#g: coral island

[myz-wykkyd]

Used my limited graphic design skills to make a chart of all the characters Rosalie has romanced in (almost) every farming sim I've played with her. Lol I'd always wanted to do something like this and I'm pretty happy with the result.

I made a free to use template of it on the right if anyone else wants to show off who they romanced. Feel free to decorate/doo what you like with it- just link back here if you use it so other people can find it o/

Brainrot Below<3

Now, though many of these games involved premade mcs- I've played as some variation of Rosalie in games for as long as I could remember.

I noticed there's a trend that popped up in her choices that I think is as interesting as it is amusing. Ofc, most of these choices were just my personal favorite bachelors of that game, but they were still used to devlop her, and I hadn't realized how much she leaned towards certain professions, personalities, ect. I've concluded my girl loves a hardworking boy whose brooding but sweet- or a golden retriever Marlin: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life was my first Farming Sim. I didn't get to play the female version until much later in life. So my choice of who'd I/Rosalie married had been pretty decided lonnng before I finally got to play it. But honestly even though I like Marlin, he's kind of the default choice because I didn't care for Rock and Gustafa- and Rosalie wouldn't either. I think if I had ever gotten to play HMDS:Cute I might have liked him more- or she would have married Griffin-

Blue | Harvest Moon: Magical Melody / Friends of Mineral Town: Loved Grey/Blue. (Let's face it their pretty much the same character). Upset the remake took away his hat. Little off topic, but even though character customization wouldn't be a thing in these games for years- I'd used to imagine my character had pink hair like Popuri LOL

Vaughn | Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands: Vaughn was the first time I ever was head over heels for a character in one of these games- I just adored everything about him and I don't think it's hard to see why. Once she got to know him better, Rosalie def would have been hella smitten for this cowboy- (Also Vaughn walked so Logan could run-)

Owen | Harvest Moon Animal Parade: So Owen is an unexpected deviation. Most of these choices are also my favorites, but when I first played through HM:AP Gil was actually my favorite bachelor. I could have made him and Rosalie work, but it just didn't feel right. So after looking them all over I think she def would have preferred Owen

Dylas | Rune Factory 4: One of my favorite games from the genre- and I think the cast of romanceable characters was STACKED. Dylas was my favorite because he was seriously SO damned cute in all his events 🥰 Also think it's kinda funny he's a horse guy and Rosalie has a lot of horse motifs herself-

Alex | Stardew Valley: REALLY unpopular opinion incoming! I've put over 500+ hrs into SV 😭 but in all that time, I've just never clicked with any of the characters. Which really sucks because this is the first game I ever got to play as Rosalie. Alex and Sam were my favs, but I think Rosalie would lean more towards Alex.

Logan | My Time At Sandrock: Logan 😍💖🥰Just, guh- I LOVE everything about him and MTAS so damn much. Especially because the hyper fixation I had with this game/character was what led me to finalize Rosalie's design/character at long last. I developed so much content for him and Rosalie I never got to share 😭hope I can someday!

Mark | Coral Island: God I love big men who love animals- and Rosalie does too. 💦🥰 Honestly, even though he started out as one of my favorites (later to be replaced by Shark man hoo hoo haw), I wished more of his heart events focused on his relationship with the player instead of the dog. It was really cute at first but like 6 of the 8 cutscenes were about it and most of the time he never even interacted with your character. Was disappointing ngl.

Nokk | Roots of Pacha: Now- Nokk is not currently a romanceable character, but I'm hoping the future update will add him to the roster. 🫠💔Cause this is another case where I LOVE the game to pieces but none of the characters speak to me- aside from the one I can't have- Hayden: Fields of Mistria: and last but not least- Hayden. He just completely encapsulates so much of what Rosalie finds attractive, it's a little funny. I'm waiting until the game is finished to continue playing and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.

The following will include some honorable mentions that I didn't include because I didn't have anymore room on my template/they weren't a farming sim/ect.

First up! Nathaniel from Sunhaven!<3 Feel like this responsible captain of the guard would work well with Rosalie. Honestly, there weren't really any choices that felt right for her, but for once in many years my main playthrough of the game ended up being with a different character and I had someone pre-picked out for her. So there lots of great choices, just none that suit Rosalie well.

[nocticulas]

pics that are just funnier side by side

[rrrrinmaru]

rin's side stories: 01 - where rafayel debriefs the flammula

wc: 1.2k rating: G brief: after rafayel's first meeting with mc, he decides to debrief someone he can trust. someone who can't spill his secrets to anyone who can repeat them to mc. notes: gender neutral!mc, fluff, comedy, canon-compliant

“I was rather suave, wasn’t I?”

Silence answers him. The man doesn’t seem deterred—he flips over on his couch, back lying flat on the sofa as one leg crooks at the knee and dangles off the edge. 

“See, you might not have gotten a good view of the scene, but I appeared like a knight in shining armor, okay? Exactly like all those fairytales. Picture this, the setting sun, a golden glow sinking over the city like a blanket. The light dancing off the water surface, making everything look iridescent and magical. The soft splashes of you guys, adding to the ambience of the place. It’s quiet. It’s picturesque. Am I painting a good picture for you?”

The red flammula circles around its massive tank. The tank is perched on the reinforced glass table, large enough that it practically takes up all the space. There are small underwater plants swaying with the ripples sent up by the portable water filter attached to the side of the tank. Sand and gravel sit at the bottom, with a few coral stones tossed in to add color to the place. 

Inside, the flammula spits out a string of bubbles.

“You don’t get it. So there they were, helpless and shaking, like a seal pup in front of a great white. The setting sun set their hair alight, awash with that orange hue—I really need to paint this before I forget it—and they were just standing there. Their eyes darted around, begging for help, and there I was! Right in their line of sight; tall, handsome, elegant. Offering a comment about your tragic lifespans on land so they know I’m intelligent.”

The flammula hides behind a particularly big rock. On the couch, the figure splutters, sitting upright. 

“Dropping an information snippet about the lifespan of aquatic creatures is not boring. It caught their attention. And then I took the net from their loose grip, emboldened by the hopeful gaze in their eyes, and swooped you up in one quick snap of my wrist. Really, you need to be better at running away from nets in the water. Is this how you got caught the first time?”

A long string of bubbles. The flammula swims out just to brush its underbelly against the sand before swimming back up to where the plants are swaying with the ripples. 

“After catching you, I proceeded to tell her about your historic legend—”

The flammula winds itself around a long, dark green plant. It flops over, the plant wrapped around it, and pretends to go still.

A hand reaches over, one knuckle knocking in irritation at the side of the tank, right next to where the flammula is.

“A little respect would be deserved,” Rafayel huffs, throwing his head to the side. “I didn’t have to save you, you know. I could have let you live up to your exceedingly short lifespan with the rest of your brethren in that tiny pool, at the mercy of small land children with sticky fingers and unwashed hands.”

The flammula revives long enough to flap a fin at Rafayel and breathe out bubbles before it returns to playing dead. 

Rafayel rolls his eyes. “Anyway, they then told me that Hat Island was closed off because of Wanderer sightings. Not that it would have stopped me, if I had really wanted to go, but—hey! This means they were concerned about me, weren’t they?”

The flammula doesn’t respond. 

“I mean, I picked a random pamphlet out of that booth near the place just so I had something to do with my hands, but what a stroke of luck!”

Rafayel dips a hand in the water, far enough to gently poke the flammula with the tip of his index finger. “Look alive, comrade. I’m not done here.”

The flammula twists its body, slapping Rafayel’s index finger with its tail. 

“They didn’t say it just because I’m a civilian and they were doing their job,” Rafayel shoots back, sounding miffed. “Well, whatever. Let’s move past that to the next important installation of our interaction, wherein I, very handsomely, popped you into the small container they were holding on to.”

A flurry of bubbles rise in the tank. The flammula seems to have a lot to say, reviving once more just to swim accusingly around Rafayel’s hand and bump angrily into his open palm. 

“You were not going to die from air exposure. I barely held you out for less than a minute. I wasn’t going to just let you die like that. And you are really detracting from my entire experience, here. Regardless, after you were finally allowed to breathe again, they told me to go to Whitesand Bay. How cute,” Rafayel remarks, a smile pulling at his lips.

The flammula scrapes its body against Rafayel’s fingers, nipping at his fingertips. 

“This level of aggression is seriously uncalled for,” Rafayel complains, poking the flammula’s tail. “I’m just trying to tell you about our meeting, and you’re acting like I tossed you into the middle of an oil spill. They told me to go visit Whitesand Bay, you know?”

He points outside the windows lining his wall, tempered glass from ceiling to floor, gesturing at the miles of paper white sand that stretch out before him. “How cute. Maybe I should invite them to walk with me at Whitesand Bay sometime.”

The flammula swings its tail, hitting Rafayel’s fingers. Once it gets the last word in, the flammula swims in a harried manner to the stone cave attached to the side of the tank, clearly ready to hide in there until Rafayel stops bothering it.

“You are no fun,” he tells the flammula, fishing his hand out of the water. There’s a brief flash and fire creeps up his skin, starting from his fingertips and crawling up his palms, the back of his hand, his wrist, his forearm—the flames lick at his elbow, and Rafayel shakes his arm out. 

Just as quickly as it appeared, the flames disappear. Rafayel slips his dry palm into his pocket and stands, turning to eye the view from his window. The translucent curtains flutter in the seabreeze, carried in through one of the open windows, and Rafayel tilts his head back, slowly breathing it in. 

“I’ll pack the rest of them and send them to where they should be,” he says, eyes closed, face turned to soak in the moonlight filtering through the glass. “I’ll send you along with them, I suppose.”

Bubbles escape the stone cave. 

“I’m not in the business of raising dependents,” Rafayel comments, looking back to eye the tank speculatively. “If I do keep you around, historic part of Lemurian culture or not, know that I may or may not end up using you as a midnight snack if I’m feeling peckish.” 

No response. Another round of playing dead. 

“How interesting,” he murmurs, bending down to tap the glass. “Well, if I ever come up with a use for you, I’ll let you know. Maybe I can trick them into thinking we’re co-parenting you. Heaven knows you need to learn some manners, disobedient punk.”

The thought makes Rafayel smile. They wouldn’t get it; they would likely be confused at the concept of teaching a fish manners, but it’s as good an excuse as any to get them into Rafayel’s home.

==

© rrrrinmaru 2024 | no unauthorised publication or reproduction allowed

[popcornforone]

The Bartender & The Billionaire

A Javi Gutierrez Fan Fic

Well it’s been a while. The Javi G chapters will continue but this is a one off & I just had an idea & went with it but it just grew & grew & i love Javi G even more than I thought I could now.

Synopsis:- You run the local bar, Javi is a member of the Ocean Club where the rich party, but one night he decides to see what is going on in this bar over the road.

Word Count:-8500

Warnings:- DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! strangers to lovers,sugar daddy reference, unprotected PIV sex, sex in semi public, oral sex both, cum tasting, flirting, alcohol, swearing, teasing, nipple play, cum play, 69, some bitchy rude girls, exploting mentioned too & briefly money for sexual favours.

Thanks as always for the read peoples, I hope you all enjoy this. All feedback is welcome.

It’s the same faces every year & every night in your bar in Ibiza. You love it. Your regulars know what to expect & you know that they will keep coming back. They are mostly in there later 20s early 30s they want just drinks & a small dance floor. No mucked about with cocktails just the classics, decent beer & for it to not break the bank. It’s a long way away from the ocean club over the road. That’s for the other end of the spectrum. The influencers who fill up your TikTok feeds no matter how many times you try to get them off it, the trust fund bargain, the rich, the famous & the in people. They probably look down at your 2for1 beer night on Tuesdays, which is everyone’s quiet night on the island, if you sing karaoke without getting kicked off. It’s fun. You can’t sing but you always start. You might not have the world’s best DJ but at least your bar is real & is full of real people, be them tourists or locals. You know your place so do your staff & so does the bar, & everyone loves it.

It’s a Tuesday night right now. You look at your patrons & wonder who’s gonna be brave enough to get up & have a sing. You wait til it’s 11pm before you hop onto the small stage with the microphone & speak to the people in & around your bar.

“Ibiza can you hear me?” You screech & people in your bar cheer & a few people pop their heads into the bar to see what the commotion is . “It’s Tuesday & you know what that means, if you can do karaoke tonight without stumbling or getting embarrassed you get 2for1 on your beers tonight” wooohooo the place goes, a few more people step into the bar who are intrigued. “So as tradition I start, because let’s be honest it sets the bar very very low” everyone laughs & you look at the people who have just joined & are having a look”trust me newbies you might want your ear plugs” you know what your singing tonight & you giggle. “Right let’s do this” the track starts & your murder How Do I Live by Leanne Rhymes.

“See told you I was bad, who wants to do better” the room is laughing at your high notes & you step away from the stage & Mike the Pike(because he gets lots of fresh fish for the island) comes up next & sings Sweet Caroline which gets the bar going, as you head behind it. Your 3 staff on the bar are doing a good job & you tell your deputy manager to go have a 15min break, so you can serve some of the new people who have come in to see what’s going on.

After about an hour you see this guy with wavey brown hair come & sit up next to the bar. Leaning in a burgundy & striped shirt, coral swim shorts underneath, just casually admiring the singers. He’s got a rather magnificent side profile which is making you have a longer glance than you usually would. He’s rather handsome & very much your type, but you’ve never seen him before. He also only has a lemonade in his hand. So you decide to go & make conversation with this mysterious man.

“Sir, are you having a nice evening?” You ask as you come to stack glasses near him. He turns instantly & a little dimple appears as he smiles back at you. He has the most beautiful big caramel eyes you’ve ever seen, he’s got stubble & a moustache & a smile that you are sure would get any man or woman into bed with him. You know you’re probably blushing in front of him but he doesn’t seem phased. His eyes glance over your short bleach blonde bob with your mousey roots showing through, your low cut blue vest top & that orchid tattoo on your shoulder, he also likes what he sees.

“Yes I am, are you?” He seems genuine in his question.

“As long as people come in & have a good time then I am good.” You reply. “I’ve not seen you in here before, are you a karaoke king?” You smile.

“Ha quite the opposite, I’ve just always been on the other side of the road, but this place always has intrigued me so I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about” you turn to go get more glasses but roll your eyes, of course this man is from money & from the other side of the road. Your mum always said men wearing yellow or coral trousers or shorts were always rich. He’s just another one of those. But he seems nice & you fancy him so you’re gonna stop your presumed opinions of him & give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Oooh you frequent the Ocean Club, is it all it’s hyped up to be?” You say as you turn your head around before picking up the glasses.

“Who in Ibiza uses the word frequent?” He says & laughs. You almost drop the glasses.

“Fair point, clearly my literature degree has decided to show”

“Educated as well, hmm” he seems intrigued as you turn back to face him your smile is genuine. “Then how did you end up here, in Ibiza”

“It’s my Uncles bar, I come out here & run it for the summer then go back home & temp until May & then do it again. He can cope in the winter but knows he needs someone with a more youthful perspective to do the real season”

“You temp?”

“In administration yes”

“& yet you can take 4 months off to be here.” The man looks on in wonder.

“I’m always very clear that I spend my summers here & that it will only ever be an 8 month job. I know a day will come when I will need a stable income but until then, I’m here to enjoy the sun & night life”

“Impressive” he says. Both your eyes linger in each other for a small amount of time, both of you suddenly blush & snap out of it when you realise what happening.

“So sir what…”

“Javi” he interrupts. “My name is Javi” he then calls you by your name as it’s on your managers badge just above your left breast & you smile.

“So Javi what do you do then?”

“I’m a screen writer, I’m here in Ibiza for ideas for a holiday romance film”

“Ha” you laugh & he seems shocked. “Sorry, cute idea, but unless it’s a one night stand that then gets awkward no one’s going to believe that, & you won’t find any of those story’s at the ocean club”

“Do you always speak your mind?” He questions

“Yes, better to be blunt & honest than lead people on” you say “I am impressed though, that is a good career”

“Thanks” he says. Javi is running his long fingers around the top of his now empty lemonade glass.

“Can I get you a drink?” You ask.

“Actually I’d like a go at the karaoke”

“Really?” You say a bit to loudly & abruptly. “I’m not sure we’d have anything that you’d want to sing”

“Why because I’m from the ocean club?” He says raising an eyebrow at you & then he pours. Those lips are so plump, his puppy dog eyes glisten. He holds his chin with his large hand as he leans on the bar, mockingly. Yep you’ve fallen for Javi now.

“Maybe” you wink.

“Thought you spoke your mind”

“I do, so I’m gonna do you a deal.” You lean in & whisper against his ear, you don’t notice the goosebumps on his arms from your soft voice. “If you can find a song you like which isn’t boring you can have drinks here for free tonight. If you manage to last without laughing or falling apart or walking off the stage, you can have free drinks here for the next month” Javi raises an eyebrow at this, he then moves the strands of hair from your own ear & whispers back.

“& what do you get if I do walk off the stage or find a decent song?” He says, his voice is smouldering like him, so you reply.

“Your phone number”

Javi then gets his phone out & registers to go up & sing on your bars app. 20mins later he’s up on the stage & he selects a song. True to your promise he has picked a banger. Starships by Nicki Minaj. You stand there & watch this man from money have the guts to come up on the stage in your regular little slightly dodgy bar & sing a female rap song. He does laugh as he fails on the rap at points but he gets some crowd participation as well at points & the place cheers when he’s finished. You haven’t served anyone in the whole 4mins he’s been on stage. The man has charisma & despite mucking up & laughing did own it. He casually walks back up to you & smiles.

“Well?”

“Pretty good Javi” you smirk. You then freeze as he strokes your face affectionately. A simple touch electrifies your soul “so I…” but then you notice two guys getting in a fight. “Give me 5mins Javi” & you rush off to deal with the fight. It takes a long time & the police to sort the scuffle out & when your done Javi is long gone. Your face drops for all of 10 seconds before you return to flirting with the next guy at the bar to get him to buy more than just a round. It’s your job after all.

The next afternoon as you set up for the Wednesday night, a man in a linen suit walks up to you in the bar, asking you your name

“Yes that’s me”

“This is from Mr Gutierrez”Says the man & he hands you a large envelope. You’re worried it’s something legal that you might have to deal with. Maybe it was one of the men in the brawl from last night.

“I’m sorry who?”

“Mr Javi Gutierrez, he came to your bar last night, this is a thank you for a wonderful night” you take the envelope & look at it suspiciously. “Also please open this out of sight” then man then leaves. This all seems very suspect to you. You make an excuse & head to the break room & open the envelope. Inside is a pass for the ocean club to be cashed in for one day by this summer & a cheque for €10000. There is a note included with it.

Thank you for just treating me like a normal customer, as promised for laughing through the song is my phone number, let me know which night you have off so I can show you my world, the cheque can be for you or the bar, it’s your choice. Javi x

You blush looking at it. 10k would change your life, you could be pickier about temping next year during your return home. You smile & stash the envelope in your bag, & then check the rota & message Javi later that day.

The next Thursday is when you have the afternoon evening & Friday off from the bar. You uncle basically forced you to go & take the time off to spend with this man. He was very happy you have this opportunity. You stand there in your apartment you rent with a friend who works as a rep for Pacha & he helps you pick out your outfit.

“Girl I can’t believe you get to go to Ocean Club, you made it girl” says Justin.

“It’s just a one off Justin”

“But still you can slay, mix with the rich & famous & leave that Chav behind.”

“He’s not a chav, he’s called Javi” you tut.

“Oooh defensive of him already I see, damn how tight were his shorts”

“JUSTIN!”

“What!? I see a man I look at his cock & work out if he’s worth blowing or not”

You laugh at this response.

“That’s why you always have a sore throat”

“Girl how often have you had sex since you got here on the 2nd of June maybe 3 guys. & it’s now the middle of July. Go get your pussy stuffed, by some rich guy. I mean for €100 I’d fuck a tramp”

“I don’t want to hear any more Justin”

“No because you hear it don’t you” he jokes back & then looks at your outfit. “Slay girl, that dress is killer” you do a little twirl in your blue & white maxi dress.

“Thanks babe, it’s the most stylish thing I own”

“Have you got condoms & mace?”

“Justin!”

“You’ve got condoms though”

“Obviously & I’m birth control”

“Just want to make sure my best girl is alright”

“Justin if it’s not I’ll shout”

“Sure that won’t just be you in your bed shouting CHAV CHAV FUCK ME CHAV”

“It’s Javi”

“Just saying don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”

“Which isn’t much” you & Justin both laugh before you hug him & you head off to the ocean club to see how the other half live.

You are escorted to a sun lounger at 4pm, you have arrived before Javi & you slip off your sun dress & start to top up your lotion. Your not a size zero, but your not fat, & your tan is alright. You sit there in your sunglasses that cost €5 from a guy who sell them on the beach & in your binkin. It’s blue so it matches your dress. It’s not long before a waiter comes over with champagne.

“Ooh no thanks I can’t afford…”

“Champagne by the glass is complimentary for all visitors & member of the ocean club” they say & you take the glass.

“Erm then thank you, do I need to” but your bracelet is scanned.

“Tips are worked out on the braclet pass you have, the bill for your visit will be sent to the person at the end of their stay with us this season & by the looks of it…” they look at what appears on their screen they scanned it with. “Oooh your Mr Gutierrez guest?”

“Yes?”

“Mama im so sorry for being so rude” this waiter clearly now looks embarrassed.

“You weren’t, don’t worry about it” I check their name badge “Lucas, there’s no need to apologise at all, your exemplary” this makes Lucas smile that you bothered to look at his name.

“Thank you miss, if you need anything please just wave or buzz that button on the table” he then scurries off. It’s only after he’s scurried off that you realise how other people on loungers are treating waiters. They are all rude & demanding & upset if their drink isn’t toped up straight away. But your eyes are suddenly drawn to your left. You lower your glasses to look at the specimen of a man walking towards you. He’s well built & broad. He’s not got a 6 pack, but he has enough buttons undone of his floaty white shirt for you too see he takes care of himself a bit. You try not to look at the bulge in his blue swim shorts, but you can’t help but look. You then look at that tanned face, covered by sunglasses that would cost more than you could imagine. The world has stopped as Javi walks towards you. He’s too perfect.

“Enjoying the view?” He asks with a flirty smile & sits on the edge of lounger next to you before taking your hand to kiss it. You turn as red as a lobster & suddenly remember there are other people here. Eyes are watching you around the pool area.

“Sorry didn’t mean to gasp, but you are rather impressive mr Gutierrez”

“It’s Javi please” he says your name as he strokes across your knuckles. “So how long have you been here?” He says as he unbuttons his shirt buttons.

“About 30mins I like to get to places bang on time”

“So do I but when Nic called I had to answer”

“Oooh are they your partner ” you say withdrawing your hand to pick up your champagne.

“Oooh sorry, I meant Nicholas Cage” you almost spit out & choke on your fizz.

“What!” Javi laughs at how flustered you are as you try to calm down.

“Yea that new film he was in about a hostage, I wrote that”

“Fuck” you say & Javi looks at you in shock, maybe you didn’t like the film but he can soon see from the smile on your face it’s in awe. “You wrote that movie, The Cliffs Edge? It’s the summer blockbuster from last year, congratulations” Javi looks rather embarrassed at your praise, but you like the little pink cheeks he has rising to the surface.

“Thank you”

“I mean…” you’re a film nerd, so naturally you start talking about the film in so much detail, getting really animated about certain parts & Javi answers all of your questions. He’s impressed with your film knowledge, he’s found a kindred spirit in you. Someone he could call a friend at the minimum.

“You know your movies?”

“Yes it’s the only problem being here, we miss half the films of the summer, so then I play catch up for the rest of the year”

“What’s your favourite movie then? I know it’s a…”

“Reservoir Dogs” you reply before he even has a chance to say it’s a hard choice.

“Really” he smirks “I never had you down for that”

“I like the intensity & the drama & not knowing who to trust.” The two of you then talk your favourites for a while & both realise you share a film in the top 5.

“It really does make you cry Paddington 2” you say.

“Yes I always feel completely & at peace at the end”

“& then Hugh Grants Dance”

“Oooh don’t make me get up, I’ll do the whole routine” you both laugh as you sit there humming the tune to listen to the rain on the roof. His smile is infectious, it makes you smile more, which make his eyes soften. They are so deep & beautiful. There’s a small pause like the other day. A frozen moment of you both looking at each other no one else is around.

“Hiya Jav” someone shouts & your both snapped out of your trance & Javi gets up & hugs these two girls. Both fake Barbie blondes, skinny, full of Botox. One is in a red binkin which doesn’t leave much to the imagination & the other is just in her bottoms. Her large over the top fake boobs bouncing about as she hugs him while scowling at you.

“Ladies how are you?”

“You coming to the party tonight?” The one in red says.

“To Spaced? no, I’m hanging here today” Javi then introduces you.

“Oooh is she staff that gets to come & chill today Javi?” The topless one says as she dismisses you.

“No she runs the bar over the road”

“Urgh not that tacky one with regulars, I’ve heard there cockroaches in the bins” your trying to be nice & so you offer your hand.

“Well I wouldn’t know about cockroaches but we have some lively characters, maybe you should check it out one night”

“Urgh no thanks, would dream to be seen in there, what did she do Jav, did she give you a crap blow job behind the bar & now your taking pitty on her? What’s a decent night with an actual real woman worth around here€10k bet she took €100?” They both cackle & laugh at their insult of you. You lean back & sip your champagne. You then suddenly realise Javi did give your €10k. Your face drops. Is he expecting something in return for the money?

“Sorry I need the bathroom, it was nice to meet you ladies” you once again offer a nice hand & friends smile both scoff & you rush off to go cry in the toilet for a few minutes while Javi amuses the fake blondes.

On your way back to the pool, after walking past a lot of people tutting at you, you bump into Lucas. You’re doing your best to brush off these people looking at you judging,but even with your thick skin attitude it’s starting to still a little.

“Ooh sorry” you both say, he can see you looking down.

“Why so sad miss?” He asks.

“Do you ever get upset that a lot of people here are rude & judge?” You ask. You didn’t realise he had seen what was going on by the pool.

“Sometime, but the tips are worth it, & we can ban some of those who get too personal, especially with guests of full time memebers, when they are here as influences for free” he winks. “Don’t worry I’ve made a note, they won’t be allowed back for the next week, we can’t kick them out but they will always now have a mark by their name to warn others”

“Lucas you didn’t have to do that…” you say & he shakes his head.

“We’re both in the trade, we both deal with bad clients, I know you know” you smile back at him. “Plus mr Gutierrez pretty much ushered them along after you walked off”

“Did he?”

“Yes, they just want his money, they are those kind of girls”

“I guessed that, hang on what makes you think I’m not just here for his money?” You question.

“In the 3 years I’ve been here, Mr Gutierrez hardly ever talks to anyone or brings a guest, but watching the two of you speak earlier you have a connection”

“Really” you blush your face now completely glowing. “I just like the man I wouldn’t care if he had €5 or €50min”

“He’s got more than that”

“What,..” but then you feel a tap on your shoulder.

“You okay beautiful?” A Javi rests his head on your shoulder, his smell intoxicating.

“I am now, thanks Lucas”

“Miss… Mr Gutierrez” Lucas smiles & leaves you in Javis strong capeable hands & he slowly walks you back to the pool side.

“Sorry about the girls, they won’t bother us again” he says as he takes his shirt off & puts in on the lounger & then takes your hand to walk you to the edge of the pool.

“It’s okay Javi, I know I said I speak my mind, but that was just rude, the way they treated me, I can cope with a wolf whistle when I wear my shirt shorts at the bar on a Saturday night but here, I just felt judged”

“Hey hey” he says as you both sit down on the edge of the pool & dip your feet in. The water is just right “no one should wolf whistle you”

“You’ve not seen how short the shorts are”

“Fair point,” he says as a waiter who isnt Lucas brings you both over a cosmopolitan to drink. “But you have respect,personality, manners, money can’t buy you that, & out of all these “rich people” your the one who’s making an impact on my day for the first time in a while” he uses air quotes.

“So why do you come here Javi?” You ask bluntly. “You clearly have the cash, sorry if that’s too much, but why come here, with all the fakes & phoneys”

“Security, no one here is going to steal my Rolex, no one here is going to hold me to ransom. It never used to be like this here but since the pandemic & TikTok & people trying to be famous it’s become elitist, & a show off spot, people come for their 15mins of fame then bugger off” You sense the frustration in his voice.

“You know you don’t have to come to Ibiza?” You say in a friendly tone, “but I’m glad you are here”

“I like coming here, I used to as a kid & then in my early adult hood & now as someone who’s now in my 40s it’s a nice place to relax, I know I could go else where but if something went wrong at home I could be back in a less than an hour”

“You live here”

“No I live in Majorca”

“So you leave one Balearic island for the other?” You seem baffled by this.

“I do, home pressures & the community mean no chill time even at home” he says as he take a big sip of his drink. “Now that’s a good cosmo” you sip yours too. it’s a frozen one & sends a chill down your body as you adjust. Javi sees this. “Are you okay” he says & then his empty hand strokes the arm nearest which then fill with even more goosebumps.

“Yes, yes I am, are you” you raise your eyes above your sunglasses & Javi takes his own off.

“I am now I’ve seen those beautiful eyes” his hand has stopped & is now holding yours. Fingers interlocked. You don’t look down you keep your eyes on his big brown eyes & that magnificently handsome face & that thick mop of hair.

“Javi…” it’s a whisper as you both fully face each other. He lifts your hand & kisses the back of it.

“I won’t do anything unless you don’t want to” he says clearly a gentleman.

“Same back at you Javi, you’re rather hard to resist” you blush as you remove your own sunglasses.

“So are you” you lift your head at that compliment & look at those pouting lips. You both just naturally lean into the gap between you. His lips latch onto your own for a small peck of about 5 seconds before he pulls away leaving you hanging eyes still closed.

“Mmmm” you softly moan. “You are a gentleman, most men would have taken full advantage of that moment”

“Invitation accepted” his lips reconnect to yours & a 10 second kiss followed by a break again is then met with one so passionate that your heart might burst out of the binkin you are wearing. He has a hand on your hip, while the other cups your face. His tongue grazes your lips & you let him in straight away, you want him to experience all of your own delights. Your own hands are firmly on his chest. It’s not photo shopped & the most worked out chest at the ocean club, hence he wore a shirt to start, but you are running your hand across it & his little tummy & you don’t want to be anywhere else ever again. Here with your feet dipping in the water kissing the most charming & handsome man you have met in your life. You ruffle his wavey hair too.

“Javi” you moan as you both eventually break the embrace. You softly laugh & so does he as his moves a piece of hair from your face.

“I wanted to do that from the moment I walked past the bar the night before the karaoke”

“Really” your insides jump excitedly. He clearly has had a crush on you from a far. “I’m flattered”

“& now I know you, & our interest match, I see no reason for me to not ask you out on a proper date, just you & me & no ocean club, we can just be us”

“You sure, I mean there’s 100s of…” he stops you from talking with a quick smooch that takes you off guard.

“Forget anyone else, your the girl I want to get to know”

“& what if…ahhh” splash. As you went to reply to him Javi put his arm around your shoulders, & dragged you off your seat & into the pool bellow. You had no idea you were sitting near the deep end. You go to swim back up but Javi holds you under the water & helps you wrap your legs around him, before you make out until you run out of air. You come out of the water like Romeo & Juliet do in the Baz lurman film, sopping but still making out, splashing anyone who walked by but neither of you care. You rest your head on his chest & pant.

“No one’s ever kissed me like that before Javi”

“& I’ve never attempted that with anyone” he kisses your forehead. It’s only now as you hold him that you realise several people & pointing staring & gossiping. This makes you feel uncomfortable & you suddenly remember you are at the ocean club & you don’t really belong. You wrap your arms around Javi even more for protection.

“Everyone’s looking Javi” you say shyly realising your place in this world.

“Let them look”

“No Javi” you eventually break saftey away from him. “Coming here is a mistake, thank you though it’s been nice”

“But you only just got here” you swim back to the edge of the pool.

“It’s not you Javi it’s me” you leap out of the pool & hear some of the girls snigger at you. You hear one of the blondes from earlier say whale as you grab your stuff. You dry your feet so you can go to the changing room & scuttle past everyone ashamed. You then suddenly realise you have no idea where you are going & crumple on the floor by a flight of stairs. A fast pace of sticky feet find there way to you & big strong arms pick you up.

“Maybe next time don’t run off without an exit strategy” Javi whispers & takes you into a private locker room. He hits the buzzer so someone can go fetch your belongings which will appear in the room in 5mins time.

Your arms once again wrap around Jacks neck as you shiver, from shame & embarrassment but also from his soothing touch as he strokes your back.

“Sorry Javi” you whimper. “I just don’t understand what you would see in a girl like me, I’m not from money, I barely have a cent to my name, I’m just little old simple boring me, who has a gay flat mate & works at her uncles bar”

“Everything you have said right there, is more interesting than any of those influences ever wish to be. They may snigger but this time next year they might not have daddy’s trust fund & might have to work for their summer” he says calmly which cheers you up. “& I don’t care that your broke, I can look after you”

“That’s the other thing Javi, I don’t want you to think I’m just with you or being nice to you for your money, I still want my life.”

“Then you shall still… wait…” he smirks”are you saying you want me, you want to be with me” you eyelashes flutter as your chest heaves in time with his. This is only the second day you have known Javi & yet your mind is contemplating what a life in Majorca would be like. How it would feel to be Javis girlfriend, even though you just ran out in him you did it because you are falling for him & didn’t want to get hurt any more than you already have by those sniggering fake blondes.

You nod “I think I do, at least to spend the summer as yours & no one else’s” you look up at this man & your lips meet. No longer waiting for permission anymore. It feels like he’s an old flame who you’ve not kissed for ages despite only having your first kiss only 30mins ago. You moan as you feel one of his wandering hands Grace the material of your still damp bikini bottoms. His long fingers want to be inside there but you can tell from how tentative they are that he wants you to say yes before he has his fill. You know you’re going to be his & he will be yours until you have to get in that flight home.

“Javi” you moan & do similar to his crutch that he is doing to yours. You can feel his excitement build. “Will we get in trouble for this Javi?” He then takes your hand & slips it inside his swim shorts.

“If your quiet then no, & if we do I’ll pay them off” he smirks, before he drops to his knees your hand leaving his length which you had started to attend to & he pulls your bottoms down with his hands admiring your shaven mound. “Oooh baby” Javi says nothing else. Your legs spread a little & he licks over the top of your clit as you try to grip the wall & he slips two long thick fingers inside you.

“Fuck Javi” your hips move. His tongue gets to work. Those fingers are vigours as he adds a third, sloppy noises from your slick & their movements echoing around this private changing room. You give up on the wall plunging your hands into his mop of hair. “Oooh fuck fucking fuck” you whine your voice getting louder. The gasp you make as you cum on his fingers, reverberates around the room. Your face in a trance as pleasure spreads through your body. “Javi oooh fuck Javi” he eventually stands up & keeps a thumb on your clit as you breath is restored. His face glistening as he sucks on of his fingers that are still damp from his little treat, into your mouth.

“Well baby, I had to give you a short preview of what your going to get, it only seemed fair”

“Javi” you scream as he lifts you up & carrys you towards the shore of the beach. You’d spent the rest of the afternoon with Javi at the ocean club, in one of their private hot tubs out of view & for a discretional fee. You wanted to repay the compliment of Javis oral expertise. His penis was huge, but your mouth took it well. He even joked that this had been the quietest you had been since you’d met as his balls hit your chin. The way his eyes rolled back as he spilled down your throat, as your own streamed with tears, is an image you will never forget. You then went back to your apartment to get a change of clothes before you arrived at Javis Ibiza villa. It was decedent & for just somewhere he went an each summer was completely unnecessary but you didn’t care about that, you adored the man who owned it. Money was just a nice bonus.

You both had dressed up for dinner. Usually your Ibiza dressing up would be fancy dress but not with Javi. You wore an off the shoulder red dress, which hugged your curves & had even done your make up properly. Javi wore a dark green suit jacket & trousers & a charcoal shirt, & he took you to dinner. The best tapas place in the island. There you were just a couple, not the bar tender & the billionaire. You sat drank ate chatted flirted & kissed all night. You’re already not looking forward to be able to spend as much time with Javi even when you do get the odd day off, it won’t be enough. You were walking back to his villa on the sand hand in hand, when he scooped you up into his arms & ran to the shore. He stopped just before the edge laughing his head off as he smacks your bum & puts you back in your feet.

“Another day we can do that” Javi smile & kisses your cheek. “Wouldn’t want to ruin that stunning dress, you really have been stunning to look at all night, bewitching.”

“Stop it Javi” you playfully push him as the tide comes in over your feet, your only a few meters to go before you get to his villa. The night sky scattered with stars, the sound of partying happing a mile or so away filling the air, & yet the only thing you can think about are his lips & how good the next kiss will feel. “

“So”

“So” you both giggle.

“Would you like to stay the night?” Javi asks as he pulls you close his hand rest on your hip as you start to walk up to his place.

“Hmm… I’m not sure”

“What”

“So you don’t understand sarcasm?” He darts his eyes. “Javi, I’ll stay if you want me to stay, but if I do stay I’m not sure we will get much sleep” you both blush red, his hand has now moved, it’s going around in circles over your arse, sending shivers down your spine.

“That’s why siestas exist,” he smiles & then turns. His other hand also graces your bum, skating over the material of your dress. You both look deeply into each others eyes.”god your perfect” he says as you hand cups his face. As your lips meet for the most succulent kiss you drop your heels on the floor. You don’t care that you’ll never get the sand out, your hands are in his hair, your tongue teasing his, his facial hair rubbing against your sking. You can feel the material of your short red dress rising, his own wondering hands have found your skin. He has a handful of your bum, before you then take your own hand to his & put it underneath your thong.

“Take them off Javi” you whimper, before reengaging the kiss. The lace slowly trickles down your thighs & legs. He breaks the kiss & moves your feet so his can take them off before they get covered in sand. He looks at the sticky arousal inside the red lace.

“Does your underwear match?” He asks as he sniffs your thong & this empty hand has an index finger trail across your chest.

“No they don’t…”

“Oooh” his face looks a little disappointed.

“… Javi… they don’t because this dress doesn’t need a bra” your suddenly lifted up again by him & you wrap your legs around javis waist. His eyes now wide & excited.

“Then why the fuck are we out here” he says as he spins you around a few time as you passionately kiss him. “I’m taking you to bed” he puts your down grabs your shoes & your hand & then runs up to his villa with you.

“Will we even make it to the bedroom?”

“Let’s find out”

You do make it to the bedroom. Making out all the way up the stairs. This is the first time you realise Javi has staff even if you are already blinded by lust & passion for you sexy Spaniard . The front door was opened for you both, & locked behind. Someone tried to offer him a drink upon his return but could see he was tasting you, your lips quenching his thirst for now. Your shoes & thong dropped in the entrance hall as Javis hands went back to your arse, his jacket thrown from the stairs, his shoes kicked off before he was through his master bedroom door. Wearing an off the shoulder dress was the best idea you had ever had, his hands only needed to slightly move the zip at the top of your dress, before it fell from your body pooling at your feet. Instantly feeling two fingers plunge deeply into your cunt as he walked your back towards his kingsize bed, his other hand caressing your face, mouths still entangled. You undo the first two button of his shirt before he withdraws his long fingers, sucks them & then tugs the shirt off over his head as you hurry to undo his belt & fly, realising that as your hands opened them, that Javi had been commando all night. As he steps out of his trousers & you once again drop to your knees lapping your tongue around his hardened penis, you glimps a look at his perfect peachy arse in the mirror, clenched & looking so good. It’s a davine sight as he starts to groan as you tug on his balls.

“Baby stop I don’t wanna come yet” he pulls back his hips were already wanting to thrust further down your throat. He lifts you onto the bed & lifts your legs up towards your head, to the side. He can see exactly what waits for him. A clit desperate to be strummed, your sex dripping, your arse puckering. It’s like he’s at a buffet, a sexual buffet. He leans over you, your near the edge of the bet, & his penis swipes down over everything, the feel of it has you gripping your ankles. He leans into his bedside table & then his face drops? “Youre on birth control right?” You nod.

“I got tested last week for STDs tooo… ooooh fuck” you are busy talking about that but then he slips his penis inside you, the stretch of this magnificent girthy cock filling you up, he slowly goes, making it feel deeper than any man has gone before or is it just the position you are in. He pushes down hard, his balls hitting you, as your legs stay back for you to hold, your palms sweating even more as you already pant as he slowly moves back out & then does it again leaning all of his weight on top of you.

“God baby, so tight, so perfect, I’m gonna cum so quickly arghhhhh” his hand firmly grips your breast as he goes in again.

“Javi I’m in no rush, ooooh fuck.” His other hand is rubbing your clit now, ferociously, friction that if you were not shaved down there that could cause a Forrest fire. It quivers as you do. No man has ever, be it in Ibiza or anywhere, been this attentive. It’s like he somehow knows that when you pleasure yourself, it’s all about the pulses with your vibrator on your clit that makes you cum & clamp. He can feel you squeeze him each time he drags in & out of you.

“Fuck baby, oooh fuck yes” his rhythm is speeding up. You see his eyes dark with desire, he watches each time as he sinks all the way into you, the feel of your walls has him licking his lips, wondering how long he can last. “Best cunt ever baby, you take me so well”

“Javi, yess, oooooohhhh my my oooohhhh hmmmmmm” you can no longer say full sentences, as he starts hitting the spot, you can feel your own euphoria want to take over. “Baby bay oooh Javi more more”

“Fuck, oh Jesus” he growls. Your legs bent all the way back as he pounds you deeply, hips that have never moved faster, filling you up, making you breathless, watching as his thick hair starts to drip with sweat that runs down his neck & chest. Your own pelvis, rocking around him, feelings sexy, & magnificent as the tension, friction & pleasure builds ready to explode into a million diamonds.

“Javi yes yes yes I’m gonna cum, fuck fuck fuck fFGfFFfFUCK!!!!!” The last fuck comes out so high pitched as you release you inner pleasure. Your orgasm send Javi over the edge too.

“Fuck yes oooh baby girl” he fills you up, mixing his seed with yours. Wondering how he kept going for so long. You are bent in half & eyes still rolling on the back of your head when you feel his lips kiss you, still so soft, but now a more treasured kiss. You suddenly realise that this is your summer fling. The man who when you message him to say you are free will likely drop everything to come & satisfy your needs, because as you flicker you eye lashes open & softly smile moving that one random curl out of the way, the look he’s giving you without saying a word says the same thing. He’s still semi hard inside you as your hand rubs his face.

“Hello my sexy stranger”

“I don’t think I’m a stranger anymore” he whispers. He kisses you a few times more times on the lips before allowing your to move your legs before he withdrawals his cock, lies down next to you & then rolls you on top of him. His mouth sucking your nipples in seconds as you position yourself, gladly taking his cock inside you once more. Soft bounces down to his base moving slowly, taking him all in, anti clock wise motions you roll, he feels like he’s in your belly. He’s groping your arse cheeks as you eventually move faster no longer able to contain the slow sensual pace you both set to start with. You know Javi is still incontrol of this despite being on top. But as you sit up and his hands trail over your tummy as you caress his chest, you wonder how long this man really can last.

“Look at you, fucking sexy goddess, taking me so well, you know what you like”

“Oooh Javi yes, I do”

“Then be a good girl for me & cum quickly so I can lick all of your arousal away & I can them cum down your throat.” It sets you off. You’re soon slurping Javis cock, his own cum tasting salty as you 69. He laps always at all of your holes tutting. “We made a mess baby, I think we’re going to have to go again” before he slaps your arse firmly. You shimmy off him & it’s not long before you are back on your back as he’s back inside your pussy, making you both cum long into the night, louder than the parties going on in the distances.

11months later.

There you stand opening night of the bar for the season. Now the owner, you saved the money Javi had given you & offered to buy part of the bar off your uncle, who then practically said you could be full incharge & would make all the profits form it now. It’s been redecorated durring the off season, with new staff & with a new idea to keep the regulars happy but to bring in new people too. Justin smirks at you.

“To us”he says as he raises you a shot, the one you are both allowed a night.

“To us” you reply

“To us” says Lucas. The guy who had looked after you all of last summer at the ocean club when you had been there, when the season was over, you told him things were changing & you offered him a job, he is now the bars manager. “& it’s already been worth it”

“Yes it has, they had it coming” you’d been reading resumes for new staff & two of the girls you had turned down for jobs here this season, were the two girls at the ocean club who were judgemental & bitchy towards you last year, clearly being an influences doesn’t get you everywhere.

“& can I just say” Justin says once his shot is drunk “that it’s nice that I won’t have to hear you scream in pleasure in the shower now every other morning.”

“Justin!”

“What?! He clearly knew what he was doing, mr Chav”

“It’s..”

“Javi…” the seductive voice comes behind you, his hand grips your waist instantly, his lips always so soft. Javi had made sure you didn’t need to temp, you’ve promised to pay him back, after spending the entire winter in Majorca at his compound, but he’s point blank refused. You both got in trouble for missing a few key things he had to do due to how much sex you’d been having. The summer fling had become a relationship & you were both head over heels in love.

“Alright” says Justin.”I have to say the water bill is less too now already”

“Anyhow don’t you have reping to do for us?” Lucas asked him.

“Bloody hell even the new guy has picked your side” he says before Lucas smacks Justin’s arse & winks. “Ooh he can stay”

With the bar almost filled on opening night you step on to the stage.

“Welcome to the new season for Ibiza this year everyone. For those of you who have or haven’t been here before karaoke Tuesdays are still a thing & I always do the opening song to make the night well only improve” the room cheers. “But tonight I would like my partner in crime to get up here,” Javi almost spits his drink out, you hadn’t told him this yet. He looks shocked but Lucas all but pushes him onto the stage. He’s blushing & you give him a polite look & whisper. “€10000 euros pays for this & a blow job once it’s over baby” his eyes go wild & he squeezes your bum.

“Okay”he can’t get anymore words out, as his hand slips inside your short shorts & realises you have no knickers on.

“Right” you also look a little flush. “You ready?”

“Wait what are we…” & then the music starts & he smiles. “Seriously?”

“Yes” & the two of you do a rendition of listen to the rain on the roof from the end of Paddington 2. Including some bad dance moves & it’s met with rapturous applause. You do a little bow. But then Javi grabs the main microphone from you & talks.

“Thanks everyone for coming but there’s one more thing that needs to happen before we get the show on the road properly.” Javi drops to one knee & produces a small blue box.

“My sweet beautiful sexy señorita” he says followed by your full name, “please would you do me the honour of making this the fling of a life time, & agree to be my wife” Javi opens the box, as your jaw drops. Inside is a simple one stone diamond ring, nothing flashy, very classy, very you. Javi learnt very early on he didn’t need to flash the cash to impress you & this shows that he just wants you for who you are. Your eyes spill with tears as you reply with a yes, before he is up & sweeping you off your feet spinning you around, as all your patrons cheer. The ring fits perfectly as he puts you back on your feet, before you passionately kiss him on stage in front of everyone. He moves your hair which is no longer dyed blonde but is your natural mousey blonde colour, out if the way of your ear, so he can whisper.

“Let’s go make sure the vip bathroom is okay shall we” he says. “I think we need to more private celebration, so your eyes can keep streaming.”

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Taming the Tiger Shark

The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a common sight for divers, fishermen, and tourists in the tropical waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They are often found around sea grass fields or coral reefs, and tend to prefer warm, shallower waters near the coastline or surrounding atolls and islands. The northern end of their range extends up to the northern borders of the United States and China, while their southern range reaches down to Brazil, Madagascar, and the eastern coast of Australia.

While they're slightly smaller than great whites, G. cuvier is still one of the largest carnivores in the ocean. Adults can grow up to 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) long and weigh between 300 and 900 kg (700 and 2,000 lb). Females tend to be larger than males, but the two sexes are otherwise indistinguishable. Individuals are typically bluish gray or green, with a white or light yellow underbelly; this provides them with camouflage, as fish swimming overhead or below are unable to pick out the shark's silhouette against the dark or light background, respectively.

As an apex predator, G. cuvier has few predators of its own. Juvenile tiger sharks will often fall prey to other sharks, including adults of their own species. Orcas are also occasionally known to prey on tiger sharks, but these occurrences are rare. In their own food chain, G. cuvier has a large appetite and will eat almost anything. Coral reef fish are a common target, though their speed and small size makes them harder to catch. More often tiger sharks will prey on cephalopods, crustaceans, sea snakes, turtles, sea birds, and a host of marine mammals like dolphins, dugongs, sea lions, and young, injured, or dead whales. Inadvertently, tiger sharks will also consume garbage such as bottles tires, earning them the nickname 'The Garbage Can of the Ocean'.

Tiger sharks are primarily active at night. Contrary to other sharks, G. cuvier has excellent eyesight, as well as a keen sense of smell. In addition, tiger sharks have two special sensory organs. The lateral line extends down the length of the body and can detect minute vibrations in the water. Ampullae of Lorenzini are small electroreceptors located on the snout; these detect the weak electrical impulses generated by prey. All these features make it easy for tiger sharks to find a meal, and once located their body shape allows them to put on a burst of speed and make quick turns to catch their target. Most of the time, this hunting practice is done alone, but occasionally groups of tiger sharks will gather to scavenge a large carcass or for the mating season.

Male tiger sharks mate every year, while females only reproduce every three years. Breeding seasons differ based on location; in the Northern Hemisphere mating occurs between March and May, while in the Southern Hemisphere it's between November and January. During this time, dozens or even hundreds of sharks may gather to find mates. Females carry their young for up to 16 months, at which time they give live birth. Tiger sharks are ovoviviparous, meaning that eggs are fertilised and hatch inside the mother; this species is also unique in that they employ a technique called embryotrophy, in which young gestate in sacks which are filled with an embryonic fluid. A single litter of tiger sharks may contain between 10 to 80 pups, and each one may live up to 12 years in the wild.

Conservation status: The IUCN has classified the tiger shark as Near Threatened. While exact numbers are unclear, a great many tiger sharks are killed each year for their skin, fins, and liver. This species also has a reputation for vicious attacks, and while they can be aggressive when threatened, only a handful of shark attacks occur each year.

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Photos

Neil Hammerschlag

Brian Skerry

David Snyder

[cornyonmains]

Okay, gonna be real honest, there's a lot of emotional connecting that didn't happen to justify the events in episode 3. I'm also confused as to whether the monetary arrangement is a kink thing, Rak trying to emotionally distance, or actually a serious thing that's going to create issues later on.

That being said, I guess I can buy that these two accidentally dickmatized each other when they had literally nothing else to do but fuck and eat in an island paradise all day, while also being incredibly good looking.

Also, the islanders are the real MVPs of this show, because they heard everything, and then had to look Mut in the eye the next day like they didn't while he was talking about coral. And with Rak in the back one hickey away from needing a welfare check no less. It could not be me. The second he said anything about sea cucumbers, I'd have lost my mind. I have no self control.

Once again disappointed with what's looking to be another vanilla g/g ship after all the godless whoring GMMTV has been letting their boys do as of late, but I honestly think queer female content is always going to be about 10 years behind everything else. At least MAME puts it in her stuff. It's more than a lot of BL directors do, and I'm pretty sure she's straight, so I mean, extra bonus points.

[vdoesstuff]

Fic #26 (Zosan)

Sanji leaned overboard, staring off into the horizon. The sun had just risen. It wouldn't be long until Luffy woke up and started asking for breakfast. Nami was already awake, skillfully steering the ship to get them to the next island. Robin sat on the deck, reading, Chopper leaning on her arm. Usopp was tinkering with a new star he was working on. Zoro was up in the crow's nest, probably just enjoying the view. Sanji smiled. It was sort of an unspoken rule, the early hours of morning, they all kept quiet, to enjoy the peace that came with the sunrise.

The boat hit a wave. Sanji fell overboard. Usually not a big deal. They'd laugh at him for a few days, but nothing bad.

But not this time.

He hit the water hard. He tried to swim back up, but another wave pushed him back down. Once again, he tried to swim back up, but he couldn't. He looked down, realizing his foot was stuck in a piece of coral. He could feel his consciousness slipping. He managed to free his foot, kicking the coral, snapping the fragile rock in half, but the waves were not kind today. He was pushed down yet again. He came up, for a brief moment, only to see the Merry much farther away than it should be. Riptide, he thought. The wave that carried you out to sea before you even knew what was happening. His head dipped below the surface once more.

Zoro watched from the crow's nest as Sanji fell overboard, flipping over the rail. He expected him to come back up pretty quickly. Any second now, he thought.

He didn't come up.

Zoro knew something was wrong. He knew Sanji would never have this much trouble coming back up on his own. He dove directly from the crows nest down to the water. He couldn't waste any time. He looked around, searching for any sign of the cook. There he was, tangled in a patch of seaweed, the air slowly escaping his lungs. It was clear there had been a struggle, and this wasn't the only thing g that happened, but this wasn't the time. Zoro cut the vines off quickly, bringing Sanji back up to the surface. He laid him down across the deck, soaking the floor.

He wasn't breathing.

He wasn't breathing.

Zoro panicked. He thought back to something Chopper had taught him a while ago, when he had given the crew a mandatory CPR lesson. He closed one hand around the other, placing them both over Sanji's chest. Please, he thought. Please breathe.

He pressed down.

It felt like every second was an hour, every painful second he wasn't breathing was one second closer to death.

He pressed down.

It was a blur. Like everything outside of him and Sanji had been muted, blotted out. He could vaguely hear Nami yell for Chopper, the sound of Choppers hooves across the deck as he ran to go get his medical supplies.

He pressed down.

Sanji gasped, sitting bolt upright. Zoro gently held back Sanji's as he coughed up water. Chopper took over, bombarding Sanji with questions about what happened, how he felt, how much water did he inhale. Zoro stayed next to Sanji, clutching his hand as if he would fall again at any second. After asking nicely, several threats, and finally, force, Chopper managed to get Sanji in his office. Zoro still refused to leave Sanji's side.

"Y'know mosshead, you don't have to stay here," Sanji said, smiling softly.

"Yeah I do," Zoro said. "Gotta make sure you don't fall again." Sanji rolled his eyes.

"Never gonna hear the end of this one, am I?" He said, faking disdain. Zoro grasped Sanji's hand in his.

"I almost lost you, Curly." The whole incident truly scared Zoro. And he wasn't scared easily. Sanji pressed his lips against Zoro's.

"Then don't, marimo." Sanji smiled. Zoro laid down next to Sanji, who clung to him like his life depended on it, resting his head on Zoro's chest. They fell asleep like that, together.

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

Credit to @alohaags22

[usafphantom2]

2nd September 1937. First flight of the Grumman XF4F fighter, which would become known as the Wildcat. Its performance was initially inferior to the rival Brewster Buffalo, and the aircraft required an extensive redesign before being put into production. Despite this unpromising beginning, the Wildcat would prove crucial in the early stages of the Pacific war. Though less manoeuvrable than the Japanese Zero, it was well armed, rugged and a capable adversary in the hands of a skilled pilot.

The Wildcat’s first combat sorties were actually flown by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. Named Martlet in British use until 1944, the type’s first victory was a Junkers 88 over Scapa Flow on Christmas Day 1940. Martlets went on to serve successfully on the first Royal Navy escort carrier, HMS Audacity, in 1941. They continued in this role until the end of the war, scoring their final victories in Fleet Air Arm service by shooting down four Bf 109s in March 1945.

Wildcats first flew in combat against the Japanese during the attempt to take Wake Island in early December 1941. Four Marine F4Fs mounted a heroic defence, breaking up several air attacks as well as sinking a destroyer and submarine with 100lb bombs before the island finally fell on 23rd December. Wildcats served in all the key early engagements of the Pacific war, including Coral Sea, Midway and the defence of Guadalcanal.

Wildcats quickly established a reputation for toughness, able to absorb far more punishment than their Japanese opponents, and had an impressive kill/loss ratio. Wildcats were credited with destroying over 1,000 Japanese aircraft for 178 aerial losses, 24 to anti-aircraft fire, and 49 to operational causes. One Navy and seven Marine Corps pilots would earn the Medal of Honor in Wildcats.

In early 1943, Wildcat production was taken over by General Motors under the designation FM-1 and later the improved FM-2. Though replaced by the more powerful Hellcat on American fleet carriers during that year, the Wildcat’s small size and light weight made it ideal for use on escort and light carriers. With the addition of folding wings, they were well suited to the limited hangar and deck space available.

As in Royal Naval service, they remained in use until the end of the war. For example, during the battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, Wildcats mounted strafing runs against Japanese warships, helping to buy time for their parent escort carriers to escape.

Pictured:

1) First prototype Grumman XF4F-2 in flight. Note the cowling machine guns, forward radio antenna mast and telescopic gunsight, none of which featured on production models.

📷 thisdayinaviation.com

2) Grumman Martlet of 888 Squadron NAS warming up on board HMS Formidable prior to takeoff.

📷 IWM (A 11640)

3) Wrecked Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters of Marine Fighting Squadron 211 (VMF-211), photographed by by the Wake airstrip sometime after the Japanese captured the island on 23rd December 1941. The plane in the foreground, 211-F-11, was flown by Captain Henry T. Elrod during the 11th December attacks that sank the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi. Damaged beyond repair at that time, 211-F-11 was subsequently used as a source of parts to keep other planes operational. Elrod received a posthumous Medal of Honor after leading a beach defence unit during the final Japanese assault.

📷 NHHC 80-G-179006

4) FM-2 Wildcat over the escort carrier USS Santee during the Leyte landings on 20th October. Santee would survive a kamikaze attack and a torpedo hit from a Japanese submarine 5 days later.

📷 NHHC 80-G-287594

@JamieMctrusty via X

[dmwrites]

2023 fic roundup! Thanks for reading my stuff this year!

Below is all of the fic links, summaries, and any additional notes (in chronological order) from yours truly:)

NPC Bdubs: an in-game explanation to why Bdubs didn’t upload his Limited Life pov- Cleo notices that Bdubs is acting a little weird, almost like some kind of non-playable character.

The Coral Kids’ Keeper: Martyn and Scott live out on a island on the sea on the Limited Life server, and a sea creature that calls himself xbcrafted take interest in them. He protects them. He is here to protect them, right? (Dm note: oh my goddd I love this one still I love the horror at the end [I may just be biased to xb tbh lol])

Impulse’s post-death affirmation: Impulse got second place in Limited Life, and Skizz is so proud of him.

Clock Full of Love: Impulse gave Bdubs a clock in the beginning of Limited Life. At the end, Cleo adds her own touch to it.

Grian and Scar’s punishment: It all started when Grian and Scar touched his (Doc’s) redstone (tunnel bore). Their punishment? Zombiecleo scolding them.

Talks of Adoration on the Tower of Team TIES: Etho and Impulse have more in common then they think, and reflect on it all one sleepless night in the Team TIES base

Big and Handsome God Has A Big Sad: the empires s2 server can’t be empty, right? Sure, Joel hasn’t seen anyone in forever, but people still love him, surely, right? They wouldn’t all leave him. They wouldn’t. Right? (Dm note: this idea wasn’t executed as well as I would have liked, but I really like the crumbling reality vibes of this one)

Cuddling with the Homies: Grian, Impulse, Scar, and Skizz playing Sons of the Forest. They get one tiny-ass tent to all sleep in. It’s if the “only one bed” trope was four dudes being idiots in the woods in a tent.

I know how to keep you warm;)): the new life smp folks wonder if Chillager Martyn will freeze up if he gets flustered. Scott is up to the task. It’s all silly.

Copper Pearlo takes on The Button (2): Grian and Mumbo stumble upon copper golem Pearl

One Year Later: Double Life ended one year ago (when I posted this fic lol). Impulse makes Bdubs another clock

The CuteGuy Who Stepped Up: Scar needs a CuteGuy sidekick, and Grian does not want to be a sidekick in the slightest. Enter Joe Hills from Nashville, Tennessee. (Dm note: the CuteGuy main character was decided by a poll. This is also my second most-liked fic of 2023)

The Slime Code: Gem is a slime in New Life! She calls Jevin on Hermitcraft to ask about any slime rules she now needs to follow

A Dream of Pink: Joel has a dream of showing a pretty girl with pink hair (who roasts him) his hardcore world builds. She seems familiar…

3rd Life x NightVale: the radio transcript when Cecil Palmer from the town of NightVale interviews a strange man with a red sweater and split knuckles and keeps talking about something that happened in a desert. (Dm note: love this one, definitely caters to a very specific audience, but this one shows up in my notifs almost every day. I think I did a good job at the ad breaks and such.)

Sacrificial Impulse: Grian, Scar, and Skizz died while hunting ghosts with Impulse. Impulse wants to bring them back, no matter the cost. Also, EvilNotion is the ghost hunters’ boss.

xB’s Revenge- a Blood on the Clocktower story: based on the first session of hermitcraft’s BOTC, Iskall accuses xbcrafted of being the demon, and xB becomes the first innocent to die. But xB sticks around after death, and wants the sweetest revenge on Iskall. (Dm note: this one is long as hell but man the concept was so good. Drowned!xb is so good.)

Bdoubledown? How Cute: a brief conversation between Impulse and Skizz about Impulse’s brand new soulmate in Double Life

GIGS gets another G: Gem is jealous that Grian, Impulse, Scar, and Skizz are hunting ghosts, and wants to join in. Pearl, local odd woman, has a way. Possession is fun among friends! (Dm note: this is the most liked fic of this year, which is definitely not what I expected lol)

The Dungeon Is Hungry: Hypno thinks all the superstitions around the Decked Out 2 dungeon are stupid. That is until everything goes sideways and Cub is covered in sculk and pointing a sword at him down in level 4.

The Impossible Task: Martyn gets a very simple, two-word task in Secret Life: find RenTheDog. But Ren isn’t here… right? (Dm note: when I thought of this idea I literally said “ouch!” in my head lol)

GIGGS Hunts a Ghost!: the GIGGS crew gets called on by Zedaph to find and capture evidence of a ghost he claims he has seen haunting hermitcraft. (Dm note: the b-plot grian and zed rivalry is so funny to me idk why I decided they hate each other lolll)

A Moment of Peace: Martyn and Cleo are estranged soulmates in Double Life, and they take a moment to drink some tea and talk about what soulmate they’d like to have if they had a choice.

It Feels Different Now (and that’s a good thing): Pearl has to hurt people on the Secret Life server as part of her task, but she takes no joy in it now. She harkens back to what has changed between Double Life and now.

Jimmy’s Grave: Cleo made Jimmy a grave before he died in Secret Life. He did end up dying that very day, and a mourner comes by his grave when it’s all said and done.

Red: Pearl’s favorite color is red. She is made to be a red name, even when she’s not.

Becoming the Villain of the Server: (secret life) Scar digs up Jimmy’s grave to take his spine, to sell it to Joel, pretending that it’s Lizzie’s. Hey, what else is a man to do? (Dm note: this one fucks so hard, i love how fucked up the idea of it is, what Scar would have to do to make it happen. Eating this.)

From One Lonely Winner to Another: Scar wins Secret Life. Sunflowers grow from his skin to be with him as he goes to succeed the final task. (Dm note: another one I love, I just love the aesthetic of it all.)

[reveworldtour]

(listen to this music while reading this blog)

Jellyfish: Nature's Ethereal Dancers

In the depths of the ocean, a delicate ballet unfolds. With translucent bodies aglow, jellyfish gracefully pirouette through the water, their movements captivating all who behold them. Drifting effortlessly with the currents, these gelatinous beings embody the beauty and mystery of the sea.

With their umbrella-shaped bells pulsating rhythmically, jellyfish come in a mesmerizing array of shapes and colors.

☆〜（ゝ。∂）

Places around the world where you can check out Jellyfish’s ballet production:

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

1. Jellyfish Lake,

Palau 🇵🇼

Jellyfish Lake in Palau is a renowned natural wonder where visitors can experience the surreal sensation of swimming alongside millions of golden jellyfish. Located on Eil Malk island, this marine lake is isolated from the ocean, creating a unique environment where jellyfish populations thrive without natural predators. Visitors can snorkel or dive in the crystal-clear waters of the lake, surrounded by gently pulsating jellyfish, creating an unforgettable and magical experience.

2. Kakaban Island, Indonesia 🇮🇩

A fascinating marine lake known for its unique ecosystem. Unlike Jellyfish Lake in Palau, Kakaban Lake is home to four species of non-stinging jellyfish, making it a popular spot for snorkeling and diving enthusiasts.

Visitors can swim among these harmless jellyfish and explore the underwater wonders of the lake, which also boasts vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life. In addition to the lake, Kakaban Island offers pristine beaches, lush tropical forests, and excellent opportunities for snorkeling, diving, and relaxation in a

3. Miyajima Aquarium,

Japan 🇯🇵

At Miyajima Aquarium, visitors can marvel at mesmerizing displays of jellyfish, which are showcased in dedicated exhibits highlighting their ethereal beauty and unique biology. The aquarium boasts a diverse collection of jellyfish species, ranging from translucent moon jellies to vibrant sea nettles, creating a captivating underwater spectacle.

Through carefully designed displays and lighting effects, visitors can witness the graceful movements and intricate patterns of these gelatinous creatures, immersing themselves in the serene ambiance of the jellyfish exhibits.

4. Monteray Bay Aquarium, USA 🇺🇸

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is renowned for its mesmerizing jellyfish exhibits, showcasing a diverse array of species in stunning displays. Visitors can immerse themselves in the ethereal beauty of jellyfish as they gracefully drift through specially designed tanks, illuminated with captivating lighting to accentuate their delicate forms and vibrant colors.

One of the most notable jellyfish exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the "Jellies: Living Art" exhibit, which features a mesmerizing collection of jellyfish species from around the world. Visitors can marvel at the translucent bodies and pulsating movements of moon jellies, lion's manes, sea nettles, and other fascinating species.

5. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia 🇦🇺

The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, is home to a wide variety of jellyfish species. Among the most notable are the box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) and the Irukandji jellyfish (Carukia barnesi), both of which are known for their venomous stings.

While encounters with these venomous jellyfish are possible in the Great Barrier Reef, they are relatively rare, and most visitors to the region can safely enjoy snorkeling, diving, and other activities. However, it's essential for visitors to be aware of jellyfish safety protocols and to heed any warnings or advisories issued by local authorities.

[flowerandthesongstress]

Alice/Noah anything!

🤖🌹beep instructions scarce and unclear beep defaulting to base parameters: lifelong friends. healthy relationship. instantly resolved miscommunication. emotionally mature. ¡qué viva colombia! pining. just a bit sad. life is shit but hugs aren’t shit. family issues. emotional support. ambiguous cryptid pc cameo. comfort comfort comfort comfort comforrrr *erupts in sparks* mmffffffrrrr *blasts some hardcore extreme bass-heavy sarah mclachlan*

An Ordinary Miracle

Alice (x) Noah | G; no tw. 

Here she is, fresh out of bed, still sleepy, barefoot, not even dressed — marveling in awe at what might have always been here; unsure of why today, of all days. 

read below or on the other hellsite.

The first thing that crosses her mind as she looks out the wide-open window of her room: has the sky always been this blue? 

The curtains fluttered, disturbed by a gust of breeze invading her room, just as the alarm shrieked. Punching the button, Alice groaned, turned away from it and towards the light, and grimaced, and opened her eyes, and saw. 

Has the sky always been this blue? 

Alice wasn’t sure, and this uncertainty puzzled her. Instead of shuffling to the kitchen or the bathroom, the way she always does, she approached the window and discovered that it wasn’t only the sky. All of these colors were mesmerizing; a strikingly vivid turquoise blue of the water lapping at the platinum shore, bathed in a quince-marmalade sunrise. 

So taken aback by the spectacular view, that for the last several minutes Alice has been stock-still, staring at it with her mouth agape.

Alice knows this island like the back of her hand; she was born and raised here, after all. Living right by the ocean for so long, she got used to seeing, hearing, and breathing it every single day. It became an insignificant background — noise, sight, smell, and the whole notion of its perpetual neighbourship. Tourists always gush about how extraordinarily beautiful the island is; usually, Alice gives a polite nod in response, offering words of agreement and one of those automated platitudes which lost their meaning long ago. In truth, she just couldn’t see it; she barely looked. 

Today, it’s different. All of it. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the tang of the salty breeze caressing her skin, the warmth of the sun’s rays on her face — each one of these sensations feels new and fascinating. As if she has never met the sea before; as if it was a stranger to her, or she was a stranger to the sea. Despite how they’ve known each other since her birth. 

Fresh out of bed, still sleepy, barefoot, not even dressed, she is marveling at what might have always been here; unsure of why today, of all days. 

Nothing’s changed, after all. Her life is just as drab, isn’t it? 

Alice checks herself and stops staring; there’s only so much spare time to spend on her morning routine, and she would do better not to waste any. Her sister Suki likes to say, ‘Hospitality is all about putting the guest first’ and ‘Laziness is reserved for tourists’ and ‘Chop-chop!’ 

She’d hate to give Suki a reason to say any of these things. Today or on any other day. But in the staff kitchen on the ground floor of Coral Inn, instead of doing anything useful, she idly stands, waiting for her coffee to brew, a thermal cup clutched in her hand, and stares out the window. At the hotel-adjacent beach — a long stretch of white sand— and at the pier jutting far into the water. 

It’s not the final beep that brings Alice out of her reverie; she flinches as the fabric of her cropped summer pants is yanked. Knowing what’s coming, she moves to the side and opens the fridge door like an automaton.  

“Juice!” her niece Valentina demands with a delay, raising her mug. A mug decorated with a ‘cartoony’ mermaid possessing exaggerated facial features and a couple of other exaggerated things; Suki bought it. Suki thinks that this insensitive and appropriating mug is funny. Suki bought a whole batch in bulk and now resells them to tourists as souvenirs. 

Pouring some juice into the mug, Alice once again — for the hundredth time, perhaps — wishes she could choose a new one for her niece, although she’d never admit this wish to Suki, and it’s a fleeting, routine thought. But today, all of a sudden, Alice muses on whether she’d actually be able to pull it off. What if she just buys a really pretty mug for Val’s birthday? It’s in a week. If Val likes the gift and chooses to keep it for her own daily use, there’d be no reason for Suki to object, or discuss, or split hairs, or to say anything at all. Val is headstrong, and, despite what Suki loves to repeat on the regular, it’s her daughter who is the top priority, and not the tourists. 

Tourists are the close second.

Val gulps down her juice in one go and raises the mug again, this time with both hands. “More!”

It’s odd how early she is today — and already dressed. Val loves to surf, but the weather is too calm for a surfing lesson. Not to mention, this frilly and cute sundress could hardly serve as surfing gear. 

“Why are you up so early?” Alice asks, pouring her more with no objections. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes! Ollie invited me to go flower-spotting. Have you ever gone flower-spotting?”

When she and Noah were little, they used to go looking for all kinds of stuff, just the two of them. Bugs, critters, flowers, ghosts, gods, and stories. When they were kids, every day spent with Noah was about something brand new and exciting. 

“Of course. It’s a lot of fun. Just watch out for fairies, they can be vicious this time of year.”

Alice doesn’t remember how and why precisely they stopped going. Was it because a flower fairy bit him on the nose? Or did they stop after Noah kissed her? As she was braiding three grass stalks together to make into a bracelet for him, he pressed his cushiony lips to hers in a quick and loud smooch, and ran off. It was the first kiss for both of them. She remembers it better than a lot of things from her childhood. She remembers the kiss tasting of bubble gum. She remembers the ‘bracelet’ slipping out of her petrified fingers. These memories and feelings are anything but bitter ... yet they are so distant and faded that she can’t help but wonder whether they’re even real, whether she imagined them, dreamt them. She and Noah remained friends, after all, up until he left for school. She thought he would never return, but he did...

“Hair!” Val’s already deposited the mug into the dishwasher and procured the hairbrush, out of one of the kitchen drawers. Suki keeps on putting the brush away, but it always ends up back here. 

It’s a tradition: for Val to sit on the same chair in the staff kitchen and for Alice to style her long tawny hair into a half-up crown braid. It’s been a tradition since Val still had to climb the chair instead of simply sitting down on it. 

“Would you like something different today?” Alice always asks her, and the answer is always no. 

“Yes!” says Val. Today, she wants her hair ‘all down and pretty’. 

Coffee is done. Most mornings, when she needs to unwind, Alice pours herself a full cup and goes to the square. With a book or with her thoughts; doesn’t matter. This ritual allows her to level her mind, calm down, and cope with the upcoming day. Always to the square. But today she can’t help but feel that this morning routine could use some variation.

The pier looks so inviting, bathed in the summer sun, framed by a glittering expanse of turquoise blue. Alice decides to take her coffee to the pier today. 

Outside, the soothing, persistent sound of the ocean waves rolls into her ears. It’s been a while since she last noticed, really noticed it. How long has it been since she’s last gone for a swim?

Walking the length of the pier, she sits at its furthest edge, her bare legs dangling above the water.

The pier is old, and it might remember things which Alice forgot. Old, but not neglected; Valentina’s favorite uncle Rafi is making sure to maintain it in neat condition. The wooden planks might be worn from decades of use, but they’re still safe and sound, and they will last. 

The breeze tugs at Alice’s hair and makes it sway about her face, tickling. Taking care to not let any of her coffee spill, she brushes the strands off to the side with her free hand. Perhaps today she should have done something different to her hair, too, instead of leaving it down as usual. 

Inhaling the tang of the salty brine, she watches the gently swaying water. The sea is as endless as the sky, but more alive. It seems like a gentle, almost imperceptible pulsation is going through it. The waves are shifting in sync, as if the sea itself is breathing ... Breaking its surface, a couple of merfolk emerge in the distance. Alice tenses, praying that she will neither be waved at nor, as that would be much worse, approached and forced to partake in meaningless small talk; praying that she’d be left alone. Luckily, the merfolk dive back into the depths in seconds, having not noticed her. Alice exhales in relief.  

A strange sensation is stirring in her chest, and Alice isn’t sure what to call it. 

It reminds her of anxiety, of nervousness, but lacks the distinct prickly edge of either. An overwhelming, breath-stalling kind of anticipation that borders jubilance; she might have experienced this feeling as a child ... If she absolutely had to, she’d have called it ‘waiting for a miracle’.  

Although she tried, Alice can’t shake this unexplainable premonition: today will be a day unlike any other. 

Unlikely.

Sure, there are some days which stand out from the rest and are especially vivid in her memory. Days when everything that could possibly go wrong — does go wrong. The toaster in the breakfast hall breaking down along with the coffee machine, a guest bringing in an infectious disease, a guest getting drunk and rowdy, a guest starting a fight, a guest trying to take a picture of a stone statue and getting a stone punch in the groin because the ‘statue’ was a stone giant who didn’t appreciate being gawked at when they’re meditating; Alice being the one who has to remind the guest to read the Terms of stay when he yells to be given monetary compensation, Alice being the one who has to endure verbal abuse from him, Alice trying not to cry, Alice failing; Suki requesting this, Suki demanding that, Suki making decisions for both of them, Suki shaming her, Suki pushing her into doing things that make Alice want to ball up and bawl, things like making calls and yelling at suppliers and demanding things from them and shaming them. 

Alice gets such days quite often. 

Best she can hope for is a quiet day without too much stress. There is no tangible reason to expect any miracles. 

No reason to expect anything out of the ordinary, even. 

But Alice is convinced. Something is going to happen. Something big and profound. Something— She sighs; although the waves are masking the sound, although there is no noticeable shaking, she can still feel the weight of the footsteps through the interconnected wooden planks, and knows that someone stepped onto the jetty and is about to approach her. 

Alice doesn’t want to turn or look over her shoulder in order to see who that is. It could hardly be Suki. Suki would have shouted from the boardwalk. Taco, a mountain spirit inhabiting the body of a dog, does come over sometimes, but he always politely inquires whether he’s allowed to enter private property, or if his presence would be disruptive today — before stepping on the hotel’s jetty. So it’s likely a guest who’s either feeling flirty or wants to complain or demand, or Suki’s ex-husband Antonio, who, despite them being divorced, still lives at the Inn and likes to grumble or cry into Alice’s shoulder, although Alice’s shoulder never gave Antonio consent to do that. Whoever that is, the magic will be disrupted. She is clinging to the last threads of the pleasant and mysterious feeling, while strongly suspecting that it’s about to be washed off and disappear forever. 

She can feel the threatening presence behind her back, the footsteps light, quiet, and confident. When a shadow falls over her, Alice shrinks into herself, as if she could turn invisible this way, and inadvertently looks up.

“Hey, Allie.”

Her rigid shoulders sag and the tightness within her uncoils. Right before her body tenses in an entirely different way. 

As a child, Noah would have grinned ear to ear at her, or roughhoused her, or grabbed her wrist and pulled her away to the beach or to look at something fun, or to nick sweets off the tavern’s kitchen, or play a new game he’d invented. He would have done many things, and would have had no reservations and no second thoughts.

As a child, she would have thrown herself at him and hugged him, or asked if he’d like to go snorkeling, or insisted that he read a book to her today, or made him listen to a song that she liked. She would have done many things, and would have had no reservations and no second thoughts.

But now she just stares, with no clue as to what to do or what else to say except for ‘hi’.

Now he just smiles softly and asks if he’s allowed to stay a while and keep her company.  

Now Alice finds herself nodding and then nodding some more. Now, raising her unsealed thermal cup as Noah lowers himself to sit next to her, she asks, “Coffee?” 

Now Noah shows her the sealed thermal cup he’s brought with him.  

He’s been back for a while, but it’s the first time they’re one-on-one since his return from uni. 

The first time she’s seeing him from so up close. 

As teenagers, they were awkward, neglected and miserable, and believing that the entire world was against them, and always pretending to be mad at everything but each other, and always lying to their parents and siblings, and sneaking out, and drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, and listening to shitty music way too loud, and trying to act grown-up and tough, and failing at it together, and always saying ‘I hate this island, I hate this world, but I don’t hate you’, and they were allies and accomplices. 

As a child, she was pudgy and plump, and always dirty from head to toe, and her hair was always tangled, and she had chubby cheeks and a huge gap between her front teeth, and was always sporting bruises and scratches, and always getting new ones as soon as the old ones would start to fade, and always wearing mismatched hand-me-downs, and always telling Noah that he was the coolest and that they would be best friends forever. 

As a child, he was gawky and clumsy, and his feet were too big, and his arms were too long, and his hair was a mess, and he had pockmarks from varicella, and he was always chewing on a piece of gum and scowling a huge white-tombstone grin, and always blowing pink bubbles in her face, and always threatening to stick the gum in her hair, and never doing that, and always wearing mismatched hand-me-downs, and always teasing her by calling her his future wife and saying that one day they would marry, and always being gawky and clumsy and not caring about it, and her hand never strayed from his, and she always felt so brave when by his side, and they were equals. 

And now ... now he’s one of the most handsome men Alice has ever seen. Now, Noah is tall, lean, and graceful. His face is all but perfect. His arms are strong and toned. His skin is smooth and clear. His black hair is a row of neat lopsided spikes on top of an even neater undercut, and the golden glow of the sun is giving it a mirror sheen. His clothes — the snow-white trainers, the expertly fitted black jeans, the ironed polo shirt — are immaculate. His voice is warm and mellow. He looks and sounds so confident, so composed. And his smile is dimpled and easy, and he is not her best friend anymore, and Noah is his own man. 

Now Alice is all too aware how his thigh brushes against hers, and she can barely breathe, and she can barely focus, and she can barely manage not to let her coffee spill or to choke on her words, and she can barely notice anything at all except for how beautiful he looks, although she’s known him all her life and never ever noticed. 

“How’s it going?” he asks.

Alice’s reply is an eloquent, “Huh?”

“How are you holding up?”

Alice thought that he would never come back; his eldest brother, Eddy, left the island, his older sister Aaliyah, having spent a few years away and tasted of the outside world, has been thinking of leaving for good, too, and likely would do so soon. Alice thought that he would never come back, so she let him go. Or so she thought. She did her best to feel happy for him; a new and exciting life awaited him out there. Or so she told herself.  

Then he came back, changed.

Instead of ‘good’ or ‘same old’ she blurts out a “Why?”

Terrified of conflicts, she avoids them at all costs. Habitually bracing for impact, Alice winces; the word came out sounding harsher than she intended. She’s about to follow it up with a desperate ‘Nevermind, I mean, it’s fine, everything is great, just livin’ life, you know, uh, thanks for asking, how are you?’ making use of the fact that he’s taking a sip — when Noah briskly lowers the cup, turns his head, and the phrase gets stuck in her throat. 

She’s staring at his stylish, minimalist, browline-rimmed glasses, this tiny chin cup beard, and the thin and tidy patch under his plump lower lip. Since when— 

He takes a deep breath, as if he’s about to dive. “I’m sorry, Allie. ‘Tis the season, so I know that you’re busy, and I know that this is why we haven’t gotten a chance to properly talk and hang out and all.” Noah’s voice is low, and soft as velvet, and Alice finds herself wishing she could listen to it for hours. Isn’t it the same voice he’s had since his teenage years? He couldn’t have changed his voice, as well, could he? “I know, I get it, and I hope it’s okay that I dropped by. But I just— I’ve recently gotten this feeling that you’re avoiding me. Tell me I’m paranoid?” His forehead creases; Noah tilts his head to the side, with a small, sheepish smile. 

Her lips unpin. “You’re—”

It was Noah who seemed like the busy one. After his return, Alice has been watching from the sidelines — or shadows — of the tavern’s hall, not approaching. Only a couple of times, though. Mostly, she’s been hearing things about him, and, judging by these things, he was indeed a new man. The way others described him, calling him suave, witty, charming, full of energy, but also responsible, level-headed, thorough, slow, mature ... felt alienating. 

Noah inherited a family business alongside his brother, and, by all indications, took to it as a duck to water. He keeps it running smoothly, is doing books and handling suppliers now, and gets along well with Frank. 

Alice inherited a family business alongside her sister, and it’s a never-ending, slow-motion nightmare. Always stressed and strained, Alice can hardly deal with the simplest, most mundane tasks, and Suki gets mad at her every single day. 

She and Noah used to be equals, allies, and accomplices. After his return, she couldn’t help but feel inferior to him, couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was only slowing him down. 

She’s supposed to act polite and to say to this confident, strange, handsome man, ‘Of course you’re being paranoid. Please don’t worry. How’s work? How’s your mom doing?’ And she’s about to spell out this white lie, but—

“I just miss you a lot, Allie,” he adds so quickly and quietly that she needs to strain in order to hear him. 

Noah was never a skilled liar, but what if he’s grown out of this, too? 

“You ... miss me?”

Her body feels like a shell of lead, and the sound of the ocean and the beating of her heart suddenly become deafening as she meets his gaze. 

Everything else about him seems so different. Noah looks like a carefree supermodel now, but his eyes are as earnest as they have always been. Deep and kind and soulful, and just a little mischievous as he quirks an eyebrow; it’s the same eyes she remembers. Is this an illusion?

Or is it truly the same boy who taught her to swim? 

“Like crazy.”

She and Noah started growing apart long before his departure. His dad passed away, then Eddy left, then Frank got married and moved out, then Aaliyah’s conflicts with Betty started. Noah was trying as hard as he could to be there for what remained of his family. And Alice barely had a spare minute, what with all of that inheriting-the-hotel business and taking classes online ... Whenever she and Noah had time to meet and talk at all, they only talked of how stressed and wrung out they both were, and half-assedly joked about how much they both wanted to be abducted by aliens so that there’d be no need to deal with any of this, but aliens favored big cities and continuously ignored their corner of the world, and those meetings were growing more and more scarce. Then he left... She could not blame him. She did not blame him, not for a single second. 

Lately, there have been days which Alice spent in complete silence, having said zero words to zero people. She’s come to consider days like that positive. They’re less tiring. No words means no conflict, or at least it means a one-sided conflict which is destined to fizzle out soon. No words means no shallow small talk, no empty questions about how she’s doing, coming from people who don’t actually care how she’s doing. 

Alice hasn’t felt relaxed in ages. She’s so tired. She is tired of feeling like a failure. Tired of feeling out of place, like an outsider in her own home, tired of feeling that nothing she does is good enough, tired of being told off for every single transgression, tired of living in her sister’s shadow. She is so tired of—

“Allie?”

—of having no one to talk to about how tired she is. 

“I was, Noah. I was avoiding you. I’m ... so sorry. But I—” Words rise to her throat, words spill and spill and spill out of her in batches. Much like pearls and spherical rubies out of the mouths of half the townsfolk did, during that nasty epidemic last year, one which gave Yuri and Charles so much trouble and a lasting addiction to coffee. 

The stream seems never-ending, but it doesn’t feel like an ailment. It feels like it used to, long ago, when his presence was making her brave. Alice tells him what she’s heard about him, she speaks of all the praise and compliments the townspeople have been directing at him, and how she got an impression that the things which she never had the strength or confidence to do, he now does effortlessly.

“I just felt like I had nothing to offer anymore, like maybe you were avoiding me, because you’re so brilliant, and all I can do is—”

Noah laughs. He laughs, and his deep, braying laughter, so familiar, so forgotten, resonates inside her with a nameless ache. She missed this sound so much. She missed his unabashed, white-tombstone smile, his dimples, and the way the skin around his eyes crinkles. He laughs, and it’s a dam to the stream. 

Silent, mesmerized, she watches him. Alice is terrified of conflicts; Noah used to de-escalate conflicts and any tense situations in seconds, with a smile on his face. No, not ‘used to’—

“Oh Gh-awd, Allieeeee.” Pinching them by a corner, Noah raises his glasses and wipes a tear of mirth off his left eyelid. “And here I thought— First of all, you know they’re praising you just as much, right? Ohhh dearest Alice, always so polite, so composed and patient, so dutiful and respectful! Just the other day I overheard Wataru using you as an example to shame his son. His son is a goddamn STEM academic! Who, by the way, says he doesn’t ‘believe’ in aliens, as if that’s a question of belief, but that’s beside the point... Secondly, we both got stuck in the hospitality business, come on, you must be aware by now that it’s a crapshoot that’s all about window dressing! Horeca is hell. But you gotta fake it till you make it, and, you know, we gotta show visitors a good time and be there for them, there’s no choice, because our families depend on this, on us. But did you really think— I’m sorry. Allie, I’m so sorry. But come on. Come o-on! Even if I was this brilliant and suave hero, which I’m so not, I assure you, you know it wouldn’t have changed a thing, right? Like I would leave you in the dust to be all high and mighty?! We were buddies, you and I, we were— We are. I would never, not in a million years, think less of you, for whatever reason, I would never want us to stop being buddies. You’re amazing, you’re legit the best person in the world, precisely ‘cause you hate window-dressing, you’re so real, no one gets me like you do. Come on, I know you, don’t you know me? I’m still me, and you’re still you, and no matter what, it’s gonna be you and me, because that’s just the way it is.”

Someone else in his place would have acted offended or annoyed at her presumptuousness. Someone else would have scolded her. Someone else would have clicked their tongue, formed a grimace, and shaken their head ... Alice is speechless. Not fumbling for words, not avoiding words, not scared of words. It’s not some stranger. It’s him, it’s Noah. 

Noah, who taught her to swim and to count. 

Noah, whom she taught to read and write and to ride a bicycle. 

The same Noah whom she stole Frank’s moped with — and then they crashed it while learning to drive. Together. 

It’s the same man she’s known all her life, possessing the same unshakeable confidence and faith in their friendship.

While she almost threw it away. If not for this moment of bravery— Alice feels like a fool. She feels like a child who got scared of her own shadow.

“I don’t know why I’m like this,” she mutters. 

“I do.” Tilting sideways, he nudges her shoulder with his own, and the gesture is as familiar to Alice as her own breathing. “‘Cause you’re tired A-F, that’s why.”

The feeling of relief is so intense that for a moment Alice is worried her bones will melt.

The silence which follows is not strained in the slightest. It’s as comfortable as a warm blanket on a cold and stormy night. It’s the silence of two people who know each other so well, they barely need to worry about talking. With but a hint of concussed silence. 

For a time, they sit sipping their coffee, looking at the water, listening to the gentle, steady cadence of the waves. Alice remembers; this is not the first time the two of them are on this pier. They used to spend hours here, as kids. Although never in silence. 

“So. Tourists being a pain?” he finally pipes up. Alice turns just in time to see him adjusting his glasses again. Do they not fit well or is it a nervous habit?

“No. I mean, yes, I mean it’s—” This time, she does stutter. They say he is the perfect son. They say Betty is the luckiest mother on the island. Alice has no trouble believing this, and a small part of her is still reluctant and cautious in regards to his boundaries. He hasn’t badmouthed his family directly since the two of them were angsty hormonal teenagers. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, in what unmistakably is a nervous habit, she starts, “I’m grateful to Suki. She keeps the business running, she’s always so determined, full of energy. She’s a problem solver. She’s my sister and I lo—”

“Don’t,” interrupts Noah briskly, startling her. “Don’t do that.”

“D-do what?” She turns her head to find him looking at her not with a judgmental crease in his brow, but with a small sardonic smile. 

“Come on, Allie, it’s me. You don’t need to preface a rant with excuses. Just say it, say what’s on your mind. Go nuts.”

She has been apologizing and groveling, sometimes in advance, trying to appease so many people, to explain herself, for as long as she can remember. With Noah, she never felt the need to do that. Why start now?

“She’s pushy, Noah, she’s pushy, and it’s so hard on me,” Alice breathes out on a long exhale, peering right into his eyes. 

And just like that, words start to flow from her again. Alice talks about the many little things that bother her, that wear her out. The phone calls she hates making, ones Suki insists she makes. Suki ordering her about, Suki making decisions for them both without Alice ever being consulted, Suki calling her out in public, or demonstratively humiliating her by asking strangers for advice on what Alice needs to do — rather than discuss the issue in private or just let her off the hook. Suki berating her whenever she believes her inefficient; telling her off for not working as fast as she works, for not doing as much as her. Suki saying things like, ‘It’s time you learned how to put your foot down and take charge of things, or at least how to hold a pen right!’ or ‘What’s wrong with you today? Can’t you do a simple math sum?! What are you, five?’ or ‘Chop-chop! It’s fine to be a klutz from time to time, but if you keep on slacking, you’ll let the whole family down!’ 

Alice talks about feeling like a failure — while at the same time starting to believe that she isn’t. She talks about how much she wants to stop feeling like a failure, because she knows she isn’t. Noah listens almost without interjecting. He nods along, in acknowledgment, and once in a while manifests a scowl or an ‘Oof’. He’s right there with her, he knows what’s expected of her, of them, and he relates. There is no doubt in her mind anymore. 

It’s so liberating to talk about it all openly, and witness no judgment. It’s exhilarating.  

In a few words, a few gestures, and through his sheer presence, he grounds her, puts her back together, and imparts some of that bravery in the way only he knows how. 

“It’s hard to love them, sometimes. I know.” His voice is low, and it trembles. The smile on his face is fragile; Noah is looking down at his knees, at the water below the pier, at his cup. 

She finally notices, behind the beautiful veneer, and the stylish glasses, how puffed up his eyelids are from lack of sleep. This small detail strikes her. Alice’s chest constricts, her stomach clenches. Noah is just as tired. He’s exhausted. 

He’s not some superhuman, and the past two and a half years were just as hard on him. And he had no one to confide in, either.

“Noah,” she whispers, poking him in the shoulder, while at the same time registering the puzzling and alluring wish to cup his cheek instead — something she’s never done; a gesture that is so not them . “Your turn. Go nuts.”

Tossing his head up, he snorts. “You’re not gonna believe this, but it’s a-all the same shit—”

Alice listens to him talk about customers and suppliers, as rowdy and capricious as the ones she deals with; about how he handles them, and how tiring it is at times to keep a straight face, to be friendly and welcoming when all he wants is to strangle a dude. About equipment breaking down, about the days when everything at once goes wrong. 

She listens, hoping that for him, as well, a shared burden would no longer be as heavy. 

“Remember how we were teens, talking shit, saying all of the time about how we want to leave? That we hated the world and hated the island?” 

But did not hate one another. 

“Ow, man. Leaving is just not an option, even if I wanted to. But I had to go and learn and bust my ass for two years at uni, just to get a solid grip on how things oughta be handled, ‘cause I had no other choice, it was me or no one else, otherwise that mess of a tavern would have collapsed, now I’m bustin’ my ass here, but they—”

He talks about his family, for a long while. Noah tells her of how Betty still perceives and treats him as her baby boy, despite him being an adult and, by all known definitions, the most responsible sibling of them all, the one who always looks out for them; he talks of Aaliyah being moody and full of doubt, and getting into fights with their mom; about Frank’s devil-may-care attitude and the stupid experiments he pulls in the kitchen, trying to ‘expand’ the menu and fix what isn’t broken.

“And my sister-in-law is using me as a lab rat, and I let her, ‘cause she’s family now. But I swear, in comparison to everything else, that’s an upside, and—”

“Wait, what?” Alice stops him short, rewinding. “Lab rat? For what?”

“Everything.” Shrugging, Noah rubs the patch under his lower lip, with the pad of his thumb. “Hair and whatnot.”

Reclining, Alice freezes and stares at him, at the side of his head, at the neat, precise line-up. Suddenly, she’s wishing to run her hand over his undercut, just to find out if that neatly trimmed stubble would tickle. To learn what it feels like under her fingers. His hair used to be such a long shaggy mess... 

“Everything?” 

She sees his hand move in slow-motion. Noah aims to raise it to her face, but then stops midway, as if unsure. Alice holds her breath. Her heart is beating fast. He lowers his hand and fiddles with the lid of his empty cup instead.

A gentle breeze brushes past them, tugging at the hem of Alice’s blouse, flapping the collar of Noah’s shirt. She draws in a sharp breath as, distracted, she’s lost track of, well, everything. 

The tempo of the ocean waves is speeding up. The tide is rising. 

“Uuh, yup, everything. Nails and skin and all. Lucky for me, she’s a decent stylist.” His eyebrows jump, and she sees that they’ve been trimmed or plucked too. “So how’s my new look? Do I look like a proper douchebag?”

“Not even a little.” 

“No douchebag vibes, even? So much for all the crap that sister’s put me through.”

Shaking her head, Alice lets out a solitary chuckle which instantly turns into a fit of laughter. Eyes roving over her features, Noah joins her, and it feels so good to laugh with him again. So right.

“Aww, poor you. I should drop by Erika’s and save you by heroically volunteering myself,” she teases, still laughing.

“My sister-in-law might be a decent stylist, but even she can’t improve perfection,” Noah counters, and for an additional second that grin is still stretching his face, before faltering and then flattening. 

So does hers as the words sink in. Noah’s lips remain unsealed. He does not turn away. Instead, he holds her gaze. Eyes wide open, Noah is looking straight at her. 

This is brand new. Completely new and unexplored. 

Alice can feel heat rising to her cheeks, and she’s certain that it shows. She’s certain that he can hear her pulse pounding wildly in her veins; she feels like her heart is about to break out of her ribcage and jump right at him, and maybe a part of her wishes for Noah to keep looking at her like this forever, and, for another fleeting moment, she wants nothing more than to grab the collar of his shirt and to pull him close and taste his stupidly perfect mouth ... Exhaling, Alice ducks her head, hiding behind her hair, hoping that the sun will mask her blush.

Meanwhile, she can hear him clear his throat. Noah’s hand lands on her shoulder and squeezes it, and rocks her gently. “Anyway. It gets better. It’ll get better, Allie. We’ll pull through. We’ll make it, you and I.”

De-escalated. 

But what if she doesn’t want him to fully de-escalate it? 

Following an overwhelming, courage-fed impulse, Alice leans into him and wraps her free arm around his upper back, and nuzzles into his shoulder.

His breath catches. It takes him a few moments to relax, but he does: she can feel his lean muscles uncoil, can feel him ease into her half-embrace. Noah’s hand slips around her lower back. 

“Noah.”

“Mhm?”

“I don’t actually hate the island. I never have.”

“Me neither. I love the island. I do hate you a little now, though,” he mumbles into the top of her head.

“Yeah. I hate you too.” 

“Allie.”

She feels him shift; he is looking at her now.

“Mhm?”

“I have an idea. We both need a goddamn break. Let’s ditch our joints today. Let’s go somewhere.” Noah sounds resolute and gentle at the same time.

“Where?” Alice asks, but doesn’t dare raise her eyes to look into his.

“Does it matter?”

“I suppose not. But I’d have to tell Suki, and I—”

He squeezes his arm around her back. “It’s just an afternoon, Allie. We’re all grown up now, we don’t need to ask for permission.”

“But Suki is expecting me to—”

“Suki. Will. Be. Fine.”

Alice takes a deep breath, still nuzzling into his neck. He smells so good. Like fresh laundry, and a hint of cedar, but mostly, he smells like Noah. Like courage, like mischief and promises of an adventure, like venturing into the exciting unknown; like that low thrum of joy in her heart, so familiar, so forgotten. Like home. 

“Flower-spotting?” he pitches, and she’s finally feeling brave enough to draw away and look at him. 

His smile is now so sheepish that it would make any other man seem bashful. It just makes Noah appear boyish and sweet. 

“I’d love to.”

Looking away, Noah runs a hand through his hair, messing up his perfectly tidy spikes, and Alice can see that his palm is trembling, ever-so-slightly. “Remember how we went flower-spotting that one time and I did something stupid that I shouldn’t have done—”

“You kissed me,” she whispers. Was that stupid? Alice’s heart falls; she did not expect it to react with so much intensity.

But then he starts speaking again. “Allie, the stupid thing was, I ran away. So if I—” Taking a deep breath, he finishes, “I’m not stupid anymore. I’m not gonna do stupid things again, because—”

Interrupting him, someone materializes right on the pier in a rustling vortex of pink petals, and then, to Alice’s utter relief, leaves in a haste — right away, without saying a word to either of them or even acknowledging their presence. And yet. So rude. 

Noah slaps his knees, gets up, and offers her his hand. “Let’s go.”

As he pulls her away by the wrist, the way he used to do when they were kids, Alice suddenly understands the cause behind that mysterious anticipation. Why she was waiting for a miracle. 

She remembers now. When the alarm woke her up, she was dreaming of him.

[tobiasdrake]

So I need to meet the pirates at the--

Huh. When we swim, the reflection of our hair in the water makes it look like we're wearing pool floaties. Valere's fades in and out but Zale's is ever present.

Garl, meanwhile, is the most bouyant motherfucker ever to exist. He doesn't even swim. He kicks his legs a little bit to propel himself but he doesn't tread water like Valere and Zale do; He hangs onto his backpack and floats there.

Garl, what do you have in your backpack counterweighting all of that cookware? Tell me your secrets, you unsinkable bouncy man!

...what was I doing? Right, harassing townsfolk.

888 G!? CHOKE ON MY STAFF YOU--

I may have overreacted. And I apologize if anyone was upset by my entirely warranted outburst of violence.

Having been calmly and civilly persuaded to stand down/dragged from the room by Garl and Zale, we are now pursuing an alternative strategy.

The plan was to cook food and then sell it for profit. We are here in the mole mines because we have a merchant at the campfire ready to sell things hot off the pan.

However, we've run into a bit of a snag. That is, after crunching the numbers, we've found that there is no monetary value added to food by cooking it. We can get the same results by selling the raw ingredients. So we trekked up here for nothing.

And after overturning Garl's entire bag into the mole merchant's hands while he pleaded with me to stop, we're still short 50 G.

*deep breath* It's okay. That's on me. It's my fault for agreeing to pursue a peaceful solution, rather than the time-tested and proven standby.

Wanton violence.

It's done. A lot of skulls were cracked to make this purchase happen. Consider it a gesture of my infinite mercy that yours wasn't one of them.

Oh, and in case anyone asks why the Coral Cascades are red now, just tell them it's probably fine and I'm sure it will go back to normal in due time.

I should burn down the dock you're hiding under. >_<

I should burn down this whole city.

You know, where I come from, people weren't this fucking uppity, greedy, and rude. We were a small village with some weird practices but people took care of each other and were respectful of other people's--

Oh shit, people in Brisk leave valuable goods out on their rooftops. I'm stealing everything that isn't nailed down!

90 GOLD to cheat at a rigged spinny wheel game? I just spent nearly every cent I had on Yomara's Eye! What kind of sucker do you think I--

I. Don't. Want to hear it. Zale.

...hey, does anyone remember what we were supposed to be doing in this-- OH SHIT

I was doing my hair.

I still don't know why we're doing this instead of simply trading quest for quest, but okay. Not to brag but I'm pretty sure I can arm-wrestle anybody under the table. And by "I", I mean Garl.

Aww, what a delightfully sycophantic way of saying "I'm the guy with the muscles so this should probably be my job."

You don't need to blow smoke up my ass but I appreciate you all the same, and I agree wholeheartedly. Go get 'em, Garl.

What.

WHAT.

NUH NUH NUH Don't just shrink back down and mysteriously regenerate your torn shirt, I demand an explanation for what the fuck that just was. Quartermaster Broly needs to come clean right the fuck now or I'm going to start hitting every single person here.

Oh. That makes sense. I apologize. Quartermaster Venom, then.

You know, I was wondering how the shirt regenerated but I wrote it off as cartoon shenanigans. I shouldn't have made assumptions about the physics of our universe. That's my bad.

Well, I guess we're going to help you go look for the Vespertine, then. That's fine. I wanted to do that anyway.

Okay, that will be the other wizard. Back when he was cryptically spoiling the plot, Archivist mentioned there'd be two of them that we have to face on this island.

Are they required to accept it? Or do you have to have a pre-existing financial transaction going on, and then you slip it in there like a hidden clause in the Terms of Service that nobody reads?

Does it still count as his ship after his crew mutinied and hurled him overboard? I feel like it's not his ship anymore. You're planning to cheat and swindle him out of his rights to a product he has no true ownership of. That's like buying an NFT with counterfeit currency. Who's scamming who in that scenario?

Bag must be getting pretty tight. You sure you can carry all that, Garl?

Good choice. I wouldn't want to be crammed in with all those people either. We'll come by and pick you up once we're done, uh....

Okay, after that last wizard, I'm genuinely not sure if we need to hit this one with a stick or talk about their feelings. But I have my stick and I have my Garl so I'm all set for either.

I mean. I know technically we're just going there to rob but I'm sure we'll meet the wizard along the way. These things don't tend to go smoothly.

You're pirates; I expect a bit of sleight of hand from people like you. But I appreciate the new minigame all the same.

You should probably go tell Captain Cliche, as I've been informed it's pronounced, that she won't be hearing from us for a while.

[mtaartsdesign]

Happy National Women’s Day! We are celebrating women, especially women artists, today and every day.

Elizabeth Murray’s “Stream” (2001) at Court Sq (E,M,G,7) station and “Blooming” (1996) at Lexington Av/59 St (N,R,W) station are both characterized by joyous bursts of color and flowing imagery that follows riders on their journeys. With depictions of sunshine and rainclouds in the city skyline in “Stream,” and coffee cups and stepping shoes in “Blooming,” Murray’s work romanticizes the daily routine and surroundings of New Yorkers in transit.

Leslie Wayne’s “Neptune’s Garden” (2018) at Bay Pkway (F) station, situated along the route to Coney Island, is a tribute to the ocean’s beauty as well as a reminder of its fragility. The layers of glass panels create texture and a fantasy-like panorama of the sea floor in all its splendor with colorful, organic forms depicting coral, seaweed, and ferns.

Both Murray and Wayne are currently featured in “An Expanded Portrait” at the Parrish Art Museum. Pulling from works in the museum’s collection, the exhibition presents the work of female artists “exploring self-representation and particular manners in which women experience the world.” On view through April 2.

Photos: MTA A&D/Rob Wilson, Dario Lasagni

[chaoticgeminate]

Year of Video Game AUs Masterlist

Welcome to my series combining my love of video games and my love of Pedro Pascal. This is my contribution for the Year of Themed Creation, I hope that you enjoy what I've planned for you! These won't necessarily follow exact plots, some of these are in-universe only, but the theme of each game is the primary focus. So sit back, get comfy, and enjoy my stories and the accompanying playlist~

To enjoy all of the amazing "Year Of Themed Creations" head on over to @yearofcreation2023 where every piece of work is going to be put nicely on the library shelf or framed and hung up on the walls for everyone to enjoy.

January: Marcus P x f!Reader - The Saltwater Room (Raft) February: Pero x f!Reader - Black Vultures (The Forest) March: Javi G x f!Reader - Cloud Nine (Pokémon)

April: The Thief x f!Reader - Wicked Ways (Tomb Raider/Uncharted) May: Ezra x f!Reader - Iodine (Alice the Madness Returns) June: Marcus M x f!Reader - Break In (Coral Island/Stardew Valley)

July: Din x f!Reader - Warrior (Legend of Zelda) August: Oberyn x f!Reader - In the Shadows (Assassins Creed) September: Dave x f!Reader - Apocalyptic (Fallout)

October: Javi P x f!Reader - Misguided Ghosts (Phasmophobia) November: Joel x f!Reader - Tidal Wave (Zoo Tycoon) December: Frankie x f!Reader - Bright Eyes (Spiritfarer)

[godteri-takk]

Blog info + common tags!

So this blog has lotsa different stuff that I like, like art, memes, aesthetics, plushies, posts w info, facts, politics and general discussions, just a typical blog tbh.

Art is my art, and not my art and not my fanart are obvious.

Fandoms/charachters i like the most are (in random order):

Spamton (The tag for my own Spamton plushie is spammy g spam ham, my art of him is spamton fanart)

One Piece

Jojo

Steven Universe

vokaloids (mostly Miku)

Monster High (art and pics of my own dolls are currently all tagged as my mh doll) where each doll has their own tag (for example my frankie doll)

Pokèmon (I have a tag for pokemon plushies)

Animal Crossing

Donald Duck

Treasure Island

Hello Kitty

Dialtown

ENA ... yea thats enough for this post lol

Tolkien (Hobbit and lotr)

Metropolis (1927)

Other

I love plushies, (my own are tagged MY CRITTER), clowns, weirdcore, webcore, glitchcore and the cambrian age, fashion, music, monsters, vampires, robots, among some.

I have a sona and 2 main OCs, Kation and Coral. Also some memes ig, and LGBTQ+ stuff, important and informative might be worth to check out

asks for me is ask and reblogs of the answer to asks I've sent is my ask got answered yey :)

[random-thought-depository]

Write-up for the Earthlike planet around Alpha Centauri B in my SF setting too, now that I did one for the one around Alpha Centauri A. Again, for now I'm just focusing on the planet itself and leaving history of human settlement for later.

The smaller and dimmer star of Alpha Centauri's central binary, Alpha Centauri B is about half as bright as Sol. Alpha Centauri B's Gaian class planet orbits about .7 AU from Alpha Centauri B, similar to the orbit of Venus in the Sol system; at that distance it gets a little less energy from Alpha Centauri B than Earth gets from Sol.

Alpha Centauri B's Gaian class planet is a relatively small world, with less than half Earth's mass (about .4 Earth masses). It's also less metal-rich than Earth. Being lower mass and less metal-rich makes it less dense than Earth. This works out to it having a diameter of about 10,000 km (Earth's is about 12,700 km) and a surface area of about 330 million square kilometers (Earth's is about 510 million square kilometers, so this planet has around 65% of Earth's surface area). Surface gravity is around 6.4 m/s^2 (.65 G).

Rotation period and axis obliquity are not very different from Earth. The year is shorter because of the closer orbit, and the seasons are correspondingly shorter. The planet has no natural satellites. The atmosphere is thinner than Earth's, but a higher percentage of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide partially compensates for this.

Climate isn't very different from Earth. Pole to equator temperature contrasts are lower as both polar regions are open ocean; the polar regions have only seasonal sea ice caps that more-or-less completely melt in summer. The thinner atmosphere means stronger temperature contrasts.

There is a broadly Earth-like biosphere, but the continental configuration means tropical and wet-subtropical land ecosystems and coral reef analogues basically exist in only one restricted region, and the smaller surface area, smaller land surface, and simple continental configuration means less biomass and less biodiversity. Land animals tend to be on the small side (jaguar to deer size and smaller); there are only a few really big land animal species. The lack of big land animals may be due to long-term climate instability.

There is a single large continent, about 30 million square kilometers (so this planet's surface is about 90% ocean and 10% land). This continent was formed from the collision of two smaller continents, and a complex of mountains and highlands runs north-south along its center, basically dividing it in two.

The eastern side of the continent is watered by rain-bearing winds blowing from the east and southwest and has a relatively wet temperate climate, humid in the south and cool to cold in the north. Before human settlement much of this region was forested, giving way to grasslands in the interior (technically not grass, but a structurally similar and ecologically equivalent organism).

The western side of the continent extends farther to the south, to around 10-20 N (the south coast of the eastern side is around 30 N). The northwest is wet; before human settlement, the temperate and taiga-analogue forests of this region extended from the coast to the slopes of the central mountains. Farther south is Mediterranean climate and arid regions. The southwest is desert, rain in that region being blocked by an extension of the central range that runs parallel to the southwestern coast. The coastal strip on the eastern side of these southern mountains is warm and relatively wet, and this southern range extends out into the equatorial region as a rugged peninsula; the planet's only significant tropical land ecosystems can be found here and on a nearby associated archipelago of offshore islands.

The central spine of the continent is a rather hostile region of mountains, deserts, and highlands. Parts of it are quite geologically active.

There is a large archipelago of small islands in the northern temperate zone (about 30-55 N), trailing away from the continent; these are the highest points of a large submerged highland that is an extension of the continental platform. There is a midocean rift system roughly on the opposite side of the northern hemisphere from the central mountains, but only a few of the very highest peaks of its associated midocean ridge rise above the ocean's surface, and those islands are small. Aside from this, the global ocean of this planet is remarkably devoid of islands.

An older and smaller planet than Earth, this planet shows signs of transitioning into a "stagnant lid" regime in which plate tectonics has "locked up." Most of the southern hemisphere is almost devoid of geologic activity, and millions of years of erosion and deposition have transformed this region into a remarkably monotonous muddy submerged plain with an area of more than a hundred million square kilometers.