#and then ramble about it in the tags after?

[brattyspence]

virginia is for lovers | s.reid

summary: model!reader accidentally exposes their relationship through a soft launch instagram post

tags: model!reader x spencer, penelope included <3, smau

a/n: this is kinda short n pointless but i wanted a reason to write reader tweeting abt spencer and its been in my drafts for weeks so

word count: 1.1k

masterlist

Spencer had worked hard to keep you a secret. 

Not because he wasn’t thrilled to be in your life, because he really, really was. Historically, things had a tendency to go south as soon as word got out, especially when it came to his personal life. 

You had met in a bookstore. It was a short interaction; you were busy debating which translation of The Stranger was most appropriate to read. You must have been standing in the aisle of the bookstore a little too long, holding two copies side by side, when he had offered his two cents on the matter.

Typically, you weren’t one to entertain conversation in public. Nine times out of ten, you’d get one word in before the inevitable “Please can I take a picture? I love your blog so much!”, but this was different. You weren’t even sure he had even seen your face before he started talking to you. He wasn’t initially trying to hit on you, either. He was genuinely excited that someone was willing to listen to him ramble about the differences between the Ward and Guilbert translations, so when you responded in such a way that asked him to continue on, he was surprised. 

That day, you’d left the store with four more books than intended, and a single bookmark where he had written his phone number after you asked for it.  He had asked you for your name; a confirmation that he actually had no idea who you were. 

The rest was history. You saw him whenever possible, spent nights on the phone together, and flew across the country often just to see him. You loved having a relationship that didn’t need to be public, but you were also excited to share bits of it with the world.

It was late at night, and he was sitting at his desk in the bullpen, trying to finish the last of the paperwork he’d been assigned, when he heard commotion from Penelope’s office. He figured it was nothing new; probably just some news about the royal family or one of the real housewives again, but she’d thrown her door open in such a way that it garnered attention from everyone in the office.

“Spencer Reid,” She gripped her phone and rushed across the room with determination. “Do you have something you want to share with me?”

He looked up from his paperwork, furrowing his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

“Why are you on my Instagram feed?” She placed her phone on his desk in front of him. 

“I’m not on instagram,” he replied. 

“Oh, but you are,” she said. “You are such a little liar. I can’t wait to tell Derek about this.”

She pushed his paperwork aside, plopping her phone down in front of him. It was a slideshow on instagram. A photo of the most recent bouquet he bought for you. A few from the museum you’d visited together, including several where his hands or shoes were visible, but nothing that really pointed to him. He could almost make the argument Penelope was mistaken, until the last photo, which included just enough of his apartment to confirm her questioning.

“You said you were seeing someone and I thought… someone from a chess tournament, or maybe… oh, I don't know. Literally anyone else? But you bagged a model?” 

“I-” he sighed. “How did you find her?”

“I didn’t find her, Spencer. I’ve followed her for years! I see her posts all the time. I can’t believe you.”

He scrolled down.

liked by @jjareau and others

@yourusername: virginia is for lovers :)                                              posted 12 hours ago

↪ @randomuser1: GIRL STOP TEASING WHO IS HE

↪ @randomuser3: i’ve been trying to figure it out since that tweet last month 😞

↪ @randomuser2: this is the sweetest soft launch i’ve ever seen <3

↪ 12k comments

He clicked onto your profile. 

@yourusername 

5.2M Followers

Followed by @jjareau, @emp.sergio and more

“You’ve got to see her Twitter, lover boy. She’s been gushing about you.”

“Oh, god,” he groans. So much for privacy. He lets her take the phone back, redirecting his attention to your Twitter page. She scrolls back to June before handing it over, letting him read in chronological order.

June 10

@yourusername: hot girl summer is officially over. just asked a man for HIS number.

June 25

@yourusername: is it offensive to men if you call them pretty? bc this man is rlly pretty 

@yourusername: update: apparently it is not :)

July 30:

@yourusername: good morning text + picture of a dog that he claims reminded him of me???? gonna ask for his hand in marriage

August 15

@yourusername: up til 2 bc hes explaining quantum mechanics to me 🧚🏻

@yourusername: embarrassed to say that form of dirty talk worked on me 

August 20

@yourusername: oh btw im a girlfriend now!

↪@yourfan1: look u long enough wtf girl

↪@yourusername: dw im locking him down 🫡

↪@yourfan2: thats OUR man now 💘

“Oh, wow.”

She takes the phone back. “Why didn’t you tell anyone? Or me? Oh, this is great news. You’re bringing her to Rossi’s next, week, right?”

“I- Pen, I have no idea.” He laughs. He watches her type away on the device aggressively. “Are you texting everyone?”

“Yuh-huh. I need to call JJ, like… yesterday. And this isn't the end of this conversation!” She darted back into her office quickly, letting the door fall shut behind her.

He decided his remaining paperwork could wait. He packed his things up in a hurry, and decided to head out of the office, dialing your number on the way out. 

You picked up on the first ring. 

“Hey,” you started. “How was work? Are you heading out?”

“Yeah,” He started. He pushed through the glass doors of the office, staring towards the stairwell. “It was… busy. I just had a really interesting conversation with my coworker.”

“Mhm…” You had been lounging in your hotel room waiting for his call. “About..?”

“You, actually.” He replied. “She follows you on instagram. Apparently most of the office does. She showed me your post today.”

“Oh,” you replied. “Oh god, Spence. I’m sorry. I didn’t think… anyone would be able to tell who you were.”

He laughs. “Yeah, well… I work with some… characters. It’s totally fine, though.”

“Are you sure?” You ask, anxiously.

“Yeah. It was cute,” he replied, smiling to himself as he exited the building. “Tasteful.”

“That's what I wanted,” You reply.

“I thought Twitter was much more interesting, though.”

You froze, cringing. “Oh, god. Tell me you didn't read all of it.

He chuckles. “I skimmed it.”

You groan. 

[secretarysong]

thinking about this right now

[cutmyheadoffplease]

«Justice of those pure of heart»

ADA x reader hcs because why not?

WARNINGS! : Dazai being Dazai, mentions of alcohol and war in Yosano's part

FEAT! : Atsushi; Dazai; Kunikida; Yosano x gn!reader

➜ Atsushi Nakajima ᗢ

ᗢ He asks Yosano for advice; it doesn’t matter. Presents? Yosano has to say they fit the occasion. A nice day in a park? Yosano makes Atsushi check the weather forecast. She saved dates.

ᗢ Atsushi would buy plushies as gifts. He started doing it after he saw how much joy they brought to Kyoka and they became his go-to gifts for everyone.

ᗢ Atsushi’s ability lets him turn into a tiger, tigers are felines, felines sleep for about 16 hours a day. Therefore, Atsushi too sleeps for 16 hours (and has a tiny kitty plushie he got from Kyoka <3)

ᗢ Atsushi once scratched you. It was an accident. It didn’t even hurt. But this chazuke loving boy cried for half an hour because he ‘hurt’ you.

ᗢ You once took him to the Zoo. He started rambling about chameleons. He just loves them. His love for them can be explained in two ways: 1. He wants to blend into the background like them, so that he can forget what he’s been through, so he can be like everyone. 2. They're just cool.

➜ Osamu Dazai 𓍯

𓍯 Jokes that he would love to commit suicide with you, but I feel like he’d stop you say you’re uncomfortable… maybe brings you some flowers, to Yosano’s recommendation, he bought with the money he “borrowed” from Kunikida as an apology.

𓍯 Has a small crab plushie Atsushi and Kyoka gave him and used it to pinch your cheeks or places it on your head when he’s bored.

𓍯 Do NOT fall asleep near him, unless you want to be turn into a bandage mummy, because personal space is not a concep in Dazai’s vocabulary… at all….

𓍯 You cannot look at this man and tell me he wouldn’t blow in your ear to annoy you, Kunkida and/or Chuuya.

𓍯 Dazai may have on this goofy and careless personality, but the one time he was actually sad and brought to tears was when he told you about Oda. poor Oda

➜Doppo Kunikida ✎

✎ Kunikida had a hamster as a kid. He started liking math because he would count the amount of seeds it ate every day.

✎ Kunikida on the note of his math teacher past, he gave Kenji math homework once, but had to explain it with cows.

✎ Kunikida gets mad if you aren’t organized, he’ll tidy up of course, but not without commenting and giving you sour looks.

✎ Once asked Yosano for advice on what to wear to a date and ended up with a wardrobe full of clothes. He’ll never do it again.

✎ Kunikida is almost blind without his glasses, he once tried to hug you without them and ended up hugging a door.

➜ Akiko Yosano 𓌏

𓌏 Watches M*A*S*H* every chance she gets as a way to cope with her childhood. Please watch it with her. It’s an amazing show. The show screams Yosano. (I feel like her favorite would be Colonel Potter. He’s 100% the guy she would have wanted to work under. she cried during the last episode, not wanting the show she resonated so much with to end.)

𓌏 Yosano sleeps with her socks on and has an unholy big collection of them, most of them have Japanese sweets on them or random stuff she bought with Kyoka or Naomi.

𓌏 Drunkenly confessed what happened during the war once. She spat out everything. The pain drowned in liquor, everything now just a foggy memory of abuse and injustice. She took the hair pin off that day.

𓌏 Yosano took you shopping, Kyoka tags along, of course you had to pay for everything. And if you didn’t I’ll pay for Yosano and Kyoka happily . Before you know it it’s already late, the bag is full of random stuff, like scented candles and even more socks.

𓌏 Yosano reads romance. A lot of it. She became the ADA’s romance counselor. So you better be good at preparing dates or she’ll pout a little.

𖦹ׂ ₊˚⊹⋆Yay~ Thank you for getting till the very end~ A part two will come with the other ADA members.ᐟ𖦹ׂ ₊˚⊹⋆

[owlgirl495]

ok, so i know i rarely actually post my own words on here but with the last 911 episode i’ve been wanting to say something.

i’ve been reading a lot of what people have written (and i’ve added my own thoughts in the tags of many posts) but now that i’ve had time to process a little, see what others are saying, and talk to my irl friends about it a little, there’s one thing that i’ve only seen mentioned like once and i wanna talk about some more. more people have probably mentioned this and i just probably haven’t seen it and these thoughts are subject to change and all that but here we go:

it makes me really upset how little of buck and tommy’s relationship we actually got to see. and i know that they can’t focus on a side plot like that for a super long time and that it’s not the bucktommy show but i was actually okay with only getting scraps until the breakup and here’s kind of why.

they’ve been dating for six months. SIX MONTHS. and they seem to know NOTHING about each other. and i truly didn’t get this vibe until the last episode (8x06) and i think that’s why it feels so off for me.

at the end of season 7 they looked like they were really trying to get to know each other both on and off screen, they were talking about important things with each other, and actually trying to have real conversations. and then in season 8 there’s just none of that.

i didn’t think anything of it at first because i figured they just had those conversations off-screen in the FOUR MONTHS we didn’t see. but with 8x06 it truly feels like they didn’t have a single real conversation that we hadn’t seen.

8x06 shows us that they don’t know about each others’ exs at all, buck doesn’t know how tommy views his sexuality, tommy doesn’t know that buck hates basketball, so what exactly have they been talking about outside of the silly goofyness of 911 subplots for six months??

tbh i understand having them break up (i really wanted them to be endgame but i understand if that was never actually the plan) but the way they broke up felt so wrong.

i would’ve even understood if the real reason they had broken up was because after six months they realized that they don’t actually know anything about each other but even so, until 8x06, that was never indicated. they had a couple serious conversations with each other in season 7 and since there were no hints either way, i had assumed those had continued off-screen.

to have a well-liked couple with a decent amount of screen time break up without showing us pretty much any of the actual downfall of the relationship, giving what felt like a shoehorned in reason for the breakup, and only giving us last minute hints at the possible actual reason for the relationship ending feels shitty, if i’m being real.

i know it’s just a fictional show and it’s not that serious but this really hurt. i hate how much i let this get to me but i really let this show get my hopes up. it was my main form of escapism and something that consistently made me happy outside of things in my everyday life that have been stressing me out. i thought i could sink a little further into it after the results of the election but now it’s no longer the same form of comfort for me.

i’ll probably still continue watching the show and i absolutely adore all the people i’ve gotten to interact with (even in my really small way of interacting) through this fandom but 911 does feel a little tainted for me at the moment.

i’m probably missing some stuff here and a lot of this is just rambling but that’s it for now, i hope you are all doing okay and hanging on to whatever you can to make this a little easier <3

[7s3ven]

Imagine this… jonny ‘soap’ mctavish

( angst )

You moved to Scotland soon after finishing high school so you could attend university there. In your first year, you meet John Mctavish, but he prefers if you call him Jonny.

He isn’t enrolled in the university, he just likes to wander around the grounds. He tells you of his plans to join the army and you tell him about your brother who’s a sniper.

The two of you become best friends (maybe even more) and even when he joins the army and you barely see him, the two of you exchange long letters. Whenever Jonny gets a well-needed break, he always returns to Scotland to see how you’re doing.

He tells you about joining Task Force 114 and about a man named Simon Riley, call name Ghost, who wears a skull mask to cover his face. He describes his experiences in detail, of course leaving out information he can’t share.

He shows his task force pictures of you, rambling on and on about your hobbies and your personality and how your accent is so different from his Scottish one but he likes it.

“He’s in love.” Gaz whispers to Price as they listen to Jonny rant about your perfume.

Price hides a chuckle. “Obviously. Knew it from the moment he pulled out a picture of his lass.”

Task Force 141 has never met you but Jonny was arranging it… until he got shot in the head. Ghost feels sorry for you. It was clear whatever relationship you had with Jonny was special. He knows neither of you had confessed yet and in his opinion, that hurts more. Now, you would constantly be asking yourself what if?

The team know how important Scotland was to Jonny so they book a flight to spread his ashes, half hoping not to run into you so they don’t have to face your crumbling expression.

“Sleep easy, soldier.”

“See you down the range, brother. We’ll take it from here.”

“Rest in peace, Jonny.”

Unfortunately, luck isn’t on their side. As they slowly stroll through the streets, they see you. You were beautiful in the pictures Jonny showed them but it didn’t do you justice. You were smiling widely at a friend, pushing a vase of flowers towards them.

Then you turned your head and spotted Ghost. You found it strange how a man was wearing a skull mask until it clicked. This was Jonny’s friend.

You wasted no time in sprinting towards the three men and they didn’t have enough time to change courses.

“Hey, you’re Ghost, right? Jonny’s LT? He talked about you a lot. Mainly ‘bout that mask.” You grinned, staring up at Ghost. “Is Jonny ‘round? He hasn’t written since last month. Startin’ to get worried.” You laughed as if to reassure yourself.

Gaz and Ghost exchange a look until the latter slowly holds up the urn. You pause, eyes wide. “You… you put him in that?” Suddenly, your face scrunches up. “Why is it shaped like that?”

Gaz can’t help but let out a small laugh. Yep, you’re Jonny’s alright.

“He talked about you often.” Price piped up, “Even wrote a few letters he never sent.” The older man handed you a stack of thick envelopes. “Think he was in love with ya.”

“Well, I appreciate that you came all the way to Scotland just to spread his ashes.” You softly sighed, blinking away tears. Ghost handed you the urn before digging around in his pocket, pulling out Jonny’s dog tags.

You stared down at the words inscribed into the metal, running your thumb over the neat writing. You flipped the tag over, lip trembling at the five words on the back.

I love you, Y/N - Jonny.

[aventurineswife]

can you write how any of the om brothers would react with a bimbo(in a gn way) mc. like they are stunning and so so sweet.. but just so fucking stupid it's honestly astounding .

Obey Me! Brothers with a Thembo

Tags: Lucifer x Reader, Mammon x Reader, Leviathan x Reader, Satan x Reader, Asmodeus x Reader, Beelzebub x Reader, Belphegor x Reader, Thembo!MC/Reader, Fluff, Soft Romance, Comedy, Protective Characters, Domestic Moments, Gentle Teasing, Affectionate Dynamics, Wholesome Vibes, Slice of Life.

Lucifer

At first, Lucifer is utterly baffled. How can someone so stunning be so naive? He’ll try his best to guide you, carefully explaining things, but after a few blank stares, his frustration will start to show. He’s constantly torn between wanting to help and wondering if you’re messing with him. Eventually, though, he finds your innocence endearing and even refreshing. He’ll start sticking around more, ready to gently steer you away from trouble—often with an exasperated sigh, but always with a soft, knowing smile reserved just for you.

“MC, I asked you to write your name at the top of the form. Not sign it. And why ‘Beautiful Genius’? ... Never mind, just—please, no more surprises, alright?”

Mammon

Mammon is immediately charmed and overwhelmed. He’s head over heels for your sweetness and good nature, but it never ceases to amaze him just how oblivious you are. He’s fiercely protective of you, always standing up for you when others might tease. While he loves bragging about your beauty and kind heart, he conveniently leaves out the moments when he’s had to explain the simplest concepts. Your innocence and cheerful demeanor are his favorite things, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

“You really gotta stop givin' stuff away for free, MC! And what’s with buying a lamp for 100,000 Grimm? 'Cause it’s shiny? Come on, you're better than that!"

Leviathan

Levi is completely flustered by your innocence. He’s used to complex strategies and serious gaming, so interacting with you is like trying to explain the basics of a game to a toddler. Despite that, he finds your undivided attention both adorable and overwhelming. Every time you cheer him on—even when he’s just rambling about something nerdy—he melts a little. Your constant sweetness makes him feel warm inside, even if you don't understand half the things he says.

“W-Wait, you’re cheering me on? We’re just in practice mode, MC… No, no need to bring snacks—oh, but you did anyway? Thanks, I guess?”

Satan

At first, Satan tries to keep his composure, despite how shocked he is by your cluelessness. He’ll be patient, explaining things in detail, even as you misunderstand or misinterpret. Instead of getting frustrated, though, he finds your quirks fascinating and kind of endearing. If anyone dares to mock you, (Satan’s wrath is swift and brutal). Over time, he comes to cherish your unique interpretations of things and even looks forward to them.

“MC, Shakespeare isn’t a vegetable… Wait, you want to make a ‘Hamlet salad’? No, that’s not what—oh, you know what? Fine, let’s just read it together.”

Asmodeus

Asmo is completely smitten with you. He’s in awe of your beauty and your adorably naive misunderstandings. Every time you misinterpret something, he finds it endlessly amusing. He’s always showering you with compliments and making sure you feel appreciated. He’s also more than happy to explain anything you don’t understand, often in the most dramatic and theatrical ways. Asmo is incredibly proud of you and loves showing you off—though maybe not when you mistake sunscreen for tea.

“Darling, you’re absolutely stunning, but sunscreen goes on your face, not in your tea. What kind of skincare routine is that?!”

Beelzebub

Beel is the epitome of patience. He loves how sweet and genuine you are, and he’s more than happy to help you out when things go over your head. If you ever get confused or make a mistake, Beel gently explains things without ever getting frustrated. He loves spending time with you, and even when you accidentally order fifty cakes, he’s just happy to be there with you. Honestly, he thinks there’s no such thing as too much cake, especially when it's more for the two of you to share.

“MC, when they asked if you wanted one dozen or two, they meant for you to eat, not order. But hey, no big deal… More for us, right?”

Belphegor

Belphie finds your innocence a little amusing at first. He’s smug about it, especially when you come to him with questions that seem too simple for him to answer. But underneath the teasing, he secretly finds your sweet, untainted view of the world a nice contrast to the chaos around him. He’ll never let anyone else make fun of you, and over time, he actually starts finding your quirks comforting. He’ll tease you about your little missteps, but he can’t help but keep some of your adorable misunderstandings as little mementos.

“MC, you’re seriously searching ‘sheep facts’ for me? Yeah, good luck with that… Wait, you actually did? Hah, fine, I’ll keep this list... it’s cute, okay?”

SOMEONE PLZ REQUEST FOR THE UNDATEABLES!! PLZZ IM BEGGING!! I WANNA WRITE FOR MY PRETTY GOTHIC REAPER WIFE, WANNA WRITE FOR ANGEL HUSBAND WHO LOVES SOLOMON'S COOKING AND THE THAT BARNEY LOOKING AHHH DUDE!!! (JK I LOVE MEPHISTO TOO!!! 🤭💜) 🛐🫣

[sunanthrope]

My favorite gay vampire couples from media

top row: Not canon. But look at them. So implied. middle row: WAS canon. They broke up lol final row: implied to be canon at one point maybe?

rambling below cut

Lost boys. Dwayne and Paul. They're gay. So so gay. So gay. so incredibly gay. this whole movie is gay. this whole movie is about beautiful gay vampires in the 80's. Look at them. obligatory tag @sock-pvppet because you inspired me to make this after mentioning the lost boys right after i'd watched it

i very much recommend interview with the vampire (2022, bottom 2 rows). chock full of incredible storytelling, views on race and sexuality from the perspective of a black gay man from the 1920s who lives in the 2020s, such incredible acting and attention to detail, and not to mention ACTUAL CANON QUEER BIPOC/INTERRACIAL VAMPIRE ROMANCE THAT IS THE CENTER OF THE STORYLINE. not to mention the the book series (The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice) was also VERY MUCH GAY despite being written in the 1970's-90's. RIP Anne Rice you were my hero

[hypnoneghoul]

OKAYYY LET'S GO /ref, time for my fantasy au ramble!!! this au is an universe of my own creation, for my own book so 'tis copyrighted, bitch /silly, and then i felt the urge to put our ghouls in there so i did and I like it eheheheheh anyways! folks that wanted to be tagged: @lopsidedghoul @justrandomghoul @delusionalbitchinthehouse @ghoulelegy

The continent called Erlaria is divided into three parts, one of them is the Kingdom of Bellimar, inhabited by elves. The elves can be divided into 7 categories based on their magic:

Adan are fire

Naidan are water

Kellan are energy

Haidan are healers

Moran are darkness

Dewdrop Tareva, son of the king Carandael is an adan. He should be a kairan and not an adan, but he got sick when he was still developing his magic and it didn’t form properly so he’s “just” a very powerful fire elf

Zalean are materiality

Kairan, which is a power only reserved for the royal bloodline of Bellimar (the Tareva family). They have all these powers combined

The characters:

Rain Ravelan is a naidan, he’s Dew’s partner and the main general of Bellimar

Aeon Naurlar is a moran

Aether Naurlar is a haidan

Mountain Nyarin is a zalean

Swiss Aderthad is a kairan

Rain lost his parents when he was young and because his father was the previous main general he was close to the king and Dewdrop, so Carandael took Rain in after his parents died without a question. He and dew basically grew up together

All of them except for Swiss live at court under the king of Bellimar, Carandael. Dew and Rain are friends with Aeon, his half-brother Aether and Mountain who all have different jobs at and around court. They all met quite young

Swiss is from a different kingdom—Valun. Everyone outside of Valun thinks it doesn’t exist, that it was obliterated in a war between gods centuries ago. It didn’t, obviously—the queen Meira Aderthad (Swiss’ mother) hid it with powerful magic and now Valun is hidden, but doing quite well. One thing is that the time flows a little differently, there

Swiss should’t be a kairan and yet he’s more than a kairan. The elves in Valun have different powers and Swiss has all the powers from both Bellimar and Valun—something a mortal wouldn’t be able to take, only a god

It caused a lot of complications when he was young. He nearly died a couple times, his mother saved him with some crazy magic by taking some of his power and basically turning Swiss into two separate people, so then there was Swiss and Shadow

It stopped the issues for a while but didn't really fix anything, and it ended up in a big fail and Swiss basically…well, he died

He doesn’t know it for a while, but he dies, and then his mother saves him by channeling the lost power from the other part of him and then she sends them both out into the world far away from each other. If they met again and merged, a deadly amount of power would be released

Meira didn't really ever care about swiss’ wellbeing, she needed his power for her own goal: bringing back an ancient god, Keres, who...turns out to be Swiss’ father

Meira is really one of the gods, Alvah, and she and Keres had Swiss—that’s why he’s so powerful, but because he was shoved into a mortal vessel by Alvah it messed it all up

Some time into his wandering of Bellimar Swiss finds himself being taken in by a human family. He loves them and thinks he’s finally found his place, but it doesn’t end well. He accidentally blows up half the city, killing his adoptive father and around thirty more people. He gets taken into a high security magical prison—Colfort—after that, and spends over a year there. It’s secured with malachite, a stone which takes away elves’ powers, but for obvious reasons it doesn’t work the same on Swiss

Bellimar is at the verge of war and it’s certain that they would lose, so Dew (the prince) and Rain (the general) go see Swiss and offer him a deal—save Bellimar and he’ll be free

Dew is cocky, though, and accidentally triggers Swiss. There's a big boom and Dew is gone. disappeared

Swiss escapes before Rain can get him, and he, of course, assumes Dewdrop is dead. He swears to take vengeance and all that shit, goes after swiss and eventually finds him, but only because Swiss wanted to be found

Swiss easily overpowers him and tells Rain to stfu and listen to him. He says they'll take a blood oath—Swiss will save Bellimar and then give himself up for the general to kill, or do whatever he pleases with. Rain agrees, even though reluctantly, because, yeah, he wants to avenge Dew, but Dew wouldn't want his beloved kingdom to lose the war, right?

Yeah, so that happens. Swiss saves Bellimar (he meets Mountain around then), but then Rain realizes there’s nothing left in the world for him without Dew, and he actually grew to like Swiss, whether he likes it or not, so he doesn’t kill him. He even decides to go with him (and Mountain) to stop Meira from doing more fuckshit magic

Long story short, they fail

Well, first Swiss meets with Shadow and they merge back into…just Swiss

In Balkee (the capital of Valun), Meira stabs swiss with a magical blade with Keres’ blood on it in an attempt to bring him back. It doesn’t look like it worked at first, so she gets angry and shoves him into a coffin with the dagger still in him, and Rain and Mountain into a dungeon

They manage to escape soon enough and they take Swiss in the coffin with them back to Bellimar. Alvah/Meira can’t reach them there, she can’t leave the magical borders of Valun

It takes Mountain and Rain a while to figure out how to wake Swiss up, and when they finally do the world is a mess. Turns out keres did come back and has been messing the kingdom up and spreading chaos

Swiss waking up gives him even more power and he gathers an army of the dead, putting the continent into a huge ass war. Swiss takes over the court in Odrea because king Carandael is a bitch and doesn’t want to fight because he thinks his only heir is dead, so what’s the point

Some time later it turns out that Dew did not die when Swiss disappeared him, he actually ended up in Alvah/Meira’s dungeons and has been stuck there for a while, but also managed to finally escape. He finds Rain and they reunite and its sappy as fuck

So all our guys are together in Odrea now (the capital of Bellimar where the court is) preparing to face Keres

Swiss expects he will have to die because 1) he’s the only one that can face him, and 2) their power is linked, so that might be the only way

Keres is smart, though, he is the god of darkness, death and chaos after all

He uses his legions of the dead he conjured up to get rid of most of the kingdom’s armies and defenses, so that he would have a clean road to the capital where Swiss is. Keres wants to kill him, so that he doesn't have to share that power and has no competition

The war is bad. Really bad, a lot of people die. Rain nearly dies

He’s got his magic and he might just be the best swordsman in the kingdom, but he also (a little stupidly, but honorably) insists on fighting amongst his people instead of leading them to death from the sides, so…

The throne room is barricaded with Mountain’s magic

The king is dead, Dew is crying over his body

Dew, Rain, Aeon and Mountain are the only one’s left there and they have no idea what the fuck to do

Rain considers, though, and he realizes that no matter what happens, the Tareva bloodline must survive and...well, Dewdrop is the only one left

He begs Aeon and Mountain to get Dew out of there through some secret tunnels while he fights off the bastards that are about to break into the throne room. Keres wants to kill Dewdrop, too—he doesn’t want any competition and he doesn’t know that Dew isn't a kairan, that he only has one power

Dew wouldn’t agree to it in normal circumstances and he would fight not to be taken away, but he’s mad with grief over his father already, so it’s easier than it should be for Aeon and Mountain to haul him away

One thing, though...when Mountain gets away, the barricades will fall. He knows it and Rain does, too, but getting Dew out—the only remaining hope for Bellimar and the love of his life—is his priority

Aeon and Mountain get Dew away. Mountain’s power allows them to melt through the walls so the enemy wouldn’t even be able to go after them that easily, but Rain is still going to hold them back as much as he can, for as long as he can

He sits on the broken throne with his sword and simply waits. The enemy is banging on the huge doors as Mountains magic indeed does slowly melt away but then...then it gets quiet and the magic drops

Rain knows exactly what that means

Keres opens the doors and steps into the wrecked throne room, looks over the dead guards here and there and then on Rain

“Nnd who are you?” Keres asks

“Nobody important to you unfortunately”

“You’re that...that stubborn general. Are you not?”

“Probably” Rain scoffs. Keres actually admires his attitude to the certain death standing right in front of him

“I like you,” he admits, “and that’s why I’ll let you dirty your sword before I kill you”

“Sounds good to me” Rain shrugs and gets up from the throne. Keres fold his arms on his chest and moves back to lean against the wall to watch Rain slaughter his soldiers

Rain is good, even Heres is impressed

He gets bored after a while, though, and Rain is getting tired. He doesn't notice that the god has moved and joined the dead that are attacking him (they’re sloppy, it’s the number of them that gives them the advantage, btw)

Rain lifts his sword to slash through a couple of them, but it’s Keres that’s there

He grabs his sword in hand and twists Rain’s arm away before stabbing him

Rain screams out, but not in pain. He screams out in anger

It makes his magic burst and, for some reason, shocks Keres (it shocks him because it’s the pure naidan power, which means Rain is a descendant from one of the gods). Just for a split second, but it's enough for Rain to grab a dagger with his free hand and stab it into Keres’ neck

He falls, and even though rain knows he’ll come back, he’s proud of himself—he managed to slow him down

Rain pushes him off and stumbles backwards. He uses his sword like a cane to get himself back to the throne, but he can’t get himself up those couple stairs that are there. He collapses onto them and waits for death

He’s bleeding out fast, so he’s barely conscious when someone barges into the throne room where he’s the only one left (semi)alive. it’s Swiss with Aether

Swiss felt keres “dying�� and Rain’s power bursting and it turns out that when Keres temporarily dies, all his living-dead soldiers fall with him, so Rain managed to put the entire battle on hold

He’s started telling Aether what he wants him to forward to Dewdrop, he’s sure he’s done, but Aether heals him at the very last minute and gets him out while the enemy is...well, dead

Only Swiss stays in the palace, waiting for Keres to wake up

He could’ve at least tried to kill Keres while he was kinda dead, but Swiss didn’t want to do it like that

He wanted a real fight and if he dies, that’s fine. He doesn’t see himself having any different purpose. He doesn’t mind

And he does get a real fight

The last time two gods fought it ended up with a whole continent splitting into a couple islands, so it’s a huge release of power

The capital gets obliterated, turned into a crater. Thousands of people that are escaping turn and gasp as it all goes up in flames

Swiss’ friends know what it means and they’re sure he didn't survive. How could he?

They cry—Mountain the hardest, hating the fact that Swiss has died without seeing his value or getting any real happiness or love in his life, and that he didn't get to say goodbye

The survivors from that destroyed part of Bellimar all get onto boats provided by Maldae (an island on the west) and they escape there

It’s weeks after the battle and Mountain simply can’t stop thinking about Swiss. He swears he can still feel his magic lingering around. He doesn't take no for an answer and ends up getting onto a pirate ship that would take him to the ruined city of Odrea

What he finds there is not what he was expecting

He was expecting...well, nothing. A hole in the ground with everything dead around it, not even any ruins of the once glorious city

Mountain finds Ddrea nearly fully rebuilt; he runs around it frantically because it reeks of Swiss’ magic and–

“Mounty?” he hears when he runs up the new palace’s stairs. He turns and crumbles to the ground, just violently sobbing right away because–

“You’re alive” and yeah. Yeah, Swiss is somehow alive

Keres is gone, Swiss is alive and he’s been fixing what got ruined

A few months later the city is ready to welcome back its people, those that do want to come back

Mountain and Swiss get married and move to Valun (that is now uncloaked) to rule there, and Rain and Dew get married and rule Bellimar

and here's the map of erlaria for reference! and if anyone would like to read some more of it or have some questions about the lore or some ideas then feel free to storm my inbox heh

[cyb3r-st4rz]

I love yapping about Alpha and Pebble being a little bit toxic for fun but I created a relationship analysis on accident while yelling at a friend about them (said friend has no fucking clue who I was talking about) so anyway, have 500 words of me rambling about Alpha and Pebble and why they are the way that they are:

edit: tagging @wrathofrats because they are like one of the biggest reasons I went down this rabbit hole

Alpha looks down on most of his packmates but not out of malice. He has a certain natural authority, being one of the oldest ghouls still topside. His mind works on the concept of strength and dominance. He’s not entirely just mean to his packmates, he simply sees his natural authority as something that elevates him. Again there is no bad intention whatsoever, he loves his pack more than anything. That arguably makes his “superiority” even more prominent. He has to watch out for them. When he was summoned the ghouls were treated like shit. Much like back in the pits, they had to fight for their right to exist everyday. Proving their value to the clergy over and over again because if they weren’t useful, what was stopping them from sending them back? Alpha loved Secondo but subconsciously never forgave him for letting his pack be ripped to shreds over and over again. Logically he knew Secondo tried, it cost him not only his status as papa but eventually his life. 

Maybe knowing all that explains Alpha and Pebbles relationship.

When Pebble was summoned he looked haggard and frail, not unlike any previously summoned ghouls but something was different. Alpha didn’t quite understand why but he felt the natural impulse to take a stand between the vulnerable earth ghoul and the members of the ministry present. He wouldn’t let them get close, he couldn’t let them hurt him. Eventually Omega managed to take Pebble to the infirmary. Still, Alpha wouldn’t leave his side, growling at siblings and only letting Omega get close enough to provide the needed care.

Pebble was recovering quickly but he stayed rather small. Earth wasn’t around anymore to assess his magical capabilities and the infirmary was too far from any form of nature for Pebble to make it known. So to Alpha that meant he needed to teach the ghoul how to stand his ground against the clergy. If he couldn't defend himself with his fists or his element he should at least have his words. After a few weeks of Alpha essentially bullying the poor ghoul, he started to shoot back. He unknowingly created a monster, as Omega liked to say. 

That's how their complicated relationship started. Alpha giving him shit to try and help him survive in the long run but Pebble not really needing that because, as it turns out Pebble was strong and confident in his magic, quickly proving to be one of the strongest earth ghouls the abbey had ever seen. 

Long after the last ghoul was banished, Alpha still had a hard time letting go of his past compulsions. It got easier over time. Seeing the pack he loved so much develop without the fear and apprehension he had grown used to. Despite everything, his tough-love-act almost turned into a coping mechanism. A pattern he’d fall back into every now and then. The only ghouls who’d put up with him then were Omega, who would just talk him out of it with his therapy bullshit, and Pebble. Pebble, who knows how to handle it, who knows that Alpha loved him not despite but because of the way he’d act and Pebble who understood.

[rustonyourfingers]

Rambling about Vi

ARCANE S2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

I've been going through arcane s2 tag but I haven't seen anyone mention this so far, and I really need to talk about it.

This post is about Vi, but more specifically -- Claggor's goggles and their symbolism. We know that Claggor's goggles were one of the things that Jinx kept after her bomb worked, and we know she used them frequently -- we see her wear them every time she works on something both in season 1 and in season 2 as well. Ever since season 1 the goggles were set up as a symbol -- of a life and identity lost, of Jinx's insanity and hallucinations becoming stronger and stronger, of lost innocence and fall into maddness and violence. And I love how now this symbol was passed onto Vi -- in such a vital moment of her journey as well.

Just moments before the group enters that hangout place (also, the way we keep coming back here, after all these years that passed between s1 arc 1 and s2 -- brilliant!) Vi decided to join the Enforcers -- the very people who for decades (at least!!) oppressed people of Zaun and treated them like animals, like dirt on the soles of their shoes that didn't deserve so much as to breathe. In that moment she's besically deciding to betray her people, but most importantly, herself -- the little girl who walked across that bridge and witnessed all the death and destruction the Enforcers sown, saw her own parents' dead bodies laying broken on the ground. She betrayed the older Vi, the one taken by Vander that followed him around, one that dreamt of getting the boot the Enforcers kept on their necks off and ripping it apart, so Zaun would finally be free of their brutality. She betrayed the Vi that was locked in Stillwater, beaten by the Enforcers for the simple crime of existing, to the point when anytime someone approached her cell, that's what she expected -- another beating. Young Vi saw the imbalance of power between the Enforcers and people of Zaun -- and she hated it. The Enforcers always had better weaponry, training, every advantage possible, and they used it in the most vicious way possible -- to oppress, to hurt, to make sure that people of the Undercity would never be recognized as human, as deserving to live and to have rights.

And now, Vi's putting on the badge herself. Now, she's the one with the advantage -- hextech weapons and bioweapons, things that even with the use of shimmer would be extremely hard to fight against. With that one action, Vi became the oppressor -- and while we see her refuse to acknowledge that until the very end of episode 3, to me her picking up those goggles was the first sign of her facing that reality.

Because Clagger's goggles are a symbol of the past -- the past where Vi was fighting for the right cause, to make her family's life better, to make sure there would be no more orphans in the Undercity. Vi is no longer fighting for the right cause -- she is now part of the causeless violence released onto the people of Zaun, onto the civillians, onto the kids. She not only stops to examine the goggles -- no, she picks them up and puts them on her head immediately, as a reminder of who she was, as a reminder of why she was fighting in the first place, as comfort because she no longer is who she was, she no longer fights for what she faught for in the past and she needs to belive that she's making the right choice in following Cait's lead, because if she faces the fact that she became everything she hated, the very thing that made her into the person she was in season 1, that'll break her. And Vi cannot allow herself to break. Not in the past, not now, not ever.

To me, the goggles are such a wonderful and important part leading to a) Vi's breakdown with Cait when she asks Cait to never change, and b) when she sees Isha protect Jinx with her body and aim a gun at her head, and realizing the fact that she's becoming to Isha what the Enforcers were to young Vi and Powder on that bridge, and that she was no longer fighting for the right cause.

Anyway, this is super chaotic, but I love how Clagger and Milo's memory lives on and still haunts the narrative for both Jinx and Vi. Just chef's kiss all around, what a wonderful show.

Also, English isn't my first language so hopefully this all makes sense lol.

[supersecretmetalocalypseblog]

Always thought this shit was funny. So kidnapping is cool, stabbings are cool, killing random funeral attendees and attempting to brutally beat Charles to death, all cool. But, when the creepy mask wearing, brainwashed a bunch of people into zombies, angry violent possibly people eatin' man you work with kills someone WITHOUT your permission..... Maggie he was never listening to you, I know he was rolling his eyes every time you told him to do something. He's not like, a trained attack dog, hes some stray with rabies you found living in the woods, and he WILL bite you the second hes had enough of ur antics.

Like, what was Magnus's end-game? He doesnt want to kill DK, just have them be... not famous. Right? So what, they lock DK in with Toki and just wait till they arent famous? Or?? What was Magnus's plan? At least MMA knew what he wanted. He was just gonna brutally murder like, 7 ppl. That was his plan. Kill the band. Kill Charles. Possibly Abigail, though I dont get why MMA or Magnus have any beef w/ her. The band would've showed up to rescue JUST toki, idk why she had to tag along. But regardless. what was Magnus planning? Why does killing Ishnifus put him off so bad? Bad enough to confront MMA even after he watched him commit crazy acts of violence and torture and stuff? He BUTCHERED that tracker, presumably infront of Magnus? But that was planned? So it's ok?

I suspect that Magnus was like... not really planning anything. His plan doesnt make a lot of sense to me. More than all of that, I'm just confused about why killing Ishnifus was so far out of line? Is it really just what he said, and that Magnus didnt say it was ok to kill him? MMA was out of line? Questioning Magnus's authority or something? And that was too much? (which is sort of in character for Magnus, and I guess it makes sense for him to be mad about this, when we saw him blow up over DK playing the music a little bit different than he wanted. Hopefully unsanctioned murder pisses him off as much if not more as a band dispute)

Anyways sorry for my ramblings, I've had this thought one too many times though. I'm sure you can tell it's gettin late where I live lol

[cthulhubert]

Catching the Record of Lodoss War OVAs on some channel's "animidnight" block was a formative experience for young me, and its design choices were scarred into my mind as the fundamental fantasy aesthetic. Which, uh, didn't exactly make me an odd one out anywhere because it hews closely to the ISO fantasy mold (and indeed helped make the mold).

"Record of Lodoss War" (I'm using quotes to indicate the literal phrase) is one of those odd-ball translation choices that ended up being iconic, just ever so slightly nonsensical, it stuck in the minds of kids like me that watched it young. A transliteration of the Japanese is Lodoss-tou Senki. -tou just means island; "senki" could credibly be translated as (and this may shock you) 'war record'. It's a specific term in Japanese that refers to the record an officer or attached scribe kept of the battles a military force took part in ("battle chronicle" is also a good translationand by metonymy is used for "military history"). As you might imagine, it's still popular in manga and novel names.

It started out as, not quite a novel, but a "RePlay", a record of the events of a table top RPG campaign, published in a magazine (Comptiq focused on computer games, but apparently content was content, and Lodoss got hugely popular). The mid-eighties predecessor to Critical Role, basically. It did really well, which makes sense, given that the dungeon master and the players were all published writers (the DM would publish what's called the first domestic Japanese high fantasy novels, Rune Soldier, in the same setting). It started out in D&D, but would also be played in Tunnels and Trolls and RuneQuest. In 1989, they ended up publishing their own set of rules, called Record of Lodoss War Companion, and later, Swordworld RPG (2.5edition came out in 2018!).

A series that was inspired and distilled a lot of the concepts that were and would remain popular in high fantasy settings in both Japan and America and then probably inspired another generation of iterations when the anime came back to America.

Some day maybe I'll watch the anime again, it finally got an English Blu-Ray remaster in 2017. I've read the manga and some of the novelizations in the mean time and, to be honest, they were pretty middle of the road, nostalgia notwithstanding.

Thank you for reading my ramble that was intended to be a short introduction to a short video game review.

A 2D exploration platformer with RPG elements (levels, stats, different bows and weapons to equip).

Briefly: a beautiful game. No flaws, but nothing that stands out either.

This game is beautiful. If you like the pixel aesthetic at all, I think you'll also love it. Critical hit in my visual sensibilities. It looks like Symphony of the Night looks in my nostalgia painted memories. The only note: it doesn't exactly take any risks, design wise, but if it did, that wouldn't be very true to the source material would it?

The music works.

Combat is pretty fun, if a bit easy. There are seven elements, you get wind and fire options for your basic attacks, and spells and special bows for the rest. Swapping elements changes your resistances too. The different types of weapons (long sword, knife, two-handed, spear, and throwing) offer some variety, as do the attractive designs. That said, for a melee based game like this, I prefer slightly more technical and challenging combat. Hollow Knight's a good example of my sweet spot, and Blasphemous is also well in my strike zone.

Movement is basically okay. You have to feel like a badass when you leave an after image trailing behind you. The wind element comes with the ability to hover (move slowly in mid air at up to your maximum jump height above ground or water), and they do a couple fun things with that. Other than that, it's all pretty straight-forward, which is a little disappointing.

They do some fun occasional fun puzzles with the archery.

Individual room design was fun sometimes, but the overall map design was lackluster. Yet another victim of the trend where leadership says, "Adding metroidvania tag increases sales, so do it," and design can only respond, "If we take a linear game, fold the map up in a spiral, and occasionally make you back track, that makes a fun exploration experience right?" It's been done worse but it's still not great.

This sort of game tends not to have a lot of story, but what there was was pretty good. One of those cases where the writers have a "twist" in mind, but did not intend for the player to be confused about it at all, just the character. The dramatic irony still makes the pay off satisfying.

It took me about 12 hours to 100%. It's on PC for 20$, which might be worth it. The Switch and PS4 versions are full price games, which is faintly baffling for a game so short, no matter how pretty and nostalgic.

And that's why I've shared so many words with my dash over what's ultimately a decent game; because of the anchor its series dropped in my heart in childhood.

Thank you for reading.

[manhattan-gamestop]

Out of curiosity rb and put in the tags how many fics come up when you type your last name into ao3. Apparently even though my last name is uncommon there's like 500

[tragedykery]

I ❤️ self-loathing characters, characters who struggle with monstrosity (either fearing or embracing it), characters who are so lonely, who have a gaping hole in their chest, who bottle up & repress their feelings, who claw their way up & have ambitions, who fall down & lose everything, who search for identity & purpose yet can’t see themselves outside of what others want from or expect of them, who are hurt & hurt others, who long & grieve, who lie & pretend. characters who are messy & flawed & human

[noodles-and-tea]

MY BBG POOKIE PIE!!!

[kaahmbem]

legend has it that the young witch circe and the once beautiful nymph scylla shared a complicated past...