#but i’ve never played guilty gear before

[heraldofcrow]

Here you go crow, here's you a new Murder Birb, Raven from Guilty Gear, let's see if you have a type or if Bloody Crow is your one true love.

Close to a thousand years ago, Raven was born during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, somewhere in the Kingdom of Germany. He lived a very average middle-class life, until he was enlisted as a soldier in his mid-twenties and sent far away. He became an accomplished knight, waging war in foreign lands, but the campaign quickly became an unsustainable one a little over a year after it had begun. The unit to which he belonged attacked a small village to obtain supplies, but their enemies had planned for it and attacked them in the middle of the night.

Raven woke up and, sensing danger, left his room. Avoiding the enemy soldiers, he fled on horseback but he—and the horse—were struck down by a hail of arrows. Defenseless, he was stabbed to "death" by five soldiers. However, rather than dying, he found himself in a strange cylindrical space, as if caged with birds of prey, and felt immeasurable pain. After a few minutes, the pain abruptly ended, and he woke up in a pool of his own blood. Somehow alive, his wounds had closed, leaving faint scars. His aging halted on this first recovery from death, Raven thus began his infinite circle of death and life.

At some point, Raven settled in a village and started using his powers to help people, at times healing the sick and wounded, and at other times overthrowing tyrants. For these deeds he was punished and even executed, but his many returns were celebrated as miracles, and they began to view him as a god. As word of his deeds spread, outsiders sought his aid and left the village to help other settlements. When things settled down, he returned to the first village thinking that he would be welcomed back with open arms, but instead found that the villagers blamed him for every problem that occurred during his absence. Raven then realized that he was no god, but a simple repairman to them.

In time, Raven grew apathetic and tired of living, and attempted suicide many times, only to be met with failure. It was then that he drove an experimental device with spikes on either end through his skull, in an attempt to prevent his brain stem from regenerating, but this too was unsuccessful. Eventually, he met That Man, who gave him a new lease of life, and pledged his allegiance to him.

In summary

Raven is a recurring character in the Guilty Gear series. He is one of three servants of That Man, and his right-hand man. With an immortal body that cannot die of natural causes, Raven has lived about a thousand years, and nothing stimulates him anymore, except pain and eventually even that will soon lose its meaning.

His instant kill special is Sehnsucht which is either a reference to a Ramenstein Album or the German noun for Longing or Desire

Said Instant Kill has him do This

Raven's Instant Kill in Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 - YouTube

His theme's are Worthless As The Sun Above Clouds and TSUKI NO SHIHAI (Moon's Domination)

Now then Crow, the ball is in your court.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This has been the third edition of Cosmic's sleep deprived Ramblings About Random Lore Fuckery.

(The previous two are on @katyspersonal 's blog)

But do not worry.

There WILL be more.

Cos or some say Cosmic, these sleep-deprived Rambles About Random Lore Fuckery are amazing, never stop.

Also, hmmm let me see.

Long white hair? Raven/Crow themed design? Metaphorical but also literal death(s) that leads to a bizarre bloody rebirth and an endless cycle of resurrection? An attempt to do the right thing and help others but fated to become their villain/enemy?

Is a figure of legacy among commoners? Failed suicide attempts because of immortality Vileblood super-strength/Hunter’s Dream interference?

The themes of growing tired of living until meeting The Person that one can pledge allegiance to in order to receive some form of purpose? A meaningless existence under the weight of long life that is only stimulated by pain?

Absolutely OP? Scary?

Has comments under his videos that say stuff like this?

And lyrics in his second theme like this??

—

Well, Cos or some say Cosmic. After doing some research, I would say that I do, in fact, have a type. This character’s story sounds eerily similar to the overall tale I wove so passionately for Bloody Crow.

Now, though I am very intrigued by this new Murder Birb, I will say that Crow does remain my one true love because he is the most blatantly Murder-Birb of them all so far (I have seen other characters like this too!), but damn….these raven/crow people are always so cool….what is it with them….I am…very interested in them all….

Ah, well! Thank you for the analysis and ramblings. I can’t wait to see what comes next 👌

#lol thanks cosmic #this was actually fun #and man what a character…some of that stuff sounded so familiar #but i’ve never played guilty gear before #i didn’t expect that type of game to have legit lore that went so deep?? #his videos looked really cool too #represented by all those ravens and all that #yess very Bloody Crowesque #the inability to commit suicide too omg 💀💀 #that…is….a theme for sure #damn #bloody crow of cainhurst #bloody crow #raven guilty gear #asks #mutuals

[ghosts-bandwagon]

Hellllo, I saw this post from you about the 141 with a reader with past sa, and I wanted to ask if you could do one where reader mentions something that happened to them, without realizing it was sa (pls with König, I just love him). I hope this is ok for you to write

Ooh that’s a good one! I love writing for him honestly!

tw: mentions of sexual assault, mild description but nothing graphic, trauma, comfort

König loves your voice. He especially loves all your stories of your life before him, all the highs and the lows, the victories and the pitfalls, and everything else in between. His favorite part of getting together with you, is learning about you. He just loves you so damn much.

So when you’re lying in bed with the TV playing and you’re curled up against him, head on his chest, gently tracing the skin of his pecs under your fingers, he’s in heaven. He’s indulging your guilty pleasure of watching trash TV, he could never understand these dating shows but he gets a laugh out of seeing you get so worked up about them and maybe he gets a little invested too.

“Ugh poor girl.” You sighed watching the couples argue, “I feel for her, my ex was the same way.”

“How do you mean?” He’s running his fingers over your arm, drawing figures absentmindedly,

“He was just kind of manipulative and gas-lighty, always got what he wanted.” You shrugged, “Like, he’d initiate things and I wouldn’t be interested or I’d be too tired and he’d still keep trying and we’d wind up doing it. Like I said always got his way.” You seemed nonchalant about what you said, so much so that it took him a second to process what you said.

And then König’s blood went cold and his feather touches slowed to a halt,

“Schatz…” he breathed, his heart starting to race, he wasn’t sure how to handle this new information. Were you aware and just putting on a brave face? Or…

“Don’t sweat it, Köni, for all his aggressive persuasion he was a shitty lover.” You chuckled, confused as to why he stopped stroking your skin, yet as the words came out of your mouth paired with his reaction, you started to wonder if you messed up.

“Liebling, is that true?” His voice was even as he continued rubbing your arm, he moved to sit up and brought you with him,

“It’s fine, sweetheart. I’m over that asshole anyway.”

“Have you talked to anyone about it?” He turned to face you, brushing a strand of hair out of your face

“About what, my ex?”

“About his ‘persuasiveness’.” His tone hardened as the word came out of his mouth, he’s not big on sugar coating, but this is delicate and should be handled carefully,

“Not really? I mean, I’ve mentioned it to a friend before but that’s about it.”

He watched you carefully, eyes tracking every centimeter of your face, watching, waiting for a reaction, waiting for a response.

“Why do you ask?”

He stayed silent, still watching you. Waiting for you to piece things together, waiting to catch you should you realize what you just said. He watched gears turning in your head but still you struggled, is it worth bringing this up and helping you realize it? Would it do more harm than good to protect you from the truth? He wondered if a part of you realized but you’re protecting yourself from the truth so it’s forcing your mind to stop from connecting the dots. Is he even equipped to deal with the fallout after you piece it together? Would it be worse to encourage you to speak to a professional?

“I’m just worried, liebling, what you’ve described isn’t exactly a good thing.” He hated picking and choosing his words so carefully, it only made his anxiety worse and he worries he wouldn’t be able to help you with how busy his own mind is. But for you, he’d do anything. Whether it’s choosing his words carefully, gently guiding you to a point of realization, or finding your ex and breaking every bone in his body.

“Well, yeah, I know that but…” and then it hit you, he watched your eyes widen as the gears all clicked into place, “it wasn’t like that, König. That’s different.”

“It really isn’t, schatz. I’m so sorry, but it’s not different at all.” His voice is so soft that you wouldn’t have heard him if you were so close. He pulled you in to sit on his lap, his arms wrapping around you, holding you tightly against his chest. He’s got your head tucked under his chin, one hand pressing your head against him, his fingers running through your hair,

“That’s not what happened.” Your voice was small as your own arms came up to wrap around his back, your body preparing you for the tears you were fighting to shed,

“It’s ok, liebling, I’ve got you. You’ll always be safe here.”

#konig x reader #könig modern warfare #konig #könig #könig mw2 #könig x reader #könig call of duty #cod x reader #mw2 x reader #cod mw2 #cod mwii #cod one shot

[mikufigure]

i intended to write this as a comment on this https://archiveofourown.org/works/42448821/chapters/110444814?view_adult=true fan fiction (nsfw), but comments are disabled. i’m a fairly private person in regards to erotic content, i don’t like sharing what i enjoy outside of very limited circumstances, but i feel i need to set that aside for a moment in order to praise this. this is one of my favorite fanworks of all time.

let’s set some background so i can formulate my thoughts and also give a proper info. i rarely read fan fiction, only occasionally indulging whenever visual art can’t scratch the itch of enjoying media. guilty gear is a franchise that i, excuse my wording, feel guilty for enjoying due to my lack of participation in the actual fighting game side of it. i’ve been about actively into it for ten months, but i first started looking into it because of bridget’s depiction in strive, as she was transgender, and openly accepted as such by her franchise.

putting the rest under the readmore since this got long

after listening to her theme song a few times i ended up hearing other songs as they came on autoplay, and loved them. passively listened to just the music for a few months before plunging into what the series actually was. i am not good at fighting games. i’ve tried a few, played a few rounds against friends, but ultimately did not stick with them for very long. the way i enjoyed guilty gear was by listening to music, learning about the story, and enjoying fanworks.

as much as i like to pretend that i don’t, i do have an anxiety disorder, and the general culture of media led me to developing the mindset of becoming a ‘poser’ for not actually playing the games. there was a reputation of fans that got into the series because of bridget never playing the game and being looked down on because of that, and i did not want to fall in that crowd. with this factors, i was reserved in my emotional investment for quite some time.

what ended up drawing me out of this shell was meeting people who enjoyed the series, and seeing them enjoying it without hesitation. there was no breakthrough moment of “oh wow! i can just enjoy things without worrying about opinions!”, but rather a gradual build up of confidence in seeing the happiness of others.

do you wanna know the fun part of this? the people i’ve met got into it for various reason, still play the game, and enjoy the franchise as much as me. the only other uniting feature between us is that we’ve all been transgender. guilty gear has cultivated a safe community for transgender people solely through their addition of characters like bridget and testament. don’t think i’ve forgotten about testament, i’ve just only been addressing bridget due to her widespread impact.

i think i’m ready to actually talk about that fanfiction i linked forever ago. go read it if you haven’t, or at least read between the first and second line break. the part that got me wanting to write all of this was two specific paragraphs:

She doesn’t know what to tell this gothic nonbinary transfemme to keep them safe. Maybe spit out some stupid platitudes. Shit advice like, don’t ever write poetry. Don’t ever write song lyrics. Don’t ever write your heart and your trauma and your hope into trans erotic fanfiction; don't do it, it's not worth it.

this first one made my heart ache. it made me realize why comments were disabled, why the work was posted anonymously. i had already decided i needed to write something in response to it by then, as a sort of “tribute” to whoever might have written this.

And in response, I-No brushes her guitar’s strings, enough to summon her magic. Transformative magic, the kind that you’d archive online in the hopes that another trans reader would find resonance between the lines.

i’ve found such an intense resonance with this. it’s hard to convey with words the emotion that this makes me feel. i’m grateful to have found this fan fiction, to have found this community, for a game like guilty gear to exist which could foster a community for transgender people. i’m grateful for transgender erotica and expression as a love letter to the source material and for personal indulgence. i don’t think i can make a much more compelling closer than that, just simple adoration for transgenderism and love.

#t #guilty gear

[blazregaliadream]

Entry No. BRD~ASW: Conflicted Identity

... I’ve wanted to talk about this for a while. I talked about a part of it on Twitter a few months back, but I really need to get it all off my chest here, whatever shit I get be damned. In 2013-2014, my freshman year of highschool, I got introuced to Arc System Works through junior/senior pals introducin’ me to BlazBlue, a franchise that didn’t take long to take root in my heart. I would end up usin’ it as part of my online handle, “BlazRegaliaDream”, and I have stuck with it as the name I use when I sign my art. I’m not the biggest fan, but BlazBlue was a hyperfixation for 4 years since I discovered it. After a serious burnout in 2018, I tried movin’ my sights onto other franchises, but the love held on as a tiny ember that I’d occassionally stoke from just playin’ BBTAG and eventually findin’ a couple of close friends to talk about the franchise and keep tabs on it. Also throughout this time, I also would eye Guilty Gear, seen it around between XX and Xrd, and while it didn’t become a hyperfixation, I thought it was pretty cool. (and I still do lol) Fast forward to 2021. StrIVe has been out, haven’t played it yet. Friends are deep into the JP exclusive mobile BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War, which started at the beginnin’ of the same year. I was eyein’ it, but didn’t wanna sink into another mobile since I already had FEH and FGO (with a few others I fell in and out of). October, I revisit my old BB OC project and then on a whim, I decided to try BBDW. Wouldn’t you know it, I fell in love with BlazBlue all over again and even if I was stuck with a mobile game for new content, I was ready for the future of the franchise post-C-series. And then a month in, BBDW was announced to shutdown in January due to morale issues for the team. “Well shit, I mean, maybe there’s still a shot later, right?” 2022, creator of BlazBlue, Mori, leaves ASW for reasons we may never know. ASW insists that they still want to keep BB alive, but later, an interview reveals they’re supposedly lettin’ GG hog the spotlight because they don’t want the two franchises competin’ Between this and the awful, awful disaster that was Bridget’s return to StrIVe, everythin’ begins lookin’ all too dire... I hate the current state of ArcSystemWorks. I’m so conflicted, so angry with this company, and I just don’t know how to articulate it all so smoothly. My favorite franchise may as well be dead, 6 feet buried, as the creator has left and started his own company and who knows if they’d bother to get him for a new entry, and with the shit surroundin’ StrIVe, I don’t think I can trust this company to revive BlazBlue proper. Is Team Blue even still a thing? It feels like after everythin’, I’ve been gut punched and spitted in the face.

... *sigh* Dammit, there's much I wanted to say, but as I'm typin' this, the words have fled.

I'm just lost. Where do I go from here? The company I once admired just fills me with nothin' but fury, and GG ain't even the first franchise I've seen to pull the shit it has and for what!?

I've thought about rebrandin' before, but I'm too attached to the handle even after everythin', yet still... I just wanted people to see how cool BlazBlue is, and the monkey's paw curled...

(I'll be fine, in case anyone's worried. This shit just sucks too much...)

#blaze rambles #blazblue #arc system works #rant

[jacobb99]

I saw something strange at my local Astro-Mart

I need to share this story with someone. I’ve tried sharing it in other places but my posts either get removed or I get labled as some kind of amature horror writer. Even if I’m taken seriously I just get told I imagined the whole thing. I don't know what to believe anymore. All I know is that I need some kind of answer, some kind of explanation.

I'm a recent college graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting, and I'm currently unemployed. I've been applying for jobs at local firms and other places, but so far, I haven't had any luck. During the day, I spend my time checking job listings online and in the local newspaper. At night, I take walks around my neighborhood. It's still a bit chilly, but the weather is pleasant for walking at night this time of year. I usually stop at a convenience store called "Astro-Mart" to buy chips and soda before heading home to play games. The guy who runs the night-shift is named Antonio, a chubby Eastern European-looking man. I never knew if he was on drugs or something, but he was always paranoid and twitchy.

Last week, I was walking with my headphones on, listening to the new Guilty Gear Strive song "Circle" (the best one on the soundtrack in my opinion) when I saw Antonio waving at me from inside the store. I didn't know him well, but I went inside anyway. Antonio looked pale, more freaked out than usual, and whispered, "Doode, there's a weird dog wandering around. I called animal control, and they said to stay indoors because it probably has the rabies."

As I tried to process what he said, he suddenly lunged forward and slammed the glass door shut, with such force I am surprised it didn’t shatter. I jumped back and looked around, trying to find the reason for his sudden reaction. I noticed that Antonio was twitching more than ever, and he was holding a shotgun. I panicked; I was trapped in a tiny store with a man who looked nuttier than a squirrel with a hording problem and right now he was holding a 12 gage. I thought to myself “this is it, he’s gonna blow my brains out to kill the lizard people or some other crap that’s probably rattling around in his drug-addled brain. I would have continued thinking that way if I hadn't followed Antonio's gaze.

On the sidewalk outside, there was a creature. It wasn't a dog, that was for sure. It had a dog-like head, but that was where the similarity ended. The creature had no fur, and it had multiple heads, not like a Cerberus or a two-headed snake, but more like someone had sewn together a bunch of animal heads to make one body. Like some kind of weird rolled up animal head quilt. It had a long, thin tail like a rat and legs that looked like those of a shoebill but shorter.

I am not afraid to admit I wet myself.

The thing started slamming itself into the door, causing it to crack. Antonio waved the gun at the creature and told it to "fuck off!" but just as he did that it ran off, I had a moment of relief only to see it running back, it slammed headfirst into the glass door, causing the glass to shatter into thousands of little bits. Antonio took a shot at the thing and I’m pretty sure I went deaf for a few seconds. After that I did the only sensible thing and ran to find somewhere to hide, but it was probably the worst decision I could have made that night.

I mean the thing had already seen me and there wasn’t exactly that many places to hide, maybe the bathroom or between the isles but that was about it. However that didn’t matter, my caveman brain was in control and it said go hide. However at me taking flight the damn thing started chasing me. Antonio took two more shots at it. One hit the creature spraying the far wall with greenish black blood, and the other caused the coffee machine next to me to rupture, spilling hot coffee everywhere. I turned the corner to get on the other side of the island thing that had the hot dog rollers, and I saw the Smorgasbeast (what I’m going to call the thing just for my own sake of writing all this down) slip on the spilled coffee. If I weren't panicking so badly, it would have been funny, it had that look on its face that dogs get when they loose all traction on a tile floor and start freaking out, except it was on all its faces.

As I was talking, I suddenly noticed the Smorgasbeast slipping on the spilled coffee and colliding with one of the refrigerators that hold the milk and other perishables. It's always a mystery how half of them are already expired yet they think they can get away with calling it “fresh food”. Anyway, apologies for getting sidetracked. So, when I turned back to the Smorgasbeast, I saw it floundering on the coffee-covered floor, struggling to gain any footing with its silly bird feet. Just then, Antonio walked up and smacked it on the head with the butt of his shotgun. The Smorgasbeast fell to the ground, twitching slightly, and Antonio went to finish it off with a shot to the head.

However, Antonio missed the main head that resembled a dog if you squinted, and instead hit the one that looked more like a pig. The Smorgasbeast bit his leg, and he screamed in pain, using his shotgun as a club to defend himself. Suddenly, the store was filled with flashing red and blue lights. Before I could think "thank God, we are saved," a sharp pain hit the back of my neck, and everything went black.

When I came to, I was lying in the back of an ambulance with two paramedics standing over me, securing an oxygen mask to my face. Before I could ask any questions, one of them instructed me to remain still and take slow, deep breaths. The paramedic explained that I was a victim of a carbon monoxide leak, and I needed to relax. Despite my attempts to inquire about Antonio or the Smorgasbeast, the paramedic kept insisting that I take deep breaths.

After spending two days in the hospital, encased in a strange tube thing that was supposed to get the monoxide out of me somehow, I was discharged with a hefty bill. I never received any answers regarding what occurred, apart from being informed of the carbon monoxide leak. This explanation didn't make sense, and I was left feeling unsure. I returned to the Astro-Mart the following night to investigate, but it was closed with a sign on the now-repaired door that read, "Due to short staff, we will be closing at 5 pm. We apologize for the inconvenience."

I'm unsure if any of it was real. I would prefer to believe the carbon monoxide explanation, but it still doesn't feel right. I'm baffled and searching for answers. If anyone can help me understand what happened, please let me know.

#horror #creepypasta #what the fuck #what the hell #Smorgasbeast #Astro-Mart #Monster

[shadowdemon-gd]

I’ve never played Guilty Gear before. Is there an order for the games that I need to play them in or is it like the Zelda series where it doesn’t really matter what order you play them in

#guilty gear #games #game #gaming #video game #video games

[veebs-hates-video-games]

And now for quick notes on games I've played on Steam since June and didn't finish but left in the "maybe I'll get back to this some day" category, part 1 of 2:

Assault Android Cactus: Pretty decent twin stick shooter that I was initially having fun with, but a couple bosses in I got real tired of getting one-shot by stuff that was off screen until too late to do anything about it during boss fights. Surprisingly by the same people who recently made Unpacking

Zasa: An AI Story: Kind of neat idea for a puzzle game, but I kind of forgot I was playing it for a month and lost interest

Achromatic: Minimalist puzzle game that seems fine, but the larger the puzzles get the more I have the same problem I do with Match 3 games where stuff just stops registering in my brain and I have to look at every little thing individually and it's not fun anymore

Incredipede: I like the premise and the general vibe, but I just wasn't into actually playing it enough to finish it. It has the best achievements ever though, which are all things like "go outside and play with a real bug, then come back here and press this button to give yourself the achievement"

Ziggurat: Roguelike FPS that I like the idea of but was very bad at and couldn't get into

Mad Max: Seems like a fine-ish open world game if you have nothing better to do with your time, but nothing about it stands out in any way. I could go play a good game instead of just one that's vaguely ok

Mighty No. 9: I can't tell if it's better or worse than the internet led me to believe, but I can tell it's not good enough to be worth playing over going back and replaying literally any old Mega Man game instead

The First Tree: I had to stop like five minutes in because it was clearly trying to get me to take it seriously but the animations were so hilariously janky that I couldn't

Induction: Minimalist puzzle game that I just wasn't really feeling the central mechanics of

God Eater Resurrection: Might come back to again at some point even if I'm not really sure I'll like it. The main problem was that I was having major issues running it through Proton on Linux (which rarely happens to me anymore these days, which is pretty neat itself), but that'll probably get fixed sooner or later

Tekken 7: Of all the fighting games I tried this year this was the one I got along the best with [this is a lie because I wrote it before playing BBTAG], which is weird because I've never played much Tekken in the past. It felt the most satisfying to play and I had the most success actually learning how to play a character that actually clicked with me (Lucky Chloe is just fun), but I just kinda don't really like a lot of the character designs and the story and all that stuff when it comes to Tekken and always have, which killed my motivation

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-: I really wanted to like this more than I did because it looks great and is generally ridiculous, but the overall feel of the game just wasn't really clicking with me

Art of Gravity: Another puzzle game that's vaguely interesting but didn't really grab me enough to finish

Say No! More: Comedy game about setting boundaries, which I really want to like more than I do, but the humor and tone just weren't really doing much for me and I stopped like halfway through even though it's short

#say no more #art of gravity #guilty gear xrd #tekken 7 #god eater resurrection #induction #the first tree #mighty no. 9 #mad max #ziggurat #incredipede #achromatic #zasa: an ai story #assault android cactus

[3starjammies]

i really do wanna try guilty gear strive, Bridget obviously being what pushed me over, but I have always thought it looked really cool, but I dont want to pay $100 on a fighting game when I’ve never been able to get into fighting games before and also my only option is on pc but I only have a laptop and playing on that certainly wouldn’t be my first choice if I had any other option

#im sorry bridget I can only appreciate you through cute fan art

[andouble]

Am I a basic trans bitch if I wanna get into guilty gear now? I’ve never really played fighting games much before

[project1939]

Day 51- Film: Sudden Fear 

Release date: August 7th, 1952. 

Studio: RKO 

Genre: Thriller/noir 

Director: David Miller 

Producer: Joseph Kaufman 

Actors: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame 

Plot Summary: Myra Hudson is a wildly wealthy and successful playwright. As her latest play nears its opening, she fires the lead actor, believing he isn’t right for the part. Their paths cross again later, and still feeling guilty, she has drinks with him. Romantic sparks fly, despite the fact that he is much younger. They marry, and Myra thinks she’s finally got it all. But one day she hears something incredibly disturbing when the Dictaphone in her office unintentionally records her husband talking to another woman. Is her beloved husband going to murder her? 

My Rating (out of five stars): **** 

Oh my god, I loved this film. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before. It’s already in my wheelhouse, being a noir with a female protagonist, but it also stars Joan Crawford. Mildred Pierce is one of my favorite movies, and I loved her in The Women. When you see a film with Joan Crawford in it, you know there will be drama in all its trashy Classical Hollywood best. 

The Good: 

Another female led noir! As I just wrote, I love the rare gems where we get a noir told from the perspective of a female protagonist. This one didn’t disappoint. 

Joan Crawford. I wrote in my notes as I was watching this film “Crawford acts the shit out of this, in all the best and worst ways!” She sometimes almost chewed the scenery, but it was always campy fun when she did. She could also just be genuinely moving. At times I felt more sincere empathy for her than I ever remember feeling in any of her movies. 

The turn about halfway through when Crawford takes control. I loved this! I was expecting the second half of the movie to be like the poster- Crawford huddled in terror. But then everything changed, and she took things into her own hands. She wasn’t going to sit back in fear, she was gonna damn well do something! I was rooting for her every step, before it was even clear what her plan actually was. 

Gloria Grahame. I liked her a lot in Macao, and I really liked her here too. She’s captivating to watch, because even though she is undeniably beautiful, there’s something kind of unique about her look and her voice. She’s perfect playing jaded bad girls. 

Jack Palance. He was believable and cast well. Myra had fired him because he wasn’t classically Prince Charming handsome. He is definitely attractive, but in an edgier rougher kind of way.  

I liked that I was always somewhat unsure of where things were going. It took awhile before the audience had enough information to understand what Myra’s plan was, and I also didn’t completely anticipate the ending. 

I liked the extended use of fun old technology, in this case, with the Dictaphone. It was analog in all its glory. 

The final shot of Crawford. The look of determination and relief on her face was perfect- I literally cheered out loud. 

The Bad: 

The beginning was a little slow. It took a good 45 minutes before things kicked into gear. I didn’t get bored, but I think it would have worked better structurally to trim the first half a little. 

Not much chemistry between Palance and Crawford. Maybe that was a little intentional, so we know something’s not quite right, but I’m not sure I liked it. 

I didn’t buy Myra/Crawford as a hugely successful playwright. She didn’t talk with any real wit, and none of her friends did either. I can’t fully explain why I felt this, but I wasn’t convinced. 

I spent the last hour screaming into my notepad- CALL THE POLICE! I don’t fully understand why she didn’t, except that it would have stopped the movie much earlier. 

#project1952 #1952 #project1952 day 51 #joan crawford #100 films of 1952

[guidedbynors]

Journal of a Paid GM: Part 5: Stress Prep

Welcome back to the Journal of a Paid GM. Over the last couple weeks quite a lot has happened. My 5e Eberron campaign had its first official game session (our session 0 ended up being like a session .5). My Isle of Ixx game has grabbed another paying player and is full, and I’ve learned the using 5e adventure modules isn’t really for me. Or that is–it could be, but as of right now, I don’t like them.

But this journaling I am doing isn’t really about how I GM or my preferences. Rather, this journal is geared toward what it's like to be paid to GM. So. Let’s talk about our feelings.

When I was in the StartPlaying webinar for best practices, the facilitator, Devon, mentioned imposter syndrome. It didn’t click with me then. I’d never felt imposter syndrome while playing D&D or any other type of TTRPG. It always just felt like something that was fun. There wasn’t really a performance aspect of it (other than the obvious improve of TTRPGs as a whole). 

However, this has changed now that I have paying players. Devon from StartPlaying mentioned: “Players want to play. The easier you make it to play, the better.” There are two parts of this advice, obviously. The first is, the player side of this. Are you providing the resources and help players need to get all set up for the game in question. This doesn’t just mean creating a character, but also the house keeping things like if they know how to use a VTT, have a working mic, or even just a quiet space. Some folks who haven’t played TTRPGs or haven’t played TTRPGs online, don’t understand what a pain background noise can be. The second part is “easier” isn’t just being guided through how to use the technology and rules. It also means how easy it is for players to engage with the story. The best part of any TTRPG is when stuff happens. Letting characters “discover” secrets and ideas can sometimes slow the session down to a crawl as they face some choice paralysis. This means it's essential for the Paid GM to have a collection of triggers that can spur players to engage with NPCs, enemies, friends, or something else entirely. This means prep. Let’s get into that.

Check out my GM profile. I have 1 seat open for my 5e Eberron Campaign, as well as 1 seat open for my Isle of Ixx adventures.

Stress prep is something I’m very guilty of. For my Eberron game I thought a reskinned, refurbished Lost Mines of Phandelver might be cool, then after our session 0/.5, I scrapped the whole idea and wrote my own arc and session notes. I wrote and rewrote, trying to plan every little bit of time we’d spend. Even up to the day of, about 30 minutes before, I was still writing down ideas. And you know what? None of that work made much difference. Once players got into the game, all the little “what if” moments disappeared. I knew the arc, I had a list of interesting characters and encounters, I had written descriptions and twists. I had what I needed and much of the stress prep I’d done wasn't really relevant.

So, how does stress prep relate to imposter syndrome? Well, stress prep is a response I had because I was being paid. I kept thinking (keep thinking) that each session needs to be “worth it.” The thing is, more prep doesn’t make the session better. At least, not after you have a solid foundation.

What makes TTRPGs, D&D or others, truly memorable is the unexpected. This is true for GMs as much as it is for players. Where I have found difficulty in being paid for my services is where the unknown lies. I hate the idea of being put in a position where I don’t know what comes next. But this is a paradox. If I know my arc and the concrete plot points that inform it, I can make up whatever I need, plug in NPCs or places I have imagined in the moment. The best part of D&D is that anything can happen. Players are paying for this just as much as they are paying for the prep a Paid GM does. Accepting this unknown as an intrinsic, essential, and inherent part of the game is something I feel like I have to learn all over again after 5 years or so of GMing. But that’s what makes the game fun, and so at some point I just have to let go.

#D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #ttrpg #tabletop role playing game #Eberron #dnd 5e #Roll20 #Keith Baker #Isle of Ixx #OSR #Dungeon Master #StartPlaying

[the-bau-quinjet]

My Name Isn't

Summary: You find out the guys (Bucky, Steve, and Sam) have a bet as to who can kiss you first, so you confront them at Tony's team building karaoke night.

Warnings: some swearing and drinking

Word Count: 3187

a/n: This was inspired by my love of the classic using karaoke to express your feelings trope and the song My Name Isn't by LOVA. I did change the lyric "yours" into "doll" though because it made sense in the story.

"Not a chance, Wilson." Bucky rolled his eyes as Steve walked into the room, unbothered by the familiar sounds of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes arguing.

"C'mon tin man, you afraid you're gonna lose?' Sam couldn't help but tease the super soldier.

"It's a stupid bet! Steve tell him it's a stupid bet." Bucky stared at his best friend, silently begging for him to agree.

Steve's tone could only be described as exasperated when he responded, "what is it this time?"

"I bet Barnes and Noble over here," Sam stopped talking to dodge the book Bucky threw at him, "that I could get Y/N to kiss me before he could, and he's too chicken shit to take the bet."

"It's a stupid bet!" Bucky was gearing up to throw another book when Steve chimed in. "I don't know Buck, it could get you to finally act on your feelings for her."

Bucky rolled his eyes, responding with his typical denial "I don't have any feelings, punk."

Sam and Steve shared an obvious "this man is lying" look before turning back to Bucky.

"Fine, Cap since Bucky won't take the bet, will you?" The mischievous gleam in Sam's eye shown through as Steve weighed his options.

"It is a pretty stupid bet, but I'm doing this for you Buck." Clapping Bucky on the shoulder, he turned to Sam. "I'm in." As Steve went to shake Sam's hand, Bucky gave in.

"Fine! Fine. All three of us. The first one to kiss her wins." Bucky reluctantly agreed.

"Now, what does the winner get?" Sam posed the question, mischief clear in his eyes.

-

The first time you had an inkling that something was afoot was your training with Steve and Bucky later that same day. Steve wasn't overly touchy or anything that would make you uncomfortable, this is America's Golden Boy after all, but he kept calling you "honey" or some variation of it. You'd throw a punch and rather than correcting your form in his usual commanding Captain voice, he would feed you a random compliment followed by a "try it like this hun."

You left the gym confused and with more energy than one would typically have after training with Steve Rogers. Luckily for you, Nat and Wanda noticed it too.

"What was that about?" Wanda asked as soon as the three of you were out of earshot.

"I don't have a clue." Your expression of complete confusion was enough to convince the two women you were telling the truth.

"I always thought Barnes had a thing for you. I wouldn't expect Steve of all people to try to mess that up. Especially with how obvious you are!" Nat chimed in. You've never regretted anything more than getting drunk and admitting your feelings for the brunette super soldier to the two women.

"Ugh, are the two of you ever gonna forget about that?" Your question was rhetorical as you nearly slammed the door to your room, but it didn't stop the two women from shouting "not a chance" and "only if you tell him" through the door.

-

The second time you noticed the weird behavior was the next day. You were running through some basic defense moves with some new Shield agents when Sam walked in with Bucky.

Now, normally Sam avoids you in the gym because he knows you'll kick his ass. All your time spent training with Nat mixed with your advanced perception skills meant you are a force to be reckoned with in the gym. This time though, he asked to spar before running through his typical warm up routine.

"You sure, Wilson? I wouldn't want to bruise your ego any further." You joked with him, unsure of his motives.

"Oh I'm sure, baby. Do your worst."

So you did. You had him on the mat in 4 minutes even, not letting the "baby" comment phase you until later in the night when you were with Wanda and Nat.

"First, Steve keeps calling me honey. Now Wilson is in on it with baby! What the hell is going on?'

The three of you shared identical shrugs, choosing to ignore it for now in favor of girls night.

-

Your days continued with the random comments from Sam and Steve. Of course, after the first 24 hours you noticed a pattern emerging. The two men would only use the pet names if Bucky was in the room. If Bucky couldn't overhear what was being said, everything was normal, but all bets were off if he so much as stepped in the room. It was constant affection and compliments from the two men.

You were thinking about the pattern you'd discovered, along with what it could mean, when Tony barged into the common room like a man on fire.

He surveyed the room, noting the presence of nearly every team member. The only three missing? Sam, Steve, and Bucky. You had a feeling they were most definitely up to something. "Oh perfect, most of you are here already! I have decided we don't do enough team building. Saving the world is stressful and we deserve to relax, so... drumroll please!" He waited for an extended period of time, until you, Wanda, and Vision gave him a lackluster drumroll. "That could use some work, but I'm not going to let it bring me down. We're doing karaoke! I rented out a bar for tonight, so clear your schedules ladies and gentlemen! We start at 8."

To say he was met with mixed results would be underselling the range of reactions. Nat looked ready to kill him. Thor was so excited, he reminded you of a golden retriever playing fetch. Most everybody else fell somewhere in the middle.

"Y/N, be a dear and let the three stooges know would ya? I don't know where they are and I don't feel like finding them." Tony didn't wait for a response before leaving the room just as rapidly as he entered it.

"I guess that's my cue. I'll be back and we can at least get ready together?" You looked to Nat and Wanda for confirmation before leaving to find Steve, Bucky, and Sam.

-

You checked Sam's room first because it's the closest to the common area, but there was no sign of life. Steve and Bucky's rooms sat similarly untouched. You went to the gym, the pool, the game room, and circled back to the kitchen but they were nowhere to be seen. Finally, you gave up the impromptu game of hide and seek asking FRIDAY where they were.

"FRIDAY, do you know where Steve, Bucky, and Sam are?"

"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, and Lieutenant General Wilson are on the roof." The AI responded so fast, it had you wondering why didn't just ask her 40 minutes ago when their rooms were all empty.

"What the hell are they doing on the roof?" You huffed as you made your way back to the elevator.

"They are the discussing the terms of their bet." FRIDAY's response surprised you. You hadn't meant to actually receive an answer, but now that you did you were curious.

"What bet?" You continued the line of questioning as the elevator rose to the roof access point.

"The three made a bet to see who could get you to kiss them first."

Suddenly, all the pet names and compliments made sense.

"Son of a bi-" You cut yourself off as the elevator door opened, leading you directly to the three men in question. They turned abruptly, clearly caught off guard by anyone coming to the roof.

"Finally. I've been looking for you three everywhere!" You kept the new found information to yourself for the time being. "Tony decided we're doing karaoke tonight. We're supposed to be at the bar he rented out by 8pm." You smiled, taking in the slightly guilty expressions on each of their faces. Even if FRIDAY hadn't told you, it would be painstakingly obvious you caught them talking about you.

"Thanks doll, we'll make sure we're there." You felt the butterflies in your stomach at the pet name, but quickly shut it down. You wouldn't be giving in to their bet that easily.

"No problem, see you boys soon." You winked, pressing the button to bring you back to the main floor. You had a plan to make after all.

-

"Well, it's karaoke why don't you just sing a song to call them out on it?" Wanda suggested another idea as you all got ready to head to the bar.

"That could work. You just need the perfect song." Nat chimed in, quickly applying some mascara.

"Wanda, you're a genius, and I think I have just the one." You grinned, pulling the song up to play while you finished getting ready.

-

Upon entering the bar, you immediately started second guessing your plan. That is, until the pet names came out to play. Sam was back at it with calling you baby, and Steve right there beside him with honey.

When you put your name down to sing, Wanda and Nat were right there with you, hyping you up and providing some liquid courage. Four drinks in and you finally felt just tipsy enough to actually follow through with your plan.

With the encouraging words from Nat and Wanda playing through your mind, you walked up to the stage, pulling up your chosen song on the karaoke machine.

You decided to play the beginning of the song off as a coincidence, not wanting to clue the guys in too early.

"One, two, three have been staring at me. It's been going all night."

You made eye contact with Nat and Wanda, fully relying on the feminist in you to knock these guys down a few pegs. By the time the chorus rolled around, you were ready.

Making direct eye contact with Sam, you put as much sass as possible into the next line.

"My name isn't 'baby,' you cannot say whatever you feel like. I am not the things you call me."

Switching your target from Sam to Steve, you kept going with the performance.

"My name isn't 'honey,' I will always do whatever I feel like. Honestly, you don't know me."

Clearly the three of them realized you knew about their bet, but you were on a roll. Switching focus to Bucky, you switched up the words a little bit to put him on blast as well.

"My name isn't... doll. My name isn't... doll."

The girls must have filled in the rest of the group, because you now had Bruce, Thor, Vision, Tony, Pepper, Clint, Wanda, and Nat cheering you on. They were whopping and hollering in agreement with the lyrics.

"We ain't got the time for you messing around so cut the deal."

"Cut the deal!!" You heard Tony yelling out as an echo, shaking your head with a slight chuckle.

"So don't come here and say, 'boys will be boys.' Behind every act there's always a choice."

The three men in question at least had the decency to look ashamed of their actions. Of course, that wasn't enough for you to not put them on blast through another round of the chorus.

The high from calling them out wore off right around the line:

"Do you really think that you can get your way by playing the same game."

Singing those words made you realize exactly what just happened. You held it together, put up a front long enough to get through the last chorus. Singing the last line to Bucky, you felt like your emotions were all over your face. The annoyance that the bet existed. The pain at him being part of it. The love you'd been trying to hide. All of it felt like it was right out in the open.

"My name isn't... Doll. My name isn't, my name isn't... Doll."

You took a quick bow in thanks for all the applause, before running off the stage. You didn't stop at the table with Nat and Wanda, nor did you stop for the three men trying to apologize. You made it outside, running about five blocks before even taking in your surroundings. Noticing a McDonald's, you sent a quick prayer that the ice cream machine was actually functioning before ducking inside.

-

The team stood with mouths hanging open at your sudden departure.

"What the hell just happened?" Tony posed the question to the group, knocking them out of their stupor.

Bucky was the first to follow you outside, his panic growing when he didn't see you leaning against any of the brick walls.

"Where is she?" Steve asked, spinning in circles right alongside Bucky while the rest of the group filed out the door.

"I don't know!" Bucky turned on Steve and Sam. "I never should have agreed to that stupid bet. Dammit!" Running his hands through his hair, he took off down the street calling a quick, "I'll look this way" over his shoulder.

He moved quickly down the street, keeping his eyes peeled for your sparkly, dark red dress. He looked through the windows of the many store fronts as he passed them. About five blocks later, he was about to turn around, assuming you went a different direction when he saw the familiar golden "m". A memory from about three weeks ago was quick to flash through his mind.

The team just came back from a two and a half week mission yesterday, meaning Tony was bound to throw a party today. It went about the same as most Tony Stark parties go; a lot of schmoozing until most guests left and the team could actually let loose.

You let a little looser than normal at the after party. After the mission required you to pretend to be married to Bucky, you felt like you deserved it. It was getting harder and harder to hide your feelings from him, especially when he insisted on walking you to your room after the party.

In a last ditch effort to avoid any drunk escapades, you asked him to take you to McDonald's instead of your room.

"Please Bucky?" You asked, drawing out the words and adding a small pout for good measure. "I just want a McFlurry and some fries! Please!"

"Sure, doll. We can go to McDonald's." You jumped up and down clapping, hugging him as you praised him for being so kind.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the nicest, most perfect man to ever live. Let's gooooo!!" He smiled at your antics, leading you to one of the many cars Tony kept stocked, not quite trusting you to ride a motorcycle at the moment.

After getting the food, the two of you ate together in the car. You, of course, insisting he try dipping the fries in the ice cream.

Reluctantly, he admitted it wasn't that bad before driving the two of you home. He dropped you off at your door, receiving a whispered "thank you" and a quick kiss to the cheek from you.

He smiled at the memory before walking inside. He found you in a booth toward the back, unsurprisingly dipping fries into your ice cream

"Y/N, I'm so sorry." You didn't even look up when he started speaking, choosing instead to study the m&ms in your dessert. "Really. It was a stupid bet. Hell, I didn't even want to do it, but then that punk and birdman teamed up against me and I couldn't let them do it without me! It would've killed me to know one of them kissed you. It was so stupid and I should've just shut it down. I'm so sorry. You deserve so much more than that." He trailed off, waiting for you to say something.

You gestured to the seat across from you, pushing some fries toward him. "It was a stupid bet."

You waited until his mouth was full before asking "Why would it have killed you?" Watching him nearly choke on his fries was oddly satisfying.

"What?" He tried to deflect the question. You shook your head, passing him a napkin.

"You said it would have killed you to know one of them kissed me. Why?" You looked him in the eye as you ate another fry.

"Well, you see, I... um, maybe have um... feelings." It was his turn to stare intently at the m&ms. He mumbled a quick "get yourself together" under his breath before continuing. "I like you. Hell, I think I love you. I don't know when it started, but suddenly you are all I can think about. I worry about you constantly when your on a mission without me, even though I know you can take care of yourself. I see little things that remind me of you everywhere. Like yesterday, I saw a buttercup on the side of the road and I couldn't stop thinking about the time you spent a good twenty minutes ranting about how spring is the worst season."

Suddenly, you were on a tangent. "Because it is! It's always raining, it's muggy, it's always freezing in the morning and way too hot in the afternoon so you have to carry all these extra layers-"

"I love you. That's why it would've killed me. I don't even want to think about you with another-"

It was your turn to cut him off, doing so by leaning across the small table to kiss him. It was quick, but you still felt fireworks.

"I love you too." Your words were sweet, but shifted when you said the rest of your sentence. "I just have one more question." The smirk on your face made him nervous, but he was more than willing to answer anything.

"What do you get for winning?"

-

After talking with Bucky, you texted Nat and Wanda to let them know you were okay and the two of you were headed back to the compound. You beat everyone else back, but decided to wait for them in the common area.

Steve and Sam came in with their heads low, struggling to make eye contact.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry. We never should have made that bet." Steve started, aware of all the eyes on him.

"Me too. It was stupid and thoughtless." Sam added on.

"It was, but you are forgiven." You reached for Bucky's hand, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Bucky told me the winner of your little bet gets to pick the music for all forms of travel on the next three missions." You grinned at their confused expressions. "Bucky, being the winner, has so graciously bestowed that gift to me now. Get ready boys. I'm talking High School Musical. Hamilton. I'll have the two of you singing Taylor Swift in the shower." You, along with the rest of the team, laughed at their expense. Their grim expressions had you smiling, "oh please, I know you secretly love it!"

"Now, I have to go to bed. I have a date tomorrow." You winked at Bucky before sauntering off down the hall, the cheers of your teammates following you.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #steve rogers #sam wilson #marvel fic #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #tony stark #marvel

[ratsoh-writes]

Alrighty!! Most to least dirty minded

Charm/Salt/Pepper. All three are tied for first and absolutely terrible. Nobody should ever read their mind lol

Lush: very dirty but also likes other things enough to be distracted when his mind is on that train.

Sugar: equal parts nasty and romance. They often mix together

Sparks:: his mind is divided into three parts; lust, exercise, and- oh look a squirrel!

Slim: I’ve mentioned before how shameless he is. It would not surprise his brothers to learn slim is the first one under the lusts lol. He hides it well though

Red/Rust: dirty jokes are reds forte. Naturally that creativity has to come from somewhere. And don’t leave rust out. He may have cleaned up his language but he still has the same sense of humor

Rancher: let’s just say he likes to play just as hard as he works and leave it at that. Rancher has some wild stories

Star: a very openly deviant and flirtatious boy. Star is a whore and proud lol

Snipe: another nasty boy. Snipes mind is a lot dirtier than his courage allows to show though. He doesn’t hide the jokes however. Even though butch gets more action, snipe gets put above him because he dwells on it more lol

Butch: awful dirty humor, mind and experience all in one alluring package lol

Mutt/Cash: both tie in dirty minds. It’s very easy to pull them to “dim” places but something has to remind them of it

Mal: he’s a real flirt and isn’t afraid to show it. Mal is a deviant as well and only barley falls below cash and mutt lol

Bruiser/Boss: he can be very dirty minded, but is also easily distracted from it. At his dirtiest when he’s home alone

G: some of greens manners did rub off on G a little, or else he’d be waaaay higher on the list

Papyrus/Willow: despite being on the virgin squad, they both have a very dirty sense of humor but hide it well. Willow is shyer about it than papyrus is

Honey/Peaches: he’s as dirty as the average guy. The perfect middle man lol

Lord: slightly less dirty than honey and peaches in his day to day life, slightly more though when he has a crush.

Wine: the gentleman and self control in him means that any time his thoughts turn dirty, it’s always general and never focused on something specific. Besides, wine has a lot going on in his head too and doesn’t have much time to dedicate to smut.

Lilac: his wonky magic from his old injuries means that his sex drive is a lot lower than what it used to be. His mind still wanders occasionally but not nearly as much as Star does

Compass: he’s very shy about his feelings, but his mind wanders just like any other guy. He’ll never tell though

Oak: he has a dirtier sense of humor from being best friends with red and rust, but doesn’t really dwell on it besides jokes

Sans: he’s pretty chaste for such a goofy guy. Sans doesn’t go looking for dirt, it comes to him

Gears: lack of experience means that he doesn’t really know what to think when his mind turns dirty.

Edge/Noir: he’s all about that emotional connection and doesn’t feel right thinking dirty about anyone unless he’s already dating them

Rhythm: he genuinely just doesn’t think about sex a lot. Rhythm isn’t that kind of guy.

Jupiter: the heroic moral guy in him makes him feel guilty if he ever starts thinking of someone any further than a sweet gentlemanly manner. Jupiter will literally exercise the dirty away if it ever crosses his mind. All bets are off when he has a date-mate though

Basil: after the whole famine and all, dating and bed times kinda took a backseat in his mind. Basil has dated since the surface, but unless he was actually with his partner, he doesn’t really dwell on the booty

Pluto: he likes cute people sure, but you know what else is sexy? Science ✨✨. Sorry but between a nice butt and a new geology book, the book usually wins

Green: to think of anyone in that way without being committed to them leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Even just the faceless fantasies. And green has never had a problem keeping his mind off the dirt

Coffee: he’s only potentially attracted to close friends, so that really limits the amount of people he can have dirty thoughts about. Attractive strangers just don’t affect coffee. However when he does have a datemate his score shoots up a ton

Ace: surprisingly low on the list despite how much he gets around. Ace enjoys sex sure, but doesn’t dwell on it unless he’s actually seducing someone

Pop: last and definitely least. he has desires sure, but he hardly ever gives his mind time to dwell on them. There’s just too many other things in the world to obsess over!! It doesn’t help that pop is very oblivious. So even romantic gestures tend to fly over his head.

#suggestive #undertale imagines #undertale headcanons

[cowboycakes]

Hi! ur writing is incredible and i saw that requests were open and i just had to go for it. could you possible write a ReinerxFem! reader where she’s really seriously injured and tries to hide it from everyone, until she passes out in Reiner’s arms (cliche i’m sorry) and he’s just SO mad at himself for not noticing before and he’s so worried and he cares for the reader so much while she’s unconscious and after she wakes up? Just like so much fluff and angst and Reiner being a guilty fucker as he is but also like extremely protective and caring? Sorry it’s so specific. Thank you!🥺❤️

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this fluffy little piece!

Tender Loving Care 

Pairing: Reiner Braun x fem!Reader

Themes: Fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, Reiner’s guilty ass 

Warnings: Reader uses she/her pronouns, severe injury/blood and bleeding/recovery, fainting, hospital setting, profanity

Word Count: 1.5k

You stumble into the medical tent, plopping your sweaty body down on a cot. Dirt covered hands rummage through a med kit until they come across a bundle of white bandages. You form them tightly around your thigh, applying pressure that you hoped would stop the bleeding. You’d really messed up on the mission today, completely misfiring your ODM gear when the first titan came into view. Your legs hit a tree branch, hard. Nerves would often get the best of you like that.

And now you’re left with the consequence - a giant gash. The sight of it made you feel faint. Blood wouldn’t cease to seep through the mesh material surrounding your wound, even after rewrapping it a few times.

You pack some extra gauze into it before trying to stand up and go to find the rest of the group. Before you take your first step, the tent door flies open. 

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What’s wrong?” Reiner shouts, rushing over to your side. 

You secretly relished in the feeling of him worrying for you sometimes. 

This whole dynamic between the two of you began from a chance pairing in some training exercises. Reiner had played the cocky tough guy at first, trying to show off and take over every exercise the two of you were supposed to do together. This irritated you to no end, obviously. Your solution was to get under his skin: make him laugh, tease him and poke at him until that hard headed exterior of his cracked. With time, it eventually did, revealing a big softie who cared for you more than he’d like to admit. 

“Just me folding under pressure. The usual,” you sigh, taping your bandages down, “it’s just a scratch.”

“Don’t lie, let me see it,” he says gently, crouching down in front of you to inspect your injury. 

“No!” you laugh as you press a hand onto your bandage, “I’m perfectly fine! We need to get going, anyway.”

Reiner looks up to you, unimpressed. He could always see right through your fibs. You smile guiltily at him as he stands up. 

“I’m not convinced that’s just a scratch,” Reiner mumbles.

“Sure it is! Just watch,” you declare as you walk toward the exit. 

You couldn’t hide your limp. 

“Nope. Absolutely not,” Reiner interrupts. He stands in front of you and motions for you to get on his back. You sigh, but reluctantly climb on anyway. 

You loop your arms around his neck as he moves his hands to support your thighs, being extra careful around your injury. 

The pain wasn’t getting any duller, even though you weren’t trying to walk now. You lay your cheek down on Reiner’s shoulder as his big strides carried you toward the horse and cart that was set to take everyone back to headquarters. Your body goes limp on the short journey, feet dangling and heavy eyes closing. 

Reiner gently sets you down beside him whenever you two reach your ride. He instinctively puts a big arm around your sore shoulders, pulling your body in close to his warm chest. 

“That better just be a scratch, or you’re never gonna hear the end of it,” Reiner teases, squeezing your arm. 

You huff in response, closing your eyes again. 

The rest of the group eventually arrives at the cart - most of them as sweaty and beat up as you were. However, you were feeling weaker by the minute. 

“Woah, y/n, you ok? You look pale...” you hear Annie question as she boards the cart.

You look down to your leg, quick to cover it with your hands before Reiner could see. Blood had made its way through your bandaging again.

“Yeah, I’m just fine,” you laugh nervously, “thanks Annie.”

You weren’t fine. You were becoming increasingly lightheaded - feeling yourself break into a cold sweat as your breathing becomes shallow.

The cart eventually starts to move, its wooden wheels creaking as it makes its way over the bumpy path home. You try to focus on the scenery moving around you, but your vision is too blurred. 

The state of your body was now making you nervous. You decide to close your eyes and lean your head against Reiner’s chest, gripping a sweaty hand on the back of his shirt, trying to ground yourself.  He rubs his hand up and down your arm slowly in response, calming you down a bit.

“We’re almost home. I’ll get you feeling better once we’re there, ok?” Reiner says.

“Ok…” you smile, beginning to feel yourself fade in and out a bit.

The cart finally comes to a halt. Reiner stands up before you and helps your woozy legs to straighten with the support of his hand in yours. He steps off the wooden cart first, opening his arms up so he could pick you up again. 

“Reiner, I’m okay,” you say, letting go of his hand, “promise.”

You look down at the dusty ground from your position on the cart, now standing completely unassisted.

Ok, just a small step, right? Three feet at most. Just move your foot forward, out into the abyss below the cart. 

Suddenly, your vision is a mere tunnel, blackness encroaching rapidly from the outsides of your eyes. Your body is in free fall, no longer under control of your mind. 

The last thing you sense is a pair of big arms catching you princess style. 

••••••••

“Dammit!” Reiner hisses, turning fast on his heels toward the infirmary. He’s quick to dodge the other scouts walking away from the cart, moving as fast as he could while keeping your limp body still in his arms. 

I’m always so fucking oblivious. Why do I ever listen to her? Always trying so hard to make sure she’s not being a burden. Of course she was lying to me, why couldn’t I have just taken better care of her from the start?

He slides through the infirmary front doors, alerting some nurses behind the desk of your condition. He keeps you tight in his arms as they swiftly guide you to a room. You let out a little groan once he sets you down on the hospital cot. 

God dammit. This is all my fault. Damn I can’t stand to see her face like this, all tensed up - she must be in so much pain. Shit, I am not about to tear up right now. 

Nurses rush over to you, quick to put you on some fluids and start sewing up your leg. Your condition quickly stabilizes, allowing the nurses to give you some much needed time to sleep off your injuries. 

Reiner insisted on taking over the nurses' duties after that point. Big, gentle hands would change out your bandaging every so often, along with keeping cold rags on your head and holding your hand when looks of discomfort appeared on your face. In his mind, it was the least he could do to subdue his guilt - to make it up to you.

He sat there all night, a big nervous mess in the chair he pulled up next to you. He hated getting so emotional like this, especially around someone who he needed to believe he was invincible. Luckily for him, you were still sleeping like a baby, unaware of his concerns. 

You finally open your groggy eyes early in the morning - the sun hasn't even peaked over the horizon yet. Your unfocused gaze wanders to the side of the bed. 

There he is - his head sits in his hand as he stares out the dark window from his chair. His short blonde hair is disheveled, probably from nervous hands running through it all night. Dark circles encompass his upper cheeks. He clearly hadn’t slept a wink.

“Hey,” you whisper.

Reiner jumps a little bit from his daze, quickly turning to look at you. He lets out a long sigh of relief, wiping a hand down his tense face.

“You had me worried sick,” he grumbles. You hum in response, a sleepy smile accidentally forms across your cheeks.

He half-smiles back, studying the sweet look on your face, “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Did you sleep?” you question.

He blushes a little, “You don’t need to be worrying about me, y/n.”

You scoot over on your cot, pulling the sheets down to expose a little spot for him to lay. His eyes get wide, darting back and forth between you and the empty half of the bed a few times.

He gets up from his chair quietly and makes his way to your bed, sliding under the white sheets and placing his tired head on the pillow. You move in close, placing your head in the nook between his chest and his bicep. A muscular arm wraps around your waist as his head leans over to rest against yours.

The two of you lay together in the silence of the hospital, chests rising and falling at slowing rates. You felt completely at ease now, knowing all the lengths Reiner had gone to in order to keep you safe.

“You know, once I wake up,” he yawns, his words becoming slower and slower as sleep creeps over him, “you're never… gonna… hear… the end of it.”

#reiner x you #reiner x reader #reiner x y/n #reiner imagine #snk x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfiction #reiner braun #aot reiner #reiner braun x reader #aot fluff #snk fluff #aot angst #snk angst #reiner fluff #reiner angst #attack on titan #tw: injury

[tommyspeakycap]

Can we get baby little Shelby find a bunny and ask Tommy and John to take it home. And get scolded by Polly when they at home? 💕💕

more pre war Tommy fluff ;) 

Bunny

“Tommy!”

The dark haired man’s heart flies into his throat, his mind immediately kicking into gear as he drops the coin he was about to flip. He was deciding whether or not to buy a horse with a new inflow of cash they had recently gotten. That horse is lost the second he hears the shriek that came from somewhere behind him. The heavy boots on his feet make easy work of crushing through powdery snow, but give a very little to prevent him from tripping and slipping; although the fear coursing through him and his extreme haste may well have contributed to his somewhat uncoordinated limbs.

In the maybe a minute that it takes form Tommy to get from where he was to where he had traced his little sister to, a million and one thoughts race through his mind. He fears every worst case scenario his mind can conjure up and immediately blames himself for bringing you out to the country to play in some fresh snow with John and Finn. The air was much clearer out here and so too was Tommy’s mind. He could think, be free of the city smoke and the harsh environment that appears to be tacked to his work in the family business. There was so much pressure on the raven haired bookmaker to uphold his own personal morals while also living a notoriously immoral life. He tried to keep his hands clean, prevent himself from muddying the line between pointless violence and the necessary survival and protection of his family.

So going with his 5 year old little sister out to the county was something not uncommon for him. And the snow had only given him more reason to. He regretted that now.

“What-” Tommy wheezed out, unable to speak for lack of his breath after attempting to run through the deep, deep snow. “What’s happened,” he coughs, “Are you alri-“

“Tommy!” The little girl whispers harshly, waving her hands at him disapprovingly, “Shhhhh, you’ll scare it away!” Tommy snaps his mouth shut, instead opting to take the five year olds outstretched hand and crouch down as she instructs him. On her other side is John; crouched down with one arm around Finn to keep him still. “What are we looking at?” Tommy asks quietly, his neck craned to try and spot whatever his other siblings had noticed. 

“It’s a bunny, Tom. Look.” (y/n) points with her little hand and Tommy follows the general direction in which her hand is showing him. In doing so, he squints and finds his gaze falling upon a small white rabbit sitting picking a blade of grass that it had pulled through the snow. “They want to take it home.” John states, grinning at Tommy something like a Cheshire Cat because he knows for a fact that man isn't able to say no to the puppy dogs eyes of (y/n) and Finn Shelby when they truly wanted something.

“Hm, I don't think so.” He mumbles, trying to keep his eyes off of the disappointed face of his younger siblings. “You know Aunt Polly’ll go mad.” The second he does turn his head to see his youngest siblings gazing up at him in the desperate way he knows always works, he regrets it. “Please Tommy, pleeeease?” (y/n) begs, clasping her cold little hands together and pulling her most convincing puppy eyes Tommy might've ever seen. “Yeah Tommy, please? Pretty pretty please?” Finn joins in, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement and anticipation at the idea of having the little bunny as a pet. 

“Yeah Tom,” John sniggers, stubbing out his cigarette on the snowy ground. The elder brother puts on a pout to mimic (y/n) and Finn, not serving to make things any easier for Tommy as the youngest two weren't able to pick up on John’s teasing nature and sarcastic reiteration of their words. They took it as encouragement while Tommy knew John would be going home to Martha and his own kids, thus wouldn't have to be on the reviewing end of Polly’s temper. Tommy rolls his eyes and inhales deeply, thinking briefly about how angry Polly would be compared to how much it would make you and Finn giggle to have a pet even if only for a while before Tommy would free it back into the wild and tell some lie about a magic bunny farm. The kids chanting brought his mind back. “Please, please, please!” 

“Alright,” Tommy cuts them off, “Alright. But we’re not chasing it around all afternoon.”

--

How on earth Tommy ended up holding his little sister as he stood in the doorway of the Shelby family home kicking the snow off his boots while said little sister had his big trench coat wrapped around her and her smaller jacket used as a blanket for their new bunny rabbit friend, he will never know. He genuinely felt like if he had been outside for one more minute he would have actually frozen stiff, however it was always his top priority that his littlest sibling was as safe as she could be; so it was suffice to say the idea of her getting frostbite and slash or hypothermia after she insisted on wrapping the little rabbit in her own coat was less than appealing to Tommy, so she could keep his warm winter jacket as long as she desired.

“Right Finn, straight into the living room and not a peep to Pol alright?” Finn nods vigorously in a show of his determination to follow his brothers order as he places the wrapped up bunny into the young boys arms. Finn tries to run as unsuspiciously as he can past Polly in the kitchen to go through to the living room where only Ada sat, reading a book by the fire underneath a blanket. 

“Tommy?” The little girls voice draws an “Mhm?” from him as he battles to get her stiff winter boots off of her tiny cold feet. “What're we going to name him?” She enquires, her voice as inquisitive as any other curious 5 year old is. Tommy hums in thought, tapping (y/n)’s other foot in the way that he does that tells her to put her foot down and lift the other one for Tommy to pull that boot off too. There was a distinct routine between the two that had been established in the last five years of her life with Tommy acting as her primary caregiver.

“I don't know, love. Whatever you want to call him. Just remember to stay quiet about it yeah?” He looks up to see his little sister nodding firmly, placing her finger over her lips just as Tommy had done so many times when secrecy or silence was needed. 

“Alrighty then.” Tommy says, lifting both the pairs of boots easily in one hand and putting them by the other shoes. He moves his hands to under the small girls armpits and hoists her gently back up onto his hip as to avoid her stepping small puddles of water that had collected from the snow on her boots and his by the door. “Shall we go see what your brothers gotten up to with that-” 

“Jesus fucking Christ Tommy.” 

Both siblings turn their heads quickly to face Polly when they hear her speaking with her stern scolding tone turned on. Polly immediately notes how Tommy looks slightly secretive, like he was ready to start either lying or making some form excuse for something for which her niece looked rather guilty. Deer in the headlights kind of expression. “Look, Pol...” Tommy begins, but is interrupted by his aunt firmly shaking her head and marching towards him. 

“I’ve told you a million times Thomas. She’s five. That means you do still need to put her bloody hat on when you take her out in the cold but you don’t need to fucking carry her everywhere.” She huffs, pressing both her palms against (y/n)’s cold rosy cheeks, “Shes bloody freezing.” Her scolding tone never fails to make Tommy feels as though he’s still a young boy who’s been caught misbehaving by his aunt. However now he’s an adult with responsibility for his little sister and somehow, he ends up on the receiving end of that tone far more than the littlest member of the family ever will. Polly peels Tommy’s coat away off the little girl in his arms so she could hang it up to hopefully dry some before he next needs it and (y/n) doesn't mind not wearing her brothers jacket anymore, however the words that Polly speaks about putting her back down only serves to make her cling a little tighter subconsciously. 

“She's only little, Pol.” Tommy defends, “And we had long day, haven’t we sweetheart?” Polly wants to scoff when (y/n) nods her head and offers up that angel smile that wins the hearts of her entire family, but the woman can’t help but smile back and shake her head. “Well,” she huffs slightly, her hand reaching back up to the little girl to to brush the snow off (y/n)’s hair, “I think the very least your brother could do if he was going to have you out in the freezing cold all day would be to put a bloody hat on you.” 

The little girl giggles, flicking her eyes to Tommy to inspect his reaction to their aunts words. 

“Remembered.” He notes flippantly with a grin and Polly knows fully well that it was not remembered because putting a hat on top of that little girls soft locks of hair was something he had never once remembered to do without a reminder since she was merely a little bald baby. 

“Course.” She responds teasingly, “Dinner’s out soon.”

Tommy nods his head before Polly walks away in the direction of the kitchen again, where Tommy had no doubt Arthur is now lingering to pick off the scraps of dinner before its put out on the table for everyone else. 

“That was a close one, Tom.” The little girl on his hip whispers quietly, her wide eyes causing Tommy to chuckle heartily as he takes them both through to the living room to see what Finn and now likely Ada were doing with this rabbit. “Yes,” Tommy agrees, walking into the living room “It very much was. Hello Ada.” Ada immediately rolls her eyes at the sound of Tommy’s voice. 

“Pol’s going to kill you, you know.” She states, standing and crossing her arms firmly over her chest as Tommy sets his youngest sister down on the floor to run over to where Finn sat with the bunny close to the heat the fire was giving off. “Probably.” Tommy nods.

Ada turns away to wrap her blanket around her only sister, the one she had wished and prayed for since she had been merely a little girl herself. Tommy vividly remembers the many occasions when Ada was not only his youngest sibling, but also his only sister and recalls how unhappy she had been about those facts. Finn being born eased only one of those issues, but Ada rested a while for the time that Finn was a baby before again pestering their mother about wanting a little sister again. 

She had been ecstatic when (y/n) was born, and she had been besotted with that sweet little girl ever since. 

“You always forget to put her hat on, Thomas.” Ada chastises, the reprimand drawing a chuckle from her brother who takes a seat down on the couch and crosses one leg on top of the other. “So I’ve heard.” Tommy mumbles under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear and stretch out her leg to kick his when she too sat back down on the couch.

“Twat.” She hisses. 

It was Tommy’s turn to role his eyes at his sisters flippant comment, paying no mind to her words thrown in a light tease that he knew she only ever half meant.

“That’s not very nice, Ada.” 

(y/n) doesn't do so much as turn around when she chides those words in dismay to Ada’s insult aimed at her Tom. There was no hiding how the little girl adored Tommy. “Exactly Ada,” Tommy grins widely, giving Ada the biggest shit eating look he can muster as he tried not to laugh, “And that’s why you're my favourite, aren't you my love?” The 5 year old simply nods her head in response to her brothers words before turning straight back to play with her new pet. 

“Well, she might be your favourite but you certainly won’t be Polly’s once she sees you’ve brought that home. She’ll go mad.” Ada nods her head in the direction of the fluffy white animal in their living room. Tommy shrugs his shoulders indifferently, “They're happy though, aren't they? and quiet. Worth it really.” 

Ada knew very well that Tommy was right, although it was likely that she wouldn't even think to much on that in his vicinity, just incase he even got the sensation that she was thinking he was in the right. They’ve got a big family and a lot of hard work had to go into making business run smoothly to provide for everyone. The younger kids can sometimes go amiss to the elder siblings on particularly busy days. Sometimes playing and talking to them gets overlooked or their clothes go on back to front because everyone forgot they sometimes still needed help with things like that. 

So giving them the simple pleasure of almost a normal childhood - not one living with the Shelby name and subsequently the future of the Peaky Blinders tacked to them - by letting them a pet that they can look after and love on for a few days at least was something Tommy was willing to grin and bare the wrath of Polly Gray for. 

He was a sucker for that little girl, so when she’s happy there are few things in the world Thomas Shelby wouldn't endure to keep it that way. 

#tommy shelby x sister reader #tommy shelby x sister!reader #shelby!reader #shelby sister reader #baby shelby #peaky blinders #peaky blinders blurb

[charnel-doll]

I’ve never played a guilty gear in my life but @duckily showed the group chat this bitch’s reveal trailer and now I can’t stop thinking about them. Genuinely might pick up strive once my new computer is set up just to play them

(I will also be dead in the cold, cold ground before I actually draw a top hat)

#guilty gear #testament guilty gear