#BULK PARCELS

[radhecourier]

#Crucial #Documents? #PAN #INDIA #BULK PARCELS #Mobile [phone] #. #ups #documents #fast #courier #parcels #bookings #loads #byairparcel #byroadparcel #machines #navratriparcel #gujarat #ahmedabad #teachersday #tracking #onlineparcels #courierpapers #onthego #sendcourier #Radhe Courier #Mrs. DOLLY SHAH #No - 8 First floor Dhananjay Tower #Near Sachin Tower

[ship-task]

Navigating Success: The Ins and Outs of Bulk Parcel Delivery

In the world of logistics and e-commerce, bulk parcel delivery plays a pivotal role in ensuring the seamless movement of goods on a larger scale. Businesses, both big and small, often grapple with the challenges of managing bulk shipments efficiently. In this informative blog, we'll delve into the intricacies of bulk parcel delivery, exploring its significance, the unique challenges it presents, and the strategies businesses can employ to streamline this essential aspect of their operations.

Understanding Bulk Parcel Delivery

Bulk parcel delivery involves the transportation of multiple items in a single shipment, often to a single destination. This method is commonly employed by businesses that need to send large quantities of products to customers, retailers, or distribution centers. Unlike individual parcel deliveries, bulk shipments are characterized by their scale and the need for specialized logistics solutions.

Significance of Bulk Parcel Delivery

Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness: Bulk parcel delivery offers businesses a more cost-effective and efficient way to move large quantities of goods. Consolidating items into a single shipment reduces transportation costs and optimizes delivery routes.

Supply Chain Optimization: For businesses with intricate supply chains, bulk parcel delivery helps optimize the movement of goods from manufacturers to warehouses and eventually to retailers or end customers. This streamlined process enhances overall supply chain efficiency.

Timely Inventory Management: Bulk parcel delivery is instrumental in managing inventory levels effectively. Businesses can restock their inventory in a timely manner, reducing the risk of stockouts and ensuring products are readily available for customers.

Reduced Environmental Impact: By consolidating shipments, bulk parcel delivery contributes to reduced carbon emissions and a smaller environmental footprint. This aligns with the growing focus on sustainability and environmentally conscious business practices.

Challenges in Bulk Parcel Delivery

Complex Logistics: Coordinating the transportation of a large volume of items requires intricate logistics planning. Businesses must manage multiple touchpoints, from origin to destination, to ensure timely and accurate deliveries.

Risk of Damage: With a higher volume of items in a single shipment, the risk of damage during transit increases. Proper packaging and handling protocols are crucial to mitigate this risk and protect the integrity of the goods.

Tracking and Visibility: Maintaining real-time tracking and visibility for each item within a bulk shipment can be challenging. Businesses need robust tracking systems to monitor the progress of the entire shipment accurately.

Customs and Regulatory Compliance: For international bulk deliveries, businesses must navigate complex customs and regulatory requirements. Compliance with varying regulations in different regions adds an extra layer of complexity to the process.

Strategies for Streamlining Bulk Parcel Delivery

Advanced Tracking Systems: Implementing advanced tracking systems that provide real-time visibility into the status and location of each item within a bulk shipment enhances overall logistics management.

Strategic Packaging: Employing strategic packaging solutions that protect items from damage during transit is crucial. Customized packaging for different types of products can help minimize the risk of breakage.

Route Optimization: Utilizing route optimization software helps businesses plan the most efficient and cost-effective delivery routes for bulk shipments. This minimizes transportation costs and reduces delivery times.

Collaboration with Reliable Partners: Establishing strong partnerships with reliable carriers and logistics providers ensures that businesses can rely on a network of trusted professionals to handle bulk parcel deliveries.

Automated Systems: Leveraging automated systems for order processing, inventory management, and shipment tracking can significantly streamline bulk parcel delivery operations, reducing manual errors and increasing efficiency.

Selecting the Right Bulk Parcel Delivery Solution

Reliability and Reputation: Choose a bulk parcel delivery solution with a proven track record for reliability. Research customer reviews and testimonials to gauge the reputation of the service provider.

Scalability: Ensure that the bulk parcel delivery solution can scale according to your business needs. It should be able to accommodate varying shipment sizes and growing demand.

Technology Integration: Look for a service that integrates advanced technology for tracking, reporting, and communication. A tech-savvy provider can offer better visibility and transparency throughout the delivery process.

Global Reach: If your business operates on an international scale, select a bulk parcel delivery solution with a global reach. A provider with an extensive network can navigate international logistics and customs more effectively.

Cost-Effectiveness: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the bulk parcel delivery solution. Consider the pricing structure, any additional fees, and how well it aligns with your budget constraints.

Bulk parcel delivery is the backbone of efficient supply chains and successful e-commerce operations. As businesses continue to navigate the complexities of managing large volumes of shipments, adopting streamlined strategies and partnering with reliable bulk parcel delivery solutions are essential. The ability to efficiently move goods in bulk not only optimizes costs but also contributes to overall customer satisfaction by ensuring timely and secure deliveries. By understanding the significance, challenges, and strategies associated with bulk parcel delivery, businesses can position themselves for success in the competitive landscape of logistics and e-commerce.

#bulk parcel delivery

[najia-cooks]

[ID: Two large flatbreads. The one in the center is topped with bright purple onions, faux chicken, fried nuts, and coarse red sumac; the one at the side is topped with onions and sumac. Second image is a close-up. End ID]

مسخن / Musakhkhan (Palestinian flatbread with onions and sumac)

Musakhkhan (مُسَخَّن; also "musakhan" or "moussakhan") is a dish historically made by Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season of October and November: naturally leavened flatbread is cooked in clay ovens, dipped in plenty of freshly pressed olive oil, and then covered with oily, richly caramelized onions fragrant with sumac. Modern versions of the dish add spiced, boiled and baked chicken along with toasted or fried pine nuts and almonds. It is eaten with the hands, and sometimes served alongside a soup made from the stock produced by boiling the chicken. The name of the dish literally means "heated," from سَخَّنَ "sakhkhana" "to heat" + the participle prefix مُـ "mu".

I have provided instructions for including 'chicken,' but I don't think the dish suffers from its lack: the rich, slightly sour fermented wheat bread, the deep sweetness of the caramelised onions, and the true, clean, bright expressions of olive oil and sumac make this dish a must-try even in its original, plainer form.

Musakhkhan is often considered to be the national dish of Palestine. Like foods such as za'tar, hummus, tahina, and frika, it is significant for its historical and emotional associations, and for the way it links people, place, identity, and memory; it is also understood to be symbolic of a deeply rooted connection to the land, and thus of liberation struggle. The dish is liberally covered with the fruit of Palestinian lands in the form of onions, olive oil, and sumac (the dried and ground berries of a wild-growing bush).

The symbolic resonance of olive oil may be imputed to its history in the area. In historical Palestine (before the British Mandate period), agriculture and income from agricultural exports made up the bulk of the economy. Under مُشَاعْ (mushā', "common"; also transliterated "musha'a") systems of land tenure, communally owned plots of land were divided into parcels which were rotated between members of large kinship groups (rather than one parcel belonging to a private owner and their descendants into perpetuity). Olive trees were grown over much of the land, including on terraced hills, and their oil was used for culinary purposes and to make soap; excess was exported. In the early 1920s, Palestinian farmers produced 5,000 tons of olive oil a year, making an average of 342,000 PL (Palestinian pounds, equivalent to pounds sterling) from exports to Egypt alone.

During the British Mandate period (from 1917 to 1948, when Britain was given the administration of Palestine by the League of Nations after World War 1), acres of densely populated and cultivated land were expropriated from Palestinians through legal strongarming of and direct violence against, including killing of, فَلّاَحين (fallahin, peasants; singular "فَلَّاح" "fallah") by British troops. This continued a campaign of dispossession that had begun in the late 19th century.

By 1941, an estimated 119,000 peasants had been dispossessed of land (30% of all Palestinian families involved in agriculture); many of them had moved to other areas, while those who stayed were largely destitute. The agriculturally rich Nablus area (north of Jerusalem), for example, was largely empty by 1934: Haaretz reported that it was "no longer the town of gold [i.e., oranges], neither is it the town of trade [i.e., olive oil]. Nablus rather has become the town of empty houses, of darkness and of misery". Farmers led rebellions against this expropriation in 1929, 1933, and 1936-9, which were brutually repressed by the British military.

Despite the number of farmers who had been displaced from their land by European Jewish private owners and cooperatives (which owned 24.5% of all cultivated land in Palestine by 1941), the amount of olives produced by Palestinians increased from 34,000 tons in 1931 to 78,300 in 1945, evidencing an investment in and expansion of agriculture by indigenous inhabitants. Thus it does not seem likely that vast swathes of land were "waste land," or that the musha' system did not allow for "development"!

Imprecations against the musha' system were nevertheless used as justification to force Palestinians from their land. After various Zionist organizations and militant groups succeeded in pushing Britain out of Palestine in 1948—clearing the way for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to be dispossessed or killed during the Nakba—the Israeli parliament began constructing a framework to render their expropriation of land legal; the Cultivation of Waste Lands Law of 1949, for example, allowed the requisition of uncultivated land, while the Absentees’ Property Law of 1950 allowed the state to requisition the land of people it had forced from their homes.

Israel profited from its dispossession of millions of dunums of land; 40,000 dunums of vineyards, 100,000 dunums of citrus groves, and 95% of the olive groves in the new state were stolen from Palestinians during this period, and the agricultural subsidies bolstered by these properties were used to lure new settlers in with promises of large incomes.

It also profited from the resulting "de-development" of the Palestinian economy, of which the decline in trade of olive oil furnishes a striking example. Palestinian olive farmers were unable to compete with the cheaper oils (olive and other types) with which Zionist, capital-driven industry flooded the market; by 1936, the 342,000 PL in olive oil exports of the early 1920s had fallen to 52,091 PL, and thereafter to nothing. While selling to a Palestinian captive market, Israel was also exporting the fruits of confiscated Palestinian land to Europe and elsewhere; in 1949, olives produced on stolen land were Israel's third-largest export. As of 2014, 12.9% of the olives exported to Europe were grown in the occupied West Bank alone.

This process of de-development and profiteering accelerated after Israel's military seizure of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. In 1970, agriculture made up 34% of the GDP of the West Bank, and 31% of that of Gaza; in 2000, it was 16% and 18%, respectively. Many of those out of work due to expropriated or newly unworkable land were hired as day laborers on Israeli farms.

Meanwhile, Palestinians (and Israeli Palestinians) continued to plant and cultivate olives. The fact that Palestinians do not control their own water supplies or borders and may expect at any time to be barred by the military from harvesting their fields has discouraged investment and led to risk aversion (especially since the outmoding of the musha' system, which had minimized individual risk). In this environment, olive trees are attractive because they are low-input. They can subsist on rainwater (Israel monopolizes and poisons much of the region's water, and heavily taxes imports of materials that could be used to build irrigation systems), and don't require high-quality soil or daily weeding. Olive trees, unlike factories and agricultural technology, don't need large inputs of capital that stand to be wasted if the Israeli military destroys them.

Olive trees are therefore the chosen crop when proving a continued use of land in order to prevent the Israeli military from expropriating it under various "waste" or "absentee" land laws. Palestinians immediately plant olive seedlings on land they have been temporarily forced from, since even land that has lain fallow due to status as a military closed zone can be appropriated with this justification. The danger is so pressing that Palestinian agronomists encouraged this habit (as of 1993), despite the fact that Israeli competition and continual planting had lowered olive crop prices, and despite the decline in soil quality that results from never allowing land to lie fallow. In more recent years, olive trees have yielded primary or supplementary income for about 100,000 Palestinian families, producing up to 191 million USD in value in good years (including an average of 17,000 tons of olive oil yearly between 2001 and 2009).

Israeli soldiers and settlers have famously uprooted, vandalized, razed, and burned millions of these olive trees, as well as using military outposts to deny Palestinian farmers access to their olive crops. It prefers to restrict Palestinians to annual crops, such as vegetables and grains, and eliminate competition in permanent crops, such as fruit trees.

This targeting of olive trees increases during times of intensified conflict. During the currently ongoing olive harvest season (November 2023), Gazan olive farmers have reported being targeted by Israeli war planes; some farmers in the West Bank have given up on harvesting their trees altogether, due to threats issued by organized networks of settlers that they would kill anyone seen making the attempt.

The rootedness of olive trees in the history of Palestine gives them weight as a symbol of homeland, culture, and the fight for liberation. Palestinian olive harvest festivals, typically celebrated in October with singing, dancing, and eating, have inspired similar events elsewhere in the world, aimed at sharing Palestinian food and culture and expressing solidarity with those living under occupation.

Support Palestinian resistance by calling Elbit System’s (Israel’s primary weapons manufacturer) landlord, donating to Palestine Action’s bail fund, and donating to the Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee bail fund.

Ingredients:

For the dish:

2 pieces taboon bread, preferably freshly baked

2 large or 3 medium yellow onions (480g)

1 cup first cold press extra virgin olive oil (زيت زيتون البكر الممتاز)

1 Tbsp coarsely ground Levantine sumac (سماق شامي / sumaq shami), plus more to top

Ground black pepper

For the chicken (optional):

500g chicken substitute

5 green cardamom pods, or 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

4 cloves, or pinch ground cloves

1 Mediterranean bay leaf

1 Tbsp ground sumac

For the nut topping (optional):

2 Tbsp slivered almonds

2 Tbsp pine nuts

Neutral oil, for frying

Notes on ingredients:

Use the best olive oil that you can. You will want oil that has some opacity to it or some deposits in it. I used Aleppo brand olive oil (7 USD a liter at my local halal grocery).

If you want to replace the taboon bread with something less laborious, I would recommend something that mimics the rich, fermented flavor of the traditional, whole-wheat, naturally leavened bread. Many people today make taboon bread with white flour and commercial yeast—which you might mimic by using storebought naan or lavash, for example—but I think the slight sourness of the flatbread is a beautiful counterpoint to the brightness of the sumac and the sweetness of the caramelized onions. I would go with a sourdough pizza crust or something similar.

Your sumac should be coarsely ground, not finely powdered; and a deep, rich red, not pinkish in color (like the pile on the right, not the one on the left).

For this dish, a whole chicken is usually first boiled (perhaps with spices including bay leaves, cardamom, and cloves) and then baked, sometimes along with some of the oil from frying the onions. I call for just frying or baking instead; in my opinion, boiling often has a negative effect on the texture of meat substitutes.

Instructions:

For the onions:

1. Heat a cup of olive oil in a large skillet or pot. Fry onions on medium-low, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until translucent.

2. Add 1 Tbsp sumac and a few cracks of black pepper and reduce to low. Cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are sweet, reduced in volume, and pinkish in color.

For the chicken:

1. Briefly toast and finely grind spices except for sumac (cardamom, cloves, and bay leaf). Filter with a fine mesh sieve. Dip 'chicken' into the pot in which you fried the onions to coat it with olive oil, then rub spices (including sumac) onto the surface.

2. Sear chicken in a dry skillet until browned on all sides; or bake, uncovered, in the top third of an oven heated to 400 °F (200 °C) until browned.

For the nut topping:

1. Heat a neutral oil on medium in a small pot or skillet. Add almonds and fry for 2 minutes, until just starting to take on color. Add pine nuts and fry until both almonds and pine nuts are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon.

To assemble:

1. Dip each flatbread in the olive oil used to fry the onions, then spread onions over the surface.

Some cooks dip the bread entirely into oil; others press it lightly into the surface of the oil in the pot on both sides, or one side; a more modern method calls for mixing the olive oil with chicken broth to lighten it. Consult your taste. I think the bread from my taboon recipe stands up well to being pressed into the oil on both sides without tearing or becoming soggy.

2. Top flatbread with chicken and several large pinches more sumac. Bake briefly in the oven (still heated to 400 °F / 200 °C), or broil on low, for 3-5 minutes, until the sumac and the surface of the bread have darkened a shade.

3. Top with fried nuts.

Musakhkhan is usually eaten by ripping the chicken into bite-sized pieces, tearing off a bit of bread, and eating the chicken using the bread.

Some cooks make a layered musakhkhan, adding two to three pieces of bread covered with onions on top of each other before topping the entire construction with chicken and pine nuts.

#Palestinian #Palestine #palestinian food #recipes #long post /

[starry-eyedblog]

Request for a prnaddict!reader x ghost? You two just became pretty good friends, sharing things about yourselves. Simon shares his recent addiction to cigarettes when you just casually drop that you have a prnaddiction.

side note: Just left a function and its 2am. overheard this scenario unraveling in a balcony earlier. Am too tired to be horny so i left and now leaving this for u if you'd like to :3 goodniiiiiight~

oooo this is such a juicy idea!! also disclaimer, i ken that this probs wouldnae happen in the military where they restrict other soldiers on personal things like smoking but this is FICTION so i dinnae care :3

warnings/tags: simon x gn reader, smoking addictions, porn addiction, smut

it's a friday night, and the bar you are sat at is bustling with bodies. it was starting to get too much so you decided to step out for some air and a tipsy smoke. as you push the heavy door out, the nippy air sweeps in and instantly cools your flushed skin.

a soft sigh leaves you as you step around the corner and pull out your packet of cigs, sliding one out and holding it between your lips as you search for your lighter. once you feel it in your back pocket, you fish it out and spark it up. as the flame lights up your face, this is when you notice the mammoth of a man stood next to you, desperately trying to flicker his lighter to life.

he curses quietly and you look away, lighting up your own fag before silently passing over the lighter to him. he looks up, a black surgical mask hooked beneath his jawline and showing off a pretty gnarly scar across his face. "cheers, love." he grumbles, taking the lighter from you.

you nod silently with a soft smile before taking a long drag from your fag, holding the smoke in your lungs before slowly exhaling. you watch the smoke dance up into in the air for a moment before turning to the man next to you who's chuckling softly.

"like an angel sent from heaven, don't know what i would've done if i couldn't find a lighter." he mumbles as he brings the fag to his lips and inhales. you laugh quietly at his words, taking the lighter back from him.

"no big deal, glad to be of service." you joke with a smile, gently tapping the ash off your fag with your fingers. "i'd be the same if my vibe charger died." you mumble out, but the mysterious man hears you.

"that so?" he questions, and you blush as he turns to you with the fag hanging from his lips. "uh, uhm yeah. all got our own sin or poison, or whatever the saying is." you say, taking a long drag from the fag. he asks for your name, which you give him before asking the same.

once the two of you exchange names, you prompt him about his smoking. "so, addicted to nicotine huh?" you ask, watching him take a long drag from his fag. he nods silently, looking over at you as he slowly exhales the smoke.

"calms my mind and gives me something to do," he shrugs, watching the way you look away from his eyes. "and what about you? can't get enough of a wank?" simon teases and you snort.

"guess you could say that, is it a crime to love porn?" you question with a flushed face, unable to meet his eyes as the two of you smoke outside of the bar together and chat about your addictions.

simon looks back up at he night sky, staring at the bright stars before responding. "didn't say that love," he mumbles before continuing. "each to their own."

months down the line and the two of you are helping each other out - in reality you are only helping the other further aid their addictions.

simon is unable to bring fags now when he gets deployed as they pat him down and confiscate them. a mark now on his file from price to not let him smoke since he's been caught out on his addiction.

so to help, you'll send parcels with fag packets in bulk that he can hide in his room. he has a few secret smoking spots on base where he is sure to be alone and left like that for hours.

when he's back, you'll have him over and fuck him while watching porn together. he indulges in you, sometimes picks out videos that he likes and wants to show you which rots your brain even further.

oh and he fucks you so well, one of the best fuck buddies you've ever had. makes you cum multiple times before he's even got his cock stuffed into you. he likes to grab your jaw and force you to keep your eyes open while watching video after video.

it's a perfect little transaction almost that the both of you have, and no one bothers you about your addictions now. both of you realise that it's unhealthy and if others found out, they'd be disappointed but screw them.

#anon ask #thanks anon! #simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon ghost riley call of duty #simon ghost riley cod #simon riley call of duty #simon riley cod #ghost call of duty #ghost cod #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #gn reader #gn reader smut #tw nicotine #tw addiction

[machinesonix]

Somehow I have made it this long without realizing that none of the screen adoptions of Dune so much as mention the Butlerian Jihad. Like I guess it's burned into my brain so hard I sort of assumed it was part and parcel of the universe. Don't get me wrong, I think that's probably the first thing you learn if you want to dive deeper into the setting, but it still hits me like if the LotR movies showed us the big flaming eyeball tower and was like ‘Oh, that's why there are bad things, but don't worry, that's just background stuff.’ Yeah, you can understand the movie, but if the story is just like Frodo vs. The Witch King you are losing out on any of the conversation about the corruptive allure of power or theological undertones. So without further ado let's pretend this is for the benefit of interested new fans roped in by the movies and not part of my desperate attempt to silence the howling specters of literary analysis that live in my blood.

The Butlerian Jihad is an event set ~10k years prior to the events of Dune in which humanity won their freedom from the machines that they had enslaved themselves to. As a result, it is a religious taboo to create a machine that thinks like a human. That's frankly the bulk of the information presented by Frank Herbert in the text without dipping into books 7+, but whether or not those are canon is frankly an enormous can of worms, which really makes sense when you consider the size of the worms. But boy howdy, Frank loved his subtext and parallelism. Everyone has a foil character, every theme is hit from multiple angles, and Villinueve has been doing an excellent job of capturing a lot of that in repeated imagery and dialogue. The Butlerian Jihad happens off camera, but it's themes are absolutely critical to the big picture.

The Butlerian Jihad was a holy war. It was not merely a rebellion against the machines, it was a crusade against them. The prohibition against thinking machines isn't just a law, it's in the pan-universal Bible. Absolute psychopath Pieter DeVries himself claps back at the Baron for insinuating he might have a use for a computer, and this is a guy who has been hired specifically for his preternatural absence of morals. Let's hold onto that idea for a minute. 

Probably my favorite scene in the first book is the one where planetologist Liet-Kynes is dying out in the desert. As the last of his strength fades to dehydration he hallucinates conversations he had with his father concerning terraforming Arakkis for human habitability. He's told that the means are not complicated. There is already enough water on the planet, the Little Makers just have it all trapped deep underground as part of the sandworm reproductive cycle. You just need to isolate enough water to start irrigating plant life, and once it's established that'll keep the water on the surface on its own. The hard part is making sure everyone on the planet is environmentally conscious enough to foster a developing ecosystem. Nobody can drink any of that water while it's being collected, because they'll just introduce it back into the water cycle where the Little Makers are. It's going to take generations, so that sort of water discipline is going to have to go above and beyond a social convention. People need to be willing to die before they'll take a sip and compromise the plan. Ghost Dad Kynes concludes that the only mechanism in the human experience to enforce this consensus is religion. 

In the context of this whole parallelism thing, you have probably noticed that the Butlerian Jihad is not the only holy war in the narrative. Paul sees a new jihad as the only way of creating a future where humans can flourish. Now you might be saying ‘Wait now, Machines. I thought the point of Paul’s holy war was to avenge Leto and disempower established power structures by taking away the control of the spice!’ And you’d be right. The thing is, without getting into spoiler territory, Dune Messiah is not going to be about how everything just gets so much better now that Paul has destroyed the economy, government, and untold billions of human lives. This isn’t the endgame. Dude can see the future and the way he does it involves looking into the past. Paul lives in a society defined by a holy war and his goal is to redefine society. 

Putting it all together you can see what I mean about the Butlerian Jihad being essential to the themes even though the story never shows us a thinking machine or a narrative beat where the absence of computers changes the outcome. It helps us see the big picture. I’ve seen a lot of dialogue lately on whether Paul is a tragic hero or a consummate villain and I’m not here to answer that, but I am here to underline the critical detail. Paul intends to be seen as a tyrant. Just like Kynes’ hallucination says, religion is the lever to make a value stick around forever. He wants to traumatize humanity to hate chosen ones and emperors the same way the machines traumatized humanity to change them forever. The Water of Life ritual doesn’t invert his values, it lets him realize these visions of war are the means, not the ends. He is absolutely not happy about it, but this is Paul’s terrible purpose. 

#dune #paul atreides #dune meta #dune part two #butlerian jihad

[in-class-daydreams]

Oh Yeah, Baby! (Sebastian Sallow x Reader)

Pairing: Auror!Sebastian Sallow x Pregnant!Fem!Reader Synopsis: You visit your husband at work, where you meet some of the new junior Aurors he's helping train. You're beyond pregnant by now, but some things never change. Alternatively: Just Because You’re Pregnant Doesn't Mean You Can't Throw Hands TW: On the spice scale, mayonnaise with a dash of paprika.

Hogwarts would always be the most beautiful piece of architecture you’ve ever witnessed, considering the hidden rooms you’ve become privy to and how the school brought you and your beloved husband together. That said, the Ministry of Magic was a close second with its tall, domelike structure with talented witches and wizards scurrying about making sure wizard society was on the up and up.

You tug at the waistband of your skirt. The bulk of your belly is at an angle where your skirt always rides up to accommodate and you are tired of it. You're due to pop any day now and no matter what anyone says, pregnancy is not a wonderland and you want this baby out now. You put a lot of thought into your coordinated work outfits with Sebastian, and Baby Sallow makes it impossible for you to wear half of them. Sure, you didn’t have to wear that particular skirt, but it’s easy to hitch up, and no matter what Sebastian says, it can’t hurt to be prepared.

On your way through the gates, you hear a voice call out to you. You turn to find a familiar face bouncing up to you. Venusia Crickerly is a tall, lithe woman with dark brown hair and a smattering of freckles across her nose. She has a thick Irish accent and is both a talented Auror and your husband’s boss, your own job making it easy for you and her to become fast friends. Though, you think, Venusia was the type of person who could make a friend out of a boggart, if she were so inclined.

“Look at you, you’re positively glowing!” she exclaims, pulling you into a big hug, conscious of your protruding stomach. “How are you?”

“I feel like a whale, but otherwise I’m quite well.”

She laughs. “Understood.”

The two of you proceed through the gate, chatting about work and the baby and Ve nusia’s new giant plant, Smashley.

“So, you’re bringing your doting husband lunch?” She points at the cloth wrapped parcel in your hands.

“Yes, but,” you wave your hand and a glass bottle of peach juice appears and floats over to her. “I had a feeling I’d see you today.”

Venusia squeals with delight and snatches the bottle out of the air to down half of it in one gulp. Peach juice was a bit hard to track down these days, but you’ve always been good at finding things, and your friend’s enthusiasm made it worth it.

“You’re a gem! I don’t know what Sallow did to make you fall for him, but it must’ve been magnificent!” she says.

Both of you flash your badges at the security checkpoint. The guard glances at them and lets you pass through the glamour-deactivating mist, which clears you without a hitch.

You smile at the memory. “The short of it is, we were at Hogwarts and I needed to get into the Restricted Section of the library. Sebastian helped me because he tended to do that kind of thing often.”

“Sounds like him.”

“Sebastian got caught first and instead of giving me up to secure himself a lesser punishment, he took the fall for me.” Even after all this time, you still feel giddy and shy thinking about it. How it felt to be protected by someone for a change. “Then all of a sudden I was head over heels.”

Venusia claps a hand over her heart. “How sweet! He’s been all in on you since the beginning, hasn’t he?”

You rest a hand on your bump. “He really has.”

Upon entry to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you don’t see your husband anywhere in the bullpen. Venusia gestures for you to follow her down the leftmost hallway, which you remember from a tour with Sebastian leading towards the training arena.

As you pass the individual rooms with enchanted glass, you see various witches and wizards practicing spells on dummies or dueling with each other.

“State-of-the-art facilities, are they not?” Venusia says with pride.

“They really are,” you reply.

“You could have access to them, too, if you came to work for me.” She’s only half-teasing.

Admittedly, the thought had crossed your mind more than once. The Department of Mysteries gave you a substantial maternity leave considering your line of work was already hard on your own body. Exposing your unborn child to it could prove detrimental. That said, when you originally applied for the job, you were still the ‘live fast, die young’ type. You fought Ranrok and Victor Rookwood for three reasons: for Fig’s sake, for the greater good, and because you couldn’t just let them kill you because it’s the principle of the thing. If you were to fall, you’d want to fall in battle, but not to either of those two, because they were disgusting little mole men that needed to be put down. Suffice to say, starting a family didn’t really cross your mind.

Now, though, perhaps it was time to find an easier line of work so you could, you know, actually get to raise your child. The concept of Sebastian being a househusband was more than tempting. You’d come home from a long day, covered in soot and blood. Your husband would be home making dinner, a babe on his hip while a toddler clung to his legs.

Yes, the prodigal Auror, son of two professors, Master of the Dark Arts, doing housework for his beloved wife. You bite your lip at the delicious thought.

“-ello? Anyone home!” Venusia’s voice snaps you out of your daydream. When you come to, she’s eyeing you warily. “What’s gotten into you? Is it the babe?”

You shake your head. “It’s alright, I’m fine.”

She doesn’t seem to believe you, but doesn’t pry. There’s not much time, anyhow, since you come upon a larger gym where you know Sebastian and the other Aurors that go out in the field more often tend to train.

Venusia says her goodbyes and drops you off at the door. Your timing is impeccable, and you just manage to catch the unmistakable figure of your husband launching his opponent clear across the padded floor. You smile to yourself, thinking that if you weren’t viciously pregnant, you’d challenge Sebastian right now and thrash him soundly in front of his coworkers. One would think that would be a bit embarrassing as a husband, but the ever-surprising Sebastian quite enjoys getting schooled by you. After all, he originally fell for you while on his ass in Hecat’s classroom, your wand still hot and glowing.

Sebastian helps his coworker, whom you recognize, to his feet, another one sitting on the bench catches his attention and nods their head towards you. Your husband’s head snaps around like an owl and the goofiest grin spreads across his face. He drops his coworker on his ass and bounds up to you.

As he wraps you in a gentle hug, he doesn’t even bother to wipe the sweat off his brow and his forearms are glistening and peeking out of his rolled up sleeves. You inhale deeply, basking in your husband’s scent and thinking about how you’d love to make him sweat in a different capacity.

Sebastian pulls back. “Brought me lunch, did you? Can’t seem to keep away from me, can you?”

You hum contentedly and rest your hands on your baby bump (definitely more than a bump).

“If I could keep away from you, Sallow, I wouldn’t be here growing your child,” you reply.

Your husband smiles boyishly at you, his hands on your hips.

“Best learn to call me by my name. There’s about to be three of us living under one roof soon enough,” he counters.

From across the room, his sparring partner calls out to him. You recognize most of the group from a number of work functions you’ve accompanied Sebastian to, but not him.

“Oi, Bastian!” called his coworker with a thick Scottish accent. He and a few of the others - the ones you don’t recognize - jog over. “This your wife?”

“My favorite one, anyway,” Sebastian says and grins cheekily. You swat him in the shoulder. “Love, these are some of the rookies. They’re getting some hands-on learning from us today.”

You greet Sebastian’s juniors and shake all of their hands. Part of you feels old now that you’ve met new Aurors when yours and Sebastian’s N.E.W.T.s feel like yesterday, but you ignore it and decide to feel old once your child goes off to Hogwarts.

“You’re the Unspeakable, then?” A young woman in the back asks. She looks like she should still be in secondary school, but you have been noticing that the young people have begun to look younger.

“The one with Ancient Magic?” someone gasps in awe.

“Ancient Magic! I heard she can damn well chuck lightning at someone!” exclaims another.

You laugh and shake your head. “Something like that.”

“You should spar with Reilly!”

“Yeah!”

The junior Aurors clamor, eager to see your skills in action. You open your mouth to gently decline, but are interrupted by the entrance of the one junior who didn’t come running up to you.

The young man is tall, about Sebastian’s height with dark blond hair and blue eyes. He has a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. In fact, something about him reminds you of your husband when you first met him.

Oh. Now you remembered. Your husband had mentioned him more than a few times in passing. He stated that the boy was ‘quite good for a cheeky bastard,’ which meant that you were right on the money and the lad reminds Sebastian of himself.

“You called for me?” Reilly asks, hand in his pockets.

His peers clamor and urge him to spar with you. How it’s a great opportunity and not every new Auror gets to practice with an Unspeakable, much less one of your caliber.

“Now, really, I can’t,” Reilly insists. “Not against a witch with a record such as hers.”

Flatterer.

Reilly places his hands behind his back. “Not pregnant, anyway. I’ll wait to earn my victory fair and square when she’s at full power.”

Never fucking mind.

Sebastian lets out a tired sigh and rests a hand on your arm. “My love, you don’t have to–”

“Here are the terms, then, boy,” you say, smiling, hands clasped in front of you. “Obviously, you can’t attack me, but if you can evade me for thirty seconds, you win. Actually, that’s unreasonable. I’ll say twenty.”

Reilly scowls. “Thirty.”

You shrug and gesture for him to lead the way.

“Please don’t injure him too badly,” Sebastian implores you. “This could be a learning experience for him, but not if you slam him into the ground.”

You wave him off. “Experience is the best teacher!” you insist.

“Experiencing broken ribs and a shattered ego is not,” Sebastian sighs, but pulls out his watch to time you. "Remember what the doctor said!"

"That I'd be just fine performing magic?" you say dryly.

"That your powers make your body unpredictable. Just be careful." Sebastian goes to take his place.

You and Reilly draw your wands and stand on opposite sides of the padded floor. His peers watch eagerly from the sidelines and you even see some money change hands between them.

“Ready?” Sebastian asks from a platform overlooking the arena.

You remind yourself to honor Sebastian's wishes and not overdo it. The doctor said you were free to perform magic and the baby would be just fine, but you ought to keep in moderation.

You and Reilly nod and Sebastian starts the duel.

Feeling generous, you cast a few basic spells at the young Auror to test him out. He deflects them easily. A few times, he simply dodges instead of casting protego. When he dodges one of your other attacks, he takes a moment to wink at the group of his peers.

Just like Sebastian indeed. Extraordinarily gifted and all too aware of it. Your guess is that, like Sebastian, he learns best when he faces someone far better than himself.

You feel the familiar crackling of electricity coursing through your veins. You feint and telegraph the movement to ensure your opponent puts up a defensive shield. Thunder roars and you bring down a particularly gentle beam of lightning crashing into his shield, which holds, but the force of impact sends him slamming into the floor, where he lays winded.

Above you, Sebastian calls the match, then gazes down at you fondly. He bites his lip and you just know his heart is racing from your display of power. It never fails. You feel warmth pool between your legs.

Reilly has struggled to his feet and declined his peers’ attempts to help him walk. You frown at the slight bruise forming on his cheek but he gives you a weak smile. He holds his hand out for you to shake, which you do. Then you frown at the growing wet feeling between your legs. You’d only ever felt that way about your husband.

As the wetness grows, you look down and see the front of your skirt is wet and it’s seeping into your socks and shoes. Then it clicks. Who knew all it took was a bit of lightning?

“Ah. The baby’s coming,” you say.

Reilly looks horrified. "What? Are you sure?" he shouts.

You nod. "Quite sure. Seb!" You call up to your husband. "We need to go to the hospital!"

Sebastian quickly makes his way to you. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Oh, no." You wave a hand. "The baby's coming, so we should head over before I get more fluids on the floor."

Sebastian pales. "The baby's coming??! Lead with that next time!"

You wrinkle your nose. "Next time? I'm not sure if I'm letting you do this to me again, this was not a fun experience."

"Just--!" Sebastian groans in frustration. "Let's go!" Sebastian ushers you to the nearest exit before you can say another word.

#sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy imagines #sebastian x mc #sebastian sallow x reader

[hamsterclaw]

Weighted

You don’t know if you needed Namjoon, but he comes to you anyway. Part of the Love AU, read the rest here.

Pairing: Namjoon x afab! reader

Warnings: Sex, swearing, mention of self-harm

Rating: 18+

Word count: 1.1k

There are weighted days, like today, when the world sweeps by outside your window and you feel inconsequential.

Your presence is irrelevant, you’re a speck of matter in the universe, and it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference whether you are here or not.

You’re curled up in the duvet you dragged from your bed, scattering the clutter on your coffee table in its synthetic wake, face pressed to the glass.

The height of your apartment makes you feel a vertiginous swoop in your insides as you take in the city below you.

You’re too numb to feel anything but the basics. Hot, cold, hard, soft. Higher emotions escape you when you’re like this.

There’s a buzzing of your intercom that you’re trying to ignore.

It’s probably some parcel with something you thought you needed before you’ve come to know better.

Nothing can fill the void.

The sound of a key in the lock makes you groan and pull the duvet over your head.

There’s only one person with a key to your apartment, and it’s not a fuckboy that you need right now.

The door opens and you don’t look, buried under the textural swirls of your duvet, a sea of ivory.

There’s a few steps, the clatter of keys in the dish in your hallway.

Now he learns to put his keys in the right place.

One divorce too late.

The footsteps stop right next to you but you keep your eyes tightly closed, so tight the firebursts behind your eyelids are blinding anyway.

Kim Namjoon sighs, the impatience he puts in the sound making you feel the first emotion you’ve felt in days.

It’s anger.

You try to push it away but it burns bright.

‘Did you slit your wrists under there?’ he asks. He pats the fluffy bulk enclosing you half-heartedly.

‘Take any pills?’ he continues.

Like the anger, Namjoon is getting difficult to ignore.

You pull the covers off, head surfacing from the softness, re-entering the world where everything is too bright, too loud and too goddamn annoying.

‘Do you need something Namjoon?’ you ask, flat.

He doesn’t answer at first, eyes scanning your face.

Finally he says, ‘Need a fuck?’

You blink up at him.

Namjoon sighs again. ‘When did you last eat?’

He doesn’t wait for an answer this time, turning and heading in the direction of your tiny kitchenette.

There’s unnecessarily aggressive clanging of pots, even the hiss of the kettle seems louder, a scream of discontent cutting through the fog of your detachment.

Your traitorous stomach rumbles, but you can’t bring yourself to get up and go to the kitchen.

You close your eyes instead.

When you dip back into the world, Namjoon’s sitting on your couch.

‘I’m not heating this up again, so you’d better eat,’ he says, not looking at you.

It feels like you can’t move, the heaviness of everything presses you down.

Eventually, Namjoon gets up and sits next to you on the window seat.

‘Open,’ he says, holding out a mouthful of noodles.

It’s too big, he always makes each forkful the size he would eat himself, like he hasn’t noticed that you eat smaller bites.

It’s delicious though.

You wipe the drip of broth off your chin on your t-shirt, and to his credit, he doesn’t even blink.

Namjoon scans channels on your TV whilst he feeds you, you can hear snippets behind your head.

Canned laughter, classical piano, tension and an explosion.

Namjoon sets the empty bowl down.

‘Want to take a shower, baby?’ he asks.

His tone is gentle, coaxing.

‘You’ll feel better.’

He places a warm hand on the small of your back, leading you to your bathroom.

You’re not wearing much but he helps you out of your clothes anyway, puts the shower on.

His clothes land heavily on the floor, the denim of his jeans solid against the tiles.

He tests the water, tugs you in next to him, shielding you from the fall of water with his own body.

There’s the squirt of soap, then his warm hands smoothing over your shoulders, brushing over the rounds of your breasts.

Your nipples harden under his palms, there’s no way he hasn’t noticed, but he carries on, hands kneading your back.

He’s semi-hard, you note distantly, his cock rising a little away from his body as he cleans you.

He reaches between your legs, thumb over your clit, fingers sliding along your folds. You arch your back a little, and his cock hardens even more.

Namjoon kneels to slide soap down your thighs, behind your knees, and you put your hand on his shoulder to steady yourself.

When he comes back up he’s fully hard, cock pressing into your belly.

You curl your hand around him instinctively, and you both watch the head of his cock appearing and disappearing in your fist as you stroke him.

Namjoon wraps his hand around yours, uses his other hand to turn the water off.

‘Let’s dry off,’ is all he says.

He wraps you in a towel, grabs one for himself.

The way he tents the terrycloth makes your mouth water.

Lust joins anger in your newly re-acquired library of emotions, and the combination of both is so acutely Namjoon in your experience that you revel in the familiarity of it.

Namjoon dries you off in front of your mirror, and you both watch as he plays with your breasts until you’re breathless.

He spreads your legs, delves his fingers in between, shows you your own arousal coating his fingers.

He’s dropped the towel, his cock nudges between your ass cheeks, the promise of filling you up tantalising.

Namjoon tugs you onto your bed, grabs a pillow, slips it under your hips.

‘Watch,’ he says, voice velvety.

His cock juts from him now, full and hard and seeking, as he lifts your hips and pushes into you.

You grasp the sheets underneath you as he fills you, his hardness thick and hot.

Namjoon snaps his hips forward, and you moan.

‘That’s it,’ he says, his voice thick, slurred. ‘Show me that you like it, baby.’

‘Come close,’ you pant, and he dips his torso so you can curl an arm around his shoulders, hold on to him whilst he fucks you so well everything else falls away from this moment.

There’s nothing but the slap of his sex against yours, his mouth on yours when he finally decides to kiss you, the hot spill of his cum inside you as your cunt contracts to take him, over and over.

There’s nothing but Namjoon, and you, and fuck what a mess you both have made.

‘Happy anniversary, baby,’ he says, face buried in your hair.

There’s the prick of tears in your eyes that you blink away before he can see.

Then, the third emotion, always inextricably linked with Kim Namjoon in your mind.

Sadness, lingering long after the anger and the lust have gone.

#bts smut #namjoon x reader #namjoon smut #namjoon imagine #kim namjoon

[aphroditeslover11]

I’ll just be hanging around the mistletoe, hoping to be kissed

Jonathon Crane x Reader

Sorry, this took me a while and it's pretty out of character but it was fun to write. I usually write in second person but did this for a change. It's based on another 'Love Actually' quote as well, because why not?!

Requests are still open so please ask. I do a lot of music related stuff, so the Christmas season is manic but the bulk of my work is over now, so I should be able to get back to writing now!

Love you all, thanks for reading and please interact! 💜

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, talk of divorce, age gap, cheesy fluff

There had always been something about Jonathon Crane. He was my dad’s best friend, a psychopharmacologist that worked closely with him. When I was younger he had been my first port of call whenever I needed advice, I had stayed with him when my parents were going through a messy divorce and he had always been a shoulder to cry on. When he realised the true extent of my problems he had offered me counselling and when I refused because I didn’t want my parents to find out he had offered it to me for free. There was very little left about me that I didn’t know. In turn, he had told me a lot about himself - the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his father and stories about the time that he spent working at the asylum. 

Everything changed when the divorce was over though. I went to lie with my mum full time and never saw him anymore, I texted him a lot to start with but my need to communicate diminished the longer we were apart. Then I hit the age of 18 and finished my exams, passing with flying colours and choosing to go and study at university. I turned 19 the autumn that I moved away and everything finally felt as if it was in the past. My parents were no longer as big a part of my life as they once had been, therefore neither was Jonathon.

It was the first December since I had left my mum’s house, I had decided that I was going to spend Christmas with my dad - just a quiet one the pair of after I hadn’t seen him for so long. I had left halls earlier in the month and returned home. I didn’t have a job here or anything so I had to spend the lead-up to Christmas in the house on my own whilst my dad was still working. It was three days before Christmas and I had gone out to do the massive food shop that always comes with the season, I was just unpacking the bags when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was probably somebody delivering a parcel, but was happily surprised when I opened it to find Crane. From the look on his face he was feeling the same.

“Jonathon, my god, I haven’t seen you in years. How are you?” I moved to allow him to come inside.

“I’m not too bad, how about you? My god you look so different now.” It was then that I spotted a gash on the side of his face, grooving across his perfect cheekbone.

“What happened, are you alright?” He looked bemused for a moment before reaching a hand to his face, there was blood still on it when he took it away.

“Oh, that… It was one of the patients at Arkham, had a break when I was in a room along with him. I’m fine, honestly.”

“At least let me get you something to patch it up with. You’re bleeding.” He looked a little awkward, only agreeing when he realised that I was worried about him. He probably hated the idea of upsetting me after everything we had discussed over the weekend.

A few minutes later I had found him a plaster, putting the kettle on for a cup of tea and sitting down at the kitchen table to catch up. He was interested in my studies, very apologetic about the divorce and assured you that if I needed anything whilst I was in town he was just a call away. I found out that he had moved up in the world, now the psychology lead at Arkham and lecturing part time at the university as well. He had left not too long later, but only after I had asked him to come over on Christmas Eve for dinner. It would be like old time, spending an evening with him and my Dad, probably watching die hard and laughing at them when they drank a glass too many of scotch. 

~

Christmas Eve arrived, and with it came a small disaster. My dad had been called away for work urgently and was going to be away over Christmas, meaning that I was left to spend it alone. The dinner had been cancelled and with it all of my company for the festive season. I wasn’t planning on celebrating now, moping around and making a ready meal before settling down to watch ‘The Holiday’ with a glass of wine. I had just made myself comfortable when there was a knock on the door. “For fuck’s sake,” I thought, “I just want to get this bloody depressing evening over with.”

I answered the door, with a scowl, only to find my spurned dinner guest behind it.

“Jonathon, I thought I told you that Dad was away over Christmas, I cancelled dinner and everything.”

“I got your message. I was going to be alone for Christmas Eve as well, so I figured that we could be alone together, or something like that. Don’t worry about dinner, I’ve booked a place. I want this evening to be easy for you, just relax, God knows that you deserve after the last few years.” 

It was then that I realised he was wearing a suit - a nicely tailored navy blue rather than the somewhat stuffy ones that he wore for work. In his hand was a bouquet of flowers, which he seemed to have forgotten.

“Jon, you brought me flowers?” He thrust them forwards then. “White roses, my…”

“…Your favourite.” He awkwardly interrupted, finishing my sentence. I gestured him inside, going to put the flowers in a vase.

“I’ll go and get ready then, make yourself at home and I’ll be as fast as I can.”

~

Half an hour later I was down the stair in a black dress and heels, hair haphazardly pinned up in a tumble of curls and makeup done. Jonathon emerged from the lounge, taking his coat off the peg and getting ready to go.

“Shall we then, the restaurant isn’t far so I thought we could walk.”

He was right, it wasn’t far at all and we were soon seated at a table. This place was more expensive than I was used to and we were half way through the main when I mentioned it.

“I’m not sure I can half this bill with you Jon, I’m a broke student.” He just chuckled good-naturedly in response.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me. It’s Christmas and I thought it would be a nice treat for both of us.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive, since the new job I’ve been making a little more than I can spend on myself without feeling guilty.”

“How’s it going? Do you enjoy working at Arkham? And you lecture as well, right?” He hesitated before responding.

“I like my work at the asylum, it’s fascinating and there is such a rich body of patients to observe. Lecturing I don’t like quite so much, my students are a pain, none of them actually seem interested in the subject. If an assignment is handed in on time it’s a novelty for me. How are you finding university?”

“I can’t say I’m loving it, I haven’t made many friends really and the lecturers are a bit dull. I just wish that there was someone there I knew, that I could talk to.”

“Give it a bit more time, but if things aren’t working out you could always transfer to Gotham. It’s not the safest place in the world, or cheap, but the university is good. I can put a word in if you like, you can even stay with me for a while, give you a chance to get on your feet.”

“That’s really kind of you Jon, I’ll definitely think about it.”

At the end of the evening Jonathon paid as he had promised, refusing to even let me see the bill. When we stood from our seats he held out his coat to me, helping me to slip my arms through the too-long sleeves.

“Here, you’ll need it more than me.”

“Are you sure you won’t be cold.”

“I’ll be fine.” He proffered an arm to me as well, which he didn’t on the way there. He could tell I wasn’t used to this sort of treatment, but he had become more instinctually protective as the evening went on and couldn’t help himself.

“You’ve had a few glasses of wine, I want to make sure that you’re steady. Can’t have you falling on the way back.” I slipped my hand through the crook of his left elbow, automatically bringing me closer to his warm body. 

“You know, you are so much more grown up than when I last met you. You were a girl when you left and came back a well-rounded, compassionate woman. You should be proud of yourself for how you’ve turned out.”

“Well, you haven’t changed at all Dr Crane. Always were and still are wonderful to me.”

The little exchanged stopped shortly after that and we carried on the walk in comfortable silence. A small amount of snow had started to dust the ground, starting to visibly settle just as we reached the front door.  I stopped to retrieve the key out of my bag and fumbled with the lock before Jon put his hand on mine, stopping me. He looked up, signalling me to do the same. Above us a single sprig of mistletoe was hung on the doorframe.

“It would be a shame to waste the opportunity, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure? I mean, it isn’t that I don’t want to, but you’re my dad’s best friend. Are you sure it isn’t wrong?”

“Well, I want to kiss you and you want to be kissed, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing I suppose.”

“Well then, I’ll just be hanging around the mistletoe, hoping to be kissed.”

With that I reached up to him, bringing my lips to his in a passionate yet gentle kiss as he engulfed me in his arms. At that moment I could tell that, despite what I had originally thought, this was going to be a truly magical Christmas.

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy x reader #the dark knight trilogy #tommy shelby #batman #scarecrow #jonathon crane x reader #jonathon crane #scarecrow x reader #christmas #festive fics #love actually #request

[mariacallous]

Two years have passed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian brutality against Ukrainians has been striking, and the evidence of Russia’s war crimes is mounting as the atrocities continue.

What has become evident is that these war crimes are not aberrations or crimes of omission. They are part and parcel of what Russia is trying to achieve in Ukraine. Testimonies collected by my organization, the Reckoning Project, and by others point to the systematic and deliberate nature of Russia’s crimes.

This makes the pursuit of accountability in Ukraine not only about justice. It is also about denying Russia its objectives and setting a precedent for other states intent on attacking their neighbors. Ensuring accountability and justice in Ukraine will contribute to accountability and justice globally.

Every day, Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General publishes on its website the total number of war crime cases that the office has registered since February 2022. This month, that number passed 125,000. The number—staggering by any account—increases every day, sometimes by the hundreds, and stands for thousands of destroyed lives. Each case is a devastating tragedy in and by itself.

The actual number of war crimes is much higher, as the reported number doesn’t account for most of the crimes committed in the occupied territories, where Ukrainian law enforcement has no access—close to 20 percent of Ukraine. There may be some 3 million Ukrainians still living in these territories. Many residents have fled, but many still remain.

Beyond the scale of the crimes, it’s crucial to understand that the atrocities are integral to Russia’s war aims. Of course, some crimes are the result of a rogue soldier’s actions. But the bulk of crimes stem directly from how and why Russia is waging war against Ukraine. They are a feature, not a bug, of Russia’s war. They are systematic, deliberate, and serve a clear purpose.

Take the missile and drone strikes against civilian critical infrastructure. Last winter, Russia launched a massive air campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing nearly irreparable damage to the energy network. The purpose of these attacks was to make Ukraine uninhabitable during the cold winter. This was intended to trigger a new wave of refugees into the European Union with the aim of creating divisions among Europeans and undermining their support for Ukraine.

Today, the barrages of missile and drone attacks against civilian targets—including schools, shopping malls, and apartment blocks—are meant to terrorize the population in order to undermine Ukrainian’s morale and put pressure on the government in Kyiv to capitulate.

Russia’s crimes can also be seen in the liberated territories. The scale and scope of these crimes became evident when Ukrainian forces entered previously occupied towns such as Bucha and Irpin in the early days of the invasion. Mass atrocities were also uncovered in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions after these territories were liberated.

The killing of civilians, torture, and disappearances were part of a deliberate strategy to terrorize the local population and rid the territories of Ukrainian resistance. These crimes were—and are—a deliberate means to subdue and control Ukrainians living under occupation.

When preparing the invasion, Russia developed plans to take over and exercise control over Ukrainian territories. These included filtration camps and death lists of notable activists, journalists, and politicians. Although Russia failed to take Kyiv, these policies are being implemented in the territories it managed to occupy.

As Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, wrote in a report in September 2023, Russia’s torture of Ukrainians was “orchestrated as part of a State policy to intimidate, to instil fear, to punish, or to extract information and confessions.”

But these systematic war crimes are not merely about eliminating resistance and subjugating a conquered population to Russian rule. The aim is also to Russify these territories and the Ukrainians living there.

This can be seen in one of the most egregious crimes being committed by Russia: the deportation of Ukrainian children. Kyiv estimates that 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia, of which fewer than 400 have been returned to Ukraine. The Reckoning Project and other organizations have documented ample evidence of these deportations.

Ukrainian children are sent to Russia—ostensibly to summer camp—and never returned to their parents. They are taken from orphanages in Ukraine and put in foster homes in Russia. They are separated from their parents in filtration camps. Many of the deported children are adopted by Russians and given Russian identities.

The deportation of children—the war crime on which the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is based—goes to the heart of Russia’s objectives in Ukraine: to destroy Ukrainian identity, culture, and ultimately the nation.

This can also be seen in the systematic indoctrination and reeducation of Ukrainian children living in the occupied territories. Ukrainian children are effectively taught to abandon their Ukrainian identity and instead become loyal Russian subjects.

It is important to understand what Russian occupation means in Ukraine. It is not merely a question of switching the language from Ukrainian to Russian in schools or Ukrainian flags being replaced by Russian flags. Occupation means oppression, torture, disappearances, indoctrination, and kidnapped children. It means the eradication of one’s culture and identity.

Russia’s actions in the occupied territories demonstrably negate the argument that its invasion was sparked by fears that Ukraine would join NATO and pose a security threat to Russia. The aggression was driven by Putin’s imperial ambition of “gathering the Russian lands” by conquering Ukraine. The country’s possible membership in NATO or the EU was seen as an obstacle to this ambition rather than a security threat.

Moscow’s efforts to Russify Ukraine and Ukrainians are also why the notion of freezing the conflict and accepting Russian control over the occupied territories is unthinkable for most Ukrainians. Two years into the war, their will to fight remains remarkably high. This is because Ukrainians know what occupation means: the destruction of a large part of their nation. Contrary to many Western armchair strategists, they know that occupation is about people—not just about land.

Holding Russia accountable for its crimes in Ukraine matters first and foremost to the victims and their families. It is primarily about ensuring justice for those who have suffered from Russia’s aggression. But it is also about denying Russia its strategic objectives in Ukraine. The pursuit of accountability puts pressure on the perpetrators and can help deter further crimes. It is a way to push back at Russia’s attempt to terrorize the population, dismember the country, and destroy the nation.

The war in Ukraine is also part of Russia’s wider effort to remodel the rules-based international order. Moscow seeks a world where might makes right, where only strong countries are sovereign, and where disregard for the laws of war is the norm. It seeks a world in which Russia can act with impunity in its neighborhood and beyond.

In that way, the war in Ukraine was enabled by the weak international response to Russia’s past wars in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria. Just as impunity in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria enabled Russian crimes in Ukraine, impunity in Ukraine would enable crimes elsewhere.

That Russia, in particular, is the perpetrator matters. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a nuclear power, it has a direct impact on the fabric of the international system. Accountability in Ukraine will help deter other would-be perpetrators of war crimes, regardless of their international status and standing.

To this end, the arrest warrant against Putin for the deportation of Ukrainian children is particularly powerful. It restricts his ability to engage on the global stage and represent Russia in international relations. The designation as a suspected war criminal will follow him to his grave. Other would-be tyrants are taking note.

[daftpatience]

Might be a bigcartel thing but do you know why everything ships separately when buying a few diff things at your store? i wanted to get ur cute digit journal stickers but it would only ship separately to other stuff ( stamp tape ) and added quite a lot 2 already solid international shipping. sorry for the long q, your work n merch is rlly inventive and gorgeous, and your art prompted me 2 watch and enjoy tvdint + its live stage ( I'd recommend if you haven't seen, the physical effects for sand are super silly but perfectly executed )

no ur right this is a problem i have been dealing with!! bigcartel's shipping stuff is still in beta and is a little bit sucks. I used to have combining options that made the smaller items free if they were shipping with a larger item, but a lot of people just ordered small items and would choose it thinking it was a free shipping option and then i was left to bug them about it or take the loss.

a lot of other bigcartel shop folks default to shipping everything as parcels to save the hassle but that makes things like stickers prohibitively expensive ;w; i wish they just let it default to the largest item in the order (there is an option for that but i have to add EVERY country and shipping profile to each order individually which sucks even with bulk editing)

i might do a compromise and combine lettermail + oversize lettermail but add back the free combining option with a more strict warning about when to use it so that lettermail and parcels can be combined and lettermail still remains affordable... (ty for listening to my spitballing here lol)

ALSO WHAT THAT SOUNDS SO COOL i need to go watch it!!!

#faq #im sorry shipping things sucks so bad for us all its poopoo

[ship-task]

Streamlining Supply Chains: The Advantages of Bulk Parcel Delivery

In today's fast-paced world, where e-commerce and global trade are thriving, efficient and reliable bulk parcel delivery services have become crucial for businesses and consumers alike. Whether you are a retailer, a manufacturer, or simply an online shopper, the concept of bulk parcel delivery plays a significant role in your daily life. In this informative blog post, we'll explore the significance of bulk parcel delivery, its advantages, key considerations, and how it is revolutionizing the way goods move across the globe.

The Significance of Bulk Parcel Delivery

Bulk parcel delivery is the transportation of multiple packages or parcels from one location to another in a consolidated manner. This service is essential for businesses looking to transport goods in large quantities, manage inventory, and ensure a steady supply of products to consumers.

Advantages of Bulk Parcel Delivery

Cost-Efficiency: Bulk parcel delivery is often more cost-effective than shipping individual parcels. By consolidating multiple packages into a single shipment, businesses can significantly reduce their transportation expenses.

Time Savings: Bulk parcel delivery streamlines the logistics process. Instead of managing multiple individual shipments, businesses can focus on a single, consolidated delivery, saving time and effort.

Reduced Environmental Impact: Consolidating parcels reduces the number of vehicles on the road, leading to a decrease in carbon emissions and a smaller environmental footprint.

Improved Inventory Management: Businesses can better manage their inventory by receiving large quantities of products at once, which is essential for retailers and manufacturers.

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Bulk parcel delivery ensures that businesses have ample stock to meet customer demands, leading to higher customer satisfaction.

Key Considerations for Bulk Parcel Delivery

Volume of Shipments: Assess the volume of parcels you regularly need to transport. Bulk parcel delivery is most effective when dealing with a substantial quantity of packages.

Service Providers: Choose reliable and reputable delivery service providers that specialize in bulk parcel delivery. Consider their track record, coverage, and cost-effectiveness.

Packaging: Ensure that your parcels are properly packaged and labeled for bulk shipping to avoid damages and delays.

Transportation Modes: Consider the transportation modes available for bulk parcel delivery, including road, rail, air, and sea, and select the most suitable option for your needs.

Tracking and Reporting: Work with providers that offer robust tracking and reporting tools to monitor the status and location of your bulk shipments.

Advantages of Bulk Parcel Delivery for Businesses

Cost Savings: Bulk parcel delivery is a cost-efficient option for businesses that need to transport goods in large quantities.

Time Efficiency: Consolidated shipments save time compared to handling numerous individual parcels.

Sustainability: Reducing the number of vehicles on the road lowers carbon emissions, contributing to a greener supply chain.

Inventory Management: Businesses can efficiently manage their inventory and ensure they have adequate stock to meet customer demands.

Customer Satisfaction: Consistent product availability leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Bulk Parcel Delivery Services

E-commerce Fulfillment: Online retailers often use bulk parcel delivery to replenish their stock and fulfill customer orders efficiently.

Manufacturing: Manufacturers depend on bulk parcel delivery to receive raw materials and transport finished products to distributors or retailers.

Retail Distribution: Retailers with multiple outlets use bulk parcel delivery to manage inventory and maintain consistent stock levels.

Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale businesses rely on bulk parcel delivery to distribute products to retailers efficiently.

Supply Chain Management: Companies use bulk parcel delivery to streamline their supply chain operations and meet customer demand.

Bulk parcel delivery is a vital component of modern logistics and supply chain management, offering numerous advantages to businesses and consumers. Whether you are a retailer, a manufacturer, or a consumer, the efficiency, cost savings, and environmental benefits of bulk parcel delivery impact your daily life and the global economy.

In a world where supply chains are more interconnected and global than ever before, bulk parcel delivery services play a pivotal role in ensuring that goods reach their destinations promptly and cost-effectively. By embracing the advantages of bulk parcel delivery, businesses can optimize their logistics processes, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.

#Bulk Parcel Delivery

[opchopperzine]

🌸 Production Update 🌸

This parcel seems a bit thicker, perhaps it's a new medical textbook?

Even better, it's our zine-proof! We are currently working on a few edits to the internal formatting and aim to place our bulk order of zines shortly after these corrections have been made!

[mamamittens]

Well, we have a game plan but the coming weeks will be quite illuminating about if we'll need to take out loans to consolidate pre existing debt.

The "Oh Shit Sale" is still ongoing btw, which basically means half off commissions and the chance to sponsor a chapter of a fic I haven't updated for $20 bucks (ABSOLUTELY A LAST RESORT FOR ME AND NOT IN ANY WAY GOING TO CONTINUE ONCE I FEEL COMFORTABLE IN MY CURRENT FINANCIAL STRIFE).

I will be very glad to announce the sale has ended but for the moment, it is still very much active.

Anyway, time for something less depressing! Like rambling about my new pokemon OC until I feel able to go to sleep!

So, I have a very definied look for Edna during work hours. Very... Althetic chic? Idk, she's wearing leggings and sleeveless mock turtleneck, it's very much A Look. So I was trying to figure out what her 'comfy' wear would be.

Personality wise it would make sense for her to prefer comfy, soft fabrics. She doesn't like conflict despite being very fit, as her workout routine is stress relief, which is why her normal outfit is so athletically inclined. My roomie suggested sweater dresses? But I'm not committed yet.

Whatever style it is, I want it to be cute and very... Soft? Like, cuddling would be so fucking amazing. Perhaps sweats and thick sweaters. Like a lazy librarian?

And her hair... It's already down for her main look, save random braids from her Pokemon friends. And that much hair would be heavy as shit so idk if she'd pull it up. Doubt she'd bother wearing her Togapi beanie though. Maybe one big braid with little braids throughout since she has time to let them actually do her whole hair. Just a thick, chunky braid lol

I also put some thought into how her job works. I doubt they'd be so slave driving she'd drop off a package and immediately return. She'd likely have a bulk delivery to a region she needs to complete in a certain time frame and as long as she's not late, it's fine. So in her off hours she'd likely be cleaning out whatever housing she owns in the area of her aunt's personal affects, saving them for her folks when it's sentimental or donating. I like to imagine her ordering local, sometimes with her most recent troublesome client as an apology for making her jump through hoops to deliver a package THEY ORDERED.

I imagine all of her aunt's properties are decked out for housing pokemon and eggs. So she's well prepared for the shenanigans her aunt's charm brings.

As for why she doesn't do pokemon breeding, well aside from ruining the egg gag if it's on purpose, she just doesn't have the eye for it. Edna really loves pokemon so she wouldn't have the heart to critically evaluate a Pokemon's worth the way her aunt did. She could absolutely do it if given time, but she'd just end up adopting all the 'failed' attempts, which isn't viable. She also wouldn't be able to stand people that would pay for such services as they'd likely be very dismissive of any perceived lack in a pokemon.

For sleeping arrangements, Yolky has preferential treatment as a rule. And also because they wind up as the smallest in her party, even by Togepi/Togetic/Togekiss standards, being slightly smaller than the smallest known measurement. (I may fudge numbers a bit cause it's infamously unclear how tf these professors are measuring these pokemon, so maybe Yolky's final form is measured by wingspan?) And Baby and Danny sleep nearby depending on where they are. For storms, Danny likes to keep watch with Helper (who never really sleeps to begin with, literally keeping ghostly vigil and watching over any eggs) and Baby likes to sleep on Edna's legs if Danny is present. Particularly once they evolve into an alpha Sylveon (as yet another joke on Yolky's expense, he's so mad about that).

Parcel has insomnia so they often stay up with Helper but do enjoy napping as they travel on trains and such. If they can manage, they like sleeping against Edna's back/hair.

As part of the universal weirdness concerning people casually carrying around incredibly heavy pokemon, there are many times where Edna doesn't even notice one of her Pokemon are asleep in her hair, using braids as footholds or securing points. Usually Yolky, especially once Danny starts braiding her hair with his poison spit to prevent frizz. Accidentally boosts all of their poison resistance with this stunt but he's not sorry, just embarrassed.

If it's Yolky in her hair, he's often mistaken for a massive bow, not helped by his unique, shiny-bred appearance.

Ah, for reference, Baby is a shiny Eevee that evolves into Sylveon. Danny (Cadenza) is a shiny Toxitricity. Parcel is a shiny Delibird (from work, she doesn't hatch or find this one). And Helper (Little Helper) is a shiny-bred Chandelure from her aunt that she inherited with many properties and a 'Happy Egg Charm' that unbeknownst to Edna, spawns increasingly rare eggs on top of determining viability of eggs, compatibility of two pokemon, and if an egg is shiny.

It's the main gag, it's a whole thing and I'm having a blast imagining it.

Edna usually gives the Pokemon or eggs to local professors, fueling a massive conspiracy in every region about how tf she gets these rare eggs. Only the professor from her home region knows the truth cause he's familiar with her family and aunt. But he just never seems to get the chance to explain. Whoops.

#mittens update #mittens rambles #pokemon oc

[augment-techs]

Ruby and Blush for OC ask game + any character(s) that speak to you :)

....okay, I'm just gonna step outside of the Coinless Universe for a small moment, since I'm working on ot3 Matt/Skull/Billy and need a reason to focus on this particular headspace for a spell.

RUBY:

Matt: In the grand scheme of things, while Matt often presents as wrongheaded or entirely focused on what he's doing and feeling at any given time, his heart and protective instincts will always encompass two things in a crisis. The first is his family--especially his little sister, who knew something was off much the way Zack did when Matt was replaced with a Putty, and got him through the worst of his dissociation when he got back from the moon. The second are his friends that also happen to be, through some true kind of life being stranger than fiction type fuckery, his lovers. While he might have been friends with Billy first, and his brain finds him the most valuable in a warzone or a place and time where he has no idea what he's doing, his instincts (be it his own, or the Green Dragon baked into his bones from the Power) tell him that Skull is the most precious...probably because he's seen him naked and almost has an aneurysm if he so much as trips or runs into a door. Or stick him into a bundle of blankets in a closet nine times out of ten.

Billy: The most valuable thing in the universe, to Billy, of course, will always be intellect and ingenuity. He's a Blue Ranger, and has been since he was just starting the way into proper puberty (thanks for that Zordon; not like that's going to cause issues down the line, but whatever) and was led into believing this even more so when he started working with Grace and Terona as something of a missing balance that the two have needed since their one and only time in Ranger suits. But the most precious thing is his team. It makes him feel a little ashamed when and if he has to say it out loud, but it's part and parcel of becoming a Ranger so young. When a problem hits the earth, be it by monsters, catastrophe, weather assaults, or aliens, his first thoughts always lead to his team, contacting them, constructing line of sight, making sure they're on the same level to get things done. And only after that does he think of his parents, then his lovers, then his other friends, then his colleagues. And it makes him feel like shit, but both Matt and Skull have assured him that it's okay. It's who he is and how can they hate a part of him when they love the whole of him?

Skull: His family have basically hated him since the day his was born (his brother tried, but he had his own problems and only sort of kind of vaguely cared about the little shrimp in that kind of way in that they're brothers and so he has to) and most teachers and authority figures in his life tend to forget about him as soon as he's out of sight. In the beginning, when he was finding his place into being a person without also being as big of an asshole as his father or a snake like his mother or just kind of unpleasant like his brother, he thought the most valuable thing in the world was being friends with Billy. Not just because he was a great guy, but because he didn't seem to know that Skull was poor white trash and not at all worth his time. The Cranstons were nice to him and Skull appreciated Billy and his family for the soft feeling they produced in his chest from day one. But then Billy branched out to other kids, though camp, through school, through connections with people that could bring him up in the world, and that went away and brought in this look and the way he began acting around Skull that spoke of shame and embarrassment and leaving him behind without realizing he was even doing anything wrong. Bulk's friendship became the most valuable thing given that he found the scrawny, abandoned little thing and picked up the pieces, while also sort of teaching Billy a lesson in bullying him, most often when Billy and Skull had an interaction that he didn't like or when Billy seemed to be getting too big for his britches. Which, while wrong, did actually do kind of a good job of teaching Skull not to let people get away with believing they were better than him just because of his background, and kind of gave Billy a lesson in hubris. Bulk becoming something to believe in, valuable like a family god or patron saint.

But the most precious thing to Skull is the safety of those he considers to be a part of his life that he wouldn't want to lose. As he gets older and the attacks on Angel Grove continue on and on and on, monsters and aliens and false friends and friends turned enemies against their will, he cares significantly less about himself and more about the people that cared enough about him, even for a day, and their well-being. His own safety and health almost always take a backseat to that.

BLUSH:

Matt: Someone nearly touching his face. Someone training with him one on one, getting up close and personal, and seemingly not minding being in his personal space. Someone almost but not quite touching him when walking in a group, shoulders inches apart. It's not the touch itself that gets to him much; it's the space and moments between where he riles himself up. Like a lizard with cold blood sensing heat just out of touch.

Billy: When he realizes he's diverged entirely into intellectual tech-speak and yet, the person that has no technological awareness has stuck around just to give him a sort of fond look that promises that they were listening and paying attention and trying to keep up, but were obviously more interested in how excited Billy got than anything else. And also seeing someone's little often unseen slips of skin when they stretch too far and their shirt rides up, or they roll their shirt sleeves or ride up their pant legs to adjust socks. Like some Victorian maiden in a Jane Austen novel.

Skull: Anyone complimenting him in a way that is not obvious platitudes or sarcasm. He doesn't really think he's good at anything, so this follows very obviously from that. Also being fed. Just giving him food out of the blue for no reason.

#boom! comics power rangers #Billy Cranston #Matt Cook #eugene skullovitch #mighty morphin power rangers #ask fill #prompt fill #this goes with a couple works actually

[nerdpokemonheadcanons]

The History of Pokemon Mail

Since cars weren't around, mail back in the day was delivered by pokemon, differing on the region.

Kanto used Ryhorn and Doduo as land carriers for thier relative speed and bulk. Lapras for sea, for the same reasons, and Pidgeotto and Fearrow for air mail.

Johto, having the same mail system, used the same Pokemon as Kanto, though Noctowl was used for late night packages.

Hoenn's land mail was handled by Donphan, able to carry lots and travel long distances, whereas the sea mail was given to Wailord and Sharpido (very carefully). Air mail, if a short distance was given to Peliper, but long term air shipping was handled by Tropius.

In Sinnoh, land mail was delivered on Garchomp, though intimidating, it's way of speed was perfect for the routes. Air mail was given to Staraptor or Yanmega, while sea mail was sent through Empoleon because of its ice breaking abilities.

Unovan land mail was sent through Zebstrika (called the Blitzle Express), and air on the back of Braviary. Sea shipping companies tended to stick to traditional ships and boats, but Swanna proved to be quite helpful at times.

Kalos used Gogoat for the longest time, with Ryhorn also used for the normal mail. In the air, Noivern and Talonflame were fast and able to cover the entire region. Avalugg was the key to Kalos exports as they would slowly follow the boats carrying supplies for the sailors.

Alola is and was such a small region that most mail was delivered on foot, but Poni Island eventually began using Mudsdale. The air mail had Vikavolt, with Wishiwashi covering the enormous sea routes.

Galar was one of the first to start using automobiles in daily life, but before that Copperajah could be seen piled high with parcels. The waterways had Drednaw going from town to town, and Corvisquire training to carry taxis were also tasked with airlifing the mail.

This post was compiled from headcanons shared with me by @0-astraldreams-0

#pokemon headcanons #long post #pokemon culture #kanto #johto #hoenn #sinnoh #unova #kalos #alola #galar #submission

[paddockpr]

I’m curious, who do you think is the most unproblematic driver on the grid? Former drivers too?

Interesting question anon! And I don't really have a cut and dry answer for this, mainly because whilst I can point to particular actions of drivers that I think have meaningfully created change, I do not really conceive of any driver as unproblematic. I also think that the approach of unproblematic versus problematic in some ways removes accountability from drivers by setting up language in such a way that it treats certain behaviors as inherent to some people, and also puts the bulk of the work of change on marginalized people and not perpetrators (just look at racism in F1 media or compare what kinds of questions they ask Hamilton versus Alonso, or how they treat Tsunoda versus Verstappen),

That being said in no particular order and off of the top of my head, the drivers that I think have made the biggest efforts to changing and being proactive are as follows (some will be missing as this is off the top of my head):

James Hunt: opposed apartheid, helped fund anti apartheid efforts, and criticized F1 for sportswashing including trying to prevent broadcast of his commentary in apartheid South Africa. He was extremely proactive in anti-racism efforts and I think is a good example of what solidarity would look like.

Lewis Hamilton: Mission44, Ignite with Mercedes, and the Hamilton Commission. Big on funding education and education reform through Mission44, has made the efforts of ignite with mercedes part and parcel of his contract and they co-fund it for DEI in motorsports. Also if you haven't read the full Hamilton commission report, I highly recommend that you do because it puts a lot into perspective. Also the more symbolic gestures like the helmets and tshirts that force social issues into conversation

Valterri Bottas: he is not the only one that does this but from what I have seen he does it most frequently and creatively: auctioning helmets. This last Aussie GP he even had an indigenous artist (Ricky Kildea) design his helmet for auction. With the way that arts and sports are entertwined in culture, putting creatives in the limelight is important.

Sebastian Vettel: we have the bee hotel, and the cycling and also the symbolism with stuff like helmets and kneeling with Hamilton. I already explained why symbolism is important in Hamilton's section but once again, symbolic gestures forces conversation on social issues as opposed to being left unsaid and rendered invisible.

Now none of these men are perfect, and I have (many many) things about each of them including the ones listed above that I am critical of, but when I think about how people should behave I think that the drivers I mentioned and the proactive behaviors, efforts and so on are the ones that I think drivers should consider paramount. Facilitating safe spaces, funding qualified people, organizations and accountability.

And as for this newer gen of drivers, time will tell. For some, it seems to already be a lost cause, but for others they have shown interest in issues like mental health, as we have seen with Norris and Russell, or have done things like auctioning helmets (Leclerc) or generally helping (Tsunoda in Imola). But, as I am sure is the reason you mentioned former drivers, it is too early to tell who will be the front of the pack with the new generation of drivers, especially since the sport is still largely one made by and for wealthy cishet white men.

Also I must be honest, as a development PR person I am always wary of pedestaling anyone, especially if they are in a space that does not have many accountability mechanisms in place, even if I like them. So yeah, hope that made sense and thank you for the question! It was interesting and I had to think about it a bit and consider the nuances of the matter!

#paddockpr #sportspr #jjessays