#the names are small easter eggs I guess

[birchleavesdawn]

Bitter Taste

Fromis_9 Saerom x Jo Yuri x m!Reader 4.2k words Warning: Watersports, Food play Authors notes: Fulfilling a couple of pretty old requests. The first one is a bit of a vague request and I don't really know what someone would be looking for for that so I hope this story is different enough. This will have at least a part 2 as I like the characters and already have the next part completely mapped out. Will see about anything beyond that. There is also a few easter eggs related to the title of the fic (song) in there, if you know the song maybe you'll catch them.

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Another night on your phone. Eyes exhausted from having the same empty conversations over and over, just for the tiny chance of spending a boring night with someone you'd never see again. Your finger tapped on the same apps you did every time, hoping it would be different, but knowing it would be the same.

Enough of this.

*Ring*... *Ring*...

"Hello?"

"Hey Captain. You busy tonight?"

"Why? Did daddy's luck run out on his dating apps? I knew it wouldn't be long before I was hearing from you again." You could hear her grin through the phone.

"I'm tired of those girls. I just keep swiping, I need something new."

"Well, I'm working right now but I get off in an hour. Why don't you pretty yourself up and come meet me here. I know how we can have a little fun."

*Click*

Saerom was a bit of a wild card. She had gotten you to try many things you would never have even thought possible on your nights together. You couldn't begin to guess what she had in mind, but you were looking forward to something, anything different.

She texted you the address, it was one you recognized and It wasn't very far. After a quick shower, you put on something nice and headed down. A short walk and a couple minutes on the subway and you were there.

Sweet Indulgence Adult Ice Cream 19+

So she was working at an ice cream place now? You wondered what the 19+ meant. Maybe they sold alcohol? The bell chimed as you entered the shop. Saerom was leaning behind the counter on her phone.

"Oh! Hey there handsome. I'll be with you in a minute." She smiled and walked into the back room.

You took a seat near the front, deciding to wait there for her return, taking a chance to size the place up. It was small but not too small. There were three tables in the middle of the floor and two booths on the left wall. A glass counter ran through the middle of the room, filled with various flavors of ice cream. Basically it looked like any standard ice cream shop, with the only difference being the big "19+" written next to the milkshakes on the menu.

Yea must be alcohol. You thought.

That's when you noticed Saerom's coworker pop up from below the cash register. A short girl with shimmering blonde hair tucked neatly into her hairnet. Large, expressive eyes and a smile that was warm and inviting. She looked cute. Like a puppy. "Yuri" was written on her name tag. You watched her, hard at work, unsure if she was even aware of your presence.

Saerom reemerged a few moments later, walking to the door, pulling the blinds shut and flipping the open sign to closed. She whispered something to the other girl who then promptly disappeared into the back where Saerom had just come from. Saerom then made her way over to you. You stood up from your chair to meet her. Without saying a word she grabbed your face and licked firmly up the side of your cheek before growling quietly in your ear. She lifted up her white tank top and flashed you her breasts, before pushing them into your chest. You could feel her erect nipples poking you through your shirt. They probably spent a lot of time like that in such a cold place like this.

"Wow I guess we're getting right into it?"

"You have no idea how badly I want you right now." She grabbed your crotch and gave it a firm squeeze.

"But..."

She let go of your crotch and pulled her shirt back down. Leaving you confused.

"I thought we could play with Yuri tonight. She's pretty cute right?" Saerom said

You turned to look towards the back, the young blonde girl was now standing there, a bright smile on her face, wearing a frilly white apron with nothing on underneath. Her perky breasts were on display, along with a clean shaven slit that peeked out from below the bottom. Her legs were slender and shapely. You turned back to Saerom, who had a big grin on her face.

"So, what do you say?"

"Well she seems pretty excited and you know I'm not one to disappoint a lady. Especially one that looks like that."

"Great, then pick a flavor and Yuri is going to begin preparing our milkshakes."

"Chocolate cookies looks good."

Saerom nodded to Yuri.

Yuri spun around, revealing her perfectly plump backside. You caught Saerom staring out the corner of your eye, her mouth open, a lustful gaze. You really couldn't blame her, Yuri's body was incredible.

Yuri bent over the freezer, sticking her ass out as far as she could, and pulled out the tub of chocolate cookies ice cream, before carrying it into the back.

Saerom approached you once again, now fixated on the tightness on display in the front of your trousers. She breathed hot air into your ear while playfully biting your lobe. Her hands going for your belt.

"I'll make this quick. But don't worry, this is just a taste of what's to come." She winked.

Saerom wasted no time. She dropped to her knees, pulling down your pants and underwear, exposing your stiff and twitching member to the cool air. She took your head between her lips. She bobbed her head, quickly and forcefully, sucking hard while swirling her tongue. Your hands reached down to hold her, feeling her silky black hair slide through your fingers. You moaned softly, watching her move her head, sliding her glistening lips up and down your cock. The sloppy sounds of her movements were only outdone by the soft moans she was making as she worked. She knew exactly what you liked.

"READY!"

You heard Yuri shouting from the back. And once again Saerom let go of you, your shaft slick with her saliva, now feeling exceptionally exposed to the frigid air. She rose and straightened herself out.

"We'll finish later. For now let's enjoy our shakes."

"You're really just going to leave me like this?"

"Of course!"

Saerom motioned to the back.

You walked in after her, following her lead. The back of the store also looked like any ordinary ice cream parlor. Stacks of boxes labeled cups, spoons, bowls. The freezers and mixers sat along the far wall, a large refrigerator filled with various types of milk on your right, and a large steel door that clearly led to the walk-in freezer beside it. What caught your attention though was the floor to ceiling curtain that was hiding another part of the room. On one side of it, there was a steel chute that came from behind it and then led to the countertop where several milkshake glasses stood. Each one was filled to the brim with a thick, creamy shake.

"Grab your shake and give it a taste!" Saerom said excitedly.

"It should be that darker one there at the end."

You grabbed the shake she pointed to, and gave it a taste. The rich chocolate flavor was sweet and delicious. You hadn't expected ice cream to taste this good.

"Mmmm." You hummed, taking another sip.

"I like it."

"Like it?"

"Love it!"

Saerom laughed, pleased by your reaction.

"That's so good." You said, wiping a bit of it from your lip.

"I've never tasted anything quite like it. That bitter taste. Is that the alcohol?"

She looked confused. "What do you mean? There's no alcohol in this."

"Wait, really?"

"Of course not, silly. I wouldn't do that to you." She was now grinning ear to ear.

"So then, why did she call this the '19+' menu?"

"That's because of our secret ingredient."

Saerom motioned to the curtain.

"Would you like to see?"

Your curiosity piqued, you nodded.

She took hold of the curtain and drew it back, revealing the real reason for the 19+ on the menu. Yuri was knelt down on top of a small wooden platform with a thin mattress atop, her legs spread wide, her hands resting on her thighs. The steel chute that you had seen from the other side of the curtain, now entirely visible, was attached to the platform between Yuri's legs.

"I think you've figured out what's going on here, but why don't you let me show you anyway. Yuri, are you ready?"

"YES MISS SAEROM" Yuri shouted, her voice dripping with excitement.

"Now the girls who work here will often do this part on their own, but for the sake of the demonstration, I'm going to help her."

You watched as Saerom stepped forward and took Yuri's chin in her hand, leaning in and planting a passionate kiss on her soft lips.

"I'm going to make you feel really good." She whispered in her ear, before taking a step back and slapping her ass.

Yuri yelped. "Thank you Miss Saerom."

Saerom then climbed up onto the platform and moved behind Yuri, squatting down. She pulled Yuri's ass up to meet her face, spreading her cheeks and sticking her tongue inside.

"Mmmmm." Yuri moaned, closing her eyes.

Saerom's tongue danced around inside Yuri's asshole. Spreading her spit and getting her ready. After a few moments, she stopped and stood up.

"I can still taste the chocolate cookies ice cream you asked for. Good choice!"

Saerom reached forward and grabbed a spoon and a small white tub off the shelf in front of her, opening it and placing it on the platform next to Yuri's leg.

"We're going with classic vanilla for this one."

She then scooped out a spoonful of the ice cream and smeared it on her finger, pressing it against Yuri's rear, and then pushing her finger inside with the ice cream.

"Hnnng" Yuri groaned.

Saerom continued, working her finger deeper and deeper inside Yuri's asshole until she had the whole thing buried. She then slid it out slowly, letting her anus tighten around it.

"How does that feel?" She asked.

"Mmmmmm" Yuri responded, unable to manufacture any words.

"Yuri is really sensitive. It's how she's able to produce so many drinks over the course of a day."

Saerom scooped another glob of ice cream, pressing it into Yuri's asshole. Once again pushing her finger inside.

She repeated the process a couple more times before deciding that that would be enough. Yuri was starting to tremble now, her body beginning to shake as the effects of the ice cream began to take hold.

"How are you doing, baby girl?"

"I'm doing good, Miss Saerom." Yuri whimpered.

The ice cream had already begun to melt from Yuri's asshole, coating her pussy and running down the back of her thighs before being collected by the chute below her. Saerom dipped her finger in the melted liquid, bringing it to her mouth and giving it a taste.

"Mmm. Just right." She said.

She then turned her attention to Yuri's cunt, rubbing her fingers over her folds.

"And what's going on down here. Is it time yet?"

"Yes... Miss Saerom, I think so."

She gave her lips another pass over before sliding her fingers inside, eliciting a low moan from Yuri. She then removed her fingers and brought them up to her own mouth, savoring another taste of her favorite girl.

"You taste delicious, Yuri. Like a little angel. So sweet and pure."

"Thank you Miss Saerom."

Saerom then turned her attention to you.

"Why don't you come up and get yourself a taste straight from the source?"

She motioned for you to approach. You eagerly climbed up onto the platform and crawled behind Yuri, her beautiful ass and pussy now just inches from your face. Her sweet smell was intoxicating.

"Come on, take a bite." Saerom encouraged.

You reached out, taking hold of Yuri's ass cheeks, squeezing them together and spreading them apart, the melted ice cream having left them looking glossy and inviting. You stuck out your tongue and licked along her crack. You could feel her body twitch slightly at your touch. You followed the trail of vanilla down the curve of her ass, the smooth skin sliding under your tongue. She tasted amazing. You pressed your tongue to her cunt, licking the melted ice cream from her lips before finally sliding your tongue inside. Her pussy was warm and offset the cold of the ice cream. The taste was even better than her asshole.

"That's it. Get nice and deep." Saerom cooed. One of her hands had found its way into the front of her pants, she was visibly getting off to the sight of you tongue fucking her baby girl.

You pushed your tongue deeper into Yuri's pussy, feeling her clench and squirm. You danced your tongue around inside her, her moans growing louder.

"Ahhh. Ahhhh. Ahhhhhhh." Yuri had become a whimpering mess.

Saerom reached her free hand down and rubbed Yuri’s clit. Yuri's hips began to rock and sway as she fucked your face.

"I'm gonna cum, Miss Saerom."

Yuri's breathing was labored, her moans desperate. You felt her pussy clamp down on your tongue. Her legs were shaking, losing their ability to hold her weight. Before you knew it a stream of her nectar was pouring out of her, filling your mouth, splashing all over your cheeks and running down your chin then collecting in the chute between her legs.

"Good job, baby girl. That was wonderful." Saerom praised her. "Look how much we got!"

She ran her hand through Yuri's hair and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"You were a perfect little angel for our guest."

"Thank you Miss Saerom."

Saerom turned to you, seeing the mess Yuri had made on your face, a look of pride washing over her.

"Here, let me help you clean that up."

Saerom pulled you close and licked your face clean. Taking her time to lap up every last drop.

"Mmmm." She moaned. "God it tastes so good."

You could feel her hot breath on your face. She kissed your cheek, while her hand returned to your crotch, massaging your cock through the fabric.

"Alright I've waited long enough. It's my turn now."

She didn't wait for a response, instead she threw you down onto the mattress next to Yuri, who was still recovering from her orgasm.

"Clothes off. Now." She commanded.

You hastily pulled off your shirt, throwing it to the floor. Your pants and underwear following.

"That's it. You're always so good."

"Now get over here on your knees. I want you to look into my eyes the whole time... or so help me..."

She pulled down her skirt and kicked off her panties. Her pussy looked so inviting, juices had already begun leaking down her thighs. You wasted no time, crawling over and stopping before her feet.

"Wait. No touching yet. I've been holding this in all night."

You sat there obediently, your cock painfully hard. Saerom took a step towards you and lowered her folds to your face, an intoxicating scent of lilac and yearning emanating. Grabbing your hair with both hands, she tilted your head back, forcing your mouth open and giving herself full access.

Suddenly a warm stream hit your tongue, catching you by surprise. You made sure to keep your gaze locked with hers just as she directed, disobeying her when she was like this would only spell bad news for you.

Her golden liquid flooded your mouth. You swallowed as fast as you could but the stream was relentless. The pressure causing it to spill out over your chin, down your chest and falling onto your twitching member. You could feel her fluids warming you on the inside and out.

It tasted like heaven, sweet and bitter and everything in between. She looked down at you, satisfied. 

"Drink up, baby." She said between hitched breaths, her grip on your hair tightening.

She finally ran out and lifted herself from your face, leaving your mouth and nose drenched. She licked the sweat from her lips, taking a moment to admire her work.

"Fuck!" She exhaled.

She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back out of her face.

"Look at the mess we've made. Tsk Tsk. You know I can't have you inside me all filthy like that."

Saerom stepped over and sat next to Yuri, who had managed to sit herself up and had been enjoying the show.

"Yuri, darling, could you do me a favor and clean our friend's cock for me? But do not let him cum."

"Of course Miss Saerom."

She got to work immediately. Her eyes grew wide at the thought of tasting Saerom's juices on you. She wrapped her small, soft hand around the base of your cock and gave it a firm squeeze.

"It's so big! And the smell..." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "It's so good!"

She licked her lips, before leaning in and taking the tip of your shaft into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around, coating your head with her saliva. You let out a quiet groan. After the blue balls you'd been getting all night, the mere contact from her mouth was almost enough to push you over the edge already.

Saerom was clearly enjoying the show, a satisfied smile on her face. She leaned in and whispered something in Yuri's ear. Yuri's eyes lit up again. She nodded and went back to her task, wrapping her lips tightly around your shaft.

"Now that's a good girl."

The way she looked down at Yuri with such adoration, such pride, it was enough to make your heart melt. You could tell she cared for her deeply.

Yuri continued, bobbing her head up and down your shaft, her tongue working furiously to clean you. She was making quite a mess with her spit leaking down her chin. She didn't seem to care one bit.

Saerom leaned in and kissed Yuri on the forehead.

"That's enough, my sweet."

Yuri released your cock with a wet pop. Your shaft now absolutely coated in her drool.

Saerom turned her attention to you. "I think you've earned a reward, don't you?"

You nodded, the ache in your loins was getting completely unbearable.

"Go on then. Come and take it."

Saerom lay back and spread her legs, showing off her glistening pink slit. You crawled between her legs, and pressed your tip against her opening.

"That's it. Don't hold back."

That was all you needed to hear. Those words producing a feral response deep inside you. You thrust your hips forward, burying your cock inside her, causing a gasp to escape her lips. You were on top of her, your body moving entirely on instinct. Hands grabbing at her thighs, pulling her close, trying to get deeper. You could feel her nails digging into your back, her teeth on your neck. The sounds of her moans were enough to drive you crazy.

"Ah.. f.." She bit down on your shoulder, her moans muffled, unable to get any words out.

Your thrusts were growing more erratic and less controlled. You were both losing yourselves. The tension inside her was building. She clung to you, her arms wrapped around you tightly and her breath hot on your neck. Her walls were pulsating, clenching around your shaft . You could feel her orgasm approaching.

"Aaaah." She cried out, her eyes rolling back. "I'm going to ..."

"Fucking do it then." You growled. The feeling of her pussy spasming around you. You kept the pace steady and guided Saerom through her orgasm. Her body shaking and trembling beneath you.

"God damn you're beautiful." You whispered. "But I’m not done. Ready to go again?"

She summoned the last remnants of her strength to offer you a delicate nod.

You rolled her over flat on her stomach and pulled her thighs together, placing your knees on either side. You admired the sight of her glistening backside for a moment, the sweat beading down from her ass and her shoulders before coming to a rest in the small of her back. You took a fistful of each of her cheeks to support yourself, before slowly tracing one long line up the length of her back with your tongue. The saltiness of her sweat paired well with the bitterness of her piss that still lingered in your mouth.

"Ah..." She gasped, shivering as a reaction to the surprise sensation.

You pressed the tip of your cock against her asshole, feeling her muscles clench. You plunged forward, the pressure giving way and the head of your shaft slipping inside. She let out a loud gasp as you slid deeper, continuing until your hips met hers.

You began to thrust, her ass was clenching around you. The wet slap of your skin on hers filling the air. She was gripping the mattress with everything she had left, causing her knuckles to turn white. You picked up the pace, feeling her insides stretch around you. You reached under and took hold of her breast, squeezing and pulling at her nipple. She let out a low moan as you continued to pound her.

"Fuck me harder." She panted, her voice strained.

You did as you were told. Thrusting faster and harder, slamming her into the mattress. She was a writhing, whimpering mess beneath you. Her voice growing louder, the sounds escaping her becoming increasingly animalistic. She was reaching her limits.

"Fuck. That's it. Make sure you cum inside me."

Her body was tensing up, the pressure inside her growing. You could feel her muscles contracting around your shaft, gripping you like a vice. You could tell she was going to burst at any second. You picked up the pace. Thrusting even harder. You wanted her to explode.

Saerom's whole body began to shake. You could see the strain on her face. You continued to fuck her. You couldn't stop. She was cumming. Her whole body convulsed, her screams echoing off the walls. You continued to pound her, driving her body into the mattress, not letting up. She was lost in the throes of pleasure. The orgasm had completely consumed her.

Her voice was hoarse. You couldn't tell if she was even making any sounds anymore. She had stopped moving, her eyes rolled back and her body limp. You continued to pound her ass, until your own release finally came. You let out a loud growl and thrust forward one final time, burying yourself as deep inside her as you possibly could. You could feel the warmth of your seed flooding her insides, the excess spilling out onto her aching pussy.

Saerom lay there motionless, but breathing heavily. You could feel the aftershocks of her orgasm still rippling through her body. You gently pulled out, releasing your hold on her and letting her fall back down flat on her stomach.

You collapsed beside her, panting, both of you completely spent. The next thing you knew, Yuri was standing above you, smiling. She handed you each a glass of water, which you happily accepted and chugged it down.

"Thank you Yuri. You've been wonderful."

She simply smiled and bowed.

"Well, I suppose we should clean up and be on our way." Saerom said, having partially come back to her senses. “As much as we’d all like to sit here for a while, it’s getting late.”

"Yes. It's quite late and we have a busy day tomorrow." Yuri chimed in.

"By the way, I promised Yuri that you would take her home tonight. I'll tidy up here, why don't you two get going. I don't want to keep Yuri up any longer than necessary."

"Ahh.. what?"

"Don't worry, you've already made her cum so she shouldn't be any trouble. Plus she can make herself useful. Now shoo. Get dressed and get out of here."

Saerom and Yuri dressed while you did the same. Once everyone was presentable, you took Yuri and headed for the door. As you walked out, Yuri handed you a new shake in a to-go cup.

"This is the one we just made together!"

"I can't wait to taste it." You replied, smiling.

You held her hand and walked her home. You enjoyed the silence, not saying much on the way, but enjoying each other's company.

When you finally arrived back at your place, you unlocked the door and motioned Yuri in, following close behind. You both kicked off your shoes and made your way into the kitchen, where you put the milkshake down on the counter.

"I only have one bed, but it's pretty big. I'm assuming that after tonight you won't mind sharing one anyway. You go on in, 2nd door on the right, I need to find a spot in the freezer for this milkshake."

You watched Yuri walk away, admiring the way her hips swayed, before heading over to the freezer. You placed the shake in empty corner and shut the door. You then made your way to the bedroom. Despite only being about 30 seconds behind her, she was already fast asleep on your bed. You made sure she had enough blankets before crawling into bed next to her. A moment later, you were also fast asleep.

[1d1195]

Sun-Kissed I

Here is a fluffy/smutty little piece of love on the beach. It’s ~9k words. It’s a love at first sight kind of thing I know it’s kind of ridiculous for them to be falling in love so fast but it’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Also, sorry that I’m really into sunflowers right now. Sunflower Vol. 6 has been on my mind lately so that’s gonna make an appearance for the third time as of late. I don’t know if anyone else cares about all my little easter eggs regarding real life Harry in my writing but I’m really pretty proud of the news one I put in here. I'm sorry they're both teachers again I needed them to have summer's off to make this work. Their careers are not a major part of the story.

Warnings: There’s some pretty 18+ things happening here. Masturbating, public sex (kinda), thigh riding, etc. If you’re not into this, I wouldn’t read it. It's all fluff otherwise. There won't be a bit of angst.

I've been trying to write this for over a year and finally came pouring out. Unfortunately, there will be a second part next Thursday only because I thought it was getting too long. So it does end a little abruptly. Hope you enjoy anyway :)

Harry was fascinated by her, simply put. He wanted to spend forever at dinner with her. Chatting with her. Looking at her beautiful face. Envying how the sun got to kiss her, and he didn’t.

Harry didn’t grow up near a beach so he thought this would be great way to cash in on his vacation time over the summer. Sitting at the beach, reading a book, and dipping his toes in the water when it got too hot. His mum knew someone who knew someone who gave him a great deal on the summer rental, and he was beyond excited to sit and relax for the first time in years.

Being an earlier riser had its advantages. For one, he got the pick of where to set up his summer getaway on the beach. He brought a cooler, a chair, and a few towels along with a book or two to spend the day. Through his sunglasses, he faced the direction of the sunshine. He hadn’t had a proper summer holiday since he was young and now that he was busy teaching and had summer’s off, he was elated to have some time to himself.

Once he settled his belongings, he turned on a summer playlist he’d been working on for a while. He didn’t turn it up loud—he would never want to bother anyone that may join him on the beach—but it was loud enough to hear and not interrupt his imagination while reading.

It was utterly peaceful.

Apparently, Harry was unaware of just how truly peaceful the beach could be.

“Hey,” a voice said softly, it was sweet. A gentle shake on the arm, her skin was cool to the touch. His eyes blinked open unsurely. He realized he fell asleep and didn’t even get through the first page of his book. “Hi,” she whispered with a gentle smile. “You’re going to start burning,” she explained handing over a bottle of sunscreen to his hands while Harry tried to wake himself up. “And your book is in the sand,” she said grabbing it before the spine broke from all the grains of the beach ruining the binding.

“Oh,” he shook his head desperate for his brain to catch up to his surroundings. “Thanks,” he said gratefully.

“No problem!” She chirped heading back to the chair that was a few meters in front of him. “I already burned once this summer and it was miserable. Just don’t want you to suffer the same fate.”

He pushed open the bottle and started rubbing on the sunscreen. It felt like he was going to have a slight burn already. The relief of the lotion on his skin made him wary. “Ah, guess...I should probably leave,” he chuckled. “Try again tomorrow.”

“Oh...if you want to stay, I have an umbrella,” she said cheerfully. “S’a nice day, just give me a minute to set up,” she smiled and gave her name to Harry.

Harry had hardly gotten a good look at her with a sleepy set of eyes a bit wiped by the sun. His brain was foggy with the impromptu nap. This small little town he was staying in had the vibe that someone like her would help a stranger. Everyone had been so nice in the grocery store and when Harry went for his run yesterday, people said hello and commented on how nice the evening was. It was an adorable little town and Harry was already dreading having to leave in two weeks’ time.

“Well, thank you. M’Harry,” he said quietly while he finished rubbing the lotion over his body. He watched her work, his mind less foggy. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was a little over two hours since he arrived. It wasn’t too hot outside still, so his burn would be minor if he got one at all. With the addition of a blanket and the umbrella, it was almost a mirror image of Harry’s little set up. A chair, a cooler, and a couple towels.

She had a ponytail pulled through a baseball cap and she wore a button down, rolled to the elbows. The top few buttons were open revealing a deep blue bathing suit top, that scooped low enough to show off...

Harry had to be careful, or he was going to be sporting a prominent erection on a beach with a ton of families. He moved his gaze down past where he really wanted to look. The shirt came down to just above her knee and he saw a pair of flip flops discarded to the side of the blanket she had laid out in front of her stuff. “Nice day, huh?” She smiled as she twirled the umbrella stand into the sand.

“Tits—it’s really nice,” Harry said quickly stammering through his recovery.

Smooth.

She either didn’t notice his faux pas or didn’t care because she continued about her business. “Have you been here long?” She asked.

“Just arrived yesterday. Did some grocery shopping. Went for a jog.”

“Oh, how nice,” she had this infectious smile. Harry felt so happy just being around her. Or maybe it was the beautiful weather and the prettiest beach he had seen in years.

Or maybe it was her curvy figure that was making him lightheaded with happiness.

She pulled the shirt off finally, and Harry thought he might seriously need to leave. Head back for his little beach cottage to take care of blood rushing to his groin. She’s gorgeous. He thought to himself. “How ‘bout you?” He cleared his throat.

“I grew up here...and live here in the summer.”

He stared at her in surprise. “Here?” He asked.

She smiled and nodded. “It’s my favorite place on earth,” she explained.

“I can see why,” he nodded in appreciation. “Do you have any suggestions for while m’here?”

She nodded. “Plenty—how long are you here for?”

“Two weeks.”

“How lovely...let’s see...you’re at the beach—that’s most important in my opinion. I think if you stay here most of the time, you’ll have a successful vacation. There’s a place about twenty minutes from here where you can go clam digging if you like clams—I don’t really like them, but it’s fun to go. Paddleboarding on the river is also a really big thing. There’s this restaurant that everyone talks about. If you want, I know someone who works there, I could get you in. You’ll need a sweatshirt from the most touristy of tourist shops, but don’t go on a rainy day—everyone will be there. You’ll have to see the sunrise and the sunset. I think there’s a full moon too, so you’ll definitely want to see that over the ocean. I personally recommend ice cream and mini golf too. If you have time, you should also check out the nearby island. Even though this place is beautiful the island is like being in another country. It’s stunningly beautiful,” throughout her speech she continued working on the umbrella stand, putting the actual umbrella into place and tilting it back to create more shade.

Harry thought it would be really forward of him to invite her on all those adventures. Especially when someone as beautiful as she was surely had a significant other. Add in the fact he met her less than ten minutes ago; he would have seemed insane. “Wow, sounds like a packed schedule.”

She laughed and Harry swore he had never heard a sound as beautiful. She was still organizing her items and she gestured under the umbrella for Harry to move his stuff. “I’m really passionate about this place I forget people want to relax.”

“S’okay,” he chuckled. “You’re right t’be passionate. M’sure you’re right; I’ll make every effort t’do it all,” he promised and began moving his stuff below her umbrella. “Everyone is so nice here,” he told her. “Yourself included.”

“Why thank you,” she smiled sweetly and settled into her beach chair finally, facing the sun. He swore that someone this stunning couldn’t be real. She looked like a beach goddess—sun-kissed hair and skin. “What are you reading?” She asked, turning her head toward him covering the side of her face to keep the sun out of her eyes even though she wore sunglasses too.

He couldn’t even remember why he picked the book up. “Er...I fell asleep before finishing the first page,” he admitted shyly. She giggled.

“The beach does that, I swear. Something about total relaxation and the warm sun. I’m like a cat. Once I lay on my stomach, I’m out like a light.”

“Do you read?”

She nodded. “Have to; I’m a middle school teacher.”

“Oh,” Harry smiled. “I teach secondary.”

“No way!”

So, for the whole morning, Harry forgot about his book. Forgot about his playlist that was still going—except for anytime she asked what song was playing. They talked for literally three hours straight never once a lull in the conversation. Work, books, the beach, music, and anything they thought of. He told her about his family coming to visit for the weekend and she told him about her family who didn’t love this place as much as she did who would probably not visit—even if they missed her and loved her with everything in them.

At lunch they finally quieted their conversation to eat and watch the water. “I don’t see a burn,” she told him glancing over his face and skin as she finished her sandwich. He smiled.

“Thank you,” he said gratefully. “I’d be a proper crisp by now.”

She held the sunscreen out to him again. “I know this is a little weird, would you mind getting my upper back?” She asked.

Touch her? Harry didn’t have to be asked twice. Harry made sure to spray every bit of her skin. He didn’t want to be the reason she burned. As soft and beautiful as her skin was, Harry was glad she only asked to rub her back and shoulders. If he had to do her legs or any other part of her body, he definitely would have passed out.

She spread herself out on her blanket. Book near her face. “I’m so going to fall asleep,” she yawned. “Will you wake me if I start to burn?” She asked.

Harry nodded wordlessly and brought his book up toward his face. “Sure, love,” he murmured. Hopefully not showing how smitten he was with her already.

*

Harry might have wormed his way into her heart as her favorite person ever. It was so unlike her to wake a total stranger from a nap. But he was one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen in her life. She couldn’t imagine letting him roast in the sun all morning and ruining his vacation. It was even more unlike her to invite him to sit with her.

She liked to believe she was a kind soul—most everyone told her that she was, so it wasn’t unnatural for her to invite him to hang out with her. But if it wasn’t for the fact that Harry was a teacher, it could have been a lot more dicey.

It was so easy to talk to Harry. The entire morning was so much better than she ever expected just by being in his presence or chatting with him. Other than her reading-nap—where Harry woke her up after an hour so she could reapply another layer of sunscreen—they talked literally the whole day. Harry didn’t mind putting sunscreen on her and she returned the favor when they switched positions so Harry could get some on his back.

Touching him might be her new favorite pastime.

She left a bit before Harry wanting to go for a walk and shower before eating dinner and reading a bit on her porch. Plus, she had to pace herself if she was going to last at the beach all summer. After her shower, she put on an oversized shirt like she wore to the beach and a pair of shorts. It looked like she wasn’t wearing pants but didn’t mind. The sun finally crested the top of her cottage, so she was no longer baking in the sun and made the porch the loveliest little place to read and enjoy the evening. She had a bowl of watermelon chunks beside her, and sunglasses perched on her nose.

Growing up she never loved summer all that much. Of course, she loved the beach and the time off from school, but she started working part time when she was fourteen and summer never had the same feeling as it did when she was young until she started teaching. Now she would tutor virtually some nights throughout the summer—especially for college students taking summer courses. But mostly she spent her time here in the little beach cottage her grandma had specifically named to her in her will after she saw how much she cared for it—especially since she was the only one in her family who had summers off and still cared about this little town. Once her grandma passed away, no one really felt the need to stay—her parents sold the home she grew up in. It wasn’t brokenly tragic that her grandma died—she was old, and these things happened. Besides, she felt by being in the little town she grew up in and living in the cottage left to her was enough to live her summers in honor of her grandmother.

Her mother technically owned the other cottage her grandmother had and while her mom really wanted to sell it, she insisted she would take care of it while she was here and tend to any renters.

Which is why her mother texted her at least once a week about the renter at the cottage just three houses down the road. Our renter said there’s only one towel. Any ideas?

She gasped wondering how it slipped her mind to take the towels out of the dryer and fold them neatly into the bathroom linen closet. On it. She responded and practically ran down the road. She knocked on the door to her second home away from home and waited for the person on the other side to answer. While waiting she noticed the little sign below the main window was crooked—fell off the hook again in the ocean wind. She needed to remember to bring a pair of pliers back to close the loop the next time she came over.

The two cottages were almost identical. Except this door was a sea blue and hers was a sea green. They were little wooden cottages, shingled top to bottom. Just two windows at the front of the house, two on the back, and one on each side. There were two skylights in the roof allowing for lots of natural light. Each home had two small bedrooms, a bathroom, a spacious sitting area and full kitchen. They were wall to wall hardwood floors even though her Grandma in the 70s tried very hard to convince everyone it needed carpeting. But try vacuuming sand out of a beach cottage all the time. Due to space behind the home, hers had a little patio but this one was fitted with a little patio and an outdoor shower.

The blue door opened while she was still putting the wood block that read Sea View back in it’s place. “Uh...hello?” He asked. She turned to find Harry, surprise all across his face, to see the girl he met earlier outside his rental.

Of course it was Harry. “Oh, how funny!” She chirped excited to see the gorgeous man from the beach once more—her plan right now was to not-so-casually run into him at the beach again the next day. “I should have asked where you were renting!”

He smirked. “Hi love,” he said sweetly, confused that she was here. “Uh...what are you doing here?”

“My family owns this cottage,” she explained. “Mom texted me that you don’t have towels? That’s my fault. Left them in the dryer when I was cleaning on turnover day. I’ll fold them now,” she said and marched herself inside and maneuvered through the familiar room with ease.

“Oh,” Harry said. “S’okay, love. I didn’t mean t’bother you—I would have found them eventually—”

“Absolutely not, it’s your vacation! You deserve clean towels and not have to worry about looking for things,” she was already piling the fluffy array of sea blue and green towels out of the dryer and began folding them expertly. “I’m going to leave you my number so if you need anything you can just ask me. I always tell her to just give them my number, but she worries about weirdos taking advantage of me,” she rolled her eyes.

What would possess me to say that to Harry?

He smiled as he watched her flurry of activity. Her rambling little monologue. She was definitely scaring him. It occurred to her at that moment she didn’t even wait to be invited into his space. Just strode right in. “Glad m’not a weirdo. I agree with y’mum. Think I would like her,” he nodded firmly.

She felt her face warm, and she hoped the tan hid the blush as much as possible. Harry’s nose and cheeks looked a bit red—like he caught a bit of a cold. The rest of his body was covered by a simple pair of jogging shorts and a simple t-shirt so she couldn’t see if he burned and also didn’t want to be caught staring at him—especially thinking about the abs he had on display under the litany of tattoos she saw earlier at the beach. “Well, I will fold these and get out of your hair,” she said focusing on the towels. But her brain glitched out once more. “Oh, do you like surfing?” She asked.

He chuckled leaning against the frame of the door leading to this utility room. “Only been once with a group of m’friends. S’not m’cup of tea. M’not very good.”

“Oh, okay. I just want to make sure I recommend everything you might like.”

He was smirking at her like she was a bit crazy—and she was—but Harry wasn’t helping. Without sunglasses she saw he had green eyes. Green. She was done before this even started. Once all the towels were folded, she made herself at home once more, hurrying to the bathroom to put all the towels in place. The bathroom smelled like men’s cologne: sandalwood and sage. Jesus Christ it’s like he was built in a lab for me.

Harry followed her as she put the towels away in an alternating pattern. “Thank you,” he said. “Y’really didn’t need t’do all that.”

“You’re the guest. You paid to get this kind of service,” she reminded him. “I’m also...only three houses down if you need something as well. It’s got a sign like yours below the window Sun-Kissed Cabana. My grandma named them.”

He nodded and stared at her for a few moments. She had only known Harry for all of five hours, but she could swear she knew his thoughts. He probably did think she was a bit crazy. “Do...do y’have plans for dinner?”

She felt her heart flutter. She was going to order her favorite pesto pasta dish from a local place that practically recognized her voice when she called. “Uh...no.”

“Would y’like t’go out with me in ‘bout an hour?” He asked.

She nodded eagerly. “Yes, please.”

*

She was finishing up her makeup when her phone vibrated with a second message from Harry. The first one was to alert her who was messaging Hiii, it’s Harry Xx. Followed by: Does this place have a fancy dress code?

No, no. Nothing fancy at all! They’ve def got a beach bar vibe.

Cool :) I’m ready when you are.

Shit. She wanted to curl her hair a bit and look extra nice but maybe that would have looked like she was trying too hard after she just got through telling him it wasn’t a fancy place. She had on a maxi dress. Black top nothing revealing and then the skirt pattern had sunflowers all over it. She would have to forgo the curls and instead pushed the front of her hair back with a headband. Just need like five more minutes.

I’m in no rush, love. Please take your time Xx.

She thought she was going to melt. Fortunately, her tanned skin hid most of the imperfections of her face. She also preferred maxi dresses because it hid the thickness of her thighs and more imperfections like bumps from shaving and bruises from whacking herself on her beach chair. She thought the style she chose also perfectly accentuated the curve of her waist. While it didn’t show off her cleavage—it was her personal belief her boobs were one of her better assets—she thought after a day at the beach with them on full display due to her bathing suit, dinner might be a little gentler without them in Harry’s face the whole time.

With a spritz of her perfume and gathering all her necessary belongings into her purse, slid on her favorite pair of sandals with gold brushed embellishments, and headed outside. There wasn’t really a discussion of how they would get there, but she decided to walk down the road back to Sea View. Harry was crouched by the sign, pliers in hand closing the very loop she said she would. “Oh, I’m sorry. You didn’t have to do that,” she said hurriedly feeling like a terrible hostess.

He turned and smiled at her. “No worries, love. S’easy. Jus’ found some pliers in the utility closet.”

“Well, thank you,” she murmured gratefully. Harry stood, putting the pliers just inside the doorway before locking it with the passcode. He turned to her.

“Is this place walking distance, or should I drive us?” He asked. His hair was fluffed in these beautiful chocolate waves that of course reminded her of the beach but made her want to bury her hands in it and kiss his perfect face until she was out of breath.

“Uh,” she didn’t think she wanted to walk in a dress, but maybe that was the experience of this vacation for him. Harry looked utterly comfortable but perfect (naturally) in a pair of navy-blue khaki shorts and grey short sleeve button down. The lack of sleeves showed off those tattoos that she was continuously falling for. On his feet he wore a pair of light grey sneakers. “We can walk, but it might take me a while in a dress and sandals.”

“Oh shit, of course. What m’I saying? Y’can’t walk in a pretty dress like that,” he said hurrying to the car and opening the passenger side. “After you, love. Jus’ need t’tell me the directions,” he smiled at her.

All the books she had brought to her summer vacation had a romantic flare to them. Her only thought was there should be a book written about this very day—meeting Harry at the beach and going on a date with him. It was impractical and a bit flighty of her to be so taken with him already.

But there was no way she could help it when he got in the driver’s seat, smiled at her with those dreamy dimples and his eyes twinkled at her behind those pretty lashes of his. “Y’look gorgeous, love.”

*

It was effortless how much he enjoyed her company. The idea that it was only his first full day and he had already had a good beach day and another good jog under his belt. The post-beach-and-jog shower was cold-watered but steamy as he thought of the pretty girl in her pretty bathing suit. He imagined her smile, the gentle curve of her lips as he wrapped his hand around his cock as the water cooled off his sweaty and warm skin for several minutes until he was finally relieved of seeing her...assets at the beach.

Seeing her immediately after he inquired about the lack of towels as soon as he had shorts on was like a dream. Her agreeing to dinner with a beautiful girl was not what he expected when he booked this trip six months ago. Only one day in and this was the best vacation he had ever been on.

They arrived at the restaurant and after searching through the menu in silence, they placed drinks and an appetizer to share.

Did he mention how effortless this all was? The conversation was once more not a moment of dullness. She was funny, beautiful, kind, and it seemed that everyone at the restaurant knew her at least a little bit. “Our sun-kissed angel is here!” A man shouted from across the patio where they were seated. Everyone turned to follow the gaze of the man and Harry smirked instead of being jealous because he was right. She was an angel. A tanned, lovely, gorgeous angel.

She rolled her eyes. “Harry, this is my friend Louis. I used to work here in the summer.”

“Before she went off an got a real job, like a traitor.”

Harry was fascinated by her, simply put. He wanted to spend forever at dinner with her. Chatting with her. Looking at her beautiful face. Envying how the sun got to kiss her, and he didn’t.

*

“Okay, well...we can’t not get ice cream,” she said knowingly.

“You just told the waiter you were too full for dessert,” he chuckled at her.

“You don’t get dessert at a restaurant when there are literally seven different ice cream shops within spitting distance,” she rolled her eyes. “Summer is for ice cream. If we hurry, we can see a sunset too.”

“Y’sure know how t’get the most out of a summer day.”

She frowned. “Oh...I’m sorry. I forget that you only have two weeks. We don’t have to. We can head back,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“No, not at all, love. S’a great idea,” he reached out across the console and rested his hand on her thigh near her knee. With the long dress covering her legs, it wasn’t terribly inappropriate, but it was so instinctive to reach out and touch her he felt he made a mistake when she was suddenly speechless. Unable to tell Harry where to go to get her precious ice cream. “Er...sorry,” he said pulling his hand back to rest on the gearshift between them. “Should have asked,” he felt his face warm in embarrassment.

“N-no, it’s okay,” she nodded quickly. Her voice was breathy as she stammered. “I was...” She shook her head. “You can touch me—I mean,” she put a hand over her face in embarrassment at the encouragement she just gave him. Harry decided to quickly put her out of her misery—he did say tits after looking at her for thirty seconds this morning, even if she didn’t hear it. He gave her leg a gentle squeeze as he moved his hand back to where it was. She was silent again once more and she rested one hand over his. Letting a few of her fingers fill the space between his but not twining them fully together. “Is this okay?” She asked softly.

Harry melted over her sweetness. “Perfect.”

*

They ate their ice cream on the beach sitting on the tall, white lifeguard stand since it was late. There was a smattering of running kids, a few dogs, and families littered closer to the water on the tidal flats. But no one was over where they were. Up on the soft sand encroaching on the dunes. They chatted in between licks and bites of ice cream and Harry was certain he was falling deeper and deeper in love with her by the millisecond. It was ridiculous. Love at first sight couldn’t possibly be real. He had three or four serious girlfriends (four if you counted his junior high love affair, three if you didn’t) all of whom he did fall in love with but over the course of weeks and months. Not minutes and hours. Maybe it was the salt air playing with his brain chemistry.

Certainly, it had something to do with the beautiful girl sitting so close to him he could feel her sun-kissed skin warming him from the gentle breeze floating off the water as the sun started its descent over the horizon. She took her phone from her purse and snapped a picture quickly. Hardly looked at it, barely centered it, yet it was the most beautiful sunset picture he’d ever seen.

“Are y’a photographer in y’free time?” He asked.

She snorted. “No, I do like taking pictures. But I have hundreds of these,” she said showing him the photo album of various sunset pictures she had taken over the years. Harry could see why she was so good at them. No two pictures looked alike which had to be a poem somewhere out there. Harry always considered himself a winter—growing up in cold England would do that to a person—and no two snowflakes were alike. Snowflakes had nothing on her sunsets.

“D’you want t’take a picture together?” He asked quietly.

She smirked. “Do I have chocolate on my face?” She wrinkled her nose at him.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “No,” he promised. Harry wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her snuggly against him. “S’this okay?” he asked almost directly into her ear. She nodded and smiled as she flipped her camera around to selfie mode. Harry had one arm around her waist, the other holding his ice cream cone. She reached her arm out to take the picture while she held her cup of ice cream in her lap with the other. Gazing at her screen, Harry couldn’t believe how effortless it felt to touch her. It was so easy to talk to her. And they looked like the perfect beach couple. “Can y’send that to me?” He murmured in her ear once more. She nodded mutely. Harry didn’t remove his arm from around her waist and he continued eating his ice cream.

Once finished with their treat, they continued chatting and watching the sunset listening to the laughter of families on the beach. The sky was so pretty Harry thought that she was right. This was the best place on earth.

*

They walked back to their cottages hand in hand, Harry stopping outside the door for the place labeled Sun-Kissed Cabana. “S’that why Louis calls you a sun-kissed angel?”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s something else.”

Harry chuckled. Leaned forward and swept his lips on the apple of her cheek. “I had the perfect first day with you, love,” he said softly. “Sleep well,” he hummed and turned to walk three houses down. She pressed a hand on her cheek like a lovesick idiot. She nearly forgot the code to get into her own house and felt like floating all the way to her room where she giggled and kicked across her bed as she smiled into her pillow.

*

The next three days were spent almost the same as the first. The beach: complete with reading, naps, and lots of talking to the pretty girl he liked so much already. Followed by a run, a shower, and then dinner. Harry tried really hard not to touch her without asking. The only allowance he gave himself to touch her without asking was when he truly felt like her back was getting a little singed. On the second day she made the grilled chicken salad she told Harry she was going to make before he invited her to dinner, but once he informed her he was a pescetarian she hurried to the store to get him some fish to grill instead. It was totally unnecessary, and Harry felt guilty she spent money on him like that for dinner (even though he was insistent he pay for dinner and ice cream the first night). Regardless, it was a delicious salad paired with zucchini noodles that truly tasted just like pasta. Harry made her write the recipe down for him.

“I can’t run at all,” she wrinkled her nose when Harry offered to join her on her evening walk the following day.

“I’d rather walk with y’then, love,” he said softly with a smile. “If y’want company, that is.”

She wanted to say she wanted Harry’s company. But thought that was a bit too much. But they walked side by side, Harry gently ushering her to the inside of the road without making any fuss about it. They continued their comfortable chattering. Talking of anything and everything. That night they ordered pizza that was delivered to Sea View and watched a movie in his living room, her feet in his lap where he rubbed the soles of her aching feet without prompting or full acknowledgement.

By the end of the third day, she thought Harry might be her best friend. He made crispy cauliflower tacos. He spent the evening simply reading on her back porch with her in comfortable, perfect silence.

*

The fourth day, they were sitting on her back porch again, sipping bubbly wine spritzers that she put in glasses of ice and combined with a popsicle to match the flavors. Harry thought it was sinful the way she licked the pop. Harry wanted to jump her bones so very badly.

“How do you like the outdoor shower?” She asked looking up at the sky full of stars. There was a citronella candle between them to keep the bugs away and she had a solar set of lights strung about her little patio. She was in a soft warm glow from the lights. Once more, looking sun kissed. She was wearing a shorter dress than the other day, shorts beneath it. She informed him about the shorts because she said it was an athletic-type dress and she may have sat weird and didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Harry thought there wasn’t anything she could do to make him uncomfortable.

“I haven’t used it, actually. M’not sure I—”

She made an almost inhuman noise, a cross between a growl and gasp. It was quite adorable even if she seemed miffed and Harry wished he could have recorded the sound because he thought he would listen to it on loop for the rest of forever. “Harry!” She almost shouted. “The sole reason I took Sun-Kissed Cabana over Sea View was because I knew the outdoor shower would be a huge selling point for renters. You haven’t used it?” She looked nearly betrayed.

He chuckled, sipping his drink. “M’sorry, love. I didn’t realize—”

“Harry, I’m not kidding. You have to go use it. Like right now.”

He laughed loudly. If there could possibly be a downside of this little beach-cottage neighborhood, it would be that the houses were quite close, and Harry’s loud laughter could probably be heard back at his own place. But she was staring at him seriously. He thought she really expected him to get up and leave at this moment so he could get this experience.

“Y’serious?” He asked smirking at her.

“I don’t joke about the outdoor shower,” she promised him.

Finishing his popsicle and taking the last sips of his drink he stood from her little patio table and shook his head with a chuckle at her. “I guess m’going.”

He wanted to invite her. Especially if she didn’t have one here at Cabana. It sounded like she would like it more. “You better,” she continued licking the pop and Harry was grateful he would at least have a new image to think about in the outdoor shower when he imagined his hand around his dick was her mouth instead.

*

The air was cool but somehow warm. Sort of like the water on his skin. He could see the draw and actually surprised himself that he hadn’t used the shower yet. He imagined in the morning it would be heaven—most of his showers had been in the afternoon or evening since he was running at that time. But maybe he could take two showers a day—who cared? He was on vacation.

Was it heavenly? Her message read.

Harry thought about how much how active his imagination got picturing her in that shower with him, his hand fisting over himself until he imagined her pretty cleavage covered in him instead of flowing with the water down the drain. Extremely. But of course, he left out why it was so heavenly. You should write a book of recommendations for your guests.

:) You can come back over if you want. I know I kind of kicked you out, but like I said. I’m very serious about outdoor showers.

Chuckling to himself, he hurried to get dressed again and meet her back there.

*

She knew Harry’s family was coming today so she told him that she would give him all kinds of space but if he needed anything, he was not to hesitate to ask her. “M’mum and sister would love t’meet you, kitten,” he promised. He didn’t mean to call her kitten. But it rolled off the tongue so effortlessly and she was the one who said she felt like a cat in the sun. But he didn’t spend long thinking about it and continued his little speech. “Y’don’t have t’evade us.”

“I’m sure you want family time,” she promised. “Really, it’s fine. Plus, we’ll have a whole other week to do our little routine,” she felt her face warm as she spoke realizing she just told Harry she wanted to spend the remainder of his vacation together. She opened her mouth to backtrack almost instantly, but Harry beat her to the punch before she could speak again.

Given that Harry was this close to telling her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, another full week spent together seemed like a great idea. “I can’t wait,” he promised.

They decided to do a sunrise that morning. She brought a blanket and was wrapped up in a long sleeve shirt along with a pair of sweatpants. She advised Harry to do the same. “The air is still cool from the night when you get to the beach early,” she explained the night before they parted to go to bed.

They were laying on the blanket angled by the natural slope of the dunes so they could see the view of the sun cresting on the ocean horizon. “Do y’have as many sunrise pictures?” He asked tiredly. With the sun rising at just after five-thirty she was courteous and kind in asking that they get there at five so they could see the dawn and array of beautiful colors painting the sky before the sun got there.

She giggled. “No way. Too early to see it that many times. I do like sunrises more, though,” she said. “It’s so much quieter. It’s not as hot. I don’t know. I think sunrises are just so beautiful.”

He immediately, silently agreed with her that they were. No matter how much he was enjoying sunsets with her. He would wake up at 4:45 every day if it meant watching something she found beautiful, and it made her happy. Harry had her pulled to his side again, his arm looped beneath the back of her neck. His eyes were closed as he fiddled with a strand of her hair running his fingers through the soft tendrils. “Harry,” she whispered after a few minutes. Harry felt the edges of sleep and the dreamworld starting to meld together on his brain. “You’re gonna miss it,” her voice was so gentle. Perfect for morning. She was the most beautiful thing he had laid eyes on but he couldn't bring himself to open them right now.

“Hmm,” he hummed. Refusing to open his eyes. “S’okay. We can see it another day,” he mumbled.

She giggled. “Harry,” she whispered so gently. It felt like magic. Warmth spread through his whole body. “We woke up so early,” she reminded him.

He nodded. “M’sorry,” he sighed. “It’s so peaceful,” he muttered. “You’re warm,” he turned his face to bury his nose in her hair and he nuzzled closer to her. Harry being a cuddler didn’t surprise her. He was quite touchy. But this sent her heart into a frenzy, and she forgot why they were there.

“Harry,” she whispered again feeling brave. Maybe because it was too early, and her brain wasn’t functioning.

“Jus’ lemme sleep, kitten. Please?” He muttered into her hair. “Wake me in twenty-nine minutes.”

She swallowed. “But...I want to kiss you,” she sounded so shy.

Harry’s eyes sprung open, and he pulled back from her quickly to look at her beautiful, perfect face. “M’awake,” he promised and gently cupped her cheeks, his fingers slipping through her hair, and he brought her face closer to his. Kissing her like he had been dreaming about over the last five days was the only thing on his mind.

She moaned against his mouth and Harry was really looking forward to that outdoor shower now. She pressed against him, keening as she licked into his mouth, sucking on his lower lip. Driving him absolutely mad as she nipped at his lip gently with her teeth. She could feel herself squeezing her thighs together for relief because she was finally kissing Harry the way she wished she did at sunset on his first night here.

Harry’s hands were cool against her flushed cheeks. “Kitten,” he hummed against her mouth, pecking at her like he would die without her kisses. “Y’taste so good,” he sighed dreamily.

She rolled to her side to face him squarely while he returned to his side too, instead of hovering over her. He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her against him. Over the past four days at the beach, she had tried really hard not to stare at whatever was going on in Harry’s swimsuit, so she didn’t look like a sex-maniac. But there was no way she could ignore the hard dick she felt against her thigh as she pressed against the full length of his body. She imagined Harry fucking her so hard in that outdoor shower that the neighbors would have no way of ignoring what was happening. She moaned at the idea once more against his lips, thighs pressing together.

“Oh no,” he hummed. If she wasn’t already so drunk in love with Harry after one date and four days together, she might have thought his voice sounded a bit mocking. Slowly, he rolled onto his back holding onto her and perching her body on top of him as he did. One of his legs separated her thighs apart. “Do y’need something from me, love?” He cooed almost lovingly at the idea she was aching between her legs. He kept her pulled down toward him so he could continue kissing her, effectively melting all coherent thought.

Holy shit, his voice. Oh my God.

Without meaning to, she clenched her legs once more, this time, wrapped around Harry’s thigh causing friction, despite two layers of sweatpants and her underwear (at least those were thin). “N-no,” she almost whimpered trying to get away from his leg. Harry put his hands on her hips and gently pressed her back down toward him while bending his knee a bit. His thigh came closer in contact with her so if she wanted to, she could rub right against him.

“Y’sure, love? You look like y’might need something,” his voice was so sultry. It was too early for this. His eyes were somehow a deeper green. His lips were too pink after kissing her.

“N-no,” she shook her head despite wanting nothing more than to grind her pelvis against his thigh. She knew what it looked like beneath the sweatpants. She knew the tattoos that dotted his skin. Fuck, she wanted to get herself off so bad. But she was acutely aware of her position and tried to lift herself off his leg. “I-I think m’too heavy,” she stammered again.

He groaned and pulled her tighter against his leg. “No way, angel,” he promised. “Go ahead, know y’want to. I want y’to,” his voice was a bit husky. Like he was a bit confused. She groaned softly. God she wanted to. “That’s it,” he encouraged as she ground herself against him.

She felt flush, wishing she wasn’t wearing sweatpants. They were getting in the way. The long sleeve shirt was making her warmer. Or maybe it was Harry that was making her warm. Harry helped shift her hips back and forth against his leg as she moaned and whimpered as she rutted against his thigh. “Y’look so pretty, kitten,” he cooed. “Getting off on m’thigh like that. S’making me so hard, love. Fuck,” he moaned. “You’re s’pretty.”

She continued creating friction on between the two of them worried she would give herself a burn from all the fabric rubbing together but she was so fucking wet she was certain she would slide easily against him if she could take her pants off in public. The sun was still rising, not quite up over the horizon yet, but the sky was brighter, creating a gorgeous image of her beautiful body silhouetted from the light. “S’good, so good, baby,” he groaned. She whined and continued rutting herself against him.

“Harry,” she croaked.

“Yeah, love? Y’gonna come for me? Gonna come from jus’ m’thigh?”

Jesus Christ, she felt like she was a virgin. She was almost certain she was. Had she ever even had an orgasm before Harry? When was the last time she had sex? When was the last time she masturbated? Holy shit. This was bad. He was all consuming and he was fully clothed, and it was just his thigh.

She nodded at his words. Even though she felt a bit silly and stupid for doing this, with two layers of sweatpants between them. “Yeah? Good, want y’to. Y’look so pretty all—”

“Fucking hell,” she whimpered and dropped her face to his chest as she twitched against him. Harry flexed his muscle, gripping her hips and rubbing her against him so he could help her ride out the waves of her orgasm for a few moments. After that, Harry dropped his knee once more, letting her flatten against him. He kissed her forehead as she breathed heavily against him, shaky and sighing as she let the euphoria course through her. He rubbed up and down her back as she did, and he breathed deeply into her hair. She smelled like sunscreen and coconut.

“I really like sunrises,” he murmured. She smirked. Her face against his chest. “Y’sleepy, now, kitten?”

She nodded. “Yeah,” her voice was a bit quiet. Almost unsure. “Sorry,” she mumbled, nuzzling her face against his shirt.

He shook his head, kissing the top of her hair once more. “Don’t be sorry. Been thinking ‘bout y’coming all over me since I met you.”

She giggled. “Yeah?”

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t very...flattering on his part. It also made it sound like he only liked her for the idea of sex. Which wasn’t the case. He liked her so much simply because she was the sweetest, nicest person he had had the pleasure of meeting for a really long time.

She rolled off him. He kind of hated it because even though it wasn’t freezing cold, it felt like it now that she wasn’t laying on his body. She looked at the outline of the bulge stretching against his gray sweatpants. It was still ten minutes until the sun would be touching the horizon. “Fair’s fair, yeah?” She wondered, looking up at him and then back down at the somehow growing outline. She would be lucky if he fit in her mouth.

“Angel, y’don’t have to jus’ because—”

She frowned. “Do...you not want me to?” She wondered, confused and worried that he was rejecting her. She didn’t know why if he had just used her thigh to get him off.

“No, no,” he said quickly wanting to ease the worry he saw fill her beautiful face. God he would rather die than reject her. “I mean...y’can do whatever y’want to m’body,” he nodded eagerly. “Jus’ don’t want you t’think you have to. Been thinking ‘bout—” his voice choked off as she outlined the bulge. “Oh...s’nice,” he moaned forgetting everything he was saying about what she could do to him. Her fingertip simply ran along absent-minded paths along his length. He struggled to remember the last time he had sex because he could only imagine the episode in the outdoor shower as the last time he orgasmed.

She giggled. “Nice?” She questioned; Harry was so polite. The way he walked with her on the inside of the road, the way he held her door open no matter if they were going in the house or the car, or if he simply carried her heavy cooler off the beach even though he was carrying his own belongings. For him to say it was nice the way she was touching his dick was simply...something else.

He nodded breathlessly. “Yeah,” he was already too far gone with just her goddamn finger touching him. He couldn’t have made any comment further if he wanted to. He moaned as she squeezed gently along the length of him. Five minutes till sunrise and the beach would be covered in light. She glanced around quickly, seeing they were still alone. She had never done this in the five years she had been staying the summer back in town keeping an eye on Sea View while living in Sun-Kissed Cabana.

“Do you think I could make you come in five minutes?” She whispered.

He groaned almost animalistically. “Love, I think y’could make me come in forty-five seconds,” he promised. And with that, she dipped her head toward his waist just until the sun was ready to cross over the horizon.

*

It was quite difficult not to text Harry all day long while his family visited. It was entirely due to having an orgasm at his hand (thigh); the creeping need to bond to the person who just made her entire world flip upside down was a prominent feeling throughout her body the whole day. The words of her book didn’t make any sense, so she opted for cleaning her bathroom. But that proved to be difficult too, and she spilled most of the mop water back onto the floor. After another fit of cleaning that up, she decided to spend her time at the grocery store since she was getting dangerously low on her much-needed items. She nearly forgot to go to the checkout line. After putting everything away she thought about just going to bed at three in the afternoon just to rid her mind of how crazy she was being and how awkwardly she missed her summer guy.

Fortunately, Harry broke first, before she fell asleep.

I know it’s silly, but I miss you terribly.

She felt so much relief reading his message. Oh, thank God. Me too.

You really should just come over. Mum and Gemma want to meet you. I won’t shut up about you. It’s...a bit pathetic how obsessed I sound actually. Mum’s in the outdoor shower while Gemma is taking pictures of the beach. We’re going to have dinner in a bit—you should join us. He put this shy little emoji after his message.

She was currently dressed in a pair of bike shorts and t-shirt that fell past her hips, barely a strip of the shorts showed. She had her hair pulled back by a claw clip. She wanted to go over there immediately. However, her outfit and hair did not look ready to meet Harry’s family. Plus, she was worried she would do something stupid like sit in Harry’s lap in front of his mother and sister and then she would have to jump out a window to hide her infatuation.

I would love to, but really...I’m sure they want to see you.

They want to ‘meet the girl that’s got me all flustered’ that I nearly dropped all our snack bar food in the sand today :)

She giggled. Glad he was also affected by their sunrise romp in the sand. Maybe tomorrow? She hedged instead. She really didn’t want to intrude.

Please, love. That would be wonderful.

*

She must have fallen asleep anyway. But she woke up to a knock at her door. She felt the claw clip sliding out of the back of her hair and she rubbed her eye as she made her way over. There stood Harry and two women outside the screen door. Each of them was holding a dish of (presumably) food. Immediately, she felt underdressed and stupid looking. “Uh, hey beautiful,” he smiled gently. “Sorry t’bother you. But seems the barbeque back there is out of gas,” he explained. “I sent y’a text—”

“Harry, the poor girl was sleeping,” his mother admonished. “I told you we could just go out to eat. Love, m’so sorry. I swear some days he was raised in a barn!” She shook her head. “We’ll leave you be.”

“No, no,” she shook her head quickly, the clip clattering from the ends of her hair to the floor. She felt her face warm, once more grateful for the tan skin to hide most of the blush rushing to her cheeks. She opened the door for them to enter and quickly swept the clip into her hands. “Make yourselves at home,” she said, and Harry ushered his mother toward the kitchen and out the back door toward the patio and grill. Gemma walked slower behind her family to give some reassurance to the girl who was struggling to fix her hair in the little entry way mirror.

“M’sorry about both of them in advance,” Gemma whispered. “Harry hasn’t been able to function normally all day and Mum is already in love with you. When you didn’t answer, it was the first coherent thought Mum had about not begging to see you and thus began Harry pacing waiting all of four minutes for your response before he said we could just come over like absolute lunatics.”

Oh God she liked Gemma. “Thank you. I’m so sorry I look like this,” she winced at the image of her reflection. She was all frizz and pillow lines from the couch where she fell asleep.

She snorted. “Please, we interrupted your evening. Your quiet time and relaxation. Don’t worry about it. You look beautiful,” she promised pressing a hand on her arm and headed after her brother and mother.

If she wasn't already--which she was pretty sure she was--Harry’s lovely little family was going to ensure she fell so hopelessly and terribly in love with Harry.

--

general taglist: @justlemmeadoreyou @daydreamingofmatilda @sunshinemoonsposts @youdontcaredoyou @tiredinwinter @loving-hazz @likeapplejuicenpeach @straightontilmornin

Please let me know if you'd like to join the taglist, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist for more of my writing.

[pika-ace]

Disney Knowledge Yuu: Masquerade Edition Part 2 (aka Yuu gets Fucking Mad)

Holy shit, things went from 0 to 100 REAL QUICK! Anyway, SPOILERS AHOY!

Rollo: (covers his mouth with a starry handkerchief that looks like Esmerelda's scarf)

Yuu: Oh HEEEEEELL NO, I ain't trusting this kid for a SECOND!

Silver: Why not?

Yuu: Call it a feeling >:/

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

Rollo: There's a festival being held today and you're all welcome to attend... (softly) Ugh, I hate the festival...

Yuu: Oooh, Topsy-Turvy Day!

Rollo: How did you know that was the name??

Yuu: Lucky guess...(softly) and I got my eye on you >8/

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

Noble Bell College: (taking about how Frollo was a Righteous Judge and did nothing wrong)

Yuu: …I hope this place doesn’t believe in God cause I’m about to go FULL HERETIC ON THEIR ASSES

Riddle: Wait STOP-

—————————

Azul: I-I swear the gargoyle just moved!

Yuu: (gets up close) *whispers* Victor...? Are you alive...? :0c

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

Epel: Aww look at these alphabet blocks; A for Apple, B for baby, F for festival

Yuu: *snorts*

Rollo: Evidently the words used to be more complicated; a shame, really

Yuu: (sarcastically) Damn, what a shame that kids can no longer learn the classic alphabet of Abomination, Blasphemy, Contrition, Damnation, and Eternal damnation

Rollo: O_O’

Deuce: …Are you okay…?

—————————

Shopkeeper: (holds up dreamcatcher necklace) It is said when you hold this, the city is yours

Yuu: (rolls eyes) Actually, it’s ‘When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand’

Team Azul: …

Yuu: (sighs) It’s a map of the city -_-

Team Azul: Oooooooh! :0

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

Rollo: These handkerchiefs are smoke bombs; children use them for pranks

Silver: I'll take one for Lilia :)

Yuu: Me too; if Esmerelda could make use of these then I can too

Idia: Huh...?

—————————

Trein: They used these underground river ways to hide people

Riddle: Ah yes, they called it The Palace

Yuu: *coughs* Court of Miracles...

Sebek: What was that?

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

Rollo: This is a town goat; they wander the city

Sebek: DO NOT APPROACH MASTER MALLEUS, GOAT!!

Yuu: Don't yell at Jolly! >:O

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

Jamil: Apparently these curly wooden shavings are the classic hairstyle of this city

Yuu: *thinks for a moment* Oh wow, that's a REALLY obscure easter egg, even I barely remember the Gargoyle song O_O

Malleus: Gargoyle WHAT?

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

Rollo: Don't you hate magic? Isn't it the worst? You understand right?

Yuu: ...If you tell me to choose between you or the fire, I'm gonna throw up >:(

—————————

Festival leader: The Kind Bell Ringer was adopted by the Righteous Judge who saw past his deformities and loved him as his son. Their bond was strong and special and the Bell Ringer used his teacher's lessons to save the city

Yuu: ...(starts towards the stage)

Silver: Where are you going??

Yuu: (rolling up their sleeves) To commit a HATE CRIME >8(

Trein: YUU-

Yuu: THAT IS NOT HOW THE STORY GOES AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!!! >8(

Ruggie: Holy shit-

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

Rollo: (absorbing the magic with flowers and ready to kill literally everyone)

Yuu: So I was wrong about the racism and the lust, but the genocide was spot on. …Small victories, I guess

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

((Drama Bonus))

(Yuu spends the whole trip trying to convince the others that Rollo is not to be trusted but no one believes them, and then when shit goes down, Yuu is standing back in no danger while everyone else is fighting)

Deuce: Yuu, help us! We're getting attacked by the flowers!

Yuu: Hmm, okay Deuce. But first, a deep sip from a very tall glass of 'I TOLD YOU SO' >:/ (starts slowly drinking an imaginary glass)

Riddle: YUU!!!!

((This event isn't done yet, so we'll see if I can get more out of it ;3))

[chimonystack]

Alright so I watched Inside Out 2 a couple days ago, and I'm sure other people already have talked about everything possible, but I still feel like I need to rant about my thoughts so I'm gonna do that here.

SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE SKIP THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE MOVIE AND DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED

The first thing I wanna talk about is how insanely accurate all the emotions were portrayed. The first movie already showed the emotions in a simple but also incredibly accurate way, so much so that I could understand it as a kid who hadn't even turned ten when the first movie came out. But this movie took that portrayal and turned it up to eleven. I feel like if I were still nine years old and I watched this movie, it would perfectly help me understand the concepts of anxiety, envy, embarrassment and even ennui in a way that I don't think any other movie could.

Being even more specific, the panic attack was an incredibly realistic portrayal too. I've been lucky enough not to have experienced a full-on panic attack myself, but I've heard from people close to me that also watched the movie that it's even their favorite part of the movie for how good it really is. Plus, the way Riley grounds herself, and the way the movie brings attention to it is really amazing to see. First she slows her breathing as the emotions all hug her new sense of self, and then the immediate next thing that she does is focus on the feel of the bench on her hand, the sounds of the hockey game around her, and what she can see, and it works. Admittedly, this part I probably wouldn't have understood as a kid, but I definitely understand it now, and it's beautiful.

This is also a great movie to get across the concept of peer pressure, and how subtle it can be. Val's two friends in the hallway are a great example. The way they talk to Riley about Coach's red notebook puts the idea into her head that the notebook is the most important thing determining whether or not she'll become a Firehawk. This idea gets to her so much that she sneaks into Coach's office at night to find her name in the notebook, something that she likely never would have done had Val's two friends not talked about the notebook that way. Similarly, in the scene where Riley and the Firehawks are hanging out together and talking about bands, one of those same friends asks Riley who her favorite band is, and when she says Get Up and Glow, this friend of Val's pressures Riley into lying and being sarcastic about loving her favorite band, all because she wants to fit in with the Firehawks. Val's friends may not even realize they're pressuring her, but it's still enough to get Riley to try and change everything about herself just to become friends with the Firehawks.

Aside from all of those concepts, though, there were also so many small details and easter eggs that I wanna rant about. I loved how almost all of the memories at the start of the movie were mixed between the core 5 emotions, showing that they worked together so well as a team. I freaked out when I saw Joy's origami Bing Bong on her shelf by her bed. I loved the details about Bloofy breaking the fourth wall not being understandable to anybody else, and how Lance Slashblade moves like a videogame character getting caught on the collision of a map. I loved that the officer's hat in the vault scene had "My Hat" written on it to call back to the two Subconscious guards from the first movie.

I guess my main point is that I believe this movie is just as good as the first Inside Out, and perfectly captures the message it wants to give to people. I had so many concerns that it would be a disappointing sequel, and I was so pleasantly surprised once I actually watched it. You don't have to agree with me, of course; that's only natural for some people not to agree on things. But I do hope that if you took the time to read everything in this monster of a post, that you enjoyed my ramblings, and that maybe it even resonated with you.

[accio-victuuri]

bjyx in the eyes of passer-by is really good. ❤️💚

i’ve been wanting to share this since the weekend but it’s too long and i needed more time. lol. none of this is new but this can be taken as some convincing arguments about the cp and why it could be real. allegedly from non-fans who casually observes the fandom and what we are up to.

transcript screenshots taken from 泡沫爱恋的晴空 ; I have added commentary and links to some points to better explain. enjoy. 🍵

First of all, I think it is true for the following reasons:

1. Timeline. Since filming in 2018, various fake materials have emerged one after another. We don’t care whether the fake material is genuine or not, but I think the hammer can be connected, which is good. The false information about the incident came out, and then things fell into place, which I think is amazing It’s a strange thing, and some things that happened in 18 and 19 years have now been hammered. Of course you can call it a coincidence if you like.

*** This pertains to the 49 fakes that turned out to mostly be true. Also the fake contributions of their conversations & incidents on set that we all thought weren’t true until the unofficial videos came out. If this was a boy-girl pairing, a single unverified rumor will blow up but with bjyx you have tons and some people are still meh. Lol.

2. Same Style. The two of them share too many styles. First of all, the clothes, from big brands to small ones. Various brands, from clothes to pants to shoes to accessories, there are countless similar styles. The second time was the shooting scene between the staff and some of the staff who had worked together overlapped. Yes, it can be seen from the post-production period that there is also an advertisement for both of them. It was shot in the same place, which is also very magical, in the entertainment industry. It's such a big deal. Do you think there's such a thing as matching clothes, teams and locations? There must be, but I don’t dare to say whether it happens as often as the two of them do. Yes, this is a coincidence.

*** we have an extensive matching clothes collection but i guess the biggest is XZ’s personal style change since he met WYB. Also the overlapping staff/people related work— I talked about an instance of that here.

3. Interaction in the studio. The publicity and distribution of the studios of both parties always meet perfectly. Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo have so many endorsements, so it’s amazing that there are so many works and programs that I haven’t encountered before, and the way they talk, the way they edits the video, the fonts they use… Some similarities can be seen in these pictures, which is a coincidence and very disturbing.

*** i don’t think this needs further explanation. A lot of us notice this. even how their projects don’t (very rarely ) coincide.

4. Some inexplicable stuck points and dynamics between the two sides. This is very magical, the 24-hour rule of Boxiao Circle means that no matter what the reason, one party after posting the news, there will always be another news posted by the other party.

5. Some specific examples. One is Wang Yibo’s Himalaya account. The case of Ru Meng and Beiyang corpse recovery, first of all, it is definitely not Wang Yibo himself. Listen, that's for sure. It can also be determined that Xiao Zhan is interested in Rumeng and Beiyang. There is also the easter egg of Wang Yibo and YBO’s video. We won’t say that he’s not like Wang Yibo, but he really looks like Xiao Zhan. The jawbone is simply amazing. Of course you can also say it’s a coincidence.

There is another one who beats me. It’s the one where the rehearsal time is hidden. Behind Wang Yibo is Xiao Zhan’s rehearsal. Above there is only Wang Yibo's name. Everyone scolded Wang Yibo for acting like a big name. He didn’t respond and we didn’t know it was Xiao Zhan until that night. I just want to say that if Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan are fake, the organizer will change the time. this rehearsal time must be negotiated with the artist. Yes, there is no need for him to get involved, he should stay far away at this time. I don't think this is a coincidence.

*** these are very popular CPN so I think alot of us know this. Especially Himalaya/Ximalaya ( I talked about this in detail ; Parts 1-4 / Part 5 ) && WYB hiding XZ’s schedule is very real but both their fans refuse to acknowledge.

6. This is about Bojun Yixiao Rice Circle. Bojun YixiaoCircle and Chen Qing Ling frequently becomes a hotly searched event. Today is April 16, 2022, today the fourth anniversary of Chen Qing Ling was on the hot search, and the names of Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo were also on the list . Let’s not talk about anything else, just take the current situation of Brother Zhan and Yibo. We wouldn’t say it’s particularly popular, but it’s still quite popular. At this time, there is no need for two people to tie up and search together. Behind these two people, they all have professional teams, and now Fanfan is linked to Bojun Yixiao and Aling has become a hot search topic. No matter what fans think, in the eyes of passers-by, if the names of Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo are linked together, the team should be able to remove the host search. The last hot search is equivalent to reminding Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo once again, but judging from the frequency of related hot searches this year, the two parties are together and their team is laissez-faire. This will definitely consolidate CP fans, and I feel that both parties have no intention of wanting to be untied. Judging from their current popularity, I feel like this is a disadvantage. So is it possible that it’s just in case something happens? It will not be made public, but if it is discovered one day, there will be some people who are willing to be with them, at least they feel clear about it and have nothing to hide or cheat them.

To sum up, I think it is true. Of course this is all my personal opinion.

PS: Of course there are many more points, more than this.

**** OP’s sample for hs is 2022, but even this year 2023, they had a couple of hs with their names together and not taken down.

========

Just believe it. Strictly speaking, I am not a CP fan of the two. A more appropriate positioning is for passers-by CP fans, who mainly see the candy of two people is good to drink. When I got high, I calmed down and analyzed objectively.

For a moment, I feel that all kinds of hammers can only point to two possibilities:

1. The two of them are real.

2. The team is still bundled for hype. I don’t quite agree with one party’s deliberate attempts. The other party is interested in this term. After all, if one of the parties is unwilling, we will not let all kinds of public opinions ferment online.

Let’s talk about the first possibility first: true. In fact, there is no need to pass this possibility No need to go into details, there are too many different kinds of hammers. Some people find it far-fetched, such as stuck points. Put it aside, I think the previous little prince and the ideal life drawing , the heart print on wyb’s palm, and the ear clip that xz wears recently, Teacher Lin Hai’s Peppa Pig, etc.,If you take it out one by one, it can be said to be a coincidence. Put them together, I think it’s hard to call it as a coincidence.

Under this possibility, I think their behavior is understandable. I will do my best to acknowledge you in front of everyone, without being blatant so I secretly poked and sprinkled sugar. And after 2020, , it was obvious that they didn’t want to define themselves as cql’s CP position. In this case, it is possible to interact in various ways across the air. I think it is a real possibility. It's indeed bigger.

1. Why are they attracted to each other?

Wang Xiaobao, it is estimated that children lack the company and isolation of their parents during childhood. Due to modern education and upbringing, or perhaps due to innate personality, the child is somewhat autistic. He also likes to talk to himself alone. He leaves home as a young man and lives in a high-intensity confinement under closed training, there is almost no rebellious period of youth and the self-conception of society and parents.

The process of growing up was full of doubts and conflicts, so he retained the childishness and innocence in himself. The instinctive and intuitive side forms what I consider to be a dull yet sensitive and spontaneous person. The current appearance of someone who is trusting but has low self-esteem, is covered in armor but has a soft heart. No matter how others laugh at the "typos", Jiuluoyu "got fat and lost weight" I scoff at this kind of thing! I like this kid’s thoughts to be pure and true. I hope Wang Xiaobao doesn’t have to care about that at all and can go his own way.

Let others talk! I hope this child will improve as he grows older and more experienced. Cultivate a strong heart and face the world more and more calmly without malice and harm.

Xiao Zhan, complete systematic education, complete social animal experience. I predict this kid had a very high emotional intelligence when he was in school, and he was the kind of person who had the best interpersonal relationships in the class. He played the role of a very docile and obedient student in the teacher’s mind, but I personally feel that this meekness and obedience is actually due to long-term family education and school. The "last resort and pretense" under the suppression of education are actually independent at heart. Do, doubt and despise authority (bringing the fierce gene of Chongqing people):

Because with the EQ and IQ he is showing now, he should actually be,,At that time, he could get into a school that was much better than the one he got into! (Don’t ask why. What, this is a topic of educational psychology, a few thousand words are omitted here)

Of course, if that were the case, there would be no actor fees as we see now. Yes, haha. In fact, it is precisely this character background that can support him. At the age of 24, he actually moved to the entertainment industry and survived 227! Just focus on these two points, I admire him very much! There is something about him that is both otherworldly and full of human smoke. The breath of fire has the smell of randomly switching between being born in this world and entering this world. What I saw was not an interesting soul, but a smooth, sophisticated and naive heart. Romantic, wild and unrestrained yet clear and pure soul!

Therefore, my personal feeling is: the mutual attraction between them is two. The approach of the unruly soul, the wild growth of two hearts, the pure nature of souls that have found a completely peaceful and peaceful destination in each other;

This kind of luck is unfathomable and unexpected.

========

The commercial value of CPF.

1. Number of fans. I have observed the ch data from mid-September to October 7th, Extract gg, dd, bjyx, and popular male stars at the same time node A, Data analysis of popular male star B. Both A and B are currently on the air. It is a popular drama and is recognized for its good reputation and excellent acting skills. The data are gg>dd>bjyx>A>B, where bjyx=4~5A(B),gg~ 3bjyx, dd~2bjyx, it can be seen that bjyx’s live powder data can indeed be beaten. On the 5th, Wyb's Xiaoxiang's top 1 and 2 hot reviews were both cpf, and bjyx's daily list averaged 1- 2 can reflect the data situation from the side. The number of active fans of bjyx is indeed not high.

2. Economic chain. Needless to say, Boxiao Cotton Doll is very popular in the circle. Various offline exhibitions, pbs, and outputs, including Bilibili and short videos to support. How many blog owners, video accounts, and marketing accounts do you have? Stand up for every charity event and such generous support as charity can reflect the actual benefits. It’s impressive. For GG’s birthday on the 5th, a single charity donation from a single website has 6 number of digits, last year more than 20 Hope Primary Schools were built.

The most important thing is that there is a secret love between the two. The words seem to be more topical when put openly, unless their team are smart enough to assess the public's psychology in advance, and feel that he can design a secret poke of candies that are easier to eat and can increase fans more deliberately. In this kind of clever grouping, If you are deceived during team operation, you can only admit defeat. There were two other people participating in the event. This kind of things is often used. Some people say that this is a script. I admit it. They can act, so the real point of my addiction is not this, but the two of them. Watching the other person interact with other people makes him look bad. A dark-faced reaction is more likely to be reflect inner unhappiness, I think everyone can relate to this. Recalling the dark moments in my life, I found it difficult to act and control myself. If this is really a performance, then I think the two of them deserve two Oscars, so natural.

No matter what, people in the entertainment industry must be surfing experts. I don’t believe them that they don’t know that CP consumption is becoming popular online, but now we are deliberately adding insult to injury. I can only think of the above two possibilities, and comparing the two, I prefer the first.

========

Why are they holding on to such a large CP?

Don't tell me that it's a one-sided affair or a scam, as long as anyone has a brain, no one would say that! Two years ago from 227 to now, between the two of them — how much has the number of cp followers increased in Weibo’s super chat alone? If someone did research can be done with statistics.

I’ve read a lot of Zhihu “papers” analyzing the pros and cons of maintaining CP.

I just want to discuss their purpose of doing this.

In fact, since they are out of business, they can openly share their fans and public opinions. In the direction of socialist brotherhood, this is the easiest and most important thing to do. A lucky path, or simply do nothing. After a few years, they can become naturally quiet. But they don't. So far, they still have to use hammers from time to time. I feel like they didn't just smash it with a hammer.I'm holding an axe and cutting through the thorns.

Maintaining such a large CPF is tantamount to carrying a nuclear bomb on its back.

Okay, what is their motivation and purpose for doing this? Everyone has a purpose in doing things!

Is it possible that the traffic is generated just to maintain the dispute between the three fans? It’s possible, because I’ve never been afraid to speculate on capital with the worst possible intentions. After all, they are in the entertainment industry and have to discuss business.

Or do you want to get everyone’s blessing?

-END.

[kroosluvr]

"an inside look into shujin academy's famed 'royal trio'" fic notes

link to the fic / link to tumblr post / link to tumblr ART!! post

this is going to be LONGGGG just all of my rambles/easter eggs(??) AND ETC. Not mandatory reading i kinda just want to write this for me to refer back to in like a few years or whatever hehehe

it is def confusing that i called shujin tennis academy that instead of giving it a diff name but i wanted to be a little tongue-in-cheek

mishima is a wannabe sports reporter, but maya amano (+ yukino mayuzumi) r already established sports reporters @ coolest magazine! :3 small cameo(sorta) at the end

goro does not want mishima out of a job he just hates interviews. he knows he HAS to do them though, and generally he's only featured alongside akira or sumire or both bc otherwise he doesnt wanna do em. for reasons i will elaborate on in futchure fics or art

i wanted to keep the mishima-using-akira-(SORTA)-for-popularity that canon has bc i always thought that was funny!!! since akira is so popular everyone's gotta read mishima's articles for info abt him....

'Ran donuts around ‘em' -> donuts is slang for straight sets (winning 6-0 6-0). incidentally, i've heard 'donut' used mostly in the PNW area while 'bagel' is used more in PNE. could be wrong. source: californian and i played college tennis in boston

generally, akira is always first seed while goro is second seed. sometimes the ranking is a littleeee inexplicable but it usually turns out this way when theyre in the same tournament

in general i wanted to emphasize the weird codependency needy attached-at-the-hip but we also hate eachother sort of "teammates"/friends(???) relationship that you develop in competitive sports... so all the "romantic" gestures throughout the fic can kinda just be boiled down to that. like, in a Normal context, maybe it'd be considered romantic, but in a "im fucking fiending for my life on a tennis court" context then it's just tuesday

sumire IS a walking ITF (international tennis federation) handbook. for reasons i will elaborate on in futchure fic/art! but she takes tennis very VERY seriously. (goro also takes it VERY seriously and akira takes it seriously.)

goro lets sumire call him by his first name abt 3 months into training w her at the academy (with him and akira its like within the first match bc theyre already at eachothers throats LMAO) after her landslide victory! thats when he kinda acknowledges her as a teammate i guess? beforehand they were just hitting partners

anyway the idea of "teammate" in competitive, individual, professional tennis is very fun and interesting to me as u can tell. LMAO. and like "what makes a Friend" versus A Teammate in terms of pro athletics

goro gets embarrassed when akira lets sumire sleep in their room not because of the actual fact of her sleeping there but because he doesn't WANT her to see him with his guard down. she always sees him on the court, ready to conquer his opponents, top-notch quality tennis, etc so he's mortified that she saw him Like that (just woken up LOL) though ofc she doesnt think anythign of it bc shes just like yayyyy tennis yayyy

Yup whenever u see a ping pong table u gotta round up all ur tennis oomfs and duel it out (i suck at ping pong....)

sumire being hard on akira and goro's tennis is kinda peak to me LOL she takes this sport so serious

AKIRA MISHIMA FRIENDSHIP MEANS THE WORLD TO ME. aside i read a few akira x mishima fics lately so theyve been buzzing in my head... important ...

dats a real club that i played at... one of my fav tournaments even though i played at like 8:30am or smth and it sucked. but it was reallyyy pretty and quite a drive

sumire + kasumi one-sided rivalry drives me insane ESP in tennis au, they're literally in two different fucken universes when it comes to athletics yet sumire is still deathly intimidated by her

goro picking fights w akira and sumire YAYYYYYYYYYY <3 and sumire boiling "friendship" down to "we play tennis well together" is so peak. yeahhh angst

"why do you play tennis" / "do you love tennis" / "what do you like about tennis" r such difficult questions. i read up on some pro interviews and they hurt me physically broooo like... it seems like a rarely asked question and you get a lot of common answers but u also get stuff that just breaks ur heart

aside, this convo btwn goro and sumire is very accomplice violetcrow to me. they're complicit in their hatred and their violence and their self-destruction except its very very very self contained to a couple of lines on a hard court (and sometimes grass if we're feeling special.) they truly hunger for number 1!!!!

i really like this section LMAO its probably my favorite.

woahhh shido mention. wonder what thats abt. TO BE CONTINUED

usual jokercrow scare tactics. mating dance type situation (sumire is used to this and doesnt think anything of it) like i said its like stuff that'd be DEFINITELY romantic and flirty in a normal context but in sports when things are highly charged and emotional and you're neck to neck it's less so. (obviously it still kinda is but this is what i mean in that u could totally read this whole fic platonically all the way around if u wanted to)

"Sumire hadn’t responded to that. She had practice to get to, after all." yupppp why would sumire spend time on anything thats not tennis? shes not number 1 yet, so how can she afford to waste time? 8)

akira/mishima playing basketball at the end IMPORTANCE!! also had to include akira stealing shit obviously. BUT YEAH i think its so important that akira finally gathers the idea that like... woah.. my life extends beyond the tennis court.. i can have HOBBIES.. and FRIENDS.... and hes the first of the 3 to realize that. sumire takes ages and goro also does (but quicker than sumire.) and also callback to when mishima said he missed him!!

Q6. Do you love tennis? Haha. haha. haha. yeah mishima ur not asking that one. that's hell ur walking into

[a0wz]

On Their Way to Gotham?

Season 2 Ep 3 Spoilers!

My stream of consciousness after watching the most recent episode.

Lois is offered that job in Gotham and they are slowly leading up to Supergirl this season. I wonder if there will be an episode dedicated to Clark and Lois going on a trip or even Lois going alone to Gotham because she probably is going to be hesitant about revealing the job offer to the others.

I hope the small mentioned of Gotham and the main cast being drawn to it will be an intro to another series but focusing on Batman! I'm not too confident they will because of the show's overall vibes though. It fits perfectly for the lovable himbo Superman but Badman would need something darker. The show airs on adult swim so I think it would be interesting if they did a series that was noticeably darker and more serious than MAWS. Though it would be difficult to have crossovers because the producers would have to settle on either making superman face the maturity Batman's day-to-day involves or watering down Batman's vibes. The only thing really giving me hope for a crossover/entire series dedicated to Batman is the scene when Parasite was basically getting his insides disintegrated.

Either way, I really want to see what this show will do with Bruce and his first interactions with Superman/Clark. If they are more than ok showing and hinting at future DC villains/allies, then why not more explicitly other superheroes? There was that brief moment with the Helmet of Fate, the mother box, mace, (wielded Hawkman and Hawkwoman), green lantern power battery, T-Sphere, and the book of destiny (not super clear if it really is but that's my best guess?) all in Season 1 ep 7. It was a super lore heavy ep basically introducing the DC multiverse. I just feel like they are taking too long to introduce other key members of the justice league when they are so comfortable bringing in things that surround the league. Why not a mention of a prodigy forensic scientist Berry Allan while Superman is trying to investigate something, or wealthy business man Oliver Queen/ Brice Wayne when Superman is asked to investigate a white collar crime? These small easter eggs and name drops don't have to only be for villains and lesser allies!

[house-bound]

Trickster mode and things on people's heads

Y'know, I have seen an interpretation saying that Caliborn replacing his broken tooth with a candy corn as representative of the control he has over the trolls, while he "is" Doctor Scratch at least. The trolls having horns shaped like his teeth would be representative of him sinking his teeth into their minds, controlling their culture and shaping what their internal struggles are.

And I love this type of "In your head" symbolism bc I can see that happen in two other places

1-Roxy has a spiral on her hair, Calliope is hidden on a spiral for the months between the start of the alpha session to it's end. That is fairly minimal but it does add a neat little thing for Callieroxy

2-The Tricksters all remarkably have thematic foods stuck to their heads, specifically Roxy's Cotton Candy and Jake's pumpkin, those are ship names that get referenced through Caliborn's art commissions.

And for the trickster in general I have some thoughts about what the foods represent, we have three types:

The Small ones

Jane is associated with cakes, her trickster form has a cupcake, it's a smaller version of a food already associated with her

Dirk has an orange soda can when he has like 5 orange soda bottles on his inventory

Dave, despite being associated with apples, has a strawberry on trickster. You can argue strawberries look enough like smaller apples if you are weird about fruits, which I am.

I guess the symbolism in that is that their trickster forms keep some sense of their sober selves at least subconsciously, they still have their old selves on their minds, Dirk is the most noticeable example, but Jane also has her TM self express her frustration and unresolved feelings for Jake. (We only see TM Dave once so uh)

The Shipping ones

Like I said, Roxy who mocks the idea of being into Jane while also calling her hot has Cotton Candy on her head, Jake who has too many feelings about Dirk for me to mention succinctly, has a Pumpkin on his head

June

We only see her trickster twice, for the first time on an easter egg way before we even see the meaning in the trickstermode, she has a pink sucker, the sucker is a symbol of TM so I think it's just that she is the basic-starter-level one and not much else? And for the "Mind" interpretation I guess it means instead of thinking of an unresolved relationship or a reminder of her sober self, she is just thinking about being on TM while being on TM? A meta/self-referential/feedback loop about TM itself? Sure, she shows up for two pages, that might as well be the case.

So yeah. Things on ppl's heads. Wonder if there are other examples

[littlekiara96]

About the Melusines and their inspiration

Let me tell you the medieval french story of the fairy called Mélusine~

But first, we have to start with her father, Elinas, king of what would later become Albany, Scotland.

(TL;DR at the end)

King Elinas was hunting down some boars in a forest, when he saw, next to a fountain, a beautiful young woman. He asked to marry her, and she accepted at one condition : to never look at her when she will be giving birth or bathing their future children. Her name was Persine, and she actually was a fairy.

They had three daughters, named Mélusine, Mélior and Palestine.

Alas, the king’s son, Mataquas, born from a first wedding, was jealous of his mother-in-law's happiness, and convinced his father to enter the room where she was bathing her daughters, thus breaking the promise Elinas had made. Persine then exiled herself and her three daughters on Avalon, telling them as they grew up that if they were stranded in this misery, it was because of their father’s falsity.

She kept telling this to her daughters, so much so that came a point when Mélusine convinced her sisters to punish their father, by imprisoning him in a mountain called Brumblerio.

They did not expect their mother to get mad at them and punish each one of them for that. I won’t get into the details of the younger sisters', but Mélusine's punishment was that she would turn into a snake from the waist-down each Saturday.

But not to worry! If she wanted to marry a man someday, she would live a perfectly happy and normal life, with a normie death, if only her husband never sees her on a Saturday! :D

Oh, and if she leaves her husband, she'll be half-snake constantly, but surely, nothing bad will happen~

One day, after Mélusine has travelled to France (because why not, I guess), she was chilling in some forest.

At the same time, some guy named Raymond of Lusignan, son of some earl, was hunting a boar with his uncle, and accidentally killed said uncle. And as he was fleeing in both grief and because he was hunted down for murder, he found a fountain at midnight. And at this fountain was Mélusine. (Yes, there’s a pattern.)

She comforts him and offers her help, if he marries her and promises to not try seeing her on Saturdays. He accepts, they get married and have 10 sons, but we don’t need to care about them.

Small aside, Mélusine is said to have built several buildings in the regions of Poitou and Lorraine, as well as full on cities, castles and churches. But she built everything during the night and stopped if anyone saw her.

Back to Raymond, who was keeping his promise. Until his older brother, jealous of him (for political and economic reasons, I guess), told that his wife was seeing another man on Saturdays. Thus, Raymond went to the bathroom where Mélusine was at the time, made a peephole in the door and looked inside. Only to see his half-snake wife taking her bath.

Mélusine then flew away, out of despair, and would later show herself each time the Lusignan familiy’s properties would change owners or a family member would soon die (probably looking like some ghost to the common man ? Pure speculation on my part, though).

TL;DR:

Mélusine was a fairy in the french medieval folklore, heavily associated with water, more specifically fountains and basins, and her father was named Elinas. She would also turn half-snake on a regular basis.

So, between the "Fontaine" region, the "Melusines" race, their father "Elynas", the castles Mélusine built, the fact that snakes where sometimes called "dragons" in medieval texts, and all the water imagery in Fontaine...

Yeah, let's say those are really nice easter eggs.

[strwbmei]

Not gonna lie i really like how the recent penacony had a lot of references from previous games, particulary Acheron's true name and some small easter eggs like welt's true name. I personally like sunday's motivation it reminds me a lot of Kevin's. Had good intentions but poor execution, but damn is boss was difficult to deal with. Also we need to give our small boi Misha some silence for giving us a beautiful moment. But i guess my favorite part of all of it is Acheron since in my personal opinion she stole the show with a lot of references. Also i don't know about you but i felt that welt was nerfed or is it just me?

Agreed! I avoided social media until I finished the story, so I literally got goosebumps when Acheron said her real name. I don't remember Welt's real name being mentioned though?

Misha's story was so touching! Is it just me or was he really tall near the end?? I also got goosebumps when everything "ended" and Black Swan woke the trailblazer up. Acheron was also my favorite! The way she said her name gave me chills, and all the parallels with Lament of the Fallen. I think Welt still isn't showing much of his power. He was able to stop the Stellaron in the Trailblazer from losing control with a touch of his "cane," and even Acheron acknowledges that he's way stronger than her.

[thedarkangelpuppet]

fnaf deathorder redo for real this time

1983 most likely October

Charlie (dying on the night of CC's birthday aka. Halloween a bit after the bite)mentioned in the novel

“My mother,” Charlie said. “She was dressed up as a princess. It was a Halloween party. John, go to November first.”

John struggled briefly with the controls, and then it was there. The headline was small, but it was on the front page of the paper on Monday, November 1: TODDLER SNATCHED. Charlie turned away. John began to read aloud, and Charlie cut in, stopping him.-

CC (dies later in the hospital) thanks to the cake the two halloween dlc's that followed and , the its me easter egg and everything we see in the dreadbear dlc. we can assume his party was on Halloween and thats where Charlie was killed and that he was bitten by golden freddy at the time died later in the hospital went to posess his golden freddy plush based on what happend to Jake in Real Jake only to later posess golden freddy

1985

Susie's dog

Susie

Jeremy

Gabriel

Fritz

Cassidy

note in that order because in fnaf vr we see Freddy being posessed and Chica and Bonnie were already there proped up. Chica was the first as we know from Custom night and so on

and the last of the order is revealed by the Balloons.

purple - Bonnie is second

Foxy is fourth

golden freddy is five.

???

Elizabeth is a bit more confusing.

she has to die after Charlie (mainly course baby in that universe is made to be an adult Charlie)cause thats what the novel hints at but we don't have a specific date.the ball needle things are there like the novel and theres also the whole the 'baby is not mine' thing that could refer to Circus Baby not being William's creation. even if it follows all of William's way of designing animatronics. Even if the game timeline has it be William's creation I think its more of the hint that the timeline would still place Elizabeth's death after Charlottes

also pointing out that both Vanessa and abby in the movie are alive while Garret is already dead which supports the Elizabeth dies later than CC.

Micheal and William are another odd one.

does Micheal die first or William? we know William has to be springlocked when he destroyes the animatronics. Micheal has to be scooped before he can start his journey of freeing the souls.

I feel William died before Micheal. but god the timeline is so weird when it comes to this. William was locked in the storeroom for 30 years.

but i also think that this theory makes a good point

that also means that Micheal dying has to happen after fnaf 3....which is so confusing. lets assume that fnaf 3 takes place 2015ish maybe like 30 years after the missing kids thats the earliest fnaf 3 could be. the other idea is 30 years after fnaf 1 i guess...?

so lets figure out the dates of fnaf 1 and fnaf 2.

fnaf 1 has no specific date listed (interesting through is that in the fnaf movie its 2000 and the pizzaria is abandoned and the tapes are old)

lets assume the odor is not because mike is dead yet but because he is tempering with the animatronics and gets the odor of the corpses on him.

to note is fnaf 2 has two guards one is not Micheal but Jeremy.

Jeremy's shifts are in 1987 he also doesn't temper with the animatronics. I personally like the Idea that Jeremy is either Micheal's friend the bonnie bully or William trying to sneak into Freddy's to do the whole destroying the animatronics thing. (aka in the books he was a guard named Dave) if this is there freddys shut down it would make fnaf 3 take place 2017ish i guess

Micheal is Fritz who we don't have a date for the slip for him has no date.

so heres the order I am proposing>

Charlie first (makes sense for Henry's speech aswell but still sorta after CC's accident giving William a motive besides Jealousy)

CC

Susie's dog and Susie

Jeremy as in the Bonnie Spirit

Gabriel

Fritz

Cassidy

( Elizabeth's death) I guess if your on board with the Molten Freddy aka the funtimes are remains of the Missing kids after being melted down)

William

Micheal

Henry

[plantdad-dante]

Book #141 - Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

(Only Discworld can give me a character that reverse-infects vampires with their personality through their blood and I take it without question. Only Discworld.)

I have to open a new category: Discworld first-reads that kinda seem haphazard and weird until I get to the end and I see "oh. that was what this was about." and then suddenly I don't mind that the story spent 90% of the pages meandering through some woods with occasionally spotty action. On second thought, maybe that's a bit long for a category name.

Mightily Oats finds sincerity through a plot that would normally give him a manic-pixie dream girl to fall in love with, but instead he has Granny Weatherwax and they build mutual respect and I love it. Also, him flinging mud at Death to keep him away from Granny is my favourite thing to have happened in this book. Mainly because... it's such a small thing, but he does it with his whole heart, without second guessing or overthinking it. He just does it, and I love him.

There is something really interesting in the scene were the vampires talk to Verence and Nanny and Agnes at the castle. They, the vampires, explain their plan and everyone around them is too enthralled by the vampire magic to realize that what the Count is saying is grotesque and evil, so they just nod along to everything - and since we are in third person limited with our protagonists, it is left entirely to us, the reader, to realize it for ourselves that something is wrong. Because the Count makes sense. If we, like him, allow ourselves to forget that people are people and that just because vampires are powerful and alluring and talk in a sophisticated sounding way, it does not mean that they can be trusted.

Granny explains later that evil starts with treating people as things, but it is in this scene that we are first shown.

The Count, in his rational, industrial way of thinking, disregards matters of belief, matters of heart, matters of care and duty and righteousness and community. In his evilness, the Count disregards the sincerity of those he treats as cattle, and it is his downfall.

Because rationalizing evil, even if meant seriously, even if there is a logic to it, has nothing to do with sincerity. Sincerity requires the heart, and that's a thing the Count refuses to consider. This book is an argument in favour of radical sincerity in all matters of life and I think I need a lie down now.

Final note: Even though I am very annoyed with the current trend of nostalgia bait-y sequels, prequels and reboots everywhere I fucking look, and even though I try to avoid getting conditioned by it, and while the corporate machine has destroyed my perception of even the most sincere easter eggs of this kind... I still have to admit that I did clap like a silly little circus seal when Brutha's name first popped up.

[seasy33]

writerly ephemera

✨ share some little bits of you, easter eggs, memories, etc. you have left scattered in your fics or art. if you fancy it, tag a pal. ✨

thank you mari for making this beautiful wonderful thing and also tagging me 🥹 this is such a neat idea and a cool way to share one of the best bits about writing -- the little pieces of ourselves we weave into the stories we make <3 it's fun to hold them close as little secrets buuuuut arguably more fun to point them out lol (also i just love talking about writing)

🌻 "The sides of the river have been shored up with concrete ledges, grass slopes turning into stone and then steps and pool ladders leading into the clear and deep water. It looks deceptively calm on the surface but Jeremy can see the shadows of algae streaming in a fast current on the bottom when he leans over to look down."

homecoming is the first fic that came to mind because literally every other line has a little piece of my actual life experiences in it lol from my dog named Lacey (that was indeed given away when I was very small) to the silences that come with being the only child left in a house after everyone else grows up, etc. BUT the biggest one i think is the setting. i always use my alma mater as the blueprint for PSU but the scene by the river here is the most detailed description that i've given that came straight from my college campus. i don't think i did it justice but at least *i* know what i'm talking about lol

🏡 "Peeking out of the treeline are a pair of tin-topped buildings with their doors thrown open to the warm summer air. Everything is green and alive, alive. Buzzing and rustling and puffing gentle breaths on his skin."

okay so this one is a setting as well but it's also a vibe??? the dream sequence in up from a dream is very very special to me because Andrew and Neil's dream-house is based off of a farm that my grandparents used to live on where a lot of my happiest childhood memories took place <3 i tweaked the details a little but the vibe of the entire dream is based off of the peace and happiness i remember feeling as a little kid 🥹

🐓 "It's in the middle of bum-fucking-nowhere off a rough, two-lane highway somewhere in Georgia and the chickens --real, live chickens-- are running around on the gravel, pecking at things in the yellowed grass, ducking underneath trucks. They belong to the gas station; Andrew can see their enclosure peeking around the back of the store. Though what service they provide other than running amok is unclear."

this is gas station from give it a name is a real life gas station (with chickens) that I drive by every time I have to drive back to my home town lol though it's not in Georgia and i've only stopped there for gas once, i still see the chickens occasionally

🧡 "A few weeks ago, at the end of the season, Neil broke his racquet. He'd taken to banging the head on the court floor after a bad play, a missed pass, a hard check — a terrible habit that got him stern looks from refs and even sterner talking-tos from Wymack."

i mentioned this in the notes on the fic, but angry!neil banging his racquet on the court floor is based off of when i was in high school and played tennis and when i was pissed off, i would bang my racquet on the ground (until eventually i broke it...) not nearly as angsty as neil in hold your fire and more just upset!teenager lol but that feeling of breaking something in a moment of anger and completely regretting it and feeling terrible yet better afterward...... yeah..... 👍

okay i think i've talked enough now hahaha this was very fun!!!! i'm a very private person but i also secretly love telling secrets and secret stories (who would've guessed) and feel free to join in if you do too <3

i'll tag @mostlymaudlin @moondal514 @merceyca 💕

[angelofthepage]

Community Secret Hunting: 3 Unfound Secrets of BATDR

So today theMeatly put out a tweet that we have three easter eggs that haven't been found in BATDR. There are capitalized letters in the message that, when put together, spell out WRITER. I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what this could be a hint for, so I'm going to give you a list of my thoughts. If anyone wants to try these out, please do! I'd love to hear your findings.

We get a small thing about the writing department during the Studio Tours. Could be tied to trying to interact with that.

Might have something to do with using one of our ink abilities on walls with writing on them. I would try this with the first wall message of Chapter 3 (the one from the original BATDR trailer, "The Machine Must Endure). There are other places that might be useful to try, like "She Was the Fourth".

We already have a secret that's unlocked by collecting every copy of The Illusion of Living, but what if there's another? Wouldn't be far fetched. A certain number or all of them being under our belt might be the key.

We have the library in Wilson's Retreat with three books to read, but what if there's more that we missed?

Rereading The Mug and the Maiden, the book on Audrey's bed in the retreat, might yield some new perspective. I will try to do this and analyze it later.

Some people on twitter are suggesting trying to interact with the typewriters?

It could be tied to golden ink messages. What happens if we try to use our powers on the Contraband window in Chapter 4?

The North Wing has potential, Betty's line about it being a mess and how all those beautiful books can't be read now has me suspicious. The North Wing is the first place I think is worth checking given it's difficult to get through and is full of books. Are any of them able to be interacted with?

This one is a bit of a stretch, but does anyone have a completed save file for Bendy and the Ink Machine or Boris and the Dark Survival on their computer to go with BATDR? I HIGHLY doubt there's any kind of secret that involves something like this, but if FNAF World can do it, why not Bendy? BATDS save data would be my guess, specifically save data that has involved an encounter with Borkis. (Since Buddy is a Boris, and Dot is his friend, Boris being a clue to figuring out something writing related might make sense).

Is this something we need to look to the novels to figure out? We do have Dot in the writing department as of Dreams Come to Life. I'm not sure this is tied to her though, the games have yet to acknowledge the books.

Have we found all the notes in BATDR? We have notes from characters with names in one font, and then notes in this other font from someone that seems to be exposed to ink corruption (I'm assuming Sammy since the last one says "Can I get an Amen?" and talks about "My Lord", but it may not be!). Have we gotten all of those, or are there notes/audiologs we haven't found yet? Data miners, this may be one you can confirm.

Has anyone tried whacking the sign that has all the train locations in Chapter 4? Or using flow on it? I don't think this will yield anything, but it's got words in it, so it goes on the brainstorming list.

Is there anything in the real world Prologue section that might help us? We did get some hints at Dudley's design there, who's to say there may not be more?

This is all I've got for now, but if you guys have any more thoughts, please, feel free to add on! Share your findings if you try anything! Part of why I'm sharing this is so that we can do this together, as a community. Maybe one of you with better skills than I have can crack it. Good luck secret hunters!

[kameonerd566]

The Resurrectionist Pub

I have a lots of thoughts and observations about the resurrectionist pub lol

okay so first off, I think its going to play a pretty big role in s3; I mean, its called the resurrectionist, and like the second coming is Jesus coming back yeah? Its also got a ton of easter eggs and tie-ins with a lot of what happens in the background of the season.

To start, in an interview with David Tennant, apparently an idea for the sequel title Terry and Neil had tossed around was "668: The Neighbor of the Beast" (hilarious tbh) and the address of the pub is 66 Goat Gate!! I mean, it could just be a little easter egg, but either way i am now INTRIGUED

[Image of the record with "The Resurrectionist/66, Goat Gate/Edinburgh" written on a small piece of paper and taped to it]

I'll add more under the cut

okay so next, when we see the pub, the sign flips and its the Doctor from the grave robbing flashback. Later in he episode, Aziraphale tells Crowley (and us) that this is because that dude killed himself and so they named the pub after him (i guess as a way for his ideas to 'resurrect'?). Why would this information be relevant to us? It seems pretty clear that there is something closely tied to heaven and hell with this pub. I think it is also worth mentioning that in response to this ask, Neil says that they were always going to use the song Everyday for this, because that was the song he and Terry had decided would be best (and funniest) to signify that the end times were near.

To tie this into the actual s1 and s2 lore, I think maybe it was part of the Ineffable Plan that Gabe and Beez would meet here, like this song, fall in love, and tamper with the jukebox as an accidental way of sending a warning. I wish we knew more about the plan that Gabe refused, but alas, I think maybe this meeting place wasn't so random. Also worth noting that the matchbox Gabe used for the fly is from the Resurrectionist pub, and we get this in episode 1:

[Image of the matchbox with: "Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out." Job 41:19]

It seems that they really wanted the audience to read that, but I can't figure out why- even with the job flashback we get later I'm pretty sure nobody was breathing fire. Is it just a funny pun because its matches? why is it pulled from Job (I'm sure there are plenty of other witty bible verses about fire)? Its interesting to me that so many different aspects of s2 are all pointing to this pub. Not to mention that later when Gabe quotes the thing about the stars singing we can literally hear God's voice in unison with his. ((tangential other theory I have- was God trying to speak through him? is the Metatron lying about how close he is to God?))

so, a quick recap, we know that an idea for the sequel novel that was never written was 668: Neighbor of the Beast, and we know that Terry picked out the song Everyday to be the one to signify the end times getting closer. We know that the matches are from this pub and that they reference Job. We know that throughout the season, Gabe is spitting bible verses with God herself in the background. We also know that both the grave robbing flashback doctor guy has ties to the pub. I don't really know where to go from here theory wise, but yeah, there's definitely some juicy stuff coming and I can't wait to make sense of it all next season!! Pls let me know your thoughts as well!!

[brian-in-finance]

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How the Outlander Season 5 Finale Uses Easter Eggs To Tell Its Story

There were so many references and Easter eggs in the Outlander Season 5 finale.

The Outlander Season 5 finale was much more self-referential than most episodes of this TV show, as we delve into Claire’s subconscious as she dissociates to avoid the reality of her abduction and abuse at the hands of Lionel Brown. Instead of staying in the present, her mind brings her to a 20th century home filled with her 18th century family celebrating American Thanksgiving. The modern house is populated with references to things we have seen Claire experience in previous seasons of this show.

It’s a clever, visually-specific way of telling us about Claire: what matters to her, what she’s afraid of, and what she’s desperately trying to avoid. It is also the kind of episodic writing and direction that wouldn’t work for a less fervid viewership. The creators obviously had faith that fans will have been paying close attention, and the clues to Claire’s past will therefore mean something to them. Let’s break down all of the references and Easter Eggs in the Season 5 finale…

The House Painting

In the dissociation scenes, we see Claire looking at an abstract painting of a house, done in oranges and reds. No, this is not a painting of the house on Fraser’s Ridge on fire, as some people have understandably guessed, but a painting of the house on Fraser’s Ridge totally not on fire.

The Song

The song playing on the record player during Claire’s dissociation scene is 1967 tune “Never My Love” by The Association. It also gives the episode its name.

The Orange

One of the first Easter eggs in Claire’s dissociation sequence comes in the form of a lone orange, which is a call back to the orange that the King of France gives Claire back in Season 2’s “Faith.”

“After Claire sleeps with the King of France to save Jamie’s life, when she leaves Versailles Palace, the last thing she does is pick up the orange and take it with her,” executive producer Tonia Graphia told Elle. “It was a small gesture by Claire, a choice that symbolizes that she’s leaving with her dignity. Matt and I included it on purpose in Claire’s dream-escapes in 612: The orange being visible in the opening shot in her living room, then, when faced with the choice of whether to kill Lionel in revenge, Claire flashes on the orange—and then her walking out with it—a symbol that she takes the high road. She’s got a piece of herself that no one can ever take from her. We’re hoping the fans who remember the episode in Season 2 will get it!”

The Vase

The vase we see in Claire’s “dream home” is a callback to the very first episode of Outlander. In “Sassenach,” Claire wonders in voiceover how her life might have turned out different if she made different choices, like buying a vase she saw in a shop window.

Strange, the things you remember. Single images and feelings that stay with you down through the years. Like the moment I’d realized I’d never owned a vase. That I’d never lived in any place long enough to justify having such a simple thing. And how at that moment, I wanted nothing so much in all the world as to have a vase of my very own. — Claire as narrator, S01E01 Sassenach

The Dragonfly Toy

At one point in the sequence, a child is playing with a dragonfly toy. The second book in the Outlander book series is called Dragonfly in Amber, as is the final episode of Season 2. Both titles are a reference to the eternal strength of Jamie and Claire’s love. Like a dragonfly in amber, it can withstand even the forces of time (travel).

Claire’s Red Dress

Claire’s bright red dress seems to be a callback to the gorgeous dress that Claire wore in Season 2 when she and Jamie were in France. Or maybe red is just Claire’s power color?

Ian’s Uniform

Ian is dressed in a military uniform in the 20th century dream sequence. This is not a reference to anything that has happened on the show—other than Young Ian leaving home for a long while—but seemingly a reference to the Vietnam War, which would have been going on in late 1960s/early 1970s when this scene seems to be “set.”

While much of Ian’s uniform is a historically accurate U.S. Army uniform, he is wearing a patch on his shoulder that has a silhouette of a Native American, which is a reference to the character’s time with the Mohawk. Also, the medal ribbons are actually made out of Indian wampum beads,” Outlander costumer Trisha Biggar told Town & Country. You can read more about the clever costume choices she made for this sequence via Town & Country.

Jamie’s Outfit

While it might seem like Jamie’s outfit is strictly circa 1770s, Biggar told Town & Country that they made some 20th century adjustments, such as “narrowing down the fullness of the shirt” and “making his breeches look more like a 20th century pair of trousers.”

“Breeches go into the boots, so we just made the trousers go into boots, too,” shared Biggar, “and we made his trousers out of a black denim, so it was a contemporary fabric, but still gave him his 18th century silhouette. He sort of fits in to the 20th century, but is still very much of his own century.”

“You’re Shaking So Hard…”

There were certain lines of dialogue that were direct callbacks to lines of dialogue from earlier seasons. At one point, Dream Jamie says “You’re shaking so hard, it’s making my teeth rattle,” which is something the character said to Claire back in the Outlander premiere.

Murtagh & Jocasta

While Claire doesn’t imagine other deceased loved ones in her dissociation sequence, she does interestingly imagine Murtagh, who died earlier this season, as part of the Thanksgiving Day scene. Murtagh, who mentions Prestonpans at one point in the “day,” is seemingly in a happy relationship with Jocasta, who is noticeably not blind in the sequence. Fergus also seems to have both of his hands, which is also a change from the reality Claire knows.

The Beatles and Ringo Starr

We get several Beatles references within this episode. First, it’s part of dinner conversation during Claire’s dissociation dream. Then, we hear Wendigo Donner use it as a way to confirm that Claire is from the 20th century. He asks her who Ringo Starr is (interesting choice of Beatle), and she tells him that he is a drummer.

The Plaid Blanket

The scene that sees Claire wrapped up in Jamie’s blanket after Jamie has rescued her from Lionel Brown is a call back to the scene in the Outlander pilot that sees Claire wrapped up in Jamie’s blanket after he has rescued her from Jack Randall.

Did we miss any Easter eggs? Let us know in the comments below…

Photo: Annie Leibowitz (provided in comment by Ray Renati)

Den of Geek

Remember… for I remember Easter morn, and life and love and peace are all new born. — Alice Freeman Palmer

In the third example in the photo collage, comparing the monstrance to the clock, the monstrance is from the Boston church in S05E05 Perpetual Adoration. Several photos of the monstrance at Blacklanderz