#unit 15

[mr-1-2-3-4]

More art of 7-11 and his little bundles of trauma- @pampanope

[tinkerbitch69]

I want to make it very clear that while I think the head of a large military organization allowing a dangerous alien monster to brutalise some guy was pretty fucked up regardless of the circumstances, it is 100% in character for Kate Stewart.

She would fucking do that.

[dandelionjack]

that and COVID denialism, obviously, which i somehow managed to miss despite *this* plot point below

UNIT aren’t always cops. they’re a nebulous enough fictional organisation that they can be whatever the show wants them to represent. in Lucky Day, they’re the NHS, the WHO, and they’re climatologists.

[5thhorsemnftheapocalypse]

Ruby, my love, you should know better than going on a man's podcast

[incognitopolls]

In the US, defendants are presumed innocent until they are proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, to be guilty. If a juror isn't completely, 100% convinced that the defendant committed the alleged crime, the juror is supposed to vote "not guilty."

I'm hesitant to post this one because I generally avoid topics speculating on individuals' lives and touchy current events, but it is a good reminder of how the US criminal justice system works. Please be polite in the comments/reblogs.

–

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[mr-1-2-3-4]

Unit 15 has been deployed-

Oak-

Oak who has tear stained eyes as well:copy cat.

LoveHurt-

LoveHurt holding an umbrella:my friend you’ll get sick and I don’t think Jackson is in the mood

Popcorn-

Popcorn:I come out here to, often. But my reason may be different. Want to talk.

Pixel-

Pixel:mom.. are you ok..

Delta-

Delta sign language:you really shouldn’t be out here and neither should I but a care for you enough.

7-11 Lore Bite 1

-Stands out in the rain, the heavier the better.

[immortalclarareborn]

[icy-watch]

I'm sorry. What's with the generic video game losing team poses?

[ask-unit15]

-meanwhile Pixel & and Delta are hiding under a truck as Pixel lost his inhaler running away-

Pixel-“my lungs feel like they’re gonna collapse…”

Delta-“good!”

A pink ball gets thrown into your office, it says “happy easter!” Then you hear Shadows cursing and running off, and pink smoke fills your room and a very familiar voice yells “you didn’t aim fucking high enough”. It’s a smoke bomb

Sighs

The office now smells of bubblegum and ass

Pulls up security footage of the hallway on the phone

Sends footage to contact labled

❤️HUSBANDO❤️

Is about to press “call” button, but…

“Eh, he could be busy.”

Opens messages

[“Hey if you’re not busy, can you use your fancy spy software to determine the heights and measurements of the Shadows in the footage I sent you? And use that data to check for any men missing during the tine stamped on that footage. Please and Thanks, Love.”]

Sent

He had a REALLY strong hunch about the culprits….

But assuming is bad practice.

“Looks like we got some volunteers for extra PT.”

[omg-snakes]

Heckin'

[mr-1-2-3-4]

Random things I made today and yesterday- @pampanope @kings-out-of-pocket-hell @tw1nkee28

[nyardynn]

The 'Allegorical Blade' is a holy symbol and you're sleeping on the greatest thing about it

Ok, let us please talk about Ardyn’s healer sword, because I think you’re all sleeping on that absolutely delicious choice of a design. I’m talking about his sword as seen in Dissidia FF NT. It is called the ‘Allegorical Blade’ and released alongside his white healer attire called the ‘Devotee’s Raiment’.

You might have noticed the flashy design of this blade that has prompted some to assume it is supposed to be reminiscent of the citadel in Insomnia where the royal seat of Ardyn's family is located - a seat supposedly reserved for him in his healer times. 

Wrong.

Or, rather, not quite and not only.

The Allegorical blade is, in fact, designed as a monstrance, which is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and some other faiths’ churches to display objects of piety and high religious importance at the altar, such as remains of saints or the sacramental bread, the host. I’ve attached a picture I took of one at the local cathedral.

FF15 is inspired by medieval European royalty where Catholicism was the prevalent and the only acceptable religion. Catholics believe that through consecration, items - most famously food items like bread, wine or the host - are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. They are not only spiritually transformed, they are believed to be substantially transformed and are divine from then on, although they retain their appearance as ordinary items. These items carry tremendous spiritual meaning and like the remains of saints, they are to be handled with care if they are to be shown to believers - they are put into a monstrance. The word ‘monstrance’ comes from latin ‘monstrare’ - to display or to show, which makes a monstrance a vessel to display the holiest objects. They are usually carried and lifted to believers during mess or in front of processions. They are often, but not always, designed to look like religiously important symbols or buildings like churches, the sun, and so on. The citadel being the place that holds the crystal and therefor being of the highest religious importance to Lucians, is exactly what a monstrance would be crafted to resemble.

The Allegorical Blade has a different name in Japanese where it is called the ‘kamikotoba no ken’. There are three kanji used: that for ‘god, divine, holy’, that for ‘word’ and the last one for ‘sword’. Basically it is called the ‘Sword of the Word of God’ or the ‘Sword of Divine Words’.

If his sword is a monstrance, then why doesn’t it hold and display any kind of holy object?

It does.

The thing it shows off is Ardyn himself.

Ardyn Lucis Caelum has been a devoted follower of Bahamut for all of his life. He considers his healing powers a gift from the gods, so he travels far and wide to cure the sick and ‘spread their mercy’ as he speaks about what he believes to be a divine calling. His altruism and faith are so great that he continues healing even though he knows the starscourge accumulates within his body and that it will kill him in time. He believes with a passion that the gods have a plan and will grant him mercy too, so that one day he will be able to heal all of Lucis as their king. He is, quite literally, Eos’ version of Jesus Christ only that his god turned out not benevolent at all.

The holy object his sword displays is himself as a representation of Bahamut’s word that holds true before and even after Ardyn’s fall from grace. Ardyn Lucis Caelum believed in his divine calling, but he misinterpreted it and instead of being the savior to heal the land, he turned out to be the sacrificial lamb to be slain at the alter. The role of Immortal Accursed, of the scapegoat, is not the role he ever wanted. It is one that holds only pain and suffering, one without reward or even recognition of all he sacrificed and one that will have him murder indiscriminately until his death, forcing him to undo all he’s achieved and all he wanted to be with his own hands. He is god’s judgment in the flesh, god’s will brought down on humanity and in terms of FF15, Bahamut's will is cruel and final.

There is an actual bible quote I want to cite here, bc it seems to me it could be an inspiration for his sword design:

“For the word of god is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints an marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12]

Bahamut issued his command to Ardyn in EPA in a cold and merciless manner that has to cause outrage and inspire hatred, but the truth is, Ardyn has carried that burden with him ever since his birth when his healing was gifted to him. What better way to show the double-edged sword of Bahamut’s favour than by giving it, quite literally, to Ardyn?

It’s called the ‘Allegorical blade’ because it is a symbol of the dichotomy of his fate - a healer and a killer - and position within the prophecy where he is both the sacrificial lamb needed to safe the world and the very thing that kills it.

[seokminfilm]

strawberries & cigarettes ── xu minghao

🤍 pairing, xu minghao x reader

🤍 warnings, non-idol au, fluff, small amount of angst (??), childhood friends to lovers, established relationship, minghao smokes, kissing, reader calls minghao 'hao', skinship (mainly holding hands), reader calls minghao skinny in a flashback, open ending (??)

🤍 summary, in which you recall the moments of how you and minghao came to be.

🤍 author's note, requested by my darling maki (@sknyuz)!! haven't written a performance unit fic before so this was a perfect request to ask for 💗 fun fact i was actually a minghao girlie my first few months of being a carat, so this is a throwback of sorts for me!! i hope i can portray his personality well 🙏 lowkey turned out kind of sad in the end but i hope you like it anyways!!

🤍 now playing, strawberries and cigarettes (troye sivan: requested by @sknyuz)

🤍 word count, 744 | for @kstrucknet, @maestro-net

as you sit on the rooftop of your small loft apartment, head in your boyfriend's lap as he smokes a cigarette, your life feels complete.

minghao softly strokes your hair, thin fingers running races on your scalp as you smile into his clothed thigh. he hums a song, a song you can't recognize, and your heart seems to slow in your chest as you think back.

you think of the first time minghao and you had met—you were a little kindergartner in a class different from minghao, being paired up to be partners for a tea-making project. you had screwed the brewing process, and minghao had yelled at you, bringing you to tears before sheepishly apologizing and helping you try again.

from that moment on you and minghao became the best of friends. wherever minghao went, you went—the two of you had become attached to each other, and slowly, that attachment became attraction.

you started to see the skinny, quiet art kid finally mature into the man he was now—lean, creative, still with a tint of quietness to his nature. seeing minghao in a light that wasn't your best friend was hard, but you eventually came to accept it and told him how you felt.

minghao had felt the same way—he always had, and the two of you started to date the night after he expressed his love for you.

even now, the memory seemed so far away as minghao pressed a kiss to your forehead, warm breath fanning over your face as he smiles down at you.

"what's got you smiling like that?" he asks with a soft tease. minghao was never one for real teasing, but he thought it was so cute when you got shy.

"thinking about you, hao. thinking about how we met and stuff," you let your fingertips go to the sky, seemingly brushing the stars as you stare up at minghao. his dark eyes are focused on you, so in love that his cigarette starts to wither away in the wind.

"i'm very glad that you absolutely butchered the tea boiling process. without that massive blunder, i don't think we would have ever met." minghao's practically reading your mind at this point, eyes meeting yours as he presses a kiss to your cheek."

"that's true....just..." you pause, and minghao carefully places a kiss close to your upper lip, almost locking lips with yours as he smiles, cutting off your sentence as you chuckle.

"just very embarrassing." you finish, cheeks a bright red as minghao chuckles lowly.

the cigarette smoke coming from minghao's soft lips taste like dreams, past moments that you had just lived through your head. it was singing yet familiar, tasting of a life you had once lived.

"embarassing? absolutely. cute? ...absolutely" minghao laughs again, smile lines highlighted on his soft skin as you sit up. your body gently nudges minghao's more sturdy form, and he chuckles at you, watching your eyes sparkle as you stare up at the stars once more.

"you taste like strawberries." you say after a beat of silence, and minghao stares at you, features softening. "do i?"

"mhm." you nod quietly, too overwhelmed with the feeling of the past to look minghao in the eye. it's not that you're sad or hurt because of the past you shared with minghao—in fact, it made you who you were today.

you just wish you could go back to that time: a simpler time that held nothing but whispered dreams and soft embraces. a time when you and minghao were just kids, the only worries being what would be for snack time and what you'd do on the weekends.

"strawberries and cigarettes," you whisper bitterly after a few more seconds of quietness, and minghao doesn't reply to that, taking your hand in his as he lets you lean your head on his shoulder.

minghao tastes the longing for a simpler time in your voice, and suddenly he can feel it too, taking another cigarette in his nimble fingers as he twirls it around, heart clenching at the sight of you.

"times like those....they were irreplaceable, hao." your voice cracks at the nickname, and before you know it, tears are gathering at the corners of your eyes.

"they were, baby," even minghao lets a sigh escape from his full lips, shoulders falling a little as he looks out on the horizon.

for the first time, minghao throws the cigarette away.

[dandelionjack]

DOCTOR WHO FAN HUSBANDRY TIP — it’s Squabble About The Show Saturday. make sure to give your pet whovian plenty of space to engage in discourse, they will likely be belligerent and on edge, and may resort to name-calling and/or accusations of disrespect. tread carefully and avoid loud noises, they are deep in thought. luckily for you all, tomorrow is Shitpost About The Show Sunday, by which most of the tension would have been defused into humour

[basiltheta]

not to vaguepost but i think every tumblr user who watched lucky day did in fact understand that it was supposed to be a critique of alt right grifters/antivaxxers/climate deniers etc. we get it. this does not change the fact that the secretive government military organisation being presented as the definitive Good Guys even when theyre pointing guns at people and siccing aliens on them is Not A Great Look, Actually. like I get what they were obviously going for here but the portrayal of unit recently as super cool badass soldiers is not doing it any favours.

[commodorez]

X-15