#opium trade
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Yes, there IS a deep state
#British Israel#Venice#corruption#Aristotlelian oligarchy#usury#slavery#City of London#British East India Company#opium trade#depravity#New Age
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This episode of Things Observed with Recluse is even more detail-filled than his earlier, brief overview of the World Anti-Communist League (WACL). Recluse has been studying the parapolitical aspects of the Unification Church and the Religious Right for years, and the seriousness of his research is evident in this episode.
EPISODE LINK: World Anti-Communist League feat. Recluse: International Drug Trafficking, Nazis, Ukraine, the China Lobby and the Fascist International
Today I am joined with Steve Snyder, the host of The Farm podcast, the man who runs the VISUP blog and the author of A Special Relationship: Trump, Epstein, And the Secret History of the Anglo-American Establishment. He is also one of the authors of Strange Tales of the Parapolitical: Postwar Nazis, Mercenaries, and Other Secret History. In addition to buying his books you can read some of his work by visiting visupview.blogspot.com.In this episode Recluse joins us to discuss the World Anti-Communist League. We cover the groups that would come together to form the WACL such as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, the Asian Peoples Anti-Communist League and the Unification Church or better known in America as the Moonies. We also discuss WACL's and it's founders relationship to the international opium trade. We discuss people like the Yakuza gangster and fascist drug lord Yoshio Kodama and the unlikely partnership he would form with Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-Shek and how they along with other WACL members would dominate the global opium trade. Not only did some in the WACL have ties to the drug trade through opium but also through the cocaine trade. We discuss some of those involved in WACL and the distribution of cocaine. We also discuss how the WACL relates to Latin American Death Squads, the Mexican Esoteric Nazi order of the Tecos, the China Lobby which served as a kind of precursor to the Israel Lobby, Claire Chennault and the flying tigers, Air America and CIA drug trafficking, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalist and how that relates to the current Russia/Ukraine conflict and so much more. Recluse is astoundingly smart, and this episode is absolutely jam packed with information. Also, there is some fun stuff about how Recluse got into researching the parapolitical as well as what separates the WACL from other think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group. So, join us to learn about the shadowy group that the conspiratorial right won't touch with a ten-foot pole, the World Anti-Communist League.
#podcast#the farm#steve snyder#unification church in japan#unification church#world anti-communist league#wacl#asian peoples anti-communist league#anti-bolshevik bloc of nations#yakuza#right-wing politics#politics#parapolitical#parapolitics#drug trade#opium trade#drug trafficking#trafficking#nazis#fascism#opium#drugs#anti-communism#counterinsurgency
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thinking about how ramy says, “this is how the empire connects us,” in regards to opium and he’s so devastatingly right
but also:
ramy and robin find their lost languages in each other (cantonese is bold and sharp like ramy; bangla is sweet and soft like robin)
ramy and robin share cultural new years (chinese in jan/feb, bengali in april)
(while i’m not sure if these nicknames existed in the late 1830s) very common bengali endearments carry the same root word, pākhi, which means bird. bird, birdie.
and you will say – didn’t the empire start all this, too? didn’t the british take ramy and robin’s preferred languages away from them? didn’t they rip them from their homes where they would celebrate their new years? didn’t robin choose this name because the british wouldn’t let him have his chinese name?
the british started it, but they didn’t expect there to be this level of intimate solidarity. they wanted to pull the oppressed apart, pit them against each other, but the similarities are copious bc ramy and robin have much more in common with each other than they will ever with the empire
they take the cruelty, mould it into smth they can share and build together
the empire couldn’t have that. so they did what they knew best: they took them away from each other
#you could also make this a metaphor for letty if you want :p#babel an arcane history#babel or the necessity of violence#babel r f kuang#ramiz rafi mirza#robin swift#writing ramy/robin fanfic got me thinking abt this piece by piece and i just think. r f kuang was so clever#having ramy be bengali was obvious enough w the opium trades but all these connections? bhai....
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Have you ever read "The Shade of Old Trees" by Kryal on ao3?
I genuinely think you might enjoy it, the characterization is top tier and the author's notes go heavy into details on why they made this or that decision. It was all incredibly good, well thought out, well researched, and with not an ounce of fanon to find.
I’ve read it, and while I initially enjoyed the story and the long author’s notes, I found it very toothless in its critique of anything substantial despite the author bringing up major issues in the modern world, themself. It also felt like their understanding of China and its history came straight from one of those 5-minute info-videos that’s half American state propaganda and pretend like the history of modern China begins in 1949. Finally, they also fall into the trap of softening Jiang Cheng’s character in the final confrontation with the excuse that “jc wouldn’t actually want to kill wwx!” despite that being what he literally did and tried to do again in canon. I appreciate them writing through their logic, but that doesn’t mean I’ll agree with the leaps they take simply because they’ve explained why they’ve made them. Great start, weak finish.
#anon#you can’t bring up the issues involved with the chocolate trade#and then shy away from naming what is happening as SLAVERY#you can’t talk about the cultural revolution in china#and then just completely skip over the 100 years of colonization by europe#the opium wars and ALSO japan’s atrocities in the country#the author acts like china sprang fully formed out of thin air#and folks were just wilin because ‘humans are just bad people’#no no no you get back here and EXPLAIN to wwx wtf actually happened in the thousands of years he was asleep#or better yet: if naming slavery and colonization makes you that uncomfortable? you shouldn’t have brought it up#welp didn’t mean for this to turn into a review#sorry to this author#i think the writing was great but the politics are surface-level at best#and i think it does a disservice to an mxtx novel to make a political fic with weak historical understanding and political stances
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Out of curiosity, what chapter of It Takes A Village (hurt/comfort, hotel residents helping Angel Dust in various circumstances) are you most interested in?
*already exists, click for Chapter One: Niffty
**already exists, click for Chapter Two: Vaggie
#hazbin hotel#hazbin fic#my least popular fic by far lolsob#should i probably be working on something else? absolutely#i regularly get comments on My Body Is An Orphanage asking if I abandoned it#its been two weeks#Dungeon Meshi folks have been waiting months for the next chapter of Nothing Ventured#heck#its been two years since i properly updated that one witcher fic#but nooo all my brain wants to focus on is this#every chapter is a huge challenge and it takes forever to figure out the characters' voices and it doesn't matter because nobody likes it#yet here i am#researching the opium trade for a throwaway line in sir pentious's chapter#because that's the person i am#i wonder if anyone's noticed there's nine chapters planned and eight options here#who could the last chapter be about?
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Time travel to do list:
1. Stop the British East India Company from ever forming to prevent the rise of the 2 greatest evils this world has ever known: Biritsh People and the Stock Market.
2. Punch Leo Tolstoy in the face (this one is for u Sophia Tolstoy)
3. Purchase a bottle of the 60 drops of opium cough syrup
4. Befriend that one ancient farmer from babylonia (??? I think???) who was requesting water for his field and basically wrote the first ever "per my last email" and "cc-ing _____ for visibility!!!" In the history of mankind
#did you know at its height the british east india company accounted for half. HALF. of ALL trade worldwide#might need to go back further tbh#stop the ancient romans from ever conquering britain#the opium cough drop one tho thats the biggie
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On a different note, as I overheard a relevant conversation yesterday - me, the child of immigrants from Hong Kong, every time I have to overhear a Hong Konger or HK descendent talk about how much they love and admire the British Empire bc it was a benevolent 'civilizing' force that brought Western enlightenment to Hong Kong, unlike the dirty and barbaric Chinese mainlanders with their evil Oriental ways: 😒😒😒
#for $2 can you tell me about the british opium trade and opium wars#also of a war btw the west and china breaks out#sinophobes are not going to care you're a hker who bootlicks queen victoria
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Western dealers (particularly the British) pushed the drug hard; by 1832 enough was pouring into Guangzhou – nearly twelve tons – to keep two or three million addicts high year-round (Figure 10.5).
"Why the West Rules – For Now: The patterns of history and what they reveal about the future" - Ian Morris
#book quotes#why the west rules – for now#ian morris#nonfiction#opium#east india company#britain#30s#1830s#19th century#guangzhou#china#addiction#narcotics#drug trade
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Wars for Global Resources: Opium, Poop, and People | Modern World Histor...
youtube
#world history#china#british empire#opium wars#trade#markets#resources#capitalism#economics#addiction#Youtube
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“SAYS DOPE RING BRIBE OFFERED,” Vancouver Sun. March 2, 1931. Page 1. ---- Opium Worth $2160 Found on Chinese by Constable --- The opium ring dangled "easy money" before the eyes of Duncan Ferguson, Vancouver police constable, when he arrested Lim Poon, Chinese, on February 15, it was alleged in Police Court today.
Ferguson refused to listen to the overtures, and as a result, Lim Foon is now committed for trial on a charge of possessing opium valued at $2160.
The drug was in 18 tobacco tins contained in the pockets of a special cotton vest which Lim Poon wore under his sweater.
SIXTH SENSE ARREST Testimony at the preliminary hearing today showed that the "sixth sense," sometimes possessed by police officers, enabled Ferguson to make the arrest.
Ferguson was on duty at Marine Drive and Oak Street at 9:20 a.m. when he saw Lim Foon walking towards the Marpole bridge. Twenty minutes later he saw the Chinese return. Something in his manner aroused Ferguson's suspicions, so he approached the Oriental.
Lim Foon attempted to board a passing truck when he saw the officer beckoning to him, but Ferguson pursued and captured him. He took Lim Foon into custody and started escorting him to the Kerrisdale police substation by automobile.
"I BRING $600 TONIGHT" On the way, Ferguson testified. Lim Foon said: "Where do you live?" When the officer asked why he wanted to know, Lim Foon, according to the testimony, replied:
"You let me go and I bring you $600 tonight."
Later, at the police station. Lim Foon was searched, and the opium was found.
The Chinese defense is he was sleeping under a pool table in Chinatown the night previous to the arrest, and that he found the package on the bridge, not knowing what it contained.
#vancouver#police court#illegal possession of narcotics#narcotics possession#opium#drug trade#racial profiling#racism in canada#chinese canadians#chinese immigration to canada#attempted bribery#great depression in canada#crime and punishment in canada#history of crime and punishment in canada
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pisses me off to no end when people on reddit or whatever complain that the show wouldve been better off without the tuunbaq.....did we watch the same show? the tuunbaq is everything, it held everything together. the tuunbaq is the main transformative element of the terror. the tuunbaq elevates the text beyond mere historical fact and lets it say something about the expedition's broader context of imperialism. it hunted the british men who were trampling on its home as a mere stopover, a side casualty, to finding the northwest passage (for, you know, "trade with china" after britain beat china into submission after the imperialist opium war). silna couldnt complete a proper ritual with it because of the british men - just as british colonizers have historically intruded and disrupted the practice of indigenous culture. and in the end the tuunbaq dies, after all the injuries it's taken from the british over the course of 10 episodes and finally chokes to death on the worst of them. because there's no escaping the reality of colonial history, and there is especially no fantastical escape for the colonizer. there's no proper way for us to move forward otherwise.
good historical fiction doesnt have to limit itself to accuracy - it needs empathy to draw out meanings in history using literary craft. thats what the tuunbaq means to me.... if you wanted a straight depiction of historical record, just go watch a documentary.. TUUNBAQ DENIERS DNI
#hell i would argue that historical inaccuracy is just as crucial to accuracy in historical fiction#if not even more so#for a different reason that you need an anchor to remind viewers that this is fiction#and should not be taken as substitute for historical record#though dont get me wrong i think historical fiction complements scholarly text too#because histfic gets to explore aspects of the same history in different ways you cant in academia - more emotional and the like#but its also a problem if histfic presents itself as accurate and ppl start looking at it as historical record itself#kind of like the crown (hate the crown)#so the question of 'how do we play with historical facts to reinforce the themes of the story' is crucial in histfic i think#the terror#the terror amc
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Globalized organized crime
#British Empire#organized crime#British East India Company#opium trade#slavery#usury#oligarchy#depravity#terrorism#assassination
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𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐒 | General Acacius x reader x Emperor Geta
↝ masterlist | requests? | ao3 | update blog | fic rec | ko-fi
summary | living under emperor geta's rule was never supposed to be easy, but he aims to make it nearly impossible, even if he has become fond of you.
author's note | i never really intended for this to get another part, but since seeing the movie and wanting to expand on these characters and possibly writing for geta on his own, i thought i would turn this into a little passion project. i know there's a niche group of you that have asked for a second part to this, and as much as i crave chaos, i hope you enjoy where i took this and know that i am all for the crazed man that is emperor geta. (can be read as a standalone, but the first part can be read here)
content warning | 18+ mdni, DDDNE - heavy dubcon (due to sex work, ect), heavy themes of abuse under the rule of a vile emperor (mention of injury, slapping, ect), normalized degredation, exhibitionism and exchange of bodily fluids, smut galore (oral, unprotected piv, ect), choking tw, death tw, use of opium poppy, drugging tw (not against reader), named side character, marcus acacius being the real knight in shining armor. this is unbeta'd so i apologize for any spelling mishaps.
word count — 8k
You live within him, it feels.
Geta never let you stray farther than a touch, within arms distance.
You were no longer yourself, rather an extension of him.
He prefers you naked. But, he often dresses you up in gowns; modest sometimes, occasionally leaning toward more revealing fabric—sheer lace, high slits, deep-cut necklines that accentuate your breasts and hips, the soft but tight curve of your ass. Sometimes you wondered if he liked the clothes more accessible to his wandering hands, his fingers fluttering under your gown during public meetings, even.
The men never said a word, they wouldn’t dare.
If you were given the opportunity to be away from him, it was always under the watchful gaze of his guards, and only to complete tasks he has ordered to you—fetching food when he was too lazy to leave his bed and when you were feigning the grimace in your face, itching to wander.
Your relationship is complicated in the beginning but easier to manage as you become accustomed to his personality and outbursts, learning what makes him tick. He’s easier to manipulate with sex, something you have no issue taking full advantage of.
And he fancies an audience, usually. Other servants, less privileged women that trembled in his presence, fearful that his next move would be their last, somehow comforted by your confident and guiding touch. It made no sense to not enjoy what you could while you were imprisoned here, even if Geta and his brother did nothing to soothe the discomfort they left in their wake, making your skin crawl as his fingers drifted along your skin.
Caracalla could not touch either, his brother forbade it. An eager boy, riddled with a brain-eating sickness, he was dutiful to his brother but harmful in his own ways, fickle with thoughtful choices and often making important decisions on impulse.
They were destroying Rome, that much you knew to be true.
-
Geta’s hand guided up your stomach, his palm curling around your breasts as he squeezed, your own hand flat against his chest as you rode him with fervor in the early morning hours, dawn peeking over the warm, lilac sky.
In this light, he seemed almost normal. Eyes drifting shut in the silence of his quarters, just you—just him, he often made the mistake of weakening his defenses like this. He growled, low and quiet as his hands traded your breasts for your hips, spinning you in an instant and pinning you beneath him, soon his hand like a vice grip on your neck as he thrusts into you with little care or regard, a string of spit connecting his parted lips as he laughed, an eerie cackle as he came inside of you, admiring the tremble in your lip as he released his grip on your throat, subtly intaking the breath you had been deprived of as he pulls away from you, falling against the mattress and pulling the silk bed sheet over himself.
You move to do the same, but he grips the sheet.
“Make yourself come,” He demands, a sneer across his face as he yanks the sheet away completely.
It was routine, now. You part your thighs without hesitation, leaning back on your elbow to allow him an unobstructed view, a tired but amused expression on his face as you play with your clit, fingers sliding through your folds, eyes drifting shut as they often did.
It was easier to picture him this way, brown curls buried between your thighs and the tanned-skin of his backside as he stretched out below you, rutting his cock into the sheets as he ate you like his final meal, eyes like warm honey as they peered up at you.
Acacius, sweet Acacius.
You were thankful you could remember his face, a memory you would pray to the gods to stick with you forever, a blissful crest of pleasure as your middle finger circles over your clit in a hurried manner, heels digging into the sheets as you feel it—fuck, it’s there, right there—
“Look at me,” He leers, his hand twisting into your hair at the crown of your head, a searing pain that makes you gasp, but your eyes fly open, mouth parted in a mix of pain and pleasure, “tell me how generous of an emperor I am to be so kind to a little whore like you.”
You nod shakily, swallowing as your mouth dries, “You have given me everything, your highness. Everything. I may never be able to repay you such a debt,” It was a script, one you’ve memorized and dare not forget, “May I—” You’ve learned to ramp up the dramatics when he’s lips part in anticipation, fingers itching as his thigh as they curled, his dick twitching beneath the fabric, “may I come?”
So fucking full of himself.
Whether you did or not didn’t matter anymore, but he allowed it. Insists. Your eyes never leave him.
–
Even as you dress, again, he hovers.
You’ve learned the proper customs and rules, always making sure you look perfect. Pristine. Scrubbing your body down so harsh and deep that it makes your skin feel raw, because if Geta noticed anything—anything at all, it would mean punishment.
He liked lashings, but that was too exertive for him.
His handmaidens aided the swelling and cuts as well as they could, ice and creams, clever ways to cover the wounds to your face. You were starting to feel a numbness when the anger would rise and explode, only praying that he would remove his rings before doing so.
“He’s visiting,” Geta speaks as though it was a secret, squeezing your chin between his fingers before they predictably fall to your neck, squeezing in the perfect spot to make you feel light, airy, and not in a good way, “I best not get a whiff of contempt, understood?”
“I am yours, Geta,” You knew he liked the more relaxed approach, his grip easing up, “he is nothing, nothing compares to you.”
His nostrils flare, a half-hearted smirk crossing his face as he shrugs.
“I have a task for you,” Geta teases, before his finger trails toward your nose, thumb rubbing against the soft, bulbous curve and down your lips, pushing his fingertip inside, prying your lips apart, thumb tucking against the inside of your cheek as you mouth falls open, “but, not in this moment. The timing must be…perfect.”
Your eyes squint slightly—he was up to no good, that much you could decipher.
–
He gave the other servants a look, shooing them away as you stayed on his heels, your dress flowing at your ankles, feet bare against the marble floor. He pulled faintly at your wrist as he took a seat, maneuvering you into his lap, his own legs outstretched, fingers traveling up the center of your chest before his hands curving around the back of your head, his thumb rubbing at your jawline.
“Try anything, I will kill him first. Then you.”
You smile, syrupy sweet, playing with a thin strand of his fiery locks underneath the lip of his crown.
“You worry so much, Emperor,” Your own hand covers his, a bold touch as you stare him down, “It does not suit you.”
He’s emotionless for a moment too long, fearing you may have finally overstepped, before he breaks out into a laugh, one final squeeze before he relinquishes his hold.
The General and his entourage arrive soon after your conversation, Caracalla having joined shortly before the approach of many guests—most thanking their Emperors for no apparent reason other than because they enjoyed watching people kneel before them, confessing their undying loyalty.
It was pathetic, but what you were doing—forced or not, was no better. It was much like being stripped bare, the way the others' eyes prowled, watchful of Geta’s wandering touch.
“Quite the whore you’ve acquired,” One embolden man comments, his slimy smirk coming moments later, before calling over his shoulder, “General Acacius, you must tell me where you acquire such…toys. Such a generous gift you gave.”
You smiled with faked confidence, sat in his lap, one leg draped over his own, the other dragging along the floor where it rested through his split thighs, a kneading hand dragging along your inner thigh. Your fingers drag along his own, his tongue shoving into his bottom lip and over his teeth, a tick you’ve learned meant no good, his eyes turning quickly to rage.
You could hear the deep timber of the general over your shoulder as he is called forward, your eyes never leaving Geta, even as he straightens in his throne, his palm flattening against the arm of the chair digging into your back. You slide a hand inside his robe, fingertips dragging along his collarbone, “He knows I am yours now, Geta.”
“General Acacius,” Geta greets with a poorly faked kindness, one that Acacius returns with a curt nod and the usual bow that one of higher ranking would offer, the traditions were different for townspeople, but it was still ridiculous in any manner, “I take you have good news to share.”
Otherwise, he would not be here.
“Austria will be conquered within the next fortnight, Emperor Geta,” He explains with a rigidness that oozed discomfort, ignoring the smarmy look of another nearby general, one of much lower important, but nonetheless—
“Ah, it must feel strange,” The man suddenly interjects, a finger circling the steel goblet in his hand, filled to the brim with wine, “trading whores, doing business—rather messy…”
Geta’s jaw tenses, his anger suddenly directed elsewhere.
But, as usual, Acacius knows how to defuse a tense situation.
“She was a gift to the Emperor,” The general clarifies, “for what he does with her is none of my business, I only knew her as a loyal servant,” not a whore, never had those words left his mouth.
Geta’s chest rumbles softly, his hand squeezing painfully tight at your thigh.
Your teeth clench to silence the pain, dreading his next words as they leave his mouth.
“Call her what she is, Acacius,” He goaded, “a whore—and she excels.”
His other hand slides through the open back of your dress, slipping one fold of fabric down your shoulder as he grins, all of the lower society bystanders having filtered out of the palace by now, leaving a large group of generals waiting for Geta's official dismissal.
“Give them a show,” He boasts, shoving you off of him rather abruptly, but you quickly plant your bare feet into the flooring, steadying yourself as you kneel before the Emperor, spreading out the spare fabric of your dress to act as a temporary comfort to your knees as you work at Geta’s robe, hesitant as you peer up at him briefly, he nods slightly, but taunting, “go on.”
It wasn’t the first time you’ve performed for an audience, feeling eerily normal now—but in a room full of generals? Acacius? You could hear your heart pounding in your ears, deafening everything else around you as you split his robe apart and dragged your fingers up the inside of his thigh, his tongue peeling slightly through his lips as you wrapped your delicate fingers around his cock, watching as he hardened under your skilled touch, despite how incredibly awkward the air felt, some of the men murmuring around you quietly.
His fingers dig into your hair at the start of your scalp, unhappy with your pace as he grips, pulling you forward until you get the idea, your tongue licking slowly along the head of his cock, the reddened tip glistening with a small drop of precome. You circle around it, slow and tantalizing before you run down the length of his shaft, having memorized every ridge and vein by this point that it has become second nature to instinctively know what pulls him toward the edge faster, easier. But, he wasn’t even looking at you. He was staring through you, behind you.
He was staring Acacius down, guiding you down his cock without much relief as your eyes flutter shut when his cock head nears the back of your throat, using practiced breathing as you focus. He didn’t like it when you gagged, eventually allowing you up for air as you claw gently at his thigh, but the process is repeated over and over again until you’re tearing up, drool collecting down your neck and chest, hand still secured tightly at the root of your hair as he pulls you off suddenly, demanding a tense, “Open, tongue out,” as he comes in short, but forceful spurts against your tongue, swallowing the heady taste of him without another thought.
He pats at your cheek lightly when you open your mouth, showing it empty.
“Stand,” He ordered, adjusting your dress back up slightly to cover your breast, chuckling underneath his breath at how disheveled you looked otherwise, hair an absolute mess and your chest slick with spit, “oh—why don’t you give him a kiss? As a thank you for his generosity.”
Geta covers himself lazily, uncaring as if a dozen or so men hadn’t just watched him come down your throat. You turn on your heels, approaching Acacius who was simmering with rage, it was subtle, but you could sense it as you came closer.
You smile softly, a silent apology as you touch him first, fingers curling around the side of his neck as you press your lips against his in a chaste kiss, knowing Geta would allow nothing more. And it doesn’t surprise you how easy it feels to fall back into his touch, the polite press of Acacius hand at your hip catching you by surprise, feeling the faint adjustment of fabric, invisible to the naked eye, but you feel it.
Geta doesn’t appreciate Acacius reciprocity, cutting the moment short.
But, Geta is more relaxed that night after Acacius departure than he’s ever been.
He’d won.
At least, he thought so.
–
“An entire limb seems harsh,” Geta thinks, twisting the rings on his finger as you dry from the bath he had ordered you take before lying in bed with him, always wanting you perfect and clean, “maybe a few fingers would suffice as punishment.”
You keep your silence, letting him think aloud as you squeezed the water from your hair with the cloth, but eventually Geta’s hand wanders, pulling at the cloth covering your body, forcing it to drop to the ground, “What do you think?”
Your eyebrows raise in faint shock, that he was legitimately addressing you about a concern, a choice he would happily make himself—so, why? Why was he asking?
Whatever, you’ll bite.
“What did they do?”
“The general—from the other day, who had such choice words for your dear Acacius—”
“Geta, I have told you—”
“Do not interrupt me,” He seethes, pulling at your wrist, forcing you to be done with your hair and climb over him in bed, “He assaulted a maid of ours—or Caracalla’s specifically, we had caught him up in his room, trespassing, touching things that did not belong to him—”
People, he means. But, he would never be so generous.
“And, you think a few fingers? An arm? That taking away a limb would keep him from doing it again?” You clarify, rolling to your stomach as you crawl toward him, your face level with his own as you rest your head into your open palm.
“Unless, say, you suggest something different.”
“Kill him,” You offer lightly, “If you think one less appendage would teach him a lesson, your highness, I hate to speak out of term, but—”
Geta considers the thought, head tilting to the side before he slowly opens his mouth to speak, “No…I do understand. But, he is a general. It would be something to discuss with a council.”
Your fingers slide across his chest, fingertips rubbing against the small patch of auburn hair at the center of his sternum, slowly crawling up his neck, idle movement that you didn’t think about at all anymore.
“You are an emperor. The people of Rome listen to you,” He and his brother were burning it to the ground, but that wasn’t something you could stop alone, “you are powerful—and, forgive me, but watching you command a room,” It amazes you sometimes how easily it was to play into his weaknesses, a smile spreading across his face as you boosted his ego, “—it does things to a woman.”
His hand, like a magnet, attaches to your thigh to spread you out on top of him, straddling his groin, your bare pussy pressed tight against the cloth of his robe, your hands pressing into his naked chest.
“You are smart,” Geta notices, “educated—a keen eye unlike I have seen on someone of your social status, I do not know much about you.”
“You have never asked,” You reply honestly, “though, it does not matter. I am here for one reason, to serve you.” His grip shifts your waist slightly, aiding the slow, but gentle rock of your hips against his hardening cock and if you closed your eyes long enough, you could enjoy it.
“Yet, you may be of more use to me than I suspected,” Geta teases, his hands rising to massage at your breasts, casually nodding to the maid who had peeked her head inside after a quiet knock, nodding as he answered, “—yes, bring them in.”
A line of varying women filter into the room with somber faces.
And just like that, the moment was lost.
–
Geta was such a heavy sleeper, fortunately. Gently prying yourself away as he rolls onto his side, mumbling something unintelligible in his sleep as you quietly step toward the the attached room where you bathed, pulling at a loose tile in the floor where you had stowed away what Acacius had slipped into the fold of your dress, withholding for the right moment to peek.
It was a tiny scroll, rolled up with a thin string and no bigger than your thumb, your nails pulling at the slab until it pops free, quietly unfurling the curled up paper as you read what was carved onto the thin paper, an overuse of ink smudged in spots.
It listed a place, a monument he knew you’d remember and a promise that he would visit every night after the sun set for a small window in time, hoping to catch you.
He was still trying to reach you, to provide himself as a comfort in such a time.
You had to plan accordingly, find someone you trusted enough, and convince Geta of your undying loyalty—though, it seemed that you were breaking him down.
And luckily, you did have a maid you trusted, to a degree—a young woman of similar age, meek but unsuspecting, she often sensed your displeasement and unease, didn’t fit in like the rest of the women that bowed so loyal to the emperors. But, she was a gossip, a troublemaker like Caracalla who she served loyally. She tended to him more regularly, often dealing with his breakdowns and tantrums caused by Geta or, lately, anything. There was never a way to know when he would blow a fuse and cause more bloodshed, he was unruly.
There was only one hour of the day when you see her—morning proceedings, food served to their royal highness, the two brothers chatting amongst themselves as everyone moved fluidly around them. Caracalla had requested fresh squeezed juice, a rather tedious task, but you sneak away with her as the opportunity arose, digging through the oranges without prying eyes.
“I must ask you a favor,” You begin in a hushed tone, rubbing your thumb over the skin of the orange, “and I will owe you immensely.”
She looks at you curious, but expectant.
“The stuff…that helps Caracalla sleep,” You hint at out of habit, paranoia getting the best of you, “I would…I require it, for Geta. He sleeps heavily, but I need…to be sure.”
“He is insatiable as of late, that act in front of the generals—”
“Irene, I am at my end, please—do you have any remaining?”
It was opium poppy, it had many forms but the one you knew most of was powder. Easy to slip into a drink, often undetectable. It was worth a shot, even if it meant your life.
“At dusk, by dinner. Is that enough time?” She answers easily, a sigh of relief breathing past your lips as you nod, cradling a few oranges in the crook of your elbow.
You had only prayed Acacius hadn’t given up hope, that he might still be lingering in the shadows in wait, hoping for a glimpse of you again.
-
As promised Irene delivers, dousing both of the boys inconspicuously as you kept watch, tainting their wine with the sleeping drug, watch as his eyes began to tire before you as you slipped a grape between his teeth, a sated and happy smile on his face.
You hate it, but he almost looks normal. Like he wasn’t slaughtering people for entertainment and ruling like a madman—he was still young, just beyond his teenage years and into adulthood, like yourself. You wonder where things went wrong and why, that someone could be filled with such unrestrained rage and hate.
Caracalla beckons for Irene eventually, Dundus hopping from her shoulder to his as she trails alongside him to his quarters, suddenly feeling the nudging of a sharp nose into your neck, a faint sniff and a hum as Geta appreciates the flowery smell, a faint lavender on your skin.
“I need you,” He speaks against your skin, nearly sliding your dress down then, your hands grabbing at him quickly and his reaction is delayed, almost confused, “did you not hear me?”
“Let us retire to your bed,” You suggest, dragging your thumb along his bottom lip, watching as his wine-stained tongue licks at the digit, “and you will have all night to ravish me as you please.”
Thankfully, it doesn’t take much convincing. Though, he’s less coordinated than you’re anticipating, draping himself over you lazily as he kneads at your breasts, cupping your cunt over the fabric of your dress, the silk halfway down your body as you step beyond the threshold and Geta is on you without a moment to breath, peeling his clothes of layer by layer before he’s bare before you, a surprising gentleness to his movements.
He takes a seat on the side of his bed, at the edge as he pulls you into his lap, hands spread out against your spine, fingers digging into the skin and begging to make it ache, hurt, but he doesn’t have the strength, his kisses become increasingly more lazy as the opium takes hold.
Eventually, his eyes flutter as you pull back, your lips barely brushing against his as he fights the exhaustion, but eventually succumbs, falling slack on the bed as you climb off of him, leaving him sprawled out in his bare state to your valiant amusement, given the amount of times he’s taken to shame you rather than show sympathy, it seemed fair.
Sneaking out of the palace is easier than you expect, having spent endless weeks being mindful, watchful of even the smallest of things. Paths, open windows, learning the schedules of staff and guards, it was almost too easy as your feet fell against the broken pavement, the quiet footfalls following in your quick departure, praying to whatever deity above that General Acacius believed in you enough that you would fight to see him.
–
When you show, it is quiet. Dark, not a soul in sight, tugging the cloak hastily over your shoulders, sending a chill up your spine against the bare skin underneath, a small inkling of doubt seeping into your thoughts as you stare around aimlessly, wondering if you were too late.
Your frame slumps against a nearby pillar, secluded in the shadows, the cold night biting at your feet, the faint sound of hooves off in the distance, realizing just how noisy the streets could be outside of the palace—it was comforting, in a way.
“You came,” The words come from your left, behind you as your head whips over your shoulder and he’s touching you before you have time to take him in, a gentle but firm press against your clothed arms, holding you still, “you are here, dove.”
It was a tone of disbelief, like he had lost hope.
He wouldn’t tell you that he almost didn’t come tonight. It didn’t matter, because you were here.
The visceral reaction you have at his endearing name for you is like a vice grip on your heart, mouth opening to speak but words falling short.
Eventually, the tears fell.
“I am sorry, General,” You speak with a shaky timber, “I am—that act, his performance the other day—“
The general soothes your worry, dragging his thumb along your cheekbone to catch a stray tear, “That has no meaning to me, if anything, it was his mistake for allowing us so close. Otherwise, you would not be here with me now.”
You peer at him through tear-soaked lashes, feeling as if you would be snatched away at any moment, your fingers curling into his similar clothing, a cloak covering what you could assume to be a more relaxed attire, a toga that he would often where around his home, strolling barefoot through his atrium.
“Why am I here, Acacius?”
“You must trust me,” He urges, “that when the time is right, I will come for you.”
“We could go now,” You plead, “he would never know, he does not care enough to go after me, I swear—“
“Little dove, he cares for you much more than you know,” The general counters, “you are valuable to him.”
“He asked something of me the other night,” You speak absently, rubbing a fingertip along the frayed thread of his cloak at your eye line, “what a fitting punishment I thought would be of a man who assaulted a servant—I believe he was testing me.”
Acacius furrows his brow, “You loyalty, it seems. You are getting under his skin, I see it. He knows of your value to me and that as much as he tries, you will not be tamed. But, he is trying.”
You chew at your bottom lip quietly, a nervous tick that Acacius picked up on long ago, both of his thumbs pulling your lip away from further mutilation.
“Little one, what is on your mind?”
“I have to go back soon,” You say with an obvious bitterness to your tone, “though, I do not wish to.”
His large hand curls around the side of your face, cradling your head as you lean into the touch, warmth spreading like fire over your skin, “You will be with me again.”
He barely registers as your lips touch his, a blink and you were there, lips pressed so tightly against his own that they might bruise, leaning into him like he was the only thing keeping you upright, pulling at the fabric of his toga as his hand wanders beyond your cloak, in search of a touch.
“Dove,” He breathes at the realization of skin, “you are bare, your clothes—“
“I rushed,” You stare at him impishly, “I did not think, I know, but,” the general smiles, cheeks dimpling with the show of emotion as he shakes his head.
“You have me wanting what I cannot have,” He sounds somber, his hand still lingering against your hip, “I know he does not cherish you the way he should.”
You laugh softly, your stomach fluttering at his wandering hand, drifting along your public bone before the full expanse of his hand was cupping your cunt, welcomed by warmth and the sticky wet sensation of arousal that he’s been longing for, like an addict.
“General, would you like to know something?”
“What is it?” He inquires to your obvious amusement, his and cradling your head back, neck exposed slightly, thankful that the streets around you were empty.
“He likes to watch me pleasure myself,” You admit, “mostly because he cannot achieve the feat himself, but as I close my eyes I picture those mornings when you snuck under the sheets and spread my legs open,” Acacius leans forward greedily, hot breath fanning over your face as he yearns for another kiss, moving away from him tauntingly as you finish your speech, “that sweet look on your face as you taste me, thankful that you expertise was not contained to only battle—“
“Careful,” He warns, “I am not against a reminder if you continue.”
You peer over the broken set of stairs behind him, attached to an abandoned structure, eyebrows raising expectantly, “A parting gift, General?”
—
The discomfort was nothing compared to a general kneeling into the dirt and stone without a hesitation to please you, a whore, a servant—your title no longer mattered, having carried so many.
He’s still hooded, your legs hanging over his shoulders as he kneeled against the steps, forcing you down flat against the concrete as he licked a slow line through the seam of your cunt, again, again. A teasing trace over your clit as he pressed two thick fingers inside of you, lapping at you loudly.
“Did he bed you tonight?” Acacius inquires curiously.
“Nearly,” You sigh, a high-pitched breathy noise as his pace quickens, knowing that you both were on a time limit, “he—huh—was far too tuckered to be fulfilled.”
His brows raise subtly at your choice of words.
“I drugged him,” You admit, an unexpected moan ripping from your throat as his tongue flicks over you sensitive clit, fingers digging into his cloak-covered shoulder, “seems the Emperor is not as untouchable as he thinks, and tricked by a whore—he would have a fit.”
His fingers dip into your thighs as you squeeze them together around his head, his tongue working quickly over your clit until you’re breathless and whining, feeling the rushing wave of your climax as it crashes into you, Acacius licking up the mess like a starved man.
It takes you a few moments to come back to earth, feeling a gentle tug at your hand as Acacius helps you up, readjusting your cloak over your naked body without much of a word, knowing your time with him was up.
“Wait for the bells,” He tells you, “light, delicate—look for me, I will be near.”
You begin to speak, but are silenced with a kiss.
A final goodbye.
“Remember what I told you?”
Live.
You nod.
“At whatever cost, little dove.”
—
You go to great lengths to make it back to the palace before dawn, hiding behind every pillar, sneaking around corners, somehow managing to slip back into Geta’s bed without so much as a sound, his body still mostly laid out as you had left him, aside from a little rousing around.
When morning breaks, Geta wakes with an obvious grogginess to his tone, forcing his eyes to stay open.
“You stuffed me full of wine,” Geta jokes, “I cannot remember anything from our night prior.”
You’d tried to look particularly exhausted, hair slightly disheveled and the satin bed sheet askew, “It was quite a night, your highness. Such a shame,” You reply mockingly, though there’s a sweetness to your tone, almost teasing.
And if Geta suspects anything, he doesn’t say it.
It takes a day, two, silently mulling over the events.
He wasn’t a half-wit like his brother, his brain like mush beyond repair, useless by result of the infection in his loins. He was helpless, spiraling deeper into madness.
Geta had his wits about him—his eyes drag along your body, the deep swooping fabric showing off your exposed back, the soft skin and gentle slope of your spine, a look shared between you and Caracalla’s most trusted maiden.
Along with the lightness in your tone, a revered outlook, a bounce in your step that most people wouldn’t catch, but Geta—he’s just as much an observer as yourself.
He suspects, no—senses, feels, the deceit in your challenging gazes, the additional touches with an air of confidence, too cocky for someone who has been nothing more than a whore and housemaiden.
He’d always known you were particularly special; smart by means of General Acacius, knowing how to read and write and many other things that others of your station did not have the luxury to learn. And you were hard to break, though Geta had worked at it for weeks, he’d gotten you there.
Obedient, compliant, merciful.
At least, he’d thought so.
He knows he won’t get a word out of you.
So, he goes for Irene.
-
The guards corral you at dinner, sitting silently with Caracalla as Dundus perched on his shoulder, eating quietly. They aren’t kind either, grabbing hard at your bicep as they drag you from your spot on the floor, Geta’s throne eerily empty.
Your stomach turns at the slow realization as you’re dragged down the hall, tossed beyond the threshold of Geta’s room as you stumble to the floor, groaning at the impact, head hitting the ground first as you roll over in pain, opening your eyes to an even more horrific sight.
Geta, hovered over Irene, lifeless eyes staring back as he dropped the thick cord from his hands, something he must have ripped from the curtain as one drooped down from its normal placeholder.
There was no blood, no mess, but the light in her eyes was gone, and Geta stumbled over, crawling—hunching down to intersect your bleary eyesight as you slowly came to the realization of what was happening.
“You have betrayed me,” He announces calmly, despite the eyes of a crazed man staring straight through you, face void of any emotion, “after all I have given you.”
“Geta—“ You plead, pushing up on your palms to sit up, his foot coming in contact with your shoulder as you roll into your back forcefully.
“I AM YOUR EMPEROR,” He seethes, spitting as the words left his mouth, “YOU—BETRAYED—ME!”
And left a mess in the process, unfortunately.
“If you would…let me explain,” He stalks closer, watching as you rise slowly before his hand is striking across your face, the sting almost immediate, “I—think…that you—“
“You do not think,” He spats through clenched teeth, shaking with rage as he kneels to your level again, like a rabid dog, “whores do not think, they are fucked until there’s nothing left and then they are tossed out. Like trash.”
In desperation, the words slip out.
“I love you,” You say softly—it was a careful bundle of words that you’ve never spoken before, not even to General Acacius, “whatever she has told you, it is lies.”
His silence isn’t an answer, but you took the opportunity, unsure if he was stunned or gearing to explode.
Convince him, at whatever cost.
“She knows—of my past with the general. She was jealous of me, you. She drugs your brother, you must know. And she tried it with you too, it is why I did not leave your side, why I insisted we come back to your room.”
“But, you knew—“
You reach for him, a hand circling his wrist.
“No, no,” You speak softly, “It was small things. Your speech, it was slurring. You were drifting away, almost as if you were floating. I could see it. I have seen it before, with your brother. The nights when he is unruly, she…calms him.”
“Her story is entirely different,” He challenges, “you see my issue, yes?”
“Geta,” You challenge him, reaching forward to cradle his face, surprised by his willingness to allow it, watching you carefully, “I am loyal to you—no one else. I do not know another way to show you, but I will. I will, you must—“
“Strip,” He orders, “—on the bed,”
It makes your stomach twist, but you follow his orders.
His demeanor is unreadable as he watches, mirroring your movements before he’s climbing over you in bed.
He settles on his calves between your open legs, a blanket of silence falling over as he reaches for your hand, a surprisingly gentle touch as he brings your fingertips to his cock, slowly hardening at the sight of you.
Your fingers circle his shaft as you lean up on your elbows, ignoring his intense eye contact as you drag your palm along the velvety soft skin, feeling him grow to a stiff hardness within a few minutes—it should disgust you.
It does, to a degree. It wasn’t that Geta was unattractive in a physical sense, but the mental picture was hard for you to overlook. But, for the moment, you could pretend like he wasn’t the worst human being to walk the earth.
His fingertips brush against your cunt slightly, fortunately your body has adjusted to the pleasure of such a complicated predicament. You’re sure if you tried hard enough, you could truly enjoy it. But, you’re thankful that your body connects with the severity of the situation, quivering slightly at his touch, mouth opening in a small gasp.
“Are you nervous?” Geta inquires.
You shake your head, “No—it is only, we have never…”
“Let us try something new, hm?” He offers with a grin and you nod instinctively, feeling two thick digits dip inside of you with no warning, not so much grace as Acacius would have, but it isn’t uncomfortable.
It seems Geta has his wits about him, fortunately, diminishing you to nothing but a whimpering mess after a while, some of it a little bolstered for his benefit, but the pleasure was real.
And god, did you crave that release.
Soon, his hand is gripping his shaft, sliding between the folds of your pussy as he coats himself, mouth twitching at the sight as he speaks, “I want you to watch.”
And you do, his cock pressing into you slowly, “It is such a generous act, you see, feeding you my cock like this,” another slow push, “you should feel special, little dove.”
The words are jarring, but you try not to react.
“It is not everyday you are fucked by an emperor,” The dichotomy to his words almost makes you chuckle, as if he wasn’t fucking you every day, sometimes even two or three times, “you should be thankful.”
“I am.” You quickly appease.
“Then thank me,” His voice was tense again, his neck flexing with the tightness to his words.
“T—thank you, Emperor Geta.”
“For?”
One last forceful push and he’s seated fully inside of you, your brow pulling together at the pressure, lips parting open, “For your cock, for making me feel so—oh,” His thrusts are careful, calculated, your head falling back at the divine angle he’s found, “for—oh, gods—so good.”
You fist the sheets in desperation, back arching up slightly, watching his jaw tense at the way your breasts bounce, his eyes darkening over time, only a shell of himself as he thrusts into you, two firms hands on your hips slowly making their way upwards, wondering if he was following the path toward your breasts before they are bypassing and going straight for your neck, his hands encircling your throat.
It is merely a second too late before your brain catches up, too overloaded by pleasure that you don’t see the definite switch, quickly going from gentle pressure to the type of force that makes your vision white out.
You choke, gasping for air as you try to speak his name, plead, anything—his eyes are locked on your face, a sick determination as your stronger, forceful blows to his chest quick become weaker, weaker, feeling yourself teetering on that edge before he’s releasing his hold, forcing you to gasp for air.
“Do you still love me?” Geta asks.
And despite yourself, you lie.
“Yes, I love you, Geta.”
He was a sad boy, you’ve come to realize, wanting love but also craving unyielding power. He did not want equals, he wanted subordinates, fans, people that would sacrifice everything in his name. But, underneath it all, Geta was just as broken as you suspected.
—
A parade of the gladiators wasn’t a normal occasion, but it was quite the event—a way of wealthy men showing off their new toys, dangerous murderous machines out for blood.
It was the entertainment before the big show, sitting in the expansive throne room underneath the colosseum as the rich drowned in wine and food, you and several other servants surrounding the two brothers, eagerly awaiting your next order.
At least, for you, it was being obedient.
It felt like a collar around your neck, his fingers tracing along the back of your spine and up, fingertips resting against your shoulder, his thumb rubbing against the column of your throat.
Geta spots him from a mile away, that trademark white against gold, gaudy armor fit so perfectly for a man like Acacius, you bow your head at Geta’s push, the footsteps approaching steadily.
Your throat ached still, eyes slightly bloodshot. He hid your face, the evidence, speaking to the line of approaching generals as they greeted the two men with high regard.
“I commend you, your highness,” A general speaks, faceless but you sneer at his tone, fists balling into the fabric of your dress, “she is so well behaved, you must teach me your tricks.”
You bite down at the inside of your lip as Geta pets your head, tilting your head to the side slightly as you close your eyes, his thumb pressing against your cheekbone.
“There is no trick,” He retorts, “my little dove is loyal, a hard thing to find in a world full of deceit.”
It was laughable, coming from the emperor.
The moniker is an even lower blow, knowing that General Acacius was a few feet away, the white fabric of his traditional armor dragging along the ground.
“Ah, Acacius,” Geta boasts, “I hope you have come to bring me good news.”
It best only be good news.
As he approaches, Geta’s grip tightens, curling around the side of your neck as a show of dominance as his finger digs into your skin, daring you to defy him.
The soreness is pertinent, causing you to grimace in pain at his actions, something that Acacius spots but does not acknowledge.
“Yes, our army is nearly ready, Emperor Geta,” He nods before acknowledging his brother, “Emperor Caracalla,” but Geta is not amiss to the way his eyes drag toward you for a brief moment.
“Careful,” He warns, “doves are…so sacred, yes?”
Your sideways gaze peeks through as his eyes bore into Acacius, the subtle glimpse of broken capillaries and a plea for help as you lock eyes with Acacius is all he needs.
It would be tonight—it had to be tonight.
—
He’s a horrid mess, drunk off his ass as he drags you back toward the room. His brother and he were always more rowdy after gladiator games, riding the high of an entertaining act of violence, slaughter for mere amusement. Geta nearly topples over you as he opens the door, pointing hastily toward the bed with a slurred speech, “Naked, on the bed.”
He’s heading for more alcohol, a table tucked away in the corner of the room with a plethora of choices, pouring lazily as he stumbles, the utensils from an earlier meal falling to the floor as he bumps into it, looking displeased at your state of dress. He grimaces, nose scrunching as he reaches for the knife that had clattered to the floor, twisting it in his hand to point it at you.
“You dare—you dare to defy me?”
Your eyes squint, narrow as he jabs at you sloppily, dodging the action with ease.
“You cannot even see straight, your grace,” You jeer, watching as he gulped down the crimson liquid, remnants trailing down the side of his mouth as he threw the glass away carelessly, the glass shattering against the floor as he charged at you, pressing the tip of the knife under your chin as he backed you into the wall, his eyes capturing the similar essence of rage when you knew there was no saving him, determined to cause bloodshed no matter the consequence.
You can hear the soft lilt of bells in the distance, the sky as black as the darkened state of Geta’s eyes—if he had any humanity in him, it was gone.
“You are…broken,” You speak to him, accepting the consequence, even if Acacius failed to save you, “A poor, poor boy with no one to love him—your confidence, it will be your demise.”
The knife knicks your skin, a subtle sting.
“Are you unaware of Caracalla’s plans?” You inquire, privy to Caracalla’s incoherent babbling, often feeling like Geta’s scapegoat, the constant source of blame. It was true, Geta had never accepted responsibility for anything in his life, “You should be careful, Geta. He has a slippery hand and a temper. If given the opportunity, I am sure he would do away with you. I cannot say I blame him—you are a disgrace of an emperor, ruling Rome like it is a playground—”
His eye twitches, the slight hesitation. It gives you enough time to react, twisting his arm away from your neck and on himself, “Unfortunate that you cannot do that as a dead man,” You bite, pushing against the force of the knife, knowing that Geta had no instinct of survival, a feeble man raised in a glass house for the entirety of his life.
The blood quickly pooled in his mouth, pouring out as his body slumped.
You had prayed it would be slow and painful, that the misery would last.
The rustling near the window pulls your attention, the city quiet and unsuspecting of the violence having just taken place, Acacius' frame obscuring the view of the stars as he climbs through the window.
“Oh, dove,” Acacius sighs, taking in the sight of the slowly dying emperor, his fingers weakly grabbing for you as he choked on his own blood, “you have made a mess.”
“I could not survive him any longer,” You admit, feeling his arm encircling your waist as he tugged you away, “—what—what is to happen now?”
“It is a fate he would have met eventually, if not at the end of my own blade,” Acacius admits, “–—come, we must go. We only have a few moments, my lady.”
Your breath catches at the words, nodding in agreement as you allow him to tug you along, met with a few men on the other side of the wall, catching you as you dropped, draping you in a thick cloak.
“General,” You breathe, sensing his overpowering frame behind you as he grabs the reins of the horse in front of you, assisting you in climbing on the creature, “where are we going?”
“Away,” He promises, “somewhere we can both be free.”
“But, your status—does it mean nothing?”
It never did, not since the minute Geta had stolen you away.
You peer over your shoulder, his eyes soft.
“I love you,” He utters, answering your question without direct confirmation.
And for the first time, you say it as you mean it, feeling the tug at your heart, “I love you, too.”
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Declassified U.S. Intelligence Documents Describe Taliban History with Illicit Narcotics Trade
On January 13 of this year, Hasibullah Ahmadi, head of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior’s counternarcotics department, asserted that drug trafficking from the country has dropped, but admitted this illicit trade continues in some provinces. These comments raise the question of the Taliban’s ties to the narcotics market and previous attempts to curb drug production. The declassified documents featured in today’s post, all released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), are a selection from the new Digital National Security Archive collection, Afghanistan War and the United States, 1998-2017, which was published in December of last year. The three documents examined in this post detail the Taliban’s ties to international trafficking networks in the late 1990s and attempts to regulate the market in the early 2000s in an effort to curry favor from the international community. Taken together, the documents describe the Taliban’s ties to drug trafficking schemes and how poppy bans, even when effective, financially benefited the Taliban and associated trafficking consortiums.
This was originally published on January 24, 2023 on Unredacted.
As the early Taliban movement emerged, from 1994 to 1996, narcotics production skyrocketed in Afghanistan, with declassified documents asserting that the group aligned themselves with international drug traffickers. There were indications from U.S. officials that narcotics production in the country significantly increased following the Taliban’s control over large swaths of the country. In a now-declassified Secret May 2001 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence outlined that by 2000 the country supplied an estimated 72% of the world’s “illicit opium”. This heavily redacted document included a map noting opium poppy growing areas in Afghanistan (page 26), and a chart showing rising opium cultivation between 1991 and 2000. The NIE noted that producers in Afghanistan had switched to supplying and producing more heroin over several years before 2001.
This analysis was reinforced by a now-declassified Top Secret December 1998 CIA research paper, prepared by the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) Crime and Intelligence Center, and recently released under the FOIA to the National Security Archive. This heavily-excised Top Secret report details the explosion of the narcotics market under Taliban rule, noting the ties of the group to Quetta Alliance, an international drug trafficking ring, which shared ties to Osama bin Laden. Furthermore, this report asserts that the Taliban’s increasing role in the country caused the narcotics business to explode. The paper also assesses the group’s involvement in illicit drug traffic, stating that it included top Taliban leaders and that this trade intensified “over the last several years,” leading to immense profits for the fundamentalist organization. Notably, the DCI Crime and Intelligence Center states that Afghan narcotics suppliers had shifted towards international markets, beyond distributing to drug traffickers in Turkey. The paper outlines that Taliban fighters provided “logistic support” and “protection” for drug trafficking and laboratories within the country. Most significantly, the paper argues that the Taliban forged ties to the Quetta Alliance, a major regional trafficking group, and terrorist sponsor of Osama bin Laden.
This paper was not alone in describing the Quetta Alliance. A publicly-available August 1994 report compiled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Intelligence Division, describes the Quetta Alliance as an alliance between three powerful trafficking groups operating out of Quetta, within Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province. The DEA report stated that this loose alliance was based on familial ties, and described the operation as “similar to a large manufacturing or service consortium.” This connected to the assertion in the aforementioned paper by the DCI Crime and Intelligence Center, which argued that once the Quetta Alliance became the dominant narco-trafficking group in southern Afghanistan, it provided financial support and recruits to the burgeoning Taliban.
By late 1999, the Taliban had banned poppy cultivation. This would be followed by a ban of opium cultivation and trafficking in July 2000, the latter in an edict by Taliban leader Mullah Omar. However, these bans did not interfere with trafficking and sale of opium or poppy. A declassified Secret July 2001 cable from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) stated that while the ban was primarily effective, it still substantially increased the Taliban’s revenue from illicit drug trafficking. The ban followed the U.N. Security Council resolutions 1267 and 1333, in 1999 and 2000 respectively, which condemned “the significant rise in the illicit production of opium” and demanded that the Taliban work to “virtually eliminate the illicit cultivation of opium poppy.” Later, the DIA cable notes that the Taliban likely weighed recognition from the international community from its own interests when considering an extension of the ban.
This now-declassified DIA cable further stated that while the Taliban’s ban would likely reduce the worldwide opium production by at least 50%, the ban resulted in the quadrupling of the Afghan price for opium, morphine base, and heroin – which were previously at record lows. The cable explicitly states that one year after the ban the Taliban was still benefiting substantially from drug revenues, “… chiefly from its taxes on continuing narcotics trafficking and from Taliban-owned narcotics stockpiles, whose value has increased substantially.” The DIA cable also notes that the ban would likely not have an impact on the U.S. over the coming months, because its main heroin sources were from Southeast Asia and Latin America. While the Taliban never faced having to weigh its interests in extending the ban due to the U.S. invasion beginning in October 2001, the DIA cable notes all of the influences that the Taliban would likely weigh in the decision making processing, including the potential recognition from the international community, major narcotics traffickers’ reactions to an extension, the size of stockpiles, and the impact on their own finances.
For more documents on the Taliban, see the Archive’s numerous sourcebooks, including the September 23, 2021, post, “Newly Published Documents Cast Doubt on Claims Taliban Will Give Up al Qaeda.”
© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
#taliban#afghanistan#opium#drug trade#drug war#war on drugs#illicit drugs#declassified documents#classified documents#national security archive#osama bin laden#quetta alliance#narcotrafficking
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Run From Me Darlin'
Tommy Shelby x female reader (Alfie's wife)
A/N: Taking shelter requested by @thomashelbyswife. Song is "Run from Me" by Timber Timbre. Prompts "I didn't know where else to go." Part of my Corrupt a Wish challenge.
Divider credit: @wethairjoel
Warnings: language, mention of infidelity, betrayal Corrupt a wish reminder: If you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention. Proceed with caution!
The servants at Margate had long since retired when they heard their master's voice echoing throughout the house, along with an eery melody from the ancient piano in the parlor.
"Run from me, darlin' Run, my good wife Run from me, darlin' You better run for your life"
And so you were in that moment, escaping a mad man who had made your life a misery from the moment you said I do. You ran from your seaside home in only your night dress, no possessions or money to your name. It was fear that drove you from him that night as he threatened to kill you.
That's how you found yourself on the doorstep of Tommy Shelby's manor the next morning, your shivering form but a memory of the woman he'd come to know the past five years.
"Y/n, what's happened?" Tommy asked as he ushered you inside and draped a blanket over you.
"I didn't know where else to go," you cried in despair, breaking down the moment you saw his sympathetic sapphire eyes staring back at you.
"You're going to be alright," he assured you, looping a strong arm around your waist for support. "Tell me what he's done," he urged, guiding you to sit on the sofa in his office.
He poured you a drink to steady your nerves and you confided everything. The periods of time you'd been locked in your room because of his suspicions about the two of you, followed by angry and often nonsensical tirades. Your chest heaved with pain and your voice faltered with hiccuped gasps at the horrendous treatment you'd received for over a month.
"How did you manage to escape?" Tommy asked.
"A door left ajar by a new maid," you replied.
Tommy nodded solemnly as he listened, then drained his glass of whisky without answer. He didn't have to because you knew he didn't believe in hurting women, having agreed many times before that his friend's behavior was crossing a line.
As Tommy lightly stroked your hair, you felt compelled to share the threat against him as well, quietly explaining Alfie's plans to crush Shelby Company Limited with his uncle's connection to the opium trade in America. Though you sensed his frustration as his fingers curled into your shoulder, you tried to soften the blow by proposing this as a time of new beginnings. "Run away with me, Tommy," you urged, gazing hopefully into his eyes.
"Leave it to me," he assured, placing a chaste kiss to your temple.
You settled back against him, covering his hand with yours before giving way to exhaustion.
Feeling your body grow heavy with sleep, Tommy called for the housekeeper to look after you. "Frances, take Y/n upstairs and draw a bath," he instructed carefully. "Then prepare the guest room for her. She'll be staying with us tonight."
"Yes, sir," the woman replied, taking you by the hand with such gentle ease, you began to weep.
"Oh, my dear," she gasped as she guided you upstairs. "Don't worry, Mr. Shelby will set it right." And you couldn't help but believe the promise in her voice.
Downstairs Tommy paced his office in agitation before finally tossing his glass against the fireplace in anger. As the shards of glass fell at his feet, he tried not to picture your beatific face crumbling. In fact, he tried not to think of you at all as he raised the receiver to his ear.
"What the fuck do you want?" Alfie grumbled.
Tommy traced the phone cord, thinking of all the times his so-called friend had betrayed him and how fitting it would be to humiliate him by stealing his wife forever. However, the notion of partnering together to control the opium trade abroad was far more enticing.
"How is your uncle in Boston?" he asked.
Alfie huffed out a laugh as he asked, "And why are you so concerned about the state of my family this evening?"
Tommy didn't have to say your name, it was implied the moment he began to negotiate. "You'd exchange my wife for access to Boston, would ya?" Alfie sneered with a knowing grin.
"I would," Tommy answered without hesitation.
And that's how the deal was made late one September afternoon as you soaked in the bath, quite unaware you would be reunited with your husband the following morning.
You had one last peaceful slumber before realizing you'd been sold out, exiting Arrow House kicking and screaming against the men your husband sent to punish you.
"I thought you loved me. How could you do this?" you cried when you glimpsed Tommy's somber face waiting in the drive.
Motioning for the men to let you go, Tommy welcomed you into his open arms as he whispered, "It's not personal, it's business."
You wanted to fight him, but instead you pleaded for your life. "Have mercy," you begged against his lips when he offered one last passionate kiss. A glimmer of promise was restored in that moment as you swore you felt his muscular frame give way into yours. However, you underestimated the strength of his resolve. One look into his icy blue eyes told you, he would never claim you as his own.
"Run," Tommy urged you under his breath, waiting for Alfie's men to give chase.
As he watched you flee toward the open field where he kept his horses, he hoped your swinging gate would prevail. Swallowing hard at the sight of his betrayal, he loathed the man he had become.
"Run for your life," he whispered, knowing it was already too late.
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@novashelby
#Peaky Blinders fanfic#Peaky Blinders imagine#Tommy Shelby x reader#Tommy Shelby x you#Tommy Shelby x y/n#Tommy Shelby#Alfie Solomons x reader#Alfie Solomons x you#Alfie Solomons x y/n#Alfie Solomons#zablife corrupt a wish#A queue for you 😘
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We should have superheroes in more cities outside of the US and in more time periods.
Some examples off the top of my head:
A 13th century hero in the streets of Constantinople protecting people during the Latin occupation. They take the guise of a vengeful angel, making their acts of heroism seem supernatural.
A Chinese superhero team in Hong Kong fighting against the British during the Opium Wars. They're themed after the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
An ancient Sumerian superhero prowling the streets of the first proper city on Earth. They come into conflict with both criminals and the king, who fears being usurped.
An Aztec superhero in pre-Columbian Tenochtitlan. They have aquatic powers and get around through the canals.
A West-African superhero fighting slavers both foreign and local during the height of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. They're an escaped slave themselves and they adopt orphaned children, many of whom become their sidekicks, Batman and Robin style.
#superheroes#writing#history#superhero#and yes I know Marvel 1602#it's a good start but it's not enough#also it's all alternate versions of established heroes
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