#also i put him in the upholder of the law section but i think there's a slight difference with olruggio and estheath

[xbunnybunz]

Stride of Luck (10/?) [Dave Strider X Reader X Bro Strider]

Summary:

You find an unconscious Dave Strider in a desolate street and allow him to crash at your place, only to find out that he's come all the way from Texas to find his bro, Dirk Strider.

What seems like an easy task soon evolves into something much more complicated when you finally locate Dirk, and realize three things. One, Dave is hot as fuck. Two, Dirk is also hot as fuck. Three, they have the same taste in girls.

“i warned you about the striders, bro. i told you dog!”

Genre: Romance, Humor, Angst, Slow Burn

Author's Note: moving some stuff over from AO3 to here so my readers feel more comfy interacting with me directly <3

The week passes faster than you realize and soon enough, you’re crammed in the backseat of Shawna’s car with a very irritated Tracy and a perplexed Dave, who is attempting to ignore the commotion beside him by staring hard out the window into vast nothingness, since Shawna had applied her window tints backwards.

“I said put on your seatbelt!” Tracy hisses, reaching over your head again.

You duck away from her flailing hands and bat at her limbs, taking much glee in the anger sparking on her face.

“I said no! If this car crashes I want to sail straight through the window like a warrior and not get crippled in the backseat like a coward!”

Tracy clenches her fists.

“Wearing a seatbelt doesn’t make you a coward, idiot! Did Shawna knock the last few functioning braincells out of your head with that door?”

You laugh and your back presses into Dave’s side for the millionth time. He palms at his forehead and debates making conversation with Adam in the front seat, but the gloomy aura that’s seeping through the chair and permeating his section of the car isn’t really fitting Dave’s style.

Instead, he partakes in a brave feat and faces you and Tracy.

“The ride’s pretty chill tonight. Shawna’s been doing a good job.”

You nod and give Tracy a smirk that doesn’t do anything but make you look like a stupid asshole.

“Right, see? Even Dave agrees—”

The car lurches and you nearly bite your tongue mid sentence, and maybe you’re losing it but you think Tracy almost looks ecstatic for a split second before Dave grabs you by the back of the shirt collar and breaks your tumble forwards.

“That said,” Dave continues. “It’s still the duty of the passenger to keep themselves and others safe by partaking in traffic safety laws.”

You stare blankly at the cupholders a few inches from your face, basking in shame and bewilderment at both his lecture and the fact that Shawna keeps opened ketchup packets in her car before you’re pulled up again.

“Whoops, sorry guys! Must’ve hit a pothole or something.” Shawna giggles and Tracy peers at the rearview mirror.

“There’s no pothole back there.”

Shawna turns up the radio and hums along to nothing because the channel is fixed on news.

You listen to the anchor report on loss of electricity in some neighborhoods of the city before Dave dusts you off.

“You okay?” He asks.

“Almost lost my tongue there, but I’m okay. Thanks for the quick save.”

Dave hums and turns back to staring at the tinted window.

Having learnt your lesson, you tug the seatbelt over your head and wonder how he can see anything through the darkness of his sunglasses and also through the tinted window, but you decide the answer will be far too much knowledge for you to uphold.

Besides, you’ve learned that at the ripe age of not-too-old-but-not-too-young, the most important thing isn’t practicality but appearances— and Dave was looking pretty fresh right now, thanks to Shawna’s insane pre-weekend thrifting.

Still, uber-cool fashion would not save you from the ghastly presence bouncing back and forth within the car. There’s an ominous pressure building and it’s kind of freaking you out.

You lean forward a bit and tap the source on the shoulder.

“Adam,” You whisper, “You feeling okay?”

He slumps further into the leather seat and away from your prodding.

Oookay.

After a few more almost-major car crashes, Shawna pulls the car over to a curb and parks.

“I will never understand how you can parallel park, but not drive in a straight line.” Tracy groans, unbuckling herself and popping the door. “Sometimes I think you’re messing with us.”

Dave follows in suit and you wiggle out from his side, taking in gulps of fresh air. Sitting in a car with five people seriously wasn’t something you could ever get used to, even with O5 gum.

“Oh noooo, guys!” Shawna whines under her breath. She clasps onto your arm and hides behind your form, eyeballing the club a block down. “I think that’s the bouncer from…” she drops her voice into a whisper, pointing repeatedly with fingers. “...Last time.”

Dave gives you a questioning look and you shrug. You look over to whatever Shawna is gesturing at and see a large dark figure posted up against the club entrance, lips drawn into a thin line and beady eyes ever-watchful of his domain-- the domain being the 5 people in line outside the club.

You’re not sure who he is or if you’ve spoken to him before, but the little heart on his collar contrasts hilariously with his boxcars build.

“What are you talking about, Shawna?” You try to shake her off your arm because you’re losing circulation, but she holds on tight.

“She forgot her ID a few weeks back and snuck inside like a law-breaking juvenile.” Tracy says with a deadpan expression. “ So now the bouncer thinks she’s some underaged high-schooler trying to sneak in a drink.”

Shawna pouts. “He only thinks that because I’m short.”

“You literally snuck in through the club bathroom window. You’re a criminal.”

She holds up a finger. “Excuse me, I may be a criminal, but I am an of-age criminal. Which basically means no harm was done!”

You give the both of them an incredulous stare, shock written on your face. “Wait… You guys, the club’s bathroom window opens? And you never told me? Do you have any idea how long I can hold my breath now?”

Dave looks at you, a hint of a perturbed expression seeping through his cool-guy facade. “You use the club bathrooms?”

“Dude, I can’t pee in a pepsi soda can or whatever the fuck guys do, okay? I’ve suffered enough, please no more judgement.”

Dave shrugs and turns to Adam, who is currently dragging his feet behind the rest of the group. “Pepsi? What do you think, man? Isn’t a fruit juice bottle the way to go? There’s no carbonation if it splashes.”

Adam continues to mope, muttering a “Sure I guess” half-heartedly.

You and Dave exchange glances. It was pretty obvious that Adam was still caught up over what happened last weekend, but there wasn’t much to be done about it now. Besides, you weren’t sure how Dave felt, constantly being attacked about his brother like this. Though he never verbalized his feelings, it was pretty clear the stress was wearing down on him. You could only hope you’d find him soon. For now though, a night out to unwind was the perfect idea.

Plus, you’d get to see that Hottie-McThottie DJ again. Double score!

Shawna wedges herself behind you and Dave as the group comes upon the club entrance, neon lights seeping out from under the door and darkened windows to cascade upon the pavement. Music pulsed and shook the floor under your feet.

“Guys! I can’t let him see me or he won’t let me in!”

You turn to Shawna, giving her a reassuring pat on the head. “Girl, relax. Just show him your ID today and explain the misunderstanding from last time. He doesn’t seem like the type that’d rip you apart for a mistake.”

“Any man can crack a safe if the safe is ripped open.” Dave pipes up.

You shoot him a look.  “Dude. What kind of weird proverb is that?”

Shawna’s grip tightens. “Nooo, I don’t want to be ripped apart! ...Well, not by that guy, anyways.”

You’re NOT drunk enough for this shit.

“Alright, enough. Let’s just get inside already.” Tracy (forever your savior) intervenes, prying Shawna from your arm. “You’re a human tourniquet, let go of her.”

Your arm is finally freed from it’s shackles and you wisely abscond towards Dave, fearful of Shawna’s grabby little monkey hands getting a hold of you again.

“Sheesh, the night is just getting started and I’m ready for it to end.” You joke with him. You look for a reaction but his expression is hidden behind steely sunglasses. The reflection of the club throbs in the frames, light pulsing green, orange, red, yellow.

“Damn. You look so intense, what’s on your mind?”

Dave pushes his sunglasses further up his nose and shakes his head. The colors on his sunglasses ripple and disappear with the movement.

“...Nothing, the music just sounded familiar.”

You raise an eyebrow and tilt your head closer to the cracked club window. You can barely hear the song over the conversation and sounds of general weekend-night fuckery, but it sounds like any old trashy mix.

“You might’ve heard it on the radio or something.” You say as you take out your ID. You don’t miss the way the bouncer is narrowing his eyes at Shawna behind you.

Dave doesn’t say anything. You’re both waved into the club, the darkness and simultaneous brightness of the strobe lights lick up and down the walls, the floor, the people.

Dirk. You think to yourself.

Let's find ourselves a Dirk.

#stride of luck

[accio-victuuri]

is it me or does china or those so call companies celebrities are signed under needs to do more to protect actors, idols and etc? And I say china because I know celebrities bring a lot of business to china, so they should do more to protect them as well, whether it be a law where fans need to be at a certain distance from celebrities or make it illegal to camp outside their hotels, I don’t need to know when GG or DD goes to work or return, like they legit camp outside to see them pass them

Hello Anon! I would answer all parts of your ask here. looks like there are three sections to this.

I’ll be keeping everything under a cut and just a disclaimer that this is from my own research and opinions.

So what laws are there and what part do ‘Celebrities’ play in the Country?

• An important point I wanna start this answer with is that celebrities in China are very different, in terms of they have values they have to uphold if they wanna continue being allowed to be on air and work. In other countries, of course, a celebrity’s image is still something to watch out for, but it’s not like they are gonna be blacklisted. some of the guidelines they have to follow released fairly recent as follows :

should not "violate ethics, morals, social public order or good customs, causing serious negative social impact"

should not incite hatred and discrimination between ethnic groups, or promote cults and superstitions.

not organise, take part in or promote illegal activities such as pornography, gambling, drugs and violence, among other activities.

There are actors who were blacklisted and had to take a hiatus. At one point, people did support comeback stories but CHN is pushing stricter sanctions for those who fall in this category. They have to submit an application to China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA) if they even plan to make a comeback and be evaluated before they can continue. Also take a look at the recent issue with Xianjiang Cotton and how celebrities were quick to voice out their support and drop the endorsements. It’s part of their job. It’s part of the values they have to uphold. The sense of virtue before arts. They are expected to be more morally upright than the common people.

I wanna start with this for you to understand what’s it like to be a star in CHN. And for GG and Web who are very very popular. If you do a quick search, you will find that there are more rules to control how these celebrities present themselves vs. protecting them. The way I see it, it’s even more dangerous for them to have a dedicated following more than anything. They cannot be so popular that they eclipse certain messages that the gov’t wants to send. There are more laws on online hate and slander against celebrities than the physical suppression of these stalkers. The concept of: The fans reflect the celebrities. This is the infuriating side to this. It is the same challenge GG faced during and post 22*. The logic of: ‘xx fans are causing trouble by blocking airport entrance is the idol’s fault’ . In one such incident, GG was the one who apologized. his team did ban airport photos but he still had to apologize personally to people on the plane. During his shoot with Ace, he had to apologize to the director and crew cause people were camping and taking photos. You see where I’m going here Anon?

The general rules in photos and videos is that it can be taken provided that it’s in a public area. This is why Web, during the shooting of LOF kept pointing out people who were taking pictures to authorities. Earning him the title of Hengdian Hawkeye. There are no iron clad rules to protect them. These celebrities often have to hire lawyers and security team to enforce their privacy. This is where their companies come in. but tbh yh and wjjw did next to nothing in protecting them. It’s their own studios. their own dedicated team that’s doing the work.

who are these people following them?

• The type of fans that you are describing, going to the lengths of putting tracking devices and even secret cameras are sishengs. This is not limited to GG and Web only, it’s a problem for other celebrities too and not just with Chinese fans. For example in Korea, the counterpart to this is sasaeng. They are private life fans. They thrive on sharing personal information, even as far as an address. I don’t see this culture stopping anytime soon. We have more hope on addressing online slander and harmful rumors than erasing sishengs. I’m just being realistic here. The audience to this kind of material is huge and it’s even making it’s way to international platform. It’s the concept of wanting exclusive information. being the first to know a news or a filming tidbit and so on.

I also just wanna add that people you see taking pictures of let’s say at airports in Web’s case or when he’s off to DDU are not exactly sishengs. Some of them are even fansites. provided that it’s a public schedule and he one time even acknowledged them when they greeted him happy bday. Tho they CLEARLY DO NOT WANT to be photographed when filming dramas ( going to and leaving ) + airports.

what can we do as fans?

• I think you answered that Anon. We know what’s right. We know what not to share. It’s hard especially if you see it on your feed, just don’t share it again and distribute to more people. If you notice someone sharing, don’t be so hostile, you can inform them nicely. block sisheng accounts. don’t give them the audience that they want. I know we can be guilty of this at one point or another, knowing flight details and so on. It’s a hard practice to remove but we have to try very hard to not be tempted.

This is why GG and Web are really sending the message for fans to have their own lives. Of not chasing stars too much ( which also is something their gov’t does not endorse and is a whole topic of it’s own ) and neglecting the other people around them. Don’t vote too much. Don’t cause unnecessary trouble in the name of being GG and Web’s fan in public places. It’s what I really feel strongly about when it comes to all of this. If you are a person who can balance fandom and personal life + knows the boundaries, then you’re good.

Thank you for the Ask Anon! ❤️

#ask response #yizhan

[dwellordream]

“…In modern English, we often use oath and vow interchangeably, but they are not (usually) the same thing. Divine beings figure in both kinds of promises, but in different ways. In a vow, the god or gods in question are the recipients of the promise: you vow something to God (or a god). By contrast, an oath is made typically to a person and the role of the divine being in the whole affair is a bit more complex.

…In a vow, the participant promises something – either in the present or the future – to a god, typically in exchange for something. This is why we talk of an oath of fealty or homage (promises made to a human), but a monk’s vows. When a monk promises obedience, chastity and poverty, he is offering these things to God in exchange for grace, rather than to any mortal person. Those vows are not to the community (though it may be present), but to God (e.g. Benedict in his Rule notes that the vow “is done in the presence of God and his saints to impress on the novice that if he ever acts otherwise, he will surely be condemned by the one he mocks.” (RB 58.18)). Note that a physical thing given in a vow is called a votive (from that Latin root).

(More digressions: Why do we say ‘marriage vows‘ in English? Isn’t this a promise to another human being? I suspect this usage – functionally a ‘frozen’ phrase – derives from the assumption that the vows are, in fact, not a promise to your better half, but to God to maintain. After all, the Latin Church held – and the Catholic Church still holds – that a marriage cannot be dissolved by the consent of both parties (unlike oaths, from which a person may be released with the consent of the recipient). The act of divine ratification makes God a party to the marriage, and thus the promise is to him. Thus a vow, and not an oath.)

…Which brings us to the question how does an oath work? In most of modern life, we have drained much of the meaning out of the few oaths that we still take, in part because we tend to be very secular and so don’t regularly consider the religious aspects of the oaths – even for people who are themselves religious. Consider it this way: when someone lies in court on a TV show, we think, “ooh, he’s going to get in trouble with the law for perjury.” We do not generally think, “Ah yes, this man’s soul will burn in hell for all eternity, for he has (literally!) damned himself.” But that is the theological implication of a broken oath!

So when thinking about oaths, we want to think about them the way people in the past did: as things that work – that is they do something. In particular, we should understand these oaths as effective – by which I mean that the oath itself actually does something more than just the words alone. They trigger some actual, functional supernatural mechanisms. In essence, we want to treat these oaths as real in order to understand them.

So what is an oath? To borrow Richard Janko’s (The Iliad: A Commentary (1992), in turn quoted by Sommerstein) formulation, “to take an oath is in effect to invoke powers greater than oneself to uphold the truth of a declaration, by putting a curse upon oneself if it is false.” Following Sommerstein, an oath has three key components:

First: A declaration, which may be either something about the present or past or a promise for the future.

Second: The specific powers greater than oneself who are invoked as witnesses and who will enforce the penalty if the oath is false. In Christian oaths, this is typically God, although it can also include saints. For the Greeks, Zeus Horkios (Zeus the Oath-Keeper) is the most common witness for oaths. This is almost never omitted, even when it is obvious.

Third: A curse, by the swearers, called down on themselves, should they be false. This third part is often omitted or left implied, where the cultural context makes it clear what the curse ought to be. Particularly, in Christian contexts, the curse is theologically obvious (damnation, delivered at judgment) and so is often omitted.

While some of these components (especially the last) may be implied in the form of an oath, all three are necessary for the oath to be effective – that is, for the oath to work.

A fantastic example of the basic formula comes from Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (656 – that’s a section, not a date), where the promise in question is the construction of a new monastery, which runs thusly (Anne Savage’s translation):

These are the witnesses that were there, who signed on Christ’s cross with their fingers and agreed with their tongues…”I, king Wulfhere, with these king’s eorls, war-leaders and thanes, witness of my gift, before archbishop Deusdedit, confirm with Christ’s cross”…they laid God’s curse, and the curse of all the saints and all God’s people on anyone who undid anything of what was done, so be it, say we all. Amen.”

So we have the promise (building a monastery and respecting the donation of land to it), the specific power invoked as witness, both by name and through the connection to a specific object (the cross – I’ve omitted the oaths of all of Wulfhere’s subordinates, but each and every one of them assented ‘with Christ’s cross,’ which they are touching) and then the curse to be laid on anyone who should break the oath.

…With those components laid out, it may be fairly easy to see how the oath works, but let’s spell it out nonetheless. You swear an oath because your own word isn’t good enough, either because no one trusts you, or because the matter is so serious that the extra assurance is required.

That assurance comes from the presumption that the oath will be enforced by the divine third party. The god is called – literally – to witness the oath and to lay down the appropriate curses if the oath is violated. Knowing that horrible divine punishment awaits forswearing, the oath-taker, it is assumed, is less likely to make the oath. Interestingly, in the literature of classical antiquity, it was also fairly common for the gods to prevent the swearing of false oaths – characters would find themselves incapable of pronouncing the words or swearing the oath properly.

And that brings us to a second, crucial point – these are legalistic proceedings, in the sense that getting the details right matters a great detail. The god is going to enforce the oath based on its exact wording (what you said, not what you meant to say!), so the exact wording must be correct. It was very, very common to add that oaths were sworn ‘without guile or deceit’ or some such formulation, precisely to head off this potential trick (this is also, interestingly, true of ancient votives – a Roman or a Greek really could try to bargain with a god, “I’ll give X if you give Y, but only if I get by Z date, in ABC form.” – but that’s vows, and we’re talking oaths).

…Not all oaths are made in full, with the entire formal structure, of course. Short forms are made. In Greek, it was common to transform a statement into an oath by adding something like τὸν Δία (by Zeus!). Those sorts of phrases could serve to make a compact oath – e.g. μὰ τὸν Δία! (yes, [I swear] by Zeus!) as an answer to the question is essentially swearing to the answer – grammatically speaking, the verb of swearing is necessary, but left implied. We do the same thing, (“I’ll get up this hill, by God!”). And, I should note, exactly like in English, these forms became standard exclamations, as in Latin comedy, this is often hercule! (by Hercules!), edepol! (by Pollux!) or ecastor! (By Castor! – oddly only used by women). One wonders in these cases if Plautus chooses semi-divine heroes rather than full on gods to lessen the intensity of the exclamation (‘shoot!’ rather than ‘shit!’ as it were). Aristophanes, writing in Greek, has no such compunction, and uses ‘by Zeus!’ quite a bit, often quite frivolously.

Nevertheless, serious oaths are generally made in full, often in quite specific and formal language. Remember that an oath is essentially a contract, cosigned by a god – when you are dealing with that kind of power, you absolutely want to be sure you have dotted all of the ‘i’s and crossed all of the ‘t’s. Most pre-modern religions are very concerned with what we sometimes call ‘orthopraxy’ (‘right practice’ – compare orthodoxy, ‘right doctrine’). Intent doesn’t matter nearly as much as getting the exact form or the ritual precisely correct (for comparison, ancient paganisms tend to care almost exclusively about orthopraxy, whereas medieval Christianity balances concern between orthodoxy and orthopraxy (but with orthodoxy being the more important)).”

- Bret Devereaux, “Oaths! How do they Work?”

#oaths #bret devereaux #writing #history #ancient #medieval #greek

[nearlymanaged]

16. Fairly High and Dangerously Attractive

February was drawing to an end; younger students were eagerly waiting for warmer weather to finally return while older ones were spending their days tucked away in the library. When Remus wasn’t on Prefect duty, in class, or sleeping, he found himself listening to Lily go on about how Sirius clearly fancied him increasingly more often. In fact, she had started trying to clumsily orchestrate serendipitous encounters between Remus and Sirius, which was rather pointless, given that they shared a dormitory. At some point, Remus began wondering whether she just wanted a reason to spend more time around James as a pleasant side effect of all her efforts. 

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Lily gaped at Remus as he pulled James’ invisibility cloak off them both.

“I think that officially makes you an honorary Marauder,” he grinned down at her face brimming with a kind of mischievous excitement. 

“Honorary?” She gasped indignantly, following Remus into the boys’ dormitory. “You were more scared than I was!”

“I was scared for you, Lily,” Remus chuckled as he stuffed the cloak into James’ trunk and went over to his own bed. “Don’t insult me by insinuating that I haven’t snuck into the Restricted Section at least once for every month that I’ve been in Hogwarts,” he sat down on the edge of his mattress and bent over to retrieve something from under the bed.

“I can’t believe you lot have had that cloak for years… I hope you’ve not been using it for anything, you know, creepy?..” Lily was aimlessly pacing around the room while Remus opened a tin box containing a handful of chocolate treats, a few loose cigarettes, and some other bits and bobs.

“Creepy? No, no,” Remus smiled as the image of his twelve year old friends and himself swam into focus; all out of beds in the middle of the night, taking turns hiding under the cloak, attempting to pull a pair of underpants over the other boys’ heads. 

“So which one is Sirius’ bed?”

“That would be the one with the leather jacket and all the Muggle magazines on it,” Remus nodded his head towards it; he had taken out a few things from the box in his lap, trying to get to the chocolate bar that was at the bottom of it.

“Hm,” Lily walked over to Sirius’ bed, clearly trying to catch Remus’ eye, or maybe wanting to say something, but he ignored her completely, focusing on his treat “I’ve never been in the boys dormitories before.”

“And? What’s the verdict?”

“Surprisingly, this is not any dirtier than the girls’ dorms,” she chuckled and, holding onto one of the posts, swung around and sat down on Remus’ bed. “Remus, what is this?” Her voice dropped unexpectedly.

He turned around and looked at the little phial she was holding in her hand; it contained mossy looking, dried green buds. “Weed,” he answered matter-of-factly.

“But you’re a Prefect!” Lily whispered hurriedly.

Remus took a sharp inhale, and then sighed, turning away from her. “Yes,” he bobbed his head as he spoke, “some days I think that becoming a Prefect has been the biggest tragedy of my life… Then I remember that I’m a werewolf…” His eyes found Lily’s again, and for a second she simply stared at him, completely expressionless; before she burst out laughing, almost falling off the bed.

“I always thought you’re such a goody-two-shoes.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“I’ve never tried it…” Lily’s eyes found the phial again.

“I usually smoke some after a particularly bad moon,” Remus explained, unprompted, but Lily gave him a small nod, encouraging him to continue. “Of course, we’ve done it purely for fun, but I like to always have some, just in case I’m feeling exceptionally rough. It helps me...feel more at ease, I suppose. Helps me feel a bit more normal,” he struggled through the last sentence, feeling like there simply weren’t words out there to explain what he meant. “With all the potions and tinctures and charms, this Muggle remedy is the one thing that I found really makes a difference sometimes. For me, anyway.”

“What does it feel like?” Lily opened the little container and brought it up to her nose, frowning instantly at the scent.

Remus took a bite of his chocolate before answering. “Sort of soft and warm… Relaxing but also energising. It just puts you in this state of being perfectly content. Happy. Although Peter always becomes paranoid - about everything…”

“Paranoid?”

“Strange, isn’t it? He has no qualms about breaking every school rule but that is where he draws the line. Lily?” He added quietly when she continued to stare at the little phial in her hand.

“Do you think,” she started slowly, timidly, “I could try some?”

“Lily Evans,” a devilish grin crossed Remus’ features. 

“Oh shut up,” she tittered. “I just thought, shouldn’t I be a bit more reckless now, while I’m young? My chance is now, isn’t it? Who knows what’s going to happen when we leave Hogwarts,” her eyebrows dipped before she hesitantly opened her mouth again. “There’s a war going on out there, after all.”

Moments like these were inevitable, yet still always unexpected. Remus understood exactly what she meant; terrible things were happening in the world and they weren’t always going to be able to be kids, kept safe in their school, away from the real world. That sense of suppressed dread had only gotten stronger as they got older. “Do you want to do it now?” 

“No. I don’t know…”

“We certainly don’t have to. We can do it whenever.”

“Let’s do it now!” Lily’s eyes twinkled. “You’ll do it with me, right?”

“I thought you said not now?”

“I might chicken out once the adrenaline wears off,” she grinned guiltily.

“It’s really not as big of a deal as it might seem. But I still want you to be sure that you want to do it. After all, if you do, you’ll have broken not only a Hogwarts rule this evening but also the Muggle law. And it’s barely ten pm.”

“I’m sure. Let’s do it!” Lily whispered excitedly, coaxing a laugh out of Remus.

He took out a little green glass pipe from the tin box, all while Lily was watching him, barely blinking at all, it seemed. She followed his every movement as he loaded the pipe with a bit of the green stuff, then listened closely as he explained to her what to do next.

“If only James could see you now,” Remus sniggered.

Lily glanced at the dormitory door, as if expecting him to walk in at that moment; then, she lifted the pipe to her lips, the tip of her wand to the bowl of it. “So I just do this?” 

Remus nodded but it quickly turned into a vigorous head shake. “No, stop inhaling! That’s enough! You need to blow the smoke out now…” He laughed as Lily started coughing, disappearing in a thick, grey cloud.

“That’s disgusting!”

“Takes a bit of practice, I suppose.”

“I don’t feel anything,” she sat up on the bed once the coughing ceased. “Do I sound different?”

“No, Lily, you don’t,” Remus grinned at her, blowing the smoke out simultaneously; contrary to her, he instantly started noticing a pleasant fogginess drown out most of his thoughts.

“Should we go downstairs then?”

“Perhaps not the greatest idea,” Remus trailed off.

“Why?”

Remus couldn’t stop himself from chuckling before answering. “You’re high and you have a reputation to uphold. Terrible things could happen.”

“I’ll be fine. Come on, we’re not going to spend the whole evening up here!”

“Alright then,” he nodded slowly watching Lily’s grin grow bigger.

From the top of the stone steps, Remus instantly spotted Sirius down in the common room, talking to a couple of people from their year over by one of the windows; James and Peter were playing exploding cards in another small group. Even though Sirius was on the opposite side of the room, by the time Remus and Lily descended down the steps, he was waiting for them at the bottom stair.

“You’re back, finally. You didn’t get caught, did you?”

“We’re high,” Remus whispered.

“You’re… Wait. Plural of you? High? You?” A big grin slowly found its way to Sirius’ lips as he stared at Lily in both admiration and disbelief. 

“Oh, shush!” She dismissed him with a flick of her wrist. “It’s not like I’ve never done anything illegal.”

“Wait, you have? She has?” Sirius turned to Remus now.

“I am just as deeply shocked as you are.”

“Why are you high?” Sirius’ smile suddenly clouded.

“What do you mean?” Remus raised his eyebrows. 

“Are you okay? Were you in pain?”

“Oh… No, no. This is all purely for Lily Evans’ amusement,” Remus explained while his heart swelled in his chest at the thought of how lucky he was to have Sirius in his life; someone to care so deeply and fiercely about him.

“My mouth is really dry.” Lily didn’t seem to be participating in their conversation anymore; instead, she was touching the tip of her index finger to her tongue. “Is this normal?”

“Yes,” Remus smiled at her brightly. “That can happen.”

Lily pointed her wand into her mouth and, wordlessly - a new skill she had just recently mastered - magicked a little jet of water. The two boys watched her with a mixture of wonder and pride. “Kids,” Sirius sighed tearfully, “they grow up so fast.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Lily had finally quenched her thirst and looked over at him. “What was up with that kiss?”

“Kiss?” He laughed out, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“On Valentine’s day.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Evans.”

“About you kissing Remus, of course,” Lily’s plainly stated words tugged Remus out of his weed-induced haze.

“Well, of course, the kiss was about Valentine’s day, since it was...Valentine’s day,” Sirius concluded, slowly but surely.

“Uh-huh…”

“Did you know that if you’re standing up for too long when you’re high, you might pass out?”

“Really?” Lily instantly became visibly worried. “How long do I have?”

“Probably shouldn’t do more than five minutes.”

“You’re lying,” she squinted at him.

“Okay. We’ll find out soon enough, I suppose.”

Lily stared at him for a long, quiet, hesitant moment before making a beeline for one of the sofas in the common room.

“Sirius… Why?” Remus murmured, following Lily with his eyes.

“I didn’t think she would actually believe that.”

“What was the kiss about?” Remus smirked as he returned his gaze to Sirius now, making the latter scratch the back of his head involuntarily - a gesture Remus knew to be a sign of nervousness. He leaned his back against the wall, just to the side of the steps leading up to the dormitories. He might have asked the question humorously, but he wanted a real answer. He had been thinking about that clumsy kiss ever since it happened, although he would have never admitted to anyone. Pretty soon, he realised, he had started harbouring hope that was hard to ignore. And now that he’d gotten a boost of confidence and courage from the dried Muggle herb, he wanted to know.

“Isn’t that what people do on Valentine’s day?”

“You really are,” Remus narrowed his eyes at Sirius, “a very strange person.”

“And you are a very high person,” Sirius seemed to have regained his composure, a wry smile stretching his lips.

“Yes, speaking of which… I can’t get this out of my head… Pads, which do you think is later - three or four am?”

Sirius barked out a hearty laugh. “Three, of course. Three is late night and four is early morning. What? You don’t agree?”

“No, I do, actually,” Remus replied with a smile although frankly, he was much more interested in how beautiful Sirius’ eyes looked in the warm light of the common room.

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Really, how high are you?”

“A fair amount,” Remus answered brightly. “Has nothing to do with me looking at you though.”

Of course, Remus looked at him that way because he fancied him. How did he not see that? Or did he? There were times when Remus could have sworn that Sirius knew something was going on, but for the most part, they were just friends. And yet, quite inexplicably, Remus had been even more attracted to Sirius lately than ever before. 

“I’m flattered that you think weed has nothing to do with it, but you never stare at me like that when you’re sober.”

“Maybe it’s the earrings,” Remus reached his hand out and gave a light flick to one of Sirius’ hoops.

“The earrings,” Sirius blinked, a smirk forming on his lips. 

“Yes. They’re very...dangly.”

“Oh? You’ve got a problem with them?”

“Yeah. Can’t stand them,” Remus went on, while knowing full well that ever since Sirius had gotten his ears pierced, he’d somehow become even more difficult to not stare at; that this seemingly insignificant addition of accessories had been making it hard to concentrate on what Sirius was saying sometimes. 

“Ah. That’s a shame,” Sirius muttered nonchalantly while scooping up all of his hair, with the exception of a few gracefully cascading wavy strands, and putting it into a bun, secured by his wand. “Guess you’ll just have to get used to looking at them.”

Without realising, Remus had stopped breathing for a moment. Was Sirius flirting with him? “Yeah, that’s--”

“Take that thing out of your hair, Pads, you look like an idiot,” James materialised right next to them, cackling and nudging Sirius’ shoulder. “So what are we up to tonight?” 

Sirius slowly turned his head to look at James, a stoney expression painted over his face.

“What?” James shrugged. “Is it because I said you look like an idiot? Doesn’t he, Moony?” 

“Really? You want to talk about other people’s hair?” Remus did a near-perfect imitation of James ruffling his hair, making his own dirty blonde strands stand up in all directions. “Do I look dangerously attractive yet?”

“Moony!” James gasped dramatically, clutching at his heart, while Sirius chuckled, leading the way towards the other side of the common room.

“Oi! Potter!” Lily called out and James reached her so fast, you would have thought he had just Apparated.

“So what do you think?” Remus plopped down onto one of the sofas, his eyes fixed onto Lily as he pulled Sirius down with him.

“Er...yeah, it suits you. I wouldn’t say it makes you dangerously attractive per se… Folding your socks is not a very dangerous trait.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Remus tore his eyes off Lily, who was already deep in an animated conversation with James, and looked at Sirius in confusion.

“Your hair… Isn’t that what you were asking about?”

“I was asking about Lily…” Remus was pleased to see that for once in his life, he wasn’t the one blushing. “But thanks, Sirius.”

* * *

“Do I look dangerously attractive yet?” Remus teased James, and Sirius silently nodded to himself as he walked across the room, laughing.

“Moony!” 

Remus seemed to have such an air of confidence around him that evening that Sirius found himself staring at him sheepishly, unwittingly fantasising about running his fingers through that messy hair. This was the first time that he was undeniably reciprocating Sirius’ flirting, and it felt exhilarating.

Sirius wanted to grab Remus’ face and pull him into a kiss-- but he shouldn’t, he thought. It wouldn’t be fair to either one of them - he wanted them both to be completely sober for that. Sirius was all too familiar with doing something stupid while high or drunk and even more familiar with the regret, or sometimes shame, that would rear its head in the light of the following morning.

He wanted to tell Remus how he felt about him; he wanted to show him. But he decided not to, not just then. It wouldn’t have been fair to either one of them.

“So what do you think?” Remus muttered, instantly dragging Sirius out of his thoughts.

“Er...yeah, it suits you. I wouldn’t say it makes you dangerously attractive… Folding your socks is not a very dangerous trait, you know...”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Your hair… Isn’t that what you were asking about?”

“I was asking about Lily… But thanks, Sirius.”

“You’re welcome,” he mumbled, trying to will away the heat rising in his face. “Shut up,” he added as Remus smirked at him with obvious satisfaction.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking about saying something,” Sirius rolled his eyes, fighting back a happy smile. “What do you mean, what do I think about Lily?” 

“Do you like her?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Hey, I just remembered...that time I heard James and Peter convincing you to tell someone you fancy them… Who is it?”

Sirius hadn’t expected Moony to ask him that. In fact, he’d forgotten about that conversation completely it seemed. “Oh that wasn’t really...anyone,” he concluded quickly. 

“Oh? Well, I just thought I’d ask…” Remus shrugged it off. 

“How’s Vincent doing?” Sirius blurted out before he could stop himself. Although, he hoped, his tone might have been casual enough to not betray him.

“Haven’t got a clue. Why?”

“No reason.”

“So what do you think about Lily?”

“I think I like her more than I thought I would,” Sirius started happily, feeling like there wasn’t another place on Earth he’d rather be. “She just always seemed more...boring and stuck up, I guess? But I suppose that was just her reaction to Prongs, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah… But now… Do you think maybe she is actually interested in James now?” 

“Aren’t you two best mates now? Shouldn’t you know if she’s interested in anyone or not?”

“Hm. I guess I never really understood girls. Never cared to, anyway. Not really my crowd.”

Sirius stole a sideway glance at Remus, who spoke so nonchalantly. His eyebrows dipping over his eyes slightly; surely, he thought, there was only one way to interpret that statement, wasn’t there? 

“Remember that time I kept casting the Muffliato Charm on McGonagall every time someone was answering a question?”

“Vividly. Yet, I still can’t believe you did that. You worship her.”

“That would have been my first detention, had you not taken the blame.” Remus conjured a couple of those blue flames and watched them spinning in the air as he spoke.

“I didn’t really take the blame. I just didn’t correct Minnie when she assumed it was me,” Sirius was surprised by how quiet his own voice came out as he gazed at Remus’ profile, one of his arms draped across the backrest of the sofa.

“Yeah, that’s what you said to me when I thanked you for it,” Remus chuckled. “Why didn’t you correct her though?”

“Remus…” Sirius’ voice was laced with laughter now.

“What?” Moony looked over at him, their eyes meeting.

“You--” Sirius’ breath caught and he had to remind himself that pulling Remus into a kiss and snogging him until they both couldn’t feel their lips anymore wasn’t a good idea; not while Moony was high. “You are so high.” He heaved himself up and lay back across the length of the sofa, resting his head on Remus’ lap.

“True. But irrelevant.”

“I didn’t correct her because it would have been your first detention.”

“It was, what, the beginning of our third year? It was about time, don’t you think?” Remus kept his eyes on the blue flames as he spoke, but Sirius could see his smile widen a little all the same.

“I was also very much impressed.”

“By me?” This time, Remus looked down at Sirius.

“Don’t look so surprised. I don’t think I would have had the guts to do that then.”

“Yeah… You probably still don’t have the guts to do that now.”

“Oi!” Sirius flicked Remus’ nose playfully. “I just think that of all the professors, McGonagall is the least deserving to be pranked.”

“Or the scariest?”

“Also the scariest…”

“She likes you though. Always has.”

“I like her too. Alas, we could never be together,” Sirius quipped, making them both laugh.

#tw: mention of drugs #just some weed though nothing crazy #wolfstar #wolfstar fanfiction #marauders #hogwarts #fanfic #james poyser #lily evans #sirius black #remus lupin

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

You said we can ask you questions so here goes( hope they arent invasive)

-at what age did u realise u were lesbian?was it easy/hard to accept?

-how was your coming out like? How did your family and friends react?

-were you ever/are you religious?do u believe one can balance between being homosexual and religious?

- were you always masc or is it something that came with accepting your sexuality?

-do you call yourself a stud?

- how hard/easy has it been being an out and proud black lesbian?

- thoughts on the stigma against stud4stud/butch4butch lesbians

-were you ever a TRA/libfem? If yes, what made you peak?

-ive had ppl talk about how masc lesbians being touch-me-nots is problematic/toxic and how its more about upholding a "status" than it is about preference. What do you make of that?

Not invasive at all! I'm happy to answer and thank you for asking :).

- I realized I was a lesbian at age 12 when I developed a HUGE crush on my gorgeous English teacher. I also got a small crush on a girl in one of my classes. I didn't grow up around much homophobia so it wasn't hard for me to accept that I was gay but what was hard was the absolute intensity of my feelings towards my teacher. I used to pray to god to have my feelings for her taken away because they were just so intense and I didn't know how to handle them (she was my teacher so I clearly wasn't going to ask her out. There was literally no outlet for what I was feeling so I kept it bottled.). My parents never brought up gay people in any positive or negative way and the kids I grew up around didn't really either. So me being gay wasn't something I beat myself up over. Once I accepted that I wasn't an overly invested straight ally, the road to acceptance was a peace of cake tbh.

-My coming out was... Well. I first started coming out to my friends when I was 13 and they were accepting of it. It honestly wasn't that interesting to tell you the truth 😅. All the peers that I gave a shit about never gave me shit for being gay. I never lost a friend for being gay. Coming out to my parents took me until I was 16 and the reason for that is because I genuinely didn't know how they'd react. Like I said, they never said anything about gay people point blank period. However, I was kind of forced to come out one particular night because my heart had been fucking shattered by a girl I was strongly crushing on at the time. I was pacing up and down my house, my best friend wasn't answering me, I could hear my dad's TV playing, it was late, I was tired, I couldn't sleep, I had school tomorrow, I was freaking out, I was devastated... I wanted to be comforted so I went to my father, threw my head into his arm and started telling him how my heart felt broken. He asked me if I had a boyfriend and when I said "nope" there was some silence and he was like "it's okay, I've known for a long time". I never actually said the words "gay" or "lesbian" during my coming out but I guess I didn't need to. The next morning, my father asked if it was okay if he could go tell my mom and I said yes. Long story short, my mom was even less surprised than my dad and she's the more progressive of the two so it wasn't really an issue (though she did tell me to keep an open mind in terms of liking men 😅 she seems to think I'm bisexual which is whatever because she never bothers me about it).

-Hmm. I don't like to completely cut out religion from my life. My father was extremely religious and now that he's gone, I feel it's disrespectful for me to say God doesn't exist. Like, "dad, you spent practically your whole life believing wholeheartedly in God but guess what! It was a waste and the thing you dedicated your life is something I think is a fairytale!" that doesn't sit right with me at all. I've been baptized and I used to go to church when I was younger. I think that there's no reason to shake my head at the possibility of a God. In terms of being gay and believing in God, I once watched a video by a devout Christian gay man who went through all the homophobic stuff Christians love to quote from the bible and gave the actual meaning behind them. I, personally, do not think that God is homophobic. I think that God's love is not something we have the capacity to understand. So, I, personally, think Christian gay people are perfectly fine and are already balanced. Here's to hoping that they stay away from homophobic churches!

-No, I wasn't always masc. As a child I was a huge girly girl. Like, legit, I wasn't a tomboy in the slightest lmao. I'm not sure when I started being masc. But what I do know is that I've grown far more masc over the years. I used to not want to dress too manly (no tuxedo's and no clothes from the men's section and no boxers) but nowadays I love all of those things and that's genuinely what I want in my wardrobe so I have no problem going into the men's section for my clothes.

-No, I don't call myself a stud. Love those guys though. The label I feel that's most accurate for me is masc.

-Um, I'm not sure how to answer this since I don't have experience being any other kind of lesbian. I guess it's just kind of tiring. I'm black, female, and homosexual. That's a LOT of different topics to give my attention to. The hardest part of being a black lesbian is knowing who to give my camaraderie to. Do I give it to black women? Black women AND black men? Lesbians? Only black lesbians? The lgb community as a whole? It's just a lot to think about. I will say, though, I think that it's a lot harder to be a masc black lesbian than a white one. Black women are already perceived as manly just based off of our skin color. So for me to willingly present masc can often be... A non-pretty picture in the eyes of society and I'm hyper-aware of that which is why I often have trouble going all out with the wardrobe I truly desire. That's my biggest challenge navigating the world as the black lesbian that I am. On a more positive note though, it's great being a black lesbian because I can have an opinion on everything and nobody can tell me I'm being racist/homophobic/sexist or stepping outside of my lane 😂. I'm on a three-lane road motherfucker and I'm not afraid to use all of them.

-my thoughts are that you should leave people alone. I will say though, I once read something that was like "if you call yourself a femme but the idea of being with a butch disgusts you, you're not a femme, you're just a feminine lesbian" and that rang true to me so it feels hypothetical (and nonsensical) if the reverse wasn't true as well. If a butch/stud shits on femmes and assumes they can't be as feminine as they are and ACTUALLY gay then I do have a problem. Butches and femmes have a history that's damn near inseparable from each other so for a butch to shit on femmes... I'd argue that they're probably not butch but instead just masculine lesbians. However, I don't care if two butches or studs want to date lmao. All the power to them, I hope they're happy.

-I definitely used to support trans rights more than I do now. I would correct people who misgendered others. I thought trans women were women. I was in support of bathroom laws. I never made posts about it, but I very much did believe it. Magdalen berns made me peak. I started realizing that gender makes no sense. I did some research and came to the conclusions I hold today. Even when I want to go back to my ignorance, I can't because I've seen too much by now.

-I honestly don't know. I think that some masc lesbians don't want to be put in that "feminine" position of being touched by their partner. It could stem from upholding a status but at the end of the day, sexual boundaries are sexual boundaries. What are you gonna do? Force your touch on to them? Yikes. Leave them be. If you're upset about your partner not wanting to be touched by you then get a new one. Clearly you're not sexually happy so leave. I don't think it's necessarily toxic unless they think there's something inherently demeaning in being touched by their partner or they do want to be touched but won't allow themselves due to trauma or feeling like there's a certain persona they must uplift. Other than that though, I don't see the issue.

Thanks for the questions, buddy ❤️

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Sixty-Four: What You See ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina, vulgarity, death, smoking ] [ Verse: Oil and Blood ] [ AO3 Link ]

Appearances can be deceiving.

For instance...Hinata had a teacher back in middle school who, for all intents and purposes, seemed a nice enough man. An active part of the community, well-liked by his students, and a staple part of the school in which he taught. He was lenient with those who needed it, and tough on those who he knew could do better.

But during her last year, when she was no longer in his class, a rather startling discovery was made.

On the run from another province, he was accused of murdering several middle school girls at his previous school. But with the help of underground cosmetic mods, he had his face changed enough to escape notice, starting a new life on the other side of the country where he could once again begin stalking students.

Thankfully he never had the chance - he was caught when a substitute for another teacher managed to recognize him despite the mods. He was arrested, and later imprisoned for his crimes.

From then on, Hinata knew better than to trust what face people put forward. What you see isn’t always true.

Which is what makes her newest...friend? so intriguing.

Since stumbling upon the half-dead man in an alleyway, Hinata has been unable to escape one Uchiha Sasuke: a member of the infamous yakuza currently overseen by his father. Having been beaten and stripped of his (rather expensive) mods, it was Hinata who, on an insomnia walk, hefted him from the refuse and took him to a doctor she knew.

And that was only the beginning of a bond that saw her kidnapped, nearly involved in a gunfight, and then marked as a target by the Uchiha group’s biggest rivals: the Senju.

Since then, it’s been Sasuke’s self-imposed mission to keep the woman safe as repayment for her kindness, and also for his failing to protect her when he first attempted to fulfill his debt to her.

Which means that outside work and her time spent at home...Hinata has been stuck with a rather interesting bodyguard.

Sasuke doesn’t hide what he is. Be it his mods, his tattoos, his smoking or his sometimes coarse language, he doesn’t shy from his title of gangster. He knows that what his family does is unlawful. Dangerous and harmful, even. But he does have at least one code of conduct: repay his debts.

Having someone like him in the presence of someone like Hinata makes a very strange pair indeed.

You see, Hinata’s father runs the largest Japan-based medical mod company. She was once heiress...before daring to call out his hypocrisy. She now lives in a tiny apartment in a rather...questionable part of town. Which is how she found Sasuke. And she works for a mod insurance claim company. Which, admittedly, she hates. But she does do her part of under-the-table dealing to help those who truly need it find underground care.

Hence her knowing the good doctor.

But it goes without saying that the pair of them going, well...anywhere together tends to draw some very confused gazes. After all, most wonder what on earth such a sweet looking young woman could ever be doing running around with someone like him.

Sure, Hinata hasn’t ever hurt anyone - in fact she herself has been the victim of violence more than once. But she does technically break the law rather often, given her redirection of insurance claims to illegal operations that go beneath the government radar. Sure, she does so for morally-just reasons...but it’s still illegal.

She wonders what people would think if they knew: that such a sweet, trustworthy, likeable face has been lying to her employer and her government for years now, costing them mountains of money with every customer or patient she reroutes into the less-than-legal channels.

Sure, it’s nothing compared to Sasuke’s repsheet, but...still, worse than most would assume just looking at her.

And the same, she feels, goes for Sasuke.

During their time together, she’s observed him as carefully as she can, not wanting to be caught snooping. It’s something she’s always been rather good at. Her eyes are pale enough that most people don’t notice them slid to their corners to watch them. Sasuke, so often, just seems so...normal. He drinks coffee with heavy cream (but no sugar - he doesn’t like bitter, but nor can he stand sweet). He’s taken to feeding the stray cats around her apartment building. She saw him completely interrupt traffic to help an elderly neighbor of hers cross to the proper street from her window on his way to see her once.

Sure, he might do bad things...but he isn’t a bad person.

After all, he’s doing what he’s doing for her out of a sense of honor. He could just flip her the bird and leave her to defend herself from the Senju, helpless. Maybe it’s wholly for himself, for upholding his code of ethics...but it doesn’t feel that shallow.

He doesn’t just stand around looking tough. He talks to her, argues with her, and even jokes with her...though his humor is bone dry. There’s been many a moment when she’s forgotten why he’s around. They bicker and banter like...friends.

...she’s almost forgotten what it’s like to have friends. High school was rather lonely, and her shuffle right into a dead-end job and a micro apartment didn’t really lend itself to making them. Sure, she and the doctor get on fairly well, but...they’ve only ever seen one another for business. Technically that’s the reason Sasuke’s around, but...it just feels...different.

...so maybe she’s not as annoyed by his playing knight as she was when it all first started.

“Now what are you doing?”

“Hm?”

Chin in a hand, Sasuke juts it slightly toward her. “You’ve been staring at your HUD for like fifteen minutes. I can’t see it, but I can tell.”

At his accusation, Hinata goes a light pink. “...uh…”

“Watching porn in public?”

“W-w-what?! No!” Her voice jumps several octaves, drawing the glances of other patrons. They’re currently seated in an outdoor section at the front of a cafe having coffee. Sasuke insisted he needed to refuel, and she never minds a cup herself.

He gives a cheeky, lazy grin, posture still lax. “Then what are you doing?”

“I’m...playing a game.”

“Oh? A game that involves staring at your HUD?”

“It’s...not the most interactive, sure. It’s more of a daily click sort of...t-thing.”

“Ah, gotcha. So you’re not really a gamer girl.”

At that, her lips purse in a pout. “Hey, I play games at home. This is just more...maintenance.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“It’s...cute. You collect cats.”

Immediately, something lightens in his expression, and his posture becomes a bit more attentive. “...oh yeah?”

She doesn’t miss all that, but suppresses a smile, not wanting to drive him off the subject. “Mhm. It’s an older game, Neko Atsume. People used to play it on their phones.”

Sasuke hums in acknowledgement...and something tells her he’s already on his HUD looking it up. She knows already how fond he is of cats. See the above mentioned strays he’s pseudo-adopted. “Sounds...boring, but cats are all right, I guess.”

“Like I said, it’s mostly a daily click sort of thing. You check to see what cats are around, w-what they’ve left you, if they took treats…”

His eyes flicker, and though she can’t see his HUD herself, she already knows what he’s looking at. “...huh.”

“Want to play?”

“I might. If I get bored enough.”

She just gently rolls her eyes.

...a week later, he approaches her with a scowl, and she actually braces herself for some kind of argument.

“What have you done?”

“I...w-what?”

“That stupid...cat game!”

She blinks.

“The whole damn syndicate is playing it now! I can’t stop checking it! We almost missed a raid because the wrong people got distracted!”

Before Hinata can stop it, a snort escapes her, both hands coming to cover her nose and mouth. Eyes go wide. “I...I’m sorry…?”

“I can’t believe this…”

“Sasuke-san, I...I didn’t mean to -?”

“I know,” he snaps, cutting her off...which she’s gotten used to. “...don’t introduce me to any more games. Got it?”

“O...okay.”

“Wasting all my goddamn time,” he mutters, lighting a cigarette and taking a frustrated drag. He gives her a halfhearted glare when she can no longer suppress her giggles. “If the Uchiha Yakuza falls it’s all gonna be your fault, I hope you know that. You and your damn cats.”

“I’m sorryyy!”

“No you’re not!”

“Yes I am!”

“Then why’re you laughing?”

She can’t reply, too caught up in her amusement.

To anyone looking on, they’d see a scowling, tattooed, heavily-modded man they’d immediately peg as a bad guy.

But Hinata knows better.

                                                             .oOo.

     More of the cyberpunk AU! Not really anything plot-drive this time: more introspection about appearance, which DOES play a fairly big role in both their characters, and their world at large. With the ability to modify your looks, you can really put any face forward - literally. While neither of them have any real appearance mods (though Sasuke does have his eye mods), they still have traits that don't match their exterior!      ...I'd...say more but it's very late. And ohhh man...just one more day to go. I hope y'all are ready for me to get super sappy on you tomorrow xD But for now, it's bedtime. Thanks for reading~

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #vulgarity // #death // #smoking // #oil and blood [ au ] #365daysofsasuhina

[hookedonapirate]

The Princess and Her Sultan

Summary: Crown princess Emma of Misthaven is second in line to the throne, her brother Leopold ll being the first, but her parents see her with a future as a great ruler. King Rumpelstiltskin of neighboring land, strikes a deal with King David, promising to uphold the peace between the kingdoms if Emma marries Prince Baelfire. With the promise of his daughter becoming future queen of the Dark Kingdom, David accepts reluctantly.

Before her wedding day, the princess is kidnapped and taken overseas. She is sold as a slave to a palace where Crown Prince Killian of Neverland ascends his father’s throne and is sworn in as Sultan. Meanwhile, Killian’s mother pressures him to sire a prince and presents him with gifts for his birthday, one of them including a blonde princess from Misthaven. Dazzled by Emma’s charm, intelligence and beauty, he summons her to his bedchambers every night and eventually finds himself casting aside his harem and centuries of tradition.  

Author’s Notes: Thank you all for your patience! I didn't even realize it's been a month since I last updated.

*TRIGGER WARNINGS - Please read the warnings before proceeding!!!!* This chapter contains graphic depictions of a slave being tortured in multiple ways, enacted by Killian as Emma watches, and also death by execution. For those who do not wish to read, I have added asterisks before and after these scenes. If any of the above makes you squick, I beg of you PLEASE skip the aforementioned marked section.

Thank you @gingerchangeling for your wonderful suggestions and ideas for this story, and also @ilovemesomekillianjones for gifting me with your wonderful editing skills. I also want to give a shout out to @onceuponaprincessworld for being my sounding board, constant cheerleader and good friend, thank you, darling! This story wouldn’t be the same without these lovely ladies!

And all of you have been so supportive and awesome, thank you all for following along and for your feedback!

Rated: Explicit

AO3 l FF.N I Prologue l Ch 1 l Ch 2 l Ch 3 l Ch 4 l Ch 5 l  Ch 6 l  Ch 7 l Ch 8 l Ch 9 I Ch 10 I Ch 11 I BTS

Chapter 12

The Hall of the Divan is the hub of the Empire. For eighty years, in this small chamber under the watchtower of the Second Court, Neverland Sultans had held court four days every week, receiving petitions, resolving legal matters, meeting foreign envoys and deciding foreign and state policy. Every decision, from the most humble legal dispute between merchants to the declaration of war, had been announced in this room. 

 On the mornings of the Divan, a long line extends across the garden outside as petitioners wait their turn to bring their case before the Sultan. Killian sits on a cushioned dais opposite the door with the Grand Vizier on his right. Generals, military commanders and legal experts sit in their proper order of rank on either side; secretaries and notaries record the imperial decrees and judgments. Only the Sultan may speak. Others are allowed to offer their opinion only as requested, or when speaking out on a particular point of secular or religious law of their specialty. The Sultan’s decree in all matters is final. 

 On this particular day, they are planning to go to war. In the past, Neverland had constantly faced west in their conquests, but Killian has chosen to head further east for his first war. He wants to go after a country that supported his father and is currently embattled in a civil war. The best time to strike is when your enemies are weak and they are very much divided. He cringes at the idea of leaving Emma and their baby, who will be a newborn, behind, but he knows the soldiers are getting restless, itching for the chance to bloody their swords. It’s been a while since they went to war, and Killian has known since he took the throne, war would be inevitable.

 When they’re finished for the day, the Sultan and his Grand Vizier part ways so they can tend to their significant others. James and Ruby’s baby is due any day now, so he checks on her every chance he can. Meanwhile, Killian dearly misses his lovely Swan and their baby and longs to pay them a visit. 

 When he enters the harem however, he can immediately sense chaos. Panicked Eunuchs are scampering about and there is a group of maidens upstairs, gathered outside Emma’s door, wide-eyed and whispering; some of them are concerned and others are clearly only there to see what’s happening. A large lump forms in his throat as he looks up at them and he swallows thickly, quietly climbing the stairs to see if he can hear anything indicating what the commotion is about.

 “Come, ladies!” Mother Superior claps her hands, trying to wrangle them up with Nemo's assistance. “There is nothing to see here.” 

 When the maidens turn and head toward the staircase, they see the Sultan ascending the steps. They immediately stop and bow their heads.

 Killian reaches the top and moves through them as they skitter back to make a path for him. He spots Elsa, the most concerned of the women, and approaches her, gently lifting her chin. “What's going on, lass?” 

 She looks up at him, shaking her head. “I'm not sure, Your Majesty. A scream came from the garden, and Emma was brought back to her room, but they have told us nothing.” 

 Fear stabs him, his face paling as he releases her chin. “She was outside?” he asks, his mouth suddenly as dry as a desert.

 Elsa nods. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

 But why? She was on bed rest, and he’d instructed her bodyguards to make sure she’d followed the doctor’s orders. But knowing his Swan, she was probably too stubborn to listen. 

 He nods at Mother Superior, silently instructing her to dismiss the maidens. She does so, herding them downstairs to their dormitories and Elsa disappears into her apartment as Killian continues toward Emma’s double doors. 

 He is immediately blocked by Lancelot.

 “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but no one is allowed in the apartment.”

 Anger is added to the mixture of emotions he already feels. “I demand to see my wife,” he orders gruffly, his jaw ticking slightly as he tries to remain calm and collective.

 Lancelot bows his head. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but something has happened. Only the physician is allowed inside.”

 “What happened?” he demands, growing irritated. If he doesn’t receive some answers soon, he might explode. “Is she okay? Is our baby okay?”

 “I’m not certain yet, the doctor is still examining her.”

 “What happened?” he asks again, more quietly this time, the concern he feels for her evident in his voice. “Why is Emma being examined?” Killian can see the fear flickering in Lancelot’s eyes like a flame as he lifts his head, and it scares the hell out of him.

 “She was attacked, My Lord.”

 Killian is unable to form words for a full minute, even though his mouth is hanging open, a million questions and thoughts racing through his mind.

 Who attacked her and why? Was it Regina, or did she have something to do with it? He knew he should’ve sent her away months ago.  

 “What do you mean she was attacked?!” he asks, both angered and confused. “It is your and Faraji’s job to protect her! Why is he not with you?!”

 Lancelot swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily. “Faraji is the one who attacked her, Your Majesty.” With a shaky intake of breath, he leans in, speaking more quietly to keep out prying ears. “He tried to rape her. He tried to murder your child.”

 Breath leaves Killian’s lungs like the wind extinguishing the lamps. Something inside him snaps. He can’t even describe the intense, blinding rage and emotions coursing through him, his blood bubbling under his skin. 

 Another man touched his wife, hurt her and tried to murder their unborn child?! No, not a man. He cannot consider anyone cruel enough to carry out such injustice a man.  

 “Where is he?!” Killian roars, his menacing tone causing the burly guard to flinch.

 Trying to recover, Lancelot shifts uneasily, his eyes full of fear and apology. “He’s in the harem garden. The Sultana injured him badly. He lies in a puddle of his own blood.”

 The only thing holding Killian together right now is the hope that Emma had successfully protected herself and the baby and that the examination confirms they are both okay. She is not some damsel in distress; she is strong and brave. She’s his beautiful queen, and there’s something deep inside him that knows she and the baby are fine. Or so he hopes. “Is he dead?” he mutters through clenched teeth.

 Lancelot shakes his head. “He wasn’t when I left him.”

 Though he now despises Faraji in every sense of the word, Killian is glad to hear he’s not dead.

 He turns to Nemo and orders him to wrap Faraji's wounds so he doesn't bleed to death, and then bring him to the dungeon. Death is not a cruel enough punishment for him. No, Killian has other plans for Faraji. But first, he has to make sure his wife and child are okay. Pulling out his sword, he returns to Emma’s doors and points the tip of the blade at Lancelot, threatening him with it when the guard remains in front of the doors. “Your job is to protect her from other men, not me, you imbecile! Move aside!”

 The guard raises his hands in surrender and steps aside. “I’m sorry, My Sultan. I told her not to wander off to the garden, but she did not listen. If I’d have known Faraji would attack her, I would have done more to stop her.”

 “And yet you failed on all counts,” he snarls. “I will deal with you later.” Sheathing his sword, he yanks the doors open and bursts into Emma’s apartment. 

 His heart shatters into a million pieces. His wife is lying on the bed, holding her belly and there are tears streaking down her cheeks. Guilt rips through him as he looks at his lovely Swan. How could he have been so stupid to have bought Faraji? By doing so, he put her and their baby in danger when he was only trying to protect them from it. Once again, another one of Emma's guards betrayed her and Killian feels responsible. His chest aches as he thinks about the damage this incident has caused, and not just physically, but also emotionally. 

 The doctor finishes up and gathers her supplies, putting them in her bag before heading toward the door.

 Killian swallows as he stares at his love, tears swarming his eyes. “Is she okay?” 

 The doctor nods. “She’s fine, only some bruises and abrasions. Her attacker didn't quite penetrate her before she fought back.”

 Killian twinges, the thought of someone trying to… defile her, especially against her will. The thought of her struggling against him while she feared for their baby’s life pains him physically, makes him sick to his stomach. The only thing keeping him from finding that piece of scum and murdering him in cold blood is the need to be by her side. Hold her in his arms if he can. “And our baby?”

 The doctor smiles. “I felt the child moving in the mother’s belly. The baby is fine.”

 Killian sighs in relief. He’s not sure he's ever been this relieved in his life.

 The doctor looks at him more seriously as he blows out a long breath. “There’s something you should know, though, Your Majesty. The attacker gave her a fertility potion. There’s no telling if it harmed the baby, though I’m sure it will have no effect since it was a fertility potion and requires the seed of a man to work.”

 Killian furrows his brows in confusion. “A fertility potion? Why would she need a fertility potion? She is already pregnant.”

 “According to the Sultana, Faraji was trying to implant his own baby inside her.”

 Killian’s anger spikes through the roof as he tries to process the doctor's words. “What?” he whispers angrily, trying not to disturb Emma. “How is that even possible? He’s castrated.”

 The doctor shrugs. “He wasn’t before. But he is now.”

 “What does that mean?” he demands, thoroughly confused.

 The doctor leans in closer, whispering, “She took his manhood.” 

 Killian’s eyes widen. He is astounded and overwhelmed by everything he has heard so far. He’s not even sure he wants to hear anymore. 

 “That’s all I know. The Sultana was too emotional to press for further details. Besides, I’m only a physician. My only concern is the wellbeing of my patients.”

 “Of course,” he mumbles contemplatively, still trying to process everything. “Thank you. You may go.”

 The doctor leaves as Killian hurries to Emma’s bedside. She lies silently, staring at the ceiling, her cheeks still wet with tears. With a quivering breath, he reaches out to wipe her tears from her face. “Emma…” Killian holds back his own tears as he gazes upon her. “I am so sorry,” he whispers gently.

 Emma blinks, slowly turning her head to face him. “Sorry for what? You did nothing wrong. I am the one who did not listen.” Her voice is weak as she tries to smile, but her lips fail to curve that way. 

 “Shhhh, my love. You need not speak. You only need to rest,” he murmurs, swiping her hair from her delicate face. He bends over, pressing his lips to her forehead and lingers there for a few seconds, his breath shaking as he pulls away. 

 He reaches for her hand and brings the back of it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss there. Emma closes her eyes, relishing her Sultan’s touch. Words cannot express what he feels at the moment. He is fraught with emotion; he trembles at the thought of losing her or their baby. He wants to hold her and tell her everything will be okay, but he doesn't want to hurt her.

 “Will you lay with me?” she asks, her stark green eyes looking up at him.

 “Aye, of course,” he answers with a frail smile. “You need not ask twice.” He goes to the other side of the bed and climbs in next to her. He doesn’t want to hurt her though, he doesn't even know where she’s hurting or how much pain she is in. Emma can sense his uncertainty and takes his hand in hers. He shifts to his side, facing her as she places his hand on her belly. He leans in and drops a kiss to her belly through her gown before laying his head beside her, burying his face in her hair. “I love you, Emma,” he whispers in her ear. “I love both of you.”

 “We love you, too.”

 He doesn’t ask any questions even though his mind is still dizzy with them. Why had Faraji attacked her? Why did he want her to mother his child? Why did he lie about being castrated? Why did Killian not see it coming? How could he be so trusting when his precious treasures were involved? A million other questions cross his mind, but he is too weak to ask them. Sultans are not supposed to show their weaknesses. Sultans are supposed to be brave and strong and conquer all that stands in their path, but at the moment, all he can do is hold his loved ones close and whisper prayers to his God. 

 Killian is not entirely sure what had been holding him together before, but now that he can smell the scent of the slave who tried to attack her, now that he can feel her warm body shaking in his arms, the emotions burst through him so violently he doesn’t even see it coming. Sultans are not supposed to cry, but Killian sobs uncontrollably into Emma’s hair as he holds her tight. “I’m so sorry, Emma,” he whispers through choked tears.

 “It's not your fault,” she tells him repeatedly, but he can’t help but blame himself. Ever since Emma came here, she’s been in danger, and it’s all because his mother wanted him to sire an heir. There is not one single part of him that regrets choosing Emma, but what price will he have to pay for loving her? What price will they have to pay?

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 Emma wakes the next morning feeling extremely sore and tired, as expected, but somewhat at ease knowing Faraji is locked in the dungeon and can no longer bring harm to her or her child. Killian had stayed with them the entire night, never leaving their side. 

 He is gentle with her, like always, rubbing her belly, covering her in his sweet kisses, singing soft lullabies to their baby that his mother had sung to him when he was a young prince. He makes Emma feel loved and cherished, giving her the strength to tell him what had happened. How Faraji sought revenge, how he'd wanted her to have his child so Killian would think she betrayed him.

 Killian goes wild upon learning the details of what her attacker had done to her. He transforms from a kind, loving man to an enraged vengeful Sultan who wants to tear Faraji’s head off. And she’s not opposed. 

 He wants her to stay in bed while he deals with the prisoner, but she refuses. She wants to accompany the Sultan, and after what happened, he does not dare refuse her wish. So he carries her down to the dungeon in his arms and gently lets her down. He enters the dungeon and she follows cautiously behind him, shuddering when she sees Faraji shackled in irons. The memories of what he’d done to her come rushing back, but she faces him, showing no fear. 

 He sneers at her with a spine-chilling smile, one the Sultan quickly wipes off his face with his fist, leaving the prisoner's mouth full of blood and a broken tooth which he spits out on the floor. 

 “You will pay gravely for what you have done to my wife... for what you tried to do to our child,” Killian assures him in a sinister tone. He appears to be calm, but there’s a storm brewing inside him. Emma can see it in his eyes. 

 The prisoner smiles, blood and saliva dribbling down his chin. “Please, after what your father did to me, death shall be my savior.”

 Killian chuckles darkly as he wraps his hand around Faraji’s neck, pinning him to the wall. What the prisoner hadn’t considered was that first he would be brutally tortured. “Don't worry, your death wish will be granted... eventually. Until then, you will beg me to kill you quickly, but unfortunately for you, death will not be so simple.”

 Traditionally, Killian’s executioners carry out this task, but Killian wants nothing more than to do the deed himself. He temporarily removes the wraps from his wounds and examines the damage his wife had done to him, grinning proudly. Though, in his eyes, she was far too kind. 

 The Sultan first extracts information from Faraji to find out if there is anyone else who is after Killian out of revenge against his father. He also questions him about the potions and demands to know how Faraji procured them. When he doesn't speak, the Sultan slowly removes Faraji’s toenails with red-hot pincers, eliciting blood-curdling screams and cries that could wake the dead. He shrieks out praises to his tribal gods, sweat pouring down his body. Killian uses several torture devices until Faraji is mutilated and many of his bones are broken. 

 Emma watches the entire time, sitting stoically in the Sultan's throne which was brought down for her. She's wearing a dark green, silk gown and a matching cap on her head, clutching at her cloak to keep out the dampness and bone-chilling cold of the dungeon.

 Killian whips the prisoner and tortures him for hours, even after Faraji insists he knows of no one who is after Killian. He also tells the Sultan he stole the potions from Regina, who had hoped to use them to bear a child. 

 Of course he’d procured them from her. The doctor told Regina she’d never be able to conceive. So it makes sense she would find a way. The question is, who did she planning on using the potions with?

 Her green eyes never leave Faraji's, the two empty voids revealing nothing but hate as he mocks her with a dark smile and reminds her what he'd planned on doing to her. “It's too bad it didn't work out between us,” he says cruelly, licking his lips as he leers at her. "Our baby would have been a true beauty."

 Crunch. 

 Another tooth falls out when Killian punches him in the face to silence him. 

 "You would not have lived to see it," Killian snarls, his eyes black as he glares at the prisoner in repulsion. 

 "And nor would she. You would have executed her for betraying you."

 Killian grits his teeth, and the silk of his robes ripple in the light of the oil lamps as he swiftly moves behind the prisoner, the crack of the whip echoing through the dungeon as he works on Faraji’s back. “Emma would never betray me.” Whop-eesh.

 Her lips twist into a slight smile. He trusts her. He knows she would never lay with another man.

 “Yes, it's pretty pathetic how loyal she is to you…” Faraji spits out, “a Sultan. It will only be a matter of time before you toss her away and take another wife.”

 Whop-eesh.

 Killian doesn't bother to waste any more words on him. Instead, he finds new ways to torture him, making sure to remind Fariji the reason why he’s carrying out the particular torture. He removes each of Faraji’s fingers for putting his hands on Emma, he cuts out Faraji’s tongue for kissing her, and with the blade of his dagger, he pierces through the skin of his penis for trying to penetrate and rape her.

 “I would remove your testicles, but it looks like my wife did already,” Killian smirks darkly, pressing the tip of the blade into Faraji’s wound, causing him to squeal like a pig.

 When Killian is done with him, he has the executioners carry Faraji outside to the decapitation stone, barefoot, battered, dripping blood behind him, with shackled feet and fingerless hands cuffed behind his back. James, his generals, imperial guards and counselors are all dressed in their ceremonial robes as they assemble around the stone. Killian remains inside, behind a latticed window, holding Emma in his arms, a soothing hand on her belly as they watch.

 James looks at the prisoner in disgust. He’d wanted to behead Faraji himself when he’d discovered what he'd done to Emma, who knows her uncle is doing his best to maintain some sort of semblance so Killian doesn't grow suspicious. James turns to look at Killian for his approval to carry out the execution.

 Emma is surprised when Killian seeks her consent. “Is this what you want, love?”

 A tear slides down her cheek as she gently rubs her belly above Killian's hand and gives him a nod. “He tried to murder our baby,” she mutters through a choked sob. “Get rid of him. I never want to look at his face ever again.”

 Killian briefly squeezes his eyes shut as they redden and well up with tears. He pulls her closer, tightening his arms around her. She peers through the window with her head against his chest as he nods and makes a quick motion with his hands to give the order for execution. 

 The butcher is a deaf-mute so he cannot be swayed by screams of pain or supplications for mercy; in this case, verbal pleas are impossible since Faraiji does not have a tongue. He shoves Faraji to his knees and forces him to bend over the decapitation stone. He grabs his killic, swinging it a couple of times in the air to warm up his arm muscles, before approaching the prisoner from behind. The blade glitters in the sunlight as the executioner raises the killic above his head, and with a single, expert swing, he severs Faraji’s head, sending it flying to the cobblestone, blood spurting over the decapitation stone and the pavement as a fountain of blood gushes from the neck. Faraji’s eyes are fixed on Emma through the window, as though he's intentionally taunting her, even after his death. 

 She gasps and buries her face in Killian’s shoulder. He caresses her hair, whispering soft endearments in her ear. “He's gone, love. He can't hurt you anymore.”

 Emma can tell by the way he strokes her hair, by the shaky breaths he takes that he still blames himself for this. When she lifts her head to look at him, she can see the shame and regret swarming his sea blue depths. “It’s not your fault,” she murmurs, running a gentle hand over his stubbled cheek. 

 “I'm the one who brought the guards here. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have been attacked.”

 “Faraji was hellbent on revenge after what your father had done to him. There was no way you would have known. But Lancelot did nothing.”

 “But that is a problem, love. He did nothing to protect you,” Killian mutters bitterly.

 “He tried to stop me from going to the garden but I was too stubborn to heed his warning. He didn’t know Faraji would attack me. Besides, I can protect myself,” Emma states adamantly, a small smile finally tipping her lips as she recalls the sounds he’d made as she had taken his manhood from him.

 Killian smiles in return and lifts his hand to her face, the pad of his thumb stroking her cheek. “That is true, my love, you are capable of looking out for yourself.” He expels a frustrated sigh. “I’m just sorry it took me almost losing you to figure that out. But that doesn’t change the fact that Lancelot did not perform his job properly, and therefore he must be punished accordingly.”

 “Please don’t, Killian,” Emma pleads, her eyes welling with tears. “He’s a good man. Please leave Lancelot be. Let him be free.”

 Killian raises a brow, taken off guard by her request. He’d known she didn’t want to bring Lancelot punishment, but relieving him of slavery? It’s the last thing he would’ve considered for the bodyguard. Lancelot hadn’t done all he could to protect Emma, and though she shows him forgiveness and sees no wrong in him, when Killian’s loved ones are concerned, he cannot ignore carelessness. He surely can't let it go rewarded. “You want me to free him?”

 She nods, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “I think my history with bodyguards is proof that they’re only more harm to me than good. Please release Lancelot, do not punish him for Faraji’s sins.”

 Killian closes his eyes, relishing her touch. He takes a contemplative breath and opens his eyes, peering into those sparkling emerald orbs staring back at him from behind her long dark lashes. Freeing Lancelot it is the last thing he wants to do, but he will never be able to forgive himself if Emma ends up resenting him for it. If Killian carries out his punishment and sells him to another a slaver. He only wants her to be happy. “If that is what you wish, I will make Lancelot a free man.”

 Emma gasps in surprise, her eyes widening as she searches his face for any indications that he might only be only saying that to appease her. But she finds none. “Really?”

 He nods, gracing her with a small smile. “Really. I want you to be happy and if that means freeing Lancelot, then I will obey. I will release him before our baby is born. You have my word, my love.”

 Emma smiles happily and kisses him, a tear sliding down her cheek. “Thank you, Killian. Thank you,” she whispers.

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 Later that night, Killian helps her out of her garments, gently pulling off her chemise. Emma is embarrassed at first and covers herself, one arm draped over her breasts and the other over her stomach.

 Killian’s heart cracks as she tries to shield herself from him. “Love, you don't have to hide from me,” he assures in a soothing tone, reaching out a hand to caress her cheek.

 “I don’t wish for you to see me like this, Killian.” Her eyes fall to the floor. “I am ashamed of how I look.”

 Killian’s features cloud with sadness as he lifts her chin, urging her to look at him. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” he murmurs softly. “Remove your hands, please. I wish to see you.”

 Emma nods, unwilling to refuse his command. She slowly drops her arms, revealing her entire naked form.

 Killian steps back so his eyes can drink in the full view. Bruises cover her body, and though he’s angered she had to endure them, his breath is taken away by her beauty. Her stomach is big and round and gorgeous, carrying what he can only imagine is just as beautiful and perfect as his wife is. “Stunning,” is all he can say, his mouth watering as his eyes scroll down her body.  

 Her cheeks color with a slight blush, her eyelids fluttering as she looks at him. “Only a man as good as you is capable of flattering an expectant mother in this position,” she says playfully, a small smile curving her lips.

 “It’s the truth, my love,” he whispers, stepping closer to her, his hands itching to touch her. He does just that, his hands gently caressing her curves, her pregnant belly, her swollen breasts, coaxing soft murmurs from her lips. He kneels before her and places kisses over her belly, whispering soft nothings to their baby as she runs her hands through his hair. “Killian…” she coos, her eyes locking with his when he looks up at her. “If My Sultan does not stop, I may beg you to make love to me.”

 Killian closes his eyes and rests his forehead against her stomach, having to restrain himself immensely. He does not want to risk harming their wee one. So he rises, cupping her cheeks in his hands as he softly kisses her lips. He covers her in a white, silk robe and leads her to his bath where he bathes her from head to toe, making sure to kiss every bruise and mark on her body to let her know he loves every... single... part of her. 

 When she is thoroughly cleaned, he helps her into her robe and carries her to his chamber. They slip into bed, underneath the covers, and he holds her tightly in his arms, his mind weighing heavy with thoughts. 

 He’s still upset with himself for what had happened. He still blames himself. As Emma lies next to him, her angelic face buried in his chest, he can't help but wonder if she would be better off in Misthaven. Her parents could take care of her and give her the parental love she craves and deserves. The thought saddens him, it makes his heart hurt so bloody much, but he wants his Swan to be safe. Even if that means he has to let her go.

 “Emma…” he murmurs softly, getting her attention. 

 She slowly lifts her head to look at him. “Yes, my love?”

 He gets lost in her eyes as she awaits an answer. She’s so enchanting and lovely and intelligent, he doesn’t wish to let her go, but he knows he has to. He has to let her and their baby go. He has to accept his fate. His fate of eternal loneliness and darkness. Because that’s all he deserves.

 “Emma…” His voice cracks, so he clears his throat as he caresses her cheek. “Emma, I think you should return to Misthaven.” 

 Her face falls in confusion. “What?”

 “I think… I think you and our baby will be much safer there.” As he says the words, his eyes fill with tears and his heart physically hurts.

 Emma pushes herself up, shocked as she stares at him in disbelief. “You… you want me to leave?”

 He shakes head. “God, no. But you were almost…” he swallows thickly, unable to finish his sentence. “And our unborn child could be dead. Neither of you is safe here, Emma.”

 Her eyes glisten with tears and she shakes her head furiously. “I am not going anywhere. I did not endure what I did to be tossed away.”

 “Emma, I would never toss you away,” he says, tears falling down his cheeks. “I only want what is best for you. For our child.”

 She shakes her head again and raises her voice. “Leaving you is not what is best! Our child will be without a father! And what if he is a boy? The Sultan’s prince cannot be parted from him!”

 More tears fall from his eyes as he cups her cheeks in his hands. “So we fake your deaths. You’ll both escape and no one ever has to know you’re both alive and well. No one will be able to hurt either of you again.”

 Her eyes widen. She’s completely appalled he would even suggest such a thing. “That’s absurd! I will not go! You cannot make me!” She breaks down into tears and he sits up, holding her tightly in his arms. “I refuse to leave you,” she mumbles into his chest through her tears.

 His heart crumbles into a million pieces. There’s nothing in the world worse than seeing his Swan cry, unless her tears are happy ones. But these are definitely not. “I don’t want you to leave,” he whispers, rubbing her back. “I don’t want to lose you. Which is why I will not force you to go if you are against the idea. But just know, you can leave if that is your wish.”

 Emma lifts her head, her eyes puffy and red as he wipes her tears away with his thumb. “I would never wish to leave you.” She cups his cheeks in her hands, capturing his lips, which are wet with his tears, and now hers as she mumbles against them. “I love you, Killian, and I will be by your side for as long as you can stand me.”

 Killian smiles weakly as he presses his forehead against hers. “Then, I’m afraid you will be stuck with me for eternity.”

 She laughs for the first time in days, and the gentle chime of her giggle revives his heart. It makes him smile.

 “Mmm, my favorite sound,” he murmurs, causing her grin to widen. “I love you, Emma. I love you both,” he adds, affectionately caressing her belly. “I will always love you.” 

 “Good,” she whispers, her eyes falling to his mouth.

 He catches the movement of her eyes and seals his promise with a long, searing kiss. He lifts his hands, sliding his fingers into her hair as they tumble onto the bed, their lips still latched. Despite the earlier events, they both fall into a deep, peaceful slumber in each other’s arms.

 ~*~

 They have breakfast the next morning in his apartment before he leaves to visit his mother to fill her in on what had happened. Though she's most likely already heard about the execution. But it’s important for him to have his bonding time with his mother. 

 Emma decides to stay in his chamber for a while longer before she grows restless and decides to return to the harem. She’s sure her friends are worried sick about her and she misses them, even though it's only been a few days since she’d seen them. She dresses and leaves, making her way down the golden road, still feeling a bit sleepy from the nap she’d taken. 

 She thinks about what Killian had offered her last night. Though she misses her family dearly, she could not bear to leave her Sultan wife-less and childless. She hates being away from him, she hates how little she sees him as it is, but the thought of never being with him again, never seeing his handsome face, never feeling his strong hands on her soft skin or being blessed with his tender kisses, never feeling the warmth of his body next to hers makes her ache all over. He is her family now, and so are her friends and uncle. She can’t bear to leave them. She does wish to see her parents and brother again and let them know she’s okay, but a Kadin leaving the empire to visit them would be impossible unless she found a way around it somehow. Even if she did, her parents wouldn’t understand her lifestyle here. They wouldn’t understand her love for a Sultan who rules a land where women count for less than animals.  

 Emma rubs her belly, which is fairly hidden underneath her layers of clothing as she wobbles along the corridor. She’s not as sore as she was yesterday, but still not able to move very fast, so it feels like everything is in slow motion. 

 She spots James emerging from a hall, and she's about to call for him, but something about him seems peculiar. He’s wearing his usual robes, but he appears to be lost as he looks in the direction opposite of her. He starts to head that way, but then stops and scratches the back of his head before he gets very far.

 Lifting a brow, she continues toward him until he's only a meter away. When he suddenly turns around changing directions, Emma stops frozen in her tracks.

 He pauses as well, donning the exact same, gobsmacked expression she does.

 She can’t believe it. But she can. The eyes, the face, the walk. How confused he is. How unfamiliar he is with the palace. She knows without a doubt it’s him. The question is how? Is she dreaming? 

 She steps up to him, reaching out to touch his cheek which does not hold a scar. Which feels pretty real to her.

 He lifts his hand to hers and with a broken smile and a broken whisper, he speaks, “Emma… I knew I’d find you.”

 “Papa?”

@courtorderedcake @teamhook @onceuponaprincessworld @nikkiemms @followbatb @resident-of-storybrooke @hollyethecurious @snowbellewells @artistic-writer @ultraluckycatnd @kmomof4 @darkcolinodonorgasm @lovepurplepumpkins @kiwistreetswan @therooksshiningknight @deathbycaptainswan @tiganasummertree @superchocovian @emeraldwitches

#cs ff #cs ff au #captain swan #trigger warnings #torture #violence #death by execution #please heed the warnings #the princess and her sultan #my fic

[a-mellowtea]

The Greatest Kingdom | RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 1 Review

Now that my hype has died down a respectable amount, I think I’m clear-headed enough to express my thoughts on the RWBY Volume 7 premiere. I’m going to hold off on posting this until it’s publicly available and everyone comfortably knows what I’m on about, so by the time of reading, this’ll be a week-or-so old.

Going into Volume 7, I have to say, I was extremely excited. Volume 6 was a little bittersweet for me: a solid mix of things I liked and didn’t, where one didn’t really overshadow or completely take away from the other. The hiatus between Volumes 6 and 7 was also particularly exhausting, on both a mental and emotional level, and while that may sound over-dramatic, I’m sure many can attest to how much of a drag it all was. 

However, Volume 7 set us up somewhere I’ve been aching to see more of for a while: since Volume 2, if I’m honest. That being, of course, the Kingdom of Atlas and its defunct partner, Mantle. There’s so much rich potential for story in Atlas and, as “The Greatest Kingdom” revealed, CRWBY was set to dive right in, to some fairly pleasant results.

We open the Chapter with a shot panning down through the night sky, with our typical emphasis on the shattered moon. This is the first Volume, though, wherein we are aware of its true nature: how it got to be that way and, appropriately, the raised stakes now quite literally looming over our heroes’ heads. There is something more immediate to attend to, however, revealed as the shot finishes moving: the Atlesian air fleet.

I’m not certain if this was mentioned anywhere too openly, but Volume 7 Chapter 1 was originally intended to be the finale of Volume 6. I seem to recall Neath Oum, the voice of Ren, making comment on how an important moment was shifted because of this change (which we’ll get to in a bit). Point being, the Volume picks up exactly where Volume 6 left off, with the heroes’ stolen air ship, Manta 5-1, being welcomed home by an Atlesian officer. It doesn’t feel all that much like the premieres of the past; simply a continuation, though I’m hesitant to label that as a good or bad thing.

“But we are here,” Jaune then insists to the group. “We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers.” It’s obviously not going to be that simple -- wouldn’t be very interesting if it was -- but that’s something that stuck out to me. The heroes, this little hiccup aside, have accomplished the majority of their mission. They made it to Atlas, which was as far as they presumably intended to go (Yang, V6Ch6: “We can’t stop until the lamp is safe”). They’re our heroes, of course, so something will keep them going, but I am interested to see exactly what does push them to continue a fight they now feel is rather pointless. James has a line in the trailer about how “until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem”. I do wonder what that could be, and moreover, whether or not our heroes will inform him of everything they learned in Volume 6.

Back in the Chapter, Weiss warns that if they land in a stolen air ship, there’s no way they’ll be heard out or get a chance to speak with Ironwood. Now, I promise this is the only time I’ll mention further gripes with Volume 6 but honestly: you couldn’t’ve realized that sooner? That should’ve been the first thing on their minds when they decided to take such a risky course of action: is this really going to get us where we need to go when we know that the Kingdom of Atlas has closed its borders? It doesn’t matter that the air fleet is deployed aggressively; they should have accounted for the fact that they wouldn’t just be able to waltz right up Atlas. Yet somehow they seem to have forgotten about that until this rather convenient -- or inconvenient -- moment.

After Weiss perks up and remembers she can contact her sister, we get our first look at Mantle proper, and it’s wonderful. Literally down-to-earth, the dirty streets and brown-grey color palette intermixed with neon signage gives it something of a dystopian feel that is incredibly unique. Here, we get our first look at General James Ironwood since Volume 4 (discounting the Volume 7 trailer), and the presentation is telling. On an enormous neon holographic display, looming over the city of Mantle, and though his words are a promise of safety, he makes them at a distance. I doubt this is intended as screaming ‘dictator’, but merely showing a divide; one that is certainly not good. Yang and Ruby share a remark that he looks tired and Qrow wonders worriedly what he’s been doing (a year is kindly added to my life every time Qrow calls him “James”, and yes I will die in this rarepair hell). Indeed it seems that, in the month and a bit since Weiss left, things have taken a steep turn for the worse, with constant Atlesian patrols and surveillance drones in the streets. It’s certainly looking bleak, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love this set-up. The shot with the children lobbing a pebble at a drone, then hiding from it, in particular does a good job solidifying that this has become a norm, but an unwelcome one.

Weiss continues to insist that Winter can help them, but our first look at the eldest Schnee sibling begs to differ. It appears as though she’s upholding the military law placed over Mantle, and this seems to shock Weiss a good deal. With that off the table, Maria interjects that she knows someone who can help them.

Now would probably be a good moment for a quick aside to mention how wonderful of a job Jason Liebrecht does as the new voice of Qrow. The difference is noticeable, but I found it wasn’t enough to completely throw me off: at least, not for long. It’ll take some getting used to, but the character is no different, and Jason’s performance is solid.

Our heroes head out into the streets of Mantle, and we get a bit of light exposition from Maria about the Kingdom on the walk, after Yang continues to be everyone’s favorite brash blonde and kick subtlety out into the middle of the street where it is summarily smashed by a truck. I don’t have much to say about the encounter with Rupert the Drunk other than it felt perfectly in-place for what we know of Atlas and Mantle, and that Maria’s right: these kids have no concept of keeping a low profile when it counts. Not that I can blame Weiss; I honestly probably would have done the same. Although, given that we do see Rupert’s blue-beanie’d friend in the trailer, and how the shot pans back to show Winter, I’m willing to make a bet that this particular man will let someone in Mantle know the lost ex-Schnee heiress is back.

And then we’re introduced to Pietro. He is wonderful. Please protect.

The scene itself plays out as fairly lighthearted, until Yang and Blake bring the topic back around to the situation in Mantle. From there, we hear what we were basically expecting: James is scared (”paranoid”, as Pietro corrects), and it seems like our heroes aren’t the only ones having a hard time figuring out who to trust. I’d be hard pressed to believe that, given the Volume’s opening and the circumstances, the Queen virus from Volumes 2 and 3 is completely out of the picture. As it was so succinctly put by a fellow Redditor: this Volume is going to break this man.

Weiss steps up to ask about the Council and Winter, but it’s quickly sidetracked by Pietro recognizing her, and then Yang by the arm that he, presumably, built for her. The revelation that Pietro knows Team RWBY isn’t given much time to sink in before the alarms out in the street begin to blare and it becomes time for the premiere’s obligatory -- but honestly, very well done -- fight scene.

And now I will make my own obligatory aside to praise the music. The guitar piece in this fight is not done by Jeff Williams, as many probably expected, but is rather Alex Abraham’s work. I’ve seen a good handful of people I mentioned this to be surprised that he even plays guitar, and yes; yes, he does. And he kicks ass at it, if that wasn’t obvious enough.

While I saw the fight scene a handful of times before the Chapter premiered, thanks to RTX and again about three days before hand when it was released through Entertainment Weekly, I’m still incredibly impressed by it on a technical level. It’s a fight scene mostly for the sake of having a fight scene, but it looks damn good. Qrow, Oscar and Ruby’s sections stood out to me the most as having some solid choreography and camera work.

And then in a somewhat jarring shift in tone (will this show ever decide if the Grimm are a threat or not? Will power levels ever not give us a headache? Find out... sometime! Hopefully!), we get the aforementioned big moment: Penny, our resident robotic ray of sunshine, is alive and well!

And... kinda honestly makes our heroes look like jobbers? I say that fondly, and with a good deal of chuckling, because I do recall that Monty (or perhaps it was one of the boys?) mentioned Miles and Kerry were fairly averse to having a character use lasers specifically because of how powerful they are. In any case, it makes for a spectacular entrance, and I do especially love Penny’s graceful little flair of a pirouette up to the moon before she lands.

I will say perhaps my one gripe with this episode isn’t Penny’s return, but Ruby and the others’ reaction to it. It doesn’t break the episode, but allowing for comedy over what should have honestly been a very emotional moment for our lead didn’t sit right with me, personally. It’s treated as though this was almost expected, or at least a possibility they knew about in-universe, not a “holy crap, we saw her get torn to shreds”. Just because the audience expects it doesn’t mean the characters would, and I think I was simply expecting more from it. Then again, this is only Chapter 1, so we’ll see where they go with it.

After Penny blasts off to go save another quadrant of the city (she is now its official protector, after all), and Maria is brilliantly oblivious, RNJRWBY and QO are, in an unsurprising turn of events, apprehended by Ace Ops (ASOPS, Atlesian Special OPerativeS, would make a lick more sense, but ah well). I’m a bit concerned about the big ensemble this Volume, but I love the no-shits-given Chad vibes off their leader, Clover. It seems as though his Semblance, or character inspiration at least, is good luck (spinning a horseshoe, wearing a rabbit’s foot and has a clover as his emblem), and I cannot wait for him to have some dynamic with Qrow.

And Clover summarily lists off how many rules they’ve violated in the city in the span of about 10 minutes. Maria: hums, nods, fucks off. Basically one big “welp, he’s got ya there kids”. Bless her snarky soul; I hope this isn’t the last time we see her.

And, yes, thank you very much: these are the consequences I was hoping for. It’s likely to just get them where they need to go -- we wouldn’t have a Volume if they were in jail for all of it -- but they did still break the law and that’s that as far as Atlas’ forces were ever going to be concerned. I’m contented with something surface-level on that front.

We end the Chapter with our heroes arrested, in the back of a transport, and looking like they’re reevaluating their life choices. Cue the new OP!

Briefly: visuals of the new intro are solid, the staff of Creation being behind Monty’s name is really damn clever, “Trust Love” is a wonderful pop-y theme, Penny’s a cinnamon roll, someone please save James from all this bullshit.

Overall, a strong continuation off the previous Volume, but again I’d be hesitant to say it felt like a “proper” premiere. It’s very different from the feeling of previous ones, which can be chalked up to the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be a premiere but a finale, so ultimately I cannot fault it for coming out like neither. It was a good introduction to Mantle, the dynamic of the lower Kingdom, and left me in anticipation of what’s to come, which is such a refreshing feeling.

I’m hopeful and excited for the rest of the Volume. Let’s see where this roller coaster ride takes us.

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #it was solid #also LOVE the OP #catch me swooning over Qrow's new look #in fact all the new looks are growing on me #oh and Robin Hill! #she's gonna be neat #ace ops too #so much cool stuff #i'm just worried they won't have time for it all tbh

[thesecondcircleofkel]

SFW Alphabet, Law: A-Z

Reposting all of these together for convenience and to save space. Alphabet requests are still open, but remember, I don't accept requests to do the entire alphabet for someone all at once. You have to stick to the guidelines of 1 character per ask, and 5 letters per ask, and once I finish the alphabet for a character with requests like that, I will repost it all together.

A: Affection (How affectionate are they with a s/o?)

In public, he’s not affectionate at all, but in the privacy of his submarine, he’s very affectionate. He’s the type that will sneak up behind you and wrap his arms around you to give you a quick hug before he has to move on to something else. If he doesn’t have anything else to do, he will keep holding you like that, either watching what you’re doing if you’re busy or talking to you about your day. It’s oddly sweet for someone who claims to be such a coldblooded pirate, but that’s probably why he refrains from doing it in public.

B: Breath (What can their s/o do to take their breath away)

Look out for his crew. They are obviously very important to him, so seeing you look after them like he does will send his heart fluttering.

C: Cuddles (Do they cuddle? If they do, how and when do they cuddle?)

He typically loves to cuddle with you, so long as it’s in private, but he does need his space on occasion. Don’t take it as an insult; he’s just really introverted and sometimes he needs complete solitude to recharge. Beyond that, he’s particularly fond of cuddling with you right before he falls asleep, either with the two of you spooning with him laying behind you and holding you that way, or with him using you as a pillow while you lie on your back.

D: Dream (What do they dream of doing with their s/o?)

After accomplishing all of his pirate-related goals, he honestly wouldn’t mind settling down with you somewhere. Just a quiet little island in the middle of nowhere, where the inhabitants either don’t know who is or they don’t care, and he can just live peacefully as a doctor. It certainly seems like a distant dream at this point, but he does like to think of it every so often as motivation.

E: Effort (How much effort do they put into a relationship?)

You may not always be able to see the effort that he puts into your relationship, but it is there. He’s just more subtle with his affections than most people are, but he still loves you, and he’d do anything to make you happy. He’s also very concerned with your safety, no matter how strong you may be, so a lot of his effort goes into making sure that you’re protected from people that may target you because they have a grudge against him.

F: Fear (What do they do if their s/o is scared? How do they handle it?)

He definitely handles the situation better if there’s an immediate threat scaring you. That’s something that he can handle, either by cutting it down or by using his Devil Fruit to send it away. If it’s not something physical, well…he’s not quite sure what to say to comfort you. He’ll hold you for as long as you need, but he feels bad that he can’t give you some sort of verbal reassurance to go along with that.

G: Gifts (What type of gifts do they give their s/o? Do they want a gift in return?)

Gifts aren’t really a priority for him, but if he sees something that he knows you would like, he’ll get it for you. While gifts may not be that big of a deal for him, he understands that they are for some people, so he doesn’t mind getting them for you. And if you just so happen to find a rare coin to give him for his collection, well…you’ll have an oddly chipper and appreciative Law on your hands.

H: Hugs (Do they hug their s/o? How often?)

Law is all for physical affection, but he prefers long and drawn out cuddles over hugs. He will hug you if you want him to, though, but it’ll have to be done somewhere private where nobody else will see it happen. He does have a reputation as a ruthless pirate to uphold, and letting others see him be affectionate isn’t very conducive to that.

I: Intimacy (How romantic are they? Do they have problems with intimacy?)

The most romantic things about Law are his kisses. Each one of them is filled with passion no matter what the occasion they’re given in is, and sometimes he just likes to lean his forehead against yours afterwards and stare into your eyes. He can be intimate in his sleep, too, because even if he’s knocked out cold, he’ll still reach out for you to make sure that you’re close by (so cuddle with him. Spoon him, damn it. Let him know you’re there).

J: Jealous (Do they get jealous? How do they act when jealous?)

He is not above getting jealous every once in a while. He’s a little insecure since he’s lost so many important people already, and he dreads the thought of someone swooping in to steal you from him. If anyone tries to make a move on you, he is not against using his Devil Fruit to chop them into bits and scatter the pieces. Don’t purposefully try to make him jealous, either, because he will lose some of his trust in you and it will be extremely hard to get it back.

K: Kiss (Are they a good kisser? Do they like to kiss? How often do they try to kiss you?)

Him and Mihawk are tied for being the best kisser on the Grand Line. It may have taken a while for Law to actually get into a relationship, so he didn’t have much experience kissing beforehand, but he picked up on it quick. He can just peck you on the lips, and it will still be enough to take your breath away; he likes to linger with his pecks, ever so slowly pulling his lips off of your, before he gives you a gorgeous smirk and walks off, leaving you staring off into space and trying to remember your own name. His long, drawn out kisses are even better, but we can’t get into that too much before it delves off into steamy territory unfit for a SFW alphabet. Law’s got skills when it comes to kissing, those skills end up being very passionate.

L: Love (When do they say they love you? How often do they say it? Do they prefer to say it or show it?)

He doesn’t think that love is a strong enough word to describe what he has with you, so he won’t say it often, if at all. If it’s something that you absolutely need to hear, then he’ll say it, but he almost feels like he’s limiting the bounds of your relationship by using that word. Due to all of that, he prefers to express his feelings through actions, by taking care of you when you’re sick or injured, by holding you ever so tightly at night, with gentle caresses and touches when no one is looking, and so on.

M: Marriage (Do they want to get married? If so, what kind of ceremony?)

It’s not a necessity for him, but it’s also something that he wouldn’t mind in the future. He likes the idea of being able to call you his spouse, but overall, he’s happy just to be with you, whether that’s within the bond of marriage or not. If marriage does happen, then he’d definitely want a more private ceremony, mainly with his crew present plus a few other people. Beyond that, he’s perfectly fine with you taking care of the rest of the details.

N: Night Out (What type of dates do they like to go on? How often do they like to go on them?)

Dates with Law are usually pretty subtle. So long as the two of you can spend time together with no one else around you, like when you’re doing some work or reading together, he’d consider it a date. He’s also a fan of quiet walks at night, either on the beach or through a lightly wooded area. There’s a low chance of you two getting caught, plus the moonlight really does wonders to set the mood and ambiance.

O: Out of the Ordinary (What’s something they don’t normally do for/with their s/o?)

He’ll pretty much do anything for you, but if you want him to do something really cheesy, then save it for the sub, because he won’t do it in public. He’ll feel bad for turning you down, but he’s worked hard for his reputation and he won’t do anything to jeopardize it, and he expects you to respect that.

P: Playful (Are they playful in a relationship? If so, how do they play around/mess with their s/o?)

Law, playful? Those are two things that you normally wouldn’t associate with each other, but believe it or not, the good doctor does have his moments. They are rare and far between, but they do happen, even if you’re likely to miss them because of his…unique delivery. His sense of humor is just so dry and deadpan, so you really have to be paying attention to notice these more playful moments. He does the most random things to mess with you, too, so you’ve also got that working against you. He mainly makes a lot of inside jokes referring to past conversations that you’ve had with him, and he throws in the occasional terrible pun, as well, but again, his delivery of these leaves a lot to be desired.

Q: Questions (Do they ask their s/o their opinion on things? Do they share theirs?)

He does like to get your opinion regarding most things, especially if it’s something that you’re more familiar with than he is, but he’d prefer it if he didn’t have to ask for your opinion and that you gave it to him of your own accord. He’s not against asking you, but he’d rather you be comfortable enough with him to give him your opinion on something openly and freely. He also has no qualms with sharing his opinions with you.

R: Random (How spontaneous is their relationship? Do they do things on the spot or plan ahead?)

He’d prefer it if everything was planned out, but he doesn’t always have that luxury since he’s a pirate. If an opportunity arises for him to take you somewhere where the two of you can have some alone time, then he’ll take it, regardless if it was planned or not.

S: Sleep (How do they sleep with their s/o?)

As evidenced in the ‘Cuddles’ section, he likes to have a lot of contact with you as he sleeps (unless he’s having one of those days where he needs to recharge). He’ll either hold you as closely to himself as he can, or he’ll use you as a pillow. In the latter scenario, he prefers to lay his head on your chest so he can hear your heartbeat and fall asleep to its steady rhythm.

T: Trust (How much do they trust their s/o?)

Law has been through a lot, so it will take some time and a lot of patience and perseverance on your part for him to build a significant amount of trust in you. Once he does trust you, though, he’ll be open with you about pretty much anything, particularly regarding his past. You have to be mindful, though, because it will very easy for him to lose that trust in you; all it takes is one significant mistake, and then the process will start all over and it will be a long time before he has that much trust in you again.

U: Unique (What makes them unique as a s/o?)

For someone who can be so nonchalant at times, he’s awfully good at making you feel special. He’s pretty subtle about it, but when he remembers every little thing that you mention to him and every special date regarding your relationship with him, and with how well he looks after your health and well-being, it’s hard not to feel special when you’re with him. There’s also the fact that he’s not exactly a people-person and that he doesn’t let very many people get close to him, so keeping that in mind and then realizing how much you’ve bonded with him and how important you are to him will also make you feel pretty special.

V: Vulnerable (How long until they can be vulnerable around their s/o? What are they like in this state?)

The situation described in his SFW ‘Wild Card’ section is when he’ll be the most vulnerable with you, but beyond that, he’s mainly vulnerable at night when the two of you are laying in bed together. There’s just something about the ambiance of a dark room and being so close to you that makes him prone to opening up to you. This, of course, will only happen after the two of you have been together for a while and he’s gotten to the point where he trusts you with his life.

W: Wild Card (Random Headcanon)

He’s willing to share his Bepo pillow with you You’re one of the few people that know all of the details about his past. Once he realizes how deep his feelings for you are, he’ll sit you down somewhere private and you two will have a very long conversation about what happened to him. Regardless of your background, he’d love it if you shared your past with him at that time, as well, just to sort of solidify the bond and trust between the two of you.

X: X-Ray (What would they do if their s/o got injured?)

Since he’s a doctor, he’ll take care of your immediate care and recovery by himself. He will be a bit overbearing, though. He will nitpick everything that you do while you recover, questioning if you’re well enough to be doing whatever it is that you’re attempting. It’s all with good intentions, though-he’s just worried about you. He doesn’t want to lose you, especially not to an injury that he should be able to take care of.

Y: Yuck (Do they have any pet peeves about their s/o? Are there any habits that might bother their s/o?)

He would be able to deal with it if you were just a little messy, but if you’re unhygienic in any way, then he’ll be having words with you. He won’t be harsh about it, but he needs cleanliness in his life. On the flip side, he himself can be a bit too organized. Organization within reason is fine, but Law can be a bit overbearing with it, to the point where he gets irritated if something gets moved and isn’t put back in place exactly like it was before.

Z: Zeal (Are they passionate as a s/o? Do they want or like passion?)

It may be subtle, and he may express his love a little differently than other people, but he’s still quite passionate about you. He never imagined that he could be so close to another human being, and love was definitely not one of his priorities when he met you, but you quickly changed his mind on that and made him a much happier person in the process. He’s grateful for that, and he’ll be as passionate as he needs to be to show you his appreciation for that.

#trafalgar law #one piece law #one piece #one piece headcanons #trafalgar law headcanon #sfw alphabet #sfw

[deleriumofyou]

Dragon Age and Norse Mythos Parallels part 1

This section (part one, I hope to have more up in a week or so) deals primarily with the Inquisitor and Solas, and their parallels with Tyr and Fenrir. This is mostly just the parallels I’ve noticed since playing DA (including their various nods towards Norse mythology particularly in regards to Solas and the JOH DLC), and I’m sure these various comparisons have been made and discussed at length much better than what I’m offering below, but...I haven’t seen them, and wanted to get my opinion out of my system. 

Comparisons between the roles of the Inquisitor and Tyr, and Solas and Fenrir are under the cut below. (it’s long sorry not sorry)

Tyr is the god of War, Justice, and Law - similarly we see the Inquisitor in more or less the same light; the Inquisition is only brought about as a neutral enforcer against the chaos. The Inquisitor in game is involved in political matters spanning across countries (Tevinter, Orlais, and Ferelden primarily). The Inquisitor is also seen as the primary judge/arbiter - they sit in judgment, pass on punishment despite the fact that some prisoners could be (perhaps should be) given to the country they committed a crime in (which, yes, is done for RPG gameplay, and to show that the Inquisition is thought of as powerful, and an entirely separate entity from other countries).

While Tyr, like the role of the Inquisitor, is associated with war, he was not the only god of war, and he was not quite associated as a primary war god (although admittedly sources debate about this, it does boil down to the fact that he had other roles besides a god of war, and other gods shared that particular trait). He was associated first and foremost with upholding the law and justice (which at its core, the Inquisition was created for the first time as well as this time as is mentioned in DAI, and above).

The tale Tyr is most famous for is the Binding of Fenrir. Fenrir the “dreadful wolf” was growing rapidly, and due to a prophecy that had been relayed earlier, the gods sought to bind him because they feared their own destruction at his hands (er paws?). No one stepped up but Tyr himself - he offered to put his hand in Fenrir's jaws in a show of good faith. When Fenrir was bound - with a chain called gleipnir forged from the sound of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of a woman, the roots of mountains, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird (things thought impossible and nonexistent, so it would be impossible to break the chains like Fenrir had done earlier) - he bit Tyr’s hand off.

With the sacrifice of Tyr’s hand, Fenrir’s rise to perform Ragnarok is postponed at least for a time, and the gods are safe.

However - if we’re looking at Solas filling the role of Fenrir (which I'm looking at rather flexibly), then we’re playing the game in the aftermath of Ragnarok. After all, Fen’Harel already brought about the fall of the “gods” (Evanuris) although he didn’t kill them he did lock them away thereby eliminating the presence of “gods” in Thedas (and possibly even making the Titans sleep with the creation of the Veil, as the last recorded event of them being awake was before the Fall of Arlathan). 

Technically speaking...Ragnarok has already happened; Fenrir brought about chaos due to the fallout, and some time has passed since “the undoing of creation” (which I equate to the fall of the Elvhen empire, the separation of spirits from the physical world, and the loss of immortality among elves). But even Ragnarok doesn’t continue on forever - in the tale, Baldur returns from the underworld (after he’d been murdered by Loki) and then the gods and humans are returned to a bright new world.

Technically, we haven’t and likely won’t see “Ragnarok” in the purest sense - we’ve seen the aftermath, and the people living in Dragon Age in realtime live in the “new world”. Here, I’m taking the easy route and just assuming Baldur, in Dragon Age, just represents life adapting and continuing after a cataclysmic event.

So there’s the most obvious setup for the parallels between the Inquisitor and Tyr, and Solas and Fenrir, respectively. I could assume that right now Ragnarok is happening because Solas has admitted he’s not sure if the current world will die, but will continue on with his plans. However, being that I liken Ragnarok to the fall of the gods and varying immortal, primordial forces, I’m assuming the Ragnarok event parallel is the fall of Arlathan and the fall of the titans. 

That isn’t all though; in the Binding of Fenrir, Tyr loses his hand to "the dreadful wolf”, and as I mentioned above, the sacrifice of his hand makes the binding honorable since he gave something in return for lying and binding him.

In DA the Inquisitor loses the hand to the anchor then to Solas (technically) - but the sacrifice of their hand gives everyone more time; from Corypheus, the Breach, and even Solas himself. Often in a lot of ancient cultures, it’s held as a universal belief that there’s a lot of power in sacrifice and this holds pretty tight in the DA-verse as well (blood magic, in DAO with the final choice against the archdemon, etc).

While the Inquisitor didn’t mean to bind Solas he's more or less stuck by your side because you hold his power (mimicking a binding - you hold all of his power in your hand and he says he’d thought it was impossible (re: see the ingredients for Fenrir’s binding above)). No matter how you play as the Inquisitor, there is at least some amount of honor and even selflessness to their character; they stay and try to fix things - necessary or not, the Inquisitor sticks around and tries to “put things back in order”, even functioning under the yoke of leadership when they really only need to be around for rifts and the Breach, but all Inquisitors undertake and enormous amount of responsibility. Meanwhile, the entire time the anchor gets stronger (during Inquisition) and then powerful but somewhat out of control (Trespasser), thereby following the evolution of Fenrir growing large enough to break even the “impossible” chains he was bound in. 

Then, Solas takes the Inquisitor’s hand, mimicking Fenrir biting off Tyr’s hand almost literally, and Fenrir/Solas is free of the “binding”, which could be interpreted as the power perhaps eventually returning to him somehow in the future, or perhaps it’s just the responsibility he felt towards the Inquisitor and their condition.  

So this also boils down to my theory that in DA, Ragnarok is being enacted, by Solas, in reverse (where: the gods die → undoing of all creation → “the green time”/life adapts and moves on/Spring) so we're going from the green time to the undoing of all creation where it could be mass chaos and death as Solas himself believes it's possible (and also the destruction/fall of the Veil) and perhaps the rise of the gods again.

So – yes, Solas does take quite a few cues from Loki (as a trickster and liar), I think that's essentially it. Loki (in Norse mythology don't come for me MCU fans) isn't as sympathetic or compassionate as Solas; he is closer to a consummate villain who does things because he's covetous, jealous, and basks in chaos. Like a lot of things in DA, Solas's character and motivations don't stem entirely from one inspiration – although I am certain his role is closer to Fenrir (and admittedly, perhaps a bit of inspiration from Baldur, thought of a compassionate god since Solas had good intentions although now they seem more muddled), the wolf god, than it is Loki.

Part two will be featuring Flemeth/Mythal and possible clues DA has left and her/their parallels (hopefully up next week.) 

#meta theory #mythos parallel theory #solas #inquisitor #norse mythology role parallels #this is entirely too long #i even wrote more #goddamn it #i made gifs for this #what is my life #late night me you're an idiot #stop making things #a theory no one asked for or cares about? #yes i know

[windydreams]

As both a fan of Sly Cooper and Homestuck trash this set of pictures were bound to happen. Here's my reasoning behind each classpect:

Sly Cooper - Thief of Blood

A Thief is One who Steals Aspect or Steals through Aspect. Sly is a literal thief and has one's cockyness as well. That's obvious to anyone with a brain. But what and why does he steal?

Blood is about bonds, pacts, promises, responsibility, relationships both platonic and romantic, common goals. Sly is endlessly loyal to his two friends and teammates, having said many times he couldn't've come so far without them. Betray the gang and you're officially on his hit list.

"Penelope may have betrayed our FRIENDSHIP and TRUST, but she betrayed Bentley's heart. .... Unfortunately, we couldn't wait around. We had a villain to take down, with or without Bentley's help. And this time, IT WAS PERSONAL." Sly in Sly 4 about Penelope's betrayal.

He got into thieving due to his family legacy, his bloodbond if you may. All the games are about keeping up the Cooper Clan honor. Stealing back the Thievius Raccoonus, stealing the Clockwerk parts so that he wouldn't ever again threaten the Coopers, gathering a team to gain access to the Cooper vault and restoring Cooper history. Sly is neck deep into all this with no intention of leaving, just the way he likes it.

And then there's his relationship with Carmelita. Sly'd drop everything just to keep her safe, having gone out of his way to even get a short while to just talk to her (as shown in the comics). He even dropped thieving for a while to be with her! The relationship is complicated, but there's no doubt Sly values it as much as the bonds with his friends. His inverse is a Page of Breath, one who invites Exploitation of/through freedom, quest, frivolity, direction and detachment.

Bentley - Seer of Light

Seers are ones who invite Understanding of Aspect or invite Understanding through Aspect. They are the ones to guide others with their knowledge like a conductor with a baton, ensuring that others are well informed.

Light is about information, importance, agency and, in essence, luck. Bentley is the man with the plan. With his brains he's mastermined all of the gang's heist with near perfect succession. He knows a lot, even very personal information like Carm being picky about dance partners or Rajan having an insatiable appetite for Indian watermelons to name a few. He even freaks out if he doesn't know something!

"I'm used to having all the facts!" -Bentley in Sly 2 about Carmelita capturing Murray.

Bentley used to be the one who was content on staying in the van but due to the events of Sly 2 he's gotten almost dangerously brash. You could even say the gang's abundance of luck is all thanks to our brainy turtle. His inverse is Witch of Void, one who Changes irrelevance, misfortune, mystery, nothingness, submission and obfuscation of knowledge or Changes through them.

Murray - Prince of Rage

Princes are ones who Destroy their Aspect or Destroy through their Aspect. Murray's whole shtick from Sly 2 onward has been to be as destructive as possible.

Rage is about negative emotions like anger, doubt and fear, limited possibilities and falsehood. Murray was very much afraid in the first game, cowering from enemies in the turret sections. But then came THE MURRAY who instills fear in his enemies (Guttural Roar, anyone?). Contessa remarked about his inner rage. Sly 3 is probably the best example of Murray's Prince of Rage-iness. He beat up Octavio, instructed Bentley how to get angry:

"Find the match deep inside yourself...light it and let the fire burn up your guts and boil your blood!"

and the best example being when Bentley was second guessing his importance in the gang (note. a very Light-y thing to wonder) it was Murray who stomped that thought right out!

"Think of it this way, Bentley. If it were YOU in that vault and Sly and I were out here, what would he do?"

Also as one of the Destroying classes he ghosts his inverted Aspect quite a bit. I mean, have you ever met a more Hopeful person? Well, maybe Phineas from Phineas and Ferb but for a Destruction class? I think not! As long as there's a chance to destroy there's nothing stopping him from achieving the gang's goals. His inverse is Sylph of Hope, one who invites Creation of/through belief, positive emotions and unlimited possibilities.

Carmelita Fox - Sylph of Mind

Sylphs are the ones who invite Creation of Aspect or invite Creation through Aspect. They are described to be healers. I doubted for a long time about Carmelita being a Sylph but then I remembered how extreme the canon Sylphs can be and everything just clicked. Plus Carm's got the meddlesome spirit of a Sylph, so...

Mind is about logic, choices (specifically choices made with pure logic), justice, karma and facades one puts up to influence others. Carmelita is a cop, a person who upholds the law and serves justice to those who wrong it. She's "very devoted to her line of work, and must KEEP HER EMOTIONS UNDER CONTROL in order to keep her temper in check." (from the Wiki) Carmelita's view of law is rather black and white though, as she doesn't realize the truth until the 4th game after she's gotten some time to think. She gets her job done with cold efficiency...well, as long as Cooper's not involved. Heroes of Mind are notoriously bad at dealing with matters of the Heart and Carmelita is no exception. She lets Cooper get to her, nearly shattering her rationality with impulsiveness. In those instances she's ghosting her inverse, Prince of Heart, one who Destroys impulsiveness, emotions, soul and individual uniqueness or Destroys with them.

#artsy fartsy #sly cooper #bentley #murray #carmelita fox #homestuck #classpect

[maswartz]

“

Bernie Sanders suffers from Great Man syndrome. It afflicts all white men, some worse than others and it can’t be cured. In Bernie world Hillary’s popularity was only “because she was a woman.” Bernie’s followers lap up this hogwash because they don’t know any better, because they too have been conditioned to believe what the Great Man says no matter what. But Hillary, of course, was speaking up for the Obama coalition, that was black mothers of shooting victims (she was criticized for this, of course), women and children all over the world and here in the US (and criticized for this). She offered practical solutions to difficult problems that were actually workable. She didn’t make false promises like a false prophet, like a god. Hillary had a great plan for dealing with college debt, and wanted to extend and improve the Affordable Care Act. Hillary actually knew she could do the job well but like so many of us women know, not only aren’t we trusted to do the job, no one believes we CAN do the job.

I’m sorry that Bernie said what he said about Hillary and women. It fed into the warped frenzy of misogyny that overtook his so-called revolution. He still thinks, and his followers think, that he would have beaten Trump. He couldn’t even win in the primary. There was no rigging, there was no collusion. She won four million more votes that he did. The people chose HER and not him. All Bernie did was help Trump win. He knows this, which is why he’s now on a desperate speaking tour to not become Ralph Nader in he public’s eyes. Blame Hillary, blame the democrats. Do anything BUT blame Bernie. And Bernie is exactly who deserves much of the blame for what he’s done, what he is still doing, to ensure the democrats lose and lose again in four years.

Would Bernie have beaten Trump? The answer is no one can say for sure but I would guess that absolutely no, he could not have. Here are the reasons why.

But first, you might be inclined to say, “we’re fighting a fascist, why aren’t we uniting against Trump?” he reason is that we can’t unite because we are deeply and sharply divided still. 2.5 million more votes than Trump is what Hillary Clinton will have had by the end of the election. He won but just barely. He won the electoral college by going after the Bernie voters and counting on third party voters to sabotage Hillary’s lead and it worked. Bernie Sanders must take responsibility for his part in this or there will be no moving forward. You can’t lie to people when the evidence is right in front of them.

Historically speaking, this election was always the Republican’s to lose. The pendulum swing of American election cycles is maddeningly predictable: Both parties find it hard to hold onto the White House for more than 2 terms in a row. Reagan did it. But he’s really the only one in recent history. JFK and FDR both died in office and that’s the only way we ever got a successor elected, since the 1800s. We had one shot to win for the Democrats and that was to make the case that the last eight years were working for Americans, that Obama’s policies and presidency had been a success, and that we wanted four more years to finish what he had started, to overcome the obstructionist roadblocks, and buttress the Obama legacy with a Supreme Court that would work to uphold his great strides. But Bernie Sanders ran a campaign as a newly minted Democrat against the Democrats! With that reckless miscalculation, he lost this election for himself and for Hillary before it even started. His entire campaign became a beta test commercial for Trump’s candidacy, as Trump noted which Hillary attacks had traction and adopted every single talking point (minus the free college and free healthcare) that Bernie had hammered her with. Bernie helped Trump immeasurably. Bernie knew could not have beaten Trump unless he’d been Obama’s chosen successor and be handed the baton to continue Obama’s policies. Since that wasn’t happening, Bernie’s only option was to tell voters that nothing about the past two terms was good enough for the American people. He made that case that the Democrats had fallen short. A ridiculous claim, but several thousand people in key states fell for it. Sure, after he lost the nomination Bernie tried to change horses mid-stream but it never really worked for him. By then, he had convinced a few million voters in his flock that Hillary was too corrupt to deserve their vote. 3 or 4 million of his most fervid supporters could never snap out of their brainwashing. If anything, some felt doubly betrayed, and many of them turned on Bernie, called him a “sellout” when got behind Hillary.

The Republicans had major opposition research ready to launch on Bernie Sanders that would have made his numbers drop quickly significantly in the polls. But Bernie was never attacked by Hillary’s team, nor by the GOP. Ask yourself why and the reason is obvious. The GOP wanted to run against Bernie. They knew they had far more volatile stuff to dump on him that the whimpering “emails, emails, emails” chant that had lost all its pizazz. Their strategy was to leave Bernie alone because the better Bernie looked, the worse Hillary looked. Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald laid out some of that oppo research and this is what he found:

Here are a few tastes of what was in store for Sanders, straight out of the Republican playbook: He thinks rape is A-OK. In 1972, when he was 31, Sanders wrote a fictitious essay in which he described a woman enjoying being raped by three men. Yes, there is an explanation for it — a long, complicated one, just like the one that would make clear why the Clinton emails story was nonsense. And we all know how well that worked out.

Then there’s the fact that Sanders was on unemployment until his mid-30s, and that he stole electricity from a neighbor after failing to pay his bills, and that he co-sponsored a bill to ship Vermont’s nuclear waste to a poor Hispanic community in Texas, where it could be dumped. You can just see the words “environmental racist” on Republican billboards. And if you can’t, I already did. They were in the Republican opposition research book as a proposal on how to frame the nuclear waste issue.

Also on the list: Sanders violated campaign finance laws, criticized Clinton for supporting the 1994 crime bill that he voted for, and he voted against the Amber Alert system. His pitch for universal health care would have been used against him too, since it was tried in his home state of Vermont and collapsed due to excessive costs. Worst of all, the Republicans also had video of Sanders at a 1985 rally thrown by the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua where half a million people chanted, “Here, there, everywhere/the Yankee will die,’’ while President Daniel Ortega condemned “state terrorism” by America. Sanders said, on camera, supporting the Sandinistas was “patriotic.”

The Republicans had at least four other damning Sanders videos (I don’t know what they showed), and the opposition research folder was almost 2-feet thick. (The section calling him a communist with connections to Castro alone would have cost him Florida.) In other words, the belief that Sanders would have walked into the White House based on polls taken before anyone reallyattacked him is a delusion built on a scaffolding of political ignorance.

Unfortunately, Sanders supporters think he’s god-like and thus, they rely solely on those inflated poll numbers. Nate Silver would tell them that you can’t really trust polls until you’ve seen the candidate “punched” completely by the opposition party. Silver thinks now it was a mistake for Hillary not to attack him because now no one will ever believe he could have been attacked the way she has been for decades. To them, Hillary had it coming but the truth is Bernie has never been considered a threat enough TO ATTACK in the first place.

3. Bernie is Jewish (as am I in case you want to start blamesplaining). He’s a socialist. And he’s an atheist. Do I need to explain this one? Obama might have been black but he was Christian. A man of faith. And though he was accused of being a socialist he is not. Bernie actually is! Has always been a socialist, bragged about being one, has expressed an affinity for Fidel Castro on video, and hates the Democratic party for not being leftist enough. The Jewish part is a touchy subject, but we have to be realistic about the American “heartland.” Is flyover America ready for a Jew in the White House? Let’s ask Joe Lieberman. Or how about ask voters in 40 states who have never sent a Jewish senator to Washington D.C. Ever. 40 states. Never Elected. A Jewish Senator. In 230 years. Are Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, suddenly ready to see a Jew in the Oval Office? I do not believe they are. Not in the America that just elected Donald Trump. They aren’t even ready for a woman. The Bernie people don’t seem to know this other half of America exists. To Bernie and his supporters all those people who just voted for Trump are did so because Bernie wasn’t on the ballot. Seriously, that’s what they think.

4. Bernie Sanders promised to raise taxes on just about everyone, even a small amount on the middle class. If you think any politician can win a national election by saying they are going to raise taxes on the middle class, you have another think coming. Yes, Bernie’s ideas on trade, and certainly on the climate, are appealing to most but his platform was predicated on making the government pay for everything. When you put together his own history of never having a job for his first 30 years as an adult, never really earning a paycheck that wasn’t from the government, you can fill out the bubbles from there, right? You can visualize the Republican TV ads, yes? Please tell me you can.

5. He couldn’t win the primary. In the Land of Nod , the sad fable is that Bernie was cheated by the DNC. That’s what the Republicans wanted the Berners to believe, that’s the story they seeded, nurtured and harvested, and so it was! The most hardcore Berniacs threw one hissy fit after another, stoned Wasserman-Schultz, threatened to bust up the convention all because Hillary Clinton won more votes. He lost. Not by a little, by a lot. 55% — 43%. But for a huge number of his sullen supporters, if Bernie couldn’t have the prize, the no one could. That was their attitude. But the fact is Bernie’s supporters simply didn’t vote in large enough numbers. They didn’t even vote down ballot during the primaries. They didn’t vote for any of the progressive candidates Bernie had anointed, like Russ Finegold and Zephyr Teachout. For all their demonizing of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, they couldn’t even be bthered to vote for her Bernie-certified opponent Tim Canova. The “revolution” was failing at every level, all across the country. The giddy crowds showed up at rallies but apparently standing in line to vote wasn’t exciting enough. Maybe no one ever taught these people about government. They certainly don’t seem to know much about safeguards the three branches help ensure. Bernie Sanders lost so badly in the South he never could have won the general election with those kinds of numbers even with Hillary out of the way. His excuse? “Oh, they’re just too deeply conservative in the south.” And worse: “Oh, they’re not educated about the issues.” Great way to connect with black voters, there, Professor Sanders! Dismiss them as being too ill-informed to know what’s good for them. Charming. Perhaps if Bernie had one more year of campaigning to strengthen his weaknesses, he might have got a better toehold. But he didn’t. The theory is that good reasonable Democrats would shunned him the primaries would have come ‘round and voted for him in the general. But I’m betting many would have fled altogether and voted for Trump, for the three following reasons.

6. a) Isis. If you didn’t get that Isis was a big part of this election you were living in a bubble, a fantasy bubble where your biggest fear is fracking. But the news that most people watch like CNN or Fox News? It’s all Isis all the time. Fear of Isis is pumped into their living rooms around the clock and it’s become ingrained in our national reality. These voters aren’t staring at Facebook and reading biased boutique news sites that tell progressive liberals what they want to hear (gluten free water cures cancer!). They’re looking around at the world from their own homes and they’re scared. Whether Bernie and his minions thought Isis was a threat is irrelevant. The voters clearly did and they thought it in a big way. It’s an issue much more important to a truckdriver than free college. And there are millions of longhaul truckdrivers. Trump and Hillary Clinton both mopped the floor with Bernie Sanders on Isis and terrorism and foreign policy. Remember the Daily News interview? Bernie forgot to study for that exam. 6. b) Economy. Trump pretended to be Bernie’s best friend because it made Hillary look bad. He used Bernie like a bar rag, sopping up the stale foam of angry white dudes, hipster or otherwise, who could not believe their Feel-the-Bern icon of virtue had been beaten by a girl. 6. c) Immigration. See 6a) and 6b) Because the greatest trick Trump ever pulled was convincing a stunningly large swath of white Americans that all their terrorism fears and the economic woes would magically evaporate if we could only Build That Wall. So it was all about Isis, the economy, and immigration. It was in the beginning, it was in the end, and it is now. Trump would have crushed Sanders on those key points alone and it wouldn’t have even been hard.

7. Bernie is in it for Bernie. He probably would have chosen Cornel West as his running mate, but it’s pretty clear he would not have chosen anyone he would want to share the stage with, because he didn’t like sharing the stage with anyone, not even his poor wife. (“Don’t stand next to me!”) So his veep would have been… who knows. Certainly not dynamo Elizabeth Warren. She would have swooped in like Bernie’s charismatic caregiver. Although in the dreamland of liberal utopia it would have been Sanders and Warren. But even that duo would have lost and lost badly to Trump. Outside the major cities where most of us dwell, the majority of Americans saw Trump and Sanders as different species of outsiders. That’s both funny sad, because Bernie only seemed like an outsider, because nobody in 49 states had ever heard of him before last year, despite his decades in public office. So given that choice, to those voters, Trump would have been basically Bernie except glitzy capitalism instead of scary socialism, Trump was Bernie except with a strong hand against terrorism instead of weak one. Trump was Bernie except with the sultry MILF by his side. None of this would have sat well with a man as vain as Bernie Sanders. Bernie would have been pressured by his all-or-nothing followers to pick a progressive veep so now you’ve got the Bernie progressive vote, you’ve got some of the loyalist Democrats, but you’ve lost ALL of the moderates who are too freaked out about taxes and Isis to take a chance on a radically left ticket.

8. Change in America is incremental and slow. It does not come quickly. After two terms of a Democratic president, the American people have never and will never move farther to the outer reaches in the same direction of the party in power. America is populated by mostly moderates who care more about paying taxes (or not) than just about anything else. Whatever Bernie is offering, this is an electorate that could barely accept Obamacare because they thought it was socialism — what kind of a crackpot does one have to be to think Americans would be ready to veer all the way to 100% government-run health care? They wouldn’t. They won’t. Not yet. I’m so sick of having this conversation with people and if Bernie Sanders runs in 2020 then and only then will they understand, just like the McGovern supporters learned and the Nader voters. You learn that ugly lesson once. For those of us who have lived through people learning that lesson, to watch it learned over again is not just frustrating, it’s tragic. All the left seems able to do is put republicans in power, until they get a clue about what America is and what America isn’t.

9. Liberals were living in a bubble of illusion, including and especially the Berniecrats. They were following what the media kept saying and the media focused entirely too much on Sanders — only when he hurt Hillary. They never focused on his policies. They didn’t want to talk policy. Policy is boring. Let’s watch the scrappy senator take down the powerful woman. Let’s watch Trump take Hillary down. That’s what they were invested in. And they lulled Americans into falsely believing the democrats had it in the bag. This is true now and it would have been true if Bernie won. The only difference is that now Bernie would have to find another scapegoat to explain what would have been a landslide loss for him. But the polls, they would cry, the polls! Because the polls were all they had and the polls were wrong when it came to Trump. They were wrong. Liberals need to break out of that bubble because the joke is on us. America is laughing at us and our hysteria and in order to save the environment, fight for civil and LGBT rights we have to get smarter about it and getting smarter about it does not include living in a deluded fantasy that “Bernie would have won.” No, he wouldn’t have.

10. You can’t lead the democratic party and focus only on the white working class as Bernie did. You can’t lead the democratic party by not acknowledging the success of its two term president, Barack Obama. You can’t lead the democratic party by perpetuating the false notion that Hillary Clinton was only where she was because she was a woman. The democratic party is not the party of the white working class. It stands for a bigger, broader group than that. Bernie writes it off as “identity politics” but it’s bigger than that because America, and the world, are changing. Hillary has more of a record of action than Bernie ever had in 30 years. To discount that is to tell a lie. If you tell enough lies sooner or later they catch up with you and Bernie’s would have caught up with him. He should never have divided the democrats the way he did. He should never have influenced so many young people not to choose pragmatism.

On top of our deep sense of sadness (and yes, everlasting anger) over the way this election was manipulated by the FBI, by WikiLeaks, by Putin, by news media both slanted and fake — it’s just exhausting two weeks later to have to listen to Bernie’s simplistic lectures about the Democrats “failure to connect” with the white working class, and scolded for not seeming to know what people in America care about. It has become depressing and tiresome to watch Bernie continue to blame Hillary even now. Had he ever tried to discourage the character assassination against her early on, we would have had a chance. But Bernie could not stand it that Hillary was beating him. He still can’t stand it and he still can’t believe it. It’s time for him to stop already. Just stop.

“

#bernie sanders #donald trump #hillary clinton

[madewithonerib]

Psalm 29:11 | ¹¹ The LORD gives HIS people strength; the LORD blesses HIS people with peace.

Cambridge: John JS Perowne, Anglican Bishop [1882] | Psalm 29:11

Compare Psalm 28:8-9; Psalm 46:1-3; & the blessing in Numbers 6.

       ●  Psalm 28:8-9 | ⁸ The LORD is the strength of HIS people,             a stronghold of salvation for HIS anointed.

            ⁹ Save YOUR people & bless YOUR inheritance;             shepherd them & carry them forever.

       ●  Psalm 46:1-3 | ¹ Of the sons of Korah.             According to Alamoth. A song.             GOD is our refuge & strength, an             ever-present help in times of trouble.

            ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is             transformed & the mountains are toppled into             the depths of the seas, ³ though their waters roar             & foam & the mountains quake in the surge. Selah

       ●  Numbers 6:1-27 | ¹ Again the LORD said to Moses,

            ² “Speak to the Israelites & tell them:

                  If a man or woman makes a special vow, the                   vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,

                  ³ he is to abstain from wine & strong drink.

                  He must not drink vinegar made from wine or                   strong drink, & he must not drink any grape juice                   or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

                  ⁴ All the days of his separation, he is not to eat                   anything that comes from the grapevine, not                   even the seeds or skins.

                  ⁵ For the entire period of his vow of separation,                   no razor shall pass over his head. He must be                   holy until the time of his separation to the LORD                   is complete;

                  he must let the hair of his head grow long.

                  ⁶ Throughout the days of his separation to the                   LORD, he must not go near a dead body.

                  ⁷ Even if his father or mother or brother or sister                   should die, he is not to defile himself, because                   the crown of consecration to his GOD is upon his                   head. ⁸ Throughout the time of his separation,                   he is holy to the LORD.

                  ⁹ If someone suddenly dies in his presence & defiles                   his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his                   head on the day of his cleansing—the 7th day.

            ¹⁰ On the 8th day he must bring 2 turtledoves or             2 young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the             Tent of Meeting.

            ¹¹ And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering &             the other as a burnt offering to make atonement             for him, because he has sinned by being in the             presence of the dead body.

            On that day he must consecrate his head again.

            ¹² He must rededicate his time of separation to the             LORD & bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering.

            But the preceding days shall not be counted, because             his separation was defiled. ¹³ Now this is the law of the             Nazirite when his time of separation is complete:

                  He must be brought to the entrance to the                   Tent of Meeting, ¹⁴ & he is to present an                   offering to the LORD of an unblemished                   year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an                   unblemished year-old female lamb as a                   sin offering,

                  & an unblemished ram as a peace offering—

                  ¹⁵ together with their grain offerings & drink                   offerings—and a basket of unleavened cakes                   made from fine flour mixed with oil & unleavened                   wafers coated with oil.

            ¹⁶ The priest is to present all these before the LORD             & make the sin offering & the burnt offering.

            ¹⁷ He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to             the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread.

            And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain             offering & drink offering.

            ¹⁸ Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the             Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the             hair, & put it on the fire under the peace offering.

            ¹⁹ And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from             the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, &             one unleavened wafer, & put them into the hands of             the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his             consecration.

            ²⁰ The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering             before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest,             in addition to the breast of the wave offering & the             thigh that was presented.

            After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

            ²¹ This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering             to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever             else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he             makes, according to the law of his separation.”

      ²² Then the LORD said to Moses,

            ²³ “Tell Aaron & his sons:

            This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

            ²⁴ ‘May the LORD bless you & keep you;             ²⁵ may the LORD cause HIS face to shine upon you                 & be gracious to you; ²⁶ may the LORD lift up HIS                 countenance toward you & give you peace.’

            ²⁷ So they shall put MY name on the Israelites,                 & I will bless them.”

Albert Barnes, American Theologian [1798-1870] | Psalm 29:11

    The LORD will give strength unto HIS people—This is a     practical application of the sentiments of the psalm, or a     conclusion which is fairly to be derived from the main     thought in the psalm.

    The idea is, that the GOD who presides over the tempest     & the storm, the GOD who has such power, & can produce     such effects, is abundantly able to uphold HIS people, &     to defend them.

    In other words, the application of such amazing power will     be to protect HIS people, & to save them from danger.

    When we look on the rolling clouds in the tempest, when     we hear the roaring of the thunder, & see the flashing of     the lightning, when we hear the oak crash on the hills, &     see the waves piled mountains high,

        if we feel that GOD presides over all, & that         HE controls all this with infinite ease,         assuredly we have no occasion to doubt that         HE can protect us;

        no reason to fear that HIS strength cannot support us.

Johann Albrecht Bengel, Lutheran [1734] | Psalm 29:11

    Php 1:21 — to me, at the beginning of a section, means,     so far as I am concerned; for he treated in the preceding     verse of what regarded CHRIST.— to live is CHRIST

    The article denotes the subject, as again in the next clause.

    Whatever may be the life I live [in the natural life], its     principle & end is CHRIST.

    [While I live in the world I consider the cause of CHRIST     to be my own—to die is gain. Although in dying I seem     to suffer the loss of all things.

    Literally, I live CHRIST. “CHRISTum vivo.”

Charles John Ellicott, Theologian [1749–1905] | Psalm 29:11

    [11] The LORD will give—This verse appears to have been     a liturgic addition, to give the poem a religious tone.

    [See Introduction]

Joseph S. Exell & Henry Spence-Jones, Anglican [1897] | Psalm 29:11

    v. 11.—The LORD will give strength unto HIS people.

    The LORD, who shows HIS strength in the thunderstorm,     will be able, & assuredly will be willing, to "give strength     to HIS people"—to impart to them some of that power &     might which HE so abundantly possesses.

    Then they, partaking in HIS strength, need not fear the     attacks of any adversaries.

    Struggle & contention will, by HIS good providence, be     one day brought to an end; & ultimately the LORD     will bless HIS people with peace—will give them the     "rest which remains to the people of GOD" [Hebrews 3:9],

    the perfect peace which "passes all understanding" [Philippians 4:7].

       ●  Hebrews 3:6-10 | ⁶ But CHRIST is faithful as the             SON over GOD’s house. And we are HIS house,             if we hold firmly to our confidence & the hope of             which we boast.

            ⁷ Therefore, as the HOLY SPIRIT says:

                  “Today, if you hear HIS voice, ⁸ do not harden                   your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the                   day of testing in the wilderness, ⁹ where your                   fathers tested & tried ME, & for forty years                   saw MY works.

            ¹⁰ Therefore I was angry with that generation, &                 I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, &                 they have not known MY ways.’

       ●  Philippians 4:7 | ⁷ And the peace of GOD, which             surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts             & your minds in CHRIST JESUS.

Keil & Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the OT

Luther renders it: "The LORD sitteth to prepare a Flood," thus putting meaning into the unintelligible rendering of the Vulgate & lxx; & in fact a meaning that accords with the language—for ???? ? is most certainly intended to be understood after the analogy of ???? ??????, Psalm 122:5, cf. Psalm 9:8—just as much as with the context; for the poet has not thus far expressly referred to the torrents of rain, in which the storm empties itself. Engelhardt also [Lutherische Zeitschrift, 1861, 216f.], Kurtz [Bibel und Astronomie, S. 568, Aufl. 4], Riehm [Liter.—Blatt of the Allgem. Kirchen-Zeit., 1864, S. 110], & others understand by ???? the quasi-flood of the torrent of rain accompanying the lightning & thunder. But the word is not ?????, but ??????, & ???????? [Syr. momu^l] occurs exclusively in Genesis 6-11 as the name of the great Flood. Every tempest, however, calls to mind this judgment & its merciful issue, for it comes before us in sacred history as the 1st appearance of rain with lightning & thunder, & of the bow in the clouds speaking its message of peace [Genesis, S. 276]. The retrospective reference to this event is also still further confirmed by the aorist ?????? which follows the perfect ???? [Hofmann, Schriftbeweis i. 208]. Jahve—says the poet—sat [upon HIS throne] at the Flood [to execute it], & sits [enthroned] in consequence thereof, or since that time, as this present revelation of HIM in the tempest shows, as King for ever, inasmuch as HE rules down here upon earth from HIS throne in the heavens [Psalm 115:16] in wrath & in mercy, judging & dispensing blessing. Here upon earth HE has a people, whom from above HE endows with a share of HIS own might & blesses with peace, while the tempests of HIS wrath burst over their foes. How expressive is ???????? as the closing word of this particular Psalm! It spans the Psalm like a rain-bow. The opening of the Psalm shows us the heavens opened & the throne of GOD in the midst of the angelic songs of praise, & the close of the Psalm shows us, on earth, HIS people victorious & blessed with peace [?? as in Genesis 24:1 [Note: The Holy One, blessed be HE-says the Mishna, Uksin iii. 12, with reference to this passage in the Psalms-has not found any other vessel [???] to hold the blessing specially allotted to Israel but peace.]]

in the midst of Jahve's voice of anger, which shakes all things. Gloria in excelsis is its beginning, & pax in terris its conclusion. The Apostle thinks little of dying because he thinks so much of what comes after. Who is afraid of a brief journey if a meeting with dear friends long lost is at the end of it? The narrow avenue seems short, & its roughness & darkness are nothing, because JESUS CHRIST stands with outstretched arms at the other end, beckoning us to HIMSELF, as mothers teach their children to walk. Whosoever is sure that he will be with CHRIST can afford to smile at death, & call it but a shifting of place. And whosoever feels the desire to be with CHRIST will not shrink from the means by which that desire is fulfilled, with the agony of revulsion that it excites in many an imagination. It will always be solemn, & its physical accompaniments of pain & struggle will always be more or less of a terror, & the parting, even for a time, from our dear ones, will always be loss, but nevertheless if we see CHRIST across the gulf, & know that one struggle more & we shall clasp HIM with ‘inseparable hands with joy & bliss in over measure for ever,’ we shall not dread the leap.

One thought about the future should fill our minds, as it did Paul’s, that it is to be with CHRIST. How different that nobly simple expectation, resolving all bliss into the one element, is from the morbid curiosity as to details, which vulgarises & weakens so much of even devout anticipation of the future. To us as to him Heaven should be CHRIST, & CHRIST should be Heaven. All the rest is but accident. Golden harps & crowns, & hidden manna & white robes & thrones, & all the other representations, are but symbols of the blessedness of union with HIM, or consequences of it. Immortal life & growth in perfection, both of mind & heart, & the cessation of all that disturbs, & our investiture with glory & honour, flung around our poor natures like a royal robe over a naked body, are all but the many-sided brightnesses that pour out from HIM, & bathe in their rainbowed light those who are with HIM.

To be with CHRIST is all we need. For the loving heart to be near HIM is enough.

‘I shall clasp thee again, O soul of my soul, And with GOD be the rest.’

Let us not fritter away our imaginations & our hopes on the subordinate & non-essential accompaniments, but concentrate all their energy on the one central thought. Let us not lose this gracious image in a maze of symbols, that, though precious, are 2ndary. Let us not inquire, with curiosity that will find no answer, about the unrevealed wonders & staggering mysteries of that transcendent thought, life everlasting. Let us not acquire the habit of thinking of the future as the perfecting of our humanity, without connecting all our speculations with HIM, whose presence will be all of heaven to us all. But let us keep HIS serene figure ever clear before our imaginations in all the blaze of the light, & try to feed our hopes & stay our hearts on this aspect of heavenly blessedness as the all-embracing one, that all, each for himself, shall be for ever conscious of CHRIST’s loving presence, & of the closest union with HIM, a union in comparison with which the dearest & sacredest blendings of heart with heart & life with life are cold & distant. For the clearness of our hope the fewer the details the better: for the willingness with which we turn from life & face the inevitable end, it is very important that we should have that one thought disengaged from all others. The one full moon, which dims all the stars, draws the tides after it. These lesser lights may gem the darkness, & dart down white shafts of brilliance in quivering reflections on the waves, but they have no power to move their mass. It is CHRIST & CHRIST only who draws us across the gulf to be with HIM, & reduces death to a mere shifting of our encampment.

This is a noble & worthy reason for wishing to die; not because Paul is disappointed & sick of life, not because he is weighed down with sorrow, or pain, or loss, or toil, but because he would like to be with his Master. HE is no morbid sentimentalist, he is cherishing no unwholesome longing, he is not weary of work, he indulges in no hysterical raptures of desire. What an eloquent simplicity is in that quiet ‘very far better!’ It goes straight to one’s heart, & says more than paragraphs of falsetto yearnings. There is nothing in such a wish to die, based on such a reason, that the most manly & wholesome piety need be ashamed of. It is a pattern for us all.

The attraction of life contends with the attraction of heaven in these verses. That is a conflict which many good men know something of, but which does not take the shape with many of us which it assumed with Paul. Drawn, as he is, by the supreme desire of close union with his Master, for the sake of which he is ready to depart, he is tugged back even more strongly by the thought that, if he stays here, he can go on working & gaining results from his labour. It does not follow that he did not expect service if he were with CHRIST. We may be very sure that Paul’s heaven was no idle heaven, but one of happy activity & larger service. But he will not be able to help these dear friends at Philippi & elsewhere who need him, as he knows. So love to them drags at his skirts, & ties him here.

One can scarcely miss the remarkable contrast between Paul’s ‘To abide in the flesh is more needful for you,’ & the saying of Paul’s Master to people who assuredly needed HIS presence more than Philippi needed Paul’s, ‘It is expedient for you that I go away.’ This is not the place to work out the profound significance of the contrast, & the questions which it raises as to whether CHRIST expected HIS work to be finished & HIS helpfulness ended by HIS death, as Paul did by his. It must suffice to have suggested the comparison.

Returning to our text, such a reason for wishing to die, held in check & overcome by such a reason for wishing to live, is great & noble. There are few of us who would not own to the mightier attraction of life; but how few of us who feel that, for ourselves personally, if we were free to think only of ourselves, we should be glad to go, because we should be closer to CHRIST, but that we hesitate for the sake of others whom we think we can help! Many of us cling to life with a desperate clutch, like some poor wretch pushed over a precipice & trying to dig his nails into the rock as he falls. Some of us cling to it because we dread what is beyond, & our longing to live is the measure of our dread to die. But Paul did not look forward to a thick darkness of judgment, or to nothingness. HE saw in the darkness a great light, the light in the windows of his FATHER’s house, & yet he turned willingly away to his toil in the field, & was more than content to drudge on as long as he could do anything by his work. Blessed are they who share his desire to depart, & his victorious willingness to stay here & labour! THEY shall find that such a life in the flesh, too, is being with CHRIST.

III. Thus the stream of thought passes the rapids & flows on smoothly to its final phase of peaceful acquiescence.

That is expressed very beautifully in the closing verse, ‘Having this confidence, I know that I shall abide & continue with you all, for your furtherance & joy in faith.’ Self is so entirely overcome that he puts away his own desire to enter into their joy, & rejoices with them. HE cannot yet have for himself the blessedness which HIS SPIRIT seeks. Well, be it so; he will stop here & find a blessedness in seeing them growing in confidence & knowledge of CHRIST & in the gladness that comes from it. HE gives up the hope of that higher companionship with JESUS which drew him so mightily. Well, be it so; he will have companionship with his brethren, & ‘abiding with you all’ may haply find, even before the day of final account, that to ‘visit’ CHRIST’s little ones is to visit CHRIST. Therefore he fuses his opposing wishes into one. HE is no more in a strait betwixt 2, or unwitting what he shall choose. HE chooses nothing, but accepts the appointment of a higher wisdom. There is rest for him, as for us, in ceasing from our own wishes, & laying our wills silent & passive at HIS feet.

The true attitude for us in which to face the unknown future, with its dim possibilities, & especially the supreme alternative of life or death, is neither desire nor reluctance, nor a hesitation compounded of both, but trustful acquiescence. Such a temper is far from indifference, & as far from agitation. In all things, & most of all in regard to these matters, it is best to hold desire in equilibrium till GOD shall speak. Torture not yourself with hopes or fears. THEY make us their slaves. Put your hand in GOD’s hand, & let HIM guide you as HE will. Wishes are bad steersmen. We are only at peace when desires & dreads are, if not extinct, at all events held tightly in. Rest, & wisdom, & strength come with acquiescence. Let us say with Richard Baxter, in his simple, noble words:

‘Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live; To love & serve Thee is my share, And that Thy grace must give.’

We may learn, too, that we may be quite sure that we shall be left here as long as we are needed. Paul knew that his stay was needful, so he could say, ‘I know that I shall abide with you.’ We do not, but we may be sure that if our stay is needful we shall abide. We are always tempted to think ourselves indispensable, but, thank GOD, nobody is necessary. There are no irreparable losses, hard as it is to believe it. We look at our work, at our families, our business, our congregations, our subjects of study, & we say to ourselves, ‘What will become of them when I am gone? Everything would fall to pieces if I were withdrawn.’ Do not be afraid. Depend on it, you will be left here as long as you are wanted. There are no incomplete lives & no premature removals. To the eye of faith the broken column in our cemeteries is a sentimental falsehood. No Christian life is broken short off so, but rises in a symmetrical shaft, & its capital is garlanded with amaranthine flowers in heaven. In one sense all our lives are incomplete, for they & their issues are above, out of our sight here. In another none are, for we are ‘immortal till our work is done.’

The true attitude, then, for us is patient service till HE withdraws us from the field. We do not count him a diligent servant who is always wearying for the hour of leaving off to strike. Be it ours to labour where HE puts us, patiently waiting till ‘death’s mild curfew’ sets us free from the long day’s work, & sends us home.

Brethren! there are but 2 theories of life; 2 corresponding aspects of death. The one says, ‘To me to live is CHRIST, & to die gain’; the other, ‘To me to live is self, & to die is loss & despair.’ ONE or other must be your choice. Which?

Benson Commentary

Php 1:21-23. For to me to live is CHRIST—As my life, both natural & spiritual, is from CHRIST, so to serve & enjoy him is the supreme end of my life, & I value it only as it is capable of being employed in glorifying him, to know, love, & follow whom, is my glory & my joy. But if I live in the flesh, &c.—Here he begins to treat of the former clause of the preceding verse: of the latter he treats Php 2:17. This is the fruit of my labour—This is the fruit of my living longer, that I can labour more. Glorious labour, desirable fruit! In this view long life is indeed a blessing. Yet what I shall choose I know not—That is, if it were left to my own choice. For I am in a strait betwixt 2—The 2 things mentioned immediately. The original expression, s??e??µa? e? t?? d??, is translated by Doddridge, I am borne 2 different ways, it being, he thinks, an allusion to a ship stationed at a particular place, & riding at anchor, & at the same time likely to be forced to sea by the violence of the winds; presenting us with a lively representation of the apostle’s attachment to his situation in the Christian Church, & the vehemence of his desire to be unbound, as a?a??sa? may be rendered, that is, to weigh anchor, & set sail for the heavenly country. Having a desire—?p???µ?a?, a coveting, or strong desire, as Macknight renders the word; see on 2 Corinthians 5:4; 2 Corinthians 5:8 : to depart—To have my soul separated from my body, & to escape from bonds, the flesh, & the world; & to be with CHRIST—In paradise, Luke 23:43; admitted to the immediate, full, & constant enjoyment of him, in comparison whereof the nearest access to him, & fullest enjoyment of him in this world, are but absence. Which is far better—Greek, p???? µa???? ??e?ss??, by much far better. Or, as Dr. Doddridge renders the clause, is better beyond all expression. Indeed, as the doctor observes, the apostle seems to labour for expression, using the highest superlative which it is perhaps possible to form in any language. It is justly observed by the last-mentioned writer, that this text plainly proves the separate spirits of good men are with CHRIST immediately after the death of their bodies, in such a manner that their state is far better than while they continue in this world; which certainly a state of insensibility, or the sleep of the soul, which some maintain, cannot possibly be. Some indeed think the apostle might speak thus though the soul sinks into insenbility at death; because, say they, in that case, the time between death & judgment must be reckoned as nothing. But, as Dr. Whitby justly observes, “could  Paul think a state of insensibility much better than a life tending so much as his did to the glory of GOD, to the propagation of the GOSPEL, & the furtherance of the joy of Christians? Could he call such an insensate state a being with CHRIST, & a walking by sight, in opposition to the life of faith?” 2 Corinthians 5:7-8. Certainly it is at least evident from what the apostle here says, if there be any such middle state of insensibility between death & the resurrection, he had no knowledge or expectation of it; for if he had known of any such state, he undoubtedly would have thought it a thousand times better to live, & promote the cause of CHRIST & religion on earth, than by dying to fall into it. Besides, how could he say that he had a desire to be with CHRIST, if he knew he was not to be with him till after the resurrection? This, however, will not at all disprove the doctrine which maintains that pious men will receive a large accession of happiness after the resurrection: a truth declared in many other passages of SCRIPTURE. “The use of philosophy, it hath been said, is to teach men to die. But, as Fielding has observed, one page of the GOSPEL is more effectual for that purpose than volumes of philosophy. The assurance which the GOSPEL gives us of another life is, to a good mind, a support much stronger than the stoical consolation drawn from the necessity of nature, the order of things, the emptiness of our enjoyments, the satiety which they occasion, & many other such topics, which, though they may arm the mind with stubborn patience in bearing the thought of death, can never raise it to a fixed contempt thereof, much less can they make us consider it as a real good, & inspire us with the desire of dying, such as the apostle on this occasion strongly expressed.”—Macknight.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/29-11.htm

#peace #Psalm 29 #Psalm 29:11 #Numbers 6:23-27 #blessing

[kiss-my-freckle]

8x3 Rewatch: 16 Ounces

A pound of flesh. William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Recompense. The Debt Collector. Because Liz is being held physically and emotionally hostage by Tom through her second memory wipe. 

“We finish our coffee...”

The opening feels like what I would expect of a final season because it hits the core of the show. Dialogues as far back as S2. "Previously on The Blacklist":

Red: As I feared would happen, elements from Katarina's past are circling Elizabeth like a pack of wolves in the night. Red: I need to control the danger to Elizabeth. I've bult a vast criminal network predicated on that very principle.

My Tom Domino theory sits in the two sections they cut from Red’s 4x17 dialogue. Having done it to place focus on current storyline with the woman’s death, but it’s my belief and my theory that those two sections they cut speak to what’s coming in future episodes.

Red: I put Tom Keen in her life to keep an eye on her, and he married her. Red: It's time to live up to my mission statement.

It’s all about why Red reentered Liz’s life at that specific time because Liz and Tom married two years prior, and Red had no intent on killing him then. So the very opening of the episode hits my Tom Domino theory.    

Woman: All those years searching for answers, and you were right in front of me the whole time.

What Red said to the woman from Paris within that voicemail fits Liz just as much as it fits her, so I think that voicemail is gonna hit home for Liz when all is said and done. Liz's mother has been in front of her since the pilot.

Red: But staying safe wasn’t enough. You needed answers. Well, now you have them. And now they’ve destroyed you.

This line ties in Liz's 5x22 dialogue.

Liz: I'm going to figure all that out and then I'm going to destroy him.

Because Red and Liz are one and the same, in destroying Red, Liz would essentially be destroying herself. Those answers are nearly destroying her now. 

Snake skin boots. Only the second time I recall seeing them. Another hit to The Apothecary, which I posted about before. First shown after the woman abducted Dembe's imam and Red first collapsed on the floor. Shown again this episode.

Red: Because of Elizabeth. Dembe: You've pushed her too far. Red: I wonder.

This hits back to Ressler and Dr. Krilov in 7x10, and pushes back to Liz's second memory wipe. That's why Liz is seeking revenge against Red.

Red: Revenge doesn’t suit you, Donald. Ressler: I’m taking him back to prison. Red: Are you? I wonder.

Liz's passport pushes back to Agnes' passport and Tom's go-box in 7x13.

Aram: I spoke to a woman named Merritt Marks. She took Agnes home with her daughter after school for a play date. Now, Liz called her a few hours ago, saying she had to leave town for a work emergency and asked her to take Agnes for a few days.

This episode shows the slow transition Red went through as Katarina. Liz losing that "relatively normal life" Red had. The motel room, Agnes' play date, those family and friends she left behind - people to care about. This is the Rassvet reverse I've been talking about - Liz running opposite just as her Ruin episode ran against Red's Cape May episode. 

This pushes back to Aram's dialogue in 8x1.

Cooper: That's right. Keen, Elizabeth. It's just my gut, but I don't think she left the city.

Aram: That’s right - Keen. K-E-E-N. First name’s Elizabeth.

It's all about that gut, S3

Cooper: You made a decision based on instinct. You should trust that. Ressler: My job isn’t to trust my gut. My job is to uphold the law. I intend to do that.

Ressler: You tell me to trust my instincts? My instincts are telling me to stay as far away from Tom Keen as possible. Cooper: You know what? You’re right. You should trust your gut, not mine. After all, look where my instincts got me. You’re a good agent, Donald. You made the right call.

This one is a hit back to Norman Devane's episode for Stark's storyline.

Liz: You're making excuses, looking the other way like we've always done.

Cooper: You’re asking if we should look the other way. Ressler: Yeah. Again.

Liz does the same thing - makes excuses based on DNA. She did this with Dr. Nik in S5 when she thought Red was her father and let him help The Endling. She didn't just look the other way, she helped him.

Cooper: You may be disgusted by my silence, Agent Keen, but you will benefit from it.

The Sound of Silence.

Liz: Everywhere I go, there's a man who insists on protecting me.

Liz: You, Cooper, Reddington, the whole crew can just sit around and talk about what's best for Liz Keen.

Two dialogues that tie in Red's from 5x8.

Red: I’ll say this for you - you’ve always believed that you were acting in her best interest. Selling me out to Berlin, faking her death - you always thought you were helping her.

And puts her in parallel with the woman, which I think was purposeful.

Woman: Tell Patrick I love him. Like a son. And I’m sorry - I did my best but I am done with men controlling my life!

Woman: All you can see is what I want to do to him. What I want you to see is what he did to me. In the West, you tell your young men to stand up for their country. In Russia, young women were told to lay down with the enemy. That’s how you showed loyalty. As the daughter of a domineering spy master, I never had a voice in my future. I was 15 the first time they ordered me to sleep with a young American soldier. Dom was the man who ordered me.

Because Tom is still controlling his marrionette with a memory wipe. The point of these dialogues - Red is Katarina. A woman. A mother.

Red: It's just a part of life. Watching the generation ahead of you - the people you care about - grow old. And at some point, you start to... do the mental work necessary to prepare yourself for the inevitable. And yet, I'm afraid I stand here, Marvin... woefully unprepared. Marvin: There's no way you could prepare for this, Raymond. Dom didn't die of old age. He was taken from you.

Liz: My mother prepared me for this moment.

Liz: You're sick, you're old. You're an easy target.

Red's conversation in front of Dom's house regarding his fate.

Clemons: Liz asked about your condition. I think it’s unhealthy to keep it secret from the people who care about you. Red: In my position, it’s not easy to know who cares and who wants to cut your throat.

Lou Lou: Who’s Elizabeth? After I got some of those pills in you, you came to. Well, sort of. Kept saying her name. Elizabeth. Someone who’d miss you if you died?

Marvin shows too much interest in who Red names as his beneficiary. I think he's the one poisoning Red, and is trying to get a cut of the business. I posted about this before. Link provided above.

Red: God knows if it were up to me, given my recent bouts with mortality, I find myself more and more in the liquidation phase. Marvin: You are not going anywhere. As your lawyer, I forbid it. But while we're on the subject... Red: You want to know if I still intend to leave most everything of mine to Elizabeth?

Wine vs shakes. Mortality vs immortality. 

Red: Fun fact - Li Qing Yuen ate wolfberries every day of his life and was said to have lived to the ripe old age of 256. From 1677 to 1933. Imagine! [ Laughs ] He could have had dinner with both Newton and Einstein. Separately, of course.

Red: To immortality.

Liz: Your tremors are gone. Red: They are. Liz: But not the underlying condition.

Marvin knows Liz is Red's beneficiary, and because of his scene with Liz, knows where she stands with Red.

Gerard: You’re giving a cop the keys to your kingdom.

Red: It’s about my will and my various trusts. Seeing as how she’s the primary beneficiary, I’d like you to set aside a time to review them with Elizabeth.

Marvin: You don't want me to change your will? Even after she took sides against you? Red: Okay. So, today, she opposes me. Maybe tomorrow. But not forever. Look at Dom and I. There were years when he hated me. Many more bad years than good. And yet, in the end, we... found our way to each other.

I think Marvin is poisoning Red. Without his medical file, he’s getting the formula wrong, and it's taking too long for Red to die. Because of this, I think he'll end up siding with Liz in exchange for a cut of the business. Liz's motel room scenes run parallel to Katarina's in Rassvet. The fake passports, the motel key, washing up in the bathroom. Unlike Katarina accessing wifi to reach Ilya, Liz tosses money on the bed.

Woman: Thank you, Mrs. Thomas. And how would you like to pay for the room this evening?

Allison Thomas, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas the Train.

Liz: She loves Cheerios, and Thomas the Train in the morning. And she gets so cranky if she's hot at night, so just a light blanket.

Opposite "You’re good, I’m better” of S7. 

Liz: This is who my mother is to me – an aura that surrounds me. For better or for worse, I don’t know.

Mark: Whoa. You don't see that every day. What do you got going on? Liz: Same as always. Causing trouble for the worst of the worst.

It also pushes back to The Apothecary.

Aram: You know, he has to be okay. Cooper: There’s no shame in hoping for the best, even for the worst of us.

There are visual dialogues everywhere because Red changed his face. 

Liz: You killed her. In the park. I saw it. Red: I know what you saw, and it wasn't everything you thought you saw.

It wasn’t EVERYTHING Liz thought she saw. Everything about Red is a lie. 

Red: You see, Marvin? It may feel at times like the end, but our story isn't over yet. There you go. Careful, now. Thanks. Wish us luck. You won't need it. I don't know who your target is, but if you use that the right way, he won't know what hit him.

Their story isn’t over yet because they still have more Tom-ground to cover. 

Red: Oh, that’s not the end of the story. I’m confident you’ll come to see that.

This one ties in Orion Relocation Services, along with much of S7 storyline.

Liz: Wish us luck. Mark: You won't need it. I don't know who your target is, but if you use that the right way, he won't know what hit him.

Stella: As we say at Orion, good luck - wherever fate takes you.

Ressler meets Liz as she plants the bomb in her car.

Ressler: Keen, what are you even doing here? I mean, you left your apartment, you parked Agnes with... Liz: That's temporary. Ressler: Until what?

Until she finds out Ressler is the father of Agnes, then finds out Red is her mother. Temporary vs permanent.

Liz: Well, I need to keep looking. Mrs. Williams is helping me out as a favor. I need someone who’s permanent.

Liz: With me you are enduring, permanent.

It also pushes back to S5.

Liz: I gave Agnes up until this is over. If I miss even one more day with her than is absolutely necessary because you’re not being completely honest with -

Liz: She’s with her grandmother until this ends. Fulton: Until what ends? Liz: Until I find closure.

This entire Keenler scene pushes back to Lord Baltimore.

Ressler: Is that why you’re living out of your trunk? Those motels? The aliases? You got to stop doing that, Keen. Tom’s dead.

Not until Sunday. Because Love wins every day and twice on Sundays. 

Ressler: I know you. We've been partners a long time, which is why I know that you have no intention of letting this rest.

Dom: She captured and nearly killed you. She put me in a coma. Anything else? Or on the seventh day did she rest?

Liz: How'd you know that? My alias? Ressler: You got drunk one night. Wing Yee. You told me. So that's how you found me. I'm gonna miss celebrating your birthday there.

Drunk from that "special" wine she made with Sam. The point of that "special" dialogue in Brothers. Keenler's scene at the end of Brothers was a throwback to their dinner in The Longevity Initiative. That's when they started seeing each other. She told both Cooper and Ressler she'd think about what they said, but she didn't. She doesn't think because Tom has control of her mind. That's what a memory wipe does. Not a single care to hear Red's explanation, she set the car to explode when he opens the door.

Red: There is an explanation. Liz: No. Only a confession. I watched you kill her. And before you try to "explain" how you didn't...

This is a throwback to Red's shooting in Vanessa Cruz. I believe they'll be flashing back to that when they reveal Liz's second memory wipe. It's the truth about Red Krilov removed from her memory. They never revealed The Director's inside man.

Liz: Is that all of it? (Katarina) Red: Some of it.  (Tom)

The woman's voicemail completes Red's "explanation" in Leonard Caul's episode, and pushes forward to Red's 4x17 dialogue at the open.

Liz: My mother prepared me for this moment.

Tom prepared her for this moment. To kill Red. To end up a criminal like he was. The marionette with a dead man pulling her strings, just like The Deer Hunter.

Marvin: Whatever happens... he loves you. You know that, right? You chose that woman over him, and he still wants to leave everything to you.

A push back to S7.

Red: I try to leave nothing to fate, but I'm perfectly comfortable with chaos. That's why I trust that whatever happens is probably meant to be.

The entire point of Liz bringing up Kate unearthing 86 bodies. Liz is seeking revenge just like Kate did. The difference in this arc - fate will be having its way. Anything anyone plans will end as it's supposed to because of fate, including Liz's plan in 8x4. When Red coughs blood on the window of the car, they repeat the soundtrack they used when Red killed the woman from Paris.

Liz: "That woman" was my mother. And he killed her. And I don't want anything from him.

Exactly what Marvin needed to hear. He now has every reason to side with Liz for the sake of taking over Red's empire. The entire hospital scene feels like Leonard Caul's episode and their need to move him to a more secure location. I think The Apothecary's snake venom is attacking the lung that collapsed when he was shot, and felt the same when Kate poisoned him. Marvin wasn't around for that. 

Jackson: Woman, are you out of your mind? Liz: Yes.

"Woman" specifically. This pushes back to what I said of the Archive.

Jackson: That archive, whatever it is, he’s obsessed with it. If Koslov has information that could save a woman’s life, my guess - it’s in that archive.

Jackson: And why exactly would I do that? Liz: Because you know he's gonna kill you anyway. That's why you're working with him. He threatened your life, forced you to turn on me.

Everything Liz said in this conversation sounds just like Tom Keen. Same with Jackson. “I can get to him. Reddington trusts me." He did it with Garvey, and I think that’s what happened with Red in Vanessa Cruz. Liz trusted Tom, and Red got shot after she left his warehouse. Jackson will likely die for the same reason Dr. Nik, Lena, and Pete did. Because Liz is playing the role of Tom Keen.

Liz: He'll kill you if he finds out. Jackson: Didn't you just say he was gonna kill me anyway? Liz: Yes. Jackson: I don't doubt it. His threats to me were very real, and I'd rather get this done than be dragged into the grave with him.

This is how Red passed off as the real Red for 30 years, but the point of this dialogue pushes back to Ressler in S6.

Liz: That's the beauty of it. We don't need a story. All you have to do is tell them the truth. Jackson: What exactly is the truth?

Because Liz fell for the woman from Paris just as she fell for Red being Ilya.

Ressler: But is it the truth? I mean, does it make sense that this is the answer he’d kill to keep quiet? That so many people have died trying to find out?

This is for Liz's memory wipe.

Jackson: It's okay. Go to sleep. It's just a dream.

Liz is still on Tom's boat. That's why she spilled coffee on Aram's desk.

Tom: Alright,  dream scenario. [[We finish our coffee]], we hop on my boat. We leave, okay. We never look back. Preferably, we take our clothes off at some point.

They continue this through Keenler. A monsoon is coming. 

Liz: Goodbye, munchkin. Mama loves you very much. Jackson: "Munchkin" is right, because we are somewhere over some kind of rainbow.

Liz: Come on, munchkin! Hurry! The Saltmans are waiting! Again. The woman: Carpool drama?

Ressler: What’s the munchkin dancing in? Liz: Sleeping Beauty. She’s a lilac fairy.

Agnes: What’s that? Liz: Nothing, honey. Your daddy just always taught me to be ready for a rainy day.

Ressler: Like I said. Silver linings.

It also ties in Agnes' question to the woman in 7x10.

Liz: Goodbye, munchkin. Mama loves you very much.

Agnes: Why didn’t she say goodbye?

Liz basically said goodbye to Agnes over the phone just as Katarina said goodbye to Young Masha in Rassvet. They're also covering her mouth the way they did to Katarina in Cape May. The Rassvet reverse. 

This ties in with Dr. Stark.

Ressler: What's the prognosis, Doc? Doctor: Eh, some of the lacerations will require stitches, and I've ordered a CT scan to check for internal bleeding, but all things considered, I'd say you're in miraculously good shape.

Red: And a prognosis.  Ilya: Which was? Red: Stark's treatment was inefective. Ilya: I'm sorry. Red: Sometimes things happens for a reason. And sometimes I just don't know what that reason is.

Ressler is that reason. That's why he's in "miraculously" good shape.

Red: The idea that a whole world that I couldn’t see had suddenly revealed itself and been brought into focus - felt like a miracle. Cassandra: Because it was, given how often we miss what’s right in front of us.

Red isn’t still out there. Katarina is.

Liz: A few years ago, Reddington's cleaner unearthed the bodies of people he'd killed. Handed them over to the FBI. Evidence of murders. And [[he's]] still out there. I've seen how he does it. Stays one step ahead. I know how he does it. And we can do it, too.

Liz thinks she's gonna build an empire just like Red did. Forget inheriting one. This pushes to my Fowler frame theory which will tie in the murder of Tom Connolly and Victor Fokin. For anyone who hasn't seen it but wants to, my full Tom Domino theory can be found here. The only post it's lacking is the double of Alexander Kirk and Agnes.  

The end of 16 ounces is everything.

From Tom.  

"I’m married to a loser, Henry. Trust me, it’s a fate worse than death."

Tom prepared Liz for this, and Red doesn't need to kill Liz. This pushes Alter Ego, Marko Jankowics, and Lady Luck. Liz said it’s her life, but it’s not. It's Tom's dream scenario - for Liz to live as a fugitive, like he wanted in 2x22. Liz's fate. 

To Ressler.

“ ...nothing else mattered.”

Liz should be sorry, tying in Gaia's episode. Liz’s plan to bomb Red failing like Tom's plan to rescue Agnes. 

To Agnes.

She’ll be the one getting hit. 

Red: The truth is, after all these years, I'm not sure I... understand all of it myself.

This dialogue pushes to The Troll Farmer.

Red: There was a time in my life when I was quite sure I knew exactly what happened to Katarina Rostova.

It's all about Little Red, the ballerina. 

Cooper: What you did to her, what you did to... Katarina - I don't think Elizabeth will ever forgive you for it. Red: She might. Some day. But before then... I fear she may... do something that... ...she can never recover from. And of all the tragedies that you and I have experienced together, that would be the most tragic. We have to do... ...do everything in our power to prevent that from happening.

Red: What you endured, most people never recover from. I doubt I would have. But you’ve turned it into a calling. Nikolai would be proud. Vasilia: I never blamed him for what happened. He blamed himself.

Insert the butterflies for rebirth.

Red: Will you be able to forgive yourself?

Rederina (Grandmother) for S7, Agnes (Little Red) for S8. That's why everyone is struggling to locate Liz and Agnes. They’re not “finding” Liz the way they need to. Her memory was wiped. She sounds just like Kate, and for the same reason. Tom Keen. Liz planting a bomb in her car to kill Red looks a lot like the Orea bombing Katarakurt set up with the truck. The very same playout with Liz ending up at Ressler’s, which is where I place Agnes’ conception. 

Beginning -

Red: You think this was a mistake?

Dembe: No. It was not a mistake, but it was wrong.

No, it's Liz's mistake. End -

Red: Do you really want your child to pay the price for that mistake for the rest of his or her life?

Liz has been preying on everyone's emotions to get answers. Jennifer's, Red's, Ressler's, Cooper's, Aram's. But it's what Tom taught her to do. "I learned that from you, how to prey on the emotions of those that love you most." She's exactly who she is right now because of Tom Keen and his memory wipe. "I'm a fugitive again..." That's why she's the next name on the blacklist. Take note how they have Liz grabbing rest at Ressler's house, then cut to Red sleeping in his chair. "before I start running... I need a rest." She's not equipped for Red's "often exhausted" life, and he warned her about losing sleep in Ruin. "One of these nights, you will. It's just a matter of when." She will because of Agnes - my prediction for 8x4

Yeah, this episode was nothing BUT my Tom Domino theory.

#Rederina #Keenler baby theory #tom domino theory #Agnes theory #memory wipe theory #Anti-Tom Keen #Anti-Keen2

[tessatechaitea]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1, E7: "Justice"

For some reason, this episode is the one I remembered most from my last viewing of the series. And I say "for some reason" because I don't want admit it's due to the skimpy outfits worn by the men and women who run everywhere and constantly ask the crew of the Enterprise if they're ready to fuck. Every time I see this episode, I wonder how many local syndicates refused to air it. "This week on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew of the Enterprise take shore leave on an orgy planet where we learn that Klingons choke each other near to death when they fuck." We don't actually learn what Klingons do when they fuck; we only learn that Worf proclaims that non-Klingons couldn't handle his passion and his huge spiny cock. Okay, we don't learn about Worf's cock either but you know it's terrifying. If I was initially confused as to why Netflix chose to rate Star Trek: The Next Generation "sex, fear," then the episode "Justice" cleared up that confusion. The orgy planet Edo invites travelers from across the galaxy to come fuck the entirety of its populace because they have no laws and no standards. Well, actually, they have one law and it's a fucking doozy. It's such a doozy that they don't announce it to the people beaming down to their planet with raging boners. No wait. I got it wrong. The planet Edo has one punishment: death. Apparently they have a whole bunch of fucking laws that nobody breaks because the punishment is death. It's like Singapore in space but with more sex and less Singapore Slings. You would think more people would have stumbled into this death penalty but I guess most visitors to the planet are too busy getting their asses licked to accidentally break any of the planet's laws. Plus the penalty for breaking a law is like the lottery: only random sections of the planet are being monitored at any one time and you're only convicted if you break a law in an area currently being monitored. That's the whole premise for the planet being so peaceful. Nobody does anything wrong because they might be killed. And yet, what's the difference if the entire planet were constantly monitored instead of certain sections? I guess the difference is the amount of person hours needed for surveillance. It's just more economical. Being that everybody is almost constantly fucking and fucking isn't against the law, nobody breaks any laws. People also run from one place to the next for some reason that I either missed because I was gawping at the barely covered women's asses and the barely covered men's moose knuckles or which is never explained. I suppose I would run everywhere as well if I was going from one place where I just got fucked to another place where I was going to get fucked again. This would have been the greatest episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation if only they'd left Wesley Crusher aboard the Enterprise. But instead they decide to bring a minor to a fuck planet because this is the 24th Century and they've jettisoned all of Earth's ancient prudish beliefs and behaviors. The people of Edo aren't sure how humans react to their youth being fucked by adults so they compensate by sending Wesley off with a coterie of Edo teenagers. But instead of going off and getting a handjob in a bush like any other teenager from any century across Earth's history, Wesley decides to teach the Edo kids how to play catch. It's a fucking travesty! For all the reasons modern viewers despise the character of Wesley Crusher, I never see any of them point to this episode where the idiot would rather play catch than get jerked off by five other young people. I was fine with Wesley as a character until this episode where he puts everybody's lives at risk and forces Picard to break the Prime Directive simply because he was too uncomfortable to get a handy. I've already explained the best parts of this episode (the constant sex) so there really isn't much more to say. Wesley breaks a law by accidentally falling on some mini-greenhouses. He's sentenced to death and Picard has to beam down to the planet and demand they return Wesley unharmed. The people of Edo are all, "Dude. We can't do that. We have a god that's actually a satellite who will fucking destroy you if you break our one law and/or punishment. Whatever. We were just minding our own business licking buttholes and you've messed it all up!" But Picard, wanting to get fucked by Beverly and not by a bunch of random hot people on Edo, risks everybody's life by declaring he will break the Prime Directive to save the young man. The main problem is that the Francis E. Dec God Satellite is judging Picard by Picard's own beliefs. So if Picard breaks the Prime Directive, the God Satellite will have reason to destroy them for not playing fair. But Picard is willing to take that risk. Luckily, Riker pipes up with some sentimental human nonsense about true justice and the God Satellite decides that it was being unfair. It lets them all go and the only stain left over from the entire experience is how little Jean-Luc Picard respects the Federation's Prime Directive. It's almost as if Edo's one law came into conflict with Starfleet's one law and Picard decided neither were worth upholding. Not that I'm against Picard's decision! I fucking can't stand the way people decide to base everything they believe on some kind of unchanging foundational belief structure. You can't have true justice without treating every individual situation as just that: an individual situation with its own set of variables which make it different from every other situation that is somewhat similar to it. Precedents in court decisions simply exist to make future court decisions easier. But they rarely overlap completely and in such a manner as to completely wipe out possible exemptions and extenuating circumstances. Picard was right to challenge both Edo's law and the Prime Directive in this instance. Wesley could not have known about the planet's law because nobody told it to him. Also, Wesley didn't break any law with any intent or malice. It was an absolute accident and for the entire populace of Edo to just shrug that off because that's the way things are and because they're super horny to get back to fucking was unjust. Just as it would have been unjust for Picard to shrug off saving Wesley due to the Prime Directive demanding he obey every stupid law of every stupid planet on which they're guests. And maybe that's why the name of this episode was "Justice." Because Picard and Riker's speech prove that the only true justice is examining the situation at hand and coming to a conclusion based on the variables presented in that situation alone. The episode should end with Picard taking a huge shit on a Starfleet manual but it doesn't for some reason. Super disappointing.

#Star Trek #The Next Generation #ST:TNG #Justice

[go-redgirl]

Trump Mocks Democrats, Vows New Tax Cut on Baltimore Visit.

By Kevin Freking & Juana Summers September 13, 2019

BALTIMORE (AP) — President Donald Trump sought to boost the spirits of Republican lawmakers, mocking Democrats and promising a new tax cut package, as he returned to the city he recently disparaged as a “rat and rodent infested mess.”

Trump spoke on Thursday to House Republicans attending an annual retreat in a hotel on Baltimore’s waterfront. Protesters gathered nearby. But inside, the president found a friendly audience of legislators whose political futures are closely tied to how well he performs in next year’s election. They greeted him with a chant of “four more years.”

Trump obliquely addressed his earlier insults against Baltimore, promising Republicans would “fight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule.”

He said “the left-wing agenda” of regulations, crippling taxes and “unrestricted migration” has undermined law enforcement and devastated America’s inner cities. “We’re going to have to step in and do something about it because we can’t allow that to happen to our great cities,” he said.

Trump had lashed out at Baltimore in a series of July tweets critical of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents the city’s majority-black 7th Congressional District. Cummings also chairs the House oversight panel conducting numerous investigations of the administration’s policies and work.

On Thursday, Trump emphasized some of the biggest wins of his presidency, such as boosting military spending, slashing regulations and expanding a program that gives veterans the option to see private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs medical system. He touted the $1.5 trillion tax cut package passed in 2017 and promised to deliver another tax cut proposal next year.

“We are working on a tax cut for the middle-income people that is going to be very, very inspirational. It’s going to be something that I think it’s what everyone’s really looking for,” Trump said. “It will be a very, very substantial tax cut for middle-income folks, who work so hard.”

Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation when he promised to uphold the right to keep and bear arms.

The president hasn’t committed to specific gun legislation, but White House officials, lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff have held frequent meetings to discuss options aimed at curbing gun violence following shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, that left more than 30 people dead over an August weekend.

The president addressed lawmakers one day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for his administration to deny nearly all asylum claims from Central Americans. He highlighted that win as well as the victories of Republicans Dan Bishop and Greg Murphy in special elections this week in North Carolina. He told the Republicans he expected them to win back the majority in the House next year.

“You’re loved out there,” he asserted.

Trump spoke as Democratic presidential candidates debated in Houston. The audience laughed as he mocked some of his top challengers and claimed that more people would be watching him. “They should be watching the debate but they’re probably watching this,” Trump said.

Police blocked off a wide perimeter around the hotel. But a few blocks away, demonstrators inflated a giant rat carrying a cellphone and adorned with yellow hair and a red tie to make clear their mocking intentions. Protesters waved signs with messages like “Trump and the GOP are the real rats” and “Welcome rat king.”

Asked whether the president should apologize for his Baltimore comments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Trump “made a very good case why many major cities have challenges.” He said the president’s trip “symbolizes that, yes, he cares about Baltimore,” adding that Trump is working to give people in poverty “a better opportunity.”

Jennifer Amann, who lives in Fells Point, not far from the hotel where Trump was speaking, laughed when told that McCarthy said Trump’s visit demonstrates that he cares about the city and its residents.

“We don’t need visits, we need policies that help the people,” Amann, who moved to Baltimore 16 years ago, said of Trump and Republican lawmakers. “The proof’s in the pudding and they don’t do anything to support this city.”

On an adjacent corner, a smaller yet vocal group of Trump supporters gathered, and the two groups engaged in an extended back-and-forth.

Joe Murphy, of Owings Mills, Maryland, called the Trump protesters “so un-American and disgusting.” He said Trump was not a racist.

“He’s here today to talk about opportunity zones, where he’s going to clean up the most disgusting parts of this city — and I’ve lived here all my life and there are a lot of disgusting parts,” he said. “What do you guys have against that?”

The GOP retreat was scheduled for Baltimore before Trump got into his spat with Cummings.

After Trump’s verbal broadsides, Cummings invited the president to join him on a tour of his district, from the poorest parts of Baltimore to more well-to-do areas in suburban Baltimore and Howard counties.

Trump has not backed away from his charges that Democratic leaders are responsible for the ills of America’s biggest cities. But for now, he’s making the argument in a less personal and less hostile manner. He’s also trying to win over blacks and Hispanics by citing employment gains they have made during his tenure.

Baltimore, a once-gilded American seaport, has undeniable drug and violent crime challenges. The city saw more than 300 homicides in 2018 for the fourth year in a row. It also contends with deep-rooted poverty and swaths of the city are populated with vacant, boarded-up homes.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Regina Garcia Cano contributed to this report.

___________________________________________________________

OPINION:  So, it easy for  Rep. Elijah Cummings to try an show off the  suburban Baltimore and Howard counties.  However, its the poorest section of Baltimore that’s in trouble and that’s where Rep. Cummings comes in and should have put more focus on those areas that have the largest numbers of African Americans living in and without any help or assistance for the inter-city of Baltimore Maryland.  

Its just something that Rep. Cummings just don’t get!

But, more importantly, Rep. Cummings don’t realize that President Trump is very much familiar with suburban Baltimore and Howard counties, because he’s been their before.  Rep. Cummings is trying to divert the attention once again, off those areas that need the help/assistance the most!

It’s the inter-city Mr. Democrat Rep. Cummings, don’t you get it! Are you that ‘stupid’.  He’s just like a Democrat, trying to change the narrative and focus on something else other than the problem is and what should be the solution for him to solve those problems since he’s been in Congress for over (20-twenty years).

What a waste of time and tax payers money!