/lit/ - Literature

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

>>22180953
Nice to see a fellow sabukaru online enthusiast.

>>22181254
To buy: White socks, well warn.

Give me a moment; I'll think of something.

>>22180953
A woman looks at a camera and a man presses a button to take a picture of the woman.

Aoi walked down the streets of Takayama, taking in the sights with her giggling girlfriends. They wore identical dark-blue skirts and carried identical medium-blue satchels.
"Omigaw," Cho gushed, "look at that shirt in the window! It's so *kawaii*!"
Aoi frowned. "It looks like every other school-uniform sailor blouse."
Emi and Cho glared at her. "It does *not*!" Emi sputtered. "It's an *entirely* different shade of white!"
Aoi looked at the blouse, then at her own, then at both again. "They look exactly the same."
"Ugh," Kei groused. "You have *no* appreciation for sailor outfits." Aoi's friends continued to walk down the road; she hurriedly followed.
"Omigaw!" Kei exclaimed, looking at some sort of rodent behind the glass. "Isn't he simply *adorable*?"
Emi knelt down and tapped on the glass; the animal put its paws up to her, straining to return the gesture. "You're just delicious, yes you are," she cooed. "Mama just wants to eat you right up!"
"Ugh," Aoi complained. "It's just a photogenic rat. I can't believe you'd want that for a pet."
"Excuse me?" Emi huffed. "I said I wanted to *eat* him!"
"Yeah, Aoi," Kei fumed. "Are you *sure* you're Japanese?"
"I–" Aoi began, but her friends had already turned to leave, and were almost out of view. She glumly followed.
Aoi found her friends fawning over shoes at an open roadside stand. "Aren't these simply *marvelous*?" Emi trilled.
Aoi inspected the pair uncertainly. "They look like the same sort of black Oxfords you're wearing right now."
"What?!" Emi snapped.
"Let me guess," Aoi jeered. "They're an entirely different shade of black?"
"No!" Emi snorted. "My shoes are Mary Janes, not Oxfords!"
"Wow, Aoi," Kei chortled. "You really need to get with it!"
Aoi showed no sign of hearing Kei; her eyes were fixed on a black pair of long boots.
Kei followed her gaze. "Ugh," she spat. "Do you actually *like* those? They're so *ugly*."
"Yeah!" Cho joined. "No one would be able to see your baggy white cotton socks!"
"I think those would look great on you." They all turned to gape at the boot salesman, an older gentleman in a beige kimono.
"Like we care what *you* think, perv," Emi berated. Cho and Kei giggled.
"He looks like a distinguished, respected elder to me!" Emi retorted. "Are *you* sure you're Japanese?" The three fell silent.
The boot salesman perused Aoi closely. "You're not like the others, are you?"
"Well," she pouted, "I thought I was, but it seems to be falling apart today. Usually, I'm really good at conforming."
"Yeah, Aoi," Cho mocked. "You're really off your game! Are you *sure* you're Japanese?"

>>22182637
"I'm not a mere shoe salesman," he revealed. "My real goal is looking for special young women like you, for a great quest and an enormous responsibility. Are you interested?"
"I'm not sure," Aoi hesitated. "Is it dangerous?"
"Everything worth doing is dangerous," he intoned solemnly. "But this one comes with a free new outfit!"
"That sounds great!" Aoi squeaked. "What do I have to do?"
The salesman handed Aoi something that looked like a jeweled pen. "Just hold this over your head and say 'Vanguard power, makeup'!"
"What the heck is Vanguard?" Aoi muttered.
"It's the longest surviving artificial satellite in orbit," he revealed. "You're well on your way to becoming a space scout!"
"Wow!" she gushed, turning to her friends. "You hear that? I'm *special*!"
She got only bemused stares in response. "Whatever," Emi hissed.
"Yeah," Kei agreed. "The whole thing smacks of *effort*."
"Have fun with *that*," Cho grumbled. "We're out of here."
Without another word, all three walked off, leaving Aoi alone with the salesman.
"They're just jealous," observed the salesman. "Now, do you want to become a space scout?"
"I do!" she exclaimed, holding the jeweled pen above her. "Vanguard power, makeup!"
A bright constellation of colored lights erupted from nowhere; everyone nearby gasped and looked at Aoi as she slowly rose in the air and rotated gently, bathed in a bright white glow. As angelic music filled the air, her clothes changed gradually, ending with a two-toned beige tunic, a sassy new hairstyle, and the long black boots from earlier. Finally, the lights and music died down, and Aoi stood there, saluting with two fingers, a stunned look in her eyes.
"Hey!" she protested. "Was I just naked?" The crowd snickered and then turned away from her.
"Well, sure," the boot salesman assured. "Just like Sailor Moon, during her transformation."
"You could have warned me about that part," she snapped.
"If it makes you feel any better," he quipped, "I enjoyed it greatly."
Aoi glared at him. "So what happens now? Am I going on an epic quest that concerns the fate of the entire world?"
"No, not the world," he informed. "Only Japan. You know, just like Sailor Moon."
She looked down at her clothes. "And I didn't expect space-scout clothes to look like *this*."
"That's because you're only a stewardess-scout," he explained. "I only said you were well on your *way* to becoming a space scout."
"Ugh," she complained. "Just as long as there are no more surprises. So, how do I start?"
With a leering grin, he opened the front of his kimono and dropped his underwear. "Right here."
"Yuck!" she scoffed. "I can't believe this is happening!"
"Really?" he chittered. "Are you *sure* you're Japanese?"
>>22182501
No imagination whatsoever.
You don't belong on /lit/. Begone with you.

>>22180953
ching chong bing bong

N

C

>>22180953
Me on the left in the suit

Dior: Dress, $5,600 [1]. Prada: Boots, $3,400 [2], Backpack $1,700 [3]. Hair by Kiki Lo [4]. Makeup and jewelry by Thud! [5]. Photography by Steven Weld [6]. Model: unknown [7].


1,2,3. Provided by the fledgling Cleveland boutique Sult who also funded the Tokyo shoot. Sult manager Claire Frier is sole source of information regarding the Tokyo shoot and the following days.
4. Born Helen Irene Hervimaaki 1/20/2001 - 9/13/2023. Obituary: The Canton Repository Canton Ohio 5/23/2028.
5. Award wining stylist firm of Carolyn Hull and Brandon Stam, 6/23/2005 - 9/18/2023. Announcement of closure done through change of voicemail message - "Thud! will remain closed," and abandonment of their properties. Current whereabouts of Hull and Stam are unknown.
6. A brief but celebrated career as a fashion photographer before taking a staff position with The Cleveland Plain Dealer in March 2024. Disappeared while on a trip to Argentina in April 2028, seen in the Falklands the following year.
7. Spoke only to Weld during the shoot who she seemed to have a history with.

>>22180953
A Fool's Love (aka Naomi) by Tanizaki

>>22180953
The two stepped out of their taxi into a loud and busy world. The hot night air was thick with sirens and car horns, and the neon from a dozen signs hissed and crackled over their heads.
The girl looked around them, frowning.
"You know, I never liked it here." She waved a spray-tanned hand at a passing group of schoolgirls. "Like so many sheep. That's what's wrong with this place. Everything is a copy of a copy. Nobody tries anything that hasn't been done before." Her hair was bleached blonde, a style she'd found in one of the half-dozen American magazines she subscribed to.
"Conformity, homogeny, collectivism," the photographer offered.
"Exactly." She wandered forward a few steps. "This should be a good spot."
The man followed, framing the composition in his mind. The burning signs in the three scripts, the schoolgirls in their loose socks, the hunched shoulders of the salarymen - all the elements of a uniquely Japanese scene.
"Ready?" He held up his camera.
She smiled, then struck a pose. "Make me look like Britney Spears."

>>22182641
thank you, this brought me joy

>>22180953
"I hope I don't get stuck in a hole in the wall later"

>>22181254
>sabukaru
Kill yourself weebshit
just say subculture like normal people

>>22183714
Kill yourself, you have zero reading comprehension. The name of the website is sabkaru online, mr. redditor.

>>22183723
I don't fucking care, you weeb nigger. Go back to /jp/ or /a/.

>>22183731
Ah, coping the reddit way. Completely wrong and has to backtrack. Please go back, mr. redditor.

>>22183737
I bet you read light novels, weebtard tranime faggot.

>>22183754
Please just go back, they have all your favorite subreddits for trannies and marvel movie lovers like yourself, mr. redditor.

>>22183759
>N-No you
Pathetic. Choke on a huge nigger cock, tranny. That's better than dying of aids.

>>22183761
That’s a good one, you really got him, mr. redditor.

>>22183763
Thanks, Mr Ken-sama. Don't bring katana to a gun fight next time.
>inb4 I can slice through bullets
No, my dear weeeaboo san that shit only happens in anime

>>22183767
>N-no you!
Nice one, mr. redditor

>>22180953
Koko was on a trip to Tokyo with her mother.
Mother generously paid for the trip after Koko got a new job as a working at a secretary at a real estate development firm.
Koko thought she looked cute in this outfit, so she got mother to take a photo that she put on her social media.
Really though, she was thinking this was to advertise that she was newly single.
This was the last photo she posted to social media, as a bus driver had a suspicious heart attack, causing him to slam on the gas and crush Koko.
All that remains of her today is a memory, and a small shrine on the sidewalk with some flowers, and this exact photo is framed.

>>22182641
I enjoyed it greatly.

>>22183677
>>22184071
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do my best!