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How To Achieve and Have the Mindset of Success We hear it everywhere: “You need the mindset of success.” But what does that actually mean? And more importantly — how do you get it? In this episode of the Personal Development Unplugged podcast, I'll take you beyond the vague definitions and straight into a practical process you can use right now. We'll cut through the fluff and create a real mindset of success — one where your mind and body are fully aligned toward a specific goal. You'll discover how to: Get ultra clear and specific about what you really want (not what you don't want). Write it down in a way that seeds your unconscious mind. Identify the empowering beliefs that fuel your success. Step into the physiology and psychology of having already achieved your dream. Anchor it all with a simple word that triggers your success state whenever you need it. This isn't about “thinking positive.” It's about aligning your thoughts, feelings, and actions so you naturally move toward your goals. By the end of this episode, you'll not only understand what the mindset of success is — you'll have it. Key Takeaway: Success isn't vague — it's specific. Write it down, embody it, and live it. Key Takeaways (bullet points) Success without specificity is meaningless — define exactly what you want. Writing your goals down engages your unconscious mind and makes them real. Shift from “I don't want X” to “I want Y” to avoid reinforcing negatives. Empowering beliefs like “I've got this” or “I deserve this” fuel motivation. Visualisation plus physiology creates a success state you can step into now. Anchor your mindset with a single word to trigger confidence and focus anytime. Your Call to Action Share this episode with someone who's chasing a dream but needs a success boost. https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/462-how-to-achieve-and-have-the-mindset-of-success   Shine Brightly

Geoff and Marie's Good Life: Part 14Geoff  The ModelGeoffrey's Cock Immortalized.Based on posts by Only In My Mind, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.We had paid for the J and W Rum and left the store when a rather naughty thought occurred to me, and I freely admit to being both deeply ashamed and inordinately proud of it at the same time. "Why not ask Tony if we can rent the upstairs room at The Black Swan for a couple of hours," I suggested. "That way you can have a proper birthday party in private and we could see how it might work for our wedding.""Isn't a bit big for just us seven girls? Or, I suppose nine if Wendy and Jane come along too.""I was thinking of popping along as well, if I'm welcome," I told her, mischievously. "I thought that I might also invite some friends. You know, for a bigger audience for the birthday girl's special treat." I gave special a very sleazy emphasis."You wouldn't!" She gasped in astonished horror a moment later, as she realized what I was proposing."It's her fantasy," I reminded her. "At our age, when would she ever get the chance again?""She'd be mortified. What if she gets stage fright and can't go on?" Marie protested. "Then she'll feel as though she's let everyone down.""What if she doesn't, and she gets the chance to give a live sex performance in front of total strangers as well as her friends," I countered. "This has been her fantasy since she saw that one in Amsterdam when she was in her twenties. You and I, along with our friends, could make it happen, this week. Her life-long unfulfilled dream; why would we not?"I understood Marie's reluctance. Despite my enthusiasm, I wasn't oblivious to all the things that might go wrong. Our audience needed to be discreet; the setting private and the atmosphere warm and intimate. If this was going to happen, I had three days to arrange it. Grand: I enjoyed a challenge."Who would you invite?" Marie asked. Aha! She was considering it."All your friends will be there, of course, including Margie and Sue, Charles if he can make it, Wendy and Jane, Ken and his wife, Mike and his two ladies and our student friends. Not quite twenty in the audience.""That's a lot of people," she mused."All the better," I countered."What about you?" It was a reasonable question. A solo performance was okay in principle, but that wasn't Jo's fantasy. She needed a sex partner, a performing cock, me."I think I'm okay with it," I replied. "I've given business critical presentations in front of important clients, academics, ministers. Some to groups of a hundred or more. This, in front of friends, actually seems less intimidating; for now at least.""Just when I think I have your measure, my love," she smiled at me. "You surprise me once again." She touched my cheek, fondly. "Don't ever stop."I was slightly distracted driving home, making a mental list of what needed to be done by Friday. Then something Marie had said registered. "You said that Jo should have been with us tomorrow," I recalled. "Who will be coming, then?""Well, it should have been Jo and Kate. Then Megan and Sam, then Angie and Lucy and then, of course, we have to fit in Margie and Sue." She frowned in frustration. "But you sleep with Angie and me regularly. And Lucy almost as often, it seems. You only just fucked Megan this afternoon and Margie and Sue over the weekend." She tutted to herself. "Angie's getting quite vexed at the way your random copulations are messing up her spreadsheet." She gave me a wry smile across the car. "Little Geoffrey's been a busy boy just lately. Not that I'm complaining," she added quickly, in case I misunderstood. "I'm more than content that you're not neglecting me.""Wednesday night?" I reminded her of my original question."Well, that's the thing; isn't it?" She squirmed uncomfortably. "The obvious two are Kate and Sam."She was right of course. In Jo's absence, Megan would have been the obvious substitute. Megan whose bed I'd just left. The next in the sequence was Sam, the forty-something paramedic; Kate's daughter."Oh," I contributed, rather unhelpfully."Exactly," Marie replied. "But we knew that it could happen. We even decided that we would be prepared to invite them both on the same evening, but not to have our open-door policy afterwards. I think that encouraging incest, even lesbian incest, is a step too far." She smiled to herself. "Even for us."When got home, Marie was going to speak to Sam and Kate to explain the situation and find out how they felt about it, and then ring round to tell the others about our plan. I made some calls of my own.First was Tony, the landlord at The Black Swan. We'd just seen the room, but if it wasn't available, the whole prospect became more difficult. It was and I agreed to call in that evening to discuss the arrangements. That meant that I was free to invite guests. Like Marie, I shied away from involving family. As tempting as it was, Peter, Linda and their partners were not getting an invitation to see me banging one of Marie's best friends.Mike, my friend from my rugby days called to his wife when I told him my plan. She shouted back that they would all be delighted to come. She wanted to meet the people who had made the idea of their own formal three person relationship seem possible.Next was Adrian. He seemed to be the core of the group of students we'd met in the pub. He and Emily, his very submissive girlfriend, were close to Angie and me. They were both eager to come and he was sure that the others, Mark, Tabbie and Alice, would too.Our favorite taxi driver, Ken, seemed keen but he needed to speak to his wife, Cath, before he accepted for both of them. Personally, though I'd only spoken to her on the phone, I was sure that she'd agree.I had left it to Marie to speak to Wendy and Jane and also to see if Megan thought Charles might be able to attend. We met up about an hour later in the kitchen. Everyone we'd spoken to was on board, we merely needed confirmation from the others. I asked Marie how she'd described the plan to Wendy and Jane.She looked a little awkward. "I invited them to the pub to meet the girls. I told them that it was a surprise birthday party for one of my friends and, if you could arrange it at short notice, there might be some adult entertainment. I think that they are expecting a male stripper or something. They both seemed very enthusiastic."Sam had been on duty when my wife called. She had explained the situation to Kate who had promised to talk to her daughter and get back to us.We were deciding what to have for tea when Colin joined us. This time without his friend, Mia. "Hello, sweetheart," his grandma greeted him. "Where's your friend?""She does art club on Tuesdays after school. Her mum will pick her up.""Grandad was thinking about making a lamb keema for tea. Does that sound okay?""That sounds amazing," he replied. He's an easy lad to feed.I sent him off to start his homework while we prepped the meal. In ten minutes the onions were sliced, the garlic grated and the spices measured ready to add. I finished chopping the wilted spinach and checked the recipe. "All done, just twenty minutes cooking from start to finish."I left my wife to amuse herself and went in search of Colin. He was in my study frowning at my laptop. "Problem?" I asked."I have to give three examples of something called 'Entropy' and I can't really. I sort of understood in class, but it's just gone out of my head."A passage from a Douglas Adams book came to mind; something about the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides, the Princes of The Plains and the Dwellers in the Forest. The first two would wage war with each other in the forest and the latter group would suffer terribly as collateral damage. When they asked why the war had to take place in their forest, the answer, The Reason, seemed so obvious while it was being explained but less so when they returned to the smoldering remains of their villages. Most folk would recognize the feeling. I tried to help. "Imagine this. Your mum has spent all Saturday morning cleaning and tidying your bedroom. What does it look like the following Friday?"He looked uncomfortable. "Not great," he mumbled."That's entropy," I explained. "Your mum expended energy to put things into an ordered state but, over time, that order decays towards randomness. Can you think of similar examples?""Like ruined castles?" He asked, uncertain."Exactly," I replied"Or copying a copy?""So describe what happens," I prompted him."We still have a copier at school. If you copy a new document, then the copy is pretty cool, but every time you copy a copy, the background gets greyer and the text gets paler. Eventually, you have to guess what some of the words are.""So now you have two examples of your own to submit, and you can use mine too. Is that it?" I checked. "Shall I leave you to type that up?"He looked uncomfortable. "The talk; About sex;”I waited."Is it bad?" He asked."Not really," I reassured him. "There's stuff you need to know now and things you really don't need to know in detail for a couple of years."He didn't look convinced."Okay," I began. "We'll start now so you don't get hung up worrying about having to have this talk later. We'll talk about how your body will change, how girls' bodies change and what utter bollocks your mates at school will tell you when they try to show off how much they know about sex."He seemed to relax and we sat talking quietly for forty minutes or so, me taking a break for a coffee part way through. He coped well, though he admitted that periods sounded gross. I pointed out that girls would probably agree, but they weren't, by and large, optional. He also seemed to understand my main point; that nature had come up with a simple formula: cock plus cunt equals pregnancy. Until we had our next talk, in a couple of years, dealing with the mechanics of sex, if he took nothing else from our chat, he really had to remember that straightforward equation.He obviously understood what I was telling him. "So girls can get pregnant doing it standing up?""Absolutely," I agreed."Then it sounds like some of the Year Elevens are gonna be really deep in the doo doo.""If they've been getting their sex-ed exclusively from someone's big brother who has a porn site subscription, then probably, yes.""Thanks grandad. That wasn't so bad." And so saying he went back to his physics. I left him to it and went off in search of my wife.Marie smiled up at me when I found her, reading in the lounge. "You are the total package aren't you, my love?"I looked at her, quizzically."Sex, my dear," she clarified. "I heard part of your tutorial with Colin. You seem to excel at the theoretical as well as the practical aspects. Now, if you ever manage to actually figure women out too, you could be a Nobel Prize contender."The very thought made me laugh out loud. "Now you mention it though." I lowered my voice and sat next to her. "I could do with talking to you about Lucy.""Before you begin," Marie responded. "May I say this?" I sat back and she continued. "Megan and I talk. She and Charles agree that Lucy is in love with you. Her first husband died, her second husband is a treacherous twat and you, my love, represent the closest thing in her life to a constant male source of support."She saw me struggling to understand. "Megan, Kate and Jo, Margie and Sue too, they just need sex. They like you and, more importantly, they trust you, but their feelings go no further than trust and affection."She carried on, while I listened, fascinated. "Sam needs your intuitive grasp of how to help her deal with her demons. She really needs professional help but she appreciates the way you empathize with her struggles.""Angie needs help dealing with the world. I'm not convinced she's actually neurodiverse but she does have issues with some social interactions. Personally, I wonder if it's just because she's so much more intelligent than the rest of us that she sees these social niceties, behaviors that are apparently so important to everyone else, as meaningless nonsense." Marie gave me a hard stare. "You, dear husband, are her bridge. You speak her language but you are connected to our world too. You give her confidence and, when you command her, you allow her to shut down all of her defenses and trust absolutely in you. She cherishes those moments of peace.""I, on the other hand, need a partner. Someone who shares my goals and values but with a different perspective. You and I together are greater than the sum of our parts. I can hardly believe how close we came to destroying something so perfect but it will never," her voice hardened, "ever, happen again. Adding Angie to what we already have extends our partnership in another dimension, one I'm looking forward to exploring."She took my hand. "And now back to your original point: All that Lucy needs from you is your love. Knowing that you feel the way that you do about her gives her value. She knows that she's a capable artist, but Eddie made her question herself as a woman. You love me; and Angie. You think Jo is gorgeous. But you've never been embarrassed to admit that you think Lucy is sexy. That does wonders for her self-esteem. Yes, you tease her about being a blonde dingbat, but that doesn't hurt her. She knows it's affectionate."You've seen her recent work. That's down to you; you let her rediscover the woman she was fifteen years ago and she wants to repay you. So let her. She would never do anything to harm what we have: so you and she may have the same freedom as you and Angie. Love her and let her show her love for you."I sat, quietly impressed by Marie's comprehensive analysis of my sex life. "Jane and Wendy?" I prompted her.She considered for a moment. "With the benefit of hindsight,' she conceded. "I should have let you sleep with Jane five or six years ago. She needed you, and Ben would have benefited from growing up having you as a role model. But;” Here she dipped her head in reluctant acknowledgement. "We just weren't ready.""Jane has had a thing for you since before her husband passed. An innocent enough crush at first, but your," She stared accusingly at me, "Your supposedly innocent flirting has given her hope of some sort of part emotional, part physical relationship."She sighed. "I think she needs to get laid; she needs to be reminded that she's more than a widow and a single mum; she needs the confidence to rebuild her life so she can move on."I nodded slowly. That sounded like a fair summary.My wife graciously accepted my agreement and carried on. "Wendy is more damaged. While Jane lost her husband to illness, she ought to realize that she's still an attractive woman. Wendy has been hurt, though, just like Lucy. She's convinced herself that her husband abandoned her, because she's; what did she call herself? "A great heffalump". You, in fact we, need to show her what a striking girl she actually is."Marie frowned as she chose her next words. "It's possible that we may have to have you date her.""Christ, Marie!" I exploded, taken by surprise. "I know we keep bending the rules, but this?""No, dear." She disagreed. "We keep ignoring the rules, especially when they interfere with what's needed. There should be only one rule; 'Primum non nocere'."I looked blankly at her. "First do no harm," she translated for my benefit. "Supposedly part of the Hippocratic Oath, but it seems just as relevant here. If we can help Wendy at no risk to our marriage, what is the point of an arbitrary rule, however well intentioned, that prevents us? In fact." I got another hard stare. "Isn't this similar to the argument you used to persuade me to go along with your scheme for Jo?"Well, no not really: perhaps a little. Okay, quite similar in a way. She went back to her book while I considered her words. Nothing she had said changed the way I viewed our friends. She had reminded me what an amazing woman I'd been lucky enough to marry though. I was still savoring that thought when Colin joined us.He explained his homework to his gran while I listened to make sure that he'd understood just how fundamental the concept of entropy was. When he said, "And grandma, it applies to everything, mountains, stars, even people." I stood; my work here was done. My work in the kitchen, however, was just about to start.We had a civilized, if spicy, meal with Linda and Colin then, once they had left, I reminded my wife that I had an appointment at the pub. She decided to send me on my own, saying that she would look for a suitable way to wrap Jo's birthday present while I was gone. She did suggest that I might like to limit my beer input and hurry back, as she fancied an early night. I still had a few hours' worth of my erection pill coursing through my system, so that sounded like a most excellent idea.It was still fairly quiet in the bar when I arrived. I ordered a pint and Tony pulled one for himself and joined me at a table, leaving the barmaid to cope on her own. I explained that it was Marie's friend's birthday on Friday and that I intended to invite some additional guests to their usual 'girly get together' as a surprise.He looked levelly at me. "I believe every word," he told me. "But you're not telling me everything. Go on; spill."I gave him one last chance. "Plausible deniability," I explained. "There may be some adult entertainment involved. If you were prepared to let us have the room with a locked door, you couldn't be accused of being complicit."

Geoff and Marie's Good Life: Part 10Technology and Medicine.Advancements can be good and bad.Based on posts by Only In My Mind, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.I was standing in front of another of Lucy's works, 'The Girls', trying to decide which element was Marie when I felt an arm slide around my waist. I looked to find my favorite artist alongside me. I bent down, intending to kiss her forehead but she had other ideas. Her arm snaked around my neck and pulled me into a full on passionate kiss. Marie looked on from across the gallery, amused."There," Lucy said, sounding slightly frustrated. "I suppose that will have to keep me going until Wednesday." She strode off to talk to my wife.Jen, who had been admiring the work next to me gave me an old fashioned look. "I'm definitely not going to ask, but if you ever feel the need to explain?""I'm not sure that I can," I admitted. "If you really want to know, then ask the artist," I pointed to Lucy, still chatting to my wife. "to explain the meaning behind that work." I pointed to the one I'd found so compelling. "Be sure to tell her who you and Peter are first though."I moved on. Now that I'd realized the symbolism behind the older paintings, I found the dystopian themes of an abusive marriage disturbing. Great for a goth student bedsit. Not for our living room. I loved the other stuff though, and tried to find one that was still for sale.I found my wife examining some of the other artists' works on display. Even to my untrained eyes, none were in the same league as Lucy's. I put my arm around Marie's waist and kissed her cheek. "Hi. I'm an artist's muse. Fancy a coffee? If I ever get any etchings you'll be the first to get an invitation to come up and see them.""You should be ashamed of yourself," she protested. "You're wearing a wedding ring.""It's fine. My wife is a beautiful, successful, confident woman. She knows that I'd never abandon her for an art gallery groupie.She checked her watch. Yes, we're both that old. "Well this groupie wants her caffeine fix, and you're paying. Let's round the others up and we'll go. I'll see if Lucy wants to join us too."She did, and fifteen minutes later found the five of us round a table in our favorite little café. Lucy was fascinated by pictures of First Nation art that Peter had taken in Toronto. I could see her absorbing the way the indigenous artists portrayed movement and space. I suspected that a disentangled Lucy might be open to expanding her geographical horizons shortly.Then Jen asked about 'that' picture, Friday, four thirty. Lucy looked to me and then Marie. "They know," she said quietly. "It was the day and time of my release." Marie and I both saw the double entendre, even if Lucy didn't intend it.Lucy looked at my wife, who just smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath. "My husband has changed. He drinks, gambles and lies to me. He treated me like his whore for a while but at least I got laid. Now he can't even have sex with me. He blamed me for being too old and wrinkly, you know, down there, to be sexually attractive." Jen gasped in surprise. Today Lucy was wearing heels, a mid-thigh skirt and a blouse that only just hinted at uncontained tits beneath it. In short, she was a knockout.Our son looked at her in disbelief. "Your husband says that You are the reason he can't get it up?" Lucy nodded. "Then the man's an idiot," Peter concluded."But what does that have to do with the painting?" Jen asked, still confused.Glancing at me, Lucy explained. "I told Geoff, in the pub, what Eddie had said when he rejected me: 'Who'd want to stick their cock in a wrinkly old snatch like yours?' And Geoff told me to show him and he would tell me, honestly, if it was true. So I did; I showed him. He told me that my snatch was perfect and then he touched it. And he cuddled me, and I came. All my best friends were there and they saw me have the best orgasm I can remember, just sitting on Geoff's lap as he touched me. That happened one Friday at four thirty. That's what I painted."Jen stared open mouthed for a full minute as she unpacked Lucy's story. "Jesus!" She eventually exclaimed, "I'm going to the wrong pubs.""Lucy omitted to tell you we were with a small group of friends in a private room," Marie explained."Then I need new friends," Jen decided out loud. Peter just laughed.He looked at me. "In a way, I can understand. She was hurting. You knew it wasn't her fault. You did what you needed to do to make it better. Weren't you worried that mum would;” He stopped in mid-sentence. "But she was there; wasn't she? She could have stopped you. But she didn't because;” He thought it through. "Because she doesn't care. No! That's the wrong word. She does care about you and her friends but she isn't threatened by Angie or Lucy so she just didn't mind."Jen broke in. "That explains the kiss in the gallery. You were aiming for a platonic kiss and Lucy turned it into a full-on lip-smacker. But I saw Marie had seen you and wasn't a bit bothered. I did wonder."My wife added her contribution. "I didn't want to have to tell him, but I suppose he ought to know: it's his super-power. He just likes women; not lusts after, he just genuinely likes them, and most women respond. He's so used to it that he's never really noticed. For example; when we went to any of his company's staff parties, leaving do's or awards nights, all his female colleagues would hug him. No-one else really, just him. Not 'making a point in front of his wife' hugs, just real affection. So, when Lucy was sad, he had to help. It took nothing from me and he made my friend happy. It was actually quite moving."I find, at times like this, silence is an effective strategy. Apparently, Lucy doesn't. "My husband had rejected me," she said, wistfully. "My friends were there for me, but Geoff just held me. He treated me like a person. Not damaged, but lied to. He showed me that I was still desirable, but not in a predatory way. I fell in love with him then."I admit to being a little taken aback, even though Marie had told me how much Lucy, and the others, had appreciated what I'd done. But looking at Lucy, I couldn't reject her the way that Eddie had. I reached across the table for her hand. "I love you too, Lucy," I told her, truthfully. She squeezed my hand and smiled in reply"Bloody Hell, mum." Peter laughed. "Just how many of your friends has he worked his super-power on?"Marie looked thoughtful. "Well, Angie and Lucy obviously, there's Jo and Samantha, not Kate so much, or Megan; probably Sue and Margie and of course Jane." She looked at me for confirmation. That sounded about right. "That would be seven then," she concluded.Jen and Peter shared a stunned look. Our son recovered first. "I have so many questions that I honestly don't know where to start.Jen butted in. "I've no idea who these women are, but why not Kate and Megan?"Marie looked at me for support. I just held my hands up. After all, I'm only the empath with a cock. My wife replied thus, "Well, Kate admitted that while she really enjoyed the spooning afterwards, mainly it was the sex that made her day rather than romance; and Megan's already happily married."Peter was struggling to catch up. "You mean you've actually had sex with all seven of these women?""Not exactly," I protested. "I've only touched Lucy that once and I've done nothing with Jane.""You kissed her in the sex shop," Marie pointed out, unhelpfully to my way of thinking. "And again in the car when you dropped her off at home. I think you suggested that it was to give her some motivation when she tried out the polyurethane cock you bought for her." I cringed at the look Peter gave me."Oh, yes." added Lucy as I winced in anticipation at whatever she was going to contribute next. "I've already agreed to do a cast of his thingy so that Jane can have a full size replica. We thought a signed limited edition run would be fun. I'll definitely want one too. I can make the initial mold when it's my turn on Wednesday." She squeezed my hand. "I could feel it in your pants when I sat on your lap. I can't wait to actually see it," she added, excitedly.I looked up and noticed the café was starting to fill up. So far no-one appeared to have noticed the bizarre conversation at our table but that was unlikely to continue, so I suggested that we leave before we were evicted. Of course, Pete and Jen needed to see the painting again, now that they understood its genesis, so we trooped back to the gallery, the younger couple giving me odd sideways glances when they thought I wasn't looking. I sighed. There would be more questions tonight.The questions, of course, started much earlier than that. As we walked back home Peter strolled alongside me while Marie dropped back to keep Jen company."Is this a kind of mid-life crisis?" he asked."I hope so," I replied. "That would mean that I'd survive to about a hundred and thirty or so.""But dad: eight women.""Peter. This wasn't my idea. I'd never cheat on your mum so, when she suggested that we do this, I refused. I can't deny that they are lovely women, each different in their own way, but I refused because I was convinced this insane idea could wreck our marriage."Our son didn't look convinced.I continued. "Look. There are things that I can't tell you; personal things that the girls shared with each other and then with me. It broke your mum's heart to compare their lives with hers. But the one thing that was missing for all of them was sex. They don't expect it every night; just often enough to reassure them that they're still sexual beings. But they are independent too; Megan being a special case. They didn't want to accommodate to new partners sharing their lives and their beds, so your mum came up with this idea.""And you get to have sex with them all," Peter observed. "Isn't mum going to get jealous eventually?""Do you think that never occurred to me?" I replied. "We think we've found a solution. Ask your mum if you really need to know. But." I stopped walking and turned to him. "I truly don't regret what we have done. If, at some time in the future I realize this was what ended our marriage, that will be the time for regret. But you were there; you heard Lucy's story; you saw the painting that our shared experience inspired in her. Do you want me to wish that had never happened? That she stayed with that drunken, abusive idiot? Because now I guarantee she will have moved out before this year is over. Because another man, one that actually cared about her, told her the truth. She's lovely and she deserves to be happy and I'm glad that your mum was selfless enough to make that happen." I took a deep breath. I wasn't angry at Peter, but my passionate outburst surprised even me.By now Marie and Jen had caught up with us. "Thank you darling." Marie took my hand and kissed it. "After all of your fretting, I'm glad that you finally understand how much you've helped my friends already." She addressed Peter and Jen. "We weren't sure whether to share the whole story with you, but Linda knows, and you accepted Angie so readily that it seemed only fair that you should know too."We started walking again. Jen spoke next. "I'm sorry if this sounds judgmental, Marie, but I can't imagine knowing that Peter was sleeping with one of my friends. I think it would destroy me.""Oh, I understand, dear," my wife replied gently. "I would have felt the same at your age. Geoffrey still does." She squeezed my hand affectionately. "But you have to realize; these aren't just casual acquaintances. These women, 'the girls', are my closest friends; almost family. Seeing Geoff with them doesn't threaten me. It's beautiful. Watching them respond to my man, knowing the pleasure they are feeling but never, for a second, believing that they would try to steal my husband or that he would abandon me for one of them.""But you said one of the other women was happily married?" Jen reminded us. I decided to let my wife take that one."She is," Marie replied, her eyes filling up. "To a really wonderful man too." She glanced at Jen. "He knows and approves of his wife's visits but, again, he knows she won't leave him for Geoff. But that's all I'm prepared to say; and that's probably too much."We carried on walking, closer together, as my wife continued. "Perhaps I can explain it like this." She sighed. "Imagine you are struggling to cope financially; you see family and friends in the same straits. But you can't afford to share what little you have. That's how fidelity felt when we were younger. Other women threatened my security." She lifted my hand in hers and pressed it to her tit. "But now, I feel secure. It's as though your dad represents stability rather than a potential loss. The women he's with aren't taking anything from me; it's more like they are just guests at our table. They arrive, we chat, they dine and, at the end of the evening, they leave, content. We all cherish the time together and I've lost nothing." She looked intently at Jen. "Does that make sense?""When you say that you all cherish your time together;” Jen ventured. Peter seemed reluctant to hear his mum's reply."Yes, that was our solution. Geoff, quite understandably, had no interest in sharing me with his male friends, and nor will I ever ask, but he was probably correct about one thing: I don't think that I would have been able to cope with him sleeping with my friends while I sat alone. So we share. Sometimes in the same bed, sometimes in separate rooms." She gave one of her brilliant smiles. "I'd forgotten just how good it felt to be with another woman."Peter groaned. "So it's not just Angela then, mum?""No," she replied brightly. "In fact, Angie's a special case. We've decided that, as our betrothed, either of us can have sex with her whenever we want. With the others it always has to be as part of our regular evenings when we share." She giggled. "We call them our language classes."The rest of the walk home was subdued. Peter and Jen walked together talking quietly while Marie and I cheerfully discussed taking them out for a meal that evening.We picked up some farmhouse bread and a selection of cheeses from the deli on the way home for a quick and simple lunch. As we settled around the kitchen table Peter asked if he could add one observation to the chat we'd had walking home. We agreed, of course."Jen and I discussed what you'd told us, and we're honored that you trusted us to be open. You're my parents and I love you and Jen loves you both too. What you are doing sounds insane but, dad made it obvious you haven't done this lightly, on a whim. And, more than anything, Lucy's story really touched the pair of us. So, while I have no plans to follow in your footsteps, dad, Jen and I both pray that we are as secure in our love for each other at your age as you two obviously are."Marie reached across and touched both of their hands. "Thank you, both of you, for not judging us. We love you too," she told them, sincerely. I stood and walked round the table pulling Pete up for a man hug, finding that Jen was stood waiting for her turn when we'd finished.We spent most of the afternoon chatting about Canada and how much they had enjoyed their time there. By the time I got back from collecting Colin from school, Angie had returned and was sitting on the sofa talking to Jen."Grandad. Mum knows about Aunty Angela doesn't she?" He asked as we walked through the front door."Yes. She was surprised at first, but she seems okay with it now," I told him. His face lit up with mischief."Hi Uncle Pete, Aunty Jen, grandma." He called, walking in from the hall. He gave a wicked grin. "Hi Grangie," he yelled, throwing himself onto her lap. She hugged him, stunned at first by her new title, then burst into tears."Bloody Hell," I heard Peter mutter. "Dad's super-power seems to have skipped a generation. But Colin's definitely got it.""It hasn't skipped anything," Jen whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. "You have it too. Your only problem is that I'm not the woman your mum is." I resolved to speak to Marie about that. Peter does take after me in build, and male pattern hair loss and yes, we share nerdy interests. But Jen is a wonderful woman. She is intelligent, elegant, attractive rather than classically beautiful and with a warm personality that fills the room. I love her like one of my own and I won't have her belittle herself like that.I stood and watched as Colin reassured himself that 'Grangie' was crying happy tears, thinking to myself that the little charmer was probably more likely to get an Aston Martin than I was. Good for him. He'd probably deserve it too.I packed him off to do his homework: Photosynthesis tonight. He showed me his worksheet. His task was to use the words in the box to fill the gaps in the description of the process. He went through it as we talked, noticing that Carbon Monoxide was in there as a trap for the unwary. He was back in ten minutes and straight into deep discussion with his uncle.I gestured to Marie to follow me into the kitchen and told her what Jen had said. "Silly girl," my wife said. "She's perfect for Peter. Bullying my husband into screwing my mates hardly qualifies me as a role model for women in general." Her voice softened. "She's right though about one thing; Peter is a lot like you were at his age. The lucky girl." Marie kissed me gently on the lips and went back to our guests.I couldn't be bothered to start cooking that afternoon so I sent a text to Linda to meet us at the pub at half past five and I'd treat us all to a bar meal, but she replied to say that she would come straight to ours so we would only need two cars. That's a logistics planner at work.We had just finished off our meals when two young people greeted us. It was Adrian and Emily. She noticed me glancing at her neck and shook her head, smiling. Tonight she was here as his girlfriend, not his submissive sex slave.Adrian explained that they had waited until we'd finished eating but would understand if we felt that they were still intruding on a family moment. When we explained to Peter and Jen that our two young friends were part of our wedding planning team; they were keen for them to join us.Emily sat with Marie and Peter to talk about fabricating some lightweight body armor for my wife's costume. Colin joined them; partly as a fan of the Mandalorian, partly because I think he had an instant crush on Emily.Meanwhile, Angie and Jen were in deep discussion with Adrian about their own costumes. In both groups phones were brandished, numbers exchanged and images shared. I saw Adrian examine one picture quite closely, look over at me thoughtfully and smile. Linda, who was sitting next to me, was intrigued. "What was that?""Well, love. As far as I can tell, my outfit selection has been approved. Have you and Mike discussed costumes? I did tell you it was a Star Wars themed celebration."She shrugged dismissively. "We'll pop into that fancy-dress shop in town. They'll have something that will do."Not a chance," I told her. I leant across the table to check something with Marie and then turned back to my daughter. I showed her a picture of Bo Katan, my wife's character, on my phone. "This will be your mum's outfit. She'd like you to wear something similar, as her supporter.""Where the hell will I find something like that?" She exclaimed.I pointed across the table. "Adrian's actually in his second year of a costume design course. Angie has agreed to underwrite all the materials costs for our ceremony so he's been able to persuade several of his course mates to take part because we have a range of amazing outfits for them to design and create but at no cost to them." I patted Linda's hand. "Tell Mike to pick anything he thinks looks cool, subject to some constraints; No bad guys and full face coverings and masks are probably impractical. Other than that, we'll get him measured for whatever takes his fancy.""X-Wing pilot.""What?" I didn't see that coming."Obviously, I'll ask him but I'm absolutely sure that's what he'll choose." Linda seemed very certain. "Does it meet your criteria?"I considered. Simple, colorful flight-suit and a helmet. "If that's what he wants, I'm sure it will be fine. Can Colin and Mia choose their own outfits or do you want to be involved?"

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We all know that that's what the foreign owners want.  Omid Djalili, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler discuss the reasons why we shouldn't just wave bye bye to the top six elite clubs in the Premier League and let them all just bugger off and join what nearly every football supporter fears will be the inevitable European Super League.  For them there would then be no fear of relegation but instead there would be trips to Milan, Madrid, Rome, Munich, Paris and Barcelona every other week instead of down the M3 and the M27 to Southampton or up the M1 to Sheffield and Leeds… or even worse up the M65 to Burnley.  We don't suppose in the boardrooms of New York and Paris they look forward to being asked “Hello Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, how did you find the meat pies at Turf Moor last week?”  But if they did leave, as they clearly want to, where would that leave the rest of English football? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In The Pod Squad this week: Pete, Russ and Andy K, discussing the latest friendlies, news and rumours from Albion, the fans' forum, exciting news about the new Shegulls stadium and a prestigious nomination for one of the new WSL recruits. Pete and Russ also regale us with tales of their FA Cup trip to Haywards Heath Town and there's also a review of the League One / Two openers and a preview of The Championship, which gets underway this weekend. . Stand or fall! UTA! Bugger off, ManUre!!! Contact us at brightonrockpodcast@gmail.com @BrightonRockPod We are proudly a part of The Sports Social Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geoff Hutchison drops by to talk grumpy old buggers, Joel and Janelle share how they met and what it’s like writing comedy together, Plus: building a house on the wrong block, bizarre workplace sackings (biting? really?), and apparently Ross is happy to be here?!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Geoff Hutchison, Former ABC Radio Host joins Michael to discuss his new book, which explores why some older Australian men lose joy and connection in retirement, and what can be done to reverse the slide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Politicians rely on voters having short memories. They all do it. Politicians and governments get swept out of power, they fester away on the opposition benches, and then a year before the next election, they make sweeping statements and promises about what they'll do if voters have the good sense to put them in. Chris Hipkins is no different from every other party. A lot of people might nod along with his comments and look at the price of butter or the whopping amount on their power bill and think ‘well this lot haven't fixed things the way they said they would, maybe I should vote Labour in 2026.' In the Herald's Front Page podcast, the Labour leader said he wants us to have a look at how MP works, so smaller parties don't call the shots. There should be some concessions and some trade-offs with the other parties to form a government, he says. That doesn't mean you should be doing things you specifically told the electorate before the election that you weren't going to do, Chris Hipkins said. The Treaty Principles Bill, he says, is a good example. The Regulatory Standards Bill. Some of these things no one knew they were voting for at the last election. And now they're being inflicted on them. I don't think that's the spirit of MMP or democracy. And amazingly, a bolt of lightning didn't strike him. Because can I remind the Labour leader, that Labour lost the last election - and absolutely tanked it. After their landslide win in 2020, ministers felt they could implement un-signaled projects and projects that arose because of agitation within their caucus - from Three Waters to a social insurance scheme - and didn't bother taking the public along with them. That was one of the main reasons that Labour tanked it. After their historic win, it was a historic defeat. ‘Bugger it', they thought to themselves. ‘We've got a mandate, we'll do what we like', which is not so very different from allowing minor parties to implement un-signaled projects, is it? A lot of people who voted Labour last time did so because in 2020 National was a complete disaster as a party. A lot of people were very grateful to Labour for getting them through Covid. There were still some people who believed the rhetoric, despite clear evidence that they had no idea how to implement a lot of the more progressive and visionary policies. There was no evidence they could actually implement them, but some people still believed it. But then they came and there were policies that nobody knew existed, even those who had done their homework. Where did this come from? Well, it came from an antsy Māori block within Labours caucus who said,' Well, if you don't do this, we'll go to Te Pati Māori!' and Labour caved. So, I am all for some reform around our electoral system. I think the party that wins the most votes on the night should be obliged to enter into negotiations with the minor parties. And, perhaps more pertinently, the minor parties (looking at you Winston) should be obliged to begin negotiations with the party that wins the most votes on the night. Forget about your petty power politics and your hurt feelings and your personal grievances. That's not what you should be there for. You should be there for the good of the people. So, the party that wins the most votes on the night should have the minor parties knocking on their door, by law. And if they cannot reach any kind of consensus, if they cannot agree on the principles that could help them form a government then by all means, shuffle the deck. Let's see what kind of government you can come up with. I would love to hear before the election from party leaders on who they will work with, which parties they will rule out, and which policies are non-negotiable. And again stressing, I would love to see petty power politics taken out of the equation too. New Zealand voters have said have reaffirmed MMP as the system by which they want to be governed. Incomprehensibly to me, but there we go, we live in a democracy. They've said yes, MMP is the way to go, that's the form of proportional representation we will have. But that doesn't mean that we can't tinker with it, make it better, or reform it. We don't agree on much Chris Hipkins and I, but on that, I do agree. Let's have a look at MMP and see how we can improve it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On The Other Side of Midnight, Lionel starts the show talking about the power of persuasion over insult when it comes to delivering a political message. He also talks about Lenny Skutnik, the glory days of the NYPD and the Mid-Atlantic accent. Lionel talks later with a caller about his immense cable bill and the state of television today. He then talks with a caller who discusses folklore and mythology and shares funny yet meaningless proverbs. Lionel starts the third hour talking about the mixed message coming from the Trump administration on the Jeffrey Epstein situation. He then talks about bed bugs. Lionel wraps up the show talking to callers who frustratingly talk about their previous calls. Beyond that he touches on building rules, package delivery, water boiling, population control and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Age of Aquarius is associated with themes of technological innovation, freedom, humanitarianism, and a shift from individual identity to a more collective focus. President Obama was the response and the beginning, but Donnie and the Obstructionists, because they are super villains and the conservative response to this age. The reaction is the leftward swing Zohran Mamdani, who is more African American than I...the drama coming out of NYC is refreshing! Stack your money and not FOMO. Crypto and NFTs are your way to financial freedom, and the topic of the upcoming bonus episode is available via NFT. (Yeah, pay to play baby!)   Parable of the Talents A writer who darkly imagined the future we have destined for ourselves in book after book, and also one who has shown us the way toward improving on that dismal fate, OCTAVIA E. BUTLER (1947–2006) is recognized as among the bravest and smartest of contemporary fiction writers. A 1995 MacArthur Award winner, Butler transcended the science fiction category even as she was awarded that community's top prizes, the Nebula and Hugo Awards. She reached readers of all ages, all races, and all religious and sexual persuasions. For years the only African-American woman writing science fiction, Butler has encouraged many others to follow in her path. Reviews "This work stands out as a testament to the author's enormous talent, and to the human spirit." —Publishers Weekly "Butler sets the imagination free, blending the real and the possible." —United Press International    Beyoncé brought fun and artistry to ATL. #RHOC, #RHOM, The Valley...Injected underfed pretending to eat reality stars...I am so tired of ya'll, do better. A lot of side-eye and shade at the #RHOA reunion... not holding the episode to watch # ShameAmorton side-eye # PorshaWilliams and not correct her. And listen to fake fairy Phae Phae lie about the jump off and how she moves. But the Lerwks stunning for the most part. Support ourselves with shelter, safe food,  and money all legally. Giving thanks always keeps concern and arrogance away Blessings will flow easier Contact Us on: https://linktr.ee/tnfroisreading Blue Sky: @tvfoodwinegirl.bsky.social Threads: www.threads.net/@tnfroisreading Instagram: @tnfroisreading Facebook: TNFroIsReading Bookclub   You know your girl is on her hustle, support the show by navigating to: Yes, I can...Create my coin...Our rituals involve burning zeroes. Read about the financial revolution #AfroDruids $ROOTS    #CryptoTrading #CryptoAirdrop #CryptoAlert  @akrapheal   

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 21 Andy's spirits are lifted by an old friend. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 36 Half an hour later, his phone rang and Andy glanced down to see it was Phil calling, a picture of him with the words "Phil The Elder" superimposed over part of it. The poker group actually had two Phils in it,  Phil Marcos and Phil Pak. The two men were dramatically different from one another, but also remarkably similar in others. They shared the same first name, so the group had given them nicknames when they were talking about them if it could've been either of them. Phil Marcos a.k.a. Phil The Elder a.k.a. Greater Phil was 34, Filipino and worked for Boeing with the Air Force at a base in the East Bay, and was certainly the closer friend to Andy. They'd met at a local comic book store just after Andy had moved out to the West Coast, and had hit it off immediately. When Andy had started his poker group up a few years later, Phil was one of the first people Andy had called. Phil Pak, a.k.a. Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil was 32, Korean and worked for the NSA out of San Francisco, and not someone they'd seen as often as they liked. For the last couple of years, Lesser Phil had been trying to convince Andy to come work as a data analyst for the NSA in terms of interpretation and extrapolation. Lesser Phil had been a college friend of Eric's, and had been introduced to Andy only a few months after he'd met Greater Phil. While Andy still typically thought of them as Greater and Lesser Phil, he tried not to call them that out loud, and had them as Phil The Elder and Phil The Younger in his phone. Andy asked if it was a common name, and Eric remarked that he knew at least a couple more Phils but none he knew that well. Andy told him he'd had a similar problem with Jennys in high school. "Talk to me, Phil," Andy said to his friend. "You heard the recording. Should I be worried?" "Concerned, yes. Worried, no," Phil sighed. He sounded exhausted on the other end of the line, but as of late, Phil had always sounded exhausted. Whatever he was doing over at the base, it was certainly taking a toll on his friend. "So the good news is that in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. But that reaction means that Lexi had been infected with the Orange Variant of the DuoHalo virus before we introduced the serum to her body." "The 'Orange Variant?'" "We started naming them after colors, working our way through the spectrum. The Red Variant was first but it died off very quickly, so this is the second one," he grumbled. "But she isn't our first exposure to it, so we know how the serum's going to generally react to it, and what it's going to do to her. There are only two real major differences you're going to need to worry about." "Is she going to be okay?" "I told you, in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. The two differences you need to pay attention to are this,  first, her margin of error for recursion is far less forgiving. That means don't ever make her go more than a week without getting some Rook juice, if you know what I mean, otherwise she see temporary cognitive decline set in pretty fast, and she'll be ripping your clothes off no matter where you are, so keep that in mind." "Every seven days minimum," Andy repeated, writing it down on a notepad in his writing office. "What's the other major difference I need to worry about?" "It shouldn't even be a concern, but you should still know about it. You know how other men's semen will typically make an imprinted woman ill?" "Sure?" "Those who've been exposed to the Orange Variant, if they come in contact with the semen of a man other than those they're imprinted with, they go into a violent fit of rage, attacking anyone other than their imprinted man on sight. Those rage fits tend to be relatively short lived,  only a hour at most,  but they're still incredibly dangerous and not the kind of thing you want sprung on you as a surprise." "And this is my bodyguard who has this," Andy sighed. "Oh it's fine," Phil chuckled. "She won't harm you, and you know how to protect your family better than anyone. I think anyone who tried to use it as a weakness against Lexi would probably not live to regret it. She'll also be imprinting for longer than normal, so if she's sleeping for like a day and a half, don't worry about it. That's to be expected." "You doing okay, Phil?" Andy asked. "You look like shit, and I'm more worried about you now than I am Lexi." Phil sighed then laughed a little bit. "You know me. I'll sleep when I'm dead. Lots of long days in the office turning into long nights, and on top of that, Audrey and Linda are making sure that I have several partners as well, so that my immunity to DuoHalo continues to be strong. We're not entirely sure of the science of it yet, but it looks like the more people inside a particular polypod, the stronger the internal herd immunity the male at the center get is. Once we knew that for certain, my two queens made sure I had a good litter of partners in our household. So I'm up to eleven myself now." "I still can't believe I'm a level five and you're not, Phil," Andy said, deliberately testing a theory by trying to bait it out of his friend. "Okay, Andy, you got me," Phil said with amusement. "I'm also a level five. I was lying to you earlier, for security reasons. In fact, I think technically I was one of the first level fives. I've also technically had DuoHalo, but I can't really get into the details of that all that much. Let's just say that when we're finally through this whole pandemic, I'm going to have a bunch of stories to tell you that will blow your mind. I probably have to get clearance for you so that I can tell you some of them, but it'll be worth it." "I've always known you were up to something over there, Phil," Andy laughed. "I just couldn't figure out what it was." "Greater Phil, International Man of Mystery. It's got a nice ring to it." "Speaking of Mystery. Poker, this week. Let's do it." "Yeah, sure," Phil said. "I could use a break, so you call everyone else, and I'll make a point of coming over with as much of the family as I can convince to come out, although it has that weird side effect of making every poker night feel like a giant party where we're all hiding from our wives. Maybe we should see if there's enough interest to set up a second table and we can mix and match, so you can spend a bit more time meeting my partners and vice versa." "Well, you see Niko all the time, what with her being at your work, so you probably know her about as well as I do." "That girl's got secrets upon secrets, Andy." That caught him a little off guard. He wasn't bothered by it, but he was amused at the idea of her trying to hide something from him. "Niko? My Niko? I can't see it. She's open and transparent about everything with me." "Sure, okay. Didn't you feel that way about Erin?" "That was different?" "Was it though?" Phil said in a tone that immediately conjured the Smug Thor meme to his mind. "I mean, sure, Niko's secrets are probably being kept from you for the right reasons, as opposed to Erin's, but secrets are secrets." "The last thing I need is you making me more paranoid, Phil." "Forget I said anything. Oh, one last bit of news for you. Maya won't be there until tomorrow midday. Turns out she's also got the Orange Variant, so we're making sure the serum is getting a good foothold before we send her over to you. It's all just safety precautions, but it'll be over soon enough." "Great. We can do poker night on the 20th, so we can all watch the President's speech and the 60 Minutes story together." "Sounds like fun," Phil agreed. "Hopefully Katie Couric's team caught my good side. See you on Friday." As Andy hung up the phone, he noticed that Whitney was lingering in the doorway. She was dressed impeccably in a white button up shirt and a black pencil skirt with black pantyhose on beneath, and the shirt was just barely thin enough that he could see hints of her red bra on underneath. "Have you got a moment, sir?" "Sure thing, Whitney, what's up?" "Just wanted to go over the set up work I've done for the house so you know what's going on, and to ask you a few questions so I can start the process of replacing your laptop for you," she said, her hands folded together in front of her, her eyes mostly lowered. "Sounds great, but Whitney, you don't have to look down all the time. I know you're more used to a stern hand than I am, and I'll do my best to be what you like when we're intimate, but when you're acting in your duties as the house IT manager, you need to relax a little more and try to fit in." Whitney smirked a little bit, those dark red lips perked up as she lifted her head, nodding at him with a little smile. "Oh, I know, sir. I think I mostly just wanted to see if you would notice. Shall we?" For the next half an hour, Whitney explained to him in good detail all the changes she'd gone about to the house in the last day, getting all the rooms configured to work within the house's larger intranet. As it turned out, there were multiple LAN ports in the walls of every room in the house, it seemed like, and once again, Andy found himself wondering who this house had been built for originally. In addition to making sure all the ports were working, Whitney had also set up wireless hubs and repeaters all throughout the house, enough so that no matter where a person was in the house, they should always have a good signal to the internet. The house's security systems ran on an entirely separate network, one with minimal external connectivity, and Whitney said that she would work with Lexi to make sure the system was up to whatever standards his new head of security had in mind. They walked while they talked, and outside in the back, Andy could see Katie astride her riding lawn mower, zipping in lines across the monstrous amount of green grass in his back yard, making sure to get all of it cut even and levelly. He could also see Tala hauling things into the back house with the help of Nicolette, who had ditched the maid outfit for the time being for a more practical set of blue jeans and a baggy t shirt covered in paint splotches. All of the changes, Whitney assured him, had been done with minimal disruption to anyone's work in the house, and she'd been trying to get as much of it today, as it was a Sunday. The last thing they talked about was his replacement laptop, something that Andy was remarkably picky about. Oh, he didn't care about the things most people cared about,  when it came to processors and memory, Andy insisted none of that mattered to him,  but the thing he was adamant about was that the keyboard feel as close to the one on the laptop he was currently using, an eight year old IBM ThinkPad. Too many keyboards were difficult to use for long periods at a time, and considering how many words Andy found himself putting into his laptop on a daily basis, if the keyboard was unwieldy, the laptop might as well be non existent. Whitney made a special note that "keyboard feel" was of the utmost import, and she insisted to him, she would do her best to get him a good replacement within a week or so. She had already begun backing up all the files from his existing laptop to the house's master network, as well as to a backup kept in a fire safe, so that even if disaster struck, he would still have his work in a safe location. Andy did tell her that she didn't have to work full time on the weekends, and that she should make a point of getting settled into her own room, and spending some time catching up with her friend Nicolette who had brought her here. Whitney had smiled at that, and agreed to go get changed so she could help Tala move in, and then they could all help Whitney get moved in afterwards. He was starting to walk back towards his office when he ran into Lauren, clearly just back from a jog around the neighborhood, sweaty and out of breath, a big smile on her face. "Hey there, fella, just the bloke I was lookin' to have a moment with. Got a snip?" He grinned, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sure, what's up?" "I've been thinking, and I think maybe we should let Taylor off the hook now," she said, looking down at her feet for a second. "I know, I know, I was the one who set the whole month punishment in place but, strewth, seeing her walking around naked all the time is starting to make me feel bad. I'm thinking she's learned her lesson, and she knows she's got lots of trust to earn back from me, so I'm only keeping her from getting to spend time learning more about all the other amazing sheilas you have in this house, and that's not fair of me." "I agree," Andy chuckled, "but I didn't want to be the one to tell you, seeing how fire and brimstone you were about the whole thing when you set the rules in place." "Strewth," she muttered. "Was it really that much a dunnybrook?" "I was a little worried the heavens were going to part and you were going to call down lightning bolts from the skies," he said, the smile wide on his face. "Real wrath of god type shit." "Bugger. Anyway, you should tell'er that you've talked me down, and that you laid down the law, and you decided, and eventually I relented, that she is done with that punishment and should just join the family like all the other birds. Make it clear you decided, not me, so I still get to keep a bit of that big scary reputation." Andy rolled his eyes but nodded. "Sure sure, you'll look mean. You'll look really scary. Anyway, I'll go find her and tell her while you're hopping into the shower." "Stink that bad, do I?" "Your sweatstains have got sweatstains, Lauren," he said with a laugh as he was backing away from her, while she mimed punching motions in his direction. He wasn't certain where he'd find Taylor in the house, so he decided just to go wandering the halls and see where he stumbled into her. He found her in Hannah's room, where she, Asha and Hannah were sitting on the bed, gossiping. Asha and Hannah hadn't bothered to change out of their pajamas, enjoying a lazy Sunday, while Taylor sat nude with her back against the wall. One of his two cats, Muninn, the Russian blue, was sitting on the bed near Asha, who was petting him idly. All three girls tensed a little bit when he entered the room,  Taylor wasn't supposed to be sitting up on furniture unless Lauren or himself had told her to do so, but Andy hadn't really followed the rules at all, and had made it clear multiple times that Taylor's 'punishment,' such as it was, was mostly for Lauren's mollification, and that if Taylor slipped on the rules from time to time while she wasn't around, he didn't particularly care. "No no, don't get up, Taylor, it's fine," he said, coming into the room. "In fact, it's what I came to talk to you about." "You need to get Nicolette to turn up the house furnace, babe," Asha said to him. "If I'd ta walk around all day in me skivvies, I know I'd be freezin'." "Totally, Daddy," Hannah said. He'd repeatedly told her that she didn't have to call him that (in fact, going so far as to hint that it made him a little uncomfortable when she did) but she had repeatedly answered that she liked calling him that, so she wasn't going to stop any time soon. At least she knew enough not to do it when other people were around the house. "We're just talkin' anyway, so I told her to hop up here, so if you gotta punish someone, it should be me." "You look far too eager when you suggest that, Hannah," he told the Asian teenager. "Anyway, I had a talk with Lauren just a little bit ago. I told her this is my house, and I'm in charge, and that I've decided you've served this part of your punishment long enough. You're free to get dressed, wear clothes around the house, sleep wherever you want, sit wherever you want. You can get your phone back, and you can start working with Lauren at the 49ers camp whenever you feel like you're ready. You're a full member of the household now, and there's no reason for this silly punishment to go on any further. And you can certainly take off that ridiculous dog collar." Taylor's bright blue eyes had been focused on him the entire time he'd been talking, and she slipped off the bed quickly to throw her arms around him, pressing those impressive tits of hers against his chest as she hugged him very tightly, clinging to him, even as he could hear her sniffling back some tears. "Thank you, Andy," she said quietly. "I know Lauren's still mad at me, but this has been really hard, being made to feel like less than a person." He wrapped his arms around her, patting her bare back. "I know, and I get that, but you also have to realize that cheating on her hurt her in a way she'd never been hurt before, and that won't go away fully for a long long time. Just because you're done with all of this doesn't mean you're done with all of that. I know you know that, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded that you're going to be repairing that damage between you two for years to come. You screwed up, but there's a way back from that, as long as you're willing to put in the work and learn from your mistakes." Taylor pulled back, looking at him as something just dawned on her. "So, wait, all the rules have been lifted? Like all all of them?" He tilted his head a little. "Yyyyes? Why, is there one in particular you're asking about?" "So, like, next time, y'know, when me and you, then we can,” He bit back a smile and nodded. "Yes, yes we can. And if you want to masturbate again, you're welcome to start doing that too." She shook her head over dramatically once then leaned in to kiss him. "After we've had our first time together, our first real time together, then I will, but I want the first thing inside of my cunt after all this time to be your cock. If that's okay," she said, biting her lip nervously. "Of course it's okay. I think your next day in the rotation was going to be the 20th, but if you want, we can try and find some time before then instead. It can even be just the two of us, without Lauren around, if that's what you want." She pouted again for a moment. "Anything I want?" "Well, within my usual limits, but sure." She slipped her arms away from him, and turned back to look at Asha and Hannah, extending a hand to each of them. "I want the four of us together, for my first time normally with you, Andy," she said, as Asha took one hand and Hannah took the other. "Oh rrrrreally?" Asha said, dragging the sound out, her London accent dripping through the word. "All four of us together? Sounds like a spot of fun. I'm game if you are, Whiskers," she said, looking over at Hannah with a smile. "Anything you can throw at me, I can totally handle, Goldfish," Hannah shot back at her friend. Clearly the girls had developed nicknames for each other when he wasn't around. "I was supposed to have tomorrow night, Daddy, so instead of it just being me, it'll be all three of us, if that's totally cool and shit." "Yeah, that's, ahem, totally cool. And shit." He leaned in to give Taylor a quick kiss, but she kissed him back harder than expected, and it lasted longer than he'd planned, not that he minded. "And you, young lady, should get some clothes on, and maybe unpack your stuff, whether that's in your own room or in Lauren's room, that's up to you." "Oh it totally all goes in with Lauren," Taylor said. "I don't even want my own room. Either I'm in her bed or yours. You want to come help me move in, girls?" "You couldn't stop us, love," Asha said. "Last one there has a smelly cunt!" Hannah said as she bolted towards the door, Asha and Taylor just a step or two behind her. "Y'know," Andy said to himself and the cat, "I feel like I should've yelled that there's no running in the house after them, but I just know it wouldn't have done any good." "Meow," Muninn said to him in response. "Oh hush," Andy said. "What the hell do you know?" "Meow," Muninn agreed. "Damn straight." After leaving Hannah's room, he was halfway down the hall when he ran into Sarah, who was wearing one of his t shirts, one for a band called Stereophonics, and sweatpants beneath it, her hair done up in the least stylish ponytail he'd ever seen from her, as if she'd just put her red mane up to get it out of the way for a while. "Hey you," she said, her pearly white smile beaming at him. "Maya should be here any minute, and I know you're just gonna love her." "I actually spoke to Phil a little bit ago, and she's not going to be here until tomorrow, but she's still coming, don't you worry." He explained the Orange Variant to her, and while she was a little disappointed that her friend's arrival would be delayed, she understood that Maya's health was the most important thing, and the base didn't want to let her out of their sight until she was ready. "What've you been up to today?" She rolled her oceanic blue eyes at him with a big harumph. "Reading screenplays that my agent sent over, trying to pick my next project. It's looking like everyone's going to want to do serialized television right now, because they can get more content out of smaller budgets, but so many of these stories are just so boring," she groaned. "It's like my agent's only sending me the same stuff." "Well," he said, taking her hand in his as they walked down the hallway, "tell your agent what you want then, whether that's more drama, more action, more comedy, more whatever it is you want more of. They only know what you want when you tell them. I had to learn the same lesson with my literary agent early on." She squeezed his hand thankfully. "My agent really should know better, but you're right. I can get her on the hunt for the kinds of things I want to be doing. You know there aren't really any good spy stories on television right now? I should see if she can get me something like that. I'll give her a call tomorrow, see if maybe she can reach out to the production companies, see who's already got projects winding up I can try and piggyback onto." They walked past the door of Emily and Sarah's workspace, and Andy noticed it was closed. He pointed with his other hand at the closed door as they kept on walking. "Em in some kind of meeting?" Sarah nodded. "London based production company wanted to reach out to her, so she's taking the call today, but she should be out in an hour or so." The doorbell rang, and Sarah arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you said Maya wouldn't be here until tomorrow." "That's what Phil told me," he said, as the two of them started to head downstairs, although Andy could hear someone answering the door, followed by a loud squeal of recognition. When they came down the stairs, Andy could see it was Piper who'd answered the door, and she had her arms wrapped around a short blonde girl, hugging her tightly. "Andy! Sarah! Brooke's here!" Piper said to them, swinging the shorter girl around a bit. "That's great, but I thought she was  " "Surprise, man!" Xander said as he stepped in through the doorway. Andy let go of Sarah's hand and rushed down the rest of the stairs, suddenly stopping about six feet away from the door. "Are you...?" "Paired with three people this morning, so I'm 100% safe as houses," his tattooed friend said. Once he'd gotten the word 'paired' out, Andy had continued rushing his best friend, wrapping his arms around the burly guy, giving him a hell of a hug. "Oh Jesus, it's good to know you're safe, man," Andy sighed. "And it's so fucking good to see you. I know we hung out last December, but fuck, these eleven months have felt like five fucking years,” "Glad to see my mouth's rubbing off on you," Sarah laughed, closing the distance to meet them. "Xander, these are my partners Piper Brown and Sarah Washington, both of whom you've talked to a bit through FaceTime. Piper, Sarah, this is my best and oldest friend, Xander Baker, whom I've known since we were both, like, what, 6?" Xander laughed, nodding. "6, 7, something like that. However old we were in kindergarten." "Not very," Andy said. "Not enough!" Xander replied. "Anyway, Andy, Sarah, this is my soon to be partner Brooke Maloney, whom I have your partner Piper to thank for." "Well," Piper laughed, "I'd originally pitched her to come here and be Andy's partner, but he realized she'd be a much better fit for you, considering how much you both love classic cars, although really, I think it was just so he didn't have to hear her singing Vince Gill songs around the house all the time, 'cause she does that a lot, and I hope they warned you about that, Xander." "She can be singing Vince Gill while I'm singing Wu Tang Clan, and somewhere in the middle, over the engine of a Dodge Charger, I think we can make it work," Xander said. "Honestly, Pipes," Brooke said to her, "the only reason he said soon to be is because I wanted to come over and say thank you to y'all, and let Xander have a bit of time with his friend before we got to bumpin' uglies. But all the other gals in his house have just been so sweet, y'all, I can't wait for you to meet'em." "Why don't Piper and I give you a tour of the place, Brooke," Sarah said, "and the boys can do a little bit of catching up. You want me to have Jenny bring drinks to you out on the patio, hun?" "Yeah," Andy said, "I'll take a pina colada. Xander?" "Just a Corona." Sarah nodded. "Drinks coming up! This way ladies!" she said, marching them down towards the kitchen first. "Jesus Andy," Xander said quietly. "You really bagged Sarah Washington. I mean, I know I've talked to her vidchat, but seeing her in person like this,” "Seriously, I don't deserve this much luck," Andy said with a chuckle as he started to lead his best friend towards the back patio. "Oh fuck you," Xander teased. "You deserve exactly this much luck. Our entire lives, I've been watching you do good things for people left and right and never asking for so much as a thank you in return, and this is what karma has brought you, dude, so live a little. Enjoy it." As they moved out onto the patio, Xander shook his head. "I will say, however, that my house isn't quite as big as yours is. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fucking palace compared to that one bedroom shithole I lived in back in Ohio, but I'm just saying,” Andy rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You know I didn't pick the places myself, right jackass?" "I guess so," Xander said, as the two men moved to sit down on deck chairs near the pool. It was cool for November but not so cold that either man felt like they needed to add layers, both having grown up in the Midwest, where California winters would be considered nice spring days. "God, I'm really here. It's wild, man." "It's great having you out here, Xander. Jesus, the stories I have to tell you. You're here early, though. I didn't expect you out here for at least a few more days." "Turns out these DuoHalo Variants are pretty intense," Xander sighed, "and since they were pairing me up with someone in the military, they wanted to make sure I got hooked into the system as quickly as they could, so everything got very rush rush rush. When you told me to be ready to go at a moment's notice, you weren't kidding. As soon as we finished up that conversation, I started packing, and just barely got done before they showed up to cart me away. They're even taking care of selling my house for me, although I suspect it's just going to become government housing or something." "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me," Andy agreed. "God, it's good to have you here, man." "Well if it isn't my favorite hoodrat," Fiona said, carrying out a tray with three drinks on it, setting it down on a table as Xander immediately got up and hugged him hard. "How you been, lunkhead?" "Better now that I know you made it here okay, muckraker," he teased back. "How the hell you been Fi?" "Better now that I know you ditched that crazy ex of yours," she laughed. "Can I say it?" "Oh I think you've earned it." "I told you that girl was no good." "You did indeed tell me that," Xander agreed, taking his bottle of Corona from the drinks tray, as Andy grabbed his pina colada and Fi grabbed a tall glass of wine. "Hey hey hey, the gang's all back," Fi said with a smile. "To old friends and new flames." "To life, liberty and us getting through this fucking plague together," Xander toasted. "To family," Andy corrected. "To family!" they all toasted together, clinking glasses. Piper has a confession to make.. Chapter 37 The conversation had gone far into the evening, with members of the household coming in and out several times, joining for a while before leaving the trio to their own devices once more, mostly anyway, a couple of Andy's partners choosing to remain longer. Sarah and Aisling in particular were intent on getting as many stories about Andy's youth as they could, and he felt a little like they hoped either Xander or Fiona would tell them embarrassing tales from their college years. While Fi had been mostly coy about the years they'd spent at university, Xander, by contrast, had been eager to tell at least a handful of hilarious and ridiculous stories about the troubles they'd found themselves in during their misspent youth. Despite how flustered he got a couple of times, it was a wonderful night of reminiscing, and a chance for the girls to see Andy in a different light. A piece of advice Andy had never let go of was that as you got older, it was almost important to keep people around you who knew you when you were young and fearless. At least a few times, he'd managed to deflect the conversation off himself and onto other people, a detour letting both Sarah and Emily talk about their experiences making movies, and Xander talking about the process of being relocated from Ohio out to California. Xander's trip had been surprisingly surreal, and he told the group about it in explicit detail. He'd been loaded into an isolation chamber on a cargo plane along with twenty other men, each in their own little plastic bubble tent, although each of the tent also had curtains that could be dropped for privacy. Xander told them he'd found that odd but understood why eventually. The plane had been mostly full of men when it picked Xander up in Ohio. The little isolation chamber was like a emergency field hospital's clean room, with a mattress on the floor as well as a few days of rations, both food and water, and a little sealable chemical toilet. Nearly everything was ziptied to weights to keep it steady. There was also a little headset that connected to a series of voice chat channels all the men could use to talk to one another. The main channel had been too hectic for Xander to stay in for more than a handful of minutes, but he'd eventually peeled off a couple of the men in the plane into a separate channel, and was able to both give them some information and get some on his own. All of the men on the plane had been gathered from cities in the central and eastern United States, and were being ferried out to partners, generally military but some in other branches of the government, and they weren't being let out of their isolation chambers until they'd been paired up with at least one woman, thus, the beds and the privacy curtains. At least a couple of the pods had not only men in them, but also a woman in the middle of the imprinting process . The government didn't want to risk the life of any man, so this was an emergency plan decided to keep as many people as they could safe. The two men Xander spent the afternoon talking with were Klaus, a 26 year old Master Sergeant from Georgia that Xander felt like was probably in special ops of some kind, and Bill, a 34 year old schoolteacher from Tennessee who was being paired up with a prominent Silicon Valley businesswoman he'd dated back in high school. Klaus clearly knew far more than he wanted to share with Xander and Bill, but he'd done his best to give the two men some information to make their journey a little less panic stricken. There were two women in the isolation chamber with Klaus, a twenty year old blonde named Olivia and a twenty two year old Korean American named Naya, or so Klaus told them, as both women were still in the middle of the imprinting process. The man was part of the security forces for the flying hospital that was transporting men and women around the country. He knew what he could and couldn't tell Xander and Bill, and just having a conversation with Klaus had made Xander feel more safe in their travels. He had a calm and casual demeanor to him while discussing how everything had been carefully planned, even if it all felt pretty slapdash. He couldn't answer all of their questions, for security reasons, but he told the two men that the airplane had basically been in motion nonstop for the last three weeks, doing its best to ferry people around the nation. Xander had asked him if it was truly necessary, only to be told how high the casualty rate was for men around the nation. Klaus had seen the stacks of bodies, and the man sounded rattled when he described the hundreds of empty apartments he'd seen in his native Queens, as the corpses had filled up dump trucks, and they'd had to conceal the bodies as they were taking them out in the dead of night. Klaus told them he'd been in a biohazard suit for most of the last week, but now that he had two partners, he would be able to go out and provide an escort for everyone going to and from the plane, although he planned to return to his isolation room with his two partners in between each stop they made. From Ohio they flew down to Nebraska, stopping at Offut Air Force Base, where they picked up a handful of soldiers and dropped off a handful of women. Bill had asked Klaus how long they'd been running these routes. Klaus said they'd been running for a few weeks now, and they were only one of five planes that were crisscrossing the nation. Olivia and Naya had both been brought into the inoculation center in Denver earlier and then swapped planes to meet up with him in New York, where they'd met up after he'd returned bringing in another stable of surviving men. All privacy had basically gone out the window. Klaus told him that most of the men had the option to wait until they were in a house or an apartment or something, but Klaus had been told by his commanding officer that they couldn't spare him that much time, so he needed to just get on with his business on the plane so he could get back to work as soon as he was done. By the time they'd touched down at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Bill had been just about ready to break out into full fledged panic, between the constant shift in air pressure, the take offs and landings done without proper seatbelts and his inability to go anywhere that wasn't his little sealed off compartment, but a quick talking to from Xander had gotten the man to cool down at least a little bit. They were barely on the ground in Nevada an hour, taking people off and bringing new people on, as well as refueling the plan, before taking off again, landing at Oakland airport a few hours later under the cover of night. Their cellphones had been taken from them when they'd arrived at the plane, so Xander had been forced to guess at the time, but he would've placed their arrival in Oakland at something around 2 a.m. or so, although the lock in had made it impossible to use traffic as a gauge. In Oakland, everyone had been taken from their individual compartments and loaded onto a large troop transport truck, with no caution given to cross contamination or infection, as they were all told they would be getting paired up within a few hours, so even if they caught DuoHalo now, it wouldn't matter. Xander had been concerned by that but he had decided to go along with it, because Klaus seemed to consider the whole thing fine, and he was the one loading people onto the trucks. The trucks had ferried them from Oakland up to a staging area next to the lab near Mount Diablo, just adjacent to New Eden, and once there, they'd been introduced to their new partners and from there, sorted into where they were going to go. The building they were using as a staging area felt like a converted aircraft hangar, with a high curved metal ceiling and big fluorescent lights hanging high above them. Although there were some tented parts of the space, similar to what had been inside the cargo hold of the airplane that had brought him here, most of the space was open, with long painted striped lines on the ground, leading people through the processing. Men weren't being given any injections, something Xander had thought was odd, until all the men were given a five minute lecture on "Your New Reality," something that the men were told to take deadly seriously. The lecture included basic things like how they would be receiving their vaccinations (sexually transmitted from their new partners), how their partners would need sexual satisfaction about once a week or so, how their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, and how if they ever felt like they were coming down with the symptoms of DuoHalo they should have sex with one of their partners immediately, which would resolve them. At the point when the men had been told that their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, a handful of the men had quietly jeered and rolled their eyes, but the next slide in the presentation showed a wound on a woman's arm that had silenced all that nonsense quickly. The end of the lecture included a video message from President Pelosi, urging the men to consider fatherhood like a new version of the World War 2 draft,  every man needed to do his service to help save the country. Extensive tax breaks and financial aid would be provided to families with multiple children, it was stressed. The country needed to be rebuilt. As soon as the lecture was done, they'd been marched single file to a series of processing windows, over a dozen clerks taking people's names and social security numbers before assigning them a holding area to head over to, where they would meet their partners. A sticker was placed on their chest before they were sent on their way. It had all felt very assembly line, as if there wasn't time for kindness or courtesies, and people were simply being pushed through the grinder as quickly as possible. Klaus had joked around with them on the ride over that while it might seem rough, it was being done for optimal performance in getting people in and through the system and into their new lives, wherever they may be. Xander had heard several different locations mentioned,  the San Jose highrises, the Stanford campus, the Berkeley campus, the SF towers, the Altamont sprawl, the Tracy ghosttown,  but when it came time for him to be told where to go, he was told he wouldn't need to go far, as he was being assigned to Dos Eden, the first expansion zone to New Eden. He'd been given four partners on site, with one more to be waiting for him at the location. They'd been waiting for him in the holding area assigned to him, each having arrived sometime over the previous day, so they'd all had a chance to get to know one another. Letting the women have some time to bond in advance of the man's arrival seemed smart to Xander, as they could size each other up without having to worry about keeping their new mate's attention. The women had also been given their injections in the holding area, and so Xander assumed the spaces had also doubled as observation areas, making sure none of the women had suffered any adverse reactions to their injections the day before. Captain Betsy Ross had turned out to be a complete knockout, a blonde pint size pocket rocket dynamo who was training men nearly twice her size in hand to hand close quarters combat, and they had clicked immediately, almost as if they were custom made for each other. She'd kissed him hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet before he'd even been able to say hello. The second woman had been Serena Ortiz, a Latina woman in her late twenties who was a U.S. Marshall, and had built a career out of tracking down fugitives. Tall and statuesque, she had a certain grace to how she'd moved, he'd noticed immediately. She'd spent the past few hours talking with Betsy before Xander's arrival, and the two already had a friendly relationship, having bonded over the fact that they could both kick Xander's ass if needed. The third was a slender blonde woman in her late 30s who had looked hauntingly familiar before her introduction, but Xander had struggled to place her, even after she identified herself as Alicia Geller. When she'd told Xander that he would likely know the role she'd played in her youth, Rascal Rachel, that had made it all come together immediately. Alicia was a child actress who had been the star of a popular kids show until she'd grown out of it and the show had been canceled. Instead of continuing acting, she had retired from show business and gone into education, teaching history to high school students. She seemed a little shy, but had assured him that once they'd had time to get to know one another, she would come out of her shell. The final one on site had been Brooke, and she'd detailed the story to him how her friend Piper was paired up with Andy, and that they had recommended Brooke pair up with Xander, so she had. She'd been wearing a Shelby GT Cobra necklace when they met, and Xander had known it was going to work out just fine. A second sticker was placed on his chest and the girls were told to stay with him, as everyone was sorted into lines and sent towards trucks. Most of the trucks were large troop transports, but Xander had been surprised to see that the vehicle he and his partners were set to was much smaller, and they were the only group loaded up onto it. He'd felt a little bad, since really they could've just been loaded up into an Escalade, him, his four new partners and the MP driving them over to their new home. On the way over, the MP delivered the final set of instructions to Xander, as to why his fifth partner hadn't been waiting for him at the base and was, instead, at the new home. Her name was KC Kadrey, and she was a 20 year old Vietnamese American student over at Stanford, studying mechanical engineering. She'd needed to get her injections a couple of days prior, and there had been some concerns that she might simply just grab the first man she saw and go after him, so she'd been taken to their new home and allowed to settle in. But, the MP warned him, it meant that she might be a bit intense when they arrived. She'd also brought her golden retriever with her, and keeping the large dog at the staging area had seemed problematic. Xander, like all the men who'd been on the airplane, had been forced to travel light, a single wheelie suitcase all he'd been allowed to bring with him. All of his things that had been picked up in Ohio would show up at some point within the next few weeks as the truck conveying them drove cross country, but until they, he would have to make due with the things he had. Xander had been forced to argue with the people picking him up that the one car he'd been restoring, a black 1970 Barracuda, would be part of the things taken to his new home, and while the discussion had gotten a little heated, eventually the people picking him up had relented and loaded it into the truck with the rest of his stuff. Each of the women had a similar amount of things with them, and when they arrived at their new home, they all felt woefully unprepared. Dos Eden was technically part of New Eden, but it was an expansion to the original enclave, and the dwellings there were much more of nice houses than they were the sorts of mansions and manors that made up New Eden itself. The MP driving them over had said she lived in Dos Eden, and she was incredibly thankful, as it meant having a family was a distinct possibility, while the people in many of the other locations were going to be doing lots of relocating and readjusting over the next few years. Those in the tower condo buildings were generally being given an entire floor to themselves, and as needed walls would be knocked down and units combined as families expanded. The views were nice, the MP told them, but it just didn't feel like a home. When they pulled up to the house just around dawn, Xander was a little surprised by it. They had told him not to expect a grandiose mansion, but the home was far nicer than any place he'd ever lived in before, a two story building with five bedrooms and four bathrooms, so not enough that each person had their own bedroom, but they would make it work, all of them agreed. It was mostly glass walls, and Xander found himself thankful for the ring of trees, and the high fences, that would provide him with at least a little privacy from his neighbors, who were only a short walk away on either side. It had a three car garage, and Xander was told there were new Teslas charging inside for them. (Xander immediately planned to turn one of the three garage spaces into his own little workshop where he'd continue restoring the Barracuda.) The driveway was long enough that they would be able to comfortably fit at least four more cars out front if needed. The place had its own pool with hot tub, however, something Xander was astonished to find. He'd never lived in a place with a pool before, and now his home had one. They'd barely gotten in the door before KC had rushed Xander, practically mauling him with love in the entry way to the home. She'd been coherent enough to talk with him, the two of them moving into the master bedroom before he'd had sex with her and she'd fallen into her imprinting process. The other girls had moved into the bedroom somewhere in the middle of their tryst and Betsy had immediately insisted on going second, having stripped down while watching Xander and KC. Alicia had gone third, leaving him with only Serena and Brooke conscious. The three of them had taken a shower together, and somewhere in the middle of the shower, Serena had decided she couldn't wait any further, and had gone through part of the process in the shower and the rest bent over the bathroom countertop. As much as he wanted to, he told Brooke that he was going to need a while before he could imprint her, his entire body more than a little exhausted, as the chemicals from the four women had been flowing through his bloodstream, giving him immunity from DuoHalo and doing some rather significant changes to his body. Brooke had laughed and just suggested they go over to visit Andy and Piper, which brought them up to now. "Fuckin' hell," Andy laughed. "No fucking wonder you look exhausted, Xan. How much have you slept in the last two days?" "Oh, we took a nap after we settled into the house, and I slept a bit on the plane while it was hauling our asses through the skies," his best friend said with a chuckle. "So yeah not as much as I should but more than I do some days. Was your experience similar, Fi?" Fiona's journey had been very similar, with her and Moira catching an earlier flight out of Washington a few days ago, although their plane had made only one additional stop before landing in Oakland, their plane having gone straight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, where many of the men in the chambers had been unloaded and several women had been loaded on board. Because Fi and Moira had been traveling together, they'd had each other to talk with and neither had felt especially lonely during the voyage. Fi even admitted they had spent much of the time talking about Andy, speculating how much he might or might not have changed over the years. As the hour grew late, Brooke returned to the main room with Piper, suggesting she and Xander head home, reminding the two old friends that they now lived less than fifteen minutes apart, and could see each other as often as they wanted to, but Andy and Xander still hugged for a long minute, thankful to have reconnected on the other side of the disaster, before they walked the two to the door and sent them home. Several of the girls had peeled off and gone to bed over the course of the evening, and at the end of the night, the only people still awake were Andy, Piper and Sarah. Aisling had been the very last to go to bed before reminding Sarah not to stay up too late, otherwise she would be too tired to talk to Maya when she arrived tomorrow, but Sarah had laughed it off and dismissed it. After closing the door behind Xander, he walked back down stairs, intending to clean up the remaining empty beer bottles and glasses left behind in the living room, only to find that Nicolette had beaten him to it, having cleaned it all up and then disappearing into her room for the night, so he couldn't even say thank you to her. "I swear, we've got a ninja for a French maid around this house," he muttered to himself with amusement. Huginn, his black cat, stood up from his perch on the back of one of the couches, stretched by arching his back, then moved to sit back down exactly where he was. "I feel ya, bud," he agreed with the cat. "We should probably see about getting to bed, don't you think, ladies?" Piper shook her head, pushing Andy back to sit down on the couch. "Not for a bit. You can sleep when you're dead," she said with a grin. "Don't you agree, Sarah?" "Oh totally," the tall redhead said, moving to slide in to one side of Andy on the couch. "You lose one third of your life sleeping, well, I mean I guess you don't really lose it since you have to sleep otherwise you'll go insane, but it's, like, a lot a lot of time to be spending doing just one thing." "Besides, I have to say thank you for making sure you brought my best friend to be nearby so I didn't feel so lonely all the time," Piper said, peeling her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside, leaving her in a sports bra and tight fitted blue jeans, her toned stomach bared to the cool night air. "We've been kinda dancing around each other for the last few weeks, Andy, and I don't want you to think I'm not grateful, because I'm very thankful for all the things you've done for me since we've met." "Piper, you don't have  " he started before she lifted her hand up to cover his mouth, "Andy, enough," she giggled. "You can just say 'you're welcome' when you're being thanked for something, you know. You don't have to try and play down the work that went into it." He smirked a little bit, as she pulled her hand back. "I just don't want you to feel like you owe me anything." "Oh, but Andy, I do owe you," she said, bending down to press a kiss to his lips, just a soft and quick one. "You got me away from that asshole Covington. When I couldn't think straight, you did everything you could to bring me back to being me again, and that's not something anyone would do." She inhaled the scent of him, and he could swear he saw her pupils dilate a little in response. "You remember how I told you I could smell you from far away? I still can, but the raw musk of you is even more intense up close, and I fucking love how you smell, you sexy bastard. It makes me feel warm and safe and gooey and sticky and protected all at once. And I know that at least some of that is just the chemicals flowing through my brain bonding me to you, but you know what?" She leaned in and nibbled on his earlobe a little bit. "I've decided that I don't fucking care why I feel how I feel. I feel how I feel and that's all that fucking matters. You've kept me safe. You've given me space when I wanted it, and been happy to talk with me when I needed that. You helped me get my friend here and kept her safe, and as soon as you thought it was time, you pushed my ass to get back to work and reminded me not to give up on my dreams. So don't you dare fucking tell me I don't have to repay you, because even if you don't think that I do, I do, and I want to." "You're the only one of the girls who says she can smell me anywhere in the house, Piper," he told her. "I hope that's not a sign that anything's wrong because Covington held off so long on letting you get imprinted after the injections." "Oh, there's nothing wrong with me, Andy," she purred, unbuttoning her jeans before pushing them down to her ankles, not having bothered to put shoes on earlier, stepping out of them and her panties, leaving her in just the sports bra. She had such an athletic body that it had a tendency to make Andy feel a little ashamed of how out of shape he was. "I'm just different, that's all. Being able to smell you when you're in the house? I consider that a benefit, not a side effect. I get a little anxious when you leave and I can't smell you, not so much that it bothers me, but just enough that I notice the feeling of longing I have that you aren't on hand. And I've reread that letter you left me over a dozen times, because each time, I think I fall for you a little more." She grinned, grabbing her sports bra, pulling it up over her head, tossing it aside. "So yeah, I was scared of saying that, but I'm definitely falling for you, Andrew Rook. Falling in love with you. That's why I was so deep in thought the other morning. You didn't do anything to make me upset or angry. I just was worried about how to tell you." "Piper, Why would you be worried?" Andy said with a kind smile. "You've got so many beautiful women here, Andy," she said, gesturing back to the house. "I mean, shit, you've got Sarah Fucking Washington with her arm around you right now! I know I'm fit, but I'm not beautiful like she and Em are." At that, he raised a single finger, pointing at her. "How dare you," he said, his tone evening a little bit. "You are fucking stunning, I mean beautiful like you cannot even imagine and I do not want to hear you saying you're not beautiful ever again, okay? Because whatever dumb ass boyfriend or athlete you met who said you weren't pretty was the biggest fucking moron you ever met, and you shouldn't give whatever that prick said another thought ever again. Tell her I'm right, Sarah," he said with a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Yep yep yep," Sarah said with a giggle. "Stop being fucking stupid because you're not just pretty, you're fucking hot, and every girl in this house who likes girls thinks so. Shit, I heard Katie telling Jenny that if she wanted to give her a hall pass for her birthday, she'd want to use it on you over all the other girls in the house." Piper giggled, shaking her head, her dark hair covering her eyes for a minute. "You're fucking lying, Sarah." "Cross my fucking heart, swear to fucking God, may she strike me the fuck down if I'm lying. Katie thinks you're the hottest bitch in the house, so you need to shut the fuck up about saying you aren't fucking pretty because that's the stupidest fucking thing anyone's said today, and people talk, like, the worst amount of shit in this house when they think people aren't listening," Sarah said, rolling her eyes, as if she found the whole thing hilariously sad. "Well, that's something I wouldn't have believed if you hadn't told me," Piper replied with a smile. "And I was talking about us dancing around each other, Andy, and I want to apologize for that. I know we've had a handful of encounters, but I've been, guarded, and I'm sorry for how guarded I've been emotionally. I think maybe I was a little hurt that you didn't want to bring Brooke into this house, even though I know you said you thought she'd be a better match with Xander. I thought maybe that was a polite way of you trying to duck out of meeting her,” She looked down at her feet. "I feel a bit guilty about that right now, having spent a bunch of the evening talking with her. I have known that girl almost half a de

This morning, the Prime Minister was asked about the 2000 public servants that had lost their jobs. 2000 are out but 64,000 remain. Chris Luxon saw nothing wrong with that. That right there is part of the reason why this Government is polling so poorly, because it's all talk, isn't it, bugger all action. Now I'm sorry. I realize this is a lot to start the week with - we're starting strident. I don't mean to continue like that - but were you as surprised as I was to hear that we've only cut 2000 public servants? And were you even more surprised that the Prime Minister's explanation is no more than a verbal shrug? This, I think, will be profoundly disappointing to a lot of people who expected this Government to get public spending under control. And cutting public servants is part of getting that spending under control. There is no reason why we have as many public servants as we have today. 63,000 - there is no reason why we have more than double the 30,000 public servants that we had in 2001. Our population hasn't doubled since 2001. It's gone up about 37 percent. If you adjust accordingly, then we should have 41,000 public servants, not 63,000 public servants. Now, I would have expected that the Prime Minister would have a better explanation than simply saying - at least it's not as bad as Labour. Well, maybe so, but I hoped for better. I hoped for a Government that was gonna actually turn this around. Certainly more than a Government that just feels like it's actually Labour dressed in blue clothing. And isn't this just the latest example of talk from this Government that is not being matched by action? They promised to cut spending every year, and they spend more than Grant Robertson. They promise to get on top of debt every year, and they add more to the debt. They promise to stop the race-based policies - and we just keep finding them. They keep waving them through unless we bust them at it. I think this, in part, answers the question that we were asking last week, which is why is it that 3 polls in a row were so tight that it wasn't actually clear if this Government would win an election if an election was held today. This is why they're not brave enough. They should be braver. In fact, if they were braver, they might be more popular. It's worth remembering that for all the hard decisions that were taken by the 4th Labour Government, which is definitely the most transformational that we can think of, right? For all those tough decisions taken in the first 3 years, they actually came back with a bigger majority in 1987. So maybe, you get rewarded for doing what you say you'll do, tough as it may be, rather than just talking tough and then doing very little. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 6 Andrew Rook continues to grow his family. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.   Chapter 17 The morning after any good party is generally a challenge to get up and out of bed, but thankfully, they hadn't gone too late into the evening, and so, everyone had gotten to bed at a reasonable hour. And the wonderful smell of a good, late brunch was the clincher to get everyone out of the bed. Jenny had prepared an excellent morning feast for them, but timed it so that it was just before noon when she had it ready, drawing everyone downstairs, although most of the girls were in pajamas still, and Andy stuck to sweats himself. Over a combination of huevos rancheros and breakfast burritos, Niko and Andy explained to the rest of the girls about Andy's upcoming day at poker. Their reactions were much like Andy's initial impressions. Shock at first, followed by concern for the women who were supposed to be showing up on Andy's doorstep tomorrow. "I mean," Andy said, in between bites of his burrito, "it's never come up before, but I technically do have the right to refuse any woman who shows up on my doorstep. Like, for example, if had been too much of a hassle for Lauren, I could've just sent Taylor away." "Which reminds me," Lauren said, bringing a mimosa to her lips, "you need to imprint her today, especially if you're going to be coming home tomorrow night with a whole stable of new women." "I think you girls have a lot more faith in my poker skills than I do," Andy sighed. "And I think you're just being modest to set expectations," Niko said. "I watched you confidently take apart those poor boys last night." "I've known those guys for over a decade, Niko. They've got tells and I've had time to learn them, but you're talking about cold reading a room worth of men, most of whom I've never met." "If Rachel's to be believed, most of them are crap, Andy, so the only person you've really got to worry about is Covington himself." "You mean, I've only got to worry about the one guy I have to beat. Sure, no problem." "Do your best, baby," Niko said to him, squeezing his hand. "That's all I'm asking." That hung in the air for a couple of minutes before Lauren started giggling, and Andy turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What's all that about?" "I was just thinking about you saying you had the right to refuse a woman delivered to you, and was trying to imagine you refusing Niko when she showed up." "You know, I still don't remember showing up at all?" Niko said. "I'm serious. The first thing I remember is waking up in the morning sucking your cock. I mean, I remember picking your picture out, and I sort of remember the start of the drive over to the old condo, but showing up on your doorstep? Me fucking myself on top of him in the goddamn dining room? I know you told me I did all that, but I don't remember any of it." "You were pretty out of it," Aisling said. "But it was kinda hot, watching you just pin him down and fucking use him. He wanted to take you upstairs first, but you were too wound up to let him do that, so he had to carry you naked upstairs after he'd filled you up with your first load." "I feel a little robbed that I don't get to remember that first super intense orgasm, though." "If you really want to get something equivalent," Lauren said, "you just need to fast from his cum for a couple of weeks. Right around the point you're starting to break, you'll get that high again, but the pain of waiting that long isn't worth if you ask me." "I agree," Aisling said, "but it's probably worth trying at least once, just so you can know." Niko shook her head. "I remember you telling me about how it felt waiting that long, Lauren, and I don't think I have any need to inflict that much need on myself." "You wait any longer to imprint Taylor," Aisling said, "and she's going to be there herself. She's already having trouble keeping her head clear enough to follow the rules." Niko nodded over at Lauren. "I get that you want to punish her, but she needs to get imprinted, otherwise she's not even going to remember the punishment." Lauren giggled a little. "I know, I know. Let's sic Andy on her after we finish brunch." "I like how much my opinion is being consulted on this," Andy grumbled. "Oh you know you're itching to have a go at her," Lauren smirked, waggling a fork in his direction. "Just remember, one of the three holes is off limits until she's passed the month, and frankly, I don't want you firing that sex bomb of yours down her throat for her first time either." "You've made it pretty clear what you want out of this, Lauren," Andy said. "I won't forget." After they finished brunch, the foursome headed upstairs. Taylor had been given brunch in a bowl while they'd been eating, and she had finished all of it. When they entered the room, she looked up, but didn't move over, as she was trying to take all of her cues from them and not initiate anything on her own. "Alright Taylor," Lauren said, "it's time. Andy's going to imprint you now, so I hope you've internalized all the lessons you've witnessed over the last several days." "Yes Mistress," Taylor said. "May I go and make a few small preparations? Not for myself, but for the Master." Lauren seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. "Five minutes in the bathroom. We'll be out here waiting." Taylor moved to head into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "Wonder what she's doing in there," Aisling said, as she moved to sit in one of the big plush chairs scattered around the room. Niko grinned impishly, as she moved to recline on the couch against the wall. "Oh, she told me she's been trying to plan as best as she can to make both Andy and Lauren happy." "I'm not sure I even want to know what that means," Andy said, moving to sit down on the edge of the massive bed. "I'm not sure I'd let her tell you, even if she wanted to," Lauren said. "Oh, you want to try and tell me what to do, Lauren," Niko said, a playful smile on her lips, "and we can see which one of us paid more attention in hand to hand combat classes." "That sounds like fighting words," Lauren giggled, miming rolling up her sleeves. Andy narrowed his eyes at them. "Don't make me bend you both over my knee and paddle your asses red." "Promises promises," Lauren said, blowing him a kiss. Just then, Taylor opened the door and walked in from the bathroom before moving to get down on her knees in front of Andy. She had put on dark, heavy mascara and pulled her platinum blonde hair back into a solid ponytail, held with a scrunchy that looked like it could handle a bit of force. She'd also put on thigh high white stockings that looked like extra long sport socks with red rings around her thighs. It made her look sportier, and also a little bit younger. "Your slut is ready for you to use her, Master, if you are ready." Andy slid from the bed and crouched down, brushing a hand along her face. "This is your last chance to back out, Taylor." Taylor leaned in and whispered into his ear. "I want this, Andy. I want to be part of your family. But my safeword is 'yeti,' if you're really worried." She'd said it quietly enough that he was certain none of the other girls had heard any of it. "I like the mascara," Lauren said, reaching to brush a fingertip along Taylor's cheek. "It's going to run nicely when he's skullfucking your face." "Yes Mistress. I thought you might enjoy seeing that, proof that he's making me cry." "Tears of joy, I hope." Taylor nodded. "Joy, yes. But also from being unable to breathe. I want Master to really use his slut, to make her gag and choke and gasp for air." "Good," Lauren said. "I want you to get him so wound up that he can't think straight, Taylor. I want to see him actively fucking use you, until you're a quivering, brainless heap of well used flesh, lying there in a goddamn puddle on the floor. You think you can handle that?" "For you, Mistress? I can handle anything." Her chin was lifted proudly, displaying that leather collar she'd been forced to wear since her arrival. "Please, Master, may your worthless slut finally taste your cock?" Lauren put her hand on Andy's shoulder, leaning in to whisper into her mouth. "Remember, I don't want you cumming in her mouth. Just in her ass, okay?" There was a tiny amount of trepidation to her voice, as if she wanted to be sure she wasn't overstepping her boundaries, so Andy simply nodded. He felt hands on his waist, and it was clear Taylor had taken the nod to be to her and not to Lauren, but Andy didn't feel the need to correct her. Taylor pulled his sweatpants and boxers down to his ankles, lifting one of his feet for him and then the other, to help him step out of them, before she finally looked at his thick cock before her bright blue eyes. "Your little whore has been thinking about this nonstop since she got here, Master. About how she watches your girls when their eyes roll back in their heads, when their legs twitch and spasm when you fill them up. And even though she knows it's unbecoming of her," she said, looking down as one of her hands stroked his thick cock, "she's been getting more and more jealous of them, of those intense feelings you evoke in them. She knows she needs to be patient and wait her turn, but sometimes, even thinking about it gets her cunt all wet, Master. May she at long last have a taste and begin her process of officially becoming yours? Please, Master? This worthless slut aspires to be better, to be more, to be, yours." They'd been particularly careful not to let her taste any precum of his because even so much as a droplet would prime the imprinting process. It wouldn't fully start until she got her first full load of his jism, but the amount in precum was enough to get the process ready to burst. Taylor had gotten particularly close to the girls when they were playing with Andy, usually at Lauren's insistence, but in her eagerness to rub Taylor's face in it, she'd come dangerously near starting the process early. Andy was about to say that she could when Lauren reached her hand along the back of Taylor's head, grabbing the ponytail, shoving Taylor's face down onto his cock until he could feel the head of it pressing against the back of her throat, forcing its way in, even as her eyes looked up at him with adoration in them, her body literally vibrating at it, as the precum oozed from his mushroom tip into her mouth. Her eyes were fluttering, almost like they were threatening to roll back into her skull, and while she was doing her best to maintain control of herself, he could feel a bit of drool dripping down onto his balls. After what felt like an eternity of keeping his cock buried inside of her mouth, Lauren finally pulled Taylor back, and she gasped hungrily for air, slobbering even as her eyes were starting to water, her chest rising and falling quickly. "Are you  " Before Andy could even continue the sentence, Taylor grabbed onto his hips with both hands and pulled her face back onto his cock until her nose was buried in the thatch of brown hairs at the base of his cock. "Don't just leave her on, Andy," Lauren hissed at him. "Give the little whore what she wants. Fuck that little cheating face of hers until she's a sloppy mess." Andy's hands grabbed onto the side of Taylor's head and pulled her face back, but just when the head of his cock was at the ring of her lips and she was inhaling another lungful of air, he shoved his cock back into her face, pushing it back against her throat once more, evoking a gurgling cough from her, as those eyes started to water hard, a single black tear running down her right cheek. He pulled her back back and off his cock, letting her drink in another swallow of air, a wide smile on her messy lips, precum and spit dangling from them, as her tongue lashed out to try and lap it up before Andy shoved her face down once more. Taylor was doing her best to lean into Andy, but Lauren was mostly controlling the depth she could reach, using her ponytail as a leash, although Lauren seemed to be letting Andy do most of the driving for the moment, partially because Andy had been told not to cum in Taylor's mouth, and it was starting to take some effort to keep himself cooled off. She had a talented tongue, and there was something primal and carnal about seeing his precum smeared all over the blonde's chin, drooling on herself when she had half a moment without Andy's cock in her throat. "Whose whore are you?" Lauren said, reaching forward to slap Taylor across the face, making that mascara run even more. "Yours, Mistress." "Wrong answer!" Lauren shouted, slapping Taylor's other cheek, hard enough to make Andy a little nervous. "Try again. Whose whore are you?" Taylor swallowed a breath of air, looking up with those heavily watered icy blue eyes of hers, realizing her mistake immediately. "His whore, Mistress. The Master's whore." "That's right, you cuntrag," Lauren sneered. "I'm your Mistress, but this man fucking owns you, if you want to live under this roof. You will deny him nothing. You will do whatever he asks of you, and you will do it gladly." "Yes Mistress. Sorry Mistress." "Don't apologize to me, you dumb bimbo! Apologize to him." "Your worthless slut is sorry, Master. She belongs to you, and only you, and will never forget that again." "You know what I think?" Lauren said, her face a wicked angry snarl. "I think you ought to spit into that bitch's mouth, so she knows who fucking owns her." Taylor visibly flinched, but leaned her head back, opening her mouth wide. "That's it, Andy," Lauren goaded. "Get a big mouthful of spit and give it to that vapid cunt." Spitting had never much turned Andy on, and if he was honest, he found it excessive and unneeded, but all of this was about giving Lauren some closure, so he pursed his lips together and started to summon a big mouthful of spit. Just as he was about to spit into Taylor's mouth, she turned her head suddenly and said, "Yeti! God, I'm sorry, yeti!" Andy turned his head and spit onto the floor, as his mind raced, trying to figure out a way to disarm the situation he knew he was about to be in. The imprinting process was already primed, so it was too late to pass Taylor off to someone else, or to send her away, but he suspected the explosion of temper that was about to erupt from Lauren was going to make all their lives living hell for a time. He turned to look at her as he started to speak, "Now look Lauren, there's limits, to,” The look on Lauren's face wasn't one of anger. It was one of, amusement? He frowned and she started to giggle, and pretty soon, all the girls in the room were giggling, including Taylor at his feet. "Sorry, Andy," Lauren finally said, through fits of laughter. "I told you he'd stop if she said to," Aisling said. "No matter how wronged you felt, Lauren, he wasn't gonna lose control." "Damn," Lauren said, "and here I figured I could get him worked up enough to push past it. Guess I owe you twenty." "Excuse me, were, were you gambling over whether or not I'd take a woman against her will?" Now Andy felt like he was the one starting to get angry. "It was just a game, love," Lauren said. Andy stepped away from Taylor and over to Lauren and picked her up, no easy feat considering her height compared to his, moving over to the bed, putting her down and bending her over it before yanking down her pajama bottoms. "What are you going to do, spank me?" Andy welled up his rage into his right hand and brought it down onto Lauren's ass with the hardest spank he could muster. "Ow! Jesus, Andy, that rightly stung!" Wham! His hand clapped down again, just as hard, and he heard her groan, a weird blend of pain and excitement, her whole body shaking. "Strewth, that hurts!" Wham! His hand spanked down once more, the cheek of her ass starting to redden quickly under the power of his slaps. "Fuck Andy!" Wham! "I'm sorry!" Wham! "Bugger, Master, I'm fucking sorry, awlright?" At that, Andy held his hand in the air, not slapping again, but brought his hand down softly to slowly press his fingernails against the edge of the reddened flesh, and then dragged them firmly across that handprint he'd left there, making Lauren quiver, lost somewhere between lust and fear. "You're right you're right, okay, it was a shitty thing to do, and I'm sorry, I'm very fucking sorry. I shouldn't have made her do it." Andy looked back at Taylor. "And you. I ought to just leave you like this." Taylor's face reddened as much as Lauren's ass. "I'm sorry, Master. She told me to do it, and I didn't want to upset her. I do have an actual safeword, but it isn't yeti. I told Lauren what it was, though, and how I didn't think she would need to use it." "And if you're punishing Lauren, Daddy, you probably need to punish all of us," Aisling sighed. "I mean, I took her bet." "Speak for yourself, Red," Niko said. "I told you I thought it was a bad idea." "Well, now we know, I guess," Aisling said. "You okay, Lauren?" Lauren lifted her head up, and there was a strange look on her face. After a moment, it registered to Andy that she was more turned on that he'd ever seen her before in his life, and that included the moment when she'd been in a complete fuck daze after her sex fasting. "That was the hottest thing that's ever happened to me," she moaned, struggling to not drool on herself. "I've been trying to get you to lay into me for months, Andy, and I don't think it's much of a punishment." She grinned, all crazy eyed and wild. "I'm a bad girl." "Well then, you know how I'm going to punish you, Lauren?" Andy sighed. "I'm gonna put you away wet. You can go without a dose until the end of the week now that you're all wound up." "Oh god, that's cruel, you delicious bastard," she purred. "I fucking love it. But that's okay, I've earned this. And now that you're all wound up, it's time you take it out on Taylor." Andy looked from Lauren over to Taylor, who nodded enthusiastically. "This is what I want, Andy. I want my first time to be hard, rough, fucking brutal. I don't want to be treated like 'one of the girls,' because I haven't earned that, not yet." She started crawling over on all fours towards him, doing her best to keep her head raised, so she could see her face while she talked. "After the month, we can do the soft stuff. We can cuddle and lay together gently in bed and I can fall asleep in your arms, or in Lauren's. But I need to pay for my misdeeds." Niko and Aisling both sat up a little bit, although Andy could see that Niko had her hand down the front of her pajama bottoms, clearly rubbing her own cunt. "This time, I'm not one of your girls, not a partner or a girlfriend or a wife or whatever you're calling them, because I'm not there yet." Lauren was looking over her shoulder at Taylor, not moving from her spot bend over the edge of the bed. "You're already doing me a favor by imprinting me, when you don't know if you should yet. But I love Lauren. I love her so much it hurts to know how badly I fucked everything up. So until I can make that right, I'm a worthless fuckhole, a filthy bitch you should batter and plow and fuck within an inch of her life. I want you to drill me so hard that I can't sit down for a week." Taylor turned around and waggled her ass in his direction, leaning her shoulders down to make sure it was upturned, so he could get a good look at her asshole, as well as her cunt that was drenched with fuck cream. "It's yours, Master. I'm yours. Your fuckdoll, your bitch, your worthless whore to pump full of spunk and leave, sore and drenched. I know you aren't going to have my cunt until after my month's punishment, but just look at that tight little asshole I have just for you." "Just for you now," Lauren corrected. "That's true, Master. You won't be my first, but you will absolutely be my last. I will be a good slut for you, loyal in every possible way. You own all of me, from my toes to my head, and you may do whatever you want with any of it." "She talks a big game, doesn't she?" Niko said with a smile. "Whatever you want, Master, I will do. If you'd wanted to parade me naked in front of all your guests last night, I would've gladly done it. I'm not ashamed of how I screwed up before; I'm proud you're letting me make it right. You've had every chance this last week to treat me horribly, and you've never done it. So now I'm asking you, no, I'm begging you. Punish me. Fuck me. Claim me. Mark your territory. Make me your property. Own me. Use me, harder than you have any of your girls, because I need to learn to be better, to be worth better. But you have to accept me first." Taylor placed her face and shoulders down on the floor, and reached behind her to grab the well toned cheeks of her ass, pulling them apart. "I'm all yours, sir, but you need to imprint me. Fucking take me already." "You'll do anything I say, Taylor? Anything?" "Speak and it will be done, Master." Andy finally felt like he was actually in control for the first time today. "Stand up." "Sir?" "Don't make me say it twice," he growled, mostly for effect, but he could've sworn he heard Aisling moan wantonly in response to it. "Yes sir," she said, placing her hands on the ground, moving onto all fours before standing up. "Sorry sir." She kept her hands folded together in front of her, her eyes lowered to the floor. "Here's what's going to happen." Andy saw Lauren was starting to try and shift, so he slapped her ass once more, and her hips shoved forward into the bed once more, groaning, making it clear she now understood she wasn't to move without his say so. "Words are great and all, and I'm glad to hear you've learned how I'm turned on by dirty talk, but I'm going to give you a harder challenge. You need to convince me that you belong to me with a kiss, just one kiss." Taylor started to move towards him, but he raised his hand and she immediately stopped in her place. "Is there more, sir?" "There is. After you convince me with a kiss, you're going to convince Lauren as well, in the same way. But you're going to put all of that sadness, all of that embarrassment, all of that shame, all of that is going to go into your kiss with her, to convince her that you understand how badly you hurt her, and how much you want to make it up to her." "Now Andy  " Lauren started to say, but as soon as he turned to look at her, the expression on his face cowed her into silence. "After that, I'm going to fulfill my promise to Lauren, and I am going to fuck your ass so hard, it'll be sore for a week. I am going to sodomize you so hard, you'll think you've gone to prison, and you're going to have to come to terms with the fact that as soon as I cum in your ass, you are going to feel your mind being blown into a billion fragments, and every single fucking one of them will have my name stamped onto it." Taylor was shivering now, but Andy was almost certain it was with pure excitement. "You are going to wake up tomorrow and feel like a completely new woman. Ash?" "Every single sense you have is going to be on overload tomorrow," Aisling said to Taylor. "It'll be like the volume on your life is turned up to 11. Smells, sights, sounds, tastes, and touches, they'll all be in full overdrive, which means your ass is going to hurt like you didn't even believe is possible. I'm talking the kind of pain that feels like it goes down to your very soul." "And you won't be able to take any drugs for it to mute the pain," Niko said. "No aspirin, no ibuprofen, not even a stiff drink. That pain'll linger for a full day, and there's not a goddamn thing anyone can do to make it go away before it's ready." "By Tuesday, it'll be sore, but it won't feel like it's threatening to overwhelm your body. But for all of tomorrow, you are going to fucking hurt in a way that you can't even begin to imagine. And this is your last chance to walk away from it." Andy knew he was actually lying at this point. Sure, he had to imprint Taylor, but he didn't have to listen to Lauren and go at her as roughly as she wanted. If he didn't, though, there would always be a rift between the two women, and that was something he didn't want either of them to suffer through, so he was doing his best to navigate down this narrow street the two women had built for him together. "So what's your decision?" he said to her. Taylor looked up, a steely resolve to her face, one he'd seen mirrored in Lauren's face more than once before. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down so that she could press her lips against his, and in the kiss that followed, he could feel all of those conflicting emotions battling inside of her. It was the first time they'd kissed, but it was almost like it was a new first kiss for him, like he was a young man again in his parents' basement, kissing some girl in the dark while a scary movie played on the tv. She held the kiss for a long moment, the heat of the kiss turning up in the middle before backing down a little, so at the end he felt like she was trying to convey her shame at having cheated on Lauren. "Was, Is that good enough, sir?" Andy smiled a little. "And now the other half." Taylor mouthed the words "thank you" to him, out of sight of all the others, before she turned to the bed. Lauren was starting to try and turn around again, but Andy took the palm of his hand and pushed it hard on the small of her back, keeping her pinned there, and Taylor immediately understood what he was doing. She crawled up onto the bed, her pose mimicking Lauren's, bent over the edge of the bed, although to get in line with Lauren, she had to be much further up the bed. She looked painfully nervous, but reached and turned Lauren's face to look at her. Lauren's eyes were still pinched in anger at Taylor, up until their lips met, and Taylor kissed Lauren with everything she'd wanted to say to her for months now, holding onto her, even as Lauren tried to remain impassive and stonefaced at first, but melted shortly to the intensity of desperation that Taylor was giving to her. As the kiss continued, Andy started to position the players the way he wanted to, pushing Taylor as he pulled on Lauren, making Lauren roll onto her back on the bed, and bringing Taylor to straddle her, the two a tangled mess of lips and tongues, Lauren's hand against the back of Taylor's head now, keeping her face mashed against her own. Aisling could see he was maneuvering them, and hopped up, grabbing a couple of pillows, sliding them beneath Lauren's head, propping her up a bit, so that when Andy pulled Taylor down some to get her in position, she could still continue making out with her. Once he had her in place, Andy sawed his cock back and forth across Taylor's feverishly dripping snatch, feeling her ooze cream onto his thick shaft, even as she was trying to shift her hips, making it clear she still wanted to follow Lauren's rules, even now, her mind a dizzying chaos of fucknoise and lust. She reached one of her hands behind her to pull on her asscheek, forcing that pink pucker to expose itself even further. Andy lined the head of his cock up against her asshole, but then paused for a moment. That pause made Taylor break from the kiss long enough to plead with him once more. "Please, oh god please do it, Master. I've always been yours, your wanton fucking whore, I just didn't know it. Show me. Teach me. Fuck my ass and claim what's always been yours. Fucking take your bitch. Claim her. Own me!" That was good enough for him. He pushed his hips forward, feeling her asshole give a little more easily than his other girls had on their first time with him, and he suspected it wasn't Taylor's first time taking a man's cock in her ass. He felt no particular need to be exploring virgin territory, so it didn't bother him. As soon as he was most of the way inside of her ass, he could feel Taylor tense up, both of her hands clutching to Lauren's face, moaning into the other woman's mouth in a loud, muffled shriek, as her body clenched up, and suddenly Andy could feel liquid splashing back off Lauren's thighs up against his balls, as Taylor began to squirt all over the Aussie. He was tempted to ease off a bit, but Lauren had made it quite clear that the one thing he absolutely positively wasn't to do was to go easy on her, so he pushed forward until he was as deep as he could get, then pulled back only to punch forward again with a rough slam. Lauren broke from the kiss this time so that Andy could get an earful of Taylor's whorish moans, her body covered in goosebumps. "I think I'm fucking blind!" Taylor whimpered. "I've never cum so fucking hard in my fucking life oh my fucking god what the fuuuuuuck!" The Australain slapped Taylor across the face again, certainly less hard than before. "What do you say, you useless fuckhole?" "Oh god," Taylor said, as Andy drew back. "Thank you, Master! Fuck me! Fuck your needy bitch in her tight young ass until it's fucking carved in the shape of your cock! You're so fucking thick, it hurts, but your bitch loves how it hurts, so fucking rail her! Plow this bitch, your bitch, until she's cumming her brains out her fucking ears!" Lauren kissed her again, as Andy started to really rail her, shoving his cock hilt deep each and every time, making his balls slap against Lauren's sloppy twat that was still dripping girljizz onto his nuts. But Andy decided if they wanted him to get rough, he would oblige them. His hand grabbed onto Taylor's ponytail and yanked her head back hard, making her spine curve back, a strangled howl of pleasure shredding the air. He couldn't see it, but he was certain each time he drilled into Taylor, her tits were making Lauren's jiggle with them. "What are you?" he shouted at Taylor. "Ohgod," she whimpered, "I'm yours, Master. Your bitch, your whore, your slut, your worthless fuckhole to dump cum into and leave a sodden mess on the fucking floor if you want. I'm whatever you fucking tell me I am, because that's what I fucking what to be, sir." Her words were mostly squealed in between brutally hard shoves of his cock into her asshole, which continued to spasm and clench around his shaft. "Please, Daddy, let me be worthy of your cum. Your bad little bitch needs it, more than she's needed anything in her wasted life. Let her ass receive you. Oh god, your bitch wants your cum so bad it's fucking eating her away from inside! Please, Master, please, give your bitch your cum. Claim what's yours. You own this ass, this cunt, this mouth, these tits,” "I require more," Andy said, as he picked up the pace. He wasn't sure how many times Taylor had cum, but he was fairly certain it had been at least three or four. "Name it, Master, and it's yours." "I want to own that mind and that heart. Prove they belong to me. Confess." "Fuck," Taylor whined, her mascara having smeared all across her face, turning her a hideous mess, before she kissed Lauren once more, hard and fierce, before pulling her face back, looking down into the Aussie's eyes. "I love you, Lauren." Lauren's eyes instantly welled up and she kissed Taylor again before pushing her back, a look of satisfaction on her face, as she kept Taylor looking at her, saying only a single word. "And?" "And,” Taylor said, trying to trail off, a wild spike of nervousness running through her veins, before she muscled up the courage to speak again. "And I love you, Andy. Mind, body and soul, you own it all. I fucking love you, you bastard. Now please, let me, for the love of fucking god, have my fucking cum!" On that last word, one which Taylor was nearly shouting, Andy slotted his cock in nice and deep and finally let loose, a monster of an orgasm blasting a hot sticky load of spunk into her ass, and it was as though Taylor had just touched the face of God, a rapturous moan erupting from her until she forcibly locked lips with Lauren, the sound not stopping, only muffling some, as Taylor's sweat stained body quivered like it was having its own personal earthquake before slumping, almost deathly still, atop Lauren's form, the Aussie wrapping her arms around Taylor, stroking her hair, as the pint sized creature began to burble the word "imprinting" over and over again. Andy's cock had softened and slipped from her ass, as he pulled away from them, pushing them up onto the bed, grabbing a sheet, slowly pulling it up and over the two of them. "I don't have to stay here, Andy," Lauren started to say, before he waggled a finger at her. "You're exactly where you need to be right now, Lauren. Keep our newest family member safe, while the process runs its course." Lauren smiled at him, as if she was seeing him in a new light for the first time. "Yes Master." Chapter 18 The next morning, Andy woke up before anyone else. Taylor had been allowed to remain on the bed, in Lauren's arms, all night, and the two were still intertwined when Andy awoke. He suspected Niko would be up shortly, Lauren not long after that, although she might sleep a bit longer what with Taylor pressed up against her. Aisling wouldn't be up for hours. Andy had gotten decent at extracting himself from the bed, but this morning, it didn't take almost any effort at all. He grabbed some sweatpants and a t shirt, pulled them on and then moved out of the bedroom and onto the balcony, looking out onto his driveway, just as the morning sprinklers turned on, down below him. He sighed, leaning against the railing, shaking his head. "You're still worried," Niko said as she moved out onto the balcony with him. "Worrying's not going to change anything." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Anything I can do to lighten the load?" "Nah," Andy said. "By this time tomorrow, it'll all be done one way or another. So I'm trying not to think about it." They stood together quietly for a moment, before she laughed. "Not working, is it?" "Nah," he said, joining in the laugh with her. "But I'll make it work." Niko decided to take a couple of personal days, and called in to the base, telling them she needed a few days to deal with some private matters. She didn't know when the dropoff was going to be arriving, but she figured that Andy might need some help, and wanted to be around to help him through any chaos. A few hours later, Taylor awoke and was truly in agony, her ass hurting like she'd ripped it open, so Lauren also decided to take the day off and tend to her. She wasn't actually wounded in any serious way, but as predicted, the high sensitivity of her nerves post imprinting process had all the sensations cranked up to a hundred. Andy could even see a little hint of regret in Lauren's expression before she steeled herself back up, to not let Taylor see even a moment of weakness. Aisling offered to help Lauren, but Lauren insisted that Aisling just go about her normal day, so the redhead had gone down into one of the living rooms to work for the day, although she told Andy that she'd come help once the women arrived. All the girls seemed to think Andy was walking on pins and needles, but at this point, Andy was less worried about the women arriving and more worried about the upcoming card game. He spent most of the morning watching poker videos with the hole cards covered, practicing trying to read people's expressions. He hoped it would keep his mind off things, and it mostly worked. It was just after two o'clock in the afternoon when the military truck rolled up his driveway. "Here they come," he said, watching from the balcony as they started to help the two women from the back of the truck. "Oh fuck. Shit. Shit shit shit shitshitshit!" "What's the problem?" Niko asked him. She'd come to join him on the balcony when the truck had been buzzed in at the gate. The first woman to get out of the back was the blonde Nico had described to him earlier, Sheridan, a lithe woman dressed in yoga pants and a sports bra. She stretched as she got out, folding one of her arms behind her blonde mane of hair, bending like he'd never seen before. She looked to be in her mid thirties, and certainly she was a very attractive woman. But she wasn't the problem. No, it was the woman who got out right after her that had sent him into a tizzy. "Shit, I thought you said the other one's name was Teri." "It is," Niko said. "At least that's what she told everyone. Why?" "Back when I dated her, she was going by Erin," he sighed. Sure enough, the second woman looked much like she had when Andy had dated her nearly a decade ago, with a handful of notable changes. She looked older, certainly, but she'd also dyed her hair a dark chestnut brown, hiding those golden locks of hers. She also had a large tattoo on her right shoulder, which he could see through the sleeveless dress she was wearing. It was a stylized bird of paradise, and it appeared that the wings curved back under the dress along her skin. She was a little curvy, but a bit less curvy than she'd been when they'd been together. "You dated her?" Niko blanched visibly. "I'm sorry, Andy, if I'd have known,” "No, I know you didn't know, Niko. But let's just say I won't feel bad at all about passing her on to one of the other men." They walked into the bedroom and headed out into the hallway, starting to head downstairs. "I hadn't been out here long when Erin and I started dating, and we were together for a little over two years, while I was just getting started out here, working in corporate communications for eBay while I was writing the first few Druid Gunslinger novels. She hated them so much, constantly told me I was wasting my time, and that I should just focus on climbing the corporate ladder at eBay." "You're fucking kidding." "I wish," Andy said, as they walked down the stairwell. "After that she started telling me she didn't like the way my friends treated her, which is to say they wouldn't do everything she said without question. I finally got to the point where I was so sick of her bitching at me about how I wasn't living up to her expectations that I broke up with her a week before Valentine's Day. Packed up all her shit for her and threw her out of the apartment." "That's uncharacteristically cold of you, Andy." "Oh yeah?" he said, stopping walking. "She had it coming. The place was entirely in my name, and I'd spent the better part of half a year trying to convince her to put her name down as a co renter on the lease, and she wouldn't do it. I moved out of that apartment at the end of next month and didn't leave a forwarding address, just so the bitch couldn't find me, because she kept harassing me. I didn't just move apartments,  I moved cities. Hell, I moved whole regions of the goddamn Bay. Back when I was dating her, I was living up in El Cerrito, so I moved fifty miles south and hoped I was fucking done with her." "What do you mean by harassing?" The doorbell rang, and it made Andy wince. "She showed up drunk at least a dozen times. Broke into my car a few times. Broke into the old apartment once. Tried threatening my friends to find out from them where I moved to. After that failed, she tried tailing me home from work for a while, until after about a year or so, she finally left me alone." "What a hot mess." "That's an understatement," he said as they headed down the stairs. "Yeah, let me tell you, Erin Teresa Donegal and I are over and done with, and there is no way in hell I am letting that deranged terror into this family." "Ah Andy, love! There you are!" Erin said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I see you've moved up in the world since the last time we talked. I'm so excited to be joining this little family you've been given." "Don't unpack, Erin," Andy said. "You aren't staying." "The hell I'm not!" she said, her voice level raising to an uncomfortable volume. "I was given the option of what man I wanted as a partner, and I chose you, so it's a done deal. No more running away from your problems anymore." "I don't have to accept anyone sent to me, Erin, and I'm certainly not going to bring someone into my family who hates my friends and trashed my car." "Oh my god, are you still upset about that? It happened in the past. When are you going to let it go?" "Considering you never paid me back for the car window or the car stereo you destroyed, I wouldn't hold your breath any time soon." "Uh, are you sending me back too?" Sheridan asked, a confused look on her face, as if she realized she was caught in the midst of a deep historical squabble. "We haven't even met." At this point, Andy remembered what he'd been told to do in the instructions from Covington, and went into the rehearsed speech. "Look, there's a meeting in a few hours, and I can go and see what's going on. Maybe there was some kind of mixup about who was sent to who, so you can stay here for the night, but please don't unpack, at least until tomorrow when we get all this figured out. I should be back before midnight with some kind of clarity over all of this." While he was talking to the two women, Aisling had been using his cellphone to photograph the two for the sake of the poker game. Covington had made it clear that all the players needed to know what the "prizes" were, and so each woman was to be photographed in advance. "There's no mistake, Andrew," Erin said. "I'm exactly where I want to be." "Erin, I'm not the same guy you dated a decade ago," he said, as Aisling handed him his phone back. "You would not be happy here, and I certainly don't think the rest of my family would take to you very kindly." "No kidding," Aisling said as she scowled at the woman, shaking her head. "How could you not like his writing?" Erin sniffed in contempt at the Irish redhead. "They're juvenile, childlike stories, and nobody's ever going to want to read them." "Funny how I've sold half a million books across the series, Erin." "Children have disposable income, Andrew, and while I'm sure your little stories are fleeting distractions for them, nobody remembers them after they're done with them. They don't affect anyone. They're not literature. They don't mean anything." "Jesus," Niko growled, "I'm glad he's not letting you in, otherwise I'd probably have to beat your ass until you were begging me to stop." "I would like to see you try, young lady," Erin sneered back. She was about a decade older than Niko, but Andy would've bet on his partner over his ex."I've been taking self defense classes since I was a child." Aisling smirked and shrugged. "Niko's in the Air Force. My money's on her." Erin shook her head. "I have so much work to do here, Andrew, in teaching these girls respect and  " "Shut up! For fuck's sake, will you shut up and listen for one minute in your goddamn life, you vacuous socialite? This is my house! These are my partners, and they belong here, which is more than I can say for you!" "Andrew! How dare you  " "Stop talking! Oh my god, do you ever shut up, or are you so enthralled with the sound of your own voice that the words have lost all fucking meaning? You never wanted me, you wanted what you thought you could make me into, but whatever docile, kowtowing toady that is, that's not me, and it's never going to be me! I'm done getting pushed around by you. So don't get fucking comfortable!" At that, Andy stormed off, leaving Aisling and Niko to apologize to Sheridan and/or deal with Erin. Andy headed downstairs and into his office, closing the door behind him, moving to settle down at his desk, as his two cats, both of whom had been in his office, moved to claim his lap, demonstrating their affection, trying to soothe the temper of their angered master. As it usually did, the cats cleared his head and cooled him off. He wanted to not think about it, so for the next few hours, he just focused on his writing, getting a few chapters into the next Druid Gunslinger novel, that he was currently calling "The Dryad Always Sings Twice," although he wasn't in love with the title. Some time later, there was a knock at his door, and he sighed. "It's unlocked," he said, hoping it wouldn't be Erin. Niko moved to enter the room, closing the door behind her as she moved in. "You weren't kidding about that girl being a piece of work," she said. "How'd you two even hook up in the first place?" "I mean, she's attractive, and she took an interest in me at a time when I didn't have a whole lot of self confidence. And she wasn't entirely like this back then. The longer we were together, the more her intense desire to have complete and total control in our relationship came out." "Yeah, but pretty girls make graves," Niko said to him, moving to wrap her arms around him from behind. "None of you three have killed me yet. Maybe I've just gotten lucky." "Or maybe you've gotten more refined in your taste since your mishap." She kissed him tenderly. "Anyway, I thought I'd let you stew a bit, but it's getting time for you to head over to Covington's for the poker game. Are you ready?" He chuckled a little. "Not really, but there's no time like the present." He saved his file and shut down his computer. "Is she still being a pain in the ass?" "Nah, Ash basically quarantined them in the pool house out back after Erin demanded to see where the master bedroom was, so she could get unpacked." "Like you said, quite a piece of work." He helped the cats off of his lap and moved to stand up before giving Niko another kiss. "Thanks for keeping her away from me. You can imagine the hard memories seeing her brought up." "No kidding. I mean, the fucking gumption on that bitch." She pet Muninn for a second before Andy opened the door, and she moved to walk with him. "Anyway, I'm coming with you." "Are your sure you want to? There's a chance I won't come back with your friend." She nodded, as they headed down the hall, heading towards the garage. "If you don't, I want to be with you so you know that I'm not mad at you." Niko pushed one of the buttons and the garage door in front of the Tesla roadster. "Hop in, I'll drive." The drive over to Covington's mansion was only about ten minutes, and at least a couple of those minutes were spent waiting at the gate for Covington's security team to let them in. There was a full checkpoint, with a couple of women in military fatigues, each of whom had a M16 at the ready. Covington's mansion was far more decadent than Andy's, and as they drove up the driveway, Andy suspected that Covington might even be the founder of the enclave that preceded New Eden, when it was just a bunch of rich fat cats living in a gated community of their own devising. The house itself was some weird hybrid of European colonial tradition and hyper post modern industrialism, with a statue of Covington himself in the center of the circular driveway in front of the home. The statue portrayed him as a pioneer, with a child on one shoulder, and a dozen women laying around him, each reaching up to him like he was their savior. "Oh. My. God." Niko muttered. "This is extra extra." "Even if I have to cheat," Andy mumbled, "I am going to run this asshole into the ground." Niko immediately turned and shook her head at him. "Don't cheat. Don't. He's caught cheaters before, and they get thrown out and lose everything." "Relax," Andy said, "I don't even know how I could cheat here, even if I wanted to, which I don't. We'll play a nice, fair game of poker. Any tips from your friend?" "The only thing she could tell me is that he has a hard time getting untilted if things start going against him." Andy nodded. "That's good to know. Let's go meet the competition." The two exited the car and headed up the stairs, where a blonde in a French maid's outfit opened the door for them. It was similar to the outfit Nicolette chose to wear, except here the blonde's tits were completely exposed, and the skirt was significantly shorter. Andy was certain the girl wasn't allowed to wear panties either. "You are here for the game?" the woman asked him, her voice accented in heavy French tones. "I am. Andrew Rook." The woman nodded. "Staff and colleagues need to remain away from the card room, so I will escort your woman to join the rest of the chauffeurs." She snapped her finger and another woman, this one in a butler's outfit, except that she wore no shirt beneath the black overcoat, which left most of her tits exposed. "Amber will take you to meet up with the other players." Andy could feel Niko tense up next to him, and took her hand in his. "I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Niko sighed, exhaling the breath, then nodded. "I'm just sad I won't get a chance to see your face when you see all the other stakes in play tonight," a sly smile on her face. "That's a shame, but let me tell ya, I think you're gonna play your absolute best when you see what's up for grabs." She winked as she started to stroll away with the butler. "This way, sir?" the butler said to him and led him down a series of stairs. It felt a little like walking into a lair. The hallways were lined with expensive art, but there was no rhyme or reason to it, no sense of what was important or what had personal meaning. It all felt, well, dumped. Like someone was showing off what they'd acquired, but didn't really care for. In fact, the whole home felt like that. Like the owner didn't enjoy any of what he'd acquired if he wasn't rubbing it in everybody's faces. It made Andy hate him even more. Eventually, the butler brought him to a lounge room with a massive LCD wall filling one entire side of the lounge. But Andy didn't look at it for more than a second, because it was time to size up the competition. "Ah, Andrew!" Covington said. "There you are. I was starting to wonder when you were going to show up. I was afraid that you had chickened out." Andy scrunched his eyes. "You don't know me very well, Mr. Covington  " "Please, Andrew, call me Artie!" he laughed. "Arthur then," Andy started. "You don't know me very well, Arthur, but one thing you should learn early on about me is that I don't spook easily, and I certainly don't back away from a challenge if there's a reason to try and win." "Well, there's definitely prizes worth winning in tonight's pool. Here, Airdrop me the pictures of your stakes and we'll look over all the possible winnings together." Andy paused for a moment, then pulled up his phone, sending the images over to Covington's phone. A few seconds later, the images of Sheridan and Erin joined the others on the wall, like trophies on a wall. The very presentation of it all made him sick, but he needed to look at the faces, to establish some sort of foundation to the stakes in play. He immediately saw why Niko had been teasing him. The wall of faces was full of beautiful women, twelve in total, and both Doctor Charlotte Varma and her daughter Asha Varma were up there, although they didn't look at all how he'd imagined them. Charlotte looked European, and Asha's features were an interesting blend of European and Indian. Asha thankfully looked a little older than the 18 Andy knew she was. Both women were stunning. But they weren't the ones who caught his attention at the onset. There were two faces on the board that he recognized immediately. One of them was Emily Stevens, a British actress who'd co starred in a series of films as a teenager before becoming an L A celebrity in a bunch of well received indie

Here's a question for your Monday morning. If somebody came up to you on the street and asked for DOB, next of kin, phone number, personal address, your interests, sports and hobbies.... what would you say? Bugger off. Why do you want all that? What will you do with it? Do you need it? and yet, when some random business asks you this stuff while you're buying shampoo or a computer mouse on the internet, we happily give it away, hand it over, pay for our loot (using a credit card number and password, then promptly think nothing more of it. The reason we do this is because we're asked to do it. And we often don't have much choice. If you don't answer those pesky questions with the asterisk on them.... you can't get the thing that yo want. Even if you've paid. Privacy Commissioner has a new survey out. Survey says F-off, basically. Two-thirds say protecting their personal information now a major concern in their lives (yes, major. Presumably up there with death and a mortgage) 80% say they want more control over it. Honestly, why does my hairdresser need to know my date of birth when I'm booking an appointment? Does it tell them how thin my hair might be at a certain age? Do they need my address to ship my cut hair back to me after its swept off the floor? Do they need my surname because it may denote frailty in my follicles passed down through generations? No. It's because they can ask for it. So, they do. They make money off, presumably. Honestly, my online supermarket and electricity provider know more intimate details about me than some of the ex's. We regularly reveal more personal details to Countdown than we would a first date! Companies here can basically ask you anything. You often have to answer. They must take reasonable steps to keep keeping it secret. Then along comes the hackers. Then it's all out the window. The EU has strict rules... Business must give you option to reject cookies. Informed consent. Only ask for stuff related to what you're buying or doing. AND you have the right to change or delete the info companies hold open you. You could avoid the internet altogether but that train's sort of left the station. So, can I suggest a question for businesses? Could you please stop asking us so many damned irrelevant and annoying questions? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's a question for your Monday morning. If somebody came up to you on the street and asked for DOB, next of kin, phone number, personal address, your interests, sports and hobbies.... what would you say? Bugger off. Why do you want all that? What will you do with it? Do you need it? and yet, when some random business asks you this stuff while you're buying shampoo or a computer mouse on the internet, we happily give it away, hand it over, pay for our loot (using a credit card number and password, then promptly think nothing more of it. The reason we do this is because we're asked to do it. And we often don't have much choice. If you don't answer those pesky questions with the asterisk on them.... you can't get the thing that yo want. Even if you've paid. Privacy Commissioner has a new survey out. Survey says F-off, basically. Two-thirds say protecting their personal information now a major concern in their lives (yes, major. Presumably up there with death and a mortgage) 80% say they want more control over it. Honestly, why does my hairdresser need to know my date of birth when I'm booking an appointment? Does it tell them how thin my hair might be at a certain age? Do they need my address to ship my cut hair back to me after its swept off the floor? Do they need my surname because it may denote frailty in my follicles passed down through generations? No. It's because they can ask for it. So, they do. They make money off, presumably. Honestly, my online supermarket and electricity provider know more intimate details about me than some of the ex's. We regularly reveal more personal details to Countdown than we would a first date! Companies here can basically ask you anything. You often have to answer. They must take reasonable steps to keep keeping it secret. Then along comes the hackers. Then it's all out the window. The EU has strict rules... Business must give you option to reject cookies. Informed consent. Only ask for stuff related to what you're buying or doing. AND you have the right to change or delete the info companies hold open you. You could avoid the internet altogether but that train's sort of left the station. So, can I suggest a question for businesses? Could you please stop asking us so many damned irrelevant and annoying questions? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Alan Cox ShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Alan Cox Show

Let the games begin and they shall, as Kev, Finey and Stephen J roll out their thoughts on the AFL season opening, the first round of real AFL action, the mighty Melbourne Storm's insane first game plus darts, racing, squid wrestling and India's cricket win. One of those topics is not included? Bugger the Indians! Musically, we dial into the 4BC Top 40 chart from April 9th 1969 and it isn't all hippie beads, caftans and pot smoking pop. From the Are you there Tommy file there's Tommy James, Tommy Roe and Tommy Rot as well as some tomless classics. Kevin Hillier, Mark Fine, Stephen J Peak Follow us on Facebook...https://bit.ly/2OOe7ag Post-production by Steve Visscher | Southern Skies Media for Howdy Partners Media | www.howdypartnersmedia.com.au/podcasts © 2025See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda had a petrol 'incident' yesterday which led to some rather 'interesting' stories from listeners!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show... Our government talks big on economic growth but lacks bold action, making the country unattractive for major investment. Enough is enough! Something has to happen. Website: https://www.rova.nz/home/podcasts/duncan-garner---editor-in-chief.html Instagram: @DuncanGarnerpodcast TikTok: @DuncanGarnerpodcast

ON THE SHOW TODAY What where Megan and Jono like in school... Very different! Can Megan finally work out our lovely early morning security guards name? Throwback to our fav school lunches! Ben is now Sienna's + 1 Why did Jono seat a trolley... Gen Z producer grace questions how we used to "do" school Best old school ads! Bugger, Kiwi burger, Ghost trips, Lily from big save... And so many more!!! Ben caught listening to our podcast... Again... Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & Megan Instagram: THEHITSBREAKFAST See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you more anti-social than you used to be? Than your parents were? Than you’d like to be? Welcome, friends to the Anti-social century, where we’d just like everyone else to, in Manc speak, do one. Bugger off. Plus, a doco Mia’s obsessed with, a podcast for super fans and a trademark Jessie Stephens depressing TV show… Yes, it’s recommendations. And our best and worsts of the week - Jessie had a VERY bad Tuesday, Holly met a beautiful supervillain and Mia’s brain is betraying her. Support independent women's media Get your tickets to the Mamamia Out Loud Live 2025 All or Nothing Tour Presented By Nivea Cellular What To Listen To Next: Listen to our latest episode: The Doco Mia Could Not Watch Listen: Elon's Arm, Thirsty Women & Fourth Wing Listen: Trump Presidency 2.0 Has Landed Listen: Full Bush In A Bikini Listen: 'Let Them': The New Hack To Sort Out D*ckheads Connect your subscription to Apple Podcasts The End Bits: Sign up to the Mamamia Out Loud Newsletter for all our recommendations and behind-the-scenes content in one place. Enter Lazy Gewl Giveaways here! Use code WALK20 for 20% off a yearly subscription. Recommendations: Mia wants you to watch SNL50 BEYOND SATURDAY NIGHT on Binge Holly wants you to listen to Are You A Charlotte? podcast Jessie wants you to watch Lockerbie: A Search for Truth on Binge & 7+ What To Read: Read: Everything you need to know about the Mamamia Out Loud ALL OR NOTHING TOUR coming May 2025 GET IN TOUCH: Feedback? We’re listening. Send us an email at outloud@mamamia.com.au Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message Join our Facebook group Mamamia Outlouders to talk about the show. Follow us on Instagram @mamamiaoutloud CREDITS: Hosts: Holly Wainwright, Mia Freedman & Jessie Stephens Group Executive Producer: Ruth Devine Executive Producer: Emeline Gazilas Audio Production: Leah Porges Video Producer: Josh Green Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#Quickie#Dee Bugger

It's our most boob-filled discussion to date as we dissect the development and release of one of the biggest box office hits to ever be based on a classic video game! A blunder filled with interesting casting choices, over the top wire work, cute snow dogs, and an eccentric soundtrack to boot.

On the show today, Dan's neighbor has had a bad run in with their flat mate when she realised the flat mate stole from the house and the car. Yas fills in for sick  Meg and has a random story about a micro penis. Anna Grimaldi our only gold medalist for the Paralympics joins the show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you confidently say: “I like myself”? What would it take for you to get to that place? The Happy Place Festival Talk Stage hosted loads of speakers across the weekend at Chiswick House and Gardens, and Fearne wants to bring you in on the Festival magic! You'll hear parts of the talks given by Gabby Bernstein, Roxie Nafousi, Lisa Snowdon, Paul C Brunson, Will Young, and Dawn O'Porter, and learn a little bit from each of them about how to unapologetically be yourself.During this episode, you'll explore what limiting beliefs are holding you back, how to get clarity around who you want to be, and how to identify what values are important to you (not the ones you're being told to value!) Then, how to align your behaviour with your values to make tangible change for your future self, and – of course – how to put boundaries in place with other people so your values aren't compromised... Listen to Gabby Bernstein's full episode Listen to Paul C Brunson's full episode Listen to Will Young's full episode Listen to Dawn O'Porter's full episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to a brand-new season of The Portugal Corner Podcast! This time, we're diving into the first week of Liga Portugal and the Portuguese Super Taça—where we'll get straight to the point with the results and highlights. Get ready for an exhilarating season as we unveil our bold predictions for SL Benfica, FC Porto, Sporting CP, and SC Braga! We'll also be tackling summer trends, exploring travel tips for Portugal, taking a quick look at constellations, and even throwing in some Olympic updates. Ready for the challenge? Let's get to it! Thank you for tuning in to The Portugal Corner Podcast! Stay connected with us on social media: - Follow us on X @Portugal_Corner - Find us on Instagram @theportugalcorner For exclusive content, join our Patreon and gain access to *Talking Portugal In The Corner*. You can listen to our episodes on Pama Radio or YouTube. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to email us at theportugalcorner@gmail.com. Please subscribe to our podcast on your preferred platform, and consider leaving a rating and review. Share the podcast with your friends and family, and don't forget to check out our previous episodes! Thank you for your support!

Bugger off dogmatic rules - who wrote those anyway. Push off unfaltering sustainable existence - you're leave us feeling guilty. Shhhh up incessant Instagram perfection - it's not real!  Tune in to this fire cracker of fresh air to recalibrate your judgment beacon and give yourself a break while you learn to a make a difference in a way that works for you. Could that be quiet food related activism or perhaps sharing practical skills in your community, or waking up to the plastic explosion in our lives and actively curbing your contribution. Perhaps its pickling...everything in sight! What ever your path, Alex is unwaveringly supportive of anyone having a go at even the smallest of things & her final word of advice ' slow down, don't peak too soon...its a long path & its not getting any easier'Links You'll LoveCornersmith - Use it allCornersmith - Food Savers Guide A-ZSupport the ShowCasual Support - Buy Me A CoffeeRegular Support - PatreonBuy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow mattersShow NotesGrowing up in a share house that loved to cook in her formative yearsCreating community around the share plateBeing ok with fish fingers and frozen peasLetting judgement go to make a difference while being acceptingEducation to build hope & practical skills during this climate emergencyThe exhausting weight of being sustainable 24/7Wanting to help people fall in love with their kitchens again without ideologyBeginning a business with her husband despite limited experienceDiscovering pickling when her kids were tiny & she was losing her mindPickling as an onramp to a simpler sustainable lifeLying awake thinking about wasting cumquatsPutting community abundance to good use in a pickling jarCrossing language barriers to learn food preservation methods from her neighbourhoodTaking twists & turns in businessWhy now is the time to stand up & shout really loudlyNo person can avoid having to make regenerative choicesGetting bolder with ageTrading with locals who swap backyard produce for coffeeNavigating a food business through covidAvoiding being black and whiteMaking spaces where its simple for people to make a contributionChoosing her favourite pickleYou don't have to make mega batches of food to make a contributionEating and using what you've got to reduce food wasteChoose one thing, while you build your habits and reframe your practicesDo we all need to be a little uncomfortable in order to make us all think and create other solutions,Wake up and stop being passive, owning your decisions or solutionsUsing scraps from the bin to create magicIf it can be used - use itSaving money by using every single part of every single thingLucky dip cupboard - food without labelsThe process of writing a cook bookReplacing the guilt with creativity in the kitchenThe disservice of instagram perpetuating perfectionPearl of wisdom - going slower in our change journey to ensure longevitySupport the Show.

# Dee Bugger# family reunion 

BUGS! Can't live with them and can't live without them. Well honestly it does feel like I could live without them. Though I do understand they are wholly necessary for the ecosystem/food chain to thrive. Isn't life funny like that. Wow. Makes you think. Huh... Anyways I'm gonna slap my airpods back in and scroll tik tok thats enough thinking for now. Toodle Loo!Can't get enough? Want to skip the show entirely and just watch highlights? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwasntaskingu/Also if you are reading this you should consider leaving a rating! Nobody has left a 1 star review yet - so If you want to be the first you could. I say that's pretty mean spirited and honestly I didn't really do anything to you to deserve that. If you don't like it you can just hit pause and never hit play again. Then tell your friends that it wasn't for you but they should check it out anyways just to see if its potentially their cup of tea, because you never know. Thanks and blessings. -PT & CP

Chad and Kaija make up this week's panel as they play the "Slang Game," then discuss the elliptical meta-structure of the book and how this impacts their reading and the book's effectiveness. They also discuss Sam Rutter's New York Times review of the novel, addressing the difficulties of discussing the workings of the text itself given the burden of having to contextualize so much for a foreign audience. This week's music is "Under the Milky Way" from The Church, one of Australia's most widely known bands. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 400-463. (Up to chapter 12 in "Sitting in the Bones.") Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Chad and Kaija make up this week's panel as they play the "Slang Game," then discuss the elliptical meta-structure of the book and how this impacts their reading and the book's effectiveness. They also discuss Sam Rutter's New York Times review of the novel, addressing the difficulties of discussing the workings of the text itself given the burden of having to contextualize so much for a foreign audience. This week's music is "Under the Milky Way" from The Church, one of Australia's most widely known bands. You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be covering pages 400-463. (Up to chapter 12 in "Sitting in the Bones.") Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.  

Time stamps for the episode below description!) Greeting, Airheads! Today Professor Cho learns us all about the life of one of Hollywood's most glamorous stars, and a true American tech pioneer and war here: Hedy Lamarr! This discussion organically led us in to something Trae was already wanting to cover, which is The Tiffany Problem! You know what The Tiffany Problem is? Well don't worry, we'll tell ya all about it! BTW.... Google Podcasts is about to go away for good! If you are part of the 5% of Airheads who use Google Podcasts, be sure to go subscribe to our show on another platform so you wont miss new episodes! Remember to support our sponsors! BetterHelp.com/POA Manscaped.com Promo Code POA20 (please note that this is a NEW promo code!) Go to TraeCrowder.com for all Trae's dates BonusCorey.com to subscribe to Corey's Substack Our New book Round Here and Over Yonder is available wherever you get your books! Time Stamps: Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Squirrel Haters of America 06:13 Hedy Lamarr's Escape and Meeting Louis B. Mayer 27:22 Hedy Lamarr's Film Career 28:10 Hedy Lamarr's Controversial Film 29:05 The Negative Impact of the Pilgrims 29:54 The Legacy of the Pilgrims 30:39 The Tiffany Problem 32:16 Hedy Lamarr's Journey to America 33:10 The Persistence of Hedy Lamarr 34:47 Hedy Lamarr's Hollywood Success 36:13 The Tiffany Problem in Historical Depictions 39:08 The Influence of Hedy Lamarr 45:07 The Bugger and Butt-Fucking References 50:03 Hedy Lamarr's Name Change 51:54 Hedy Lamarr's Relationship with Howard Hughes 53:29 Hedy Lamarr's Brilliance and Howard Hughes 53:57 Hedy Lamarr's Inventions and Contributions 56:05 Hedy Lamarr's Work During World War II 59:08 Hedy Lamarr's Patented Invention and Lack of Recognition 01:03:36 Hedy Lamarr's Unfulfilled Professional Life 01:06:54 Recognition and Legacy of Hedy Lamarr 01:09:02 Perpetual Stew and Forever Blind for a Day Soup 01:14:09 Natalie Portman as Spy Master 01:18:16 Vin Mariani: Wine with Cocaine 01:20:08 Upcoming Shows and Subreddit 01:21:22 Promoting WatchPOA YouTube Channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time stamps for the episode below description!) Greeting, Airheads! Today Professor Cho learns us all about the life of one of Hollywood's most glamorous stars, and a true American tech pioneer and war here: Hedy Lamarr! This discussion organically led us in to something Trae was already wanting to cover, which is The Tiffany Problem! You know what The Tiffany Problem is? Well don't worry, we'll tell ya all about it! BTW.... Google Podcasts is about to go away for good! If you are part of the 5% of Airheads who use Google Podcasts, be sure to go subscribe to our show on another platform so you wont miss new episodes! Remember to support our sponsors! BetterHelp.com/POA Manscaped.com Promo Code POA20 (please note that this is a NEW promo code!) Go to TraeCrowder.com for all Trae's dates BonusCorey.com to subscribe to Corey's Substack Our New book Round Here and Over Yonder is available wherever you get your books! Time Stamps: Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Squirrel Haters of America 06:13 Hedy Lamarr's Escape and Meeting Louis B. Mayer 27:22 Hedy Lamarr's Film Career 28:10 Hedy Lamarr's Controversial Film 29:05 The Negative Impact of the Pilgrims 29:54 The Legacy of the Pilgrims 30:39 The Tiffany Problem 32:16 Hedy Lamarr's Journey to America 33:10 The Persistence of Hedy Lamarr 34:47 Hedy Lamarr's Hollywood Success 36:13 The Tiffany Problem in Historical Depictions 39:08 The Influence of Hedy Lamarr 45:07 The Bugger and Butt-Fucking References 50:03 Hedy Lamarr's Name Change 51:54 Hedy Lamarr's Relationship with Howard Hughes 53:29 Hedy Lamarr's Brilliance and Howard Hughes 53:57 Hedy Lamarr's Inventions and Contributions 56:05 Hedy Lamarr's Work During World War II 59:08 Hedy Lamarr's Patented Invention and Lack of Recognition 01:03:36 Hedy Lamarr's Unfulfilled Professional Life 01:06:54 Recognition and Legacy of Hedy Lamarr 01:09:02 Perpetual Stew and Forever Blind for a Day Soup 01:14:09 Natalie Portman as Spy Master 01:18:16 Vin Mariani: Wine with Cocaine 01:20:08 Upcoming Shows and Subreddit 01:21:22 Promoting WatchPOA YouTube Channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bugger! Wests Tigers reverted to the team that scooped up consecutive wooden spoons in Saturday night's trial against the Dragons. Despite a mostly much more positive showing the week before in New Zealand, Wests Tigers took to the field in Mudgee with a lack of intensity and got shown up by a side many predict to finish low on the ladder this year. On this edition of the Wests Tigers Podcast, Joel Helmes is joined by Steve Stretton and Garry Watson for a look at what went wrong. Thank you to our Wests Tigers Podcast Forum members for their many 'One Word' summations of that performance against St.George-Illawarra. We share those contributions on the pod. There's a discussion around the impressive debut of 18-year-old rookie, Lachlan Galvin, and we ask the question - has he done enough to grab an NRL debut in round two? We take a look at the centre and winger issues that seem to be affecting several aspects of how the side plays. Ask, has Alex Seyfarth beaten out Fonua Pole for the lock position? And who do we need to pick in the back row to get some more thrust? Also under the microscope is the revelation by interim CEO Shane Richardson that the claimed Wests Tigers membership numbers are significantly lower in reality. And Yioti's Quiz is back with some curly questions designed to test Steve and Garry's memory and knowledge of our Wests Tigers! Not a win, unfortunately, and now another break before we are back in action on the field, none the less we thank you for your ongoing support of the Wests Tigers Podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO BUGGER OFF and TO DO BUGGER ALLIn this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to bugger off. Now, this is definitely an informal phrase. You wouldn't use this in a formal situation, but when you say someone is going to bugger off, it means that they are going to leave, and it usually means that you probably didn't want them to leave. A good example would be this. If I had a car accident, if someone hit me, I wouldn't want the other guy to bugger off. I would want that person to stay until the police come. And this does sometimes happen. Sometimes people have a car accident and the person who hit them will bugger off. They'll just drive away. And if the police do catch them, they'll get in lots of trouble. I think having a dash cam is a good way to catch people on camera after a car accident before they bugger off.WANT FREE ENGLISH LESSONS? GO TO YOUTUBE AND SEARCH, "BOB THE CANADIAN"If you enjoy these lessons please consider supporting me at: http://www.patreon.com/bobthecanadianThe other phrase I wanted to help you learn today is the phrase to do bugger all. So if someone does bugger all, it means they haven't really done anything. And again, this is a very informal phrase, but if I came home from work, let's say I'm working on a project with another teacher and we are supposed to be doing it together and I do all the work, I might come home to Jen and say, oh, today, Joe didn't do bugger all on the project. He just sat around and talked while I did all the work. So when you do bugger all, it simply means that you aren't doing anything when you're supposed to be doing some work.So to review, to bugger off means to leave. And the accident example is probably the best one. If I was to get in an accident, I wouldn't bugger off, and I wouldn't want the other person to bugger off either. And to do bugger all simply is a very crude way, a very informal way to say someone is doing nothing. Jen would get really mad at me in the summer if she was working hard and I didn't do bugger all. She would be like, get to work. We got to sell these flowers.But, hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Gabriella. I hope I'm remembering that right. Hello, Bob. This way of teaching by telling your life story is simply fantastic. Thank you. And then a big wave. And my response. You're welcome, Gabriella. So thank you for that comment.Yeah, I do enjoy talking about myself and I'm glad that you all enjoy listening to me. So, first of all, I wanted to mention something about, again, my life. Can you hear the wind chimes? I don't see them, but there's definitely wind chimes here.Anyways, the other day, I was bringing my son to a friend's house. That friend lives way down this road. You can see my van there. But that was the other day, and I noticed on this side of the road that there was all kinds of new houses that I had never seen before. So I feel like this subdivision just showed up. I swear. First of all, I don't think I've been down this road for two or three years, and I think that the last time I drove down this road, I don't think these houses existed. I think they were all built probably during the pandemic or maybe a year after it, but they looked really new, and I wanted to show you.This is what we call a duplex. So one house is on this side, and one house is on the other side. So this garage door belongs to one person. This garage door belongs to another person. And they aren't attached between. So it's one building right here, but there are two houses in this building. So there's a wall down the middle separating the two houses. And you would either live on one side or the other side of the duplex. We Support the show

Hello You Beautiful People.It's another packed show and we start with the British tradition of taking a swim in the sea on Christmas day.  Rather you than me.Then Bob Baker discusses the origins of the lovely curse word Bugger, in Do You Hear What I Hear.Next up is the Quiz.  I scored 8, see if you can beat that.Then Bob is back with another delightul idea of spreading joy to your fellow man.Check out Bob's podcast here:https://4fpodcast.buzzsprout.com/This episode's version of A Christmas Carol is A Christmas Carol The Musical starring Kelsey Grammar.  I really enjoyed it and you can watch it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0nPSfXrxA8The recommendation is the miniseries Artful Dodger which looks at the life of the Artful Dodger about 15 years after the events of the novel Oliver Twist.Me and the wife enjoyed it so maybe give it a look.Email: totalchristmas@gmail.comWebsite: totalchristmaspodcast.comMerry Christmas!

Today on the Radio Highlights podcast, the boys look to find the Four Pillars of Kiwi TV ads, and will eating pasta make you put on weight?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lunar Paths take the reins this week in a takeover show, talk about their debut album and treat you to their pick of tunes.Playlist:Lunar Paths - MetaGoth #1, Pixies - Tame, Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag, I Speak Machine - Bring Me the Girl, Gang of Four - Naturals Not In It, The Joy Thieves - 6 to 3, X-ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours!, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Chance, Killing Joke - The Wait, Skinny Puppy - Worlock, Bonnie Trash - Shades of You, Asian Dub Foundation - La Haine, Idles - Danny Nedelko, Lunar Paths - Halo

The 12th anniversary show and packed with new music.Playlist:Serial Chiller - Interest, New Model Army - Coming or Going, The Names - Far From the Factories, Vision Video - Normalized, IDLES - Gift Horse, KMFDM - Let Go, Elektrikill - Moral Combat, VR SEX - Real Doll Time, PIG - Fuck Me, Octavian Winters - Velveteen, Lovelorn Dolls - DreamWorld, Golden Apes - All of Her (Totem), PINCHPoint - Judith (APC Cover), The Wraith - Only Shadows Remain

Another all new music show for you.Playlist:Chaos Bleak - Feast For the Senses, Erotic Secrets of Pompeii - Utterly Rudderless, Bob Vylan - Hunger Games, Bondage - She Wanna Be (Syd.31 Remix), Fuzzbox - Supernova (Maggie Dunne vs Gizz Butt Fuzz Off Mix), Octavian Winters - Undertow, Lunar Paths - Halo, Still Patient? - Blind Vision, Elektrikill - Propaganarchy! (Single Mix), Reflection Black - A Silver Dagger to Our Throats, Who Saw Her Die? - Emma, Siouxsie Sioux - I Walk the Line (Siouxsie vs Alien Sex Fiend AI Mashup), Funhouse - Blue Light (Radio Edit), Divine Shade - Heaven

Whether its the job interviews conducted in a pub to ‘really get to know you', the Friday after work drinks, the boozy business lunches, the work conferences away or Christmas Parties - your workplace probably has some kind of a drinking culture. Hame and Vic are quite honest about the fact they have not had the most conventional careers. Hame got felt up when he was dressed up as a shoe and Vic used to work a job fixing fridges (who knew?!). But even they have been affected by work stress and drinking habits. If you are sober - this can make for some very awkward situations... where you feel excluded from 'the group'. And if you're still drinking and are considering giving up, your job can be one of the biggest stumbling blocks. So how can you navigate the workplace whilst maintaining your sobriety?! Bugger if we know, but we give it our best shot in this episode! RESOURCES www.cuppa.community This episode is proudly sponsored by @choose_sunrise - 101 Days to Sober or your money back.  www.choosesunrise.co.uk JOIN PATREON! and buy us a Cuppa so we can keep being awkward! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=81897291 www.cuppa.community – The Free Social Network for the Sober and Sober Curious - Sober Events – Therapy – Sobriety Courses – Sober Groups, Tea and loads more. Buy Sober Awkward T-Shirts and Tea at: www.cuppashop.com @soberawkward @drunkmummysobermummy @cuppa.community @hamishadamscairns @patreon @spotify @budsandbeadstea If you are struggling with your relationship with alcohol please reach out to your local doctor, a therapist, AA Group or just chat to a close friend. Don't feel shame, just get the help you deserve. Contact us! If you have a topic you'd like us to cover then please email us - vicandhamish@soberawkward.com Check out our website at: https://www.soberawkward.com #soberawkward #soberawkwardpodcast #drunkmummysobermummy #cuppa.community #sober #sobermom #sobermummy #sobriety #soberaf #sobermovement #sobercurious #alcoholfree #mummybloggers #writersofinsta #soberfamily #greyareadrinking #addiction #soberissexy #soberwomen #sobermomtribe #sobrietyrocks #soberlifestyle #alcoholfreelife #wedorecover #sobernation #mumblog #mentalhealth #motherhood #wineoclock #sobermums #selfcare #womeninrecovery #sobercommunity #soberdads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the feathered brotherhood who join me today for Episode 47 of the Radio Owlsnest syndicated blockbuster world dominating songwriter podcast series … Ahhh - not really. In truth, it's remained an intimate, small, close knit village concern which has been lovely for me to host over the last few years. So thank you to you “OwlHeads” who have given me your ears so consistently and graciously. I'll start proceedings off by playing a very rare demo I wrote with fine female lyricist Terry Cox, which surprised me how ‘Elton John' it sounded after all these years. I was beginning to write with Bernie Taupin at that time and I think the aesthetic was rubbing off on me a little. Dusting this demo off after all these years was illuminating to me. I'll spin a track I'm preparing for volume 3 of my, “The Poetry of Collisions” demo/odds and sods compilation series/releases; a song title that refers to the suffering-laden cyclic nature of death and reincarnation - no beginning no end … Bugger me, that sounds heavy and fun! But have no fear my friends, my song relates to a beautiful woman and lover. And it's my great pleasure to play a track in progress - an unheard song I was writing with the great Wang Chung man Jack Hues. I was watching the Beatles, “Get Back” documentary recently (again), and was fascinated at how Paul McCartney conjured up the song, “Get Back”, from nowhere; It made me remember a track I was writing with Jack - how we were creating it ‘live' and organically on the spot. It's called “Big Cathedral” and it's a great track we never finished; I'll play you it's very birth, warts and all. It's a great illustration of how inspiration hits as you jam - improvise - perform. My motivational talk this month is about just that, ‘Motivation'! What motivated me to be a songwriter? What drove me on, what inspired me to dig deep and to make my dream materialize; what made me never give in when disappointment reigned - what was the essence of my desire. I think a few of you budding song crafters out there might find this section of the show a touch interesting. Scurrying around the dark song archives, I found a terrific demo I wrote and recorded with the mighty Clif Magness, a track eventually recorded by Eric Martin for a movie soundtrack. It's hard to believe it's an 8 track analog demo - such is Clif's magnificent production values and lead singing. Sometimes the demo beats the master! And amongst other ditties from my demo song vaults, I'll play a brand new song I've just finished for a forthcoming solo album I'm preparing. I'm very proud of this new piece - it has a personal psychological spirit about it ... I hope you like it. It's time for you to become an “OwlHead” again. Settle back - enjoy the show. Martin

The process of recording music in 2023 has changed drastically to what it was in the latter half of the 20th century.....sort of. Sure, musicians can go in to a recording studio with an engineer and record in a way not dissimilar to the days of old. However, as technology changed inside professional studios, it changed for musicians who wanted to get a great sound in their bedroom. Many studios couldn't compete and only their legacy remains in our record collections. ....yet, EMI Studios at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, London endures. It has even been declared a national treasure. Welcome to episode 168 of Love That Album. Music fans have been treated to stories about many of the great studios in popular music history – Sun, Nashville RCA Studio B, Ardent Studios.....but arguably, the most famous is Abbey Road (as it is now called). Music journalist and broadcaster David Hepworth has written an excellent book, “Abbey Road: The Inside Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studio”. While the most casual music fan may only be aware of its Beatles connection (not least for the zebra crossing in front of it), the studio had an incredible history both before, during and after the Fabs reign. It may be one of the few big studios left. David joins me to talk about his research into the book and to tell some stories about the incredible musicians who recorded there and the technical innovation that took place there.....and to be honest (as Frank Santopadre would say), we only scratched the surface. My gratitude to David for speaking with me about a fascinating piece of modern music history. What else besides Abbey Road have Richard Tauber, Mrs Mills and Noel Gallagher in common? Bugger all I'd suggest. You can pick up “Abbey Road: The Inside Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studio” at all good bookshops, and online at the usual places that sell books. Check out the superb podcast David and Mark Ellen co-host, Word In Your Ear. Pretend your having a pint at the pub discussing music, and that's this show. Download this episode of LTA from your podcast app of choice. The wider back catalogue of episodes can also be found at http://lovethatalbumpodcast.blogspot.com Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Podcast network. Go to http://pantheonpodcasts.com to check out all their great shows. You can send me feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum Proudly Pantheon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices