#plastic waste crisis

[alwaysbewoke]

[leparoledelmondo]

Riciclare la plastica?

Riciclare la plastica non basta. Occorre soprattutto limitare la sua produzione nei prossimi anni, ad esempio eliminando del tutto la plastica monouso.

Il consumo e quindi la produzione globale di plastica sono raddoppiati in vent'anni, siamo a 430 milioni di tonnellate nel 2021, con la prospettiva di un ulteriore raddoppio da qui al 2040, in base ai dati dell’Onu. Questa valanga di materia indistruttibile inquina gli ecosistemi marini e terrestri in maniera sempre più capillare, entrando nella catena alimentare e arrivando sulle nostre tavole.

L'Italia è la seconda consumatrice di plastica a livello europeo dopo la Germania: nel 2020 abbiamo consumato quasi sei milioni di tonnellate di plastica, pari a 98 chili per persona.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

World’s first ice cream made from plastic

Reuters | 28 September 2023

The world’s first food made from plastic waste - according to its developer - is vanilla ice cream.

Despite being locked in a freezer in London, she hopes it kickstarts a heated debate about the future of food and the plastic pollution crisis.

The ice cream is actually an art installation called ‘Guilty Flavours’ by artist and designer Eleanora Ortolani, 27, intended to challenge the way we think about plastic waste and what we are - and are not - prepared to eat.

"Guilty Flavours is what I believe is the first sample of ice cream made from plastic waste,” Ortolani told Reuters at Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts London.

“It's coming from the same plastic as we can find in bottles, plastic bottles,” she said.

The process, developed by scientists in Edinburgh, harnesses the metabolic power of bacteria and enzymes to behave as eco-friendly factories to digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and turn it into vanillin, the molecule that gives vanilla its flavour.

“There are certain enzymes which do certain chemical reaction,” Dr Joanna Sadler, a biotechnologist at the University of Edinburgh, told Reuters.

“So if you plug those together, you can get through to lots of different chemical products," she said.

Plastic is made of a string of molecules bonded together into what are known as polymers.

Sadler broke those bonds with a hungry microbe, leaving her with molecules that were no longer plastic.

That former PET-soup was then easily processed by another bacteria into vanillin.

Sadler's research, published in the Journal Biochemist in December 2021, focuses on degrading and upcycling plastic and using it as feedstock for microbial growth.

She produced the specially engineered bugs for Ortolani's project but was at pains to point out that the student's ice cream is very much a research project.

It's not currently for human consumption.

"I've even had members of the public email me saying it's irresponsible to encourage people to eat plastic," Sadler said.

"It is really important that we take the safety side of it really, really seriously and we make it very clear that this has to go through exactly the same regulatory processes and food standard processes as any other food ingredient.

And only once it has been through all of those would it go anywhere near any kind of consumer product."

Ortolani, who is from Verona, Italy, said Guilty Flavours was inspired by her frustration with the failure of the recycling system to stop plastic polluting the environment.

It is locked away to highlight what she says is a looming global food crisis.

“We have the tools today to rethink the food system we're living in,” she said.

“This is ready now and today but nobody can really touch it or interact with it because it's not tested for safety yet."

Vanilla, sometimes called 'green gold', is the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron.

UK designer recycles plastic into vanilla ice cream

27 September 2023

Introducing the world's first food made from plastic waste... vanilla ice cream!

Named Guilty Flavours, the ice cream has been designed to provoke viewers into thinking about plastic waste.

The ice cream was developed by scientists in Edinburgh, who used bacteria and enzymes to digest PET plastic and turn it into vanillin -- the molecule that gives vanilla its flavour.

The ice cream is still in its research phase and currently not for human consumption.

[signpetitions]

The cosmetics mega-brand Dove campaigns about how much they ”care about women and girls” while at the same time polluting this planet with massive amounts of single-use plastic. Click the link below and sign a letter to tell Dove it’s time to actually start caring for the wellbeing of their customers!

[xtruss]

Could Plastic Made From Bacteria Guts Help Solve Our Waste Crisis?

Bioplastics called PHAs grow like beer and biodegrade like wood. And they may be able to help with our plastic waste problem.

— By Alissa Greenberg | Published: Wednesday March 17, 2021

Drinking straws are one of many single-use plastic products that could potentially be produced using biopolymers. Image Credit: Phichai, Shutterstock

Despite the efforts of recycling programs and environmental education, it’s still hard for many of us to grasp just how much plastic humans produce. We are on track to produce a billion tons of plastic a year by 2050. Cumulatively, we’ve already produced more than 8.3 billion metric tons since 1950. That’s 20 times the weight of all human beings alive right now.

The systems we’ve developed for recycling that plastic are full of logistical, political, and economic obstacles, and the numbers show it. By 2015, three quarters of those 8 billion metric tons of plastic were already out of use, with 9% of it having been recycled and 12% incinerated. A whopping 79% wound up in landfills or the natural environment, destined to sit virtually unchanged for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

It doesn’t have to be this way. “Plastic” is a category that encompasses a huge diversity of materials with one thing in common: They’re made of repeating chains of molecules known as “polymers” and can be molded or extruded while soft to take particular shapes. Until recently, we've only looked to petrochemicals (made from crude oil and natural gas) to create plastics with the properties we find so useful: the rigidity of takeout utensils, the flexibility of plastic films, the moisture barrier that contains greasy food. Although some less-common petroplastics are indeed biodegradable, bioplastics—which are often made from plant materials like sugar cane pulp, corn, or cassava and in many cases biodegrade after relatively short periods—may also be able to help address our big plastic problem.

Enter polyhydroxyalkanoates, also known as PHAs, polymers used to make biodegradable bioplastics from an unlikely source: bacteria guts. PHAs and other bioplastics seek to challenge our assumptions about what plastic can be, and companies like Danimer in Georgia and Mango Materials in California are betting big that their products can help make a dent in our plastic waste numbers. Danimer’s partnership with Bacardi will see that company unveiling PHA bottles in all of its liquor lines by 2023; it also has partnerships in the works with Nestle, Pepsico, and other giants of single-use plastic. Meanwhile, Mango is making inroads into other plastic-reliant industries, like apparel. (Yes, your workout clothes have plastic in them.)

But PHAs aren’t new. They’ve been around for 35 years, and doubters like to point to Metabolix, a PHA company that seemed promising, grew quickly, and then collapsed in 2016. Metabolix and other would-be innovators have lived and died trying to “make PHAs happen.” Is now the time for this bioplastic to break through?

You might not think plastic and beer have much in common, but in the case of PHAs, there’s some surprising overlap. The bio-based plastic is derived from what amounts to bacteria guts, a polymer the microorganisms use to turn food into energy stored away for a rainy day. To make that polymer into something usable for humans, PHA scientists and entrepreneurs grow the bacteria in big vats under specific conditions, feeding them with vegetable oil, sugar, or methane gas and waiting to harvest the results. So far, kinda like beer.

Here’s where it gets a little different. When the bacteria have gotten so full and roly-poly that they’re barely bacteria anymore—when their cells have gone from around 3% polymer to upwards of 95%—they’re subject to a purification process that bursts their membranes and brings the polymer out of solution. The resulting white powder is combined in pellets that then can be made into straws and takeout containers. Voila: plastic that’s not just made without fossil fuels but is also fully compostable, biodegrading in both your backyard and the ocean.

We’ve known about bacteria’s capacity to manufacture plastic since the 1920s. But it took until 1983 to figure out how to get the polymers from inside the bacteria into human hands and until quite recently for that to happen on a scale that could be commercialized. “If you think of what we knew in the early 20th century about bacteria, microscopy, evolution, all those things have rapidly evolved,” says Mango Materials CEO Molly Morse. Only in the last decade have we had the tool set to make PHAs a reality.

Pellets made from PHA biopolymers. Photo courtesy of Mango Materials

Now, there are over 150 types of PHAs, which differ based on the length of their molecules, how they’re structured, which microorganisms are producing them, and what those microorganisms are fed. The longer the molecule chains, the more flexible and stretchable the plastic is; the shorter they are, the more brittle the material becomes. PHAs melt and flow like petroplastics and they can be turned into sheets or molded into many forms. That makes them great for all kinds of applications with one thing in common: whether in backyard compost, in industrial composting facilities, or in the ocean, they’ll completely biodegrade within six months.

The big difference is that petroplastics are synthetic, and while bacteria may attempt to break them down, those organisms lack enzymes to break the plastics’ carbon-carbon bonds, making full degradation impossible. But since bacteria already use PHAs to store energy, they have built-in ways to both recognize and break them down. That’s what makes PHAs uniquely biodegradable—but only in specific settings. To understand why this is possible, “think about wood,” says Danimer Chief Technology Officer Phil Van Trump. If you build your desk out of wood, it won’t just disappear out of your house one day; it needs the right environment for that. “But in your yard, it’s a different story. Put it back in that environment, and bacteria and fungi will recognize it as food and start in on it.”

Of course, there are some drawbacks. In plastic-nerd parlance, PHAs have a “narrow processing window,” which means that their melting point and the point at which heat transforms them chemically into something else are only 10 degrees apart. That limits the ways they can be processed to stand in for petroplastics—for example, in materials that are subjected to very high heat or need very high mechanical strength, like airplane windshields, car bumpers, or bulletproof vests. But PHAs' biggest drawback is cost. Production is relatively expensive, especially the part of the process that draws the polymer out of the bacteria, says Amar Mohanty, a polymer and plastics engineer at the University of Guelph in Canada. Though there are different techniques for doing so, they often require large amounts of expensive chemicals like acetone or chloroform. “And to get a really purified polymer, you need to repeat the steps two or three times,” adds his colleague, fellow engineer Manjusri Misra.

PHAs, like other bioplastics, also release methane when they degrade under anaerobic conditions (like in landfills). Since methane is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, some critics worry that if PHA products grow popular and then are improperly disposed of, they may end up contributing to the climate crisis. In response, Van Trump and Mohanty stress the importance of developing proper waste-disposal infrastructure along with PHA technology, including industrial composting and digesters. “There’s growing we need to do as a society with how much we stick in landfills,” Van Trump says.

In her work at Mango Materials, Morse has taken the methane release issue in a different direction, since Mango’s PHA bacteria actually feed on methane to grow their polymer. Mango has even partnered with Silicon Valley Clean Water in Redwood City, California, to build a digester on site and harness the methane coming off the city’s waste. At just that single location, Mango could produce up to 10 million pounds of PHA plastic per year.

And then there’s the question of toxicity. In a recent study, Lisa Zimmerman, a biologist at Goethe University in Germany, tested 40 different bioplastics, including one PHA product, and found they were not on average any less toxic than regular plastics. And when chemicals from the bioplastics leached into an environment where Zimmerman was raising microorganisms, many of them (including those from the PHA product) exhibited the potential to simulate hormones and interrupt the organisms’ metabolisms. Since some of the products she tested were not toxic, Zimmerman sees her result as an impetus to increase industry transparency. “The problem is that the product composition is not made openly available, so it’s really hard for other producers to integrate those less harmful chemicals,” she says. “To scale up, it would really help if it was openly communicated what is in the product.”

Plastic caps (left) and film (right) produced from PHA biopolymers. Photos courtesy of Mango Materials

Still, all the people interviewed for this article see the current moment as a time with enormous potential for bioplastics. As recently as 2014, when Mango applied for funding through the National Science Foundation to work on marine plastic pollution, their application was denied because the foundation “didn’t believe plastics in the ocean were a problem,” Morse says. She’s seen huge societal change since then, even noticing a difference just within the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. “People are at home staring at their trash cans wondering where all this stuff is going,” she says. “We’ve seen interest in the past 12 months like never before.”

Van Trump also sees a major change in the attitudes of the corporations Danimer is partnering with, like Pepsi, Nestle, and Bacardi, which now seem more willing to invest in solutions to the plastics problem. “We’re growing like a weed,” he says of Danimer, which just opened new facilities in Georgia and Kentucky. And Van Trump and Morse both point out that price and scale are intimately connected. Bioplastics like PHAs are competing against a petroplastics industry producing in simply enormous volumes, with some single plants producing a billion pounds a year—and economies of scale make it possible for petroplastics companies to keep their prices low. “The industry has had 70 to 80 years to optimize and build capacity,” Van Trump says. He holds out hope, though, that “when we get to the scales of the ‘traditional’ polymers, then costs will come down dramatically.”

In fact, Mohanty says the current problem for PHAs is the opposite of what it was in the days of Metabolix: too much demand and not enough production capacity. He expects the industry will grow into that demand in the coming decade, especially as widespread single-use petroplastic bans go into effect. The key, in the meantime, is to educate consumers about their options and to build enough infrastructure that all those new PHA containers and films and straws don’t end up in landfills. Of our voracious plastic appetite, he says, “If we cannot stay away from it, we have to find ways to handle it.”

[economischief]

Overcoming the Plastic Waste Crisis - A Multifaceted Approach Needed to Drive Change

The plastic waste crisis has escalated to a critical level, with an overwhelming amount of waste accumulating in our oceans, landfills, and ecosystems. The consequences of our dependence on plastics are becoming increasingly evident, impacting not only the environment but also public health, biodiversity, climate change, and human rights. Despite the urgency of the situation, many companies have been slow to take action. Consequently, a coalition of investors, managing $10tn in assets, is urging major companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, Amazon, PepsiCo, and McDonald's to take "urgent action" and significantly reduce their plastic footprint.

While investor pressure is undeniably essential in combatting plastic waste, it represents only one aspect of a comprehensive, long-term solution. To encourage companies to take more action on tackling plastic waste, we must first identify the underlying factors contributing to this crisis and implement multifaceted strategies that focus on several key areas where change can make a significant impact.

Firstly, governments should establish a robust regulatory framework by implementing stricter regulations and guidelines to limit plastic production and consumption. Enforcing these rules will compel companies to seek sustainable alternatives and reduce their reliance on single-use plastics. Furthermore, governments should incentivise research and development of eco-friendly materials and packaging solutions.

Secondly, investors and financial institutions should continue using their influence to encourage companies to adopt sustainable business models. By withholding investments or offering financial incentives, such as lower interest rates for companies with strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, they can guide businesses towards reducing their plastic footprint.

Thirdly, the power of consumer choice is a force that should not be underestimated. Raising awareness of the plastic waste crisis and encouraging consumers to vote with their wallets will make companies more inclined to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Social media campaigns, educational initiatives, and grassroots movements can play a crucial role in shifting public opinion and consumer behaviour.

Fourthly, companies should be encouraged to adopt a circular economy model, which emphasises reducing material consumption, reusing and recycling resources, and minimising waste. By doing so, they can lessen their environmental impact and create a more sustainable future.

Lastly, transparency and accountability are paramount. Companies must be open about their plastic usage and waste management strategies, enabling consumers and investors to hold them accountable for their actions. This can be achieved through regular reporting, third-party audits, and public commitments to reduce plastic waste.

In conclusion, the responsibility to address the plastic waste crisis lies with all stakeholders, including governments, investors, companies, and consumers. By working together and adopting a multifaceted approach, we can encourage companies to make significant strides in reducing their plastic footprint, paving the way for a more sustainable world for future generations.

Join the conversation on LinkedIn. What are your thoughts on the plastic waste crisis and the actions needed to combat it? Share your opinions in the #comments.

[reasonsforhope]

Masterpost: Reasons I firmly believe we will beat climate change

Posts are in reverse chronological order (by post date, not article date), mostly taken from my "climate change tag," which I went through all the way back to the literal beginning of my blog. Will update periodically.

Especially big deal articles/posts are in bold.

Big picture:

Mature trees offer hope in world of rising emissions (x)

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant (x)

Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives (x)

Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected (x)

The exponential growth of solar power will change the world (x)

Sun Machines: Solar, an energy that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge (x)

Wealthy nations finally deliver promised climate aid, as calls for more equitable funding for poor countries grow (x)

For Earth Day 2024, experts are spreading optimism – not doom. Here's why. (x)

Opinion: I’m a Climate Scientist. I’m Not Screaming Into the Void Anymore. (x)

The World’s Forests Are Doing Much Better Than We Think (x)

‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (x)

Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (x)

Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought (x)

Yes, climate change can be beaten by 2050. Here's how. (x)

Soil improvements could keep planet within 1.5C heating target, research shows (x)

The global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt (x)

The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past (x)

Scientists Find Methane is Actually Offsetting 30% of its Own Heating Effect on Planet (x)

Are debt-for-climate swaps finally taking off? (x)

High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (x)

How Could Positive ‘Tipping Points’ Accelerate Climate Action? (x)

Specific examples:

Environmental Campaigners Celebrate As Labour Ends Tory Ban On New Onshore Wind Projects (x)

Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa (x)

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution (x)

Rewilding sites have seen 400% increase in jobs since 2008, research finds [Scotland] (x)

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West (x)

Waste Heat Generated from Electronics to Warm Finnish City in Winter Thanks to Groundbreaking Thermal Energy Project (x)

Climate protection is now a human right — and lawsuits will follow [European Union] (x)

A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (x)

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII [United States] (x)

These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

Century of Tree Planting Stalls the Warming Effects in the Eastern United States, Says Study (x)

Chart: Wind and solar are closing in on fossil fuels in the EU (x)

UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (x)

Countries That Generate 100% Renewable Energy Electricity (x)

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

India’s clean energy transition is rapidly underway, benefiting the entire world (x)

China is set to shatter its wind and solar target five years early, new report finds (x)

‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis (x)

Largest-ever data set collection shows how coral reefs can survive climate change (x)

The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What Does It DO? [United States] (x)

Good Climate News: Headline Roundup April 1st through April 15th, 2023 (x)

How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon (x) [Brazil]

Loss of Climate-Crucial Mangrove Forests Has Slowed to Near-Negligable Amount Worldwide, Report Hails (x)

Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala (x)

Climate adaptation:

Solar-powered generators pull clean drinking water 'from thin air,' aiding communities in need: 'It transforms lives' (x)

‘Sponge’ Cities Combat Urban Flooding by Letting Nature Do the Work [China] (x)

Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala (x)

A green roof or rooftop solar? You can combine them in a biosolar roof — boosting both biodiversity and power output (x)

Global death tolls from natural disasters have actually plummeted over the last century (x)

Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be (x)

This city turns sewage into drinking water in 24 hours. The concept is catching on [Namibia] (x)

Plants teach their offspring how to adapt to climate change, scientists find (x)

Resurrecting Climate-Resilient Rice in India (x)

[ja3yun]

Picturesque | P.SH

bf!sunghoon x gf!reader

warnings: smut (mdni), unprotected sex, oral (m&f receiving), pet names, fluff, pornography (? sunghoon takes pictures while they do the deed), multiple orgasms, they're sickeningly cute, not proof read, anything i've missed lmk

wc: 4.6k+

synopsis: it's your boyfriend sunghoon's birthday and you want to make it special. your present goes down much better than anticipated.

a/n: hi! it's my best boys' birthday today <3 i know you're all waiting for the next part of tstab but i couldn't resist to post this. its just a one shot because i love him sm and my brain is always thinking about him but esp on his birthday. hope you like it!

You open your eyes to darkness, the only light coming from the orange streetlight outside. Warmth is felt around your waist and down your back as your boyfriend, Sunghoon, sleeps soundly. Looking at the clock you see it read 3.34am. Perfect.

Today was Sunghoon’s 21st birthday. He said he didn’t want a big fuss, simply to have everyone around to your shared apartment for some dinner and drinks. One thing about your boyfriend is that he was a simple guy with simple needs. That didn’t mean you couldn’t decorate the place for him though.

Planning this was a strategic effort even though it seemed simple. Sunghoon was smart, too smart, and if you slipped up even once about your plans he could easily piece it together. It’s not like you were preparing some big extravagant surprise with fireworks and magicians or something, no, you couldn’t even dream of something so lavish. Truth is with both of you being University students with minimum-wage part-time jobs, you were barely making rent. You don’t regret moving in together, it was the right decision, you just wished the government wasn’t filled with incapable idiots and put everyone in a cost-of-living crisis. So you have to make do with what you have, even if you think it’s not enough.

Peeling your lover's arm from your waist you make haste to start decorating the living room. Your flat was small so you had to be extremely quiet, like don’t breathe quiet, but with you and your lack of ability to produce any noise lower than 120 decibels it is going to be a challenge. Sunghoon loved how loud you were compared to his quieter demeanor, making sure to tell you to be as loud as you want and that he would never complain. He especially made this known in your bedroom.

You put on his white shirt from the night before and gingerly shut the door behind you as you vacate the room, leaving Sunghoon sleeping. In your hall cupboard, you had hidden an Asda bag filled with decorations like banners, balloons, and streamers. Their selection of stuff is to be desired and none of it matches but you’ll make it work. 

Looking around your living room with a sigh of discontentment you place all the decorations out on your coffee table. “Okay, where do I start?” Your voice is a whisper as you speak to yourself. “I should start with balloons. Yeah, balloons.”

The balloons you wanted were the big number balloons so you could have the 21 as the centrepiece but the very bitter middle-aged lady in Card Factory made it very clear there weren’t any 2’s in store. What kind of place runs out of 2’s? You had to settle for black, white, and gold multi-pack.

You shut your eyes tight and swallow your breath down as the plastic rustles far too loudly. “Shhh.” A warning to the inanimate object is wasted but it’s all you can think to do. This is going to take a while.

As the morning goes on you’ve managed to blow up the balloons and group them into 3-a-piece, hanging them up on each side of the big window and in the corners. You thought you were a goner when one of the white balloons almost escaped your grasp and started flying around the room but you grabbed it just in time. Checking the time on the clock you see it’s 4.30am. It really took you an hour for the balloons. Banners were next on your list but they should be easier surely.

Grabbing the automne you’ve been using as a ladder you successfully put 3 banners up in 20 minutes. If you had the time you’d celebrate but you still had so much to do before he gets up. “One more.” You place your hands on your hips and blow some hair out of your face as you smile. It’s ugly, it doesn’t match the others at all. The banner is silver with just the letters ‘Happy Birthday’ held together by a tacky white ribbon. You really wish you could do better than this but alas here you are climbing up to situate it above the TV. This is a little trickier since you have to stretch to reach the wall because of the TV unit that sticks out. 

You fail to notice your boyfriend leaning by the doorframe with his arms crossed and a cheeser of a smile on his face. He wanted to see how long it would take you to notice his presence but he thinks he’ll be waiting a long time. You’re too engrossed in your task to even hear his footsteps coming up behind you.

“Babe?” His deep morning voice scares you and you stumble on the automne, almost falling backward. Sunghoon’s eyes widen as he registers what's happening and rushes to catch you. “Shit, Y/N. You okay?” He places one of his warm hands on your backside and the other on your knee, stroking them both gently to make sure you’re okay.

Only your heart was not okay, thumping loudly as a rush of heat spreads through your chest from the adrenaline of nearly crashing into the table behind you. When you calm down you laugh and lean on his shoulder to step down. “I’m okay.”

Now you’ve properly come to you bring your hands to your mouth as your eyes widen. “You’re not supposed to be up this early!” As if it’s his fault you slap his chest and he chuckles in disbelief.

“Sorry, babe, if I had known you were planning to surprise me I would have slept longer.” Oh. He’s right but still. Not fair.

“I didn’t even get to put up the streamers or that shitty banner.” Dramatically, you wave your arms around and scowl at the devil banner. “It was supposed to be finished so when you walked in I could go ‘Ta-Da!’ and you would be all like ‘Oh my god, Y/N. You’re the best girlfriend ever. This is incredible.’” Sunghoon lets out a loud laugh and brings his hands to your face.

“Okay, okay, let me walk back in and we’ll do it again.” You pout at his suggestion but shake your head as much as you can considering he’s now squishing your cheeks.

“There’s no point now.” Sunghoon sees your disappointment and he matches your saddened expression.

“I’m sorry, babe. You worked so hard on this and I ruined it.”

“Yeah, you did.” You joke while he places a kiss on your forehead and lets you go. 

Sunghoon looks around the room at all your efforts. His eyes are filled with admiration and love, everything you did was his favourite but somehow you top it every time. All that energy you spent wasting on worry because you couldn’t give him more was so silly because he was so appreciative that you would even take the time to do any of this, especially when he said he didn’t want a  fuss.

His eyes meet yours and he sighs, “Beautiful, you didn’t have to do all this.” You are so busy between all your Uni work and grueling shifts at the restaurant that he doesn’t even know when you had time to get any of this stuff. “It’s just my birthday.”

“It’s your 21st! It’s special!” You protest. “I would have done something more extra but,”

He knows. It’s tight right now between bills and time but none of that matters to him, not right now, not when he has you beside him. “Babe it’s perfect, really. I like the uh,” he points between the decorations, “the green and pink banner and the gold balloons, brings a certain class to the room.” He jokes and you hide your face in embarrassment in his chest, mumbling a little ‘It’s all they had’. “Y/N I love it.” He bends down a little until his face is just below yours, “Seriously. Thank you.”

All the trouble was worth it just to see his smile right now. You peck his lips, “Happy Birthday, Hoonie.” Circling your arms around him as he towers back over you, he kisses the top of your head and then pulls away slightly to kiss your lips. Sunghoon feels so loved by you. The kiss is filled with love and desire so when you pull back he audibly groans.

“Do you want your present?” Not unlike you, but you’re nervous. You had been saving up for his gift since February so no pressure or anything. Inside you’re screaming, your brain working overtime in the anxious department. What if he hates it? “Or do you want to wait a bit?”

“If you’re the present then I’ll take it right now.” He captures your lips back into a kiss. If he wasn’t so into this kiss he would have noticed your playful eye roll. Sunghoon had the impeccable ability to make you have butterflies in your stomach while also frustrating you at how horny he is. He truly is still just a man.

“Hoonie I’m serious.” You pull away and he sighs.

“So am I.” His large hands grope your ass to pull you towards him. When he looks at your face he removes his hands from your body and holds them up defensively. “Okay, I get it. But I told you nothing crazy.” 

Sunghoon didn’t care for gifts and that’s why giving this one to him made you feel like you were going to throw up and cry. He was either going to love it or be mad that you bought it.

“Close your eyes.” Doing as he’s told he screws his eyes shut and you turn to dig through the automne. It wasn’t the safest place to leave it considering it took for him to look for one letter or magazine to find it, but it’s better than nothing. The present is perfectly wrapped with glossy white paper, accented with a gold ribbon, you wanted it all to be perfect. “Put out your hands.”

Once his hands are flat you place the box gently in his hands and he opens his eyes. His smile falls a little as he looks between the box and you. “Y/N this is big.” He’s skeptical and his face doesn’t hide it which sends your anxiety through the roof. “Please don’t tell me it’s something exp-”

“Can you just appreciate it and open it please?” He’s hurt by your words. Of course he cherishes anything you do or buy for him, he just doesn’t want you wasting money on him and with the size of this box, he fears you might have.

“Babe of course I appreciate it, you know I do.” You pout and push the box to his chest. 

“Then open it and tell me you love it. And don’t get mad.” When you say that he shuts his eyes. “I promise it’s nothing like mad expensive. Scouts honour.” You hold a hand to your chest and one in the air.

Sitting down on the couch he unwraps the gift and sees a plain black box. His fingertips feel the edges before he opens it and his eyes widen bigger than they ever have before, he doesn’t move. 

He hates it. Obviously he does. You bite your nails looking at him slowly take out the gift and examine it. “Y/N this is..” He trails off, looking intently at it.

Last year Sunghoon had gotten back into photography, just a hobby, nothing major, but he found a real passion in it this year. He carried the thing everywhere, taking pictures of everything he found pretty - most of the memory card was filled with you. Nonetheless, he didn’t have a case for it, and considering it cost him like 2 months' worth of rent, and that was it being second-hand, you felt like he needed to protect it properly. 

So you got him a custom leather case to fit his vintage Minolta TC-1 camera, his initials embroidered on the front lefthand side. The Etsy seller was even nice enough to throw in a strap that matched. You were lying when you said it wasn’t super costly, it did take months to save up for, but as you see his shocked face change into one filled with glee, you know it was worth it.

“Y/N, this is too much.” The smile on his face said otherwise, it was just perfect.  “Babe, seriously, this must have cost you a shit ton of money.” 

Shrugging you play it off, “Nah, got a good deal on it.” 

Like a child at Christmas, he stands up and strides over to embrace you, the hug said everything he couldn’t. There were no words to describe how much he loved it, how much he loved you.

“Let me go get my camera!” Sunghoon was easily excitable and as he ran to your bedroom to retrieve his camera you could only laugh. The pitter-patter of his feet getting faster the closer he got back to the living room was the cutest thing you have ever seen. Struggling to get the camera in the case due to excitement, you walked over and took the case from his hands, “Here, babe.” You slot it in and thank the heavens it fits and in hindsight, you probably should have checked before giving it to him.

“Babe, I love it so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He kisses all over your face. He was such a cutie, you never understood why people were intimidated by him. But then again, with a face so gorgeous who wouldn’t be? And you were the only one that really got to see this side of him.

“I’m glad you like it, Hoonie.” He corrects you and repeats the word ‘love’ which makes you smile.

Turning the camera on he brings it to his face and adjusts it. You take the opportunity of his preoccupied state to clear up some of the mess from the decorations and his present. You contemplate whether you should attempt to finish decorating but you don’t see the point, maybe finish it before the others come over.

A shutter sound echoes in the quiet room and you spin around to see your birthday boy smiling widely as the camera is pointed at you.

“Hoon, stop! I’m not even dressed yet.”

Your words seem to spark a mischievous glint in his eye and you have no clue what he is thinking. Sunghoon slowly walks over to you, “You know,” he wears the strap of the camera around his neck and takes the rubbish from your hands and discards it to the couch, “That’s not a bad idea.” Perplexment shows on your face. When did anything you just say sound like an idea? “I could take your picture.” 

“Babe you always take my picture.” 

“Not while I’m fucking you I haven’t.” 

Your jaw hits the floor. For the first time in your life, you are speechless, utterly gobsmacked. “No way.” You’re a generally shy person despite your loud personality so you would never think to do anything like this.

“Come on, Y/N.” He strokes your hair and uses a lower octave voice to try and persuade you, “They’ll just be for me, literally no one else will see them. You know I would never show them to anyone.”

Evidently he wouldn’t, he doesn’t even like it when you both go out dressed up nice and guys even think about looking at you. This was for him when you were on long shifts or in classes. Something he could use to jerk off to when his wank bank of memories won’t suffice. 

He’s too persuasive because the next thing you know you’re taking his hand and pulling him to the bedroom. Glancing around the surroundings you sigh. “Can I tidy up first?” 

“Why?” He laughs confused.

“I just don’t want the pictures taken with all this mess lying around, it’s un-aesthetically pleasing.”

His quiet almost silent laugh rings in your ears and you smile defeated. “Baby, do you think for one fucking second I am going to be looking at the slippers on the ground or Mr. Giles in the corner.” Mr. Giles, your childhood teddy bear, has seen far too much of what has gone on in these four walls but why is it when Sunghoon mentions his name you want to cuddle him and apologise?

“Mr. Giles is camera shy okay?” Your boyfriend picks him up, places a kiss on his nose, and places him facing the wall. 

“There. See.” He pushes you to lie on the bed, “Now, let me do my job, yeah?” His hands are on your waist in no time, the camera swinging from his neck now lays on your stomach as he bends down. The coldness of the object makes you shiver but you’re soon heating up when you feel his fingers dip into the waistband of your panties and pull them down. You hear him mutter ‘So fucking beautiful’ as his face is level with your core. Thinking he’s just going to get right down to business, you spread your legs but he stands up. “I need to take a before shot.” 

Click

Click

Click

He takes pictures as you lay there in only his shirt, some at a lower angle to get your perfect pussy in focus. His eyes are telling you he’s trying to refrain from just delving in, from absolutely ingurgitating you, it’s a patience he usually doesn’t have. 

“On your knees for me, beautiful.” Being obedient like always, you do what he says. “Gonna get you to suck my cock, okay?” You don’t wait to be told what to do next because your hands are reaching for his boxers to pull them down. Cocks are either fucking beautiful or ugly, and Sunghoon had the prettiest cock of them all. His reddening tip slaps his stomach and you mewl out loud. “Don’t show off for the camera baby, okay? Just do it the way you always do.” 

Sunghoon loves the way you lovingly lap his cock, trying to fit it all in your mouth but he’s so big you can’t take it all the way in without choking. It’s cute to him how eager to please him you are.

You sit your hands on his hips and lick a stripe from his balls to the tip before taking his tip in your mouth. “Fuck.” You hear Sunghoon breathe out and it makes you look up. This is the moment you wish you could take the camera and snap a picture of him. Maybe you need to suggest that at a later date.

Right now it’s Sunghoon’s birthday and it’s whatever he wants. You suck his cock in earnest, grabbing the base to cover the part of his cock you can’t fit into your mouth. He’s like you’re favourite meal and while you used to hate sucking dick there’s something so pleasing about him and the way he tastes. 

Forgetting his original intentions he grabs your hair and tightens it into a tight pony, pulling at it. “B-babe, so fucking good at this.” It’s not until he looks down at you working him up and down he sees the camera. He uses both hands to put you into focus and takes a few pictures. Some are just a close-up of your lips enveloping his shaft, others are simple POV shots. It’s when you look up as you hear the shuttering from the camera that he starts really taking the pictures with determination to capture how beautiful you look in this moment. The eye contact to the camera has his chest growling. “That’s my pretty girl, made for the camera, huh?”

He wasn’t big on dirty talk but right now he felt like a whole different person, and this person wanted you to hear how good you made him feel.

Picking up the pace you start to slabber down your chin, losing yourself in the action. Sunghoon is so close to cumming that when he pulls you off his cock he whimpers. You are both panting and clouded with lust, your plumped-up lips aren’t helping Sunghoon, and his leaking cock isn’t helping you. 

“You’re a natural on this camera, babe.” His hand reaches down to wipe the saliva and particles of his cum from your lips. Click. Another perfect moment. “Can’t wait for you to see it from my point of view.”

“Sunghoon, I love you but I am not looking at those ever.” There is a big part of you that actually would like to see it, but you’re too embarrassed to even imagine what you look like. 

“You’re missing out, beautiful. Nothing more picturesque than you choking on my cock.” Sunghoon says the filthy sentence so casually and it flips your stomach. “Lay down for me.”

Removing the camera from his frame he places it on the bedside table. Is he finished taking pictures? “Hoon wha-”

Sunghoon’s face is in between your legs and licking up your folds before you can ask your question but his actions answer it anyway. If he was your favourite meal, you were certainly his. Fuck, you were his favourite everything. He was sucking your clit so suddenly you arched your back, the action pressing your pussy further into his face which elicited a hum of approval from him. The sucking was harsh, overwhelming, so much so you hadn’t even noticed how his fingers lightly trailed your thigh. 

His palm pushed your right leg open further, his mouth never letting up on your sensitive bud.

“Hoonie,” A moan of his name leaves your lips, your hand grabbing him and pushing it towards your entrance. He doesn’t stop what he’s doing but still listens to your silent request, his middle finger circling your opening. 

The birthday boy wishes he could do this and take pictures because he knows you look so fucking beautiful right now. Even the image in his head of you arched in his work shirt, mouth agape and moaning, could make him cum right now. Instead, it just fuels him so keep going at your clit, throwing in some light nibbles every so often.

Slipping his middle finger into you he curls it exactly how you like it. After 2 years of fucking you, he’d say he could easily get a PhD in how to please you, certainly how to make you cum. And what you like is way more than just one finger, so he adds two more sending you crazy.

“Fuck, fuck, Hoonie, so good.” The moans and profanities leaving your lips make him smirk, knowing you’re close. He makes his tongue rigid and uses it to stimulate your nub, going fast and hard in rhythm with his fingers and within a minute your thighs are clamping his head and your coating his tongue with your cum. “Shit, my god, m’cumming.”

He almost laughs at you because of course you’re coming, he’s tasting it right now and it’s better than any meal or cake he’s going to get today. 

Your trembling thighs open slightly and he peaks his head up to see you, quickly grabbing his camera. “What a fucking sight,” Sunghoon whispers before clicking. Your arm is laid over your face, his shirt is held together by one button in the middle of your torso, and most importantly your cunt is glistening. He wants to blow this picture up on a canvas and hang it in the living room, but you would never agree and his friend would never leave your house. 

As you catch your breath, Sunghoon crawls to hover over you. “Babe you look so fucking good right now.”

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You laugh and finally bring your arm away from your eyes. Your essence still on his lips somehow makes you wetter than you already are.

“You’re so funny.” His sarcastic tone makes you laugh harder. “Now I need to make a decision

“What?”

“Do I want your pussy filled with my cum, or it splattered on your stomach?" 

Oh, you might just have a second orgasm right now. It’s not implausible at this moment. “Well, you have my permission for anything,” You kiss his lips, moaning as he instantly sticks his tongue down your throat. Breaking the moment you bite your lip, “And y’know, if you can cum twice you could get a double shot.”

The camera is pushed back on the table and his dick is touching your entrance, “I’ll make it a surprise what one comes first then, huh?” With that, he’s sliding into your heat, both of you gasping in unison. You’re tight around his cock, your walls dragging themselves perfectly along his hard shaft. 

“Shit, babe, feel so fucking good.” If he could record this moment and make it 4DX he would hire out a Cineworld screen every day and watch it on repeat.

Thrusting into you with purpose, one of his big hands gently encloses your throat, not tight enough to cut off your air but enough to have you roll your eyes back. It’s taking all his willpower not to just fuck you rough and hard because if he does he’ll cum instantly and that’s just not going to happen, not on his watch. “You’re so beautiful, Y/N. So perfect.” He brings his mouth to your ear, “My pretty girl, I love you so much.” 

You cry out in love and pleasure as he starts to pick up the pace, his cock hitting your soft spot every time. To him, you were the only present he ever needed. 

Sunghoon nibbles your earlobe, keeping his rhythm steady, continuing to whisper in your ear, “You wanna cum?”

“Yes, fuck yes please, Hoon.” He takes your hand from your throat and places it beside your head to give him more stability as he relentlessly fucks into you, his lips sucking in yours as he loses control, his only thought right now is to make you come undone on his dick. 

From the last orgasm you had it doesn’t take long before you’re cumming again, the aftershocks still buzzing and only adding to the sensation. You’re gripping his arms and crawling down them, legs shaking as you loosely wrap them around him. There’s no energy left in your body so as he fucks you deep, your spent body only moves due to the power of his thrusts. “You’re doing so good, I’m nearly there, babe.” He mumbles into your neck as he nuzzles into you.

You’re getting a tiny bit overstimulated but you know he’s close so you bear with it, mustering up all you have left to whisper, “Come on, Hoonie, don’t you wanna get the perfect shot?” 

His seed fills you instantaneously as your words echo in his ear, his body jittering as he coats your walls, his hips losing their rhythm and coming to a standstill. 

Heavy breathing and banging heartbeats are all you both hear as you compose yourselves. Sunghoon falls on top of you, his softening cock still buried inside you. Rubbing soothing circles on his back makes him smile widely and look at you. “Thank you, babe. For the present.”

“You’re welcome.” Lazily you plant a feather kiss on his nose. You reach over and grab the camera, “Well, you got a picture to take.” 

Smirking, Sunghoon takes the camera and slides out of you, taking in the view of his cum dripping out of you onto the bedsheets. It’s a work of art. “Pose for me, pretty girl.” You open your legs a little wider and try your hardest to look sexy for him.

The camera clicks a few times, each shot more beautiful than the last. You’re his muse, his everything, his best birthday present.

“Now,” He puts the camera away and lays on you once again, “I think for my next birthday I might ask for a camcorder.” 

[allforhee]

ੈ✩ — 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒. (BLURB) | LEE HEESEUNG

୨୧ pairing — older brother's best friend!lee heeseung x park!fem!reader

୨୧ synopsis — living under the protective eyes of your older brother, park sunghoon, he thinks he knows you the best. but litte does he know that heeseung knows you love your sour patch kids more than you love his usual swedish fish. (inspired by the summer i turned pretty scene where conrad knows belly's taste of candies more than jeremiah)

୨୧ genre — non!idol au, you're 20 and hee is 22, you and hee are dating but sunghoon doesn't know, sort of childhood friends to lovers?

୨୧ warnings — cursing, forbidden (ish) romance, cute fluff where heeseung knows you best, backstreet dating behind sunghoon's back, heeseung and sunghoon having a little quarrel, possesive/sassy-ish hee

୨୧ word count — 562 words, 3148 characters (sort of proofread?)

୨୧ author's note — first blurb and i lowkey wrote this on my phone during english class.. had to get this out of my system cause i absolutely loved this scene in tsitp. plus i felt like i needed to write something since i won't be releasing "it's a crisis"'s full fic anytime soon since i'm busy with exams coming up :(

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓.

the car comes to a stop under the gas station’s bright led light. sunghoon takes off his seatbelt as he grabs his wallet in his pocket, before exiting the car, leaving you and heeseung alone.

you could feel the tension between you and heeseung. the heavy rain outside making it seem louder. he was slumped over in the backseat with his phone in his hand, the bright light illuminating his features.

when did he become so handsome?

sunghoon opens the driver’s side’s door, “we’re two hours away from home, gas is filling up and i’m gonna get some snacks. you want any y/n?”

“i’m down with anything, honestly.” you respond.

as sunghoon is about to close the door, heeseung takes off his seatbelt, whispering a “i’ll come with.” before closing the car door.

the mini market’s door rings a slight ding! as sunghoon pushes the door open. the constant buzzing of the refrigerator and the broken acs filled the room. the two split up searching for bare necessities like snacks and water to keep them company on the way home.

as a couple minutes passed, the two found each other again at the cash register, dropping the things at checkout.

in sunghoon’s hands was a bag of swedish fish, meanwhile in heeseung’s was a bag of sour patch kids.

“don’t waste your money bud, she likes these better.” heeseung snickered, a smirk on his face.

sunghoon lets out a sigh, “they’re practically the same.” he defends himself.

“not to y/n. she thinks swedish fish tastes like candles. she likes sour.”

“why do you even care, hee?” he asks him. “she’s my sister, i know her.”

heeseung licks his lips as he lets out a small laugh, “i don’t.”

“that’s bullshit.” sunghoon scoffs.

“you still want these?” the cashier asks the two, pointing at the swedish fish.

“yes yes, of course.” sunghoon answers.

“i tried to warn him.” heeseung laughs at his best friend.

“why are you acting lik—like this?!” sunghoon asks, a slight bit of anger heard through his voice.

“relax, you big fucking baby. i’m just messing with ya man.” heeseung chuckles, giving his best friend a pat on the back.

with a glare, sunghoon taps his debit card at the scanner, paying for their snacks, picking up the plastic bag and murmuring a small thank you, to the cashier, before they rush out back into their car in the pouring rain.

as the two car doors slam, you take the plastic bag from sunghoon’s hands, diving in.

“what did you get?” you ask the two, ruffling the inside of the bag.

“ooh! sour patch, my favorite!” you glimmer, opening the package as you dive into the sour goodness. but you didn’t miss the bag of swedish fish in sunghoon’s hands.

“oh! i could, um, eat this swedish fish… after?”

sunghoon opened the bag before he responded with a “no, no it’s okay. i got them for me.” as he popped a little fish in his mouth, chewing with disappointment.

“okay.”

sunghoon’s brows furrowed, knowing damn well that his best friend was right.

even from the backseat, he could feel heeseung shooting him a look that was screaming i told you so! before he put the car into ignition.

as sunghoon pressed the gas and started driving into the dark rainy night, his sister chewing on her sour patch kids, he heard heeseung letting out small whisper right in his ear.

“you see? my girl knows her sour patch kids.”

taglist; @ariadores

back to my masterlist?

© 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐇𝐄𝐄, est. 2024 | do not plagiarize, modify, translate, or repost my works on any platforms.

[sparksinthenight]

In America, only 6% of plastic gets recycled.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Recently, I attended a conference where people referred to it as the ‘triple planetary crisis’ (climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic/waste pollution) and honestly I think it’s a game changer, shorter to say that ‘climate and ecological crisis’, leaves out a lot of the words that switch people off (warming, extinction, etc) and yet conveys urgency and a sense of universal responsibility. What do you guys think?

[cinamun]

This is a post about AI... FYI

So i'm really into sciences, most recently nanoscience in biology. I am also someone who follows global plastic pollution. So when I read this headline yesterday I immediately clicked and read the whole thing (because I heard about this study two years ago and wanted to see what was found).

When I reached this part, I had one of those Moments™...

This study is going to be crucial for policy changes, international accords and a slew of other ways the top producers of plastic waste can change practice or be held accountable. A study that used AI.

There has been a TON of talk about AI and the going consensus is that its bad for a multitude of reasons. I think that the beef most have is with generative AI, a very specific type of AI that uses/steals images to create a new image.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the really important study above could have been done without AI but it wasn't. Its also extremely useful in understanding the world's plastics crisis, especially given the fact that everyone reading this likely has microplastics in their livers.

This begs the question: Is all AI inherently bad? Or should we be more specific and say that Generative AI is inherently bad?

[signpetitions]

Vaping altogether is unnecessary. Vaping with disposable, single-use vapes is that, and also mindless damage done to the environment when other vape options exist. Sign the petition below to ban single use vapes in the UK!

[returnsandreturns]

they get high and also honest

(i don't KNOW where aziraphale read about shotgunning but it had to happen. also maybe continue on and put this on ao3?)

--

“It was wonderful to see Adam again, wasn’t it?” Aziraphale says.

“Mmm, yes,” Crowley says, unenthusiastically. “Did you understand a word he said?” 

“Oh, not a word,” Aziraphale breathes, relieved.

“He’s just a kid,” Crowley says, then laughs, surprising himself. “That’s kind of–nice, actually. After everything.” 

“It is nice,” Aziraphale says, smiling before he walks past him to lock the door to the shop. “Although, he’s really a teenager more than a kid. The smell alone.”

“Smell of hormones,” Crowley says, “and energy drinks and Snapchat and–” 

“Marijuana,” Aziraphale says, surprised, and Crowley turns to see him bent down and picking up a small plastic bag folded in half. “I thought I recognized the smell.” 

“Why did you recognize it?” Crowley asks, squinting at him, gasping when Aziraphale looks nothing but coy. "Have you partaken, angel?" 

“. . .you know that period in the seventies where we didn’t really speak much?” Aziraphale asks, apparently waiting for Crowley’s hesitant nod before he goes on. “I spent quite a lot of it. . .thinking. And smoking, on occasion. Medicinally." 

“For what ailment?” Crowley asks, laughing.  

“Spot of depression,” Aziraphale says, simply, no emotions on his face besides a small and, frankly, suspicious smile.

“Why were you depressed?” Crowley asks, with every emotion visible on his face, probably. He might not have been the best person to turn to in the event of an emotional crisis but he would have tried. Things got strange and tense after the holy water–perhaps, more specifically, after Aziraphale gently turned him down when he didn’t even know what he was asking for. He wanted to give him his space. Slow down. 

In 1972, he bought the newest Bowie album and fell asleep to Starman playing in the background. He woke up two years later, paced up and down Aziraphale’s street fifty times, caught eyes with him through the window for just a moment before he ran off. He bought a copy of Diamond Dogs from the record store nearby then went back to his flat and slept for the majority of the decade. 

Aziraphale wrinkles his nose, stares somewhere over Crowley’s shoulder for a long moment before he meets his eyes and says, softly, “We didn’t speak at all that decade, did we?”

“We had lunch once,” Crowley says, feeling like his heart is entirely too aware of this whole situation, wanting to touch him but not sure where, “in 1972.” 

“Of course,” Aziraphale says, after a beat, like he’s remembering how painfully awkward it was just trying to be whatever their brand of normal was. “Would you–would you like to smoke with me, perhaps? It would be wrong to give it back to Adam and encourage the behavior. But it's. . .also wrong to let it go to waste, don’t you think?” 

“For the record, this is not what I expected to happen today,” Crowley says, smiling, “but sure, angel. Let’s smoke, I guess.” 

*** 

When they’re upstairs, Aziraphale makes sure that the smoke will not penetrate anything to reach the books downstairs or leave a lingering smell, sitting Crowley down on the small sofa to watch as he digs around and eventually pulls out a delicate looking glass pipe. It looks brand new, no burns at all, milky white with pale blue flowers painted on it. 

Aziraphale is silent as he neatly packs the pipe and barely rubs his thumb over the rim of it to light it.  

“For you,” he says, offering it to Crowley before sitting next to him, just an inch or two between them. 

Crowley coughs as soon as he takes a hit, turning into a laugh when he sees Aziraphale watching him kind of smugly. 

“Don’t judge me, angel,” he says, handing him the pipe. “I’ve hardly done this. Apparently been living a pure and righteous existence compared to you." 

“And God said, behold,” Aziraphale says, solemnly, “I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the–” 

“Oh, don’t quote Genesis at me, you bastard,” Crowley says, nudging him gently. “I was there.” 

Aziraphale takes a hit and Crowley watches every godforsaken second of it, allowing himself the indiscretion given the context, taking in the sight of the pipe parting Aziraphale’s lips and his eye fluttering shut and the long lingering moment of peace before he slowly blows the smoke out. 

“You’re, uh,” Crowley says, faintly. “You’re good at that.” 

“How so?” Aziraphale asks, happily. 

“Well, you look good,” Crowley clarifies, freezing until Aziraphale blushes and looks even more pleased with himself. “What am I doing wrong?” 

“You need to take it slower, I think,” Aziraphale says, relighting it and biting his lip for a distracting moment before he asks, “May I?” and lifts the pipe to Crowley’s mouth. 

“. . .uh huh,” Crowley says, shocked at Aziraphale’s soft fingers touching his jaw to keep him still but immediately listening when he tells him to breathe in slowly and tells him when to stop. 

“Hold it in,” Aziraphale says, softly, setting the pipe carefully on the table before resting a hand on Crowley’s chest like he wants to feel his breathing. “Now breathe out, dear.” 

It’s definitely smoother.

“There you are,” Aziraphale says, satisfied. 

“Here I am,” Crowley says, thoroughly shaken. 

*** 

Crowley manages to get Aziraphale to do it one more time, just to be safe, before he takes a hit on his own and already feels like he’s melting into the sofa, staring shamelessly when Aziraphale shifts forward to pull off his jacket and waistcoat. 

Aziraphile slowly rolls up his sleeves and unbuttons exactly one button. 

"A bit stifled," he says, sitting back again, leaning against Crowley heavily. 

"Sure," Crowley says, swallowing hard. "Am I meant to be feeling it much yet?" 

"It may take some time," Aziraphale says, smiling sideways at him. "How are you feeling now?" 

"Good," Crowley says, smiling back because he can't help himself. "Very good." 

***

"You did not," Crowley says, grinning. 

"I did," Aziraphale says, laughing. "And I was never welcome at Buckingham Palace again." 

"You fascinate me," Crowley says, without a hint of sarcasm. 

At some point, he was down to a black t-shirt and jeans, everything else abandoned on the floor with Aziraphale's clothing. It is an unfamiliar sight that he can't stop glancing down at. 

At another point, his arm found its way around Aziraphale's shoulders, then his waist instead, and Aziraphale just cuddled close instead of commenting on it. It feels like time is moving differently and like he's breathing under water and, ultimately, like they can be what they want to be without driving away the urge with stupid fears. He can't hold onto a thought for very long other than how good he feels. It's lovely. 

"What are you thinking about?" Aziraphale asks, lifting his head, after they've both gone silent. 

". . .when you said I went too fast, in my car all those years ago," he says, because that's been on his mind ever since. "What did you think I wanted?" 

"Oh," Aziraphale says, softly. "Well, I thought maybe it was. . .what I wanted, as well. What I was trying not to want." 

"Angel," Crowley says. He really wants a straight answer for once, something other than wait and see and lingering looks, but then Aziraphale is relighting the pipe. 

"Let me try something," he says. "I've never done it but I've read–well, just breathe in when our mouths touch, dear." 

Crowley watches Aziraphale take another hit, feeling paralyzed for just a moment when Aziraphale slides fingers into hair to hold him in place before he's leaning in so they're pressed together as he slots his mouth over Crowley's and breathes out slowly. 

Crowley doesn't cough at all this time and Aziraphale stays right there, touches their foreheads together, murmurs his name like a goddamn blessing. 

"I want you," Crowley says, breathlessly, winding his arms around Aziraphale like he might change his mind. "Please, angel, please-can I have you?" 

Every word and every kiss that Aziraphale gives him after feels like it will linger forever, hovering around in the air between them, a gentle buzzing under his skin. He is feeling everything so much. 

"Yes," Aziraphale says, kissing his mouth. "Yes, anything you want." His cheek. "My beautiful boy." The tip of his nose. "So brave." 

"Dunno about brave," Crowley murmurs. 

"For me, you are," Aziraphale says, stroking his cheek. "You always have been." 

Crowley would do anything for him. If being brave is part of that, maybe he is. 

They kiss for an indeterminate amount of time, Aziraphale mostly in his lap, until Aziraphale pulls away just enough to murmur, "Should we sober up, darling? Maybe talk?" 

" I'd like to touch you a while longer," Crowley admits, brushing fingers down Aziraphale's throat, tracing down underneath his loose collar. "I think I might be braver this way, actually." 

Aziraphale smiles down at him warmly and starts to unbutton the rest of his shirt. 

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2012, Dutch teenager Boyan Slat presented a TED Talk on his concept for cleaning up the ocean with simple mechanisms to sweep up all the trash. While scientists and plastics experts cautioned that his ideas were ineffective, Slat’s non-profit the Ocean Cleanup, founded the year after his talk went viral, has gained millions of followers and big-name backers, including Salesforce, Maersk, KIA, and PayPal’s Peter Thiel. But the venture had one major problem: its first two designs didn’t work, despite the group burning through tens of millions of dollars over the course of a decade. The Ocean Cleanup has since pivoted to work with upstream river “interceptors” that are much more efficient at capturing garbage, but its website still prominently features its latest ocean debris “solution”—essentially a trawl fishing net dragged between two boats that has, to date, collected a comparatively miniscule amount of trash. Tech projects like these are more of a curse than a blessing. Even if the Ocean Cleanup one day somehow beats the insurmountable odds and removes all surface-level traces of plastic marine pollution, it’d still be missing the vast majority of waste that sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, or breaks up into tiny microplastics. While companies like these bring increased attention to the plastics crisis, they’re ultimately flashy gimmicks that lull our public consciousness into thinking a clever gadget can solve a collective-action problem. These projects also allow consumer brands—like Coca-Cola, an official “Global Implementation Partner” of Slat’s group—to greenwash their continued massive plastic production, while lobbying behind-the-scenes against regulations that would actually help the world break its plastic addiction.  “We now know that we can’t start to reduce plastic pollution without a reduction of production,” environmental scientists Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck write in the introduction to their forthcoming study, Plastics. To meaningfully address this crisis and others like it, we need to look upstream, invest in reuse infrastructure, and mandate biodegradable packaging and high material recyclability. At a minimum, we need to start making producers bear the cost for the collection and disposal of their poorly designed goods.