#a friend recommended it to me when i was looking for switch games and i have very fond memories

[aparticularbandit]

playframe (another youtube channel i really like) has started a playthrough of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, and i'm so here for it.

TSP is honestly one of my favorite video games, and it's one of my favorite games to see other people play. And Ultra Deluxe went above and beyond with the content it added. It's one of the few games that is fully worth its price tag. (And one of the few games that I bought as soon as it dropped.)

And, like DDLC, it has a meta narrative that comments on choice and the lack thereof.

But it's so wildly different and so well done and just such a good game.

....

And absolutely if you want to play it, you should go into it knowing absolutely nothing and have yourself a grand old time. Because learning anything will ruin some of the experience. (But even knowing things, the experience is still phenomenal. I love TSP, and I love TSP:UD even more.)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

I am not the asshole, and I think this whole thing is stupid, but I was promised that if I sent my side of things to this blog I could pick the hotel for our honeymoon, and I am marrying a man who once tried to take me BACKPACKING of all things, so this ask has become a necessity. In light of that:

AITA (I'm NOT) for planning the seating for our wedding in a logical way?

I got engaged in June, apparently in part because of my partner writing in to this blog (I don't know how to find or link to his posts, but I'm the man who got the cat to bite him, if that rings any bells?). At any rate, for the past ten weeks, I've been in the beginning stages of planning our wedding with my fiance, whom I have been secretly attempting to remove from the planning process as much as possible. I have ALREADY been given a list of his must-haves, and I AM incorporating as many of them as our budget allows. This has NOTHING to do with the emotional side of the event, and EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is an idiot with no real planning experience or taste who thinks he knows more than me.

For the most part, this has worked very well. I'm the one who's been collating all the contact information for things, so I just replaced all the emails for the tacky companies with false addresses, responded to his inquiries as the companies to say the date was already booked or the price was outside our budget, and let him filter his way to the ones I DO like on his own. I also made a fuss about being "willing to compromise" on the few things he's picked I'm completely fine with in the hopes I can use it to make him compromise later, and have been humming portions of the songs I want on the playlist in the hopes he'll think he came up with the idea to include them himself.

None of this is the real problem. The PROBLEM is that he is deliberately ruining my seating chart, by moving our horrible friend's seat when I'm not looking.

The man in question dated both of us at one point in our VERY early 20s (both ended BADLY), is generally the messiest person we know, and will almost certainly get sloppy drunk and try to make a speech IF he does make an appearance. I'm banking on the fact that he won't, because he's also ridiculously wealthy, and will almost certainly send us some very lavish gift in lieu of coming.

He is SUPPOSED to be sitting beside my fiances aunt, at the same table as his grandmother, his work friend, and her girlfriend, because all four of these women are stone cold terrors who I believe are more than capable of keeping him in line on the slim chance he does come. My fiance INSISTS they won't be able to have any fun if they're running interference all night, and keeps moving him to sit at the head table instead. You know, where WE are. I finally caught him switching the label magnets on my planning board last night, and confronted him.

I tried leveraging how much I've been compromising already, that he's almost certainly going to RSVP no, and that I shouldn't have to deal with him on our big night. My fiance said he knew about all the fake emailing and such, and told me, and I QUOTE: "Look, the mind game shit was hot when it was just about the colour scheme or whatever, but I actually care about this. So you can suffer with everybody else, or you can do the normal thing and not invite a guy you hate to our wedding, you weirdo."

I said that if I did that, it would take out half his groomsmen, he called me an asshole and said I should go explain this to "literally any rational adult" so they could tell me I was in the wrong, and now here we are.

Would you recommend calling my fiance's bluff, since he doesn't want the man sitting near us either? Or should I focus on ensuring he'll turn down the invitation no matter what, so the matter of where he WON'T be sitting can be a moot point?

What are these acronyms?

Original post

The update

[totalswag]

tell me if you like it — RAFE CAMERON

authors note HIGHLY recommend you listen to me & you by cassie remix because it gives me total rafe vibes. i'm so close to 800 lovies, i adore you all. i switched my style with line dividers and i'm probably gonna stick with it for now on.

summary you've had your eyes on rafe cameron for sometime now and everyone knows your attraction towards him. you attend one of his parties one friday night with your girlfriends and make your official move on the kook king.

warnings drinking, smoking, alcohol, drugs, partying, kissing/making out, mentions of sex,

Rafe Cameron sent out a text about throwing a party at his place while Ward and Rose are out of town for the weekend. The minute word got out people were talking about the party.

You knew the instant after receiving the text that tonight would be the night you made your official move on Rafe Cameron. Everyone, including Cameron, knows you've had your eye on him for a while.

Rafe is waiting for you to make your final move, according to Topper and Kelce. To you, he appears to be playing a game, a waiting game. So you've been playing the game he prefers.

You’ve always wondered why Rafe himself hasn’t made his move on you yet. The thought runs through your mind occasionally.

The party was full when you arrived. People were drunk, smoking weed, doing other drugs, dancing, and who knows what else.

You came in with your head held high, scanning the crowd for your friend group, but first you needed a drink.

You walked into the kitchen, which was stocked with various types of alcohol. You are craving seltzer, so you grabbed a truly from the fridge. You went on a search for your friends after closing the frigid.

Your name was called from the corner of the house by the girls. When you saw them wave you over, you turned in their direction. When they saw you approaching, their mouths dropped open.

"I must say Y/N, you look so hot!" Ella, one of your best friends, says she's hyping you up by gazing at you up and down.

"If Rafe doesn't get you tonight, he's definitely going to miss out," Melina says, resting against the wall.

The other girls agreed with Melina and Ella's comments.

"You two are really kind. Plus, y'all look so good I might melt" you compliment them back.

"I'll be making my final move on him; I just need to find him first," you say with a nice smile, gazing over your shoulder for Cameron boy.

"Dude we saw him earlier walking out back to smoke a blunt with Kelce but haven't seen him since" Ella informs you.

Thirty minutes go by, you four are dancing together to the beat of the music. Laughing and drinking together while listening to music that keeps you dancing.

For the past five minutes you can feel eyes on you the entire time you’ve been dancing with the girls. You lift your head up slowly, Rafe is standing with a group of his friends.

You’ve been waiting so long, I’m here to answer your call.

I know that I shouldn’t have had you waiting at all.

You two lock eyes. No one is breaking it.

He's dressed in a white tee, black cargo pants, a gold chain around his neck, and a snapback. Oh, that gold chain.

As you continue to dance to the beat of the song, tension builds in your body. Knowing Rafe is watching gives you excitement. You look over your shoulder, he's looking at you amongst the crowd of people.

You tell the girls as you pull away you are gonna have a little chat with Rafe for a moment but knowing that will be a for a while.

When Rafe sees you getting closer, he feels his body tense up. More so with excitement.

“Hey Rafe,” you smiled nicely, giving him a hug, running your hand down his arm.

He wraps his arm around you, “hey Y/N” Rafe says, looking down at you softly, “How are you enjoying the party?” He asks before taking a sip of his drink in his free hand.

“Yeah, I am. My friends and I have been having a great time” You say, trying to play it off you are about to make your final move.

Throughout the conversation, you keep eye contact, something you've always done with people. Conversation was casual yet with a hint of flirtatious moments.

Rafe's body communicates that he is attempting to maintain his calm. You tilt your head slightly, a smile spreading across your face.

"If you girls need anything I'll be around the house," he lets you know, moving his hand in a circling motion.

Your thinking tells you to say something that will catch him off guard.

Slowly nodding, stepping on your tiptoes, placing your free hand around Rafe's neck and dragging him to your height, "What if I need something from you?" Your voice sounded enticing, as you pull away.

Your gaze lands on the gold chain. Playing with it, twisting it with your index finger. 

Rafe's lip slides against his bottom lip, forming into a smirk. He knows what you are doing to him. He likes it.

I know I shouldn't have you waiting at all.

I've been so busy, but I've been thinking about you.

What I wanna do to you.

"Oh really, what would that be? enlighten me,"

Oh he's really good you think to yourself.

"I think you know what I mean, Rafe."

"I don't think I do, Y/N," mocking your tone.

In your mind, you want to go and see what he does, or you want to stay by his side for the rest of the night and sleep in his sheets. It can go either way, but you'll most likely be in his sheets, or not.

You finally inform Rafe that you'll be getting back to your girlfriends, who are waiting for you someplace in the home. The look on his face indicated that he did not want you to leave him.

He leans nearer and places his hand on your wrist, "No, don't leave right now. Can I give you a tour of the the house?" He suggested.

You give him a questionable look as if you were debating it.

"Vip access for special people,"

Jack pot.

"I would love that."

The rest of the night, you stayed at Rafe's side. You had him hooked around your finger and it only took you a few words out your mouth. The expressions on your girls' faces were wonderful; they were secretly cheering you on across the room. Of course, they kept a close eye on you while enjoying themselves.

When Rafe took you around the house, he made sure you had the best tour of your life. You could not believe how large the house was. He showed you his room last, which was maintained clean and tidy. His tv is on the wall below his dresser. The smell of cologne flooded your lungs and smelled pleasant.

After, you two took a few shots, smoked a joint, played drinking games, danced, and made out.

You now have your back against Rafe's chest, and his hand is around your waist, holding you close. You'll occasionally move your hips to the side to the beat of the song, causing him to pull you closer.

Everyone has taken to the dance floor in the huge living room. You both circle all of Rafe's buddies. You've met them many times before. Your girlfriends were a few feet away.

Rafe's hand was gliding itself up and down your waist then your ass giving it a couple squeezes.

You turn around and place both hands on his lower the abdomen. You looked at each other with lust and desperation. You examine his lips first, contemplating whether you should kiss him first. You do. 

Lips moved in sync. Tongues fighting for dominance. The feeling felt electric. Your body was craving him more and more.

"I think it's time I gave me another good tour, but this time in my bedroom," he breathlessly mumble in your ear, eager.

You groan from his words, nodding.

The way he spoke those words to you made you feel like you were on cloud nine. Excitement in your lower stomach started jumping.

Before you head upstairs, Rafe wraps his arm around Topper's shoulder, whispers in his ear, "Make sure you get these people out of here in an hour, then you can either stay here or go home." Topper nods and pats his shoulder.

You couldn't take your hands off each other on the way up to his bedroom; laughing, touching, and kissing. 

"You look so beautiful tonight, couldn't take my eyes off you," he says as he lays you on his soft sheets, runs his hands down your sides, and admires your physique.

The words coming out Rafe's mouth made your cheeks grow red. You watch Rafe's eyes scan your body before he grabs the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your body.

You feel yourself grow impatient, Rafe senses it, he smirks.

"Don't worry, angel, we're just getting started," he said, dropping his head, kissing your stomach, and moving closer to your underwear line.

Your hands slide through his hair, gently pulling, eliciting a gasp from Rafe's lips. You smirk at yourself.

Pulls your skirt down and throws your underwear across the room before bringing itching closer to your core. Chills run down your spine, and you breathe heavily as Rafe's breath fans on your bare core.

The sexual tension grows stronger. Rest of your night consisted of the both of your moans filling the bedroom.

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[smoooothoperator]

What Was I Made For?

18: This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

childhood enemies, forced proximity, accidental pregnancy, enemies to lovers (👀)

Warnings: cute moments, but...

a/n: HELLO!!!!! So i found a moment to write! I hope everyone had a nice week!

if you want to play a game and ask things about Dafne

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If you want to be tagged don't forget to message me!

Every way of feedback is very welcomed

Nesting.

That phenomenon when a mother thinks it is time to get the house ready for the arrival of a baby. That moment when a mother thinks a onesie of a cat or a dog would make your baby look incredibly adorable. That moment when you want to start buying every piece of furniture you find on the internet.

But nesting should begin only when you have a permanent place to call home.

The Tuscany house is not only mine. And even if this place was the first one that came into my mind whenever I thought about raising my kid, I knew that this won't be possible.

I realized I needed to find a new home, one where Charles and I could build our life together and raise our son.

“Hey, what keeps your mind busy?” 

I closed my laptop and placed it on the coffee table, a weak smile on my lips. We should talk about it, right?

“Love, everything's alright?” he asked worried.

“Yeah, yeah” I sighed. “I was thinking…”

“Oh no, bad news” he teased, a grin playing on his lips. I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful nudge. “I’m just kidding!” he added, laughing.

“I was thinking about, well… Selling my apartment in Florence” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. 

“What? Why?” he frowned. “But you love that place-”

“Oi, let me talk!” I exclaimed, laughing. “I want to sell the apartment because I want to buy a house with you!”

I glanced at him, my cheeks warming as I nibbled my lip. His surprise softened into a slow, growing smile.

“What about this house?” he asked, holding my hands, rubbing soft circles over my knuckles. “I thought you wanted to raise the kid here?”

“Yeah, but…” I sighed. “This house is not only mine. I can't keep Erica and Soleil away from this house only because I chose to raise our son here. It's too big for us…”

“And what were you thinking now, hm?” he smiled, moving closer to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. 

“Well…” I smile softly, kissing his jaw. “I need a house for us, where we can decorate it how we want. Where… Where I can finally nest”

“Oh, it's that?” he chuckled. “Baby momma wants to nest?”

“You are such an idiot…” I sighed, nudging his side. “As if I was the only one who has been looking for things for the baby”

He chuckled and hugged me, kissing my temple. 

“We should get things ready for the gender reveal” he whispered, kissing my cheek a few times. “Like… buying the confetti, the snacks, decorations…”

“Yeah, yeah” I giggled, hugging him.

Since the scare with Athena, we’ve been trying to make her more comfortable. The vet recommended a special diet for senior cats, so I’ve switched her food to match that.

But the worst thing was to know that she was getting older, weaker. 

We try to make things easy for her, and somehow look after her whenever we find her going to hide somewhere, making sure she isn't alone.

“We should do it outside” I smiled, kissing his jaw. “On the table that has good views”

“Oh, yeah” he nodded. “The one who is under the tree?”

“Mhm” I nodded. “So we have more space for our friends and family, and in that way we can leave Athena here without stress”

“I'm sure she would love the attention” Charles chuckled. “But yeah, you are right. Less stress would make her feel better”

“Yeah” I sighed, cuddling him, getting comfortable with my back pressed on his chest as I placed my laptop on my belly..

“So… Buying a house” he smiled, playing with the curls of my hair. “Where? And when?”

“When…” I sighed, swallowing thickly while I rubbed the side of my belly. “I don't know, really… I can't stop thinking about Athena. I don't want to stress her more with another moving out”

“I know, love” he sighed, wrapping his arm over my chest. 

“It's… God, it's so hard” I sighed, blinking away the tears that were threatening to fall. “It's like I'm walking over eggshells with her. I don't know what is going on with her, I don't understand why she's like this. She never had a problem with all the times she was out… I even brought her to some races. But now…”

“Have you thought about going to a better veterinarian clinic?” he whispered. “Dafne, the amount of weight she had lost is not normal, and she's sleeping more than she used to…”

“I know, I know” I swallowed thickly. “I’m scared of what they could say…”

Because somehow, I know what the answer could be. I can feel it whenever she looks at me lately, when she cuddles me at night, when she lays on my chest with her head on my belly. 

Charles sighed, kissing my head and holding me tight. He knows what Athena means to me, he knows how important she is to me. And somehow, I know that she is important to him, too.

“I'll be with you all the time” he whispered. 

“I know” I whisper, kissing his arm softly. “Thank you”

We were both walking over eggshells. Ever since Charles met Athena and she showed him trust and love, he took care of her like I did, treating her like his own.

“Anyway” I sighed, opening the laptop. “Why don't we go to Florence? We can buy things for the party there. And I miss walking around that city”

“Oh, sure” he smiled, kissing my neck. “It's a date, then”

“W-what?” I gasped. “Idiot!”

“Why? Can't I have a date with my girl, hm?” he smirked, kissing my neck. “I owe you so many dates”

“Whatever” I whisper, blushing.

He laughed, kissing my cheek again and again then turning my head with his hand and pressing his lips on mine on a soft kiss.

“But stop kissing me if you want to go there” I whisper against his lips, smiling. 

“We have all day to be there” he murmured, kissing me again, grabbing my laptop and putting it back on the coffee table.

“Oh, now you are the horny one?” I laughed, feeling how he held my hips to make me sit on his lap.

“May I remind you how you woke me up today?” he smirked, making me gasp and hit his chest softly.

“I'm a pregnant woman who has her needs and hormones!” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest, smiling.

“And I never said I didn't like it” he smirked. “I just want to return the favor”

“Oh, then go on” I smile, kissing his lips, feeling his hands holding my hips and pulling me down on him.

“You don't need to ask twice”

dafne_morelli added a new story

charles_leclerc added a new story

f1gossip

liked by 14.179 

f1gossip Charles Leclerc and Dafne Morelly were found today walking around Florence! 

They looked very cozy, and Dafne looked more beautiful than ever. Some fans found them buying things in a supermarket and they suspect they will make a gender reveal soon, since they saw them buying punk and blue things.

What do you guys think of this new couple? 

view all comments 

dafneismymom I just can't wait to see her around the paddock with her baby bump! 

dafnefanone she should be racing not being pregnant… Disappointed. dafneismymom dafnefanone you ok hun? dafnefanone she has potential to be a world champion. Instead of that she got knocked up by her own teammate. They fooled us.

fewawifwiens they look really cute! Can't wait to have updates of baby Morelli!!

The backyard of the house was full of people, of laughs. Our families came early in the morning to help us get everything ready, to set all the decorations and have lunch together before our friends arrived.

“Boy or girl?” my sister Erica asked.

“I don't want to jinx it” Charles smiled, biting his lip while he placed his hand on my belly. “So I'll keep it to myself”

“So…” Arthur smirked looking at us. “You two are dating?”

I looked at Charles, placing my hand on top of his and nodded, rubbing his knuckles with my thumb.

“Yeah” I nodded, looking at the youngest Leclerc.

“Fucking finally!” our siblings exclaimed, making our parents laugh.

“Is the best. We want to raise our baby together, as a family,” I said, glancing at Charles. The commitment in his eyes reassured me, and I knew we were on the right path.

Charles held my hand tightly and smiled, leaning closer to kiss my temple. He placed his hand in the back of my chair, playing with my hair.

“We always said that you two were going to end up together” my father said, mirroring Charles and placing his arm in the back of my mother's chair. “That those fights you had were only temporary”

“Oh yeah” Charles' mom laughed, looking at my dad. “Hervé and you had a bet, right?”

“He should give me like 50 euros” he laughed. “When you two were teens we made a bet. Hervé said that you two wouldn't get together before your thirty, and I said you two would. So… yeah”

I felt Charles moving on the chair, taking a deep breath. I looked at him with a sad smile, holding his hand and kissing it.

“I miss him,” Charles said, his smile faltering as he looked down. “I always imagined he’d be here longer… seeing us get married, meeting our kids”

Silence fell between all of us, smiling sadly. I held Charles' hand that was on top of my belly, holding it tightly.

“Anyway” his mother smiled weakly. “How is everything going?”

I took a deep breath and smiled, kissing Charles’ cheek softly.

“Good, yeah” I nodded. “Some days ago we had a little scare with my cat, but… Yeah, besides that, everything is good. The baby is calm, not kicking hard, and it's healthy”

“Oh? Athena?” Soleil frowned. “What happened to her?”

“She's old” I smile weakly. “Having health problems, I guess… We don't know yet. We went to the city the other day and a ver made some studies, they will send us the results soon”

“But she's okay as long as she doesn't get stress” Charles smiled, nodding and rubbing my arm. “We discovered she likes to sleep in the room next to Dafne's, so we made sure she's comfortable there”

“Little Athena wants attention, that's all” I smile weakly. “With the pregnancy and Charles being around, and the change of house again… We want to buy a house for us, but with her being sick…”

“Hey, it will be okay” Erica smiled, holding my hand. “If you need it, I can keep her with me”

“No, don't worry” I sighed. “I just…”

I swallowed thickly, looking at my belly. There's something inside of me that these are the last months I'm going to spend with her. Something inside of me tells me that she won't make it.

Charles pressed a gentle kiss to my temple, and I sighed, my eyes fluttering closed as I leaned into his touch.

“Today is a day to be happy” he smiled. “Smile, yeah? She is with us, don't worry”

I leaned into Charles, a soft smile tugging at my lips as I watched his hand gently trace circles on my belly.

“So… Buying a house?” my father smiled, drinking the last sips of his wine. “If you need help with anything you know we can help, right?”

“Yeah, just…” I sighed. “We want to wait a little. I started to have that nesting instinct, wanting to make the home more comfortable for the baby, but at the moment I don't think we can do it”

“We decided that we won't raise the kid in this house” Charles smiled. “It wouldn't be fair for Soleil and Erica, this is their house too”

“But you can stay here, guys…” Erica smiled weakly. 

“We want to live together” I smiled softly, looking at Charles. “In our own house, watching our kid grow and make memories in a house that is ours. This place can stay as what it is: our summer house”

“So it's official, then?” Arthur smiled looking at us. “We are finally becoming a family, huh?”

“You already were” I smiled.

After lunch, we tidied up, the anticipation building as we waited for our friends to arrive.

Charles and I were sitting in the couch, enjoying the warm weather while we waited, already knowing that they were on their way to the house.

“We should find a name for our baby, hm?” he whispered, with his lips pressed on my temple. 

“I want our baby to carry your dad’s name and Jules’ names” I said, pulling away a little to look into his eyes, placing my hand on his chest. 

“Dafne…” he smiled weakly, placing his hand on my belly.

“They are not with us anymore, but I want them to be remembered” I whisper. “I want our baby to know about them, to know that he has their names because of two wonderful people”

He smiled and cupped my cheek, pressing his lips on mine and kissing me softly, pouring in that kiss all the words he can't say.

“Dorian Jules Hervé” he whispered, making me gasp and laugh 

“Dorian? Are you sure?” I laughed. 

“Come on, you showed me those TikTok edits about that character” he laughed. “And if the genetics are right, he has a fifty percent probability to have blue eyes”

“And a fifty percent probability to have green eyes” I laughed softly, pecking his lips. “But… I really like how that sounds”

“Dorian Jules Hervé Morelli-Leclerc,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my temple with each name, as if sealing the memory of those we love.

“Both surnames?” I whispered. 

“Sure, why not?” he smiled. “We are not married, you don't have my surname”

I smile looking at him, kissing his lips softly. I love him, I accepted those feelings recently. But talking about marriage? Not yet.

Some minutes went by when Kika sent me a message saying that they were already in front of the gates, waiting for us to open it.

We got up from the couch, anticipation bubbling between us as we made our way to the front gates. The sight of our friends stepping out of their cars brought a rush of happiness, and I couldn’t help but smile, feeling the day’s excitement building.

“My god, you are glowing!” Kika gasped while walking towards me, hugging me, then looking down at my belly. 

“Thank you” I chuckled, kissing her cheeks. 

“How's everything going? The baby? How is it?” she smiled.

“Yeah, well… Good” I smiled, looking at her and then at Charles. 

I smiled, looking around and then gasping softly when I saw Violet walking out of the car with a black puppy. I laughed, watching how Lando picked up the dog and walked towards us.

“And this little one?” I laughed, letting the puppy smell my hand.

“Meet Rhys” Violet smirked, laughing and looking at Lando.

“There's no way you named him after Rhysand” I laughed, shaking my head. 

“And you want to name your baby after Manon or Dorian” Violet smirked, hugging me. “You look amazing, Dafne. I missed you so much”

“I missed you too” I smiled.

Somehow it made me feel good. They welcomed me as a new wag, even if it was still hard for me to accept that I won't race anymore. But knowing that they would be by my side, made me feel grateful.

“We bought some things for the baby” Lily smiled, standing next to me after kissing my cheek. “Since none of us knew the gender gets we decided to make some onesies of the teams”

“Oh yeah, McLaren would look amazing on the baby” Lando smirked, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist. 

“Our baby will be a Ferrari baby, so no, we won't accept that onesie” I laughed.

“Oh, don't worry, we will put it on when we'll have to babysit, hm?” Violet smirked.

“Like hell I'll ask you to babysit my baby” Charles laughed looking at them, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my cheek. 

“I never thought thatI would live to see that” Pierre laughed. “But I'm glad you two are finally together, really”

I smile looking at them, then at Charles. Them, our closest friends, know how much we fought, how many times we said that we hated each other.

“Anyway! Let's go to the backyard” I filed placing my hand on Charles' chest. “Everything is ready”

We all walked together, and I couldn't be happier. Our son will be surrounded by amazing people, a family of many people that will love him and help him with everything. And our friends will be there whenever we need them, taking care of him and loving him.

Charles stood beside me, his hand resting gently on my lower back. I glanced up at him, catching the hint of a smile playing on his lips. We both knew what was coming, and even though we had known the gender of our baby, this moment still felt monumental.

The table in front of us was adorned with candles and flowers, a perfect setting for what was about to unfold. At the center was a large, beautifully decorated cake. The outside was a neutral white, with a few little pink and blue flowers. But inside that was where the secret was hidden.

"Are you ready?" Charles whispered, his breath warm against my temple as he gently rubbed my back.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I whispered back, a smile playing on my lips as I reached for the knife, my hand trembling slightly with excitement.

As the knife slid through the layers, the hush that fell over the crowd made the moment feel even more surreal. We lifted the first slice, revealing the bright blue filling inside. Gasps and cheers echoed around us, and I couldn’t help but laugh, the joy bubbling up inside me.

“It’s a boy!” Pierre shouted, followed by all of the boys screaming excited. 

Even though we had already known this, seeing everyone else’s reactions, sharing that moment with them, felt like we were experiencing it all over again. My mother rushed forward, her eyes shining with happy tears as she hugged me tight. Charles’ mother wasn’t far behind, wrapping her arms around both of us as she laughed through her tears.

"You've been carrying a little prince all this time," my mother said, her voice trembling with emotion.

“Yeah” I smile, hugging her, feeling tears blurring my vision. “A little prince”

Charles couldn’t stop smiling, his pride lighting up his face like the sun. He embraced Arthur and then Lorenzo, while his friends clapped him on the back, laughter and cheers mixing with the joyful chatter of my sisters.

“I knew it would be a boy!” my sister Soleil laughed, walking towards me with Erica and hugging me.

Charles turned back to me, his eyes meeting mine with that look I’d come to love so much. He reached out, taking my hand in his, squeezing it softly.

He took a step closer to me and pressed his lips on mine, kissing me softly and sweet, the kind of kiss that felt like sealing a promise. The cheers around us grew louder, but for a moment, it was just the two of us, wrapped in this incredible feeling of love and anticipation.

The celebration was everything I had hoped for and more. The sprawling garden of the Tuscany house was filled with laughter, love, and the scent of roses. Family and friends gathered around the long, beautifully decorated table, toasting to our baby boy. 

Charles stood beside me all the time, his arm wrapped around my waist, his lips pressing soft kisses on my shoulder, temple and cheek.

But then, the mood shifted. A sudden hush fell over the group, and I noticed our friends turning, their smiles faltering into puzzled frowns. My pulse quickened as I followed their gaze, and that’s when I saw her.

“Melanie?” Charles frowned.

She stood at the entrance to the garden, her presence like a shadow creeping into the light of our perfect day. Her chocolate hair caught the evening sun, almost giving her a caramel glow, but her eyes were dark, filled with something that made my stomach twist. She was holding her stomach, her hand resting protectively over what was unmistakably a baby bump.

I felt Charles tense beside me, his hand tightening on my waist as his gaze zeroed in on her swollen belly.

“What the hell are you doing here?” His voice was low, filled with a mix of disbelief and anger, setting my nerves on edge as confusion swirled in my mind.

Melanie started walking toward us, her eyes never leaving mine. I could see something cruel flickering in her gaze, something that made my pulse race with anxiety.

“Congratulations, Dafne,” Melanie said, her voice sweet but full of venom. “It seems we both have some news to share.”

“What are you talking about” I frowned, swallowing thickly. I can't stop looking at her stomach.

My heart pounded in my chest as she shifted her hand on her belly, making her pregnancy even more obvious. My mind raced, trying to make sense of what she was implying. She couldn’t be…

“I’m pregnant too,” she announced, her gaze piercing through me before shifting to Charles. “You are going to be a dad twice, how lucky”

“W-what?” I mumbled, looking at Charles.

My knees wobbled, and I had to grab onto Charles to steady myself. The world around me began to spin, and I could barely hear the shocked gasps and whispers from our family. All I could focus on was the sickening reality that was crashing down on me.

“Dafne, don’t listen to her,” Charles mumbled, turning to me, his voice desperate. “She’s lying. I swear to you, she’s lying.”

I can't breathe. No, I can't. This can't be happening.

“She’s lying,” Charles insisted, his grip tightening on my arm, desperation lacing his voice. “Dafne, it’s not true...”

But the words barely registered. The edges of my vision blurred, the scene before me fading into a dizzying swirl of darkness. The last thing I saw was Melanie’s cold, triumphant smile before the world slipped away.

“Dafne!” Charles’ voice echoed in my mind as I felt myself slipping, my body giving in to the weight of the shock.

And then, nothing.

taglist

@racinggirl @elisysd @alltoomaples @ssprayberrythings @rach3164 @yvonne-dump @deliciousfestsalad @janeh22 @hc-dutch @ninifee1802 @kakorrhaphiphobia @ssararuffoni @itsjustkhaos @scaramou @tapedeck-hearts @sltwins @glitterquadricorn @ladystardust05 @theseerbetweenus @vizzzashley @auawdo @leah-also-known-as-creatoronwp @leptitlu @green-thots @caterinemirandax_ @mid5nights @harrysdimple05 @nofingjustaninchident

[lilykatelyn-blog]

𝓓𝓪𝔂 1 - 𝓵.𝓶𝓱 - LILY’S KINKTOBER

Demon!Lee Know x AngelFem!Reader

theme: choking

pt. 2

genre: smut, ig fluff at the end? Idek.

warnings: ewb2l (enemies with benefits to lovers) choking, collars, reader has sensitive wings that can retract, penetration, monster cock, making out, fingering, drunk guy (for one second), references of Satan and the devil so if you are uncomfortable with that I would recommend not reading it, also they have telepathy??, Dom!Min, Sub!Reader, they’re both kinda switch towards the end of the smut scene, unsafe sex.

wc: 1.4k

MINORS DNI

smut under the cut

It’s been a while since you’ve last been to hell, or seen him. Every now and then when you were on earth, your brain would play tricks on you, making you think you saw him. Your human friends finally managed to drag you out of your apartment and into a club, full of drunkards and people looking for a good time. You just needed a few drinks and to unwind. “I’ll take a gin and tonic, on the rocks.” You told the bartender, he complied, making your order at the back while you waited. When he got back with your order, you heard a familiar voice order a familiar drink. “I’ll take a Manhattan, on the rocks.” He ordered, you tried to not turn around and look at him, opting to walk away, but his voice stopped you. “Long time no see, Angel.” You could practically hear the smirk in his voice, it made you wet and want to hurl at the same time. “Long time no see, jackass.” You replied, walking back towards him. “So, what you been up to? I hope you haven’t been sleeping around with anyone but me.” He asked, the last part making you pissed. “We’re not dating Lee.” You replied curtly, he simply smirked again. God, you wanted to slap that attractive smirk off of his extremely attractive face. “Oh, but you know if the big boss knew of what you did with me, you’d be removed. An ordinary human.” You tsked at the very obvious statement. “No shit, Sherlock. It was one time.” “It was 7 times that, darling.” He whispered in your ear, making you shudder. “See you, princess.” He grabbed his Manhattan and went to dance, leaving you speechless.

“So.. who was that hottie that you were talking to at the bar, huh?” Your friend nudged you after you got back with your drink. “It was no one, an old friend.” You lied, not thinking she would ask about schooling years. “Ooh! Primary or Secondary School?” “Neither. An old job, I quit it and haven’t seen him or kept in touch since.” They all went back to their own conversation after you explained it, you could practically feel Minho’s eyes burning holes in the back of your head. Meet me outside, princess. I own an apartment 2 blocks away. His voice rung in your head, you just agreed, knowing how this goes and that you will be back to strangers in no less than 12 hours.

“finally, you listen.” His annoying voice spoke from behind you as you exited the club. “Finally, you stop calling me ‘princess’.” You mock, his smirk returning. “I’ll never stop that habit, Angel. You should visit me down in hell sometime soon.” He winked, leading you into a cab. The entire ride, his hand was on your thigh, going up, only to go back to your knee. He was obviously riling you up, so you decided that two can play at that game. You slowly creeped your hand up his toned torso , and then his chest, and then his throat, lightly circling it as his breath hitched, only to bring it down to your lap. You got out, him paying and leading you to his apartment. As soon as he unlocked it, you were pressed against the door, his tongue being shoved down your throat. You moaned as he went down your jaw and neck, making sure not to leave any marks so that you could both keep your wings. “Bedroom,” you breathed, tugging his hair, he lifted you up, leading you to his bed. He sat down, making you straddle him, going back to your make out session. He pulled away, you chased his lips while pouting. “Hm, anyone ever been as good as me? Maybe that drunk guy that you ran away with for a few minutes?” He whispered, going back to his assault on your neck. “No-no one. I-I escorted him back to his car- Minho!” You choked out, throwing your head back as he found your sweet spot, mouthing at it for a few more seconds. “I want this off.” He tugged at your tight white shirt. You complied, letting him take it off of you, suddenly remembering you wore your black matching bra and panties set. “Shit.” He murmured, his mouth going straight to your chest, kissing them over the fabric while his other hand went to your other boob. “May I?” He asked, despite being a devil, still a gentleman. You nodded, giving silent confirmation. As soon as it was off, he went to your nipple, sucking harshly. “Nngh- please,” you whined, he just chuckled, pinching the other one. He pulled away despite your pleas, he silently asked to remove your skirt. You hummed, lifting your hips up for him to remove the garment. He pulled both your underwear and skirt down in one movement, flipping you onto your back.

he got in between your legs and spread your lips. “Beautiful..” he trailed off, giving a singular lick and then coming up to make you taste yourself. He sat on his knees, removing his shirt and revealing his beautiful abs and scars. Getting back over you, he kissed you again. While his tongue explored your mouth, you traced his abs and scars, the one that you kept coming back to was the one on his midriff, a result of a nasty encounter with his father before he became a demon. Finally, he pulled away and tugged his sweats down, leaving him in his boxers. He didn’t bother removing his jewelry, and walked over to the dresser, you got on your elbows and looked in confusion. “What-“ “it’s a collar, Angel. Chill, I’m not gonna leave you high and dry after how hard you got me.” He signaled to his huge cock, bigger than any dildo you’ve ever seen or felt.

“Wonder how you still have those beautiful white pearly wings after all we’ve done together, considering the wings are a sign of purity. I’d say your anything but after all we’ve done.” He went on as he fastened the collar around your neck. “Beautiful.. and it’s all mine.” He traced the collar around your neck, pushing you down. “Open your wings, gonna use them for your first orgasm.” He commanded, and obviously, you complied. Your wings were out and super sensitive as well, he slowly traced them with the tips of his fingers, resulting in a series of whimpers from you. His fingers circled your hole to prep you, only teasing, not going in. He had you distracted with your wings, taking you by surprise when his fingers pushed in and out at a brutal pace “Ah! Min-Minho!” You moaned, losing your ability to use your brain, the only coherent thing coming out of your mouth was pleas for him to keep going. Not long after your high, he took his fingers out and replaced them with his huge dick, only making your cries of his name speed up. He went at an ungodly pace, god, you were so close already that it was kinda embarrassing how quick he got you there. “Oh god, oh god, oh god- hnngh” your moans were soeeding up, as was your breath, your words got cut off by his tip hitting just the right spot. “Not god, baby. Lee Minho.” He whispered, getting you an intense amount closer to the edge. “I’m-“ “let it out for me, Angel.” That brought you over the edge, your orgasm hitting you like a boulder. “Shit, I’m close, getting close- mmph.” He started whining, his words interrupted by your hand shaking up his chest, squeezing his throat just hard enough to tip him over. “That’s it, Min. Let go..” you trailed off, feeling him spill into you. After he cleaned up and lay beside you, you both fell asleep in each others embrace.

The following morning, you woke up alone, to a note. Angel, I know you’re probably confused since I never leave, but I had to go to work for my ‘Human’ job. Do me a favor and stay, yeah? I’ll be back in a few hours, considering how late you wake up. I don’t have roommates and I still have a pair of your clothes from last time, either that or you can wear my button up and your panties, ya know, a little treat for when I get home? Anyways, stay there and here’s my cell: ***-***-****

P.S. I refrigerated breakfast, your favourite. Text me if you need anything, your dog was well fed before I left, so don’t worry. We’ll talk later, but you should consider moving in with me, at least until we have to go back. I love you! <3

This is gonna be fun.

note: send an ask if you want a part 2 because I, myself, wanted to write a part 2 that isn’t part of kinktober. Also I’m sorry that this is kinda half assed Love you guys! <333

TAGLIST:

@aaasia111, @hgema, @obeythemasters, @imwithurmother, @unlikelysublimekryptonite, @virluna148, @sanzusfavgf, @ivyisnotokay, @stanskzsstuff, @luvkpopp

[adviceformefromme]

💖 NUTRITION & WELLBEING EDITION - 10 WEEKS UNTIL 2025 - GLOW UP SERIES [WEEK 10] - 💖

So we’re 10 weeks till 2025, the new year is fast approaching, your energy levels are in the gutter and despite mentally wanting to change your life there’s just something keeping you stuck. You wake up and it’s the same story different day, tired, hungry, moody as hell.

While you might mentally want to change your life, your body needs to be on board and to do that it’s gona need the right foods, drinks and nutrients to have you functioning at your optimal level. Taking drastic action when it comes to changing your diet is how you’re going to see drastic results in your energy levels, productivity and overall wellbeing… 

The foundations: 

🛌 SLEEP: All those late night movies before bed, Netflix and chill, love-is-blind binging needs to stop immediately. You need a set bed time and you need to be consistent. Waking up and going to sleep at the exact same time every single day. I recommend 10pm - 6am or somewhere around there. 

🥱 Sleep with your mouth closed. Use mouth strips from amazon if you dribble, snore, or struggle to sleep properly - breathing through your mouth is most likely the culprit. It’s not natural and disturbs natures rhythm which is breathing through your nose. Mouth strips have been a game changer for me, and highly recommended. 

🚫 No screen before bed. This is obvious but those doom scrolling morning and nights are over. Switch it off, read a book, pray, meditate, do what you need to. This is about resting your body before bed so you can sleep well and function at your best the next day. 

Sleep supplements: Magnesium oil spray or tablets before bed 

🍴 FOODS & DRINKS: 2 litres water MINIMUM per day. Absolutely no alcohol for the next 10 weeks. Strict diet of vegetables, fruits, protein and healthy fats, high quality meats and fish. More herbs into your food. Seeds, whole grains such as Chia, Flaxseed, Pumpkin seed, Bulgar wheat. More pre-and-probiotics. Sprouted veggies. Snack on nuts. No sweets, no cakes, no carbs. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no gluten. No nothing that is not a whole food, or from the earth. You are your own doctor when it comes to food, so you will know what is best for you. Above is the closest diet to nature and has changed my life. Eating vegetables in season. Removing western foods, removing vegetable oil, only drinking structured water, herb teas, and freshly pressed veg juices. Changing your diet might mean you stop eating out, you cut the takeouts, you spend your evenings researching meal preps for Keto, or healthy diet. Your life will completely change when you start feeding your body ALIVE foods, instead of nutrient deficient, processed food that keeps you craving more. Yes you are going against the grain. You will be the minority, but what are the alternatives? Stay binging? Stay eating crap? Stay feeling crap? 

Supplements: 

Chronium, Berberine for support with blood sugar 

D3 + K2, B12, Vitamin C 1000mg, Turmeric, Probiotics, 

DIM, Milk Thistle, Selenium, Iodine Drops, Omega 3, Mega GLA for women’s health.

Other: 

Get full blood panel done to see any deficiencies 

Invest in a continuous glucose monitor from Amazon - see how your body is responding to foods you are eating in real time. 

🏃🏽‍♀️EXERCISE: There is no way around this. You need to do some fucking exercise. Even if you start with 10k steps per day. Just do it. Once you’ve switched up your diet you absolutely WILL have more energy. Join a gym, set the intention, put reminders on your phone affirming you ARE someone whoo does exercise and works out. Leave your gym clothes out before bed. Set yourself up to win. Find a friend or someone to work out with. Look on YouTube for a workout if the gym is not possible. Just try your best. This is a mind over matter. ~You got this. 

🧘🏽‍♀️ Finally…STRESS FREE LIVING…

You can eat all the healthy foods, do your 10k steps but if you are involved in a stressful life, those stress hormones are going to come and f**k shit up. You have to remove stress where possible. This is the NUMBER one health destroyer. Stress literally makes is ill. It depletes your energy, exhausts you, and keeps you in survival - not much different to the animals living in the wild. Your life can be so stress free once you realise you are actually in control of a lot more than you realise. Blocking HIM. Saying no to hanging out with HER. Hanging up the phone. Removing yourself from the drama. Quitting your job. Changing your course. Deleting social media. Switching off the news permanently. Distancing yourself. There is SO much you can do to remove stress. But it’s completely on you. You have to take control if you are serious about changing your life. 

That’s all for this week! Next week more advice on your pre-2025 glow-up.

[huellitaa]

girl's guide to academic success: ep. 2 ⊹˚. ♡

──★ ˙ ̟🎀 this post focuses on: steps to use on the path to success! ♡ part 1 -> ♡

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ romanticism

i think i mentioned this in my romanticism post but pinterest is ur best friend. if i know anything about it u can trust i have a pinterest board for it; thats the same for school. gather motivating pictures & and pretty images that align with ur personal goals and style and make u wanna get up and work! i also use tumblr for this too. i'll link a couple blogs i love for this later on <3

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ surroundings

if ur studying, make sure u actually enjoy the place you're studying in, or try to to the best of your extent. whenever i study im 9 times out of 10 always at my desk and ive decorated my desk specifically so that it motivates me to get up and do whatever i need to do + its super pretty and makes me smile every time i see it <3 decorate ur area with little trinkets and both things u love and things that motivate you, and switch it up when you can! don't stay in the same place all the time. spontaneity is fun!!!

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ personalisation

make it pleasing to look at so ur more motivated to go back and revise over them if needed, and so you have something to do as well that is still related to your work if ur someone who gets distracted easily like myself. some inspo i use for my work:

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ hydration!

make sure ur drinking lots of water !! i drink lots of water and lots of tea whenever im studying or doing any kind of schoolwork and it helps me a lot, + its just those little bits of comfort yk

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ music and concentration

i work way better with any music in the background but if you're someone who gets distracted easily i'd recommend making a specific playlist for studying and listening to non-lyrical music like lofi, video game soundtracks, classical music, instrumentals of songs u like, etc. (i'm not telling you to go against the rules of ur school but i put a headphone in in class sometimes and cover it with my hair just because i know i work way better with it and it helps me a lot bc most of the people in my classes are so freaking loud. so if ur allowed 100% go for it but i don't recommend what i do if you have a strict school)

🧸𓂃 ࣪˖ prioritising ur health & compromising

like i said in my other post, prioritise your health over anything else. if you didn't get a good nights sleep last night and you have a test tomorrow and need to study, then compromise; if you already know a lot about it or its not fate changing or life altering in some way or you can go over it quickly in the morning or something, go to sleep. your health is always more important in the long run and will help you to do even better in the future in every area of ur life

──★ ˙ ̟🎀 links (some of my fav studyblr girlblog posts!)

study methods: @4theitgirls

studying plans as an accounting major: @iluvprettygirls

study tips: @honeytonedhottie

academic burnout: @seulhrts

elle woods: @4theitgirls

productivity hacks: @theambitiouswoman

paris geller: @4theitgirls

i also personally recommend @zooxanthellae for one of the study blogs! she does a lot of studyblr posts under the tag #zoostudies & they're SO CUTE ♡

all my love 💗🫶🎀💬🩷

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

i love reading your fic thoughts!!

are there any fics you'd recommend or read where you like the way they are characterized? i'm a writer and hope i accurately represent them but i'm never sure, but it's fun to see you doing similar things (going over voice lines and scenes to get their voice down and stuff)

and i think inspiration can help!

hiya! ahh thank you so much, i'm glad you found them interesting! and i perfectly understand your struggle :( it's a ritual at this point to watch their interactions so i can get a feel of them for ongoing fics, i'm considering rewatching a parade of providence at some point as a treat <3

and !! i agree! the fanfiction community is a circle of never ending ideas, so it's amazing how we all inspire each other! for characterisation here are some that stand out to me in my mind <3

Patron of the Arts - nevergreengale, volansvultar - ongoing and (hopefully not) discontinued, but a really interesting take in alhaitham asking kaveh to be his architect for him to move in! kaveh's inner monologue is just him, i especially love his musings about altruism, and the rift between him and alhaitham. a nice mystery going on with whatever is occupying alhaitham as well!

Strawberry High - etherealnara - this IS the drunk alhaitham fic for me, i love seeing him interact with inazuma characters, as well as being competitive. the dynamic between alhaitham and kaveh here is sighworthy, you can really feel the strain towards the end!

The City of Gold and Dust - Amayax - ongoing. pov switch with each chapter, mishaps with time and a really intriguing mystery! both voices truly shine here, i particularly love the prose of alhaitham dealing with grief, and how you can feel how much kaveh means to him, whereas kaveh can feel the burden of missing something obvious, but not knowing what. the contrast is lovely!

(self-recommendation) Change is Imp(ur)rative - completed. mentioning this because this is my fav piece of work i've done for them so far! really hoping the characterisation works, this is a slowbuild into the progression of their relationship, i'm a sucker for them actually talking and what them airing their grievances could look like <3

Old Habits, New Beginnings - thvndaga - completed. amnesiac alhaitham. this is such a lovely lovely fic with alhaitham entirely forgetting himself, but knowing that he's in love with kaveh, but kaveh refusing to believe it? very addictive to read and an incredible journey!

in the market for forgiveness - chaoticloutral - this is so cute, the rising tension over the mundane, the major misunderstanding based around (1) interaction. kaveh's perspective is perfectly rationalised, and alhaitham dogging after him to explain himself! also the atmosphere here! lovely!

best of r/relationship_advice - farozaan - completed. reddit style fic, this is HILARIOUS! kaveh coming to terms with his feelings about alhaitham (but really knowing all along) and alhaitham's quiet patinece is just so ahhh it's them <3

When Sun and Moon Align - Undercover_Owl - ongoing. a time travel fic with kaveh being flung back into his days as a student, attempting to fix his vision with his inquisitive best friend/junior alhaitham, all the while alhaitham is struggling to adjust to kaveh's disappearance in present day. LOVELY! the mystery and prose are enticing, and kaveh's shifting understanding of current alhaitham is so scrummy!

To Dream in Shades of Green - Intensely_Reading - completed. this is such an addictive fic, with kaveh being involved in an experiment (courtesy of yae miko) where his dreams become light novels, only for his dream to take the form of an otome game! so fun and the development between dream alhaitham and kaveh, with him comparing this relationship to real alhaitham is so well done! and real alhaitham going about to locate the cause of kaveh's anxiety is so real <3

six ways to friday - mousiekosmos - completed. this fic is INSANE. the prose is so lovely and alhaitham's perspective makes me want to eat my hand. so rational and logical and yet completely overthinking when it comes to matters concerning kaveh. the hesitance and misunderstanding in their initial relationship is so gutwrenching, and kaveh being the one to chase it !!! i thoroughly recommend

bad days, good days - emigmatic - a wonderful oneshot, kaveh's voice really shines through here, the uncertainties and his anxieties and tiptoeing around alhaitham, while alhaitham is so patient, just MWAH.

flower of my flower - bringingglory - completed. hanahaki alhaitham time. the mounting struggle of alhaitham's rationale in not telling kaveh and seeing kaveh worry from the side culminates perfectly! a very addictive read!

Briars and Roses 'Round Your Heart - sonotfine - completed. hanahaki kaveh time. one of my fav hanahaki aus! i love love the tension building from alhaitham's side as kaveh tries to downplay the progression of his sickness. the confrontation scene lives in my head, the suspense culminates perfectly!

[ghosthoard]

My LU Journey

When I was younger I got a DS for the first time and I was given a couple of games. The one that really hooked me was Pokémon Diamond, and the Zelda game I was given was Phantom Hourglass.

I tried Zelda, and I distinctly remember breaking pots and carrying around chickens as Toon Link. Then I set out past the village and into the wide world and that’s as far as I got because the monsters started to attack me and my heart sped up and I couldn’t take it. So I ran back to town. Hyped myself up, tried again, and ran back to town to stay there forever.

As a teenager, I gained an amazing friend who did not cower in fear and left the town in all Zelda games and became a super fan. We met through the anime Naruto but soon we shared our other interests. They were the one to tell me that all the Links and Zelda’s are not the same, in fact they’re all different people and not just the same characters in different art styles like I thought all my life. With that mind blowing revelation out of the way, they proceeded to tell me about how they enjoyed stories where the Links met. This didn’t mean as much to me personally at the time and I thought it never would (I was naive).

When we became adults, and my friend got an adult job, they set a trap. For my birthday, they sent me their old switch and a copy of breath of the wild. And of course I had to play it then. I was obligated to if I was sent a whole dang game console and a 60 dollar game.

So I started playing, I left the plateau and I never looked back.

I played that game obsessively. It was the first time in a while I’d actually played a game to the end or at all as I've watched let's players for years by now. I fell in love with the world and of course I fell in love with Wild.

So I sought him out in other forms. (Therein lies the trap, the elaborate scheme, it all comes back to Linked Universe).

And I know it might be upsetting to some of you, but I did not connect to the other Champions all that much throughout the game. The only characters I got attached to was Wild, our horses, and Beetle.

So I asked for fanfic recommendations from my friend, who is and always will be my Zelda Authority (my 'za if you will). They sent me a couple of fics, one that started with purely BOTW and the next fic went into more LU. I read it, haven’t finished it to this day but I liked it. But again, I wasn’t too attached to the other Champions, but boy was I craving some form of found family and always will. So even though I didn’t know anything about the other Links, I took a crack at LU.

But funnily enough, I didn’t start with the comic. I went straight to AO3 and whenever a new Link was mentioned I would go to Google and search their game, and based their appearance to their game canon. It was at this point I mixed up Hyrule with Warriors because Wars comes from Hyrule Warriors which literally had Hyrule’s name in it??? so based off of Wars’s canon appearance, in my head Hyrule was a big brother type who was taller and broader than most of the others, i was very wrong and very confused. It came to the point that I had to clarify which link was which. And I finally opened up the LU comic for the first time.

I read it so quickly and caught up so soon (in one sitting) that I remember being distraught that I did. But that was what fanfic is for baby.

(Just as an aside, I think I still had problems distinguishing the links while reading LU, I wasn’t sure which one was Sky and which one was Hyrule, and I mixed up Time and Twilight a lot. Four, Wind, and Legend were easy. And of course I knew which one was Wild).

Even then though, I didn’t know these boys well at all. We just all met at a social gathering and we did an icebreaker together, you don’t really get to know people through an ice breaker. So while I read fanfic, a lot of references flew over my head, I didn’t know the nuances of why this character did that, or what this event really meant to them. My friend helped me a lot again but most of my learning was from just reading more and more. This way I learned about what adventures each link had and how it shaped them.

I remember telling my friend that I loved how each of them had so many interesting secrets. What do you mean Four can split into four and also turn bite sized? What do you mean Hyrule has cursed blood, the entire triforce, and can turn into a fairy? What do you mean Legend has been on 6 adventures and can turn into a mermaid??? I loved all of it. It's been fun rereading fics after learning more about the boys since now i understand the nuances based on their histories.

Oh, that's why Four said that to Wild because of his history with Shadow! oh legend's like this because of marin and everything else he's been through! oh, there's so much more meaning in what this link says based on their past!

I loved the concept of successors and predecessors, mentors and bloodlines. The fucked up timeline. I love how each of them have spent time with the others in some way shape or form or been affected by their past iterations actions.

I consumed so much fanfic it became my second most bookmarked fandom on AO3 in almost less than a month.

Then again, it wasn’t enough. I went to other forms of fandom. Animatics and comic dubs mostly.

Estrine Studios was a game changer. What do you mean I can listen to the comic while I drew??? Changed my life.

Estrine Studios was there with me through my first interview into grad school and I will always be grateful for them.

Shin a’s work is also so charming. I always go back to their Minish and Master Sword dub.

I have a whole playlist of animatics. Lactose Bees has amazing ones (they’re the reason I got into Epic the Musical and also may have been the start of my obsession with wars), @raycatz ‘s pat my burns is a classic I love their style and the video always cracks me up and I went frame by frame once or twice, and @thetoyboxs ‘s animation memes are so addictive especially their Run Free with Hyrule. It was amazing to find Ray and Toy on tumblr, I can’t get enough of their work. (if anybody knows how to find lactose bees on here, hit me up)

I’m a huge fan of animatics. I’m obsessed with making them, but they take forever. Especially since I’m an adult now. You have no idea how many ideas I have for LU but i had just finished a big one for AoT at the time and i needed a break, but i still needed to express my big feelings for the fandom.

So I needed a different outlet for now and it was illustration. And this is the first fandom where I was this motivated to draw and have so much fun doing so. I think a big part of it was that my skills grew enough at this point that what I imagined was close to what I was making and boy is that addicting.

My art skills have really grown as a result of LU and I think I love it even more for that.

And the fandom itself was so welcoming and fun. I got on tumblr just in time for @kikker-oma ‘s FanJoyJuly and the collaboration and support and community was amazing to see. I did my own little post for @alicewritingstories who has also been amazing, and after the event ended I was reached out to by @luna-loveboop to create a thank you present for Oma. It was the first time I’ve been so involved in a fandom and I really appreciate all three of you for each part you played in it.

and in the last quarter of the year, i delved into writing my own lu fanfiction. and i've said it before and i'll say it again, i have 4 lu fanfic ideas and they will stay 4 ideas. this will finally be the fandom where i finish a fanfic to its entirety!

inspired by @alicewritingstories, @bleusarcelle, and @cluelessmoose my biggest and first fic: Please, Perennial will be a passion project of all of my favorite angsty tropes. it's been amazing seeing everyone's comments each time i post a part. i am going to commit to it and bring it to completion! and i hope you all will continue to follow along!

inspired by @anthemxix, is my second brainworm, currently titled: Hyrule gets pokeballed, a one-shot. i'm excited to share this one with everyone!!

these writers are so inspirational and i can't thank them enough for sharing their work for me to obsess over.

speaking of community, i also participated in my first write-a-thon in december. @lu-community-write-a-thon is crazy, so well organized and thought out. i'm not one for big groups of people i don't know well but it was fun to read the chats and i look forward to participating every month from now on if i can!

I also opened up requests twice this year! it's the first time I've done such a thing and it was really fun to see what people requested!

thank you to all my mutuals that i've managed to speak with! i hope you know i'm always available to chitchat about anything!

overall, I've made illustrations, started a fic, and participated in community events! i feel well rounded and i've experienced a good amount in this year alone. looking forward to even more new experiences next year. i for sure need to make an animatic!

This year has been defined by my Linked Universe addiction. I can't believe 2024 is almost over, it seems like i had the whole year ahead of me when i drew my first ever LU fanart. I'm still riding the LU high and i'm excited to see what's in store for next year.

And guess what! The friend that did everything possible to get me into LU, currently has their LU hyper fixation hibernating while I’ve been obsessing like a loon. They’re actually currently still in the batfamily fandom! where I put them! way before I got into LU! and then moved on to the Epic fandom! again! where i put them! We could’ve been obsessing together! god. (love you <3).

please check out all the artists and writers i've mentioned, it's so worth it!

looking forward to another year in this fandom! <3

[edgyedgelord]

hey im planning to switch over to linux and need advice from the smart people of tumblr, please and thank you. my messages are open so if you need any info to help me out hmu.

General Questions:

im seeing everyone saying ubuntu, mint, and ziron are "the #1 go to versions for beginners" but like... which is it?

i also hear about security being the best with linux but nothing about it coming with antiviruses. does it come with one like how windows comes with defender or do you install that yourself, or is it something different entirely?

all the sources i look at talk about downloading and installing linux but i want to know what to expect when first getting a prebuilt pc with the OS, like the system 76 pcs. do you have to set it up like when you install it or is it as easy as getting any new computer?

i know nothing about coding and im planning to get a computer from system 76 since it seems like the best, and its by far the only source that only comes with linux, and since my current one was pretty much ruined by someone i thought could fix it after a faulty outlet fried its insides, he didnt and made it worse.

so yeah, which linux version do you suggest for a computer moron, any suggestions for computers would be nice (max price is $1,300), i'll put the specs and my uses under the read more.

Preferences:

It ONLY comes with Linux. I despise what Windows has become and don't want to even bother dual booting cause I feel with the switchovers happening they're gonna get salty and make something that'll turn your computer into a bomb if you use Linux with it.

Kinda beefy but not a supercomputer. I don't use AI stuff, I'm not a programmer, but I do frequently play modded Minecraft with my friends and run smps for my Discord servers. I recently switched to Modrinth cause ATLauncher had been giving me trouble. Curseforge is out of the question.

At the most, I'll be playing VRChat with friends while having Spotify or Youtube in the background for music and Discord open in case someone needs my help in one of my servers, similar goes for running one of my SMPs just minus the VR.

Gaming Questions:

I also play VR games often, especially BeatSaber (modded ofc im not insane), and I have Half Life Alyx that I haven't been able to finish cause my already dead and gutted PC struggles to run it anymore even with the lowest settings. My current headset is a two feet in the grave, barely hanging in there, held by tape Oculus Rift S thats as old as my current PC whos also dead. I plan to get a new headset soon and had the Quest 2 recommended to me by friends. If theres better alternatives that isn't Meta please let me know.

I'm a DBD addict. Does it really run DBD or was that just the one guy from the one video I saw.

My friends also often drag me onto Roblox so I need to know if that'll be an option for Linux too.

I know I could probably look up all this myself but every source is outdated from years ago or they all say different things and it just confuses me.

Art Questions:

My current tablet is a Wacom, I got it before knowing how greedy the company actually is, and I plan to switch to a Huion after this tablet dies on me. If compatibility is an issue with it please let me know what to do about that.

I usually use Medibang but I don't think it runs on Linux from what I've seen, if I'm wrong lemme know. Am I going to have to switch all the files over to something else before getting a Linux or are there programs I can use that'll load them?

I also write and need to know if I need to switch all my files to something else before porting it all over to the Linux PC. I just used the default notepad and document programs on Windows.

But yeah, that's all my questions for now. If I think of any more I'll just edit this post. Sorry if I sound super dumb for all this, I tried finding information sources myself but like I said all of them weren't too moron friendly or had relevant information. Most sources I found were articles or reddit forums from years ago so I thought "Hey, why don't I just go ask the computer nerds directly?" so here I am.

[losech]

Can you say a little more about what led you to this particular breed of hunting dog and how you trained them?

I've always likes spitz breeds, I originally wanted a Siberian Husky, but was not interested in a show-line or pet-line dog, and the people I knew who were in racing-line Siberians made it out to be impossible to get one unless you already had an established racing kennel. I now know that's not true, those people were just shitty gatekeepers. I wanted a dog for hiking and possibly hunting or sledding, that had the spitz-type temperament I like. Somehow I ended up with a Shiba Inu, and made some friends with people who had Nihon Ken. I had been looking at Karelian Bear Dogs at that point, but the breeders at the time didn't hunt, didn't sell to hunters, marketed the dogs as herding dogs (bear herders lol), had ridiculous contracts, required spay/neuter, and charged a ton. So that wasn't an option. I heard about West Siberian Laika from one of the Nihon Ken people and looked into those. It was a few years before I started seeing more people who owned them in the states, and began to pay attention to their posts and looked into the breed more. Eventually I watched a documentary called Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, and that sealed it. I was going to get a Laika, I just had to find one. I got a recommendation for a breeder from the Nihon Ken dude, and Flint was flown out a couple weeks later.

As far as training goes, it's mostly just walking around the woods and praising the pup when they do what you want. I don't catch critters and hang/release them for the pup, or do a lot of refined training. I take the dog out and walk around until they chase something, if it's what I want, give them praise and shoot it for them if they're barking. If it's not something I want, I tell them no and leave. Sometimes I have to leash them and walk them away. It can take a while to start a dog this way, but I love doing it and spending that time together in the woods with a pup. Recall is the most important thing I teach my dogs. As baby pups they wear a harness and drag a leash for a while, and I spend most of my time turning recall into a game. It is never for punishment and I switch from holding the leash and letting them loose so they don't think getting leashed is the end of the fun. Once their recall is good and they are starting to focus on the animal I want to hunt I will work on things like more barking, if they don't bark much (both Ember and Cinder were not big barkers when they were young) but again, it is mostly just getting out in the woods and helping them figure things out. I didn't have someone mentoring me so I mostly had to learn how hunting with dogs worked on the fly. Some people I asked early on made it out to be extremely expensive and complicated, which isn't true unless you want it to be. All you really need is a good pup, a well fitting pair of boots, and something to shoot with.

[matamisin]

I am absolutely living for the Stardew art. I love that game so much and have over 600 hours of playtime in it. I did have a little bit of a request but feel free to ignore! Could you rate all of the potential spouses based on your personal interpretations?

Hiii!! Yes yes yes thank you for this ask- I planned to do quick portraits anyways! <3 <3

But let's start!!

[PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, reblogs welcome! >:3c)

Harvey: 10/10

Handsome yes yes

Very sweet and loyal like bro LETS GO that's all I need

Doctor?? AKA he fixes up love interest who regularly gets into trouble? Endless possibilities BRO this is my favorite trope to write/draw about

HOWEVER HARVEY DOESN'T ACCEPT ANY INSURANCE HE JUST CHARGES OUR ASSES bro I'm trying to have a tender moment of almost dying and him worrying and then BOOM hands me my bill like "see you at home honey ily"

Overall he would treat us right yes

Animals LOVE his ass but he's awkward with them LOL

He's often a tired man due the clinic but he'll pull through to do things with the farmer when they're dating (like outings)

In the beginning when farmer is frequently getting hurt in the mines and being brought in hurt, he buys them a walkie-talkie. He's said multiple times that he doesn't recommend going in those dangerous places but learns that farmer's determined to keep going so he'll do what he can to make sure they can relay when they need help

He'll chime in on the walkie when he sees farmer going towards the mines and has them check things off a mental list (hi, this is Harvery- going to the mines? Do you have your weapon? How about food? You have your first-aid kit on you too right?)

This man will be TENSE the whole day when he knows farmer is in the mines. He'll only ease up once he knows they're not in there anymore

Disclaimer: from here on most of what I write will be 100% from my head because I haven't married anyone else yet LMFAO

Sam: 10/10

I interpret him as the golden retriever type- very hyper and friendly

That just makes him 1000% more loveable

HE'D TREAT US RIGHT

Very good with kids cause of Vincent which is like YES

A little blunt sometimes but that's wassup

Doesn't eat the best (AKA I give him two pizzas every week. Hmm. So maybe that means I'M the problem lol)

Also doesn't really know a lot of cooking, but when he moves in farmer finds new-looking cookbooks tucked away in his spaces

I feel like he'd be the type to have a switch in attitude- he's v friendly UNTIL he has reason to distrust/not like someone and then he'll flip from bright to cold (especially if the person has bad intentions about somebody he cares about)

Doesn't realize farmer and him are dating he just thinks they’re hanging out a lot and just kissing as really good friends

When he does realize they’re dating he gets all flustered and red

Would let you win at Mario-Kart

Despite his goofiness, he knows how to be a gentleman. He's always keeping an eye on farmer and making sure they're okay. If they're out together, the moment the sun goes down his jacket is on farmer's shoulders. When it's raining and he wakes up late and sees that farmer has gone out of the house for the day, he'll get up quick and run around with an umbrella and a thermos of hot coffee until he finds farmer. He'll follow farmer around with the umbrella covering mostly farmer, so he gets pretty drenched.

Very vocal about his love

Shane: 10/10

Ah the chicken man himself

ALSO GREAT WITH KIDS but in a different light- he's way more protective about them whereas Sam is more the laid-back and playful parent-figure (he throws his children into the air)

Recovering from his alcoholism and the habits that came with it (messiness and cluttery) but he's trying his best aww

Will rub his stubble on your face when he comes in for a hug ouchie

Even though he is not a dad- he just comes with dad stuff (dad outfits, dad jokes, EVERYTHING)

His chickens are protective of him so you must prove yourself worthy

(In my headcanons, Joja is kinda twisted) Will start to distance himself from Joja after farmer tells him of how they're trying to hurt the Junimos. He may eventually quit to work elsewhere, even though he doesn’t really know what Junimos are but something about farmer telling him about them seems sincere

He's very cuddly after getting to know him and dating. His love language happens to be physical touch and every touch makes him fall harder

This also means he gets a little sad when it's summer and too hot to cuddle that farmer turns around in their sleep. He gets pouty in the morning after until he gets a kiss LMAO

He'll frequently realize how messy he leaves his spaces, and will clean up. He tries to upkeep the cleanliness and manages it for a few days before it starts to get messy again. Sometimes it lasts a while, but sometimes it just slips his mind due to bad habits

Farmer pops into mind every time he has an urge to drink, and he'll shake it off and go do something else for them. He's DETERMINED to be the best person he can be for farmer

Alex: 10/10

A little rough at first lol- his attitude is very icky in the beginning BUT he's cute 

Once you get through that exterior he practically does a 180- HE'S SO SWEET AND CARING and no longer uhhh icky

He would tackle things for you (can he help farmer out of the mines when they pass out in the game? If he does I'd like to think he just picks them up and BOOKS it for the exit knocking anything in his path down LMFAO)

Becomes pouty when he gets a little jealous

Again he's very sweet- he kisses Evelyn and George on the cheeks every morning before he leaves the house, he often thinks about his late mom and visits her grave with flowers from Pierre's and has a small picnic there

I feel he would be prone to dreams about his mom, waking up in a cold sweat and tears. After the 8-heart event he gets up and does something sweet like making a whole breakfast for Evelyn & George or giving Dusty some quality time with walks, playing, and a good treat

Will be extremely protective over farmer. Farmer gives him a heart attack every time they go to the mines or the skull cavern or even in the sewer like baby what are you doing WHY ARE YOU GOING INTO THE MANHOLE

The caves he can't follow farmer with because he knows he isn't trained to fight monsters like farmer is and might hold them back instead, but he'll wait outside or tell Harvey that farmer's in the mines instead

Doesn't come out with it but he needs a lot of reassurance due to abandonment issues. He gets a little clingy and touchy but a little shy. (reaching for farmer’s hand/just pinching onto a part of the farmer’s clothes and holding on)

Sebastian: 10/10

This one might be rough cause I've never really felt much for him IM SORRY

Once farmer asks him out he's very unsure how to proceed. He'll call them things like dude and bro *with love*

It's literally like pulling teeth for him to call farmer honey just cause he's never been the affectionate type till now hehehe he'll try to say it and then drop to his knees like OTL and curl up (He'll get it eventually tho- this is just like the first few months LMFAO)

He has frogs right? He'll show you his frogs 

Your void chickens will love this emo boy they just vibe y'know?

He shows his love through acts of service and gifts, finding out the things you love and bringing them to you

As awkward as he is, his true intentions are very evident when he starts to really try to reconnect with Robin and asking her for advice on most anything he hasn't much a clue about.

He wants to be able to properly feel like part of his family, because farmer tells him that he deserves to feel loved there too. He’ll have a difficult heart-to-heart with Robin, Demetrius, and Maru and over time the family dynamic starts to heal. Sebastian is eternally grateful for farmer and tells them about the relationship and they’re all overjoyed to have farmer as part of the family too

He WILL stop smoking if farmer ever raises concern for his well-being

He starts to come out of his shell more (in general) as he and farmer progress their relationship. He tries his best to be a great partner, and everyone can sense that his demeanor is a little bit brighter than before. He starts to not be as shy about PDA too

He has many hoodies for farmer to steal HOWEVER they're all the exact same pair HAHAHA

Elliott: 10/10

I may also struggle with Elliott for similar reasons

Handsome right off the bat bro

But you'll never be able to be the one with the great hair in the relationship cause man he dominates in that

I see him as a gentle lover- very old-school romantic

He writes farmer love poems and songs often HE WILL SERENADE FARMER EVEN THOUGH HE'S ALREADY MOVED IN

Has pictures of farmer EVERYWHERE like his desk, in his books and notebooks, and has one of those accordion picture holders in his wallet of farmer and himself (and their child(ren) when time comes) He shows them off to the other villagers at the Saloon even tho they literally know farmer LMAOO

Has a very comforting vibe to him- he knows how to coddle farmer after they take a visit to the clinic

He'd let farmer use his favorite pen, trusting that it would return to him

Romantic gestures are EVERYWHERE. Songs, poems, so many pretty flowers in farmer's hair. 

I think he'd be the best cook out of everyone. Farmer wants to go out on a fancy date out of the village?? S'NOT GOOD ENOUGH- Elliott will change the whole decor of the kitchen and spend hours cooking and preparing for farmer to come home and then he plays all the roles (waiter, bus person, lover, etc) through the entire meal. But if farmer really actually wants to go out he'll go with it

Bachelorettes will be done in part 2 soon!

[guns-blazing]

ive been posting about luckypatch but havent brought up something i find interesting and something i find other people havent brought up either: flowey's manipulation.

other people have talked about him trying to get clover to fight the king. that's what he's been doing reset after reset. grim dreamer has a good video that discusses that here that i recommend if you're curious since i won't dwell on the "getting them to fight the king" bit.

i'm talking about one method he uses for this goal: he tries to plant in clover's mind that he's their only friend and the monsters around them can't be trusted. this happens throughout the entire game, but just gets more and more obvious as it progresses.

one of his earlier acts is painting martlet as a guard who ruined clover's plan and then ditched them...

and he progresses onto saying "Cowboy roleplaying's a stupid roadblock! You're better than everyone here and shouldn't spend time around them." that leads onto...

Good lord this part! "It's awful that fox lady is around you because it means you can't talk to ME! She ROPED you into a detour, hahaa like you'd WANT to go with her! Your non-friend is crazy!"

the most blatant one yet is actually in a different route from that, in neutral:

here he comes and says it outright: "You don't need anyone but me."

i don't know if i'm in a position to call this relationship abusive, but i think it at least ticks some of the boxes. flowey's trying to isolate clover from people who can and would help them, protect them, and lead them away from what he wants them to do. it's obvious he separated clover from toriel, even in timelines before he started tampering with the switch, but it's less obvious that he never stopped.

not only that, but clover cannot leave this relationship.

clover knows they die a lot, and flowey's the only reason they're alive. flowey repeats this a lot, but i doubt he needs to. it's apparent to clover that they need flowey to reach the king. (what clover doesn't know: when they try to abandon their mission to live out a life where they won't constantly die... yeah.) flowey holds power over clover, so they just have to deal with it. they have to listen to him shit-talk their friends.

there's so many other things he does along with this.

flowey paints many of the opinions he voices as things clover not only knows, but agrees with, while never asking their thoughts. (EXTRA fascinating when you consider flowey never gives clover a choice in any of his dialogue, while clover's other friends at least have some things they can say yes or no to.) clover never speaks out against flowey and only picks a fight when they know they can win (vengeance end) or know he's against them (neutral pre-final boss fight). this is probably a combination of flowey being in a position of power and flowey never giving them the chance to talk.

and then there's how he avoids calling any of their friends by name, favoring saying "that guard" or "fox lady"; and how he says opinions that the player knows is him lying, like saying there's nothing in the Lab; and how up until the ending he always paints what he's doing as looking out for clover or keeping clover's eyes on their mission...

i love luckypatch, but god is flowey such an asshole.

[wolfnanaki]

Nanaki’s Games of 2024

2024 sure was a year where things happened.

Snark aside, this year was pretty good for gaming overall, so long as you don’t pay attention to the massive layoffs and the steadily growing threat of AI-generated slop. And to celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, I thought I’d put together what games I played this year.

(For the record, this isn’t an exhaustive list of everything I’ve played, nor is it a list of only 2024 games. It’s the stuff I played this year that I thought was worth talking about.)

20 Small Mazes

I don’t remember when or how I learned about this free indie puzzle game, but I’m glad to have played it. It takes less than an hour to go through all the mazes, but each one has such a vibrant, fun twist to them that I was hoping there would secretly be more mazes after the end. No maze overstays its welcome, you can switch between them whenever you like, and you can easily reset a maze if you get stuck. Give this one a try if you’re looking to chill out for about an hour.

ATLYSS

The word that comes to mind when describing this one is “spunky.” Even in Early Access, Atlyss has a tremendous amount of stuff you can do, and you'll have a wonderful time doing all of it. The character customization options are phenomenal and allow so much room for creativity, and the combat is fast, intuitive, and challenging. It's even better playing with friends, and I've yet to experience any major connection issues during online play. As far as the game's current state goes, there's some temp graphics and it seems there's a cutoff point for content that leaves you wanting more, so hopefully the final release will resolve these.

Awaria

Even though Helltaker is a free game, I never did get around to playing it. Maybe next year. But I did jump into Awaria when it popped up on my Steam recommended feed. It’s a fast-paced resource management game where you must avoid getting killed while giving generators the parts they need when they break down, and the first few levels are tantalizingly easy before the difficulty curve makes itself known. But at that point, the game’s charming visual style, satisfactory gameplay loop, and getting to play as a spunky lesbian smooching ghost girls had already won me over, and I was determined to see the game through.

Bunker Game

This is the definition of “diamond in the rough.” This one-shot, hour-long free game, released in May this year, comes from a solo developer, Eremetic Egghead, emerging from the “HMOFA” threads of 4chan’s /trash/ board. Except rather than being a generic human-on-furry dating sim, it’s an apocalyptic narrative game where two crewmates in an underground bunker reflect on their lives and the lives of the friends they’ve lost over the years.

It has incredibly strong writing, complemented by atmospheric sound effects and a minimalist visual style that heightens the gloomy mood of this game. It left a strong impression on me, and I’m glad that I gave it a chance, and you should too. It can be downloaded for free on itch.io.

Changed

This is an older one that I finally got around to starting but have yet to finish. It has a strong, unabashedly furry vibe to it and has me curious about how its unusual story will conclude, but some of the gameplay challenges were a bit overwhelming and I had to put it down for a while. I’ll get back into this one next year.

Goodbye Volcano High

My 2023 GOTY returns, this time for me to finish getting all of the achievements on Steam. Completing this game has lead me to officially declare it one of my top five games of all time. This strong story, memorable characters, beautiful soundtrack, and emotionally compelling moments are going to stick with me for a long time.

And not to mention the beautiful community that’s grown around it. Me and two of my best friends did a marathon livestream of this game on the 21st of December, reliving our favorite moments, laughing, crying, sharing fond memories of the community, and more. Even though I was ill-prepared for such a long stream, I’m proud to have been a part of this. Love you, dinogang. <3

Hold Onto Mi (Demo)

There has been a steady rise of people, either current or former Snoot Game fans, who have been trying to create a game in the same vein but without the anti-trans baggage of the original. Hold Onto Mi, which had its demo come out back in October, is one such example, and I think this one is going in the right direction. In its current stage, it is leagues better than its inspiration.

The player’s character is Newa, a short-tempered high school boy with a dark past and a good heart hidden inside. The love interest is Madison, a tall triceratops girl who plays basketball and has an unusual fascination with humans. They and the circle of friends that surround them are charming, interesting characters with a lot of depth, and it had many strong, emotional scenes that left me interested in how this story might end. It’s bolstered by a charming art style that makes it stand out with vibrant, expressive characters. I’m keeping my eyes on this one to see how the final story shapes up.

MalOvent (Demo)

You could easily dismiss this visual novel as a “coomer game” featuring a popular furry character. And if you do, I’ll kick your ass.

While MalOvent does feature optional erotic imagery, it also has a standout visual style with great characters and an intriguing story that makes full use of the SCP-1471 lore, something even furries tend to have a hard time doing. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, especially when the legitimate horror elements began to creep in. I look forward to the next major update in early 2025.

Nine Sols

This is one I started but didn’t get very far in. It has a fascinating story, gorgeous visual style and easy to understand gameplay that feels fun, but I think the difficulty of it caught me off guard. I’m going to get back into this one when I find the time.

On Your Tail

To me, the sign of a great game is when you open it up to take a couple of screenshots for a review, and then find yourself logging an extra three hours of gameplay. On Your Tail is one of those games.

The introduction is a slow burn, but once you get started, this game's vibrant world, compelling story, and fun characters sink their teeth into you. There are parts of the late-game story that legitimately surprised me, to my delight. There are a variety of different minigames you can experience, from working part-time jobs to cooking, fishing, stargazing, too many to list in a single review. And they're complemented by the mystery-solving gameplay, which requires you to pay close attention to context clues and think critically about the choices you're making. Granted, some of the very late game mysteries are much harder to wrap your head around, and the game's optimization isn't the best, but none of these flaws were enough to dampen my experience.

This game tries to carefully balance its serious detective story and its cozy slice-of-life gameplay, and I feel that it finds a great medium between the two, making a truly memorable game. (Forgive the pun.)

Portal: Revolution

This Portal 2 prequel continues the time-honored tradition of making Portal tie-in games where the new protagonist accidentally ends up doing far more badass stuff that Chell ever did in the two official games.

Jokes aside, it’s a highly polished and inventive take on the world of Portal with some interesting new characters, challenging puzzle design, and an exciting story. Some of the later puzzles can get frustrating and hard to wrap your head around, but it always felt like it was my fault for not piecing together the solution instead of the game not giving me the necessary information. If you enjoy the Portal games, I recommend giving this one a try.

Puzzle Cube

I got this game for less than a dollar thanks to it being on sale and having a coupon available. After just over an hour of playing, I refunded it.

Puzzle Cube starts off with a simple premise: you have a large, clear box with smaller colored cubes inside, and you have to tilt the box so that the colored cubes line up and disappear. What starts off as a quirky puzzle quickly mutates into a frustrating, boring experience where the solutions are impossible to figure out, leaving you forced to mash keys until something works. All this, while the same song loops forever in the background.

In the end, this game’s two biggest achievements for me were it being the first game I’ve refunded on Steam, and the first game I’ve given a negative review.

qomp

I forget how this one ended up in my Steam library. I think it was from some charity bundle. Anyway, this game has you playing the puck from Pong, navigating a variety of intricate mazes filled with puzzles and obstacles. It can be beaten in a little over an hour – my recorded time is 90 minutes – and it’s overall a mesmerizing experience that I’m glad I experienced. There’s a sequel out, which is on my wishlist.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

I originally played this game on my Nintendo 3DS, but this year, I finally went through and beat the game on Steam. I already loved this game, as it was my first Shantae game and is a genuinely fabulous Metroidvania, but kudos to the team behind this game for doing such an excellent job making this game look and play just right for the PC.

Snoot Game: Encore (Demo)

Take one of the worst visual novels to have ever happened. Now make it worse.

Encore gives a big upgrade to the original game’s visuals, but also changes the UI to be more Persona-inspired, leaving it feeling clunky and hard to look at. The quality of its voice acting is all over the place, emphasizing the bland, offensive nature of the original game’s writing. And for the “new” stuff, they tack on a scene where yet another Goodbye Volcano High character is retconned to be cis (Sage, a trans man, is made into a cis woman), with even more of the dull, edgy humor that made the original so insufferable (Sage, instead of being an aspiring chef, is a racist and aspiring rage-bait YouTuber).

How any of this seemed like a good idea is beyond me. How they’re pursuing this and getting paid real money for it is a legal mystery to me too.

Webfishing

There is a pattern in this year’s list of games, which is that a lot of them seemed to have popped out of nowhere and taken up a lot of my time. Webfishing is another one of these titles; everything about it, from its visuals, gameplay, music, and tone of humor, can be summed up as “simple but charming.” It’s easy to get reeled in and spend a few hours with friends fishing, drinking beer, scratching lotto cards, and goofing off. It’s probably one of the few “cozy” sort of games that truly lives up to that ideal.

~

If you reached the end of this, thank you for reading! I hope I’ve given you some insight on the kind of games that click with me and what doesn’t, and maybe even helped you find a new game to try out. I hope you have a wonderful new year!

[layingeggs]

Playing Grey Area. Lots to write home about I think.

I enjoyed the art. I enjoyed how elaborate and much more subtly sinister the difficulty select friend is than all the enemy characters in the game.

I enjoy the kiddiness of it.

The movement and controls are wonderful to mess around with. It's lovely to just repeatedly sit.

I hope I'm not about to reveal my dreadful ignorance but I really enjoy that it's a precision platformer without wall jumps or double jumps. If there is a wall jump or a double jump that I've missed, then oopsie! But if I understand correctly, then the game has a jump and a dive. All other movement is momentum based I think.

Technically, a dive can function as a wall jump if you dive into the wall and momentum bounce of it. And it can count as a double jump if you use it to gain more distance in your jump. But I consider single jump and dive to be distinct. Particularly because you only get one dive per jump and bouncing off walls doesn't reset it. In my opinion, a precision platformer with wall jumps is usually one that also has wall grip and the ability to scale walls infinitely by repeatedly wall jumping. Maybe hampered by the wall being littered with hazards or by your turn speed from a wall jump being too slow to reach the same wall again. Grey Area's dive isn't quite like that so I consider it different.

Something that really stands out to me though, is the two different styles of gameplay used for I guess you could call them the levels and the overworld.

It's a game about a kid sleeping and dreaming I think. The main game seems to be the dreams. And the 'overworld' is when you're awake. (I don't know, maybe there's more main game in the waking world! Maybe there's dreams within dreams! I only played for about an hour before I wanted to get some thoughts down. Will play more. Maybe will see more layers of dreams.)

But what I saw, was the sidescrolling precision platforming in the dreams, then you wake up and the protag is in her house. It becomes a top down view.

Hold on, let me look up, yeh girly's name is Hailey.

Yeh so, you wake up in Hailey's house, right? And I don't know, there's something about this particular part of the game. The switch from sidescroller to top down, right?

But it's the same because you're still the same Hailey and the game still uses the same sprites, but it's not the same because she faces different directions for moving up and down, but it's the same because she still jumps but it's not the same because there's not the dive and the momentum anymore.

And I don't know. There's something that really speaks to me here about a child dreaming about her idealised sense of movement through the world.

In her day to day life, she's jumping around everywhere, she jumps on counters and jumps on the family car and she jumps everywhere. And it's like she's dreaming the imagined adventures as projected from the running around the house.

Did you ever hide as a kid? Not hiding from people, but that too, but like hiding for play. Like under furniture. Inside cupboards. Inside laundry hampers. Inside bushes.

I did this. And I imagined this as sprawling fantasy adventures. I thought of dragons living in the caverns of these spaces.

I remember being a kid and hearing that Miyamato based his work on the Zelda games partly on his childhood memory of running around and exploring his grandparents house. I remember reading that in a magazine and thinking yes, that's exactly right. I know just what you mean my man. The laundry hamper is the dungeon. I am glad that we are on the same page.

I feel that with Hailey living a peaceful chill top down life and running and jumping everywhere, and then dreaming the fantasy. That cool trick jump you did off the sofa? That was really cool and graceful and dexterous? It is now mandatory and if you fall then you have to talk to a stranger or have a doctor's visit.

Looking forward to playing more. I heartily recommend others check it out.

[gladdygirl18]

Very happy with this tickle tea story this time around!

Blue me, Pink GF

This is gonna be a bit long so continue under cut

So this weekend, my GF and I were chilling in my dorm doing some work. On occasion, she would get up from the desk and poke my sides just because. At one point, when I was working on a story, she came up behind me ans started spidering her fingers up and down my arms and sides, making me giggle and squirm (i swear, her gentle tickles are so.... tickly lmaooo 😆🥰) Another time was when I sat in her lap, she started to gently glide her dull nails along my sides, but it wasn't enough to actually tickle.

"If you're trying to tickle me, you're gonna have to try harder than that."

Yeah... I said that. The guts I had to say that to my GF astonished me as well. My GF scoffed before she started squeezing and kneading my sides, making me snicker and giggle.

"Uh huh, careful what you wish for hun."

AHHHHHHHH SHE UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT, THANK GOODNESS 🥰😆💖

The next day (saturday evening), my GF and I were at it again working on school work and personal work. While I was reading for a class, I was struck with the most intense lee mood ever, omggg 😳😳💖 so i turned to one of my good friends here on Tumblr @giggly-squiggily told her about my dilemma. Basically, how the convo went was me very flustered and worried about asking her to wreck the shit outta me cuz while I did tell her that i liked being tickled, I was afraid with how she would react if i asked her to tickle me senseless. Squiggly had said (to sum it up), "If she loves you even after telling her you liked being tickled, how will this be any different?"

So after a few minutes of hesitation, I ended up going towards my girlfriend and sitting in her lap and hugging her (she already finished her schoolwork).

"Are you okay, hun?"

*nods*

"You sure? You look like you have a lot on your mind. Talk to me, please."

"It's nothing. I'm just really stressed and..... don't really know how to get rid of it."

"Aww" *hugs me tighter* "Is there anything I can do to help?"

*hesitates and starts blushing slightly* "There is something you can do...."

"What is it?"

*groans slightly and buries face into her shoulder*

*Pulls away and stares into my eyes* (her grayish-hazel eyes are so beautiful omgggg 😳🥰💖😍)

"N-necesito sonreir...." ("I need to smile" in Spanish, context)

*Sighs and smiles before taking out my earbuds* "Alright"

She then starts kissing my neck, and omgggg i swear i got more ticklish cuz of her. When I tried to pull away, she grabs me places me in her lap and says, "Come here you!"

BROOOOO I DON'T DESERVE HER! SHE TAKES ON THIS TICKLE MONSTER ROLE TOO WELL 😆😆😳💖🥰💖🥰

After she said this, she started kissing my neck again gently tickling my sides. Anytime I tried to pull away, she'd gently pull me back into her lap. She then slowed to a stop before pulling me into a hug.

"Feeling better?"

*giggles and nods*

While she didn't "wreck" me, that alone expelled all the stress I had. After this, she started playing Nexomon on my switch (really cool monster catching game, def recommend if you're a fan of those kind of games) She kept getting Mega Rares after Mega Rares as well as getting 2 Specials back-to-back. When she ran into a Mega Rare (it resembled a dog) I practically begged her not to kill it. She looks at me dead in the eyes will her Nexomon brought it down to 0HP. I tried to stop her but it was too late.

"WHY DID YOU KILL THE DOGGO?!!? WHYYYY!?!!?!?"

*laughing her ass off* "Why not?"

*Gets annoyed and starteds tickling her*

"Stohohohop! it had it coohohohohoming!"

"NO IT DIDN'T! WHYHYHYHY!!?!?!?!"

She then does the same thing 3 more times after that, pissing me off and leading to more tickles (she was only doing this to piss me off but it was still fun to have a mini back and forth tickle fight with her 💖🥰)

As the night went on, we cuddled and made out (as per usual 🥰💖) and it was my turn to be the weighted blanket. While practically sitting on my GF, she smiled before gently gliding her dull nails along my sides, but again, not enough to tickle. Like I said before, "If you're trying to tickle me, you're gonna have to try harder than that."

My GF scoffed before adding a little more pressure to her tickles and started moving her fingers in a circular motion in one spot (where my ribs meet my sides) I started surpressing my smile and tried to hide my snickering in her shoulder.

"There we go~ Come on hun, just let it out~ You know you wanna~"

SHE RARELY EVER TEASES ME LIKE THIS OMGGGGGGG 😳😆💖AND TICKLED LIKE HELL GOODNESS

i was genuinely struggling to not laugh. Then this little gremling started TICKLING MY ANKLES! WHY THE FUCK ARE ANKLES SO DAMN TICKLISH!!??!? When that got more of a reaction from me, she chuckled and said, "Haha that's it, there we go~"

MISS GIRL STOOOOOP! THE TEASING WAS NOT HELPING AT ALL 😳😳😆💖💖😆

She then started spidering her dull nails across my socked feet and my dam finally broke. When that happened, my GF laughed before pulling me into her chest, moving back to tickle my sides, and kiss my neck!

😭🥰😆I LOVE HER SO MUCH OMGG😭😆🥰

And that's how my weekend was. So happy that all of this took place! Stay tuned for another tickle tea story! Also a big and special shoutout to @giggly-squiggily for encouraging me to ask my girlfriend for tickles (even tho I've done it before, my Lee mood made it so difficult 😅💖)

Tagging the fwends: @giggly-squiggily @cutesmokes @burningablaze @sunstone-smiles @otomiyaa @lovelymessybubbly