#rock climber!ellie

[theresascove]

wanna feel you against me ₊ ⊹

rock climber!ellie williams x f!reader

your friend takes you rock climbing—and shit your belay instructing partner is hot

tw: not proofread, SMUT, modern!au, sensual flirting, sex on a floor mat, grinding, fingering (r receiving), kissing, strangers to lovers, r’s friend is a bit annoying, r is wearing a tank top, muscle kink, cum kink (if u squint)

wc ✎ 1.9k • this is based off a real experience of mine

It was a random suggestion. Rock climbing, something very fun but you feel it’s not talked about a lot. Your friend brought it up, texting if you’d like to join her to go rock climbing for no particular reason (she wanted to see her boyfriend). You had nothing else planned that day, so why not. With the admission fee of $10 an hour, it sounded like a great time.

Your friend drove, chatting the entire way about how her boyfriend’s been doing this since forever. Mainly she was getting on about how he would teach her and she was almost crushing like a middle schooler. It was cute, also a bit annoying because it was the entire conversation until you arrived to the place. You had a feeling that once she saw him, he’d leave you behind—but whatever, you’ll still have fun.

“I think he’s inside, and he’ll help us get set up. I think he said he’ll be at the desk.”

She was right, he was standing just to the right of the desk. He greeted you with a smile before hugging and kissing your friend.

“Okay, I have it in the system that you’re both on a belayer climb—“

You looked away from the rock walls at him once those words were uttered. Your friend looked to you with a smile, “I forgot that detail.”

You sighed, “I don’t know how to climb with a belayer. I only know how to with the automatic climb.”

Some pop song that was being played across the facilities filled the awkward second. Her boyfriend waved you off, “no worries, gimme a second.”

He walked back towards some office room, leaving you with your friend. She looked around, staying silent beside you. You’re feeling a little like you shouldn’t have come until you saw the woman walking behind her boyfriend. Like an old cartoon you almost felt your bottom lip drop open in a gasp.

“Here, she’ll teach you. That okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah that’s fine.”

He started to bring your friend over to get set up to climb, and she looked back at you—mouthing a sorry. She’s lucky that this woman is attractive.

The woman looked to you with a smile, reaching a hand out, “Name’s Ellie. I’ll be assisting your climb today.“

Holy fuck, her hands—the tattoo trailing down her wrist and stopping near her bicep.

Your inner turmoil was hidden deep within you when you reached a very steady hand back to meet here, voice clear and calm as you introduce yourself.

“Never done belay climbing, huh?”

She says, reaching to grab ahold of the shoe that was of the sizing you told her.

“No, never have. I’ve only done pulley.”

“Well today you’ll learn. We can take it easy, of course unless you prefer to just full send it.”

You grabbed the climbing shoes from her, “absolutely not, I have a slight issue with heights. So, I’m interested to see how this goes.”

She rests a hand on her hip, “scared of heights—? Or?”

“No,” you finished pulling the strap, “just worried if I’ll fall from a high height—like nothing will catch me.”

“No worries there, I won’t let you. What size? I’ll grab your harness.”

She walks back out with this thing that always looks a mess—similar to a ball of combined necklaces getting caught on each other. She hands it to you, laughing and reaching her hands around you to help strap it on when you struggle.

“Ever strapped before or—? You’re shit at this.”

You almost choked, “no. I mean I have, I just don’t do it often.”

“That’s crazy to me, all I’ve really ever known is rock climbing.”

She walks onto the mats with you in toll, “how long have you done it?”

“Oh man,” she sighs, looking for an empty spot, “since I was really little. Friend of mine, Joel—he taught me and I’ve had a love for it since.”

She widens her stance after grabbing a spot, “alright, you know the basics I assume? Keep your hips close to the wall. Here start climbing a little and I’ll adjust a bit.”

You gripped onto a few rocks, all of a similar color—green and climbed up a foot off the ground. Ellie reached her hand, sliding it onto your hip to adjust your posture. Her grip is stern, leaning it where she sees as right.

“Keep a hip close to the wall. Helps posture, makes it easier on your body.”

You nod, moving forward as she directs.

“Mm, good. Here I’ll get you set up now.”

She looks excited to do so, moving back to grab chalk and such. Fuck you really shouldn’t be almost imaging scenarios just from seeing her hands—her back and arm muscles flexing from the slightest movement.

The climb runs smoothly, especially with her. Her instructions are easy to follow. The little praises throughout the climb is really what motivates you. If she told you to go left, you did—you trusted her. And it was fun as hell, laughter shared when you’d mess up your left and rights or make a silly comment.

Two hours flew by and you weren’t even realizing how the facility started to grow emptier. Families, friends, children, couples—all started to leave. The windows out front, having opened up for the sunset light to shine through—now showed how much time had passed since. It was dark save for the street lights.

“Hey,” your friend called, a thin layer of sweat covering her, “they’re closing soon. You ready?”

Honestly you didn’t want to leave. Seemed Ellie didn’t want you too either.

“Im closing tonight, if you wanted to you could stay for a bit.”

The boyfriend appeared after, “perfect. Are you okay with dropping her off though? It’ll be a little late, I mean it’s already like ten.”

She waved him off, looking to you with a smile. With them gone, the two of you shifted over towards bouldering when you asked to see her climb. You especially were tired, fingers cramping from where you were pulling yourself up on the rock wall.

“What level do you usually boulder on,” you ask from where you laid on the mat—leaned back on your elbows.

She stood in front of the wall, hands up and behind her to tie her short hair back into a ponytail, “usually like 7 or 8.”

“So,” you drawled out the o sound, eyeing the curving wall for the level she described, “the purple?”

She looks back to you before angling herself on the wall. A hand on one before she moved with ease towards the next few—climbing her way around the curve until she was almost dangling on the side. It was silent as she did so. You were enthralled for many reasons. One for her agility and strength. Two for the way her back moved when she reached for another.

She fell down once she was out on the other side, reaching the ground with a raspy laugh. You smiled, licking your lips when she got close.

“Gonna try?”

“Oh there’s no way,” you point to the wall, “if you wanna see a bug squirm sure but.”

“No, you’ll do fine. I’ll help if you want.”

With how close she stood behind you, moving your hands to the right rocks and pushing your hips close to the wall—you were fighting your insane thoughts. You could see the freckles that lined her face, could smell her woody scent, her voice was clearer beside your ear. And damn something snapped in you. She felt it too.

Her eyes would linger on your chest when you leaned, you eyed her up and down—giving her a sly grin. The air changed. Her touches would linger, your voice got softer. You really wanted her and it really seemed she did too.

“Your friends said that?”

You asked, arms crossed. She finished her drink, shrugging, “I don’t know. My friends say I’m intimidating. That I give off dominant vibes.”

Whatever came over you then, you’re glad it did.

A finger slipped into her harness, tugging her just a bit closer. Nothing uncomfortable, but it did close a bit of distance.

“Are you?”

That set it off. Her eyes got dark, pupils blown as she looked down to your lips.

“Damn please let me kiss you.”

A smile and a nod later she had you on your back on the mat, hands above your head as she kissed you breathless. She tugged her white tank over her head with an arm. Her sports bra that was peeking the whole night was revealed.

You weaved your free hand into her hair, kissing her while undoing her pony tail. The rubber band fell somewhere, but that didn’t matter to you at all. You were hot, body slick and shiny. She was in a similar boat, lips open and panting—coming back down on yours with little wet sounds. You moaned so sweetly in her ear when she dragged those red lips down your neck.

“Fuck you’re so hot,” she mumbles, breathing in deep on your neck before biting.

You laugh, “says you.”

She snaps back then. Her moods switching as she places soft pecks down your body until she kissed right above your pants. You nodded, begging her.

“Don’t gotta ask me twice,” she whispers to nobody in particular as she slides them down your legs—leaving you in your underwear.

She slid her finger between your folds, breathing shakily when she sees how you shudder. You’re warm again when she hovers you again.

“Please I need you to let me fuck you. Shit you’re so hot, I need you.”

“Please Ellie—“

Her name coming off your pretty lips was enough to make her groan. She smiles like she’s high, kissing on your clit over your underwear. You gasp, a hand tugging at her hair while the other dug into the mat.

She tugged your underwear to the side, slipping a finger in. A hand flew to cover your mouth, eyes shutting. Slight embarrassment filled you knowing she’s seeing how wet you are, meanwhile Ellie’s on cloud nine—getting high off of you.

One, two, three fingers later and you have your back arched towards her. Her focus is on your face, eyes darting around to catch every shift. Eyebrows furrowing, lips dropping open, your deep breaths, nails gripping tighter on the spongy mat.

“Els, oh fuck-!”

You cried. Her pace was steady, you guess it’s from the way she works her arms out daily for hours. It pays off.

“Ellie—Els!”

She kisses your jaw, “come for me, please.”

Her body on yours, her veiny fingers working you open, her pale green eyes on yours, her little pants. Fuck you came hard. You gripped onto her tighter, actually with force to make her wince.

“Damn,” she brings her fingers out, licking them.

“Didn’t know you had this in you,” you breathe out, “you look innocent.”

She hums, “not to my friends apparently.”

Your pants are slid back on your legs by her truly. Her body sliding to lay beside you.

“Wanna go on a date?”

“Like now?”

“If you wanna,” she starts, looking away from you almost nervously.

“I’d love to.”

[entriprises]

the muses halloween costumes this year:

tadashi — he’s going as gogo because the lab decided they’d all dress up as each other and then drew little paper slips. he’s even put purple streaks in his hair, temporary of course.

buttercup — she’s going as a bride but covered in red paint to look like blood. she really loves the unsettled vibe people keep getting from it and also there’s just something fun about walking around and dripping fake blood from her hair

romeo — he’s going as peter pan to match with andie since she’s tinker bell. he bought his costume from a bunch of thrift store trips. he put it together himself and he was pretty excited to

jennifer — she’s elphaba and patsy is going as her glinda. this was jen’s idea because of how easy it was for her. the costume was still a bit of a struggle just to find her size for some of it but she made do and she had to appear in court

buck — he’s a cowboy and he’s a halloween outfit repeater. he’s done this one many years in a row and has it easily in his closet to pull out anytime

bobby — he’s going as a vampire and he keeps making dracula jokes to himself when he does something

ellie — she’s going as maria from the sound of music! she put together the outfit herself, it’s the black sleeves one with the smock front!

elizabeth — she’s going as a botanist. this entails of course her usual lab coat but with plants in her pockets. she insists it’s obvious and very different from what she usually wears. mad is a flower and six thirty is a snail

cathy — cathy has been dottie from a league of their own almost every year and she doesn’t plan on stopping and she’s reused the costume pretty much every year! she made it herself when the movie came out

neal — he’s dressed as peter and he goes around mimicking peter and it’s very obvious to EVERYONE exactly who he is and what he’s up to. except of course peter

holly — she’s going as elle woods but specifically the outfit with the beret when she’s doing introductions in the park. holly just happens to have everything for that and she also thinks it’s both very obviously a costume and passable as casual which she enjoys

nat — she’s going as wonder woman, she bought the costume and she knows she turns heads in it and that’s what she loves about it. she’s reused it a couple of times through the years but never back to back

bob — he’s bob the builder and he had to buy overalls and a hard hat but he borrowed the tool belt from a friend. he has mostly safe tools like pencils and pens and rulers on him and the rest is candy

bradley — he’s bob from bob’s burgers. he had everything for this because it’s honestly really simply but the mustache really sells it and he really plays it up

trip — he’s going as magnum pi, he has been growing out a mustache for this much to everyone’s displeasure

mark — he’s going as brian jordan alvarez doing his tiktok dance. yes this just means he’s wearing a blue shirt and black pants. yes he’s learned the dance and no the shirt does not come off

shiv — she’s wheres waldo. she did in fact have everything for this already and no she has never been waldo before

emmett — he’s going as a climbing wall. not a rock climber, just a climbing wall. he’s wearing all gray with little grips on his clothes and there’s even little miniatures climbing the grips. he thinks it’s a really good one and he made it himself

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.12 (before 1970)

954 – The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom. 1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanos III Argyros. 1330 – Battle of Posada ends: Wallachian Voievode Basarab I defeats the Hungarian army by ambush. 1439 – Plymouth becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament. 1835 – Construction is completed on the Wilberforce Monument in Kingston Upon Hull. 1892 – Pudge Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association. 1893 – Abdur Rahman Khan accepts the Durand Line as the border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj. 1905 – Norway holds a referendum resulting in popular approval of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly independent country. 1912 – First Balkan War: King George I of Greece makes a triumphal entry into Thessaloniki after its liberation from 482 years of Ottoman rule. 1912 – The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. 1918 – Dissolution of Austria-Hungary: Austria becomes a republic. After the proclamation, a coup attempt by the communist Red Guard is defeated by the social-democratic Volkswehr. 1920 – The 1920 Cork hunger strike by Irish republicans ends after three deaths. 1920 – Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo. 1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union. 1928 – SS Vestris sinks approximately 200 miles (320 km) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, killing at least 110 passengers, mostly women and children who die after the vessel is abandoned. 1933 – Nazi Germany uses a referendum to ratify its withdrawal from the League of Nations. 1936 – In California, the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic. 1938 – Nazi Germany issues the Decree on the Elimination of Jews from Economic Life prohibiting Jews from selling goods and services or working in a trade, totally segregating Jews from the German economy. 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Gabon ends as Free French Forces take Libreville, Gabon, and all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French forces. 1940 – World War II: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrives in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis Powers. 1941 – World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to −12 °C (10 °F) as the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city. 1941 – World War II: The Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina is destroyed during the Battle of Sevastopol. 1942 – World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days and ends with an American victory. 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers, which sink the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway. 1948 – Aftermath of World War II: In Tokyo, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II. 1954 – Ellis Island ceases operations. 1956 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations. 1956 – In the midst of the Suez Crisis, Palestinian refugees are shot dead in Rafah by Israel Defense Force soldiers following the invasion of the Gaza Strip. 1958 – A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. 1961 – Terry Jo Duperrault is the sole survivor of a series of brutal murders aboard the ketch Bluebelle. 1969 – Vietnam War: Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the story of the My Lai Massacre.

[jess-adventurer]

About Me! (V1.2)

she/they, 23

Hey howdy!

I'm like, the #1 The Last of Us Part II fan ~ I really relate to both Ellie and Abby

On a Mass Effect kick recently It's no longer just a kick, it's become my favorite sci-fi series

I'm also a semi-pro rock climber! I don't really post much climbing content on here but I'm always thinking about climbing

[highlycaffeinatedclimber-blog]

sunday multitasking —

starting book number three in the wildwood chronicles today and i am just more and more in awe of meloy’s writing. his imagination is so wild and has so many twists and turns and does it effortlessly. i wish i had read these as a kid. this series might really become a yearly re-read.

[train-smith]

The Snowdon Mountain Railway

The Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR) is a narrow gauge rack and pinion mountain railway located in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The railway is 4.7 miles long; starting in Llanberis and finishing on the summit of Snowdon (the highest peak in wales). The line carries over 140,000 passengers annually and is the only public rack and pinion railway in the united kingdom.

Rack and pinion railways are steep grade railways that use a toothed rack rail that is most commonly found between the running rails. The pinion is a cog wheel that meshes onto the rack rail. A normal friction-based rail can't operate on a gradient of more than 10%, but a rack and pinion can greatly exceed this. The first railway to incorporate a rack and pinion was in 1812; used on the Middleton Railway between Middleton and Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. The intended use of the Middleton Railway was to transport large amounts of coal up steep gradients. Rack and Pinion are now most commonly found on mountain railways such as the SMR.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway was constructed between December 1894, and February 1896, at a total cost of £63,800 (equivalent to £7,854,000 in 2021). Its original purpose was always to transport tourists up the mountain but became a great resource during the construction of the visitor center, both materials and workers were ferried between the summit and Llanberis. The railway is operated in some of the harshest weather conditions in Britain, with services curtailed from reaching the summit in bad weather and remaining closed during the winter from November to mid-March. Single carriage trains are pushed up the mountain by either steam locomotives or diesel locomotives. It has also previously used diesel railcars as multiple units. The railway has two new hybrid locomotives to help modernise the railway to handle the current-day demand.

A well-known story of the SMR is the opening day incident. This occurred on 6 April 1896 when two trains were duly dispatched for the summit. The ascent was fine but on the way down disaster struck. The first engine, "LADAS," driven by William Pickles from Yorkshire, ran into difficulties a few hundred yards above Clogwyn Station. The load was simply too great and Pickles had great difficulty keeping the engine under control. The wheels jumped the rail, the train thereby losing its ability to brake, and it simply ran away. Pickles applied the handbrake but it did not work. With the train now gathering speed downhill Pickles and the fireman decided that discretion was the better part of valor and leaped off the footplate. The engine continued its descent, going faster every second until, failing to negotiate a left-hand curve, it toppled and fell gracefully over the side of the mountain. Climbers coming up the mountain towards Clogwyn later commented that they thought they saw a huge boulder falling towards them. In fact, it was the runaway engine that was now tumbling down the mountainside. Back on the track things did not get any easier. The two carriages, now minus their engine, also gathered speed until, at last, the automatic brakes slammed on and they came to a graceful halt. Unfortunately, one passenger, a Mr. Ellis Roberts of Llanberis, had witnessed the driver and fireman leap off the engine and, with the carriages in which he sat also out of control, he thought he would do the same. Unfortunately, he was not so lucky as William Pickles. He smashed his head on the rocks and debris alongside the line, being so badly injured that he died a few days later. As if all that was not enough, the second train now appeared on the scene. Weather conditions were poor with mist over the top half of the mountain and there was no way news of the disaster could be sent to the second train. It ploughed into the rear of the carriages at Clogwyn, de-railing the engine and passenger accommodation. Luckily, there were no serious injuries. At the subsequent Inquiry, the cause of the disaster was stated to be settlement of the track and excess speed due to the weight of the engine and its carriages. Weight for all future trains would have to be reduced. It meant ordering lighter carriages and the introduction of a 'gripper' rail system to improve safety. The line up Snowdon was closed for just over 12 months, with no more trains running until 9 April 1897. No further incidents have taken place on the railways since making it one of the safest mountain railways in the world.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway is a must-see when visiting the beautiful country of Wales. My personal recommendation would be to walk the Miners' Track up Snowdon and then take the railway down. Make sure to visit on a day with good weather (a rare occurrence in Wales). The town of Llanberis has many activities to take part in, from slate museums to cycling adventures. Another nearby activity to take part in is Zip World Penrhyn Quarry, a must-do for any thrill seeker. In terms of places to stay, I personally recommend taking on the challenge of camping, especially at "Camping In Llanberis Campsite and Glamping Yurts", they have reasonably good facilities for a campsite.

[biffhofosho]

Tailor Made

Fandom: Monsta X

Genre: Smut, natch.

Word Count: 9.4k

Pairing: Wonho x OC

Trope: Strangers to lovers, one night stand

Synopsis: Tailoring is challenging enough without Lee Hoseok’s powerful body and dashing smile. Ellie just needs to make it through one last fitting, and she’s convinced herself life will go back to normal. Too bad Hoseok has other plans for her.

The Vibe: Seoul city beats with Middle Eastern flair, tailor jargon, wealthy jetsetting Wonho, expat OC with quiet confidence, propositions, seduction, heavy sexual tension, overt Open Mind imagery, one night stand, everybody goes for what they want, passionate smut, loads of body appreciation for one another, wrestling with ramifications, happy ending

A/N: Admittedly, I’m not great at writing oneshots. I get wrapped up in my characters and my muse just goes on auto pilot, and, let’s face it, I’m a slave to her whims. But this time I kept her in check, so I figured why not celebrate the inaugural opening of this trash bin with my first one. Obviously inspired by “Open Mind” because Wonho is a god.

Elnara was in the habit of seeing handsome men in and out of her shop, and she was also in the habit of quietly admiring them. Being a tailor in Hongdae, she had no shortage of opportunity.

Nearly a decade ago, she had followed her boss and mentor, Nicolo, to Seoul on the rising tide of the Korean Wave. Nicolo’s reputation as an impeccable tailor had preceded him, and instead of fitting models exclusively, as they were accustomed back in Milan, in his unassuming little storefront in Hongdae, they now catered to a crowd of moguls, ladder-climbers, and even idols. It was less hectic and more structured, a quiet sort of life—literally, since her mouth was often pinned shut—that Ellie adored. Few things were as rewarding as a finely-suited man—especially a fine, finely-suited man.

As Head Cutter, Nicolo took all the initial measurements and struck the patterns to cloth while he relied on Ellie to do much of the tailoring and final fittings, which kept their conservative client-base comfortable as well as happy since a woman wasn’t unexpectedly fondling their junk. Of course, after the first suit, many of them requested her from the inception of their second, but Nico was ever circumspect. He could sense a scoundrel by sight almost as well as a Super 180 fabric by touch—decades as a master tailor brought forth many a well-dressed narcissist.

Speaking of troublemakers… Ellie glanced down to the appointment book and saw his name. Lee Hoseok. He was coming back again. So soon? She had barely survived the last fitting, let alone the one before that. Three times in two weeks… Okay, so most men came back for fittings in that time frame, but this one broke every mold—literally. It was beginning to feel like a relationship, and that had never happened before. It shouldn’t.

Ellie was the consummate professional. She spoke to her clients only when she had questions or suggestions. No matter how handsome or charming, the most personal she ever got with them was asking the occasion for the outfit or the style they preferred. It’s what these wealthy and powerful men liked about their shop.

Truthfully, she had no right to say it felt like a relationship either. Hoseok was always pleasant and friendly, maybe more open that most of her clients, though that didn’t mean they’d had personal conversations. On the contrary, they were perfect strangers. They had only ever talked tailoring; she didn’t even know what he did for a living.

There was literally no reason to feel connected to this man except that maybe she wished she was. He was that good-looking, and Ellie knew good looks. It was her business, elevating a man to that next level in handsome confidence, but this man could rock a burlap sack, and people would beg to know his designer.

She thought about asking Nico to cover for her just so she could avoid another torturous transaction, but he already had a fitting, and it would be uncouth for an upstanding establishment like Bespoke Hongdae to cancel a commitment. Still… It was very difficult to run your hands all over a man you knew was millions of miles out of your league, especially when you’d rather be doing it recreationally than professionally. She had fitted models and moguls, tycoons and playboys. None of them had been a problem.

Lee Hoseok was a problem.

It was that goddamn smile of his. All gentle and effortless, with nothing but sincerity shining each pearly white. She hoped she didn’t see it today.

The bell above the door tinkled, and Ellie looked up. He had arrived.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lee. Ready for your final fitting?” she said, relying on her inner customer service autopilot to take over.

“I am,” said the broad silhouette filling the door frame.

Well, he sure hadn’t gotten any uglier in a week. Damnit.

Hoseok was every tailor’s worst nightmare. His shoulders were more like wings, spanning strong and wide, and his chest tapered sharply to a narrow but powerful waist. His biceps tested the limits of dress shirt fabric while simultaneously shaming everyone else into a gym membership. His thighs were mammoth and his ass high and firm, yet somehow, when he turned just so, it seemed it was all a mirage, and he was just as trim as many of their other clients.

“Right this way please,” Ellie directed with a motion toward her fitting room.

Along the way, she knocked twice on Nico’s studio door to let him know she was with a client, and from the other side, she heard his curt “Capito, Ellie!”

At her studio, she opened the door and ushered Hoseok in. “Your shirt and trousers are on the hanger, Mr. Lee. Please let me know when you’re dressed, and I will bring in the jacket.”

The man nodded and thanked her before mercifully disappearing behind the door.

Ellie sagged against the wall and ran a hand over her face as she hissed, “Bu çok sinir bozucu! He looks so good today. Get it together, Elnara.”

She slapped her cheeks a few times before she grabbed the deep sapphire worsted wool gem she’d completed yesterday. Only a moment later, Hoseok opened the door and she stepped inside.

He looked dashing already in his striking blonde hair, matching suit trousers, and crisp white shirt. He had one button popped at his collar, and Ellie’s eyes darted right to it. She might have admonished another client for distracting from the finished look, but it complemented Hoseok’s carefree smile—which he was unfortunately already sporting as fashionably as a pocket square.

“Please,” was all she could manage as she motioned toward the pedestal in the center of the room.

He stepped onto the platform in front of three full-length mirrors. He was already tall, but on the platform, he loomed to mythical proportions—or maybe it was just his unavoidable gravity. Ellie was grateful she had worn her tallest heels today just to keep up.

From the safety of the blind spot at his back, she admired the breadth of his shoulders. Many of the men she’d suited had shoulders as narrow as hers, but, hell, if it rained, she could seek shelter behind Hoseok’s.

She peered around him and caught his eye in the mirror before she raised the jacket and he slid into it. Last week’s tuxedo had been bad; the sapphire suit was worse. It was the sort of suit one wore for a dinner with the President or a hostile corporate takeover, the kind that demanded attention and commanded respect. It was the suit of great men.

In it, Hoseok looked like the pinnacle of masculinity.

Ellie cleared her throat as softly as she could and said, “What do you think?”

“What do you think?” he replied. “You’re the kind of person I want to impress.”

She pursed her lips to stifle her smile. He really was a troublemaker. She studied him in the mirror, running her hands over his shoulders to smooth the fabric and down his arms to coax the sleeves to their true length. She tugged his dress shirt cuffs down and skirted her fingers along the line of his waist.

Damn, he was nothing but muscle under there. She could only imagine the luxury of measuring him in a thin dress shirt. Lucky Nico.

“Hm,” she said, circling him with a finger to her lips. “Length is good. Shoulders fit well. Sleeves hit perfectly. How does it feel across the chest? Not too tight?”

“Not at all,” he said, “but maybe something is missing.”

That was a new one. This was Hoseok’s second fitting in this suit; he hadn’t said anything the first time. “Would you like a second button?”

He kept his gaze steady on her as though he was working something out. His lips parted as if in slow motion, or maybe that was just the mind-altering effects of his intense beauty. “How about a tie?”

“If you’d like,” she answered, “though I’d suggest you go without for this look.”

That popped top button was a view she hadn’t realized the world needed, and it seemed a shame to take it away so soon.

“Let’s try one,” he urged.

Ellie combed through their selection on hand and withdrew a couple to hold against the suit, but none fit. Finally, her eyes fell on a striking blue tie that only Hoseok would have the confidence to pull off.

She offered it to him, but he smiled gently. “Would you mind? I always put them on crooked.”

Her mouth fell open—not at the suggestion, since she had put on many ties over the years, but at the electricity that jolted her at the mere thought. He was different. This was different.

Ellie stepped onto the platform with him, her eyeline level with his problematic mouth. It was so pretty and full and all she had to do was tip up her chin to change everything, but she forced her gaze down to his collar.

He hadn’t bothered to close the button. Now this felt like sabotage, cruel, cruel sabotage. Ellie draped the tie around her neck and reached up to tug the button into the hole. It took every ounce of self-control to keep her fingers from “accidentally” grazing the milk-white skin there.

Don’t think about his warm breath fanning across your forehead. Don’t think about your breasts an inch from his chest.

She looped the tie around his neck and sashayed it into place under his collar before tying it into the perfect Pratt knot. And through each and every step, Hoseok watched her. Ellie didn’t dare look up even though she could have tied the knot in her sleep. His mouth was still so close, and the warm wood and cherry of his cologne was overwhelming enough as it was.

She straightened the tie, buttoned the jacket, and, without thinking, ran her hands down his chest to flatten the fabric. He was so firm underneath, he might truly have been carved of marble.

Ellie cleared her throat again and stepped to the side so he could see himself in the mirror. She hated herself for her hubris, but she thought they looked good together. Her lean, tall figure and toasted skin was the perfect complement to his commanding size and ethereal pallor.

“You were right,” he said in a voice too low to be safe. His eyes were on her, not on the mirror, and she could feel them burrowing into her. It was torture. “Please take it off.”

She may as well have been undoing his belt. Her fingers played about his neck, grazing the freshly razored skin there as she reversed each step and stirred the note of rum in his cologne until she was hopelessly drunk. Finally, the silk hissed through his collar as she tugged it off, and she nearly collapsed at the exertion. Trying to look professional when all she wanted to do was tear off this very expensive suit consumed so much energy.

“I’m ready for the final suit,” Hoseok announced.

Ellie blinked. “What suit? This is the only order we have left open.”

He raised an eyebrow, which should have raised an alarm. “Nicolo and I have been working on another.”

Brow furrowed, she flipped back to their order manifest and scowled. There was another order number after all, and she headed back to the cutting room with indignation blossoming in her chest. She had fitted Hoseok for everything—he saw to it—so why had she been kept out of the loop on this?

Get it together, Elnara! This is a business relationship. Don’t take offense.

Still annoyed, she drew up to the rack of finished suits, and her heart knew instantly what her head refused to acknowledge.

Not the red suit, please.

No. It was his? Of course, it was. Of fucking course.

Ellie had watched that suit come to life in the cutting room over the last couple weeks. The slashes of crimson wool were impossible to miss among the oceans of blues and grays. It was the first thing she saw when she walked in the back, and it was always emblazoned on her memory when she walked back out. Complicating things, it was the one suit she had no part in assembling. Nico was clear that the amount of custom work demanded his attention exclusively, and she was forced to admire it from afar.

But now here it was, in its full finished glory. She hadn’t even had a hand in fitting it throughout. When had Hoseok even been in to try it on without her knowledge? He should be paying rent for how much time he was spending here, she thought bitterly.

Her resentment didn’t fade on her walk back to her atelier, but it evaporated instantly when she opened the door.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Mr. Lee!” she shouted, slamming the door closed. “I should have knocked!”

But Hoseok opened the door again with that stubborn toothy smile that made the man look innocent despite now being half-naked. “No worries. This suit is made to wear without a shirt.”

Ellie’s mouth hung open, in part from the absurdity of a suit without a dress shirt but more so from the enormous mountain of muscle on display for her. She had never seen pectorals so large or defined—they could be pillows if they weren’t rock hard. His nipples perked in the chill of the atelier, and if there weren’t so much else to tantalize the eyes, she might never have looked away. And while she was studying him, who the hell had abs like that? Who! They were too defined to be real. Maybe he was a statue after all. But Hoseok’s real strength emanated from the sculpted foundation of shoulders bolstered by biceps that seemed to flex even when he was relaxed.

Ellie’s cheeks dappled to the color of the suit before she shoved it through the door and insisted it stay firmly shut this time, even holding the handle in case her libido got the better of her.

“When you’re fully dressed, please let me know, Mr. Lee,” she said in a voice painfully strained. God, she would have done anything to mute the quaver in it. Her unprofessionalism was mortifying, and she worried it would ruin their shop.

Toz ol, Elnara!

A few minutes later, Hoseok gave her the okay to enter, but she’d learned her lesson and opened it centimeter by centimeter. He wasn’t naked, but this was bad. Very bad.

Damn Nico and his tailoring skills. The blue suit had wounded, but the red suit was out for blood. Hoseok waited on the pedestal, hands in his pockets, his back to her. In the mirror, his eyes watched her as she studied his figure. The tailor in her had to admire how well-cut the suit was. Nico had fitted this one tighter than a suit should reasonably fit, the jacket darts contouring his impossible chest and the trousers—curse her mentor for the way they hugged Hoseok’s thick thighs.

This suit wasn’t for takeovers or even dinners. This suit was the prelude for seduction.

Ellie circled around to appraise the front of the jacket. The wide peak lapel was striking next to his flawless skin, and its sharp lines drew her eye to the silver zipper winking in the spotlight.

Who’d ever heard of a zipper on a suit jacket? Absurd. It had probably killed Nico to put it on, but when Ellie had probed her mentor earlier in the week, he’d shrugged and said, “Whatever the client wants, he shall have.”

Hoseok noticed her attention and cleared his throat. “It’s meant to zipper up from the bottom. Would you please test it? I’ll tell you when to stop.”

“I don’t think—”

“Please?”

Heart racing, Ellie stepped to the side so Hoseok could see himself in the mirror as her always-steady fingers trembled toward the pull. Tooth by tooth, it climbed like the first hill of a rollercoaster, each one parting with the same perilous clack-clack-clack as a chain dragging the fated train up the track. She held her breath with the same anticipation.

The jacket split, revealing that pale swath of rigid abs so perfect they could have been painted on if it weren’t for the way they tensed at an inadvertent graze of her fingers. Hoseok grunted.

No, no, no. Aptal!

She shouldn’t be touching skin here. She needed the Teflon of a dress shirt to rebuff her fingers, but instead it was only hot, soft skin inviting her to venture further.

“This time feels different,” Hoseok said softly, and Ellie’s fingers stopped at once.

Her heart hammered and her eyes panicked as her mouth went bone dry. She’d been exposed. She’d never been so humiliated.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she stammered. “Would you prefer that I call Nicolo to finish your fitting?”

“That’s not what—” he said before he stopped himself. “It’s okay. I didn’t tell you to stop.”

Every ounce of air left Ellie’s lungs. Why was she working so hard to be professional when Hoseok insisted on being so unprofessional? She had to be misreading things.

With a shallow nod, she continued the zipper’s upward climb. There was the charming crescent of Hoseok’s bellybutton with its own little gingerbread moon in permanent orbit to the right. God, every millimeter of this was torture, and her eyes begged for him to stop, but he wouldn’t.

At the final hill of his abs, he smirked and said firmly, “There, Elnara.”

Her name. On his tongue. Good god, it was holy and unholy all at once. She hadn’t even realized he remembered her name. Customers never called her by it, and now she understood why—it was more personal than measuring an inseam.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Ellie surveyed his silhouette. The zipper was almost pointless. It had been unzipped so much that only a short channel at the top held it together. Through the red and silver window glistened a mogul of snow-white abs. So much power lurked beneath the deceptive curtain of crimson wool.

“It’s a very modern look. I think you’ll turn a lot of heads, Mr. Lee,” she said evenly. He stared at her, head cocked and hands still in his pockets, as though he knew there was more on the tip of her tongue, so she added, “How’s the fit?”

“Tight.”

The criminal bastard.

“Uncomfortable?” Ellie said.

“I like it tight.”

Please stop torturing me.

“And the length?” she continued, a tremor destroying the first word.

“Just right, but I’d like a woman’s honest opinion. How does it really look on me?”

She narrowed her eyes. It felt like he was deliberately baiting her now. How much of her thirst had she given away?

Ellie had to choose every word very carefully—too carefully. She felt like it took her minutes to compose herself. “You look like you will make a singular impression wherever you go, Mr. Lee.”

“Is that a polite way of saying you don’t like it?”

“No! No, definitely not. No. You look…” What to say that didn’t cross the line? She frantically searched for something safe, but there was nothing because Lee Hoseok wasn’t safe. “You look powerful.”

He hummed.

With nothing neutral left to say, Ellie draped her measuring tape around her neck and stepped back. “Okay, so, if you’re satisfied with everything, Mr. Lee, I will prepare your suits, and we’ll get you on your way.”

Suddenly, Hoseok grabbed her wrist, and her measuring tape slipped from her neck into a puddle at her feet.

“Wait.”

Everything waited for Hoseok, even her heart.

“I’ve run out of excuses,” he said, “and time. I want to see you tonight, Elnara. I want to touch you for a change.”

“I—”

Ellie couldn’t think of a single word. She couldn’t have heard him right. No way. Maybe her Korean had failed her. She’d only been speaking it for a handful of years, maybe she’d missed some context. That had to be it.

At last, she found her voice again. “I—I don’t do house calls, Mr. Lee.”

“Let me be clear. I want you, Elnara. Not another suit, not a fitting. I want to feel you against me. I want to know what you look like when you wake up.”

Her breath caught. Her world was spinning. Like any woman, Ellie had been propositioned more times than there were stitches in Hoseok’s suit. Most came from douchebags on a street corner, and as soon as they were done with their wolf whistle, they were on to the next unsuspecting woman without so much as a glance at her face.

But here was a man only inches from her with his gaze boring into hers along with his undivided attention.

“You don’t know me,” she whispered as she looked away.

“No, but I do know the only thing that matters right now.”

“And what’s that?”

“We both want the same thing.”

Ellie’s head whipped back as she bit her bottom lip. “Which is?”

“One night together.”

It was as if someone had pushed pause on reality. In the mirror, she saw her chest heaving and her mouth slackening, but that was the Ellie in a backwards universe, where left was right and invisible was visible and somehow gods desired mortals.

“Mr. Lee, I’m not in the habit of—”

“I’m sure you’re not, and neither am I, but I can’t wait any longer.” He let out a tight exhale, and his hands twitched at his sides. “I can feel your heat through this suit, and I know you can feel me, too. I felt your fingers at my waist.”

Ellie stumbled, her fingertips burning at the memory and the humiliation. She struggled to find her voice as she backed up against the mirror, relying on Alt-verse Ellie for support.

“I’m sorry if I touched you inappropriately, Mr. Lee. It was not my intention. But you are a valued client, and I really don’t want to jeopardize that in any way.”

“No, I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes downcast. “I came on too strong. That’s not something I do. I was just… careless. Tonight’s my last night in town for a while, and I didn’t want to lose—”

He stopped again and shook his head. When he looked back up, he was smiling that boyish smile, and any defense Ellie had mounted toppled.

“Maybe I felt something that wasn’t there. That’s my fault, and I will be more careful next time. Please don’t think I was trying to pressure you. It’s just— You’re worth the risk. So, anyway… Thank you for the fittings.”

“Are—are you pleased with your suits?” she fumbled.

“They’re striking. I’d expect nothing less.”

“You look very handsome.”

She shouldn’t have said it—she knew that instantly. She should have just wrapped her measuring tape around her neck and squeezed instead. Seni Aptal!

“Thank you, Elnara.”

Hoseok was staring. She was frozen. She wished she could disappear through the mirror.

He stepped down from the pedestal, still in his red suit, and stopped right in front of her. He was right—she could feel the heat between them, and it was scalding, yet she found herself leaning into it.

“If you change your mind—if you feel something, too—I’ll be at the Empire bar at nine. There are no strings, no demands, just a promise that I won’t disappoint you.”

“I’m sure you couldn’t,” Ellie said and trusted her hair to hide her flush. “Safe travels, Mr. Lee.”

It was late. It was dark. She was foolish.

He paused beside her, his dark eyes searching hers, before he nodded and left her gasping against the mirror with no hopes of focusing on anything other than his world-altering offer.

And yet here she was, hovering awkwardly just inside the smoky glass of Empire’s entrance within a hotel with rooms that cost double per night what her apartment cost in a month.

Hoseok grinned as he shot up in surprise at his unexpected date. “I’m so glad you came.”

Ellie shrugged a shoulder in time with a corner of her mouth. “Didn’t think I would.”

Only minutes before, she'd almost chickened out and told the cabbie to keep on going, but casual sex was hard to come by in a country as conservative as South Korea. People dated for marriage, and one-night stands were things nobody talked about, let alone initiated without copious amounts of alcohol. It had been months since she'd been with anybody, and he certainly hadn't been half the man Hoseok was.

Her eyes darted around the hotel bar. It was dimly lit and elegantly appointed in rich woods and stone, with bookcases stuffed to the gills with vinyls, plenty of empty booths, and only a handful of guests throughout, including a few couples with heads close and legs crossed to each other. Jazz music babbled from the record player in the corner. Everything smelled of whiskey and beer and leather except Hoseok, who still smelled of rum and cherries and something much more primal.

Still in that red suit, Hoseok tugged a stool out for her and smiled even wider when she sat down next to him. This time, his eyes made no bones about appraising every inch of her. Ellie had chosen a slip dress, the soft pink color like a full-body blush against her caramel skin. The cowl neck draped elegantly over her small chest while the soft lighting flashed across the satin with her every move. She crossed her legs, and the dress bunched higher over her knee, allowing a peek at her thigh that Hoseok did not miss.

“Drink?” he asked.

“Merlot, please,” she told the bartender before she turned back to Hoseok. “Nice suit.”

“You seem…” He chose his words carefully as he mapped the arc of her neck. “Different.”

“This is Evening Ellie. You’ve only ever met Professional Ellie.”

“Which one’s the real you?”

“They both are. One just has more freedom than the other.” She took a long drink of wine and licked her lips, Hoseok’s eyes following the purposeful trail of her tongue. “And fewer inhibitions.”

He laughed, a soft but distinct “ha” that added to his charm.

Ellie nodded to the heart of the hotel. “So, are you staying here?”

His smile tempered to a smirk. “Actually, no. I just wanted some neutral ground. My apartment isn’t far, but I wasn’t sure you’d be comfortable meeting there, if you even showed up.”

“We could have met at an actual bar, you know.”

“There are none this nice or this quiet this close to home.”

“Ah,” Ellie said with a brow raise, “so that’s where you want this night to end?”

“They have beds here, too,” he replied as though that should have been obvious.

Maybe it should have been considering what he’d proposed at her shop. Still, it made her thighs clench, and she readjusted on the stool. “You’re not like the other Korean boys, are you?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” she said over the lip of her glass, “it’s not.”

Hoseok ran a triumphant hand through his hair and leaned in close enough that she could almost taste the soju on his tongue. “How long have you lived here?”

“Eight years now.”

“Your Korean is excellent.”

“It had better be. There’s no one here who speaks my language, so I have all the time in the world to practice.”

He blinked in surprise. “What do you speak with Nicolo?”

“Italian, but actually I’m from Turkey.”

“Turkish?” His eyes roved over her honeyed skin and chocolate hair and settled on the beauty mark just beneath the corner of her bottom lip. “That’s unusual.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she teased and he grinned. But in a moment, the mood had shifted, and they both felt it. A line was about to be crossed, and Ellie worried it wasn’t just a line but a trip wire. She took another drink and brushed her hair around her ear as she ventured into foreign territory.

“So, Hoseok,” she said, tasting his name like a stolen sweet, “do you do these a lot?”

He straightened immediately at her hint of intimacy, his brown eyes darkening a shade. “One-night stands?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve had a few,” he admitted. “They make things simple. I travel a lot and even when I’m here, I’m usually crushed with work. Feels unfair to ask someone to commit to being ignored. I’d rather promise my full attention for one night than string someone along.”

Ellie sniffed an astonished laugh. “I didn’t think anyone could be so thoughtful about meaningless sex.”

“Does it have to be meaningless?” He sounded surprisingly wounded.

“I—no, I didn’t mean—” she fumbled, looking for a way out of this hole. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous.”

His worried brow softened and he leaned in, his lips by her ear. “Please don’t think that just because this is one night that you don’t mean anything to me, Elnara. I’ve traveled the world, but I’ve never met anyone like you. You captivate me.”

He kissed her once under her jaw and sat back on his seat as she twisted her hair into a frenzied knot.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, her eyes falling to the zipper that had signaled her ruin.

“So what would you like to do here? You want to have a few drinks or get a bite? Whatever you want. You’re in charge of our night.”

“Maybe, ah—” Ellie looked down at her empty glass and back to the gentle face across from her. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was his cologne or maybe it was the feeling of his lips still lingering on her skin, but her mind was already made up.

This was new ground for her. She wasn’t sure how forward she could be, yet Hoseok had given her the reins. It was thrilling and terrifying all at once.

“How about we flip a coin?” she said as she withdrew a 100 won coin from her clutch. “Heads, your place. Tails, the hotel.”

Hoseok smirked. “Deal.”

The silver coin whizzed up and back into Ellie’s hand with a thud.

There was his smile that had started it all, beautiful and inviting and very, very pleased.

“I’ll get the car.”

The drive to Hoseok’s apartment was shorter than Ellie had hoped. He drove a sleek silver sportscar that made her feel expensive and important by extension. Every stoplight brought stares and, with them, a sense of pride that he had picked her. Hoseok was stunning in the driver’s seat. Neon light danced off the sterling hood and played across the perfect alabaster of his profile until he glowed, too. If she wasn’t looking forward to the destination so much, she could have ridden with him into forever.

His place was on the 52nd floor of a new high-rise in Gangnam. Ellie couldn’t remember a longer elevator ride in her entire life. She wanted to touch him so badly, but they were never alone, with an infuriating stream of people hopping on and off like it was rush hour.

Of course, his was the corner unit, and of course, it boasted floor-to-ceiling views of Seoul glittering in the indigo of night. The living space sported sleek modern grays and blues with stylish furniture and an enormous flat screen. Off to the side was the kitchen with a built-in bar and an impeccably clean counter, and tucked in one corner was a simple desk with a laptop but not a single sheet of paper or stray paperclip. Beautiful as it was, the place barely looked lived in. It even smelled new, with none of the trappings of a well-used kitchen or a couch with familiar dents in the cushions. No pictures hung on the walls; no tchotchkes studded the end tables. It felt more like a hotel than a hotel did.

“You live here?” Ellie said as she shrugged off her jacket.

“When I’m here.”

“That must not—”

The next thing she knew, she was crushed against Hoseok’s hard body as his mouth descended on hers. He had the smoothest lips she’d ever felt, silkier even than the fabric of her dress, and he dragged them across hers as though he were memorizing the shape of her mouth. Her hands stroked the soft bristles of his freshly trimmed hair as she pressed him further to her. He tasted of bad decisions and insatiable longing, and she knew with one swipe of his tongue that she’d never get the taste of him out of her mouth.

“Sorry,” he panted as he pulled back. “I couldn’t wait. You were saying?”

Ellie laughed. “You’re a magnificent kisser.”

“Wait until you see how I fuck.”

Her knees might have given out if he hadn’t been holding her up.

“You don’t waste any time, do you?” she said.

“I don’t have any to waste. I need every second I can get with you.”

Ellie tugged on his neck again, and this time when his lips met hers, it was less urgent but no less passionate. His hands grabbed fistfuls of her dress as he tugged her flush against him, and she felt his growing desire for her against her stomach.

This time, her tongue probed his mouth as her hands slipped around to trace his jaw before settling on that granite chest. She pushed him back until he collided with the door with a huff. Hoseok reached for his zipper, but Ellie batted his hands away and grasped the pull just above the outline of his semi.

“Let me,” she purred. “You’re the only client I’d rather be undressing. Besides, you have no idea how many hours went into this masterpiece, and I don't want it ruined.”

His cheek tugged up as he smirked. “As you wish, my lady.”

Ellie took her time unzipping the jacket the way she would savor opening an exquisitely wrapped gift. She had had a taste of what was underneath this morning, but now she could truly appreciate the man inside the suit. Hoseok was stronger than any person had a right to be, and the primal woman inside her longed to see that power unleashed. What would all that muscle feel like driving into her? She could hardly wait to find out, and yet, they only had one night. She didn’t want to miss a moment.

Ellie removed his jacket, and, after carefully draping it over the couch, she stepped back for a new view of him. She trailed three fingers across his chest as she circled him before savoring a squeeze of his bicep and a caress of that broad back.

“I almost feel guilty for covering up all your hard work,” she mused as she played her hand across his defined stomach.

“Do you like what you see?”

There was something so endearing about a man like this seeking her approval. By all rights, he should have been an egomaniac—he’d earned it. Hoseok could have anything and anyone, he could have the whole world at his feet if he wanted, and yet all he wanted was to please her.

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful,” she said, and with one swoop, he had his mouth to hers and his hand under her ass, picking her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

He seated her on the back of the couch so he could free a hand to massage her thigh while the other threaded through her hair and secured her to him. He was hot and hungry, his skin practically searing through her dress. His tongue met hers stroke for stroke until she sighed into him, and it was like a starter pistol for his hands.

Hoseok grabbed her breast through her dress, but when his thumb played over a pert, satin-covered nipple, he jerked back so he could study her. While Ellie’s head tipped back, he played with her freely. All at once, he stopped as his other hand slid up under her dress. With every inch higher he climbed, her breath hitched another notch until he grabbed a handful of her hip and ass.

His forehead rested against her collarbone, and his ragged breaths blasted her skin. She felt his voice better than she heard it when he growled, “You’re not wearing anything underneath.”

“I knew where this night was heading,” she said.

“You’re driving me crazy, Ellie.”

Her full name had sounded elegant and forbidden on his tongue, but her nickname was too intimate. This was supposed to be one night, but with one word, they had crossed another line, this one most definitely triggering an explosion. She could feel it, maybe he could, too.

It would be safer to leave before the butterflies in her stomach complicated things, but Hoseok was so needy and Ellie was a glutton for punishment.

She slipped a finger under his chin and guided him back up. His lips were reverential as they worshipped hers, followed by her jaw and her neck right at that sensitive spot at the nape that had her legs tightening around him.

Hoseok took advantage of the situation to pick her back up and cart her back to the bedroom, his mouth never leaving her neck. He sucked hard, and she arched into him with a gasp.

“That’s going to leave a mark!” she protested.

He nuzzled his nose against the fresh red blossom and murmured, “Mm, something to remember me by.”

Ellie unwrapped her legs and dropped to the floor where she took a step back. Hoseok looked worried that he’d said something wrong, but she smiled and sank to her knees. The cold from the hardwood traveled up her legs, but it couldn’t quell the fire within her, not when he loomed so impressively above her. It was like basking in the shadows of a temple to a Greek god.

He watched as she undid his pants and freed his length. She should have taken the time to appreciate how sturdy his thighs were, how well they would be able to plow into her as deep as he could go, but she was distracted by something even more erotic. She bit her lip as she appraised him with hungry wonder. “You shave?”

“I like to feel clean,” he said, though there was a tint of pink on the tops of his wide ears. He would have looked cute if it weren’t for his luscious cock waiting expectantly for her attention.

Ellie was eager to give it. She ran her hands up his thighs, relishing the sinew contracting beneath her ministrations, and over the smooth plain above his hard-on. It made her breathless. Even here, he smelled of cologne, and she thought about giving him flack for coming as prepared as she had, but she was too intoxicated by him.

Her fingers closed around his base and he groaned. Ellie pumped experimentally along his length until she reached the head and glossed her thumb over the slit. This time he let out a gasp and she glanced up. Hoseok watched her with hooded eyes and an aura dark with ill intentions.

“Put it in your mouth,” he said.

A shiver coursed through her.

Ellie’s lips parted and she placed the head of his cock on the tip of her tongue before it disappeared down her throat. As she lavished her tongue along every inch of him, he grunted appreciatively above her. His hand rested on the back of her head, not guiding her but also ensuring she couldn’t leave him until he was finished with her. She relished his gentle huffs as her hand worked him in time with her mouth.

“Let me hear how much you like it,” he said as he brushed away her hair for a better view of her ruby lips swallowing his shaft.

Obscene smacks echoed off the walls as she hummed around him greedily. His cock dripped with her spit as she left no ridge unexplored. He was turning her feral, and Hoseok was fucking loving it. Nothing was sexier than glancing up his immaculate body to find his throat exposed as he groaned in indulgent ecstasy. Ellie would do anything to please him.

Her nose pressed against his smooth pelvis as she took him all the way, fingers gripping his delicious ass as his dick grazed the back of her throat, and suddenly, he grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her off.

“Not fair!” he snapped. “I’m going to blow if you keep pulling stunts like that.”

Ellie shrugged. “Then try not to look so yummy.”

“On the bed,” he demanded.

Anticipation quaked through her legs, and she could feel a new rush of heat dampen her naked thighs. She climbed on and scooted back, but before she could move to the pillows, Hoseok grabbed her waist and yanked her to the edge. She yelped at his swiftness before she dissolved into giggles, but he wasn’t laughing. His eyes were focused on her thighs, and he licked his lower lip.

“I need to taste you.”

“At least let me take this off.”

“No,” he interjected, stilling her hand on her dress hem. “I like you like this. I feel like I’m stealing something from everyone else. And you’ll look so gorgeous wrecked beneath me.”

Hoseok pressed her knees wide and drew his hands up her thighs to the rivers of shimmering satin bunched there. His thumbs rubbed circles in the soft caramel there as he savored her quickening breaths. He ventured a kiss at her knee first, and then the next a little higher until at last he reached the hem of her dress. This time he licked a swipe up along her thigh and unleashed a cool breath along the wet trail that made her legs tremble.

“I love the way your body responds to me,” he said in a hush. “I knew from the moment you touched me at the shop.”

“Knew what?”

Ellie propped herself up on her elbows to catch those black eyes waiting for her. His hot breath funneled under the fabric of her dress and over her longing core.

“You need me as much as I need you.”

His words hung on the chill in the bedroom and made her shiver for a whole new reason. But Hoseok returned his attention to his prize still netted in shadows.

“Oh, beautiful,” he said with a soft tsk. He ran a finger on the inside of her thigh, just grazing her heat, and Ellie jolted. “See what I mean? You've made such a mess.”

She was honestly embarrassed about how much she was dripping for him, but Hoseok didn’t seem to mind as he slipped the finger into his mouth and sucked it clean. This time, when his hands returned, they shoved her dress above her hips, exposing her to him, and he bit his lip.

“You shave, too.”

Ellie nodded submissively, and that was all the invitation he needed. He tugged her hips closer to his mouth before he licked a torturous swipe up her heat. She fisted the covers as she arched against the intense pleasure that ripped through her. He savored her like that for a long time, not opening her yet but teasing and stroking with his tongue until she was mad with need. From time to time, he’d hum in between her curses and begging, but Hoseok was clearly in no rush.

He’d loved tormenting her since the moment he’d met her, but Ellie couldn’t take it anymore. She craved relief so desperately that she hooked a leg over his shoulder and shoved him against her.

He laughed, the vibrations sending shockwaves through her core, and said, “Next time, don’t make such a mess that I have to clean up.”

“Next—”

He shut her up with a finger plunging into her pussy, and Ellie’s head thunked back onto the bed as her hips canted up to take him deeper.

“Oh my god!”

“Take it, baby,” he hissed, pumping deeper. “Use me.”

Ellie ground her hips against his hand as her body begged for release. And all the while he watched, entranced by her carnal hunger.

“More, Hoseok. Give me more!”

He growled at the curl of his name rolled in rapture on her tongue, and with his other hand, he spread her wide at last. His mouth sucked firmly on her clit, which sent another string of curses tumbling through the air. He twirled his tongue around her tensing desire before he flicked it mercilessly. There were no words, no sounds, only blackness as her eyes squeezed shut against the onslaught. Still, he knew she craved even more friction, and he brought his thumb up to play with her at relentless speed.

Her hips lifted and her walls beckoned his fingers deeper, and right as her thighs began to shake, Hoseok pulled back, eyes glued on her glistening pussy as it throbbed for him.

“Son of a bitch,” she wailed as she looked down at him with desperate eyes. “Why—”

“You’re not coming anywhere but on my cock, Ellie,” he said as he stroked himself to the flawless image of this magnificent woman splayed out for him on his sheets, dress hiked up, dripping cunt out. He squeezed himself at the base of his dick to hold back his eagerness. “I need to feel how much you need me. You need me, right, baby?”

“I need you,” she echoed.

“You want me?”

“More than anything. Since the moment I saw you.”

“Yeah?”

His hand pumped harder on his cock as though he could come just listening to her confess how much she desired him, and Ellie bit her lip as she watched his forearms flex and his thighs twitch.

“You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever seen,” she added, and she was rewarded with his little grunt of appreciation. “I’ve never wanted anyone else like I want you, Hoseok. Every time I see your name at work, I pray I have you just so I can have an excuse to touch you.”

His hand moved faster as he stared at her heat, and Ellie reached her hand down to spread herself open for him. He groaned and licked his lips.

“I think of you when I play with myself,” she said, “but it’s not good enough. I need to come on that thick cock of yours. Will you give it to me, Hoseok?”

“I’ll give you everything, beautiful,” he promised.

He reached for his side table, but Ellie grabbed his arm and whispered, “It’s okay, if you’re okay with it.”

His eyes widened as though the thought had never crossed his mind. “Are you serious?”

“I’m always safe, but… I don’t know, it just feels… different with you.”

Ellie looked up at Hoseok, his once flawless blonde hair unraveling above her in sweaty strings, his eyes black with lust, his broad chest heaving with the mere thought. It was just supposed to be a passionate one-night stand, but it was true what she had said—she wanted more of him than she had any other man. A possessive thrill rippled through her at the thought of him filling her up in the most primal way. The way he was meant to be.

She shouldn’t open herself up this way to someone she would only know for one night, and yet that was why she needed all of him. If this were her only chance to be with Lee Hoseok, she wanted him as he was, and she wanted all he could give her.

“I’ve never been raw inside a woman before,” he admitted breathlessly.

“I want to feel you, Hoseok. I want you.”

He nodded numbly and turned his attention back to her aching core. He urged her hips to the edge of the bed again and ran his thumb back over her clit just to watch her jerk at his touch. He brought the head of his cock to her lower lips, running it up and down to coat it in her warm honey.

They gasped in unison. This was illicit and dangerous and intense. Every nerve was attuned to this moment.

She waited, her eyes begging along with her eager panting.

Hoseok slipped the head of his dick inside her, and Ellie wound the sheet around her hands to anchor herself. It was pure, unadulterated bliss.

“You’re so hot,” he murmured. “So hot.”

He pushed in deeper, and she clenched automatically around him.

As he watched his pink cock sink deeper into her tawny heat, his mouth fell open. “Fuck, baby, and so tight and soft. You’re swallowing me whole. Such a good girl taking me raw like this. I’m so lucky.”

“Hoseok,” she breathed.

“So wet and hot and tight.”

He was lost in her, and Ellie felt a surge of pride. She had something no one else had had—she had the real Hoseok, and he was amazing. She could feel every ridge of his hardness, every inch of his all-consuming lust for her. It was all hers, and she was so greedy.

Her walls fluttered around him as she devoured him to his hilt, and it woke him from his reverie. At last, he pulled back out and sank back in again, long, slow strokes that let them both experience the other from the inside out.

“I could fuck you forever,” he crooned as he rubbed her clit again with his thumb. “I love the way your body shakes for me, and I get to feel it all.”

“Only you, Hoseok,” Ellie managed between his emphatic strokes.

He tipped forward and crushed his mouth to hers in a sloppy kiss, gathering her hair in one hand and a satin-covered breast in the other. He picked up speed between her legs that had her moaning into him.

Suddenly, he pulled up, more determined than ever, and pressed her legs back so her hips angled up for him. A whimper left Ellie’s lips as his next stroke filled her deeper than she’d ever felt. She gasped hard as Hoseok fucked the air right out of her lungs.

Again and again and again.

She couldn’t speak. She was reduced to mewls and whimpers and moans as her core tightened with every thrust of his thick cock.

“I can feel you,” he murmured again. “You ready to come for me, baby? You ready to surrender to me?”

“So close,” she stuttered.

His thumb redoubled its assault on her clit until she could feel every muscle in her body tensing for her inevitable release. He knew just how to rub her to ignite every fire of her being.

“Give it to me, baby. Need to feel it. Come for me, my sexy girl.”

It was all too much—his words, his fingers, his cock. Ellie unraveled. Her hips trembled up as her walls squeezed ruthlessly around him, drawing him in as deep as he could go. Her thighs quaked and her eyes winched tight as she strangled out a pathetic gasp.

She had never felt so spent. Every last ounce of energy had gone into her orgasm. Now she was just a vessel heaving ragged breaths below this real-life Adonis.

Above her, Hoseok was losing it. The strength of her release had taken him by surprise, and now trapped inside her quivering heat, his length swelled and throbbed. Ellie had just enough energy to grab his neck and draw him flat against her body.

He was sweaty and hard and desperate for his own high. He felt so fucking good, and she felt immeasurably powerful controlling someone so strong.

“Where do you want my come?” he managed between grunts as he started to pull out, but Ellie hooked a leg behind his ass and pushed him back in.

“Inside me, baby,” she whispered into his ear. “Fill me up.”

He mewled against her neck, feathering a grateful kiss there. His enormous arms hugged her waist as he buried himself within her, and a new warmth spread through her as she welcomed his seed into her walls.

Ellie wrapped her arms and legs around him and held him as he rode out his release on a waterfall of whimpers and grunts. She raked her fingers through his silken hair and tried to process the knowledge that she had just fucked someone as perfect as Lee Hoseok.

And here he was, tight in her arms, panting and nuzzling against her skin as he planted lazy kisses along her shoulder.

“I—” he started but cut himself off with another trace of his nose along her collar bone.

“Shh,” she said and stroked his head again. “Just stay for another minute.”

A tremor rippled through her that had nothing to do with the aftershocks of ecstasy. The second he pulled out, this dream would end, and Ellie wasn’t ready to give it up. As unbelievable as the sex had been, nothing felt quite so good as Hoseok emptied and at her mercy, crushing her under him with his iron frame.

They stayed like that as long as they could before his cock softened and he had no choice but to slip away from her and roll over onto the bed. The loss of his warmth was excruciating, and the chill in the bedroom intensified.

Ellie tugged her dress down to combat the ice settling into her veins, but it was no use. Instead, she cleared her throat and headed for the bathroom. She was back a few minutes later, her long hair swept over her shoulder and her eyes cast to the floor.

Hoseok was stretched out shamelessly naked across his bed, every single muscle taut and gleaming in the twinkling lights of Seoul. He studied her with a strange smile on his face, something between admiring and appreciative.

“Is it okay if I stay?” Ellie asked as she worked a knot from her hair.

Hoseok’s eyes widened as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to the bed. He spent a moment studying her slender fingers as he traced them with his thumb. Silence hung for a full minute, and her shoulders sagged at his inevitable answer. She should have expected it. It was just sex after all. It was what she had wanted, right?

She started toward the door, but his grip tightened.

“Please don’t leave.”

His voice was tender, turned up at the end like a question. Ellie melted into it.

Still, she slipped out of his grip, and he sat up with the smallest of gasps, but she didn’t head out the door. Instead, she circled the bed and climbed under the covers. The musk of sex still pervaded the air, but under it was the essence of Hoseok, electrifying and soothing all at once. She laid down, taking in the goofy grin that softened all his features.

He said nothing as he watched her curl into his bed, and her body relaxed for the first time all day. Relief and exhaustion washed over her in a wave that had her eyelids already fluttering shut.

“Listen,” he said gently, brushing a lock of hair from her face, “I know I said one night, and that’s all I can give you now, but what if this wasn’t just tonight?”

Ellie wheedled further into her pillow dreamily, barely hearing him. “Hm?”

“What if I wanted another night when I come back?”

“Sure,” she mumbled through her profound fatigue.

“Ellie.”

Her eyes rushed back open and she found Hoseok wide-awake and dead serious. His words surged through the twilight fog of sleep as she finally realized what he was saying.

“Don’t forget me,” he begged. “Please.”

He was so pretty lying on the pillow beside her, so earnest with his big eyes and parted lips. She wasn’t sure why—maybe it was exhaustion or hormones—but a tear slipped down her cheek.

His thumb reached out to wipe it away, and he scooted closer to hold her tighter. “I’m sorry. Did I ask too much? That wasn’t what you signed up for, but I got carried away.”

Ellie shook her head, drawing herself further into the cradle of his hand. “No, no. Yeah, I’d like that. A lot.”

He smiled, all teeth and crescent eyes. So handsome.

“Hoseok?”

“Hm?”

“I could never forget you.”

He pressed his lips to hers in a sleepy kiss as they succumbed to the end of the first of many nights.

[hollywoodfamerp]

HOLLYWOOD FAME GOES TO LAS VEGAS!

Las Vegas is a world of imagination. Just close your eyes and think about anything, and the odds are in your favor that you'll find it in Las Vegas. You can see relics from all parts of the world, ancient Egypt, modern-day Venice, the streets of Paris, and the New York skyline. If that seems too kitschy, don't worry, there are plenty of elaborate resorts with non-stop gaming and over-the-top entertainment waiting to greet you. Where else in the world does a wonderland like this exist? Nowhere. But. Vegas.

The atmosphere of Las Vegas is something that you almost have to experience to understand fully. It's the ringing of chimes as a guest just hit the jackpot, the thumping bass from the club, the smell of unique and eclectic delicacies waiting to be tasted, and it's people-watching like nothing you've seen before. It's a never-ending source of irony and improbability where you can turn a chip and a chair into a million dollars.

This is a chance to explore your personality, more opportunities to experiment with new ideas, and more thrills to discover around every corner. And remember, What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas ;)

UNDER THE CUT, YOU WILL FIND THE ITINERARY FOR OUR WEEKEND TRIP!

Please remember that this is a MANDATORY trip from May 28th- 31st – meaning all celebs need to be in attendance for the trip. Whether you are on hiatus or not, you must say your celeb is attending the trip. All activities listed are all suggestions! 

We will NOT be mandating any threads to be completed during this trip. We’re trusting you all to branch out and plot on your own - whether that be with your roommate or just anyone attending the trip. :) so please, reach out, make some new connections and have fun! If this goes well we may do it this way for some future trip events as well!

Please also use the tag #hfrpvegas during this trip. 

We will only have one mandatory event during this trip on Saturday May 30th. Please sit tight for a follow up post that will have the hotel and roommates list!

Please like this notice so we know you’re all up to date!

Celebrities are free to enjoy any of the suggested activities at any given time! Feel free to do anything not listed here as well! You do not have to do any of these activities except for the mandated event on Saturday.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

CAESARS PALACE!:  With one foot in the past and one in the future, Caesars is one of the last old-school properties remaining, and few Las Vegas casinos can match it in atmosphere. Come to wager a few chips on the sprawling casino floor, take a dip in the lavish Garden of the Gods pool, browse the Forum Shops, see a concert in the Colosseum, or just to wander the halls while quoting The Hangover.

TREASURES STRIP CLUB AND STEAKHOUSE!:  Treasures Las Vegas is truly the most opulent and comfortable adult entertainment venue in Las Vegas. From the moment you walk through the front entrance and into the dazzling ultra lounge, you immediately realize you are in the Mecca of entertainment in Las Vegas! Unbelievable, beautiful, opulent, warm, comfortable, unparalleled service and amenities- these are but a few ways to describe Treasures and the truly remarkable world into which you have stepped.

KARAOKE AT ELLIS ISLAND!:  a casino and a brewery thrown together in a harmony that not even a boy band could match. Ellis Island likes to boast that it’s consistently voted the best karaoke in Las Vegas, and we’re certainly not going to argue. That title does, however, come with some responsibility on the part of the singers. You gotta bring it! Kick up some classic rock while throwing back some of the best beers in town!

PARK THEATER!:  Thanks to changing entertainment trends, The Strip is littered with stars as production shows have made way for resident headliners—A-list musicians and bands that set up shop in casino showrooms for extended runs. The Park Theater at Park MGM boasts many of the best, including Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Aerosmith, and Cher. The venue seats 5,200 and VIP seating includes dedicated cocktail service.

BLACKOUT DINING IN THE DARK!: BLACKOUT Dining in the Dark is Las Vegas’ most exclusive restaurant dining attraction offering a complete sensory experience. It’s more than just a meal; it’s a journey of the senses that will make your re-evaluate your perception of taste, smell and touch. Experience a one of a kind dining experience and exclusive cuisine.

RED ROCK CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA!:  Vegas visitors are often shocked to find that The Strip isn’t four miles of glitz plopped down in the midst of open desert. Rather, the city is ringed by mountains and canyons, which offer wonderful hiking. Visit Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area where rock walls are dotted with climbers on world class routes and trails lead into lovely gullies. Not into hiking? Drive a 13-mile loop through the park for a taste of the scenery sans the sweat.

MANDATORY ACTIVITY - SATURDAY, MAY 30TH

FOAM NEON POOL PARTY!:  Hollywood Fame will be hosting a Foam Neon Pool party! Let go of your inhibitions, bring out your wild side, dance the night away, kiss a stranger! The options are endless! This is YOUR night. Please use the tag #hfrpfoamneonpoolparty when posting outfits etc. :)

[theresascove]

◖ random modern!au's ◗

brother’s best friend!ellie

[1.6k] whispers in the dead of night — hurt/comfort, friends to lovers

you started to avoid Ellie when you fear she won’t return the feelings you have, turns out—after a little confrontation in your kitchen at 3am—she feels the same

rock climber!ellie

[1.9k] wanna feel you against me — smut, strangers to lovers

your friend takes you rock climbing—and shit your belay instructing partner is hot

streamer/gamer!ellie

[1.2k] on live — estblashed relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort

your girlfriend says something on stream that causes you to rush out with tears in your eyes

archer!ellie

[1.2k] aiming for your touch — smut, rivals to lovers

after years being fierce opponents, tension shifts and she backs you up into an empty room

guitar teacher!ellie

[1.1k] guitar lessons — smut, (sex in practice room)

ellie—your guitar instructor—shows you how to play guitar, and you show her your own personal talents in the practice room

aquarium worker!ellie • series m.list

[4k • total + hcs] the nerd at the aquarium — strangers to lovers, eventual smut, hurt/comfort

you take your nephew to your city’s aquarium where you met her crouched next to your nephew after having run off in excitement

[randomlyrandoms]

Celebrity Deaths 2017

JANUARY Francine York - Jan. 6 (Movie Actress) Om Puri - Jan. 6 (Movie Actor) Mario Soares - Jan. 7 (Politician) Roy Innis - Jan. 8 (Civil Rights Leader) Tony Rosato - Jan. 10 (Voice Actor) Buddy Greco - Jan. 10 (Jazz Singer) William Peter Blatty - Jan. 12 (Novelist) Graham Taylor - Jan. 12 (Soccer Coach) Lord Snowdon - Jan. 13 (Royalty) Richard Gautier - Jan. 13 (Movie Actor) Yama Buddha - Jan. 14 (Rapper) Jimmy Snuka - Jan. 15 (Wrestler) Roberta Peters - Jan. 18 (Opera Singer) *Miguel Ferrer - Jan. 19 (Movie Actor) Andy Marte - Jan. 22 (Baseball Player) Gorden Kaye - Jan. 23 (TV Actor) Marvell Thomas - Jan. 23 (Keyboardist) Bimba Bosé - Jan. 23 (Model) Lee O'Denat - Jan. 23 (Entrepreneur) Butch Trucks - Jan. 24 (Drummer) **Mary Tyler Moore - Jan. 25 (TV Actress) Mike Connors - Jan. 26 (TV Actor) Barbara Hale - Jan. 26 (TV Actress) **John Hurt - Jan. 27 (Movie Actor) Emmanuelle Riva - Jan. 27 (Movie Actress) Robert Ellis Miller - Jan. 27 (Film Director)   Geoff Nicholls - Jan. 28 (Musician) Richard Portman - Jan. 28 (Sound Engineer) Bobby Freeman - Jan. 28 (Soul Singer) Rob Stewart - Jan. 31 (Director) Frank Pellegrino - Jan. 31 (Actor) John Wetton - Jan. 31 (Rock Singer)

FEBRUARY Ken Morrison - Feb.1 (Entrepreneur) Alec McOwen - Feb. 6 (Movie Actor) Irwin Corey - Feb. 6 (Stand-Up Comic) Christine Dolce Feb. 6 (Reality Star) Richard Hatch - Feb. 7 (Reality Star) Tara Palmer-Tomkinson - Feb. 8 (TV Show Host) Mike Ilitch - Feb. 10 (Entrepreneur) Fab Melo - Feb 11 (Basketball Player) Al Jarreau - Feb. 12 (Jazz Singer) Seijun Suzuki - Feb. 13 (Director) Trish Doan - Feb. 13 (Bassist) E-Dubble - Feb. 13 (Youtube Star) Stuart Mclean - Feb. 15 (Radio Host)   George Steele - Feb. 16 (Wrestler) Warren Frost - Feb. 17 (TV Actor) Nicole Bass - Feb. 17 (Wrestler) Clyde Stubblefield - Feb. 18 (Drummer) Richard Schickel - Feb. 18 (Historian) Daniel Vickerman - Feb. 18 (Rugby Player) Ivan Koloff - Feb. 18 (Wrestler) Larry Coryell - Feb. 19 (Guitarist) Brian Vigneault - Feb. 19 (Twitch Star) Alan Colmes - Feb. 23 (TV Show Host) **Bill Paxton - Feb. 25 (Movie Actor) Neil Fingleton - Feb. 25 (TV Actor) Judge Joseph Wapner - Feb. 26 (TV Show Host/Former Judge) Trinity Faith Moran - Feb. 28 (Musical.ly Star)

MARCH Paula Fox - March 1  (Memoirist) Tommy Page - March 3 (Pop Singer) Misha Mengelberg - March 3 (Pianist) Robert Osborne - March 6 (Actor) Joni Sledge - March 10 (Pop Singer) James Cotton - March 16 (Blues Singer) Chuck Berry - March 18 (Rock Singer) Miloslav Vlk - March 18 (Religous Leader) Bernie Wrightson - March 18 (Illustrator) Jimmy Breslin - March 19 (Journalist) David Rockefeller - March 20 (Entrepreneur) Chuck Barris - March 21 (TV Show Host) Martin McGuinness - March 21 (Politician) Lola Albright - March 23 (Movie Actress) Dave Steele - March 25 (Race Car Driver) Clay Adler - March 26 (Reality Star) Darlene Cates - March 26 (Movie Actress) Enn Vetemaa - March 28 (Novelist) Donald Harvey - March 30 (Criminal)

APRIL Lonnie Brooks - April 1 (Singer) *Don Rickles - April 6 (Comedian) Tim Pigott-Smith - April 7 (TV Actor) Ben Speer - April 7 (Gospel Singer) Linda Hopkins - April 10 (Stage Actress) Peter Hansen - April 10 (TV Actor) Dorothy Mengering - April 11 (David Letterman's Mother) John Warren Geils Jr. - April 11 (Guitarist) **Charlie Murphy - April 12 (Comedian) Dan Rooney - April 13 (Politcian) Martin Elias Diaz - April 14 (World Music Singer) Allan Holdsworth - April 15 (Guitarist) Emma Morano - April 15 (Supercentenarian) **Cuba Gooding Sr. - April 20 (R&B Singer) Magdalena Abakanowicz - April 21 (Sculptor) **Erin Moran - April 22 (TV Actress) Gustavo Rojo - April 22 (Movie Actor) Michael Mantenuto - April 24 (Actor) Jonathan Demme - April 26 (Director) Vinod Khanna - April 27 (Movie Actor) BTY YoungN - April 29 (Rapper) Jean Stein - April 30 (Author) Ueli Steck - April 30 (Mountain Climber)

MAY Bruce Hampton - May 1 (Musician) Harriet Shelley - May 7 (Family Member/George Shelley's Sister) Curt Lowens - May 8 (Actor) Robert Miles - May 9 (Music Producer) **Christopher 'Big Black' Boykin - May 9 (Reality Star) Michael Parks - May 10 (TV Actor) Mauno Koivisto - May 12 (Politician) Powers Boothe - May 14 (TV Actor) Jean Fritz - May 14 (Children's Author) Brad Grey - May 14 (Entrepreneur) London Dior - May 15 (Rapper) Chris Cornell - May 17 (Rock Singer) Lisa Spoonauer - May 20 (Movie Actress) Dina Merrill - May 22 (Movie Actress) Nicky Hayden - May 22 (Motorcycle Racer) Roger Moore - May 23 (Movie Actor) Cortez Kennedy - May 23 (Football Player) Jared Martin - May 24 (Soap Opera Actor) Denis Johnson - May 25 (Poet) Jim Bunning - May 26 (Baseball Player) Gregg Allman - May 27 (Rock Singer) Frank Deford - May 28 (Novelist) Robert Michael Morris - May 30 (TV Actor) Michael Nance - May 30 (Reality Star)

JUNE Peter Sallis - June 2 (Voice Actor) Roger Smith - June 4 (TV Actor) Cheick Tiote - June 5 (Soccer Player) Glenne Headly - June 8 (Movie Actress) Norro Wilson - June 8 (Singer) *Adam West - June 9 (TV Actor) Julia Perez - June 10 (Movie Actress) Brandon Rogers - June 11 (Pop Singer) Bill Dana - June 15 (Comedian) Robin Twist - June 20 (Harry Style's Step-Father) Michael Nyqvist - June 27 (Movie Actor)

JULY Stevie Ryan - July 1 (TV Actress) Ji-Tu Cumbuka - July 4 (Movie Actor) Joan Lee - July 6 (Family Member/Stan Lee's Wife) Nelsan Ellis - July 8 (TV Actor) Elsa Martinelli - July 8 (Movie Actress) George A. Romero - July 16 (Director) Harvey Atkin - July 17 (Movie Actor) **Chester Bennington - July 20 (Rock Singer) **John Heard - July 21 (Movie Actor) Abby Nicole - July 23 (Singer) Michael Johnson - July 25 (Singer) June Foray - July 26 (Voice Actress) Leonard Landy - July 26 (Actor) Sam Shepard - July 27 (Playwright) D.L. Menard - July 27 (Singer) Marty Sklar - July 27 (Walt Disney Co. Imagineer) Jeanne Moreau - July 31 (Movie Actress) Chuck Loeb - July 31 (Guitarist)

AUGUST Daniel Licht - Aug. 2 (Musician) **Robert Hardy - Aug. 3 (Movie Actor) Ty Hardin - Aug. 3 (TV Actor) Yung Mazi - Aug. 6 (Rapper) Barbara Cook - Aug. 8 (Movie Actress) Yisrael Kristal - Aug. 11 (Supercentenarian) Joseph Bologna - Aug. 13 (TV Actor) Frank Broyles - Aug. 14 (Football Coach) Tom Hawkins - Aug. 16 (Basketball Player) Dick Gregory - Aug. 19 (Comedian) Jerry Lewis - Aug. 20 (Movie Actor) Jay Thomas - Aug. 24 (TV Actor) Rich Piana - Aug. 25 (Bodybuilder) Louise Hay - Aug. 30 (Self-Help Author)

SEPTEMBER Elizabeth Kemp - Sept. 1 (TV Actress) Amos Abplanalp - Sept. 7 (Evie Clair's Father) Troy Gentry - Sept. 8 (Country Singer) Blake Heron - Sept. 8 (Movie Actor) Bobby Heenan - Sept. 17 (TV Show Host) Liliane Bettencourt - Sept. 21 (Entrepreneur) Charles Bradley - Sept. 23 (Soul Singer) Elizabeth Dawn - Sept. 25 (Soap Opera Actress) **Hugh Hefner - Sept. 27 (Entrepreneur)

OCTOBER Tom Petty - Oct. 2 (Rock Singer) Ralphie May - Oct. 6 (Comedian) YA Tittle - Oct. 9 (Football Player) Sean Hughes - Oct. 16 (Comedian) Robert Guillaume - Oct. 24 (TV Actor)

NOVEMBER Hannah Stone - Nov.1 (Younow Star) John Hillerman - Nov. 9 (TV Actor) Lil Peep - Nov. 15 (Rapper) Ann Wedgeworth - Nov. 16 (TV Actress) Charles Manson - Nov. 19 (Criminal) David Cassidy - Nov. 21 (TV Actor) Rodney Bewes - Nov. 21 (TV Actor) Rance Howard - Nov. 25 (TV Actor)

DECEMBER Kevin Robinson - Dec. 9 (BMX Rider)

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: 03/01

Last week, there were 10 songs on the UK Top 40 chart that were not holiday or Christmas singles, and this week, there are two, and by two, I mean these are really technicalities, since depending on however you define a Christmas song, there could also be no Christmas songs whatsoever on this chart. The week after the Christmas songs on all charts, especially the UK Singles Chart and Billboard Hot 100 (Where “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey dropped out entirely from #1), are chaotic, so much so that I think once again I’ll have to eschew tradition and change the format up a bit, because I’m not starting with the top 10; rather I’m starting with the drop-outs, which as you can expect will be mostly Christmas songs. So, with no further ado... 

Holiday Dropouts

Okay, so first of all, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey is out from #2, “Last Christmas” by WHAM! is out from #3, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl is out from #4, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens is out from #6, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid is out from #7, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John is out from #8, “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” by John Legend is out from #9, “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard is out from #10, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé is out from #11, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande is out from #13, “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis is out from #15, “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia is out from #17, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee is out from #18, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade is out from #19, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson is out from #21, “Cozy Little Christmas” by Katy Perry is out from #22, “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea is out from #24, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams is out from #25, “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber is out from #27, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band featuring the Harlem Boys Choir or something to that effect is out from #28, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay is out from #29, “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms is out from #30, “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby is out from #31, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé is out from #32, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Home is out from #33, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes is out from #34, “Stay Another Day” by East 17 is out from #35, “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney is out from #37 and “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin is out from #39. Obviously, all of the Christmas songs from outside of the top 40 are gone too, with one exception. That won’t be the last Christmas song I mention this episode but I’m glad to finally be done with these. Here’s the top 10.

Top 10

Obviously, the highest-charting song from last week excluding any Christmas songs, and the only non-holiday song in the top 10 last week, is up four spaces to #1, and hence technically the first #1 hit of 2020. It’s “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy, becoming Stormzy’s third #1, Sheeran’s ninth and obviously Burna Boy’s first. Congratulations, guys, it was inevitable.

Now eight of the ten songs that survived last week are all in the top 10, with the other two scattered around the top 20. Returning to the runner-up spot is Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” up 10 spaces to number-two.

Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”, unfortunately not seeing much chance at hitting #1 at this stage, is up 11 spaces to number-three. I know these massive climbs look important but they are really not actually worth much note at all since it’s just a result of managing through the Christmas blockade.

Up 12 spots to number-four is “ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas.

Rebounding to number-five is the former #1 “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I up 15 spaces to number-five.

Billie Eilish’s “everything i wanted” is also in the top 10 at number-six, as it is up 16 positions this week.

Entering the top 10 for the first time is Harry Styles’ “Adore You”, up 19 spaces to number-seven and becoming Styles’ third entry in the top 10.

Our remaining leftover from last week, excluding the Stormzy songs outside of the top 10, “Pump it Up” by Endor reaches the top 10 for the first time up a whopping 28 spaces to number-eight, which may just be one of our biggest one-week climbs ever. It’s Endor’s first top 10, but I predict he won’t get many more in all honesty. We’ll see though.

Since everything else is a new arrival, returning entry or random Stormzy song that climbed, we have a lot of new peaks this week, including “This is Real” by Jax Jones featuring Ella Henderson, which returns at number-nine, becoming Jones’ sixth top 10 and Henderson’s fourth.

Finally, rounding off the top 10, we have “Lose You to Love Me”, returning to the top 10 at #10 as a re-entry to the top 40.

Climbers

Well, we only have two climbers for songs that were here last week, outside of the top 10, and they’re both Stormzy: “Vossi Bop” is seemingly making a second run, up 28 spaces to #12, and “Audacity” featuring Headie One is up 22 spaces to #16.

Fallers

Ellie Goulding’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” fell immensely from its false #1 spot last week, because it is down 27 spots to #28, which is an unfortunate loss but should make it obvious that label politics are the only thing that got this to #1.

Returning Entries

Before the new arrivals, we will have to book-end our Christmas season with our returning entries, the songs that weathered the Christmas storm but are back in full force afterwards, claiming some form of victory, I suppose. Okay, so “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd is back at #11, “Falling” by Trevor Daniel is at #14, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi is at #15, “Watermelon Sugar” and “Lights Up” by Harry Styles are back at #17 and #18 respectively, “Into the Unknown” by Idina Menzel and AURORA, from the Frozen II soundtrack and hence a song I’m counting as our second Christmas single still on the chart, has returned to #19, alongside seemingly its polar opposite, “Don’t Rush” by Young T & Bugsey with Headie One back at #20. “Memories” by Maroon 5 is back at #21, “Gangsta” by Darkoo and One Acen at #22, “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean making its way back to #23, “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi unfortunately returning at #24, “Heartless” by the Weeknd is back at #25, “bad guy” by Billie Eilish shows up completely out of the blue at #26 and “Lucid Dreams” by the late Juice WRLD has returned once again at #27. “Better Half of Me” by Tom Walker is back at #30, “Lose Control” by MEDUZA, Goodboys and Becky Hill is back at #31, “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B is back at #32, “Netflix & Chill” by Fredo is at #34, “hot girl summer” by blackbear is at #35, “Circles” by Post Malone is at #36, “Must Be” by J Hus is at #37 and finally, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus of all songs is back at #38. Now for our new arrivals, which much like right before we had to fend off the Christmas songs, it’s just a couple of viral trap-rap hits.

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “The Box” – Roddy Ricch

Produced by 30 Roc – Peaked at #3 in the US

Roddy Ricch is a Californian rapper who is one of the newest crop of rising Auto-Tune-fuelled sing-rappers like Lil Tjay, Polo G, et cetera, although Roddy takes more influence from Young Thug, and you can definitely tell, in fact as a pretty big fan of Young Thug at least since recently, Roddy comes off as a bit of a rip-off or discount version at times, since I sense a lack of variation and honestly a lack of any true “weird” lines or oddities that make Thugger stand out as much. Roddy, or as BBC has mistakenly called him in his first UK Top 40 hit, “Roddy Rich”, has inflections that just seem awfully standard. That’s why I was excited when I heard “The Box”, from his debut studio album, because it starts with a muffled brass loop under strings and Roddy meekly repeating in his falsetto, “eee-err”, and it continues throughout most of the song, even when the beat actually kicks in. The beat is actually pretty weird too, with a reversed 808 bass that just comes in sporadically instead of a normal 808 bass. It’s really odd and really strange but it works because Roddy embraces it, with a fluid flow that switches inflection and delivery constantly, keeping with no motif or theme for more than four bars. He also attempts the very Young Thug method of making a punchline by saying a normal, somewhat funny line and then pausing for a beat or two, just to come back by saying, “Mm” or “Yeah”. The beat ends in a very cool way too, with the brass and strings loop playing without any percussion, until it reverses and the song ends with the rubbery reversed 808. It sounds really atmospheric and a lot better than how it sounds from my description. Roddy also says a lot of nonsense here that’s actually pretty funny, like how he’s supposedly a 2020 presidential candidate? Also, Roddy, Aaliyah’s dead, I mean, she looked great whilst alive, but if you have a “b**** that’s looking like Aaliyah”, chances are she’s not a model, or at least not anymore. A bit of a morbid point to end on, but this song is pretty fun. I still prefer “Ballin’” though.

#39 – “No Idea” – Don Toliver

Produced by WondaGurl and Cubeatz – Peaked at #25 in Canada and #43 in the US

Don Toliver is a rapper and singer from Texas who is signed to Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack imprint and featured on their debut compilation album, JACKBOYS, which made several appearances outside of the UK Top 40 this week, but none within our little range, but we do have this viral TikTok-propelled hit, “No Idea”, which is often considered his breakout single, and his first UK Top 40 hit. I find Don Toliver mostly tolerable, although I didn’t particularly like him on “GANG GANG” or “CAN’T SAY”. I would describe this song as pretty forgettable, actually, despite the admittedly interesting and pretty flute loop, which is immediately and abruptly drowned out by the vocals, drenched in way too many levels of ugly reverb and Auto-Tune. Yeah, Toliver sounds pretty awful here, and he’s just clearly ripping off his mentor Travis Scott with some of his inflections and even the YAH! ad-lib. The bass mastering is questionable and the song seems to have an aimless structure, with Toliver just breezing through lyric after lyric with no substance or content to speak of, and even a bridge for him to just ad-lib over the beat for about half a minute. The falsetto part is borderline unlistenable, especially when all of the overdubs and multi-tracks start clipping, even though that might be intentional. Yeah, no, this is garbage, as expected.

#33 – “No Denying” – J Hus

Produced by TobiShyBoy

J Hus has released a second single from his upcoming album after “Must Be”, which if you remember I absolutely loved, and we all know him by now and I told his story and legal issues last time, so no needless pre-amble this time. It’s J Hus’ ninth UK Top 40 hit and, to no surprise, it’s pretty good. It starts with this intense string loop, with some brass and a rowdy tone, building up for the beat drop, where J Hus abandons his mellow mumbling for raspy and aggressive spitting over a drill beat, and it’s pretty intense, as well as just sounding great, with some sweet 808 rolls, although the transitions between chorus and verse feel increasingly abrupt, even if the drill beat is added to the chorus after the first time. J Hus’ content isn’t any interesting this time around, either, and I think that’s why it hasn’t debuted that high. The second verse is just kind of boring, and the slightly off-beat chorus soon loses its lustre. I wish I liked this more, and there are things I like about it, especially the instrumental, but I’m not sure Hus did it any justice this time around. I still enjoy his casual bars that pay no mind to careless gang violence because I just think they’re pretty funny, especially when he treats killing someone in response to racial abuse like a normal weekday in the second verse, but this song does pretty much nothing for me past the first verse.

#29 – “No Cellular Site” – D-Block Europe

Produced by Kyle Junior

Now, here we go. Here is some interesting stuff: D-Block Europe. Young Adz and Dirtbike LB, two of the funniest rappers from the United Kingdom, of course, by complete freak accident and pure incompetence. They released a mixtape (their third of 2019) in late December and it seems to have just been swept under the rug for the most part as it seems like a rushed, boring tracklist. It’s got one feature and it’s not a big one at all, so this is the single, seemingly, probably because it’s got a video and for no other reason. This is the one people decided to watch the video for, and conveniently early in the tracklist. It’s their seventh UK Top 40 hit and curiously, I actually quite liked their last song with DigDat, “New Dior”, and maybe these guys have genuinely improved. Yeah, no, not really. They’ve abandoned the guitar, instead going for a gross MIDI flute that barely passes as a melody and allows for a bunch of silence in the beat. It’s just really empty and refuses to develop or build up to anything, even when the beat comes in. The beat is garbage but the men themselves haven’t changed. Young Adz is still the lead here, with his signature mumbling in the intro and handling the hook as well. I think his new ad-lib is a breathy “gyehr”. His flow switches in the first verse but it doesn’t sound natural or organic, and he trails off at the end of the bar, with a weird, vocodered ad-lib that just repeats the last line failing to fill up empty space. The chorus sounds really freaking awkward as well, especially as the verse ends not with an ad-lib but with reverb-heavy humming, before the chorus comes in and the beat can’t decide if it wants to come in or not, so it’s just hi-hats, a gross 808 and murmuring ad-libs for a while. Dirtbike LB’s verse is mixed in a completely different way, but the beat drowns it and a beeping flatline starts playing under his attempt at a soulful melody in the second half of the verse and it sounds pretty heartfelt, detailing his mother’s plight when he went to hospital for a drug overdose. Too bad it has no relation to anything else here, and Young Adz has a second verse for some reason as well. I have no idea why the last chorus sounds like it was recorded through the telephone, or why the song ends with the flute MIDI literally cutting off before the note ends. The lyrics here are terrible as always, but have those same odd, janky quirks they always do. Young Adz has codeine swimming inside him, doesn’t know if the “famous hoe” in his car is from Geordie Shore or Love Island, and saw a gun and sold cocaine before his virginity was taken, because that’s info we need to know. Of course, I appreciate the body positivity in the chorus, I suppose. This song is oddly focused on mothers as well, as he told the person he’s selling drugs to, to not tell his parents, and also draws the line when you start pouring champagne on your Rolex. Sure. Also this line is really funny to me for some reason:

I cannot deny that a [gnarly dude] need drugs

#13 – “My Oh My” – Camila Cabello featuring DaBaby

Produced by Frank Dukes and Louis Bell

Our last song is the single from Cabello’s second album, Romance, in which she experienced a severe sophomore slump critically and commercially, mostly because there is not a single track on the album that is enjoyable. It is possibly one of the worst albums of last year, just out of sheer disregard for both quality and trying to be unique. It is a generic heap of nothingness, and for whatever reason, it has DaBaby on it (He’s the only feature apart from Shawn Mendes). It’s Cabello’s twelfth UK Top 40 hit, and surprisingly enough, the first entry for North Carolina trap-rapper DaBaby, who I have talked about here before. He’s funny, charismatic and raunchy but can get very samey and sometimes his feature verses are just awkward, including this one. The song starts with some eerie, quirky vintage synths that sound pretty cool, but the horn section just punches in and I hear in the distance, a manic Camila Cabello obnoxiously laughing, and I’m immediately pulled out of whatever this is. It’s almost quite overwhelming actually, because a lot happens at the same time. Cabello’s voice is squeaky as either, the backing vocals are Auto-Tuned badly and add so much unnecessary vibrato that it sounds mildly off-key at times. The percussion is awfully mixed, with the trap beat, especially the 808s and kick drums being at the front of the mix, which makes no sense. It’s stiff, awkward and not sexy at all, mostly because Cabello sounds like she’s in pain 90% of the time, and I’m not for kinkshaming but off-key gang vocals aren’t hot. DaBaby’s “Let’s go” sounds so sad and tired, so you can tell from the post-chorus that he doesn’t want to be here, and yeah, his verse proves this. Apparently he’s “going Bieber”. Sure. This sucks.

Conclusion

I’ve got to say, not a great week, but the transition weeks between years are often a bit like this. Best of the Week is going to “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, with an honourable mention towards “No Denying” by J Hus. Worst of the Week goes to “No Idea” by Don Toliver and D-Block Europe don’t escape free, as they get the dishonourable mention for “No Cellular Site”. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank, I’ll see you next week.

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.12 (before 1960)

954 – The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom. 1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanos III Argyros. 1330 – Battle of Posada ends: Wallachian Voievode Basarab I defeats the Hungarian army by ambush. 1439 – Plymouth becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament. 1835 – Construction is completed on the Wilberforce Monument in Kingston Upon Hull. 1892 – Pudge Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association. 1893 – Abdur Rahman Khan accepts the Durand Line as the border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj. 1905 – Norway holds a referendum resulting in popular approval of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly independent country. 1912 – First Balkan War: King George I of Greece makes a triumphal entry into Thessaloniki after its liberation from 482 years of Ottoman rule. 1912 – The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. 1918 – Dissolution of Austria-Hungary: Austria becomes a republic. After the proclamation, a coup attempt by the communist Red Guard is defeated by the social-democratic Volkswehr. 1920 – Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo. 1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union. 1928 – SS Vestris sinks approximately 200 miles (320 km) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, killing at least 110 passengers, mostly women and children who die after the vessel is abandoned. 1933 – Nazi Germany uses a referendum to ratify its withdrawal from the League of Nations.[ 1936 – In California, the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic. 1938 – Nazi Germany issues the Decree on the Elimination of Jews from Economic Life prohibiting Jews from selling goods and services or working in a trade, totally segregating Jews from the German economy. 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Gabon ends as Free French Forces take Libreville, Gabon, and all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French forces. 1940 – World War II: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrives in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis Powers. 1941 – World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to −12 °C (10 °F) as the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city. 1941 – World War II: The Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina is destroyed during the Battle of Sevastopol. 1942 – World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days and ends with an American victory. 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers, which sink the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway. 1948 – Aftermath of World War II: In Tokyo, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II. 1954 – Ellis Island ceases operations. 1956 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations. 1956 – In the midst of the Suez Crisis, Palestinian refugees are shot dead in Rafah by Israel Defense Force soldiers following the invasion of the Gaza Strip. 1958 – A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

[kuwahuru]

Mt. Kenya: Chogoria – Sirimon Rout

Mt Kenya is Africa ‘s second highest mountain at 5199m (17057ft) and located in central part of Kenya . It was traditionally regarded as the realm of God by the communities (Kikuyu, Meru and Embu) that live and cultivate its rich soils found in its lower slopes. The mountain is an awe-inspiring sight, with its snow covered peaks which can be seen from far when the weather is clear. Lenana peak at 4985m(16355ft) can be conquered by any fit mountain climber while Batian and Nelion peaks (5199m/17057ft) require climbers with mountain climbing techniques and climbing gear. Climbing takes between 3 and 5 days and is done through various routes through a fascinating world of forests, wildlife, unique mountain vegetation and across streams with crystal clear chilled water. Day 1: Nairobi Upon arrival into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport you are met and transferred to your accommodation in Nairobi. This evening there is a welcome dinner & comprehensive briefing with the Climbs Manager and your guide. Overnight Lodge (Dinner) Day 2: Nairobi-Chogoria In the morning, we will depart Nairobi and travel north to the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. We will be driving through some spectacular country as we contour around the valleys of the mountain. In the late afternoon we reach our private camp, which is located at the edge of Mount Kenya’s rain forest (altitude 6,000 feet). Day 3: Mt. Kenya In the early morning we will meet our porters and begin the hike through the equatorial rain forest. This forest is the home of elephant, Cape buffalo, and leopard. We may also be fortunate to see Colobus monkey on our walk. After a picnic at 8,000 feet, we spend the afternoon hiking up through bamboo forest to our private camp (altitude 10,000feet.) on the edge of the moorlands. Day 4: Mt. Kenya After breakfast, we follow the trail as it leads up through glades of montane forest to our private camp on the shore of Lake Ellis. We arrive at our camp at 11,800 feet in time for lunch. After a short siesta, in the late afternoon we will take an acclimatization hike to the top of nearby Mugi Hill before returning to camp at dusk. Day 5: Mt. Kenya The day is spent traversing the eastern moorlands of Mount Kenya, along the edge of the Nithi Gorge. We will have our picnic lunch overlooking this great gorge, above Vivienne Falls. In the afternoon we will hike up the ridge of the Nithi to our private camp at Hall Tarns at 14,500 feet. We will also hike the short distance to the edge of The Temple, establishing ourselves on a vantage point that will provide some of the grandest views on Mount Kenya, as the Nithi Gorge plunges several hundred feet below us to the banks of Lake Michaelson. Day 6: Mt. Kenya Leaving our camp at about 4.00 a.m. we leave the vegetation of Hall Tarns behind us, and enter the Alpine Zone – a world of rock, ice, and beautiful mountain lakes. Our destination is Point Lenana (16,355 feet), the third highest peak on the mountain. If the day is clear we can see as far north as Ethiopia, and Kilimanjaro is frequently observed 250 miles to the south. We then descend to the base of The Temple, to our campsite on the shore of Lake Michaelson, 13,500 feet. Our camp will be reached in time for a late lunch. Relaxing afternoon by one of the most beautiful lakes in East Africa. Day 7: Mt. Kenya After an early breakfast we hike down the Gorges Valley, skirting the base of the Nithi Gorge and passing Vivienne Falls. We arrive at our 10,000 feet camp in the late afternoon. A festive dinner awaits. Day 8: Chogoria-Nairobi In the morning we descend through the bamboo and equatorial forest to meet our vehicles for lunch. An afternoon drive takes us around the northern slopes of the mountain, and on to Nairobi. Read the full article

[seriesstreamfan]

Glass Online Stream - https://seriesstream.online/?p=11 - Glass Online Stream Glass Online Stream – In a series of escalating encounters, security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Meanwhile, the shadowy presence of Elijah Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men. Three weeks after Kevin Wendell Crumb earns the nickname “The Horde”, vigilante David Dunn and his now-grown son Joseph, who have been working together to take down criminals, set out to save four cheerleaders Crumb has abducted. David comes across Kevin in his “Hedwig” persona and discerns the cheerleaders’ location using his extrasensory perception. After freeing all four cheerleaders, he confronts Kevin only for both to be arrested when the ensuing fight spills out into the streets. The two are sent to a mental institution where Elijah Price, David’s sworn enemy, known as “Mr. Glass”, is being held. Dr. Ellie Staple, the head doctor of the mental institution, works with patients who claim to have special powers. Staple reveals that she has been given three days to persuade David, Kevin, and Elijah that they are “normal” people who simply believe they have superpowers. Staple also knows that David’s alleged weakness is water and has a machine that forces The Horde to switch identities, effectively disarming The Beast. Joseph, Mrs. Price, and Casey Cooke (who survived an attack from the Beast) all visit at separate times to attempt to aid their associates, but fail. Staple puts the three superhumans in one room for an evaluation and poisons David and The Horde with doubts about their abilities, accusing David of having the same ability as trained magicians and Dennis (a persona of The Horde) of copying rock climbers and being shot by defective cartridges. The evaluation attracts Elijah to The Beast, leading him to make his move. Elijah breaks into The Horde’s cell to prepare them for The Beast’s awakening, but is captured and has surgery performed on him. Elijah, having previously sabotaged the surgery, escapes captivity by killing an orderly and sets off to awaken The Beast. Elijah convinces The Beast to battle David during the public unveiling of the city’s new highest tower to revive The Horde’s faith and expose him to the world, before turning his attention to David and forcing him to accept the truth of his superhuman abilities to escape, lest Elijah destroy the tower in place of the showdown. The Horde and David rematch outside of the hospital and are evenly matched until Staple intervenes. Staple orders four armed men to subdue each of the superhumans but David and The Beast fend them off. Elijah tells The Beast that water is David’s weakness, but Joseph intervenes and reveals to The Beast that Elijah orchestrated the train crash that killed Kevin’s father, the same train crash that Elijah caused to find David. After Kevin’s father died, his abusive mother began torturing him, thus leading to the creation of Kevin’s multiple personalities. The Beast thanks Elijah for creating him, but because his purpose was to protect Kevin, the Beast mortally wounds Elijah and then throws David into a water tank. David survives but is weakened by the water. The Beast retreats and promises to finish him off at the tower. However, Casey confronts the Beast before he can escape and summons Kevin to take control by speaking his full name. Without the Beast’s superhuman strength and durability to protect him, Kevin is fatally shot by one of Staple’s men and dies in Casey’s arms. Staple’s men then overpower the weakened David and drown him in a flooded pothole. Staple lets David touch her as he dies, granting him a vision of her being part of a secret society trying to keep the existence of superhumans a secret. Staple tells him that if she had convinced him that he was normal, she would have left him alone, but that The Beast ruined that. As Elijah finally dies of his wounds, Staple reveals to him that a human Illuminati-like group have been the masterminds of the obstruction of both heroes and villains alike. With Elijah, Kevin, and David dead, Staple deletes the security footage and reports her mission as a success. Unbeknownst to Staple, the cameras around the mental institution had previously been hacked by Elijah and had been live-streaming to a private network. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Price, Joseph and Casey all receive a copy of the footage and choose to release it to the public, bringing the existence of superhumans to the awareness of the public.   - SerieSStream.online

[narcisbolgor-blog]

Patagonia’s CEO Is Ready To Lead The Corporate Resistance To Trump

NEW YORK On a cloudy May morning, Rose Marcario, the chief executive of outdoor retailer Patagonia, stared out a second-story window of a Manhattan restaurant, watching construction workers jackhammer the street below. The workers made her think of her grandfather, an Italian immigrant who, after making it through Ellis Island in the 1920s, got his first job digging the streets of this city. He earned 10 cents a day and had to bring his own shovel. People regularly spat at him and sneered at his broken English.

Hed tell me, I didnt mind that, because I knew that someday in the future, you were going to have a better life, she recalled.

His sacrifice has been weighing on Marcario lately. She isnt a parent herself, but she thinks of her young cousins, nieces and nephews. She wants them to inherit a planet with a stable climate and normal sea levels a country that still has some pristine wilderness left. Her job running a privately held company with roughly $800 million in annual revenue and stores in 16 states plus D.C. provides her a much bigger platform to influence their lives than anyone in her family had two generations ago.

Its also why shes decided to take on the president of the United States to stop him from rolling back decades of public land protections.

We have to fight like hell to keep every inch of public land, Marcario, 52, told HuffPost last month. I dont have a lot of faith in politics and politicians right now.

Ventura, California-based Patagonia has taken on a number of national conservation efforts since environmentalist and rock climber Yvon Chouinard founded it in 1973. In 1988, the firm launched a campaign to restore the natural splendor of Yosemite Valley, which was being destroyed by cars and lodges. The company took on a more consumer-centric approach, launching an ad campaign in 2011 urging customers not to buy its jackets in an attempt to address rampant waste in the fashion industry.

The company was relatively quiet for the first two years after Marcario took the top spot in 2014. But she grew dismayed as environmental and climate issues took a backseat in the 2016 election, despite the stark difference between the two top candidates views. She worried the vicious mudslinging of the election would turn off voters.

George Frey/Getty Images

The two bluffs known as the "Bears Ears" in the Bears Ears National Monument.

Instead of turning away from political discord, as many corporate giants have, Marcario ran toward it. In September, the company announced plans to spend $1 million and launch a get-out-the-vote tour of 17 states. On Election Day, the retailer completely closed down its operations in 30 stores to make sure employees and shoppers made it to the polls.

Still, Donald Trumps November victory caught Marcario by surprise. Trump had campaigned on bombastic promises to revive the coal industry, a top source of planet-warming emissions, and vowed to transform the U.S. into a major fossil fuel exporter. Then he named the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. as his secretary of state and picked an oil and gas ally to head the Environmental Protection Agency. He nominated Ryan Zinke, a freshman congressman from Montana who questioned the science behind global warming, to head the Department of the Interior, which controls national parks and 500 million acres of land or 20 percent of the U.S. landmass.

And Trump made clear that he plans to roll back the environmental rules issued under Obama which he has said constrain businesses and stymie job growth. In a show of postelection defiance, Patagonia decided to donate all $10 million of its Black Friday sales to environmental causes. In a Nov. 28 blog post, the company nodded to the president-elects dismissal of climate science and promise to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, though it stopped short of calling Trump out by name.

But Marcario still thought public lands were safe. While Trump, born and raised in New York City, never seemed to care about outdoor excursions that didnt include 18 holes, his eldest son, Donald Jr., is a big-game hunter who grew up camping in the forests of his mothers native Czech Republic. During the campaign, Trump signaled plans to buck the Republican Party platform calling for federals lands to be turned over to state control, where they were more likely to be exploited for resource development or sold off. I want to keep the lands great, Trump told Field & Stream magazine in January 2016.

That tone changed shortly after the election. One of Obamas final actions was to set aside 1.35 million acres in southeastern Utah to create Bears Ears National Monument, named by the various Native American tribes whose sacred lands it included. The designation riled the states Republican leaders, who condemned the designation as a federal land grab and urged the incoming Trump administration to undo it, and mining interests that were looking to tap uranium and mineral deposits in the region.

Patagonia went on the offensive against Utahs Republican governor and Washington delegation. In January, the company threatened to pull out of Salt Lake Citys biannual Outdoor Retailer Show, a trade show that brings 45,000 visitors spending more than $40 million each year. Marcario pledged to fight the states leadership with everything that we have. A month later, she pulled out of the show and put intense pressure on its organizers to quit hosting the event in Utahs capital until state lawmakers halted their assault on Bears Ears.

In April, Trump directed Zinke to not only re-examine the Bears Ears designation but to to review all national monument designations going back 21 years, calling them an egregious abuse of federal power.

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

President Donald Trump speaks at the Interior Department before signing an executive order reviewing previous national monument designations made under the Antiquities Act.

Patagonia threatened to sue the Trump administration a day later, vowing to take every step necessary, including legal action, to defend our most treasured public landscapes from coast to coast.

A president does not have the authority to rescind a National Monument, Marcario said in a terse statement that day. An attempt to change the boundaries ignores the review process of cultural and historical characteristics and the public input.

Reversing Obamas Bears Ears designation would be an unprecedented assault on a presidential prerogative created in the 1906 Antiquities Act. Nearly every president has wielded the act to preserve tribal lands and natural wonders. Only Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush declined to use the law, according to The Wilderness Society. But no White House has ever rescinded a monument, and a 2016 analysis from the Congressional Research Service suggests that presidents can only adjust, not outright abolish, a prior designation.

Zinke completed his review this month, and on Monday submitted an interim report that recommends shrinking the boundaries of Bears Ears. There is some precedent for that: Woodrow Wilson halved Mount Olympic National Monument, which Roosevelt had designated in 1909. The monument was later restored to its full size when Franklin Roosevelt signed a congressional act redesignating the monument as Olympic National Park in 1938, providing it the expanded protections granted under national park status.

Patagonia says it will make good on the threat to sue the administration if they move to alter Bears Ears.

The company has suggested it will take a novel approach to a lawsuit arguing that a reversal of those protections would hurt their business, which is structured to make environmental philanthropy a core function. The retailer is registered as a benefit corporation, or B corp, meaning the company has committed to adhering to rigid environmental and charitable standards, submitting detailed annual progress reports, and giving 1 percent of its pre-tax profits to green causes each year. Patagonia donated $800,000 to groups that advocated for Bears Ears to be established as part of that charitable giving. It also sent employees on retreats to the monument and tested products there. In May, the company released a virtual reality film touring Bears Ears.

We have to fight like hell to keep every inch of public land. Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario

We have such a close connection to the area, Hilary Dessouky, Patagonias general counsel, told HuffPost by phone this week. Thats part of our argument, that we are directly connected to the area though the work that weve done.

We have a real economic interest in the preservation of Americas public lands, she added.

Mark Squillace, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said Patagonias claim could hold up in court. Patagonia probably does have significant business interests that could be affected, Squillace, who worked under Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt during the last year of Bill Clintons presidency, told HuffPost by phone. The test for standing is not too draconian, so I think most courts would let Patagonia in.

Anticipated lawsuits from environmental groups and tribes whose legal standing to sue would be even stronger could also bolster Patagonias case.

Trump could attempt to reduce the monument through an executive order, but he could also appeal to Congress to vote to change Bears Ears status, which Zinke has suggested they may do.

That would face tough opposition, however. I dont believe Trump has the legal authority to rescind or shrink the monument, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), who has a national monument in his own state under consideration, said on Monday. If the administration moves forward with that plan, if he puts this plan before Congress, I will fight him every step of the way.

Patagonia said it would also consider its legal options if Congress acts, but would likely have a tougher time with that. At the very least, the company said its already considering putting its efforts behind pro-environment candidates in the 2018 election. Marcario said she had no interest in directly funding individual candidates, but Patagonia employees have given a total of $56,547 to the Democratic Party over the last 27 years, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. (Republicans, by contrast, received just one $500 donation in 1990.)

George Frey/Getty Images

Protesters hold signs and chant behind a security fence as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke arrives at Kanab Airport for departure on May 10, 2017, in Kanab, Utah.

Marcario is ready for a long fight over something that could become her legacy at the company. Patagonias first CEO, Kris Tompkins, spent 12 years at the helm and donated more than 340,000 acres of land in Argentinas northeastern Iber wetlands to establish what will become the countrys largest nature preserve. Tompkins and her late husband, billionaire retail mogul Douglas Tompkins, also bought up huge swaths of wilderness in Argentina and Chile in hopes of preserving it.

Shes a pretty hard act to follow, Marcario said with a laugh.

Patagonia hasnt been without its faults. Two years before Marcario took over, internal audits found forced labor and brutal conditions at Taiwanese mills that produced the raw materials for its apparel. Patagonia applied aggressive new standards for monitoring its suppliers in response, but its always difficult to monitor every supplier at all times. Marcario said she also wants to make changes at the corporate level to further their ideals by converting the firms food division, Patagonia Provisions, to purely organic ingredients and investing the employee retirement plans entirely in sustainable, eco-friendly funds and businesses.

But for now, shes focused on running a major company and keeping Trump from downsizing a national monument in southeastern Utah, a mammoth task unto itself. Progress requires effort, but it takes time, too. She learned that resolve from grandfather and from her childhood summers spent fishing the waters surrounding Staten Island with homemade rods her uncles made. Shes given to quoting Martin Luther King Jr.s famous lineabout the long, justice-bent arc of the moral universe.

After wrapping up the interview, Marcario grabbed her Patagonia backpack and prepared to catch her ride outside. She walked a few steps, then turned around.

Look, I grew up as a gay woman in the 80s, watching my friends die of AIDS and Jerry Falwell on TV saying they deserved it, she said, referring to the far-right evangelical preacher. She paused for a moment, then smiled. Look how far weve come.

Related Coverage

Interior Secretary Recommends Donald Trump Shrink Bears Ears Monument

Patagonia Threatens To Sue White House Over National Monument Order

Utah Attorney General Vows To Sue Obama Over New National Monument

Patagonia Boycotts Major Event In Utah Over GOP Push To Undo Conservation Effort

Patagonia's Ex-CEO Moves To Create Argentina's Largest Nature Preserve

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Mount Thomson via West Ridge, Snoqualmie Pass

August 5-7, 2016

Mount Thomson (6554′)

Last weekend, I joined Lisa and Eileen on a climb of Mt. Thomson near Snoqualmie Pass.  Like many of the Snoqualmie peaks, it has a modest elevation that belies its rugged character.  You could say that it’s small but scrappy.  I often say the same thing about my cat Ellie.  From nearby Chikamin Peak, as shown in the photo below, Thomson is a steep, chiseled wedge.  From other vantages, it has the shape of a large, charcoal-colored bullet.

We drove up to Snoqualmie Pass on Friday afternoon and hiked up the Pacific Crest Trail to Kendall Pass, then over the other side a couple miles until directly below Bumblebee Pass.  A steep climber’s path led up to the narrow pass, then down into scenic little Bumblebee Basin.  We set up camp in the basin while the evening sun highlighted Chimney Rock and Lemah Mountain across the valley.

The basin was peppered with boulders consisting of gray andesite and white feldspar needles.  This type of rock, called a “porphyry," also constituted the bulk of Mt. Thomson.

In the morning, we awoke to a cold fog that engulfed the basin and the peaks above.  We delayed our departure until most of the fog dissipated.  The rest of the day was clear and sunny, although surprisingly cold.  We headed up a long talus slope to the west ridge notch.

Fog lingered in the surrounding valleys all morning, and a chilly breeze blew steadily from the northwest.

This climb of Thomson’s very popular West Ridge route was selected by Lisa and Eileen, and they took turns doing all of the rock leads.  My job was to stay tied in between our two ropes, belay the leader and follower, and keep complaints to a minimum.  On a rope team, this person is commonly called the "belay wench.”  I was a pretty good one.  

The first two leads went up a series of chimneys in solid rock.

The crux was a Class 5.6 bulge at the start of Pitch 3, and Pitch 4 was a Class 5.4 face.  Each of the first four pitches had pretty significant exposure.

Pitch 5 involved a Class 3-4 traverse of a large slab, which is a distinctive feature of Mt. Thomson when viewed from a distance.  We were happy to get a reprieve from the exposure.  

Pitch 6 followed a series of ledges and cracks along the peak’s upper ridge.  We were back on exposed terrain, but the rock quality was excellent.

We crossed over the western false summit, descended into a notch, then climbed one last roped pitch to the true summit (8.8 hours from camp).  Lisa and Eileen were delighted.

It was late afternoon by now, but we spent a good half hour soaking in the summit views.  Nearby peaks included Chimney Rock and Lemah Mountain...

…as well as Three Queens and Hibox Peak.

We descended the East Ridge route by making one double-rope rappel, then scrambling down Class 3 slabs to easier ground.  We strolled into camp shortly after 7:30pm (3.3 hours from summit), with just enough time to pack up and get over Bumblebee Pass before darkness fell.