#those and this really amazing breakfast I had at a small hotel

[granny-core]

80's and 90's cookbook illustrations are just so cute!! That aesthetic is very much a part of what made me make this blog, haha

[cheriladycl01]

Love your Fernando's fic about Finland Freeze. Could you do it but with Toto Wolff. Just them spending time together with their son, Jack with a hint of surprise at the end. Thanks!! :)))

Bahama Breeze - Toto Wolff x Wife Reader + Son

Plot: You go to the Bahamas during the winter break with Toto and your son and truly experience that VIP life.

Credit to onboardcamera for the GIF

"Come on. It's our beach day today. Our munchkin is desperate to make sandcastles for his Queen" your husband Toto laughed from the edge of the bed he was leaning on. It was a nice fancy hotel bed that had those crisp white sheets.

You look up at him with your small sleepy eyes, the morning light coming in through the balcony window that was no longer covered by the large curtains, from up here you had an amazing view of the white sandy beach and the crystal clear waters.

There was multiple sounds coming in through the doors, the waves softly crashing, the birds flying around and the sounds of people darting their day down on the beach.

"Come on, get dressed into something for the beach! We'll meet you downstairs for breakfast." he smiles down at you before climbing off the bed, taking your son who was playing by the door with his bucket and spade. You take a few more seconds before starting to fully wake yourself up and get into a bikini and kaftan so you wouldn't burn when walking along the beach.

You brush you teeth and make sure your all clean before heading down to find your family, Toto said they'd meet you in the restaurant where there was a buffet style breakfast, where you both had gained weight at the promise of it being unlimited, but you were on holidays so you didn't care.

Breakfast was pretty quiet where it was later on in the morning and it wasn't too hard to find Toto and his loud voice.

A dad laugh. It rung through the restaurant like a chorus of bells. Nobody could miss it, it was like a load of plates falling where everyone turns to look at where they'd fallen from, but they were now looking at your husband and son.

You all happily ate breakfast together filling your hearts content before heading out and finding sunbeds down by the pool and beach.

As VIP of the hotel, you had premium beds that were right by the pool.

Eventually it was decided you’d go to the beach to try some of the water sports. You set up camp, laying on a towel on your front tanning the back half of your body. Your son obsessed with the sand and the way it felt so while you napped in the sun, he and Toto made sandcastles, Toto running back and forth with see water to help mould the sand better.

Eventually they both ended up just digging a really big hole. All through it you managed to bask in the rays of light shining down on you.

All of a sudden you heard little screams, in your haze of sleepiness you couldn’t tell if they were off distress.

You got up quickly rubbing the sand away from your hands as you looked around. Only to find Toto and your son, him yelling in delight as he stared to bury Toto in the sand pit they created.

As you neared them, your son opened his arms wide asking for a hug and to be lifted up. You however didn't fully slow to a stop as you were walking, and end up slipping off the edge into the small hole next to Toto who was calmly sat at the bottom, legs covered in sand.

"Offph, I know when i married you I signed up for this. But boy do I hate sand in all my crevices" you joke looking over him before helping him out if the sand and up from the beach hole he was in.

"Your the one who got me to come to the Bahamas with you! I would have happily spent my winter at home or in i don’t know Lapland!" He comments, pulling you into a hug. He loved the warm weather so he actually wouldn’t change this for the world.

The next few hours flew by, you and Toto had got your son onto a Lilo and both took him in the sea, showing him all the fishes that were in the crystal clear waters and explaining what they were to him and he had this look of fascination the whole time.

You watched on as Toto rented one of the JetSkis racing around the safe water sports area trying to look cool in front of you, his wife of course!

Then you guys got lunch on the beach bar having some drinks and making sure the little one stayed hydrated on water and juices, he’d become very fond of Dragon Fruit and Papaya on this holiday.

After a few more hours, your getting too hot, your forehead lined in sweat and not enjoying the rising temperatures and lack of wind to help cool you down. You say that you’ll go back to the hotel lobby to get a cocktail and cool down while Toto stays around the pool in the cool water with your son, who didn’t want to go inside and wasn’t suffering from the heat unlike you.

You get in, walking straight to the sports bar where that are showing some Premiere League Football on the TV, Aston Villa vs Burnley. You order your cocktail and go straight under the fan, your face immediately cooling down.

You watch the match, while playing one of those silly games on your phone that don’t take too much attention but use up time until you start to feel like you can head back out.

You stayed there for at least 45 minutes, where you had finally cooled down and felt like you could join your family back outside. You start to walk through the hotel again, noticing little things you hadn’t from when your first got here, like the fish tank behind the reception desk or the cafe off to the left serving coffees and hot chocolate in heat like this.

Eventually you found your sun beds again, Toto was calmly reading his book that he’d brought with him while your son was laying under the umbrella and under a towel where he slept soundly exhausted from all the morning activities.

Rather than going and laying on your own sun bed, you force Totos legs open and sit in between them grabbing your own book out. You were reading some riveting murder mystery where the main character was about to confront her boyfriend thinking he was the murderer when your child woke up, complaining he was hungry.

Toto places his book down and looks at his watch seeing it was around 3. Which means you guys should start to consider lunch before it’s too late.

You walk to the restaurant. Toto holding your hand in one and your sons in the other.

The waiter direct you to one of the more secluded tables in the VIP sections offering you drinks.

“Juice juice juice” your son changed at the Bahamian waitress who just giggled and nodded knowing exactly what your son wanted as she’d been very helpful to you and your family over the last few days.

“I suspect a Kalik Beer and a Tequila Sunrise?” She asks and you both nod thanking her for being so kind and welcoming.

“Come on baby let’s go grab you some grub” you smile down at the little boy, holding out your hand for him to take.

You grab multiple different food items, on two different plates one for you and one for your son. Toto always hated when he had to wait behind on the tables and watch as you and his son walked around hand in hand picking out which delicacy’s he wanted, which most days turned out to be plain kid like food, unlike you and Toto who were every adventurous on your travels, always trying local cuisine.

You set yourself back down in the gable, Toto helping the young boy into his hair so that he could start to enjoy his food and eat. Toto went up right after quickly finding himself somethings to eat before running back so he didn’t miss anything being said.

You guys talk about the holiday so far and if there was anything you really felt like you had to do before you left. Your son babbled to himself while you and Toto continued.

After lunch ended up spending the rest of the afternoon around the pool before you left at around 7pm, purely because the pool closed. No-one was in a rush to get to dinner.

You all spend your time getting ready, you doing your makeup out on the balcony while Toto and your son showered getting all the sand of their bodies.

You walk into the room, seeing your son pulling his Velcro shoes on by himself and Toto in nice fabriced dinner shorts and bare chest as he looked for a nice polo go wear to dinner.

He spotted your gaze and walked over to you, leaning down kissing your lips making you recoil away knowing that your lip gloss would transfer into his lips and leave yours meaning your makeup left ruined for the night.

"Whyyyyy?" he whined looking at you with a frowny and pouty expression that had you giggling.

"I can’t have you smudging all this work baby" you smirk, knowing he wouldn’t care if you went out with mascara streaming down your face.

"Hmmmm, can you choose me a top! Then I’ll be ready to go?" he exclaims before crossing back over to where the closet was in the fairly spacious hotel room.

“Mmmm i like the green but your a little red today baby, so maybe this Brown one” you say holding up the Brown Lacoste Polo.

“Good choice Liebling” he smiles pulling you in for a quick kiss, your son smiling happily and clapping his hands at the interaction making you do it one last time.

He looks in the mirror, trying to fix his wet hair before grabbing the hairdryer not wanting it to go puffy from the humidity here in the Bahamas, he made that mistake on the first night.

“Im so warm already I feel sticky” you complain as you guys step out of your air conditioned hotel room and into the hallways where the glass windows always remained open letting all the hot air inside.

“Yes I can feel it” he teases as he holds your hips swaying you from side to side as you all wait for the lift to come down from either the 12, 16th or up from the 2nd floor. Your son always loved predicting which one would get there first.

"Mmmmm no please!" you complain hating how his big hands that you usually love on you see just as sweaty as your body.

"I'm hurt Schatz! You won’t accept physical contract from me? Your husband?" he asks looking over you and you want to nod you really do but his expression makes you lean into his hold, and let him drape his arms around you while you both watch your son stand in front of the third lift, that being his prediction.

He was right and you all happily clambered into the lifts, Toto lifting him up as you direct him so you can take a picture of the three of you to put on your Instagram and send to your parents and your mother in law who wanted updates on your guys holiday. You’d begged her to come with you but she was a busy lady, promising she’d come next year.

“This is exactly what I needed” he sighs into your next as the lift continues it’s decent.

“Mmmm me too, it’s been a tough year for both of us”

“We earned this” he smiles kissing your neck just before the doors open exposing you to the lobby where your son runs out straight to the massive fish tank making you and Toto both laugh to one another.

What a way to have a break before the next intense season!

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[berryhobii]

Reconnect (myg x reader)

Pairing: Idol!Min Yoongi x black!wedding designer!female! Reader

Word Count: 6K+

Warnings: fluff, established relationship, mentions of secret relationship, mentions of a wedding(but not Yoongi and the reader’s), reader and Yoongi are engaged, Smut(18+ but I don’t control what you consume), unprotected sex(please speak to your partners before engaging in this), vaginal sex, squirting, creampies, riding, doggy style, mating press/missionary, oral(f receiving), soft dom Yoongi(he’s super soft and vocal but also goes kind of rough😊), rough sex, multiple orgasms(f and m receiving), brief aftercare and mentions of amazing aftercare, reader has goddess locs(color and length not specified), reader also has that Wendy’s Strawberry Lemonade kitty, reader also also has nipple piercings, reader got a fat ass because who doesn’t appreciate a nice booty?

A/N: Hi! This is my second time uploading something. I’ve had this story in my drafts for a while. I had been writing it using she/her pronouns so I’ve been spending the past few days to change those to you/yours. If I missed any, I’m sorry but please let me know so I can make the story more cohesive. Reader is black but their skin color isn’t really described but I believe I referred to their nipples being dark so that’s it. My next post with either be a GreekMythology!Jimin or a Gamer!Jungkook. The Jimin story is actually really long so I think I’ll turn it into a small series but I’ll post the 1st chapter sometime next week. Thanks again for reading! Criticism is greatly accepted and I hope my black and melanated girlies feel good reading this! Have a good day.

~

“I’m sorry, baby. I know I said we’d have dinner but we have to do some last minute recording.”

You tried not to sound disappointed when you replied. “That’s okay. I understand.” And you truly did. You knew how important his job was and that it would be a priority of his.

You just wished that it didn’t take so much of his time. You understood that his music was his life and that it was his dream career. All of his hard work had led up to being able to do what he does now; to make music and inspire the millions of fans that listened. You were so proud of him. Seeing him live his dream filled you with a different kind of pride and emotion. He was happy and that’s all you ever wanted for him.

Still, you missed him. You two had barely spent any time together the past month while he’s been preparing for their new album. He’d come home long after you’d fallen asleep and he’d sleep into the afternoon, just to rise and immediately get ready to go again. You couldn’t even have breakfast together like you used to. You could barely even start a conversation before he was cutting you off with a kiss and rushing out of the door.

While you had your own career of designing wedding dresses, you still had so much free time on your hands. You had already designed your newest collection and it was currently in production to be created. You’ve even made multiple visits to a few stores and they were running amazingly. There was only so long you could bury yourself in work before your heart began yearning for Yoongi’s companionship.

“I promise when this is finished, we’ll go on a trip. Just you and me.”

That made you smile. You and Yoongi have traveled a lot together over the years; Bora Bora, Italy, The Maldives—and each experience had been just as memorable and romantic as the last. He proposed to you in Italy at the Orange Gardens. It was such a magical moment. Just thinking about it made you want to cry. The entire trip was just absolutely perfect; from taking a gondola ride on the gorgeous waters to the 5 Star hotel they stayed in for 3 days and 2 nights, all the way to the candlelit dinner where he got down on one knee. You remember it fondly.

While the promise of a trip together didn’t fix your loneliness now, it gave you something to look forward to.

You couldn’t fight the smile in your voice. “Okay.” Your eyes went over to the stove where dinner was cooking. You had just finished searing some steaks that were finishing up in the oven. There was no point of putting them away for him to eat later. They wouldn’t be as flavorful or tender.

“Hey, is it okay if I bring you some dinner? I know you haven’t eaten yet.” Your tone shifted to one of slight teasing but you knew you were right. His pause of silence was proof enough.

“You don’t have to do that, baby.”

“I want to though. I made steak and I’ll feel better knowing you’ve eaten. I won’t stay long or distract you.” Just knowing he had a home cooked meal would make you happy. You would nag him constantly about drinking too much coffee and eating take out. It came from a place of love, however and Yoongi never minded. He loved having someone so attentive to his health when he’d blatantly ignore it. It showed you cared. Also, he secretly loved being babied by you. He’d never admit it out loud or to his friends but you knew. There was nothing better than coming home, a bath prepared for him to soothe his sore muscles, a meal on the table, and cuddling into your soft breasts while your rubbed his back—always being careful with his shoulder.

Your already nurturing nature and tendency to baby Yoongi increased tenfold once he got surgery. You barely let him leave the bed, even following him to the bathroom to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. A little bit stifling but he was so grateful to you. You always took care of him.

“Then that sounds great. I’ll leave my door open for you. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too. See you soon.”

With a giddy pep in your step, you finished cooking dinner, packaging it nicely in cute Tupperware before putting it in a bag. You had already showered and your clothes were fine but you wondered if you should put on something different. While Yoongi thought you looked good in anything, you still liked to look pretty for him; wearing dresses and heels whenever you went out, keeping your nails and toes done, and making appointments to get waxed every month. Self care was important to you. It not only made you feel good about yourself but it was also something you just liked to do for your husband.

Deciding to change your clothes, you slipped on a t shirt maxi dress that hugged and showed off all of your curves, along with some short open toed shoes to show off your freshly painted white toes. It was simple but still dressy and feminine, just your style.

Checking your hair once more in the mirror and smearing on some lip gloss, you grabbed the bag of food and your keys before exiting your home.

~

HYBE Studios was a pretty moderate drive from your apartment. The reason for that is to keep crazy fans from ever finding it. Once the company realized other idols were having their homes broken into, there was a decision to move all of the boys about 30 minutes from the company in a luxury gated neighborhood. You had to admit, you missed your old apartment you shared with Yoongi since that was their first place together but you also couldn’t complain about the walk in closet and the jacuzzi bathtub.

You greeted the security guard in front of the car garage, him lifting the block to the garage. After parking close to the company cars that were often used to transport the boys during RunBTS, you exited your car and made your way through the side door to the lobby.

You nodded at the secretary, everyone already knowing who you were and letting you pass with no issue.

Yoongi’s studio was on the 8th floor at the end of the hall. Namjoon’s was just a short distance away as well.

Once you reached his door, you entered the pin code on the keypad. Besides a few staff members and the boys, you were one of the few with the password to his studio. He just preferred silence and no disruptions so the code was only used during emergencies or whenever you or the boys came to visit. There was also a group chat for everyone with his code, adorably named ‘The Plastics’, courtesy of Taehyung. If they ever needed to come to his studio, they’d send a text beforehand so he’d know to expect them.

The beep sounded and you opened the door, smiling at the sight of your husband who was cutely leaned over on his right palm as his eyes scanned the production screen for his music. You didn’t get most of it but you always found it adorable when he’d try to explain. He’d get so invested in telling you how reverb and delay could either make or break a song that he’d never see how endearingly you’d stare at him. And he’d always get surprised when you’d lunge to bite his cheek.

“You are just too adorable! I have to bite you!”

His headphones were around his neck so he turned at the sound of his door opened, a smile immediately rising to his face at the sight of you. He removed his headphones, standing to greet you.

You could barely put the food down before his hands were around you waist, pulling you in for a hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck, cuddling into his body as you inhaled his cologne and the gentle scent of his favorite body wash.

He pulled away a little to press a few pecks to your forehead. “Hi baby.” His deep, slightly tired voice sent shivers down you spine. It was almost like his regular voice was just his morning voice constantly and out of all of the little things you loved about him, his voice was towards the top of your list—right after his newly grown out hair, his hands, and that little habit of him slurping whenever he’d explain things.

You inhaled a deep breath, basking in the affection. “Hi.”

You two just held each other for a moment, locked in an embrace and not wanting to let go. This was your special kind of intimacy, just not speaking or moving, simply holding one another.

Yoongi considered himself a pretty private person. A little ironic considering he was a world famous idol who’s whole job was being put in the spotlight. However, when it came to his personal relationships, he did his best to keep that as private as possible. Just imagine the uproar when people found out he was engaged. You had been hidden from the public eye for 3 straight years before you got engaged. How? One part extreme luck, the other part moving quietly. Your relationship started off with you meeting for the first time at a staff member’s wedding. You had designed her dress and she was so amazed and in love with how you created her dream dress that she insisted you come to her wedding. Always happy to see people overjoyed with your work and excited to see your design in action, of course you agreed. Coincidentally, you were sat pretty close to the table the boys were at. When you recognized them, you softly smiled and introduced yourself, expressing how you were a fan and how many women said they were using BTS songs as their wedding songs. Yoongi was drawn in instantly, your gentle voice and sparkling eyes as you talked about your clients drew him in. He could tell you were passionate about your career, just like he was.

After exchanging numbers while the bride and groom were cutting the cake, you two mainly texted and called each other in your free time. It took about 4 months for you to go on their first date since Yoongi had to go to America for promotions. He thought you’d lose interest since he traveled and couldn’t take you on a proper date but you never minded. You liked talking to Yoongi and found yourself developing feelings for him. He was trying and effort was one of your biggest green flags for a partner. A little distance wasn’t that big of a deal to you. Of course, you wanted to be able to be close to him and hold his hand and maybe even kiss but you knew what you were signing up for when you started talking.

Once Yoongi went on break, he started dedicating a lot of time to you; dates, inviting you to his place for dinner and wine, and learning more about you. He didn’t think you would get along so well. Talking on the phone was vastly different than being in each other’s physical presence but you had melded together like the pieces of a puzzle. You were so gentle and compassionate, always looking after him and giving him affection he hasn’t gotten in years. You were perfect for him and vice versa.

Your eyes slowly blinked up at him, just taking in his handsome features. You could spot the bags under his eyes, feeling a little sad that he was running himself ragged.

“You look tired. Have you slept since his morning?”

He hummed. “I took a little nap around lunch. The new couch came in.” You turned a little to look at the new addition to his studio. Before, he just had a small leather couch, moreso for decoration than comfort. Once he got a bigger studio, he upgraded his furniture but kept that couch. After some prodding from you, he ordered a new and more comfortable couch—one that could become a pull out bed for those overnights at the studio.

“It looks great.” It was a dark grey color, wide and stretched enough to fully support 2 people if you wanted to spoon on it.

“Yeah. I just didn’t think it would take that long to get it in the door. Namjoon almost knocked over my synthesizer.” He said that with a shake of his head. You giggled, imagining the tall and clumsy man scrambling to pick up the keyboard.

“I can only imagine. I brought food. You should eat it before it gets cold. I should go.” You tried pulling away from him only for him to tighten his grip on your waist. You let out an “oof” as your face met the hard planes of his chest. All that physical therapy and time in the gym had really bulked him up. While you loved his body regardless, you definitely weren’t complaining about the extra muscle. He was filling out this black shirt just fine.

He nuzzled his nose in your neck, inhaling your favorite perfume that you’ve worn since he met your. It was one of his favorite scents. His hands rubbed up and down your back, feeling all over the material of your dress.

“No, stay. Eat with me.”

Yoongi could be very affectionate and straightforward when he wanted to be, normally when you were alone. He’d never show this side in public. Not because he was ashamed of his love for your, far from that. He just preferred to keep their intimate moments private. Maybe a little kiss here and there and some hand holding but moments like this were for you only.

Your manicured fingers went to his nape, scratching at the hair there. “I don’t want to distract you.”

“You’re not.” He pulled back to look you in eyes. “I want you to eat with me. I feel bad we couldn’t have dinner at home.” And he did. He knew his job demanded a lot of his time and attention and even if you understood that, it didn’t stop him from feeling guilty about leaving you alone all the time. He knew you could entertain yourself and had your own life outside of him but he still felt bad not being able to spend as much time with you as he wanted. He missed you just as much. While he loved his job, nothing beat coming home to your warmth and affection. To be honest, he was getting a little touch starved.

He led you over to the couch, waiting for your to sit before going to the mini fridge in his studio.

“Do you want juice?” He asked as he pulled out a couple of drinks. He always kept some of your favorites in his mini fridge just in case. You didn’t drink caffeine or really any alcohol, water and juices were your favorites.

You nodded your head, beginning to take out the Tupperware containers. They were still nice and hot. He placed a juice down on the table, along with an energy drink. You frowned at that, leaning forward to pick it up.

“You need to drink water. Don’t think I haven’t noticed those coffee cups on your desk.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed but couldn’t hide his smile. You were too good to him. Sometimes he felt like he didn’t deserve you. Taking the energy drink from you, he went back to the fridge to grab a water instead.

Ignoring the smug smile on your face, he sat next to you, waiting for you to open all of the containers. The smell was delicious, making his stomach growl.

Your handed him some chopsticks and a few napkins before sliding the steak over to him. “Here. Try it.”

You ate in silence, him using his chopsticks to place some pieces of steak and vegetables in your bowl. You smiled, the cute ways Yoongi showed he cared always making your heart warm. Fans knew he was more subtle in showing he cared and that wasn’t any different than him in private. You had to learn that his love language was acts of service but in a more quiet way.

After you finished eating, he helped clean up the containers, giving you some wipes to clean your hands and the table.

He let out of a groan as he sat back down on the couch, belly full and fully ready for a nap. But he knew he had to get back to work and that meant you had to leave.

“Thanks, baby. It was delicious.” His hand came to rest on your thigh, rubbing the soft skin. You hummed, placing your hand on top of his.

“Of course. I’m happy you liked it.” You both rested for a moment before you began moving. “I should go. You have work to do.”

You barely made it to your feet before he was tugging you back down on his lap. A surprised yelp came from your lips at the sudden movement, ass meeting his thighs when you landed. He situated you so that you straddled his hips, his hands immediately going to your ass.

“Baby….” You pouted, feeling a little shy all of a sudden. You were normally the one who initiated physical affection so for Yoongi to do it so roughly surprised you. You weren’t complaining, however. The way his eyes were hooded over and how he looked up at you with that dark endearment made your belly tingle. You knew where this was going.

“Stay.” His left hand pressed your body down so your chest squished against his. “You come here in this dress and my favorite shoes…”

You adjusted yourself to wrap your arms around his neck. “I hardly wear these.”

He shrugged. “I love anything you wear. You look so sexy.” His hand traveled up your dress, moving it up your ass so he could grope full handfuls of the fat. While Yoongi appreciated all parts of your body, your ass was his favorite. Genetics, exercise and a little bit of happy weight had all accumulated into jiggly ass he loved to squeeze and slap. When you met, you were pretty thin but in shape nonetheless. Fans speculated that you gained ‘happy relationship weight’ since Yoongi treats you right. Whatever the reason, he thanks the higher power every day for it.

You could feel the heat beginning to spark between you, along with Yoongi’s growing boner pressing against your panties. Now that you thought about it, it’s been a little while since you’ve been intimate. You and Yoongi have barely had any time for quickies, let alone a full session of sex. And you two could go for hours if you wanted. On the day of your engagement, you barely left the hotel room because you couldn’t keep your hands off him. How could you? He was your fiancé. Mmm, that word just got you hot and bothered.

Your hands ran up his neck and into his hair, scratching at his scalp. The low hum of contentment that came from him spurred you on. You brought your faces closer together, lips hovering before you trapped him in a kiss. He hummed again, lifting his head to kiss you deeper, hands still squeezing at your ass.

Your kiss grew more heady, both of your hands massaging each other and trying to stroke any piece of skin you could. Yoongi began pushing against you to make your roll your hips against him. His cock could probably cut glass from how hard he was. You always got him excited with barely doing anything. To be honest, he started getting hard the moment you entered the room. Just your presence got him feeling almost immediately horny.

And it was the same for you. Your cunt had began getting wet the moment Yoongi turned around in his chair. He just looked so comfortable and effortlessly sexy and the way his muscles strained against that shirt made your imagination run wild.

You pulled away to inhale a deep breath. “Yoongi….please…”

His lazy smirk sent a rush straight to your already wet pussy. “What do you need, baby? Tell me.”

God he was such a tease but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t absolutely love it.

“I need you.”

That was all he needed before he moved to flip you onto your back. You bounced against the soft couch cushions, barely getting your bearings before he was back on you, pressing his lips to yours.

His large hands traveled up your dress, lifting it over your belly and breasts. He leaned back to get a look, letting out a groan at the absolute beauty under him.

Your chest was heaving from just a little kissing, your goddess locks spread out under you, glossed lips plump and ready for more. You were so gorgeous and he made sure to let you know.

You squirmed under the compliment, feeling giddy and a bit bashful. You always received compliments and the occasional catcall and while you accepted the respectful ones gracefully, none of those ever mattered to you. Yoongi’s praise and compliments put you on cloud 9 and you really believed him.

His hands traveled up your body to your breasts, eyes catching something under your bra. He pulled the annoying piece of fabric down and if he could get any harder, he probably would.

“Fuck. You’re wearing your piercings? Did you come here to try and kill me?” The little diamonds sparkled under the light. He remembers buying the jewelry for your birthday last year. He also remembers sucking the sensitive nipples until you were crying just an hour later.

You giggled, biting your lip. “Of course not.”

His smirk widened. “You little sneak.” His hands went to grope at the soft flesh, a sigh falling from your lips. His thumbs ran lightly over the stiff peaks, pulling more sighs and little squeaks from your lips. Your nipples had gotten so much more sensitive after piercings. Yoongi couldn’t be too rough on them when you first got them, being careful of your healing process. He could barely touch them without you gasping in the slight pain from healing. Of course, he never complained, understanding your pain so he just stopped touching them. He just didn’t think it would test his control so much; seeing you walk around without a shirt sometimes, the already silky and delectable breasts looking more appetizing from the little barbells. Months had passed along with many maintenance appointments before you announced that they could be touched without pain. With the pain gone, your sensitivity skyrocketed and with Yoongi’s skilled tongue beginning their assault, your pleasure had been taken to a new level.

Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer and his mouth open to lick over your nipple. You let out a moan as his tongue swirled all around your piercing. He switched to the next one, giving it the same treatment.

The heat between your legs was becoming too much, your panties beginning to feel uncomfortable from how they were sticking to you.

“Yoongi….” You whined. His eyes lifted to lock on your flustered face, lips parted as puffs of air came through them, your eyes desperate and pleading for anything. Everything.

Reluctantly pulling away from your nipples, he helped you pull the dress from your body, tossing it somewhere in the room. Neither of you cared.

He kissed from your breasts to your tummy until he reached the apex of your thick thighs. You immediately dropped them open, revealing yourself to him. He groaned at your desperation but also at the sight of your soaked underwear. The thong barely covered anything, the baby blue fabric now dark from your arousal. It was practically leaking from you, the bottom of your ass shining. Kissing over the stretch marks that streaked down the inside of your thighs, he whispered words of praise to you.

“Fuck baby. You’re so fucking wet.” He couldn’t help himself, surging forward to suck on your clit through your panties. A shiver racked your body, your hands coming down to bury in his hair. The friction wasn’t as good with your panties still keeping his tongue from making direct contact with your clit but it was something. And it felt so good.

Your hips jerked against his face, trying to get more. His hands dug into the meat of your thighs, holding them open as his tongue licked at your clit.

More moans fell from your lips, pleasure causing your vision to go blurry. You felt so close already and he’s barely done anything. Blame it on you not having a proper orgasm for weeks. Your hands just didn’t feel the same and Yoongi had thrown out all of your vibrators once you two started having sex.

“You won’t need these anymore. All your orgasms should come from me.”

Now you were remembering why he threw them out in the first place. Only he could rip pleasure and orgasms from your body in seconds, playing your body like a piano.

Your hand came down your body, tapping against his forehead. He pulled away slightly, eyes searching your face for any sign of discomfort. You really only stopped him when you were shaking in overstimulation and he knew you hadn’t even cum yet so why were you stopping him?

When he pulled back, you grabbed onto your panties, pulling them aside to reveal your fat and dripping pussy to him.

How the hell did he get so lucky? Did he save orphans in his past life or something? Not only had he managed to put a ring on a kind, generous, and absolutely amazing person who treated him like a King and opened up the deepest parts of him, he also managed to snag a submissive, slutty, and needy woman who could ride his cock for hours and bend in ways he’s only dreamed of.

There was no way.

Eyes darkening in lust, he dove back in to capture your clit, licking at it more furiously than before. The heat from his mouth made that pressure build in your lower belly, your toes curling from their position in the air. Your loud moans only pushed him further, shoving 2 fingers in your tight heat. Your slick walls gripped his fingers so tightly that he could barely move them.

“Y-Yoongi! I’m gonna-“

He curled his fingers up, pulling away from your clit to lean up close to your face, his breath hitting your cheeks. “You gonna cum? You’re such a good girl.” He pressed some kisses to your open mouth, fingers thrusting in and out of your in a superhuman pace, veins and muscles in his arms shifting and bulging from the exertion.

When your orgasm crashed, you swore all of your senses except touch disappeared. You couldn’t hear and your vision blurred from the tears that had welled in your eyes. But Yoongi didn’t stop.

Your hand flew down to grab at his wrist, back arching as he continued his assault, helping you ride the huge wave.

He pulled his lip between his teeth. You were so sexy.

Once you came down, he slowly pulled his fingers from your, the digits glistening in your release. He sucked them into his mouth, moaning at the taste. He just couldn’t get enough.

Now he wanted more. Standing from the couch, he pulled off his own shirt and pants, taking his briefs with them. His hard cock slapped against his stomach, red at the tip and practically pulsing.

You bit your lip, thighs squeezing together as your pussy throbbed. Fuck you were so wet.

He flopped back on the couch, patting his lap. “Come ride this cock, baby.”

Not needing to be told twice, you crawled over into his lap, taking your bra and ruined panties off on the way.

His hands gripped your ass once you were straddled on his hips. You could feel the heavy weight of his cock pressing on your ass and it filled you with excitement.

Reaching your hand back, you gripped his cock, pumping it a few times. He groaned, head falling back against the couch at your touch.

Delivering a sharp slap to your ass, he growled, “stop teasing.”

His deep and demanding voice sent shivers down your spine. Never one to disobey, you lifted your hips, lining up his cock with your entrance. You rubbed the tip over your opening to gather some of your wetness before you slowly began sinking down on him.

A moan came from both of you as his thick cock began splitting you open. Your walls were squeezing him so tight that he felt like he could cum right there but he refrained. He wasn’t even all the way inside yet.

Your mouth was dropped open as his cock stretched you open, head tossed back and eyes closed as you basked in the feeling. Each ridge and vein was pressing against you in the most delicious way, the slight curve pressing against that spot deep inside of you. You felt like you could cum again just like this.

Once your ass met his thighs, you both let out sighs. Not only from pleasure but from being able to be close like this. This is what you needed; this closeness, this union, this intimacy. Sex was so much more to you than just getting off. It bonded you and brought you closer than ever, love spilling over and intertwining your hearts and souls.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him in for a sweeter and more sensual kiss.

“I love you…” you whispered against his lips.

“I love you too.”

Your hips began rolling against him, slowly at first to get accumulated to the stretch. He assisted you with one hand on your ass and one on your hip.

Before long, you began raising your hips, falling back down on his lap. The low clapping sounds spurring you on.

Yoongi groaned against your lips. “That’s it, baby. Faster.” With another sharp slap to your ass that made you moan, you bounced faster. Your ass jiggled each time it connected with his thighs and a part of him wished he could see it but the blissed out look on your face was too good to pass up.

Unwrapping your arms from his neck, you leaned back to get that perfect angle, your hands landing on his knees. A squeak fell from you as his tip began bullying your soft spot. Your head fell back, mouth dropped open as that delicious feeling began building in the pit of your stomach.

“Ah! Yoongi! Your cock feels s-so good!” You felt drunk, mind hazy and awareness faded. All you could focus on was the feel of him under you and the way his perfect cock slipped in and out. Your entire body felt like it was on fire, electricity spreading all the way to your fingertips and making your toes curl.

Yoongi couldn’t take his eyes off you. He didn’t even know where to look; your breasts, face, where you were connected? He could see how your arousal was dripping down to wet his pubic hair, a ring of your wetness coating the base of his cock. You were truly was a sight to behold.

That pressure was building faster than you thought. Sliding your hand down your body, your fingers connected with your clit, rubbing the nub in fast circles.

“Yoongi!”

He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. Your walls clenched and constricted around him, almost suffocating him. His hands rubbed at your nipples, flicking at the piercings. You were seeing stars, the stimulation was too much. His hands roaming you, your own fingers on your clit, and his cock inside of you was all too much.

That pressure…..

“I’m cumming!”

Your hips lifted from his cock, it falling out to slap against his stomach. Your fingers rubbed at your clit until some drips of liquid came out. The motion of your fingers caused the droplets to fly everywhere, some landing on the cushions as well.

Once you were done riding it out, he was flipping you back on the couch, head pressed into the cushions and ass up in the air. He delivered a few slaps to your ass, pulling some moans from your at the sting. Your head was swimming, the sudden movement making you a little dizzy but that dizziness quickly left when Yoongi entered you again.

His cock entered you in one swift motion, hips immediately working to push and pull against you. Your ass clapped back on his hips, the fat jiggling and rippling with every move. His own orgasm was just over the horizon.

“You are so fucking sexy.” Each word was punctuated by a thrust. “You come in here looking this good and then you bounce on my cock until you squirt? Why the fuck have I been spending all my time here when you’re at home?” He was really talking to himself. Only a true idiot would leave a hot piece of ass like this at home all day. And he must really be a true idiot, probably the dumbest man alive. But not anymore.

Your moans were rising in pitch. With this position, you could every inch, every curve, absolutely everything. You could barely breathe, your brain only being able to form utterances of his name and begs of faster and harder.

That feeling in Yoongi began cresting, balls drawing up as his orgasm washed over him. His hands gripped your hips and ass hard enough to bruise but you could care less. He could bruise you up all he wanted.

His orgasm spread from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, shuddering his whole body. “F-fuck….” He breathed out. That was probably the hardest orgasm he’s ever had in his life.

Your own breath began to even out. You thought that was the end but you were suddenly flipped around back on your back. Both of your legs were hiked up over his right shoulder, thighs pressing into your chest in Yoongi’s absolute favorite position.

“You think I’m done with you?” His smirk was teasing and it caused more arousal to drip from you. He reached his hand down to line himself up before pushing into your heat. A gasp came from your throat at the intrusion, your hands coming to grip at the back of his neck.

His hips set a brutal pace, balls wetly slapping against your ass.

“Oh my god! Y-Yoongi!”

It felt like he was in your throat, every thrust hitting you in all the right spots. Your nails scratched at his neck, the slight sting only pushing him harder. He could feel your walls tightening, a tell tale sign of your orgasm. Your breasts bounced with every push, dark nipples looking incredibly enticing.

“Cum, baby. That’s it.”

Your body seized up as your second orgasm full body absorbed you. Your vision spotted white and your ears were ringing.

But not even your orgasm made him stop or slow down. He pushed faster and harder, the squelching noises getting louder as more and more wetness spilled from you.

It was like your orgasm wouldn’t stop. Wave after wave came over you. Every nerve was lit on fire, your mouth dropped but no sound came out. He had taken every word from you.

When he felt you squirt on his cock again, he shoved his full cock inside. Your toes curled so hard that you could feel them crack, legs shaking but he held them tightly. Your hands smacked against his shoulders as the stimulation became too much. You were so full.

“Yoongi!”

“Take it. Take all that cock, baby.”

You had no choice but you didn’t care. You’d give up every choice if it meant he’d fuck you like this.

He rolled his hips against yours a few more times before his own orgasm washed over him. He groaned into your throat, a full body shudder racking his body.

Lifting his head, he connected your lips in a soft kiss, a complete turn from what just went down. You hummed against his lips, hands roaming his soft skin.

He moved your legs from his shoulders, massaging your slightly sore muscles as you kissed. You both let out small moans as he pulled out of your heat, his cum flowing out of you.

Yoongi helped you clean yourself up, giving you a large elastic to tie up your hair. The sweat would definitely make your roots curl back up but that was a problem for another day. You put your dress back on as Yoongi pulled his shirt and pants back on. Your underwear found themselves tucked into his back pocket. A little silly considering he had endless access to you pussy but you guessed it was some man thing.

When Yoongi went back to his computer, leaning over the chair to click at some things, you visibly deflated, mood dampening. Was he really going back to work? You guessed you did just come to drop off food, the sex was a bonus and you did say you would leave afterwards. You just couldn’t help but feel a little sad and used. Yoongi was the king of aftercare, always running you a bath or giving you cuddles as you two calmed down from lovemaking. It’s not like this one moment would make you think Yoongi didn’t care but you did feel a little defeated.

Gathering your things, you were about to approach the door but Yoongi’s voice stopped you.

“Where are you going?”

You didn’t turn to face him, feeling a little embarrassed. “Home. Aren’t you going back to work?”

A snort came from him. “Of course not.”

You gasped when his body pressed against your back, also the feeling of his boner was right on your ass.

“Yoongi….”

“You really think I’m about to work and let you go home so you can wash my cum out of you? I’m fucking you until you can’t walk.”

Maybe you should come to the studio more often.

[sgntr]

Adventure 6 - Coincidental Meeting

A while back, I attended a music festival. As at any music festival, I posted instagram stories. To my surprise, Sarah replied saying that she was at the music festival as well!

(For those new here, Sarah is a MILF colleague of mine. We first banged when I was an intern and she welcomed me back as a full timer by banging during my first company townhall)

She was there with her husband and a few of their friends.

When we arrived, Sarah was there to bring us in. My friends and I were just shocked at the amount of alcohol available because we are those poor asses that pre-drink somewhere else before going into the club kind. There were buckets of alcohol there and Sarah's husband came over and got us all to down a cup to start the night.

We were still a bit scared we had to split the bill so we did not go crazy. But after the husband assured us it was on him, my friends and I started drinking more and more like a bunch of shameless leaches. The husband just kept ordering when we finished.

Everyone soon got super drunk and some passed out (including the husband). I was still alright. So I sent Sarah and her husband back to their hotel and my friends went their separate ways.

When I reached the hotel, I was amazed at the room. They had a full suite with living room and everything. 5 of us were sharing one small room and sleeping in sleeping bags just to save money.

I carried the husband to the bed and was about to leave because I was tired. However, Sarah had other plans. She jumped on me and wanted to fuck right there on the same bed as her passed out husband. But I had some conscience and tbh a bit scared so I carried her out to the living room.

"Destroy me daddy. Every time i have sex with my hubby i will picture you fucking me." She said in a drunken voice on her knees while undoing my pants. I got instantly hard even though I was super tired.

She started sucking my dick and her boobs popped out of her skimpy clubbing outfit. She proceeded to put my dick between her huge tits and gave me a tit job. The feeling was amazing. This was my first time getting a tit job and I finally understand why people love it so much. She spat down her cleavage to continuously lubricate it.

Following that she pushed me onto the sofa and sat into my dick facing me and started riding. Sarah rode like a pro. Her boobs were bouncing all over the place and that got me even harder.

"Slap me daddy, play with my nipples! I want it rough. Don't be like my loser husband, scared of hurting me." she said out loud.

And well, since she said that, I had to oblige. I turned her over and got on top and started pounding her pussy hard missionary with her legs high up in the air. Her moans filled the room mixed with my groans. I followed that by choking her with one hand and the continuously slapping her tits alternating between left and right.

"You like that? fking slut. You like it when I abuse your tits?"

"mhmmm"

Slowly her tits got red with outlines of my hands on it. I pinched on her nipples and used it pull her in and out. I was on the edge and at the last moment i pulled out spraying my cum all over her face and body.

"Since you did not eat yesterday, breakfast is served"

We both were panting heavily as I went to the toilet to wash up. When I came out, Sarah KO-ed on the sofa with my cum still all over her. I was super tired but did not want to get in trouble so i wiped my cum off her face, stuffed her tits back into her clothes and covered her with a towel. Hopefully the stains can pass off as something else.

I didnt really wanna go back and squeeze with 5 guys in a small room. So i just went to the table to rest. The sun was rising and the husband seemed to be waking up. We exchanged greetings and I apologised for crashing at their room.

"Dont worry about it! Thank you for taking care of us old people hahaha. Crashing like that means we had a good night party. Did you have a good time?" He asked smiling at me. We conversed for a few minutes and he carried his wife to the bed so I could sleep on the sofa. What a thrilling night it was and boy did i have a good time.

Her outfit for the music festival:

[elijahhendley]

７月27號 Day 16: Day in Taitung!

Today I decided to wake up around 6:30am. After getting ready, I went to breakfast around 7:15am and I was the only person in the entire room. The hotel breakfast room was giant and could probably seat almost 200 people yet I was the only one there. There was even a lot of food there that was prepared really nicely and I was the only one eating it. After a while some of my friends walked in, but no strangers. The county we are in is known for having the least amount of people. We are staying in a hotel that has 2 buildings and 15 floors for rooms. Since the hotel was so big I was expecting there to be more people at breakfast. But after breakfast, I went back upstairs and noticed something that I noticed in the last hotel. A lot of the electricity around the hotel was off. Like the central AC seemed to be off because the hallways and laundry room were hot. Then I went to the room balcony and every room that I could see had the AC unit off. So I don’t think there were many people staying in this hotel. So they turn the electricity off to save money.

We loaded up on the bus at 9:30 and our first stop was to the rice school museum. It was a small place with not that much going on but it was cool to see how the different types of rice are made and the different stages of rice. Peter also bought us snacks to try. He bought apple mochi and dried squid. The squid was really good. Then we made a quick stop at the “green tunnel” which was just a nice canopy of trees. As we drove through the green tunnel there were some graves which were very detailed. Then we continued on our way to get hot pot on Peter(such a great guy)! It was really good and he even ordered an extra plate of beef for our table. After eating hotpot, we went to the national museum of prehistory. I learned and saw so many different things. It was one of the best museums we have been to in my opinion. Especially since everything was in chronological order. It was amazing to see how things advanced and some things remained the same. 

After leaving the museum we drove by the Music Village, which was almost empty due to the bad weather. Then we ended the day going to a pharmacy, 7-11, and a bakery. At the pharmacy store a couple of us had fun taking our blood pressures while waiting for others to finish buying medicine. There is a sickness going around. Then we went to the hotel and we played poker and Cambio again.

Academic Reflection.

It is surprising to me and it probably will be surprising to you, that the rice industry in Taiwan is actually at risk. The amount of rice eaten, according to the Taiwan panorama article “A Rice Renaissance”, has reached an all time low in Taiwan. It is being outcompeted by wheat products, such as pasta and bread, and also rice imports from other countries. Ever since 2002 when Taiwan opened its borders to rice imports, domestic sustainability of rice has decreased. It is a sad reality that is slowly trying to be changed. I also learned about the main types of rice. The article splits it into 3 varieties. First being sticky rice, like Japanese Koshihikari rice. The second, a high water content, gelatinous rice with a soft texture known as Congee rice. The last being firm “frying” rice. 

Another thing I want to highlight about today was the Prehistory museum. Besides experiencing how the people of Taiwan lived, how they made pots both red and black, how they made and used knives, cultivated farm land, and even how they buried their dead during the prehistoric times. I learned a lot of interesting things. Moana, my favorite Disney movie, was based on the oceanic cultures and had a lot of influence from Taiwan prehistoric native culture. I saw boats similar to those depicted in the movie. I also learned that the movie Godzilla was inspired from a nuclear bomb that was tested by the US in the pacific ocean. A nearby fishing boat named Lucky dragon 5 was near this nuclear bomb testing and all the crewmates were contaminated. Thus, Godzilla was formed.

Until next time, 再見！

[borhaprequiem]

A Daydream Dressed Like a Nightmare

Fandom: Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Rating: 13+ for some crude language Major Characters: Halara Nightmare, Desuhiko Thunderbolt, original nonbinary character Words: 1,074

Summary: A Master Detective who greatly looks up to their colleague Halara Nightmare gets the opportunity of a lifetime...and perhaps a bit more than they bargained for.

Author's note: wrote this self-indulgent fanfic a while ago, it's about my self insert getting disguised as Halara with the help of Desuhiko ofc. i wrote it while i was in the middle of chapter 2 so some details probably aren't 100% accurate, and i never got around to rewriting them lol. i have so many gender feels for halara...

also i am not a sw*ftie i just needed a title and came up with one in like 30 seconds

Please read my bio before following.

It was yet another cold, dark, rainy day in Kanai Ward, where a small group of Master Detectives was called to investigate an important mystery. Thankfully, to those inside the Nocturnal Detective Agency—a cozy submarine situated in the local river—getting wet wouldn’t be an issue at all.

Juno Quantum, one of said Master Detectives, groggily walked into the main room of the Agency. They were never an early riser, or the most punctual when it came to arriving at meetings, and the softness of the hotel bed was just too much to resist—they just had to sleep for another 10 minutes, which became 30 before they knew it. But now they were here, at least. Though, no one else was—except Desuhiko Thunderbolt.

Juno never got the best vibes from Desuhiko. Apart from having a massive ego, he often seemed to be thinking with the wrong head, and Juno was just glad they managed to pass as “not female” enough to evade his eye. And now that they had seemingly no choice but to interact with him, they sure hoped it would remain true.

“Hey, Desuhiko,” they greeted. “Where did everyone else go?”

“Oh!” he replied. “The chief sent everyone out on their missions and then went out himself to get breakfast. He’ll probably be back soon to give you yours, if that’s what you’re wondering.

“…Then what are you doing here?”

Desuhiko sighed. “He put me on cleaning duty today. After that rookie Yuma complained about having to do it all the time. I mean, I’m the Master Detective here! With one of the most awesome Fortes, to boot! Why should I ever get stuck picking up after some guy?!”

On one hand, Juno wanted to shuffle to the other corner of the room and stop talking to this guy immediately. But on the other…they were curious about something.

“So, your Forte…how does it work again?”

As expected, Desuhiko’s eyes glimmered at the chance to show off. “You see this backpack over here? It’s filled with alllll sorts of stuff for my disguises. Not only can I change my clothes, but also my face, voice, and body shape! Isn’t it amazing!”

Juno nodded and smiled. “Impressive indeed, but…can you disguise other people as well? Or just yourself?”

“Yep, I can make anyone look like anyone! Well, except for the voice, you’re on your own for that part. I’ve only managed to hone that skill after lots of practice and training.”

“Anyone, huh?” Now Juno was really intrigued. “So, theoretically, would you be able to make me look like, say…Halara?”

It was simply the first name that popped into their head, but it wasn’t without reason. Halara Nightmare was one of the coolest, most confident, and arguably most capable Master Detectives on the team. Juno greatly admired them from afar, even if their cold personality made them seem nigh unapproachable. Plus, as the other nonbinary detective here, their mere presence helped Juno feel less out of place. 

But also, Halara was just…pretty. Their piercing pink eyes, their silky white hair, their tall and slender frame…It wasn’t a stretch to say that Juno had massive “gender envy” for them. They simply felt…inferior standing next to them with their plain black hair and their diminutive figure that was a bit too curvy for their liking.

Desuhiko’s voice snapped Juno out of their thoughts. “Halara, huh? Easy. Practically have their look burned into my brain at this point. Hey, in fact—I can show you right now if ya want! C’mere!”

“Wait, r-really?!” Before Juno could properly react, Desuhiko had already grabbed them by the arm and pulled them into the massive backpack sitting next to them, zipping it up completely once they were inside.

It was completely dark, and Juno wasn’t completely sure what exactly Desuhiko was doing to them. But after being jostled around in there for a while, the zipper was finally opened again and Juno led back outside.

Upon looking down at themself, they instantly noticed they were wearing Halara’s signature coat—navy with a neon yellow lining. And they swore everything around them was higher before…

“Ta-da!” Desuhiko cheered, looking proud of himself. “So, whaddya think?” He held up a mirror right up to the person in front of him.

As soon as they saw their reflection, they gasped, hoping their pink-tinged cheeks weren’t too obvious. They looked exactly like Halara, down to the smallest detail—it was incredible. Juno ran their hands along their new form, smiling as they noticed their flatter chest and thinner hips. For once, they actually felt comfortable in their body.

“Yeah, it’s—it’s amazing.” Juno winced upon hearing their own awkward voice coming out of goddamn Halara Nightmare’s mouth, but hey, at least everything was perfect in the visual department.

Before they could think of what to do next, though, they heard footsteps, and then the door burst open. Chief Yakou was back, panting.

“Desuhiko! Just—forget about the cleaning for now, come with me, it’s urgent. And Halara—I don’t know what you’re doing here, but good to see you!”

Juno couldn’t bring themself to speak up and tell Yakou what had happened—they were worried about getting them and Desuhiko into any sort of trouble for messing around with the disguise kit. So instead, they just awkwardly waved.

Meanwhile, though, Desuhiko had nearly started sweating bullets. “Uhh, can it wait a bit? I kinda…got something to deal with.”

“There’s no time! And—make sure to bring the backpack.”

“Fiiiiine.” Desuhiko groaned as he hoisted it on his back. As he passed Juno, he whispered, “I’ll try to be back as soon as possible. Just—play it cool until then, okay?”

Juno nodded back. Welp, they were going to be stuck like this for a while. It didn’t sound too bad, though…they looked just like the coolest detective in the agency now. Maybe they could just enjoy being them for the day. Yeah, that sounded good…as long as they made sure not to run into the real Halara.

“By the way, Halara,” Yakou continued. “If you see Juno anywhere, can you bring them back here and tell them they’re on cleaning duty now? Forget about them being insanely late, I-I just hope they’re okay. That they haven’t been kidnapped by the Peacekeepers or anything.”

Juno simply nodded again.

[zaynahfrozenfrost]

When We Met Part 2

Part 1

Me and my friends woke up quite early in the morning. Then we showered, did our makeup and chose our outfits. I wore a navy blue sweater, 3 quarter black pants with flats. I wore some small dainty earrings and a bracelet on the right hand. After we got ready, we went to eat breakfast in the hotel we were staying in. When we finished our breakfast, Timothée came to pick us up. We hopped into the car.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Timothée.

"First, we'll go to the Louvre Museum, then the French Riviera and lastly La Palette Café." Timothée said.

"Today's going to be a long day." Emma said.

The next thing we knew, we arrived at the Louvre Museum. Gosh, it was so huge and so many amazing artifacts! That day was very windy and my hair kept coming in my face. Then, Timothée came close and he got that strand of hair out of my face. Holy crispy biscuits, he smelled beautiful and he looked so charming up close. I thanked him and we went on to see other things in the museum. We saw artworks such as the Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading The People, The Wedding Feast At Cana etc. We saw so many fascinating things there. Then, we went to the French Riviera. It was breathtakingly beautiful, we took many pictures there. The water was blue and bright, and there were so many people. After many hours of roaming around, we decided to have lunch at La Palette. Other than the desserts, the food at this place was alright. Then, we went back to our hotel to get some rest. Then, Timothée called me from his phone.

"Hey, what are you doing Y/n?" He asked

"Laying in bed, resting." I said

"If I asked you to come with me alone, would you come?" He asked me

"What is it? Why do you want me to come with you?" I asked

"I wanna show you something special." He told me

"Alright, do I have to wear a certain outfit?" I asked

"Yes, while I was escorting you and your friends to your hotel room, I saw an off white crepe dress with pleats, and I'd like it if you could wear that." He requested me

"Alright, I'll be ready in an hour. When are you gonna come to pick me up?"

"I'll arrive as soon as possible. I'll see you later, bye." He said

"Bye"

I took a shower again, and then wore my J. Crew 365 crepe dress with pleats which was the one he described. Then, I dried my hair, wore a pearl necklace and heels. Then Timothée came to pick me up.

"Where are we going?" I asked Timothée.

"To the place where dreams are made" He said smilingly.

After we arrived, he told me to close my eyes. We went through an elevator and some stairs.

"How long do I have to keep my eyes shut? I'm feeling petrified." I said to him.

"We're almost there, don't be afraid I'm here with you" He assured me

Those 7 words were enough to make my fear feel less. Then, we got up.

"Y/n, open your eyes."

"Wow, w-where is this place? It's so beautiful, I can see the entire city. People look like ants from here." I said, feeling awestruck.

"This is the Eiffel Tower, I wanted to show you this place like you wished to see."

"Oh Timothée, you don’t know how much this means to me, thank you!"

And then, the most unexpected thing happened. We kissed and it felt like my heart had exploded, that kiss was so breathtaking I cannot describe it.

"I love you Y/n, I really do." He said

"Ohhh, I love you more than you could ever imagine." I said

Then, we went to a restaurant called Bar of The Eiffel Tower to have dinner. The food was actually good, better than La Palette Café. Then, he dropped me home and I kissed him on the cheek. I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep all night while smiling like an idiot. I hope this love continues to be the one I hope for.

[hushroomloser]

Chris Evans short story part 3

Pairing: ReaderxChrisEvans 

Request: Meeeee 

Prompt: “I’m sorry I thought you were somebody else”

Warning(s): I’m a first-time writer

Word count: 1253 words

A/N: Hey online strangers, I wrote the first part a while back and have the rest of the story in my drive but have never posted it. This story I wrote way back in 2019 :'(. I will be posting at random times if you stay and read it thank you so much. Enjoy xoxox - I have no idea how many parts this story and technically I haven’t an ending yet. 

~

And on cue, his phone rang, It was her. He was surprised, they broke up months ago. Why would she be calling him now? 

He wasn’t ready so he let it go to voice mail. He couldn’t concentrate anymore his mind was going into what-if mode. Those what-if thoughts somehow wondered off to the girl from the coffee shop. He would be lying to himself if he said that she didn’t make his heart skip a beat. The way she looked at him, it made him melt a little. He’s amazing at puppy love. 

Just when his thoughts were not consumed by Catherine, she called again. “She must want something important for her to call me”. Gazing at the phone he debated with himself, should he or shouldn’t he. Why would she even be calling at this time and after all these months? She broke it off and never looked back.

The evening sun cast shadows in his lovely one bedroom apartment. The production company had given him to option of staying at the hotel near the filming location but he had eyed this place months before. It had a beautiful fire place, next to it was a small dining room and the kitchen facing the the fire place. His room right down the hallway next to the front door. This was 110% better than any hotel room. It felt cozy, warm and a backyard for dodger. 

His aching heart was slowly growing in pain, he saw this place for them. His brows drew together, and in a frown of confusion and a little annoyance, he took a big bite of his casserole. Again, for the hundred times today, his thoughts wondered to the girl from the coffee shop. She was beautiful, and her smile. A smile that would make anything and anyone melt. The way she looked at him was out of this world, he knew that it was just starstruckness and shyness playing on that gaze but he was enchanted, truly enchanted. And he now hated himself again. For someone with a broken heart, he was amazing at falling for strangers every two seconds. Maybe that is why it never worked with her. He shook his head and headed to the shower. 

….. 

The morning came quickly, too quickly she thought. She couldn’t sleep. She had the unhealthy idea to go into a rabbit hole of videos and anything she could consume that was under 10 min. She wondered if she was starstruck or starting to get an unattainable crush on someone who was obviously out of her league. 

His beautiful eyes and his voice didn’t help, and remembering her awkwardness about the situation won the battle last night. She tossed and turned all night replaying the events in her head, thinking of better ways it could have turned out. She really was weird like that, she did need to work on that. Not be affected by the tiny things that did not matter but yet there she was cursing to the skies and all the gods above.  

She was what we may call not a morning person, which was the understatement of the year. The snooze queen. The why god? Why so early? The,  I rather sleep than do anything. The, my bed is my only true love ( other than Zeus obviously). 

Basically, SHE did not enjoy mornings and took her a solid hour to five to be able to leave this ghostly self that was her morning personality. However she loved routines, and she followed hers religiously. Wake up, Water with Sun, Play with pet, Bathroom, do Yoga or run, email with a smoothie, shower, get ready for the day, breakfast at a coffee place while finishing emails, and buy coffee for friends. 

Every morning, she would follow this, she did not know exactly why she had to do all these steps but some say it is healthy for you. Unless healthy means lack of intimate time with your bed then yes very healthy indeed. 

Her apartment was a modest and cozy thing, a Loft-style condo, it was a gem out of all gems. She really struck gold. She was living with Lizzy and her fiancee before finding this place, on a random Tuesday morning on her run she saw it. She got it the same day, in her sweaty workout clothes she stormed into her friend's room screaming that she found the best place ever. Industrial style with a twist of rustic. She had spent all weekend buying things for her new home, forcing Oliver and Lizzy to help.

When you entered through the main door, the spacious foyer had been converted into a cozy library-living room for guests. In front of the living room was a tiny space for her, her painting, her drawing, her wackiness just her. She decorated it in a way that it would fit all and everything she ever loved to do or will want to do. Left of her kid's playroom as Oliver called it was a big enough kitchen table where no one ate on. As much as she loved to cook for her friends, they all ended up eating on the couch and watching some random show or movie. Your mini office next to the kitchen had been redecorated to fit a very girly aesthetic. But ended up being a very unflattering unicorn barf of mitch match colours. Only one thing she could do; hide that disgusting wallpaper that she chose with books, plenty of books. 

She headed out the door ready to face a new day when arriving at her favourite coffee shop she decided or rather on a whim to go back to that shop she met him. She didn’t know why but she enjoyed their french vanilla a bit better. 

Wow! she thought, lying is not my strongest point I should probably work on that, mentally eye-rolling herself. 

She knew exactly why she went back there, even if her rational brain had been working overtime. He won’t be there, she thought. Why would he? He looked like he was in a rush. Why am I even going there? Pacing back in forth on the sidewalk. People started to give her the side eye.

She knew she was going to be late since the shop was further away from the hospital than her usual one. 

“Hey Iz, I will be like a few minutes late is that okay?”, her nose wrinkled at the thought of being late. And finding a good excuse to tell Lizzy. “… yeah something like that. Don’t worry I will have your usual order, yes thank you”, hanging up the phone, surprised at the fact that she did not question her about why she would be late. 

I mean I hate mornings but I make it a point to be early, thinking to herself. Unlike Lizzy, she would say better late than never to which I would always reply, I am surprised you are a working doctor, how in the world have they not fired you yet is surprising. 

Having now won the mental war, she was resolved, she was going to go. And like magic, her shaky legs started to walk in the direction of the coffee place. For the first time in what felt like forever her heart had taken control of her body. 

She put on her headphones, which will take her an extra ten minutes, she decided to take this beautiful and alone time and enjoy her morning commute. 

~

I thought I was on a roll welp not really I had to heavily edit this and all but please enjoy

Another meet cue is coming I am just trying to make it as natural as possible.

constructive criticism is very much appreciated, thank you.

xoxox

--------------

[twistedingenue]

The hardest point of something like GenCon for me, with chronic pain and social anxiety isn't the event itself. Don't get me wrong, that's hard (hello extra painkillers and xanax just to enter the vendor hall), but the need to take the day AFTER I get home off is the worst. Because there are things I need to do (cleaning, cooking, unpacking) and all my body wants to do is recount every bit of soreness and strife from the last Best Four Days in Gaming.

Anyways, next year we are going to try to get a connecting hotel because I'd really like to go to some of the later events. Being by the airport meant condensing the day together. What helped was actually scheduling some events this time and accessibility services.

I got to skip the will call line since I started with my cane (another good call on my part) and not having to stand for an hour was wonderful.

FYI: We stayed at Crowne Plaza --Airport. Our AC was struggling, but the rooms were clean and quiet. The hotel seems to be at the tail end of some big renovations, and we never quite knew what new thing would open up. We ended up eating there every day -- the breakfast buffet was WONDERFUL and well priced. It wasn't a huge buffet but everything tasted good. Their lounge was open and had a small dinner service, that was a little more uneven. A salad was underdressed but my ribeye with a sriracha glaze was amazing. If they added a shuttle service towards the convention center, it would be a great budget option.

Next year, more writing workshops and seminars. Those were fun. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding one and one on children's lit. I've got an idea for a novel percolating right now, and I hope I can actually start writing with it soon.

We also tested out the following games, all co-op: Sail- a wonderful 2 person card game. Very simply to pick up the rules (even I could do it). A great game to have around for like -- internet or power outages, camping. They didn't have any copies available (shipping delay), so we'll be looking out for it at our local game store.

Conquest Princess: Fashion is Power: Do you like sci-fi? magical girls? mechas powered by your pets? Fashion is Power? TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCES? And arcade game mechanics? This is your game. The mechanics are a little more complicated than I usually like, but I picked up on it by the end of the hour. It's a bag builder game, the artwork is lovely, and both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We played a demo copy, but the game is fully funded and in production. You can late pledge for it here.

Avatar the Last Airbender: Crossroads of Destiny: A rehash of the series in board game form. There are 12 plot-point scenarios to play through, in any order, and you can do one or two at a time. Mechanics are pretty simple and easy to learn, and it really encourages the co-operative behavior. By the time we tested it, Funko had sold out of what they brought with them, but we ordered it off of Amazon because I really want to play more of it.

Other than that, I bought a few gifts, tea, enamel pins and small bits of artwork and books. Husband bought tshirts and pre-ordered a modular backback system that will probably arrive in time for next gencon, lol.

I wasn't planning on going back next year, instead doing a resort type vacation, but it looks like we're getting a group together and let's face it, that's more fun.

[helenandlarrytravels]

February 1st, Bayamo to Baracoa

Breakfast at 7:00, while presentation and service was very nice, fruit was papaya only, juice, watered down papaya and no butter for the small pieces of bread, only mayoand eggs. Shared my P.B. 😉

Hopped into a horse drawn carriage and were given a 45 minute tour of the city. It was really nice. Saw the 1st convent in Cuba, and the homes of the first two presidents of Cuba, the first being Carlos de Cespedes. The first sanctioned outdoor burial ground of the leaders of the revolution of 1868. Previously all burials were in churches. We travelled along a road where all trees had been destroyed by the last big hurricane, all the trunks have been carved into animals and they line both sides of the street. Last a monument to all of those that have died in the revolutions.

Left the beautiful state owned hotel, to get on the road. They were not able to supply us with the box lunch of ham sandwiches as they have a shortage of bread. Plan on stopping at roadside vendors to get fruit etc for lunch.

In the eastern part of the island still lots of old cars but mostly European or Russian models as opposed to North American. We did see what appeared to be a Cuban military base and they seemed to be initiating some new recruits. 

Stopped at a roadside stand a bought a large bunch of bananas for 100 pesos and a string of clementines for 200 pesos. Later again, we stopped in a small town and purchase small cheese 8” pizzas/tacos for 50 pesos each.

As we drove along, country fences are now made of different kind of cacti planted so close together that animals can not pass through. Brilliant idea.

In the last few days I have tried to summarize what I think I heard from our CEO and signage I’ve seen, however, due to no internet I have not been able to fact check, so I hope I am recording the proper facts.

So, during our ride today, we talked about the revolution again where Cuba revolted against Spain. The first revolution lasted 10 years from 1868 to 1878 and was not successful. Again they attempted in 1895 led by Matta, by 1998 they were actually seeking help from the Americans. The Americans came to their aid and there was a big naval battle that ended the revolution and occupation of Spain. Cuban thought they had gained their independence but the Platt clause from the US Government, was that if Cuba wanted to be an independent country, they had to allow a army base and that the US could intervene if Cuban leadership became questionable. Thus the Guatamanno Bay base. 

Takes a long time to get anywhere as you share the road with bicycles, horses and carts, rickshaws, motor bikes and cars and trucks. Flagged down by a police officer today, and when we stopped he was trying arrange a ride for his grown nephew on our bus. Answer was no.

We stop for our lunch at 2:30 p.m. at a beach on the Caribbean Sea where we had our pizza, pineapple, tomatoes and bananas. No sand on these beaches just polished rock and pieces of washed up coral. Proceeded to travel on a winding road through the mountains to Baracoa, for several hours. All S curves.

Arrive at our Casa around 5:30 p.m., Casa Elvira. Larry and I are on the 3rd floor and have an outdoor patio area on the roof. It is a  very interesting home and we are going to enjoy our few days here. The place is owned by Elvira and Alfredo. We joined our group for a short walk around the city, but it was dark already, so we headed to our dinner place which was a private house dinner. The chef was amazing. We started with bread and papaya juice and cream of pumpkin soup, then tomatoes, cucumber, yams, plantain and coconut milk mixed and green beans. A curry coconut sauce was provided with the vegetables. Main course was sword fish, chicken deep fried jams and another root vegetable. Dessert was sliced papaya and marinated glazed orange peel with cinnamon served with espresso coffee. Could hardly walk and all for 1440 pesos each. Walked back to the Casa, showered and to bed. Big day tomorrow.

[jogetschatty]

I Am An Ironman (IM Chattanooga Race Recap)

Well, y'all - Ironman Chattanooga surpassed my wildest hopes and dreams.

I'm honestly still in disbelief. Not just that I accomplished this dream, but about the day I had on Sunday. When I crossed the finish line, I couldn't stop saying "I had the perfect day." I never went to that dark place everyone talks about. There was never a moment I questioned my ability to finish.

Monday brought perhaps an even bigger surprise, but I'll save that as an incentive to make it through this very long post (Hint: it involves a big island).

Anyway, let's start from the beginning.

We arrived in Chattanooga late Thursday night with two bikes, a car full of gear and a whole lot of race nerves. Thankfully, we had a lot to do over the next couple days to distract us. After chatting with other athletes over breakfast in the hotel lobby (we stayed at the Hampton Inn downtown, just blocks from transition), we set out for a shakeout ride. We decided to drive the full bike course and ride a short stretch of it. It worked out perfectly that by parking at the Cedar Grove Community Center, riding down to see the sharp turn onto Hog Jowl first hand and heading back we got a 30 minute shakeout ride. I was nervous that the roads were pretty rough until you crossed into Georgia, but otherwise it was a beautiful course!

Next we headed to Ironman Village to check in. It really gets real when they put that bracelet on your list and assign you your race number (as an odd number loving gal, I had a good feeling when I was assigned 1155!). I also started to feel the pressure - I knew if I didn't finish the race, I'd never want to look at all the great swag! Next we headed to Cashew for a quick vegan lunch, drove the run course (oh man, those hills looked even harder than I'd imagined!) and rested up before the undie run.

The Undie Run is a longtime Ironman tradition, meant to shake out the muscles and ease the nerves - and I have to say, it worked! About 50 of us gathered in undies of all sorts - from lingerie to tighty whities, costumes and beyond - to be a bit silly and run through town with our tushies hanging out. We ran about four miles, and after a week of tapering - it felt great! By the time we were done, our support crew was in town! We enjoyed dinner at Proof Bar & Incubator and settled in for an early night. I slept remarkably well!

By morning, the race day forecast had shifted quite a bit. Instead of showers in the afternoon, it was calling for rain throughout the entire bike ride. I was already nervous about the 116 mile ride, and this really spiked my anxiety - I'm scared to bike in hard rain, and was worried about being cold. But we set about our day, starting with a practice swim at the Chickamauga Dam (one lap in a wetsuit, one in a swim skin since we weren't sure whether it would be wetsuit legal). From there, we packed up our gear bags and checked our bikes into transition (in the wrong spot! thankfully an amazing volunteer moved them and reached out to let us know). I found someone to put my hair into battle braids a la the great Lucy Charles, and made sure my nails matched my bike (#priorities)!

We took a bit of downtime before heading to the parents' Airbnb for a very early dinner (we landed on these BBQ tofu bowls!) and were in bed by 8pm. Again, I slept remarkably well until about 3am! At 4am I checked my phone - wetsuit legal! Our alarm went off at 4:30am, and I was remarkably calm (despite a forecast that now called for "gusty winds and small hail") as we set about our race morning routine. We ate breakfast (an English muffin with sunflower butter, jelly, half a banana and a mini blueberry muffin, plus a bottle with electrolytes). We got dressed, had a good poop (this is important!), packed our morning clothes bag, and were making our way to transition by 5:15. From there, things were a bit hectic as we had to circle a few times from bike to bike gear bag to run gear bag, but we'd left ourselves plenty of time and with nothing else to do, we were on the bus to swim start shortly after 6am. When I saw Kipchoge had broken the marathon world record in Berlin, I took it as a good omen - it was going to be a great day to race!

/\ Swim start!

We had almost TOO much time at swim start, and the nerves started to creep back in! We chatted with other athletes in the porta potty line, ate some gel blocks, drank water, brushed our teeth and finally it was time to line up. We checked in our morning clothes bags, said goodbye to our phones and self seeded in the 1:10-1:20 swim time (faster than I usually swim, but what I anticipated with the current). When Courtney said he was going to stay with me and get in the water, I let out a sigh of relief.

Finally it was 7:30. The anthem was sang, the cannon went off and we made our way toward the water. I told Courtney I loved him, to "be safe, race smart and have fun," gave him a kiss and said I'd see him at the finish line - and we jumped in the water.

From there, my nerves vanished. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face the rest of the day (seriously, people kept commenting on it!)

The 2.4 mile Swim: The water felt perfect. My stroke felt natural. I was calm and doing what I came here to do. I kept thinking to myself, "this swim is beautiful!" I felt like I was all over the river, but I had plenty of room and when I need to, took a few seconds to get out of the way of other swimmers and find my own path. I couldn't really tell how fast the current was moving, but soon I could see the bridges - and after swimming under the third, I could see the final buoy marking the swim out. I couldn't believe it when I looked down at my watch and say 56:10 minutes!

T1: Volunteers helped us up the stairs, and at swim exit I saw my brother in law Nate followed shortly by my father in law Mike! I put my hands up and waved, and ran on to where the strippers helped remove my wetsuit, got handed my bike bag and ran into the changing tent. It all felt like a blur! Since it felt pretty warm, I'd decided not to put on the throwaway long sleeve shirt I brought along, so I just dried my feet, put on my cycling shoes and helmet, applied chamois butter and sunscreen, shoved my wetsuit and goggles in the bag, took a puff of my inhaler, ate half my Maurten bar and grabbed my bike. 8:11 minutes.

The 116 mile Bike: This was hands down the part I was most nervous about. It was far and away the longest part of the day, the only section of the race I'd never done the full distance of before, and the part of the day that felt like SO much could go wrong (bike crashes, mechanicals, getting hit by a car). But I didn't take time to think about that - I just hopped on my bike and went. I was a little bit concerned when I looked down and saw my heart rate was at 141, but we were going up a slight incline and I knew I had a ton of adrenaline pumping from running out of the water and then running with my bike. I took deep breaths and calmed myself down.

I took the road out of town easy, to warm up and also because it's by far the roughest part of the course with potholes and train tracks and everything in between. There was an audible cheer around mile 5 when we crossed over from Tennessee to Georgia and the road quality immediately improved! It had started to rain, but it wasn't coming down very hard and I could see sunshine ahead. At that point I looked down and realized I was moving upwards of 20 mph, way faster than planned, but it felt effortless with the wind at our backs so I figured it would balance out once we hit the hills.

Before I knew it, I was at the start of the loop! I hit mile 16 and thought to myself "just a century left, you've done that before! The course was pretty crowded at this point, and it was hard to maintain 6 feet and also keep up speed. Since I had a full bottle of Maurten's 320 I was sipping on, and water in my aero bottle, I skipped the first aid station.

At some point around mile 20 it started to rain pretty hard. I said silently to myself, "you're okay, you've done this before, just keep biking, you're okay." And that's when I realized I actually really was okay. I biked cautiously and defensively and taking it easy on my descents. I saw quite a few cyclists crash into each other when one person slowed going up hill, so I kept my distance. I was soaking wet, but just above the line of uncomfortably cold. The rain subsided, and I actually found myself passing a lot of riders.

By aid station two, I'd finished my bottle. It was situated on the way up a hill, which made stopping annoying, but I decided it was still my safest bet. I pulled to the side and yelled for water, filled up my bottle with Untapped Mapleaid lemon tea, and had a little snack. While I was doing that, I saw two unsuccessful bottle hand offs and actually had to yell to warn a rider of a bottle, and stopped a teenage volunteer from running out RIGHT in front of a cyclist to get it, which definitely validated my decision to stop for a minute or two rather than get caught up in that chaos.

Soon I was taking the sharp turn onto Hog Jowl Rd. no problem, and heading to Chickamauga. Just as I'd started to get dry, it started raining on us again - but the road on the back side of the loop is a smooth, gorgeous descent. I realized, somewhat surprised, that I was actually enjoying the ride! I stopped again around mile 50, at special needs, and gobbled down an Uncrustable, took a gulp of the electrolyte drink I'd put on ice in case it was hot and poured the rest into my aero bottle. I realized I'd taken *no* salt pills, so I also popped one of those. On the way out I had a quick snafu where the lid to my aero bottle flew off and I had to turn around and get it, but I knew it would be worth it with 60+ miles left to go.

/\ Probably laughing because it was only after thinking a cyclist was peeing on my that I realized *everyone* had a stream of water shooting out from behind their bike.

On the steep, wet descent out of Chickamauga I saw the scariest thing I saw all day. Out of the corner of my eye, something bright in the ditch caught my eye, which I soon realized was a bike. It took my brain a second to register that there was someone lying next to it, unconscious. I briefly considered trying to turn back, but realized I'd very likely cause a bike pile-up with many cyclists coming around a corner and down a hill behind me, so I yelled to the first spectators I saw to please call medical right away - and realized they were already doing so. I realized I was shaking both at what I'd seen and whether I'd done the right thing, but I felt better when very soon after I saw the ambulance on the way.

I expected I'd be seeing my family soon, at the turnaround, and sure enough - there was my mom yelling and pumping her arms in the air! I gave them a big smile and thumbs up because I had a feeling they might be worried how I was holding up in the pouring rain and I wanted them to know I was actually doing okay. Then I was onto my second loop!

I will say, on the second loop there were hills I didn't remember - probably because they hadn't felt like hills the first time around! But despite being pruney from being wet for 5+ hours, I was still feeling good (though laughing at the thought I still had to do a marathon) and keeping in mind what a fellow triathlete told me a few weeks ago - if you feel any emotions on the bike - tired, hungry, angry, sad - eat or drink something. I also have to say - from spectators to volunteers to other riders, I got SO many call outs for my unicorn helmet, and it really kept my morale high! On my second loop, folks recognized me and were even yelling, "the unicorn is back!"

It wasn't until around mile 100 that I really started wanting off the bike - and honestly, it wasn't because I was tired or uncomfortable (miraculously, my shoulder and neck gave me no trouble - despite a lot of pain in training), but because I'd come so far feeling so GOOD and really wanted to get off the bike without any issues - I'd seen SO many mechanicals along the way, and didn't want to be one of them! As I turned back onto the highway toward home, the sun had come out and I realized I had a dull headache so I made a point to get some electrolytes in my body right away (I actually gnawed on a package of watermelon Nuun, because I couldn't get it in my water bottle), and immediately the headache started to subside.

As I made the final trip into town, I realized I was approaching my family's Airbnb and soon saw them in the front yard - including my brother who had flown in to surprise me! What a boost to get me through that final stretch home (when you hit 112 that would be the end of a regular Ironman, it hits you!) Soon I was rolling back into transition. I couldn't believe it - I made it through the bike and it was only 3:30pm, and when I signed up this race, I was genuinely nervous about making the 6:10pm bike cut off. Total time, 6:37:56.

Nutrition: 2 Maurten bars, 1 Uncrustable, 1 bottle Maurten 320, 2 Maurten gels (1 caffeinated, 1 uncaffeinated), 1 chocolate cherry caffeinated Clif gel, 1 Untapped waffle, 1 pack Untapped Mapleaid lemon tea, part of a bottle of Body Armor electrolyte drink and a few gel blocks, 3 salt pills, 4 mostly preventative painkillers.

T2: It was with huge joy and relief when I handed my bike to the catcher, but I was surprised that I actually didn't have the "and I never want to see you again, bike!" feeling that I'd had on some long rides. From there, I a volunteer handed me my run bag and I headed into the changing tent. Another AMAZING volunteer proceeded to unpack my bag, get me sunscreen, and help me when I was dropping things all over the place. This is also where I saw the most BADASS thing of the day - a fellow athlete BREAST PUMPING between the bike and run. Women are fucking magical beasts. I said goodbye to my unicorn helmet, popped on my cap and bib belt, took another puff on the inhaler and took a quick stop in the porta john - despite the rain, I'd had a really hard time peeing on the bike! 7:20 minutes

The 26.2 Run: I set out on the run feeling strong. It was hot, but I felt good and still had my legs. I was feeling pretty confident at this point about my prospects of finishing, with more than 8 hours to complete the marathon. I headed up the hill to the highway, where the first 4 miles of the course is in pretty much direct sunlight. Everyone was telling me I looked strong, and I felt it too.

I stuck with my plan to walk the aid stations. My primary concern at this point was keeping my body temperature low and maintain a heartrate under 140. When I hit the first aid station, I put ice down the front and back of my kit and on my head, splashed cold water on my face and drank some Gatorade Endurance and water. This would be my routine at pretty much every aid station until the sun went down! I was surprised that the miles were kind of just ticking away, and even with my stops I was maintaining a 10 minute mile or below.

The turn onto the Riverwalk - the only portion of the course I'd not seen - brought some relief from the sun. I was a little bit farty from everything that had gone into my body, but I still felt good. I walked the steep hill up Battery Place and was excited to see my family soon. Sure enough, there they were as I turned onto Veterans Bridge! I gave them all huge hugs, and let them I was sticking with my plan to walk the hills and aid stations, so they wouldn't worry if my next splits were slower.

And with that, I was off to Big Bad Barton and the dreaded hills on the backside of the course! To be honest, at this point I was kind of excited that they'd give me an excuse to walk.

Now let me tell you - people DREAD Barton. It's .4 four miles long, and you have to run it four times (two each direction) - but it's actually sort of fun, because it's a giant party. There's an aid station about halfway up it on the way out, and since my heart rate was low and I felt good, I decided to run to that and walk the rest of the way. I did the same on the hill by the golf course, took a quick and not very productive porta potty break around mile 11, and headed back toward the pedestrian bridge. As you cross it, you can hear people being called into the finish line. Throughout the bike and run, every time I saw the mile marker for the second loop while on the first, I'd been thinking to myself "you'll be SO happy to see that next time!" - but never more than here. And I knew my moment was coming.

At the halfway point, I stopped at special needs for a quick bite of pickle and grabbed my socks and a waffle in hopes I could hand it off to a family member (guys, Feetures are expensive!) But when I dropped them less than a mile later, I sacrificed another $18 to the triathlon gods. I was headed back out to the lonely, exposed highway stretch - and I remembered what my mom told me that morning: even if you're lonely out there, remember I'm with you. And I thought about her proud face and arms in the air when I'd seen her last.

People were still telling me I looked strong, but around mile 15 I started to feel a little light headed. My heart rate was still nice and low, so I had a feeling it was the start of a salt bonk. I decided to play it cautious. I'd had a great day so far, and by that point, I had all the time in the world - something like 6 hours to finish a half marathon. I sure as hell wasn't going to risk passing out and being taken off the course. So I walked a little bit, doubled up on my salt pills (I'd only taken 5 all day, at that point), and because I knew my stomach couldn't handle pretzels or chips - I put them in my mouth, sucked on them and spit them out (gross, I know, but it works!) By the time I was turning back onto the Riverwalk the day was cooling off and the shade offered even more respite. I didn't feel 100% back to normal, but it was getting better not worse, so I continued mostly running with a few extra walk breaks, using mile markers and minute markers to motivate myself.

/\ Still all smiles on the second loop, around mile 19.

I was excited to see my brother again at the bottom of the Battery Place. hill! We walked up it together as I grabbed some nutrition, and he told me I looked happier than anyone else he saw on the course. I told him I felt good, and it was true. By that point, I had absolutely no doubt I had another 10k in me. I gave him a big hug, told him I'd see him at the finish line, and headed back toward Barton.

At the aid station on Barton I had my first taste of liquid gold! I squealed when someone handed me the infamous chicken broth - offered at Ironman after dusk. I took a couple sips to test it out on the stomach and dang, that hit the spot. I definitely walked more of the second loop, though I was making a concerted effort to break a 5 hour marathon. Honestly, could I have pushed harder on the run? Absolutely! But it was much more fun to save some energy to dance to the music on Barton (it's a straight up party after dark! Though alas, no one heeded my request to play Hungry Eyes!), get my booty whipped by the sexy costumed ladies in the Girl Zone, thank and joke around with the volunteers at the aid stations and give out high fives left and right. And I wouldn't trade that experience for a few minutes off my time.

Before I knew it, I was back on the bridge and I could hear Tony on the microphone. Rounding that corner was incredibly emotional, as everyone had changed their tune from "you can do it" to "you did it!" and I knew that I had. The tunnel is long in Chattanooga, and try as I might to take it in, it went by way too fast! I did get to see and wave to my family, and had the wherewithal to back pedal so I wouldn't cross the finish line with the jerk from a relay team who sprinted past me at the last second (seriously dude, I hope I'm in all your photos).

/\ Serious glare right there.

As I crossed the finish line, I heard the words I've been waiting to hear since I signed up in May (and really, for much, much longer than that): "Johanna Elsemore, you are an Ironman. 4:48:33

Finish Line: I came through the finish line, and there was Courtney, face glowing with pride as he put my medal around my neck (he signed up on the spot to volunteer to give out medals (smart man right there!) I told him I'd had an absolutely perfect day, and he told me I'd crushed it. It was only then that I thought to ask what my time was - and I was flabbergasted when he told me I'd handily beat 13 hours, coming in with a final time of 12:38:08.

Going into the race, I had said that if everything went perfectly, I'd come in between 13-13.5 hours. I expected at time closer to 14 hours. I completed an Ironman in far less than double the time for my 70.3 in May, which really shows how much training I put in over the summer.

/\ THE BEST support crew!

After getting our bikes and gear bags back to the hotel, changing clothes, seeing off the family and getting Courtney stable (he was in pretty rough shape) we headed back to the finish line. It was the finish line of Ironman Maryland last year that inspired me to sign up for this. There truly is no party like an Ironman finish line party. And in true Courtney and Jo fashion, we closed down the bar - staying to welcome every last finisher home.

Quick selfie with Tony, who I thanked for being the only one ever to pronounce my name right at a major life moment (wrong at my graduation, wrong at my wedding), and for calling me home for my first Ironman.

I have so much gratitude. For the support of friends and family throughout training and in the lead up and aftermath of this race. For my family who came all the way to Chattanooga to watch me achieve this dream - they literally always show up. For my health, and the fact that I could even get to the start line. And most of all for my amazing partner, who trained with me even when it wasn't his preferred pace or distance, and hands down believed in me at least three times as much as I did.

I also have so much pride. I'm proud of how well I know my body, to be able to pace myself and finish with a strong time for a first timer, but also finish with a smile and the energy to keep on dancing. I'm proud of the discipline and hard work it took to get here, but perhaps more so of how I managed to maintain balance in my life - to continue to show up for birthdays and weddings and dinners, travel, and never stop playing as hard as I worked.

Now, the even bigger surprise I mentioned.

I'M GOING TO FUCKING KONA! I'm still in disbelief.

I swore before the race, after the race, the morning after the race morning that I was one and done. But then we went to the awards breakfast and roll down… and my 25th place finish was enough to qualify me for one of the Women in Tri slots (Chattanooga was allotted 100 extra this year, with 16 going to my age group - and 6 people didn't show up to take it - so I got the last slot for my age group).

Moral of the story, in life and in Ironman, you gotta show up to get the prize. This wasn’t even close to being on my radar when I signed up. I just wanted to finish happy and healthy. So, while usually I’m a woman of my word… you don’t turn down Kona. For an athlete of my caliber, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

[katarinamiljkovic66]

~ Excursion ~

🚍 Activity title: Excursion

🚍 Duration and amount: 25th of May- 2nd of June

🚍 Type of activity: activity, creativity

~ Activity Description ~

After months of seemingly never-ending exams and intense anticipation for a well-deserved summer break to begin, at last, the first day of school excursion had finally arrived. The plan was to visit three countries: Italy, France, and Spain, but I wouldn't have minded if they added one more, just for good measure. 

There were a lot of complaints about the organization of the trip, which I personally didn't have problems with. Sure, when we arrived in some cities, such as Nice, we didn't see much due to how dark it was and how little free time we had. But with how many cities we had visited, it was a welcome surprise that a situation like that had only happened twice throughout the whole trip. Most cities we got to see in their entirety, even getting two to three hours of free time for whatever activities we wished to do. 

Having already been to Barcelona, I didn't share the same amount of excitement about going there as my friends did, but I was excited for the free time we would get there. I had planned to buy presents for my family and partner, and I had no luck up until that point, so I was hoping my luck would change, and it did! I got my mom spices that I know she likes and my partner a small replica of the infamous Sagrada Família.

The hotels were all great, and the quality of the food that was served was delicious! While the Lloret de Mar hotel had the most choices to pick from, the most delicious food was served in the last hotel near Verona. They had all sorts of tasty pastries to choose from for breakfast, and while that might not have been ideal for those who don't have a sweet tooth, it was perfect for me :>

The weather was nice for most of the trip, except when we visited Genoa. It was raining for the first hour, so me and my friend entered a bakery shop to wait for the rain to stop, but also because we were getting really hungry. We ordered the city specialty, Focaccia, which is a flatbread either plain or with ingredients such as olives, onions, or rosemary. This city also had a candy shop in which I was able to buy caramels for my mom since she loves them.

I can't stress enough just how much I absolutely loved our visit to the Dalí Theatre-Museum. Each room of the museum was unique, with each one having different ideas presented using different art techniques. I took pictures of most, if not all, of the art works that I saw because of it, but my favorite were the ink drawings of weird and original characters in the hallways. They had a certain charm, and by the lines on the drawings, you were able to tell just how professional they are and how hard it would be to even try replicating them, let alone coming up with ideas similar to those. 

While I really can't complain about any of the cities that we visited, with each one being beautiful in its own way, I have to say that my favorite city that we visited was Verona. It is not as big as Barcelona, and I like that about the city. It is extremely beautiful with the Arena di Verona, Via Mazzini, and Castelvecchio. The most beautiful was, of course, Juliet's house and her statue. The walls of her house had so many names and initials written on them of couples, and I barely managed to find a blank spot to write our own. The shop beside the house was so amazing, I'm pretty sure I spent a good 40 minutes inside, which my wallet can also attest to me doing.

~ Reflection ~

This was such a wonderful, once-in-a lifetime experience that I will never forget! Each day was filled with fun activities and hangouts that I will always remember and look back on fondly. I am beyond thankful to everyone who helped organize this trip, and I hope that the next generation has as much fun on their excursion as we did on ours!

~ Learning Outcomes ~

🚍 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

🚍 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

🚍 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

[magnusrosen-blog]

Blog 10

"The Tree Of Life Tour" together with Green Cross blogs for Sweden Rock Magazine.

Bengt, I and Ivo are sitting in a rented bus for our mission. The clouds are big and towering in the sky with sunbeams shining through here and there. I think to myself, let the rain come and fertilize nature with the substance that makes life possible "the water" that we so easily take for granted. Even though we will be out in the rain forests for a couple of days, I hope for rain 🌧️ as it is really needed.

So curious about the day. We have a bus and a trailer with 5 people plus driver besides myself and Bengt in our film crew including guide. The guy driving the other vehicle is also part of the film crew / producer is also a Metal bass player for many years. His name is “Jayth Neto” It's absolutely amazing that it knows my rear end this far away. I get to hear stories where you yourself are involved. Yes, people know a lot more than you might expect.

I didn't expect anything myself, so this comes as an extra pat on the back.

This morning, as almost every day, we have interesting conversations about humanism and also apparatus that can make a self-propelled in the form of cultivation and energy / electricity. The conversations at breakfast were about solar energy based on solar panels where the energy can also be saved for the night without "environmentally dangerous" batteries!

Yes, we will now check this with people we know who work to calculate how this simple but very functional apparatus could look in terms of size and what energy supply would be possible.

After a few hours of travel!

When we checked into the small, simple hotel, it was time for lunch. Then we entered the Amazon rainforest. So far, the air conditioning in the bus was doing its job, but when the door opened and we stepped out, the heat and humidity hit like a road. The sweat poured down and the t-shirt got completely wet as well as the pants. Hot and stuffy was just the first name. The jungle with its tall trees and small streams that wound their way. If there were mosquitoes, the answer is yes, I had bargained on quite a lot of mosquito spray but didn't think it really kept the little critters away from me.

Standing in the middle of the Amazon is something absolutely fantastic. The day before, bassist Jayth Neto talked about legends and myths, beings and creatures from the rainforests. These stories made the forest even more alive. As if the forest had a soul of its own.

It has been seen on satellite images and other discoveries from ground level that there have been large civilized cityscapes inside the Amazon jungles in the form of outlines under the vegetation. Yes, this part of the world contains secrets that we still don't really know much about. The riddle hides far back in history from developed civilizations with knowledge and perspective about the miracles of life.

The film we are making here is about Dreaming visions and faith in the future for the rainforests and those who live there.

It will be a music video mixed with documentary elements. Our mission and belief in a healthy world. It's something we can all do, it's just trying to make the right choice in a small or big way on different levels. Our plan is Love peace understanding. Most things start with a dream loaded onto a simple paper plan with ideas thrown into the future to one day come true! The song will be Paperplanes which I and Chitral Somapala have written from Sri Lanka.

We will spend a few days here in the jungle.

On Tuesday there will be a solobass concert in Manaus, which I'm looking forward to, plus I'll be sitting on a rock jury to select the band that will play cover for Blind Guardian. There are also some special meetings that will take place on Monday. Will report back on this. But now there will be a video / film in a couple of days!

I believe human rights is Peace. if you cant find a peace solution then its wrong people round the table!!! Thats what i believe!!!

Make the world a better place 🌍 Love Peace Understanding Questions give knowledge Free Speech is given a Free World

Magnus

For those interested in the following, Sweden Rock Magazine's page is: https://www.facebook.comswedenrockmagazine Green-Cross www.green-cross.se

Magnus Rosen - Ambassador for Green Cross www.magnusrosen.com

[laurenprospectdublin]

Brazil has been on my list for a long time and my class trip to Chile seemed like the perfect time to add on a long weekend in Rio de Janeiro! I had planned to do this part of my trip solo but ended up being joined by someone I was newly seeing, adam, and it was a blast.

We stayed at the Hilton Copacabana beach which had nice amenities - a great breakfast buffet and pool set up, but the rooms were so small for the price. If I went back, I might choose to stay further down by ipanema or leblon beaches because more of the things we did were closer to those areas.

I was excited about Rio because it offered the chance to explore, relax and be in a city close to the airport all in one! I also had a coworker from Brazil who put together an amazing to do list for me which served as a great guide for the city.

The first night we had some cocktails and dinner at the hotel rooftop lounge and then walked along the beach a little bit. We also grabbed a cocktail at the beautiful Copacabana Palace hotel's pool bar which was right down the street. Rooms there go for $500+ a night so it was of course beautiful to see inside.

Then, the first full day was our biggest one for exploring. We started walking towards Mirante Dona Marta initially but ended up in the favelas that led up to a Michael Jackson sculpture. I think we probably should have taken an uber to the mirante dona marta if we had known, but we still got a great view and had a nice time exploring the local area. After that, we walked to Parque Lage which is a beautiful little castle in a park that has a cute cafe and a view of the Christ Redeemer. Here we got a nice little lunch with a cocktail. Then we kept walking to the Botanical Garden which looked beautiful but it was almost closing so we didn't get tickets to go inside.

At this point, we had walked 7+ miles so we made our way to Leblon beach and settled into some beach chairs for a caipirinha - they were delicious and very strong! After that, we walked on the beach a little bit and then headed back to the hotel for a cocktail by the pool. And to end our great day, we went to a Brazilian steakhouse for lots of meat - I believe the place we went was called Churrascaria Palace.

The next day, we had booked train tickets up to the Christ Redeemer statue as well as a speedboat tour around the islands near Rio. I'm glad we went up to the Christ Redeemer and saw it but it was so hot and crowded that we really didn't need to stay long before we were ready to go back down. Before our boat tour, we went to this place called Bar Urca where the boat tour started from and the food was delicious! We had some traditional Brazilian shrimp goulash dish as well as more steak and some traditional brazilian pastries to start. And then we got extremely lucky because the other people on our group boat tour didn't show up so we basically got a private boat tour around Rio! It was beautiful and amazing to experience with Adam :) For our last night, we decided to hang by the pool at the hotel and order dinner there which was also delicious.

The next day we slept in, got a good workout in at the gym, got one more traditional brazilian meal, booked massages and then headed to the airport for the long journey home.

Overall, an amazing trip to Rio and Brazil for the first time - definitely would go back!

[bike42]

Tuesday September 5th

Up before 7am as breakfast was going to be served at 7:45am as Patricia’s “help,” her young neighbor boy was back in school. We had a more decent sized “Irish Breakfast,” with very yummy bacon.

Jeff is more congested and heading towards a full-on cold, so I was trying to get him to drink the echinacea tea I’d brought. We didn’t unpack much, but it was still a bit of a struggle zipping up the cases. Looking forward to three nights for the next stop so we can have more relaxed mornings.

It was a pretty decent night for a B&B. It was quiet, and the bed was comfortable but my pillow was like a cement bag. About midnight, I took off the pillow case and stuffed my puffy jacket inside - worked much better!

We waited for the bus to pick us up, and it did about 9:30am. We met our guide, Peter Crann, and driver Fionan Cronin. James and Kort were also on the bus and came out to greet us.

Then we were on the motorway heading northwest towards County Sligo.

After about an hour, we stopped at Coole Park. It is a beautiful park setting that had once been the grounds of a large manor, where many of the famous writers of Irish decent had hung out (there was a large old Tess that they’d all signed). We formed a circle and M&M performed their song “Sacred Ground,” which gave me goose bumps being in such a cool place in Ireland with this small group - what a great 10 days it’ll be! We did more in-depth introductions … some a little too rambly! It was good to hear more about our guide Peter’s background. Besides tour guide, he’s also a musician, primarily a drummer. He has guided many times with M&M and they seemed to have good chemistry which is really cool. Our driver, Fionan, has been driving for 16 years and has driven with M&M many times as well. His family owns the bus company. One couple, Janette and Gary, had just arrived this morning, and another couple, Glenn and Anne, had done the medieval buffet dinner at the Folk Park last night, so we just met them today.

We drove another hour or so, with Peter talking now and then about this history of Irish (Gaelic) language and some sites along the way. The scenery was very lush - green fields with cattle and sheep grazing, fences made of rock piles or hedges. We went through many small villages that actually remind me of rural Germany. Many houses looked a lot like the one I’d lived in when we lived in Kindsbach!

We stopped in Claremorris for 90 minutes on our own for lunch. Jeff and I went to a pharmacy where we bought Sudafed, nighttime cough syrup and a few COVID tests just to be sure. With Bill, we checked out a few pubs but didn’t find one that served food. We sat outside at a coffee shop where they had sandwiches and I had an amazing salad. Just as we got our food, Wayne and Sue came out of the pub across the street. They put in a quick order and we had lunch together, then went back across the street for a quick pint before heading back to the bus. The guys in the pub were a lot of fun, and seemed to enjoy having visitors to chat with.

We drove another 10 minutes for a quick stop in the village of Knock in County Mayo. In the 1870’s there was an apparition here that supposedly lasted for two hours and was witnessed by a variety of people. You hear of those now and then, but I’d never heard of building a shrine and massive development on the spot, but that’s what Knock is all about! The grounds were beautiful and it was an interesting spot. I’m open to believing it happened.

Another hour drive, through what felt like dozens of roundabouts (backwards to me). I’m not one to get car sick, but those get to you after awhile when you’re in the back of a bus!

We checked into the Sligo Park Hotel for three nights - nice spacious room. Queen bed to sleep in, and a twin bed on either side for our “stuff!” We had a couple hours to unpack and rest, and then gathered at 6:30pm for group dinner and music.

Dinner was nice, but I guess I was surprised to be having another nice dinner when I expected to be in a pub! We sat with Christa and Terry - retired music teachers from Grand Island, Nebraska. It’s their fourth trip to Ireland, their second with M&M.

We weren’t quite sure how our “special music” was going to happen, but after dinner they told us to go next door to a conference room in the hotel. There we met Cathy Jordan and Rick Epping. They were awaiting the third member of their group, “The Unwanted,” but eventually just started without him. Rick played the harmonica, the concertina (amazing tiny accordion-like thing) and the mouth harp. Cathie sang (incredible voice) and played the bodhran and a tenor guitar. They played a few songs and eventually the door burst open and their third member, Seamie O’Dowd, burst in and unpacked his guitar and fiddle and jumped right in mid-song. They played for over an hour and it was magical.

Jeff had gone back to the room to get our bottle of Jameson Crested, which we shared with Bill, Peter, M&M and a few others … drank half of it, but it was so right listening to Irish music drinking Irish whiskey! The night was like an out of body experience for me - the music just carried me away. M&M played one of their songs, and joined the trio on their last song (as did Peter on the bouhran). Fantastic night to end the first day of our trip.

Hoping JT gets a good nights sleep and feels better tomorrow!

More about The Unwanted:

https://compassrecords.com/artist/the-unwanted/#:~:text=The%20Unwanted%20is%20a%20group,that%20encircle%20the%20Atlantic%20Ocean

More about a cool project Peter and Cathy are working on https://www.crankieisland.com/

[bikeit]

Self-Supported Berlin -> Copenhagen

Last summer (2022) I biked from ~Berlin to Copenhagen with a friend. A week of gorgeous riding on pavement and some dirt, carrying all our gear but staying in hotels to avoid the need for camping equipment, through a mix of rural landscapes, quaint towns, and cities.

It started with flying into Berlin, checking my boxed bike and a lightweight duffel bag that just held two panniers of gear. I reassembled the bike in a train station in the city, hooked my panniers onto it, wadded up the duffel bag in the bottom of one of the panniers, and rode away...

There's a recommended scenic bike route from Berlin -> Copenhagen, which partly follows the EuroVelo 7 route, with more useful detail including GPS tracks on the Komoot Berlin->Copenhagen page (I downloaded those and wrangled them into RideWithGPS on my phone, and onto a dedicated GPS bike computer I was trying out for the first time).

There's also great paper map book we used that highlights the route page by page (it's in German only, but that doesn't really matter for a map, and my friend spoke German). It's available in your typical map stores in Germany but hard to find in the US-- I ended up spending the extra money to mail order a copy from Stanfords UK ahead of time. I think it would be reasonable to do the entire ride just with this map book and no GPS, but we liked having both.

Overall, the paper map and the GPS route both seemed to match reality on the road 95% of the time, though we sometimes took alternate routes where something had changed, or we saw a physical bike route sign by the road that didn't match our map, or we just saw an interesting dirt path to detour onto.

The road surfaces varied. Other than when we had to pass through cities, many of them were a mix of quiet country roads (good pavement, few cars), paved bike paths paralleling main roads (the last rainy image below is a typical two-lane bike path in the countryside of Denmark, as nice as the main road nearby), or gravel roads cutting through forests:

There were a handful of sections with more unusual surfaces, from dirt paths to cutting through a port to get to a ferry, all fun in their own ways:

We ate a lot of white asparagus, cheese, meats, and bread (many hotels had great good protein-heavy breakfasts, and in a handful of towns we rented an apartment and cooked):

And I'll say again-- it was beautiful. We were never deep in the wilderness, but we passed farm fields, historical castles, the chalk cliffs of Møns Klint, and more. I still think about this a year later.

Finally, a week and ~500km later, we rolled in to Copenhagen and parted ways (I then traveled on to the island of Bornholm for a more lazy vacation-with-occasional-cycling).

A few other highlight memories, the experiences you can't plan but can happen when you explore:

Rain and chilly weather on one grey day-- I wanted a break. We were out in a rural area, but I looked on google maps and saw a small cafe symbol in a nearby town. We had to explore a bit to find it-- down by a harbor where nothing else seemed open. And... it was open, cozy, and full of cheerful people chatting, and we got amazing grilled cheese sandwiches while we took a break from the rain to warm up. (Hårbølle Havne Høker)

Biking past rolling rye fields on a windy day, their silvery ripples looking like ocean waves out of the corner of your eye.

Biking along the North Sea, coming to a dock jutting out into the water. Getting convinced to jump in the very cold ocean. And then getting ice cream afterwards (and there was a convenient public changing room with free hot showers nearby).

The best schnitzel and white asparagus of the trip with some house-made plum schnapps, in the unassuming tiny hotel restaurant in Bützow (I think it was the only hotel in town, the Hotel Bützower Hof).

Biking for an hour or two on a dirt road in a forest without seeing another living soul. Then coming across a tiny (abandoned?) baby bird crying in the middle of the road, and moving it off the road with a leaf. I know it probably didn't make it, but we had to do something.

Seeing a sign for a mountain bike detour, and taking it (only had to walk one short section).

Stopping for a beer at tiny microbrewery cafe just off the ferry (Café Købmandsgården), and ending up chatting with the brewer for a while and getting to taste beers-in-progress in the Brite tanks.

A few notes on route and timing:

We debated how much time to set aside for this, and settled on a goal of ~60-105 km (40-65 miles) per day over the course of seven days. We felt we could ride it faster, but made a conscious decision to aim for this pace for a few reasons:

This is vacation. We want to be able to stop and spend plenty of time at historical sites and interesting cafes we came across without feeling hurried.

There were a handful of gravel and dirt alternate routes that I really wanted to ride, and knew would be slower.

There was the possibility of heavy rain part of the week, and the certainty of some intense headwinds-- we wanted to leave open the option to skip a day of riding if the weather was terrible or at least make it a short day (we got fairly lucky on the rain and didn't need to skip a day, but I'm glad we had the option).

To make that pace work with the time we both had available, we decided to take our bikes on a train an hour out of Berlin and start in Neustrelitz instead of Berlin itself. We're both completionists by nature, so it was difficult at first to accept not riding the entire route... but I'm glad we made that call. When we got to the island of Møn we were blown away by the beauty and decided to spend a morning sightseeing around the island, and only got "back on the road" toward our next hotel around 3pm, so I'm glad we could make that a shorter riding day!

Weather:

We had some intense headwinds on one day, and for a few hours on two other days, but it wasn't as frequent as we expected. And we got rained on lightly along the ride, but only really got soaked on our last day, in the final two hours before Copenhagen-- the perfect time to be cold and wet and ready to sleep in...

Lodging:

We didn't reserve anything before the trip. Instead, each evening we'd look at the maps and figure out where we wanted to get to the next day, then look online and make a reservation (mostly Booking.com, but sometimes it didn't list relevant hotels so we had to do some google maps sleuthing + make some phone calls). I think one or two days we didn't even do this until lunch the day of. Overall, this worked, and it was great to have the flexibility to adjust our plans each day... but the flip side of this is one day we had to push hard for a longer ride than intended to get to a town with a hotel, and another day we almost had to detour 10 miles off route to find one with availability (but it all worked out). If I did this again, I'd probably pre-reserve hotels for Fridays and Saturdays only, since there's a lot of demand from local tourists going out to these scenic seaside towns (especially the isle of Mon).

But hey, without these constraints, we never would have ended up staying in some of the more unusual hotels, like Pension Elmehoj built in a converted retirees home, with bathrooms that look like this:

I also found this page in my notebook where, for fun, we ranked every hotel by a range of important criteria :)

A few other lessons learned (or known and reinforced):

Looking back at a notebook I kept along the ride...

Get to major ferries early (perhaps by an hour?). We did some research and planned for this, and it's good we did-- just biking across the massive ferry terminal at Rostock took a while, and we had to buy tickets and get our bikes loaded.

I liked the combination of wool short sleeve t-shirt plus light UV-blocking sun sleeves (saves effort on sunscreen).

I'm glad I brought flip flops, to walk around the hotel or beach in.

Don't make assumptions about other's travel styles, it's good to talk through what you each want out of a trip. For bike touring, I think the key points are (1) how early or late do you like to get up and roll out and (2) how much do you like to stop and detour along the way? (We traveled very well together, but it's good we talked these through before the trip because one of us assumed much earlier morning starts than the other :)

I brought just two pairs of padded bike shorts to alternate between and washed the used pair each night in the hotel sink, hanging it up to dry. It would have been convenient to pack a third pair, as these didn't always fully dry overnight and I had to figure out a way to clip them to my bike rack to dry during the day.

I definitely should have bought chain lube-- I left it at home because I wasn't sure about flying with it, but even with our lightly misty rain I should have been lubing the chain every few days.

I didn't like the screw-on style of bike pump I brought-- I accidentally unscrewed my valve cores (I didn't realize I'd bought tubes with removable valve cores) which was... startling. And I didn't have a good tool beyond my hand and a rag to tighten the valve cores in.

As usual, I brought rain pants and shoe covers but didn't get a lot out of them. When it's lightly raining, they just make me hot and sweaty and aren't needed. When it's raining harder, they only kept my feet dry for an hour or two-- eventually the rain gets in. I may shift to just bringing a rain jacket and extra socks in the future.

Similarly, I often pack leg warmers and then don't need them-- I warm up quickly enough while I'm riding.

Packing:

Generally, I traveled fairly light, with my bike plus two small panniers (10-15L each). At some point I'll write up my packing lists from trips-- every trip I learn more and refine it...

I rode with a hip pack on this trip for the first time. It felt so uncool (who cares) but carrying an extra 1.5L of water and my wallet/passport/snacks/rain jacket even when parking the bike and walking around was awfully convenient...