#relieved. absolved. liberated.

[effyrosemary]

oh my god unethical priest marius you're a genius!!!!! do you think armand resists the idea that letting his priest fuck him is totally okay in the eyes of god or is he relieved to finally let go and give into his baser desires.... or both! do you think it makes him less guilty or more? god and imagine if marius were to weaponize armand's guilt in order to keep him even more trapped, like yes you are so bad for this and i'm the only one who can absolve you. i'm so invested LOL if you have any hcs of how it would play out i'm aaalll ears

Omg! thank you! To answer your question:

I think it’s both kinda. I think for Armand it would be so liberating to finally give in to these desires, and I think the shame is also kind of what gets him off (it’s the classic “oh no this is so wrong, but it feels so good!”). But I also think that there’s still a small part of him that genuinely feels it’s wrong to do these sexual things. Armand desperately wants to believe in something, I think, and to have that stability so he can have a space for himself to rebuild and to trust again. (don’t get me started, I have this whole fic idea of Daniel trying to provide Armand with a cozy little home and emotional support and stability so Armand has a space to heal, but that’s another story for another day) But I also feel like Armand is very nihilistic in some ways, so maybe he feels guilty but he also goes against the guilt on purpose, to feel that hurt and to feel that shame, I don’t know if you’re following me hahah

And omg, Marius weaponizing the genuine guilt is so wrong and so deliciously GOOD. (idc! it’s fiction! they’re not real people! let us have our dirty thoughts OK!)

When I first saw “unethical therapist Marius” on @monstersinthecosmos I was so immediately hooked. (I then sent this anon bc I needed to talk about it lmao, I was still not familiar with tumblr again after being away for a long time and I thought maybe people will think I’m weird but now I say fuck it bc Anne Rice never shunned away from people thinking her stories/characters were strange/too much.)

Marius is always so seemingly in control, and I love when he’s fooling himself that he’s doing the right thing when he KNOWS he’s not. That’s also why I like Pandora and him together, she kinda sees through his mask. Spoiler: I still remember that one part in Blood Communion after Marius kills Arjun where they’re all sitting around the table and Marius is furiously talking to Pandora and Lestat says: “I had never seen him so angry”, in other words; Lestat has never really seen Marius’ mask break like that, except now that he is upset with/about Pandora. Or when he’s helped out of the ice by Pandora and Santino in QOTD where he childishly snaps at her and says “I can walk unaided, thank you!” when Pandora reaches out to touch him, and she just gives him a shove and is like ‘“Fine girl, walk then lmao”

He wants to be this voice of reason, this stability etc, and he is, but he’s also human. So I love it when those kind of characters secretly give in to their bad side and try to justify it! I also love it when usually reserved people finally snap and can’t control themselves anymore when they finally get what they want, it’s my favorite thing. (There is this beautiful fic by @0junemeatcleaver0 where Marius kinda loses his composure at some points and he gives in to what he really wants and it’s so good. Highly recommend that fic in general.)

I LOVE headcanons, please tell me if you have some! These are some of mine regarding priest!marius:

- Marius has to actively restrain his thoughts from going wild when he sees Armand on his knees, or when the boy is reaching up to clean a shelf and his shirt rises and Marius can see the silky skin of his lower back. He’s practically drooling :)

- Armand secretly kind of knows the relationship between them is wrong, but he tries to test Marius by experimenting. (Sitting next to Marius and accidentally letting their knees touch etc that sort of thing, playing it dirty but also safe you know)

- Armand gets turned on when Marius is preaching in front of the crowd (idk how that shit works I’m not even religious, I never grew up religious lmao! how bad I am!) because Armand loves to see Marius in a position of power, and he loves how the people of the church look up to him.

- Armand has definitely thought about sucking Marius off under his robes when he’s speaking in front of a church full of people.

- At night, when Marius can’t think of nothing but Armand’s shapely legs and his lovely mouth, he turns to his Bible with the stubborn will of A Good Man and tries to ignore the insistent throbbing between his legs. And he can manage it, at least for a while.

- But then one night, he walks in on Armand praying on his knees and he walks up to tell the boy to go on home because it’s late and he should get some sleep, and the boy looks up from where he’s kneeling and says in a small voice, cheeks blushing; “I can’t, father. I’ll have sinful thoughts when I’m trying to sleep, I need to pray first.”

- And Marius offers he can help Armand with these thoughts, if Armand is willing to learn how to be a proper man of God.

- Nothing gets Marius more worked up than the idea of Armand calling him ‘ Father’ when they’re getting dirty together, it drives him feral

Alors… as Armand once told David Talbot; “Look, I’m deranged x”

* English is not my first language so apologies if there are some typos. Edit: I can’t believe I forgot the word “not” in the previous sentence for DAYS I have No Brains

[waywardtreechaos]

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[herawell]

DOn't rb.

I GOT AN INTERNSHIP OFFER FOR THIS SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!1!1!

I got an offer for the first interview months after I'd finished applying and all the other companies had long since stopped responding with interview offers/rejections, did the interview with 0 preparation smack dab in the middle of my finals, and wasn't able to completely answer the question (it was a coding interview). A month later, I got a second interview (a more typical "getting-to-know-you" session) and I didn't even prepare for the call until 30 minutes before when I frantically brushed up on my resume & bullshitting skills. And then today I got an email asking me if I'd consider doing an internship this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

still don't know if I'm going to take it but I GOT MYSELF AN INTERNSHIP AFTER TWO INTERVIEWS BOTH DONE WITH MINIMAL PREP AND IN THE MIDDLE OF VERY STRESSFUL FINALS IM NOT WORTHLESS IM NOT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL I WONT BE LEFT FLAT-FOOTED ONCE I GRADUATE AND START JOB-HUNTING AND EARNESTLY PREPARING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[lennart11412]

absolve 

[əbˈzälv,  əbˈsälv] VERB

absolved (past tense) · absolved (past participle)

set or declare (someone) free from blame, guilt, or responsibility. 

"the pardon absolved them of any crimes"

synonyms: exonerate · discharge · acquit · exculpate · vindicate · release · relieve · liberate · free · deliver · clear · spare · exempt · forgive · pardon · excuse · give amnesty to · give dispensation to · give indulgence to · reprieve · have mercy on · show mercy to

give absolution for (a sin).

Deuteronomy 21:8

New Revised Standard Version

<< Deuteronomy 20 | Deuteronomy 21 Deuteronomy 22 >>

8 Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel." Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt.

1 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this That caused the Lord of bliss To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

2 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, That caused the Lord of life To lay aside His crown for my soul, for my soul, To lay aside His crown for my soul.

3 To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing, To God and to the Lamb, I will sing; To God and to the Lamb Who is the great I AM, While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing; While millions join the theme I will sing.

4 And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on, And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on; And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be, And through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on, And through eternity I'll sing on.

[harunakonomi]

The Signs in One Word

Aries: Excavator

Arsces: Pilgrim

Arrius: Visualizer

Ariborn: Escapee

Arittarius: Astronaut

Arpia: Examiner

Arza: Inevitable

Arga: Trailblazer

Aro: Lost

Arcen: Companion

Armini: Reconciler

Arun: Impetuous

Arist: Headstrong

Arsci: Medic

Arnius: Heedless

Aricorn: Runaway

Arittanius: Voyager

Arpio: Seeker

Arra: Wayward

Argo: Zenith

Arlo: Mirage

Arcer: Officer

Armino: Static

Arus: Wanderer

Taurus: Unfledged

Taurist: Prosperous

Taursci: Convalescent

Taurnius: Entrepreneur

Tauricorn: Gratified

Taurittanius: Utopian

Taurpio: Student

Taurra: Transient

Taurgo: Divine

Taurlo: Extravagant

Taurcer: Cherished

Taurmino: Lonely

Taurun: Liberated

Tauries: Unsatisfied

Taursces: Recovered

Taurrius: Unmapped

Tauriborn: Covetous

Tauritarrius: Skydiver

Taurpia: Aesthete

Taurza: Revealer

Taurga: Guardian

Tauro: Withdrawn

Taurcen: Connected

Taurmini: Hermit

Gemini: Cynic

Gemun: Umbridled

Gemries: Savvy

Gemino: Condemned

Gemus: Alert

Gemrist: Streetwise

Gemsci: Temperer

Gemnius: Canny

Gemicorn: Anarchic

Gemittanius: Shipwright

Gempio: Concise

Gemra: Pilot

Gemgo: Original

Gemlo: Internal

Gemcer: Intimate

Gemsces: Prudent

Gemrius: Perceptive

Gemiborn: Uproarius

Gemittarius: Sapient

Gempia: Perspicacious

Gemza: Shrewd

Gemga: Ascetic

Gemo: Wit

Gemcen: Entertainer

Cancer: Signless

Camino: Consoler

Canus: Unbound

Canris: Vehement

Cansci: Reliever

Cannius: Theatrical

Canicorn: Storm

Canittanius: Romantic

Canpio: Effervescent

Canra: Constrained

Cango: Opus

Canlo: Thespian

Cancen: Nexus

Camini: Commiserator

Canun: Vociferous

Canries: Scrapper

Cansces: Mover

Canrius: Helper

Caniborn: Tumultuous

Canittarius: Striking

Canpia: Informer

Canza: Producer

Canga: Playwright

Cano: Translucent

Leo: Disciple

Lecen: Provident

Lemini: Trusted

Leun: Migrant

Lenries: Tenacious

Lesces: Instructor

Lerius: Staunch

Leiborn: Paradox

Leitarrius: Ardent

Lepia: Synthesizer

Leza: Pliant

Lega: Stoic

Lelo: Steadfast

Lecer: Loyalist

Lemino: Sympathetic

Leus: Flexible

Lerist: Advancer

Lesci: Polisher

Lenius: Restless

Leicorn: Unforgiving

Leittanius: Emphatic

Lepio: Fortunate

Lera: Chameleon

Lego: Nomad

Virgo: Fruitful

Virlo: Foundation

Vircer: Accountable

Virmino: Inexhaustible

Virus: Adaptable

Virist: Protector

Virsci: Alchemist

Virnius: Fierce

Viricorn: Lethal

Virittanius: Deliberate

Virpio: Hearth

Virra: Sage

Virga: Pure

Viro: Redemptive

Vircen: Liable

Virmini: Abiding

Virun: Eager

Virsces: Roborant

Virrius: Vindicated

Viriborn: Stringent

Virittarius: Patient

Virpia: Perfectionist

Virza: Puzzle

Libra: Watcher

Ligo: Circumscribed

Libo: Inescapable

Licer: Charmer

Limino: Endurer

Libus: Vibrant

Librist: Guerilla

Libsci: Absolver

Libnius: Certain

Libicorn: Dismantler

Libittanius: Skeptic

Lipio: Initiate

Libza: Acute

Liga: Dogged

Libo: Militant

Licen: Worshipper

Limini: Abider

Libun: Escapist

Libries: Executive

Libsces: Enchancer

Librius: Seamstress

Libicorn: Finale

Libittarius: Hidden

Lipia: Networker

Scorpio: Conquerer

Scorra: Impromptu

Scorga: Crusader

Scorlo: Devious

Scorcer: Champion

Scormino: Fatalistic

Scorus: Victorious

Scorist: Mutineer

Scorsci: Fixer

Scornius: Radical

Scoricorn: Destructive

Scorittanius: Righteous

Scorpia: Emperor

Scorza: Strategist

Scorga: Deviser

Scoro: Wondrous

Scorscen: Uniter

Scormini: Martyr

Scorun: Insurgent

Scories: Redeemer

Scorsces: Alleviator

Scorrius: Cunning

Scoriborn: Dangerous

Scorittarius: Doubtful

Sagittarius: Engineer

Sagipia: Empirical

Sagiza: Inventor

Sagiga: Builder

Sagio: Ego

Sagicen: Teacher

Sagmini: Lurid

Sagiun: Journeyman

Sagiries: Revolutionary

Sagisces: Fervent

Sagirius: Bardic

Sagiborn: Rampant

Sagittanius: Nascent

Sagipio: Detective

Sagira: Tenable

Sagigo: Creator

Sagilo: Tenable

Sagicer: Hostess

Sagmino: Penitent

Sagius: Traveller

Sagirist: Rebel

Sagisci: Genuine

Saginius: Believer

Sagicorn: Wild

Capricorn: Capricious

Caprittanius: Brazen

Capripio: Risk-Taker

Caprira: Unwavering

Caprigo: Lacuna

Caprilo: Multifaceted

Capricer: Defender

Caprimino: Enduring

Caprius: Climber

Caprist: Audacious

Caprisci: Mendicant

Caprinius: Credulous

Capriborn: Malignant

Caprittarius: Rift

Capripia: Brusque

Capriza: Rigid

Capriga: Surveyor

Caprio: Opaque

Capricen: Taskmaster

Caprimini: Perilous

Capriun: Cartographer

Capries: Bold

Caprisces: Uplifited

Capripius: Contender

Aquarius: Zealous

Aquiborn: Hedonist

Aquittarius: Enigma

Aquapia: Eccentric

Aquaza: Politic

Aquaga: Campaigner

Aquo: Obsessive

Aquacen: Avant-Garde

Aquamini: Idiosyncratic

Aquiun: Spontaneous

Aquaries: Heroic

Aquanius: Magician

Aquicorn: Tempest

Aquittanius: Elegant

Aquapio: Maverick

Aquara: Contrarian

Aquago: Esoteric

Aqualo: Puppeteer

Aquacer: Foretold

Aquamino: Tilted

Aquiua: Whimsical

Aquarist: Renegade

Aquasci: Charitable

Pisces: Cleric

Pirius: Storyteller

Piborn: Albatross

Pittarius: Philosopher

Pipia: Inquiring

Piza: Conjurer

Piga: Designer

Pio: Pathfinder

Picen: Compatriot

Pimini: Adjuster

Piun: Unconfined

Piries: Dissenter

Pisci: Druid

Pinius: Sensational

Picorn: Hurricane

Pittanius: Quixotic

Pipio: Searcher

Pira: Visionary

Pigo: Artisan

Pilo: Spirited

Pimino: Empathetic

Pius: Free

Pirist: Apostate

[slylatte]

Extended Zodiac list

@amicalistemperament here what I could do

Aries - (Derse + Time) SIGN OF THE EXCAVATOR Arsces - (Derse + Life) SIGN OF THE PILGRIM Arrius - (Derse + Hope) SIGN OF THE VISUALIZER Ariborn - (Derse + Rage) SIGN OF THE ESCAPEE Arittarius - (Derse + Void) SIGN OF THE ASTRONAUT Arpia - (Derse + Light) SIGN OF THE EXAMINER Arza - (Derse + Mind) SIGN OF THE INEVITABLE Arga - (Derse + Space) SIGN OF THE TRAILBLAZER Aro - (Derse + Heart) SIGN OF THE LOST Arcen - (Derse + Blood) SIGN OF THE COMPANION Armini - (Derse + Doom) SIGN OF THE RECONCILER Arun - (Derse + Breath) SIGN OF THE IMPETUOUS Arist - (Prospit + Time) SIGN OF THE HEADSTRONG Arsci - (Prospit + Life) SIGN OF THE MEDIC Arnius - (Prospit + Hope) SIGN OF THE HEEDLESS Aricorn - (Prospit + Rage) SIGN OF THE RUNAWAY Arittanius - (Prospit + Void) SIGN OF THE VOYAGER Arpio - (Prospit + Light) SIGN OF THE SEEKER Arra - (Prospit + Mind) SIGN OF THE WAYWARD Argo - (Prospit + Space) SIGN OF THE ZENITH Arlo - (Prospit + Heart) SIGN OF THE MIRAGE Arcer - (Prospit + Blood) SIGN OF THE OFFICER Armino - (Prospit + Doom) SIGN OF THE STATIC Arus - (Prospit + Breath) SIGN OF THE WANDERER

(other colors under the cut)

Taurus - (Prospit + Breath) SIGN OF THE UNFLEDGED Taurist - (Prospit + Time) SIGN OF THE PROSPEROUS Taursci - (Prospit + Life) SIGN OF THE CONVALESCENT Taurnius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE ENTREPRENEUR Tauricorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE GRATIFIED Taurittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE UTOPIAN Taurpio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE STUDENT Taurra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE TRANSIENT Taurgo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE DIVINE Taurlo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE EXTRAVAGANT Taurcer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE CHERISHED Taurmino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE LONELY Taurun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE LIBERATED Tauries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE UNSATISFIED Taursces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE RECOVERED Taurrius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE UNMAPPED Tauriborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE COVETOUS Taurittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE SKYDIVER Taurpia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE AESTHETE Taurza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE REVEALER Taurga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE GUARDIAN Tauro - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE WITHDRAWN Taurcen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE CONNECTED Taurmini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE HERMIT

Gemini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE CYNIC Gemun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE UNBRIDLED Gemries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE SAVVY Gemsces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE PRUDENT Gemrius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE PERCEPTIVE Gemiborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE UPROARIOUS Gemittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE SAPIENT Gempia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE PERSPICACIOUS Gemza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE SHREWD Gemga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE ASCETIC Gemo - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE WIT Gemcen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE ENTERTAINER Gemino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE CONDEMNED Gemus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE ALERT Gemrist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE STREETWISE Gemsci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE TEMPERER Gemnius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE CANNY Gemicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE ANARCHIC Gemittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE SHIPWRIGHT Gempio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE CONCISE Gemra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE PILOT Gemgo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE ORIGINAL Gemlo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE INTERNAL Gemcer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE INTIMATE

Cancer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE SIGNLESS Camino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE CONSOLER Canus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE UNBOUND Canrist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE VEHEMENT Cansci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE RELIEVER Cannius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE THEATRICAL Canicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE STORM Canittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE ROMANTIC Canpio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE EFFERVESCENT Canra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE CONSTRAINED Cango - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE OPUS Canlo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE THESPIAN Cancen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE NEXUS Camini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE COMMISERATOR Canun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE VOCIFEROUS Canries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE SCRAPPER Cansces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE MOVER Canrius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE HELPER Caniborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE TUMULTUOUS Canittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE STRIKING Canpia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE INFORMER Canza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE PRODUCER Canga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE PLAYWRIGHT Cano - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE TRANSLUCENT

Leo - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE DISCIPLE Lecen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE PROVIDENT Lemini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE TRUSTED Leun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE MIGRANT Leries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE TENACIOUS Lesces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE INSTRUCTOR Lerius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE STAUNCH Leiborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE PARADOX Leittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE ARDENT Lepia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE SYNTHESIZER Leza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE PLIANT Lega - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE STOIC Lelo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE STEADFAST Lecer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE LOYALIST Lemino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE SYMPATHETIC Leus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE FLEXIBLE Lerist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE ADVANCER Lesci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE POLISHER Lenius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE RESTLESS Leicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE UNFORGIVING Leittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE EMPHATIC Lepio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE FORTUNATE Lera - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE CHAMELEON Lego - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE NOMAD

Virgo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE FRUITFUL Virlo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE FOUNDATION Vircer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE ACCOUNTABLE Virmino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE INEXHAUSTIBLE Virus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE ADAPTABLE Virist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE PROTECTOR Virsci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE ALCHEMIST Virnius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE FIERCE Viricorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE LETHAL Virittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE DELIBERATE Virpio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE HEARTH Virra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE SAGE Virga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE PURE Viro - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE REDEMPTIVE Vircen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE LIABLE Virmini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE ABIDING Virun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE EAGER Viries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE MOTHER Virsces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE ROBORANT Virrius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE VINDICATED Viriborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE STRINGENT Virittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE PATIENT Virpia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE PERFECTIONIST Virza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE PUZZLE

Libra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE WATCHER Ligo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE CIRCUMSCRIBED Liblo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE INESCAPABLE Licer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE CHARMER Limino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE ENDURER Libus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE VIBRANT Librist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE GUERILLA Libsci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE ABSOLVER Libnius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE CERTAIN Libicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE DISMANTLER Libittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE SKEPTIC Lipio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE INITIATE Libza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE ACUTE Liga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE DOGGED Libo - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE MILITANT Licen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE WORSHIPER Limini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE ABIDER Libun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE ESCAPIST Libries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE EXECUTIVE Libsces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE ENHANCER Librius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE SEAMSTRESS Libiborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE FINALE Libittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE HIDDEN Lipia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE NETWORKER

Scorpio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE CONQUEROR Scorra - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE IMPROMPTU Scorgo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE CRUSADER Scorlo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE DEVIOUS Scorcer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE CHAMPION Scormino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE FATALISTIC Scorus - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE VICTORIOUS Scorist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE MUTINEER Scorsci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE FIXER Scornius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE RADICAL Scoricorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE DESTRUCTIVE Scorittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE RIGHTEOUS Scorpia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE EMPEROR Scorza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE STRATEGIST Scorga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE DEVISER Scoro - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE WONDROUS Scorcen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE UNITER Scormini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE MARTYR Scorun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE INSURGENT Scories - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE REDEEMER Scorsces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE ALLEVIATOR Scorrius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE CUNNING Scoriborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE DANGEROUS Scorittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE DOUBTFUL

Sagittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE ENGINEER Sagipia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE EMPIRICAL Sagiza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE INVENTOR Sagiga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE BUILDER Sagio - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE EGO Sagicen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE TEACHER Sagimini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE LURID Sagiun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE JOURNEYMAN Sagiries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY Sagisces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE FERVENT Sagirius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE BARDIC Sagiborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE RAMPANT Sagittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE NASCENT Sagipio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE DETECTIVE Sagira - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE TENABLE Sagigo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE CREATOR Sagilo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE LOFTY Sagicer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE HOSTESS Sagimino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE PENITENT Sagius - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE TRAVELER Sagirist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE REBEL Sagisci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE GENUINE Saginius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE BELIEVER Sagicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE WILD

Capricorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE CAPRICIOUS Caprittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE BRAZEN Capripio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE RISK-TAKER Caprira - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE UNWAVERING Caprigo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE LACUNA Caprilo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE MULTIFACETED Capricer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE DEFENDER Caprimino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE ENDURING Caprius - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE CLIMBER Caprist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE AUDACIOUS Caprisci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE MENDICANT Caprinius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE CREDULOUS Capriborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE MALIGNANT Caprittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE RIFT Capripia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE BRUSQUE Capriza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE RIGID Capriga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE SURVEYOR Caprio - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE OPAQUE Capricen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE TASKMASTER Caprimini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE PERILOUS Capriun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE CARTOGRAPHER Capries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE BOLD Caprisces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE UPLIFTED Capririus - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE CONTENDER

Aquarius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE ZEALOUS Aquiborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE HEDONIST Aquittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE ENIGMA Aquapia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE ECCENTRIC Aquaza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE POLITIC Aquaga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE CAMPAIGNER Aquo - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE OBSESSIVE Aquacen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE AVANT-GARDE Aquamini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE IDIOSYNCRATIC Aquiun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE SPONTANEOUS Aquaries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE HEROIC Aquasces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE OFFBEAT Aquanius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE MAGICIAN Aquicorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE TEMPEST Aquittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE ELEGANT Aquapio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE MAVERICK Aquara - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE CONTRARIAN Aquago - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE ESOTERIC Aqualo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE PUPPETEER Aquacer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE FORETOLD Aquamino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE TILTED Aquius - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE WHIMSICAL Aquarist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE RENEGADE Aquasci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE CHARITABLE

Pisces - (Derse + Life)SIGN OF THE CLERIC Pirius - (Derse + Hope)SIGN OF THE STORYTELLER Piborn - (Derse + Rage)SIGN OF THE ALBATROSS Pittarius - (Derse + Void)SIGN OF THE PHILOSOPHER Pipia - (Derse + Light)SIGN OF THE INQUIRING Piza - (Derse + Mind)SIGN OF THE CONJURER Piga - (Derse + Space)SIGN OF THE DESIGNER Pio - (Derse + Heart)SIGN OF THE PATHFINDER Picen - (Derse + Blood)SIGN OF THE COMPATRIOT Pimini - (Derse + Doom)SIGN OF THE ADJUSTER Piun - (Derse + Breath)SIGN OF THE UNCONFINED Piries - (Derse + Time)SIGN OF THE DISSENTER Pisci - (Prospit + Life)SIGN OF THE DRUID Pinius - (Prospit + Hope)SIGN OF THE SENSATIONAL Picorn - (Prospit + Rage)SIGN OF THE HURRICANE Pittanius - (Prospit + Void)SIGN OF THE QUIXOTIC Pipio - (Prospit + Light)SIGN OF THE SEARCHER Pira - (Prospit + Mind)SIGN OF THE VISIONARY Pigo - (Prospit + Space)SIGN OF THE ARTISAN Pilo - (Prospit + Heart)SIGN OF THE SPIRITED Picer - (Prospit + Blood)SIGN OF THE CONFIDANTE Pimino - (Prospit + Doom)SIGN OF THE EMPATHETIC Pius - (Prospit + Breath)SIGN OF THE FREE Pirist - (Prospit + Time)SIGN OF THE APOSTATE

[dawnstruck]

Song of Solomon 4:7

Ronan Lynch does not believe in sins. He confesses anyway.

[Read on AO3] Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish, character study, pre-slash

At St. Agnes, Sunday morning mass was typically held by Pastor Denver who was as much a staple of Aglionby as the ravens, the big cars, and the boys with more money than wits were.

Ronan who went to church primarily for the family he once had and the family he still had left, had always liked Pastor Denver. He would still go to mass, even if he didn't like him, but he wouldn't do it quite this easily. This religiously.

Pastor Denver was ancient, from Ronan's own teenaged-yet-old-beyond-his-years perspective. He was sturdy for someone closing in on seventy, not quite stooped with age, and his face was more weathered by the sun than wizened by the passage of time.

Some days, the only real proof of how long he had been around was his snow white hair and the liver spots marking his hands, but his liberal smile and the twinkle in his eyes more than made up for that.

Ronan never quite knew what he else liked about going to church, except for that it had long been a habit and, even for him, those were hard to break. Especially since they connected him to his father in ways that had little to do with blood or real magic.

He didn't quite like kneeling on the pews. Didn't quite like praying and hoping that someone not-Cabeswater was actually listening. He didn't quite like staring at smooth-yet-cracked-in-some-places wooden Jesus on the cross behind the altar that had been a generous gift from an alumni and that was supposedly 300 years old. He didn't quite like going to confession.

But he liked Pastor Denver. So he went to confession anyway.

He wouldn't have, under most circumstances, as Ronan did not truly believe in sins.

He used the word 'fuck' like others said 'please' or 'thanks', just more viciously and with more versatile applications. He punched people he hated and sometimes he punched people he maybe-still-kind-of-loved. He spent entirely too much time looking at another boy and even more time just thinking about him.

In the recesses of his mind, a voice that sounded too reasonable to not have been inspired by Gansey told him that he was just using this as a substitute instead of actually getting a proper therapist. That even someone like Ronan Lynch occasionally needed someone who listened to him without bias.

Pastor Denver, surprisingly, was someone like that.

For all intents and purposes, he shouldn't have been.

He was from somewhere in Virginia, another town much like Henrietta, maybe even a little more backwater. Not an Aglionby boy himself, but still from a well-to-do family. Upstandingly pious and simply born and raised in a different time.

Boys who came to him after service or throughout the week spoke of weed and other vices. They confessed frustration with their studies, anger at their parents. They were told to speak three Ave Marias, they did, they felt absolved.

Ronan, who did not believe in sins, did not believe in absolution either.

"What brings you here, my child?" Pastor Denver asks kindly when Ronan pulls the rickety door of the confessional shut behind himself and sinks down on the worn velvet of the bench. Pastor Denver does not have to glance through the grid separating the two stalls to know who he is talking to. He'll recognize Ronan's voice, of course, but he also recognizes Ronan's gait, Ronan's attitude.

Ronan never says, Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, as sins are void and meaningless, a human invention where he believed in animal law.

"He had a fight with Blue and they broke up. I think. They didn't really say anything."

No introduction, no pleasantries. Pastor Denver does not need them.

"Did that make you feel relief?" he asks.

Numbly, Ronan shakes his head, his near-naked scalp dragging against the wooden wall behind him. Pastor Denver can't see that, though, so Ronan says, "I wasn't relieved. I was..." He ponders on the word, finds no better one. "Sad."

"Why sad?" "Because," he says slowly, "I thought they would be good. For each other. Blue would be good for him."

"Do you think he needs someone good?" "He needs someone who loves him."

"And did she?"

"I thought so," Ronan purses his lips. If he really thinks about it, it's stupid. Blue is sixteen and scruffy and hungry for something more than another Henrietta kid also hungry for something more. They are too alike in that regard. Too starved for change.

Ronan balls his hands to fists and unclenches them. He has too much change in his bones.

"Maybe she did," he continues, "Maybe she could have, eventually. But now that's done."

He had seen the look in Blue's eyes when she looked at who was now her ex though he had never really been her boyfriend to begin with wasn't the look of teenage girl who felt she had been wronged, though Ronan had to admit that he didn't know much about teenage girls. Blue had been sad and scared and worried and angry and proud and selfless in her selfishness, and that Ronan did know a lot about.

“And he?” Pastor Denver asks. He never says the name, though Ronan thinks that might be because he himself had never explicitly mentioned it. Maybe Pastor Denver thinks he has been talking about Gansey all this time, or about some other boy. Or maybe Ronan is really that obvious. That is his greatest fear, next to night terrors and memories of finding his father's body or thinking of wasps in Gansey's mouth, his lungs, his heart.

“He what?” he asks.

“Did he love her?”

Ronan thinks about his own wording for a long moment, even though he has known the answer for a long while.

“I think he is so starved for love that he would accept it from anyone at all,” he tries finally. Maybe this is why he never needed to say the name here; it obviously wasn't about Gansey. “I think he doesn't quite know the difference and so he would hold on to cheap facsimiles.”

It had taken months and a deaf ear to finally get him out of that trailer park and, on some days, he still seemed like he'd rather go back that acknowledge that his own parents did not love him in a way that deserved to be call love.

“And you?” Pastor Denver asks and Ronan sucks in a breath. They'd never spoken about that either. It had hung there, like cobwebs surreptitiously spun in the dark and when you took a step to far you got a mouthful of it and couldn't help but feel betrayed even though it was you who had decided to not simply turn on the lights.

“Doesn't matter,” he says, drawing a veil of carelessness over his voice, “This is not about me.”

He likes to pretend, sometimes, that he is not here for himself. Not for his supposed sins, certainly, but also not for his souls. Just a favor for a friend who does not know about it.

This is not about how Kavinsky calls him faggot and makes suggestive gestures at him. Not about how Adam and Gansey and even fucking Noah make cow eyes at Blue like breasts were a new invention. It's not about Ronan deciding against sleep and nightmares and lying awake in the dark instead, turning the word 'gay' over and over in his mind. Maybe that's it, though. Maybe he is actually sleeping when he thinks about it, maybe him poking at it and touching it with curious hands had made it become real. Maybe it never was a part of him, but he made it one, because it was a strange dream thing and he had brought it into his world.

Maybe it could be unmade.

“Ronan,” Pastor Denver says and it's rare that he addresses him directly because this is still happening under the guise of faux anonymity.. Automatically, Ronan sits up a little straighter. He does not do that for just any authority figure, but clergymen are to be respected, for the most part.

“Ronan,” the old man repeats and he has leaned forward a little. The tip of his hooked nose is barely visible behind the grid. “You are very mature, for your age.”

It's rare that someone would say that about Ronan. Most people think him a prissy brat, an adolescent caught in his rebellious phase who needed someone to shake him and set him on a straight path again.

Hah, Ronan thinks pathetically. Straight.

Pastor Denver knows a little about Ronan, of course. He knows of his murdered father and his comatose mother and his overbearing older brother. The Lynch family name in general is well known, though people know little about the individuals.

So maybe Pastor Denver inferred that Ronan was mature by the way he had not shed a single tear at his father's open grave, had instead held his little brother's hand because their mother was already absent even then. Maybe he could tell from the blue shadows underneath Ronan's eyes and the way his jaw was almost continuously gritted in a manner that was not at all recommended by leading dentists. Maybe he had heard enough confessions in his life to be able to suss people out, just like that.

“But you are also still very young,” Pastor Denver continuous and that, at least, is familiar territory. Unlike Declan, however, he manages to say it without condescension.

“So?” Ronan demands anyway, his shoulders hunching up in a reaction he tells himself is more aggressive than defensive.

“It's alright for you to feel like you don't quite fit,” Pastor Denver says in his broad Virginian accent. When he preaches, his Latin has the same accent and Ronan has always liked something about that, too, that it was not really a dead language, but that it still developed and adapted. “It's alright if there are parts of you that you don't yet understand.”

He means the unspoken gay thing and the not-all-done-with-puberty thing. The you-experienced-terrible-tragedy-at-a-very-crucial-stage-in-your-life thing is in there, too, probably, but Ronan kind of wants to laugh. The pastor, for all his belief in higher powers, knows not a thing about dreams or ley lines or immortal kings.

But he does know how Ronan's voice goes a little tender, a little reverent when he speaks of the boy with the name-that-is-not-named, and maybe that is enough.

“What should I do?” Ronan asks, even though he never asks anyone for advice ever.

“Go,” Pastor Denver says heartily, “Live a little, enjoy the day. You never know how many there are left.”

“Carpe diem?” Ronan says wryly, “Really?”

“YOLO, as the the youngins say,” Pastor Denver replies, flippant. “Oh God,” Ronan snorts, his abs contracting with what wants to be full-bellied laughter, and he doesn't even care that he took the Lord's name in vain while in church because the priest honestly just said YOLO and that is probably just as bad.

Pastor Denver has no idea that death features a little more prominently in the lives of Ronan and his friends, but maybe his words have some wisdom to them anyway.

“Run along now,” the old man tells him, “From what I could smell over the incense there were at least two of your peers who need to repent for the use of certain borderline illegal substances.”

Ronan grins, already getting up from his seat, when he remembers something.

“Should I pray?” he asks, fingertips on the brazen door handle.

“No,” the pastor says, “There are no sins to absolve. Go buy yourself some ice cream and enjoy the sunshine.”

So Ronan goes, saunters down along the side of the pews where the boys who sing in the choir are almost done with re-arranging the Bibles. He's got his hands jammed into the pockets of his slacks, though it does not quite have the same effect as it would with his ripped jeans, and when he gets to the heavy oaken doors he shoves one open with his left shoulder.

Light greets him, almost blinding after the comforting darkness of the confessional, and he has to blink and wait for his eyes to adjust.

When he does, his very own messiah is awaiting him.

Sitting on the small set of stairs that leads up to the chapel, Adam Parrish has his elbows braced against his knees and it watching the sporadic Sunday morning traffic. When he hears the hinges of the door, he glances back and up at Ronan.

“Took a while,” he says, as though he had been waiting here since mass was over. Since before that, even.

“Got a lot of sins to get of my chest,” Ronan says, even though he does not believe in sins.

Adam looks at him like he might know that, but he just stands up, unnecessarily brushes the dust off his pants and asks , “Man upstairs been listening?”

“Nah,” Ronan tilts his head back, so far that the tendons in his neck are straining. He squints up at the violent blue of the sky. “He doesn't bother with the small fish.”

“Ronan Lynch, a small fish,” Adam echoes in disbelief, but then he jostles Ronan with his shoulder, “I would've thought you were a shark, with that smile and that blood thirst of yours.”

Ronan bares his teeth and jostles him right back, nearly hip-checks him right off the stairs and into the downtrodden grass. But a not-that-little part of him is pleased, pleased because apparently Adam sometimes thought about the way he smiled and, last year in Biology, the two of them had held a presentation about apex predators (upon Ronan's insistence), and Adam had gotten them an A by explaining how sharks were terribly misunderstood creatures who really did not kill all that many people.

Humans, they both knew, were the most fearsome animals of all.

“Wanna get some ice cream?” Ronan asks, non-sequitur.

“It's not that hot,” Adam says, as though no one had ever had ice cream outside of summer.

“C'mon,” Ronan says, “My treat.”

Wrong thing to say, of course.

“Ronan,” Adam starts, his chest puffing up.

“Hey,” Ronan says, poking him in the sternum. Adam's breath rushes out in a sudden gush.

“There's that hot air we need to justify getting ice cream,” Ronan teases, “You did your share, I'll do mine.”

He winks at him, quite cheekily, to defuse the bomb or take the wind out of Adam's desperately self-sufficient sails, he's not quite sure, and Adam-

Adam stills and glances away with lowered lashes.

“Alright,” he says, a little too softly to not make the moment feel somewhat meaningful, “Let's go.”

Together, they cross the parking lot, over to Ronan's gleaning BMW, and Ronan gets behind the wheel and Adam gets on the passenger seat. It's rare, these days, for them to be alone together, and that in itself makes it feel tantalizing. As though they were actually going on a date, instead of Ronan just playing make-belief.

That's fine, though. Ronan has always been a dreamer.

And, he reminds himself, as he revs the engine but does not turn up his thudding music, his dreams have a habit of becoming reality anyway.

Song of Solomon 4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

[puzzlingpeace]

Just a Drink Part Four

Written for the prompt “Scully lesbian encounter with a beautiful stranger “When was the last time you did something just because you wanted to?” 

Part one here Part two here Part three here

Rating: NC17 from here on out. Pairing: Scully/OC

WIP

“If I speed, we can be there in three.”

“Then speed.”

The three minutes feel a lot like three hours. Scully shifts uncomfortably,  pressing her thighs together in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the aching tension, and to protect Leyla’s leather interior from the pool of arousal soaking through her panties –  and probably through the slinky material of her dress. When she chances a glance at Leyla, she sees a ticking jaw and knuckles popping white against the steering wheel. She feels a surge of excitement at the knowledge that Leyla is just as impatient as she is.

The car finally comes to a stop in front of an apartment building, which Scully vaguely recognizes as being a couple thousand rent dollars out of her budget. She opens her own door and is stepping out of the car when Leyla appears in front of her.

Scully groans helplessly as Leyla’s fingers push into the dip of her lower back, bringing their bodies together. Their lips connect, and Leyla catches Scully’s bottom lip roughly between her teeth. “Inside,” Scully gasps against Leyla’s mouth as she struggles for air.

Leyla releases her, and Scully almost protests, but stops herself. The surviving ounce of logic still fizzling through the fog in her brain tells her that they’ll never make it into the apartment if any part of Leyla touches her again before they reach the door.

She follows Leyla, her eyes hungrily raking over the lean muscle of her long back, the sultry swing of her hips, and the smooth swell of her ass. She marvels at her own foolishness.

How have I denied myself this for all these years?  How did I put out of my mind the memory of a woman’s exquisite touch, the sharp planes and gentle valleys of the female body?

Her fingers are twitching with the need to touch the smooth skin exposed just above Leyla’s belt, her lips tingling at the thought of kissing her again. Of tasting her mouth, her tongue. Her cunt.

Fuck logic.

Leyla’s hands are fumbling with the task of unlocking her door. “Hurry,” Scully moans, unable to keep her hands from gripping Leyla’s hips, rough denim on her palms contrasting deliciously with the bit of warm skin bare under her fingertips. “Trying,” Leyla grits, fingers trembling as she makes a second attempt to insert key into lock. Scully scrapes her manicured nails gently up Leyla’s sides, lifting her chin to exhale against her neck.

Leyla’s voice is desperate as she whimpers. “Not helping, Dana.”

At last, mercifully, the lock cooperates, and they stumble inside. The door slams unceremoniously behind them. Leyla turns to look at Scully; her eyes are smoldering, her swollen lips glistening with both their saliva as she takes a slow, purposeful step forward. “That wasn’t very nice,” she growls.

Scully trembles, liquid heat dripping from her center. She tries to disguise the needy desperation coursing through her body with a casual shrug. She smirks, arching an eyebrow. “No? You seemed to respond fairly well to it.”

Leyla licks her lips slowly, and Scully notes for the first time that some of her own lipstick is smudged on the cupid’s bow of Leyla’s upper lip. She bites back a whimper.

“That’s true,” Leyla concedes, pulling Scully against her body with one arm. Scully’s breath quickens as their breasts and bellies meld together, and Leyla smiles knowingly. She closes her lips over Scully’s again, kissing her slowly and thoroughly.

Leyla’s hand trails between them, to the tender patch of skin just above Scully’s knee, slowly moving higher until she meets the slippery flesh at the crease of her inner thigh.

“Seems like you’re responding fairly well yourself, Dana.”

Feeling her composure slipping, Scully bites down hard on her lower lip and lets her head fall back slightly. Leyla gently moves Scully’s panties aside. Her fingers glide slowly across the wet, swollen flesh they encounter. “Oh – my – God.” Scully digs her fingers into Leyla’s arms. “Fuck,” she breathes. “Leyla, please.”

“Mmmm,” Leyla hums, brushing her mouth over Scully’s as her fingers continue their maddeningly slow dance across her slick folds. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

They kiss and caress their way from the living room through the spacious hallway, breathy sighs mingling with urgent moans. Scully’s heartbeat pounds in her own ears, beating in time to the only word she can coherently form – now-now-now.

When they reach the bedroom, Leyla reaches around to grasp the zipper at the back of Scully’s dress. She pulls it down slowly, and the sound is harsh in the sudden silence of the room. Her heartbeat begins to thrum a different tune. This-is-wrong, it taunts. Wrong-wrong-wrong.

Leyla dips her chin to catch Scully’s mouth in another blistering kiss as Scully’s dress begins to flutter open, exposing the small of her back. She thinks of the tattoo she bears there, and of the sordid night it preceded. She stiffens.

Don’t do this, she begs herself. Don’t think, don’t run. Just let me have this.

She thinks of the girl in college, down on her knees in front of a young Dana Scully, professing her love as her cherry glossed lips moved between trembling thighs in a most unholy kiss. How many Hail Marys before I felt absolved?

She thinks of the girl – Rose, her name was Rose – and the tears streaming down her wind stung cheeks as Dana told her, shivering in the chill of an early February morning behind the Liberal Arts building on campus, that what they had done was wrong. That it was sinful. That it could never, ever happen again.

She wonders if anyone ever told Rose that there was nothing wrong with her. She aches with hoping that they did, and that Rose believed them.

Leyla is touching Scully’s face gently, concern creasing her forehead as she studies her face. “Dana,” she says quietly. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Scully whispers thickly. “I’m okay.”

“You want this, don’t you?” Leyla brushes a curl away from Scully’s forehead. “I mean – you would tell me if you didn’t, right?”

“Yes,” Scully says. Don’t ruin this, she pleads again with herself. “I want it.”

Leyla nods slowly. “You deserve to have things that make you feel good, Dana,” she says, in as matter of fact a tone as if she is stating that there are two hundred and six bones in the human body. “When was the last time you did something just because you wanted to?”

Scully stares blankly. “It’s been a while,” she admits haltingly. She hesitates, tugging uncomfortably at her dress. “It never turns out all that well.”

Leyla shakes her head slightly. “There are no obligations here,” she says. She brings one hand back to Scully’s jaw, cupping her cheek tenderly. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s time you stopped punishing yourself.”

Scully closes her eyes, choking on a bitter laugh. “You have no idea.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

When Scully opens her eyes, she sees a glimmer of something she recognizes all too clearly mirrored in the depths of Leyla’s eyes. Regret.

“You hurt someone, too,” Scully says in a small voice. It’s not even a question.

Leyla’s expression tightens, her face becoming unreadable again. For a moment, Scully worries that she has gone too far. She opens to her mouth to apologize, to say that I shouldn’t have said that, it’s none of my business –

“Yes.” Leyla’s mouth softens sadly. “A woman who loved me very much.”

“Yeah.”

“The girl in college?”

“Her name was Rose.” She speaks the name in a hushed tone. It’s a confession  – one she could never give to her priest. But here, in this moonlit room with this dark eyed stranger, she feels a weight lifted from her shoulders that a thousand Hail Marys had never quite managed to ease.

“Parisa,” Leyla whispers. “The person I hurt. Her name was Parisa.”

They stand in silence for a sacred moment, breathing together. Leyla takes both of Scully’s hands in hers and squeezes them reassuringly.

“Lie down on the bed,” Leyla says huskily.

Scully nods, feeling a sense of peace settle over her. Reaching behind her, she pulls the halter top of her dress over her head. She drops her arms, letting the silky material fall softly to the floor.

“Oh, God,” Leyla breathes, her eyes drinking in Scully’s body from head to toe. Scully’s arms are alive with goosebumps, her nipples hardening under Leyla’s ravenous gaze. If Leyla notices the gunshot scar where it curls against the skin over Scully’s diaphragm, she doesn’t seem to mind.

Scully carefully steps out of her high heels, and Leyla laughs breathlessly, looking at her in wonderment. “I didn’t notice before, you’re so – “

“Short?” Scully quips, finishing Leyla’s sentence. “Yeah, well. Dynamite and all that.”

“I have no doubt.” Leyla runs her tongue over her top lip, her lustful gaze never breaking from Scully’s body. “Lie down,” she repeats.

Scully backs up slowly until the backs of her thighs hit the edge of the bed and she slowly leans back, working her way up the mattress until her head rests against silk encased pillows. Her breath hitches as she watches Leyla sink to her knees on the edge of the mattress and crawl the length of her body. Leyla is hovering over her now, her mouth close enough to kiss – almost.

“Take this off,” Scully demands, tugging at the white tank top that contrasts even more beautifully with the dusk of Leyla’s skin as she is cast under the moonlight peeking through the curtains. Leyla crosses her arms over her body, peeling the material over her head. Her waist is soft and smooth, her breasts fuller and larger than they appeared under her shirt as they spill over the black lace cups of her strapless bra.

Scully reaches wordlessly behind Leyla to unhook her bra clasp. She pulls the satin and lace away gently and feels her inner muscles clench, another warm wave of arousal flooding in her abdomen. Leyla’s nipples are the color of sweet toffee, rock candy hard and reaching towards Scully in invitation. Scully’s mouth waters.

Scully glides her hands down Leyla’s strong back, reaching her head forward to close her lips tentatively around one stiff peak. Leyla cries out, her chest arching forward. Encouraged, Scully swirls her tongue roughly. She takes Leyla’s other nipple between two fingers, rolling the tight bud in time with the circles of her tongue. She adds teeth, gently scraping across sensitive flesh, her clit throbbing in response to Leyla’s sharp cries and moans of pleasure. Leyla grips Scully’s hips desperately, her thumbs slipping below the lace edge of her panties to press into her hipbones.

“Dana,” Leyla groans. She pulls away, and Scully frowns petulantly. “Come back,” she says, raising up on her elbows. “No,” Leyla says, gently pushing on Scully’s shoulders. “Lie down.” Scully considers arguing, but the look Leyla gives her makes her shudder in anticipation, and she obeys.

Leyla moves like warm molasses down Scully’s body. She stops every so often to press languid kisses against the side of her neck, her clavicle, her nipples – “Jesus,” Scully whimpers, her hips arching off the bed of their own volition. Leyla smiles against her skin before slowly running her warm tongue along the bottom swell of Scully’s breasts. “I can’t believe how gorgeous you are,” she says, flattening her hand against Scully’s pelvic bone as she suckles at the sensitive flesh beneath her ribcage.

Scully moans, arching her pelvis forward against Leyla’s palm. “Please,” she begs. “Leyla, I need you to – “

“Tell me,” Leyla says, stroking softly over the sodden silk covering Scully’s cunt. “God,” she breathes. “You’re so fucking wet, Dana.”

Scully is panting, her hips twisting and writhing without her permission. “Please, Leyla.” She digs her heels into the backs of Leyla’s denim clad thighs. “Please touch me.”

Leyla grasps the lace edge of Scully’s panties, tugging them down her thighs and tossing them to the side. Lowering her face, she breathes hotly against the throbbing flesh between Scully’s legs. “You smell amazing,” she murmers appreciatively. Scully moans helplessly, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. “Leyla,” she begs again.

“I know,” Leyla whispers darkly. “Touch you.” She glances up through the dark fringe of her long lashes. “I want you in my mouth.”

“God, yes,” Scully says, digging her fingernails sharply into her own thighs.

Leyla moves forward, tossing her long curls over one shoulder. Scully holds her breath in anticipation, and then – “Fuuuck,” she hisses. Leyla drags her tongue hard and slow through her drenched folds. She hums against Scully’s pussy, savoring the taste of her as she moves her tongue in an agonizingly slow rhythm over and around her clit. “Harder,” Scully chokes, her calves pressing tightly against Leyla’s waist, urging her closer. “Please. More.”

Leyla wedges her arm under Scully’s ass, slowly but firmly inserting two fingers into her dripping pussy. “More,” Scully insists weakly, thrusting down onto Leyla’s palm. Leyla groans, adding a third finger. Scully whimpers deep in her throat at the delicious aching pressure against her inner walls. Leyla moves her hand, pushing deep into Scully’s body as her lips close over her engorged clit, sucking and licking in time with her thrusts.

Almost almost almost. More more more.

“OhJesusohgodfuck – “ Scully’s fingers tangle unconsciously into Leyla’s silky curls, her eyes slamming shut as her back arches off the bed. “I’m – “ The last of her words are lost on a strangled cry, her hips bucking and thrusting against Leyla’s face as her pussy tightens and clenches around her fingers.  

Scully comes back to herself slowly, her body relaxing in stages as Leyla gently removes her hand from her cunt. When she catches her breath, Leyla is lying beside her, full breasts resting against Scully’s arm. “Hi,” Leyla smiles, gently tracing her nails over Scully’s belly and across her nipples. She carefully avoids the scar.

Scully returns the smile, turning on her side to drape her body across Leyla’s. “Hi,” she replies softly. She wraps her hand around the back of Leyla’s neck, pulling her face to hers and kissing her hungrily. She tastes herself on Leyla’s lips, sweet and salty.

Reaching down, Scully unbuttons Leyla’s jeans and slowly lowers her zipper. Leyla’s breath catches in her throat, but she closes a hand tightly around Scully’s wrist, tugging her hand away. Scully blinks, confused. Leyla loosens her grip, her fingers stroking soft circles against Scully’s inner wrist.

“It’s okay,” she says. “You don’t have to do anything.”

Scully laughs incredulously. “Have to?” She shakes her head. “I want to, Leyla. I want to make you come.” She leans forward, nuzzling her face into Leyla’s neck, kissing behind her ear. “And at some point,” she says, “I want us to come together.”

Leyla worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “Dana,” she begins, then stops. She averts her gaze. “I just wanted to fuck you,” she says simply.

Scully stares in disbelief. “I – what? So that’s – that’s it?” She sits up, not sure whether to be offended or not. Leyla looks at her, her dark eyes carefully blank, her expression impassable. Scully has seen that look before, earlier. When Leyla was talking about Parisa.

“You hurt someone, too.” 

“Yes – someone who loved me very much.”

“Leyla?” Scully searches her face. “Please don’t do this.” She takes a deep breath through her nose. Should I let this go?

No, she decides. It’s only fair.

“For what it’s worth,” she says, her voice quiet and kind, “I think it’s time you stopped punishing yourself, too.”

Something flashes in Leyla’s eyes then. Anger? Denial? No. Something infinitely more heartbreaking. Raw, unabashed grief. Scully would know that look anywhere. 

Leyla’s mouth twists into a sad smile. “That’s not fair,” she says hoarsely. “But it’s good advice.”

Scully touches one gentle finger against Leyla’s abdomen. “Please,” she says. “I want to make you feel as amazing as you made me feel. You deserve good things, too, Leyla.”

“Okay,” Leyla whispers. She lies back, arms by her sides against the bed. Scully settles between Leyla’s knees and kisses the skin below her belly button. “Relax,” Scully urges her in a soothing voice. “You deserve this,” she reminds her, carefully tugging the waist of Leyla’s jeans down. Leyla lifts her hips to assist her, but Scully senses apprehension in the movement. Leyla’s hands are trembling, and somehow, Scully knows it isn’t from anticipation of an orgasm.

Scully peels the denim over Leyla’s hips, down her thighs –

Her heart shatters, stomach plummeting.

The majority of Leyla’s right upper thigh is almost exclusively scar tissue, raised welts overlapping with sunken bits of flesh. As a doctor, she recognizes the after effects of a chemical burn. As a human being, she doesn’t ask.

Instead, she gently grazes the scar tissue with her palm, then dips her chin to place a chaste kiss against the roughened flesh. Leyla’s leg jerks, and Scully peers up at her face, carefully assessing her reaction.

Leyla smiles down at her, her breaths deep and trembling. Her eyes speak volumes. Thank you, they whisper. I need this, they plead.

“You are incredibly beautiful,” Scully says, her voice rich with sincerity. Leyla touches Scully’s shoulder gratefully and closes her eyes.

Scully lowers her face again, this time to breathe in the heady scent of Leyla’s shimmering cunt. She slides one finger easily through Leyla’s folds, and moans in tandem with Leyla when the slick evidence of Leyla’s undeniable arousal drips onto her hand.

She darts her tongue out, flicking Leyla’s clit, just once. At Leyla’s deep moan, she repeats the action, then moves her tongue further down, swirling it inside Leyla’s pussy. She uses Leyla’s deep sighs and soft cries as a guide – a slow lick elicits a contented moan, but a rough swipe against her clit earns an upward thrust of her pelvis and a startled gasp of pleasure.

Scully quickens her movements, using her fingers to press against Leyla’s upper wall as she laps up her arousal, greedily flattening her tongue against her clit. “So good, Dana” Leyla gasps, her hips rising and falling. “So fucking good.” Scully groans against Leyla’s soaked folds. She feels the vibrations of the sound against the roof of her mouth, and knows by Leyla’s reaction that she feels it, too.

“Oh, fuck.” Leyla’s thighs tremble and tighten around Scully’s shoulders, and Scully pulls hard, once more, against the rough patch of flesh at the front wall of Leyla’s pussy. “Fuck,” Leyla cries again, her orgasm sending a gush of liquid into Scully’s eager mouth and onto the bedsheets. Scully continues pumping slowly as she kisses Leyla’s inner thigh, riding out the aftershocks with her. She retreats only when she feels Leyla’s hand slip through her hair, tugging gently. “Stop, stop.”

Wiping her face with both hands, Scully peeks up at Leyla. Her full breasts are still rising and falling quickly with the effort of her breathing. Scully lays down beside her, curling an arm around her waist.

Leyla’s eyes are still closed, and for a moment, Scully thinks she has fallen asleep.

“So,” Leyla says, her eyes fluttering open. She brings Scully’s hand to her lips, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. “Here’s to not punishing ourselves anymore.”

Scully tugs the covers out from under Leyla, who lazily rolls over to help her. They settle beneath the sheets, Scully’s warm, sated body flush against Leyla’s. Several seconds tick by, and Leyla’s breathing deepens and slows. Scully presses a final kiss against Leyla’s temple before resting her head on her shoulder.

“Here’s to absolution,” Scully whispers.

Leyla’s arm tightens around her.

“To absolution,” she echoes, a promise.

TBC in Part Five.

[viralhottopics]

The best way to counter the far right? Know the enemy | Hari Kunzru

Since Trumps election win, his online footsoldiers are ever more emboldened. Heres how to fight back

Last weekend, I flew to Berlin to speak at a seminar. I found myself relieved to be off American soil but worried about leaving my family behind. I wasnt concerned about their safety, at least not as things stand. My wife and children are citizens and my immigration status is solid, though its significant that these are times when I have to think about my wifes citizenship and my solid immigration status.

Since the inauguration, which feels like a long time ago, the pace of change has been rapid and the need to be close to my loved ones is strong. Like many of my friends, my social media use has become compulsive and unhealthy. You could think of it as informational hyper-vigilance, a draining state in which your need to keep yourself informed wakes you up in the middle of the night to check if something has happened, something that requires an immediate response or decision. You need to know how everyone else is reading each new development. Who is being melodramatic? Who is complacent? Who is reading the roiling political currents in a helpful way?

Ha ha ha, says the voice in my head. Look at the anxious snowflake who cant get past muh feelz. One of my symptoms is a compulsion to spend too much time on the far-right internet. While itself driven by extreme emotionalism, the toxic right tends to adopt a tone of lofty rationality towards its antagonists. The pain of leftists is not only intellectually contemptible but actively enjoyable. Indeed, theres an argument that it may even be a policy driver for the Bannon-Miller faction of the new Trump administration, the part that has migrated from the internet to the Oval Office and which understands the appetite of its base for bloody revenge.

The coastal liberal, that great straw man, is considered to be smug and insulated from the consequences of the politically correct positions he or she holds, particularly on immigration. The measure of Trumps various Bannon-authored policy announcements may not be their substance, their wisdom or their basis in any kind of broadly shared reality but their capacity to wound and unsettle ideological enemies.

On accounts with profile pictures of crusader knights, Roman philosophers or anime characters in states of ecstatic euphoria, one reads a lot about the Enlightenment and about the self-indulgence and corruption of a mythical hegemonic left. The great vice is empathy, the decadent prioritising of sentiment over reason and of racial or cultural outsiders over insiders, a trait of a self-indulgent class that has been infected by a sort of viral guilt by Frankfurt School Marxism. Rationality is a cipher for whiteness in this conversation and often cloaks itself in the language of sociobiology. Liberal expressions of empathy, particularly towards minorities or out-groups, are not only maladaptive in evolutionary terms, theyre not even sincere, merely so-called virtue signalling, part of a coercive shame game the rightists are refusing to play. This appeal to rationality comes with a supplement of irrational violence.

In the days after the election, as the message boards exulted in the power of their meme magic to alter the course of history, the hashtag #rwds did the rounds, standing for right-wing death squads. A quick and queasy perusal showed a lot of frothing millennials gleefully imagining the cartoonish torture of Jews, intellectuals, all the usual suspects, with an aesthetic derived from the cold war in Latin America. After the inauguration day incident in which Richard Spencer was punched while giving a TV interview, these same people presented themselves as victims of an intolerable breakdown of civility and the rule of law and threatened to take matters into their own hands if they werent protected by the authorities.

Ive never had much time for the strand of armchair American liberalism that believes in the essential goodness of America, the sort of people who quote Dr Martin Luther Kings famous phrase about the arc of the moral universe bending towards justice, not in order to urge fellow citizens towards struggle but to suggest that some cosmic process will make everything turn out all right. Theyre usually people who would never dream of espousing the embarrassingly retrograde theology of Manifest Destiny but cling on to a sort of fuzzy exceptionalism, in which they are absolved by their Americanness of responsibility to make the future.

While I was in Berlin, the executive order on immigration was announced and all hell broke out at the airports. Customs and Border Protection started detaining travellers whose status had changed while they were in the air. At Washington Dulles airport, a five-year-old Iranian boy was handcuffed. The Customs and Border Protection patrol defied court orders to give access to detainees, court orders that wouldnt have even been sought had a large cohort of lawyers not been part of massive protests that made it impossible for the authorities to ignore the situation.

This kind of practical grassroots action is in sharp contrast to the supine posture of congressional Democrats, who are lagging far behind the people they purport to lead.

Though the right berates the left for a politics based on empathy, their own strategy (or tendency, if you prefer not to tell conspiracy stories) is towards the colonisation of the public sphere by the presentation of feeling, instead of more traditional republican (and Republican) virtues such as moral rectitude, sincerity or adherence to truth. The presidents background in reality television gives him an intuitive sense that the veracity of a thing has no necessary relation to its feeling of truth and in that lies its political force. If he says his inauguration was the biggest ever, or that some nameless expert told him that torture works, no amount of fact checking will, in itself, counter that.

For those of us who believe that we need to preserve a functioning public sphere based on some shared standard of truth, it remains important to combat the alternative facts of the new administration, but the most successful actions of the last two weeks, such as the Womens March and the occupation of the airports, have shown that the facts on the ground matter just as much.

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from The best way to counter the far right? Know the enemy | Hari Kunzru

[marymosley]

Why Joe Biden Can Do No Wrong

Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on special dispensation given Joe Biden by members of Congress, commentators, and the media.  We previously discussed the muted media response to false legal comments from President Barack Obama and other Obama officialson the Flynn case. The pattern of media avoidance is more glaring with recent Biden controversies. Notably, the column ran when Biden gave his interview on the radio show “The Breakfast Club” that “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”  This weekend, I was critical of segments on CNN and NBC’s Meet the Press which quoted Biden but cut off the line where he falsely claimed to have received multiple endorsements from the NAACP.  CNN’s John King derisively referred to controversy as something people are “trying to make hay” out of and then played the interview. However, CNN clipped the tape to leave out the next line where Biden declared “The NAACP has endorsed me every time I’ve run. Come on, take a look at my record.” Despite that invitation to look at his record, CNN and other media routinely cut out the false statement and also omitted any discussion of the false claim linked to the NAACP. On a story about Biden’s claim that all black voters must vote for him (or not be truly black), it would seem material that he also falsely claimed endorsements from the leading organization in the African American community.  However, it was routinely omitted from the tape and Biden has not been asked to respond to the rebuttal from the NAACP.  It is precisely the type of crafting of the coverage to confine damage for Biden that is discussed in the column.

Here is the column:

One columnist declared that former Vice President Joe Biden could boil babies and she would still vote for him. Feminist leaders have said they believe Biden raped a Senate staffer but they still endorse him. Good government advocates have opposed any investigation into prior sexual harassment or corruption claims against Biden. It seems politicians and pundits alike have discovered the glory of the “presidential bull.” In this instance, Biden is akin to a papal indulgence that allows writers, members of Congress and journalists to forgive any sin in a holy crusade to retake Washington.

In the 11th century, Pope Urban II formalized the use of indulgences, which could be purchased to forgive sins. A papal bull of the Crusade accompanied those who fought in the Holy Land and committed atrocities in the name of a higher order. The practice was defended as essentially drawing from the “treasury of merit” created by Jesus Christ, the saints and the faithful.

Now the 2020 election has become the ultimate crusade, and President Trump’s critics seem to be enjoying indulgences in tossing aside moral and ethical considerations. The freedom that is Biden is nowhere more evident than in a recent column by The Nation’s Katha Pollitt, who wrote about the allegations of sexual assault made by former Biden staffer Tara Reade. Pollitt dispensed with any struggle over feminist or moral qualms, declaring, “I would vote for Joe Biden if he boiled babies and ate them.”

As Pollitt explained, “We do not have the luxury of sitting out the election to feel morally pure or send a message about sexual assault and #BelieveWomen.” Otherwise, Pollitt would have to deal with her column during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, in which she denounced “some of his defenders [who] seem to be saying that even if the allegations are true, it shouldn’t really matter.”

For years, critics have expressed disgust at Trump’s statement that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters.” Yet they now afford Biden the same immunity even if he turns into the ancient god Cronus and starts snacking on boiled babies. The same indulgence has been claimed by politicians and commentators in dealing with other Biden allegations of sexual assault. Many of them demanded during the Kavanaugh controversy that all women must simply be believed when alleging sexual harassment. Those who questioned the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford were denounced for insensitivity, if not complicity, in the abuse of women.

Today, some of us have said that Biden has the stronger case thus far, but we still support an investigation. Yet many Kavanaugh critics quickly declared Biden to be innocent and opposed any search of his records — including those under lock and key at the University of Delaware — for any allegations of sexual abuse.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) simply cut off questions by testily declaring, “I don’t need a lecture” when confronted with her prior statements. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) declared she sees no need for an investigation because she knows Biden and believes him, adding that she resented being asked about it as a victim of sexual assault. She cut off questions from CNN’s Jake Tapper by saying, “And you know what? That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Others have struggled with an answer until they discovered the presidential bull. Women’s rights attorney Lisa Bloom said she believes Biden did rape a female staffer and has lied about it publicly but she still will endorse him for president. She tweeted, “I believe you, Tara Reade … sorry.” To use Pollitt’s language, defending a rape victim is now a “luxury.” Likewise, Linda Hirshman wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times titled “I Believe Tara Reade. I’m Voting for Joe Biden Anyway.” She explained, “Democratic primary voters knew all about Mr. Biden’s membership in that boys’ club when there was still time to pick someone else. Alas … I’ll take one for the team. I believe Ms. Reade, and I’ll vote for Mr. Biden this fall.”

Then there is commentator Karine Jean Pierre, who declared three years ago that sexual misconduct allegations alone should disqualify candidates from running for office. In December 2017, she told CNN’s Tapper, “I think we’re at a point in time in this country where the ‘Me Too’ movement has really gotten some traction. We’re finally listening to victims … and I think if you’re running for office, you can’t have been accused of sexual harassment or assault.” She just joined Biden’s campaign as a senior adviser this week. The fact is that, without political indulgences, Washington’s thick, sulfuric hypocrisy would choke the life out of the city.

After his work on the atomic bomb, scientist Robert Oppenheimer observed that “the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.” If commentators have known sin (whether mortal or venial), it is in the abandonment of facts for a true faith. For legal analysts, the cardinal sin is the distortion of the law to fit a cause rather than apply the law to a given case.  Many are still twisting the criminal code to come up with new crimes against Trump, regardless of future implications.

Some have said that Trump’s recent tweet about withholding funds from states over the use of mail-in voting is a crime in the making. Former prosecutor Richard Signorelli described the tweet as “the crime of extortion in plain sight” and the basis for a “new impeachment” — no matter that such an extortion charge would be utterly absurd and directly contradict controlling case law.

In the age of echo chamber journalism, legal experts are now selected according to their willingness to consistently declare that Trump or his associates are committing criminal or impeachable offenses. Any such theory, no matter how unhinged or unsupported, finds easy access to the pages of The Washington Post or segments on CNN or MSNBC. Most recently, allegations of prosecutorial abuse or judicial overreach in the Michael Flynn case have been ridiculed.

Some legal analysts have even encouraged the judge in that case, Emmet Sullivan, to take his own liberties with the law and use his courtroom to deliver a blow against Trump. The Los Angeles Times ran a recent column by former United States Attorney Harry Litman advising Sullivan how to “make trouble” for the administration. Litman admitted there is “very little leeway to reject the government’s decisions to dismiss charges” but encouraged Sullivan to “accomplish what Congress, multiple inspectors general, and a majority of the electorate have not been able to do — hold the president and his allies accountable for their contemptuous disregard for the rule of law.”

The liberating element of a presidential bull is that it relieves the bearer from justifying the means to the ends of a crusade. All sins are forgiven for that higher purpose. The defeat of Trump is that higher purpose: You can expressly support someone you believe to be a rapist. You can distort the criminal code or encourage raw forms of judicial activism. With the presidential bull, Biden will simply declare, “Ego te absolvo” — “I absolve you” — on Jan. 20, 2021, and all will be forgiven and forgotten.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates online @JonathanTurley.

Why Joe Biden Can Do No Wrong published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[mikemortgage]

What’s next for SNC-Lavalin: Five potential scenarios, from decamping to the U.K. to a wholesale break-up

While the political drama that unfolded in Ottawa this past week has many speculating about the future of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, the fate of the company at the centre of the storm is no less certain.

Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s refusal to interfere in the prosecution of Quebec-based engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin, despite apparent pressure from the Prime Minister’s office and other government officials, means the company is likely headed for a court showdown on criminal fraud and corruption charges over alleged bribery in Libya.

If convicted, the company could face a 10-year ban on bidding for Canadian government contracts. It could also find itself restricted from some international work, with bodies such as the World Bank cracking down on corruption.

A criminal proceeding couldn’t come at a worse time for SNC, which is already struggling with the underperformance of its mining and oil and gas segments, as well as the fallout from a diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia, where SNC has significant operations. Those issues forced SNC to issue two profit warnings in recent weeks, and to slash its dividend.

Why Jody Wilson-Raybould likely never pushed prosecutors to settle the case against SNC-Lavalin

Investors sensing a Warren Buffett moment in SNC Lavalin should look before they leap

Here's how a new escape route could open up for SNC-Lavalin

They have also prompted talk of whether the company might need to take radical steps to reshape — or even break up — its operations in order to survive. With that in mind, the Financial Post examined five potential scenarios, from decamping to another jurisdiction to hiving off portions of the company, and assessed what they would mean for SNC.

1. Leave Canada

According to her testimony, Jody Wilson-Raybould was told by government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that SNC might pull up stakes and move out of Quebec if it was not offered a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, a type of arrangement new to Canada that allows companies to settle criminal cases without the stain of a conviction. She said Michael Wernick, the top civil servant in Ottawa, told her a move to the U.K. was likely. Though it is not known if SNC itself made such a threat, shifting headquarters to another jurisdiction — with the United Kingdom being the most likely destination — would not be out of the realm of possibility for the company. SNC already has significant operations in the U.K., where in 2017 it bought WS Atkins plc, a design, engineering and project management consultancy, for $3.6 billion. While a move might appear to offer SNC a fresh start and give it the opportunity to negotiate future concessions from a different, potentially more accommodating government, most company watchers see the option as more of a bargaining chip than a real plan. “Moving could reduce the uncertainty, but I just don’t see how this happens,” said Frederic Bastien, an analyst at Raymond James who covers the company. On top of the fact that such a move would not stop a prosecution, or relieve SNC of other potential legal liabilities, it would also mean turning its back on Canada, where it has 9,000 employees and does nearly 30 per cent of its business. There is also the complicating matter of a loan agreement the company signed with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to raise funds for the Atkins acquisition, in which in agreed to keep its headquarters in Quebec until 2024.

2. Find a hometown saviour

Nowhere is the angst over the future of SNC-Lavalin more intense than in its home province of Quebec. In recent days, Quebec Premier Francois Legault has weighed in, warning that the company could be susceptible to a takeover or significant job attrition given its weakened state. Those concerns raise the possibility that one or more of the major players in Quebec could step up and buy the company outright. The most obvious candidate would be the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages $309.5 billion on behalf of Quebec pension funds and insurance plans — and which is already SNC’s largest shareholder. Michael Sabia, chief executive of the Caisse, has vowed to “be a rock” for the company and observers take him at his word: Over the past year, the Caisse has boosted its stake from 14 per cent to 20 per cent. History also dictates that it is prepared to step in to shore up Quebec firms. A recent example would be the pension giant’s financial support of Bombardier Inc., in which it invested $1.5 billion in 2015 amid speculation the transportation giant might fall into foreign hands. But the Caisse isn’t the only possibility. “You’re more likely to see the Fonds de solidarité FTQ start building a position given (Quebec Premier) Francois Legault’s show of support for the name,” says Bastien, the Raymond James analyst. Created by Quebec’s largest central labour body, the Fonds has a mandate to make investments to create and protect jobs and promote economic growth in Quebec. A Quebec buyout wouldn’t absolve SNC of its legal problems, but deep-pocketed backers would at least help it to weather the storm, and keep it firmly planted in the province.

SNC-Lavalin’s headquarters in Montreal.

3. Good SNC, Bad SNC

While SNC might be tempted to try to find a buyer for the entire company, finding one at the right price could be a challenge, according to three lawyers with decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions. That’s because legal liabilities would be transferred with SNC in any sale, meaning it could be forced to unload at a discounted or even “fire sale” price — unless a creative solution can be found. The veteran dealmakers suggest one option might be to bifurcate the company in an attempt to isolate the business that triggered the legal liability stemming from the bribery allegations. “There are precedents,” said one lawyer based in Toronto, adding that the tactic has been used more often in the United States, usually to manage cases of insolvency or bankruptcy. “It’s sort of the good company/bad company, good assets/bad assets (split), which happened a lot in the financial crisis in the financial sector in the U.S.,” the lawyer said. “But it’s happened in other insolvency contexts where you try to ring-fence the bad assets and sell the good assets.” Another dealmaker pointed to the recent announcement that Gap would spin off its better-performing Old Navy division into a separate, publicly traded company to separate the brand with strong sales from the weaker one. In the case of SNC, he suggested, the “bad business” could be left in one jurisdiction, with the “good business” moved to another, friendlier one. But isolating the troubled business of SNC wouldn’t be as straightforward as the division of Gap and Old Navy, and would require some creativity to manage the rights and desires of all stakeholders, according to multiple M&A specialists who spoke on condition of anonymity because their firms may do, or have done, business with SNC. Even if it were to successfully conceive such as split, the good business might also have to change hands, one suggested. “You have to assume that SNC is thinking about what-if scenarios (and) one of the what-if scenarios is at some point they may be worth more in the hands of somebody else and if somebody else can maybe be able to cleanse this problem that has become so toxic for SNC,” said the dealmaker.

4. Asset sales

In the event of a downturn in business due to a conviction, SNC does have at least one significant asset it could sell to combat a cash crunch. SNC’s stake in the 407 toll road that skirts Toronto to the north has been rumoured to be on the block before, as recently as August when the company itself suggested it might sell part of its holding in a bid to unlock shareholder value. While there would be no shortage of bidders, some question whether there is enough of an incentive to sell without a larger, more encompassing solution to the company’s problems. SNC’s 16 per cent stake in the 407 could be worth billions, and is often used by analysts to set a floor on the company’s stock price. Claude Lamoureux, former head of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, notes that the 407 provides a steady income stream that offsets lumpier revenue from other operations. Spinning it off would be easy, Lamoureux said, “but at the same time, it weakens SNC.” Bastien, the Raymond James analyst, said a sale of the 407 on its own would not be enough to change his view on SNC stock. “I’m not a fan of companies selling their best business to shore up struggling ones,” he said. In a recent note to clients, he said SNC’s dividend cut “suggests to us a partial sale of Highway 407 may not be imminent after all.”

5. Maintain the status quo

Even if SNC faces a 10-year ban from bidding on federal contracts, there is no indication that it would be unable to complete projects in which it is already involved. Those include the Champlain Bridge in Montreal, which is under way, and the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) transit Line in Greater Montreal. That however, may be small consolation, as company watchers note that the legal cloud hanging over SNC will undoubtedly make it difficult to secure new business, which in turn could lead employees to look for opportunities elsewhere. SNC will also have to deal with the other business issues that have plagued it, including a dispute with a client related to a mining project in Latin America, growing tensions between Canada and Saudi Arabia over human rights and other potential legal issues. One possible solution, as reported by the Financial Post this past week, could come from a change in the rules that ban companies convicted of bribery from participating in government contracts. Officials are understood to be looking at the possibility, but the political climate might make such a change untenable for now. It could, however, come into play at some future point in time, potentially throwing SNC a lifeline. Despite the political hot potato the company and its troubles have become, legal sources have also quietly suggested that Wilson-Raybould’s replacement as attorney general could take another look at whether the company should be offered an opportunity to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement.

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Second EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE, TO THE CORINTHIANS - From The Latin Vulgate Bible

Chapter 9

PREFACE.

In this Epistle St. Paul comforts those who are now reformed by his admonitions to them in the former, and absolves the incestuous man on doing penance, whom he had before excommunicated for his crime. Hence he treats of true penance, and of the dignity of the ministers of the New Testament. He cautions the faithful against false teachers, and the society of infidels. He gives an account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces which God hath bestowed on him. St. Paul, not being able to come to the Corinthians as soon as he had promised, writes this Epistle to inform them, that it was not through inconstancy, but on account of several weighty reasons, which had hitherto hindered him. Several other reasons, likewise, compelled him to write. For during his absence, several false teachers of the Jews had come amongst them, teaching them that it was necessary to observe the law of Moses, in order to be saved.

Chapter 9

A further exhortation to almsgiving: the fruits of it.

1 For concerning the ministry, that is done towards the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.

Notes & Commentary:

Ver. 1. The ministry, that is, the contributions for the brethren, so it is also called again, (ver. 12.) the ministry of this office, or, as the Greek signifies, of this sacrifice, inasmuch as alms, and such charitable works, are spiritual sacrifices to God. (Witham)

2 For I know your ready mind: for which I boast of you to the Macedonians. That Achaia also was ready a year ago, and your emulation hath provoked a great many.

Ver. 2. That Achaia also was ready. Corinth was the capital of Achaia. St. Paul had formerly exhorted the Macedonians to contribute to the utmost of their power, informing them, that Corinth and all Achaia were prepared a year ago to collect alms, and now the apostle, speaking to the Corinthians, encourages them by the example of the faithful of Macedon, and informs them of the greatness of their charitable contributions, and the greatness of their zeal. (Theo.)

3 Now I have sent the brethren, that what we boast of concerning you, be not made void in this behalf, that, (as I have said) you may be ready:

Ver. 3. Titus, and two others.

4 Lest, when the Macedonians shall come with me, and find you unprepared, we (not to say ye) should be ashamed in this matter.

Ver. 4. No explanation given.

5 Therefore, I thought it necessary to desire the brethren that they would go to you before, and prepare this blessing before promised, to be ready, so as a blessing, not as covetousness.

Ver. 5. Not forced from covetousness. Literally, not as avarice, as it were extorted from covetous people, who give unwillingly. (Witham)

6 Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings.

Ver. 6. No explanation given.

7 Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: For God loveth a cheerful giver.

Ver. 7. No explanation given.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound in you: that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work,

Ver. 8. God is generous to the liberally disposed Christian; filling such as relieve the poor with every species of good, and returning their charities a hundred-fold. (Menochius)

9 As it is written: He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever.

Ver. 9. No explanation given.

10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, will both give you bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice:

Ver. 10. No explanation given.

11 That being enriched in all things, you may abound unto all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

12 For the administration of this service doth not only supply the want of the saints, but aboundeth also by many thanksgivings in the Lord.

13 By the proof of this ministry, glorifying God in the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your communicating to them, and to all,

Ver. 11-13. All bountifulness,[1] by which is signified, a sincere and free liberality, by giving with a sincere heart, and good intention. St. Paul encourages them to contribute willingly for God's sake, and out of a true charity for their indigent brethren, who will praise, and thank God, and pray for them, &c. (Witham)

Note 1:

In omnem simplicitatem, aploteta, upon which St. Chrysostom says, om. k., aploteta ten dapsileian kalei, a plentiful abundance.

14 And in their praying for you, longing for you, because of the eminent grace of God in you.

Ver. 14. No explanation given.

15 Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

Ver. 15. For his unspeakable gift. Such is the conclusion, which the apostle puts to the subject upon alms-deeds. In the following chapter he proceeds to a new subject; but first thanks the Almighty, that he has enriched the Corinthians with so charitable a disposition. St. Chrysostom, Theo., and some other commentators think, that by the expression, his unspeakable gift, is meant the incarnation of Christ. The fruit of alms-deeds is the increase of grace in all justice and good works to life everlasting; God granting these blessings for a reward and recompense of charitable works, which therefore are called the seed, (ver. 10, above) or meritorious cause of these spiritual fruits.

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Synonyms and Antonyms for SSC CGL

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Synonyms and Antonyms for SSC CGL

SSC CGL Synonyms and Antonyms 2017 are available in this article. Candidates can check the complete details about the SSC CGL Synonyms and Antonyms 2017 from our web page. The dear reader is you preparing for SSC CGL English section, then here in this page, we are providing some quiz based on Antonyms and Synonyms for SSC CGL 2017.

Synonyms and Antonyms for SSC CGL

Important SSC CGL synonyms & Antonyms pdf file is also available here to check. Most of these synonyms were asked in previous year SSC CGL Exams. So candidates are advised to visit our website and download SSC CGL Synonyms & Antonyms pdf file from here. All candidates know very well that English is a vast subject.

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SC CGL Antonyms & Synonyms 2017 Question Details

Synonyms and Antonyms are very commonly asked a question in any competitive exam. In the SSC CGL exam normally there will be at least 4-5 questions on this topic.  The question will be asked directly or indirectly via passage form. In order to download SSC CGL Synonyms & Antonyms, you must click o the given below direct link. We have compiled some of the best links where you can get books, pdf file which has a vast amount of Antonyms and Synonyms.

Download Antonyms asked from 1997-2017

Those applicants who want to appear in upcoming 2017 SSC CGL exam they can check Synonyms and antonyms for SSC CGL and prepare well. It is the best method to score 3-4 marks through this question and it will surely build your confidence for the exam.

SSC CGL Antonyms & Synonyms Download

Download the pdf file of SSC CGL Antonyms and synonyms and start reading 15-20 words daily then only you will be able to learn and understand over a period of time. If you go through the analysis of last two days of the paper, you will come to know that around 3-4 questions will be asked from Synonyms & Antonyms.

शब्द

Words Antonym

Synonym

रोक-थाम करना Abate Aggravate, supplement Moderate, decrease अधम Abject Commendable, praiseworthy Despicable, servile त्यागना Abjure Approve, sanction Forsake, renounce निष्फल Abortive Effectual productive Vain, unproductive दोषमुक्त करना Absolve Compel, accuse Pardon, forgive सहमति Accord Disagreement, discord Agreement, harmony रूखापन Acrimony Courtesy, benevolence Harshness, bitterness अटल Adamant Flexible, soft Stubborn, inflexible पक्षपाती Adherent Rival, adversary Follower, disciple सहायक Adjunct Separated, subtracted Joined, added धिक्कारना Admonish Approve, applaud Counsel, reprove विपत्ति Adversity Prosperity, fortune Misfortune, calamity विदेशी Alien Native, resident Foreigner, outsider निराकरणकरना Allay Aggravate, excite Pacify, soothe कम करना Alleviate Aggravate, enhance Abate, relieve फुसलाना Allure Repulse, repel Entice, fascinate बढ़ाना Amplify Lessen, contract Enlarge, extend घृणा Antipathy Admiration, fascination Hostility, aversion उदासीनता Apathy Concern, care Unconcern, indifference कलंक लगाना Arraign Exculpate, pardon Charge, blame धृष्टता Audacity Mildness, cowardice Boldness, arrogance विश्वसनीय Authentic Fictitious, unreal Genuine, reliable अजीब Awkward Clever, apt Clumsy, rough स्वयंसिद्ध Axiom Absurdity, blunder Maxim, truth चकरा देना Baffle Compose, facilitate Frustrate, perplex बर्बर Barbarous Cultured, humane Uncivilized, savage कृपा Benevolence Malevolence, inhumanity Humanity, generosity मोहित करनेवाला Bewitching Repulsive, repugnant Magical, fascinating बेरंग Bleak Bright pleasant Dismal, gloomy नाज़ुक Brittle Tough, enduring Delicate, fragile हलचल Bustle Slowness, quiet Haste, flurry आपदा Calamity Happiness, fortune Adversity, misfortune कठोर Callous Compassionate, tender Obdurate, unfeeling चुगली Calumny Commendation, praise Defamation, aspersion सक्षम Capable Incompetent, inept Competent, able बंदी बनाना Captivate Disillusion, offend Charm, fascinate क़ैद Captivity Freedom, liberty Imprisonment, confinement गुहा Cavity Elevation, projection Depth, depression संघर्ष Cease Begin, originate Terminate, desist पवित्र Chaste Sullied, lustful Virtuous, pure दंड देना Chastise Cheer, encourage Punish, admonish दया Compassion Cruelty, barbarity Kindness, sympathy समावेश करना Comprise Reject, lack Include, contain स्वीकार करना Concede Deny, reject Yield, permit मिलना-जुलना Concur Differ, disagree Approve, agree सहमति Consent Object, disagree Agree, permit परिणाम Consequence Origin, start Effect, outcome समेकित Consolidate Separate, weaken Solidify, strengthen विशिष्ट Conspicuous Concealed, hidden Prominent, obvious अपमान Contempt Regard, praise Scorn, disregard खंडन Contradict Approve, confirm Deny, oppose विरोध Contrary Similar, alike Dissimilar, conflicting शिष्ट Dainty Clumsy, coarse Elegant, delicate क्षय Decay Flourish, progress Collapse, decompose छल Deceit Veracity, sincerity Deception, artifice गूढ़लिपि पढ़ना Decipher Misinterpret, distort Interpret, reveal समर्पित Dedicate Refuse, negate Devote, consecrate विलंब करना Defer Accelerate, expedite Prolong, suspend अशुद्ध Defile Purify, sanctity Contaminate, pollute चुकाना Defray Disclaim, repudiate Spend, pay जानबूझकर Deliberate Rash, sudden Cautious, intentional स्वादिष्ट Delicious Distasteful, unsavoury Palatable, tasteful ध्वस्त Demolish Repair, construct Ruin, devastate वंचित Deprive Restore, renew Despoil, divest उपहास करना Deride Inspire, encourage Mock, taunt नीच Despicable Worthy, decent Worthless, shameless तिरस्कार Disdain Approve, praise Detest, despise विलक्षण Eccentric Natural, conventional Strange, abnormal परमानंद Ecstasy Despair, calamity, depression Delight, exultation मिटाना Efface Retain, maintain Destroy, obliterate ऊपर उठाना Elevate Deprecate, denounce Dignify, heighten हटा दें Eliminate Restore, accept Expel, oust वाग्मिता Eloquence Halting, stammering Expression, fluency भार Encumbrance Incentive, stimulant Hindrance, obstacle एंडेव�� Endeavour Cease, quit Undertake, aspire विशाल Enormous Diminutive, negligible Colossal, mammoth प्रतीक Epitome Increment, expansion Precise, example गोलमोल Equivocal Obvious, lucid Uncertain, hazy उन्मूलन Eradicate Secure, plant Destroy, exterminate आदर Esteem Ridicule, spurn Respect, regard सनातन Eternal Temporary, momentary Perpetual, endless बचना Evade Acknowledge, confront Avoid, elude स्पष्ट Evident Obscure, concealed Obvious, apparent गढ़ना Fabricate Destroy, dismantle Construct, produce हेत्वाभास Fallacy Veracity, truth Delusion, mistake लड़खड़ाना Falter Persist, endure Stumble, demur कट्टर Fanatical Liberal, tolerant Narrow-minded, biased बढ़िया Fantastic Ordinary, normal Fanciful, uncommon निर्बल Feeble Strong, robust Weak, frail क्रूर Ferocious Gentle, sympathetic Cruel, fierce अदावत Feud Fraternity, harmony Strife, quarrel क्षणभंगुर Fleeting Enduring, eternal Transient, temporary झीना Flimsy Firm, tenacious Trifling, transparent उतार चढ़ाव Fluctuate Stabilise, resolve Deflect, vacillate त्यागना Forsake Hold maintain Desert, renounce नाज़ुक Fragile Enduring, tough Weak, infirm उन्मत्त Frantic Subdued, gentle Violent, agitated तुच्छ Frivolous Solemn, significant Petty, worthless स्वल्प व्ययिता Frugality Lavishness, extravagance Economy, providence संतुष्ट करना Pamper Deny, disparage Flatter, indulge आला दर्जे का Paramount Trivial, inferior Foremost, eminent अद्वितीय Peerless Mediocre, commonplace Matchless, unrivalled चिड़चिड़ा Peevish Suave, amiable Perverse, sullen Pertness Pertness Modesty, diffidence Flippancy, impudence विकृत Perverse Complacent, docile Petulant, obstinate शांत Placid Turbulent, hostile Tranquil, calm गर्वित Pompous Unpretentious, humble Haughty, arrogant अनिश्चित Precarious Assured, undeniable Doubtful, insecure स्थिति Predicament Resolution, confidence Plight, dilemma असामयिक Premature Belated, opportune Precocious, untimely अस्वाभाविक Prodigious Unimpressive, diminutive Vast, enormous कौतुक Prodigy Normal, average Miracle, marvel अपव्ययी Profligate Virtuous, upright Dissolute, degenerate विपुल Profuse Scarce, scantly Lavish, abundant देश से निकालना Proscribe Solicit, include Prohibit, exclude बढ़ाना Protract Abbreviate, curtail Prolong, delay भड़काना Provoke Pacify, comfort Inflame, incite विवेकी Prudent Impetuous, unwise Cautious, discreet नीमहकीम Quack Upright, unfeigned Impostor, deceiver विचित्र Quaint Familiar, usual Queer, strange कोरांटीन Quarantine Befriend, socialize Seclude, screen वश में करना Quell Exacerbate, agitate Subdue, reduce संदिग्ध Questionable Reliable, authentic Dubious, disputable वक्रोक्ति Quibble Unfeign, plain Equivocate, prevaricate पुष्टि करना Ratify Deny, dissent Consent, approve नाश Ravage Reconstruct, renovate Destroy, ruin एवज Redeem Conserve, lose Recover, liberate अवशेष Remnant Entire, whole Residue, piece प्रतिवाद करना Remonstrate Agree, laud Censure, protest पछतावा Remorse Ruthlessness, obduracy Regret, penitence रिमोट Remote Adjoining, adjacent Inaccessible, farther रद्द कर देना Rescind Delegate, permit Annul, abrogate नाराज़गी Resentment Content, cheer Displeasure, wrath वापस लेना Retract Confirm, assert Recant, withdraw श्रद्धा Reverence Disrespect, affront Respect, esteem घोर पराजय Rout Succumb, withdraw Vanquish, overthrow देहाती Rustic Cultured, refined Rural uncivilised क्रूर Ruthless Compassionate, lenient Remorseless, inhumane कटु Sarcastic Courteous, gracious Ironical, derisive सजीव Saucy Modest, humble Impudent, insolent अल्प Scanty Lavish, multitude Scarce, insufficient जर्जर Shabby Prosperous, thriving Miserable, impoverished चालाक Shrewd Simple, imbecile Cunning, crafty बदनामी Slander Applaud, approve Defame, malign उपहास Sneer Flatter, praise Mock, scorn मांगना Solicit Protest, oppose Entreat, implore छिटपुट Sporadic Incessant, frequent Intermittent, scattered मलिन Squalid Tidy, attractive Dirty, filthy धब्बा Stain Honour, purify Blemish, tarnish व्यामोह Stupor Sensibility, consciousness Lethargy, unconsciousness आगामी Subsequent Preceding, previous Consequent, following ठोस Substantial Tenuous, fragile Considerable, solid पलट देना Subvert Generate, organise Demolish, sabotage सतही Superficial Profound, discerning Partial, shallow चापलूस Sycophant Devoted, loyal Parasite, flatterer निषेध Taboo Permit, consent Prohibit, ban अल्पभाषी Taciturn Talkative, extrovert Reserved, silent ग़ैरदिलचस्प Tedious Exhilarating, lively Wearisome, irksome शीतोष्ण Temperate Boisterous, violent Cool, moderate भीड़ Throng Dispersion, sparsity Assembly, crowd डरपोक Timid Bold, intrepid Diffident, coward शांत Tranquil Violent, furious Peaceful, composed क्षणिक Transient Lasting, enduring Temporal, transitory तल्खी Trenchant Feeble, ambiguous Assertive, forceful तुच्छ Trivial Significant veteran Trifling, insignificant उथल-पुथल Tumultuous Peaceful, harmonious Violent, riotous नौसिखिए Tyro Proficient, veteran Beginner, learner साया Umbrage Sympathy, goodwill Resentment, bitterness गंवार Uncouth Elegant, graceful Awkward, ungraceful हड़पना Usurp Restore, compensate Seize, wrest बिलकुल Utterly Deficiently, incompletely Completely, entirely आवारा Vagrant Steady, settled Wanderer, roaming मान्य Valid Fallacious, deceptive Genuine, authentic वेलर Valour Fear, cowardice Bravery, prowess घमंड Vanity Modesty, humility Conceit, pretension आदरणीय Venerable Unworthy, immature Esteemed, honoured विष Venom Antidote, benevolent Poison, malevolence वयोवृद्ध Veteran Novice, tyro Ingenious, experienced शातिर Vicious Noble, virtuous Corrupt, obnoxious जागरूक Vigilant Careless, negligent Cautious, alert परिवर्तनशील Volatile Heavy, ponderous Light, changing ज़मानत देना Vouch Repudiate, prohibit Confirm, consent अशिष्ट Vulgar Elegant, civil Inelegant, offensive माफ़ करें Waive Impose, clamp Relinquish, remove वान Wan Bright, healthy Pale, faded पतन Wane Ameliorate, rise Decline, dwindle सावधान Wary Heedless, negligent Cautious, cirumspect विवाह करना Wed Divorce, separate Marry, combine शैतान Wicked Virtuous, noble Vicious, immoral फिराना Wield Forgo, avoid Use, employ विल्ट Wilt Revive, bloom Wither, perish हुड़कना Yearn Content, satisfy Languish, crave चिल्लाना Yell Whisper, muted Shout, shriek प्राप्ति Yield Resist, protest Surrender, abdicate दासत्व का चिह्न Yoke Liberate, release Connect, harness उत्साह Zeal Apathy, lethargy Eagerness, fervour शीर्षबिंदु Zenith Nadir, base Summit, apex दिलचस्पी Zest Disgust, passive Delight, enthusiasm Zig-zag Straight, unbent Oblique, wayward उदासी Gloom Delight, mirth Obscurity, darkness भरमार Glut Starve, abstain Stuff, satiate भव्य Gorgeous Dull, unpretentious Magnificent, dazzling विनीत Gracious Rude, unforgiving Courteous, beneficent भयानक Grisly Pleasing, attractive Disgusting, atrocious असन्तोष Grudge Benevolence, affection Hatred, aversion छल Guile Honesty, frankness Cunning, deceit बाधा Hamper Promote, facilitate Retard, prevent बेतरतीब Haphazard Considered, arranged Random, unsorted अभागी Hapless Fortunate, lucky Unfortunate, ill-fated परेशान Harass Assist, comfort Irritate, molest अभिमानी Haughty Humble, submissive Arrogant, pompous जोखिम Hazard Conviction, security Peril, danger विधर्मी Heretic Conformable, religious Non-conformist, secularist भयंकर Hideous Attractive, alluring Frightful, shocking पाखंड Hypocrisy Sincerity, honesty Deception, affectation शुद्ध Immaculate Defiled, tarnished Unsullied, spotless अत्यधिक Immense Puny, insignificant Huge, enormous डुबाना Immerse Emerge, uncover Submerge, involve आसन्न Imminent Distant, receding Impending, brewing प्रतिरक्षा Immunity Blame, censure Prerogative, privilege ख़राब करना Impair Restore, revive Diminish, deteriorate निष्पक्ष Impartial Prejudiced, biased Just, unbiased बाधा Impediment Assistance, concurrence Hurdle, obstruction बेईमान Impious Pious, devout Irreligious, unholy मढ़ना Impute Exculpate, support Attribute, ascribe झुकाव Inclination Disinclination, indifference Disposition, affection अक्षम Incompetent Dexterous, skilled Inefficient, unskilled बेमेल Incongruous Compatible, harmonious Inappropriate, absurd अपरिहार्य Inevitable Unlikely, doubtful Unavoidable, ascertained उल्लंघन Infringe Comply, concur Violate, encroach निष्कपट Ingenuous Wily, crafty Undisguised, naive इशारा करना Insinuate Conceal, camouflage Allude, hint फीका Insipid Delicious, luscious Tasteless, vapid दिवालिया Insolvent Wealthy, solvent Indigent, destitute टपकाना Instil Eradicate, extract Inculcate, inject जटिल Intricate Regulated, orderly Tangled, complicated साज़िश Intrigue Candour, sincerity Scheme, conspiracy स्वाभाविक Intrinsic Extraneous, incidental Genuine, fundamental फटकार Invective Approval, acclamation Accusation, censure अजेय Invincible Effeminate, languid Unconquerable, impregnable सदा एकसां Irrepressible Composed, hesitant Irresistible, unconfined क्लांत Jaded Renewed, recreated Tired, exhausted बेसूद Jejune Interesting, exciting Dull, boring उल्लासपूर्ण Jovial Solemn, morose Frolicsome, cheerful उल्लसित Jubilant Melancholy, depressing Rejoicing, triumphant उचित Judicious Irrational, foolish Thoughtful, prudent केवल Just Unequal, unfair Honest, impartial दोनों ओर मिलान Justify Impute, arraign Defend, exculpate किशोर Juvenile Dotage, antiquated Young, tender इच्छुक Keen Vapid, insipid Sharp, poignant आत्मीय Kindred Unrelated, dissimilar Relation, species धूर्त Knave Paragon, innocent Dishonest, scoundrel समाधिवाली झंकार Knell Reconstruction, rediscovery Death knell, last blow विकट Knotty Simple, manageable Complicated difficult भव्य Lavish Scarce, deficient Abundant, excessive ढीला Lax Firm, reliable Slack, careless उदार Lenient Cruel, severe Compassionate, merciful उत्तरदायी Liable Unaccountable, apt to Accountable, bound उदार Liberal Stingy, malicious Magnanimous, generous ठहराना Linger Hasten, quicken Loiter, prolong उदासीन Listless Brisk, attentive Indifferent, inattentive चमकदार Lucid Obscure, hidden Sound, rational पागलपन Lunacy Normalcy, sanity Delusion, insanity चारा Lure Repel, dissuade Attract, entice सुस्वाद Luscious Unsavoury, tart Palatable, delicious विलासी Luxuriant Scanty, meagre Profuse, abundant मिनट Minute Large, colossal Diminutive, miniature चमत्कारपूर्ण Miraculous Ordinary, trivial Marvellous, extraordinary कम करना Mitigate Augment, enhance Alleviate, relieve मामूली Modest Arrogant, pompous Humble, courteous छेड़ना Molest Console, soothe Harass, tease शमन करना Mollify Irritate, infuriate Appease, assuage सब से अहम Momentous Trivial, insignificant Notable, eventful नीरस Monotonous Varied, pleasant Irksome, tedious उदार Munificent Frugal, penurious Liberal, hospitable बदली का Murky Bright shining Dusky, dreary बाग़ी Mutinous Submissive, faithful Recalcitrant, insurgent आपसी Mutual Separate, distinct Joint, identical लापरवाह Negligent Vigilant, careful Inattentive, careless कंजूसी से Niggardly Generous, profuse Miser, covetous तेज़ Nimble Sluggish, languid Prompt, brisk बेपरवाह Nonchalant Attentive, considerate Indifferent, negligent नौसिखिए Novice Veteran, ingenious Tyro, beginner हानिकारक Noxious Healing, profitable Baneful, injurious उठा देना Nullify Confirm, uphold Cancel, annual बहुत Numerous Scarce, deficient Profuse, various रोकना Obstruct Hasten, encourage Impede, prevent ज़ाहिर Obvious Obscure, ambiguous Evident, apparent मनोगत Occult Intelligible, transparent Latent, ambiguous घिनौना Odious Engaging, fascinating Malevolent, obnoxious आक्रमण Offensive Docile, compliant Abhorrent, arrogant संतति Offspring Ancestor, forefather Descendant, sibling अपारदर्शी Opaque Transparent, bright Obscure, shady पेशीनगोई का Oracular Lucid, distinct Cryptic, vague हुक्म देना Ordain Revoke, abolish Order, impose सजावटी Ornamental Unseemly, plain Decorative, adorned प्रकोप Outbreak Compliance, subjection Eruption, insurrection उल्लंघन Outrage Praise, favour Offence, maltreatment डूब Overwhelm Flounder, falter Triumph, subjugate

    In this article, I am sharing the list of words with its Synonyms, Antonyms, and usage. You can download a pdf version of SSC CGL Synonyms file from given below link. I hope these pdf files will be helpful to improve their English section of your upcoming competitive exams. If you have any queries related pdf version, then you can share with me through our web portal.

SSC Exam 2017

SSC CGL Exam News 2017