Tumgik
#so right now i'm enjoying this bad adaptation
heloflor · 6 months
Text
You know, considering how many posts I recently made about Movie Peach and how negative they are, there’s something I feel the need to clarify since I wouldn’t be surprised if people had some assumptions and I don’t want words I didn’t say being put into my mouth (Tl;Dr at the end):
As a completely original character, fully detached from everything other than the movie, I have no issues with Movie Peach. She’s badass in a fun way, spunky, has a few cute faces, and I especially appreciate how despite being a strong female character stereotype she’s very supportive of Mario and builds him up rather than putting him down, it makes her likeable and their relationship very cute.
And yes, this is the way I perceived her from the get-go, but only mentioned it in my movie reaction post made all the way back when said movie came out, hence needing to say it again now. To quote that post: “Least favorite character is DK. It could’ve been Peach but my issues with her stem from how different she is from her games counterpart. If you take her movie character as a brand-new character rather than a game adaptation, she’s actually pretty great as a guide and strong mentor.” And while there are things in this post I now disagree with, this part remains my current opinion.
So yeah, as an original character, she’s pretty great...but that’s also the issue.
Movie Peach is not an original character. She’s supposed to be an adaptation of a pre-existing character who already has her own personality. And as an adaptation, Movie Peach fails at every level. Not only that, but several dialogues keep hyping her up in a way that comes off as Illuminations looking down on Games Peach, you know, the character their own Peach is supposed to be an adaptation of.
That’s why I take such issue with Movie Peach. It’s not the character itself, it’s how bad of an adaptation she is. And if I did my job correctly, every single time I talk negatively of her in my posts, it’s about her as an adaptation specifically. The only instance of me being an ass for no reason is in my table comparison post where I call her a dumbass, which I point out in the tags to be me throwing shade and not something I actually believe.
Now I also want to say that I hate Movie Peach for what she represents and the consequences of her existence on Peach’s character and her perception by the public, so to keep it short I’m going with bullet points:
It annoys me a lot that a multi-million dollars company couldn’t be bothered to adapt her character properly, especially since they apparently closely worked with Nintendo and the concept art very much show them who Peach is as a person (the one where she’s encouraging Mario to fight DK reminds me of the 86 Anime where she keeps having Mario fight her battles while powerless to defend herself; also it’s funny how in the art of Games Peach reacting to Movie Peach it’s obvious the artist had no idea what personality Movie Peach has). The fact she’s a favorite character of mine doesn’t help and makes me feel robbed from seeing a beloved character on the big screen for the first time. And obviously them low-key insulting her by hyping up Movie Peach makes it worse.
Even before getting into the fandom I knew that Peach isn’t the most well-liked character, with many gamers especially finding her bland and boring. This was already sad on its own, but now those same people are praising a character who’s completely different from her for being “so much better” or “finally giving her a personality”. It sucks. Games Peach deserves better than that.
With those things in mind I don’t think I need to explain why the fact this characterization is possibly bleeding out into the games is something I dread. Now I can live with a cover art change, but if they change her actual character I’m going to scream. Especially if they only do it to Peach and no other character. And yes I know some people also pointed out a possible direction change for her voice but 1. for some reason I don’t really care, possibly because she’s been through quite a lot of voice-actors already 2. we only clearly hear her voice in the Showtime trailer during the Kung-Fu part so maybe her voice will differ depending on the costume, it is a stageplay after all, and 3. the Wonder short with Bowser has her let out four noises, one of which has a different tone while the other three keep her usual high octave, so I’m not sure if they truly intend on changing her voice. Haven’t played Wonder yet tho so I can’t speak to all her other voicelines.
Hopefully this will be my last post about this outside of answering asks and reblogs as I’m always open to discussions/debates. I don’t like bringing negativity and especially not drama to my blog but, considering the extensive rant I made about this, it only feels right to make sure people don’t misinterpret where my issues come from, since I can absolutely understand people seeing my posts and concluding that I hate Movie Peach for who she is rather than what she represents.
Now, instead of being negative about Movie Peach I’d rather focus on being positive about Games Peach, mostly through the fics I’m working on.
Tl;Dr: Movie Peach would be genuinely great as an original character but alas she was put inside the skin of someone with a completely different personality from hers. And it's very hard to look past this given the consequences of Movie Peach's existence on how people percieve Peach as a whole now on top of a possible change in her games character.
8 notes · View notes
buttercupshands · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
Everything will be alright
7 notes · View notes
nikatyler · 2 years
Text
So I'm back to rereading Vampire Academy, just finished Frostbite, and I go online to see if anyone's still talking about the books and there's a trailer for a new tv show and uh?? What is that
11 notes · View notes
absolutebl · 4 months
Text
Best 23 of BL 2023 - Quirky Awards
SHOCK & AWE AWARDS
1. Biggest BL surprise of 2023:
Tumblr media
The last 3 months of 2023 in general got my biggest WTF award.
GMMTV fielding OffGun AND TayNew in the same quarter while also airing Last Twilight (arguably one of their best BLs ever)
That they ALSO optioned 3 JBLs
That there's a high heat omegaverse BL staring Pavel
That there were 20 BLs airing and none of them Korean.
With 5 VAMPIRE BLs announced for next year
But my prize in this category goes to My Dear Gangster Oppa.
Tumblr media
It's just crazy:
Thai talent, Korean money + IP (this is adapted from a manwha) airing on a Chinese channel (iQIYI). Plus it was GOOD and made smart reuse of a pair who richly deserved it. I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production. And wonder if any other film genre could even do anything like this.
2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:
Tumblr media
The 8th Sense from Korea?!
I mean, seriously?! Dealing with metal health, suicide, darkness, therapy, age gap, & first time love BUT FROM KOREA? And then openness and casual boyfriend physical affection? What's next? An actual hard fought coming out narrative with an HEA? Gay domesticity and families?
Careful Korea, you'll strain something. Possibly your own culture and film industry.
I should stop having expectations of Korea, they keep surprising me.
Runners up: Korea letting OnlyOneOf do Bump Up Business not to mention that OmegaX thing. AND Korea adapting Why R U? What are you up to, Korea? Qua? Is this a coded message? Should we send help? Do you need snacks?
3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:
Tumblr media
GeminiFourth in My School President.
Seriously? Babies what? How did GMMTV find you? How do you exist? How is BL this lucky?
4. That studio did WHAT now? award:
Tumblr media
GMMTV putting EarthMix into Moonlight Chicken.
And then doubling down with G4 as the damn sides.
Fucking genius.
5. I’m sad you were ignored award:
Tumblr media
Destiny Seeker.
It's just a really fun little Thai pulp, the pairs were good, silly dialogue, plus consent and other good rep. I enjoyed it. No one talked about it AT ALL.
6. 2023 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?
Tumblr media
Laws of Attraction. -The casting, the crazy story, the soapy drama! But specifically: Film playing Charn - the range of his smiles alone. GLORIOUS
I mean I Feel You Linger in the Air also sparked something in me, but LoA drove me actually nuts.
NARRATIVE AWARDS
7. Best story 2023:
Tumblr media
La Pluie
I know, you're surprised, right? At the time I didn't chat much about it but I really enjoyed the discourse others were having. I love anything that really examines the fated mates (soulmates) trope and the idea of "the one". What a clever way to do that. (This is one reason UWMA is my favorite Thai BL.)
This one reminded me of the way Color Rush approached allegory and that's no bad thing. Such an impressive little piece.
8. Best narrative structure 2023 award:
Tumblr media
Unintentional Love Story.
I know this may seem a simplistic pick. But I love the tidiness of this no frills contemporary romance, how the culture of work and personal ethics and corruption fight against the main character's affection and integrity. Poor baby boy is driven into a corner and then punished for it. But it is punishment he feels he deserves, and so it is up to his (now) ex to figure out what went wrong and why.
It's just great. I love it when no one is stupid or wrong, it's just impossible circumstances and unintentional love deeply felt.
9. Best 2023 dialogue (script) award:
Tumblr media
Jun & Jun
Never before has Korea laced a BL with that much perfectly executed innuendo. It was a master class. I didn't know you could be that lascivious in Korean, quite frankly. Plus the way the 2 Juns constantly seamlessly transition between formal register (work, public - where they are boss/employee) to informal register (when they are alone and age mates + childhood sweethearts).
Beautiful to hear and watch.
10. Favorite scene 2023:
Tumblr media
The dub con scene in I Cannot Reach You because I AM TRASH for an out of control seme. I'm sorry I just AM.
I have said it before, I will say it again, NO ONE DOES THIRST like Japan. And when that thirst bubbles over, it is heart-clenching and very hot.
11. The most rewatchable BL of 2023 award:
Tumblr media
Our Dating Sim
That scene where they lie on the floor + the stolen kiss + giggle? Come on, it should be on comfort repeat in war rooms. It could bring world peace.
ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS
12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role, 2023:
Tumblr media
Fluke in Make a Wish.
It was fun to see him as an irreverent immortal and while I love OhmFluke I also really enjoyed this new pairing. It was a genuine pleasure to watch.
13. Best pining 2023:
Tumblr media
The moot pining in Tokyo in April is...
Boys, seriously? Japan must you destroy us like this? Hurts so good.
14. Best wingman 2023 (The Namgoong Award)
Tumblr media
Tiw from My School President
I mean, come on, of course it's him!
(Also can you believe Mark went on from this to do fricking Only Friends!? To Last Twilight! Come on GMMTV GIVE HIM A LEAD!)
Tumblr media
15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!
Tumblr media
Dimpled McMafia & Feral Bunny Foo Foo from Kiseki Dear to Me.
They were feral for each other.
We were feral for them
It was a whole delightful THING.
16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:
Tumblr media
The Private Lessons pair showing up in Love Class 2.
I know it was only a cameo, but SERIOUSLY? Thank you SO MUCH Korea! A big studio picking up a Strongberry pairing? I love you.
Seriously tho between them, Taiwan & Korea tried for ALL THE CAMEOS this year.
17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:
Tumblr media
NetJames in Bed Friend.
Need I say more?
18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Tumblr media
Bah Vinh in Vian & Mr Cinderella 2. I did like either show but I loved him in them. Especially the make outs.
Yes you have chemistry with all the boys in Vietnam and you kiss beautifully. But it's okay now honey, you have the crown. Relax, you're stressing us out.
RANDOM PICKS
19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2023:
Tumblr media
Our Dating Sim
Caught in the act by the elevator scene. OMG it's so funny. They're being such boyfriend shits to each other, and to be caught in the act by THAT character, and try to manifest formal language whole cloth? Hilarious.
Honorable mention to War Peanuts in Destiny Seeker.
20. Biggest disappointment of 2023:
Tumblr media
You Are Mine
Seriously Taiwan, AGAIN you disappoint me with an Office BL? You're Taiwan, land of offices and suits. This should be YOUR SETTING TO WIN. And yet... argh. I mean it wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Stop it Taiwan, do better.
Runners up? Between Us, Chains of Heart, Dangerous Romance - this was a HOTLY contested category.
+ 2 Winners in the sub-category of FUCK YOU FOR THAT ENDING award:
Tumblr media
The Director who Buys Me Dinner - I mean this nicely but: you have your lane now Korea, stop hurting us, that's Japan's responsibility and they do it better.
Tumblr media
I Feel You Linger In the Air - I'm just hugely disappointed. Thailand ALMOST got its second 10/10 from me, but that damn ending.
Argh.
21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023
Tumblr media
The shower of packaged bedsheets in My Personal Weatherman
Amazing. Brilliant. No notes.
22. Best Queer Rep 2023
Tumblr media
Chot in Step By Step
In fact, all the queer characters in this show were treated with great integrity.
AND props to this cast for refusing to do fan service. GOOD FOR YOU! Fuck those sasang wankers.
Runners up? The found family cast of Love in Translation and the Rainbow Rice Cakes in The New Employee.
23. Best Meta Trope call out
Tumblr media
Tin Tem Jai
Come on, what a zinger, but at themselves (and Taiwan)
Final question: which of the 23 was the hardest for me to pick?
Honestly? Question #1 this year. But also question #20.
(Last year: 2022's Version) 
Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2023. Or The Sign probably would have taken multiple categories. But it will fall into 2024 offerings.
(source)
493 notes · View notes
jadeddangel · 2 months
Note
Hellooo may I request Husk with a reader whose appearance in Hell is that of a cute little mouse? She is shy and the kind of person to put things as nicely as posible, so she finds it hard to stand up for herself. Basically the "opposites attract" trope, if you are so kind! Thank youuu <3
OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!! AHHHH I SIMP FOR HUSK SO BAD
Warnings: talk of gambling, alcoholism, addiction , Trauma and suggestive themes
If you aren't over the age of 18 or of legal age please don't interact, having said that, Enjoy!!
A game of cat and mouse
Tumblr media
The sky was dark red and black when you woke up.. there weren't any clouds, and aside from a red hue everywhere, the only thing that stood out was a giant clock in the middle of well wherever you were. Standing up, you brushed yourself off with your paws, wait... paws? You froze looking down at your hands, I mean, they looked normal-ish. I mean, you still had skin, but it was Grey and had fur running down the back of your hands, arms, legs, and shoulders. You had black claws, and you were staring to get overstimulated at all the sounds going on.. you went to put your hands over where your ears were when you were alive and let out a scream of sheer panic. You were scared there were so many things going on, and now you were missing ears?! You paused after a moment, realizing that it was ridiculous. How did you not have ears and be able to hear? And so you finally took a deep breath and went into an alley way as you were pretty much feeling yourself up.
You felt all over your body coming into contact with the large ears on your head and the long fuzzy tail you had. "OK, it's ok. Deep breathes. We'll figure this out it's not a big deal, right? I mean, this is probably just a dumb dumb dream .." You spoke to yourself
You lied. It had been 2 months since you got here now, and no matter what you've done to try and "wake up," nothing was working. And that's why you were standing here in front of the not so popular hazbin hotel. The outside of the large building looked mediocre, at best, and you were being modest. Taking a deep breath of the polluted air you knocked on the front door carefully, the echo of the loud knock spooking you nearly out of your fur. You could hear running towards the door before a brief pause and a blonde demon opened the door. "Hello there, little demon!! Welcome to the hazbin Hotel! Please come in come in!" Charlie greeted as she maneuvered around you, putting a hand on your back and leading you inside the doors closing behind you. You frantically tried to adapt to the new surroundings the princess of hell had forced you into. What you immediately spotted was a couch, a large stair case, a few people, and a bar? I mean, you had heard this was a place for rehab pretty much, not just a standard hotel. Charlie nudged you towards the couch. "Let me introduce you to everyone!! Ok, so we have angel dust, " charlie blabbered out as Angel looked up from his phone and gave you a brief head nod "alastor, our facilities manager, vaggie, my girlfriend and our general manager!! Oh, oh ! And here we have Kiki, razzle and dazzle, they work to protect the hotel!! That's nifty!" Charlie pointed to everyone excitedly, most of them barely even looking at you before the girl she addressed as nifty ran at you with a giant needle." Rat! There's a rat in the hotel!!" Nifty yelled. With a shriek, you jumped onto the coffee table. "I'm not a rat. I'm not a rat!!" You were nearly crying. You were embarrassed about everything feeling like a big deal, and then on top of the panic of being in a new place, it felt like your head was bursting. You had closed your eyes, and the next thing you knew, there was someone picking you up off the table after they had noticed you panic. It was angel dust.. he was holding you high above nifty's reach though he didn't need to cause you saw this.. cat person? Holding nifty up by the collar of her dress.. he seemed tired.. and grouchy . Angel finally set you down "sorry 'bout that cutie, nifty can be a bit much at first," angel said, crouching a bit so he was face to face with you instead of face to tits . You nodded a bit. "Thank you, angel dust," you said quietly, "it's alright, cutie, it's no problem to me, my friends call me Angie btw," Angel said sweetly
And just like that, your stay at the hazbin Hotel began. It was starting to calm down after a few months. You had grown close with angel, the two of you often hanging out at the bar. The cat's name that you had learned was husker, but he preferred husk. Then it all started, late night drinks and talks with husk though you did most of the talking or it wad just quiet. You both talked about so many things, what foods you liked, what drinks you preferred. And even though you were opposites, you were both crazy attached to each other.
You and Angel were having some small talk at the bar just laughing with each other. "And then! Hahaha ha and then Val has the guts to ask me to redo the scene!!" Angel laughed out. You both had been talking about funny stories and about things when you were alive . Angel finished off his drink before winking at husk. "Oh husker~, you wanna do me a favor and poor me another drink kitty?~" Angel asked with a smirk. You could hear husk grumble under his breath about something. Husk then turned to you. "Want another soda? I know you're not much of a drinker, so I asked Charlie to get us some, " husk said, leaning against the bar counter slightly. You gave him a happy nod before handing him your cup, soon husk left, and Angel smirked at you .oooooo you and Kitty got somethin' goin' on, don't ya' ?" Angel teased poking your shoulder a bit. Your cheeks turned a darker Grey at his words "w-what?.. me and husk what? No way psht- that's ridiculous. Why do you think he likes me?" You were embarrassed, but God, you were curious. Did Angel know something you didn't. "Mm, I'll tell you if you tell me what made you die , deal?" Angel held his hand out a bit.. you took a moment questioning if it was worth it before shaking his hand. "Deal.."
You took a deep breath "Alright uhm it was my boyfriend's fault.. you see, I had this really bad habit of falling for people that really didn't care about me.. they just wanted a body or something they thought they could gain.." You spoke quietly before clearing your throat."I was beaten to death.. I thought I was just going to sleep, but uhm, he had caused internal bleeding and..." You zoned out a bit."That's why I'm a mouse.. I'm just viewed as prey and a good pet for some person that thinks their god. " You ranted a bit
Angel looked guilty about making the deal, having heard that.. "Oh, cutie.. I'm sorry.. uhm, I don't know if husk likes you, deary, " Angel said softly while rubbing your back . You sighed a nodded a bit; husk returned back to the main bar and handed you your glass full of soda gently careful not to spill any before carelessly handing angel his drink ,husk put his hand over yours when you went to grab your drink " are you alright mouse? You don't seem well.. cmon, let's take you to your room.." husk said softly as he walked around the bar and helped you off the high chair before grabbing your drink and helping you walk up to your room. Husk sat you down on your bed, trying to get you to relax a bit. He rubbed over your shoulders, trying his best to soothe you from your emotional anguish that was written on your face. "It's gonna be ok, just relax," husk said quietly while rubbing your shoulders. Husk looked down at you, worried. "I heard what you and Angel were talking about.. I'm so sorry you had to go through that" husk was rubbing along the edges of your ears to help calm you, "Now uhm I now I suck at stuff like this but it looks like you need one " husk said opening his arms a bit. You pulled husk close and cuddled into him, relaxing at the smell of sandalwood and rum. Husk wrapped you up his wings, holding you close. "Thank you, husk.. " you said softly, husk smiled ever so slightly as he rubbed your arms and back carefully "yknow I heard everything even about a certain crush you have. " Husk chuckled a bit. You blushed a bit and went to pull away from the hug, but husk kept you close to his chest "let me finish.. I really like you too little mouse and I'd really like to stay with you for as long as I can.." husk finished finally letting go a bit so that you could pull away if you so pleased. But you could never.. husk made you feel safe made you feel whole.. and nothing could change that.. You had a big smile on your face as you pulled him closer "I really like you too husk.." you muttered. Husk smiled a bit more "so how about we just stay here for a bit and just hang out mk?and if I may be so bold I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend " husk rubbed your back in soothing circles. You squeaked happily (blame the mouse part) as you nodded like crazy.
Everything is perfect
218 notes · View notes
ronwestbreeze · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
take a bow
pairing: geto suguru x non-sorcerer!reader warnings: gore and maybe a little bit of angst summary: you smell like coffee...and geto can't seem to shake it. word count: 6.7k author's note: hiiii ;) as you can tell there will be about five parts to this mini series. nothing more and nothing less. i'm kind of excited for this and i've been really wanting to write for my husband so, i hope ya'll enjoy it! and i will not be doing a taglist for this one. sorry guys!
part 2 | read on AO3
Tumblr media
There was a cute customer today.
And you were also sure you hadn’t seen him around before. Then again, you moved to this village two weeks ago, and you weren’t too familiar with the regulars yet. Perhaps he was just one you hadn’t seen until now.
You leaned over the front counter a bit, trying to get a better look at him as he moved down one of the aisles to the far left of the store.
He wore what looked like a school uniform, his dark hair tied up with a few strands framing one side of his face. Even though he was further away from you, you could see he was on the younger side, maybe around your age. Possibly older.
You hadn’t met many boys in your life—attractive ones especially—mostly because you were sheltered for half of your childhood and didn’t go outside. So when you did happen to stumble upon a few of them, you were left wondering what to do or say around them. They were almost alien to you.
It was the same with people in general your age. While you weren’t bad at socializing, you still adapted the best way you knew how.
“You’re being creepy.” Your co-worker, Tohru, said passively while scrolling through her phone. A very busy activity she had been at for an hour now.
“I’m not.” You cleared your throat, quickly looking away from the otherwise oblivious customer. “But you can’t deny that he’s pretty cute.”
Tohru drew her eyes from her phone and glanced toward the newcomer who was now in the snack section. Now it was her turn to lean over the counter, a look of interest inching onto her usual bored mask.
“Damn.”
“Told ya.”
“He’s definitely new. No guy that fine lives in a boring ass town like this.”
You hummed, “I wouldn’t exactly call this town boring—but you’ve been here longer than me so I suppose you have the better judgment over that.” Carefully, you snuck another peek at the customer who was studying the back of a bag of chips. “And if he’s that fine, no doubt someone already bagged him.”
“Ugh,” Tohru grumbled with a defeated expression on her face, “you’re probably right. The hotter ones are always taken.”
“Or they end up being a douchebag.” You added with a snort as you organized the stack of gums on the counter.
“Amen to that.”
“Newbie!”
You jumped with a yelp at the loud voice filling the otherwise quiet store. Glancing over your shoulder, you found your manager, a very old and impatient man, stomping over with a toothpick dangling from his mouth, “Are you pullin’ one on me, kid?!”
After getting over your short shock, you furrow your brows, “Um, pulling what, sir?”
“Where the hell is the leftover food from last week?! I told you to save it in the back storage!”
You gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of your neck, “Oh yeah, some of it went bad so I had to throw it out.”
“We don’t even do anything with them anyway,” Tohru grumbled under her breath which you tried not to acknowledge.
He eats all the leftovers. Despite his shop advertisement promising to send any leftover food to orphanages and charities.
“Look, newbie, I’ve been real lenient because you’re new. And I get it, you're in a tough spot but I ain’t pityin’ you no more! I have no problem tossin’ you the curb, you hear me?”
Your face burned in embarrassment, especially when his loud ass voice carried throughout the store. No doubt the hot guy heard every word by now. “Yessir.”
The old man huffed, “Good. Now stop messin’ around and help the damn customer! Poor boy’s been waiting for you to notice him!”
God, please don’t be him. Please let it be another boy who's been waiting for a while.
You chanced a glance over your shoulder, only to shrivel up when you found the hot customer standing at the counter, watching your interaction with a small absent frown.
Fuck.
“Someone’s gonna be on dishes tonight.” Tohru sang with a snicker as she disappeared in the back along with your manager.
With your face on fire, you went toward the cash register. You cleared your throat and gestured to the pack of cigarettes and the bag of chips, “Will that be all for you today?”
He seemed to have been lost in thought as it took a beat for him to reply, “Sorry, yes, that’s it.”
You nodded, trying not to look him in the eyes. God, even his voice was attractive.
After giving him the price, you began bagging his items while he fished into his pockets to grab his wallet.
You still had yet to look at him.
The last thing you wanted was to get chewed out by your bum boss in front of a guy that you’d possibly never see again. Before you had been dying to have a quick conversation with him, just to keep looking at him for a little longer. Now all you wanted to do was get him out of the store as soon as possible and hide away in a hole, never to be found again.
“Is he always like that?”
You placed his cigarettes in the bag before you realized he was talking to you. Which only made your cheeks even hotter.
“Uh, yeah, he’s usually getting high in the back, or napping.” You shrugged, glancing up at him every now and then, only to find him directly staring at you. Fuck, you were awful at this. “Only ever out front when the shop closes. He’s always the first out the door before anyone else.”
“Mmm,” By then you looked up to find him not too happy about that piece of information. “And he gives you a hard time to add onto that. Don’t you want to quit?”
At that, you smile, “It would be easy, wouldn’t it? I don’t know if you already heard—probably the whole block had heard him—but I’m not really in the best situation to be quitting a job just cuz I hate my bum ass boss.”
This time he looked sheepish, “Yeah, I wanted to pretend that I didn’t hear him, but I guess there’s no point in that. Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” You chuckled before handing him his bag. “It’s life, you know? I just have to brave it out until I have a stable income of money. Then maybe I can consider the option of kicking myself to the curb from this trash can of a place.”
The male stared at you curiously, the disinterest that he had worn before was now long gone. He searched your face—for what, you didn’t know.
And then he smiled, “You seem to have it all figured out.”
It was infectious, his smile. Even though it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I wouldn’t say all that.” You returned the smile, anyway, hoping it appeared real enough for the both of you. “But I think it’s going to work out for me in the long run. That I can say.”
The male chuckled as he walked toward the store entrance, “I wish you luck then.”
He waved with another smile which took you off guard a bit. You didn’t have much of a chance to respond back to his wave, nor tell him to enjoy his time in town before he was already long gone.
It was now just you and your blushing face.
The back door opened, “Aw, you didn’t even get his number, did you?”
You glanced over your shoulder to find Tohru pouting at you. You grinned sheepishly, “Oops, guess I didn’t.”
“Tsk, tsk,” Tohru sighed, “You really need to learn how to flirt.”
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Regulars came and went. Your manager was passed out in the back. Tohru’s shift ended sometime before you and booked it out the front door before you had the chance to say goodbye.
Essentially, you had the shop all to yourself. And it was unfortunately horribly boring.
Later in the day is when fewer and fewer customers start coming in. Apparently, many of the people in the village were too cautious about going out once the sun started setting. There were a few rumors here and there, about mysterious deaths all over the village. You weren’t exactly sure how much truth there was to those rumors, all you could do was clock in and clock out and go straight home.
Just because you doubted the stories didn’t mean you weren’t going to be stupid.
You wondered if that hot guy knew about the rumors. It probably would’ve been neighborly to try and warn him.
The sky was filled with oranges and purples as the sun was slinking behind one of the mountains. The evening glow made the shop look almost ominous, especially with the indoor lights off.
You should probably turn those on by now. They would’ve been on throughout the whole day like regular shops but your boss was such a cheap stake with the light bill you had to keep it off until evening fell and you practically couldn’t see in the dark.
Just as you stepped away to turn the shop lights on, the bell above the door rang. You glanced toward the clock and grinned.
You moved back to the front counter and grinned at the familiar newcomers. Two young girls, who looked no older than five, stood at the entrance. “Right on time! Looks like someone’s excited for today’s batch.”
The brown-haired girl—you knew as Mimiko—with the stuffed doll approached the counter first. Standing on her tippy toes enough for her chin to rest on top of the counter, “Do you have any more rice balls?”
“You bet.” You gestured toward the two chairs next to the counter. “Why don’t you guys take a seat over there and I’ll go get the food. It’s a real treat this time.”
“Okay.” Mimiko nodded before grabbing her sister’s hand to drag her over toward the chairs.
“Thank you!” The blonde-haired, Nanako, called.
You sent her an adoring smile, “Of course, hon!”
You moved to the back, passing your knocked-out manager, as you grabbed the box of food in your locker and brought it back to the front counter. Mimiko and Nanako got up from their chairs and bounced over to get a better look, “I actually got these rice balls from this place in the city during the weekend. It’s way better than the crap here.”
“Really?” Nanako looked into the box, her eyes widening, “Wow! Those look really good!”
“Anything for my best customers.” You winked and allowed them to grab what they wanted from the box.
Both girls giggled as they grabbed rice balls and ramen from the box. You smiled and patted both their heads before allowing them to sit back down in the chairs and eat.
You hadn’t known the twins for very long. Actually, you met them on your first day at the store two weeks ago. They had been attempting to steal a few snacks when you discovered them. You couldn’t shake the way they were looking at you when you found them. Scared yet desperate for some food. Mimiko had been clutching her stuffed doll tightly in her hands as if she were about to tear its head off at that moment.
They were expecting you to berate them and kick them out of the store. Maybe your manager or Tohru would’ve done that, but you just couldn’t find it in you to turn them away. They were obviously hungry, so what else could you do but feed them?
So you took the leftover food from the storage and gave it to them. They were pretty tight-lipped about their home situation so you didn’t push. But it was pretty clear that they didn’t have a lot to eat, wherever they lived.
“Let’s make a deal.” You had said to them that day. “You guys come back at around five o’clock every day and I will feed you some stuff we don’t need. Hell, I’ll probably even cook and bring it over every now and then. As long as the two of you eat.”
They looked hesitant. The brown-haired girl—she told you her name was Mimiko—spoke first, “Will you really do that for us?”
You smiled softly at her, “Of course. You guys are hungry, right? Why wouldn’t I want to feed you?”
Her twin, Nanako spoke next, eyes cast down, “Most of the people here are scared of us. Because we’re different. So they ignore us whenever we do ask for food.”
You frowned, your heart breaking at the time. Of course, you had some questions about why a bunch of adults would turn a blind eye to two little girls who looked no older than five. You seethed at the thought that the only one willing to help them was a barely surviving sixteen-year-old, who couldn’t even make minimum wage.
Instead of crying for them—which you were definitely close to doing—you patted their heads, “Well, I’m not scared of you. And I don’t care if you’re different. Come back tomorrow and there will be food for you guys. Okay?”
The two girls were stunned at your kindness like it was foreign to them. But they both nodded, hints of a smile making its way to their lips. “Okay!”
“But you also have to promise not to steal anymore so you don’t get in trouble.” Mimiko pouted but you attempted a stern look. “I’m serious, girls. And we’re going to pinky promise on it.”
You held out your pinky. Reluctantly, the two girls took it. Giggling when they fought to cover your own pinky with their little ones.
After your pinky promise, Nanako’s nose scrunched, “You smell like coffee.”
You laughed and cleaned up the trash from their meal, “I get that a lot.”
And since then, the twins have kept coming back every day, after five o’clock. Sometimes you wonder where they went before that. Did they go to school? Did they have any parents taking care of them? Did they even have a home?
You supposed none of that was any of your business in the end. But sometimes you couldn’t help but worry.
If you had a big enough space that wasn’t one small box, then you’d take the girls home with you in a heartbeat.
Once Mimiko was finished with her rice ball, she walked over to you as you were counting through the cash in the register from today’s productivity. “Can I help?”
“Sure,” You hummed trying to find something for her to do. “Do you think you could stack those new packets of gum for me and place them in this small box?” You handed the little box which she took instantly. “Go get your sister to help if she wants, okay?”
Mimiko nodded and took the gum packets and the box back to her sister who was just finishing up her rice ball. You made a mental note to buy some coloring books for them in case they got bored. Sometimes they like to stay a little bit longer after they finish eating, to keep you company. And you enjoyed their presence. It was better than staring at the ceiling for hours on end, waiting for a customer to enter even though you knew they wouldn’t come. And then got done with their little task quite fast. Yeah, you definitely need to get those coloring books.
Thankfully, just in time as you heard your manager shift in the back, the two girls made their leave. Waving goodbye to you with the promise of returning tomorrow.
Sometime later your manager came from the back and left the shop, grumbling about you closing up.
And another hour after that, you leave the shop. Hoping to see the twins again. And maybe—even though it was probably impossible—you hoped to see that hot customer again.
It was delusional, you knew this.
But it didn’t hurt to hope.
Tumblr media
“Ugh, why are you eating that shit?” Tohru made a look of disgust at your bag of coffee beans. “Now the whole place is gonna smell.”
That was what you were greeted with upon entering the shop the next morning, “Good morning to you too, Ru. And don’t you think it’s a lot better than cigarettes and booze?”
Surprisingly, it was pretty crowded which was a first for you ever since you started working at the shop. Of course, it was a bunch of older people—middle-aged to elderly���but it was busy, nonetheless.
You went around the counter as an older woman locked Tohru into a conversation, “Did you hear what happened to that little boy? Oh, what an awful thing, I can only imagine what his parents must be feeling right now.”
“It’s that demon terrorizing our home again.” An elderly woman standing in line shivered
A man huffed, “I tell you exactly what’s causing all of this. Those no good—”
You didn’t bother to stay and hear the rest as you made your way to the back to throw your bag into one of the lockers. It was the same old thing. A horrible incident happens at night—a few people die—and people are going on and on about the town being haunted. Something about some demon going on a killing spree in the dead of night. To be honest, you thought it was some sick weirdo having the time of his life and the people haven’t realized it yet.
“Gotta buy some new locks.” You mumbled to yourself as you shrugged off your jacket.
“How was your night?” You glanced over your shoulder to find your manager sitting in the office, the door wide open as he smoked.
“Good, sir!” You offered a friendly smile as you closed your locker. “My mattress was uncomfortable but all in all, I can’t necessarily complain! And what about you, sir? How was your night?”
He grunted but never gave a response, which wasn’t unusual. He never offered to talk about himself, even on his good days.
You nodded, took your bag of coffee beans, and joined Tohru back at the front.
“—This is the fifth incident this week! When will enough be enough?!” This was an older man scowling this time. Next to him was a woman—whom you had to guess was his wife—trying to push him out of the shop as he began his rant. “We need to hunt those monsters down! How many more have to die?!”
You watched the couple leave with a small frown, “Wow, it’s never been this bad before.”
Tohru sighed tiredly, “Yeah, they’re pretty fired up this time around. I wonder how much of this is gonna mess with my precious sleep schedule.”
You hummed, noticing the usual dark bags under her eyes.
“Hi.”
A bag of chips was placed on the counter. Both you and Tohru looked up to find the hot customer from yesterday standing at the counter with a friendly smile sent your way.
Your face both burned with being taken off guard and the fact that he was addressing you directly, “Oh—Hi! Welcome back!” Quickly, you manned the second register while Tohru sent you a side glare. You returned his smile, “To be honest, I didn’t think you were still here.”
“Really?” He raised a brow as you checked his item out. “How come?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the town’s kind of haunted.” You chuckled as you stuffed his chips into a grocery bag, giving him a sheepish smile, “Scares the tourists away. I should’ve probably warned you about it yesterday, sorry about that.”
He chuckled as you handed him his bag. This time he wasn’t wearing the black top he had on yesterday. The baggy pants were the same, just this time around he wore a white button-up. “Fortunately, I’m not afraid of many scary stories, but I appreciate the warning.”
“How brave of you.” You chuckled, ignoring the subtle glances Tohru kept sending you while attending to her own customer. “I can’t necessarily say the same for myself.”
“Don’t you live here?” His eyes twinkled as he tilted his head, “I’d say you’re a lot braver than me, you know. Tonight’s my last night here.”
You shook your head, ignoring how your chest fell slightly in disappointment at the new piece of information, “Then many would say you’re one of the lucky ones.”
“Oh yeah?” He hummed, his eyes never wavering from yours. Wow, he really loved making eye contact. You couldn’t figure out if that made him even hotter or a bit intimidating. And he was so nonchalant about it too, hand in pocket, stance somewhat relaxed. “What would you say? You count yourself unlucky then?”
The bell above the door rang, “Welcome in!” You called the new customer before replying to him. “Well, to be honest with you, I feel like I’m the luckiest girl alive. It’s not so bad here, you know, despite the obvious flaws of the shop and this town. I’m just grateful to at least have a job and a roof over my head. It’s not perfect but it’s everything I need right now.”
He was observing you again. Tohru was far too distracted with the other customers to notice and make fun of your bashful facial expressions. Or how you were practically malfunctioning on the spot from the way he kept looking at you.
“You know,” He leaned on the counter with a smile turning into somewhat of a smirk, “I’ve never met someone as optimistic as you. I almost think you’re unreal.”
“Don’t we all,” Tohru commented as she made her way to the back. “Your turn to man the front counter, newbie. The last customer nearly made me pop a vein.”
“Sure thing, Ru!” You called, trying to ignore how hot your face was at the moment.
Of course, the hot customer saw this and gave a soft laugh, “I didn’t mean to sound like I’m making fun of you, I promise. It’s endearing. You wouldn’t have a hard time finding someone to marry, that’s for sure.”
Steam was probably coming out of your ears at this point.
“I-I-uh, thanks?” You searched the store to try and distract yourself and prevent further embarrassment. Only when you didn’t find anything, you smile sheepishly, “I-uh, I think it’s a little too soon to be thinking about marriage—uh but thanks for the compliment?”
You watched as his nose twitched, raising a brow, “You smell like coffee. Like a lot.”
“Yeah,” You gulped with a nervous smile, “I get that a lot.”
Another laugh left his lips. He was far too amused now. Meanie. “I’ll see you around.”
With that, he left the store. The bell rang in his wake. You watched him go through the window. He waved to you as he passed. And you waved back.
Once he was finally out of your sight and you out of his, you groaned and dropped your head onto the counter, “I’m such a loser.”
The back door opened and Tohru poked her head out, shaking her head disapprovingly, “Yeah, you can’t handle all that man.”
“Shut up, Ru.”
Tumblr media
You were the exception, not the rule, Geto Suguru realized a block away from the store.
He’d never really met anyone like you. It was so rare. Pure. So unheard of in this world.
But it didn’t change how the world was. A bright light like that would be snuffed, almost instantly. You would become exhausted at some point, smiling so genuinely like that.
It would make your fall much harder. Much, much worse.
More curses wreaking havoc through villages. More curses to swallow down, leaving the bitter taste of vomit in his wake.
You, Geto decided, were just like everyone else in the end.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
He wondered if he would ever stop hearing them clap.
Tumblr media
Around the late afternoon, your manager sent you out to pick up a delivery of chips that apparently couldn’t make it. Something about a mix-up with the trucks—you weren’t entirely clear on the details. But your boss was pissed about it and you were left with driving to the city to retrieve the box of chips. The only thing you didn’t like about it was the fact that the drive to the city took almost two hours.
You just hoped you’d make it back in time to meet up with the twins.
So half your day was spent rushing through the city, trying to track down that missing shipment of chips, bringing it back to your car which was almost towed because you happened to park in the wrong place, and then driving back to the village while the sun was beginning to set.
The drive back wasn’t as bad as the drive to the city. But you arrived back at the shop twenty minutes past five. Which wasn’t too bad but you were still late, nonetheless.
“Sorry, I’m late!” You called as you entered the store from the back with the box still in your hands. “I got coloring books this time, hope you guys like to draw!” You brought the box to the front, expecting to find the twins.
Only you stop and find Tohru and your manager there instead. Tohru stared at you in confusion, “Who are you talking to?”
You blushed in embarrassment, “Um, sorry, I thought you were…” Quickly, your mind raced. “Did you guys happen to see two girls walk in at around five—that’s what the coloring books were for, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.”
“Two girls?” Tohru frowned, appearing even more confused. “Did you hit your head or something?”
Just as you were about to quickly explain what you meant, your manager blew out another puff of smoke, “She means those unlucky twins.” At this, you furrowed your brows, opening your mouth to ask what he meant, only for him to continue as if you had already asked the question. “Those two have been poisoning our town ever since they killed their parents. It’s about time they get what they deserve.”
Your eyes widened, heart, falling to your feet, “W-What does…what happened to them? What do you mean get what they deserve?”
“Oh yeah,” Tohru said while hoisting herself up to sit on the counter, “now that you mention it, there were two girls that came in here. They didn’t stay for long, some of the villagers barged in and took them. I think they mentioned taking her to the old temple or something like that, I don’t know, I had a headache and they were all being annoying. They went on about them being the cause of all the deaths happening in town—whatever that meant—”
The box fell from your hands onto the floor, spilling the bag of chips. Your heart thundered with panic and disbelief, “You…You just let them take them?” Surprisingly, your voice wasn’t quivering like the rest of your body. Instead, it was full and firm with distraught. “They didn’t even do anything! They’re children! They’re—oh my god, they’re just babies!”
Tohru rolled her eyes as if you were the one being dramatic and unreasonable, “Dude, relax, they’re probably not going to do anything that bad to them. Maybe send them off to another village. Look, who cares? At least there won’t be any more deaths—hey, where are you going?”
You ignored her, threw off your work apron, and jumped over the counter. “This isn’t right! None of this is fucking right!”
“Hey, you still need to clean your mess up—hey!” Tohru’s voice became further and further away as you bolted out of the shop and ran through the street, heading further into the village.
Tohru had mentioned something about an old temple. You quickly searched your mind until you remembered there was a temple on one of the hills. You always passed it whenever you went jogging on your days off. Yes, you knew exactly where they were.
Running wouldn’t get you there fast enough, you soon realized. So you thought quickly. In front of a flower shop, you spotted a bicycle sitting at the front. Quietly apologizing to whomever this belonged to, you took the bike, got on, and pedaled your way up the hill.
In your haste, the world was silent to you.
All you could think about was those poor girls. All you were worried about was saving them before the townsfolk did something that no one could possibly come back from.
The world was silent to you.
You didn’t see the people running by in terror, even when you nearly ran into an older man who had dashed out into the street in a fit of panic. You didn’t see the smoke in the part of the village you biked through. You didn’t see the blue flames consuming the houses and the people around you until there was nothing but burnt ash left.
This chaos was nothing but white noise.
The world was silent to you.
You ignored the large shape flying over you, spewing the blue flames onto another part of the village.
All you cared about were those girls. Mimiko and Nanako.
You should’ve brought them back to your home. You should’ve taken them in. You should’ve pressed for more information about them. You should’ve known that they didn’t have anyone taking care of them.
You should’ve known. You should’ve done more.
“My god,” You gasped, fear tearing at your heart as the temple finally came into view. “have I failed them?” There were no flames consuming the temple. Strangely enough, it was the only place that wasn’t on fire.
When you were close enough, you jumped off the bike and dashed for the entrance. You slammed into the double doors, attempting to pull it open. Only they were locked and wouldn’t budge.
You backed up, not willing to give up. Not willing to let those two die for this fucked up town. And with all your might, you kicked the doors open, causing them to slam against the walls inside the temple.
“Mimiko! Nanako!” You called as you entered, searching around for the two girls.
Smoke filled your nose and caused you to cough just as small voices responded back to you. Calling your name with childlike desperation. It sounded like it was coming from above you. Like there was a second floor.
The stairs were on your right. You dashed for them, skipping two steps at a time until you made it to the second floor. Until you made it into the first room you spotted. Until you found them both locked in a cage together. Beaten and bruised and scared out of their minds. Until you found the two bodies lying in a puddle of scarlet right in front of the cage.
You didn’t rush toward the cage right away. Struck frozen at the sight of the blood. At the sight of the two bodies. It made the once quiet world around suddenly become loud.
There were screams outside of the temple. There was smoke, so much smoke.
Then there was the blood.
Blood.
Blood.
Blood.
There was a small call of your name, snapping you out of your frozen shock. The two girls were pressed against the cages, Nanako reaching through the bars for you…
“I’m coming, it’s okay.” You said, finally snapping out of your shock before rushing over toward the cage. You ignored how your shoes were stained with scarlet as you walked through the puddle.
You tried at the cage for a bit until you roughly yanked it open, breaking the lock that kept it closed. Both girls ran out of the cage and hugged your waist, nearly knocking you over. Their sniffles were muffled in your sweater as you ran your hand through their hair in an attempt to comfort them.
“It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out of here.” You promised while glancing over your shoulder at the bodies. “Nanako. Mimiko. What happened to them?”
Mimiko buried her face further into your waist while Nanako spoke, “Everyone thought we were the ones behind the deaths so they took us and tried to make the man kill us. But he didn’t, he saved us!”
You nodded as you both listened and led them out of the horrific room. The three of you went down the steps. Just from looking through the wide open doorway of the temple, you saw the flames hitting the village had gotten so much worse. What had caused this, you had no clue, nor did you have time to stop and wonder where it all had come from.
Mimiko tightened her hold on your hand, forcing you to stop, dozens of steps away from the front door, “The man told us to stay put and that he would take us away from here.”
On your right, Nanako nodded, “He said the curses won’t hurt us and that we’re special.”
You let go of their hands and turned to face them, your back to the entrance. Carefully you knelt down in front of them, “Okay, slow down. Before I even think about touching the curses part, I just need to know what man are you guys talking about. There wasn’t a third body in that room.”
“They mean me.”
At the sudden voice, you spun around to find standing at the entrance a male. A familiar one at that.
The same male who had bought chips from your store. The same male who had that gentle smile on his face—similar to the one he wore now but colder. The same male who had laughed at your fumbling and embarrassment just a few hours earlier.
“You.” Was the whisper that fell from your lips.
He stepped forward and instinctively pushed the girls behind you protectively. His brows raised at this and he chuckled.
“Mimiko. Nanako.” His voice was slow, silky, and calculated. “It’s time to go. Those people won’t hurt you anymore. Just as I promised.”
You watched him warily but the girls after a beat started toward him, surprising you. Mimiko was the one who stopped while Nanako went to the male’s side and grabbed his hand. She looked at you and then the male. She then grabbed your hand and tried tugging you forward, “Can’t she come with us?”
Something flickered across his face and instantly disappeared in the next second as he smiled, “Why don’t you two wait for me while I talk to the nice lady?”
You didn’t let go of her hand right away, “Mimiko.”
She looked at you and smiled reassuringly despite one of her eyes being swollen shut, “It’s okay. He’s a nice man. He saved us, remember?”
With that, she followed her sister out of the temple. The male didn’t move from the doorway. The blue flames were menacing in the night, his shadow tall. The heat was just as overwhelming as the smoke.
“Who the hell are you?” You finally muttered.
He started walking toward in slow leisurely steps, “A sorcerer.”
Instinctively, you wanted to back away as he got closer. But you stood firm, “And you were the one that killed those two people upstairs?”
“Yes.” He was now in front of you with very little space left between the two of you. The obvious question was at the tip of your tongue but you never voiced it. Yet he replied anyway, “I’ve decided it’s time I’ve stopped serving non-sorcerers. All they’ve done is create more problems for people like me. I figured I cut the problem down from the roots. For all of us.”
There was no smile on his face now. No traces of the friendly face, of the sheepish boy you met back at the shop. Just someone else entirely.
He leaned forward, staring at you with that same look he had back at the shop. Like he was trying to see right through you. Accusatory. Blame.
“What good are you to me?”
You glared now, clenching your hands into tight fists, “It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. I don’t see a point in proving a damn thing to you.”
He stared at you for a moment longer and then smirked. “Too bad you’re human.” He turned and walked back to the entrance. “I would’ve liked you a lot. I do like you a lot. But if my new world is going to be without non-sorcerers…”
The curse flew past Geto and into the temple. It was large enough to cause irreparable damage to the temple. It was deadly enough to crush any target in sight. Even your screams were swallowed whole in seconds. That’s how efficient it was. That’s how easy it all became.
Geto didn’t look back at your body. Nor did he watch you get killed by his curse. Instead, he continued out of the temple with a few more curses following him at his tail.
“There are no exceptions.” He muttered to himself.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
He wondered if he would ever forget that coffee smell.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Hours later, once the flames had long settled, you sat up in the rubble. Some of the most severe wounds were nearly done healing. But the only pain you felt was the tight twists in your stomach.
You were starving.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Your sweater had been burned off and your skirt was ripped as you dragged yourself away from the ruins of the temple. Saliva dripping from your mouth that you tried to ignore.
For a while, you kept going. Pushing yourself through what used to be a lively village. But now it was filled with ruins and dead bodies alike.
You kept your composure thought. Especially when you pass fallen body parts, scattered along the streets.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Eventually, you made it to the store, just on the outskirts of the village. The same one you worked at. The one place that had your coffee beans.
The bell above your head rang as you lugged your way over to the aisle where you knew the coffee beans were. Ignoring the calls of your name—which was just background noise to you.
You were hungry. Really, really hungry.
Just as you found the coffee beans, you grabbed one of the bags and tore it open.
“You know you’ve been fired, right?”
For some reason, your hand never reached into the bag to grab a mouthful of beans and tossed it in your mouth. Instead, you just stared down into it, saliva dripping from your mouth as Tohru continued her taunt.
“Boss’ pretty pissed with you taking off like that. And now I’ve gotta miss my concert because of you.” In the corner of your eye, she sneered, “I hope it was all worth it.”
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
“Risking your job for a bunch of girls you don’t even know. What did you even try to do?”
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
“Hmm, judging how quiet everything is, my guess is they probably finished the job.” Tohru sighed and leaned against the shelf, “Well, at least I can get better sleep.”
The bag of coffee beans fell from your grasp and spilled onto the floor.
Tohru gasped, looking down at the mess, “Hey! You fucking idiot! How many more messes are you going to leave for me to clean?! Ugh, you’re such a brat—hey, what the hell is wrong with your eyes?”
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Fuck it.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
The next morning, the shopkeeper was found dead in his office. Half of his face was gone, along with a gaping hole in his chest, where his heart should’ve been.
The girl was behind the front counter. Missing a leg, her organs spilling out of her abdomen. Blood everywhere.
It was a horrid sight.
At least, that’s what you heard.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
You wiped the blood from your mouth.
“I’m done lying to myself.” You mumbled. A giggle left your lips. “What the hell is the point?”
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
Applause.
With that, you took your final bow.
“Things will be different this time.”
326 notes · View notes
cupids-chamber · 1 year
Text
VOICE MESSAGES FROM THEM your granted a rare opportunity but it's away from your partner, they send you a voice message to you while your away...
GENDER NEUTRAL READER A/N: Originally, these were supposed to be added into my private notebook, so I can look through them on bad days, but some of you may need it more than me!
Tumblr media
— RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS "You're doing great, amazing actually" Riddle's face was tainted slightly red, as he fiddled around with his hands, trying to pick out his next few words of comfort for you to hear. "And you don't know how proud I'm for you.. I love you.. When you come back we can go to that coffee shop that opened nearby!" ... he pauses, and takes a deep breath.. "And hopefully you'll return to me in good health."
— AZUL ASHENGROTTO "Ah I hope this is recording—" Azul shifted in his seat, he let out a small hum before he continued talking "How have you been dear, have you eaten? I know airport meals aren't the best form of cuisine there is— !, I hope you noticed the snacks I packed for you... I made them myself!— I'm quite proud of them.." he took a deep breath in "If you like them.. I'll make you some more..!
— MALLEUS DRACONIA "Child of a man, hopefully you can hear me right now.. I hope this audio message finds you well, I've been faring quite well though your lack of presence does upset me a tad bit, it's quite unsettling.. it pains me to know how far you'll be for the next 2 weeks.. regardless, I love you endlessly, and I hope for your good health, and that you'll return in my arms again soon."
— IDIA SHROUD "Um.. so.. I know your busy but orthotoldmetocallyou but I didn't want to bother— hopefully you know.. that my heart belongs to you!... and uh— .. have you been faring well?... not-that I don't trust that you can't take care of yourself or anything.. but.. just let me know ok?" Idia shut off the voice recorder, feeling his face burn red.. 'God I'm not used to caring about someone this this much' he thought.. at least you couldn't see his face.. he was such a mess..
— LEONA KINGSCHOLAR "Hey.." Leona's had just woken up, and something went through his head and he decided to leave you a message of sorts, but a typical message couldn't express his feelings as well as a audio one "I miss you. How have you been? Have you ate.. I trust you have.. wouldn't want my precious mate' to be dyin' on me, know would I', ah— anyways, please call me back when ya' can.. and! I love you—"
— KALIM AL-ASIM "Good morning! How are you— Oh wait.. you can't reply to this! ... regardless I felt like reaching out first.. I'm guessing you're still on your fight.. you should have let me book an express flight for you!" Kalim let out a exasperated sigh, "Are you doing well? Are you comfortable!... I forgot to tell you this before.. but I'm so proud of you! You've met your goals my jewel, and that makes me so happy... And hey— once you come home.. I'll throw you the BIGGEST Party ever!" The voice message cut off with Kalim's laughter.
— VIL SCHOENHEIT "How are you, have you been well!" Vil didn't quite know how to start off his message, or how to convey his feelings and worries through a feeble audio message.. "Hey.. I hope you ate.. and— call me when the flights over kay? I'm so proud of you.. but not having you near worries me.. I don't enjoy overthinking.. So, be a dear and call me soon okay?.. Hope you sleep well love."
Tumblr media
©cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.
2K notes · View notes
star-suh · 9 months
Text
Don't Tell My Husband (Bottom Version)
Jeong Jaehyun x Male Reader
Tumblr media Tumblr media
cw: cheating but its not cheating, breeding, impregnation kink, unprotected sex, spanking, implied age gap but it's not that much, slight degradation and cum.
an: it's the same story i just adapted it to a bottom male reader.
og top m! reader
Part II
y/n was sitting outside his house watching how jaehyun said goodbye to his husband johnny, and after that you and him both made eye contact and you winked at him. it's not a secret that the couple are very handsome but there was something about jaehyun, that big bulge, that makes you want to just choke in his thick fuckmeat and heavy balls, it doesn't matter if he's married as long as his husband doesn't know it won't hurt no one, right?
and now it's the perfect time, y/n has been planning to shoot his shot for a while, he knows johnny works all day so he has enough time to fulfill his fantasy. y/n walks towards jaehyun's house and rings the bell, "oh hello neighbor" greets jaehyun, wet with a towel wrapped around his waist, "hello mr. jeong, how are you?" replied y/n surprised and excited about the majestic view, "i'm good, what about you y/n?", "i'm good too Mr. jeong, can i come in?".
"yeah, sure you just caught me getting ready to go to my work" both males walked towards the living room while y/n imagine getting fucked by jaehyun "you have a beautiful body mr. jeong, i can see why mr. suh married you… god those abs are driving me insane" y/n whispered that last part. "what did you just say y/n?" said jaehyun walking closer to y/n while licking his lips until they were just inches apart, he then leans towards y/n's ear and whispered "i heard that last part you bitch, and i see how your eyes always are staring at my crotch… if you want this cock that bad why didn'tyou just said it?" and then licked his ear. "what about your husband mr. jeong?" said y/n flustered "oh? now you care about what he thinks, we can invite him if you want to" he laughed.
jaehyun grabbed y/n's hand and put it on his bulge "don't you want to feel a manly thick cock inside your slutty ass huh?" seeing no answer for y/n, jaehyun just unzipped his pants letting his cock free, he grabbed it and smeared the pre-cum on his fingers and then on y/n's lips "just say yes y/n, it would be our secret" y/n started moaning while jaehyun kissed his neck, shoulders and collarbones and finally his lips, little by little y/n started to let himself go and give in into the pleasure…
y/n fell to his knees and started sucking jaehyun's cock "yeah just like that little whore be a good boy for me" y/n keep licking, spitting and sucking the older's cock as if it was a lollipop "do you like it mr. jaehyun, am I doing it good?". "yes you're doing it very good, you're being a very good cocksucker".
"can you fuck my ass now mr. jaehyun? i want your sperm deep inside me" said y/n while being on all fours on the couch spreading his ass cheeks "no need to prep me, i already opened it before riding a dildo thinking it was you". "fuck" groaned jaehyun "you're so dirty y/n, who would've thought". inch by inch jaehyun's cock slid smoothly inside y/n's pink hole "fuck, you're so tight… but aftwr I'm done with you that hole gonna be so loose that even two cocks would fit into it". "then do it and fuck me good, teach me how i have to be fucked" something snapped in jaehyun that he started to fuck y/n at an animalistic pace his balls clapping against y/n's ass while spanking it leaving it red, jaehyun put his hand on y/n's neck and bring him closer "now tell me who's fucking you good huh?". y/n wanting to rile jaehyun up decided to tease him "my dildo… it fucks me so good it can reach so much deeper than you" jaehyun grabbed his waist and started fucking him as fast as he can "shut up whore, how can you say that when a real meaty cock is opening your ass"... "it fucks me so good jaehyun do you think you can go deeper?" laughed y/n enjoying how harsh jaehyun was fucking him, red marks start to appear on y/n's waist due to the force jaehyun was using"I'm gonna pump your ass full of my cum, I'm gonna pump a baby inside you little bitch" jaehyun smirked. "then fucking do it and fill me up you bastard" moaned y/n......
4 hours had passed, 4 hours of y/n and jaehyun fucking around doing a house tour at that point, jaehyun's balls are dry now no cum left in them while y/n's ass is red and full of sperm. jaehyun use his fingers to fuck the cum inside of the younger's hole "don't waste any drop y/n, keep it all inside you". "i have to go to my home now, thank you for the amazing sex mr. jaehyun i would never forget it" said y/n, "me neither y/n" said jaehyun while kissing y/n's forehead "goodbye then see you later or tomorrow"...
it's night now, and johnny was in home watching a video that y/n sent to jaehyun of him fucking himself on a dildo using jaehyun's cum as lube "so you filled that punk's ass full of your cum?" asked johnny. y/n didn't knew it but the married couple has some sort of an open relationship, they could fuck whoever they want but just once a month. "yes love, and i think you should go and punish that brat for emptying your husband's balls, don't you think so johnny?", "and I would do it, don't worry about that" both kissed. meanwhile y/n was at home watching tv not knowing what was waiting for him.
416 notes · View notes
five-hxrgreeves · 11 months
Note
im dYIIIINGGGG with the adam warlock x quill sister! when he calls her 'little quill'??? with that accent of his??? so soft and husky??? im screaming at my phone dude aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i need part iii right freaking now!!!
PAIRING: adam warlock & fem! quill’s sister!reader
POWERS: adapted from D.C.'s Stargirl, although in this instance, the powers are a part of you and the staff just helps you use them.
WC: 1.9k (woo a shorter one this time!) 
SUMMARY: your first meeting with Adam wasn't one that indicated that you'd become friends anytime soon. Your second meeting. . . wasn't great either. But, somewhere along the line, you would develop a soft spot for the curious man-child.
WARNINGS: slight gotg three spoilers, badly written original fight scene, possibly ooc canon!guardians.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: OMG!!! This is my first-ever inbox message- thank you, anon! You made my day with this <3 I love Adam's/Will's accent; I definitely hope that we get to see (and hear) more of him in other Marvel movies. As requested, here's part three (even if it's technically part zero, lol.) I do take requests if anyone wants to send me stuff! (I just won't write smut, sorry!)
I hope you guys enjoy this part, although I'm not very confident about it since I'm terrible at writing fight scenes. It's hard enough for me to imagine original content (like the other two parts) but scenes where people move around a lot without the movie itself to rely on are very difficult for me because my mind doesn't think in pictures, but in words and I don't know how to describe fighting. I'm sorry if this isn't as good as the other parts. 😭
And on a side note, the 'no shit, Captain Sherlock' is another reference to space people messing up Terran lingo :)
Part 1 , Part 2
You were admittedly not in the best mood when you first (officially) met Adam. Peter and Mantis had left only days ago, leaving you to sort out your feelings alone. You were currently in the training room, fueling your sadness into anger at their abandonment. You often used your powers to aid you while you were fighting, but they weren’t much use during everyday life— unless you wanted to fly. Now, however, they were very useful.
Brilliant blasts of golden light shot out from the staff that your hands gripped tightly. While your powers could be used without aid, the staff helped you control them; Ego had made it for you when you’d become old enough to serve as his protector. Although you were disgusted with the weapon’s origins, you couldn’t help but agree that it made your fighting much more effective.
Each of your blasts hit the targets squarely in the middle as you turned deftly to conquer the row. A scowl was prominent on your face as you pictured each of your targets as Peter’s or Mantis’ face. (While you would never really want to hurt them, of course, the sting of their desertion fueled your thoughts.) You were listening to a playlist by the Rage Against the Machine— which you had chosen solely because of the band’s name as it mirrored your feelings. The music that was blasting in your ears was so loud that, if someone had been standing next to you, they could have heard the lyrics as if they were wearing your headphones themselves.
As you moved up and down the line of targets, you were unaware of the audience of three that had entered the room. Groot, Rocket and Adam stopped by the entrance to watch you unleash your fury against whatever enemy you were envisioning. The new leader of the Guardians gestured to you. “There. See? I told you she’s nice.”
Adam hesitated, clearly uncertain. “She looks mad.”
“I am Groot,” Groot agreed.
“Shut up,” Rocket retorted, glaring slightly at the tree who was supposed to be helping his case. “She won’t hurt goldie. You’ve already seen her bad side, haven’t you? This is nuthin’.”
The golden boy had to admit that Rocket was right; he remembered only too well his first encounter with you as you’d jumped in to help your friends fight off his unexpected attack.
--
He’d just defeated the stupid tree-like thing and as it scuttled away like a demented spider, the faint sound of a whistle pierced through the air. An arrow shot out of nowhere, harmlessly bouncing off his skin and only annoying him more than anything else. He looked around sharply, but there didn’t seem to be anyone brave enough to fight him in the vicinity. “Hey! Who threw that?”
He scoffed when there was no answer, stalking towards where he’d last seen his target. But before he could get very far, a force came out of nowhere— this time much stronger than an errant arrow. It knocked him off his feet like a bullet and together they were sent flying through the town, which elicited more cries of fear from the citizens.
He landed harshly against a building that got in the way and debris fell on top of him from the force of the collision. Adam grunted irritably; this was the second time during this fight that his enemy thought that throwing him into a building would be enough to deter his attack— didn’t they ever learn? He stood and shook the dust off his clothes before he strode back out to the street to face this new opponent. Except— it wasn’t the same blue person from before.
The golden boy stared at the other person with disbelief, the only thing that he could come up with was: “you’re a girl!”
She scoffed. “Yeah, no shit, Captain Sherlock.” She twirled the staff in her hands expertly between her fingers before she set the butt down on the ground. It glowed softly as it lit up with her power, her face set. “Let’s do this thing.”
Adam had no qualms about fighting a girl, so they charged at each other without hesitation. He thought she’d be as easy to take down as her teammates but when they collided, she merely used her staff as a shield against his attack. They paced across the open space as they exchanged blows, the girl using her staff offensively and defensively interchangeably. As she flipped neatly out of the way of one of his advances, he began to see how evenly matched they were.
“You are stalling,” he realized. “If you just hand over your friend, we would not have to fight.”
The girl paused, flicking some of her hair out of her eyes. “Oh. Well, in that case—”
She charged at him again, her staff catching on his uniform. She followed him into the air and her swift kick to his stomach sent him tumbling away from her. It was then that he realized that she could fly— just like him— and that was what had powered her initial attack. In the time it took for him to recover from the spin, a blast of golden light was sent his way. Because of his more durable skin, though, the light only felt like volts of electricity rather than something that could do actual damage. The most effective part of her power was the blast itself, which he had to fight through to get closer to her.
Now that he knew where her power came from, he made to attack her staff in order to knock it out of her hands. She seemed to sense his plan— Adam figured most people she fought went this route— and she countered this by trying to fly above him to push him towards the ground. He responded by grabbing the staff in her hands directly while she was mid-swing. The girl was tiring slightly, her breath becoming shorter as the fight went on and she was now on the defensive.
She tried to yank her staff loose from his hold but as evenly matched as they were, he was still stronger. The girl then attempted to shake him off by lighting the staff up with her power. If he hadn’t been such a strong opponent, the golden light would have burned through his hands. As it was, the little volts were barely something that he registered. While he could have easily swung the staff to send her flying off the end and into the ground, he held back the true show of his strength as she didn’t seem to be as resilient as the two blue people or the tree.
Instead, he tried once more for the diplomatic route: “you have fought valiantly for your little friend. If you surrender him to me now I will leave your village in peace.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed with fury as she continued to fight to free her weapon. “Go to hell!”
Adam sighed, having partially expected that response. “Very well. Have it your way, then.”
He smoothly jerked the staff from her grasp and carelessly tossed it to send the weapon spiraling towards the ground. He turned back towards the girl to finish her off as he had her teammates, but he paused. She seemed to hang, suspended, in the air as time appeared to freeze around her. Her eyes widened and, for the first time since he’d encountered her, a look of fear appeared on her face.
Then, she dropped like a stone.
They were very high off the ground by this point and the fall would likely kill a normal being. He wasn’t sure if she would survive, so his reflexes kicked in before he could really think about what he was doing.
By now, the shock had worn off and she fell through the air, she reached up to him as he was the only person who could help her. Adam put on a spurt of speed to try and catch her but she was falling faster than he had anticipated. The girl slammed into the ground and lay still just as he landed next to her. He told himself that saving her wasn’t his mission, and her incapacitation only made obtaining his goal easier. His mother’s orders echoed in his mind, so against his instinct he turned away from her in pursuit of the squirrel.
--
You felt a tap on your shoulder, startling you. You whirled around with your staff in a defensive position only to be met with the sight of your teammates. With a sigh, you pulled out one earbud but didn’t pause your music.
“What?” you asked shortly.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, Little Quill. I’m ya superior now,” Rocket replied, unaffected by your attitude. “I wanted you to meet golden boy here.”
You gave Adam a once-over, ignoring how the sight of his. . . attractive features made your stomach curl pleasantly. “Yeah. We’ve met.”
The boy in question shifted uncomfortably, feeling once again ashamed of his previous actions. Before he could say anything, Rocket spoke again, adjusting the straps of his jumpsuit as he did so: “well, I ain’t great with humie ages, but I figured ya’d be about the same. I thought it might boost team morale to see ya two hangin’ out together or whatever humies your age do.”
While your first response was to dismiss the whole endeavor— you didn’t want to get close to someone else just to have them leave you, too— but a small, traitorous part of your mind whispered: he saved your brother. Another part chimed in: he’s not bad to look at.
“Fine,” you grumbled. “He can stay, but he better not get in my way. I’m not stopping my training because of him.”
“That’s the spirit, Little Quill,” your captain said, choosing to not acknowledge your reluctance. “I’ll leave ‘im in your hands. Let’s go, Groot.”
As you shoved the earbud back in your ear, you could faintly hear Adam’s protest: “wait! You’re not leaving me here, are you?”
While Rocket’s reply was drowned out by your music, the boy’s words hit you unexpectedly; it sounded just like your response to Peter’s and Mantis’ disinclination to stay with the Guardians. Some of your anger faded as you glanced at the boy who stood awkwardly in your periphery. Despite all of his strength and power, Adam looked a bit like a lost puppy and his expression made your features soften against your will. Fine. Whatever. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice.
You took out an earbud again. “Well, don’t just stand there. I know you can fight, so let’s see you use those skills.”
At the reminder of your first encounter, he sent you a guilty look. As he stepped up next to you, he said quietly, “I’m sorry about that, by the way. For almost killing you.”
You patted him on the arm companionably. “Hey, no hard feelings. You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last, so just add your name to the list.”
All of the Guardians had forgiven him with surprising readiness and it seemed like you were no different— only, you were. His gaze stayed on the spot where your hand had touched him. There was a lingering warmth as if your hand was still there, the sensation sending tingles (not unlike the ones that he felt during your blasts of power) through him.
Taglist:
@repostingmyfavs , @trashpenguin
480 notes · View notes
rifualk · 6 days
Text
On Mental Health and Cosmic Embarrassment
I don't usually make a post in the aftermath of one of my spirals, so I bet most people see some of the vent posts I make, and assume I am just off my meds or something. I am on them but I might not be on the right ones. This is a thing that happens to me sometimes. I have psychotic episodes, where it feels like the things I am saying are completely inconsequential and I genuinely believe no one cares what I'm saying or, worst of all, that it cannot scare anyone that cares about me. I get too tired to fight my intrusive thoughts and I just ride them out. Most of my thoughts are not ones I enjoy having. I have trouble parsing what is real sometimes. For most of my life, out of a kind of primal shame and terror of being perceived or judged, I beat myself into believing that I just roleplayed as a crazy person online because I wanted attention for it, but it finally clicked for me at some point in my 20s that I was, and am, genuinely very mentally ill, maybe in ways that make me not-entirely-functional in the culture I inhabit. Also, I want attention for it.
Tumblr media
Life is very embarrassing. I think embarrassment, shame, et al. is probably the most cosmic feeling of them all, because being embarrassed, for me anyway, leads invariably to my OCD extrapolating the embarrassment, no matter how slight, into its natural extreme, becoming a full-blown existential meltdown and often manifesting in some self-punishment. Or a lot of self-punishment. Instead of saying "everyone wants attention, it's not a big deal", my brain will overwhelm me with shame and make me vow to be quieter about the whole thing next time. Good emotions are meant to be expressed, I tell myself, and Bad ones are not. I think it's very unhealthy for people to not express their negative emotions openly. Or maybe I'm psychotic. I mean, I am psychotic. But maybe right now, too.
Ultimately this feeling peaks with the realization - again - that I'm a eukaryote. I live on a spinning ball of stardust in the aftermath of what had to have been a colossal disaster and waste of time. But it happened, and so now there's a bunch of stuff floating around, and some of that stuff started moving for reasons I don't personally understand and the implications of which scare me. And the moving stuff that moved faster got to stay moving longer. And so a chain reaction escalated, and eventually there were very large moving things whose survival adaptations had evolved in such a way that they could conceptualize and communicate complex information about the world around them, but they were also able to conceptualize themselves. This gave them a lot of grief. They wanted very badly for there to be an answer to why they were able to do that. Surely it served some purpose. But we never found one, and here we are.
I don't have a god to turn to. I have tried - earnestly, sincerely, and desperately - to reach out; I never hear back. I don't want to be an atheist, it's heartbreaking. Honestly. I want someone to be up there, or out there. Knowing there isn't, is just... cruel. It's horrifying and it wrenches my heart. Look at us, look how much we're suffering, where the fuck did you go, what the fuck is your problem? Help us!
In spite of everything, I am still not sure what I believe.
Tumblr media
Don't you ever just cry about the world? Like, broadly? Don't you ever just have to take off your glasses and wipe the brine from them because you caught a glimpse of what people, as a species, could be capable of? And I get angry at myself, too. What am I doing about it? What even can I do? I can barely hold down a job. I am barely an adult. I am often mired in this feeling. It permeates everything. I'm living in a tragedy - not just my own, but millions and millions of others'. This is a nightmare. It's a nightmare and I'm an embarrassment, and my brain doesn't work right, and I'm living in a terrible reality that is shared by everyone, and yet somehow equally isolating and alienating to all of us. Does it have to be that way? Aren't we all lonely?
When I am spiraling I really do think that the end is near, either for me, or for everyone, or for both. To be fair, my confidence about humanity's future is not promising even when I am at my most sane. But in this kind of emotional place, the stakes are too high for me to care that what I say might come off as upsetting. It is completely overwhelming. I see my life up to this point, and I see how long I've been alive and realize I'm very Not Normal and I look and sound different than everyone around me and I'm an embarrassment. It's embarrassing to exist. It's embarrassing to be transgender, too. It's really, really embarrassing to be mentally ill and fully aware of it all the time. It's shameful. I am ashamed of how my family likely sees me. How my peers see me. I'm just a walking disaster. I feel like this bars me from leading a happy life or finding some success in art - It doesn't seem like you're allowed to be quite this much of a problem and "get away with it", does it? There's a bit of social sanitizing at work there - you are only allowed to be a certain level of messed up and if you pass that you're sort of a pariah. I don't think I've ever done anything pariah-worthy, but I can only see things from the inside of my own head, and there's a lot of unwanted noise in here.
Tumblr media
I painted this when I lived in Oregon. I don't know how. I could not do art like this again if asked.
I'm not in a good place, generally-speaking. It could be worse - and it was for a long time- but it's still just not great. There are two reasons for this. One is that I'm very homesick. The other is that I found - and subsequently lost - my twin. But I only want to talk about the first reason right now - I grew attached to the Pacific Northwest in a way I've never really grown attached to any other place. It had a quality that exists nowhere else. It resonated with me immediately and I knew right away from the moment I first set foot there that it was my home. I grew to be a part of it, and it's the only place I felt I somewhat-belonged... I have been away from Oregon for 2 whole years as of next month. I feel like I'm a fish out of water, or a sapling in the wrong soil. I can't and won't say that the place I live currently is a bad place, but it isn't my place, and the disconnect has been maybe the nastiest shock to my system in all my life. Finding the place I loved, and living for over 12 years there, only to be wrenched away from it so suddenly, left a shock on me that I think has yet to surface in my work. I'm excited to see what form it takes when it does. Location is very important to my mental wellbeing, more than I think it is for most people. Maybe I am a plant. It's also very important for my art. I've struggled to find inspiration since I moved here. That said, I've had the very precious opportunity to just work on myself - on my transition, as well as my personal issues. I think I'm getting better, gradually, in some way. I have a job now, at least. So it's not entirely bad. I even grew sunflowers last summer.
Tumblr media
Around this time I got banned from twitter, but I don't feel any shame about the reason why because I believe in my message. But it forced me to be a lot less active online for a long time. It also made me lose a lot of support. That's been something I've grappled with a lot these last 2 years - that people really don't like people like me, for reasons that are mostly not our fault. I will likely always be something of an outsider for being who I am now, but I was one before anyway. It's still worth it. I like the person I'm becoming. I feel like only recently did I allow myself to feel this self-love. I was too embarrassed of myself. It took a lot of patience and a lot of de-tangling my self-worth from a lot of trauma. So it's likely I would have needed to go through all of this regardless of where I was.
I still slip up. It's an uphill climb and it's slippery. I like to be transparent about these things. It's a relief - feeling like I need to hide things is my default state and it's lovely to just let go of stuff so I don't need to keep it in my head all the time. I have a lot of hangups still. I get discouraged about my art still - I fear I'll never build myself back up to where I was before, and that there will never be a time when I can really pay the bills with it. Or worse-still, that it just isn't special enough to last. That it isn't remarkable enough to survive after I'm gone. But I think a lot of people who make stuff feel that way, and it's not our fault. There's some relief in that. I'm happy to have even a few people that care about me and my work, and something I've been trying really hard to remember in recent years is to take time to appreciate them. I'm not actually alone. I have a lot of people that love me. I'm not an outsider. I'm very lucky to know the people I do, and I hold a deep regret for all the connections I've let go of because I was just too sick. Deep down I really do wish I could love everyone. I have no ill will towards anyone, not really.
Tumblr media
I still don't know what I'm doing. I am just doing my best, I think. I'm really, really tired. I don't want to get any older. I'm scared of the passage of time. My memory is so bad, it feels like time is taken from me without me realizing. I am 33 years old. I do not have 33 years worth of memories. There are huge leaps. Gaps where suddenly I was just older and in more pain. Being adrift in time like this is horrific - one day I will blink, and the present moment may be completely forgotten. It can't go this fast. It just can't. Something has to be wrong. I don't want to die, I don't want to miss out on so much life or be unable to remember it. I don't want to find myself on my deathbed someday way sooner than I think and be unable to string together any kind of coherent thread from my memories. What is it all for? It has to mean something right? Why am I doing anything?
I think I finally understand that love is why. I don't know much more than that. Love is real, and it's the answer. If you find love, don't take it for granted, ever. No love is perfect. Take it with all its flaws. You don't have time to bargain with it. Love like you'll never love again, love like it's your last day alive, love like it will keep you alive forever, because it will. Every year closer to death you get, you will feel the regret of all the times you did not follow your heart. Life is short. I'm finding this out entirely too late. It goes by so fast, and what you have at the end are people and memories of being loved. To be loved is to live forever. It's the thing that connects us to everything else. It's the source and the answer to everything. It makes more sense the older I get. It used to sound cheesy, but I believe it with more sincerity every day.
youtube
I kept my last promise to you - there are no new scars on my arms, or bruises on my head or face.
99 notes · View notes
sleepynegress · 6 months
Text
So, I'm Watching Dollar Tree The Gilded Age: The Buccaneers (I apologize that this is a long one folks because of ADHD Romantic Period Drama w/ ~Color~ tangents)...
Tumblr media
Okay... So, I have to preface this by admitting that Bridgerton never has been my great big thing. It's a cake sculpted from cotton candy.
Pretty and sweet, but not much substance. And very much leaning on the "fantasy" so everyone can enjoy the costume romance fun (but it does please me to see my marginalized players, playing well...). -Using an author's works as a base, who not only started with an all-white palette but was flippant and insulting in response to the idea of inclusion... And yet...
I'm just saying, it is something that the woman who walked away from ABC because an exec didn't respect her enough to get a Disney pass for her family, went on to make that lucrative author's uplift deal with, instead of say, Beverly Jenkins. I love underdog romances that aren't the typical het white bread. Give me the canon gays (I never got slash...but I love when it's canon, especially with color), the big girls, the dark brown skin girls, the Black couples, and the interracials, especially when both are BIPOC and there's no lag in charm/looks in the lighter half in some expertly lit, dressed, confection that makes everyone look as gorgeous as they actually are and there's all kinds of soft plotting and chemistry. Bridgerton for all its lazy ways of handling color, gave that. Everybody is hot. And the people that studios have typically just pretended either weren't "invented" yet or were all living horrible tortured lives of enslavement got to get the sweet costumed wooing, will-they-won't-they, ~romance~ treatment. But... being an obscure Black history nerd... I'm neurodivergent, so I have some deep-dive GEMS that I'll mention here that I NEED TO SEE DONE WELL, before I die. FYI I called Dido Elizabeth Belle a good 8 years before that was actually made. It is frustrating to see some of the ACTUAL interesting capacities in which some actual existing Black folks in history who did live interesting, not tragic lives, not given the big glossy budget, well-written renderings they deserve... In lieu of what has now, firmly taken hold as a trend, colorblind casting in known white works. See recent adaptations of David Copperfield, Persuasion, Tom Jones, & Great Expectations,
Tumblr media
and now, this The Buccaneers (which like I said, is Dollar Tree, and *worse* the colorblind cast sister Conchita is using her regular-eggular Cali accent and...is not a compelling actress & her man is a jar of mayo) and baby...them costumes are Reign-levels of anachronistic/bad. It's the lazy jump onto the trend Shonda exploded, and Mr. Malcolm's List started (yeah, that short film was put on YouTube a full year before Bridgerton debuted). So, my point... Instead of *just* doing colorblind casting in old classic white period works... I need to see these ACTUAL GREAT stories of and/or written by or about the colorful people who lived in those societies. And this is where it could get long... but I'll do my best to keep it short... EXAMPLES that were gotten right and those *I need to see adapted*: ____
Interview With The Vampire is inclusive color-AWARE casting... The showrunner went beyond and actually rewrote the narrative to make sure the inclusion wasn't lazily done, but actually improved the depth of the source IMO. And I believe the showrunner is a queer white man. It just takes empathy and effort.
Passing... is a moody slow-burn horror based upon an actual work written by a Black woman in that period, and adapted by a white-passing WOC who not only lived the theme, but rendered it expertly.
Tumblr media
Belle is often pointed to as a good example, but my nerd-ass knows Gugu's beyond AMAZING handling of the material elevated it.
Tumblr media
Too much was changed from the reality of her life (IMO), still...Most period dramas are about as "true" and yall know I was not a fan of Sam Reid's over-dramatic ass in this... (yelling in that damn carriage for what?!) but he is PERFECT in IWTV. Sanditon being made, despite the typical side-character Black character issues...really was a reset because Miss Austen had already envisioned, in her day and above her class(!) a Black heiress as a character getting the Austen treatment, w/o any modifications the salty and ignorant would prefer to think is beyond "true history". ----- I have a little hopeful part in my brain that wishes it had the power to will capable adaptions of the lives of Carlotta Stewart Lai - middle-class educated Black woman who became a teacher & lived an "Anne of Green Gables" type of Edwardian life (more interesting really) surfing, having "bathing parties," and teaching Hawaiians with her Black family, Portuguese, Hawaiian and Chinese friends on the big island... Her life was w/o the stereotypes people assume all Black Americans lived in Victorian/Edwardian "America".
Tumblr media
Gustav Badin, a Black man who was "Chessmaster" of the Swedish Royal Court in the 1700's...was in charge of the Royal family's secrets after the Queen's passing, really gives me intelligent queer Black man energy in his portrait and lived out a non-tragic life in a VERY white space many don't know we occupied.
Tumblr media
And The Hunters... Who already have a short film and I've posted about it here... but I would LOVE to see an actual rendering of their lives in the Klondike, with their gold and silver prospects and son grandson Buster and daughter Teslin in Edwardian Canada.
(that is Teslin at the highest point in the photo, named after the lake she was born at)
Tumblr media
(and the Hunters' grandson Buster ice-fishing)
Tumblr media
All this to say... Now, that I've thoroughly veered away from my review of a middling show... I WISH THESE DAMN SHOWRUNNERS used a little effort in research and imagination and gave us more "true to life" renderings of Black life (and life of color, in these romanticized spaces) that isn't tragic nor the patronizin inclusive "fantasy"... That feels like it's smirking at me while saying "we know you weren't ~really~ here, but here! have a cookie!!" These people existed.
You don't have to *just* make inclusive versions of white works with the lie that you have to do that because thee above people ~didn't exist~. Nor do you have to be lazy when you do!! (see: IWTV) Right now, for me... It feels like for the most part we're in a period of very shallow "advancement" in period rep. And I'm saying if little old me can find the actual stories that could make AMAZING true history-based media. Why can't the more powerful people do the same?? P.S.
You already know I'm fresh off being mad about that shitty Bass Reeves show...but I'm even madder because I can't even say, "just make sure its made by Black people," because Jeymes Samuel (AKA Bullitts) gave us skinny biracial StageCoach Mary!!!
---NO!! I will never stop being mad about it!!
DO BETTER!! Have the empathy and care for the material, regardless, and don't rest on "I know what I'm doing because I'm Black" That male gaze won out over truth in The Harder They Fall *smh*
Tumblr media
P.P.S I get the feeling the lazy adaptions are about cash-grabbing, what they see as a trend, and being all the ready to jump back into the whitewashed business as usual, that ain't true to *all* actual histories nor (as Austen proved) fictions of those eras or spaces.
P.P.P.S. On The Glided Age!! I do love that the Fellowes drama has Erica Armstrong Dunbar (known for her book and research on Ona Judge -another figure whose story needs to be adapted!!!- the Black woman who successfully escaped enslavement from George Washington's household and was doggedly pursued by him throughout her life) and Salli Richardson-Whitfield as producers... so, Denee Benton's Peggy is authentic... but as much as I like The Gilded Age, I want to combine Fellowes comfort drama... with a CENTRALIZED Black character... Why can't someone do all of it correctly?? WHY??!!!
163 notes · View notes
leebitkitty · 9 months
Note
welcome back !! I've missed you sm 🤞
I'd like to ask for dom!jeongin x sub!gn!afab!reader with the prompts:
4: "you're not.. wearing anything under that.. are you?"
8: "you're sitting on my lap, we're friends and I'm hard, I'm sorry."
19: "I'm done being just roommates."
26: "it's late, shouldn't you be asleep?"
46: "fuck, I really need you right now."
48: "if you wanted me so bad you should've said it."
64: "you're driving me crazy right now, you jerk."
65: "I love you."
context: my idea was, jeongin living with his friends; he was crushing on reader and one night, he happens to be awake in the living room when reader goes for a glass of water, they see him; starts prompt 26 and for the rest I trust you <3
Hope its not too much, you can delete some prompts and adapt it as you want to !!
thank you so much for your time <3
– 🍥🍡 or 🍡🍥 Anon (can't remember, it's been a while 😭)
Tumblr media
"i knew this would happen one day. us. together."
pairings: dom!jeongin x sub!gn!afab!reader
genre: tiniest bit of angst, smut
note: (its 🍥🍡!!) hi anon!! it has been a while lol i have missed you! i am going to remove prompt 19 since i have done that already😭 also this is like hella short.. and extremely rushed🥰🥰 anyways, please enjoy!
prompts:
4: "you're not.. wearing anything under that.. are you?"
8: "you're sitting on my lap, we're friends, and i'm hard. i'm sorry."
26: "it's late, shouldn't you be asleep?"
46: "fuck, i really need you right now."
48: "if you wanted me so bad you should've said it."
64: "you're driving me crazy right now, you jerk."
65: "i love you."
warnings: explicit sexual content, roomate!jeongin, exhibitionism(?) jeongin has friends over, unprotected sex (be careful), penetrative sex (p in v), cumming inside, unestablished relationship
minors do not interact
Tumblr media
"hey y/n, could i invite my friends here for a sleepover?" jeongin calls from the living room, eyes still glued to the tv ever since the morning. "sleepover? yeah, sure, i mean it's your house too," you say from the kitchen, jeongins happy face immediately turning towards you, giving you a big grin as you feel your heart swell at how cute he looked in that moment. "thanks! we won't be too loud, and they'll probably just be in my room anyways," he continues, eyes focusing back to whatever show he was playing.
and that is how you ended up with 8 men in your house. not in his room like he said, but in your living room. hogging the tv at 9pm. to be honest, you were a bit upset at just how many people he had invited. you expected a few friends.. but definitely not 7 people. you sprint to jeongin, who was currently making snacks for everyone in the kitchen. "you didn't tell me you were inviting this many people!!" you whisper-scream. "and they're not even in your room!" you continue, so angry that steam could probably be seen coming out of your ears.
"reeeelaaaax y/n, c'mon. it's not even that many people! they're just having fun," jeongin slurred, obviously drunk out of his mind. you rolled your eyes and angrily stomped back to your room, slamming the door. why were you so angry? you honestly had no idea, and you felt mad at yourself for yelling (kinda) at jeongin when he was just having fun. you turned on the tv in your room to chase your thoughts away, falling asleep a couple hours later.
Tumblr media
you wake up from a nightmare, drenched in sweat, your oversized shirt with nothing underneath clung to your body. you rub your eyes and look at the digital clock on your bedside table, reading 12:43pm. you fan yourself off for a bit before getting up off the bed and heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. you walk towards the kitchen, opening the refrigerator for some ice for your water. "hey, y/n," jeongin calls out from his spot on the couch. "holy sh-," you nearly yelp out. "you scared me to death, jeongin. it's late, shouldn't you be asleep?" you continue, pouring your water.
"didn't feel like sleeping. my head hurts from the alcohol," he says, scooting over the couch to give you room to sit down. you sit on the couch, turning on the tv as you think. this could possibly be the perfect chance to tell jeongin you like him, you think to yourself. you look at jeongin once more as you scoot closer to him, eventually straddling his lap. to his suprise, he looked up to you, eyes widened, resting his phone on his pants to give you his undivided attention.
"i really need to tell you something," you start, staring into his eyes. "i.. i like you. always have. ever since i met you, i really could not stop myself from constantly thinking about you. i know its a bad time to say that but-" jeongin is quick to suprise you by setting his finger on your lips, smirking but still with a fond look in his eye. "shh.. i know." he purrs. "w-wait. jeongin?" you question, feeling something poking you from his lap. you look down, suprised to see him hard. "you're sitting on my lap, we're friends and im hard. i'm sorry. but am i? i couldn't help it.. with you moving around so much and telling me how much you love me," he giggles menacingly.
jeongin looks down to find you slightly grinding yourself on his boner, seeing you close your eyes and breathe shakily. his eyes almost pop out of his sockets when he sees your glistening cunt peeking out of your shirt. "wait." he stops you, "you're not.. wearing anything under that.. are you?" jeongin faintly murmurs. "mmm, i had a feeling we'd start doing.. this." you whisper. "you little whore. if you wanted me so bad you should've said it," he annouces. "can i.. touch you there?" he asks, reaching out to your clit. "yes, please, i really really need you," you whisper, bringing jeongins hand under your shirt to lightly trace your arousal.
"do you like it when i touch you there, baby?" jeongin rasps, kissing your clavicle. "fuck, i really need you right now." you grind harder, whimpering in his presence. "shh.. not too loud. we don't want my friends to wake up and see you helplessy grinding on my lap like a little whore, do we?" he interjects, ironically touching you faster. "f-fuck, no.." you lightly groan, muffling your mouth into jeongins neck. "i'm.. i'm close, jeongin," you quietly whine, grinding faster. jeongin rips his hand away from your cunt, putting his wet fingers into his mouth, rolling his eyes back. you look up and groan from the sight, trying to withdraw from jeongins tight hold on your waist to chase your already ruined high.
"mmm.. you taste so sweet, don't you? i've always wondered how you'd taste," he muffles, fingers still in his mouth. "you're driving me crazy right now, you jerk," you mutter angrily, still trying to squirm away from jeongins grip. "ah ah ah.." jeongin smirks, "you're not going to get any pleasure by acting like a little brat," he firmly hisses, implying the last 3 words with a flick to your clit making you shiver. "would you rather i have you cum on my fingers or my dick? the choice is yours, baby." he says lowly, fondling with your tits under your shirt. "o-on your dick," you hush. "right answer," he pecks your lips, untying his sweatpants.
Tumblr media
jeongin aligns with your cunt, both of you leaking like crazy. "can you be a good pup and ride me?" he asks gently, fingers tracing your lips. you nod, finally sinking jeongins cock in your hole. jeongin closes his eyes and lets the currently overwhelming pleasure take over him. "remember, we have to be quiet," he hushes, fingers playing with your shirt. you start moving, connecting your lips to jeongins neck leaving warm hickeys behind. you move faster, quiet whines leaving your throat. jeongin moves his hand to your mouth, silencing you from any loud noises. "fuck, you're doing so well," he strangles, lips pulled into a tight line, holding back his own moans. staying quiet was hard for him too, you thought.
"j-jeongin, i'm close," you say breathlessy, movements becoming sloppy and off-time. "relax, baby, i got you," jeongin sits up, thrusting up once, eventually pulling back out and thrusting into you again, setting his own pace. he keeps rutting into you, eventually touching your clit to get you to your high faster. you cum with a scrunched face, body shaking from the stimulation. jeongin feels you clenching onto him from overstimulation, cumming not much later.
you collapse on jeongin, both of your chests heaving, warm breaths fanning eachother. jeongin lifts his hand to pet your hair, calming you down.
"you make me so happy, y/n. i love you so much."
© leebitkitty, 2023
228 notes · View notes
george-weasleys-girl · 7 months
Note
Hey love! I thought about George having a very insecure day (you know those days that you just don't feel good on your own skin and nothing is right?), maybe comparing himself to Fred and his other siblings, but doesn't tell the reader. And then someone mentions George and she just can't stop talking about how great he is and how amazing and loving and bla bla bla and makes him feel super loved and appreciated.
Maybe she is talking with his family and they all are there and she is just bragging about him.
I don't know I feel like this is super cute. Please adapt it if you want or ignore it! Also I would love if they were in a established relationship! Thank you so much honey 🤍
Sorry it's so short! I hope you enjoy it!
Bad Day
Tumblr media
George Weasley x fem!reader
~•~
It's hard being the invisible twin sometimes. Being the one everyone's eye slips over. It's not that he wasn't acknowledged or that he wasn't noticed. It was that he was never seen.
George turned on the shower, testing the water before he stepped in. He knew he was being overly dramatic. But it'd just been one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong. He'd had the opposite of the Midas Touch. Instead of gold, everything he touched turned to shit. And no one stepped in to help him. Not one employee saw that he was barely holding on, but instead flocked around Fred all day.
Things would've been better if his Y/N had been there when he got home. His fiancé had this wonderful ability to help him remember that he was seen and that he was loved. But she'd left early to go help Molly prep for Arthur's birthday party tonight.
With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the shampoo. His dad's party started in an hour and he didn't want to be late. He needed to get at least one thing right today.
~•~
George apparated just outside the Burrow. He needed a minute to compose himself before going in. His eyes instinctively searched for Y/N. She sat on the sofa, a huge smile on her face, gesticulating and waving her hands about, obviously excited about something. He sighed and headed in, hoping his fiancé's happy mood would rub off on him.
"George is the absolute best!" Y/N melodius voice floated through the house. "He's so thoughtful and sweet. He works so hard every day at the shop and then insists on cooking dinner most nights."
"And here I was thinking you were a good cook," joked Bill.
"She's an excellent cook," George's voice came from the kitchen. "But after a day of working on dangerous top-secret projects and telling the Ministry where they can stick it, she deserves to put her feet up and relax."
Y/N's face lit up, and she jumped up to give her fiancé a welcoming hug. "I'm so glad you're -." She paused upon seeing his red-rimmed eyes. "Everything ok, love?"
"Just had a really bad day," he wrapped his arms around her. "But you made it all better. You always do." He mummered, giving her a gentle, lingering kiss. Teasing whistles filled the room. He and Y/N chuckled against one another's lips and then turned around. "Alright, alright, show's over," George laughed. "Now, who's ready to party?"
~•~
@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @zvummyummy @xmjthewitchx @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @samberriejams @nighttimemoonlover @jsjcue @wzrd-wheezes @mrsgweasley @hufflepuffie @morally-grey-obsessed @fredweasleyyyyy @anvaaryn @samshifts @asuperconfusedgirl @hmisa11 @superduckmilkshake @mysticsheepsoul @gemofthenight @1lellykins @junerprsh @sierraluvz @wolfkill16 @kaysau2510 @qmylovexoxo @planetkt @costheticbabe @drama-queen-fromthevault @smallsweetvanillabean @hanne-montana @greenapplegrass @el-de-phi @lizzytrees @scooby-doo1995 @spididerman @yoursarahg @marvelgirlstories @theimpossible-girl-whowaited @ceehance @Havenater1920 @jelloangela @charmedfandomgal @loca4moony @whotfskai @netflix-addict @lunacurlclaw
200 notes · View notes
olderthannetfic · 4 months
Note
Maybe I'm just dumb and uneducated, but the publishing world just sounds a bit like a scam. Not in the traditional sense, but more in the sense that everyone for some reason thinks they'll make the break through so you should aim to get a publishing deal because you might end up being the next big star! You'll be the one who's books will lead to having a movie made*, you'll get the merch, the comics, the games, you'll be lauded and remembered for your writing and how YOU changed the publishing world. You just need to be a human machine who managed to write exactly what the publishing chefs at the top want. Please keep individuality to a minimum. In reality you might get a boost in money maybe if your book ever gets deigned to be bought up, how much is the average? 10-20K? Everything after that is just dead air. You will probably never be able to survive on the royalties, your book is most likely gonna end up side by side with books with the exact same premise as yours, because publishing prefers just copy pasting the same things over and over. Maybe you'll be the rare "token" #NotLikeOtherBooks that's there to test the waters for the next big trend, but most likely not, because those spots are for nepotism publications or big social media names. Oh but maybe you'll be the super big social media star who managed to get a huge social media following, so maybe you'll get a publishing deal that way, not because you're a good writer, but because you already got an audience. Oh the writing of this famous person is subpar? Oh who cares, just buy their book, we can sell with their name! While you're at it, do all the advertisement yourself, we don't really want to bother anymore. What do you expect us to do? Actually promote your book? Pfff, do that yourself. Oh you don't have social media? Welp, goodbye!
*from what I've seen studios might buy movie deals but that just means they'll keep the right to making a movie, not that there ever will be a movie, and you obviously lose the tiny nugget of chance that another studio does it.
--
I think you're being unduly pessimistic, not because this stuff isn't true of publishing but because this is how most sexy jobs work.
You become an accountant because the pay is steady. You might also enjoy it, but it's not one of those sexy jobs with a zillion people flinging themselves at the opportunity to be perpetually underpaid. Most arts jobs and a fair number of other over-mythologized ones, however, are in this same category where people have romantic ideas that they'll be the lone success... and they won't be.
Sure, it's sad that the dream of buying a mansion from your book royalties is out of reach, but... lots of life is like this? I don't think it's a big deal.
--
Now, as for the movie deal thing, you've misunderstood that one totally. What studios buy is options. That means they're tying up your movie rights for a few years so nobody else can have them.
The key feature here is that options run out.
If you keep being successful for a long time, you can sell an option on the same work over and over and over. It's a great deal for the author!
The chance that your thing will actually be made and that, if it is made, the adaptation won't be an absolute abomination is low. It's not worth worrying about. (If you want to make movies, go pursue that, not book writing.) But that sweet, sweet option money is great if you can get it.
--
A lot of people like to get huffy about how "good" books don't sell and "bad" books do, but this is short-sighted nonsense.
Like other commercial art, a good marketing campaign can sell an inferior product, but a lot of what makes the difference is a book being appealing or not. Yes, yes, the plebes have bad taste, boo hoo. More people want to buy a romance novel than a very depressing and dense literary one in general. News at 11.
But for every genuinely shitty book with a lot of buzz, there are a number of solid genre fiction works that are obviously fun for the audience for that genre.
Celebrity memoir sells, sure, but the majority of novels aren't by famous people. There are some gimmick books on the market, including, yes, novels by social media stars, but a lot of "bad" books sell because people just actually do want a Wattpad-sounding crap romance with an alphahole dude and a girl who's pretty when she takes her glasses off—or whatever other cliche you can name.
--
Like other products, books benefit from a strong brand. An author who's been writing for years is more of a sure thing. As a reader, one has limited time and energy to vet newbies.
This is sad for us as authors, but think about it as a reader! How much of your free time do you want to spend magnanimously giving a chance to people who are probably wasting your time vs. picking up something you know you'll enjoy?
And also from a reader's perspective, I don't want surprises. Sure, I don't want a book that's so predictable it's boring, but when I pick up a romance novel, I want a happy ending. When I pick up a mystery novel, I want the mystery to get solved. When I'm reading on AO3, I expect your ship tags to be accurate.
It's a great mistake to focus on how ~nobody likes originality~. This is just pretentious art student puffery that ignores how normal human tastes and emotions work. People with this attitude are ill-suited for creative professions.
--
I think that, in general, most publishing pros, whether authors or not, are fairly up front that it's hard to live on royalties and that most authors have day jobs. This isn't new. It's something people have been trying to educate prospective authors on for decades.
I'd blame starry-eyed outsiders for these kinds of misconceptions more than I'd blame the industry.
I do support trying to inform hopefuls about the realities of choosing this as a career though. They need to know they're not going to be making rent money in most markets on writing alone.
--
All of that said, the two big changes that I do see are a couple of things related to publishing companies getting ever more beholden to corporate overlords. The profit margin has always been slim, and this can be an issue when the bean counters are too involved.
First, editorial standards have slipped a lot. 1990s trash fiction did often get at least a little bit of developmental editing from the publisher. 2020s trash fiction might get that from an agent, but often, it's expected that an author shows up with a publication-ready manuscript.
I think the idea that the publisher wanted to sit around with their thumb up their ass workshopping your baby forever was unrealistic even back in the day, but there has been a change and most people acknowledge it. I've also seen way worse basic proofreading in recent books that I don't see in used books from years ago. It's still rare to see many errors because publishers do provide this type of editing, they're good at it, and correctness is far more objective than for developmental editing, but I used to see basically zero typos and malapropisms in big publishers' books, and that is no longer true.
I'm no insider, but from what I hear, the basic issue is that publishers are being squeezed and they just don't have time or budget to do more than cursory editing now compared to some times in the past. (Of course, plenty of greats did come out of the world of pulp fiction, and I'm sure that was edited in ten seconds too, so...)
Second, yes, publishers offer very little in the way of marketing help, book tours, etc. now and expect a lot from authors. Again, I gather they're being squeezed.
It's that latter issue that made me just not bother to pursue traditional publishing. I don't trust them to understand BL-y type aesthetics in most cases. I don't want to write books within the word count that is most profitable in traditional print. And I really, really don't want to be asked to do marketing within specific parameters while not being given access to timely sales data like a normal marketer who works for the publisher or a selfpub author would have.
--
But all in all, people who work in publishing are not the enemy. They like books. If they have to make some commercial decisions over artistic ones or bow to popular tastes you don't like... well, that's life.
117 notes · View notes