#best places to travel in february 2022

[seoul-bros]

When were Jikook Cooking?

In the latest episode of Monuments there was a teaser clip for the next episode showing Jungkook cooking for Jimin in his kitchen but when exactly did this happen?

Last weeks Monuments showed us the inside of Jimin's flat and in particular his kitchen so place is very much established.

December 2021 - Jimin in Quarantine

But when did this happen? Recapping events we find.........

30th January to 5th February 2022 - Jimin in hospital treated for acute appendicitis and COVID

8-9th February 2022 - Jimin's late night movie binge and happy post on Weverse

10th February - Jungkook's IG stories with Fiji Blue's It Takes Two and Still with You

15th February - J-Hope tags Jimin on his IG post and Jimin sends a get well message for V who has come down with COVID on Weverse

20th February - Vlive with Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimin

6th March - Vlive with Jin, JHope, V and Jungkook

11-13 March 2022 PTD in Seoul

19th March - Vlive with BTS minus Jin who is getting an operation on his hand.

28th March - BTS Travel to LA, JK travelled a day earlier and JHope was down with COVID and travelled later.

So best guess would be sometime between when Jimin was released from hospital on the 5th February 2022 and when Jungkook flew to LA on the 27th March 2022.

Post Date: 04/01/2023

[gretavangroupie]

Vigilance (Chapter 19 Part 1)

Word count: 15.2k

Pairings: I'll just let you see for yourself...

Warnings: Alcohol, Gambling, Smoking, Marijuana, Cursing, Dramatic Themes. Smut Including: Kissing, Touching, Making Out, Light Degradation, Dirty Talk, Praise Kink, Fingering, Name Calling, Edging, Mentions of Sub/Dom Themes, Voyeurism, Orgasm Denial, Unprotected Sex, Digital Penetration, Pet Names, Spanking. Angst Including: Jealousy, Possessiveness, Toxic Themes. Fluff.

If I missed any please let me know.

This story is a collaboration with my best pal @gretavanmoon.

Teaser Trailer

LATE FEBRUARY 2022

HER POV

“What’s taking so fucking long?” Sam urges, watching the baggage carousel spin round and round with no signs of your luggage.

“That’s what happens when you’re the last ones on the plane. Your luggage comes off last too.” Danny quips, tilting his head to the side in frustration.

“I… don’t think that’s how that works Danny…” you mumble to yourself with a laugh.

“It’s not my fault that traffic was bad Daniel! The Nashville airport is fucked on a good day!” he replies, tossing his hands into the air.

Elle stands to the side shaking her head at Sam’s annoyance and stares off at the small aircraft hanging from the ceiling. “How do you think they got that through the doors?” she asks, still staring at it.

“Isn’t it obvious? They took it apart piece by piece, walked it through the door and then put it back together.” Jake says sarcastically, tipping his sunglasses down.

Elle turns to face him, stepping closer to the both of you “You’re kind of a smart ass Jacob…” she replies. 

“If you want to talk about my ass, you’re better off on twitter, sweetheart.” he winks, and turns away smiling to himself.

“Jake!” you scoff, elbowing him in the side. He turns to you with a devilish grin and shrugs his shoulders. 

“Finally!” Sam exclaims, drawing your attention to the new luggage added to the belt. 

Jake steps forward grabbing your suitcase and his own. He insisted on new luggage before the trip, stating you would be doing a lot of traveling the next few months and good sturdy luggage was important. Why it had to match his, you weren’t sure, but it did make spotting it a whole lot easier. 

One by one you all grabbed your bags and made your way to the pick up area. You followed behind Richard, the bands new day to day manager appointed by the label, out to the pick up location, ready to load your things into the van to take you to the hotel.

You hadn’t spoken to Richard much. You weren’t even sure if he knew that he was your replacement. Did he know what happened with Jake? With Collective? You’d get to the bottom of that later, right now you were just along for the ride until one of the guys needed something. 

With stop and go traffic it took about ten minutes to get from the airport to the hotel. But it wasn’t a hotel at all, it was a resort. A massive one. “My god this place is huge!” you whisper, reading the sign that says ‘Mandalay Bay Resort’.

“Have you never been to Vegas, baby?” Jake asks, sliding his hand over your thigh.

“No…I haven’t. Not like this!” you reply.

Elle leans forward and whispers between the two of you, “It’s called sin city for a reason…”

—

After a quick check in, Jake presses the keycard to the door, and you hear the electronic lock open. A rush of cold air hits you as he pushes the hotel room door open. The afternoon sun is shining in a perfect yellow onto the large white bed linens. 

The curtains on the window are wide open revealing a perfect view of the strip, all flashing lights and streams of color, even in the light of the day. Plush chairs, a small desk and a mini bar line the walls. You kick your shoes off and collapse onto the fluffy king sized bed, letting out a sigh as your body sinks into the cloud of pillowy fabric.

Jake slides his boots off, and places his hat on the desk, before resting his knee on the edge of the bed and crawling over top of you. You let your arms rest behind your head as his mouth presses a kiss to your exposed neck. 

“Remember the last time we were in a hotel room together?” he asks.

“Mmm…In LA?” you ask.

“Not LA…” he says, sliding the sleeve of your shirt down your shoulder. “Try again.”

“Oh. Atlanta…the balcony…” you say, letting your mind fill with the memory.

“There you go…” he croons, kissing the now exposed skin on your shoulder.

“Looks like we don't have a balcony this time…” you say, turning your head to the window.

“Nope. I’m gonna have to get creative.”  he says, pulling your shirt back up over your shoulder and standing from the bed. 

“What are you doing?” you ask, desperate for his touch.

He adjusts himself in his pants, before offering you a hand up from the bed. “Figured we would go see the place before dinner. Do a little shopping. Explore a little…” he said.

“You’re a tease.” you state.

He raises his eyebrows and smiles, “Something about Vegas…”

—

With shopping bags scattered around the room, you take one last look at yourself in the mirror, pulling up the zipper on your new dress. Seeing it in the shop window you insisted you didn’t need it, but after Jake practically forced you into the dressing room with it, you were walking out of the store with the dress in hand. 

“Fuck it looks better on you now than it did in the store.” he says, stepping up behind you, placing his hands on your bare shoulders. 

He wasn’t wrong, the navy blue satin sat perfectly on your body, the low neckline had a matching plunge in the back, leaving very little to the imagination. 

Sweeping your hair out of the way, he presses a kiss to your spine, sending chills down your back.

“Stop or we aren’t going to make it to dinner. Josh was really excited about this place.”

“Would skipping dinner really be such a bad thing? We could order room service instead…” he says, sliding his hand up the back of your thigh, and under the hem of your dress.

“Yes Jake. We came all the way to Vegas and you want to stay in the room? Imagine what we might miss out on? Plus I’m starving.” you say, shooing his hand away.

“Mmm…me too.” he growls.

Jake!” you scold.

“Alright, alright… Let’s go before I change my mind.” he says grumbling, tucking his wallet into his pocket.

—

It took three elevator changes to find the restaurant, tucked away in the furthest corner of the resort. Josh was practically buzzing with excitement, stating he watched reviews of every restaurant in the resort and this one was the best one. 

As the host led your group to the table, you took a seat with Jake in the middle of you and Elle. Sam sat across from you with Josh and Danny. The rest of the team opted for a night at the casino, leaving just your core group to wine and dine tonight.

After a few minutes the drinks began flowing, you and Elle selecting the specialty cocktail as the rest of the guys ordered their usual mixed drinks. Jake threw his arm around the back of your chair as he chatted with Sam, the pre-show anxiety beginning to set in for all of them. 

You rested your elbow on the table and placed your chin on your fist as you watched the two of them go back and forth for a few minutes. Sam’s hair had grown a touch longer, a sprinkling of a mustache beginning to grow in, transforming his face from the baby face you knew and loved into a much more striking and angular man's face. 

You bit your lips together, as you watched him speak, moving his hands in the way he so typically did when he had a bit to drink, and as his eyes flashed over to yours, he paused for just a touch longer than he should have before looking away. 

You swallowed nervously and turned to Jake, who was now caught up in conversation with Elle. Your eyes flashed back to Sam, his eyes trained on you. Neither of you said anything, but you kept your eyes locked on him as you rubbed your lips together to redistribute the gloss adorning them. His mouth parted slightly and you watched his tongue dart out over his lips, as if the phantom taste of you still lingered there. 

You broke your eyes away and noticed the waiter coming with the tray of steaming food. You tossed back the rest of your drink and ordered another as your plate was set in front of you. 

You felt Jake’s hand slide up your leg and settle there, his fingers giving you a quick pat on your inner thigh as he continued talking to Elle. Turning to look at him, you were met with the back of his head and turned back to your food, catching Sam’s eyes once again. 

He raised an eyebrow to you, before dramatically tossing his napkin into his lap. The waiter arrived with your drink, and you sipped half of it down, before grabbing your utensils and cutting into your dinner. 

A few minutes later you felt Jake’s hand move from your leg and pick up his drink, throwing back the rest of it with an exhale. 

“How is it my love?” he asks, picking up his own utensils.

“Delicious, but mine was hot when I ate it.” you say, making a subtle jab at his long winded conversation with Elle.

You hear Sam chuckle from across the table, and both of you look over at him.

“Something funny Sammy boy?” Jake asks.

“No, no. Nothing at all. He says, swirling his straw in his drink. 

Jake scoffs and places a kiss on your cheek before beginning to eat his meal. 

You let your hand rest on his thigh, as you enter into conversation with Josh, letting your hand slide further and further in as the minutes tick by. You feel his hand reach for yours, holding you steady before reaching the place you’re searching for. 

“Careful darlin’ or I’ll have to take you back to the room right now.” he growls into your ear.

You remove your hand and place it on your lap, laughing at the story Josh has been telling for the last twenty minutes. 

When the check is paid you are eager to get Jake back to your room, anxious for him to finish what he started earlier in the day. 

“We hitting the tables? The machines? What are we doing?” Danny asks.

“Slot machines baby!” Josh yells, the alcohol clearly working overtime in his system.

“I think I’m gonna go see about this hidden speakeasy.” Sam says, raising his eyebrows. “Any takers?”

“A hidden speakeasy you say?” Jake says, rubbing his chin.

You give him your best ‘No…back to the room’ eyes, but he doesn’t bite.

“Yeah, supposedly it’s tucked away and you have to know just where to go to find it. I did a little reconnaissance earlier today. I think I found it.” he says.

“You know I can’t turn down a little mystery…” Jake says, rubbing his thumb over your shoulder.

You turn to look at him, eyes pleading to take you back to the room once again, but still, he doesn’t fold.

“Eleanor?” Sam says, raising his eyebrow.

“Samuel…” she says, pushing away from the table.

“That’s what I thought.” he says, walking around to meet her.

You and Jake both push away from the table, and you grab your clutch from the chair.

“Just one drink. Then I’ll take you back…” he says, placing a kiss to the top of your hand. Your cheeks already flamed red from the alcohol,  grew three shades darker. 

—

Sam taps on the bookshelf three times and steps back. Tucked back in a dark corner of the resort corridor sat the bar he spoke of. ‘1923 Prohibition Bar’. The bookshelf swung open revealing a small lounge with dim lighting, a small bar and soft piano music. You all stepped inside and felt instantly transported to another time. 

“Okay this is fucking sick!” Sam said, making his way further inside, Elle trailing behind him.

You and Jake followed behind them, his hand resting on the small bare expanse of your lower back.

Making your way to the bar you each ordered a drink and settled yourself on the plush velvet couch and chairs near the piano. Jake sat next to you, and Elle next to him. Sam sat in the chair across from the three of you, crossing his legs at the knee as his foot bounced in time with the music. 

The drinks are suddenly hitting the four of you pretty hard, inhibitions lowered and guards down. You’re all laughing louder than you should be, and before you know it another round of drinks has been ordered.

You find yourself turning your body to rest into Jake’s side as you all continue to talk, sipping away at your gin fizz. 

“Let’s order a bottle of champagne!” Sam suggests.

“Oh yeah, good idea baby!” Elle encourages. “You like champagne, right Jake?” she says, dusting her fingers across his leg.

His eyes snap to her hand as his breath catches, “Oh, uh, yeah I like champagne.” he says.

Your eyes travel over to Sam who is smiling to himself as he speaks to the waitress, ordering the said bottle. 

Minutes later she is returning with a bucket of ice, a bottle of Veuve, and four champagne flutes. 

Sam pours up the glasses, distributing them to each of you before making a toast. “Here’s to the girls who do, and here’s to the girls who don’t. And here’s to the girls who say they will, but when the time comes, won’t.…”

Suddenly Jake speaks up, holding his glass out towards Sam, voice thick with desire, “But here’s to the girls most of all, who say they never will. I can’t, I won’t, I shan’t, I don’t… but just for you, I will.”

He turns to you, tapping your glass to his with a wink, as you sip the bubbles down. 

A silent look is exchanged between Sam and Jake in that moment. One you can’t quite decipher, despite how well you know both of them. You cast a glance at Elle, who is staring straight at you. 

“Come with me, Y/N. I have to pee.” she says, lifting her hand to yours.

She grabs your hand, lacing her fingers with yours as she pulls you towards the tiny bathroom, drinks in hand. 

Opening the small bathroom she locks the door behind you, and places her drink on the bathroom counter. Reaching behind her head she unclasps the halter top of her romper, letting it fall to the floor beneath her. 

Your eyes immediately flick to her chest, bare as they come, before you turn away to give her privacy. 

You hear her giggle, as she pees. “You don’t have to look away Y/N. It’s fine… I don’t mind you looking.” she pauses, standing up and flushing the toilet. “In fact, I’d be lying if I said I haven't had my eye on you all night, wondering what you look like under that dress.”

You turn to look at her, eyes filled with lust, “Oh…” you reply, feeling a blush creep up your face.

She steps closer to you, her top still hanging around her waist, “What, don’t be shy Y/N. We’re just having fun. I’ve always thought you were so pretty. So jealous of the way you looked. Your curves...” she said, running her finger down the strap of your dress, pressing her bare chest against your side. A tingle runs up your spine as her hardened nipple grazes your skin. 

“I can definitely see why Sam was so intoxicated by you, you’re a fuckin’ thrill, babe. Such a treat. I wouldn’t want to quit you either.” she finishes, refastening her top, and stepping over to the sink. 

Your cheeks are painted crimson at her confession, and your drunken mind is positively buzzing with the unknown. Your eyes lock with hers in the mirror, a familiar sensation thrumming in your stomach. 

“I can’t wait to see where this bottle of champagne takes us, it always was one of my favorites to get loose on.” she says, drying her hands. 

You lean against the wall, tossing back the rest of your glass, “Mine, too. It always makes me…so carefree…” you say, adding emphasis to your words. 

“Hmm. Did Sam know that? Must’ve ordered it on purpose…Carefree sounds like a good theme for the night, don’t you think?” she asks, twisting the lock on the door, and turning towards you. 

She brushes the hair off of your shoulder as her eyes drift up your body, “Let’s go get another drink hmm?”

She grabs your fingers and leads you back to the boys, still sitting in the place you left them. 

“Look at that, they ordered for us…” she says, bending over to grab the drinks from the table. She hands you yours, and clinks her glass to yours, “...now let’s have some fun...” she giggles, taking a place next to Jake. 

Sam is sitting watching Elle as she flits around the table, and your eyes catch sight of the piano across the way. 

“You think that thing is tuned correctly, Sammy?” you ask, motioning with your drink towards the old upright. 

“Shall we find out?” he says, standing and offering you his arm. 

You turn to look at Jake, eyes heavy and posture relaxed, as he gives you a lazy nod. 

You link arms with Sam and make your way over to the piano, positioning yourself on the small wooden bench. Sam sets his drink on top, and stretches his fingers over the keys. 

“What are you gonna play for me, Sammy?” you ask.

“What do you wanna hear babe?” he asks, pressing a few keys. 

“Mmm…something prohibition-y.” you giggle.

“What does that even mean? How about something bluesy instead. That is in my inebriated wheelhouse.” he laughs.

“Whatever you want, as long as it’s for me.” He turns to you, locking eyes like he wants to say something, but instead bites his lips together. 

The notes begin to ring out in the small bar, everyone's head turning at the sound of his perfect playing. The piano was, in fact, in tune. 

You lean into his side and whisper into his ear, “What is this? I recognize it.”

“It’s called Rhapsody in Blue…it’s Gershwin. One of the ones I play late at night if I can’t sleep. Probably why you recognize it.” he says.

“I like it. It’s pretty.” you say.

“You’re pretty.” he says, nuzzling his face into your ear. “And look at that… you’re in blue.”

You glance down to your dress, “Oh, yeah I am…” you blush.

“Told you it’s for you. Pretty song for my pretty girl.” he breathes into your ear.

You let your hand slide onto his lap, far closer than it should, but as you look behind you, you see Jake and Elle in quite a similar state. Her hand on his arm as she talks closely. You feel a flame of heat rise in your chest, but quickly stifle it back down. 

“You know… Elle told me the same thing in the bathroom.” you say.

“I bet she did. She is…quite fond of you. Can’t say I blame her.” he replies.

“So she said. Flirty little thing. Said she knew why you were intoxicated by me…” you whisper.

“Mmm…Intoxicated…beguiled…completely bewitched… If only she knew, huh, babe…” he said, looking behind his shoulder. “In fact…C'mere…” he said, pulling you into his lap. “Put your hands on mine, like we used to.”

As you went to look over your shoulder he stopped you, “They’re in their own little world…Let’s stay in ours for a little while longer...Let me play you another, lover.”

His soft words pierced you right through the heart and you knew nothing could drag you away from him and this moment. You placed your hands on his as he began to move them across the keys, a deep hum of whispered lyrics filling your ear as he sang along to the tune his fingers were producing, in a song meant only for your ears.

‘My funny valentine…

Sweet comic, valentine…

You make me smile with my heart…’

Your heart constricted when you realized exactly what he was singing, and even worse, why. He rested his cheek on your arm as his voice continued to croon the sweet sentimental tune, a low deep grumble of poetic words sang straight from the heart.

‘Your looks are laughable…

Unphotographable…

Yet you’re my favorite work of art…’

You let your fingertips run the length of his skilled fingers, taking in the feeling of his skin on yours.

He bounced his leg softly in time to the music, causing your breath to catch in your throat. 

“Sam…” you said, the friction against your center causing your head to spin.

“Just feel it baby, we don’t have much longer.” he said, pressing his cheek to your shoulder once more as he continued to glide across the keys. You felt his eyelashes flutter closed against your arm, and you did the same, fully taking in the moment here with him, unsure if something like this could or would ever happen again. As the song draws to a close, he sings the final words, directly into your ear, causing a shiver to run the length of your spine.

‘Stay little valentine, stay…

Each day is valentines day…’

Letting the song resonate with you, you reopened your eyes and you looked again, seeing Jake talking to Elle, closer now than even a few minutes ago and bit your cheek. You pulled your hand away from Sam’s bringing his with yours to settle at the top of your thigh.

“Mmm…” he groans, feeling the heat radiating between your legs. “The most tempting sin, but I can’t finish the song one handed without drawing attention.” he said, pulling his hand back to the keys as his fingers swiped quickly over your center.

“Sammy…” you breathe, rolling your hips just a touch as he continues the slow crooning piano notes. 

“Fuck…Don’t. We can’t…” he whines. 

“What was it Jake said earlier…I can’t, I won’t, I shan’t, I don’t…” you tease.

“Fuck, Y/N…” he breathes, as you attempt to stand from his lap but his arm wraps around your waist pulling you back down onto his now hardening bulge.

“I feel you…” you say.

“You’re not shocked are you, baby? Give me a minute. Let me have you, if only like this.” he says, playing another short nameless tune with his free hand.

His hand drops and moves to rest on your thigh, sliding up your leg as his finger tips barely dust the place where the hem of your panties should be.

“No panties with this dress? And he gets you all to himself…” he teases, pulling his hand back.

“Maybe it wasn’t for him…” you say, standing up and adjusting your dress.

He stands after you, placing his arm around your waist and pulling you close to let his lips meet your ear one last time, “Stay, little valentine…” 

You swallow heavily as you meet his eyes, a silent conversation starting and finishing as you make your way to the bar. 

JAKE POV 

“What do you think he’s gonna play?” Elle asks you, sitting down on the couch next to you.

“If I had to guess… he will play something he knows by heart, because he’s three sheets to the wind.” you laugh. “So that gives us about five options.”

“Is that true for you too? Can you still play when you’re drinking?” she asks, turning more to face you. 

You smirk, “I only play when I’ve been drinking...” 

“Of course.” she smirks back. 

You both turn to look towards the piano as Sam starts playing, “Ah, Rhapsody. Should have known.” you say, gesturing towards him. “Always plays that. Swear it was the only thing he would play for months after he learned it.” 

You turn your attention back to Elle, her dark curls framing her face in the dim light of the bar. “Do you need another drink?” you ask, shaking your glass.

“I’ll have what you’re having, and don’t go easy on me.” she says. 

You click your tongue on your teeth, “I never go easy.”

A few minutes later you are returning to the couch, Sam and Y/N still laughing away at the piano. You hand Elle her glass and raise yours to hers, tapping them together.

“Whiskey, huh?” she says, drinking it down with ease. You watch her throat swallow down the liquid, sending a chill through your body.

“Familiar with it?” you ask, tilting your head.

“Raised on it.” she quips.

“Good woman.” you offer.

“Your brother seems to think so.” she smiles, raising her eyebrows.

“My brother has good taste.” you quip.

“Maybe she’s the one with good taste.” she says, looking over to Y/N and sipping the amber liquid.

“I’d have to agree.” you say sipping your drink.

“You may be the rockstar but she’s the smoke show.” she says.

“I’ve loved that woman since I was sixteen years old, before I was ever a rockstar. But she has always been a smoke show. Somehow she loves me back.” you reply.

“How could she not?” she says placing her hand on your arm, causing you to turn your head. “Quiet, mysterious, alluring… what’s not to like?”

A rush travels through your body, something exciting and familiar.

“It’s okay to feel Jake. Feelings are free. It’s when you act on them that there’s a price to pay.” she says, letting her hand fall to your leg.

You feel the blood start to rush to your groin and you look over at Y/N, now sitting on Sam’s lap as he plays a song you know all too well.

A pang of jealousy shoots through you and you let out a strangled breath, torn between tearing Y/N away from Sam, and staying here with Elle trying to regain control of your dick. 

“You two are cute, you know. So innocent. At least, she is…For some reason you don’t quite strike me as innocent. Are you? Innocent, Jake?” she asks.

You swallow, “In what way?” you answer.

“Don’t play coy with me Jake... I’ve seen you on stage. You know what way…The only way that counts.” she says, letting her hand slide up your thigh, turning closer to your face. 

“Oh, you’re sparkly… come here.” she says, pulling you towards her. 

Her thumb swipes over your cheek, and as you breathe in, your senses are flooded by the smell of her perfume. So smokey, so different from Y/N’s. You let your eyes roll back in your head as her chest presses against you. Images of her body flash through your head, and the way her tits are pressed against you has you positively reeling. 

Fuck. Pull it together Jake. 

She sits back down holding her thumb out, “Just glitter…” she says, flicking it into the air and locking eyes with you. Suddenly you felt something you hadn’t ever felt for Elle. 

The blood is rushing and there is nothing you can do to stop it. It’s too late, and now Y/N and Sam are walking towards you. You cross your legs in an attempt to conceal your growing boner, but you’re sure it’s no use. 

“Baby!” Elle says, jumping up to wrap her arms around Sam. 

“You almost ready babe? I can’t wait on you all night!” he jokes.

“Yeah, let me just say bye to Y/N and Jake, and we can go.”

You watch as Elle grabs Y/N’s hand and pulls her into a hug. A far more intimate hug than you expected to witness, and as Elle whispers something into Y/N’s ear, you watch her cheeks grow pink and you feel your dick beginning to throb once again. 

Elle steps away, and walks towards you with a smirk. She kneels on the couch next to you and leans into your ear,  “Bye Jake... Take care of my girl tonight…and if you can’t… call me and I’ll do it.” 

You let out a huff, and look at Sam who shrugs his shoulders and laughs. He presses a kiss to Y/N’s cheek and tells her he will see her tomorrow and just like that the two of them disappear through the hidden door. 

You try to regain your composure as you toss back the rest of your drink. 

“You good Jake? You look flushed.” she says, stepping in front of you. 

You wrap your hand around the back of her thigh and pull her close to you. “Tell me you’re mine.”

Her eyes are dark as they connect with yours, “Take me upstairs and I’ll show you.”

—

Hand in hand you whisked her through the never ending corridors of the resort, searching for the elevator that would deposit you at your room. Your blood was rushing through your body like a roaring rapid, your dick pounding so hard you could hear it in your head. You made no effort to conceal it, it was no use.

Finally tapping the key card to the door you barrel through pulling her in behind you. The door barely slams shut before you’re grabbing her neck and pulling her lips to yours as you press her to the door. Her hands wind into your hair as your tongue swipes across her lips, begging for entry. 

As her lips part you bring your hands to the straps of her dress gently sliding the silky fabric over her shoulders to reveal her bare chest. Swiping your fingers across her chest you slap at her hardened nipples causing a moan to leave her lips. 

“Beautiful.” you breathe.

Your hands make their way to her side pulling down the zipper and watching as the dress falls from her body and cascades to the floor. You pull away from her, taking in the sight of her, “What do we have here? No panties…tsk tsk…” you say, swiping a finger through her core. 

“All for you baby…” she coos. 

“Is it? All for me…” you ask, spinning her around and tossing her to the bed. 

You grab her foot, gently unbuckling her shoe and tossing it to the floor. “You seemed all too pleased to leave me there on the couch…”

You drop her leg and grab the other, repeating the action of removing her shoe. 

She sits up on her elbows, “I don’t know love, you seemed pretty happy on that couch from the looks of it.” 

You drop her foot to the floor as you unbuckle your belt, sliding it through the loops of your pants. 

“Hmmm… Is that what you think?” you say, tossing the belt on the bed. 

She turns to look at it laying next to her, then back up to you. 

You raise your eyebrow in acknowledgement, “Answer carefully.”

“Or what?” she challenges.

You shake your head as you unbutton your slacks, letting them drop to the floor, as you pull your shirt over your head. 

“I’m waiting…” you say.

“She’s pretty Jake. I don’t blame you.” she says, parting her legs.

“That she is…but she’ll never be you.” you say, crawling between her spread legs. 

You lean over her, taking her nipple between your lips, and biting softly as you pull away. Her back arches up off of the bed, a clear sign she is almost where you want her.

“She wanted to take you home tonight…” you continue.

“I know she did.” she says, pressing a kiss to your throat.

“Yeah? She tell you what she told me?” you growl.

“I don’t know, what did she tell you?” she asks, reaching between you and fisting your length.

A fire ignites in your chest, and suddenly all coherent thoughts are gone. “You first...”

You run a finger through her slit, collecting the wetness as you circled her clit. “Go on. Tell me.” A whimper leaves her lips as you circle her bud.

“In the bathroom…she– she said she wanted to know what I looked like under my dress. Said she was– was jealous of my curves…Thinks I’m pretty…” she whined.

“Yeah but you didn’t show her…Did you. You didn’t show her because you know this is mine.” you say, pressing a kiss to her chest. 

“She was naked. In the bathroom…I tried not to look…” she confessed.

“But you wanted to, didn’t you baby?” you say, coaxing the truth from her. 

“Yeah. I did…” she pauses. “Then as we were leaving…” she whines as you slip a finger inside of her.

“Fuck Jake…” she groans, “She said she could make me feel good… if I would let her…”

Fuck me…

“Yeah? She say that? Make your pussy nice and wet?” you growl.

She didn’t answer, but you could see it written on her face. “I watched you blush. I wondered what she said. I know you want to let her, too.” you said, working another finger into her. 

“You wanna know what she said to me?” you ask.

“Yes…” she breathes.

“Told me that if I couldn’t take care of you, she would…Now, where would she get the idea that I can’t take care of you? What would make her think that? Any idea, sugar?” you quip, curling your fingers up into her.

“No! No, I never said that!” she says through a strangled moan. 

“You sure? You need a refresher on who takes care of you?” you ask, working her sweet spot. 

“Fuck Jake…” she cries. 

“A reminder of who fucking owns you?” you seethe. 

“Yes! Yes, please Jake! You own me...” she begs.

You pull your fingers from her abruptly, placing them on her tongue, pressing down into the back of her throat. “That’s fucking right. I do. You’re mine. Suck.” 

She closes her lips around your fingers sucking her arousal from your fingertips, causing your dick to grow impossibly harder. 

You pull your fingers from her mouth and bring them to rest around her throat. “Now, you weren’t a very good girl tonight, were you?” you ask.

Her eyes water, sparkling in the lamp light. She shakes her head and a sly smile crosses her lips. 

“How should we correct that? Make sure you don’t slip up and find yourself on my brothers’ lap again?” you ask.

She slowly licks her tongue over her lips, “I don’t know but make it hurt.” she says, voice filled with want.

“Make it hurt, she says… Careful what you wish for my love.” you say, grabbing her waist and spinning her to her front. 

“All fours.” you say, slapping her ass. 

She quickly manages to find herself on all fours, waiting patiently for you to make your next move. You're practically vibrating with anticipation, this side of you not coming out too often.

You drag a finger through her wetness, circling her clit again as you press your tip to her center. 

“No panties… No panties… and to think you sat like that, hot and wanting on Sam’s lap. Do you think he knew you were wet for his girlfriend?” you ask, pushing inside of her. 

A moan filled the space of the room as you felt her constrict around you. “You like that? You like talking about Elle as I fuck you?” you say, beginning to snap your hips into her. 

“I don’t know Jake, do you like talking about Elle while you fuck me?” she quips. 

Your hand comes down across her ass with a searing sting, causing a moan to ripple out of her. 

“Watch your mouth or I’ll find a better use for it.” you warn. 

You press your hand into her back, forcing her to rest her chest on the bed, giving your deeper access inside of her. “Fuck me… you feel so fucking good. You’re so fucking wet for me, goddamn…” you groan.

“How do you know it’s all for you?” she says. 

“What did I just tell you?” you snap.

You begin to fuck into her harder, sweat dripping from your chest. 

“Do something about it.” she coaxes.

You snap your hand across her ass once again, “I told you to watch your mouth. Clearly this isn’t getting the point across.”

She reaches out to her side, hand searching for the belt you tossed earlier. Her hand finally finds purchase and grasps it in her fist. 

“This.” she breathes. 

“This, she says. She begs for the belt, does she? Want me to take you over my knee and help you remember who’s in charge here?” you ask.

“Yes. Please, please!” she begs.

“And she thought you were innocent…” you mumble.

“I’m not. I never was.” she urges.

You pull out of her with a hiss, flipping her over and pulling her up to meet you. 

“You sure baby? Once I start there’s no going back.” you warn, looking into her lust filled eyes..

“I’m sure.” she says, pressing her lips to yours. 

You grab the belt in your fist, flipping her back to her stomach, and pulling her down the bed. You step off the bed, positioning yourself behind her, rubbing your hand over her already pink ass, before swinging the belt down with a hard crash. 

“Fuck…” she cries out, the red welt already forming across her pebbled skin. 

Your dick is throbbing to be back inside of her, but part of you knows she wants this. Needs this. To feel completely owned by you.

“Tell me to keep going Y/N.” you say.

“Please Jake…” she begs.

“Say it. Say the words.” you demand.

“Keep going Jake. Do it again.” she whines.

With a deep breath you rear back and let the leather whip against her red skin in another harsh crack. You toss the belt to the floor, spinning her to her back and pressing forward into her. “Fuck. You’re so tight Y/N. So gorgeous. Tell me you’re mine. Tell me you only want me.” you beg.

“I’m yours! I’m yours Jake! I– I’m sorry I– didn’t mean to make you jealous I just…” she stammers.

“I’m not jealous. I just…I fucking love you Y/N. Need you.” you say, feeling her tighten against you. “Cum for me. Show me you’re mine. Show me who makes you feel this good. Who takes care of you!” 

She pulls your neck down and crashes her lips to yours as she lets go, warmth washing over you as her body tightens around you. As you lean into her neck you're transported back to the bar, the smell of Elle’s perfume swirling through your brain. Y/N’s description of her in the bathroom. The advances you watched her make. It all had you crumbling towards your release. 

You pull out of her constricting grip before pounding into her one last time as you spill yourself inside of her. “Oh fuck…” you groan, feeling her continuing to pulse around you. “Fuck Y/N… Anything you want…Anything. Just say the word.” you pant. 

You collapse on top of her, pulling her close to you. Both of you struggling to catch your breath as you soften inside of her. 

You roll off of her, watching your release spill from between her legs, sending your mind reeling. Did you really just think of Elle as you came? What the fuck was that about?

You walk into the bathroom and start the shower, Y/N joining you a few minutes later. You take special care to soothe the tender skin you laid into earlier, never knowing that was something she wanted. As you wrap her in the fluffy hotel towel and send her into the bedroom, you let your mind travel far away wondering what else she may want, but won't tell you.

—

Pulling the blankets over your shower warmed bodies, you bring her into your side, letting her wet hair cascade across the pillow.

“I love you Jake, more than anything. Anyone in the world.” She says. 

“I love you Y/N. Forever, I swear. Nothing could take me away from you.” You reply.

“I hope I wasn't too…rough with you. I know we’ve never done that before.” you whisper. 

“You weren’t. It was perfect.” she replied.

“I just… don’t know what you’re comfortable with sometimes.” you admit. “I never want to do anything you’re not completely comfortable doing.”

“I would tell you if I didn’t want to, baby. I swear. Plus, I kind of liked that side of you.” she grins.

“Yeah?” you ask.

“Yeah. You’re hot and you’re all mine.” she says, kissing your collarbone.

“That I am. I meant what I said though. If there’s…anything you want…You just have to tell me okay?” you say.

“Same for you, you know…” she replies, rolling to turn off her lamp. She settles back into your side, throwing her leg over yours. 

You run your fingers over her ribs, circling your favorite spot as you exhale. “As long as you’re there, nothing is off the table.”

—

SAM POV

“Sammy babe…wake up…” the sound of Elle’s slightly scratchy voice startled you from an intense dream. “Time to get going, lover…” she cooed in your ear, pushing fallen hair from your face. 

“My head…it’s pounding…help me Elle I need an IV…” you blubbered, refusing to open your eyes. She scoffed and laughed. “Did we drink champagne and liquor last night?” You mumbled. 

She popped up from the bedside, flitting about the room as you slowly peeped your eyes open. She was fingering through her suitcase, in nothing but a crisp white towel, her hair piled up in a towel on her head. 

“Yes, we did. That was your idea, Einstein. Knowing you have a show tonight. Come on, Sam.” She said, not turning her attention to you. 

“Why did you let me do that? I feel like shit.” You said, sitting up on your elbows. She rejoined you on the bed, letting her damp towel fall to the floor before she snuck back under the covers beside you. 

She pushed your shoulder back down to hit the pillow, the motion making your head spin a little. “Well, Y/N told me it was always her favorite thing to get drunk on…said it made her feel carefree…” she went on, trailing her fingertip up and down your chest, not helping the fact that your morning wood was already raging just from seeing her naked body. 

“My guess is you remembered that fact about her…decided to give her no choice but to have some…let her guard down a bit…” her finger dipped down under the sheets, lightly tracing your dick that was already at full attention. “Am I right, Sammy?” 

You swallowed hard, your head and your dick pounding. You ran over the thought in your head. “I was just, trying to celebrate. Y’know, being in Vegas, and stuff…” her hand began more intense movement, gripping with a bit more force now. 

“Mmm, I think you’re lying to me, baby. Tell me the truth.” She whispered, mouth ghosting your ear. 

“I might have…remembered that fact, from a long time ago…” you managed, falling apart at her soft but firm touch. Her hand began moving steadily up and down now, slowly but surely. 

Elle giggled in your ear. “Well, I think it worked. I saw you two having fun on the piano over there…looked very carefree…”

Shit. 

“We didn’t, it was nothing, Elle..I prom-”

Her hand left your length, and instead her fingertip found your lips, effectively hushing you. You felt a groan leave your chest at the loss of contact. “Shh, Sam. It’s okay. I told you it’s okay, remember? I like watching you flirt with her…” 

Her hand returned under the sheets as you arched back into her grip, finding her momentum again as she palmed you. 

“Mmm, do you, baby? Like to watch me talk to her, touch her, make her get all flustered?” You went on, turning slightly to pull her up to sit on you. Your hands found her hips, squeezing them in the place you knew she liked. 

“I still remember all the ways to turn her on…made some of them up myself, you know. Learned what she likes and doesn’t…what made her go insane for me…” 

She leaned down to tower over you, your hands now finding her breasts as she rolled her hips over you. “Tell me, Sammy. Tell me what turns her on, makes her excited.”

Your headache was fading away, as all the blood had now rushed to another part of your body. Elle reached up and took her hair free from the towel, letting the long wet strands fall across her shoulders and back. Fucking gorgeous. Her hand snaked up your stomach and cupped around your throat, squeezing lightly as her eyes bored into yours. Your head flew back into the pillow at the contact. 

“She likes that. She likes that a lot.” You huffed out. “She loved it when I wrapped my hand around her throat, made her eyes water…made her beg…” 

“Mmhmm, go on…” Elle said, continuing to grind on you. 

“She liked being talked to, adored, told how good she was doing…always did so well for me…” you breathed, your heart pounding in your ears. “She liked when I would control her, take over the reins, give her no choice but go with it. Drove her wild.”

Just then Elle sat up, letting you enter her all the way to the hilt on the first thrust. “God, fuck me, Elle…” you strangled out as she began to bring herself up and down on you. She brought her mouth down to your neck, lightly nipping at the skin. 

“So she liked for you to fuck her just how I like you to, hmm? That’s really sweet…” she said. 

“Ha, there was nothing sweet about it, baby. Only sweet sometimes…fuck you’re killing me…” she began to pick up her pace as your hands dug into the bedsheets. “You’re so perfect, Elle, I swear to God.” 

“Oh, so she liked it slow and sweet, too, then? Like this?” She steadied her movements, right as you were about to topple over the edge. “She didn’t like it rough all the time, did she? Liked for you to go slow, let her feel you…did you make love to her Sammy?”

Her words hit you in the guts. How the hell can you answer that? You decided to change up the question. 

“She did…like it slow sometimes, yeah.” You flipped Elle over on her side as you parted her legs, sliding one underneath you and one over your hip as you faced each other, lying on your sides. You reentered her, hitting a whole new angle and giving you more access to be in control. 

“She liked for me to move her hips for her…hit her impossibly deep…” you groaned as you drove yourself into Elle, keeping eye contact as you spoke. You lifted her leg into the crook of your elbow and held it there, spreading her wide. 

“Sammy, shit, you’re so deep...” her face was absolutely wrought with bliss, her mouth hanging open as she hung onto your every word. 

You stayed there, letting her feel you brush against her cervix as you began to feel her muscles contracting around you. 

“That’s all I’ve got, baby. Right there. Can you feel me there?” You asked as your hand left her leg for a second and felt her stomach, matching your palm to where you lay deep inside her. 

“Yeah, yes I feel you there…god baby…” she breathed. 

You returned to holding her leg for her. “If I keep going like this, you won’t like me later. You’ll be able to feel it for days, Elle.” You warned, knowing that hitting her that deep in this position might make her incredibly sore. 

“I don’t care, just do it, I need you there, fuck, just keep going.” She was gasping for air as you started your movements again, trying to hold back slightly and not hurt her. “I wanna feel you for days, Sammy…watch you up on stage knowing you destroyed me, make it hurt to walk…please…” 

Goddamn, this woman…

You followed her instruction, rolling in and out of her, staying buried deep and hitting her as far as you could go. Her sounds became more strangled as you felt her drawing closer to her release, pulling your hair and whimpering into your mouth as she let the white hot heat rush over her, sending her entire body into a fit of shakes and seizes. Her cries could probably be heard from the hallway of the hotel, but you didn’t care. 

You were following close behind, your release shuddering through your body, low and blinding, as her hand reached between you to squeeze your balls, making your orgasm all the more intense. 

The two of you stayed in the position while you regained composure, a mess of sweat and limbs as you peered into each other's eyes. 

“You know I love the hell out of you, right baby?” You said, still out of breath. 

She placed a sweet kiss to your lips. “Yes I do. And you know I’m always coming home to you. I’m yours. I swear to it, babe.” 

You smiled as you disconnected from her, standing to wipe your face with your hands. You glanced back to her satisfied body, still wrapped up in the sheets, hair damp and tangled. 

“You’re a damn angel, Eleanor. I’m getting in the shower. Gotta go play music for some band called Metallica.” 

——

“Win anything last night, Daniel?” You asked as you approached him backstage, the four of you gathering to reconvene for soundcheck at the stadium. 

“Hell no! Got my ass handed to me on the slots. Josh won $600, though.” He responded, walking toward the stage. 

“I sure as shit did! Hit big on the poker table, too. But I put it right back in. Ha ha!” He rubbed his hands together. 

“Sounds like you guys had a good time then. I for one am extremely hungover.” Jake went on, rubbing his eyes underneath his sunglasses. 

“Same. I feel rough. I drank like 4 coffees and three bottles of water today, nothing has helped. I’m about to hair-of-the-dog it.” You admitted, feeling better than you did this morning, but still not up to par. “I think I need a nap. A back massage, and a nap.”

“Well hell, what did you two get into last night? Stay at the speakeasy all night? A few too many?” Josh asked, fluffing his hair with his fingers. 

You glanced to Jake more quickly than you’d ever glanced before, being met with him doing the same. 

“Yeah, we…drank too damn much. Then Sam had the bright idea to order champagne. We were…having a good time…” Jake said, letting his voice trail off. 

“Ohh, is that right. A good time. Were Elle and Y/N with you all night too?” Daniel inquired, bringing his knowing eyes to yours, licking below his bottom teeth. 

“Yep.” You responded, popping the ‘p’. 

Daniel raised his eyebrows and walked closer to you. “Hmm. Maybe I’ll hang out with you guys, tonight, huh Sam?” He elbowed you in the ribs. 

You began soundcheck, and pushed through your hangover with ease. All you could think about was getting some food, heading back to the room, cranking the AC, and sleeping for a couple of hours before you had to come back. 

After wrapping up and placing your bass back in the case, you were standing talking to the guys, making plans for the evening after the show. The plan was to hit the casino again, mingle around the hotel and celebrate. 

“What time is it?” You asked. 

“10:22.” Jake responded, pulling out his phone. 

“Perfect. I can sleep for a little bit.” 

You pulled Daniel to the side, away from your brothers. “Listen, I know you said you want to hang out with us tonight, but. If…things actually go where I think they were headed last night, I…you might maybe want to stay with Josh. Maybe.” You stammered out. 

Daniel grinned from ear to ear. “Hah! I knew it. I put a bug in your brain the other day, didn’t I?”

“Shut up. Maybe. It was kind of…already presenting itself. Anyway. I hate you for not ever telling me about your wild past with Heidi. But now, I don’t know. Maybe I need your help. Maybe not. I don’t know.” You truly were swimming in uncharted waters. 

“Don’t worry about it, Sam. There’s nothing that can go wrong, just. Respect boundaries. Talk, listen. You know. Communicate.” He went on, lying a hand to your shoulder. Suddenly reality hit him in the face. “Holy shit Sam, is this really happening though?! Is…Jake…going too?”

“I said I don’t know, Daniel! Fuck! The way things were last night, and the way Elle talked…I…it could? Things got, extremely flirty. Between…” you gestured your head toward Jake. 

“What? Him and Elle?” He asked, whispering. 

“They were in awfully close quarters, man. And Y/N, god, she was. Definitely in my realm. This is just. I can’t fucking wrap my head around it.” You said, pulling your sunglasses back down over your eyes, the sun beating down a little too hard. 

“Ok, I’ll force Josh to go do other things, as soon as you give me the word. I’ll drag him to a comedy show or some shit.” Daniel said. 

You sighed, thankful. “Thank you, Daniel. I love you. This is weird.”

“Love you too. Sure is.” He laughed as you walked back to meet with Jake and Josh. 

The four of you hurriedly started to head back to the hotel, and you were already queueing up a doordash order. Suddenly, Richard was by your sides, clipboard and laptop in hand. 

“Ok guys, so now we’re going to head to side stage to do a radio interview. We’ll be set up at that table, there, and it’ll be all four of you. See you in ten.” He said. 

“Wait, what? What radio interview?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, I don’t…remember hearing anything about an interview…” Josh followed up. 

“It was added to your schedules last minute. I sent you all an email this morning.” Richard said flatly. 

“Email? You’re joking right? We don’t check that shit!” You added, maybe a little too nonchalantly. 

“Well, maybe you should start. It’s going to be our main port of communication from now on.” Richard stated. 

“Why can’t you just, I don’t know, text us?” Jake said with heavy sarcasm. “That’s what our last coordinator did. Made things really easy.”

Richard walked toward Jake, cutting him off before he could make another suggestion. “Yes and your last coordinator was fired, wasn’t she, Mr. Kiszka? For inappropriate behavior with a band member, if I remember correctly. And texting isn’t appropriate behavior. We’ll talk through email, just like corporate asks. I suggest you turn on your notifications.” And with that, he was gone. 

Uh oh, that was definitely not the right thing to say to Jake right now. 

You were all stunned into silence as you collectively looked to Jake, his fists balled and his lips pursed. You could feel the negative energy flowing off of him. 

“Okay, well he’s a fucking asshole!” Danny piped up. 

“Yeah, a real peach.” Was all Jake could manage, quietly. 

Josh rubbed the bridge of his nose. “God, I wish we had some say in who the hell they hire for us. Anyway, let’s just get through this interview. Hopefully it will be a short one.”

“It better be. Or I’m changing the entire setlist to only songs with keys because I don’t feel like standing up.” You whined, semi-serious. 

“Maybe you should have played the drums, then.” Danny laughed, punching you in the gut. “Suck it up.”

—

Luckily, the interview only lasted about twenty minutes, and you were happy to be on your way back to the hotel, ready to fight your hangover. You ordered your food for delivery, got to your room, stripped down to your boxers, and cranked the air conditioning to arctic. 

You

11:15am: Hey babe, hope you’re having fun with Y/N. I’m gonna eat and take a giant nap. I have an alarm set. See you in a few hours. I love you! 

You turned your alarm up loud, and set your phone to do not disturb. You ate your food in under five minutes, and curled up into the plush and cozy sheets to let dreamland take over. 

Your sleep was dreamless, and when you were finally awoken by a knock on the door, you found yourself in the exact same position you’d fallen asleep in. Good sleep. You heard the knock again, and drug yourself from the bed to look through the peephole. You opened the door quickly. It was Elle. 

“Hey baby, you okay?” You asked, eyes still adjusting to the hallway light. 

“Yes, just forgot my keycard in here. How was your nap?” She asked, lying a quick kiss to your cheek. 

“It was perfect. I feel a ton better.” You glanced to the clock on the table; you’d slept for two and a half hours. Just enough to get you through the rest of the night. 

“Good baby, I’m glad. I’m still pretty hungover, myself but. I’m making it.” Elle laughed. She sat down hard on the bed, removing her shoes and clothes. “My turn to nap, now.” She hopped to the top of the bed where you had just been, covering herself up. 

“Y/N is busy backstage helping the crew. She still feels a little bit weird being around everybody after she technically got fired, but. They’re treating her normally, thank god. I think they missed how she ran things, to be honest.”

“Well, that’s good. Hopefully she will still get to keep doing some of that, now that we know about Richard.” You said, standing to stretch and clean up your food trash from earlier. 

“What about Richard?” She asked. 

“Oh, just that we learned he’s a power-hungry corporate dickwad in the first two minutes we were with him today. I hope he treats Y/N well. He already pissed Jake off once, would hate to see that happen again.”

No, you wouldn't, actually. 

“Well fuck, that sucks! You’ll have to tell Y/N to watch out for him.” Elle responded, yawning. 

“I think Jake already did, or he was going to maybe after tonight when he could talk in private. Honestly, the whole crew would go to bat for her if something were to be said, anyway.” You said. 

“Good.” Elle said, cuddling her face in her pillow. “You ready for tonight?” She asked. 

Your brain went on autopilot for a second. You climbed back over to the bed, brushing Elle’s pretty waves from her face. “For the show? Or for after…” you insinuated. 

“Hmm…both…” she purred. 

“The show? Yes. The after party? Absolutely…” you went on, bending down to touch your lips to hers. “And what are the plans, exactly?”

She turned to her side, facing the wall away from you. “Mmm, I guess we’ll just have to see where the night takes us, won’t we baby?”

——

HER POV

“Y/N, you’re still going to check out our stage fits, right?” Danny said as he spun quickly across the floor, posing to show off his brand new outfit. 

Well, you hadn’t thought about it much, if you were being honest. 

You stood from your place on the couch. “Yeah, I guess I’ll have to! I don’t think Richard would want to fix your cuffs and tuck your sleeves, would he?” You joked, brushing across his broad shoulders. 

He smiled. “I don’t think he would do half the things you used to do for us, actually.” 

“I think you’re right. I haven’t been around him much yet, but he seems like he sucks.” You responded as you turned Danny around to inspect the back of his outfit. 

“He does. I hope you step all over his toes. Nothing he can do to you. You belong to us now.” He went on in a joking growl that made you giggle. 

“Oh, I belong to you now, huh?” You stepped back, laughing. 

“Yep. You’re not going anywhere, babe.” He answered with a wink. 

“You look perfect, Daniel.” You said, admiring his outfit. 

“You look perfect!” He spun away again, heading straight for the drink cart. Oh. That was, sweet. 

Just then Josh bounded into the space, filling the area with a radiant energy. “I would say it’s my turn to be checked out, but you’ve probably already done that without my knowledge.” He looked to you in question. 

“Ah, guilty. You have been dressed and ready for like three hours, Josh.” You admitted. “You look extremely handsome. I really love that suit.” 

Black with shiny gold embellishments, and he had it unzipped just enough to show some skin.  

“Thank you, gorgeous.” He said as he kissed your cheek. “I’m really happy you’re back with us. So is Jake. Seriously, you’re still making things so much easier for us.” 

“I’m glad to be here Josh. I’m not going anywhere.” You said, parroting Danny’s words. 

“Hey, where’s Elle? I need her to finish putting my rhinestones on like, quickly.” He asked, looking around. He found her seated in the corner, adorning her own face with stones and sparkles. 

“Hey! Can you finish me up? You watched as he sat cross-legged in front of her, patiently waiting to get the rest of his signature look completed. Her hands worked quickly but diligently, using extreme concentration as she glued and stuck the rhinestones exactly where he had mapped them out for her. 

You watched as she smiled at his candid talk, goofed with him while she stayed transfixed on the task at hand. Her long hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned into him, making sure the rhinestones fell exactly where they needed to. She sat back and examined her work, comparing each of his cheeks to see that they mirrored one another, then went right back in to her work. You watched as her eyes flitted from side to side, and she stuck out the tip of her tongue ever so slightly when she’d need the extra bit of concentration. Her hand balanced on his cheekbone, and the other on his knee.

“Damn, you’d think Elle was the famous one in the room, not us.” You heard Sam’s sardonic voice break you from your daydream. You felt his mouth come close to the back of your ear. “I know she’s gorgeous, but you might wanna pick your jaw up off the floor before someone notices you staring at her…” he mumbled before stepping away to make a drink with Danny. 

Fuck, Sam. 

You regained your composure, unaware how on earth you got so flustered just by watching Elle. The next thing you knew, Jake was by your side, scooping you and dipping you low to the ground, laying a wet kiss to your lips. The disorientation from watching Elle, to having Sam in your ear, to Jake turning you upside down and kissing you with more passion than was necessary in company was enough to make your head spin. 

When he brought you back up, you caught Elle’s eyes, a devious grin creeping to her face. “You look gorgeous today, baby.” Jake purred quietly in your ear as you held eye contact with Elle. “You excited for tonight?” 

You ripped your eyes from Elle’s bringing them to meet Jake’s. “Yeah, I am. Are you?” You answered quietly. 

“Mmhmm…more than ready…” he said again, making sure you had balanced back on your feet. Jake walked over to join the guys for a drink, pouring something over his handful of crushed ice. 

“I’m starting off a little lighter tonight, guys. Still detoxing from last night.” Sam said loudly. 

“Oh, don’t be a wuss, Sam. You took a freaking nap today.” Danny quipped. 

Just then, your radio signaled. “Greta Van Fleet- ten minutes to stage, repeat, ten minutes to stage.” You fiddled with the volume and raised your eyebrows to the guys, then joined Elle on the couch. 

You watched as they grabbed their drinks, and gathered in their tiny circle, hugging the backs of each other. “Are we ready to head into the ether, brothers?”

—

The Metallica shows were always so wild. The energy at these shows was different; obviously the fan base and crowd were mixed in a way that was brand new, but for some reason, mostly always ended up with everyone completely jamming. 

You and Elle stood side stage like you always did, basking in the sounds of your favorite people on the planet doing what they love. She took your hand about halfway through the set, intermingling your fingers with hers as she leaned her head on your shoulder. 

You watched as she made eyes to Sam, grabbing his attention and holding it. He raised his pointer finger to wave, and the two of you copied his action, raising your fingers to wave back at him. You quickly realized that he was most likely gesturing to just her, so you brought your hand down in embarrassment. Maybe not, though…the smile that plastered itself across Sam’s face was straight from hell, as he didn’t take his eye contact away from either of you for a solid 20 seconds. 

You knew that look. You knew his look…the one you’d seem a million times, the one that said ‘I want you. Now.’ and he was giving it to you both. 

Elle squeezed your hand in hers, definitely noticing the same thing at the same time as you. Her body heat was radiating, you could feel all your nerve endings on fire just from her innocent touch. What is this? You were certain you’d never felt this…way before…positive that after last night, you could feel this way a million more times, and it would never get old. 

Staring into Sam’s eyes from across the stage transported you back to last night, sitting on his lap at the piano as your hands sat on top of his, effortlessly moving across the keys as the sound filled the air. His knee bouncing up and down between your legs, his hand gently dusting your upper thigh…close but not close enough. Why were you still so starved for his touch? Could tonight be the night you get to feel it again?

Just then, Jake backed up, cutting between the line of vision, his eyes meeting Elle’s. He smirked, tossing his head back as he yelled at his guitar as the music swelled. 

“God, he really fucking plays that thing, doesn’t he?” Elle shouted in your ear. “Y/N, he’s got to be a freak, pardon my french.” 

“Oh, he is, believe me.” You shyly answered, remembering the welts that had now turned to red bruises on your backside. 

“Is he?” She pressed. 

You nodded, looking to her. “Not all the time, but…sometimes that Jake comes out to play.”

You could see her satisfied and inquisitive face light up, looking to watch him again. “Now that’s a story I’d like to hear, sometime.” You felt her free hand brush up and down your arm, sending a shiver through your body. Maybe you’d tell her. 

The guys played perfectly, zooming through their set without the slightest hiccup. As they kissed the crowd goodbye and exited the stage, you watched as Richard went to meet them, barking some type of strange order that made Josh throw his hands in the air after they separated. You and Elle shared a concerned glance, making your way over to them. 

“Fucking rest…? The fuck I will…He can’t tell us what we can and can not do. Haven’t even been off the stage 45 seconds, goddamnit.” Josh howled through the back hallways as you all bustled through to backstage. 

When you all gathered in the green room, you slammed the door shut behind you. “What the hell did he say, Josh?” 

He threw himself onto the couch while the other three started undressing. “The first thing he fucking said to me was ‘You four should go ahead and head back to your rooms to rest, big day tomorrow.’ No good show, no sounded good, no fuck you, anything. We’re getting on a god damn plane tomorrow to go home. I’m going to watch Metallica, and then go spend all my money on the slots. Fuckin’ go get rest. It’s 9:00, you moron!”

He yelled the last part to the closed door. The rest of you fought back laughter. Josh hardly ever got up in arms over things like this.

He sighed. “I’m sorry. He just, has really gotten under my skin. And quickly, too. I need some tea.” 

“Ya know Josh, that explosion just now wasn’t very champagne, caviar of you.” Sam said through a high laugh.

“Fuck you, Sam! In fact, you know what? That sounds good. Y/N, can you radio to crafts to get us some champagne? Sounds wonderful. Let’s celebrate.” He said, his hands flailing wildly. 

“Uhh, sure. Yeah, if that’s what you want Joshy.” You responded, reaching for your radio. 

“Oh no! More champagne?! I’m gonna be hungover again!” Sam whined, hanging his jacket across a hanger. He looked directly to you and Elle, a childlike smirk finding his lips as he winked and clicked his tongue to you. He knew exactly what that meant. 

You radioed for the few bottles of champagne as you heard Metallica take the stage, the deep bass sound booming and filling the stadium. 

“Here we go again, hm?” Elle said as she turned back to you, raising her brows. Your stomach flipped with nerves. Just get through the show. 

——

Standing side stage, the six of you had begun drinking heavily again, already forgetting about your still residual hangovers. Jake’s arms always found themselves wrapped around you, even after he’d disappear every few minutes to visit with others. Joints were being passed, beers being tossed, a true party happening once again. You felt your vision beginning to slack, your fingers and extremities tingling with every beat of your heart. 

Your ears were ringing by the time 'Nothing Else Matters' played; the encore drawing near a close. You and Elle were standing and swaying, the slow acoustic music filling your heavily blurred minds. Suddenly you felt Sam’s arm around your neck between you and Elle, pulling the two of you in to touch his cheeks as he sang. 

‘Never opened myself this way,

Life is ours, we live it our way

All these words, I don’t just say

And nothing else matters…’

He swayed the three of you even harder, his tipsy state showing through in his actions as the song went on. You shared a laugh with Elle at his expense as Jake joined your other side. 

‘Never cared for what they do!

Never cared for what they know!’

The four of you were screaming to the band, hot and heavy in your embraces as you sang and laughed. The song came to a close, and you felt Sam lean in close to Jake. 

“Let’s get out of here before Sandman?” He asked, and Jake nodded. 

“You ready, baby?” Jake asked you, and you felt your stomach fall again, the nerves coming back. Why did tonight feel so ominous?

——

JAKE POV

​​"Yeah, you can tell ol’dick, we are heading back…" you laugh, shaking hands with your guitar tech. 

“Yeah you’re heading back alright…” he laughs knowingly.

“See you next go ‘round?” you ask, raising your eyebrows.

“Can’t get rid of me fucker…” he laughs.

“Good man.” you say, lifting two fingers to wave as you rejoin your brothers and the girls.

You watch as Elle leans on Y/N, her arm around her waist as she whispers something in her ear. 

She really is trying to steal my damn woman.

As you join the group at the loading dock door Y/N spots you and instantly breaks free from Elle and throws herself into your arms, “Where did you go baby? I turned around and you were gone!” she asks, a touch of slur in her words. Ah, the champagne…

“Just went to tell my tech we were leaving, and I’d see him in a few days.” you answer, placing your arm around her shoulder as you all make your way out to the van. 

“What are we gonna do when we get back?” she asks.

“What would you like to do when we get back?” you reply.

“I’m feelin’ lucky. Gonna play a slot machine!” she says, rosy cheeks and full of smiles.

You pull your wallet from your pocket, and grab a crisp hundred from inside, handing it to her. “Play to your heart's desire…”

“Do you always carry around big bills like that?” she giggles.

“Not all the time, but we are in Vegas…”

—

The van deposits you at the hotel entrance, and you all file out one by one in a wave of shaky legs and loud voices. 

“To the bar!” Josh yells, throwing his pointer finger into the air.

Y/N laughs and follows after him, twisting your fingers with hers as she pulls you behind her. 

The six of you make your way to the bar, ordering various drinks and beers and everything you should never drink after a few bottles of champagne, and with the way Y/N was glued to your side you knew it would only take a few drinks until she was past her limit.

“Jakeeeee are you gonna come play with me?” she whines, sipping her drink.

“Play with you? Darlin’, right here?” you laugh, knowing full well what she actually meant.

“Nooo….I mean, yes. Maybe? Wait no…the slot machines…” she laughs.

“I know baby, and yeah, lead the way.” you say, waving a hand at Sam and the guys.

You watch her struggle to feed her bill into the token machine, the two of you laughing as the alcohol starts to enter your bloodstream. Finally the machine begins to spit out her tokens and she collects them all into your pockets with a giggle.

“What machine you want?” you ask, placing your hand on her waist as you spin the two of you around. 

“Oh! That one!” she says, pointing to the bright flashing machine in the corner.

You lead the way, pulling her behind you wondering what lady luck has in store for you tonight.

—

It had to have been close to an hour before you found Sam and Elle approaching you where you sat, bringing fresh drinks. You looked to the small table on your left seeing the empty glasses you and Y/N managed to collect over the past hour and cringed. You were definitely going to feel this in the morning. 

“Thanks brother…” you said, accepting the drinks from his hands. 

“Are you guys almost done? We want to go play at one of the card tables.” he says, placing his hands on hips.

You turn to Y/N, who is watching you, “What do you think babe, ready to go whoop their ass at poker?” you laugh.

“Yeah but let’s make it interesting.” she says deviously.

“How so?” Elle asks.

You raise your eyebrows to Y/N as she answers. “I don’t know, let’s make a bet or something.” she says.

“Let’s go. I’ll think.” Elle says, pulling Y/N up and walking hand in hand as she whispers to her.

You toss a look to Sam, who raises his eyebrows with a smirk.

It seemed the night was only just getting started.

—

Two short warm up rounds were played before the alcohol really started to kick into everyone's decision making. You had won both rounds as predicted, Sam never really having the best poker face. Elle however was giving you a run for your money.

“Okay, let’s play for real!” Sam said.

“Did you think of a good bet?” Y/N asks.

“Yeah Elle, what did you come up with?” Sam asks her. 

“We could do money, but that’s too predictable.  Where's the fun in that? I thought of something just a little more…enticing.” she finishes, locking eyes with Y/N.

“And what would that be?” you ask, voice low.

“Well… I was thinking, if I win, I get to take Y/N back to my room for the night…” she says, leaving all of your jaws positively on the floor.

Y/N leans over closer to Elle from across the table, “Deal.”

“Woah, hold on a damn second.” you say throwing your hands up looking across the table at Sam. “Sam why the fuck are you smiling. You have nothing to smile about.”

“No. No. I like that bet Jake. It sounds like a good bet…If you know you’ll win there shouldn’t be an issue, right?” Y/N says, running her hand up your leg. 

You lean into her ear, cupping her jaw with your right hand, “You know what she’s insinuating right, love?” you ask, hoping to clarify for her. 

She turns her head to your ear, letting her lips graze your earlobe, “Oh I am fully aware of what she’s insinuating Jacob…But you haven’t lost a game yet…Will I end the night in your bed or hers?”

You felt your dick grow hard at the possibility of either of those things happening.

“Mine. Always mine. You can fucking count on that.” you say, pushing the hair back from her neck.

“So do it. Win the game.” she says, settling back in her chair.

You were ready to roll the dice. Let the chips fall where they may. What’s the worst that could happen after all?

You lock eyes with Elle, and with a deep breath you extend your hand to shake, “Deal.”

—

An hour later it was down to just you and Elle as the waitress dropped off the third round of drinks. Your brain had grown fuzzy and your eyes blurry. But your mind was still firmly rooted in its one task. Winning this game. 

“What’s it gonna be Kiszka?” Elle asks, tapping her fingers on the blue felt table.

You could tell by the sly grin on her face that she thought she had this game in the bag, but you were positive you had the winning hand. Y/N leaned on your shoulder as she raked her hand up and down your leg, grazing your dick on more than one occasion. 

“Ladies first…” you quip, raising your eyebrow in her direction. 

She looks over to Sam, with a glint in her eye, before laying her cards out on the table.

“A full house…” she smiles cockily. 

Fuck. You fucking did it.

“Ahh…” you say, turning to Y/N. “It’s just too bad really. You could have had a lot of fun…I’m sure she’s good… Just not good enough.” you say, flashing your cards across the table.

“A straight flush. Game over, Eleanor.” you smirk.

“Shit!” she says, slamming her fist down onto the table.

Sam laughs a defeated laugh and as you turn back to Y/N you catch the look of disappointment in her eye. 

“Sorry to disappoint you sweetheart…” you say smugly. 

She swallows back her words as she shakes her head, “No, it’s fine. I knew you were going to win anyways.” she lies.

Damn, she really did want to go back with Elle. Maybe you should have folded?

“Whatever money bags, next round of drinks is on you.” Elle says, standing up from the table.

—

HER POV

“Just get me a water for now, I think I need to hydrate some.” You said as you all approached the tiny and dark-lit bar, club music pounding through the speakers. This wasn’t their normal type of scene…

“Okay, baby.” Jake said as he laid a kiss to your temple, and you drifted off to the bathroom. Elle didn’t see you slip away, so you took a second to rush off and regain your composure. After relieving yourself, you went to the sink to wash your hands and dab some cold water on your face. 

Had you really just agreed to go back to Elle’s room if Jake lost? Your best friend…to do…god knows what?

You had, but it didn’t feel wrong. In fact, you were a  bit disappointed that he’d won. Where the hell is this coming from? 

You looked at yourself in the mirror, pulling out some powder from your bag and freshening your already flushed face. You dried your hands well, and spritzed yourself with a little bit of perfume before heading back out to the bar. 

You found the crew sharing the very corner ‘L’ of the bar, an empty seat saved for you between Elle and Jake. You hopped up on the high barstool, your high heels resting gently on the metal rung. 

“Damn, you smell fuckin good…” Jake said, bringing his arm around your waist as he leaned to breathe you in. He nipped at your neck, sending a shot of pleasure directly between your legs. You tilted your head to give him more access, then lifted the glass of ice water, sipping slowly from the straw. 

“Thank you baby, you should love it. You got it for me.” He looked at you, puzzled. 

The colorful lights were bouncing off his face, accentuating his features. “Mmm, wasn’t me. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten you perfume.”

“That was me, babe. Last year, remember? And yes, you do smell phenomenal.” Sam said, leaning behind Elle to solve the mystery. He’d pulled his hair back, letting strands fall freely around his face. 

Oh yes. Oops. Wrong brother. 

You chugged the water down, desperately hoping that it would help you out tomorrow morning. But you didn’t want to lose your buzz for the night, so you switched back to your regular drink. 

The conversation was picking up, and Sam and Jake had moved their barstools closer to you and Elle, forcing you to sit almost shoulder to shoulder. Jake’s hand had found your thigh, rubbing little circles as he occasionally squeezed, each time going higher and higher above the hem of your dress. 

“So Jacob.” Elle began as a loud, bass heavy club song began. “Y/N told me something about you tonight. Something I wasn’t aware of.”

Oh fuck, Elle. No. Your face grew hot. 

“Oh yeah? And what was that?” Jake followed, swallowing his drink. 

“She said that you sometimes aren’t as nice as you seem to be…can sometimes have a little rudeness to you…”

You felt Jake’s body stiffen at her words. 

“Remember last night when I asked you if you were…innocent?” She leaned in closer. “Asked you if you ever acted the way you do when you play guitar, off stage?” 

Jake cleared his throat as Elle leaned past you. You glanced to Sam. He was chewing on his straw, awaiting an answer from Jake, just as anticipatory as you were. 

“Uh, yeah. I remember you…saying something like that…” he answered, losing all of his normal foxy composure. 

“Well, you never answered me.” She sat back against her chair, eyebrows raised. 

He stayed blank, unsure of what to say.

After a few seconds, he raised his pointer finger to her, motioning for her to lean back into him as their faces met right in front of yours. 

“I guess you’ll have to continue to use your imagination, baby.” He sat back, placing his arm across your shoulders again. “Isn’t that right, Sam?”

Sam held his hands up in surrender. 

“Or, I guess you could just ask Y/N, she could probably give you every detail you’ve ever wondered about me…hm? Right babe? Funny you wonder those things about me, Elle. Really hyping up my ego here.” You could tell he was trying to get under her skin a bit. Piss her off. 

Elle shot back the rest of her drink while Sam resituated himself in his chair, clearly interested in where this conversation was going. 

“Of course she could tell me, Jacob. And I’m sure she will. Just like she told me everything about the kind of lover your brother was, too.” Elle spat. 

Oh fuck! 

Wait, you hadn’t told her many details about you and Sam’s sex life…she’s just trying to get under Jake’s skin now. Hilarious. 

Your hand flew up to your mouth, stifling a laugh. Their faces were close to touching now, as you leaned back in your chair and let them bicker. You rested your elbow on the back of your chair, letting your arm hang behind it.  Sam was watching from behind Elle, loving the competitive discourse. 

Elle spoke again. “It’s funny, from what I’ve heard and experienced, you two are very similar, in those matters. Sorry to you both if that was something you never wanted to learn about each other, but. Here we are. Sharing our truths.”

“So, hm. Did she ever tell you why she came back to me then? And left Sam?” Jake pressed, cocking his head to the side. 

“She went back to you because of me, stupid. I came back into Sam’s life. She didn’t leave him.” Elle answered coolly. 

Fuck. 

“Interesting. So, did she ever tell you which one of us was better then? Give you a little rating system?” He asked. 

You knew this was all fun and games, but it was so entertaining that you couldn’t look away. They were going for each other’s throats. Sam turned in his chair, and leaned in closer. 

“No, she didn’t. Not sure she ever will. That’s something that’s probably left up for interpretation, don’t you think Jake?” She answered, so close to his face that their noses were almost touching. 

Jake’s hand was still on your thigh, squeezing and burying his fingertips into your skin. You looked to his eyes, fluttering back and forth between Elle’s lips and eyes. He wanted to kiss her. Right here. 

“Why don’t you guys just scrap out in the parking lot? God…” Sam said, breaking the tension. 

They never separated, though. In fact, you could feel Jake’s breathing begin to pick up, see his jaw slide from side to side. Suddenly you felt Sam’s hand grab yours behind Elle, threading his fingers with yours. You squeezed it hard, showing him that you were turned on, too. His thumb massaged your palm, always his signal that he understood your feelings without you having to say anything at all. 

You turned your head slightly to meet Sam’s eyes, blown out with anticipation as the skinny straw hung from between his teeth. You were both awaiting their next move. 

Jake took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose. “I’ll tell you what, Elle. I’ll make this interesting. I’ll let you take Y/N upstairs with you on one condition.” 

She sat back. “Ok, and what is that?” She asked. 

Jake looked to you, upping the stakes. “Y/N, kiss her. Right here.” 

You almost threw up. What?

“What?” You asked, watching as Elle smiled a devious grin. 

“Yeah Jake, what?” Elle repeated. 

“She’s got to show me that she wants to go back with you. I need to trust that’s what she wants. So, if we’re up here sharing all our secrets, kiss her, Y/N.” Jake went on, sitting back. 

Your face flushed, you felt hot. Very hot. And drunk. And excited. You wanted to hear Jake talk to you like that to the end of your days. But most of all, you wanted to kiss Elle. Right here at the bar. 

Sam’s fingers were still wrapped up with yours, and you saw Jake glance and see your hands together, before he looked right back to you. “Go on, if it’s what you want. If you don’t, you don’t have to. Elle will understand.”

You swallowed. Sam’s hand squeezed yours again, giving you confidence. 

You turned to Elle, who sat pretty to herself in the chair beside you, giving you a look that said ‘you don’t have to, but please do…”

You turned to her, took her chin in your hand, and lightly pulled her toward you, planting a sweet and longing kiss to her lips, leaving yourself there for just a few beats. Your eyes flitted closed as you let yourself enjoy the moment…soft and gentle and easy. You squeezed Sam’s hand, and he returned it. Jake’s hand tightened on your thigh. 

Just like that, it was over as quickly as it started. You didn’t feel embarrassed, nervous, or anxious much anymore, instead you felt extremely excited. 

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Jake said blankly as you separated from Elle, the two of you breaking into laughter. 

You released Sam’s hand as you picked up your drink, feeling Jake’s hand rub roughly. “That’s my girl…” he growled into your ear. “Not so bad, huh?” 

“He’s just kidding, Y/N. You don’t have to come upstairs with me. But, I’m glad you did that. That was very nice…” Elle cooed as she sipped her drink. You smiled, letting her know that you were glad you did, too. 

You cleared your throat as everyone came back to earth. “I never said I didn’t want to go upstairs…” you said almost quietly. Jake shot his head to you, eyes wide, then to Sam. You could tell they were speaking to each other with a look, so you decided not to say anything more. 

Jake ordered another round of drinks, and you were feeling sufficiently drunk now, as was everyone else. The music was loud and booming, making you want to move. You didn’t care how, you just wanted to move. You and Jake had split into your own conversation for a few minutes, mostly him whispering sweet nothings into your ear, telling you how beautiful you looked. 

Suddenly you felt something hit your elbow that was resting against the bar, something flat and soft. You looked down, finding a small white napkin on the bar. You glanced up to Sam and Elle, who had stood from their seats and were pushing their stools in. 

“Tab’s paid.” Elle said, shooting you a wink, and blowing you a kiss. They walked behind you toward the exit, Sam grabbing onto the back of Jake’s neck as they left. 

“See ya…” you trailed off, watching them walk hand in hand out the door. You looked down to the napkin again, letting your eyes adjust to it in the dark and flashing lights as you read the messy scrawl. 

Holy shit. 

You weren’t sure what to do with this. Was this an invitation? 

You slid the napkin over to Jake, not saying a word. You tipped back the rest of your drink, letting the ice hit your lips, as you took a little inside your mouth. 

His head slowly turned to yours, his eyes wide. “Did they…”

You nodded, crunching hard on the ice. 

Jake cleared his throat again. “Uh, okay. Well. What do you, uh... Do you want to…go up? With them? Or. We can go to our room…”

“I wanna go. To their room. If you do.” You answered confidently. 

Jake finished his drink, setting the glass back onto the bar top, and grinning as he turned to you, “Okay then. Let’s go.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

Part 2

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[total-drama-shark]

Since you're interested in my timeline I decided to share it °3°

Keep in mind that this is a mix of what was stated in the show, and my own personal interpretation/headcannons:

Total Drama Island: July 8th, 2007 - August 31st, 2007

(July 8th, 2007 being the irl date the show was created, and the end date being August 31st has to do with Chris at some point saying the competition will last 8 weeks)

Total Drama Action: September 2nd, 2007 - October 13th, 2007

(Action takes place two days after Island ends, and was mentioned that it lasted 6 weeks)

Total Drama World Tour: February 3rd, 2008- April 3rd, 2008

(This one was a complete bitch to figure out. I had to do my best to calculate the full flight time which was around 9 Days, 4 Hours 50 Minutes, then I had to squeeze in the challenge time which I'm pretty sure I just guessed. I kinda went backwards, since World Tour ends sometime around Cody's birthday which is April 1st)

Total Drama Revenge of the Island: July 5th, 2008 - August 17th, 2008

(based on the premise that challenges happen every three days which I'm pretty sure was mentioned in island at some point but I kinda don't remember or care. Set in the summer closer to Island's original release date)

Total Drama All-Stars: August 22nd, 2009 - October 2nd, 2009

(Same as Revenge. A little over a year later bc with Alejandro being in that robot suit before Revenge, and Chris being arrested after Revenge, yet both saying they were imprisoned for a year, I'm gonna say that the guy trapped in a robot suit didn't have a good perception of time)

Total Drama Pahkitew Island: October 20th, 2009 - December 1st, 2009

(noting really special here tbh, though I remember I made Pahkitew right after All-Stars to make sure the character birthdays stay consistent. They're not official birthdays btw)

The Ridonculous Race: July 11th, 2010 - July 24th, 2010

(Similar with World Tour in that I had to figure out the travel time, 4 Days, 14 Hours, 30 Minutes, and squeeze the challenges in. I set it after July so Geoff, Owen and Noah could still be 19 and Leonard could still be 16)

Total Drama Reloaded: July 10th, 2022 - August 22nd, 2022

(based on literally nothing and will probably change soon. Like I said it could either be in 2022 or 2024. Hopefully something gets dropped next season that'll hint at a specific date or something)

Anyway that's it bye

Holy shit that is an astounding amount of work to figure out the exact dates of every season, props to you I could never!

[ammg-old2]

A new sound wafts through the open windows at night in this town near the front line: children hollering at each other down the block, even long after dark.

The markets are full. Sales are surging at the local bike shop. Red tulips, planted by hand, are bursting open everywhere.

It is remarkable — “Unrecognizable,” one city official said — how different this small town in eastern Ukraine feels from a year ago. Last summer, Pokrovsk was a spooky landscape of boarded up houses and bushy yards. No one was around. Now it’s hard to take a few steps without passing someone on the sidewalk.

Nothing has changed outside Pokrovsk. The front line is still 30 miles away. Ukrainians are still dying in droves. One of the biggest armies in the world, that of the Russian Federation, is still bombing cities while they sleep and trying to take as much territory as it can, at a terrifying cost.

But what has changed — and it reflects something broader happening in small towns across this vast country — are people’s calculations. How much danger are they willing to accept? What is the best for them and their families? How should they accommodate the war on a daily basis? The answers to these questions seem different this year, and without consulting each other, many people have reached the same decision.

It is resilience, yes, but perhaps also something a little less shiny: resignation.

“The war is here. There is no safe place in Ukraine. So you might as well get on with it,” said Dr. Natalia Medvedieva, a family doctor who tried living in a safer place in western Ukraine with her son but came back here a few months later.

And home is home.

“It’s hard to describe what is so special about home,” said Pavel Rudiev, an engineer at Pokrovsk’s small train station. “It’s where everything is familiar, where you know people, where you have friends.”

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, this principle didn’t hold. More than 13 million Ukrainians — a third of the country — fled from their homes. But as time went on, it became harder to stay away.

“I was running out of money,” said Iryna Ilina, a fitness instructor and beautician, sharing a common struggle of the displaced. She recently returned to Kramatorsk, another city not far from the front line where she owns an apartment. She was having trouble covering her rent in Pavlohrad, the safer city where she had been staying.

Many people said that when they were displaced, it was hard finding work. “And I need to work,” Dr. Medvedieva said. “I have my life.”

Since last summer, at a pretty steady rate, Ukrainians have been returning. More than 5.5 million have gone home, according to the International Organization for Migration, and not just to large cities like Kyiv, the capital, or Dnipro, but to small places as well, even those right behind the front line. While the exodus at the beginning of the war was dramatic and widely covered, the homecomings have been more gradual and haven’t generated nearly the same attention.

Of course there’s concern. Dr. Medvedieva keeps a bag packed with her documents, money and some clothes. Viktoriia Perederii, a veterinarian, who returned to Pokrovsk last year after trying to live in central Ukraine, said that many families bring her their pets to get clean health certificates for international travel in case they need to leave in a hurry.

“It’s difficult to evaluate the risks,” she said. “There is no safe place in Ukraine. Look at Uman,” she added, referring to the recent missile strike that killed 25 people in a city that, until that moment, many Ukrainians had considered perfectly safe.

At this time of year, Pokrovsk is basking in spring. White cherry blossom petals delicately flutter through the air and pile up along the curb in handsome drifts. The long side streets, lined by modest one-story homes with peaked roofs, smell of freshly turned earth. In the gardens out front, women in aprons and headscarves plant flowers — not something you do if you’re about to pack up and flee.

“Business is good,” said Larysa Titorenko, a seed vendor at Pokrovsk’s busy central market. Her racks of happily decorated packets were moving fast — marigolds, melons, radishes, carrots and about eight varieties of cucumber.

Then tears flashed in her eyes. Her daughter’s house had recently been destroyed in a frontline town not far away. “I’m OK, really,” she insisted, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

This duality is everywhere. People in war do something that most in the world don’t have to — they keep two big thoughts running in their heads at all times: live life as fully and richly as possible and, at the same time, plan for it to be turned upside down.

Since last summer, the Russians have sliced away at Bakhmut, pushed closer to Avdiivka and leveled Marinka — all towns about an hour’s drive away. The front line is inching closer. You constantly hear dull thuds, almost like doors closing.

But people carry on as if it’s a faraway thunderstorm. At a pond-side park near the town center, teenage girls make halos out of dandelions, as they have for eons, and TikTok dance videos.

Nearby, men pump iron at an immaculate outdoor gym with rows of high-quality weight machines, exercise bars and even padded arm-wrestling tables. With wide stances, they strut around, cheeks red, chests puffed out. If you Photoshopped out the occasional tank getting towed past on a car carrier, it might look like California.

Before the war, the population was about 50,000. It dipped to around 30,000 last spring, when so many people across the country fled west. Now it’s back up — to 57,000, actually, said Serhiy Dobriak, the head of Pokrovsk’s military administration. Beyond the residents who have returned, others from surrounding hot spots, Avdiivka or even Mariupol, have flocked in.

Before the war, Pokrovsk had big plans. A billboard rising from a muddy intersection shows a schematic drawing of new office towers and lots of lights. “But we got to be realistic,” Mr. Dobriak said. “We will most likely be a militarized zone.”

No one here expects the war to end soon. “Years” is the reigning prediction. Some worry that the acceptance of it, this notion that life should go on regardless of it, means there will be less pressure to end it.

A military convoy chugged past an intersection, leaving behind a wake of diesel haze. Not far behind, a boy pedaled furiously on his bike, determined to catch up to his friends.

It was evening, warm, and the air was crisp, feeling wonderful on exposed skin. It is such a magnificent time of year that no one wanted to go inside, even with curfew approaching.

[bg-sparrow]

Introduction

Hi! I'm Erica (BG), and I write fan fiction! I've been writing fic since 2004, and you can find me on AO3 and FFN! As you might have gleaned, I predominantly write Back to the Future fanfic, but I have written for many fandoms over the years!

Side Blogs

This is my main blog, but I have side blogs, too.

@juneofdoom - an annual whump challenge I host because some friends were sad another whump challenge wasn't happening, so I made them a list. Obviously it snowballed.

@piratepianist - Moodboard blog. Colors make me happy, and I express that best through moodboards since I can't draw.

@nopinestimeline - a sideblog I made for my version of Evil!Marty

@bgsbracelets - Thanks to the #bttfbff friendship bracelet exchange, I've gotten so into bracelet making that I'm giving my creations their own sideblog while I set up an Etsy store. This is still very under construction, but if you want to see all the fun fandom bracelets I make, give me a follow!

The Heaviest Back to the Future Trilogy Test

The amount of knowledge I've compiled in researching BttF media for a trilogy rewrite is beyond extensive, and I decided to put some of it to use in this BttF quiz that is actually challenging compared to every other BttF quiz I've ever taken. Have a go! Good luck!

Back to the Future Fan Fiction

Series:

The Time Circuits Series - a trilogy rewrite featuring my OC, Emma Brown, as Doc's daughter and Marty's love interest. This sucker took nine years, but, five works and 273,000 words later, it's done!

Once Upon a Time in the West Series - my version of the "stuck in 1885" AU where Marty's depression and association with Buford Tannen are explored. Nearing completion, this series has four works and will clock in at around 65,000 words in total.

The Boy Who Leapt Through Time Series - my ongoing McFly July drabble collection.

The Meta of Marty McFly - originally made for the June of Doom whump challenge, this series is an ongoing foray into the ridiculous world of self-insert where I brainstorm fic ideas/ vent at/ torment Marty in my imaginary, infinite office building. It's utter nonsense, and that's why I adore it.

Bhagavad Gita Duology - a history-heavy look at Doc's time on the Manhattan Project, the toll it takes on him, and the mysterious "friend" there at every turn. These two completed stories come in at just under 17,000 words, and they are 17,000 of some of my best, IMO.

BG's Back to the Future Drabbles

This AO3 collection houses all of my bite-sized BttF moments from various challenges on Tumblr and Discord.

The Boy Who Leapt Through Time - McFly July 2022

The Man from the Future - Doctober 2022

In a Kingdom Far, Far Away - Friendship February 2023

The Boy Who Leapt Through Time Again - McFly July 2023

The Boy Who Leapt Through Time Yet Again - McFly July 2021

The Man Who Traveled Time - Doctober 2023

Stand There and Bleed - Whumpril 2024

Multi-chapter

Let's Do the Time Warp Again - Marty's past self gets jumped by Biff's gang at the dance, and Marty has no choice but replace himself at the clocktower, creating a time loop.

Sons and Scientists - an AU in which Marty, stranded in 1940s and living with Doc in Los Alamos, gets drafted into service and there's nothing Doc can do about it. This one hurts, guys. I'm warning you.

By Accident or Design - my version of "the duel goes wrong." This one also hurts. A third and final chapter is being entertained but not certain at this time.

Pennies from Heaven - an Elf/BttF crackfic for Discord Secret Santa 2022. I'm not gonna lie, I had a blast with this, and I'm hella proud of how it turned out. Just go with it!

One Shots

A Fracture in the Space-time Continuum - a sickfic/ injury fic with so much Doc and Marty friendship it's a wonder it hasn't exploded yet. Also affectionately refered to as "Broken Leg Marty".

The Manner of Giving - a 5+1 fic in which Marty tries and fails five times to give Doc a gift (and one time he succeeds).

There's a Time and a Place - No Pine Marty's debut one shot, in which he tells the terrorists where to find Doc the night of the DeLorean Reveal.

Midnight Hour - No Pines Marty visits George in the dead of night to convince him to take Lorraine to the dance.

Stuck in the Stuck in 1885 AU - a silly meta glimpse in which two different Martys from two different “stuck in 1885” stories — daryfromthefuture’s “Until I Get Home” and BG Sparrow’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” — are locked in a room together by their authors to air their grievances. Art by Dary!

Survival is Insufficient

Time Trap

Crime Traveller

The Mystery of the Missing McFly

Roleplays with @daryfromthefuture

These beloved fics feature Dary as Marty and myself as Doc in wholesome, angsty friendship/ sick fics. :)

Lean on Me (When You're Not Strong) - The masterpiece that is Doc seeing Marty through scarlet fever in 1885.

I'll Be There For You (Like I've Been There Before) - Marty glitches, objects at Doc and Clara's wedding, and has a heart-to-heart with Doc about his fears for their future.

I'm Only Me When I'm With You - 1955 sickfic!

Collaborations

Friends Through Time(lines): Chapter 6 - Judge Doc Brown is on the verge of retirment when he meets the child genius renting his garage for the last eighteen months.

Stuck Through Time(lines): 1950s - some first-person Marty reflection on what he's going to do now that he's irrevocably stranded in 1955.

History's Gonna Change: Titanic - Doc and Marty somehow prevent a major historical event from happening and have to ensure it does. I picked the Titanic not sinking!

Back to the Future: Discord - a blind writing game irresponsibly played by the members of our Discord server.

Challenge Masterlists

McFly July 2023

McFly July 2021

Sicktember 2023

Doctober 2023

Comfortember 2023

Whumpril 2024

June of Doom 2024

McFly July 2024

August of Whump 2024 (The Blacklist)

Notable Works in Other Fandoms

Pirates of the Caribbean

Principles of Compromise - Rated T, 64K, drama, Sparrabeth

The Captain - Rated G, 8K, pre-canon Norribeth friendship fluff

Unprecedented Youth - Rated G, 10K, humor, found family

Iron Man (MCU)

These are all Pepperony (Tony/Pepper) and all rated T.

What to Expect When She's Expecting - 4K, pregnancy fic

Extra Dry, Extra Olive - 2K, Tony returns to the roof

For a Decade - 8K, drunken humor/ fluff

Of Toothpaste and Pancakes - 5K, food fight humor/ fluff

Star Wars (Sequel Trilogy)

A Mercy, Tolerant - Rated T, 1200 words, Reylo AU after TFA

Free Space - Rated T, 5K, Reylo bingo card drabbles

National Treasure - Another Clue (Riley/OC, sequel incomplete) Mary Poppins - Under the Weather (sickfic fluff) Jurassic World - Perignon & Paleobotany (pre-canon Claire/Owen) Copying Beethoven - Vibrations on the Air (Anna/Beethoven) Station Eleven - The Pursuit (Kirsten/Tyler) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - As Promised (Major Character Death) The Blacklist - Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Keenler, Undercover Cruise Fic)

BONUS: Multi-Fandom - FFHQ (currently featuring Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man, BBC Sherlock, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, and the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy)

A lot of my older/ other fandom fics on FFN are in the process of being edited for AO3 and will be posted here when that happens!

Thanks for stopping by! And don't be a stranger - feel free to reach out! Have an awesome day! :D

[mariacallous]

Since February 24, 2022, no country has donated a larger share of its GDP to the Ukrainian war effort than Estonia has. Given the tiny Baltic state’s Soviet-era experience of life under Moscow’s domination, that level of generosity is not difficult to understand. The Insider recently traveled with two high-level Estonian officials on a tour of the front in Ukraine. The experience underscored just how deeply Russia’s other neighbors understand that the failure to properly arm Ukraine is already placing the European Union’s security in jeopardy.

“If all countries did what Estonia was doing, we’d be in Moscow by now,” Mikhail, the commander of a Ukrainian infantry unit currently deployed in Robotyne, told The Insider, only half joking. We’re meeting Mikhail at an undisclosed location to the north of his unit’s positions, roughly 20 kilometers behind the frontline.

It’s one of the last stops on a three-day tour of the front, with The Insider joining Estonia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Annely Kolk, and Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament. The trip coincides with what one Ukrainian officer described as the “toughest fighting since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.” As we saw and heard for ourselves, Ukrainian forces are suffering acute ammunition shortages while attempting to hold off an enemy that is stubbornly determined to advance, regardless of the human cost.

The trip has been arranged by a Ukrainian-Estonian group of volunteers, who run the “One Team, One Fight Foundation.'' They’ve been delivering non-lethal military aid to Ukrainian soldiers across the country for nearly two years. The foundation’s director, Dmitro Drey is an affable Ukrainian originally from Luhansk who speaks the heavily accented Russian common for a native of the Donbas region; its co-founder is Harri, an Estonian ex-soldier. Both men have traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers across Ukraine delivering desperately needed military equipment to frontline units.

Most foreign dignitaries, understandably, will never come as close to the fighting as Drey and Harri do. Many of them would never leave Kyiv or Lviv to travel incognito in inconspicuous, unarmoured vehicles without a security escort. But for both Kolk and Mihkelson, the importance of speaking to Ukrainian troops in person — to get a firsthand understanding of the war — outweighs the not inconsiderable risk. For long periods of time, we were well within Russian artillery range, and the sound of incoming shelling was a disconcerting constant.

For Mihkelson, a reserve officer in the Estonian armed forces, speaking directly to Ukrainian soldiers enables him to better understand the situation on the battlefield, enabling him to be a more effective advocate for the increased provision of Western aid. For Kolk, trips like this one are part of her diplomatic mission. “I’m ambassador to all of Ukraine, not just the capital,” she says. “Sitting in Kyiv gives you an unrepresentative picture of this war.”

And the ambassador is right. Unlike last winter, this year Kyiv has experienced no blackouts and no loss of water supply. The atmosphere on the streets remains relatively calm. If it weren’t for the air attacks — which rarely penetrate the excellent Western-supplied air defense network guarding Ukraine’s largest city — a visitor could be forgiven for forgetting that Kyiv is the capital of a country fighting for its survival.

It’s different in Druzhkovka, 20 kilometers from the battle. Here the sound of artillery is constant, and yet, as in Kyiv, people continue to go about their lives the best they can under the circumstances. A mother and her child walk in a nearby park, while city maintenance workers prune trees. It is a surreal picture. Military aid is distributed to soldiers that have recently come back from their positions in nearby Chasiv Yar, and Kolk and Mihkelson get to hear about the situation in the trenches.

The situation is bleak. Nearly every unit we speak to says that Ukrainian troops are outmanned and outgunned, facing extreme ammunition shortages as they attempt to hold the line against an enemy with an almost suicidal determination to advance.

It’s not difficult to make the direct connection between broken Western promises and the current difficulties on the front line. According to Mihkelson, a lack of Western strategic vision is also to blame. “There’s no clear understanding of how this war should end in Washington or Berlin,” he argues. “We rarely hear that Russia must be defeated on the battlefield.” The constant slow-walking and incremental provision of aid, particularly from the United States, clearly frustrates him. “Why don’t they send some of their own F-16s? They have so many!” Mihkelson says, referring to the American decision not to supply their own fighter jets to Ukraine, instead relying on European allies such as Norway, Denmark, and The Netherlands. “Or the ATACMS missiles that are just sitting in warehouses waiting to be decommissioned.”

The limitations and conditions under which the West has supplied weapons to Ukraine also come in for criticism. In Mihkelson’s words, demands that Kyiv refrain from using Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia’s internationally recognized borders is akin to asking Ukraine to “fight this war with both hands behind their backs.” It is an opinion commonly shared amongst the Ukrainian troops we spoke to.

As infantry commander Mikhail noted near Robotyne, Estonia’s commitment to the Ukrainian cause stands out. The Baltic country of less than 1.5 million has donated a staggering 3.6% of its GDP in bilateral aid to Ukraine since January 24, 2022, easily the most generous country by this metric (for comparison, the United States has donated 0.32%). “We know this war is existential,” Kolk tells The Insider, explaining Estonia’s high level of support. It is an understanding that permeates every level of the Estonian government. Given the country’s direct experience of Russian imperialism, there is a widespread belief in Tallinn that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, Estonia could very well be his next target.

The same is true for Estonia’s neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, both of which have also donated significant amounts of military support to Ukraine while imploring their European and NATO allies to take the threat of further Russian aggression more seriously. For years, the NATO strategy for defending the Baltic states followed the “tripwire” approach — having small numbers of international troops forward deployed to the alliance’s eastern flank not in order to successfully defend against an invasion, but to ensure that any Russian incursion would risk inflicting casualties on British and American active duty personnel, thus bringing the full force of those two military powers into the conflict. But of course, in the event of an actual Russian invasion, the arrival of help from points further west could not have come immediately. “The ‘tripwire’ policy would have left our country occupied by Russian forces,” Mihkelson explains.

The experience of Ukraine under Russian occupation, along with the effectiveness with which Russia has used threats of nuclear “escalation” to delay Western aid deliveries — from the United States and Germany in particular, Mihkelson notes — have led the Baltic States to begin constructing a defensive line of bunkers and fortifications along their countries’ borders with Russia. The importance of Russia not being allowed to quickly take territory, illegally annex it, and then hide behind a nuclear shield is now well understood. Questions of whether an American President would risk nuclear retaliation to support a European NATO ally date back to the Cold War, and the defensive line currently under construction is an attempt to prevent that question from ever having to be answered.

Both Kolk and Mihkelson express frustration at how long it has taken some of Estonia’s allies to appreciate the danger Russia presents to its neighbors. “The West has massively underestimated the threat Russia poses, at all levels,” Kolk argues, paying particular attention to the Kremlin’s information warfare operations. “Here in the Baltics we’ve seen it for years. Russia tries to claim Russian speakers are ‘oppressed’ in our countries, but the truth is Russians living in Estonia have more rights than Russians living in Russia.”

Mihkelson highlights the pattern of Western passivity towards Russia that, in his estimation, led to the current full-scale war in Ukraine. “There seems to be little understanding in many Western capitals that Russia is fundamentally attempting to overturn the current world order,” he says. “This is not only about Ukraine,” he adds, drawing lessons from recent history. “We’ve seen continued weakness in the West’s response to Russia, from the invasion of Georgia, to Obama’s ‘red line’ in response to chemical weapons attacks in Syria. That was clearly a moment when Putin detected weakness.” He notes that, when confronted, Russia has almost always backed down. “We’ve seen so many ‘red lines’ Russia themselves have set down, and then backed away from, when they’ve been crossed,” Mihkelson says.

Towards the end of our tour of the frontline, we arrive at a position close to the town of Orikhiv, north of the highly contested settlement of Robotyne. As we pull up, an M142 HIMARS rolls out towards its firing position. In a testament to the ammunition shortage, only one of its six launch tubes is loaded with a GMLRS rocket. Several groups of Ukrainian soldiers arrive at the meeting point simultaneously. Two young servicemen who hadn’t seen each other for months hug upon realizing that the other is still alive.

Kolk clearly finds the experience emotional. “At that moment I felt I couldn’t hold back tears anymore. My own son is 21,” she says. “I cannot imagine him greeting his friends in such a way.” Except if Estonia’s continuing support for Ukraine demonstrates anything, it is that Kolk, Mihkelson, and hundreds of thousands of other Estonians can all too well imagine that, if Ukraine does not receive the military aid it needs, then the ambassador’s son really could be greeting his friends in exactly the same way in the not-too-distant future.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Shotgun Wedding (2022)

Shotgun Wedding will feel familiar to most viewers. While I can't recall any other movies where a bride and groom must save their wedding party from pirates, much of what we see feels like bits and pieces collected from other films. Not necessarily better films, but other films. This is perfectly serviceable for something you’d watch at home “for free” (that’s to say, the price of a monthly subscription that also gives you other perks). If you had to travel outside of the house to see this rom-com, that'd be a different story.

On the day of their destination wedding on a private island in the Philippines, Tom (Josh Duhamel) and Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) get into an argument and step away from the wedding party. Just in time, too, as a group of pirates arrive and take everyone hostage.

Shotgun Wedding has a great cast and knows it, which is why the film ends with footage of everyone having a good time, shot as if it were a home video. Jennifer Coolidge plays Carol, Tom’s mom (despite only being 11 years older than he is), Lenny Kravitz plays Sean, Darcy’s rich and successful ex-fiancé, Cheech Marin plays Darcy’s father, Robert and Sônia Braga is his ex-wife, Renata. My favorite is Callie Hernandez as Darcy’s sister, Jamie. The members of the wedding party all have some good moments, particularly when they try and humanize themselves so the pirates build sympathy and don’t shoot them.

I called this a romantic comedy earlier, but this is more of an action romantic comedy, with much more emphasis on Tom and Darcy dealing with the pirates than scenes that will make your heart swoon. Maybe it’s the wibbly-wobbly chemistry between Lopez and Duhamel that prevents you from feeling the love. They’re ok together but they don’t feel like they're excited to get married. They're more like a couple who have been together for so long that they “might as well make it official”. Part of that may be intentional, as the argument that takes them away from the wedding party is about Darcy feeling uncertain about the whole thing… but tangible sparks between the leads would have elevated this film a lot.

Directed by Jason Moore, Shotgun Wedding has a decent amount of laughs. I just wish they were bigger, or that the movie felt more distinct. The action scenes, the twists, even some of the best jokes and most tender moments never make you think "I'm glad I saw this movie because I would've missed out on this joke/twist/action scene if I hadn't". The wedding is taking place in the Philippines but was shot in the Dominican Republic and the actors portraying the resort’s owners sound like they’re from… well, not the Philippines. The film is often unexpectedly violent and gruesome so I’m not even sure those who want to see lovers getting together will be 100% on board. What this movie needed to do was get way more extreme. More romance, more action or more comedy. This attempt at an even mix of all three makes for a digestible, but bland end result.

Shotgun Wedding is missing something. For the price I paid, I'm satisfied and had a decent time. It’s just that down the line, I won’t remember it. (February 14, 2023)

[europodfriends]

Europodfriends 2023!

Before we get to the meat of the matter, just a quick note to let you know that Dell has stepped back as a mod for this year due to health concerns, leaving y’all with two mods running the show, Sylvie (@thriceandonce) and Robin (@robinfai).

Next: the plan for this year is to have an in-person meet in Berlin on the weekend of October 13th - 15th, 2023! For those who have been there before, hopefully we’ll be able to rent the same place we usually do, but we shall see!

As in previous years, the meetup won’t have a flat attendance fee. We calculate the contributions based on your means, so don’t worry about not being able to afford it! And if you need extra funds to be able to attend (for travel expenses, for instance), don’t hesitate to let us know - we budget in such a way that it’s possible for europodfriends to fund your journey as well. It’s important to us to facilitate everyone’s attendance to the best of our ability.

Regarding food & drink, in 2019 we provided that for everyone out of the epf budget. We would like to be able to do that again, but that depends on how much people are able to contribute - we know the pandemic has hit a lot of us hard!

And before I forget - here’s the survey you need to fill out if you want to join us! The survey will close in one week, on February 18th, 2023.

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

For those who’ve never been to an in-person EPF meetup, or who would like a little refresher, here’s roughly what we did the last times and what we’ll likely be doing this year as well:

Friday is mostly for everyone arriving, greeting each other, hanging out, and making name badges. Very ambitious people might already be podficcing that evening, but since not everyone will have arrived yet, we don’t schedule anything specific for that day.

Saturday morning there’s a meeting where everyone introduces themselves “formally” with names and pronouns. This is also when we do pitch ‘n’ pod - in short, everyone who wants to gets a few minutes to talk about a fandom and a fic in that fandom that they want to podfic at the meetup, and afterwards everyone can sign up to the podfics they want to be a part of. Saturday evening might be another scheduled event organised by attendees - in past years we’ve had a video call with Podfication, or a game of “Guess That Voice”, or watch parties, for example - but that part is up to y’all: if you want to organise something, get in touch so we can figure out the scheduling and planning!

Sunday morning we’ve done a big, fun multivoice with everyone participating the last two times, and that would certainly be fun to do again - 2018 we did Earth Is Space Australia (and Chuck Norris Isn’t A Man With A Beard. He’s A Beard With A Man) and 2019 we did I Has a Sweet Potato. After that, people start leaving as their travel plans call for.

Throughout the three days, there’s a lot of podficcing happening at all hours of day and night - the EPF collections on AO3 should give you some idea!

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

We know that by virtue of going back to an in-person meetup, some of you who joined us in 2020 and 2022 will not be able to come hang out with us again, which really sucks! Unfortunately we don’t have the capacity to organise a virtual meetup in addition to the in-person one, and past years show that none of us really spend a lot of time online during the weekend, so having that run parallel wouldn’t work either. However, if anyone wants to start their own virtual podfic meetup, get in touch with us! We’re happy to share our experiences with running EPF 2020 & 2022 as well as do lots of promo.

Like in the past few years, we will mostly be updating you via email, but we’ll also try to crosspost to Dreamwidth, Twitter, and tumblr, life and time permitting. If you want to make sure to stay up to date, contact us via DMs on any of the usual social medias, Discord, or email us at europodfriends at gmail to be added to the mailing list!

[hanarchy]

Hi friends, I illegally logged into tumblr on my work computer on the first working day of 2023 specifically to make this post properly. I don't have a good computer and I simply could not do this on my phone.

Ok, Time to get emo :)

I discovered SKZ at the end of last year, I personally date my anniversary to somewhere between December 29th 2021 and January 2nd 2022. It's a good thing too because I get overemotional at the end of the year anyway and now I can just schedule all my gratitude and emo times at the same time.

I want to start from the beginning bc the only reason 2022 was a good year for me was this discovery. this is a bit of recap for me because I wanted to do it. If you're tagged in it it means that you played a part in my year and meant something to me. Feel free to only read your little paragraphs (or nothing at all, theres no obligation), this is bound to get unspeakably long.

first, I want to give a quick shout out to the people I started talking to/followed more recently @hyunpic (I haven's checked twitter today, did hyunjin kill you yet or did he get all of that out of the way in 2022?) @mybodyfails (did u ever listen to stromae?) @jisungsjaistandjeekies (how was the first day of your new job?) The best thing about getting another year on tumblr is the promise of getting to know you all more <3

@quokki you were literally the first person I ever followed for stray kids content. It was around february, when I looked for fanart for the first time and reactivated my twitter and I found your hannies. It took a little longer but I'm so glad we are friends now. I really love our chats/meltdowns abt hanji and you're incredibly talented and kind and also just correct abt a lot of stuff lmao

@alexenglish alex, I know we don't talk that much but you were the first person to really talk to me abt k-pop stuff and I will never forget that. I also cannot thank you enough for showing me rolling quartz and for reading the stupid thing that i wrote that one time. it seems trivial but i literally do not show anyone my writing ever and anytime I do and it's a good experience it makes me a little braver so thank you, seriously. and also thank you for sticking around even when I'm a dick

my first comeback in march was soso special because I had people to freak out with. I was in Ireland at the time and even hough I was brand new in online stayville I felt a lot less alone than I could've.

in april i started talking to @sailsflyseaward but I honestly can't believe it has only been 9 months. We've met 3! times since then and you're already one of my most precious online friends and I feel like I've known you way longer. I have to try very hard to stay cynical and not believe in fate and the universe being a good place when I think about how we could've just never met.

I was EXHAUSTED the first 4 months of this year, I hated most of it. I turned 30 in april, i had been to ireland and to the north sea on vacation in march and april but all of it felt hollow and exhausting and terrible. In germany we say that may makes everything anew and it certainly was true for me this year. I planned a trip to toronto, I got a raise, I got to see mamamoo, ive and a bunch of others live and i spoke a little to so so many sweet people.

@nevoono who makes literally the cutest fucking things ever and was my first german k-pop friend ever and also is just... really cool in such a unique way. idk I'm sorry I'm terrible at keeping up.

to @ambivartence who I don't talk to a ton but who also is literally the coolest artist alive and made me feel very happy to know that others also travel very far to see their groups. I stare at your paintings so much, i honestly should not admit it but there's just always so much to see.

and to @pvddins-art who is one of the sweetest and kindest and most generous people I've ever met, which is a high bar because I use those words for a lot of people, but for you they are more true than for anyone.

getting to go to a k-pop festival in germany as my first experience was so good too. I really had no idea what it means to ba a k-pop fan and the whole community and culture and incredible vibes around it when you're there in person. I had a very exhausting day and it was hot as hell and I had a migraine after but it was all worth it

interlude because I don't remember when I started talking to you:

@brianbangs tay my sweetheart, i love you so much. you're just one of the people who get it. like. idk, it's hard for me to put into words properly but you get it when I'm being a hater and you get it when I'm being emotional and you get it when I'm being horny and you accept all of it. I also think you're really fucking creative and talented and I love being here with you so much

then june came and it was one of my best months ever ever. I went to another festival and got to relive the music I loved as a teen. seeing the strokes 16 years after I was a fan made me cry a lot lol. I went to see my favorite people alive @starmotions, @fromadifferentphase (and the third one who is missing but u know who u are) in toronto. and I do mean this literally you're my favorites. I'm the most me when I'm with you, I think of everyone who knows me no one knows me so completely. there isn't anyone I share more parts of myself with. the 1 week I just got to hang out with you was so incredibly precious to me, it made me power through most of the rest of the year. moments of joy! I got to see toronto and got to spend time with people I love. one of my friends came all the way from salt lake city just to see me.

then I went to new york and now there's a long ass list coming because 1. it was the first time I met my beloved julia, 2. it was when i met my beloved kay 3. i got to travel with my beloved di and we got to explore new york and eat so many tacos and learn about queer art and history and also it was when I met both

@chanstopher and @lonelystreetlight and I'm puting you both in the same paragraph bc I started talking to both of you at the same time and also discovered that we're literally the same tumblr user, I cannot believe that I found the old 1D crowd again and the old glee crowd AND even the old starkid people. ok, I had to google the songs from the space tour just now but it's insane that I could text someone about both status quo by starkid AND zone by 3racha.

and lastly it was OF COURSE when i fucking saw fucking stray kids in fucking person (sorry) I was so numb from everything going on, and from the heat and from newark airport that I didn't even cry but looking back on it I honestly can't even begin to believe how lucky I was to be able to do all of that in just one month.

july was the month I went to see harry styles (meh) and hang out with an old friend because of it (yay) and I have literally nothing else in my calender for the entire month but I know I was a bit stressed. however I don't think it was a terrible time.

In august I went to the south of germany on vacation to celebrat my moms birthday, we went to the opera outdoors and I felt extremely fancy the entire time and also saw so many flowers. then we started the stayblr discord.

@snug-gyu @hanjesungs @ggthydrangea @littleclouds @shmalll @babychicklix and everyone else in there! I am so glad it's a space to hang out and message each other and talk about skz. I know I left very quickly (unfortunately group situations are terrible for my mental health and I felt very bad very quickly) but I still got to start chatting with so many cool people and I'm always so happy that we did that.

@bangchanies king of the dumpster that is new jersey, my absolute favorite eyeshadow model and another one of the bitches that just get it, u know? you just get what I'm trying to say and I am grateful to have you to text when I want to be annoying. (you're also secretly incredibly sweet and I think you're honestly just a very kind and empathetic person and i would be sadder without you but i will not tell anyone that you're secretly nice)

@cheekyquokka even though you're not IN the server, I feel like we started really talking around the same time so you're getting put in here as well. you're so generous and sweet to your friends, I remember the surprise and amazement from both bee and ale at the packages you sent them, you're such a great fucking mutual to have because you know yourself and you make really cool gifs, every time one of yours comes across my dash i know it. idek why. anyway, thank you <3

around september was when I finally started the group chat and seven made it complete, so here comes that bit. I needed to make sure you all know how much you mean to me.

@bourgeoix I swear in some off-kilter way we are soulmates. you make both my fandom brain and the little kid that didn't know popstars but could draw the shape of gorbachevs blood spot feel at home. you're soooo fucking smart and we have like debated moral philosophy and learning and reasoning styles at length so I won't go into it but it's one of those amazing fated coincidences that we both befriended seven and then each other. you think it's cool that I live near to Olaf Scholz's barbershop. you're my favorite of all the nerds. I could read the stuff you write for years and years and never get bored. I need to eat your brain (as jace or seven would say) and I love that we get to be both smart and very very very dumb together.

@hyumjim I honestly cannot top what mel said but you're like. my only grown up friend. You genuinely have a patience and kindness with people that is really hard to find. I know you don't show this to everyone but it makes me all the more grateful that I get to experience it. you're also insane. when seven first added you to the gc I had sth to say that felt really crazy to me and was nervous in front of you and seven said 'emily is also insane' and so i posted it in the gc and now we're friends. i don't remember what it was but you gave great advice and i sort of feel like we disagree and fight in all the ways that makes a relationship better and you make me insecure but in a fun way. you're a huge hater and yet you genuinely love people and humanity more than most people alive. thank you for listening to me.

@jellino jace idek how to describe you but you're like....... my little brother but not in a lame way. you're also older than me in some ways. idk, I just love how much you love stuff. I love how sure you are of what you're not, even while always wondering what you are. I think of you so much when I see sea creatures and ice age characters and dumb stuff. the other day I saw a squirrel irl and i thought 'I have to send this to jace' bc it reminded me of scrat from ice age. i cannot look at a penguin without thinking about you. I don't think I'll ever go to a zoo and not think of you. I also am always hoping that you are ok, that you find your way, that you know I'm happy and proud to know you...

@bewby my love. seven. I think it will never not be complicated how much I love you because I want you to be ok so bad. but it doesn't matter if you are or not for me to love you a whole lot. you're so funny and so smart and I say neither of these things lightly, like you have such a quick wit and you want everyone to be ok so bad and you love people so much and i hope that some day you will know that it is enough and you are enough. meeting you that one time was so fun, like we literally did not need more than a half hour to find sooo much stuff to talk about. I love having a german kpoppie friend, I love your tender heart, I love how understanding you are! I hope you know how much!

honestly it's all 4 of you that got me through fall and winter so far, it's venting and bitching and joking and writing insanely long messages to you that make me feel like a human instead of a gremlin. It's knowing that you like me and think I'm someone you want to listen to. You mean so much to me, I can never pay that back.

so much happened in my personal k-pop world in october PLUS most of my friends had their birthdays too so it was a bit stressful and it ended with my great uncle dying but i did get to see my old friends and family, so it was good in the end.

november was cold and dark as always but i got to feel so much warmth in scotland, just spending a few days going to museums and coffeeshops and nothing else and then seeing my love julia for the scond time, learning about history and eating pies. then I went to london to see @sunflowercocoa again after 5 fucking years and it was so much fun. I know you know how much I love you, I had such a good time, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for making me leave the house, thank you for being generous and fun and spending time with me. I know you're strong enough to get through the next year or so and I know you're gonna be so happy and so successful and you have a great life ahead. I know you're not here much anymore and that it kind of annoys you but you were a big part of this year and this is like my diary at this point tbh.

i also met @geniaparadox my homie and so much fun to hang out with. honestly our day together kind of made me wish i could've gotten to hang out with you in high school, i feel like we would have been friends. thank you for talking to me abt how underrated felix is and for looking at the bts stuff in hmv and despair because being a k-pop fan in europe is very sad and for buying japanese tea and just being cool. i am so happy that you get to not go back to that job

december was november but worse but I started it off sososo well, seeing julia the 3rd time and going to nuremberg and munich and being slightly tipsy at the christmas market everywhere and going swing dancing for the first time and trying so many fun food and drink things. It was a sad and anxiety-inducing month because so many people I know were ill or dying but in the end we mostly made it through and I am grateful. I got to spend the end of the year surrounded by babies and puppies and it felt good to not have to deal with grown-up things for a few days and just play.

[forfoxessake]

February (2023)

A good month over all, I spent half of it travelling abroad and still managed to come across good things with the time that I had. 

I saw 5 movies this month, finished reading 2 books (I’m currently reading 7 and I’m listening to a radioplay).   I just noticed that I have yet to go to the cinema this year, but I want to fix that as soon as possible.

Ghost World (2001) - I somehow missed out on this film while growing up, I do get why it wasnt so easily available, there’s some difficult subjects in there, but I think my teenage self would have found something important here. And I miss Thora Birch 

Tuesday (2015) - “Aftersun” Charlotte Wells is just as brilliant in a ten-minute short and I don't know why I'm surprised.

Apollo: Missions to the Moon (2019) -  I like all things space and I love documentaries, and even the whole moon race thing, but this was not a great one.

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) - I like Daisy Edgar-Jones a lot and she deserved better than this film that just slowly goes nowhere. 

Unpregnant (2020) -  Two girls who used to be close friends reconnect on a road trip where the goal is an abortion. It's not your usual coming-of-age story but it's an important one that needs to be represented just as much as anything else. Haley and Barbie do a great job of having enough chemistry to carry us on this emotional but also fun-crazy-political ride.

...

Dial A for Aunties by   Jesse Q. Sutanto - I have a feeling that some books from the romance contemporary genre are writen as if people are expecting it to become a rom-com movie. Some of the plot is clearly meant to be watched, not read, and it makes it boring, which was really sad in this since the first 100 pages are really interesting and different from the usual. 

Twelfth Night -  William Shakespeare - I have been following an youtuber Shakespeare challenge and now that we are almost over I don’t think I want to keep it up, it’s been fun, specially when so many plot points are easily reconizable from inumerals references in every media ever since, but it’s also been a while since I was hooked by one of his plays, peharps the best is behind us now. 

...

I finished What We do In The Shadows - season 04, it was absolutely perfect, not a single episode out of place, it left me wanting more and I love that they always manage to keep the plot in focus and move the story fowards.

I’m still halfway through Andor, I’m moving slow, it’s an universe I love and I like that it’s more serious and complex than anything else in Star Wars but I’m having a hard time focusing on it.

Doom Patrol is another one I’m moving slowly, still 6 more episodes until the end of the 1st season, and I’m truly enjoying it, the characters, the crazy plots and this universe that is so funny sometimes that I can’t believe this is not bigger. 

...

Albums

Turnstile - Glow On has been a favorite this month, they didn’t win a Grammy but they were my favorite out of all the nominees this year. 

Songs 

Tragician - Frank Iero and The Cellabration - the album version and this acoustic perfomance on the link that I wish was an official recording too.

[rabbitcruiser]

Cholame, CA

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor with a career that lasted five years. He is regarded as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956).

Dean died in a car crash in 1955 and became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden. He received a second nomination for his role in Giant the following year, making him the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

On September 30, as the group [James Dean,  Bill Hickman,  Sanford Roth and Rolf Wütherich] was driving westbound on U.S. Route 466 (currently SR 46) near Cholame, California, at approximately 5:45 p.m., a 1950 Ford Tudor, driven by 23-year-old California Polytechnic State University student Donald Turnupseed, was travelling east. Turnupseed made a left turn onto Highway 41 headed north, toward Fresno ahead of the oncoming Porsche. Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the passenger side of the Ford, resulting in Dean's car bouncing across the pavement onto the side of the highway. Dean's passenger, Wütherich, was thrown from the Porsche, while Dean was trapped in the car and sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck. Turnupseed exited his damaged vehicle with minor injuries.

An inquest placed fault for the accident entirely with Dean. There is a James Dean monument, financed by a Japanese businessman, in front of the former Cholame post office (which closed in 1994) and a restaurant (until its closure in 2022), one half-mile from the site of the accident.

Source: Wikipedia

[bringmoresorrows]

Life Update

It's been a long time since I posted a life update. Lots of new things has happened in my life especially since i haven't updated in a year. Last year, I got myself into a situationship with this guy I became really close to really quickly and broke up with my ex of 4 years. We were dating from 2018-2022. Wow. A lot of things happened between my ex and I thankfully nothing traumatizing between us but we were falling out of love a year before the break up. As it got closer and closer to the end, I felt nothing to my ex. I was sick of how my ex constantly made me feel guilty for being myself. Plus my ex was transphobic and homophobic. Theres reasons for it as she came out as trans after we broke up. She never wanted to go out on dates with me, we stayed in the house and she didn't want to get to know my friend until like the week before we broke up. We had an apartment for a week and a half last April because the landlord said it was okay that we had the ferret then last minute they pulled back saying "nah get rid of the ferret" so we left. But it took a lot of me arguing with her for her to stand up to the landlord as my name wasn't on the lease, her name was. After that, anything i felt towards her was gone. I moved in with my parents in July and that was when my situationship with my friend started.

My heart was broken around September/October and I quickly moved onto someone new. But in between, I had no place to live aside form my parents couch and all my stuff was in storage. I even lost my ferret. My ex kept her. I got promoted to manager at my workplace and got a 2% pay increase which landed me at $20/hr where I was working 34-36 hrs a week and towards the holiday season after working 40-42 hrs a week. So I was bringing home a lot of money and had zero bills. I started building up my savings and come October, I moved in with two of my friends.

October was an interesting month last year, we had no furniture and we couldn't afford anything as we just dumped our savings into this place. It's a three bedroom apartment with 1.5 bathrooms. We have an in house washer and dryer and a dishwasher. It was awesome! We have so much space. The friend group kept making plans at my place and a few things led to another and that situationship friend and I broke things off. Mid october, I started talking to this guy over instagram. And we started hitting it off a lot. Turns out, my guy roommate and him are *best friends* so for our halloween party, he came on over! He lives a few boroughs away so its a 3 hour travel to his place and a 3 hour travel to mine. So 6 hrs total. So he came over the 30th and left November 1st. I got so drunk on the 31st and stuff happened between us before we were dating which is kinda another first for me as we just met in person for the first time. But the first time I did stuff with someone I wasn't dating was the situationship.

Come november, we start dating. Our relationship has been a bit rocky as we jumped into a new relationship and I was very much still hurt over the situationship and didn't want to admit it til a few months back. Plus living on my own has only amped up my mental health issues. I started my ed habits back up hard and lost 20 lbs in 2 months. I gained half of that back but its been hard.

January comes around and my ex tells me she cant house our ferret anymore so I was given the ferret <3. Bless.

February comes and my ferret gets very sick, throwing up for three days straight so we take her to the emergency vet and it helped her out a bunch <3

March comes and my mental health takes a worse turn.

April I have zero memories, In may my birthday happens. It was awesome! The friend group and I plus my bf + my sister go mini golfing! June nothing isolated. July: my internet friend from norway comes to visit and wow did it hit the roof. One thing led to another and they guilt trip me hard and gaslight me into thinking *i'm the crazy one* and I wind up having a severe mental break down where I attempted suicide. I also left the friend group. A day later my boyfriend calls me and gives me an ultimatum and tells me really harsh things to me which led me to crying for days and crying through a whole work shift (8 hours)

August comes and my depression is so severe, I wind up reaching out to a therapist and my pcp to start medication. Ella, my ferret, also has some more health issues showing up. Her tail has been losing fur for some time and her ears are getting backed up with ear wax. She wound up getting diagnosed with Adrenal Gland Disease. ;-;.

September; this month; comes around and therapy has been working and so has the meds. My relationship with my partner is getting a lot better and Ella is doing good too. She got her implant for Adrenal Disease this month. I've just been really tired ngl. Like very tired. But my house is getting decorated for halloween and its great!

Things are going really well for me and the people I used to miss I dont miss anymore. They didn't want me in their life then so be it. That's their problems. There was someone I named dropped a long time ago but I dont miss you anymore. You left my life and made it clear you never gave a fuck about me and only yourself. Goodbye to you. And to the other friends that bridges were burned, fuck it. I let go of it. I need to focus on myself and grow.

Next year around this time I will be moving in with my boyfriend and away from this borough where everyone knows each other. It will be rough to be in a more city based area. Its still a bit suburban but its very much on top of each other. I'm excited for it. I'm excited for the future that I'm going to have. I'm excited for the future with out the things that are holding me back.

[beardedmrbean]

All the newspapers cover the death of a Finnish volunteer in Ukraine, but Helsingin Sanomat was first with the news after speaking with Tiina Soini from the Nordic Combat Medics' group, which is active in Ukraine.

The paper reported that a man aged under 30 has died in eastern Ukraine, after travelling from Finland and serving for more than a year in a combat medics' unit and as a soldier at the front.

The man had arrived in Ukraine soon after the Russian assault began in February 2022, and was one of the longest-serving Finnish volunteers in the conflict.

He had served with a unit of Finns evacuating soldiers and civilians from the hottest conflict zones, and had been in Bakhmut when fighting there was at its fiercest.

His family have requested his identity not to be published, and asked for privacy while they grieve.

Pekka's presidential pace-setting

Ilta-Sanomat has another poll on next year's presidential election, and it is good news for the early front-runner, Pekka Haavisto (Green).

The election will go to a second round, unless one candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round. IS asked respondents about several different second-round matchups, and found that Haavisto won against all his likely opponents.

Bank of Finland governor Olli Rehn (Cen) and foreign policy expert Mika Aaltola did best in the poll, both securing the support of 35 percent of respondents. Neither has declared their candidacy yet.

Finns Party figurehead Jussi Halla-aho (25 percent) did slightly better than outgoing SDP Prime Minister Sanna Marin (24 percent).

Haavisto was preferred by more than fifty percent of respondents in all possible matchups except that with political newcomer Aaltola, in which the split was 49-35.

IS also has a story on Aaltola's latest column in the Apu magazine, which suggests Finland needs a "defensive corridor" along the eastern border. This would not just be a fence, according to Aaltola, but a zone where the economy and vitality of communities close to Russia was maintained and improved.

Improved economies and infrastructure would offer another level of defence against Russia, after the collapse of cross-border trade and tourism left many places in eastern Finland struggling financially.

Investing in those areas, along with Åland and northern Finland, was a national security issue, according to Aaltola.

Tampere housing glut

Aamulehti has a look at the housing market and, for sellers, it's not great news. Last year the Oikotie website had some 40 percent more properties for sale in April this year than April the year before.

New-build properties are especially common at the moment, according to AL. Some 15 of those properties had asking prices of more than a million euros, and according to building trade figures, the supply of new apartments has now clearly outstripped demand.

The supply is expected to continue to grow this year, before declining next year as projects are finished. Few new constructions are starting in the city.

Smaller apartments are the most difficult to sell at the moment, as investors have largely withdrawn from the market and are unlikely to return while interest rates remain above the 2-2.5 percent mark.

[kiiiiiim]

I posted 6,938 times in 2022

369 posts created (5%)

6,569 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ostropest

@lesbeanactivity

@elytrians

@midnightdreamerposts

@secretlystephaniebrown

I tagged 4,677 of my posts in 2022

Only 33% of my posts had no tags

#supergirl - 558 posts

#katie mcgrath - 527 posts

#supercorp - 326 posts

#365days - 130 posts

#spotify - 102 posts

#it me - 99 posts

#uquiz - 98 posts

#text post - 94 posts

#a league of their own - 89 posts

#aloto - 83 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#or nia hugging kara on the ship and being all 🥺 i missed you so much i love you but where the hell are your bangs dreamer didnt dream this

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hi! Are you still doing that 5 sentences prompt thing? 🙂

I'd like to suggest supercorp + puddle

(These sentences are so long and I cheated with excessive commas but this was fun anyway here you go first writing challenge of 2022 yayyyy)

She hears a shriek from outside, shrill and high-pitched, like a seagull's cry carried on the wind - her drink steams lazily in the intimate dusk of their usual coffeehouse; across the table, a second cup of something overly sweet and loaded with calories sits half-finished, whipped cream topping rapidly deflating in the handmade glazed ceramic mug - Kara said she'd only be a minute, some minor accident half a block away she'd wanted to check in on and Lena had waved her away with a smile, go on, I've got some light reading to catch up on, yes I will order another sprinkled donut for the table for when you get back, love. Another scream pierces the air and Lena's eyes dart around the immediate area looking for its source, the first syllable of her girlfriend's alter ego already on her lips when she swivels her head towards the window and stops mid-word - there she is - Supergirl, Kara, in the middle of the street standing next to a blown fire hydrant that definitely had been in perfect working order five minutes earlier on this sweltering summer day, a thick jet of water shooting up into the air like National City's own miniature Old Faithful - a herd of small children dancing around her in the falling mist. Kara's suit is drenched, hair plastered to her cheeks and neck, but her smile is a mile wide as she chases the kids in circles, makes an exaggerated jump, and bright red boots send a puddle of ice cold water spraying those unfortunate (or fortunate depending on who you asked) enough to be caught in the splash zone. She throws her head back in a fit of laughter, so full of life and happiness and pure joy that it makes Lena's heart swell with a wave of love that feels as if it might burst at any moment. She cups her jawline with one hand and rests an elbow on the table, coffee and tablet completely forgotten - work can wait, she thinks, and watches her beautifully glowing puddle jumper instead.

108 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

#4

I'm rewatching The Good Place and a criminally underrated moment for me is when Michael gives Jeff the frog thermos and Jeff's face just lights up because... FROG. THAT'S A FROG. LOOK AT THAT GREEN FROG HE'S A JUMPER YOU CAN TELL. And it's such a small gesture but it made someone so happy and yes I know this is fiction but God small acts of kindness really just do it for me it's all about the act the thought the selflessness give someone a frog today please I assure you won't regret it.

167 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

#3

220 notes - Posted February 20, 2022

#2

For the ship and prompt 5 sentence fic: Supercorp + travel :)

You said 5 paragraphs right?

Kara flies her to the ends of the Earth every night that first month.

They dine on the very best dishes in every bustling city from Metropolis to Madrid, watch the sun rise over the rolling hills of Dublin and set under the Caribbean's diamond-scattered horizon. She takes her deep into uncharted lands, virgin and untouched by humanity until their bodies christen the ground with first footsteps, picking stones and pebbles as they walk hidden beaches away from prying eyes, laying on their backs atop ancient ruins together, rough with weather-worn edges and divits that brand Lena's soft human skin as they talk about nothing and everything. Kara flies her above the clouds only to descend into a storm, and Lena learns the taste of warm rainwater on Kara's skin as their clothes soak through in seconds. Argo is lovely and perfect, and when Allura pulls her aside to whisper, you make her so happy, Lena is not ashamed to cry in her arms and reply, I have never been so happy in all my life, all I want is to make her feel that way too.

Kara smiles and tilts her head one night, after everything has gone quiet and they both can rest, so, where do you wanna go now? Lena slowly steps into her arms, brushes both thumbs across the apples of her cheeks, buries her fingers in blonde-streaked hair and rests her forehead against hers, warm breath mingling together in a dizzying haze. Lena murmurs, smiles when Kara's fingertips tremble on the nape of her neck,

"Here."

Afterwards, Kara hovers atop her body, sweetly kisses her down from on high, whispers gently, "I want to give you everything, be everything you never had. I want you to know how loved you are, Lena. I want... I want to take you to worlds you've never known."

And Lena pulls her down, wraps her arms around sweat-slicked skin, nuzzles into Kara's neck until she finds the sensitive patch just below her ear, kisses and kitten licks until all the breath leaves Kara's lungs in a strangled exhale.

Lena smiles. "Oh, Kara," she says, "You already have."

255 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

557 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[ae-diaries]

2022 in REVIEW

Had this in my drafts for so long. I'm a list-type-of-girl so I listed what God has done in the past year. Para mayroon din naman akong good memories and lessons na babalikbalikan. Now, I finally have the time to post it.

My birth month is already over. It became my favorite tradition to write my year-end reflections but I didn't have time doing this last December to February because I put my focus and energy on my loved ones, constants, and work.

Looking back, 2022 was tough, but I was tougher. It wasn't easy. At least for me. Madami akong iniiyak sa year na ito: my family's health issues, quarter-life crisis, and silent battles. They were too much to handle. Yet in those unbearably hard times, I never give up and lose hope knowing that God was holding the other end of the rope. Indeed, it has always been His grace and the people He used that saved and buoyed me to the surface that I will always be immensely grateful for.

Despite the stormy sea, God has won more victories in my life through and through. Those tough times gave me the opportunity to exercise my tenacity and draw me closer to God.

I LEARNED na may baon pa pala akong lakas kahit feeling ko ubos na ubos na ako, may bigla na lang dumarating na tulong at malasakit kapag feeling mo walang wala ka na at may Diyos na yayakapin ka at hindi ka pababayaan kapag feeling mo hindi mo na kaya.

I REALIZED that uncertainties will come along the way, but one thing is certain - He is always faithful to his promises. And that's what I want to fix my eyes on this 2023: the lens of 3Gs (Gratitude and God's Grace).

Ended the year with inner peace and gratitude.

I could say lahat ng pagsubok na pinagdaanan ko at ng pamilya ko ay may magandang kapalit. Photos (with caption) below wrapped up the higlights of my 2022. #SKL 😜

1. TATAY'S HOSPITALIZATION

(Me in the photo..after humagulhol to surrender Tatay's condition to Jesus...and to his doctors.)

The first quarter was truuuuly a turbulent period for our family. I was drowning in fear because of so many terrifying episodes during my father's hospitalization. And the worst part of it is when the doctors offered immediate intubation for tatay on the night of Feb. 13 because of his decrease in sensorium. At this moment, I exploded in tears as I/we prayed and surrendered his condition to Jesus. But what happened next was a testament of God's miracle: Tatay slowly opened his eyes a few hours before his intubation! Truth be told, you will never know that God is all you need, when God is all you have. Sa panahong hopeless kana, dito mo malalamang may Diyos ka nga pala na kumikilos. You just have to place your full trust and faith in Him. He is way maker, promise keeper and miracle worker. I also met the best and the most compassionate doctors He used as instruments.

It's humbling to say that serving my father is what I considered my biggest achievement in 2022. Nothing else comes close.

It was also in this season that my elder sister and her fam abroad got Covid-19. But then again, they made it through by God's grace.

2. ELYU TRAVEL

In April, a week after my father was discharged, I went on an unexpected solo trip to SFLU out of necessity. I felt God also brought me here to breathe, clear my mind off things, calm my storms, and somehow, reward me for what I'd been through. Dasurv? 😂

3. BABY MEGAN WAS BORN

3. In July 21, my sister gave birth to Baby Megan, my third niece. She's a rainbow baby. A new bundle of joy to our ever growing family.

However, it was also the month where Tatay got Covid-19 and I fell ill, too. My anxiety was kicking in again, but later on I realized, "Kelan ba kami pinabayaan ng Dyos?" He has always been faithful to us. We wouldn't survive this without Him.

4. THE RETURN OF F2F CLASSES

And then come August, the return of F2F classes. I feel blessed to have met a new breed of awesome learners under my care. They have brought context to my world.

5. A MASTER'S DEGREE HOLDER

And I never thought that despite my busyness and clutter at work, I would be able to have my thesis completed and finally received my master's degree at the Philippine Christian University at the same time. One for the books!

6. ALYESSA'S MILESTONE

In the same month, Alyessa, my younger sister, finally started her career abroad. I couldn't be more proud of her milestone. Pautang naman sis. 😂

7. BABY GIA'S CHRISTENING & 1ST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

We also celebrated baby Gia's (my second adorable niece) first birthday and christening last September. It was way memorable! (without lockdown and less restrictions, too)

8. ONE OF MY BIGGEST DREAMS WAS GRANTED!

Last October 24, I received an email - this I considered an early xmas gift from God - an answered prayer that I'd been longing to hear! All of my efforts and hardwork were all worth it.

9. A WELL-SPENT FAMILY VACATION

And last December became one of the most memorable Year-End parties we had in our fam. Plus, my eldest sister and her fam had finally spent their Christmas vacation in PH after 13 years. Everything was surreal. ❤️ Grateful is an understatement.

An dami kong drama, nag-bday lang naman ako. 😅

My wish? I didn't have anything in particular because all of the things that I'm experiencing right now are my answered prayers in the past. I put 2023 in Your hands.

#HERYear #Januarygirl #post-bday

[takeoffphilippines]

5 Things Why I Love to Stay in Belmont Hotel Manila (Win a Staycation Promo)

Holidays are almost approaching, and as we relax travel restrictions in the country, we are eager to #travelagain, either locally or internationally. If you want a comfortable staycation near the airport with minimal hassle in commuting, I recommend staying at the Belmont Hotel Manila.

Come spend the weekend with us at the Belmont Hotel Manila for a relaxed staycation. I'VE LISTED 5 REASONS WHY I PREFER STAYING AT BELMONT HOTEL that I believe you should consider as well, so let's get started:

1. Room is cozy and clean 

What better way to enjoy your stay is to have a comfortable room where you could just roll over the bed, sip a coffee with a good scenic view of the airport, and enjoy a cold bath with this cutie dog towel. 

2. Near the airport (NAIA Terminal 3) 

Not far from the Hotel, around 4 to 5 mins walk, individuals and/or travelers have an access to Runway Manila, a bridge connecting from Newport City to NAIA T3 and vice versa that helps incoming and outgoing passengers to lessen travel time. 

3. Great Food from Breakfast to Dinner 

Belmont Hotel is accessible for cheap and affordable foods since there are fast food chain and restaurants near them. But, if you feel like trying  their dinner buffet which happens to be during Friday and weekends you could. We tried their buffet breakfast was superb, love the taho there. 

 4. Awesome Customer Service 

Its not just the property that makes Belmont Hotel  remarkable, its the kindness and courteous staff of them that will make you #comehomeagain in this place. 

5. Feel the Party Vibe

Whenever you are, Belmont hotel wants you to feel at home. By means of it, its not just peaceful in-house spa and massage but also a millennial pool party that both young and young at heart could enjoy. 

Unfortunately, the rains starts earlier than expected but hey, i just like the roof deck pool set-up on it. 

Exclusive Special Promo Codes for Take Off PH Followers

Start your year 2023 with a positive outlook! Stay at Belmont Hotel Manila and use our special promo codes 'TAKEOFFPH' and 'TAKEOFFPHFAMILY' for exclusive room rate discounts for Superior Room and Family Room. 

Use "TAKEOFFPH" to get the Promo Rate of 4,000 for a Superior Room 

Use "TAKEOFFPHFAMILY" to get the Promo Rate of 7,500 for a Family Room 

How to Book:

Visit www.belmonthotelmanila.com

Click 'Book Now' button

Click your check in and check out date

Enter 'TAKEOFFPH' or 'TAKEOFFPHFAMILY' in the Special Code field

Click 'Continue' 

This special offer is valid for stays from December 2022 to March 2023.

Join our #BestStaycationEver Promo in collaboration with Belmont Hotel Manila Giveaway

Simply follow the steps to join the staycation promo giveaway:

Follow Take Off Philippines and Belmont Hotel Manila Facebook Page

Share this blogpost and get creative with your caption while answering the question: “What’s your Best Staycation would look like?”

Use the hashtag while sharing the blogpost: #TakeOffPH, #BelmontHotelManila, and #BestStaycationEver.

Get more shares and likes for more chances of being selected on our lucky draw until January 31, 2023.

Announcement of winner for the lucky draw will be set on February 3, 2023 (Friday)

Get a chance to be a winner of either Staycation or a Dinner Buffet at Belmont Hotel Manila

1 Winner of Overnight Stay in Superior Room for 2 at Belmont Hotel Manila with Breakfast Buffet for 2

1 Winner of Dinner Buffet for 2 at Café Belmont

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