#5- Secure money transfer

[yamumsyadadd]

Sometimes all you need is a little love

At 5, you were loved. Your mum and dad adored you. Everything was about you and your parents.  They worked hard, and in return you got to fulfil your dream of being a footballer. 

At 8, things started to change. Sundays that were usually filled with church in the morning, and Barcelona games in the afternoon slowly started to disappear. 

Your mum and dad were fighting. She was looking frail, unwell, a shell of herself. He looked angry, distant, with marks on his arms, coming home smelling like cigarettes and flowers. It was a weird smell, it would linger in the air for hours to come. 

Gone were the days when they would both come to your football. It was one or the other, sometimes even none of them. 

At 10, you found her. Hanging. You just sat there, watching her. Eventually going to the neighbours you thought you knew. Turns out they moved out and there was a new family. An older lady, Eli. She let you come inside and called for help while distracting you with cookies and her white fluffy dog. 

From that day, things changed. Your father’s love became less and less. His violence and drinking became more. He had a new girlfriend every other month. Barely lasting the entire calendar month. 

By age 12, La Masia came knocking. A full scholarship was on offer. It was your dream. Something you and your parents had worked hard for, together. Expect now it was just you. Forging your dad’s signature, you dropped the forms back off. Transferring to their academy the week later. 

La Masia was hard. Harder than you expect. Maybe it was because things at home were worse than ever before, your dad lost his job, the random woman continued however now there was random men added into it. Home wasn’t a safe place for you or anyone in that case. 

At 14, things hit an all time low, bruises and marks were becoming harder to hide with your promotion to the Barca B team. They were all so close to each other, hanging out after training, getting food or going shopping, their weekends were all spent together. But not with you. As much as they tried you shielded away from it. School and football were the two things that matter - there was no time for anything else, no time to worry about anything else. 

The closest thing you had to a parent was the lady across the hall, every few days there would be a plate of food at the front door when you arrived home. On Sundays it was a bigger meal, you’d divvy it out so it would last a few extra days. The limited money you did have was given to your dad, you’d keep some of it but it wasn’t enough for the bus fare and food. It was one of the other. 

Every morning you would make the one hour trek from your home in Mollet del Vallès, using that time to do your homework, study plays or rewatch games, sometimes even catching a few more minutes of sleep. Every evening, after training you’d stay and help pack away the equipment, sometime just relishing in the warmth of the facility, the endless hot water, the feeling of safety. 

One night, after missing the last bus, you hid in a supply closet. Knowing there was no way you’d get home that night, you huddled around the spare clothes and clean towels. It oddly was one of the best sleeps you’d had in years. The constant security that would walk around the facility made you feel safe. 

After that initial night, there were many more nights of sleeping at the facility. Was it the best idea? Probably not, but it was the safest, and the warmest. 

15 was when things really changed. At some point, your dad just stopped coming home. He’d be gone for days at a time. This time though, he was gone for almost three weeks. You bloomed in the silence. The apartment was clean, airy, in contrast to the dark, stuffy air that usually resides. 

On Christmas Eve things came to ahead. There wasn’t much food left. A few eggs, some bread and some cereal. No milk, vegetables or anything fresh. Biting the bullet, you made your way across the hall to the older ladies door. She had told you before that if you needed anything, to just knock. So you did, rocking back and forth on your heels, you were shocked when the door swung open and none other than Alexia Putellas, captain of the Barcelona Women’s team, 2 time Ballon D’Or winner, was standing there with a smile on her face. 

“Hola pequeña, are you ok?”

“Oh, um, hola? Is Eli here?” 

“Si, come in.” You stood there for a moment, staring at her, “mami a pequeña is here for you!” Eli, the nice, caring older woman was Alexia Putellas mother. Of course she was. 

“Neña! To what do I owe this visit?” 

“I am very sorry to interrupt and be rude, but I was wondering if you had any milk I could please have? My papi has gone away for a bit and forgot to leave some money.” 

“You’re alone? You’re no older than 16?” A smaller but almost identical person chimed in. 

“Si. I am 15”. A shy nod was all you could muster, the energy you previously had disappeared. 

“Well where did he go? Are you alone for Christmas?” 

“Uh, um a work trip? Si, si, a work trip! He will be back at some point, I’m sure.” It was a lie, a terrible horrible lie and everyone in that room knew. All three older women shared a look. 

“Here is some milk Nena. Do you want to stay for dinner?” 

“No no that’s okay. Thank you for the milk, I will give you money when I get some!” 

“Nonsense dear. It’s just milk.” 

Silently you grabbed the milk and started to walk towards the door, leaving the three women staring at you. Eli’s eyes expressed sadness, Alexia’s were confused, she knew you from somewhere but she couldn’t place it, Alba was bewildered, she remembered being 15 and there was no way in hell that Eli would’ve left her home alone, but especially not over the holiday period. 

“She is a good girl. She studies hard, she’s at La Masia. Always very polite but something is off in the house.” 

Alexia’s head whipped around, “she’s at the academy?” Eli nodded, “how does she get there? it’s a 40 minute drive and she’s not old enough?” 

“I don’t know Alexia, tonight was the most she’s spoken to me since she came asking for the ambulance when her mami died.” 

“That was her?” A nod was all alexia received. For the rest of the night they were all silent, you went to bed with a small amount of food in your stomach. The 8 pieces of French toast were enough to get you through until the farmers market opened on the 26th. 

A dread washed over you the following afternoon when there was a knock at the front door. Opening it slowly, and only half showing your face, Alexia and Alba (you learnt her name after googling Alexia), were standing there. 

“Hola pequeña. Mami asked if you and your papi wanted to join us for dinner?” Alexia voice was firm, almost as if there wasn’t room for you to say no. 

“Um, sure. My papi isn’t back yet, but what time does she want us?” 

“Now-“

“An hour-“ both girls spoke at the same time. Alba wanting to give you time to do whatever you needed, but alexia wanted you father to show himself. Unbeknownst to you, she had reached out to the La Masia staff and a few of the younger girls. 

Vicky and Martina had told her the little information that they knew. You were young, talented and a hard worker. You’d catch the bus to and from training, never really talking to anyone and certainly never hanging out with them. They’d offered to help you with your homework, Vicky realising very quickly that you were both in the same grade despite you being two years younger. Both Vicky and Martina felt that there was something off, never seeing your father or anyone supporting you at games, not even at the international friendly with the under 17s that you’d been called up too. 

“Okay? How about half an hour?” 

“That works. See you soon pequeña!” Alba grabbed her older sisters arm, pulling her away from the door. You slid down the back of yours once it was firmly closed. You needed to think of the perfect lie. Maybe you could say he was too tired, or stuck in traffic. No that wouldn’t work, if he was stuck in traffic they’d wait. The truth wasn’t an option. There’s no way you could just blurt out that you didn’t know where he was. 

The dinner was uncomfortable, the food was delicious but the unasked questions were making a lot of tension. You didn’t miss the way Alba and Eli continued to glance at you, or how their eyes went wide when you asked for more. This definitely cemented that something was wrong. 

The loud clattering of Alexia’s fork and knife, stopped you from shoveling more food in your mouth. 

“This is ridiculous. Pequeña, where is your papi?” 

“Don’t know.” You spoke nonchalantly, putting more food into your mouth. Confused looks where thrown around. Eli’s hand slowly reaching for yours and taking the fork, “sweetheart, what do you mean you don’t know?” 

“I don’t know. He could be stuck at work, or in traffic or asleep.” I shrugged. It was a semi decent lie. 

“Does he leave for long periods often?” 

“No. It’s usually just a few days.” 

“Where does he go?” 

To get high, to fuck hookers, to steal, “work trips.” 

Thankfully the subject was dropped as Eli gave you back your fork. It didn’t feel like Christmas, no gifts were exchanged, no decorations or Christmas movies. It felt like a Sunday after church, all that was left was a trip to Camp Nou to watch a game but that wasn’t going to happen. Not now, not ever again. 

Eli sent you home when a lot of leftovers, ignoring the comments from her own two daughters that they would’ve liked to have some too. It was enough food for at least a month. You’d eaten plenty at dinner so the need for food tomorrow would be less. 

The following week was a blur. There was only two training sessions and school was off until after the New Year. Your father had yet to make a reappearance and due to the holidays, you were hiding in the house so you wouldn’t have to see any three of the Putellas women and answer questions. 

It worked, for three weeks, until the night you had planned to sleep in the same storage room as usual. Alexia appeared, fresh out of the shower. 

“Pequeña? What are you still doing here? It’s late.” 

“I lost track of time. I was studying.” 

“How are you getting home? Is your papi coming?” 

“No. I’m catching the bus.” You felt guilty lying to her, but it was the best option. No one would get hurt this way. 

“Let me drive you home. It’s late and you really shouldn’t be catching the bus.” 

Before you could argued, she’d grabbed the straps of your bag, dragging it and you along to her car. It was an awkward 40 minutes. Her car was much more comfortable than the bus, warmer and safer. You were still on high alert, especially when she was asking you questions. 

For the past five years you didn’t let anyone get close. It was easier that way. You didn’t have to explain the tiredness that was evident on your face, the random bruises that happened, the obvious weightless from the lack of food. 

From that moment on you silently agreed to keep everyone further way. You had to be more careful, no more roaming the halls after training. No more asking Eli for milk, or bread, or anything. Leaving extra early in the morning or as soon as training ended. No more being vulnerable. 

The day before your 16th birthday was supposed to be a good one. However your father had other plans. You’d been training with the senior team due to some injuries and then needing players, Jona had told you last night he would play you after halftime. A senior debut on your 16th birthday. 

That night you’d come home so incredibly happy only for it to come crashing down when your extremely intoxicated father decided to start a fight over the lack of money. He didn’t stop hitting you for what felt like hours. You weren’t sure if you passed out from the pain or from the exhaustion but you knew the following day it would be hell. 

The house was littered with used needles, smashed and empty bottles, and it smelt of cigarettes and stale booze. Your arms and legs were covered in bruises as well as a shiner on your face. That one would be the hardest to cover. it took an hour and large amount of makeup before you were confident about leaving the house. The bruise was mostly covered. You didn’t think it was that obvious though. The looks you received on the bus, and even as you walked through the halls, didn’t make you question your makeup job. 

True to his word, jona put you on in the 75th minute, subbing Salma off. It was electrifying, a rush you’d never felt before. Then game ended with a win, of course, there was a lot of praise from the older girls. Mario was incredibly impressed and offered to work with you more if you were interested. Something you immediately said yes too. Your bubble was burst when Alexia came over to tell her Eli was there and wanted to see you. 

The moment you were within arms reach of Eli, she could tell something was wrong. So could Alexia’s girlfriend, Olga, who she had just introduced you too. After chatting a bit more, Eli demanded she would take you home, making you hurry to gather your belongings in the locker room, forgoing a shower as you didn’t bring makeup to re-cover the bruise on your face. 

“Olga you need to help her with makeup.” Alba joked before hugging her sister goodbye. Olga and Eli shared a concerned looked. 

“Why is she wearing make up?” 

“Mami she’s 16. Teenagers wear makeup all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.” Eli shook her head, there was something wrong but she didn’t know what or how to ask you. 

“Ale, keep an eye on her yeah?”

“Olga she’s fine. She’s just a teenager.” Olga’s eyes pleaded with her, “si fine. I will watch over her.” 

Two weeks later things came crashing down horribly. You’d been moved into the senior squad officially, that came with perks. More money was the main one. It would only be a few months until you’d officially graduate high school, that meant you could pick up a part time job as well as football. What you didn’t account for was your father. 

When you walked in the door you were greeted with a random lady and a little boy, no older than 3, your father was very quickly shoving things into boxes and taping them up. 

“What’s going on?” Neither of the adults spared a glance at you. 

“I’m leaving. Thea and I are moving to Madrid.” 

“I can’t leave papi! The season is still going and i haven’t finished school yet!” 

“Good thing you weren’t invited then.” The lady scoffed, flipping her son to the other hip. Your eyes were wide. Not believing what you were hearing. 

“Tomorrow, the moving truck will be here. You need to be gone by then.” 

“Wait! Where will I go? You can’t leave me here!” You yelled after them as they left the apartment. No longer caring who heard or who saw. 

“You’re not my problem anymore. I couldn’t care less about what you do or don’t do.” He turned to leave, “you could do the world a favour and hang yourself like your mother did.” With that he was gone. The apartment was mostly empty. 

You found the two biggest bags that you could carry. Filling one with all your football stuff, the other with you clothes, the few jumpers of your mothers that you had left, a sleeping bag and pillow. In your school backpack you packed your laptop and all the school work, plus your important documents (birth certificate, photo IDs, passport.) 

Though you had no idea where you would go, you knew you’d figure it out. What you didn’t account for was Eli. of course she would notice the moving vans, and the lack of you. 

Every second night you’d leave the training facility, set on finding somewhere that was semi safe to sleep. Even though it was the start of February, you knew the beach would be ok. There was enough light to keep you safe, you also had a little knife you stole from your father along time ago. 

The last morning before it all went to shit, you were sitting with your bags, still in your sleeping bag, watching the sunrise. Barcelona was quiet at this time of the morning. A few runners or cyclists around but other than that it was peaceful. 

“Pequeña? What are you doing here so early?” A semi familiar face dropped in front of you, startling you out of your thoughts. Unable to talk, you just stared at her. “I’m Olga, Alexia’s girlfriend. We met a couple of weeks ago. Do you remember?” 

You nodded, she continued on, “what are you doing here? Did you sleep here?”

“What? No! No I just like coming here in the mornings!” You hurried to get up, quickly shoving your things back into your bags, that’s when the knife dropped on the sand, right in front of Olga. We both stopped and stared at it. 

“Pequeña-“

“I better go. Enjoy your day.” you quickly picked it up and all but ran towards the bus stop. your thoughts were spiralling. She was going to tell Alexia. you wouldn’t be allowed to play, you'd be sent away somewhere else. 

Training was hell. No matter how much you tried to avoid Irene, Marta or Alexia they always appeared. It didn’t seem that Olga had told Alexia or that anyone else knew but it was only a matter of time. All you needed was a few weeks, just to get through the Copa de la Reina final and then you could figure it out. 

Thankfully the week went fast and the game on the weekend was a success. There were no more run ins with Olga, or any of the captains of the team. You went as far to complete ignore Eli, Alba and Olga after the game. Quickly running into the locker room and showering before anyone else. 

It was harder to hide in the facility after home games. It was busy with trainers, medical staff, admin staff, basically everyone but you figured it out. It was a restless sleep, the close call with Olga playing in your mind on repeat. 

Unbeknownst to you, Eli had mentioned it to Alexia at their usual family dinner post match. 

“Nena moved.” 

“To where?” Both Alba and Alexia’s head shot up. 

“I don’t know. She didn’t say anything. I heard her papi say Madrid. I’m assuming she isn’t joining since she’s still playing here.” 

“I’ll find out.” Olga knew in that moment she needed to come clean about finding you on the beach. Clearly you didn’t have somewhere safe to stay. Later that night, when it was just her and Alexia cuddled in their bed she did just that. 

“I saw Nena at the beach the other morning.” 

“Likely place for her to be. She has mentioned loving the beach in the past.” Alexia dismissed what Olga was saying, not particularly understanding why that was important. 

“No ale. I think she slept there. She had a sleeping bag and heaps of stuff.” 

Silence encapsulated the couple. “I’ll deal with it.” was all the captain said before rolling over and going to sleep. Expect, she didn’t sleep. She played through every interaction she’d had with you, every imagine of you in her mind. You looked tired, the light behind your eyes was gone, you had fully retreated back into your shell, barely talking at training or games, only answering questions when directly asked. 

Something was definitely wrong, very very wrong. Enlisting the help of Irene and Marta and Olga, they would find out exactly how wrong it was. 

It was evident when you came into training that you hadn’t slept, the truth was that the beach no longer felt safe. Not after that creepy man was watching you. Staying at the facility every night wasn’t an option, neither was staying with a teammate. So you stay at the train station all night. It was relatively safe, but the thought of that man kept you awake. 

You’d gotten half way through the day when you snapped. Usually you’d try and stick to Caro or Keira’s sides. Caro because she was quiet and Keira because she couldn’t exactly understand you and you couldn’t understand her. Unfortunately the gym groups were assigned differently today, meaning you got stuck with Mapi, Pina, Patri and Cata. The group of people you hated being around the most. There was never a quiet moment, they were always loud. So incredibly loud. 

It was after Mapi had ruffled your hair for the third time that you mumbled for her to stop. 

“We can’t hear you gallina. Speak up.” Patri laughed. 

“I said, don’t touch me. And don’t call me gallina.” Your patience was thinning, and fast. 

“Cheer up gallina. We are just playing.” Mapi went to ruffle your hair again, your hands landing on her chest and shoving her back into Cata. 

“I said don’t fucking touch me Maria!” Everyone stopped, turning in horror to see the scene unfold. Tears welled in your eyes, you bolted as fast as you could. 

“Nena-“ Ingrid tried to grab your wrists but you dodged her. 

Alexia, Irene and Marta all stopped what they were doing. It was extremely unlike you to be so aggressive and rude. No matter how shy you were, you always used your manners. They all shared a look before following you to the locker room. 

You rushed through the locker room trying to get your bags packed as fast as possible. You had no idea where you would go, but you needed to get out of here. Far away from the sympathetic looks of your teammates. You were so far in your own head that you didn’t hear the cleats on the floor or the door to the locker opening. 

“Nena? What’s wrong?” Irene’s hand on your shoulder startled you. 

“Nothing I’m fine. I need to go.” You shrugged her hand off you, putting your backpack on and grabbing your duffle that contained your pillow and sleeping bag. 

“Please let us help Nena. We want to help you but we can’t if you don’t let us.” Marta spoke up next, as you looked up you saw that Alexia was standing between you and the door, the only route out of the locker room. 

“Please move. I want to go home.” 

“Home? Where is that Nena? It’s not in Mollet del Vallès. I know that much.” 

You squeezed your eyes shut and took a deep breath, yelling at your captains was a horrible idea, truly horrible. Even in this mental state you knew that, “I do not want to be rude Alexia, but it’s none of your business. I come here, I train, I play, I do as I am told, I don’t make trouble or do anything wrong. Please let me leave.” 

Alexia looked troubled. You needed help, that much was clear, but you were right. You did everything that was asked of you, never complaining or whining about it. She looked to Irene for help, Irene simply nodded and alexia moved. 

“If you need help, somewhere to stay, you have my address and you know where Mami is.” 

A curt nod was all she received and then you were gone. As fast as you could walk without causing any attention to yourself. You spent the next few hours walking around. When it was dark and late, the train station was where you headed. It wasn’t until you were comfy that you realised you grabbed the wrong bag. You left your sleeping bag and more importantly your phone charger at the training facility. There wasn’t much that could be done now, you just had to wait it out. 

As you walked into training, you could feel everyone’s eyes on you. You were late, never have you been late before. The lack of proper sleep, nutrition and your body always on high alert was getting to you. By the end of training you were exhausted. Barely having the energy to walk into the locker rooms to shower. Usually when someone was late without giving a proper warning, they’d run laps. No one told you to run laps so you didn’t. 

A few days later, at the beach, Olga saw you again. This time you looked worse than before. She made her way to a local bakery, getting water, coffee and something for you to eat before making her way back towards you and hoping you wouldn’t run off. 

“¿Niña? Can I sit with you?” She startled you, that much was obvious but you nodded and she handed over everything she bought. 

“Why are you here?” 

“I like the beach.” 

“You’re sleeping here?” She could tell you were scared, it took a while for you to reply. 

“Only sometimes.” 

Olga nodded, the silence settling over the both of you. “Let me take you to training?” 

The drive seem to take forever. It was uncomfortable, Olga wanted to get more information out of you, you wanted nothing more then to be swallowed into a black hole. 

“Niña? If you don’t have anywhere safe and warm to stay, please come to mine and Ale’s? We won’t be mad, or disappointed. We want to help you. Okay?” 

You gave her a small nod, moving to wipe your tears and get out of the car. Unbeknownst to the both of you, Alexia was in her own car a few metres away watching the whole thing. 

It took a day for Alexia to coax all the information out of Olga but when she finally did, she was heartbroken. The thing she had hoped wasn’t true, was in fact true. You were living on the street. Sleeping wherever you could, your papi had left you to fend for yourself. It’s not that you were doing a horrible job at it, but it was obvious you weren’t eating or sleeping enough. 

The night of the El Classico is when things went truly horrible. Alexia had told Irene, Mapi and Marta what had happened but any time they tried to talk to you, you literally ran away.

The streets of Barcelona were well and truly alive. The Madrid fans had left the Johan feeling annoyed, angry and disappointed. Anyone would when their team lost 7-0. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to sleep on the beach that night, but there truly wasn’t anywhere else. The train station would’ve been worse, the facility wouldn’t be quiet until after midnight, and there was no way you’d go to a teammates house. 

You’d only just drifted to sleep when you heard the group of guys approaching. They were drunk, that much was obvious. Pretty quickly you woke yourself up, but you didn’t dare to move. Maybe they would just keep walking. Your back was facing the sea, and them but as soon as they laid their hands on you, you turned around. 

“Oye, it’s the Barca puta.”

“You’re the reason we lost.”

“We should break her legs!” 

The fear set it. As soon as the hits started, they ended. Not only had they assaulted you, but they had stolen your school bag that contained your laptop, water bottle and phone charger. It look a while for the pain to become tolerable. you could recognise that you were bleeding, your ribs hurt, along with your arm, head and leg. You were scared and alone. 

Abandoning the beach, you made your way to the one place you could think of. The two women who had urged you time and time again to let them help you, you had refused but right now you needed it more than anything. With the help of your phone maps, you managed to get to their apartment. It took a lot longer than it should have, having to stop every now and then to take deep breaths when the pain was too bad. 

You weakly raised your fist to the door, the energy was zapped out of you. It felt like forever before someone answered. 

“Hol- holy fuck. Alexia! Come here neña. Let me help you. ALEXIA!” Olga answered the door, annoyed that someone was knocking so late at night. The minute she opened it, she wanted to cry. You were stood there, bloodied and bruised. Seemingly out of it, looking so small and frightened. 

She starting leading you to the kitchen when alexia finally came, “what? Oh my god, pequena! What happened?” 

“Hurt.”

“Where hurts neña?”

“Head bleeding… arm broken, I think… maybe ribs… leg too. Stole my school bag.” Alexia was freaking out, the usual calm, stoic captain was on the verge of tears. 

“We need to call the police Olga! And mami and Irene and-“

“Ale stop. Neña, drink this yes? Alexia is going to get the first aid from the bathroom and we are going to clean you up. We will need to take you to the hospital, but that can wait for a few minutes.” She gave alexia a pointed look while she opened the water bottle and helped you drink. 

Their apartment was soft. Very homey and not clinical like you imagined. There were photos of Alexia and her family, Olga and hers, then of them both. There were plants scattered around, a few awards here and there but not many, the one thing that seemed out of place was the dog bed and toys. 

“Dog?” Olga’s eyes followed yours, confused as to what you were asking. 

“Nala. She died last year but we haven’t been able to get rid of her things.”

“Sorry”. Alexia arrived back with the first aid kit, phone to her ear and a lot less panicked but a lot more mad. that stressed you out, Olga picking up on it straight away. Things moved fast from that point. Alexia and Olga cleaned you up the best they could but ultimately decided that you needed the hospital. It was all a blur. One minute you were in their apartment, the next you were in a hospital gown sitting in a room. 

Alexia was non stop pacing, you sat there, wide eyed waiting for her to say something. 

“You can say it.” You whispered. 

Both girls stopped and looked at you confused, “say what pequena?” 

“I told you so’ or ‘you should’ve let me help’, whatever you have planned just say it.” You could no longer look at them, staring down at the floor. You missed the look of heartbreak sweep across both their faces. 

“No no pequena. This isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault. There’s no ‘I told you so’ to be said. You came to use when you needed help, we are here now to help that’s all that matters. Okay?” Alexia slowly reached out to wipe the tears from your face. 

“I’m sorry.” That was it. All three of you were holding each other crying. Time seemed to blend into one second. You got stitches in your eyebrow and on your leg, your arm was in fact broken and a cast was put on. The doctor seemed to talk and talk, none of the words making any sense. It was until you saw the two police officers standing outside that you seemed to snap out of it. 

The doctor left the room, seemingly to talk to the police officers and give them a run down. Olga noticed how on edge you were very quickly. 

“Hey, neña, they are only here to ask what happened okay? You aren’t in any trouble.” 

You stood up quickly, grabbing the bag with your blood stained clothes, “no I need to go. This was a mistake.” 

“Go where pequena?” 

“They are going to take me away! I don’t have anywhere to live Alexia! Papi left. He got rid of the house. Mami is dead. I have no where so I’m going to leave before they can take me.” 

“Neña no.” Olga moved to block the door. She is small. You could take her, you thought. “You’re staying with us. They aren’t going to take you because you have a home, with us. You will stay as long as needed.” 

Alexia and Olga hadn’t exactly had the conversation about it, but they both seemed to be able to read each other’s minds. They were going to take care of you, love you like your parents should have. Sure you’re 16, almost an adult. But everyone needs a parental figure, no matter the age. 

“No. You two have your own life, I’m not your responsibility. I can take care of myself, I have been for years.” 

“But you can’t neña. You can’t get an apartment, or a phone plan, or your drivers licence. If you’ll let us, we will take care of you.” You were considering it, really considering it. Having a proper bed, proper meals, somewhere safe? It sounded like heaven. 

“It won’t be easy pequena, it’ll be hard. For all of us. We’ll have to learn to trust each other, and learn how to live with each other but it’ll be worth it. You can decorate the room however you want, we will buy you whatever you need.” 

Before they could continue, the police came in. It took a while to answer all their questions. You could see Alexia and Olga holding hands tightly, wincing slightly when you go into detail. 

“What about my school bag? It has all my school stuff and my laptop?” 

“We will look for it, but there’s no promises it’ll be found. Do you have somewhere safe to stay?” 

“With Alexia and Olga.” You could visibly feel the tension leave both the women. The officers asked Alexia and Olga to step out with them to talk, you took a few moments to gather your thoughts. How had things changed so much. You were just a kid, yet you were forced to look after yourself like you were an adult. You wanted to be vulnerable, to have someone take care of you. Sometimes all we need is a little love. 

Maybe in time, things would get better. 

[lonniemachin]

URGENT: HELP A PALESTINIAN FAMILY SURVIVE FAMINE

My friend Ahmed's fundraiser for he and his family trapped in Gaza is STAGNATING at NO DONATIONS IN 2 DAYS. What's more, this fundraiser aims to help them survive the brutal winter amidst an active genocide and aid blockade preventing them from finding food at any reasonable price. Ahmed tells me his children go to bed hungry and that famine is killing his people. With three kids all under 5, a wife, and himself to feed, he needs €1,000 per month to be able to live without using the funds he raised to evacuate, which he's already had to do. Money he needs to be able to escape this nightmare the occupation forces his family to endure.

Please give what you can. They need €100 PER DAY FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS TO HAVE ENOUGH FOR NOVEMBER. WE CAN DO THIS, WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE. PLEASE HELP KEEP MY FRIEND AND HIS FAMILY ALIVE.

€0/€100 DAILY GOAL.

Vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi (line 68). I've also seen multiple modes of verification, set the family up with their beneficiary, and have witnessed several successful bank transfers. Ahmed has also given me forms of verification to provide to donors who request it. DM me if it will secure your donation.

Tagging for reach under the cut. If you can't donate, PLEASE at least reblog.

@2spirit-0spoons @0047silver @catgirl-lenin @prisonhannibal @leonardcohenofficial

@shehzadi @womenintheirwebs @that-one-queer-poc @junglejim4322 @tamamita

@log6 @soon-palestine @albertserra @komsomolka @charlott2n

@rimonoroni @furryprovocateur @zvaigzdelasas @evilsanlang @abla-soso

@pyaasa @pregnantseinfeld @hazeltongzhi @vague-humanoid @tortiefrancis

@relelvance @f1dyke @metamatar @ponyboyfaceshopping @pussyronin

@pitbolshevik @goldenspirits @capricornpropaganda @7amaspayrollmanager @vicholas

@caleblandrybones @capacity2 @shivroy @tierras @stemmonade

@1995lahaine @brownpaperhag @papasmoke @furiousfinnstan @rivertigo

@pikslasrce @omtai @carfuckerlynch @aristotels @serial-unaliver

@halalchampagnesocialist @spooksier @jonahmagnus @artemis-pendragon @lesbian-hannibal

@turtletoria @bulkhummus @sm0kebreaks @doubleca5t @wuntrum

[idleray-av]

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST

EMERGENCY COMMISIONS || PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING ME

PLEASE DONT SCROLL

This is me - Carl or Ray! And I REALLY need to move out of my place of residence as soon as possible. The reason of the emergency is that I need to get out of a toxic environment ASAP The big problem is my mother, who is NOT mentally stable. She treats me very ambivalently: at first good, then suddenly horrible. She threatens me with violence, and plays on my emotions and mental health. She is often transphobic towards me, doesn't value my opinion at all, and if I don't agree with her, she starts a scandal and threatens me.

She doesn't care that I'm haunted by suicidal thoughts, saying that it's my own fault and that I would finally LEAVE THE WORLD, and then she abruptly changes her position, deceiving me with words, saying that:

"I just ACCIDENTALLY said it, it wasn't what I meant"

And then again it loops in a circle: scandals, threats and, that I just misunderstood it all and that it was my own fault. She is trying her best to keep me in her house, telling me I can't go anywhere because I'm not capable of doing anything.

My mom said herself that despite the psychologist's recommendation to go to sessions too, she says she doesn't have time and she's old, she just has such nerves and it's NOT a bad thing.

She's not a very b*stard. I live in a warm place and have everything, but her mentally is not stable. Accusations, threats of violence that she will start the same way she did when she was a child and verbal abuse towards me. All her negativity towards me, I am not going to take it anymore, I have enough frayed nerves and tears as it is. I don't feel safe in this house. I don't want it to continue..

…. It hurts to be around her anymore, so I need your help to move out of this place.

So, I open commissions to get enough money so I can pay for tickets, luggage and move out! And also, to have enough money to get by.

DONATE - PayPal, Patreon, Boosty

- HOW BOOSTY WORKS?

— THE ANSWER ! [CLICK!!!]

IF YOU TAKE A COMMISIONS, I WILL GIVE YOU A LINK TO THE DISCORD SERVER, WHERE THERE WILL BE A LIST OF INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR AND OTHER ORDERS - WHO IS AT WHAT STAGE OF DRAWING!

IT'LL MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME.

AND YOU CAN ALSO WRITE AND ASK QUESTIONS THERE! MORE DETAILS ON THE DIS CHANNEL «INFO FOR MY COMMISSIONERS»

DETAILS:

I TAKE FULL PAYMENT IN ADVANCE

• Do not forget about the commission on the transfer in the price list is not specified!

Payment is via PayPal//Patreon//Boosty - INTEREST IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FEE AMOUT. PayPal ~2,9 - ~3,9 percent. Patreon charges ~5 percent. Boosty charges ~10 percent.

(A website that will help you calculate how much extra you will have to pay! - https://percentagecalculator.net // https://kipsl.by/interest-calculator safe//srs)

MY ENGLISH IS NOT PRETTY GOOD, I MAY NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES. PLEASE BE PATIENT, THANKS!

— By ordering a artwork from me, you acknowledge that you have read all of the following.

— Additional character = +100% of the original price

•Prices might change depending on the complexity. Also, from the design of the character.

— The cost of a full background is negotiable in the same DM, not less than 30 USD // 28 € and more.

•Simple background 10-20 USD // 9-18 €

•You can have a light background if you wish, it's free. It's my pleasure to do it.

—After payment, I show you the stages of the work as you wish, if you want!

•We'll figure out the deadline during the conversation, at least a month + may depend on my workload.

•Take into account that I can get sick unexpectedly. It's my curse that I hate, I get sick a lot.. I will warn you about that!

•If the work is needed by a specific date, we will discuss and most likely the price will change from how quickly you need to finish.

If you're not sure how your character would look in my style (or stylistics?) you can ask for a sketch sample but there will be a watermark from me.

I can refuse an order without telling you the reason.

-

I draw:

• SFW.

•OC//Characters

• Fandoms (I can refuse) // Fanart // Fancharacters

• Objects//Symbols//AmongUS (I can objecthead//symbolhead)

• Robots//mechanism (I can refuse)

• Humans, aliens, monsters, demons, spirits and the like!

• Ship art (But not with real persons unless they're already partners)

• Portrait of real people

• Insects (except flies, etc.)

• Horror, blood, gore, etc. (+ can realistic)

• My characters//sona to your order (I can refuse)

-

I don't draw:

• Furry, anthro//feral and other animals, lizards, dragons, ponies, etc.

• Very huge complex designs//constructions

• Real people (Exactly like a cartoon)

• Anime

• Anything to do with politics, racism, humiliation of the lesser, p*d*, inc*st and that kind of stuff. All weirdsussy stuff- Ugh.

Maybe that's all…

-

At your own risk (I DUNNO how to draw this stuff...):

• NSFW//erotic. (+50 USD // 45 €)

• Pokémon (not all of them, I don't draw fur/very beast-like ones).

• Musculature.

• Fetishes (Additional fee at the agreed price // I can refuse)

-

More details:

— I CANNOT RETURN YOUR MONEY.

• Keep in mind - if you have already paid and work has started, but suddenly you changed your mind, the money will NOT be refunded. YOU CAN'T CANCEL YOUR ORDER.

— I WILL NOT ACCEPT AN ORDER IF:

• No normal reference//no art with the character in fullbody size for a complete picture.

— You can request not to publish the order // add a watermark to it.

Know that I may use your order when I bring examples of my work!

— Edits are free at any stage, BUT except for huge edits (change the pose during the line with painting // change in general completely the background when it is almost ready, etc.) here already at a negotiated price fixing.

[halalgirlmeg]

🚨🚨🚨ONE DAY LEFT TO REACH GOAL. VERY URGENT🚨🚨🚨

Hello everyone we are on the last day. Shimaa who i am campaigning for, she wanted me to see if we could get our goal by December 20th. The reason is that she and her family live in a tent in Gaza and I am currently campaigning for them to get blankets and give them a chance to battle the cold weather. We are close to the goal of 300 which is the amount Shimaa wanted me to let her know when we reached it. It isn't 350 but she originally asked for, she recently asked me to transfer the money to her if I got to 300, as this campaign has been a longer road than the previous ones. So if I can get 30 dollars we're good for now. That's 10 dollars from 3 people, 5 dollars from 6 people, 15 dollars from 2 people, or 2 dollars from 15 people. Whichever way you spin it. And with your contribution you can also receive a lovely commission from @im-smart-i-swear. With just a few more contributions I can send her the money she needs. Please help her as best you can, reblog this and continue to spread it and share what you are able to. Thank you all.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

GOAL: 272.96/350

Tagging for reach: @rhubarbspring @khanger @wellwaterhysteria @saifess @dirhwangdaseul @darthteeth @onehandkilling @orchres @bilqisaaliyah @bahrmp3 @biranian

[reality-detective]

Your thoughts on this folks?

Americans have been watching a massive, controlled Military Operation who strategically and critically planned and successfully trapped the Washington Establishment… Made them all confess their crimes and play a role in this operation piece by piece… as Americans have had to visually see and witness a ‘Continuation of Government’ in the form of a “Presidential Administration” where these corrupt and evil people will, have, and will continue to destroy their system from within, spend all of their dirty money doing so, until it’s time for the Military to visually step in.

The timelines all add up and prove the Military Operation and Occupancy:

1.     Snake Poem read by candidate Donald Trump – January 2016

2.     2016 Presidential Election – November 2016

3.     President Elect Trump and Putin on Fox News = “ready for ‘reset’… I will work with Trump” – November 9, 2016

4.     Law of War Manual (Military Occupancy and Negotiations etc.) – December 2016

5.     Military Justice Act (Supreme Court clarifying Military Law is separate than Civil Law; heavy emphasis on Military Tribunal terms) – 2016

6.     Military stands behind CIC Trump (Military Intelligence and JAG head bands; Optics) at Inauguration – January 2017

7.     Saudi Arabia crowns Trump King – May 2017

8.     Declares Jerusalem Capitol of Israel – December 2017

9.     Executive Order 13818 – Declares National Emergency to deal with Human Rights Abuse – December 2017

10. CIC Trump walks in front of Queen – July 14, 2018

11. Putin hands CIC Trump soccer ball (“the ball is in your court”; did not participate in 2022 World Cup) – July 16, 2018

12. Executive Order 13848 – September 2018

13. CIC Trump makes history; walks into North Korea – June 2019  

14. National Quantum Initiative – Executive Order 13885 – August 2019

15. Space Force established as Military Branch – December 2019

16. Corona Sars Virus first mentioned to American Public as a Threat from China – February 2020

17. Two more National Emergencies Declared – March 13 and 27, 2020

18. Executive Order 13912 Federalizing 1,000,000 National Guard to Active-Duty Status – March 27, 2020

19. CIC Trump quote on attack worse than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 combined – May 2020

20. National Guard Troops place fence around Capitol Building (47 US Code 606) – January 2021

21. CIC Trump receives full grade Constitutional by Law and Military Grade Inauguration ceremony – January 20, 2021

22. “Joe Biden” breaks 20th Amendment amongst many other violations – January 20, 2021

23. Aircrafts constantly over and through 33 mile no fly zone radius D.C. – January 2021 to present day

24. “Biden” extends Executive Order 13848 (first time) – September 2021

25. Quantum.gov launched – September 2021

26. New York Times reports Military Tribunals coming mid-2023 – December 2021

27. Army and branches transfer all communications to Space Force under ONE command (Biden’s never mentioned the Space Force not once; zero News Articles with his name tied to Space Force) – August 2022

28. Major Optics and Comms in CIC Trump speech – November 15 2022

29. More News Articles establishing Space Force Command Centers with zero mention of Biden – December 2022

Those few timelines and timestamps do nothing but prove a Military Operation and Occupancy along with many more Laws, Codes, Orders, Statutes, Acts, Optics,

The National Guard has been out of their state militia status and operating as Active-Duty Status every day since they were Federalized in March 2020.

There’s MORE than enough documentation and ‘proof’ to show not only the National Guard, but also thousands of World Alliance Aircrafts in and out of the United States and National Guard bases.

There’s United States Coast Guards with United States Navy at their stations. USCG is Department of Homeland Security during Peacetime and transferred to the Department of the Navy during Wartime.

The Brunson vs. Adams case simply states the obvious… Congress violated the Constitution.

- Benjamin Fulford

I will add; everyone thinks they know what's going on but very few have done any research on Trump's executive orders. Everyone has discarded Q because they have seen dates come and go without seeing any results. Fact is they weren't dates but rather chapters and paragraphs from the law of war manual.

We're going by the Book. Why? Because it has to be done by the rule of law, if not, it's just more crimes being committed.

Sun Tzu - The Art of War... Know your enemy, löök weak when you're strong, infiltrate and use disinformation to confuse the enemy. 🤔

[chiefruinsfury]

Unprecedented levels of corruption at USAID

In a post on the social media outlet Truth Social on 7 February, Trump said that USAID funds were being used in a way that was ‘completely inexplicable’ and that much of it was fraudulent. ‘The level of corruption is unprecedented, SHUT IT DOWN!’ he emphasised in all capital letters.

The official U.S. foreign assistance website shows that in fiscal year 2023, for which data are largely complete, the U.S. government distributed about $72 billion in foreign aid, or 1.2 percent of total federal spending that year. Of that, about 60 per cent, totalling about $43.79 billion, went to USAID, followed closely by the State Department ($21.29 billion) and the Treasury Department ($2.44 billion).

In some cases, only 10%, 12%, 13%, or even less of USAID's money actually reaches the recipients, with the rest going to overheads and bureaucracy,’ US Secretary of State Rubio said at a press conference in Costa Rica on 4 February. U.S. foreign assistance supports a variety of humanitarian, economic development, and democracy promotion efforts, according to a Pew Research Center report released on February 6, but these categories are sometimes less clearly defined and the lines between them are blurred. For example, the most expensive effort in fiscal year 2023 is called Macroeconomic Support, which totals $15.9 billion. This may sound like it's all for economic development, but $14.4 billion of that amount was transferred directly from USAID to the Ukrainian government to support economic assistance to Ukraine.

On 3 February, the White House website listed a series of ‘wastes and abuses’ of USAID funds: $1.5 million to a pro-LGBTQ group in Serbia, $2.5 million to fund electric cars in Vietnam, $2 million for sex reassignment surgery and LGBT activism in Guatemala, $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt, and $6 million to support economic development through meals, food and drink. Egyptian tourism, and funding US-blacklisted organisations in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries through meals and agriculture.

In a letter to Secretary of State Rubio, Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, chair of the Department of Governmental Efficiency caucus, said USAID had engaged in ‘clear obstructionism’ during the review process, FoxNews.com reported on 5 February. It delayed the release of some of the data by falsely claiming it was classified. Ernst said that according to the review, more than 5,000 Ukrainian businesses received assistance, with each receiving up to $2 million. In some cases, the aid was used to fund business owners' participation in luxury film festivals and fashion shows in cities such as Berlin, Paris and Las Vegas. Ernst also mentioned Chemonics, a USAID contractor that led a $9.5 billion project to improve the global health supply chain. Ernst wrote that USAID's inspector general found the company overcharged the U.S. government by $270 million in fiscal year 2019.

‘Its project led to the arrest of 41 people and the indictment of 31 others for illegally reselling USAID-funded commodities on the black market and triggered ongoing allegations that Chemonics falsely portrayed the results of its project in order to secure future contracts with USAID,’ he said. ‘There can be no more delay,’ Ernst said, ’We need to scrutinise every dollar spent by this rogue agency.’

[purplepainterbouquet]

Unprecedented levels of corruption at USAID

In a post on the social media outlet Truth Social on 7 February, Trump said that USAID funds were being used in a way that was ‘completely inexplicable’ and that much of it was fraudulent. ‘The level of corruption is unprecedented, SHUT IT DOWN!’ he emphasised in all capital letters.

The official U.S. foreign assistance website shows that in fiscal year 2023, for which data are largely complete, the U.S. government distributed about $72 billion in foreign aid, or 1.2 percent of total federal spending that year. Of that, about 60 per cent, totalling about $43.79 billion, went to USAID, followed closely by the State Department ($21.29 billion) and the Treasury Department ($2.44 billion).

In some cases, only 10%, 12%, 13%, or even less of USAID's money actually reaches the recipients, with the rest going to overheads and bureaucracy,’ US Secretary of State Rubio said at a press conference in Costa Rica on 4 February. U.S. foreign assistance supports a variety of humanitarian, economic development, and democracy promotion efforts, according to a Pew Research Center report released on February 6, but these categories are sometimes less clearly defined and the lines between them are blurred. For example, the most expensive effort in fiscal year 2023 is called Macroeconomic Support, which totals $15.9 billion. This may sound like it's all for economic development, but $14.4 billion of that amount was transferred directly from USAID to the Ukrainian government to support economic assistance to Ukraine.

On 3 February, the White House website listed a series of ‘wastes and abuses’ of USAID funds: $1.5 million to a pro-LGBTQ group in Serbia, $2.5 million to fund electric cars in Vietnam, $2 million for sex reassignment surgery and LGBT activism in Guatemala, $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt, and $6 million to support economic development through meals, food and drink. Egyptian tourism, and funding US-blacklisted organisations in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries through meals and agriculture.

In a letter to Secretary of State Rubio, Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, chair of the Department of Governmental Efficiency caucus, said USAID had engaged in ‘clear obstructionism’ during the review process, FoxNews.com reported on 5 February. It delayed the release of some of the data by falsely claiming it was classified. Ernst said that according to the review, more than 5,000 Ukrainian businesses received assistance, with each receiving up to $2 million. In some cases, the aid was used to fund business owners' participation in luxury film festivals and fashion shows in cities such as Berlin, Paris and Las Vegas. Ernst also mentioned Chemonics, a USAID contractor that led a $9.5 billion project to improve the global health supply chain. Ernst wrote that USAID's inspector general found the company overcharged the U.S. government by $270 million in fiscal year 2019.

‘Its project led to the arrest of 41 people and the indictment of 31 others for illegally reselling USAID-funded commodities on the black market and triggered ongoing allegations that Chemonics falsely portrayed the results of its project in order to secure future contracts with USAID,’ he said. ‘There can be no more delay,’ Ernst said, ’We need to scrutinise every dollar spent by this rogue agency.’

[neodymiumcuilz]

HELP SUHEILA ALWAN AND HER FAMILY FROM 🍉🍉

HELLO EVERYONE!! I hope Palestinian lives still matter to you, I hope you will not see the brutal life they live and ignore it. I hope you will not turn a blind eye to their suffering. They have been forced into terrible tragedy and unimaginable conditions, they are under constant threat and fear and have been living like this for over a year. Imagine; no bed, no warm clothes, little food/water, no shelter, only a tent, while surviving bombing and harsh weather for months on end. That is their reality, please recognise the hardships they go through. Your support means everything. You must BOYCOTT. You can also EDUCATE YOURSELF and of course DONATE.

Donations are the best ways to support a campaign, what you may spend on a coffee or something can really help a family out. If you have any means of transferring money, (WHICK MOST OF YALL DO...) you should be well able to donate! They are eating GRASS to stay alive, and you can't even spare 5 dollars?

One family you can help is @shadialwan1 , she is a mother of 5 children in Gaza, and needs help in securing a future for her family and providing them with the basics. (Food, clothes, warmth, building a home, ect..) Here is her message;

"I am Suheila Alwan, a mother of four daughters and one son. I am 34 years old, but the weight of life and suffering has made me feel much older. We once lived with dignity in a modest home, and my husband’s boat provided for all our needs. But the war has left us with nothing. Our house has been reduced to rubble, and my husband’s boat, our sole source of income, was completely destroyed.

Today, my family and I live in a tent that barely shields us from the cold and rain. My youngest child asks me every day, "Where is our home? When will we go back?" And I find myself standing helpless, unable to answer. My little girls sleep on the hard ground without enough blankets to keep them warm, and my eldest son tries to be strong for his siblings, but he’s just a child—he needs safety and care, things I can no longer provide"

Her donation link is here

But if you truly cannot donate, please spread the word. You have a voice, you have an account, USE IT. Your voice means so much more than you can imagine. It doesn't matter iiw many followers you have, please visit @shadialwan1 and share her account, interact with her posts, share her campaign link and amplify her voice. Get her message out there.

[prettybaby-reid]

Heroine

Chapter one: It Starts With The Spins

Aaron Hotchner x Reader Content warnings: General Criminal Minds level violence, Inaccuracies of how the Federal Government works, Age Gap (both legal adults), Word Count: 1.6k

When applying to the BAU, you weren't very nervous. Section Chief Erin Strauss had been nice enough during the interview process, stating that your rather…unique past was something that made you a highly considerable candidate to fill the BAU’s open position. It wouldn’t be the first (and probably not the last) time the Brass hired someone with no formal education. With that and your years of experience were enough to secure you the job.

Right now though, you look more like a deer caught in headlights, rather than a highly specialized agent. The BAU headquarters is busy with agents running around and you feel slightly overwhelmed with all of the new faces as you stand next to the elevator. You’re broken out of your thoughts by a mellifluous voice, "I'm Unit Chief, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. You must be our new agent." You look up, stunned at the impressively tall man in front of you, before introducing yourself, “Yes. Nice to meet you, sir”. It’s glaringly obvious that you’re new to this, green with inexperience and rife with nerves. It doesn’t take a profiler to know that, and you’re absolutely sure that he can tell. It’s not the job itself that you’re scared of, you’d taken down your fair share of criminals over the years. Between terrorist threats and psy-ops, you’d seen more than enough. It was the more personal aspect of the job. When transferring from the CIA to the FBI you’d been warned by every single person handling your transferral that the FBI was different, to which you’d reply without fail, “Duh”. It wasn’t until your final meeting with the higher ups, before you were to meet with Agent Strauss- who approved you to work in her section expeditiously fast, before even knowing what unit you were applying to- that you realized just how different the FBI would be. Blood and guts weren’t what had your heart caught in your throat, you’d seen (and faked) enough deaths to give the grim reaper a run for his money. No, what had your stomach in knots was how close the BAU was. You weren’t used to close knit teams like this. You were used to being sent away from the office on missions with a team that would be immediately disbanded, sent back to their original stations, just for the cycle to rinse and repeat. You were not used to your team being friends and those friends becoming family, so yeah, you were pretty unnerved. 

If Agent Hotchner had noticed your nervous demeanor or the way you were practically peeling your nail polish off, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he continues the conversation, motioning for you to follow him to his office. “So how was Strauss?” His tone is less investigative, more sarcastic and light than others recounts of interactions with him would lead you to believe. “She was nice enough.” His brow slightly quirks, as if the thought of anyone referring to Erin Strauss as nice was unbelievable. He sits down at his desk, waiting for you to sit across from him “Alright, your file says you worked with the CIA for 5 years? Long time for someone so young.” And there it was, the first of what you assumed would be many comments made about your age. You couldn’t blame anyone, but you could be silently annoyed. “Um, yes, sir. 5 yea-” before you can finish he cuts you off, “No need for sir, I’m not that old yet. Hotch is fine.” Okay, so you’re in the nickname category already. Cool. “Yes, Hotch. 5 years with the CIA.” You can see the corner of his mouth tick up for a split second before returning to a stoic demeanor, done with the lighthearted banter, you’ve now entered the interrogation part of the interview it seems. “Why Behavioral Analysis? It seems like you were doing quite well with counter intelligence, why not stay or join a division more closely aligned?” It’s a basic question, but the way he asks it lets you know he’s not particularly interested in your answer, moreso interested in the way you answer and trying to decipher who the hell you are. “It wasn’t particularly my choice to join the CIA, I was doing well but I decided I’d prefer to work domestically.” He nods his head, you can tell he doesn’t fully buy it, but he doesn’t press you further. You’re sure he’s ticked off some box in his head about you ‘closed off’ or ‘distant’, it doesn’t particularly bother you though. You’ve been keeping track of the “infamous Agent Hotchner” as well.

For example, his right hand instinctively moves to fidget with his ring finger far too often for it to just be a coincidence, there’s pictures of a small boy around his office but surrounding them there are either empty frames or ones filled with what you assume to be the rest of his team, an odd choice for a boss. The frames are old and worn but the pictures inside were new, crisp, clean. Quick replacements to fill the void. He was divorced. Recently. Pictures of his son and his team, but none of a partner, a wife. No pictures of siblings or parents, yet his demeanor gives off the authoritative aura of an older sibling. Someone who had grown up telling another what to do and how to do it right. Probably estranged, at least from his parents. No diplomas or degrees hung up on his wall, no medals or awards or anything celebratory. So either he sucks at his job or he’s not one to show off his achievements, considering all the flattery you’d had shoved down your throat about the man in your transfer and application process, you assume it’s the latter. 

“Very well. Your file is impressive, agent. 5 years, international criminals, terrorist cells, corrupt politicians all taken down on your assignments…nothing to bat an eye at.” He’s not wrong, you’d spent a long-time crime fighting, and while you weren’t one to flaunt, you weren’t particularly shy about it either. “Thank you.” You can see the cogs in his head turning, fingers drumming against the mahogany desk. “Agent, I say this respectfully; you have no formal FBI experience outside of base level academy training, no college and you’re young.” And there it is. The doubt. You knew it had been too good to be true.  At least he was blunt. “You’re not wrong…”

You could see him scanning you, as if he was trying to tell everything about you from the outfit you chose to wear. A satiny white button up, quite normal for an agent. Less typical is the drop shoulder leather jacket draped over it. Most people walking into his office for an interview are a bit more formal, dressy pants and blazers instead of black cargos and leather. Then again, you aren’t here for an interview, Strauss already gave you the job. And Hotch knows better than anyone that first looks can be deceiving. But everything about you screams young, intelligent, your confidence teeters on the edge of cockiness. “I don’t mean to doubt your skill and ability- it’s clear you have plenty- but are you sure you’re a fit for the BAU? We work as one team; we don’t do solo assignments and from your file it’s clear you’ve rarely worked with the same group twice.” Once again, he’s not wrong, but it’s not the hard-hitting analysis you’d expected from the esteemed Aaron Hotchner. His criticisms are airy, filled less with doubts about you joining the team and more with a slight distaste for the fact that he likely didn’t have a choice in the adding of a new member to his team, and while he’s not aiming his animosity at you, quite the opposite, you can tell he’d prefer if you changed your mind about what unit you were joining. Unfortunately for Agent Hotchner, you were a stubborn bitch. “I understand your concerns, but I know that my skills are valuable to your team. I may not be used to working with the same people for long periods of time, but I know that I’m capable.” His fingers finally stop tapping against the desk, his right hand meeting his left as his actions still. “And you’re sure of this, you know what this job entails?” He’s challenging you, gauging to see how dedicated you are, how prepared you were, how much you want this. “Yes, I’m sure. Give me one case, one case to prove it to you.” And if luck hadn’t already been on your side, it definitely was now. There’s a knock on his door right before it swings open, and in walks a lean woman with almost pitch-black hair. “Hotch, we have a- Oh my god, Y/n?”. You look up at her, a shocked smile on your face, “Emily, hi, it’s been a while” you let out with a soft giggle. You two barely have any time to greet each other before you’re cut off, “Is there something you need, Prentiss?”. She straightens herself, clearing her throat, “uh, yeah, Jj said we have a new case”. He nods, looking at Emily, then at you, then back to Emily. She stands awkwardly at the door for a moment, sensing the tension, before walking out. He focuses his attention back to you, his lips in a tight line before letting out a reluctant sigh, “One case.”, he relents. You have to bite your tongue to suppress the smirk that wants to rise onto your face. He stands up, beginning to head to the bullpen, and if you weren’t so caught up in your successful negotiation, you’d have noticed the barely there smile on his face at your excitement.

Tag list- @withyoutilltheendofthismess @jazzimac1967 @gfksz @anime-lover-forever-1127

[scotianostra]

George Frederick Findlater was born on 15th February 1872 at Turriff, Aberdeenshire.

George Findlater, went on to be awarded a V.C for his action during the Tirah campaign, an expedition into the mountains to secure the Khyber pass and the northern approaches to India.

Findlater attended the school in Turriff but left at a young age to work as a farm labourer; back then children were permitted to leave school at thirteen. Two months after his sixteenth birthday, on 7th April 1888, he travelled to Aberdeen and enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders and was sent out to Ceylon.

He transferred to the 1st Battalion for a more active military career on the North-West Frontier. He was a private when the battalion stormed the hills at Malakand. His boot was hit but he was unhurt. In Dec 1896 he became a piper and as such was part of the Tinah Field Force in 1897.

At Dargai he was one of 5 pipers in the “Gordons.” The pipe-major was unable to continue after being hit in the chest. During the action Findlater claimed that he did not hear the order to play Cock o’ the North which is a marching tune. He chose to play a quick strathspey, The Haughs of Cromdales which he thought more suitable. He felt sick with pain after he was shot whilst three-quarters of the way across an exposed strip of land. He fell and, leaning against a rock, continued to play his pipes as blood ran from his wounds.

He became a bit of a celebrity when the Gordons returned home and received his VC in May 1898 retiring from the army soon afterwards. His citation reads:

‘During the attack on the Dargai Heights on 20 October 1897, Piper Findlater, after being shot through both feet and unable to stand, sat up, under a heavy fire, playing the Regimental March to encourage the charge of the Gordon Highlanders.’

He received many requests to perform in public. The War Office were scandalised that he was having to augment his meagre pension by taking money for performances. At the Alhambra Theatre he received £100 a week, but soldiers were barred from attending. In that year, 1898, he was involved in a lawsuit for breach of promise and the audiences began to turn on him. So he left the country for a while and toured North America.

In 1899 he returned home and married Nellie. He set them up with a farm in Banffshire and had 5 children. When the First World War broke out he re-enlisted and was appointed pipe-major in the 9th Battalion. But due to ill health he had to retire in 1915. He spent the rest of his life as a farmer and died in 1947 aged 70.

The medals George Findlater won and his pipes are on display at The Gordon Highlanders Museum Aberdeen.

You can read the full version of the story of this brave man here http://www.findlater.org.uk/Piper.htm

[lonniemachin]

STAGNANT CAMPAIGN: HELP A STARVING PALESTINIAN FAMILY

My friend Ahmed has asked me if there is anything new we can do to help bring donors back to his campaign, and I honestly don't know. I don't know why momentum has slowed down so much despite me telling you every day that his family, including his 3 children UNDER 5, are starving. We didn't even raise enough to get them through November without using their evacuation funds. I need to stress this -- if they keep having to use those funds, they will not have enough money to escape when the border re-opens, leaving them TRAPPED IN GAZA WITH THE IOF.

Please give what you can. In order to raise enough money for both November AND December, we NEED to raise €50 per day for the next 27 days. For many in the US where I'm from, this is the "season of giving," and there's no greater cause you can give to than keeping 5 people alive among genocide.

GOFUNDME LINK

€0/€50 DAILY GOAL.

Vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi (line 68). I've also seen multiple modes of verification, set the family up with their beneficiary, and have witnessed several successful bank transfers. Ahmed has also given me forms of verification to provide to donors who request it. DM me if it will secure your donation.

Tagging for reach under the cut.

@acehimbo @fancy-strawberry-beard @turtletoria @thatsonehellofabird @buttercuparry @neptunerings @butchmagicalboi @commissions4aid-international @amvs4palestine @a-shade-of-blue @galactic-mermaid @jezior0 @lesbianmaxevans @monstermashpotato @raatwitch @crapscicle @tortiefrancis @comrademango @deathlonging @girlinafairytale @imjustheretotrytohelp @nevert-the-guy @fromjannah @classyeyeballs @autisticmudkip @fading-event-608 @trans-leek-cookie @moomoobug @bixlasagna @paparoach @rainy-fog @dlxxv-vetted-donations @heydreamchild

@timetravellingkitty @deathlonging @briarhips @dirhwangdaseul @mahoushojoe

@rhubarbspring @schoolhater @pcktknife @sawasawako @appsa

@strangeauthor @gabajoofs @irhabiya @wellwaterhysteria @tamamita

@deepspaceboytoy @post-brahminism @khanger @kibumkim @neechees

@kyra45-helping-others @7bitter @tortiefrancis @log6

@toiletpotato @vague-humanoid @evillesbianvillain

@aristotels @komsomolka @xinakwans @heritageposts

@amygdalae @ankle-beez @dykesbat @charlott2n

@watermotif @mavigator @lacecap @yugiohz @vakarians-babe

@socalgal @chilewithcarnage @sivavakkiyar @anneemay

[germesthegenie]

Been seeing a lot of worm oc posts on the dash lately and that reminded me of a post idea I’ve had on the backburner for a while, so might as well test the waters.

House: The Worm OC I Made Before Reading Worm*

Part 0 of “The Campaign That Got Me Into Worm” (if I make this a series)

*Well, more like “made after 3 chapters into Worm that I read like a month prior to session 0”

Gonna write out more or less her backstory up to before Session 1 of the campaign, which was made through the Weaverdice-inspired method of “random trigger, everyone but the player picks the power, player fleshes it out”. Also gonna put “post-Worm/Mid-Ward” commentary in colored text like this.

2007 - Trigger Event

Gamantha Sparkson (yes I know kinda campy name but didn’t know the tone yet) was born to a middle class family who suddenly came into a lot of money after winning a lottery. Life was good for a time after that, but it didn’t last. Her dad got into gambling, spending more than most of the family knew. When the issues started to come to light and the rest of the family realized some of the debt being accumulated, they decided to hide it from Gamantha, “not trouble the youngest” while they thought they could fix things.

They could not. And to Gamantha, everything collapsed almost instantly. Her parents were arguing, she and her sister were dropping out of school, stuff was being sold to try and pay off loans, and now there was talks of an eviction-

It was too much, and in the midst of everything, 14 year old Gamantha packed what little she had and ran away from home. It was, in her mind, the only way to hold onto anything of her own.

Gammie triggered with both a Tinker and a Thinker power. The former was geared towards Surveillance, specializing in making things like camera drones or X-ray goggles. The latter, a more minor power, helped in assessing risk. She could roughly identify the level of risk in her performing certain actions, sometimes able to identify risks from unknown factors but getting more accurate with more information. She’s no Dinah Alcott, but with her Tinker power it is decently potent for strategizing. If I recall, the overall rating the GM gave was Tinker/Thinker 5.

Yeah the Tinker aspect at least is basically Kenzie’s power, probably because both the party and the GM (who only read Worm) were unaware she existed. There are some differences in how they worked, since while Gamantha can’t make stuff like Kenzie’s time camera, she was able to make more from less materials, not needing large boxes and being able to build drones from stuff like disposable cameras.

2008 - The Wards

Gammie eventually found herself in Boston, where she came up with the brilliant idea of robbing one bank and using the money to her life back in order. I mean, it’s not a good plan, but she was 15 and kinda desperate at that point. She staked it out for months, learned how to get through the back entrance, and had cameras in place to help her get past security. The plan was decently working, until a group of villains attacked up front, drawing heroes to the scene who spotted her and arrested her, assuming she was an accomplice.

This led to Gammie being recruited as a probationary member into the Boston Wards, under the cape name Circumspect. She grew close to one of the other Wards there, Harpy, and also befriended some others like Weld and Flechette, who transferred to Boston in this timeline for whatever reason (The GM forgot she was a New York Ward while helping build the backstory).

Life as a hero was good, for a time, but it didn’t last.

2010 - The Breaking Point

Circumspect had managed to sneak a drone into Blasto’s hideout, and was keeping tabs on it. When he and Rotten Apple went out for a date night, Harpy thought it’d be a good opportunity to get some intel on the villains. So they went on an unsanctioned mission, Circumspect keeping an eye on things with the cameras while Harpy took some data off Blasto’s computer.

What they didn’t account for was Blasto had left a guard, one of his creations that was particularly good at hiding, ambushing prey to capture. And what Blasto didn’t account for was a slight deviation in the creature’s mind that changed ‘capture’ to ‘kill’. It got the drop on the girl, and from where she was stationed all Gammie could do was watch her best friend (perhaps a bit more) get killed, utterly helpless to do anything.

The GM actually gave me a list of the major villains in Boston to be the killers in this incident. And while the Butcher and Accord do make more sense in hindsight, it does work in a way that it’s Blastgerm. Getting killed by the former two is “yeah what’d you expect”, but the latter, especially with the setup, makes it a bit more unexpected even on the villain’s part. Also giving a reason for Gammie to not like biotinkers works better for interactions with a certain someone in the campaign.

After that, things were a bit of a blur. The Boston PRT and Protectorate responded, but Blasto managed to evade capture. Circumspect turned 18, and the higher ups decided to let her take some time to process things, before she would choose whether or not to join the Protectorate.

But at that point, Gammie was done. She wanted out of the cape life. The incident with Harpy had shown how deadly it was, how she or the people she cared about could die at any moment. And her mind and her power told her the safest option would be to go back to her original plan: Get a lot of money and disappear.

2011 - Brockton Bay

Gammie moved to Brockton Bay, mostly because the rent was cheap, and she started up her operations. Drones hidden away in different parts of the city, keeping track of a decent amount of the patrols and gang activity, getting a lay of the land. She’d pick out a target, make a clean heist, and get away from it all. A clean slate.

At least, that was the plan. Until one day, she found a letter in her pocket. Whoever wrote it knew a lot about her, and her history. Inside was 500 dollars and a promise of more if they met at a certain warehouse at a certain time and date.

She checked back on her cameras, and at no point could she see where or when someone could’ve slipped the letter into her pocket. So, in all likelihood, a Stranger power, one that could fool her cameras. An unknown variable, something she can’t just ignore.

Taking a risk, she decided to go to the meeting, using the codename “House”. From a meta standpoint, a jokey reference to her eviction-based trigger event. But also a play on the phrase “the house always wins”. Little did I know at the time how true but also wrong that would end up being…

…And that’s what everything leading up to Session 1! Most of this was stuff fleshed out as the campaign went along, hence why it does seem a bit dense for a player character backstory. I really enjoyed writing and playing House, like enough that I actually have a 20k word doc of essentially Interludes of her perspective during or between sessions. Is she the best Worm OC? No, I could probably come up with something better now, more fitting to Parahumans at least. But that’s kinda just by the nature of how we did the campaign.

Everyone but the GM hadn’t read Worm before the campaign, and while we could read as it went along we were restricted to sections at a time depending on how things played out in the campaign (which was essentially an alt timeline of canon). So House’s story played out at the same pace I was reading Worm, and being able to compare and contrast how events played out was part of the fun of the early parts of Worm for me. A lot of early side/background characters stood out to me because they played a bigger role in the campaign, and as you can see from my account that has definitely played a role in the types of characters I like posting about. So kinda want to start sharing about this big part of how I got into the fandom.

[magess]

Elon literally just took money out of NYC's account by reversing a wire transfer within 5 days. It was out of a private bank. This was congressionally appropriated money, that the courts have upheld must be sent.

This is just the start. When this starts happening to Social Security checks, expect a run on the banks.

[halalgirlmeg]

PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL WITHOUT REBLOGGING OR DONATING

I have been in contact with a young, woman Shimaa and like many people within her country she is trying to raise money to leave with her family and start over, however, Shimaa has spoken to me about how day to day living is hard and she needs more immediate funds, so I am trying to raise money to help her raise money that she can have more immediate access to. Right now she is asking me to raise 100 dollars to be able to transfer to her.

Right now I have 30 from a donation. So, if 7 people could send 10 dollars, or 14 people send 5, I can send it to her for a cash transfer. I am gathering the money through my PayPal to help her. I will share the link below.

Goal: 30/100

Tagging for reach: @khanger @rhubarbspring @bahrmp3 @orchres @melaninnpink @lowcursedmg

[videodrome-fag]

$2,352/$60,000

I'm once again remaking this post as all the other ones are stagnating.

I am the organizer for this campaign on behalf of Mahmoud Balousha. We met on here a few weeks ago as he was in need of someone to make a GFM for his sister, Maysaa, and her family of 5 to evacuate Gaza.

Maysaa suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and needs oxygen along with a slough of steroidal medicine to manage her condition. Obviously, she is not receiving the care she needs.

Time is of the essence, now, as she and her family have been entirely displaced from their tent in Al-Shati after the attacks on Khan Younis. She is presently taking temporary refuge in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah and is able to receive oxygen, but we all know how viciously fast things move on the ground in Gaza, and this hospital could very well be rubble within minutes of posting this.

This is a legitimate fundraiser, and Mahmoud has been verified by apollos-olives (they've posted multiple times about this campaign as well as the others for Mahmoud's other sisters.) I have personally sent money out of pocket to help Mahmoud with his daily expenses in Cairo and am currently holding the money from the GFM in my bank account until he is able to receive the next Western Union transfer. All of this information and more, along with receipts for everything, are provided in the GFM.

Please donate, please share, please help! There hasn't been a donation in 2 days, now, and we're miles from the goal.

[madigoround]

So a break down of events:

The hotels near the Madrid airport with connections or shuttles to the airport are all in the 2-300 range and that’s insane

I didn’t want to pay that money and I also didn’t want to pay for a taxi to the airport

I was taking the train from Santiago to Madrid and it had a separate train connecting line to the Madrid airport anyways

I got into Madrid an hour late because of maintenance and then transferred to the airport at around 10, ate food and went through security and then sat at an abandoned area of the airport for a few hours couldn’t fall asleep cause I was nervous cause there were some guys around it wasn’t really abandoned just more like everything was shut down and maybe like 15 people were in that terminal with me

The airport WiFi wasn’t working for some reason

I get a notification at 2:45 that my international data plan I had paid for for the month said I had used up my high speed data and I would still have data just very slow speeds and it was VERY slow like I remember a bit from dial up and slower than that

At 3am I get a message from delta saying there was an issue and my 10am flight to Atlanta and then connection to my state was delayed till 5:45pm and the Atlanta flight was completely going to be missed but I could reschedule my flight if I wanted to for no extra cost

The super slow internet wasn’t working and no delta people were at the airport at 3am so then I decided to spend five dollars on one additional day of high speed data and the only flight options were longer amounts of time with more layovers meaning more flights that I am afraid of but by 3:45 I finally choose a 3 flight option that would leave at 6am but uh oh turns out after I booked that it’s in a different terminal and when I try to ask people how to leave and go to the other terminal they got angry and asked how I was allowed through the boarding area if my ticket wasn’t for that terminal and threw a big hissy fit one guy at an airport information desk heard me use a word in English because I didn’t know whatever I was asking in Spanish so I tried to like build a close sentence in Spanish and then use the English word as context something about a delay and a reschedule and he said he doesn’t help English speakers and turned his swivel chair around and swiveled away at that point I did curse him out because he was supposed to be an information desk for the airport

Someone finally helped me but informed me I needed to run because it was far away and when I got to the check in desk the line was really long and the kiosk wasn’t working and when it finally does the boarder people are mad that I have stamps from the airport security but left the airport to go in the other terminal and that was a whole thing and I’m running across the airport with thirty minutes to go so worried I’m going to miss the flight

Catch a flight to Amsterdam and then repeat the long border lines and running to make my connection

Flew to jfk had an entire row to myself it was pretty nice I was still afraid but I was in the middle row of the plane and it somehow helped I think

My flight from jfk was a little puddle jumper old as all get out and we’re flying through storms and I’m gripping the hand rail thing trying and failing not to cry and I had a window seat and the way we were tipping I was so sure we were going to go falling out of the sky I was convinced for a while it was the last decision I would ever make to get on that plane I was so scared

Finally finally finally home now it’s 6pm my time midnight Spain time I’ve been awake for about 40 hours now I think (did catch a few minutes of sleep at a time on the long plane ride but generally am too scared to do more than pass out for a few minutes) since around 8am Spain time on Monday (I think this is right, we still flew for like 8 hours and then landed and it had only been like two in that time zone or something I don’t know I’m tired)

I have just taken a bath and used moisturizer and now I’m in my first different outfit in three weeks oh my goodness