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casualvoidbread · 9 months

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Battling The Signs of Underperformance In The Workplace

Introduction: In the dynamic landscape of modern workplaces, human resources teams and managers encounter a range of challenges that impact productivity, harmony, and employee well-being. Adapting to hybrid work models, prioritizing employee welfare, fostering team cohesion, and addressing underperformance are some of the key challenges organizations face today. Underperformance, a common issue, can hinder progress if left unchecked. This article delves into the concept of workplace underperformance, its causes, and actionable strategies to effectively manage it. Additionally, we will explore how staffing agencies like HireEazy can play a role in finding solutions to these challenges.

Understanding Workplace Underperformance: Workplace underperformance refers to situations where employees fail to meet set goals and expectations, leading to subpar results that hinder overall work progress. This is manifested through missed deadlines, absenteeism, low motivation, negative customer feedback, and poor evaluations. Identifying these signs is crucial for maintaining a productive work environment.

Causes of Underperformance: Several factors contribute to underperformance:

Capabilities and Skillset: Mismatches between an employee's role and their qualifications or skills can lead to underperformance. Periodic skillset analyses and behavioral assessments can help address this issue.

Communication Issues: Poor communication or discrepancies in communication often lead to underperformance. Strategies promoting transparency, regular updates, and improved relationships through discussion forums and meetings are essential.

Low Motivation: Long-tenured employees might experience diminished motivation due to various reasons such as lack of interest, inadequate compensation, or limited career growth. This can result in dissatisfaction and reduced performance.

Lack of Training: Continuous learning is crucial for performance improvement. Providing tailored training based on individual assessments can significantly mitigate underperformance issues.

Personal Issues: Personal crises and strained relationships can disrupt an employee's focus and work-life balance. Providing support and flexibility can help alleviate these challenges.

Strategies to Manage Workplace Underperformance: Addressing underperformance requires a thoughtful approach:

Communication: Initiate open conversations with underperforming employees. Actively listen to their concerns and clarify performance expectations. Empathetic communication fosters trust and loyalty.

Training: Identify areas for improvement and provide personalized training. Assign mentors or strong team members to aid in skill enhancement and track progress.

Setting Goals: Develop performance goals using SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound). Involve the employee in crafting an action plan that aligns with their skills and aspirations.

Feedback: Regular feedback is essential for improvement. Recognize improvements and address challenges promptly. This two-way dialogue encourages continuous growth.

Role of Staffing Agencies like HireEazy: Staffing agencies like HireEazy can play a pivotal role in managing workplace underperformance. These agencies specialize in identifying candidates with the right skill set and qualifications for specific roles, reducing the likelihood of mismatches. They can also assist in workforce planning, talent acquisition, and providing training solutions tailored to individual needs. By partnering with top recruiting firms in NYC, organizations can access a pool of qualified and motivated candidates, ensuring a higher likelihood of performance alignment.

Conclusion: Effectively managing workplace underperformance requires proactive strategies that address individual and organizational needs. By recognizing the causes of underperformance and implementing targeted solutions such as open communication, training, goal-setting, and regular feedback, organizations can nurture a culture of continuous improvement. Moreover, leveraging the expertise of staffing agencies like HireEazy can facilitate the process of identifying the right talent and optimizing workforce dynamics, leading to enhanced performance and success.

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easternstaffing · 1 year

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bestrecruitingstrategies · 2 years

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Open-Door Policy: What Is It & What Are Its Benefits?

Employees in a company are called human resource. They are should be encouraged and managed with high efficiency. In the modern corporate world, the management should engage with employeesregularly in order to be aware if any issues are brewing so that problems can be nipped into the bud before these bring stagnancy to organizational operations, productivity and growth.

Both the groups – employers and employees – have some expectations from each other. Employers want employees to be hard-working, committed and productive whereas employees want to work under employers who will realize their potential and problems as well as appreciate their contributions and achievement.

The best recruitment agency in Georgia emphasizes on adopting an open-door policy.It can develop better understanding between top brass and their teams and make employees feel that they are highly valued. In this article, we will discuss about the essence and benefits of an open-door policy.

What is an open-door policy?

An open-door policy is an approach towards establishing a workplace environment whereall employees, regardless of their designations, have an easy access to the managers in the company. It allows employees to walk through the office doors of company echelons to discuss workplace-related problemsand offer valuable inputs.

A good open-door policy and its perfect implementation encourage managers to be good listeners. With companies following the perfect and practical model of open-door policy, the managers are required to undergo proper training to cultivate patience and excellence for handling any work-related issues brought to their notice.

To be precise, an open-door policy breaks the barrier of inaccessibility, a character of conventional command chain that used to instill a sense of entitlement in senior managers. An open-day policy paves ways for open communication and allows both sides – managers and employees – to discuss and address the problems at workplaces.

Why should your company have an open-door policy?

Modern companies can no longer treat their employees as a group that is only obliged to take orders and execute the same. It is anything but a healthy work culture. Maintaining transparency is integral to employee engagement and retention and it can be achieved through open communication. Like everything else, an open-door policy has few pitfalls but benefits outweigh disadvantages.

Here are some benefits of an open-door policy:

Understanding Employees’ Attitudes

An open-door policy builds up conducive work environment that engages both parties to enter into open conversations. It helps employees stay prepared for the forthcoming work-related challenges. It allows the managers to understand the sentiments and attitudes of their team, get a hint and hang of budding problems and seek solutions much before they snowball big enough to impede day-to-day operations.

Higher Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a smart way to promote smooth and productive business operations. It is also an effective way to know what is going on the main floor first hand. By keeping their doors shut, managers close all the ways to engage the workforce. Hence, many concerns and options never reach their table.

Quick Information Access

In a traditional employer-employee relationship, strict adherence to chain of command causes information to trickle through several pockets before reaching the top of the pyramidal setup. Such a rigid system only makes flow of information significantly slow. An open-door policy ensures that all employees should have a first-hand access to office-related information. It makes employees feel that they are integral to the system and encourages them to put forward their valuable insights for improved operations.

#Best recruitment agency in Georgia #Best recruitment agency in New York

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1800jjbarnes · 7 months

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◇ 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑: 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 - 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 ◇

Make You Mine

【sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs】 : Bucky can't help but send death glares to any man who tried to have your attention for too long. Too bad you don't belong to him… yet.

『ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ』 : 1.87k

-> ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: Suggestive. Office Au.

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: CEO!Bucky x Assistant!Reader

[ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs] : Man handling. Pet names. Dominance kink. Choking kink. Fingering. Use of the name slut. Slight Exhibitionism kink. Mention of sex. Making out. Edging. Use of Bucky's metal arm.

Masterlist | Kinktober List

He was staring you down like a piece of meat. His lips were snarled as he watched you standing among newcomers. Recruits from a highly skilled agency, joining the team company for the moment until they later get filtered out to other buildings that lay under Bucky Barnes's name. Barnes, the largest family company in New York. James took over soon after his father passed. He was only twenty-five when it happened. But he grew up quickly, so naturally, taking the role of CEO was easy. It was hard, and the toll it took on him was painful. But the one thing he looked forward to every time he came into work was you.

His pretty little assistant.

You were young, just turning twenty-one when you joined his team. That was three years ago now. He always made sure to have you by his side whenever he could. Oh, he needed a coffee? He’d make sure to grab one for you, but not a coffee, no, no, you like a hot chocolate no matter the weather cause you only like sweet things. He needed to organize planners and meetings. He’d make sure you were sitting with him in his office while you both chatted the day away as he worked on the planners. Grabbing lunch? Always without fail he’d grab you something to eat, drop it off in front of you on your desk along with a white chocolate and raspberry cookie and before you could even tell him he didn’t need to buy you food, he was gone. Slipping into his private closed office space.

To say he was in love with you was the only thing to mention. And no, he did not have a crush or a thing… he wasn’t a player looking for a hookup even though practically every woman that worked for him and all the past assistants threw themselves at him. He didn’t budge.

Until you.

He was a man, deeply in love, the moment he laid eyes on you. A sweet thing looking for her first big girl job. You were smart, reliable, friendly, and oh that smile you make every time you look at him. His heart would swoon every time you sent it his way. You were the definition of perfect. And he wanted you as his. So seeing these new men, crowding you at the office party made his blood boil. No man was worth your attention, even he at times. Sam, a friend of Bucky, seemed to take notice of the way Bucky's nostrils were flared and his brow was knitted with frustration. He could practically see steam pouring out of his best friend's ears.

“If you’re so mad, go talk to her instead.” Sam nudged Bucky, snapping him out of his stare for a moment to shoot a quick glance at the older man, only merely huffing in response before turning back. “Come on, boss man, tell her you like her. You know she likes you, right?”

Okay, Sam officially has Sam's attention now. “What now?”

“You didn’t know? Of course, you didn’t see it. You are so stupid sometimes.” The young one laughs, chuckling thickly. He couldn’t believe his old brooding friend was so blinded by the idea of you being someone he could call his. Before Bucky could respond, his eyes shifted to your suddenly moving figure. You were walking away with John, one of the new recruits following you like a lost puppy. Bucky brain was suddenly on high alert. Where were you going? Why was John going with you? He needed to know, and he needed to find out now. “Hey wait, where are you going?”

Bucky didn’t answer instead he strode through the crowds of people, weaving around bright faces thinking they’d gotten the chance to talk to the quiet boss, but was quickly greeted with a grunt for them to move, or a long-distance stare that was nowhere near wanted pointed in their direction. No, Bucky was on a mission and had no time for chit-chat from anyone other than whatever John could possibly say to keep your attention. Jealous was reeling through the large man’s veins, and he did not care in the slightest. And once he turned the corner seeing you trapped in the hallway with John too close to you for comfort, he knew he had to act quickly. Taking large steps, he made his presence known to both of you. You snapped your glance to Bucky the moment he was in view, but John, well, he simply pretended the older male didn’t exist. He only wanted you and to have you in his mind, so the boss just had to wait.

“What do we have here?” Bucky's deep velvet voice sent shivers down both your and John's spines. But they were both very different effects. John swallowed thickly, trying to keep up the tough guy act while you melted, squeezing your thighs while never breaking eye contact with your employer. “The party is back there.”

James had no time for games, but a part of him didn’t want to scare you into thinking he was being controlling. Yes, he wanted you to himself, and he wanted nothing more than to show John exactly why you belonged to him. But alas, you weren’t his…

Yet.

“Oh hey, boss, we are just getting to know each other a little more.” John didn’t even let his eyes leave your figure, not paying the taller, broader man standing in his frustration behind his attention. That pissed off Bucky, and a snap went off, grabbing the collar of John's and tugging it back, making the small man let out a cough. He stepped back, trying to save his breath, but Bucky kept pulling back, making John not able to breathe.

“I don’t think this beautiful woman is interested in whatever comes out of your filthy mouth.” Bucky's voice was deep, seductive. Everything was screaming sex appeal, and you wanted more. Bucky finally let go of the other man's shirt, letting him finally suck a jagged cough in. He held his neck, feeling a soreness begin to form;

“You fucking ass.” Was all John could say, going to stand but Bucky caged you for a moment, checking to see you were okay. You quickly nodded, giving your boss a smile, letting him turn around to see John running at him. Why? You couldn’t understand that, it’s not like John could do anything against someone like James Bucky Barnes.. “Why can’t you just―.”

John's words were cut short as Bucky's left hand cupped his neck, pushing the smaller male against the wall next to you. Bucky's grip got tighter, and his eyes were darker than normal. You watched intensely, seeing the soft smile disappear from Bucky's features, being replaced by one of a sadistic nature. Heat grew in your core, seeing Bucky rough up the pathetic excuse for a man. The way his fingers are wrapped so beautifully around his neck, the way he holds John's life in his hand. Call you crazy but the scene in front of you turned you on more than you’d admit.

“Just what hmm? Why can’t I leave and let you continue to harass my girl? Hmm, let me think… One, that gorgeous thing next to us belongs to me. Two, You are a waste of space and you’re lucky I don’t fire you for harassment. And three, if I ever see you near my girl or any of the women here for that matter, I will ruin you to the point no one will ever hire you. Do you understand?”

John nodded.

“Do. You. Unerstand.” He punctuated every word with a loud, deep whisper. John started nodding like an idiot before coughing out.

“y-yes s-si-irr.”

Jamew let him go after that, making the man fall to his knees, sounding like he was about to cough up a lung. Your boss just stood staring at Lucas with pity and disgust, straightening his own tie before saying. “Go, before I change my mind.” And with that, John ran from the hallway, heading straight for the elevators, not wanting to mingle anymore. Silence fell quickly as you both watched John scurry away, but your eyes drew to Bucky soon after, studying his deadpan face. “Your girl, huh?”

He turned with a simple smile, stepping closer to where you still stood, leaning against the wall. “Of course you are. As I am yours...” he placed his hand next to your head, tilting his head slightly. “You want that?”

You couldn’t help but smile, taking your chance to lean forward, taking his soft lips against yours. He wasted no time wrapping his right hand around your waist while the other gripped the back of your head, keeping you in place as he swallowed your moans. You could feel his growing bulge on your thigh through his slacks. The fighting must have excited him a bit, along with…other things. You moaned out his name, bucking your hips in order to find his, but his hand kept you in place. He had to chuckle at how responsive your body was for him, never knowing you could be even more good than you already are.

“My sweet, sweet thing.” He groaned between kisses, “You just need someone to hold, you.” His hand that held your hip, moved down slowly, letting his fingers graze the top of your dress pants before slipping into your panties “Someone to touch you where you need it.” His metal hand that held the back of your head suddenly moves to snake around your throat, making your eyes widen at his bold move, but he just smirks, eyes dark, filling with lust. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you clenched your pretty thighs at me strangling that dickhead before. How your eyes sparkled…”

He tightened his grip, slightly making your head begin to spin in the best way possible. Spreading your stance more you let his index finger slide against your soaking cunt, letting out a moan from the pleasure surging through your body like a firecracker. "B-Bucky please…”

“Shh it’s okay, baby. You just a dirty little slut, needing to be pleased no matter who might see. But don’t worry my darling, I’ll make sure to fuck you good once I get you back to mine. Well unless I get too patient and decided to fuck you in my car.”

You couldn’t help but yelp when James pinched your clit. He crashed his lips against yours one more time letting his hand that sat beautifully on your neck squeeze a little tighter. It felt like he was literally stealing the air out of your lungs and before you could do anything he pulled away entirely, and if it wasn’t for the fact he grabbed your waist you would of fallen on your knees from how wobbly your legs became. He kept his hand around your waist, helping you get your footing before giving you a gentle smile unlike the sinisterly cheeky one you saw prior.

“Let’s get out of here hmm? I still wanna fuck you before the day ends.”

Nope, still sinister

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ellephlox · 9 months

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Embers and Ashes

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got the power to heal, but you've managed to carve out a home for yourself in Hell's Kitchen. By day you're an assistant at a literary agency, and by night you mend broken bones and bloody cuts. It's a double life that constantly forces you to question your morality, because the wounds you seem to magically heal don't vanish forever — they've got to eventually go somewhere.

But after you make the mistake of healing the wrong people, you become Daredevil’s next target, and suddenly your double life becomes far more tangled than you could ever have predicted.

Set post-S3. Slow burn Matt x Fem!Reader. Chapter one will be posted here on tumblr, but ensuing chapters will be uploaded to AO3. You can read Ch. 1 on AO3 here, if you'd prefer.

Warnings: Description of injuries and profanity.

Most normal people in the city dreamed of being an Avenger.

You overheard them at work constantly, ever since it became increasingly commonplace for people to crop up with super-strength or freakishly accurate aim with a bow and arrow:

“I actually ran into Spider-Man this morning — the real Spider-Man! I begged him to sign my arm, obviously, because there was no paper around, and he actually did it! Look, right here. I'm going to get it tattooed after work.”

“Well, last night I had a dream that I was recruited by the Avengers. It was absolutely amazing, Debbie — Tony Stark wanted me to be his girlfriend! God, it was fantastic. He even let me try on his Iron Man suit.”

“Oh, I’d give anything to be enhanced. I’d want to be able to fly. Or teleport. Any power, really, if it could get me a one-way ticket to fighting with them.”

“But did you hear my friend got threatened by Daredevil the other night? That red horned suit is gone, though. He’s in that black suit from the days when we called him the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. I’d love to run into that guy — he’s so strange, isn’t he? Handsome, in a mysterious way.”

At this point in these types of conversations you always tried to tune them out. Their rosy idea of enhanced ignored the things that you saw whenever footage of the Avengers was shown on the evening news. After the battle in New York, they raved about Captain America’s strength, that magic hammer of Thor’s, and the way Dr. Bruce Banner metamorphosed from a man into a monstrous hero, as though it were the best thing in the world to have super-powered abilities.

But when you had watched that footage on the news, after the battle was over, all you saw was the blood. The bodies. The expressions on the Avengers’ faces, of the anguish and turmoil they had witnessed. Being enhanced was a curse, not a gift, and you came to resent the word itself — not for the political controversies it provoked, but for its connotation. In the mouths of anyone else, enhanced was a good thing.

But you knew.

As you held the temples of the man lying in front of you, his skin burnt severely from his fingers to his wrists, you knew.

He writhed, his hands flopping like gasping fish. They were scorched as though in a paisley pattern, leathery and swollen. Second-degree, if not third-degree burns, you thought, as the man jerked away from the light emanating from your own hands, but you kept your grip steady. Slowly the skin began to return to its normal color — splotches fading like they were diluted, heaves of scars sinking back and reshaping as though they had never been there, the energy of his wounds transferring into your hands and through your bloodstream.

You knew, better than anyone, that every gift had a price.

TWENTY-ONE HOURS LATER

It was snowing, yet your hands were blistering.

The plows hadn’t come through yet, and there wasn’t much foot traffic on this side of Hell’s Kitchen, so the sidewalks were thick with snow. Despite your best efforts to hop in the few existing footprints, snow kept falling down into your boots. Your toes were numb, and your ears felt like they were about to get frostbite; you weren’t dressed for the weather. There hadn’t been time to grab a hat and thicker socks when you left your apartment, because you were more preoccupied with the searing burns that were popping like budding flowers on the palms of your hands. They weren't yet to the severity of the burns you had healed on Lynch's hands the previous night, but it was only a matter of time before they began to worsen.

Only one more block.

It was past midnight, and all you wanted was to be in bed, curled up with your pillows and quilted blanket, but just before falling asleep, you’d felt the skin tear open on your hand as though someone were holding a blowtorch to it. It was unnerving. You'd estimated another eight hours, until morning, before the energy you had taken from Lynch's wounds would make itself known.

Clearly I was wrong. You seethed with irritation at yourself and at the fact that Lynch had burned his hands in the first place as more snow collected in your boots. A warm pair of socks would be really, really nice right now.

But situations like this came with the job, even if most people didn't realize it. Whenever people discovered you were able to heal — and they never truly knew it was you, because you were careful to keep your identity obscure — they assumed it was simple. As though you could just lay your hands on someone’s bleeding wound and it magically stitched itself back up. Poof, problem solved! Sort of like all those Avengers your coworkers persistently chatted about. Yeah, if only healing were as easy as doing a few fancy finger movements to open up a portal into another dimension. Doctor Strange doesn't know how good he has it.

Because fancy finger movements definitely wasn't how it worked for you. It wasn’t even close.

You inhaled sharply as another burn made itself known, this time higher on your hand. A quick handful of snow against the welt soothed it slightly, but not much, and you picked up your pace down the street. Your destination was an unassuming brick building, wedged between a hardware store and auto repair shop. LYNCH FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM, read the sign outside, underneath a layer of graffiti. It was one of your closest friends who owned the funeral home, and the previous day he'd sent you an emergency call for help, though you still hadn't heard the story of how he'd burned his hands in the first place. Not that it mattered much. You didn't ask questions very often; healing was your only responsibility.

There was no one else on the street. There wasn't even much light, because most of the street lamps that weren’t burned out had been buried in a pale coating of frost. Your thoughts turned abruptly to the reports of the so-called vigilante Daredevil, who had reportedly been back on the streets lately. With what you had done in the past, and even with what you were doing now… well, you hoped you never crossed paths with him. Quiet streets like this always made you wonder if today was the day you’d run into him, but it had never happened. Sometimes you wondered if the media simply made him up as a fear tactic to keep crime off the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.

You hurried inside the funeral home, searching for the only person who you knew would be up and about. Please, be here, please, please…

He was. “Grey,” the man at the desk said, surprise crossing his face when you burst into the crematorium. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Grey . Just like the word itself, it was ash on your tongue. It wasn’t your real name. Years ago it had been bestowed on you as a code name, a way to keep your identity impersonal from the people you worked with. But it stuck, and now you could count the number of people who knew your real name on one hand.

“Emergency visit, Thato,” you said, showing him your hands. “I’m sorry. I thought I could manage it until tomorrow, at the very least, but—” You cringed as another burn blistered forth, erupting on the pad of your thumb. “Ow. Shit.”

Thato got to his feet, wincing in sympathy. “Never apologize for this. It’s not your fault.”

You shook your head. “I should be getting better. Improving… this . And I’m not.” It was true. For years, you had been at this same level. If you healed someone — which wasn’t really healing , if you were being technical; it was more like taking their injury and transferring it elsewhere — you could only hold onto it for a short amount of time.

Option One was taking that energy from the injury and transplanting it onto someone else — typically, a corpse. You had a strict policy for yourself to never inflict a wound from someone else that you’d healed onto someone who didn’t receive the wound in the first place.

Option Two was just holding onto that energy until it began to manifest itself on you instead. And that was never pleasant.

Case in point: the damn burns on my hands right now.

You glanced at the door to the morgue. “Please tell me you’ve got bodies in for cremation?”

“As a matter of fact, one arrived tonight,” Thato said, and he put his hand gently on your back to steer you inside. “Let’s go.”

The morgue was cold. Goosebumps pricked up your arms. Thato worked quickly, and within a minute he was pulling out a storage drawer. A woman, her body pale and lifeless, slid out in front of you.

Even when the bodies were dead, this was never easy. You averted your eyes, opting instead to look at the ceiling, and placed your freezing hands on the sides of the dead woman’s head, against her temples. Gradually, after a minute, your hands began glowing — not the yellow glow of the man the newspapers called the Iron Fist, nor the red glow of that Avenger you’d seen on television, Wanda Maximoff. Instead, it was a pale slate color, as though smoke itself had become a source of light. It was this color that earned you your nickname.

“Grey,” your brother had told you, lifting your chin up roughly to stare you down.

He wasn’t really your brother, but he might as well have been. You’d known him as long as you could remember. Kane was the one who raised you, who had been with you since... for a long time. “Got it? Here with us, that’s what you’ll answer to.”

“But my name is—”

“No. When you’re with us, you don’t use your real name,” Kane said. Of course, just like your name wasn’t really Grey, his name wasn’t truly Kane. “You use Grey instead, okay? Grey Arztin, if anyone ever asks for a last name.” He handed you forged identification papers.

“Why Arztin?” you asked, reading the name, and fumbling over the pronunciation of the word.

“It means doctor, in German. Come with me. I have people for you to heal.”

“But I’m not very good at it.”

“Then you need to practice that ability. It’s going to be your greatest gift someday, Grey.”

The energy pulsed in your own temples as it transferred to the corpse, and slowly you began to feel it drain out of you. There was no comparable feeling to this moment, when the build-up of pain was finally relieved from your mental storage space — your cache, you liked to call it. And, suddenly, burns just like the ones on your own hands bloomed across the white hands of the dead woman — raw, fiery welts, discolored in the center and streaking from her wrist bones to her fingertips. They were identical to the burns that had stretched across Lynch's hands the day before, down to the charred bit of skin just below the thumb knuckle. When the energy was gone, you dropped your hands, and the smoky glow faded.

The few burns that had already marked your own skin were still there, of course, because your healing abilities could never fix what had been done to your own body — yet another shortcoming of your power — but they wouldn’t get any worse. It was over.

The corpse was rolled back into her drawer. The family would never know that her hands now bore severe burns that hadn’t been there at her time of death. She’d be cremated tomorrow, Thato assured you. It would be as though you had never even touched her. Guilt curled in your stomach at her desecrated hands. Maybe she had been a pianist. Those hands might have been held by someone else, once upon a time — a mother, a lover, a child. She could have used those hands to climb mountains or type out a novel on a laptop or serve plates of food at a restaurant.

Now, because of you, they were mottled and burnt.

“She’s dead,” Thato reminded you quietly, once you were outside of the morgue and back at the funeral home desk. “She’ll be burned anyway.”

“I know.” You played with the edge of the desk. “I just always feel bad. It feels like I’m… spitting on her memory, or something.”

“It’s a price you have to pay,” he agreed. “But it’s in exchange for the good you do, each time you use your skill. You even bore some of the price yourself.” He nodded at the burns scattered across your own hands. “I don’t like to see you feeling bad, Grey. Anything I can do?”

You smiled. “It's okay. You already helped me. Thanks, Thato. Really.”

I don’t want to keep doing this, you wanted to add. I’ve had enough of all this. The healing, the transferring of the injuries and scars and bruises, the role I’ve played in Hell’s Kitchen. I’m done.

You wanted to tell him, so badly that it made your chest feel tight. Thato had been your friend for as long as you could remember. But if you told him, then your brother would find out, and if your brother found out…

Well, Kane wouldn’t be very pleased with you. He'd see it as a failure on your part, or worse, a betrayal. But it didn’t matter anyway, because you couldn’t leave the organization. Not after everything Kane had done for you, and especially not while you were the one thing that stood between him and death every night that he risked his life.

You tightened your jacket around your shoulders before heading back out into the night, towards your apartment. You took your time; your earlier exhaustion was gone, and with your hands bandaged now, you were able to appreciate the falling snow as it amassed silently, insulating the streets from the sounds of the city beyond.

But you might not have had such a leisurely walk back if you’d happened to tilt your head upwards and look at the roofs — if you had been able to hear the footsteps above as someone followed you in the shadows, if you had known the man they called the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen stalked you, having listened to every word of the conversation in the crematorium.

#daredevil #matt murdock #marvel #matt murdock x reader #daredevil x reader #reader insert #reader #mcu #x reader #matt murdock x fem!reader #slow burn

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hlficlibrary · 7 months

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✤ Crime Fics ✤

A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find our other recs here.

- Top 5 H/L Fics -

1️⃣ my heart, in deadly rhythm by orphan_account (M, 42k)

There exists somewhere a very, very small list containing the names of people who don’t want Louis Tomlinson dead. Harry Styles may or may not be one of those people.

(or a Spies!AU in which Liam is the Wade to Louis' Kim Possible, Zayn seduces people for intel, Niall is an expert at blowing things up, and Harry is more than a bit famous in his particular field... or infamous, actually. And Louis? Well, Louis just wishes people would quit trying so bloody hard to kill him all the time.)

2️⃣ A Rose, By Any Other Name by iwillpaintasongforlou / @canonlarry (E, 10k)

“I don’t understand, Mr. Tomlinson,” Harry says quietly.

“You don’t have to understand, sweetheart.” Louis reaches over and runs his thumb across Harry’s cheekbone, watching the boy’s breathing pause as he dares not move beneath the touch of this strange, imposing man. “All you need to know is that you work for me now, and that I’m going to keep you safe from all the bad people in this city, you hear?”

Louis Tomlinson is the head of New York City's mafia, and Harry is the beautiful boy from Texas who falls in with the wrong crowd (which turns out to be the right crowd).

3️⃣ Little Cub by aace1234 (NR, 68k)

Harry is head of the underground, he's ruthless, possessive, feared and powerful.

Louis is a student, his dad works for Harry but Louis has no idea about the underground world.

What happens when Louis Dad causes trouble and Harry kidnaps Louis for revenge.

4️⃣ we've got the world in our hands by sarcasticfluentry (E, 54k)

A mutants/superpowers AU. Louis and his friends attend the Cowell Institute for General Education and Mutant Training in London; when Louis meets Harry, the newest student at the Cowell Institute, he immediately recruits Harry to help play matchmaker for his friend Zayn. Harry and Louis are so caught up in meddling in Zayn's love life, though, that they don't notice that their own friendship is progressing into something more. Meanwhile, an ominous threat up north grows slowly until suddenly, no mutant - or human - is safe.

5️⃣ Watch Him As He Goes by LoadedGunn (M, 14k)

It's why Harry loves assignments with Louis; they're thrilling in a way. It's like he never rests. He's this animated, gorgeous guy who's all over the place and Harry actually has to work hard just to catch up to him.

It kind of reminds him of trying to stalk a predator stalking its prey, with his old 70-300 mm lens. Only the predator is a cheeky arsehole. "Come along Harold, I know you usually wait for your zebras to pose for you but here you've got to think on your feet," Louis yelled one time, before disappearing to interview Detective Payne. Never mind the fact Harry was slow in the first place because of Louis' tight jeans.

Or, the AU where Louis' the best police reporter in the country, Harry's the new photographer who is more used to penguins than human subjects, and also there are superheroes.

HIDDEN GEMS:

💎 this charade (was never going to last) by @scrunchyharry (E, 68k)

On the surface, CitizenX, an international caritative nonprofit, looked like any other nonprofit, funding humanitarian missions worldwide and striving to make the world a better place, one donation at a time.

At least, that was what Harry thought, until he was hired as a computer specialist for a spinoff agency called carish, whose true purpose was to reveal CitizenX’s tangled web of lies.

As if the whole ‘industrial spy’ business was not stressful enough, Harry found himself in a hatred-at-first-sight relationship with one of his new coworkers, Louis, a man intent on detesting Harry.

When the worst happened and Harry and Louis found themselves thrown together in hiding, with only each other to rely on, Harry never could have predicted the turn their relationship would take.

Nor could he anticipate that it would all be taken away from him and he would have to decide how far he was willing to go to get Louis back.

💎 All My Roads Lead to You by @dandelionfairies (M, 41k)

Harry’s stuck in a life he didn’t choose after leaving home at eighteen. Bartending and running drugs were never on his list. Louis is an undercover cop sent in to figure out exactly what’s going on inside of the bar. Neither could have known they’d be drawn to each other.

It’s obvious to Louis that Harry isn’t aware of everything that happens in the backroom. It’s obvious that Nick [Grimshaw] has used Harry’s vulnerability, insecurities, and naivety to keep the man exactly where he wants him.

Harry has never admitted to anyone who he is. They wouldn’t accept him. In fact, he has no doubt that if anyone found out he’s gay, he’d be dead. He doesn’t want to let that wall down for Louis. Because no one can know. But that’s easier said than done. Louis is everything Harry could have ever pictured.

💎 Cowboy Like Me by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings (M, 29k)

Going legit and starting over in a small town was supposed to solve all of Harry’s problems. That was until a string of robberies in wealthy towns brings him face-to-face with his rouge ex-partner and their dicey, unresolved past.

💎 Tonight's the Night by @jaerie (E, 24k)

Tonight’s the night. The night Harry has been waiting for. Everything has been carefully planned, nothing left to chance, the scene set and waiting for their arrival. It’s time.

Harry lives a double life. During the day he's Harry- trusty blood spatter analyst, at night his darkness comes out to play. So far he's been able to act his way through a normal life without drawing attention. What happens when that is no longer the case?

Or a Dexter AU where Harry is Dexter, Liam is Doakes, Niall is Masuka and Gemma is Deb.

💎 Harry, That Kills People by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup (T, 2k)

If there’s one thing that Harry hates, it’s getting his clothes dirty.

If there’s one other thing that Harry hates, it’s murder.

Unfortunately, right here and right now, Harry’s clothes are dirty, and he’s murdered someone. So. It’s not a great day.

“Ugh,” says Harry. “Yeargh. Bleh.”

#ficrec #hlcreators #hljournal #trackinghome #trackinghappily #1dficvillage #ladylondonderry #jaerie #rearviewdreamer #loadedgunn #dandelionfairies #scrunchyharry #sarcasticfluentry #aace1234 #iwillpaintasongforlou

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thevillainswhore · 10 months

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A Second Chance: Part 1

Pairing: Ex-Husband!Nick Fowler x Ex-Wife!Reader

Summary: Love just wasn’t enough to keep your marriage together - Nick’s restless ambition to get the promotion in his career ended up driving an everlasting wedge between the two of you, and resulting in divorce. But when you come back home to New York after three years away in London, can Nick win back your heart?

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Mentions of s-exually explicit content, flashbacks, lots of fluff, maybe a tiny bit of angst? nothing too huge (yet).

A/N: Beta’d by @sgt-seabass, headers made by @saradika - so excited to be able to share my first story with you all! I had so much encouragement and support to begin writing and I appreciate it so much 💗 this is part one! not sure how many parts there will be altogether, but we go with it anyway 🤣 hope you enjoy!

People often asked Nick if he had heard of you before.

An Agent Recruitment Officer for Shield - hand picked by Fury himself for your hard ass attitude, along with a talent for training basic, low-level recruits and transforming them into the best agents anyone had seen.

A true force to be reckoned with.

Your name was in the whispers of the high-ranks of the CIA, impressed enough with your work ethic for offers to be thrown at you to join their team, only for you to politely decline ‘due to your loyalty to your own agency’. So of course Nick - a higher class CIA agent in the running for a director promotion at the time - had heard of you. The legend bestowed upon you didn’t allow many to wonder who you were.

But he would never forget the first time he met you.

A private gala to celebrate the new batch of Shield Agents cleared for active duty was an annual event - members from all agencies serving to protect invited too. Congratulations had been given to those who had completed the extensive year long training in order to serve the public and thank you’s for a successful year were designated to those who made it all possible.

That’s when Nick encountered you for the very first time - the spotlight directed onto you with applause for your groundbreaking achievements in training. The high slit of your silk black dress teased the side of your thigh enough to let his imagination run wild, ‘V’ neckline cutted down below your breasts, complimenting the shape of your body. Transfixed was appropriate to describe how he felt, your aura called to him like a siren to a sailor.

Nick needed you. The fixation he had harbored for you in such a short time should have frightened him, but he had already fallen too deep into your spell to ever want to come up for air.

As the live band music played after the end of the announcements, he set his champagne down onto the nearest surface without ever taking his eyes from you. Smoothing down the lapels of his jacket, he took off into your direction, his strides confident as he observed you catch his eye. Power oozed from you as you lifted your hand to halt the conversation with your group of friends.

There was interest in your gaze - Nick knew he was a very attractive man, the raise in your brow as you gave him a once over - evidence that you knew he was enchanting too.

He wasn’t afraid to use that to his advantage.

Nick stopped directly in front of you, your body fully turned to face him - a routine occurrence with men throwing themselves at you often. Intense eye contact was held between the two of you, your refusal to be any kind of submissive caused a tent to form in his trousers. Fuck, he had never met anyone like you.

You were dangerous and he loved it.

Nick sensed that the pair of you had gathered an audience of your co-workers, drawn to the spectacle he assumed was common for you at this point, and decided to be the one to cut the tension. “Hey. I just wanted to come over to congratulate you on your performance this year, Agent. Very impressive, if I do say so myself.”

A flash of disappointment crossed your face - you were expecting more from him. He needed to play his cards right. You didn’t need anyone, let alone a man, to tell you how you were doing your job - already fully aware of your excellence.

The tigress in you came out to play, “Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be the first to tell me that.”

If Nick were a regular man he would have cut his losses there. “Is that so, hm?” He questioned as he followed up with an invitation. “Well, can I be the first to ask for the pleasure to take you out to dinner?”

An amused huff of air broke free from your lips as you angled your head in dismissal, “and what makes you so sure I’d be interested in you? I don’t even know your name.” The women surrounding you started to snicker, jokes passed between themselves at your jab, expecting yet another stranger who wanted to try their luck with you to fumble and walk away in embarrassment like they all did.

But that was the thing. Nick wasn’t like the others. And he knew now that he had set his sights on you, there was no way he was going to be fool enough to let a woman like you slip through his fingers.

So, with unwavering confidence and no falter in his stance for your disregard, his eyes trailed salaciously up and down your form as he licked his lips - that damn smirk almost gave you whiplash when he smoothly replied back with, “oh sweetheart.. I’ll make sure you know my name by the end of the night. In fact, I can assure you that everyone in this building will know it too.”

Your eyes dilated as the rest of the world blurred around the both of you, the genuine surprise at his cockiness in your features was subtle along with the tiny gasp you let escape.

You would soon realise that Nick didn’t miss a thing.

He could tell no one had ever caught you off guard like that before - he wished more than ever to be able to know what you were thinking.

But, for now, you quickly shook back your composure, and he admired your unwillingness to lose the fiery game you were playing.

It seemed you had finally met your match.

Rivalling his smirk with a menacing one of your own, you bit your plump crimson lip, and it took all of Nick’s strength to hold back his groan, imagining that same shade of red decorating a ring around his cock - which proved to be more difficult when your honeyed drawl snapped him out of his dirty thoughts. “Is that a promise, handsome?”.

And right then, was the exact moment Nick knew he was gonna marry you.

He already established from his first glimpse of you that you were a fierce powerhouse with a rare beauty you wouldn’t find often in a lifetime. But your teasing back and forth and indescribable pull solidified the conclusion in his mind that one else would ever stand a chance to compete, could ever hope, to live up to your standard.

He was hooked. And soon enough, he hoped you would be too.

Nick often thought back on that night with fondness, monumentally grateful for the chance to have met you and bask in your presence. You really did change his life in the most perfect way imaginable, the glint from his wedding ring confirming agreement.

“Fowler, let’s go. You’re gonna be late.”

Snapping the ring box shut, he places the treasured jewelry back into his safe and locks it shut, sighing with resignation at the reminder of what’s awaiting him tonight.

“Oh don’t you take your strop out on me mister, I’m not the one who agreed to this.”

He levels his assistant with a deadpan look. It’s a good job he likes Elsie. She’s one of the only people who can get away with talking to him like that, uncaring of his brooding nature that everyone else tends to avoid. She’s stuck with him for two and a half years now, the sweet middle-aged lady full of fire with a need to boss him around.

Huh, reminds him of someone else.

He stands up, grabs his blue velvet suit blazer from the back of his chair to slide through his arms, and buttons it up, reaching under his shirt collar when done to tie the undone bow.

After a few failed attempts, Elsie steps forward with a fond shake of her head and smacks his hands away, perfecting it first try with years of experience.

“What would you do without me eh, kid?” Nick strives to keep a smile from reaching the surface, but he can’t help the genuine laugh that escapes him at her antics. Happy for that little bit of relief she gives him in the impending chaos.

She’d seen all the highs and most definitely all the lows of Nick in the whirlwind of the last three years. So much has happened that time seems to have flown by and yet dragged on too. But he’s a better man because of it - the vow he fulfilled to get his shit together after everything went downhill, seen through.

He’s proud of himself.

He likes to think you would be too.

That didn’t mean he was looking forward to his fate for the night. An invitation from Tony Stark accepted for his latest convention to showcase the most recent technology and gadgets available for order to relative agencies who were clean - he was actually excited about that part.

The worst part of his night would be playing lovey dovey to his ‘date’ (translate to spoiled brat) - a media stunt arranged by his publicist to try and restore his name in the world. Delusional. But he made a promise to be on his best behaviour to Elsie, and Nick makes good on his promises. He respected her too much not to.

So, with the balance of chivalry and the need to bite his tongue to keep from snapping, treading a thin line, he holds the car door open for the girl who’s name he can’t remember for the life of him, and plays his part - zoning out from her incoherent babble on the way to the event in the farce of being a good listener.

Instead he lets his mind wander off to another memory of the past - to some of the best days of his life - lips curving up into a gentle smile, as he lifts his right thumb to stroke over the left side of his chest.

The three months since Nick first met you had been nothing short of amazing. The dinner dates. The flowers he had delivered to you at least once a day with dirty teases written on hidden notes, overflowing your office and making those jealous of you seethe. Nick had not fallen short of wooing you, your heart willingly falling into the palm of his hands for him to take care of.

And so most people would be shocked to know that the two of you only had sex for the first time last night. Heated makeouts as you grinded against his cock on his lap, panting into the others mouth in hot desperation were no stranger to the end of your date night routine. But Nick was determined to prove he wanted your heart too, not just your body - he craved to understand your mind.

He was down bad for you and wasn’t ashamed for anyone to know it.

So, as he laid in bed the morning after your passionate night together, admiring how at peace you seemed snuggled into his chest, he noticed the ruby red lipstick mark printed perfectly on his skin above his heart.

An idea sprung to mind, needing no second consideration as he called his tattoo artist, requesting an urgent home visit and a hefty price offer.

Quiet footsteps towards the open doorway gave away your quest to see where your lover had disappeared to and he couldn’t help the smile growing on his face he tried to hide under the pretense of not knowing you were there. But Nick saw you from the corner of his eye, shock paralysing your body, as he leaned back in his expensive leather chair, tattoo needle inking his skin with the finishing details of the shape of your lips, your name in cursive taking place right next to it.

It was no surprise to him to hear you blurt out the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re fucking crazy, Nicki”.

He simply looked up at you, walking towards him with his unbuttoned shirt hung loose over your shoulders, something close to awe in your eyes and waved his hand in signal for the artist to leave.

With you and Nick alone, you brought your body to stand between his spread legs, lifting your pointer finger to delicately trace his new addition, goosebumps following the scrape of your nail. It fit so well, almost like it should have been there all along.

He rested his chin on your stomach, those big hands that eagerly touched every part of you, caressed the back of your thighs. Mischief in his eyes, he suddenly swiped your legs from under you, the deep chuckle at your startled squeal making your bare pussy drip against his crotch.

Content with you straddled in his lap, he deposited a single kiss to the curve of your neck, trailing his lips against your skin to whisper pure Romanian honey directly into your ear.

“Nebun după tine, îngerul meu.” - Crazy about you, my angel.

The screech of the car tires snaps Nick out of his daydream. Wishing he could go back to that moment in time, he looks out of the window to see they’ve arrived, flashing lights and red carpet triggering the anxiety that’s rippled through him at the thought of doing these events since he started coming alone.

Maybe if he had you by his side again, he would enjoy it.

“Are you going to get out or not?”. The irritating high pitched drone of his companion grates on him.

He doesn’t even try to cover up the huge sigh he lets out as he begins to step out of the car.

It was going to be a long night.

A/N: I know i mentioned posting Bucky fic first but this popped up out of nowhere! Buckys coming very soon, but I loved writing this and couldn’t wait to get it out 😅 also I posted this on mobile, so if anything looks out of place or weird, please let me know! thank you 😌

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interact-if · 2 years

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Day 5 of our Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Featured Author Interviews, continuing with Allie!

Allie, author of College Tennis: Origin Story

Will the once-great Cargill Coyotes succeed in reclaiming the NCAA Div I championship title for the first time since the 90s? Will you succeed in making a name for yourself, both on and off the tennis court? And perhaps more importantly…how much are you willing to sacrifice in pursuit of these dreams? Start at the bottom as a newly-recruited freshman at Cargill university, and claw your way to the championships. Forge lifelong friendships, pursue budding romances, attend classes, and rush term papers -or party- till the sun comes up.

Read more about College Tennis: Origin Story here. Play the Demo here. Tags: Sport, Slice-of-life.

Allie is also the author of Merry Crisis.

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1. Hello! Could you tell us a little bit about to yourself and your project?

Hi! Really thrilled to be part of the IF community - thanks for having me! I’m Singaporean Chinese, 25, an urban planner by day (scattered hobbyist by night/weekend). Nice to meet all of you! :) I have two public projects at the moment. Both are character-driven, slice-of-life IFs that deal with similar themes: family/friendships, coming-of-age in one’s early 20s (CT:OS) and mid/late-20s (Merry Crisis), self-worth and ambition, plus a healthy dose of lightheartedness/romance. In College Tennis: Origin Story, the main character is a college athlete plunged into the chaos of life on a varsity team, with shenanigans on-and-off the tennis court. There’s a fiery, surly-but-secretly-sweet rival, a confident, laid-back captain, a fun-loving hometown best-friend, a snarky, non-committal foreign exchange student, a bumbling fool of a roommate, a well-meaning but potentially estranged dad, and a suite of other characters. Merry Crisis is a little closer to home, and certainly more of a hobby project. The current demo chapter was written in 2-3 feverish nights, and centers around an MC who lives in New York post-college, and returns home (to Singapore) for Christmas. A week back home - nothing can go wrong, right? I envision this IF to be somewhat of an Asian-take on holiday movies - heartwarming, a little sad, a little frustrating/traumatic, but big-hearted, all the same.

Q2. What inspired your current project?

For College Tennis: Origin Story, the simple answer is that I love sports games, especially sports games that focus on the story / inner-conflicts, i.e. the “heart/soul”, rather than pure mechanics. What goes on in a tennis player’s head when they’re down 40-love at a crucial point? When I discovered IF, everything just clicked. It’s the perfect format for exploring these stories because it allows both introspection and reader/player agency.

Merry Crisis was born purely from being back home after living overseas for more than 4 years. It was… an experience. I wanted to write something about the complex relationship we have with our families, our birthplaces, and our first-loves. And capture all the bittersweet feelings about loss of innocence (knowing what lies beyond the grass pastures of one’s birthplace), the loss of freedom (going back to being somebody’s child, somebody’s sibling, etc. rather than untethered, foreign), plus the things that one gains, too, by ‘coming home’ - the immediate feeling of familiarity, of ‘belonging’ to a place.

Q3. Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

For College Tennis: Origin Story, I write based on what it was like to play in a varsity team in an American college as a person-of-color, and a non-American queer person. A lot of the characters are based off of real-life friends (and uh, exes). I hope that brings some…soul, or flavor, and a bit of realism to the characters and their stories. I also try to borrow from my own experiences for the biggest plot-points/beats that I’ve planned out, e.g. when writing Rayyan and Tobin, I channel the experience of needing/wanting to prove one’s worth, to be seen as perfect, or worthy, or ‘twice-as-good’, as a POC. With Genevieve/Guillaume, I wanted to write about what it was like to feel like college is a transient, fleeting dream I’ll wake up from one day. Merry Crisis is essentially me forcing everyone to inhabit my world, if only for a week over Christmas. Short answer: The IF very much pulls from my own experiences/feelings, mostly of simultaneously loving and wanting to flee this place I call home. Long answer: As a queer Singaporean woman, you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been asked when I’m going to get married, whether I’m ever going to have kids, and whether I’m queer because no dude would possibly like me (insert laundry list of potential reasons: because I’m too tan, westernised, argumentative, over-educated etc.) Even my straight friends grapple with the same expectations, especially as we approach our mid/late-20s. I wanted to give everyone the dubious honor of coming up with their own answers to these pesky questions :)

Q4. What are you most excited about your project?

Finishing it, so I can go write something else. Just kidding (not really).

For both College Tennis: Origin Story and Merry Crisis, I’m excited about fleshing out the characters, their motives, feelings, backgrounds, and seeing where the story leads. I love character-driven books, movies etc. and I get excited thinking about all the directions and themes I can explore by telling these different stories (as well as through MC’s possible relationships - platonic or otherwise - with these characters!)

P.S. For Merry Crisis, The romantic options are meant to be quite distinct people, and if I’m to get slightly ‘literary’, they also symbolize a different kind of archetypal relationship with Singapore / societal pressures. There’s the American-ex, a soul-mate, representing everything that feels ‘right’ but irrevocably different; Then there’s the Singaporean-ex, aloof, successful, the epitome of what MC could’ve been, if they’d toed the line, stayed home. Then there’s the neighbour, loose and brash, unperturbed by the rules / conventions that seem to constrict both local and foreign worlds.

Q5. What has your experience writing an IF and with the IF community been like?

I know it sounds cheesy, but I love writing and reading IFs, I love the IF community, mostly because I love the two-way conversation between creators and their audience. It’s so great how collaborative and active and interactive and nurturing/nourishing the IF community feels. A big thank you to everyone who has supported me in some way or form, and to everyone who’s played/read the IFs or left a note. It most definitely made me smile!

Q6. What changes in the IF community would you like to see?

IF/text-based games leave so much more room for non-mainstream stories to be told (after all, how many blockbuster movies, or triple-A games feature main characters/ROs that are non-white, or queer, or non-binary etc.?!) I’d love to see the IF community continue to grow, and continue to feature diverse voices/stories!

Q7. What piece of advice would you give to fellow creators?

Don’t be afraid to take a step back, and go do something else that seems unrelated (I’m a big believer in the notion that everything we do provides us with unique perspectives, experiences, relationships etc. that we can bring to the other aspects of our life). Take breaks! I also love the idea of “tinkering” and experimenting, because it removes the pressure of creating something great. Creating (and celebrating) shitty things, things that fail, things that’ll never be completed, ugly/imperfect things etc etc. is so important!

#if: events #Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month #API 2022

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ausetkmt · 11 months

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Numerous police officers lured to new jobs in Florida with cash from Governor Ron DeSantis’s flagship law enforcement relocation program have histories of excessive violence or have been arrested for crimes including kidnapping and murder since signing up, a study of state documents has found.

DeSantis, who is expected to launch his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week, has spent more than $13.5m to date on the recruitment bonus program, which he touted in 2021 as an incentive to officers in other states frustrated by Covid-19 vaccination mandates.

“This will go a long way to ensuring we can have the best and the brightest filling our law enforcement ranks,” Florida’s Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, said in April last year as DeSantis announced one-time $5,000 bonuses for new recruits.

However, among the almost 600 officers who moved to Florida and received the bonus – or were recruited in state – are a sizable number who either arrived with a range of complaints against them, or have since accrued criminal charges, the online media outlet Daily Dot has discovered.

They include a former trainee deputy with the Escambia county sheriff’s office charged with murdering her husband; an officer with the Miramar police department fired for domestic battery and kidnapping; and a former member of the New York police department (NYPD) who was hired by the Palm Beach police department having once been accused of an improper sexual proposition.

That officer, named by the Daily Dot as Daniel Meblin, was also part of a $160,000 settlement by the NYPD for violence at a 2020 protest against the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in which officers were accused of beating Black males without provocation.

A Palm Beach police spokesperson told the Daily Dot that Meblin – who had complaints against him including abuse of authority and sexually propositioning a teenager – had disclosed his background during the hiring process, according to the NYPD watchdog 50-a.org.

He has been an “exemplary” officer since he was hired in October 2022, the same month he left the NYPD, the spokesperson said, while denying a request to allow Meblin to be interviewed.

The Daily Dot compiled its report from state records it obtained from the Florida department of economic opportunity through a Freedom of Information Act request. The undated document lists payments of more than $8.8m split between 1,310 newly hired officers, with most receiving $6,693.44 from the signing-on and additional bonuses.

In a press release earlier this month, DeSantis announced the program had since grown to more than 2,000 officers, with a parallel rise in cost to more than $13.5m.

“To date, 595 law enforcement recruits from 49 states and US territories have relocated to Florida, including more than 215 recruits from California, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania,” the statement said.

For its report, the Daily Dot matched information from the 50-a and NYPD databases, as well as published media reports, to officers’ names listed by the state.

It says it uncovered “an exodus” of officers to Florida law enforcement agencies from the NYPD in the wake of a backlash against the department for its brutal handling of racial justice protests in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Among them were at least two dozen officers whose names matched those on the NYPD’s civilian complaint review board database, including some who, according to those complaints, “unlawfully pepper sprayed, assaulted, and pointed their firearms at suspects, as well as used chokeholds and offensive language regarding race and ethnicity”.

A civil rights lawsuit filed in 2018 against former NYPD sergeant Haitham Hussameldin alleged the officer used physical violence against a teenager on her way to school. Hussameldin, now employed by Florida’s Manapalan police department, accrued six formal complaints, including “multiple allegations of abuse of authority and overuse of physical force” in New York, the Daily Dot said. All the complaints were withdrawn or unsubstantiated.

Another former New York officer now employed in Florida was involved in two deaths, one of which led to a $100,000 civil settlement, the Daily Dot reported. And in October 2022, the Apopka police department hired as an officer Justin Burgos, 19, the son of a retired NYPD deputy inspector, who a year earlier was charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving and obstruction of governmental administration for driving his car into protesters in Manhattan calling for the firing of an officer accused of beating a Black suspect.

None of the police agencies contacted for comment responded, other than the Palm Beach department, the Daily Dot reported. DeSantis’s office did not return a request for comment from the Guardian.

#DeSantis’s $13.5m police program lures officers with violent records to Florida #florida #white supremacy #florida hires violent cops #avoid florida

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astra-galaxie · 1 year

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“Hey, Hemlock! Is this your card?” - Oberon Douglas

Biographical information

Full Name: Oberon Indigo Douglas

Alias(es):

Midsummer (codename)

Ronnie (nickname)

O (nickname)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual

Status: Alive

Age: 36 (season 3)

Birth: 1980

Race: Human

Nationality: Australian

Origin: Melbourne, Australia

Residence:

Melbourne, Australia

New York City, USA (formerly)

Concordia, USA (formerly)

Profession(s): U.N.I.T. Agent

Past profession(s): Firefighter

Family:

Nathan Pandit (husband)

Avi Douglas (son)

Lars Douglas (brother)

Namgung Angela (ex-sister-in-law) (incarcerated)

April Douglas (niece)

May Douglas (niece)

June Douglas (niece)

Poppy Douglas (mother)

Ryan “Digger” Douglas (father)

Devi Pandit (mother-in-law) (incarcerated)

Léon Toussaint (father-in-law)

Affiliation(s): U.N.I.T.

Profile

Height: 6’0” Age: 36 (season 3) Weight: 175lbs Eyes: green Blood: A+

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Oberon Douglas is a tall man with a lean build, shoulder-length dirty blond hair, a short beard, and emerald green eyes. His fair skin has whitish, pale pink burn scars; the most obvious ones are the scars around his right eye, the left side of his neck, across his chest, his arms, and the back of his right hand.

In his suspect appearance, Oberon wears dark-wash jeans, a dark gray tank top under a purple button-up shirt that he rolls up sleeves, and dark brown work boots. He has a black leather necklace with three fake fangs and four small hoop earrings on his left ear: two on the lower lob and the other two on the shell.

Since Oberon sustained hearing loss from his older U.N.I.T. days and the fire, he has hearing aids. He can hear without them, but it sounds hushed and mumbled. He wears standard hearing aids but insisted on the casings being bright purple, his favourite colour.

In his U.N.I.T. uniform, he wears tight black pants tucked into calf-high black boots with purple straps, a fitted black leather jacket, a dark purple belt, and slim, dark purple protective gloves that can withstand the impact of his explosive cards. He also wears his U.N.I.T. equipment, including his gauntlet, headphones, communicator (built-in to his gauntlet), sonic choker, and a handgun kept in his waist holster.

As a Bureau agent, Oberon wears fitted black pants, black boots with purple laces, a light gray shirt, and a dark purple leather jacket with a Bureau badge pinned to the left side.

Per his suspect appearance in United in Ashes, it is known that Oberon knows chemistry and is a musician (he plays the drums).

History

The younger brother of Lars Douglas, Oberon hails from the land down under. He grew up in the city of Melbourne with his parents and Lars. He was raised listening to his father's army stories and his mother's tales of her time as a rock star.

When Oberon was young, he decided to join the military as his father had. But Oberon never imagined that recruiters from U.N.I.T would be watching the applicants that day. He had impressed them with his initiative and creativity so much that they offered him a position. Oberon accepted the offer and began his training to become a U.N.I.T agent.

He grew close to Director Kavi Pandit and became a trusted agent and friend. This was even before he met the Director's grandson, Nathan Pandit. Oberon was Kavi's first choice for high-security missions, like the mission to take down Switch Labs.

Oberon's contact inside Switch Labs was Nathan, who had reported the laboratory to his grandfather after discovering their illegal experiments. The two got along well (too well, in Kavi's opinion), and Oberon volunteered to become Nathan's partner after the younger joined the agency to avoid going to jail.

The two became some of U.N.I.T's best agents with one of the highest mission success rates. The two eventually developed a romantic relationship but kept it a secret from the agency. However, Kavi claims to have always known about the couple's feelings for each other. The Director knew they would never let it interfere with their work, so he saw no reason to break them up.

After years of working together, Kavi sent Oberon and Nathan on an undercover mission to Concordia. While away from the control of U.N.I.T, they decided to get married. Oberon proposed using a silver ring with black gems. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Nathan, and to his delight, his boyfriend felt the same.

The couple eloped with Kavi, who was now retired from U.N.I.T as their witness. They knew they wanted a proper wedding with their families and friends after leaving the agency, so they began dreaming and planning the event together. They documented their ideas in a scrapbook with plans to finalize the details once they retired from U.N.I.T.

To Oberon's surprise, one day, Nathan approached him, asking if he wanted to try having a child together. They had talked about having kids one day, but the topic of trying to have biological children was a touchy subject for Nathan. Oberon would have loved to have a child that shared the two's DNA, but he would never force his husband to do something he wasn't comfortable with.

But Nathan was the one who offered to try and get pregnant. He told Oberon that after thinking about it for a long time, he wanted to have a child with his husband. But if he couldn't carry the child to term, he wasn’t sure if he would try for a second time.

Oberon respected his husband's choice and helped Nathan transition from hormone supplements to prenatal medication. It took the couple several tries, but eventually, they had a positive pregnancy test confirming the conception of their child.

It was nine long, hard months before they welcomed their son into the world, but Oberon stayed by his husband's side the entire time. He got and made everything Nathan craved (no matter how strange) and handled the ever-changing mood swings.

He also nearly got his hand broken during the labour and delivery.

But it was all worth it to hold Avi for the first time. Oberon fell in love when Avi looked at him with his matching green eyes, and he swore to treasure and protect his son every day for the rest of his life.

Like his brother Lars, Oberon is a natural father. Nathan always says his husband is the fun parent because Oberon knows how to interact with kids. Oberon argues that Nathan needs to give himself more credit regarding his parenting skills. While he may be awkward around other children, Nathan has a special bond with Avi; he always knows what his son needs, even when Oberon is at a complete loss for what the boy wants.

A couple of years after Avi was born, Oberon and Nathan began planning their life after leaving U.N.I.T. They decided to move to Australia since they would be closer to Oberon's family, and Avi would be able to see his younger cousins more often. They designed the type of house they wanted to buy, the area they would live in, and even what careers they would pursue. Oberon still wanted to be an emergency responder but was considering becoming a paramedic. Meanwhile, Nathan was looking into getting certified to be a veterinarian.

And then the fire happened.

Oberon and Nathan woke up in the middle of the night to their house nearly engulfed in flames. Oberon sent Nathan to get Avi while looking for a way out of the house. The stairs were unusable, and there was no other exit from the second floor. The only way out was for them to go out a window and climb down the tree that grew beside it.

Oberon was about to head to the window when the ceiling collapsed on top of him. He was pinned under a support beam as the fire grew more intense. Nathan returned carrying Avi and tried to move the beam, but it wouldn't budge. Oberon begged Nathan to leave him so that he and Avi would survive, and after a parting kiss, Oberon watched the two run through the fire to freedom.

After the two were gone, Oberon continued to try and free himself. As the fire burned around him, it weakened the support beam, and he could crawl out from under it. He couldn't use the window he thought Nathan and Avi had gone through, so he went into the room beside it and climbed down the tree. Once outside, he found firefighters and paramedics arriving to help, but he saw no signs of his boys.

Oberon feared that Nathan and Avi were still inside and tried to go back in and save them. But the firefighters stopped and wrestled him to the ambulance, where he passed out due to smoke inhalation. He was brought to the hospital, where doctors placed him into a medical coma to help his recovery.

A few weeks later, he was awakened from his coma with Lars and their parents sitting beside his bed. He wanted to ask them where Nathan and Avi were, but he couldn't talk due to his intubation tube. His family was so happy to see him awake, but no one even mentioned his husband and son's conditions.

It wasn't until later that night after his parents and brother left, that Director Kovac came and told him the "truth" about the fire. He said that Nathan and Avi got trapped in the nursery when trying to escape and were burned to death. Oberon couldn't believe that his boys were gone and demanded proof, but Kovac claimed their ashes had long been sent to Kavi in India for burial.

Oberon fell into a severe depression after that, and while he started recovering physically, his mental health was deteriorating. He couldn’t bring himself to contact Kavi or Léon because of his survivor’s guilt, and he feared travelling to India to find his boys’ graves. His family never knew how deeply he was hurting, and it wasn't until one day, Lars found his brother overdosing on his pain meds that Oberon finally started to get the help he needed.

After this incident, Oberon told Lars about Nathan, Avi, and his secret life. Lars was shocked to find out there had been a brother-in-law and nephew he never got to meet, but he understood why Oberon had to keep them a secret. They eventually told their parents and Angela but decided to wait and tell the triplets about their lost uncle and cousin when they were older.

With the support he needed, Oberon slowly recovered mentally and emotionally from the fire. While improving his mental health, he travelled to Australia (at the time, he and his parents lived with Lars, Angela, and the triplets in the USA) and noticed a house for sale in the area he and Nathan wanted to move to. It was the size they wanted, had a large yard, was in a great school district, and the commute into the city was reasonable. The only downside was that the house needed a lot of renovations.

But Oberon needed something to do with all his free time, so he bought the house, moved back to Australia and began renovating it into the home he dreamed of living in with his family. He knows his parents and Lars were concerned about him making a home for the family he no longer had, but the work seemed to be helping him, so they supported him. And about a year later, his parents moved to Australia and bought a home near their son.

As Oberon renovated the house, he slowly began moving in the stuff he had in storage from Concordia. When he and Nathan decided to leave U.N.I.T and move to Australia, the couple put their important and irreplaceable items into a storage unit. Oberon was the one with the key, and U.N.I.T told Nathan that he could only access the storage unit after his mission in Grimsborough, so unknown to Nathan, Oberon had the stuff shipped to Australia.

Even though Oberon believed his boys were gone, he never felt closer to them than when he worked on their house. The only things of theirs that he never parted with were Avi's stuffed Koala, Lala, and Nathan's hair comb. Both items were gifts from Oberon that Nathan and Avi treasured dearly.

The hair comb was a welcome gift after Oberon and Nathan became partners. Oberon knew the other man liked snakes and saw that Nathan (who had yet to start transitioning) always struggled to keep his hair out of his face. So when he found the snake-themed hair comb, he thought it was the perfect gift.

Oberon hadn't planned on Nathan cutting off most of his hair right before he could give him the comb.

Thankfully, Nathan saved the man from dying from embarrassment by taking the comb and sliding it into his hair, commenting, "I have thick hair." Nathan loved the hair comb and wore it whenever and wherever he could.

As for Avi's Koala, when Oberon and Nathan told their son they would be moving to Australia, Oberon got the toy to celebrate. Avi fell in love with the stuffie and the idea of moving to his dad's home country. But since the boy was so young, he had difficulty saying "Koala," so he called his new friend Lala.

Oberon didn't know if he could move on from losing his husband and son, but he was coming to terms with his life. So even if he couldn't see himself finding a new partner or starting a new family, he knew he would be alright with the rest of his family helping him, and one day he would see his boys again.

Events of Criminal Case

Season 1

Nathan and Avi mention Oberon throughout the course of Grimsborough. However, he isn’t mentioned by name until the end of The Ways of Death after Adalet and Jones find the Douglas family scrapbook, and Jones begs to know Nathan’s husband’s name.

Season 2

During Pacific Bay, Oberon is mentioned again when Nathan reveals that he and his husband work for a spy agency called U.N.I.T. Nathan continues to explain that Director Kovac ordered the fire, which “killed” Oberon. But unknown to Nathan and Avi, Oberon freed himself from under the support beam, escaping the house from another window and climbing down the tree growing near it. But sadly, Nathan and Avi had already been taken to the hospital by U.N.I.T agents, so Oberon believed they were still trapped inside.

Oberon was referenced once more during Adalet and Fili’s wedding. Nathan commented that the two had eloped because of their undercover mission. But the couple planned to have a proper wedding with their family and friends once the mission was over, and Oberon was so excited to introduce Nathan and Avi to his family.

Also, during Pacific Bay, Oberon was the agent who rescued Fili from SOMBRA after the man had been captured in Melbourne. Even though he was on medical leave, Oberon still monitored the radio waves for emergencies in his area. He intercepted Fili's distress signal and decided to rescue the MI6 agent.

After Oberon had rescued Fili and staged the scene to make the kidnappers think the Irishman had been killed, he brought the younger to a U.N.I.T-protected hospital for treatment. Oberon stayed with Fili until the man was discharged but never told him his full name. Fili only knew the man as "O" and "Midsummer" for secrecy reasons. That's why Fili never made the connection to Nathan's husband.

Season 3

It is revealed that Oberon hadn’t died in the fire after Carmen and Jack found his lighter on their crime scene during United in Ashes. After confirming that the lighter belonged to Oberon, Lars informed his teammates that his brother had been through a lot in the past years and asked them to be gentle during their questioning. The agents promised to honour the request, and they went to Oberon's house to ask him about being at the crime scene.

Oberon was stunned to hear that his boss had been murdered, but he wasn't sad that the man was gone. He respected Nicolas but never liked how the Brit had supported Director Kovac's unethical ideas when he was Assistant Director. But other than that, he had no reason to kill the man, nor could he think of the most likely potential killer out of Nicolas's enemies.

But the team later discovered that Oberon did have an excellent motive for possibly killing Nicolas. Nicolas supported the plan to "kill" Nathan and Avi and was the one who started the fire. Oberon had seen Nicolas standing outside the house that night but had no proof to incriminate the man. But despite having motive, means, and opportunity, the Bureau found Oberon innocent of murder.

In the additional investigation following the case, Lars invited Jack to meet his parents and check on Oberon at his brother's house. When they arrived, they found Oberon running around his house looking for something while Digger and Poppy tried to calm him down. After Lars got his brother to take some deep breaths, Oberon explained that he'd lost his husband's hair comb. He knew he had it on him when he visited the park, but now he couldn't find it.

Lars and Jack offered to search the park for the comb. They managed to find the accessory but discovered it covered in dirt and soot. Lars brought the comb to the plane, and Jonah used a special cleaner to clean silver. Afterward, Lars and Jack returned the hair comb to Oberon.

Oberon cried when he saw the cleaned hair comb. He explained that the only thing U.N.I.T salvaged from the fire was Nathan's dirty, soot-covered hair comb. Oberon had never been able to bring himself to clean it after the fire, feeling like if he did, he would be destroying the memories of his husband.

But after holding the cleaned comb, Oberon felt like it was Nathan's way of telling him it was time to move on, but that Oberon didn't need to forget about him and Avi. Oberon thanked his brother and Jack for finding the comb, and Lars stayed to help his family set up for the cookout in Oberon's backyard.

But that cookout would need to be put on hold because a SOMBRA mind-controlled Fili threatened to attack the team and their families. He and his family rushed to the Bureau's plane, where he was met by someone he hadn't seen in years: Léon Toussaint. Oberon immediately began apologizing to Léon for failing to save Nathan and Avi, but to both men's confusion, Léon says he thought Oberon had died in the fire.

The conversation was soon interrupted by Avi, who had exited his seat to see who his grandfather was talking to. He was so happy to see his father that he barely even questioned how his dad was alive. Even though he was stunned to see Avi alive, Oberon wasted no time embracing his son, crying tears of joy as he held the boy.

A few moments later, Nathan arrived to find his husband alive and hugging their son. He nearly tackled Oberon as he pulled him into a kiss, both momentarily forgetting about everyone else in the room.

It wasn't until they were reminded about the threat at hand that the couple decided to put the reunion on hold.

Oberon later helped the Bureau take down Fili and bring the Irishman to a hospital to make sure SOMBRA hadn't left any other "surprises" inside the man. He was later present when Nathan updated the Bureau on Fili's condition.

When it was time for the Bureau to resume their hunt for SOMBRA, Oberon and Nathan said that they would be helping Fili recover while he was in Australia. They also promised to search the Bureau's plane for SOMBRA bugs and give its security system a U.N.I.T/G.I.A upgrade. Once the plane was ready, Nathan volunteered to fly it to wherever the team was while Oberon stayed with Fili.

While in Australia, Oberon helps Fili recover from SOMBRA's control and practice his new powers. It was a challenge and dangerous at times, but Oberon wouldn't abandon his new friend, especially not when he needed him most! Oberon also got to spend time with his son Avi after spending years thinking the boy was dead. And when he was offered the position of co-pilot for the Bureau, Oberon immediately accepted, and he, Fili, Avi, and Dean rejoined the Bureau in Antarctica.

Oberon continued making appearances throughout the final two regions of Save The World. Most often, he was with Nathan as he helped his husband bring the bodies of murder victims to the plane for autopsy or simply wanted to be with Nathan. When he wasn't with his husband, he could be found either in the cockpit with Fili or spending time with Avi when he wasn't working. He also spent time getting to know the rest of the team, and he and Jonah became good friends as they bonded over their shared interest in weapons.

During The Darkest Hour, Oberon was hospitalized alongside Jonah after the two had been caught in the explosion from the bomb Angela had planted on the plane. His hearing aids exploded in his ears, and while the doctors managed to remove the pieces, Oberon's hearing was damaged even further. He was angry at Angela for trying to kill the Bureau and taking away more of his hearing. Still, he knew she would be punished for her crimes in an even higher security prison once Natasha's murder was solved and the US president was saved. After the case had been closed, Oberon and Jonah were discharged from the hospital and returned to the team.

Oberon was sad that Dupont was lost in the fight to defeat SOMBRA. He knows that death is always a possibility in his line of work, but he never thought the historian would be the one killed. But at least Dupont was able to see SOMBRA be defeated and the award the Bureau received from the UN before he passed away. Oberon knows that Dupont died proudly and that no one will forget about what he did to help destroy SOMBRA.

Following SOMBRA's defeat and Dupont's death, the Bureau was joined by their families in New York. Oberon was happy to see his parents even if his mother fussed over him and his injuries, but Nathan assured her he would be able to hear once his ears had recovered and he could be fitted for new hearing aids. And as they celebrated the defeat of SOMBRA and buried Dupont, Oberon looked forward to his future with his husband and son as they planned to move to Grimsborough and take the time to be a family again before thinking about the next chapter of their lives.

Organization(s)

U.N.I.T.

Rank: Agent

Bureau (disbanded)

Rank: Co-pilot

Story Information

First appeared: United in Ashes

Trivia

Lars references his brother during Rest and Relaxation. When teaching Jack how to play the guitar, he mentions the drummer of his band who is Oberon

Oberon is right-handed, but after the fire burned his right hand, he forced himself to learn how to use his left hand for certain things so he wouldn’t strain his right hand

The support beam which he got trapped under burned his back. He still struggles to lie on his back for extended periods of time

He is named after Oberon, King of the fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream

It is a running joke for people to call Nathan the "Indian boy" in reference to the character from the story

They plan never to tell anyone that Nathan's deadname is Titania

He was inspired to apply to the Australian military by his father

He got his flare for dramatics from his mother

Along with knowing how to play the drums, Oberon plays the guitar, saxophone, piano, and kazoo

The last one was so he could annoy Lars after his brother wouldn't stop playing the didgeridoo

The fangs on his necklace are fake, but he always makes up new stories to tell people how he got them. He’s used everything from fighting sharks to Tasmanian Devils

He wanted to be a magician as a kid

A few characters inspire his U.N.I.T. equipment. His sonic choker is based on Black Canary's canary cry (DC) and Present Mic’s voice quirk (BNHA), while his explosive playing cards come from Gambit (Marvel)

Disclaimer: Character design was created using Rinmarugames Mega Anime Avatar Creator! I have only made minor edits to the design! Background courtesy of CriminalArtist5

Links to my stories:

The Case of the Criminal (Ao3/Wattpad)

Killer Bay (Ao3/Wattpad)

Where in the World are the Killers? (Ao3/Wattpad)

#criminal case #criminal case save the world #lars douglas #nathan pandit #astra's ocs

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employvision · 2 years

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girlactionfigure · 2 years

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In 1947, the U.N. resolved to divide “Palestine” into two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem as an international city between them. The Jews happily embraced the resolution. But the Arabs rejected it. As the British Mandate in “Palestine” came to an end in 1948, chaos erupted across the land and Arab countries prepared to invade it. Meanwhile, the U.S. and the U.N. thought about alternative solutions.

One of the solutions proposed was that the moment the British Mandate expired over the Land of Israel, the problems of Israel should be transferred to the responsibility of the U.N. With the U.N. in charge, it would postpone the upcoming U.N. resolution. But with that proposal, there was the danger that not only would there not be two states but neither would there be an Israel. Now, the U.S. Secretary of Defense supported that idea very much because he had received warnings on the situation and he wanted to save the Jewish community of Israel.

In light of the alternate proposal of transferring the British Mandate to the U.N.’s responsibility, the official Jewish organizations increased their political efforts to push the two-state U.N. resolution forward. They heard that the U.S. President, Harry Truman, had friendly relationships with various Jews, and so they started looking for ways to meet with him and discuss the issue with him. According to the Secretary of State, however, Truman had decided during these critical days not to meet with even a single Jewish representative and not even with an Arab representative because he wanted to stay objective.

Harry Truman had a friend named Eddie Jacobson.

They had met in the U.S. Army during WWI while serving in the artillery corps. Truman had been Jacobson’s commanding officer, and they had run a supply store for soldiers together and became close friends. When they were discharged from the military, they actually opened a men’s clothing store together—and when the Great Depression struck in 1929, Truman went into politics and Jacobson stayed on to run the store and pay off the debts. They remained best buddies even after Truman was elected U.S. Senator and even after he became President.

The head of the Jewish Agency felt that if Truman would not change the opinions of his Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, there remained the danger that the idea of transferring control of the land to the U.N. would be accepted by the U.N. Security Council— and then there’d be a big problem establishing the Jewish State without the approval of the U.N. And so they decided that despite his delicate health situation, Dr. Chaim Weizmann should travel to the U.S. in the hope that Truman would not refuse to meet Dr. Weizmann in person.

So Weizmann traveled to the United States—but, as feared, President Truman stubbornly refused to meet him. Somehow, Jewish activists in New York found out about Eddie Jacobson, who lived in Kansas City. They immediately recruited him into their efforts, asking him to travel to Washington quickly. Now, Eddie Jacobson had a pass to get into the White House anytime, and when he got to Washington, he stayed in the Executive Mansion for two days. Truman’s personal secretary told him that he hoped that he wasn’t intending to talk about Jewish problems.

When he finally got to meet with the President, Truman greeted him with great friendliness, and the first question he asked him was, “Where’d you get that loud tie of yours?”, hinting at his expertise from their joint clothing store. But Eddie Jacobson brought up the subject of the U.N. partition resolution, or transferring the land to the U.N.’s responsibility, and Truman again started to explain to him his stance and why he wasn’t ready to meet with anyone on the subject. Jacobson continued pressuring Truman to agree to meet with Weizmann, and Truman got angry at him for putting him in such a situation.

Eddie Jacobson was already at the door on his way out when his attention was caught by the portrait of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Jacobson remembered that Jackson was Truman’s ultimate definition of hero. So Jacobson quickly said to Truman: “I’ll be going now, but I want you to know that what Andrew Jackson is to you, Chaim Weizmann is to me.” Truman was shaken, and he turned white. He approached Jacobson, gave him a firm clap on the shoulder and exclaimed, “You win!” But still, he asked that no one be told that Chaim Weizmann was coming to visit him, and added that Dr. Weiszmann enter through the back door.

Well, the long-sought meeting between Truman and Weizmann lasted almost an hour. Dr. Weizmann explained to the president that the choice here was one of life and death because if the Jews were not able to defend themselves with their own military, all the Arabs would stand by their promise of throwing them all into the sea.

The very next day, there was a U.N. Security Council meeting. The U.S. Secretary of State advocated for the two-state solution—and the rest is history. Several months later, Dr. Weizmann returned to Washington, this time as the first President of the State of Israel. He brought with him a gift for the President of the United States. What’s interesting is that what he chose to present to the U.S. President was not a stone from Masada or a portrait of Jerusalem but rather, a Torah scroll!

(Pictured here the two of them standing together, with U.S. President Harry Truman holding a Torah scroll in his arms.)

Rabbi Yisroel Bernath

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msclaritea · 1 year

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"Rachel Chandler, a professional photographer and modeling agent, was reportedly involved in the casting process for Balenciaga. Chandler is being scrutinized online for her alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The speculation comes amid the scandal surrounding Balenciaga's recent controversial ad. The luxury fashion house landed in hot water for its gift collection campaign that featured children posing with plush bear purses wearing outfits based on themes of b*ndage.

The company also faced backlash over its Spring 2023 campaign ad that consisted of a photo featuring printouts of a 2008 Supreme Court ruling on child p*rnography.

Amid the ongoing controversy, British influencer Oli London has claimed that the brand deliberately designed the campaign and is "deeply involved in child abuse and exploitation." London has been quite vocal in condemning Balenciaga's campaign.London has also asked their followers to research about Balenciaga's association with Rachel Chandler. They further opened up about a theory on the latter's alleged connection to Epstein while speaking to GBN Live:

“In 2016, one of the people who recruited all of the models for Balenciaga’s runway show was a woman called Rachel Chandler who has been on Jeffrey Epstein’s island. She has even posted the picture on Instagram of CCTV footage back in 2013, bragging about being on an island.”

They further added:

“If you look at her modeling agency every single one of the models looks like a trafficking victim. You can see they’ve got very dark circles under the eye and people need to research that.”

While Chandler is the co-founder of the Midland modeling agency, which lists Balenciaga as one of its clients, there is no official account of the former's connection to Epstein.

Chandler previously went viral over an old photo with former US president Bill Clinton. Several conspiracy theorists claimed the photo was allegedly taken on Epstein's private plane while on their way to the latter's infamous island.

youtube

Sue Knows Best

@sues86453

Who remembers Rachel Chandler? Think #Epstein Island…..

Coincidence that she also recruited models for #Balenciaga?

I don’t believe in coincidence. #grooming

However, no official confirmation about the photograph's actual location has been made available to the public.

Rachel Chandler's modeling agency represents renowned clients

Rachel Chandler is a professional photographer and modeling agent from Los Angeles. She reportedly moved to New York to study History of Art at Gallatin School and eventually started interning for arts organizations and photographers, including Patrick Demarchelier.

According to her official bio, Chandler provides an "intimate portrayal of the social and creative scene in which she works, lives and operates in" through her work. She reportedly began serving as a photographer for Purple Diary after meeting editor Olivier Zahm through mutual friends.

She has also been a contributing photographer for Industrie online and Vogue. Chandler also founded the New York-based Midland Agency with Walter Pearce in September 2016.

The modeling agency focuses on casting and management and represents a large group of models. Some of their clients include brands like Gucci, Marni, Fenty, Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Zara, Gap, Comme Des Garcons, Telfar, and Jason Wu.

Twitter shares theories about Rachel Chandler's alleged Epstein connection

Netizens are sharing conspiracy theories about Rachel Chandler's Epstein link amid the Balenciaga scandal (Image via Twitter/Savage Daughter)

Balenciaga continues to face outrage on social media over its latest controversial ad campaign featuring children. Photographer Rachel Chandler's association with the brand and alleged connection to Jeffrey Epstein has also gone viral online.

In an old interview with Vice's i-D Magazine, Chandler claimed that she helped curate the lineup for Balenciaga Creative Director Demna Gvsalia's fall/winter 2016 Balenciaga show.

“The casting director was a friend of a friend and he needed help," she said at the time. "I suggested a few people for them and they ended up taking all of my suggestions! So I thought, ‘Ok, I must be good at this.’”

Chandler was later identified in a photo where she was seen posing with Bill Clinton inside an airplane.

According to fact-checking site Snopes, the picture first surfaced online in 2006. It was originally shared with a caption that suggested Clinton was posing with a 19-year-old college student inside billionaire venture capitalist Ron Burkle's private plane.

Several years later, conspiracy theorists claimed that Clinton and Chandler's photo was from Epstein's "Lolita Express" private plane. As the theory has resurfaced online amid Balenciaga's ad campaign controversy, several social media users have taken to Twitter to share their theories about Chandler.

@OliLondonTV

You want to see how deep and dark Balenciaga’s abuse of kids goes?

She is a model agent, provides a lot of models for brand. All models in her agency look like Trafficking Victims. She was on Epstein Island she even posted CCTV pic from Island

If they think Balenciaga is bad:

Wait until they hear about Rachel Chandler, Les Wexner and the modeling industry's deep ties to Epstein Island.

"I had a feeling there would be a Rachel Chandler-Balenciaga connection and there it is!🏻The models at Balenciaga and Midland, a “modeling & casting agency” founded by Chandler, look abused and like real trafficking victims!"

Rachel Chandler and Balenciaga connected - wow!!

Great find - thanks @Shorty56167141 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The photography agency behind the Valenciaga shoot is run by Rachel Chandler a Jeffrey Epstein assistant. You've seen her photo taken on Epstein's Lolita Express with Bill Clinton. twitter.com/PowerOurPeople…

Balenciaga, Rachel Chandler… On the flight logs for Epstein Island. Did everyone who went to Epstein Island participate in Child Trafficking? I would assume not and certainly hope not. It is grounds for reasonable suspicion. What I can say, is the model woman, probably in on it.

While theories continue to pour in online, it is to be noted that Rachel Chandler has never been involved in any legal proceedings related to Epstein, who was convicted of child trafficking. Reports suggest that Chandler has also never been charged with any crime herself.

Although Clinton reportedly flew in Epstein's private plane in the past, his spokesperson has previously denied that his photo with Rachel Chandler was taken inside Lolita Express. The latter has also never publicly confirmed or denied rumors about the photograph."

We've talked about Rachel Chandler before, haven't we @gatorfisch

#Sophie Hunter #David Birkin #Hydra Island #Youtube

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female-buckets · 2 years

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youtube

2008–

DT: Um... I'm taking LJ next year lol

SB: WHAT!?

LJ: Yeah sorry mate

2009–

LJ: Actually... I'm staying in Seattle lol

DT: 🙃 k

SB: I mean honestly what did you expect

2010-2014

*various interpersonal and injury disasters*

2015–

SB: LJ's never coming back so that's the end of that. I'm on the worst team in the league. Your team can't stay out of TMZ. We should both leave our teams and join Tina Charles in Madison Square Garden.

DT: Leave Penny, BG, my family, and my championship team to do a UConn legend tour in New York? With Bill Laimbeer?? That sounds like a beautiful mistake. I'll pass...

2016–

DT: ...but there's always room for you in Phoenix. Join my desert cult. I'll even throw in a range rover.

SB: Ugh. I guess that's my best option. If I lose this lottery, I'm leaving Seattle and never looking back

Stewie: Heyyyyy lol you won the lottery Sue

"The only place we haven't played together is the WNBA, and I was trying to recruit her this year. But that didn't work. She just signed back with Seattle. I offered her a Range Rover; I was giving her perks. But she wanted to stay in the rain." (DT)

2020–

Clarke: Free Agency?? That's new! I like it here though. I don't really know what to do. Should I... go? Should I stay?

Howard: Yeah what should I do? We've won some championships together. But now I've got these meetings with other teams... what do you think Sue?

SB: ☺️☺️☺️ Just do whatever you think is best.

2022–

SB: ... Fuck! Why didn't I meddle?? Meddling always works! It worked with LJ in 2009. It worked with Stewie six months ago... so why didn't I do it in 2020?!? I lost Natasha Howard and Alysha Clarke because I was trying to be nice?? Meanwhile Dee's been meddling with Tina Charles the whole time!?!?!? Tina was my idea first!! Ugh.... If Dee just came to Seattle to play with me and LJ 15 years ago... If we had free agency back then... Everything would've been a lot simpler huh....

"I had the Bosh! I had Lauren Jackson! Dee just needed to be the Lebron!" (SB)

#Sue Bird you absolute madwoman... saying DT should've played with you and LJ!!!! Madwoman!!!!!!!!#You know you have to see Penny at Thanksgiving right???#I can't believe that this of all things is what she brought up as her big career regret... DUDE!!!!!#I love her for it though #but like... what is the plan there!?!? what would that have looked like!?!?#Would the DT/LJ thing burn out twice as fast if they played together year-round?#Or would it last twice as long?#And what would happen to Penny? Pressured into retirement by her Brazillian ex husband?#And where would BG end up??#idk... the DT/LJ Storm alternate universe is a freaky one #but they'd win like 6 rings though #sue bird #diana taurasi #lauren jackson #breanna stewart #wnba #seattle storm #ny liberty #phoenix mercury

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balslevzhou · 2 years

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laceandsilkhandkerchiefs · 2 years

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The Time Travelers (OCs)

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my previous post! (And apologies for how long it took to get this up, I had to finish my final exams before I had time to really focus on this.)

The consensus was that posting bios for my OCs before I post the story they’re featured in would be welcome, so here we are! I’ve done my best to keep these introductions as concise as possible, especially because these OCs were not originally created for kink purposes and so their backstories are... somewhat complicated. I hope everyone enjoys getting to know them!

The Time Travelers (as I have dubbed them for fic-writing purposes) are a group of five friends who work for a highly secretive government agency, with their main goal being to manage anomalies in the universal timeline and thus prevent it from splintering and causing havoc. However, not all of them are from the 21st century- some are from other centuries or millennia altogether and came to the team after accidentally falling through time. Allow me to introduce...

Jamie Griffin- The team leader. 25 years old. Very serious and driven, but she truly cares about the others and considers them to be her family. She was born and raised in Albany, New York, and is one of the two team members from the present day. She was recruited to work for the agency right out of college, not only because of her stellar credentials (she graduated with honors from Columbia University) but also because of the fact that she’s not close to her family and had few friends before meeting the rest of the team, so it would be easy for her to keep what she does under wraps. She doesn’t have any significant allergies and hardly ever gets sick, but she has to be forced to take a break on the rare occasion that she does get sick (or injured), otherwise she’ll try to work through it.

Daniel Marino- The team medic (and a registered nurse). 27 years old. He’s the other team member from the present day, and was born and raised in San Diego, California. He gets on Jamie’s nerves due to his tendency to make jokes at every opportunity (he’s a bit of a wise-cracker) but she and the others all secretly appreciate how much he does to take care of them not only physically but mentally as well. However, because of how much he cares for the others, Daniel is terrible at taking care of himself. He has bad seasonal allergies but never seems to remember to take his meds, and has to be drugged with NyQuil or Benadryl when he’s sick or else he won’t even try to rest.

Dagmær, Daughter of Grímnir- The combat expert on the team. 22 years old. Like Jamie, she’s very serious and driven in certain circumstances, but unlike Jamie she has no problem making jokes or acting more freely when she’s in the right mood. She is originally from 10th-century Norway where she was a Viking warrior, travelling and going on raids. After several years of this (and some success) however, she fell through a small crack in time and ended up in the 21st century. The agency took her in, taught her English and the other skills she needed to work for them, and she was placed with the rest of the team to defend them on missions. She is usually quite healthy, but the amount of pollution and unfamiliar plants she now has to come in contact with mean that she’s developed some wicked seasonal allergies.

Kang Jun-Seo (AKA Jun)- The “academic” member of the team. 20 years old. He is from Seoul in what is now South Korea in the year 1920. He was a university student, but he also participated in the Korean independence movement and was even arrested (and beaten) for his involvement with the March 1st movement in 1919. Because of his experiences, and because he was pulled out of his world so suddenly when he fell through time, he is very closed-off, distrustful, and shy (he suffers from undiagnosed PTSD). He’s also secretly in love with Dagmær but doesn’t want to acknowledge his own feelings. He’s incredibly smart, however, which is one of the reasons he was asked to join the team. He only has one significant allergy (to cats) and the only time he gets sick is when he’s feeling particularly tired and run-down (which he also hates acknowledging).

Confidence Bowman (AKA Connie)- A bit of a jack-of-all-trades for the team. 19 years old. She can be a bit naive at times, but she has good instincts for how others are feeling and does well on missions because of that. She’s originally from Plymouth Colony in 1644, and was born there early on in the settlement’s history. She was a somewhat devout Puritan, but after falling through time and getting to know a whole new group of people at the agency her beliefs have changed somewhat. She has a bit of a crush on Jun, but hasn’t told him because she’s realized he’s in love with Dagmær (and she’s now made it her mission to see them admit their feelings for each other). She isn’t allergic to anything in particular, but when she gets sick it’s bad which is always cause for concern for the rest of the team.

Well, there you have them! I’m planning to post stories starring these fine friends soon, and you can always, always ask me questions about them if you’d like to know more (there’s so much more to their backstories and personalities that I haven’t even mentioned here). I am always ready to talk about them or any other OCs I may come up with.

Thanks for sticking with me!

#my writing #my ocs #snz ocs #ocs intro post #snz kink #snzblr #sneezeblr #the time travelers

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