#hi can I do some existential horror And hope? with some gays being cute??

[mossywizard]

🙏🏻very smart person think I’m cute And smart please

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

I wouldn't mind that post on VNs!

So I was gonna write three different lists, but then after writing the first part I realized this is very long and takes a while to write and nobody cares anyway so I’ll just post my recommended list only. Well, I mean, you asked, but I doubt you wanted all this lol. Thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about this stuff, though. Hope you enjoy my ramblings!

An explanation for what this list is: Sometimes I know a game isn't perfect in many aspects but I still had a genuinely good time playing it, hence why I'm recommending it. Also I should mention that I could talk for hours about some of these games so if anyone’s curious about more of my thoughts, let me know.

Alright, now that that's out of the way ...

How to Take Off Your Mask / How to Fool a Liar King / How to Sing to Open Your Heart (f/m): This is a trilogy of smaller, single-RO games where you can take one of two routes depending on how you act, and they’re all interconnected where you get to meet and interact with the previous games’ characters in the sequel games. I went into this expecting very little but what I got blew me away with how funny, charming and cute the games were. They don’t take themselves too seriously, at one point an angsty male character monologues deeply about some shit, and another one just slides into frame and starts mocking him. It was so fucking funny, holy shit. Also, a central theme is literally racism against catgirls? Which is monumentally stupid, and probably the games’ main flaw, especially in the final game where it pairs up a catgirl with a catgirl racist, but that one still ends with a literal bisexual queen literally making a man her malewife because she fell in love with his cooking, so like ... It speaks for itself. My favorite game of the three is the second one, where you get to play a punchy fake catgirl and romance a pink-haired prince. And honestly, all the female protags in these games are lovely and a breath of fresh air, and the male characters are fun and not abusive assholes either. There’s full Japanese voice acting, and two out of three female protags are literal catgirls who pepper in “nya” and “mya” into their dialogue, and it’s just treated as a quirk of their catgirl race. I AM NOT KIDDING. Yet somehow it never comes off as cringe, because it doesn’t take it self too seriously. These games are just cozy. That’s the only way I can describe them. Cozy and hilarious. Play them yesterday. Dream Daddy (m/m): Man tumblr did this game dirty. This is just a cute, wholesome daddy dating simulator with gorgeous art. Coming out on Top (m/m): So you know Dream Daddy? What if it was EXTREMELY, MAJORLY NSFW? Though I realize how bad the comparison really is, the only thing these games have in common is that they’re gay dating sims and don’t have an anime art style and oh, yeah, they’re both really well-written. Or at least, extremely funny. COOT (heh) is DDADDS’ horny older cousin, and I first encountered the game on a lesbian letsplayer’s YouTube channel. Yes I watched a lesbian play a gay porn game and it was GOOD. I was there for the cringe and fun and got surprised by how genuinely funny and sometimes actually touching the game was. I can’t give it my universal endorsement because it’s not a game for everyone, as I said, it’s extremely NSFW and the menu theme literally includes the singers screaming “SEX SEX” at the top of their lungs. There’s more to this game than the porn, but there’s just so much porn. It can be censored in the settings but it’s unavoidable. However, I still think it’s worth a look just because of how funny it is and how charming the characters are. If you don’t want to play it yourself, at least watch Anima’s playthrough of it. It hasn’t aged super well in some spots but I still go back to it every now and then. Akash: Path of the Five (f/m): This game markets itself as a more “professionally produced” western dating sim, and that’s accurate in some superficial aspects. The game is pretty poorly written, but it’s absolutely gorgeous and has really good English voice acting by actual professional voice actors. The premise is quite self-indulgent, but I genuinely respect that about it. You play as the only female elemental in a village with only men, and all five of your classmates want a piece of you. It’s clear the writers have put some thought into the lore and worldbuilding of this world, but barely any of it comes through in the actual writing and plot, which is basically just a vehicle for you to get together with your boy of choice. The ROs aren’t very well-developed either, and the plot is the same in every route with only minor variations depending on which guy you pick, up to the point where the protag has the same voice lines in some parts regardless of which guy she’s talking about. It also has one extra half-route that’s so bad and pointless I genuinely wonder why they wasted resources on making it instead of spending a bit more on the writing/adding some variations to the main plot. So why am I recommending this game? Well, it’s pretty, and it sounds nice. This game is a himbo, gorgeous but dumb as rocks. Enjoy it for what it is. I know I did. Get it when it’s on sale, I think if I hadn’t gotten it at half-price I would’ve felt a bit more cranky about it. Also Rocco is bae. Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons (f/m): Yes that’s the full title, no I don’t know what it means either. You may have noticed how most of the games so far I’ve enjoyed because they don’t take themselves too seriously? Well, this one does. It takes itself SO FUCKING SERIOUSLY. Like, way too seriously. It’s a little embarrassing at points because baby, you’re an urban fantasy dating sim. Calm down. But the game has gorgeous art and 3 out of 5 routes are very good. The last route, the one with your teacher, is both the most problematic yet somehow the one that breaks down the very concept of a dating sim within its own narrative (yes, this shit gets fucking META) and it got so wild at the end that 1) I still listen to the soundtrack for that route and 2) I still remember it to this day despite finishing it ages ago. My favorite route is Shou, he’s a sweetheart, but the mindfuck route is so buckwild that I think the game is worth playing just for that. There’s also a route that’s like a neo-noir mystery? I Do Not Know. This game is many, many things and it does them so sincerely and tries so hard, you can’t help but respect it. It doesn’t always stick the landing but man, just let this thing take your hand and wax poetic at you for a bit. Also get this one at a sale because it’s very expensive to get the full version. I got it for 9 bucks on itch.io and I felt that was a fair enough price, I’d say I wouldn’t have minded paying more for it because there’s a lot of content to enjoy and/or be baffled by. Arcade Spirits: This one’s a bit more weird from what I recall, and I honestly couldn’t tell you much about it, but I remember having a very good time with it and recommending it to a friend when she was going through some tough times and she said it made her feel better. I remember it making me feel better, as well. This is a VN about an arcade and the ROs are wonderfully diverse, with very real human conflicts that get explored in each of their routes. It can get quite existential and heavy at times, but in the end it’s a kindhearted game that I think everyone can enjoy. The main character was also, how you say, mood. It’s a game about getting possessed by a video game and then learning self-love. Ebon Light (f/m): This one’s free/name your own price on itch.io so go play it. It’s a weird plot where you play as a girl who ate an elven relic? And then the elves kidnap you because you’re the relic now. All the ROs are extremely pasty (like, literally white, as in literally the color white) dark-haired elves, except for one, who’s an extremely pasty blond elf, so ... diversity? I honestly don’t know what this game is aside from unique. I used to be a bit put off by the art style but now I think it contributes to the general atmosphere. It’s a weird game that technically doesn’t do anything groundbreaking but still left an impression of “huh. weird” in my mind and I think more people should play it. The ROs are all pretty generic dating sim archetypes but done well, with bonus points to Duliae who’s just a massive creep and I love him, and also Vadeyn who’s the only bitch in this house I respect. The worldbuilding is honestly a bit buckwild and I can’t give enough credit for how unique the elves’ culture is in this game. Definitely give it a go. Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds / Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (f/m): These two are newer releases of an older Japanese visual novel. I wouldn’t call it a dating sim, it’s ... it’s more of a super depressing historical fantasy epic with some minor romance aspects awkwardly wedged in. It’s seriously some of the heaviest and most grimdark shit I’ve ever played in a VN/otome. I don’t understand why it’s a dating sim, it doesn’t read like one, it’s just historical fantasy based on real world events with characters based on real people, and they kill and they die and they grieve and they suffer. The games are literally about the downfall of the Shinsengumi, there’s no way of avoiding everything going to shit and you get to watch and be in the middle of it all as they struggle to stay alive and relevant in a world that doesn’t need them anymore. And there’s the protag in the middle of it all, being useless and submissive and bland just the way the usual otome protag is. I don’t think these games are necessarily fun, and the romance is certainly a lot more downplayed and deeply problematic just based on the age differences alone with some of the men, but the sheer amount of horror and sadness in these games make them stand out above its peers. It’s like watching a war movie. Since most of the characters are based on real people, they feel like real people instead of the usual otome archetypes, and they are so, SO flawed, it’s interesting to just watch them deal with the shit the world throws at them. It’s an Experience, and if you’re up for it, I think it’s worth the time. Cinderella Phenomenon (f/m): This game is free on Steam so go get it. You play as a really, genuinely shitty princess who gets cursed to be poor and forgotten and she has to help one of the ROs break his fairy tale curse so that she can learn about being a good person herself and return to her normal life. This game doesn’t look like much, but it has a genuinely well-written main character who’s actually at the center of each of the stories and in the overarching plot instead of just being around to make eyes at the real protagonists, aka the love interests. Aside from the main character, my favorite part of this game’s writing is how each route slowly but very smoothly expands upon the overarching intrigue. If you play them in a certain order, you get more and more info revealed to you that you didn’t see in other routes, gaps are filled in as you find out more about what actually happened and why, but every route also stands on its own as a full experience and none is more canon than the rest. There’s also some really heavy emotional parental abuse explored, which I found quite potent at times. The romances themselves were alright, I think Karma and Waltz were my faves.

[trashyswitch]

Roman's FREAKING QUILL!

Logan had gotten Roman a quill for his birthday, and Roman writes with it constantly! But Virgil is super flustered by the thought of that quill tickling him. It doesn't take long for Roman to learn of Virgil's feather sensitivity, and for him to use it against Virgil.

This fic is for @kanene-yaaay

What's this?! A FIC THAT'S ON TIME?! What is this sorcery?!

Just kidding! I will warn that it's a little short, But I hope you all like it despite that!

Tickletober Day 14: Light Tickles

Virgil was laying on his bed, going through a giggle fit that had started earlier this morning. Roman was using it again! He was using the new pen! Even though the pen was meant for writing, all Virgil could focus on was the fluttering of the feather decoration on the end. Or rather, the fluttering of the entire pen. It all started when Logan had the audacity to buy Roman a quill pen for his birthday! Roman absolutely loved the pen and in return, he would end up using the pen as often as possible! That’s where this whole mess started. The mess, that was his flustered, giggly self.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Virgil was really feather sensitive. Just a simple feather decoration on a hat will turn Virgil into a flustered mess of emotions. So Roman constantly using a feather pen to write his thoughts down in a notebook? UUUH-how about NO?!

To make things worse, Roman has always found a preference with feather-patterned things! His notebook was covered in them! And not just the front, EVERY PAGE IN THE NOTEBOOK HAD A LITTLE FEATHER IN THE RIGHT CORNER OF THE PAGE. Virgil made the grave mistake of looking over his shoulder, and being bombarded by 3 FEATHERS in his peripheral vision! It felt like his face was gonna melt from the heat he was exhibiting! So, Virgil stopped hanging out outside his room whenever Roman was writing and socializing. Sure, it made people suspicious. But people would become even MORE suspicious if they looked at Virgil and found him as red as a cherry!

Suddenly, Virgil was ripped out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

“Virgil? Are you feeling alright? You’ve been in your room a lot lately.” the person on the other side of the door asked.

Virgil’s eyes widened as he tried to hide his blush. “I-uh...I’m fine.” Virgil attempted.

The person opened the door- OH NO!

“Hey Virgil, sorry. I didn’t wanna have to yell through the door.” Roman told him.

Virgil didn’t mind that Roman wanted to come in. He normally allows him to, on a normal day. But WITH THE QUILL AND NOTEBOOK?! Just LOOKING at the quill made him wanna curl up and DIE!

“Mmmmm- it‘sfine.” Virgil replied. IT’S NOT FINE.

Roman tilted his head in curiosity and bent down to Virgil’s bed height. “Why are you...red? Are you sick? Do you have a fever?” Roman asked. The prince put the quill down for a moment and checked Virgil’s forehead with the back of his hand. “Hmm...You don’t feel feverish…” Roman muttered, picking up the quill again. “Are you tired?” Roman asked him, pointing at him with the feather part of his quill.

UUUUH...How about you DON’T point at me with the quill?!

Poor Virgil! If his face wasn’t red before, it certainly was now! Not knowing what to do, Virgil looked away and turned to the other side of the bed.

Roman frowned at this. “Oooh...you’re grumpy.” Roman reacted with a small smirk. “Is Virgey being a gwumpy pants?” Roman teased in an UwU voice.

Virgil whimpered in response. WHY THAT VOICE?!

Roman giggled and laid himself on the other side of his bed. “Poor Virgil! So grumpy and tired! Whatever will the princey do, to get the emo out of bed?” Roman teased with a fake innocent voice.

Virgil was LOSING HIS MIND. He...he wouldn’t do what he thinks he’s gonna do...right?

Roman smiled and looked at his quill. “I heard from a tweeting bird that Virgil’s sensitive to feathers~” Roman sing-songed as he waved the quill in front of Virgil’s eyes.

Virgil just about squeaked in horror! WHO TOLD HIM?! AND HOW DID THEY KNOW?! Virgil covered his face up further with his blanket and shook his head.

“Awww! Denying it, are we?” Roman teased.

Then, Roman did something absolutely ILLEGAL: he fluttered his feather on Virgil’s neck! Virgil squealed and curled his neck in, but couldn’t stop the feather! The truth was, he couldn’t! Not without revealing his blushy face!

“Tiiiickle tickle tickle tickle tickle, Virgey-Wirgey!” Roman teased softly as he tickled his neck. Virgil started to let out little titters as he struggled to get away from the ticklish feather. He was so gonna die from this! He could just imagine the report papers:

Name: Virgil Sanders.

Cause of death: embarrassment from a feather

Next, Roman started tickling the back of Virgil’s neck. Virgil squeaked again and curled up, but shook his head as Roman fluttered the feather on all the exposed spots of Virgil’s neck. Virgil could feel himself breaking bit by bit. This was MORTIFYING! Who gave Roman the PERMISSION to tease him like this?!

“Ooooh! I know!” Roman declared proudly.

What was that prince planning? He’d better not consider ripping his blanket off a-

“AAAEEEEEHEHEK! ROOOO!” Virgil squealed and whined, letting some giggles out by mistake.

Roman gasped. “What’s this? Does Virgil have…” Roman leaned into his ear: “ticklish ears?” Roman whispered in a breathy fashion.

Virgil’s face started to turn to a more scarlet version of red. That little…

Roman interrupted his thoughts by tickling the back of the outer ear flap.

“EEEEEK! Rohohohoho nuuuUUU!” Virgil squeaked, finally letting go of the blanket and waving his hands around to get rid of the ticklish feather. But this ended up being a HUGE mistake!

Roman quickly pulled the comforter off of Virgil and started tickling his chin and jawline. “Yay! A ticklish free chin has opened itself up to me! I just HAVE to tickle it!” Roman declared as he fluttered the quill under his chin. “A coochy coochy coochy coochy coo! Such a ticklish widdle emo!” Roman teased evilly. “I can tickle absolutely everywhere, and STILL get a reaction!” Roman declared.

Quickly, Roman moved his quill to Virgil’s lower neck. “A kitchykitchykoo!” He teased, fluttering it on the spot for a few seconds.

Next, Roman moved his feather to the back of his neck! “A tiiickle tickle tickle!” Roman teased as he fluttered the quill around on the spot for a moment or two.

Lastly, Roman moved the feather to the back of Virgil’s ear! “And a flutter-flutter-flutter for my special Virgey-pooo!” Roman teased happily, tickling his ear with the feather for a few moments.

Virgil felt like he was slowly losing his sanity! He couldn’t keep his giggles down no matter how much he tried, and Roman seemed to know that! The unpredictability and the baby-talk just ENHANCED the experience, and caused Virgil to shake his head and giggle in every high tone possible!

“Stahahahahap!” Virgil finally begged.

Roman gasped and removed the feather. “Did the emo plushy just talk?” Roman teased.

ExCUSE ME?! EMO PLUSHY?! HOW DARE HE!!

“Yehehehes!” Virgil replied with a whimper.

“That’s great news! That means now, I can do this:” Roman declared as he shoved his hand under Virgil’s comforter to flutter the feather on Virgil’s bare belly.

Virgil guffawed in surprise and finally started wiggling around and giggling gleefully! “Stahahahap thahahahat! Gehehet thahat feheheatheheher awahahay frohom meeee!” Virgil ordered through his whiney, yet bubbly giggles.

“Hmm…” Roman thought to himself, removing the quill for a moment so he could think. “Naaaah.” Roman replied confidently as the feather returned to his ticklish belly.

Virgil squealed, tossed himself around to face the evil tickler, and attempted to push him off the bed. But this attempt would prove itself to be fruitless, and only MORE exposing as Roman fluttered the feather on Virgil’s belly button! Virgil wheezed and finally let out his very first full-fledged laugh of the morning.

“Awww!!! Such a cutie little bat!” Roman teased further.

“STAHAHAP TEHEHEHEASIHIHING MEEHEHE!” Virgil begged.

“But teasing a cute little puppy baby bat fly fly baby dog, is my specialty!” Roman replied.

Oh NO! EVEN QUOTES FROM TALYN?!

Virgil couldn’t take it anymore! He felt like Roman was killing him with his teasing abilities alone! Why must Roman do this to him?! Does he WANT him to go insane?!

“WHYHYHYHYHYHY?!” Virgil shouted at him.

Roman smirked. “Now THAT is the question we should all be answering! Why? Why are we here? Why are humans so ticklish? And why is Virgil such a feather sensitive bat with a ticklish giggle button?” Roman asked.

Oh HELL NAW! Even EXISTENTIAL CRISIS QUESTIONS!

“IHIHIHI’M GOHOHONNA DIHIHIHIEHEHEHEHE!” Virgil whimpered and laughed loudly.

Roman giggled at this and stopped fluttering the quill. “Don’t worry, Virgey. I’m not gonna kill ya.” Roman replied with a kiss on the cheek.

Virgil’s face only grew DARKER from there, as he covered his face with his blanket. “Tohohoho lahahahahate!” Virgil complained.

“Oh my! Did the poor Virgey die from embarrassment?” Roman asked. “Sounds like a cute little Sims death to me~” Roman teased before booping him on the nose with the quill. Virgil whimpered, let go of the blanket and kitty flopped his hands around to stop the prince from killing him with teases.

Roman bursted out laughing at this silly reaction. “Awww! You’re like a widdle kitty!” Roman laughed. Virgil giggled and hid his face in Roman’s chest.

Now, Roman’s chest had started going on full on gay panic mode. It was jumping around, flopping absolutely everywhere, and was basically beating out of his chest! Roman couldn’t handle it! He wanted to scream out of excitement and GAY!

Suddenly, the door opened. “You guys oka-” Patton’s eyes widened when he saw the unbelievably ADORABLE scene in front of him:

Roman was holding Virgil close, smiling widely and staring at Virgil, who had his face pressed up against Roman’s chest. Janus looked up and stared at Patton with the cuteness-overloaded eyes. Then, Roman mouthed something: ‘So CUUUTE!’.

Patton covered his mouth as he slowly and quietly closed the door and let them have their peace.

But not before taking a picture on his phone, setting it as his lock screen and airdropping it to Roman.

Roman smiled and looked down at his adorable bean. He looked so cozy...so soft...so calm! So, Roman decided to cozy up a little closer to him and rest alongside him with his quill and notebook placed on Virgil’s nightstand. There, Roman would be able to write down Virgil’s adorable sensitivity to quill’s, and how his teasy tickle attack on Virgil came to happen! Lastly, Roman would write down all he needs to write about how he feels about Virgil!

...All while writing it in front of him with the quill fluttering and flustering Virgil to pieces...

[sun-flower-children]

Hello Little One

Taehyung x male reader ( some jungkook x Taehyung )

supernatural au where y/n is taehyung’s guardian angel and tae is going through a hard time and really needs a friend. During the summer between their sophomore (11) and junior(12) years in high school. angst + fluff

The summer vacation began and the two best friends wanted to spend the first day together. Today's plan was to stay indoors but tomorrow they were going to do a ton of things outside. Nevertheless, they had games, snacks, and entertainment prepared for the day. This was also going to be a sleepover. It was still early in the morning, around nine when Taehyung was dropped off at Jungkook's house for their day. His mother helped him pull id bags out of the back, kissed him on the head, and left for work. To get up to Jungkook's huge house, one needed to first climb a set of stairs that were essentially cement blocks stuck into indents made in the hill. There was a specific one that would always trip Taehyung up. His backpack and duffel bag were considerably heavy, prepared with things for the two of them to do for the next five days, Taehyung was wobbling a bit already. Struggling to get up the stairs, that single block tripped him over. TAehyung felt the rush of wind and the weight of the luggage on his falling figure. He was just beginning to brace for impact when...nothing happened. Taehyung opened his eyes and saw that he was standing on the block that came after the wobbly one.

He sighed and continued, even though he specifically remembers never going up to step that block. This sort of thing wasn't new, but that didn't make Taehyung any less inquisitive. The first time this happened was in the first grade on his way to school. Taehyung was allowed to walk by himself because their home was not very far from the academic grounds. He was walking merrily when crossing the street, he tripped and fell. This normally would have been nothing but no one noticed due to the swarm of children crowding that specific walkway. The teacher on the other end ushered what she thought was all of the kids to the sidewalk when suddenly a huge truck at high speed started honking. She looked back at the road, and saw Taehyung, but didn't move for fear that some other child would run out to try and save time. She started yelling at him to move and run to her as fast as he could, but he was too focused on putting his toy back into his backpack. It happened so fast, the whoosh of the truck, the scream of women and children around the crosswalk, and the clang of metal. The teacher rushed to him to make sure that he was alright, and saw that not only was he alive, but he had gotten away with only one long scratch on his elbow. Taehyung who was laying down started babbling about an angle coming down to save him. No one believed him of course, so he told his grandmother. Naturally, she hugged him, kissed his head, and set him on her lap. She explained that yes, angels are real, and yes, Taehyung has an exceptionally strong guardian angel because of how kind and caring he is. The next day at school Taehyung would tell everyone that a big angel came down and saved him but all the other kids and teachers laughed, they didn't make fun of him, but they didn't believe him either.

Taehyung subconsciously rubbed his scar on his right elbow, a nervous habit of his. Finally making it up the last step, he knocked on the door. Jungkook's mother answered the door, happily welcoming him into the house. Taehyung heard the familiar thumping of feet running down the stairs to be tackled by the younger of the two. Laughing, they walked up to Jungkook's room and dropped all of his stuff into the corner of the room.

" What do you want to do first?"

" How about we roll for it?"

Jungkook rolled a six and Taehyung rolled a four, so Jungkook got to choose. He laid back onto his bed frame and scratched his head.

" Mom said we have to go outside at least, like, once so... let's go out now. Do you have cash on you?"

Taehyung nodded and ruffled through his duffel bag to reveal his wallet.

" You can take pictures of me, this one time. You know, for the gram."

Jungkook smiled and Taehyung followed suit. They changed into more stylish fits, prepped their bags and headed out. These two loved fashion and photography so they would help each other's Instagram's out. They weren't as fashion conscious as their upperclassman friend, Jung Hoseok, but they were good looking when they wanted to be. During the more stressful part of the school year, Jungkook and he would wear sweatpants but grab their fellow student's attention. They hung out downtown, going through stores and taking pictures of themselves or one another. They slowly made their way out of the busy shopping plazas and into the lounging part of town then into the large park. They sat down on a bench and talked about everything that best friends talk about. Identity, existentialism, sexuality, society, etc. They kept on talking until they realized it was six pm. They had easily spent fourteen hours together but the two always needed more. Both of them stood up and walked back to Jungkook's house. Somehow they had stumbled across the topic of sexuality. Taehyung came out to Jungkook freshman year as gay and made him promise to tell no one unless he said so.

" Jungkook do you think if I would go to hell even if everything else I did was good? "

Taehyung stopped walking and looked at Jungkook, awaiting his response. Jungkook had taken five more steps until he realized that his BFF was no longer next to him. Turning around he smiled.

" Taehyung, I am pretty sure you're God's favorite child by now. I don't think you would ever go to hell. Also, you are too pretty to be down there."

" You think I'm pretty?"

" I think you're lots of things Taehyung."

Jungkook couldn't help but blush a bit with his blurted comment, but seeing Taehyung smile again made it worth it. Taehyung jogged up to were Jungkook was and grabbed his hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

" I think you got it backward Kookie. You are the cute and pretty one of us too."

Jungkook's face was red at this point and couldn't make eye contact with Taehyung. They made it back home before it was absolutely dark and changed back into more comfortable clothes so they could seriously play some games. Taehyung brought his gaming laptop and he and Jungkook played Overwatch, Rainbow 6 and a few other games together until they realized that it was dark outside.

They opted for a movie and brought some snacks with them onto the couch. Naturally, they watched some horror movies and tried to scare the crap out of each other time and time again. They took a break from it and watched some epic gamer youtube videos of Pewdiepie playing Minecraft and they were inspired to play too. Literally, five minutes in and Taehyung was running away from zombies the best he could because he forgot to make a crafting table.

" Minecraft is scarier than It. You heard it first here kids."

Jungkook who had been lucky enough to make a bed was laughing at the mess that Taehyung was throwing himself in. They played for another twenty minutes when Jungkook remember that they had an ouija board in the basement. They came up with the brilliant plan of going down to the basement and talk to a spirit through the ouija board. Grabbing flashlights because the lights sometimes didn't work, the put on jackets and made their merry way down the stairs to the " basement". The word basement brings the image of a dark, cold, gray image to mind but because Jungkook's family was rich, their " basement" had hard work floors, proper furniture, a large television, and other things like a bar and billiards. It was another family room when guests came but the lights were too faulty for them to use it like that all the time. They sat down next to the couch and opened it up, placing everything exactly where the instructions said to put them. Placing their hands onto the moving piece, they waited and hoped that something would move it. And at the same time, they wish nothing would happen.

Just as that thought crossed both of their minds, the piece began moving. It began spelling nonsense, no real words or sentences were formed but then they saw that words came into meaning. What was before was probably another language and now it was becoming understandable. At first it was things like " How are you." and " When is it." that quickly changed to threats of " I will kill you when you sleep." and " You can't hide.". This was starting to really freak out the two of them so they let go and the piece still kept moving. Spelling out more and more dangerous threats the lights that were on now was off and their flashlights refused to work.

Panic ensued and as they were trying to find each other in the dark they each felt something new in the room. A new presence. There was something or someone else in there with them. They were not prepared to deal with a problem like this. Sure Jungkook joked about bringing holy water, but now he felt like maybe bringing it would not have been such a bad idea at all. Then they appeared. Those eyes. Like two dangerous orbs floating in the dark, they stared at Jungkook and Taehyung. Then it spoke. It's voice husky and in pain bringing upon fear and even more panic on the two of them. There was no language that they could guess because it was probably one of the monster's own. They felt the steps being taken before them, bring that entity closer and closer. The lights quickly turned on and the monster that it revealed was not what the two of them were picturing. It was the body of an old man but it was so torn apart the only thing left intact was the face. The eye sockets empty but for the two orbs, glowing in the cavern. It was like there was another body growing from inside what was that man. Bones and other things were moving underneath the skin and sprouting out to become a new arm or wing.

Just as it was ready to swing its arm at Taehyung, something bright entered the room. It was a glorious kind of light that radiated warmth and joy. Because of this light both Jungkook and Taehyung had to look away because of how brilliant it was. There was a scream, a most terrible and hair raising scream that had erupted out of the creature. Taehyung had to cover his ears and try to muffle that noise but it didn't help. Then the normal room light turned back on and the gleaming on dimmed. Teahyung rubbed his eyes to see what had happened. To both of their surprise, there was another otherworldly creature standing there. With beautiful (H/C) hair and shining (E/C) eyes that met Taehyung's stare with a smile. There in the middle of Jungkooks basement stood a creature they have never seen before, even in their fantasy games. They numerous wings of gold and strewn around them precious gems and the holy crown with a float around it's head also was adorned with the same stones. The garment it was wearing was a sort of robe with different beautifully woven sheer fabrics around its arms and waist. Its feet were not even touching the floor, levitating above the ground making it look even more ethereal that it already was. The skin of the creature glowed from underneath, a radiant healthy glow of love and happiness. There were bracelets rings on both of the hands adorned in gold and more rare jewels. Their presence was so very there because of their beauty and because of the height of them. Making it from the floor to the ceiling.

"Little one you know better than to play games like these. You never know what could possess these things."

The creature moved towards Taehyung and pet his hair. The creature smiled some more before addressing the other human in the room. Jungkook jumped when he saw the creature looking at him.

" U-um, sir? What are you? Are you going to hurt us?"

Jungkook couldn't help but ask. Taehyung was just standing there jaw dropped staring at this being that had entered his home somehow.

" My name is (Y/N) and I am a guardian angel. I have been assigned Kim Taehyung as a protector for life. And you are Jung Jungguk naturally."

" You're an angel? Like that's all real? oh, my g-"

Jungkook looked up at the angel again and gulped, realising that he needed to sit down. (Y/N) sat them both down and explained what had happened to them. Their game, on of the incredibly rare few, was actually possessed by a medium-tier demon who had contaminated the spirit of an old man that wandered the woods a few miles from that house peacefully. The demon saw the game as a chance to drain them of their life force to gain more strength in the mortal realm. As (Y/N) explained to them the entire ordeal, neither could process what was happening. They were basically being revealed the truth about the universe and there was no way that they could ever believe anything else after today. Taehyung raised his hand.

" Yes, little one?"

" Did you save me from the car accident when I was younger!", Taehyung yelled. He wanted to come across as confident but he was too intimidated by his guardian angel to say anything.

" Yes, I did. Something I had to fight for the right to do, but don't fear, it's past us now."

" Does that mean that you will have to explain this to um.. the Big Guy?"

(Y/N) laughed. It was more like the sound of silver twinkling bells with the dainty clinking of falling gems. The sweet noise was melodic and soothing to their ears. Jungkook, who was drained in every level, flopped down onto his back trying to grasp what is going on.

" Yes, sort of. I do not assume my physical form often and I do not need to see him speak to him. I am from a plane of being where time and scientific laws do not apply to us."

Taehyung gaped at (Y/N). This was the person that had saved his life numerous time and kept him safe.

" Oh, I almost forgot! I need to leave soon. If there is anything you need to ask, ask now."

(Y/N) stood up and glided a few paces in front of the couch. Turning around he knew that Jungkook had a question.

" No, guardian angels do not watch every single second but take note of what you do. Especially...the sort of thing humans your age begin to do. We generally look away. And, Yes Jungkook you have one as well. He is very caring and takes care of you well."

(Y/N) reached a handout and cupped Taehyung's face. Taehyung smiled feeling the somehow familiar warmth of his face. (Y/N) leaned over and kissed Taehyung on the nose. Before letting go there is one more thing you should know little one before I go." he whispered. Taehyung nodded waiting for the answer." Your grandmother wants you to know that she loves you very very much and that she is incredibly proud of everything you have done. She wishes she could be with you and help you grow into the gentlemen you will become. " Taehyung couldn't help but cry. He and his grandmother had shared a special connection and this message meant too much to him to keep inside. He just nodded again.

" Goodbye to the both of you. And may the father, the son and the holy spirit always be with you."

And in a flurry of gold and light, the sound of air wooshing past feathers, and the crack of lightning...(Y/N) was gone. They turned to each other with wide eyes.

" You saw that two right? I wasn't hallucinating."

" Like the angel? and everything? I can't believe this!"

It took a while for it to settle in but they took no time at all getting rid of the game and swearing to never do anything like that again. They ran back up to Jungkook's room and played some games. The pair of friends temporarily forgot about the demon and the angel while playing video games. After eating dinner and sitting at Jungkook's bed, Jungkook noticed something.

" Hey, Taehyung you have something on your nose?"

" Huh? What is it?"

" It's a mole! Did you have a mole on your nose before?"

"No I don't have one but...(Y/N) kissed me on my nose."

" You're joking. You have an angel mark on your nose! Ha!"

" Shut up!"

The two boys went back to playing games and enjoying their vacation, but they never forgot the night in the basement where they met an angel that saved their lives.

MASTERLIST

[alexilulu]

10 Games I Played in 2017, Roughly Ranked

This is wildly long lol so have fun, idiots

#10: DESTINY 2

This is sort of awkward. Destiny 1 was a game I enjoyed with small reservations; it was obvious how hampered they were by their own backend in creating new content and design spaces to explore, prior to The Taken King. Even then, it had shining moments of joy for me. I adored the goofy dead ghost hunting like halo 2/3 skullfinding, using every trick at your dispoaal to find another morsel of insane, well-crafted tidbits of lore for this world that the game itself rarely even touched on, let alone explored. Destiny 2 was supposed to be the "we listened and we're fixing it" for that game, and a needed jump to a new backend that would free them to create the things they dreamed of.

The grimoire was removed wholesale, those bits of lore still true presumably but inaccessible in the game again. Instead of finding ghosts, you examine objects in the world, getting a 2-sentence Nolan North quip that usually is more funny than it is educational about this sprawling world they created. And it doesn't save that anywhere. We actually moved backwards in term of the lore's accessibility to the player, somehow. The game itself is still Destiny, helmet popping and aiming down sights and kicking balls around the tower, and it's storyline was ambitious in a way the original was not, actually making you feel at least a little weak for about 10 minutes before you're back to killing Fallen and then doing donuts on your Sparrow on top of their corpse. The game treats itself as both too serious and totally unserious in the same breath, a monologue of serious consequences punctuated by Cayde cradling a chicken and petting it gently. It's good, but it remains to see if it'll reach the same comfortable spot Destiny 1 got to by the end of it's lifespan.

9: NIOH Here's where I admit that some of these games I've played, in that I played it for a few hours and haven't had time to return to it. I have it on good faith that Nioh is an incredible game, and from the bits I've touched I know that to be at least probably true. I've heard it described more as a Diablo-esque loot-game pretending to be a Dark Souls ball-busting difficulty monster than vice versa. It's something I'm hoping to come back to, and if I'd been able to spend more time with, I likely would have put much further up the list.

8: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Another game I fuckin' haven't had time to complete, Death of the Outsider is the thing I and several friends have wanted for years; Billie Lurk fucking shit up. And her powerset rules. I'm only like 2 missions in, but I'm looking forward to finishing the rest sometime before Christmas, hopefully. Dishonored 2 was definitely a game I was thrilled to play, and I know this will be more of the same.

7: Resident Evil 7 What could be better than the creeping horror of a deranged family out in the Louisiana Bayou? Resident Evil 7 was honestly so unbelievably effective at learning from the last 5+ years of immersive horror games while still, at it's heart, being a goofy Resident Evil game under that. That style clashes at times; The moment when you go outside to the courtyard of the mansion and find a double-keycard locked door when the most advanced thing in the whole house before now has been the goofy projector-doors that hearken back to the ancient history of the series. I think it sticks it's landing well, with a good lategame twist and plenty of goofy superscience in between. I've been meaning to go back to it for the Chris Redfield DLC, but I don't know if I actually want to, to be honest. That game was a fun ride, and they did their best to add the usual replay stuff like a NG+ gun and such, but I think I'm okay leaving it where I left it, on good terms.

6: Tacoma I bought the hoodie that came with a LUNAR TRANSFER STATION TACOMA patch Fullbright sold long before that game had it's transformation following feedback from beta testers, and I never stopped looking forward to it coming out. Gone Home was like a...I won't say formative, because it isn't true, but it was definitive for me. A story about two girls falling in love together doesn't come around that often, and the attention to the setting and feel of being in this old, deeply lived in house. Tacoma shows that same love of character and place in spades, giving you an even more intimate look at the world the crew of the Tacoma lived in together. I honestly lost it when I noticed during a scene that next door, their cat was asleep on the shelf above the laundry machine. Just the smallest details and love shown for everyone involved broke my heart and put it back together in a different shape. A vision of a world utterly fucked by corporatist greed such that they are essentially their own extragovernmental entities, and people live on anyway, just being people. It's so sad, but still sort of hopeful? Even if the world is garbage, people will keep on living as best as they can. It's very millennial of myself to find solace in that idea, honestly, but that's this game for you, one crafted based on the excesses of the last decade spiraling out of control.

5: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood In any other year, this game would be #1. You're gonna hear me say that a few more times here before we're done. Final Fantasy 14 has been a constant in my life for the last 3 years, delivering again and again the sort of joy that only comes from a game lovingly made by people dedicated to their own love of the genre, the setting and their playerbase. That's the only way I can describe it, lovingly crafted. Naoki Yoshida loves this game, and so does his team, and every inch of that game radiates this. The storyline itself is a little meandering, jumping from a failed revolution to formenting a successful one, to returning triumphant with new armies and allies at your back. Everyone in that game is, again, a joy to be around. It has a somewhat similar roadtrip feel to Heavensward, but never treads the same ground in the same way. It's more like...taking your friend abroad to another country, while Heavensward was a road trip across a state that stops and starts in fits and spurts. I don't know if this expansion will hold my attention in the same way that Heavensward did, or that A Realm Reborn did. I don't know if I have that part of myself that's willing to ride with an MMO across the lifetime of it's expansion this time. I want to support this game, and the people who make it, and my friends who do still ride with it. But this might be my last expansion.

4: Tales of Berseria If this came out any other year, it might be my game of the year. You'll hear that 2 more times before we're done. I've never been a Tales person. I know people who are, and I understand the mystique, but I never Understood it until repeated praise (and some very cute lesbian ship art) forced my hand into buying it. I don't know if I'm gonna be ok when I finish it. The game is very baldly about doing bad things. The protagonist is a demon on a blatantly self-destructive revenge quest against the self-appointed savior of the world, aided by a demon swordsman who wants to kill his brother, a witch with existentially depressed ennui, a boy who barely knows who he is, a pirate cursed to bring ruin to those around him, and a pure maiden with a tragic backstory trying to do good in the world who has fallen in with them through a series of missteps so comic they're mostly just sad. Together, this totally uncohesive group of misfits abandoned by the world, rejecting it and destroying everything that stands in their way. It crushes my heart on the regular. This is definitely a 60+ hour JRPG because I just got to hour 20 and there's absolutely still so much left to go. They've introed villain after villain, placing the shotgun on the mantelpiece for Velvet to mangle herself with just to kill them in the blast. This game breaks my heart. The world it's in is awful, every party member has been utterly ruined by some facet of it that happened to conflict with a totally normal thing they wanted. They're the devil's rejects. And I love every single one of them.

3: Butterfly Soup Remember all the praise I gave Gone Home back there? This game is like that for me this year. You can just make a game about some queer girls playing baseball and being in love, and I'll love it with all my heart. It's not hard for me to peg why I love it; Akarsha is like a fucking mirror pointed directly at my face with a moustache painted on it, Diya's anxiety and gay panic is so deeply relatable that I very nearly cried the first time she said the word Lesbian to herself and immediately tried to convince herself she's not gay. Brianna Lei's depiction of young, messy, goofy girls living with all the problems that happen to kids their age; insane parents, abuse, self-discovery, a lot of bad jokes and getting all too real at a moment's notice. I honestly cannot wait to see what else she can bring to the table.

1 (TIE): NieR: Automata If this game came out any other year, it would be #1 without effort. The original NieR did something at just the right time, with just the right amount of feeling. A rejection of the trend of father figures rescuing their child and getting the good ending, NieR was a quest to protect a girl to the detriment of everyone around the protagonist, including the girl herself. The final ending of that game ends with you erasing yourself from the world so that you never existed, to save someone who deserves to live and would have if not for you. NieR's destructive quest to protect his daughter literally destroys the world around him, disrupting millennia of careful planning and manipulation by people far smarter than him. All because they took his daughter. Damn the world, he wanted what was his. NieR: Automata follows another 10,000 years after that, in the same world, scarred by a war that broke out centuries ago. The game frequently lies to both you the player and you the protagonist, but the protagonist already knows better, and simply doesn't let on. The game focuses, instead, on the ways that something built by humans craves to become like its long-gone masters. Androids are built to be physically ideal, sexy and at times loving to one another, because that's what humans did. It's unclear if they chose this for themselves or if humans did it to them (and obviously Yoko Taro chose for them to be like this, human choice or no), but it's how they live. The machines they fight do the same, playing a phone game across millennia of what humanity was, trying to fill the holes in their life with gender binaries, sexual intercourse, children and family and love. What separates them from us? Are we any different? Do we deserve to be different? Do they? I don't know how to talk about this game coherently. There's so much there. People recently have been talking about it again, as lists like these come up, and so many bad takes are floating around that it crushes my heart. 2B's sexy, so the game is horny. It's bad because you have to replay it 5 times (no, wrong, bad). It's bad because 9S is a softboy and 2B could have been a lesbian with any of the women throwing themselves at her (come on, dude, at least try). I'm not gonna try to rebut any of these, because the game itself doesn't need my defense. It stands on its own. It's the best game I've played in the last 5 years, in all likelihood. It's definitely my favorite of the last decade.

1 (TIE): Persona 5 If this game came out on any other year, it would be #1 with a bullet. This game had an insanely tortured development cycle. Pushed back again, then again, then again. Remember that February 2012 graphic that used to go around, and likely will right around Valentine's Day? Characters were revamped, removed, redesigned 5 times in the case of Haru (who started out as a boy, somehow). But it's exactly the game I needed in 2017. I was a transplant in Texas in 2004, going into high school in a new state where we knew no-one and nobody. I was quiet, spending most of my time outside class reading the 6th Dark Tower novel, Song of Susannah, a 2 inch thich hardcover beast. Because it's high school, rumors started about whatever they thought I was because I was quiet and wore a hoodie to school regardless of the weather, hiding guns or knives or what have you. Akira's experience touched me, in ways I never thought I would be a decade after graduating. Shit, everyone touched me in some way. Yusuke's quiet acceptance of the abuse and labels applied to him by his teacher and his fellow students. Futaba's isolation in the wake of her mother's death hit me in the heart; I dropped out of college when my own mother had a spinal cord fusion in her lumbar spine that ruined her life, left her with 10% her previous mobility. I mourned for years. Haru's quiet demeanor and the immediate, effusive joy she displayed whenever she could be with her friends, no matter the context. Ryuji's bristling rage at authority that ridicules him. Even the side cast struck me in ways Persona 4 and 3 never did. Kawakami's tiredness with the world, her exploitation she brushes off as a fact of life. Takemi's cool acceptance of being forced from the job of her dreams into treating bruises and being blackballed by the world she worked to survive in. Sojiro's struggles with cruel family that would destroy the daughter he loves as his own. Persona 5 is a game about the ways that society is designed to strike down the odd man out, casting them aside as worthless or ridiculous. The simple girl run into a cult, the daughter of a model forced into a role she never asked for, the typecast and the downtrodden, who deserve so much better than the world they've been given. This is a deeply flawed game. Within hours of Ryuji standing side by side with Ann to defend her from the casual sexism of Kamoshida or any other number of aggressions, he becomes a slavering hound doing the same thing to his best friend. The writing, when it's not inconsistent, simply isn't there; Haru's final and rather grand entrance peters off into maybe a dozen lines she has in the main story following her introduction. 6+ years in development can do some bad stuff to a game. But I love it, despite all of that. I can see what this game could have been, with a less tortured development, with a director who didn't ask the character design to make all of the female confidants "cuter". With a more focused vision, a clearer goal, and a better route there. All of that said, I still love my satanic crime ring. And I probably always will.