#any issues the manga has is mostly inherited from the game (mostly it was still a choice to not gloss over it)

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

My brain needs to pick a lane on what brain worms it wants to have. TT0TT Is it P5X? DDS? P4? P4 Manga? MCM? Raidou? Something else? Pick a lane and stick to it! TT0TT

[satansaidnottoday]

Obey me! Human AU Characters.

More information about the characters in my Human AU.

Warnings: Child death, implied child abuse, talk of anxiety and depression.

The brothers

Lucifer:

He spends most of his day working, and then the rest worrying about his brothers.

Not only the ones that still live with him. He will visit Mammon, Leviathan and Satan on the regular.

He's constantly tired.

He only ever goes out when it's a family event or a work dinner. Diavolo tries every day to convince him to grab drinks with him and the rest of his co-workers, but he refuses every time.

His only hobby is drinking wine while he plays his records late at night.

Has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder he refuses to admit he needs help for.

Mammon:

When Lucifer gained custody over their brothers, he had already aged out of the system. They kicked him out of the home the day he turned 18.

He moved into Lucifer's couch, swearing he would move out the moment he got a job.

Lucifer convinced him to do a bartending workshop and that's how he got his job at a bar in the center of town. He only works there on the weekends.

He ended up moving to the studio apartment on top of Mc's Café. It doesn't have a separate entrance and only has one window, but it's affordable and Mc doesn't mind him being late on his payments.

Has some modeling gigs here and there. Recently got accepted into an agency, but hasn't gotten any important stuff.

Lucifer has offered him to put a good word in for him at his job, but Mammon refuses to accept his help.

He does take any opportunity to eat out on Luci's dime, tho.

He has a lot of free time he spends most of it pestering Mc for free food, going to parties and getting high.

Leviathan:

While living in the home he would find refuge in his anime and manga.

For his 14th birthday Lucifer bought him a cheap laptop and he filled it with pirated games. It was his most priced possession. When it broke he cried even tho he already had built himself a Gaming PC.

He came out to his family as transgender a few weeks after moving in with Lucifer. It was very emotional, he cried the whole time. His brothers were very supportive.

Got a job at a manga shop. Ended up as the manager because of how good he was at selling people extra stuff.

He streams regularly and makes a few extra bucks, but he's not big enough to make real money.

Rents a small apartment near the mall he works at.

Complete shut in. Only leaves his house for work or family events.

Has a lot of self esteem issues.

Secretly pays for Mammon's rent when he's behind.

Satan:

He's Lucifer's biological half-brother. Neither knew about the other until Satan was taken from his dad custody when he was six. He was the last one of them to arrive at the home and the one Lucifer spent the least time with before being kicked out.

He has anger management issues, which caused a lot of conflicts for him. He would regularly lash out at Lucifer.

Eventually he got help and learned healthier coping mechanisms. It's still a problem sometimes, but he knows how to deal with it now.

He works as a librarian.

He inherited a small house from his father after he passed. He lives there as he reforms it.

Has a garden he takes care of.

Loves going to the cafe and volunteers to help with the cats.

Has 4 cats of his own that he adopted because no one else wanted them.

Asmodeus:

He had a very rough life before ending up at the home. In many ways it was an improvement for him.

He enjoyed having a family that took care of him.

He would draw a lot, mostly outfits for his dolls. He started to make them out of scrap fabric and had little fashion shows with them.

He was a very beautiful child and everyone always remarked on it. But it was Satan that told him he had a real talent for design. That was the first time anyone praised him for something other than his looks.

It became his life goal to be a fashion designer.

When they moved together, Mammon got him a sewing machine. It wasn't the best, but with it he started to make clothes for all of his brothers and himself.

He made his own high school graduation suit.

When Lucifer took one of his suits to work for the first time he cried.

He was accepted into a very prestigious private fashion school. Lucifer insisted on covering his tuition so he could focus on school.

He still lives with Lucifer.

Beelzebub:

He is Belphie's dizygotic twin.

After Lilith's death he got really bad anxiety and ate as a way of dealing with it.

He would eat his nails, nibble at his fingers, and chew the inside of his mouth.

He had to get proper treatment to stop hurting himself. One of the things the therapist suggested was baking classes, since he had always loved cooking.

It helped him greatly, and gave him some direction in life.

He is now a culinary school student.

Lives in Lucifer's house and doesn't have plans to move out until after college. It was Lucifer's idea.

He started to exercise too as a way to burn away anxiety. He's part of his schools Rugby team.

Self proclaimed foodie with an Instagram full of pics of the food he tries. Has a top 10 restaurants for their city.

Mc's café is in there of course. He loves their pastries.

Usually follows Belphegor around when he has nothing to do.

Belphegor:

Narcoleptic.

He got extremely depressed after Lilith's death. He stopped taking care of himself and would sleep all day if allowed.

He had to start taking meds for his narcolepsy, but Lucifer was advised against giving him antidepressants at such a young age.

He went to therapy almost daily the first few months.

They tried to enroll him at just about any activity, but nothing caught his interest. Until they visited the planetarium and he became infatuated with the night sky.

Leviathan gifted him a telescope for his 13th birthday. It came with a book that detailed all of the constellations he could watch and how to find them. He still uses it every night.

He's a criminology student.

He wants to move out on his own, so he got a part time job at Mc's Café. He's saving up to hopefully move soon.

It is not that he doesn't appreciate everything Lucifer did for them, it's just he doesn't want to be bossed around anymore.

He resents his authority, but any time he feels bad he looks for comfort in Lucifer.

He's the only parent he's ever had after all.

The side characters

Diavolo:

He's Lucifer's best friend.

His dad is the owner of the law firm he and Lucifer work at.

He had a very privileged upbringing, but was mostly raised by nannies. His dad was always at work and he never met his mom.

He didn't have many friends because he found all of the kids at his school boring.

When he left for college, the same public one his father went to, it was like a bucket of cold water fell on his shoulders. Hearing his classmates stories made him feel like he was raised in a different world.

He wanted to help Lucifer in any way he could, even if his reasons were selfish. That worked well for them, since Lucifer is not used to people helping without expecting anything in return.

Diavolo lives near the bar Mammon works at and goes there regularly. They got high together once, which led to Lucifer and Barbatos having to bail them out of jail. It wasn't even that much, Diavolo was just acting out what he thought drugged people do.

When he heard about Levi's news, he did some investigation (one google search) and bought him a binder. It was too big for Levi, but he was still very grateful.

In his free time he likes to play chess. Not that he has a lot of free time.

Barbatos:

Diavolo's personal assistant.

Has been taking care of Diavolo since he was child, yet Barbatos doesn't seem to be a day older than 30.

Only Diavolo doesn't think that is strange.

He's very closed off and no one knows much about him.

He does enjoy baking a lot, tho.

Simeon:

He lives next door to the brothers. He was really surprised when he saw them all together. They shared a home for a short while, when his parents lost custody of him.

It was a money problem and when his dad got a job he was able to get Simeon back. He always wondered what had been of those kids.

He was very happy to see them all together and offered to help with the renovations in their house.

Lucifer helped him in the process of adopting Luke.

The brothers made him a surprise party the day he took Luke home. He was so happy that he couldn't stop crying the whole day, Solomon still makes fun of him for it.

He's a very successful author and makes all of his money out of that. He still helps out at Solomon's store from time to time.

He doesn't know. He can't know.

Luke:

Simeon's son. He was given up by his birth mother to his grandmother, who took care of him up until her death, when he was only five.

He spent the next few years bouncing around from relative's houses to foster homes. He met Simeon at a reading event for kids in the system. They had a really strong connection from the start and after some visits, Simeon started the process of adopting him.

He was seven when he moved with Simeon.

He had a hard time adjusting to the idea of actually having a home of his own. It took a lot of reassurance to convince him to unpack his things. He loved Simeon, but all of his experience told him he was going to be let down one way or another.

He wasn't a difficult child, just a very hurt one, and Simeon did his best to help him heal.

He didn't like the brothers at first, they were all too loud. He did end up warming up to them, but it took a lot of time.

He loves baking and sometimes makes cakes for Mc to sell at the café. They give him all of the money from those sales. It's his little entrepreneurship.

Solomon:

Simeon's best friend/Mammon's Dealer/General menace to society.

Owns a holistic shop as a cover for his drugshop. He only sells natural stuff, tho. All from his garden!

Owns the store and the house behind it.

He has a very keen interest in natural medicine, spiritualism and magic.

Very witchy aesthetic overall.

Has a pet squirrel that was actually just a really big brown rat.

Simeon had to tell him.

Her name is Mikey.

That's all of the characters that are currently part of this Au!

Thanks for reading.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 1: Can We Just...Ignore the Apocalypse? Let’s Just Ignore the Apocalypse.

Ah guys, we’re back, it’s a new season! Sort of! It’s a filler arc that probably won’t make a huge difference on anything in the plot but bro has promised is hella weird so lets dive into it.

Remember all the stuff we were talking about last season, and how I had to like basically carry around a notebook and take character notes like for the first time since my High School English class when we read Shakespeare? Remember how freakin complicated everything got?

Well the writers for this season decided to do a soft reset on all of that mess. Apparently they’ll get back to that crazy stuff we spent a whole season building up but with a new season they’d get a new audience of viewers, and maybe they didn’t want them to be confused. Because, lets be honest, nearly all of the latter half of S2 would be unwatchable if you did not know what was happening.

They also knew they had a problem, especially since they were waiting for the manga to catch up to the show at this point so they couldn’t accidentally step on the manga’s shoes and invent things that later negated the manga entirely. They had to edit. They had to stay as far away from the manga points as they could. And they did it in the most ridiculous way.

Y’all don’t even know this blog was *almost* a SeaQuest DSV blog. But it was pulled. So then it was almost a Kolchack the Nightstalker blog. But that got pulled. Yugioh was my third choice. Much like my dating life.

That’s right, we’re going to do a soft reset by adding a whole new set of characters! A whole new plotline to keep track of! To show us this tantalizing view of Kaiba island and then just.......detour.

It’s honestly, a welcoming thing for me, a reviewer, because I was getting hella lost and now it’s back to basics. Although, there are certain things they just...didn’t even address.

Cold as ice, Yugi. Cold as freakin ice, like way to appreciate your most interesting friend. Like maybe put that house fern where Bakura died or something. Anything.

What teenager finds out their other teenage friend freakin died last night and is like “well...that happens” and of all teenagers--especially Yugi Muto. Yugi is usually so freakin extra but he doesn’t really...seem to be freaking out. I’m so used to this kid having a melt down so often, that when he’s not having a melt down, I assume there’s something absolutely wrong with him.

Yugi kind of glazes over the more complicated parts of Season 2 in some flashbacks, and then the blimp starts shaking violently to get us right off course in both location and plot.

(read more under the cut)

We did not get a peek at anyone’s mirrors to see if the giant mystery purple bottles are still around. A shame.

Also, guess what time it is, just by looking at this image. Just guess in your head, knowing that all these people went to bed at like 3AM last night.

Yeah it’s canonically 5 AM. In grand Yugioh tradition, all these kids, mostly a bunch of really gross boys, who are still in clothes from the day before, who miiiight not have showered, are now going to continue their adventure, just piling on the gross as much as possible until this season ends. It’s like every little kid’s dream honestly.

Anyways, we’re gonna fly right into a plot dump that is maybe one of the most insane dumps this show has ever dumped--and y’all we’ve had some nuts dumps--but this one is especially weird because it actually makes sense within the continuity.

Just remember when you hear this that we are in Season 3. It is Season 3 and this has never once come up, not even once before. That one guy on the writing staff who really, really, REALLY stans Seto Kaiba apparently walked into work the day when they were making this episode and was he like “wow, everyone called in sick to work today and no one’s here but me and I can go home or I can finally just go NUTS.”

So this entire time, the Kaiba’s were basically the Patriots. OK.

I mean, it actually makes so much more sense as to why these children know how to ride a helicopter and why Seto randomly knows CQC. I never thought I would ever get a proper explanation for this but here it is. Kaiba was being honed to devote himself to the...war economy...but then he said “actually nah, because that’s too effed up even for Yugioh” and then to spite his father replaced every weapon with trading cards.

And then...accidentally weaponized trading cards in the process thus turning into his own Father. 

I guess that’s why people are legit dying in this tournament and Seto and Mokuba are like “Yeah? This is what happens?” since they were literally raised by some Hideo Kajima mini-boss. They probably have no idea what children’s games are supposed to be like, so when Yugi loses his nut and starts Shadow Realming they’re like “hm. Is this what kids are into? I’ll go along with it. See Dad? I am blending into kid culture real well. Really good at kid stuff.”

Like, it’s a good layer of irony that these two decided to bring peace and harmony to the whole earth by replacing weapons with games you’d play with children--but then they chose the one game that will absolutely end the Earth quicker than a weapon of mass destruction. Congrats. You did it.

This show, man, sometimes I’m not sure what it wants Seto Kaiba to be. Because, yeah, Seto just showed us a very nice thing he did as he randomly does--he’s basically won a Nobel Peace Prize by default--but he’s still a complete asshole. Like did he just feel like he has to show up Yugi again for saving the Earth last season by reminding us that Seto has already done that before this show ever started? That he dissolved the freakin Patriots before this show ever began?

Like Seto single-handedly fixed the entire plot of Metal Gear. Like this is the child that ended how many wars with getting rid of the ammunition? This is the child the writers chose? Seto freakin Kaiba?

And then he turned around and essentially put cards into a bunch of guns and you wear them on your wrist what the hell is even going on with this kid?

But don’t worry we won’t get even five seconds to register this plot dump, much like that time they told me that Seto freakin Kaiba has a dead soulmate from 5000 years ago who is now four separate playing cards and also probably his Great^nth Grandmother.

The Seto lore is rapidly getting more complicated than the Yugi lore and Yugi Muto is two people. Just saying.

Anyway, lets meet our new villain.

So the theme of this arc seems to also be a theme that the writers are currently wrestling with. You got Yugioh which has a very--INTERESTING background, it’s this horror manga turned effed up anime turned much more tame child’s anime and it’s like, that’s a lot of pressure for this team. Kinda feels like every time they try to do Yugioh there’s going to be people that are pissed off because it wasn’t like what came before it. And so this whole story of Kaiba trying to get out of his problematic Father’s shadow is almost like the entire writing team at this point just begging us to please let them do a thing without having to do 158 on-screen murders.

(JK, they’ll murder off more people in this very episode.)

And so this arc they decide to make this character who, as bro mentioned, is a throwback to Season Zero Kaiba, but with better hair. Sort of. Honestly, I mostly only see the white shirt as a reference but I can see what bro is getting at, especially since their hair shape and eyes are like...VERY Kaiba-ey. Anyway, I called it right away before we saw this kid that he’d be a distant relative here to claim his cut of the Kaiba inheritance pie so, because his hair is Mokuba blue-green, we’ll just make him a Season Zero green. Because it looks like no one else’s font color.

Honestly, hopefully that won’t get too confusing if he and Mokuba are speaking at the same time but I have changed Mokuba’s font color once already and now I might have to change it again...

They’re already kidnapped, right? Like all of these people on this blimp have absolutely been kidnapped by Marik and are at this moment at his mercy? (mercy meaning “he just doesn’t feel like it right now”)

So yes, Noah kidnapped them, but at the same time he’s just borrowing hostages from Marik for a little while. He’s just babysitting some other person’s kidnapees from how I see it.

Also, his name is Noah and he lives on a very big ship. That’s uh...a little on the nose there with the naming conventions, Yugioh. As far as villains go, at least this kid doesn’t live underground and get tortured with back tatts. But, with the way this show is going, I would not be surprised if all the Kaibas got Agent 47 serial codes on the back of their heads.

*I love a good Star Trek tractor beam, don’t get me wrong, but never in my life did I think I’d see a sci fi tractor beam being used on a freakin party blimp*

Marik, PS, is still standing here on top of this blimp saying “this will be very interesting to just let another villain waltz in here on my territory while I just chill on the couch for a little while. I am tired.” which was...actually pretty true to Marik. This kid will let anyone else do his job for him if given the opportunity. Such a lazy villain. In a show where all the villains have been pretty lazy.

Now, Noah insists that everyone get the hell off this blimp, but Seto was like “Really, honestly, I just want to keep one secret today. Just any secret. Lets just have this conversation in private and everyone else, please don’t mind my family issues. No need to call the cops, it’s just a light kidnapping, no big deal. Family, amiright?”

So because they’re getting shot at, they stubbornly get off the blimp.

And then Marik wrote himself right out of this arc. At least according to my bro.

So, in honor of blimp, lets give that blimp a good send off. One last time, for blimp

I will miss you, blimp.

So, down a hallway and in a room of so much bloom they run into...these guys?

I had to like really think for a while to remember who the hell these guys were, it feels like 10 years ago since that one-off MMO arc that I figured would never come back.

Apparently time doesn’t work the same, much like in Narnia, so the Big 5 are just straight up insane now. Got it. Really glad I get to try and keep track of the names of 5 new people, don’t hold me to it, I’ll absolutely forget the name of every one of these mini-bosses. Anyways, while they were strapped to Kaiba’s game for 2 months, they freakin died.

Yeah, what?

Wow Yugi killed 5 people and it’s not even Season Zero! Like this is a Yugi kill, right? Like Yugi did this entirely? Like that whole game would’ve been a lose if Kaiba wasn’t told exactly what to do by Yugi and Pharaoh? Nice.

And then they got...the digital version of Shadow Realmed.

Ah the digital space. We can go anywhere here. Any environment. Anywhere. lets see where they go.

Man this show and it’s obsession with island climates.

I say that, forgetting they’re all from Japan.

Apparently every season of Yugioh contractually has to have at least one reference to Tristan’s enigmatic ass. Thing is--assuming they’re all hooked up to sensors or whatever---is there just one that covers...farts? Like there’d have to be, right? Google, stop whatever weird self driving car glasses you’re making and get on that.

After Kaiba proves that you can’t actually touch anything in this universe, Tea immediately sees a great opportunity and just starts touching all the stuff that she can’t touch, too. So she goes over to the bushes and sees this looking back at her. From a bush.

This still doesn’t answer the question of why the hell there was a clone in the bush!

Anyway, apparently Kaiba has made hundreds of clones of himself so he could play cards since he had no friends growing up and that wasn’t even the weirdest Kaiba plot dump this episode. Kaiba and his Clone Wars just feels so tame now.

So they go over rules--it’s a lot of words all right. Whatever, we don’t go into duels here, but overall they have to choose a mascot whenever they play to act a King in chessboard. So if their mascot card dies, then they lose.

Honestly they could just kill everyone straight up but youknow, it’s Yugioh so we’re gonna throw some honor into this murder by making it card murder. It’s fine. Don’t think about it.

Ishizu just slept through everything, right? Like she looked outside, saw all this go down and was like “NOPE” and then went right back to bed? I mean...that is also sort of what she did for half of last season.

And no, Yugi never ever once mentioned that Bakura freakin died last night. Amazing.

[feedmeramyun]

Fifty Questions Tag Game!

I was tagged by @sweet-teeth-mfs

Hi, it me, Bee. 

1. What takes up too much of your time?

Realistically, work? I work an office job to pay my while I finish my PhD:  it’s a good job and luckily I don’t hate it (not to mention I wouldn’t even be able to do my PhD without it) but it’d be great to have that time to work on my academic projects.

2. What makes your day better?

Food.

3. What’s the best thing to happen to you today?

I didn’t do a lot today, but it was announced Lee Min Ho has been discharged from the military so that made me happy! 

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

So. Many. Places. But forced to choose right now? Rabanastre from Final Fantasy XII.

5. Are you good at giving advice?

Lots of people ask me for it, but I think that’s because I have a very logical and rational understanding of the world. I’m not great at understanding feelings (or remembering they exist...).

6. Do you have any mental illness?

I do! My family is particularly blessed with mental health issues and I inherited my fair share of them. I’ve learned to accept them as part of me though, and I’m mostly at peace with that now: but always happy to talk honestly and frankly with others about them.  

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Yes, ain’t that a blast. 

8. What musician inspired you the most?

As a teen, Kurt Cobain (so predictable!) was extremely important to me. I’m also a huge fan of Shakira: her work ethic and creativity has been a massive inspiration for me. Kpop wise, I’m in awe of female idols breaking down boundaries and forging their identities (in particular Sunmi, Hyuna and Hwasa), and of course Taemin in his explorations of gender, identity and style. 

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

Mmm, in my way. My spectrum of emotion is quite different from most peoples, so for a while I wondered if maybe I couldn’t love. Now I’m older and have a better perspective of myself I realise I can and do love, its just different. 

10. What’s your dream date?

This gets asked all the time, and I generally don’t know? Probably something low key that mostly revolved around food.

11. What do others notice about you?

I asked Edie and she said my eyes.  I quote: ‘You have very bright, round eyes. Very expressive.’ 

(What she actually said was my cuteness but I’m a grown woman dammit.)

12. What is an annoying habit you have?

I didn’t ask Edie this but I’m PRETTY sure she would agree it’s my inability to let something drop if it’s wrong or illogical, even if I know it’s supposed to be a joke. I just can’t help it. 

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

No.

14. How many exes do you have?

SOME. 

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

Spotify helpfully won’t tell me how many songs, but apparently its 12hrs 42 mins. 

16. What instruments can you play?

Guitar. I was in a band as a teenager, but I haven’t played in years. 

17. What do you have the most pictures of?

It’s a close tie between food and Do Kyungsoo. 

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

I’m lucky to have ticked a few places off my list (South Africa, Central Mexico, Moscow) but I’d really like to do a food tour of China, Japan and Korea soon. I’d also love to see St Petersburg, Machu Pichu and Teotihuacan.

19. What is your zodiac?

Libra.

20. Do you relate to it?

I know literally nothing about astrology. 

21. What is happiness to you?

Being content, being able to enjoy the people and things I love. 

22. Are you going through anything right now?

Some stuff, a few things. 

23. What’s the worst decision you ever made?

Oh boy I make terrible decisions on a daily basis.   

24. What’s your favorite store?

Sostrene Grene.

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

It’s a human right. 

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

No. I have goals and things I value, but it’s not really my style.

27. Do you have a favorite album?

Singular? No. Favourites however would be:

Donde Estan Las Ladrones Shakira

Nevermind Nirvana

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me Brand New

Warning Sunmi

Love Shot Exo

Want Taemin

28. What do you want for your birthday?

The manga boxset of Nausicaa

29. What are most people’s first impression of you?

As previously mentioned, Edie would say that I’m cute. 

In honesty, I’m not sure. I think it depends on the setting: I seem to either come across sweet or intimidating, with no real in between. But I wouldn’t say I’m especially either. 

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

Probably early twenties. 

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

On my bedside table. 

32. What word do you say the most?

Probably fuck? I have a bad habit of starting sentences with I either ‘Well...’ ‘I mean...’ and ‘I feel like...’ 

33. What’s the oldest age you would date?

Mid 30′s maybe? I like to be mostly on the same page as someone. 

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

As with above, so probably 25?

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

Teacher. 

36. What’s your favorite music genre?

I tend to cycle through genres depending on my mood, but I unashamedly love some good Pop. 

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

I like the UK, even if we’re in a state of complete political turmoil right now. I’d probably leave England for Wales or Scotland if it weren’t so far from family. I toyed with moving to Spain for a while, too.

38. What is your current favorite song?

Prism by SHINee! (I’ve been having mad feels since Minho left)

39. How long have you had this blog for?

Uhhhh since Edie made me? 

40. What are you excited for?

The farmers market on Saturday (with my friend and her adorable kids).

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

Talker. 

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

I made the posters, promotional materials and edited the photos for our conference next month. 

43. What do you want for Christmas?

I realllllly want to go the new Star Wars experience at Disney. 

44. What class do you did you get the best grades in?

History, English and Media Studies. 

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

A 5? I got my period and there was a huge thunderstorm earlier, though. 

46. What can you see yourself doing in ten years?

Hopefully in a full time lecturing position at a University. 

47. When did you get your first heartbreak?

I’m not sure, it depends what you would class as heartbreak: I remember crying my eyes out when the Sailor Scouts sacrificed themselves for Sailor Moon in the Dark Kingdom. 

48. What age do you want to get married?

Whenever, really. 

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

Power Ranger, Jedi, Princess of Power, Digidestined. And then a journalist or writer. (Which, I kind of am?!)

50. What do you crave right now?

Diet coke

I tag @ouuchyie, and any one else who wants to do it! I never really have any one to tag in these, since Edie tags me. Come say hey. I’m nice, mostly. 

[inloveandwords]

I read a total of 14 books between June 14 & June 27 and there were so many great ones!

All of the books I mention in this video can be found and purchased on my storefront here.

  Quiet Girl in a noisy world by Debbie Tung

4 stars

This is a graphic novel that is basically a series of scenarios that will be very relatable to true introverts. I am much more of an extroverted introvert, so there were some things that I didn’t fully relate to, but I totally understood. The illustrations were adorable and I read this book within an hour. I think this book would make a great gift for your introvert friends who don’t get enough love in this noisy world.

Can I Come Over by Whitney G

4 Stars

I saw that a friend of mine on bookstagram was reading a couple of Whitney G novels and this was one of them. It definitely inspired me to pick it up since it was my birthday and her novels tend to be short and sweet – like a little treat on a day of relaxation.

This book had so many great romance tropes happening in it. First of all, the heroine, not unlike Whitney G, is a successful author of short, self-published, steamy romance novels. She joins this sort of pen pal ish service that is supposed to be strictly platonic and starts talking to this guy. At first he’s a douche, but then they work things out. Turns out he is her dad’s good friend. So there is a forbidden and age gap scenario.

I have to be honest, I didn’t love this at first. I really didn’t like the way the hero was talking to our heroine at all and I worried he wouldn’t redeem himself.

He did and I ended up really enjoying this. Whitney G does what few authors can when it comes to steamy novellas: she builds chemistry quickly and crafts a believable romance in otherwise outlandish settings. Her and Katee Robert are my two very favorite short, steamy, romance writers for that reason.

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

5 Stars

I finally did it! I read a Tessa Dare novel and everyone was right. I freaking loved it.

This book is about a woman who is incredibly introverted and to avoid having to do the typical coming out in society thing, she makes up a pretend boyfriend. A Scottish soldier who, it turns out, actually exists.

He has been receiving her letters and learns all about her from them, so when he shows up unexpectedly at the house she inherited because of her fake engagement to him, she’s obviously surprised.

For those who don’t normally like historical romances, I think Tessa Dare is the perfect place to ease your way into the genre. Her heroines aren’t annoyingly innocent and naive. Her books feel modern even though they are not.

This had so many elements of a great romance: fake dating, a little bit of enemies-to-lovers, and an adorable meetcute.

I can’t wait to read more Tessa Dare!

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

5 Stars

This is a coming-of-age memoir about a mixed-race gay teen who eventually finds himself when he discovers drag, written in verse. Obviously I can’t personally speak for the rep in this novel, but I can tell you that it was beautifully written.

I’m a big fan of modern poetry and though I connected a little more with the poetry in The Poet X a little more, I still really liked this one. While I loved the audiobook, I have seen a few pages of the book and I wish I had it as I was reading as well.

I feel like this book is so important for young people to read, to help them see outside of their boxes – or to help them find themselves on page. To help them not feel so alone.

Cherry Magic

4 stars

My very first official manga was gifted to me by my sweet friend, @genkireader, for my birthday. There was definitely a learning curve when it came to reading this. I was messaging her on Instagram with questions like, “Wait, this book is backwards, where do I start? Do I read right to left or left to right?” It was surprisingly more difficult than I expected, but I REALLY enjoyed this book. So much so that I ended up buying a few more of her favorites.

This book was quirky and cute. It’s about a guy who has developed the power to read people’s mind through touch and he thinks it is because he’s a 30yo virgin. He ends up reading the mind of a charasmatic, good-looking guy in his office and discovers that he is attracted to him. So many adorable moments ensue, a ton of over-thinking and awkwardness, but also super sweet, swoony moments, too. I feel like this will speak to any of us who overthink every little thing when we are falling for someone. Especially when it is unexpected.

Thank you, De’Siree for this gift, it was like you gifted me a piece of yourself because I know how much you love these stories. Lovelovelovelovelove.

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon

3 Stars

This is a cute romance between a buff, tattooed nanny who begins working for a savant young surgeon and mother of two girls.

This book was fine, though I didn’t see anything special about it. Maybe I gave in a little to the hype surrounding it and that was the issue, but mostly the romance was just ok. I felt like it was a little rushed, I wished there was more pining and more of a forbidden aspect to this, but it seemed like they both gave in pretty quickly.

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittany C Cherry

5 stars

This was a super angsty, emotional story about a girl and a guy who are both dealing with terrible tragedy and find solace in each other. The first night they meet is filled with unbelievable chemistry, it’s almost too good to be true.

And it turns out to be. Because it turns out he is her high school teacher.

The heroine was held back in school because of a medical condition, so she is 19 years old and a senior. He is a young teacher, in his early twenties, so the age gap isn’t really a thing, but it doesn’t make it any less forbidden.

When they realize the situation, it’s heartbreaking because of how intense their first meeting was. A series of super angsty things happen and it’s all very intense, but in the best epic love kind of way.

I was rooting for this couple the entire time, but not only that, I loved the heroine’s relationship with her step siblings even with all that drama.

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

5 Stars

This is a super relevant fictional story that is somewhat reminiscent of The Hating Game.

This is about a boy in the ROTC in high school who is falsely accused of stealing by a racist, hateful police officer who ends up beating him until he is unconscious which stirs protests in his town that is sick of this constantly happening.

Sound familiar?

What’s interesting about this story is how it follows the perspective both of the victim and a white boy that goes to his school who is linked to the police officer.

I was completely invested in this story, while also cautious. I was super curious about how this book would end. Would it be far too optimistic or would it be realistic?

When I finally came to the end, I very much appreciated it. It was hopeful without being naive. It left questions that we still need answers to, but it didn’t feel too unresolved that it leaves you unsettled. I almost took it as… let’s let current events tell us how this story is going to end.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

5 Stars

I read this sweet, heartwarming graphic novel with my girls. They adored it from the very first night we read it before bed.

This story is about a prince who likes to wear dresses and hires, in secret, a dressmaker to make him custom dresses.

I didn’t tell them what it was about, I wanted them to discover it on their own and ask questions as they came up.

Books are an essential parenting tool for me.

The girls begged me every night to keep going. They loved the characters in this book and they were excited to see what was going to happen.

This entire book, but especially the ending was so adorable. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read more from this author. Especially if I can share the experience with my girls.

Addicted series books 1 & 1.5 by Krista and Becca Ritchie

5 stars and 4 stars

A lot of my friends have read and loved this series, between that and the premise, I’ve been super excited to read it.

This is about a woman who is a sex addict and her best friend she’s in a fake relationship with who is an alcoholic.

This is a super angsty, dark, gritty series so far with such a strong romance. These are extremely troubled characters who are using their relationship and each other to hide their addictions.

I found this book, ironically enough, addicting to read and I can’t wait to read on in the series.

The second book did seem to drag on a bit, I feel like it could’ve been half as long as it was, but I know it was necessary.

Take a Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

5 Stars

I am absolutely LOVING these Brown sisters books! Chloe’s book was fantastic, but I think this one might be my favorite so far.⁣

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Dani is a smart, independent savvy woman who is not interested in a long term relationship. Zaf is basically the complete opposite.⁣

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The two of them have not had much more than a nice rapport – he’s the security guard at the school she teaches at, until Dani gets trapped in an elevator and Zaf rescues her. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the entire rescue didn’t get caught on film and go viral.⁣

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The “going viral” thing seems to be really popular lately and it’s not normally something I would gravitate towed. Honestly, I tend to prefer if romance novels just pretend that social media didn’t exist. I think it’s tricky including anything involving technology in contemporary romance novels only because things change so rapidly, it’s easy to become outdated.⁣

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However, I didn’t care what this book was about, I knew I was going to read it and fully expected to love it … and I was right.⁣

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As always, Talia’s steamy scenes are SO on point, but more than anything, she writes sweet heroes SO well. I adored Zaf with everything I am. I can’t handle how much I love his side job and that despite being a big guy, he’s a big softie. ⁣

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And, of course, I adored Dani. I love how badass and confident and independent she is, even if it does complicate her relationships.⁣

Becoming by Michelle Obama

5 Stars

I borrowed this on a whim from my library. I’ve been reading a few nonfiction books lately and have enjoyed all that I’ve picked up.⁣

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I have to admit, though, I loved this one the most.⁣

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I didn’t realize Michelle’s father had MS. As soon as she mentioned his symptoms, my stomach dropped and I just KNEW it. It’s always hard for me to read about people who have Multiple Sclerosis, especially nonfiction because I’m always wondering if that will be me and when.⁣⁣

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As a romance reader, I adored Michelle and Obama’s romance. I officially ship them SO hard. Watching their relationship unfold was so satisfying and adorable.⁣

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I’m not a big crier while reading, but I got choked up so many times. When she talked about visiting the VA, when she talked about Sandy Hook… it wasn’t overly dramatic, but it was enough to have me covering my mouth with my hand trying not to cry.⁣

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I’ve always admired this woman, but even more now than I did before learning more about her. ⁣

  Recent Reads: June 14-27 I read a total of 14 books between June 14 & June 27 and there were so many great ones!

[hiruma-musouka]

This is kinda random, but I've had this in my head for a couple days now. Something really, REALLY bugs me about the Uchiha Massacre. Was Sasuke REALLY the last remaining Uchiha? Are you telling me that there was no Uchiha that was having an affair that lead to a bastard child? In a family of Trained Military Police, there was not a single person who was able to minimize at least a LITTLE damage, hid, or who played dead? Root didn't have an Uchiha member (*stares suspiciously at Sai*)? (P1)

(p2) Also, was not a single Uchiha on the mission roster/on a mission, at the time? Or outside of the district for whatever reason? Kids sneaking out to play, teens going to visit a sweet-heart, shinobi out for some late-night training? REALLY? And the Uchiha was NOT A SMALL FAMILY. They were spared the losses of Kurama’s attack due to Danzo. People slip through cracks with those kinds of numbers. Sorry for the rant, but this has been bugging me lately.

(p3 an apologies for further comment) Also, was not a single medic able to do SOMETHING? We have blood replenishers, soldier pills, organ transplants, and so much more. Did not a single medic TRY to save the wounded they found? And someone HAD to have noticed the smell of GALONS OF BLOOD and/or have heard Sasuke SCREAMING, so medics would be called. The premise of the IN-VILLAGE massacre is believable with several individuals. Not with a major clan of 100-200+ members like I think they had.

Welcome to reason 27543782 for why that segment of the manga doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I wonder about these things. Canon tends to handwave things like logic which exasperates me, but on the other hand, this train wreck of weird writing decisions is partly why we linger on it so much as a hobby.

So let’s have fun going over a few of the points you brought up.

Bastards: this… actually might not be an issue in kekkei genkai clans as much? Or rather unclaimed bastards might not be. If your trump card that lets you stay ahead of the competition is tied to your blood, there would be a lot more emphasis on keeping track of or preventing bastards than in many societies. It’s not only a matter of legitimacy and determining inheritence (practical reasons they’re historically disapproved of) but… it’s weirdly akin to preventing corporate espionage, enforcing copyright laws, and preserving state secrets. So it’s possible that the taboo against bastards is strong enough that there weren’t any unclaimed bastards outside the clan. You could swing it a few ways depending on worldbuilding and cultural norms.

(Of course, if the sharingan is genetically recessive then you might never know a bastard if the bloodline didn’t manifest. Yet I’m sure future canon will retcon whatever they want as soon as they need an Uchiha for a Dramatic Reason.)

As for no one living through it, yes, that’s weird if we stick with implication that it was really ONLY Itachi and Obito-as-Madara pulling it off. Two people versus a clan of a few hundred in what should have been an area close enough to call for help in a village which should have internal security? Lots of questions. From all signs, they should have been caught in the act since they weren’t going for subtle.

Tbh, I kind of headdesk and sigh over this arc because there are several things tied into all of this that I would have found more satisfying to change. Like, Danzo’s Root not being made up of brainwashed victims but instead of patriotic volunteers, but that’s another topic @elenathehun is welcome to cover. Part of the problem is likely that none of this was planned in advance, so in Arc 1, Root as it is in canon likely didn’t exist given that the original idea for Itachi was as an actual villain. Also, power scaling - sort of an issue in Naruto. The relative powers of all the players involved don’t work really well…

It’s all very messy. And the rational behind it all is all very messy. People should have slipped through cracks. Not to mention the lack of sense in the motivations of the people influencing it. Like Danzo: let’s presume for a moment he still wants to deal with the coup through death. Why wipe out an entire clan while you’re already suffering a manpower shortage? Danzo wants to preserve the strength of the village? Arrange for key “accidents” for the major Uchiha players. Leave the fighting force mostly untouched. Done sloppily it might have alarmed the Uchiha themselves, but you already have an internal problem. This would leave you manpower and a better face to present to foreign powers than your only remaining founding clan with one of your famous trademarks being wiped out in a single night by your own people. How weak does that make Konoha look to do as canon did, especially after the Kyuubi attack!

Like seriously. Seriously. If it wasn’t for Konoha being the protagonists (and thus game-breakingly buffed) then let’s relook at the Hidden Villages to compare issues as of canon volume 1. I might be forgetting things but:

Konoha = Kyuubi, Hyuuga Incident, Uchiha massacre

Suna = resource limitations due to deserts, economic issues

Kiri = long term bloody civil and martial strife

Iwa = recovering from mass manpower hits in the 3rd war

Kumo = …currently looking not too terrible?

Seriously. If Konoha keeps making odd decisions, it might have been very interesting to replay the series from the perspective of them having shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with Kumo being the primary major power.

Anyway, I got off topic from your asks. As for saving people, I’m pretty sure the Drama of the massacre was supposed to be that they were all found dead on scene. They have magic medical abilities in Naruto, but Tsunade and Shizune are MIA at this point and while biological realism is rare in a world with exchangable limbs and eyeballs, there do seem to be some things which are genuinely more difficult to heal than others. Nerves and the chakra system being examples. Not a great thing since clinical death (the cessation of breathing and blood circulation) is followed very quickly by the increasing spread of brain injuries to the point that full recovery of the brain after only a few minutes at normal body temperature is rare. So if we accept that somehow Sasuke was the first person to find everyone (???) and that no one found him for awhile, I’m actually not surprised that they couldn’t save anyone.

RE clan numbers: I feel like I once read a post that had deduced the likely population statistics for Konoha, the Uchiha clan, and different shinobi ranks, but I cannot find it.

It’s a few hundred people?? I think at least in WSE they had to have 300+ to maintain a functional population if endogamy is a primary strategy for large clans??  And birth rates have clearly decreased (to the current/future detriment of Konoha’s military forces) after the village was founded but we don’t know which generation that actually occured in. So yes, I would assume a minimum of 200 members at least given the Uchiha didn’t get whalloped by the Kyuubi.