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It's a story as old as time. Man tweets as bookstore. Woman falls in love with his literary Pokemon jokes. The inevitable next chapter: marriage.

It started in 2012. Jonathan O'Brien was running the social media accounts for a Waterstone's book store on Oxford Street in London.

He tweeted a couple of jokes about books and Pokemon.

https://twitter.com/WaterstonesTCR/status/270945636302602240

Victoria Carlin, a circus performer at the time, didn't know who was behind the account — but she knew she was a fan. So she tweeted back.

"Well I'm in love with whoever is manning the @WstonesOxfordSt account," she wrote. "Be still my actual beating heart."

https://twitter.com/VictoriaOB_/status/270953775747964929


And four years later, this (appropriately literary) one.

https://twitter.com/VictoriaOB_/status/754723063464427521


Of course, the course of true love never did run smoothly — or at least, it takes a little more than just a few tweets to snag a mate.


After all, O'Brien told the Guardian that as the Waterstone's Twitter account, he got marriage proposals all the time. (No surprise there.) He didn't follow up on them by reaching out as, you know, a person. "That would be unprofessional," 


But Carlin was motivated. She'd been dared to get a date with him. So she tweeted again. This time — because of a typo, she says — she seemed to suggest that the two had actually gone out for drinks, and O'Brien noticed that little inaccuracy. He responded with his personal account, to correct the record.


Now that Carlin knew his real identity, it was time to meet face-to-face. And for that, she brought doughnuts. Here's The Guardian:

Later, they went for a walk on O'Brien's lunch break. Then they went on their first real date — to a secret cocktail bar, 


"It was easily the best first date I've ever been on (and hopefully the last first date I'll ever go on). I brought a book of The Wizard of Oz as a present because Victoria had mentioned to me how much she loves the film," Jonathan continued.


The two were married in London over the weekend. (Pokemon played a role in that, too; the groom was playing Pokemon Go shortly before the ceremony.)


Carlin has left the touring circus life and now works in the theater. O'Brien, who has written a book, is no longer tweeting as a bookstore: He now works for the drink company Innocent.


That means there's a new social media manager at the Waterstone's Oxford account (now Waterstone's Tottenham Court Road).
And four years later, this (appropriately literary) one.

https://twitter.com/WaterstonesTCR/status/755039575882526720

And — in case you were wondering — he, or she, is looking.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

In 2012, the corporate Twitter account for a bookstore in London posted a joke about Pokemon. "I'm in love," a woman responded. More tweets followed, then a date. The wedding was last weekend.

Bookstore's tweet leads to love, then marriage

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