A Rant From The Author: because the author is good at it
There are many issues I'm frustrated with in life. One of them is LATE STAGE CAPITALISM.
Another is that Jeff Bezos's empire Amazon and Kindle is so exploitative, he can go over and do some growth like his hair for example.
Second, this is not based in real life. Except when I did put my research hat on, and did some arm-chair inquiry through Google as a terminally online Gen Z on the internet, what I usually find on the online spaces I lurked about are the overrated-sometimes-cliché-eye-roll stereotyped image of the Filipinas in Japan way back the 90's. I don't know if these stereotypes still persist post-2020, but if they're still around... okay. And I barely did the standard rigorous research anyway. My research resources are scant in themselves (for now).
To be clear, y'all (minasan). The only extent I know about Japanese is through second-hand resources a.k.a through reading, listening and watching on the internet. So if by chance I screwed up… I did my best, but I guess my best wasn't good enough by Quincy Jones.
Yeah, go figure.
And since I'm one among the many curious creatures in these two almost disparate worlds where I have read enough anecdotes, I have heard enough oral accounts, reaching the shores of where I live enough that this entered into our everyday Filipino consciousness, I might as well redirect my energy to my main endeavors. And that is: my writing practice.
Because third, as I said, I'm an ambitious wannabe with the want to traditionally publish my shit somewhere in the US. But why? Easy answer: money.
Ha-ha.
Not only about this brazenness, 'cause everybody wants to make a big buck out of LATE STAGE CAPITALISM, but also that commercial/popular fiction/literature moves according to trends. I could almost throw my hands off from frustration when my very first original manuscript is now at the fringes of the-least-sought-after queries in American publishing.
This current trend grates the pettiness out of me and I'm grumbling on this post.
Not only that, but also because my own scene just really took after the American popular literature landscape. You can obviously see it in my style, form and structure. I can't help it. You can take the Gen Z out of the scene, but you cannot take the scene out of the Gen Z—kind of idiomatic expression. (If you know what I mean. In XG's song: iykyk).
This might be a full-on practice when it comes to writing character work. You know… conflict, dynamics, chemistry, tension and all that. 'Cause I have this very first draft where the most repulsed theme of unapologetically ***cheating in a relationship*** was explored as a part of the story's conflict. And damn if I couldn't sense the vitriol among the American readers if this is ever put out. I can hear the harsh criticisms in my head now.
One star bomb and a Reddit discussion post about HOW THEY HATED THIS BOOK and did not finish reading it. For them, it's a hard NO.
Like I said, I'd be damned if I did write cheating as a part of the story's conflict and my potential debut novel is a flop.
Ugh.
That's why I made a resolution. Explore these repulsed elements and themes here, and once I get the gist of it, I'll remove it out of my original draft. As I also practice the very core of the dynamics I've been sketching about some time these past years.
If there's any American lurking around here: how's it going? Lol. Don't mind me rambling, haha. You can find me on Reddit (r/RomanceBooks) too, really.
And fourth, I am rather fervently fuming about this locally-written novel I've read back then. It was set in Tokyo but left me frustrated. Again… frustrated for the zenith. Once, I threw this novel across my room out of fury. The end result was that I want to simply trash this novel.
So if you ask me why this story is a toxic take? I'd answer: it's because I want to curse that novel. I want to tear that rom-com bluff apart, butchering its bland palate. Fluffy rom-com, my ass.
More like: playing-safe, people-pleasing, "vibes only," vapid, dilutive, dismissive, dumbed-down, because-of-declining-reading-literacy-rate excuses, uncritical, superficial, saccharine, mediocre and proliferated cash cow shits in the name of **escapism** and **emotional fantasy** (American romance novels' context, if you please).
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Now, as to those who belong to the younger demographic. As much as I don't subscribe to 'think of the children' rhetoric, because trust me, when the internet was around, I had my fair share of consuming shit.
But, while there are those of you that might stumble this around the Japanese internet and you're such a voracious yet stubborn reader you would really wish to keep reading, let me just put something in caution:
Dear young reader, there are better stories meant for you than what the adults do during their most miserable time. The themes found in this story are meant to be treated as complex and mature as it can get. There's a time to grow and enjoy things as it is, you don't need to rush to figure things out only to witness fictional adults being pathetic themselves. So go on your way and try to avoid this as much as possible if you will. Thank you very much.
In short: kids, this story is mainly for adults. Either look elsewhere or deal things that will scar your life forever (joke, haha).
And as for the rest of my rambling, don't say I didn't warn you.
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DISCLAIMER:
(For the conservative and strict English-speakers. Just in case someone from this background throws around that “AI-slop” accusations on me again. **Eye-roll**):
No part of this text is generated by AI. No part of this text had also undergone a significant AI-assistance in any form or substance of its essence. Every bit and piece you will read here is completely and originally mine. Thus, no permission is given to repurpose this text for AI use and/or training. Also, don't bother plagiarizing. I made the story's core DNA hard to plagiarize. Do it and you'll embarrass yourself in the long run, really.
As you can see, it's written by an amateur. It's also not that edited. Yk, that level of editing where shit is perfect. Yah... so bear with a lot technical errors and some structural inconsistency. Trust me, it's not AIIIIIIII.
