#turns out my online friend is my real life boss | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

armpirate · 9 months ago

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Soundleasure | Choi San || CH. 8

Pairings: Soft!San x fem!reader || Strangers to lovers, fake dating

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, online sex, ghosting

Warnings: inexperienced!San, fem!reader, masturbation, online sex, camboy, first times.

Summary: You can do whatever you please and be whoever you want on the Internet. And San knew that a little bit too well.

After finally following all the signs the universe was throwing at him, he started living a double life that no one was aware of. Everyone in his daily life knew him as Choi San, the reserved and quiet boy who wouldn't raise his voice, and would barely communicate with anyone outside of his comfort group. But only a few knew him as Soundleasure, the man with a sexy voice and a filthy mind that had their toes curling just with his narrations.

He never thought of the possibility of those two lives ever meeting, he had always tried for them to follow a parallel route and had always played safe to keep his friends from ever suspecting that side even existed. But his plans will start to crumble when he gets a little too close with one of his subscribers and she invades his real-self and altergo's universes without being able to stop it.

Y/n will not only help him to keep his secret from his circle, but will also show him there's more of Soundleasure in him than he'd like to admit.

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Aprox. time of reading: 16 minutes

Her smile evidently dropped when she managed to see a familiar face as the blond guy opened his brown eyes wide in surprise. Probably because it was the last place she expected to see her at.

—Oh, wow —Y/n finally reacted, lifting her eyebrows as she smiled.

She purposely omitted to even attempt to call him by his name -mainly because she didn't really remember it. She did remember his face though. Of course she did. He had worked in the company as a freelancer when they needed new ideas for a design, although not directly with her team -or her. When he joined the project, she was still her father's assistant so they didn't speak much. But by the little time they spent together back then, she remembered him as someone really nice to be around. And also that white brilliant and perfect smile.

—The world is such a small place —he nodded.

—Do you guys know each other? —San interrupted, stepping forward.

—Yeah, he worked in my company for a few months —she answered.

—Yep —he nodded again—. It's been a lot of time since that though. I didn't expect you to see you here.

—Imagine if now it turns out you're Mingi's boss —Wooyoung chuckled behind them, walking past them to get to his seat on the couch.

Mingi only rolled his eyes at the comment, knowing Y/n was way too nice to be the big asshole he had as a boss and that he didn't know in person yet after starting in his position months back.

—What do you mean? —Hongjoong asked, following Wooyoung with his eyes.

—She's dating San. And thank god we saw her across the street, because he wasn't going to introduce her to us —Wooyoung answered, side eyeing his friend as he spoke.

—I'm really wondering why now —San replied back.

—She'll also be replacing me today —Wooyoung continued, ignoring his comment.

—Shouldn't you be introducing her to us? —Seonghwa asked, alternating his gaze between San and Wooyoung.

—Hongjoong spoke before we could even do that —Wooyoung replied back.

Y/n sighed, thankful to the brunet's words that finally gave out the name of the person that recognized her.

A moment of silence followed after Wooyoung's answer, having all of the eyes in the room falling over San and his eyes lost on the screen before he was finally aware the attention was on him. She pinched his side, finally getting him to react.

—Introduce me —she whispered, turning her head slowly so the other seven boys wouldn't see her.

San started introducing them by following the order they were sitting, skipping Wooyoung and Mingi with his eyes rolling when both of them complained about the tone he used.

The first person he introduced, and that was sitting next to Mingi, was Yunho. By the way his legs were flexing as he sat, she could tell he probably was around the same height as Mingi. He smiled at her in a friendly way, getting her to smile right after. At his left, and sitting on the floor, there was a guy who smiled at her shyly, bowing slightly as San introduced him as Yeosang.

On the other couch, Hongjoong gave her a squared smile when San introduced him again, to go ahead with the boy with longer hair sitting next to him. Seonghwa waved his hand in the air as his big eyes squinted by the -another- perfect smile she'd be jealous of, whispering a silent "Hi". Looking for some more bickering with Wooyoung, San only referred to him as a "Meh", before he went on to introduce the boy with a bowl cut hairstyle, bowing firmly before he heard San introducing him as the baby of the group.

—I'm still older than all of your mental ages combined together.

Y/n couldn't help but snort at that answer, looking back at San when he introduced her to the rest just like he introduced them to her.

—I don't know about you all, but I'm hungry —Yunho mentioned, clapping his hands as he sat forward on the couch.

—We were waiting for you to come to call —Mingi reproached, receiving a glare from his friend right after—. Not like it matters, because I'm just now starting to be hungry.

—Who's calling? —Yeosang asked, looking around for someone to volunteer.

—What are we having?

—Pizza —Wooyoung answered as if it was obvious.

—Again —Jongho threw his head back—. Last time we had that. Why are you choosing?

—Right? We had the exact same problem for lunch —Mingi added himself in the discussion.

—I thought you already moved on from it —he rolled his eyes, before he turned back to Jongho—. Pizza is universal. It's something that everyone likes. What's the problem with it? —Wooyoung whined.

—There's a really nice sushi place... —Seonghwa started speaking, although the others' bickering interrupted what he had to say.

—Is it always like this? —Y/n whispered, leaning a bit in San's direction.

—It's a requirement to be part of this group, apparently —he answered—. Just ignored them.

—No, I like it —she replied with honesty.

The way they were arguing about the smallest thing, and how they teased each other for the minimal thing they said, was only a reflection of how close they all actually were. They were the reflection of that type of friendship she had been looking for, but that always ended up giving up on.

—Y/n is the innocent hand. She could choose today.

Hearing her name out of nowhere, followed by all of their eyes turning to her, caught her off guard.

—I don't really know —she giggled nervously—. Hmm... Honestly, I kinda liked Seonghwa's idea. It's been a while since I've had sushi.

—As long as it's not pizza —Jongho huffed, resting his back against the backrest.

Y/n smiled, moving to also join Yeosang on the floor, not without Mingi, Jongho, Wooyoung and Yunho attempting to get up to leave a spot somewhere in either of the sofas she was walking in between.

—It's alright. I'll sit here —she assured, taking the free spot next to Mingi.

And while all of them were sitting, there was only one person struggling to find a place to sit.

—San, you won't grow taller staying there —Hongjoong teased.

He was aware of the look Y/n was giving him, and how she silently was guiding him to walk next to her. His hands moved nervously as he made the same walk she did, looking at the possible seats: either of the arm rests on the floor. Y/n's soft and small fingers moved faster than he did, enclosing around his forearm to stop him from walking to the empty spot on the floor next to Jongho, in between the two sofas.

As soon as he looked down at her, her eyes pointed to her seat at the same time she dragged her body to the floor, leaving that spot empty again for him.

San felt tempted to insist on her going back to her place, but he knew that'd only annoy her. He moved behind her, just for her to right after molding her body in the space he made up for her. In that position, her head rested in between his two knees, making him sit stiff at the whole new sensation.

When she turned to him, she could see how tense he was, with the way his neck marked and his jaw was raised a little bit higher as he tried to focus on the TV.

Whoever saw him would think that he had never touched a woman in his life.

—How did you meet each other? —Yunho asked, giving a sip to his coke before leaving it back on the coffee table.

—Dating app —she answered—. Right, babe?

San's breath shut, feeling his throat closing, when her hand rested on his knee as she tried to get some back up from him.

—Yeah —he nodded—. That's right. We started seeing each other and then we texted. No, wait.

—Are you okay? —Hongjoong asked.

—Yeah —San sighed—. I meant that we texted and then started seeing each other.

—There isn't much more to say. He kinda hooked me up by the second day —she continued, squeezing his knee.

—Hooked you up? —Jongho raised his eyebrow— Did he pay you to say this?

The room was suddenly filled with huffs and clicks of tongue, before Wooyoung pushed his body as a way to reprend him.

—I'm just saying... because he's usually quiet and shy.

—I'm not quiet with you all —San replied back.

—But you're shy with people from the opposite sex —Wooyoung commented, getting a fistful of the chips that had been prepared on those bowls—. You just stay in a corner.

—Why are you all bringing all this up now? Laugh at how you came here covered in milkshake after trying to flirt with a girl that had a boyfriend, when he was right next to her —San countered, smirking devilishly at his friend who only poked his cheek with his tongue as he smiled—. Or how Hwa ended all over Reddit after he tried to flirt with someone on stories using Legos —San pointed out—. You have no room to talk, so I'd stop annoying me unless you want me to air out all of your dirty laundry.

—But I do want to hear them —Y/n commented in a lower tone—. What's with the Lego story? —Y/n tried to ask Seonghwa, but he just waved his hands in the air and shook his head.

—He said her built was complex like a LEGO Eiffel Tower set —Mingi answered, giggling as he remembered it.

—What's that supposed to mean? —she frowned, looking at the owner of that comment.

—Doubt he knows himself —Yunho snorted.

—She had a LEGO Eiffel tower behind her, I thought she'd understand I was actually praising her.

—Uh, that's not... —Y/n shook her head—. Wait, you're the LEGO man? —she finally remembered, making Seonghwa throw his head back— I did read about you.

—LEGO man? That's a serial killer name —Seonghwa complained.

—If it makes you feel better, no one will know it's you unless you tell them —she tried to comfort him—. Your intention was good though. You just need it to improve the way you phrase it.

—How did San hook you up? —Jongho suddenly asked.

She felt how the man behind her got stiff again, flexing the muscles of his thighs as he tried to think of something to answer before she could.

—He was nice —she simply said—. At first I wasn't looking for anything, but he was so approachable and genuine... So yeah.

San slowly blinked, feeling everything around him going completely silent and black when his focus was solely on her and the way she smiled at him. She seemed so honest about those words, he wasn't sure if she was still lying or if she was giving out some of her real thoughts when talking to him.

—You have nothing to say about me? —she suddenly asked.

His mouth opened a few times, trying to think of what to say, but always stopping midway, looking at her confused.

—That's it —San frowned when she said the sign out loud—. Why are you acting like I'm in this relationship by myself?

—What are you...? —he was going to play along, but his friends got in the way before he could.

—You're the first girlfriend he has —Wooyoung interrupted.

—Yeah, he might be a bit slow. But you're special if you're here —Mingi seconded, squeezing San's shoulder.

Y/n sat back in between his legs, relaxing again when the first attempt to fake an argument failed so miserably. She wasn't even allowed to make a scene properly.

While the rest started talking about something else, Y/n and San exchanged some worried looks, trying to read on the other's face what was the next step to take.

—This isn't working —Y/n commented, when San finally joined her in the narrow kitchen.

She had tried to start a fight a few times already. The last one was excused by how she preferred makis over sashimi when they were ordering their food, only for Jongho and Yeosang to side with her, while Hongjoong and Seonghwa tried to excuse San's confusion with how clueless he sometimes was.

—They like you too much —San answered—. I bet they're probably planning on how to get you to join us on these game nights.

—Okay, let's make them be so disgusted with us that they give us an excuse to start a fight. We could make out in front of them...

—No —San quickly shook his head.

—I mean... If there's something I hate about hanging out with couples is when they're so into each other that they make me uncomfortable.

—We can't do that —he insisted, shaking his head.

—Why not? —her squinted eyes looked at him with an accusing look— If this is a way to keep me from leaving...

—It's not that —he assured her.

Although it wasn't something he didn't think either.

—Then what is it?

San mumbled a few words, rubbing the reverse of his hand over his mouth as he spoke while looking away, only allowing Y/n to understand the word "kiss". When asked to repeat it, he did the same thing, rephrasing what he wanted to say and only allowing her to understand the word "someone".

Her heavy annoyed huff only worked as a warning for the way she held his hands, keeping them on both sides of his body, before she tried to get him to repeat.

—I've never kissed anyone —he finally admitted.

Her eyes widened with his confession, letting go of his hands as she took a step back to set some distance between them.

—You never what? —her head tilted to the side, thinking she got it wrong.

—I've never kissed anyone —he shook his head, speaking slowly—. If we start making out in front of them, they'll tell.

—No one? Not even in school? —her nose scrunched in strangeness.

—That's not the point right now. Can you focus? —he called her out.

Her lower back rested against the white counter, and her arms were crossed over her chest as her gaze got lost somewhere in the kitchen, losing herself deep in thought.

—Why don't I tell them we broke up after tonight? Things didn't work —he shrugged.

—I thought your friends would give you a hard time.

Which, after knowing them for a bit, Y/n understood it would be nothing more than just some innocent teasing.

—I can take it —he nodded—. I dragged you here, it's also unfair to give you a hard time by putting on a show. You seemed like you were having fun.

He could feel the vibrations of her laugh on his leg whenever she rested her cheek on his knee, and she also managed to join the conversations quite easily -to the point of joining on the teasing and jokes his friends did to one another.

He wasn't wrong.

Y/n felt comfortable around those seven guys in less than half an hour, and even she found some fun in pretending to date San whenever her arm wrapped around his leg or her cheek squeezed against him to rub on him like a cat.

After that conversation, they just focused on having a good time.

She managed to snuggle next to him as Mingi changed his place to the spot on the floor next to Seonghwa. Her heart skipped a bit when his knee rubbed against hers accidentally. Although every bit of excitement disappeared when he apologized in a whisper, closing his legs a bit more.

—Here —she whispered, offering him a red packet after she saw him looking for something—. I saw you didn't ask for it on your order, so I included it on mine —she continued after his confused look.

San remembered the long rant she wrote down in their chat about spicy food, and how she was never able to handle it. She didn't ask for the wasabi because she wanted it, but because he wanted it and she knew. The same way she threw that rent, his response right after was about how much he enjoyed spicy food.

—Thanks.

Her lips were pressed together as she dedicated him a squared smile, nodding while her fingers gently caressed his biceps.

—Let's make the teams —Wooyoung called everyone out, gulping the piece of food he was chewing—. Actually, I'll make them since I'm not playing.

—What does that have to do with anything? —Yeosang muttered.

—Y/n, Mingi, Hongjoong and Yeosang together —he continued, ignoring the comment—. San, Yunho, Hwa and Jongho.

—Ah, we are damned —Mingi threw his head back.

—It's not fair. Why does that team have two good players? —Hongjoong quickly opposed.

—Because I say so.

Her body squirmed, tilting her head to the side when she felt a warm breath on the curve of her neck.

—If you want to change teams, tell him. I bet he'll make an exception if it's for you —his voice sounded heavier and raspier with that whisper.

—Don't convince your girlfriend to change teams —Wooyoung called him out—. Respect my decision.

—It's alright —she dedicated to San a reassuring smile.

A game that started as something equalized, almost tied with the numbers of deaths, quickly changed to benefit one of the teams. Jongho kept calling his team out with every shot aimed whenever either of the four were, while Yunho and Seonghwa kept concentrating on looking for each one of the people of the other team on the map.

—It's almost over —Hongjoong celebrated.

—Let's go, let's go, let's go —Yeosang cheered.

As San moved to get out of his hideaway, his elbow rubbed against her, getting her to freeze completely after such a simple and stupid touch. That strong electricity ran through her arm, disabling her senses. At least until San's team cheered with growls and shouts their victory, suddenly getting up from their places.

One battle came after another one, until Y/n was finally aware of the time. The next day she promised she'd go with her father to a business brunch with one of their biggest suppliers, and she doubted she'd be able to if she stayed there for a little longer.

—You sure you can't stay? —Seonghwa asked, looking up to her with big eyes.

—I don't want you to leave so early —Wooyoung pouted.

Early... It was already two in the morning.

—I have something to do tomorrow, but I promise next time I'll stay longer.

That answer seemed to work on Wooyoung, who threw a victorious smile at her before turning back to the TV. It worked for him and the rest of the boys, who were giving her sad looks as they tried to convince her to stay for thirty minutes more, but a sudden sadness took over most part of her chest when she was aware there would be no next time. That was the first and the last time she'd meet with them, and San.

That was for sure.

—I'll walk you to your car —San walked with her.

—I parked it right at the entrance, don't worry —she assured him, stopping by the door.

As she opened the door, San got ready to hug her, wrapping his arms carefully around her and hiding his face on the curve of her neck, taking advantage of the position he was in and how his friends weren't able to see his lips moving.

—Thank you so much for today —it was a barely audible phrase, just enough for her to hear it.

With just a smile, and a soft caress on his cheek that had his insides jumping in excitement, Y/n moved closer to him.

All of his friends turned to each other, smiling as they were witnesses of the cute scene their best friend was pulling. While, back on their perspective, Y/n stepped back after kissing San's chin, just to make it seem like she was giving him a peck on the lips from the place where his friends were.

—Send me a text when you get home.

If he had said it a little louder, she'd have believed it was part of the act. But San whispered it to her, with blushed cheeks, as he nervously smiled.

He indeed wanted to make sure she was okay.

She waved to his friends one last time, before she finally stepped outside and started walking down the stairs.

On her way back home, she kept rethinking everything that had happened ever since she met San earlier that day, comparing her expectations to their first meeting when they were just texting to actually meeting him after so long.

It kind of scared her thinking there would be no chemistry when they met each other, or that she'd just feel so out of place as she had done with other previous dates. But even as annoyed as she was with him, she enjoyed every fake touch and caress. She even regretted not actually kissing him on the lips when she had the chance. The disappointing feeling didn't take long to appear as she was reminded that it was her last opportunity to do it. She was indeed trying to convince herself of not seeing San again.

She dropped her bag over the couch, falling next to it right after, taking her phone out of the pocket of her pants to tell San she was already home.

"Thank you so much for today. I know you shouldn't have done it, but it meant a lot to me that you helped me. I promise I'll give you back your subscription as we agreed this afternoon. I wish I hadn't been such a dumbass, so this wasn't the last text I'm going to send to you. Sorry again for ghosting you. It was never my intention to hurt you or upset you".

She typed several times, saying in different ways how that didn't have to be a goodbye, but she always ended up deleting everything she wrote.

It would never work anyway.

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dgdraws · 3 months ago

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Maybe saying this on my 18 follower art sideblog is silly, but I want to offer some gentle pushback on the sentiment that's been going around re: notes on art and lack of engagement.

TL;DR make it your practice to be the person who rbs art with nice tags and you can build a community of likeminded folks

There are myriad reasons why online comment culture has shifted, I'm not gonna waste time pinning that stuff down, bc it's actually immaterial to my perspective, which is:

You can find or create a community of people who will lift up your art. But it requires that you participate in the culture you want to see more of.

I had been a lurker on this site for a decade. I held back participating in discussions, creating or sharing art, engaging directly with anyone outside of following blogs and rbing posts without commentary. And during that time, I made no connections, no friends, built no community.

I was afraid of scrutiny. I have felt the humiliating lurch of earnest engagement turning to dread and exposure and a deep regret of allowing myself to be vulnerable. I pulled up the ladder behind me so I would never have to hear the slightest dismissal or repulsion or ridicule from others. In so doing I also cut myself off from praise, understanding or connection. If no one gets a chance to let me down, then it's as though they're holding me up, right? Wrong!!!

I paid good money for a therapist to help me work out the lie there. The realization that I felt isolated and misunderstood because I never gave people the opportunity to show up for me was so hard to grasp. How could my safety net be the cause of my profound loneliness? But it is true. The people in my life couldn't disappoint me, but they also couldn't help me or support me or really love me the way I needed.

Opening myself up to disappointment has been a long, tough road (and goodness knows I'm not ready to let my parents let me down (again) yet). But my relationships are strengthening. My sense of identity is more stable. I am not inconsolably lonely deep in my heart anymore. Because it turns out people do show up when you give them the opportunity.

Not every time. Not every person. But enough of the time that it builds resilience. Every time I reach out and someone reaches back, I get a little braver. I trust a little more.

To bring this back around to online culture and community: I started receiving interest (and notes) after I started showing interest in others. Once again it turns out that people want to turn up for you, but you must give them the opportunity. This means making yourself vulnerable. It means taking the first step.

If you want a community, a group of people who interact w a certain set of values, you have to demonstrate it. Live those values. This is how we create culture. We choose what behavior we want to encourage and we set an example. This is as true in a workplace or a family as it is for tumblr or ao3. If your boss puts up a sign that says "we see mistakes as a chance to learn" but they punish people when they mess up, that's just words on the wall. If they accept errors graciously, if they work to suss out the root of the problem to resolve it, if they are open about their own mistakes, that is the culture.

So if we want to see more reblogs, but not just that, real engagement and chances for connection, then it starts with you.

Here's what I do that has helped me make friends and spark genuine interest in my work;

Reblog LOW NOTE art as much as, if not more than, posts with thousands of notes. Feel proud to give someone the first note on their work!

Incorporate leaving nice tags into my gratitude practice (it is a form of mindfulness! noticing what specifically draws me to art I rb both engages me more deeply with the work and makes my own art better)

Queue up several art posts from the same artist (people notice when you are consistently in their notes!)

Participate in art events like artfight, various -tobers, other challenges (as with making friends anywhere, repeated exposure leads to familiarity and chances for connection!)

Follow people back or even initiate following blogs who interact with your posts (do not approach this with a f4f mentality, only follow people you actually want to hear more from)

Set up post notifications for portfolio style art blogs (ie sideblogs exclusively for original content) so you keep up w your network/mutuals even if you're offline when they post

Low key notice what the people engaging with you like most about your work and consider expanding on those ideas. This is not about "tailor your work to an audience" it's about thinking, "so-and-so left feral tags on my post about this oc so I'll do my practice sketches of them" or "people seem interested in this storyline so let me feed off that enthusiasm and develop it more"

Don't get hung up on it when individuals don't reciprocate. Assume good faith. You never know what is draining someone's energy. Remember that you are offering a gift, your time and energy yes, but also the chance for someone to show up for you too. If it starts to feel like an obligation, reassess where you're putting that energy, but don't be afraid to be generous.

This has worked wonderfully for me. I went from a person scrolling longingly past posts about beloved mutual culture, not quite believing it could really be like that, to a person who happily gets 3 notes on my former flop posts and posts reblog bait for my besties and reblogs the bait they post for me :)

Apparently I had a lot to say! I kinda hope this doesn't break containment but if it does, please be niceys. I understand if this mindset is not available to you bc of social trauma, depression/anxiety, disability, mental illness or whatever else but please avoid venting that on this post. I love you and I hope you can get here someday, because you're worth it. In the meantime, try to be gentle with yourself and others. xoxo

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readtilyoudie · 1 year ago

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TURNS OUT MY ONLINE FRIEND IS MY REAL-LIFE BOSS!

#manga(visual)monday #turns out my online friend is my real life boss #Nmura #comedy #manga

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venomgender · 22 days ago

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trick or treat

Your yaoi kin assignment is Hashimoto from Turns Out My Online Friend Is My Real Life Boss!

#i actually heavily associate you w misuki from tgswiiwagaa but the bit im doing is from yaoi. so #anywaus this guys whoke thing is hes a gamer with a shitty boss so.#halloween2024

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pandasan-power · 2 years ago

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THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND THE SECOND-HAND EMBARRASSMENT ARE KILLING ME... (Kumatarou I love you)

#Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss!#BL Manga #Poor dude thinks it's about sex but it's not #RIP Kumatarou

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lgbtqmanga · 6 months ago

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Hashimoto is a perfectly average salaryman, working a repetitive office job, made all the worse by his stylish, strait-laced boss, who insists everything be done by the book. Whatever he does for this perfectionist, it's just not good enough! Thankfully, Hashimoto can go home to his favorite online video game, where he can unload on the forgiving shoulders of his best friend, whom he knows only by the name “Uma.” The duo make plans to meet in person, but when they do, Hashimoto is horrified by a revelation that will change his entire life…

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Yata-Momo (manga) vol. 1 by Harada

Good-for-nothing himbo Momo lacks the ability to look after himself, while Yata is a reliable but simple lug. The two get off to the worst possible start when Yata comes across Momo during a post-sex clean-up in a public restroom. Taking advantage of Yata's kindness, Momo ends up staying at his apartment. As he spends more time with Yata, the once-slovenly Momo starts to change… But in the midst of this, Momo's previous “owner” shows up.

#lgbt manga #new releases #queer manga #manga

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stewpid-soup · 9 months ago

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VENT CW!! STAY SAFE!!

anyone else find it exhausting to just enjoy things?

I don’t want to support people or companies that are actively doing things that are bad (racism, homophobia, defending SA, etc etc). but it’s so mentally draining to look through all of this terrible shit and not be able to enjoy things bc of their creators or ppl associated with it

i mean, i don’t support dream. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. I don’t support dream or the dteam as a whole - but the dsmp was such a big comfort to me through quarantine, and even now i still love the storyline and the characters.

HP, well that’s self explanatory. JKR is just a shit person and i’m not gonna give her my money bc i enjoy the plot of HP. I just take fanon on its own for the most part. I own the books and the films already (my family loves HP and has for a long time, since before JKR was outed as a transphobe) so i don’t need to buy anything from her. HP was a huge part of my childhood and the thought of not interacting with any content related to it makes me so sad, because i still love it even now.

and as controversial as it may be, i’ve enjoyed hazbin and helluva boss for years now. it was another comfort during quarantine, and i watched it with friends and got to bond over it. i do not like vivziepop or support her, and it’s exhausting to see all this back and forth about her online bc it’s so confusing. I love these shows and it makes me so happy that I get to see hazbin come together after waiting so long, and the same goes for helluva boss. of course there can be improvements to the way vivziepop writes some characters, but i still love these shows so much. it hurts my heart to feel like i can’t enjoy the content because the creator is such a bad person.

and then the number of musicians i’ve had to stop listening to because they turned out to be shitty people. or actors i avoided watching content of because they’re bad people (especially when the list of ppl who support Israel came out- of course im not supporting anyone on there, but some of the ppl on there just rlly hurt my heart because ive enjoyed their content for so long)

i know there’s not really any way to avoid this, as people are complex and can be an asshole w/o you knowing. funding people like this isn’t something i want or care to do, so of course i actively avoid it. but I just don’t know what to do when it comes to this.

a friend told me that it’s sort’ve about picking and choosing things, because you never know what people are really like. they said that with the state of the world, it’s important to stay educated but don’t let shitty people get in the way of things you enjoy. i’m just at the point where i feel like i can’t enjoy anything because anytime i get stuck in a rabbit hole of content, i see people going back and forth about who should be cancelled and who actually isn’t a bad person. cancel culture is one of the worst things about the internet, and it just makes interacting with fandoms even more toxic than it already is.

ig this is just a rant talking about comforts i have that i feel like i can’t enjoy anymore because of cancel culture and just like..people being people? i’m just so tired of finding something i enjoy and then learning out that they are or possibly could be doing/supporting something bad and just— it makes me feel so guilty because i don’t want to indirectly/directly hurt anyone. i know what i believe in and what i do and don’t support, at least for the most part (still learning everyday atp), but it doesn’t make it any easier to part with things i hold so dearly in my heart.

does anyone else feel similarly? if so, what have you found that helps or at least is a comfortable middle ground?

idk bro, my life is so exhausting with everything i deal with in real life- so to feel like i can’t even find comfort in my silly little shows anymore is really depressing. my mental health is not doing well lmfaooo

#vent post #tw vent #cancel culture #bad people?#tw dream mention #tw jkr mention #tw vivziepop mention #content warning #cw vent #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #dsmp #harry potter #fandom discussion #toxic fanbases #idk what to tag lmao #soup speaks #soupy thoughts #soup rants

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monkey-network · 10 months ago

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Good Stuff: Hazbin Hotel

Welcome Back Friends, to the Show That Never Ends

I will admit, while I'm a fan of her overall work, after seeing the pilot I wasn't into Hazbin Hotel. Not that it looked bad, just didn't appeal to me whereas Helluva Boss was more my speed. When the A24 pickup was announced though, I was intrigued because its lacking appeal didn't mean complete disinterest in its potential direction, you feel me? The future is alive now and a full series is finally here, blindsiding you with more shades of red than your blood stream. And you know, color me impressed that we truly got to this point upon the unbearable avarice of online chaos surrounding the creator that had its fair share of critics upon an Everest mass of pisstakers. But I'm not here to rummage all that, I just want to finally review Hazbin Hotel at long last.

So let's start with the presentation

Maybe it's thanks to Helluva Boss, but I've always liked Viv's flair in design and color. Things get to stand out in a way that says yes, she owns it. This is the art of somebody who was THE regular at Hot Topic AND adjacent Spencer's, has an autographed Gir hoodie buried in her closet, probably read Revolutionary Utena or Rose of Versailles in school, and her dream was to bring that vision of her childhood to life. Vaggie I say is my favorite design wise, major pilot improvement where the red and black compliments her cream and grey colors. Can things all look busy and disoriented? Of course, never to an eyesore degree but there can exist... garish clashes, like you're wondering how the boarders no less animators were able to put some scenes together. Then again, it's the rare time I can say "I've never seen anything like this" for a cartoon and it actually means something.

Needs more furries though, we can never have enough Broadway studded furry characters

Storywise, I think will be hard to follow unless you've seen the pilot, which is thankfully still online. Episode 0 I say better introduces the characters and whole initial feeling of the hotel's existence since Charlie introduces it to the citizens of Hell first. The structure of this season I was pretty lost on until I found that good ol' "Monkey connects it to another show to make his point" lightbulb. This is that kind of series that unravels as you go along, so if the first two episodes aren't your tea then you oughta drop this show, or not and "hatewatch" like the sodomite you'll become in your 40s. I was reminded of The Bear or Silicon Valley in that it's not about running the titular hotel but the characters getting it together before operations truly start. Charlie has her goal and deadline, and it's all a methodical stream of how bad or good things can turn out for everyone involved. It's story driven but more focal on the characters, if you follow. Speaking of which, let's finally talk characters... and how they're my biggest issue with this series.

Except Nifty. I can never hate on gremlins

I'll say with the characters, it's NOT that their scripts consist "just of swearing and sex jokes". Whether or not the case, this is me we're talking about. El Superbeasto is my all time favorite adult animated movie, and the Hellverse is tamer by comparison. Won't knock points because humor is "subjective", but I'm never gonna act like I'm above the large swear counts or thinking of the nasty every other minute and beyond the first episode, they lessen the excess. The no shits given humor of Viv's work still feels refreshing.

Trust me, nothing Adult has trumped the champ yet

My real issue is something I've realized for Vivienne's shows overall: she's not great at making... flexible characters, lack of a better term? What I mean is that when they work, they work purely in service of the stories, its gags, and it's hard thinking about them outside of their shows if we don't count the porn and memes. They're not static, but I think too symbiotic to the narrative. That's where the dominoes start because being inflexible means they have to be more compelling and if they're not, then the story falls apart. And yeah, Hazbin's characters aren't as compelling. I like them, but I'm not invested in them. The crux of this is that while the pacing can fly, none of the characters provide that snappy dynamic you would get with an ensemble. With Helluva Boss, you could throw Blitz and the crew in different scenarios and it's engaging enough just seeing them run amok. A pinchful of episodes and the Hazbin crew don't really do it for me beyond the occasional gag and piecing clues about them together. The musical numbers are great character moments in their own right, like everyone of them are actual bangers, but for only two an episode they are doing the heavy lifting. Again, it's that type of show where every piece comes into play one at a time, so it's conflicting where I want to be into this series but I'm not that into it.

Charlie also makes it somewhat worth it; infectious enthusiasm is my kryptonite

I overall can't fit this show in a box, and I frankly didn't want to. You think I went into this cartoon cavalcade, radiating with juvenile fujo theater kid energy, about a bunch of sailor mouths that can sing gospel from heaven AND hell and have everything click? It's not possible, but that's what I can respect about this and Vivienne overall. This show doesn't posses a "fuck all of you" type feeling, but an "I want to do this, you can join or go" feeling. Not everything works, but it's meaningfully experimental in a way that somehow makes it meta. Like Charlie and the Satanic Panic Plaza, nothing about this should've functioned, this shouldn't have had any saving graces and got left obscurely on Youtube, but it could and many saw that regardless of how well they're able to express. Viv actually committed to seeing this through and this speaks a lot about creators who put in to an non-compromised vision.

You could say, it's always about finding that one person who gets the joke

From the fractions of episodes I got to watch, I'm unsure if this is a hidden masterpiece or a disasterpiece of storytelling or if it's just okay. I don't know if the show's team can stick the landing, but the fun in her work has always been the journey. She put in the effort since way back for me to give her stuff a chance, to actually review Hazbin Hotel earnestly as opposed to belittling things which would've been easy. To conclude, with all its flaws this is enthusiastic, fascinating start to an otherwise predictably unpredictable year that's leagues better than the Velma series because I actually want to see where season 2 goes.

I'm just glad this finally exists, regardless of the hell it took to get here

#Hazbin Hotel #A24 #vivziepop #cartoons #reviews #Good Stuff #long post

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