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jofdiamonds · 1 year

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The party was coming up.

And that meant, Aki would finally be reunited with his wife.

Airi.

The love of his life, the woman of his dreams. They said that good things came in small packages, but when it came to Airi, that wasn’t true. Whatever beauty was in this world was contained in 1.75 meters of silky skin, honey-blonde hair, full lips that remained rosy even after vampirism had stilled the blood running through their veins and eyes that made you feel as if you were wandering into an abyss, into the unknown. Oh, how his heart ached for her, even if they had been already married for two centuries, and had merely spent a few months apart. Oh, how he desired her, her company, her presence.

Something as simple as her footsteps in a different room. Her voice as she talked on the phone. The excitement of knowing he could make a turn and come across her, bump right into her, kiss her and show her his devotion in any way he deemed…

Now, distance separated them. And it was not a tangible thing, not something he could fight with claws and fangs or a sword or, even using words. He just had to wait.

And, as he waited, he composed a song.

He did that, often, when they were apart. So that his voice would reach her ears (no matter how much he changed his register, she always knew it was him) and she would feel loved. Anywhere she went. Every day that passed.

It wasn’t a matter of jealousy, of claiming property. Aki knew Airi could caress other skin, kiss other lips, and yet, she wouldn’t feel what they felt when they were together. It was otherworldly. And they had this for eternity.

The song that was all over social media right now was called Vampire Heart. In allusion to what they both were; vampires, creatures of the night (but most people listened to it thinking it was nothing but a term to define immortal love). Airi for three hundred years more than him. Age difference would have bothered him back when he had been a human. Now, time was meaningless, vampirism not a curse but a blessing, that had allowed them to be together whereas, if they had led human lives, they would have died without even knowing about each other.

He was sure he would have gone to museums. Seen her face in art. Felt a deep longing. But nothing else, nothing more.

And now, however, he could sing her beautiful words, waiting for her return…

Let me bleed you this song of my heart deformed Lead you along this path in the dark Where I belong until I feel your warmth

Hold me like you held on to life When all fears came alive and entombed me Love me like you loved the sun Scorching the blood in my vampire heart

(...)

Let me weep you this poem as heaven's gates close Paint you my soul scarred and alone Waiting for your kiss to take me back home *

It was since Aki had met Airi that the word love had taken a completely different meaning.

It was since then that he had started to believe in its power, in its strength, in its significance. It was more than obvious for any empaths. They could not look at Airi and him, or at Andrómeda and Laszlo, without realizing the deep bond that they shared, the invisible string that pulled them together. And now, that was also the case for Vessel and Cassiopeia.

The way he caressed her hair, delicately, as if she could disappear from his arms any second, as if he couldn't believe that he was so lucky to have her in front of him. It was different, but perhaps, also quite similar, to the way he had contemplated Airi for an entire day after they had shared their first night together, afraid that if he would close his eyes –if only for a minute, just to rest his tired eyelids– she would vanish into thin air.

Aki didn't think too much about his mother. Not because he didn't love her; quite the opposite. It was because her memory was too painful. A prostitute, he had been raised sneaking in and out of a somewhat fancy whorehouse that claimed to have the prettiest women from all around the world. Exotic ladies brought from places that most men attending the place hadn't even heard about. Asia, India, America…

His mother was a fan favorite. One of the most gorgeous women Aki had ever seen and would ever see. Luscious, straight black hair, so long it reached her lower back, an oval face with slanted eyes. Full lips, high cheekbones. An intelligent woman, who knew her worth, even if most people didn't and liked to play mahjong as a way to pass time.

'One day you will find someone who will redefine the entire world for you. She, or he, will make you feel like your five senses were numbed for your whole life. Foods will taste better, the colors will seem brighter. Smells will be richer. You will find meanings in songs you would have never considered, you will notice feelings that were hiding in melodies. Their skin will feel like the softest fabric and the only thing to bring you comfort…' she had said, before putting him to bed, laying beside him.

He had been in his early fifties when he had finally met Airi. Fifty-seven when his mother had died, He had offered her the gift of immortality many times after turning, but she had rejected it time and time again.

There's nothing for me after this, my son. No hope for other love, no need, either; everything I ever wanted to find I found it in you. Live for me. Love for me. Spend your days and nights devoted to those that make you feel alive, even if you are part of the undead. Don't be afraid. And always carry me in your memory. He was just glad Airi had been able to meet her. It had felt like a ritual, when the wrinkled hand, full of brown patches due to old age, had closed against the pristine, intact, delicate one of his then soon-to-be wife. How his mother's dark eyes had looked into those of the blonde psychic vampire and the older woman had simply smiled and nodded, as if saying take good care of him.

#snippets of the most beautiful story written with brielle <3 #couldn't help but add the part of aki and his mum because #babies i love them #monthlyAU002 #vampy au

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2wards-travelling · 1 year

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Yes, I am still alive and kicking, despite a lack of recent updates, and yes Ann and I are still talking, we'll I say talking its more like shouting or totally silence. Still married though for the time being, despite some stressful travelling. The 13 hour bus ride to La Paz, was one and then the taxi driver saying our AirBnB didnt exist. Finally found it and did the now obligatory City walking tour alongside some thieving Italians, who borrowed money for another trip and the promptly buggered off. There is 20 Bolivian doofers, about £1.75, we wont be seeing again. But as Ann says 'it's the principle'. The highlight of La Paz was the cable car network, metro in the sky, and the Cholitas wrestling show. men and women fighting in a ring, supposedly springing from domestic abuse, when the women started to get their own back on their abusers. More like a cross between Lucha Libre and World of Sport wrestling than WWE. Still, good fun and loads of cheating.

Next was a couple of flights to Buenos Aries, very civilised with a major coffee shop culture, where some of the businesses and buildings have protected status in the Polermo area of the city. Usual walking tour engaged, remembering not to mention the Falkands, as it is still pretty raw to some, even now. pretty much a cultural tour and followed by a tour of the Eva Peron museum. She is still popular today in some areas and there was even a Peronism parade in the streets. We then moved to La Boca area of the city, which is in and around the stadium of the Bombanera. very colourful and interesting, during the day, but amo go areaafter dark. The tour guide pointed out murels of Maradona and celebrations of the hand of God, who is a Boca legend. ( Maradona, not God )However I refused to take any photos of the cheating smackhead ( Maradona, not God ) Sampled Argentinian steak at a so called famous steak house where footballers and other sports stars dine, including Novak Djokavic and there is a signed Man City shirt from Carlos Tevez ( not a man utd shirt in sight ).

We tried to get tickets for the superclassico between Boca and River Plate, but had to settle watching It in a pub full of Boca fans, drums and all. interesting game with 4 red cards and a 96th minute penalty winner.

We spent a day in Colonia in Uruguay rather than Montevideo, just so we could get the passport stamped. Not a bad place really.

The final excursion in BA was on a Goucho day to a ranch, where we went on horseback. unfortunately mine was a bit like all the horses I back. Started at the front then ended up in last place. Not before biting the horse in front who then gave mine a good kick, which also included me getting a kicking too. Again stilll a good day overall with traditional folk music and dancing, fortunately no videos of Ann and I joining in, followed by a dam good BBQ with no vegetarian option.

We have now left BA for Rio on our last organised trip in South America where we did the usual tourist bits including Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Currently in Sao Paulo airport waiting for our connection to Campo Grande and a Jaguar safari in the Pantanal. Both flights had been changed twice before we got to the airport followed by a further change as one flight was cancelled and another would have made us miss our connection here. All seems OK now, however we are not sure if our luggage will be joining us, as it had to be offloaded from one flight and placed on a new flight. All this was carried out by someone. just taking a photo of our original luggage receipts, so our confidence is low in seeing our luggage arrive safely later. Fingers crossed.

I will let you know how we get on in my next post, but you may see us in the same clothes on any future pictures posted before that. bye for now

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herlenebwriter · 7 months

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[REVIEW] SHATTER ME (BOOK #1)

AUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi

GENRE: YA, Dystopian, Romance, Thriller

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★✰☆☆☆ - 1.75 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

───※ ·𓁹· ※───

𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

I tend to not have great expectations for very hyped, very popular books, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I had little to none for this one.

But what I surely didn't expect was having to sit through several chapters of:

•fifty shades of purple prose,

•barely followable internal monologue,

•ridiculous metaphors,

•numbers written in digits,

•interesting non-use of punctuation,

•exhausting recurring repetitions

•and an overwhelming amount of crossed out sentences.

The first 20-something chapters at least were quite literally packed with the aforementioned things. Going through it was almost draining – and I don't mind purple prose. I was rather under the impression that the author was trying so hard to write in a unique way and... well, they tried too hard.

⚠️Now, before anyone comes at me, I know this was the author's stylistic choice aimed to portray a mentally unstable, scared, mistreated, neglected and isolated main character in a 1st person POV. Trust me, I know, and I respect it. Actually, I think it was a great idea! But not quite as greatly executed. Probably just wasn't my cup of tea.

The plot is overall enjoyable, but it's kinda all over the place. The point is lost among the pretentious writing style and romantic sequences. More than 50% of this book bored me to death or caused a crippling "wtf" moment in my brain. The last dozen of chapters was good though. Saved the book from a cold one-star rating.

Characters are as deep as cardboard. No offense to cardboard.

I felt like none of them except the FMC made any progress at all. Not even the love interest that accompanies her throughout the entire book. The antagonist gives me the chills, and not in a positive, intriguing way. He's just insufferable, delusional and a creep.

Other characters are either narrative devices or foil. No mind of their own, let alone characterization. I felt absolutely nothing.

The dystopian worldbuilding is scattered and crushed under the overdose of romance and making out, not to mention it's shamelessly ripped off by dystopians classics.

I didn't dislike this book entirely.

But it's sad that whenever I think about it, all that comes to mind is what it could have been.

Not gonna lie, DNF-ing this book looked tempting for a while. But I still pushed through. I think I deserve a little medal for practicing my commitment.

I'm confident enough I'm going to pick up the next in the series. Maybe to answer some of my questions (hopefully!) or in the hope it'll be better than this one.

If you're still here, hi!! My name is Herlene, I'm a writer working on a fantasy series called "Chronia Chronicles" with my friend @callme-ayu, but I like reading a lot! Consider accompanying me in my first reviewing journey(!!) on this platform that scares me shitless I'm so excited about!!!

Warning: Themes of SA mentioned in the STORY section.

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 - ★★★☆☆ 3/5 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

The story at its core revolves around our female protagonist, Juliette Ferrars, a girl whose touch can kill, in her journey from self loathing to self acceptance. Just that, and it would've been amazing. In fact, if you ask me, that should've been the main focus of the book. Mind you, should've.

Tl;dr: Almost the entirety of the story bored me or I just disliked. The last chapters were good. I feel like the author missed the point of the book with all the romance overload.

↓↓↓

According to the synopsis, the book I was about to read on the blissful day I picked it up should have been a YA dystopian novel about a teenage girl finding her true strenght in a world on the brink of collapse. I said, "Perfect! Introducing teens to the dystopian genre with a self growth plot is absolutely hip!"

Boy I was wrong.

The booktok/bookstagram discussions that made this book popular tended to focus on the romance, but I brushed it off as book girlies obsessiong over attractive characters and making a big deal out of a romance subplot.

They were right.

This is not a dystopia with a touch of romance, this is a romance with a touch of dystopia.

Here lies my only short-lived expectation.

But let's move on. A good 92% of the plot cringed me in ways I didn't believe possible, but also somehow managed to keep me hooked and slightly curious of what might happen. It wasn't good, but neither all bad.

Juliette Ferrars is on the brink of going completely bananas because of touch starvation and lack of human interaction, when they assign her a new, suspiciously-male-presenting, attractive cellmate: Adam Kent.

The insta love + childhood friends to lovers combo between Juliette and Adam is just not it. Insta love with a lot of denial due to unfit circumstances? Could do, but this kind of desperate love at first sight is plain annoying. We spend a ridicolous chunk of chapters witnessing Juliette being weirdly obsessed with his eyes.

“His eyes are 2 buckets of rainwater: deep, fresh, clear.”

And... a bird?

“There will be a bird today. It will be white with streaks of gold like a crown atop its head. It will fly.”

You have no idea how many times she goes on about this bird. In my wildest hopes it would've signified something like freedom, something like the mockingjay in the Hunger Games which symbolized defiance against oppression.

Well, this recurring imagery is never thoroughly addressed or explained any further for the entire duration of the book, aside from revealing Adam has it tattoed on his macho-man muscles, so I'll probably never know.

The two instant-noodle lovers leave the asylum "thanks" to Warner, the antagonist, head of sector 45, attractive, barely an adult, and a mythic, insufferable bitch.

He's obsessed with Juliette and her murderous ability, so he wants to possess her. He brings her to his headquarters (basically a prison with commodities) and puts her through cruel tribulations for another big chunk of the story. For kind of no reason other than... being eViL??

He has clear mother and anger issues, enjoys inflicting pain to others and assert his dominance, with a pinch of delusional and psychotic tendencies. But he's completely smitten with her, so it's okay...? Apparently??

Yes, he's the only real other possibility of romance for Juliette other than Cardboard Guy and I feel like throwing up whenever she admits finding him hot. And obsessing over his eyes, too.

The only chance of conflict between J and A (where she feels betrayed because he's a Big Bad Re-establishment soldier and whines internally) is resolved in a matter of paragraphs and she obsesses over his eyes and muscles all over again.

Oh yeah, turns out he can touch her! And of course we'll never know why!!

What's important is that they can smooch under the shower (after she was put through reliving her traumatic experience by Warner) and plan their escape at whatever chance possible. When Warner isn't being a psycho bitch who shoots people at a whim and tortures/ogles a poor mentally unstable 17-year-old girl, to be clear.

Fast forward to their escape, they beat Warner way too easily, he whines to Juliette not to leave, like a pathetic delusional idiot, and grabs her ankle. He doesn't die.

Good grief. We're never gonna get rid of him.

Adam and Juliette smooch while running from loaded guns and lose their tracks by entering a nuclear field, which conveniently reacts by neutralizing the tracking serum in Adam's body, find a conveniently placed shed with a conveniently stolen tank inside. They smooch some more, Juliette broods about the way Warner desperately called her name and wonders why he's able to touch her, and then they depart.

Whenever they make out, which is awfully frequent, Adam and Juliette have the power to warp the flow of time and slow the pacing of the story down to absolute boredom. UGHHH.

They take shelter in an apartment where Adam's brother James lives.

It's overall a much appreciated, short lived semblance of a normal cozy little life, but it abruptly comes to an end when Kenji, one of Adam's comrades, appears at their door wounded. They let him in and he starts being utterly irritating for at least two chapters, in a forcibly comic-relief kind of way.

It basically cycles this way: Kenji flirts with Juliette, Juliette dismisses him, Adam wants to kill him. All over again. In the most annoying way.

Fortunately Warner's soldiers find them and put an end to this unbearable charade. They run for their lives.

But THIS is where it finally gets better!! This is what saved the book from a one-star rating!! The part that finally managed to keep me on the edge of my seat!!

It happens around chapter 38-40 out of 50. This means over 50% of this book I found lame as hell, but kept reading. Don't I deserve a medal or something for committing til the end?!? /hj

During this part we finally witness Juliette showing her claws and shooting Warner, who by the way literally ASSAULTS HER (this is something I can never forgive like I noticed many others do). This scene was gut wrenching and really made me feel on edge. I was a little put off by Juliette having a positive reaction to his kisses, but I decided to interpret it as having involuntary physical reactions to SA, though aware it's still assault, as may happen to assault victims. To save what's left of my sanity.

Anyway, she girlbosses all the remaining time, punching through steel (literally! it was so cool but I wish it was explained better), saving Adam Cardboard Kent, stealing and driving a car (with no experience and being so bad she aggravates Adam's injuries, which was fun and adorable in a way).

The Omega Point plot twist was very nice, too. Juliette finally has some character development, starting to see her lethal touch as a power she can use for good and not a curse that completely ruins her life.

I wish her development was more gradual instead of blooming late and all at once. Still, it happened (better late than never!) and was satisfying to read.

Now she's ready to fight with the resistance of Omega Point! Loved this finale!

Things are changing, but this time I’m not afraid. This time I know who I am. This time I’ve made the right choice and I’m fighting for the right team. I feel safe. Confident.

Excited, even.

Because this time?

I’m ready.

Conclusions: I was hit with the realization that this last dozen of chapters represented what I would have liked to see in a YA dystopian novel. A girl always treated as a menace realizing her true potential by finding a place where she's accepted and she can put her powers to good use. The romance with Adam fell flat and flavourless, and the most part of the book revolved around it, with some ripped off worldbuilding scattered around it (I'll get to that). Not to add that it's honestly kind of disheartening that the only other option until now is the twisted guy who re-enacted her traumatic experience.

If this book had been more centered on Juliette's evolution and less on her romances, would its point have stood out better?

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 - ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

What can I say? There were a only a few prominent characters and none of them developed over the course of the story.

Unless you're James Joyce and you've decided to write Dubliners, the one principle of modern prose is that a character should reach the end of the story DIFFERENT from they way they were at the start. All of the trials that they face in-between are the reason why they change into something new.

Only one out of these characters reaches the end slightly changed. And that character is

•Juliette Ferrars

Starts out as a scrawny, socially awkward and mentally unstable 17-year-old. Neglected, mistreated and ultimately abandoned throughout all her life because of her lethal ability, it is understandable why she hasn't been able to develop the security we like to see in a female protagonist; on the contrary, she has only ever learned to despise herself as the monster everyone perceived her as. Especially after the traumatic experience of unwillingly killing a child.

She's extremely touch starved and internally conflicted because of the contrasting nature of her power and her needs. Maybe that's the reason why she clings to Adam in an unhealthy way. He's both the only person who can touch her and the only person who ever saw something good in her. For the most part of the story, she's dependent on him and his every little reaction. She needs to be wherever he is, otherwise she feels like dying or panics.

For example, when they reach Omega Point and the healers bring Adam in on a stretcher, she suffers a panic attack because she HAS to know where they're taking him and HAS to be with him at all times.

Only towards the end she shows some guts and self confidence, which was disappointingly fueled by needing to save Adam rather than herself, and only at the very end she finally accepts herself with her power.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I try to tell him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” But he’s not listening and I’m wondering when I became a motivational speaker. When I made the switch from hating myself to accepting myself. When it became okay for me to choose my own life.”

But the crucial thing she doesn't grow out of, is her codependency from Adam. If we consider this, she never actually had any real change, and her evolution is only on a superficial level. She changes her mindset about her ability and finds a new born purpose into fighting the Re-establishment, but still depends on Adam to feel like she deserves to live.

Speaking of Juliette, what is her power all about?? From what I could gather: if she touches a person skin to skin, she quickly drains the life force out of them; but if she wears clothes over her body or someone touches her without skin contact, nothing happens. Which begs the question: what was the fuss all about?? She was dangerous, sure, but even her own parents were afraid of her and refused to touch her, while it was THAT easy.

It is hinted that she can use the life she absorbed to augment her strenght (when she smashes through concrete and plexiglass and steel), but since she can't control it, it only happens when she's feeling strongly about something. But when she smashes through steel to save Adam, she hadn't touched anybody in days other than him, who's immune.

She's the only one able to break the bond with her victim, but somehow Kenji manages to break free when she touches him during a panic attack.

Her powes are never explained clearly or even consistently represented, but I hope in the second book my questions will be answered!

•Adam Kent (aka Cardboard Cutout)

Plain at the beginning, plain at the end. Hasn't got the faintest hint of development throughout the whole book. A cardboard cutout would have deeper personality.

There's literally nothing special about him apart from adoring Juliette, praising Juliette, loving Juliette, fussing over Juliette, having blue eyes, tightening his jaw and combing a hand through his hair. Oh yeah, and being tatted and muscular.

He never really had a personality or purpose other than being Juliette's faithful standard partner and I feel like this is the main reason why people, including me, disliked him or never felt connected or anything to him.

But hey! At least he's not a crazy bastard like

•Warner

The most unbearable disgusting motherfucking villain I've ever had the chance to read. Everything about him was either irritating or discomforting.

He's a disgusting mush of red flags slapped on a young attractive face and a mellifluous way of speaking. Wattpad material man.

And the worst thing, the worst thing is that the author herself bends over backwards to support him. He's her damn favorite character and she wants him to end up with Juliette, and IT SHOWS.

Let me just list some of the red flags I remember:

🚩Is obsessed with Juliette

🚩Treats her like his possession

🚩Doesn't care about her opinion

🚩Is delusional

🚩 Everything has to go his way or else, it's giving rich kid mentality

🚩Clads her in skimpy dresses like a damn Barbie

🚩Ogles her every time he has a chance

🚩Made her touch one of his own soldiers and nearly kill him to satisfy his morbid curiosity

🚩Always tried to encourage the worst and most twisted side of her, finding pleasure in convincing her to embrace monstrosity and violence, and all of that to feel less lonely?

🚩Wants her to touch him because he wants to know what it feels like TO DIE?!? This is more like concerning btw. The only thing that makes me mad is that, he didn't know he was immune when asking for that, so he would willingly burden her conscience with another death. That's just twisted. I don't see the love or care in that.

🚩Made her relive the trauma of killing a child by locking her up in a spiky torture chamber and having her try to save a toddler with her bare hands, resulting in nearly killing it three times and traumatizing her all over again!!

🚩Killed a man in cold blood in front of her to show dominance and power

🚩Was on his way to torture the only person she cared about

🚩SA'd her!!! What are we even arguing about?!?

Positive traits:

✅Is handsome

✅Is young

✅Is certainly more interesting than Cardboard Cutout and Random Comic Relief

✅Didn't assault Juliette in her sleep

✅Fed her real food

✅Did something even measly attractive so he's excused of all his shit

I'm not into dark romances and it shows. My standards are too high. Or are everyone's too low?

Anyway, there is nothing in the world that can make me forgive him. I don't know what's worse, him or Adam. I already know the author wants to have him end up with Juliette, it's pretty clear. She even made him conveniently immune to her touch!! And the booktok discussion is all about those two, so...

•James Kent

(literally so unimportant I can't even find arts of him)

Adorable baby who's just here to show there's still hope for this rotten world and give Adam a figment of purpose and personality other than Juliette.

It's not like he has any personality of his own other than being cheeky or adorable and having nightmares. He's cute though and managed to give me some rest among the pitiful worldbuilding situation and Adam and Juliette constantly making out.

•Kenji Kishimoto (aka Random Comic Relief)

Comic relief character. Was painfully irritating upon his introduction, but I started liking him more towards the end.

His dialogues are standard chill guy character, but I wouldn't mind if he avoided saying "bro" 843837 times in a sentence. Or talking about the MC as if she isn't there.

The other characters were foil. Nothing particularly remarkable.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 - ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

Pollution, corruption and hyper exploitation of our resources finally took a toll on our world when the cattle gets sick and dies, birds go extinct, crops wither, the clouds change colour and the seasons are all over the place! Starving is all the rage these days on Earth! But do not fret, the Re-establishment is going to take control and make everything all right again!

Except they only took control by leveraging on the fear of people. Basically conquered the entire world and divided it in sectors. Kept the resources to themselves to live an opulent life, while said people either starve or carry out logorating work. Food is chemically made in labs and has zero taste or nutritional values. Anyone not acting like a robot is locked up or killed by the Big Bad Government™.

Standard grey-coloured dystopian worldbuilding based on elevating existing issues of our time to the point of no return, and by that raising some awareness. Good job, author!

Too bad it's barely visible under the romance.

And it's a rip-off of "1984" by George Orwell and "Fahreneit 451" by Ray Bradbury. Making a new, government-friendly, limited English language which has to be spoken all over the world (God forbid linguistic diversity) and burning down books? Yeah. Heard of it.

“They’re destroying everything,” Adam says, and his voice is suddenly a solemn sound in the silence. “All the books, every artifact, every remnant of human history. They’re saying it’s the only way to fix things. They say we need to start fresh. They say we can’t make the same mistakes of previous generations.”

This trivia is recounted by Adam in the cell to horrify Juliette a little. Never brought up again and obviously never shown in the world around them.

Because they never really set foot in the outside world and interact with anyone of the common folk, who might be the only ones influenced by these changes. They're either isolated, or on the privileged military grounds, or in the rebellion headquarters. It never really affects them.

Lore is thrown here and there by Juliette completely changing her internal monologue language register, like the Lorax possessed her or something. Or by indirectly reported speech of other characters. No show, too much tell.

I wish it had a greater role in the story, rather than providing mere background.

𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 - ★✩✩✩✩ 1/5 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀

Last but not least, the borderline purple prose! The only part of this book I outright disliked and the reason for my almost-DNF.

Tl;dr: purple prose so bad it might as well be baroque poetry

It's packed with metaphors so forced they just look ridiculous. Sometimes they don't even make sense. Baroque poets would like to welcome author into their circle, but thank goodness they're dead!

Allow me to provide some examples:

Forever. “I don’t know.” A mechanical sound creaks/groans/cranks in the distance. My life is 4 walls of missed opportunities poured into concrete molds.

(...huh?)

I only know now that the scientists are wrong.

The world is flat.

(...flat earthers representation?)

(cont'd) I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I’ve been trying to hold on for 17 years. I’ve been trying to climb back up for 17 years but it’s nearly impossible to beat gravity when no one is willing to give you a hand.

(wait until she hears of the pac-man theory)

His lips soften into a smile that cracks apart my spine.

(girl are you okay???)

I blink 1,000 times in the blackness. “You have to take them off.”

(this is not a metaphor but it doesn't make any sense either way)

These words are vomit.

This shaky pen is my esophagus.

This sheet of paper is my porcelain bowl.

WHAT???? THIS IS JUST DISGUSTING I JUST PICTURED IT UGHHH NO. like i get what you're trying to say but THIS IS JUST NOT IT

I always wonder about raindrops.

I wonder about how they’re always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end. It’s like someone is emptying their pockets over the earth and doesn’t seem to care where the contents fall, doesn’t seem to care that the raindrops burst when they hit the ground, that they shatter when they fall to the floor, that people curse the days the drops dare to tap on their doors.

I am a raindrop.

And here, YES again I get what she's trying to say, but the comparison is ridicolous. Raindrops "tripping over their own feet"? "breaking their legs"?? Two entire paragraphs to say she feels abandoned?

I don't know... it just feels unnecessarily full of these metaphors for literally nothing at times. She uses a different set of metaphors to describe Adam's eyes and later Warner's, or every little thing she sees. Maybe I'd even find it beautiful, if it weren't so frequent and uhh... weird.

The numbers written as numbers are a book pet peeve mine. Dates, big numbers, that's fine. But if you know how to spell the word "four" why would you write "4"? Did anyone even edit this???

In one of these, she uses SLASHES?!?!? THIS IS NOT EVEN STYLISTIC

Punctuation is almost completely absent in the flow of thought sequences, making them even harder to follow than they already are. Also, they mostly happen whenever Juliette receives male attention or panics. Both of which happen frequently throughout the book.

Luckily, these things somehow gradually decreased after the first twenty-ish chapters, when Juliette leaves the asylum. So it was more bearable to read until the end.

----

Congratulatuons! You've reached the end of my first lenghty dissection of Shatter Me! This is the first of a series of popular booktok books I want to read for the sake of knowledge. If you liked long, honest reviews with a vein of sarcasm, consider following me on social media!

INSTAGRAM

GOODREADS

TIKTOK

TWITTER

I wish you lots of nice reads! ♥︎

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quahogchowda-blog · 8 months

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Update... Omgosh... My whole house smells so good right now... Once the rolls finished rising... I brushed with egg... Sprinkled with more cheese... Added a few extra slices of Jalapenos to each roll... Soooo soft and yummy... I would say this is a success... Not quite spicy enough for me though... Next time I'll use some Habanero's too. But still very good. I really love the crispy cheesy bottoms. I will type up the recipe and add it later... 😍

Recipe added....

1.75 cups warm water

6 T. Whipping cream powder

2 eggs

.5 cup sugar

8 cups white flour

1 cup wheat flour

3 teaspoons yeast

1 1/3 cup sourdough starter

2 teas salt

1 cup butter

Note: I do not pack my flour tight into the cup. Liquid measurements can vary depending upon the thickness of your starter and the actual weight of your flour. But then again this is what makes us rebels. Lol. No scale.

Also: I warm my flour up before use. 1.5 minutes in the microwave... stirring every 30 seconds. Trust me this helps a lot where proof time is concerned. Especially when your house is cold like mine.

Mix all ingredients except the salt and butter. I used KitchenAid. I used the low setting #1 just until most of the flour is incorporated and #2 for approx 8 minutes. Until mixed well and no longer sticking to sides of bowl. Please KNOW that this is a LOT of dough. Borderline toooo much for the KitchenAid. But I always make it work by stopping and pushing dough back down often.

Add salt then mix for another minute or 2.

Add butter and mix until completely incorporated.

Note: The dough will be VERY soft and tacky... but should not be too gooey and too sticky. It should hold its shape a bit when you dump it out of the bowl.

I dump the dough out onto oiled counter and cut in half.

Knead each half briefly just to form into nice balls. Place each into an oiled bowl. Cover and let rest 1 hour or until doubled.

Roll into logs and place in loaf pans. I used 1 extra large 1000 gram pan. But this would make 2 - 1000 gram loaves or 4 regular sized loaves without a problem. Allow to rise again until at least doubled. This took about 50 minutes.

Score top if you choose. I did one long slit down the center.

Preheat oven to 425°. Place loaf pan in oven. Immediately turn heat down to 375° I baked this one large loaf for 46 minutes. I am not quite sure how long it would take to cook a regular size loaf.

I baked until bread registered 206°.

Note: if you do not have whipping cream powder or powdered milk replace the water using whatever milk you have. Whether it's cow milk... goat milk etc... 😍

For the Jalapeno Cheese rolls...

I used 1/2 of this batch of dough... Patted it into a rough rectangle shape approximately a half an inch thick. Divided into 12 pieces... Sprinkled liberally with jalapeno chunks and shredded cheese. I used three large deseeded jalapenos... but I have no idea the amount of cheese. Formed into balls. Placed on parchment covered baking sheet equally spaced. Let rise for at least an hour. Was probably a bit longer because I had my loaf of bread baking and I had to wait for that to be done. Brushed with scrambled raw egg. Sprinkled with more cheese and added a few slices of Jalapenos on top. Baked at 350° for approx 35 minutes. Final temp of baked roll was 208°.

#Sandwich Bread #Jalapeno Cheese Rolls #Sourdough Hybrid Dough

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exoticwinespirits · 8 months

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For this reason, we will talk about Exotic Wine Spirits, the most reputable retailer in Washington, D.C., in this post. We are a one-stop shop offering the best home delivery of liquor. We will also discuss some of the store’s best-quality alcoholic beverages. So tune in to find out about one of the rarest single malt scotches available.

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Learn more about Good Single Malt Scotch

A good single malt scotch represents a rich texture with intense barely taste. Among all the options we have, some are the exceptional and worth checking out. Lets study the unique characteristics, region, and profile of this selection of single malt scotch.

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Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Matured is an elegant example of what a good and enriching scotch is, with its distinct invigorating and fruity characteristics, it also has a hint of mix bourbon and sherry casks. The aroma of Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Matured will remind you of christmas. The Smooth palate with honey, caramel, orchard, orange with a finish of plain chocolate and raisins makes it an excellent choice for you.

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This 10 year old enchanting Islay scotch is famous for its bold and smokey features. It is a potently smoky combination with notes of smoked meat, iodine, and brine and a smidgen of citrus tang and vanilla sweetness. Strong, smokey whisky enthusiasts appreciate this expression because it reflects the character of the rocky shoreline scenery of Islay so well.

Scotch Whisky Ardbeg Uigeadail Islay Single Malt

Area: Islay Ardbeg Uigeadail is another excellent product from this distillery in Islay. This is a non-age-statement whisky that combines Ardbeg’s strong pettiness with barrel maturation in sherry. A potent and multifaceted dram, it has notes of dark chocolate, dried fruit, and a smokey, herbal quality. Uigeadail is often acclaimed for its richness and complexity, making it a must-try for visitors seeking a unique Islay experience.

#good single malt scotch #top rated single malt scotch #best place to buy whiskey online

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thewickedharlot · 1 year

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Today we will be taking a look at the various couples in Hollywood to give them a rating. Keep in mind, we're using "couple" loosely. Some of these are exes, situationships, etc. The rating will be out of 10 with points in the following categories loyalty (1), attractiveness (2), power couple (2), compatibility (2), individual personalities (2), public cuteness (1).

MATEO AND VINCENT -

loyalty - There have been no signs that either of them have been disloyal, nor that either of them are the type. Full points. attractiveness - They're both very attractive and look good together as a couple! They'll get full points. power couple - Mmm.. I'm gonna be honest. I'm not sure about this one? Mateo isn't really in the public eye outside of singular reality tv stunt. We'll give them 1 point in this category. compatibility - We don't know that much about them as a couple, but there have seemingly been no hiccups. individual personalities - They both seem as sweet as sugar, so we'll give them full points for this. public cuteness - Mmm. Unfortunately, I'll be the stickler. In the past few months, we haven't seen a ton of public interaction between the two of them, so we'll give them .25 in this category. OVERALL SCORE - 8.25/10

OLIVIA AND ROMAN -

loyalty - We have zero faith in the ability of Olivia to be loyal to anyone. So we'll give .5 points because we think Roman could be. attractiveness - Unfortunately..Liv.... We'll give 1 point in this category. power couple - We're hoping that Olivia fails sometime soon, and Roman has just started releasing his own music. We're not sure about this one.... .5 again. compatibility - Yeah, no. individual personalities - Roman seems great! public cuteness - Roman doesn't post much on social media, but she posts pictures of him from time to time. OVERALL SCORE - 3.5/10

LOLA AND SCOUT -

loyalty - Its hard to imagine these two as super loyal, when it seems like maybe there are some break ups in between? We'll give half a point because this time together has lasted for a while. attractiveness - They're a very attractive couple! power couple - They're so new to Hollywood...what power? No part of them gives off ambitious bad asses in power. They give off more..college students letting loose. Zero points. compatibility - This one is tough. We'll give them a one. individual personalities - We're gonna be honest. I don't know that much about them, but they seem relatively likeable. We'll give them 1 point. public cuteness - They post cute stuff together occasionally, but not super frequently. We'll give them .5 for looking so cute on tour together. OVERALL SCORE - 5/10

SEBBY AND MARGEAUX -

loyalty - This one is a toss up. Haven't there been some...rumors? Some...uncertantiy at the beginning of their relationship..? That didn't set them off in a good foot in this category, but we'll give them half a point. attractiveness - Sebby's looks are up for major debate. Margeaux is pretty, though, so she'll get one point for them. power couple - This is another one I'm torn on. They're obviously famous in their own regard, but its hard to really define them as a super huge 'power couple'. We'll give them 1.5 because once you curbstomp someone, you start to lose a bit of credibility. compatibility - They're very compatible! They get full points here. They seem very in love. individual personalities - Again..up for debate. The consensus is that Sebby is a really nice guy, but that Margeaux...maybe isn't as much. We'll give them 1 point for their efforts. public cuteness - While some of their stuff can be on the edge of cute and obscene, they do post the most about each other. So we'll give them .75, with the .25 cause some of it is just..ick. OVERALL SCORE - 6.75/10

BONNIE AND FLETCHER -

loyalty - Is this still a touchy subject? We're gonna go with 0. attractiveness - Mmm. I'd say they're...fine? They're both clearly attractive people, but they scream very much 'standard cute couple'. We'll give them 1.75, because it is a bit generic. power couple - I mean..son of Amazon, but she pulls the points back again. We'll give them a 1.75. compatibility - This one..again.. Its hard to tell because there's been so much fighting and so many problems. We'll give them a 1 for this because they're working it out for a reason (and lets hope its just not because of the trust fund). individual personalities - This one is a bit of a rough one because they've been in such a rough patch, but Fletcher seemed fairly nice? We've had less public interaction with Bonnie, but we'll give them 1.5 to be nice. public cuteness - They are fairly cute sometimes. They post lots of pictures together, so we'll give them the full point. OVERALL SCORE - 7/10

AXEL AND SAINT -

loyalty - They seem very loyal to each other without issue. I guess maybe we COULD dock them .25 points for time they broke up, but we won't. attractiveness - I guess it depends on your tastes. Their looks go well together, so we'll give them the points. power couple - For some reason, I refuse to say that Axel could be apart of a true power couple. Saint has some pull with Austin, but for some reason they - as a couple - just don't scream POWER COUPLE to me. We'll give them .5 points. compatibility - They seem fairly compatible, so we'll give them the points. individual personalities - This..you know. Axel seems nice enough, but Saint doesn't exactly seem super agreeable? We'll give them 1 point. public cuteness - Axel likes all of Saint's photos, but Axel likes everyones photos. We're gonna go with a .5 here. OVERALL SCORE - 7/10

AUSTIN AND ESSENCE -

loyalty - These two seem fiercely loyal to each other. So we'll give them the full point. attractiveness - They're a fairly attractive couple, but they just don't look like they would be together. We'll give them 1.5 points. power couple - They definitely have full power couple vibe. Clothing, label owner, acting, all of that. compatibility - I'm sorry. We've gotta wonder what these two talk about? They're clearly compatible to a point, but...what do they talk about?!?! We'll give them 1.5. We're taking away .5 for our confusion. individual personalities - We love the both of them so much! Lovely! public cuteness - Have you seen Austin's bio? OVERALL SCORE - 9/10

#mateo levine #vincent barlowe #olivia bennett #roman rizvi #lola ackerman #scout caulfield #sebby jones #margeaux jones #bonnie astor #fletcher astor #axel parrish #saint harper #austin harper #essence woods

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maaikescookingblog · 1 year

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Cheese-onion bread

source

Materials

Bowl for mixing the dough, and possibly extra bowl for rising

Clean hand towel for rising the dough

Plastic foil for covering the dough at the end

Oven with baking sheet

Extra olive oil and flour

Parchment paper

Ingredients (for 1 lunch aka 2 pieces, which is 1/4 the original recipe)

Dough

Flour, 125 gr

Salt, 2 gr

Instant yeast, 0.5 tsp or 1.75 gr or a quarter packet

Water (handwarm), 75 ml

Olive oil, 0.5 tbsp (so 1 to 2 tsp)

Toppings

Onion (cut into half rings), half a yellow onion or less

Cheese (grated) (young or old, whatever you want), 75 gr or however much you like

Method

Dough: pt. 1

Mix all the ingredients for the dough and knead for at least 10 minutes, by hand or with a stand mixer.

Grease a bowl and get a clean hand towel. Form a ball of the dough and add it to the bowl, cover with the towel and let rise for at least about 1 hour in a warm place that has no draft. The time doesn’t matter, as long as at the end the dough is 2x as big as it was. (In the winter, next to the radiator is a good place) (or put it in the oven on the lowest temp it will go. I have a keep-warm option that’s probs about 50ish C that I use)

Dough: pt. 2 (and toppings)

Divide the dough into 2 even parts. For each, roll it out on a floured surface until its an oval shape. Add parchment paper to a baking sheet and place the dough on the parchment paper.

Slice the onions in half or quarter rings and grate the cheese. Add some of the cheese on top of the dough, then the onions, then the rest of the cheese. Try to make sure that the toppings reach the outsides too, otherwise you get an empty crust, just like pizza. (Unless you like the crust part of pizza’s, which I don’t).

Cover the whole baking sheet loosely in plastic foil (to keep the dough from drying out too much). Then let it rise another hour or so, again in a warm place without draft. (If you’re doing this overnight, make sure you wrap the baking sheet air-tight. And let it rise for a 10 minutes or so before moving it to the fridge).

Baking

Preheat your oven to 220C and bake the bread (after removing the plastic wrap) for about 25 mins until golden brown.

Let it cool down on a rack and serve half warm or at room temp.

Notes and tips

When making dough with yeast and salt, try to not let those two touch each other without the buffer of flour between them. The internet tells me the salt kills the yeast, which makes the whole rising process harder. What I do is measure the warm water, add the yeast, stir for a bit to dissolve it. Then add all the other wet ingredients (in this case, oil) and mix, after that add all the dry ingredients. Sometimes I weigh them in a separate bowl and mix the salt and flour in that bowl, so I can yeet all of that into the wet yeast mixture. Other times I add the flour first and mix a bit, and then the salt.

This is the recipe halved, because the original had 500 grams of flour and that makes so much bread. We don’t eat that much bread so I halved it.

The original recipe also said to divide the dough made with 500 grams of flour in 2, this version says to divide the dough made with 250 grams of flour in 4, making the end result about 4 times smaller. But, these ones are more like the size you’d find at the supermarket (AH, Jumbo, etc)

The first time I made this was with garlic added as a topping, and some black pepper. The pepper was kinda overpowering, so the second time i left both out

The second time I made this, I tried rising the dough in the fridge, because the internet said I could. Also because I started making this at 21h and wanted to go to bed kinda on time. I put it in the fridge overnight for the Dough: pt. 2, but it did not rise that well, it was kinda flat when it came out of the oven and tasted different. I think it would have been better to let it rise as normal, then put it in the fridge overnight. This way it would have risen better, and I still would have had warm cheese-onionbread for breakfast.

#bread #lunch #baking

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eurotir · 2 years

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Why Use A Moffett Delivery Service?

A Moffett truck is a small, maneuverable truck mounted to a truck and frequently used in tight spaces. It is named after its inventor, Robert Moffett, who developed the truck in 1986. Moffett trucks are often used in urban areas where space is limited. They are also commonly used in warehouses and other industrial settings. In this post, we will discuss the benefits of using a Moffett delivery service. Let’s dive in. • Reduces costs You’ll need employees to load and unload the pallets when shipping goods using a truck. Only the driver is required to do the job when using a Moffett truck. Once the driver parks, they can load and unload the items to the trailer using the Moffett. This means you will save the money that would have been used to hire extra personnel. • Reliability One of the main benefits of a Moffett is its reliability. A Moffett is small in size and can fit in tight spaces. You can also comfortably carry goods using Moffett trucks on uneven terrain. These trucks can easily manoeuvre places that are considered restricted grounds. This makes Moffett trucks ideal for making deliveries to various locations. • Ensures safety Moffett trucks were designed to make it safe for employees to load and unload trucks. There have been many cases of people getting hurt while carrying items to or from a truck. Cases like these are common when heavy objects are involved. When you use a Moffett truck, you do not need to hire people to do the heavy lifting. The forklift can carry heavy items so there is no risk of anyone getting hurt. Remember, this will also boost productivity as Moffett trucks won’t need breaks. • Durability Moffett trucks are lightweight and durable and this increases their versatility. They can carry items up to 1.75 tonnes, meaning they can carry pallets of virtually any weight. Keep in mind that these tiny trucks can move in all directions, making them suitable for operating in a wide range of locations. As you can see, Moffett trucks provide numerous benefits. If you have never use a Moffeettt truck to move your goods, now is the time to do so. Top-quality Moffett delivery Service in the UK Jeavons Eurotir is a leading Moffett delivery service in the UK. We have been in the haulage business for more than four decades and have the experience and expertise you need. All our drivers are trained to use the Moffett so you can be sure your items will be handled well. Our fleet can transport goods to any part of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Contact us today if you need a Moffett truck delivery service.

#Moffett Delivery Service #UK #JEAVONS EUROTIR

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kingbabydollbilly · 2 years

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Arcade Nights (Kim Seokjin x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Jin and Y/N spend their night under neon lights, surrounded by the sounds of lasers, coins, and music.

Word Count: 762

A/N: A little blurb that came to mind after seeing this moodboard by @ruminationnn

“Take that, you evil goblin!!” Y/N shouted, pointing her gun controller at the screen on the arcade machine in front of her, each shot racking up hundreds of points, adding to her already high score.

“How are you so good at this game? Should I be worried about how skilled you are with a gun?” Jin chuckled, watching his excited girlfriend master her game.

“Only if you’re a nasty green goblin.” She giggled, hanging up the controller back onto the rack for the next person.

“Come on, Y/N, have you seen me? Worldwide handsome.” Jin dramatically ran his fingers through his hair.

“Oh, shush, you.” Y/N poked a finger into his chest. “Let’s go grab some pizza slices, if I wait any longer for food, I’m gonna pass out onto the floor. And from the looks of it,” She glanced down onto the black and neon green carpet beneath her feet. “if I did that, I would be picking popcorn crumbs out of my hair for a week.”

“At least you would have food for the week.” Jin joked.

Y/N rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the smile forming on her face. She quickly turned towards the direction of the arcade cafeteria, her pastel blue and white gingham skirt twirling around her from the speed of her movements. Jin simply watched her in awe for a moment before catching up to her and following her.

Upon reaching the front diner style counter, Y/N took a seat on a neon green leather stool in front of it, Jin sitting next to her.

“Are you sure you still just want pizza?” Jin questioned her, noticing how wide her eyes had grown once she realized how many options she actually had.

Hamburger $4.25

Hot Dog $2.00

French Fries $3.00

Chicken Tenders $3.50

Pizza Slices $1.75

Milkshakes $2.50

Soda $1.25

“Hmm….” Y/N thought for a moment. “Yeah, just two pepperoni pizza slices, please!”

“Okay, love. Excuse me, miss?” Jin called out to the employee behind the counter.

“Hi! What can I get for you two kids today?”

“Can I please have three pepperoni pizza slices?”

“And a chocolate milkshake!” Y/N added.

“And I suppose two chocolate milkshakes.” Jin laughed.

“Sure thing! Coming right up! That’ll just be….$10.25!”

“Wow, Y/N, you’re expensive.” He teased as he dug his wallet out of his jeans pocket.

Laughter filled the two lovebirds as they battled the grease dripping off of their thick pizza slices onto their inconveniently white t-shirts, strings of cheese stretching out past their limits until they plopped down onto their chins. Each slice of pepperoni covered their taste buds with a delightfully subtle spice. The ice cold chocolate milkshakes they consumed in between bites contrasted the piping hot pizza deliciously.

“Full?” Jin asked, wiping his chin with a napkin, then lightly poking Y/N’s side.

“Yep! Stuffed!” She grinned from ear to ear, showing her teeth.

“Hey, you ding dong, you’ve got pizza sauce on your face.”

Jin took a napkin from his unused pile and wiped the sauce off of her face, chuckling as he did so.

“Thanks!” She leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips.

“See, it’s good that I did that. I would have a face full of sauce right now!”

“You’re silly, Jin!”

“Not as silly as you!!”

As much fun as the couple was having, the night was nearing its end. The pair walked out of the arcade building, hands entwined, the bright neon lights fading the farther they went.

“Did you have fun?” Jin asked, opening the passenger side door for Y/N.

“Yes! I had a lot of fun! We’ll have to come back here. I want to try their chicken tenders next! And see how good the ranch is!”

“All ranch tastes the same.” Jin said loudly as he walked around his car over to the driver’s side.

“It does not!!” Y/N argued.

“It does too! Like water!”

“Oh, don’t even get me started about how wrong you are.”

Jin reached over from the driver’s side and tousled her hair.

“We can continue this debate at home.” Jin placed his keys into the ignition and started the car.

“Home it is! Hey, when we get there, do you want to watch a scary movie?”

“Sure thing, lovebug.”

A perfect way to end a perfect night; scared out of her wits curled into Jin’s chest, laughing when he almost spills the popcorn bowl in his lap from a jumpscare.

#jin x reader #kim seokjin x reader #bts imagine #jin imagine #kim seokjin imagine #jin #kim seokjin #bts #fluff #jin fluff #bts fluff

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harrystylescocktailhour · 4 years

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Lights Up ✨

Oh hello, friends.

This is it. The pièce de résistance. Fine Line is done! Its definitely been a journey, though - I hadn’t expected to start this project so quickly, but when the pandemic hit, it was the kick in the pants I was looking for to bite the bullet and just do it.

Today, we’re taking on my interpretation of Lights Up. I left it for last because I felt it needed that sendoff. It’s sweet, bitter, tart, and uh...it sparkles.

Yeah. Step into THAT light, everyone.

This cocktail is made with all fresh ingredients and does need some prep, but I assure you it’s worth it. If prep isn’t your thing, I will have omissions at the end.

This weeks charity is Fight CRC (colorectal cancer) in honour of Chadwick Boseman, and my own grandfather who had the disease. Fight CRC focuses on providing balanced cancer care information while influencing policy change for the greater good. If you have the means to donate, please consider doing so - and if you cannot, as always: a signal boost would be amazing!

Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me. It’s been fun - and I hope you stick around for HS1! I will take a mini break for a few weeks (but keep your eyes peeled, I may have special things in the works), and be back at it bright eyed and bushy tailed real soon.

And without further ado, here’s Lights Up.

TO PREP

Passionfruit Syrup

4 fresh passionfruits, halved and insides removed

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

In saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Bring mixture to a slow boil. Let it simmer for 5 minutes then turn off heat completely.

Let mixture steep and cool for about an hour in saucepan.

Strain liquid into jar. Do not mash the pods- gently stir in the strainer to help get the most liquid. Syrup will last about 2 weeks!

FOR THE DRINK

1.5 oz dark rum (not spiced)

1/2 oz Aperol

1/2 oz Amaro

1.5 oz passionfruit syrup

3.5 oz fresh ruby red grapefruit juice

1.75 oz fresh lemon juice

Edible glitter. I used Wilton Pearl Dust and please, please make sure you’re using food grade glitter, as anything else is toxic and please don’t put that in your drinks!

Rind of grapefruit, lemon round (for garnish)

In shaker with ice, combine all ingredients and a few pinches of edible glitter. Shake until shaker is cold.

Strain into tall glass with new ice. You should see the shimmer as you pour!

Garnish with the rind and lemon round

AN: this cocktail would also be great as a punch for a larger crowd!

Omissions: You can use a regular tropical fruit juice for this drink (something that has passionfruit, grapefruit, guava etc). It will be much sweeter and a different flavour, but will have the same idea. But, I always say: the fresher, the better!

To make it non-alcoholic: Juice of 1 red grapefruit, 2 oz passionfruit syrup, 2 oz lemon juice, edible glitter, soda water.

And as always: while I am very happy to share my ideas on here: please don’t steal them as your own! Otherwise: enjoy responsibly and send me pictures if you decide to try it!! I track #hscocktailhour!

Happy sipping! 🍹

#harrystylescocktailhour #hscocktailhour #Harry Styles #harry styles inspired cocktails #hs: lights up #tw: alcohol

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lifepros · 3 years

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#13056

Power wash your soiled things at a car wash instead of tossing or replacing them.

I was left a very expensive rug by my grandparents but it was in rough shape after 40 years of heavy foot traffic. I didn't have much money to drop on a professional cleaning or buying a power washer so I brought it to my town's car was, payed $1.75 for 5 minutes, cleaned it, and left it in the sun until dry. Not good as new, but close.

Another time I got a window AC unit from a coworker since they were moving. She had 4 cats in a studio apartment on the top floor. It smelled like cat urine, filled with cat hair and pigeon feathers, and covered in bird poop. I didn't really want that blowing air into my apartment but she was going to throw it away. After playing my friend $8 to bring it down the stairs and use his truck bed to wash it on, I got air conditioning in my bedroom for $10!

(If you wash something electronic like an air conditioner or vacuum make sure its completely dry before plugging it in. I sat the ac unit on a tile floor for a week just to be safe.)

#tips and tricks #life advice #lifehack #life pros #life pro tips

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greendaleshistorian · 5 years

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So... I have a lot of feelings about the scene in CAOS P3E7 between Lilith and Lucifer. The one in Mary's cottage. A lot of indiscernible, chaotic feelings, mind you. But one of them pertained to Lilith and Lucifer's height difference. And in the spirit of science (and spite), I decided to conduct an experiment.

Thanks to @its-a-goode-day for the knowledge that Gillian Anderson stood on a box during the X-Files and to both @its-a-goode-day and @paradox-n-bedrock for the support.

So for some references. I'm... almost exactly Lilith/Michelle's height without heels (1.61m, or 5'3"). Luke Cook is 6'5". So with that in mind... the mission starts.

Please forgive my messy kitchen, this is for science...

I used sticky notes as height place holders.

‐orange is the top of Lucifer's head

- pink would be his nose

- yellow would be his lips

- blue is the top of my/lilith's head without heels

- green, which I add later, would be about Lucifer's eye level

I started out trying to recreate the "wide shot." This involved putting down my closet step stool and standing on it. And even then? It wasn't working. So I put some books on top of those. The orange sticky is a bit above the frame in the picture above, but I did get it in the picture below.

I eventually settle on this (above) for the wide shot. Also, apologies these pictures are not the clearest. I debated getting my camera but I was afraid to drop it. I had to kind of assess the clips, because none of the shots had both actors standing upright AND a straight on angle. So things was the best approximation I had, seeing as my forehead was about at the nose level.

I called it a day for this wide shot and then got more books to try to simulate the height difference shown here...

Where there's a far smaller distance between their general sort of visual, height alignment. So, my forehead at approximate nose level? I understand this visual is heavily skewed but we're rolling with it. Lucifer is leaning down, Lilith is looking up.

At this point, I'm this many books deep. And risking my ankle for this.

So we're getting closer... and I did sort of settle for this seeing as, again, that scene is skewed. I am another inch and a half or so higher in this one than the last, which I'm sure is hard to see.

But the BIG takeaway is...

This blue sticky note has not changed places. It is still about half a foot above the light switch. And it is down by my hand since I'm standing on a step stool with 2-3 books on it and about 1.5-2 inch heels.

Which is... a little ridiculous? And funny in an awkward way.

Final Results?

So to say how tall a crate Lilith/Michelle would have to stand on...?

Wide Shot? About 9.25 inches and 1.75 inch heels.

Close Up? About 10.5 inches and 1.75 inch heels.

#lilith #lucifer morningstar #caos #chilling adventures of sabrina #michelle gomez #luke cook #my post #height difference #tam does an experiment.#anyways #i just #think it's awkward #and hilarious #and picking apart this scene is my way of coping with it #as it does trigger a sort of... past history with height differences with partners #so please don't think i watch this scene just for fun pls

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spine-buster · 5 years

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Alone, Together | Chapter 38 | Morgan Rielly

A/N: Many thanks again for understanding why I couldn’t upload last week. We’re in the homestretch now and nearing the end of the story (only two more official chapters -- eeeeek!). Remember that canon questions are always welcome, and there will be at least four (4) “epilogues”/glimpses into the future.

When Bee awoke to soft, quick butterfly kisses on her shoulder and neck early in the morning of her 24th birthday, she knew she was waking up in her own personal form of paradise. With the comforter draped over her body, the morning sun peeking through the blinds, the strong arms wrapped around her body, holding her close – there was nothing better. She could wake up like this everyday.

Wait.

She did wake up like this everyday. Well, almost everyday.

Morgan’s breath was hot against her neck as he continued to kiss and suck lightly on her skin. She moved her legs slightly and backed her ass onto his already hardening member. He groaned slightly, knowing that she was now awake.

“Happy birthday, beautiful,” he mumbled into the crook of her neck. His voice was sleepy, scraggly, and low. She couldn’t help but smile, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. She turned around to face him.

It didn’t matter that Morgan just had a giant photoshoot and campaign released with RW&Co that saw him looking like a five course meal in a variety of different suits. It didn’t matter that soon she’d be seeing him in suits almost every other night going in and out of Scotiabank Arena. None of it mattered. Her favourite Morgan was here, in bed with her, drowsy blue eyes and messy hair and scruff on his face, his body warm with a cheeky smile adorning his face. This was the best Morgan. This was the Morgan she fell in love with. Not the one situated in front of the cameras, giving answers. Not the one who signed up for sponsorship opportunities with Nike and Hockey Night in Canada and whatever else. Not the hockey player playing over 20 minutes a night. This Morgan. Simple Morgan. The Morgan she saw when they were alone together.

She really was the luckiest girl in the world.

“I love you,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him.

“I love you too,” he responded, leaning in to kiss her again before their lips and tongues were all over one another’s, kissing passionately for what felt like hours before they had to stop to catch their breath.

It was then that Bee brought her hand up, caressing his cheek, her thumb outlining his lips. “I didn’t think…” she began, wondering if she should even say it. She hesitating before deciding yes, she should say it, because it was her 24th birthday and her feelings should be out in the open for Morgan to know. “I didn’t think I was capable of loving another person this much.”

His big blue eyes flashed at her admission. “I didn’t think I could, either,” he admitted.

“But it’s different for me.”

Morgan nodded his head. He knew what she meant. He knew that this was something that had been on her mind for a while, leading up to day, her birthday. He knew that she probably wanted to express it before, but didn’t think she could, or should, because of one reason or another that she told herself. But she did now. “Just think. We have the rest of our lives to feel it. To show it.”

Bee couldn’t help but smile before giving him another kiss. “Show me. Show me right now.”

Morgan was more than ready to oblige. He attached his lips to hers again and moved so that his body was over hers. Luckily, he slept without a shirt that night, so when Bee’s hands began to wander over his chest and back and along his shoulders, he was able to feel her delicate touch and her nails sinking gently into his skin, in the area between his shoulder blades. Almost immediately, his hand wandered underneath her shirt – one of his old shirts, technically – and began cupping her breast and pinching her nipple, causing her to arch her back slightly. In no time at all, he shoved the shirt all the way up, over her head, and threw it behind them on the bed.

With Bee underneath him, Morgan took advantage of the situation by kissing from her lips, across her jawline, along her neck and clavicle, all the way to her breasts, sucking a nipple into his mouth. He heard Bee let out a small gasp, and that was all he needed to keep going. He paid her breasts a lot of attention, sucking and caressing them, Bee’s soft sighs his fuel for not stopping for a while until he was hungry for more. He began kissing his way down her soft stomach, only for her to stop him.

“Later. Later later later,” she mumbled quickly, trying to pull him back up.

“What? Briony--” Morgan was confused. There was no way. No way he was not going to--

“I just want you in me right now. I want to feel you inside me,” she whispered out, her voice frantic. “Please Morgan.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. I just want to feel you inside me.”

Her pulled her pyjama bottoms off before doing the same with his. Bee wrapped her legs around his torso as he hovered over her and began kissing her again – light, airy kisses until she could feel him at her entrance, pushing in slowly. Another light gasp escaped her lips as he bottomed out. “I love you baby,” she whispered in between more kisses, sighing into him as she began to feel him begin to move in and out of her slowly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he replied automatically. He stopped kissing her momentarily to get a good look at her. “Remember the night of the home opener? Karl Marx?”

Bee couldn’t help but smile at the memory. That was the night he tried to seduce her by talking about economics, only to ruin the whole thing and send her into a fit of giggles by mentioning Alan Greenspan. “”Mhm,” she nodded, digging her nails into his shoulder blades again. “You had quite the uprising in your pants that night.”

“Well I’ve been studying more than usual,” he said. “Did you know that a social safety net is essential to the success of any economy, and that Canada should be investing more into public education and healthcare for a more educated and healthier society?”

Bee snorted, much like she did that night. “You sound like you’re running for Prime Minister in October.”

“Oh, it gets better,” Morgan smiled, kissing her quickly. “I finally learned the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Micro is individuals and businesses, macro is the decisions of countries and governments.”

Bee couldn’t help but smile. “You get an A plus, baby.”

Morgan kissed her again, letting his lips linger for a while. “And get this,” he paused for dramatic effect. “Friedrich Engels.”

Bee snorted again, louder this time, shaking her head at his ridiculousness. “What’s the going interest rate settled by the Bank of Canada?” she asked to go along with his ridiculousness.

“1.75%,” he said matter of factly.

Her eyes went wide. “Morgan Rielly!” she laughed, messing his hair with her hand.

“That was an easy one,” he winked.

“You’re just looking for extra credit,” she teased, biting her lip. “As if you making love to me isn’t enough.”

“You know me, always gotta go that extra mile,” he joked, dipping down to kiss her again as he began to move in and out of her steadily, keeping his lips attached to hers.

It was cheesy, and perhaps a bit overused and repetitive thing to say, but as they lay in the bed together, holding each other and kissing and looking deep into each other’s eyes, Bee thought that there was nothing better than making love. The laughing, the jokes, the soft ‘I love you’s escaping their mouths – she loved it all. There was nothing more intimate. There was nothing more soft. There was nothing more that she longed for, that she would long for, when he was gone for the season again.

They came together, naturally, as they knew they would in such a position and with such intimacy. There were more kisses and more bites as they came down from their highs, Morgan collapsing on top of her gently with her legs still wrapped around him. Bee made sure he didn’t move, that he didn’t slip out, savouring the warmth and the feeling of him within her as they regained their breaths, drifting off into a light sleep again, without a care about the outside world.

***

“Can I give you your presents now?”

Bee gave Morgan a look. She had just finished putting on her outfit for the day – “We’re not doing anything fancy until tonight, so keep it casual for now,” Morgan told her, so she opted for a simple scalloped top and jeans – and still needed to decide what to do with her hair. When she looked at him, she could tell he was a bit antsy and didn’t wait to wait. “Let me just put my hair in a bun,” she said, grabbing the elastic from her wrist and putting it in her mouth.

“I’m gonna get them,” she said, immediately shooting up from the bed. She laughed to herself, quickly twisting her hair and securing it tightly with her elastic. When Morgan arrived back in the room carrying two envelopes, Bee couldn’t help the look of shock on her face. It was definitely not that she was expecting more, it was that she was surprised Morgan wasn’t hauling in the entire Chanel store. He warned her he was going to be “a lot”; she told him not to go crazy.

“What’s this?” she asked as he sat beside her on the bed, turning to face her.

“Just a little somethin’,” he wiggled his eyebrows comically. “You need to open this one first.”

“Are you mocking me?” she asked, remembering back to when she told him he needed to open his gifts in a particular order for his own birthday.

“No. Just open it, baby.”

She tore open the envelope delicately to reveal six tickets. When she took a closer look, she noticed that they were for the Saturday, October 26th game the Leafs were having against the Montreal Canadiens. In Montreal. “Tickets to a game?”

“Mhm.”

“In Montreal?”

“Yup. Because I know you’ve never been there. I thought it’d be a good opportunity for you to take a weekend trip there.”

A smile crept its way onto her face. She knew what he was doing. “But…but why are there six tickets?”

“Do you really think I’m going to send you to Montreal and not give the Queen of Montreal herself, Clarette Favaro, and her family tickets as well?” Morgan posed.

Bee’s eyes immediately lit up. “They’re coming too?!” she asked. Morgan nodded his head. “Me, Angie, Mason, Rocco, Clarette, and Josh?”

“You got it.”

“Morgan!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and climbing on top of his lap. She began peppering his face with kisses, mumbling thank you after thank you. She knew her first trip to Montreal would be a memorable one.

“There’s still one more,” he mumbled in between kisses.

“Oh, right,” she remembered, though she stayed on his lap as Morgan handed her the second envelope. She tore it open delicately again to reveal more tickets. This time, it was just one. And this time, when she looked closely at the details, it was for the game against Colorado on Saturday, November 23rd. In Colorado.

“Bumblebee?” Morgan asked softly, noticing that she was taking a bit of time to take in what was before her.

“Am I…” she began, pausing. She looked him in the eye. “Am I going to Colorado?”

“You’re going to Colorado.”

“To visit Ashley and Naz and Naylah?”

“To visit Ashley, Naz, and Naylah.”

Bee hesitated before she put the envelope down on the bed beside them and wrapped her arms around Morgan again tightly. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck before exhaling deeply, trying to contain her emotions. “I love you so much,” she mumbled, her lips grazing his skin. “I love you so so so so so much.”

“I love you too.”

“No, you don’t get it. I love love love you.”

Morgan chuckled slightly. “I love love love love you too,” he said, squeezing her tightly. “Always, Bumblebee. Always.”

She untucked her head and brought her hands up to cradle his face, kissing him again. She didn’t want to leave. She could have stayed in this position and in the moment for the rest of the day. They didn’t need to do anything else. It was only when he moved to stand, bringing her with him, that she yelped and stopped kissing him. “Morgan!” she screamed, giggling slightly.

“C’mon, we gotta go. I gotta take you out for the day. We’re gonna be busy,” he said in between quick kisses.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he said before kissing her again.

She rolled her eyes before looking down at the way his arms looked, his muscles bulging as he held her in his arms. “Jesus, Mo,” she muttered under her breath, her fingertips grazing his skin. He kept up his workout regimen all summer, and while she usually noticed the changes in his body, for some reason, she hadn’t quite picked up on how…jacked he’d gotten. It was like whatever fat he had last year had turned into muscle and she could now reap the rewards. “Can you carry me the whole way there?”

“Carry you?”

“So I can see your muscles,” she looked down at them, causing him to look down as well. “They grew, baby.”

“They better have, I’ve been lifting all summer.”

Bee giggled slightly. “Bro, do you even lift?”

“Do you seriously want me to carry you all the way to the car?” he asked.

“No!”

“I can – if you want. I mean it’s your bir--”

“Oh shush,” she wiggled out of his grasp until her feet were firmly planted on the floor, despite his arms still being around her waist. “Just promise you’ll wear something tonight that shows off that body.”

“You better promise the same thing,” he said, winking at her before slapping her ass.

***

Bee was a little bit confused as she and Morgan arrived at the Eaton’s Centre. As they walked together, Bee tried to think of the possibilities of where they could end up, but she couldn’t think of why he’d bring her to a mall. She was even more confused when he still refused to tell her where they were going. When he made an abrupt stop in front of the Indigo and gave her a look, she was still…well, confused.

“So you brought me to Indigo…” she said, trying to piece the whole thing together. “Why?”

“So you could go crazy,” he said simply.

“Go crazy how?” she asked. She still didn’t get it.

Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle. “You have that list of books you want.”

He was referring to the ongoing list she was curating of all the books she wanted to read and have in her life. Of course, it was constantly changing based on all the new releases. “Yeah…”

“Indigo is a bookstore, Briony. And if you don’t find them here we’ll drive up to Bay and Bloor and get them there. And if not there, we’ll call Yorkdale, Square One…”

She was finally piecing the puzzle together. “You…you want…” she began, doubt somehow still getting the best of her. She took a step forward, but then a step back; her right leg outstretched, waiting to take its step, her body shifting between her two feet, rocking forward and back while standing. She couldn’t move. “You’re…you’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious,” he said. “C’mon Bumbleblee. I know you’ve always wanted to build your collection.”

He watched as a smile crept its way onto her face. Small at first, almost non-existent, then getting bigger and bigger, eventually taking over her entire face. “I don’t…you’re absolutely sure, Morgan.”

Morgan rolled his eyes. “Did you really think your birthday present wouldn’t involve books?” he asked rhetorically. “I am positive. Now go.”

***

The day had been everything that Bee could have ever wanted.

She bought most of the books on her list. Morgan followed her around, holding the books and putting them into a rolling basket and wheeling it to the front cash registers, telling the employees “We’re going to need more baskets”, then filling up more baskets with books and asking another employee “Are there any more baskets?” and filling those too. By the end of it, after the books had all been bought and were loaded, bag by bag, into Morgan’s car, she looked at all the bags overflowing and said “We’re gonna need more bookcases.”

It took most of the day. So when they got back home, they showered for their night festivities. Except, well, Morgan had other ideas. He wanted to use the showerhead for other purposes. And he did. And he also wanted to use his hands for other purposes. And he did. And it made them a little late for dinner at Jacobs and Co, the famous steakhouse, but by only 20 minutes or so. Then after some great steak, and some even better wine, they stumbled their way over to Early Mercy, right next door, where Angie and Mason, Josh and his boyfriend Patrick, Zach and Alannah, Auston, and Fred were waiting to surprise her and dance the night away. Tyler even surprised her with his attendance, and she practically pushed Auston out of the way to run to him and hug him, pulling him to dance with everyone else. And they did. They danced and they danced and they danced, and then they relaxed out on the patio, and then they danced again, and then it was last call, and Auston tried to convince the manager to keep it open, but to no avail. And so they called Ubers, at 2:30 in the morning, and Tyler went to stay with Auston and took an UberPool with him and Fred, and Morgan and Bee took theirs, making out in the backseat all the way home.

It was why they were giggly when they stumbled back into their apartment. Their kisses were playful and soft and quick and airy as they made their way in, but the second the door closed behind them, Morgan’s kisses became hungrier, his hands wandering down to squeeze her ass.

“I love you so God damn much,” Bee mumbled in between sloppy kisses in their kitchen.

“Bedroom,” Morgan mumbled hastily. “Bedroom. One more surprise. Bedroom.”

“What?” she pulled away from him. “One more?”

“One more,” he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her through the apartment. He kissed her one last time before disappearing into the washroom, leaving her alone on the bed, hot and desperate and confused as to what the fuck was going on.

“Morgan,” she begged. “I…what…what do I do?”

“Just wait there,” he called out from the other side of the door.

“Just wait?!”

“Make yourself comfortable!”

“Morgan!” she chastised. “You can’t be serious!”

“Briony!”

“I don’t know what you’re up to in there but it better be good!”

“Oh, it’s gonna be spectacular,” his voice was mischievous. “Get comfortable.”

“Can I start touching myself?” Bee asked in an equally mischievous voice.

She heard a loud thump and something drop dramatically from inside the bathroom, causing her to snort. God knows what the fuck he was doing in there. “No,” he said hastily. “Don’t. This is gonna be all me.”

Bee waited as patiently as she could, listening to Morgan fuss around in there without a clue in the world as to what he was doing and what surprise he was keeping up his sleeve. It was, of course, only when he unlocked the door and pushed it open dramatically did Bee get an idea about what was going to happen. Standing there, he leaned up against the doorframe wearing a perfectly tailored suit. Perfectly tailored. Slim fit, just how she liked. Crisp white shirt. Perfectly tailored. Navy blue. Did she mention perfectly tailored? Because it was perfectly tailored. And when he began sauntering towards her, she could see just how perfectly tailored it really was, with his thighs and his broad, defined chest and his arms threatening to rip the fabric if he flexed even slightly. Bee gulped.

“A promise is a promise,” Morgan said in a low voice, a shit-eating smirk on his face as he saw the blush on Bee’s cheeks. “I promised I’d wear something tonight that showed off my body.”

Bee shook her head at his ridiculousness before she noticed him starting to take out his phone. “If you start playing Pony by Ginuwine I swear to God I’m not letting you fuck me tonight,” she giggled out.

Morgan shot her a look. “HEY!”

“Just get over here, will you?” she beckoned; rising to her knees from her sitting position so she could kiss him. Almost immediately, she stuck her tongue down his throat and tugged at the hair at the nape of his neck, causing him to groan and wrap his arms around her body, still covered in her glittering gold sequined dress she bought especially for her birthday.

Morgan’s hands slipped underneath the fabric, playing with the material of her underwear before he helped her get out of them, dropping them in between them onto the floor. Bee’s hands began wandering all over his chest, over the material of his shirt, not bothering to unbutton it. Eventually, Morgan’s hand slipped underneath her dress again and began playing with the lips of her pussy, causing her to whimper in pleasure.

“You’re already so wet for me,” he mumbled as he inserted one finger.

“It’s the suit,” she winked, biting down on his bottom lip as she felt him insert a second finger. “You have no idea how good you look.”

“Lie down on your back and spread your legs for me,” he ordered, his voice low.

There was a flash in Bee’s eyes as Morgan watched her do what she was told. She kept her eyes on him the entire time as she lay on the edge of the bed. Morgan hooked her legs in his arms and pulled her towards the edge, letting them dangle off the bed. He pushed the fabric of her dress up before kneeling in front of her, licking his lips. “I’ve been thinking about this all day,” he said.

“It’s all yours, Mr. Rielly,” she smiled, watching as he dove in. No pretence, no teasing – just going right for it, his lips and tongue attaching themselves to her pussy, bringing Bee – as always – the greatest pleasure she’d ever known. She ran her fingers through his hair and tugged on it as he continued to lap at her hungrily, squeezing his head between her thighs when the feeling was too pleasurable to handle.

“Baby…baby baby baby,” Bee breathed out as she felt him insert two fingers while he sucked on her clit. “Fuck, Morgan, it’s so – it’s so good.”

“Cum on my face,” he ordered again, knowing she was close. He began curling his fingers inside of her, causing her to squirm, and before long, she was screaming out his name, his face becoming wet with her juices as he lapped up every last bit of her. When he was finished, he began smothering her with kisses, and she could taste herself on his mouth as she kissed him back, wrapping her legs around his torso. He began unbuttoning the white shirt he was wearing, but didn’t get too far before Bee stopped him.

“Keep it on. Keep it on,” she mumbled quickly.

His stopped dead in his tracks. “Keep it on?”

“For fuck sakes, keep it on,” her breathing was heavy, her voice hasty. “Keep it on and fuck me.”

He practically growled as he picked her up, her legs still wrapped around him, and held her in his arms. When he placed her onto their dresser, he felt her hands dip between them and unzip his pants, pulling them and his underwear down just enough to free his hard cock. She began stroking it as he moved to kiss down her neck, pushing the fabric of her dress down to expose her breasts in their lace bra. He pushed the lace down and began pinching her nipples, eventually taking one into his mouth and sucking, twirling his tongue around it.

“Morgan, please,” her breath was heavy. “I want you to fuck me so bad. I can’t wait anymore.”

Morgan pulled her off the dresser, turning her around so her back was towards him, bending her over it. He could see her smile as he pushed up the fabric of her dress again so it bunched at her hips. He teased her at her entrance before thrusting into her in one go, causing her to cry out in pleasure. The smile that played on her lips continued as he moved in and out of her. “Fuck Morgan, that feels so good.”

“You like it when I bend you over like this?” he asked, to which Bee nodded her head enthusiastically. “You like me taking you from behind.”

“Yes.”

“Are you gonna be a good girl for your birthday?”

“Yes, fuck, yes. Yes. I’m gonna be your best girl.”

He tugged at her hair, making her arch her back as he pulled her towards him. He kissed and bit at her neck and shoulder, slipping an arm around her body and grabbing one of her breasts. “I love you, baby,” he cooed, biting at her neck. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” she breathed out. “God Morgan, I love you so much.”

“Did you like your birthday?”

She nodded her head. She was finding it hard to keep a conversation while her back was arched the way it was and he was still pounding into her, with his fucking suit on, but this was the situation she found herself in. “Of course I did. This was my best birthday ever because of you.”

He began walking back, slow enough so he wouldn’t slip out, until he fell back onto the bed, Bee’s body with his. She began riding him reverse cowgirl, looking over her shoulder at him lying there, still in his suit, all dishevelled and ready to be ripped off of him. “Cum with me baby. Are you close?”

Morgan nodded his head. “Bounce on that dick, baby.”

She continued riding him, squeezing his thighs over the fabric of his suit, until she squeezed her walls around him and felt him explode inside of her. She came again, her body shaking from pleasure until she fell back onto him trying to catch her breath. She felt his arms wrap around her. “Fuck Mo, that was so fucking hot,” she breathed out.

He took a few moments to respond – she knew he was trying to catch his breath too. “Never knew this was the possibility whenever I wore a suit,” he joked.

“Well now you know. Every suit you have makes me feel like this.”

“You’re telling me every game day suit I have makes you this hot and bothered?” he asked. Bee nodded her head. “We gotta do this more often.”

Bee couldn’t help but laugh. “Show up in the bedroom with a suit on more often and we just might.”

Morgan slipped out of her slowly, pulling her body to his side, hooking one of her legs over his torso as they lay in bed together, their clothes wrinkled and bunched up. “Do you think about how around this time last year, we were at dbar with Fred and Auston?”

Bee nodded her head. “A lot has happened since then, huh?”

“Mhm,” he mumbled, kissing her quickly. “What a year it’s been.”

“Still in bed together though,” she said cheekily, thinking about how, just maybe a week before that night at dbar, it was their first time together after Morgan had returned from Vancouver. “Some things never change.”

“Yeah, well, I plan to be in bed together all night,” Morgan said.

“Me too,” Bee’s eyes flashed. “Again. And again. I want to go all night.”

Morgan let out a deep chuckle. “Don’t worry baby. I got you,” he said, slipping his fingers into her pussy again.

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lockdownuk · 4 years

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Lockdown Diary Part 10

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online. Day 271: Work was dominated by Qfiniti again, including a meeting with Jon and staff from the States, where I found my self taking control to get the next steps in process (and then, Dave Stewart, the SCCM engineer fucked off and put an OOO message on Teams telling me he’s off until Tuesday (it’s Thursday)...and I am off on Monday!) But, I have to say this project does float my boat. Got a text message and then a call from PCH for another laser eye appt this coming Monday at 12.30pm. I mentioned to the lady that phoned that I will have to square it with work (I won’t, but she doesn’t know that) as I can’t afford to lose my job - it just seems the hospital, while under pressue with the admin and the clinic availability - I get it! - just aren’t seeing the issues for the patients. Plus, Peterborough has been declared a Tier 3 from Sunday under the new lockdown scheme, the highest tier. Great...I really want to travel to a highly infected area! managed to find an online booze shop that does Gordon’s and Famous Grouse and will deliver beforee Chrimbo, so I’ve placed the order for dad and Rita’s gift. I spoke with Dad today, he hasn’t heard about his vaccination yet which is a surprise (he’s in the first draft being over 80)

Day 272: Typing on day 273. Work was that manic shit at the end of the dya when I’ve got time off. I am only off on Moday but still had to tie up loose ends, complictaed further by Jon being off next week and Sueanne off this week and the Qfiniti project! In the evening I only mamaged three beers. I ate too much. Plus my sugars were all over the place and way too high! I ordered a torch a couple of days ago (£17), it arrived today. It takes rechargeable batteries or 3 AAAs. Apparently, to get the best performance (i.e. brightness) you need the rechargeable batteries in it, so i charged ‘em. Fucking hell, I’m glad I did - it’s brighter than the sun. It opens up my late walks in winter, for sure.

Day 273: While it was a very late (but sober) night yesterday (gone 4am before lights out) I was up before midday. Usual walking etc. plus gave the bathroom a clean (albeit with wipes, but I did mop the floor - and used the water to also mop the kitchen). Now I am about to stick a pizza in the oven, plus wedges (to have with microwaveable chip shop curry sauce) and watch This Is 40 which is coincidentally on telly tonight - the coincidence being clips of it are on TikTok a lot right now. I am on my second beer and am going to have a smoke right now as well. Lastly for this entry, I have been using my AudioPro speaker today, it pisses me off it’s not WiFi capable but, thru Bt, it does sound fucking good - revisiting James works very well to demonstrate the speaker’s prowess.

Day 274: I have another Paypal a/c. I have been getting emails to my standard gmail account from Paypal saying they are going to charge me £9 for an inactive account which I have been largely ignoring since my paypal a/c has a specific email address. Anyway, I tried to log in, after a password reset and, hey presto, I do have another one, with £35 in it, having just been fleeced of £9 for the aforementioned inactivity, fuckers. It’s registered with the old Market Place address and phone. When I try to transfer the £35 to my card, it wants to confim it’s me by calling the phone, which I can’t amend. Oh, and you can’t contact Paypal direct. Fuck knows what to do! Other than that, usual Sunday, a tad more relaxed since I have tomorrow off, but not that much now I have an eye appointment in Tier 4 Peterborough (it’s been up’d from tier 3)! Up at 1.30 pm (I watched This is 40 and The Guvners last night with lots of beer), feeling worse for wear but, stair climb and a 6 miler acheived!

Day 275: I was at the hospital for 3 hours. The laser clinic didn’t start until 1.30pm so, why my appointment was at 12.20, not even the consultant could understand. 15 minutes of lasering - horrible but I am used to it. It took so long it pretty much fucked my day off up completely. I got a Christmas card from Karen, in the actual post, so, a mail shot. It’s depressing.

Day 276: Back to work and it’s definitely in wind down mode. I’ve decided to compile a list of things I have done this year. It will be on the postive side, such as all the steps I’ve walked and getting an article published about my photography, but it will also include randon facts like getting bitten by a dig twice and not having a haircut. I’ll get it done so I can post in at new year, hopefully be a little inspiring, a little silly and a lot of showing off!

Day 277: Work, again, was quiet. It’s fucking pissing down now, as I type at 21:50, and has been all day. It’s causing havoc and there’s flooding everywhere. I could walk down St. Peter’s Road tonight ‘cos of it (had to go up New Road, Springfield Road, down Latham Road). Soaked a lunhtime and tonight! With a new variant of Coronavirus, France stopped frieght crossing the border. That’s now been resolved but tyeh back log has/is affecting certain food stocks in the shops, of which, fresh veg might affect me for Christams dinner (I plan to do a chicken breast with stuffing, pigs in blankets, yorkshire pud and shed loads of veg. I’ll nip to Co-Op tomorrow morning and see what’s vaialble. It’s a half day at work ‘cos of Christmas Eve, so I can nip out somewhere in the car if need be, as ong as the flooding has subsided. Or I could just get shitfaced and have burgers and pizza.

Day 278: Christmas Eve. Sueanne let me finish at 11.00am so, very shortly thereafter, off for a walk I went; it turned out to be a stop/start affair - flooding as the Nene had burst its banks, ended up doing more of a circuit round town. Bumped into Andy Smith (and his son) and, after that, Ash and Denise. Ended up doing just under 11.5km in 2 and a half hours.Knackered! As I type, I have a chilli on the stove, beer on the go, all the veg and chicken breast bought with no shortages, as feared, for tomorrow’s lunch and looking forward to eating. getting drunk, smoking, listening to music, watching telly....all over the next two/three days.

Day 279: I don’t even remember going to bed last night. As a direct result I got out of bed at 2.30pm. I couldn’t even be bothered with Christmas dinner, let alone anything else like exercise. I’m just about to have chilli for dinner (it’s 8.10pm). Watch some telly then try an go to sleep before midnight. No booze! I did talk to dad earlier. Day 280: Typing on day 281. A better, more productive day. Up @11.00am exercise and walk as usual, although the walk was a different route due to flooding. In the evening I could hear ‘storm Bella’ raging, so windy! I cooked a christmas dinner of sorts, chicken breast with Thyme, all the veg, roasted spuds and parsnip, stuffing (a first for me, albeit co-op stuffing mix), Yorkshie and pigs in blankets. It was smashing! A few beers and The Hitman’s Bodyguard, alays a fun watch. A better day, as I say, but I am feeling particular deflated this Christmas. Day 281: Typing on day 282. I realised, about mid afternoon, that Monday (tomorrow) is a bank holiday so no work. It was a great realisation but, also, worrying that it dawned on my like I’m an old person! Nevertheless, a nice long walk - bumped into Baz & Kate and had a nice long chat, then El & Camila, Aaron and Eva for another, shorter chat. I also saw Denise & Ash along the way. Fog video called later in the evening for a chat too (he told me how he fell asleep at the dinner table, fuck he makes me laugh - unwittingly - when I need it most!) A regular social fest! A repeat of last night’s dinner and a few beers - it was a good day albeit I am in a proper low ebb.

Day 282: Up at midday after a 4am-er. A very long walk (1.75 hours) and a hodge podge dinner (remaining chilli, roasted spuds and peppers, steamed cauliflower and runner beans, grated cheese) - it’s nearly ready, I’ll type the review tomorrow. I realise that this is the first time in 21 Christmases that I have at least talked to K. Is that connected to my mood slump? I reckon so. So, as that fact dawned on me, I then considered, should it be the case next Christmas, it will not be the first in along time and, as such, more manageable....fuck knows how I manage to accentuate any little positive but, thank goodness I do. Day 283: Work was a sedate affair today, fuck all to do really. Sueanne is now follwing me on Insta...I shall invetsigate on how to exclude posts to individuals, methinks. Tea, last night, was fucking lovely. More of the same tonight-ish - currently I am roasting spuds, peppers, garlic, chillies, tomatoes - it’ll all go with left over pigs-in-blankets (5) and a burger. I’ll have bisto beef with mustard on it. I can’t wait! Day 284: Typing on day 285. That meal was fucking lush! Checked on the car todfay and it would not start. Something is draining the battery so I will have to give it a run every day until I can get Julian to sort it. So, I WhatsApp’d Karen to borrow the portable starter. She dropped it off for me. We had the briefest of chats at the doorstep, first time we’ve spoken in weeks. She mentioned my hair! Day 285: NYE. I have just got back from walking to Cottersock and back. I would not have been able to do so without my new torch! I finished and published my double letter quiz on FB, including to the Virtual Pub group and the Oundle Chatter. It’s had some good feedback, I’m rather proud of it. I am going to make chicken casserole now (with dumplings - a first for me, I even bought some flour), have some beers and get a bit stoned. Before that, I am going to finish off my list of things I’ve done this year, including steps wlaked and hours listening on Spotify. I am quite proud of that list too.

Day 286: I fucked the dumplings up, added too much water, so that didn’t happen but the chicken casserole was good, just about to finish it for tea tonight. I also had pizza last night and went to bed at 5am. I have had a lot of good feedback on my list of 2020 achievements. I proud of it. K sent a happy new WhatsApp last night, around 00.30.

Day 287: No booze last night, so I was up before the alarm today (about 10.00am) Two walks, one on my own, another with Fog with a couple of beers. I fucking loved it! Watching datrts (World champs semi finals - been texting Dan while the first one has been on). Going to watch The Aviator later...I’ve not seen it before which surprises me. Why it surprises me I do not know, since I know I haven’t seen it. How the fuck can I be surprised by a fact I’m completely aware of? Day 288: I didn’t watch The Aviator ‘cos Logan Luck was on at 11:55pm on ITV4. Great fildm...I can’t believe that I very nearly paid for it (rent from Sky or Amazon). A late one last night and quite pissed. Thinking about it, having afew beers with Fog in the afternoon made it quite a long sesh for me! Up at just gone midday today, nice long walk (Cotterstock) which was mde long by a painful right ankle - I must have turned or twiested slightly sometime. Still, it survived. Back to work tomorrow - Chrimbo and New Year all done and dusted for the 55th time in my life!

Day 289: First day back at work of 2021. Boris announces another full lockdown in England (there’s a new strain of Covid19 which is seeing huge numbers of infections every day, over 50,000 per day).

Day 290: Something is up with my right foot, the little toe pad. It’s bloody sore. If it gets any worse it’ll affect my walking and exercise. I phoned Anne Bennison to talk about it, she just wants me to go and see her which i donlt want to do if poss, pandemic and all that.

Day 291: Wearing my sandals instead of the M&S slippers and my foot/toepad is already feeling bteer. However, I did inspect my Merrell boots, just in case, and the sole on te right is really worn down, in just three months. I have sent a WhatsApp to CotswoldOutdoors, where I got them from....let’s see what they say! It’s all kicking off i the US - pro Trump protestors have storm the Capitol Building, where congrees was being held. Only in ‘Merica.

Day 292: Busy at work with rolling out Qfiniti - all that project work was pretty much for fuck all since the SCCM package has to hand held. It’s feckin’ freezing today, below freezing, slippy af on my walks. I have been shopping tonight, £106 in Corby Tesco. That does include 8 cans of sapporo.

Day 293: The fracas at Capitol Hill on Wednesday left 5 dead, it looks like Trump will be impeached. He’s already said he’ll not attend Biden’s inauguration. In a fucking world gone mad, it’s another level of madness. It’s really cold -3℃ tonight, more of the same tomorrow. Makes for brisk walks. I’ve just had chicken balti pie and chips for tea. It was so nice that I burnt the roof of my fucking gob. I’m on the Sapporo and about to have a smoke then watch Jack Reacher. I’ve (kinda) earnt after the first 5 day week for a while.

Day 294: Well, last night saw another late one...5am by the time I :went to sleep. Up at 2pm today with no instention of any exercise or walking or housework or fuck all, really. But, I did my exercises and a 9 mile walk. While I walked I came across Banners, quick 15 min chat and listed to Stage by David Bowie. He’s all over the radio right now as it’s his death’s anniversary tomorrow and his birthday yesterday. It’s a fucking good live album. A few beers tonight, eating trash, watching FA Cup highlights then End of Watch later. Posh played today (first time in a while due to Covid infections) drew away to (shitty) Lincoln 1-1. Good point as Posh were down to ten men after 67 mins for a second yellow for handball in the area. Lincoln missed the pen. Fucking funny. Chorley, the non leaguers who knocked Posh out in round 2 of the FA Cup, beat Derby in round 3 today (albeit derby fielded an academy side of 11 first timers due to Covid ) - a great day for them!

Day 295: Up at 2pm swearing blind I’d not walk or exercise (again!) but, of course I did. I’ve done over 25 miles this w/e! End of Watch was brilliant last night. Well worth a rewatch, so emotional. I am making butter chicken as I type. I’ve added extra onion, garlic and, of course, chillies. It’s the spiciest butter chicken I have ever tasted!

Day 296: One of those frustrating days at work when no problem of request I try to resolve goes without a hitch. After a 7km walk in the evening, took the car for a spin and cleaned the bathroom. Fucking knackered. It’s 11:30pm and I’m in bed typing this on the iPad! despite getting up so late, I feel knackered. 11pm bedtime for me, I reckon.

Day 297: Fucking busy at work, the States rolled out a new Okta trust policy and it caused mayhem. Meant my evening walk didn’t start ‘til gone 6pm. When I got back, clened the hall and stairs, made chilli (which I am about to have for tea (gone 10.15pm!) and showered. I’m, again, fucking knackered! Posh played Portsmouth in the EFL Trophy 3rd round at home. Won 5-1. Nice.

Day 298: Had an electrician rouind for the EICR cetrt. He was here until 2pm and it was a pain in the arse, having to work upstairs plus, with having to cut the electricity, all the smart devices lost their settings. And it was freezing up there.

Day 299: Work was impossibly infuriating. Not one pc remote session went to plan! It was pissing down a lunchtime during my walk but, I have to say, the cheap TargetDry coat copes fine in heavy rain for short periods. Everywhere is flooding again even though the rain turned to sleet. By my evening walk, it was dry but bloody cold. Then, when I got in I cleaned the kitchen and mopped the floor and the bathroom’s as well. I fucking done in! Chatted to dad today - same as ever!

Day 300: What a fucking work at week! I am so glad it’s Friday. To celebrate, I ordered new walking boots: Scarpas £121!

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #COVID19 #lockdownuk

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