! You try to push away from Leon, raising your hips up to move off of his lap. A mean look comes into his face as his lips thin.

“Oh, everything’s fine here. Can’t complain.”

He puts the phone up to his ear, holding it there with his shoulder so he can use both hands to yank you back flush on his lap. His hand quickly comes up to cover your mouth as you squeal from the sudden fullness of his cock bottoming out in your cunt.

He starts up the deep rolling thrusts that keeps the fat tip of his dick pressed against your cervix; your eyes roll back in your head as the pain bleeds into molten pleasure, making your pussy pulse and clench down on his cock.

“Oh she’s doing well! We actually spent a little time together earlier,” he laughs, dark eyes watching you fall apart while he drills up into your squelching pussy with his thick, heavy cock.

“Ah, I’m sure she’ll love that. Yeah she loves her sweets, doesn’t she?”

You want to scream, you feel so good right now. But all that escapes you are tears, dripping down your cheeks leaving your eyes to look big and glassy. Leon smirks at you as he keeps chatting with your mom.

His thumb circles your clit so slowly, barely giving you any stimulation. You buck your hips and push yourself harder into his hand. Ignoring you, he stops teasing your sensitive bud and moves that hand to guide your hips into a rolling grind. 

“No,” he laughs, laying his head back on the couch, lazily focused on your tits bouncing, “I really don’t need anything.”

You’re panting behind the hand he still has covering your mouth. Moving your hands away from clenching onto his shoulders, you reach down between your bodies to spread your pussy. 

His gaze follows the movement and he stares hungrily at your spread open cunt, watching as his cock bullies in and out of your tight hole. 

“Wait,” he rasps, “yeah that does sound good actually.”

He moves his head closer to your chest. pulls the phone away, and spits on your pussy. You freeze; your whole body clenching from that so he does it again, watching gleefully as you shudder all over, eyes rolling back as the hot spit drips all over your pussy lips and swollen clit. 

“Huh, sorry could you repeat that, the phone cut out for a sec,” he settles back against the couch, not letting you bounce on his dick like you want, like you need. 

You go to move your hands, but he gives a quick, sharp smack to your clit directly that has you crying out behind his palm.

“Oh must be the movie, I’m watching. Yeah that one,” he grins, “you know how I love these kinds of things.”

Your eyes widen as you watch him lick a stripe from the edge of his palm to the tips of fingers. His wet hand comes down to spank your pussy and clit hard. You squeal and buck in his lap but can’t pull away. 

“Yeah it gets kinda loud in certain parts,” he spanks your spread open cunt again, “sorry if it’s too loud, honey.”

Your eyes are completely rolled back, eyelashes fluttering and mouth drooling as Leon abuses your sore pussy. It’s getting you wetter than before, the sharp sting fading into that hot, dull throb that’s making you shiver all over. 

Without realizing it, you’ve stopped trying to get away. You’ve arched your hips up just right so when Leon smacks his hand down on your sensitive cunt, he’s really giving it to you. When he does finally pull away, your eyes focus on his with a whine. 

“Yeah? I get it, and the traffic is always so terrible on top of it,” he keeps talking to your mom, like your not grinding your needy cunt on his fat cock. 

It makes you so hot to know that Leon’s fucking you while he’s talking to his wife—your own mom. You feel like such a slut but you can’t deny how it gets you so wet, makes you want to ride Leon hard, maybe even get caught. 

Your walls spasm and clench down on him at that thought making him flinch and bite his lip. 

“Nothing,” he clears his throat, eyes narrowing at you, “movie just got to me for a sec I guess.”

You stop spreading yourself open and drag your nails down his tense stomach, then leaving one hand there you reach around behind you with your free hand to squeeze his balls. 

It’s like you electrocuted him; his hips jump up, stomach trembling under your hand. He’s stifling any noise but you can see in the pinch of his brows that he likes it. You feather your fingertips across the soft skin before gently rolling his balls in your hand. 

“It does sound fun,” his eyes stare into yours, hungry and dark, “maybe we should take a trip out that way then.”

You bite your lip and gently squeeze down on his sack. He bucks up into your pussy even harder. The hand holding onto your hip moves and grabs your hand on his stomach to push it back behind you. He nods downward and you take the hint, moving it to join the other on touching his heavy balls. 

“Yeah, sounds perfect,” he sighs, fully relaxing into the couch.

You can’t really bounce on him in this position, so Leon’s thick cock just stays seated in your pulsing heat as your hands tease and tickle his balls. Using both hands, you can really tell how big and swollen they’ve gotten. You roll them in your hands and feel his cock kick inside your pussy. 

You moan softly, muffled behind his hand still, and keep massaging his soft sack. You start to wonder what it would be like to have them in your mouth, all sensitive and fat on your tongue. You feel yourself dripping down his cock at the thought. 

“I can’t believe they would ask you to do that,” his hand squeezes your thigh hard enough to bruise.

You tug his balls and bounce them in your hand before softly massaging them. Leon raises up into more of a sitting position and roughly pulls you up and off of his cock. You watch dazedly as his dick drools precum down the wet shaft, until he manhandles you down over the armrest of the couch. 

With your back to him, you can only feel as he slides his fat cock back into your pussy, stretching you out so good it makes your hole clench down over and over. 

“Yeah, exactly. Oh? Well okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Yeah, mm love you too,” he pulls you flush with his hips, stilling all movement to keep his dick fully inside your cunt. 

He hangs up and tosses the phone to the side. 

“Trying to suck me in, sweetheart? Greedy little pussy needs daddy’s cock that bad?”

He pounds into your sloppy, squelching hole, slick dripping everywhere. The swollen tip of his cock hammers against your g-spot making you scream. 

“Fuck yeah,” he groans with a laugh, “wanna cream that sweet fucking pussy. Get you all dirty so I can eat you out.”

You whine and claw at the couch, clit rubbing against the rough material and edging you closer and closer to orgasm. 

“C’mon baby, don’t you want that? Want me breed that hot cunt? Course you do,” he moves his hands from your hips to each side of your body on the armrest. 

He lowers himself down, using his body weight to hold you in place and box you in, “Should I make you squirt on my cock, sweetheart? Get the couch all dirty?”

You tense up, words slurring, “Daddy, gonna cum, gonna cum.”

He laughs and pinches your side as his hand slips down to your clit. He tugs your hips back just a little and lands a hard spank across your swollen bud. 

You squeal, body trembling, “Daddy!”

“Oh I know,” he mocks, “so rough on your little pussy.”

He smacks you again catching your clit on his wedding ring making you scream as your orgasm rushes over you. Slick drips around his cock as your cunt clamps down on his dick. 

“Fuck,” he growls, hips pistoning harder into your fluttering walls, “good girl, good g— fuck!”

Your cunt milks his cock as he fills you with hot sticky cum. 

“Take it,” he hisses, biting down hard on your shoulder causing you to moan, pussy clamping down even harder on his dick. 

Your crying from how good it feels, hole still gushing slick from his fat cock bullying into your pussy and cumming deep inside you. 

You hiccup a sob as he keeps cumming, rope after rope of hot jizz painting your fluttering walls white. 

“Gonna eat you out after this,” he groans in your ear, “wanna get my mouth on your pussy so bad.”

You whine as he pulls out, cum and slick oozing from your hole to drip all down your thighs and onto the couch. Without moving you, Leon lays on his back and shifts until he’s underneath your splayed legs. 

“Sit on my face, baby,” he guides your hips down, but you hesitate and hover over his mouth. 

“I said,” he growls, “sit on my fucking face.”

With a harsh tug, your cunt presses down on his mouth, squishing his nose against your clit. His mouth opens, tongue eagerly licking into your sensitive pussy. You feel him moan and it makes you rock against his soft lips. 

You grab onto his hair and start riding his face gently as you’re still reeling from that last orgasm. His hands slide from your hips to your thighs to just hold you in place. 

“Daddy,” you moan, “so good, feels—unh.”

You trail off with a whine as he sucks on your pussy lips and nuzzles your clit. He greedily eats the cum out of your messy cunt. Mewling, you press yourself harder on Leon’s face; he groans as you settle further onto his mouth.

He grinds his face against your puffy cunt making you whine louder, clit fat and throbbing with arousal. He rubs his nose against the sensitive bundle of nerves making you buck into the feeling. 

Everything is so sensitive, ramped up to eleven, that you’re cumming on his tongue before you even realize it. 

“D-dadd—dad—,” your spine bows in a perfect curve as Leon laps up all of your creamy slick. 

You’re suspended in that too much feeling as Leon groans and presses even further into your cunt, practically suffocating himself to taste you more. 

When he finally pushes you up and slides out, your legs are too shaky to hold you up. Leon manhandles you to lay with your back against the couch. This time, he kneels over your shoulders, knees now bracketing either side of your head. 

“Open your mouth, baby,” he takes his cock in hand and slaps it against your lips. 

You eagerly loll your tongue out, eyes lidded and hazy. Instead of feeding his cock into your waiting mouth, he pulls it towards his abs to drag his balls across your open mouth. Moaning, you eagerly lick and suck on the salty skin. Your eyes flutter as he dips his balls in and out of your mouth. 

“There we go, suck’em sweetheart,” he mockingly coos down at you, slowly stroking his dick. 

You lick and suck on his sack until it’s coated in your spit, dripping back down on your chin. Moaning, you suck one of his balls in your mouth and work it with your tongue and lips. 

“That’s it, good girl,” he laughs, “god, love having my balls sucked by a pretty girl.”

You let it go with a pop and pull the other one into your hot mouth with a low sigh. Humming in pleasure, you gently suck on the soft skin of his ball while running your tongue all around it. 

“Let me teabag that sweet little mouth,” he growls down at you, pulling off of your mouth to dip his wet sack back down onto your tongue again and again. 

He eventually drags his balls down your chin leaving a trail of spit as he presses the drippy tip of his cock past your swollen lips. 

“Gonna cum in your mouth,” he groans, watching as your lips stretch around his hard cock. 

Tears gather at your lash line as he sinks inch by inch into your hot wet throat. 

“Fuck, gonna cream this little throatpussy,” he grins at you as you moan around his dick, “like that? Mmm it’s gonna feel so good, daddy’s hot cum bathing your slutty throat.”

You whine, reaching down to your sore cunt to rub your clit. 

“You getting off to this?” He chuckles, sliding deeper into your mouth making your throat click when you swallow. 

He pulls out a few inches and sinks back down into you making you moan as he fills your throat. 

“Play with that cute pussy, cum all over your fingers while I fuck your mouth,” he holds your head down so he can fuck down into your spit slick mouth, wet balls smacking your chin. 

You continue to moan as he fucks open your throat, eyes watering when he dips down too far. 

“God, baby, I’m about to cum,” his hips stutter, “gonna swallow, right? Yeah, drink it all up for daddy. Milk my cock as I drain my balls in that tight fucking throat.”

Your fingers circle and rub your clit faster until you’re moaning uncontrollably and cumming, hole clenching down on nothing as slick drips from your pussy. 

With a low groan, Leon eases out until you can only suckle on the fat head of his dick. Hot sticky ropes of cum fill your mouth and the back of your throat; as he slowly sinks further into your mouth, cum drips down the back of your throat making you swallow and milk his throbbing cock. 

Leon pulls out of your mouth, but leaves his swollen tip pressed to your lips, “Clean it up, sweetheart.”

You softly kitten lick the head as he softens against your mouth. After a few moments, he pulls away and sits back on the couch to pull you into his lap. He kisses you, tongue sloppily licking into your mouth. 

“Did so good for me,” he murmurs as he pulls away, “such a good girl.”

“Leon,” you sigh, exhaustion written all over your body, “s’good but ‘m tired.”

“We’ll go lay down, okay?” he coaxes you to stand on wobbly legs and helps you upstairs. 

He guides you, to your surprise, to your own room. 

Before you can question it, he has you both tucked under the covers of your smaller bed, his front pressed all along your back. 

“Daddy,” you whine as he kisses your neck, “why here?”

He laughs in your ear and drops another kiss on your neck, “After we rest, I’m gonna fuck you here, too. Always wanted to make you cry while I rail you in this bed.”

White hot pleasure pulses in your clit and nipples as you roll your hips back.

“Daddy, that’s so dirty!” 

“I know,” he laughs again, “we can even pretend your mom’s home when we do, so you’ll have to be so quiet. Don’t wanna get caught,” he dips his tongue into your ear before kissing the shell. 

You shudder, eyes nearly crossing at the dull throb of want washing over your spent body. 

“But,” he shifts and wraps his arms around your waist, “we need to get some sleep, baby.”

You give a shaky sigh as you nod, “Okay, daddy.”

[chucksfavouriteprophet]

Heal - II

Alpha!Bucky x Omega!Reader (female)

MASTERLIST

🫀 Summary: Alone in the compound, you and Bucky reflect on the events of the night and contemplate the consequences.

Warnings: Descriptions of sexual assault and forced knotting/bonding, aftermath of said events, vomit, hell of a lot of angst, self-hatred, panic attack, talk of weight loss

Word count: 1,874

🦅 Part I

The first thing you felt when you woke was paralysis. Your head felt heavy and full of fog, but your body was light and airy as though it were no longer attached. The natural daylight that flooded the room blinded you, and you rubbed your eyes exhaustedly before you dared open them.

You were in Bucky's room. Why, you weren't too sure; that was, until you went to move. The pain that ricochetted through your back and around your hips was crippling and you moaned out as your breath stuttered. But as bile coated your throat, you had no choice but to drag yourself from the sweat-coated sheets and stumble to the a-joining bathroom, collapsing on the cold titles and heaving over the toilet basin. You coughed roughly as your stomach emptied itself, gasping for breath in between bouts of sickness. When it was eventually over, you pulled your quivering body up and rested your forehead against the mirror. You were scared to look up, but you knew you had to. You had to face yourself.

Tears still stained your cheeks, which you guessed hadn't stopped falling even in your unconsciousness. Your face was drained of colour and lifeless, your cheeks sunken and your eyes heavy. But it was the mark on your neck that really caught your attention. Your once smooth, soft gland was now marred; a pulsating red constellation of burst blood vessels surrounded the torn skin that was beginning to scab over.

As a shiver ran down your spine as you realised how cold it had got. Bucky undoubtedly never used the heat in his room given his body temperature, but in your thin t-shirt and pants your hairs stood on end. But you couldn't stand being in there any longer, so with all your might, you fled from the room, refusing to even glance at the bed, before inching down the hall back to your own room.

It felt like a marathon, but eventually you made it. Your bed called, but you knew if you didn't shower first, you potentially never would. Without even bothering to take your clothes off, you submerged yourself in the scolding water and let the tears wash away. Purple toes curled in on themselves as the blood from your beaten insides trickled down in the inside of your legs and pooled at your feet. With numb fingers, you pried away your pants - they were stained with blood and cum now, and the lace trimming had been torn off - and tossed them away from your eyeline. Shakily, your fingers found their way to your throbbing opening, massaging off the dried blood and allowing the fresh water to sting the raw flesh. Letting out a breath you didn't even realise you'd been holding, you whimpered, snatching your hand away and turning the water off abruptly.

No matter what your memories were telling you, Bucky didn't do this. He did. And you knew how Bucky would be feeling right now. That was just as important as how you were feeling, and you had to face him. If you didn't do it now, god knows what would happen. Plus, you were growing more and more exhausted and your head was starting to pound, so you knew you had a finite amount of time before you crashed. With every ounce of effort remaining, you pulled on the nearest clothes to the bathroom door, and braved it.

-

When Bucky awoke, his confusion mirrored your own. He was lying butt naked outside in the soil, and his back ached as though he'd been working out all night. His bones ran cold when he tried to recall what he had actually done and saw blank.

And then it all came flooding back. The nightmare, just the same as usual. Waking up petrified and shaken. Then you, leaning over him, your eyes filled with worry. The sense of calm that blanketed him as his perfect omega, tended to him. The warmth that made him smile as you curled up beside him and he could smell your sweet slick that made his cock grow rigid.

The darkness that clouded his vision. The desperate, undeniable need to have his omega. The craving that needed to be met, and could only be satisfied by you, who was conveniently lying beside him. The pained wheeze you let out as his grip tightened around your neck. The way your eyes bulged and begged as he thrust harder and harder into you. The electricity that sparked through his veins as he bit down on your gland and made his -

Bucky couldn't breathe. His flesh hand beat against his chest as he pulled himself up and tried to steady himself against the wall as the panic attack took over. His vision swam as he tried to run through the usual protocols Steve had embed in him but all he could think about was you. The pain he had put you through and the horror you would be feeling now. He had forced you into bonding with him. He had scared you with his mark. He had raped you.

Deep down, Bucky knew it wasn't necessarily him that had done it. Waking from that nightmare, the Solider still lingered over him, and falling asleep again so quick had allowed him to remain in the forefront. Yes, Bucky couldn't deny that he had wanted you as his omega for a long time now, but he never would have dared defile you like that. He was always cautious to keep his alpha instincts subdued given that it reminded him too much of the Solider, but at times like this, when he took over, the dominating urge just became out of control. The memories he had of what he did to you were fleeting, as if he had watched them on TV or heard about what happened from someone else. It was as though he hadn't actually been there in the room, let alone responsible for those actions, which was how he knew it was the Solider who was to blame really.

But Bucky had never quite accepted the whole 'he's not you' thing that the others always seemed to run with. It didn't matter that the Solider had completely different thoughts to him, or acted in ways he never could imagine. It didn't matter that they shared very little memories or that the assassin was a product of mind control and torture. What mattered was that when the Solider murdered, it was Bucky's face that the victim last saw. It was the same hands that committed the crime that Bucky had to use every day to get by. Hell, every time he used his left arm, he was using the Soldier's favourite weapon.

He was grateful you'd left his room - at least you were alive and well enough to move. But the sight of it, the smell of sex and blood, was enough to make him gag. Grabbing the first clothes he could see, he sprinted to the only place he knew could keep you safe; The Cube.

-

If he hadn't returned to his room, you knew where he'd be. It hurt, knowing he'd finally found reason to need it - when Bucky had insisted Tony instal it in the basement, everyone tried to tell him it wasn't necessary, that it wouldn't be needed. But Bucky was certain, convinced that although Shuri had rid the Solider from his brain, he would never be fully gone and if the day came where he took over, a facility would be required.

You all called it The Cube because, well, it was a cube. Cold and empty, you hated it. He refused to put any furnishings in there, claiming that if he had to use it, it would mean he was undeserving of comfort. No one argued, supposedly because they knew it was always a possibility that the Solider would emerge again. Everyone knew how he tormented Bucky in his dreams, which meant it wasn't impossible for him to emerge in his consciousness.

And finally this day had come. Your heart broke to see Bucky curled up in the corner, making himself as small as possible. His hair covered most of his face, but you could see his laboured breathing which was a telltale sign of a lengthy panic attack. He looked exhausted.

"Buck..." your voice was wavering and only now did you realise how raw your throat was from his metal grasp. Bucky picked up on that too, flinching at the soft sound of it and pulling his legs in tighter.

"Buck...you didn't do it. It wasn't you. I don't blame you...please, Buck. Just look at me." Your right side of your body was pushed up against the glass for support as your legs wobbled.

"Leave. Please. You need to get as far away from me as possible."

He didn't look up but his words were like ice. You barely recognised them and at first you thought that he might be overtaken by the Solider still. But then you realised it wasn't that, it was just that he'd been crying so much his throat was as rough as yours.

The glass might have muted some sound, but with super solider hearing, your words were as clear as day to Bucky. And when your legs buckled beneath you and you slid down the wall, he had no control over his head as it flew up to look at you.

You looked terrible. It was as if you'd lost 15lbs over night and were as fragile as a doll. Your skin was practically clear, the only colour your blue veins. And his eyes couldn't leave the horrific mark he had left on your neck that made his dick throb. The innate emotion caused by an omega, his omega now, called out to his alpha needs. Ignoring that was impossible, but it only made the pain worse. If he was feeling like that, your hormones were likely feeling similar and that could only be torture for you.

That was something you hadn't anticipated when you'd come down here. You knew bonded omegas were naturally inclined to submit to their alpha, but you hadn't really thought about that. This wasn't two lovers who had consummated their bond by marking one another, so you hadn't taken into account that the consequences would be the same.

But of course they were. Your pussy started to burn again as sticky slick coated your swollen insides and called out for his cock. Your mouth went dry as it begged for his cum. The feeling was nauseating, your body crying out for someone who didn't want you. It was all so confusing. You loved this man, you always had. You'd wished for his bond every single minute of every single day. But you didn't want it like this. You wanted him to want you, but he didn't. The rejection was almost more painful than the violating act. Almost.

You couldn't stand this anymore. It was all too much. How you made it back to your room you weren't sure; by the time you got there, everything was a blur and your vision was fuzzy. You couldn't even reach the bed before you passed out.

👣 Part III

Bucky Taglist

@elliebee01 @littlemiss-yeehaw @lolitsthings @missvelvetsstuff @spnexploration @justlovelifeblog @1-800-call-a-milf @raajali3 @broadwaybabe18 @vicmc624 @gostodosopa @kjah97 @sageandravens @kaz11283 @bucksdonkey @alright-i-guess @eclecticpatrolroadlawyer

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[koreaarmychef]

Korea Army Chef's Galbitang Recipe Revealed

Galbitang, or Korean beef short rib soup, is a dish where the depth of the broth and the tenderness of the ribs come together harmoniously. On the day it was chosen as the menu for the troops, I knew it would be a challenging task requiring patience and precision.

The first hurdle was preparing the ribs. Defrosting and soaking them to remove excess blood seemed straightforward, but the sheer volume for over 50 servings made it a marathon. I placed the ribs into large basins, repeatedly changing the water until it ran clear. Only then were the ribs ready to go into the massive military pots.

The next challenge was making the broth. The pot was filled with water, beef ribs, radish, green onions, garlic, and ginger, then set to boil for hours. Managing the heat was critical—too high, and the broth could become cloudy; too low, and the ribs wouldn’t cook properly. I stood by the pot, carefully skimming off the fat and impurities that rose to the surface to ensure the broth remained clean and flavorful. This repetitive task left my wrist aching but was essential for achieving the perfect broth.

When the ribs had softened to just the right tenderness, I seasoned the broth with salt and soy sauce. This was the most nerve-wracking moment. The balance of flavors had to be just right—neither too salty nor too bland. Finally, I added finely chopped green onions for a fresh finish and let the soup simmer a little longer.

As the galbitang was served in the dining hall, the troops' reactions made all the effort worthwhile. “This broth is incredible!” one soldier exclaimed. “The ribs are so tender,” another added. Their satisfaction was a reminder of why attention to detail matters.

Galbitang is more than just a hearty soup; it’s a dish that embodies dedication and precision. From soaking the ribs to carefully managing the heat, every step required patience and focus. By the end of the day, I realized that making galbitang isn’t just about cooking—it’s about creating a meal that reflects effort, care, and the art of perseverance.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

25 July 2024

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will see competitors parade on boats along the River Seine through central Paris on Friday.

An unprecedented security operation is in place, with organisers also facing challenges over the cleanliness of the Seine, costs and the environmental impact of the Games.

When are the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games?

The summer Olympics run from 26 July to 11 August, with 10,500 athletes competing in 329 events.

The Paralympics take place from 28 August to 8 September, featuring 4,400 athletes in 549 events.

There will be 206 countries represented at the Olympics, and 184 at the Paralympics.

Where will Olympic and Paralympic events take place?

The main athletics events will be at the Stade de France, on the northern outskirts of Paris.

There are also Olympic and Paralympic venues in the city centre.

The Pont d'Iena, for example, is hosting cycling events, while beach volleyball is at the Eiffel Tower and the marathon starts at the Hotel de Ville and ends at Les Invalides.

Is the Seine clean enough for swimming?

Open water swimming and triathlon events are due to take place in the Seine, more than 100 years after swimming in the river was banned.

Tests done in mid-June showed that levels of E. coli in the water were 10 times the acceptable level.

However, Games organisers hope July sunshine and measures like a rainwater storage basin will make it clean enough.

Ahead of the Games, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip to try to prove the river was safe.

How are France's security forces preparing for the Games?

The Games will be protected by the largest peacetime deployment of security forces in French history

Up to 75,000 police, soldiers and hired guards will be on patrol in Paris at any one time to guard venues and events.

The use of the Seine for the opening ceremony, with crowds watching the parade from the banks, is a first for the modern Olympics.

The original plan was to give free tickets to 600,000 members of the public to watch from the river's banks.

However, the government was worried about potential threats such as a drone attack, and spectator numbers were scaled back to 326,000.

More than 220,000 of those will be invited guests and 104,000 will be members of the public who have bought tickets.

Some 44,000 barriers have been erected, with QR codes for residents and others seeking access to the river Seine and its islands.

Many of the barriers will be removed after the opening ceremony.

Intelligence services uncovered two plots against the country by suspected Islamic militants in early 2024.

In May, a man was detained on suspicion of planning an attack on the torch relay in Bordeaux, and another man was arrested in southern France over a plan to attack an Olympic football venue.

How much are the Games costing?

The cost of this year's Games is estimated to be about 9bn euros (£7.6bn), less than any of the previous four Games — in Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, London, and Beijing.

Much of the funding is coming from private companies, as well as sales of tickets and broadcasting rights.

The government's official auditors have said it may have to pay between 3bn and 5bn euros (£2.5bn and £4.2bn) for costs such as policing.

Are the Games environmentally friendly?

The organising committee of Paris 2024 has promised to make it the greenest Games in Olympic history, with half the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The Games will be held in the same city where, in 2015, world leaders agreed to try to prevent global temperatures rising by more than 1.5C.

About 95% of the Olympic and Paralympic sites are either existing structures or temporary ones.

The organisers say they are using as much recycled material as they can — including recycled cardboard beds for athletes — and trying to minimise carbon emissions.

However, it has been reported that thousands of air-conditioning units have been ordered for Olympic Village rooms by some national teams.

Are the Games pushing up prices in Paris?

Millions of visitors are expected in Paris during the Games, with ticket holders expected to spend an estimated 2.6bn euros (£2.2bn).

Hoteliers in Paris pushed up their rates, in many cases doubling them or more, in anticipation of a big rise in demand.

But there have been reports that many hotels have had unexpectedly low sales.

Bus and metro fares are also doubling in the capital during the Games.

In January, the Louvre art gallery put up its entrance fees by almost 30%.

[starboundanon]

Hi! For the fic game, ShyOwl’s Blooms story, I don’t remember what chapter, but it’s after Din and Anakin decide to keep Luke, and that he’s theirs, and Anakin is training Luke, and Din shows up, Anakin gets possessive and tells Din he is taking Luke for his bath, and Din says he should be the one to bathe Luke, since it’s his husband, and Anakin says absolutely not! So the missing scene I would love to see is Luke being bathed by one of them/both of them.

Ahhhh one of my most favoritest scenes in that whole fic. How the Blooms Yearn, chapter 35, by @thewriterowl

Send me a missing scene!

Luke's face burned bright red, but it had nothing to do with the heat of the water.

Anakin had made sure it wasn't too hot, meticulously cooling the deep basin with the Force until it reached the perfect temperature. He and Din both preferred scalding baths, water so hot it seared the first layer of skin right off, but that was too hot for his youngest. Luke had had enough of pain.

If it was the last thing he did, Anakin would ensure he never felt pain again.

Embarrassment didn't count. His son was remarkably shameless in some ways — too naïve to know better, really — but that was changing, little by little. Enough that his face went adorably pink when Anakin helped him out of his training fatigues, careful of the injuries littering his body, and eased him down into the steaming water, before undressing himself.

"I, um. I can bathe on my own."

"I know you can," Anakin said, smiling as he tossed his tabard away. "But you still tend to be too rough with yourself, sweetheart. You scrape your skin raw when we let you do it yourself. Let Daddy help you."

Shame filled those sky-blue eyes. Luke lowered his face, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no," Anakin said, wading through the water to the other side of the tub, perching on the stone seat beside his youngest. "No, that wasn't a criticism, baby boy. It isn't your fault. Daddy wants to help you, okay? Will you let Daddy help you?"

"You... shouldn't have to," Luke said, still averting his gaze. Anakin cupped his chin, made him look up. His child was getting better at maintaining eye contact, but it was a marathon, not a sprint.

"Fathers do these things for their children, Luke. Force, I had to help Din until he was sixteen years old. You wouldn't believe the places he'd forget to wash. I had to threaten to do it for him to get it through that thick skull of his. I'm your father, and I want to do this. Please, little one? For me?"

It was a little manipulative, maybe, knowing that Luke had yet to master saying no to anyone for anything. But he'd rather that than watch him fidget in pain the next two days, his skin rubbed so raw it blistered beneath his clothes. It was the lesser of two evils. As his father, it was Anakin's job to protect him — from everything.

Even himself.

Luke nodded numbly, cheeks darkening when Anakin smiled and lathered his hands with soap. He'd only just began massaging it into his skin when the door to the wide stone 'fresher suddenly slid open, revealing Din's grumpy, bratty face. "Buir!"

Anakin clicked his tongue, curling around his youngest son possessively. "Ad'ika."

"I told you I would bathe him!" Din snapped, stomping into the room like the overgrown child he was. "You were supposed to take him for snacks!"

"I did. We had cake and hot chocolate in the garden."

"It was very good," Luke said meekly, trying to mitigate the confrontation between them the only way he knew how. Anakin's sweet boy.

He kissed his baby's cheek, then frowned as a chorus of clink's and clank's filled the room, glancing over his shoulder to watch Din shed his armor, placing it on the room's armor stand more haphazardly than he had ever handled the precious metal before. "What are you doing?"

"Bathing him," Din said, stepping into the pool. Luke let out a worrying little squeak and hid his face in his hands, making Anakin scowl.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Stealing my husband."

Luke's body temperature skyrocketed ten degrees when Din strolled over to them, the water only reaching to the tops of his very naked thighs. Anakin hugged his son flush against his chest, glaring at his eldest. The nerve of him, waving that thing around in front of his innocent baby like a scoundrel.

Din grinned, the absolute brat, and took a seat on Luke's other side, arm draping around his shoulders. Glaring, Anakin tugged the boy closer, careful not to jostle him too much. Din's dark eyes flashed dangerously, and he reached over to grab the bottle of shampoo from Anakin's side of the tub, squeezing a generous handful into his palm.

"Hey!"

"Let's get you cleaned up," Din murmured, ignoring his father. The man who raised and loved him. "Sit up, cyar'ika. You'll drown if you crouch any lower."

Luke's embarrassment was a beacon through the Force. He obediently sat up straighter, the water pooling around his collarbones, instead of his chin. It only came up to the waist on Anakin and the ribs on Din — his darling boy was so small, so painfully adorable. How in the Force's name could anyone expect him to share? He was only human.

Not willing to let his eldest have all the fun, Anakin snatched the liquid soap again, glaring Din down as he set to work gently scrubbing his baby boy's skin clean.

If he took a little longer than was strictly necessary, well, he wasn't going to apologize for that.

They had a lifetime of pampering to make up for.

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Big Bend... from SPACE!

This image, dated Jan 12th 2024, was taken by NASA crew member, Loral O'Hara aboard the International Space Station. The image shows far western Texas and northern Mexico on a dark, moonless night, as seen through the window of the ISS cupola module and captured with a Nikon camera and 50mm lens. There is a lot visible in this photo!

Take a look at Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Chihuahua, near the bottom of the image. Earlier this year the City of Presidio adjusted many of its street lights to dark-sky friendly models that shine all light downward and are an amber color. The difference compared to neighboring Ojinaga, which uses downward-aimed but brighter, white-colored lighting, is enormous.

The town of Fort Davis, Texas, has had an outdoor lighting ordinance for 48 years. It is barely detectable from space. The tiny town of Marathon, another community that has practiced dark skies lighting for a long time, is also barely visible.

Alpine has not had an outdoor lighting ordinance for as long, but is still dimmer than an average city of its size.

The western end of the Permian Basin, also known as the Delaware Basin, stands out in the top of the image. This region is one of the most light polluted places in the world per capita. Most of the lights are from upward-angled workplace lighting. The brighter spot near the middle is the city of Pecos, unlabeled.

Night photos from space are extremely valuable tools for monitoring light pollution. Currently, no traditional satellite exists that can adequately monitor light pollution from blue/white LED sources. Instead researchers rely on photos such as this to study light pollution.

📸 NASA Crew Earth Observations Portal

[findhomeaway]

Escape to Island Time: A Remarkable Duplex Vacation Home in Big Pine Key, Florida

If you're searching for a truly remarkable vacation home in Big Pine Key, look no further than this rare duplex situated on over an acre in the Doctors Arm area. Boasting a huge boat basin and direct access to Bogie channel, this property is perfect for families or groups of friends looking for a fun-filled getaway in the Florida Keys.

This vacation home is fully fenced for privacy, with plenty of yard space for everyone to enjoy outdoor activities. Just down the street from the Old Wooden Bridge marina, launching your boat or renting one has never been easier. And when it comes to comfort, both sides of this duplex are expertly decorated in Keys Island motif, ensuring that you'll feel right at home during your stay.

The kitchens feature top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, perfect for whipping up delicious meals for your group. After a long day of adventure, relax in the living rooms with flat screen TVs, stereo sound, and iPod docking stations. And when it's time to wind down, the spacious outdoor porches are the perfect spot to kick back and enjoy the tropical breeze.

Big Pine Key would be complete without a visit to the famous No Name Pub, located just down the street from this vacation home. And if you're in the mood for some shopping or five-star dining, Key West and Marathon are just a quick trip away.

Whether you're looking for a quiet retreat or an action-packed family getaway, Island Time I or II is the perfect vacation home for you. Rent one or both sides for the ultimate Florida Keys experience - just be prepared for an unforgettable vacation.

[ghamnasr]

Things you don't know about the Acropolis

Things you don't know about the Acropolis

By

Gamal Moustafa

Acropolis

The Acropolis in Athens, the capital of Greece on the European continent, stands as a timeless symbol of ancient Greek civilization, floating majestically above this bustling modern city. With a rich past dating back to antiquity prominent in the western Mediterranean basin, this famous castle has witnessed the rise and fall of empires and served as a beacon of culture, art and democracy.

The Acropolis in Athens

Here we write some words, and delve into the history, architectural importance, and legends about this majestic monument, the efforts to preserve it by present generations, and what the visitor sees and enjoys in the Acropolis. We also explore the imprints of this heritage that have made it a must-visit destination for all lovers of history and civilizations, as it is considered a treasure trove of knowledge for historians, archaeologists, and every visitor alike.

 History of the Acropolis

 Old assets

The Acropolis in Athens, a marvel of ancient architecture, has a rich history, much like the remains of the Egyptian and Phoenician civilizations of the past. It all started around the fifth millennium BC, when humans settled on Earth and began forming societies and taking an interest in architecture and creativity.

Evolution through the ages

Over the centuries, the Acropolis has seen more facelifts than Hollywood stars. From the majestic Parthenon to the Erechtheion, the site has evolved like a Greek tragedy, with wars, invasions and rebuilding. It's like a real-life Game of Thrones, but with fewer dragons.

 Architectural importance

Parthenon: Icon of the Acropolis

The Parthenon, the crown jewel of the Acropolis, stands tall and proud like a peacock flaunting its feathers. Built in the 5th century BC to honor the goddess Athena, it is a masterpiece of ancient Greek architecture. Can you imagine if they had Instagram at that time how would they brag about those columns?

 Other major structures on the Acropolis

Apart from the Parthenon, the Acropolis houses other architectural masterpieces such as the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea. These structures are like the supporting cast in a Hollywood blockbuster – not as famous, but crucial to the plot.

 Mythology and cultural significance

 Mythical connections to the Acropolis

The Acropolis is not just ancient rocks and columns; It really is steeped in mythology like a tea bag in hot water. Mythology says that in this genius site there was a confrontation between Athena and Poseidon so that one of them would become the patron god of the city. The fairies of the temple tell us that Athena won, and hence the city was named Athens.

Cultural and symbolic importance

The Acropolis is not just a collection of ancient buildings; It is a symbol of democracy and culture and the birthplace of Western civilization. He's like an OG influencer – setting trends in art, architecture and philosophy that we still follow to this day.

Restoration and conservation efforts

Challenges facing conservation

Preserving a site more than 2,500 years old is not a piece of spanakopita. Pollution of all kinds, erosion factors, and irresponsible human activity have affected the Acropolis. It's like trying to keep an elderly grandpa looking lively and youthful - a difficult task!

Ongoing conservation projects

But fear not like the wrestling superhero who swoops in to save his reputation, there are ongoing conservation projects to ensure the Acropolis remains strong for generations to come. From laser cleaning to structural reinforcements, experts work harder than Hercules in a marathon of twelve labors to keep the site intact.

Visitor and tourism experience in the Acropolis

Visiting the Acropolis is like swiping on a historical Tinder profile – it's a match made in ancient Greek paradise. When you are impressed by the Parthenon, you cannot help but feel as if you have been transported in time to the era of togas and epic mythological tales. The sheer grandeur of the Acropolis is enough to make any history buff's heart beat.

 Guided tours and visitor information

If ancient ruin hopping isn't your strong suit, fear not – guided tours here save your day. These knowledgeable guides will lead you through the maze of marble columns, regulating you with stories of gods and mortals along the way. Want to know the best place to take that Instagram-worthy shot? You will find someone to guide you. And if you prefer to go alone, don't worry – there's plenty of signage and information available for DIY explorers.

The impact of tourism on the Acropolis community

With great tourism comes great responsibility – and sometimes, a little chaos. The Acropolis is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of excited tourists armed with cameras and selfie sticks. While the influx of visitors is a boost to the local economy, it also poses challenges to the surrounding community. From increasing litter to the erosion of ancient structures, the impact of tourism is a double-edged sword. But fear not, dear traveler – with a little awareness and respect for this archaeological marvel, we can all play a part in preserving it for future generations. As the sun sets over the Acropolis, casting a golden hue over its ancient stones, one cannot help but feel the weight of history and the enduring legacy of human ingenuity.

Conclusion

From its legendary roots to its contemporary role as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Acropolis continues to captivate and inspire all who gaze upon its timeless beauty. Whether you're a history buff, an architecture buff, or just a curious traveler, a visit to the Acropolis promises an unforgettable journey through the annals of time.

Sources

Internet.

[xtruss]

Trump’s Foreign-Policy Influencers!

Meet The 11 Men Whose Worldviews Are Shaping The 2024 Republican Ticket.

— 26 August 2024 | Foreign Policy Feature | By Foreign Policy Staff

Oriana Fenwick Illustration/Getty Images

If former U.S. President Donald Trump wins the White House again, what might his foreign policy look like? The Republican candidate often shoots from the hip—consider his grand declaration that he can end the Russia-Ukraine war in a single day as just one example. Trump is also quick to distance himself from policy shop documents, such as the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, when they become politically inconvenient.

But beyond the noise of the campaign trail, one way to gauge the possible foreign-policy agenda of a second Trump term is to profile the key national security thinkers in his orbit: Who are the advisors he listens to? What is the genesis of the ideas that animate the former president’s current worldview?

Consider the list below a handy guide in the days and weeks leading up to Nov. 5. But first, a few disclaimers. The men listed below (and yes, they’re all men—the picks reflect what our sources told us) are ranked not in order of importance but in alphabetical order. The names are not earmarked for any particular roles, such as national security advisor or secretary of state; we thought it best to just describe the people whose views and ideas could have a meaningful impact on Trump’s foreign-policy decisions. And lastly, the spirit of this endeavor is to add some texture to what is a common parlor game in Washington these days—nobody, of course, can actually claim to know exactly what Trump will do.

And now, here’s the list you came here for. — The Editors

Elbridge Colby (L), Fred Fleitz (R)

Elbridge Colby

Elbridge Colby, a once and possible future Trump administration defense official, is the loudest and perhaps most cogent voice in Washington advocating a complete shift away from Europe, NATO, and Russia and toward the growing challenge from China.

Colby served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense for more than a year in the Trump administration, where he helped put teeth into the belated U.S. pivot to Asia. He then joined with other Trump administration veterans to co-found the Marathon Initiative, a Washington-based think tank focused on great-power competition. If he gets another shot in a future Trump administration—and his name has been floated for another defense position or even a job with the National Security Council—he would hammer home his overarching point: China, not Russia, is America’s biggest problem.

In a series of articles, books, and speeches, Colby has for years made the case for the United States to use its limited defense resources to prevent a hostile hegemonic power from gaining ascendancy over the Asia-Pacific region. China has already economically cowed many of its smaller neighbors, and it continues to chip away at regional security in places such as the South China Sea. But Taiwan is the real test: A Chinese effort to reincorporate the island by force would mean a conflict with the United States and likely Japan—and, if successful, would open China up to domination of the entire Pacific Basin, the world’s most important economic region by far.

Colby’s ideas are a timely reprisal of one of the original blueprints of U.S. grand strategy, written by Nicholas Spykman in the middle of World War II, but turned on its head: Asia, not Europe, is now the economic and political center of gravity of the world, and its domination by Beijing would severely constrain America’s future prospects and freedom of action.

One problem for Colby is that his potential future boss, while willing to be plenty hostile to China at times, is also utterly transactional, and Trump has already signaled his willingness to barter away Taiwan’s autonomy. Realist hawks such as Colby tend to sit uncomfortably with a foreign policy that has no true north.

Another problem is that Colby’s vocal and repeated urgings to use limited U.S. resources exclusively for the big China fight that may one day come, even if that means abandoning Ukraine in the middle of a war, are grist for the Kremlin’s goons; Russian state television cheers Colby’s foreign-policy priorities.

Lawmakers may not buy an Asia-only defense strategy anyway, in a future Trump administration or a future Kamala Harris one. A congressionally mandated defense review panel argued in July that the United States should prepare to defend its vital interests in both Europe and Asia.

—Keith Johnson

Fred Fleitz

Despite being a longtime member of the U.S. national security community, Fred Fleitz is a hard-nosed proponent of the Trump-driven anti-establishment MAGA ideology that roiled Washington for four years. Fleitz is a Trump administration veteran who has emerged as one of the former president’s few top advisors on national security on the campaign trail.

Fleitz, alongside Keith Kellogg, drafted a plan for Trump to review aimed at ending the war in Ukraine if Trump wins reelection. The plan entails pushing Ukraine and Russia to come to the negotiating table and brokering a temporary cease-fire at the current battle lines, which would be sustained during the peace talks. The Trump administration would pressure Ukraine on one side by threatening to cut off U.S. aid if it didn’t negotiate, and Russia on the other by threatening to open the floodgates on U.S. military aid to Ukraine without peace talks. The proposal marks the most detailed preview yet of what a Trump White House’s Ukraine policy could look like if Fleitz and others in his orbit joined the administration.

Fleitz is vice chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, the think tank founded in 2021 to keep MAGA boots on the ground in Washington as Team Biden took power. He is a regular commentator on the right-wing news channel NewsMax and the author of Obamabomb: A Dangerous and Growing National Security Fraud and The Coming North Korea Nuclear Nightmare: What Trump Must Do to Reverse Obama’s ‘Strategic Patience.’

Fleitz has garnered controversy over his past comments and affiliations with hard-right and anti-immigrant groups that opponents refer to as fringe and Islamophobic. (He later distanced himself from some of those past affiliations.)

Fleitz spent more than two decades working in the U.S. government, bouncing between posts at the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, State Department, and the Republican side of the House Intelligence Committee. For significant chunks of his career, he circled the orbit of the pugnacious neoconservative hawk John Bolton, serving as his chief of staff in the George W. Bush administration when Bolton was the undersecretary of state for arms control, and then later as the National Security Council chief of staff when Bolton was Trump’s national security advisor.

Bolton has since broken very publicly with Trump, but Fleitz remains nestled in the MAGA world. While Trump has given no indication of who would staff his administration if he won, many Republican insiders say Fleitz is near the top of the list.

—Robbie Gramer

Ric Grenell (L), Keith Kellogg (R)

Ric Grenell

Within hours of presenting his diplomatic credentials to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2018, Trump’s new ambassador to Berlin, Ric Grenell, took to Twitter to demand that German companies doing business with Iran should “wind down operations immediately.” The diplomatic relationship went downhill from there.

Disagreements with the German government were aired publicly, as Grenell—a political appointee—threatened to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany over the country’s lackluster defense spending and impose sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have increased the country’s dependency on Russian energy. Wolfgang Kubicki, the vice president of the German Parliament, at one point accused Grenell of acting as if the United States was “still an occupying power.”

The pugilistic diplomat’s approach may have horrified Berlin’s mild-mannered political establishment. But if ambassadors are judged by their ability to convey their boss’s message, Grenell was an effective foot soldier. He was later appointed as the special envoy to the Balkans—where he was accused of causing the government of Kosovo to collapse—and acting director of national intelligence, becoming the first openly gay person to hold a cabinet-level position.

A graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Grenell worked as a spokesperson for a number of prominent Republicans before joining the 2000 presidential campaign of former Sen. John McCain—who would later become one of Trump’s most vehement critics.

From 2001-2008, Grenell served as the director of communications for the U.S. mission to the United Nations under four ambassadors, including John Bolton, who would go on to serve as Trump’s national security advisor.

Long before the Trump presidency, Grenell was known for his combative tweets—which, like those of his future boss, often took swipes at journalists and mocked the appearance of prominent women Democrats.

While several senior figures in the Trump administration broke with the former president during the ignominious end to his tenure, Grenell remained loyal. In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Grenell was dispatched to Nevada to help challenge the results of the vote—despite knowing that there was no basis to the claims, according to a recent profile in the New York Times.

Since leaving government, Grenell has served as Trump’s envoy, traversing the world, meeting with far-right leaders, and undercutting the State Department—including in Guatemala. It’s that loyalty that is likely to land him a senior foreign-policy job in a future Trump administration.

A secretary of state needs to be “tough” and a “son of a bitch,” Grenell said during an appearance on the Self Centered podcast in March.

Keith Kellogg

When Michael Flynn was fired from his role as U.S. national security advisor just 22 days into Trump’s first term after lying about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Keith Kellogg was one of the first people considered to replace him. He didn’t get the job, which went to another three-star Army officer: H.R. McMaster. Instead, Kellogg advised Vice President Mike Pence and served as the chief of staff to the National Security Council.

In those roles, Kellogg was caught up in some of the most pivotal moments of Trump’s presidency. Kellogg said he heard “nothing wrong or improper” on the July 2019 call where Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden. And Kellogg privately urged Pence to certify the 2020 election “TONIGHT” while a pro-Trump mob was still being cleared from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Kellogg nonetheless endorsed Trump over Pence in August 2023, criticizing Pence for concentrating on “political maneuvering” and his image. (Pence withdrew from the presidential race in October 2023 and has not endorsed Trump.)

Since then, Kellogg has sought to become a key member of Trump’s national security brain trust at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank that is seen in Washington as a White House in waiting. Kellogg—a Vietnam War veteran who was serving as a three-star Army general in the Pentagon when al Qaeda flew a Boeing 757 into the west side of the building on Sept. 11, 2001—is at once pro-Ukraine and pro-NATO and yet willing to exact Trump’s famous brand of leverage on both. He’s tried to put teeth behind Trump’s pledge to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine “in a day,” mapping out a plan that would cut U.S. military aid to Ukraine if Kyiv refused to go to the bargaining table, but boost it if the Kremlin refused to negotiate.

At the July NATO summit in Washington, where European officials sought out Trump insiders, Kellogg was one former official taking meetings with U.S. allies. But the message they got might not have been the one that they wanted to hear. Kellogg has said that NATO countries that don’t meet the alliance’s defense spending target are violating the Washington Treaty (Trump threatened at a campaign rally earlier this year not to defend NATO allies that weren’t hitting the bloc’s spending mark of 2 percent of GDP ).

—Jack Detsch

Robert Lighthizer

Robert Lighthizer

Few members of the Trump administration still maintain a large degree of influence on policy. But Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s trade representative, current advisor, and perhaps future Treasury secretary, has become such an influential economic voice, especially through his back-to-the-past vision of trade, that he has helped shape the Biden administration’s newfound love of trade wars.

Lighthizer, a longtime trade lawyer who began his public service career in the Ronald Reagan administration, turned Trump’s inchoate notions on trade and the economy into a more or less coherent policy. Now, with Trump campaigning to return to the White House, Lighthizer is eager to double down on the policies he pursued the first time around.

Those famous Trump tariffs—on steel, aluminum, and many products from China—were the fruit of Lighthizer’s vision, and he was just getting started. He believes raising taxes on American consumers and businesses for things they import will make them import less; in an ideal world, it would also make American businesses manufacture and export more things as well.

His plans for the future, as laid out in books and writings since he left office, include much higher tariffs on a bigger range of countries (all of them, actually) in order to balance the ledger of American imports and exports, with a particular eye on China—one of America’s biggest trading partners and its top geopolitical rival. Ultimately, his objective is to get much closer to full “decoupling” from China than the lukewarm and partial “de-risking” now favored by the Biden team.

It’s of little concern to Lighthizer and some of Trump’s other still-influential trade advisors such as Peter Navarro (who was released from prison in July) that the avalanche of tariffs and belligerent trade policy achieved none of their stated aims. The trade deficit, the main concern for tariff hawks such as Trump and Lighthizer, grew under their watch. U.S. exports shrank, as did, in the end, manufacturing jobs (thanks to COVID-19).

Retaliatory tariffs by friends and allies curbed U.S. trade options abroad and weakened the prospects for an anti-China coalition. Consumer prices, juiced by import taxes, rose. China did not moderate any of the predatory economic behavior that prompted the trade wars in the first place, and in fact has made its own form of turbocharged, export-driven industrial policy the very centerpiece of its own economic rejuvenation.

But, as Lighthizer himself has argued, it takes time to right a ship that’s on the wrong course. Maybe this time the same old remedies will produce dramatically different results.

—Keith Johnson

Johnny McEntee

Johnny McEntee

In the summer of 2020, as Trump was running for reelection, an email from the White House invited Pentagon officials to sit down for interviews with a pair of staffers, where they would be evaluated for positions in a second Trump administration. After a spate of high-profile resignations in the building as the White House increasingly sought to assert itself over the Defense Department, officials saw the interviews as a test of loyalty to Trump.

The man behind the email was White House Presidential Personnel Office Director John McEntee. A onetime walk-on quarterback at the University of Connecticut, McEntee served as the president’s “body man” for the first year of the administration. He was fired by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in 2018 for failing a background check due to a gambling investigation, only to return two years later, this time in charge of the powerful personnel office.

It’s often said in Washington that personnel is policy. Many of Trump’s early appointments came from the traditional Republican foreign-policy pool: more international, pro-trade, pro-NATO, and pro-ally than the standard MAGA crowd. Kelly, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson formed the “axis of adults” that largely controlled the levers of foreign policy for Trump’s first two years in office—even as the commander in chief finger-wagged at Washington’s perceived “deep state” for allegedly slow-walking his agenda.

But late in the game, McEntee would help get MAGA-approved people into top jobs. He helped orchestrate Trump’s reshuffling of the Pentagon brass, including the firing of then-U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper. He also tried, with others, to stack the Pentagon’s top policy boards with close Trump allies. Had Trump won, McEntee would have played a key role in trying to implement Trump’s planned “Schedule F” reforms that would have essentially turned tenure-track government jobs into at-will employees.

Since then, loyalty tests have become standard practice in Trump world. McEntee is now at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, where he’s helping to spearhead Project 2025—an initiative that calls for the next president to “confront the Deep State.” If you want in on a list of would-be Trump appointees, you have to send in your phone number and fill out a detailed questionnaire, largely predicated on loyalty to Trump.

—Jack Detsch

Christopher Miller

Christopher Miller

Christopher Miller had some early missteps after being named Trump’s acting secretary of defense in November 2020—literally. First, he tripped on his way up the steps and into the Pentagon. And then when he got up to give his first public speech at the U.S. Army’s national museum two days later, he forgot his prepared remarks under his seat.

It set the tone for perhaps the wildest two-month tour that any Pentagon chief has ever had. Trump moved Miller from the National Counterterrorism Center to take over for Esper as acting secretary of defense. Trump announced via tweet that Esper had been fired, less than 48 hours after the networks began calling the presidential election for Biden.

Miller, a former Green Beret, was given an ambitious lame-duck agenda for the Pentagon ahead of Biden’s inauguration. The Pentagon was tasked with withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia—all in the course of two months.

Miller faced widespread criticism for his failure to approve the deployment of the National Guard to contain the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol for more than three hours after the Pentagon became aware of the breach. Miller said later that he feared creating “the greatest Constitutional crisis” since the Civil War by deploying active-duty U.S. troops. He has also said that Trump deserves blame for stoking the riots—but he hasn’t explicitly ruled out working for him again.

“I thought he was really good,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt in a December interview, describing Miller and his short stint at the Pentagon. “I thought he was very good.”

—Jack Detsch

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller

Throughout Trump’s term, Stephen Miller made a name for himself as the radical architect of the president’s hard-line—and highly controversial—immigration policies. If Trump triumphs in November, he is widely expected to again lean heavily on Miller, who has already outlined sweeping new proposals to overhaul U.S. policy and crack down on immigration.

As Trump’s then-senior advisor and speechwriting chief, Miller played a pivotal role in shaping his presidential agenda. He drove forward some of the former U.S. leader’s most contentious schemes, including his family separation policy, known as zero tolerance, and the so-called Muslim ban, which barred travel and refugee resettlement from several Muslim-majority countries to the United States. Beyond pushing to slash refugee admission numbers, he reportedly also wanted to deploy troops to close off the United States’ southern border and proposed banning student visas for Chinese nationals.

Miller was known for encouraging some of Trump’s more hard-line positions, even in situations where other advisors reportedly urged the president to exercise restraint. In 2019, Miller came under fire after a batch of leaked emails published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy group, revealed that he privately touted white nationalist views. The emails, which were exchanged between Miller and conservative news site Breitbart News, date back to 2015 and 2016.

Today, Miller spends much of his time waging legal battles against “woke corporations,” despite having no formal legal training. In 2021, he founded the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative legal advocacy organization focused on challenging the Biden administration and the practices of private companies, including Kellogg and Starbucks. “America First Legal is holding corporate America accountable for illegally engaging in discriminatory employment practices that penalize Americans based on race and sex,” the company said.

If Trump defeats Harris in November, Miller has vowed an overhaul of U.S. immigration policy. “Any activists who doubt President Trump’s resolve in the slightest are making a drastic error: Trump will unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,” he told the New York Times. “The immigration legal activists won’t know what’s happening.”

Under a potential second Trump term, Washington would dramatically expand policies aimed at cracking down on immigration, including by halting the U.S. refugee program and reinstalling some variation of the Muslim travel ban, the New York Times reported. Trump envisions conducting sweeping public workplace raids, enacting mass deportations, and constructing “vast holding facilities” to detain those awaiting deportation, Miller said. The former U.S. leader is also eager to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, he said.

“I don’t care what the hell happens in this world,” Miller told right-wing personality Charlie Kirk in a podcast interview earlier this year. “If President Trump gets reelected, the border’s going to be sealed, the military will be deployed, the National Guard will be activated, and the illegals are going home.”

—Christina Lu

Robert O’Brien

Robert O’Brien

Trump cycled through three national security advisors during the first two years of his tenure before settling on one who fit just right: Robert O’Brien. He stuck around for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.

A Los Angeles lawyer, O’Brien began his White House role as special envoy for hostage affairs. He helped to secure the release of Americans from prisons in Turkey and Yemen, as the Trump administration prioritized the plight of Americans wrongfully detained abroad.

More memorably, O’Brien led the administration’s efforts to lobby Sweden, an ally, to release the American rapper A$AP Rocky following a request from the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, according to the New York Times. Rocky had been convicted on assault charges.

As national security advisor, O’Brien had significantly less experience than his predecessors. He proved to be low-key and loyal, and served out the remainder of the Trump administration without major controversy.

In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, O’Brien became one of the first senior Trump officials to acknowledge, if grudgingly, that Biden had won the vote. “If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner, and obviously things look that way now, we’ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council. There’s no question about it,” he said at a virtual meeting of the Global Security Forum.

O’Brien has remained close with the former president and is likely to be tapped for a senior role should Trump return to the Oval Office.

In an essay in Foreign Affairs published in June, O’Brien sketched out the contours of a future Trump foreign policy: “A Trumpian restoration of peace through strength.” China is the primary focus, as O’Brien calls for a muscular posture in the Indo-Pacific, including the deployment of the entire Marine Corps to the region and for a U.S. aircraft carrier to be transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

O’Brien also advocated for the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing, not carried out since 1992. “Washington must test new nuclear weapons for reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992—not just by using computer models,” O’Brien wrote.

—Amy Mackinnon

Kash Patel (L) Mike Pompeo (R)

Kash Patel

Kash Patel had a meteoric ascent during Trump’s tenure, rising from little-known staffer on the House Intelligence Committee to chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense in the last months of the administration, despite having no military background. As an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, who was then chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Patel was central to efforts to challenge accusations that the Trump team had inappropriate contact with Russian government officials while on the campaign trail.

Patel was reportedly the lead author of a controversial 2018 memo that alleged that law enforcement officials had acted improperly when they sought permission to surveil the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. While Democrats slammed the decision to release the document, describing it as a partisan attack on the justice system, a court later found that some of the surveillance warrants against Page were unjustified.

After a stint at the National Security Council as senior director for counterterrorism, Patel moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2020 as a senior advisor to the director of national intelligence, where he became integral to the former president’s attacks on the intelligence community, pressing for declassification of documents from the investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

In the waning days of the Trump administration, the former president reportedly considered firing CIA Deputy Director Vaughn Bishop and replacing him with Patel, according to Axios. If then-CIA Director Gina Haspel resigned in protest—which she threatened to do—Patel or another Trump ally would be appointed to lead the sprawling intelligence agency, according to reports.

Patel would likely play an integral and senior role should Trump return to the Oval Office. In an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast in December, Patel said a second Trump administration would target and prosecute journalists. “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections—we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out,” he said.

Patel has also authored a children’s book titled The Plot Against the King, a revisionist fairy-tale rendering of the Russia investigation in which Patel appears as a wizard who informs the kingdom that King Donald “did not work with the Russonians.”

—Amy Mackinnon

Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo was one of the few Trump cabinet officials to maintain a strong relationship with the brash and mercurial president throughout his term in office. Trump plucked Pompeo from relative obscurity as a Kansas congressman to be his first CIA director. As head of the premier U.S. intelligence agency, Pompeo forayed into diplomacy by secretly traveling to North Korea to lay the groundwork for direct talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In 2018, as Trump sacked his first secretary of state, Tillerson, he announced Pompeo as his replacement. Pompeo joined the State Department vowing to restore “swagger” to the diplomatic corps after the Tillerson era, prompting relief among some longtime diplomats and eye rolls from others. While at the State Department, Pompeo was careful to ensure he remained a top player in Trump’s inner circle, even when it put him at odds with the embattled diplomatic corps—during Trump’s tumultuous first impeachment hearing, for example, and other scandals involving harassment, mismanagement, and watchdog investigations into Trump appointees at the State Department.

Pompeo, a California native, graduated first in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served as a U.S. Army officer, and attended law school at Harvard. He moved to Kansas in the 1990s and served as a member of Congress for the state’s 4th district from 2011 to 2017 before joining the Trump administration. After Trump was voted out of office, Pompeo did not join other top Trump administration officials in condemning the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump’s demonstrably false claims of election fraud.

Pompeo briefly toyed with the idea of running for president but bowed out of the race early on when he failed to raise his national profile or as much money as other Republican challengers to Trump like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. In June, he established a new private equity firm with veteran financiers that aims to back mid-sized technology companies.

Mike Pompeo About CIA : “We Lied, We Cheated, We Stole”

Pompeo still maintains close ties with Trump and his inner circle, and many Republican insiders believe he would be a top contender for a senior administration role, such as secretary of defense, if Trump is reelected.

In Trump’s circle, Pompeo is among the most outspoken advocates of Ukraine. He visited Kyiv in early April and told Fox News that arming Ukraine was the “least costly way to move forward.” Many European officials believe that the appointment of Pompeo to a senior cabinet position would be a good thing for Ukraine and NATO, and bad news for Russia.

An ardent hawk, he was also a primary driver of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and architect of the former president’s muscular approach to China that now largely has bipartisan backing.

—Robbie Gramer

[revoueindia]

Lingerie Care 101: Innerwear Care Guide for Durability

Bras and panties – they're not just boring old underthings! They're your BFFs, your squad, your ride-or-dies! They hold you up, keep you comfy, and make you feel like a total rockstar. But just like your besties need occasional spa days and movie marathons, your lingerie needs some TLC too. This guide is all about making your delicates happy and healthy, so they can keep you feeling confident and fabulous wash after wash.

Why Proper Lingerie Care Matters

Lingerie is often made from delicate fabrics like lace, satin, silk, and elastic materials designed to provide support and comfort. Also sometimes pads are added for cushioning. Proper care not only preserves the appearance and fit of your lingerie but also extends its lifespan. When you invest time in caring for your lingerie, you’re investing in your comfort, confidence, and overall well-being.

Sorting and Washing

Color Separation:

Why it’s Important: Sorting your lingerie by color prevents colors from bleeding onto each other, which can ruin delicate fabrics and lace.

How to Sort: Separate light-colored lingerie from dark-colored ones. Whites, pastels, and light neutrals should be washed together, while darker colors should be washed separately to prevent color transfer.

Hand Washing vs. Machine Washing:

Hand Washing:

Why it’s Recommended: Hand washing is the gentlest way to clean lingerie, especially for delicate fabrics and embellishments like lace and embroidery.

How to Hand Wash: Fill a basin or sink with lukewarm water and a small amount of lingerie detergent or mild soap. Gently agitate the water to create suds, then submerge your lingerie and soak for a few minutes. Gently swirl the garments to clean them, avoiding excessive rubbing or twisting. Rinse with cool water until all soap residue is gone.

Machine Washing:

When to Use: If you prefer machine washing, use a lingerie bag and select a gentle cycle with cold water. Fasten hooks and clasps to prevent snagging and tangling with other garments.

Detergent Choice: Use a mild detergent specifically formulated for delicates to protect the fabric and maintain elasticity.

Drying

Air Drying:

Why it’s Recommended: Heat from dryers can weaken fabrics, stretch elastic, and damage delicate lace and embellishments. Air drying is gentler and helps your lingerie maintain its shape and elasticity.

How to Air Dry: Lay your lingerie flat on a clean, dry towel. Reshape bras and panties gently if necessary. Avoid hanging bras by their straps, as this can cause them to stretch out over time.

Drying Times:

Patience is Key: Allow your lingerie to air dry completely before storing or wearing. Depending on the fabric and humidity levels, this may take several hours to overnight.

Storage

Organizational Tips:

Separate Storage: Keep bras and panties in different sections to avoid them snagging or losing their shape.

Drawer Dividers: Use dividers or organizers to neatly fold and store your lingerie, maintaining the shape of bras and panties while making them easy to find.

Avoiding Overcrowding:

Importance: Crowded drawers can cause wrinkles, misshaping, and damage delicate fabrics and details.

Space Matters: Ensure each piece of lingerie has enough space to lie flat or be neatly folded to preserve their quality and appearance.

Best Practices for Bra Storage When storing bras, nest them together with their hooks fastened. This method helps maintain their shape and prevents them from becoming misshapen or lopsided over time. Avoid folding molded bras with the cups inward, as this can cause them to wear out unevenly. Keeping bras hooked together also maximizes drawer space, keeping your lingerie organized and easily accessible. Remember, storing your bras properly not only preserves their fit and support but also keeps your drawer tidy and efficient.

Specific Care Tips for Different Types of Lingerie

Padded Bras:

Why They Need Special Care: Padded bras have additional layers of fabric and padding that require gentle handling to maintain their shape and support.

Hand Washing: Always hand wash padded bras to preserve the integrity of the padding. Use a gentle detergent and avoid excessive wringing or twisting.

Non-Padded Bras:

Machine Washing: Non-padded bras can often be safely washed in a lingerie bag on a gentle cycle.

Hooking Bras: Always fasten hooks and clasps to prevent them from snagging on other garments or the bag itself.

Lace Panties:

Hand Washing is Best: Lace panties should be hand washed to protect the delicate lace fabric and prevent tears or stretching.

Drying Tip: Lay lace panties flat to dry to maintain their shape and prevent the lace from becoming misshapen.

Silk and Satin Lingerie:

Hand Wash Only: Silk and satin lingerie should always be hand washed using cold water and a mild detergent.

Avoiding Direct Sunlight: Dry silk and satin lingerie away from direct sunlight to prevent fading and discoloration.

General Care Tips

Rotation of Wear:

Why Rotate: Rotating your lingerie allows elastic to rest and regain its shape between wears, prolonging the lifespan of your bras and panties.

How Often to Rotate: Aim to rotate your lingerie every few wears, especially if you wear the same bras or panties frequently.

Reading Care Labels:

Importance of Care Labels: Always follow the care instructions provided on the garment’s care label. These instructions are tailored to the specific fabric and construction of each piece of lingerie.

Understanding Symbols: Familiarize yourself with laundry care symbols to ensure you are washing, drying, and storing your lingerie correctly.

Conclusion

Taking care of your lingerie doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require attention to detail and gentle handling. By following these tips, you can ensure that your bras, panties, and delicate lace pieces stay in great condition and continue to provide comfort and support wear after wear. Remember, a little extra care goes a long way in maintaining the beauty and durability of your lingerie collection. Embrace these practices, and your lingerie will thank you with long-lasting comfort and confidence!

[study-buddies]

Paris Olympics: Parisians' Unusual Protest Over River Seine Cleanliness

A Historic Venue Revisited The romantic River Seine, a historical icon in Paris, is making a splash again in the sporting world. Over 124 years after hosting its first Olympic swimming events, the Seine is set to welcome athletes for the Marathon swimming and Triathlon events at the Paris Olympics. However, this picturesque river has recently been the center of an unusual and pungent protest by disgruntled Parisians.

The Legacy of the Seine in the Olympics The Seine first hosted Olympic swimming events in 1900 at the Basins d’Asnières-Courbevoie, along a 13 km route in the heart of Paris. By 1923, however, swimming in the river was banned due to rising pollution and increasing traffic. Now, as the Seine gears up for the 2024 Olympics, concerns about its pollution levels and weather conditions are mounting.

The Push for a Cleaner Seine Efforts to make the Seine swimmable again date back to 1990 when former Paris mayor and French president Jacques Chirac promised to swim in the river to demonstrate its cleanliness. Although Chirac’s plan never materialized, current Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made river swimming a key goal in the 2016 Paris Olympics bid, aiming to open 20 swimming areas by 2025.

Pollution Problems and Government Plans The Seine’s pollution issues stem from a combined sewer system introduced in the late 19th century, which mixes waste and stormwater. This system often leads to sewage overflow during heavy rains, contaminating the river with harmful bacteria like E. coli and Enterococci. To combat this, the French government has invested 1.5 billion euros in measures including a massive underground rainwater storage tank and enhanced sewage treatment facilities.

Protests and Public Outcry Despite these efforts, pollution levels remain a concern. A sewer issue led to the cancellation of an Olympic test event last year, and recent tests by the Surfrider Foundation revealed that the Seine’s water still fails to meet European Union regulations. In a bold move, French president Emmanuel Macron and Mayor Hidalgo planned to swim in the Seine to prove its safety but canceled due to snap elections. This prompted an anonymous online campaign under the hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin (“I Shit in the Seine on June 23”), encouraging Parisians to defecate in the river as a form of protest.

The Protest Plan and Current Water Quality The protest, initially intended as a joke, gained traction, with a website providing a calculator for participants to determine the best time and place to defecate for maximum impact. Meanwhile, Mayor Hidalgo took a symbolic dip in the Seine on July 17, claiming the water was “very good.”

Current water quality data shows fluctuating pollution levels, with E. coli and Enterococci often exceeding safety limits. The World Triathlon Federation’s guidelines set maximum permissible levels at 900 cfu for E. coli and 330 cfu for Enterococci, but recent readings have frequently surpassed these thresholds.

Contingency Plans for the Olympics In response to these challenges, Olympic organizers have prepared contingency plans. If pollution levels remain high, swimming portions of the triathlon events may be canceled or relocated to alternative venues like the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Conclusion As the Paris Olympics approach, the cleanliness of the River Seine remains a hot topic. While government efforts are ongoing, public protests highlight the urgency of the situation. The world will be watching to see if Paris can successfully host safe and clean swimming events in this iconic river.

[comstatsolution]

A Historical Overview of the Eagle Ford Basin

The historical significance of the Eagle Ford Basin extends beyond its resource potential. It has played a vital role in Texas's enduring legacy in the energy sector and contributes approximately 12% of the nation's daily oil production. From the pioneering well drilled by Petrohawk Energy to the ongoing operations of industry giants like EOG, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon, the Eagle Ford Basin has shaped the American energy landscape.

[cdt-toomi-vangrizzle]

The Great Basin

Directly after the high peaks of the Wind River Range, there is a lower elevation desert called the Basin. 3 miles into the Basin is a historical site called South Pass City. This was an old mining town that also hosted a local representative who helped to write the women’s suffrage amendment in Wyoming, making them the first state to allow women to vote. He had worked on the article with a woman in South Pass, Esther Hobart Morris, who later became the first female justice of the peace in the United States. It was interesting to walk through the old town and see the preserved buildings and photographs. There was also a noteworthy taxidermy of two bobcats fighting that was kept in the old saloon. After leaving South Pass City, we walked out into the barren landscape, and were delighted by the rising super moon on the horizon. In the Basin, we woke up before sunrise and hiked by moonlight until we got to see the sunrise. This allowed us to log long miles in the flat terrain. Other highlights of the Basin included the spring pipes for cow troughs from which we would collect water. Cold and clear, even in this desert! The cows were pretty cute too. Some of them were friendlier than others, and would approach the water trough while we were filling our bottles. We also saw wild ponies, pronghorns, and tiny horny toads. We were lucky to get strong wind while we were in the Basin, which kept us cool during the hot, sunny days with no trees around. At night, we would try to shelter from the wind by camping on the other side of the hill. We were able to sleep with just the bug netting of the tent, and not the rain fly, which allowed for beautiful views of the full moon. Our longest day was 34 miles. Midway through the Basin we stayed in an oil town and frequent highway stop called Rollins. The hotel rooms there were only $55 and quite clean, so we decided to take a “0“ there. That meant we took a full 24 hours off trail. We ate at the surprisingly good Thai restaurant in town, hit up the local watering hole, and watched the Harry Potter marathon on TV. Owen and I had the crazy idea to buy scooters from the local Walmart, because there was a 35 mile road walk alt to finish the Basin. So as an anniversary present to each other, we bought cheap scooters from Walmart. It was terrible trying to scooter uphill, so we would put our pack straps over the handlebar and push our packs up the hill. Then, when we got to a flat or downhill, we would put our packs back on and ride the scooters! One of the days that we were out on the road, we got caught in a very cold wind and rain storm. We were pushing our scooters uphill into the weather, and it was terrible! A man stopped to ask if we wanted a ride, and unfortunately we had to decline. But he did give us some clif bars. We also met a GDT biker named Jesse who was delighted by our scooter method. He was about 80 years old and spry as all hell! He took our picture, and told us that he is redefining brilliance as “taking advantage of the obvious”. On our scooters, we had leapfrogged with our friend No Chill, who was just walking. But, when we got to the trail again, we all walked together. It was amazing to be back in the woods and on a trail! While we were in that section, Owen and I had our celebratory anniversary dinner; we had packed out tortellinis, tomato paste, and a box of Merlot. It was special and fun. We walked out of the woods and got a ride down from the pass into the tiny town of Encampment. It took a long time to get a hitch, but eventually a guy pulled into the parking lot and obliged. He had a wood covered trailer hitched to his diesel truck, and we rode in the trailer cage. It was an interesting ride that smelled distinctly of diesel fumes.

There wasn’t a lot going on in Encampment. There was a tiny hiker box run out of ammo can attached to somebody’s fence. We also hit up an antique store, went to the visitor center, and went to a restaurant. That is where we got our cheapest non-fast food burger on trail. Everyone in Encampment was extremely nice! Three or four people offered to give us rides without us asking. We coordinated with one trail angel named Janice to give us a ride after we had resupplied. The options for buying groceries in Encampment were pretty dismal. We ended up buying all of our food for the next few days from a convenience store. We also rushed to the post office in order to forward some packages to the next town. Then Janice dropped us off back at the pass, and we were off!