#I'm so so glad I bought the art book

[temerity14]

Cannot get over this concept art of them. Just. It's just. Them. I love them.

[jae-gyu]

Apple volume 4, and the three character concepts I plan to cosplay. :)

Artists: Flamenco Dancer - KKUEM (Chae Ji-Yun) Fallen Snow White - Insyu (Park In-Su) The Wedding Knight - SooyouN (Kang Su-Yeon)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Unfortunately, y'all: This is solidly a ★★ book for me. I had enough beef with this book that I jotted down a List, and the List got Out of Hand pretty quickly, so I figured I'd share it here.

First, though, I did enjoy parts of this book! (That's why it's ★★ instead of just ★.) I was pleasantly surprised how much overlap the orsine had with the setting of the writing project I'm working on currently (which is why I bumped this book up the TBR in the first place)--the fuzzy/foggy/unsettling/eerie/liminal vibes were on point. Also RIBS, MY BELOVED, what a showstealer, and I did adore the keywrasse, and I liked Alice and Charlie and Brynt and Coulton (RIP) and Marber (mostly). I, like @sixofravens-reads, also appreciated the lack of conventionally attractive female characters--they all felt distinct and (mostly) real to me, and I was digging that.

However. That's about all I was vibing with. I have a very long list of Vibing Against, so it's tucked under a cut here, buckle up:

A few (high star) Goodreads reviews mentioned that this book was Messy but they still loved it. I'm on board with Messy, but overall I did NOT love it, because I felt like its sins outweighed its merits. This is mostly a very petty list, be advised.

The first thing I wrote down on my "ORDINARY MONSTERS BEEF" list (yeah, I did this at work today) was "GRATUITOUSLY WORDY," which. coming from me. means you KNOW it's bad. Things that killed me included calling him "Jacob Marber" almost every damn time (c'mon--there's only one Jacob OR Marber), and, similarly, switching between calling Charlie either "Charlie" or "Charlie Ovid" within the span of a paragraph, for...emphasis, I guess?? It didn't need emphasis, it was just weird. I'd let it slide if it weren't on so many damn pages, and if there weren't SO MANY DAMN PAGES in the book! Like it's a hugely easy way to reduce wordiness, which, at 658 pages, this book needed. (There was also a passage on page 415 where there were only two (2) characters in a room talking to each other, and one of them said "Miss Quicke" to the other THREE TIMES IN A PARAGRAPH!! ma'am 1. no one talks like that and 2. IT'S THE SAME PARAGRAPH HOLY SHIT.)

Some of the vocab was jarring to me. It was weird (haha) to see "weirdly" in a book set in the 1800s, but at least that's not borderline anachronistic, like "liminal" (first recorded in ~1875) is--while "liminal spaces" is exactly what I was looking for, reading that phrase in a scene set in 1883 was jarring as hell. (You see the level of nitpick I'm at with this, though, this is what I mean by Beef.)

Also on the prose and style front: The long rambling sentences that relied on "and" after "and" after "and" or stacked up prepositional phrases one after the other in a long unending string weren't lyrical enough to justify their neverendingness to me. I wasn't holistically impressed with the prose, and the occasional stylistic shifts weren't QUITE consistent enough to be differentiated character voices. Miro certainly made some Choices™, on both the sentence level and the whole book level.

Among those Choices™, unfortunately, were several things that made me go Yikes (ie - the graphic brutality the only Black (teenage!) character faces, and how that's HIS INTRODUCTION IN THE BOOK; the repeated emphasis on Tokyo being ~dirty~ while London in the same era was Not unilaterally described this way--like there were mentions of London's muck, but that wasn't the ONLY description given; etc) or just side eye him in general (ie - we started the book with a POV character who was around for most of the first part and then we dropped her, never to see her again??; random side quests in the aftermath of a litch attack in which Charlie, injured, alone, in a new country, is...picked up by street children? and helps them do a crime??? why did we make this detour, it served NO purpose, we never hear about it again; we did some weird timeline bouncing within a decade/parts of this monstrous tome, but the weighting felt Unbalanced; WHY WAS THE CAST SO SLOPPILY HUGE BY THE END, you can't 1. call a bunch of random children "unnamed kids" literally on page or 2. KILL A BUNCH OF THEM OFF and expect me to care, because we never met them?? you didn't even NAME THEM??? it could've been impactful, and it's not like he didn't kill off child characters throughout the book, but. c'mon, dude; why did we get a paragraph of ~talents lore~ and then nothing more from the Educational Bits? any talents that weren't represented by a kid On Page felt woefully underdeveloped and unconsidered, and at 600+ pages that just feels like a hole in the worldbuilding).

The information we DID get, when we got it, mostly felt dumped, not organic--lots of characters who Know Things monologuing at our reader analogs, which is a valid strategy! However! There were so many pages, and it happened SO MANY TIMES, and yet I STILL feel like I don't know enough about this world or this magic, for how long I spent wading through it. The book really, truly, did not need to be this long. (I did discover that this isn't the author's first book, it's just his first book under This Pen Name. He writes lit fic under his real name, apparently, which honestly helps me a lot: This was NOT a debut, which is how he got away with the excessive word count while I'm staggering through the Trim and Tighten Mines over here.)

The characters did hold my interest, but I had a few issues there too. I'm fond of Alice as a concept, but I kept forgetting that she was a detective?? We spent a lot of time in her head, and she didn't THINK like a detective--she was badass, for sure, but not like. solving anything. Or piecing things together. Or asking the right questions of the right people at the right time. It could've saved a boatload of Child Endangerment if she had. Ma'am please go investigate something. Anything. Also: She was so NOT maternally-coded at the beginning (very emphatically the opposite of that, in fact), and then she meets 8-year-old Marlowe and that does an about-face, and it just felt. very out of character. Like she can care about a kid without turning ~maternal~, y'know?

Speaking of the 8yo: I was peeved that he was CONSTANTLY being described as small/little/tiny. Are 8yos really THAT tiny?? I feel like 5yo, sure, but 8yo is, what, a third grader? I dunno, I was just irritated that we kept hammering this home. Yeah, he's a kid, yeah he's little, but gosh please don't remind me every time he does literally anything.

I'm also not sure I trust Miro to have written a fully blind woman who's been blind all her life well or correctly, ESPECIALLY since she inhabits the weird liminal space bigger-on-the-inside school? I feel like a place with secret tunnels and stairwells and doors SITUATED ON TOP OF A MAGICAL SITE is perhaps a tad trickier to navigate than, like. a normal house. And maybe he did a good job! Maybe he handled this fine! But I'm not familiar enough with blindness to have a vibe check on how he did, and, again: I don't really trust him on this front. (Or on any front, if I'm being honest.)

Also SPOILERS but. Brynt's death. Felt so pointless and deus ex machina, EVEN THOUGH WE SAW HER GETTING TO THAT POINT. Like dude HOW did you manage to make it feel both deus ex machina AND utterly senseless (it solved their immediate problem but also. traumatized the 8yo. or SHOULD have, at least). And Harrogate should've died at LEAST three times, based on her injuries--my suspension of disbelief was strained All Over The Place, but about her massive injuries especially. (And about the logistics of carrying an 8yo outside a moving train, and just like. everything. about that scene. where there are literal children involved, since those children have NO experience at this sort of thing. Everyone should be smeared in the train tracks or the fucken mail car, we shouldn't even have made it to the school.)

Anyway. I was hoping this book would be like STRANGE AND NORRELL (based on cover and period similarities and the magic synopsis), but it wasn't. This was "Exploiting Vulnerable Magical Children: The Doorstopper, Part 1," full of bad guys and worse guys and even worse guys who we thought maybe were good guys, without a ton of moral or ethical substance to chew on--there was POTENTIAL, here, and it wasn't realized. Everybody with real power just kind of sucked, and it ended on Book 2 Bait (this absolutely doesn't stand alone, so: I plodded through 658 pages for WHAT, exactly??).

Like I said up top: The vibes were good liminal spookiness, and I did also love how body-horror-esque the magical powers were, but. The things I liked weren't enough to save this book for me. I will not be reading the sequels (though I might bother people who do, just to see how it All Turns Out, even though I imagine that'll be Messy, too). Good luck and godspeed to those of you who still have this on your TBR; I hope it turns out better for you than it did for me.

Books of 2024: ORDINARY MONSTERS by J. M. Miro.

Swinging from a teeny tiny read (A SHINING) to this behemoth, which weighs in at 658 pages (that's like. uh. nine (9) SHININGs, never mind about the word density per page).

Did I know this is the first book in a trilogy? No. Did I know the trilogy is not yet complete?? Also no. Will that stop me from reading it now anyway??? Wow, you guessed it: No.

I'm always down books featuring corvids in the cover art and kids with mysterious powers, AND the "man made of smoke" that the jacket promises sounds Very Intriguing. All I know going into this book is what the jacket tells me, though, so I'm excited to be surprised!

[neil-gaiman]

Dear Sir,

Huge fan. 🤍

I discovered Good Omens initially when it aired on Prime all those years ago and I loved the story so much I bought the book, read it and instantly fell in love with your writing. My bookshelf is now overflowing with your stories and the likes. Can I also mention how incredibly well cast your adaptations are for television? American Gods, The Sandman, all of it: I love it.

I just wanted to share my thanks to you. For rekindling my love of reading and also illustrating. I have always wanted to make good art and be an illustrator. It's what I wanted to be when I grew up. Even if my family never saw it as a reputable career move.

Life got in the way, but many years later (let's say 30 ish years?) I got here. I'm inspired, ignoring the haters, drawing what I love, finding my tribe and making good art. And with that, here's me tripping and fangirling hard. I hope you enjoy this piece of fan art.

I just hope you know what a difference your words truly make for so many souls out there, mine included. I'm forever grateful.

All the best, V x

You're really good. I'm glad you're drawing.

[artofthegreyscalerainbow]

I got to meet Eric Stuart for the first time at C2E2 2024 and it was so great to talk to him! He loved my cosplay and was so excited about this art I made for him, he told me all about the new giant portfolio book he bought to put it all in and told me "You better have signed it!" He especially enjoyed what was going on in the background. xD

I'm glad that I went with something funny, and with the way he was joking around during the selfie later on he definitely picked up on the fact that besides my dad, he influenced my sense of humor, there were some good jokes.

SPEEDPAINT TO FOLLOW

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

my mum bought me my first neil gaiman book, maggots!!

So, I don't know if you'd call it a book like a story, rather, it's a series of essays by Neil that were illustrated by Chris Riddell. My mum listened to the story of how I was kidnapped adopted by the Good Omens fandom. She was very confused, but since I'm an author and artist, she bought me the book, Art Matters.

And I've been seeing so much beautiful fanart and edits and fanfiction from this fandom, I swear to God or Someone, and it's all reminding me what a wonderful thing fandom is. And art is.

I read the book, and it was amazing, and here's a few quotes from it that I think the ridiculously talented people who created the book and the show as well as every fan who has made this creation grow should hear.

"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do, you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art. And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver."

"...while you're at it, make your art. Do that stuff that only you can do. ...the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."

"And where would be the fun is doing something you knew was going to work?"

Well, you heard him, maggots. Go on creating. You are all so, so important. I came to tumblr because I was lonely and I wanted a friend.

I found a family, instead. In this very strange fandom that kidnapped adopted me. I love you all, and I'm glad to cry with you. I haven't even got to season 2 yet.

Side note...

Welcome, @neil-gaiman, join the maggots in watching me sob over Aziraphale and Crowley. It really is very quiet, gentle and romantic out here.

[permanentreverie]

GUESS WHO BOUGHT HER WEIGHTS WORTH IN BOOKS

Going to the bookstore tomorrow you know what that means!!!!

(buying my weights worth in books)

[vaspider]

I have a really big question that you may not have the capacity to answer, and that's totally ok, but I thought I would try asking anyway.

How did you successfully start a business and get it to the point that you could survive/live comfortably and pay other people on it? How did you survive the psychologically damaging years of hell work while you were building it up?

Well.

To start with, I don't want to give you the impression that we're totally financially stable and have a bunch of full-time employees. We aren't, and we don't. We're still in the building and growth phase, and we're lucky to have people who can work part-time for us (in part because we pay them what we pay them per hour - there's no way they'd be able to hack it if we were paying them $10/hr or even $15/hr).

Quite honestly, I don't think we would have survived the pandemic as a business if it weren't for the fact that my wife has a stable IT job. Emet and I work on the business full-time, and Evie works full-time at her fancy IT job and works with us on events and does IT and infosec stuff for us, and then we have 2 part-time employees, Jake and Erykah.

So I'm glad that we give the impression of having it all buttoned up, but we don't, and I think that's one thing you need to know. We are ducks, friend: serene on the top of the water, paddling like hell underneath where y'all can't see it. The building phase lasts ... well, a long, long time.

I remember what it's like working for Wells Fargo, and I never want to do that again. I remember what it was like working for a mortgage processing job where we knew the company was fucking around with people's escrow accounts and we couldn't do anything meaningful about it. People anonymously reported things to the Attorneys General of various states, but nothing ever came of it. My spouse got demoted for "anonymously" reporting the fake account fuckery at Wells Fargo and I basically got run out of the company for the same thing -- they just made it so miserable for me to work there that I quit. That's part of how I survive it, honestly: I remember the alternative.

But it comes down to the fact that you really do have to desperately love what you're doing. You have to love it so much that you cannot imagine not doing it. And on the days when you might struggle to love it that much, you just have to hate the alternative a little more than you hate the hard parts of running a business.

Now that I've made art for a living -- something that my parents told me I'd never be able to do, as I'm sure most artists were told -- I can't imagine doing anything else. I keep my wacky sleep schedule, and it's fine. Right now, I'm sitting alone in the living room putting together the cotton sleep shirts/housecoats that we're launching this fall, and I'm like... really excited to be able to share these with everybody. I'm anxious about the show we have tomorrow, yeah, and I'm anxious about money and a bunch of other stuff but I'm also really excited about seeing somebody put on a brand new skirt they just bought from us and twirl. I'm excited about seeing somebody laugh when they turn a page in the patch book and see a particular patch. I'm excited about the way that people's eyes light up when Jake pulls out the Aromantic or Agender or Genderfluid patch book and they realize just how many choices we have in their kinda-rare flag.

And I'm really excited about sharing these zip-front housecoat jimmyjams with y'all.

That's how I keep doing it. I can't imagine not doing it.

Hope that helps, because that's all I've got. :)

[mieau]

Let's wrap 2024 with the traditional yearly art summary!

I just went back to read last year's wrap up and... I might write very similar points this time as well haha. Personal life took most of my time: me and my husband finally found a great house, and we bought it! It's quite something, and we're still right in the middle of packing everything to move out. In 2025, I will still need time to settle there, I know I want to do it properly.

Art wise, I'm glad that I was able to continue the pencil sketches! I did around 50... I still haven't posted most of them! I'm planning to gather them in a book alongside new sketches, in 2025, so they will all be in one place. I appreciate that I felt gradually more confident making them. It allowed me to draw without worrying about colors or marketable design, and it pushed me out of the desire for perfectness digital art often gives.

Convention wise, I did a necessary pause in 2024, but I was glad that the new products I launched around November were well liked! It's giving me confidence that it can work and will try to do more in 2025.

Also, I know I haven't been the most interesting to follow these last few years, still I wanted to thank every one of you that still follows me, I see every like and share, messages and more, recognizing familiar names as well as meeting new ones. Thanks for tagging along! See you all in 2025 🥂

[nejjcollectsbooks]

thrifted bookish finds 12/feb/24

I had the cutest and most romantic haul today. Whoever ordered two hardcover classic books from America (there's no Barnes & Nobles in Ireland), paid for shipping and their costs and then donated them to the charity shop, you are crazy and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was a treat to find them there, I got them for fifty cents a book. I got 'A Room with a View' by E. M. Forster and 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott.

I then found a heart-shaped pink candle and a whole load of cards. Tomorrow, I plan to go back and buy the rest of those cards. They have the most wonderful and romantic art on them. I'm so glad I got them, I wasn't going to at first because I had never bought cards for myself, (I'm not used to treating myself, books don't count because those are a necessity of life for me as taught by my mother) but at the last second I picked them up and I'm so glad I did.

Funny thing is, they were being sold cheaply and were flimsily wrapped in cellophane to keep them together. But when I turned them around I found that they all came from The National Gallery of Ireland, a gorgeous art gallery, and I know they would've cost a whole lot per one. But I'm not going to complain, I'll just be very grateful.

[nebulacritter]

some manga i've read

I have a LOT of manga in my room, so I thought it would be cool to tell you about some of them!

Mr. Villain's Day Off

I first heard about this series when I saw its anime trailer on YouTube. Coincidentally, I found two books of the original manga in my local Barnes and Noble, so that's why I bought them! I like this series because it's a slice-of-life parody of the sentai genre, and I also appreciate the titular character's love of pandas! I even liked how each of the heroes had backstories.

Favorite Character: Mr. Villain

X-Gender

This book was a great pick because it discusses queer topics in a respectful and informative manner. It is an autobiography about the author's experiences with their gender and sexuality, and if you're wondering what "x-gender" means, it's a Japanese term for being nonbinary.

Favorite Character: N/A

Uramichi Oniisan

Oh my god. This series is HILARIOUS. All of the main characters have a dysfunctional, but harmonious dynamic when they work together on stage. Everything Uramichi does or says makes me cry and laugh at the same time.

Favorite Character: Uramichi Omota

Heaven's Design Team

This is another series that makes me laugh, and I've seen clips of the anime before getting my hands on the manga. It reminds me of those "God creating animals" memes that were popular on Twitter back in the 2010's. It's peak edutainment, and each character has a very eccentric personality!

Favorite Characters: Venus and Yokota

Kirby Manga Mania

I decided to give this one a try, because who doesn't love Kirby? The art style is bubbly and bright, and the humor goes off the walls! I find it weird how Kirby talks normally instead of going "poyo poyo" all the time.

Favorite Characters: Kirby and King Dedede

Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General

Yeezus, that's a long title. I picked this one out because I thought the art style looked cool. It's a story about a villainess with a crush on Totally-Not-Batman. I enjoyed the slapstick and the amazing character design.

Favorite Character: N/A

Cells at Work!

Here's another edutainment anime. The depictions of each microorganism are really cool, and I liked the scenes where the cells had to fight off against nasty viruses! It even does a good job at explaining how the body works by providing bits and bobs of information throughout the panels.

Favorite Character: N/A

Little Miss P

I've never seen a manga that talks about periods before, and I'm glad it exists. This book is relatable because I hate it when my period arrives, but I understand getting your period is normal. I'm quite fond of the messy art style, too.

Favorite Characters: N/A

Merman in My Tub

I remember cheerily reblogging and liking posts about it last year, and I still love it to this day! All of the characters have vibrant personalities, and I really like the designs of each merman. This series is light-hearted and goofy, so that's why I think it's awesome.

Favorite Characters: Agari and Echizen

I'm gonna make two more parts later on. The second one will be about cats, and the third one will be about horror.

[cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga]

Ooh your display case is really cool! Can you give us a rundown of what stuff is/where you got it etc?

HELL YEAH ID LOVE TO SPEND MY TIME DETAILING ALL MY COOL SHIT!!!

I don't want to overload everyone's dashboards with a ton of HQ pics of ALL of this individually so we are gonna go shelf by shelf left to right! I will try and use bullets to group certain things if they are apart of a set of some sort! (though I'm still working on these display cabinets and organizing things into their sets)

Starting with the Eushully shelf!

Kami no Rhapsody (RPG/VN), Source: Ebay

Kami no Rhapsody guide/art book, Source: Ebay

Madou Koukaku (RPG/VN), Source: Ebay

Ikusa Megami Zero guide/art book. Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Special Alchemy disk (content pack), Source: Mandarake

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Perfect guide/art book + content pack disc, Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Hannah's Pilgrimage (content pack), Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

Ikusa Megami (RPG) Source: Ebay <- STUPIDLY RARE I STILL CANT BELIEVE I FOUND EUSHULLY'S FIRST GAME THEY EVER PUT OUT BACK IN 1999 EVEN A SEARCH FOR IT ON SOME OF MY MORE ESOTERIC VISUAL NOVEL HUNTING GROUNDS TURNS UP A SINGLE LISTING THATS BEEN SOLD OUT FOR YEARS NOW!

Amayui Labyrinth Meister guide/art book + content pack disc Source: Ebay

Amayui Castle Meister guide/art book Source: Ebay

Fuukan no Grasesta (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

Eushully branded mug printed with MC's of their various games Source: Ebay <- just showed up on my ebay alert for Eushully for dirt cheep probably the most absurd Eushully branded thing I own!

Emilita phone strap (she one of the main three heroines of Kamidori Alchemy Meister) Source: Ebay

Amayui Labyrinth Meister (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

NEXT IS MY FIGURE SHELF!!!!

Tenryuu (Kancolle) Source: PLAMOYA

Saber Lilly (Fate Series) Source: PLAMOYA

Bendy OL-chan (pixiv artist OC) Source: amiami

Jill Stingray Nendroid (VA-11 Hall-A) Source: GOODSMILE

Yumiko Sakaki Bunny Suit (Grisaia no Meikyuu) Source: Solaris Japan

Marin Kitagawa Swimsuit ver. (My dress up darling) Source: amiami

Konata Cat Lingerie (pixiv artist OC) Source: amiami

NOW FOR MY VISUAL NOVEL COLLECTION (That isnt an Eushully or Minato Soft title)

Tsukihime remake (Switch Limited Edition) Source: Amazon

Witch on the Holy Night (Switch Limited Edition) Source: Amazon

Side note here THANK YOU TYPE MOON FOR MAKING THE LIMITED EDITIONS OF THESE TWO SUCH BIG BEAUTIFUL BOXES!!!!

Grisaia Complete Box (Japanese edition) Source: Jlist <- I genuinely believe this is the RAREST thing I own did a quick search and found only ONE seller on Mandarake selling this and its a used and incomplete copy MINE IS STILL PRISTINE AND COMPLETE!

Rewrite limited edition Source: Ebay <- Rewrite has my favorite limited/special edition extras of any visual novel in additon to the beautiful artwork and some interviews and stuff they included SHEET MUSIC FOR TWO OF THE BG MUSIC TRACKS

Clannad Limited Edition Source: Ebay <- This was the first physical visual novel I ever bought and Imported so obviously it holds a special place in my heart, AND OF COURSE CLANNAD WAS THE FIRST VN I GOT A PHYSICAL EDITION OF BEING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR VISUAL NOVELS OF ALL TIME AND CERTAINLY EARNS ITS STATUS AS A CLASSIC!

Little Busters Limited Edition Source: Ebay <- Not much to say about this one like I did the other two Key VN's ive got just another solid Limited edition of a great classic Visual Novel!

Subarashiki Hibi Source: Ebay <- Honestly with this one I am kind of disappointed in the quality of the box feels REAL flimsy but sadly box build quality isnt what it used to be back in the 90's

LASTLY THE PLUSHY SHELF ONLY THREE AND THEY ARE ALL FROM MAKESHIP!

Glow in the dark goblin: by Jocat <- glad Jocat has recently returned to twitch as his content is really amazing and I loved the little gobo animations he made with these guy's designs!

The absolutely adorable Cardiegon: by Ceroro <- whom is just an absolutely incredible artist whom yall should already be following here on tumblr by now!!!!

Finally the most recent plushie Sky (2.0 WITH BORGOR) the MC of Endless Monday Dreams and Deadlines: both the amazing game and sky herself are by hcnone <- GO PLAY ENDLESSS MONDAY RIGHT NOW GIVE HCNONE YOUR MONEY THEY ARE AN INCREDIBLE ARTIST AND MADE A WONDERFULLY AMAZING LITTLE GAME!!!!

THIS WAS SUCH A FUN TRIP BACK THROUGH THE MEMORIES OF FINDING ALL THIS STUFF AND REMEMBERING BEING SO EXCITED FOR EACH AND EVERY THING!!!!!

[ahgasegotarmy116]

The Art of Etiquette Part 3 | Jeon Jungkook

Summary: Mr. Jeon gets your number and offers to drive you to the Modiste but don't really give you an option to say no Paring: f!reader x Etiquette instructor Jungkook Word Count: 3.5k~ Warnings: Like one cuss word but thats about it lol a/n: This took longer than I had expected to post but I hope you guys like it! p.s. roughly edited because I wanted to get it out asap lol

"So start from the beginning again. What exactly did he do?" I hear as Jesse's voice come through the speaker. "He's just trying to intimidate me" I groan, not wanting to relive it again.

"He thinks that that kind of tactic is going to work well enough to make me into a 'lady'. I really don't understand how some of these upper class people think. They're acting like it's the 18th century or something" I complain, walking around my room and putting away the new clothes I bought for this whole charade. 

"I mean they more or less are if they're still concerned about stuff like having a girl go through this whole song and dance just so the rich boys know that they're up for grabs now. It just doesn't make sense" he sympathizes. "I'm glad you agree" I say, relieved that I don't have to explain myself to him. "Well why don't you just talk to him about it?" he suggests. 

"James? I would but I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying to back out or complain about it. Plus my mother would never let me hear the end of it and she really might convince him to make me get a job instead. 

"No I meant Jungkook, or Mr. Jeon or whatever the hell you call him. He could probably answer your questions if you ask nicely" he taunts at the end. 

"Talk to him? He doesn't bother to initiate any sort of conversation with me, other than when he tells me to do something. Even when he asks questions he expects me to answer with a 'yes' or 'no' and stops me from asking him anything even if I try" I groan, disgusted at the thought of trying to speak to him like I would any other person.

"He would probably just reprimand me for not doing the homework he gave me since it probably has all the answers I'm looking for" I huff. "Have you done the homework?" Jesse asks, clearly knowing the answer.

"I read the spark notes okay" I admit rolling my eyes "So I know gist of it. I showed you how thick those books were right? There was no way I'm going to be able to finish all of them by Monday" I groan, tossing myself onto the bed. 

"Well it's either read or talk and if I were you I would talk to him and get on his good side. It would benefit you more in the long run" he say, stating the obvious that honestly I had not thought of, considering how much he infuriates me.

"At the end of the day though it's up to you babes" he finishes. We talk for a bit more before he has to go and he doesn't forget to remind me to read some more before I go to bed to which I brush off and wrap up the call to prevent any further nagging. But before I'm even able to lock my phone after ending the call I get a text from a random number...

Unknown: You have a fitting tomorrow so we'll be meeting there instead.

I frown for a second as I stare at the screen, contemplating if I should answer or not.

Me: Mr. Jeon?  I question making certain that my suspicions are correct.

Unknown: I see that no one has told you yet. Yes it's Mr. Jeon, I acquired your number from Matthew so as to ease our means of communication. He finishes matter o factly.

I stare at the screen again and contemplate how to respond but before I'm able to he sends another message. 

Unknown: I hope this hasn't made you uncomfortable. If you would like I can continue to send messages through Matthew instead. he offers after noticing my hesitation to respond 

Me: No this is fine, it would make things more convenient for the both of us. I answer, feeling almost as if a barrier between us has been broken down with this nonabrasive conversation we're having at the moment.

Unknown: Agreed. I just checked and noticed that I pass your college on the way to the modiste so I will pick you up instead. he sends, telling me more than offering. 

Me: You don't have to do that, I'm perfectly capable of getting myself there on my own. I reply, not appreciating the way he's gone about this.

Unknown: The location is quite far, farther than my house so it would be more cost effective for you if you were to simply accept my offer. Although I've already told your father and he said he would send someone over to pick up your car from the University. So unless you would like to walk there I suggest you come with me. There's the Mr. Jeon we all know and hate...we meaning me.

Me: Yes Mr. Jeon. I reply, knowing that I've lost the battle before it has even begun.

Unknown: I shall meet you outside the main building at 4:15. Sweet dreams. he finishes leaving me confused. 

'Sweet dreams? Sweet dreams?' I repeat in my head. 'That's the first remotely nice thing he's ever said to me. Why would he say that? He could've just ended it at 4:15.

Why Sweet dreams?' I shake my head hoping that would in some way get rid of whatever overthinking my brain starts to do but it's no use, especially since I still have it right in front of me. 

I change his name to 'Jungkook' because at least that way I can feel like I'm disrespecting him on a daily basis without his knowledge, assuming he will be sending me unnecessary reminders of stupid things he thinks I'll forget.

Knowing me though I probably would've forgotten it anyways since I kind of black out during our lessons at times. He talks so much that after my already mind numbing classes I can hardly focus on what he's supposed to be teaching me. 

~~~~~~~~

I walk down the front steps and see an all black car waiting right in front, leaving me to assume it's Mr. Jeon. "Get in or we'll be late" he says after rolling down the window. I roll my eyes and open the door, plopping myself down in the back seat.

"What are you doing?" he questions, looking at me through the rear view mirror. "Putting my seatbelt on?" I answer just as confused as he is. He takes a deep breath in and out and starts up the car, driving away before saying anything else. 

"Oh did you expect me to sit up front with you?" I ask now amused at his behavior. "Seeing as I am not your personal driver yes, I did expect you to sit up front" he says tonguing his cheek. 'Huh, so he does that when he's irritated. Noted'.

"Yet you gave me no choice but to drive me there" I argue back. "I did this as a favor so we would both show up on time. I guess I won't offer next time" he says and I can see how much he's trying to restrain himself. 

"Mr. Jeon did something happen?" I ask, genuinely curious as to why he's acting like this. He's usually upfront and intimidating, but never angry with me. Maybe a little irritated but the feeling is mutual. "No, now will you please stop being a brat for five seconds? We have a long journey and I would rather we spend it in silence than listening to your insolence" he says raising his voice. 

I decide that it's in both of our best interests if I remain quiet but it takes everything in me to do just that. 'Who does he think he is? Calling me a brat?' I scoff quietly to myself and put in my headphones, not missing the glare he sends me through the rear view again. I press play and rest my head against the window, deciding to get some rest instead of dealing with whatever attitude that's got him all messed up.

~~~~~~

"Wake up" Jungkook says once we get there. He looks back and finds me fast asleep with my headphones in, leaving him rolling his eyes and getting out of the car, making sure to slam his door on the way out. He goes around and opens the door I was lying up against and let's me fall a bit but catches me half way before I actually topple out of the car. 

"Hey!" I whine, now unfortunately being forcefully woken up. "We're here. Get out and wipe that drool off your face" he says and pushes me back in so I'm sitting upright and makes his way over to the building, not bothering to wait for me.

"What's his issue today?" I groan and reach up to wipe the drool off my face he had spoken about but I find none leaving me even more irritated with the fact that he's not only grumpy but he still has the audacity to try and tease me.

When I finally make my way into the building I'm met with so many different kinds of dresses and fabrics and ribbon and everything that you could possibly imagine that would be in a dress maker's shop. 

"This must be y/n!" an older woman, most likely in her sixties says as she comes up and gives me a little smile. "Hello" I say shyly, remembering the scolding that Jungkook had given me earlier until I glance over at him and see that he is giving me an even bigger scowl than he had before. 

"I mean it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" I say giving her a nod. "She's still got a lot to learn" Mr. Jeon says and walk with the dressmaker and talks her through everything that we've planned to do today but I can tell she is already well versed but continues to let him explain all the same.

"Y/n" I hear him call out my name, leaving me bringing my attention back over to him after I had just started to look through the different bolt of fabric that are sitting on the various shelves. 

"Yes?" I say remembering to give him a verbal response. "Please go ahead and stand up on that stool over there and wait for her to come up and measure you" I look over at the area he's motioned to to make sure I know exactly where to go so I won't get scolded for not doing as I was told. "Yes Mr. Jeon" I say and make my way over and wait for her.

"Oh you're going to look beautiful in the gowns we're making for you!" the woman says as she happily continues to take my measurements. She notices my reaction and looks around for Jungkook and sees that he's on a phone call in the other room.

"It's okay I won't make them girly and pink". "How did you kno-" "A woman always knows, especially when I've been in this business for so long. Also don't feel a need to be formal with me love. I don't subscribe to that stuffy nonsense" says with a chuckle. 

"But you make dresses for them" I say confused with her stance on things. "It's good money dearie, plus I enjoy making them. I started sewing at the age of four believe it or not!" she says looking up at me over the edge of her glasses as she checks to see how long she'll need to make the dresses. 

"Are you clumsy at all?" she asks rather randomly if you ask me. "No not really, why?" I ask tilting my head slightly. "I just wanted to see if I should make the hem a bit shorter so you wouldn't step on it but I think you'll be just fine" she finishes and take a final look at me and at the measurements she's written down. 

"Perfect! Go ahead and sit down over there and rest you legs a bit while I bring out some dresses that you'll be trying on" she says and turns to make her way over towards the backroom. "Dresses? There's more than one?" I question and she unfortunately doesn't hear me since she's already out of earshot. 

"You'll be trying on at least five dresses today. Just so we can make sure we choose the right one" Jungkook says right behind me, scaring the shit out of me. "Sh- I mean, you startled me" I say placing a hand over my chest. "You'll live" he says simply and goes to sit on one of the chairs facing the stool I had been standing on.

"Are you going to just sit there and watch?" I question, seeing as he hasn't made moves to do much else. "It's one of my tasks of being your tutor" he says and fishes out his phone to respond to what I assume is another message. 

"Your job is to watch me try on pretty dresses?" I question, amused by the situation. "Yes y/n, it is my duty to make sure that the dresses we choose match the themes of whatever events we are going to, as well as being appropriate to the trends nowadays" he finishes and lowers his voice when he sees the seamstress come back. 

"I heard that" she says while rolling a rack of dresses into the room. "Do you see one you like?" she asks and motions for me to come closer. I look at the rack and see there are so many dresses of different colors and patterns and styles, I just don't know what to pick.

"Which one do you think I should try on?" I ask turning towards her. "Well why don't we let Mr. Jeon choose, since he so kindly reminded me that my taste is out of date" she says and winks at me, showing me she's teasing while simultaneously giving Jungkook the cold shoulder. 

"I did not mean it as any disrespect. What I was trying to say wa-" "Oh hush child, just come over here and chose a dress before I really start to get upset with you" she teases and he walks closer to the rack looking through the dresses while he sends a glance my way most likely debating on which one might suit me best.

He takes a second to think after looking through all of them but doesn't seem to find one he's satisfied with. Looking around the room for a second he finds another dress on display and walks over to it to take a closer look. 

"This one" he says almost bored and walks back over to sit in the chair he had been occupying moments ago. "He's cranky today isn't he?" she whispers to me and I nod my head quickly agreeing. "I'm glad you noticed too" I say and she walks to the back and grabs that exact dress in my size. "Go ahead and change over there and I'll grab some pins incase we need to alter it" she says and I do as I'm told. 

Coming out of the little dressing room she has I smooth the dress out and watch as her eyes light up. "This looks incredible on you! I don't even think I'll need to alter it at all!" she says excitedly. I smile at her and thank her silently and see Jungkook walking over to take a closer look. 

He takes in my figure from top to bottom and has me do a slight twirl to see it from all angles. "We'll take this one" he says and starts to walk over to the counter to settle the bill. "That's it?" I question her, confused as to how we actually managed to finish this all without me having to try on a bunch more. "I mean he did pick the perfect dress for you" she says walking me up to the full length mirror and I'm shocked at how much I love it as well. 

I twist and turn around a bit more to see the movement of the dress and the more I watch the more I fall in love with it. "You're right, this one's perfect!" I say and turn my vision towards where Jungkook had gone to and I notice that he's most likely been watching me this entire time. He clears his throat and fixes his posture to try to cover up for himself but I can see how almost bashful he looks from being caught in the act. 

"Why don't you go change and then we'll have this all settled by the time you're done" she says and ushers me back in the room again. "By the way, is there something going on between you two?" she questions, catching me off guard. "What do you mean?" I ask turning around to face her. "I mean I've never seen him look at someone like he just was a few moments ago" she points out, confirming my suspicions. 

"Plus, in all my years of him bringing his students here he has never once put in any effort to pick out a dress, and half the time the student ends up loving the dress while both Jungkook and I disagree but he lets them choose it nonetheless" she says and I take a look at myself in the mirror again, trying to asses if this is the one that I really truly want.

"It just seemed like he knew you and he knew exactly what would look good on you without even having to try" she says giving me a smug smirk. "No ma'am please it's nothing like tha-" "I'm just kidding child don't worry. I swear no one in your generation can take a joke anymore" she says and walks out of the room laughing at the slight panic I had started to go through.

~~~~

"Thanks for the ride" I say when we pull up to my house, this time having sat in the front seat. "No problem" he says and looks over at me, this being the first time he truly had this entire trip, or at least the first time I noticed. "Hey can I ask you a question?" I say, stopping before I reach for the handle to get out. "You just did" he says, this being one of the first times he's tried to make some sort of joke. 

I roll my eyes at him and I see a flash of an almost smile but it's gone as soon as it came, being replaces with his usual stoic expression. "How did you know what dress to choose for me?" I ask and watch as he gets awkward again just like he had done when we were back at the modiste.

He turns to look out the wind shield, this time giving me a full view of how the tips of his ears have gone a bit red from the question. "I'm not sure, I think having to go through that process so many times it just seemed like that one was the obvious pick" he says and gets out of the car.

"What are you doing?" I ask following suit and watch as he pulls the garment bag out and starts walking up the steps to the front door. "I'm making sure the dress stays well taken care of. I'll hand it to one of the staff when they open the door" he says and waits for me at the top of the stairs. Before I'm even able to reach for my keys I hear the door being unlocked and the face of my mother comes into view. 

"Oh hello, you must be Mr. Jeon" she says sending him a bright smile to which he reciprocates and bows a bit as a sign of respect. "Hello, I just wanted to make sure that y/n and her dress got back safely" he says and she waves one of the housekeepers over to carry it up to my room for us although it would've been fine by me if I could've just done all of this by myself.

"Well that was very sweet of you. Would you like to stay for dinner? It should be ready soon, plus we would like to show our gratitude to you for making such a long journey there and back for her" she offers. 

"Perhaps another time. I have a business meeting across town tonight but thank you so much for your generosity" he says, politely declining. "Well thank you again for bringing her home" she reiterates and I start to not so subtly try to usher her back inside.

"Come on mom he said he has to go" I say to her under my breath. "Well it was so nice to meet you Mr. Jeon. I hope we'll see each other again soon" she says, leaving me having to almost push her inside. 

"Thank you Mr. Jeon have a good night" I say and as I turn to close the door he says the same thing that had me over thinking just last night. "Good night y/n, sweet dreams" he says with a soft smile and heads to his car, driving off and leaving me with a confused mix of emotions yet again. 

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[animentality]

heyheyhey idk if u know how cool and important it is to have a badass assassin story with something other than cis gays and have it be Not a Big Deal but,,, it’s literally one of the first legit published books I’ve ever found like it?? And in a genre that I love??? And written well?? And genuinely funny as fuck?? Idk I’ve never seen an enby that gets to exist without it being A Tragic Plot Point or something To Overcome so thank u??? Like so much???? I can’t tell u how much???? I definitely didn’t cry at all about it nope not even once

:DDDDDD omg, my heart started pumping faster when I saw this ask. I am always so giddy when people talk to me about my books, especially the specifics about characters and tone and things they liked!

Yeah, I wanted to include every goddamn color in the pride flag!!

Pansexual/ bisexual assassins, nonbinary demons, a transgender assassin, an unrealistic number of gay and lesbian demon summoners! That's my fantasy world. It's not talked about, because it's simply normal.

Irvine in particular I adore because I am nonbinary myself, but also because they are just so powerful, and they don't even know just how much yet!

I always disliked how many nonbinary characters in fantasy and sci fi are just token "they/them" body guards, robotic or asexual leaning non-humans, or quiet, unassuming love interests who only exist to show a character is pansexual or something.

Irvine was my love letter to my own identity because I thought hey what if there was a nonbinary character who just fucks shit up, every time they appear? What if there was an enby who just kicks ass and is sexily never showing their face, and wears a badass hood all the time?

And then Irvine was born. My little storm demon :)

Also, I don't know if you ever saw the commissioned art, but I will post it in this ask for your viewing pleasure:

so glad you love my child. my baby blorbo.

who i intend to put through the wringer, lemme tell you, because i like to put all my favorite characters through it.

So glad you find it unique too! I honestly was feeling so badly about it, after months of querying and beta swapping, and getting feedback from dozens of people who only found things to criticize as being too strange or too different or stylistically confusing.

I went through a year of being told it wasn't good, and-and I'm a little emotional and overcome with appreciation and gratitude to all the people who not only bought or downloaded the book while it was free, but who also actually read the whole thing, and found it GOOD.

Like people...think i...write well??? oh gosh. oh god.

chills.

The asks I get keep me going through this mundane, dull little world. They give me something to look forward to, in between the doldrums of normalcy...

They also validate me for thinking someone...someone out there must find this good...

Thanks for taking the time to send this ask :))) it means the world to me.

I save them all in my drafts so I can look at them when I'm sad...

Also, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING THAT THE BOOK IS FUNNY.

in between the angst and the action and the blood-filled fist fighting and crazy sniper/melee battles, there is a lot of dark comedy!

I love dark comedy. I love satire.

As much as I love being edgy, I think a story without any humor at all is unbearable.

I want you to hurt with my characters...but you should also laugh with them! Laugh at them! Be amused by their stupidity...or by their cleverness.

Be charmed by their vulnerability, but also their insane, abnormal, bizarre points of view!

AAAAH, I'm so glad you found it funny AND heart-breaking!

That is exactly what I want every story of mine to be.

Thank you thank you thank you for this ask!!

Link to referenced book here, for all the poor spectators who have to see me blubbering like a child.

Please leave a review on Amazon/Goodreads if you haven't already, but if you have, thank you for that too! Every review helps me out so much!

[blue-asher]

Percy Weasley X Squib!Reader

Summary: when you try to buy a book by a Squib author Percy shields you from the discrimination of the bookshop owner.

Let's say that the Weasley family and the Golden Trio decided to go to Diagon Alley to buy supplies for the new school year and they invite you and your siblings (who attend Hogwarts; that's how you met them) to come along.

Their first stop was a library where they got the essentials like paper and quills. There you decided to treat the trio and bought some matching pens that had witches' hats on them. Ron was the most intrigued out of the three.

Then you go to a bookshop with the list of required books in hand. It was then that problems arrised.

Once you enter the bookshop you all part different ways to find your things: Hermione goes straight to grab the school books so as to check out the novels later, Ron and Harry go the adventure books first so as to go for the school ones later, Ginny and her mother look into the new Lockheart's novel and Mr. Weasley went to look after the twins (as instructed by his wife) but soon lost track of them.

And, although you didn't notice at first, Percy decides to look out for you (his words, what if you got lost in all the sections and ended up in a shopping spree) and see if you actually had good taste in books at all—not because he was taking notes for next birthday presents, of course. He also didn't want to leave you alone. The rest of the lot had actual things to do in there and went straight to crossing names from their lists. All of them walked in different directions with confidence, like men on a mission. So he was fairly surprised when you did as well. He wanted to know what you were up to.

He considered going up to you and ask you what you thought about the bookshop after 15 minutes of just watching how you read the tilted of a couple books in sale. Until he saw you grab, rather excited, a particular book. Then the bookseller appeared.

"Good evening, young lady! I'm sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice that you picked up a particular book" the bookseller said anxiously "Memories of a forgotten kind. I hope it struck your interest, of course! but I must insist you buy it nonetheless" Y/N was quite shocked at the sudden approach and rambling of the man but she was just about to ask for more information about the magnificent book so she was glad the man came just in time.

The book in question is an elegant hard cover edition with beautiful art work in the front about philosophy. It was from a squib author that discussed the problems with Squib identity and how they perceived themselves in a world that seemed to want to label them one way or the other, essencially robbing them of the core of their existance: the middle. The author also included some biographical aspects in it to help make a point of his stand. You, being the same as him, were very excited to have found it as not only it spoke about an issue that had revolved around your self-confidence all your life (you had to admit you were just a tiny bit jealous of your siblings' magic) but because it was also a rare occurrence to find a squib author in general. Sadly, they rarely got published.

"You see, I've been having a real hard time to sell them. No one wants them—nobody could ever want them, really." His sudden statement quickly pulled you out of your thoughts as you were thinking about what to ask him first. You had just decided to ask whether the guy had written other books when he screamed that first statement.

"I shouldn't have made a deal with the man. I tried to diversify my collection, you know, my partner told me to. But I told him it was a bad idea, he just wouldn't listen" he continued rapidly ". I know everyone wants to say we are in modern times but business are business. You get me"

It was as if he was trying to excuse himself for even having the books in the shop; he didn't even stop to breath. You got concerned. Why was it difficult to sell? Had the writer been in some sort of scandal? Was the information in the book no longer valid? You didn't remember if you looked at the year of publishing but the book seemed brand new. Why was it in sale? It seemed like half the price a book so pretty.

"You don't seem too convinced. That's all right, I understand" you tried to pich in and tell him that he didn't understand at all because not even you understood what he was talking about. But he kept going "I'll make you a deal, just for you. You seemed like a lady of culture. How much is it? 400 sickles? I'll leave it to 300, what do you say?"

'I'll be damned' you thought. Shouldn't it be the other way around? What would he even gain from that amount? You finally got a moment to ask:

"I'm confused, It's such a beautiful edition with great quality, why is it so cheap? Did the author do something?"

You waited for his answer.

The bookseller looked at you like you just grew an extra head but quickly changed his expression to one of realisation "My apologies, ma'am. You mustn't have notice, how silly of me!" He spoke as if the fact was obvious but you still didn't understand. He composed himself and in a more calmer manner said "The author's a squib"

That's all he said.

And Percy thought he had already said enough.

You were stil expecting to hear something more, an aclaration, because clearly it didn't seem like a logical reason. What does that have to do with anything? You didn't have time to say anything else as Percy suddenly appeared beside you and put his hand on your shoulder. You looked at him but his gazed was fixed from above into the bookseller's eyes.

"I think we have heard enough desperate rambling from you. No wonder you can't sell a book for the life of it." His tone was cold and it shocked you greatly. You hadn't seen Percy this angry before, you hadn't ever heard him insult another adult like that.

The bookseller went off pretty angry and told the both of you to not bother coming back if you weren't going to buy a proper book. You were pretty sure you heard him say something about you only looking into the Sale section, most likely an insult.

However, you thought it had all went down hill unnecessarily and were about to question Percy's sudden change of attitude but when you turned you noticed that he was already looking at you. With a sad warmness in his gaze.

"He meant the writer, Y/N"

You stared at him for a few seconds and blinked "What?"

"He meant that the books didn't sell because the writer's a squib"

You felt embarrassed because of how long it took you to pick up on the que. Angry embarrassed. You had just made a fool of yourself, in front of Percy! Just when you thought you had dominated that kind of anti-squib talking.

In the end everyone left without buying a single textbook from the place, not wanting to support such a prick. But not before your siblings gave the bookseller a piece of their mind and spoke every insult the could come up with.

You insisted to the Weasleys that they didn't have to leave: they needed the books and the other bookshop was a good 20 minutes away. Hermione gave a nasty look to anyone who seemed tempted on the idea of buying the books and get the shopping over with. 'Anyone' being Ron -but just for a quick second.

Quickly you started making jokes about how you should have bought it either way because "Where else will I find a book so amazingly cheap? No, Y/N! You mustn't succumb to capitalism!! You have to support the writers" Your antics successfully made the trio and twins laugh and it was only then, when you wanted to raise your fist at the sky in a dramatic way, that you noticed that Percy had been holding your hand. Probably had since you left the bookshop. When you looked at him he sheepishly let go while giving you a shy smile.

You wished he hadn't.

A couple of days later you family had the Weasleys over for a farewell dinner since everyone left the following day for Hogwarts.

Just when everyone had left and you were making yourself comfortable in your room, you noticed a wrapped package in your bed. A gift that was not there before. It was very clearly a book but it didn't have any note as to who might have left it. Did the Weasleys leave a gift for you? You didn't see anyone entering your room.

Dying with curiosity, you opened to see what it was and find a clue of who your mystery friend might be.

It was the philosophy book you had tried to buy a few days ago! You were admiring it with delight when you noticed something falling from the inside of it.

A piece of paper had fallen, it was receipt! From a library you didn't know and where it stated that the book had been purchased at a price much suitable for its quality; probably the original price that the bookseller had tried reducing to nothingness the other day.

But there was something else written at the back of the receipt, something in handwriting.

"Proof that I've bought it at full price.

Found a new bookshop with a section dedicated to squib writers, mind if we explore it together some time?"

You would recognize that handwriting anywhere, and would make sure to send Percy a package of his favourite chocolates with your next letter.

[fuyuu-chan]

Bookworms (pt. 2 of reading each other's favorite books)

Pairing: Neuvillette x Reader

Fuyuu-chan: Hiii!! I decided to make a Part 2! Hope you enjoy reading this! 💙

Genre: Fluff

Part 1 is here!

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

It's weekend, so what time is it?

That's right! Library time! Your all time favorite hobby is reading and so you were always excited to go to the library.

You and Neuvillette meet up earlier before lunch in town so you two can eat together for lunch in Café Lucerne and after you two ordered a take out for later while you two are in the library.

While on your way you saw a new bookstore so of course as always you two go inside to see what they have.

Always telling yourself to just look but can't help but buy at the end. So there we go your tote bag full of new books, it's supposedly for grocery you say but to be honest it's just for new notebooks, sketchbooks, books, and art books.

So there you go, your finally at the library. And it just so happened that you built a private library and it's done a few weeks ago and you love it so much. So basically your library, and recently you and Neuvillette always go there for the weekend.

You entered and go to one of the sections, you place the other books you just bought in the bookshelf and the notebooks to the Writing section you had. You love writing because you always get inspired by the books you read so you had the writing section where all the things you need are there.

After that you go find Neuvillette, and you found him sitting in one of the chairs in the center. You approached him with one book in hand and notebook and your fountain pen, in case you got an idea on what to write.

"Hey, found a book to read?" You said as you placed down your things on the table.

"Not yet" he says as he finished placing down the snacks and drinks you two ordered earlier for take out.

"Then go find one, I'll be here" you said as you sat down and smiled at him.

"Alright" he says as he go to his favorite section, thinking on what to pick.

While you were sat down and about to open the book, you got an idea on what to write, so you opened your notebook and grab your fountain pen and starts writing down your idea.

You were still writing when Neuvillette came back with a book in hand.

"Have a new idea huh?" He says as he looks at you writing while smiling.

"Yup hehe" you said as you looked at him.

He chuckles as he sat down and opened the book.

"So what book did you picked?" You said as you take a peak.

"It's a mystery novel (book name)" he says as he knew what was coming.

You gasp.

"Isn't that the book I recommend??" You said as you happily looked at him. You were glad he picked the book you recommend a few days ago.

"Yes it is, I thought why not try it especially since you have good taste in books" he says as he smiled helplessly.

"Awwww thank you, and I'm sure you would love that book!" You said. Excited for him to read it and see his reaction or his say about it after.

"Okay" Neuvillette said as he started to read.

You smiled and grab the book and starts too, while reading halfway you got another idea and inspiration from the book so you write it down and you will probably continue to do your idea later when you have the story in your mind.

In between of reading the book, some parts Neuvillette would talk to you about the part he likes in the book or where he was not expecting a part and you would see his facial reactions. You two would also take a break from reading, like drinking the drinks you two got and eating the snacks.

Few hours had passed and Neuvillette is done reading, he looks at you and see that you were still reading and looks like almost finished so he kept quiet and took a sip from his drink.

After a few minutes you closed the book and looks up to Neuvillette and saw him looking at you.

"Why are you looking? Is something on my face?" You asked as you place your hand on your face.

"No I was just admiring your beauty while you read" Neuvillette said as he chuckled because of your reaction to him looking at you.

You're flushed from his compliment so you looked away for a bit.

"Oh come on.... Anyways are you done reading?" You asked as you calm down a bit and finally looked at him again.

"Yeah a few minutes ago" he said as he points to the book he recently finished.

"I see, so how is it?" You asked. You look like you're so interested to his final say about the book especially you recommend it to him.

Neuvillette then told you about his opinion and true feelings about the book and you listened to him all the way. And you can tell that he enjoy the book because he was telling how he feels about it to you with a smile.

After that, he also asked you about the book you've read, you told him you felt different emotions about it it's like a roller coaster feeling but mostly you were happy especially in the end of the book where there was an art of the main characters together hugging each other.

You also told him a fact about the author that they were also an artist and so they decided to draw the main characters at the end. Which is cute and heartwarming.

You showed him the drawing and he smiled, because it is indeed cute and nice for the author to add it at the end.

After that you ask Neuvillette if he wanted to borrow a book in your library since when you still don't own a library he would usually borrow books in different libraries.

He agreed and so you waited for him to pick books to borrow and after that you two leave the library after closing it. Then the two of you only walk for a bit when you arrived at your doorstep (and to add something, the library and your house are actually in like a compound where you own that lot).

You offered to Neuvillette that he should stay over at dinner or if he would like to stay in for the night (which always happen since you two are best friends). And so he agrees (like usual).

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