#Multibillion-Dollar Industry
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Five Things You Should Know Before Trusting That Supplement
Collagen. Probiotics. Every Letter of Vitamin Under the Sun. Your Local Drugstore is Full of ThemâBut How Much Do They Actually Do For You?
â By Amy McKeever | February 28, 2024
Rows of Gel Capsules on a Blue Surface. Although Dietary Shupplements have Become a Multibillion-Dollar Industry, they're not all effectiveâand some could even be harmful. Photograph By Helner MĂźller-Elsner, Laif/Redux
What if you could take one pill and suddenly have more energy, better skin, and a healthier heart? Thatâs the promise that beckons every time I walk by the supplements aisle at my local drugstoreâfilled with fish oil capules, jugs of collagen powder, magnesium chews, and every letter of vitamin under the sun.
Itâs tempting. So itâs no wonder that supplements are projected to balloon to a $200-Billion Global Industry By 2025.
But I've always had a healthy dose of skepticism about how much any of these supplements can really do and whether theyâre worth the cost. These are some of the insights from our previous reporting on supplementsâwith the very important caveat that you should always consult your doctor first about health decisions.
1) Supplements Arenât Strictly Regulated.
Nearly every story weâve published about supplements hits on one key point: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesnât regulate dietary supplements in the same way as it does food and drugsâmeaning companies donât need to submit products to the FDA for approval before putting them on the market.
This can lead to some misleading labels. Jen Messer, a registered dietitian and president elect of the New Hampshire Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, pointed our reporter Daryl Austin to an analysis of 57 dietary supplements. It found that 84 percent didnât contain the amount of ingredients claimed, 40 percent didnât have any of the ingredients claimedâand 12 percent âcontained undeclared ingredients, which is prohibited by the FDA," she said in our November 2023 article.
It also means that companies donât need to provide the FDA with evidence that their products actually do what their labels purport to do. âIt's the Wild West right now,â David Hibbett, a professor of biology at Clark University, told us in our January 2024 story about the booming market of mushroom supplements like chaga and lionâs mane. âThe evidence is still very, very limited and, certainly in my mind, does not warrant the very strong marketing of these products as nutritional supplements.â
2) Not Everyone Should Take ThemâEven Multivitamins.
I grew up thinking that taking a multivitamin a day was the epitome of health, but this isnât true for everyone, we reported in June 2023âand you should consult a doctor before you start a daily multivitamin regimen.
There are a few reasons why. For one, multivitamins can interfere with certain drugs like antibiotics or blood thinners. Additionally, people with liver or kidney disease might not be able to efficiently clear the high levels of nutrients contained in a multivitamin. Finally, itâs possible for anyone to get too much of a good thing. (More on this in a bit.)
Ultimately, as with everything, it comes down to your individual needs.
3) The Body Doesnât Break All Vitamins Down the Same Way.
But itâs not just your own personal health factors to keep in mind. Some vitamins are also absorbed differently in the bodyâwhich can make a big difference in deciding whether to take them.
Experts warned in a story we published in November 2023 to be particularly careful with vitamins A and E because they are fat-soluble. This means that the body stores these nutrients in your liver and fatty tissues for future use rather than quickly breaking them down and metabolizing them as it does for other types of vitamins. Large doses of either one could actually harm you.
4) Itâs Possible to Overdo It.
As Iâve been alluding to here, there is such a thing as vitamin toxicityâor consuming so much of these nutrients that they actually begin to harm rather than help you.
Take, vitamin A, for example: Exceeding the daily upper intake limit of 3,000 micrograms can ultimately cause issues like joint pain, liver damage, and birth defects. High doses of vitamin E can interfere with blood clotting, causing hemorrhages, among other issues. And an excess of vitamin D can cause nausea, muscle weakness, confusion, vomiting, and dehydration.
5) Food is the Best Way to Get Nutrients.
Many nutrients like collagen and vitamin C are already abundant in the foods that make up a typical dietâand eating whole, unprocessed foods, such as fiber-rich vegetables and fruit, is often a more efficient way to get the vitamins, minerals, and probiotics your body needs, Cleveland Clinic nutritionist Gail Cresci told us in March 2023. âTaking a probiotic or a probiotic supplement," she said, "isnât going to fix a bad diet."
#Science#Nutrition | Medicine | Drugs | Health | Wellness#Suppliment#Collagen#Probiotics#Vitamin#Multibillion-Dollar Industry#$200-Billion Global Industry By 2025#Multivitamins#Nutrients#Food
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I admittedly do love watching creators be sheepish about and ultimately embrace tropes because tropes are how I and mine make our living, and they are my favorite.
#you cannot be a successful romance author without smartly employing and embracing tropes#tropes exist because they are things we all love and seek out and melt for#for as many readers curl their upper lip when they see an author promoting their romances with a trope map#there are just as many who see 'only one bed' 'sunshine x grumpy' 'age gap' 'friends to enemies to lovers' and one-click instantly#if you ever feel embarrassed that you're using tropes please know a multibillion dollar industry thrives on them#you are in good company and you are not uncreative for finding a trope and leaning hard into it#the fun part is taking the trope and making your work something your readers think of First when they remember that trope forever#my ramblings
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something i fundamentally don't understand about esports twitch etc is that i still don't understand the audience at all. maybe i just spent too much time at a formative age being ignored by a boy i liked while he played mario kart but it is literally like watching paint dry. to me
#pretty sure they don't play mario kart at esports tournaments but i am genuinely not sure#anyway the principle is the same#either play the game yourself (something i also find boring but other people are not me so okay) or leave?#literally what is the fun of someone else doing the thing that you are not doing#and yet you are telling me this is a multibillion dollar industry now??????#rare pic of me in the wild
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the ghost of frida kahlo appearing every time I consider doing anything to my eyebrows:
#who will win: multibillion dollar corporations and industries and centuries of racism#vs one cool lady
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In my scale of fucked up things to find sexy worms it's DEFINITELY not weird...
and that says a lot about my life lol
in all seriousness though I go by taxonomy so worms are more "acceptably" sexy than plants because our LCA is closer
On the other hand plants survived by being so sexy that all other beings help them reproduce...
So I guess the only thing I can be sure of is that rocks are the weirdest thing to want to fuck in my fuckability scale lol
#if you want to fuck a rock good for you!!!#I'm sure many people find rocks sexy given that there is a multibillion dollar industry based on rocks#but I do not have time to unpack any of that#just enjoy that I think finding worms sexy is normal#and that sex with plants is actually everyday routine depending on your definition of sex#moss text#and I say all this *before* I take an oki for my headache#so it's pure unfiltered late hour ramblings#enjoy#*kermit drinking tea gif
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the fact that US college sports is a whole multibillion dollar industry is fucking insane and perverse. talking to people whose like entire towns sports culture is based around university teams where the athletes dont even get fucking paid is like if you woke up tomorrow and plays could only be held at mcdonalds and every theater troupe had to be mcdonalds employees and people thought this was normal. like what is going on over there
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so very interesting to me how doctors are awful & regressive & harmful for "assigning" babies a "gender" at birth (which doctors make $0 off of - they make money off of the birth, sure, but not the "assignment" itself), but so based & progressive & selfless for giving anyone and everyone, including children, life-altering experimental treatment & irreversible surgeries with minimal or zero vetting and misinformed/uninformed "consent" (which is a multibillion dollar industry)
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Every year all of the big diet companies have to come up with some brand new labeling for their plans in order to encourage people to get on the January weight loss train.
This year, Weight Watchers is going further than theyâve ever gone before, by announcing that they have created a new system to give their members access to prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Let me remind you that these drugs only work while youâre taking them. As soon as you stop, all of your appetite comes back. Your desire to eat returns, and because it has been artificially suppressed it may feel much stronger and less controllable than it was before you took the drugs. Many people who come off these drugs, usually because of cost (because insurers are balking at coverage for weight loss) or shortages (because so many people are taking them for weight loss, which is leaving the diabetics who need them up shit creek) or side effects report that the first weeks are really difficult, mentally painful and often binging occurs.
Additionally, all of these drugs carry a real risk of creating a terribly painful and potentially deadly condition called Gastroparesis, in which your gastrointestinal system just stops functioning, you cannot digest and process food at all.
You do not need to lose weight to be healthy. You do not need to lose weight to be beautiful or attractive, to have success, or love. You do not need to lose weight in order to pursue fitness. If you have particular health needs or goals that can only be achieved by changing the way you eat, (e.g. lowering cholesterol or blood glucose or addressing gastro issues) that does not mean that you need a weight loss diet plan, just one designed toward your needs.
But more than anything, you do not ever need to put another penny into the coffers of the multibillion dollar weight loss industry, which, if it actually had a way to take a fat person and make them thin permanently (something that cannot even be achieved by surgeries that drastically rearrange digestive systems) would be a multi quadrillion dollar industry instead. ďżź
#cw: weight loss#cw: weight loss drugs#weight watchers#ozempic#mounjaro#diabetes drugs for fat people#new year new you old bullshit#health at every size#fatphobia
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The Number You Have Called Cannot Be Reached 1
So figured I could show what else I am working on aside from Salt in the Bones with @clockwayswrites. I still blame Clock for this though, they are way too fun to brainstorm with, and I have too many WIPs already. Ship: Dead on Main (Danny/Jason) Warnings: angst/depression and canon typical violence
Danny was sick and tired of this city, this entire dimension in fact. And this vigilante family, or whatever they were, were more dogged in their pursuit of him than the GIW or his parents had ever been - all this for a few gizmos.
Danny rolled his eyes and ducked a kick from the most violent midget since Youngblood.
Seriously he was just trying to build a portal home, and it wasnât like he was hurting anyone. Heâd mostly stolen from villains anyway! And Wayne industries was like a multibillion dollar company, they shouldnât miss a few scraps or prototypes. It would hardly put a dent in their budget.
Midget was back on his feet and had now drawn a freaking sword. Yeah, this was it, Danny needed to leave before bigger and battier arrived. He faked left but then spun right around the probably actual literal kid with the real sword, jumped to the railing and kicked off towards the next rooftop. Ignoring gravityâs pull for a just a couple of seconds was the only reason he landed safely on the other roof.
He felt a moment of worry that the kid would try following him and glanced back, but the child was fuming in safety on the other side, having lost that grappling gun thing he used earlier in the chase, it seemed Danny was safe for now. The kids mouth was moving, probably talking to more of the heroes.
He wasnât gonna be safe for long, but Danny allowed himself a moment to breathe in relief. Suddenly his breath stuck coldly in his throat and he froze. Impossible! The shades of this city barely tickled his throat, he hadnât met anything that would even halfway classify as a ghost to his senses. Urgency was like a cold hand around his throat, a desperate longing hummed in his core as he slowly spun trying to get a sense of where - he only managed to see a blur of red before a heavy weight knocked into him slamming him to the ground. The cold mist in his throat was pushed out in a pained oof, and his head bounced first on one thing then another, but that didnât matter because his core was singing; close, not alone, hug!
Dannyâs head spun, his whole body felt pained and smushed. A man, no a freaking tank, was laying on top of him. Body armor dug into his ribs, probably something there was bent or broken and he felt certain that ominous red helmet had left a mark where it hit his forehead. Also his hair felt a bit wet beneath him. Yet that didnât matter because he was so overwhelmed, warm with hands and feet tingling from the humming joy in his chest. Hug! His core sang again.
Somewhere in the fog in his head he recognized this was no hug, but he hurt, his head was spinning, and he was not alone and he was happy and wasnât that more important than a bit of pain? Oo o oO
Jason was unsure what was going on.
Heâd managed to tackle the elusive thief Dick had so âcreativelyâ nicknamed the Ghost for his ability to go invisible and the inability for them to land a decent hit on him. In fact if he hadnât seen footage from previous run-ins with the man, Jason would have thought they wildly exaggerated his skills.
After all the man had frozen up strangely when Jason pulled himself onto the rooftop as he listened only with half an ear to the demon brat angrily grumbling in the comms, that he would have had him had he not been a coward who ran away all the time. Their thief was slowly turning around as if looking for something, the green glass of his goggles reflected in the moonlight and for a moment gave the illusion they were glowing.
Jason had not wasted a moment, got to his feet, crossed the distance in a mere three large steps before he crashed into the man - so, heâd halfway expected the man to move and therefore hadnât prepared to soften another personâs landing. His helmet hit the shorter manâs forehead and his head rebounded and hit the roof with a sound that made Jason internally wince. The next moment there was a snapping sound and a gasp as the manâs ribcage was caught between the roof and Jason - he really wore no armor, just that thin hoodie. No matter what B said about the danger of the stolen items, Jason was really starting to doubt they had a budding super villain on hand.
He immediately made a move to get up, but stopped, a strange feeling of something overtaking him. It took a moment for him to discern because of the dichotomy, but it was⌠happiness? What the fuck, it wasnât his emotions, that made no sense. The pits had only ever sent him rage and in rare moments gruesome satisfaction. This was joy, he felt almost like he was floating caught in a wave at the beach, weightless, happy, warm in the sun. He shook his head pushing the foreign emotions away like he would the pit and focused on his dazed perp.
There was something wet glistening in his unruly black hair.
âFuck,â Jason muttered, thankfully too low for the helmet to project, but loud enough that he got a breathless but insistent âreportâ back from Bruce where he was clearly hurrying toward their destination.
âI knocked the Ghost down, heâs bleeding from a head wound,â he muttered at his comms as he pulled the goggles up to get a look his eyes to check for signs of concussion, but immediately froze. The goggles, heâd thought it was a trick of the light earlier, but no, his eyes were glowing - bright and green and just a shade lighter than the Lazarus pits. A shudder ran cold down his back. Somehow the foreign emotions were coming from him, Jason was sure of it, but it explained absolutely nothing! Unrestrained joy? Was this some kind of shock response?
More footsteps landed on the roof and Jason didnât need to look to know it was Bruce with the Brat along for the ride. He finally remembered heâd been trying to get off the other man at some point.
Oo o oO
No, no, no, Dannyâs core protested when the other ghost moved away, and he clutched onto what he could grab, which he dazedly recognized as a very nicely muscled arm. The other arm, because human shaped ghosts have two arms (good job Danny), supported Danny by holding onto one of his arms and that was good. Getting upright gave him the worst moment of vertigo, and his breath whooshed out of him. His legs were like jello and didnât support him, but that didnât matter, because his new friend had a good firm grip, could probably even hold him up entirely without Danny clutching his arm, good friend, mine. He butted his head into his chest because that was what he could reach and just leaned there. His core hummed so happily he felt like heâd almost shake apart.
Friend.
Mine
Good friend
âŚ
Why no response?âŚ
Hello? Danny was confused, why wasnât he getting a response. Also why did his head and chest hurt so bad?
âTt, what is the matter with him?â
The question, delivered in a haughty voice was like a bucket of ice water on his senses. He gasped and pushed away from where heâd been nuzzling some guyâs chest! Alarmed, he stumbled, but dodged the hands reaching for him, to support him, to catch him, he wasnât sure. There was the big bat and the midget and the tank in the red helmet; the guy who felt like a ghost and he just wanted nothing more than to go back to him, and- Danny shuddered taking another step back, his face was hot and flaming red right now. This was, this was- he couldnât-
Hiding his powers be damned; he sunk through the roof.
So embarrassing! He closed his eyes fighting tears as he sank down down down, all the way into the ground where they for sure couldnât follow him. All the while his insides screamed, because he didnât want to be lonely anymore. Fuck, he just wanted to go home.
He was so sick and tired of this city.
So... yeah hope you enjoyed this, now I can reveal why I blame Clock, they said and I quote "Danny, like a cat with catnip suddenly" and now Danny is a cat, what can you do ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ Jason's gonna have to lure this feral ghost in slowly with food and hugs.
edited with link to the next part:next Masterpost where you can subscribe: link
#dead on main#dp x dc#Jason is catnip to Danny#Missed connections#cause that's a shorter tag for this story than the title#long title is long but it makes sense#because danny is in a another dimension and missing his friends and family back home#angst#cw depression
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Inula helenium (elecampane) and Apis mellifera (western or European honey bee)
Elecampane is native to Eurasia, from Spain to western China, but has become 'naturalized 'in parts of North America. This healthy specimen is growing on the west coast of Canada. This plant's species name, helenium, refers to Helen of Troy. Â Her abduction by Paris of Troy led to the Trojan War. In Greek mythology, elecampane sprung up from where her tears fell on the ground.
It's only fitting that this elecampane is being pollinated by another imported species, the European honey bee. Centuries of careful selection have created honey bees which produce far more honey than the colony needs, and beekeepers harvest the surplus honey. Honey bees are a multibillion dollar industry, used mainly as pollination services for commercial, monoculture crops. But these worker bees are obviously 'slacking off' and getting a taste of their distant homeland. I bet their babies love elecampane-flavored honey.
#flowers#photographers on tumblr#elecampane#honey bee#gardening#fleurs#flores#fiori#blumen#bloemen#Vancouver
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Not Easily Broken Chapter 3
Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader
Summary: Natasha and Reader go through a tragic divorce
Masterlist | General Masterlist
3/10
Note: Yes, it's getting finished besties.
W/c: 6k (whew!)
TW: Mention of miscarriage
Natasha wasnât your first kiss but sheâs the first kiss that mattered. You can remember that moment like it was yesterday. The first time she placed her lips on yours. Eleven years ago if you remember it correctly. You had recently been appointed the Creative Director at Stark Industries. Besides Pepper Potts, you were Tony's, right-hand man. You were the woman in charge of overseeing every single creative process dealing with the multibillion-dollar company. You spent more time traveling and in the office than you liked but it came with its perks. With a great salary and good benefits package you wouldnât complain at all even if most of your time was spent rolling your eyes at the ideas Tony would come up with.
You would see Natasha briefly during your time at the tower. She would be in the room one second and gone the next. It was only after getting to know her you realized that Natasha purposely distanced herself from everyone and everything. There were only three women in the world who could scare Tony Stark. Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff, and you. Youâd giggle at every snide remark Tony would make only after Natasha had left the room. You would agree with her on many of the times she put him in his place. The more you saw Natasha the more you wanted to know the woman behind the moniker Black Widow. Without knowing why you made it a mission to see more of her. So, you dropped in on Tony more. Youâd ask for Natashaâs input, always remembering to include her. She tried to hide the look of surprise when you would ask her what she thought. As if her expertise was only in the field of battle.
You made her laugh on every occasion. Your thoughts were consumed by the redheaded woman with the gorgeous smile.
As Tonyâs employee, you were invited to his parties. Boy, did he throw a lot of them. Many of them you would skip. No one would miss you there. At least not that you noticed. It wasnât until the night of Tonyâs New Yearâs Eve party that things changed for you.
You were dressed in a sparkly black number. The dress was short and backless. It hugged your curves in all of the right places and you looked damn good. You felt sexy and ready for the new year to come. There were a few men and women eyeing you all night. Some had even dared to approach you. You didnât care about their advances. None of them interested you when the one you truly wanted was in the very same room.
Natasha commanded the room with her presence. Every click of her heels and sway of her hips left all eyes on her. She charmed the room. She chatted, made jokes, and even kissed Rhodey on the cheek under the mistletoe leftover from Christmas. Natasha was breathtaking and yet you could tell she wasnât having a good time. She seemed stiff and on guard. There was a certain air about her that you werenât sure if other people picked up on. Natasha was a spy after all so she always had to be alert. You could see the way she tensed when Richard Matthews, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, placed his hand on her forearm as he flirted with her. Her eyes quickly cut to his hand before they flew back up to his face. She seemed to be analyzing his flirting but enjoying herself. She flirted back with him just as hard and for a moment you wondered if she would sleep with him that night. Natasha wasnât yours. You were barely friends and yet the thought of her and that man being together made you sick. You felt the nausea roll over you and you excused yourself to the kitchen. Only a few of the catering staff remained as they packed up for the night. A cleaning crew would come to clean in the morning.
You waited for them to exit the kitchen before clutching the counter. You leaned your weight against it taking deep breaths as you tried to reel yourself in. You were in love with Natasha. You were in love with the Black Widow. A startling truth that had sent you spiraling. Before you could think any further on what this meant the sound of her honey-smooth voice caressed every inch of your body.
âFancy seeing you here,â You could picture the smirk on her face as she spoke. You took another deep breath before turning to Natasha. She glanced behind her as the swinging door stood still again. Her eyes never left yours as her brows knit in concern. âY/n, are you okay?â
âIâm fine.â You frowned. âI just..â Natasha waited expectantly for you to say something. She waited for you to tell her what was on your mind. You could come up with a lie and say you had too much to drink but nothing came out of your mouth. Before you could stop yourself you closed the distance between the two of you to hold Natashaâs face between your hands. You searched her eyes for any resistance, you waited for her to say no, but nothing came. Her breath caught in her chest as she waited for you to kiss her.
âDo it.â She dared you. You pounced with a fierce press of your lips to her. Your senses were overwhelmed with Natasha. She smelled delicious, tasted divine, and the feel of her pressed against you was heavenly. You were pretty sure you had died and gone to heaven as you lowered your hands to wrap around her waist. You pulled Natasha closer so that you were pressed chest to chest. The stilettos she was wearing worked to her advantage as she wrapped her arms around your neck. The sounds of the party fell on deaf ears as your tongue explore her mouth. Only when a moan left her lips did you pull back. Your eyes widened and you moved with an apology at the tip of your tongue.
âDonât,â Natasha spoke softly. She tilted her head to kiss you again. âIâve been wanting to do that for so long.â She whispered.
âReally?â You asked.
âSince the day I met you.â She shrugged.
âWell, why didnât you say anything? Or do anything?â You asked incredulously.
âI dropped hints but youâre a tough nut to crack.â Natasha reminded you. Suddenly you were pulled back to all of the times Natasha dropped by your office. She was always around whenever you had a meeting with Tony. She even texted you to ask for your coffee order a few times. Now that you think about it, it didnât seem like she did any of the stuff she did for you for anyone else.
âOh.â It dawned on you. Natashaâs way of flirting was different from the Black Widowâs. Her display out there with Richard was vastly different from the way she handled you.
âYeah,â Natasha half-smiled. You could see the slight nervousness in her expression. âIâve never done this before.â She dropped her arms to her side. You immediately missed the contact. You wanted to have her close all the time if you could. âDated without the expectation of sex. Most of my relationships were curated for work. I-I donât know how to be someoneâs anything. For you, Iâm willing to try.â The vulnerability Natasha was showing at that moment made your heart soar.
âIâm willing to try too.â You told her. You reached out your hand and she took it. You pulled her back into you. You took the lead and wrapped her arms around your neck again. It was that night you knew you were a goner. The next few months you and Natasha were inseparable. You were on cloud nine when it came to Natasha.
Everything was easier with her. The two of you had your own traumas and insecurities to work through but it was easy. Loving Natasha was easy despite how much she insisted she wasnât made for it. As your love for her grew so did your desire to marry her. Two years into your relationship you tied the knot. You bought the very same home you grew your family in. Five bedrooms, three baths, a nice backyard for your future children to play in. Life with Natasha was everything you ever wanted. You welcomed Ryan into the world two years into your marriage. Then Emma. Life with Natasha was magical until it wasnât.
You donât want to dwell on the ugly too much. At least not when youâre in the arrival line of Orlando International Airport. You do focus on how the rental youâre in smells ânew car freshâ. You tap your fingers against the steering wheel hoping to stave off some of your boredom. You glance around at the moving cars weaving in and out of the line when you spot them. Your family. Theyâre a few feet away and itâs clear they donât notice you. You can see Natasha instruct the children to wait there as she reaches behind her in search of her carry-on. She pulls out her phone to check what you assume is her Imessage app. She checks the phone and tucks it back into her pocket. She thinks youâre not going to show. When itâs your turn you honk the horn and pull in front of them. You unbuckle your seatbelt and park the car all within a few seconds. You make sure itâs safe to open your door before exiting the car.
Natashaâs look of surprise is quickly masked by something else. She thought you would send a car for them instead. Thereâs a cheer from Emma as she spots you. She jumps up and down in place as she hugs her blanket to her chest.
âMommy, youâre in Florida too?â Emma asks as you plant a kiss on the top of her head. You give Ryan a kiss on his head before grabbing at their luggage.
âYes, I am.â You smile down at her.
âYou didnât give Mommy a kiss,â Emma points out as you place their things gently into the trunk of the car.
âOh, itâs okay, she doesnât need to.â Natasha dismisses but Emmaâs pout grows. You realized that you two should have talked about how you were going to handle things with the kids before now.
âBut Mommy always kisses hello?â Emma reminds you. Sheâs confused. If you both were here in the same place it must mean you were going to be together again. That meant her mommies could kiss each other again. Right?
âEmma, remember what we talked about?â Youâre not seriously going to lecture her about consent in the middle of the airport but she might need a reminder.
âItâs fine,â Natasha leans over to you, placing her hand on your forearm, as she moves to kiss your cheek. She leans back with fluttering lashes as she crosses her eyes to the kids. This was not a conversation you needed to have right now. You nod and she turns to them. âMommy is going to show us around Florida. Weâre going to be staying with her on our vacation. I wanted it to be a surprise for you.â Sheâs lying. If you know Natasha and you do, she didnât tell the kids to protect their hearts if you changed your mind. You didnât blame her.
âYeah, Iâm going to show you so many cool places,â You tell them.
âDisney World?â Ryan questions.
âWhatever you want.â You tap his nose. âNow what do you say we get this show on the road before Mommy gets a ticket?â You gesture over your shoulder to the airport police hovering a few feet away. You help Emma into her booster seat while Natasha helps Ryan into his. Soon enough youâre on the road and on your way to your hotel. The car ride is relatively silent. Ryan and Emma seem to be holding their own conversation about who theyâre going to see when they go to DisneyWorld. You glance over to Natasha to see that sheâs watching you.
âIâm really glad you came,â You inform her. âThank you for taking a chance on me. Again.â
She shrugs half-heartedly. What is she supposed to say? Everything she wants to say would probably be best told when the children are asleep. When youâre alone. You turn back to the road to drive as you both listen to the kids and their stories.
Thereâs a bit of a problem when you arrive at the hotel. The rooms you got were connected by one door. No big deal. The first room was the one youâd been sleeping in since you arrived two days ago. It was equipped with a king-sized bed, flat-screen tv, and a very impressive mini-fridge. The second bedroom had two double beds and many of the same amenities. The rooms themselves were impressive. It was the kids who made things a bit more difficult for you.
âI want my own bed.â Ryan declared as he tossed his shoes somewhere in the corner. Natasha sighed from behind him as she grabbed the offending items to place them inside the closet. Emma followed after her brother as she plopped onto the second bed.
âI want my own too.â She smiled sweetly up at you.
âUm, one of these was for your mom,â You scratch the back of your head. Natashaâs eyes fly to yours. âI just didnât want to assume that you wanted to sleep in bed with me.â You try to mumble but by the mischievous smirk on Emmaâs face, sheâs heard you. What was with her and this matchmaking thing she has going on? Ryan seems to be in on it too as he looks between the two of you.
âWe think the kids should have their own room. No mommies allowed.â Ryan shrugs as though heâs not trying to hurt your feelings.
âIâm being kicked out by my own kids.â Natasha rolls her eyes. âI am fine sleeping there. With you.â Natasha tries to appear nonchalant.
âOkay, well letâs take your bags right in here,â You grab for one of Natashaâs suitcases and she follows you into the next room. The door is still open when you hear Emmaâs little voice trail into your room.
âDo you think theyâre going to make a baby?â
âYou need a penis to do that,â Ryan tells her as if itâs obvious.
Your eyes widen and look to Natasha for answers.
âThere was a kid, Connie Clark, in Ryanâs class who apparently had âthe talkâ with her parents so naturally she came to school and told everyone.â Natasha wheeled her bag to the closet. âWhich means Ryan told Emma which also means I had to have a very awkward conversation with them about their bodies, autonomy, and the very, very basic parts of where babies come from.â Right. Another thing you missed. While you did find it a bit funny it was only a reminder that you were missing out on a lot. Natasha and you have always had those conversations with the kids together.
âSeems there still may be a few things we have to discuss.â Natasha shook her head. She looks at the bed and the side youâve taken.
âI can sleep on the pull-out couch they have,â You tell her, and she holds up a hand to stop you from speaking.
âIs sleeping with me going to upset you?â
âNo, no, I just donât want to move too fast with you and mess things up.â
âWell if all weâre doing is sleeping you canât mess things up,â Natasha assures you. She moves to pull you to sit on the bed. âI came because I wanted to. I came because I want this to work.â
âMe too,â You confess. You find yourself focusing on her lips.
âYou know I never did get a proper hello kiss,â Natasha says. She leans over to caress your cheek just as you turn to her. You donât hesitate this time. Kissing Natasha was all you ever wanted to do. Itâs the first time your lips have been on hers since the day in the kitchen. On Emmaâs birthday. It lasts longer than you anticipated as you allowed yourself to get lost in Natasha. Itâs the sneaky giggling from behind you that causes you to pull away. You canât tell which one of them has made those obscene kissing noises but youâre sure you can take a guess. âOur kids are assholes.â Natasha opens her eyes slightly. Thereâs that glint of happiness in her eyes you havenât seen in a while. Her guard is down.
âThat they are,â You bring your hand up to Natashaâs lip to wipe your gloss from a corner of her mouth. Her eyes darken in lust and for a second you wonder if youâre going to survive the night with her in the same bed. You clear your throat and look over to the open door that connects your room. âOkay, you two, letâs get you fed. Where are we going to eat today?â You stand from the bed. You leave Natasha sitting there with her thoughts as you wrangle the kids.
******************
Lunch with the family is fun. Itâs amazing how easily youâre able to slip back into your roles with them. Ryan talks to you about his new leggo set while Emma pretends sheâs a queen as she sips her lemonade. Natasha is content to watch you interact with them both. Theyâve missed you itâs clear and youâve missed them just as much. Thereâs a message on your phone that chimes and you tuck it away for later. Whoever it is can wait. You took your meetings earlier this morning with the sole purpose of spending time with your family. Nothing would ruin this for you.
******************
The next destination on your list is the Sea Life Orlando Aquarium. You want to say you bought the tickets for the kids but you can feel Natasha vibrating with excitement as she grips your hand. Sometime during your entry into the aquarium, her hand slipped into yours and she never let go. The kids walked ahead of you as you entered the first hall. Seeing the kids happy with the sea life was amazing, seeing Natasha excited was an entirely different feeling. She didnât have much of a childhood to go and do all of this. During the time you dated and throughout your marriage, there were times when youâd take her to experience things for the first time. The aquarium was her favorite. Despite how much she protested the idea of an animal she loved them. Especially sea animals.
The 360 aquarium proved to be the most fun as Natasha crouched down with the kids to point out the different types of fish. She smiled widely turning to see if you were paying attention as Ryan read from the information slate. It looks beautiful on her. Happiness. Her smile stops you in your tracks as you watch the way she interacts with them. The way she loves them. She guides them while reading about the fish whenever she gets a chance. You didnât doubt that a lot of it she already knew. As you continued through the aquarium you almost expected Natasha to take your hand again and she did. It all felt right.
******************* Itâs later that night that you feel the awkwardness of your situation. How even after nine years of marriage youâve gone through a divorce that has changed the both of you. After helping Natasha put the children to bed you both go through your night routines separately. While Natasha is in the shower you check emails and answer back any that you find pressing. You roll your eyes when you find that Tony wants to put a real shark tank in one of his hotels. Totally not your problem right now. You send him a quick text before plugging your phone up for the night. You didnât hear the shower shut off or Natasha exit the bathroom until she was sitting on the bed in a silk pajama set. Itâs a plain shirt and shorts but it does manage to turn you on with the amount of skin youâre seeing. Natasha dries her hair with a towel and itâs then you notice her arms are more defined than you last remember them.
You move to sit next to her and she stops her towel drying to look at you. You take the towel into your hands to help her. She melts into you as she allows you to take on the task.
âToday was fun,â Her voice is raspy and filled with exhaustion. The activities of today are catching up to her.
âYeah,â You say. When youâre done you toss the towel onto a nearby chair. You could deal with it later. You lower your arms to rest them at Natashaâs waist as you try to keep your composure. She smells like vanilla and coconuts. Itâs only recently that sheâs used a soap that has a scent. Being a spy she was always very diligent in not making herself noticeable in any way.
She stiffens in your arms just before she allows you to continue. With your left hand, you sweep her hair to her other shoulder to expose her neck. You press a tentative kiss against the flesh before trailing more down her shoulder. Natasha sighs as your touches become more firm. Your hands rub her sides and move down to the top of her thighs. You massage her skin as she leans further into you. Itâs not inherently sexual but you can feel yourself becoming wetter just at the feel of Natasha. You dare to run your fingers up the leg of her shorts. Natasha allows you to. Her skin is smooth and soft under your fingers. At least until you feel the raised skin a little higher on her thigh. Itâs at an awkward angle and it would be hidden behind her shorts but probably noticeable in a bikini. Itâs higher up on her thigh. You feel around it feeling her once again stiffen as you try to assess the freshness of this wound.
âIt was four months ago.â Natashaâs voice is devoid of any emotion. You furrow your brows. âI was in Madripoor with Steve and we took down a few guys interfering with S.H.I.E.L.D.âs database. Stabbed me right in the leg before he got away.â How didnât you know this? Where were the kids at the time? Did she take care of herself while tending to them? âItâs old news. Seriously.â
âIâm sorry, Natasha.â You distance yourself more for her than you. âIâm so sorry.â You say for really no reason at all. Youâre not the one that stabbed her or sent her on the mission. Natasha could take care of herself.
âMe too.â She whispers before she climbs into the bed. Your moment of intimacy is over and you know the both of you are too tired to discuss the implications of that. You hate that this even needed to be discussed. You felt like a stranger when it came to Natasha. Sheâs been through so much these past few years and you have a feeling youâre only scratching the surface. You climb onto your side of the bed, reaching for the string of the lamp to turn it off, as you think about just how much youâve missed.
******************
The next day proves to be different for all of you. Work has you swamped with meetings that run over more than usual. There are only a few more days you have left here in Florida and youâd rather be spending them with your family. Disney World was supposed to be today. You promised them. Again. Yet you have to shoot a quick text to Natasha informing her to take them on her own as you donât see yourself getting out of here any time soon. You donât want to imagine how pissed she would be and how disappointed they would be.
You notice your phone go off throughout the day but youâre too busy to get into it. You know itâs Natasha keeping you updated. Sheâs probably sent you so many pictures and videos of the kids. Hopefully, youâll be done with your last meeting in time for dinner. As a creative director, you canât leave things to the other employees. Not like this. So you hunker down and keep pushing through in hopes of getting back to the hotel with your family.
Itâs dark when you enter the hotel room. You cross the room to kick off your shoes before tiptoeing to Emma and Ryanâs bedroom. Theyâre fast asleep. Emma with her blanket tucked into her and Ryan with a new toy by his side. You kiss both of their heads before returning to your room.
You notice the balcony door is open and the cool breeze from there. Natasha is sitting in one of the chairs peering out at the pool below you. Youâre on the third floor so not too high up but itâs still an impressive view. You decide to join her.
âHey, Iâm so sorry, I didnât know that would take so long. We had to go over contracts, marketing, things with legal.â You tell her as you move to give her a kiss on her forehead. You sit down in the chair beside her. Natasha glances at you for a second before returning her gaze back to the view. Thereâs a silence that sits between the two of you before she speaks.
âDid I make a mistake coming here?â Natasha asks. She picks up her glass of red wine to sip from it.
âWhat, Nat, no.â You tell her.
âHmm,â She swallows the wine. She sets down her cup and looks over to you. âIt shouldnât hurt. I should be used to it by now. You are too busy for us. We donât fit into this new life youâve made and no matter how much youâre trying itâs just not working.â Your heart drops as you realize you really did mess up.
âIâm-â
âYouâre sorry.â Natasha finishes for you. âI know. I think we would have been fine if youâd bothered to answer any of the texts I sent you. If you bothered to reply at all. Iâm not pushy and Iâm not clingy. You know this. I couldnât help but feel I was back in that same space of being the doting and loving housewife who waits and waits and begs for their spouse to love them.â
âYou donât have to beg with me, Natasha.â You assure her. âI didnât think it would bother you for me to give this one day. I mean this is a work trip.â
âThat you invited us to.â She reminds you.
Right.
âI changed all of my schedules. The rest of the week is open to be with you guys.â You inform her. Natasha tilts her head to see if youâre telling the truth. You are.
âCan I ask you what changed?â Natasha suddenly asks. âWhat shifted for you? You had been creative director when we started dating. The past few years youâve been distant. You canât just say youâre busy. Weâve both always been busy.â
âNat,â You sigh. You really didnât want to get into this. At her look you know itâs now or never. âI donât know.â Itâs the truth. âAfter we had Emma I began to feel lost. I felt like I lost who I was and the only way to salvage that was work. I felt weighed down by something and I couldnât quite tell what it was. We had opposite schedules and it all was just so easier to be at work and know my role there.â
âYou felt like we weighed you down?â
âNat, no, thatâs not what Iâm saying.â You shake your head. âI felt the opposite. I felt happy. I felt loved but I was afraid. That eventually Iâd become the imposter that I felt since I was a little girl. Eventually, it would all blow up in my face. But itâs not so black and white. We grew apart for a bit. We distanced ourselves in more ways than one.â
âRight,â Natasha says.
âNatasha, you have to understand that while I take the blame for everything Iâve done youâre not as innocent as you think.â You want to take it back before you fully said it. It could have been worded differently. The look in her eyes tells you that much. Too late.
âWhat did I do? Please tell me.â Natasha sits up a bit straighter.
âNat, Iâm not trying to be combative.â You glance behind you to make sure the children arenât coming. âI meant that both of us have had times where we were less than nice to each other. I remember that day a few years ago you came home and started arguments for no real reason at all.â
âThere was always a reason.â Natasha frowned.
âSo tell me what!â You say a bit louder than necessary. âEverything I did to apologize and make better it never happened. As much as youâd like to think that you were being the perfect wife there are moments where I just couldnât make you happy. We didnât know how to work through our problems. That much is clear. The entire reason for the divorce was to give us both that breath of air.â
âAs if you didnât have it before,â Natasha mutters.
âFuck, Nat,â You cry out. âThis is exactly what happens. You beat around the bush. You donât say what you mean until youâre angry and ready to throw it in my face. Do you want me to say I was busy? Yes, Iâll admit that. Do you want me to say how Iâve disappointed our kids? Iâll admit that too. Do you want me to say that Iâm the sole reason our marriage went to shit? Not going to happen.â
âThatâs not what I want.â Natasha looks down at her hands.
âThen tell me, Iâm not Wanda, I donât. I canât read minds.â You wave your hand for her to look at you. âIf I did it would save me a lot of trouble let me tell you. What is it that you want from me, Nat?â
âI wanted you to be there,â Natasha shouts over you. âI wanted you to be there. Okay.â Sheâs speaking past tense.
âWhat, Nat, be there for what?â Your voice is lower and more hushed as you realize how broken she sounds. Her tears are falling quicker this time and it startles you. âNat?â
She looks down at her hands avoiding your gaze as she speaks. âDo you remember November 5th a few years ago? I kept nagging you about an appointment we had.â You shake your head in the negative. âWell, I do because I programmed it into both of our calendars.â At your look of confusion, she continues. âYou had an impromptu work trip and I figured you just forgot about the day and that I could just reschedule. But I had this bright idea and I went to the doctorâs alone.â Natasha rolls her eyes at herself. âSo I went. I wanted to know for myself. Whether I could.â Natasha isnât speaking in complete sentences which still leaves you a bit confused and youâre catching on quickly. Your eyes widen. Youâre putting two and two together. You remember it now. The trip had been a month-long and had taken up all of your energy. You remember her calling you and you being excited about finally making progress with work. It takes everything in you to recall the way she sounded. Over the phone, Natasha sounded different but you thought she was just missing you. âI wanted to surprise you.â
âNo, no, no,â You shake your head. You donât know if itâs possible but your brain is thinking before you can stop it. âPlease, Natasha.â You move from your chair to sit on your knees in front of her. Had she been pregnant? Did she miscarry? How could you not have noticed? You want to puke with the thought of Natasha clutching her stomach in pain as she lost her baby. Your baby. Alone. She can see the wheels turning in your head.
âIt never happened.â She reveals. âEven after the reversal of the tubal ligation that the Red Room gave me, it didnât happen. The doctor said that with my line of work and how much trauma Iâve taken to my abdomen even with IVF, the chances of it happening were slim to none.â She lowers her eyes to her lap. This is the most vulnerable youâve ever seen Natasha and you know itâs taking a lot out of her to tell you this. âI just⌠I wanted to give you a baby.â Natasha blinks back the tears and your heart shatters instantly. âI wanted to feel them inside of me. I wanted my belly to grow too. I wanted that for myself and I know itâs stupid that I ever thought I could.â Natashaâs bottom lip trembles and you know sheâs trying to keep herself from crying any further.
âYouâre not stupid for wanting that, Tasha.â You reach your hand up to take hers in yours.
âArenât I? I mean, before I met you, I knew it could never happen and I was fine with it.â Natasha shakes her head. âI was fine with never having that. I resented you for giving me hope. I resented you for being what I couldnât. Thatâs when the fighting continued. You didnât notice and all I wanted for you was for you to hold me and tell me things were going to be okay.â
âAnd I just worked and worked and assumed that you werenât happy because I wasnât making you happy.â You summarize. Fuck.
âPlease donât blame yourself for what I just told you.â Natasha frowns. â I didnât lie. I was still happy with you. I still wanted you. I wanted that depression to go away and I wanted to forget I ever even tried. I wanted us to push forward.â
âInstead we became something entirely different.â You say. Natasha nods in agreement. âWe were too many things at once without ever really being together at the time. We grew into something ugly and we never addressed it healthily. I became distant because I thought I couldnât make you happy and then you thought the same. I just want to make it clear youâre not less of a woman than me because of this. I wanted you and still want you despite all of it. I love you, Natasha. I love you and I always have.â
âHow do we fix this?â Natasha peers out over the balcony. âHow do we fix us without falling into the same pattern?â
âWe take it one day at a time.â You say. âWe do the work. We stay honest. And I- I take off of work for a while.â
âWhat, y/n, you donât have to do that.â Natasha looks at you again.
âNo, I think I do,â You assure her. âAt least for now. My family needs me. I want to be there for you.â
Natashaâs green eyes show just how much sheâs hurt and heartbroken all at once.
âOkay,â She says finally. You stand to lead her back to the bed. She follows and waits for you to crawl under the covers. You raise the cover for her to climb in and you take her into your arms. She turns so that sheâs the small spoon to your big one. Sheâs pressed so close to you and you never want to let her go. You can feel the sobs rack her body as she silently cries. You can feel your own tears drenching your pillow as you kiss the back of her head.
Marriage was hard. Marriage was tough. But so were you.
You and Natasha would work on things together. You would take it one day at a time just like you said.
---> next part
#natasha romanoff#black reader#natasha x reader#black widow x reader#black widow x female reader#natasha romanov#natasha x you#angst#trigger warning
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On Thursday morning, before my first sip of coffee, the alerts started flooding my phone. My employer, Microsoft, was laying off 1,900 workers and it was all over the news. I work at the video game company ZeniMax, which was acquired in 2021 by Microsoft, so I felt a familiar, sickening feeling start to take hold. But I canât say it came as a surprise. So many people in our industry have lost their jobs this way recently. In 2023, at least 6,500 video game workers were laid off (unofficial trackers have that number much higher). And even before this latest round, 2024 hadnât shown any sign of improvement. The video game industry is huge. It was bigger than the movie and music industries combined following the 2020 pandemic surge, and while it has dropped a bit since then, it remains a multibillion-dollar industry. However, itâs still relatively young and lacks a history of successful worker organizing.
#news#labor news#gaming news#tech news#tech industry layoffs#gaming industry layoffs#2024 layoffs#zenimax#zenimax union#communications workers of america#cwa
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Amazon delivery drivers and dispatchers walked out of their delivery facility on Thursday to demand that Amazon bargain with them. The 84 drivers currently on strike have held picket lines before, but this is the first time Amazon drivers have walked out in the U.S., according to a Teamsters press release.Â
The drivers, who work for the Amazon delivery service partner (DSP) Battle-Tested Strategies in Palmdale, California, unionized with the Teamsters in late April, and are demanding that Amazon come to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract. Drivers have already negotiated and ratified a contract with the DSP, which voluntarily recognized their union.Â
Amazon has previously stated that, because the drivers donât work directly for Amazonâthey work for the DSP, which is then contracted by Amazonâthat the company is not obligated to bargain with them. For the past month, the union has been trying to prove that wrong, saying that, despite Amazon placing all responsibility onto the DSP, it is in fact in âcomplete controlâ of the DSPâs operations.Â
âWe are on the picket line today to demand the pay and safety standards that we deserve,â said Raj Singh, one unionized driver on strike, in a statement. âWe work hard for a multibillion-dollar corporation. We should be able to provide food and clothes for our kids.��Â
The driversâ contract with the DSP guarantees a higher wage, protections against the extreme heat of California summers, and the right to refuse unsafe deliveries. Heat is an industry-wide hazard for delivery drivers. Motherboard has previously reported on how UPS drivers must deal with temperatures of over 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. Earlier this week, the Teamsters won a tentative agreement with UPS guaranteeing improved heat protections and air conditioning in trucks...
âAmazon has no respect for the rule of law, the health of its workers, or the livelihood of their families,â said Randy Korgan, the director of the Teamsters Amazon Division, which has been working to organize Amazon facilities to protect workers and maintain wage standards in the delivery and logistics industry. âWorkers are on strike today because the only thing this corporate criminal cares about is profits. We are sending a message to Amazon that violating worker rights will no longer be business as usual.â
-via Motherboard at Vice, June 15, 2023
#labor#labor unions#labor rights#teamsters#amazon#delivery driver#organized labor#strike#ups#good news#hope
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Quick reference for the LH excerpts from Kate Wagner's behind the scenes at COTA article.
All sports are powered by the personalities of their practitioners, and Formula 1 has those in spadesâthe chipper, effusive Daniel Ricciardo; Mr. Suave, Carlos Sainz; plucky George Russell; the deep-feeling Charles Leclerc; and, perhaps above all, the sport's longtime great champion, a man from some of the humblest beginnings in motorsport, the regal and soft-spoken Lewis Hamilton, who just announced an absolutely shocking move to Ferrari after an illustrious 11 years and six championships behind the wheel of a Mercedes (and six seasons and one championship with Mercedes-powered McLarens).
. . . .
The day's activities commenced with a tour of the garage. In the garage, there are many mysteries one is not allowed to know or see. The use of phones is forbidden lest one incur accusations of espionage. When we got into the garage, Lewis's car was naked, its insides visible for all to see. I think this was the moment where my respect for the sport as it exists really made itself clear. It is hard to describe what I felt looking at that car. The closest phrase I have at my disposal is the technological sublime. I pictured a living, breathing animal of extraterrestrial origin, hooked up to a thousand arcane sensors that delivered messages in little pulses. All the tubes and sculpted carbon-fiber parts and the endless net of wires all working in service to the godhead engine, formed something totally incomprehensible to me, a feat of engineering so vast it breached the realm of magic. Hamilton himself walked through in his helmet, unexpectedly on an errand. After being in the presence of the car, I perceived him differently than before, when he was just a guy driving in circles on TV. The scope of his capabilities became more directly known to me in the face of that which I believed to be unknowable. All of that was built in service of him. He stopped and looked into the open maw of the car. The tour guide led us hurriedly into the back room where the coffee and tire bags were stored so that no one could listen to what Lewis said.
About half an hour later, they brought him up to the paddock to talk to us. It wasn't a press conference, but rather a kind of a TED Talk. The questions were rote and a guy with a microphone asked them as though they were being broadcast on television. Hamilton talked rotely about how much he loved America and the fans here, talkedâto the people who needed reassuranceâabout how the car was "getting there" but made it pointedly certain that they knew it still needed some work, which surprised me, making me realize this was still a private setting. I come from a sport where chivalry never died and no one is allowed to say anything negative because it is "unsportsmanlike" and every cyclist has to play his part in the farcical pageant of being a dull, humble farmer's son. It is a pretty open secret that a lot of cyclists don't like their bike sponsors but they would never, ever, ever say it. It's somewhat contradictory, but the sheer financial calculus of F1 is what makes it possible for Hamilton to be critical. This is a multibillion-dollar industry putting its full heft behind him doing well. It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them.
. . . .
Frustrated, I returned to watching the cars as they started up again, knowing that the drivers were pushing them to their limits, engrossed in their personal kaleidoscope of motion and color. Hamilton was in one of them. In the last shootout, he drove differently than before. A great verve frayed the lines he was making, something we can only call effort, push. Watching him, I understood what was so interesting about this sport, even though I was watching it in its most bare-bones formâcars going around in circles. The driver is the apotheosis of quick-moving prowess, total focus and control. The car is both the most studied piece of human engineering, tuned and devised in lab-like environments and at the same time a variable entity, something that must be wrestled with and pushed. The numbers are crunched, the forms wind-tunneled. And yet some spirit escapes their control, and that spirit is known only by the driver. Yes, we watch this perfect blend of man and machine, but we speak of the machine as though it were not of human origin, as though the machine, being born from science couldâeventually, through its iterative processesâsublimate human flaws. The driver, being human, knows this is false. His intimacy with the machine is the necessary missing connection, and even if the machine were perfect, it was made for imperfect hands. But it is never perfect. The gaps in its perfection are where disasters transpire, but also miracles. As we waited for the van to take us where we were parked, a part of the track was still visible to us. Hamilton distinguished himself by the lines he cut along the corner and the loudness of his engine, that pushing. We heard over a loudspeaker that he had finished third, a remarkable improvement above the last two sprints, where he lagged behind in the midfield. This made everyone in our camp happy. They always called him by his first name. It reminded me of how I used to talk about cyclists after I started interviewing them, with the swagger of knowing them.
. . . .
When Hamilton came into the room he was wearing a cool pair of pants with shimmery colored mesh sewed in and had an exhausted appearance, having come just from the track. We were allowed to talk to him but were told not to make any recordings or transcriptions. When he spoke, it was notable how often he mentioned his father and how deeply-felt his political convictions were. Some people are totally different off the record, but Lewis was simply a more lively version of himself. I find him a fascinating figure. A lot of fans either love or hate him, see him, paradoxically, as both humble and arrogant. The word quiet is better. Not reserved, not shy, just quiet. He belongs to a special group of people. The ones I've met in life include the violinist Hilary Hahn and PogaÄar, the Tour de France winnerâhuman beings who walk the earth differently, with an aura that transcends it. He appeared perpetually relaxed, controlled and refined, both present with us in the room but on a higher plane within. We used to call this magnificence when we believed in kings. I don't know what we call it now. Excellence, maybe. The irony of parading someone incredible like that around in the backrooms of petrochemical executives is not lost on me. I was grateful that I got the opportunity to speak to Lewis Hamilton, someone I am not ashamed to say I admire. I would have preferred it if they let him go home and rest instead.
#lewis hamilton#present but on a higher plane#character study#kate wagner#cota#2023#mercedes amg f1#ineos#press event#motorsport journalism
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Yoon-Kim Ji-Young, a professor at the Institute of Body and Culture at Konkuk University in Seoul, argues that in South Korea, women are up against a multibillion-dollar industrial complex, including cosmetics, plastic surgery and entertainment, which sends women mutually reinforcing messages.
"This huge mechanism unilaterally defines the ideal body image for young women, as well as the direction and size of their dreams," she says. As a result, she says, many young Korean women aspire to become YouTube makeup coaches.
Traditionally, she says, Korean women are taught that beauty is their biggest asset. By getting married, they can exchange that asset for social and economic status. Even today, such views affect women's options and choices related to careers, marriage and motherhood. Rejecting beauty standards leads some women to rebel against an entire social structure, she says, and that means boycotting romance, marriage, sex and childbirth.
"Women are not simply looking to destroy the cosmetics industry by smashing makeup," she says. "Their aim is to subvert the huge male-centered matrix called the patriarchy."
Yoon-Kim adds that not until they have "escaped the corset" do many women realize that they've been taught to blame themselves for the discrimination they encounter, and to feel that it's their own fault for not being young, skinny or pretty enough. A 2017 poll found that nearly 40 percent of respondents experienced discrimination based on their appearance when applying for jobs. Applicants are commonly asked for photos, as well as information about their height and weight.
"The constant feeling of obsession, self-hatred and fatigue in this competitive society," she says, "robs us of the energy to address its fundamental, structural inequality."
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The way the adults talk about New Gen XI to me gives that these 11 teenagers are in contracts they can not leave and they know whatever it is they used to get them in these contracts is Binding. Sae saying if he was dropped on an isolated island he would be free. No wonder he went to Blue Lock to unchain Shidou and let him play.
the more I think about the new gen 11âs situation, the more I get reminded of how Hollywood preys on young people/children , then again Iâm probably only saying that because I know more about the Hollywoodâs shit than footballâs . Every multibillion dollar industry has greedy men ruling it that would do anything for the sake of money. And sports are no different, football probably has it the worst with how big it is
With the fact that Sae , Kaiser and Lorenzo had to sign their contracts under the age of 18 , have almost 0 idea about anything and whatâs happening around them , it sounds super predatory
Sae has been playing on the big stage for 5 years now , 13 to 18, , nonstop. The dude barely has any hobbies, no wonder he wants to be free from this , to have at least ONE normal day of just being a teenager, so close to being a young adult
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