#hamel x chief

[ink-sinner]

flowing, deeply like currents

— hamel x chief

genre : hurt / comfort, fluff

warnings : mild spoilers regarding hamel's family

wordcount : 1,726

summary : out here, there is only the two of you: her, the dancer, and you, her captive audience.

in the middle of a grey world, hamel stands lonely, a picture of a lone pastel flower growing in the middle of ashes. there is a kind of ambient loneliness surrounding her, a sense of unbelonging that flits in and out of existence like dandelion petals in the air, flickering even as her feet stay rooted in the ground. you’ve always thought this, but hamel always has this sense of unreality, winding and twisting, a reverie that has never left, even as you pulled her out of the carnival, and into the real world.

she comes and goes, comes and goes. like a ghost, you are accustomed to seeing her locked up in her room, lost in her own world, or out here, away from everything on top of the walls surrounding the mbcc.

today, you find her, finally, on top of your little world.

“hamel,” you call out, panting from climbing the stairs. like a broken puppet, she stands there for a while, a dazed look in her glass eyes, before she turns to you like waking up from a deep sleep.

and it takes her a few more seconds to recognize you. “oh . . . chief, how may i . . . help you?”

“i've been looking for you,” you say.

“me?” she blinks at you, and crosses her hands in front of her. “am i needed somewhere, chief?”

you shake your head. the wind picks up, carrying the scent of ozone from the grey clouds, and you clutch your windbreaker tightly to your chest. in the middle of it all, hamel stands gracefully, hair and dress fluttering in the wind as if only a gentle breeze has touched her.

“not particularly, no,” you say. “but it's lunchtime, and i didn't see you in the cafeteria, so . . .”

you trail off. hamel only blinks, and smiles graciously.

“oh,” she says. “thank you.”

and then she falls quiet, and speaks no more. in the ringing silence, you step next to her, cautiously watching her for lest you scare her away. but hamel barely seems to notice you there.

you look down. discity sprawls before you, stretching far to the edges of the earth, where the land curves from this vantage point. there is barely anything to see here, you think. all buildings in the metropolis, all the gold and none the glitter.

“what are you thinking of?”

before your eyes, hamel's figure seems to shiver in the light. refracted, half-asleep, like the slightest of winds could blow her away if you do not hold on.

it takes her a long, long while to answer. you wait patiently by her side.

and when she speaks again, it's as if she has only woken from a trance, soft and hesitant like a fawn. she points to the distance, somewhere far in the horizon, further than the sprawling metropolis of eastside and the grey smoke of the syndicate.

“there used to be a field there,” she says. “the rust river irrigated the crops and made flowers bloom. when i was young, my brother and i would play in the grass. i would dance for him, and he would give me flower crowns in return.”

you try to follow her distant gaze, where her shaky hand points to a long-gone history. there is nothing there but a busy city street, narrow and winding roads, so packed with dazzling lights that you can barely see the stars here at night. it's hard to imagine the idyll she describes.

“a field, huh,” you murmur. “that sounds lovely.”

she hums. her hand falls to her side, and she tiptoes closer to the edge, where the wind dances with the hem of her skirt as if coaxing her to twirl. “there was also an ancient tree there. i remember trying to climb it, but failing miserably. my brother ended up carrying me home on his back while i cried.”

there is a vague smile on her lips. she looks happy, melancholic, a kind of fluttery nostalgia that comes and goes like waves. her hands grip her arms tight until her skin reddens and pales, but she keeps her painful smile on.

norman's golden locket glints by her chest.

“discity has changed so much,” she continues, softly like handing over her words to the wind. “i . . . can't find where i belong at all. everything i've ever known is already long gone.”

“hamel, i . . .” like instinct, you want to reach out to her, but your hand falls before it reaches hers. you want to help her, but.

you don't know what you can say to make it better. you don't know if you can do anything to make it better.

finally, hamel shakes her head, and smiles at you. her rosy eyes are clear, without a hint of the teary haze that watched over the city just a second ago. “it's nothing. thank you for listening to me, chief. you are a good friend.”

you hold her gaze for a moment, before falling away. you bite your lip. “i'm sorry.”

“hm?”

“when i took you out of the carnival, i promised you that i would build you a new stage,” you say. below you, guards circle the parameter of the mbcc, so little from up here that they look like pinpricks of ink against the cement. you watch them go. “that i'd give you a place where you can be free to dance for yourself, no matter what kind of dance you want to express. and yet, i haven't . . . really been doing much to help you adjust at all. i'm sorry.”

a beat of silence. cool hands wrap around your hand, and you look up to meet hamel's gentle eyes. she is so soft, cotton-candy glazed with a sweet smile on her pink lips.

“chief,” she says. “as long as you promise to be my audience, then i am already satisfied.”

you look at her, and her smile warms your heart, but it can't fully blow away the lingering doubts in your chest. she looks so out-of-place here, you think. she is all pastel sunrise and grace that cannot be chained, and discity and the mbcc are all so grey, so drab. you took her out of her revelry, and gave her a broken stage with only yourself as an audience.

you think she deserves more.

hamel blinks at you. her pale lashes sweep over her cheeks, delicate and beautiful, and her image hypnotizes you that you don't realize she has stepped closer, until you feel cool fingertips touch your face lightly.

like a dream, her touch is ethereal.

“chief,” she murmurs. “shall i . . . build a beautiful stage just for the two of us?”

in between the quiet beats of your hearts, her memories come to life.

hamel steps away from you, and follows the path to a distant daydream. within the blink of an eye, the grey clouds turn into a vibrant summer sky, erasing all the dust and ash, turning all the dashed hopes of the city into a lovely paradise. flowers bloom where her feet touch the ground, and in the distance, you can see an ancient tree standing tall and proud.

you watch her dance, enthralled. her eyes are closed, and her lips rest on a contented smile, painting a serene, nostalgic landscape that flows and glimmers with every twirl. the birds chirping, the rust river flowing in the background, even the warm summer air — the world sings for her, a harmony for her to dance to, here in this stage she has built for the two of you.

it's a strange emotion that she conveys, something in between longing and contentment, a kind of yearning that goes beyond logic. your chest aches, watching her, but she is so beautiful in her own world.

a raindrop falls on your face.

you look up, surprised, but the skies remain startlingly blue, and even if you raise your hands, there is no evidence of rain until it touches your skin and soaks your uniform dark. you turn to hamel, and find her watching you, too.

“it's raining,” you say.

she smiles. like waking up from a dream, her illusion wavers, and the blue sky above turns grey, reflecting the light rain falling down in real life.

“do you want to go back, chief?”

“do you?”

hamel lifts her eyes, and cups her hands in front of her. raindrops pool in between her hands, tracing a silver line down her arm before falling to the ground. the rest of the illusion has not vanished, and the summer idyll turns to spring where she spins underneath the rain and blooms flowers around the roots of the ancient tree.

“the rain,” she says instead. “it wants me to dance, too.”

she is so beautiful in her own world. you can't help but smile. “then, i'll stay to watch you, hamel. for as long as you want.”

but she does not continue her dance. she pauses for a moment and looks at you, and her rosy gaze is dazzlingly clear. you are lost within the flushed coral fractals of her irises.

hamel offers you her hand. “chief, would you . . . like to dance with me again?”

you take her hand, and her smile widens. “of course.”

she leads you out of the tree's shade, into the open field with the rain and the sounds of nature singing the melody to your dance. she is graceful, fluid in her every move, and you feel you can only stumble behind as she guides you, suddenly too clumsy in the face of her elegant dance.

but she is looking at you, and she is smiling at you. your heart beats in the space between your bodies, tightly intertwined until there is barely a breath between the two of you.

tenderly, hamel leans in, and rests her head against your chest as she leads you through a sweeping glide across the field. her buried smile warms your skin like a sun.

“your heart,” she says. “it's dancing, too.”

you smile. “it's dancing for you.”

she looks up then, and so close, you can see her clearer than you ever had before. the way the pale sun reflects in her irises, the freckles on her skin, the way her lashes flutter as she blinks. she looks into your eyes, and sees right through your soul.

you don't look away.

[ariiadnes]

╭ ㅤ ⿻ ･ I DESIRE THE THINGS THAT WILL DESTROY ME IN THE END ( part i. )

THERE'S THIS SOMETHING INSIDE YOU THAT'S ROTTING AWAY & YOU FEEL IT ALL ALONG.

-ˋ ♡ ◞ zoya ･ hamel ･ m!chief ･ cabernet. path to nowhere. quote cr : sylvia plath. haruki murakami. repost.

❀ ﾟ. ༄ zoya

THIS CORPSEBORN IS MADE OF DESTRUCTION & VIOLENCE IS ALL SHE KNOWS, THIS SURVIVOR OF THE SYNDICATE. because it is much easier to wreak havoc than to speak strained words of diplomacy, so with bloodied knuckles and aching hands, zoya speaks volumes in her rise in the rankings of a place gone wrong with relentless betrayal and reckless abandon.

but in the haze of red, red, red violence, there is something akin to love that lingers in the heart. you wrap the bandages around her hands, touch gentle and tired. you are too familiar with this routine ; this is nothing new -- it's not, never will be, yet there is this foreign heaviness that settles on your chest : a far cry warning that you want to ignore and acknowledge all the same.

something is coming. something is brewing beneath it all, something has been here all along, something so terrifying is going to twist and turn everything and everyone into something they are not and never should be.

something is coming, should she continue down this route. something tells you, in this moment, in this air that should be made of tenderness and belonging, that you will lose her, that things will go wrong and her own strength and resilience will be her own damnation.

your hands tremble when you kiss those bandaged knuckles. zoya smiles, faint.

"don't overthink." she tells you, fingers lifting your chin ever so slightly as she looks at you with a quiet pride. "i'll be fine."

there's that confidence that always rings true, and you hope she will be right, for her own sake and for everyone's sake.

"you have to be." you whisper as she pulls you closer, and when her lips meet yours, you are afraid to let go.

❀ ﾟ. ༄ hamel

THIS IS A VERY LONELY PLACE, THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA, BUT THIS IS HER STAGE : AN ENDING, AN ILLUSION OF JOY THAT CRUMBLES BENEATH THE WEIGHT OF DESPAIR AND CORRUPTION.

this is the home of a dancer frozen in the pits of sorrows ; this is the home of a savior who knows nothing but selflessness. this is the home of someone you love, and if you let this continue on, this will become her burial site.

you feel like you are drowning. you feel like you are so far away from her, the seemingly calm waves a deception to the madness in the tides.

"this is not your home, hamel." you whisper the words like it is sacred, like you are afraid. because you are-- you are, because you know that you cannot win this battle, know that the return to shore will be a path you take alone. "it never was. your grief is not theirs. you can--" and your voice breaks. "you can come home, please."

time does not pass in this place. you feel frozen, as if your heart stills, only to beat once more when she laces her fingers with yours, offers the most gentlest of smiles. but on the curve of her lips resides a heartache, and you know that this will end in the shattering of the soul and the continuing decay of a dancer's spirit.

"you're right." she answers, and her voice is so light, almost drowned in the waves. "but who will carry it for them?"

she squeezes your hand. it is a dreadful feeling. you cannot speak, feel yourself succumb to devastation, so she does, instead.

"my grief is not yours, either. it's alright. please, go home." hamel tells you, and her smile grows, but it is a pained one, and it is one that you will remember until the end of time.

❀ ﾟ. ༄ m!chief

& FATE IS NOT MEANT TO BE LEFT IN THE CRIMSON SHACKLES OF REDEMPTION AND RENEGADES, BUT OH, HOW IT BINDS YOU SO. there is no call of the divine upon his awakening, his mind and body thrown to the wolves in the moment of consciousness. he does not understand it all, not entirely -- this burden, this pressure to do good, to be good, to follow his heart until the very end.

but righteousness and self-sacrifice are not meant to go hand in hand, but in the connections he's made to those deemed outcasts, he puts his life on the line, pushing himself further and further from the light and deeper and deeper into the darkness and corruption of black rings.

is it self-destruction if it is for the sake of others? he is not sure. it is not a question he deems worth thinking over, not when there are too many things to do, too many people to save.

but when is the savior saved?

"you're straying too far." you whisper, and there is a quiet fear in your voice, a fear of what if, when or how, and your hands cup his face, tender, forcing him to look at you. "you're going too far. what happens when we lose you? what happens when i lose you?"

he pauses, and you see that flicker of conflict in his eyes-- this is all he knows, sacrifice and foolish courage. it is a necessity. this is all he knows, memories of origins lost. what else can he do but save everyone but himself?

still, he smiles, though it is laced with reluctance and apology as his hands gently grab your wrists, lowering them before he kisses your forehead.

"the shackles are not the only thing that bind us." he murmurs, another kiss placed on your nose. "wherever you are, i'll be with you, no matter the distance." another kiss, but this time, his lips meet yours. "i don't break my promises."

❀ ﾟ. ༄ cabernet

BUT THE SOUL IS NOT ALWAYS BIRTHED FROM PURITIES AND INNOCENCE : LOVE A LESSON LEARNED , HONOR BESTOWED THROUGH SELFLESS MEANS. the soul is the heart, the vessel, the sacrifice, and for an insatiable sinner, it is meant for the DEVOURING.

cabernet knows of horrors & treacherous beings : human or sinner, sinner or saint. she knows of the bitterness that coats her tongue at the thought of a tarnished feast, knows of the desire that seeps through her veins in the consumption of another. there is glory in the hunt, just as there is glee in the reward.

but in the rot and decay contained in this sinner, there is a soul that does not bore the features she desires in the chosen, and if you look closely, you will learn she is made of everything god has admonished : pride . greed . wrath . envy . lust . gluttony . sloth.

she is so terribly forsaken yet not forgiven, but even you cannot deny her.

in this moment, rose colors her cheeks, and in those drunken eyes, there is a desire unspoken but told. she laces her fingers with yours-- slow, almost reverent, but you know you are not seen as a person, but rather, prey. still, your heart does not beat as quickly as hers does. you watch. you wait, cautious, though you know she will not hurt you.

when her gaze meets yours, she smiles, wanting, and she presses your hand against her cheek, leans into the touch as she lets out an amused hum.

"i’m yours." she tells you, and you almost wonder if your pulse quickens as she kisses the inside of your wrist. "i am yours until you allow me to devour you."

[purpleberiii]

Just found out my sister about to put my family into debt by making her wedding. I'm so stressed and need a distraction.

Anyway, choking with Zoya. Soft sex with Hamel. Fucking on a bike with Bai Yi. Putting a leash on Rahu. Having Shalom ride you. Oral (giving and receiving) with Cabrnet (idk if I spelled her name right). Office sex with Langley. Pain play with chief (she might be into it with how much she puts herself into trouble). Cockwarming with Cinnabar. Teasing and edging with miss Quinn (for the love of my I couldn't spell her name). Testing Eureka's inventions on her. Machoisam with Machiato (? Idk if I spelled her name 2#). Praise kink and overestimulation with Eleven (+Voice kink, she'd be into anything as long as it involved your voice). Andibejn give me idea for Stargazer.

Ahem, ahem I luv you more (*^ω^), now gimme a hug ＼(^^)／

Aww I'm so sorry to hear that (＞x＜)

So here's your distraction 🤤

Zoya is absolutely into choking. She loves when you fuck her and wrap your hands tightly around her throat. She'll even tell you things that makes you all riled up and later you'll take it all out by cooking and fucking her till she sees the stars.

Soft sex is the best sex for Hamel. Since she's such an easy spoken person, and everything about her screams elegance and quiet, she'd be into the softer side of you. Fucking her slowly but deep and tell her sweet things and praises, she'll be absolutely putty in your hands in no time.

Bend Bai Yi over her bike and fuck her into submission. She'll scream and cream all she wants but will absolutely do anything to make you go faster. After all, she loves things that are fast ;)

Rahu with a leash makes you go feral. Tug on her leash with her hands tied behind your back as she gives you the best head of your life. With that leash, she feels completely owned by you.

Shalom is a power bottom. She loves giving you orders and telling you how she wants you to fuck her. Her honey voice will make you absolutely Melt. Her favourite position is cowgirl. It makes her feel more powerful and dominant even though at the end, she's the one with a squirting pussy and shaking legs.

Cabernet loves a feast. Her favourite one however is you. Be it whether she's giving you heads or you're giving her, she just loves it. She loves giving you head more than anything, saying that you taste delicious than anything she's ever eaten.

Langley is a busy woman, packed with stress. So whenever she barges in your office, don't expect anything else from her other than sex. Immediately your schedule will be cleared for the next five hours and the only thing that could be heard from your office is skin clapping, moans and screams.

Chief is a masochist. She loves pain and anything related to pain (only during sex ofc). Drip candle wax on her body, fuck her while spanking her, pull her hair when she's giving you heads. Do anything to make her feel pain and you'll have her cumming in less time than you intended.

Cinnabar is a pure baby but that pure baby loves cock. Her favourite thing to do is to cockwarm you during office time. It'll feel good when you have her sitting on your cock, squeezing your dick every second. At some point, she'll even ride you and then it'll turn into a full blown fuck session.

Quinn is absolutely into edging and teasing. Although she'll get frustrated, she loves the feeling of being denied that pleasure but when she does come, expect her to come hard and fast.

Since Eureka loves inventing new stuff, it wouldn't hurt to try these inventions on her, especially that vibrating dildo she created or that self moving dildo, one that she will just put in her cunt and it wil automatically thrust into her. Oh the pleased expression on your face.

Just like chief, Macchiato is a masochist. Anything related to pain will cause Macchiato pleasure. Like they say, pain is pleasure, and that's macchiato's motto. Treat her like a toy, toss her around like she's nothing but a ball, make her bounce on your cock while you stick a vibrator in her ass. All these things will get her cumming quick and hard.

Eleven loves the sound of your voice and she loves when you tease her until she can't take it anymore. Fuck her and give her praises will make her see stars. Dirty talk to her while you fuck her. Finger her while she hosts her channel and when she's on the verge of coming,pull it out. When she does get what she wants, tell her how a good girl she's been and how good she was for you. Eleven will make an absolute mess on the bed.

Stargazer is into bondage and fucking in risky places. The thought of someone possibly catching her while you're buried deep inside of her will have her cumming fast. Tie her up and put a ball gag in her mouth and stick a vibrator up her pussy while you absolutely drill into her ass. Oh boy, stargazer will indeed see the stars.

Also, I love you more my adorable yet horny berii (❁´◡`❁)(⁎˃ᴗ˂⁎)૮₍꜆꜄ ˃ ³ ˂ ₎

[kafnixc]

hello i just read your hamel fic and my god you write so good. can I request for sub!langley x gp chief!reader?

Sub Langley mentioned!! I'll be happy to serve right away🤭 Who wouldn't want to see this woman on her knees just for you?

Pairing: sub!Langley x GP Chief!reader

Warnings: Crying during sex, Fingering, Overstimulation, Creampie, Squirting, Semi public(maybe?), Almost getting caught, Gagging, Brat taming, Slapping

Author's note: I love women that wear black latex gloves😈

You were in your office, signing paperwork as usual.. I mean, you are the chief of mbcc after all it's expected that you'd have a lot of work pile. But your handwriting was.. quite off, totally not because you have a certain sinner, Langley underneath you giving you a head.

A light creak to your door caught your attention, It was nightingale. You tried to compose yourself and force a small smile to your lips as she spoke "Chief, I came here to report about..." As nightingale continued to speak, you snucked one of your hands under your desk and grabbed a handful of Langley's hair as she sucked on your cock faster, taking the whole length onto her mouth eliciting a small inaudible whine from you

Your brows furrowed and you leaned your head back as you guided her faster, but you quickly snapped out of your world when nightingale spoke; "Chief.. are you feeling alright? You seem quite red and you're sweating." When she tried to step closer, you raised your hand and indicated her to stop "I-Im fine..! It's just.. hot in here that's all" you replied with a shrug, while nightingale stood there silently for a few minutes before replying

"mm.. if you say so, chief. I'll be taking my leave." You gave her a nod, as you watched her turn her back and silently leave your office. You let out a sigh of relief before grunting as you felt yourself twitch inside Langley's mouth "fuck.. ah— Langley.. m'gonna cum.." you whimpered out, as soon as you felt yourself drawing closer you pushed her head down, before spurting your cum inside her mouth down to her throat as you watch her gag on your cock

Langley pulled away before licking her lips and smirking as she jerks on your softening cock, making it hard again "Chief.. is that all you can give me? That's quite disappointing.." She taunted with that grin on her face.. oh how you wished to wipe that smug grin of hers.

Langley parted her lips to speak once more, but was surprised as your hand makes contact with her cheek "..what a needy bitch you are, so desperate for my cock.." you say through gritted teeth before dragging her out from where she is and placing her on your desk and parted her legs and gods.. she was soaked.

"Is this all for me? You got this wet from sucking my cock?" You hissed before landing a slap to her pussy which makes her jolt "Ah- chief.. you're being aggressive today.. did my taunting get to you?" She teased, but her teasing was cut short and was replaced with a scream as you surge your cock forward, forcing its way in her folds. Hands scrambling to find something to grip on but eventually she placed her hands on your back, clawing your clothed back

You hissed at the slight burning sensation on your back caused by her nails, your hips moving at a steady pace while you leaned down to press kisses on her neck "So good for me.." you whispered praises into her ear before suddenly fastening your pace, practically pistoning into her "Ah—! Chief— Oh!—" Langley wraps her legs around your hips, pulling you down "Gods.. chief!— don't stop.. don't..m'close.." Your eyes widened at the sight of her tears, and gosh.. it turned you on even more

Langley felt you slowly pulling out until only the tip of your cock remained inside her "Chief—" She choked out a sob at the sudden empty feeling but then you surged your hips forward, thrusting your whole length back and hitting that spot inside her. Your hands moved to her waist resting them there as you started pistoning into her

You knew her orgasm was approaching by the way she was clamping down on your cock practically making it difficult to move. It made you groan and more determined to make her cum as you also felt yourself drawing closer to your own orgasm, you leaned down to her neck leaving another batch of kisses and hickeys.

After a few thrusts, you bit down on her neck sinking your teeth into her soft flesh as you painted her insides white. Her eyes rolling into the back of her head while she comes around your cock.. you pulled out after catching your breath. You glanced at Langley's face to see her make up ruined, gods.. that made you so proud wiping that smug grin of her face and replace it with ruined make up and tears running down her face.

"Don't pass out on me now, we're not done" You thrusted two fingers into her folds, not giving her enough time to recover from her recent high which elicited a small whine from the Sinner.. "chief— can't.." you heard the Sinner murmur, which made you grin "Can't..? Don't give me that, I know you can baby.. give me one more" you cooed before moving your fingers in a painfully slow pace.

You watch as she squirmed in her position, watching how she whined and eventually starts to fuck herself on her fingers.. you found it amusing and.. pathetic. So like the good person you are, you fastened your pace curling your fingers on that spongy spot inside her causing her to throw her head back and squirted around your fingers, you instinctively secured the back of her head with your palm to avoid her head from hitting the desk

It was cute to watch her legs uncontrollably trembling, slick dripping from her pussy down to your now ruined desk. You pulled your fingers out before placing them in your mouth.. she tasted so heavenly, you took your cock and jerked it off until it was hard again. You pressed the tip on the Sinner's dripping entrance

"Y-You're still going?" Langley panted, clearly amused by your stamina "I can go till morning." You said with pure confidence before thrusting your whole length inside surprising the Sinner once more from the sudden stretch "We're still going whether you like it or not, I have enough stamina to go till morning, after all.." you lifted her legs up pinning them beside her head "This is supposed to be a punishment."

Edit: HELP ME THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED YET, I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED IT. BYE

[lirational]

can i req hcs of how hamel loves? sfw and nsfw if you can🌝 TYSM FOR THE FOOD

I had to poke someone into providing me her lines and profile stuff because I lack Hamel in my account. I hope you enjoy the food, anon!

I apologize for the late reply, my brain was not cooperating with me FHSJDHSJS.

—

Hamel x Chief!Reader

Content warnings: NONE

SFW:

She does not like being touched by others, but she craves physical touch from you. This, combined with her lack of concept of time from being so long in the Black Ring makes each cuddle session with her last so long your arm might feel numb by the end of it - if she didn’t fall asleep in your arms while listening to your heartbeat, that is. At the worst days of her hallucinations, she would come to automatically seek you for comfort.

Though she wouldn’t mind going out with you, she prefers a more private date. It can be as simple as you cooking for her in her room or your own room, or even a cuddle session while watching movies. On that note, I think she would prefer a heartwarming movie, as something horror-related might exacerbate her hallucinations

As her profile states, yes, she will ask you to dance with her in her room. She prefers less talking with words, and more talking with her (and your) body, as she finds the body language to be more honest than words. Sometimes, the other Sinners are jealous of this, some jokingly saying that you got special treatment from the legendary dancer.

When you invite her to your room, she is endlessly curious, looking at things you own in a blatant fascination. This stems from her twenty-three years of isolation, sure, but she is endlessly eager to learn everything she could about you, and it shows. If you like cooking, she would hover behind you as you cook, even offering her help (unfortunately she can be kind of clumsy). If you’re more artsy, she would also try doing it with you, albeit with varying results.

Saying that she likes being close to you is an understatement.

Despite its, well, relaxed and less outdoorsy feel, no date with her is spontaneous, and veering into that NSFW direction, no sex with her is ever spontaneous.

NSFW under the cut:

As said above, for her, sex is an extremely intimate thing, and she will go out of her way to make everything perfect. From aromatic candles to specially made/purchased bedsheets and all the way to aftercare, she would ensure everything is perfect from top to bottom, and she would expect and appreciate the same effort from you. Be prepared to clear your entire schedule for that.

Service top, 100%. She would take everything slow, noting each movement of your body down to the slightest twitches, praising you as she gently unraveled your body. Not too big on marks, but when she feels particularly indulgent, she would leave a bit of lipstick smudge on you.

(This actually stoked jealously from the other Sinners)

She likes it when you tell how much you want her in detail, and while she’s open to trying out new kinks with you, she most likely wouldn’t be the one to initiate them. The one exception to this is shibari, but it’s mostly for the artsy side (I believe you have Enfer to thank for this). She loves the fact that in this state, you look like a gift to be unwrapped, a gift just for her.

When it’s your turn to initiate and prepare to have sex with her, she will go feral (for her standards, anyway) if you wear something partly transparent. It won’t be feral to the point of marking and bites, but you will feel it from her slightly harder grip and the thump of her beating heart.

[nicknickknacks]

Path to Nowhere x WWE Roster Masterlist

If you are looking for posts featuring a specific character, click on the "Keep reading" part to see the full list!

For those with no links, it means they have not yet been featured here (they may have been featured in the full matches).

MBCC Personnel

MBCC Chief (spoiler tag here)

Nightingale

Faye

Wynn

Unknown Rank

Suspect R

S-Rank Sinners

Zoya

Langley

Bai Yi

NOX

Eirene

Hamel

Summer

Stargazer

Enfer

Oak Casket

OwO

Deren

Etti

Raven

Dreya

Adela

Cabernet

Rahu

Shalom

Coquelic

Mantis

Eleven

Eve

Donald

Lady Pearl

Vanilla

Du Ruo

Yao/Xu

Angell

Bianca

Hestia

+\L.L./+

Moore (spoiler tag here)

000

Korryn

A-Rank Sinners

Chelsea

Hecate

Wendy

Chameleon

Dudu

Anne

Cinnabar

Uni

Sumire

Ninety-Nine

Luvia Ray

Garofano

Matilda

Christina

Thistle

Letta

Dr. Iron

McQueen

Shawn

Rise

B-Rank Sinners

Lisa

Gekkabijin

Che

K.K.

Kelvin

Hella

[inou-ie]

CHARACTERS I WOULD WRITE FOR:

HONKAI STAR RAIL:

Jingliu, Kafka, Himeko, Stelle, March 7th, Serval, Bronya, Seele, Tingyun, Natasha, Yukong, Topaz, Ruan Mei, Acheron, Black Swan, Jade

ships I would write for : RuanLiu, KafStel, KafHime, AcheSwan, TopaJade

GENSHIN IMPACT:

Yae Miko, Raiden Ei, Kujou Sara, Sangonomiya Kokomi, Yelan, Shenhe, Eula Lawrence, Jean Gunnhildr, Lisa Minci, Raiden Shogun, Arlecchino, Kamisato Ayaka, Navia, Clorinde, Furina, Xianyun

ships I would write for : ArleFuri, EiMiko, ShenLan, EulaJean, EulAmber, EiSara, JeanLisa, Clorivia

PATH TO NOWHERE:

Cabernet, Shalom, Rahu, Eirene, Hamel, Zoya, Oak Casket, Bai Yi, Garofano, Angell

ships I would write for : RahuShalom, Fem!Chief x Female Sinners

WUTHERING WAVES Changli, Jinhsi, Baizhi

ships I would write for : none yet

[ptn-imagines]

who are your favourite sinners? how does your team look?? it's not a request or something I'm just relying curious :зс do you as well have any favourite pairings by any chance?

I have a lot of favorite Sinners! Off the top of my head, I'd say my favorites are Zoya, Rahu, Shalom, and Eleven (and Angell, if I'm allowed to pick unreleased Sinners lol).

My go-to team for most stages is NOX, Langley, Hamel, Shalom, Deren and Zoya.

I'm very predictable, so my favorite pairings are Rahu x Shalom and f!Chief x Zoya!

[urban-nocturne]

Femslash February - Day 2: Chief x Hamel

I finished Chapter 7 and I’m very Okay about it

[radishleaf]

squints into the distance

not enough hamel x f!chief content this season. hoping for better growth in the summer.

[ink-sinner]

Hello! Your Zoya fics were👌👌👌.

Hamel x Chief fluff please? I have the same feelings about her as Zoya after their chapters because I haven't arrested either and I'm sad not knowing how they're doing 🥲

flowing, deeply like currents

here!! thank you for the req, i hope it's up to your liking 🥺🥺 hamel's such a sweetheart, i rlly do hope the next few chaps revisit her and zoya for a bit.. it seems so sad that we ended the black rings but couldnt help their ground zeroes at all 😔😔

and thank you so much for the kind words! 💗💗 i hope you get hamel and zoya in your next ten pull🙏🏼��🏼

[antoine-roquentin]

Across the global economy, the potential for automation seems huge. Adidas’ “Speedfactory” in Bavaria will employ 160 workers to produce 500,000 pairs of shoes each year, a productivity rate over five times higher than in typical factories today. The British Retail Consortium estimates that retail jobs could fall from three million to 2.1 million within ten years, with only a small fraction replaced by new jobs in online retailing. Many financial-services companies see the potential to cut information-processing jobs to a small fraction of current levels.

And yet, despite all this, measured productivity growth across the developed economies has slowed. One possible explanation, recently considered by Andrew Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England, is that while some companies rapidly grasp the new opportunities, others do so only slowly, producing a wide productivity dispersion even within the same sector. But dispersion alone cannot explain slowing productivity growth: that would require an increase in the degree of dispersion.

However, to focus on how technology is applied to existing jobs may be to look in the wrong place, for the clue to the productivity paradox may instead be found in the activities to which displaced workers move. David Graeber of the London School of Economics argues that as much as 30% of all work is performed in “bullshit jobs,” which are unnecessary to produce truly valuable goods and services but arise from competition for income and status.

Graeber usefully views the world from the perspective of an anthropologist, not an economist. But the phrase “bullshit jobs” and his focus on demotivated workers doing pointless work may divert attention from the essential development: individual workers may regard as stimulating and valuable many jobs which cannot in aggregate contribute to total welfare.

Suppose, for example, that you cared passionately about the objectives of a particular charity, had a flair for fundraising, and successfully increased that charity’s share of available donations. You would probably feel both motivated and good, even if all you had done was divert money from another charity about which another equally motivated fundraiser was equally passionate.

The crucial economic question, therefore, is not whether individual jobs are “bullshit,” but whether they increasingly perform a zero-sum distributive function, whereby the dedication of ever more skill, effort, and technology cannot increase human welfare, given the skill, effort, and technology applied on the other side of the competitive game.

Numerous jobs fall into that category: cyber criminals and the cyber experts employed by companies to repel their attacks; lawyers (both personal and corporate); much of financial trading and asset management; tax accountants and revenue officials; advertising and marketing to build brand X at the expense of brand Y; rival policy campaigners and think tanks; even teachers seeking to ensure that their students achieve the higher relative grades that underpin future success.

Measuring what share of all economic activity is zero sum is inherently difficult. Many jobs involve both truly creative and merely distributive activities. And zero-sum activities can be found in all sectors; manufacturing companies can employ tax accountants to minimize liabilities and top executives who focus on financial engineering.

But available figures suggest that zero-sum activities have grown significantly. As Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini point out in a recent Harvard Business Review article, some 17.6% of all US jobs, receiving 30% of all compensation, are in “management and administrative” functions likely to involve significant zero-sum activity. Meanwhile employment in financial and “business services” firms has grown from 15% to 18% of all US jobs in the last 20 years, and from 20% to 24% of measured output.

Hamel and Zanini argue that if we could only strip out unnecessary management jobs, productivity could soar. But the growth of zero-sum activities may be more inherent than they believe. As technological progress makes us ever richer in terms of many basic goods and services – whether cars or household appliances, restaurant meals or mobile phone calls – it may be inevitable that more human activity is devoted to zero-sum competition for available income and assets.

As our ability to produce higher-quality goods with fewer people increases, value may come to lie more and more in subjective brands, and rational firms will devote resources to activities like market analysis, financial engineering, and tax planning. Eventually, almost all human work might be devoted to zero-sum activities.

Whether or not robots will ever achieve human-level intelligence, it is illuminating to consider what an economy would look like if we could automate almost all the work required to produce the goods and services human welfare requires. There are two possibilities: one is a dramatic increase in leisure; the other is that ever more work would be devoted to zero-sum competition. Given what we know about human nature, the second development seems likely to play a significant role.

As I argued in a recent lecture, such an economy would probably be a very unequal one, with a small number of IT experts, fashion designers, brand creators, lawyers, and financial traders earning enormous incomes. Paradoxically, the most physical thing of all – locationally desirable land – would dominate asset values, and rules on inheritance would be a key determinant of relative wealth.

In John Maynard Keynes’s words, we would have solved “the economic problem” of how to produce as many goods and services as we want , but would face the more difficult and essentially political questions of how to achieve meaning in a world where work is no longer needed, and how to govern fairly the inherent human tendency toward status competition. Seeking to resolve these challenges through accelerated technological development and faster productivity growth would be like pursuing a mirage.

[brostateexam]

...lead to predictions that all companies will one day be organised like the game developer Valve and the online retailer Zappos – the current poster-firms of the bossless company narrative (the software-hosting service GitHub used to be among them but recently abandoned the model). Companies will still exist as formal legal entities but they will be flat, not pyramidal. As the popular management writer Tim Kastelle put it in 2013: ‘It’s time to start reimagining management. Making everyone a chief is a good place to start.’ Managerial authority and hierarchy are outdated, ineffective ways of managing and organising, we are told. ‘Bureaucracy must die,’ wrote Hamel in 2014, going on to document various Dilbert-style tropes but without saying anything about how people actually coordinate and cooperate. Just as the top-down, rigid and stuffy Encyclopaedia Britannica was displaced by the bottom-up, flat and flexible Wikipedia, traditionally organised companies are being displaced by the ‘wikified’ firms of the knowledge-based, networked economy with flat structures, peer assessment, self-organising teams, employee ownership, worker democracy and the mobilisation of the spontaneous forces of the market inside hierarchies.

This narrative is not entirely novel. In the 1970s, Bill Gore, the CEO of the US company behind Gore-Tex fabrics, pushed the notion of the ‘lattice organisation’, featuring ‘direct transactions, self-commitment, natural leadership, and [no] assigned or assumed authority’. In the 1980s, Ricardo Semler, the young CEO of the São Paolo-based Semco Partners, made big noises when he rejected the autocratic leadership style of his predecessor (his father) and adopted a radical form of industrial democracy. And in the early 1990s, the Danish businessman Lars Kolind became famous for the flat, empowered and flexible ‘spaghetti organisation’ he introduced to the hearing-aid company Oticon in Copenhagen.

These experiments garnered strong media attention, and were pushed by US business gurus such as Tom Peters, but were generally seen as outliers and oddities. Not anymore. The bossless-company narrative shows up with a very high and increasing frequency in the business press, popular management writing, pop-sociology and so on, usually exemplified by companies such as the California-based agribusiness Morning Star and the Swedish music-streaming platform Spotify. Consultants push practices such as Holacracy that concentrate decision making in self-managing teams as replacements for top-down design, hierarchy and managerial authority. The Holacracy model has mainly been adopted by small and medium-sized companies, but a few larger ones, such as Zappos and the digital bank Tochka in Russia, experiment with it. Meanwhile, Agile, an approach that emphasises cooperation among self-organising, cross-functional teams, has been implemented by Barclays, Ericsson, Microsoft, Google and Spotify, while the US internet retailer Overstock uses internal voting systems to decide company priorities. (x)

The idea that all organizations should be flat, and that flat = good is talked about at length here and for me, a person who cares a lot about organizational structure, it was very satisfying to read.

[pamphletstoinspire]

THE BOOK OF JUDITH* - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 5

INTRODUCTION.

The sacred writer of this Book is generally believed to be the high priest Eliachim, (called also Joachim.) The transactions herein related, most probably happened in his days, and in the reign of Manasses, after his repentance and return from captivity. It takes its name from that illustrious woman, by whose virtue and fortitude, armed with prayer, the children of Israel were preserved from the destruction threatened them by Holofernes and his great army. It finishes with her canticle of thanksgiving to God. Ch. --- He was a chief officer at court, under Ezechias, (4 K. xviii. 18. H.) before he was high priest, assuming his father Helchias's name. Many suppose that he was the author of this Book, as Josephus informs us that the priests recorded the most remarkable transactions. But this would prove that they wrote all the histories of the Bible. S. Jerom (in Agg. i. 6.) seems to believe that Judith left these memoirs. Yet we have no certain proof of the author. Josephus passes over this history, as he professed to exhibit only the Heb. books. Ant. x. 11. Prol. &c. S. Jerom doubts not but this was written in Chaldee, from which language he translated it; unless he caused it to be first explained to him in Heb. as he did the Book of Tobias. C. --- He might, however, have attained sufficient knowledge of the former language, which is so like the Hebrew, before he undertook this work. H. --- He professes to give "the sense," rather than a verbal translation. The Greek must have been taken from another copy, and is followed by the Syriac, in which we find some passages more exact than in the present Greek copies. The original is entirely lost. It might have removed many difficulties. Those however which are started by our adversaries, are not unanswerable. Grotius would suppose that this work is only a parable, representing the state of the Jewish church under the persecution of Epiphanes. But this singular notion has no foundation; and if it had, the authenticity of the Book would not be endangered, as the parable both of the Old and New Testament are certainly true, and written by inspiration. C. --- Luther styles it a poetical comedy; (Pref. et Sympos. 29.) but both Jews and Christians have esteemed it as a true history: (W.) and this innovator (H.) allows, that "the Book is beautiful, and written by an inspired prophet." C. --- The Fathers have looked upon it with the utmost veneration; and S. Jerom, though he was at one time under some doubts, placed it on a level with the Books of Ruth, and Esther, &c. Ep. ad Principiam. --- It is admitted by Origen, Tertullian, S. Chrys. S. Hilary, V. Bede, &c. as the history of a most valiant matron, delivering God's people from a cruel tyrant. W. --- Some place this event under Cambyses, son of Cyrus; (Euseb. S. Aug.) others under Xerxex, (Torniel) or Darius Hystaspes, (E.) or Ochus: (Sulp. Severus) but the opinion which has been given above is more accurate; (C.) or rather Bethulia was saved, while Manasses was in captivity, (in the 10th year of his reign) and the high priest administered affairs in his absence. At this point, Judith might be thirty-five years old. She lived seventy years afterwards; and many days (perhaps eight years more) passed before the country was invaded by Pharao Nechao. C. xvi. 30. Thus Manasses survived 45 years, Amon 2, Josias 31; total 78. This chronology removes every difficulty. Houbig. Pref. --- If true, it seems probable that the work would be originally in Heb. as the Chaldee was used only after the captivity, (H.) which may be farther proved from C. i. 15. Greek. Houbigant. --- Protestants prefer to translate this and the other apocrypha from the Greek. M.

* One of the seven Deutero-Canonical books, missing from most non-Catholic Bibles.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 5

Achior gives Holofernes an account of the people of Israel.

[1] And it was told Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, that the children of Israel prepared themselves to resist, and had shut up the ways of the mountains.

Nuntiatumque est Holoferni principi militiae Assyriorum, quod filii Israel praepararent se ad resistendum, ac montium itinera conclusissent,

[2] And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Amman.

et furore nimio exarsit in iracundia magna, vocavitque omnes principes Moab et duces Ammon,

[3] And he said to them: Tell me what is this people that besetteth the mountains: or what are their cities, and of what sort, and how great: also what is their power, or what is their multitude: or who is the king over their warfare:

et dixit eis : Dicite mihi quis sit populus iste, qui montana obsidet : aut quae, et quales, et quantae sint civitates eorum : quae etiam sit virtus eorum, aut quae sit multitudo eorum : vel quis rex militiae illorum :

[4] And why they above all that dwell in the east, have despised us, and have not come out to meet us, that they might receive us with peace?

et quare prae omnibus, qui habitant in oriente, isti contempserunt nos, et non exierunt obviam nobis ut susciperent nos cum pace?

[5] Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said: If thou vouch safe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy sight concerning this people, that dwelleth in the mountains, and there shall not a false word come out of my mouth.

Tunc Achior dux omnium filiorum Ammon respondens, ait : Si digneris audire, domine mi, dicam veritatem in conspectu tuo de populo isto, qui in montanis habitat, et non egredietur verbum falsum ex ore meo.

[6] This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.

Populus iste ex progenie Chaldaeorum est.

[7] They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans.

Hic primum in Mesopotamia habitavit, quoniam noluerunt sequi deos patrum suorum, qui erant in terra Chaldaeorum.

[8] Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods,

Deserentes itaque caeremonias patrum suorum, quae in multitudine deorum erant,

[9] They worshipped one God of heaven, who also commanded them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there was a famine over all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there for four hundred years were so multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered.

unum Deum caeli coluerunt, qui et praecepit eis ut exirent inde et habitarent in Charan. Cumque operuisset omnem terram fames, descenderunt in Aegyptum, illicque per quadringentos annos sic multiplicati sunt, ut dinumerari eorum non posset exercitus.

[10] And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and made slaves of them to labour in clay and brick, in the building of his cities, they cried to their Lord, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with divers plagues.

Cumque gravaret eos rex Aegypti, atque in aedificationibus urbium suarum in luto et latere subjugasset eos, clamaverunt ad Dominum suum, et percussit totam terram Aegypti plagis variis.

[11] And when the Egyptians had cast them out from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take them again, and bring them back to their service,

Cumque ejecissent eos Aegyptii a se, et cessasset plaga ab eis, et iterum eos vellent capere, et ad suum servitium revocare,

[12] The God of heaven opened the sea to them in their flight, so that the waters were made to stand firm as a wall on either side, and they walked through the bottom of the sea and passed it dry foot.

fugientibus his, Deus caeli mare aperuit, ita ut hinc inde aquae quasi murus solidarentur, et isti pede sicco fundum maris perambulando transirent.

[13] And when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued after them in that place, they were so overwhelmed with the waters, that there was not one left, to tell what had happened to posterity.

In quo loco dum innumerabilis exercitus Aegyptiorum eos persequeretur, ita aquis coopertus est, ut non remaneret vel unus, qui factum posteris nuntiaret.

[14] And after they came out of the Red Sea, they abode in the deserts of mount Sina, in which never man could dwell, or son of man rested.

Egressi vero mare Rubrum, deserta Sina montis occupaverunt, in quibus numquam homo habitare potuit, vel filius hominis requievit.

[15] There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven.

Illic fontes amari obdulcati sunt eis ad bibendum, et per annos quadraginta annonam de caelo consecuti sunt.

[16] Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.

Ubicumque ingressi sunt sine arcu et sagitta, et absque scuto et gladio, Deus eorum pugnavit pro eis, et vicit.

[17] And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.

Et non fuit qui insultaret populo isti, nisi quando recessit a cultu Domini Dei sui.

[18] But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach.

Quotiescumque autem praeter ipsum Deum suum, alterum coluerunt, dati sunt in praedam, et in gladium, et in opprobrium.

[19] And as often as they were penitent for having revolted from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them power to resist.

Quotiescumque autem poenituerunt se recessisse a cultura Dei sui, dedit eis Deus caeli virtutem resistendi.

[20] So they overthrew the king of the Chanaanites, and of the Jebusites, and of the Pherezites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites, and of the Amorrhites, and all the mighty ones in Hesebon, and they possessed their lands, and their cities:

Denique Chananaeum regem, et Jebusaeum, et Pherezaeum, et Hethaeum, et Hevaeum, et Amorrhaeum, et omnes potentes in Hesebon prostraverunt, et terras eorum, et civitates eorum ipsi possederunt :

[21] And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity.

et usque dum non peccarent in conspectu Dei sui, erant cum illis bona : Deus enim illorum odit iniquitatem.

[22] And even some years ago when they had revolted from the way which God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in battles by many nations, and very many of them were led away captive into a strange land.

Nam et ante hos annos cum recessissent a via, quam dederat illis Deus, ut ambularent in ea, exterminati sunt praeliis a multis nationibus, et plurimi eorum captivi abducti sunt in terram non suam.

[23] But of late returning to the Lord their God, from the different places wherein they were scattered, they are come together and are gone up into all these mountains, and possess Jerusalem again, where their holies are.

Nuper autem reversi ad Dominum Deum suum, ex dispersione qua dispersi fuerant, adunati sunt, et ascenderunt montana haec omnia, et iterum possident Jerusalem, ubi sunt sancta eorum.

[24] Now therefore, my lord, search if there be any iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God: let us go up to them, because their God will surely deliver them to thee, and they shall be brought under the yoke of thy power:

Nunc ergo mi domine, perquire si est aliqua iniquitas eorum in conspectu Dei eorum : ascendamus ad illos, quoniam tradens tradet illos Deus eorum tibi, et subjugati erunt sub jugo potentiae tuae.

[25] But if there be no offense of this people in the sight of their God, we can not resist them, because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.

Si vero non est offensio populi hujus coram Deo suo, non poterimus resistere illis, quoniam Deus eorum defendet illos : et erimus in opprobrium universae terrae.

[26] And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they had a mind to kill him, saying to each other:

Et factum est, cum cessasset loqui Achior verba haec, irati sunt omnes magnates Holofernis, et cogitabant interficere eum, dicentes ad alterutrum :

[27] Who is this, that saith the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor, and his armies, men unarmed, and without force, and without skill in the art of war?

Quis est iste, qui filios Israel posse dicat resistere regi Nabuchodonosor, et exercitibus ejus, homines inermes, et sine virtute, et sine peritia artis pugnae?

[28] That Achior therefore may know that he deceiveth us, let us go up into the mountains: and when the bravest of them shall be taken, then shall he with them be stabbed with the sword:

Ut ergo agnoscat Achior quoniam fallit nos, ascendamus in montana : et cum capti fuerint potentes eorum, tunc cum eisdem gladio transverberabitur :

[29] That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other.

ut sciat omnis gens quoniam Nabuchodonosor deus terrae est, et praeter ipsum alius non est.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Mountains. Gr. adds, "and had fortified every summit of a high mountain, and had placed scandals in the plains," obstructing the passage (H.) with ditches, trees, (C.) and snares of every description. H.

Ver. 2. Ammon. Gr. adds, "and the satraps of the maritime country," (H.) the Philistines, who had submitted like the rest.

Ver. 3. Them. Gr. adds, "Ye sons of Chanaan tell." He was not acquainted with their origin: the title belonged only to the Phœnicians, (C.) who might also be present. H.

Ver. 4. East. Gr. "west," which seems more accurate, unless Holofernes was on the sea-coast, (C.) or that part of the country went by this name, as it does at present. H. --- He was not absolutely unacquainted with the Jews, but spoke in contempt, (v. 27. W. M.) and wished to know if they had formed a league with the Egyptians, &c. C.

Ver. 5. My. Gr. "the mouth of thy slave." H.

Ver. 6. Chaldeans. Abraham was a native of Ur. Gen. xii. C. --- This tended to conciliate the favour of the general, who as of the same country. M.

Ver. 9. Heaven. Gr. adds, "the God whom they had known, and they (the Chaldean idolaters) cast them out from the face of the gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and dwelt there many days: (H. that is, about two years. C.) and their God commanded them to leave their abode, and to go into the land of Chanaan; and they dwelt there, and were enriched;...and when," &c. --- There. Gr. "and where there till they returned; and there they became innumerable." H.

Ver. 10. Oppressed. Gr. "craftily inveigled them." Ex. i. 10.

Ver. 11. Plague. Gr. adds, "for which there was no remedy. And the Egyptians cast them out from among them. And God dried up the Red Sea before them, and conducted them to Mount Sinai and Cades-Barne, and cast out all the inhabitants of the desert; and they dwelt in the land of the Amorrhites, and exterminated all the Hesebon, by their power. Then crossing the Jordan, they took as their inheritance all the mountainous parts, and ejected the Chanaanite, Pherezite, Jebusite, Sichem, and all the Gergesites, and dwelt therein many days. And, " v. 21. H. --- The environs of Sichem belonged to the Hevites. C.

Ver. 14. Rested. This is attested, Deut. xxxii. 10. and Jer. ii. 6. M.

Ver. 16. Overcame, in the days of Josue, (M.) at Jericho, &c. H.

Ver. 22. Battles. He seems to speak of the captivity of Manasses, (W.) of the ten tribes, and of the loss sustained by Achaz. 2 Par. xxviii. 5. M. --- By many. Gr. "exceedingly; and they were led captive into a land which was not their own, and the temple of their God became as a pavement, and their cities were taken by the enemies. But now, returning to their God, they are come up from the places to which they had been scattered, and have possession of Jerusalem, where is their sanctuary; and they have inhabited the mountainous country, for it was a desert." H. --- Our adversaries would infer from this, and similar passages, that the siege of Bethulia could not have taken place till after the captivity of Babylon; and this many Catholics allow. But the proof is not conclusive, as all this might be verified under Manasses: (C.) "the temple was trampled on," (Syr. egennhqh eiV edafoV) and profaned. See C. iv. 2. and 1 Mac. iii. 51. and Luke xxi. 24. It had been pillaged by Sesac and the Assyrians, and had stood in need of great repairs under Ezechias, Josias, &c. Several of the Israelites had escaped from the hands of their oppressors, (2 Par. xxxiv. 9.) and the Jews had regained their strength after the captivity of Manasses, (C.) having retired before into their strong holds in the deserts. H.

Ver. 25. Cannot. Gr. "let my lord indeed pass by, lest their Lord should cover them with a shield, for their God is for them, and we," &c.

Ver. 26. All the. Gr. "all the people round the tent murmured; and the great men of Holofernes, and all who dwelt in the maritime country, and in Moab, threatened to cut him to pieces. For we shall not fear the children of Israel. Lo! a people without power, strength, or army in battle array! We shall then go up, and they shall be for food to all thy army, lord Holofernes. And," C. vi.

Ver. 27. Who. They speak thus through indignation, though they knew Achior well enough. W. - Their blasphemous presumption was soon punished. M.

Ver. 29. Other. This foolish attempt was not peculiar to this king. The great Nabuchodonosor was infected with the same vanity, (Dan. vi. 7.) and was imitated by many of the Persian monarchs, and by Alexander. Persas non piè tantum sed etiam prudenter Reges suos inter deos colere: Majestatem enim imperii salutis esse tutelam. Curtius viii. Yet most of the Greeks could not brook such flattery, though they were not influenced by religion, but by reason, and their own haughty temper. See Justin vi. Mart. x. 62.

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[pamphletstoinspire]

THE BOOK OF JUDITH* - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 11

INTRODUCTION.

The sacred writer of this Book is generally believed to be the high priest Eliachim, (called also Joachim.) The transactions herein related, most probably happened in his days, and in the reign of Manasses, after his repentance and return from captivity. It takes its name from that illustrious woman, by whose virtue and fortitude, armed with prayer, the children of Israel were preserved from the destruction threatened them by Holofernes and his great army. It finishes with her canticle of thanksgiving to God. Ch. --- He was a chief officer at court, under Ezechias, (4 K. xviii. 18. H.) before he was high priest, assuming his father Helchias's name. Many suppose that he was the author of this Book, as Josephus informs us that the priests recorded the most remarkable transactions. But this would prove that they wrote all the histories of the Bible. S. Jerom (in Agg. i. 6.) seems to believe that Judith left these memoirs. Yet we have no certain proof of the author. Josephus passes over this history, as he professed to exhibit only the Heb. books. Ant. x. 11. Prol. &c. S. Jerom doubts not but this was written in Chaldee, from which language he translated it; unless he caused it to be first explained to him in Heb. as he did the Book of Tobias. C. --- He might, however, have attained sufficient knowledge of the former language, which is so like the Hebrew, before he undertook this work. H. --- He professes to give "the sense," rather than a verbal translation. The Greek must have been taken from another copy, and is followed by the Syriac, in which we find some passages more exact than in the present Greek copies. The original is entirely lost. It might have removed many difficulties. Those however which are started by our adversaries, are not unanswerable. Grotius would suppose that this work is only a parable, representing the state of the Jewish church under the persecution of Epiphanes. But this singular notion has no foundation; and if it had, the authenticity of the Book would not be endangered, as the parable both of the Old and New Testament are certainly true, and written by inspiration. C. --- Luther styles it a poetical comedy; (Pref. et Sympos. 29.) but both Jews and Christians have esteemed it as a true history: (W.) and this innovator (H.) allows, that "the Book is beautiful, and written by an inspired prophet." C. --- The Fathers have looked upon it with the utmost veneration; and S. Jerom, though he was at one time under some doubts, placed it on a level with the Books of Ruth, and Esther, &c. Ep. ad Principiam. --- It is admitted by Origen, Tertullian, S. Chrys. S. Hilary, V. Bede, &c. as the history of a most valiant matron, delivering God's people from a cruel tyrant. W. --- Some place this event under Cambyses, son of Cyrus; (Euseb. S. Aug.) others under Xerxex, (Torniel) or Darius Hystaspes, (E.) or Ochus: (Sulp. Severus) but the opinion which has been given above is more accurate; (C.) or rather Bethulia was saved, while Manasses was in captivity, (in the 10th year of his reign) and the high priest administered affairs in his absence. At this point, Judith might be thirty-five years old. She lived seventy years afterwards; and many days (perhaps eight years more) passed before the country was invaded by Pharao Nechao. C. xvi. 30. Thus Manasses survived 45 years, Amon 2, Josias 31; total 78. This chronology removes every difficulty. Houbig. Pref. --- If true, it seems probable that the work would be originally in Heb. as the Chaldee was used only after the captivity, (H.) which may be farther proved from C. i. 15. Greek. Houbigant. --- Protestants prefer to translate this and the other apocrypha from the Greek. M.

* One of the seven Deutero-Canonical books, missing from most non-Catholic Bibles.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 11

Judith's speech to Holofernes.

[1] Then Holofernes said to her: Be of good comfort, and fear not in thy heart: for I have never hurt a man that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor the king.

Tunc Holofernes dixit ei : Aequo animo esto, et noli pavere in corde tuo : quoniam ego numquam nocui viro, qui voluit servire Nabuchodonosor regi :

[2] And if thy people had not despised me, I would never have lifted up my spear against them.

populus autem tuus, si non contempsisset me, non levassem lanceam meam super eum.

[3] But now tell me, for what cause hast thou left them, and why it hath pleased thee to come to us?

Nunc autem dic mihi, qua ex causa recessisti ab illis, et placuit tibi ut venires ad nos?

[4] And Judith said to him: Receive the words of thy handmaid, for if thou wilt follow the words of thy handmaid, the Lord will do with thee a perfect thing.

Et dixit illi Judith : Sume verba ancillae tuae, quoniam si secutus fueris verba ancillae tuae, perfectam rem faciet Dominus tecum.

[5] For as Nabuchodonosor the king of the earth liveth, and his power liveth which is in thee for chastising of all straying souls: not only men serve him through thee, but also the beasts of the field obey him.

Vivit enim Nabuchodonosor rex terae, et vivit virtus ejus, quae est in te ad correptionem omnium animarum errantium : quoniam non solum homines serviunt illi per te, sed et bestiae agri obtemperant illi.

[6] For the industry of thy mind is spoken of among all nations, and it is told through the whole world, that thou only art excellent, and mighty in all his kingdom, and thy discipline is cried up in all provinces.

Nuntiatur enim animi tui industria universis gentibus, et indicatum est omni saeculo, quoniam tu solus bonus et potens es in omni regno ejus, et disciplina tua omnibus provinciis praedicatur.

[7] It is known also what Achior said, nor are we ignorant of what thou hast commanded to be done to him.

Nec hoc latet, quod locutus est Achior, nec illud ignoratur, quod ei jusseris evenire.

[8] For it is certain that our God is so offended with sins, that he hath sent word by his prophets to the people, that he will deliver them up for their sins.

Constat enim, Deum nostrum sic peccatis offensum, ut mandaverit per prophetas suos ad populum, quod tradat eum pro peccatis suis.

[9] And because the children of Israel know they have offended their God, thy dread is upon them.

Et quoniam sciunt se offendisse Deum suum filii Israel, tremor tuus super ipsos est.

[10] Moreover also a famine hath come upon them, and for drought of water they are already to be counted among the dead.

Insuper etiam fames invasit eos, et ab ariditate aquae jam inter mortuos computantur.

[11] And they have a design even to kill their cattle, and to drink the blood of them.

Denique hoc ordinant, ut interficient pecora sua, et bibant sanguinem eorum :

[12] And the consecrated things of the Lord their God which God forbade them to touch, in corn, wine, and oil, these have they purposed to make use of, and they design to consume the things which they ought not to touch with their hands: therefore because they do these things, it is certain they will be given up to destruction.

et sancta Domini Dei sui quae praecepit Deus non contingi, in frumento, vino, et oleo, haec cogitaverunt impendere, et volunt consumere quae nec manibus deberent contingere : ergo quoniam haec faciunt, certum est quod in perditionem dabuntur.

[13] And I thy handmaid knowing this, am fled from them, and the Lord hath sent me to tell thee these very things.

Quod ego ancilla tua cognoscens, fugi ab illis, et misit me Dominus haec ipsa nuntiare tibi.

[14] For I thy handmaid worship God even now that I am with thee, and thy handmaid will go out, and I will pray to God,

Ego enim ancilla tua Deum colo, etiam nunc apud te : et exiet ancilla tua, et orabo Deum,

[15] And he will tell me when he will repay them for their sins, and I will come and tell thee, so that I may bring thee through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou shalt have all the people of Israel, as sheep that have no shepherd, and there shall not so much as one dog bark against thee:

et dicet mihi quando eis reddat peccatum suum, et veniens nuntiabo tibi, ita ut ego adducam te per mediam Jerusalem, et habebis omnem populum Israel, sicut oves quibus non est pastor, et non latrabit vel unus canis contra te :

[16] Because these things are told me by the providence of God.

quoniam haec mihi dicta sunt per providentiam Dei.

[17] And because God is angry with them, I am sent to tell these very things to thee.

Et quoniam iratus est illis Deus, haec ipsa missa sum nuntiare tibi.

[18] And all these words pleased Holofernes, and his servants, and they admired her wisdom, and they said one to another:

Placuerunt autem omnia verba haec coram Holoferne, et coram pueris ejus, et mirabantur sapientiam ejus, et dicebant alter ad alterum :

[19] There is not such another woman upon earth in look, in beauty, and in sense of words.

Non est talis mulier super terram in aspectu, in pulchritudine, et in sensu verborum.

[20] And Holofernes said to her: God hath done well who sent thee before the people, that thou mightest give them into our hands:

Et dixit ad illam Holofernes : Benefecit Deus, qui misit te ante populum, ut des illum tu in manibus nostris :

[21] And because thy promise is good, if thy God shall do this for me, he shall also be my God, and thou shalt be great in the house of Nabuchodonosor, and thy name shall be renowned through all the earth.

et quoniam bona est promissio tua, si fecerit mihi hoc Deus tuus, erit et Deus meus, et tu in domo Nabuchodonosor magna eris, et nomen tuum nominabitur in universa terra.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. King. Gr. adds, "of all the earth."

Ver. 3. Why. Gr. "And art come to us? For thou art come for thy own safety. Take courage, for thou shalt live this night and henceforth, as no one shall hurt thee, but shall do thee good, as the servants of my lord, Nabuchodonosor, the king, are treated."

Ver. 4. Handmaid. Gr. adds, "and I will tell no untruth to my lord this night, for," &c. --- Thing. Gr. adds, "and none of the projects of my lord shall fail." H. --- All that Judith said was true in her sense, though the enemy did not understand her properly. So Josue lawfully entrapped the citizens of Hai. S. Aug. q. 10. in Jos. viii. W.

Ver. 5. Liveth. She imitates Joseph, (Gen. xlii. 15.) and Eliseus; (4 K. ii. 4.) and speaks the truth, as the general had subjected many to his master. M. --- Her speech was not superstitious, but shewed a civil respect. C.

Ver. 7. To him. Gr. intimates that she advised him to follow his counsel. "For our nation is not punished with the sword, unless they sin against their God. But now let not my lord be at a loss what to do. For death has fallen upon them, and sin has taken possession of them, so that they have irritated God by their folly," &c. v. 10. This might also be true, though they had not fallen into idolatry (C. viii. 18. H.) at Bethulia. M.

Ver. 8. Prophets. Though this had been threatened by the ancient prophets, (H.) we cannot pretend to specify which she means. C.

Ver. 10. Famine. They might have provisions, but they would be useless, on account of excessive thirst. M.

Ver. 11. Drink. Gr. "and all that God had forbidden them to eat by his laws, (H.) without making any distinction between the clean and unclean. Grot. --- Blood was prohibited even before the law. Gen. ix. 4. Lev. xvii. 14. C.

Ver. 12. Oil. Gr. may explain this. "And the first-fruits of corn, and the tithes of wine and of oil, which they had reserved as sacred for the priests, standing in Jerusalem, before our God, they had decreed to consume; though none of the people ought so much as to touch these things. Yet they have sent to obtain permission of the senate at Jerusalem, where the people have done the like. And when they shall have obtained an answer, they will fall to work, and then they will be abandoned to be destroyed by thee." H. --- She insinuates that her countrymen are in the utmost distress, and not much attached to religion; (C.) though in extreme want the distinction of meats is not to be enforces. H.

Ver. 13. Tell. Gr. "To perform with thee a feat which will astonish all who shall hear of these things. For thy handmaid is religious, and serveth the God of heaven day and night; and now my lord, I am," &c.

Ver. 14. God. Gr. adds, "in the night, in the valley."

Ver. 15. He will. Gr. "They shall have completed their sins." --- Tell thee. Gr. adds, "and thou shalt go out with all thy forces, and none of them shall resist thee; and I will bring thee through Judea, over-against Jerusalem, and will place thy throne in the midst of it, and thou shalt drive them like sheep," &c. --- Dog. This is proverbial. Ex. xi. 7. C. --- All Israel was at rest after the death of Holofernes. Judith brought his head in triumph through the country. The promise of dominion (H.) was ironical. 3 K. xxii. 15. M.

Ver. 16. God. Gr. "My foreknowledge; and I was sent to inform thee." H. --- She flatters Holofernes with the idea that he is under the special care of heaven. C.

Ver. 20. That. Gr. "To increase our strength, and to bring destruction on those who have despised my lord."

Ver. 21. Because. Gr. "And now thou art comely in thy appearance, and good in thy discourse. If then thou perform what thou hast spoken, thy God shall," &c. H. - It is hardly probable that he spoke in earnest. Perhaps he did not know that the true God allowed of no other. Being captivated with Judith's beauty, and perceiving that she was attached to religion, he had a mind to remove all her objections to his person. C.