#unfortunately this also seems to be why they do not have a union.

[moonshynecybin]

motogp fun primarily because it has the highest ratio of divas to vehicles of any major modern racing series. just a bunch of maladjusted adrenaline junkie egotistical self centered real housewives of atlanta toxic theater kids. everybody say thank u vale

[fumifooms]

People have speculated a lot about Chilchuck’s nightmare, my own reading’s changed a lot about it over time too. Anyone is afraid losing the people they love, but what does this say about this character’s specific fears, experiences and priorities? What’s implied to have went down exactly, here?

My own take about Chil’s nightmare is that at the center of it, what it represents is the fear that Chilchuck couldn’t protect them.

A big part of Chil’s character is his worrying for others, mainly for their safety, and taking responsibility for keeping them safe. He puts the weight on himself to make sure things go right and if they don’t he’ll worry about if he could have done anything differently. It’s also part of why he has this defense mechanism of giving up on interpersonal matters easily, because while it’s his duty to make sure his coworkers and daughters are safe for example, he thinks that when it comes to relationships and others that things are out of his hands and no matter what he says people won’t care. So he has to lie and trick his party members to go back to the surface, because surely they wouldn’t listen to his opinion or request to go back. So he’ll play chaperone to make sure no one says something incriminating. So all day he has to keep himself on his toes to hear and see the traps hidden away, has to keep himself starved to make sure he won’t trigger said traps, has the party’s lives on his shoulders and one moment of distraction could be the end.

This safety he worries about is both physical, fights and traps, and legal & socio-economical, laws, reputation and financial & job stability.

Here Chilchuck has blood on him, he seems to be looking at his hands. The corpses of his daughters are huddled laying around him but he’s not touching them. This has a sense of purposeful framing, they’re laying at his feet pointing up to him bloody and he has bloody hands, which is why people including myself have speculated that his nightmare could be about him murdering his family. Whatever happened, he blames himself, it’s his fault, is what the composition seems to evoke. But the intent of that sentiment shifts as effortlessly and easily as going from "he’s horrified at what he did" to "he’s horrified at what he didn’t do".

The axe in the wall, which some argue would be too heavy for a half-foot, then hints at something more like home invasion. Home invasion is a valid fear a lot of ethnic minorities and lower class people have had to face, wether it be because of overpolicing and law enforcement forces being dangerous and fickle, being the target of hate crimes or the general unfortunate environment and circumstances making their place of residence an unsafe spot. We don’t know why Chilchuck moved from his hometown to Kahka Brud, one of the bigger cities with half-foot populations reputed for its booming economy and job opportunities, but moving from a small town to a big city has its own pros and cons on that end as well. Chilchuck of course is very aware of the discrimination half-foots face, not only being dismissed and infantilized but also seen as expandable, as bait, little lives of little importance, and he’s deep into activism for half-foots especially with the union he leads. He strivess to protect his peers as well. He’s been scared for his life before, hiding and fleeing from humans, his party at the time. He’s had to hide and fear and flee humans before. The theory that he’s scared of specifically home invasion as a hate crime is very founded, on top of Chil being very worried about getting into trouble with the law in general and also again being implied to be/have lived in empoverished areas, just the whole bingo card of potential trauma to go off of.

He has blood splattered on his hands and cheek. Was he there when the rampage happened? Was he effortlessly pushed aside as his family was slaughtered, or did he stand aside frozen, unable to do anything in either scenario? If there’s another way to have gotten those blood splatters, it can also play on him being absent from his home. Maybe not unlike his wife, the fear of returning home to see things have been taken from you without even knowing or being able to do a thing. The fear of coming home and the place having been ransacked and everyone in it killed. Home, your haven, destroyed, your family, killed. It cannot be fixed, which in itself can be a nod to his tendency to be pessimistic and to think hoping for better is useless, like with being able to reach out and reconcile with his wife.

"The nightmares that the clam monsters give people tend to be specific, and based on deeply rooted emotional wounds, so I think it’s possible that Chilchuck isn’t just afraid of his home being attacked randomly, he is afraid of his daughters being targeted for their race and their gender specifically, perhaps because that is something that happens commonly to half-foots in the Dungeon Meshi world, and something Chilchuck feels powerless to protect them from." — @Room-Surprise , essay (source, go read it) It’s definitely in line with the lore. This whole thing reinforces how for example trusting his party with his daughter’s life, telling them to hire Meijack if he were to die, was a huge deal and testament of trust for Chilchuck.

So yes in my interpretation home invasion is especially relevant, but I still think the protection aspect is at the core of the scenario’s horror otherwise too, not having protected his family from himself if he was the one to kill them (which could be stretched to include the notion that his family’s closeness crumbled because of his attitude, or a manifestation of his low view of himself, maybe worried about his own alcoholism and anger issues) or having prevented whatever tragedy happened. The aftermath is what Kui chose to show after all, whatever happened the end result is the same and that’s what was deemed important. In the end it’s up to interpretation, whatever the intent was, but yes there’s much to be dug at here. It’s a bit like a chimera of all his biggest worries, fears and insecurities, all wrapped into one vision. If you want more discussion about it, there’s tons in the engagement of this post.

[pinkchaosnight]

so here is my adar request. basically in which the fem!reader is taken in ep 5 instead of galadriel. once in adar's tent (during ep 6) they talk and get into a heated discussion about sauron and eregion. their banter gets so intense that glûg walks inside to see if everything is okay and then they both snap at them in union and then glûg whispers something like "oh no, dad and mom are fighting" idk something humorous lol. (excuse my grammar mistakes - English is not my native language). i need tension like air.

omg , tysm for this ask. its absolutely flawless. i enjoyed this ep so much! i have initially thought of doing a small imagine but somehow it turned it into this long, also i diverged from the ask slightly too🥹. i have changed some dialouges and scenarios. i hope you enjoy them!

pull of threads - (adar × fem!reader)

summary: dinner with adar is never straightforward is it? when especially you are captured and essentially sort of a prisoner?

(reimagined rings of power ep 6 where reader gets captured instead of Galadriel)

pairing : adar x female!reader

notes : english is not my first language, so i apologize in advance for the errors you might encounter. i have not properly edited, so please let me know if you find any error.

the uruk leader seated across you is poking his food with a vigour, as he regards you with suspicion. humiliation might be the nicest thing you can describe about what you are feeling right now, (along with some other feelings too but you blatantly ignore them) being captured as a prisoner. you were Lady Galadriel's friend and the her aide, until a few months ago when you retired from your post. everything that was going on was so overwhelming that you had to step away from your duties and that's exactly what you did. you travelled around, mostly staying in woods and forests and praying orcs don't chase you. you almost succeeded too until you recieved a letter from Lady Galadriel stating she needed your help, now that they are going to warn Celebrimbor about Halbrand being Sauron. you were reading her letter without a care for your surrounding that unfortunately resulted in you being captured and brought to the uruk camp. and thats why you were currently in this situation, being seated in front the uruk leader. Adar, he is called, as you recall from the days Lady Galadriel captured him many months ago.

the tent which was made up of dirty rags, was surprisingly warm, with a fireplace and a huge table laden with food. combinations of food that seems almost a disgrace to the plates it hold ; with berries, onions and meat. whoever did the dinner should be tossed into the cliff. the said uruk leader was now biting into a piece of meat from god knows what, as he watches you. if he is hoping to catch something from your expression he has another thing coming for him, as you keep your face as emotionless as you can, although Eru knows for how long.

" from my brief time in your Commander's capture, I guessed she was intent on finding Sauron. almost consumed by the thought of it, one might say." his words sliced the depth of silence that hanged between you and him.

" former Commander. and it is none of your concern what her intentions are. who are you to know her mind? you who could not even resist the allure of Sauron's words?" you reply in a monotonous way, hoping he doesn't find anything there.

Adar stops as he hears those words, as he slowly puts down the piece of food he is chewing. he remembers the first time he saw you; being chained up after being captured by Galadriel. all around him was dark but you came with a jar of water and a loaf of bread for him, when everybody was kind of neglecting him, except for when they needed information and torturing. that simple act of kindess and the conversions that ranged from 'hello' to a simple 'have a good day' that followed from your side warmed what little was left of his beating heart. he remember you being firercely loyal to Galadriel yet having a mind of your own to speak if necessary. he remembers how you disagreed when your commander spoke of his children as slaves. and above all, he remembers how you exuded a sense of warmth in that cold space.

now he looks at you in surprise as he leans forward "former?"

you squirm uncomfortably in your seat. after all, how could you let him know that one of the reasons why you left the army and being her secondin command, was his words? the converstion between him, Lady Galadriel and you, when he was captured really messed up your perceptive. other elves could not see but you saw what he was trying to say; that the uruks were just as worthy of lives and living as other creations of Eru, as each had a heart. you remember disagreeing with Lady Galadriel when she mentioned them as slaves, and Adar's eyes flashing in you direction, with ambiguous emotions.

shaking out of your reverie you say "yes, i am no longer her second in command, so its really useless to have me captured in here. i can offer you nothing. "

adar chuckles at your statement, as he rises from his seat and strides towards you. he stops infront of your chair, as he looks at you with an intense stare. and you couldn't help but stare back at him. those eyes, surrounded by scars and years of mutilation, made your heart ache with pain. you wonder what he was thinking, what he was plotting behind those somber eyes of his. you always wondered what happened to him after you ran away from the campsite that day. you retired and wandered in woods after that incident, with nothing to keep you company but fragments of him in your memory. love and hatred have a fine line separating them; you often heard from your friends and in those lonely nights on the woods you wandered if that is true. if you can cross that line with bravery. something that you are afraid to reveal to anyone. he was the one in your mind and on the other side of that fine line, as swirls of feeling wound up in your heart. a dangerous feeling to have for man who is going to kill you......one day.

"who says you can offer me nothing?" he says as he strides close to your face and tucks a strand of hair back. funny he did that because you had the same thought too, of brushing the loose hair of his and tucking it back. "my children found this in your bag" he says as he pulls out the scroll from a table behind you. "we know the elven army is approaching to find Sauron, in Eregion. And that has all the confirmation i want. and i know Halbrand is Sauron"

desperation washes over you as you see the scroll of paper Lady Galadriel wrote and gave you to read before she parted ways. you never got a chance to read the rest of paper as she and you went seprate ways, before you got caught by his minions.

" whatever your plan is, it is not going to work " you say with venom, as you stand up in anger (or so you thought stubbornly), coming face to face with him.

"do you know what Sauron promised me? " Adar asks you as he studies your expression flits from anger to confusion "children, he promised me children. and he made that promise into weapons of wars, my children mere tools for his gratifications, something which can be eradicated at his whims" he says, his voice a tad quite and flushed with sadness. it took all my willpower to keep my hands from reaching his and comforting him.

" you are going to kill him Eregion, aren't you?" i ask as realisation hits me a few seconds later. he moves back a few paces, widening the tantalizing distance betweeen us and doesn't reply as he keeps his back to me.

" you cannot, i think it is his plan too. i just have feeling in my heart this is exactly what he wants. for you to lead your army to him. we must ask Lady Galadriel's advice" i say as he turns and shoots me a look of disbelief.

"why should i listen to the words of someone whose race is hellbent on eradicating us from the face of this plane?" he shouts as he paces towards you, shaking with anger. "i did not capture you to hear your advice. Eregion will fall and Sauron with it" he says as closes the distance between us, trapping me between the chair and him.

"i want Sauron to fall too, i want to kill him and make sure he is permanently wiped off from this earth. but not in this way." i shriek in his face, which was merely inches apart from mine.

"i do not know why you care if i lead my army or not " he hisses as he moves back from me again, his eyes capturing my own ones in anger and perhaps sadness.

there is a tipping point for everyone's anger and you could feel his words pushing you to yours. you could no longer hold the feelings erupting inside you as you shouts." i care because this will all be ending in blooshed. i care because all my loved ones are going there and i don't want them to die. i care for the lives that will be sacrificed if you chose to follow this foolish plan of yours. and i care that something will happen to you and you will not make it out alive"

reality of the words registers in your brain as soon as the words escape your mouth. you have opened your heart and mouth and let all the dam of emotions you kept inside to turn into a river. and now you are going to suffer the consequences, preferably being submerged in those same waters, which you so kept in binds inside your now erratically beating organ.

Adar was stunned, staring at you in utter silence. his heart tingled, with the same warmth he felt months ago in your presence. his ears has always been the receiver of abuse and bad news, never the object to receive the sentiment with which you uttered the words quite a few seconds ago; words with care...and love. he slowly steps forward you, his hands unclenching from the remnant of his anger and reaching towards your face "you ....care about me.....?" his voice is a mere whisper, tinged with something you couldn't place. this goddess, this beacon of kindness care about him?

you wanted to melt into those eyes of his, that is oh so mysterious and perhaps you would have, if the tents did not flap open suddenly.

" lord father, glûg here. i heard shouts coming from outside. i was worried and just came inside to check if you are okay and if nan--" glûg stops as he sees you standing closely to his lord father. you notice his surprise being replaced with a slight smirk in your direction.

"get out" adar and you both says in unison, as you turn towards the orc in annoyance.

"certainly lord father" glûg says as turns away to exit "just lover's quarrel, lord father and naneth better make up". he exits as quickly as he can, muttering to himself.

you turn your head towards him, only to catch his eyes searching your face "yes i do care about you...." your voice is shaking but not in anger and with some other emotions you tried so hard to bury.

a flicker of emotions passes over his eyes as he glazes his vision over you "you think you are the only one who cares? why did you even think i captured you instead of your Commander, when i could have easily caught her and gotten the information too? why did you think you never encountered any orcs while you were sauntering through the woods? never have you escaped from my mind for a moment from the day we met. i tried so hard to keep every emotions i am feeling, hidden from you. but tonight i can't and i won't. i know i am a monster, an abomination for someone so kind as you. but tonight i am baring the one thing that has not been tainted by the evil , to your hands."

he places your hand on his chest, as you your eyes brim with tears. you feel his heart beating erratically, mirroring yours. "from the day you pulled me from that dark abyss, i decided that this heart will only belong to one person, to the one person this heart wholeheartedly loves."

time stops as you hears his words, it is like honey being poured into your ears. "so does mine too" you reciprocate, as you places his hands on your chest. "you are neither a monster nor an abomination. you are beautiful as Eru's any other creation. i even left the army because of you. because you keep on invading my everyday thoughts. and i kept thinking of how you are my enemy and i how i should hate you. but my heart never responded to any negative emotions, for all it had was love for you."

fianlly you can let this emotion run free, this plaguing need for him that you tried so hard to conceal. you would have stood there for eternity, for all of your immortal life, with his warm hands pressing yours into his chest. no words are exchanged betweeen you two in these seconds; no words are needed as the beating of your heart and the measure of your breath are enough to convey the feelings pouring off from both of you. he slowly closes the already miniscule distance betweeen you, as you step forward at the same time too, the tantalizing distance between your lips almost unbearable. you can feel his breath near your mouth, as your lips part with breathlessness and need. you just need to lean forward and place your mouth. you slowly reach forward, just enough to press the lips against his----

" lord father, i got a sudden report that---what is happening here?" glûg's voice rang across the tent as you and adar both turned to his direction.

" GET OUT GLÛG" you both cries in unison as poor glûg scurries off, being banished from the tent second time. but not before he catches a warm smile passing over his lord father. glûg catches from his peripheral vision, of his lord father pressing a chaste kiss in your cheek before placing his forehead against yours and smiling a genuine smile, which he has never seen.

'things will be good from now on' glûg thinks as he passes over to the next tent, thinking of the elf that thawed the ice of his lord father's heart. the one his lord father told him about months; the one lord father instructed him to call naneth in the future. and the one who made his lord father whole again after eons.

extra notes - all the asks i got, i will update them by this week itself, tysm for requesting! please leave a like and reblog and if you enjoyed reading them. hope everyone have an amazing day :)

[aphroditelovesu]

What if Baby Reader (Rhaenyra's child) takes the blame for Aemond's mutilated eye? Lucerys was the one who took the eye, yes, but Baby Reader got in the middle of the fight to separate her/his brothers and her/his uncles. So when the fight ends and everyone is looking for a guilty, reader tell Luke and Jace not to say anything (and both obey their older sibling), Reader takes the blame and says that he mutilated Aemond in self-defense, He is very sorry and that he has no problem being punished

Years later, Aemond thinks that Reader claimed him as his (never mind the genre of Baby Reader) the moment he removed his eye and is even more obsessed with Reader than before

"It all happened so fast and the Bby!Reader wasn't thinking clearly. They was just trying to protect they younger brother and it was all an unfortunate accident."

That's the story they tell when asked what happened to Aemond's eye.

To be honest, Aemond wasn't paying much attention during the fight. He was so focused on just trying to hurt his nephews that he only realized he had lost his eye when he was stabbed. He didn't pay attention to the culprit and so he didn't accuse Luke of maiming him.

When Bby!Reader took the blame for Aemond's eye, everyone was shocked. No one would ever think they'd have the nerve to do that, not when they so clearly adored Aemond. Then why?

Alicent was torn, part of her wanted revenge for her son's eye but she would never dare harm Bby!Reader, not only because of her own obsession with them but also because of the rest of the family. Instead, she blamed the Velaryon's brothers, even if she didn't say it aloud, she blamed them for Bby!Reader's corruption and none of this would have happened if they just stayed away from the Reader.

At one point, she even blames Rhaenyra.

Bby!Reader says it's okay to be punished, but nobody really wants to do that. Everyone seems too disturbed by the events of that night, so they decide to forget about it. Pretend nothing happened.

That it all just happened because Bby!Reader is such a good sibiling that they decided to risk being severely punished just to protect they brothers and cousins. That they hurt Aemond out of family loyalty was, for them, admirable.

Lucerys felt very guilty that his sibiling had taken the blame, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the truth. And he knew that Bby!Reader would never allow that. Everyone agreed to just forgive this incident, Aemond forgave Bby!Reader and hugged them, in the form of forgiveness.

Aemond always felt entitled to Bby!Reader and, I can see, that after he was "maimed by the Reader" he would feel even more so. The Reader took something from him, which to him means he's been claimed by Bby!Reader. Years ago, long before the War, he had already been chosen as the Reader's partner and he knew it was true.

That they belong to each other.

Aemond will definitely want something in return for the lost eye. Bby!Reader became his from the moment they plucked his eye out, it's only fair that he pluck something out of them too.

Maybe... Just maybe an eye... As a sick way to prove a union, a marriage... Bby!Reader will have a rough time with Aemond, but very romantic in his own way.

[bloogers-boogers]

~Marriage au~ (part two)

So, I was drawing this post when the idea strikes me kabdksdhsls and now it’s a thing.

We all know the whole idea of Adam becoming a sinner, well that’s basically the start of the story. He becomes a sinner, he gets in the hotel, he manages to make a deal with Lucifer in exchange of his soul, BUT, that’s like way after. Why? Because in this au Adam soul was trapped to some random overlord, no, it’s not Alastor, Vox or Valentino. It’s somebody else just as powerful. The whole reason Adam gave his soul to him wasn’t outta free will, it was because this demon in peculiar has this ability to make people do things they don’t want to do (hypnosis?? Idk similar to Vox ig), which Adam was a victim of. He made Adam “willingly” exchange his soul for an offer. This was before he managed to get to the hotel. So now he’s trapped to this guy.

The only ones who can see Adam being chained are demons that are also on a leash that includes Alastor. And this is how Lucifer found out about it because he overheard Alastor taunt Adam about it with very subtle words but Lucifer caught on immediately.

Which is where the plot begins.

Lucifer takes Adam aside and starts making a huge deal about it which Adam refused to admit it was even true.

Somehow in the long run Lucifer managed to get Adam to blurt out the truth after many attempts to gain his trust or at least make Adam accept his help (didn’t take long tbh, kinda like 2 hours after the confrontation).

So they both went to talk to the demon who owned Adam and Lucifer wasn’t planning on leaving there until he managed to have Adam’s soul free. The bad thing was that this overlord was quite power hungry and the fact that the KING of hell seemed desperate for this soul alone was an opportunity he couldn’t let down (he kinda figured being the first man his soul would be priceless in comparison to other sinners which is why he caught him in the first place but he wouldn’t have guessed that King Morningstar would want it after the battle they had it was shown those two didn’t get along.) but anyways.

So he offered Adam’s soul for the exchange of Lucifer giving up on the throne which was laughable. Lucifer denied, obviously, and Adam just kinda accepted defeat. But Lucifer didn’t give up on that, they tried other methods from ancient scrolls to old rituals but nothing worked to set Adam’s soul free. Lucifer didn’t want to resort to this but he had no other choice by the looks of it. A soul contract is a very powerful thing which is why it’s almost unbreakable, but he was the king of hell. He had an immense power that COULD break a soul contract. But thats only if…

Adam spiritually gives himself to Lucifer in marriage in a holy union. Aka upon the eyes of God.

Which of course this is beyond breaking everything Lucifer stands for and his pride.

So this is where their deal commenced.

“Adam I will set you free, I will put my faith in God again to break that contract, my union with Lilith; everything I fought so hard to keep. I will sacrifice it all, myself, just for you to receive freedom again. But the only thing I ask for in exchange is your soul.”

“Seriously?! After literally everything we did to get myself free from that asshole you’re gonna get my soul stuck to you seconds after?! Speak of the fucking devil.”

“Adam for the love of my damn father! I’m literally sacrificing my marriage, connecting with my dad, throwing my pride away. Literally fucking marrying you! For a whole damn year! for your selfish underserving ass! I must get something back for it. Take it or leave it.”

Adam thought for a bit before shrugging. Yeah, it was a bitch, but it was unlikely for Lucifer to do something that bad when Charlie is involved in Adam’s self growth as a person.

“Okay. Deal,” he extends his hand towards Lucifer assuming it was a normal type of deal and the devil sigh.

Unfortunately for them, a holy marriage is supposed to be set in the tradicional terms.

He summoned a box with a golden serpent ring and kneeled down swallowing his pride and accepting Adam as his spouse.

“Adam, would you, the first man accept me; King Lucifer Morningstar as your faithful and loyal husband?”

This startled Adam of course, cause what the fuck was Lucifer doing.

Adam huffed incredulous, “Loyal I doubt it.”

Lucifer tsk sourly already regretting this but held it in. That could wait after their stupid church wedding.

“But sure, whatever…” Adam blushed embarrassed by the whole thing (after all he never experienced something like this before, a marriage proposal; considering he was already born married or given wives), offering his hand while Lucifer looked up a bit before his gaze fell back down to Adam’s fingers and gently slid the ring on his wedding finger.

Suddenly Lucifer and Adam appear in a church house with the grim reaper as their priest and the wedding begins.

“In the name of God, I, Lucifer Morningstar, take you, Adam, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow."

Adam blushed some more, he wasn’t sure why he was being an emotional bitch about it when all of this wasn’t entirely willing but still, he was actually experiencing a wedding in the point of view of a groom.

Adam wasn’t sure what to say but to replicate Lucifer’s vows.

“In the name of God, I, Adam, take you, Lucifer Morninstar, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow."

Lucifer bit his lip, feeling unsure all of a sudden. Was he really gonna do this just for Adam? He looked at his wedding band; the memories, the only thing he had left linked to Lilith. Once he accepts Adam as his, his ring would evaporate and his soul would forever be bounded to Adam.

He winced his eyes shut letting the reaper finish the ceremony.

“So I will repeat this again, in case someone is already rethinking this and wants to flee to the nearest exit which is right at the left end,” the grim reaper side eyes Lucifer, “Do you Lucifer Morningstar accept Adam to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“Do you Adam accept Lucifer Morningstar to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I-“

Adam also had his own doubts, his promises to Eve, the connection he once had for her, the faithful and love for the mother of his children. All of that smacked him in the face with each passing second of the ceremony. He hasn’t even thought of Eve in so long.

“I do.”

The reaper gestures Lucifer to give his ring.

Lucifer winced harder feeling a tear wanting to slip out as he starts.

“Adam, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he slid the ring on Adam. Already sensing the ring that belonged to Lilith turning into dust as he stepped back, falling off his fingers ready to be replaced with Adam’s. Shit.

Adam was given a ring to place it on Lucifer’s wedding finger. He gulped, awkwardly getting ready for his part.

“Lucifer, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he places it on Lucifer’s finger, sealing their bound.

They both watched as the gold of their rings brightened and tightened in their skin.

“I here by declare you; Lucifer Morningstar and Adam Morningstar: king and king consort of hell. You may kiss the groom.”

Adam flinched disgusted, Lucifer cringed while swallowing and mustering the courage to peck Adam quickly.

And that sealed it. In the eyes of the holy spirit they were married. The holy light washed over them as the church bells rang announcing their strong union. Adam’s contract with the overlord broke as the power of their holy union broke it.

After Adam’s little scene of being set free from his contract was done, everything vanished and suddenly they were at a hotel room, lighted by candles and seductive music.

They both looked around, Adam confused, Lucifer just startled by the abruptness.

“Yeah. This is where things get awkward,” Lucifer admitted.

So a week passes and they act like all of that never happened. Everyone at the HOTEL was oblivious of the whole thing but eventually the news spreads around and Charlie finds out from a sinner.

“King Morningstar! Congratulations for your beautiful groom,” he then bows at both Adam and Lucifer.

Lucifer tenses when it happens and notices Charlie’s odd stare.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about, haha, he must be a little cookoo,” he swirls his finger next to his head, nervous. Adam just face palms by how awful Lucifer is at lying.

Of course Charlie doesn’t seem to believe his bullshit so Lucifer quits it.

“Okay, it’s not what you think and it’s absolutely TEMPORARY,” he explains in a quickly fashion, “Adam was trapped, I offered my help, the guy wanted the throne I denied. Only method to get Adam free was something more powerful than a soul contract and that was a holy marriage. And now, we’re married. Temporarily.”

Somehow, and as weird as it was, Charlie and the rest kinda swept it udder a rug. So the whole incident was kinda not a big deal (bc it’s not legit if they don’t actually like each other, still weird tho), both acted like normal and normally they’d just tried laughing off any comments about their marriage. Until it actually becomes a big deal.

When Lucifer starts feeling awkward or annoyed when someone approaches Adam with all intentions on trying to fuck him.

“AHAHA! Wowie! How fun, now get your filthy hands off my husband.”

And everytime Adam would question that, Lucifer would shrug it off as.

“I have to keep the part.”

You can imagine the drama, mix and confusing feelings and new found jealousy. And all of that in this.

So yeah. Thats the au 😭

[gloufiz]

Okay...

I need people to hear me out on this one:

Garroth and Nicole in a cringe-fail political marriage!

Stay with me here! I promise I'm only a little crazy.

Alright, now that I've at least somewhat captured your attention... let me explain myself!

This concept sprang up from the idea of: What if Nicole and Garroth didn't run away from their arranged marriage?

As is described in MCD, the reason why we meet both Garroth and Nicole is because they were running from the marriage that was being forced upon them by their fathers. This marriage was supposed to broker peace between Scaleswind and O'Khasis and strengthen their bond. The idea of having to do this though, deeply disturbed Nicole and Garroth, which is why they both fled prior to the arrangement. This is the beginning to many events in cannon.

Now, in this thought experiment, that doesn't happen. Garroth and Nicole, despite their desires to not get married, also seem like the type that would care about their people deeply, so it isn't too farfetched to think that they could be persuaded to stay in order to protect their people. The pair wouldn't be thrilled about it, obviously, but they would go through with it, albeit begrudgingly. Then the two would stay in O'Khasis instead of running off to Phoenix Drop.

In their union, Scaleswind and O'Khasis would become a force to be reckoned with, and hopefully a little less corrupt with Zane's influence being reduced in Garroth's presence. Garroth and Nicole would put up a front in for the public that they enjoyed being married, though in private they would get on each other's nerves.

Romantically, they are not compatible, but they eventually carve out a mutual respect and become friends. It takes a lot of arguments and coming to terms with the situation, but they make do. So, when Garte puts Garroth in charge of the Jury of Nine a little later to provide him with some "leadership experience," Garroth turns to Nicole for help.

She winds up helping him run the Jury, even advising to have Zane help to reduce some of the sting of Garte's favoritism. They keep the Jury on a more morally correct path, though Zane is still allowed to run around and search for relics with the Jury, which is what eventually leads the group to meeting Aphmau.

Unfortunately, the tone of the meeting probably wouldn't be the most friendly with Zane involved, but that's neither here nor there!

Anyway, this is just some thoughts I've had as I pondered an AU where Garroth stays behind in O'Khasis! I hope this is coherent, though I will probably word barf about this again at some other point in time... as is the life of someone who has been bit by the MCD virus for 10 years...

TL;DR:

Garroth and Nicole stayed instead of fleeing from their arranged marriage and they deal with it with a few minor hiccups.

[wholesomefluffdaddy]

Wednesday's new court mandated therapist is having her keep a journal of her thoughts and feelings. Wednesday finds this to be a complete waste of time and decides instead to use it to record her observations of her unusual roommate Enid Sinclair. Wednesday POV.

——————————————

Entry 25

Current Moon Phase: New Moon 🌑

Though to label the entry as such feels misleading… It has been approximately 5 years since I last recorded my observations of the werewolf Enid Sinclair - now Enid Addams and my wife. I recall begrudgingly taking on this journaling assignment as suggested by my court-mandated therapist. All those years ago I foolishly thought I was only writing about my werewolf.

Reflecting upon my past notes and experiences it seems rather apparent that I was drawn to Enid for reasons other than purely academic curiosity. How soon was it that the family curse took effect? I believe I know. I recall entering Nevermore, for the first time, with nothing but loathing and self pity. I remember how far I was in planning my escape from the academy when the door to that room was opened. Admittedly, the sudden and violent exposure to so many vivid colors at once had stunned me temporarily like a blinding light. And then…

'Howdy roomie!' Said the most vicious and fearsome werewolf I would ever have the pleasure of meeting. My eyes widened, my heart stopped, and I forgot to breathe. The rush and mix of such confusing and conflicting feelings left me speechless and unable to move. The curse must have taken effect then and it has grown exponentially stronger ever since. Not a moment goes by that I do not think of her, mi amor, mi vida, mi loba, my wife.

I feel that there is much I could write about, as much time has passed between journal entries. Perhaps I shall summarize the most notable events before explaining why I have returned to recording my thoughts and observations.

Enid and I were wed shortly before the Snow Moon and Lupercalia. I did not care to have a large or extravagant ceremony and neither did Enid. We simply eloped one weekend. Our friends at the academy attended with surprising enthusiasm at such short notice. Unfortunately this meant the leech Tanaka was also in attendance, who I was later informed 'livestreamed' the event, thus causing both our families to learn of our union. This regrettably led to much verbal reprimanding and a second, much larger ceremony which included Enid's whole pack and the entire Addams clan.

To have a pack of werewolves and Addams in one location would likely indicate some sort of apocalyptic disaster or coup at the very least. Nevertheless it wasn't absolute torture.

After graduation we spent a few years traveling. I solved cold cases and Enid was able to work on her journalism. After what Enid considered 'one too many' close calls it was decided we would settle back in Vermont. I was told it would be temporary. However, it has become quite apparent that is not the case.

Enid and I, through the use of the unholiest of rituals, have produced two offspring: Azalea and Oleander. They are the reason I have returned to journaling my werewolf observations. Since they share half their genetic makeup with mi loba they too are werewolves, and full werewolves as Enid explained it is a dominant gene.

Though one would not know this upon observing them on a day such as today under the new moon. There are no noticeable wolfish characteristics, nor will there be until the moon waxes. Then their tiny vocalizations will turn to whimpers, howls, and barks and their nails shift to tiny claws.

I wish to record their reactions to the moon phases and well as the twelve moons of the year. I believe this will help me in better addressing their needs as a parent. Enid agrees and has volunteered to assist me in this endeavor.

That's right Babycakes! Wednesday! (And I promise to keep the emojis to a minimum! 😉) I was kind of surprised, and not, to learn she was secretly journaling about me all those years ago. Willa was so homosexually repressed- But moving on! So! Our two little cubs: Lea and Ollie.

🌸 Azalea "Lea" Addams. Werewolf. Girl. Age: 6 months. Hair: Black. Eyes: Brown. Height: about 2 feet.

🌺 Oleander "Ollie" Addams. Werewolf. Boy. Age: 6 months. Hair: Blonde. Eyes: Brown. Height: about the same as his sister.

They were born in late October. Two Scorpios or as Willa calls them 'our little scorpions'. (I sometimes wonder if she didn't plan this ) Their little personalities are starting to come out more.

Lea, while she looks like a carbon copy of Willa, is pretty loud and very energetic. Once the full moon rolls around she is howling her little lungs out. It's adorable but it can be tiring. Both Willa and I have just accepted that we won't sleep those nights.

Ollie has my hair but Willa's eyes, and just like Willa he likes to stare… a lot. He's quieter than his sister but still just as adventurous. That means he's usually able to get up to more trouble without us noticing.

There's nothing too exciting to report today. Like Willa said it's the new moon so there isn't much wolfish behavior, just Addams behavior, which honestly is more chaotic in my opinion. We had just put them in their cribs for their nap when Wednesday noticed this like HUGE spider on the wall in the nursery. She gets this look in her eye before turning to me.

I know exactly what she's thinking and I try to stop her before she starts but then the cubs notice the spider too. Lea starts huffing and pointing at it, Ollie is staring at it, and Willa is looking like Christmas came early. My answer was immediately 'NO' but this was obviously out of my control when the spider decided to start skittering across the wall.

I go to grab our cubs, because that eight legged monster was heading right towards the crib, but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough. Lea tries swatting at it before Ollie grabs it. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to squish it, he looked so sad when he opened his little hand and didn't see it moving anymore.

I'm grossed out, he looks like he's on the verge of tears, and then Lea crawls over and tries to eat it. Luckily Willa intervened and wiped the smushed spider out of his hand. Ollie and Lea both started crying and it took some time to get them both settled again. Poor little cubs. This was definitely Addams behavior for sure - It reminded me of all those times Willa brought me spiders, which was creepy but also oddly endearing. 💕

[euovennia]

widow CH. III

pairing: soap x fem!reader

a/n: full disclosure: this chapter may feel a bit half baked in comparison to the others (in my mind at least) but rest assured, the next one will be more mission based and i've already got a ton of ideas bouncing around for that so stay tuned!! (also thank you so much for 550+ followers, you guys are spoiling me i swear)

friendly reminder that this work is written with a fem!reader in mind, but with no specified features

PROLOGUE, CH. I, CH.II, CH. IV

The lights of the conference room are turned off and the blinds shut as Laswell flicks the projector on. The group is silent as they come face to face with the image of a man appearing to be somewhere in his early fifties holding a phone up to his ear as he gets into a black car. His lips are turned downward in a frown and despite the graininess of the image, it's clear that his eyes are filled with something eerie. Something sinister.

“This is Ivan Volkov. He’s been a person of interest for the CIA for over fifteen years.”

The man with the mohawk speaks, “Why’s that?”

“Volkov has been suspected of various crimes over the years, but the most prevalent among them all is his…creativity when it comes to human trafficking.”

Laswell switches the slide from the picture of Volkov to one that showcases the infamous hourglass symbol accompanied by various faces of little girls surrounding it.

“The main reason the CIA has had their eye on Volkov for so long is because of his practice of taking young girls, often through force, and putting them through rigorous training program so they can join his own personal team of workers, namely assassins. He calls it the Red Room.”

Union Jack cap cuts in, “And why hasn't he been taken in already?”

Laswell sighs, “Because no one could prove that he was actually doing such things so we just had to sit by and do nothing except wait for him to slip up. Unfortunately that never happened, at least not directly.”

Laswell nods her head in the direction of Shadow.

“Four years ago, Shadow was able to confirm the existence of the Red Room. Since then, she's been gathering intel on Volkov in order to pinpoint the exact location of the Red Room as well as mass pick up points for the girls he keeps hidden away until he can put them into the Red Room.”

Mohawk decides to speak up once more, “If Volkov’s gone and kidnapped them, why are they so keen on working for the lad?”

“We can't say for sure, but I think it's safe to assume the reason these girls are taken so young is because their brains are still developing. At that stage, it’d be rather easy for him to get in and manipulate them into doing his dirty work for him.”

Not wanting to stay on the topic of what Volkov did to these girls, what he did to her, Shadow decides to interject.

“So what’s your plan to catch him? I’m assuming that’s why you’ve rounded us all up here.”

As soon as the words leave her mouth, everyone in the room turns their attention to her. The three unfamiliar men each showcasing varying degrees of surprise while Price and Laswell both seem to be caught off guard by the woman’s voice unexpectedly cutting through the conversation. Deciding not to vocalize the collective wave of shock rolling through the small room, Laswell simply nods.

“Yes, you’d be correct.”

Wanting to redirect the boys’ attention off Shadow, he speaks up.

“What’ve you got for us then?”

“You’ll first be flown into the heart of Moscow and dropped off at a base there before meeting up with a few contacts of mine based in Russia. They’ll drop you off ten klicks north of a village by the name of Samat where a close contact of Volkov’s resides; Sergei Magerovski. He, unfortunately, won’t be there the night you arrive so you’ll have to stay in a safe house just outside of the village. Once he arrives however, your job will be to apprehend him and get him to reveal the location of the Red Room. From there, Shadow will get in contact with me and we’ll plan accordingly.”

Price sighs as he gives Laswell a skeptical look, “That’s the plan? Seems half baked to me.”

Laswell shrugs as she leans back in her chair, “Out of all the enemies we’ve faced, Volkov is by the far the most elusive and secretive. It took hours just to find anything about Magerovski’s existence. Call him what you want, but he’s a smart man. He knows how to hide.”

Price spares a glance over to Shadow who gives him a near hesitant nod of her head before turning back to Laswell.

“Alright then. When do we leave?”

Laswell smiles, “Tonight.”

After the rather short meeting with Laswell had ended, Shadow was the first one out the door. While it wasn’t her intention to come off as rude to the rest of the team, she knew that’s what it probably looked like. So much for being a team player.

Even so, she refused to dwell on the small interaction and instead decided to start getting her gear together for the upcoming mission thinking it would take a while. Unfortunately she managed to gather everything she needed rather quickly, even with all of the extra bulk she’d be carrying around. While she greatly preferred to keep the amount of gear she took with her on missions minimal, she knew she’d need to carry a bit more than what she was used to. Not only to keep up with what was sure to be a hellish force of Volkov’s army of assassins, but also her new teammates for the time being.

What a strange word, she thought, teammates.

She continued to mull over the single word throughout the rest of her day. Even now as she sat in the back of the plane in one of the seats lined against the walls, bag neatly tucked under her seat as her fingers tap against her thigh in time with the piano notes of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’.

Upon hearing footsteps approach her, she switches her music player off and rips out her earbud before turning her attention to the origin of the noise where she's pleasantly surprised to see Price approaching her with two cups of pudding in his hands. She wraps her headphone cable around the music player as she speaks.

“Why do you have pudding?”

Price sits beside her and holds one out to her before replying, “It’s Friday.”

The woman catches in quickly as she takes the cup of pudding from his outstretched hand.

“Our dessert day.”

Price gives her a nod of confirmation before pulling out two spoons from his pocket and sticking one in her cup. She mumbles out a small ‘thank you’ before they begin eating.

Surprisingly, Shadow is the first to speak.

“How do you feel about the mission?”

Price gulps down his spoonful of vanilla pudding before responding.

“Wish it was a bit more well laid out, but what can you do? The bloke is a dodgy little twit. What about you?”

The woman plops her spoon in the remaining bit of her strawberry pudding as she takes a few moments to think. On one hand she was more than happy to be going after Volkov, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel like something awful was going to happen.

“I’m not sure. I suppose I’m feeling a mix of things.”

“Understandable, but you've gotta feel the least bit proud of yourself, no? You've been tracking this arsehole for the better part of four years now. Must be nice to have the go head to finally get after him.”

She sighs, “It is, but I have a bad feeling. Something doesn't feel right.”

Price gulps down the last bite of his pudding, “You sure that feeling doesn't have anything to do with the fact you’re working with a team for once?”

She takes in another gulp of her pudding, “Pretty sure. It feels different.”

Price bites down on his lip before turning to her and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, a small wave of pride flooding his chest when he notices she doesn't flinch at his touch like she used to.

“You know well enough by now to know I can't tell you everything’s gonna go right, kid.”

Her lips purse in thought.

“But,” He gently turns her head to face him, “I can promise you that my men and I will be there with you every step of the way. You’re part of the team now, even if it is just for this mission.”

He pulls his hands away from her and leans back against the seat before she decides to speak.

“Thank you, Price…I appreciate that.”

He waves her off.

“No need for all that. Just do me a favor and start calling me Captain Price. At least when we're around the others. Higher rank and all that.”

She’s quiet for a few moments.

“Technically I don't have a rank.”

Price jokingly rolls his eyes at her comment.

“Fuckin’ mercies,” He mutters.

“Mercies?”

“Mercenaries. That's what my old Captain used to call ‘em. Suppose I took after him.”

She nods as she finishes off the last of her pudding.

“You've still gotta refer to me as Captain Price, or even just Captain.”

This time she’s the one to roll her eyes as she crosses her arms with a small smile.

“Yeah, fine. I’ll entertain it.”

“I’m being serious, kid.”

“Mhm. Yeah, whatever you say Captain Price,” she replies in a mocking tone.

He shakes his head in mild disapproval. As much as he wants to scold her for not taking him as seriously as he’d like, he couldn't bring himself to do so. It was a rare sight to see her initiating conversation, much less take part of his playful teasing. He didn't have the heart to ruin it.

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the sound of multiple pairs of boots padding across the metal flooring of the plane made its way to her ears. Both she and Price looked up to see the Soap, Gaz, and the tall man whose name she hadn't quite learned yet step onto the plane and set their bags of gear down under the seats they decided to occupy. She couldn't help but notice it was on the other end of where she’d settled down. Not that she minded, she didn’t want to talk to them before it was necessary.

Price looks down at his watch.

“Looks like we’ll be taking off in just a few minutes. You want to come sit with the guys over there? I’ve gotta make sure they don't start taking the piss.”

She stares at them for a few moments before eventually shaking her head.

“No, I think I’ll try to get some sleep.”

Price narrows his eyes in suspicion at her answer, but decides not to push it any farther as he gets up.

“I’ll let you play the lone wolf for just a bit longer, but no more after this. You’ve got to start talking to them, build a rapport. They're not bad once you get to know them.”

She looks them over once more before turning her attention back to Price.

“The safe house. I’ll start there, I promise”

He points a finger her way with a stern expression, “‘M gonna hold ya to that.”

She gives him a small nod before he gives her a small pat on the shoulder and walks off to sit with the group of men. She watches them for a few moments longer before leaning her head back against the stiff seat and closing her eyes, willing the plane to take off sooner than later.

It had been a little under fifteen minutes after Price had decided to go over and sit with the boys, and the plane was now soaring through the air as a calm and quiet chatter filled the atmosphere around the small group. The moment could almost be seen as relaxing if you chose to ignore the reason why they were even on the plane in the first place, but of course, Soap decided to open his mouth.

“Hey Cap, I’ve got a question for ya.”

Price knew deep down he probably wouldn’t care for whatever inquiry Soap was prepared to spill from his mouth, but he allowed it anyway.

“What is it?”

Soap pointed a finger over where Shadow was sitting with her eyes closed and head leaned back.

“You know ‘er?”

Price couldn’t even bring himself to act surprised. He’d been expecting this question, but even so, it was Soap asking so he couldn’t help but delay his response just a tad.

“What makes you say that?”

Soap shrugs as he leans back in his seat and crosses his ankles over one another, “You two were eating pudding together before you ran off over here when we showed up. Just thought you might have history.”

Price doesn’t respond, causing Gaz to speak up.

“She your girlfriend, Captain?”

The boys watch Price’s face begins to grow considerably pale at the question as he seems to stumble over his words for a moment as he tries to respond.

“What? No, I–”

He lets out a deep sigh as he tries to compose himself.

“–No, She is not my girlfriend and nor will she ever.”

A beat of silence passes over the group of four before Soap speaks, a smug smile stretched on his face as he nudges Gaz with his shoulder.

“Bit defensive there, eh?”

Gaz and Soap attempt to stifle their laughter as Price seems to grow increasingly more flustered at their insinuations. While finding the teasing of the younger members mildly amusing, Ghost decides to take this moment to ask a question of his own.

“Well then what do you know about her?”

Gaz and Soap quiet down as the stern voice of their shared lieutenant cuts through the air. They both turn their attention back to Price who seems to be equal parts thankful and exasperated by Ghost’s question. He clears his throat before leaning back in his seat, one hand clasped tightly around the spare pen he grabbed from one of the pockets sewn onto his tactical vest.

“What’s got you lot so curious?”

“Never received a file on her, as good as a stranger,” Ghost replies as he crosses his arms over his broad chest.

Price spares a glance toward the topic of discussion out of the corner of his eye before settling it back on his team.

“She’s experienced and capable. Not to mention the most knowledgeable about Volkov out of any of us. She’ll be an asset to this team,” He says simply.

Ghost narrows his eyes, “You’re not telling us everything, are you?”

Price shrugs, “I’m tellin’ you the things that matter. You wanna learn more about her?” He points in her direction, “Then you can ask her yourself,” He finishes with a tone of finality, effectively ending the discussion.

Gaz and Soap hang their heads low in slight disappointment at Price’s answer before quickly moving onto another topic of discussion while Ghost keeps his eyes locked on the woman. It’s only after he receives a small kick from Price that he tears his gaze away from her. He always did have a staring problem.

“Yer aff yer heid.”

“English, MacTavish.”

“Use your fuckin’ context clues, L.T.”

“You little shite-” Price stops in his tracks and turns his body around to face the two men with a glare.

“I’m gonna give you two a proper beating if you don’t shut up.”

Soap’s eyes widen as he jerks a finger toward Ghost, “He started it!” “I don’t care who started it. My only concern is finding this safe house and getting you lot out of my hair for a moment,” He practically seethes, his patience for the two bickering men having diminished long ago. He opens his mouth to continue his rant, but is stopped by three gentle taps on his shoulder. He whips his head toward the origin of the touch to reveal Gaz pointing toward Shadow who was currently staring at the group from the porch of what seemed to be a cabin off in the distance.

“I found the safe house,” Soap states.

Price spares him another glance as he narrows his eyes, “You’re on thin ice, Sergeant.”

Not wanting to spend another moment outside, he stalks off in the direction of Shadow with Gaz quietly trailing by his side. As the silhouette of his captain and other sergeant grow smaller with the distance, Ghost nudges Soap.

“Come on then.”

Not wanting to open up another pointless argument, Soap decides to quietly follow after Ghost. As they approach the safe house, they’re able to take in the overall structure of the building. It was a quaint little cabin, almost homely if it weren’t for the overgrown weeds and boarded up windows. After shutting the door shut behind them, they found it was pretty much what they’d expected. Various pieces of furniture scattered across the scraped hardwood floors as well as small bits of peeling paint falling from the walls. Even so, it still wasn’t quite as bad as other safe houses they’d been in. At least this one felt somewhat like a home still.

After the group did a quick sweep through of the house, Price immediately retired himself to the one bedroom that was present in the house, stating he needed time away from the group. Not bothering to wait for a proper response, he walked away with his arrival to the bedroom only being marked by the sound of the door closing shut.

Deciding that she didn’t want to spend any more time standing around, Shadow walked over to a corner of the living room that seemed cleanest and plopped her bag down on the floor before taking a seat next to it. She stretched her legs out in front of her before leaning her upper body against the wall. She blissfully blocked out the sounds of her teammates shuffling around the room as she pulled her bag onto her lap and unzipped the side compartment. She rummaged through the small pocket in hopes of finding the small packet of plain crackers she’d stashed away on base. After more than a few moments of fruitless rummaging, she let out a small sigh. Wanting to give herself one last chance, she reached in the deep crevices of the compartment and ran her fingertips along the edges of it, her hand coming to a stop upon the unfamiliar feeling of a glossy paper like object. Curiously, she grabs onto it with her thumb and forefinger before pulling it out and resting it in the palm of her hand. As she looks down at her hand, her eyes come into contact with a small wallet sized photograph of a younger version of herself, a wide smile stretched onto her face and a Santa hat messily placed onto her head as her arm is thrown over the shoulder of a familiar face; Karina.

Two young girls wait patiently as they watch multiple women clad in plain clothing put the finishing touches on the set that lies before them. The taller of the two young girls is given a small nudge on the shoulder by the girl beside her. She ignores the gesture in order to prevent drawing any unnecessary attention to the pair, but eventually gives into the urge to speak as the nudges of the smaller girls grow stronger causing her to stumble ever so slightly.

“Stop it, Karina,” She hisses out quietly.

She can see the corner of her friend’s lips turn upward in a small smirk.

“I’m bored.”

“No one here cares if you’re bored.”

She gets another nudge in return, although this one is more gentle.

“You do.”

The older of the two has to stop the sigh that threatens to spill from her lips. It was true after all, she did care.

“What do you want me to do about it? Not like there’s any games around.”

Karina points a small finger in the direction of the board games lining a nearby bookshelf as she whispers excitedly, “Those are games!”

“Those are empty and you know that. It’s just for show.”

“But what if they’re not? Have you ever held one of them?”

The older girl goes silent at the question. She never had the opportunity.

“See! There could be games in there,” Karina states, a smug lilt to her voice that didn’t please the older girl one bit.

“Even then, we’ll never get the chance to see. Not with them around,” She says as she gives a subtle nod over to the various workers walking around the place.

Karina sighs, “I guess that’s true…What do you think it’s like? Playing a game?”

“I don’t know. It could be fun.”

“I wish we could have fun.”

The older of the two goes to speak but promptly closes her mouth as the pair is approached by one of the women who speaks to them in fluent Russian paired with a near impeccable accent.

“We are ready for you. Come.”

The two girls spare each other a glance before trailing after the woman, eventually coming to a stop in front of a neatly decorated Christmas tree that was situated just a few feet from a red brick fireplace adorned with a festive garland and plain red stockings.

Just as they had each taken in the colorful decorations, the woman they had come to know as Madame Sotskova began spilling firm instructions to the girls who immediately obeyed without question.

Soon enough, the two girls were sat on the carpeted floor with wide smiles as they tore the wrapping paper off the various presents that were stacked around them. It was an exhilarating feeling for each of them being able to open the presents and get a glimpse of the toys they uncovered, even being able to grab and hold onto them. It could’ve even been considered fun if it weren’t for the bright flash that nearly blinded them every so often, a flash that reminded them both the nature of what was really happening.

After sitting and unwrapping the various presents for over twenty minutes, the gifts were promptly taken away to be rewrapped as Madame Sotskova walked over and began spewing out different instructions just as she had before. This time, the two girls were pressed up against each other with the older of the two now wearing a Santa hat that Karina had haphazardly situated on her head. The older girl had since thrown an arm around Karina’s shoulder, effectively pulling her closer to her side at the firm direction of Madame Sotskova. Wide smiles stretched onto their faces as the bright flash of the camera began lighting up the room. They remained in that position for a few minutes before they were pulled apart by two other workers they didn’t recognize. They watched with bated breath as Madame Sotskova inspected the photos that had come from the polaroid. After giving a small nod of approval, the two girls were roughly pulled up onto their feet with the Santa hat being ripped off the older girl's head. They spared each other a small glance out the corner of their eyes before taking in a deep breath and moving their gaze to stare directly in front of them. They each resisted the urge to reach out and grab onto the other's hand as they felt a small prick on the side of their neck. 

It was a scary feeling to have such an intense wave of tiredness and nausea flood your body at such a fast speed, but they remained expressionless. Even as the taunting voice of Madame Sotskova rang through their ears as their vision became a hazy mess of different lights and colors.

“Sweet dreams.”

Taking in one final breath, they both fell back into the arms of the workers as they silently prayed it would all go away when they woke up. A bad dream. But like many times before, their hopes of waking up to a better life were ripped away as they opened their eyes and their gaze flickered over to their dominant hand being cuffed to the metal frame of their assigned bed.

This was reality.

Upon hearing the sound of footsteps quietly stalking toward her, Shadow tucked the photo back into the unzipped pocket and looked up to see the masked man stop a few feet away from her before settling down onto the floor. Her eyes roamed over the man’s frame before eventually settling on his eyes. He promptly returned her stare for a few moments before giving her a small nod of his head and looking away. Satisfied that the man wasn’t one to talk, she took her gaze off him and zipped up the open pocket in her bag before pushing it off her completely. She wasn’t really in the mood for crackers anymore.

The two of them sat in silence for a good while before it was eventually broken by the sound of the man rustling through his back. She looked back over to him to see him pulling out a set of black knives. She watched as he retrieved a small microfiber cloth from his pocket before dragging it over the body of the knife. In all honesty the knives already looked clean, near impeccable even, but when you’re cooped up in a room with virtually nothing to do, she supposed giving your knives a quick wipe down wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

They remained in the same position, the masked man cleaning his knives and her simply watching. It had gone from an eerie, almost uncomfortable quiet to one that was tolerable.

Jesus, she thought, I really hate working with teams.

Just as she began debating whether or not she should just walk out of the cabin, a Scottish accent rang out through the room.

“Hey, you two gonna come over or what?”

Shadow sucked in a sharp breath before looking up to see the man across from her already staring at her. He was the first to break eye contact as he packed his knives away and stood up. He walked a few steps over to the two men who were waiting patiently before coming to a sudden stop. He spared a glance over his shoulder back toward Shadow. Her eyes flickered from the man over to the two men who were still talking before her gaze eventually settled on the empty space they made. It was enough for two people. Holding in a small sigh, she pushed herself up from the floor and began walking behind skull face.

“Yer talking oot yer arse.”

“I’m serious!” “Give it up, mate.”

At the disbelieving words of Ghost and Soap, Gaz turned to Shadow in what seemed to be a moment of desperation.

“Come on, what about you? You’ve gotta believe me.” 

It was the first time any of them had thought to include her in their ongoing conversation and she couldn’t help but feel almost relieved. She’s not much for talking sure, but any type of conversation beats the mindless game of acting like you’re interested. Besides, she did make that promise to Price. She lets out a quiet sigh.

“Bit far-fetched, but I can see it happening.”

The desperate plea etched onto his face morphs into one of glee as a smile spreads onto his face.

“See, I told you!”

Soap rolls his eyes, “You outdrinking someone like Price? Impossible.”

Gaz speaks in a tone of pure exasperation, “He’s not a heavy drinker, I told you that already!”

“And we’re just supposed to take yer word for it?”

Gaz goes to respond, but is cut off by Shadow.

“He likes being aware of his surroundings. Drinking takes that away, so he doesn’t do it often. Simple as that.” She half expected the three men to stare at her shock for her sudden desire to speak much like they had during the conference with Laswell, but they didn’t, much to her surprise. Instead, she was met with the narrowed gaze of the one they called Soap.

“How d’ya know that?”

She shrugs, “We’ve known each other a while.”

Gaz is next to speak, “How long’s a while?”

She really needs to learn how to shut her mouth.

“Long enough.”

“How ‘bout a time frame? Couple months, couple years?”

“Whichever one you think.”

Soap rolls his eyes, “Yer not gonna tell us anything then, eh?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Gaz all but whines.

“It’s irrelevant.”

Ghost’s gruff voice cuts through the air, “You expect us to trust someone we know nothing about?”

She turns her attention to him, “I don’t know anything about any of you either. The only reason I know your names is because I heard it in passing.”

Gaz takes his Union Jack cap off before speaking, “Then how about your job? It’s obvious you’re not a soldier,” He motions to her bodysuit, “So what are you? Is it some special unit?”

She shakes her head no.

“I’m whatever Laswell needs me to be.”

“So…What? You’ve got some type of specialized training for that?”

She looks at Soap, “You could say that.” Gaz sighs, “We’re not getting anything out of you, are we?”

“Nothing that’s not essential to the mission.”

“You’ve gotta give us something, woman. How about your name?”

She turns her focus back to Soap, “Shadow.”

He rolls his eyes, “I mean yer real name. You do have one of those, right?”

“I do, but it’s not essential to the mission and therefore you don’t need to know.”

Ghost narrows his eyes, “You C.I.A.?”

She huffs out a breath of air, “Not a chance.”

The three men surrounding her all spare each other a glance before turning their gaze back onto the woman before them. A few moments of silence pass over them before Soap speaks.

“You know, you’re like a mini ghost.” He ignored the blank stare his Lieutenant gave him before continuing with a smile.

“I think I’m gonna like havin’ ya around.”

TAGLIST: @deadpoolsluvrr @simonsbluee @niawritesbs @ethanhawkelovers-blog @watermaylon-writes @ravenhood2792 @shoxji @griimreaperr @galacticstxrdust @cptmaverick-marvel @comedinewithmeyeh @fluffysteampunkd @callmenoiselul @isissakibbs-blog @urfavsunkissedleo @decaffeinatedmom01 @23victoria @silveroak-art @untoldshortsofthefandoms @deadbranch @ella-error505 @queen-of--roses @emrzennn @nat-the-gemini @shuttlelauncher81 @delightfully-dumbass @coolmaybelateruniverse @lilpothoscuttings @dakotali @chloepluto1306 @scaredknight  @swissy23 @desxr-fx @water-hemlock18 @abbiesxox @kiriki45 @saeyaaa

[mintytealfox]

Any thoughts on Infernal Sin meeting Eternity?

MUAAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAAAA AWWW YYEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅 -EXCITED SCREECHING-

I am going off the rails with this one so bear with me LOOOL

So I think Eternity would seek Infernal Sin out 👀 she seems like she moves around more than he does with the vibe that he just chills in his lava and has people brought to him, but that would change when Eternity has a proposition for him heh (cause I think he would happily 'work for her' but is really just taken off his leash to enact Eternity's justice. and when doing so takes on his full feathered dragon-phoenix form thing)

Needing a fourth member looks like heh

(also why is Joseph everywhere lol take a nap old man -wheeze-) I also like how she seems lorge here with her shadow

heh large power duo I love LOL

I keep getting distracted

ANYWAYS

So I think that would be the reason for their meeting, her seeking him out about her proposition to join her (even though he is infernal SIN, she can trust him deal out her punishments/cleansing, and in return he isn't in the line of fire or rather 'destruction of sin' lol)

I think he would be fascinated to receive a visit from her. Before, he likely knew of her and was keeping tabs just in case she became an issue and turn him into a target that needs to be eradicated. So, to see her in the same place as him, and it isn't because she is trying to destroy him, would be interesting lol. He also notes how cold and calculating she comes off as. It won't be until later in their cooperation that he will see what she is like behind the looking glass and the toll all of this is having on her.

random sidestep:

Infernal Sin gives me Eris vibes from Sinbad

the way he toys with mortals and just waits ((but that might just be because he seems kind of tied down to his realm and has to send mortals out in his place, soooo if a certain someone unleashes him and he is able to go wherever he wants to divvy out that justice, (in his full form) that he is assigned to do now, weeeeellll LOL))

So I think this proposition would be everything he wants lol Freedom and the ability to openly cause chaos and destruction. The only limitation is that it would all be limited to those Eternity has targeted. Which I don't think he would mind much anyway lol just full "you point, I go~"

He might have been prepared to toy with Eternity at the mention of a deal to get the most out of this, only for Eternity to just immediately lay out the golden plater, So he just melts and says, yes this is perfect I am yours LOL

-------------

Now some random situations lol:

~Eternity: "take off your mask" Infernal Sin: "and why would I do that?" Eternity: "let me see who I am working with..." -Infernal Sin, finding this interesting, decides to oblige and removes his mask- -Eternity using a moment to take in his features, then clears throat- "yes this union will work nicely" Infernal: "?????"

~Eternity seated alone while surrounded by fire and chaos all around her, until Infernal arrives in his full form, stepping into the calm and quiet that Eternity keeps around her. He curls up around her and rests his head near her and she pets the bridge of his snout. an unfortunate job well done

~Then Nightmare calling Infernal "the guard dog". So Infernal being like 'sure why not' and try to bite him LOL

~Eternity finding Infernal to be warm and comfy, especially when in his phoenix-dragon form and them nice feathers lol

~Infernal showing up to Eternity's lair and just "sheesh, this place is dusty, dreary, and falling apart" Nightmare: "you live in the literal depths of a volcano" Infernal: "where it is bright and warm and put together nice, so what's your excuse??"

~Infernal and Nightmare keeping their distance from Joseph cause that is one strangely young looking old man right there. Nightmare: "trade seats with me" Infernal: "no way, continue to suffer" -looks at the other person beside him- "........who is this by the way...." Nightmare: "why should I answer when you won't trade seats.." Infernal: "......." -jumps Nightmare- -the usual fighting resumes loool-

~when no one is looking, Infernal and Eternity are alone and finally able to show themselves with no walls or masks or anything and it usually ends up with Infernal comforting Eternity.

-------------

I love me some power duo my goodness graciouuussssss

Me:

[matthyeu]

i would rather die ― kjw.

pairing ⇢ kim jiwoong x gn!reader 

genre ⇢ angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, royal!au

warnings ⇢ violence, blood, swearing

word count ⇢ 2.8k

synopsis ⇢ it only took a near death experience for you to realize the crown prince of vuiryn wasn't all that bad.

dressing up, dancing, laughing, eating small appetizers for aesthetic purposes. they were all things you never did in your everyday life despite your position as the child of your kingdom’s ruler. in technical terms, this was supposed to be your social group, fellow children of rulers or other noble people gathered together. 

but it wasn’t. 

before being the future ruler of your kingdom, you were the leader of the military, the leader who was forced to leave behind their comrades as you attended this gala your father pushed onto you. you thought while your kingdom was at war with several other rebelling countries, you should have been in the front line, guiding the troops and making plans. your father had other plans though, leaving your second in command to handle this week’s battles.

for he thought before you were a military general, you were the future of the kingdom, meaning it was your duty to ally yourself with many other future rulers. he wanted not only an allyship, but also a union of two rulers’ children, so your kingdoms would be tied and willing to help in times of despair like this. that was why in his eyes, you were more valuable dressed up to play spoiled royalty desperately looking for a spouse. 

still, that wasn’t the kind of person you were, going up to the most known people at these gatherings, kissing up to them in hopes of seducing them to somehow grant your kingdom with surpluses of supplies to aid your losing battle. 

besides, most of these people would never want to mingle with someone like you, a known royal who physically had blood on their hands, as if they didn’t have blood on their own from their neglect. at least yours wasn’t the blood of your own people. 

“haven’t seen you for months.” 

and there was the most arrogant one of them all, the one who probably had not only his hands covered but also his entire body. there was no way prince jiwoong of vuiryn didn’t have an overflowing pool of citizens’ blood in the back of his royal palace. his demeanor and powerful aura already exemplified that of a power-hungry ruler. if his ruling was anything like his father’s, you could count on that pool becoming a whole ocean of blood, a literal red sea, once he was crowned. 

he was probably the only one your father didn’t want you to attempt to seduce. it would be favorable if your kingdom was not intertwined with the tyranny of vuiryan. it would not settle well with your people, knowing the reputation the current king had. 

it was unfortunate that he was the only one of the royal social circle to even attempt conversing with you. 

“must you always do this?” you asked, finishing the remains of the wine poured to you by one of the servers, its cost probably enough to cover important funding for your comrades’ weapons. 

“i figured you would have liked some company. you’re always off on your own world at these gatherings. wouldn’t kill you to intersect the conversations y’know?” he attempted to joke with you. 

he was always like that, playful but in a way that put himself on a pedestal to look down at you. even with his more positive attitude, you knew better than to place any trust in him. he too probably gossiped among the groups about how pathetic you always seemed when you were alone. 

there was nothing good that came out of someone like kim jiwoong. he was just another child of one of the many tyrannical rulers across the land. you could never put partial blame on them for their parents’ actions, for your own father would probably act in a similar manner if you hadn’t taken it upon yourself to lead the military to protect your citizens. 

“after all the times you’ve done this, i would think you understand i would like nothing to do with you,” you emphasized as you finished your drink, placing it in a bin of various dirty glasses to be cleaned. “now if you’re done annoying me, i’ll be going.” 

you turned your heel, beginning to walk away from him. not long after, however, you felt a harsh grab at your wrist. immediately, your eyes rolled back, nearly enough to look into the interior of your skull. was he really going to do this?

did he really have to do this when you just wanted to go off to find some unsuspecting victim to seduce into granting your kingdom the needed money to fund the troops? he was really getting on your nerves. 

“jiwoong, let go of me,” you sternly demanded, trying to thrash away from the grasp. 

the first siren went off when the grip around your wrist tightened. as much as jiwoong liked to provoke you, he would have never gone this far, bringing such discomfort to you. there was something off about this. 

your suspicions were confirmed as you felt cold metal across the skin of your neck and an equally cold voice whispering in your ear. “don’t move now, your highness.” 

your eyes immediately darted around the room where many were in the same position as you, held at knifepoint and threatened with their life. some failed to follow instructions in a panic and paid the price as a consequence. 

this was another reason you hated coming to royal gatherings. they were the perfect place to be ambushed. you couldn’t care less about leaving your kingdom without a future ruler, but to leave your comrades without a current one, that was something you could not do. 

you obeyed his commands, stilling without any sign of resistance. you would figure something out. you always did. it was just…there was no way you could pull anything off in the position you were in. any move would leave you dead, and you didn’t have anything on you to wiggle yourself out of the situation. your father was stern on not bringing anything that would intimidate the rest of the guests. if only he knew that could cost the life of his dear child. 

the only thing you could do was oblige to the commands. you could read their intentions. these people were not in it to kill. if so, they wouldn’t have let as many people run as they did. if they wanted to kill you, they already would have. they wanted ransom. you could figure out a plan once they took you to wherever they were planning. 

“UUAGH.” 

or not. the knife at your throat was lowered after your attacker was…well attacked by someone else. you looked over to see jiwoong, hands bloodied but still holding on. quickly, he grabbed you by the wrist and you two began your run, far away from the ballroom where hell had been let loose. 

“let go of me!” you yelled as you struggled against his grasp, which almost caused both of you to tumble over. 

a harsh motion was made to release your wrist, and you could see the annoyance on his face. “wow, not even a thank you. if you didn’t notice i just saved your fucking life. if you had stood there in shock any longer, you would be dead.”

you turned away from him, defeated that you couldn’t think of a witty remark to counter it. he was right. you had frozen the moment you were freed. if your attacker had gotten up, it would have been over for you. you whispered a few incoherent swears to yourself, frustrated you let your guard down so easily while at the gathering. it was not like you to do that, but now it had you on the brink of life and death. 

“thanks,” you mumbled. 

you heard him chuckle, somehow still mocking you at this moment. “can’t hear you you.” 

you sighed, rolling your eyes as you two turned a corner. you still had yet to know where you were running to. the corridors of the palace seemed endless, and you didn’t know the way out. from the looks of how the two of you continued to run, jiwoong didn’t know either. 

your lack of knowledge on the palace layout was your biggest drawback. as you turned another corner, you were met with several members of the attacker group, all armed and ready to take you down. it seemed they had shifted gears from kidnapping to killing seeing the resistance the two of you put up. 

and here was your second mistake. when your original attacker had fallen back, you should have taken his weapon. not having one rendered both of you useless in this situation. both of you backed up until there was nowhere else to back up. 

running seemed out of the question now as there was only a certain amount you two could run until fatigue caught up to you. there had been so much running involved in the earlier moments that your legs would probably give out within fifteen or so minutes of running at a fast pace. there was only a slim chance none of the six men in front of you would be still following you by then. you didn’t know how much stamina they had. 

you two looked at each other, the first time you looked at him with genuine concern. this was life-or-death, not a time for you to express your burning hatred toward him. 

“you go,” he ordered. 

“what.” 

with no further explanation, he headed into the crowd first, stalling for as much time as he could. they were too focused on him to even pay mind to you. they wanted the satisfaction of killing just one of you. 

seeing the sight, you took off. it was probably better off him than you. 

you had a whole future ahead, both for you and the army you led. you couldn’t let yourself perish now. jiwoong, he was just another prince who had no heart for others, no consideration for his citizens. if he was gone, vuiryn would not have another tyrannical ruler. this was completely fine. 

however, the more you thought about it, the more it wasn’t fine. what on earth were you thinking? when was it better off if someone was dead? the only answer was if they were a horrible person, but…jiwoong had never even proved to be that kind of person to you. sure he was annoying, but you couldn’t recall a time where he had mentioned anything cruel or unsettling. 

the overthinking made you pause in the hallway

maybe you had misjudged him. no. you definitely had misjudged him. if he was as cruel as you thought he was, why save you back in the ballroom? he had the stamina and strength to get out of there, but he had risked the extra time to help you. 

even if he wasn’t all good like royalty tended to be, there were some things you would never know about him if you let him die. 

immediately, you turned around, running back to where you had left him. on the way, you tried to scour for things to use to your advantage. the only thing you could make use of was a vase on display, but it was still better than nothing. 

your lungs were already giving out. this was the fastest you had ever ran in this type of clothing, the kind where your legs felt restricted, so you needed to use more muscle to even try to move properly. 

by the time you made it back to the scene, your arms and legs had almost made you collapse. you weren’t prepared to do this much running at a gala. 

you took a pause at the corner, gripping onto the wall to steady yourself. you only hoped you had made it back in time. your determination would have been useless if he was already gone. 

alas, you found yourself weirdly overjoyed seeing jiwoong still struggling with several men, now only two. it was impressive, but you could tell from the look of his stances he was about to lose this fight. you had to step in. 

waiting for an opening, you ran back into the scene at the first glimpse of one. both of the attackers’ backs were turned to you, but you were in clear vision of jiwoong when you slammed the vase across their heads. screams of terror were released as you used that window to kick them back into the wall. 

now, it was your turn to grab onto jiwoong to make a run for it. 

“i told you to run.” 

“a thank you would be nice, y’know.” 

he laughed at your mockery of his earlier words. the situation had completely changed. now you were the one holding onto him tight as you tried to navigate a way out of the building. 

“you seem like the type to want me dead though. change of heart?” he asked, heavy breaths accompanying his words. 

“i thought about it, and i would rather die than be indebted to you.” you would never reveal the true reason you came back. it was far too embarrassing for you to admit. 

finally, you two made it to an exit, pushing the doors out together in unison. outside, there stood many soldiers, some of them from your own kingdom. it seemed many kingdoms had dispatched soldiers to help clear the palace after the news spread. you felt pity for any soldiers who would have to find the bodies of their respective royals. 

“general!” you whipped your head around to see some of your comrades worriedly approaching, “we were worried about you once we heard the news. we had just finished our own battle, but we wanted to come make sure everything was okay.” 

you found their concern warming after such an eventful night. “of course i’m alright. i’m a military general after all.” 

you heard jiwoong clear his throat behind you. “and because i had prince jiwoong to help me through it.” 

you watched as your two comrades exchanged glances, both with each other and between the two of you. their smiles grew. “so you’ve nearly fulfilled your own mission, we see.” 

eyes widening at their statement, you realized what they were hinting. jiwoong’s eyes furrowed, opening his mouth to ask a question you could predict. before he could though, you intersected, walking over to where they were administering first aid. “let’s make sure we get wrapped up to prevent infections.” 

now, here the two of you sat, sitting across in silence as many doctors and nurses applied ointment at your wounds. there was an uncomfortable silence. neither of you knew how to start a conversation after everything that had happened that night. 

it took until your treatment was finished for you to finally ask the one question bothering you the whole night. 

“you know how to fight really well? i knew all royals had special training, but you really seemed like you knew what you were doing. i’ve never seen someone in the royal social circle be so unafraid of getting their hands dirty.”

jiwoong looked away with a smile on his face, unsure whether to take your comment as a compliment or an insult. “i’ve always wanted to be a soldier,” he admitted. 

the declaration made your eyes widen, to the point where you swore they were about to pop out of your sockets. you had never heard a royal (besides yourself) say such a thing. everyone always called you crazy for the path you chose, so you always assumed he felt the same way. 

“so, you don’t think i’m crazy?” you asked for clarification. 

he shook his head. “no quite the opposite actually, i’ve been trying to become acquainted with you all this time. i admire your work, and wanted to ask you about how you convinced your father to let you do such a thing.” 

your mouth dropped open. you were hating this man for no reason. your hatred was based on false accusations. 

“wow, i really know nothing about you.” 

“well, do you want to know more about me then?” he suggested. 

you smiled at him. “sure, i would love that.”

even though vuiryn was the one kingdom your father didn’t want you to become close with, it was hard now that you knew its prince was nothing like its king. its prince was exactly like you. he truly was the only one who could talk to you because of that. 

if that wasn’t enough convincing to allow him to become your ally, you didn’t know what would be. 

“i also have thought you were really charming ever since we met, so it’s not just that i wanted to use you for advice. i really want to get to know you.”

or maybe this was the beginning of a union. 

you hit him on the shoulder, laughing with him for the first time. “now hold on, we’re going a little fast here, buddy. let’s take it slow.”

[theoreticallysensible]

The Power and Purpose of Strikes

Simone Weil, the philosopher/anarchist/mystic, describing an ideal political future for France after WW2, lamented that trade unions have become primarily concerned with wages. This might seem strange to us now, when even this activity is so contested by conservatives, but Weil saw it as playing too much into the capitalist spirit.

She saw this as just one of trade unions’, and the worst of the lot, because it encourages workers to think about personal monetary gain rather than justice, solidarity, and even their own needs beyond the material. It also risks the union becoming institutionalised through frequent direct interactions with established economic forces. Again, this will sound weird today, given how unions fighting for wages represent one of the few remaining avenues for working class justice, and yeah Weil was a Catholic with strong convictions about the importance of moralism, but I think fundamentally she had higher hopes than we can easily imagine today.

I think a lot of people sense the truth of what she says today - though unfortunately it’s usually conservatives, who would turn back on it immediately if they recognised what it was they were saying. You see it when they say “Why are train drivers striking? Why are writers striking? Why do they think they deserve more than nurses, or posties, or actors?” And of course, the answer is: “They should strike too!” (As some of them now are 🎉). But it’s true that the narrow focus on wages does foster a sort of competitive individualism which can undermine solidarity with other industries. This means that a more revolutionary conception of unions is needed, which is not what these critics have in mind, but it is what Simone Weil has in mind.

What Weil sees in trade unions is the potential for fostering community, freedom of intellectual and spiritual thought, and a degree of independence from capitalism, all of which amount to a greater degree of what she calls ‘rootedness’ - something involving confidence in truth, having material needs met, security in community, and relative freedom (among other things). She saw them as being able to foster solidarity to meet workers’ need for community, free them from the corrupting influence of monetary concerns, and fight for justice as a group. She also hoped that they could provide a space for freedom of thought, to avoid the fetishisation of community she saw in both the French and Russian revolutions.

Trade unions then should not merely concern themselves with accumulating resources, but also with accumulating time and freedom - with the expansion of what Henri Lefebvre called everyday life, the time in which we are free to do what we want and create new types of experiences. When we have enough of it, we can build our own institutions free from capitalist influence which can form the infrastructure for disruptive situations. This can be mutual aid groups, creative projects, intellectual and spiritual communities, and reimaginings of what it means to work, through permablitzing, learning crafts, and starting co-operatives.

The ideal version of this is the general strike. Walter Benjamin described the general strike as a form of divine violence, violence which acts instantaneously, bloodlessly, without coercion. Rather than sort of blackmailing capitalists, as most strikes do, the general strike is (ideally) a complete disengagement with the entire capitalist system. It asks nothing of it, and simply makes it irrelevant by building entirely new social relations in its place. This is not at all feasible with where we are at the moment, but I like to think that it can be used as an inspiration for incorporating more utopian ideas into our more limited actions, all of which are still so radical in this current climate.

[son1c]

more falling stars <3

falling stars fic masterpost

When they had first woken up, the sky was bathed in oranges and pinks. Now, as Shadow trudged through the thick forest with Sonic held tightly in his arms, it was almost completely dark. The only light came from the twinkling stars overhead, and they did little to illuminate his path.

“That’s a neat trick,” Sonic said. His voice was very quiet, and Shadow had to strain to hear him over the sound of crickets chirping in the brush. He was doing his best to keep his promise, to keep his eyes open, but as the minutes wore on, so did his stamina.

Shadow hummed absently as he stepped over a fallen log.

“Your eyes,” Sonic continued. “You sure there’s not a flashlight rattlin’ around inside that head of yours?”

Raising an eyebrow, Shadow asked, “What are you talking about?”

With the most enthusiasm he’d had in at least an hour, Sonic replied, “They’re glowing!”

Unfortunately, there were no mirrors in the woods, so Shadow had to make do with peering at his reflection in the stream he was walking alongside. Sure enough, two glowing red eyes stared back at him, their brightness sticking out like a sore thumb against the blackness of night.

How peculiar.

Then, without stopping, Shadow tilted his head to the side and locked eyes with Sonic. “Yours aren’t,” Shadow observed.

That got a snort out of Sonic. “Bummer,” he said. He wasn’t surprised, though. “Maybe if I think about it really, really hard, I can change that. Wanna find out?”

But Shadow didn’t respond. He also stopped walking, which made Sonic frown. “Stripes? What’s–”

“Shh!”

Suddenly, Shadow dropped down into a crouch. Now, the tall grass came all the way up to their ears and hid them both from view. The only bad thing about it was that Sonic had to fight back a sneeze when it tickled his nose. He choked it down with great effort.

“There’s someone up ahead,” Shadow whispered. Every muscle in his body was clenched and on edge as he watched the person–a human–pace back and forth. Their hand was held up to their ear and Shadow could see their mouth moving. Were they talking to someone on the phone?

Both of the hedgehogs listened carefully. However, they could only catch bits and pieces of the person’s conversation. By the end of it, all they had gathered was that this person was out here looking for something, and that they hadn’t found it yet.

Sonic cast a tense glance toward Shadow. “You don’t think…?”

Shadow sunk even lower into the grass. “It’s a possibility,” he said grimly.

Yeah, it was a possibility that the person decked out in power armor was looking for them. Neither Sonic nor Shadow had any clue as to why, but if their instincts were correct, then they didn’t want to be found. Especially not while the guy had a gun strapped to his hip, something that was clearly visible even in the dim light of the moon.

Shadow watched as the person angrily snapped their phone shut. Then, they muttered something about how they should’ve joined that workers’ union when they had the chance, before stomping away in the opposite direction.

Shadow exhaled slowly. Sonic did the same.

“That was close,” Sonic said. “Who was that guy, anyway?”

“Trouble,” Shadow replied simply.

He didn’t want to confirm his suspicion that they were what that person was looking for, and so Shadow waited another minute before straightening and leaving the safety of the grass. Then, he adjusted his course slightly, leaving the stream’s winding path behind in favor of the denser cover of the forest.

Finally, once he thought it was safe to do so, Shadow asked, “Have you been able to remember anything yet?”

Sonic shook his head. “Nope. You?”

“No.”

They were both quiet for a moment. The trees seemed to be thinning out, which was a good sign. It meant they were getting closer to the end of the forest. And closer to a hospital.

Sonic broke the silence first. “Well,” he began, “there was one thing.” He spoke slowly, for once struggling to find the right words. “I saw it back there in the crater. It was something… yellow. Or maybe gold. I can almost picture it now–almost, cuz I couldn’t see the whole thing. But it felt big. Important. I just don’t know why.”

Shadow frowned. Something gold? That was about as vague as vague could get. But… “It’s a start,” Shadow said. It was more than he could remember, at least.

A cold wind blew through the trees. Sonic shivered and drew closer to Shadow. To be honest, he was starting to feel a little dizzy. Probably from blood loss. It was a good thing that the person from before didn’t have a dog with them, or else they would’ve been able to sniff out where the hedgehogs were in a matter of seconds.

Something was a little weird, though. Despite his injuries, Sonic wasn’t really in pain anymore. He didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like his leg had magically gotten fixed–when he looked down at it, no, yeah, it was definitely still in rough shape. So, why didn’t it hurt anymore?

Maybe he was just that tough. He could break his leg and not break a sweat! That made his ego happy, but he doubted it was the truth. He was just a regular hedgehog, after all. Shadow, on the other hand…

Sonic looked at him curiously. The hedgehog’s odd pattern and alien-like features were somehow even more striking in the dead of night.

There was a piece of the puzzle that Sonic was missing. Well, okay, several pieces. Or maybe it was just the entire puzzle that he lacked–but he was doing the best with what he had to work with, and what he had to work with was amnesia and his hedgehog-given intuition. And his intuition was telling him that somehow, Shadow was the reason why his injuries weren’t screaming in pain anymore.

Sonic let out a breath. “Thanks,” he said.

Shadow blinked. “For what?”

“For this.” Sonic gestured vaguely to the both of them. “It beats having to crawl out of the woods myself!” When Shadow just hummed in response, Sonic added, “I appreciate it. Seriously.”

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” was all Shadow could say.

And he was right. At that moment, the crickets abruptly fell silent. Shadow’s ear twitched, and all of the fur on the back of his neck stood up. Something was wrong. That was when he heard it–a muffled bang. He dove behind a tree, and–THUD. Something hit the tree where he and Sonic had been just a second ago.

“A dart?” Sonic said, looking up at it with a frown.

“A tranquilizer dart,” Shadow agreed. It looked like the person from before had found them after all. “Hang on tight,” Shadow told Sonic. “And don’t let go.”

“We’re in for some turbulence, huh?” Sonic squeezed Shadow’s shoulders. “You don’t need to tell me twice!”

[gardeningintrests]

humans are weird- mental health

now that i think about it, everyone and every living thing will have severe mental health issues upon being put in a bad situation or environment, like how dogs and cats will sometimes get anxious and yell and bite at you if you are a bad owner. and how some plants will be scared when you are a person who has done harm to it before.

so now I wonder, will aliens or other species and life tackle this mental health thing? or do they, like animals and plants, just think it's some form of instinct?

lets see how this goes baby

(also, my apologies for the weird English and maybe a switch between the UK and US ver of the language)

as the Terrans announce they have made a station at a dwarf planet near the Intergalactic Transportation Centre (ITC) that specializes in the form of psychology hospital for checkups and therapy sessions.

a few of the more advanced species in the Galactic Union were happy and most of the latter were confused.

psychology? hospital? what is this, do the Terrans think lowly of us so much that they had opened up a "mental hospital"?

upon seeing the rage of 99% of the Galactic Union ( Many species within systems, something like the EU on Earth) because of this newly opened hospital/ clinic/ office that made others feel they are unwell in the head, the Terrans called upon a press conference.

"We have heard of the unhappy feedback of the newly opened office. And I am sure all of you are aware that we humans are one of the sentient species that specializes in biology, especially the brain." The human, dressed in black with a white inner collar shirt paired with a black tie, a way of dressing different from their military, must be one of the Congressmen or a high authority figure.

"We opened this clinic/ hospital/ office because of various reasons. One is because as much more humans are traveling through the galaxies with the crew they are assigned or out on missions and events, we can safely say that more than 30% of our population, are in space, always on the go."

why do the human keep on talking useless speech? why do they not go straight to the point of this conference? such a waste of time.

"However, space travel isn't easy. it isn't quick either. so our kind has to sit through a very long transport, deal with their business, which takes roughly around a few months to a few years, and return back to home world where another long period of transport is needed."

do humans think they are the only ones with this problem? they might be new but they sure are demanding and self-centered aren't they?

"due to this fact, many become homesick and are dealing with chronic depression from the uncomfortable traveling and all the foreign work needed to do. with this and our conducted survey for both our kind and everyone else in the Galactic Union, we have deemed that unfortunately, many of our and your kind are in a very bad situation in terms of mental health "

the human sent everyone who is watching this channel or present a link to a video created by humans ( the link is in the word mental health)

what... what is this? mental health?

upon watching the video, X'aangrak't seemed to understand now. he now understands why humans were so awfully looking all the time.

"because of the risk of illness and the result that comes after we do not wish for our allies and our kind to fall into such a despairing place. we know we are not the only ones with the problem of homesickness, workplace bullying, abuse of power, and many other negative actions. generations, and generations, we and all of the life here have tried the resolve the issue of lives committing suicide acts just to come back to square 1"

the human wasn't wrong, lives are unique, and they are only able to form under the perfect circumstances in a system. so suicide cases is one of the major issues that the council of the Galatic Union has sought to fix

" so we come up with a plan, to not only help our kind but also all of the life that is existing in the Galaxy."

That's a bold move, how is a hospital full of drugs and equipment going to help us? if the issue the Galatic Union can't do anything to resolve this, how do they think they are going to do so?

" as us Terrans, although great at talking, is not so great in terms of communicating our thoughts and feelings. This is very well-known back at homeworld, so humans throughout history have studied how emotions and feelings affect a person and have made effective treatments and even categories of why a specific person is dysfunctional." oh really?

" so, for the sake of yourselves and your kind. the Galatic Union has come this far thanks to all of you. however it is undeniably true that space travel and work, is a heavy subjects that all of us carry inside, the pain sorrow, and tiredness you feel will eventually bring you down to the depths of despair and agony. so for your sake of yourself, give a visit to the new centre we opened, it is specialized in our feeling and emotion.'

...

" Be not afraid of letting your emotions go sometimes, as to be healthy is to cry, and soothe your own person, it is not a shameful act. but a powerful one That, is the end of my conference."

as the human steps down the stage and heads back to the vehicle transport, many reporters tried asking questions and begging for answers, but to no avail. no reply, just like how the humans in speeches and public has been

maybe... maybe i should give the centre a chance...

as X'aangrak't looks outside of his crew ship, with no one to talk to and always alone despite everyone on the ship. while the stars shone brightly outside in the galaxy, there has always been this feeling in his chest, maybe this time

he will feel better

[reasonandempathy]

how can you reblog a Zionist post criticizing people who support Palestine for allowing themselves to be harmed in an effort to support Palestine (https://www.tumblr.com/reasonandempathy/743584944850354176/politics-is-fucking-soul-churning-it-really-is) while also seeming to respect Aaron Bushnell, who made the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to support Palestine? is it so unthinkable that people would be willing to act against their own interest to stop a genocide?

TLDR; that post isn't denying people can self-sacrifice to stop a genocide. That post is about taking the broader context into perspective, and remembering that Trump Is Still So Much Worse, so you should vote against him.

-------------------------------------

Was thinking about this one, actually.

Didn't know the person's broader political views until checking them out, and while it's important context for that person individually, but the post at large still, broadly, stands.

There is, undoubtedly, an aspect of political discourse that promotes people who would vote for Biden to stay home or vote for someone not Biden and not Trump, rooted in (to a much lesser extent than Bushnell, who was being compelled to be an active participant) not wanting to be complicit in that genocide.

What I took to be the main thrust of that post was to point out the unfortunately very, very real dynamic of not helping Biden win would, objectively, be worse for everyone including Palestinians if Trump wins. And in a truly, honestly Binary choice between D or R, there is a correct choice to make. It's Biden.

The first few paragraphs of that post are basic "don't be selective with your care." Which is true.

The rape of Israeli women, the Jewish Diaspora, The various tortures and war crimes inflicted by Hamas and the Houthis are not things to be forgotten nor supported. The world is fucking complicated and "Good Guys" are in incredibly short supply, but "Hooray Huthis" is what I'd call an incredibly fraught tightrope to walk.

----------

The main thrust of that post, though, is referring to people who know Trump is worse and have done extensive work broadcasting that Trump is, objectively, Worse for Palestinians. Worse for Women. Worse for the LGBTQ community. Worse for Non-Christians. Worse for BIPOC. It's pretty simple and reasonable to think that if Trump was in the White House he would find some way to be even worse right now than Biden is being.

But they still can't endorse or support Biden. Who is definitely horrible, but also objectively the better of the 2 options we have.

Which is why I said Politics is soul-churning. Because it is. Because, outside of any actual plan to get anyone else into the White House, it is objectively Better for the people I care about.

My fiance.

My friends.

My extended family.

My Neighbors.

My trade union (though I haven't been in it for a few years).

My city.

My values.

It is objectively Better for Biden to be in power than Trump, which, again, is the only realistic alternative to Trump. But it does mean voting for the guy. And, yeah, I'm in NY (not a secret). Maybe I could vote for the Justice Party or the Green Party or something else.

But I can't assume nobody else will do that, and ceding what small influence I have (.000008% of Biden's popular vote in 2020) to actually help people to instead assuage my personal beliefs is putting my comfort over that small, minuscule, but very Real influence in being able to help people.

I...have blood on my hands. (broadly) We all do. I just want to add less to it.

[sapphire-weapon]

Hey so... Capcom hates unions, right? If this is the case... I'm kinda wondering if Stephanie even works with them any more.

See, the past couple of years she's been posting stuff on her Instagram stories about strikes and picketing. Not even just with the recent video game VA ones. The SAG-AFTRA stuff. IIRC she even stopped promoting Death Island stuff for a little while there. This is all good, don't get me wrong... all the AI bullshit needs to stop and I'm ecstatic she's being vocal about it.

As far as I've seen, other RE VAs haven't been posting anything about any of that. I could be wrong about this however.

But this could explain why she's been a little more bold with her statements about stuff lately. And when people asked if Claire was going to be in RE9 she said something like, "Oh they're making that?" Like, she maybe legitimately didn't know they were.

Isn't this the reason why they stopped using the last VA for Claire too? Or am I wrong?

Plus, even if she was replaced, we wouldn't know until the next game or movie comes out or is close to coming out since this seems to be the pattern recently.

Again, I'm probably looking too much into this but I just saw someone else talking about Capcom and unions and IDK... got me thinking.

so... this is something that's been lost to time in a game of telephone. it's something i've even been guilty of perpetuating and only just now realized that i fucked up by perpetuating it when i looked it up to refresh myself on what happened.

alyson court came out in 2017 and said that she would not be returning as claire for RE2make and said that capcom had decided to go with non-union actors instead. paul mercier then also came out and backed up her statement -- that he would not be returning as leon. alyson then made a follow-up video stating that this was NOT related to the recent voice actors strike. it was simply about contracting. basically, capcom shopped around until they found actors they liked that were willing to work at a price that capcom was willing to pay. alyson said that it was extremely disappointing that capcom wasn't willing to pay actors a working wage.

but despite alyson's clarifications, the damage had already been done. what was intended as "i was union-protected to ask for a certain amount of money, and capcom wasn't willing to pay it" morphed into "CAPCOM WILL NO LONGER WORK WITH UNION ACTORS."

but that's patently untrue.

because they kept on matt mercer for both vendetta and DI despite him having always been in the union.

capcom also pays top dollar for union actors in devil may cry. reuben langdon (dante), dan southworth (vergil), and johnny young bosch (nero) are all union actors.

hirabayashi has come out and told us that RE2make was built on a very tight budget due to capcom's lack of faith in the project, so it makes sense that they decided to cut costs where they could -- including when it came to voice acting.

so, really, capcom is willing to work with union actors... but only when they see the cost benefit for doing so.

if steph is no longer voicing claire, it won't be because she's in a union. it'll be because capcom doesn't feel she's worth the money anymore.

but her lack of knowledge of RE9 has nothing to do with her still being in capcom's good graces. as far as we know from leaks, claire isn't in RE9. and if claire isn't in RE9, why the fuck would steph know about its existence? game companies don't contact every single main cast actor in a series and update them every single time a new project is underway. only people who are working on the project know about it.

so, unfortunately, the likeliest explanation remains: stephanie panisello is just an asshole.

good question, tho. good ask.

[meteorshcts]

starter for @askaeristheflower

Zack was not ready to die for his country.

For one thing, it wasn't even really his country. Shinra had simply annexed the whole Gongaga area, and there was basically nothing they could do about it. Gongaga had had its own army, sure, but it was nothing compared to the size of the Shinra army. Zack had gone to the capital city of Midgar to enlist, of course, because he had wanted to be a hero and defend his homeland.

For another thing, the fact of the matter was that Zack had no love for Shinra any longer. His hopes of somehow making things better for Gongaga had long since been abandoned when he had started looking into some things. Stories that didn't add up. Orders from the top that he knew were lies.

Angeal was dead, listed as a traitor, and Zack wanted to know why.

Unfortunately, he had turned over too many stones in his time, talked to too many people, and now Shinra was about to get rid of Zack too. He knew this was the case, even though the media hailed him as a hero for it. He was ending the long, bloody war with the merfolk. He was turning over a new leaf for Shinra. He was...heading for his own death.

He wasn't going quietly, of course; he had pushed back on the orders as much as he could have. But the orders came from the king himself, who didn't care to have his own son die, and there was basically nothing he could do about it. To continue to defy his orders would just get him killed anyway, and some other poor schmuck would be put in his spot.

He had also secretly acquired a potion from a local potion shop, one not affiliated with Shinra as far as he knew, for an underwater breathing potion. It wouldn't keep the merfolk from tearing him to pieces, but at least he wouldn't drown. It was potentially a bad idea, but it did give him a chance to get away, if that were possible.

Dressed in his military whites, Zack adjusted the stupid hat over his carefully styled black spikes, trying still to look rakish and cool. He knew it didn't matter, but this union would be attended by a lot of people, so he might as well go out looking his best. Well. He'd probably go out looking terrible and waterlogged, but it was the thought that counted, or something.

"Lookin' good, man," Kunsel said quietly from Zack's side. Kunsel was also in his military whites, but dressed down a bit from Zack's very formal attire. He wasn't the focus of the event, after all -- that was Zack. "You sure you don't want me to cause a distraction and you can get outta here?"

"No," Zack replied, sighing into the mirror. "But, yeah. I'm sure. They'd just hunt me down and probably put you in my spot. No point in both of us dying."

Kunsel said nothing. They both knew it was true.

Ten minutes later, the royal guard showed up to escort Zack to the ceremony, where he would be wed to the killer empress of the seas, the bloody Queen Aeris.

--

Zack had thought going in that he was about to marry a stranger, and that was still true, but he realized quickly that he had seen her before. He recognized that face, even standing where he was at the end of the pier. She hadn't been dressed quite so beautifully, and her hair had been tied up differently, but it was definitely her, the girl he had given directions to in the castle courtyard just yesterday.

He squeezed his white gloved hands together in front of him. He wasn't afraid to die, but he was kind of afraid she wouldn't kill him before eating him, and that seemed...unpleasant, to say the least.

The wedding was to be pretty stock standard for a Shinra wedding, with an officiator waiting with Zack while the Empress walked the pier -- an aisle, as it was. Many of Shinra's finest were gathered, and nobody looked particularly happy. But if Zack made one wrong gesture, he knew he would be killed instantly. So he followed the motions.

At least she's hot, he consoled himself, studying her slender frame and the flowing, gossamer gown she wore. She was decorated with pearls and seashells, and she had forgone the typical white dress for one coral colored, and the effect was stunning. The color complimented her green eyes, and the dress accentuated her curves. She was gorgeous.

Too bad she was here to kill him.