#not me making a fallout boys esque title for this one

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

A Date Night HC with Black Mask and F!S/O 🖤

S/O loves to be spoiled and pampered by him. She teases him wearing a dress he likes on their extravagant date night to a high-end restaurant ... There will be a few surprises from him too :3c S/O is his enabler and lets him get away with a lot of his behaviour, and up to mischief herself.

"It's a good thing we pay so much to eat here, or they might actually kick us out-" Black Mask x F!S/O (Valentine's Event 2024)

Oh god don't enable him, he's already impossible. This ask is for the ongoing Valentine's Day Event!

TW: Suggestive, NSFW, fingering

Valentine's Day. The perfect excuse for an obnoxiously extra date night to show off to everyone else. No matter how far Roman got away from his roots, some things never changed. He was better than everyone else, as were you. Certainly one of the best parts for having a girlfriend like you was his ability to show that in public.

It was an unspoken agreement between the two of you that you could have almost anything you wanted. When you didn't ask for much, he made it a mission to spoil you. Spa days, special treats here and there- You deserve it, you put up with his shit, after all. Seeing how much you enjoyed it just eggs him on.

So tonight he let you know exactly where he was taking you. Some high end place he's put a lot of money into for under the table deals. Tells you that you can pick whatever dress you want, but the panties? He's got those set out. Black and lacy, with stockings he pictures rolling up your thighs. Why wouldn't you take the opportunity to fuck with him back? A slinky number you knew got him hot when he saw it. Just a little too short and accentuated your body in all the right places.

You could hear the sharp, huffing inhale through his mask when he first saw you come out. You could feel how firmly he had his hand on your inner thigh while riding in the car, then how it moved to the small of your back as you entered the restaurant. He'd been quiet other than small talk. Telling the waiter to take you to "his" table.

He then forced his way to sit next to you, hand back on your thigh and creeping up, "You think you're fuckin' cute, huh?"

"Adorable, thank you for asking." The calm facade on your face flickered only for a second as his pinky moved up and down the front of the lingerie between your legs.

His gaze was intense, even when the waiter came back to ask for your order. It was then he ordered for you. Expensive. Something you definitely wanted but might not order on your own due to the price or the fuss of it. And a bottle of something old and fancy. His hand never left it's place until you moved it.

"Since you seem to like these so much..." You found yourself hiking up the dress almost to your hips. Another patron happened to look over... and quickly look away when they found Black Mask glaring back at them. And there in your hands was your now removed panties, which he snatched away to tuck in his pocket.

The wine was brought to the table, then... along with a box. He made a motion with his hand to you, "Happy Valentine's Day, doll."

Then, as you opened it- It was a bright red teddy bear... with a bracelet. The bracelet itself wasn't anything crazy. Yet you recognized it as one you'd been admiring a month ago. You hadn't asked for it. Yet he remembered the way you'd looked at it and decided you needed to have it.

"Allow me." He was already taking it off the bear and putting it on your wrist, "Yeah. Suits you just right."

"I... Thank you-"

"Don't say anything about making it up. You're gonna make it up right now." He's leaning to your ear before his hand tucks between your thighs, "Open up."

Before you could really respond beyond giving more space for his hand, he was plunging a finger inside. Praising you for being wet. Drinking his wine in his other hand as if he wasn't making you writhe. His palm pressed against your clit, making one smooth movement of penetration and stimulation. When someone walked by, he'd add another finger or push harder to get you to moan.

By the time the food came out, he had you on the edge. Yet he pulled away. The plates hit the table and he was licking his fingers. Looking at you knowingly. A little appetizer for himself.

Then he was cutting into his steak as if nothing happened, "We'll continue this later."

It was delicious, there was no question. Both you and your partner were taking small bites. Enough to assuage the hunger- You'd both be taking leftovers and finishing after certain events that night. He almost laughed when the waiter asked if you wanted dessert.

"Nah, fuck off. Give us the check."

It would have seemed the two of you were on the same page. Until, at least, you were leaving the building. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw something black fall from Roman's pocket and hit the ground. He was already pushing you forward before you could turn around. Your mouth agape as you realized just what your partner intentionally dropped on the floor of the fucking public restaurant.

"Sir, you dropped your-" a waiter paled as he found himself picking up your recently worn underwear.

"Yeah, thanks kid." Roman sneered behind the mask, "She was just telling me she was feeling cold." He held them up to you, knowing you were going to snatch them from his grip.

It was in the moment you didn't know if you wanted to fuck him or kill him. To be determined.

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

@noblelightfighter asked: "How did you come up with the town scenarios? Like Wild trying to bargain and Sky being one of the links who was eager to try bomb-chu bowling?"

I’m really glad you asked this! I love talking about my thought process and inspirations when it comes to my writing, especially with Oops! All Links. There are a lot of sequences in the Selggog arc, so I may as well go through them chapter by chapter. More below the cut!

I'll start off by saying that around the time I wrote “Musings and Memories,” I read James Baldwin's short story “Sonny’s Blue’s.” Baldwin does a really good job keeping dialogue-heavy scenes interesting by describing the characters' poses and mundane actions. I thought, "damn, I want to do that too." So if you noticed another layer of detail in my writing at that point, that was why.

Chapter 15: Inn or Out... Maybe Just Inn.

Hyrule is by far the hardest Link to write for. He has hardly any source material, so all I really have to go off of is Jojo’s comic and other fan content. That's why I accidentally ignored him for the first 14 chapters. So I decided to give him much more of a spotlight in this arc, and one of the few concrete things that we know about him is that he has had to deal with vendors with wildly different prices. I figure, yeah, he probably got good at haggling.

I put Sky, Wild, and Hyrule together because they all have different experiences with vendors in their own games. I decided that I could add Baldwin-esque detail by describing the minutia of them undressing and eating supper. Damn, did I consult the original LU character concepts a ton for this segment. I also used this scene to add my headcanon/self-projection of Sky being vegetarian.

The Links also went through what could be a traumatic experience in the burning town. I had already written some fallout of Time using Darmani's Mask, where the others are mad at him, Wild flips shit, and Time describes how painful it is to use the masks. But Time only wore the mask to save Hyrule. Wouldn't Hyrule feel guilty about that? And who better to soothe that guilt than Wild, who must have felt incredible survivor guilt after the Calamity?

Chapter 16: Panacea

Scene 1: I wasn't sure why I made Twilight wake in a cold sweat, but it could be because of recalling his past experience in "Stars and Stories." Aside from giving Twi and Wars some 1-on-1 dialogue, this scene lets Twi have some pleasant memories of home after the awful ones in "Fire." It also shows his soft side when he lets Time oversleep.

Scene 2: This is mostly just setup for the rest of the arc, but eating breakfast and getting dressed is another Baldwin opportunity. The group also gets some downtime to decompress and act off of each other.

The title and Hyrule's line "And enjoying breakfast together in a warm and cozy inn is probably the panacea for that poison” is a reference to the Flobots song "Panacea for the Poison."

Chapters 17 & 18: To Sell a Butterfly (Necklace); A Sailor and a Ranch Hand Walk into a Store.

Bro, I love writing Twi and Wind together. All the Links consider each other sort of brothers, Twi acts like a big brother to his friends in Ordon, and Wind is the youngest Link. Perfect. These chapters let their relationship shine and give Wind a chance to use his own experience with treasure tellers for what I think were great character moments. Madame Viliafore wasn't really inspired by anything, she just kinda came into existence.

Twilight's line “Uh, I’m pretty sure most shops won’t buy off strangers. They’re trying to sell their junk, not buy yours. Think how fast they’d go bankrupt.” is a reference to the Snowdin shopkeeper in Undertale.

This is probably pretty obvious but the titles are references to To Kill a Mockingbird and that one joke (you know the one).

Chapter 19: Swords, Shields, Arrows

Wild is a knight and knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to weapons. The pose he ends his sword test with is a reference to the BotW Memory "Shelter from the Storm." He tries to haggle with the shop owner precisely because he just saw Hyrule do it, and they talked about it the previous night. He fails miserably because he has absolutely no idea how to do it. I also give Four and Wild some character interaction that stresses how much Wild's past messed with his head.

There's no particular reason the shopkeeper said they were scaring his customers when there weren't any customers in the shop, I just thought it would be funny.

Chapter 20: Mind the Tea

Hyrule got some comfort from Wild and Sky, but I felt he really needed to hear it from Time. Besides wrapping up all the plot threads from the previous chapters, I got to sprinkle in a bit more Time angst and humorously conclude the wallet side plot. I just thought it would be funny to make the events of two whole chapters entirely unnecessary.

This chapter and the opening to the next are inspired by the time I went to a British tearoom in New York City called Tea and Sympathy. It's a bit pricy but if you're ever in New York, you should check it out.

Rolling with the British theme, the title is a reference to the warning all over the London Underground saying "Mind the Gap."

Chapter 21: Me and the Boys

The Links needed some fun after everything, so I figured, what minigame from one of the Zelda games could all of them enjoy? Time said it himself, they all like explosions. Sky is the most enthusiastic to play (besides Wind) because he's generally one of the more positive Links, and one of his own minigames was that circus-themed diving game. I figured that this would remind him of that.

The girl at the counter is indeed the younger sister of the Bombchu girl in Ocarina of Time. The "heroic sideburns" line is a reference to Tri Force Heroes, which otherwise doesn't really come up in LU.

In my opinion, this is my funniest chapter by far. I really laid into the comedy here, because I knew that after this chapter, I was going into an arc centered around intense combat. I absolutely love Twilight's increasing concern over the Cucco, and Sky's line about animal welfare laws is a reference to the "Wait. That's illegal" meme from Red vs Blue.

My favorite jokes I've ever written are in this chapter:

“Games?” Hyrule replied. “You mean like chess?” Wind gaped at his friend in disbelief. “No, games are fun.”

And this entire bit here

The girl giggled from behind the counter. Legend shot daggers at her. She sobered up. Warriors snatched up a bombchu in one hand and patted Legend on the shoulder with the other. “Please, I’ll show you how it’s done,” he said with a wink to the shopkeeper. Warriors’ bombchu was as good as dead on arrival; it was blocked by the very first barrier. His shoulders slumped. “I don’t remember him asking for the quickest way to lose,” Wild teased. “Shut it, you don’t remember a lot of things,” Warriors shot back. “I—… okay, that’s fair.”

To finish up, I'll explain where this town's came from. Back in middle school, I ran a Minecraft server for my friends and me. We built a town and my friend decided to name it Selggog. Where did he get the name? We had just watched the "Lab Safety Song" in our science class, and it mentioned safety goggles. He wrote down "goggles" backward and, what do you know, he got "Selggog."

[spoookiepie]

Hey it’s me cha girl here to talk about Digimon games

Cause like, BOY DO I HAVE OPINIONS. We just got the announcement trailer fro Digimon Survive and it looks... fine? It looks fine. Far be it from me to judge it too much based off tiny snippets in an announcement trailer, but everything shown looks... just fine.

But not like... amazing.

It looks like the battles at least will be grid, turned based, so Fire Emblem-esque. I can’t say I’m excited about that, but I bet some people are. But if I’m being honest that just... really doesn’t feel like it fits the Digimon brand. The rigid turn based stuff never really did, even less so with the even more tightly controlled grid system here.

And look, I have a soft spot for the Digimon game series. (Not ALL of them, mind you. But enough of them) But even at their best, the series has always felt like it was about 5 years behind. Even at it’s best, it’s felt a little bit cheap. Even at it’s best, and with all the love I have for certain entries into the franchise, even I can’t really say I think there’s a truly amazing game in there.

The series need a huge overhaul, is what I’m saying. In this essay I will

Problem 1; It’s a huge thematic and mechanical mess.

If I asked you what the basic core themes and mechanics of the Pokemon franchise were, you could easily rattle off the game play and battle system, the themes of friendship, and adventure, and something about ‘Catching them all’. This would hold true for every main-line entry into the franchise, differing only on the spin-offs. (these themes and ideas also carry over to the show, an important point I’ll get to later) The same could be said if I asked you about Mario, or Zelda, or Fallout. Even the Final Fantasy games, for as old and varied as they are, carry SOME core ideas - that being that they’re generally all going to be long, epic games, with emphasis on characters and story, set in pseudo fantasy worlds, and having some form of an RPG battle system. (again only straying from this in spin offs).

The Digimon games though? Not so much. Remove the actual Digimon from the first three games, and they’d be practically unrecognizable from each other. The first is a semi-open world (about as open as many PS1 era games could be), where you have a single Digimon who you essentially have to take care of, similar to the Tamagatchi-like toys the series started as in the first place. Battles are real-time and you have p minimal control over what the Digimon actually does. Meanwhile the second game is a slow dungeon crawler, with strict, 1v1 to 3v3 turn-based battles. No open Digital World, no Digimon care taking. The DW3 goes for an isometric, pixel style game, with 1v1 battles (which ARE in 3D?), and attempts to have a more robust story and host of characters. And the series just continues to spin off from there.

For visual comparison alone, check out the first 3 games of the Digimon series to the first 5 of Pokemon. These are aesthetics alone.

(pokemon image via http://www.neoseeker.com/news/23873-pokemon-then-and-now-see-17-years-of-video-game-evolution-in-a-single-comparison-image/)

Basically, there is no “core” to the Digimon games, outside of the mascots themselves. It makes the franchise as a whole feel disjointed, and it means you never really know what you’re getting when you go to play a new one. While you certainly don’t want a franchise to get old and stale, you also shouldn’t be re-inventing the wheel every single time either, cause it stops looking like innovation, and starts looking more like you don’t know what you’re about.

Problem 2; They feel cheap.

It pains me to say, but almost every aspect of Digimon games feels like it’s just a step under what it should be. Everything is aggressively just ok. The voice acting (if the game has it) is nothing of note, especially in the dubs. And the weak dialogue certainly doesn’t help.

The art and characters designs are... also just ok. The main characters in the first handful of games are aggressively generic, to the point that the ones from 2 and 3 are basically the same model. Once the games started to stray from the style of the show, the designs started to get even weaker, and the already flimsy visual design fell apart even more.  (Some of the better character designs came out of Digimon Story Lost Evolution, which OOPS, never came state side) Say what you want about the character design of the original show but this

is a pretty recognizable art style and way of character design. Like Pokemon, it’s simple, but distinct unto itself. I could easily pick this style out of a lineup.

Whereas these?

Well... yeah. Not so much. I don’t even dislike the bottom two, from Digimon World Next Order (and in actual technique alone, they’re all solid). But, I also can’t say the style is terribly distinct, or what I would look at and immediately recognize next to a whole host of other anime and light novel illustrations.

The writing (when there is much of a story) is lackluster. And no, I will never understand the people who say Cyber Sleuth was great, and had a great story and writing. I just have to imagine, if Cyber Sleuth is the bar, then they’ve never picked up a Persona game. Or many RPGs/visual novels. Or... many games in general. I found it’s characters, story, and tropes all rather predictable, and nothing struck me as particularly clever. Meanwhile, Next Order had your p run of the mill but otherwise vapid ‘save the world from the Big Bad(c)’ story. Again, a bit predictable and cliche, and mostly there to move the game along.

Everything just feels a little... meh. A little like everyone didn’t put their all into the games. It feels like the studio is banking on fans buying their stuff through sheer nostalgia, rather than really putting their all behind the games. Again, even for the entries that I personally love. And that’s a shame.

Problem 3; They have very little connection to their anime counterpart.

Look, I get it. These are games, not the anime. This isn’t Pokemon, where the two have to be hand-in-hand almost all the time. And I certainly don’t want to just recreate the show in the games, or vice versa, hereby rendering one redundant.

But

I’d argue that the vast majority of Digimon fans, are fans of the anime first, and their love of the spin off stuff like the games comes after. There will be exceptions of course, but the Digimon show is the most well known and well loved part of the franchise. And the games really don’t feel like they reflect much of that. They’re a whole beast unto themselves, and not necessarily in a good way.

For a show that so heavily emphasizes friendship and bonds, you spend a lot of time in the games alone. And characters are often written lack luster and one-dimensional, giving you very little reason to care about them. They feel oddly lonely. For a show that so heavily emphasizes the special bond between a tamer and their unique, special Digimon partner, the Digimon you get in the games are frankly... disposable.

Hell, even the Digital World itself doesn’t always make an appearance in the games. I’d argue the Digital World is a vital component of the Digimon franchise and universe. It’s so unique, it’s practically a character unto itself. And to just throw it out feels like a whole part of the franchise is missing.

So, how would I start addressing some of these problems?

Before I begin, let me just say, I’m not a game designer. I’m judging this with an outside perspective, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I’m also not a newcomer to game OR the show, and have spent a chunk of my time analyzing both. I also tend to study up on design in my spare time for fun, so I’m also not completely talking out of my ass here.

1; Consistency and Vision.

So, for starters, the Digimon games need to buckle down and figure out what their core is. Figure out your themes, your mechanics, your visual style, and what are core concepts to your franchise, beyond just the Digimon themselves. These are ideas that will be carried throughout your series. This is your core, you theme, and your vision. You can tweak things, by all means. But when I set your games out on the table, SOMETHING needs to bind them all and make them a collection. Pokemon games are still Pokemon games, even when you ignore the Pokemon themselves. Persona games are still Persona games without the Persona. A Mario game is still a Mario game when you remove the plumber himself. Art style, themes, mechanics, and world building all amount to this. What - beyond just the Digimon - makes a Digimon game?

Personally, I’d like to see these things gravitate to a more Digimon World 1/3/Next Order style. I want an emphasis on exploration of the Digital World and more freedom than the likes of Digimon World 2/4/Cyber Sleuth had.

But either way, the game’s need to figure out what they are. Stop trying to re-invent the wheel every time, and please stop trying to copy whatever another popular game did 5 years before.

And also for the love of God, this is Digimon. Stop designing characters like this

If you want to appeal to a more “mature” audience, trying actually doing something smart, than resorting to T&A.

2; Figure out where to put the budget

Now, I can bet what some people are gonna say.

“Digimon is a smaller franchise than those you keep comparing it to! It doesn’t have the budget to be a huge title like those!”

And yeah, I get it. Digimon doesn’t have the kind of money Pokemon, or Final Fantasy, or Persona have. But money also doesn’t a good game make.

Once devs have figured out what’s core to their series (see; step 1), then that’s how they need to plan out where to put their budget. Is exploration one of your core themes? Budget needs to go towards the world and map design. Is it in the characters and story? Splurge on your writing team. Right now, the games feel like they’re all a bit lackluster in every department. Frankly, I’d be ok with one aspect being cut down a bit more, to make the other core parts really shine. I don’t need 100+ different playable Digimon, for example. Take some of those out and put the resources elsewhere maybe.

3; Hire better writers

Look, I’m just gonna say it. Your writing needs to be a core thing you splurge some budget on ok? I don’t expect the best of the best, epic story telling from a Digimon game, but at least try to reach the same level of writing the original show did maybe.

THAT SAID; I’d also move away from the talking head/visual novel style of story telling and cut scenes. I’m talking THIS kind of dialogue, btw

Games like Persona, Phoenix Wright, and Danganronpa can get away with it because they have A++ stellar writing. (2 of them HAVE TO since they’re visual novels, and the writing is the core of what they are. Also, ONCE AGAIN, these three games have very distinct character and visual design, that are a delight to look at)

Digimon? While I say you NEED - DESPERATELY NEED - better writers, you’re not quite here yet, where a talking head alone is enough to keep me entertained.

I’d rather see you’re characters moving and doing stuff while they talk. Have fully rendered cut scenes, and do a little more showing than telling. Again, you’ll have to budget for this, but I think it’s worth it. (also, you don’t have to have Final Fantasy level models if you just have solid character and visual design I WILL NOT LET THIS POINT GO) Seriously. The Digital World is one worth seeing in motion, not in static back and forth exposition dumps.

4; Seriously just include the Digital World

Like I said before, the Digital World is one of the most unique worlds I’ve seen in media. To. Date. It is a perfectly weird and whimsical synthesis between the natural and the man-made. It is a perfect visual representation for what it is; An AI built world, that attempted to grow organically out of completely inorganic data created by humans from all over the world.

That is a world of endless possibilities and I want to see it.

Without the Digital World, the franchise feels a bit more hollow. The whole adventure in the original show was in the kids being sucked into a new world! A world that was exciting, and new, and weird, and whimsical, and yeah, a bit scary and even dangerous. If we’re not in the Digital World, then we’re just... in Tokyo, basically. But with some Digimon.

5. The Digimon need to be characters

Okay. Here’s... where’ I’ll probably upset the most people who are fans of the games.

You should only get one -maybe two- Digimon partners and ONLY their basic digivolution trees ok!

You got Palmon? Well, ok, you ONLY have Palmon, and her evolution tree up to Lilymon. Maybe Rosemon if we feeling fancy. She does not have branching trees. She does not DNA digivolve. She does not return to an egg, and re-hatch as a new baby lv Digimon. You just. Have. Palmon. Or Agumon. Or Veemon. Or whoever you choose/or is that game’s Digimon.

Why make this limitation? Two reasons. 1. Less resources used on modeling, stat designing, and programing 100+ Digimon partners. Cut down on the amount of Digimon you can have as a partner, and the more resources and time can be put elsewhere.

2. More importantly, the Digimon partners need to be characters. The show gave huge emphasis to the fact that each partner and their Digimon had a special bond. It was special because it was unique. One person for one Digimon, each with their own unique personality and bond. There might be plenty of Agumon out there, but this one was Tai’s Agumon. He had his own personality, his own likes and dislikes. He was special. In contrast, the Digimon in the games are completely disposable. They have no personality, if they even talk at all. And oh, don’t want Tentomon? No worries, just digivolve him to something else or wait till he dies and hatch a different egg! It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter.

And for a show that made me so desperately want my own, unique, soul bound monster friend, that’s... really kinda sad.

So yeah, limit what Digimon you can have, and really, really write them as their own special, unique characters. And have them bound to their trainer. Want to allow your players to choose from multiple Digimon? I have a solution. Choose your trainer. Give your players the choice between 3-5 characters to choose from. You’ll be choosing that character and their stats, along with their unique Digmon and their stats. And hey, if you wanna go above and beyond, make these trainers actual characters with personalities too, who may change the course of the story, or at least the flavor, depending on who you picked. If we use Digimon Adventure for example. Your story and stats may vary greatly depending on if you chose to play as Matt and Gabumon, or Sora and Biyomon. Maybe you could go an Octopath traveler route, and have all the characters potentially converge. Or, maybe a Seiken Densetsu 3 route, where you choose 3 of six potential characters, and your story will differ depending on which you chose, and which of those three you picked as your main.

Either way, really emphasize these characters and their bonded Digimon. This isn’t Pokemon after all, right? So why have an emphasis on how many Digimon you can obtain?

Anyway, that’s my thesis on where to at least start in fixing the jumbled mess that is the Digimon game franchise. Many of these are opinions, yes, but I hope you can at least understand where I’m coming from with most of them. And hey, I guess we’ll see what the new game has in store for us.

[willreadforbooze]

Hi Guys,

It’s Ginny again. Sam is off having an amazing weekend of being a bit of a badass so I’m filling in again.

Sam’s Updates

ITS BOOKNETFEST BITCHES!! I passed my NEWTs, currently in line for Space Mountain in Disney World. I met a fuck ton of amazing content creators and my creative juices are flowing. Thanks to everyone I met for making my first BNF amazing.

What I read this week:

Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk: this was my last NEWT!!! I was on the struggle bus with this one. It’s a Robin Hood retelling where Marianne was the one in charge of the band of “Mary’s men”. This dragged on forever. I actively didn’t care about any of them lol. I don’t think I’ll be reviewing this.

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo: this is a story that was pitched to me as a new Six of Crows. But it wasn’t that and honestly I don’t even remember the plot… won’t be continuing but will be doing a review.

What I’m currently reading:

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte: Listening to this on audio. I feel like this was allll over BookNet for a while. I’m enjoying it so far but we’ll see.

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff: GUYS! This is the finale to Nevernight. Shit is real. I’m so scared. Help me.

  Ginny’s Updates:

I’ve had the most productive real-life weekend. Made a ton of food, did some laundry, went to the gym, and watched way too much youtube. There was a decent amount of reading, but maybe not as much as normal. My life isn’t nearly as interesting as Sam’s is right now but I did make my own bread this week!

Currently Reading:

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa: She’s a personal trainer, he’s a celebrity. They meet on a vacation to Aruba where they immediately have chemistry, except she doesn’t know who he is. So far there’s a little bit of drama but it’s a perfectly cute meet-cute.

No Judgement by Meg Cabot: I picked this up at bookcon and I’m enjoying it. Bree has run away from her previous life as a celebrity’s daughter and is now the ex-fiance of a douche mc-douche-face. She has ridiculous chemistry with one of the inhabitants of the island she now lives in. Then there’s a hurricane.

Finished:

  The Prey of the Gods by Nicky Drayden: This book was set in South Africa and was from the perspective of a demi-goddess, a newly born demi-goddess, a 16 year old boy, a local government official, and a diva. There’s a drug that shows people the form they would have taken had they known they were descended from a demi-god and one of the demi-goddesses decides to take advantage of the situation to try to seize power. There’s a whole plotline about some fledgling A.I. which is absolutely fastinating. Really, this book was a really interesting story. I had some issues with pacing and general character choices. But, this was still a fun read 4/5.

The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian: He was a rake he was the rakes’ best friends brother, can I make it any more obvious? He wanted to see his nephew, the other him wanted to make up with his sister… and now i”m tried of this premise. This was a cute story about playing with expectations and how to play within the rules. 4/5

Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh: YESSSS. I was waiting for this for a while, but this series continues to be a delight. Brenna (who was actually a part of the main plot of an earlier book) is attracted to the ex-Arrow assassin Judd, who is dealing with the fallout of his silence. Meanwhile, they’re dealing with assassination attempts on Brenna’s life because of something she doesn’t quite remember. 4.5/5

One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire: This is book five in the Toby Daye series and man does this continue my desire to leave in an ocean world. Between this and the second book of the pendragon series I know what I want. I’m planning on writing a review for this one I think. So I’ll leave my review there.

Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan: This was a novella so before it seems like and impressive amount of books, keep that in mind. This book was basically about two people who had to have a backbone to survive in society, who also kind of misunderstood each other until they came back together. 4/5

Minda’s Updates

What Minda finished this week: 

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young – Enjoyed this a lot. It came out last week so check out my review! 

What Minda is reading now:

Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman – Picking this back up. Will have some time to read on vacation.

What Minda put down:

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black – The mean library took this back, boo. 

Linz’s Updates

Oh my god what a work week. I should never go on vacation, karma always comes for me when I’m back in the office.

What Linz read

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson – OH MAN THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD SEQUEL. I am loving this series and cannot wait for book 3. It was creepy as HELL and clever and kinda dark?

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones – excellent YA fairytale-esque, epic fantasy-esque about a gravedigger and the walking skeletons she protects her village from

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – the author’s latest thriller is REAL great

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – that book that everyone and your mom is reading for book club

What Linz is reading now:

The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg – I actually have no idea what this is about. I have a free Kindle Unlimited trial, and this cover and title looked cool, so I downloaded it and read two pages before I had to put it down to knock out Where the Crawdads Sing before Friday

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates – this is Coates’ first novel. I actually have no idea what this is about, but I’m like 4 pages in and it’s GORGEOUS prose.

Weekly Wrap Up: September 2-8 Hi Guys, It's Ginny again. Sam is off having an amazing weekend of being a bit of a badass so I'm filling in again.

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Bookshelf Briefs 7/30/18

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 2 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – If the sight of Oran’s drooling face on the cover of this volume doesn’t inform you that this is one of those weird manga titles, nothing will. That said, for a manga about aliens infiltrating the Earth, and the Earth’s rather violent response to this, there’s a lot that’s grounded in reality here. The gang’s friend Kiho is dating a guy, which puts her on the outs with the rest of her (single) friends, and also causes friction when her boyfriend turns out to be a bit fond of conspiracy theories. Possibly my favorite scene in the volume is when the girls all go to their friend Ai’s house and met her four identical siblings… and one goth guy who calls himself the Black Knight, which meets Oran’s immediate approval. A lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 3 | By Afro | Yen Press – We’re still working on the characterization of anyone not named Nadeshiko or Rin, but for the most part the third volume will please readers who enjoyed the first two, as it combines chatter about camping with the camping itself—though honestly, Rin’s driving to get to the camp ends up occupying most of the time. Sadly, a trip with Nadeshiko is turned into a solo trip because she gets a cold, but on the bright side we may finally be luring Rin’s eccentric friend Ena to go along on the next trip. The long-term plotline seems to be to get Rin to be interested in camping with other people… but it’s certainly a long term project, as we’re three volumes in and we haven’t seen a group effort yet. Next time? – Sean Gaffney

My Boy, Vol. 2 | By Hitomi Takano | Vertical Comics – As with the previous volume, I recommend skipping the afterword. If you do, then My Boy continues to be a touching story of a young woman who’s got a newfound family in a young neglected boy. The problem here is that Mashuu already HAS a father and brother, and her hanging around with him all the time is inevitably going to be seen as creepy at best. One scene, where Mashuu can’t contact his brother, has Satoko going into his home and the entire scene has you holding your breath waiting for something horrible to happen. It still, may, in fact, especially now that her coworker is noticing the attention she’s giving Mashuu. I don’t like him. The manga is very good, though, and so far is avoiding obvious pitfalls. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 2 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – We return to the adventures of the most earnest sacrificial princess ever. Last time I mentioned that I felt the author might have grown up reading Fruits Basket, and that feeling hasn’t gone away—Sariphi isn’t quite as shiny as Tohru, but she still tends to try to overdo it in order to avoid disappointing anyone. In this case, though, it almost leads to her death. Fortunately, she’s gaining more allies in this book, as we meet her friend Amit, an alligator woman with a big heart, and the phoenix she summons, which is both adorable and hilarious—he needs to be animated so that I can hear his accent. Shoujo fans will enjoy this cute fantasy romance. – Sean Gaffney

School of Horns, Vol. 1 | By Mito Aoi | Yen Press – We’ve seen an endless amount of magical academies in the last few years, but there’s always room for more. This one has students divided up based on the horns they have on their heads—each type determines the magic. Our hero is half-human, so his horns are smaller than the other students (does this remind you of anything?), but in addition his powers seem to mess with others, meaning he’s a strange fifth type of magic user. Yes, it’s the old “bullied kid ends up being the really special one” story, but the main reason to read this is the slowly developing relationship between Eru and Rihito, who are sort of Deku and Todoroki-esque. This didn’t reach out and grab me, but it’s certainly pleasant enough. – Sean Gaffney

Shojo FIGHT!, Vol. 4 | By Yoko Nihonbashi | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The fallout from the Kokuyodani team’s participation in volleybetting is going to be long-lasting, it seems. Part of their punishment involves living at the school for a month and undergoing intense training (including fasting, which supposedly “cures any illness”) and practice games against teams that believe the worst rumors. After one of these, Neri has a major attack of the angst and runs off, but after a good talk (and more!) with Shigeru, she seems finally on the verge of overcoming her past trauma, and actually tells Inugami and Odagiri what happened with her old teammates and lets herself enjoy volleyball again. And now that she seems to be on the road to better mental health, there’s enough time to give several other characters a bit more fleshing out in this volume, which is very welcome. I really enjoy this series. – Michelle Smith

Takane & Hana, Vol. 4 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – There’s a lot less snarking in this book, but maybe I’m getting used to the fact that this is never going to match the hilarity of its start. What it does do is develop both the plot and characters—Hana is not quite ready to admit she has romantic feelings for Takane, but she’s getting there. Meanwhile there’s a new secretary at Takane’s business whose job it is to try to break them up—unfortunately, he’s a nice guy at heart, and his heart isn’t really into this, especially when Hana does not back down immediately. And lest you forget that Hana is in high school (and believe me, that is the premise), there’s a culture festival! Maids! Butlers! Cross-dressing! And Takane, being a giant ass. Which is what I’m here for. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 43 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Toriko has finished, and it goes out the same way it’s always been—the food love is so much more interesting than the fighting. The first half of the book wraps up the fighting, including even giving the hapless Zongeh a part to play, but honestly I was ready to skip to the back half, where Toriko and his friends indulge in his Full-Course Meal, all prepared by Komatsu and HIS friends. There is also Toriko and Rin’s wedding, but again, I wonder if that was suggested by editorial fiat to avoid having the series seem too gay—the manga is all about the relationship between Toriko and Komatsu, and everything else is secondary. In the final pages, they even go off on a sort of honeymoon together. In space. – Sean Gaffney

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 5 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – Having whisked Shizu away from the hospital, Tetsu heads for his grandfather’s place by the beach, whereupon many revelations ensue. There’s a lot here that I didn’t expect to learn until the next (and final) volume, including the truth of what happened to Tetsu’s mom and why he’s been so desperate to earn money. What’s even better is that not only do readers learn these things, but so do Tetsu’s father and sisters, and everyone resolves to work harder as a family so that no one member feels the need to sacrifice everything for the sake of the others. There is one thing they don’t know, though, and it was such a great surprise that it makes me want to reread earlier volumes for hints. I’ll miss this series once it’s gone, but I bet the conclusion will be great. – Michelle Smith

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 3 | By Tadahiro Miura | Seven Seas – This continues to be a title that you should only read if you are a teenage boy in search of something to get you horny. That said, I’m not that market at all, and I’m still reading it. I think it’s simply that compared to other series in this genre, I find it more tolerable—especially its lead, who continues to not be the standard Keitaro clone who plagues this sort of title. In fact, most of the girls spend more time fondling each other than they do the lead—and no, that doesn’t mean there’s any hints of yuri. These girls all want Kogarashi. But as with my last review, I will admit that Yuuna is a good series for those who want harmless comedic fun and like huge breasts. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith