#i guess she was also kidnapped but she was unharmed

[sibylsleaves]

hen is really out here perpetually being the most unscathed member of the 118......chimney's had his face impaled, stabbed, kidnapped/put into cardiac arrest, almost died of encephalitis and suffered retrograde amnesia/hallucinations of his wife's abuser, buck's been crushed by a firetruck, pulmonary embolism, hit by a tsunami, struck by lightning, eddie's been buried alive, shot (more than once), held at gunpoint, bobby's almost drowned, also shot, irradiated, nearly crushed under a roof, nearly crushed under a freeway overpass, almost drowned AGAIN on a sinking cruise ship...

Hen has. been briefly trapped in a parking garage. and had a concussion once.

[buffyfan145]

After looking again at the picture of Adar playing Galadriel's host in Mordor, I think the theory he captured her on Sauron's orders is very likely. First, Gal is not in chains like a typical prisoner. She doesn't seem to have her weapons, and her hair is down and not up in braids, but she seems clean and unharmed, with relative freedom of movement. Adar even set out a feast for her, as if she were an honored guest, and not someone who wanted him and his children dead . He's already seen how fierce and violent Gal can be, so why he is being so accommodating? She should be under lock and key. My guess is Sauron told him to capture Gal, keep her in Mordor, and treat her with respect befitting her station (as his future queen). Adar being terrified of Sauron-Back-From-the-Dead agreed, but I'm guessing he will try to double-cross him by gaining Gal's allegiance. It's the old "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" Plan.

I agree with this and I do lean more towards him telling Adar to keep her there while he's back in Eregion. We also know Elrond's leading a rescue party to get her back so that means he's also gone from the city while Sauron is there as "Annatar". Though I have also seen theories that Adar kidnapped her to get back at Sauron too and draw him out as he knows Galadriel is one of Sauron's weaknesses now, which also could work. So I can see it going either way and still lead up to the other theory I think is true that Adar will switch sides in the end and help the elves and I'm excited to see it all play out.

[wanderrnest]

@mercurialcreatur3 Answering here because it was too long for replays on the previous post i reblogged. sorry for my English.

What you said is the most painful to me. People walk among us after they went through these unspeakable horrors, and people still find ways to deny or underestimad it. This is equivalent to Holocaust denial for us. Except now, unlike Nazi Germany, even Hamas terrorists themselves filmed things and uploaded them, sometimes even to victims' social media. There are photos and videos that I wish wouldn't be true, but they are. When there's a terrorist investigation where he said they were told to murder, behead, and rape. There are videos of sexual assault. They found sexual assault evidence on dead bodies. I'm choosing not to go more graphic, but there is so much more graphic. Many people can't tell you what happened because they're dead, like entire families; we won't hear their stories (again painfully similar to the Holocaust, where in some cases there was not one left to tell); they only left butchered bodies behind them, but even that is not enough. read on shani louk, it's one exapmle out of many. look on Hadas Kalderon that her mother and niece were murderd and her two children are kidnapped in gaza without her. they uploded one thing to her daugther's tik tok - "goodbye". it's diffrenet when you know the faces and you hear the first hand stories.

Hamas is a terror organization; it thrives on propaganda. You are fed with propaganda about Israel that comes straight from their scripted messages and false information and the dehumanizing of israelis and jews. The amount of misinformation in the pro-Palestinian circles and the Muslim world is truly off the charts. Israel did not use photos of Palestinian children. Hamas burned babies and beheaded and raped Jewish people and paraded with their bodies. It's a fact; it's documented; people saw it. i can't even think about making this up because it's too terrible to even be imagined; it's hard for me to even say it. It's people's families! I can't believe I have to try to convince a fellow Jewish person that it's not a lie, that innocent Jews actually were brutally murdered. It may seem hard to believe, and you refuse to believe the photos, but is it really that hard to believe when it's literally their declared written goal? Slaughter Jews? c'mon What else do you need? why would you choose to believe the messages of a terror organization?

Yes, she said they treated her nicely; she's like 85. I'm so glad she is physically unharmed, and I believe she wisely managed to interact with them (which to me, shows more about her humanity than theirs, since kindapping a 85 years old or breaking into a house of an old lady and holding a grenade up her head (different story of rachel adri) pretty much cancels ones humanity. not to mention shooting elders in the head. I guess some of them were interactable (also, please don't forget that her HUSBAND is still there, which might be a reason for her words). but it doesn't make their crimes against humanity any less terrible, it doesn't bring back 1,400 people who are brutally murdered. they didn't treat nicely the other elders they shot, the women they raped and murdered, the babies they burned or beheaded, and the children that are still held in Gaza. their morals are entiraly diffrenet then ours in ways we cannot comprehend. they justfiy and call to do all those things to jewish people, in all ages, including rape.

Those people also understood really quickly that bragging about all their horrifying acts wouldn't give them the West support that they love, they are not stupid, so they try to minimize damage, and it's working.

As much as I'm not a fan of the Israeli government (before it all happened, I protested against it every week; again, a leftist), and I'm the last one to defend it, but this is still not some version of Russia with fake news and censorship. We are a small country with a mandatory army, where everyone knows someone who knows someone who's been affected, who was there in some way or another, during or after. Our media is still free and diverse. Please believe me; I know what happened an hour's drive from where I live. If the TV news leaves out details, and it does, it's in order to keep us sane because the ideas are too much to handle and are feared to cause massive hysteria, but everyone knows anyway. Sometimes it's even scarier to watch the news reporter knows something but stops themselves from giving the details because it's too terrible to air on TV.

Honestly, there is so much evidence and testimonies and there will be so much more. i hope that even if not now, one day you'll understand the horrors; I don't know what else will make you believe after all that. I understand you are for the weak now, but if we were weak now, we wouldn't be alive. We were weak on October 7th, and we aren't going to be weak again. Gaza could've been free without the terror organization that rules it. That was the intention from the beginning when Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, giving Palestinians autonomy. Once it got controlled by a terror organization, it naturally got complicated and violent. But we can't protect them from their own now; I'm sorry. We'll have to protect our people from being murdered. we have no way of "freeing" anyone without sentencing our own death (casual reminder of the sea of muslim countries around us, that wouln't miss a chance to join our destraction). And it feels like it's comfortable to you as a Jew that doesn't live in Israel to underestimate this need and join your friend by judging from afar, but you aren't in this danger. anyway i hope you won't be beacuse antisemitism is getting worse and worse everyday.

But if you'd be here, and these horrors were at your doorstep, believe me you'd understand the need to defend yourself. that's why i'm so anxiously try to make you understand. Israel is not comitting genocide, i'll say it again and again. it fights a terror organization thet hides behind their civillians, and it would not have done that if this terror organization stopped murdering israelis. we have no interst in killing palestinians just because they are palestinians. none.

this is the propaganda.

and if anyone from our dozens of neighbor muslim countries truly cared about palestinians and not just interested in destroying us and the western values, they would actually help them and not encourage hamas.

This comes from a leftist who, until very recently, believed wholeheartedly in a two-state solution. i don't know what i think now.

[welcome-to-oslov]

Aw man 🥺 I'm currently reading Spitting Image now and your writing of grownup Tilrey & how he's affected by his past is so 💔. I'm glad he can feel his anger at how Saldegren & others still openly leering & reminiscing, and seeing him stand up for himself. Kinda like getting back a little to how his youngest self still used try to stand up for himself as much as he was able back with Malsha, even under Vexonil.

You can really feel the shaking humiliation he feels coming off the page though, and the discombobulation and tendrils of old fear; "it was always so strange how Councillors reminisced about things he'd done and said, things he himself 'couldn't' remember & was happy to forget."

The things Ceill says and has seen must feel like such an ice-cold stab. Tilrey reacts so stoicly, letting it roll off him, but to me it feels like the times he'd be frozen during a frightening assault. Don't react. Let it roll off you. Don't feel it. Float away.

So heart-rending how he's still such a good dad to Ceill throughout it, despite his ambivalence over even having a son. After all, he didn't exactly consent to having a baby, almost like someone forced to have their rapist's child. Vera never raped him of course, but their times together were part of so many things that happened to him, and most of their encounters were pretty ambivalent on his part; he was never comfortable with how she imagined him. And the first time they met, when her view of him made him feel relieved to still be himself (she unknowingly coming in the room as he was bundled up crying post very first conscious rape), resulted in such horror for him (officer's club).

All these aspect remind me of scenarios in two really moving books: What Does Love Mean to You People, and When Jeff Comes Home. Both are recovery stories, but the former has an infuriating plot twist/ending where the main character guy gets trapped in a similar pressured-to-raise-the-baby-of-my-rapist-with-my-husband scenario he's really not happy with. You do it SO much better - Gersha's caring & understanding role here makes me love him more, not hate him like I did the husband in that story! When Jeff Comes Home is about a kid kidnapped on a family trip at 13 & returned home at 16 and his grief at readjusting. What struck me in that one was the exploration of his anger: humiliation at how his (loving) family & (rude) classmates look at him when it's made public what happened (photos were involved too like Tilrey), but the one who triggered the most anger was his old best friend who stood by him & was trying to be his friend again: seeing in his friend his mirror image, someone whose own life had continued uninterrupted & unharmed, made him so angry at what he'd lost & gone through.

Tilrey I'm sure isn't angry at Ceill. But it can't not affect him moving forward seeing a young person who looks so much like him get to the age he was when he was held by Malsha & the Island. To see, with his own eyes, how innocent he was & how he should've been living if it hadn't been taken from him.

I guess I'll find out as I keep reading! Thank you for your amazing work.

Thank you!! And thanks for the recs—those books both look really intense and interesting. I always forget how dark YA books (When Jeff Comes Home) could get in the early '00s.

I do think Tilrey felt forced into having Ceill, so it's lucky that Gersha was happy to be the primary caretaker of the two. For all the love Tilrey has for his son, he would have struggled a lot more with parenting if he hadn't had help. And he will always feel a little wary of Vera, because even if it was an accident, it was one she desired on some level.

I often think about how trauma gets passed down from parent to child, even despite the parent's best efforts. I'm often told I look exactly like one of my parents, and it's a weird burden to carry, like that parent's history also belongs to me, even though we're very different. So I sympathize with Ceill—but also with Tilrey, knowing he could have been like Ceill if he'd just been luckier. As you say, that can't help but affect him.

[mayxthexforce]

Some Of You In Me || Leia & Vader

Plotted starter for @corruptedforce

Leia still didn't understand why she'd been taken from Alderaan. She wasn't naive– in fact, she was far more aware of certain things than most kids her age were or should be, not only because she was smart, but also because she was the princess of Alderaan, daughter of the queen and the senator. Leia had to sit through talks about what to expect if she was ever kidnapped more times than she cared to keep track of, and she knew her kidnappers should be asking for ransom. But they weren't negotiating for ransom, nor contacting her parents at all.

Then came Ben into the picture. He'd gotten her out of a bad situation, but that didn't mean Leia trusted him. She'd run away as soon as she had a chance, even as her face and his took over every device with the capacity to produce an holographic image.

So now there was a whole planet of bounty hunters, mercenaries, and just every person who wanted some easy money through amoral means, chasing after her, along with the man who claimed to have been sent after her by his father. But it wasn't the scum of the planet who reached her, nor was it Ben. It was a group of large, bulky, flat-faced aliens apparently far more determined to get her, and much harder to lose. Leia was just a child, she had short legs, and just one of those people's legs was a little taller than the length of her body. She couldn't compete with that.

She turned a corner into another alley, and ended up in a dead-end. When they reached her, they approached menacingly, the largest one —seemingly the leader— began to question her about Ben, promising not to hurt her if she gave them useful information. But then his nostrils moved, beady eyes going wide as he breathed in her scent. He dropped to one knee heavily, the other ones approaching, repeating the action of sniffing the air, and showing not hesitation to fall down to one knee along with their leader.

"Lady Vader." they called her in unison, tone reverential.

One of the bounty hunters made it to the same alley as them, Leia's blood ran cold as a blaster pointed her way. But it took that slight twist of fear in her expression for her 'new subjects' to jump into action. They charged against the bounty hunter, showing no mercy in their attack. It was vicious, forcing the child princess to look away, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears until the leader approached her once more, slamming one large —and now bloody— fist against his broad chest.

"Lady Vader," he addressed her with such respect. "I am Ezrakh of the Gengh-Noghri people. Your safety is now our life goal."

Leia had no idea what was going on. But she wasn't about to complain- no, she would make the best out of her current situation. Besides, she didn't take kindly to being kidnapped, nor did she understand why they called her Lady Vader. She wanted answers, and she'd get them. No matter where her search for answers took her.

Though, if she had to guess, it seemed these Noghri would lead her to safety.

They led her through the crowded streets, showing just how much they meant their statement about her safety being their life goal, calling the name of Lord Vader and threatening to bring his wrath down upon the land whenever someone attempted to stop them, until they reached a ship. This time, Leia wasn't put in a cell, but sat in a corner of the cockpit, with at least one pair of beady eyes on her at all times while Ezrakh moved to the comm room, contacting the only man the Noghri took orders from.

"Lord Vader," he addressed the masked man with the same respect he'd shown his offspring. "Our mission has been a success. Your child has been retrieved unharmed."

[lobo-cansado-de-ojos-rojos]

Are you going to do ANYTHING about your buddy r4cs0 over there? Don't you think this shit is getting a LITTLE out of hand?

As I'm SURE you already know, r4cs0 has been on a crusade for years now to wipe out all the wolves in Northern Idaho. He successfully lobbied the Idaho legislature to pass a law authorizing the killing of 90% of the wolves in the state. And you can fact check me on this if you don't believe it. The law passed in 2021 and was sponsored by rep Dorothy Moon. Yes, someone named moon is helping r4cs0 kill wolves. I couldn't make this up even if I wanted to.

So then r4cs0 gets the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board (IWDCB, and yes, please fact check me if you don't believe this is a real thing) to authorize shooting the wolves from his helicopter (yes, go ahead and fact check it, I'm telling the truth here). This plan thankfully failed because r4cs0 can't shoot for shit and wolves are a lot smarter than he gives them credit for.

So get this shit, his next plan is to capture the wolves one at a time and release them into gay bars. I'm not sure what kind of fool comes up with an idea like this, but I guess r4cs0 assumed that wolves in a gay bar would either result in dead wolves or dead homosexuals, both of which would have been fine with him due to his rampant homophobia. Imagine his fucking surprise when the wolves walked out unharmed and having learned several new insults to use on would-be homophobes!

But now he has advanced his plans to outright murder of innocent people who aren't even involved in this bullshit. He used his contacts with the remnants of the former Sonora Drug Cartel to arrange for the murder of Paul Peavey, a dog breeder in Denver, so that he could kidnap his 10 doberman puppies. r4cs0 plans to train these dogs into hunting animals so he can renew his crusade against the wolves.

Bri, Oscar, nunya and I are a homo-centric polycule where Bri basically is just there to watch and record our sessions. She also runs his onlyfans where he posts a bunch of bulge pics.

Anyway I’d appreciate it if you’d stop slandering my brother-husband.

[stmaryslibraryios]

In safe hands by JP Carter

In safe hands by JP Carter (J. P. Carter is the pseudonym of a bestselling author who has also written seventeen books under the names Jaime Raven, James Raven and Alex Pine. Before becoming a full-time writer he spent a career in journalism as a newspaper reporter and television producer)

A DCI Anna Tate thriller.  Having read one but out of sequence and not been 100% sure about the author I decided to read another and this is the first in this series.

DCI Tate is based in London & has been a police officer for 17 years. She was working on the murder of a teenage girl when a live incident call had come through.  9 young children had been kidnapped from a nursery in London. One of the children has cystic fybrosis and needs medication. 

All available help is called in to crack the case especially when the ransome of £6m is asked for.  Failing to come up with the money would result in the children being harmed. 

Anna's ability to commit 100% to the case is questioned as it is so similar to her own ongoing experience. 

10 years ago her own daughter was kidnapped by her father, Anna's husband, and her whereabouts still remains unsolved.  She feels she would have the utmost empathy with the parents & stays on the case.  However she has to call in the help of a PI when a new lead on her daughters whereabouts emerges, she also has to put it to one side so she can concentrate on getting these 9 children back unharmed & the clock is ticking... 

It was a good read but guessed one of the people involved early on which is unusual for me.  It became more gripping towards the last third of the book.  Hope the missing daughter doesn’t drag on as much as Peter Jame’s missing wife did in his ‘Dead’ series of books…!

Will read the 3rd in this series.

Review by Lindy

[watching-pictures-move]

Viddying the Nasties | Cannibal Terror (Deruelle, 1980)

This review contains mild spoilers.

When it comes to the cannibal genre, I'm getting the sense that there are a few main strands. One consists of movies that, while not devoid of exploitative elements, work on the strength of the filmmaking, that put actual effort into framing these elements into a compelling narrative experience. Mountain of the Cannibal God is one such recent viewing that falls into this category. Another consists of movies that are more purely exploitative experiences, that work on the pungency of the images they contain, no matter how well or poorly made the movie around them might be. Cannibal Ferox is a movie that I didn't like very much but will concede works on this level. And then there are movies that are neither well made nor noxious enough to work as effective examples of the genre, and the most you can hope for are some laughs. Cannibal Terror falls into this category.

Despite my distaste for some of the elements endemic to these movies, I've found them to have a baseline of watchability on the basis of their jungle settings. The jungle is an environment of such visual richness and such potent atmosphere that even captured through subpar filmmaking, it manages to have some presence. Of course, it helps quite a bit if you're working with a real jungle, instead of the Spanish countryside where this appears to have been filmed. Don't get me wrong, the scenery here looks nice, and you get to soak it in during the endless scenes in which the characters walk from one place to another, but this movie is very obviously not set anywhere south of the equator, so the tropical atmosphere I want from these movies is somewhat lacking.

These movies are fairly consistent in their view of the jungle being somewhere between an amoral canvas and an equalizing force, and this maybe goes a bit further in its anti-colonial critique than some of the others. One of the legacies of colonialism has been changing the demographics of the colonized regions, and this movie boldly acknowledges this by casting as the cannibals a bunch of white guys with sideburns and mustaches. Yeah, let's go with that. ***SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING*** Anyway, in most of these movies the cannibals are morally neutral and essentially act in accordance to their natures (as in, they eat people because that's what they do), but here, they take an actual moral stance, specifically targeting the villains who kidnapped a child, leaving the child unharmed, and giving her father a lead as to where she might be. The cannibal chief seems like a nice guy.***END SPOILERS*** Also, this might be mean, but I'm not sure that kid would have been a great loss to society. When her dad calls her and has her guess what present he got her, his increasingly obvious hints do not get her anywhere close to the answer. "When you stroke it, it goes meow... No, it isn't a zebra."

One other thing to appreciate about this one is the lack of animal cruelty, as the movie relies heavily on nonviolent stock footage to create the illusion that it's set in the jungle. You could argue that the relative mildness of most of the runtime helps the more outrageous content in the climax pop, in a way similar to Mountain of the Cannibal God. You could argue anything you want. Last I checked it's a free country. But you'd be wrong. Because while that movie is arguably lower key during its first two thirds, things still happen. There's an emphasis on survival elements and actual jungle atmosphere, not just characters walking and walking and walking and walking. And that movie definitely delivers in its climax. Here, the gore scenes consist of extras holding guts close to their mouth but being careful not to take any actual bites, all while struggling to keep a straight face, as well as an incompetently-edited shootout that blows away the 180 rule.

So this is very, very bad (to the point that the producer apparently threw the director under the bus when it played at Cannes), although you might get some chuckles here and there or at least enjoy zoning out to the pleasant scenery. On that note, this feels like something you should watch on some blurry as hell VHS tape, so it boggles my mind that it can be seen in a beautifully restored HD transfer. What an age we live in.

[frozcnlight]

Miran listened patiently with her focus only on him. There and then she nodded or made a quiet sound to affirm that she still listened. “When being part of high society, you always have to stay perfect. So from early childhood on, I learned how to stand straight, to never slouch. I had many different lessons and was kept away from other children, even from my own brothers. Even though I wasn’t even the one who would get my family’s legacy back then. I guess their only wish was to marry me off someday to the highest bidder - in order for more reputation, more power and more wealth. Surrounded by people who were older than me, I do understand what it is like when people always look down on you and belittle you for every misstep taken. It just… hurts.”, she drew a sharp breath.

“And when they realized that everything paid off, I was just shoved around. Either to my aunt, who would always look at me in disdain or to the only one who ever accepted me the way I was, my grandmother. The travels were tiring and no matter where I was, I was deprived from those my age, as they believed that it could stain my personality. But you know, I didn’t think bad of them. I thought… it’s just natural to grow up like this.”.

The blonde looked down on her hand with a frown. What she didn’t tell me was, that it was also because of her ability. Though healing wasn’t anything dangerous, it still was looked upon in her family. However, those were words she would never mention. All her life she was told to hide such a thing, to keep it away from people - and even in a place like this, where such things seemed pretty natural, it felt wrong to talk about it. “And because my lessons were all about behavior and my latter lessons about how to take care of the hotel, there is little other things I can do. My grandmother died many years ago, but she was the one who told me to show kindness to others and even if it’s seen as a weakness, it can still become a strength nevertheless. Perhaps, if it weren’t for her, I would have grown bitter at one point and would slowly have lost hope. Always doing what others wanted me. Staying a perfect, little doll, who would only speak as she was taught to.”. Miran massaged her temples upon realizing that she once again talked about herself - and probably too much about her own childhood too. 

Miran tilted her head to the side, clasping her hands unto one another as she didn’t know what else to do with them right now. She took a mental note to stay away from the cultists then, perhaps, it was healthier for her anyway if all of them had such tendencies as the white haired man. Really, she didn’t want to get kidnapped again or something like this - or become some kind of nuisance, “Well, I will probably just mostly be here anyway. So I guess I won’t be easily provoked - so no shoes throwing either. Though, I do understand that you don’t want me to throw anything at your other wives, which I’m not planning unless they make me, I’m curious why it’s okay to do so to your followers. Shouldn’t they stay as unharmed as possible as well in order to be of use?”.

She was taken aback by his next question. Pondering about if this was a question to eventually test her. Regulus had mentioned that it was in order for her to only love him, right? Though, there was definitely no love and who knew if it ever would be there. However, she also didn’t want to lie, “Well, of course I’d be at ease to know that they won’t be killed. I like my people, so naturally their well-being is important to me… besides, do they really deserve to die just because of me?”. There was again nervous smile. Not because of him, but merely because of her own words.

“Anyway, I thank you for opening up to me, your hi… I mean, Regulus. I guess I do understand the things a bit better now.”

“There is no shame at all in it, none. Everyone, all my life, everyone looked down at me, they all mocked me, the people back then, could be so cruel to someone like me, and they told me what to do all the time, so many rules, so many laws, always having to do what others want you to do and never stepping out of line as well, because that would be seen as a violation against someone and you would be punished. Always doing what was expected from me, what others thought to be the right course of action to take and looking back, I could see how foolish I was, how small and weak I had become without even knowing, but I learned how powerful I was, how easily it was done, to take life and to kill those who did not have my best intentions, who where doing everything that they could to merely hold me back and deny me over and over, time and time again, to try and keep me grounded, to try and keep me weak, to try and ensure I could not go as far as I could if only I was allowed. I loath anyone not doing what they believe to be right, I loathe anyone who thinks they have the right to do and say as they please and to make people like us, feel all the more weaker and lesser, it is not right, and so this is where we are, my kingdom, built with my power, with a king such as myself, who cannot be bested, beaten, defeated, a kingdom built on the sins of the world, there is no shame in allowing yourself to be, what you are inside, I saw it within your eyes the moment we crossed paths with one another, you are like me, you understand.”

As he listened to her laughter for the moment.

“Kindness is a weakness, there is little room for it, but if you wish to walk that path here, you may, just remain away from the cultists.” As he pointed down at her, she was wearing white, the same as him, the same as his wives, but his followers, wear dark, black robes and hoods to hide their face, his warning to her, to remain as far away from them as possible and not to interact with them, unless she had to. “You are my wife, so you will be fine. Nothing is going to harm you, nothing.” She would learn, that as long as she was here, and the range was kept between them, his powers and perks of his skills, would pass to her and protect her from any harm.

As he watched her come a little bit closer to him, and his head dropped to the side for the moment, strange, he was more used to people, well most of his wives where scared of him and kept as far away from him as possible, others where insane, devoted to him, and what he was, along with the wealth, titles and power he had, but he had none here, that actually, wanted to be here for him alone, as he watched her throw a punch and it hit him right in the chest, and as he said, he felt nothing, he did not even move and for her, she would feel nothing, no strain, no pain, nothing from hitting him, stillness of time wrapping around her and protecting her from any damage and pain. “Well, please do try and keep your heels on your feet and not throwing them at my wives, maybe at the followers.” As he rubbed the back of his head, he cared little for them, they annoyed him more than anything else, but he was the sin of greed, there was a darkness around him, a scent, that draws the evil of the world towards him, like moths to a flame, which was why, anyone who had done great harm and evil, who fled from home, always managed to find there way to him and his kingdom.

“Hm.” As he glanced down for the moment and would sigh. “So …” He would look at her and then, just like that it was done. “If your people are alive, would you be happy?” He said to her, undoing it, just like that, he controlled the flow of time and anything that is connected to him, his followers had not yet reached her land to slaughter her people and right there, he had put a stop to it, the way she spoke to him, acted with him, that .. was new for him .. but as she stepped back, he remained where he was, not wishing to shatter, this .. oddness she had with how she acted with him and spoke to him.

“I believe you will, I look forward to it.” In what she will do, as for the first time in his life, he stayed his hand, he would spare her people, friends, family, only because, of the way she acted with him, no one, no one within his entire life, had ever spoken to him like that, and he rather, liked it to be honest.

[storiesofsvu]

Hidden Desires Ch 7

Warnings: Language. A/N: This involves casework & minor dialogue from s8e15 but instead of Casey, it’s y/n. I also meant for this ch to lead into some more smut but am just super un inspired to write smut right now, especially the level that this story requires. I’m so sorry it’s taken a backseat to the other series. I promise I’m not forgetting about it!!

​

**

When Tuesday finally rolled around, it was busy for all three of you. You were continuing to chase down leads with Stabler, spending most of your day darting between SVU and Melinda’s office with far too many mountains of paperwork on a case that had started out as a kidnapping, morphed into a suicide of the mother, awaiting potential manslaughter charges. Sonya had been stuck in arraignments for most of the morning, working through paperwork for the rest of it. Alex had been working through a case in the courthouse, knowing she was well on her way to a win.

You were already exhausted, having looked through countless pages of files and law books, triple checking that what Warner was running was legal in New York (it was). You were chasing after the lead of kidnapped Baby Kendall, his mother now having killed herself after pressure from the press and untrue rumours that she’d killed her baby overwhelming her. Melinda had managed to run the DNA, finding out that the Dad who had been raising the baby wasn’t the actual father, leaving you and Elliot to go through a whirlwind of investigating to find the real father. Only, once the Dad was found, the baby turned up, completely unharmed at a fire station, only for the biological father, Paddy Kendall to show up claiming his paternal rights.

Though, that wasn’t the end of it, Kendall’s mother, along with her friends, had accusations that Paddy had been physically abusive, and she wanted him nowhere near the baby. Neither you or Elliot could bare to leave the baby in his care, alerting ACS about the situation, accompanying the agent to the house to make sure the job was done.

You were incredibly thankful when you were finally able to return back to your office, practically rolling your eyes at the fact that both Sonya and Alex were already in there settled into their own paperwork. Part of you had wished for a moment alone, or at least, alone with Alex after the insane day.

“How’d it go?” Alex softly asked, pausing in her work to look up at you as you moved through the office to your desk.

“As well as it could, I guess?” You let out a hefty sigh, dropping into your chair, “Now they just have to find enough to link Paddy to the kidnapping and pray we can make it hold up in court.”

You groaned at the heat blasting through the building, the weather had moved into spring but maintenance clearly hadn’t caught up yet. You tossed your blazer onto a spare chair, wrapping your hair up into a bun with the elastic from your wrist, done with the professional part of your day you no longer cared how you presented. It was right after you flipped open a case file that Sonya moved to top up her coffee, her eyes shooting to you as you rolled your neck to work out a knot.

“Nice hickey.” She teased, the smirk evident on her lips. Your hand shot to the side of your neck you knew Alex had paid more than enough attention to the previous night, your eyes meeting hers in what both of you thought was a lightning fast reaction, a flush taking over your face. “How’d you manage to get some girly experience with Cabot sleeping in your bed?”

“I-uh…she was-working late.”

“Yeah…right.” Sonya laughed as she moved back to the table, “She left before five yesterday. No way a bruise like that is more than twelve hours old, you remember that knowledge is part of our jobs, right?”

Alex interjected , “I gave her the privacy she needed.”

“Sure you did.” Sonya smirked, “So, where’d you find this girl? Dating app? Bar? Ya know I’m curious why you didn’t go to her apartment when yours was so over occupied. Did she not question the fact that you only have one bedroom yet it appeared you have a roommate?”

“Alex was…in the office..”

“Stop lying to me. I may have been labelled a drunk in this office but I’m not an idiot.” Sonya hucked a pen at you that you did your best to bat off, “Are you blushing so hard right now ‘cause Alex caught you in the act?” That warranted a dark chuckle from the blonde,

“Certainly caught her doing something.” She muttered.

“Alex!” You shot her a glare, doing your best to not blush any further.

“What?” She shot back, “She’s already figured it out,  there’s no use fighting it now.” She flipped her papers closed, beginning to stack them up, moving to place them in her bag.

“Yes!” Sonya cheered, sly grin shooting between the both of you, “So are you just showin’ her the ropes or are you two an item now?”

“We’re..involved.” The blonde replied as she stood from the table, shouldering her back. Before any of you could speak again, the worlds fastest knock hit the door before it swung open,

“Why are none of you ever in the correct offices?! It takes me three times as long to find you everytime.” Donnelly’s exhausted voice broke through the office as you muttered a series of apologies to your boss. She turned to Alex first considering she was standing nearest the door, “Your warrants. Drop them off on your way home?” She handed her a few papers.

“You’re leaving now?” Your brow quirked, not only was it still early but where was the point in making separate exits if Sonya knew.

“Yeah.” Alex gestured to the warrants, “Gotta drop these off….and I’m gonna swing by my place to pick up a few things.”

“Half of your closet is already at my apartment, what could you possibly need?”

“Just…”Her eyes darted to Liz lightning fast, “some..things I didn’t realize I would need when I first packed. It won’t take long.” She gave the room a warm smile to the room before darting out the door.

“You’ve got a motion to suppress and a 730 hearing coming your way.” Liz tossed the two papers Sonya’s way before moving closer to your desk, “And you…I really didn’t expect this from you.”

“I-what?” You felt your heart rate pick up, brain racing as you tried to figure out where you’d fucked up.

“You’ve officially been served, along with Detective Stabler.” She extended the blue paper toward you that you immediately flipped open, scanning through the document.

“Harassment and violation of his civil rights?! You can’t be serious?”

“Oh he is…”

“I thought A.D.A’s were immune?”

“It’s limited to their role. The technicality of it is that you were aiding police in an investigative stage.”

“Oh come on! We both know Peggy Kendall wouldn’t have given over that baby if it was just the ACS worker! Besides, I know A.D.A’s that have gotten away with much worse!”

“Well according to the suit, the two of you conspired to deprive Paddy of his civil and constitutional rights. Did you?”

“No!”

“Pity. Guy sounds like a douche bag.” You could only roll your eyes at Liz’s response,

“So what’re we supposed to do now? Trust our careers with a public defender?” Your eyes shot over to Sonya, who laughed in response.

“My reputations in the toilet right now, I wouldn’t trust myself in this situation.”

“Ugh, fine.” You hand reached for your phone, only to be stopped by Liz’s hand around your wrist.

“If you’re about to call Cabot..I wouldn’t.”

“Why?” At first you cocked a brow at your boss, but immediately shrunk back at the look on her face.

“Because that would be a major conflict of interest. Don’t think I don’t know the gossip that happens in this building.”

“I-what?!” She merely cocked a brow in defeat at you, “It’s been three days! Sonya’s the only one that knew and she just found out!”

“The three of you are my main staff, if I didn’t know everything that was going on between you I wouldn’t be doing my job.” She dropped your wrist, her attention still on you, “I’ve asked Stabler for all his information on the Kendall case, I’ll need copies of everything you have too, and I expect you in my office at nine tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“I’ll represent you both at trial. Be thankful you’re one of my best lawyers, I’m doing this for you, not him.”

“Thank you.” You gave her the most grateful smile you could, knowing that having Elizabeth Donnelly have your back, especially in a courtroom, was the best thing that could happen.

“Oh don’t thank me yet. You’re suspended until the civil suit either gets solved or is dropped. Split your cases between Sonya and Alex. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, and heavy groan from you, she was gone from your office. Sighing heavily you pushed your hands over your face and into your hair.

“Well…you’re the one still here wanna pick and choose your cases?” You asked Sonya. She laughed lightly, but didn’t miss the opportunity, moving closer to your desk to check through the files. You grumbled as she did so, shoving the subpoena into your bag along with the cases she didn’t want as you packed up the rest of your things. You’d hoped for a fun evening, and this…this certainly put a damper on things

[universesrising]

listing all my ninjago aus [again]

because i have more since last i did this and should update anyway

feel free to ask about any of these i live for rambling about things [and might also draw something if requested]

[i am sorry there are so many words this was meant to be a summary]

-

the big sip [bigger sip, biggest sip] - ok so basically, the premise of big sip is that the gang loses control of their powers and have to get snatched by wu before multiple bad things happen, the plot changes slightly depending on your flavor of sip. bigger sip has them already reach the uh oh point by the time wu gets them, and [SEABOUND SPOILERS] merge with their elements like nya did that one time in canon. they turn back once wu gets them. biggest sip has them NOT turn back once wu snatches them, and multiple concerns arise from this. big sip is the only au that has fanfiction of it [i’m gonna write the next chapter of the sipquel..... someday]

forever superstar rockin - one of two simple canon divergence aus, this one is exactly as the name implies. during prime empire, jay never switches out of his superstar rockin avatar, and once he leaves the game he simply. stays that way. he does not change back and is stuck like that now. and this is literally the entire au, just him looking like That for the rest of the series. at least the clothes aren’t stuck?? [this also has an alternate setting, where kai too gets stuck in his avatar design. fools, the both of them]

frozen [no not that one] - the second canon divergence au, this one set in season 11 of course. okay so you know that scene where boreal just hecking deletes the entire village? this divergence is basically just. what if kai did not escape unharmed. what if he got hit and just, froze over like everyone else when the rest of the gang got back. that would be terrible. the angst potential. do not be fooled by my lack of coherency explaining this one, i have Many Thoughts about it, i simply cannot speak

no more trauma - bear with me on this one lads, it’s a wild ride. this au started as a complete joke and, it still is, but it’s also still an au. a joke au, if you will. basically the premise is, what if my friend and i’s sonas, yasa and star, who are multiversal explorers of a sort, just. went to ninjago. and stopped every terrible thing from happening right when it’s about to happen. they immediately leave right after, so they get the effect of weird yet helpful cryptids. this is a very strange au, i am fully aware. yet it is so funny

lighthouse - this is a big one, has ties to another au but only in terms of character design. i spoke in length about the plot a bit ago, but basically the whole gang is varying degrees of animal person, [MORE SEABOUND SPOILERS] by the time it starts, nya is already the entire ocean, and jay lives at the lighthouse now. the plot’s just like. jay gets kidnapped by pirates [guess who], the gang saves him, shenanigans occur in which jay is forced to become a ninja again, he HATES it for various reasons, and everything spirals until the end, where jay simply retires. he literally retires back to the lighthouse. there is a reason this is called lighthouse au. there is so much going on here

band [also vigilantes] - this is also a bit weird but honestly all my aus are like that. band au is not what you think from the cover. the gang IS the instruments. for example, lloyd is a microphone. there’s more to it than that i swear, they turn into regular people at night, where they then do vigilante stuff under wu’s guidance. also they still have powers. lloyd’s doubles as a booster for the others because. microphone. hah. also featuring various other characters as the actual band, like pixal. i would like to send you the image of edna playing an electric guitar, because that is canon information. i do not know who nya’s player is please help me. she is a piano

crreature [spelled exactly like that] - this is the one that ties into lighthouse design-wise, because crreature au started by me going “what if lighthouse designs.... but more?” anyway i have also yelled incomprehensibly about this one and will continue to do so for THIS is the au i obsess over. what is the plot. the plot is everyone [except lloyd this time] is humanoid animals of some sort, called creatures in lore, and they live in a reserve owned by wu and there are so many shenanigans. a pool party. jay and nya have a ‘wedding’. zane is constantly interviewed cause he’s literally the only one who can talk. lloyd manages what is essentially a youtube channel,

gaming - this, surprisingly, is the self indulgent au, and not crreature. this is the other one i’ve talked about, especially jay’s role in it. i love gaming au. it’s zane and jay centric since they’re my friend and i’s favorite characters and this, as stated, is the self indulgent au. basically in gaming au, jay’s the companion npc / final boss of a vr rhythm game, and zane is Just A Guy who works for videogame-flavored borg industries. shenanigans with a prototype vr portal allows jay to literally just. walk out of his game into the real world. and zane essentially gets put on babysitting duty. the entire au is just Shenanigans as jay terrorizes the city and zane tries desperately to keep his sanity. this is such a good au. lloyd is here and he works at subway

elemental - “i am the most powerful subway employee to ever exist” - lloyd... that is the summary of this au. in which lloyd is exactly that, just some guy who works at subway. everyone else, however, are manifestations of their elements [and also the elements themselves... it is Complicated]. there’s too much plot to explain here [feel free to ask me to explain it though!], but basically lloyd has to go on a journey to reunite the elements of creation [+ water] in order to prevent some big disaster event from happening. along the way he discovers that oh, turns out he’s the descendant of the guy who made the world and that is why he’s the one who is doing this. cool.

lost lightning - this one is. weird. i introduced it here, but basically lost lightning starts off as a “ninjago without jay” situation up until the tournament of elements, where chen, not having lightning, opens a portal to the first realm to find a dragon to steal. the others follow him and find jay, who in the au is a funky cryptid not-quite-dragon man called a scavenger. after many shenanigans, jay ends up following them back to ninjago, not quite becoming a ninja but still mostly joining the gang, and the series goes along from there with MUCH rewriting to fit the whole... y’know... cryptid man... it’s a weird au, idk what to tell you

oops i did it again [here be dragons] - okay, so legally, this is called “oops i did it again”, but OFFICIALLY, it’s “here be dragons”. this is to lost lightning what crreature is to lighthouse, meaning i took one look at a design and went “what if... it was MORE?” ...here be dragons is, as you can guess, an au where the gang [minus lloyd, as it goes], are dragons. in the au, dragons are very, very extinct. or so they were SUPPOSED to be. zane, in the au, was built to preserve their legacy, but went missing, and upon his discovery ALSO happened to bring the discovery of four more dragons, which are kai, nya, jay, and cole. they’re the last known dragons in the whole world, at least, to anyone’s knowledge. so lloyd has a pretty important job of keeping them safe and protected, not that they. make it easy. they are very feral. help him

-

AND THAT IS ALL [of my aus]. i won’t list my friend’s aus this time [chicken au is great though and i am bullying them for content] cause this is so long already but i hope you enjoyed reading?? my aus are weird i am aware of this

as said up top though, if you want to know more about a specific one [or want me to draw something for them], feel free to ask! i love answering questions and we need more walls of text in this world [joking]

[edit as of the addition of elemental, lost lightning, and here be dragons: fun fact! here be dragons is called ‘oops i did it again’ because... it is another crreature au. i did it again. i made another one. i cannot be trusted, someone stop me]

[stargazer-balladeer]

Adopting a Child [Genshin Impact]

Characters Included: Albedo, La Signora & Scaramouche

Notes: All of the character’s I have least experienced with all in one post :D alright— let’s see how this’ll go- also,, hope they aren’t too OOC ;;w;; (and yes,, i made this whole hc bc of la signora- got a problem with it? HAHAHA) hope ya’ll like this!

Additional Information: You aren’t their kid. Just a random kid they found in the street who decided to follow them until they adopted you as their own :D

Reader’s Gender: Neutral

Warning: me cursing like usual 😃

Dedicated to: @meepmonster7 :D

Albedo

For some reason, I can see him knowing how to handle a child, since he takes care of Klee as well- so when it comes to taking care of you, he’s practically a natural at it.

At first, he’ll be a bit turned off by you since he sees you as a bit of a nuisance. But over time, you’ll grow on him. He’ll come to love you as his own-

As an artist man himself, He teaches you how to draw. From plant, to animal, to people. He teaches you the techniques he used for drawing. You bet that he loves every drawing you gave to him, even if its a stickman, this man’ll treasure and cherish it with his life-

This man loves spoiling you with things, it got to the point where you didn’t know how to use all of the things he’s given to you. Sometimes, Jean and Sucrose has come in and told him to stop spoiling you too much-

Albedo’s a scientist right? Head scientist, alchemist, whatever. So you bet your ass that he’ll be teaching you some alchemy at such a young age- bro,, u can be the next einstein with how complicated things he’s teaching you-

Whenever he has free time, he loves spending it with you. He would share his findings with you, even though you can’t understand what he’s saying, he would still tell you. Sometimes, he would put on a show for you while telling stories using his vision and alchemy- he would always smile at your awestruck face as he tells the tale.

Playdates with Klee is a must- he would sometimes leave you under the Knights of Favonius’ care and you’ll be found playing with Klee. At first, he’s worried since he knew what Klee’s like. But if Jean decided its okay, then its okay.

If ever you were attack or gone missing, Albedo would be furious and immediately go to you or search for you. The ones who stole you away or attack you no longer exist btw 👀

Overall, even though you suddenly came to his life and became his unexpected child, he would love you as his own.

La Signora

La Signora is a fucking natural at taking care of a child, change my mind 🤧🙃. Like if a child is crying and can’t be tame, just drag her over and that child would stop crying- maybe its bc she has a motherly aura around her (besides the fact that she almost kills Venti- 😃)

I think she willingly adopts you, not bc she’s obligated. She would guess that it’s because of her motherly instinct inside her when she finds you following her- she takes you in without any hesitation-

“But.. La Signora-“

“Even if you beg in front of me, my answer will not change. I will take this child as my own and none of you can stop me-“

La Signora would take you everywhere with her, but if its a mission that requires some.. blood, that’s the time where she wouldn’t bring you. She would drop you in the Northland Bank for a while before coming back to pick you up. She would let you explore the area since she knows that children likes to venture around new areas-

As much as La Signora is ruthless to the people around her, she would undoubtedly be soft towards you. Like she’ll be like medusa one second then the next she’ll be gushing at you-

She is the kind of woman that shields you from the world, who would protect your innocence than destroy it. So, in order to protect it, she wouldn’t tell you about her profession. All she would say is, “Mother is doing some secret business work.”

La Signora would spoil you rotten, whether from gifts or affections. If you want something, it would be given to you. She’s really rich, ya know? 👀 she loves carrying you, especially during times where she can cover your eyes- 👀

Even though she spoils you, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be hard on you. If you do something she doesn’t like, she would punish you. She would also train you with your desired weapon, stating that it would help to protect yourself when she can’t-

I feel like she would let you meet her fellow Fatui Harbingers, but its not like their close with one another- 👀 but Childe is one Harbinger that you often play with. Even though he hates La Signora, he wouldn’t deny that he enjoy playing with you- so you can be found either with La Signora or with Childe-

If you ever get attack or was taken away, you can bet that La Signora is livid- furious- and she’ll hunt down whoever attacked you or decided to kidnap you. And she would NOT show mercy.

Overall, she would treat you as her own and would give you the world if she could- she would protect you from the darkness of the world. Whatever it takes..

Scaramouche

Ha! Scaramouche with a child? Everyone is doubtful at best. He was already a whiny bitch. It’s not a wise decision to give him a kid- he can hardly care for his subordinate, what about a fucking kid-?!

You can tell Scaramouche despised your presence just from his face alone. Even as days and months go by, he would still despise you. But if you manage to rub off on him by staying with him for a year or two, he would start accepting your presence… slowly. He would still make that disgusted face whenever you’re around, but you can tell he’s soften around you and acknowledges your presence-

Scaramouche would be hard towards you, even if you’re a kid, he would still treat you just like he treats everyone. But to those people who knew him well (like Childe, Signora and other Harbingers-), they could tell Scaramouche is going easy with you-

Scaramouche isn’t that affectionate so he wouldn’t spoil you with affections or gifts, but he tries. He’ll leave some trinkets he found while he’s out and about in front of you before leaving promptly- (i swear he’s a tsun-tsun :3-) this cycle would continue even as years go by.

Scaramouche would train you harshly and isn’t afraid to force open your eyes to the harshness of reality- just bc ur a kid doesn’t mean ur an exception to the rules of reality. (“You’ve got no choice but to accept it as it is.” Scaramouche said, almost sadly while staring as someone was killed in front of you two-).

He would let you play with Childe (Childe is good with kids, okay? He has siblings for Teyvat’s sake-). He might as well give you to Childe with how often you are seem with the hydro-user instead of the 6th Harbinger- but you would always go back to Scaramouche.

Everyone would always ask you how you handle the harshness of Scaramouche (it’s no secret that he’s the least liked Harbinger-), but your response is always the same- “because I love him! He’s my older brother!” (Whilst Scaramouche is blushing behind the wall-).

Scaramouche is protective of you, believe it or not. So if you are with him while he’s outside, he’ll keep you close with him and doesn’t allow you to wander off. If you do wander off, he would panic as he searches for you. He would most definitely scream at you before hugging you- (he’s relieved that you’re unharm- 👀)

If you’re being attacked or taken away, everyone in the Fatui would be so scared of him as he goes out to search for you. If you’re kidnapped, he would let out a search party. And they aren’t allowed to be back unless you are with them (unless they want to get some beating from him-). He would immediately kill whoever attacked you or kidnapped you, even if you’re there to witness it, he would still kill them.

Scaramouche, overall, isn’t perfect. Afterall, he still despised you even after years go by- but he’s grown attached to you. Just,, be patient with him and continue to love him.

[x] Main Page || [x] Mondstadt Page || [x] Fatui Harbingers Page

[smolandweirdwriter]

Gladly! Right, so the first thing I was introduced to when I first met other people (specifically people with on tumblr) who also liked Greek mythology was Hades and Persephone. Now, I’d never really considered them too deeply before. my interest in mythology at this point was sort of that I knew stuff, Percy Jackson was the what sparked my interest but I was invested in getting more knowledge and information and I really enjoyed learning about it, I’d read D’Aulaires, then the illiad and odyssey and the Aeneid, and it was around the beginning of high school that I was introduced to Lore Olympus, which got me SUPER invested in the myth of Persephone and Hades. I found it fascinating, but the first thing I learned was that it was good. That Persephone wanted hades. That they loved each other. That he cheated on her least of all the gods. That he was the best, more moral, more exceptional, kind, that if there was blame to be assigned (which everyone claimed there was not) then everything was Zeus’s fault. And I said, “Okay. I guess that makes sense. Sure.” I believed it for several months, maybe a year. I loved Hades and Persephone in this context. I loved what they embodied, what they represented. And then I was told that those things weren’t true. I was distressed! Even Hades was bad? Really? I desperately wanted it to be untrue. I tried backing the “there’s so many different versions, we don’t know the real one, most of these were oral” claims. Then I read a collection of the Homeric Hymns. And I felt like something had been flipped in my mind. I’d been considering this whole thing as a 21st century teenage girl. But that was never the intended audience for the story. It was to appease men and to support women and girls of the 7th century BCE. Zeus does what a king, what a father does: his brother is powerful, he needs an alliance, he gives away his daughter. Demeter represents what all mothers want to be: she can’t yell at Zeus, but she can make a point. She wants her daughter back, safe and unharmed, and dammit she’s gonna try. Persephone is a portrayal of the best that women could get: she’s still going to see her mother, and she’s married to a man who is powerful. But still she has no choice in the matter. It’s not a love story, and it never was. It’s a portrayal of the views of their society. so now I go, huh. So Hades isn’t a good man. I think back to some other relationships in mythology. How about Eros and Psyche? She fought for him, didn’t she? They loved each other, didn’t they? Weeeell… Did SHE have a choice? No. She was kidnapped, much like Persephone. Did he help her when she was pregnant? Was he ever there when his mother (Aphrodite being his mother in this myth) was punishing her? Nope to both! Really the amount of parallels to be drawn between Psyche and Eros and Persephone and Hades are rather astounding. It COULD certainly be argued that both couples eventually found happiness and love together, but there’s a bit of speculation/deeper digging required for that. In terms of relationships that don’t require speculation or deep digging, we turn at last to Ares and Aphrodite! Ares in Greek mythology represented not just war but also masculine strength. And a HUGE part of being a man was control over one’s household— protecting your family, their honor, especially that of the women. Did that mean men always treated their daughters, sisters, or wives well? Fuck no. Definitely not. But we’re talking about the gods as what they were— a metaphor, a lesson. And Ares? He never hurt a woman in a literal sense. He was representative of those virtues of masculinity: physical strength and protect of the weak. Ares never raped anyone. When Poseidon’s son Halirrhothius raped his daughter, Ares killed the man so violently he was put on trial. Imagine that for a moment. A Greek god kills a mortal and it is so violent he is put on trial by other Greek gods. That’s Ares representing Ancient Greek virtue of protecting the weak/protecting family that I mentioned earlier. Now onto Aphrodite. you might be

thinking I’m hypocritical, after all haven’t I already stated that cheating is wrong in godly relationships? Well… sort of. Let me explain! When Zeus forced himself on Hera, makes her marry him, she wants him not to be in other sexual relationships outside their monogamous one, and he doesn’t, then I think that is wrong. When Aphrodite arrives on Olympus and, having no say in the matter, is gifted to Hephaestus (whether or not this is to appease the other gods is another debate) and forced into a marriage with him, I think that is wrong as well. When Aphrodite, with no say nor choice in her marriage, likes Ares and he likes her and she (and this is the important bit) actively chooses him, then no, I don’t think that is wrong. My reason being? Consent! There is no instance in which Ares EVER has a nonconsensual relationship or intercourse! Not one! (His Roman counterpart, Mars, is, but we’re discussing Greek Ares, not Roman Mars.)

In conclusion… Ares is the least problematic in terms of nonconsensual behavior/intercourse. Hopefully this was explanatory!

the hades to eros to ares pipeline is REAL

[insomniasymphony]

Obsessive Chrollo Lucilfer x Female Reader [Capture a life]

Constellation: Obsessive Chrollo Lucilfer x Female Reader Words I got: → captured → sweet → indulgence Rating: Teen and up Audience .      ►►Flustered in his presence.      Scared in his hands.      What is it that you feel?◄◄

.

You know what happened to Neon Nostrade. You saw it on the news and you were also at her funeral. She lost her ability and had to pay for it.

You, on the other hand, will probably die without the loss of your ability.

The darkness behind the blindfold they put on you before you could fight back robs you of some of the hope you wanted to keep. Hands tied in your lap, the only thing they have left you is your voice. But there is too much fear to scream.

The muffled sound that keeps you sane makes you guess there is a car. The soft cushion you sit on and the warmth at your side leave no room for loneliness.

The smell of shampoo hangs in the air, stale oxygen forces its way into your lungs. You could dare to look into the future, but the certainty that there will be no happy ending is enough for you not to. At your age, you shouldn't have to think about death. You shouldn't have to see it. You're not even of legal age yet. There's still time before you turn eighteen – a lot or a little, you've lost track.

Your hands are clinging together in sweat and your anxiety is increasing with each passing second, when someone pulls off your blindfold with a jerk. Instantly you blink. The dim light spreads its arms in welcome and it takes you no time to adjust to see the driver's seat in front of you. Sealed off by black fabric, you can't see ahead. Instead, the only view is to the side, where tinted windows cast a grim look at the buildings of a city you don't know.

Your heart beats faster, doesn't stop pounding all the way up your throat, when you realise that you really have been captured, as if you were an animal. Someone has understood that your ability to see into the future is valuable enough to steal.

Someone has figured it out.

And your attention wanders in the same breath in the other direction; to your other side, where a man remains relaxed on the seat, half in thought, looking out of the window. But your movement also makes him look in your direction.

The first thing you notice about him is the strange cross on his forehead. Black ink that reminds you of an old news report. He's part of the Phantom Troupe.

“I assume you're unharmed?” His voice is calm, kinder than you would have believed from a criminal. There is something reassuring about it and at the same time there is this charming, almost gentle smile on his lips. He knows he has the upper hand, but he also possesses a certain kindness you don't know if it's real or just an act he's using to get you on his side. But you nod. Talking to him could give you an advantage.

“I assume you kidnapped me for my ability.”

“You've got me all figured out.” His lids lower, making you feel like you're nothing more than a little kid he has to be nice to. It's true, you're still young, but you're not as naive as Neon.

“I've heard of you,” you continue, waiting for a reaction, but he remains silent. “You belong to the Phantom Troupe. I assume you have a problem. And that's why you're hoping I'll use my ability for you.”

His black hair shimmers in the dim light of the small overhead lighting as he tilts his head. He carefully keeps it in check with gel, while the wild, white fur collar of his coat expresses the strict opposite. But you really get stuck on his muscular torso. Where you grew up, there are only old men who serve you your food. Sometimes little boys who have something very innocent about them. Other boys you meet at parties are very different from this guy in front of you – and you realise: he's a real man.

He's out of your league, you know that. And even though he's handsome to look at, he's still a felon you should watch out for. Still, you cut him some slack for his behaviour. Everyone carries their own story with them, even if that doesn't justify some things.

“I won't help you,” you finally announce. “And you can't make me.”

“That wasn't my plan,” he replies calmly, keeping his gaze fixed on you, and for a moment you believe there is endless depth in his eyes. “I had hoped for cooperation.”

“By kidnapping me?”

“There was never any other option. I can't let you go, and I can't let you continue to waste your ability on others. I lost a skill the last time this happened.”

You don't know why, but you think you are sure that an image is forming before your eyes that you can't name. You have no choice but to ask. “Neon?”

“She's dead?” Instead of answering, he asks, wanting to be sure, and again you can only nod. Tension burns in the back of your mind and although you want to throw endless nastiness at him because he is most certainly the man responsible for Neon's death, you can't think of a single appropriate term to say to him.

“I still won't work with you,” you tell him again. But he still only has a smile for you. One of his hands lifts, making you think for a moment that he will just kill you if you refuse, but instead he places it against your cheek. A soft, sweet touch that instantly brings a blush to your face because it's the first time anyone away from your family has gotten this close to you.

“I doubt you have any choice but to help me.” He moves a bit closer to you, constricting you, and you can't help but swallow noticeably as his gaze bores into your eyes. “You will stay by my side until you die. Solely and only by mine.”

“Because I'm valuable?”

“Because your ability is valuable.” His hand releases from your cheek. “And it's mine now. Except it won't become part of my personal arsenal.”

“And how will you make me help if I refuse?”

Again he leans forward, so close that you can inhale his scent deeply. His closeness makes your heart beat faster, your stomach tingle and your shoulders shake at the same time. There is something about him that attracts you and makes you terribly insecure at the same time, although you want to be braver than that. His lips reach one of your ears, breathe soft words to your senses so that you can't move.

“You really want to find out?”

The threatening undertone that resonates in his question makes your body tremble. In those seconds, you can only curse your own stupidity. He is a criminal. He could torture you, force you to commit acts much worse than telling his fortune.

So you press your lips together, watching him lean back again so you can look at each other. The shallow smile on his features is still there and you understand that death is only a small part of his life.

You're not ready to die yet.

“So you want me so badly?” Once more you ask, but you don't dare to hope any longer. The answer is already obvious.

The barely audible laugh, as soft as a light breeze, almost brushes you in mockery. “You wouldn't be here otherwise.” He waits a moment before making it quite clear to you. “I want you.”

A clear statement. The certainty that he won't take no for an answer.

You belong to him.

.

Picture belongs to a card collecting game.  For requests of more one shots to read, check up my Ao3 account!

[friendlyfaded]

Vincent/Lovely/Redeemed!Adam 👀

Vincent/Lovely/Redeemed Adam

Fair warning, Adam gets a little OOC in this one. Also, this one's a bit longer.

Okay so I asked Mar about this to get a little more detail. In this case, Adam kidnapped Lovely, but he was caught by Vincent instead of killed, put under house arrest by Will, and was rehabilitated. He goes through intensive therapy to get his shit together. It takes him a lot of time and inner contemplation, but the root of his impulse to kidnap lovely boils down to two factors: he has a thing for Vincent, and Lovely’s blood was literally addictive. Like, not just as an expression or hyperbole, it’s got the same kind of addictive quality to Adam as a drug. The first time he kidnapped them, it was to get Vincent’s attention. The second time, it was for Lovely.

Now I’m certainly no psychiatrist, but anyone with eyes (or I guess ears, in this case) could see that Adam had some serious issues. I personally headcanon that some of these issues stem from his sire. Based on some of the things Adam says in his audios (“I learned a lot from her” and “I drained the bitch”), I’d say his sire wasn’t the kindest person. If the shit Adam’s doing, stalking, kidnapping, manipulation, are learned from his sire, I’d wager she wasn’t exactly good. In that vein, I doubt she was good to Adam, either. It’s possible that she was either abusive or manipulative with Adam. While this doesn’t excuse what he did, it at least opens up an avenue for potential redemption.

So, while under house arrest, Adam starts to unlearn some of the things his sire taught him. It takes a long, long time, but he comes to understand just how fucked up it was for him to kidnap Lovely not once, but twice. Initially, after that realization, he refuses to see them or Vincent. He’s certain that they hate him, and in all honesty, he’s not wrong. Lovely is still terrified of Adam, and Vincent is furious with him for what he did. Still, the daemon Will recruited for his rehabilitation has been saying that Adam is improving. Neither is sure they believe it, but they both figure they’ll have to see it for themselves. Problem is, Adam has specifically asked that Vincent and Lovely not be allowed to see him.

The initial assumption is that Adam is pissed off that Vincent and Lovely got him grounded. They figure Adam won’t see them because he’s mad. Then one day the daemon comes out of Adam’s room, the sleeve of his shirt wet with tears, and they realize Adam isn’t angry. Before, they wanted to see Adam to find out if he really was becoming a better person. Now, though, they’re confused, and maybe a bit worried. The longer Adam refuses to see them, the more concerned they become. Even after Will says that Adam is allowed out, he never leaves his room.

Lovely ends up sneaking into his room one morning. Vincent is busy working with Will, so they’re alone. Adam starts to panic when he sees them. He’s afraid that one, they hate him, and two, he’ll lose control again. Lovely calms him down and gets him to actually talk to them. Adam apologizes, but he also tells Lovely directly that he doesn’t expect an apology to fix anything. Lovely responds that it’ll take a while for them to forgive him, but that they don’t hate him. Adam ends up spilling everything, from his shitty turning and experiences with his sire to his admittedly unhealthy obsession with Vincent to his addiction to their blood. Lovely doesn’t exactly understand, but they try to (it’s something they understand better after being turned).

Lovely spends the day talking to Adam. Now that he’s not holding them hostage, drinking from them without consent and objectifying them, he seems very different. Obviously he’s still Adam. He’s not going to do a complete 180. He’s still obsessive, eccentric, and a little fucked up, but he’s not as evil as Lovely thought he was.

Vincent is extremely concerned when he finds out Lovely was with Adam all day, but it helps that they’re completely unharmed and undisturbed. They give him a few days before Vincent goes to talk to Adam himself, since they figure he should have a bit of time to recharge after talking to Lovely. Adam is quieter with Vincent. It takes him a while to actually start responding to Vincent with more than one word answers and passive hums. Vincent understands the pull of Lovely’s blood. He also lost control, although not to the extent that Adam did. Their natures as vampires works against them in this case, so Vincent gets it. He’s certainly not pleased that Adam kidnapped Lovely, but he understands.

Adam starts actually coming out of his room after Lovely and Vincent talk to him. He doesn’t really interact with anyone else in the clan if he can help it. Will has kept everything that happened kind of quiet, for Adam’s sake, but there have been rumors. He tries to keep to himself. Of course, Lovely and Vincent seek him out sometimes to talk. After all, his obvious crush on both of them is kind of adorable, in a strange way.

I feel like once they actually manage to bring Adam into their relationship, he would be walking on eggshells for a while. He’s terrified of fucking things up, even though he doesn’t show it. He outright refuses to drink from Lovely again. It’s nothing against them, and he makes sure they know that. He just doesn’t trust himself. That doesn’t mean he won’t watch Vincent drink-

This is a relationship that is probably going to take a very long time to settle. Luckily for all three of them, they have eternity to figure it out.

[blackwidow-bby]

Never Be The Same- Mafia!Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Prompt: Mafia Boss au but y/n kidnaps the mafia boss

Warnings: Cursing, violence, gun mention and gun use, kidnapping

AN: I saw this prompt from a tiktok where someone asked "your favorite trope but reverse" so I did it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't often that you got anonymous letters sent to you by someone looking for your "services". You had left the spy life years ago with a little help from the Witness Protection Program in order to pursue a much quieter life doing...well currently you were just working as a florist. Before that you cleaned headstones at the towns local graveyard, which was scarily a lot bigger than the town you were in. You had quit that job when you got the first anonymous letter on the steps of the shed where you kept your tools. The thought of someone knowing where you worked, hell, who you were, especially when they shouldn't spooked you more than working in the graveyard around sunset.

The request wasn't for anything serious. A simple adult-napping job of some woman. The stranger who left the note definitely specified that they wanted the target alive. It would have been an easy job with some extra cash to put in your pocket, but instead you jumped ship and quit that day and moved to another apartment complex. You even went so far as to get a P.O. Box instead of using the complex's mail. The threat wasn't that big to get the government involved in relocating you again.

You almost you wish you could go back in time to the early morning before you received the letter by some covered stranger. Your skin turned white when you saw the simple little envelope with your old agent code name; Viper.

Sneaky and deadly, you always knew the perfect moment to strike. Whoever this person was had to have also been an old agent from the same organization you worked for. That was the only way you could explain away the anxiety that boiled in the pit of your stomach. Once was an instance, but twice is a hobby, you decide you'll at least think about taking the job. Opening the envelope, your heart started to pound quickly inside its cage. You can't believe you were about to put yourself in this position after leaving it for so long.

The letter read:

Dear Viper;

It has been many years since the last time I've seen your face, the first time I thought you were a ghost. Certainly after seeing your face again, I knew for sure my mind wasn't fooling me. It is with a heavy heart that I ask for your help. Unfortunately a family member of mine had found themselves in trouble with a mafia member. Unable to keep their end of whatever bargain, the mob killed him. I need you to find the person who did this to my brother and bring them to me completely unharmed. I want them conscious, I want my face to be the last ting they see before I get revenge for a member of my family ceasing to live among those that loved them.

The target's name is Natasha Romanoff. At the bottom I've left a burner number and an address if you do decide to take my offer this time, the payment will be handsomely.

Much Thanks;

Otter

Natasha Romanoff? Sounds mafia enough to you. Gods, what a messed up situation to get into. Would it really be enough to possibly have to change your identity again? What if this person was important to this group and they decided to come after you? You sat in silence thinking for a long time if any of this was really worth it. There was a tiny voice that peeped up in the back of your mind. You had been kinda bored lately, this could be the spice you need to add back an old pep in your step.

It was decided. You'll get to work searching for this person in the morning. Wow, that took so much persuasion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You got started early the next day. Definitely not due to not being able to sleep in the first place. Oh no. Thanks to the nerves building up over putting yourself in a shitty position. Luckily for you though, this Natasha woman wasn't hard to find at all. The mafia she was affiliated with, operated in the city near the town you lived in. They also apparently seemed to operate most of their business out of a simple pet shop. This has to be the inner workings of a screen writer, you thought to yourself.

Your nerves began to get the best of you on your walk back home. It seemed like everyone's eyes were suddenly on you, like they knew exactly what you were up to. You picked up your speed and released a breath you didn't realize you were holding when you saw the steps to your apartment complex. You quickly ran inside up to your floor and slammed the door behind you. Gosh your nerves were starting to annoy you. How did you ever make it as a top agent is beyond you thinking of the position you were currently in. All feelings aside, you pressured n to pack for the trip you'll soon be taking to the city. It was going to be another long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your trip to the city was surprisingly smooth. Light traffic. Sun was out. If not for this little mission, if you could call it that, the day would have been perfect to do some sight seeing. You found the "pet shop" just as easy as well. You set up camp on the side of the street in front of the building to see if your target would possibly show up today. You were really hoping this didn't turn into a multi-day stake out. just wanting to get all of this over as quickly as possible so you can go back into hiding again.

It took about 7 hours, well into the late afternoon, before you spotted her walk in. Surprisingly, she was alone. Perfect, time to move in. You got out of your car and casually walked around the side of the business to see if there happened to be a door. The alleyway of the building was dark enough that anyone on the street wouldn't be able to see in. The sound of a creaky metal door could be heard just around the corner. You guess the back will have to do. As you got closer to the sound, you saw the woman in the back of the building talking with a man. You couldn't make out a single word they were saying. Their conversation wasn't important though, only getting her to Otter was.

Your heart began to race as the moment to make your move came closer. This is what you had trained for your whole life. The stealth and ability to make a move without anyone around you knowing until it was too late. Your eyes trained on the red-head in the back of the building. You gave a silent prayer to whoever was listening that the person she was with, would leave her alone for just one second. That's all you needed; one second.

Suddenly, it was as if all of the puzzle pieces fell into place. He left to go back inside. Time slowed down in an instant. You immediately released a breath through your mouth and moved in. You could see every single moment, all of the steps you took right up to behind her. Watching her turn around carefully but never hearing you step up behind her. At the very last second when she had finally caught sight, one hand reached but to grab her arm and pin it behind her back while the other reached around her head with a chloroform rag to incapacitate her.

The hard part was done. The red-haired woman fell limp in your arms, so you maneuvered her into a bridal position to easily carry her to your car. Time was of the essence. Someone would be coming to look for her soon. Swiftly and quietly, you walked back through the alley and reached your car. Knowing you had some time before she woke up, you could stop later to tie her hands and legs once you were farther away from the city. You placed her down in the back seat before getting in the front and driving away. You let out the most dramatic exhale and looked for the letter Otter had given you of his number and location.

One ring

Two rings

So you did take my offer?

Yes, I'm headed to the location now.

Excellent, thank you for your work.

Yeah, whatever.

Click

You drove on for another half an hour before you reached the location. It was an old abandoned warehouse settled 20 minutes in the opposite direction from the city. The sun was completely settled at this point making the surroundings very dark. The sky had an almost purple glow from the towns nearby lights. Getting out, you circled the car to the back passenger door to remove the woman and bring her inside. She was still passed out from the chloroform only stirring slightly as you picked her up.

Maybe it was the exhaustion catching up to you, but you don't remember her being this heavy. Trudging the knocked out woman inside, you found a small chair and placed her down. Your timing was sort of off and thought better to tie down her hands and legs now before checking her pockets for any weapons or forms of identification. The woman's head lulled from left to right while you searched. You found a knife on her belt holster, a small revolver tucked in the back of her pants, a wallet, and a set of keys but not car keys. Her eyes started to flutter while you fingered through the wallet. Nothing important, a drivers license, a couple of business cards from the "pet store", and a what looked like a family photo. The people in the photo looked familiar to you, very familiar.

"What are you doing with that?" The woman mumbled in your direction. You looked her in the eye not saying anything. The woman was gorgeous with the single light shining down on her causing an angelic glow upon the crown of her head. Her red tresses seemed to almost burn in your presence. You looked away from her and continued to inspect the photo she kept in her wallet.

"Who are these people with you?"

Her head lulled once more, "Why do you want to know?"

"Answering a question with a question won't help you. What is your affiliation with the mafia?"

"I'm their fucking boss."

In that instance your eyes widened. Of course, that's why the men in the photo looked familiar to you. She was the fucking heir to one of the top mafia rings in the country. This idiot, Otter, wanted you to bring in the living heir and current head hancho for what she did to a simple family member that got caught up in the wrong group. The sweat was beginning to pour now that you realized you were absolutely fucked.

Before you could say anything else, Otter, the man of the hour, busted trough the doors.

"Viper! I knew I could count on you!"

"What the fuck man?! You really had me capture the fucking mafia BOSS?! We're both going to be fucked if you don't explain everything right now, Otter." You were sweating rivers at this point. Utterly frustrated and hot in the warehouse. The red-head was slowly coming to 100% but her eyes still couldn't fully focus.

"Calm down Viper. Your work is done with me. I'll cover everything up and you can go back to your quiet life."

"Over?! If you don't give me a very good reason to leave her here in your possession, I'm taking her with me." you were shouting at this point. The red-head was now staring at the both of you dumbfounded at the whole situation everyone was in.

"She killed my brother!" You swore you could see steam coming off of his head. "She killed him and left him to rot!"

"Your brother was nothing but scum who tried to steal weapons from me to sell for himself." She had responded this time. Otter quickly pulled out a gun from his pocket and aimed it at the woman.

"He would never have done anything to harm his family or himself!"

She didn't falter her glare one single bit, even with a weapon pointed at her head. "He'd be living a healthy fulfilling life had he not crossed me."

He cocked the gun this time. "Shut up you stupid bitch!"

A smirk played on her lips, she was enjoying getting a rise out of him. Like she knew something the both of you didn't know. Like she knew no matter her outcome someone would always be out there searching for both of you for the rest of your lives until you got caught, or god forbid, kill yourselves to keep from being caught. Your nerves were spiking again, you couldn't let Otter kill Natasha Romanoff.

You sucked a quick gasp. Otter didn't notice but Natasha did. You had her gun.

Natasha's eyes darted back and forth between you and Otter. He was getting upset at the fact that her attention wasn't solely on him. The arm that was holding the gun stopped its falter and held up straight to Natasha's face. "Look at me! I want my face to be the last thing you see when I kill you, you stu-"

BANG

Natasha jumped. She had seen the whole thing take place but didn't really expect you to do it. She could see the tremble in in your hands as they stayed in the same spot. Your eyes were wide, lip quivering, you couldn't believe what you had done and now you had a new problem to cover up. Natasha had a look of empathy in her eyes. You didn't want to be in this position from the get go and it had only gotten worse for you.

"Hey, look at me..." Natasha spoke up softly to break your trance. She had leaned her body towards you in a manner to reach out. "You can put the gun down, its going to be okay now." Your eyes darted down to the gun and back up to Natasha's green eyes. Still shaking you slowly lowered the gun to the ground before you walked over to her cautiously. Tears were falling down your face, the weight of the situation was hitting you. If you had never agreed to Otter's request, you would be cozied up in your bed, awaiting another new day.

Your fingers found Natasha's bound wrists. her skin was surprisingly cool to the touch. She stared at your face the whole time you unwrapped her from the chair. The fresh tears leaving clear trails down your slightly dirtied cheeks. The slight glow of your e/c eyes under the florescent lights of the warehouse. You knelt down in front of her to then remove the binding on her ankles. Something within her compelled her to reach out to you. Without even realizing it, the red-heads palm was already resting on your head. She reveled in the silky smooth feel of your h/c locks. The slight dampness from the sweat that had overcome your skin. She could feel the softness of your fingers slowly circling around her last ankle when your sad eyes looked up to hers.

"How did you manage to capture me without anyone seeing you?" Her hand slipped down to your cheek. "In all of my years, I have not once not heard someone creep up behind me the way you did."

The steady stream of tears grew heavier, your quiet life was about to be destroyed by your own need for a change. She would certainly have your feet for getting a one up on her.

"It was my job. I was known for being so light on my toes, no one could hear me coming." your voice wavered, but the words got out.

"Well I could use someone like you by my side." Natasha held out her hand to you as she got up on her feet. Not really having her ground, she nearly fell when you caught her by the waist. The two of you held your breath as you both stared deeply into each others eyes. You could swear if you inhaled, her scent would be enough to drive you mad. "My guys will cover all of this up for you."

You sat and thought about everything she said. The would would probably prove more exciting than working at a flower shop and probably be more fruitful. You smiled at her. You could feel her warm breath near your lips.

"When do I start?"