#i didn't even get into trying to source food...oof

[bookwyrminspiration]

Bit of an out there ask, but I think you’ll enjoy the thought experiment. What if Sophie or another main character got turned into a vampire/vampire like creature? Think less twilight more Vampire the Masquerade/Interview with the Vampire/What we do in the shadows.

You're right, I would! Unfortunately the only of those references I've seen is wwdits (the movie), so I don't have as solid an idea of what you're going for as I would like.

Well first and foremost I think it would be very limiting and difficult to adjust to, but that's a given. They live in a world that revolves around light, and now they can't see the sun without bursting into flames. Judgment and scorn are sure to follow from their world, more intense than what they're facing currently. That is if the news goes public.

Also incredible alienation from their friends, as no one would know what to do with them--not for lack of trying, though! Their friends would absolutely do their best to support and get them through this, but it's also a very new and unexpected situation. Even at their most supportive, there will be aspects of their new situation (vampire) that their friends just can't relate to or connect with them on the same.

Interestingly, I think a lot of what makes the wwdits vampires the way they are wouldn't affect the kotlcrew. Because part of what makes the wwdits vampires (and vampires in general) Like That is that they're out of place temporally. They still live life very influenced by a past that doesn't exist anymore, everyone from those times dead and gone, leaving them alone and ill-adjusted. But the kotlcrew are elves, they'll live for thousands of years yet at least. Whoever is turned into a vampire wouldn't be as odd because everyone they know will still be alive, the world isn't moving on without them. Unless they sequester themselves away for centuries and talk to no one, but I don't think their friends would let them do that.

So a huge aspect of vampirism--living while everyone you love dies, stuck in time while the world leaves you behind--wouldn't be nearly as impactful here, much less of a curse.

I think the diet change would be most notable--vegetarian species -> blood drinker is quite the shock. Coming to terms with that would be a process (perhaps easier if it was Sophie, given her exposure to vampirism prior and her willingness to eat animals), and it would make everyone uncomfortable. Except maybe Ro. She'd think it was cool as fuck. There might be some self-starvation involved as they try to resist, but depending on how tempting blood is, they might not be able to resist. Which would make everyone see them very differently--though I do think they'd get through it in the end, perhaps with some hiccups in the road.

I'm rambling at this point, but basically: depends on who and depends on the specific mechanics of their vampirism. The blood thing would be a huge deal, but the outliving your friends and growing out of sync with time wouldn't really happen, lessening the burden. Of course we could get into more specifics, but i hope that helps answer your question!

[chublov1]

You awakened the hunger that I didn't know I had and now i need more big ang heavy Baizhu... Please... even just some headcanons...

Mhm, I see what we got here~ Guess I'll serve us a treat!

(I say, as if I'm not the one writing multiple fics about a heavy, round Baizhu lol)

Some hcs/scenarios below the cut! And fret not, I definitely plan to write about him again 💜

- I love the idea of Baizhu breaking the doctors' curse by becoming the source of life himself - you know, maybe like a blessed pregnancy situation? Eternally hefty preggo, bountiful, overflowing... Always ripe, always getting questioned about his gut...

- No matter if he's stuffed to the gills or just generally too hefty to manage things on his own, he *will* attempt to go about his tasks. He will be so stubborn at first, until all this certainty starts cracking away... Oof, well, his back does hurt more often than usual, so... It's okay if he takes this one morning off, right?...

- His appetite keeps growing with him, of course, and he's quite shy about it. At first he'd try to keep his portions the same, until caving in, realizing what his body truly needs. It would embarrass him, to give into gluttony and unravel his shameful self, so a lot of hearty encouragment would be welcome 💜

- God, he's just a whore for homemade food. I don't know how else to say it, but if someone is cooking *directly* for him, he will eat it all and quietly beg for more, salivating, at that point dazed and shameless. If he's getting hand fed, he will lick the feeder's fingers, whimpering between his heavy gasps... Belly heavy like a keg, the feeder could grant him some mercy...

- He loves his belly being held from behind, the lover lifting it up, holding the whole Baizhu onto themself. He'd probably moan out of pleasure by accident, from all that relief <3

This is what I got off the top of my head! Hope it's good enough <3

[fantasticcloudcreation]

September 16

111.3 - I guess we're getting there, it's just going so slow...

Still trying to get my shit together, organizing the stuff I'm keeping in storage vs donating, I feel like I do this at least once a year and somehow it never seems to get better. I'm a collector and I get attached to things... Dreaming of having my own house one day with an art studio and a library and a thousand shelves for all my knick knacks. One step at a time, the step right now is just getting the stuff sorted out and at least marginally better than when I started; so far I've got 3 bags of donations, 1 bag of trash, many bins for storage... Haven't even started on the van yet but I guess that might have to wait until tomorrow.

Wanted to go to the dispensary today bc they have 20% off edibles but I'm just so mushy and brain dead from this organization process, the thought of driving down the street is just exhausting lol guess I'm paying full price for them tomorrow 🤡

Feeling very low energy. Didn't even feel excited about the number on the scale even though it's the lowest I've seen all year. Drinking tea right now trying to get some energy back up so I can finish this cursed task and move on...

Bigger picture : everything is working out. In a week I'll be halfway across the country starting work again; haven't done a full festival build like this since, April??? Yikes I'm gonna be so sore. But my body is gonna love the exercise, and with no one paying attention to what I'm eating I'm sure I'll lose a lot more over the next couple months. This place always hits me with unnecessary stress and depression but as soon as I get back on the road everything will be fine. Relax and trust the process.

Good things : my XS hiking pants that have been in storage finally fit! Even if this organization process feels like Sisyphus and his giant rock, it's still like 1/3 improvement over how it started, next time will be easier. I have a whole collection of cool items and useful art supplies and I'm finding all these great things I forgot I had, I feel like I'm going shopping without spending any money, one day I'll get to have them all in my house and for now, it's fine! I'm almost done, one more day, then I'm headed to Texas where I get to work with all my friends/hang out at the hotel/see cool bands (and I'm not at LL which I'm very grateful for...) and I'm gonna make money and learn new things and challenge my body and create stronger friendships with coworkers. Even if I don't leave til Wednesday I'll still have 6 days to drive there which will be fun and relaxing and not a crazy mad dash across the country like I usually do. Even if I don't buy edibles on the discount day I still get to buy them from a reputable source and I won't have to be paranoid about bud in TX.

Did I mention that my XS hiking pants actually fit?? I don't think they fit even when I got them, they still had the tags on them and one pair is still in the packaging. It feels nice to actually be getting skinny again; thinking about how big I felt leaving TX in May, 4 months later I'm heading back to TX, 10 pounds down and it feels like I'm on a roll with it. Not as much as I wanted considering it's been 4 months but at least it's been consistent and I haven't really been trying that hard, intermittent dieting vs enjoying my life with food and alcohol, it's felt like a good balance and it's nice to see I can still make progress without being insane about it. Feels more sustainable this time too. I'll probably be under 110 by the time I get to TX bc I'm lazy about food while road tripping lol. Unfortunately I just checked the weather and it's gonna be in the 90s, oof, glad I got a lil taste of fall before I head over there but yikes it's gonna be hard to readjust to the heat...

I'm so sleepy bc I accidentally stayed up til 3am knitting a hat lmfao, had a moderately productive morning and now I'm dilly dallying so hard but I'm almost done, will be done by tonight... Ultimately I just need to relax because everything is fine and I'm blessed in so many ways and I'm grateful for this weird silly journey that I'm on, life is weird and fun and full of ups and downs, I'm about to travel through a portal and end up in a new environment and a new phase of life! Grateful to spend so much time with my family this summer, grateful for all the opportunities popping up in my life. Surrendering and relaxing and getting through the sticky parts one step at a time.

[forthechubbies]

Mrs. Jeon Vol 3

Synopsis• One nightstand gone Marriage!? The past catches up with Yn when her head over heels husband finds his lost bride and will keep her by any means necessary.

Category's•Violent Thoughts, Hostel Behavior, Nsfw (Later), and Bratty Jungkook.

Duos• Yandere! Jungkook x Chubby! Reader

Vol 1, 2, 3, 4,

What’s going on down there? It sounds restlessly calm. You could hear muffled voices but nothing more; you aren't too keen on testing your luck and sneak into the corridor to eavesdrop on their conversation. Pretty sure the door is locked anyway.

Instead, You took note of the confined walls surrounding you. A typical master bedroom accessorized an earthy decor, cute mini-plants placed in various room areas, two tiny pet turtles in a tank constructed into a giant wooden bookshelf.

Speaking of books, talk about books galore. The shelved books had little to no wiggle room aside from the one empty slot belonging to the open novel on the nightstand. The owner won’t mind you partaking in one quick gander-

“Ah!” You gasp, fixing your eyes on your newly treated ankle. For a minute, you just about forgot this crazy abducted situation your in. The bedsprings dip as you flop back into the spot where Jimin left you. Jimin was the man you fell on during your first attempt at freedom; he was even generous enough to bandage with utmost care.

A kind gesture a particular bunny wasn’t too thrilled on seeing, Jungkook's face soured while watching Jimin’s filthy little womanizing hands caressing the delicate soft plushy skin of his carrot’s legs.

Son of a bitch trying to cop a feel on his wife, Jimin’s flirtatious persona, led him out to be a well-known heartthrob but often seen as a gigolo through certain people's point of view and, frankly, Jungkook's wife won't be a victim of the Jimin Effect.

Crash!

The smash of a glass object-making contact with the hard marble kitchen floor snatched Jimin’s and your attention giving it to the irritable bunny who’s psychotically enthusiastic about testing his progress in strength by snapping his hyung’s neck-

Oh, no, his carrot looks frightened-He shouldn't do such a brutal act of love with his wife nearby; her poor innocent heart might shatter. No violence...At least for the time being.

Next thing you know, Jungkook's face lightened up, and even when Jimin bit his head off for breaking one of Jin’s fancy dinnerware, his facial expression persisted undaunted. Jungkook kept a serene masquerade, but through closer observation, he clenched his jaw at Jimin’s hand on cradling the small of his wife’s back, guiding her into hiding in the upper part of the house for a reason unknown.

Jungkook let Jimin take you no-fuss included, Hence, Your encaged situation. For all, you know, The men were downstairs plotting a far-flung strategy to murder you making it look like a battle of defense.

Though, You were more occupied by another Crack for the floor down below. ” Ahh!” You cried out, falling back on the bed once again.

Meanwhile, Downstairs.

”Stop! Breaking Hyung’s plates, or we're both as good as dead!” Jimin growled. ”Quit avoiding the question! Who the hell is that woman!? Did you hurt her!? Why-!” Jimin asked Jungkook until his cheeks burned a reddish hue, and his neck veins were dominant.

In one swift breath, Jungkook responded. “ She’s Mrs.Jeon. My wife.”

Jimin knew his maknae had a few loose screws in his head, but this is getting out of hand.

”Wife?! Do you know how old you are!? Kook, You just turn twenty-three-”

”So What.” Jungkook interrupted. ”You want me to wait until I’m an ancient fart like Hyung to get married.”

”Pffft.” Jimin pressed his lips into a thin line suppressing his need to laugh. ”Ahem, respect your elders-You little brat.”

Amidst the brothers at each other's throats, another member of the maknae line awakened from his mid-morning nap; drowsy eyed Kim Taehyung waddled upstairs to check up on his Hyung living in the room above him.

He could have sworn a faint scream is what he heard-Well; there's no harm in checking.

You jumped at the squeaky hinges of the door opening. Wait, it was unlocked!? Expecting the uninvited visitor to be Jungkook, You raised a pillow over your head, ready to be hurled-to your amazement; it was a completely different man.

A long-haired male with long chocolate locks kept at bay by a beige headband; his attire was disarray. His tank top hung off his shoulder, slightly creased in his pajama pant’s waistband.

Adorable, to say the least, the poor thing’s eyes weren’t even fully open yet, the pretty pink pout of his lips nearly forced an” Aw” from yours.

”Who are you?” He grumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

Sweet mother of deep, He stood a few feet away, but the raspiness and depth of his voice caused your insides to start quivering.

”I’m-I’m the sand fairy.” You choked out, fluttering the tips of your fingers as if spreading magic dust. ” I'm here to ensure all your dreams are sweet. ”

You nibbled your lip nervously, hoping he takes the bait. He yawned in response dragging his exhausted body across the room to you; he halts. You gulped, staring up at him; you felt like a mouse about to pounce on by a tiger.

”H-H-I!” You yelped.

The man took no real investment in your fib; instead, he decided to reap the benefits of how soft and plushy you are by laying his head on your bare thighs. He wiggled in place to reach maximum comfort.

”Ah.” He moaned, falling back to sleep.

Oh, dear.

………

The sound of the hyung’s arrival made the two maknae gulp.

First in the door was Hoseok, hands full grocery bags ” Come help! Quick, save the ice cream if it isn't soup by now.”

Namjoon followed behind. ” I told Jin not to get the ice cream first-He knows how he gets with his coupons.”

”The worst part is he got upset when we told him that's enough food then told to stay in the car.” Yoongi stretched out the pins and needles feeling in his limbs.

”You may say that's enough now, but when that brat comes, he's going to eat us out of house and home!” Jin scolded, unconsciously fetching the rest of the bags.

Jin froze, staring at Jungkook, helping put the food in the correct places. He didn't hesitate to smother his baby boy in a hug, but right after, he jabbed Jungkook's gut.

”Oof!” Jungkook doubled over, gripping his chest. ” I missed you too,” He coughed.

Jin stood tall. ” And there's plenty more where that came from once Hoseok gets his hands on you.”

Anyone but Hoseok.

” I heard Jk!” Hoseok rushed Jungkook a bear hug. ” Thank goodness you're alright!” He jabbed in his Jungkook's gut. ” Where the hell have you been?!”

Jungkook groaned. ” Ou-Ouch..I won't be able to tell you if I keep getting hit.” He cleared his throat. ”America.”

”America!” The hyungs blared out.

Namjoon pinched the bridge of his nose. ” What possessed you to go there on your own? Have you forgotten what you are?”

Jungkook sighed. “ I know, I know, but I just envy normal people around my age having the freedom to go wherever they want.”

“ But you’re not," Yoongi brutally minced Jungkook’s sob story. He’s not particularly fond of beating around the bush, especially when dealing with his brothers earlier this afternoon. “ Unlike ‘normal’ twenty-year-olds, you are adored by army who would be upset if anything happened to you.”

Jungkook bowed his head in shame; the thought of army never really crossed his mind.

“And-“ Yoongi continued. “ There are crazies in every country, so what made you think heading off on your own would be alright!?”

“Why America?” Namjoon’s brow jumped as the gears in his head began to turn. “ Out of all the beautiful places we visited-You chose the U.S? What was there that you had to leave without an explanation?”

Namjoon stared at Jungkook’s eyes not in a malicious sense, just a habit when trying to figure out a solution or, in this case, a missing clue to the reason his little brother hopped up and left.

“Twinkats (Twinkies),” Jimin laughed nervously. “ I bet his suitcase is full of them.”

Sadly, Jimin’s fairy charm wouldn’t work this time. Jungkook is drowning in deep waters, and there’s no salvage coming for miles; at this rate, Jungkook had two options: tell the truth, orrrr, run away with his loving wife in his arms.

Not gonna lie; Jungkook leaned towards the second option, but the fates had another plan.

”Hyung! Hyung! Namjoon-Hyungie!!” Taehyung screamed bloody murder, sprinting downstairs minus jumping the last five steps. ” Her ankle is purple!”

Taehyung paused, breathing heavily in front of the kitchen where the interrogation is being held, accompanied by a woman injured cradled in his arms, more worried about him dropping than her throbbing ankle.

Taehyung had the room’s undivided attention, and Jungkook’s enviousness scowl; his wife was clinging on to another man like a baby koala to its mother but had it been him, she would scratch his eyes out.

Let's not mention the fact! It seems like she's only wearing a shirt, and guess who the owner is, not him!

” Who-”

”What-”

”Why”

” How!?”

Before getting into details about the hyung's reaction to their new houseguest, let's first take a detour to Prince Taehyung mini rescue adventure.

A good hour in, Taehyung woke up from the best nap of his life to beautiful damsel sniffles and tears. The sweetheart asked what was wrong and nodded as the damsel explained, coming to realize she was in distress. Prince Taehyung aided the beauty with new clothes and tied a red ribbon into her hair….beacause he thought it would look pretty (Shrugs).

However, her ankle injury required a different source of help, so who else to ask but his favorite Hyung? But he couldn't find Yoongi in his room, so he decided to ask Namjoon instead.

Back to the original story

Taehyung explains the truth unconsciously, throwing his little brother under the bus.

Jin’s eye twitched as he peered at Jungkook, who was attempting to slip out of the kitchen. ” You little sh-!”

Let's just say Jin didn't nearly beat Jungkook almost half to death with a rice paddle while shouting numerous insults to bruise a thousand men’s pride in a second.

It went silent after Jin banished Jungkook to the beach house a few feet from the house until he wanted to see his face again. Namjoon took it upon himself to introduce the gang.

You politely shared a warm hello but wished nothing more to go home.

[masc-reader-insertss]

carnival

@snekintheeye asked: Kia ora! Hi! Could I request an Alexei x reader, where reader is a cop (thought to be a toxic manly man) that finds an injured Alexei at the Carnival and just fluff accepting vibes all around?? S3 killed me, my dude :'))

this took much longer than it should have oof, here you go:>

——

y/n could never seemed to catch a break. being a cop was a way to help people, and it hadn't been panning out like that so far, especially this summer. physical strength had always been one of y/n's advantages, he'd thought people would feel safe when they saw him. despite what his appearance gave off, y/n wasn't a tough guy. he cried at sappy movies, halloween was his least favourite time of the year, and he was still afraid of the dark. no one saw that when they looked at him, and y/n hated it. he hated the looks he would get when he was on patrol, he hated that no matter what he tried he always seemed to intimidate people. no matter what he tried, he could never shake the reputation of the intimidating cop that everyone seemed to be wary of.

he hadn't done anything to warrant this reputation either. he'd never never hurt a fly, anyone who knew him personally could vouch for that, people in hawkins just weren't used to seeing some tough looking big city cop in their small town. because of this unspoken reputation, he was mostly stuck with security, his presence was enough to ward off any would be delinquents easily, and today was no different. mayor kline's fourth of july fun fair. his task was simple enough, patrol around the ground and make sure no one was getting up to anything illegal, nothing out of the ordinary. he'd expected tonight to be like any normal night, and it seemed as if it would be, till he'd decided to take a quick look behind some of the stalls to make sure no one had decided to try and hide away from any prying eyes.

it was coming closer to the end of the night with every stall he checked, and y/n was getting ready to head back to his set round when he'd noticed someone propped against a food stall. "you can't be behind.." his voice trailed off as he got a better look at the person, a man, and he was clearly heavily injured, if the copious amount of blood staining his shirt was anything to go by. "shit- what happened to you?" y/n knelt down beside the man, pressing his hand against the source of the blood. how someone had gotten an injury like this at a carnival was beyond him, but that besides the point right now. "what on earth happened to you?" he asked, letting out a quiet sigh when all he got was intelligible mumbling from stranger. reaching for his radio, y/n went to call for backup a confused frown forming on his face when the injured man, who somehow hadn't passed out from the blood loss yet, grabbed his hand to stop him.

"i'm just calling for backup-" y/n didn't get to finish his sentence before he was being interrupted. "listening-" from his accent y/n could immediately tell this guy wasn't from around here, or anywhere remotely close to here for that matter, he probably didn't speak much english either. "who's listening?" y/n moved his hand away from the radio to place it on top of the already bloodstained one trying to stop the wound from bleeding, applying as much pressure as he could muster. the man pointed towards the wound, looking up at y/n, and he understood immediately. "the people who did this to you?" he asked, looking away for a moment when he got a nod in response. this was not how he'd expected tonight to go.

"okay.. i'm gonna get you help, alright? I'm not leaving you alone, and we can't use the radio, so.." they were fast running out of options, and y/b could see the stranger growing weaker with every passing minute. for a moment he hesitated, he'd never thought he'd have to deal with anything like this, but he knew he had to act quickly if there was any chance of this guy surviving. quickly he moved to pull off his uniform shirt, shivering a little at the abnormally cold summer night wind that hit him as he was left in just his singlet and pants. "you need to keep pressure on this, okay? i'll get you help, i promise" his words probably did nothing to calm the bleeding man since y/n was sure he couldn't understand him, but he was sure the other got the jist of it when he pressed the shirt against his wound and moved to press his hands against it before pulling away.

peaking his head out from behind the stall, y/n couldn't see any way that wouldn't draw attention to them, and he couldn't call for help either. if y/n couldn't find a way out soon, this man was going to die. y/n was starting to loose hope, until he spotted a jacket strewn across the back of a carnival stall. they might not have been able to get out without being seen, but they could get out without being noticed. reaching out to grab the item of clothing, y/n made a mental note to try and find the owner to replace the jacket, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

slipping the jacket over the injured mans shoulders and pulling up the hood, he wrapped one arm around him, looking down at him. "think you can stand?" he asked, keeping his arm firmly wrapped around him so he could lean against him as he stood. "keep your head down and lean against me. the only way we're getting out of here is if no one spots you" the stranger let out more unintelligible murmurs and y/n took that as a cue to start walking, making sure to go slow enough to accomodate for the others injuries. despite being in such a huge crowd, the two were almost invisible, not a single person paid attention to them as they walked around, to ingested in the activities of the night. it was perfect for them, and after a painstaking five minuets of walking, y/n finally reached into his pocket to pull out the keys to his car.

with much effort, y/n was able to get the other into the car, and he'd never been so grateful for the sirens as he turned them on to excuse his extreme speed. who knew how much time they had left. "i'm guessing you have no idea what i'm saying, but could you at least tell me your name?" y/n asked, looking in the mirror to check back on the man slowly bleeding out in his back seat. when he spoke up, y/n almost couldn't hear him from how quiet his voice had gotten, but he was able to pick up "alexei" and y/n gave a small nod. they were less than two minuets from the hospital now, thanks to y/n's speeding. "alright then alexei, i'm y/n. mind telling me how you ended up in that situation?" there was silence, and y/n felt his entire body heat up with fear for a moment as he thought that they hadn't made it in time, but when he looked at the mirror again he realised that alexei merely hadn't understood him, and he let out a breath of relief. with that, they pulled up to the hospital, and y/n couldn't recall a time in his life where he'd run any faster, even during his academy days, but he'd burst through the doors of that hospital with such force it made his legs ache.

"we need help- he's been shot, he's lost a lot of blood" was all he could say, the adrenaline had really kicked in now, and it wasn't till he was left pacing around the waiting room that he realised he was covered in blood. there'd been an uncomfortable silence since the moment y/n had begun pacing, and he knew that all these people seeing him like this probably didn't do anything to help his reputation, but he really couldn't have cared less at that moment. it felt like hours had passed when someone had finally called out his name. he'd about paced a hole in the floor by that point. despite having known this man for less than twenty four hours, every passing minute without any word from him made him grow even more worried.

"how is he?" y/n asked, nails pressed firmly into his palms as he waited for any news, he was prepared for the worst, it had really seemed they'd gotten here with not a second to spare. "he's awake, very disoriented and, he can't tell us much but, he'll live" the doctor gave a soft smile as she spoke and y/n would have hugged her if he weren't covered in dried blood. "he's been asking for you though" those words made y/n look back at the doctor in front of him, eyebrows raised in confusion. "he has?"

she nodded, motioning for y/n to follow her as she lead him towards a room. "yes, you're all he's really talked about. i think he wants to thank you" y/n could feel a smile creep onto his face at that, and that smile stayed as he made his way into the room, taking a seat next to the bed. "told you i'd get you out" and it was clear that alexei still had no idea what he was saying, but he smiled none the less, and y/n thanked any higher power that was listening that he decided to look behind those stalls. "you're not from here, are you" y/n asked, leaning against the arm rest of the chair. there was silence again, and y/n took that as confirmation.

this was not how y/n had expected the night to go, and he almost couldn't believe that for the first time he'd actually /saved/ someone. y/n was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his arm, and he looked up to see alexei giving a small, tired smile. "thank you" he spoke, his thick accent making it much harder to understand. y/n gave a smile though, looking back at alexei. "no need to thank me, i couldn't just leave you there. just doing my job"   of course y/n would have done the same thing regardless if it was his job or not, he hoped any person would. despite the language barrier, y/n could tell that alexei was truly thankful that y/n had stepped in when he had. both of them knew what very well could have happened if he hadn't decided to check behind those stalls, not that they wanted to think about it.

for the first time in his career, y/n felt like he'd actually helped someone, and for the first time y/n felt like his reputation didn't matter. he could only hope this was the start of something new.

[seyaryminamoto]

Why do u wanna leave Venezuela? I'm 'new' here and didn't know about everything that happened in Venezuela and ur circumstances. Could u enlighten me?

Oof... it’s a pretty long story. A story that literally began before I was born :’D

Venezuela used to be one of the most prosperous countries in South America, mainly because of our surprisingly massive oil reserves. Once those were discovered, back 1928, we went from old-school rural country to the hub of development and modernity in South America. Everything looked poised to continue progressing...! But then it didn’t. Slowly but surely, government mismanagement resulted in bad decisions that started Venezuela’s downfall. At the time, those decisions appeared catastrophic. In retrospect, they weren’t even a hint of the hell we would experience during my lifetime.

One president, a rather controversial one, decided he’d raise the cost of gasoline in the country, back in 1989. It may sound pretty casual, but it wasn’t: Venezuela, hub of oil, had always taken advantage of subsidized oil for its citizens. Meaning, gasoline was cheaper than water for us. I’m not even joking, it literally was. But the president at the time thought this couldn’t be sustainable and increased prices.

This resulted in a popular backlash against this decision, which resulted in considerable lootings over the course of a few days, as well as murders, violent protests, all sorts of chaos... eventually, this event became the perfect excuse for a certain, powerhungry, military “leader” to take advantage of and stage a coup to overthrow that president. This military leader’s coup didn’t work, and he was sent to jail (not before him and his cronies killed, in cold blood, an undefined number that ranges between 100 and 300 people in their attempts to overthrow the government).

A few years after the coup attempt, the military leader in question... was released. Despite being the intellectual artificer of the deaths of a number ranging around 100-300 people.

By now, he can be held responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people instead :’)

And that graphic is for outright murder. That’s not accounting for the people who died because of food or medicine shortages, it’s not accounting for the many people the current government numbers have covered up... it’s not all the people who have had to pay with their lives for the absolutely dreadful mismanagement of the country in current times. And what does that military leader have to do with all these deaths? Why would I hold HIM responsible?

Why, because he became president of Venezuela in the year of 1998. That’s why :’)

There’s no easy way of summing up everything going downhill in this country. You could, however, say that every hardship we’ve had to deal with here is a consequence of the absolutely horrid, corrupt, criminal decisions of a government that has zero interest in governing a country. All they want is to line their pockets with blood money and pay for none of the crimes they’ve committed while in power. And they’ll ally themselves with as many dangerous countries and regimes as they possibly can to get away with it, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum (they’re best buddies with far-right and far-left regimes just the same. Kinda says something, doesn’t it?).

Just to put things in context: Chavez, the military leader who became president, committed thousands of awful decisions. He rewrote the Constitution, he set up his goons to handle our Electoral College so that they’d rig the system and ensure he got away with victories in all the elections that mattered, he set up huge restrictions on international trade, to the point where people COULDN’T do any sorts of operations with foreign currency without asking his government for permission first, which became a HUGE source of corruption...

But the likely worst part of it all is what affects everyone, from day to day, all throughout the country. And that is the government’s monopoly over EVERY BASIC NEED INDUSTRY in this country.

Currently, as I type this? My building has had running water for 3 days straight, in the middle of a pandemic (and that’s just my personal experience, there’s a HUGE lot of people who haven’t had running water for MONTHS and have to collect water on rivers or hire water trucks that are more and more expensive with every passing day). Me and my parents are living off water reserves that we must constantly collect whenever the water comes back, because these water cuts happen at RANDOM, with ZERO WARNING, with NO EXPLANATION and you have no right to protest to the water company (if you did, you’d go ignored. If you don’t go ignored, you go jailed. That’s your full spectrum of choices in this situation).

And of course, the vital question: who has the monopoly over the water companies throughout the country? The State.

Currently, as I type this? My WiFi is unstable (heck, it crashed just as I was typing this answer, the irony is strong!), and only three devices can be connected at a time. No, it’s not the router’s fault, because while it could sound as the obvious answer, it’s not configurated to limit the number of users. Only a month ago, all devices you felt like connecting could connect indeed, though the network was unstable anyhow. By now, the network is still unstable, and it can’t support all the devices we should have online.

Who runs the phone/internet company I use? The State.

A little over a year ago, a spree of nation-wide blackouts plagued the country. We spent whole days offline, completely isolated from the world, because not even cellphone networks would function if the cellphone towers were down too. All we could do was listen to radio, and ONLY if you had battery-powered radios. Even then, most radio stations weren’t even offering real information on what was going on, and the one that was got kicked offline earlier this year I think? Because their permit to operate in the country was revoked (the truth? the government has been taking advantage of ANY excuse to get rid of media that doesn’t report about them favorably since 2008, at least).

Who runs the electrical company that supplies THE ENTIRE COUNTRY? The State.

And I could go on, and on, and on... but I think you’ll get the picture by now. Basically, every single issue you find in this country (in 2013, we were ranked the most insecure country in the world, in 2019 the most MISERABLE country in the world) goes back to the people in charge, who have only made choices to benefit themselves and seldom to help the “people” they’ve always claimed to be working for. They’ve broken the laws they wrote themselves, they’ve become internationally persecuted criminals for helming drug trafficking networks, for crimes as outlandish as supplying Venezuelan passports to known, persecuted terrorists (while, btw, making actual Venezuelan people pay about $200 for a passport... when our minimum wage, MONTHLY, is around $1.3? No, that’s not a miscalculation or an exaggeration, it’s further evidence of what I said up there regarding being the most miserable country in the world), they’ve imprisoned and exiled countless members of their political opposition under fabricated charges, commited outright crimes of torture, including sexual torture, on peaceful protesters who were taken (sometimes just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time) by the national guards or police, 98% of actual crime goes unpunished in this country because the government outright instigates, encourages and even SUPPLIES criminals, since they’re basically a perfect method to keep the population at bay...?

Living in Venezuela has rendered me incapable of enjoying pretty much any form of dystopic storytelling. This mess began when I was 3-years-old, and it gets worse and worse and worse with every day that goes by. There’s no end in sight, no likely improvements, no solutions because nothing that has been tried has been any closer to succeeding at liberating this country from the nightmare clutches it’s in.

And of course, the worldwide pandemic only makes matters worse because, while I wasn’t going to be able to leave the country just yet anyhow, I had hoped to get out this year. By now, hell knows when I’ll be able to leave at all.

*sigh* And there you have it. I’m sure, if you’re curious, you can look up some more on the subject, though there’s a lot of false BS online, propaganda trying to paint the government as victims of the international community when that couldn’t be further from the truth, so if you have anything else you’d like to know... feel free to ask :’)

(Found this article too, it seems to do a relatively better overview than I did to explain why we’re in the ninth circle of hell... it’s a longer read than this ask, I suspect, but it ought to answer any lingering questions anyhow)