#bd ladder

[roysexton]

“Thoughtful, strategic adoption of AI rather than chasing trends.” The Professionals: Inside Professional Services Marketing magazine covers launch of BD Ladder’s book “The Impact of AI on Business Development & Marketing in Professional Services” (with contribution from yours truly) #lmamkt #lma24 #AI

Thank you, The Professionals: Inside Professional Services Marketing magazine, for this feature and shout out. EXCERPT: “AI is certainly not a new phenomenon, and many firms and individuals within professional services firms are experimenting and even using it to save time. However, for many firms, its full potential to deliver and enhance their business development and marketing efforts has so…

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I was fascinated by this dome home, b/c it looks like someone doesn't know what a dome is, and made a ball. It also has a belvedere, which is usually on a Victorian roof. But, the 1984 Montauk, NY home is surprisingly nice inside. It has 3bds, 2.5ba, and they're asking $2.1M, reduced by $490K.

The large entrance hall fits a baby grand piano with room to spare.

It's an interesting home and like a giant piece of art. Notice the planter on the right is set into a square hole in the floor.

Look at the ceiling. It reminds me of some sort of DaVinci contraption. And, look at the angled wall held up by a column. It's really a work of art. The belvedere looks like the bottom of a hot air balloon.

This is quite nice- speakers on the ceiling aimed at the sofa and two big windows.

The French stove is gorgeous and I would move the table and chair over to make it a focal point.

Surprisingly, the kitchen is huge. Look at the size of it. So many cabinets. The drawback is that it's so spread out, but the actual work triangle is contained in a nook.

Here's Bd. #1- look at the floor. That's a lovely nautical touch.

In Bd. #2 there's another inlaid pattern, but the bed is over it.

Nice shower room.

Bd. #3 seems to be the primary bedroom b/c it has direct access to the bath.

This is unique.

I'm not sure, but this might be the ladder to the belvedere. It folds and fits neatly into the wall like an attic ladder.

Here we are in the belvedere, a roomy observatory with benches and a table for entertaining or a cozy family space. But, wouldn't it make a great art studio?

I'm surprised that the home has a basement. Look at all the paintings, the owner must be an artist.

Outside there's a nice deck with a built-in bench.

The exterior needs some work- replacement shingles and landscaping.

The price is high, b/c this is Montauk, Long Island in NY (in the posh Hamptons). It's near the Montauk Lighthouse and that must be a community pool. It's on the shores of Lake Montauk, but it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Montauk is located at the tip of Long Island.

9,583 sq ft lot.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/54-E-Lake-Dr-Montauk-NY-11954/32653449_zpid/?

[kanerallels]

For the Christmas drabble thingy: MERRICAL & MISTLETOE

Since you were the first to send me an ask, you get an early answer! Most of these I'll probably answer during December sometime, depending on how many I get. (also, since I answered it early, you can send another one if you want! I don't have many asks at the moment lol)

Send me a ship and something Christmas-y and I'll write you a ficlet!

“So you really never celebrated Life Day on Dathomir?” Cal asked as he rummaged through a box of decorations.

“No,” Merrin said, eyeing the string of lights she was holding dubiously. “It was not a customary holiday.”

“Well, you’re going to love it,” Cal assured her. “It’s pretty popular in the Core world these days— and judging by the amount of decorations Greez has here, it’s pretty popular with these guys.” Selecting a small bundle of greenery, he frowned at it. “Greez, why do you have mistletoe?”

“It’s tradition, Kestis!” their pilot shouted from the cockpit. “Don’t scoff at tradition. Put it up over the doorway.”

“Okay, but I’m not kissing you.”

As Cal climbed to the top of the step ladder he’d located and began affixing it to the door frame, Merrin strolled over to study the plant. “What is this mistletoe?”

“It’s a plant from some Outer Rim world,” Cal explained, pinning it in place. “The tradition is, if two people end up underneath it together, they have to kiss, or it’s bad luck.”

“A good way to make the holidays awkward,” Cere chimed in from the kitchen, where she was settling mini bouquets of holly here and there with BD-1’s help.

Cal laughed, hopping down from the ladder. “I guess so. How does it look?”

“Good, I think,” Merrin replied from next to him, and Cal glanced at her. She met his gaze, a frown crossing her face. “Are we under the mistletoe?”

Cal’s eyes widened. “Oh. Yeah, I guess we are.”

“Hmm.” Merrin looked thoughtful for a moment, then leaned in and pressed a quick kiss against his lips. “We don’t want bad luck. On Dathomir, such things are to be avoided.”

As she headed to where Cere was watching with amusement, Cal watched her go. “Uh— yeah,” he said. “Seems… like a good move.”

[mhbcaps]

updated blorbo catalog :)

info, tags, and more under the cut!

relationship map:

David “V” Lozano: my canon V, a born-and-bred Heywood brawler who never really cared about being famous but god Jackie made it sound so good. He doesn’t think he can make a difference and he doesn’t really try to. It’s all about survival, and corps can wipe you out in the blink of an eye. He would’ve minded his damn business after the heist if it hadn’t been for Johnny.

Viggo “Gogo” Day: a Static of the Kessler clan along with their three brothers and a sister. They’re David’s best friend, a bright and cheerful foil to his taciturn toughness. The city hasn’t beaten the optimism out of them yet, and they have a lot of friends in surprising places who’d like to keep it that way.

Sanctuary Zelenko: Medtech washout, ex-Scav, currently a ripperdoc in Northside. They’re eccentric, they’re enigmatic, they’re downright creepy sometimes. Their friends tell people they’re harmless, but no one knows for sure. Best not to find out.

Brother Calloway: a statuesque netrunner that’s earned herself a spot in the Afterlife’s back booths. She’s highly focused and more than a little intimidating when she’s working, but in her personal life she tends to be quite demure in contrast.

Omen: a hard-boiled techie from Pacifica. He generally prefers machines to people, but his patience can be bought with salty snacks, and rumor has it that he's got a soft spot for ex-gang members and new techies.

Harvey Vignaud: London-born and never figured he’d do anything else but work for Arasaka like his parents. And he did, for a while, netrunning his way up the corpo ladder and earning himself a reputation as someone you never want to meet out there in the net. Then he quit and became a BD editor instead. There’s not much more to it - he’s fickle, and he’s got the skills to do whatever he wants and not be bothered about it. He’s got the air of someone standing comfortably on that thin line between enigmatic and completely detached from reality.

Heiress Sharp: Seasoned merc and 6th Street royalty - her grandfather was Santo Domingo’s premier fixer in the 2020s and her mother was a founding member of the Street. She used to be a high school teacher, but she got sick of corpos headhunting her students. Now she takes young and dumb mercs under her wing and teaches them a thing or two about survival before the city can eat them alive.

Joey Armas: Scav who grew up homeless in Pacifica. His brother was killed by some trust fund kid testing out their new combat-grade implants--that’s probably what set him down the path that led to the cyberware and organ black market.

Hunter Ward: the eldest daughter of Gogo and River. She’s a rainbow baby and her parents are protective of her, and she’s fine with that. Probably why she tends to be shy and doesn’t go out much without her family. Put her on a motorcycle, though, and she lights up like Christmas.

the St. Martin family: four siblings from the Kessler nomad clan who settled on the outskirts of Night City so that Augie could attend his mandatory therapy after the Unification War drove him to cyberpsychosis. They own and operate a rest stop just outside the city.

Auguste (Augie) & Noel are identical twins and the eldest of the four. They served in the Unification War: Noel in communications, Augie as a panzerboy. Augie is registered as a cyberpsycho in Night City, and doing well in therapy, but remains shy and reclusive. Noel is highly protective of him, and almost as distrustful of any cyberware.

Léonide (Leo) is the middle child, occasionally referred to as Gogo's twin because they were born only a few months apart and Leo's mother nursed Gogo after their mother died in childbirth. Leo suffers from the classic middle child syndrome and was a little too eager to break away from the family when they settled in Night City. Like Gogo, he loves the lights and excitement of Night City, but unlike Gogo, he gravitates to the darker side - and his abrasive personality doesn't earn him many favors. His dream is to be a rocker, but in the meantime he takes grunt jobs as a merc and makes a lot of people mad.

Marceline (Molly) is the youngest St. Martin. She feels torn between Night City and her family - she wants to live it up as a rocker in the glitz and glamour of the city, but she also feels a responsibility to stay with Noel and Augie on the outskirts because she knows Noel is resentful of Leo and Gogo for choosing to live in the city.

[novaonhere]

One Foot In Front Of The Other

Relationship: Cal Kestis x f!reader

Summary: You and Cal rest on the Mantis in your shared bedroom as you travel to Jedah to meet Cere and the Hidden Path. You both can’t sleep and end up talking.

Word Count: 760

Warnings: Nah

A/N: Short, but sweet. Feel free to send in Cal requests ;)

Prompt: “It gets easier.” “Are you lying?” “… Of course I am.”

(gif not mine)

————————————————————————

Stretching your arms above your head, you look over from your place on the bed towards the clock above the door. 2:15 AM. Great, you’ve been trying to sleep for hours now with no luck. You stare at the bunk above you, outlining the frame work to try to make yourself tired. No luck.

These past few days have been extremely stressful and taxing. Who the hell was this Dagan guy? Why did Cal just open the bacta tank? So many questions with little answers. You had been waiting outside that room, keeping guard as Cal wanted to go in alone. He persisted, saying the force was guiding him and didn’t want to lead you into anymore trouble. It was only until he screamed your name that you blasted your way in, weapons aimed at the fallen jedi. Dagan had escaped, and you and Cal were kicking yourselves constantly.

When you got back to the Mantis, you settled a game plan with the rest of the crew and you’re currently heading to Jedah.

You groan and roll over to your side, staring at the metal wall. The top bunk shifts above you, with the same groan emitting from it.

“Cant sleep?” Cal groans as BD climbs down from the bunk and to you. You pat the droid on the head as it chirps with affection.

“Nope,” you respond, placing BD onto the ground, who leaves the room to go check up on Greez. You sigh. “Still thinking about earlier.” The top bunk shifts wildly, as a freckled leg flings off and onto the ladder, followed by another one. Cal climbs down, his pants scrunched up like shorts from the recklessness of trying to sleep. His shirt is unbuttoned at the top, his collarbones practically being showcased. His hair is a mess, probably from slamming it against the pillow countless times. He looked a bit miserable, he looked how you felt.

“Can I lay with you?” He asked, stepping his last foot onto the ground, staring down at your frame. This wasn’t an unusual request, but he usually asked when you were reading and wanted to read with you. You nodded, moving aside to allow him to be next to you.

“Cal, have you always felt like this after a long day?” You ask, holding out your arms. He slowly falls into your embrace, moving the comforter to cover you both. He places his head next to yours. You reach down to grab his hand, bringing it up to your stomach. You hold him there, using your other hand to trace each scare and poke each freckle. He’s been through so much, even before you joined the crew.

“It gets easier.” He chuckles, mostly to himself because you don’t believe a word out of his mouth. You turn your focus away from his hand and to his face. He stares at his bunk above, his bright eyes shining from your view. They weren’t shining from tears, but more of being exhausted. No amount of sleep would ever solve it. You scowl.

“Are you lying?” You ask, squeezing his hand a bit. He sighs, turning to face you. His stubble has just grown through, perfectly matching his wild hair spewing across your pillow. Your scowl turns to a warm smile, which he copies.

“… Of course I am.” He whispers, taking his free hand to stroke your face. “However, you have helped a lot from it getting worse.” You blush at his words. He chuckles seeing the pink blush spread across your face.

“I’m glad I could help,” You whisper back, squeezing his hand. He squeezes back, bringing your hands up to his face to leave a long, lingering kiss to the back of your hand. Your blush darkens.

“I like the saying that you told me a while back. It’s helped me really hold onto my beliefs and continue fighting.” He looks back to the bunk bed, staring intently, as if trying to see past the bed, the ship, and into the stars around them. You cuddle closer to his side, wrapping your arm around his torso.

“One foot in front of the other. My mother would say that to me if I found something difficult.” You hum, feeling your eyelids start to droop. Cal kisses the top of your head.

“Let’s just unbunk the bed and set ours next to eachother. Big bed!” He chuckles, closing his own eyes as well. You barley hear his words as you finally find yourself falling asleep in his warm embrace.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Dion J. Pierre

Stanford University in California will withhold degrees from any seniors who participated in occupying the school president’s office during a pro-Hamas riot that broke out this week and caused the injury of a public safety officer.

“Thirteen individuals were arrested inside Building 10 this morning,” Stanford president Richard Saller and provost Jenny Martinez wrote in a message to the campus community on Wednesday. “In addition to going through the law enforcement process, any arrested individuals who are students will be immediately suspended. Any seniors will not be allowed to graduate.”

They added, “These actions are necessary based on the public safety threat posed to our campus community.”

According to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the university has been resolute in resisting their demands for the adoption of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination.

Before occupying Saller’s office, the anti-Israel group assembled a collection of tents on White Plaza — widely referred to as a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Despite living there since April 25, the university declined to negotiate terms with its members, a rebuff SJP called “gravely insulting to Palestinians and pro-Palestinian students on campus.”

Refusing to be ignored, SJP, as reported by The Stanford Daily, raided Saller’s office on Wednesday morning and dozens of other students, forming a human chain, “surrounded the building.” SJP proceeded to lock themselves inside, using, the Daily added, “bike locks, chains, ladders, and chairs” and covering security cameras with tin foil. SJP then reiterated its terms, demanding that no criminal charges be filed against its members and that any disciplinary proceedings currently underway be terminated.

Saller and Martinez said in Wednesday’s statement that this was a step too far, noting that the president’s office wasn’t the only building which SJP attempted to occupy.

[bereft-of-frogs]

the station | chapter 2/12

Post-Fallen Order: After months of halfhearted attempts, the Haxion Brood finally gets the jump on the Mantis crew. They drag their prisoners back to Sorc Tormo’s new venture, a half-constructed station in a remote asteroid belt, where he has a proposition for them: Greez’s debts, erased, as long as the crew helps him track down a troublesome old friend. With hostages, visceral threats of violence, and a former-Imperial staffer consultant pulling the strings, it seems the Brood has the upper hand. But there is one narrow way through: the crew just has to trust each other and hope that the bluff can be called.

chapter 2: prisoners

Merrin is already seated cross-legged on the floor, hands bound behind her back. She glowers with a stormy anger. “Hello,” she says bitterly. The mercenaries shove Greez into the cell beside hers and Cal and Cere each into ones opposite. BD-1 they set in a smaller cage between. Though the metal forming the cages is worn and rusted, the locks are all gleaming new, high-end. They shut and lock with heavy, final clanks. “Hey, hey, aren’t you going to take these cuffs off?” Greez asks but the bounty hunters ignore him. The lesser mercenaries head down the ramp while Hela and Dannec climb the ladder to the flight deck. The ramp closes and leaves them in semi-darkness, the hold lit only by amber lamps hung from the ceiling. “Guess that’s a no,” Greez grumbles. “Nice.” The Brood takes the crew hostage. Cal struggles with being unable to reach the Force, Greez struggles with guilt, Cere advises patience even as her own frays, and Merrin's just pissed.

[ link to ao3 ]

[ chapter 1 ]

Ok, I think I've set it up properly so there shouldn't be any glaring formatting issues as I do the 'post and run to work' thing. (Second chapter is always the moment of truth for 'did I put the first end note on the right thing??')

Enjoy! Kudos/comments/reblogs/frogs always appreciated! <3

[whollyjoly]

tag game

✨get to know me✨

thank you @xxluckystrike @panzershrike-pretz @luckynumber4 for the tags my loves 💕

- Name:

em! (although Occasional Cult Leader and Obsessed With Alton More are acceptable as well 😂)

- Pronouns:

she/her/hers!

- Star sign:

CRAB SIGN CRAB SIGN CRAB SIGN 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀 ...no but actually im cancer sun cancer moon cancer mercury, the stars really said fuck you you're gonna be an emotional wreck and they were goddamn right

- # of siblings and fun facts about them (if you have any):

only child babyyyyyyyy ...well technically i have three step-sibs, but they are all older and were out of the house by the time our parents moved in together, so i never really? experienced sibling-ness with them?

- # of pets & their names:

my baby, my child, my little monster, the love of my life, my sweet cat BD-2 💕 she is an absolute fluffy menace, little miss priss, the queen of the castle, and im obsessed with her. nicknames include: Squeaky (cause she doesn't meow, she squeaks), Squeaks, The Squeaky One, The Lord Squeaketh (and The Lord Demandeth the Play), Shrimp Whiskers, Menace, Floof Creature, Angel Who Has Never Done Any Wrong, and Baby 🥰

- Fandoms:

lord i have been in so many fandoms over my many tumblr years...right now its full Band of Brothers hyperfixation season, but I'm watching M*A*S*H for the first time right now and slowly am falling into the rabbit hole also im a star wars girlie from way back (shoutout to all my old clone wars moots who were probably like "what the fuck" when i started posting about wwii men, sorry not sorry) also also: watcher, doctor who, star trek (tos mostly), chernobyl, and various other things, as a treat✨

- Favorite color:

im an olive green girlie, although deep purple has a special place in my heart!

- Favorite song:

holocene by bon iver ❤️ it's my all time favorite song, the song i listen to when my anxiety feels overwhelming, what i put on when i need to center myself and get out of my head. (someway, baby, it's part of me, apart from me)

- Favorite author (of anything readable - books, fanfics, zines, webtoons, whatever!):

sooooo my all-time fav book is Invisible Cites by Italo Calvino!! i am absolutely obsessed with the way he describes physical places and emotions, the metaphors and imagery and the way he describes the feeling a place or person can give you without actually describing it at all? it's both dreamlike and ethereal and grounded and real at the same time, and i just....love it so much. here's one of my favorite bits from the book:

Cities & The Sky [3] Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city, beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwalks hanging from ropes or surrounded by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask, "Why is Thekla's construction taking such a long time?" the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer, "So that its destruction cannot begin." And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumple and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, "Not only the city." If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams. "What meaning does your construction have?" he asks. "What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?" "We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now," they answer. Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. "There is the blueprint," they say.

- Favorite fic type:

oh i will eat up...anything. literally anything. BUT if i had to pick, i have a special place in my heart for: soulmate AUs, angst with a happy ending, fake relationship AUs, hurt/comfort, time loops, magical realism AUs (particularly if canon-divergent), and the good old classic, fluffy modern AUs 💕

- Favorite Holiday:

i fucking...love christmastime okay?? i love the traditions my family has for it, like Short Feast on the winter solstice (where we eat Short Ribs and Short Grain Rice and Short Vegetables and Shortbread and put on our Short Pants and drink Short Bottles of Whiskey and go outside to Welcome the Coming of the Light, after the Longest Night of the Year), as well as finding/writing poems on Christmas Eve and walking to the large 600+ year old sequoia trees in our neighborhood to recite them and bring good energy to the new year, to watching It's A Wonderful Life every year. holidays and traditions are so much what you make of it, and i love the energy my family brings into it - nothing is precious, but everything is sacred.

- Do you have a partner (romantic, qpr, anything!)?:

ye, i have a bf!

- Hobbies:

i love to cross-stitch! it helps my adhd ass brain focus on things, so if ever im watching a show or listening to a podcast, i usually have a hoop in my hands. i also love board games - particularly social deception games! and of course - watching tv/movies, reading fic, consuming media, making moodboards, dreaming up fic ideas, and all the lovely things you see me talk about here on tumblr 💕

- Fun facts about you:

uhhhhhhhhhhhh i dont?? know if i have a fun fact?? about me??? OH WAIT okay this is for the bob fans out there - so i was visiting philly not all that long ago, and went to both front street and 17th street in south philly For Our Boys, bill and babe ❤️ and while i was there, i went into a bookstore that was right on s 17th street... and they had a SINGLE copy of bill and babe's book!! i got it of course, and it felt like it was absolutely meant to be!!

tagging, if you want!: @sweetxvanixlla @ronsparky @coco-bean-1218 @onlyyouexisthere @mutantmanifesto @samwinchesterslostshoe @ewipandora @blood-mocha-latte

[much-obliged-timothy]

June of Doom #5

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - #5 - Handcuffed

*

Merrin leapt from the speeder, landing neatly beside a frantic BD-1. He beeped at her, bouncing up and down and managing to look more urgent than any organic being she had ever met.

“Easy, droid,” she soothed, because she needed him calm despite her own swell of panic. “Where did they take him?”

BD-1 projected a map and indicated a region. Merrin gave a stiff nod and lifted him, climbing into the speeder with him.

It was sheer luck that Cal and Bode had been in communication when Cal was ambushed and captured. Merrin had not waited for Bode when she heard the news; she got in the nearest speeder and took off. 

Cal was one of the Empire’s most wanted individuals. There was no time to make a plan. She had to get to him before the imperial troops got him off world. With a dust storm winding down, she had a little time, but not much. As soon as the storm fully cleared, they’d take off with Cal, and there was no guarantee of where they’d take him.

And of course that brave, loyal fool had saved his droid instead of himself. Merrin supposed BD-1 would come in handy, but she’d have preferred rescuing the droid instead of Cal. 

She pushed the speeder as fast as it would go as she tore across the desert. BD-1 kept the map up for her reference and she easily dodged the many environmental hazards and beasts of Jedha. She had no time for delays. 

As she finally reached the area, it didn’t take much searching before the ship came into view. It was grounded, as she’d expected, and guarded by three Stormtroopers. Dust was still whipping about the area, too much for a safe takeoff, but it was only a matter of time before it settled and the ship could safely leave.

Merrin disembarked the speeder, BD-1 hopping onto her shoulder and beeping. She pressed her finger to her lips and he nodded in understanding, hunkering down a little.

She had no idea how many of them were on the ship. Cal was likely restrained and unarmed. She’d be on her own until she could free him. Stealth was her best call right now.

“BD,” she said, pulling him off her shoulder and setting him down. “Lead them over there, will you?”

He beeped an affirmation before scurrying away. He popped up on the rocks, chirping angrily at the Stormtroopers.

“Hey! That’s the Jedi’s droid!” one cried.

“Get him!” another cried.

All three ran for BD-1. Merrin waited until they got close before appearing behind them and swiftly taking them out. BD-1 hopped back onto her shoulder.

“Good job,” she told him. He let out a low, sad beep. “We’ll get him back, don’t you worry.”

She crept onto the ship. It was a big transport ship, but she was surprised to see there wasn’t much crew milling about. She sent BD-1 to scout ahead, but he returned and reported that the ship really was as empty as it seemed.

That explained the meager guard outside the ship. Likely, the dust storm, the harsh environment, and Cal himself had taken out a lot of the crew. Still, the ship wasn’t abandoned, so she’d have to be careful.

She followed the ship along until she got to a ladder. She carefully descended and slunk along the stacked cargo towards the sound of voices. 

She peeked out, and regretted it immediately.

There in a cell was Cal, unarmed and injured on the ground. His hands were handcuffed securely behind his back. Two Stormtroopers stood over him, one of them kicking Cal roughly.

“Won’t be long now til we leave,” he was saying. “Then we’ll lock you up someplace you’ll never escape. Until, at least, they decide to execute you. Jedi scum.”

The other wielded a shock stick. When the first stopped kicking Cal, the second jabbed him with the shock stick until Cal screamed in pain, body writhing uncontrollably.

Merrin would see no more. She stepped out and strode over to the Stormtroopers. Before the first had noticed her, she’d killed the one shocking Cal. The first spun to face her, reaching for a blaster. He was dead on the ground before he ever touched it. 

“Cal!” Merrin dropped to his side, grabbing his arm.

He was breathing harshly, a heavy sheen of sweat on his forehead. But, in typical Cal-style, he cracked his eyes open and gave her a weak grin.

“Took you long enough,” he croaked out.

BD-1 hopped off her shoulder and practically danced around Cal, beeping and chirping and nudging him all over. Cal tried to lift his hands, then seemed to remember they were handcuffed behind him.

“I’m alright, buddy,” he assured, bumping his head against BD-1 instead. “Help me out?”

BD-1 got to work on the handcuffs. Cal was pale and shaky, looking like staying conscious was taking effort.

She had to get him out of here. He wasn’t strong enough to properly protect himself right now.

“Your lightsaber?” she asked.

The handcuffs clanked to the ground and Cal rubbed his raw wrists, wincing at the contact. “The one in charge took it. They figured binding my hands would limit my force abilities, but were smart enough to take the lightsaber away. I’ve got to get it back.”

“We will,” Merrin said, helping him up. He staggered dangerously, but she was there to support him. “I will retrieve your lightsaber. You wait by the exit.”

“Merrin-”

“Cal. Do not argue. If there was not a dust storm, you would have been lost to us.”

Whatever expression was on her face, it was enough to make Cal nod slowly. “Alright. I’ll wait by the exit. Thank you. For coming.”

“Don’t be a fool, Cal Kestis,” she said, squeezing his arm. “Of course I came.”

He gave her a small smile, despite his bruised face. She looked at the ragged state of him - bruised face, disheveled hair and clothes, raw wrists, and exhausted eyes. And yet he still wanted to carry on the fight. 

“Rest, Cal,” she said, her voice firm because if it was not, he would help anyway. It was just his nature. If he was breathing, he was fighting. 

She helped him up the ladder and sat him by the exit, leaving BD-1 to guard him because she couldn’t bring herself to leave him on his own. As thoughts of him being taken from them all forever invaded her mind, she chased them away by taking vengeance on the imperials who had captured and hurt him.

[burnwater13]

Grogu knew that Peli Motto was a good friend to him and to the Mandalorian. She cared about them. She actually looked forward to seeing them. It was really nice to have someone like that in his life. Grogu had gotten very used to being treated like a thing. Just a package. Just a child. Just a bounty. Peli treated him like a person.

Mostly. 

He didn’t understand what she didn’t like about his actual name. ‘Grogu’ wasn’t a worse name than ‘Peli’, was it? The Mandalorian seemed to like it. Once Ahsoka Tano told him what it was, that is. Until then he was ‘kid’ and ‘buddy’. Peli called him a ‘little womp rat’. 

He realized that he’d complained about that before. Womp rats weren’t small, they weren’t people, and they were most definitely not cute. Grogu had it on good authority that he was cute despite all the ways he wasn’t a human or any other type of person. 

Womp rats were the kind of critter that people hunted just because they could. Well, Grogu understood how that felt. It wasn’t nice people! Master Luke had told him a story about targeting womp rats from his T-16 (whatever that was) and how that was a key skill that he used during the Rebellion. Grogu was glad the skill had helped end the Empire’s tyranny, but what about those poor womp rats?

There they were, just ambling through Beggar’s Canyon, trying to find something to eat. Maybe just having some fun. Perhaps with their families or other friends. All critters have friends. And then suddenly, something starts happening all around you and you discover that you are the target. The thing wants to end you. How is that fair?

Luke told him that he hadn’t thought of it that way before. Grogu said the world looked very different when you were an enemy simply because you were alive. What choice did the a womp rat have? It wasn’t sentient like Grogu. It couldn’t argue about the morality of just sneaking up on a critter and thumping it. Luke said he would consider that and then changed the subject. That felt like being in the Jedi Temple all over again. 

Peli told him that she used the term ‘little womp rat’ affectionately. It meant she liked him. But he reminded her that when the womp rat tried to steal BD-72 she had tried to kill it with the help of the droids and it took the Mandalorian to dispatch the critter. Peli agreed that it could be confusing to use the name of thing you didn’t like for a person you do like. 

Grogu said she could come up with a different nick name for him. Peli had agreed but told him that she needed time to come with a good name. He agreed to that and then they both forgot about it for a while. 

He and the Mandalorian had continued their adventures and when he finally returned from Luke’s Jedi Sleep Away Camp, Peli had been excited to see him. Well, he had missed her and all the droids as well. R2-D2 was great and the builder mechs were pretty cool, but Grogu had missed the pit droids and Treadwell and R5. 

R2 had wanted to leave so he could get back to Luke, but Peli insisted that they take care of Grogu first, which was really nice. She had the droids bring him some fresh dung worms and he enjoyed them immensely. Just as good as the last bowl he had eaten. 

“I’ve got it! This just reminded me of the nick name I have for  you!” Peli screeched at him.

Now the screech could have been because R2 was impatient and made the other droids pull the ladder away from Luke's X-wing and there was nothing Peli could do about it. But after that was done, they were just sitting there, while Grogu continued to eat the worms.

“I was watchin’ that show you like. Diggle and Daggle. Ya know they use a lot of dung worms in that show and that reminded me of you.” Peli had explained. 

Grogu was ready to protest. Going from ‘womp rat’ to ‘dung worm’ was not the upgrade he was hoping for.

“Yep. So from now on I’m gonna call you ‘my favorite little helper’. Diggle… no… Daggle… calls all the worms and bait they use that. I think it fits. You are my favorite little helper.” Peli was grinning at him and Grogu was happy about that.

And he liked his new nick name. Although, he wasn’t sure how Din Djarin would respond to that. After that red and blue wiring fiasco, the Mandalorian probably didn’t consider him much of a helper. 

[totallyexhausted]

More Snippets from my BD fic because I need inspiration :)

             It’s super piece-y at the moment but I’m trying to get back into writing after a 3-year hiatus so yeee lol- also trigger warning for depression, suicidal tendencies, and dark thoughts. 

.............................................

 Kazuki wasn’t an idiot. Well, he was sometimes… but when it came to his job, observing was like second nature to him. Part of that had to do with how he grew up. In and out of foster homes and institutions- most foster kids learned quickly to pick up on the behavior of others. It was safer. To learn whether to run or be hit. The problem was, he always stayed. Running wasn’t in his nature. And most of the time, that ended with him covered in bruises or cuts or nursing broken bones. Because it was better to be hit than watch others take the blow… some would say that was stupid. That it was better to run because even if he managed to take the punch of those around him, those who were supposed to protect him, guide him… it didn’t mean he’d won- and it sure as hell didn’t mean he’d be around next time. 

             By the time he was in his late teens, he could read people. Their actions, their movements- understand their feelings towards things, their thoughts. Recruitment came shortly after his 16th birthday when he stupidly picked a fight with several guys 10 times his size. But he’d been drunk and down on his luck… let alone pain brought the feeling of being alive. Needless to say, Kyo had found him lying in the middle of an alley, staring at the rain as it washed over the bruises and blood covering his face and body----

             But despite his observation skills- Rei was a fucking mystery. Depressed, Kazuki would describe him. And lonely. Isolated. With the self-care and social skills of a carrot. Rei didn’t need a roommate, and Kazuki didn’t need a distraction. But Rei took a bullet for him, and Kazuki knew how to cook. 

 So, no, Kazuki wasn’t an idiot. But he could be really fucking stupid sometimes. Now- now was one of those moments he realized as he gripped Rei’s shirt in his hands, shaking the younger man again as he called his name. Panic lacing his voice, Miri’s cries behind him as Kazuki tried again to rouse the 25-year-old. After a few minutes, the younger man groaned, and Kazuki faltered, smoothing his hands against Rei’s shirt gently as the ladder opened his eyes slowly.

Kazuki smiled, running a hand over his face before reaching out and brushing Rei’s hair away from his face. Burning heat met his fingertips, and Kazuki swallowed as Rei’s pale blue eyes met his.

Kazuki breathed loudly, “Hey,” Handsome. 

He’d known something was wrong. Rei was eating less, his movements sluggish, and he was zoning out more and more. But Kazuki figured it was just Rei being Rei- that perhaps he was heading towards another down-spiral. After all, Kazuki had known Rei for 3 years, lived with him for 3 years- he’d seen those moments. Those dark dark moments where Rei didn’t leave the bathtub, or if it was worse, his bed because that meant he didn’t care if an ambush came, he didn’t care if someone came to kill him. Someone like the Boss. He’d seen Rei retreat to his room or bathroom, for days, not touching the sandwich or water Kazuki left for him on the nightstand. He never touched them; not even when Kazuki got clever and started leaving chips or candy- things he’d never buy himself, but if he could get Rei to eat something, anything, then he’d cough up the yen for cheap, tasteless and processed food- but most of time, Rei never touched it. Never drank the water or coffee or soda. He just laid there. In his bed, in the bathtub. For days. And Kazuki would sit with him sometimes, on the edge of the tub or bed, talking or just listening- listening to Rei’s fast breathing, his eyes closed as if he was asleep, but Kazuki knew better.

Kazuki had been through moments like that himself, where he couldn’t do anything, where everything seemed too much, and he’d stay in his room, his bed until he felt like existing again- if you could call it that. Every year since his wife’s death got a little easier but sometimes- sometimes it hit him. Hard. Like stepping in front of a train- his feelings, his thoughts… his memories. The guilt. The heartbreak. Tears never really came even if the 28-year-old wanted them too. Needed them too. Sometimes he’d hear the door to his bedroom click open, light spilling through a small crack in the door; Rei’s shadow hovering over him. Once, he swore he felt strong fingers grip his shoulder, the pressure staying for several long minutes before a sigh filled the room. And then the light was gone, the door clicking. And Kazuki was once again alone. So very alone.

Kazuki had seen Rei at his worse. He’d seen inside some of the darkest parts of Rei’s mind as he him- so the younger man’s behavior, Kazuki had written off as him struggling. He expected to tell Miri that Papa-Rei was sick while letting the ladder keep to himself for several days, because Miri was way too young to understand that sometimes, sometimes sadness made you sick. Made you tired. Made everything around you seem so very impossible. 

But when Rei smacked against the living room floor, Miri shrieking as she yelled for Kazuki across the room, the 28-year-old realized that this perhaps wasn’t one of those moments. 

[roysexton]

“There is a community of 4,000 people I can lean into 24 hours a day for support and inspiration.” Thank you, Ben Paul and The BD Ladder, for this lovely opportunity to tell a bit of my story and for all you do for our profession and community! #lmamkt #lma24

Thank you, Ben Paul and The BD Ladder, for this lovely opportunity to tell a bit of my story and for all you do for our profession and community! View here. “The latest in The BD Ladder’s quickfire views of the Business Development and Marketing Leaders series features Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at Clark Hill Law, and International Past President of the Legal Marketing Association – LMA…

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Beautiful 1840 church conversion in Poultney, VT. I WISH they would've show the inside of the bell tower- look at that thing- 3 stories high. 4bds, 2ba, and only $350K.

The outside is so original, I didn't expect it to be so modern inside.

Still retains some of the original architecture here in the kitchen. I like how they put the counter right around the old chimney.

Beautiful view of what probably was the choir loft.

Plenty of space for a dining room.

View from the loft.

Entrance foyer/mud room. And, it opens to this lovely sun room.

The bedrooms are standard, but there's the original flooring.

One of the baths- no tile on the wall.

This must be the primary bedroom with a little alcove.

Cute room. That ladder must go up to a loft storage space or something.

Bd. #4 is a lovely guest room.

Roomy bath #2 is very nice with a modern soaker tub take on a stylized vintage tub.

Tiled shower is roomy.

They started to finish the front, but it will now be up to the new owner.

I'm wondering if this is part of the bell tower.

Good sized yard you could do a lot with.

The exterior looks like it needs some work. It's on a .35 acre corner lot.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/222-Bentley-Ave-Poultney-VT-05764/122574976_zpid/

[aldcaldos]

just a bunch of Vex Facts™ that have been bouncing around my brain for a while

grew up a kabuki street kid, pickpocketing anyone she could get her grubby little hands on and sharing the pot with a small group of other kids who she ran tiny cons with

she and said group of street rats holed up in an old abandoned, almost collapsed apartment building

she has no contact with any of them in the present, some moved away, others disappeared when they were still young, and the rest....who knows?

became a joytoy and a dancer when she was definitely too young to be doing either (welcome to night city) because the pay seemed better than ‘petty street thief’ and it put food in her stomach

worked her way up that ‘corporate ladder’ surprisingly quickly. went from standing out on jig-jig street and dancing in side-store windows to actual clubs and a somewhat established clientele list (was never super high up, more mid-end  — in her words, “ganger grunts could never afford me but the high up corpos in the shiny suits and silk shirts only looked for me if they were actively trying to slum it, get some dirt under their fingernails. i know who i am.”)

worked as one joytoy in a group employed by a guy who had them all get a tattoo with a tracker in it on the inside of their upper left arms that read “don’t bite the hand that feeds.” when vex later left she had the tracker de-activated and the don’t crossed out.

got into the bd scene very briefly cause it seemed a good way to make some extra cash on the side. scrolled a few good scenes, nothing major, but one or two might still be in circulation somewhere. after all, stuff like that, once it’s out there it gets passed around right?

met jackie one night while coming back from a “meeting” with a client in heywood. was cutting through a back alley to get to the nearest metro station when she’s confronted by a less than savory character who’d seen one of her bds and decided to take liberties he wasn’t invited to. suddenly she’s bleeding with her face shoved into a brick wall, her arm’s twisted behind her back so tight she thinks it’ll snap and there’s a gun pressed against her head. she screams, but this is night city. who here isn’t used to the sound of random screaming at night? who’s going to care? next thing she knows, her attacker is gone and she turns around and comes face to face with a big fucker wearing valentino colors. but instead of being another danger, he’s asking her if she’s okay. her attacker? out cold on the floor from one punch. doesn’t stop her stomping on him with her heels though.

jackie takes her to get cleaned up and to see padre. guy who attacked her? a 6th street gangoon lurking on valentino turf where he shouldn’t have been. jackie’d recently left the gang but that didn’t mean he didn’t still have loyalties. the pair end up at the coyote that night, talking and drinking (vex will mention this at jackie’s funeral, how it “freaked the shit outta mama welles, seeing her son walk in with a scraped up joytoy.”)

she stops being a joytoy that night. jackie takes her under his wing (he got one of his “good feelings” that she never understood but never questioned) and he teaches her the ropes of being a merc. she took to it rather well. 

turns her body into a canvas because it only belongs to her and she doesn’t have to care whether it would make her less profitable.

vex and jackie work together for a few years, but then vex meets Some Guy (i haven’t named him yet go away) and, still being a little foolish, decides to move to atlanta with him. this leads to a huge fight with jackie because they were just starting to make it good as mercs, climbing up the edgerunner food chain, and jackie, who’d never liked her input, just knew it was going to end badly with this dude. if only she’d listened.

fast forward two years and guess who was right? vex, having been left sitting on a curb with her shit in a bag, returns to night city, but doesn’t tell jackie when she arrives, convinced he’ll still be pissed at her. only goes to the coyote after, as in the streetkid origin, she gets almost-mugged in heywood. gets the job from kirk, tries to steal a car, then suddenly jackie’s there with a gun to her head. what a reunion.

jackie did in fact say “i told you so.”

wears synth-cherry flavored lip gloss.

is very good at being manipulative but can’t sneak for shit. little hard to do when you’re dressed head to toe in vibrant neon purple.

collects purple weapons. aesthetic is important. it’s her brand. favors her shot gun.

bit of a pyromaniac. really likes when things go boom. gets the projectile launcher installed in her arm and is a little too giddy about it.

regularly makes messy personal decisions. dino dinovic (who becomes dino dinodick in her phone after the first time they have sex) being one of them.

emotionally stunted. having even more emotionally stunted rockstar johnny silverhand in her head does not help matters in the slightest.

[mhbcaps]

my in-game blorbos at a glance :3 brief info for each under the cut

David “V” Lozano: (he/him) my canon V, a born-and-bred Heywood brawler who never really cared about being famous but god Jackie made it sound so good. He doesn’t think he can make a difference and he doesn’t really try to. It’s all about survival, and corps can wipe you out in the blink of an eye. He would’ve minded his damn business after the heist if it hadn’t been for Johnny.

Viggo “Gogo” Day: (they/them) a Static of the Kessler clan along with their three brothers and a sister. They’re David’s best friend, a bright and cheerful foil to his taciturn toughness. The city hasn’t beaten the optimism out of them yet, and they have a lot of friends in surprising places who’d like to keep it that way.

Sanctuary Zelenko: (they/them) Medtech washout, ex-Scav, currently a ripperdoc in Vista del Rey. They’re eccentric, they’re enigmatic, they’re downright creepy sometimes. Their friends tell people they’re harmless, but no one knows for sure. Best not to find out.

Brother Calloway: (she/her) a statuesque netrunner that’s earned herself a spot in the Afterlife’s back booths. She keeps things close to the vest, never lets people in on what she’s thinking. It can be hard to get a hold of her, but she’s worth the wait.

Heiress: (she/her) Seasoned merc and 6th Street royalty--her grandfather was Santo Domingo’s premier fixer in the 2020s and her mother was a founding member of the Street. She used to be a high school teacher, but she got sick of corpos headhunting her students. Now she takes young and dumb mercs under her wing and teaches them a thing or two about survival before the city can eat them alive.

Hunter Ward: (she/her) the eldest daughter of Gogo and River. She’s a rainbow baby and her parents are protective of her, and she’s fine with that. Probably why she tends to be shy and doesn’t go out much without her family. Put her on a motorcycle, though, and she lights up like Christmas.

Joey Armas: (he/him) Scav who’s on the cusp of growing a conscience and quitting. He grew up poor on the outer edge of the Glen, just shy of Coastview. His brother was killed by some trust fund kid testing out their new combat-grade implants--that’s probably what set him down the path that led to the cyberware and organ black market. He and Sanctuary used to to date, and Sanctuary’s leaving the Scavs might have planted a seed of an idea that hey, maybe this shit is really fucked up.

Léonide St. Martin: (he/they) wannabe rockerboy and another Static of the Kessler clan. He’s Gogo’s “twin” brother--they were born a month apart and Leo’s mother nursed Gogo after Gogo’s mother died in childbirth. Leo’s the black sheep of the family, and that’s saying something considering his older brother Augie is registered as a cyberpsycho (but he’s doing really well these days). Like Gogo, he’s embraced Night City, but he’s drawn to the darker underbelly and he’s always getting into trouble that gets back to his family more often than it should.

Harvey Vignaud: (he/him) London-born and never figured he’d do anything else but work for Arasaka like his parents. And he did, for a while, netrunning his way up the corpo ladder and earning himself a reputation as someone you never want to meet out there in the net. Then he quit and became a BD editor instead. There’s not much more to it--he’s fickle, and he’s got the skills to do whatever he wants and not be bothered about it. He’s got the air of someone standing comfortably on that thin line between enigmatic and completely detached from reality.

[globe4education]

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