#but of course i had to include THE picture

[f1fantasys]

Miami GP

Part 1 - Wish you could stay.

Lando and Y/N are fwb, so a lot of smut, slight angst, and of course part 2 will be THE WIN, which I'm still not over!! Someone pinch me! If you have any requests for what I should include please leave a comment!

Warmings - smut, unprotected sex, p in v, female/male head, swearing.

Miami GP. One of the most exciting races of the season. Being an F1 influencer and social media persona, this was once of the races in the year that had so much hype built around it. From the celebrities, to the many events unfolding before the actual race, it wasn't one to miss. This time you'd been invited by Charlotte Tilbury to campaign for the F1 Academy Race, and you couldn't have had a prouder moment - rooting for the girls!

You'd arrived yesterday and went straight into an event with the girls of the F1 Acedemy as well as some of the girlfriends of the drivers.

This morning you were woken up by a message by none other than Lando Norris. You were friendly with a lot of the drivers and their partners, but Lando was special to you. You instantly shared a bond and six months ago, things changed. You became friends with benefits. Of course you were always aware of your lingering crush on Lando, and you often got inclines from him that he felt the same way, but you both were too scared to risk your friendship. So you chose the next best thing - getting close to each other without feelings - or so you thought.

Being in a situation-ship like this with Lando was exhilarating. He was one of the most handsome people you'd known, and he was ever the gentleman, Except for when he fucked you ;) He was fun, and cocky, and boy did he know how to make you feel good. And vise-visa - you made him feel equally as good and there were days when you couldn't go a day without being joined by the hip. You simply couldn't get enough of each other.

One rule though - just sex. No sleeping over. No spending the night. It was down to business and then leave.

That was the part that was becoming harder and harder with each passing day. Watching him get up and leave after giving you the most intoxicating orgasms, and then meeting the next day around friends pretending nothing was going on.

You'd last seen Lando two weeks ago in Monaco - the only thing getting you spending two weeks apart were your regular face-time hookups. Him telling you how down and dirty he would get on you if you were together, and you telling him how you'd get him off.

So - back to today. You read his text :

Lan <3

''Touchdown in Miami baby. When am I seeing you?''

You couldn't help but smile at his message. Your body has been aching for his touch since you last saw him, but at the same time you just missed being around him.

You replied :

''Staying at the same hotel babe. Room 402. Waiting for you''

And you attached a picture of you in bed, clearly naked.

''Fuck me'' was the reply you got.

''Trust me, I plan to'' you smiled to yourself and to replied back.

Not more than 30 minutes later and there was a knock at your door.

You'd just come out of the shower so were still wrapped in just your towel when you went to open the door.

''Fuck Y/N, trying to kill me?'' he smirked, pushing you back inside and then suddenly lifting you up and crashing the pair of you onto your bed.

You clung onto his curls, giggling, and pulled him down to your lips. You honestly could make out with him forever.

It was quickly getting heated. You opened your mouth to let him slide his tongue in when you sucked on it. Teeth were clashing. Bruises surely being left at how rough you both were being.

To Lando - he was distracting you and took this as an opportunity to rid your body of your towel.

The cool air instantly hardened your nipples as Lando took them between his fingers and pinched them, earning a moan from you.

''Missed that pretty sound baby'' he cooed as he now took one of your nipples in his mouth and sucked on it.

Your hands found his curls and pulled at them, silently begging him for more.

''Lan, please'' you breathed. ''Need more. Need you in me. Fuck please'' you whined.

He hadn't even touched your cunt yet and you were already begging for more.

''Y/N, we have the whole morning. Let me show you how much I've missed you and you pussy.

''Fuck'' was all you could mutter. Lando's dirty talk always did a number on you and got you dripping with want.

He lowered his body some more, spreading your legs wide open and kissing and licking a trail up your inner thighs.

''Fuck, Lando. Please!'' you all but screamed. You needed to feel him, now!

''Fucking hell'' he muttered. And he dove straight in. His tongue finding your clit, sucking and biting at it, giving you no time to comprehend the fact that he was finally giving you some relief.

''Shit, Y/N, so wet for me already. Can't get enough of tasting your delicious juices.'' he muttered, his tongue not giving you a chance to even think of a reply.

He soon added one, then two finger straight into your cunt. He for sure knew just how to curl them to hit the right spot. The one that had you putty in his arms. Trembling and letting out moans you were sure people over the wall could hear.

You could feel your stomach start to tighten and your walls start to clench around his fingers as he continued his slaughter with his mouth.

''Can tell you're getting close baby, go on'' he barely audibly said as you felt yourself come crashing down. Your orgasm rippling through your body as your warm juices released straight into Lando's mouth.

Your body felt limb, but Lando didn't slow his movements. This time he added a third finger into play, and as much as you loved his fingers, you still were aching to feel his cock fill you up.

''Please Lando, need to feel you in me. Please'' you begging him again.

''Fuck, angel, come here'' he said as he removed his fingered from your cunt, quickly took off his clothes, and sat against the headboard.

''Want you to ride me, please'' he begged you in return.

Lando took his painfully hard dick in his hands and pumped himself a few times, using his hand that was still slick with your juices.

You crawled up to him and sat on your knees, bending over his body. Not that you needed more lube, because you were soaking wet, but you dripped some of your spit directly on his dick. This time he was the one to moan as if his life depended on it.

You climbed onto him and pulled him in for a needy kiss. You could taste yourself as you started grinding yourself on his thigh.

''Y/N, you're incredible. The things you do to me'' he hissed so he lifted you up slightly so you could sink down on him.

As he filled you up with his whole dick, you both stayed still, giving you time to adjust to his length. He was bigger than average, and as much as you loved his cock, the first push always stung.

But soon the pleasure took over the pain, and you stared to move. Up and down. Pulling at his curls as his mouth found your boobs again and began sucking on your nipples.

''Oh my god, Lan, yes, fucking missed riding you like this. Making me feel so good. Shit'' you managed to say between breaths.

''You're so hot on face-time, but fuck me being with you like this is the best feeling ever.'' he groaned while still licking and sucking your nipples.

He started lifting himself up, meeting you half way. Slamming into you so hard you actually were seeing stars. He was reaching all the right places in your cunt and by now both of your moans were so vulgar that if people were walking past your room it must have sounded like a live porno was happening.

''Fuck Lando I'm going to cum'' and before you could even finish your sentence your orgasm came on so violently your whole body was shaking in Lando's arms.

He held you and continued searching for his own release.

''Where do you want me?'' he asked, breathlessly.

''In me, please'' you managed to whisper. Too dazed to put effort into anything you were saying.

Not a second later and Lando emptied his warm liquids in your pussy, filling you up to the brink.

As he slowed his movements he pulled you impossibly closed and hugged you tight, his dick slowly softening in you.

''Please can we just stay like his forever?'' you cooed.

He gave you a giggle and said ''you don't have to ask me twice, fucking hell. I have no words'' he said as he gently kissed you, tongue exploring your mouth as if searching for diamonds.

You don't know how long the pair of you stayed in that position. Could have been 3 minutes, could have been 30. But you needed to clean up.

You really wished that this could be forever. That he wouldn't get up and leave in a few minutes. But reality came crashing down.

As Lando pulled himself out of you you couldn't help but whimper that the loss of contact.

He quickly went to get a warm cloth to wipe you down and started putting his clothes on. While you sat there, shamelessly staring at his toned body which you just wanted to pull back into bed.

There was a sudden shift of energy in the room. Awkward almost.

''See you tonight? Planning a dinner with the guys and whoever is here'' he asked.

''Yeah, sounds good. Send me the details'' you smiled.

He got up after putting his shoes back on and reached over to give you one more quick kiss on your lips before he was out the door.

''Fuck'' you thought to yourself. ''I really am in too deep now.''

The day again was filled with multiple events and lots of food and drinks. Despite the post-sex awkwardness from this morning, Lando still regularly texted you throughout the day. At one point - he was sexting with you too. You couldn't help but flush your cheeks at his forwardness. he was getting you horny all over again.

Lan <3

''Can't wait to fill you up again tonight.'' ''Fuck, can't wait to taste you again.'' ''Can't wait to feel you clench around me again.''

You were done for. You couldn't concentrate on anything now. All you wanted to do was drag Lando back to bed.

''Fuck me Lando, stop teasing. Can't function now. All I can think about is your cock.'' you replied quickly.

''Oh yeah? Want me to fuck you senseless tonight?'' he cheekily replied.

''Yes please, desperate to feel to you fill me up again.''

This was going to be a long afternoon.

Finally as the days' events finished, you had about an hour until meeting Lando and the others for dinner.

You decided on a cotton tight white dress that showed off your ass and boobs perfectly. You knew where the night was going so you didn't wear any underwear - it wouldn't have looked nice anyways.

Just as you were finishing your makeup you phone rang. Of course it was him.

''Lan'' you answered.

''Hey babe, I''m running late, just got back to the hotel so come to my room to chill if you're ready. Leaving the door unlocked.''

Before you could even reply he put the phone down.

''Okay'' you thought to yourself. ''That wasn't weird.''

Anyways, you quickly finished you makeup and 15 minutes later you entered Lando's room.

You immediately knew he was in the shower as you heard the water running. It took everything in you to try to NOT picture him right now. Naked. Beautiful and sexy body on display. Cock spring free and throbbing, hopefully for your cunt.

''Fuck'' you though to yourself.

You tried to keep yourself busy on your phone but it wasn't helping.

Eventually you heard the water turn off and you weren't surprised when he walked out of the bathroom butt-naked.

''Hello'' he smiled innocently at you, walking towards you and pecking your cheek.

It was a few seconds before you greeted him back, too engulfed in his body no, his hard dick dancing around.

You cleared your throat. ''Hey Lan'' you tried to act causal.

''How was your day'' you eventually managed, trying to distract yourself from the dirty thoughts filling your mind.

''Ummmm, started off pretty well'' he winked at you. ''Then was boring as shit, meetings and all.'' he said as he began putting his shirt on. Cock still on display.

You were going to break - you couldn't hold it in anymore.

''Fuck Lando! What are you trying to do to me? Walking around like that. You're driving me fucking crazy and we haven't even been to dinner yet!'' you exclaimed.

''Haha, knew it wouldn't take you long to brake. Come here'' he said pulling you up.

He hugged you as tight as he could before he started leaving open-mouthed kisses along your neck.

''You'll have to suffice my lips right now, and if you behave, you can get my dick after dinner.''

You scoffed at that. ''If I behave? Remind me what you couldn't wait for earlier?'' you smirked at him.

''Whatever'' he said as his cheeks flushed pink.

He distracted you again by kissing you. Deep and hard, as if his life depended on it.

''Let's get this dinner over with so we can get back to business.''

You went down to the lobby of the hotel separately. None of your friends knew about the fact that the two of you wear having sex. The only person who did was Carmen, George's girlfriend. But you both practically threatened her with silly things if she told anyone, even George. There was no way things would be easy if everyone found out. Plus you liked having your own little bubble.

Dinner was not eventful to say the least. It was fun catching up with the girls but you really couldn't wait to be in the taxi going back to the hotel.

At some point during the dinner, Lando found himself next to you, pretending to talk about something important, but really just whispering filth in your ear.

''Please, let's go'' you practically begged him.

After a while he made up the excuse that you weren't feeling well and that he was going to take you back to the hotel.

It was a miracle no one batted an eyelid as you said your goodbyes.

His lips were on yours as soon as you were in the taxi.

No talking the whole ride - just wandering hands and tongue on tongue. Eventually, the taxi driver cleared his throat to alert you that you were back at the hotel.

''Cheers'' Lando told him before practically dragging you to your room.

As soon as the door was closed, Lando took your dress in his hands and ripped it apart.

''LANDO!'' you all but screamed.

''Sorry babe, but I needed it off. I'll buy you a new one. Fuck no underwear?'' he asked with wide eyes, gaping at your boobs and cunt.

''No underwear'' you repeated as you sunk down on your knees before him.

''Fuck, wait let me sit down.''

He guided you to the sofa and undid his belt before you pulled his jeans and boxers down in one go.

His cock sprang out and hit his stomach, pre-cum already dripping from it.

You got on your knees again and took him into your hands.

Pumping him a few times, spreading his pre-cum around.

''Please Y/N'' he begged. ''Been wanting to feel your lip around me all day along.'' he begged again.

Although you wanted to tease him, the ache between your legs was growing impatient.

So you took the tip of him between your lips, and sucked, so hard that his legs started to shake.

'Oh my god, gonna be the end of me, you are'' you said in between moans.

You then took as much of him as you could, as your hands started pumping what you couldn't fit in. You weren't holding back now. Bobbing your head, while Lando's hands found your hair and held it out of your way.

''That's it. Keep going Y/N. Taking my girth so well. Not gonna last long.'' he muttered between breathes.

You were starting to gag now. Tears stinging the corners of your eyes. But you were determined to taste him, so you kept going until he was all but screaming you name full of praises and you felt his warm cum spill to the back of your throat.

''Shit, that mouth of yours. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Best mouth I've ever had.'' he said pulling up to sit on his lap to kiss you again.

You started grinding your ass on his thighs, just as you did this morning, until he scooped you up and carried you to the bed.

Before you could comprehend what was happening, Lando had you on all fours, lining his dick up at your entrance.

He pushed in slowly, allowing you to adjust again.

''Faster, please, go all out'' you begged him.

Finally, he picked up his pace, slamming into you from behind, grunting and praising how good you felt. How your walls clenched around his cock.

''Yeah baby, just like that. Being my whore. Wish you would be my whore forever.''

You both were too blissed out and breathless to even think of what Lando said. All you could think about was how good he was fucking you right now.

''Yes Lan, fuck me harder, please, harder.''

Then suddenly he pulled out and turned you around. He was on top of you this time. Pounding into you, not getting enough.

His lips found homage on your boobs as his hands found yours and intertwined them together.

You could feel the warmth start to build up in your stomach, legs beginning to shake. ''Gonna cum babe?'' he asked as he felt your walls start to clench almost painfully around his dick.

With no warning you came around him. Gushes if warm liquid even spilling out of you.

By now you couldn't form any words so you simply just nodded, and your moans reached new heights.

''Too much Lando, can't take it.'' you groaned.

''Yes you can. Look at me. You can cum again for me, can't you?''

And how could you say no to him when he was looking at you like that?

''Fuck, go on'' you hissed as you felt him quicken his pace again, clearly chasing his own orgasm as well.

Once again both of your moans were so obscene it was brilliant. In seconds he had you cumming all over again.

You could feel his movements getting sloppier by the second. ‘Want to taste you again, please’ you begged him.

Straight away he pulled out of you and shoved his dick in your mouth. Immediately had you gagging and tearing up but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘Fuck fuck fuck Y/N yes, oh yes’ he moaned as he emptied his spill to the back of your throat.

His body went limb and so he let his weight fall on you. Curls stuck to his forehead because of the sweat. You held onto him for dear life. Eyes prickling because of the stimulations but also because of your want of more from him.

You pressed your lips to his in a soft and sloppy manner. How you wished you really could stay like this the whole night.

Suddenly it was awkward again. None of you knowing what to say to each other. This was very weird. There was never a moment even in your friendship when things were as awkward as this.

As always, Lando cleaned you up and was walking out of your door within minutes. You wished you could run after him and pull him back in, never let him go. But you couldn’t. That was just a fantasy you longed for.

The next few days passed in a blur. Both of you busy with events and meetings and so on. When you were together with friends, things still felt weird. You couldn’t make out what was wrong. But you still hooked up every night - nothing would stop your two bodies coming together for nights on undeniably passionate sex.

Finally though, it was race day 😈

Authors note - hope you guys enjoyed this. I am still reeling from the win-can’t stop smiling! Who else still feels like this? Also, enjoy these pics, because I couldn’t not bless your tl with them 🧡

[idyllic-ghost]

i am sooo down bad for woozi gosh I have this thought where whenever you miss woozi, you would usually text him the usual "i miss you" type of text but this time you thought of "spicing" it up a bit so you set up your phone at a certain angle where you can be seen sitting on his pillow riding, rubbing yourself against it while imagining him and whimpering moaning his name and how you miss him so so bad.

and of course, you sent it to your oh so loving boyfriend, wooz 👁️

this ask went from 0 to 100 so quick-

warnings: not proofed, smut, masturbation, pillownhumping, exhibitionism

MDNI

You didn't know how long it had been since you saw Jihoon last - you didn't even know if he came home every night. You thought that he made it home last night, as you faintly remember him pressing a kiss to your cheek before crawling into bed with you that night, but there was no one next to you in the morning. The Seventeen comeback was coming up, and your boyfriend's been away for longer hours than he usually was. His hardworking nature was one of the things you loved about him, but you also loved his attention and affection.

The only reason you knew that he was alive is because he texted and called you every day, every chance he got - and his members kept sending pictures of him sitting by his computer to you. You haven't been able to come by his studio for the past few weeks, partly because of work but also because you didn't want to disturb him.

It was all just too much. You needed your boyfriend, and from his texts you could tell that he needed you too. Never before had he been this openly desperate for you to come over to the studio just to sit with him for a while. Everyone was struggling - including both of your friend groups who had to listen to your many complaints.

So as the comeback came and passed, you expected it to finally stop. But, of course, it didn't. There was somehow more work to get done now than there was before. You had enough. The 'I miss you' texts could only do so much, so you decided to do something you'd never do otherwise. Time's were desperate...

You prop up your phone against the lamp on the bedside lamp, the camera perfectly angled to capture your entire body on the bed. Between your legs is one of Jihoon's pillows, sitting snuggly against your clothed core. You're wearing nothing but panties and one of his black t-shirts. As the timer counts down for the camera to start recording, you start moving your hips against the pillow.

A moan escaped your lips as you were pleasantly surprised by how sensitive you had gotten from just thinking about sending this to him. You hadn't gotten to touch him in so long - and you hadn't even thought about touching yourself, too busy with work or with playing the supportive girlfriend. You hadn't even realized how worked up you had gotten throughout it all.

The sound of the camera starting the recording made you let out another whine. Your body acted on its own, as your hips were grinding against your boyfriend's pillow. Your hands moved underneath your shirts, feeling up your warm skin under the soft material. The smell of him lingered on his clothes, engulfing you in the delusion that he was actually there.

"Fuck, baby..." you whimpered. "I miss you so much..."

Your hands found their way to the hem of the shirt and pulled it over your head. After throwing the piece of clothing to the side, you gripped onto Jihoon's pillow and rutted against it harder. A coil had started building up in your core, as you kept thinking about your boyfriend seeing the video. Never had you imagined that this could be such a turn on. Picturing Jihoon seeing the video was sending you spiraling; you thought of him having to lock the doors to his studio and pull out his fat cock to find some relief.

You babbled incoherently as you lost yourself to pleasure - moaning about missing him, needing him, wanting him close to you until the coil finally snapped. Your hips stuttered against the pillow as your body crashed against the bed. After what felt like hours, but probably lasted only seconds, you sat up and trembled towards the camera.

"Please come home, baby," you murmured before turning the camera off.

After sending the video to Jihoon, he read it after a couple minutes. He was always quick to respond, but the typing bubble didn't appear until a few minutes later - the time it'd take him to watch the video. You bit the nail of your thumb as you watched him type for what felt like hours. Then, he finally sent the message:

I'll be home in five minutes.

[simplydannie]

Inspired by and written for @gabykatttt! You know I had to add a little drama to it lol

Brozone is invited back to Mount Rageous as special guests for a singing competition where they will each mentor a young contestant.

Only thing they didn’t know: Floyd’s apprentice is someone they didn’t expect… and definitely don’t approve of.

●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・●

“Alright so let’s see here! My lovely Rageon is a boy named Taize, interesting!” John Dory flipped through the file,”Seems like the kid has spunk!” He handed his brothers their files. Brozone sat inside Rhonda on another trip to Mount Rageous, except this time, it was on better terms. Since the events that took place a year ago, Mount Rageous had invited Brozone back to take part of a singing competition and be the guest of honor. Each member would mentor a Rageon who’d be participating.

“Not to brag, but I think my boys got this.” He exclaimed.

Bruce open up his file, “Seems like me and Clay are assigned to two sisters.”

Clay took the file from his brother’s hand, “Glimmer and Gala. They have been doing singing competitions since they were four and winning almost every single one.”

“Sorry, JD, I think me and Clay have this one.” Bruce smirked.

Poppy popped in, a range of emotions whirling through her tiny body, “I can believe this! Brozone is officially back! Not to mention bringing in the next wave of musical talent! Even if they aren’t Troll of course.”

“But this is an opportunity! First Rageous, then the rest of the Troll kingdom!” JD announced, “Not to mention that Rageous officially extended the invitation to ALL Trolls and Bergens alike.”

“Whoa! So, this could really be big for us?” Clay responded glancing at all his brothers.

“Time for Brozone to get back on the map!” Bruce pumped, “Oh! Floyd? We didn’t even get to hear who you and Branches Rageon is.”

Floyd fiddled with the small file in his hands. He already knew who he had gotten to mentor, he wasn’t sure Branch would be okay with it though.

“You sure you don’t want to mentor your own kid, Branch?” Floyd asked again.

“Nope. I really would like to do this one with you Floyd. The two youngest, kicking big brother butt.” Branch crossed his arms and stared smuggly at his older brothers.

“Well good luck with that.” Clay stuck out his tongue earning a laugh from Branch. He turned back to look at Floyd.

“So? Who’s the kid?” Branch asked. Floyd let out a heavy sigh. “Oh come on Floyd. It can’t be that bad can it?” Branch took the file into his own hands.

“Alright let’s see here.” He skimmed the paperwork. “Our kiddo is……Veneer Vincent Montegue.” Branches eyes widened. He looked at Floyd who now had a sheepish smile on his face. “Veneer. As in Velvet and Veneer? You’re not serious Floyd!” The rest of the brothers, including Poppy, gathered around Branch.

“He’s not kidding.” Bruce mumbled.

“This has to be a mistake!” Clay exclaimed.

“Or a trap set up by them again. We can talk to the officials when we get there. We’ll…” JD began.

Floyd interrupted, “No! No, this…This isn’t a mistake. I’m….I requested it.

“WHAT!” Everyone echoed. Was Floyd crazy? Why on Earth would he want to mentor someone who nearly killed him?

“Floyd, the kid doesn’t have talent. That’s why he was using you!” Branch exclaimed.

Floyd scoffed at his remark, “Everyone has talent. It’s in there. And Veneer definitely has it. He just got the wrong inspiration.”

“No way! As the oldest I am not allowing this. His sister is obviously planning something. Veneer has the look of innocence but he’s not.” JD remarked.

“Velvets out of the picture… at least for now.” Floyd stated.

Poppy arched an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“When their sentence was up, she booked it. Sending tell him anything. Veneer was left completely alone. Other then her he has no family. So… he reached out to me.” Floyd said.

“What!? Like, he mailed to you? And you responded back?” Branch tossed the files on the couch. “And you didn’t think about asking US if we were okay with it?” He was fuming. How could his brother be so naive, so forgiving?

“I have to agree on Branch with this one Floyd, I know you feel for Veneer. Maybe he can be a good kid, but we’re not risking it.” Bruce added.

“Guys please. Listen I knew them before they did what they did. They were misguided, lost. They’re good kids I swear. Look I know what it’s like to walk on you sinking,” He looked at Branch. “I want to do right, I want to show Veneer what true family is about, what it’s liking to live in harmony with your siblings. Let’s do that guys.” Floyd looked back and forth between all his brothers, but he saw the stubbornness in all their eyes… they had made up their mind.

“You….you knew them before their little fame thing?” Poppy asked, earning a nod from the little Troll. “Guys maybe you should trust him. I… I think it’s worth a shot.”

“You can’t be serious Poppy!” Branch exclaimed.

“I’m sure they’ll keep a watchful eye on him. They wouldn’t let him participate in the first place if they didn’t have any protocols.” She added.

“No! I’m sorry Poppy, I know your queen, but I am the big brother. Sorry Floyd, but once we get there, you switch to someone else. End of discussion.” John Dory set his foot down.

Floyd sighed in defeat. He hunched over on the couch, looking at the file. Floyd didn’t bother telling them how excited Veneer had sounded when he mentioned the plan to get him back on his feet. He didn’t want to imagine the look on his face when he’d have to turn on him down. Floyd rode the rest of the trip in silence.

It was another hour until they finally saw the glistening lights shining from the mountain… they were back at Mount Rageous. This time they took the highway that lead them deeper in the glimmering city. They were finally able to see what it was all made of …. And it was stunning. Their buildings were made of gems and fine jewels the trolls have never even seen. Somehow they used these gems to power their technology. The deeper they traveled into Mount Rageous, the more adults they began to see. If they thought the teens were big, the adults were much taller. The Trolls also saw children and infants for the first time in the city.

“Alright, like, do all Rageons have to be good looking.” John Dory scoffed. All eyes turned to Rhonda as she went down the ride. Children giggled and starting chasing after her. Rhonda began getting carried away and playing with the children.

“Hey old girl! We have a destination. You can play later.” JD called out. Hesitantly, she continued down the road until she got to a beautiful park where a stunning stage was set up.

“Looks like this is it.” Clay exclaimed as Rhonda neared the entrance. She stopped, allowing Brozone and Poppy to hop off. It was intimidating at first, being surrounding by such tall beings, but the excitement of the Rageons upon laying eyes on the little Trolls allowed a calmness to overcome them.

“Oh my gosh your Brozone!”

“I loved your performance at the Rage Dome!”

“I’m so glad your brother is okay!”

“Can we have your autograph!”

Rageon upon Rageon came surrounding them. John Dory was overjoyed… finally he and his brothers were getting the recognition he’d dreamed of… not only to be known by the trolls, but world wide, every species chanting their name.

“One at a time guys! There’s plenty of Brozone to go around!” He exclaimed. All the brothers loved the attention, they loved giving autographs. Branch was one who was still getting used to it. If it weren’t for Poppy, he’d probably just shy away in the back. The only little Troll not participating was Floyd. He hung around near Rhonda. His eyes darted around looking for a Rageon with green swooped hair.

“Are you Bruce?” He looked up to see three Rageons staring down around him. Their look fit the description in the files: one boy, dark red skin with flaming orange hair styles in a faux hawk, and two girls, both similar in their blue tinted skin color, except one had peacock colored hair while the other aegean.

“Taize, Glimmer, and Gala I take it.” Floyd responded. The three young Rageons smiled.

“This is soooooo exciting!” Gala chimed.

“I bet. But I’m not Bruce. He’s brother over there. And that’s John Dory.” Floyd pointed out. “I’m Floyd.”

The Rageons gaped, “You were the little guy Velvet and Veneer troll-napped!” Glimmer gasped.

“Hopefully they’re still rotting in jail.” Taize added.

“Y-yeah.” Floyd stammered. Behind him he could hear his brothers approach them.

“Taize I assume! The names John Dory! I’ll be your mentor.”

“And I’m Clay, this is Bruce, were are both you’re lovely ladies mentors.”

Everyone turned to look at Floyd and Branch, “And we will be right back, we just need to have a word with the officials!” Branch pushed Floyd along to the main tables.

“Branch, I’m asking one more time: Please don’t do this? We can do really good by Veneer here. If you get to know him Branch, he reminds so much of you.”

“Whoa, whoa, don’t even compare me to him. I don’t go around stealing peoples talent.”

“But Branch…”

“No Floyd! I don’t normally agree with John, but on this one he has my vote. Veneer can cry me a river for all I care.” Branch scoffed.

“Floyd?” A familiar voice sounded from behind them. The two Trolls turned around slowly. Behind them stood a pale Rageon with bright green hair covered in a purple beanie. He wore a golden oversized hoodie over black skinny jeans and purple sneakers: Veneer. He smiled down at the Trolls….but they were speechless. It wasn’t seeing him in casual Rageon attire that threw them off….it was the tube connected to his nose, trailing behind him into a backpack. Branch pulled Floyd aside, whispering to where only he could hear.

“What’s wrong with him?” He demanded.

Floyd shurgged, staring wide eyes up at Veneer, “I….I don’t know.” The Rageon didn’t notice their surprised faces as he smiled at them.

“So, I guess, you two are my mentors.” He chimed. Floyd and Branch didn’t respond. For one, they didn’t expect to find Veneer in this state. But no, they couldn’t mentor him, wouldn’t mentor him, he didn’t deserve it….did he?

“Umm…Veneer…there’s something we have to tell you…I’m sorry….” Floyd began. It pained him to do so, to turn away someone who had reached out to him for help… but this was the first time his brothers really agreed on something. If he had to choose between the kid or his brothers, well, it was a no brainer…right?

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

is it over now? (was it over then?)

part five

part six: with the wilt of the rose

With the success of Eddie's Steve single as his bandmates had started to call it, the label had basically told Corroded Coffin in no uncertain terms to channel that energy into the rest of their album. It wasn't that Eddie didn't like the attention his song was getting and Steve absolutely deserved it, the lying piece of shit, but it was like getting permission to write angsty music about Steve took all the fun out of it. He was fully out of inspiration of the angst variety and had taken a hard left turn into moping, feeling sorry for himself, and being one thousand percent convinced that he was going to be single for the rest of his life and die alone.

Eddie was reclining in his giant beanbag chair (his nest as Steve used to joke with him), occasionally humming lines, strumming on his guitar, and writing more and more pathetically dramatic lyrics for most of the day until he reached his limit and pulled out his phone. It wasn't like Eddie was purposefully keeping track of people in Steve's life but over the time they were together his little gaggle of gremlins wormed his way into Eddie's life too. Unfortunately when he opened his phone it was to tweets of Dustin going low key feral over Steve's new role in some indie biopic but at the same time being crazy upset that Steve would be incommunicado as Dustin so helpfully added in his tweet. The kid was such a dweeb. Eddie flicked out of twitter and opened instagram hoping that his feed would be mostly possum memes. He scrolled idly for a while seeing new tattoo ideas and of course many cute furry animals doing many silly things until suddenly he was reminded of a particular face Steve made and Eddie (although he would never admit this) searched for Steve's public profile only a little disappointed that he hadn't posted anything more recent than when the two were together.

Because Eddie may or may not be a massive masochist and can't leave well enough alone, he decides to tab over to Steve's tagged pictures to see if there is anything recent. In between several tags of Steve being unfairly good looking in whatever movie he was currently filming, Eddie was taken aback by a post that was just of Robin and Nancy. They looked a little closer than just gal pals or whatever it was the tabloids called them while speculating how they could be friends while "fighting" over Steve. So much for modern feminism.

Before Eddie got distracted enough to go through a full rant that might include a fairly long section about how Ronnie was treated differently than the rest of his bandmates, Eddie focused back on the issue at hand. Why was Nancy who he highly suspected of stealing his fucking boyfriend posing like she was getting engaged to Steve's best friend. And why did they fucking tag him it it? Robin was snarky sure but she didn't seem like that level of bitch. Eddie took a deep breath and opened the fairly lengthy caption to see:

nancywheeler Hello World! It's been a long time coming but I am so excited to publicly announce that me and Robin (@buckster) are going steady. I know I don't post a whole lot about my person life on here (seriously, the rest of the world is so much more exciting) but you've always been so supportive of my coming out and sexuality related posts as well as understanding when I needed to set a boundary between my personal life and my online persona. I've been unable to share my most recent relationship for a really long time because of the public pressure of coming out and being a "marketable asset." Steve (@sharrington) could not have been a better support during this time and took a lot of public flak to keep Robin and I safe and comfortable until we were ready to be out publicly. He always offered up his home while I was visiting and kept me company while Robin was working. I guess us bi guys have to stick together, huh? Anyways, that's all for now. And no, we aren't engaged (yet 😈)

Eddie was floored. He had spent all his time since leaving Steve's apartment feeling very holier than thou and smug about everything that happened with Steve and the success his band was experience because of it. Although if one Miss Nancy Wheeler was telling the truth (which like as a journalist Eddie thinks she has to), Steve was actually helping his platonic soulmate find love with his exgirlfriend. If Eddie hadn't already felt kind of shitty for assuming the worst about Steve, this had to take the fucking cake. Eddie was truly done for. Put a fork in him. He's the worst person ever. Fuck. He needed reinforcements.

devilededs: uhm hi friends, i think maybe i am the asshole in the whole steve situation can u come to mine?

ronnie: you saw it? i can finally give you shit about being a total drama queen?

devilededs: what do you mean? why would you not tell me if you knew it existed.

ronnie: precisely because of this vibe right now.

devilededs: okay, everyone but ronnie pls come over i need snacks and maybe some really b grade horror but you have to indulge me in my sadness.

garbear: already on the way with your emotional support jeff and frank. we'll pick up snacks.

ronnie: if you let me problem solve for you can i come for snacks? i don't think i can handle moping eddie without trying to show you its very fixable.

devilededs: YES! FIX! ME! HOW! GET OVER HERE!

Eddie flopped back into the beanbag chair and let his notebook flop out of his lap. Thankfully his friends all had keys so he could continue to rot in place until Ronnie forcibly withdrew him from his hovel.

@lololol-1234 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @zombiethingy @grtwdsmwhr @dreamercec @anne-bennett-cosplayer @strawberryyyenthusiast @mensch-anthropos-human @kal-ology @ttyrussss @kristmkris @starman-jpg @wonderland-girl143-blog @child-of-cthulhu @legalmenace87 @adealwithher @practicallybegging @lunaraquaenby @stripey82 @lexyvey @goodolefashionedloverboi @mothmamhasyourlocation @mugloversonly (if you wanna be tagged in future parts feel free to comment! happy to add people)

[anniflamma]

hi I actually love your ruthlessness animatic and its the reason I got into epic in the first place so id just like to ask how you design your characters?? your Poseidons design is really cool

Happy to know that my animatic introduced newcomers to EPIC! :D

So my process of designing a character always starts with trying to achieve a characterization that I want to highlight. From there, I gather references, references, and more references! I take inspiration from other media, arts, or photos. The way I came up with Poseidon is based on a headcanon of mine: that Poseidon is a representation of death and everything that Odysseus does not want to become, but ultimately, whether he realizes it or not, has already become.

The death motif is represented by the horse. It was inspired by, of course, the myth of Demeter and Poseidon, but it was also inspired by the novel "The Foretelling" by Alice Hoffman, where the main character is haunted by a black horse with red eyes. Not gonna spoil anything from it because it's genuinely a good book, but you can guess that the horse represents death. Then the idea of him having glowing eyes and teeth were inspired by all those creepy pictures from the Mandela Catalogue series, but I also saw pictures of horses showing their teeth, and that was scary enough for me to include.

So my first drawings of Poseidon were actually of his horse form. And I just loved the visual of a horse running on the waves!

When I started to create his human form, I had in mind to make him look like the horse and the human form were the same person. So at first, he had only black clothing, but I ended up changing it because I just knew that people would associate him more with Hades. So that's why he wears white instead.

I wanted to portray Poseidon as a father who has experienced pain and seeks revenge.

So he has tear streaks that show that he has recently been crying. His clothing is very loose and exposed, indicating that he didn't tend to himself before hunting Odysseus. He has black, silky hair due to his horse form having black, silky hair.

Something else that I also tend to do is not make an overly cluttered design. I'm not really into heavy detailing. I am much more keen on having details, but making them subtle and using shapes to tell a story.

And something that I really like about character design is to have characters designed to contrast with each other.

A good example is my designs of Hera and Zeus! Zeus is dressed in light clothing because he is the opposite of Hera, she is wearing heavy veiling. But I also really like to use shape languages. So Zeus has a large chest and the usage of clouds makes his upper body look big. So he will always look bigger than you. And Hera is the opposite again, her veil makes all the volume push down, and she looks small compared to Zeus, but she still takes up a lot of space with people beside her.

[whenemmafalls]

Taylor Swift Eras Tour Poster for Each Era Part 5: The 1989 Era (2014-2016)

[moonscape]

they were still insane for this btw

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[simstoyourdismay]

life's hard when you're soft you've got our love

[i-am-literally-deranged]

Arrested for being a public menace

[drink-tang-gang]

hello! just wanted to drop in and say how much i love your baffy art and musings. just wondering if you had any thoughts about how wb could move forward with their dynamic in future works, if they decided to bring their duo back?

AAAA thank you!! ♥️ 🙈

Your question made me realize we haven’t seen daffy and bugs like, Together with a capital Tee since the weird tlts spinoff movie 🤣😭 Man!! we’ve been starved for so long. (Wabbit may count, they’ve interacted a couple times but ehhh)

I like what LTC’s been doing, bringing everyone back to their roots. I wanna keep that momentum going and have Bugs and Daffy act like their 40s selves and pair them up in subsequent shorts.

They could work well as a duo, as rivals, anything! We’d have a larger range of storytelling/gag opportunities with Bugs and Daffy acting like their truer selves. A 40s Bugs is impatient, cunning, a smart ass, he could easily be an unwitting instigator with Daffy’s tendency to victimize himself. Daffy meanwhile, is crazy, energetic, unpredictable, he’d make such a fun villain to Bugs’ underdog. I could see them in westerns, in a modern setting, domestic or cartoonishly violent….They’d just. Bounce off each other wonderfully!!

But if we have to go modern, I’d say we’d look to the The Bugs and Daffy Thanksgiving special as a blueprint for future works. B+D have this really delicious mix of their modern depictions with Clampett-isms sprinkled in. I wouldn’t make a bunch of original characters to pit them against though… I’d rather them fight against the established LT villain library.

Or!! You know those WONDERFUL Lt shorts where the tunes had their own plot going on, but celebrity gags were tossed in for extra laughs? I’d love something like that too!! It’d put B+D back into the spotlight, in cultural relevancy, and give writers an opportunity to flex. If WB wanted to play dirty, a B+D short making fun of the industry and celebrities could be the annswer to Disney’s shitty Chip and Dale movie lmao. The current industry landscape loves to go all meta and flex IPs, so having Bugs and Daffy take the lead and inconvenience celebrities for 9 minutes straight would be absolutely wonderful. The only tricky park is putting together the right crew. It could easily become a cynical, awkward short where Daffy and Bugs don’t exist as their own characters, but as vehicles for branding (coughspacejam2cough)

Of the three options, the latter yields the largest reward in terms of publicity and “bringing Bugs and Daffy back”, but I have LITTLE faith in the current animation landscape to do them justice. the middle two options already have established themselves. Keeping the LTC staff to work on Bugs and Daffy shorts (if they’re all available) seems like the best route to go!

[vypcr]

❝ Let 'em play their songs // Let 'em say what's right and wrong // Let 'em do their thing // Cause they'll never be you and me // We got our own style // We got a way of livin' life // If they can't get down // Well we don't need them around ❞

𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐒  &  𝐄𝐋𝐈  ❝ 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊 ❞  𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐊𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐙 // @furyof​

personals dni

[aidenwaites]

Tagged by @smallvillecrows !!

Rules: Post three pictures or images you feel relate to a character. They can be faceclaims, famous artworks, photos, or anything you think fits the VibeTM.

Charlie Reimes:

Alex Prescott:

William West:

(Source for the handmade tarot deck)

Tagging: whoever wants to tbh!!! All my mutuals who regularly post about their OC's have already been tagged so if you've got them but don't normally post about them: go wild!! And tag me if you do so I can see it!!

[bunnys-kisses]

the jailbird

prisoner!simon 'ghost' riley

a full fic based on this post

cw: prison!au, civilian!reader, pen-pals, smut,romance/romantic!simon, domestic, missonary, wife kink, size kink, nudity, tattoo kink, body worship, cuddling

bunny says: like the fic? leave a comment! really like the fic? suggest your own! reblogs are always welcomed!

it started out as a flyer at the bus stop near your house. it was for a service that connected prisoners at a nearby prison with civilians as pen-pals. you had seen the flyer often over the course of work as you went to work.

you honestly felt bad, those people must be isolated. the organization prided itself on giving prisoners a bit of their humanity back by not cutting them off from those on the outside. so on a rainy friday you took a photo of the flyer and filled out the form on the organization's website.

that was how you met simon riley, or as he was called on the inside 'ghost'. what caught your attention wasn't his face scar that ran from under his nose down to the left side of his chin, but rather his brown eyes. how intense they stared into the camera. it was almost intimidating.

but you kept the photo on your desk as you typed out your first letter to send to him. you heard of places who did it through email, but screen time for those could often be limited and to send a physical letter would ensure that it would be sent to them.

the letter started out simple, you asked how he was and if it was okay to ask what he was in prison for. you asked him other questions, like if his health was doing well, what did he do most days while on the inside. you ended the letter with a little information about yourself.

you thought it would be nice to take a few photos and print them out on photo paper to be included with your letter. just so he had a better idea of who he was talking about. once you tweaked the letter with a bit of editing, you printed it out and thanks to the Royal Mail, your letter was sent to him.

you didn't actually expect for him to respond. nor did you expect for the letter to be do detailed. it was almost three pages double sided in neat hand writing. your eyes went wide when you saw the thickness of the envelope with the stamp of approval from the prison for it to be sent to you.

simon sent you a bracelet made of string that had been braided together. he said you were the first person from the outside to reach out since he got locked up. that broke your heart. it only broke further the more you read.

he was a military man who was tossed aside once the ptsd got too intense. he had been between jobs, and it felt like everything was just too much for him. he got wrapped up in large scale theft, while it paid good, you could only rob so many banks before it all caught up. he had been in for three years now, he was thankful it wasn't a life sentence. not much was stolen, and there was minimal violence. he said that his stature alone intimidated enough people that he didn't need to be violent.

you re-read his letters and it wouldn't be until almost six months of speaking that you finally wore the bracelet. when he said, "i want to see you in it, since i can't buy you a ring." you sent a photo of you wearing it and since then you hadn't taken it off.

the letters were nice, you sent them at least twice a week. even though you two had never met face to face, and the only photos you had of him were mugshots, he knew all the gossip in your work place. he knew the names of all your friends, your favourite saturday night treat and how you took your coffee.

he told you he'd be happy to make you coffee every morning before you went to work. that comment made your cheeks burn.

he often called you his 'wife' to the other prisoners. he had your photos on the wall near his bunk. he even kept the pictures where you looked terrible after you tried to cut your bangs one night. he knew the exact location of where your favourite take out was. he said that he was writing down ideas of where to take you once he got out. "i gotta make the missus feel special."

he even made you a birthday card. his cellmate 'soap' even signed it. you knew all about the explosives expert mactavish. when you looked into his case on the news, your eyes went a little wide. this guy was.. something.

simon did admit that 'soap' had a bit of a crush on you. but he said that 'johnny' was harmless and probably just liked the photo of a woman in the cell.

"he hurt ya, there will be no cell that could keep me from killin' him. no god either."

simon remembered everything.

the way he spoke about you and to you in his letters were nothing but soft. while he had to put on a tough guy exterior, his letters were filled with gentle words. like when he wrote out that he loved you in big text on a spare piece of paper so you could tape it on your mirror to look at every morning.

"i want to be what you get ready to."

"i want to be with you when you wake up."

"i want to come home to you every night. please make me an honest man."

you knew he was a trained killer. he was in special forces before his brief stint as a criminal. he was trained to kill, but in the margins of your letters, his love shined through. despite it all, he was capable of love.

and he wanted to pour all that love into you, his (future) wife.

you two would go on to write letters every week, for almost two years. when you got the letter from him asking if he could put you down as a permanent address when he got out, you cried. of course!

it was a cold spring morning, the sky was misty as you stood outside the gates of the prison. your heart raced, you even arrived early in the hopes he'd be released sooner.

and then you saw him.

those eyes. hard and stern, until he caught sight of you. his shoulder visibly dropped and his pace quickened as he made his way towards you. before you could step forward to meet him, he had you in his arms. his strong arms, littered with tattoos, wrapped around you as he held you close to his strong chest.

you held onto him as the air left your chest from the force he held you. you clutched onto his shoulders and choked out a sob. you squeaked, "holy shit."

he pulled away from you, but still kept you in his arms. you swore you saw minimal mistiness in his eyes. he reached to cup your face. he said quietly, "soft... like i imagined."

you beamed up at him, "of course, si."

"your voice is so nice." he groaned as he then pulled you close once more and buried his nose in your hair. he inhaled the scent of your shampoo and relaxed, "i'm home."

you thought transitioning from being the only person in the flat, to having this hulking, strong man in your home as well, was going to be a bit hard. but that didn't matter when simon got you through the door. his hands were on you, he promised on the universe that he'd romance you tomorrow.

but tonight was just going to be the two of you.

you managed to get his hands off you in order to get your shoes off before you led him to your bedroom. he was close behind you, he had a hand on one of your hips. he wanted to be as close to you as he could, you two had spent enough time apart.

you couldn't even close the bedroom door before he was pulling at the waistband on your pants. his calloused, strong hands felt delicate on you. it was like he was going to break you and he had to be as delicate as possible.

"si."

"i know, darling." he said quietly as he started to undress you. with your help the both of you were soon nude in the afternoon light in your bedroom. you tried to cover your chest with your arms but he pulled your arms away and looked at you.

your eyes met and you got up on your tip-toes to kiss him gently on the lips. soon he picked you up like you weighed less than a bag of potatoes.

he placed you on the bed gently when you half expected him to toss you like a shot-put. he admired your body down on your soft covers and soon got onto the bed too.

you reached for him as he pulled you into a tight kiss. his lips were chapped and you could tease the fresh skin underneath. your nails raked at his strong back, that you knew was covered in tattoos.

you wrapped your legs around him and held him. from a moment he dropped to his side and you two held each other. you tucked his head under your chin as you laid together naked.

it wasn't even meant to be sexually stimulating, you both just wanted to feel one another. to hear your lover's heartbeat meant more to you than anything in that moment.

you kissed the top of his head, you felt his blond hair against your face as you soaked in his warmth. you could almost cry from how nice it felt to be so close to him.

after everything, you had your man.

he said in his low tone, "you feel so soft. after everything, i have you. you made every day in the can worth it." he sighed, "thank you." he kissed at your bare chest.

you replied, "i loved your letters, i have them still." you chuckled, "i didn't want to throw any of them away. it made me feel closer."

"well. i'm not goin' anywhere." he looked up at you and smiled, "you're home and i'm finally here." he pulled away and got him between your legs. he rested on his knees and carefully moved you to his liking. he sat there between your legs and waited for your command.

you looked at him and nodded, "yeah, si. you can go." then tightened your legs around your lover. you held your breath as he slowly pushed his cock into you. you didn't realize how big it was until he was fully inside of you.

"are you alright, love?"

"golden."

the two of you moved together. it took a little bit to get used to the size, but the pressure and speed of his movements made heat spread through your body. like two pieces of the same puzzle, you fit together perfect soon after. it was like you two were always meant to be.

you felt so loved by him, it was so sweet. this was your first time with him and you only had a few sexual experiences with others prior to him. but the entire time you knew each other you didn't sleep with others, you wanted to wait for your man.

"that's my good wife." he groaned as he held onto your hips, "i know, you wanted this for a long time. i bet you thought about me when i was locked up."

you blushed and replied, "i did, si. i thought about you all the time, i even had your picture in my office. i wanted this, i wanted to be with you!" you whined a little as his cock dragged against a sensitive spot.

he chuckled softly, "yeah. i thought about my missus when i was locked up. i used to jerk off to your letters, your photos. messed one of 'em up by gettin' my spunk all over it." he licked his lips, "but now i can see it every day in person."

you smiled when he rested his body against you and continued to thrust up into you. you felt the curl of pleasure of your gut get together which each of his heavy thrusts.

the kisses you shared were intimate and hot. the air of your bedroom was warmed as you made love on the bed you would share together. your soft noises together filled the air.

you clenched onto him, you dug your nails into his shoulders. they were so strong and broad that they were much bigger than your hands.

he kissed you one last time as he quickened his pace. the bed moved against your movements as you both climaxed at the same time. it was like a shock to the system, the heightened euphoria before your head felt full of cotton.

you let out a soft groan as your grip on his loosened and you relaxed into the bed. you felt yourself partially get crushed by your lover but he gave a few more earnest thrusts as he made sure that his cum shot to the back of your womb.

he pulled out and dropped beside you. he tucked some hair behind your ear and wiped the sweat from your forehead with the back of his hand. your breathing was heavy, but you were both so happy. to share your first time together felt so special.

you nestled yourself into his arms and held his hand. you exhaled contently then said, "my husband."

he kissed the top of your head, he felt complete, "my missus."

part two

[reasonsforhope]

In the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the long study of a butterfly once thought extinct has led to a chain reaction of conservation in a long-cultivated region.

The conservation work, along with helping other species, has been so successful that the Fender’s blue butterfly is slated to be downlisted from Endangered to Threatened on the Endangered Species List—only the second time an insect has made such a recovery.

[Note: "the second time" is as of the article publication in November 2022.]

To live out its nectar-drinking existence in the upland prairie ecosystem in northwest Oregon, Fender’s blue relies on the help of other species, including humans, but also ants, and a particular species of lupine.

After Fender’s blue was rediscovered in the 1980s, 50 years after being declared extinct, scientists realized that the net had to be cast wide to ensure its continued survival; work which is now restoring these upland ecosystems to their pre-colonial state, welcoming indigenous knowledge back onto the land, and spreading the Kincaid lupine around the Willamette Valley.

First collected in 1929 [more like "first formally documented by Western scientists"], Fender’s blue disappeared for decades. By the time it was rediscovered only 3,400 or so were estimated to exist, while much of the Willamette Valley that was its home had been turned over to farming on the lowland prairie, and grazing on the slopes and buttes.

Pictured: Female and male Fender’s blue butterflies.

Now its numbers have quadrupled, largely due to a recovery plan enacted by the Fish and Wildlife Service that targeted the revival at scale of Kincaid’s lupine, a perennial flower of equal rarity. Grown en-masse by inmates of correctional facility programs that teach green-thumb skills for when they rejoin society, these finicky flowers have also exploded in numbers.

[Note: Okay, I looked it up, and this is NOT a new kind of shitty greenwashing prison labor. This is in partnership with the Sustainability in Prisons Project, which honestly sounds like pretty good/genuine organization/program to me. These programs specifically offer incarcerated people college credits and professional training/certifications, and many of the courses are written and/or taught by incarcerated individuals, in addition to the substantial mental health benefits (see x, x, x) associated with contact with nature.]

The lupines needed the kind of upland prairie that’s now hard to find in the valley where they once flourished because of the native Kalapuya people’s regular cultural burning of the meadows.

While it sounds counterintuitive to burn a meadow to increase numbers of flowers and butterflies, grasses and forbs [a.k.a. herbs] become too dense in the absence of such disturbances, while their fine soil building eventually creates ideal terrain for woody shrubs, trees, and thus the end of the grassland altogether.

Fender’s blue caterpillars produce a little bit of nectar, which nearby ants eat. This has led over evolutionary time to a co-dependent relationship, where the ants actively protect the caterpillars. High grasses and woody shrubs however prevent the ants from finding the caterpillars, who are then preyed on by other insects.

Now the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are being welcomed back onto these prairie landscapes to apply their [traditional burning practices], after the FWS discovered that actively managing the grasslands by removing invasive species and keeping the grass short allowed the lupines to flourish.

By restoring the lupines with sweat and fire, the butterflies have returned. There are now more than 10,000 found on the buttes of the Willamette Valley."

-via Good News Network, November 28, 2022

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Welcome to my Tuesday morning PSA about plastics!

So--I was walking along the Bolstadt beach approach sidewalk here in Long Beach, WA yesterday afternoon, and I started seeing these little orange pellets on the ground that looked a little bit like salmon roe (but probably weren't). So I picked one up, and it was most definitely rubber. I went around picking up every one I could find, and while I didn't keep exact count I probably amassed 50-60 of them. I took this picture before depositing them in the nearest trash can.

These are airsoft gun pellets, and you can buy them in big jars containing thousands of them. That means that someone who decided that the beach was a great place to shoot their airsoft guns could easily litter the place with countless little bits of plastic rubber in less than an hour. We already have a huge problem here with people leaving trash, including tiny bits of plastic, all over the beach (you should see the gigantic mess after 4th of July fireworks when thousands of people come in from out of town, blow things up, and then leave again without picking up after themselves.)

But these airsoft pellets have a particularly nasty side effect. You know how my first thought was "wow, those look kind of like salmon roe?" Well, we have a number of opportunistic omnivore birds like crows, ravens, and several species of gull that commonly scavenge on the beach, especially along the approaches because people often feed them there. If I can catch the resemblance of an orange airsoft pellet to a fish egg, then chances are there are wildlife that will assume they're edible.

Since birds don't chew their food, they probably won't notice that the taste or texture is wrong--it'll just go down the hatch. And since they can't digest the pellets, there's a good chance they might just build up in the bird's digestive system, especially if the bird eats a large number of them--say, fifty or sixty of them dropped on the ground along the same fifty foot stretch of sidewalk. The bird might die of starvation if there's not enough capacity for food in their stomach--or they might just die painfully of an impacted gut, and no way to get help for it. If the pellets end up washed into the ocean, you get the same issue with fish and other marine wildlife eating them, and then of course the pellets eventually breaking up into microplastic particles.

You can get biodegradable airsoft pellets; they appear to mainly be gray or white in color rather than bright screaming orange and green. But "biodegradable" doesn't mean "instantly dissolves the next time it rains." An Amazon listing for Aim Green biodegradable airsoft pellets advertise them as "Our biodegradable BBs are engineered to degrade only with long-term exposure to water and sun and will degrade 180 days after being used." That's half a year for them to be eaten by wildlife.

I don't know, y'all. That handful of carelessly dropped rubber pellets just encapsulates how much people don't factor in the rest of nature when making decisions, even on something that is purely for entertainment like an airsoft gun. We could have had a lot of the same technological advances we have today, but with much less environmental impact, if we had considered the long-term effects on both other people and other living beings, as well as our habitats. We could have found ways from the beginning to make these things in ways that benefited us but also mitigated any harm as much as possible. Instead we're now having to reverse-engineer things we've been using for decades, and sometimes--like the "biodegradable" airsoft pellets--they still have a significant negative impact.

But--at least there are people trying to do things better, thinking ahead instead of just on immediate profit. We're stuck in a heck of a mess here, figuratively and literally, and changing an entire system can't be done in a day. Maybe we can at least keep pushing for a cultural shift that emphasizes planning far into the future--if not the often-cited "seven generations ahead", then at least throughout the potential lifespan of a given product.