#I read a light novel once

[delicateanchorrebel]

Coffee for One - Short Story

I enter the Starbucks and walk up to the counter.

"Can I take your order?" the employee asks.

I look up from the ground. I am in shock. Behind the register is a girl so beutiful that I almost break into tears. I have never talked to someone so beautiful before. I am so nervous that I begin sweating all over and trembling with fear.

I wipe my sweaty hands off on the front of my t-shirt. "L-Large c-coffee," I croak out in an unintelligible whisper, staring at the floor nervously.

"Sorry, what was that?" the employee asks in response.

What is this girl saying? I just told her what I wanted. Why wasn't she paying attention? Is she saying that I'm not worth listening to? It's fine. I will overlook her rudeness this time.

"Um sorry. Uh s-sorry, I want a large coffee." I manage to squeak out again. I am mentally exhausted by all this disrespect.

"Oh so a grande coffee. Coming right up." the cashier says with a smile.

A grande? What is she talking about? I ordered a large coffee. I knew it this girl thinks she's better than me. Just because she's good-looking she thinks she can look down on me. Well she isn't even that pretty. Sure at first glance she has a pretty face but looking more closely now I can tell that her nose is slightly too long and her eyes are too close together. None of the anime girls I know of have features like her. By looking at her ears I can tell that they are round like a human. Not pointed like a high elf, the epitome of beauty. Disgusting.

Acknowledging her obvious and flagrant flaws, I decide that I will teach her a lesson in humility. I draw upon my resolve and shout in the loudest voice I can muster.

"Your ears are the wrong shape!" I smirk at her.

The employee looks back at me in confusion. "Huh?"

Oh no, I went too far. She must hate me now. I look at the ground as tears begin to well up in my eyes. I knew I would never be worthy to order at Starbucks. I plead with the employee.

"I-I'm so s-sorry!" I bawl out, "I'm human trash. You must hate me now."

"Sir, are you alright?" the employee asks with a concerned expression on her face and a pained look in her eyes.

"I have disrespected you too greatly. I do not deserve to live. Take my life with your own hands."

"S-Sir, it's fine. Please just wait over there for your order," she says, visibly uncomfortable.

I nod glumly and wait in the corner like she asked. Wow, this woman has chosen to spare me. How merciful can she be. She is so kind and beautiful she must have transcended humanity. Indeed, she is not a human but a goddess. I must pay her back for her kindness.

As I wait, I determine what I must do.

"Dennis?" the employee calls out.

Oh that's me. I begin sweating nervously. I take a trembling step forward. Then another. Eventually I make it to where my coffee is waiting.

The employee hands it too me with a forced smile. "Have a nice day."

"Please marry me!" I blurt out. This goddess is so pure and kind I cannot do anything to pay her back but offer my love.

"Sir, I don't know you, and I have a boyfriend." She has a displeased look on her face.

How dare she! I was willing to offer up my love to her and overlook her obviously rude personality and flawed facial features, but she just threw it back in my face. I guess she is too stupid to realise what a great guy I am. If this is the treatment I am going to receive here, I will not stand for it.

"You stupid bitch. How do you not understand how generous I am being. You will regret your decision when your 'boyfriend' who is probably an asshole cheats on you and you die alone. Good day!"

I storm out of the store in a huff. I throw my boiling hot coffee at a passerby.

Why is this whole world against me? I'm just trying to be nice, but everyone always hates me. I think I must just be too smart for them. Yes, that's it. I will now return to my domicile and read mangas about people like me proving how they are better than the evil one dimensional caricatures that populate their fictional worlds. That will prove that I am superior to everyone else.

With a satisfied smile I return home.

THE END Thank God.

[originalaccountname]

there is so much to unpack in such a little excerpt. This is from the exchange between Mori and Oda near the start of Dark Era.

[hanashiz]

Bungou Stray Dogs Light Novel 1 : Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam

[dailykugisaki]

Day Eighty-nine | id in alt

She's a violence first ask questions later kinda person because only she knows when the time is right for her.

[vickyvicarious]

Frankenstein annotators vs Dracula annotators FIGHT (this Ask brought to you by the Frankenstein weekly annotator takes)

For real, there do seem to be some blisteringly cold takes going on in academic circles.

I think Frankenstein suffers more with people tending to identify harder with either Creature or Victor, and thus skewing everything the other one does in order to demonize them. They get plenty of material to work with either way, because both are extremely flawed individuals. Both are self-absorbed, make bad choices, cause harm to those around them. Both also are extremely depressed/self-hating, do not want to hurt anyone until they're well caught up in a self-perpetuating cycle of hatred, feel trapped and victimized by the other. I think a lot of the power of the book comes from being able to sympathize with both of them and spot so many moments of "if only-" while still feeling that the way things turned out was somehow inevitable. It's just ingredients of a great tragedy!

With Dracula, it feels more like people are trying to distance themselves from the characters. By reducing them to plot points, archetypes, and the like, these people stop engaging with them as characters. And as such, they try to force in negative nuance where it wasn't intended in the original, or view them only as a stereotypical Frigid Victorian Male (Jonathan) or say "this side character didn't do a lot so maybe they were secretly evil" (Quincey), or just get... super, super into horny symbolism everywhere in a way that actually saps away a lot of what makes the characters themselves. In doing so, they miss the heart of the story, which despite being a horror novel actually has some really uplifting stuff.

I haven't read tons and tons of academic takes on both books, but based on what I have read, I think those are the trends that seem to bring about some of the really weird or hostile takeaways. Getting too attached to a particular character in Frankenstein, and trying too hard not to care about the characters in Dracula. Opposite in a way, but both ending up missing a lot of heart/nuance that I think you can find in the original works.

I feel there also is an element of a kind of feedback loop in both cases. Each book has had a major impact on pop culture, but in ways which tend to diverge significantly from book canon. I do feel that some of the simplifications and reversals start out as either derivative of (Dracula must have a sympathetic backstory) or defiant to (actually, Frankenstein is the real monster) the film/pop culture versions. This as well as responding to so many other established lines of criticism and types of takes that have become almost a "standard" and which are somewhat removed from the actual canon of the page.

[mephestopheles]

I keep going into the locked tomb hashtag and reading everyone's takes, and I'm genuinely interested in all of them. But I keep wondering if we all read the same novels. Not because these interpretations are wrong.

No, I'm just not sure what the fuck I read. These books have certainly caused brainrot. Did harrow give me her lobotomy

[bsdtakanenohana]

Not only was I not planning on reading the Fifteen manga for two reasons (1. anything Dazai &/or Chuuya related gets too much content & even though I love the characters STOP LET US GET CONTENT FOR THE OTHERS TOO 2. ugly af Beast manga artstyle) but the fact that they keep RETCONNING what happened in the light novel to make Dazai and Chuuya all up in each others’ faces looking like they’re about to kiss and TOUCHING each other. It was obvious from the moment they announced Fifteen was getting a manga that this was being done as fanservice to the shippers (that art the mangaka released for Halloween). Fifteen was only adapted into the anime when it was because they were trying to appeal to the shippers. heck, Fifteen was only written as soon as it was to appeal to the growing amount of shippers (I can defend both these points). And now im questioning if recent things in the manga weren’t done purely as fanservice (since they make no sense otherwise)

Basically I’m just getting really f_ck*ng annoyed at how everything official is treating the situation

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

threw a few of my tickets out into the water seeing if either of my dogs would bite... but i even up fishing out a whole tiger instead???

[chadsuke]

Books Read in 2023:

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 3 by Ryoko Kui (2016)

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui (2017)

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat Vol. 2 by Sakaomi Yuzaki (2021)

Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk Vol. 3 by Toru (2023)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2020)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 2 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2021)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 3 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2021)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 4 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2022)

Midnight Radio by Iolanda Zanfardino (2019)

[ID: Covers of aforementioned books. End ID.]

[hella1975]

ok you’ve convinced me to watch bsd so where can I watch it? and do I need to read the comics? if so, in what order and where can I read them?

EEK OMG YAY! okay so one thing about me im a little student girlie #ihaventboughtmilkinaweek so i will always consume media the free way lmao. the site i read the bsd manga on is 'bsdmanga.com' which seems very legit but does also do pop ups a lot for me so just make sure you've got an adblock going. if you want to properly buy them though ive seen bsd being sold in almost every waterstones! as for the anime, the sub and dub were both free on crunchyroll AND funimation back when i first started watching it, but not anymore bc everything is awful. the main less-legit site i use for anime is 'animesuge' and that has it there :)

[half-toness]

NYOCHIO bookmark I made cause it's cool

[solcarow]

.

[vaporwavesimulator]

jerry update: i recently started reading faust

[jalapenobee]

Hi. Do any of you guys know where I can read the bsd light novels online. Cause I read the main thing. I wanna see Dazai and Chuuya at fifteen and the Dark Era and the Azure Messenger thing in manga. So. Help me.

[lovelesslittleloser]

I have a little Güli,

Gü-lie-dis-to-di-ez

And he is such a cutie,

I want to kiss his head

Oh, Güli, Güli, Güli

Gü-lie-dis-to-di-ez

Oh he is such a cutie

I want to kiss his head

[bananagreste]

anyone watching and/or reading mushikaburi hime (bibliophile princess)?