#i KNOW we have to be fast i KNOW we're on a time limit ESPECIALLY on lunch order days where we have to make considerably more food

[glassphinix]

"work as quick as you can mate, you have to hustle, we have to pick up the slack because we're missing someone, you're not working fast enough, i don't know what you're doing over there with the dishes but it should only take one pass with the sponge, not six, c'mon quick as you can"

what if i exploded. what if i bit you and died. badly.

[leilakisakabiri]

Miami Hot Lap (CL)

Summary: You're forced to do a Miami Hot Lap with your boyfriend.

Warning(s): Just fluff.

A/N: Ahh I love this concept!! Requests are open for Charles and Lando.

Word Count: 800+

Masterlist

Being invited to an F1 race through a brand seemed like a fun idea at first. You would get to see your boyfriend for the first time in weeks, watch the race in your hometown, and somehow still be able to call it work. It was a win-win situation.

That was until they approached you with a video idea.

"So since you're working with one of our sponsored brands for the weekend, a Miami native, and dating a driver, we thought it was only fair to ask you to do the Miami hot lap video." The F1 content manager explained.

"Miami hot lap?" You questioned, unfamiliar with what they wanted you to do.

"Yeah y'know just go for a few laps on the track with a driver. For you, it would be Charles of course." She assured.

You shook your head rapidly, shrinking back, "No thank you. I don't drive with Charles."

"But he's your boyfriend? Surely you've driven with him before?"

You sighed, "Yeah in a city, where he's forced to follow the speed limit, I would never be able to handle going that fast. He's too scary without restrictions."

She furrowed her eyebrows, opening her mouth to respond before she was cut off.

"Spreading lies about me again?"

You felt your lips upturn in a smile as he came up behind you, fingers entwining with yours as he kissed your cheek.

You turned to face him, attempting to be firm, "I love you, but I'm not driving with you." You repeated.

One hour later you found yourself being strapped into the passenger seat of his car, cursing yourself for giving in after he convinced you it wouldn't be that bad.

The camera sat on the dashboard, recording the both of you.

"Go slow," You warned, as he got the green light to pull away.

"We'll get no views then." He argued.

You started at him in disbelief, "Would you rather have more views on a video or have a girlfriend in one piece?"

It was quiet for a beat too long and you put your hand up, "You know what don't answer that. I don't want to know."

"So how do you like driving with me so far?" He asked once you made it past the first lap.

You nodded, "Not bad, right now I feel like we're going to get food."

He smirked, "Well in that case go on and get comfortable."

You eyed him skeptically but you decided to trust him, "Okaaay," you dragged out the word as you slouched a bit more in the seat, letting your body relax against the seat, going as far as to admire the view outside the window.

The peace only lasted for a second before Charles was slamming on the pedal, sending the car lurching forward at record speeds.

While he got a shot of adrenaline, you felt your stomach somersault as your body jolted backward.

“Charles. Charles!!” Your voice filled with panic, fingers grabbing onto the side of the car for dear life, eyes wide as you refused to take your eyes off the rapidly passing road in front of you.

He laughed at your reaction, only stopping once he realized how serious you were. He dropped a hand down to squeeze yours, reassuring you, “Relax I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The supposedly sweet action had the opposite effect, “Keep both your hands on the wheel!” You shrieked, sending him into another fit of laughter.

You put a hand to your forehead in shock and disbelief, "We're going to die."

You felt hysterical, and his shit-eating grin only irked you further.

"We're not going to die. I promise." He swore, trying to calm you down.

You shoved his shoulder, "Your promises mean nothing to me anymore Charles. We're going to die and it's all your fault." you deadpanned.

“Y/n amor I’m barely pushing 90 mph.” He revealed.

Your body froze, before finally losing some tension, “Oh."

You checked the meter seeing that he was telling the truth, "It feels a lot faster,” you argued, “Especially with the sharp turns," you elaborated.

He agreed with you but not before side-eyeing you, "Right."

"So should we go faster?" He proposed.

"Charles," You warned.

"Why so formal?"

You glanced at each other for a second and already knew what would happen from the unfiltered excitement in his eyes, "Hold on amour."

You watched in horror as the meter rapidly rose hitting up to 130mph, you mouthed a "help me" to the camera.

“I think I’m gonna throw up everywhere.” You groaned once the car had finally come to a halt.

Charles patted your head affectionately as you laid your head against your knees, “You’ll be ok.”

“No. I’m going to projectile vomit on this dashboard,” you warned, “I’m never driving with you again.”

He furrowed his eyebrows at your comment but didn't say anything, instead facing the camera.

"Well thanks for joining us today, if you want more videos like this-"

You lifted your head off your knees when you noticed he hadn't finished his sentence, finding him staring at you expectedly.

"Like and subscribe?" you questioned, voice hoarse.

"Exactly. See you guys later!" He waved bye to the camera and moved your head to lay on his lap so you could rest.

[agendabymooner]

mamma mia (again) ! daniel r. x ofc (måneskin member! ofc)

“they ask me why i’m so hot, ‘cause i’m italiano.”

summary: a series of video clips, but it’s only just danny ric being in love with a certain lester alessandro.

content warning: hint or two of suggestive comments (nothing detailed or graphic), use of explicit language, filler blurb or something, danny being a simp for few videos straight (“have my kids” type beat), lester being an etsy and pinterest enthusiast, literally posted this blurb from my phone so they’re crazy about their image limits 😩

note: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE 105 FOLLOWERS?! UHM? seriously, i’ve never been so happy. i honestly only started posting these because i have them ingrained in my brain and won’t let go until i write or make something. just indulging my imagination you know? enjoy xx

masterlist

𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐁𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏

【VIDEO ONE — daniel ricciardo is a gatekeeper】

[1st image: yeah, i dunno. everyone just found out that i made it official with my girlfriend and i’m pretty sure i just saw lando weeping in his room. max was the second to react to it and i’m so sure he recoiled. he did say that he didn't want to know what happened in imola few months ago.]

[2nd: interviewer: what happened in imola few months ago? daniel: *chuckles* wouldn’t you like to know - nah, i’m messing about. nothing happened in imola besides from me retiring to my bed early. i think we were both drunk when i posted that photo and i know it looks lewd but there's no way we could've done anything questionable.]

[3rd: d: but yeah. we didn't really want to catch that much attention until maybe i don't know... when we're married or something *chuckles* i: keep it a secret until the wedding? d: yeah. but charles, the absolute fool, posted videos during the concert with me in the background. It would've been real nice if no one caught onto it until we had a mini ric running and racing, you know? just to wreak havoc.]

【VIDEO TWO — daniel ricciardo talks about lester’s love language in his gq video】

[1st: i got this journal from lori. it has my initials "DR" on it for daniel ricciardo*laughs* it's one of those many first gifts that i’ve gotten from her throughout our first few months of dating. her love language isn't just shitting on my life -she has every single aspect of love language within her and this is one of them.]

[2nd: when she gave this to me, all she said was "you can write out your thoughts if you can't let them out through your mouth. *giggles* "she clearly had her thoughts sorted out that time especially when she showed me a page with an embossed phrase or nickname, "tasso di miele" - it means honey badger. she apparently bought the custom embosser from etsy and almost fought tooth and nail just to get it in time. *laughs even more* i love her so much, i honestly wanted to cry that day.]

[3rd: lori actually has a laptop with *laughs* itunes on it and she still got some playlists from 2010-2014? yeah. she’s put a lot of old taylor swift songs in my ipod during the christmas break. my favourite album right now is speak now. she loves red.]

【VIDEO THREE — lester hates ashy hands confirmed】

[1st: daniel: i think i should just cover my hands with gloves all the time. lando: that literally has nothing to do with anything that we're about to do. d: lori tells me that my hands are rough whenever she holds them.]

[2nd: l: or you know... you can just use a hand lotion all the time because your hands dry up real fast? d: ah that's true. i wonder if that's why lori just casually put a bottle of hand cream on my travel bag. the thing smells nice though. it’s chamomile.]

【VIDEO FOUR — it’s okay to spoil your partner; even if it’s an accent chair from her pinterest board】

[1st: d: lori just sent me a picture of an armchair from ikea. l: why was she randomly in ikea, by the way? I saw the text. d: window shopping. but anyway, she saw this armchair that she had on her pinterest board. she asked "pretty or no?" with the green velvet chair. l: what did you tell her?]

[2nd: word to word? I texted her "LOL you should see the accent chair I've gotten you for our flat in monaco." l: are you serious? *laughs* d: she wouldn't tell me what she wanted for her birthday. I only got a brief idea when she left her phone in my pocket once and gave me a free access to her pinterest boards.]

[laura1633]

and we're already back to the 5, 10K liked tweets about how 'max cant race' 'max only wins when he has a good car'

i know max himself has said he doesn't care what people think about him, but i imagine it must be exhausting to have every single one of your achievements be constantly denigrated.

to these people, 21 was a gifted win, 22 the car was illegal, 23 anyone could have won in a car that fast. and this season, when he's driving what is clearly a lesser car to the absolute limit and dealing with constant team issues so understandably makes mistakes, he's a "bad driver".

everything he does is somehow wrong, and the biggest motorsports media (sky) does absolutely nothing to reject those sentiments, and most of the time, make it worse.

honestly, i'm getting to the 'i cant wait until max leaves f1' point because i feel like only when he's retired will be people understand what a brilliant and generational talent he is.

(sorry for venting in your inbox 😭)

That's okay, it's fine to vent. We can vent today and then move forward to the next race 🥰

I think Max is a pretty intelligent guy. I think he understands how the media works and understands the British bias (and if he doesn't understand that then I guess he can always give Fernando a call!)

I think the important thing to remember is that those who shout the loudest are not always right. There are plenty of well respected people who see Max for the generational talent that he is. I know that there are some nice and rational people on twitter but honestly at times it feels like a bit of a cesspit of misinformation so I don't think he will be losing sleep over twitter comments (Which is a good thing as he needs his rest according to sky 😂)

The fact that making a mistake is such a huge deal does in fact show how amazingly consistent he has been over the last few years. People have very high standards for him.

We can't really take a lot of these people seriously, especially when they call out Max and then turn around and say they respect Schumacher or Senna.

When Max retires he will absolutely go down as one of the greatest drivers of all time and there isn't a thing some "fans" or sky sports can do to stop that. The results and achievements and the talent all speaks for itself.

Also, it's kind of funny because today was an absolute shit show and he still finished P5 and only lost a small amount of points compared to his nearest rival.

[taniahylian]

Kimberly

Alright, first of all I want to apologize to all the characters in the Golden City event because I got absolutely obsessed with a character that literally appears for 5 minutes just to be the final boss 😂💔. But I think there's so much lore in those 5 minutes, so I wanted to share my analysis with you.

Now, to be fair I know a little bit of what's to come on future patches, so I might be slightly biased (I absolutely adore this hellish creature), but I'll limit what I say to the current patch. That said, spoilers for 2.0 ahead! Read at your own discretion.

First off, let's talk about the way she's introduced. A very unique way indeed; Eternity, being contracted by Apostole Mathew to get him out of the Elysium safetly, but not wanting to escort him herself, gives him a simple old wind-up robot toy (probably from the 1800's, when they were cheaply produced in mass quantities for the first time).

She also says that it's from the Saint Pavlov Foundation, and that an employee stole it and sold it to her for some cash. Not only that, but it's not the only artifact that was stolen and sold to Eternity during the chaos after the storm; this toy is part of something they call "lost assets" that they're urgently trying to get back.

However, Bernard calls this toy the "most important one" of these assets, so... why? What does it do, exactly?

Well, you just need to wind it and...

It's just like the tale of the genie of the lamp, isn't it? Wind the toy and a beautiful girl obligated to fulfill all your wishes appears. We also know her name is Kimberly, since it was inscribed on the toy.

But here's the thing... Kimberly, this girl, is literally forced to do anything her master wants. ANYTHING. Let that sink in. She's literally a slave. Why do I say that? Well, she says it herself; she'll obey any command.

Her voice isn't exactly thrilled when she's summoned, nor is her expression; the game even points out that she looks frail and weary. It sounds like she's only ever summoned to do very bad things; to the point that when the Manus Believer asks her to kill J and his friends, she says "Is that all?" And seems happy that it's a relatively simple request.

Still, she doesn't exactly take pleasure in the task; it's more of an automatic response for her. Sure, she also has some blood thirst in her, threatening to rip out their spines and all, but she also says that she's a skilled hunter and prefers to kill her prey fast. And honestly, even if she has developed a thirst for blood and questinable morals... can you blame her? We don't know for how many years she's been enslaved and forced to perform henious acts for her masters; this kind of life would change anyone.

But why was she enslaved, exactly? Well, we know she's a very powerful being, first of all, because she easily breaks J's new knife, which was made with a mystical magic metal that had to be found with a literal ancient map.

So, from this we can already infer that she's no ordinary arcanist... and then comes the big reveal.

Now, I don't know what creature this is, exactly, but from the goat face and horns and all... it looks like a sexy demon. My speculation is that she's a new type of "Beyond", which we know are arcane creatures that possess human-like intelligence and attributes, but usually have tremendous power; Voyager, Jessica and Valentina are examples, but Jiu is a half-blood of this kind too. In real life mythology I'd say Kimberly looks kinda like a succubus? But we need more information to conclude that imo. She could also just be a very weird genie lol.

Regardless of what she is, I think we can safely conclude that her story, being a slave for who knows how many years, and then being trapped in the wind-up toy in the foundation for a lot of time, is very tragic, especially since we're shown that the only thing she wants is freedom.

She was given to a Manus Believer; he's her master, but he's a mindless monster that doesn't know what he wants, so she's free... for now. If either the Foundation or Manus Vindictae find her, however, I don't think it'd go well for her... although actually it might be better if the Manus found her, since the Foundation would just put her back inside the toy and store it away forever.

Now, judging by what Eternity said, I believe she might think that she did Kimberly a favor by selling her to the Manus.

However, I wholeheartedly disagree and I'm personally holding Eternity responsible for whatever happens to Kimberly after this patch. She had a slave in her possession, and she could've probably freed her somehow (like ordering her to be free or something idk), but instead she chose to sell her for profit (like a true Ameri- I mean, capitalist) to one of the leaders of a terrorist organization. Do you understand how fucked up that is? The Manus have no morals, and giving them absolute control over anyone is bad enough, but this one is a supernatural being on top.

Also, we know Kimberly didn't want to be sold. She didn't want to be used. Sure, she liked getting some fresh air for a change, but she would've prefered to stay in Eternity's bag. How do I know? Simple.

This fucking broke my heart. I feel so bad for this poor creature, and I just hope she finds true freedom someday :c

Sorry for this extremely long analysis of an npc lol, but I'm absolutely obsessed with her lore and I can't wait to learn more about her. I hope I at least aided you to view her in a more sympathetic light.

[party-lemon]

okay so. the kiss, right? after gathering information and reading so much meta (and fanfiction, because honestly, it has helped form my opinion on this also), I've come to a very long conclusion.

let's start with the fact that crowley apparently didn't realize he was in love with aziraphale. which goes against SO much fanfic and beliefs of SO many good omens fans. as someone who started watching after season 2 came out, i didn't think much of it because i wasn't as familiar with the characters. but now i get why people might have been confused by that writing/plot choice

but it's also really interesting. crowley is, essentially, TOLD that he's in love with aziraphale. and that's fascinating because he's been on earth for 6000+ years, how does he not know that, how does he not know what love is?

but for 6000+ years, he's been surrounded by HUMAN love. human love is fleeting, it's dramatic, it's romantic, it's sexual, it's silent, it's all these different things. human love is not only confusing, but it's distinctly HUMAN. and though they've taken up many human things in their thousand year stay, aziraphale and crowley are distinctly not human. crowley watches films and listens to music, sure, but he might see human love as something fantastical. humans watch fantasy films and read sci fi books and consume media and we think "that would be cool if we could experience that." we know it's fantasy, but it would be cool if it wasn't.

i think crowley kind of viewed human love like that. he knows it exists, but also it's sort of shrouded in fantasy. he's almost...indifferent to it. like it would be cool if it happened, but it won't. i think what he knows he feels for aziraphale is a distinctly NOT human kind of love, of which i don't think we're entirely meant to understand, because they're an angel and a demon and they've been alive for millenia and have known each other as they are for 6000+ years. from what we've seen, it's this deeply burrowed fear of losing one another, this desire to simply spend time together, share things they enjoy, exchange philosophical musings, pester each other, save each other, etc, etc.

and like i said, i think they know that that's love. it's unspoken, sure, but i think they both recognize that this deep, distinctly NOT human thing is love, in their own way. they've just been careful not to show it too much because they didn't think they could (flashbacks of "you go too fast for me, crowley"). after the not-pocalypse, they seemed a little more open to showing it, especially aziraphale.

but then nina lets crowley know that, not only is this distinctly not human love (she doesn't know they're not humans, of course) showing very clearly, but it LOOKS like human love. they look and act like a human couple. and i think crowley realizes that he loves aziraphale in a very human way also, that it's not just a fantasy, it's not off limits just because they're an angel and a demon.

so then the final fifteen happens and both aziraphale and crowley are desperate, and i think crowley kisses aziraphale, mostly, as a last push to show aziraphale what he's feeling. everything beforehand was him silently screaming how he loves aziraphale and wants to be with him in their not human way and that didn't work so he decides to show him in this distinctly human way. he's saying he wants to be with him and love him like a human, and kisses him, because it's what HUMANS do.

not sure if this made sense, and decipher that scene how you will obviously, but that's what i think, after being obsessed with this show since august lol

[otomiyaa]

Love Is Hard for a Broke Otaku

Narumi x Hirotaka

A/N: In wave of inspiration I drafted 3 new fics yesterday and THIS WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. This one just spawned today and it's the fault of @dokidoki-muffin and her amazing art that inspired me🤭

Summary: Narumi and Hirotaka continue dating with the golden rule: no otaku talk during their romantic outings unless you would like to contribute to the piggy bank. A great rule for those who have money. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 2.2K

Such a beautiful spring day! It was the perfect Shoujo scenario date. A stroll in the park, a swan boat date surrounded by couples, a romantic picnic for two while enjoying the beautiful sunset...

"We're being so romantic, Hirotaka! Seeing us together like this, I ship us harder than Dr. Ratio and Aventurine, which says a lot! Their chemistry is really off the charts!"

Without a word, Hirotaka instantly held out the otaku-off-limits piggy bank. Narumi gasped. Where did he get that! As if the damn thing just spawned in his hands like a video game item!

"Too bad, Narumi. You held out for so long without breaking the rule," Hirotaka said dramatically.

"You brought Bernard?!" she shrieked.

"I still disagree with that name. But yes. Penalty time, you geeked out," Hirotaka said. Narumi sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"Geek out, geek out? H-how did I geek out?"

"You talked about Honkai Star Rail, again. On top of that, a BL couple. It is against our dating rule."

"You're so mean, Hirotaka! Besides, Honkai Star Rail is a game. You should geek out with me then."

"That's not the rule. Besides, I already told you it's not my kind of game. Pay up," Hirotaka said, and he shook the piggy bank. Narumi listened to the sound of the coins inside and she sighed.

"Can you forgive me this once?" she asked, feeling her pockets. Not even a 1-yen coin was left.

"Why? You know it's our date-rule. You made me pay too, the other day. Twice."

"But that was because you wouldn't stop bringing up Monster Hunter. Paying twice was the ultimate minimum compared to how much you geeked out."

"I also recall you made me pay when we went to Disney Sea too, last weekend."

"But you wouldn't stop doing these unnecessary raids in Pokemon Go!" Narumi whined. Hirotaka glared at her.

"I don't see the difference. So, rules are rules. You pay. That would be 500 yen, miss." He held out the piggy bank. Narumi fiddled with her clothes.

"Then... can I pay later?" she asked. Hirotaka cocked his head.

"I don't see why. Don't tell me you're broke?"

.... Narumi hesitated for too long, so Hirotaka gasped. "You are broke!" he yelled, and Narumi quickly grabbed his hands.

"No no no, I'm not broke! I'm just out of cash! Don't forget I bought us drinks and ice cream for our date today! That was everything I had with me... today! I have money at home, a-and on my bank account!"

Narumi felt her cheeks getting red knowing that was not true, especially when Hirotaka gave her this judging stare.

"Do you really?" he asked. "So when we go to your home now, or to the bank, you can pay?"

Narumi blushed and bit her lip. Nooo! "M-maybe?" she said. Hirotaka sighed.

"Just what did you do with your money this time?" he asked. Narumi nervously played with her clothes.

"Well... T-there were tickets on sale for Comic Con..."

"Ah, Comic Con. I remember you asked me to go. Those tickets are expensive," Hirotaka said.

"Hmm yes, you turned me down. S-so I still bought two tickets, for Hana-chan and me."

Hirotaka frowned. "And...?" he asked. Narumi lowered her head.

"I a-accidentally bought them twice."

Hirotaka jumped up again. "What! Twice? How?"

Narumi shrugged. "Well you see, these things happen. They were on sale on the website, and you have to be there soon because they sell out fast - a-and there was also a special sale that included a meet & greet with my favorite seiyuu on another website. I wanted to make sure to get at least one of them! I was in the online queue on the two websites and, actually ended up getting both! I didn't expect I would. It's a miracle."

"...A miracle that cost you a lot of money. So, you can just sell one set, right?"

"I can't. One has the VIP package and the other has the special meet & greet! They're different! I have to keep both!"

Hirotaka groaned. "Are you serious right now? You can't just pay entrance fee once and the special packages separately? Sounds like a scam. So anyway, that's why you're broke?"

"It's not a scam, just my mistake! Hana-chan didn't want to sell hers and I I kind of said I could keep mine too... And yes now I am broke, but only for the weekend. Hana-chan will pay me back her share when we are at the office. I have food at home too. I'll be fine."

It had really not been Narumi's intention to spill the truth about this unfortunate money situation to Hirotaka. It all went so well, with her just offering the little money she had for the least expensive treats today, such as drinks and ice cream, while Hirotaka paid their lunch, picnic snacks and boat ride like a true gentleman. He originally wasn't going to find out about the her blunder, and about her greed.

To think that her geeking out about one of her favorite BL pairings was the cause of this.

Speaking of...

"That's a shame. You do owe me then," Hirotaka said. Narumi jolted, sad that he was really returning to the penalty topic.

"Y-yes! I'll pay later!"

Hirotaka shook his head. "I mean, it's not about the money. You know that. More like, the small punishment for breaking the rule to keep our dates romantic." He smiled, and Narumi's heart fluttered.

"Romantic.." she mumbled with a blush, remembering why they had installed the rule in the first place. It wasn't always easy to be the friends-to-lovers couple after all.

"I think I can let you off, if we change the punishment. How about that?" Hirotaka suggested. Narumi cried out in delight and nodded.

"Yes. Yes! What should I do?"

Hirotaka stared into the distance. He pointed. "Run up and down those stairs."

Narumi stared at the huge ass stairs, leading to the shrine they didn't visit today for the exact reason of those stairs being too damn long.

"...Twice," Hirotaka said with a smirk. Narumi looked at him in horror.

"You might as well just kill me then," she said dramatically.

"Or... You'll let me tickle you. For..." Hirotaka said, taking his phone and tapping something. He then held up the timer.

"...Six whole minutes."

"Six? That's specific. Not five?"

"Six. So, would you agree?" Hirotaka asked. Narumi nodded.

"Sure, let's go home first."

Hirotaka shook his head. "No, we'll do it here." Narumi gulped and looked around the park. There were couples everywhere. Families... Dogs. People.

"Why, are you embarrassed? It's not like there's anyone we know here."

"B-b-but!" Narumi squeezed Hirotaka's hands and she shook her head. Did he really think so lightly of getting tickled in public? Someone as ticklish as her?!

"M-m-my dignity!" she stuttered, and she grabbed Hirotaka's shirt and tugged it repeatedly.

"You have to spare my dignity!"

"Hm? What dignity?" was Hirotaka's cold reply. Oof! Meanie! Narumi let out a whine and leaned her head against his chest.

"Is there really no third option?" she asked. Hirotaka chuckled.

"No, it's either stairs or tickling." The villain. He obviously knew Narumi couldn't even run up and down those stairs twice, having the stamina of a wanky banana peel. She'd strand in the middle and gasp for air like an old woman on her dying bed. Now that might even be more embarrassing than getting tickled.

"F-f-fine.... Tickle me then," she finally sighed. "But if people laugh at me, you have to stand up for me and tell them I'm beautiful."

Hirotaka smirked. "Don't you worry. You'll be doing most of the laughing here. Let's not mind other people."

That made Narumi blush, and she repositioned herself on their picnic sheet, shuffling awkwardly.

"S-so what do I do?" she asked while Hirotaka put his phone down.

"You come to me," he said. He turned on the timer and spread his arms.

"Come here," he said gently, and for a moment he really looked gentle, welcoming his precious girlfriend for a hug. But the moment she moved closer, she could already see his expression change. This wasn't Hirotaka being gentle, this was her villain boyfriend who was way too smug as he lured her into his tickle trap!

"Gotcha," Hirotaka said when she was so flustered she tried to move away again, and he locked her in his arms, bringing one hand to her side while the other moved up, immediately aiming for her underarm.

"Wawawa-wahahhaait Hirotakahahaha! Spahahare me a lihihittle!" Narumi whined when his fingers began to wiggle around their chosen tickle spots. She wriggled and squirmed in his arms, but Hirotaka reminded her he wasn't as weak as he looked - no offense, but it was the truth! And she couldn't help but love him for it.

"It's better to not mind them," Hirotaka said when Narumi couldn't help but turn her head to watch the judging couples in the distance. So embarrassing! It wasn't as if her getting tickled was the worst that was happening out here! Look, there were people kissing over there! Aaah!

"Buhuhut- aahaha! Wait no- not thehere!" Narumi laughed. Hirotaka had moved the hand on her lower side further up and tickled her ribs, while the other continued to gently wiggle its fingers under her arm. Narumi grabbed Hirotaka's jacket and she shook with hysterical laughter.

"I'm gohohonna ehehexplode!" she howled dramatically. Hirotaka chuckled fondly.

"No you won't," he said, and she gulped when he suddenly pushed her down on her back. He towered over her and grabbed both sides of her ribcage, his fingers racing up and down as if she was playing a game. Narumi squealed and tried to grab his hands and pry them off her as a reflex, but to no avail.

"Aaaahahaha nohoho it tihicklehehes!" she whined.

Hirotaka even captured both her hands and only needed one hand to pin them above her head. With the other he clawed and poked her ticklish armpit that was now helplessly exposed.

"HIROTAHAAKAAAA!" Narumi kicked her legs, messing up their picnic sheet. Despite everything she was very aware of the people staring at her and the way it made her blush - but even more aware of her boyfriend's fingers tickling and making her blush even worse!

"Three more minutes. We're halfway there," Hirotaka informered her, and Narumi shook her head wildly.

"Bwahahaha I cahahan't take ahahanymohohore!" she cackled. The fond smile Hirotaka showed her was so unfair.

"I'm sure you can," he said. He released her hands and continued the tickle attack by wiggling his fingers all over her tummy. Narumi screeched and tried to curl up. Reluctant to hit her precious attacker in the face, she pounded the picnic sheet like a madwoman.

"Plehehease! Hahahave mehehercy!" she shrieked. Hirotaka glanced at his phone.

"I will. After two minutes and fourteen seconds."

"Gahaahha I wihihill dieeehehehe!" Narumi wailed. She weakly tried to crawl away, but Hirotaka only needed to tickle her underarms again to make her collapse. He then settled with wrecking her socked feet for the remaining minutes. Hirotaka was pure evil.

"Nyaahhaahaha I cahahan't breheheathe!"

"You're doing just fine."

Narumi was sure he cheated. He must've secretly extended the timer or something, because no way had it actually been six minutes by the time he stopped. It felt like it was way longer. Narumi wrapped her arms around her stomach and wheezed.

Hirotaka looked at her with a charming smile.

"Game over, right? Well, I must admit this was way more enjoyable. If you like, we can just stop paying to Bernard and tickle-punish you instead, anytime you act like an otaku during our dates."

".....Pffffthehehe," Narumi giggled, muffling the sound with the back of her hand.

"Hmm? Still feeling ticklish?" Hirotaka asked teasingly. She shook her head.

"You called the piggy bank Bernard."

"Oh. Yes, I guess I did."

"And, introducing the tickle punishment as a permanent penalty means I get to tickle you too."

"....Oh. I guess so?" Hirotaka said, suddenly sounding a lot less smug and confident.

"And I will claim my six minutes right away, because you just said a gamer otaku thing."

"Huh?!"

"You said 'game over', that counts."

"Eh? It's a general phrase! Anyone would say 'game over'. Non-gamers would say it too."

"No, let me tickle you. Six minutes tickle punishment coming right up!"

"That's way too long for- aaaahh!" Narumi was suddenly no longer tired now that she chased after Hirotaka who was acting way more flustered all of a sudden. He tried to get away but she pounced on him and immediately began to tickle.

"Ahahahah! Nahaharumi! At leheheast tuhuhurn ohohon the tihihimer ahahaha!"

"Naah, you can keep count for me!" Narumi sang teasingly, and she enjoyed the sound of Hirotaka's cute laughter. She kind of agreed with him now. This was a lot more fun than the piggy bank.

And what was also a lot more fun: at the end of their park date filled with embarrassing tickle punishments, Hirotaka came with the sweetest suggestion. He'd buy the extra ticket for Comic Con from her, and convince Kabakura to join Hanako as well. They would attend the event with all four of them, while Narumi and Hanako could experience all of the extras as they wished. Woohoo!

Evil tickle monster tendencies aside, he really was the cutest boyfriend ever!

[ebonysplendor]

TOUCHSTARVED (Demo) 💔🫴

TL;DR: People are always saying "Touch grass" but even that might be dangerous in this scenario. If you thought Mike Tyson's hands were lethal, wait until you find out how our hands work.

Game Link: https://redspringstudio.itch.io/touchstarved

Notable features: Self-Insert, Multiple LIs, DnD vibe, MC backstory selection, Multiple endings/routes, Choice-Heavy Spiciness: 3.5/5 -- Nothing too explicit and no sex scenes or anything like that, but it does get pretty suggestive and there's some flirty jokes and comments here and there, especially with one particular LI LI(s) Red Flags: ...I mean, aside from one of them being a suspiciously smooth talker and the other essentially implying that they'd corrupt us, the biggest red flag is one of them having the cleanest pickpocket skill in history

Wanna know more? Meh, there's not an age limit, but the game pages does say it's for older audiences so, me personally, ... I'd say at least sixteen, but the older, the better. Anyways, let's get into it!

Okay, I'm sorry, but I have been coming across some damned gems lately!

Once again, this was one of the visual novels I downloaded forever ago, and what the heeeeeell, this was so good! Like, no, it was REALLY damned good. I'm not going to get into my ranting and raving like I tend to do because then the intro will get all long, but just know that, once again, I am geeked. Like, why have these game developers been going in so hard lately?!

I honestly have so much more to say, but I really want to get to the summary and the review portion, so I'm going to half-ass this intro and leave it here. That being said, this is NOT a yandere visual novel; however, it is a dark romance visual novel, so, it's still not the super teeth-rotting, cutesy, fluffy stuff.

Anyways, I'm going to tell you as much about the game as possible without ruining the game itself (like usual). Be mindful that, because it's a demo, there's not really an "end" nor is it even leading up to the end. The best way that I can qualify the demo is deadass...a demo. Like, it's a literal introduction and acts as a showcase to the rest of the game. More accurately, it flows exactly like how you'd think the prologue to a story would, "Chapter 0", honestly speaking.

Anyways, I'm done yapping; let's summarize. Just a heads up, though, it's gonna be a little lengthy, so...get comfy. All right, now let's get into it.

So boom.

In the spirit of keeping things as brief as possible: We're cursed, and that curse flows throughout our hands, front and back; it is for this reason that we keep them completely bandaged to ensure our own safety (kinda) and for everyone else's sanity. We believe that we can find a cure in this city called "Eridia", which is known to be this city of vast knowledge, and within this city of vast knowledge is this place called "Senobium". Senobium is where we're hoping our answers lie.

Lmao, I know that's a hell of an opener, but that's quite literally what's going on. We have been cursed since the start of forever, and we're essentially tired of feeling no sense of belonging anywhere, so we're trying to fix that; however, shit goes very left, very fast.

As we're on the way to this oh so great city of knowledge, we get hit with this ominous fog, and everyone who's travelling with us immediately knows: this is not good. No sooner than later, we're pretty certain that we hear someone getting killed nearby and the carriage that we were in is suddenly flipped over and blood gets shed very quickly. As expected, and for plot purposes, when the carriage got flipped over, our ankle took some extra damage which makes running a very unlikely option. Because of this, this terrifyingly dangerous creature wastes no time approaching us. Wanna see what it looks like?

That, my friends, is what is referred to as a "soulless", and it can rip you to literal shreds within seconds.

For whatever reason, this thing darts past us and disappears into the mist, but we don't ask questions; we just bolt behind the carriage for cover, and we're thankful that there is still someone alive after the attack. It would be much more comforting, though, if the guy wasn't praying, because that meant either one of two things:

We were very much so fucked, and he was trying to put in a good word for himself real quick before he potentially met his maker

or 2. We are very much so fucked, and the only thing that is applicable in this scenario is to pray and hope it disappears

but either way, we are very much so fucked.

That being said, we simply can't accept that. We don't pray, because we don't have the time. We've literally come too far to get taken out right outside the very city that holds our salvation, and that's all the reminder that we need when we see those city lights through the haze.

That reminder doesn't last long, though, because remember that soulless that vanished? Well, it came back, and the guy that was praying essentially brushed up against our hand, trying to get us to dip out with him because, duh, situation kind've popping off. Now, you remember that curse I mentioned? Well, our bandages kind've tore off during all of this ruckus, and all it takes is the slightest touch to make a person go from this

to this.

Yeah, so...not good.

Anyways, the situation essentially keeps escalating until we're one hit point away from death...but it never happens, because the next time we open our eyes, we see him.

Maybe we are dead, because hello~! Lookin' like an ethereal being in all of that white and attractive features! Like, gyatt DAMN. That is one fine ass angel!

Honestly, there are a lot of guys, and a lot of swooning, and a lot of introductions, so I'm going to kind've rush through those parts, especially since I don't want to ruin too much.

So, to get back on topic, essentially what goes down is that he -- his name is Kuras, by the way -- found us pretty much dead where the attack went down and brought us into the city to treat us. Now, this isn't because he's a hero or anything, but because he's a doctor and helping and healing is quite literally his entire thing, and damn, did he heal the hell out of us...suspiciously so.

Kuras tells us that, in Eridia, knowledge and secrets are what really fuels the area because it's so valuable. That being said, he can't get into exactly how he healed us so damn near perfectly. That also being said, he pretty much implies that the Senobium isn't all that's cracked up to be and that we aren't likely to find what we need there. Now although, we aren't fully believing of this due to desperation, he does point us in the direction of someone else. Some guy named Leander that we can find in some place called "The Wet Wick".

We follow Kuras' directions...but who the hell is--

--LEANDEEEEEEER~! HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~! ...Yeeeeah, this is the one I'm gonna romance first lol. Kuras is gonna have to chill for a second.

Anyways, we're here with Leander, and what happens here is...he is so obviously a playboy, but the man is smooth as shit. I mean, damn, the man gave us flowers as soon as he laid eyes on us and was talking about some "New here? I'm certain I would've remembered a face as lovely as yours". A classic playboy line, a fuckboy move, possibly, and I always manage to gravitate towards/pick them in these damn multi-LIs stories. Back on topic though, we ask Leander about the Senobium, and, much like with Kuras, he tells us that it's not only a taboo topic, but that the place is bad news.

That being said though, he's pretty confident that he's able to find an alternative to our ailment, but that we'd have to be willing to trust him a bit, which is a tall order considering the backstory we may have chosen. We bite the bullet though, because we discovered earlier that he was a pretty damn good mage, and we're really desperate. We give into his confidence...and it actually panned out well. So well, in fact, this man, once again, takes the opportunity to spit game and puts the gold in our hands next to the gold on his coat and be like "Look, we match". That man is smoother than damned butter, and I'm down bad.

Anyways, he gets us a room to sleep in for the night, and tells us to go explore, but be careful. So we do, and we run into this guy.

Yeah, so, remember that room that Leander got for us? This guy, monster, thing just swiped the key. Lol here we go...

The thing is, we could easily get it back, but something feels...off...about him. So, we play along with his game for a bit before we're just like "A'ight, can I just get my damn key?" but he kind've avoids the topic and, of course, our desire to reach the Senobium comes up. As expected at this point, he's flatly like "It's overrated" and to simply forget about it. Well, damn...

The encounter goes for a bit more before Vere -- we finally got his name after someone called him out for causing trouble -- leaves with the someone who called after him. Despite all that we've heard about the Senobium, we can't help but see it up close and in person to at least make the journey and trials and suffering worth it.

And we do, we make it there, and we see this figure there.

But when someone calls after us for gawking at the building, the figure disappears as quickly as we saw it. Aside from this though, a feeling of hopeless kind've takes hold and we're just...it's just like damn at this point, ya know? But then something kind've weird happens.

This red-eyed woman, who is clearly supposed to be dead as apparent from this gaping hole that she showed us on her body -- no, you don't get it. It was a literal hole that you could see through -- spoke of this seaspring that could cure, quite literally, anything. Not having much faith in the Senobium anymore, but still desperate for a cure, we follow the woman and receive directions to this mysterious seaspring and are told about some gang leader named Ais.

We get there, and we come to the conclusion that someone probably lives here. We call out, there's no answer...you already know where this is going.

BUT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS MAN TO BE THIS DAMN FINE. AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~! Okay, okay, okay, okay, so I'm going to romance Leander first, DEFINITELY this daddy second, and Kuras is gonna be my solid third. Okay, moving on...

He -- this is Ais, by the way -- pops up and scares the shit out of us. Actually, it wasn't him that scared us, it's his loyal pack of red-eyed soulless that scares the shit out of us, and for obvious reasons. Anyways, for the sake of trying to keep this from being longer than it already is, he's actually a pretty chill dude. Once again, he is also anti-Senobium, but he is straightforward in that, "Yes, that seaspring will literally clear up whatever you've got going on, but boy, is it going to drive you batshit crazy". Well, not batshit, but it makes you a part of this thing called a "groupmind"; that explained the red-eyes. Ais described it as "one big happy family in your head". Oh...okay, so...not a good idea. Guess we weren't as desperate as we thought. He gets one of his trained soulless to take us back towards the city.

After everything that had went down today, we decided that we should officially call it a night. On our way to the room Leander funded for us, we run into some...complications.

Ah, yes. Why would we have been able to just walk across the city and to our room? That would've been too easy. Any chance that this one is tamed, too, and Ais is just messing with us again?

Oh...oh wait...this one doesn't have the red eyes. ...Yeah, we bolt. What makes this whole situation worse though? As fast as we are running, this soulless is keeping up pretty damn easily. Also, did I say that this was the worst of it? It's not, it gets so much worse actually. Tell me why, in our panic, we literally ran ourselves into a dead end. Beautiful. What are the odds we'll survive this thing a second time around?

Pretty damn high apparently. Bless this person because we were about to get one-hit'ed!

They help us up and...wait...didn't we...?

Oh yeeeeeeah! This was the person from the Senobium! ...Damn, they're short lmao. That being said, we were all:

"Yo, you were at the Senobium!"

And they were all:

"So what if I was?"

Mmm...a feisty lil stallion. Big sass. I would be, too, if I was that short. Like, damn, they are not as tall as the baes. Kuras could take their ass out with one stomp if he really wanted to.

Anyways, they scold us about being alone at night and how it's not safe and all that. We follow them for a bit, and granted, we saw that they meant business, but it's still weird that if it's so dangerous, why were they travelling alone and why did they stop to help us?

"There was a bounty on that Soulless; you were just in the way. Not killing you isn't the same as helping you." Wha--?

Well, fuck you, too then! You get romanced last, Shorty McDouche.

We essentially get spicy back, and now, they're all blushy and shit as they start walking us back to our room. Yeah, take that shit, Mhin -- their name is Mhin, by the by -- but we don't have to deal with their sass for much longer because guess who comes along?!

IT'S BAAAAAAAE!!!! .....gyatt DAYUM Mhin is short. Then again, they could be taller than or the same height as us, but we did mention that everyone was significantly taller while Mhin was "Huh...they're shorter than I thought".

Anyways, they both escort us back to the Wet Wick, and wouldn't you know it?

Not only are all the baes here, but they all apparently know each other! All those different personalities hanging out together? Well, isn't that a wild concept. Even still, since they're all here...

Maybe we can get to know one of them a little better...

END OF DEMO LOL. Well...actually there's more after this, but of course, it depends on who you go to talk to. This is definitely long enough, though, lol; you'll have to play the game yourself to find out more, not to mention all the details I left out.

Whoo, FINALLY. The summary was long, but that was because the demo was long, and it had a lot going on. I swear I excluded so much detail, you have no idea, but guys...

When I tell you that this game was so good.

When I tell you that this game was so good.

FRIENDS. When I tell you. That this game. Was so. Good.

I don't think I can emphasize that enough, and I'm not even going to lie to you, at first, I was not feeling it. It's crazy to say that now, but I swear, I was not feeling this game at first, because it was feeling real Dungeons and Dragons, and as much I want to get into that...I can't. It just never vibes with me, and it's like I can't ever effectively get into it. That being said, it was rough at first, but then--!!

Listen. The story started storying, and the baes were baeing, and I was like, there is a visual novel to be played here. I knew it was a demo when I had started it, but when I tell you that I was legitimately upset when that "Thanks for playing!" message came up? DISTRAUGHT.

Anyways, my take on the game (as if it wasn't clear enough): it was great. Fantastic, even. It's just really odd how it flows like a fantasy story book but a DnD map at the same time, and yet they made it work so beautifully. The art style; those of you that have been rocking with me know how I feel about art style. Absolutely enthralled with the art. It looks straight out of one of those DnD campaign or character books. The baes! Don't get me wrong, all of them aren't my cup of tea, but the baes that I'm feening for?! Even the ones that I'm not feening for, honestly. They are sooooo handsome. Like, I want them al-- well, I want like 3 of them, to be best friends with 1 of them, and to throw hands with the other one lol. I mean, like, they're a'ight; I'm gonna have to get to know them because they a lil' too slick at the mouth lmao, but we all know that's probably going to be the sweetest of the bunch.

But yeah, this game is legit. Again, absolutely going to spend money on this one, if that's what the full version will entail. Now, just to add a bit of degeneracy...

IF THE DEVS MAKE THIS INTO AN 18+ GAME WITH A SPICY SCENE. MY SOUL. WILL BE THEIRS.

Okay, okay, okay, anyways, but like, the game really does have mad potential. Like, look at this:

You can pick your back story, and look at what it looks like when you pick your LI!

There are routes! You pick your LI by route! Can you imagine how huge this game is going to be if there are routes for each character and choices within those routes? I am literally so excited! Run me the full release, dev(s)!

Anywho, this post is waaaaaay long, and I could ramble way more about this game, but I shall not. If you'd like to give this game a playthrough yourself -- and I'm telling you that you need to -- I'll put a link to it right here for ya. If you'd also like, you can give the dev(s) that ever desperate "Please. I need more. This game is so good. I will literally sell you my lung and both of my kneecaps. I beg" and let them know what it is! Donations are also super helpful should you be in a position and mindset to do so!

All righty, that's finally all from me! Sorry about the length on this one, but there was so much that needed to be said, and I could honestly say more. For the sake of length though, I'll leave you with this:

Play this game, but also, please remember to drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

TOUCHSTARVED (Demo)

[blackjackkent]

All right, bit of a late start on liveblogging tonight but let's see if we can make a little more progress on Rakha's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

How you doing, Rakha?

Yep.

Some meta points to start off:

Point 1: We're reaching the point in early Act 3 where a lot of things start happening very fast for a little while. We have two back-to-back pretty important long rest things that can happen here - Orin's infiltration and Wyll's showdown with Mizora. As I learned on Hector's run, Wyll's showdown takes priority on the next long rest if you have talked to her after the coronation, but for Rakha I think I'd like to have Orin's shit happen before anything else.

While I am mostly trying to be pretty loyal to in-game events for Rakha without manipulating things too much, I am going to do a little metagaming here to line everything up in the order I want it to happen.

The ficlet I posted earlier today is set the night after the Gortash business, which implies at least a night's rest before everything else starts going off the rails. So we're going to do a few extra things before actually LR-ing and, for story purposes, say they're happening the next day, and then trigger Orin's invasion afterwards. Then we'll talk to Mizora so that all of Wyll's stuff unravels afterwards.

There's no way to get to the Lower City without talking to Mizora, which limits our options somewhat. So I'm inclined to say that after everyone's pretty uncomfortable night post-Gortash-revelations, Jaheira makes the executive decision that they're heading straight to Danthelon's the next morning to get Harper backup before anyone can get into more trouble.

So we'll do that first. Maybe also Sharess's Caress, since we currently have two short rests to play with and there's only one bit of combat in Sharess's that I can think of. And then we're off to Orin Crazytown.

Point 2: With regards to the actual kidnapping - Hector had Lae'zel taken, so in an ideal world I would want to have someone else taken with Rakha. However... I really don't think Halsin or Gale or even Minthara would have nearly the same impact for Rakha as Lae'zel, so I'm going to once again do some metagaming to make sure that happens.

Because basically Act 3 is going to be about heaping more and more bullshit on Rakha and everyone around her. XD

Point 3: I don't know exactly when Wyll's romance scene pops, but the timing might end up being rather strange. I suspect his Act 3 romance is probably sweet as hell, bc it's Wyll, but as things stand right at this moment, neither Rakha nor Wyll are very much in a sweet mood.

So there is a non-zero chance that, when I reach it, I will go through it, save all the necessary caps, and then hold onto it and drop it into the story later in Act 3 when it fits better tonally. We'll play this by ear.

Point 4: The final point is that, with Hector, I definitely beelined straight for Minsc and then Orin pretty much as quick as I could, because I wanted both of them settled in camp ASAP. But with Rakha (especially since with Florrick rescued we're not under a time clock on anything), I'm going to try to be a lot more deliberate about letting her just wander into things and go where she would be inclined to go based on her own knowledge. There are three reasons for this:

I'd like to try to experience Act 3 in a slightly different order.

There's a LOT of random side crap happening in Act 3 and the easiest way to rationalize Rakha bothering with most of it is her being lost and stumbling across it while looking for something else. (That said, some less important stuff still might end up getting skipped.)

The showdown with Orin feels like it's probably a (if not the) climax point for the Durge storyline, so it seems best not to rush to it more than necessary.

So yeah. That's where my head is at on Rakha's story. :D So let's get rolling.

[cattailscoolad]

I dont know if i've ever had it explained to me as a person with a chronic illness, especially chronic fatigue (spoon theory ideas) but the way you measure out your day is not by how many hours are in the day or how much time you have to do a task, but by how energy you can spend on the task before you have to go and recharge, however it is you do that (bath, nap, food, pets, friends, gaming, internet time, going on a walk, etc) and this can feel very isolating for many people.

being told our entire lives that we cant waste a single hour of any day and we only have one life to live, so spend your time wisely, can be very discouraging to many people who have limited energy. it can feel as if we're lazy or are wasting our potential. when we're already externally told this, in addition to believing it ourselves. one can feel quite down trodden about it all. you start to feel hopeless, like no matter what you will never be enough. and it hurts. alot.

so one thing i can reccomend in this conundrum of a circular thought spiral is. take your time. do not measure yourself by others standards. your worth is not in what you produce and how fast. be selfish, be lazy, be glutonous. if we only have one go around on this ball of dirt, we might as well enjoy ourselves.

[dnangelic]

SHIPPING INFO.

answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

in broadest terms, my otp will always be dai n dark with someone who sees, understands, and accepts the two as a singular unit and whom they can both hone their affections on. it's okay if it's weird or difficult for a muse to come to terms with at first, and it's okay if there's some things to work out even after the fact, but a healthy, actual full-blown & mutually reciprocated romantic relationship cannot ever happen without both sides of dai n dark being completely acknowledged. this is the sweet spot; this is both dark and daisuke happy and carefree about their transformations around someone else.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

just about anything as long as we're on the same page. one-sided crushes, hopeless, impossible romances, slowburns, complicated and complex dynamics alongside simple wholesome head over heels romances, dnangel canonically explores this with dynamics like riku and daisuke & dark and risa. just remember that due to the nature of this muse dark and daisuke are essentially already a polyamorous package to those who try to ship with them, you get two embarrassing loverboys for the price of one. in regards to toxic relationships, i do have a limit - i don't want dai or dark to ever suffer too much, and they themselves would never actively, intentionally engage in a toxic dynamic as the toxic ones (leave that to krad,) but if i think a dynamic is interesting enough and we're careful about boundaries, sure, we can talk it out. daisuke's not immune to offering his neck up to vampires or digging his heels in to hold someone back sometimes, if u know what i mean.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

daisuke's 14/15, (i usually write him at 15) while dark's appearance is that of a 16 or 17 year old, (this is static and does not change, he's 2000 yrs old,) but they're both still canonically minors so i don't really like shipping them with anyone who's even around 18. (goes without saying i won't ship them with anyone even older/adults, stop that.) a year give or take from daisuke's age is probably what i'm most comfortable with; any younger and he's willing to be an older brother figure instead, while anyone older should recognize him (yes, and dark too!) as still A Kid.

Are you selective when shipping?

somewhat. due to some pretty horrible experiences in the past, i'm not a fan of when people immediately try to push a ship onto me, especially if it's one without any prior development or character dynamic establishment. the nature of this muse demands understanding and true intimacy, if not a certain level of patience at times. it's very, very difficult to just jump into a ship with them if what you want is full-blown romance right away. if i don't feel the reciprocated grasp of my own muse is there, i'm going to lose interest real fast and the ship won't hold any personal value to me. idgaf how hot anybody thinks dark is, even if i know his design pulls in people hoping for a ship. it's low priority to me.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

what, like canonically? riku and daisuke for the healthy stuff, risa and dark for the hopeless stuff, i wouldn't mind exploring sato and daisuke a little, but that's extremely complex and i do prefer them as complicated friends/rivals/cat n mouse, cop n criminal, artist n phantom thief dichotomies <- this is already unbelievably interesting to me without any shoe-horned in romance. idk who else exists, the series already focuses on rom-com shenanigans most of the time. if it's non-canon muses, it's w/e. i don't look at charas and immediately jump to ship them with my muse.

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

nope! if it develops through extended ic interaction that's perfectly fine and actually my preference as opposed to asking. feels more natural that way. i hate writing an empty romance that has no actual legitimate ic memories involved, frankly. how do u love someone u literally don't even know and all that

How often do you like to ship?

it's whatever. i leave it up to my muse, daisuke's very prone to positive feelings about others that can transform (heh) into romantic desire, but if i shipped with every single one of my followers just because they were shippable i'd be bored and disappointed tbh

Are you multiship?

i am!

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

ship idgaf.... just give me a fun dynamic or else. 💥

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

riku is soooooo good you guys she's so good. if you guys read the light novels you'd know how good she was. her relationship with daisuke is the main focus of the series, so it's natural it ends up my favorite. i don't have time to unpack all of it but basically riku's clumsy and a teenager and daisuke's clumsy and a teenager but they both like each other so much and would do anything for each other. they're so good

Finally, how does one ship with you?

write a 30 note thread with me with daisuke transforming and howling out his window that he loves you and that it's not a joke or just dark speaking and he really really loves you or write 82484248 threads where little by little daisuke falls in love and tries to muster up the right time / environment to confess or confess to daisuke first and then be gentle with him even after he starts to flounder cause he's never been confessed to before n doesn't think he'd ever be confessed to in the first place, the methods n possibilities are endless, and so i'll say the only method that DOESN'T work is trying to romance dark before daisuke. he'll turn you down very nicely or make some promise about 'next time' but that's a lie, he's stealing and eating your heart. dark's heart is daisuke's; without daisuke his quite literally doesn't exist. you can't reach dark without having something (anything) with daisuke first, so try that instead.

[bopos-stuff]

I don't think people understand what it means to kin Lain, a rant.

I see people who claim to be just like Lain making memes talking about their "friends" or NSFW topics, and it just kinda ticks me off cause that's just not what Lain is about. In the end, she didn't bother herself with the struggles of human contact.

Spoilers

Lain had 3 friends, two of whom were bullies, and one of whom was happier after forgetting about Lain's existence. The ending of the anime is literally her erasing herself from everyone's memory because she knows how much better their lives will be.

That ending can be interpreted in many different ways. Especially if you try to merge it with the lore of the CD game. The way I see it, though, isn't that it's an allegory for suicide. I intrept the ending of the anime as a form of acceptance. Lain expects that her peers will never be able to fully understand her way of functioning. Instead of trying again and again to fit in and act like everyone else, she accepts that she will have to fight her inner demons alone and isolate herself from others in order not to hurt them.

“If you’re not remembered, then you never existed.”

This quote, in my opinion, is blatantly wrong in a general context. Despite the fact that eventually, in the end, none of us will be remembered. That doesn't mean that we never existed. Just because existence is meaningless doesn't mean it didn't happen. Most things are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and that's okay. Things only have as much meaning as we assign to it, and that's why we value the lives of others.

But...The quote isn't entirely false either. In the digital age, it can most definitely feel like; “If you’re not remembered, then you never existed.” Because of the fast-paced society structure we now all live under. And it's the reasoning as to why Lain and I decide to just leave people's lives and hope they forget about us.

It's too much of a burden onto others to make people care about you when they'll never be able to understand you.

How I feel:

If I depend on others for remembrance and understanding, then they will inevitably end up blaming themselves when failing at those tasks. But they shouldn't. It's just the way that humans are, we're not all knowing, we'll all forget, and that's just how it is. Until I meet people who have come to that understanding already, I don't want to burden anyone, other than myself, with my existence.

I'm not worthless because of this practice. I still love myself and strive for fulfillment. I just can't bear to cause other people stress in the limited amount of time they have in this plane of existence.

Maybe this practice is selfish or meaningless, but I don't care. I just can't bear to hurt others anymore...

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 5: Nightmares Walking

Or uh, riding, since that's what my picture has. Alas. Anyway you know the drill by now I'm sure, spoilers for anything and everything under the sun in this post, especially The Wheel of Time since that's what I'm rereading.

This chapter has the Trolloc triptych because we're getting a Shadowspawn attack.

He opened his mouth to shout warning, and suddenly the door of Moiraine’s hut burst open and Lan dashed out, sword in hand and shouting, “Trollocs! Wake, for your lives! Trollocs!”

Perrin, with the magical help of an entire pack of wolves, is only ALMOST as fast to respond to a crisis as Lan. That man's real fucking badass, y'know? (But also: Perrin is fighting his powers every step of the way and Lan's got two decades of experience with his own supernatural aid. It's only a matter of time before Perrin makes Lan look like the chump.)

The Tuatha’an woman pressed her back against the log wall, a hand to her throat. The light from the burning trees showed him the pain and horror, the loathing on her face as she watched the carnage.

I was just reading some stuff iliiuan had to say on the Tuatha'an before I got into this chapter so let me just note: Leya's priorities are all out of whack here if Perrin's reliably relating her emotions. She's not keeping herself safe, she's just being judgy about violence happening in her vicinity. And it kills her.

All that mattered was that he had to reach Leya, had to get her to safety, and the Trolloc was in the way.

Perrin's desperation to do the right thing even though of course he could easily write Leya off as an inevitability (and an inconvenience until the inevitable happens to boot) is why he's a hero, you know? I'll be giving this boy the most shit out of anyone but he tries to save someone's life even though he knows he can't and that's something.

The stink of it filled his nostrils, goat-stench and sour man-sweat.

It's good to know that Trollocs produce all the scents available to them instead of just limiting themselves to one or the other. And by good I obviously mean gross, but since I read it you have to too!

She was still there, huddled in front of the hut, not more than ten paces upslope. And watching him with such a look on her face that he could barely meet her eyes.

Leya's zealotry may be a formative trauma for Perrin I think.

Suddenly Leya moved, throwing herself forward, attempting to wrap her arms around the Myrddraal’s legs.

Well that's great and all Leya but isn't restraining someone so they can't move a very light form of violence? Like good... well good may be strong, but some kind of positive adjective... effort trying to protect Perrin and all but if you tripped the Fade isn't that causing it physical harm? Where is the line for the Tuatha'an? Did she in the last moment of her life betray her own beliefs for nothing? Concerning if so.

“Fade,” Perrin said roughly, but then a different name came to him, from the wolves. Trollocs, the Twisted Ones, made during the War of the Shadow from melding men and animals, were bad enough, but the Myrddraal—. “Neverborn!” Young Bull spat.

Half the reason we don't get Rand POVs much in this book is that Perrin's stealing his TGH schtick of losing himself in his newfound powers. I think this is something of a leftover from the proto-Tam character who was going to be Jesus AND the luckiest SOB ever AND a werewolf AND probably a really good shot I guess or whatever that fourth kid was supposed to contribute. Being easily replaceable, maybe?

The urge to rush down the slope and join his brothers, join in killing the Twisted Ones, in hunting the remaining Neverborn, was strong, but a buried fragment that was still man remembered. Leya.

Perrin will of course spend this book (and the next... ten?) afraid that he might turn into a werewolf forever because of an encounter, but we see right here that this isn't a risk for him because he's always got stuff to pull him back. Leya's barely in the list of ten most recent people he talked to but he won't abandon his humanity for her sake - how much less likely is he to abandon it once he's got Faile?

He no longer thought of the greater battle. There was only the Trolloc he and the wolves—the brothers—cut off from the rest and brought down. Then there would be another, and another, and another, until none were left. None here, none anywhere.

Obviously this is a terrible viewpoint to adapt if you're trying to be the strategy guy, but since Perrin isn't that anyway and the battle isn't reliant on such things, it actually works for him here. He's also more aware of himself than he was with the Whitecloaks, showing he's developed a little with his powers even if he's afraid of them.

Young Bull threw back his head and howled with her, mourned with her. When he lowered his head, Min was staring at him. “Are you all right, Perrin?” she asked hesitantly.

Note that while Min's obviously freaked out by Perrin embracing his inner furry, she's not exactly treating him like a freak show either. Like I said, she'd probably be very supportive if she knew the details.

Frantically he walled himself off from contact with the wolves. Images seeped through, emotions, as he tried to stop them. Finally, though, he could no longer feel them, feel their pain, or their anger, or the desire to hunt the Twisted Ones, or to run. . . .

Again we can kind of see how the proto-Tam's various aspects would have tied into a central character arc, with rejecting the naturalistic wolf expression being just one more way he would have been hardening himself and just one more thing he'd need to embrace to be the full hero at the end.

The Shienarans still standing—so few—lifted their blades and joined him. “Tai’shar Manetheren! Tai’shar Andor!”

Hell, even the Shienarans aren't that judgmental since they are already following Rand around.

But when he was with the wolves, it was all so different. He did not have to worry about strangers being afraid of him just because he was big, then. There was no one thinking he was slow-witted just because he tried to be careful. Wolves knew each other even if they had never met before, and with them he was just another wolf.

Is it wrong that occasionally I think Perrin might be a little bit on the spectrum?

“A sign to confirm our faith. Even wolves came to fight for the Dragon Reborn. In the Last Battle, the Lord Dragon will summon even the beasts of the forest to fight at our sides. It is a sign for us to go forth. Only Darkfriends will fail to join us.”

Masema is of course foreshadowing his delightful nonsense, showcasing how he was still corrupted by Fain, and letting Jordan make it subtly clear that the real Last Battle will be more complicated. It's not just Darkfriends who won't be on the side of the Light, even at the very end.

Do you know what I did during the fight?” Still staring into the distance, Rand addressed the night. “Nothing! Nothing useful. At first, when I reached out for the True Source, I couldn’t touch it, couldn’t grasp it. It kept sliding away. Then, when I finally had hold of it, I was going to burn them all, burn all the Trollocs and Fades. And all I could do was set fire to some trees.”

Rand's an incredible channeler, but even he needs a teacher.

“We . . . dealt with them, Rand,” Perrin said. He shivered, thinking of all the wounded men down below. And the dead. Better that than the mountain down on top of us. “We didn’t need you.”

And likewise, in the final conflict, no one will be needing Rand to deal with the individual Shadowspawn and even if he could deal with them to keep the people alive it would be a waste of everyone's time.

There had been a man, Elyas Machera, who also could talk to wolves. Elyas ran with the wolves all the time, yet seemed able to remember he was a man. But he had never told Perrin how he did it, and Perrin had not seen him in a long time.

Sorry Perrin, but he doesn't really pull it off anywhere near well enough for your standards.

He gasped and almost dropped his axe. He could feel the skin on his back crawling, muscles writhing as they knit back together. His shoulder quivered uncontrollably, and everything blurred. Cold seared him to the bone, then deeper still. He had the impression of moving, falling, flying; he could not tell which, but he felt as if he were rushing—somewhere, somehow—at great speed, forever.

Another reminder that the best modern Aes Sedai have for healing at this point is emergency care, which works but definitely isn't the good stuff. Moiraine even tells him to eat afterward.

“Most of the wolves who were hurt made their own way to the forest,” Moiraine said, knuckling her back and stretching, “but I Healed those I could find.” Perrin gave her a sharp look, yet she seemed to be just making conversation. “Perhaps they came for their own reasons, yet we would likely all be dead without them.”

Moiraine is nice enough to try and thank Perrin subtly, but of course he's much too suspicious for any of that.

“If you could get me to Shayol Ghul now,” Rand said drowsily, “by Waygate or Portal Stone, there could be an end to it. No more dying. No more dreams. No more.”

It would obviously have a terrible ending, but a fanfic of Moiraine somehow taking sleep-deprived Rand to Shayol Ghul and just kind of hoping for the best would be hysterical. This Rand might not be as traumatized as he's going to be, but I still think assuming he'd last five minutes before agreeing to let the Dark One unmake reality is overly generous.

“That’s right,” Rand said bitterly. “I’m not to be trusted. Lews Therin Kinslayer killed everyone close to him. Maybe I’ll do the same before I am done.” “Pull yourself together, sheepherder,” Lan said harshly. “The whole world rides on your shoulders. Remember you’re a man, and do what needs to be done.”

If Perrin or Mat had tried sassing Lan like this they would have learned what their pancreas looked like once chopped in half before finishing the second sentence, so while Lan's toxic masculinity is of course only adding to the Dragonmount of psychological issues Rand's going to need to deal with, let's also reflect that it's still him going easy on his favorite boy.

Next time: Ingtar leads the crew out of Fal Dara, Rand finds out Moiraine fucked with his belongings again, and Lanf--

Wait no. Sorry. That was LAST book's chapter "The Hunt Begins". Next time we read THIS book's version, which probably has a lot less Ingtar due to his having a prior commitment. Also much less Rand on account of his running away.

[draconscious]

NAME : dan!!

PRONOUNS : he/him

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION : tumblr im. discord. passenger pigeon. I'm very slow sometimes but you should plot with me!!

NAME OF MUSE(s) : clair, cynthia, barry, jupiter/eris + so many mooore (how did it come to this? LMAO)

BEST EXPERIENCE(S) : dedicating this section to both ash (@analuein) and aya (@distortsverity)! ash and I have been writing together for infinity years right here on tumblr. no matter the muse, it's always a blast spinning up plots and watching the magic unfold from there with her. from thorton to violet, to noland and clair. from wildencounters to indie. it's been a fantastic ride. day one. 😎

I transitioned from group rp to indie a few years ago and--at the time--I was all alone. I had no connections, just a lonely barry blog to my name. I wrote drabbles by myself in the dark for two weeks until aya came across my blog with her hikari, and everything just clicked. aya made me feel included, reached out with ideas, plots and feedback, and showed love to barry and all of my muse(s)--and to this day, I still feel TREMENDOUSLY grateful for the helping hand when I felt so isolated. I definitely would not still be writing here without her.

since then, I've had an amazing time here. writing with so many different people, muses, and groups--it's all so good. my best experiences happen when I'm writing (or even plotting) with someone, and everything just works, flows, and fits together and I can just feel that shared excitement. that feeling that we're building a great story together. that's magical. that's why I'm still around, trying new muses, diving headlong into amazing plots/dynamics, letting my imagination run wild, and--as always--writing a lot. much love to EVERYONE who has helped keep that fire burning over the years, but especially ash and aya for giving that flame a chance in the first place. tysm. ❤️

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS : it's been said, but--on a personal level--I wish private communication would happen more, specifically when it comes to interest levels. my time is becoming more and more limited here (sad as that is) and I have always written at a slower, longer pace. so, given how fast this place moves, I would appreciate knowing if a thread has grown stale, or if something's off.

I'm flexible. I'd like to think that I'm pretty laid-back. I want you to have fun, and you need to drop or backburner our thread because life, interest, etc. that's okay. I promise. I also don't mind reminders about cold threads or overdue replies on my end. if that's the case, please let me know right away, and I'll pick it back up or let you know my thoughts. we can try new things, or not. just let me know what you'd like to do, and we can adjust from there. that being said, lack of time or muse =/= lack of interest. I get that. you never need to rush a reply with me, and I will always (for better or worse) assume interest is still there unless told otherwise by you. I'm no herlock sholmes. (I wish I was...)

so, as a courtesy, I'd ask to please talk to me if something's wrong. if you feel the need to drop our thread or aren't interested in an interaction and/or want to start fresh. I won't be upset (quote me on that.) I just want to make sure that the writing vibes are still good, and I want to spend my time here writing things that you (and others) are still into. and in the end, it's not really a big deal--this place is great and I adore my past/present/future thread partners--but it's something that I would appreciate!

(also since I haven't made it clear before: no AI with me, please. let's meet at the same level.)

MUSE PREFERENCES: strong women and brash, sunshiney dudes. (I'll really try anyone, but I certainly have types 😊)

PLOTS OR MEMES : whatever's easier for you to get in the door with--c'mon in!! I don't find myself with the time to reblog many memes lately, but my inbox/IMs are always open for spot interactions, and I'll do a lil' starter call here and there!!

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES : I don't mind receiving either, but I always tend to lose myself in the sauce and write a lot oops. you never have to match my length. as long as we're writing together, that's chill enough for me!

BEST TIME TO WRITE : my healthcare job is killing me. I'll try to sneak on for some stuff here and there, but I'm most active during evening/nighttime CST US. confirmed night time scrawler. 🦉

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S) : some common threads linking all of my muses to me is the fact that we always want to be active, we have (too) high expectations of ourselves, we grew up and are still growing up, and we spend too much time working (and loathe it LMAO)

[lilith-little-world]

Spoilers to The Isekai’d Oracle

Sun wukong x Fem. Reader

Here are some future scenes, that I plan to write. Hopefully, I won't spoil too much, I still need to keep some mystery to this.

“You’re pretty lucky, if that goddess didn't react fast enough, your soul would have been consumed by that blessing, congrats on escaping death a 4th time!”

The masculine figure applauded cheerfully, while you were on the ground. Your body felt like it was lit on fire, trying to burn away the very essence of your soul. Only a groan left you, the pain made it unbearable to do anything.

“Painful isn't it? I was in the same situation but I know a way to stop it.”

It took everything in you to look at him. He looked familiar.

“Now that's more like it! Also, for an Oracle, you sure do lack the ability to see into the future.”

A wicked smirk stretched upon his face, it was clear that he had an ulterior motive, yet the pain made it hard to care.

“What do you mean 4th time and why do you care if I can see the future or not?” You blurted out, after everything you won't be anyone’s pawn that easily.

“Technically 5th but who's exactly keeping count, I know you sure aren't. Anyways, have you ever thought of the reason that goddess gave you that title? Especially when you don't have that power.”

His steps hardly made a ripple on the blue waters. The once-sunset orange skies turned red the closer he got.

“Well let's not spoil anything, shall we? I know something that could change your life forever. If you get rid of that nasty human essence in your soul, you'll finally unlock that power. Join us, it's a lot more fun like this.”

“And if I don't?”

“That special power of yours will be locked and you'll be consumed by the blessing. Leaving nothing but an empty shell.”

He kneels trying to reach your eye level.

“I can send you back but you'll be on a time limit. Get rid of it and you no longer be in danger of disappearing.” He smiles at you, still clinging to his act.

“Why? Why are you helping me? If what you said is true, why?”

His smile finally drops. A hint of nervousness and shock was plainly shown.

“Do you not remember me? Then again, it has been a while for you. I'm hurt, I really thought you'll remember me.” He sighs, standing up and walking away.

“You didn't answer my question!”

“What do you like to say? Oh! It will all make sense in the future. Have fun [Name].” He snaps his fingers, your vision flooding with gold light, blinding you.

_______________________________

“You know after the whole wanting to consume my soul, I would expect you to kill me within seconds.”

The chains hold your arms up while the pillar of ice forms around your legs.

“But come on it's been weeks! Just finish the job already!”

The Lady Bone Demon eye twitch.

“Maybe if you stopped melting the ice I could!”

“It's not my fault, I can't control it.”

“Yes it is!”

_______________________________

You stare at the mural, the faint paintings of the Oracle were jarring. The details of it were amazing but what shocked you the most is how it looked exactly like you.

It was as if seeing a physical timeline of their life. The last thing is her being dressed in red.

“Did you painted this?”

“Tell me, how would it get here?”

“A simple yes would have been enough, you know?”

“Oh I know but you're not asking the right questions, so do you now believe us?”

“Nope, still think you guys got the wrong person.”

“The proof is right in front of you!”

“What proof, all I see are drawings.”

Wukong covers his face mumbling something in his native tongue.

“I give up, let's go.”

“Wait where are we going now?”

“You made a promise and I'm making sure you're keeping it.”

“I don't remember making no promise.”

“You're right, but she did.” He points at the mural. “Now let's go and get married. We're burning daylight.”

“Oh- wait what?!”

_______________________________

“Come sit across from me, my little Oracle.”

You sat on the ground crisscross.

“What are we doing for today's lesson my lady, Guan Yin?”

“You’re going to start practicing meditation. We'll go easy and do it for 5 hours.”

“F-for 5 hours?”

“Is it too short?”

“No, on the contrary, my lady.”

“Then 2 hours?”

“A little less please.”

There was a short pause.

“An hour?”

You stayed silent, eyes darting away from the Mercy Goddess confuse stare.

“30 minutes?”

You didn't want to respond.

“Dear heavens, if you can't reach 10 minutes you're going to clean my temples for a month.”

“I'm sorry! Please forgive this poor spirit wandering mind, my Merciful and compassionate Goddess.” You cry, wiping away the fake tears.

“Oh fine, if you insist, we'll do 5 but I'm adding more lessons.”

“That's more like it, thank you for understanding Guan Yin!”

“Oh, I can't stay upset with my lovely oracle. We'll take things slow and easy. We have more than enough time.”

Her arm stretches and pats your head, affectionately.

_______________________________

“You got 2 minutes to explain what you want and leave. If you fail, I will kick you out.” Macaque said being on edge. You kept your cool and ate some popcorn.

“The Lady Bone Demon is back and I want to piss her off by interfering with her plan.”

“Doesn't explain why you're here?”

“One, I wanted to see the show, and two, the lantern. She needs it so if you give it to me, I'll keep it safe... until she finds out.”

“Yeah no, thanks for stopping by and seeing the show but leave.”

“Come on, don't make this harder for me!”

“Last thing I want is to get anywhere close to the Oracle let alone work with you again.”

“Again?”

Before you can question it further, you fell through the seat. Landing outside of the theatre with a thud.

“That fucker! He made me drop my popcorn!”

_______________________________

You walk up the path, already having it memorized. The small bird followed you very closely. You push the bushes aside making a mental note to trim it.

“Finally you're here! I was getting bored-” Wukong cuts off staring at you and then the baby crane.

“Who's the father?”

“I am not a fucking crane and I did not slept with anybody!”

You kicked the ground, throwing dirt into the trapped monkey. He let out a yell, using his one free arm to wipe it out of his eyes.

“It was a joke, you damn harlot!”

You kicked the ground again.

“I am not a harlot either!”

“Ahhhh, stop it already before I tear that foot off of you!”

The baby crane seemed to understand the situation and went to peck his face. Wukong groans and swat his hand at the bird trying to scare it off.

“She has your temper. Good fighting spirit too, you did a nice job at creating her. So how did it happened?”

“I have no clue, I was by my usual spot by the lake,”

“Such a typical crane spot.” He mutters. “Go on.”

“Then there was this wind and a plum blossom land on my skirt,”

“It's called a qun.”

“Are you going to keep on interrupting me?”

“Depends, continue please.”

“Hmph, fine, I picked up the blossom and now that I think about it there was a feather attached to it...”

“Have I ever told you how intelligent you are?”

“I will kick dirt into your eyes again.”

Wukong let out a laugh, making your cheeks a bright red.

“Moving on, I blew on it so it drift off in the wind. Next thing I knew it turned into a baby crane and it hasn't stopped following me.”

“Congrats on entering motherhood!”

“Ah, stop it with your teasing! You're not helping.”

“I can eat her and call it a day.” He grabs the chirping bird that tried to escape his hand.

“No, no, no! Wukong stop it, that’s not what I meant!”

“I’m joking! I would never eat your child, maybe if you annoyed me again, I might consider it.”

You yank the poor bird out of his grasp. Quickly nesting into your arms.

“You’re awful, you know that.”

“Trying having a mountain pinning you down for a hundred years. Let’s see how good your mood is after that.”

You blow a raspberry at him. The small crane mimics the sound trying to show her annoyance with the monkey.

“Great now there are two little cranes running around.”

“I am not a crane, I'm a human!”

[delafiseaseses]

I Speculate on Boone's Birthplace for quite some time

So, I can't help but wonder things sometimes. And one that came into my head was about Boone. Where's he from? Well, click read more if ya dare, this is gonna be a long 'un even by my standards.

"New Californian" would be the obvious answer, I know. Like, half the base game's companions are from California (every other Human and Lilly are from New California, though only Cass is NCR)

And he even says this when asked 'What can you tell me about New Vegas?' "It's NCR land, for the most part. We tamed it, now we're settling it. Lot of people complain about it, but they forget what it was like before we showed up. It's a lot of territory to secure. Too much, even for a big army like the NCR's." the 'we' there seems to make it pretty clear, right? It also helps that one of his endings only identifies New Vegas as '... the city where he'd met his wife.'

And yet, when Manny talks about Carla he says this "See, I grew up in North Vegas. Me and my cousins. We were some bad seeds. Got in with a gang. I loved it. Then something happened, and I couldn't handle it anymore. So, I enlisted. Earned my future. Brought down my best friend to share that future with me." which is curious. They were friends pre-NCR Army days.

Then, back up in that quote I glossed over a thing he said 'they forget what it was like before we showed up.' and... he wouldn't know what the Mojave was like before the NCR if he was from the NCR. Could the use of 'we' around the NCR be more because he's a naturalised New Californian who's identity is strongly wrapped up with the NCR army? The 'we' was 'the NCR' generally rather than 'we' to mean 'Californians' and him specifically? The syntax accepts both readings.

It is entirely possible that Boone was born in Vegas pre-House, possibly from North Vegas like Manny is, though without the Khan ties. Some sources say Boone is 26, I don't generally trust out of game sources, but it'd make sense for him to be in his mid-late 20s, I think.

So, that'd mean Craig Boone he grew up in pre-NCR Vegas in the mid-2250s, the NCR arrives 7 years ago in 2274 and he joins at about 19-20, he becomes a First Recon Sniper decently fast (he is a real good shot so it makes sense), ends up involved in the Bitter Springs Massacre (which some sources I don't entirely trust say was in 2278 - 3 years ago), then met, retired with to Novac and... ahem lost Carla in a year.

So, in this timeline all Boone's adult life would've been in the NCR Army. So it'd make sense for him to see them as his people rather than any locals. Especially considering that Vegas has almost certainly changed a lot in in those 7 years the NCRs been about. Like, Manny grew up in North Vegas, we have no idea what North Vegas was like back then, Crandon's North Vegas Square was founded 'a few years' ago, House's Strip was established around that time too. Vegas is not whatever it was when Manny was young. And, if Boone is also from Vegas, neither is it what he grew up in.

Of course, it is also equally possible that Boone is a New Californian and when Manny says he "Brought down my best friend to share that future with me." he means the Novac retirement with his First Recon best friend. One thing you notice when you look too hard at the timeline of New Vegas is that it... isn't perfect. Like, there's in-game conflicting information, never mind the out-of-game stuff.

With that said you may be wondering "Why the Hell do you even care if Boone is a Californian or a... (quick search) New Vegan?" well, as I said at the start, there's no actual point. I just like to speculate about things and Boone is unique as he is the only basegame companion where there is this kinda speculation potential:

Veronica explicitly calls herself 'A girl from California', Lilly's Vault 17 had to have been somewhere within The Master's reach which limits it to somewhere in California, Cass is undeniably Californian (we even know her Dad), Rex is from Denver, Raul is from Hidalgo Ranch (which I'm gonna say is probably in Hidalgo, at the very least it's close enough to Mexico City to see it get destroyed but far enough away to not be decimated) and ED-E is from Adams Air Force Base in the Capital Wasteland.

[Edit, forgot to include Arcade, Arcade was either born at Camp Navarro or the Enclave Oil Rig, possibly during Fallout 2 given his age]

Some of those are also vague, but even the vaguest of the other companions has at least a state (and ED-E gets the 'most specific' prize).

So, all of this leads to an 'I don't know', as it always would. I personally think Boone is from New Vegas, but there's plenty of arguments against that. Hell, Boone could be from bloomin'... Madison, Wisconsin if ya want him to be. You could even imagine a story for that. Young Craig Boone and his family left New Madison southeast and travelled until they hit the Pacific. Boone knows what the pre-NCR Mojave looked like because they stopped there, he met Manny at the time and it was a Hell of a funny coincidence when they both ended up in First Recon.

Well, I think I've indulged in my Fallout New Vegas idle thoughts enough for one day. Where is Craig Boone from? Fallout New Vegas.