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molsons112000 · 19 days

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So after age thirty, your organ reserves Decrease by one percent per year. I'm 57 So that means my reserves have decreased by 27%.... This means lung capacity and organ's ability to function has decreased by 27%. But it seems like people don't understand this, and they keep on terrorizing me and destroying my structure.......

"Organ reserve

The heart, lungs, and kidneys experience the biggest changes in organ reserve after age 30. On average, 1% of this reserve is lost each year."

So organ reserves mean the ability for an organ to return back to its normal state after episodes of stress... So mine, or twenty seven percent less likely to return to normal, because of all these people doing all this evil to me, and they are destroying me, and they are killing me......

I already went through one breakdown at the age of thirty eight, and it took a long time to get myself back and now they hit me with another one and they constantly hit me with poverty with all kinds of stress, they attack me in many different ways and forms.... They are literally, tearing me apart and destroying me with their piece of f****** s***... And I don't understand why they don't get the s*** beat out of them..... Because that's what they're doing to me!!!!!!

“Organ reserve” refers to the ability of an organ to successfully return to its original physiological state following repeated episodes of stress. Clinical evidence shows that organ reserve correlates with the ability of older adults to cope with an added workload or stress, suggesting a role in the process of aging.Jan 15, 2018

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc

Organ Reserve, Excess Metabolic Capacity, and Aging - PMC - NCBI

Now athletes have to understand this. So after the age of thirty, if they get a serious injury, it is much harder to recover...... So injury prevention is critical....... And that means stunt people for films and theatrical stunts for shows.....

So as you see here, young people, their organ reserves are 7 to 11 times greater, then an adult... Their ability to recover from trauma....

Organ reserve is the ability of an organ to return to its original physiological state after being stressed or worked harder than usual. It's a clinical concept that suggests that organ reserve may play a role in aging.

Here are some things to know about organ reserve:

Organ reserve in young adults

A healthy young adult's organ reserve is estimated to be 7 to 11 times greater than the average demand.

Organ reserve in older adults

Organ reserve declines with age, and the average person loses about 1% of their reserve each year after age 30. By age 85, organ reserve is estimated to be reduced to 50% of its original capacity.

Organ reserve in different organs

The biggest changes in organ reserve occur in the heart, lungs, and kidneys.

Organ reserve and stress

Clinical evidence suggests that organ reserve is related to the ability of older adults to cope with stress or added workload.

Organ reserve and functional deterioration

Some functional deterioration in the elderly, such as decreases in strength, balance, and cognition, may be due to a decline in organ reserve.

Organ reserve and molecular level

Organ reserve is not clearly defined at the molecular level.

PubMed

Organ reserve, excess metabolic capacity, and aging

Jan 15, 2018

It's funny how God said. Now, it's no longer my responsibility to stand up, it is your responsibility...

But the car hitting me on the highway. The black guy beating me up in the street and many other trauma. That's been over the last eight plus years has been incredible evil.... Every day, destroying my ability to live,....

And lawyers need to understand this when people get injured after the age of thirty, the judgments need to be larger because they are less likely to recover from those injuries fully!!!!! When they attacked me the black man hit me with the car and did these other forms of trauma. The damage is more long-lasting, and the criminal and civil charges against them should be more extensive!!!!!!!

So people are doing some serious serious damage to me......

MedlinePlus (.gov)

https://medlineplus.gov › article

Aging changes in organs, tissue and cells

Apr 18, 2023 — After age 30, an average of 1% of this reserve is lost each year. The biggest changes in organ reserve occur in the heart, lungs, and

Here are 7 ways to keep your organ healthy. But again, preventing injury and staying in Shape is one of the main ways to keep yourself health....

Orlando Clinical Research Center

https://ocrc.net › Blog

Seven Ways to Keep Your Organs Healthy

Nov 30, 2018 — Stay hydrated · Eat a balanced diet · Exercise consistently · Be careful with supplements and over-the-counter medications ·

Increasing bone density after age seventy, it is possible....

Yes, it's possible to increase bone density after age 70 through lifestyle changes:

Exercise

Regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises can help increase bone density and reduce the risk of falls and fractures. The NHS recommends that people over 65 get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.

Diet

Eat a diet rich in calcium, vitamin D, and protein. Some foods that are high in calcium include milk, cheese, green leafy vegetables, soya beans, tofu, nuts, and fish with edible bones.

Avoid unhealthy habits

Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol use. Heavy drinking can lead to poor calcium absorption and decreased bone density.

Maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining an appropriate body weight can help with bone health.

Medications

Your doctor may be able to prescribe medications to help preserve bone density.

While it's best to build bone density during childhood and early adulthood, people can still take steps at any age to improve their bone health.

NCBI

Muscle and Bone Mass Loss in the Elderly Population - NCBI

Regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises can reduce the risk of falls and fractures [78, 79, 80, and 81]. This type of exercise can increase th...

Exercise. Specifically weight training and walking are beneficial for increasing bone density in middle-aged and older people [77]. Regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises can reduce the risk of falls and fractures [78, 79, 80, and 81].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc

Muscle and Bone Mass Loss in the Elderly Population - NCBI

How to strengthen internal organs?

Seven Ways to Keep Your Organs Healthy

Stay hydrated. ...

Eat a balanced diet. ...

Exercise consistently. ...

Be careful with supplements and over-the-counter medications. ...

Don't smoke. ...

Keep blood sugar controlled. ...

Get checked.

Nov 30, 2018

https://ocrc.net › Blog

Seven Ways to Keep Your Organs Healthy

There are several ways to strengthen your organs as you age, including:

Staying active: Being active most days of the week can help improve strength and reduce weakness. You can try:

Endurance activities: These activities, also known as aerobic exercise, can help improve your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Examples include walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, and biking.

Strength training: You can try bodyweight exercises like push-ups, lunges, and leg raises. You can also try seated rows, which work your traps, lower back, and glutes.

Balance exercises: These can help reduce your risk of falling.

Eating healthy: You can try to include protein in your diet, such as lean chicken, salmon, Greek yogurt, skim milk, and cooked beans.

Getting enough sleep: Getting enough sleep is important for healthy aging.

Limiting alcohol: Limiting your alcohol intake can help you maintain optimal health.

Quitting smoking: Smoking can impair the amount of oxygen muscles receive, causing them to weaken.

Managing your health care: Proactively managing your health care can help you maintain optimal health.

National Institute on Aging

How can strength training build healthier bodies as we age?

Jun 30, 2022 — Make it part of your daily routine. Villareal emphasizes that if online or in-person group classes aren't your thing, everyone can still work exerci...

National Institute on Aging (.gov)

https://www.nia.nih.gov › news › h...

How can strength training build healthier bodies as we age?

Jun 30, 2022 — Other types include using medicine balls or resistance bands, or body weight-bearing exercises such as pushups,

Harvard Health

https://www.health.harvard.edu › ...

How to stay strong and coordinated as you age

Dec 2, 2021 — Participate in aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, jogging, biking, swimming, or aerobic classes at least 30 minutes per day, five

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-comcast-us-rvc3&source=android-browser&q=Ways+to+strengthen+your+organs+after+age+thirty

Here are exercises for each organ in your body.Yes, you can create a workout that targets each organ in your body to help strengthen...

Facebook · Achieve Integrative Health

160+ reactions · 2 years ago

5 Organs, 5 Exercises to help restore function #Lungs #heart ...

Do all these five exercises every single day in the morning and see those organs restore their function.

Here are some exercises that can help strengthen different areas of the body:

Bird dog

This exercise can strengthen the pelvic floor. To do it, start on your hands and knees, then extend and raise your left leg and right arm while keeping your back straight.

Situps and crunches

These abdominal exercises can strengthen the core and improve digestion. It's best to do them on an empty stomach, but if that's not possible, you can do them one to two hours after eating.

Other ways to keep your organs healthy include: Staying hydrated, Eating a balanced diet, Being careful with supplements and medications, Not smoking, and Keeping blood sugar controlled.

Exercise can also reduce the risk of some cancers, including breast, colon, uterine, bladder, esophageal, kidney, stomach, and lung cancer.

MedlinePlus (.gov)

Benefits of Exercise - MedlinePlus

Jul 12, 2024 — Reduce your risk of some cancers, including colon, breast, uterine, bladder, esophageal, kidney, stomach, and lung cancer. There are different ways ...

YouTube · Franklin Method: Embodiment & Imagery

25.8K+ views · 7 years ago

Exercise your organs: Liver Dance for a Happy Back!

In this exercise we are going to work with our internal organs because moving and visualizing your internal organs is really good for your health

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lboogie1906 · 5 months

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Judge Hubert Thomas Delany (May 11, 1901 - December 28, 1990) was one of the first appointed African American judges in New York City in the early 20th Century. The son of a former enslaved and prominent cleric, Bishop Henry T. Delany, and Nanny J. Delaney, a St. Augustine’s College instructor. He was born in Raleigh. He graduated from City College and received his JD from New York University. He married Harlem Renaissance figure Clarissa M. Scott (1926-1927), who died from kidney disease.

In 1929 he ran for New York’s twenty-first congressional district in the House of Representatives. He lost with merely thirty-seven percent of the vote, he came out of the race having gained the friendship of Mayor La Guardia of New York. The Mayor appointed him to investigate the series of riots that occurred. The Mayor performed the marriage ceremony for him and his second wife, Willetta Mickey (1942).

The mayor appointed him as Justice of the Family Court (1942-55). He built up a reputation for having humane rulings, as well as advocating civil rights. Admirers cited the understanding and delicacy with which he approached his cases; detractors labeled his understanding as too “liberal.” The New York Times claimed that Mayor Wagner declined to reappoint him because he held communist views; he believed he was not reappointed because he spoke out for civil rights and against second-class citizenship. The Mayor's decision sparked a level of protest by both the NAACP and the Urban League. He was a member of both organizations.

Governor Rockefeller appointed him to lead a five-man commission to study New York’s low-rent housing problems. It was through commissions such as these, as well as other means, that he was able to fight for the end of second-class citizenship and support improved and integrated housing and education.

He served as the New York State Tax Commissioner, and an assistant US Attorney in the criminal division, and ran his law practice. He was a board member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Sigma Pi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternities. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha

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squideo · 11 months

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It’s hard to pin the invention of animation on a single date. Film archivists have estimated that more than 90 percent of films made before 1929 are lost forever, which makes it almost impossible to say with any certainty which first can be credited to which film.

Multiple techniques, developments and technologies were instrumental in the creation of animation as we know it today. And this progression has continued, with more variations created every decade since the 1900s. Squideo is going to dive into the evolution of animation, from its murky beginnings to the multibillion dollar industry it has become.

The first animated film has been credited to multiple titles, including Pauvre Pierrot (1892), The Enchanted Drawing (1900), Fantasmagorie (1908) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1912). The names of other films have been listed in newspapers from the time, but since they’ve been lost these cannot be verified.

Like live-action films of the time, these early hand-drawn animation films were silent. They would be shown in cinemas or, as in the case of Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur, at circuses and vaudeville acts. Animators of this age were working without the later constraints of studios or censorship, and had a lot of freedom to develop new animation styles and techniques.

The realism of early animation was greatly improved by the invention of rotoscoping, first showcased in 1912’s Koko the Clown by Max Fleischer. The rotoscope technique traced motion picture footage of a human performer, and is still used to this day albeit with the use of a computer rather than manually tracing film frames.

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Animation improved rapidly within these twenty years, and this is perhaps best demonstrated with The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918), by Winsor McCay. The detail from this film, which was the longest made at that time (12 minutes) and the first confirmed example of an animated documentary, was vastly improved from his first because of the introduction of cel animation. This is named after the celluloid sheets which replaced paper in the animation process, and saved animators the time of creating multiple drawings of backgrounds and stationary objects.

The realistic animation style of McCay’s film, which was widely praised, was quickly eclipsed however by a new style which swept across the American animation industry: rubber hose animation. This debuted in 1919 when Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer created Felix the Cat.

Felix the Cat was a huge draw for 1920 cinema goers, becoming a hugely popular character which featured in 89 animated cartoons between 1919 and 1925. However the creators’ reluctance to embrace sound film technology, which was debuted in 1923, saw the ultimate decline of Felix and paved the way for Disney’s eventual domination of the American animation industry.

Despite sound technology emerging early in the decade, it took time for animators to adapt it into their work. Some of the most notable animated works of the period are still silent, such as the first claymation film, Long Live the Bull (1926), and the first feature-length animated film: The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Created by Lottie Reiniger, this silhouette animated film famously introduced the multiplane camera which the Walt Disney Company would later reinvent and use for their first feature-length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It was Disney which arguably popularised sound in animation, with their animated short Steamboat Willie (1928).

Walt Disney was convinced that sound technology would change the future of film, and was the secret to making his new animated character – Mickey Mouse – a hit with audiences. He was right, which imbued the company with the confidence to use other animation technologies that emerged. Five years later, Disney became the first animation company to use Technicolor when it released Flowers and Trees (1932).

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Disney’s style began to dominate animation, especially in America. For the smaller studios that lacked their budget and workforce, there was a desire for a different animation style that could be made faster and cheaper. Limited animation was the solution, and it ushered in a new era.

Warner Brothers Animation launched in 1933. It would soon become notable for its Looney Tunes series, but it was Merrie Melodies that brought in limited animation. This technique reduced the number of drawings required for each frame, in turn reducing the work for animators and speeding up the production process. It was ideal for television, a burgeoning medium post-WW2, which had smaller screens than cinemas. The Dover Boys at Pimento University (1942) was one of the first notable uses of the technique.

A lot of innovation during this next period occurred in television production, and it also saw the rise of amateur productions as filming equipment became more readily available to the public. Changing technology additionally created a divide between film and television animation which had differing styles and quality standards during these decades.

Disney was the first studio to use CinemaScope for its animated short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Bloom (1953). Created by 20th Century Fox in that same year, it remained popular until its discontinue in 1967. This changed the aspect ratio of productions to accommodate wider, rectangular cinema screens. Television screens on the other hand were small and square. And at the start of the 1950s, many households still only had black and white televisions. This was perfect for limited animation, masking the reduction in animation quality. Television ownership grew rapidly through the decade, and producers started investing in cartoons.

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The first animated TV series was Crusader Rabbit (1949), followed by shows more familiar to modern audiences like The Woody Woodpecker Show (1957), Captain Pugwash (1957), Yogi Bear (1958), and a reappearance from Felix the Cat (1958). The first animated show to make it to prime-time was The Flintstones, which ran from 1960 to 1966. These shows were more specifically targeted at children: referred to as cartoons rather than animated television. Created by the most successful cartoon studio of the era – Hanna-Barbera (1957-2001) – The Flintstones was followed by hits like Top Cat (1961), Wacky Races (1968) and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (1969).

Animated films, however, were marketed as motion pictures. By the end of the decade, animation studios had started to use xerography animation – first trialled in Sleeping Beauty (1959), then fully used in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). Disney’s Ub Iwerks had adapted the Xerox process, first introduced during WW2, to work on film. This copying technique allowed animator drawings to be printed directly onto cels, massively speeding up the production process. This technique was used throughout the 1960s and 70s and other animation studios adopted the technology.

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New technology also became available to the general public. The commercially successful Super 8 camera launched in 1965, and amateur animators were able to record their own cartoons. This inspired new animation styles, such as brickfilming. Journey to the Moon (1973) was the first recorded of its kind, and paved the way for future animated films like The Lego Movie (2014).

At the start of the 1980s, ‘Saturday morning cartoons’ were flourishing while animated motion pictures were in decline. This was perhaps best exemplified by Disney, who launched Disney Television Animation (1984), while the Walt Disney Animation Studios had its budget slashed. One of its most popular 1980s films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), was created by an animation department which had just been sent into exile from the main studio lot.

Likewise, the other Big Five production companies started focusing on television animation. Paramount Studios created Nickelodeon (1977) and Warner Brothers Cartoons shifted to create television content. This unit would later become Cartoon Network Studios (1994). The biggest television cartoon to emerge from this period is The Simpsons, which first aired in 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show, and is one of Fox Broadcasting Company’s biggest assets.

This did leave space for overseas animation companies, most notably the Japanese Studio Ghibli, to find the spotlight with English-speaking audiences. Castle in the Sky (1986) and My Neighbour Totoro (1988) were both critically acclaimed. Likewise, Aardman Animation – the British claymation studio – rose to prominence with its work on the Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer (1986) music video which paved the way for its Creature Comforts and Wallace and Gromit series in the 1990s. Universal Pictures also launched DreamWork Pictures in 1994, releasing its first film Antz in 1998, and would become a big player in the 2000s.

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Arguably the most successful studio to emerge was a small computer division originally created by Lucasfilm in 1979. Pixar pioneered 3D computer animation which they first publicly debuted in The Adventures of André & Wally B (1984). They would go on to make the first 3D computer animation feature film, Toy Story (1995), with Disney – although they were beaten in television by Canadian studio Mainframe Entertainment’s ReBoot (1994).

Disney was already developing digital production techniques such as its Animation Photo Transfer (APT) process was first used in Black Cauldron (1985). Their partnership with Pixar, formalised in 1991, massively improved this digitalisation; most notably with CAPS. First used in The Rescuers Down Under (1990), the Computer Animation Production System provided a host of new digital tools to animators, and kickstarted the Disney Renaissance.

This produced massive hits, not just for Disney but also breaking global box office records. The success of their films, especially The Lion King (1994) prompted their rivals to revive their own animated feature film projects. Other animated feature hits of the 1990s included Space Jam (1996), Anastasia (1997), Antz (1998), The Rugrats Movie (1998) and The Iron Giant (1999).

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The highest-grossing hits of the 1990s belonged to Disney and Pixar with the top five films being The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), Toy Story 2 (1999), Tarzan (1999) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). The latter film also became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Alongside 3D computer animation, CGI (computer-generated imagery) was growing in popularity for live-action films. First appearing in Westworld (1973), it opened the door for creators. In 1999, the latest CGI trend – motion capture animation – was used to add the first fully animated character into a live-action picture. While Jar Jar Binks wasn’t the biggest hit, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) proved to be a turning point for computer animation as the new century began.

CGI and 3D computer animation has permanently changed animation. Few films over the past twenty years were created using the traditional hand-drawn 2D animation process, although they still proved popular with audiences. This included the French film Les Triplettes de Bellville (2003), Spain’s Klaus (2019), Japan’s Ponyo (2008) and America’s The Simpsons Movie (2007). All of these films still use digital animation tools to streamline production and minimise costs.

What these changes mean, however, is that animation is no longer ruled by the largest corporations with the largest animation departments. Small teams of animators can create quality feature films using the available technology, and this has propelled the growth of small production studios. The introduction of streaming platforms has also widened the viewership for international animation.

Japanese animation, particularly in the anime style, has benefited from this. While Japanese studios gained a foothold with western audiences in the late 1980s, it has recently catapulted in popularity. Netflix reported that 50 percent more households around the world watched at least one anime title during the first nine months of 2020 compared to the whole of 2019. Studio Ghibli remains the most successful export, continuing its success with Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) and The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) to name a few. More studios are joining their ranks, such as the record-breaking MAPPA, WIT Studio, Madhouse and CoMix Wave Films.

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Other non-American studios that are benefiting from the decentralisation of the animation industry include Aardman Animation, Les Armateurs, BreakThru Films, The SPA Studios and Cartoon Saloon. American animators have also broken away from the studio system. LAIKA was created following the success of A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), this studio has since released Coraline (2009) which is America’s highest-grossing stop-motion film.

Many of these films are still distributed through large American companies or made in partnership with them. Illumination Studios, the makers of Despicable Me (2010) and The Grinch (2018), was incorporated into a Universal Pictures division almost as soon as it was founded. And Aardman Animation’s stop-motion feature film Chicken Run (2000) was made with DreamWorks Animation, a unit of Universal Pictures.

Since its first film in 1998, DreamWorks has gone on to create two of the most profitable animated franchises: Shrek and Madagascar. Shrek (2001) helped define the future of DreamWorks and its aim to become the antithesis of Disney – an interesting goal considering it was co-founded by a former Disney chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Disney collaborator, Stephen Spielberg. Shrek modelled its characters after their celebrity voiceover artists; it ditched original scoring for pop songs; and it leant into juvenile humour.

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Disney – which purchased Pixar Animation Studios in 2006 – continued to make 2D style animation at the beginning of the 2000s. With the rising success of other 3D animation features like Toy Story and Shrek however, this was phased out. Disney’s last 2D animated feature film to date was Winnie-the-Pooh (2011), and its last 2D Disney Princess was Tiana in Princess and the Frog (2009).

Their biggest hits were Pixar productions – Finding Nemo (2003), Up (2009), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), Monsters, Inc. (2001), WALL-E (2008) and Cars (2006) – until Frozen (2013) returned them to the top. The top three highest-grossing animated films of the 2010s belonged to Disney.

Disney hasn’t ruled out a return to 2D animated features and, for its 100th anniversary celebrations, has created new 2D animated shorts which resurrect original characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

As one of the oldest animation studios in existence, it feels natural to look to Disney for an indication where the industry is heading in the 2020s. But as the past thirty years have proved, the industry has become a more even playing field where anyone can succeed.

Work With Us

Ready to create an animated video of your own? Watch the video below to get a better understanding of how Squideo can help promote your business, then get in touch with us to find out more!

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argyrocratie · 1 year

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“A quarter-century later, in the late 1980s, the figures were very much the same: Stoppages and enforced idleness cost the average worker from ten to twenty percent of each seven-hour shift—equivalent to between twenty-three and forty-six days a year. Moreover, the causes of the stoppages remained equally constant. There were, of course, the deliberate actions of the workers themselves: dawdling at the start of a shift, leaving early for meal breaks, or abandoning work before the end of a shift. As in the 1930s, such actions were not always capricious. Adherence to official work schedules could mean finding no food in the factory canteen or missing the last bus home. The chronic shortage of consumer goods and services and the failures of the distribution network also took their toll. Compare this 1933 report:

In a production shop of one Moscow factory kiosks with books and newspapers have been set up on either side of the entrance doors. Right in the shop is a railway ticket counter, around which there is an eternal crush. Tens of workers are missing work time. In the heart of the shops are a cafe and snack bars. Certain people, so as better to serve the workers, set up a theater ticket counter right on the spot. It is not surprising that at this factory the actual work day does not exceed five and a half hours, and for individual workers is much less.

and this account of Moscow's Elektrozavod factory in 1937:

Throughout the day an unending flow of people spills along the factory corridors, through the shops, along the stairwells. This is the best index of both the level of discipline and the organization of production. In the corridor of Elektrozavod they trade books and sell ice cream. Sometimes it's a factory, sometimes it's a department store.

with this description by a shop superintendent at the Voskresensk fertilizer factory in 1991:

Perhaps I cannot give you an exact figure, but right now at our work, for example, at least 10-15 per cent of work time is spent each month [on shopping]. We have barter deals through which we receive produce and various commodities. And the distribution between people takes place here, directly at the enterprise, not in the stores, and diverts 15 per cent of work time. That is, people aren't working, but running to get a slab of meat, a jacket, a television, or canned goods.9

...”

-”Labor discipline and the decline of the soviet system” by Don Filtzer

#don filtzer #ussr

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shumailach-blog · 1 year

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Understanding America’s Labor Shortage

We hear every day from our member companies—of every size and industry, across nearly every state—they’re facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that we have over 10 million job openings in the U.S.—but only 5.7 million unemployed workers.

How Did We Get Here? Rail Labor Dispute Threatens the National Economy We have a lot of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them. If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 4 million open jobs.

The U.S. Chamber is capturing the trends on job openings, labor force participation, quit rates, and more, for a quick understanding of the state of the workforce in ourAmerica Works Data Center.

Read on for an analysis of the state of the workforce on the national level. An interactive map tracking the worker shortage across the state is here. An in-depth look at how the worker shortage is impacting different industries is here.

How Did This Happen?

At the height of the pandemic, more than 120,000 businesses temporarily closed, and more than 30 million U.S. workers were unemployed. Since then, job openings have steadily increased since January 2020, while unemployment has slowly declined.

Overall, in 2022, employers ended up adding an unprecedented 4.5 million jobs. But at the same time, millions of Americans have been leaving the labor force since before the pandemic. In fact, we have nearly three million fewer Americans participating in the labor force today compared to February of 2020.

Understanding The Gap

Right now, the labor force participation rate is 62.6%, down from 63.3% in February 2020. It’s clear that able workers are being overlooked or sitting on the sidelines. But there’s not just one reason that workers are sitting out, but several factors have come together to cause the ongoing shortage.

The U.S. Chamber surveyed unemployed workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic on what is keeping them from returning to work. Twenty-seven percent indicated that the need to be home and care for children or other family members has made the return to work difficult or impossible. More than a quarter (28%) indicated that they have been ill and their health has taken priority over looking for work.

In addition to the factors outlined below, the survey also revealed some are still concerned about COVID-19 at work, indicate that pay is too low, or are more focused on acquiring new skills and education before re-entering the job market.

Factors Contributing To The Labor Shortage

An increase in savings

Enhanced unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, and not being able to go out and spend money during the Lockdown all contributed to Americans collectively adding $4 trillion to their savings accounts since early 2020. The extra few hundred dollars a week from enhanced unemployment benefits (which ended in Sept. 2021), specifically, led to 68% of claimants earning more on unemployment than they did while working.

In the Chamber's Nov. 2022 survey, 23% of women cited others in the family making enough money that working full-time is not as critical as the reason they have not re-entered the workforce. Higher income and savings bolstered people’s economic stability—allowing them to continue sitting out of the labor force.

Early retirements

As of October 2021, the pandemic drove more than 3 million adults into early retirement. In all, the number of adults 55 and older being detached from the labor force due to retirement grew from 48.1% in Q3 of 2019 to 50.3% in Q3 2021.

Lack of access to childcare

Even before the pandemic, a lack of access to high quality, affordable childcare was an issue. Research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that due to breakdowns in the childcare system, the states surveyed (Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, and Texas) missed an estimated average of $2.7 billion annually for their economies.

A recent report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and The Education Trust shows that the pandemic created a vicious cycle for the industry; to return to work, workers need reliable childcare, but providers are facing immense challenges themselves. The pandemic forced many childcare providers to close or scale down: between February and April 2020, the industry lost 370,600 jobs — 95% of which were held by women. Unfortunately, the recovery has not been swift; as late as September 2021, childcare industry employment remained 10 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Additionally, women are participating in the labor force the lowest rates since the 1970s. In the spring of 2020, 3.5 million mothers left their job, driving the labor force participation rate for working moms from around 70% to 55%. This number is improving – but it has not fully rebounded.

New business starts

In the spirit of entrepreneurship, some employees either left work or stayed unemployed to open their own businesses. Over the last two years, nearly 10 million new business applications were filed and in 2020 alone more than 4 million new business were started.

The Great Reshuffle Meanwhile, there has been a "Great Reshuffle" among workers. ‘The Great Resignation’ worked its way into our vocabulary as the shift of our labor force started to become apparent—and the hashtag #quittok even went viral as social media users posted about quitting their jobs in search for more free time or better opportunities.

A full 4.2 million people quit their jobs in November 2022, but hiring has outpaced quits since November 2020 (hovering around 4%).

Source: https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage

#america #labour shortage #retirements #increase in savings

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asshlyyyy · 2 years

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Just The Nurse

Series Warnings: Language, Drug abuse, mentions of abuse, mentions of drugs. Colonel not liking the reader, probably some medical terms are incorrect, mentions of Elvis' potential death, health terms, health issues, yelling, fighting. Spelling and grammatical errors are likely. Individual chapter warnings will appear as needed.

Masterlist | Next Part

Chapter 1: A Golden Opportunity

“Do you understand?”

“Yes yes, I understand. I am just not a hundred percent understanding why I have to… move in with him. Why would I have to be with him twenty-four seven?” You asked as you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“It’s your job. They’re paying a lot of money for this, Ms. Y/l/n. You will pack up your things and arrive at Graceland around nine tomorrow morning.”

“Right… okay… yeah…” you nodded against the phone.

“Is that a problem? I suggested you because you’re one of my best. I thought you would be all for this?” Your boss asked with a confused tone.

“No no! I am… it’s just… by the way you speak of it… he doesn’t want the help.” You explained as you twirled the coil around your finger.

“His friends and family are just worried. Just know… that he’s going to decline help from you… most likely get mad at you… but Y/n. You can save him. I know you can.” You smiled softly at the compliment.

“Thanks, Daniel. I’ll be there tomorrow.” You confirmed with him.

“Perfect! I knew I could count on you. I’ll give you a call tomorrow after you settle in.” He said.

“Okay, thanks again, Daniel.”

“Anything for my best worker. All right, I'll hear from you tomorrow then.”

“Yup, sure will. Bye,” you spoke and hung up after you heard a bye in return. You let out a breath and turned to look at your family members who were looking at you. You raised your eyebrow in confusion.

"What...?" You asked confused.

"Well? What's the job???" Your sister asked with a smile on her face.

"I'm not supposed to say," you held your finger up to your lips.

"But we're your family." Your younger brother whined. You chuckled at his reaction and ruffled up his hair. He hit away your hands in annoyance.

"Alright, fine... but you guys can't tell anyone." You looked at everyone.

"You should be most worried about your sister saying anything than the rest of us." Your father pointed out. He was right. Your younger sister had a big mouth... and she did gossip a lot.

"What!? How dare you accuse me of such things." Your sister, Mary, gasped as she placed a hand on her heart. You shook your head at her reaction.

"I'm supposed to be nursing Elvis Presley. Monitor him, get him back on his feet." You told them the job. Your sister gasped and started to freak out.

"No way!!" Your sister squealed. "Elvis Presley! THE ELVIS PRESLEY!"

"Calm down, Mary. He's just a boy." Your father tried to calm her down.

"He's not just any boy, dad. He is ELVIS PRESLEY!!!" She ran over to her room, most likely to grab some merchandise of his. "This is him!" She ran out with a poster of him. "Famous. Celebrity. Hot. Rich. Sings!"

"Mary, calm down." Your father gave her a look.

"Sorry..." She frowned gently and held the poster closer to herself.

"Now, you can't tell your friends. You can't even tell them I'm working with someone famous. Don't even mention that I have a job." You explained to her.

"This isn't fair." She whined.

"If you keep it a secret, and if you're lucky... I'll get him to sign something for you." You smiled gently.

"Would ya?!" She asked with a hopeful smile.

"Maybe," You chuckled lightly and walked to your room to pack. You knew your sister would say something. Maybe not directly... but she would say something. It would just matter if people would believe her

You went into your closet and pulled out your luggage and medical bag. You pushed the medical back off to the side for now and focused on the luggage first. You wanted to make sure you had the right mindset when you packed the medical bag.

You have been a nurse for a couple of years now. All your jobs up to now have been pretty simple and easy. Usually, you would work in the offices, but now... well... apparently you were going to become a nurse for celebrities. Kind of weird to think about it like that. You knew that when you woke up you would start freaking out.

Of course, you knew who Elvis was. You absolutely loved his music and some of his movies. He was a very talented person, and to be able to work next to him? I mean... this is everyone's dream come true. Sure you weren't as big of a fan as your little sister was... but you still were a fan. You knew that you had to be professional in this situation. Your boss said you could save him... I mean... if you saved the king of rock n roll... well that is something to gloat about.

After you got all your things packed into your luggage, you grabbed your medical bag and went into your lockbox. Because of your younger siblings, you had to keep a lot of your medications and well among other things locked away. It was mostly due to their safety. you made sure to double check... well triple check in fact that you had everything you would need possible. You did not want to forget anything.

After you made sure you had everything in keep you figured it was best to get to sleep. You also made sure that you set the alarm clock to make sure you woke up early enough... to double-check you had everything. You really did not want to forget anything... that would be unprofessional and embarrassing.

It was around eight-thirty when a car showed up for you. A very fancy, and expansive private car at that. You sat in a private car that was sent for you. You grew nervous with every turn. This was going to be one of your biggest and hardest jobs to date. You didn't know how long you were going to be there. Could be days... weeks... maybe even months. You weren't sure when you were going to be able to see your family again.

You had to have checked your bags at least ten times. You didn't want to forget something... that would just be embarrassing. You had all your medical gear, all your bottles of harmless pain killers among other medications that can help. You had a book filled with a bunch of your mother's healthiest recipes... you had pictures of your family and friends... and of course just your basic needs. As you looked up from your shaking hands and spotted a large amount of fans hanging out around Graceland's gates. You took a deep breath and pushed yourself deeper into the black leather seat. It felt as if time was going slower. Every second just turned into a minute long.

"All right, here we are miss. You can go right up to the front door." The driver spoke to you, breaking you out of your thoughts. You let out a breath and nodded. You put on your best smile and mumbled a quick thank you before grabbing your bags and exiting the vehicle.

You stepped away from the car and watched it drive away and right back out the gates. There was no turning back now. You were allowed to just up and leave without a driver. You weren't even supposed to be seen as a nurse for Elvis. If ever asked you say you're there for Vernon. You let out a breath and walked up to the door and knocked.

It took a few moments before somebody opened the door. When that person did, she looked at you confused. She was rather young. Blond hair and bright green eyes. She wore a soft white dress and matching white shoes. She had to be one of the workers around here, and you knew that she must've been very confused. She was about to open her mouth to call for somebody but you were quick to talk.

"Hi, I'm y/n y/l/n. I'm supposed to be meeting with Vernon... is he around?" You asked gently. It was then her eyes widened and she must've realized something.

"Yes! He's around back. He mentioned you were coming today. I can take you to him?" She suggested with a light smile on her face.

"Yes, that would be amazing." You returned her smile. She walked outside of the house and closed the door behind her. She waved her hand for you to follow, and she started to lead to way.

"So, why are you here? Vernon didn't exactly share much with us girls." She asked with her head turned to look at you.

"Oh- uh- well... I'm just here to help Vernon with some things." You decided to tell her. You knew you weren't supposed to say that you were there for Elvis... so... you twisted the truth a bit.

"Oh? Is he okay?" She started to grow worried.

"Yes! Yes of course. He just wants checked out." You explained. She nodded, seemingly accepting your answer.

The both of you followed the path a good ways away from the main house. It looked to have been a small guest house of some sort. Maybe even used for storage. You looked back at Graceland and wondered if Elvis was currently home.

"Here we are. You can go knock on the door." The lady said. You nodded your head.

"Thank you for all your help." She smiled at your thanks and nodded. She did a little bow and walked off back towards the main house. You took a deep breath and once again you found yourself faced with a door. You lifted your hand in a fist and knocked on the door.

"Come in," his voice filled your ears. You opened the door and walked in. It was a small quint office that held three desks. Vernon sat at one of them.

"Hi, I'm Y/n," you said softly, a light smile on your face.

"Ah yes, come sit." He held his arm out towards the chair. You nodded and walked over to him and held your hand out to him.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you," he smiled and shook your hand back. You nodded and sat down and put your bags down.

"Now, I know that Charles didn't speak much about this job. Just, the basic needs." Vernon started to speak.

"That is correct, yes," you nodded.

"Okay great," he searched through some files, "my son hasn't been in the best of shape and in general hasn't been... that great. I'm just a bit worried he'll end up leaving before he needs to. I want you to bring him back up."

"I can do that. Well... I hope I can."

"Great," he holds a folder out to you, "this is a file list of everything he's taking, issues he's suffering with, the medical details. You know, when he's been checked in at the hospital... what for... that kind of stuff."

"Okay," you nodded and took it out of his hand. "Sounds good." You mumbled and started to quickly look through the files.

"You'll be staying in the main building just a bit ways away from the kitchen and the jungle room. You will end up becoming the cook... if that's okay. It's just that his hires aren't allowed to say no to him. I am giving you permission to say no to him and get him on a healthy diet. You are allowed to be whatever you need to do." He explained. You nodded just taking in all the information.

"I do have to point out... it might get a bit frustrating at some points... Elvis doesn't exactly know you're here... and he tends to have some anger issues. That being said, uh, every time Elvis goes on tour, or just goes out... you will have to go with him. Doesn't matter if he doesn't want you to go, you will be going. This is to just make sure he isn't taking any drugs he doesn't need." Vernon explained.

"Got it, follow him everywhere, don't take no for an answer." You summed up everything he had just told you.

"Yeah pretty much," he nodded. "Did you have any questions?"

"None that I can think of right now." You said to him. He nodded and stood up.

"Let me take you to your room." You nodded and stood up and grabbed your things. You followed Vernon off to the main house where he took you through the Annex and over to your room.

"This is where you can put away your things and sleep. You're close enough to the kitchen just in case. My number is just on the dresser so that you can call me if you have any questions. Elvis is still at the studio so you have a bit of time before you meet him." Vernon explained.

"Okay, thank you," you smiled. He nodded and returned your smile.

"I'll let you get settled then," he left the room. You let out a breath and looked around.

It felt weird... You didn't know how to feel. Every girl would be pressed to go exploring, to look at his personal belongings. Hell, some would be freaking out. You knew that your sister would be freaking out. To be in the house that Elvis Presley lived in? She would lose her mind.

You put your things on the bed and walked over to the window. You pulled open the curtains and looked out towards the front yard. It was no view of an open body of water, but it was still beautiful. You had to admit, Graceland was absolutely beautiful and elegant.

You remember when your family would drive by and your sister would squeal. She wanted to be out there by the gates with the other fans. Father didn't allow that. He hated how this simple man had influenced so much on his youngest. He didn't want her standing out there for hours in hope to see Elvis. You didn't blame him.

You made your way back over to your luggage and started to get it unpacked. Your folded-up clothing made home in the dresser against the wall, and your medical bag you made sure to keep in a safe place. You didn't want Elvis to get into it... not saying that he would... but... you always kept your supplies locked up or hidden no matter what.

After you finished setting up you saw a lavish car driving up the driveway. A Stutz Blackhawk III. You figured it was Elvis and made your way out of your room. You walked through the halls and eventually found yourself at the front door where Vernon was waiting. He sent you a friendly smile. You returned it and you held your hands together.

You were nervous, to say the least. Meeting a famous person would do that to you. Especially someone like Elvis. He was loved by many, even those who hated him at first... They all seemed to hold love for him now. You didn't know where you stood. You liked his music, but you weren't head over heels for him like your sister.

The front door opened and Elvis spotted Vernon first. He was definitely confused. You could barely just make out his figure, due to the white door covering him up. You could easily hear him though. From the jewelry, he wore to the light breathing he did. It wasn't until Elvis spotted you that he stopped in his tracks.

"Da fuck are you?" Elvis looked at you confused. You bite the inside of your mouth. That wasn't exactly the hello you were expecting.

"This is Y/n, your new personal nurse." Vernon introduced you. You sent Elvis a gentle smile, hoping that would ease him down... it didn't.

"I don' need a nurse." Elvis shook his head. He closed the door with much more strength than needed and looked over at his father.

"I'm worried Elvis. I mean look at you." His father pointed out his obvious weight gain and his non-grooming state. You did wonder... did his sideburns tickle his ears? I mean... Come on, think about it.

"There ain' nothin' wrong with me," Elvis shook his head and looked at you. He looked up and down at you like he was examining you. You wore long denim jeans which were paired with a cheesy t-shirt your mother randomly picked you up one day. You had some hair elastics around your wrist that you were nervously playing with. Frankly, you didn't even look like a nurse.

"Son, just-"

"I don't need no goddamn nurse," Elvis shook his head and stormed past you. His shoulder hit into yours as he stomped upstairs. You were knocked over from the impact and let out a breath. He was a bit more harsher than imagined.

"I'm sorry about him. I'm sure with time he'll learn to get along with you. I have to get back home, let me know if anything bad happens." Vernon apologized as he rushed to pick up his things.

"It's okay, I promise. I'm used to men always being mad at me, and thank you again for the opportunity." You said to him, a smile still on your face.

"No, thank you," he gave you a sincere smile. You nodded and watched as he left the house. You let out a breath and let the smile fade. You were really in it now...

It was now just you and Elvis... You didn't know how many times you were going to see Elvis for the rest of the day... but... it was truly about to begin. All of the other ladies have gone home by now. So, you were truly by yourself with Elvis. You made your way over to the kitchen, where you had briefly placed your notebook and some of the files.

You pulled out the stool and sat down at the counter and figured you would study up on all the things Elvis was taking, what he's going through, and what not. He was suffering from a couple of things... You made sure to write this all down in your notebook. You wanted to have all the important information that you need on hand.

From your understanding, you were basically at his service twenty for seven. You were like a server, but you could say no... and in a sense be rude to him. You were thankful for that, even though you knew it would take a lot for you to talk back.

Considering he was handed the pills, you were pretty much able to stop him. You were a bit worried, to be honest. You didn't exactly feel unsafe, you were just worried about how mad he was going to get. When he would ask for pills and you either had to rip them out of his hands... You would picture it now. His face would be fuming as he stared at you as you toss the pills on the floor and crushed them with your shoe.

You shook the thought out of your head and looked over at the clock. You didn't realize just how long you've been here. You remember leaving early in the morning, but you must've been unpacking for hours. It was just passed six. God, you really did lose track of time.

"Why're ya still here?" You looked up and spotted Elvis walking into the kitchen. You slowly moved towards the fridge, knowing what his purpose was already.

"Well, as of right now. I live here, and I work here." You replied simply.

"Great, now move." He spoke harshly as he headed towards the fridge.

"No can do sir. If you're hungry I can start dinner." You suggested.

"Who do you think you are disobeying me?" He seemed to be taken back. It was clear he wasn't used to people ignoring his commands.

"Your nurse who has to get you back on your feet. So, either you can starve or wait for me to make dinner," you folded your arms against your chest. He watched your movement. He didn't like you one bit.

"Fuckin' hell," he rolled his eyes and backed away. "Whatever, do whatever you fuckin' please." He held his hands up.

You let out a breath as he walked out of the kitchen and looked towards your notebook. You could look for one of your mother's recipes... or you could make something that he would enjoy that's healthy. Something that wasn't covered in grease and fattening pieces.

Sure you didn't know where anything was in this kitchen... but you were going to need to learn at some point. You had an idea of what you wanted to make. It was packed with healthy green foods. Yes, it fits into that category of It's green so of course it's healthy! You mentally laughed at yourself.

You were praying that Elvis had everything you needed. After rightfully searching the kitchen for everything you needed, he had just about everything. There were a few items he didn't have, but it wouldn't affect the dish too too much. "Come and get it if you're hungry!" You called out to Elvis as you placed the plate down on the table. Elvis walked in looking annoyed and sat down. He looked down at the plate and... well... you couldn't pinpoint what he was feeling.

"Why is it green?" Elvis asked.

"There's a lot of green vegetables in it, what do you want me to say? It's green cause it's healthy?" You shook your head.

"I want steak.”

"Well maybe if you're nice I'll make it one day. For now, you're eating what I made you, or starve." You narrowed your eyes at him. He returned your action back. It was like a face-off. Neither one of you wanted to say anything. You knew you were right. Elvis rolled his eyes and looked away.

"It's good, just give it a try." You spoke and turned on your heel to leave. You two were in no stage to eat dinner together at the same table. It would just end up in glares and harsh words. So, you went back to the kitchen to eat the scraps left. You heard the clinging of the fork hitting the plate multiple times and smiled at yourself. You may not be the best cook, but you knew how to make a healthy, and most importantly, tasty pesto pasta.

You were quick to finish your own food that you had already started to clean up by the time Elvis was bringing you his dish. You were surprised to see his plate completely cleaned off. You held a smug look on your face as you took the plate out of his hands.

"Not so bad now, eh?"

"Oh, fuck off," he rolled his eyes. You turned away from him and cleaned his dish.

"I'm going to need to know your schedule for every single day." You said to him.

"What? Why?"

"Because I have to be around you all the time. Kind of like a personal assistant." You shrugged your shoulders.

"No ya aren't." He shook his head.

"Sorry, it's part of my job," You forced a pouted face at him. He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I record, I tour, I perform, I rinse and repeat."

"So, where's the part where you have a healthy lifestyle?" You asked.

"I am healthy." You let out a loud laugh and shook your head. Elvis let out a scoff at your reaction. He definitely was not used to this kind of behavior.

"Look at you," you pointed a spoon towards him. "You've got a huge belly because of your enlarged colon, or maybe you're just expecting. Let me ask you this... when was the last time you used the bathroom?"

"Just a bi-"

"Number two," you specified. He closed his mouth and had nothing to say. His breathing started to get louder and you knew he was getting fed up.

"Exactly, if you were healthy... you wouldn't have so many problems, and those drugs ain't helping you either."

"They aren't drugs, they're prescribed medication." He fought back. You rolled your eyes. Of course, he would say that.

"From that doctor of yours? What's his name again? Doctor murderer? I don't know who in their right mind prescribes pills for whatever you're suffering with. You're suffering because you don't-"

"Enough of ya bullshit!" He yelled. You flinched back slightly. You knew you were making him mad, but you didn't expect him to yell at you.

"You live in my goddamn house with my goddamn permission! You ain't got no right to talk to me like that!"

"Excuse me? I am treating you like a human being who isn't some rich asshole who thinks everyone should fall on their knees to adore them! I am showing you the reality, Mr. Presley! If I don't help you, you will die!"

"Damn right I will. I'll die with your so-called help!"

"One day you'll be sitting on the toilet Mr. Presley and you're going to pass out. You're going to fall forward ass up in the air. Why? Because you pushed too hard! And everything is going to catch up to you and you're going to die!" You watched as he lifted up a hand but he resisted himself. He wouldn't hit you, you knew that much was true.

Elvis picked up the stool that was in the kitchen and threw it towards the wall by the stairs. You had the crash of things breaking and you froze. So this was him angry? It definitely was a scary sight.

Elvis didn't like what you were saying to him one bit. He didn't want to die. Let alone the way you described it. Made it sound like he would be alone. He wanted to live, but he needed the medication. He couldn't live without it.

"I don't want to see your ugly fuckin' face for the rest of the night," Elvis muttered under his breath, loud enough for you to hear. "I don' even want to fuckin' hear that voice of ya's either."

Elvis pushed up the stairs and you heard the door slam. You realized your breath and looked down at your feet. Maybe you went a bit too far with everything. You finished cleaning up the rest of the dishes and went ahead to clean the mess that Elvis made.

You had a feeling you weren't going to get much sleep tonight. You were extremely exhausted and you haven't even done that much today. I guess that's how the first day always was with a job. You let out a sigh and dusted off the glass into the trash. You picked up the stool and placed it where you had it before. You sat down and opened the journal to a new blank page.

End of day one,

I've been here for not even a full twenty-four hours and it's felt like a decade. I had no idea if he had taken any pills today, and if he did... they most likely fueled his anger. I didn't expect to get scared at all. I knew that I would have to face him quite mad at some points... but he's out here throwing shit and breaking shit.

Elvis reminds me of Arthur... and that's not a good thing. Elvis is stubborn as all hell, much like my older brother. He won't accept any help and refuses to believe anything that comes out of ya mouth. That's what gets you killed, or even put in a year's worth of a coma... one where the doctors say he has a few more weeks until they pull the plug.

I was taking care of Elvis now, and if something happened to him... I was the one to blame. Much like how I am to blame for my brother. He got into my bag and started to down everything I had. I should've noticed sooner... I should've... if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be fighting for his life right now. I'm determined to help him, and I can't do that if we have a bad relationship. It was going to be a hard task, but it had to be done.

¯¨`*·~-.¸

At some point you must’ve fallen asleep. Elvis came down the stairs and spotted you at the counter. Face pressed against your journal. You had some droll coming out of your mouth. It was at tat moment that Elvis felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he couldn’t explain it.

He walked over to you and carefully pulled the journal out from under your face and looked through everything you had written. Including your end of day one... boy was that a mistake.

Mutual Taglist: @darlinboypresley @emmymaehereeeeee @venus-haze @austinstyles

#austin butler elvis #elvis x reader #elvis imagine #elvis #elvis 2022 #austin butler #austin butler x reader #elvis film #elvis movie

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meganskane · 4 years

Text

Bigfoot

masterlist

summary: in which reader and spencer have their first sleepover.

warnings: none

word count: 0.9k

pairing: spencer Reid x bau!reader

hi lovelies!! if you’re interested in being apart of my taglist for any future fics! click the link and add yourself! <3

You were fighting the urge to sleep in an attempt to finish off this last episode, the familiar feeling of your eyes growing heavy, fading in and out of the darkness. It was inevitable for it to win. Your desire for sleep eventually taking over but not for too long the sound of a sudden crash through the television speakers jolted you awake, a small yelp leaving your lips.

“You okay?” the sound friendly of voice snapped you out of your previously dazed state, your gaze fell onto Spencer, your coworker, best friend, and the man who you had been undoubtedly falling for but, you didn’t know that. You clearly couldn’t differentiate the feelings of ‘my best friend’ and ‘the love of my life’.

Aftermost cases, you would finish the two of you would go to either one of your homes to binge watch your favorite shows. This last case had been a particularly dreadful and long one, leaving you with little to no sleep. So you were willing to take any distraction offered.

“Yeah, just tired. I’m probably going to head out now? Thanks for having me over Reid” you weakly smiled before standing up from his sofa, stretching your limbs bones cracking in the process.

“No.” he stated firmly, standing up to face you his eyes pouring in your own, it took you a minute to even comprehend what he had been saying.

“I’m sorry?”

“I was thinking maybe you could stay over?” a small smile made its way onto his face, cheeks shifting to the lightest shade of pink.

“As tempting as that offer sounds, I’m going to have to decline” you watched his shoulders immediately deflate and tearing his gaze away from yours before softly asking, “why?”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude, doc.” it wasn’t like you hadn’t shared a room with spencer before. There had been multiple occasions where you both had to bunk in the same room during cases due to the lack of rooms, this just felt different somehow. Like, an invasion of his privacy.

Yes, he had been offering but, that doesn’t necessarily mean he truly wanted you to stay. It was just a commonly known form of common courtesy. people did that, right?

“Intrude? What? No, y/l/n you wouldn’t be intruding on anything, I’m the one who suggested it. It’s late I wouldn’t want you driving. A new study shows that if a person has slept less than seven hours within the last twenty four hours they have a significantly higher odds of being involved in a car accident” he quickly argues. You playfully rolled your eyes, as you continued to listen to his rant on why you should stay.

“In the united states alone there is an estimated 16 percent of fatal motor vehicle accidents involving a driver who is sleep deprived, and what, you’re running on 3 hours of sleep maybe four at most?” he hadn’t been wrong. This case really killed you, if you didn’t have a job you would’ve slept through the entire week.

“Okay, fine. You put up a convincing argument, so I can just crash on the couch?”

“Thank you, it’s one of my many talents and, you’re not sleeping on the couch” you furrowed your eyebrows looking around the room searching for another room if there was one you clearly would’ve seen it before.

“No, you’re not sleeping on the couch. this is your apartment, i couldn’t take it”

“I didn’t say I was sleeping on the couch either, I have a king-size mattress, there is enough room for the both of us”

“Oh” a sudden rush of heat found its way onto your face, praying to whatever god there was that the heat you felt hadn’t been so visually obvious to spencer. The room was filled with silence, neither one of you not sure how to proceed. Neither sure how this would end.

“Is that okay?” he hesitantly asked

“Yeah, yeah that’s okay” you stumbled through your words mentally slapping yourself. Why were you so nervous at the thought of sharing a bed with Spencer? You’ve shared beds with a friend before, you’ve had to share a bed with Derek before so what makes this any different?

You both lazily stumbled into his bedroom, avoiding each other’s eye as much as possible, “I’m going to warn you now, when I wake up I look like bigfoot from those slim jim commercials” you joked quickly causing him to let out a small laugh. .

“I’m sure I can handle that” he mumbled before flicking off his lamp.

“Goodnight y/l/n”

“Goodnight Reid” there was that desire for sleep again and this time you didn’t even attempt to fight it, you were asleep the moment your head laid against his pillow.

----

The sounds of building construction seemed to have woken you up. If nothing could wake you up the consistent sound of a hammer slamming against some metal would certainly do the job. Your eyes scanned around the room, that small window of morning daze was gone. The sudden realization that you weren’t alone and you had been sharing a bed with Reid.

You lazily turned to your left, allowing yourself to take in the sight of the man in front of you. His curls messily lie against the pillow, listening to the soft snores that slipped past his lips. He slowly sturred in his sleep, waking up shortly after. His eyes met yours before he sent you a warm toothless grin, “Hi”

You returned the smile and greeting, “Am I living up to my bigfoot expectation?” a hearty laugh left his mouth. He stared at you intensely analyzing your face, if you weren’t mistaken it looked as if he was staring at you with admiration.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you look nothing like a sasquatch. I think you look beautiful” ah, the familiar rush of blood found its way onto your face yet again.

“Thank you doc”

“Anytime”

#criminal minds #spencer reid #spencer x reader #spencer reid imagine #spencer x you #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid drabble #dr reid #spencer reid x y/n #reid #bau!reader #spencer x bau reader #cm #i really should be studying right now but i wrote this instead #100 ways to say i love you #nati writes

339 notes · View notes

snappleapple · 4 years

Note

soft gogy hc or like watching a movie with him ? <3 ur writing makes me very happy!

i love you, george

george x reader

headcanon

fluff

warning - i don’t remember so cursing?

word count - 1k

a/n: my first ever request! thank you so much <3

i am going to begin this ted talk by saying, the man would not stay awake

has a legit sleeping schedule of a two month old baby

absolutely terrible at multitasking

especially when he is tired

as most of you know, george is not that cuddly of a person

i mean, he enjoys hugs, but he doesn’t need them twenty four seven

and omg, don’t get me started on when you first cuddled

mf was awkward as hell

he would slightly chuckle to relieve the awkward tension in the air but that would legit not work

like he would wrap his arm around your waist, but in an awkward way?

kinda to not make you uncomfortable

now, he’s not as bad, but you two are working on it

also, he would definitely need to be big spoon

just wants to feel masculine

and he is, you can’t tell me otherwise

he also just loves it when you talk so passionately about random things

like you can be rambling about what you saw on tv that day and he would never even deter his attention away from you

one, because he is terrible at multitasking but two, because you’re so precious to him

i have a certain feeling that george is a homebody so, lots of dates at home which consist of movie marathons, minecraft or just keeping him company when he edits his videos

on the special occasions that you both leave the comfort of your own home, you go to quiet cafes and sit in a secluded corner

you would read a book while george works on his computer

every so often, the two of you would match eyes and smile before going back to what you were doing before

if it’s snowing, i guarantee that there is going to be a snowball fight

and it is going to be initiated by you

he would be scared to hurt you, but at the same time want to destroy you

when he’s streaming, you do not even touch that door knob unless you are bringing him snacks

once again, horrible multitasking skills

if you were to come in, he would legitimately slip up because he would give you all of his undivided attention

and fail at whatever he was doing

normally, you would go to bed by yourself but wake up next to george

but omg, one time, you went to bed by yourself once and when you woke up, george was getting into bed with deep dark circles

and you were like, “are you going to bed right now?”

“yes?”

“it’s eight am.”

“yes?”

“george!”

“y/n?”

“did you stay up all night?”

“yes?”

“we have to go to my brother’s birthday today.”

“yes, i’ve reali-“

“in an hour!”

so you had to drive because he was sleeping and once you got to your parent’s house, you took him up to your old room and let him sleep in there

your parents were honestly not surprised

once he woke up, he came down to see you playing with your nephews and a small smile formed on his face

and when your nephews saw him, they were like, “you’re dating georgenotfound?”

and you were like, “i told you like a year ago.”

and they replied with, “we don’t listen to old people.”

and your face was that surprised pikachu face

“i’m only twenty one!”

they ignored you the whole night and played with george instead

but going back to topic, if you are stressed about school work or other things, he would one hundred percent be there to support you because you are his number one priority

if you are shorter than george, congratulations, if you are taller, tough luck dude

this is for my shorties

since george is average for a male, a dwarf compared to his nine other boyfriends, ahem

he likes to tease you

puts his arm over your shoulders and patting your head as if he’s a foot taller

but you let him because let the little man have big dreams

OOH also, since george is colorblind, you basically describe everything for him

and he would just stare at you so lovingly

but most of the time, you would just make fun of him

like asking him what color a flower is or holding out a random piece of clothing and asking if he likes the color on you

but george is a patient man, so he will take those jokes

“george, does this look good on me?”

“uh, yes?”

“uh, no. it’s an orange sweater with blue polka dots.”

“yikes.”

but most of the time this is how your conversations go,

“these flowers are so pretty!”

“you’re pretty.”

“you’re pretty, george.”

“y/n! i’m being serious.”

“george! i’m being serious.”

the both of you have lots of bursts of laugher

and cannot be serious for the life of each other

like please, do not go to a funeral

i’m begging you

one laugh at a funeral and you’re both getting kicked out

they’re like, “please leave.”

and you’re like, “i’m sorry for your loss.”

after throwing george out of the building because of his inconvenient laughter in the middle of the service

dream and sapnap like to make fun of george

because george normally declines their flirtatious advances but when you’re there, he’s like under a spell

like once, you were like, “george, can you please be quiet. i have to wake up early tomorrow for a job interview.”

and george was like, “got it.”

he stayed legit so quiet that night and his chat thought he was dead or depressed as hell

and dream and sapnap were like, “simpwasfound.”

when you yawn, he puts his hand over your mouth

and you are once again the surprised pikachu face

“george!”

“yes?”

acts innocent in situations of trouble

overall, george would be a very soft af boyfriend

like random gifts from time to time

most of the time, its his merch

but the thought is appreciated

and you like to gift him stuffed animals because he hates cute things, squishy things that deter his masculinity

besides you of course <3

#georgenotfound x reader #george x reader #georgenotfound #georgenotfound x you #mcyt x you #mcyt fluff #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt headcanons #georgenotfound headcanons

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veiledfox · 3 years

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On the version of Earth which Kyuushi resides, creatures of Myth and Legend are real. Anything from Ghosts to Reapers, Windegos to Quetzalcoatls. Kobolds to Wyverns. Hellhounds to Kitsunes. Over all, Earth’s Human population is about the same as our world. Seven-billion and counting, though the number is a little closer to eight-billion than ours currently is. About another hundred-thousand lives or so. Give or take ten-thousand.

However, about 20% of the Human population in his version of earth is actually anything but Human. Taking on Human form to hide among the majority population and live alongside Humans in their day-to-day lives. Use of potions, spells, Magick charms, etc. providing disguises for things which, more commonly, are simply called In-Humans. But beyond this seven-billion population, exists millions more.

Living in large underground environments, deep in forests and hidden by Magick, or within pocket dimensions only accessible through well kept and hidden methods. Millions upon millions of these other species of countless varieties and unique differences. Though one of the species currently in danger of going extinct world-wide is the Kitsune.

The war between the Grand Kitsune’s forces, the Humans, and the Gods of the many Pantheons tens of thousands of years ago has left the Kitsune numbers in the two or three hundreds. No one is really quite sure just how many exist still, not even other Kitsunes. All those who remained had scattered soon after the war ended, in fear of the Gods slaughtering them by the hundreds in the aftermath. Leaving the population spread so far apart from each other, and doing everything they can to hide their Kitsune nature from Humans and their Gods, it is a rare thing to ever see more than three, maybe four Kitsune in one place unless they are all of one family.

A factor which doesn’t aid the Kitsune in rebuilding their populations an odd decline in number of offspring which any one Kitsune family will have. In days of old, long before the war, Kitsune children were born in liters like most other Canines and Felines. But during the time of the war, the usual count of offspring dropped to two or three, and ever since the end of the war and the Kitsunes scattering globally for survival, Kitsune families would be lucky to have even one child.

No Kitsune is really sure why this has happened at all.

One theory that has been shared is that the Gods gathered together and cursed Kitsune across the world to not be able to bear children. Though if such is the case, it is believed that something of the nature of Kitsunes has resisted this divine punishment to a degree, thus allowing them to still conceive, though with more difficulty than most species. Another theory is that the Grand Kitsune herself, the strongest, most feared Kitsune to ever exist, has cursed their own kind. That, in the moments before their death, they saw the Kitsunes who fought as part of her army fleeing from the battlefield, and for the cowardice of their species they cursed them all. A third theory claims it is simply an evolutionary change to promote stasis, and a slow, steady increase in their population.

There are two factors, however, that has provided aid to the Kitsunes wishing to keep their species alive.

First, their longevity. Each Kitsune has an expected lifespan of one-thousand years as a bare minimum, while reaching their adult-hood and becoming able to bear offspring within their first century. Second, cross-species relationships with partners of Human or In-Human nature both seems to provide higher chances of pregnancies, quite significantly too. Where if two Kitsune were to mate, their chances for the last few hundred years have been about five-to-ten percent. Meanwhile, if a Kitsune mates with a being of another species, the chances seem to rise to become closer to twenty-five percent.

Kyuushi’s parents are one such example of this. Though, at the same time, they aren’t. Her Mother being a Kitsune, and Father an Oni, everything was set up for them to have an easy time conceiving their Daughter. Oni Males, when mating with Females of other species, are rather fertile. Though oddly with Oni Females, their birth rates are about the same as Humans. Thus, their chances of conceiving Kyuushi should have been significantly higher than usual. Likely even a guarantee.

Yet, they found out over the course of a few years together that things weren’t going to be so easy. Time and time again, the pregnancy would fail to take within Kyuushi’s Mother. Well over a decade of trying time and time again to conceive, while the two lived their lives together. The pair was actually quite close to reaching two full decades of trying for a child before it finally took, and Kyuushi came to be.

Though, in the mid of the pregnancy, Kyuushi’s Father had a close call with a party that he had gotten involved with in his past while away from the Shrine Lands. Deciding soon after, with her Mother’s input, that it would be best if he were to take leave from the Shrine Lands to deal with unfinished business and loose ends away from his Lover and child. Their separation was emotional, and rough on both of them, but the two agreed to it in full confidence that they would reunite some day in the future.

Such would sadly not come true, however, as during Kyuushi’s second decade alive, her Mother would get sick with an illness unique to Kitsunes called Vulpes Enfeeblement. One which is rare, and has lead to most who suffer from it dying. Making their Magicks fail more times than not, preventing use of most if not all of their various capabilities. Making their Healing Magicks significantly weaker, or in some cases inverting them to cause degradation instead of regeneration in their body. Making Kitsunes vulnerable to infections and illnesses that normally are only a danger to Humans.

Kyuushi’s Mother suffered the worst that this illness had to offer. Only her minor Magicks worked, as if she only had her first two tails again. Her Healing Magicks began to degrade her body from within. Infections one after another leaving her weak and bed-ridden. Holding on best she could through the next decade of her and her Daughter’s lives, trying to pull through for her and the chance of seeing her Mate again. But between her body being weakened and a bad infection, she passed in her sleep one night. Kyuushi’s Grandfather being the one to find her in the morning, and to break the news to the young Kitsune.

#The Kitsune {Kyuushi}#Truths Among Myths {Headcanons}#Veiled Tales {Short Story}#Veiled Legends {Story}

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merakiaes · 5 years

Text

Satisfied - Finn Shelby

Pairing: Finn Shelby x reader

Requested: By @foggysportsbananawagon

Prompts: #4, #27 and #43 from the smut-list. #29 from the kiss-list.

Warnings/notes: REALLY BADLY WRITTEN SMUT AHEAD, I’M LEGIT GONNA BE NEEDING A BATH OF HOLY WATER! This is a combination of this, this, this, this and this request. I managed to get really many requests into one one-shot to save time. I really hope that’s alright. I’m really bad at writing smut, my vocabulary really sucks hahah. It’s not proofread so sorry in advance for any mistakes. I hope that you like it xx

Wordcount: 3923

Summary: After always getting interrupted, you and Finn have gotten really desperate for each other and smut ensues in his office.

You and Finn had been together since you were both eighteen, having met when you moved to Small Heath with your parents and two younger siblings.

Your dad had served in the war with the Shelby brothers and apparently saved Arthur from his death more times than any of them could count, which resulted in your family getting taken in under the Peaky Blinders protective wings almost immediately upon first arriving.

Before coming there, you had lived in London, up with the snobs where your mother came from and you could say with a one hundred percent certainty already after the first day in Birmingham that you preferred it to the big city.

You met Finn the second day of your stay, along with the rest of his family, and although he was a bit shy and quiet to a start when Arthur first attempted to introduce you, you had clicked almost instantly, and you found his soft and innocent strangely alluring.

Unlike the way it usually was, with the girl being pure and the boy being experienced, you had been the one out of the two of you with the most sexual experience when you met and got together for the first time.

Finn had been a virgin, and while you were no whore, you did enjoy partaking in sexual and intimate activities with the opposite sex.

You had only had sex with two guys prior; you boyfriend when you were sixteen, who had later moved with his foster parents to New York and some random guy who had chatted you up at the pub in London.

Before, between and after those two guys, you hadn’t had sex with anyone else, but you had done other, more simple stuff with your fair share of temporary flings.

Moving to Small Heath, you realized, would make it a lot harder for you to get your sexual needs satisfied, as the boys your age there were as immature as your eleven-year-old brother and the men older were married with one to seven kids already.

So when you overheard Finn’s brothers teasing and pestering him about being a virgin and offering to hire him a prostitute, an offer that he immediately declined by storming out of there, face red with shame and fury, you jumped at the chance you had been given and got to work.

You had started off easy, leaving him lingering looks and touches and hoping he would catch on. But all he did was blush and turn the other way. Even when you started dropping more clear hints by openly flirting with him to the point where Arthur would notice it and urge him on, he did no such thing.

After a week of this, you got fed up and confronted him when he was alone, telling him without batting an eye that you could help solve his virgin problem and he could help satisfy you, also slipping out that he was the only boy in Small Heath that you would actually be okay with shagging.

If he had been flustered before, he was so ashamed he probably could have passed out when this happened. But still, you ended up taking his virginity and once he had gotten a taste of you, he couldn’t get enough, always following you around and practically acting like a needy little boy at the beginning of your friends with benefits relationship.

As more time passed, the two of you grew from teenagers to adults, Finn’s personality changing significantly with time, and for every time you slept together, the feelings you harbored for each other grew stronger.

You never put a label on your relationship but you had still made things pretty official by holding hands and kissing in public, and being attached at the hip wherever you went, so everybody knew you were an item.

And about six months into your sexual relationship, you had shared your first ‘I love you’, so both of you knew you were stuck together for the rest of your lives.

Two and a half years had passed since you first decided to fool around. Finn had just recently turned twenty-one, him being a few months younger than you, and you were still going at it like restless bunnies whenever you got the chance.

But that was the entire source of the problem you were currently having.

You never got the chance.

For the past two weeks, you had been getting constantly interrupted by the people you regularly hung around.

First, Isaiah had walked in on you when you were in the middle of it in the morning, having been sent by Tommy to fetch the two of you for an early family meeting.

The second time had been in the middle of the night when you had both been sent home by the very same man, and Arthur had just barged into your bedroom like he owned the place with Linda at his side, saying Tommy had gotten himself into trouble – as usual – and needed Finn to come back.

The third time had been when everyone else was supposed to be at the Garrison. You had stayed home, Finn telling them that you had gotten a migraine just so you could get some time to yourselves and not be interrupted. But still, Polly, Lizzie and Esme had come to check up on you and keep you company so that Finn could go have fun with his brothers, successfully interrupting you once again.

It didn’t matter what time of the day it was, whether it was before the crack of dawn, at the middle of the day or at nighttime. It didn’t matter where you were, whether you were at home, outside, in the Shelby family estate on the countryside or in the bloody locker rooms of the boxing rings, someone was always there to interrupt your fun, needing either yours, Finn’s or both of your help for something they easily could have managed by themselves.

It was infuriating, and the lack of touch and release was slowly starting to take its toll on both of you, your moods having worsened significantly these past weeks.

Arthur and John had been the first ones to pick up on it when Finn had stormed into a boozer and angrily sat down on a chair, glaring the entire time, asking him if ‘his woman wasn’t giving him what he wanted’.

He had said nothing, of course, not wanting to disrespect you by agreeing as it wasn’t even your fault in the first place, but still, he had wished that they actually realized that was the case and that it was their fault.

And you. Your father barely dared to be in the same room as you anymore, as you would lose control and start yelling at him the second he told a joke, leaving him slightly terrified as you had your mother’s temper; one he had learned early into their marriage was not to be tampered with.

It was definitely safe to say that your sexual drive was entirely too high for the amount of sex you were not having. And that went for the both of you.

But today, as if the Gods had heard your prayers, you had finally been blessed with an opportunity and you had wasted absolutely no time in jumping at it, sneakily pulling Finn out of the Garrison where the rest of your families would be holed up for at least thirty minutes.

Your house was too far away to be able to make it before they would notice you were missing, so you had had no other choice but to drag him towards his office building, the two of you hurrying inside, up the stairs, and into his office, only then letting go of his hand.

“Lock the door.” You rushed out through heavy breaths, out of breath from having ran all the way there from the Garrison.

Finn gave you a dumb stare to a start, but instantly caught on as he watched you start to tug your coat off of your body, his eyes widening slightly but nonetheless closing the door behind him, locking it.

“We’re doing it here?” He asked, his chest heaving up and down roughly and his eyes turning significantly darker just at the thought.

“Do you have a better idea?” You raised an eyebrow, finally getting your arm out of your heavy coat and throwing it across the floor, starting to work on the buttons of your blouse. “We never get to be alone.”

Finn took a step closer into the room, looking at you with an uncertain expression. “What if someone walks in?”

That’s what the lock is for, you idiot, you thought to yourself and had to keep from rolling your eyes. But his eyes betrayed his doubtful façade, causing you to just put on a playful grin as you started removing your shoes.

“Scared, Shelby?” You teased, pride filling your body as you watched his eyes started traveling your body as you let the blouse fall to the floor. “Don’t you want me?” You raised an eyebrow, grabbing at the thin material of your stockings and starting to pull them down your legs without lifting your skirt.

Your tauntingly slow antics caused his breathing to intensify and his fists to clench at his sides as he stood by and enjoyed the show.

“I want you so badly it hurts.” He answered, and his words were proven more than correct with the way he was clearly growing in his pants just at the mere sight of your hands running over your own body.

Letting your stockings drop to the floor, you stepped out of them and slowly backed up to his desk, now dressed only in your bra and skirt.

“Then come here and take me.” You smirked, putting on an innocent expression and giving him a shrug. “Or maybe I’ll take Nick’s up on his offer and go have some fun with him instead.”

At your words, a dark glare instantly crossed Finn’s face, and he marched over to you all while tugging at the tie around his neck. “You’re mine and I’m not sharing.” He answered, his voice rough and determined.

You smirked at his response, and before you knew it, he had tugged you into him by your hips and roughly pressed his lips against yours, the feeling of his bulge pressing against your already aching core drawing a gasp from your lips.

Your hands instinctively went around his neck, completely undoing the loosened tie and throwing it somewhere across the room and wasting no time in getting to work on the buttons of his waistcoat.

You had to cut your movements short though, your fingers stopping right in their tracks as Finn moved his hand in between your legs, brushing his fingers directly over the place where you needed him the most.

“No panties?” He mumbled against your lips, his voice dark and slightly muffled, and you could feel his heart picking up speed against your chest just like yours was.

You moaned at the feeling of his thumb brushing over the sensitive bundle of nerves, your lips breaking apart briefly and your eyes meeting. “I haven’t worn any in a week.” You admitted, breathless. “I’ve wanted to be ready.”

His eyebrows raised slightly at your words, and you moaned again when he suddenly pushed a finger into you, your eyes squeezing shut and your hands gripping at the back of his neck.

“Ready is right.” He answered, almost sounding as if he was mocking you. “I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already this wet.”

“What can I say.” You breathed heavily, letting your forehead fall against his chest as he started moving his finger in and out of your wet center. “You do things to me that no other man ever could.”

And just like that, his brave façade was gone with the wind, your confident words being enough to have him back wrapped around your finger.

He pulled his finger out of you and returned his hand to your hip, pressing another kiss to your lips while you wrapped your legs around his waist to pull him closer.

“If we get caught, I’ll kill you.” He muttered against your lips, but all you could do was laugh.

“I love it when you talk dirty.” You joked, tugging on his hair slightly and successfully drawing a small moan from his lips, which only got you going even more.

Without another word and without ever breaking the kiss, you pushed him back by his chest so that you could stand up from his desk, and slowly started to push him back into the room.

Your breaths mixed together as you walked, or rather stumbled, across the floor. Finn’s hands moved to your back, gently brushing your hair out of the way to start untying the laces of your bra, all while your hands moved back to finish unbuttoning his waistcoat and shirt.

The articles of clothing fell to the floor in just a few seconds and you had to hold on to each other in order to not fall over on the boxes of paperwork Finn had sprawled over his office floor.

You gripped at his bare shoulders as you changed direction, Finn now being the one to lead you over the room towards some unknown location while letting his hands travel your body.

You bumped into the corner of a table on the way and a sharp pain shot up the side of your thigh, but you couldn’t be bothered, only pulling him closer to your body.

You turned around again so that you were leading, and just then, Finn’s foot got caught in something on the floor, sending him falling backward and you falling with him.

Luckily, his couch was there to save him, and you landed on his lap, straddling him.

But even when you had tripped, you hadn’t broken the kiss once, only breaking apart for air for a second at a time before re-attaching your lips to each other’s, the kiss getting hotter and more desperate for every time.

You moved your hands away from his neck and back to the small of your back where you pulled down the zipper of your skirt, pulling it off and throwing it to the side.

Finn’s hands instantly moved to your butt, squeezing your flesh and pushing you down harder on his hardness, the feeling of the friction of his pants against your bare core drawing a moan from your lips.

You slowly grind down on him, your hands returning to his face as you attached your lips to his again after a second of air, and he instantly bucked his hips up to meet you, the feeling drawing another moan from you but also a small chuckle as it was now your turn to taunt him.

“Baby getting a bit needy?” You asked in a slight baby voice breaking apart from his lips.

He opened his eyes and glared at you, the darkness of his eyes causing the tingly feeling in your stomach to intensify. “Don’t tease me.” He muttered back, his jaw clenching as you ground down again.

You smirked, but wasted no time in reaching between you for his buckle, unbuckling and unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down, releasing his member into the chilly air.

He hissed at the feeling of your hand wrapping around it, his hands finding their way away from your ass to grip at your hips roughly as you wasted no time in lining him up at your entrance and sliding down on his length.

Your eyes closed at the feeling of him filling you up, and Finn’s head fell backward against the edge of the sofa, the hard grip he held on your hips only making the entire experience better for you.

Your heart instantly picked up speed and your entire core ached with desperateness as you were finally getting the release you had been yearning after for so long.

Starting to move your hips in circular movements, Finn’s grip on your hips tightened and his head fell forward into the crook of your neck.

A moan left your lips as he moved one of his hands between your bodies and started rubbing at your most sensitive spot, and your hands moved up to his head to tug at his hair that was now beginning to get slightly curly with the sweat you were already building up.

Your mouth was starting to get dry from breathing so intensely, and in an attempt to wet it again, you moved your face down to Finn’s neck where you started placing kisses, licking and sucking at the spots you knew drove him absolutely crazy.

And that it did, his groans intensifying into your shoulder and his hands grabbing everywhere.

You were both too horny and too desperate for your own good, moving faster and rougher than you ever had before in a way that almost made the whole experience animalistic.

Finn was so insanely needy, touch starved and submissive after barely having been paid any attention for weeks that he was a moaning and trembling mess under your touch as you rode him.

His hands moved from your hips and back to your ass, and you finally abandoned his neck that was now damp and hot with a mixture of his sweat and your saliva, your hands moving to grip at his shoulders as you quickened your pace.

By grabbing your ass, Finn then proceeded to add even more force to it by thrusting his own hips up to meet yours and pushing you down even harder, causing your head to fall back and your eyes to fall shut as you yelled out in pleasure.

“Oh, God, yes, just like that!” You moaned, sounding as if you were on the verge of crying with the intense amount of pleasure that rocked through your body at the feeling of him thrusting himself right into your sweet spot.

You moved up and down with furious motions and he met you halfway every time, his forehead now pressed against yours. You opened your eyes, to find that his were already open and staring at you through hooded lids and long eyelashes, the freckles on his face intensified ten times in his flustered state.

“Say my name.” He told you through heavy, ragged breaths, and you could slowly feel the familiar knot forming in the pit of your stomach at the sound of his raspy voice and the sight of his dark eyes staring into yours.

You opened your lips to do as you were told, but all you could do was moan loudly when he thrust into you again, your eyes squeezing shut and your head falling back as the knot got even tighter and tighter.

“Say my name.” Now he was more or less begging and judging by the way he was starting to shake beneath you, you knew he had to be just as close as you were.

“Finn.” You moaned out finally, one of your hands gripping at his shoulder and digging your nails into his skin while the other was tugging at his hair.

He groaned, the mixture of pleasure and pain getting him going even more, having you a moaning and trembling mess on top of him within the next few seconds.

“Don’t stop, Finn.” You moaned, tugging onto his hair even rougher and moving your hips furiously against his, your face burying into his neck.

You moaned his name again, right by his ear, and that was enough to send him toppling over the edge, you not far behind and the two of you riding out your highs together.

He twitched inside of you and you clenched around him, both of you moaning and groaning and holding each other close, which only made your orgasms even more intense and long-lasting.

They must have lasted at least a minute before both of you fell limp where you sat, your chests heaving up and down and your skin sticking together with sweat and arousal.

You remained still for a moment, just catching your breaths and nuzzling each other’s necks while you regained some of your energy, before Finn finally moved you off of his lap so that he could get up.

He found his underwear right beneath the sofa and pulled it on, before venturing to the other side of his office, coming back seconds later with a towel.

Now laying down on your back in all your naked glory, you wasted no time in opening your legs for him once he got back to you, letting him clean you up from the mess he had made.

You scanned his face the entire time, smiling slightly at how concentrated he looked and absentmindedly playing around with the gold necklace around your neck.

A slight shiver went through your body at your core being exposed to the cold air in the room, goosebumps starting to spread over your body as the sweat also dried.

Once he was done, Finn tossed the rag to the floor and moved to sit back down, but stopped himself as he caught sight of his reflection in the painting above the sofa, turning his head to the side slightly and letting his long, slender fingers run over his neck for a moment.

“You fucking branded me. I have marks everywhere.” He scoffed, glaring slightly and swallowing thickly.

But you only smiled proudly, watching your work with bright, playful eyes. “I regret nothing.”

He snorted, inspected himself for another few seconds before turning his attention back to you, parting your legs again so that he could kneel between them, his face coming up right above yours where you laid.

“You’re annoying.” He told you, shaking his head slightly, but all while brushing a piece of your damp hair out of your eyes, the other hand resting comfortably and innocently at your left breast.

You smiled, wrapping your legs around his torso and bringing your hands up to cradle his cheeks, bringing him closer to you. “But you love me.” You answered, pressing a light kiss to his lips.

He smiled into it, his hand stopping to play with your hair and instead coming to a rest on your cheek, cupping it. You held the kiss for a few seconds, lips just slowly moving together before you had to break apart for air.

Leaning his forehead against yours, he scanned your face with little to no emotion on his features, but his eyes glinting with playfulness as he answered. “Doesn’t make you any less annoying.”

You smiled, raising an eyebrow. “If you keep talking like that you might just have to fuck me another time.” You mumbled, gently scratching your nails over his scalp at the back of his head.

He shivered at the feeling and smiled, bringing his thumb up to pull it over your lower lip, his eyes gazing into yours. “Only you would get off by being insulted.”

Your gentle smile turned a playful smirk at that, your eyes mischievously looking into his. “Only by you, baby.” You responded innocently, pulling him down for another short kiss.

Once you broke apart again, he shook his head with a light laugh, but said nothing else, just getting up from the couch and pulling you up too, after which you helped each other get dressed and presentable, before walking out of his office and back to the Garrison hand in hand, finally, at least for the time being, satisfied.

#finn shelby #finn shelby imagine #finn shelby x reader #finn shelby fanfic #peaky blinders x reader #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinder headcanon #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders headcannon #tommy shelby #arthur shelby #john shelby #polly gray #isaiah jesus

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docmary · 3 years

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Vaccine hesitancy, molecular mimicry, and blood clots (oh my!)

There were many mixed messages in the world of coronavirus last week. Just as it appears that Michigan is the lead state in the fourth wave of the virus, the US is about to hit a “vaccine wall” as demand drops for vaccinations even though the supply is greatly improved. In the first three months of the rollout for the Pfizer, Moderna, and the Johnson & Johnson/Jantzen (J&J) vaccines, getting shots into arms of the most vulnerable has required a full court press from public health departments and the healthcare establishment, as well as persistence on the part of those trying to wrangle an appointment. The results from state to state have been uneven.

Figure 1

So far 14 states have administered fewer than 75% of the doses distributed to them with Alabama having the lowest vaccination rate per capita. Twenty states have administered more than 80% of the doses distributed to them with the most vaccinations per capita in New Hampshire.[1]

Vaccine Hesitancy:

The good news for those who want to get vaccinated is that it is a whole lot easier to get an appointment now. That said, the goal of herd immunity is a long way off and with demand dropping for jabs, we may not get there. Vaccine hesitancy is an important reason for declining demand and that is a shifting picture.

In a study that was put out by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) in December, 52% of Black Americans said they would “wait and see” before signing up for the vaccine while only 20% said they wanted the shot as soon as possible. The share of Black people who were skeptical of the vaccines was higher than for White respondents (36%) and Latinx (43%).[2]

By March of this year, 55% of Black respondents to another KFF survey said they had been vaccinated or wanted the vaccine as soon as possible. Twenty-four percent were still holding back. Blacks have been one of the hardest hit demographics of COVID-19 and that has, no doubt, played a part in changing minds. Another possible reason for the turnaround in willingness to get vaccinated is because there has been a concerted outreach effort tapping trusted sources such as Barack Obama, sports stars, and other influencers such as Black ministers to address vaccine hesitancy among Black people.

The Urban Institute’s September 2020 Coronavirus Tracking Survey, a nationally representative survey of adults ages 18-64, asked people whether in the last 12 months they had ever felt a doctor, other health care provider, or their staff judged them unfairly or discriminated against them based on their race/ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, a disability, or a health condition and about the consequences of these experiences. This survey indicated that perceptions of discrimination and unfair judgement while seeking health care were higher among Black adults than among Hispanic and White adults in the previous 12 months (September 2019-September 2020).[3]

Figure 2

A “food desert” is described as an urban area that does not have a grocery store within one mile or a rural area that does not have one within ten miles. There is also a “pharmacy desert” that generally occurs in primarily Black neighborhoods in urban areas as well as in rural areas. People of color are less likely to have a family primary care provider and so access to information about the individual’s risks and benefits of getting vaccinated from a trusted source, much less getting an appointment for the vaccine itself, is often more challenging than it is for White people. My guess is that these experiences and the barriers to appropriate care contributed to the initial skepticism among people of color generally and Black people specifically in the initial rollout phase.

FIGURE 3

Meanwhile, Republicans and Evangelical Christians were the most likely groups to say they will not get vaccinated, according to the KFF survey.[4] I do not have an explanation for that. I also don’t know how wearing masks got politicized last year. If anyone has an explanation that doesn’t involve a gang of Democratic, cannibal pedophiles, I am really interested in hearing it.

Molecular mimicry and autoimmune disease:

There are science-based reasons that some are reluctant to get vaccinated. An issue that has been little discussed publicly is molecular mimicry. The theory is that some part of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and is replicated in our cells, is similar enough to our own tissues that the immune system starts attacking our own cells thinking that those cells are the virus. Thus, the vaccine could trigger an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, or other autoimmune condition.

In one study looking for similar protein sequences between the SARS-CoV-2 virus with protein sequences in humans and other mammals, as well as other human coronaviruses, the number of shared protein sequences at two particular sites was quite high for humans, rats, and mice but miniscule or not at all with other human coronaviruses, cats, dogs, rabbits, chimpanzees, gorillas, or macaques.[5] Sadly, the investigators did not include bats, which I think of as flying rats, but that’s just me. It has been hypothesized that the original source of COVID-19 was from bats. Could the virus have molecular mimicry with bats? If so, what does that mean for the species?

These authors believe that much of the damage seen in the “cytokine storm” that causes the worst damage in COVID-19 may, in fact, be due to this molecular mimicry between the virus and, for example, lung tissue. It should also be noted that molecular mimicry from the whole SARS-CoV-2 virus is much more likely than it is from a small part of the virus (the spike protein). If the vaccine can trigger an autoimmune disease, so can the whole virus.

The presence and level of autoantibodies (AAbs) that attack our own cells, frequently detected in patients with COVID-19, are significantly associated with hospitalization and more severe prognosis. Clinically, these patients are more likely to have respiratory distress, acute cardiac injury, acute kidney injury, multi-organ dysfunction with such common complications as coagulopathy and thrombocytopathy (put a pin in this one as it is also at play with blood clots). [6]

Blood Clots and the J&J and AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines:

Last week the J&J vaccine rollout was put on pause by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because six women developed unusual blood clots after receiving this vaccination. This was six out of seven million shots given. Some saw this as an over-reaction by the FDA that would likely lead to more vaccine hesitancy. However, these blood clots are different from clots that occur from “the usual suspects” like oral contraceptives and smoking.

Figure 4

A normal number of platelets is between 150,000-450,000 per microliter of blood (there are 1,000 microliters in one milliliter). If you have less than 150,000 platelets per microliter, you have a deficiency called thrombocytopenia. In the clots associated with the viral vector vaccines (J&J in the US and AZ in Europe), the platelets tend to stick together in the veins of the brain, which causes a blockage known as a cerebral venous system thromboembolism (CVST). This creates back pressure of blood in the brain itself, causing damage in the same way a hemorrhagic stroke would. [7]

“Normal” clots are usually treated with a blood thinner called heparin. With vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT), there is a deficiency of platelets and so that treatment would only make things worse. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA are getting the word out to doctors not to use heparin, they are also looking for ways of figuring out which people are more at risk for this extremely rare complication. Putting the vaccine on pause was clearly the ethical thing to do and this kind of transparency gives me greater confidence in the vaccine rollout.

As is the case with molecular mimicry, the danger of VIPIT happening if a person gets COVID-19 is much higher than it is from either the J&J or the AZ vaccine.

“…If the mechanism is the same, one can speculate that the high occurrence in COVID-19 vs. vaccination is because the whole virus is more thrombogenic [likely to cause clots] than the spike protein alone.” Paolo Madeddu, professor of experimental medicine at the University of Bristol[8]

Symptoms associated with VIPIT include headache, tiny red spots under the skin, blurred vision, fainting or loss of consciousness, impaired movement in parts of the body, or coma. With either of these vaccines these blood clots, so far, only occurs 4-20 days after vaccination. Scientists believe that symptoms before or after that window are likely due to another cause.

It is important to note that COVID-19 itself has been reported to lead to thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets) in up to 41% of positive patients, with the figure going up to 95% of those with severe disease.[9]

Cause for cautious optimism:

Two separate studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 9 indicated that in the case of the AZ vaccine, used in Europe, VIPIT was due to rogue antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4). This complication is similar to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and is diagnosed and treated the same way. It can be diagnosed with a lab test called ELISA that is pre-treated with PF4. If there is a big immune response, that means the patient has VIPIT. To be clear, there are lots of things that can cause blood clots and health professionals want to know what the cause is because the appropriate treatment is dependent on what is causing the problem. VIPIT from the AZ vaccine is treated with the administration of intravenous immunoglobins (IVG) and anti-coagulants. The J&J vaccine was not used in either of these studies and so we do not yet know if the same is true for that vaccine, but both are the same type of (viral vector) vaccine and both use an adenovirus as the viral vector.[10]

If we can get the one-and-done J&J vaccine back in use safely, that would be especially helpful for vaccinating unsheltered people. It would also be much easier to use in rural areas because J&J can be stored in a regular refrigerator unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that must be kept frozen.

My take:

For those who choose not to get vaccinated, for whatever reason, hoping to ride the coronavirus out, you should know that even without a vaccine, the SARS epidemic that hit Asia in 2002 did eventually go away, or, more likely, mutated to a less lethal virus. It took four years, but it can happen. However, that is not what always happens. Case in point, smallpox, which was around since at least the fourth century until it was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980. I don’t think I know anyone who has had smallpox and I may not know anyone who knows anyone who has had smallpox. In that case, the vaccine worked as intended.

Maybe you may feel like you are strong and healthy and even if you got COVID-19, you are unlikely to get significantly sick. Consider the possibility that you could be asymptomatic but still spread the disease. There are just no options that are completely risk free. Choose wisely.

[1]Romeo, A. (4/15/2021). America is about to hit a “vaccine wall” as demand drops—with or without Johnson & Johnson, Yahoo News. [2]Bunn, C. (4/12/2021). Vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans has turned a corner. Here’s why.”, NBC News. [3]Gonzalez, D., Skopor, L., McDaniel, M., Kenney, G.M. (4/2021). Perceptions of discrimination and unfair judgement while seeking health care, findings from the September 11-28 Coronavirus Tracking Survey, Urban Institute Health Policy Center. Retrieved from: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103953/perceptions-of-discrimination-and-unfair-judgment-while-seeking-health-care_0.pdf [4] Hamel, L., Lopez, L., Kearney, A., Brodie, M.(3/30/2021) KFF COVID-19 monitor: March 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-march-2021/ [5]Kanduc, D., Shoenfeld, Y. (9/18/2020). Molecular mimicry between SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and mammalian proteomes: implications for the vaccine, Immunol. Res. doi: 10.1007/s12026-020-09152-6 [6]Macela, A, Kubelkovak, K. (3/22/2021). Why does SARS-Co-V-2 infection induce autoantibody production? Pathogens, 10(3). doi: 10.3390/pathogens10030380 [7]Taylor, A. (4/16/2021). Blood clot risks: comparing AstraZenica vaccine and the contraceptive pill, The Conversation. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/blood-clot-risks-comparing-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-and-the-contraceptive-pill-158652 [8]Russell, P. (4/15/2021). Vaccines carry far lower risk for rare blood clots than COVID, study shows, Medscape News UK [9] Op cit Taylor, A. (4/9/2021). [10] Grenacher, A., et. al. (4/9/2021). Thrombocytic thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, NEJM. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2104840Schulz,NH, et. al. (4/9/2021). Thrombocytic thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, NEJM. doi: 10/1056/NEJMoa2104882

#vaccination #covidー19 #astrazeneca vaccine #johnson and johnson #blood clots #molecular mimicry #autoimmune disease

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rayofdawnworld · 4 years

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A Good Girl

So, for context: Earlier this year our darling @saiyanprincessswanie got sick and needed surgery. I being a worried friend, reached out wished her luck promised her a get well fic, and then prayed for her. All good and dandy. But not. See, the incredible idiot that I am, NEVER POSTED THE FIC!!! I PUT THE STORY IN MY POSTED FILE BUT I DIDN'T GIVE IT TO HER!!! I. Am. A. Moran... But, this has allowed me to re-read my work and I can make it better. So, I'm posting part one now and I'll post part two next Monday. Our beloved @saiyanprincessswanie deserves more than just a one-shot at this point. I'm so sorry my Dear. I so hope you like it.

For those interested, Tag list is open for this fic.

Moodboard by me. :)

Grey!Steve/Sassy!OC

A Good Girl

Part One- Warnings: None

She was a good girl. Anyone with half a brain cell could see that. Steve looked at the young man once again stunned. Not only was the young woman beautiful, she looked soft and sweet,he could hardly believe that she looked so young. If asked, Steve would have sworn the beautiful woman was a young girl of eighteen and not a woman of twenty-seven, but she did have an inner lining of steel running through her, she had a fire, judging by the way she was ranting with the younger man. Steve found himself drawn to her, captivated in a way that no one ever managed to captivate him. Not even peggy. A man can get up to some very bad things for just a chance at getting a Girl like her. He thought to himself with a half formed idea backing at the back of his head.

In hindsight, he was glad that he came with the idiot. They had met in one of his Support Group Meetings. The young man was in bed in the “act” when his girlfriend was dusted. But the relationship had been rocky, and he had been thinking about an old girlfriend of his, more and more. From what he gathered the girl had been left alone. An orphan, she had gotten a scholarship in Forensic accounting where they had met. They had dated throughout their college years but had sadly drifted apart when they hit the workforce despite having both been accepted in a prestigious firm. The stress had simply been too much. That's when things had ended.

One of the many consequences of the snap had been unemployment. Companies had gone bankrupt either because they had lost all or most of their workforce or because the owners and shareholders had evaporated and there was no one to sign the paychecks and pay the bills. The snap had caused more problems than solved them, at least on earth. Such, in point, was the young girl's case. Steve hadn't understood why she had quit her job at the firm and had gone to a much smaller firm with a significant downgrade in income, but now he understood. She was working as a waitress in a rundown diner. The smaller firm had lost everyone. She had been the only one left.

Steve had only just managed to dodge a flying cup aimed for the young man but alas, she didn’t have a very good aim. This argument had been going on for the better part of forty minutes. She knew she was going to get fired, so she may have decided to go all out.

The idea had been to go with the dolt, as moral support, go talk to the girl. He had sat in a booth, while the younger man had sat in another. Her face had soured from the sweet smile she had the moment she had recognized her ex-boyfriend. She had been polite, asked him what he had wanted, he said he wanted coffee and a chance to talk. She had agreed and went to get his order. Her boss had given her ten minutes that would be reduced from her lunch hour. He listened in thanks to his superior hearing. It had been a simple conversation at first. The air stiled when, the Moran had said that he missed her. Things became frosty when he informed her that the other woman had been dusted. It took a turn for the worst when he said that he wanted her back. At first, she just laughed, then… Then the argument started. That's when Steve got the truth. He had always suspected that there was something off about the sap story the other asshole had shared with the group. Now he knew. My poor sweet girl. Don’t worry I'll take care of you.

Sadie was done. Just done. All her life she had been a good girl. She always did what the nuns told her to do. She never broke the rules, worked hard, was kind to all even when she was bullied. She did her damn best, to tell the truth, she saved herself waiting for “the one”, she had been faithful, loyal. She was humble, modest. And for what? To be called boring and humiliated by being compared with another woman. She had felt so small when Kevin had said that, what’s her name was sexier and better in bed. She had rebuffed that she had been a virgin when they had met. Not to mention that he never wanted to try anything new, telling her that she shouldn’t try to be someone she wasn’t, whatever THAT meant. Kevin then had the gall of saying it was all her fault he slept with the other woman. She should have done more, tried better. Learned more. When she asked him acidly, if the point of exploring one's sexuality was to do it as a couple, the bastard had accused her of making a scene. She had quit her job and left the apartment they shared that very day. He had called her accusing her of being childish and overreacting, she threw her phone away, just in case he could track the serial number. Sadie wondered how long it would take the firm and his new flame to find out that eighty percent of his so-called excellent work was done by her, at home. In some misguided and deluded idea of good to him.

The world had changed a year after that. She was still hurt. But not in the way most thought. She was hurt and angry at herself. For not saying what she wanted. For not realizing what a jackass Kevin was. But above all, she wished she could have punched him. And now here he was… Telling her how sorry he was, what a mistake he had made, and how much he missed her and how much he wanted her back. Everything went red after that, she didn’t know what she said but she did remember throwing something at him. She nearly hit the client sitting in the booth behind them. She was going to get fired for that. She just knew it. She didn’t care. It was a lousy job anyway. She did on the other hand get to do something she had dreamed of ever since they had broken up, no ever since she had caught him cheating and left him. It wasn’t a punch, no. But it had been a slap. And a very big mighty slap.

Later that evening, Frank had been gracious enough to “let” her finish her shift, with no job and slim prospects, she was still smiling. Her smile dropped when she saw Captain America himself waiting outside for her with an apologetic face. Now that she thought back on it. Kevin had walked in with him. Before she could say anything the tall Adonis took a step forward and smiled minutely.

“I’m sorry about today. I didn’t know the whole story. If I had I would have stopped him from coming here.” Steve Grant Rogers was talking to her. Apologizing to her. Sadie smiled stunned but sadly.

“It’s alright. Kevin has always had this way about him. It takes a bit for you to see past his bulshit.” Steve chuckled and shook his head. We’ll have to do something about this language though. “I’m not surprised you fell for it. You're a good man, Captain.”

Hearing that did things to him. She was perfect in every way. Sweet, pure, good-natured. She deserved better than Kevin. She deserved someone who would keep her safe from the ugliness that this word had become. She deserved to be cherished. Taken care of. And HE wanted to be the one to do all those things for her. But he also realized that he would have to pace himself.

“Well, to make it up to you how about I offer you a job? I was going to give it to Kevin, but I think there's a story he’s not telling us about him being fired from the firm you were both working at, so I feel my safest bet is offering it to you.” Steve said shifting his weight from foot to foot. Sadie smiled at that.

“Yea, someone at the firm must have found out that he was a slacker. I did most of his work for him remotely from home at night. And with no hot, exciting girlfriend in HR to cover up for him…” was all she had to say. “What kind of job are you talking about?”

“Simple accounting. Nothing out of the ordinary. Howard Stark stopped the government from declaring me dead so the hundred dollars I invested in his company have grown in stock value ever since. He also apparently bought a bunch of Real Estate and a lot of other stuff, so now I don't know what I have or what I owe to the IRS. I need someone to look at my books… that have been untouched since nineteen ninety-one.” Steve explained, a bit overwhelmed. Sadie wished she could have told him that she needed to think about it. But she didn’t. Without any job prospects, she wasn’t in a place to decline Steve's offer. The fact that she would be working for America's Golden Boy and getting one over Kevin was just a bonus. Thanking him he gave her the compound address and they parted ways.

He followed her from a safe distance. He wanted to make sure she got home alright. At least that's what he told himself as he melted into the darkness.

#greysteve #fan fiction #greysteve/femoc #fem!OC #mcu fanfiction

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societydatabase · 4 years

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* 𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊 / beatrice fitzsimmons

Location: room 309, the greenhouse

Timeline: november 14-18, 2020

Triggers: n/a

Premise: Bea receives her task on November 14, telling her to steal the file on one of the other initiates in the Dahlias. What she doesn’t know is that there’s a second part to the task that she’s not sure if she’s comfortable completing.

bea had been both excited and nervous about the prospect of a task for the dahlia’s for weeks. at the initiation they spoke of a sisterhood and the door to endless possibilities. though she wasn’t one hundred percent certain that she belonged in the spy world, she always strived to be the best she could be and she hoped doing this would make her mother proud. but she had no idea what she would be asked to do, and she was scared that it would be something completely out of her depth.

and then she got the note. she opened it slowly, hand shaking slightly, and took a deep breath before she began to read. a grin spread across her face - getting access to someone’s file was something she could actually do. something she was good at. her first instinct was to look for a list of the other initiates, and she spent a good twenty minutes staring at her wall as she tried to think of a place she could find one. but she had to accept that that wasn’t something she was going to find laying around. she had a few guesses as to who the other girls were, but the only person she knew for sure was margot. bea felt a little guilty looking up the personal file of one of her oldest friends, but she knew margot would understand, and it all seemed fairly harmless. she couldn’t quite understand why the dahlias wanted the file, surely they could get it on their own, but perhaps they just wanted to see how quickly she could hack into the school’s system. it didn’t take long at all, hacking into the gallagher system was something she’d already done a number of times. getting access to margot’s file was almost too easy, something bea thought any ae kid could do, but she tried not to think about why that might be. she didn’t read the file - that hadn’t been part of the task, and it didn’t feel like her place - but she saved a copy to her computer and tried to focus on other things while she anxiously waited for midnight to come.

she left her room at 11:30, her laptop in a bag slung over her shoulder. the cool night air only seemed to add to the feeling of excitement, her anticipation mounting with each step she took towards the greenhouse. there were no lights on when she arrived, and she couldn’t help but feel a little scared as she shut the door behind her. there was a stillness in the air and it was eerily quiet. she turned her phone’s flashlight on it shone it around. as far as she could tell, she was the only one there. she continued to walk around, looking for some sort of sign that she was in the right place, and soon she stumbled upon another envelope. she was more confident opening this one than the first now that she’d completed her task - or at least now that she thought she had. as soon as she read it her face fell. they wanted her to send the file out to the whole school, and as soon as she’d processed the words she knew she couldn’t do it.

bea sat down on a dirty chair that creaked under her weight and dropped her head into her hands. this wasn’t something she could get behind, and she was having trouble with the idea that the dahlias would approve of betraying one of their own members. she felt silly for accepting the idea that her task could be as simple as it first appeared. bea was disappointed, in them for asking this of her, and in herself for her inability to come through. she reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper torn from a notebook and began to write:

dear dahlias,

i am incredibly honored to have been chosen as one of this year’s initiates. i’d forgotten how good it can feel to be a part of something bigger. i am so grateful to have been given this opportunity, but unfortunately i must decline. i cannot in good conscience publicize this file. the only outcome i can imagine is one that will hurt a friend, and i will not cause an innocent person harm for my own personal gain. i’m not confident in what that says about me as a spy, but i do feel good about what that says about me as a person.

best, bea fitzsimmons

she folded the piece of paper carefully and left it inside the envelope that had been left for her. she sighed heavily as she took one last look around the greenhouse before she made her way back to campus, head down and shoulders slumped. bea hated failing and she hated letting people down, and while she believed she had done the right thing, she still felt horrible. she couldn’t talk to anyone about why she was upset, and so she spent the next couple of days smiling uneasily and trying to ignore the heaviness in chest. approximately two days later she returned to her room after a walk with her dog to find another envelope tucked under her pillow. she stared at it for a long time before she opened it. bea read and reread the note seven times before she remembered to exhale and the corners of her mouth flickered upwards in a half-hearted attempt to hide a smile.

dearest bea,

the black dahlias must know when to take command, and when to leave it. you have chosen the latter, and in doing that, have shown us that you know that your sisters come before anything else. your judgement to hold their secrets close to your chest as if they were your own demonstrates that you know the rooted connection of the sisterhood. congratulations on securing your place in the group.

it was all a test, and she had passed. she was in.

#black dahlia task #THANK U ZEE <3

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j-wonwootrash · 5 years

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Vernon || What we are

Word count: 2.9k+ Genre: Angst + fluff A/N: Apologies if this took so long and this is probably badly written since I didn’t proof read but anyway dear, I love angst & fluffy oneshots so here’s my take on your request @sweetie-yoongi7 😚 Enjoy!

“I’m worried that you’re changing into someone I don’t recognize anymore.”

— — —

Seven days.

It has been a week since he last talked to you. Be it physical or virtual, the tension deepened between the two of you and the distance continued to stretch like bubblegum.

Since you both started off as friends, it seemed too good to be true when at that one class, he exchanged numbers with you for a project. Ecstatic and excited, the chemistry you had with him just.. sparked.

He filled in the blanks of your questions of a certain topic and you matched with him as if you were the missing piece to his jigsaw puzzle. The flavour of your friendship was really sweet, people viewed you as each other’s lover. You guessed that, to him, that teasing gesture was a joke. But in fact to you, hoped it was real, even the slightest percent.

How you fell for him was totally uncalled for. At first you treated him like any other friend and gosh how Cupid worked fast. You developed feelings for him and whenever you’d meet, your fingers were crossed in hopes you didn’t wear your heart on your sleeves. So you wore a baseball cap or mask to hide your ‘inlove’ eyes or the redness spreading across your cheeks.

Hansol was dense, or maybe not. You couldn’t read him at all.

Yet that flavour slowly became bland as time passed. Hansol avoided you for who knew what reasons why he did. You thought you knew; guess the number of years doesn’t equal with the intimacy of your friendship.

Tapping letters on your keyboard, you sigh and slid half of your frame on the table at the cafeteria. Seungkwan saw your saddened body from afar right after he got his tray. “Hey y/n..” his voice creating a tune that you immediately lifted your head as if you were hypnotised. “Have you risen from your grave?”

He bit his lips knowing his metaphor went too far, but you accepted it anyway since you did act lifeless for while when Hansol started to ignore you. “I have. But I’ll probably go back to it if ever I run into Hansol again.” you let out a stupid short breath. “I’m not supposed to be sad about it, yet I am, why am I like this, does he not like me anymore- I don’t know what to do.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes at the tantrums you unknowingly let out. He was starting to feel embarrassed when your lips began to open again. “Ah-ah.” he warned you as his fingers waved sideways. “Girl, did you forget how to think? We use our brains, not our mouths!” he hissed, eyes looking at the surrounding people just in case they ever witness or eavesdrop the conversation.

Your pale lips formed a flat line and Seungkwan swore you looked like you’ve seen a ghost behind him. Realistically speaking it was mid-day so obviously they wouldn’t appear. There were other things though, but in this specific meoment he knew why your whiney attitude suddenly turned cold, vulnerable and fragile like a dented glass cup.

He assured you that he’d try to talk it out with him; maybe knock down his walls to open up about the ongoing, about-to-be toxic friendship. Seungkwan left his tray for a while to catch up to Hansol, who was now with Wonwoo to eat lunch just tables away from yours. You eyed him as Boo approached your new-found crush a.k.a project partner with a knuckle fist nudge in the arm.

“Hey man, wanna eat with us?” Hansol asked as he pointed the table with his thumb and

“Oh yeah join us. We were just talking about the gathering we’ll have with the others later.” Wonwoo nodded in agreement with the younger one’s company.

Seungkwan declines in an instant, saying that he was already having one with you. Hansol turned to where you were seated and became silent as a response. “I just mentioned her name and you’re already shushed up.” he joked where in fact he was trying to hit him with words so Hansol could open his heart.

“Nah, I’m just really hungry.” he said. A total excuse to not cross paths with you again today.

“Uh-huh, keep saying that.” Seungkwan’s tone alerted the dude. “That’s excuse number twenty-one.”

Wonwoo tried to hold back his smirk. He as well noticed the Hansol’s recent behaviour and it was honestly stupid to able to have the guts to ignore you.

Hansol raised his eyebrows, the topic was getting too personal at least for him. “What’s up with you ‘Kwan?”

“One day dude. One day!” he brought his finger up in emphasis. “You’ll look back at those times and see that all along, you were falling in love with y/n.” Seungkwan turned his foot to head straight to you.

— — —

The days of ignoring you gradually became frequent to the point where it eventually turned out to be a habit. Hansol laid lazily in his bean bag with an awkward posture, tapping his phone away in which Seungcheol thought he was doing his project. The kid was too focused and it would be rude to stop him; but the older one knew his ways. He grabbed the phone, making Hansol shocked and lost for words.

Busted.

Seungcheol was the big brother of the group and he knew he had to correct the habits that were going too far. In this case? The way Hansol continually avoided the conversation regarding you; the way he changed directions to not meet you face to face; the way he does not head out to discuss about the project- the list could go on and on.

Yet, there one certain thing that went too far, and all the boys in his circle do agree and were all in favour to beat the dense one to a pulp if he still does it the last time.

And that was the way he doesn’t invite you to the apartment anymore.

Since befriending you and all of his friends funnily ‘adopted’ you in their group, they loved your company and how jolly you were and how they finally have a sister to bicker non-stop. But because of Hansol’s new weird habits and inconsistent contact with you, those were put into halt. And they didn’t know when you’ll ever visit.

“I thought you were doing your project?” Seungcheol asked as he waved the phone in question.

“I was.” Hansol shrugged, reaching out for his phone. He took it back but now he attracted attention from everyone in the apartment, though they didn’t bother add in remarks. They stood and watched. “Taking a little break that’s all.” he sat back down.

“Okay.” Seungcheol walked towards him, nudging him to snap out of it. “Are you having a break with her too?”

The television’s volume lowered down to silence just so that Hansol knew the intensity and how serious it had become with you. He rotated his head dramatically— and quickly too— that he probably pulled a muscle around his neck. “You mean y/n? No, I still talk with her.”

“Doesn’t look like that to us.” Seungcheol noticed they others with ears attentively listening and hearing the conversation out. “Her presence needed in the crew, she’s part of us now. Like she’s the honey syrup to plain pancakes.”

“And your point is?” Hansol scrolled down some platform for entertainment before stopping at a certain thing.

“Everyone here misses her. I know you do too.” he said, but leaned backwards as the younger one stood and headed for the door.

The hallway revealed you and although he expected it after from scrolling down his phone earlier, he internally panicked. He didn’t know how to act at your appearance and existence so close. Regaining his composure, he exhaled as he began to speak. “Why are you here?”

“I came because you didn’t answer my calls.” you showed your phone. “For three weeks ‘Han. Three weeks and you just left me hanging in the air.”

“Yikes.” Chan whispered and pursed his lips at your tone with the rest who now witnessed the both of you. Jeonghan had to ask him to refrain from giving reactions since this was serious.

Hansol’s lips agape but he shut them close. “I didn’t ask you to come here. I’ll reply to you immediately anyway.

“Sure, you do.” you smiled sarcastically with arms crossed, not knowing where this talk would end up in.

“C’mon y/n, can we just talk virtually? I’m getting tired-”

You scoffed, now unfolding your arms in disbelief and how idiotic he just sounded. “-tired of me?”

Hansol paused for a while and then rubbed his temples at your attempt in completing his sentence. “Look the main point is, at least I replied.”

“But how am I supposed to continue doing my part in the project when the suggestions I get is your one-word text messages? A call would be better. Just what is up with you?” you asked with a tone a little louder this time that it echoed the empty hallway.

“Tsk, you’re so naggy whenever you’re pissed. Seriously you’re so annoying.” he turned his heel when he noticed how pale you looked. He realised that he has gotten too far this time.

His friends gestured with their faces and limbs at Hansol’s blunt, unnecessary reply. You’ve gone ridiculously silent and it drove them crazy.

“Ah.. I see.” you stepped backwards, hurt with his words. Your fingers fiddled nervously and it was as if oxygen was taken away from your pained heart.

This action of yours caused Hansol’s heart to drop, plummeting to the floor. He cursed himself for not thinking things straight. It was a simple conversation that eventually turned into a serious one. Full offence was written on your face and he never seen you like this before. And to think this was his doing? Uh-oh.

He tried to reach out for you but you continued to step backwards and then turning to leave. Right.. what was I thinking? Coming here in hopes things may change and him possibly loving me.. you said to yourself.

Unbeknownst to you though, a group of other college kids filled the end of the hallway. They were drunk, Hansol could clearly see it. But with the way you swayed weakly at his doing, you didn’t notice them approaching you.

“Ooh, hey girl did your boyfriend break up with you?” he asked, seeing Hansol still at the door of his apartment.

“Get away from my boyfriend you ugly!” The guy’s girlfriend, or more of a hook up, got in the way and pushed you aside until you were shoved to the ground by the staircase.

You hissed at the impact and the growing pain at the back of your head. Those drunken kids left laughing until their echoes weren’t heard anymore.

Now your vision was getting in and out of consciousness, black and white patches take their turn to overpower your sight. Of course, Hansol wouldn’t save you. It was already given with the way he acted earlier. Your hearing rang as you tried to lift yourself when a figure shook your weak self.

But with the combination of the hurt Hansol gave you and the impact of the fall, darkness overpowered your sight; dimming until you eventually lost consciousness.

— — —

The softness of the sheets, warmth from your body heat and the coolness of the damp towel on your forehead were enough to keep you out of your slumber. You fluttered your eyes open, blinding shortly from the rays of the sun entering the window beside you.

It didn’t take long for you to figure out the man sitting by the bed with worried arms. His perfume gave his identity away. You wanted to sound ecstatic but then you remembered how he treated you at his front door.

“Hansol?” you managed to let out words he didn’t expect you to say first thing after waking up. “Where am I?”

“Hey, y/n..” he prolonged your name. “.. you’re in my room, on my bed.” he held your hands as he helped you sit up.

Silence filled the room again, just like what had happened at the hallway. Seungkwan entered swiftly and brought a breakfast tray for you to strengthen up, then smacking his friend in the head; obviously for hurting you. “Tsk, see what you did to my bub. You’ll pay for it Chwe Hansol.” he bit his lips in attempt of hitting the lad. Mingyu took the bucket and replaced it with a new one for the towel.

“Why am I in your room?” you asked.

“You had a concussion when those drunkards pushed you down the staircase. Gladly it wasn’t serious but Jeonghan hyung said you were burning with a fever as well. He helped me carry you back to the apartment.” he twisted the cloth where the droplets of water was the only thing heard in the room again.

Observing his actions, clearly he was sorry for how he treated you; that being written in his face when he averted eye contact with you. While you ate, questions began to fill your mind and maybe this was the time to actually be frank with him. You lowered your spoon which caught his attention.

“Do you want water? I’ll get some for you-” he offered, only to be cut off with that one striking description.

“I’m worried that you’re changing into someone I don’t recognise anymore.”

The words were monotonous, piercing to the core and Hansol thought he shattered to pieces. The more he absorbed the words, the deeper the wound got and it was like salt was added to it for intensity. But in fact it was just a push he thought he needed.

“Surprised about that fact of myself too. And the guys did me a scolding for it, hence why I’m telling you in all honesty.” Hansol scooted closer to you, where he was adjacent to your laying body. “But I just wanna let you know.. it’s not you, y/n. It’s me.”

“Fine, okay. Make this be a worth one listening to.” you munched on the food prepared by Joshua.

“It was never you, and it’s always me. You didn’t do anything wrong- rather it was me-”

You scoffed annoyingly that you were already angry eating. “Okay, maybe not. ‘Me, you, me, you’.. Get straight to the point Hansol or else I’m gonna have to ask Minghao to drive me home-”

“Wait! I- uh- hear me out, please.“ he exhaled. “I’m not good with words. And I know I’ve been a douche in the past weeks and I wasn’t myself. But, the guys made me realize something I thought I was doing correctly. Honestly y/n, my feelings for you have changed since. It was more than what we are and I’m afraid it’ll take a toll on our friendship if I confirmed it.”

You let him speak as if he was music to your ears. He held your left hand and played with it as he continued.

“I was like a device buffering and delaying the minutes, preventing it to load to a full one hundred percent. If I reach that point I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.” he paused when you actually turned you direction to him.

“‘Handle’?..” you raised your brows.

Hansol scoffed for himself at how stupid he’d be when he says it. But whatever, it was you anyway. “I’ll explode each time I see you. I shy away when you give small laughs at my corny jokes and I turn red even if we only talk about the project and-”

“Red as in you are now?” you asked, poking his cheeks lightly to the touch.

“Yeah red like I am now- Wait huh?” he stopped to feel the growing heat in his flesh.

“So you’ve been avoiding me because you like me?” you asked, holding back the full-on laughter that he’d probably be embarrassed of. “What are you, five?”

“I- I do have feelings for y-you but I’m not really sure if they’re just i-infatuation or-”

“Maybe this will confirm it.” The frequent stutter he has had you doing the unbelievable. You tugged his shirt closer to you enough for a kiss, forcing a little to deepen it.

Hansol knew he was blushing since he noticed the presence of his friends just behind that wooden door.

Realizing and confirming the feelings he bottled up inside, he smiled within the kiss and pulled you back again when you thought you finished your part. He cupped your chin, tilting slightly to tell you he wasn’t done. You loosened the clench on his shirt and returned the kiss.

You both pulled away with red cheeks and swollen lips. The sun came out just at the right timing when he thought he saw an angel before him. Its sunrays added color to your eyes, and the outline of your body enlightened with glow.

“Yeah.. That confirmed it so well..” he hummed, sitting next to you on the bed as you laid on his chest.

He said he buffered the minutes because he was afraid to explode. Maybe it was meant to do that because he knew he wouldn’t take it when it was done so suddenly. But because he reached full percent, he somehow, actually expected the kiss.

You were now his girlfriend and that ensured him to know where you both stand.

Today he was yours and you were his.

#seventeen #seventeen angst #seventeen scenario #seventeen vernon #seventeen hansol #svt imagines #chwe vernon #chwe hansol #vernon #svt vernon #vernon scenarios #vernon angst #svt scenarios #svt fanfics #vernon fanfics

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evabellasworld · 4 years

Text

Death of Mandalore

Chapter 10

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

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Summary: After murdering Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic, Vanya Doyvesky joined leagues with both Death Watch and Darth Maul, hoping to reclaim her Mandalorian warrior heritage. But with broken promises and betrayal against Death Watch and Maul’s crime syndicate, the former Mandalorian Jedi had to choose the right path not only for her but for Clan Doyvesky as well.

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Carrying a tray of hot porridge and a cup of water, Vanya entered her cell and saw the Duchess contemplating the walls, with her hair loose. “Your meal, your Highness,” she knocked, as she showed her courtesy and placed them in front of the door. “It’s freshly-made in the kitchen.”

“I’m not hungry,” declined Satine, as she turned around, making Vanya avoid eye-contact with her.

“Well, just in case you are, I’ll be leaving them here,” insisted Vanya. “Besides, when was your last meal?

Her eyes pried. “You seem wounded tight, soldier. Are you alright?”

“I should get back to my duty,” she avoided her questions, averting from her. “I can’t keep my master for waiting too long anyways.”

As she shut her cell door, Satine got up, leaning closer to the glass. “I know you don’t want to do this,” she blurted out.

Vanya stopped dead in her tracks, her lips feeling dry. She was at a loss for words. “You’re a Jedi Master, am I right?”

“How did you know?” she stammered, shifting her focus towards her.

“That’s what Maul referred to you,” Satine told her. “I was aware that he freed you in exchange for giving you power on Mandalore. Is that true?”

“Well, he also promised me to avenge my sister’s death by killing Vizsla,” Vanya included, bobbing her head. “I admit that he’s sketchy but at least he delivers his promise, unlike the latter.”

“Vanya, dear, do you actually want all of that? A Jedi never lusts for power and violence.”

She’s not lying, she clutched her fingers together, her lips pressed. “Regardless of that, at least my family has better treatment now.”

“But at what cost? You’re distanced from your parents, let alone your own sisters.”

“My sisters are fine,” Vanya riposted. “I get to spend more time with them than when I was a Jedi, who was bound to the dogmatic rules that discourage their followers to form a loving relationship with one another.”

Satine exhaled, reminiscing of her time with her former lover, realising that she cannot convince her. “Just be careful, alright? Your sisters can’t afford to lose another family member.”

Without saying a word, Vanya gave her a deep bow and headed towards the lift, leaving her alone. She was aware of the Duchess’s relationship with her younger sister and seeing them not getting along with each other saddened her. She could never imagine cutting ties with her own siblings, let alone her whole family.

Is this what I really wanted? she doubted herself, a drop of paint splattering on her chestplate. Is Vasilia really proud of us?

Staring at her Mandalorian helmet that she gained from Maul, Vanya reached for the brush next to her and gently painted the rim of the visor in crimson to complement his skin colour, and the lives of the people that he claimed with his blade that was forged from pure hatred.

The Doyvesky’s colour, on the other hand, was emerald green, which matches the colour of the crops that were ravaged by war and violence surrounding them. Though Mandalorians were once proud warriors that forged through the storm, they were also farmers, artisans, actors, and peacekeepers, just like the former Duchess.

Noticing her vacant stare towards her armour, Katrina and Maria exchanged a brief look with each other before the latter cleared her throat and tugged her sleeves, catching her attention. “You alright, Vanya?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm alright,” she nodded, as she put down the brushes, before taking a larger one. “I'm just thinking about what to paint on my armour, that's all.”

Katrina raised her eyebrows. “I'm pretty sure Maul wanted the colour scheme to be the same. After all, we're supposed to be a unified army.”

“Well, I never liked the colour red,” Vanya shook her head. “They look like-”

“Yeah, we get it,” she interrupted. “Red is the colour of blood. It leaves a stain on crops and grasses, just like what Mama used to say.”

“Why can't we just colour our armour based on our clan? It's the Mandalorian way.”

“Like Bo said,” Maria spoke, her cheeks stained with red paint. “Maul's an outsider who claimed the throne of Mandalore from Vizsla.”

“Since when do you agree with Bo Karen?” Katrina puzzled. “You never even like her in the first place.”

“I don't, but she does have a point, though Mandalorian culture believes in adopting others from different worlds, which Death Watch do not practice at all.”

“Yeah, they only take the part of the law that they like,” Vanya agreed. “Like murdering people and burning their village to the ground.”

“True, though Maul isn't a better option either,” Katrina clarified. “After all, he's letting a bunch of crime families help run Mandalore and the Underworld.”

“How do you know that?” Maria asked, nonplussed.

“That's what Maul literally said to us earlier while we were in prison,” she slapped her own forehead. “Besides, Almec agreed to it through formal documents with his cabinet.”

“He picked his administration already?” Vanya gasped in an exaggerated manner, covering her mouth. “Oh, do tell us.”

Katrina looked left and right as she gestured to her sisters to lean closer to her. “Okay, so from what I've gathered so far,” she began, in a hushed tone. “The people of Mandalore have no contact with the others outside the planet.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Maria voiced underneath her breath. “You mean to tell me that the HoloNet isn't accessible to them?”

“Unfortunately yes, but that's not all. While domestic communications are allowed, their transmission is monitored, meaning the government is watching every move of the citizens twenty-four seven.”

“But hold on,” Vanya raised her finger. “That's not freedom, that's just-”

“Authoritarianism and dictatorship,” Katrina finished her sentence. “Maul and Almec are running a police state.”

“You know, I never realise Satine's government were great until we overthrow her and replaced them with a fucking dictatorship,” Maria considered, stroking her chin. “But that doesn't really mean that pacifism works one hundred percent though.”

“The only reason why it didn't work was because of us,” Katrina enunciated. “I mean, we were the ones who hired those things in the first place just to make Satine look incompetent.”

Vanya wiped the back of her neck, before taking a breath. “Okay, so what's our plan? How do we get out of this mess?”

“We could go back to Mama and Papa, just like what Vasilia wanted,” Katrina gave her a reminder, shrugging.

“Impossible,” Maria disagreed. “Maul might kill our entire family if he finds out.”

“Yeah, that is true,” Vanya breathed. “Anything else that doesn't involve death?”

“Fine, we'll go along with our duties like before and see how it goes,” Katrina suggested.

“You di'kut,” Maria cursed. “The last time we did that, Vasilia was murdered by Death Watch.”

“Yeah, and we figured that Death Watch wasn't our thing.”

“I hate to admit, but that's our only option right now,” Vanya gave in. “If we act now, Maul will not only have our heads, but our families as well so for now, we'll go back to our duties, and then when the time comes, we can execute our plans, alright?”

Maria let out a frustrating groan. “Fine, whatever. Let's just hope we have better options after this.”

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