#ty again for letting me test them marine !!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gullivertravelstowonderland · 3 years

Note

Since Doomguy probably got all or most of his clothes shredded in the Divinity Machine Incident, imagine him going to a nice Sentinel tailor or seamstress to get fitted for some new clothes and armor. :)

Ficlet under the cut!

The Doom Marine awoke slowly, vaguely aware of the fact that he was laying on the floor, shrapnel of some kind pressing into his bare stomach. A distant voice was frantically calling to him, a strange weight settled on his arm and harshly pushing at his temple.

He slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes, absently shifting to drag a hand over his face with a groan. Whatever was on his arm flinched away, falling from its perch with an audible 'oof.'

"Watch it, you damnable oaf!" The Doom Marine froze, confused; he knew that voice. That was… God, right, the Divinity Machine!

He shot up, the back of his head connecting with something as he let out a pained growl, one hand slamming into the ground as he searched for the source of the voice. His eyes narrowed as they fell on the creature curled on the ground, staring up at him with both anger and fear in its eyes. His own eyes widened for a split second as he processed what had happened.

"You… What the hell did you do to me?!" The human barked, wrapping his free hand around his sore throat after he'd spoken. His voice rumbled low and gravelly, grating against his vocal chords for reasons he didn't quite understand, head spinning as the Makyr cowered under him, covering his ears and fixing a glare on the soldier.

"This wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't meant to become a monster!" Samur fumbled back off of the floor, running a hand along the curve of his mask with a frustrated sigh. "It must have something to do with your biology reacting poorly to the machine— either way, we're both going to die if we waste any more time! We need to work together if we want to get out of this, understand?"

The Doom Marine growled, trying to position himself so he didn't feel so… exposed as the Makyr tried to explain his plan.

—

When the Elite Sentinel Guard found the human, he was pressed against the wall with his knees to his chest, settled into the indented ring that surrounded the remains of the Divinity Machine. Samur had ordered them to bring a large sheet of fabric, crafting some story about a betrayer of some sort giving him access to the machine, and using it to make him a weapon more powerful than anything the Argenta had ever seen, in order to defeat the demons that invaded their land. The Doom Marine's job was mostly to stay quiet about who brought him there and comply with their demands until Samur was done with him.

To say the soldiers were shocked to find him in such a state would be an understatement. They were terrified, although you wouldn't know it at first glance: they had their weapons raised and stances defensive as they approached the giant. Two of them stepped forward, holding the fabric out to him, ready to spring into action the second things went wrong.

He hummed to himself, carefully raising a hand so they could see before he slowly reached towards them, gently taking the cloth from them with a small nod in thanks.

The two Sentinels quickly retreated back into the safety of their group as he unfolded the plain fabric, mentally planning how he was going to cover himself with it as he waited for the group to empty the room so he could clothe himself. When they made no move to leave, the Doom Marine turned his attention to them, fixing them with a peculiar stare.

"Can I… be alone?" He mumbled, deciding to ignore the pain it caused. An embarrassed blush crept over his cheeks as the soldiers cautiously complied, looking down at the cloth with a sigh before slowly standing in the small space once he was completely out of view. He had to be careful not to hit his head on any of the floating pillars as he stood, experimentally wrapping the fabric around his waist.

Fuck, this wasn't really gonna work, was it? He couldn't walk out of here wearing nothing but a scrap of cloth wrapped around him like a towel. He tore the fabric off with an indignant huff, his eyes scanning the room for anything he could use to sew it into something more fitting.

He grabbed some wires and a thin metal pole from the remains of the Divinity Machine, using his teeth to shape one end of the pipe into a loop before threading the wire through it. He laid the fabric out, using a piece of sharp metal to tear through it where he needed to and doing his best to turn the heap of cloth into a decently wearable pair of shorts. They weren't bad, considering the limited materials and circumstances he had to work with, just a bit loose around the waist; a problem easily fixed by tearing some tubing from the machine and tying it around his waist like a belt.

Once he was finally dressed, he slowly inched his way towards the door, peeking out at the soldiers gathered outside waiting for him. They sat amongst themselves in an anxious huddle, exchanging whispered words in their native tongue. A few jumped to attention once they noticed the giant looming in the doorway, offering an awkward wave as they brandished their weapons.

"Come on, we don't have all day. The shop closes in an hour." One of the higher-ranking Sentinels grumbled as he approached the Doom Marine, he and a few others ushering him out of the room, edging towards him with their weapons raised.

"Shop?" He questioned, stumbling as he tripped over his own weight. The Sentinels corralling him flinched, darting out of the way as he struggled to regain his footing, an apologetic cringe crossing his face.

His entire balance was off, despite his body seeming to be completely proportional— if a tad bit more muscular. Maybe it was just a side effect of the machine, or something had changed besides his height; whatever it was, the Doom Slayer wasn't really willing to dwell on it.

Civilians and soldiers alike stopped to gawk at the giant as he passed by, sheepishly curling in on himself at the unwanted attention. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did they have to drag him into town and make a huge spectacle out of him when all he wanted to do after the incident was curl up and disappear?

He was snapped out of his self-deprecating thoughts by a concerned shout, belatedly realizing that he had almost knocked someone over when the group suddenly stopped.

"S— sorry." He mumbled, turning his attention to the building they had stopped beside as a few of them made their way inside, most likely to speak with the owners. "Is this… a tailor shop?"

"Of course. You didn't think you'd be wearing that into battle, did you?"

His head snapped to the source of the voice, his eyes falling on the higher-ranking soldier from earlier. His brows furrowed inquisitively as he carefully lowered himself to the ground, afraid he misheard the small soldier. They all stepped back as he crouched, the group readying their weapons again.

"Battle?"

"Of… of course. You've proved your worth in the arena, and you would clearly have an advantage on the battlefield: not to mention you'd need to find some way to repay our people for the resources it would take to keep you alive… it's just the most logical solution." He muttered, fidgeting nervously with his armor under the Doom Marine's imposing gaze.

It didn't take long for the shop's doors to open again, the owner emerging with a quiet squeak of shock, turning to the soldier beside them and whispering something in the alien language. The giant settled himself on the ground with a sigh, the chill of night creeping ever closer, seeping into his exposed skin with a shiver. The superior soldier noticed, and quickly spoke up.

"Is there any way we could do this inside? I'd rather not make my troops suffer the cold any longer than they must— including the giant. I'd hate to imagine the amount of medicine it would take to cure a cold at that size…"

The giant stifled a laugh, following as the tailor led them around the building to what seemed to be a delivery entrance. The Doom Marine made his way towards the garage-like door, careful to step over the others this time as he forced it open and slipped into the blessedly warm space, ignoring the cries of shock and alarm at the action as he settled himself amongst the fabrics. The others followed suit, standing guard as the tailor closed the door and made their way towards the giant, gingerly extending a hand to touch his knee, and clambering on top of it when the giant made no move to stop them.

He sucked in a shocked breath, the sensation of another living, breathing person walking along his legs sending goosebumps crawling over his skin. He felt his face flush as he held his breath, watching the small tailor as they tested their footing on the odd surface. Once they'd seemingly found their balance, the tailor curiously padded over his lap, seemingly fascinated by the giant as they prodded at his limbs and torso, eliciting an odd noise to come from the back of his throat in response.

The tailor chuckled lightly as they held one end of the measuring tape out for the marine to hold, carefully making their way down the giant's leg until they ran out of tape with a huff. They decided instead to settle themself on the giant's knee and scribble the measurement into their notepad.

The Slayer shifted slightly, unsure of how to act in this odd scenario. The Sentinel soldiers would raise their weapons at the slightest movement, eyeing the larger man wearily; that he was used to. He was always the outsider, or the gruesome warrior, or the enemy— he was used to being stared at in mistrust or disdain— but this? This strange, casual fascination? Not normal.

The procedure continued semi-normally, the soldiers eyeing him warily as the tailor did their job, occasionally glancing up at the giant to mutter a request in that odd language, miming whatever it was they wanted. They didn't seem to speak English, but they certainly understood it, as they could respond to the human's questions rather easily. They seemed to truly enjoy working with the unusual client, despite the obvious difficulties. The Slayer, however, couldn't quite say the same.

It proved to be increasingly difficult to sit still during the strange procedure, as the comparatively small tailor clambered awkwardly over his much larger frame. The sensation felt… oddly familiar to the marine, though he couldn't quite place why. Of course, that wasn't much of a surprise. He had spent far too many years traversing the unforgiving planes of Hell and Argent D'Nur to retain much knowledge of his life before; he couldn't even remember his own name anymore.

At some point, while the tailor was measuring the length of his arm, a slight misstep and the ensuing twitch of the giant's muscles nearly sent the Argenta tumbling to the ground, the swift movement of the Slayer's reflexes startling the guards into defensive positions, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. The marine wasn't even fully sure what had happened by the time his brain registered the fact that an actual, living person was literally in his hand, sending his heart into his throat as he scrambled for the words to explain himself, trying to force his breathing to return to normal.

The tailor suddenly seemed so fragile, making the Slayer almost afraid to move, lest they fall to pieces. He could feel the Argenta's heart hammering in the small, almost doll-like chest. Each panicked breath wracked their whole body as their brain struggled to comprehend where they were and how they got there. They looked around briefly before locking eyes with their savior, the shocked and slightly panicked expression visibly relaxing as they caught their breath. For a moment it was as if time had stopped, as no one in the room moved or made a sound, just… froze.

Then, the tailor laughed, sending small tremors through the giant's hand with the motion.

It wasn't clear if it was from relief, shock, or just the pure absurdity of the situation, but the sound quickly broke the tension in the room as the others joined in, each for their own, unknowable reasons. The Slayer chuckled in relief, mostly, but also the utter strangeness of the whole day, culminating in the restrained, nearly hysterical laughing fit he had now, shaking his entire body as tears crept from his eyes.

His attention turned to the tailor when he felt the Argenta shift in his hand, softly clearing their throat before speaking, eyes locked with the Slayer's, a hand gently squeezing his thumb.

"Thank you, amiixus." The small person smiled, placing a fist over their heart in what the Slayer understood to be the planet's general sign of friendship, and he carefully shifted his free hand to mimic the gesture with a nod.

Friend. He liked the idea of finding a friend in all of this madness.

—

//In the end the tailor gives the Doom Slayer a small selection of outfits, as well as his custom-fitted Praetor suit— with a bit of help from the Maykers and a team of assistants, of course! Anyways, I really liked this idea and got a bit carried away lol. Hope you like it!

#g/t #giant/tiny #giant tiny #giant #tiny #doom au #doomguy #doom slayer #doom #doom eternal #doom 2016 #giants #giant doomguy #g/t writing #amod #a monster of divinity

49 notes · View notes

agentblyeanddeeks · 4 years

Text

Chapter 1

Finally happy enough with chapter 1 to share it with you all. Still deciding on a title, then I will post to ff.net. A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to @mashmaiden for listening to my indecisiveness until I finally got to where I wanted. And for the constant motivation to keep going.

AU of the team first meeting Deeks. What happens when Kensi gets caught up in one of Deeks undercovers. Will contain flashbacks.

August 17, 2010

“Mr. Callen. Nice of you to decide to finally come into work this morning.” Hetty stood in the archway of the mission entrance as the senior agent arrived.

“We live in LA. You know the traffic is always unpredictable.” Callen responded.

Hetty folded her arms, “Mr. Hanna and Mr. Beale don’t seem to have any trouble being on time. Might I suggest an earlier departure from now on?”

“I will do my best, Hetty.”

“That you will, Mr. Callen. That you will. Now, up to Ops you go. There’s a case to be solved” Hetty shooed him towards the stairs.

————-

“Well, well, well. Third time this month, G. Let me guess, you were busy switching apartments because this one was too relaxing.”

“Too relaxing? What does that even mean?”

“It means you need to stop making excuses and just settle down in one place. It will be good for you.”

“Or I could just stay with you, Michelle, and the kids.”

“We tried that once before, remember? By the way, you still owe me a toaster.”

“Hey, that was not my fault.”

Um, guy. We have a case.” Eric interrupted the partners bickering.

“Sorry, Eric.” Callen noticed the room was still one Agent short, “Where’s Kensi?”

The automated doors opened again revealing their operations manager, “It seems your tardiness is beginning to rub off on your teammates. Rest assured I will have a talk with her later. Now let’s not waste anymore time. Eric.”

Eric swiveled his chair around towards his computer. After a few clicks on the keyboard, an image appeared on the main screen. “Meet Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Wade. He was stationed at Point Loma until a year ago when he received an other than honorary discharge.”

“What was his offense?” questioned Sam.

“Multiple failed drug tests. His CO said he had been to rehab twice but only stayed clean for about a month before relapsing.”

“Did he have drugs in his system when he died?” Callen asked.

“Yes. The coroner found traces of heroin. She also said the body had been there at least three days before hikers discovered it.”

“I’m guessing from the amount of blood on his body, the cause of death wasn’t an overdose.” Callen concluded.

“That would correct.” Eric grabbed his tablet and zoomed in on the picture, “Wade was killed by multiple gunshots to the torso.”

Sam took a minute to study the image, “Looks like they could be from a 9mm.”

Callen shook his head, “Pretty common caliber. Doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“This might.” the tech operator chimed in. “After the petty officer was discharged, he began working at Crescent Creek. They are a beer distributor that have been on the LAPD watch list for a while now. Most of their employees have pretty impressive rap sheets. B & E’s, assault, you name it.”

Sam scanned the employee photos on the screen, “Are any of the other employees former military?”

Eric nodded, “Two. But no connection so far to Wade.”

“Ok, keep digging. See if anything sticks out.” instructed Sam.

“On it.” Eric returned to his computer desk and began a new search algorithm.

“What about a few days before he died? Anything out of the ordinary?” asked Callen.

Another file appeared on the screen, “Let’s see. The last credit card transaction was at Mariasol’s on the Santa Monica Pier the day he died. Pulling up the pier security cameras now.”

The video of the pier began to play. Eric increased the speed until it was close to the time of the transaction.

Callen pointed to the screen, “There’s Wade.”

“What’s he doing?” Eric asked, curiously.

“Probably nothing good. He keeps watching over his shoulder. He’s nervous about something.” Sam observed.

While Eric and Sam were focused on their victim, Callen was more interested in the other guy in the frame, “Eric, can you get a better angle of the guy he’s with?”

Eric pulled up a second camera from the pier as Callen stepped forward to get a better look at the blonde gentleman. “I know that guy.”

“From a previous case?” Sam asked.

Callen shook his head, “No. It’s the owner of the bar that Kensi took us to a couple months ago.” He snapped his fingers a few times til the name came to him, “Squid & Dagger.”

Eric types the name that Callen gave him, hoping it would provide them with a lead. “The owner of Squid & Dagger is listed as Max Gentry. He’s owned the bar for six months. Single. Address is listed in Culver City. No military background. No criminal records.”

“We need to find Kensi now and see what she knows about him.” Hetty suddenly spoke up.

“I’ll call her.” offered Eric.

“Ok, Sam and I will head to Max’s place and find out what his connection to Wade is.”

They two agents turned to leave but stopped when they heard a familiar warning beep coming from the main screen.

“Kensi’s cell is offline.” Eric announced as he began to worry.

“Well, turn it back on!” Sam ordered.

“I can’t. Either the battery has been taken or the phone has been severely damaged.”

The scenario playing out in front of them reminded Sam of what the team had gone through earlier in the year with Dom. “What about her car?”

Eric brought up a map of Los Angeles on the screen. After a few seconds, a blinking icon appeared. “GPS location has it at Pico and Sixth since midnight.” He paused when the realization hit him, “Guy, that’s Max’s bar.”

Hetty moved to the front of the room to face her staff. “Eric, find out everything you can on Max. Gentleman, go to Santa Monica and figure out what the hell is going on.”

——————-

As the Challenger turned onto Sixth Street, Sam and Callen were met with red and blue flashing lights. An officer walked around the building, dragging yellow caution tape behind him

“This is not good.” Callen said as the car came to a stop. Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed by the man in a suit by the bar entrance. He made his way up to the yellow tape, meeting the agents halfway.

“Can I help you gentleman?”

“NCIS. I’m Special Agent Hanna. This is Special Agent Callen. What happened here?”

“Detective Danny Hall. Neighboring business called it in this morning. The door was kicked in and the inside shows definite signs of a struggle. One victim.”

Callen pulled out his phone and clicked on the DMV photo of Max Gentry, “This him?”

“No.” The detective shook his head then reached down for the caution tape, raising it up, “Follow me.”

The three men walk into the bar and take in the chaos in front of them. The front door laid to their right, no longer on the hinges. Multiple tables were upturned and the chairs were scattered and broken throughout the business.

“Woah, you weren’t kidding about the struggle. It’s a wreck in here,” Callen said. While he assessed the furniture damage, Sam made his way to the body laying near the bar, covered by a sheet.

“Looks like blunt force trauma to the head. Probably from being slammed into the bar.”

Detective Hall took a small notebook from his pocket, “According to the tattoo on his arm, he is a member of the Sanguine street gang.”

“Guns for hire.” Callen assumed.

“Can I ask why this interests NCIS?” the detective asked.

“The dead body of a marine was found this morning. Gunshot wounds to the chest. He might have had a connection with the owner. Plus we have an agent that we have lost contact with that frequented this bar.” he told the detective.

“My guys didn’t find any shell casings. They most likely kept it hand to hand. A gun fight in this area would have caused attention right away. They wouldn’t have been able to make a clean getaway.”

Sam rejoined the others, “I wouldn’t exactly call leaving a man behind a clean getaway.”

“We also found blood on a pool stick and some leading out the back door to the alley.” Hall informed them. Another officer appeared in the doorway and signaled him over.

“Excuse me for a moment, Gentleman. Forensics is done here. Feel free to look around. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Sam shook his hand.

“So is Max still a suspect or is he our next victim?” Callen began to theorize.

“He could be both. Max kills Wade, then bad guy send the gang after Max. Or Max could be innocent and our suspect is tying up loose ends.”

“For Kensi’s sake, I hope it’s the second one.”

“Me too.” Sam thought for a moment, “If they wanted to kill Max, they wouldn’t have ambushed him here. Like Hall said, attracts too much attention.”

“They obviously wanted him alive for a reason. But for what?”

Sam looked around the room, trying to envision what might have gone down. “Ok, so the gang members come through the entrance. Chaos ensues. Max shoves the dead guy into the bar.”

Callen removed the black gloves from his pocket and put them on his hand. He then grabbed the broken pool stick the detective had mentioned. “Someone defended themselves with the pool stick. Whoever it was, was bleeding,” noting the bloody fingerprints.

“G, over here.” Sam crouched down near the back exit. “There is blood smear leading to the door. It’s probably Max’s. They hit him from behind, knocking him out and they take him out the alley door.”

Following Sam’s hunch, the men go out the backdoor. “Easy get away. Especially in the middle of the night.”

“It still doesn’t explain where Kensi is. Or what she was even doing here. The bar is closed on Monday nights.” Callen said, bringing the focus back to their missing colleague.

“We need to look in her car.”

The car was parked in a community lot outside of the crime scene. Thankfully the other detectives hadn’t known it was related to the crime at the bar. Callen pulled out the spare key and unlocked her car. Sam opened the driver side door and began searching for clues. Callen did the same from the passenger side.

“Nothing seems out of the ordinary.” Callen said, looking in the glove compartment. He leaned forward to feel between the seat and console and pulled out something mushy and brown, slightly disgusted, “Looks like I found Kensi’s stash of Reese Cups.”

Sam shook his head, “When we find her, she is getting an intervention about her refined sugar addiction.”

Callen removed his chocolate filled glove and searched through the center console with his other hand.

“Her badge and wallet are both still here.”

Sam straightened up after checking under the driver seat. “Her gun is not.”

“Agent Callen! Agent Hanna!” Detective Hall yelled as he approached. “Does this vehicle have to do with the investigation?”

“It’s our missing agent’s cars. She left her badge but took her gun.” Sam explained

“And you think she’s got something to do with this?”

“I hope not but I’ve got a bad feeling about it.” Callen noticed the surveillance photos in the detectives hand. “Can I see those?”

“Oh yeah. That’s why I came over here. One of the officers found these in the office. Anyone look familiar?”

Callen took the photos and started flipping through them.“That’s Petty Officer Wade and our bar owner Max Gentry. Someone was definitely watching them.”

Sam moved beside Callen to have a better look at the photos. “They're not the only ones they were watching.”

The next photo in the pile was that of Kensi and Max. It was taken at night and they appeared to be on a rooftop. As they flipped through more photos, they became more concerned. Whoever took these photos had continued to follow Kensi without Max. Some were even taken near her house.

“We’ve got to find her now. She might be compromised.” Callen said.

“Which means so are we.”

Sam took the photos and laid them out of the car hood. He took out his phone and took pictures of them to send to Ops.

“Call us if you find anything else.” Callen asked of Hall as he handed him his card.

“Same to you.”

Sam handed back the photos and they headed to the Challenger. “Eric, pull the security camera from the Squid & Dagger and surrounding areas. We need to see where Kensi went. We’re headed to her house to see if there are any clues.”

“I’ll pull the feeds but Hetty wants you guys at the boat shed.”

“We don’t have time, Eric. We need to find Kensi before it’s too late.” Callen spoke into the earwig.

Hetty’s voice interrupted, “Gentleman. Please redirect yourselves to the boat shed immediately. There is someone here that might be able to help.”

———-

Callen and Sam arrived at the boat shed to find an older, grey haired man standing next to Hetty.

“Agent Hanna, Agent Callen. Meet LAPD Lieutenant Roger Bates.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Lieutenant Bates?” Sam greeted him.

“I got a call from Detective Hall saying NCIS had taken an interest in his crime scene this morning. I put a call into my old friend Henrietta and thought I would brief you all myself.”

“Oh, Roger. I’d say old foes was more like it.”

“Eh, bygones.” Bates shook her off. “Six months ago we began an undercover operation to get close to the people inside Crescent Creek. The business had been around since the early 90s. Very reputable and what you would expect from a beer distributor. Until two years ago, when they started distributing things of illegal proportions.”

“Drugs.” Callen guessed

“Bingo. Specifically heroin, ecstasy, cocaine.”

“Petty officer Wade had heroin in his system when he died,” added Callen.

“When he was murdered.” Sam corrected.

“That’s unfortunate to hear. I had thought we really broke through to him this time. Our man inside quickly bonded with Evan. They both came from broken homes, abusive dads, and a no good childhood. It wasn’t too hard to convince him to become our informant.”

“Do you know who killed him?” Callen asked

Bates grabbed the remote from the table, hitting the center blue button. A picture of a Hispanic man appeared on the screen.

“Ramon Murillo. He took over the company in 2007 when his father Arturo passed away. The problem is Ramon has his finger in just about every gang in West LA. They do his dirty work so we can never get anything to pin on him.”

“So why did he kill Wade?” Sam questioned.

“Evan wanted out. He said he was finally ready to turn his life around. But he was worried that Ramon wouldn’t let him go that easy. And he was right. Three days ago he met with our undercover in Santa Monica and …..”

Callen interrupted the Lieutenant “Wait. Max Gentry is one of yours?”

Bates hit the remote again. A picture of Max filled the screen. Only this time it was a photo of him with his hair kept and wearing a suit and tie. Much different from the DMV photo they were given.

“One of the best. His real name is Martin Deeks. We backstopped him as the owner of the Squid & Dagger. He was oddly proud of the name he created for the bar. Anyways, Deeks met with him on the pier that morning to give him the address to one of our safe houses. The investigation was coming to a head so Evan was to stay there until we arrested Ramon and then he would be put in WITSEC. Deeks said when they met Evan seemed really jumpy and paranoid, like someone was watching him.”

“That’s because someone was.” Sam added.

“Right. Evan never made it to the safe house and until this morning, we had no idea where he was. Yesterday, Deeks found an envelope slid under the door at the bar. Written on the front was Detective Deeks. Inside were the surveillance photos Detective Hall and his team came across this morning.”

“But Hall saw Deeks in those photos but didn’t say he knew him.” Callen questioned.

“That’s because he wouldn’t know him from Adam. Deeks was a loner. He never played well with the other cops. Always preferred to work alone. That’s why deep undercover was perfect for him. He didn’t have anyone else to worry about.”

“Until Kensi.” Hetty added.

Until Kensi.” Bates repeated “Deeks was freaked out enough that his cover was blown and his informant was missing but when he saw those photos of Kensi, he was furious. He called me to ask if I could help him track her down. She wasn’t answering her phone so he left her voicemails saying she was in danger and needed to leave town. He told me her name was McKensi Cole. But the name lead nowhere. I didn’t hear from him after that. I had hoped he had found her and went into hiding but unfortunately that wasn’t the case when Detective Hall called me this morning.”

After working with Kensi for over a year, Sam was getting familiar with how she operated “That explains how she ended up at the bar last night. If Kensi heard those voicemails from someone she cared about, she wouldn’t have run the other way.”

Hetty nodded, “She would have stood and fought. That’s who she is.”

“And now Kensi and Deeks are both missing.” Callen concludes.

The images on the screen suddenly disappeared and were replaced by a video feed of Eric from Ops.

“I might have a lead on that. Now the security cameras at the bars had been disabled but I was able to pull a traffic cam from the north east corner that shows the alley behind the building.”

The feed from Ops shrunk to the top corner of the screen as the traffic cam feed filled the rest. Just as they feared the team saw an unconscious Deeks being dragged out the back exit and into a van. Movement at the bottom right of the screen caught their eye. Kensi was watching from around the side of the building, both hands on her gun at her side. They watched in horror as the shadow behind Kensi grew closer and then grabbed her, placing a white cloth over her mouth. After a moment of struggle, Kensi’s body went limp and she too was thrown into the back of the van. Landing right next to Deeks.

#untitled densi fic #chapter 1 complete #ncisla #densi #Marty Deeks #kensi blye

25 notes · View notes

karolkaaria-blog · 3 years

Text

This is Day 3 of the 7 day.

Dreamt that we had a test and Faith (Kafai) scored better grades than I did. (35/45) And she had a remark like like excellent or something across her paper. Meaning that grading of people of darkness in consistency of wickedness is better than children of light.

Woke up feeling defiled. As if someone was in bed with me. Felt heat and an unnatural presence. Jesus deliver me. My Dad was laughing. It's like these people don't sleep (Parents) I switched off the corridor lights..now they are on. It's 6:29. Woke up at 6:00am.Then I went to pee I had no gas but now it's coming out. It's like a spell has expired. Sharp pain in my left breast as I edit this. Normally they fight what will expose them. Even my phone has been exposed before. God said there is a lot of wickedness in this house. The Voodoo priests demon is still on the ceiling throwing me demonic darts or arrows. From tonight no sleep 💤.And no food. The fast has been converted now to a dry fast.

Father I cancel ❌ any witchcraft and Voodoo Goat 🐐 manipulations that have taken place in the last 24hrs. Jesus said now you understand why I need you to stay up and pray.

The rise of #thewinnermanstory.

Favour is about to locate me.

The set time has come for favour.

The set time for favour has come.

It's nolonger for me. It's for them. So I have to get it right.

Moving was favour

God is putting my life back together

Wholeness

Reaped thorns.. redeeming seed sowed in the evil ground

Education redeemed.

Change trajectory of your life

Recommend you.. announcement

Shake of house

New direction

Paid in full

Father I desire to spend time with You tonight. Please give me the grace to do it.

Bring you to settlement. Spirits of my Father's house tying me down have been destroyed.

Reach out to the homeless, disenfranchised.

Rainbow, promise won't fall.

Father help your people through me.

Attacked Kathure (Aunt).

Be careful who you share secrets with.

Generous donor.

Call forth untapped resources.

Divine opportunity.

Cause me to be located.

Destiny connection.

Something changed

Let's start on that note

More and more - BJ Putnam

God said my Dad is dirty. Sleeping with me as a spiritual husband. Appearing two places at the same time. Occultic.

Battle of allegiances.

Ma was blocking his progress to initiate me so she had to go. He hates my progress.

Wanted to keep me bound.

They used powers to ground me to a halt. Wanted to frustrate me to worshipping their god. Idol.

He exchanged Ma's intelligence, wisdom, speed and gave it to his side dish. Since '92 or even before had toshugwas (mistresses). Their god (Marine God/ Queen of the Coast) demands that.

But all that is thwarted.

Father please protect Doreen (girl who cooks for them). Witch trying to initiate her too.

Something changed..doors of opportunity have been opened.

Stand up on your feet again.

I see London- places of austerity.

Switched up the fast to dry.

Let's see how that goes.

It's not by force - the initiation.

#7dayfast #Marinekingdom #Riseofthewinnerman

0 notes

theconservativebrief · 6 years

Link

ESCONDIDO, California — When voters in the suburban and rural district just east of San Diego talk about their representative, Republican Duncan Hunter, they don’t wonder if he will go to jail — they talk about when.

“I don’t meet much of anyone who thinks Duncan Hunter has much of a political career left,” said Bill Wells, the conservative mayor of El Cajon, California, located in Hunter’s district.

As Democrats run on an anti-corruption message, Hunter, a Donald Trump-loving Marine veteran, seems like the perfect test case. He was charged with massive campaign finance violations in August, too late for him to drop out of the race. The 47-page indictment alleges he used $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses, including a vacation to Italy, private school tuition, and flying his family’s pet rabbit cross-country in the passenger cabin.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) walks into the federal courthouse for an arraignment hearing on August 23, 2018, in San Diego. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

This should be Hunter’s race to lose. Registered Republicans here outnumber Democrats nearly two to one. Hunter, who has been in Congress since 2009, won this Trump-friendly district by 27 points in 2016. But less than a month from Election Day, the polls show the Democrat in the race within single digits.

Hunter’s Democratic opponent is a first-time candidate: Ammar Campa-Najjar, a 29-year-old Mexican-Palestinian-American progressive who is a former Obama White House aide and Labor Department employee. His slogan: No one wants a “lawbreaker for a lawmaker.”

“Ammar is doing well because people are sick of corrupt liars,” said Kristine Alessio, an ex-Republican City Council member in La Mesa, California, a city in the congressional district.

Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar holds a meet-and-greet event with voters at a home in San Marcos, California. Tara Golshan/Vox

But whether the public is truly fatigued enough to oust a Republican from a seat that’s been held by one for nearly a decade is an open question here — and one that will play out in districts across the country as Democrats attempt to flip longtime red seats to blue.

Hunter is following in the footsteps of the other San Diego-area lawmakers who’ve survived all manner of scandal. His father represented this area from 1981 to 2009, during which time the good-government group CREW called him one of the most corrupt members of Congress. An it was in the 50th Congressional District where former Republican Rep. Duke Cunningham survived corruption scandals before finally going to jail for receiving $2.3 million in bribes.

Hunter is borrowing from a familiar playbook to keep up the fight, calling the indictment a political “witch hunt” and playing up racial fears by openly linking his opponent to terrorists.

The $600 plane ticket for Hunter’s pet rabbit was only a small piece of a much larger scandal. But the rabbit has become something of a mascot in Hunter’s race. Last year, Shawn VanDiver, a prominent San Diego political activist and adjunct professor at San Diego State University, hired a couple of friends to put on a bunny suit — naming it Duncan Thumper — and sit next to Hunter at his favorite San Diego bars. When Hunter and his wife pleaded not guilty, a sea of bunny ear- and pussy hat-wearing activists were waiting outside the courthouse.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (left) leaves court as a woman holds a sign for Ammar Campa-Najjar in the race for California’s 50th District on September 24, 2018. Gregory Bull/AP

“I’m not like Hunter; I’m not flying pet rabbits around,” Campa-Najjar tells voters at every campaign stop. “People are telling me — Republican, Democrat, independent — they’re fed up. They’re done.”

Scandals like Hunter’s weigh heavily on elections. They can have a net effect of 9 percentage points in an election, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver found in an analysis of past scandal-ridden incumbent candidates’ races. Hunter’s scandal alone prompted the nonpartisan Cook Political Report to move the midterm rating for California’s 50th District from Solid Republican to Leans Republican.

That’s why Democrats rolled out a national campaign earlier this year taking aim at corruption and pay-to-play politics in Washington under the Trump administration — a platform reminiscent of a message Democrats successfully campaigned on in 2006. (The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm for House Democrats, still hasn’t gotten involved in Campa-Najjar’s campaign, though a DCCC aide said the organization is monitoring the race.)

Still, this race continues to “lean Republican” in a district where voters have turned a blind eye to corruption scandals many times before.

Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar (center) speaks in front of a federal courthouse as reporters wait for the end of an arraignment for Duncan Hunter and his wife on August 23, 2018, in San Diego. Gregory Bull/AP

“The problem with the culture of corruption message is that Democrats have tried many times to use that message and it’s never really worked [in San Diego],” said Kurt Bardella, a former media consultant for Breitbart News and former spokesperson for ex-San Diego County Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray. In 2006, Bilbray, a lobbyist, won a special election for Cunningham’s seat after Cunningham went to prison for taking bribes from lobbyists.

“This is a party that is conditioned now to look the other way and doubt fundamental facts and truth. They are told every day that the news reports are fake news, that it’s a conspiracy — so it’s not that much of a stretch to extend that to Duncan Hunter’s situation,” Bardella said.

Hunter’s campaign, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the San Diego County Republican Party all did not respond to interview requests. The Republican Party is standing with Hunter through all this.

“We have a conservative district that we are about to lose to a pretty radical leftist,” Wells said of the party’s calculus. “Let’s just vote [Hunter] in and then maybe he’ll make a deal with the DOJ and we will have a special election and move on.”

Hunter has been lying low. But the last time he made a campaign appearance, in late September, he was recorded strongly implying that Campa-Najjar was an “Islamist” who changed his name to “infiltrate” Congress.

Later that week, Hunter’s campaign played up the attack in an ad calling Campa-Najjar a “security risk,” tying him to his grandfather, who was part of the Munich massacre terrorist attack and who died 16 years before Campa-Najjar was born.

Hunter, who appears at the end of the ad in full Marine combat gear, also claims Campa-Najjar has been endorsed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR does not endorse candidates, though an independent CAIR PAC has supported his nomination), and the Muslim Brotherhood (there is no evidence of that). Hunter has been fundraising on this message since.

[embedded content]

It’s the same kind of race-baiting Republicans have retreated to over and over again when they feel under siege. After all, conventional wisdom says there are wide swaths of this district that could never imagine voting for a Democrat — let alone a Palestinian Mexican American.

This is the part of California where you see Confederate flags, and where many people only socialize with people who look like them. Volunteers for Campa-Najjar’s campaign will tell you they find themselves explaining that their candidate disavows terrorism.

It makes people uncomfortable, Wells said. To “look nice” and be kind isn’t enough to gain people’s trust, he says. Still, Campa-Najjar thinks he has a shot.

“There are two candidates in this race: One of us was indicted by the FBI, the other one was cleared by the FBI to work at the White House,” Campa-Najjar recently told a group of voters. And if that doesn’t work, Campa-Najjar is quick to assure them he’s a Christian.

Campa-Najjar’s path to victory is winning the vote of every single registered Democrat, almost all independent voters, and some Republicans. He needs to execute a mammoth voter turnout operation, and he has to persuade independents and Republicans to vote for him.

Hunter’s corruption scandal has people paying attention. But it’s his job to quell Republicans’ biggest fears about the Democratic worldview.

He does it by walking an impossible tightrope: He’s a progressive whose main message to voters is fiscal responsibility. He supports Medicare-for-all, says he would vote to bring the corporate tax rate back to 35 percent, and talks about the “forgotten men and women” — a campaign line coined by Trump. He tells voter he’d never vote to defund Planned Parenthood — the most popular health care organization in the district — the same way he would never ban guns.

Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar answers voters’ questions on policy at a campaign stop in San Marcos, California. Tara Golshan/Vox

And just miles from the southern border, Campa-Najjar will first concede that some undocumented immigrants are criminals, drug dealers, and killers — another Trumpism — to then say their most likely victims are other undocumented immigrants. He says he will fight for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as part of his national security platform. His campaign manager is a DREAMer.

“The truth doesn’t matter as much as trust,” Campa-Najjar tells me. He needs people to tell him that they’ll “trust he will make the right choices,” more than Hunter would.

People like Tom Theriault, a 61-year-old Republican resident of San Marcos, California, who is staunchly anti-abortion, thinks homosexuality is unhealthy and who plans on voting for Campa-Najjar, are listening.

“From scandal-magnet Clinton to scandal-monger Trump, what are we doing?” Theriault said. “Selfishness is not a Christian aspiration.”

On a Sunday morning, 30 days from Election Day, 70 volunteers — some locals and some from the not-too-far cities of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara — staged what they called an “invasion” in the red-leaning town of Escondido, California, to turn out voters.

Bambi Finney, 61, volunteers for Campa-Najjar’s campaign five days a week, knocking on potential voters’ doors. Tara Golshan/Vox

Bambi Finney, a 61-year-old woman with more than 10 years of experience door-knocking for Democratic campaigns and causes, volunteers for Campa-Najjar five days a week. She says she is cautiously optimistic about his chances.

“This is the first year people say, ‘Yes, we are willing to volunteer,’” she said.

After more than an hour of walking, and near the end of her list, Finney knocked on the door of Elsie, a 76-year-old white woman. With a firm and dismissive, “Have a nice day,” Elsie shut the door in her face. Finney is used to this kind of rejection; she usually checks the “not interested” box on her list and moves on to the next house.

But this time, less than a month from Election Day, Finney paused at the closed door.

“I’m not taking her off my list yet,” she said.

“Maybe next week she’ll see Ammar’s commercial.”

Campa-Najjar holds a rally in Escondido, California, with local Democratic candidates and 70 volunteers before a two-hour door-knocking session. Tara Golshan/Vox

Original Source -> How this Mexican-Palestinian-American progressive is selling the anti-corruption message in Trump country

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

0 notes

briefbouquetcreatorlove-blog · 6 years

Text

gmac insurance phone number

"gmac insurance phone number

gmac insurance phone number

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeinsurancequotes.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr

RELATED QUESTIONS:

Who's insurance company do i contact the car owners or mine a driver with compresive insurance?

i was driving my wife car and parked it as i got out a car reversed into the car i am not a named driver on the insurance policy for the car but my own insurance covers me do drive other cars with owners consent. which insurasnce company do i report the accident to i was not at fault as was parked in a parking bay the other car aslo attempted to drive off

I need help with Car Insurance... Please!?

I am a 17 year old male in the UK and have just passed my test on september 2012. I cannot get insured anywhere because they are all charging me at least 500 pound a month to be insured on my mams car (Corsa SXI 2002), i cannot afford this... obviously. I have tried almost every car insurance site and i cannot seem to find any cheaper than 500 pound a month! It is very frustrating because i am a very sensible driver. I need some help!!! Is there any cheap cars that i can buy that will make the insurance cheaper? Can you recommend any cheap or used cars that have cheap insurance for young drivers? Can you recommend any good insurance sites for young drivers? Please any help will do!!! Thank you""

Need info about health insurance?

My dad is 61, mom 57. Dad has RA and a case of carple tunnel (spelling?) That went undiagnosed until it was too late. He is an over the road freight hauler and will soon lose his job along with their insurance because of it. They are too young for medicare and disability is going to take a while. We live in Minnesota. Anybody have any advise about health insurance or anything that will financially help???? Desperate here!!!""

Car Insurance?

I wanted to know how much would it cost for a 16 year old teen to get car insurance just to cover damages to someone elses car they damaged would it cost alot or not?

Fog lights Car insurance?

Hi I have got a mazda 2 I was just wondering how much extra on my insurance it would cost to put some fog lights on my car

What happens when you get a ticket for no car insurance and you have no car insurance?

My boyfriend was recently pulled over and he has a court date for next month, he was pulled over for speeding and for no insurance and he has no car insurance, what will happen?""

How much is insurance?

I have a 1971 Ford: Charger. It is fully restored with a 550HP+ engine. I have no air bags, but I have racing seats (seat belts like NASCAR). It has great speed but ok handling. The brakes, suspension, etc are are new and installed customly. I am 15, but I need to know how much insurance is when im 16-18. If you have any more questions about my car t o determine the cost. Feel free to ask me at [email protected] with LOOK as the subject. THX""

Will my car insurance rates go up?? Help!?

I got a dwi (driving while impaired) the other night, as well as a ticket for speeding. I have Nationwide Insurance. I need to know if my rates will go up because of this?""

Car insurance for a 17?

How do. I'm 17 and have just passed my driving test. I will be buying a 1.2/1.4 Fiat Punto soon on a 56 plate. How much roughly will this cost me on insurance? TY VM

Dodge Neon SRT-4 Insurance Help?

How much would insurance cost a month for a 16 year old to have a 2003 dodge neon srt-4? Would it cost more or less than a 1999-2004 v6 mustang or 1998-2002 v6 camaro?

Would my car insurance pay out?

I was on the way home from work this morning after a 12 hour night shift at 7 in the morning on the m60 towards Bolton. A lorry driver in the fast lane needed to get across the lands and didn't see me in the middle lane so he hit the side of my car. The traffic was slow moving so it wasn't too hard a hit when when I looked at the damage it didn't look too bad at first just a bump on the side of my car and nothing to his so we didn't swap details, when I got home I realised it was worse than it was I've found a company that will fix it but will my insurance pay now? I'm with 1st central""

Do you have to get insurance before you can get a license plate?

I just bought a used car off of someone and drove it home. Luckily it was at night because the car doesnt have a license plate. This is my first car and none of my family seems willing to answer the phone today to help me. What am I supposed to do first? When I looked up the cost of plates, it said that when purchasing the plates insurance must be presented at the time of purchase. So that means I have to get insurance before I can get the license plates right?""

I am 19 in Texas. is it cheaper on insurance to do the whole teenager coarse or is it the same going adult 6hr?

My dad is wondering if it would be cheaper on insurance if I did the the three week teenager coarse or if it doesn't matter anf do adult which is one 6 hour class. Again I'm in Texas and a guy and know about how its cheaper for girls on insurance

Where is the cheapest Motorcycle insurance for a Honda CBR500R in Vancouver?

I'm a new rider buying my first bike. I am not really sure which options are available for insurance. I know ICBC has mandatory liability that has to be paid to them, however I'd like to know where the cheapest motorcycle insurance for a CBR500R is. Any help or info would be appreciated - Brad""

List of top insurance companies in USA?

Can u pls list down top 20 US companies in each category of insurance ... Car Home Life Health Property Marine General etc.

Can I have 2 Health Insurances?

Can I have 2 health insurances?Edit My Information: - 23 years old, CA resident, Citizen, Not Student, Male Situation: Left California for Job (Blue Shield of California / Delta Dental) - Currently covered under my mother's health insurance until 26 (Blue Shield of CA believes I am still student) - Mother works at a hospital so I get 100% coverage at hospital and 20% max elsewhere (usually just co-pay) - great health insurance plan - All hospitals in MA are out-of network for CA insurance - I can go to urgent care when needed and services are covered...but long wait always -emergency fees are $100 tops Took job offer in Massachusetts that offers health insurance (Harvard Pilgrim / Humana) - it is the normal Harvard Pilgrim Plan - Have to pay premium (~$150/month) for PPO - primary care visits and specialized doctors are covered at 40% (i think...) - Expect to transfer back to CA office in 6 months - 1 year Current Health Conditions: - Teeth hurt (cavities) - Rotator Cuff injury (long ago still hurts) Decision: I have 6 days to decide, what should i do?! If I choose the MA one, I will likely lose CA insurance since they will see I am not a student.""

Auto Insurance policy changes?

Would a auto insurance company be able to tell if you changed your deductibles after a wreck or comprehensive damage? If you changed it and then waited a couple of days or a week from say, 1000 to 500$ and then filed the claim. Do they check for recent changes in policy coverages?""

What CAR Should A First Driver GET ? Also What Company For The Insurance To Be The Cheapest ?

Passed My Driving Test 2 Days Ago ! I am 22 ! what car should i get that is cheap on insurance too ? Please give me the names and for the insurance companies :)) Thanku

Best and cheapest (under 2000) convertible for a 17 year old?

cheap to buy, cheap to insure, cheap to drive but looks good and drives well. has to be under 2 grand the insurance has to be cheap - under group 10 - (i know insurance is gonna be expensive for a 17 year old) i was thinking fiat punto 1990s convertible or renault megane 1990s convertible...maybe? or rover convertible?""

Average cost of sr22 insurance?

What is the average cost of sr22 insurance?

""Lets say you just turned 18, and your parents want you off car insurance?""

can that kid go to the same company, lets say geico, and get their car insurance without being tied to their paresnts? do you think the price would really double? parents want to limit liability and put car and insurance under teens name.""

How can I make my car insurance quotes cheaper?

I am a 21 year old, married, female driver; with no ncb and a fresh license (only just passed). I'm looking to buy a Fiat Panda 2004, 1.2L automatic (insurance group 2)...the cheapest quote I've found for this car is 1300 and that was using moneysupermarket.com I've tried other search engines such as compare the market and go compare; and insurance companies like diamond and sheila's wheels and have been quoted anywhere between 1600 and 3000! I've also tried adding my husband or my mum to the policies, but this only increases the price... Can anyone recommend any other site or insurance company to try? And please don't just comment to criticise on my choice of car as I'm not interested. Thanks :)""

How much does a 16 year old usually make per month?

If you are working a job 40 hours a week and making 8 dollars per hour how much would you earn in a month deducting taxes and car insurance?

How much is adding my teenager to my insurance policy?

how much is the averge amount that i would have to pay when i add my teen to my auto-insurance policy..with their own car.

What insurance companies are reliable for expats?

I am looking for some more information on insurance companies that provide services for expats? I am a Dutch national, without a fixed 'home' address, and therefore not entitled to the health and liability insurance that is offered by companies in my home country. As I do like to play it by the rules, I was wondering if anyone knows or has experience with reliable and affordable international insurance firms that provide services such as travel-, health- and liability insurance for expats. Thanx for your suggestions!""

gmac insurance phone number

How much would I pay for car insurance on average?

I am 17, about to turn 18 and I am about to get my license. I am going to get a used car around a 1995 car. Around how much would I pay for insurance?""

Should Americans pay for those who are too irresponsible to buy health insurance?

If cons repeal the Affordable Care Act we'll go back to the old system where hospitals tack-on extra charges to patients with insurance in order to cover their ER losses. Under ...show more

Older cars and Insurance..?

Im young..I don't know too much about cars yet. I was wondering, do older cars typically cost less to insure??? I know it sounds dumb but I really dont know. I had a 99 explorer, 91 sentra, 86 accord, and now I am probably getting a 74 Dart. I know insurance changes depending on your age and violations on your record..but it seems like older cars cost less than 'newer' cars. Will my Dart cost more since it is a classic? It is not restored yet, or sportin classic plates either. Does that change anything??? Is there a difference because of color, or model (ss, suv, convertible, truck, etc?) Let me know..""

Can I have my mom title my car in her name for cheaper insurance?

My mom lives at a different address than I do. How easy is it to get away with having my car and insurance in her name, and address..but keep it at my house which is about an hour away.. and if I ever got into an accident claim I was just borrowing it for a day or two?""

I have 1 pt on my license for drive at a speed not reasonable and prudent how much insurance rate will i pay?

I pay a high rate now for 1pt for just liability and they told me it can be really 4 pt is that true? What should my rate be for 1pt

I need the best site for health insurance for a small business?

the insurance will be for 3 employees and needs to include dental and vision insurance

19 year old male car insurance on a peaugot 206 1.4 ltr?

Im looking on how i can get cheap car insurance on my car iv had my licence for 9 months now no driving experience?

Where to get updated car insurance papers?

ok so i had no idea about the expiration date on the insurance papers. how do i get updated papers that i can put in the car.

Insurance Q???

would my insurance rates go up if i title/register my sons car in his name

Currently on my parent's auto insurance plan. Can I get motorcycle insurance with a different company without it affecting my current plan?

Whats the CHEAPEST car insurance for a teenage girl to get?

I'm a 17 year old girl, junior in high school, and I'm trying to find out whats the cheapest car insurance I get get on my car.""

What is the cheapest insurance group?

I'm 17, girl, doing my driving lessons and am planning to get a car soon. Not bothered which car, i just want a cheap, affordable one. I've been hearing about insurance groups recently which is confusing me because no one around me can adequately explain it. So, i just would like to know what the cheeapest insurance group is and if you could also please explain a little more on insurance groups so that i'm a bit more informed.. thank you""

Life insurance - can policy owner change % allocation after death of insured?

My sister has a policy with NY Life where she is the policy owner.. AND is 50% beneficiary with me. My mothe passed away 2 weeks ago.. however my sister tried calling NY Life to change the % to her benefit, 70/30. Bottom line my sister is cheating me out the insurance money. Can this be done post death? I've always thought once insured has died changes can NOT be made. I may be wrong..... Any comments or suggestions?""

Is $600/year normal price for insurance if the car is 10 years old?

My BMW Z3 is 1999 and I'm paying $600 a year for insurance in MD. Does anybody know why is it so high for such an old car? The car is now worth approximately $5000. Our other car is 2006 SUV and the insurance is cheaper. Why is that?

How much does an accidet impact your car insurance?

If you had a slight bump with another car down a one track country lane. And you both claimed on insurance and the damage was about 200. When you next go and insure yourself how much more would it be approx. If you were 18

Is it true because of government changes my car insurance bill should be lower?

some lady @ work told me 0bama passed some kind of bill so i should change my insurance so it can be lower...its currently @ $400 a month i cant afford this anymore PLEASE HELP

Do car insurance quotes go up daily?

I am being quoted much more now than a fortnight ago

""Both Canidates say they will make insurance affordable, no #'s are given - what is affordable?""

Both Canidates say they will make insurance affordable, no #'s are given - what is affordable? Some people cant afford $2.00 a week or a month...they are living on nothing. My ...show more""

How much do you pay for your car insurance? 10pts?

I have Geico and my vehicle is a lease...Jeep Liberty 05...I was charged $55.72 for this months insurance, it's always low but UM wtf??? How much are you paying? Do you own your vehicle/ lease? Year /Model? Thanks!""

""In general, How much does car insurance go down after marriage?""

I live in Seminole County Fla, am 22 and getting married. I pay 135ish a month now, how much does it usually go down???? I'm not asking exact just a rough estimate?""

Health insurance for a single 23 year old male?

Well I have a couple of questions of how does this health insurance work. Do i automatically qualify right away after i pay all the fees? I want to know an estimate of which insurance best fits me and so on. I'm new to this so any advice will do. I have a link that has 10 best health insurance but don't know which to choose. http://health.usnews.com/health-plans/ca

How high is insurance on a BMW?

I found a 1992 BMW 525i in good condition for $1400, how high would insurance be for a newer driver with discounts included?""

Car Insurance Advice - Florida Needed?

I have been going over my policy and lowered my PIP. I have a 9 yr old SUV so no comp and collision, I would like someone with insurance or legal experience to look over my coverage and tell me if sufficient. I am a home owner with no equity. I have no other assets other than an ROTH IRA and bank accounts with about $1000. or detailed coverage descriptions, hover over the associated below 2003 MITSUBISHI MNTROSPXLS Total Vehicle Premium: $466.00 Protects you and your passengers Bodily Injury Liability [Edit] Current Limit: $20,000/$20,000 $167.00 Property Damage Liability [Edit] Current Limit: $50,000 $136.80 Personal Injury Protection-Insured [Edit] Current Deductible: $1,000 Ded. $162.20 Personal Injury Protection-Insured & Relative [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Personal Injury Protection -Insured with Excluded Work Loss [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Personal Injury Protection -Insured and Relative with Excluded Work Loss [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Additional Personal Injury Protection Insured [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Additional Personal Injury Protection Insured and Relative [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Medical Payments [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Uninsured Motorist - Nonstacked [Add] Current: Not Carried Not Carried Uninsured Motorist - Stacked [Edit] Current Limit: I Reject this Coverage $0.00 Protects your vehicles 2003 MITSUBISHI MNTROSPXLS Comprehensive [Add] Deductible Not Carried Collision [Add] Deductible Not Carried Emergency Road Service [Add] Not Carried Rental Reimbursement [Add] Not Carried""

Free health insurance for the unemployed?

i am unemployed and have no health insurance. is there a program in pa. where i can get health insurance for free or at a very low price?

How much is car insurance for a 16 year old girl ?

Im about to get my license and i was wondering how much insurance would be. For a 16 year old girl 2011 camry or corolla. Anyone wanna guesstimate ?

gmac insurance phone number

Does car insurance get significantly cheaper when you turn 21?

Is group health insurance what college insurance plans use?

Is group health insurance they type of insurance that college insurance plans use? I am filling out a form for CHP+ and it asked if I have group insurance available... I attend school that provides an insurance, but I can't afford that insurance.""

AFTER BUYING A CAR..INSURANCE? HELP?

I just bought a car (used). bought from the previous owner. AND NOW IM STUCK....? i dont have my licence yet; i am 18 though. im going to register the car in my name and the title and all that stuff. i also need to do emissions testing. I know i need to do all of that be for i take my drivers test. My thing is with the insurance. The car needs to be ensured for the test. Q: can i get insurance with out a license?

Car insurance cost... roughly?

I am 15 and planning on getting my dads 1971 Plymouth duster as my first car when I'm 16, what would the yearly cost be?""

Would my insurance be high?

There is a 1973 Dodge Charger online I found that needs restoration for $1750. What would I do for insurance and would it be high since I'm only 17?

How much is typical car insurance for a teenager?

I am a 19 year female in college (in new jersey) and by the time I get my car and licence I would be 20. I was wondering if anyone knew how much typical car insurance would be for me, so I could figure out how much I would need to save up before I get my car. What is the best company to go with?""

""I am considering buying home and car insurance with Allstate but , should I?""

I have been told that it is not a wise idea to keep my home and car insurance together, even if I get a discount. Can anyone tell me why, please?! Thank you!!""

Insurance while overseas?

I am wanting to travel overseas to join my wife but wondered if something happened to my family (in the future) and I need money fast to travel back is there some kind of insurance I could take out before I leave?

How do i become an insurance agent in california?

What does insurance mean?

Well I'm 16 and I don't know what insurance means : so I heard that louis' bum has insurance? What does that mean

Importance of public insurance?

what is it's importance to the public insurance user?

How much do you pay for car insurance?

I am currently a 24 year old male and I think my car insurance company is not giving me the best deal. Who do you get insurance from, how much do you pay and if you don't mind me asking, how old are you and what car you drive. Also what factors determine how much my insurance payments will be?""

What does it cost too get sr 22 insurance?

just need to know a ball park fig

How to get low mileage discount from Progressive auto insurance?

I know that many companies will give a huge discount on your automotive insurance premiums if you supply them with proof that you drive far fewer miles than average. I understand that the best way to do this would be to mail a copy of recent vehicle inspections so that they can officially see the low mileage driven over time. However, Progressive does not mention anything, anywhere about low mileage discounts. I have been told you have to ask for this, or else you would never know it is possible. Does anyone have any knowledge, advice, tips, etc regarding this? Furthermore, does anyone know how you would go about this specifically with Progressive?""

Auto insurance rate increase for California?

i noticed this year 2008 when i was up for my 6 month renewal monthly payment plan that my payments were higher. i bought my car, a mazda cx-7 june of 2007 and i was paying $95 a month, now i have to pay $114 a month. no new accidents or tickets since buying the car. i was expecting nothing to change, but then i noticed this. so i called them (esurance) today and they told me that all of California had premium increases. is this true? i had a feeling they were bullshi**ing me. can someone please give me a link to this in the news or something if this is true? are there any other reasons why my premium should have gone up if i didnt change anything on it from last year? i always thought if everything is the same and my record is clean it should go down slightly every renewal? should i shop around? (26, male, san jose, ca, good driving record, esurance car insurance)""

Car insurance for 17year olds? ?

Please answer this question for my cousin: I'm 17 in november and I'm planning on taking my theory on my birthday and the practical 3/4 weeks later because I can already drive well but before my practical I just want to have 3weeks worth of lessons on the road with the public instead of friends cars and stuff. My mum has said she will help me buy a car but when I look at insurance quotes they are very very expensive. I wanted to put my long term boyfriend who I live with during term time on my insurance policy so he can drive it as well. He has his own car but he is thinking of getting rid of it soon. He has been driving for 3 years and is 22. Is it cheaper just to have myself on the policy or with him on it too? What cars are nice (no old fashioned ugly cars) are cheap to insure for a 17year old girl?

Single input multiple quote car insurance?

looking for multiple quotes on car insurance with single information input

Licence wrong date when applying for insurance?

when you get a quote along the way it asks you to enter when you recieved your licence. what if i put 2-3 years old when in actual fact it is only 2 months old. Will the insurance company find out that i am not telling the truth or can i get away with it? Do they check my licence to see when i got it. thanks.

How much insurance is for a sporty car?

I want an '05 ford mustang coupe but i'm probably going to have to pay for my insurance...any clue how much that would be a month?

Do insurance companies go by residence address or by mailing adress?

I live in the city, but I have an upstate house to which I want to register my car to so I can get cheaper insurance. What should be changed?""

What's a low cost yet good car insurance co in California(northern)?

I have a gas hog and I am trying to lower my bills since the economy slump and I am trying to find if my car insurance is high and if I should switch and to who I pay every six months 681.00.Thanks in advance.

How to get proof of financial responsibility?

I'm 21 a year old university student from California and I am graduating soon. I have always put off getting a license before college and once it started, I have been busy but because I want to get a job after graduating I really need my license pronto! My parents back home already taught me how to drive but I'm signing up for a driving school in my area just to practice and get the local roads down. I made an appointment for behind the wheel test next week and one of the things I need to bring is proof of financial responsibility. I know it's not insurance because I need a license to get that so how do I get it? I'm also probably going to borrow my friend's car for the test.""

How much does auto insurance cost for teenagers?

I'm a 16 year old hoping to get my license soon. But I have a question about how much insurance would cost for me. I'm a male, and also do they lower the cost if you have good grades, etc? I have a 4.0 GPA.""

Cheap health insurance?

anyone know of any cheaper health insurance (maybe like $ 50/mo) i am a single student. i know my school provides insurance in case of emergency. but i am looking for something to help cover my prescriptions & doc visits.

How much will insurance be for me?

Hi! I'm 16 years old and I'm about to get my drivers license. I was wondering if anyone knew how much insurance will turn out to be? I heard there was a good student discount? Is that true? I'd be driving an 07 Honda

gmac insurance phone number

What is the best way to recruit people to become insurance agents?

I recruit people for Farmers Insurance to become insurance agents. We train and help finance them to open their own insurance office. I'm doing this within a 30 mile radius of ...show more

""Need a license, insurance, and car...?""

I need all three of these. What is the proper order to get them in? I thought you need insurance to get a license, and a license to get a car. But don't you need the car to get it insured? And can you get insurance without a driver license number? I'm confused any advice would be appreciated.""

Urgent..car insurance gt expired n 3 days later my car got stolen... can i claim or can anythin be done ..help?

my car insurance got expired on 7 oct 2011 and my car got stolen on 10 oct 2011... i have never taken any claim before.. it was a swift 2 yr old car... m so sad pls suggest if anythin ...show more

How much iz insurance for a 19 year old?

car iz mitsubishi lancer evolution 2003

Does anyone know cheap car insurance for 26 year old female?

How much does insurance cost on a Ferrari?

I've always wondered what the cost of insurance would be for a $250k car such as a Ferrari F430. just curious

Which car Insurance do you recommend?

The cheapest, but also good at the same time.""

I need help with my car insurance?

Middle aged female (mid fifties), have had comprehensive car insurance 8 years no claim but current insurers now charging me nearly 500/annum.Insurance runs out 30th october 08. Any suggestions for cheap car insurance companies (in England please) for Honda Accord V Tec (W Reg). Thanks""

What is the average cost for insurance on a 2009 Yamaha R6?

Im going to get it tomorrow. I am almost 19, and i have one accident. I think it was a fault from both drivers. not sure. just let me know what you are paying and on what kind of bike thanks.""

Do you have to prove you have a job to buy car insurance?

do you need to show check stubs or anything to get car insurance

Can i drive with just insurance?

is it ok for me to drive with just insurance on my car for a certain amount of time?

How much car will insurance cost for me?? please help?

becoming a new driver and driving a 1982 corvette with a v-8 how much would the car insurance cost, will it be higher because the car is costly but also cheaper because its not a big vehicle and cannot do as much damage ?""

""If I bought the DB9 they wrecked in the Bond movie, where can I get it repaired really cheap.?

Is insurance cheap and can I drive it really fast because it was used in a movie?

I dont understand why my car insurance quote is so high?

i'm almost 17 so ideally i would like to get a car as soon as possible. I've been looking around for insurance and the cheapest quote i have got is 4000 for a 1.0 volkswagen lupo? I know the price varies with what area you live in, but when my sister first got insured she payed around 1000?""

How much is a 2010 Jeep Sahara cost a month for insurance?

17 year old car insurance quotes help please?

Right i havnt yet passed but my test is soon and i cannot get quoted less than 3000 on a toyota yaris and even a mitza 800cc its crazy if i could get it to 2000 pound i can afford it ive heard of i kube but that was still 3000 just wondering if there were any more companies like that or wether any of you have in the last year or so had any quotes for 2000 or less and with which company can u help me please and no answers like tough its always expensive i know that i just need it at a reasonable price thanks.

""How much do you pay for these items,Gas,Food etc Monthly?""

rent, water, electric, gas, car insurance , gas, food, internet service, phone bill, medication""

How much would car insurance be for a new driver and a crappy car?

I got my liscense 2 months ago and have been saving for a cheap car on Craigslist; around $1500. I need to know how much I would have to pay annually for car insurance for like a mid-90's, 150K miles Nissan/Volvo.""

""Will my car insurance rates go up if damage in accident is under $1,000?""

Today I bumped a parked car when trying to pull out of a paralell parking spot. Both cars were scratched, but no dents. My car was in worse shape than hers, and I took mine to an auto body shop to get a quote on what it would cost to repair the scratch. The quote I got was $671.23. The lady (who was sitting in her car when I bumped her) said she was going to have to have the whole bumper replaced... even though it was just a scratch about 3 inches long. We called the insurance companies and I admitted fault (duh.) She said she was going to call the police and may have to go to the doctor because her neck hurt, but the police were never called. I am still worried she is going to try to sue me or get more money from me... it was just a small scratch! Not even a DENT! My main question, will my car insurance rates go up, and if so, by how much? I drive a 2010 Kia Soul. I have one other accident on my record and I pay about $150 a month. If it does go up, is it going to be drastic? Her car was a 2012 Kia Soul (same color oddly enough) so I am hoping her quote will be similar? Since the overall damage is under $1,000, what can I expect to happen? Can she really report me to the police, or try to claim injury? I was just pulling out of a parking slot and thought I was clear, but still very slow and cautious. I just don't see how I could have hurt her neck... Any help/input appreciated, thanks so much.""

What is the best auto insurance in georgia?

How much does motorcycle insurance cost?

How much does insurance for motorcycle cost? Whats the average? Is it monthly?

Driving without Proof of Insurance?

I was recently stopped by a police officer for speeding and when giving him my license and proof of insurance he stated that my insurance had expired. I then received a $550 fine for not having insurance, but not for speeding. I do have insurance, but the proof of insurance is what expired (we searched everywhere and the cards that the insurance agency was supposed to send did not show up). My question, then, is what do I do about this? I was not aware that my proof of insurance had expired (again, not the insurance) and I was freaked out because this is the first time that I have ever gotten pulled over (I'm a college freshman and the car is in my grandmother's name, it was a grad gift) On the ticket do I contest the claim and go to court or do I admit the claim and go to court? What are the possible outcomes or what is most likely to happen?""

Cost of health insurance?

How much does health insurance cost per year if I pay for myself instead of my employer paying for it? I would pay through my employer's group insurance and mine is a family of three (including a child of 4 yrs). I am a contractor and I will be moving through the country quite a bit in which case would the insurance rates be from the state from where the employer is from or should it be as per the state where i am residing? How does insurance cost vary from state to state?

Motorbike insurance?

barclays motorbike insurance

""What are insurance rates like in Thailand. Car, health and home.?

I have no idea what the charge for insurance and I hope to retire soon. I own houses in Thailand but they are not insured. And help would be appreciated.

gmac insurance phone number

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/online-travel-insurance-quote-singapore-george-morrison/"

0 notes

ninja-writers · 6 years

Text

The 5 Stages of a Story Idea

If you start telling people that you’re a writer, eventually you’re going to get the question.

You know the one.

Where do you get your ideas?

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was, like, a story idea bodega that we could just run down to and pick up a bestselling idea when we need one?

Of course, it doesn’t work that way. But, ideas are kind of magical and they are out there. The key is to be ready for them and to capture them when they show up–without letting them derail the last idea. Because, without fail, I always get a shiny new idea as soon as my current work-in-progress gets hard.

One of my favorite books about the magic of ideas is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you haven’t read it, I really recommend it. She has some interesting thoughts about the sentience of ideas that I really love.

The 5 Stages of a Story Idea

For me, ideas have a very definite five-stage progression that lead from the first inkling through a finished product that’s in the hands of publishing gatekeepers (or is self-published.)

Sometimes it takes years for one to get through all five stage.

I’ll use my upcoming release as an example as I go through them with you.

When my 13-year-old daughter, Ruby, was five years old she was obsessed with superheroes. She loved them. All of them. She used to dress up like a superhero by putting her swimsuit on over her clothes and tying a baby blanket around her neck. We called her Wonder Roo and I filed away the idea of one day writing a Wonder Roo story.

Three or four years ago, I went to Los Angeles to the SCBWI conference with my best friend. While we were there, I was really exposed to the idea of picture book writing for the first time. I was especially in love with a talk that Judy Schachner, who writes and illustrates the Skippyjon Jones books, gave on how she comes up with a scrapbook for each of her books before she writes them.

My little idea seedling took firmer hold that weekend: I wanted to write a book about a little girl named Wonder Roo who loves superheroes. I tossed it around for quite a while. I thought it would be a picture book. Then a chapter book. At one point it was a straight-up YA idea.

Two or three years later, the idea for Wonder Roo finally moved from Brewing to Plotting. I started to plot out an idea that I could use as my MFA project for the semester. This happened super fast, because I had deadlines for school. I moved almost immediately from plotting to writing.

I finished the first draft during the semester and spent a few weeks editing it. Those are stages three and four. And then I submitted it to agents–stage five.

So, that’s five stages. While it might seem like the writing part should take the longest–it usually doesn’t for me. Usually, it’s the early brew that takes the most. Typically, I have four or five ideas in the brewing stage at any given time and no more than one each in the others. But not always one in all of them.

At the most, I might have several ideas brewing, one that I’m plotting, another that I’m writing, another that I’m editing, and another that’s submitting. I never have this many balls in the air, but I guess I could. I often have a book that I’m writing and another that I’m either editing or plotting–the tasks use different parts of my brain and I can work on more than one story at a time if they are in different stages.

On the other hand, I’d have a really hard time writing two stories at the same time. Or plotting two, or editing two.

The five-stages of an idea feels, to me, like everyone’s in the pot, just kind of hanging out and marinating. Brewing away. And then someone is suddenly ready to move on up into something a little more heavy duty. When idea is ready to be plotted, it’ll spark. The characters will start talking to me, I’ll starting getting inspiration for scenes.

Let’s take the stages one at a time.

Brewing

I keep a list of potential characters, settings, and situations. Some of them have been there for decades. Maybe one of these days I’ll find a use for the man I saw from a bus window in the early 1990s, praying on his hands and knees by the side of the road beside his muscle car. Or the brothel museum in Virginia City. You never know!

Every once in a while I’ll take a character, a setting, and a situation, and build an idea. I just collect those like some people collect coins or stamps. Each one gets a page in my notebook. I read over them sometimes to see if anything stands out to me. If I get an idea about one of these little idea seeds, I write it on the notebook page so I don’t forget it, but I don’t let it derail me from more active stories.

If I get a bunch of ideas around something that’s brewing, it’s time to move it on up to the plotting stage.

Plotting

The first thing I do when I’m ready to move forward with a story is something we call H2DSI around here. That’s shorthand for How to Develop (and test) a Story Idea. Basically, I develop the character, setting, and situation more fully, and then come up with five key plot points. I have a ton of ideas sitting at this stage.

I guess this is like brewing-and-a-half.

When I’m ready to go beyond that, I move into real plotting. I have an exercise I love that helps me get inspired. I really develop those five key plot points. I come up with 30 scenes, which is something I learned listening to a talk Walter Dean Myers gave one year at the Vegas Valley Book Festival.

And then I build a plot board and get my scenes on it.

Sometimes a story will stay here for a quite a while, because I don’t write more than one book at a time. I rarely go this far on more than one book at a time. The brewing-and-a-half stage is the waiting place. I might have half a dozen stories there at any given time.

Writing

And then I write. Because I’ve done so much plotting, and my personal style happens to be writing a pretty sparse first draft, the writing usually happens rather quickly. When I’m writing the first draft, I have a long-standing (like decades) goal that’s ridiculously small: I write for at least ten minutes a day.

Really, I just keep writing through to the end. That’s my only goal: get to the end of the first draft. Not necessarily as fast as possible, but with consistent forward motion. This is my least favorite part of the whole process. I love having a finished draft to work on. I’m all about revision. So I just put my head down and make sure I hit my bare minimum goal every day. Most days I write many times more than ten minutes.

Before I get to the editing phase there’s a . . . let’s call it an editing-lite phase. This is where the finished draft rests. Ideally, I don’t look at it again for at least a month. While this is happening, I get more serious about plotting the next thing. Or maybe I start editing something else that’s been in the waiting phase.

Editing

Straight up . . . I love editing. It’s my favorite part!

I’m the kind of writer whose first draft is short–sometimes only half or two thirds as long as the finished draft will be. So when I edit, instead of cutting, I have to expand. Some writers are the opposite–they write long and have to cut (sometimes, again, as much as half or a third) to find their story.

There is no right or wrong here. The editing phase is about tightening your story up, making it shine. If I’m going to have beta readers, that happens as part of the editing stage. If I’m workshopping the story, it happens in the editing stage.

After I’ve edited as well as I can, the story goes to submission. In reality, a story kind of rotates between editing and submission some. If the first round of submission doesn’t work, it might come back to edits for more work before going back out. If submission works and I find a publisher, then it definitely goes back to edits again–this time with my editor.

If you’re an indie author, by the way, hopefully, the editing stage is where you hire an editor to help your story shine.

Submitting

Submission just means sending a story out into the world.

If you’re an indie author, this would be where you actually publish your book.

If you’re a traditionally-published writer or hope to be, you’ll be submitting to agents and/or editors. For a long time, submission for me meant sending query letters to agents. Now that I have an agent and a publisher, it means turning my finished book into them.

There is a huge amount of waiting involved with submission to agents and editors. Weeks, at least. Maybe months. While I wait around for other people to do their part, I go back to the beginning and start all over again.

Always. That’s the key. This system is a perpetual motion machine.

The 5 Stages of a Story Idea was originally published on Ninja Writers

0 notes

topsolarpanels · 7 years

Text

Inspired by nature: the thrilling new science that could transform medicine | Laura Parker

The Long Read: Jeffrey Karp is at the forefront of a new generation of scientists using natures blueprints to make breakthrough medical technologies. Can bioinspiration help to solve some of humanitys most urgent problems?

In the summer of 2005, Jeffrey Karp, a bioengineer at Brigham and Womens Hospital( BWH) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was running late one night when he spotted a journal article on a colleagues desk. What caught his eye was not the text itself, but the full-page colour illustration of Spider-Man that accompanied it. Intrigued, Karp sat down and started reading.

The article detailed how a group of researchers had created a new synthetic material by simulating the properties of gecko feet whose tiny, hair-like pillars let the lizard to stick to and detach from apparently sheer surfaces with ease. Imagined utilizes for the material included gloves that would allow military personnel to climb up the sides of buildings, just like Spider-Man.

The wheels in my head started turning, Karp told me lately. His first thought was to use the material to create a new type of medical tape that could replace sutures and staples, which are able to injury sensitive tissue surrounding wounds. Karp was working alongside the world-renowned bioengineer Robert Langer at the time, analyse ways to create biodegradable materials that could seal meanders inside the human body. The videotape could even go a step further than sutures or surgical staples, he thought, and be used in particularly intricate surgical procedures for instance, tying together the small intestine during gastric bypass surgery.

The next morning, Karp stopped by Langers office and persuaded him that he had come up with the perfect notion to win a prestigious research award. But as he began his research, Karp found that it wasnt enough to simply rely on friction between the hair-like pillars to construct the videotape stick. That may be how geckos feet work, but he was going to need something much stronger if he hoped to bind human tissue inside the body.

When he tried coating the surface area of the videotape with a glue, Karp found that it oozed in between the pillars, like honey drizzled on to a hair brush. Next, he played around with the position of the pillars on the surface area of the tape, placing them closer together. That didnt run either when the pillars were too close together, there wasnt enough friction with the surface of the tissue. So he moved them apart again, and then tried coating each individual pillar with the glue, instead of simply brushing it over the top. Now, whenever the tissue came into contact with a pillar, it stuck in place. Ultimately, Karp had his solution.

It was a great example of a holistic approach to problem-solving, David Kaplan, chair of the biomedical engineering department at Tufts University in Massachusetts, told me. In 2008, MITs Technology Review magazine named Karp one of the top innovators in the world under the age of 35.

Karp, who is now 40 and operate his own lab at BWH, is what is known in the business as a bioinspirationalist a person who looks to nature for solutions to scientific problems. The gecko tape was Karps first bioinspired invention; these days he is regarded as a resulting figure in the field.( He often tells people that he owes his success to Spider-Man theres a large depicting of the Marvel superhero in his office, and he once wore a Spider-Man T-shirt during a TEDMed talk .) Karps current projects include surgical staples inspired by porcupine quills, which create smaller punctures in the scalp and prevent bacteria from entering meanders, and a new kind of surgical glue inspired by the sticky secretions of marine worms, which is strong enough to bind moving tissue inside major organs, such as the heart.

This last invention has helped to cement Karps reputation as a rising star in the world of bioengineering. Because he doesnt only invent cool stuff he turns his creations into actual products. When we look to solve problems, its not so we can publish papers and get pats on the back from the academic community, said Nick Sherman, a research technician at Karp Lab. Its more like, Is this work going to help patients? If not, how do we make it help them?

Earlier this year, Karps surgical glue began a human clinical trial in Paris. It is the first of Karps innovations to advance this far. Unlike other surgical glues on the market, his actively repels blood, making it ideal for sealing holes in blood vessels, intestinal tissue, even bone. It is also much sturdier, means that surgeons could use it to fix cardiac flaws without the necessity of achieving open heart surgery. This could wholly transform how we perform surgery, said Jean-Marc Alsac, the cardiovascular surgeon at the Hospital European Georges-Pompidou in Paris who is overseeing the trial.

Karp Lab, which opened in July 2007, is concealed behind a heavy white door on the third floor of an office building in Cambridge, near Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Inside, a stockpile of white lab coats hangs near the entryway, and beyond lies a jigsaw puzzle of heavy machinery, vials, tubings and jars, sanitising stations and discarded rubber gloves. Plenties of labs are doing what appears to be similar run but, genuinely, they are not in[ Karps] league, Arnold Caplan, a professor in government departments of biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, told me.

Every Wednesday at 8am, faculty fulfill in a large conference room to discuss notions. The lab employs around 25 staff, from undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows, although its ethos is strictly non-hierarchical. One research trainee, Thomas Kuncewicz, joined Karp Lab merely over a year ago, before finishing his undergraduate degree, and is now resulting two projects. Everyones experience is different and thats what matters most here, he told me. Not some dumb pyramid scheme where we have to work our way up through the ranks. Lab employees are encouraged to email Karp whenever they have a question or idea. If you ever email him, within five minutes youll have a reply, Kuncewicz said. It can be 11 pm or 3am, and hell reply.( I have exchanged emails with Karp long past midnight. His average response time is about 10 minutes .)

Jeffrey Karp in his lab at BWH Photograph: Rick Friedman for the Guardian

The lab attracts the kind of budding scientist who wont turn up their snout at the occasional lab outing to the zoo or the aquarium. A couple of years ago, one of Karps students returned from a field trip with a handful of porcupine quills. At the time, Karp was in the middle of designing a new type of surgical staple, which are most often used in surgery to close sensitive wounds that cannot be sutured by hand. Karp appeared closely at the quills and noticed that each had multiple tiny barb on the end of its tip-off, like a serrated knife. He took a few quills and stuck them in his chin to test how much force-out would be required to puncture the scalp, and how much it would hurt.( Astonishingly little, he said afterwards .)

Over the next few months, Karp designed a surgical staple with serrated objectives, like the quills. He tested it on raw chicken and received it slid in easily, and created small, clean holes that caused virtually no damage to the surrounding tissue. The staples that are currently in use cause big punctures in surrounding tissue which allow more bacteria to enter the meander and cause infection. Karp Lab patented the staple and is working on get it to market. Karp believes that the invention could significantly reduce post-surgery complications, which are often caused by current surgical staples.

For Karp and others in his field, nature often holds the key to critical scientific and medical problems. This approach also devotes scientists free access to a vast number of solutions that have already benefitted from millions of years of trial-and-error testing. The appeal of bioinspiration, for Karp, lies in the idea that every living creature that exists today is here because it tackled a number of challenges. And those that havent have quickly become extinct, he said. In essence, “weve been” surrounded by answers. Evolution is genuinely the best problem-solver.

A distinct advantage of the bioinspiration route is that pre-existing answers are somewhat handed to us, Leif Ristroph, an assistant professor of mathematics at New York Universitys Courant Institute, told me. Of course we have to figure out the mechanisms behind the answer, and ascertain which components we care to mimic and which do not carry over to our problem of interest. The foliage as natures solar panel is a great instance: scientists have been trying to better understand photosynthesis for a long time, even well before we wanted to collect and store solar energy ourselves.

In recent decades, advances in technology, engineering, and robotics have attained it easier to observe nature and borrow from it with more accuracy than ever before. In the early 2000 s, Japan Railways Group, which operates the Shinkansen bullet train, asked one of its engineers, Eiji Nakatsu, to come up with a route to fix a longstanding problem. Whenever the train went through a narrow passageway at high speed, the atmospheric pressure created low-frequency waves that spread out from the tunnel and made vibrations in the air. These vibrations were so powerful that residents 400 metres away from the railway line wrote in to complain about the noise.

Karp has developed a new type of surgical staple inspired by porcupine quills. Photograph: Humpata/ Getty Images/ iStockphoto

Nakatsu, who is a keen birdwatcher, wondered if his weekend pastime might provide him with ideas for how to deal with sudden changes in air resistance. His intellect turned to the kingfisher, a bird whose long and flat nose allows it to dive from the air( low resistance) into water( high resistance ), with a minimal sum of disorder so as not to alert its prey. Nakatsu redesigned the snout of the Shinkansen 500 -Series, making it longer and flatter. The new design successfully reduced air pressure by 30%.

The story of Nakatsu and the Shinkansen is a favourite among advocates of bioinspiration. Many of the worlds top academic institutions Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and Columbia now offer courses in bioinspired engineering, while organisations such as the World Biomimetic Foundation and the Biomimicry Institute have been established specifically to help spread the word by highlighting the work of companies who dabble in bioinspired design an electricity-free ventilation system modelled on termite mounds, for instance, or gale turbines with aerodynamic bumps similar to those found on a humpback whales flippers.

Still, even those who believe that bioinspiration may hold the key to solving humanitys most urgent problems water scarcity, overpopulation, climate change are careful to point out that the field is still in its infancy. Beth Rattner, the executive director of the Biomimicry Institute, told me: We can find and build mathematical replications of a kingfisher nose on the nose of a train, but were still unable to fully emulate or replicate a lot of biological phenomena, either at all or to the point where its commercially viable.

Biomimicry should be considered as a means to understand nature and conceive engineering design, but not as a tenet, says Maurizio Porfiri, a prof at New York Universitys Tandon School of Engineering. In other terms, while evolution has pursued an optimal path from swimming to flight this happened in a specific context, with specific constraints. Even Leif Ristroph concedes that he would not, for example, slavishly copy a bird or insect in order to design a robot. Clearly, birds inspired the basic design of aeroplanes, but the early designs with flapping wings did not win out, he said.

Still, Karp is not suggesting that scientists copy nature directly. Instead, he wants to look at what works and improve on it. The key is to analyse the answer evolution has converged on, and then take advantage of those principles in an engineering context, Adrian Thomas, professor of biomechanics in the zoology department at Oxford University told me. The obvious mistake is to transcript nature it is possible to do much better than nature by exploiting the best engineering materials.

While research labs dedicated entirely to bioinspiration are rare, Karps is not the only one. Don Ingbers Wyss Institute at Harvard University, which has been running since 2009, is a bioinspiration factory. There are some 375 full-time personnel, who together enjoy more than $600 m in grants and philanthropic funding. The laboratory has co-founded 15 startups in the last three years, and has more than 15,000 patents out for a range of bioinspired technology and designs across a range of disciplines, from medicine to robotics. They include a self-organising swarm of tiny robots that can be used for undertakings such as surveillance, traffic monitoring and crop pollination, and a mattress that senses the cardio-respiratory functions of babies and can help detect when they are having trouble breathing. Jeff has done astounding stuff in his lab, Ingber told me. But we can do it much faster. Were able to take much bigger risks here, and were more likely to succeed, both technically and commercially.

But sheer volume is not Karps aim. When the lab first opened, Karp thought he might use bioinspiration to tackle problems around cell migration, the process whereby cells move around an organism to aid in tissue formation, wound healing and immune response. That same year, after speaking at a biomedical conference to drum up support for the lab, person approached Karp and told him bluntly that the only interesting thing about his talk was the gecko videotape. Thats all people asked me about, Karp told me. So that got me thinking, maybe I should just focus on medical devices. It seemed to be the thing that got people excited.

One evening in August 2009, Karp received an email from Pedro J del Nido, functional specialists in cardiac surgery at Boston Childrens Hospital. Del Nido was having difficulty sealing pits in the hearts of young patients suffering from congenital heart flaws. Whenever Del Nido tried to suture a hole, the surrounding tissue would tear. He had read Karps paper on the gecko videotape, and wondered if Karp could help him design something similar to help treat his young patients.

This presented a new challenge for Karp. While the gecko tape can seal things like tissue and gastrointestinal tracts, the heart is not stationary. It moves very fast and violently, as blood constantly gushes in and out. Any adhesive would have to be strong enough to defy being washed away in the spate. Karp wondered if a surgical glue might help solve Del Nidos problem. Gluing internal surgical meanders is quicker and sometimes more effective than sews, particularly around sensitive areas where any rip or tear in the scalp will damage surrounding tissue. But Karp did not know any surgical glues that could work successfully in the presence of a lot of blood, and none that are strong enough to actually bind moving tissue. Whats more, surgical glues sometimes have harmful side-effects( such as releasing formaldehyde inside the body) and can take as long as 30 minutes to set. As any surgeon will show, the less day a patient lies on the operating table with their insides exposed, the better.

Karp told Del Nido that he would try to come up with something. Except, he didnt truly know how. The gecko videotape had been an academic invention. There had been one animal trial on mice. Del Nido needed something practical that he and his surgeons could actually use when operating on children. Karp realised that if he was going to help Del Nido, he had to talk to some people who had experience turning inventions into products. One of the reasons most medical devices invented in an academic environment never make it to patients is because theyre so complex and you cant fabricate them at the right scale, or at the right price, Karp told me. The laboratory is truly just the first step.

Karp decided that he would need to build his own network of contacts: entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, patent attorneys, regulatory body contacts, consultants, and business managers, who would be familiar with his methods and guide him on every step of the process. He spent the next two years meeting with venture capitalists around Boston, attending networking events sponsored by local law firms, consulates and biotech companies. He flew around the country presenting his work to various companies. I wanted to make it in such a way that as soon I came up with an idea, all Id have to do is just fire off an email to the right person and that would be it, he said.

Karp looks at some glue inspired by the secretions of marine worms. Photograph: Rick Friedman for the Guardian

One morning in late June, I accompanied Karp on a visit to the New England Aquarium in Boston. Scientists have a reputation for being somewhat awkward, but Karp is at ease in his own skin. Tall, with a lean build and slight husk, he peppers lengthy scientific explains with jokes, usually at his own expense. Stop me if I get too boring, is something he says often. He is fond of depicting diagrams to explain what he is talking about. Hes one of those very rare scientists who can talk to everyone at their level, Sherman, the Karp Lab research technician, told me. How he talks to high-schoolers is different from how he talks to PhD fellows, and thats different to how he talks to physicians. But its always at the same level of excitement.

Karp grew up in Peterborough, a rural county in Ontario in a Frank Gehry-designed house that his mothers bought from a local builder. The family moved in when Karp was eight; it was his first time living outside the city. There was a buffalo farm across the road, and a sheep farm next door. There was a creek operating through the backyard, and the property backed on to a woodland. I would wake in the middle of the night, said Karp, and there would be a pack of wolves on my front lawn headed to the sheep farm for a snack!

Karp began taking trip-ups into the woods, looking for serpents. Afterward, he would mount expeditions to trap frogs and snapping turtles by the creek. He got used to seeing foxes on the driveway at nightfall and listened out for the hoots of the great grey owls nesting nearby. For a kid with no appreciation of nature, this was a really big turning point for me, he said. It was like, here was this whole new world I never even knew existed.

Inside the aquarium, Karp led me to a great, fluorescent tank filled with lions mane jellyfish, one of the largest species, with a bell-shaped hood that can reach eight feet in diameter and tentacles that they are able stretching over 100 feet. The key thing to recollect is that the problem comes first , not the solution, Karp said, peering inside the tank. We dont sit in front of the jellyfish tank and think, How can we design a medical device that does what these jellyfish do? Its more like, we have a problem we need to solve, and these floating heaps of jelly might be able to help us.

A few years ago, Karp began looking at jellyfish to try and improve the design of a blood analysis device that can detect whether a cancer has metastasised after the removal of a tumor. Devices like this already exist: they resemble a small, rectangular chip approximately the size of a sim card. The blood flows through the top part of the device, while the bottom is lined with antibodies, which attach to any cancerous cells present in the sample. By seeming inside the chip under a microscope, it is possible to determine if any cells have been captured and therefore if the blood sample contains cancerous cells.

A lions mane jellyfish. Photo: Cultura RM Exclusive/ Alexander Semenov/ Getty Images/ Cultura Exclusive

An early problem with these devices was that the blood sample flowed too fast and too far above the antibodies, which meant that even when cancerous cells were present, “theyre not” always detected. Later versions of the device shortened the distance between the top and bottom, but this meant that the blood sample had to be smaller, which in turn meant the results were less accurate.( The bigger the sample size, the more accurate the results .)

Karp wanted to know if there was a way to force the cancerous cells to slow down and better attach to the antibodies. So, instead of lining the bottom of the device with antibodies, Karp made synthetic jellyfish-like tentacles made out of DNA. The tentacles, which are roughly one-tenth the thicknes of a human hair, are imbibed with a capturing agent that targets circulating tumor cells, and can extend to grab them. In exams of an early prototype, Karp found that his new design could increase the flow of blood by 10 days, building it far more likely that cancerous cells would be accurately detected.

We had moved downstairs to the aquaria cafe by the time Karp had finished laying all this out, and when I conveyed some disarray about some of the details, Karp grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and retrieved a pen from his pouch. It was in the shape of a bright orange crab claw. What? he said, in reference to my amused expression. I think its funny. I got it from a souvenir store. He then proceeded to draw a diagram of his device on the napkin.( Karps business card features a very similar depict of the tentacles, and a picture of jellyfish on the back, to demonstrate the process from inspiration to creation .)

Now, Karp said, leaning in conspiratorially. You want to touch a stingray?

In early 2011, Karp asked one of his graduate students, Maria Pereira, to help find a solution to the challenge that Pedro del Nido had defined him: namely, how to seal holes in childrens hearts. We tried to define the key criteria for their own problems: training materials that couldnt be washed away by blood, was easy to deliver and minimally invasive, Pereira told me. Something that a surgeon could control.

Following Karps example, Pereira looked to the natural environment for solutions. She held lab meetings and asked everyone to email her notions or pictures of animals that live in especially wet environments. People circulated photos of slugs and snails. We began thinking, how do snails stay attached to leaves when its raining? Karp told me. Why arent the trails they leave behind washed away by the rainfall? What are those secretions made of?

One day, someone emailed Karp and Pereira a link to a research paper on sandcastle worms, which live in shallow water on the Californian coast. The worms secrete a sticky, viscous gunk that they use to build underwater shelters by gluing together bits of shells and sand grains. The gunk is also hydrophobic meaning it repels water to ensure the shelter withstands the force of waves.

Slowly, Karp and Pereira began to imagine a product that would not only be used to treat small internal wounds in children, but that would have wider applications. They now foresaw a liquid surgical glue, strong enough to work in any major organ. It would be both biodegradable and capable of repulse blood and water.

In 2013, Karp co-founded Gecko Biomedical in Paris with the assistance of Bernard Gilly, the chairman of a group of small French biotech companies. Pereira subsequently moved to Paris to join the company as its head of research.

Over the next few years, she and Karp tested versions of the glue, each with a slight difference in viscosity or adhesive properties. Some versions were too runny and not sticky enough; other prototypes were so sticky they would not spread easily on to tissue. It was not enough to have the glue sit on top of the tissue it needed to infiltrate it, in order to create a perfect seal that would avoid air or blood from seeping through. Karp was just thinking about how ivy attaches to the sides of builds the plants root hairs seek out crevices and crackings, then secrete a glue that spreads the hairs in different directions. The hair then shrivel up and dry in a spiraling shape, which anchors the plant to its locating. Many of the glue formulations did not work, but the ones that did worked very similarly to ivy, because they were able to burrow into the tissue, Karp said.

Karp and Pereira also developed a device in the shape of a pen, which emits a visible LED ray of light that reacts to the glue, so a surgeon can define the glue once it is applied.( The process takes five seconds .)

Each version of the glue was tested first in animal or human tissue inside the lab, and then inside a living organism, usually a rat or animal. The right version presented itself wholly by collision. Karp and Pereira set up an animal trial at Boston Childrens Hospital to test a new iteration of the glue: a small, circular patch rather than a liquid version. They created a hole inside the heart of a living rat, and were just about to seal it with the patch when it slipped off. They set it back on top of the hole, but by that phase there was so much blood that the patch would not stay in place long enough for Karp to cure it with the light pen.

Scrambling for a solution, Karp asked Pereira to scrounge up as much of the most recent batch of liquid glue as she could. Pereira then spread the glue on to a spatula, and applied it to the leak in the rats heart. Karp followed with the illumination, and the glue defined. It did exactly what it was supposed to it repulsed the blood and it remained in place, Karp said. We ended up with a perfect seal. This was a massive pit, so showing that we can seal it without sutures or staples was a big deal to us.( When Karp and Pereira checked up on the same rat six months later, they discovered no signs of people with disabilities or stress. The glue on the animals heart had gradually biodegraded as tissue has been an increase over the patched up hole .)

Last spring, Karp presented off the glue during a talk at Zoobiquity, a semi-regular conference that brings physicians and veterinary surgeons together to swap notes. The event took place at the New England Aquarium, and Karp spoke from a semi-raised platform in front of the penguin pond. After the talk, a dental surgeon named William Rosenblad approached Karp to ask if he would be willing to give him some of the glue to use on one of his canine patients, a bulldog named Little Papi. Rosenblad had carried out three unsuccessful procedures to treat an oronasal fistula, a common problem in dogs and cats that results in a large pit in the mouth leading to the nasal cavity. He looked pretty desperate, Karp said. He just said, Get it to me as fast as you can.

A week later, Rosenblad sealed the hole in Little Papis mouth use Karps glue. I knew the real test would come where anything had healed, Rosenblad told me. Karp was present at the follow-up appointment two weeks later. Little Papi sat patiently while Rosenblad checked inside his mouth, finally declaring that the glue had worked the hole was sealed. We all got a bit emotional, Rosenblad told me. Little Papis owner strolled up to Karp and shook his hand. He maintained repeating, You changed my life, Karp said.

In March this year, after successfully creating 22.5 m euros, Gecko began a trial of the surgical glue at four hospitals in Paris. The glue was tested on 36 patients, most of whom underwent vascular reconstruction surgery, in which blood vessels are either cut open to remove plaque or enlarged to enable better flowing. Jean Marc Alsac, the surgeon supervising the trial, said that it tested two things: one, how quickly the bleeding stopped when the glue was applied, and two, that there were no adverse effects in patients in the three months after surgery. It ran immediately, Alsac told me. I wasnt prepared for the surgery to be over that rapidly. It was astonishing.

A human trial of the glue is planned for next year in the US. Karp hopes the glue will become part of the surgical armamentarium available in all hospitals throughout the world to reduce surgical days and complications of current procedures. He also wants to see it used in surgeries where there are currently no suitable methods to close tissues, such as in minimally invasive procedures where it is difficult to tie knots in small spaces, or where bulky stapling devices cannot fit. Currently, many surgical procedures are much more invasive than it was necessary to, he told me, but with better ways of sealing tissues in small spaces, this can drastically be reduced.

Making the glue indispensable to surgeons could also help boost bioinspirations profile, particularly in medication. I suppose as others watch successful examples, they will be more inclined to give it a try, Karp said. When I first started off, I didnt genuinely watch bioinspiration as a tool or platform merely a project. I surely didnt realise how powerful it could be.

When I visited Geckos headquarters in Paris this summer, I asked Pereira to show me how the glue runs. She filled a small syringe with 0.2 ml of the glue, which is yellow and gloopy. She took a piece of clear rubber and pressed a small dot of glue on to its surface. Lets pretend this is a ruptured boat inside the body, she said. She took a thin metal rod and spread the glue around on the rubber surface. She then took the pen lighting and held it over the rubber for five seconds. Here, she said, pushing the rubber into my hands. Feel it.

The glue had set into a shiny, flexible coating on top of the rubber. I played around with it for a few minutes, then asked Pereira if I could try applying the glue myself. She shook her head, chuckling. Youll simply have to wait your turning like everyone else.

This article was revised on 25 October 2016. An earlier version described Jeffrey Karp, who is an affiliate faculty member at MIT, as also operating a laboratory at the university. His lab is actually affiliated with Brigham and Womens Hospital, where he is also a professor.

Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, or sign up to the long read weekly email here