#sub!eiland

[loveandpeaceanddoughnuts]

Birthday Boy ~ EilandxReader (Fields of Mistria)

fw: sub!Eiland, lingerie, dessert, deepthroating, praise, reassurance, oral // wc: 2.2k // [ao3]

The idea came to you late one night, snuggled against your lover in the rich silks of his bed. His birthday always seemed to take you by surprise, and you never know what to get for the man who seems to have everything, or at least access to everything. You’d long since exhausted your dessert recipes and the capabilities of every bakery for miles. But there, pressed against his warm skin, tickled by his sleepy breaths on your cheek, you had the perfect plan.

You excused yourself early from his birthday dinner at the inn, feeling confident he’d be well-cherished by the audience of other Mistrians. Made receptive with the help of plenty of cake and wine, they were enthusiastically listening to Eiland give an impromptu archaeology lecture. You raced back home, dimmed your lights and slipped into the set you’d bought for the occasion. Poor Baylor had blushed as red as March’s hair when you’d requested it, but he’d discreetly ordered your new lingerie straight from the Capitol.

Delicate pink lace cradled every curve, tiny hearts over your nipples providing just about the only bit of coverage. You knew he’d love it. More than the outfit, though, you hoped he’d love the rest of your little surprise. Bowls of warm chocolate and fluffy whipped cream sat on your worn nightstand, fresh wildberries beside them. You were going to indulge Eiland’s sweet tooth in every possible way.

You heard the sound of Hayden’s rumbling voice through the door as he bid Eiland goodnight, clucking to Henrietta to follow as he walked on to his own farm. You had enlisted the man to take Eiland home, making sure he wasn’t distracted by academic tangents as dinner wrapped up. So far, so good. 

Eiland knocked softly on your door, always a little shy no matter how many times you had him over. “Come in!” you called. 

He was backlit by the sunset as he opened the door, and your breath caught. He was angelic. “You missed a fascinating discussion, my love! Everyone was so interested in the latest Caldosian exhibits in the museum, you wouldn’t have believed it! It was quite a refreshing change of pace!” You couldn’t help but smile at his passion. He was so eager to talk to you that it took a few more moments for him to notice what you were wearing. Or rather, what you weren’t wearing.

He froze mid-sentence when he finally saw you fully, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. A bright pink blush crept onto his cheeks. “Oh, my love…”  He scooped you into his arms in the next instant. “You look utterly dazzling.”

He stared down at you in awe, the blush steadily deepening as his eyes roved over your lace-wrapped body. “I’m so lucky to see you like this…” You laughed and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Happy birthday, my love.”

He laughed and shook his head, still starry-eyed. “Happy doesn’t begin to cover it…”

You gave him a peck on the cheek and squirmed out of his arms, ignoring his protests. You took his hand, pulled him over to the bed, gently pushed him back against the mattress. His hair fanned around his face like a pink halo, and you couldn’t resist bending down to kiss his parted lips. 

He sighed into your mouth as he arched up to fervently meet your kiss. He tasted like red wine and buttercream, deep and sweet. You caught his hands as they reached up to pull you into the bed. “Not yet, beautiful.” He pouted a bit but laid back obediently. “You haven’t had your fill of sweets, have you?”

He laughed. “I never have, my darling. Except for that one chocolate cake…”

You quieted him with another kiss before he could get distracted and pulled away too soon, smirking at his needy gasp. “Good. That’s what I hoped you’d say.”

“Why, what do you-” Eiland was struck dumb for the second time that night as you dipped your fingers into the whipped cream on your nightstand and held them to his lips. He took them in eagerly, his dazed eyes locked on yours as he swirled his tongue around your fingers. He moaned softly around your hand as you pulled away. 

“How does it taste, baby?”

“Divine,” he whispered.

You next ate a strawberry as he watched, careful to smear the juice over your lips before you leaned down and kissed him again. It was messy, sticky-sweet, and Eiland trembled underneath you. He reached up and held your face in his hands, cupping your cheeks tenderly as he explored every corner of your mouth. 

He curled toward you like you were his center of gravity, his body taut and tuned to your every move. “What are you going to do with me?” His violet eyes were heavy-lidded, trusting and lustful. 

You smiled, not giving him an answer. Instead, you shucked the delicate straps down your strong shoulders, relishing the heat of his gaze. You scooped up another handful of whipped cream and laid down beside him, smearing it carefully across your bared tits. Next, you dipped a finger in the warm chocolate and drizzled it atop the peaks of cream. “Wanna taste me, pretty boy?”

Eiland blushed as pink as his hair and nodded shyly. “Go ahead,” you cooed. 

Eiland turned to you and pressed his mouth to your tits, gentle and reverent. His eyes closed in bliss as he licked at you, and you couldn’t help a ragged sigh at the warm want of his eager tongue.

“You’re so sweet,” he gasped, his tongue making quick work of the cream on your chest. His bright eyes landed on the plate of wildberries and he held one carefully in his plush lips. “Here, love,” he murmured as he pressed the berry against your mouth in a kiss. Your mouth met his around the fruit, and you tasted sun-warmed juice on his probing tongue. 

“Eiland…” your head fell back against the pillow as he trailed his sticky mouth down your neck. 

“So sweet,” he repeated, returning to your tits to drag his tongue over your stiffened nipples, tacky chocolate smeared away by his attentions. “So good to me…”

“Oh fuck, darling,” you arched your back into his mouth, pressing your tits against him. He caged you in between his arms, sucked and licked at your breasts until every bit of chocolate sauce had been devoured. When he leaned up on his elbows to smile down at you, he had a smear of chocolate across his cheek. It tasted delicious as you kissed him clean.

Eiland’s restless hands landed on your waist, pulling you flush against the growing evidence of his arousal. You could feel the twitch of his length against your inner thigh, sending a spark straight between your legs.

“Mmm, my turn now.”

“What do you mean?” He frowned, tried to keep you in the bed with him as you laughed and gently disentangled yourself. 

“Come here, sit on the edge, okay?” Eiland swung his legs over and perched on the edge of the bed. His eyes were already bright with anticipation, but they widened with something hungrier as you got on your knees. “Can I take these off?” You rubbed your hands down his thighs and he sighed prettily. 

“Oh, ah- of course, love.” He fumbled with the clasp of his silky pants, hesitated with a shy smile before pulling them down. You reached for the hem of his newly revealed boxers, impatient to free his cock. Your mouth watered immediately as he sprung free, his flushed tip smacking against his stomach.

“God you’re so pretty, Eiland.” The compliment made him shiver, overwhelmed with the vision of you smiling up from your knees. You reached for the chocolate sauce and made sure it was still pleasantly warm before slowly, teasingly pouring it over his cock.

“O-ohhh fuck,” he swore under his breath. Eiland’s head fell back, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. The sensation was entirely new, and he felt wonderfully helpless in your hands. “Darling, you’re not going to…!” But of course you were.

You surged forward and took his cock into your mouth, pressed forward until his tip hit the back of your throat. He cried out in surprise, clinging to your hair in a weak grip as if to prove you were still there- or that he was. 

You fought back a gag as your nose nestled into the sparse pink curls at his base, proud to have taken his considerable length all the way down. He’d probably be proud of you too, if his brain wasn’t short-circuiting. The combined heat of your tight throat and the sticky chocolate sent him spiraling, fisting the sheets as he groaned your name. You held yourself down for a moment longer, then hollowed your cheeks and sucked hard as you slowly pulled away, tasting the barest hint of salt over the sweetness of the chocolate sauce.

Just as your lips brushed over his swollen head, you flicked out your tongue and lapped at the underside of his cock. You could feel the prominent veins there throb, and a sting of pain in your scalp as Eiland inadvertently tugged at your hair. “Fuck, my love, y-you mustn’t, I can’t-”

You pulled off, sat back on your heels to look up at him. “Do you want me to stop?” He actually whimpered at the loss of you, shook his head frantically.

“No, no, please- I just,” he bit his lip and you felt feral- wanted to suck the soul out of the pink-haired dork, leave him a sobbing, soaking mess in your bed- but you realized he was saying something like “it’s not fair, feels too good”. Which was patently ridiculous.

“Eiland, my love, my brilliant archaeologist and enormous nerd.” His cheeks flushed again, and you had to hold back a giggle at the effect you had on him. “Not only is it your birthday, but I am madly in love with you.” Another whimper, muffled behind his hand- god you needed to wreck him. “And it would be an honor to give you the greatest head of your life.” You gently stroked his cock in one hand, opened your mouth and tapped the tip of it on your tongue. “So please, will you let me?”

He nodded frantically, his face burning up, beautiful and entirely at your mercy. Just where you wanted him. You began to slowly bob your head again, warming him up to the pleasure before you undid him. You curled a fist around his base, matched each stroke of your mouth with a pump of your hand so that you never left an inch of him un-adored. The chocolate quickly disappeared under your efforts, replaced with your spit as you messily devoured him. Drool dripped from the corner of your stretched lips, and Eiland could hardly breathe at the way you debauched yourself for him.

“Love, I’m close- ah, I’m- I’m so close,” he moaned, rocking his hips against your face. He reached down to cup your cheek, his elegant fingers gentle but firm as he held you against himself. You hummed around him, clutched at his thighs for leverage as you forced yourself further, buried his cock as deep in your throat as you could bear.

He threw a shaking hand over his mouth, tried and failed to muffle the pornographic groan that you tore from him. Even as he trembled, his eyes on you were soft and warm, like the pad of his thumb as he gently wiped the drool from the side of your mouth.

His firm thighs were twitching, muscles tight under the strain of your sweet attentions. It wouldn’t be much longer now. You pulled back, inhaled deeply, and surged forward one last time, concentrating on swirling your tongue along his throbbing length on your way down.

Eiland whimpered your name and exploded, hot ropes of release pouring straight down your throat as you rode through his high, tears and spit mixing on your flushed face as you tried to keep breathing. You dug your nails in where his slim waist curved into his ass and he shuddered, ecstasy written into the scrunch of his pretty features, the pearl of his teeth on his pink lip. His body went slack at last, and you slid off of his softening cock with an exhausted, satisfied sigh. Eiland pulled you off your knees and gathered you into his arms on your bed, stroking your hair, your cheeks, your back- every part of your body he could reach was lavished with grateful caresses.

“Happy birthday, my love,” you smiled up at him, and he thought suddenly that he would do anything to keep that smile on your face, to stay in the haze of pleasure and adoration that insulated this moment, hushed his ever-whirring mind.

When Eiland kissed you, you tasted chocolate, whipped cream, wildberries- his essence still filling your senses, lingering on your tongue- the sweetness of his smile against your lips.

[jdreport]

Zomers weer in Schotland en sneeuwval op Corsica: zo global is die warming blijkbaar niet

Zomers weer in Schotland en sneeuwval op Corsica: zo global is die warming blijkbaar niet

Afgelopen woensdag 15 mei was het een stralende lentedag in Nederland. In Schotland was het die dag maar liefst 24 graden Celsius  en bizar genoeg had het in de nacht van 14 op 15 mei op het sub-tropische eiland Corsica flink gesneeuwd.

Wie naar de satellietbeelden van die dag kijkt, ziet een wolkendek boven Corsica met een tamelijk scherpe rand. Het ziet er nogal onnatuurlijk uit, vind ik. Zou…

[yahoo-big-league-stew-blog]

NL East preview: Is this finally the year for the Washington Nationals?

The Washington Nationals are the favorite to win the National League East once again, but this year feels different. The team can no longer be satisfied with another NL East championship.

[Batter up: Join a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for free today]

The club now has a sense of urgency. Following the 2018 season, Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Madson will all hit the free-agent market. If they don’t win it all this year, things will get harder going forward.

It doesn’t help that both the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are on the upswing. The Phillies made some key moves this winter to let their competitors know their time is coming. The Braves aren’t as far in their rebuild just yet, but the world should get a taste of Ronald Acuña Jr. this season.

Then there’s the New York Mets, who could be formidable if only they could stay healthy. You would think their luck would turn eventually, but this is the Mets we’re talking about.

No matter how poorly things go for each of those clubs, at least they won’t finish in last. That spot is reserved for the Miami Marlins, who tore it all down in the offseason. Winning 65 games would be a victory for Miami in 2018.

We’ll dissect the NL East with a look at its new faces, its biggest questions and what each team would have to do to win.

Jake Arrieta makes the Phillies a lot better in 2018. (AP Photo)

NEW FACES In case you need you a reminder of who plays where now

Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta, Philadelphia Phillies The 2017-2018 offseason will be known as an offseason of labor strife, but it will also be remembered for the Phillies getting seriously serious about competing. After five years of sub-.500 finishes (sometimes way, way sub) they saw some growth and decided to go for it. They signed first baseman Carlos Santana to a three-year contract, and they solved their rotation issue by signing Jake Arrieta to a three-year deal. The team spent real money to make themselves better, and they’re hoping it’s a gamble that pays off sooner rather than later. But despite all that hope and optimism, the Phillies actually being ready to compete for a wild-card spot is far from fact. No one knows how the rookies are going to fare. And there are serious concerns about the young guys getting significant playing time. But one thing is for sure: the Phillies will be a much tougher opponent than they’ve been in years, and Arrieta and Santana are two major reasons why. The NL East is no longer a two-team race.

Jay Bruce, New York Mets Even though Jay Bruce was on the Mets for most of 2017, he still counts as a new face. The Mets traded him to Cleveland in August, so he was gone, and now he’s back with a three-year deal. That means he’s technically new. And for the Mets, Bruce is a guy they’re comfortable with because they know exactly what he can do. He hits between .250 and .260, and smacks between 25 and 35 home runs per year. He’s not an electric talent, but he’s dependable and consistent. On a Mets team that somehow always feels like it’s barely fending off complete and utter disaster, that’s valuable.

Derek Jeter, Miami Marlins He’s not on the field anymore, but there’s little doubt that anybody generated more headlines this offseason than the new Miami Marlins CEO. While the team won’t be anything special this season, that won’t stop people around baseball from watching how Jeter guides the Fish through a high-profile rebuild that began with trading away all their best players. Keeping Giancarlo Stanton around would have kept some of the attention elsewhere, but now it’s all eyes on Jeter.

Bryce Harper wants to walk away from the Nationals as a champion. (AP Photo)

FOUR BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NL EAST Good news: We’ve got 162 games to figure out the answers

How do the Nationals avoid another disappointment? For one more year at least, the NL East should belong to the Nationals. That should put them in a prime spot to finally achieve the ultimate goal, and that’s winning a World Series. A lot of shoulds, but for a team that’s been in this position for six years and still never even won a playoff series, shoulds aren‘t enough. They have to achieve something. There‘s no magic formula that exists to help them. Good health would obviously be a plus, but some soul-searching needs to take place too. The Dodgers and Cubs aren’t going away. It’s up to Washington to figure out how to make them go away.

Will the Mets get the most from their starting rotation? The Mets revamped their medical staff over the offseason, in addition to hiring a pitching-minded manager in Mickey Callaway and respected pitching coach in Dave Eiland. The obvious hope is to finally put together a healthy season where the starting rotation performs at the highest possible level. The last time that happened was 2015, when they reached the World Series. Since then, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler have all faced setbacks. Just having three or four of them healthy and pitching well would be a game-changer for New York.

Is a winning record realistic for Phillies or Braves? There’s enough excitement and optimism surrounding the Phillies that it wouldn’t be a total surprise if they emerged as a wild card contender. With many of their top prospects poised to make a mark this season, and with Jake Arrieta added to the rotation, they could definitely flirt with a winning record. The Braves are a little more tricky to figure out because they still don’t have a real identity. They have youth, they have experience, perhaps most importantly, they’ll eventually have Ronald Acuña Jr., and he’s a real difference maker. How realistic is it that one or both teams could contend is a question we’re all looking forward to having answered.

Will the Marlins lose 100 games? The teardown under new CEO Derek Jeter is another case of history repeating itself for Marlins fans. The only question, at least in 2018, is how bad will it get. With the entire outfield trio of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich traded, and with Dee Gordon traded too, they’re pretty close to square one. What’s encouraging is that the Marlins have brought back some solid prospects who could help form a decent foundation. For now though, they‘ll be featuring mostly stopgaps and unproven guys. If the NL East proves to be a hungry division, the Marlins could struggle getting to 65-70 wins.

The Mets hope a healthy Noah Syndergaard will lead them to the postseason. (AP Photo)

HOW THEY COULD WIN Every team can’t win. Most won’t. But here’s how each could *could* win the NL East:

• Washington Nationals: The Nationals don’t have to do much. Keep everyone relatively healthy, basically, and they have a good shot. It would be nice if Michael A. Taylor and Ryan Zimmerman turned in strong years yet again, but the team could still win the division if both struggle. A better fifth starter would be nice, but it’s not like you use those in the postseason. We’re picking nits here. The Nationals are the clear favorites in the NL East.

• Philadelphia Phillies: The team’s youngsters arrive early. J.P. Crawford puts it all together at the plate, hitting for average and taking a ridiculous amount of walks. Nick Williams proves last season’s success wasn’t small-sample nonsense. Rhys Hoskins is actually one of the best players in baseball and last year was just a taste of what’s to come. Jake Arrieta puts off some of his worrisome trends for another year. Aaron Nola becomes a Cy Young candidate. After thinking more about it, Gabe Kapler cancels his team speech on proper tanning methods.

• New York Mets: Everybody stays healthy. OK, stop laughing … it could happen. And if it does, the Mets become pretty tough. Yoenis Cespedes challenges for the NL home run crown, with Todd Frazier not too far behind. Amed Rosario takes to the majors immediately. Adrian Gonzalez proves there’s still something left in the tank. Noah Syndergaard is Noah Syndergaard. Mickey Callaway finds a way to return Matt Harvey to form.

• Atlanta Braves: Ronald Acuña Jr. has a Mike Trout-level impact on the team once he’s called up. Dansby Swanson rebounds after a tough 2017 to show why he was the No. 1 overall draft pick. Ozzie Albies sprays the ball all over the field while Freddie Freeman challenges for MVP. The team’s young pitchers finally come together to form a strong rotation. Sean Newcomb stops walking people. Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair figure out how to pitch in the majors. Max Fried continues to develop.

• Miami Marlins: Derek Jeter finds a way to re-acquire Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna. He then finds a way to get Lance Lynn and Jake Arrieta out of their contracts and signs both of them. At the midway point, Jeter continues to invest in the team’s solid young core. The offense carries the club while the pitching is stabilized by just a few vets. Stanton breaks the single-season home run record, ensuring the dinger machine will be replaced with a Paul Bunyan-type statue of him in 30 years.

Other division previews AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL West | NL East | NL Central – – – – – – Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports . Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz

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[auburnfamilynews]

Nick Fitzgerald leads a rebuilding MSU offense. (AP Photo, Jim Lytle)

     War Eagle, everybody! It’s time now for another Auburn football preview! On September 30th, Auburn will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Last season’s game against the Bulldogs was expected to be a struggle, in Starkville. Instead, Auburn ripped into home-standing MSU and tore out to a 35-0 halftime lead. Auburn coasted to a 38-14 victory. The Bulldogs suffered through a rebuilding year last year, and hope to be a little stronger earlier in the season, this year.

     The Auburn Tigers will have opened the season with Georgia Southern, then traveled to Clemson. Auburn will then enjoy an early homecoming game against Mercer, before traveling to Missouri, prior to the home clash with Mississippi State. Auburn’s schedule at this point look manageable. Mississippi State’s gets difficult, pretty quickly. MSU opens with Charleston Southern, then travels to Rushton, Louisiana to take on Louisiana Tech as part of a CBS double-header. The Bulldogs then host LSU, followed by a trip to Athens, Georgia.

     Last season, Mississippi State improved on offense greatly, as the year went on. Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald came out of nowhere, to lead the Bulldogs, and this year he’s being touted as an All-SEC candidate by many pundits. There are some questions, going into the offseason. A banged up offensive line and receiver corps had difficulty handling a Bulldog defense that was allowed to blitz, in the spring game. Bulldog fortunes on the offensive side will depend on how many guys return healthy this fall, and whether the younger players continue to improve.

     Defense was really the biggest issue for Mississippi State last season, as they gave up 31.8 points per game, including giving up 35 to Umass, 38 to Auburn, 40 to Kentucky, 41 to Samford (!), 51 to Alabama, and 58 to Arkansas. Tackling in the secondary was sub-par, and the Bulldogs gave up 4.8 yards per rush.

     This season, MSU poached defensive coordinator Todd Grantham away from Louisville. Grantham was able to improve defenses at Georgia and Louisville, by installing a complex 3-4, multiple front blitzing scheme. The only caveat is that it sometimes takes a while for the players to learn such a system. For that reason, it’s better to be playing the Bulldogs in September, than November. The defense had 5 interceptions in the Bulldog spring game, including 4 off of starter Nick Fitzgerald. A couple of the picks were returned for touchdowns.

     The Bulldogs are rebuilding their special teams again this season, after losing kicker Westin Graves, and top return men Fred Ross, and Brandon Holloway. Junior Malik Dear was expected to be a major contributor this fall here, but he spent the spring game on the sideline with a knee brace on.

Auburn defensive line vs. Mississippi State offensive line: Auburn brings a big, athletic defensive line back this season. Likely starters at tackle are junior Dontavius Russell and sophomore Derrick Brown. Sophomore strong-side end Marlon Davidson was a beast on A-Day. The buck side will likely be manned by a combination of junior Jeffery Holland and senior transfer Paul James III. Auburn has a good bit of depth behind the starters, as well. Senior Martinez Rankin played center this spring, but I think Head Coach Dan Mullen would like to see the veteran slide out to left tackle this fall. My best guess, from left to right would be Rankin at tackle, junior Elgton Jenkins, junior Deion Calhoun would move over from right guard to center, sophomore Darryl Williams would move up at right guard, with redshirt freshman Greg Eiland getting the start at right tackle. The Bulldogs do have a fairly decent amount of depth on the line. The key will be getting a group to gel in September. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn linebackers vs. Mississippi State backs: The Auburn Tigers have a good cross-trained quartet of upper echelon SEC-caliber linebackers. Junior Deshaun Davis, senior Tre’ Williams, junior Darrell Williams and junior Montravious Atkinson can play all three positions, and we might see any combination of these players out on the field at a given time. The Bulldogs are very solid at running back, with a trio of good players, led by junior Aeris Williams. Sophomore Nick Gibson and junior Dontavian Lee are also very capable. Advantage: Even.

Auburn corners vs. Mississippi State receivers: Auburn has a fairly good combination of starting corners, in junior Carlton Davis and sophomore Javaris Davis. The Tigers are hoping that Jamel Dean will be healthy this fall, as he is one of the fastest players on the team. Sophomore Jeremiah Dinson could move over from nickelback, if needed. The leading returning Bulldog receiver returning is senior Donald Gray. Senior Gabe Myles is said to have improved this spring, and sophomore Jamal Couch is a big target. Junior Malik Dear could be a factor, if he heals by September. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn safeties vs. Mississippi State secondary receivers and quarterback: Auburn’s starting unit features seniors Tray Matthews and Stephen Roberts at safety, and sophomore Jeremiah Dinson at nickel back. There’s not much depth here, beyond senior Nick Ruffin, who’ll probably see as much playing time as the starters. The Tigers are solid here, as long as no one gets hurt. Sophomore Keith Mixon will likely get the nod at slot receiver, and the Bulldogs have several tight ends that were thrown into the fire pretty green, last season. We could see sophomore Farrod Green or senior Jordan Thomas or junior Justin Johnson at various times. Junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald leads this offense. What’s worrisome is that coach Dan Mullen’s big armed, running quarterbacks tend to have a production jump in their second season starting. Fitzgerald threw for 2423 yards last season, and ran for 1375. He threw some bad interceptions in the spring game, but a lot of it could have been young receivers not being on the same page. Advantage: Even.

Punting: Sophomore Ian Shannon will likely get the nod as Auburn’s starting punter, after a couple of years of waiting in the wings. Shannon has looked good on A-Day a year ago, in warmups. The Tigers gave up only 19 punt return yards last season, on 6 punts, for a stifling 3.2 yards per return. The Tigers are still auditioning for the punt returner job. It’s thought that senior Stephen Roberts has the inside track, after returning 6 punts last season for 100 yards. MSU returns senior Logan Cooke at punter. Last season, Cook averaged 40.0 yards per punt. Bulldog coverage was almost as good as Auburn’s, allowing only 4.0 yards per return. The Bulldogs must replace Fred Ross as the return man, and the likely nod will go to senior Donald Gray. Advantage: Even.

Kickoffs: Daniel Carlson was very good kicking off last season, notching 57 touchbacks on 72 kickoffs. When Auburn did allow returns, opponents averaged only 18.0 yards per return. Junior Kerryon Johnson is Auburn’s most experienced return man returning, and he averaged 22.2 yards per return last season. Logan Cooke handled nearly half of the Bulldog kickoffs last season, and should handle the bulk this season. Cooke had 14 touchbacks on 25 kickoffs. MSU allowed 20.1 yards per return. The most dangerous of the return men last season was Keith Mixon, who averaged 25.2 yards per return. Advantage: Auburn.

Place kicking: Auburn sophomore Daniel Carlson is the man for Auburn. Carlson was 28 of 32 on field goals, and perfect on extra points. One of Carlson’s misses was a block by Vanderbilt. Some sources say that Mississippi State will apparently start freshman Tucker Day, right out of the gate. Others think senior Logan Cooke is more likely. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn offensive line vs. Mississippi State defensive line: It’s still not settled who’ll start for Auburn on the line, although the starters looked pretty good on A-Day. It seems the tackle spots are set, with seniors Darius James and Braden Smith. Senior Austin Golson will likely start at center, although Auburn is bringing in senior transfer center Casey Dunn from Jax State. If Dunn starts, Golson could move to guard. Also transferring in this fall is former Florida State starting guard Wilson Bell. Bell is expected to start at one of the guard spots. If Dunn does not beat Golson out, the other likely starting guard would be sophomore Mike Horton. It will be interesting to see how the Bulldogs transition, here. Typically, Grantham likes to have a big, space-eating noseguard. Sophomore Jeffery Simmons has gained weight, and is listed at 307 pounds. That won’t be any advantage against Auburn’s front. Penciled in at end spots are sophomore Fletcher Adams, junior JUCO transfer Chauncy Rivers. MSU has depth at every position. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn backs vs. Mississippi State linebackers: Auburn features junior H-back Chandler Cox blowing open holes. Running behind the big H-back will be massive junior Kamryn Pettway, and the shifty junior Kerryon Johnson in reserve. The Bulldog linebackers with the strength of the team last season, and could be again, if they develop within the new scheme. Inside backers should be sophomore Leo Lewis and senior Dezmond Harris. Outside should be juniors Gerri Green and Montez Sweat. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn receivers vs. Mississippi State corners: At the end of spring, it looked like Auburn’s two starting outside guys were sophomore Nate Craig-Myers and sophomore Darius Slayton. Both guys can fly, have good height, and great hands. Redshirt freshman Marquis McClain had a great A-Day, and is someone to watch out for on the outside, as well. Throw junior Jamal Peters, redshirt freshman Cameron Dantzler, senior Lashard Durr and senior Tolando Cleveland in a bag, and shake. They all should play, and should be better than last season thanks to experience. Still, they have a tough unit to cover, in this game. Advantage: Auburn.

Auburn secondary receivers and quarterback vs. Mississippi State safeties: Auburn has potential threats here, starting with wickedly fast junior slot receiver Will Hastings. Sophomore Eli Stove can also fly. Tight ends Jalen Harris and Sal Cannella are expected to be a big part of the passing game as well. Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham is likely the starter in the opener. In 6 games as a freshman at Baylor, Stidham was electric. That trend continued during A-Day this spring, as Stidham was deadly accurate, and showed great mobility. At safety, the likely starters for MSU are juniors Brandon Bryant and Mark McLaurin. Jonathan Abraham and J. T. Gray provide depth. Advantage: Auburn.

     I think Auburn has a good chance to put up a lot of points in this game, if they are not forced into mistakes from furious blitzing. The real question will be stopping the MSU offense, particularly if their line and receivers are healed. The MSU offense has been a threat nearly every year that Dan Mullen has coached there.

     The Bulldogs should come in and play hard. They will need this game, after a couple of tough SEC matchups. And their schedule does not get much easier, the rest of the way. Only UMass and Brigham Young remain out of conference, and the season-ender at Ole Miss might be the easiest SEC game left for them.

Prediction: With the package of screens Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey uses, Auburn should be able to hurt the Bulldogs when they blitz. The Tigers run away from the Bulldogs, 45-20.

The post Bulldog Visitors to End September. (Previewing Auburn vs. Mississippi State.) appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.

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[liatonhome-blog]

Beautiful bathrooms

I don’t know about you but when I think about all the beautiful spaces one can create in one’s home, bathrooms were the least exciting prospect. After all, what’s there to really worry about in a bathroom?

Well, that’s what I thought!

As we headed into the initial stages of your build, one of the first tasks set for me was bathroom fittings. We had barely started breaking through walls in the house and I was being asked about wall or counter-mounted taps and under-slung sinks and style baths. I had no idea where to begin. So while I had a good idea of how I wanted our living area to look, I had no picture in my mind of what I wanted out bathrooms to look like.

So I began the visits to the bathroom shops: Lavo, Still Bathrooms, Bathroom Bizarre, Exquisite Bathrooms, On-Tap and even Builders Warehouse. Aimlessly looking at the range baths, toilets, Geberits, taps. The cheap ones and the most expensive ones. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as slow closing toilets (although having seen a little boy come off second best when a regular toilet lid closed on his crown jewel, I was easily convinced that this was the right choice). I was still no closer to knowing what choices to make, aside from realising the staggering variety of baths available, and the high price tags that they come with!

I needed direction and focus. I needed to find a way to clarify what we were going to put into our bathrooms and remain in budget. And then came my moment of clarity. For months I had been creating a Pinterest board called “New House Thinking Board”. It was growing all the time and lacked and real structure, just a bunch of ideas. I began to sift through the images, creating “sub-folders”:

Bathrooms Kitchen Living-rooms Dining-rooms Kids rooms Wallpaper Paint colours Stairs Gardens and pools Furniture Lighting

All of a sudden my ideas had structure. My “likes” became clear. My rooms had vision. And my bathrooms had a distinctive look. Without evening realising what it was I liked, the pattern was clear. Regardless of the finish of the bathrooms I was Pinning they followed a clear trend: Counter-mounted basins; wall-mounted taps in the main bathroom; counter mounted taps in the others; toilets are functional and you generally have little choice on how to flush these days! Even the style bath I preferred seem to come through.

And so my shopping trips became more structured, with a clear focus on the budget. Constantly working out where I could compromise on one element to buy something I simply loved and felt would make a difference to the aesthetic of the room. I made big concessions for our guest loo (sometimes stealing out of my furniture budget), to create a room that is visible and well used.

After receiving excellent customer service at a few places, price still won the day, and we finally settled on Still Bathrooms for all the bathroom fittings. Whilst they were difficult to engage initially, once we got the ball rolling, Martina provided great service and advice. From the start she made sure that EVERYTHING we were going to need was included in the quote, so there were no surprises. There was plenty that we hadn’t thought of, from shower traps, to piping and drainage requirements. So whilst your plumber will fit all this, you need to buy everything at some point. It was fantastic (whilst sill being surprising), that this was itemised and included in their quotes, right from the start.

What started off an a tedious, and un-sexy part of the build, slowly became a very creative process. I designed unconventional bathroom vanities and worked with our incredible carpenter (Crallan Potgieter of Hot-Orange, www.hot-orange.co.za) to make these dreams a reality. Together we bought colour into the sea of white porcelain, with some 50’s quirk and a modern twist.

The thing about choosing those fixtures and fittings is that you need to have a vision for the space they will occupy. With 4 full bathrooms and a guest loo in question I needed to lose my disinterest in bathrooms and find a way to pull it all together. After spending countless afternoons at ALL the tile shops in Paarden Eiland, and going in and out of Pudlo (www.pudlo.co.za) in Woodstock, I found myself stuck on some mosaics. The thing is, I couldn’t begin to imagine our rather large bathrooms fully mosaiced. Them, one afternoon I was blessed to be in Pudlo talking with their very helped sales staff, asking all sorts of questions when Nicole De Freitas, Director of Pudlo, happened to be in the store. We got chatting about what I was thinking of doing with the mosaics. She was able to offer great advice and direction on where we needed to tile and where we could tone down a bit.

It was in the same conversation that I mentioned my idea for the main en-suite bathroom. It was easy in theory: I wanted plain white tiles, thin, rectangular shaped tiles to create a herringbone pattern. And whilst this doesn’t some to complicated, I had been to every tile shop I could think of and hadn’t found found them. I had even found someone who is a professional tile-cutter to take a plain white, rectangle normal size tile and cut them into 3 narrow tiles for us. But this was taking me out of budget. Nicole told me to leave it to her, and by them end of the afternoon, she had sourced the tiles for me. And, with her help, Crallans great eye for the grain in large piece of wood, and the meticulous hand of the tilers from Fraser-Jones builders, we got our dream bathroom.

Each of the other bathrooms follow the same formula as each other, each one with its spark of colour giving them their own, individual feel. For me, this was easier that making 4 completely different choices. So many decisions to make, so we decided to keep those simple.

And lastly the guest loo. The smallest room in the house and one of my favourites .I love everything about this little space. I love the wallpaper (http://www.carasavenphotography.com/), the basin (Moroccan Warehouse), and the mixer (our most extravagant in the house!).

First orders were in. And now we could get on with the other fun stuff.

1 year later and our main en-suite was featured in the House & Leisure Before and After issue, in the top 6 for renovation ideas.

For these images and other ideas, flick through my gallery.

[loveandpeaceanddoughnuts]

~ key: ☁️fluff / 🔥smut / ☕️domestic / 🥀angst

~ Drabble Challenge 2024 Masterlist!

~ requests/asks: open and welcomed!

~ current hyperfixations: JJK, AOT, Trigun, Fields of Mistria

Jujutsu Kaisen

[short form!]

Oblivious!Nanami ☁️🔥 Newlywed!Nanami ☁️🔥☕️ Dad!Nanami ☁️☕️ Husband!Nanami on his birthday ☁️🔥☕️ Husband!Nanami on a date ☁️☕️ Husband!Nanami finds you reading in bed ☁️☕️ pre-Shibuya!Nanami 🥀 vampire!Nanami 🥀🔥 Sleepy!Higuruma ☁️☕️ Warming!Higuruma 🔥 sub!Higuruma 🔥 sub!Shiu Kong 🔥 ex!Gojo 🥀 Ghost!Satosugu Drabble 🥀 JJK men on a road trip ☁️🔥 JJK men and your thighs 🔥 JJK men panic attack comfort ☁️

[long form!]

Nanami Kento Kento's Stress Toy 🔥 Hands-On [+Ino Takuma]🔥 I'm just a kid (and life is a nightmare) [teen Papamin] ☁️☕️ Under the Circumstances [sex pollen] 🔥 Bakery Girl and Salaryman ☁️ Sex on the Beach 🔥 Toji Fushiguro Make You Better [ex] ☁️🥀 → (Ch. 1) (Ch. 2) (Ch. 3) Over-Under [sparring instructor] 🔥 Suguru Geto Office Hours [college au] ☁️🔥 Mirror, Mirror 🔥 Shiu Kong Princess Treatment 🔥☕️ Levels of Lust 🔥

Trigun

Like Real People Do [Vashwood] ☁️🥀 Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy('s Gun) [Vash] 🔥 Last Rites [Vashwood] 🥀 Birthday!Vashwood ☁️

Attack on Titan

EruriWeek2024 [Authority Kink prompt] 🔥 Loser!Reiner ☁️ → (1) (2) Postwar!Levi 🥀☁️ Don't cry over spilled tea [Levi] 🔥 Mean!Levi 🔥 Clean Sheets [Levi] 🔥 Levi x Scout!Reader 🥀☁️ Ghost!Eruri Drabble 🥀 Postwar!Levi Drabble 🥀 For my insomniac [Erwin] 🥀 → (Ch. 1-2) (Ch. 3)

Fields of Mistria

Under the Stars [Eiland] ☁️ Birthday Boy [Eiland] 🔥

Mob Psycho 100

All tied up with no place to go [Reigen Arataka] 🔥

Cowboy Bebop

Messages from the Stars [Spike Spiegel] ☁️🔥