#Exclusive offers for government employees

[hyattplaceelsegundo]

5 Benefits of Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo for Government Employees

Discover the exclusive perks and advantages that Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo offers to government employees.

Prime Location near Government Offices

Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo is conveniently located near various government offices, making it an ideal choice for government employees. Its close proximity to these offices ensures that you can easily commute to and from work, saving you valuable time and effort.

Additionally, being situated near government offices allows you to stay connected and engaged in local government affairs. You can attend meetings, conferences, and other important events without having to travel long distances.

Special Government Rates and Discounts

As a government employee, you can take advantage of the special rates and discounts offered by Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo. These exclusive benefits help you save money while enjoying a comfortable stay.

By choosing Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo, you can enjoy discounted room rates, complimentary upgrades, and other perks designed specifically for government employees. This not only enhances your stay but also allows you to make the most of your travel budget.

Complimentary Amenities and Services

Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo provides government employees with a range of complimentary amenities and services to enhance their stay. From complimentary breakfast to free Wi-Fi access, you can enjoy a seamless and convenient experience.

The hotel also offers amenities such as a fitness center, swimming pool, and business center, ensuring that you have everything you need for a comfortable and productive stay. Additionally, the friendly and attentive staff are always available to assist you with any requests or inquiries.

Dedicated Business Center and Meeting Facilities

For government employees who require access to business facilities and meeting spaces, Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo offers a dedicated business center and meeting facilities.

The business center is equipped with modern technology and provides a quiet and professional environment for you to work or hold meetings. The meeting facilities can accommodate both small and large groups, making it convenient for government employees to conduct business activities on-site. To learn more about the benefits of Hyatt Place LAX El Segundo for government employees, please visit here : https://www.hyattplaceelsegundolax.com/blog/5-benefits-of-hyatt-place-lax-el-segundo-for-government-employees/

[thanathicca]

Pathologic Fest Day 1: From the Other Side

Are AUs allowed on @pathologicfest ? Regardless, we are submitting an illustration of our 22nd century Thanatica AU, "imperare sibi maximum imperium est", anyway (ft. transfem Haruspex) :)

Image description is in alt text. News writing, as well as no text versions of the art, are under the cut.

The text:

(note, the fic itself may or may not have this version of the news - we will definitely edit it later)

Is this the end for Thanatica Labs?

THE CAPITAL, 1 OCTOBER 2165

Daniil Dankovsky, founder of Thanatica Laboratories and lead scientist of the first successful mind-uploading device AVA Project, has once again declined an offer of cooperation from a multinational company. The cooperation deal by Vector Tech, which would have netted Dankovsky a record XXX billion, would have Thanatica Labs give away their exclusive rights to the AVA blueprints and let the company build new AVA units with a tiered subscription program.

"We regret that the deal couldn’t be done," Mr. Telman, CEO of Vector Tech, has gone on record to say. "It’s a shame that Thanatica hoards all their progress under Dankovsky’s influence. Our company would have brought your AVA to the whole world! What kind of scientist are you?"

When requested for an interview, Dr. Dankovsky responded, “Thanatica has, and will always, stand with ethical practices. We are scientists who would not gate one’s life behind paywalls. The deal would have made a version of AVA with proprietary Vector Tech operating system, which has gone on record to sell people’s data to third parties, including intelligence agencies. Would you want data submitted the AVA, which would contain your most vulnerable memories, to be sold to the highest bidder? Would you want targeted advertisements in your brain? Moreover, the deal also mentioned using the subscription programs to access certain memories or even brain functions, which meant you could randomly forget the most important moments in your life, or even forget how to solve a crossword, just because you are a little short on money.”

Vector Tech has not responded to an interview request.

.

Plague “Panacea” safety put into question

While the so-called “panacea” for the plague has been lab-tested for human consumption with 100% efficacy, the contents has so far eluded researchers. A scientist of Thanatica Laboratories has been suspected to be its discoverer.

.

Thanatica founder indicted after siege

THE CAPITAL, 2166

A nation-wide warrant has been released for Thanatica Laboratories founder Daniil Dankovsky, 30, who is wanted by our Nation for unethical experimentation, medical negligence, and leaking classified documents from both governmental bodies and private companies.

Dankovsky has fled his laboratory in the Capital alongside his employees after the month-long siege of Thanatica, where he has been requested to reveal the contents of the so-called “panacea” of the plague. The creators of the “panacea” is also wanted for medical fraud and negligence, as well as rejecting government mandate to explain themselves in court, the Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Research and Development.

[melis-writes]

The Other Woman [Michael Corleone x Reader Multichapter, 18+ Smut] Chapter 2 – Welcome to The Corleone Family.

Read on AO3 / Read Chapter 1 / Chapter Masterlist / Fanfic Playlist

18+, explicit smut read.

“You’re a part of our family now in a way, aren’t you?" / "Marina is a teacher—an employee here. She wasn’t brought here to be a friend."

You're greeted with nothing but welcoming smiles and warmth by the Corleone family on your first day teaching, fitting in with the family and getting to know the faces you'll be seeing for years to come. Excited for you to teach Anthony and Mary, Kay has high expectations for you but Michael's expectations carry weight, and he refuses to take his eyes off of you for more than one reason. Meeting Anthony and Mary for their first lessons, the children have warmed up to you already in a way they refuse to towards Kay, sparking Michael's interest and reaffirming his belief as to how different you two are and what impacts you'll have on the children to come. Your attraction to Michael is neither one sided nor unnoticed, but Michael's a patient man and willing to wait until you confess first–one way or another.

[WARNINGS]: Mentions/depictions of smut.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]: Chapter 2 is finally here as we continue Marina and Michael's story! 🤩 Fitting in, getting to know the family, teaching the children for the very first time and of course...simply being unable to ignore Michael. Such attraction will prove fatal to one or the other, but one of you has to give in first. 😏

Hired by the Corleone family as a governness, you relocate to the Lake Tahoe family compound, looking forward to your future in Nevada until you meet your employer—Michael Corleone. Your future is then ensnared only in lust and forbidden love for Michael since the beginning, and you find yourself yearning for a married man you can never have. Desire and passion clash with one another as Michael takes you to be his mistress—only having an exclusive sexual relationship with you while his sex life with Kay dies out. Knowing from the beginning you’ll never truly be with Michael and that your place in his life is worlds apart from Kay’s as the other woman, the love you have for him consumes you until it threatens to burn out everything you’ve ever had with Michael.

“Anthony and Mary get a little shy when they first meet someone, isn’t that right, hmm?” You can hear Kay’s voice ringing out in your head from when you formally met her yesterday upon your arrival at the Lake Tahoe family compound. “Come on you two, say hello to Marina. She’s going to be your new teacher!” and inevitably, you’ll also become Michael’s new lover and mistress. 

With today marking the first day of you officially working as the governess for the Corleone family, Kay’s words resonate with you more than ever.

You know you shouldn’t be too surprised by the warm greetings, friendliness, and luxuries the Corleone family’s offered you and will continue to offer, but everything’s been perfect from meeting Tom Hagen, signing your work contract, and even the travel to Lake Tahoe.

After all, you’ve never stepped out of New York before. Hell’s Kitchen was your home, your familiarity, and where your family lives despite all that’s occurred over the past decade enough to drive every other family out of there.

Still, there’s a sense of belonging and feeling at home that rushed through you as soon as you entered Nevada. Nevada and Lake Tahoe will be your home for the next little while—perhaps forever if that’s what’s good for you and if that’s what fate brings to you and your family.

Without even knowing it, you subconsciously grew used to feeling like a stranger or that you clearly didn’t “belong” with a sort of alienation when you worked as a governess for other crime families.

Something relieves you in feeling that the Corleones will care about you and put in an effort to get to know you not just as an employee but as a human being with thoughts and feelings whereas your previous employers certainly barely did.

Something completely new to you now is that you’re guaranteed to also enjoy privacy and quarters of your own that are more comparable to a bedroom mansion than the rat-infested shacks New York has to offer for employees to sleep and reside in. 

Privacy is not just in the sense of having a room bigger than almost your parents’ entire home, but that you don’t feel like you’ll always be watched or have to watch every single word you say when and where. 

You don’t take too much of an interest in the “business” side of the Corleone family now though, nor do you plan to do so in the future. 

Then again, you could say the same thing for the Dons that employed you as a civilian governess before too, but you tend to learn things as the years pass whether you like it or not. 

‘I won’t have to worry at all.’ You lazily blink your eyes open, instantly feeling beyond just comfortable in the queen-sized bed you lay in. 

You glance out the corner of your eye towards the window next to your bed covered by the semi-sheer chiffon curtains that show the glistening Lake Tahoe just outside.

You take a deep breath, appreciating the gorgeous sight you’ve woken up to. 

You feel so relaxed and energized sleeping on such a comfortable, clean and new bed after a tiring trip that took more out of you than you realize.

You slept off all of your soreness and any inch of you that was tired last night, ready to start your morning as you slowly come to sit up in bed.

You glance at the alarm clock next to you that you set up last night, seeing you’ve woken just three minutes before it’s supposed to go off.

With a soft grunt, you lean over and turn the alarm clock off so it doesn’t surprise you in a few minutes.

You push aside the layers of plush blankets and the duvet off of you, realizing just how cozy and warm you were snuggled up within them for the past eight hours.

You rarely feel or consider yourself well rested, especially after the death of your brother that seemed to put you on a permanent edge before.

You take a deep breath, get off the bed, and head toward the bathroom at the end of your room. 

As you make your way to the bathroom, you only hear silence from the employee estate you’re in and nothing else from outside of the windows either; a quiet morning greeting your very first day here.

You mentally recap to yourself what you’ll be planning for the day as you switch on the lights to the bathroom and step inside.

Today your teaching is reserved and starts only with and for Anthony and Mary, Michael and Kay’s children. 

You’ll be tutoring Anthony and Mary after breakfast first in Italian lessons in which you intend to test their reading, comprehension, and speaking levels before you teach them a full lesson.

Afterward, you plan to do some English homework with handwriting practice in cursive, and thirdly, finish off the day with piano practice to learn the beginning of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 

Just on the work table in your bedroom, you have all of your lesson planning and sheets ready for the day.

Michael’s requested for Anthony and Mary to be well-rounded with every subject in expertise based on how his children learn, not general teaching or the way an instructor expects children to learn. 

Michael and Kay also want the same amount of revision time as learning so enough, equal time is spent with Anthony and Mary to go over any mistakes done during lessons to understand why they were made, how to avoid them, and learn from their mistakes or confusion during their studies. 

You’re more than happy to provide all of this for the children ad hope that although Anthony and Mary are quite shy from what you’ve seen that they’ll come around and warm up to you in due time.

You’ve dealt with all kinds of children before, not excluding painfully shy ones. You love teaching children and children in general, having two lifetimes' worth of experience in teaching lessons to the rowdiest, nonconforming ones to quiet, creative intellectuals in the works. 

Your mother always told you that you had the patience of a saint dealing with young children through your studies and work, believing you to be a fantastic mother in the future to your own children too.

You’ve never had children nor the opportunity to, however, just as you haven’t had a romantic interest in your life to marry or settle down with to start a family.

Such ideas aren’t too far from your mind as you’ve already begun to think to yourself that if you’re destined to find that someone, it’ll just have to be in Nevada, won’t it?

With the Corleone family’s connections and insistency on having you with them during their travels and social outings, you can assume the classic meet-and-greet scenario with somebody providing an opportunity someday.

It’s not that you’re counting on finding love in Nevada or anything of the sort, but that you have trust in the Corleone family to feel loved and a part of their family too in a way.

Trust never comes easy or quickly, and you don’t want to do anything to abuse or misuse the trust the Corleone family wants to give you either. 

Today is a new beginning for you, after all.

While you continue to get ready for your day to come down for breakfast with the Corleones, Michael’s purposefully kept Kay curled up in bed with him in the morning as Mama Corleone, Sandra and Theresa prepare breakfast this morning instead.

Michael knows Kay will spend as much time as she needs to in the kitchen to prepare the perfect breakfast for everyone—just one of the reasons why Michael refuses to let her do so this morning.

Michael wants Kay to have more time to get to know you at the breakfast table rather than running around in the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and also because Michael’s insistent as he’s always been on having Kay take it slow and easy during her pregnancies.

Three months pregnant with Michael’s third child—a boy unbeknownst to both—Michael’s word of having Kay relax, rest and not take the lion’s share of the work is final.

Considering it’s one of Michael’s “days off” today with no business or meetings scheduled, Michael awoke with Kay fifteen minutes before you did but with all intent on staying in bed with his wife just a bit longer today.

Michael exhales deeply, awake but with his eyes still closed. He turns to his side in bed, placing a loving hand over Kay’s waist. 

“Good morning, honey,” Kay murmurs softly—her brunette locks a mess over the pillow as she slowly turns to her other side to face Michael.

Michael opens his eyes, slight stubble had grown on his cheeks as he rubs up and down Kay’s sides gently. “Morning, darling.”

“Hi.” Kay whispers, blushing and feeling flustered already from the sight of Michael like this in her bed let alone his voice still laced with sleep.

“Would it be a crime if I stayed in bed with you like this all day?” Kay asks teasingly as Michael raises his hand up to caress her cheek.

“You asked that yesterday,” Michael tilts up Kay’s chin gently, a faint smile of amusement over his lips. “And the day before that, and so forth.”

“Maybe I did.” Kay laughs softly, snuggling up to Michael’s chest. “Can you blame me?”

Only dressed in a white beater top and grey briefs, Kay is in her silky, pale pink nightgown—short and provocative over her just as Michael prefers it.

“Never, darling.” Michael plants a kiss over Kay’s forehead, brushing the loose strands of her hair away from Kay’s face. “How did you sleep?”

“Well.” Kay peeks up at Michael, kissing his cheek. “Very well. And you?”

“Mhmm. Just as much.” Michael nods in agreement, stroking Kay’s hair. 

The two gaze into each other’s eyes lovingly for a moment as Michael notices the obvious spread of rosy blush over Kay’s cheeks just from a mere look; the only woman’s eyes he wants to find himself lost and looking into, for now.

“One day you’ll keep it.” Kay caresses the stubble over Michael’s cheek, pouting at him.

“Not a chance,” Michael murmurs.

“Oh, please.” Kay giggles, grinning at Michael. “You’re effortlessly sexy and you don’t even know it, do you?”

“Sexy?” Michael clutches onto Kay’s side, gently pulling her on top of him. “As you say.”

“Mmm, and God—” Kay straddles Michael, kissing both of his cheeks and snuggling up to his neck. “You smell so good. It’s all over me from last night, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps.” Michael wraps his arms around Kay’s, keeping one hand over her ass which only causes Kay to blush further. “Want to be reminded of it?”

“You tease.” Kay presses her forehead against Michael’s, gently kissing his lips. “Five more minutes, then I have to greet our new guest for breakfast.”

Michael leans up, stealing a kiss from Kay’s lips. “Alright, sweetheart. Come here…”

~

“Marina! Before you head to bed, Don Corleone just wanted me to let you know he’s inviting you to breakfast with the family tomorrow morning. It’ll be held in the courtyard of the central family compound at 7:30. He’s expecting you.” 

You have to admit, despite your initial shyness hitting you from the moment Esther popped into your room to let you know Michael wishes for you to have breakfast with his family, you feel all the more comfortable and welcomed to the family.

After styling your hair and applying a bit of soft eye makeup, you dress in a lacy, white short-sleeved blouse and a brown, plaid pencil skirt with sheer black stockings and a matching pair of kitten heels.

You glance at yourself in the mirror by your dresser, smoothening out your outfit before taking a soft breath before you head out of your bedroom and downstairs towards the central family compound.

As you step down the porch and move towards the center of the Lake Tahoe compound, you gaze up to see several estates surrounding you and providing even more confusion.

The central family estate remains directly in front of you, but your confusion stems from finding out how exactly you’d get into the courtyard for breakfast from where you stand.

‘How am I ever going to get used to this place?’ You playfully complain to yourself, feeling embarrassed for getting lost already without even going anywhere.

“Marina?” An unfamiliar, female voice calls out to you from behind.

You turn around to see a young woman in her thirties—confident from all angles with her body language and demeanor.

Her jet-black hair is styled and cut in a sharp bob bringing attention to her jawline and the glistening diamond earrings clasped over her ears.

Bedazzled in pearl and diamond jewelry, cherry red nail polish on her manicured fingers, and a plum color A-line dress, Connie greets you with a friendly wave. “Hiya. I’m Connie, Michael’s sister.” She extends her hand to you to shake.

‘Michael’s sister.’ You can most definitely see the resemblance from Connie’s facial features.

“It’s nice to meet you, Connie.” You shake Connie’s hand back, seeing a genuine beaming smile form over her face.

“I’m glad I caught up to you on time.” Connie sighs in relief, dramatically gesturing up to the estates in front of the two of you. “Poor girl, given the worst instructions by a lawyer here of all places? You’d need a map to get around.”

You laugh softly, nodding. “Well, yes. I was just trying to figure out how I’d get to the courtyard from here.”

“You’re halfway there.” Connie grins at you, beginning to lead the way. “We’re having breakfast together after all. Come, I’ll show you how to get to the family courtyard. You’ll be coming a lot there anyway, trust me.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” You follow behind Connie, walking around the estate towards a gated courtyard guarded by Rocco—one of Michael’s bodyguards you recognize from yesterday.

Rocco opens the gates to the courtyard the moment he spots you and Connie approaching, although Connie ignores Rocco entirely while walking through.

You give the bodyguard a polite smile, knowing regardless of what kind of employees the Corleones may have, you’ve always been good with names and faces. Just another teacher’s habit.

“Ah, Marina!” Tom smiles, looking up from you at the breakfast table as you and Connie approach. “Glad you could join us.”

You don’t know whether to focus on Tom or the length of the mahogany breakfast table decorated in a white, satin tablecloth stretching out long enough for over twelve people to sit comfortably.

Porcelain and high-quality silverware are served at every seat, and there’s no mistaking the mouth-watering scent of freshly cooked food coming faintly from the back of the family estate either.

“Next time be a gentleman and have someone to escort her here properly, won’t you tom?” Connie’s attitude spikes up as she rolls her eyes at her step-brother, pulling a chair back for you to sit next to her. “It’s a compound and barely Marina’s first day here.”

“Ah, my bad, my bad.” Tom chuckles sheepishly. “I hope it wasn’t any trouble.”

“We figured it out.” You smile back at Tom, getting comfortable in your seat.

You notice Connie’s eyes are at the back door of the estate almost expectantly, but not so much in a pleasant manner as one would await food service.

The moment you turn to look at what has Connie’s attention, the back door of the estate opens as Michael steps out, but without Kay by his side.

Instantly, your cheeks flare up with blush to see the Don step out into the courtyard dressed in a three-piece, navy suit, and black tie.

Freshly shaven with his hair lightly gelled and combed through, the soft, spring breeze flowing through the courtyard does little to calm your arousal when the scent of Michael’s cologne and aftershave hits your nose.

At that moment alone, you can’t feel anything but severe arousal flashing through you—hard to deny you’re not turned on just by the presence of your employer.

Michael makes eye contact with you first before anyone else as he walks out, although fortunately for you Michael can’t see you blushing furiously from where he stands.

‘God…’ Mentally scolding yourself does nothing to quell your undeniable attraction for this man.

You want to desperately look away but at the same time, it’s as if your eyes can’t get enough of him even if you had the opportunity to stare at Michael for hours.

‘I’m going to myself in trouble! Stop! Looking!’ You force yourself to turn your head away, but Michael notices nonetheless. 

Your attraction to Michael Corleone has never been a secret no matter how hard you may have been trying to hide it. Michael knew from the moment you walked into his office yesterday that you’ve been attracted to him, but it’s nothing something exclusive to you.

Michael’s always easily read the body language and chemistry of every woman who entered his life, whether professionally, from family, or romantically. 

Telltale signs of body language, tone of voice, eye movement, and posture give everything away to Michael. 

You aren’t even the least bit aware Michael’s caught you in every moment that you’ve become lost in his gaze, subconsciously reading you like a book and analyzing you, but whether it’s to see if Michael can trust you and understand your personality or out of his own attraction is unknown to you.

You’ll come to learn sooner or later that Michael is a man who makes plans to be ten steps ahead of everyone—you included—at all times.

Noticing how you were just recently flustered by his sudden appearance, Michael’s also aware of how he can make people feel threatened, intimidated, even ashamed, and of course, aroused via attraction to him easily.

Michael purposefully chooses to sit directly in front of you and eye contact is now inevitable.

Yes, you’re his newest employee but you’re also amongst Michael’s family, very new, and neither of you knows one another personally or well at all—for now.

Since you’ll be spending the majority of your time with Michael’s children one-on-one, Michael wants to get to know you inside and out, including every detail of your personal life.

It’s not that Michael feels obliged to since you’re his employer because Michael could easily pay someone to psychoanalyze you every day for the rest of your days as you work for the Corleones, but he won’t. Michael will handle getting to know you inside and out alone.  

“Good morning, Mikey.” Tom greets his brother.

“Tom.” Michael nods in acknowledgment, ignoring Connie’s presence just as much as she ignores him.

Connie remains silent, pulling her silverware closer to herself and pretending as if Michael hasn’t even joined all of you at the table.

Before you can even begin to question the tension between brother and sister, you make unavoidable eye contact with Michael yet again.

“Good morning, Marina,” Michael says to you, keeping an upright posture in his seat.

“Good morning, Michael.” You say back, almost expecting to be scolded for using Michael’s first name feeling it’s wrong to be so casual and forthcoming, but Michael appreciates it.

Michael doesn’t want to be known as “Don Corleone” around you of all people, let alone such a stuffy way of addressing him as “Mr. Corleone” when you aren’t his business partner either.

“I trust you slept well?” Michael continues speaking to you.

“I did, thank you.” You nod at him, “I was exhausted from the trip yesterday, but I wouldn’t know the difference now.”

“Good,” Michael notes, momentarily glancing up at a grumpy Connie next to you. “If you’re still tired or feeling unready, however…”

You shake your head in refusal. “I’m fine, thank you. I’m ready to teach. It’s been a while.”

Michael gazes at you with intrigue, only causing you to blush again but this time clearly in range for Michael to notice your rosy cheeks flaring with blush. 

Barely by moving a muscle or saying much at all, Michael gets a powerful reaction from you each and every time as you still remain composed, polite, and professional.

Unbeknownst to you, Michael confirms his own mutual attraction to you within that gaze alone—as sudden as yours was to him.

In front of Michael, he sees a beautiful woman the same age as Kay—mature, polite, respectful, very well educated with neither your kindness nor optimism faked. 

Seeing you as honest and genuine, Michael can tell you not only want to fit in with the Corleone family, but you want to earn your place among the family too—all that Michael can tell from your eyes which he himself can’t get enough of looking into.

From the way your hair is styled to the depth of your cheekbones, the shape of your lips and nose is nothing short of stunningly beautiful and attractive to Michael.

Michael’s glanced at your lips more than once and won’t bother to avert his gaze if you notice him looking at you either.

Your eyes only part from Michael’s for a second as Connie hands you a glass of water, but Michael’s curious, insatiable gaze lingers. 

“Oh, thank you.”

Michael’s eyes roam down from your collarbones to your chest, taking in as much as he can see of you and your figure at the table.

One of the first things that Michael notices and keeps in mind is the fact there aren’t any rings on your hands, but Michael can’t say the same for himself, adorning his wedding band to Kay on his left hand.

The estate’s back door opens once more to reveal Kay standing by the doorway—a warm, wide smile on her lips.

Kay’s rather cheery and optimistic demeanor is enough to put almost everyone in a good mood, and you already take a general liking to her despite not personally knowing Kay for the time being.

It’s as if Kay brings in a breath of freshness with her presence, one quite different from her husband but it hits you that perhaps that’s what Michael was looking for in his life partner, to begin with.

Through your brief, blushing eye contact with Michael just a mere moment ago, you feel silly and stupid for somehow forgetting Michael’s actually married, or you purposefully ignore the fact when it benefits you.

Just looking up at Kay, you feel a tinge of jealousy light up inside of you but can’t quite put together what emotions twist and tug and why you continue to spontaneously feel like this.

“Marina!” Kay’s eyes widen in joy when she spots you at the breakfast table. “Good morning! You look refreshed and well rested.”

“Very much so, thank you.” You return a beaming smile to Kay, noticing Michael from the corner of your eye watching your interaction with his wife.

Michael’s wife, the mother of his two children—soon to be three—and his future mistress. This is a sight Michael insists on getting used to, mostly for the sake of appearances.

“Wonderful!” Kay gestures behind her as she begins to walk towards the table, “Anthony and Mary will be down in just a few minutes. It was a little bit of a hassle to get them up this morning.”

“It’s alright.” You chuckle quietly, “they’re young and full of energy.”

“Very, very true.” Kay giggles, moving to sit next to her husband but not before Michael takes Kay’s hand just as she’s about to take her seat—giving Kay’s hand a sweet kiss while maintaining eye contact with her.

You look away, unsettled by the nauseating spike of jealousy rising in you again—only feeling more uncomfortable you’re granted these feelings.

Kay blushes, mouthing “I love you” to Michael as she sits down and faces you again—catching you by surprise. “Especially Anthony.”

“Hmm?” You blink in confusion. “Oh, yes. Anthony. He’s seven years old, isn’t he?” You’re quick to snap back to reality.

“Mhmm.” Kay nods. “Mary is five but…” She shakes her head, laughing softly. “Anthony can be somewhat of a nonconformist at times. He idolizes his father.” Kay squeezes Michael’s hand over the table, “really looks up to Michael.”

“I see.” You give a small polite smile, watching Michael pull a small bottle of pills from his inner suit pocket before setting it in front of his plate.

“Mary is much shyer, so please don’t take it personally.” Kay continues talking to you as Michael twists open the pill bottle cap, taking one of his diabetic pills out of the palm of his hand. “Once Mary opens up, she loves talking and storytelling. She may even randomly hug you from time to time.”

“Oh really?” You grin back, “how sweet. I’ve absolutely no issue with that.”

Ignoring the various conversations surrounding him for the most part, Michael swallows down a single pill with his water before putting his pill bottle back inside his pocket.

Michael’s never struck you as ill or recovering from some sort of illness, but the fact he may be diabetic lingers in your mind from how you noticed back in his office yesterday that he always keeps a full glass of water with him and an extra pitcher practically anywhere he goes within the estate.

“I know Anthony and Mary will absolutely love you and open up to you in no time.” Kay reassures, “I can’t wait to see it myself. I’m a school teacher too, you know. I taught elementary education for about two years.”

“Really?” Kay’s professional life sparks your interest. 

“Yes!” Kay’s more than happy to divulge the details. “I absolutely love children and teaching. Becoming a school teacher was such an absolute dream. I graduated from Dartmouth and went straight into teaching after that—didn’t want to waste any time! Easily was some of the best years of my life.”

“What made you retire so soon?” You ask, genuinely curious. “The children?”

“Yes,” Kay reaffirms, “I had to take a little early retirement after I got married. You know, of course, I wanted to spend more time with my husband and my children. I tutor Anthony and Mary every now and then, and honestly…” Kay begins to pout, placing her hand over top of yours on the table. “Sometimes I hate myself for not being able to do more for them education-wise, you know? But…” Kay purses her lips before breaking out into a contagious smile again, “there are so many of our little ones and I trust you and your expertise so much more! I’ve no doubt about how much of a good education the children will get through you.”

“I appreciate it, Kay. Thank you.” You smile up at her. “From one school teacher to another, I think we have lots to learn from each other.”

“Absolutely.” Kay couldn’t agree more as she leans her back against her seat. “You’re just the sweetest!”

‘Words to regret. Words to take back.’

Only a few more minutes pass before Carmela Corleone whom you’re also introduced to as ‘Mama Corleone’ and Sandra, the widow of Santino, serve varieties of fresh, hot-cooked breakfast foods and refreshments over the table. 

You didn’t expect a feast or something resembling a buffet, being taken by surprise to see the never-ending selection of dishes that may fill up two large, full plates if you tried to taste a bit of everything.

Everything from omelets, fresh vegetables picked from the Corleone family garden, varieties of ham and Italian deli meets, Kay and Mama Corleone’s homemade bread, biscuits from scratch, Ciambella, and jams the Corleone women made themselves from such variety of every ‘berry’ you can think of to apricot, peach, and grape, to a delicious mulberry granita you see Michael taking a specific liking to.

Brioche col tuppo came served hot out of the oven and ready to be eaten with over ten selections of cheese, including your favorite—Calcagno. 

You recognize the other cuts of cheese—Riccota salata and Ragusano just to name a few only from walking past displays by the little family-run shops in Hell’s Kitchen but you’ve never been able to afford a small chunk of such fine, high-quality cheese let alone the whole cheese wheels and halves there are on the breakfast table this morning. 

There’s a plentiful mix of classic American and Sicilian breakfast foods—the latter of which Kay has helped prepare or make the night before.

You’re surprised Kay cooks Sicilian and Italian, but it’s just another trait in her you admire being marrying into a Sicilian family.

You pick your favorites out of all of the choices over the table onto your plate modestly, reaching for a small piece of Calcagno cheese last.

Michael reaches out with his butter knife at the same time as you do, but instead of taking a piece for himself, Michael pushes the entire small cut half to you instead of the tiny chunk of cheese you were initially reaching for.

Your fork clashes with Michael’s butterknife momentarily and you’re more than grateful there’s more than enough distraction and conversation going on at the table around you.

You glance up at Michael and can’t help but blush, being told; “go ahead.” Michael pushes the cut of cheese closer to your fork. “Eat.”

Michael’s aware you’re trying to be modest and polite with your food, especially with so many options spread out among you, but he’s also adamant about you eating well and being full over mannerisms at the table. 

You give Michael a small nod to signal a thank you as you take the whole piece onto your plate—ready to begin eating your breakfast.

Peeking around at the breakfast table as you begin to eat and trying not to spend a moment too long gazing at Michael, you feel at this very moment the only person you know at best sitting at this table for now is Tom.

Tom goes on in conversation about how New York has changed, listing off some names of “hotshot” lawyers; you assume Tom clout for two lifetimes to be able to only take full care of the Corleone family business legally.

You appreciate that although Tom wasn’t born Sicilian, he practically is one, and is very close to his adoptive family too. 

It’s just one of the reasons why Tom doesn’t make you feel alienated or too far from home—you can easily confide in him if you wish to, although…

Once again, your eyes flicker back to Michael who sips at his second glass of water.

Even the way Michael’s full, plush lips wrap around the rim of the glass sends a flare of arousal coursing through your muscles.

There’s no use in denying or scolding yourself for how you feel or react, and you glance back at Kay, wondering if she feels the same way in the presence of this smoldering man despite being married to him for years.

‘Of course, it’s different when you touch him and go to bed with him every night, having him all to yourself.’ Your cheeks grow hot with blush at the very thought as you bite down on your food.

You know you’ll never be able to let your arousal loose or see where it takes you, but there’s no easy route in your heart to get used to Mr. Michael Corleone like this either.

That cold, stern, and dominant gaze in Michael’s eyes for one isn’t meant to intimidate or look through you as if you’re not to be trusted or hiding something, but rather they thrill you—excite you in a way.

‘Lots of opposites in the family.’ You note to yourself—not necessarily a bad thing, but very intriguing nonetheless. 

Had Fredo and Deanna also attended breakfast, it’d been a full table without all of the children, but Michael specifically instructed neither Fredo nor Deanna even thinks about attending to embarrass the family and day drink in front of you.

Refusing any secondhand embarrassment, humiliation, and scandals ahead, Michael remains adamant and serious about family appearances and impressions—first or not. 

Anthony and Mary’s arrival to breakfast is with their grandmother moments after. 

“Not a moment too late, are we?” Mama Corleone steps out into the courtyard with a warm smile on her lips, holding Anthony and Mary’s hands. 

Michael appears more content and relaxed than anything, and Kay’s all the more excited and relieved for you and the children to be able to spend some informal time together at breakfast aside from inevitable lessons and homework. 

From the second you glance over at Mary, you completely understand what Kay meant when she described her daughter as very shy.

Mary practically hides behind Carmela’s arm, but even you can see that Mary is a spitting image of her mother with the same chestnut brown hair and soft eyes but upon a careful look, Mary has much of her father’s facial features too.

Mary’s dressed in a violet swing dress with a lace collar and hemming. Her hair is done up neatly in little pigtails and despite her shyness kicking in, she peeks at you among everyone at the table.

Anthony on the other hand might as well be a direct copy of his father. Even his hair is parted and lightly gelled back like Michael’s is, and Anthony appears neither hesitant nor withdrawn but calm and collected.

Anthony’s eyes meet yours for a split second, but he takes in the rest of his family’s faces at the table too. 

“There you two are!” Kay’s eyes light up, gesturing for them to sit down at the table quickly. “Almost would have missed breakfast!”

Chuckling, Mama Corleone rubs Mary’s shoulder and politely gestures over to you as Anthony makes his way to his seat. “Mary, questa è la tua nuova governante. Lei è un'insegnante. Ricordi che l'hai incontrata ieri con tuo padre?” (Mary, this is your new governess. She's a teacher. Remember you met her yesterday with your father?)

You keep a polite smile fixed towards Mary’s direction and watch as she nods back to Carmela. 

“Hello, Miss Alighieri.” Anthony greets you first, grabbing your attention. 

“Good morning, Anthony.” You speak back to him. “Sleep well?”

Much more forthcoming and confident, Anthony gives you a nod—not much interested in small talk as he sits next to Michael who gives him an approving look.

“Come on Mary,” Kay coaxes in a soft tone of voice, “don’t be shy. Say ‘hello’ to Marina. You and Anthony have lessons with her after breakfast, remember?”

“Hi.” Mary peeps out to you in a small voice, still as shy as ever.

“Go on.” Carmela gives Mary’s back a gentle pat.

Mary skips over to Kay’s side in a hurry, taking her seat next to her mother with only more shy glances toward you.

“Great, we’re all here.” Kay smiles at her children as you notice neither Tom, Sandra nor Connie have reacted or hardly noticed the children coming out in the first place.

‘The Corleone family.’ The only thing alluding to you, for the time being, is that Kay’s pregnant with her third child—Michael’s second son.

As you look around the breakfast table now, you see the family you’ll be spending years and years with—possibly well into retirement.

Eventually, you’ll witness Anthony and Mary amongst the other children grow to be adults, perhaps attending university and delving into careers of their own.

You’ll have much to recall and remark back on when those days come ahead in the future, but Michael knows he has more than one use for you as a governess within his family. 

With thoughts lingering in his mind about what to do with you and when to do it, you catch Michael’s gaze over yours again. 

~

After breakfast, you neither have time to help Sandra, Kay and Mama Corleone with cleanup or dishes let alone say another word to Michael or Tom.

Instead, Kay grabs your arm and whisks you by her side giddily—putting both of her hands over your shoulders. “Marina, sweetheart! Don’t worry about the table, we’ll handle all of that. I don’t want you to inconvenience yourself, okay? I’ll be glad to have all the more family breakfasts with you.”

You flush red with humility and appreciation. “I would absolutely love that, but—”

“But, what?” Kay blinks at you blankly.

“I really don’t wish to intrude on your family’s privacy.” You admit sheepishly. “Truly.”

“Nonsense.” Kay scoffs, rubbing your shoulders. “You’re a part of our family now in a way, aren’t you? I certainly don’t see you as a bother, intrusion, or even a guest. I don’t want you to either. We’re glad to have you here and I know Anthony and Mary are too,” Kay reassures you, pulling you toward the end of the courtyard. “I’m excited to see some progress.”

“As am I, thank you.” You smile politely at Kay. “I’ll be awaiting Anthony and Mary in the study now if that’s okay with you?”

“Perfect!” Kay turns her head back towards the family estate. “I’ll send them up there as soon as they wash up from breakfast.”

Giving an understanding nod, you and Kay move to the family estate side by side and enter together.

Kay parts for the hallway to head upstairs and you continue walking into the foyer to exit the manor from the front door.

As you approach the foyer, you notice Michael and Tom by the windowsill near the foyer, just a short distance away from you.

Feeling the kick up of butterflies rushing inside of you yet again, your eyes fall on Michael who smokes a cigarette while making a soft conversation with Tom.

Tom keeps his voice in a low tone so as not to echo the rest of his conversation out into the foyer, but he doesn’t notice you as you walk by.

Michael picks up on your presence immediately and the two of you make momentary eye contact as you continue moving toward the front doors.

You don’t know how much longer you can keep embarrassing yourself by giving away the reactions this man pulls out of you with half a glance, but you both don’t react further upon seeing each other.

You can’t read who Michael is as a person and it would be pointless to do so—a thought many have come across after meeting Don Corleone and you certainly won’t be the last to think so.

You need to keep things appropriate between employee and employer, even if the Corleone family is more inviting and friendly to you than your past employers. 

You know you have to upkeep boundaries in place and of course, neither Kay nor Michael are going to mention that or make it happen for you.

As you exit the estate, Michael watches every step you take until you’re completely out of his line of sight—completely blocking out Tom.

“You must be my new governess.”

Michael’s eyes dart from the way the fabric of your skirt brushes against your thighs—imagining his hands caressing your thighs and working their way up over your supple skin.

Michael wants to be the one to unzip your skirt from behind, inching it bit by bit off of you and replacing the fabric with his hands—hearing your soft little gasps and whimpers towards his touch as his slender fingers rub lazy circles over your clit.

The sound of your heels hitting the marble floor only gives way to Michael picturing himself taking your heels off and tossing them aside—kissing up from your ankles until his face is buried between your legs.

You may walk out calm and composed for your first lesson now, but all Michael wants to see is how you’ll approach him stripping off your clothes bit by bit, or when he makes you crawl to him on your knees.

“So we understand each other.” 

 Michael’s doing nothing but confirming his attraction to you even further—relishing every minute of it.

There’s a need and desire growing within Michael, sharing a mutual and fiery attraction but you easily mistake all of Michael’s looks for caution and potential mistrust.

You’re new here after all, and Michael doesn’t know you personally or what you offer education-wise just yet. 

Michael’s neither paranoid nor suspicious of you, but he’d rather have you misunderstand his body language and looks toward you for the time being.

In reality, Michael can’t get enough of you and each gaze does nothing to satisfy his curiosity over you; not just who you are as a teacher or woman, but who you are as a lover, as a mistress.

Still, Michael has something you necessarily don’t when it comes to attraction and chemistry; patience. Michael’s absolutely the type to wait until you can’t take it any longer to ensnare you and have you in any way he wants.

The only thing on Michael’s mind is how much more can you hold out against him until he can make his move and confront you with your own growing feelings and attraction?

It turns Michael on to see you squirming and blushing in his sight. It’s something to behold and note for him—something he’ll use against you, remind you with, take you with when he beds you.

Heading into the study and still in awe from every corner of the compound, you figure you’ll have a new sight to look at every time you step out of one building to get to another.

The beauty of Lake Tahoe itself speaks for itself but also what Michael has built within the compound for his compound captures the beauty of Nevada within it in like a safe little world of its own.

The thought of stepping out of this gorgeous private paradise isn’t even on your mind, to begin with. 

Security, privacy, perfect views, fresh air, and nature surround the compound only reminding you that you can definitely get used to this.

More reasons find you yet again to prove that leaving New York was the best option and as Michael said, your family has the opportunity to move down to Nevada as well.

You’re not in a rush to settle the rest of your life and all that you know down at Lake Tahoe immediately. Not just yet. 

Your heart and mind will need to settle first and get a taste of life before you can start thinking about what Nevada may hold for the rest of your days. 

You’re not a rash person even if impatience strikes you from to time. After all, years passed behind you and all you wanted to do was protect your family and provide for him. That much you did, and that’s all that mattered then.

Now granted the opportunity of a lifetime, there remains to be one thing true that only unsettles you when you find yourself deep in thought over it: the Corleone family is still somewhat entangled in crime and the underworld. 

“Don’t trust Mafiosi like we did. Mafiosi are not your friends; they’ll use you and then they will kill you.”

It was Tom who reassured you the Corleone family themselves want to pull away from crime and any unsavory reputations having followed their family name.

You know all of this is run under Michael and his demands alone but his family are nothing like the Mafiosi you watched overrun Hell’s Kitchen and worked for.

‘The Corleone family are no common criminals. Not even your stereotypical Mafiosi, flashing wealth and power over the streets…’ To you, Michael’s just a wealthy businessman trying to erase his father’s criminal legacy, but keep his empire intact. 

With or without caring and noticing, you’ll see more of the intricacies of the Corleone family and what their “business” has to offer in the future. 

If any major criminal ties come up, you don’t know if you have the strength nor the will in your heart to run for the hills again—just so sick and tired of worrying about mafia wars and how they’ll impact you and your family all over again.

Feeling strangely at ease with only so little to truly comfort you, you enter the study and let out a deep breath; you’re looking forward to teaching your first 

the lesson today after all.

You wonder if Anthony and Mary are alike their parents’ personalities as they are in appearances, unable to help but wonder how Michael and Kay parent and raise the two.

‘In a way, I’ll be parenting them too.’ Although you’ll never truly be alone with the children—still under Michael’s watchful gaze and expectations.

‘That look…’ Those sexy, hazel eyes. His gaze…

You clear your throat, forcing Michael out of your thoughts for what seems to be the hundredth time this morning. 

It’s best if you don’t get flustered all over again before a lesson, and it’d do you some good not to think of Michael Corleone for now.

~

“And there’s nothing on her?” Interrupting Tom and switching the conversation entirely over to the topic of you from the moment you’ve exited the family estate, it’s the very first thing Michael asks.

Tom blinks at Michael in confusion at the sudden shift of conversation but picks up on Michael’s mention of you as “her”, not Kay. “For Miss Marina? Well, nothing. Is there anything you suspect? I could have a further look into it.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Michael blows out the smoke of his cigarette away from Tom’s direction. “I simply find it hard to believe any civilian working for the mafia isn’t as embroiled within it as they seem.”

“You’re right,” Tom agrees. “That definitely ends up being the case the majority of the time, but I made sure about it for Marina. I’ve looked into her family, her background—everything before even approaching her for employment. She’s legit.”

“I know she is.” Michael puts his cigarette loosely in the corner of his mouth. “We’ll see her teaching technique soon enough and I’ll hear it from Anthony and Mary first.”

“Hope you’re not planning to replace our new governess already.” Tom grins at Michael, joking.

“Funny,” Michael comments without a sliver of emotion on his face. “Anthony and Mary will get the best education possible. There are no exceptions to that.”

“I can’t argue with that.” Tom shrugs his shoulders loosely. “Especially since Marina will be teaching all of our children. Maybe she’ll even think about moving her family down here when the time is right.”

“Perhaps so.” Michael assumes you’ll need to feel personally settled down in Nevada before you consider such a serious change to your family life. “Miss Alighieri is unmarried, no children?”

“Just an engagement, it seems,” Tom replies back, looking towards the front door. “She’s a kind and respectful young woman. I think all of this will be the change her life truly needs—a break from New York and all of its big expectations. Time to settle, maybe start a family in the near future.”

“Mhmm.” Although the question of “is she a virgin?” crosses Michael’s mind, he asks no further questions. 

It’s not that such a thing matters to Michael in the slightest but when it comes to getting to know everything about you on a skin-deep level and beyond, Michael will get to anything he wants to know without hesitation. 

“Think she’ll get along with Kay?” Tom asks, lowering his tone of voice. “And I mean like really get along—no breakfast pleasantries and all that.”

“It doesn’t concern me,” Michael answers coldly.

“No?” Tom raises a curious brow. 

“No.” Michael reaffirms. “Marina is a teacher—an employee here. She wasn’t brought here to be a friend. I see very few possibilities in which she and Kay wouldn’t get along.”

“Of course,” Tom nods, continuing, “and they’re both school teachers, after all.”

“They’re completely different.” Michael corrects him. “Kay taught school grade children. She hasn’t taught professionally in almost a decade. She’s used to a specific level of teaching as well. Education-wise, there’s little she can offer my children now more than she already has. Kay isn’t trained in advanced education, languages and so forth, however, if she disagrees with Marina’s teaching methods, I’ll hear it. Otherwise, ten years teaching the spawn of our rivals in New York provides all the more of an interesting record to me.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Tom breaks out into a chuckle, straightening his posture against the windowsill. “I absolutely couldn’t have said it better myself. Best we never have bad blood in the family.”

“I agree.” 

~

You take your seat on the leather armchair set up for you in front of a large, mahogany table able to sit up to ten children comfortably for a lesson.

Getting comfortable in the chair, you glance at your lesson planner and notes set out in front of you, noting what lessons you’ll start the day with as soon as you meet with Anthony and Mary.

First, you’ll begin the day’s lesson with some practice in Italian. You want to start off with a simple conversation to get things warmed up as you’re aware both Anthony and Mary speak Italian and Sicilian, but you wish to hear them speak more fluently and often in conversation with someone else other than 

just their parents as well as learn new vocabulary too.

You’re unaware Michael’s accompanying Anthony and Mary to the study as you continue skimming over your notes.

Michael quietly walks behind the children, not meaning to be seen or heard but without any particular intention to hide away from you either; wishing to observe some of your teaching for himself at least, not because Michael has no faith in your teaching but perhaps just an excuse to see you again.

“Behave yourselves today, alright?” Michael speaks to Anthony and Mary, keeping one hand on both of their shoulders. “Listen to your teacher just as you did the last. Ask questions when needed, be polite, and don’t interrupt. Your mother and I want to hear about your lessons at the end of the day. Understood?”

“Yes, father.” Anthony agrees quietly.

“Okay, daddy.” Mary nods shyly.

“Good.” Michael pats both of his children’s shoulders, gesturing towards the half-open door to the study. “Go on now.” Michael takes a step back towards the hallway to conceal himself.

Anthony approaches the doorway first, pushing open the door but letting his sister in first before walking inside side by side with her.

“Hello, Miss Alighieri.” Anthony greets you as Mary gives you a little wave.

“Ciao.” You greet the two in Italian, smiling up at the children. “Welcome, come on in.”

The study door is left ajar enough for Michael to continue listening in, but not be seen or heard himself—just as Michael prefers it to be.

“We’re going to be starting with Italian lessons for today.” You tell the two as they take a seat in front of you at the table. “Are we ready?”

While Anthony gives you a silent nod, Mary answers back enthusiastically with, “yes, Miss Alighieri.”

You chuckle softly, “you can call me Marina. Don’t worry about all the formalities. Now,” you place both of your hands down on your lesson planner. “Today we’ll practice some conversation together and learn some new words but first…” A warm smile forms over your lips, “have you two been to Italy or Sicily before?”

“No.” Anthony shakes his head. “But I want to someday.”

“Anche io.” (Me too.) Mary answers in Italian. “Spero che papà ci porti un giorno.” (I hope daddy takes us one day.)

"Sono sicuro che gli piacerebbe." (I’m sure he would love to.) You nod back at her, thrilled by how naturally the children speak Italian back to you.

“Verrai anche tu con noi?” (Will you come with us too?) Anthony asks you, taking you by surprise.

"Oh, mi piacerebbe." (Oh, I would love to.) You blush a little at the thought of accompanying the family on a vacation. "Anche io non ci sono mai stato." (I’ve also never been there myself.)

“Neanche io.” (Me neither.) Mary giggles quietly.

Michael’s taken back by surprise at how fluently the children are speaking Italian to you—a stark contrast from how Anthony and Mary have always been much too shy to speak a sentence or two in front of their mother, let alone speak Italian in front of her.

Anthony and Mary barely even know you, yet they’re both so calm, open, and have a readiness to learn already.

Michael glances at his gold wristwatch to check the time, continuing to listen to your lesson.

“Penso che entrambi sorprenderete i vostri genitori vedendo come parlate bene l'italiano in questo momento.” (I think you'll both surprise your parents with how well you two are speaking Italian right now.) You tell the children, taking a little note down in your lesson planner about their fluency.

“La mamma però non parla italiano.” (Mom doesn't speak Italian though.) Anthony shrugs his shoulders. 

“Non una parola?” (Not a word?) You raise your brows.

“No. Non proprio.” (No. Not really.) Mary answers you. “Inoltre non conosce nessun siciliano.” (She also doesn’t know any Sicilian.)

“Le piacerebbe imparare l'italiano?” (Would she like to learn Italian?) You ask the two. 

“No, non credo.” (No, I don’t think so.) Anthony shakes his head, confident in his answer. “Parliamo solo italiano e siciliano a nonna, nonno e papà.” (We only speak Italian and Sicilian to grandma, grandpa, and daddy.)

“Non alla mamma.” (Not to mama.) Mary adds.

‘Not to mama.’ You note to yourself, frowning a little. It certainly strikes you as strange that Kay has no interest in the two languages both of her children are speaking and growing up around, but that’s something you’d need to talk to Kay about yourself.

From where Michael stands, even he can sense the shyness and awkward silence filling the room from the children’s answers. 

“Timida?” (Shy?) You teasingly ask Mary who remains much quieter than her brother.

“Forse.” (Maybe) Mary giggles to herself.

“Entrambi non dovete essere timidi con me, ma so che può volerci del tempo per aprirsi.” (Both of you don't need to be shy with me, but I know it can take some time to open up.) You reassure the children, speaking in a soft tone. ”E in un certo senso, nessuno di voi due è timido a causa di quanto parlate fluentemente italiano. Molto bene. Sono molto impressionato.” (And in a way, neither of you are shy because of how fluent you both speak Italian. Well done. I'm very impressed.). 

“Grazie signorina Marina.” (Thank you, miss Marina.) Mary beams up at you happily. “Mi piace parlare italiano.” (I like speaking Italian.)

‘Interesting.’ Michael thinks to himself, although knowing Mary and Anthony refuse to speak Italian near kay already, he never expected to figure out such shyness from the children now unraveling before you into full-blown fluency and confidence just as the children speak with Michael.

‘What would Kay think?’ A frown crosses Michael’s lips, but he’s satisfied enough hearing your teaching and experiencing it in a way for himself.

Confident without any worries or issues for his children’s education, Michael trusts you with employment in the Corleone family.

Throughout your Italian lessons with Anthony and Mary, you come to easily tell they’re both well-behaved, happy children even if Mary is on the shyer side and Anthony is just as brooding as his father.

You don’t sense tension or unhappiness amongst the children, especially nothing that would hold them back from fully interacting and learning from their lessons.

You’ve been easily able to spot such discomfort in children when you worked for the Cuneo and Stracci family; seeing how younger siblings of favored, firstborn children meant to be heirs to the family appear glum, withdrawn, and negatively impacted by the blatant favoritism. 

It feels much more than just refreshing to you now to be teaching in a healthy family environment where the children’s own education won’t have to be a distraction to them from their families.

“Alright, here we have the rest of our reading material to finish off our Italian lessons.” You set down a sheet of paper with two separate paragraphs—one at a slightly lower level of Italian for reading and writing and the other one a bit more advanced.

“But,” you point your finger back and forth at the paragraphs, “as you can see both of them are different.”

“Yeah,” Mary notes to herself, speaking English as she and Anthony peek down at the paper.

“I’d like to see where the two of you are with your level of Italian reading and writing since—” you break out into a grin, “the speaking is obviously fantastic. We’ll try these out first and go on from there, so,” you point down at the second paragraph. “This paragraph here may look a little tricky at a second glance because of the new, longer vocabulary in it. I’ll teach you both how to break down even the most difficult new words like this.” You place your finger underneath the words, slowly guiding the children. “We can read this one by one and understand the words first, then we can go back and do it a little faster the second time. I’ll start first, so please follow my finger here and read the words to yourself while listening to my voice and how I pronounce the new vocabulary.” 

Michael stops in his tracks just as he’s reached the bottom of the staircase, still able to hear your voice echoing from the study.

Michael pauses again, taking the time to listen in to you speak in beautiful, fluent Italian throughout the paragraph you teach Mary and Anthony. 

“Il mio comodino è vicino alla finestra, non il mio letto, ma al mattino entra un sacco di sole. La mia scrivania è sul lato opposto della mia stanza, proprio accanto al mio armadio.” (My night table is near the window, not my bed but a lot of sunshine comes through in the morning. My work desk is on the opposite side of my room right next to my closet.)

Your voice is nothing short of music to Michael’s ear, beautiful with each tone and pitch. Michael continues to listen at the stairwell, unable to stop himself from wanting to hear more.

“La mia stanza si affaccia sulla spiaggia e ogni giorno posso guardare le onde sulla riva…” My room looks out towards the beach and every day I can watch the waves on the shore.)

It’s only when you’re done reading the paragraph and recapping with the children that Michael’s able to snap back to reality and force himself to leave the estate—attempting to do the same for his thoughts.

“How was that?” You ask the children.

“Easy to follow,” Mary tells you with a nod.

“Anthony?” You glance at her brother.

“You’re very good at it.” Anthony’s eyes meet yours. 

“You two will be too, soon enough.” You reassure, smiling at the children. “Did we find it difficult at all?”

“Hmm… Not really.” Anthony shrugs his shoulders carelessly.

“Some words are a little hard I think.” Mary frowns, staring at the unfamiliar vocabulary within the paragraph. 

“This is good, very good. This way we get to see where we are with our vocabulary level, right? We can practice something a little easier, like this bottom paragraph here.” You gesture down to the bottom of the lesson sheet.

“I can read all that.” Anthony points out.

“Me too.” Mary appears relieved at the familiarity of the paragraph’s words. “I know those words.”

“Yeah?” You chuckle, “wonderful. I’ll give it a read first again as you guys follow along, then we can take some turns reading it together, okay?”

If anything, Anthony and Mary are both very understanding, calm, and polite children. Neither interrupt the lesson nor blurt out answers, but raise their hand to ask you questions.

Very disciplined and sweet, you know just how well-raised Anthony and Mary are on Kay and Michael’s behalf from their mannerisms. 

Kay and Michael’s actual parenting in person to Anthony and Mary will practically be unavoidable in the near future.

Continuing to get more practice with the easier paragraph, you see how Mary’s insistent to continue picking up on a level of reading where she’s comfortable, but it’s also a good recap and practice for Anthony.

After all those years of teaching, you’ve been used to reading upside down and balancing different levels of education with several children at the same time.

“Lato opposto dell amia stanza…” Mary speaks, reading out loud.

“Lato opposto,” you gently correct her pronunciation.

“Lato opposto,” Mary says, continuing to read.

“Mhmm.” You smile at her, noticing how Anthony quietly mouths the words to himself during his sister’s reading. 

~

As Michael comes to approach his office door, Al Neri’s eyes glance up at his boss expectantly. “Don Corleone, Mrs. Corleone is waiting inside for you.”

Michael neither reacts nor speaks back to Neri who opens the door for his boss, instantly closing it behind Michael for privacy.

Michael steps into his office with no curiosity within him for why Kay may be in his office, spotting his wife sitting on one of the leather armchairs by his desk. 

“Hello, darling.” Michael greets Kay, moving towards her.

“Hi, honey.” Kay rises up from her seat, in a cheery mood as always. “Thought I’d find you here, but…” Kay approaches her husband, smiling at him in admiration.

“I had the children begin their lessons with Marina,” Michael tells her.

“Mhmm.” Kay rubs over Michael’s shoulders tenderly, pleased with his response. “I just wanted to wait for you here. How are they?”

“All is well. They’ve started with Italian lessons for the day.” Michael’s quick to the point, satisfied with your teaching with nothing more to say.

“Oh?” Kay’s eyes widen in curiosity. “I wish Marina good luck then.”

“No need.” Michael surprises Kay with his answer. “They’re both speaking very fluently. I’m sure they shocked Marina at first as well.” 

“You heard them?” Kay asks.

“A little as I was leaving, yes.” Michael replies, “they’ve opened up to Marina already, practicing reading some example texts.”

“Oh, that’s great.” Kay blinks, finding herself oddly jealous at the revelation since Anthony and Mary refuse to speak Italian near her no matter what. “I’m surprised, honestly. Anthony and Mary…they don’t speak Italian to me or near me at all.”

“Best you begin to learn then as well.” Michael pecks a gentle kiss over Kay’s cheek, assuming the children only refrain from speaking Italian near their mother simply because she doesn’t, but the truth of the matter is that Michael could care less. 

“You should teach me,” Kay giggles, watching Michael move towards his desk. “But I think Mama Corleone may give you a run for your money.”

“I won’t disagree with you.” Michael takes a seat at his desk, sighing softly in relief. “She was the only one who spent all that time going on and on in Italian and Sicilian around her grandchildren since they were born. It’s an idea, Kay. I mean it.”

Kay’s cheeks flush scarlet as she makes eye contact with Michael. “It’s such a beautiful language from what little I know. It’d be amazing to speak both Italian and Sicilian with the children.”

“I agree.” Michael nods. “Nonetheless, this is a good start for them.”

“Do you know what they’ll learn later in the afternoon?” Kay stands before Michael’s office desk.

“You could always ask her,” Michael offers.

“But I can’t exactly ask Marina if the children like her, can I? What do you think?” Kay seems more overjoyed at the thought than ever.

‘I think they’re going to love her,’ Michael thinks to himself but changes his answer. “From what I can tell thus far, I believe so. Marina has left a good impression on us all.”

“She really is a part of our family in a way now.” Kay agrees, beaming happily. “So I can’t wait to get to know her all the better myself. We could just be the best of friends—teacher to teacher!”

But you wouldn’t be Kay’s friend or anything more to her than just an employee living in her home grounds. You never will, and you never can. Such a concept, idea, and belief is long out of your reach.

Instead, you’d be Michael’s mistress. His favorite. The only woman he explores every fantasy and sexual desire with, much to your pleasure. 

You’ll be Michael’s mistress, just as he wants you to be, just as you yearn to be.

[darkmaga-retard]

CIAgate

Sep 10, 2024

The 9/11 attack has been shrouded in secrecy by the U.S. government for 23 years, leading to much speculation and questions among the public . Despite numerous investigations and official reports, the full picture of those tragic events has never been fully revealed.

Ahead of another anniversary of this tragedy, we decided to publish a confidential FBI report that can illuminate many aspects that have remained hidden until today. Our step is intended not only to satisfy public curiosity but also contribute to a deeper understanding of how and by whom the preparations for this terrorist attack were conducted.

Penned by former FBI employee Bassem Youssef, who was directly involved in the 9/11 investigation, the report details Omar al-Bayoumi’s interactions with officials from Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, between 1998 and 2000. The document also offers an unprecedented look into the events leading up to that fateful day.

While some of these details have been explored in the media, many of our readers will find value in examining these firsthand insights.

[addressadvisors]

Why do all electric vehicle companies occupy Warehouse and Industrial space in Hosur?

With the electric buzz that has taken the nation by storm, the Government is planning to develop EV parks in the same line as SEZ and pharma parks across the country. The EV park aims to house majority original equipment manufacturers, battery manufacturers, and charging infrastructure developers at one place. With the vision to develop an entire ecosystem at one same place, the Government plans to offer plug-and-play business models to EV industries who will set up their units in these parks. One such park is located in north western districts of Tamil Nadu, just across the Karnataka border from Bengaluru, which houses a number of new-age EV companies, such as, Ather Energy, Ola Electronics, Simple Energy, among others.

The Rise of Hosur Several factors have helped the Hosur belt boom with several big-ticket projects and investments in the region. The cluster witnessed two substantially high profile investments in the last couple of years, with Tata electronics setting up a ₹5,000-crore mobile components plant at Udhanapalli, and Ola, a ₹2,500-crore electric vehicle (EV) plant at nearby Pochampally. These massive investments triggered the new EV boom in Hosur, with EV companies preferring Hosur for putting up their manufacturing units given a competent ancillary supplier network, proximity to Bengaluru where corporate offices of these companies are located, plus amicable and skilled labour force in two-wheeler, automotive, and electronics segment.

Well-oiled Supply-chain Network The region is equipped with a strong supply-chain ecosystem, making it easier for the companies to locally source components necessary for manufacturing and assembly. This, in turn, would help us in improving cost and time efficiency for the businesses. Moreover, companies are prompting tier-2 suppliers to move their base to Hosur area, to make smaller components in the close vicinity to further add to the efficiency.

Financial SOP and Easier Admittance EV companies in the Hosur area are upheld by EV policy contrived by Tamil Nadu Government. The policy is drafted to support EV companies with repayment of SGST for electric vehicle producing, capital appropriation for battery fabricating, business motivation as far as repayment of EPF for a time of one year, exclusion from instalment of Electricity Tax till 2025 and 100 percent stamp obligation exception.

Proximity to Bengaluru As most of the corporate offices are located in Bengaluru, the first preference of companies is to put up a plant within a comfortable driving distance from head office. As most of the senior employees and mid-level management sit at the head office, most of the companies want employees to be able to move between the office and the plant in an hour or so maximum. For instance, Ather Energy corporate office is located in Koramangala, which is 60 minutes away from the Ather Energy plant in Hosur. Moreover, the connection via Electronics city flyover helps cut through the traffic, which was initially the pain point of employees moving between Koramangala and Whitefield, where Ather Energy plant was located.

Availability of Land and Scalability Scope Given the area related bottleneck in Bengaluru, it is essential for EV companies or any other manufacturing units to look into areas nearby that can accommodate projected production capacity and growth plans. Given, land investments are not made again and again, it is always advisable for the companies to take up the area based on the most optimistic business projections. With the same thought, Ather Energy Hosur plant is spread across 300,000 Sq. Ft. with capacity to produce 1,10,000 scooters annually. Ather Energy envisions that the plant will serve as Ather Energy’s national manufacturing hub, catering to demand from across the country. Moreover, the plant is nearly 10 times the capacity of the Whitefield, Bengaluru, plant.

Hosur Historic Precedence Within the close proximity to Bengaluru, Hosur area has historically been a dominant space for two wheeler, automotive, and electronics business segments. Given that EV is primarily an amalgamation of these three segments, it is therefore a natural choice for EV companies to develop manufacturing units in the Hosur area. Moreover, with established and consistent access to power, land, and labour relevant to the industry, Hosur is the first choice of investment. Furthermore, a lot of fossil-fuelled automotive industries are also expanding into the EV segment. This has prompted an easy transition for existing automotive companies in the area. Also, as Tamil Nadu has over 800 engineering colleges, the state offers an intellectual and skilled labour pool ensuring steady stream for the workforce.

Amicable Labour and Supportive Workforce In the area, it is widely noted that the kind of labour unrest Bengaluru witnesses is not seen in the Tamil Nadu north western districts, which are barely an hour away from each other. The most plausible reason for this could be the existential automotive businesses in the Hosur area, unlike Bengaluru, where labourers are experiencing the automotive industry for the first time. In Hosur, both industry and labour have matured, and the companies have learnt that exploitative practices are rather counter-productive. Therefore, most of the EV companies find this a huge draw in making investment decisions in the Hosur area.

Hosur Meteoric rise and the way ahead Given the reasons above along with a network of highways facilitating logistics of movement and the welcoming policies set by the Tamil Nadu Government for automotive companies, Hosur belt is emerging as an industrial bowl for the electric vehicle manufacturers. Tata, Delta, Ola Mobility, Ather Energy, and Simple Energy are some of the big names in the electronics and electric vehicle (EV) sectors that have made Hosur and the surrounding districts their home in the past few years.

Along with growing awareness and spiralling petrol prices, the demand for EV is set to increase significantly in the coming years. As per the data, In January 2022, overall high-speed EV two-wheeler registrations rose to 27,563 units as compared to 24,725 units in December 2021. To match the rising demand, manufacturers have to up their capacity, for example Ather Energy recently commissioned its second facility in Hosur to increase its capacity from 1,20,000 units to 4,00,000 units. Ola Electric has set out to build the world’s largest EV facility with an initial annual capacity of two million units. Furthermore, TVS has also decided to invest over 1,100 crores in the area for the new EV plant. If the cards are played right, this belt could further emerge as a global player given the fast adoption of EVs, especially in the two-wheeler segment.

[oh-shinx]

Pellipper Mail!

A note!

"I've seen your whole fight against your parents going down over Rotomblr, I'm sending this physically so I can attach some sensitive information. Contact me, or any of the people in this list if you ever need help skirting the law again. -Prof. Baobab (P.S. as an ecologist, I can offer some advice on any Pokémon habitats if you need it, considering the new addition to your family)"

There's also a Rolodex full of personal numbers of high level employees of the International Police and several Government Officials, in multiple regions, with the exclusion of Paldea.

Thank you professor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I already have a good few connections, but it is good to be extra prepared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pb-dot]

WIP Wednesday: The Northwest

This fine WIPnesday and the next couple of weeks ahead I want to pause the talk about characters and instead speak a bit about the various organizations in play in The Clockwork Boy, their goals, their values, and the people that come to represent the organizations in the plot. This'll also allow me to talk about a bunch of side characters without having to make separate profiles for them, so that's also expedient. First up to bat is the underground gear workshop co-op The Northwest.

Northwest Street Communal Workshop And Distribution, as it is properly titled is part gear production workshop specializing in precision gears for clockcraft, and part political organization. They seek to offer a workplace and community for laborers who have grown tired of the restrictive and exploitative practices of the Novice-Master system that governs labor and production in the City. It is the opinion of The Northwest and its members that the capital holders of the city maintain a stranglehold on the industry through intimidation and violence through the private security force known as The Enforcers, as well as through self-declared Exclusivity Licenses to certain production methods and tools.

Given that the City hasn't had a functional government in nigh on twenty years, The Northwest refuses to acknowledge these licenses or the Enforcers' supposed authority to police them. Even so, they are forced to work around these limitations given the enforcers' considerable resources and penchant for violent suppression. After a period of particularly harsh treatment, the Northwest chose to withdraw from the public eye until guarantees for their owner-employees safety could be made with some conviction. Since then, The Northwest has operated as an underground operation, literally, as they work out of the cellar of a condemned workshop and trade through intermediaries.

The Northwest was founded during the latter parts of The Coal Wars, when a community of workshop journeymen, emboldened by the manpower scarcity that plagued the then-empire, struck out from their traditional places of employment to start a communal workshop space in the namesake Northwest Street. The mission statement of the nascent organization expanded somewhat during the period of unrest following the collapse of the empire's last government to also provide what aid they could to the population in the tumultuous time, eventually including working towards a fairer and more stable world in whatever ways they could make it happen.

Owing to resistance from the conglomerate of merchants and capital holders that is now known as The Spire, The Northwest was forced to abandon much of their charity work, as well as put a damper on their political ambition, at least until a level of grassroots support could be achieved.

As such, many of the Northwest's current employee-owners consider themselves craftsmen and community members first and foremost, but there are exceptions. While the organization doesn't have any leaders or owners, two voices are particularly prominent in the day-to-day business of the organization, and these are both mindful of the future in their own ways.

The closest The Northwest will ever get to a leader is Delilah Bellows, a passionate and strong personality whose dedication to The Northwest is unusually strong, even considering the general level of dedication to the organization from its worker-owners. Despite being an unflinchingly driven person who seldom hesitates to bring matters to a vote in many meetings that decide the actions and rules of The Northwest, Delilah backs up her drive with enthusiasm and pedagogy, making her a voice that would be heard and respected even if she wasn't such a force of nature. It has done nothing to blunt the sting of her terrible puns and cheesy nicknames, but even such scorching natural charisma has its limits.

While Delilah has the presence and voice of a leader, Wilhelmina "Mina" Limner has the dispassionate long-term thinking part down pat. Her penchant for tidiness and the kind of paperwork that comes naturally with managing an organization like The Northwest has left her managing the administration and documentation of the organization almost singlehandedly. While these considerable tasks leave her absent from participating actively in the day-to-day community of The Northwest, Mina's influence can be felt to be guiding many of the organization's ventures.

Under different circumstances, Mina and Delilah would all but be guaranteed to butt heads, and if not outright oppose, then certainly grate on each other. As fate would have it though, Delilah and Mina get along swimmingly despite having virtually nothing in common. It didn't take long, or so rumor has it, between the compact dark-skinned Delilah and the tall and pale Mina first disagreeing during a meeting and the point when they started going home together after work. Despite the amorous tone, however, the two maintain that their perspectives on the future of The Northwest remain their own, although some level of synthesis is likely inevitable.

As for the Northwest and its worker-owners role in the story, it spends large parts of The Clockwork Boy being a haven for our heroes Jake and 13. The two hide from The Enforcers and The Clockmen in the halls of The Northwest. As the two are welcome into the organization proper, however, the question is whether 13 is to use his considerable physical prowess for the good of their cause or not. Some tension exists between Jake and 13 on this topic, and navigating this is a sticking point in the medium-early stages of their relationship.

tag list @ettawritesnstudies @mrbexwrites @teacupsandstarlight

If you want to be put on the Tag List for this project, please interact with my Tag List Post

[eric-the-bmo]

The Neighborhood Watch S2 Ep4: Keep Greenville Weird

The month-long hiatus is finally over! So much happens to everyone except John, who has a nice day at work.

[Summary: Song takes Amira to be fixed and discovers the consequences, while Markus makes bad decisions. John tries his best at his new job, and Louis sparks up conversation with a conspiracy theorist.]

We pick up where we left off: in the charred wreckage of Song's house. Song and Fatima assure Amira she's fine as they wrap a scarf around the injured part of her face, while Amira insists she's fine and is very confused; she doesn't seem to realize she's a robot.

Louis and Markus show up and immediately begin to help putting out the fires as the trio above head to the Sumpath house; they're going to Arjun, Amira's father, so she can be fixed.

Some of the neighbors have started to come over to see what's happening; Shelby is one of them, still in her pajamas and looking like she didnt get much sleep. Bob Patterson, number one asshole neighbor, tries to come over to help- but with their current mental state, Markus is somehow convinced he's behind the explosion of Song's garage and threatens him. Bob puts his hand on the handle of his gun as a warning, and immediately Markus pulls out their knife and stabs him straight through the palm. Louis wanted to try and interfere, but upon seeing this, is all "oh nevermind, yikes"

Meanwhile, Song and Fatima take Amira over to Arjun, who takes them down to the high-tech basement of their house. He takes out a duffel bag full of gadgets, all with a logo- Song recognizes it as the logo of a company that exclusively works with her father. Arjun says a code to shut Amira down as he goes to fix her, and he's like "Song you can't tell anyone about this," and Song goes "alright let me cast a geas on myself so if i ever Do tell someone i'll die" Song and Fatima go upstairs, and right before the basement door closes behind them, they hear Arjun break down and cry.

With the fires almost out, Markus notices there's some weird melted plastic in the grass, so they scoop it up and leave. Louis finds the source of the explosion, the propane tank, and also a bunch of shattered gnomes. At this point he just goes "man, nothing is normal in this fucking town, jesus christ," and starts muttering to himself about it before deciding fuck it, he's going home- but then he sees that Ken, our resident conspiracy theorist npc, has been watching him. Ken tries to act all natural like he wasn't obviously spying, and asks what happened ["Was this a meteor, or an underground volcano..?"]. Louis has an idea, and invites Ken to chat with him, because perhaps this man has info that can help us. Kenneth is so so hyped about this offer to chat, because no one's been interested in his theories before! They head to the coffee shop.

John didn't notice the explosion as he's driven to work; I rolled too high. When he gets dropped off at the city hall, he meets up with Clara, his coworker. They're assigned to be at the corner of Main and Sapphire Street; they chat as the walk there, and John learns about her favorite places to hang out- turns out the reason they haven't met despite her being here her whole life was because they hung out at different spots, besides the coffee shop. He mentions it's been hard for him to get a job since he doesn't have a government ID, and Clara asks if he's an illegal immigrant- she then apologizes for asking that, and John says it's okay, since humans are curious by nature. He says he'll go with the immigrant explanation for now, and the two of them reach the street corner.

They speak to passerby; John learns from Joseph Miller, the park ranger, that the weird plant seeds grow very quickly, and Jebediah Ford, the Minister of the church, wished all of the other employees to get better. John asks Clara about this, and it turns out that some of the people at this job have been getting strangely ill; Not even Dr. Sutherland, the town's miracle doctor, can figure out what's going on- in fact, one of his patients has been moved to one of the city hospitals. John then spots Jack attempting to empty the garbage cans around town; the man seems sick, and he's wearing sunglasses. John realizes his symptoms are awfully similar to what he saw when Karen Patterson was sick in Season One... He's connecting the dots.

Speaking of the strange plants, Markus notices that one's been growing in their house- the seed they grabbed in s1 has been growing, and is overtaking one of their bug terrariums. When they try to get near it with their knife, the plant shoots them with thorns. The roots tear easily as Markus rips the plant off the terrarium, and they put it down the garbage disposal. Deciding not to stay in their house for a bit, they grab the melted plastic from earlier and heads over to Emmett's house- the AI analyzes the stuff, saying it appears to be fake skin. Markus suggests maybe Emmett should talk to Arjun about it- they guy worked for the government, after all, unbeknownst to Emmett. Markus leaves, and heads over to the Patterson's.

Over at the Sumpaths, Fatima is telling Song that she Arjun have always wanted a kid but it just wouldn't work out, so Arjun, being an engineer, built one. She says there was a lot of trial and error to get things right and that she still has nightmares about it sometimes, but they care about Amira very much. She starts to mention something about how it's a bit hard regarding something- but then Arjun and Amira walk out of the basement; she's on her phone like nothing had happened. And Arjun introduces her ["Amira, this is Ms O'Sullivan, she just moved in to the neighborhood."], and Song's player pieces together that Amira has completely forgotten the entire events of them game. Song and Amira practically re-enact how they met for the first time, before the witch excuses herself and begins to head out; but not before inviting Fatima over for coffee later.

At the Patterson's, Markus is snooping around the perimeter of their house. The lights are on in the basement, so Markus heads over to the side to look in through one of the basement windows. Inside, they see Bob with a medkit, fixing up the hand that Markus had stabbed earlier. Observing through the window, Markus sees there's something mounted on the wall much like a hunting trophy: It's the skull of a giant feline with antlers, and next to his is an entire wall full of weapons- this man is a monster hunter. Markus decides to walk around and knock on his door.

Song sees a moving truck outside of Lucretius (aka Lestat)'s home; he greets her, expressing sympathies about the explosion and how he would offer her a place to stay, but he's moving to another house on the block since his current one is too infested with bugs. He says that if her house is still in repair by the time he's finished moving in, he can let her stay for a bit- In the meantime, though, he asks if she'd like to head downtown with him and grab a bite to eat?

But Song looks over and sees two cars: a sleek black car, like the kind her father's employee's drive, and a police car. She declines Lestat's offer and excuses herself, and heading over to the cars to see what's up. One of the cops, Jason Chen, is putting up police/caution tape around the debris of her garage; he's not doing a good job but he's trying. The other cop is approaching the Patterson's house, and is revealed to be Bob's son.

Louis and Ken arrive at the coffee shop and are greeted by Jewel, the teen at the counter. They order coffee- Ken's order is very pretentious, while Louis gets an americano. Jewel spells his name wrong, and when he mentions this a voice from one of the booths- Tawny Evergreen, her boss- says that she's not allowed to spell the customer's names correctly. Louis gives Jewel a 50 dollar tip.

The two of them go to sit down. Ken is super enthusiastic about this, bringing out folders and everything, and Louis, who had already been regretting this, finally declares that this was a mistake and starts to leave. He tells Kenneth that his level of enthusiasm is too much, he's too into this, and that deters people away.

Ken gets upset and pleads with Louis to stay, saying that no one ever wants to listen to what he has to say, and how there's so much happening in town but he's the only one who can see it- and as Louis tries to walk away Ken grabs his arm; his eyes go white and his grip tightens, before he blinks and stumbles back. "[Our new neighbor's name] is LESTAT?"

Notes and Thoughts:

Shelby Nicole Waters my beloved, why are you tired? Im suspicious and reading too much into this

Once again, Louis continues to be the funniest PC in the entire game, it's so entertaining when he talks to himself.

HOORAY JOHN LAUGHED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN S2 <3<3

The title is taken from a patch on Ken's jacket!

We all started yelling at Markus's player for the garbage disposal decision, but really that's Such a good storytelling thing to do. Let's go bestie let's make it worse /lh

I'm very happy Emmett made an appearance again! I was worried he would only be a s1 character, so it's neat he's back! I also have a more concrete design in my head for him, so hopefully I can sketch him out soon

FATIMA. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NIGHTMARES, HELLO???

God the favor Bob owes Markus means so much more if you consider he was probably worried he'd have to kill his wife in s1

LESTAT STAY AWAY FROM SON. BITE MAIM KILL

Markus is SO getting arrested oh my god

If I had a nickel for every time there was a blond prophetic conspiracy theorist in my ttrpg games, I'd have two nickels!

I don't think Ken is able to control his ability/what he sees! It seems to be activated by physical touch- good thing he didn't come into contact with any of the other Main Cast, yeah?

I am very very happy this game is back! We'll find out what happens next in two weeks! <3

[shouperfluous]

The First and Fourteenth Amendments and Discrimination

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis, the so-called "gay website case," I have seen a ton of just terrible takes arguing what the law does and does not say about discrimination and what the Supreme Court has said.

The simplest version is, the Supreme Court ruled that, if you are engaged in expressly creative services, the state cannot compel you to make a message with which you disagree. The Court did not say that one can broadly discriminate against protected classes in general services. The 14th Amendment says, "No State shall... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Here, "state" also means any government entity, smaller or larger than the state.

Through successive civil rights acts, the Supreme Court and various Federal and State legislatures have clarified that this means that "places of public accommodation" cannot deny services based on someone's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Public accommodations, under these laws, generally means facilities or business, publicly or privately owned, which are generally opened to the public. If you offer a service or a good to the people at large, in a brick and mortar facility or exclusively online, you cannot deny standard services to people because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In some places, sexual orientation and gender identity have been added to this list.

If you sell something to the public, you have to sell it to black people or women, even if you hate those groups. However, none of these rules prohibit you from denying services to people for basically any other reason.

Except in a few locations, such as Washington DC, and Madison, Wisconsin, political belief and viewpoint discrimination is completely legal. A business has always been allowed to deny services to someone for being a Republican or a Democrat or a Communist or a Nazi. Business are even allowed to fire employees for their political beliefs and expressions in most cases, as happened when a Berkeley, California hot dog business fired an employee for marching in the "United The Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." The Supreme Court has also ruled, repeatedly, that "freedom of speech" means "freedom of expression, so the "speech" need not be spoken, but any sort of creative expression one wishes to engage in.

In West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette (1943), the Supreme Court ruled that the state, in the form of the local public school, could not force a student to say the pledge of allegiance. Writing for the court, Justice Robert Jackson said: "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

Just like you have the freedom to speak and say what you'd like, you also have the right to be free from the government ordering you to express yourself in ways you find repugnant.

In 303 Creative v Elenis, (2023), a web designer, Laurie Smith, sued the State of Colorado to prevent them from enforcing a rule which would have required her to serve gay people. Sexual Orientation, in the state of Colorado, is a protected class. According to the public accommodation and protected class rules discussed above, this should be pretty clear, that Smith must provide service to the [hypothetical] gay couple that wanted her to build a wedding website. What she argued, however, was that if the state forced her to engage in the "inherently creative" expression of web design. The court agreed that for specific cases, where the public accommodation engaged in inherently creative services, the state could not compel someone through threat of criminal liability, to engage in that speech.

The court did NOT overrule the entirety of the Civil Rights architecture in the United States. No business can now decide they do not have to sell or serve protected classes if they don't want to. If you sell cheeseburgers, you are not now cleared to not sell those cheeseburgers to black people or gay people. Subway "sandwich artists" are not "inherently creative" in a way that would allow them to deny their service to protected classes either, as the service itself must be creative and providing the message to which one objects. There is nothing about the selling of an even spectacularly creative sandwich to a gay couple would not convey any meaning.

Nor does this decision mean suddenly you can engage in viewpoint discrimination against non-protected classes. You always could and, unless something changes radically, always will be able to. If you want to deny me service or refuse to sell me a bottle of water because I have a shirt with a message you disagree with, you are allowed to do that.

[ravagedarkness]

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 34: Joanna

We all looked down at the phone silently. I, myself, had a mixture of annoyance and despair welling up inside of me. I was just getting tired of dealing with Justin Hammer. A part of me wished I did level him with a punch the last time we met. Would it have changed anything? Probably not, but I would’ve felt fantastic afterwards.

“…So,” Scott began, breaking the silence. “This either tells us two things. A, Carmilla is being held hostage by Justin Hammer. Or B, Justin Hammer is baiting us into a trap.” I looked over at him, and he was visibly vexed. “…Neither one of those are mutually exclusive.”

“So what, we shake down Justin Hammer?” Ned asked. “I wouldn’t be opposed. Just give me a moment and I can track down his – ”

“As tempting as that is – and please believe me when I say that I’m extremely tempted – that wouldn’t be the move,” Craig spoke up in a grim tone. As I looked at him, he shook his head as he chuckled bitterly. “…You know, this makes too much sense.”

“What do you mean?” MJ asked.

“Hammer Industries have always been hit or miss with their tech and ideas, and when they hit, there’s at least a 50 percent chance that the idea or tech is stolen.” Craig turned away and walked a few steps. “So you know what I think?” He turned back towards us. “I think Justin Hammer saw Carmilla, or footage of her when she was still an X-Men, and decided ‘Hey, let me copy that, but change it up a bit’. Of course, Carmilla is not some hulking juggernaut that can burrow through the street. But the green and black color motif, the scorpion theme…”

“But why would Justin Hammer have her in his possession?” Kitty inquired.

“There’s a good chance that the man who became Scorpion wasn’t his first choice,” Scott mused as he scratched his chin. “Perhaps Justin tried to bring Carmilla into the fold. She said no, Justin Hammer imprisons her and takes her whole superhero identity.”

“I wouldn’t put it past Hammer,” Ned spoke up in agreement. “The man’s a dick.”

“Yup,” I stated. “…So what do we do?”

“We can’t shake down Hammer, but if we can find someone in New York who may know a thing or two about Hammer Industries’ facilities, that’d be great,” Kitty stated.

“I can try and hack Hammer Industries’ employee database,” Ned offered.

“We could do that,” MJ stated. “But we could go a different route.”

“What are you suggesting?” Scott asked.

MJ picked up her phone and pocketed it. “Simple, we just have Ned search LinkedIn for people who are employed by Hammer Industries. And then we can narrow it down by location and the jobs they hold until we have a shortlist of people we could possibly track down.”

Scott went quiet as he looked to the side in thought. He then nodded before he looked at Ned. “Ned, would you kindly do that search? Narrow it down to people who have executive roles and people with military experience – both government and private.” Scott paused for a moment. “Also, narrow it down to anyone in the New York area.”

“Will do.”

Scott nodded. He then looked at MJ and smiled. “Great stuff, Michelle.”

“MJ,” MJ corrected. She then smirked. “And thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Narrowing down the results only took a few minutes for Ned. Between his search and Scott’s input, we were able to narrow the names down to five. Ned went through each profile until we landed on one.

“…Joanna Cargill,” Scott whispered.

“Found something?” Craig asked as he walked towards the fridge.

“I think we did.” Scott leaned in a bit a closer to the screen. I walked over and stood over Ned’s left shoulder as I looked at the screen. The profile picture showed a black woman with long dreads that reached down to at least her shoulders. While her expression was neutral, there was a certain intensity in her brown eyes. I heard footsteps, and Craig walked up to my left, bottle of water in his hand. He stared at the screen. He then smirked as he looked over at Scott.

“Quite the bombshell she is,” he commented. “…Hey Scott, she might be single.”

Scott continued to speak, either not noticing or ignoring Craig’s joke. “Joanna Cargill, from what is shown on her profile, has had quite the life. She spent 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, reaching the rank of Second Lieutenant before she left. From there, she ended up working for different private militaries around the world, most notably Wild Pack – who she still works for as a freelancer – and Anvil. She started working for Hammer Industries about four years ago. We should probably check her out.” Scott looked over at Ned. “Can you find an address for her?”

“Sure thing,” Ned stated. He pulled up another program and typed in her name. “Let’s see… according to utility records… she’s living in Bed-Stuy.”

“Let’s pay her a visit tonight, then.” Scott straightened himself up before he looked at me. “Do we need to stop by your house for a suit?”

“Yeah.” I looked over at MJ. “Red and Blue, or Black?”

“I say Red and Blue,” she replied. She sighed. “Well, looks like we are all going on a stakeout.”

Scott looked over at Michelle as his eyebrows rose over his glasses. “Excuse me?” he said in a slightly exasperated tone. “What do you mean ‘we’?”

“Do you honestly think Ned and I are going to just go home while you guys confront this woman?”

“You guys could use a guy in the chair since Kitty will be preoccupied,” Ned added as he closed his laptop.

“Guys,” I spoke up. “I…” I trailed off as both Michelle and Ned looked at me. The point I had, whatever it was, died before it could be even leave my brain. I remembered who I was talking to. I sighed. “…Just be careful.”

“Bruh!” Craig exclaimed in protest. “We can’t have them in harm’s way!”

I looked at him sympathetically. “Look, if we say no to them now, they’ll just figure out a way to meet us there. We’re a package deal – even more so since we reunited.”

Scott shook his head. I knew he was rolling his eyes, even though I couldn’t see them. After that, he looked back and forth between MJ and Ned. “…You two will stay in the car with the keys. If there’s any sign of trouble, I want you guys to drive off. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir,” Ned replied.

“Crystal,” MJ added.

“Okay.” Scott nodded a couple of times. “Let’s go.”

After Scott, Craig, and Kitty took time to change into their quick change attire, we made our way to my apartment. A bit to MJ’s annoyance, Scott vetoed her suggestion for my red and blue suit and told me to dress in my quick change outfit. After I made my way back to the car, we drove off. During the drive, we were all quiet. The only sounds coming from within the cabin was the GPS of Craig’s phone, which was sounding off directions. I looked over at Craig, who was in the driver seat of the armored SUV. He was focused on driving and nothing else. A part of me wondered what was going through his head. For his sake, I hoped this Joanna Cargill had the answers we were looking for.

I frowned before I looked out of the window. I then looked to my right when I felt MJ’s hand on mine. Ned and MJ were looking at me with reassuring smiles. While I didn’t smile myself, I nodded towards them as I took MJ’s hand in my own and gave it a soft squeeze.

After some time, we arrived in Bed-Stuy. I looked out the window at the black and gray building with seven stories.

“The apartments on 1111 Fulton Street,” Scott commented as he adjusted his glasses. “I really hate to compliment Justin Hammer, but he apparently pays his employees well.”

“I’ll stick to robbing drug dealers,” Craig deadpanned as he brought his hood up and pulled down his mask. “There ain’t a set of benefits good enough to make me send him my resume.”

“You could get hired by him, then rob him,” Ned offered in jest. At that, Craig scoffed.

“Don’t tempt me.”

I pulled out my mask before I pulled it over my head. Before I could fully pull it down, MJ grabbed my wrists gently. Before I could ask what was up, I felt her lips against mind. It was a short kiss, barely giving me time to reciprocate. After that, she let go of my wrists.

“Be careful, Dork,” she whispered.

“You as well, Em.”

“Oh I’m sorry, should we leave the car and give you two some privacy?” Ned deadpanned.

MJ looked over her shoulder and flipped off Ned with her right hand. “Don’t be mad because Betty’s not around.”

Ned grumbled. MJ looked back at me and smirked.

“Hey MJ, catch!” Craig warned. MJ looked towards him, just in time to see him toss the keys at her. She caught them with one hand. “Like Scott said, if anything happens, y’all need to haul.”

“We will,” MJ promised.

“Codenames from here on out,” Scott stated. I nodded as I pulled my mask all the way down and stepped out of the car.

We walked over to the building. We walked up to the door, which had a key pad. Without missing a beat, Shadowcat walked through the glass door as we waited outside. We watched as she walked up to the security guard at the front desk. The security guard quickly stood up, only for Shadowcat to sink into the ground. After that, the guard suddenly descended behind the desk. A few seconds later, Shadowcat ascended. She was looking down before she reached down for something. A moment later, there was a buzzing sound. Cyclops opened the door and waved Frictor and I in. The two of us walked inside with Cyclops walking in after us. The three of us then walked up to the desk to see the security guard pulled halfway into the ground.

“X-Men?!” he exclaimed frantically. “Why are you guys after me for?! I’m just an - !”

“Average joe working an honest job?” Frictor finished. “Yeah, we know. That’s why she pulled you into the ground, and that is why you’re still conscious.”

“I’m really sorry we had to do this,” Cyclops spoke up in earnest. “The thing is, we have a person interest that we want to talk to. We want to do it as discreetly as possible and, unfortunately, leaving you unrestrained would have likely prevented us from doing that, since I’m sure you would have called the police.”

“As any good security guard would have done,” I added. “So, it’s nothing personal. We’ll try to be done as soon as possible. Then we’ll pull you back up to ground. After that… well… that’s up to you, because we’ll be gone already.”

With that, we all walked up to the elevator, Shadowcat phasing through the desk. After we called the elevator and the doors opened up, we filed in casually. After that, Cyclops hit the button for the fourth floor. The doors closed, and the elevator ascended.

“I just know we’re going to be talked about in the Daily Bugle after this,” I muttered.

“It’s J. Jonah Jameson,” Shadowcat replied with a shrug. “If we dump out a cup of stale coffee, he’d rant about how we’re disrespecting impoverished families by wasting food.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Frictor muttered.

“It comes with the territory,” Cyclops chimed in. “What he says doesn’t matter to me.”

The elevator slowed to a stop before the doors opened up. We stepped out of the elevator and down the hall until we reached the right door – 4D. I stepped up to the door before I placed the side of my head against it. I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. I heard the sound of the A/C and the hum of the fridge. But I didn’t hear a single heartbeat. I pulled my head away.

“No one’s inside,” I stated.

“…A bit unfortunate, but far from the end of the world,” Cyclops mused. “Shadowcat, would you kindly?”

“You got it,” she replied. She reached out and grabbed Frictor and Cyclops by the shoulder. I moved behind her and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Okay, one… two… three.” We all walked forward through the door. Once inside, I removed my hand from Shadowcat’s shoulder and looked around for a light switch. Once I found it, I walked over to it and turned it on. The apartment was… pretty basic. The living room was furnished with only a sofa, a glass coffee table, and an entertainment system – albeit a rather impressive one with an Ultra HD TV situated on top of it. The apartment itself looked rather expensive, though.

“…Justin Hammer does pay well,” Frictor remarked as he looked around. He then walked up to the coffee table and looked down at it. “Let’s see… mail, laptop, remote… that’s about it.” Frictor picked up the mail and looked through it before he grabbed one. During this, Cyclops moved into the kitchen and started searching through cabinets and drawers. Shadowcat walked into another room. Frictor dropped the rest of the mail on the coffee table before he started up the envelope he was holding.

“Dude, isn’t that a federal offense?” I protested. He glared at me in response.

“We’re already violating The Accords. Besides, I’m opening this envelope for a reason – it’s from Hammer Industries.” Once he had the envelope opened, he gently pulled out the contents, which was a folded up piece of paper. He sat down and unfolded the piece of paper before he looked at it. “Let’s see… ‘Dear Ms. Cargill…’.” Frictor looked up from the apparent letter and towards Cyclops. Even with the mask on, I just knew he was smirking. “She’s single, Cyclops.”

“Don’t make me blast you, Frictor,” Cyclops called out from the kitchen in a tone of slight annoyance.

“I’m just saying!” Frictor looked back at the letter and continued to read. “‘Dear Ms. Cargill. We received your letter of resignation. I understand that nothing lasts forever, but this letter we sent you is a passionate request for you to reconsider. You’ve been a very valuable part of the company and we would like to negotiate any terms that would result in you staying. We like to think we’re a family at Hammer Industries…’ Blah, blah-blah, blah-blah.” Frictor tossed the letter onto the coffee table. “Seems like Joanna isn’t working for them anymore.”

“There’s still a good chance that she may know something,” Cyclops pointed out.

“She’s not hurting for work, anyway,” Shadowcat stated as she stepped out of the room. “I saw a lot of recent deposit receipts in her room. She still has cash flow.”

“So what do we do?” I asked.

“I say Shadowcat tracks her down tomorrow and find out where she works and/or frequents, and then we can try and interrogate her when she’s most accessible,” Cyclops stated.

I nodded. “I think that’s a good…” I trailed off. My senses started to go off. “…Um… guys… I think someone’s coming.”

“Everybody keep quiet,” Frictor said in an urgent whisper. He stood up and quietly made his way to the light switch. He flipped the switch down, turning off the lights. He then placed his eye against the peephole. He remained like that for several seconds. He then sighed as he turned away. “I don’t see anyone.”

My senses didn’t subside. And they were about to be proven right.

Before anyone else could say anything, the door was suddenly knocked out of its frame. The door hit Frictor, knocking him down to the ground. As the door landed on top of Frictor, I looked at the doorway as someone stepped in.

There was Joanna Cargill. She was dressed in a pair of black jeans with a matching pair of sneakers and a grey t-shirt bearing The United States Marine Corps emblem. Just like in the picture, she had a head full of long dreads and intense brown eyes. However, the headshot didn’t do nothing convey her seven foot stature or the fact that she was quite muscular. She walked in slowly, stepping on the door that Frictor was under before she came to a stop.

She looked around, her eyes landing on me first, then Shadowcat, then Cyclops.

“So,” she began slowly. “I see Cyclops, I see Shadowcat, and I see Spider-Man.” She looked down at the door she was standing on. “I’m assuming that the person underneath this door is Frictor.”

“Yeah, it is,” Frictor replied with a muffled voice. “If you would kindly remove yourself from above me, that’d be great.”

“Yeah, no.” He looked over at Cyclops. “…I’m going to give you five minutes. During those five minutes, you’re going to leave, go downstairs, pull Larry out of the ground, and never come back to this place again. And maybe… just maybe, I’ll send Frictor on his way unharmed.”

“Appealing terms,” Cyclops stated. “However, we’re here for a reason. We need information and you’re probably the best person we can find for it. In a word, we need your help.”

At that, Joanna scoffed. “You guys break into my apartment and now you want to ask for my help?”

“…Yes.”

Joanna stared at Cyclops for several seconds. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “You guys are at about three minutes now.”

“Look, I know this looks bad,” I spoke up. I took a step towards her. She snapped her head towards my direction and gave me a warning glare. “Just… hear me out. Do you have people you love and really care for?”

“What of it?” she demanded curtly.

“I think everyone here is willing to go the extra mile to try and help those they love. For us, this right here is the extra mile. We’re trying to find someone. We have a lead, and we have reason to believe that this person’s disappearance involves Hammer Industries. We came here because we know you work for Hammer Industries… or rather, used to, as we figured out a few minutes ago.”

“…” Joanna tilted her head. “…How did you know about that?”

“I read your mail from Hammer Industries,” Frictor said from underneath the door. “They really want you back!”

Joanna glared down at the door. “…That doesn’t help you guys’ case!”

“Would it help if I paid for the door? I’ll even pay you what you put down for the deposit, and then some!”

“Please, Joanna,” Shadowcat interjected. “…We’re trying to find someone – someone we’ve been sorely missing for months. As Frictor said, we’ll pay for the damages. And we’ll each owe you a favor. Just give us five minutes to explain ourselves, and you’ll understand why we’re going to such extremes.”

Joanna looked at Shadowcat for some seconds. I started to prepare for a possible fight – something told me that she was a lot stronger than she looked, and she looked extremely strong already. Fortunately, there wasn’t.

She stepped off of the door. “Consider your clock reset.”

[beardedmrbean]

1. Terrorist plot suspects were planning to assassinate Bart De Wever

Individuals arrested earlier this week as part of a terror investigation reportedly were planning on assassinating the Mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever and police officers. Read more.

2. Public spending cuts: Belgian Government praises budget of 'fine balances'

The Belgian Government praised its new federal budget at a press conference on Thursday afternoon for offering the budgetary control “needed” to ensure the well-being of Belgium’s welfare state. Read more.

3. What to do in Brussels this weekend: 31 March - 2 April

The key event in Brussels this weekend is Listen Festival, opening the doors of the capital's most unique venues for music lovers. However, there is much more to explore in the coming days, from a book fair to provocative film festivals. Read more.

4. Belgium offers to buy €1 billion worth of real estate from the EU

The Belgian Government and the European Commission have been leading exclusive negotiations for months on a real estate transaction worth nearly 1 €billion, as part of a plan to revamp the European quarter in Brussels. Read more.

5. Brussels to start upgrading area around Midi train station from April

The area around the Brussels Midi/South station will be upgraded soon, after the Brussels Regional Government on Thursday gave the final green light to start its seventh urban renewal contract called "Around the South Station" (SVC 7). Read more.

6. More French workers in Belgium, fewer Belgians in the Netherlands

Belgian workers make up the largest group of employees who cross borders for work compared to its neighbouring countries. Most are commuting to Luxembourg for work, while Belgium is the most popular destination for French workers. Read more.

7. Hidden Belgium: Meerdaalbos, one of Belgium’s finest forests

The Meerdaalbos is one of Belgium’s finest forests. Located just south of Leuven, you can get there by bike or by taking the train to St.-Joris Weert station, just 14 minutes by train from Leuven, followed by a ten-minute hike along a steep sunken road. Read more.

[queenoftheboard]

♕ headcanon . Eirene's main connections for her RGG/Yakuza verse

For interactions set in the RGG/Yakuza verse (and which is likely to be the basis for any other modern verses set in the 21th century as opposed to the timeline where Path to Nowhere takes place), Eirene is the daughter of Bryce Campbell, an Irish mafia boss.

She is one of the many children by Bryce, born to Thalia Kane - Bryce's 3rd wife, and murdered on unproved and ungrounded suspicions of infidelity, created by Bryce's constant paranoia about those surrounding him (however the incident was staged as a car accident for all purposes). Her inner circle is composed of four individuals, which Eirene trusts completely and who may exercise influence in her decisions and/or be written as minor NPCs as required.

Desmond Keane (maternal uncle): Desmond is the older brother to Thalia, Eirene's mother, who died while Eirene was a kid (around 7 years old). Despite not being from a highly conventional family himself, Desmond never really liked Bryce and always suspected that Thalia was killed by her husband. He's always been close to Eirene and is more of a father figure than Bryce, but doesn't share his status or wealth. He follows Eirene to Japan because he has no ties to Ireland anymore (considering that all his other relatives have passed) and because he wishes to protect/keep an eye out for his niece in the new land.

Cormac O'Donnell (butler): A long-time Campbell employee who ended up following Eirene around; out of the Campbell children, she was always his favorite (mostly because he's also a chess player, a hobby Eirene inherited from her mother and which she continued to hone and improve with Cormac). He's extremely polite, devoted to the family and knows a great deal of secrets involving the family - including things Bryce is not aware that he knows, thanks to the butler's own connections outside the Campbells. He was sent to Japan to watch Eirene on Bryce's orders, but in fact follows Eirene's orders over her father's (particularly after confirming that Bryce had his 3rd wife - Eirene's mother - assassinated).

Muriel Higgins (personal assistant): A hard-working, energic and no non-sense personal assistant who Eirene met during her college years; a few years younger than Eirene, but not nearly enough for them to not share the same references and tastes in relation to hobbies, fashion sense and other things. Muriel was impressed by Eirene's ambition and drive - and once she got a job offer from her former college colleague after graduating, she took it without hesitation. Muriel is a fierce believer in Eirene's plans and thinks no one can stop her boss - and will do everything in her power to ensure their success.

Saoirse Monaghan (bodyguard): Growing up, almost every Campbell child was assigned a bodyguard to protect them against external threats, a task that usually was performed by Bryce. However, after the incident which led to Thalia's death, Desmond himself took charge of securing someone of his trust to look after Eirene, and hired Saoirse - a capable and discreet woman he had met during previous jobs. With a past in the government-led agencies and then working for the private sector, Desmond ensured an exclusive contract with her while Eirene was but a teenager - and Saoirse has followed the young lady since. She's Eirene's teacher for self-defense purposes, including minimal skills with firearms, daggers and knives, some close-combat techniques (mostly krav-maga), as well as riding (cars, bikes and horses - there was the intention of teaching Eirene how to fly a jet or a chopper, but they never got to it).

[vivekbsworld]

Comprehensive Guide to Employee Transportation Services in Trivandrum

Employee transportation services have become an essential aspect of corporate operations, especially in bustling cities like Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). The capital city of Kerala is a hub for IT companies, government offices, and various industries, drawing thousands of professionals from across the state. With an ever-increasing workforce, offering reliable and efficient transportation solutions for employees has become a priority for many organizations. Let’s explore the growing importance of employee transportation services Trivandrum and how they benefit both companies and employees.

Why Employee Transportation Services Matter

Enhances Productivity: Providing dedicated transportation services allows employees to focus more on their tasks and reduces stress related to commuting. Long travel times, traffic, and the inconvenience of public transport can lead to fatigue even before the workday begins. A comfortable commute ensures that employees arrive at the office ready to give their best.

Boosts Employee Morale and Retention: Companies that offer reliable transportation services improve overall job satisfaction. Employees appreciate efforts made to ease their commute, resulting in higher morale. Additionally, this perk can contribute to better employee retention, as it adds to the list of benefits employees consider when choosing a long-term workplace.

Punctuality and Time Management: Managing time effectively is crucial for productivity. Employee transportation services ensure punctuality, as the logistics are organized to minimize delays. Shuttle services and buses operate on fixed schedules, enabling employees to plan their day efficiently.

Reduces Traffic Congestion: With a high density of vehicles on Trivandrum’s roads, traffic congestion is a persistent issue. Employee transportation services reduce the number of individual cars on the road by offering shared rides through buses or vans. Fewer vehicles mean less congestion and lower pollution levels, contributing to a healthier environment.

Cost-Effective for Employees: Daily commuting can take a significant toll on an employee’s budget. Offering transport services as part of the job package can help employees save on fuel costs, parking fees, and vehicle maintenance.

Safety and Security: Trivandrum’s roads can be challenging, particularly during the monsoon season. Employee transportation services offer safer travel alternatives with trained drivers and well-maintained vehicles. Many companies also provide GPS tracking and security features, ensuring that employees, especially women, feel secure during their commute.

Types of Employee Transportation Services in Trivandrum

Company-Provided Shuttle Buses: Large corporations, especially in the Technopark and Infopark regions, often provide shuttle services for their employees. These buses operate on specific routes to cover major residential areas across the city, making it convenient for employees to board near their homes.

Carpooling Services: In an effort to promote sustainable transportation, many companies in Trivandrum have initiated carpooling programs. Employees can share rides with colleagues who live in nearby locations, reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Third-Party Transport Providers: Several professional transport service providers offer exclusive packages for companies. These vendors manage employee transportation on behalf of the organization, ensuring hassle-free commuting for the staff.

Ride-Hailing Partnerships: With the rise of ride-hailing services like Ola and Uber, many companies in Trivandrum have partnered with these platforms to provide discounted rides for employees. This option is especially useful for those working flexible hours or night shifts.

Features to Look for in Employee Transportation Services

When selecting a transportation service for employees, companies should consider the following features:

Fleet Maintenance: Ensure the vehicles are well-maintained to avoid breakdowns and delays.

Safety Standards: The safety of employees is paramount. Choose providers who adhere to strict safety regulations, such as well-trained drivers and GPS tracking systems.

Real-Time Monitoring: Many services offer real-time tracking of vehicles, so employees and companies can monitor their progress and estimated arrival times.

Flexible Scheduling: The transportation service should cater to different shifts and work timings, offering flexibility for both regular and irregular working hours.

Environmental Sustainability: Opt for services that use eco-friendly vehicles or promote ride-sharing to reduce carbon emissions.

Top Employee Transportation Providers in Trivandrum

Technopark Shuttle Service: Technopark, the IT hub of Trivandrum, offers shuttle services for employees working in its vast campus. These shuttles cover key points across the city and are highly preferred by IT professionals.

V-Trans Employee Transport Solutions: V-Trans is a leading player in providing corporate transportation services in Trivandrum. They offer customized solutions, including buses, cabs, and minivans, with real-time tracking and flexible scheduling.

Carpool Kerala: This innovative app-based service promotes carpooling within Trivandrum, helping employees share rides with colleagues and reduce commuting costs. It is an excellent option for companies promoting green initiatives.

Lohiya Corporate Cabs: Lohiya is a renowned transport provider offering corporate cab services in Trivandrum. Their fleet includes comfortable vehicles with skilled drivers, ensuring reliable transportation for employees.

Conclusion

As Trivandrum continues to expand as a corporate and IT destination, the need for efficient employee transportation services is more critical than ever. Providing such services not only boosts productivity and morale but also enhances the company’s reputation as an employee-friendly workplace. Whether through shuttles, carpooling, or third-party transport providers, businesses should consider investing in reliable transport solutions to foster a positive work environment. By doing so, they contribute not just to their employees’ well-being but also to the city’s overall traffic management and environmental sustainability.

[ejesgistnews]

Top 10 Tips to Help You Pick the Right Insurance Policy.  Choosing the right insurance policy can be overwhelming with so many options available. Whether it’s health, auto, home, or life insurance, making an informed decision is very crucial in picking the right insurance policy. Here are the top 10 tips to help you choose the right insurance policy: 1. Assess Your Needs Before you start shopping for insurance, take a moment to assess your needs. Consider factors such as your age, health, lifestyle, and financial situation. For instance, a young, healthy individual might prioritize different coverage than someone with a family and a mortgage. 2. Understand the Types of Insurance Familiarize yourself with the different types of insurance available. This will help you identify which policies are essential for your situation. (More on this in the next section!) 3. Compare Multiple Quotes Don’t settle for the first policy you come across. Obtain quotes from multiple insurance providers to compare coverage options and premiums. This will help you find the best deal. 10 Best older people Auto Insurance Options for 2024/2025 Best Car Insurance Companies, best car insurers And All You Need To Know Top ten Auto Insurance companies in USA Top 10 Best Apps to Get Instant Loan In Nigeria 4. Check the Insurer’s Reputation Research the insurance company’s reputation. Look for reviews and ratings from current and past customers. A company with a strong track record of customer service and claims handling is preferable. 5. Read the Fine Print Carefully read the policy documents to understand what is covered and what is not. Pay attention to exclusions, limitations, and any additional costs that may apply. 6. Consider the Premiums and Deductibles Evaluate the premiums and deductibles associated with the policy. A lower premium might seem attractive, but it could come with higher deductibles, which means more out-of-pocket expenses when you file a claim. 7. Look for Discounts Many insurance companies offer discounts for various reasons, such as bundling multiple policies, having a good driving record, or installing safety features in your home. Ask about available discounts to reduce your premiums. 8. Evaluate the Coverage Limits Ensure that the policy provides adequate coverage limits for your needs. Underinsuring can leave you vulnerable, while overinsuring can lead to unnecessary expenses. 9. Seek Professional Advice If you’re unsure about which policy to choose, consider seeking advice from an insurance broker or financial advisor. They can provide personalized recommendations based on your specific needs. 10. Review and Update Your Policy Regularly Your insurance needs may change over time. Regularly review your policy to ensure it still meets your requirements and make adjustments as necessary. Understanding Different Types of Insurance Insurance is a broad field with various types of policies designed to protect different aspects of your life. Here’s a breakdown of the most common types of insurance: Health Insurance Purpose: Covers medical expenses, including doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, and prescription medications. Types: Individual Health Insurance: Purchased by individuals or families. Group Health Insurance: Provided by employers to their employees. Government Health Insurance: Programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Auto Insurance Purpose: Protects against financial loss in case of accidents, theft, or damage to your vehicle. Types: Liability Coverage: Covers damages to others if you’re at fault in an accident. Collision Coverage: Covers damages to your vehicle from a collision. Comprehensive Coverage: Covers non-collision-related damages, such as theft or natural disasters. Home Insurance Purpose: Protects your home and personal belongings against damage or loss. Types: Homeowners Insurance: Covers the structure of your home and personal property. Renters Insurance: Covers personal property for renters.

Condo Insurance: Covers personal property and interior structures for condo owners. Life Insurance Purpose: Provides financial support to your beneficiaries in the event of your death. Types: Term Life Insurance: Provides coverage for a specific period. Whole Life Insurance: Provides lifelong coverage with a savings component. Universal Life Insurance: Offers flexible premiums and death benefits with a savings component. Disability Insurance Purpose: Provides income replacement if you become unable to work due to illness or injury. Types: Short-Term Disability Insurance: Covers a portion of your income for a short period. Long-Term Disability Insurance: Covers a portion of your income for an extended period. Travel Insurance Purpose: Covers unexpected events during travel, such as trip cancellations, medical emergencies, and lost luggage. Types: Trip Cancellation Insurance: Reimburses non-refundable travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip. Travel Medical Insurance: Covers medical expenses incurred while traveling. Baggage Insurance: Covers lost or damaged luggage. By understanding the different types of insurance and following these tips, you can make informed decisions that provide the protection you need. Remember, the key is to assess your needs, compare options, and choose a policy that offers the best value and coverage for your situation.

[surajheroblog]

How Social Engineering Attacks Work & How to Prevent Them

In the realm of cybersecurity, social engineering attacks are among the most insidious and effective methods used by cybercriminals. These attacks exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, making them particularly challenging to defend against. In this blog post, we’ll explore how social engineering cybersecurity attacks work, the various techniques employed by attackers, and effective strategies to prevent them.

Introduction

Social engineering cybersecurity attacks are a form of manipulation where attackers deceive individuals into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. Unlike traditional cyberattacks that target software or hardware vulnerabilities, social engineering attacks exploit human behavior and trust. Understanding how these attacks work and implementing preventive measures is crucial for safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining robust cybersecurity.

1. Understanding Social Engineering Cybersecurity Attacks

The Psychology Behind Social Engineering

Social engineering attacks rely on psychological manipulation to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that compromise security. Attackers often exploit emotions such as fear, curiosity, or urgency to manipulate their targets. By understanding human behavior and leveraging social engineering techniques, cybercriminals can bypass technical defenses and gain unauthorized access to systems and data.

Common Social Engineering Techniques

There are several common techniques used in social engineering cybersecurity attacks:

Phishing: Attackers send fraudulent emails or messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, tricking recipients into clicking on malicious links or providing sensitive information.

Pretexting: Attackers create a fabricated scenario to obtain information from their targets. This could involve impersonating a trusted individual or authority figure.

Baiting: Attackers lure victims with promises of something enticing, such as free software or access to exclusive content, which leads to malware installation or data theft.

Tailgating: Attackers gain physical access to restricted areas by following authorized personnel without their knowledge.

Quid Pro Quo: Attackers offer a service or benefit in exchange for information or access, often posing as IT support or other trusted entities.

2. Phishing Attacks: The Most Prevalent Social Engineering Threat

How Phishing Works

Phishing is one of the most common and effective forms of social engineering cybersecurity attacks. Attackers send emails or messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, such as banks, social media platforms, or colleagues. These messages often contain urgent requests or enticing offers, prompting recipients to click on malicious links or provide sensitive information.

Types of Phishing Attacks

Spear Phishing: Targeted attacks aimed at specific individuals or organizations, often using personalized information to increase credibility.

Whaling: A form of spear phishing that targets high-profile individuals, such as executives or government officials.

Clone Phishing: Attackers create a nearly identical copy of a legitimate email, replacing links or attachments with malicious ones.

Vishing: Voice phishing attacks conducted over the phone, where attackers impersonate trusted entities to extract information.

Preventing Phishing Attacks

To prevent phishing attacks, individuals and organizations should:

Educate and Train: Regularly educate employees and users about the dangers of phishing and how to recognize suspicious emails or messages.

Implement Email Filters: Use advanced email filtering solutions to detect and block phishing attempts.

Verify Requests: Always verify the authenticity of requests for sensitive information, especially if they come from unexpected sources.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Implement MFA to add an extra layer of security, making it more difficult for attackers to gain access even if they obtain login credentials.

3. Pretexting and Baiting: Deceptive Tactics in Social Engineering

The Art of Pretexting

Pretexting involves creating a fabricated scenario to obtain information from targets. Attackers may impersonate a trusted individual, such as a colleague, IT support, or a government official, to gain the victim’s trust. By crafting a convincing story, attackers can manipulate victims into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that compromise security.

Real-World Examples of Pretexting

Impersonating IT Support: An attacker calls an employee, posing as IT support, and requests login credentials to “fix” a non-existent issue.

Fake Surveys: Attackers conduct fake surveys or interviews, asking for personal or organizational information under the guise of legitimate research.

Preventing Pretexting Attacks

To prevent pretexting attacks, individuals and organizations should:

Verify Identities: Always verify the identity of individuals requesting sensitive information, especially if the request is unexpected.

Limit Information Sharing: Be cautious about sharing personal or organizational information, particularly over the phone or through email.

Educate Employees: Train employees to recognize and respond to pretexting attempts, emphasizing the importance of verification.

The Lure of Baiting

Baiting involves enticing victims with promises of something desirable, such as free software, music downloads, or access to exclusive content. Once the victim takes the bait, they may unknowingly install malware or provide sensitive information to the attacker.

Preventing Baiting Attacks

To prevent baiting attacks, individuals and organizations should:

Avoid Untrusted Sources: Refrain from downloading software or content from untrusted or unknown sources.

Use Security Software: Install and maintain up-to-date security software to detect and block malicious downloads.

Educate Users: Raise awareness about the risks of baiting and encourage users to be cautious when offered something that seems too good to be true.

4. Tailgating and Quid Pro Quo: Physical and Psychological Manipulation

The Risks of Tailgating

Tailgating, also known as “piggybacking,” involves an attacker gaining physical access to restricted areas by following authorized personnel without their knowledge. This technique exploits the trust and courtesy of employees who may hold doors open for others without verifying their identity.

Preventing Tailgating Attacks

To prevent tailgating attacks, organizations should:

Implement Access Controls: Use access control systems, such as key cards or biometric scanners, to restrict entry to authorized personnel only.

Educate Employees: Train employees to be vigilant and verify the identity of individuals entering restricted areas.

Use Security Personnel: Employ security personnel to monitor entry points and enforce access control policies.

The Deception of Quid Pro Quo

Quid pro quo attacks involve attackers offering a service or benefit in exchange for information or access. For example, an attacker may pose as IT support and offer to “fix” a non-existent issue in exchange for login credentials.

Preventing Quid Pro Quo Attacks

To prevent quid pro quo attacks, individuals and organizations should:

Verify Offers: Always verify the legitimacy of offers for services or benefits, especially if they involve providing sensitive information.

Limit Information Sharing: Be cautious about sharing login credentials or other sensitive information, even if the request seems legitimate.

Educate Employees: Train employees to recognize and respond to quid pro quo attempts, emphasizing the importance of verification.

Conclusion

Social engineering cybersecurity attacks exploit human behavior and trust to gain unauthorized access to systems and data. By understanding the various techniques used by attackers and implementing preventive measures, individuals and organizations can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these attacks. Education, vigilance, and verification are key components of an effective defense against social engineering.