#scheming bitch

[eldritchcoffeefiend]

Random Head Canon - Post Hoover Dam, Caesar's Legion Aligned Courier

The golden laurel leaf crown was carefully placed on the Courier's head. No. No longer the Courier. Years ago she had another name, a name that had been erased by two bullets, and was replaced by that apocryphal epithet. At least, until Caesar bestowed another new name on her. Now she was Bellona - named after an ancient Roman warrior goddess who, according to Caesar, was known for her bloodlust and madness in battle.

Bellona's attendant was silent and carefully made the final adjustments to the wreath, nestling it amongst the curls and securing it with bobby pins. Once satisfied, she dabbed perfumed oil behind her mistress' ears.

The final touch was the Mark of Caesar, tied around Bellona's neck, the burnished gold dully glinting. Although it wasn't necessary to wear it now, her reputation preceded her now, she did so out of habit and, perhaps, over the years it had unwittingly become a good luck charm for her, evidenced by how the relief of Caesar had been smoothed over time from idle touches.

"Thank you," Bellona said, dismissing the girl and not a moment too soon. From somewhere in the apartment, there was a crash followed by the sound of shouting boys, a barking dog and the annoyed voice of another servant - most likely the cook - telling them all to clear off and let her work.

Bellona smiled to herself and considered going to the rescue, but a knock on the door stopped her. Stepping into the foyer, and opening the door, she found a Praetorian on her doorstep.

"Bellona," he greeted with a nod. "I am to escort you to Caesar for your weekly audience with him."

Smiling, she fell into step next to the young man as he led her out of the Ultra-Luxe and into the glaring midday sun.

"How is Lucius these days?" she asked, resting a hand on the Praetorian's forearm.

"My father's as well as can be expected," he replied. "His eyesight has declined further. Caesar has been generous enough to allow him to serve as an advisor to the new head Praetorian. At the very least it's stopped him from being such a grumpy bastard to my mothers."

Bellona's step faltered. Even after all this time, occasionally she forgot that many of the high ranking officers had multiple wives. For those who served most loyally and faithfully, it wasn't uncommon for them to have at least four. Lucius had, if rumour was to be believed, six at one point. It had also become common, now that the Legion had settled in New Vegas, for these multiple wives to oversee their households in conjunction with one another, raising their children (at least until they reached the age to start schooling and training) and seeing to their husband's needs.

She, however, had been the exception to that rule. Bellona did not like to share at the best of times and had vehemently argued with Caesar that as part of her reward her husband would be hers and hers alone.

"I'm sorry, Gaius," she replied. "He was always patient with me and my ceaseless questions when I first became part of the Legion. I've always highly regarded him. When you see him next, could you please let him know that I asked after him?"

"Of course," he succinctly replied. Gaius had grown up hearing tales of his father's bravery and fierceness, but to hear Bellona speak so fondly of him was odd.

Along the Strip, drunken gamblers milling about had been replaced by rushing slaves, citizens and Legionaries. Tired whores, dubious weapons merchants and hawkers trying to lure customers into the casinos were long distant memories of a different age. Now the Strip was a giant marketplace, the casinos serving as barracks for troops with the penthouses were reserved for the upper echelons of the Legion. The only other exception was Gomorrah, which had been given to the priestesses to be repurposed as a temple.

Bellona held her head high as they approached the Lucky 38, ignoring the whispers and stares. She'd grown used to it, to a degree, as she'd essentially become a living legend - further proof of the divine become flesh , according to Caesar himself and now preached by the priestesses.

Now inside the Lucky 38, the doors sliding closed behind them, allowing the deathly silence of the disused casino to settle over them like a blanket. It had always made her shiver, the darkness, the mustiness - and if she stood still for too long, she was sure she could hear the ghosts of a long dead era whispering in her ear. And, while she didn't trust the creaking elevator, she was relieved to hear it ding and it's doors rattle open.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~

"Ah, Bellona!" Caesar warmly greeted, smiling broadly at her.

She paused long enough to press a closed fist to her heart and bow deeply.

"My Lord, Caesar," she returned the greeting.

"It's always good to see you," he said, waving her over while a Praetorian brought a chair near to Caesar's throne.

As she rose to her full height, her eyes flicked in the direction of Vulpes and, as much as she hated it, she could feel a blush creep into her cheeks. Even after all these years, after everything they'd been through, he still had this effect on her.

A quick quirk of the corner of his mouth, a distinct gleam in his eye - all subtle signs that most would miss. Bellona didn't. She knew her husband too well. She also knew that look in his eye meant that tonight, once the evening meal was done and the children were sound asleep, Vulpes would drag her to bed and ravish her. Although, in all truth, she was happy to acquiesce to him, relishing how he kept her lingering between pleasure and pain until they were both spent and exhausted.

"Everyone out!" Caesar demanded, breaking Bellona's train of thought.

There was a long pause, some uncertain shuffling of feet and finally the men started to file out of the room.

"Wife," Vulpes quietly greeted as he passed by.

"Husband," she replied, practically purring.

And, unnoticed by others, their little fingers briefly linked before Vulpes exited, leaving Bellona alone with Caesar.

Pretence dropped and as she took her seat, she chuckled, "I thought they'd never fucking leave."

Laughing, he shook his head, always amused by the blunt nature of the former Courier.

"I hear that congratulations are in order. Again," Caesar eyed up Bellona's barely there baby bump. "How many is this?"

Resting a hand on her belly, she smiled, somehow looking embarrassed, and said, "Six. Unless we have more twins, which I swear I'll throw myself off Hoover Dam if that happens. It's fucking awful carrying twins."

"The rate you two are going, you're going to have a Centuria of your own," Caesar laughed.

"Not if I can help it!" she exclaimed. "I've... told him no more after this one."

Caesar arched an eyebrow at her in question.

Bellona sniffed and shrugged, "I'm getting fat."

Caesar burst out laughing, pounding a fist on the arm of his throne, but then went into a coughing fit. Producing a cloth from seemingly nowhere, he held it to his mouth until the coughing subsided.

As he sat there wheezing, trying to catch his breath, his hand fell limply into his lap revealing bright red streaks of blood on the cloth.

Bellona stared at it wide eyed.

"Fuck," he gasped. Watery eyes looked into hers and he bluntly stated, "I'm dying."

She gave him a crooked grin and exclaimed, "Well fuck, Eddie, ain't we all dyin'? You ain't nothin' special."

"Fuckin' insolent bitch," he rasped and tried to not laugh. "Should have had Vulpes crucify you ages ago."

"Well someone's got to try and keep you humble. Also, what would have been the fun in that? Besides, do you think he actually would have done it?" she asked, a wry grin on her lips.

He huffed, staring at her, trying to ignore the niggling paranoia in the back of his brain, wondering how many times she and Vulpes may have plotted against him.

And, as if she was reading his mind, she placed a hand on his arm and quietly said, "He would have simply because you commanded it and Vulpes has always loved you more."

Caesar slumped on his throne and stared unseeing into the distance.

"Thanks to you, my Legion has it's Rome. It has gone from strength to strength, growing and thriving more than ever. However..." Caesar looked over at Bellona, his brow furrowed, "I hear that Lanius grows anxious. He's no longer content to sit within our own borders, that he's eager to conquer more lands, more tribes. His eyes are firmly set on annexing the NCR."

"Does anyone else know?" she asked.

"No, only you."

They stared at each other for a long time before she offered him a broad, toothy grin.

"Well, Old Man, let's talk succession."

[linusbenjamin]

#agatha harkness serving right before she's running a scam to steal other witches’ powers

[destielmemenews]

"District Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — after earlier sparring with her for continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she never took her job seriously.

“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,” Barrett told her in handing down the sentence. “You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan.”

Jurors found Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access to the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity.

The man was affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from former President Donald Trump. The discredited claims trace back to Trump himself, whose supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol because of them and who still hints at them in his third run for president."

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[kronoscythe]

maybe we were all just expecting too much of a show that had a 15M per episode budget

[the-dragon-girl-27]

been rereading Pokespe I forgot just how cool of a character Blue is

[secondary-colorentimy]

everyone say thank you disney villains cursed cafe for influencer maleficent *i gesture towards the class, urging a thank you*

[idontmindifuforgetme]

Kind of ridiculous that it’s a ubiquitously held notion that if you don’t start a hobby while you’re literally a developing embryo then you can never go pro at it. I have all this TIME to live am I supposed to just lie down and die

[fandom-susceptible]

I know people have already talked about this scene before but I wanted to break it down myself because I love it so much. Little Lira yells "Rayla! Callum wants to have ten babies with you!" and everyone's reactions just kill me

Poor Callum has been doing so well with these kids, he's gonna be such a good dad one day, and he knows EXACTLY where he went wrong that produced this result and he also knows there's NOTHING he can do to stop it

Ethari is clearly the first of the elves to start to process what she said. Rayla's so distracted. Runaan frankly just looks tired.

:3 Rayla doesn't look upset at the concept though, just surprised. And Stella is literally just the :o meme.

Lira looks so pleased with herself. This little girl lives for chaos. She has done this on purpose. The smallest child here is convinced they're about to die (figuratively). The middle child is just trying to figure out what the big deal is. Callum is going for damage control.

He also knows this little girl did this to him on purpose. Ezran has absolutely said shit like that out of context to get him in trouble.

Rayla's recovering, has to blink to process what just happened. Runaan is like I barely signed up for one child, I'm not babysitting grandchildren yet. He's reconsidering whether being alive is a good thing. Ethari is connecting the dots between Lira's mischievous nature and Callum's frantic reaction.

He's the first elf adult to fully grasp what's just happened, and this is fucking hilarious. He brought this on the poor boy by unleashing Lira on him without warning him.

Runaan and Rayla have a strong like father like daughter moment as Ethari just loses it laughing. What was this household like when Rayla was growing up? How often did this happen? Ethari is the dad with all the puns that make them both groan and Runaan threaten his life, you can just tell

The laughter sinks in and Runaan visibly remembers why he likes being alive. Rayla is more concerned about how funny Ethari finds this than the statement itself. You can see her thinking Moon help me, Dad, please no.

Lira is so proud of herself. She made Pride Papa Ethari cackle. Callum isn't sure what to do but is fairly certain he's not in trouble. Runaan is vaguely amused at how much this hit his husband in the funny bone. We can no longer see Rayla's expression.

god I love the Moonfam parts of this episode. Runaan is so fucking done with having guests, Callum is a good partner and is gonna be such a great dad one day, and Ethari and Rayla are both just so happy to be home and together again

[roguekaiju]

Agnes should be allowed to bring the previous pope back from the dead and kill him herself for throwing one of her Sisters into the viper pit for the sake of stopping a potential successor

[too-many-rooks]

Reminds me of someone.

Istvan Toth + respecting Henry during 'The Storm'

(+making these I had a little moment of realisation because. Does Istvan even know Henry's fucking name? He and Erik usually refer to him in relation to Radzig, but I can't remember if they ever actually call him Henry?

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

i was sort of wondering why exactly i've been sympathising with Eva so much, apart from, admittedly, bias- i did start considering that due to that, maybe i'd been internally exaggerating how Wolfgang & Co had been treating her. but i replayed some of Chapter 1, and honestly? now i'm of the opinion that Eva was justified to be afraid of Wolfgang, even if what she did in response was inexcusable.

because it wasn't just that Wolfgang told the others to be wary of Eva (and Damon) which caused them to feel othered. consciously or not, he literally attempted to control their movement on at least two occasions- when he attempted to stop them joining in on the exploration of the pharmacy, and then when he demanded to know where they were when they reached the dining hall last.

in his defence, i don't think Wolfgang was being malicious in doing so, i reckon he did genuinely believe he was protecting the others. but in doing so, for the two members of the group he disagreed with, he actively attempted to further restrict their freedom- in a situation where they're all already trapped!! i'm not surprised that Eva, with frustration, mentioned during the trial how much she'd been watched and suspected- multiple times, if i recall correctly. of course it got to her.

but that probably wasn't even the scariest part for her. it was probably just how easily Wolfgang had taken a leadership role within the group and how willing they were to listen to him without question. only Diana really spoke up against him on one occasion and got him to begrudgingly "allow" Eva and Damon to tag along. i mean, on that note, the fact that Wolfgang even casually commented that he wanted group decisions to be allowed by him, following the minor incident of Desmond taking initiative and checking the room locks, was extremely alarming!! like i mentioned, i don't want to villainise Wolfgang, but it does seem like he has the tendency to be rather controlling, whether or not he realises it. i would be willing to bet that the herd mentality implication was done completely on purpose, considering that Wolfgang's animal motif is a sheep and the writing team have done the symbolism in the game so well.

for all this, i can understand Eva's point of view. i know that, as Wenona had mentioned, there's a chance that Eva didn't actually feel threatened by Wolfgang, but i personally am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. because if she was honest about being on edge, that would be a rather reasonable emotional response, in my opinion.

what else are you to feel when you're at odds with an honoured individual who effortlessly holds the power to turn so many others against you too and potentially put your safety at risk, if not terror?

[leglessstreetlights]

fleshing out my Relativity Au some more, i fujking love these guys, they're so-

part 1/ part 2

[parab0mb]

Sick gaming setup.

[benkaben]

I love this show btw like, how many more things you think it will twist and showcase in a different light as the story goes on? What other secrets is it hiding? What other lies and truths lay out there? What seemingly threatening or innocent actions will mean more or less than what it first seemed?

Can't wait to find out!

[barbrububble]

Another detail is, Curly is a captain/pilot of the freighter spaceship, which aren't being manned anymore. Sure he probably has the highest paycheck out of the crew (how high tho? it's fucking Pony express) and probably better qualifications (again, by Pony express standards) but he's not automatically "moving towards bigger and better" after this layoff, Jim is fucking delusional from envy (Jim is not primarily worried about money like others, he wants to be capable of being good at something and dealing with life and problems, he sees these as innate qualities of Curly that he, Jim, simply lacks)

[themoonofblueside]

it's just so funny that ned is like "sigh i hate southron politics there is no one to trust i miss winterfell i belong to the north" while in adwd the north is like. fifteen different conspiracies for a different heir, at least two houses with associated with cannibalism or flaying people, everyone hating each other, not a single family united for the same cause or even same side, vengeance ideas that would make oberyn martell weep-