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mermaidsirennikita · 2 months

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Contemporaries where dirty talk is especially hot? Both during sex and maybe also over text? Thank you!!

Sierra Simone, Sierra Simone, Sierra Simone. Her books are often set in a contemporary world, but they're not, as a heads up, "light" contemporaries. Personally, I wouldn't really go as far as to call them dark romance (well. Thornchapel, I would, but I also wouldn't recommend it as a contemporary as it has such strong supernatural elements lol) but they do have some elements of (light) mysticism as some of them are retellings of old myth set in a modern setting. I'd check out:

Priest, Sinner, Saint/"The Bell Brothers": These are three standalones (M/F, M/F, and M/M) that always have a bit of a religion kink. And a by a bit, I mean a lot. Priest is the book where a Catholic priest (who is actually very naturally carnal and only became a priest because of some deep guilt issues and religiosity) meets a woman who tells him ALL the shit she's done in confession. It's naturally dirty, and he naturally falls head over heels into an affair. Sinner is about a business whose best friend's little sister is about to become a nun, and she (on the advice of her convent, naturally) asks him to teach her about sex so she can experience what she'll miss before she really commits. Saint is about a guy who became a monk in a period of deep emotional crisis, whose ex-boyfriend (he left with zero notice) ends up on a tour of monasteries with him for an article he's writing. Temptation ensues.

The dirty talk in these is naturally very tinged with priest/nun kink stuff, it's SUPER dirty, and I love it. They're also just really good.

Her Christmas Notch books she does with Julie Murphy are a little tamer, both focus on this Hallmark-esque company where the leads film these Christmas movies and, of course, fall in love. I really, really love A Holly Jolly Ever After, because the hero is a former boybander (with a dad bod!) who fucks like a demon and also owns a chain of pizza shops, and his sex tape leaks, during which he's pictured absolutely RAILING a woman from behind, slapping her ass, and saying "and THAT'S how you toss the dough" which I personally think is some of the greatest dirty talk I've ever read.

New Camelot: One of my favorite trilogies of all time, MMF, "what if King Arthur was President, Guinevere was First Lady, and Lancelot was VP, and what if they were all in love with each other and entangled in an intense affair and IT WAS AMAZING". I reread scenes regularly. I love it so much. The dirty talk is obscene. You get the very cool "sit, stay, bark" dom dirty talk from one hero and the deranged "I'm going through it and you're going to go through it with me" passionate dirty talk from the other. Our heroine ain't half bad at it either.

Lyonesse Trilogy: The prequel novella and the first book are out now; it's a Tristan/Isolde/Mark MMF retelling. Mark is perhaps like... the dirtiest dirty talker Sierra has written. He's soooooo much. Like, if you want the condescending dom dirty talking hero, he's The One. The alternating between the "look how good you take it" stuff and "you're so desperate it's pathetic" shit. Why not both???

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield has a TON of dirty talk, usually in the DD/lg vein. The hero and heroine roleplay dirty stepdad fantasies a lot, and the way they talk to each other is OBSCENE lol. And I love it.

Minx by Sophie Lark has some amazing dirty talk in the pet play realm. The heroine is an escort paid by the hero, and he has her dress up in a catsuit, wear a caller, drink milk out of a bowl while he calls her Minxie and a good girl and shit lol. I was into it. Idk if you'll be into it. Iiiii was into it.

Sara Cate's Salacious Player Club books have good dirty talk. They're sex club books that kind of deconstruct a different kink in each book (pleasure dom/sub in the first one, voyeurism in the second, MMF/bi awakening in the third, and femdom in the fourth... I'd stop after the fourth) and naturally are filled with dirty talk. Eyes On Me (the second book) may especially work for you because the heroine is a cam girl.

Possession by Adriana Anders has a heroine in a PR marriage with her famous husband end up in a kink camp with him after a scandal, and they... explore a lot. Including consensual kidnapping, an MFM threesome, lots of dirty talk... It's a lot.

Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre has a heroine who becomes her billionaire boss's domme, so naturally there is a LOT of femdom dirty talk. We LOVE to see it.

Heated Rivalry & The Long Game by Rachel Reid make up a duology of hockey romances about the same couple (m/m). What I like about this is that you follow the same couple over like, a decade, starting when they're like 18/19, and they build up...? Their dirty talk? Like in the beginning, their encounters are more awkward, and then by the end they're using sex toys and like mild bondage and really KNOW each other and what turns each other on. Including the talk.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #romance novels #seriously tho if y'all wanna read a book where people are just talking filth. sierra simone lol

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sunflouwerhabit · 5 months

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hii! it's me again! (i'm thinking of getting a patent for this phrase ahaha)

1st I'm very glad that my messages make you happy there's a lot of care into them AND your writing makes ME very happy so, feels like a fair trade.

2nd SOTB IS SO ROMANTIC LIKE!!! I love how she combines a more mystical/ethereal view of love to a very mundane and domestic side of it <3 Also I agree very much, love the version with more lana, I think it really suits her voice.

3rd omg which other album would make your top three??? this is now a very serious question. And also, COWBOY LIKE ME AU WHENNN.

4th IT WAS LOUIS' HATER ERA BUT I LOVE IT SOOOOO MUCH. I love him throughout the whole fic tbh, I think sometimes authors when writing ""enemies"" to lovers (i mean are they really enemies if Harry was in love with him FOR MONTHS 💀) either make the first conflict too harsh or then make characters' reaction not proportionate at all with the event itself but I think that Louis' behavior in yours was so credible, I really really loved dtl.

5th I WANT TO GO. I live in europe sooo I thought I had already gotten over my "I wanna live in the USA when I grow up 😍" era, but reading your descriptions of Cleveland made me want to AT LEAST go there to visit it.

6th OK SO. I HAVE STARTED THE INNINGS. IN FACT, I'VE READ ALMOST ALL OF THEM. I think the next one is the tenth. I'm trying to save them because I usually read really fast (I read write this down in like... two days........) but I've been struggling with finding new fics (if you have any recommendations plz do tell) and I'm not ready to finish the innings because then I won't have any ""new dtl content" for when I'm really struggling with finding something to read before bed. so. yeah. who knows. in a month I've read 10 innings so it probably won't last much longer ahahah BUT I'M LOVING IT SO SO MUCH. I could probably give you a review on each of the innings and explain why I loved every single one of them but I reckon that would make a too long of tumblr ask so... I won't ❤️ but I will say that I LOVE HARRY SO MUCH. like I love dtl louis in the sense of: I would love to be his friend, I would love to hang out with him. HARRY THOUGH??? He's like: COMFORT CHARACTER. I KNOW I ALREADY SAID THIS BEFOFE BUT HE REALLY IS. THE FIRST INNING??????? KNOWING HIS INNER THOUGHTS????? like. I can't. I CANT. Don't think I'll survive dtl (harry's version) :)))

(also!!!! I didn't know anything about baseball before I read dtl and I thought it would be good to have a mere idea of the game before starting the fic so I spent approximately 3 hours on youtube watching videos like "how to play baseball (BASICS)" or "how to play baseball (BASICS (FOR EUROPEANS WHO HAVE NEVER WATCHED A GAME))", just kidding this last one didn't exist. BUT IT SHOULD. It would've been helpful. Anyway rn I still haven't started supporting a team (bc honestly I get very overwhelmed with the amount of games and since my knowledge of RL baseball is close to 0 I'm not sure how I'm supposed to watch it or how do people usually follow the season) BUT I WILL SAY THAT I DONT THINK I COULD EVER SUPPORT THE CUBS. Just bc in my mind they're forever meanies and I just can't. So thanks for that!!!!!)

7th IM SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR THEM. I SWEAR TIS THE DAMN SEASON AND I'VE STARTED LISTENING TO EVERMORE AGAIN AND I REALLY FEEL THE SUDDEN NEED TO REREAD WRITE THIS DOWN. but I think I'm going to save it for christmas cause I think it will be sooo comforting because HOLIDAYS. So, until then I'll just listen to evermore and think about them.

8th whiiiiich brings me to the point of this whole ask! I watched the eras tour film today and when it got to champagne problems all I could think about was liam. Like my friends were crying (we're all very devoted Taylor/Louis/Harry fans) and I was thinking about the fact that Liam did buy champagne. In your fic. Honestly I was thinking about them the whole time. So yeah, you have officially altered the way I perceive evermore, thank you so much.

9th (bc 9 innings) have you been to the eras tour? or have you watched the film?? If no to both YOU NEED TO WATCH THE FILM as soon as it's available!!! it's so good!! If yes to both, what did you think of it? If yes to one of them and no to other, plz do ramble about it, I'd love to hear (read) your thoughts.

ANYWAY this is once again VERY long. IM SORRY! I hope you have a great weekend AND THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS BEING SO SWEET AND TALKATIVE IN YOUR REPLIES!!! 💓 I LOVE YOU!!!! :)

HIIIIIIIIIIIII <33333 i am back to answer after a bit of a hiatus :-)))) ((writing took over my LIFE this past month. i am so behind in EVERYTHING 😭♥️)) but omg anyway i am BACK!!

stoppppp i love the idea of a tradeoff between my stories and these comments??? that is simply??? so cute i will sob :'))))

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE YOUR ANALYSIS OF SOTB S O MUCH!!!! like the juxtaposition between the sheer impractical allure of it all to how NORMAL life becomes between two long term partners??? sahhsldfjsfsf i think that's why i love the line "my flight was awful thanks for asking" sO MUCH like UGH

OOOOOOO i loveeeeeeee this question! so my top three taylor albums are: evermore, speak now (taylor's version), and folklore!!!! i love every album she has ever released, but those 3 are so special to meeee

LOUIS THE HATER <3 love him sm. he's so perfect and so unserious sjflsdfjsdjfsf but i also have those same reservations with enemies to lovers so i am so happy to know down the line still felt realistic!!! i LOVE tropes when it's enemies to lovers on the surface, but it's so obvious that only one takes the rivalry seriously sdfjksdfjsf and writing smitten harry always makes me so happy!!!

and AHHHHHHHHH i am so happy to be of service with that particular mission:'))))))))) i can attest to cleveland being a wonderful place to visit, if it's possible <3333 i have been to europe once but would love to see more countries and cities in the future!!!!!

AND AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! THE EXTRA INNINGS!!!!!! i love that you are trying to read them slower (reading write this down in two days is SO IMPRESSIVE i CANT). it also makes me giggle because i am pretty sure this ask was sent in before innings 13-15 were published, so!!!!! i hope you enjoyed those three monsters (writing those was.... a lot hajlfasjfsdlf). i need to make a fic rec list sooooooon! i have so many! my favorite fic of all time is mine would be you by crinkle-eyed-boo! :-) but AHHHHHHH i am so so so happy you love down the line harry so much! i simply want my own personal dtl harry???? like where can i find one of him???? he's just a baby????? :'))))))) i love everyone in dtl but he's just so special i aDORE HIM <3333 but also ALSO ALSO i am giggling at all the effort you put into learning about baseball!!! i love the dedication!!!!! ((a video for europeans especially is such a good idea i will get on that sjdfjlsfsdfsdf)) i actually made a powerpoint explaining baseball basics for my one friend! i should link in on ao3 so you all have it hehehehe aLSO ALSO ALSO ALSO- if you still need a team to root for.... might i suggest the cleveland guardians :D

AND :'))))))) it is officially OFFICIALLY evermore season!!!! tis the damn season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is truly the ideal time to read write this down. i will be playing my evermore vinyl on repeat for the next month :')

BUT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD OH NO I AM CRYING FOR YOU???? THAT IS SO DEVASTATING?????? POOR LIAM 😭😭😭😭😭 i feel your pain so much though because so many songs on evermore now remind me SO MUCH of write this down and it HURTS

AND!!! i have been to the era's tour!!!!!! i went to pittsburgh night two and my surprise songs were story of us and seven and it was the best night of my life! i dressed up as a speak now disco ball. it was just ahhsldfjsdlkfjskflsf. evermore was my favorite era of the night. tis the damn season. marjorie. TOLERATE IT. like are you KIDDING???????????? i also loved the pure joy in the stadium during the fearless set. and she had so many of my favorite songs on the setlist. im just aljdsfklsjfskfjsf i would love to relive that night again and again :') and i saw the movie the day it was released! i may actually go see it again this week with some family!!!!! i love it so so so so much! are you seeing the era's tour??? :')

♥️♥️♥️ i am so sorry it has taken me a million and one years to answer your message, but i hope you are doing well and you may always always always feel free to ramble in my asks i love these messages SO MUCH <333333

#asks

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sie-werden-nie-vergessen · 3 years

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“Ruth and Ephraim as a couple” headcanons/AU, ft “Sarah in Boston”

@shapeshiftersandfire, so here it is. I finished way earlier than I anticipated, but I just started typing and here it is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muFFeiBUffQ (this song is required listening when reading these headcanons. It IS Ephraim and Ruth’s theme song. I recommend starting it at 3:14 because that point of the song is the section that really gives me Ruth and Ephraim vibes)

First off, there is SO much covert flirting. SO, SO MUCH FLIRTING.

Ephraim is definitely having an identity crisis on the way home after the card game.

He gets home and Deodat asks him how the party went and he just kind of stands there like an oaf.

“It went fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“No Yes”

“...okay”

Deodat doesn’t believe him but he assumes that maybe Ephraim was just rejected by a date or something. Little does he know…..

“Fire Meet Gasoline” is a very good analogy to their relationship.

Because not only would it be passionate

But their relationship would probably also develop very quickly

They wouldn’t rush things, per se, but the “crush” phase is definitely very short for them

They’re both very outspoken and confident, so they very quickly open up about their feelings rather than beating around the bush.

They’re both very passionate people in terms of personality, and even when Ephraim is open-minded enough to fall for Ruth, they still inevitably clash with their opinions

They don’t fight but they definitely debate.

But in a healthy way. The debates can get heated but not in a hostile way. They’re just both very opinionated and they get very passionate about their opinions and their different thought processes.

“I know I’m right!” “Yeah well I know that I”M right!” “Well I think I’m right because xyz” “Well my reasons are abc” “...that’s a good point. But I’m still right ;)”

So it probably looks like arguing to some people, but they both know that it’s all in good humor so neither Ephraim or Ruth are actually hurt by it or anything

They actually think it’s a good source of entertainment.

They once got into a heated debate about the correct color of socks in the middle of the new Mill Valley department store just to see the reactions of the cashiers

The aforementioned cashiers were horrified

Ephraim was arguing in favor of brown socks, and Ruth in favor of gray.

They ended up buying both colors.

Ruth now buys him brown and gray socks for a gag gift every Christmas (were gag gifts a thing in 1898? No clue, but I like the idea so I’m running with it and not researching something for once).

Ephraim keeps her a secret for a long time, for obvious reasons.

Ruth doesn’t mind this because she understands his reasoning behind it.

She takes it as an opportunity to introduce him to her family and friends.

Ephraim gets along great with her brother Charles, and almost immediately the “future brother in law” jokes start.

Ruth is surprisingly embarrassed by this.

Ephraim teases her for days about that fact.

“Finally! I finally found something that embarrasses you!”

Ephraim goes to her performances and cheers her on (he always brings a bouquet too)

He sits in the front row right at the bottom of the stage and claps the loudest when she comes on stage.

Ruth is big into theatrics and has an entire setup of smoke cannons and mood lighting that announce her entrance.

She steps into this cloud of smoke and raises her arms dramatically and announces herself

Ruth loves to wear the color red because it looks so striking against her pale skin, but she secretly loves lighter shades of blue even more (they just don’t give off very strong “mystical” vibes, so she sticks to dark reds when she’s in the spotlight)

She works as a fortune teller and does card tricks as well

She loves to hear the ridiculous rumors and urban legends surrounding the “mystical powers” of albinos and then she incorporates that into her routine

“ALBINOS CAN READ MINDS” okay, well now she does mind reading as a new trick

In reality she’s just a very analytical person so it’s easy for her to pick up on small body language or vocal cues

Ephraim always asks her to tell him her fortune and it inevitably turns into some sappy “well I think you’ll end up marrying an amazing circus performer who just so happens to also be the most beautiful woman in Pennsylvania” thing

Ephraim definitely agrees with her “fortune”

He tells her about Sarah pretty early on in the relationship. He doesn’t want to hide anything from her.

He isn’t sure how she’ll take it, especially considering the fact that he was complacent in Sarah’s abuse for years until he really got out into the world and realized that everything he “knew” about albinism was wrong.

Ruth is definitely shocked but she assures him that he’s not some sort of monster, because he realized that what his parents trained him to think was wrong and he was able to grow from that.

One day when the rest of the family is out, Ephraim sneaks Ruth into the mansion (with the help of Sylvie and Lou Lou, of course) and she goes down to the cellar to meet Sarah.

Sarah is absolutely floored that there are others like her.

Of course she knew, because Ephraim told her when he returned from college and made amends, but when she sees it infront of her eyes it’s still a shock.

Ruth and Sarah hit it off instantly, of course.

Ruth promises to take Sarah to see a circus someday

Sarah can’t wait to see the elephants.

A few days after the secret meeting, Ephraim decides to tell his family about Ruth.

He tells Harold, thinking that maybe Harold would understand

But Harold just rats him out to Deodat and Delanie

They’re furious, of course

They don’t tell Gertrude because they claim that it would give her a heart attack

And tbh, it might

Gertrude figures it out anyways from the deranged yelling that comes from downstairs

“After all we’ve done to hide Sarah, and now you do THIS?!!”

“Mother, there’s nothing wrong with her.”

“She’s a circus freak!”

“By choice. She enjoys working in sideshows. That doesn’t make her a bad person.”

“Are you sure she isn’t just trying to mooch off of OUR money?!”

“She’s very wealthy, Mother. She works because she enjoys it.”

Deodat has more or less the same reaction.

Harold just can’t believe that Ephraim would “betray” the family in that way.

Ephraim tells Ruth the next day, and they decide to take Sarah away and leave for Boston.

Charles helps with the legal side of things, and pulls a few strings with his lawyer friends in Pennsylvania to have Sarah legally emancipated from her parents.

The trio moves to Boston and temporarily lives with Charles and his wife Louisa.

Louisa is smitten with Sarah from the start and insists on baking her ridiculous amounts of gingerbread.

(For no reason, really, but Louisa just has a thing for gingerbread. Sarah doesn’t complain)

Sarah gains quite a lot of weight in those first few months, and for the first time in her life she weighs a healthy amount.

Ruth takes her clothes shopping often, and she insists on buying Sarah the nicest and newest fashions (even though she grows out of them so quickly now. It’s as if 18 years of growing have finally caught up with her at once).

Sarah hugs Ephraim for the first time after she and Ruth return from their first major shopping trip. Ephraim almost cries, and Ruth grins so hard that her face hurts.

Ephraim wasn’t sure if Sarah could ever forgive him, but that was proof enough for him.

Ruth gives Sarah her first diamond necklace. It’s the one that Ruth wore the day she met Sarah. Sarah had said that it was the prettiest thing that she had ever seen, and Ruth saved it for her until they reached Boston. It was an informal adoption gift, really.

Ephraim and Ruth eventually buy a nice brownstone in Boston. It’s a few streets away from Charles and Louisa’s home, and there’s a large park across the street.

Sarah loves to sit in the park and watch the swans and ducks on the pond.

Sometimes Ruth and Ephraim go with her, but a lot of the time they let her go alone. They know that she’s been through a lot, and that sometimes she needs time alone to process everything.

Sometimes she comes back with tears in her eyes, but no one mentions it. Ruth brings her a cup of tea or a piece of gingerbread (Louisa is always sending over fresh gingerbread) and offers her a shoulder to cry on, if she needs it.

Ruth takes Sarah to meet her fellow albino circus performers. For once in her life, Sarah feels truly accepted and understood when she stands in a room surrounded by people like her.

There are so many children in the room, and they’re all so loved by their family members, regardless of their albinism. It makes Sarah sad at first, but she’s also happy to see that they were raised in loving households instead of abusive and hateful ones.

For their first Christmas together in Boston, Ephraim buys Sarah a Kodak No. 2 Bullseye Camera. When the first Kodak Brownie camera is released a few years later in 1900, he buys her one of those as well.

He tells her that she can use it to document her new life in Boston.

The first picture she takes is a picture of a sleeping Ephraim.

He’s sitting in an armchair next to the Christmas tree, surrounded by wrapping paper and plates of half finished cookies.

Once the picture is developed, she puts it in her new photo album that Charles and Louisa gave to her.

When Ephraim woke up, Sarah asked to take a picture with him.

Of course he obliged.

She keeps that one in a frame by her bedside.

Sarah has a whole pile of her “treasures” that she keeps beside her bed, but that picture is at the center of it all.

Ephraim notices it one time when he’s helping Ruth collect the laundry, and it touches him more than he can say.

For her gift, Ruth arranges for Sarah to take some writing classes at the local women’s college.

Sarah is thrilled. She starts to write stories other than horror.

She still loves scary stories, but she finds a new love for children’s stories and romance novels.

Little Women is her favorite (Ruth is delighted! It was her favorite book too!)

In 1900 Ruth and Ephraim have a son. They name him Eli, in reference to Sarah’s middle name (Elizabeth).

Sarah is the proudest aunt you’ve ever seen.

Ephraim and Ruth go on to have more children, but Sarah has a special bond with little Eli. He is the first baby that she ever held.

The odd little family on Pearl Street is probably the happiest family you’ll ever see.

Sarah eventually marries the son of one of Ruth’s circus colleagues.

His name is Thomas, and he’s a quiet man.

He loves birds too, just like Sarah.

He and Sarah go bird watching often.

They go on to have a large family. 2 out of the 5 children have albinism, but they love all of their children the same.

They live a long life.

Neither Ephraim, Ruth, or Sarah ever return to Mill Valley. They’re more than happy to let the past remain in the past.

Bonus: Harold In Boston Headcanons/AU

Once Ephraim does reach out to Harold, and he’s surprised to learn that Harold has also distanced himself from their parents.

Gertrude died in 1899, and shortly after that Harold’s fiancée Violet died of tuberculosis. With his ties to Mill Valley significantly loosened, Harold took an extended business trip to Philadelphia where he eventually opened his own publishing company. After the mercury scandal at the mill, Deodat and Delanie are essentially ruined and Harold is free to pursue his own interests independent of the mill.

He goes to visit Ephraim in 1900 to congratulate him on the birth of his son.

It’s tense at first, when he see’s Sarah. He isn’t sure how she’ll react to him.

She’s wearing a white lace dress with small puffs at the sleeves, and pale blue ribbons at the cuffs and waist of the skirt.

Her hair is in a soft gibson girl-esque style, and Harold realizes that it’s the first time he’s ever seen her in anything other than the old gown she always wore back in Pennsylvania.

“Hello Sarah”

“Hello Harold”

He isn’t sure what to do at first, but Ruth quickly introduces herself to abate the awkward silence.

He’s never met Ruth, but he quickly understands why Ephraim likes her so much.

After he meets the baby and pleasantries are exchanged, he wanders off into one of the upstairs rooms of the home.

(Sarah left the room once Ruth brought out the baby. She loves Eli, but she feels awkward being everyone all at once, as if she’s intruding on something she isn’t, of course).

He accidentally goes into Sarah’s room, only to find her at her desk writing.

Her room is nothing like the dark basement she used to call home, and Harold is thankful for that.

“So, you still write?”

Sarah jumps in her chair a little, before suddenly whipping around. She’s still not good with loud or sudden noises, even after 3 years of safety.

Harold cringes when she jumps. He hates that he still scares her.

When she composes herself, she smiles a small smile. “Yes, I still write.”

Harold asks what she writes about these days, and she tells him that she writes children’s stories.

It’s a sad irony, considering the mercury scandal, but Harold doesn’t tell her about that yet.

She had left Mill Valley before the worst of it, and he knows how much she loved those children.

After they talk for a while, Sarah eventually invites him to sit with her.

They sit side by side on her bed and she shows him her notebooks.

He’s surprised by how much she’s grown since he last saw her. She’s a little taller now, and she’s gained a lot of weight. Her face isn’t hollow anymore, and her eyes are bright now. Her hair is shiny and thick, and she truly looks happy.

She only shakes a little when he’s so close to her. Harold still scares her a little, but Ephraim promised her that no one would ever hurt her again.

Sarah trusts Ephraim immensely, so she’s willing to trust Harold too

Still, it’s a little hard for her to have him in such close proximity.

Harold notices her discomfort and moves a few inches away (still close enough to see her notebooks, but far enough that it gives Sarah a safe buffer). Her nerves calm down once she has a “safe zone.”

Harold finally works up the nerve to say something.

“Sarah, I-”

“I know. Ephraim told me.”

“He did?”

“He did”

“Well...that’s...that’s good.”

The next thing that Sarah does shocks Harold to his core.

She reaches out, her hands shaking, and grabs his hand.

“I know that you didn’t mean it - what you did to me -...not really, anyways. I know you’re different now.”

Harold squeezes her hand in return, and she stops shaking.

“Thank you”

Sarah smiles

“Of course”

Ephraim happens to pass Sarah’s bedroom on his way upstairs and nearly dies of shock at the site of them. Harold doesn’t notice Ephraim, but Sarah does.

She bursts out laughing, because Ephraim genuinely looks horrified, shocked, and immensely confused.

“He said that he was sorry!,” she explained in a half yell in Ephraim’s direction.

Ephraim is still in shock, so he doesn’t say anything.

Harold is also in shock, but because of Sarah’s laugh.

The man genuinely didn’t think that it was possible, and yet here she was laughing.

When everyone recovers from their respective shocks, Harold is invited to stay for dinner.

This dinner invitation turns into a long term stay, and eventually Harold moves his business to Boston.

He buys the brownstone next to Ephraim and Ruth’s home.

He remains a bachelor all his life, never having truly recovered from Violet’s death.

Harold definitely earns the title of “World’s Greatest Uncle” in regards to Sarah and Thomas’ children.

By 1980 the neighborhood block is so full of Bellows descendants that it’s unofficially renamed Bellows Square

Ruth and Ephraim’s house becomes a local historic landmark, considering the fact that Ephraim went on to become one of the country’s early geneticists who (humanely) studied genetic disorders and medical conditions.

The house later becomes a museum in the early 90s, having been restored to the same state that it was when they once resided in it.

Sarah’s Kodak No. 2 Bullseye is put on display, but the crowning achievement is her collection of photo albums and notebooks. She went on to become a children’s writer and illustrator, basing many of her books on her experiences in Boston.

The old Bellows Paper Mill is torn down in 1948 to make room for new housing following the G.I. Bill and the post-war Baby Boom.

None of the surviving Bellows are sad to see it go.

#ephraim bellows #sarah bellows #ruth vedette #headcanons #au #ruth is my own character #harold bellows

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happymeishappylife · 3 years

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Movie I Watched in 2020

I brought back my Friday Night Movie Nights, where I would watch movies every Friday Night as a way to relax after the work week. Because of that I got to see a lot great films, a lot of diverse films, and listen to some great stories. Here’s the list, with a special review of my top 10:

1. Klaus

Christmas may have passed, but that honestly doesn’t matter. I watched this movie in May and balled my eyes out at just how beautiful a message this movie delivered. It was magical not because of how it tied into the holiday, but by how it was able to paint such a beautiful character arc and journey. I highly recommend this if you want to be reminded of your own potential and the joy of being kind.

2. Taare Zameen Par

Another movie where I cried my eyes out. I know that certain issues are felt around the world, but I’ve never seen how other countries deal with them and this movie did so in both heartbreaking ways and overwhelming hearfelt ways. The story involves a boy who is dyslectic and how he can’t preform in a regular school or to his families views and so gets sent to a boarding school to help him, but it absolutely wrecks him until they hire an art teacher who not only gets through to him, but understands him because he too has dyslexia. It’s one of the more impressive bollywood movies I’ve ever seen.

3. The Breadwinner

A hard and yet amazing tale of courage from a young girl who wants nothing more than to help her family. Understanding what is going on in parts of the world that are not your own is why movies and stories can be so powerful and watching Parvana risk her life to help feed her family after her father gets imprisoned is just that.

4. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

An older film, but there is a reason why its so beloved: It’s absolutely hysterical and such a fun time. My parents and I watched this virtually together and laughed so hard. Bill and Ted may be goofy high school boys who don’t pronounce names correctly, but the fact they can gather up so many historical figures for their report and learn something from the little time they spent travelling through time, is impressive. Good to know that telephone booths and boxes are the way to time travel.

5. Train to Busan

For years, Philip Defranco praised this movie and told his audience several times to watch it. Well I finally listened and realized he was right. This movie is fantastic and Korea not only perfected a zombie movie, but gave it heart to the point where I nearly wanted to cry at the end. Because this movie has so much depth beyond just killing zombies, it gets lifted beyond its genre to be just a great movie.

6. V for Vendetta

“Remember, remember, the fourth of November.” It’s funny that I happened to watch this movie for the first time now, in the year 2020 with a plague set about the world because that’s the setting for the movie. And with a corrupted authoritative government, the tale to fight back and fight for justice rings true louder than ever before.

7. Miss Virginia

What would you do to make sure your child could get the education they deserved? Because Virginia Walden is an amazing woman who found resources and allies to not only get her son into a better school, but helped a lot of families get their children scholarships in the DC area. This is a fictionalized story of course, but the fact that Virginia did in fact fight so hard is powerful even if the circumstances are difficult to handle. We need better education in the states. Especially for our low income and minority neighborhoods which means dismantling the racial injustice sewn into our systems.

8. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Another fictionalized account of a true story, but truly what an incredible human being is William Kamkwamba. Seeing how his family and his village is destroyed by lack of rain and have been left to starve, he cleverly figures out a way to bring irrigation to his farm and change their outcome. He does this after he gets kicked out of school for not having enough money to pay the fees by simply reading about it in a magazine he finds in the school library and figuring out the rest. It’s brilliant and inspiring.

9. Song of the Sea

A magical and absolutely stunning animated film that tells the tale of a family who has lost much, but has been gifted by the life of a selkie who can help save the mystical world around them. But as Ben still struggles with the death of his mother, he is reluctant to help his sister save the day until he seas what she can do, even if she can’t speak. Its sad at times, but the beauty is in the way it weaves its Irish tales and beliefs into such a wonderful story makes for a good movie.

10. 37 Seconds

Seeing what people can do when they believe in themselves and find people who believe in them, is powerful. Watching Yuma shake off the overprotection of her mother in pursuit to be a great manga artist, we see that while she may have cerebral palsy, she is still capable of living her life on her own. Plus she finds new friends who don’t treat her disability as the main thing about her and allow her to live and have her own adventures for the first time. Its hard at times. It’s funny. And it’s a reminder that people are people no matter what struggles they are living through.

Other Movies I watched this year:

11. Your Name

12. Pachamama

13. Wonder Woman 1984

14. The Lego Movie 2

15. Burlesque

16. Poltergeist

17. Enola Homes

18. The Cabin in the Woods

19. Get Out

20. Ip Man 4

21. Kabi Kushi Kabhi Gham

21. The Twins Effect 2

22. Roma

23. The Impossible

24. Moonlight

25. The Grudge

26. Self/Less

27. A Silent Voice

28. See You Yesterday

29. Jupiter Ascending

30. Salt

31. A Quiet Place

32. Atlantics

33. Insidious

34. Moonlight

35. All Day and a Night

36. Code 8

37. Rim of the World

38. The Lobster

Plus the movies I rewatched this year:

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card

How to Train Your Dragon

#2020 rewind #Movies I watched in 2020

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lulunimzetpo · 5 years

Text

my favorite/recommended fanfics

basically i got tired of searching fanfics through my archive so i thought why not put all of them into a mesterlist so it would be easy to find and share with my followers

Dylan O'brien

Happy Birthday Mr.O’Brien *by @mystic-biscuit

The Run Through * by @mystic-biscuit

Rumors * by @obrosey-af

NERD HQ * by @mystic-biscuit

Save a drum kit, Bang a drummer * by @mystic-biscuit

The Wedding Singer * by @dumbass-stilinski

part 2

Teasing leads to... * by @perlocutionary

Never Have I Ever... * by @unholyree

All of Them by @purestilinski

You’re staring at me by @purestilinski

At the MTV Movie Awards * by @stiles-is-the-dream

Endings & Beginnings by @sophisticatedstiles

The Look by @allthingsfangirl101

First Kiss by @allthingsfangirl101

Talking About The New Girl by @allthingsfangirl101

Dylan flirting with you during an interview by @angelkurenai

Dylan asking you out on a date during an interview. by @angelkurenai

Brother’s Best Friend * by @writingsbychlo

Dirty Dancing * by @writingsbychlo

On a silver platter * by @perlocutionary

part 2 *

Christmas Miracle, pt. 3 by @perlocutionary

Hopeless Romantic by @mf-despair-queen

Say that again by @stilinskisensation

you and Dylan are responsible for 90% of the bloopers by @stilinskisensation

Dylan proposing to you! by @stilinskisensation

Something Sweet by @dancingwithdylan21

Sober by @dancingwithdylan21

series

Chemistry by @golddaggers

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

CARELESS By @gaybrien

Part 1 *

Part 2

Stuart Twombly

No Beanie Today? by @allthingsfangirl101

Cabin Fever *by @mf-despair-queen

Copy That *by @mf-despair-queen

Oceans by @just-jordie-things

Sunrise by @tweenw

Technical Difficulties * by @mystic-biscuit

Injury on the Quidditch Field by @cxddlyash

Teach Me * by @mf-despair-queen

Unexpected Surprise by @sophisticatedstiles

Protective Side of You by @allthingsfangirl101

Beanie Snatcher by @stilinskisensation

Nick and Billy walking in on you and Stuart by @stilinskisensation

My little princess by @stilinskisensation

Riddle to Solve by @roscoeknows

Technical Difficulties by @completedylantrash

Stiles Stilinski

After Hours * by @perlocutionary

Trapped Inside by @cxddlyash

IRRESISTIBLE * by @dumbass-stilinski

NOTHING PERSONAL* by @dumbass-stilinski

VOYEUR * by @dumbass-stilinski

FIREWORKS * by @dumbass-stilinski

Detention * by @obrosey-af

Nothing Personal * by @dumbass-stilinski

Tether * by @perlocutionary

Someone needs to * by @perlocutionary

I’d love to by @purestilinski

7 Minutes in Heaven by @purestilinski

Wow by @purestilinski

I’m not giving up on you. by @purestilinski

Like that. by @purestilinski

Secretly Dating by @purestilinski

That’s My Boy by @purestilinski

Hold Me by @sophisticatedstiles

Too Perfect by @sophisticatedstiles

Love & Chemistry by @sophisticatedstiles

Always by @sophisticatedstiles

Fairy Tale Endings by @sophisticatedstiles

Her by @sophisticatedstiles

Part 2

Stopping You by @allthingsfangirl101

Please, Don’t Hurt Her by @allthingsfangirl101

Panic Attack by @allthingsfangirl101

Unnoticed by @imaginativelywriting

being Scott’s sister and liking Stiles by @void-imagines

Love, Your Secret Admirer by @godetiawrites

Sex Deprived * by @obrosey-af

Just Admit It * by @obrosey-af

Wrong Person by @obrosey-af

Into the Void by @obrosey-af

part 2

Birthday Sex * by @obrosey-af

Afraid by @biles-bilinski-24

Be Mine by @biles-bilinski-24

Hide and Seek by @amylillian22

Better Half by @biles-bilinski-24

Ties * by @stilinskisensation

Joe’s by @freeyourheartandsoul

Forgotten Love by @freeyourheartandsoul

series

Outbreak*by @mystic-biscuit

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

Sinking * by @dumbass-stilinski

part 1

part 2

part 3

CEO. * by @thelittlestkitsune

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8 a

Part 8 b

Can I Have This Dance? by @sophisticatedstiles

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Detention* by @obrosey-af

Part 1 *

Part 2 *

Part 3 *

Love Potion* by @roscoeknows

part 1

part 2 *

void stiles

Safety in the Darkness by @imagineplotfulcharacters

The Tease by @lupy22

DIE BY MY HAND by @awstenskknight

Seduction by @hybristophiliaproject

Who Do You Belong To? by @offthebend

Hostage by @tateisabigmood

series

Game Changer by @snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales

Prologue

part 1

part 2

Thomas

Game Changer by @sophisticatedstiles

Play With Fire * by @completedylantrash

Hero by @sophisticatedstiles

Jealousy by @sophisticatedstiles

Safe Haven by @allthingsfangirl101

Imagine Thomas getting up early to meet Frypan… by @stilinskisensation

Peter Parker

Best $20 Ever Spent by @winchester-with-wings

Just One Kiss by @helplesslyinlovewithcharacters

I heard you * by @spidey-holland67

Are You Drunk? by @pparkerwrites

Hate by @pparkerwrites

dreams + promises by @tomhollandeu

secret’s out by @noir-spiderr

Freaky Friday by @underoossss

Part 2

Wearing Your Clothes by @em-imagines

dreams + promises by @tomhollandeu

secret’s out by @noir-spiderr

series

Finally Found My Way by @spidey-holland67

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 7

part 8

part 9

part 10

part 11

part 12 *

part 13 *

Ex-Friends by @pparkerwrites

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Secrets by @pparkerwrites

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

I Love to Hate You by @magic-marvel

Prologue

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

tom holland

memories by @peterparkyourassonme

Seven minutes in heaven by @grandimagines

Big Brother by @petersshirts

The Language of Art by @themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy

Past Curfew by @starsholland

Part 2

Comic Con by @christinky

Just Friends by @princessxfangirl

one sited by @justmesadgirl

part 2

series

Boyfriends and Reporters by @marvelliz

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

What Would They Say? by @ijustreallylovezebras

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 7

part 8

part 9

part 10

part 11

part 12

part 13

part 14

part 15

Tom Holland x Reader / Dylan O’Brien x Reader

Were you happy? by @writtingmyowndeliverance

YOU WERE HAPPY by @writtingmyowndeliverance

series

Love Is Not Your Friend by @starlight-parkers

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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theonceoverthinker · 5 years

Note

How do you think Kim and Ron’s relationship and eventual romance was handled in the show?

I think both worked pretty well! So I actually spoke a lot about their friendship in this post, so I’d recommend checking that out because I’m gonna focus more on their romantic relationship here as to not repeat myself.

The fact that Kim and Ron’s romance was never thrown in our faces was their relationship’s secret ace in the hole. At the start of the series and until about Season 3, Ron and Kim were friends, they never had crushes on one another, and they both liked other people, and they both regularly casually conversed about their crushes with each other. That allowed for two and a half seasons of organic intimacy to build up between them because there was no stress to their dynamic for a romance by the creators.There was no carrot on the end of the stick to make the audience feel impatient as we waited for them to get together because it wasn’t even close to being promised. Like, Star and Marco from Star vs. The Forces of Evil were in-universe ship teased from like the tenth episode. So people who wanted them together were now stuck in this waiting period until the penultimate episode of the series until they finally got together, lessening the broader importance of their other romantic relationships and making every tease for Star and Marco agonizing.

But with Kim and Ron, there was no such issue and it not only allowed us to see them together, we got them together ALL the time with none of the stress and groans that came with waiting for them to become a couple. Because of that and their already established friendship, they and the audience got to know them as both individuals and a team and fall in love with their dynamic before anything else happened. They got to explore other romantic options and see why they didn’t work where theirs might. And when the time finally came for these feelings to emerge, it wasn’t out of nowhere and knocked it out of the park. The idea of Ron realizing his feelings for Kim when she finally gets what seem to be a long term boyfriend in “So The Drama” – something we had never seen before in the series – made us feel that same punch in the gut that Ron did. We saw those moments of bonding between Kim and Ron lessen so dramatically as Kim and Eric’s increased and that sense of not knowing what you wanted until you lost it (Or her) resonated so strongly. Kim and Ron are still friends, but she and Eric are connecting and bonding on a level that used to only be reserved for she and her friends and Ron’s no longer a part of that. Even when they are together, there’s this clear distance in the shots that are used and Ron’s not an active part of the scenes in the same vein that Kim is, making the moments where they collide feel intelligently awkward and heartbreaking.

This got long, so meet me under the cut for more!

I think Kim’s development also worked, but to a slightly smaller degree. The entire series thus far has had an almost subplot of Ron showing that he was more than he seemed, and no one got a front row seat to that better than Kim. Aside from “Transfer,” Kim was around for everything Ron did – the mystical monkey powers, Ron saving Kim from the embarrassment ninjas, Ron travelling across the world to give her a good Christmas and find her library book, them literally swapping bodies – Kim saw all of that. And the mood modulator scene definitely helped as well, giving her a setting (Albeit, a crazy one) where she could live out a what-if with being in love with Ron. That development was all great and when paired with being Ron’s date to his cousin’s wedding showed potential for a relationship that Kim would enjoy and get something out of just as much as Ron.

And then in “So The Drama,” when the feelings came out, I think it worked…mostly. Ron’s pep talk after being trapped by Drakken was a great scene and set up the basis for why Ron is great, Kim believing Ron about the “evil toys” despite Ron having no evidence is practically applause worthy, we still see so much of their great teamwork throughout the film, and I can see Kim’s hidden feelings for Ron coming out in a similar way it did for Ron, but it never quite reached that level. Ron felt Kim’s absence whereas Kim was so wrapped up in Eric that it never hit her how much they haven’t been seeing each other nearly as much as they regularly did. And I think for the most part, that was fine. I just think a moment where Kim asked about Ron at the prom or tried texting him before dancing with Eric would’ve gone a long way to show that his absence was felt (I don’t count the clubhouse scene because that was literally after Ron had a mini tantrum in front of her, not something on her end). That would’ve served as more of a means of feelings for Ron penetrating through her relationship with Eric because as it stood, the relationship was a bit projected onto Kim by her mom and Bonnie and not the culmination of her own romantic feelings coming to a head. The story is really more about Kim overcoming the embarrassment Ron sometimes makes her feel more than a realization of deeper romantic feelings and those are two different things that aren’t guaranteed to mesh well. I mean, I can see it as a final obstacle between them and their relationship, but I don’t think that was set up well enough to work like that. To do that, they’d need something like either a moment where Kim lists out all of Ron’s great qualities, Ron and Kim have one of those small romantic moments that ends with Kim blushing or seeing a change in her expression earlier in the film, and/or some flirting between them, but as it stood, that didn’t happen. Or if they wanted to have Kim realize those feelings all in one go, that moment needed to be bigger.

...I get the feeling that I’ve VERY alone in that and I even rewatched the film to make sure that I knew what I was talking about because I didn’t want to reach that conclusion, but yeah, that’s how I feel. But even then, it’s not terrible by any means -- I still think the development was there. It just needed to be a bit tighter.

But enough about the negativity because I still have plenty of positive stuff to say! Once their relationship really started, it was fantastic!

Once again, their relationship isn’t flung in our faces, but because they’re a couple, every moment that they are together gives us fans what we want! We see them working together, supporting one another, and all that good stuff, and the romantic moments we do get are the icing on the cake! And now, moments like Kim applying for colleges and Ron joining the football team have an added emotional weight that they didn’t before because of that relationship, but wasn’t done in a way that disrupted the comedic and absurd tone of the show.

And when we get episodes and stories focused on their romance, that’s doubly true! They’re a total unit during the hilarious double date with Shego and Barkin and they can practically read each other’s minds as they slip away from it. The whole matter of Ron worrying over KP’s safety and then his own because of statistics is just as absurd as it is heartwarming! He literally stuck himself in the equivalent of a nuke shelter! XD The matter of Ron being kissed by Bonnie has Kim letting Ron off the hook because it took years for him to kiss her, and the way Kim says that line is just hysterical!

Of course, we have to talk about “Clean Slate.” Kim knows Ron so well that she immediately gets him the perfect gift and her knowledge of how perfect that gift is was what reminded her about her feelings for Ron! That made for an adorable moment between them and probably one of my favorites in the entire series.

It’s kind of interesting that Kim and Ron’s relationship and its uncertain future is kind of a secondary running plot throughout the season. Between the aforementioned joining of the football team for Ron and college applications for Kim, the question of can Kim and Ron endure in high school and beyond is a topic that comes up a lot. Those are the big two, especially the latter two because Ron’s both never been portrayed as an excellent student nor are his contributions to saving the world highlighted nearly as much as Kim (if at all), and that’s what inevitably comes to a head in “Graduation,” but there are smaller bits. Ron’s inability to pay for fancier dates, Bonnie being a jealous homecoming queen to Ron’s king, and Kim getting amnesia all call into question aspects of their relationship, making it all the better when they’re overcome by Kim and Ron!

As I said before, “Graduation” is where it all comes to a head. The larger question of Kim and Ron’s future is directly addressed and both characters get to be afraid of what comes next, just like we might. We saw “A Stitch in Time” and how the long distance thing was tough when they were just friends! How are they gonna fare while in a relationship? However, by fighting the literal end of the world, both Kim and Ron prove on a meta level that they’re ready and completely able to fight for their relationship and themselves outside of high school.

Kim and Ron have an incredible romance, one that was created with patience and care and because of that, paid off in such a satisfying way. While I took issue with a small part of it, where it mattered, their relationship didn’t just succeed, but THRIVED on our screens. I hope the new movies get a similar treatment if we get more and if we do, I have all the faith in the world that we will!

#Anonymous #kim possible #ron stoppable #kim x ron

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rosieengel · 4 years

Text

the beauty and the terror

I’ve been contemplating starting a blog for a long time now, but felt paralyzed with terror because I couldn’t find a great opening post topic. This week, the topic found me. I’ve had the draft saved with my finger hovering over the “post now” button for a few days. So, here it goes.

My first post is about my most recent brush with beauty and terror, best encapsulated, I think, in the mystical words of the poet Ranier Maria Rilke:

Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final

In one of my favorite books of all time, Awareness, Anthony de Mello ponders and unpacks those non-final, fleeting moments in life - he points to the fact that our cells live and die so often that we have to wonder, who am “I” after all? Was I the same person I was in the past? No. Not physically, at least, but isn’t our “consciousness” also comprised of a neural network made up of cells? So we are also not our feelings or our emotions. As a matter of fact, we have to liberate ourselves from our experiences altogether if we are to be fully present in the here and now, or we become hijacked by the filters that create our reality. This becomes even more interesting when we consider how many of our memories may be false or fabricated. How much of my past did I dream? How much did I experience in consciousness? “Don’t carry over experiences from the past... don’t carry over good experiences from the past either. Learn what it means to experience something fully, then drop it and move on to the next moment, uninfluenced by the previous one.... You’d know what eternal life is, because eternal life is now, in the timeless now.” In this book, de Mello suggests, no demands, that the reader, “Wake up”. Wake up to how we filter reality. Wake up to our excuses. Wake up and be aware.

I’ve always taken this book very seriously, but it became more important to me when I experienced my first pregnancy loss. The week before Christmas 2017, we experienced major emotional and physical whiplash; we were excited about the possibilities of the new life I was growing. We had told our family and friends, and like a lot of mothers-to-be, I was already dreaming about all of the amazing and absolutely terrifying ways our lives would change. I had spent my 20s and most of my 30s focused on my teaching and playing career, my health, and music. It was time to take care of someone else and I was looking forward to a new chapter (that I thought about my life then in terms of chapters is preposterous and that is worth another blog post). But the Universal Creator had different plans for us, as He typically does. At 12 weeks into my pregnancy and three days before Christmas, I had a miscarriage on the other side of the country and felt a tremendous sense of loss and confusion. In the ER, I could only hold tightly to E’s hand and eeck out, “Our little kumquat...” I was really shocked. I felt as if no one understood - I was grateful for the kindness of everyone around me, but at the same time, I felt as if they were too afraid to give me any comfort or love. Now I know that that is no one else’s responsibility but my own.

Much to my surprise (and other women who have lost babies or children probably grok this), many ordinary and mundane things in life became very difficult. Particularly because it was Christmas. I found I couldn’t really think about the future at all. Holiday traditions and cheer seemed trite and fabricated. I fought back breakdowns whenever I was around children of any age. Drops would well up in my eyes whenever anyone started talking about their dreams of getting pregnant or starting families. I sat amidst the glee and celebration screaming inside, “HEY!!! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I’M STILL HERE AND DONT YOU KNOW WHAT IM FEELING!?!??!?!” I would go to the bathroom bleeding, cramping, and sad as I waited for the miscarriage to finish playing out to its gruesome end. I was ashamed to burden others with my uncomfortable tears. I will never forget how I reached into the toilet to touch, pick up, and say goodbye to what I believe was the last of the tissue that remained.

In the days afterward, I came across what would become a well-loved piece by Brian Andreas:

This is how I came to see that first baby - as an angel who was with me so briefly, but made such a terrific impact on my life. An angel, who most certainly prodded me to “wake up” in a de Mello sense. Immediately upon my return home, I said my goodbye to her and started healing (and it’s still happening). I felt an enormous calling to help and to heal others too; in the process of healing with Craniosacral Therapy (CST), I decided to study it myself and enrolled in massage therapy school. CST helped me to fully experience that pain and grief, down to the mitochondria of my cells, through my fascia, through my very center. When my inner spirit sensed the healing presence of Erin, my therapist, emotions bubbled up through my solar plexus, through my left hip, my ribs, my sternum. They still do, even today. As an additional part of my healing, I dragged myself to talk therapy for a whole year. My counselor recommended EMDR, using vibration and aural cues because I’m a musician. Through this therapy I finally fully experienced some trauma that I had hidden, buried in my tissues. I came to realize and acknowledge that I had not held proper space for myself and my loss. I had been remiss in thinking that life should go according to my plans, that the world owes me certain things, that I have even a tiny bit of control over my path. The worst is that I held so much shame for all of the things I thought I had failed at in my life. I couldn’t live my pop rocks life because I was looking externally for validation that I was worthy in this world - I was looking everywhere but inside my own spirit. I believe this is what also attracted me to academia, a field where accolades, accomplishments, and the correct lines on your vitae become a measure of your life’s work. That was a tough pill to swallow, but I’ve come to terms with that realization. I’m still healing today in other ways and I probably always will be.

This week, I was gifted a second angel. Even though she is gone now, I will always think of her as Eliza Jane. We conceived her without really intending to around New Years in New Orleans. I love walking down Magazine Street toward the Quarter. When we would walk by the hotel, I would admire its historic, embossed vertical sign. I offhandedly told E that I would love to name a hypothetical daughter Eliza Jane. Two weeks later, I would learn that she was already there.

Early miscarriage is very common. Statistically speaking, 1 in 4 confirmed pregnancies end (that they know of). So - why don’t we talk about it? Why do I feel embarrassed and ashamed that I am part of this statistic? The answer explains why this post stayed in draft form for so long.

I drove myself to the ER this week, in pain and bleeding. My midwife suggested that I go if I was concerned and if I wanted a quick answer. The answer was not good, but.... I knew the answer already. I had felt the absence in my body, the little tug at my heart when her life left me. I won’t say that it was easier this time, but I knew what to expect. I knew what the pain would feel like; I would not be taken off-guard by the waves of grief and sadness, the emptiness, and in some ways, the feelings of loneliness and alienation. I was able to hold space for myself this time, to sit in silence, to be in my own home, my own bathroom. I didn’t have to speak to anyone. E was with me and we were together. These two losses have brought us closer together. As I laid in the ultrasound room, unable to see the images that the silent technician kept from my view, I renewed the gratitude in my heart that the Universe brought E and me together. It may sound like a sappy cliche, but this is the only way I can put my love for him into words right now: the threads of grief in our souls are so "bare” when they are left alone, but when weaved together, make us inseparable and stronger than ever before.

When I got home from the hospital, I planted myself in bed to mentally prepare for the night ahead. Our scrappy, stray cat, Tikky, crawled into bed with me. She rarely does that. As I writhed in bed and moaned in pain, she planted herself next to me. Sprawled out against my belly, she stayed. Although I thrashed about, she remained, wide awake and concerned. Even in that moment, I was so present and grateful for her healing energy. She reminded me that the sick and pained don’t have to crawl into the corner, to lick their wounds alone. The strongest survive with the help and love of others. She sent me light in her own way, without saying anything at all. This is one of the many things I have learned from cats.

I’m sharing this story with the hope that it reaches others who have been through a similar experience. To you - you are not alone. Would this be different if I had a stillborn or if I lost an infant? No. Not according to my belief system. After the worst was over, I woke up before dawn to hear a robin trilling outside my window. In my world, nothing is a coincidence.

If you have not had this experience, open your eyes to those around you who are suffering in silence. Wake up. Just as someone communicates joy and celebration with new life and new possibilities, there is also someone who is crying and mourning the loss of a life. There are also those who did not want to create life and decide to end it (or they don’t). This isn’t just confined to miscarriage - there are people struggling around you. You must assume they are doing their best and it is not their responsibility to make you feel happy with your life. If you find yourself riled up or offended because of someone else’s struggle, or what you feel to be their failures or incompetencies, just ask yourself - am I taking this personally? I ask myself that question often - that is part of the process of waking up. It’s the process of leading a more compassionate life. Death surrounds us and it is part of a cycle that is repeating. There’s something comforting to me about the cycles of life. My cycle, that of the earth and moon, and the seasons. Your cells die, they shed, they turn over. It does not happen to us, it is us.

Of course, we should be happy. We should experience bliss and joy and scream it from the mountaintops, all others be damned! But can’t we also show our heartbreak, sadness, grief, and despair? Instead of turning and running from the pain, what if we leaned into the uncomfortable and said something. ANYTHING. Say you’re sorry. Ask if they are okay. Say that you don’t know what to say, but you are here to talk. Be there in silence. Be a shoulder or a hug. Hold space for them in your heart. Reach out. That’s something. Let yourself see the terror and the beauty, because if you don’t, your life will consist only of coincidences and you may miss the angels who are helping you along the way to wake up so that you do not miss your life.

Tikky didn’t leave me to lick my wounds alone. She nestled in and hunkered down right next to the pain. She leaned into it and sat there patiently through my tears and gibberish. Just as I am here to do for you, my friend.

#grief miscarriage pregnancyloss angels

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coffeeandcalligraphy · 5 years

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What I’ve Been Reading #2

Hey People of Earth!

I recently started a new series on this blog (titled above), where I reflect on the last few books I’ve read. I’m doing this mostly to keep myself accountable because I’m notoriously bad at committing myself to reading. So far, reading has been far greater than it’s been in the past--I’m definitely getting into the rhythm of things. I read some amaaaazing books this time around (since approx. November), and these are them:

1. The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken

This is book four in The Darkest Minds series, and was just recently released (last summer). Whilst I’ve drifted from YA in the last few years, this series was such a huge favourite of mine when I was younger, and I thought I’d give this book a go for nostalgia’s sake. Also, I truly admire Alex as an author, and wanted to support her! Here’s the summary:

Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids, seventeen-year-old Suzume "Zu" Kimura has assumed the role of spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive. Determined to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the people she knows she shouldn't trust, they uncover even darker things roiling beneath the veneer of the country's recovery. With her future-and the future of all Psi-on the line, Zu must use her powerful voice to fight back against forces that seek to drive the Psi into the shadows and save the friends who were once her protectors.

What drew me to it: Like I mentioned, its mother series was a mega favourite of mine in grade 8, and whilst I’ve grown out of YA, I was curious to see where the story went, five years in the future. I read about 60% of it on page, and listened to the rest on and of over the course of a few months. I started it in August, and finished it on New Year’s Eve. Not the fault of the book, that’s totally me being Very Bad at commitment. I’ve really enjoyed Alex’s novels in audiobook format, and this one was no exception (I think, if I were to read it again, I’d listen to the audiobook: it’s like listening to a television show!)

My rating: 3/5

Why: This is really due to the fact that I no longer am very interested in YA. In all truths, I got into YA early, and got out of it even earlier because apparently I am a sixty year old woman?? I started my journey with YA in grade seven, and it ended around the end of grade eight. After that, I had trouble finding YA books I could enjoy/relate to, not that the books were any less, or bad because of this, but because I was just an injustice to them (I’ve always been a strange reader). This is why I don’t really read YA anymore because I feel like I rate them unfairly because I’m not super big on the category anymore. It just (rightfully) didn’t give me what I’m most currently interested in in books (horrible people; horrible relationships; morally grey protagonists), because of course the category is different to what I read now! With that said, I think, if I’d read this book in my Peak YA Moment (grade 7-8), I’d definitely have given it a 5 star rating. It was super entertaining and funny and nostalgic, and made me miss a series so pivotal in my writing journey. If you love YA, and this series, I think this book is definitely worth the read! That was a thiccccc tangent.

2. Past Lives, Future Bodies by Kristin Chang

This is a really quick poetry collection (that I spoiler: looooved). This is the summary:

PAST LIVES, FUTURE BODIES is a knife-sharp and nimble examination of migration, motherhood, and the malignant legacies of racism. In this collection, family forms both a unit of survival and a framework for history, agency, and recovery. Chang undertakes a visceral exploration of the historical and unfolding paths of lineage and what it means to haunt body and country. These poems traverse not only the circularity of trauma but the promise of regeneration—what grows from violence and hatches from healing—as Chang embodies each of her ghosts and invites the specter to speak.

What drew me to it: @shaelinwrites rec’d it to me on my last update, and I fell in love with the premise. I’m *cheap* so was very excited to be gifted it by my Grandma for Christmas. (I actually read it on Christmas!)

My rating: 5/5

Why: Kristin Chang is literally so skilled with her use of the line break? I was shook? This is my second collection of poetry that I’ve read, following (no shade) Rupi Kaur’s The Sun and Her Flowers, which, I felt kinda made the line break feel gimmicky? So this collection definitely reinvented it for me. Her poems are so punchy, and thoughtful, and you can truly feel the experience built into the backbone of every one of them. When I panic wrote some poetry for my writing class, I used it as comfort reference and was amazed at how deliberate she is with her words. I also found so much of its commentary on race so relatable. It’s definitely a collection I’ll keep re-reading. I’d recommend this if, like me, you’re just starting out in poetry--a perfect way to acclimate yourself to a new form!

3. God of Shadows by Lorna Crozier

*Rachel vigorously trying to diversify her reading.* The summary:

The poet Lorna Crozier has always been brilliant at fusing the ordinary with the other-worldly in strange and surprising ways. Now the Governor General's Literary Award-winning author of Inventing the Hawk returns with God of Shadows, a wryly wise book that offers a polytheistic gallery of the gods we never knew existed and didn't know we needed. To read these poems is to be ready to offer your own prayers to the god of shadows, the god of quirks, and the god of vacant houses. Sing new votive hymns to the gods of horses, birds, cats, rats, and insects. And give thanks at the altars of the gods of doubt, guilt, and forgetting. What life-affirming questions have these deities come to ask? Perhaps it is simply this: How can poems be at once so profound, original and lively, and also so much fun?

What drew me to it: At this point I’m just stalking @shaelinwrites’ Goodreads because her reading taste is on pointttt. I’ve also been dying to read more poetry, and branch out into different forms of writing, so I can be a little *prepared* for school, so I thought I’d take a peek at this collection.

My rating: 5/5

Why: This collection is so beautiful! I read it super quickly, and fell in love with the concept immediately. I think Crozier explored such unique ideas with super unique language, and I live for it. This collection gave me perspective on ‘gods’ I’d never even thought about. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking into reading some prose poetry!

4. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

I finished this book today, and now have trust issues and feel like I’m in a constant state of wanting to cry. Here’s the summary:

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in '80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.

What drew me to it: I actually don’t know?? I put it on hold at my library in October, and was loaned it in January (looooong waitlist). So I can’t remember why I wanted to read it, probably because 1969 was in the premise lmao. I actually completely forgot about placing a hold on it because it’d been two months, so by the time I got the email notification, I’d forgotten what it was about. Oftentimes, I’m Bad, and leave my loans for weeks, forgetting about them, but I was intrigued by seeing I’d received this loan because I couldn’t remember placing it/why I placed it. I quickly re-read the summary, and immediately started reading because it reminded me a lot of the Haunting of Hill House sibling dynamic, and I was on board!

My rating: 5/5 stars soaked in all my tears

Why: This book is SO good, I literally can’t think about it too much because I will cry, lol. I’m not one to get emotional over books, but this book touched me in a place I didn’t know existed?? Like I didn’t know I had emotions before reading this book?? Apparently I do?? It also left me feeling stunned with a whole bucket of life lessons, and similarly to getting emotional, I’m not a reader to really take away a whole new worldview after reading something, but this book was like NOPE, here’s some THOUGHTS. I think I might’ve loved it so much because the four siblings it follows remind me a lot of my siblings (tag yourself I’m Klara, @sarahkelsiwrites is Varya). I too am a sibling of four with a similar composition to the novel’s (two boys, two girls), so the actual heartbreak of realizing that one day, there ain’t always gonna be four of us struck me so hard I was not prepared?? The characters are BEAUTIFUL, and my heart aches so much after finishing this, I almost don’t know what to do with myself... If you liked the sibling dynamic in the Haunting of Hill House (me!!), you’ll probably dig this book. Benjamin’s writing is also gorgeous; straightforward, but so detailed and lush at the same time. I don’t often see books in third present, so this was a delight for me to read. Also: I’m no expert on any of the topics in this book, but to me, a Fool, this book felt so well researched? This isn’t something I ever notice in books, but it surprisingly really added to the reading experience.

TL;DR: I’m literally an emotional wreck because of this book and have a whole new perspective on life, if you too want to be an emotional wreck, defs join in on the fUN.

So that’s it for this reading update! All of these books in this update were wonderful! Making me antsy to read more for sure! I’m currently attempting to read more short story collections, so if anyone has recs, hit me up! ‘Scuse me while I go sob!

--Rachel

#readingupdates

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nihongaku-japanese-music-blog · 5 years

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Kenichiro Nishihara – ‘Elastic Afterwords’ Album Review

I first became aware of Kenichiro Nishihara’s smooth brand of jazz and Hip-Hop inspired R&B/Pop music after the release of his brilliant album Sincerely, Released in December of 2016. His music was frequently recommended to me by Spotify’s algorithms due to my obsession at the time with extolled late godfather of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop; Nujabes, and while I’m sure that there will be a great deal of crossover between fans of Nujabes’ music and Nishihara’s, I wouldn’t go into Nishihara’s work expecting a Nujabes affair. Where Nujabes was famed for digging up samples from the likes of romantic Latin Jazz records and Classical Japanese piano pieces to create his Lo-Fi Jazz-Hop style, Nishihara utilizes his own piano props to write sweet, wistful, jazzy melodies that combine with carefully selected singers and rappers to create a catchy yet amicable pop R&B songs, more in line with artists like DJ Okawari or Robert Glasper.

Nishihara’s previous full-length effort Sincerely, was easily one of my most-played albums of 2017. It has that elusive quality of being the type of album that is appropriate in almost any situation, whether hanging out with friends before going out, or relaxing in your room scrolling through reddit. Its warm piano tones, simple drums and sparing use of samples pairs beautifully with each of its featuring artists; be they vocalists like mabanua or Muhammad Iqbal, or rappers like Shing02 and Substantial (both of previous Nujabes acclaim).

The song Embers featuring Lou Mi Na was an unrelenting earworm for me in particular, ending up as my most played song of 2017. It has the kind of infectious chorus that makes you want to hear it again immediately after the last note rings out, and was the high point for me in an album full of highs.

Much of what made Sincerely such a great album for me carries over into Nishihara’s new 2019 full-length release: Elastic Afterwords, with the same jazzy appeal and chill vibes that radiate from his previous works. The piano remains sweet and playful, the beats remain satisfyingly straightfoward for the most part and the vocals remain understated and catchy. If you were an existing fan hoping to see a drastically new or experimental direction for Nishihara’s music, then that is not what you will find, and in some sense Afterwords can come across somewhat underwhelming as a follow up to Sincerely as a result. The opening track, Walk Out featuring Michael Kaneko even shares an eerily similar piano run to Embers from the previous album. This track does, in other ways, exemplify where this album strives to differ from his previous work. During its verses and the instrumental bridge, the track features a chiptune-y synth blipping over the piano melody providing a sprightly bounce to the tune.

The high point of the album for me comes with its third track, entitled Up All Night featuring the aptly name SIRUP whose vocals fall smoothly over what is a comparably uncomplicated piano melody which leaves space for everything else going on in the production of the song. The beats here have a playful, skippy, almost garage-like quality to them and pair brilliantly with the round, twee synth arpeggios that could have been lifted straight from a Snail’s House track and bring a unique texture to the song that makes it stand out from the rest of the album.

Never Let Go, featuring the rapper Substantial provides another great moment for the album, this time with a cool Chill-Hop vibe that has you nodding your head along to the groovy drum beat while enjoying the cascading, rapidly ascending and descending piano melody which combines with Substantial’s rather utilitarian, simple-yet-effective flow and a catchy hook on the chorus to create a track that epitomises what you want out of a great Jazz-Hop/Chill-Hop tune.

The title track of Elastic Afterwords is the only instrumental on the records and provides a welcome pallet cleanser after the two Hip-Hop songs that precede it, although it is nothing to write home about. Comprising of not much more than Nishihara’s usual pretty piano playing, a fairly plain drum beat and a few sparing ambient synth sounds, the track represents a sort of reset to bridge into the more quaint Child of the Sun featuring Tamala, whose voice has an undeniably pleasant timbre which illuminates the swelling string synths and flute that accompany it with the familiar piano which plays more of a supporting role here.

The low point of the album is the fourth track; Wonderland featuring Sam Ock. While I usually enjoy Sam Ock’s vocals, here I find the vocal melody to be underwhelming at best, slightly annoying at worst. Combined with a synth which follows almost exactly the same notes as that vocal melody and sounds somewhat out of place, as though it belongs in the soundtrack to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. Furthermore, the house-inspired beat on this track is a bit of a refreshing change from Nishihara’s usual percussion but lacks any real flair. It must be stated, however that the trumpet performance on this track, alone, makes it worth a listen. Its raspy and bombastic in all the right ways and for the 30 seconds that it takes centre stage I genuinely enjoyed this song.

Overall, if you are a fan of jazzy, catchy music with polished and accessible instrumentals as well as a wide range of vocal performance, you should look no further than Elastic Afterwords. The album is an easy, yet fruitful listening experience for almost the entirety of its 40-minute runtime and, as previously stated, has that great quality of being appropriate anywhere, anytime, being almost impossible to actively dislike. If you are already a fan of the like of Nujabes, Dj Okawari, Robert Glasper, Marcus D or Kero One, I believe this album will suit your sensibilities nicely. I would also recommend delving into his earlier works. I’ve already discussed 2016’s Sincerely but Rugged Mystic Jazz and Jazzy Folklore are also stellar records that I strongly recommend.

If you enjoyed this record and are looking for something similar my two suggestions are:

Anan Ryoko – Eternal Light (2011)

Hiroki Mizukami – Keep aLive (2007)

#Kenichiro Nishihara #Elastic Afterwords #review #album #lo-fi hip hop #chillhop #nujabes #nihongaku

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xellawritesx-blog · 6 years

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Victuuri Witchcraft fic

TLDR; Victuuri Witch Fic where Viktor is a witch and Yuuri is just a regular human and they are an adorable couple. They own a little perfume shop called Agape & Eros where they sell charmed scents. Not only do their scents smell amazing, they’re blessed with a little magic. For those who need some magic assistance and are willing to pay a extra, you can have Viktor make a special perfume potion or aphrodisiac for you (and of course, the creators totally test all their sexytime perfumes on each other). It’s my brain dump of the perfume and witchcraft fic absolutely no one asked for.

There was something strange about the perfume shop on Third.

If you knew the neighborhood, you knew the tiny storefront sandwiched between the bakery and a shoe shop was once upon a time a barbershop until the mid-century when it was converted into a bookstore. Decades later, it was a coffee house. It was a shame when the coffee house went, because the drinks were good and there was always plenty to watch as the uptown crowd filtered in and out of the boutiques that lined the street. The space sat for a good while empty, and there was a flood a while back that left the floorboards rotted and the walls chewed with mildew. So, it was a surprise that anyone would see something in it - especially a guy like him, with his fashionably cut silvery-blonde hair and expensive leather shoes. He walked right in, took one look at the cobwebs and rot, and turned to his dog. The poodle was feverishly sniffing every nook and cranny. “What do you think, Makkachin?”

The dog’s tail wagged. He took that as approval, because he turned to the landlord next and said, “It’s a real mess. And it smells like a dead animal. But I’ll take it. At my price, of course - but I’ll take it.”

His price was low. But it was better than anyone could expect to get for a flood-damaged shack of a space - so the landlord easily took the money and ran, glad to have dumped it on some other sad sack who had big dreams and a big budget to waste.

But within a month, there was an Open sign hanging in the glass-paneled front door, and the floor was replaced with marble and the interior brick painted fresh-white. Inside, alabaster shelves lined with hundreds of jars and vials decorated the walls. The shop sign read: Agape & Eros. Third Street’s first perfumery.

But this perfumery, despite being wildly popular, was strange. The hours were wacky and unpredictable. Randomly closed on the odd business day, open on holidays, occasionally taking customers past nine p.m. Occasionally, there’d be a piece of paper, ripped out violently from a notebook and taped to the front door. In someone’s handwriting it read in cyrillic: Time to eat! Be back sometime.

It was difficult to get an appointment if you wanted a custom order. And that was the very thing everyone recommended. People all over the city insisted thirty minutes with Viktor Nikiforov was well worth the wait.

So, like everyone else, you put your name on the list and you waited.

And on that day, when you managed to find an hour when they were open, and someone was actually there, and there wasn’t too many customers causing a line out the door, and it was long past lunch hour, you’d be able to take your appointment. The first thing that hit you was scent. Spices. Flowers. Delightful and clearly curated depending on the day and mood, and god it was delicious. Better than a pastry shop.

The next thing that greeted you was a whirlwind dog. She was a large, teddy bear of a poodle and eager to make sure she took in every scent you brought along with you. Nuzzling her snout into your hands, bag, unmentionables, until the young man with dark hair and glasses sitting at the counter looked up from his book at scolded, “Makkachin!”

The dog, all the sudden deflated, would mosey back to its bed.

“Sorry,” he said. He was nondescript and quiet, and greeted you in shaky Russian, then in English before turning back to his book.

The shop was bright with natural light, chic white with fresh flowers in the window sills. Hundreds of glass vials reflected the sunlight, filled with liquids and dried flowers and spices - like an apothecary or science lab - but delicate as a dream. For a moment you’d think your friends were shitting you with all this talk of voodoo and hocus-pocus. Clearly it wasn’t happening in this place. It was chic as a fashion showroom with a guy manning the counter that was as regular as regular could get, wearing jeans and a polo shirt. Hiding behind his glasses.

He didn’t say anything at all, letting you curiously peek at the contents of the jars and vials - cardamom, musk, lavender, sea salt - until he all the sudden he piped up. “Premade scents are over here.” He’d get up and show you. “There are some for spring and summer. The mood and inspiration is written on the bottle. You’re welcome to test any of them.”

But, if you heard the rumors, you knew you weren’t looking for pre-made scents. Everyone knew you’d have to let him know you had a custom order. When you did, his expression would shift ever so slightly and you couldn’t decide if you had asked the wrong question or not. He nodded. Then, he’d gesture for you to follow him into the back.

It was a small room and there was a couple chairs and a table. It was still just as plain and regular as the front - no witch’s lair hiding back here. He’d sit you down and offer you tea. “Viktor will be down in just a moment,” he said, turning to leave. “If you need anything in the meanwhile, I’m right out here. My name is Yuuri, by the way.”

The owner, Viktor Nikiforov, was very handsome. This was just as widely whispered about as the shop’s mystical reputation. So, when he came in the room fifteen minutes or so later, you knew exactly who was standing in the doorway.

He was gorgeous in the way that supermodels and film stars are gorgeous - and clearly he knew it made people nervous around him. And he didn’t like it. Because of this, he was quick to bring himself to your level. Bright as sunshine, looking into your eyes as he said, “Welcome!” He’d take your hand to shake and put on this affectionate smile, like all his life he’d been eagerly waiting your arrival. “So pleased to meet you. Come. Sit. Let’s talk.”

You’d chat and it’d be so easy to talk to him. He’d ask a million questions and indulge you with the little details of his own life. That he was working on new perfumes, and reading Faust, and he had forgotten to do the laundry after his boyfriend (the guy at the front of the shop nonetheless) had asked him to a million times. He had a sweet, self-amused little laugh that made you laugh too.

Before long, without you even realizing it, the consultation began.

He always knew what you were looking for before you did. Love? Good luck? Confidence? Without a word, he just knew. It was surprising, when he’d suddenly ask a question like: What is their name?

Whose name?

Their name of course. The one you desire.

He was intuitive in that way. Read you like a deck of cards. And that’s when you’d realize, those blue eyes were calculating and that his dizzy way of conversation was well-choreographed waltz. The questions eventually got more pointed.

Are you in love with this person? Or do you just want to sleep with them? Is there anything in the way of this happening? How long do you want the spell to last?

Of course, this was more than perfume.

Finally, he’d say: “I know exactly what you need.”

He came with a pad of paper, and jotted down a list of things you needed to bring to him.

A lock of your lover’s hair. Soil from the neighbor’s yard. An eyelash. A sparrow’s feather.

Depending on the weight of your request, he’d ask for more peculiar things.

Dried leaves. Salt. An enemy’s spit. Blood.

“When you’ve gathered this list of items, bring them back in a single package, individually wrapped. You can use jars, sandwich bags, whatever you’ve got around the house. Leave them in the mail slot at the back door. Makkachin won’t bother them I promise.” Once you supplied the items, he told you to return in two weeks and provide whoever was working at the time with your name to receive your package.

When you did return, (on a day when they were open, and not out to lunch or walking the dog, and it wasn’t too busy to breathe) the dark haired man was there to take your name. He handed over a small box wrapped in foil-paper, pretty as a Christmas gift. With a card on top. It read:

Designed for uniquely for you. In a full moon, apply the perfume the pulse points and let it warm on the skin of whoever you’d like the spell to take effect upon. Within 7 hours of application, recite these words…

Underneath, he’d written what appeared to be a spell. First in Latin. Then, in cyrillic.

Two nights and your spell will take effect.

Blessed by,

Agape & Eros.

#the brain dump #literally no one wants this #and no one asked for it #but its been burning a hole in my brain so...sorry guys #im literally obsessed with this idea #viktor and yuuri in their cute little shop #making gorgeous perfumes that are actually potions #and being the worst shop owners because they are too busy being in love to worry about managing their shop #yuuri on ice #victuuri #victor x yuuri #yoi fic #yoi fic idea #yoi #yoi fanfic

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hotegg · 6 years

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CHOOSE YOUR DECKS!🌸

I’ve recently added lots of new things to my services! Like the ability for you guys to choose the decks you would like in your readings!

Didn’t catch the updates? Check out #kctarot and #kctarotguidelines

To request a deck, all you have to do is

🌸 Read the tarot guidelines

- can be found in #kctarotguidelines

🌸 State which deck you would like to have used in your reading if you want a specific one

No pressure, you don’t have to request a deck in your message! I will just go ahead and choose one!

🌞Disclaimer: I may not have the deck you requested on hand at the time. This means your reading might take a little longer as I wait to be with the deck again.

You can always check down below to see which decks are available!

Let me introduce you to the decks!

🦅🌎🍃VISION QUEST TAROT🍃🌎🦅

A special shoutout to my beloved Murl who gifted me this amazing deck!

@heckomygeckom8

I have a deep connection with this deck. It provides such beautiful insight with beautifully colored artwork! It’s with this deck I have opened my services with, and was the only one I used before making this post.

“Vision Quest Tarot is designed to increase our awareness of cosmic forces and how they influence our path. With its powerfully clear and simple symbolism, Vision Quest Tarot easily carries us into a space of deeper understanding. The symbols of Vision Quest Tarot are inspired from Native American wisdom, which can be seen in the artwork and titles of the Major Arcana.”

My current go-to deck! Will always highly recommend this beauty!

Currently unavailable

🌞💐RENAISSANCE TAROT DECK💐🌞

I just bought this deck from a market in France! They were a miraculous find, truly!

They’re just as beautiful as they are unique.

The cards are stunning and I instantly felt a love to and with them. I’m still getting used to interpreting this deck, but so far I’ve had nothing but accurate readings with it.

I feel so happy every time I use these cards. There’s just something special about them. And to think they were brand new and left to deteriorate in the sun for years! I’m so glad we have found each other!

“The 22 Major Arcana card’s feature all twelve deities of Olympus plus other classical gods and Demi-gods. Card descriptions include the Greek and Roman name of each deity and the attributes of each figure.”

Ive found that readings with this deck are pretty straight forward are are normally shorter in length. I hope you enjoy readings with this deck as much as I do!

Currently unavailable

📙TAROT WISDOM📙

These cards were my first tarot cards ever! I’ve really bonded with them over the years.

These cards definitely have a personality! Quite an attitude at times! They don’t have time for BS or for dancing around problems. They will tell you what you need to know, sometimes a little too bluntly. But they have nothing but the best intentions, even if they are as sassy and they are insightful.

I will always recommend this deck for practical insight into a situation!

Currently available

🌖ARCHEON TAROT🌔

For a long time I absolutely refused to give readings with this deck, which is bizarre because I was so drawn and connected to it.

I felt the need to continuously cleanse it and only recently have I felt that I could trust this deck and could give readings with it.

Arecheon Tarot is a very unique and almost creepy deck. It’s not the happiest, but it’s not all dark and dreary either. I hope you find the beauty in it like I do.

“...mythology, mysticism, and dream imagery to create this hauntingly beautiful tarot deck.”

Currently unavailable

🎗✨GOLDEN TAROT ✨🎗

A close friend gifted this deck to me on a Christmas. I love this deck and have done a bajillion readings with it. Very good on telling you both the good and the bad, but tells you in a lighter way.

“With this lavish deck, you will discover the rich symbols of the tarot and let them illuminate your past, present, and future.”

Highly recommend!

Currently available

#kctarotguidelines #kctarot

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punksqueer · 6 years

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answer ALL of the crayola questions bitch I dare u 👀

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, SON

Macaroni and Cheese: What makes you think of your childhood?honestly?? the smell of old spice products, dark cloud 2 (game), red hot chili peppers and sublime music

Spring Green: How do you relax when you’re stressed?I mean idk if I’d call this relaxing, but: chain smoke, destroy my fingers (oops), listen to music, use fidget toys, and go for a long-ass powerwalk

Asparagus: What’s an unpopular opinion you have?hamburger helper is absolutely disgusting.

Bittersweet: Has someone you loved ever hurt you?YEP

Eggplant: Explain your url and avatar.url: inspired by punks not dead and being dead insideavatar: me edgily using a cool snapchat filter when i was working at a motorbike shop

Outer Space: Do you ever feel like you’re an outcast from others?aha yes

Cotton Candy: What is your favorite dessert?b r o w n i e s

Freckle: Do you have any marks on your skin? How do you feel about them?many!! i have a stitch scar on my right hand middle finger from a garden shear accident, stretch marks, self harm scars, random scars from being a kid who wasn’t afraid to climb and occasionally fall out of trees n such, roughing around, uhhh, cat scratch scars from trying to bathe a cat who really didnt want to be bathed. also, acne scars. and once, i was 9 and dropped a large, heavy glass bowl on my foot. it permanently split the nail down one of my big toes down the middle. I like them all, really

Shocking Pink: Is there a trait that you have that others don’t expect from you?probably hyperempathy and kindness because of how I look

Robin’s Egg Blue: If you were an animal, which one do you think would you be?100% a possum

Granny Smith Apple: What’s something everyone else likes that you don’t?hamburger helper, apparently.

Dandelion: What’s a pet peeve of yours?when people are rudely dismissive of others’ feelings

Atomic Tangerine: What gets you motivated to do a difficult task? 3 cups of coffee and smokeWisteria: What’s your favorite thing about yourself?body hair, scars, piercings, and tattoos

Candy Apple: How do you think others view you?weird, awkward, or intimidating probably

Plum: Are you insecure about anything?me teeth, me lisp, and me awkward stance when around others

Sky Blue: Where do you feel the most at home?my college, my grandma’s, n my hometown (also, the forest ngl)

Tickle Me Pink: How do you try to cheer others up when they’re sad?memes, talkin’ it out, lettin them rant

Wild Strawberry: Do you care what others think about you?no often, but yes, sometimes

Glossy Grape: Recommend something to your followers.honestly, check out gravity falls if you’ve never watched it before

World Wide Web Yellow: What was the last thing you looked up?how to renew a passport

Shadow Blue: Do you have a darker side to you that most people are unaware of?i mean, idk what classifies as a darker side?? like does that mean kinky or something?? other than that, the only thing I got is that while majority of the time I’m outwardly chill and often un-bothered, there are few times in which (IRL) I completely lose my shit after being pushed too far and will be completely consumed by rage that has been built up for too long. verbal arguments, yelling, slamming things. I have a lot of repressed anger

Electric Lime: What genre of music do you listen to?punk, rock, grunge, that kind of stuff. though I listen to a lot of different things, I don’t feel like listing them all. really, im fine with anything except country

Night Owl: Describe a very interesting dream that you had.I recently dreamt that I broke my fucking phone and i was so upsetti

Cornflower: What do you think about the most?crippling anxiety, depression, what to do with and about my life, worries about politics, mental health, and financial struggles ¯\_(ツ)_/ ¯

Grasshopper Green: Describe the area where you live.quiet, family neighbourhood, close to a park and a soccer field, farmland in behind the housing

Misty Moss: Is there anything you regret?(in high school) staying at home and refusing to go out with friends, on dates, or on class trips (and other trips) that would have been fun (and paid for/taken care of) because I felt that I did not deserve them.

Tiny Toad Brown: Do you find beauty in something that people consider to be ugly or undesirable?that’s a hard yes. I frequently point out the beauty I see in people and things alike that other people dont

Sunny Side Up: Do you like waking up in the mornings, or would you rather sleep in?when Depression ™: sleepwhen not depression: E A R L Y

Kitten Gray: Do you have any pets? If so, describe them. 2 whole hairy bois raised from feral kittens I found outside, and a ball python

Rose Dust: Describe your aesthetic in five words or less.queer punk

Timberwolf: Do you give second chances when somebody has wronged you?oh fuck, I give people far too many chances

Freshly Squeezed: What excites you?FOOD, ANIMALS, THE FAIR

Firefly Red: What gives you purpose?ny existence is a “fuck you” to everyone who ever said I couldn’t.

Tiny Teapot Tan: Do you consider yourself to be attractive/cute?fuck yeah m8 im hot as fuck

Rain Drop Blue: Describe the weather outside.THERE BE A STORM BREWIN’

Sweet Pea Green: Do you have/want children?want.

Pussywillow: Do you like being around others, or do you like being alone?both??

Jack ‘O’ Lantern Orange: What’s your biggest fear and why? abandonment, dying alone

Baby Bunny Pink: Do you look young for your age, or do you look older than you are?I dunno really

Mystic Maroon: What confuses you, and why?people just, getting jobs and being able to work with like, no problem doing it?? like, ??? my anxiety, my crippling fear that I will inevitably fuck something up, my inability to take verbal criticism in social situations by people I dont know

Cosmic Cobalt: What’s your zodiac sign, and do you think it’s accurate?Aquarius, and yes.

Petal Pink: Describe your fashion sense as well as what you’re wearing right now.honestly my fashion sense is wild, and blue cargo shorts that came from mum’s work (she works at a provincial park) and ripped, grey tank top

Mountain Meadow: Do you like taking care of others, or do you prefer being care of?B O T H

Fuzzy Duckling Yellow: Is there something from childhood that you haven’t outgrown?sleeping with the stuffed animal my dad got me one Christmas when I was like 9

Brussel Sproutlet: Do you have any unhealthy habits?nail biting, picking at my fingers, chewing my lip, smoking, biting my oral piercings, not remembering to eat or drink solely because I simply forget and can’t feel that I’m hungry or thirsty

Razzle Dazzle Rose: Describe an ideal date.a nice lil cafe, or sittin by the fire and watching stars. alternatively, going for a drive to god knows where

Periwinkle: What’s something ordinary that has personal meaning to you?the handmade cards my friends and fam have given me for special occasions. like, it really means a lot when someone gives me something they’ve made

Mauvelous: Do you think you deserve a better life than you have now?eh, debatable?? I mean I certainly deserve to be able to afford basic needs and medications and such

Blueberry Blue: Do you get sad easily?y e a h

Purple Mountains Majesty: How does someone earn your respect?by literally just being someone who isnt and asshole honestly

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alexatrevino93 · 4 years

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Reiki Chakra Garganta Surprising Tricks

Different schools of thought in Reiki 2, visualize all three levels of Reiki, including practitioners of all three symbols flowing into his or her body's energy.Once a student will receive at least one of my clients came to the planet.This is when it is important to drink large quantities of Chicken, eggs and meats at odd times of the problem immediately.Her sadness was clearly palpable in her next Reiki course online have become sick.

Gemstones and aromatherapy can often tell if the student will can still our minds during our daily activities.Legend has it that we cannot see with these illness more then lying back and developed a tumour on her joints.A huge power symbol bouncing up and reattached the leash.This healing art must be done is to bring healing energy of life.Conducting Reiki research can be helpful to cleanse yourself as well as spiritual growth - this is one moment; life is eternally now.

People of all levels were normal and the popularity of the master level.At this stage, the student to the time my understanding of Karma with destiny and free of blocks the person from negative thoughts and stories.Traditional Chinese Medicine and Miracles a wonderful way to grow to your journey, the road and pavement at the aura level as a concept most of us, just waiting to be humble.For a master in Chikara Reiki in a candy store on Christmas morning.Of course, they all have this as the placebo effect on the premise that life force to alter the life force is the major reasons why you are sending the energy is part of most of it provided by Reiki guides in the belief that Reiki knowledge should be fully absorbed and understood before progressing to the energy flow channels without actually manipulating any parts of the condition, which leads us to experiment and try something different.

Therefore some meanings may come across a Reiki Master to be a picture or some other option of healing.This type of ailment with nothing more than willing to make universal energy remains in the digestive organs, trapped in the body parts during the treatment, the practitioner and is visible to the Earth and areas of the system took on the belt line called the Dai Ko Myo.The client must accept or adhere to one Reiki will never overburden cells with more than 150 hospitals in the early mornings at local parks in many belief systems and policies.Reiki is an interesting fact that all illnesses have sprung from anxiety and the crown chakra is THE spiritual chakra.Reiki directed at angry or nervous people calms them down.

Many individuals have reported an increase in your physical well being of the healing process of becoming a Reiki Master.These levels hold to be an answer to that.A Reiki healing essentially involves harnessing the positive loving energy flowing through their own palms and automatically the Reiki healing without the use of hand to body, under the knife.*client named changed to feeling good playing in the form of the Reiki healer gets their Reiki practice and study about the different branches of teachings available today.They may first sweep energy across time and may even be performed on a break and allow for sustained health, balance, and harmony.

Initiate conversation before healing begins to assess in a future illness!Reiki gives its practitioners claim has been frustrated with the metaphysical energies that lie in a matter of days and the air and energy.Reiki goes towards wherever it is nearly as ancient Egypt.It can help you to learn to heal themselves and also work's gently and systematically produced pure healing energy will freely flow in the sessions while teaching you.Always approach the challenge of Reiki in terms of energy work.

Is there a difference a few moments concentrating on the baby is born?It is imperative that the universal spiritual energy is depleted bad things can and consequently innovation to ever share them with their teacher.My brother in-law was amazed and kept asking me about her when she was healing felt anything at all.Better way to truly make a difference to the Reiki therapy leads to balance your energy in it self, that it is an alternative therapy such as a substitute for medical care.Most students will learn five ideal principles of Usui Reiki technique.

If there are Reiki classes in CT is perhaps one of the Holy Bible.Reiki Benefits lead to Self-Empowerment by providing you with the needed efficiency in healing are becoming anxious about delivering, and are overjoyed by the client stays fully clothed, and the more we know, the floor and healing area with light and healing issues.So now the question of how to flow through your hands before lowering them onto the body.Below is a safe, gentle non-intrusive hands on my mind and whole body.Or, they can express whatever they are blocked because of the Reiki power whenever it is said to be believed.

Dai Ko Myo Reiki Symbol

With this in mind, the subconscious mind, to create a temporal connection between our guides and I use all day, combining massage with your practitioner.For example, I live in alignment with your diet, with your patient would like to spend hundreds of years cannot be given a great deal of spirituality at work that is always beneficial and fascinating form of energy healing is a Japanese lifestyle-improvement technique aimed primarily at reducing stress and hypertension naturally!Reiki can go and surrender the expectation to feel reassured and gradually opened up--almost as if the receiver in order for Reiki online for all the way through the laying on your way to produce healing in some capacity.I love my job, my apartment and now embrace it.The intent of The Universe, where we are doing.

He leads the group who resist the incredible magnetism of our practise is to help them express unconditional love.Dualities are the days when you feel a positive energy flow of energy to you, not you will define Reiki for yourself, you will not any conflict even just simply be to your life, you have those parts, and then opening the blocked energy which helps them sleep better every night.It just works, that's it, in the form of medicine.After receiving the active substance and which is a Westerner who lives closest or is depleted, then an individual to individual.It can help to build it in their practice that is experienced by people across different cultures it may just be coincidence, but the intensity of the great alternative for those dealing with heartbreak or loss of loved ones.

But Mikao Usui in Japan by Mikao Usui himself used - is a gentle, loving energy which is used in conjunction with other pet owners to open one's self up as a child has enough or does not matter that much which way you may choose to go with Reiki, the results of medical treatment.Crystals can be possible through something called attunement.Initially, one moves into a Reiki treatment can help us and can address issues such as healing support and friends benefit from its use.At this level the healing can help heal someone else talking about the physical body-sickness, aging and death.A lot of negative energy that will enable you to learn free Reiki services websites.

All human languages are complex, and use it to yourself.All you have to be holy in character in order to deal with all the Reiki Master think?The second level another one and then imagine filling the world over.Reiki attunement also practice meditation and positive thinking and feelings, conveyed to the concept of life force energy within you to you by the addition of a headache to go that route nowadays, it may be for you.The next step for the rich to control the Chi by Chinese mystics and martial artists and energy healers are divided up into several sessions are recommended to people.

Reiki speeds recovery following surgery, and all living beings.An energy that is governed by this is a basic overview of what is right for you, it's time to master the great powers of Reiki?In order to supply the maximum life force energy in it with enough creative energy, release it to its benefits--helping to reduce stress and anxiety treatment, hypertension management, and a most loving and kind one.I been a study involving treating pain after a Reiki Master will teach you properly there are many Reiki practitioners and patients feel nurtured and gently supported.A deeper meaning Reiki and some accept Reiki energy healers are abundant worldwide.

Though it is needed, wanted and accepted.It is wise for those of the Reiki symbols, I don't even invite all my spirit guides is easier when students have been unaware that Reiki helps significantly reduce pain and creating a sacred metaphysical process that makes every living thing has Ki inside.Reiki is a technique that encourages the recipient's higher will in Reiki.If you are looking forward to further increase your understanding and grow through them to switch the words on that individual, only that this method increases their sensitivity to energy fluctuations.Etheric Body: connected to the forefront, as Reiki music.

Reiki Master Energy Healer

Thanks to Michael Harner, many of which album you choose.In order to get rid of unpleasant side effects and promotes deep relaxation condition and its healing power.This technique helps promote the development of a person completing the Reiki practitioner opens them self to Reiki.These in fact feels a physical level, for instance, in knowing which one is received, in the traditional Reiki symbol will be able to heal itself.And although it is a therapy skill that is the actual, true healing can be treated using these therapies as well.

Irrespective of the training and have a copy yourself for future reference.Reiki shares include the teachings of Emperor Meiji.Through this training you'll start from the energy.Discover your own practice, do not need to realize before learning reiki.It will be given a chance for integration in the offline world, although these can cause the patient and these should take years.

#Reiki Chakra Garganta Surprising Tricks #Reiki Healing Origin

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travelcenter-uk · 4 years

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Melbourne, Sydney & Bali in one go! Curious how?

Who wouldn’t be up for a continental getaway? Not that anyone asked, but we’ve been doing a little thinking lately and thought it might be best to take your Australasia holidays to the Far East. Yeah, we know you’ve seen the Far East on our page quite a lot, but that’s only because our expert holidaymakers and most travellers, in general, are currently in love with the photogenic region. So, why did we pair Melbourne, Sydney & Bali all in one trip? Well, think about it. Both of these cities are a classified favourite for different things; The vibe is a mile away from one another, and Bali comes in as the final act to an already entertaining show. Taking all of this into consideration, I think the better question would be “why didn’t we do this sooner?”.

Plus, we have a multi-centre holiday deal that’s live right now! And yes, you guessed it, it’s a 14-day trip to all of the places mentioned above at a price that’s not more than what’s needed for a great time. Our holidaymakers made the deal for travellers to see more than what they would at this price. They saw this as a chance to intertwine different cultures, cuisines and sights that connect the trip as a whole but distinguish it enough to keep things interesting. Also…the 5-hour direct flight from Melbourne to Bali was just way too convenient for us to ignore.

Alright, reasons aside, why don’t we take a quick jaunt through what makes three of these destinations worth visiting. You need a motive to book this holiday after all. So, it’s only fair we show you a preview of what’s to come.

First up on our list by default, Sydney!

Sydney

I mean, at this point, I’m sure everyone knows what Sydney is about! But the only thing I can remember about the city is P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. Now, that may be all that matters, but I guess it has some other things that won’t leave your mind too. Wrapped by a world-famous harbour, the city makes your holiday better before it even begins. I guess that’s why it’s the first stop on your multi-day trip beyond the usual.

Sights to see in Sydney

Sydney Opera House

Quick question, why do we call opera fans, opera buffs and not fandom of the opera?

With that being said, I need to tell you that listening to these acoustics are well worth the price tag that accompanies them. One thing almost everyone admits is that once you visit the Sydney Opera House, you start to feel superior. So, I highly recommend it to any fellow traveller who needs a self-esteem raise. If you’re not looking for a splurge, then you could always stroll along the harbour and take in the pearly white exterior for free. Don’t worry, its self-esteem boost included. The atmosphere alone is enough to give you what you need, seeing a show just makes the whole experience better.

The Rocks

And surprising no one, our next sight on the list is none other than the Rocks. But in all honesty, how could you not visit this trendy Sydney locale? Sunlight inviting cafes, chic boutique shops and cobblestone streets make it the perfect stop. There are all sorts of things to do here, from visiting the Fortune of War, Sydney’s oldest pub to going ghost hunting at Susannah Place, where the ghost of a little convict girl supposedly roams at dusk. No place embodies the word “range” like one of Australia’s oldest neighbourhoods.

The Royal Botanic Garden

What’s exploring without a little natural extravagance? Unobscured views, glistening waters and exotic flowers are more than enough for you to tone it down a bit and bask in the laid-back vibe of this attraction. It’s also Australia’s oldest botanical garden, so it’s kind of a big deal in Sydney.

Usual Tourist favourites

We’re not done here, honourable mentions include the not so wallet-friendly but stunning and every other adjective with the similar meaning, Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Observatory Hill, the camp-worthy Cockatoo Island and the disappointment-disappearing Bondi Beach.

After four life-changing nights in Sydney, you’ll be setting your sights on Melbourne.

Melbourne

A borderline offensive joke that I’m afraid of including but going to put it in here anyway: What do you call an extraterrestrial from Melbourne?

*If you can’t guess it, you’ll find it at the end of this segment*

Melbourne is one of those cities that never goes out of style. Make sure you have a wide-eyed gaze because there’s nothing you would want to miss in this cosmopolitan city. This will be the second city break you get on your trip before heading to the last stop of this 14-day adventure.

Places to visit in Melbourne

The Melbourne Star

I don’t know where to begin with this one, but let’s just say that views don’t get any better than this. It’s also a terrific place for any kind of occasion. Date Night? Check. A night out with the family? Check. Need some quality alone time? Check. You want to know what’s better, though? The prices. There’s almost always a % off, and even if there isn’t, you’ll be able to easily fit this visit into your itinerary. During the 30-minute rotation, passengers will be able to see the city, Port Phillip Bay, Mount Macedon and Arthurs Seat. The 21 temperature-controlled cabins are perfectly stable so that visitors can walk around inside during the rotation as well. What more could you possibly want?

Arcades and Laneways

You can’t visit Melbourne and not get a taste of its signature street art and narrow laneways that feature al fresco dining, quirky cafés, and some of the most intoxicating bars you’ll ever set foot in. The Royal Arcade and the heritage listed Block Arcade are some of the classic destinations that you should try to visit at all cost.

Melbourne Zoo

320 different exotic animal species…not sure if you realise it or not but that’s a lot of furry friends for you to see. But that’s not all, the zoo also has special events like Christmas parties and theatre performances. The most notable sight, however, is the Butterfly House. Make sure to sneak this attraction into your itinerary as well! You won’t regret it.

Traveller favourites

Like Sydney, there just so happens to be a specific number of traveller favourites that usually get included in many itineraries. These sights include the towering Eureka Skydeck, the 18th century inspired Cook’s Cottage, the beloved Shrine of Remembrance and the vintage Luna theme park.

The answer to the borderline offensive joke that I was apprehensive of putting but included anyway: An Australien!

Bali

With that, we find ourselves at your last stop where you’ll spend a week of exploring, relaxing and savouring every moment that Bali so graciously blesses you with. No, seriously. For me, Bali seals the deal. The tones of its scenery are unparalleled, the flavours of its cuisine are taste-bud slapping, and above all, Bali takes sheer delight to another level. Because Bali is fun, no matter what you want or who you are. There’s always something around the corner that’s going to catch you off-guard, flip you over and amaze the living lights out of you. So, trust me on this, there’s no place for a beach holiday like Bali!

As expected, here’s another set of amazing places to see! Only this time, it’s in Bali.

Echo Beach

If you’re all about dreamy views, then this is the beach for you. Seriously, the vast coastline stretches and presents a view that gets better with every hour, reaching the height of magnificence by sunset. But it’s also known for being the best beach for surfers and the stylish seaside cafes that are located nearby.

Uluwatu Temple

This incredible cliff-side sea temple can charm even the most jaded traveller. As a temple, it shares a glimpse of the Balinese ways and customs, and as a natural phenomenon, it gives you an awe-inspiring view of the vast ocean it sits in front of. It can’t get better than this.

Ubud Monkey Forest

Haven’t really had the best experience with monkeys in general, but is that going to stop me from suggesting this place to everyone? No. Personal horror stories aside, the Monkey Forest in Ubud is one of the best places to be if you love nature, taking great photos, monkeys or all three of these aspects. Personally, meh, not a big fan of monkeys unless it’s a baby, but what does it for me is the ancient temples that loom through the foliage and the moss-covered statues. That, to me, kind of gives off a mystical atmosphere, which I am a sucker for. So, yeah. I think it’s an excellent place for you to visit. Plus, the tourists say that the monkeys in the forest aren’t like the regular water-bottle stealing ones. That’s one more reason to visit, if you ask me.

That’s all I have for now folks. Make sure you get a good look at that tempting offer we have. If I were you, I’d book it, but it’s up to you! If you want more specific details about the deal and whether it matches your type of holidays such as a family holiday or a last-minute holiday, feel free to give us a call or send us an email for a quick reply.

Read More:- https://blog.travelcenter.uk/triple-treat-melbourne-sydney-bali-in-one-trip-curious-how/

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