#Secretary of State for Culture

[francishodgson]

If You Don't Know, You Won't Go: Aïda Muluneh in Bradford

If you visit the website set up to showcase Bradford as the 2025 City of Culture, the very first page that you come to – at least at the moment (February 2025) – celebrates the major photographic commission awarded to Aïda Muluneh and the resultant exhibition at Impressions Gallery.  Those websites are not sequenced by chance.  This means in effect that Muluneh can be considered the lead visual…

[democracyunderground]

"Native Americans across Indian Country shared mixed emotions this week after President Biden apologized for the U.S. government’s role in running Native American boarding schools across the country.

During the 150-year practice, at more than 400 schools where the U.S. partnered with various religious institutions, Indigenous children were separated from their families and stripped of their language and customs in an effort to assimilate into white culture. There were also documented cases of abuse and death.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and has been instrumental in bringing these issues to a wider audience through her Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, applauded Biden’s move.

“I'm so grateful to [Biden] for acknowledging this terrible era of our nation's past,” Haaland, whose grandparents were taken to boarding schools, posted on X.

ederal Indian boarding schools have impacted every Indigenous person I know. These were places where children - including my grandparents - were traumatized. I'm so grateful to @POTUS for acknowledging this terrible era of our nation's past.

“I would never have guessed in a million years that something like this would happen,” she told the Associated Press.

At the Gila Crossing Community School near Phoenix, Biden celebrated Haaland’s historic role and apologized today for America’s “sin.”

“It’s an honor, a genuine honor … to right a wrong, to chart a new path,” he said. “I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize. It’s long overdue.”

However, Indigenous leaders and citizens across the country stressed that this is only the first step.

“This is one of the most historic days in the history of Indian Country, and an apology of this size must be followed by real action,” Nick Tilsen, who belongs to the Oglala Lakota Nation and is president and CEO of the Indigenous rights organization NDN Collective, told Yahoo News.

Tilsen believes that there are specific, actionable steps that need to accompany any apology. For him, that means passing the U.S. Truth and Healing Commission bill in Congress, rescinding medals of honor for those who participated in the Battle of Wounded Knee, releasing “longest living Indigenous political prisoner in American history Leonard Peltier, who is also a boarding school survivor” and “unprecedented investment in Indigenous languages and education.”

Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chuck Hoskin celebrated the move, calling out Haaland’s role in particular, and echoed the sentiment of following any apology with action.

“The [Department of the Interior’s] recommendations, especially in the preservation of Native languages and the repatriation of ancestors and cultural items, can be a path toward true healing,” Hoskin said in a statement.

While many Indigenous leaders are calling for action, Tilsen stressed that this is also a time to hold boarding school survivors and their families close.

“At this moment in history, we have to remember many of the survivors of the boarding schools are still alive,” he said. “It's in every household and it's in every community. And it's directly tied to the struggles that our people have today.”

Dylan Rose Goodwill, who is Diné (Navajo), Hunkpapa Lakota and Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota, was visiting Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, Calif., on Thursday when she heard the news about Biden’s forthcoming apology. It’s a place that is part of her family history, as her grandmother (or másáni) was sent there when it served as a federally run Native boarding school.

She told Yahoo News that hearing the news there was “complicated.”

As the senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Southern California, Goodwill was visiting the school as a college recruiter.

“I've always had these kinds of mixed feelings because it's been weird to be the admission counselor for the schools that my own grandparents attended,” she said.

“It was already a tough morning to go and then to receive the news on site was really a mixture of feelings because I felt anger mostly, where it was like disbelief that this was happening, excitement that at least it was happening, but also feeling like this isn't enough,” Goodwill added.

Sitting where her grandmother sat in the 1930s and '40s, Goodwill asked herself, “What is that gonna really hold for her now? She passed in '04.”

Biden’s statement comes 16 years after former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s role in the Indigenous residential school system — a topic filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie document in their film Sugarcane, about St. Joseph’s Mission School near the Sugarcane reserve in British Columbia.

NoiseCat is a member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and a descendant of the Lil’wat Nation of Mount Currie and whose grandmother attended the Catholic Church-run residential school and gave birth to his father there. He told Yahoo News that this moment was important for a “continentwide conversation about what happened to Native families and Native children at Native American boarding schools and Indian residential schools.”

Joining Biden and Haaland for the event on the Gila River Indian Reservation along with Kassie, NoiseCat continued, “The fact that the president has chosen to formally apologize to survivors and their families is a real testament to the significance of this story, which needs to be understood as a foundational story to North America.”

However, Kassie echoed that actionable steps must follow sentiment.

“As momentous and important as this day is, it's important that it's followed up with action,” she told Yahoo. “It's important that the records of what happened at these institutions that are held by the U.S. government and the Catholic Church are opened to Indigenous communities who are looking for answers. And it's important that those communities also have the opportunity to hold to account those institutions and individuals who abused them.”

For Tilsen, it’s also a time to “center the survivors.”

“As we sort of politically dissect this moment,” he said, “I also want to recognize the pain that is being resurfaced, and that our people deserve the right to have pain and they deserve the right to have rage in this moment while we lean towards moving forward in action.”

NoiseCat, who has a deeply personal connection to the residential school history, said, “I'm probably going to call my dad today after the apology and just check in with him.”

[gansey-like]

Hey so this is super scary

Meta on Tuesday announced a set of changes to its content moderation practices that would effectively put an end to its longstanding fact-checking program, a policy instituted to curtail the spread of misinformation across its social media apps.

The reversal of the years-old policy is a stark sign of how the company is repositioning itself for the Trump era. Meta described the changes with the language of a mea culpa, saying that the company had strayed too far from its values over the prior decade.

“We want to undo the mission creep that has made our rules too restrictive and too prone to over-enforcement,” Joel Kaplan, Meta’s newly installed global policy chief, said in a statement.

Instead of using news organizations and other third-party groups, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, will rely on users to add notes or corrections to posts that may contain false or misleading information.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, said in a video that the new protocol, which will begin in the United States in the coming months, is similar to the one used by X, called Community Notes.

“It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. The company’s current fact-checking system, he added, had “reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.”

Mr. Zuckerberg conceded that there would be more “bad stuff” on the platform as a result of the decision. “The reality is that this is a trade-off,” he said. “It means that we’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally take down."

Elon Musk has relied on Community Notes to flag misleading posts on X. Since taking over the social network, Mr. Musk, a major Trump donor, has increasingly positioned X as the platform behind the new Trump presidency.

Meta’s move is likely to please the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump and its conservative allies, many of whom have disliked Meta’s practice of adding disclaimers or warnings to questionable or false posts. Mr. Trump has long railed against Mr. Zuckerberg, claiming the fact-checking feature treated posts by conservative users unfairly.

Since Mr. Trump won a second term in November, Meta has moved swiftly to try to repair the strained relationships he and his company have with conservatives.

Mr. Zuckerberg noted that “recent elections” felt like a “cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.”

In late November, Mr. Zuckerberg dined with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where he also met with his secretary of state pick, Marco Rubio. Meta donated $1 million to support Mr. Trump’s inauguration in December. Last week, Mr. Zuckerberg elevated Mr. Kaplan, a longtime conservative and the highest-ranking Meta executive closest to the Republican Party, to the company’s most senior policy role. And on Monday, Mr. Zuckerberg announced that Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, would join Meta’s board.

Meta executives recently gave a heads-up to Trump officials about the change in policy, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity. The fact-checking announcement coincided with an appearance by Mr. Kaplan on “Fox & Friends,” a favorite show of Mr. Trump. He told the hosts of the morning show popular with conservatives that there was “too much political bias” in the fact-checking program.

The change brings an end to a practice the company started eight years ago, in the weeks after Mr. Trump’s election in 2016. At the time, Facebook was under fire for the unchecked dissemination of misinformation spread across its network, including posts from foreign governments angling to sow discord among the American public.

As a result of enormous public pressure, Mr. Zuckerberg turned to outside organizations like The Associated Press, ABC News and the fact-checking site Snopes, along with other global organizations vetted by the International Fact-Checking Network, to comb over potentially false or misleading posts on Facebook and Instagram and rule whether they needed to be annotated or removed.

Among the changes, Mr. Zuckerberg said, will be to “remove restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are out of touch with mainstream discourse.” He also said that the trust and safety and content moderation teams would be moved from California, with the U.S. content review shifting to Texas. That would “help remove the concern than biased employees are overly censoring content,” he added.

[qqueenofhades]

Also going to post this as a resource for queer brethren/sistren/enbythren who feel as if they, justifiably, do not want to spend the next four years in a red state looking over their shoulders all the time.

TCP is based in Denver, Colorado, and is currently mostly focused on helping trans folks get out of places like Texas and Florida, but they describe themselves as a "queer relocation nonprofit" and will work with queer and GNC people of any stripe who are stuck in unfriendly environments and would like to consider coming to CO. They have seen a huge increase in aid requests since the election for sadly understandable reasons and there is a waitlist, but even if they may not be able to help you directly at this very moment, they can possibly connect you with other resources/organizations/etc.

I was born in CO, so I am biased, but it does have:

A Democratic supermajority in the legislature and a Democratic governor/secretary of state/Attorney General;

A majority-Democratic House delegation (except for uh, Lauren Boebert) and two Democratic senators;

Robust protections for LGBTQ+ folks;

Abortion rights codified in the constitution (it serves as a sanctuary state for care in the Rocky Mountain West);

Great scenery and outdoor activities; four seasons; a refreshing lack of summertime humidity; beautiful mountains; winter and summer sports (hiking, skiiing, etc); 300 days of sunshine a year, even in winter;

Fun cities and cultural institutions/sports teams/museums/etc;

DIA (Denver International Airport) is one of the busiest in the nation and the world and you can very easily get most places;

Easy and universal mail-in voting and expansion of voting access;

It is admittedly expensive (especially along the Front Range) but considerably less so than say, New York, Boston, Seattle, DC, Los Angeles, or other big blue cities;

Legal weed (if you are into that Rocky Mountain High);

And so forth!

Basically, you will be as safe as you can possibly be for the next four years in CO, so it's certainly worth checking out this site if you are a queer person in a red state and feel as if it may be time to make some exit plans. I will also answer questions so much as I can.

[drunkwhenimadethis]

“Perfectionism,” as I experience it, is the desire for a complete removal of any chance that I may behave, act, or speak in a way that attracts or evokes culpability, being disliked (feeling ostracized…, “unwanted,” “unloved,” “not good,” “irredeemably flawed,” “undeserving,” “bad,” “wrong,” “ugly.”) Perfectionism makes everything shallow and flat: sex, love, writing, cooking, art, conversation, interaction. Perfectionism creates an inward panic that nullifies intuition, kills spontaneity, robs us of our capacity to pay deep attention, and enters us into a state of life that is almost purely mental. Disassociated. We have this cultural archetype of the perfectionist as the early riser, the overachiever, the clean and elegant secretary who dots all of her I’s and crosses all of her T’s and does not leave the sky-high office until well after the boss does, who keeps her tube of toothpaste clean and her kitchen sparkling, who religiously makes use of her daily agenda, classic type A, Virgoan, immaculate (externally).

She notices things. She has a good grip. 

The other side of perfectionism, the side that we often cannot even comprehend as the result of a perfection-urge, is the frozen individual, chronically under accomplished, distracted, forgetful: the emotional perfectionist. The person plagued by the sensation that they cannot possibly begin to really live until all is safe and sound inside. The person who is waiting for the confirmation of their goodness or proof of their wrongness before they touch anything, before they commit to anything. They believe that they must understand who they are before living life without realizing that “Self” is something that becomes clear through the act of living. With all of that panic inside, what can be clear? What can be instinctive except for error?

You Are the Dream You Have Not Finished Dreaming

[moniquill]

Call to action! The Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe is lasking everyone to please contact House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J Ruggiero to ask for their support for House Bill H7477. We’re asking that you send a letter to rep-shekarchi@rilegislature.gov, sen-ruggerio@rilegislature.gov - YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE LOCAL FOR THIS PART!

If you live in RI, include the rep of the district that you live in (check here https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/ to find who your rep is and here http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Email/RepEmailListDistrict.asp for their contact information)

Below is the letter that I’ve sent, to use as a template, though of course your own words would be best. 

My name is Monique Poirier - I’m the Secretary of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe. I’m writing today in hopes of bringing your attention to RI House Bill H7477 (https://legiscan.com/RI/bill/H7477/2024), which regards recognition of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe.

Historically, the Seaconke Wampanoag resided in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket, and East Providence. When the state lines were drawn, dividing Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the tribe was divided. Due to patterns of migration, a majority of the tribe now resides in Rhode Island. Recognizing the tribe in Rhode Island would allow all members of our tribe to be recognized in the state that they live in. I myself co-own a home, pay taxes, and vote in Pawtucket. 

We are only asking for recognition; we are not asking for money or land, and we have no interest in establishing a gaming facility - only for the state to acknowledge that we are still here.

Recognizing the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe in the state of Rhode Island would give us access to federal funding, which would benefit Rhode Island as well - it would bring money into the state.

This bill would recognize the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe as a Native American Indian Tribe for the limited purpose of establishing eligibility for federal education, job training, healthcare, and housing benefits - and the federal protection of the sale of Native Artwork by the members of our tribe. Our goal is to more effectively pursue support for tribal healthcare and education initiatives, to protect our cultural sites, and to practice our culture and arts. We sincerely hope to gain your support in our efforts.

If you’d like to run a small story on any platform concerning the efforts of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe, please contact: 

Chief Darrel Waldron - 401-781-1098, dwaldron@rhodeislandindiancouncil.org

First Councilman John Falcon Harris - 401-699-1913, jharris021452@gmail.com

To learn more about our tribe and its history, please visit https://www.seaconkewampanoag.org/

Many thanks for your consideration,

Monique Poirier

[reasonsforhope]

Interior Department Announces New Guidance to Honor and Elevate Hawaiian Language

"In commemoration of Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian Language Month, and in recognition of its unique relationship with the Native Hawaiian Community, the Department of the Interior today announced new guidance on the use of the Hawaiian language.  

A comprehensive new Departmental Manual chapter underscores the Department’s commitment to further integrating Indigenous Knowledge and cultural practices into conservation stewardship.  

“Prioritizing the preservation of the Hawaiian language and culture and elevating Indigenous Knowledge is central to the Biden-Harris administration's work to meet the unique needs of the Native Hawaiian Community,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “As we deploy historic resources to Hawaiʻi from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is committed to ensuring our internal policies and communications use accurate language and data."  

Department bureaus and offices that engage in communication with the Native Hawaiian Community or produce documentation addressing places, resources, actions or interests in Hawaiʻi will use the new guidance on ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) for various identifications and references, including flora and fauna, cultural sites, geographic place names, and government units within the state.  The guidance recognizes the evolving nature of ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi and acknowledges the absence of a single authoritative source. While the Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui & Elbert 2003) is designated as the baseline standard for non-geographic words and place names, Department bureaus and offices are encouraged to consult other standard works, as well as the Board on Geographic Names database.  

Developed collaboratively and informed by ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi practitioners, instructors and advocates, the new guidance emerged from virtual consultation sessions and public comment in 2023 with the Native Hawaiian Community. 

The new guidance aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to strengthening relationships with the Native Hawaiian Community through efforts such as the Kapapahuliau Climate Resilience Program and Hawaiian Forest Bird Keystone Initiative. During her trip to Hawaiʻi in June, Secretary Haaland emphasized recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge, promoting co-stewardship, protecting sacred sites, and recommitting to meaningful and robust consultation with the Native Hawaiian Community."

-via US Department of the Interior press release, February 1, 2024

--

Note: I'm an editor so I have no idea whether this comes off like as big a deal as it potentially is. But it is potentially going to establish and massively accelerate the adoption of correctly written Native Hawaiian language, as determined by Native Hawaiians.

Basically US government communications, documentations, and "style guides" (sets of rules to follow about how to write/format/publish something, etc.) can be incredibly influential, especially for topics where there isn't much other official guidance. This rule means that all government documents that mention Hawai'i, places in Hawai'i, Hawaiian plants and animals, etc. will have to be written the way Native Hawaiians say it should be written, and the correct way of writing Hawaiian conveys a lot more information about how the words are pronounced, too, which could spread correct pronunciations more widely.

It also means that, as far as the US government is concerned, this is The Correct Way to Write the Hawaiian Language. Which, as an editor who just read the guidance document, is super important. That's because you need the 'okina (' in words) and kahakō in order to tell apart sizeable sets of different words, because Hawaiian uses so many fewer consonants, they need more of other types of different sounds.

And the US government official policy on how to write Hawaiian is exactly what editors, publishers, newspapers, and magazines are going to look at, sooner or later, because it's what style guides are looking at. Style guides are the official various sets of rules that books/publications follow; they're also incredibly detailed - the one used for almost all book publishing, for example, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS), is over a thousand pages long.

One of the things that CMoS does is tell you the basic rules of and what specialist further sources they think you should use for writing different languages. They have a whole chapter dedicated to this. It's not that impressive on non-European languages yet, but we're due for a new edition (the 18th) of CMoS in the next oh two to four years, probably? Actually numbering wise they'd be due for one this year, except presumably they would've announced it by now if that was the case.

I'm expecting one of the biggest revisions to the 18th edition to add much more comprehensive guidance on non-Western languages. Considering how far we've come since 2017, when the last one was released, I'll be judging the shit out of them if they do otherwise. (And CMoS actually keep with the times decently enough.)

Which means, as long as there's at least a year or two for these new rules/spellings/orthographies to establish themselves before the next edition comes out, it's likely that just about every (legit) publisher will start using the new rules/spellings/orthographies.

And of course, it would expand much further from there.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Michael Rubin

Hamas paraded three Israeli hostages before cameras prior to turning them over to the Red Cross on Feb. 8. The three were emaciated like concentration camp survivors. They may have been the lucky ones. Hamas meanwhile delays the release of a dual Russian-Israeli citizen due to his health. The hostages did not learn about the deaths of their loved ones on Oct. 7, 2023, until their release. Nor was the starvation of prisoners the only Holocaust parallel. Just as the Nazis did, Hamas executed special needs children and babies it had seized during its invasion of Israel.

Biden’s team recognized but would not lift a finger to rectify the ICRC’s Jewish exception, even though several of those hostages were Americans.

A core function of the International Committee of the Red Cross is to visit and monitor prisoners. Historically, the ICRC would visit Israeli prisons. After it neglected to visit Jewish hostages in Gaza, Israel suspended its access. That the Red Cross made a greater issue about such suspensions while Hamas tortured, abused, starved, and, in some cases, executed Jewish civilians in its custody suggests that the Red Cross considers the welfare of Jews to be an exception to its mission.

Less than two weeks after Hamas seized more than 200 men, women, and children, President Joe Biden said, “I asked Israel that the global community demand that the International Red Cross be able to visit hostages. I just demanded that the United States fully — a just demand that the United States fully supports.”

Yet, when Israel made the demand and Hamas rejected it, the White House continued channeling hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to ICRC. The message was clear: Biden’s team recognized but would not lift a finger to rectify the ICRC’s Jewish exception, even though several of those hostages were Americans.

Had Biden withheld funding to the ICRC until the group visited all hostages, Mirjana Spoljaric, a Swiss diplomat who heads the group, may not have been so willing to throw Jews under the bus for the sake of the group’s good relations with Hamas. Instead, the group continues to allow Hamas to subject Jewish women to harassment and abuse upon their release. Moral clarity and backbones matter.

Alas, the ICRC’s willingness to sacrifice its mission upon its antipathy toward Jews is not a one-time occurrence. It took the ICRC headquarters more than 75 years to recognize Israel’s Magen David Adom’s chapter because of objections over its Jewish star. It had no trouble recognizing the Islamic Red Crescent, however.

Nor is the ICRC alone. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency effectively became an enabler of Hamas terrorism, if not a Hamas arm. Its employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Its hospitals doubled as Hamas command posts. And released hostages said they were kept at times in UNRWA facilities. Yet, its commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini, an ICRC leadership alum, deflects criticism and accountability. Instead, he seemingly embraces the ICRC’s Jewish exception.

ICRC rot runs deeper. Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, cited ICRC’s Israel denunciations to justify her own advocacy for Hamas.

Antisemitism remains the world’s oldest hatred, and Jews are the canary in the coal mine. Antisemitism’s victims are not just Jewish, however. The institutional antisemitism and embrace of a Jewish exception in international organizations such as the ICRC and the U.N. erode their moral standing.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen was right when, in 2023, he said the Red Cross had “no right to exist” if it did not visit the hostages in Gaza. His only error was he did not go far enough. The moral bankruptcy not only of the ICRC but also of organizations ranging from UNRWA to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund raises questions about whether it is time to cull them.

[mariacallous]

When U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, on Feb. 7, that he’d appointed “an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” to the Kennedy Center, people responded with bafflement and jokes. When the president-cum-Kennedy Center chairman then appointed his loyalist follower Richard Grenell interim executive director and installed a MAGA-inspired board, the bafflement and gallows humor reached new highs.

But Trump’s takeover of a cultural institution should not just be a source of amusement, especially since the president has also promised to change the center’s programming. The moves put him in the company—historic and current—of tyrants, not auteurs.

Classical music is rarely front-page news, and the move took the Kennedy Center by complete surprise. The cultural center in Foggy Bottom, after all, hosts a leading symphony orchestra and a major opera company and is hardly a center of political fights.

The idea that Trump might be interested in its chairmanship had been on no one’s radar. In fact, so unexpected was the news that music aficionados on social media began asking which symphonies and operas the new chairman—noted for his love of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats—might decide should be performed there, and whether he might decide to conduct them himself.

The jokes swiftly faded when, a few days later, Trump appointed Grenell the Kennedy Center’s interim executive director. The jokes fell completely silent when, on Feb. 12, the Kennedy Center announced its new trustees, installed to replace trustees fired by Trump. Those now installed on the board of trustees include Vice President J.D. Vance’s wife, Usha; Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles; his deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino; White House Presidential Personnel Director Sergio Gor; and Allison Lutnick, the wife of Trump’s secretary of commerce nominee, Howard Lutnick.

To be sure, the Kennedy Center’s board has always included a bipartisan political element; Democrats and Republicans have traditionally nominated half the board each. But this is different. Now every board member belongs to the Trump camp. The reconstituted board. “President Donald J. Trump was just unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The President stated, ‘It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!’” he posted on Feb. 12.

This is a president who despises (or perhaps doesn’t know) high culture taking over a famed cultural center. And it’s not a silly game. In announcing his own appointment as chairman, Trump vowed the programming was going to change. He had heard about drag shows at the center. As a regular visitor there, I recall only countless opera performances and symphony concerts, as well as a lot of jazz and folk in the foyer, though the center has hosted the occasional drag event. Either way, Trump announced that “THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

I’d hate to be alarmist, but the president of the United States is invoking the language of a certain German regime that, in the 1930s, banned what it labeled “Entartete Kunst,” degenerate art. The Nazis wanted German culture organized neatly under the government’s control. Soon after taking power, this regime made its preferences known to Germany’s myriad publicly funded theaters, opera houses, and concert halls. It also created the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture), under which culture in Germany would operate; Joseph Goebbels was appointed the chamber’s president.

Soon German culture—for so long the envy of the world—became more and more constrained as practitioners and artistic products, especially books, were banned, while other practitioners, from conductors to painters, engaged in self-censorship or left the country. That’s how Thomas Mann ended up in Pacific Palisades. In his novel Mephisto, Klaus Mann—Thomas’s son—masterfully portrays the careerists who thrive in autocracies, while talent withers.

And the urge to control culture didn’t die with Goebbels and his ilk. Wanting to control culture is, in fact, the hallmark of authoritarian regimes. The Cold War was characterized by Eastern Bloc regimes’ attempts to govern all culture and, in the process, ensure that undesirable expressions of it were weeded out. Every novel Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote was at immediate risk of being banned, and the Russian author constantly faced the risk of imprisonment. In Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel was kept under constant surveillance and denied jobs worthy of his talent. The artists the regimes deemed acceptable, by contrast, were well-looked-after by the respective countries’ cultural organizations. Untold numbers of artists less known than Solzhenitsyn and Havel suffered the same fate.

Today, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues this tradition. Until recently, countries around the world sought to emulate Venezuela’s El Sistema, a government-funded program that teaches scores of children to play instruments at a level previously thought unachievable. Not only have hundreds of Venezuelan children grown up to play in El Sistema’s many symphony orchestras, including the world-class National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra; many of the musicians have also been appointed to the world’s very best orchestras. The double-bass player Edicson Ruiz was hired by the Berlin Philharmonic, considered the world’s best symphony orchestra, while still in his teens. Listen to him here.

But Maduro couldn’t resist the urge to control the program. Now El Sistema is fraying, the inevitable result of political encroachment that has seen Maduro install his vice president and his son on El Sistema’s board and try to use El Sistema for propaganda purposes abroad. In 2017, after El Sistema’s most celebrated graduate, the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, wrote an op-ed voicing criticism against the regime’s brutal crackdown of pro-democracy protesters, Maduro canceled a planned U.S. tour by Dudamel and the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela. Many El Sistema musicians in their late teens or early 20s have now found conservatory places or jobs abroad or are trying to do so.

On the other side of the spectrum are the political leaders who are passionate about the arts but would never dream of politicizing them, precisely because they understand that the arts will languish if put under political control. Helmut Schmidt, West Germany’s chancellor in the late ’70s and early ’80s, was a concert-level pianist. (Hear him play Mozart here.) If he’d decided he wanted to become chairman of the Berlin Philharmonic, it would have made a lot of sense. But he didn’t, because he knew that arts thrive only when separated from politics.

Trump has never considered himself an arts lover; indeed, he recently told a reporter on board Air Force One that he’s never attended a performance at the Kennedy Center. Even so, for the purported sake of protecting the arts, he’s putting himself in the company of Maduro, the Soviets, the Czechoslovak rulers, and Goebbels.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

The Alaska Senate unanimously joined the state House Friday in urging President Donald Trump to reverse his decision to rename North America’s tallest peak as Mount McKinley.

Trump issued the order renaming Denali after President William McKinley on his first day back in office, saying he was a “natural businessman” who “made our country very rich through tariffs.”

The decision created an uproar around the state. A public opinion poll found Alaskans opposed the change by a two-to-one margin. Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, said Denali is a name with deep roots in Alaska’s history and culture.

"Alaskans and travelers from around the world have known it to be Denali. The Athabascan people have lived in the Interior for thousands of years, and for thousands of years have embraced Denali as its proper name," he said.

The state of Alaska has called the peak Denali for decades, a word that comes from a Koyukon Athabascan word with a meaning akin to "high" or "tall." The state renamed the peak as Denali on state maps and databases in 1975 and formally requested that the federal government do the same. The congressional delegation from McKinley’s home state of Ohio successfully blocked the change until 2015, when the Obama administration formally renamed it Denali.

Some state House minority Republicans opposed the resolution last month and looked to amend it to include a message thanking the Trump administration for another order seeking to expand resource development in Alaska. But there was no such opposition in the Senate.

"I think in the spirit of it, I want to honor what the people of Alaska want in this case," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Shower, R-Wasilla. "To those in D.C. that seem to be looking to change certain things — that's fine, but let's pick something that would be a reasonable thing that would not upset the people of Alaska."

The resolution passed by a combined vote of 50 to 8. It’ll be sent to Trump, Alaska’s congressional delegation, the Interior Secretary and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

[whenthewallfell]

Some of the supporting cast of the thg/rdr mashup! I was gonna wait until the proper portraits were done but got too impatient haha

(deets below the cut)

Haymitch Abernathy

Not much is known about who he was before coming to New Hanover - his youth, his family, and his name are all things he refuses to talk about. What is known is that he spent some time as a migrant worker, travelling the states until he eventually came into the employ of government official Coriolanus Snow as a gun-for-hire. Snow later granted him a homestead in Cumberland Forest, in what would become a precursor to the General Allotment Act.

Despite the close proximity and occasional trades with the Wapiti tribe, Haymitch rebuffs all offers of community, preferring to spend his days in solitude. Recently, however, Katniss has strongarmed her way into his life, using his house as a base of operations whether he wants her to or not.

Johanna Yau

Yau Qiuyue was born and raised in West Elizabeth to a railroad worker and his wife, until the Chinatown they lived in was burned down by locals. Qiuyue was one of the few survivors, taken to be sold to a brothel; the men were found dead a few days later with a hatchet buried so deep in one man's skull they couldn't pull it out. She reappeared travelling under the name Johanna Yau with a bounty hunter, Haymitch Abernathy, who took her under his wing and taught her how to handle firearms.

These days she's something of a local legend - a vigilante who wipes out gangs and deals brutal justice to those who target immigrant workers. Known as The Dragoness of West Elizabeth, she is sometimes accompanied by the woman journalist Cressida Mason, who chronicles (and embellishes) her deeds. They make for an odd couple, preferring each other's company to that of any hopeful suitors.

Euphemia Trinket

A somewhat naïve secretary of Snow's who was tasked with monitoring his investment in the new allotment project, Euphemia is required to make fortnightly checkups and send reports on Haymitch's progress with the homestead. The position, while offering more freedom and independence than she might find otherwise, is not without its downsides - the fashion and culture of New Hanover is severely lacking in her eyes, and she misses the hustle and bustle of Blackwater.

Originally, Effie believed that what they were doing was essential to the betterment of their native neighbours and their introduction into Civilised Society, but she is beginning to have doubts after seeing the true extent of Haymitch's depression and the living conditions on the nearby reservation.

Primrose

Sister and polar opposite to Katniss, Primrose is a sweet girl with a sunny disposition, growing into a fine healer under the tutelage of her mother. She's also an accomplished sewist who is fascinated by 'modern' fashion, and enjoys blending outside and Wapiti influences into her own clothing whenever she can. She sometimes offers to work on Effie's as well in exchange for fashion plates and fabrics from the city.

Despite her gentle manner, however, Prim is deeply stubborn and fiercely devoted to her tribe and family. She thinks Katniss' idea of shipping her off to some random faraway city is the stupidest thing she's ever heard, and isn't afraid to fight her sister every step of the way.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this press release from the Department of the Interior:

Following an extensive public process, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today finalized the decision to retain protections for 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska, which many Alaska Native Tribes, Native Corporations and Tribal entities have noted are vital to protecting important natural, cultural and subsistence resources. Today’s action comes in response to the previous Administration’s unlawful decision in its final days to end the longstanding protections (known as withdrawals) without sufficient analysis of the potential impacts of such a decision on subsistence and other important resources, appropriate Tribal consultation, and without compliance with other legal requirements. This sweeping action would have opened millions of acres of public lands to extractive development activities, such as mining and oil and gas drilling, and removed the federal subsistence priority from millions of acres.

The previous Administration’s decision was put on hold to ensure full consideration of the potential impacts and allow for engagement with the public and Alaska Native communities. The robust public process gathered input from Alaska Native Tribes and Native Corporations, rural and urban communities, and the public, including 19 community meetings. During the public comment period, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) heard overwhelming support for retaining the withdrawals. In total, the BLM received approximately 15,000 public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

“Tribal consultation must be treated as a requirement – not an option – when the federal government is making decisions that could irrevocably affect Tribal communities. I am grateful to the team at the Bureau of Land Management for taking the time to ensure that we approached this decision with the benefit of feedback from Alaska Native communities, and to the Tribal leaders who shared with us the impact that a potential revocation of the withdrawals would have on their people,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Continuing these essential protections, which have been in place for decades, will ensure continued access and use of these public lands now and in the future.”

Today’s announcement builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s actions to conserve millions of acres of lands and waters in Alaska, including implementing maximum protections for more than 13 million acres of Special Areas in the western Arctic, protecting approximately 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea to place the entire United States Arctic Ocean off limits to new oil and gas leasing, and preventing irrevocable harms to Tribal subsistence uses and permafrost at the base of the iconic Brooks Range by rejecting the Ambler Road proposal.

These withdrawals, established pursuant to Section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), stretch across BLM’s Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula and Ring of Fire planning areas.

Today’s decision does not impact acres already available for selection by eligible individuals under the Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment Program. Secretary Haaland has made these lands available to the approximately 1,900 Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans eligible to select their 160-acre land entitlement under the Dingell Act.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - June 6, 2023

1. Biden orders 20-year ban on oil, gas drilling around tribal site in New Mexico

Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.

The new order from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland applies to public lands and associated mineral rights within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of the park. It does not apply to entities that are privately, state- or tribal-owned. Existing leases won’t be impacted either.

2. Groundbreaking Israeli cancer treatment has 90% success rate

An experimental treatment developed at Israel's Hadassah-University Medical Center has a 90% success rate at bringing patients with multiple myeloma into remission.

The treatment is based on genetic engineering technology. They have used a genetic engineering technology called CAR-T, or Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy, which boosts the patient’s own immune system to destroy the cancer. More than 90% of the 74 patients treated at Hadassah went into complete remission, the oncologists said.

3. Federal Judge Makes History in Holding That Border Searches of Cell Phones Require a Warrant

With United States v. Smith, a district court judge in New York made history by being the first court to rule that a warrant is required for a cell phone search at the border, “absent exigent circumstances”. For a century, the Supreme Court has recognized a border search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.

4. Indigenous-led bison repopulation projects are helping the animal thrive again in Alberta

Indigenous-led efforts are reintroducing bison to their ancestral lands in Alberta, bringing back an iconic species that was nearly extinct. These reintroduction projects, such as the one led by the Tsuut'ina Nation, have witnessed the positive impact on the bison population and the surrounding wildlife.

The historical decline of bison numbers was due to overhunting and government policies that forced Indigenous peoples onto reserves. These initiatives aim to restore ecological integrity while fostering spiritual and cultural connections with the land and animals. Successful results have been observed in projects like Banff National Park, where the bison population has grown from 16 to nearly 100, providing inspiration for future wilding efforts.

5. Breakthrough in disease affecting one in nine women

Sydney researchers have made a world-first leap forward that could change the treatment of endometriosis and improve the health of women living with the painful and debilitating disease. Researchers from Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women have grown tissue from every known type of endometriosis, observing changes and comparing how they respond to treatments.

It means researchers will be able to vary treatments from different types of endometriosis, determining whether a woman will need fertility treatments.

6. Latvia just elected the first openly gay head of state in Europe

The country’s parliament elected Edgars Rinkēvičs to be its next president, Reuters reported prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš saying.

Rinkēvičs publicly came out as gay in November 2014, posting on Twitter: “I proudly announce I am gay… Good luck all of you.” In a second tweet at the time, he spoke about improving the legal status of same-sex relationships, saying Latvia needed to create a legal framework for all kinds of partnerships.

7. France bans short haul flights

The introduction of France’s short-haul flight ban has renewed calls for Europe to cut down on journeys that could be made by train. Last week France officially introduced its ban on short-haul flights.

The final version of the law means that journeys which can be taken in under 2.5 hours by train can’t be taken by plane. There also needs to be enough trains throughout the day that travellers can spend at least eight hours at their destination.

----

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[midnightfantasiez]

KINKTOBER 2023

SUMMARY: the month of October, it was the time of the year to let your imaginations run wild. buckle up to let your wildest fantasies come true with 11 different scenarios starring our beloved The Boyz.

PAIRING: the boyz x afab!reader (assorted pairings)

GENRE: smut (18+ MDNI!!)

WARNINGS: will be stated in each individual fics!

WORD COUNT: 12,521 (approx. 900 - 1k+ per member)

A/N: better late than never i guess 🥴 this is my first time doing a kinktober, so please bear with me >< i've decided to do things a bit differently and compile all members into one post instead! a big shoutout to @juyeonszn @itsbeeble for beta reading this whole chunk of fics for me, i love you guys sm my beloved pookies 🥺❤️

Lee Sangyeon

PAIRING: ceo!Sangyeon x afab!reader

WARNINGS: generation z Sangyeon (yes that is a warning), posessive Sangyeon, mentions of drugs, dry humping, p in v sex, pet names (sweetie)

WORD COUNT: 1,244

A/N: inspired from Mystic Messenger Jumin's Bad Ending #2 👀 if you know/play the game, you're cultured.

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You were suddenly summoned to the CEO’s office while you were doing your work in your cubicle. 

It wasn’t unusual, to say the least when you were the manager of your department and you were bound to give the chairman your usual weekly reports of how everyone has been coping with their work. 

The only problem was that the reports were handed in yesterday, so the chairman requesting your presence a second time would be very abnormal. So many thoughts were going through your head. Have you screwed up something badly from the reports you have submitted? Did one of your employees do something that required the chairman to address it personally with you? 

Those were the only negative thoughts that filled your mind as you entered the elevator and slowly rode it to the highest floor, where the CEO’s office was. As you walked towards the front door, you were greeted by his secretary, who was waiting for your arrival, with a red ribbon. Without giving you many details, your hands were immediately tied with the ribbon itself, and the secretary knocked on the door to signal the chairman that you were ready to enter. 

Before you could even ask what was happening, you were pushed into the room right away as soon as it opened, and then the doors were shut, leaving you alone with the chairman in his office. 

To your dismay, you quickly scanned through the entire office to see that the blinds were pulled down, only letting in a bit of light into the room. So it was reasonably dark around, but you could indeed make out a figure sitting down on his chair, hands clasped together as if he had waited long enough for your arrival. 

“Umm... Mr Lee?” You squeaked, lowkey feeling terrified by the entire situation you were in.

“Hello, miss Y/N. Why don’t you come closer to me?” He commanded.

Slowly, you started taking a few steps at a time before you eventually stood right in front of your boss. As you adjusted your sight, you finally made out Mr Lee’s appearance in front of you. 

His brunette hair was parted to the sides, his tie was slightly loosened, and his sleeves were rolled up. His legs were spread further apart than how one would usually do when they are sitting down, and he pats his thigh, indicating for you to come to him. 

But you had to blink to ensure your mind wasn’t playing tricks on you. 

“Sit on me, Y/N.”

What in God’s name is going on?

“W-what? Umm.. with all due respect Mr Lee—”

“I said sit.” He commanded, his tone going down an octave lower. That eventually sent shivers up your spine before you eventually mustered up the courage to slowly crawl up to him and sit down gently on his thigh, internally going through a mental breakdown in your mind.  

His hands were now on both sides of your hips, gripping you to ensure that you weren’t going to fall off from him since your hands were bound behind you, and you had no way of balancing yourself. 

“Now, I apologise for my behaviour a second ago. I’m sure you were terrified, weren’t you?” He asked nicely, which made you feel a lot worse than you already did. 

So many questions were running through your mind, trying to make sense of what exactly was going on or if this whole situation was actually a hallucination. Just as you were about to make sense of your situation, you were brought back to reality as he gently rested his fingers under your chin, lifting your face so that you were looking directly at him now. 

“Say, why don’t you become my assistant? I have noticed how well you excel at your job and how much you have actually contributed to my company.” 

Slowly, he leaned forward and started to place kisses all around your neck before finding the perfect sweet spot for him to suck. 

You gulped, you were starting to wonder if Mr Lee was actually high on drugs or something. Why would a CEO of one of the top companies in Seoul actually do this to one of their employees? Or rather, is he the type of guy who usually does this to his other employees, and you were just not aware of it?

But Mr Lee knew what was going on in your mind, and he immediately answered your question for you. 

“Just so you know, I don’t do this to anyone at all. Consider yourself lucky that I have gotten my eyes on you and have genuinely been interested in you for quite a while now.” His hands that were on your chin now travel down to your clothing as he begins unbuttoning them one by one, removing your top entirely and tossing it to the ground. His hands began moving up and down on your cleavage before he moved his lips towards and kissed the spot, his hands now squeezing your breast. 

“O-oh.. oh god…” Those words completely slipped out of your mouth unwillingly, and you thought you were screwed before you saw how it actually turned your boss on even more. 

“I bet you would sound so pretty moaning my actual name, miss Y/N.” Mr Lee then quickly unzipped his pants as he pulled his cock out, instructing you to rub your wet core directly onto his member. Well, you basically didn’t have a choice, for he was now grabbing both sides of your waist and doing the deed for you.

You were actually going insane, his hard dick now directly under your underwear, and you were already dripping wet upon the contact. As if by instinct, you were actually trying to pick up your pace too, and Mr Lee smirked at that as he knew that you were needy as well.

“That’s it, Y/N. Keep it going.” He cooed into your ear as he moved his hands towards your back and unclasped your bra, tossing it to the ground as he sucked on your hard nipples. 

When he felt how wet you were getting, he knew that he was not going to let your precum go to waste, and he quickly yanked your underwear down and positioned you well before inserting his cock into you. 

A loud gasp resonated throughout his whole office, but that was basically just music to his ears as he gave you a giant smirk you hadn't seen just yet. 

You were starting to moan out his name before he eventually corrected you to call out his real name instead. 

“Sangyeon… sangyeon… keep it coming… aaahhh—” 

“Cum for me, sweetie. Gush all of your juices all over me.” 

With a few more pounces, you eventually came to and released your cum all over his thigh before leaning in to rest your head on his shoulders. 

“You were so good for me, look at how much you came.” He whispered before pushing you back up and guiding you to lean against his work desk. 

He was now loosening his tie completely, and he positioned himself in between your thighs, prepping for another round as he guided his tip to your entrance once more.  

“Since you moaned my name so sweetly, I will take it as a yes that you agree to be my personal assistant from now on. Oh, we are going to have so much fun together.”

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Jacob Bae

PAIRING: bf!Jacob x afab!reader

WARNINGS: mentions about reader losing their virginity, oral, fingering, nipple play, handjob, blowjob, p in v sex, dom!reader & sub!Jacob 👀

WORD COUNT: 1,001

A/N: shoutout to @daisyvisions for giving me ideas for this one!!

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You have been with your boyfriend Jacob for the past year since you met each other in the music club on campus. Since you both were the introvert types, it took a while for you both to start talking to one another, and you needed your mutual friends to step in to help break the ice between you both.

But you were beyond grateful for them because you have scored. You have never dated before and your first and current boyfriend happens to be one of the sweetest human beings to ever exist on earth. 

Things start pretty well between you two, it was all lovey-dovey fun dates until one night when you both got a little bit too tipsy at a frat party hosted by one of the seniors.  You both eventually found yourselves making out in the bathroom, where you lost your virginity to him. 

Jacob was horrified to find out what he did the next day, and he couldn’t help but constantly apologise to you over and over, regretting taking your virginity, especially under the influence of alcohol. You found it to be cute, actually, and you reassured him that everything was alright and you were glad that he was your first. 

Ever since then, you both have been starting to open up more about your sex lives and would constantly give each other the much-needed sensual time together at least once a week, probably three times at max. 

However, there was one thing. It was always Jacob who would be pleasuring you, giving you whatever you wanted. There was no room for a “let me take over now” for you since he has always promised that you feeling good was his number one priority. 

But today would be the day that you would turn the tables around. 

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“J-jacob…” You moaned.

“Yes, baby?” Jacob questioned as he continued planting kisses directly onto your wet clit, two of his fingers inserted into you. 

“C-can I… Take control for the night?” 

That made Jacob stop whatever he was doing as he lifted his head to look directly at you. 

“You what?” He looked puzzled, surely he must’ve heard it wrong. 

“Jacob. You have always been putting me first at all times. It’s about time I return the favour, don’t you think?” You lifted yourself from the bed as you crawled towards your boyfriend, slowly snaking your hands up from his abdomen to his chest, earning a shiver from him. 

It was that moment you saw the look in his eyes, how he shivered just from a simple touch alone from you, when you gently pushed him back so that he was the one lying down now. 

Immediately, you leaned forward to connect your lips to him before moving them down to circle his nipple while pinching the other side. 

This was all so new to him, for he had never been pleasured this way before. And it was a different perspective for him, looking at how dangerously sexy you could be when you’re the one taking complete control over him now. 

Jacob closes his eyes as he groans, slightly leaning his head back into the bed as you continue to explore his well-built body. He was a volleyball player, after all, so he was bound to have muscles and a toned body for you to ogle and leave kisses all over. 

You slowly moved down towards his now hard erected cock, where you gently took it into your hands and started licking and sucking the tip.

“F-fuck… Y/N…”

“Does it—feels good—Cobie?” You questioned in between. 

“Y-yes… it feels so good…” 

“Tell me what you want, Cobie.” 

“Pl-please… make me feel good…”

“And why is that?” You were rubbing his cock with your hands as you continued sucking his tip. 

“Be-because… aaahh… nobody makes me feel this good except for you.” He was far from being sane, and you knew you now had him wrapped around your fingers. 

“That’s all I needed to hear, baby.” With that, you immediately took his entire length into your mouth, sucking up and down, and deep enough that his tip actually hit the back of your throat. 

Oh god. Your mouth. Your pretty mouth. This was what he had been missing out on all this time. 

Jacob was now constantly moaning out your name, which sounded so sweet to your ears. It didn’t take him long to give you a warning on how he was about to cum, which made you sped up the process even more. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Aahh!!” 

All at once, your boyfriend releases all of his liquid into your mouth and you are drinking it all up like there is no tomorrow. Wiping away the excess that was dripping from the sides of your mouth, you  position yourself so that his cock was directly on your wet clit. 

“I want to fuck you so badly now, Cobie.” 

Taking his member and pushing it into you, both of you let out a deep groan before you eventually start bouncing right on top of him. Your adrenaline was pumping,you were feeling so good and wanted to pleasure him more. It was the look on your boyfriend’s face, it was as if tears were about to drip from the corners of his eyes. That was when you knew that you were on the right track. 

“I’m-I’m not gonna last, Y/N…” He whimpered.

“Cum in me then. I need you to fill me up.” 

As you both were about to reach your high, you immediately grabbed both of Jacob’s hands and placed them directly onto your bare breasts, guiding his hands to squeeze them as you both gave your last push. 

When you both came together, the oozing liquid poured all over his thighs, you gently leaned forward to give him a few pecks on his cheeks and lips while playing with his soft fluffy hair. 

“My boyfriend’s been a good boy today, and I think he deserves one more round.”

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Kim Younghoon

PAIRING: bf!Younghoon x afab!reader

WARNINGS: p in v sex, sex tape (reader records it with Younghoon's phone), fondling with breasts, tits sucking, nipple play, thigh riding, pet names (baby, rascal)

WORD COUNT: 909

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The sounds of skin slapping filled the room as you and your boyfriend were having a rather passionate make-out session with one another. 

Younghoon arrived at your doorstep looking rather half-dead, especially with the workload that he has been dealing with ever since he and his older brother had to step up to take over his father’s company. 

As his girlfriend, you have been trying your utter best to cheer him up and give him the motivation that he needed—baking him his favourite pastries, even having a cosy night in your apartment and marathon all the animes he has been missing out on. 

But tonight was different, and all he wanted was to have sex with you.

Which wasn’t unusual, to say the least, both of your sex life has been relatively healthy and you would do it once or twice a week. But it was the way he said it out so bluntly and was so needy for the night, it was as if something had triggered him to act this way.

You basically had no room to question him about it since you were literally pinned to the wall as he stepped into your apartment, making out with you hungrily and eventually ending up in the bedroom. 

So here you were now, lying on your back, and your boyfriend seemingly thrusting into you as quickly as he could before eventually releasing his juices in you. When you both slowly tried to catch your breath, you finally decided to question him about his demeanour. 

“You wanna tell me what is with the sudden move of yours?” You crossed your arms while lying down in bed. 

Younghoon plopped down right by your side and moved closer to you to snake his arms around your waist. 

“I had this weird dream last night that you were having sex with some random guy from your workplace. The way you were sitting on top of him and bouncing up and down while moaning his name terrified me.” 

It took you a moment before you actually tried your best to let the information sink in before you giggled, earning a little slap on your shoulder from your boyfriend. 

“I’m sorry, Younghoon! It’s just that I find it cute and funny how you had such a dream and that you were jealous about it.” You teased, inching your face closer to him, causing him to give you a pout and turn his face away. 

He had then turned to his side and gave you a silent treatment because he absolutely hated the way that you were not sympathising with him but actually teased him about it. 

You giggled more before you slowly moved your hands up his arm in a sensual way, leaning towards his ears to give him an erotic whisper. 

“Seems like someone doesn’t want their gift after all.” 

That got Younghoon’s ears perked up, and he quickly turned back to face you, only to find that you were now setting up his phone onto your tripod and positioning it towards the end of the bed. 

“Umm… baby? What are you doing?” He was perplexed, rightfully so at that, too, since you had never done such a thing before. 

“Oh, I thought my boyfriend would like to have a recording of one of his ultimate kinks in his phone so that he could replay it whenever he is stressed at work.” 

You grabbed onto his arm and pulled him up into a sitting position. You guided him so that his side was facing the camera while you slowly made your way and sat on top of him. You took both of his hands and placed them directly onto your bare breasts, guiding him to give both of them a squeeze. 

In return, you let out a soft moan, reassured him that he was doing a great job at it. It was then Younghoon realised how you were going to make up for his silly jealousy rage by recording a tit-playing/sucking session just for him on his phone. 

“I see where this is going, you little rascal.”

“Correction. Your pretty little rascal whom you’re so whipped for.” You corrected.

With a smirk, he quickly dove his mouth straight towards your nipple and began sucking them as his life depended on it. You knew how your boyfriend had been obsessed with your breasts ever since you began dating, only later teasing him about it when you both had your very first sex. So to actually give him a recording of him performing his favourite thing during sex? Oh, he will definitely be replaying the video constantly from now on.

As he sucked and squeezed your breasts with more pressure each second, you were starting to feel a knot form within your stomach. In an instant, you quickly began rubbing your wet core directly onto his thigh, constantly rolling your hips, wanting to cum as quickly as possible.

“Mmm… yeah… that’s it. Give me more, Younghoon.” 

“Cum all over my thigh, baby. Do it.” 

With a few more rolls, you eventually felt the knot snapped and you released your juices all over his thigh, all while he was still sucking your breasts like there’s no tomorrow. 

When he finally broke free and connected his lips back to yours, he was now gently rubbing your bare back as if he was patting you.

“Thank you, baby. I will surely put this recording to good use.”

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Lee Hyunjae

PAIRING: fiancé!Hyunjae x afab!reader

WARNINGS: jealous sex, shower sex, Hyunjae is NOT happy, gets possessive too actually, and he teases you a lot (but you started it in the first place so), fingering, reader is pinned to the wall, p in v sex, choking, possessive Hyunjae, pet names (baby, honey)

WORD COUNT: 978

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You were having a warm comfy shower as you heard the door to the bedroom open. It was when you knew that your fiancé was back from a long day of work. 

Your fiancé, Lee Hyunjae, proposed to you while you both were on a business trip to Malibu, where he actually went all out to set up a romantic picnic-like lunch right at the beach, filling them up with all of your favourite things and colours that were to your liking. 

Ever since you have agreed and said yes, he has been working tirelessly to be able to afford a much better home that would suit the needs of both of you. It took him almost a year before he was able to secure a well-built home located just outside of Seoul. With that, you finally packed up all of your belongings from your tiny studio apartment and moved in almost immediately. 

It has been almost half a year now since you both moved in, and Hyunjae has gotten a promotion at work, which made him have to work slightly overtime than you did. So you usually returned home at least three hours earlier than he did. 

You were washing off all of the remains of shampoo from your hair when you heard the door to the shower being pushed open to the side, and sure enough, you were greeted by your naked fiancé, who was eager to join you. 

“You nasty man, can’t you wait till I’m finished?” You teased. 

“Well, I miss my baby loads and showering together is much more fun, don’t you think?” He quickly leans in to kiss you on the lips while snaking his arms around your waist. It wasn’t for long before he started moving them down to your ass and squeezing them. 

You smirked, knowing how needy he was. But you decided to play along to see how far he would go. 

“So tell me, how was work, honey?” 

“Oh, just the usual. I had to answer a bunch of calls and emails on behalf of the CEO.” He now moves one of his hands to caress your thigh, earning a soft moan from you. 

“Hmm… that’s good, isn’t it?” You questioned and did the same to him, moving your hands up and down his bare back. 

“Well, there was something that I have noticed lately, and I actually need your help to clarify something.” He was now moving his fingers towards your clit, as he began rubbing circles around it. 

“What is it?” 

“I have noticed how one of our co-workers sitting across your cubicle has been giving you weird looks lately. It seems as if he is interested in you.” He now inserts one finger into you, and you know exactly where this is going. He was jealous, and he wanted to get the answer out of that pretty mouth of yours while making you lose your sanity. 

“What makes you say that, Hyunjae? You are my fiancé, after all. I am taken.” You answered in between the moans. 

“Oh honey, you got to do better than that.” He inserts another finger in. “You know what exactly I want to hear.” 

God, he was taking this to the next level. He wants to break you down slowly and the warm hot steam that was filling up the entire bathroom was certainly not helping you to think straight.  

He  pins you to the wall and lifts one of your legs up so that he has better access to finger you even deeper, all while he is still interrogating you. 

“You see honey, call me a jerk but I can be pretty stingy because I hate it when people touch what belongs to me. And I absolutely do not like the look that he was giving you for the past couple of weeks.” 

Without warning, he immediately removed his fingers from you and slammed his cock into you, earning a yelp from you before they eventually turned to moans. 

“Tell me, Y/N. What are you going to do about all of this?” 

“I-I don’t know… what do you want me to do?” You were still holding up, trying your best to tease him, you did actually enjoy seeing him getting all jealous, after all. 

“Wrong answer, Y/N. Come on, you can do better than that.” 

He began to pick up his pace, slamming into you as deep as he possibly could, making you tilt your head back and lose consciousness. 

Oh, he was not going to let you think straight, alright.

“Hnngh— god, Hyunjae-” 

“I’m waiting, honey. Tell me. What will you do about this?” He was now moving one of his hands right up to your neck, giving it a little squeeze. 

“I—aaaahh…” 

“Yes? Tell me.” 

“I will ask my manager to transfer him to another cubicle then.”

“Oh no, honey. Transferring to another cubicle is not good enough for me.” He protested. 

For the love of god, Hyunjae. 

“I—will request—my manager to transfer him—to another department, I suppose.” You were now a mess as he fucks you deep and fast. Tears were beginning to form in your eyes since he basically tearing your walls apart. 

“Now, that’s better honey. I knew you would be such a good girl for me.” 

Picking up his pace as you both were right about to cum, he quickly removed his member from you and grabbed your hair and pushed you down to his member, making you take in all of his cum into your mouth.

When you both finally came down from your highs, he dragged you back up and pinned you against the glass door while he moved directly behind you. 

“Since my baby decided to tease me throughout the whole session we have just had, I think they deserve another punishment.”

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Lee Juyeon

PAIRING: bully!Juyeon x afab!reader

WARNINGS: Juyeon is such a jerk in this one, pet names (sweetheart), typical university bullying shitz, arguments, fingering, rough sex, public sex (it's in a bar), p in v sex, manhandling

WORD COUNT: 1,474

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Lee Juyeon has been your mortal enemy for as long as you can remember. 

Ever since you entered Seoul University and met him for the first time, you guys have not been on the same page. There was just something about you that made Juyeon wanted to tease and bully you all the time, and you could tell how he absolutely loved the red-flushed face you portrayed every time you got mad. 

He had done so many things to you. Whatever your friends have named it, he has done it before. It all started from leaving post-it notes all over your locker that contained writings about things you absolutely detested. It ranged from “so I heard you had a few more marks before you could score a distinction” to “I’m so sorry but that blue skirt is not looking too good on you, sweetheart”. 

It wasn’t just that. He also had to meddle in your love life too. By the time you were in your second year of university, you came across this one rather cute and bubbly guy from one of the clubs you have joined as an extracurricular activity and there were basically sparks going on between you two. And it just so happened that Juyeon was one of the committee members of the club, so that he could witness the whole relationship blossomed with his own eyes. 

Being the jerk that he was, he actually went up to the guy and told him about all of your little secrets, even the ones that you could’ve sworn nobody would find out about. Eventually, the guy was slowly starting to create a distance between you two, and he stopped hanging out with you after the fall. 

Ever since then, you have absolutely hated to spare a glance at him or even hear about his name being mentioned in your everyday lives. Thanks to that, you have always been the person to quickly head straight back home right after your final lecture ends, not wanting to deal with all of the bullshit that he has gotten up his sleeves. 

But since today was a Friday and you had just finished your final papers before the summer break started, you decided to head to one of the local bars in town to relieve the stress you have been coping with for the past couple of weeks. 

It was a relatively quiet bar, and you absolutely loved the ambience of it. It made you felt so relaxed for a while, sitting down comfortably on one of the tables at the corner as you enjoyed the relaxing jazz music that was being performed by the usual performance team at the bar itself. 

Just as you were about to slowly close your eyes to fully enjoy the experience, a hand suddenly grabbed your wrists and you looked up to see who exactly it was. 

Oh, hell no. 

“What on earth are you doing here—”

“Come with me. Now.” 

You couldn’t even ask more questions when Juyeon was dragging you away further down into the bar. 

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“What exactly is wrong with you!” You screamed, yanking his hand off your grip. Your blood was boiling again, especially when he would be the last person you would want to see at your comfort place, and especially when you had just finished your exams. 

You crossed your arms and decided to yell back at him. All of the anger that you have been suppressing for weeks was now finally about to explode out. 

“Have you really stooped this low actually to stalk me? Is it really that fun to ruin and mess up my life when you have already done more than enough??” You were practically screaming through the loud music and chatters in the bar, not caring if anyone was going to pass by or actually call the authorities if things started to get rough between you two.

You didn’t care about anything else right now. All you wanted to do was to scream and let out all of your anger towards the guy standing right in front of you, wanting to say whatever last words you had before calling it quits with him once and for all. 

But Juyeon was relatively quiet for the night, as he actually started taking in all of your anger and hatred towards him. It was rather unusual since he would usually fight back and would not stop until he actually won over against you. There was this look plastered across his face, which made him look guilty almost, or maybe even upset about something. 

“What? Why are you being so quiet? Have you finally knocked some sense into yourself?” You scoffed. 

“Actually. I think I did.” 

Without warning, he takes a few steps closer to you, making you step back until you are eventually cornered with hands on both sides of you, pining you against the wall. 

“Y/N. I’ve realised something lately. And it finally just made sense to me now. I think I actually like you.”

What. This must be some kind of sick, lame joke.

You had to laugh a little bit too hard as well. “What? I think you’re actually insane—”

“No, I’m not. I really do think you mean a lot more to me.” He protested. 

But you were not having any of this crap. “Stop this, Juyeon. I knew you were always playing lame pranks against me, but this has got to be the worst of them all.” 

You thought that would be enough to stop all of this and return to your table, but clearly, the man himself was far from done. He was now grabbing your hands and pining them up against your head, pushing one of his legs in between your thighs. 

“Then let me prove it to you then.” 

In a blink of an eye, his lips had crashed into yours, savouring them rather hungrily. Your eyes widened upon the contact. 

You were actually kissing your worst enemy right now.

As much as you were to squirm, you had no luck as he was basically much stronger than you were, gripping you hard and not wanting to let go anytime soon. He was now grabbing both of your hands with just one hand while the other travelled down to enter right under the dress you were wearing for the night, desperately trying to find your clit. Once he did, he immediately began fingering you without hesitation, your legs basically turning into jelly right there and then.

What on earth is actually going on right now? 

Your moans started filling up the room, and you closed your eyes as you titled your head back. As much as you hated to admit it, you were actually enjoying this whole situation that you were in right now.

Juyeon notices how quiet you have gotten, and he seized his chance to lean forward and whisper into your ear. 

“Will you believe me now, sweetheart?” He cooed. 

“T-this… doesn’t prove anything…” You whimpered. 

“Oh yeah? Then I’ll make sure that you get the message clearly.”

Within a swift motion, he grabs you and takes you into one of the bathrooms that were located not far from where you both were, and he immediately corners you right at the sink top before turning you around and pushing you down. He moved his hands right under your dress and pulled your underwear down immediately, and you hissed at the cold air coming into contact with your core. 

“What are you even—someone is going to see us!” 

“Bold of you to assume that you were in a position to give orders. I don’t care if someone walks in on us, I need you now.” 

He quickly pulled out his cock from his pants and gave it a quick handjob before slamming it into your core, giving you little to no time to adjust to his length.

God, he is hard as f-

“You are so tight, goddamit, Y/N.” He groaned as he thrust in and out of you. He decided to pull your dress down slightly from the front so that your bare breast was now exposed for him to touch while his other hand grabbed onto your hair.  

God, he absolutely loved the look that was plastered across your face right now. The way you looked absolutely helpless right now, how you were basically a moaning mess, constantly chanting out his name. 

And how he was taking the whole scene from the bathroom mirror right in front of him. 

“Juyeon… juyeon…” You cried out. 

“F-fuck— I’m gonna cum—” 

When he finally came within you, you immediately let out a high-pitched scream before finally coming down from your high. Juyeon finally leans forward and gently sucks your neck before finally giving you a response.

“So, do you finally believe me now?”

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Kevin Moon

PAIRING: husband! Kevin x afab!reader

WARNINGS: reader is such a tease and is basically naked (only wearing the kitchen apron to cover their front body), fingering, cum tasting, kitchen sex, p in v sex, manhandling, pet names (honey)

WORD COUNT: 935

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“Honey, what on earth do you think you’re doing?” 

Your husband had just arrived home as he stood by the kitchen door looking astounded and was greeted by a relatively questionable sight. 

You knew that your husband, Kevin, had been rather stressed out lately and had been coming home late due to all of the extra work he had to do considering his company had to deal with an insane amount of staff turnover. When he arrived home every day, you would only exchange a few words before he quickly got into the shower and then went straight to bed. 

Hence, you decided to do something that would pique his interest so he could have a good stress relief. So here you were, turning half of your naked body towards him, holding a bowl of whipped cream in hand and wearing only an apron to cover your the front of your body. 

To say the least, it was very bold of you that you decided to make such a move. But to be fair, you had been craving for your husband’s touch and revealing your glorious naked body to your husband would surely gain his full attention towards you.

Sure enough, he slowly drops his briefcase on the ground and walks towards you. That was when you decided to act normal and tried your best to pose a question. 

“You surely must be exhausted, honey. I was whipping up some cream to bake you your favourite sponge cake for dessert tonight.” 

As he took his steps closer towards you, that was when you noticed that his eyes shifted, licking his lips as he stood in front of you now. 

“Screw the dessert, I’ll take you instead.”

Within seconds, he turned you around so you were bent against the countertop. Immediately, he places his hands on your bare back, slowly rubbing your sensitive skin he eventually lands them on your ass, giving it a tight squeeze. You were turned on by that as you elicit a moan, knowing well that your trick has succeeded in tempting your husband for the night. 

One of his hands finally reached your wet core, fingers slowly gliding up and down, rubbing your entrance. You knew he was teasing you, but you were desperate and needed his fingers to be inside of you right now. 

“Kevin, please. Inside… I’m begging.” 

With your given consent, he quickly inserts two of his fingers into your core, pushing them in and out at a relatively fast speed, while his other hand quickly travels back up to your breasts and gives them a massage. It felt so good, and this was the touch you missed so severely for the past couple of weeks. 

To increase the arousal, you turned your head back and snaked your arm around his neck as you brought him towards you, crashing both of your lips together and starting to make out rather messily. His tongue makes its way into your parted mouth, and you both find yourself twirling the tips of the tongue together. 

It wasn’t long before you finally felt a knot form in your stomach, indicating that you were about to reach your high. You broke off from the kiss, now panting while whining for your husband to help, letting you release your sweet juice all over his fingers. 

“Kevin, please, make me cum.” 

“Oh, I’ll let you cum all over my fingers, baby.” 

With a few more fast-paced thrusts, you eventually came and released your juices all over his fingertips when he pulled them from your entrance and inserted them into your mouth, wanting you to savour the deed he had just done for you.

Without giving you much time to calm down from your high, he immediately turns you around and carries you to place you on top of the cold concrete countertop. He quickly loosened his tie as he made his way in between your thighs before leaning close to you.

Kevin was already unzipping his pants and pulling out his now erected cock, his precum dripping wet before he brings it close to your entrance. 

“Honey, I need you so bad right now. I’m afraid I might be unable to hold it back any longer.” He growled. 

“Then don’t.” You reassured him by placing both of your hands on his shoulders, already anticipating him to insert his member into you. 

Just as he had said, he had no intentions of going slow with you, for he immediately went all out, and the skin-slapping noises now filled the entire kitchen. 

This was what you both have been missing out on for several weeks, and it was something you needed desperately right here and now. 

“F-fuck honey… you have been so tight since we last had sex.” 

“Of course—I saved it all for you tonight…” 

“You definitely have been a good girl for me, honey.” 

Kevin was pounding you relentlessly, to the point he was even grabbing a chunk of your hair and pulled it back to increase the arousal. He could tell that you were enjoying it loads from the looks on your face, and so did he. 

“Ke-kevin… I’m gonna cum.” You moaned.

He leans in to give you a quick peck on your lips before pulling them away. “Cum for me then, honey. I want you to cum all over my cock.” 

Within seconds, you released your juices all around his member as you slowly start to catch your breath as your husband leans in to give you a passionate kiss.

“Oh, now you reminded me how badly we’ve missed our weekly sex.”

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Choi Chanhee

PAIRING: secretary bf! Chanhee x afab!reader

WARNINGS: Chanhee has a playroom 👀 (inspo from Fifty Shades of Grey), pet names (baby), mentions of sex toys, reader is tied up to the bed, use of vibrator, oral, squirting

WORD COUNT: 1,121

A/N: gotta give credits to my meimei @beamtori for this, we had this convo a long time ago and she sent me this same exact chanel picture in the dms and i just knew, chanhee needed a fic like this 😋

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“Baby baby! Hear me out!” 

Your boyfriend, Chanhee, was rather ecstatic as he hoped towards your workplace to come to pick you up. He was holding a bag from Chanel, and you knew very well how he had probably gotten something for you when you told him a million times that he did not need to do so.

Since he was in university, Chanhee was recently promoted to being one of the chief secretaries at Chanel, his dream fashion company. You couldn’t be more proud of him as you knew how much effort and energy he has put into making all of it happen. So when he told you how he could move into a more extensive apartment complex in one of the most prestigious areas in the heart of Seoul, you knew that he was beyond excited to have a better life for himself and with you.

He informed you that he needed a few weeks for everything to be completely moved in and renovated before you could come to visit, and you figured that today was finally the day when everything was settled. 

“What was the gift for Chanhee? I should be the one gifting you something now that your apartment is finally in one piece.” You chuckled. 

“No, it should be me thanking you for always being by my side since the beginning of my career.” He gives you one peck on your cheek before escorting you to his car. 

“Now, let’s go have some fun, won’t we?”

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You knew his apartment would be luxurious, but you didn’t know it would be this extravaganza. 

It was a two-floored luxury apartment with the living, dining and sleeping rooms on the top floor. All of the floor and countertops were designed with marble, and Chanhee did a fantastic job pairing the room with pieces of furniture that suited the theme he was going for. You basically stood in the centre, taking in all of the beauty, and Chanhee found it cute how you were basically in shock with the whole sight in front of you. He had to physically come towards you and shake your shoulders to bring you back to reality. 

“Baby, you can ogle at the sight as much as you like from now on since you will be coming here often anyway. But there is something else that I want to show you.” 

He gently takes your hands into his as he guides you to the stairs, taking you down to the second lower floor. It was a couple of flights of stairs before a dark grey door stood in front of you. 

There was no hallway whatsoever down here, just an uncomplicated door. 

“Umm… Chanhee? What’s behind the door?”

“You’ll find out, sweetie. Why don’t you push the door open and have a look?” 

Feeling somewhat hesitant, you gave Chanhee a few more glances to ensure he was alright with the idea before you took a few steps forward to rest your hand on the doorknob. With a single twist, the door was now open to reveal a shocking sight to behold. 

This is…

“My playroom,” Chanhee answered as he now wrapped his arms around your waist. 

You looked around the room from left to right to see that he had a few equipment and clothing hung around the room. You even noticed how there were a couple of lingeries that he had gotten that you had mentioned before whenever you both went shopping on how you would like to purchase them someday. There were a couple of leather whips and sex toys that he owned and a stash of Chanel ribbons that he always loved and would insist that you tied your hair with it. Finally, a double bed was placed right in the middle of the room. 

“Baby… will you be a dear and do me a favour? I think my promotion and moving into this luxury apartment calls for a celebration, don’t you think?” Chanhee pouted before finally resting his head down to leave kisses around your neck.

You gasped at the contact and tried your best to think straight. So many questions flooded your mind, but you got too distracted when one of his hands travelled down to your thighs and started caressing them. 

“Baby, you would do it for me. Wouldn’t you?” The statement now felt more like a command, and you slowly turned your head behind you to find your boyfriend, now giving you a stern look, which was then you realised that he was all serious about it. 

That look has somewhat terrified you, as you have never seen this side of your boyfriend before. But somehow, you were turned on by that..

Say no, Y/N. There’s no way you’re gonna agree with this—

“Yes, Chanhee. Anything for you.” 

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Before you knew it, you were tied up to the bed with the Chanel ribbons that Chanhee kept and stripped down bare naked. 

Everything happened so quickly that you did not have much time even to process the whole situation. It wasn’t new for you and your boyfriend to have sex, it has happened a couple of times before at both of your apartments. But now that he has an entire playroom? Now that was a sight of your boyfriend that you had never seen before.

To make things more fun in his books, he decided to take out one of his vibrators and activated it to a reasonably medium pace as he placed it directly onto your clit. 

“Oh my god— Chanhee!!”   

You arched your back and your toes curled up upon the contact. As much as you wanted to do something, you couldn’t. You were bound by the ribbons that were tied to the bed, only to be lying on the bed helplessly as your boyfriend did as much as he wished. 

He was now moving the vibrator up and down, and your moans filled the entire room. 

“Chanhee… please…” 

Knowing how desperate you were, he now turns the speed up to the maximum level and you were now screaming in agony. 

“God! Chanhee, please!! Please!!” 

He could tell how you were about to reach your high when he quickly removed the vibrator and dove right between your thighs, kissing and sucking your bud.

“Cum, Y/N. Cum all over for me.” 

“Chan-Chanhee!! Aaahhh!!” 

When you finally came and squirted all of the juices right onto his face, he couldn’t help but smile while he savoured up your liquids and eventually swallowed them. 

Chanhee now adjusts himself so that he is hovering above you, caressing your cheek while wiping off that one tear that dripped down to your face from the intense session. 

“Baby, one more round?”

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Ji Changmin

PAIRING: photographer bf! Changmin x afab!reader

WARNINGS: pet names (baby), reader is pinned up against the wall in one scene, fingering, reader strips naked while Changmin is having a photography session throughout the whole process 👀, self-pleasuring, handjob, blowjob, Changmin is still taking pictures of the whole process 👀, cum tasting

WORD COUNT: 1,137

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The sounds of panting and moans were what filled the entire living room for the night.

It had only been thirty minutes since you and your boyfriend had gotten home from a reasonably fancy candlelight dinner at one of the best restaurants in town. It was your boyfriend’s birthday, after all, and you wanted to give your boyfriend the best meal for the night, especially when you have finally gotten one of your first paychecks since you have been employed at your current company. 

But he knew the best treat was waiting for him at home, which was making out with you.

Both of you couldn’t resist and immediately went straight into it as soon as you shut the front door. You were pinned up against the wall, and he placed kisses all over you, from your lips as he travelled down to your neck, collarbone, and eventually, your exposed cleavage as you wore a striking red v-neckline split midi dress. 

The makeout was intense, and you both ended up on the living room couch, now with one of your legs up rested across his thighs, while his hands slipped under your dress, now rubbing your wet core. 

“Baby..” He panted.

“Hmm?” 

“Since there’s technically still an hour left before the day ends, will you grant me one more birthday wish, baby?” 

“Of course, how could I possibly say no?” 

“Well, we’ll have to get into the bedroom first.”

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“Pose for me.” 

You were astounded as you heard about your boyfriend’s final birthday wish. You stood by the side of your bed, blinking at your boyfriend to see if what he said beforehand was a joke. But apparently he was serious, as he immediately took out his Nikon D7500, ready to do the deed. 

Your boyfriend was a photographer, and he would always be invited to all of the top fashion shows in Seoul—taking pictures of all of the celebrities that are the talk of the town. 

But you were no celebrity, hell, not even worthy to be a model. You must’ve thought your boyfriend was mixing work with your personal life. 

“Changmin… I-” 

“Baby, trust me.” He inches close to you to give you one peck on your lips before parting away, taking a few steps back to position himself to start taking worthy shots of his prized possession. He also connected his phone to the Bluetooth speaker you both owned and blasted some songs to get you both into the mood.

“Strip for me, Y/N.” He commanded. 

You were initially reluctant, not that you have not stripped in front of your boyfriend before. But now that a camera was involved and he had switched to his work persona, you weren’t sure if you felt too comfortable with the entire situation. 

But it was your boyfriend’s last birthday wish, and thirty minutes were left before the clock struck midnight. Taking a deep breath, you close your eyes to finally calm yourself down and mentally prepare yourself to do all this. 

Slowly, you took the straps of the dress down as you now exposed your bare shoulders towards the camera and posed. You paused for a few seconds for your boyfriend to take a few shots before moving on to the next move. Moving along with the music, you pulled your dress down and eventually stepped out of it while tossing it to the room's corners. You were now only in your black lingerie, which happened to be the one Changmin gifted you on your birthday. 

Changmin loved the sight beyond him as he licked his lips while continuing to click the button on his camera, snapping as many shots as possible. You were turning around, posing as much as possible with the few poses you knew of. It wasn’t long before Changmin ordered you to turn around so that your back was facing towards him.

Turning your bare back towards your boyfriend, you slowly made your way up to your bra and unclasped it, throwing it off to the side while Changmin photographed the whole process with his camera.

It was there, and then he made his way towards you, gently pushing you down onto the bed as he hovered above you. 

“Touch yourself, baby. Do it for me.” 

With one big gulp, you slowly moved both of your hands to each breast and squeezed them. Your soft moans again escaped your lips as you looked directly into the camera lenses. 

God, how badly Changmin loved the look on your face at the moment. 

As he took one of the hands off from his camera, he slowly made his way to your panties, making his way into them to touch your sensitive bud. 

“That’s it, Y/N. I love it when you’re wet for me.” 

The camera's shutters continued as he moved to your side while still rubbing your entrance. That was when he took his hand away from you and unzipped his pants, as he pulled out his member and moved closer to you so that it was now inches away from your mouth. 

“You know what to do, baby.” 

Without hesitation, you grabbed onto his member and started thrusting it up and down while playing with the tip of it as you went. Meanwhile, Changmin’s hands make their way back to your wet entrance, inserting two fingers into you as you let out a loud gasp. As he picked up his pace, you started to whimper, and you dived your mouth towards his dick, sucking it rather hungrily. 

Changmin was now moaning as you were, but that did not stop him from continuing his photography session. 

You would constantly circle your tongue around his tip and you knew how badly it turned him on the most. In return, he was picking up his pace quicker now, both of you wanting to reach your highs. 

“God—Y/N. I’m cumming. I’m going to cum inside your mouth, baby.” 

With a simple nod from you, both of you quickened the pace you both eventually released your juices in your respective places—Changmin’s in your mouth as you drank it all up, while you did the same all over his fingers as he took it into his mouth, licking them all clean. 

Now that the clock has struck midnight, you thought that Changmin would be satisfied with his whole photography session with you. Just as you were about to lift yourself, you found your boyfriend hovering over you once more as he stripped himself fully naked and was now in between your thighs. 

As he took his member and positioned himself directly towards your dripping core while the camera, in his other hand, looked down at you with a grin, knowing that he was far from done with you.

“My birthday isn’t over until I say it is.”

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Ju Haknyeon

PAIRING: roommate!Haknyeon x afab!reader

WARNINGS: Haknyeon & reader are in a situationship, fondling with breasts, nipple play, fingering, p in v sex, spooning, somnophilia, reader is basically still asleep and thinks that they're in a dream when the whole deed happens

WORD COUNT: 1,015

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It was the usual late Friday nights when Haknyeon would return home at around three in the morning. Haknyeon worked the late night shifts at one of the bars near downtown, and you both agreed not to wait for him since he knew you had to be up early the next day for your early shift at your local grocery store. 

You both have been roommates for almost a year now and during that period, you have became more than just roommates at this point. You have both been in a situationship for quite some time now and have decided not to define it in any way particularly. It was fine with both of you since you both were comfortable with how things were now. 

Haknyeon tried his best to turn the doorknob to your room as quietly as possible, and sure enough, he found you sleeping soundly on your shared bed. He couldn’t help himself but ogle at the sight beyond him—the way you smiled slightly in your sleep, the little snores you made, and the curves of your body as you turned to your side to sleep. During moments like this, he was beyond grateful that you both are more than just friends and, of course, as your roommate. 

As he couldn’t wait to hop into the comforts of your bed with you, he took a quick shower and put on his comfy hoodie as he slowly walked his way towards you. Gently lifting the sheets, he crawled into bed with you as he turned to your side, hugging you close to him as he wanted to feel your warmth. 

Naturally, he couldn’t help but move his hands into your hoodie, wanting to caress the soft skin he loves dearly. But there was a problem. 

As he slowly moved his hands up, he finally landed them on your bare breast, and that was when he realised something. 

You weren’t wearing your bra to go to sleep. 

So many alarms were going off in his mind, he knew how badly he should be restraining himself. 

It was time for sleep, goddammit, I shouldn’t be thinking about anything else.

But his actions apparently did not align with his brain, and he now finds himself gently massaging your breasts and squeezing them ever so slightly. His fingers were now circling your hardened nipple, and eventually, he found himself pinching them. 

That was when the soft moans he was accustomed to slowly slipped out from your mouth, and you were wiggling in your sleep. Your eyes were still closed, though, and that was when Haknyeon knew that you were still in deep sleep. 

He went on with this for a while, wanting to hear your soft moans—knowing very well how it was all just for him. Eventually, his name slipped out from your mouth, and that was when he felt his member harden—desperately wanting to slip his member into your core. 

He gently pulled your sweatpants down and rubbed your core before eventually pulling your underwear to the side. He rubbed your sensitive bud, wanting it to be wet enough for him to insert his member into you. 

Once he knew that you were ready, it was his turn to pull his sweatpants down and he took his member in hand while using the tip of it to rub at your now wet core. God, it felt so good, and now the entire room was filled with both of your moans. 

“H-haknyeon… inside…” 

At that point, Haknyeon wasn’t sure if you were still asleep or not, as you still had your eyes glued shut. As much as he wasn’t sure if he should even insert his member into you, your hands eventually found their way to Haknyeon’s thigh, rubbing them as if you were so desperate that you needed him so badly at this point. 

“Haknyeon… please…” 

That was when he knew he lost it, and there was no turning back now. With that, he slowly pushed his hardened cock into your entrance, and you let out a loud gasp. Haknyeon knew it was too much for you to take at the moment, so he took a few seconds to let you adjust to his member before he began thrusting inside of you. 

“Oh my god, Y/N. You’re so… tight…” 

He was slowly picking up the pace when he noticed how you spread your legs further apart from each other, giving him more room to thrust deeper within you. It wasn’t long before you started to chant how you would cum, and Haknyeon, too, felt the same.

“Cum with me, baby. Do it with me.” 

With a few more powerful thrusts, you both released both of your juices together, now slowly coming down from your highs. Being the sweet, responsible roommate he was, Haknyeon quickly wasted no time in cleaning both of you up before diving back into sleep.

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When you woke up the next day, you couldn’t help but feel that something was off, as if you had a wet dream last night, and it was with Haknyeon. Well, it wasn’t something new, to say the least, you both have had sex and had dirty dreams about your roommate often. But something about last night’s just felt too real for you. 

Sure enough, as you got ready and headed towards the kitchen, Haknyeon had already prepared your breakfast. As you took a seat and he quickly gave you a little peck on your lips before returning to the stovetop to fry the remaining slices of bacon, you couldn’t help but pose the question to your roommate. 

“Say, Haknyeon?”

“Hmm?” 

“So I had a dream last night… about us having sex in bed while I was asleep. But something just felt so off for me, as if. It all felt so surreal.” 

That was when he placed the remaining slices of bacon onto your plate and was now inches away from you, taking in his cologne and the sly smirk plastered on his face. 

“Baby, what if I told you it wasn’t a dream after all?”

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Kim Sunwoo

PAIRING: rival!Sunwoo x afab!reader

WARNINGS: arguments, bad breakup with ex (hence Sunwoo takes reader back to his apartment), Sunwoo is VERY upset with reader wearing his favourite hoodie, but then reader turns dom 👀, teasing, blowjob, p in v sex, clothed sex, cowgirl

WORD COUNT: 1,542

A/N: credits to @wuahae for giving me ideas for this!! 💕

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“What are you doing with my hoodie?” 

Sunwoo had just come out fresh from the shower as he attempted to dry his wet dripping hair with the towel that was draped around his neck. 

You were left stranded out in the rain when your ex had just seemingly dumped you right in front of your campus building after a heated argument. Since he was your only way of getting home (you lived an hour away and public transport was not an option this late at night), you were left with no choice but to stand right there in the pouring rain, not wanting to accept reality with all that has happened. You could’ve called for a cab, but that would have meant that you would have been spending off your weekly expenses, and you would have been left with nothing to fill your hunger for the remaining school days before heading back home to your hometown for the weekend. 

It was there, and then your ultimate rival, whom you hated to the core, Kim Sunwoo, stood before you and moved his umbrella to shield you from the rain. As much as you both hated each other's guts for the longest time, there was no way he could’ve left you in the pouring rain all night. Hence, you reluctantly accepted his offer to return to his apartment for the night and get yourself clean and cosy. 

Sunwoo did mention that you were free to use the extra towel he had and to fish out for any of the hoodies he owned in that one particular drawer he pointed at, so you didn’t think much of it and randomly chose one of those at the top of the drawer itself when you got out from the shower. 

It was there when he saw you right after finishing up, he did not have the best look on his face at the moment. He seemed annoyed and was mad about something you desperately needed answers to. 

“What? You said I could use any of the hoodies in the drawer.” You bluntly replied. 

“Yeah, anything but that one. That’s literally my favourite among all of them.” He stomped towards you and was now grabbing the collar of the hoodie you were wearing. 

“Take it off, Y/N.” 

You scoffed. This has to be a joke. Sunwoo getting all worked up just because of one single hoodie? This has to be absolute insanity. 

“I know literally everything that I do ticks you off, but I never would’ve imagined something so simple like this would have the same effect on you, Mr know-it-all.” 

“Look, I was kind enough to invite you back to the comfort of my apartment. So I highly suggest you comply with my simple request before I throw you back out in the streets again.” 

Oh, now that has got you boiling up. There was never a moment where the both of you would agree on something. You both have been like this for the longest time since meeting each other in your first years of university. 

It all started when all of the first-year juniors were invited to a frat party hosted by one of the seniors in one of the apartment complexes near campus, and that was when your first encounter with Sunwoo happened. You both were complete strangers at that time, and neither of you hung out at all as you were both occupied with your group of friends. 

That was when a seemingly drunk Kim Sunwoo made his way towards where you and your friends were and accidentally bumped into you, which made you spilled your drink all over your rented dress where you had to pay double the amount of the original price for ruining some of the details from the outfit itself. Since then, all of the encounters you both have had have never been good.

There was something about his ego that annoyed you the most. You knew he did not do it on purpose on that fateful night, but something about his demeanour just ticks you off all the time. In return, you were the same for the male itself.

Already stressed about your whole ex situation, you were not having it when Sunwoo was about to start another argument and fight when you are literally not at your best self at the moment. 

Instead you stood up, which made the male step back a little while he was still grabbing the collar of his hoodie on you. 

“Look, Sunwoo. I have no idea what exactly your issue is with me. First, you ruined my dress during junior year, and then every time we crossed paths, we never once had a good conversation. You’re always picking fights with me, and I have no idea why. You're such a loser if you think this is all fun and games.” 

“Says the one who’s always heated up and wouldn’t assess the situation well before coming up with a reasonable judgement.” He spat back. 

“Why you little-” 

Without realizing it, you both had been taking several steps back. Sunwoo’s leg hit the couch, causing both of you to tumble back onto the couch, where you are now literally on top of your worst enemy, inches apart from one another. 

Oh dear god, this is literally your worst nightmare. 

Both of your eyes widen and you feel as if time had just paused for a moment right there, trying your best to make sense of the whole situation that was happening right now. 

But it seemed that Sunwoo retaliated much quicker than you did, and he shot back another tease. 

“What’s wrong, Miss know-it-all, cat got your tongue?” He smirked, and you could picture how he would be laughing maniacally in his mind. 

Oh no, you don’t. Kim Sunwoo. 

Without much thought, you crashed your lips into his, shutting him up immediately. You had no idea what had gotten into you to do such a thing, you couldn’t give a proper reason either. But one thing for sure is that it would definitely shut that annoying mouth of his up for a reasonable amount of time. 

Sunwoo was definitely shocked by the contact, but he couldn’t resist returning the kiss, and the both of you were now having a heated making-out session with one another. 

Both of your fingers travelled up into each other’s hair, gripping them as you gasped for air between the kisses. Your hands then travelled down to his member as you began stroking it through the sweatpants that he was wearing.

For once, you saw how helpless Sunwoo was as he began squirming under you and groaning while you continued to massage his own erected member

Looking at how he was enjoying your touch, you pulled his pants down to reveal his huge cock, where you immediately wrapped your mouth around his member, taking it in deeper within your throat. 

“What the actual—go-god….” Sunwoo groaned almost immediately, and it was indeed a sight to behold. 

Never once would you have thought that this was all you needed to have Sunwoo wrapped around your fingers, and you were beginning to enjoy this a little too much. 

You continued sucking his member as you moved your hands to give his balls a gentle squeeze, turning his groans into moans at this point. 

Another point for me. 

You knew he was about to cum as you felt his precum starting to ooze out from the tip of his member, but you had other plans in store. You release his member from your mouth, earning the man's somewhat unsatisfied and annoyed look.  But you were far from done, as you positioned both of your legs on both sides of Sunwoo’s before pulling your underwear down to position your entrance directly on top of his member.

“I’m just getting started, Mr know-it-all.” 

Within seconds, you lowered your body down and took his entire length into you, moaning as you slowly adjusted his cock around your tight walls. It wasn’t long before you began bouncing on him, the sounds of both of your skins slapping one another filled the entire room. 

God. This just all felt way too good. 

“Hnngh… Y/N…”

“Aahh, touch me, Sunwoo.” You grabbed both of his hands as you guided them into the hoodie, placing them directly on your bare breasts as he began massaging them. As much as he was your enemy, you couldn’t help but melt at his touch. 

Both of you were now a moaning mess, and you were now bouncing even faster than before as you began to feel a tight knot in your stomach. 

“F-fuck… Y/N. I’m gonna cum, I’m not gonna last—” 

“Cum with me, Sunwoo. Do it with me.” 

Within the next few seconds, Sunwoo immediately released his fluid inside you while you did the same around his member. As you noticed how badly he was panting and trying his best to come down from his high, you took the chance to lean down and started sucking his neck, not wanting to spare him even a second to take control over you again. 

“Say, let’s go for a round two. I absolutely love how you whimper and moan for my name.”

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Eric Sohn

PAIRING: tinder date!Eric x afab!reader

WARNINGS: age gap (reader is older), oral, squirting, cum tasting, reverse cowgirl, multiple orgasm (they went for rounds 👀), pet names (baby), Eric calls reader "noona"

WORD COUNT: 1,080

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It has been quite a few years since you have last dated anyone or even had sex. 

You have always been a workaholic, so it was natural for you to prioritise your work over anything or anyone else at all. It was also partly the reason your past relationships never lasted that long, and technically it was all your fault for things ended up being the way they were.

But you have decided that you have had enough. It is about time you got back up on your feet again, especially when all of your co-workers around you were set to either be married off or to be engaged real soon. 

Hence, you have decided to get your life back together and opted for dating apps—since they are rather popular now around the market. So you discovered the world of Tinder, and it took you a few tries to be able to match with someone who seemed to be your type of guy. 

A few weeks prior, you got matched with a young man named Eric Sohn. He was in his final years of university, working part-time at one of the best fine-dining restaurants in downtown LA. So when you both finally met at one of the local cafes for the first time, you were intrigued and wooed by his demeanour and how he presented himself—physically and through his mannerisms. You absolutely loved how he was energetic yet still had enough sense to speak the right words and use the right tone in different situations. 

Something about this young man piqued your interest in him, and you wanted to spend more time with him as you got closer together. 

Then it all happened when you both were having a drink together at a local bar not too far from his workplace. He had gotten off a bit later than usual and decided that meeting up in the bars he frequented would be a fun late date night for you both today. As you both started getting a bit tipsy after having a couple of drinks, the topic of making out and having sex suddenly slipped from your mouth. You had no intentions of talking about your sex life since you were not particularly proud of it in anyway. 

But the young man slowly listened to everything you said before finally resting his hands on yours as he leaned closer to you.

“Why don’t we take this fun to a nearby hotel that I know of?” 

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You couldn’t say no. How could you? When you basically had not been having sex for the past couple of years. When your date finally asked for your consent, of course, you had to agree. You haven’t been this excited in a while. The male also insisted that he would show you how good he could be in bed and give you the best night you’ll ever have in a while.

So here you were, lying naked on your back on the soft, comfy bed in the hotel room, while Eric was now in between your thighs, eating you hungrily. 

He definitely did not lie about how good he can be in bed. He knew precisely the proper ways to make you feel good. His tongue was gliding up and down your wet core, and then the next thing that happened, he was kissing and sucking your sensitive bud. This went on for the past hour, and you were already onto your second orgasm just from his mouth alone. 

You grabbed his hair as you pushed him lower and deeper to your core, wanting nothing else but for him to eat you out. 

“Eric.. Eric.. Eric…” It was the way you were moaning and chanting his name that motivated him to keep going, and he would want nothing else but to hear your angelic moans. 

When you finally came to, you squirted all over his mouth and face, causing the male to lick and slurp all of the remains left before pressing his lips to yours. 

“You have been such a good boy to me, why don’t I return the favour this time?” You whispered into his ear before turning the tables around so that he was now below you. You gently planted soft kisses all over his face, down to his neck, abdomen, and eventually to his now hard cock. 

With a little smirk, you turned around so that your back was facing him before gently guiding his member to your wet dripping core and taking in his length. That made Eric mewl upon the contact, but you wasted no time to start bouncing on him, gradually increasing your pace each second. 

“Oh- fuck… Noona… Your walls are so tight..” 

“Then help me loosen it up, baby..” 

You spared the boy no chances as you continued picking up your pace. God, this felt so damn good after such a long time. It was about damn time you got someone’s dick in you anyways, and it so happened that Eric Sohn was the lucky candidate. 

It was a sight to behold for Eric, he definitely enjoyed the view of your bare back with your hair draped down and with you bouncing up and down right on him. God, he was on cloud nine. 

“Noona- I’m gonna- AAHH!!” Eric mewled before he released his cum all inside of you, but you were not stopping anytime soon. 

“C’mon, baby. Give me one more. You can do it for me.” You panted, wanting desperately to make him cum again because god did it felt so good when it happened for the first time.

Eric was now pulling your hands back, using them as a support while he continued to moan and was basically losing his mind at this point. As he was constantly chanting “noona” the entire time, that somehow motivated you and was the best thing you have heard for the night.

“I’m cumming now, Eric. I’m gonna cum!” 

“Noona- AAHH!!” 

With one last push, both of you released all of your juices all over each other, turning the hotel bed into seemingly a huge mess. But that didn’t matter as you literally just had one of the best sex in your life, even compared to the ones you’ve had in the past. 

You slowly got up from him before lying back down right next to him, connecting both of your lips again, giving one another a slow sensual kiss. 

“Thank you, Eric. For all of this.”

A/N: let me know which fic was your favourite im curious to know 🤭👀

masterlist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @flwoie @daisyvisions @mosviqu (join my perm taglist here!)

[reasonsforhope]

"Mexico’s government recently announced the creation of 20 new protected areas across 12 states and two coastal areas in the country, covering roughly 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres). This follows a series of budget cuts to the nation’s environmental agencies.

Officials introduced four new national parks, four “flora and fauna protection areas,” seven sanctuaries, two biosphere reserves and three “natural resources protection areas” under the protection of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP).

“This is a commendable step toward biodiversity conservation and environmental protection,” said Gina Chacón, director of the Wildland Network’s public policy program in Mexico. She told Mongabay these new areas will help preserve the country’s rich ecosystems, foster sustainable practices and protect a broad range of important species and habitats. Though some environmental and Indigenous groups are wary the budget cuts could hinder efforts to conserve these areas.

The newly protected areas will preserve habitat and ecologically important marine areas for various species, including whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), Mexican prairie dogs (Cynomys mexicanus) and jaguars (Panthera onca). They will also help safeguard ecologically important coral reefs and areas of cultural significance to Indigenous communities.

Bajos del Norte, a new national park in the Gulf of Mexico, is the largest new protected area, covering 1,304,114 hectares (3,222,535 acres), almost nine times the size of Mexico City. The area is important to the more than 3,000 families that belong to fishing communities on the Yucatán coast. It is also one of the main grouper fish (Epinephelinae) reproduction sites in the Gulf of Mexico and will safeguard threatened species, such as the rocky star coral (Orbicella annularis) and the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).

Joaquín Núñez Medrano, the secretary of the UEFAHG or Union of Forestry and Agricultural Ejidos Hermenegildo Galeana A.C. (Unión de Ejidos Forestales y Agropecuarios Hermenegildo Galeana), lives in an ejido — a type of communally owned land used for agriculture and forestry purposes — called Cordòn Grande in Sierra Grande of Guerrero, along the Pacific Coast. For more than 10 years, Medrano’s community has monitored species such as the jaguar and sustainably managed the ejido’s natural resources, without government assistance.

But now, the ejido has been designated a protected area in this latest round of decrees, as it falls inside part of the new Sierra Tecuani reserve. “The goal is to strengthen what we have already been doing but with support to do it much better,” he told Mongabay.

The second- and third-largest newly protected areas are Sierra Tecuani, a 348,140-hectare (860,272-acre) biosphere reserve threatened by illegal logging, forest fires and land use changes, and the Semidesierto Zacatecas Flora and Fauna Protection Area, which is important for the recovery of the Mexican prairie dog.

The state of Oaxaca is where the government created the most new protected areas, numbering three: the 90-hectare (222-acre) Playa Morro Ayuta Sanctuary, the 56-hectare (138-acre) Barra de la Cruz-Playa Grande Sanctuary and the 261-hectare (645-acre) Playa Cahuitán Sanctuary. Other protected areas were created in the states of Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Campeche, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Chiapas, Colima, Durango, Jalisco, Chihuahua, Guerrero and the State of Mexico...

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has protected more areas than any previous administration, with a total of 43 new areas across 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres). But Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), which works to safeguard the environment, has become severely cash-strapped throughout his six-year term.

SEMARNAT is one of many sectors in Mexico undergoing funding cuts. In recent years, Obrador’s government has implemented a series of strict austerity measures to free up more money for other areas like pensions and wages, boosting the leader’s popularity among citizens, particularly the working-class. Judicial workers, health services and academia have also had their budgets slashed in 2024...

Juan Bezaury-Creel, the director of the organization Fundación BD BioDiversidad Mexicana, said a protected area is better than no protected area because, once a decree is formalized, the government has a duty to protect it. However, this puts “huge pressure on existing personnel because they have to take care of more surface area with less resources,” he told Mongabay.

“The personnel from CONANP are heroic,” he said. “They are putting their lives on the line many times with little budget and little help.”"

-via Mongabay, January 25, 2024

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Overkill. http://Newsday.com/matt :: Matt Davies

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 13, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Nov 14, 2024

Republican senators today elected John Thune of South Dakota to be the next Senate majority leader. Trump and MAGA Republicans had put a great deal of pressure on the senators to back Florida senator Rick Scott, but he marshaled fewer votes than either Thune or John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom were seen as establishment figures in the mold of the Republican senators’ current leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Scott lost on the first vote. The fact that the vote was secret likely helped Thune’s candidacy. Senators could vote without fear of retaliation. 

The rift between the pre-2016 leaders of the Republican Party and the MAGA Republicans is still obvious, and Trump’s reliance on Elon Musk and his stated goal of deconstructing the American government could make it wider. 

Republican establishment leaders have always wanted to dismantle the New Deal state that began under Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and continued under Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and presidents of both parties until 1981. But they have never wanted to dismantle the rule of law on which the United States is founded or the international rules-based order on which foreign trade depends. Aside from moral and intellectual principles, the rule of law is the foundation on which the security of property rests: there is a reason that foreign oligarchs park their money in democracies. And it is the international rules-based order that protects the freedom of the seas on which the movement of container ships, for example, depends.

Trump has made it clear that his goal for a second term is to toss overboard the rule of law and the international rules-based order, instead turning the U.S. government into a vehicle for his own revenge and forging individual alliances with autocratic rulers like Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

He has begun moving to  put into power individuals whose qualifications are their willingness to do as Trump demands, like New York representative Elise Stefanik, whom he has tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, or Florida senator Marco Rubio, who Trump said today would be his nominee for secretary of state. 

Alongside his choice of loyalists who will do as he says, Trump has also tapped people who will push his war on his cultural enemies forward, like anti-immigrant ideologue Stephen Miller, who will become his deputy chief of staff and a homeland security advisor. Today, Trump added to that list by saying he plans to nominate Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who has been an attack dog for Trump, to become attorney general.

Trump’s statement tapping Gaetz for attorney general came after Senate Republicans rejected Scott, and appears to be a deliberate challenge to Republican senators that they get in line. In his announcement, Trump highlighted that Gaetz had played “a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.” 

But establishment Republican leaders understand that some of our core institutions cannot survive MAGA’s desire to turn the government into a vehicle for culture war vengeance. 

Gaetz is a deeply problematic pick for AG. A report from the House Ethics Committee investigating allegations of drug use and sex with a minor was due to be released in days. Although he was reelected just last week, Gaetz resigned immediately after Trump said he would nominate him, thus short-circuiting the release of the report. Last year, Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told CNN that “we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with. He would brag about how he would crush [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night." 

While South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said he would be willing to agree to the appointment, other Republican senators drew a line. “I was shocked by the announcement —that shows why the advise and consent process is so important,” Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said. “I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was blunt: “I don’t think he’s a serious candidate.”

If the idea of putting Gaetz in charge of the country’s laws alarmed Republicans concerned about domestic affairs, Trump’s pick of the inexperienced and extremist Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth to take over the Department of Defense was a clarion call for anyone concerned about perpetuating the global strength of the U.S. The secretary of defense oversees a budget of more than $800 billion and about 1.3 million active-duty troops, with another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions.

The secretary of defense also has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. Over his nomination, too, Republican senators expressed concern.

While Trump is claiming a mandate to do as he wishes with the government, Republicans interested in their own political future are likely noting that he actually won the election by a smaller margin than President Joe Biden won in 2020, despite a global rejection of incumbents this year. And he won not by picking up large numbers of new voters—it appears he lost voters—but because Democratic voters of color dropped out, perhaps reflecting the new voter suppression laws put into place since 2021.

Then, too, Trump remains old and mentally slipping, and he is increasingly isolated as people fight over the power he has brought within their grasp. Today his wife, Melania, declined the traditional invitation from First Lady Jill Biden for tea at the White House and suggested she will not be returning to the presidential mansion with her husband. It is not clear either that Trump will be able to control the scrabbling for power over the party by those he has brought into the executive branch, or that he has much to offer elected Republicans who no longer need his voters, suggesting that Congress could reassert its power.  

Falling into line behind Trump at this point is not necessarily a good move for a Republican interested in a future political career. 

Today the Republicans are projected to take control of the House of Representatives, giving the party control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, as well as the Supreme Court. But as the downballot races last week show, MAGA policies remain unpopular, and the Republican margin in the House will be small. In the last Congress, MAGA loyalists were unable to get the votes they needed from other Republicans to impose Trump’s culture war policies, creating gridlock and a deeply divided Republican conference. 

The gulf between Trump’s promises to slash the government and voters’ actual support for government programs is not going to make the Republicans’ job easier. Conservative pundit George Will wrote today that “the world’s richest person is about to receive a free public education,” suggesting Elon Musk, who has emerged as the shadow president, will find his plans to cut the government difficult to enact as elected officials reject cuts to programs their constituents like. 

Musk’s vow to cut “at least” $2 trillion from federal spending, Will notes, will run up against reality in a hurry. Of the $6.75 trillion fiscal 2024 spending, debt service makes up 13.1%; defense—which Trump wants to increase—is 12.9%. Entitlements, primarily Social Security and Medicare, account for 34.6%, and while the Republican Study Group has called for cuts to them, Trump said during the campaign, at least, that they would not be cut. 

So Musk has said he would cut about 30% of the total budget from about 40% of it. Will points out that Trump is hardly the first president to vow dramatic cuts. Notably, Ronald Reagan appointed J. Peter Grace, an entrepreneur, to make government “more responsive to the wishes of the people” after voters had elected Reagan on a platform of cutting government. Grace’s commission made 2,478 recommendations but quickly found that every lawmaker liked cuts to someone else’s district but not their own.  

Will notes that a possible outcome of the Trump chaos might be to check the modern movement toward executive power, inducing Congress to recapture some of the power it has ceded to the president in order to restore the stability businessmen prefer.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was himself a wealthy man, and in the 1930s he tried to explain to angry critics on the right that his efforts to address the nation’s inequalities were not an attack on American capitalism, but rather an attempt to save it from the communism or fascism that would destroy the rule of law. 

“I want to save our system, the capitalistic system,” FDR wrote to a friend in 1935. “[T]o save it is to give some heed to world thought of today.” 

The protections of the system FDR ushered in—the banking and equities regulation that killed crony finance, for example—are now under attack by the very sort of movement he warned against. Whether today’s lawmakers are as willing as their predecessors were to stand against that movement remains unclear, especially as Trump tries to bring lawmakers to heel, but Thune’s victory in the Senate today and the widespread Republican outrage over Trump’s appointment of Gaetz and Hegseth are hopeful signs. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON