#Security Bags Manufacturers

[omflex]

Make sure your tamper proof courier bags manufacturers are branded with your company logo, colors, and any other relevant information. Omflex – the leading best plastic courier bags manufacturers in the market today.We use eco-friendly materials to manufacture our plastic courier bags.

[merakiui]

thinking about a concept where you break into wealthy businessman azul ashengrotto’s house in hopes of scoring big on some valuable items. you think this might be the smoothest job you’ve ever done. it’s so easy to avoid the cameras and keep your head low. too easy, almost. like it’s meant to be easy.

you think all will be well until you turn the corner with your bag full of stolen goods and run right into the real home security: jade, or formally known as model JEI-0511. a highly intelligent android programmed to detect and neutralize any and all threats to the home and its owner.

a single golden eye glints at you in the shadowed hall. you see the flash of a cordial smile and then you’re turning and running. the android subdues you within seconds, grabbing hold of the back of your shirt and yanking you to the ground. he’s silent and wordless as he looms over you, preparing to end you right there. you scramble away in a panic, your eyes squeezed shut and arms folded over your face for protection.

the light flicks on. “enough, jade. don’t kill the poor thing. the smell and the mess would be unbearable.”

“as you wish, master,” he replies, a hand held over his chest. he melts into the shadows, a lurking terror in wait.

slowly, very shakily, you lower your arms to look at the man who stands before you. he doesn’t smile.

“you’re quite crafty, aren’t you?” he asks, but it doesn’t sound like the type of question you’re in any position to answer.

you spend a long, silent minute watching him. he looks you up and down. before you even know what’s happening, the android surges forwards to drag you up from the ground. you struggle in vain, your scream muffled in his hand when it claps down over your mouth. the android holds you still while azul takes his time studying you.

“yes, you’ll do nicely.”

you have no idea what that means and you’re not going to because the android, swiftly and mercilessly, knocks you out.

hours later you wake in a cell, squinting under the intensity of bright blue fluorescents. you’re dressed in loose-fitting clothes; they remind you of the same material of a hospital gown. everything is cold and sterile. you’ve no idea where you are or what place this is.

you think you hear conversation on the other side of the glass, a window that only allows those on the other side to peer in.

azul has brought you to his business partner’s lab. idia shroud, renowned tech genius. the android who caught you was just a prototype. a model not yet sold to the general public. a secret still in development. that’s why they’re trying to manufacture a better model. FLO-0511. twin to JEI-0511. and you’re going to help train the AI to be smarter, better, more efficient.

tl;dr - you’re held captive by two crazy-rich businessmen and made to train android floyd, who is just as cold and emotionless as his android counterpart jade. something something you desperately need to find some way to outsmart two androids if you ever want to escape this terrifying situation. maybe trying to teach floyd to be human,,, manipulating jade into thinking he’ll be obsolete once project FLO-0511 is complete. :)

and of course trying to charm and seduce the two loser virgin businessmen so they’ll treat you more like a person and less like a test subject.

[facts-i-just-made-up]

How do you build a atomic bomb?

Easily!

All you need are a few household items, a little bit of patience, and a Class 1 Top Security clearance for the manufacture of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons under the Fermi laws of 1954 contingent to permission from the United Nations Security Council.

You're gonna need-

A box of matches

A blender

Tape

Some wire mesh (Like a window screen, for sifting)

Cake mix (Yellow sponge cake works best)

Ziplock bags

String

Ice cubes (The cold kind, not the rapper/actor)

A toilet paper tube

A Catholic Missal

An empty kitty litter bucket

First, you're gonna need two rare substances- Weapons grade uranium and "heavy" water. For the uranium, just take your yellow cake mix and sift it with the wire mesh. Whatever stays on top of the mesh- That's weapons grade. For the heavy water, take some ice cubes, which are heavier than water but still made of water, and put them in the blender. By breaking up the ice cubes and releasing the water, you keep the weight but make it a fluid. This is a process that scientists call "Putrefaction".

To build the weapon, pack some uranium into one end of the toilet paper tube and then cover that end with the Catholic Missal. This guarantees what we call a "Critical Mass" of uranium. Then take a smaller wad of uranium and pack it into the other end of the tube, leaving plenty of space between the two.

Tape the box of matches to that end of the tube. It will act as an explosive device to send the "bullet" of uranium into the critical mass, thus resulting in a nuclear fission explosion.

You now have a nuclear fission device! This device has a yield equal to about 10 thousand tons of T.N.T. But fission is for wimps, right? So let's turn that fission bomb, into a fusion bomb!

Tape your string to the matches to act as a fuse, and then put the nuclear warhead in a ziplock bag. Be sure to seal it tight! Now place that assembly into the kitty litter bucket. Make sure it's empty of kitty litter before the next step.

Fill the rest of the bucket with the heavy water you made in step one, and seal the top of the kitty litter bucket with the string still poking out. Once the fuse is lit, it will light the matches and detonate the nuclear fission bomb. This acts as a heat source to boil the heavy water, and when heavy water boils- Nuclear Fusion!

Congratulations, your bomb is now complete. Remember that it's illegal to carry or detonate a nuclear fusion warhead in public (except in Texas), and bear in mind this will be quite a bit stronger than your usual firecrackers. We recommend only setting off your nuclear device on official U.S. testing grounds, such as the desserts of New Mexico or islands in the Pacific only populated by tribes under no country's protection, because that's seriously what the U.S. did.

So play safe and have a good time,

-facts-i-just-made-up.tumblr.com

[shadowcanine]

(SOMEWHAT) LESSER KNOWN FACTS ABOUT COLUMBINE AND THE AFTERMATH.

Note: this post is purely for educational purposes. Do your best to be normal, thanks.

(facts under the cut)

• John Savage, who was asked to identify himself in the library by Eric, and shortly after spared by Dylan, would go on to become a sex offender. He’s on the registry, but the incident itself happened in North Carolina. (This would actually be the second instance of a survivor of Columbine becoming a SO, with the first being Brooks Brown.)

• Days before the shooting, Daniel Mauser would discuss the gunshow loophole with his father- the same loophole that would lead to his death.

• Cassie Bernall suffered from homicidal ideations, she was sent to therapy and claimed that finding Jesus helped her manage these thoughts.

• The police cleaned out Eric’s house before viewing the Basement Tapes. After they viewed them, they realized they missed an entire section of the house, and had to return to gather the rest of the weapons.

• Chris Morris found out about the shooting through the news that day, as it was happening. Allegedly, he immediately realized Eric and Dylan were behind it- he tried to go to the school and attempt to talk them out of it, but the police wouldn’t let him enter.

• Eric, despite his journal entries, was not the women hating guy a lot of people seem to believe. Dylan, on the other hand, had a track-record of hitting girls. One of these girls was named Michele, his manager (or supervisor) at Blackjack pizza. Upon Michele writing him up, Dylan hit her. Dylan also allegedly hit a girl in gym class, and Eric called him out for it.

• After all was said and done, the police had all the casualties in body bags. Eric and Dylan were placed in a separate room so that their victims wouldn’t be near them. At the end, there was one victim and one shooter left- the police ordered an additional ambulance so that the victim wouldn’t be in an ambulance with their killer.

• As soon as Eric and Dylan’s bodies were brought out of the school, it started snowing- which isn’t very common for that time of year in Colorado.

• The weather on 04/20/1999 was poor, to say the least. Columbine had a digital sign board, where a “thought of the day” was shown. On the day of the massacre, it read some variation of “It’s a great day to not be here” / “Today is the day you wish you weren’t here” - this was referring to the weather, but it doesn’t make it any less unsettling.

• There was an armed security guard, Neil Gardner, at Columbine that day, but when the shooting started, he was in his car eating lunch on the other side of the parking lot. He ended up being the one to exchange gunfire with Eric near the West doors.

• Eric had a Shakespeare quote in his calendar for the Mother’s Day after Columbine. It read “good wombs have borne bad sons.”

• Eric and Dylan had a “distraction” bomb in a field roughly 3 miles away. The original plan was that cops would be called to that location rather than Columbine. It failed to go off, but if it had (as well as the various bombs placed around the school) the death toll would have been much higher.

• The only reason the bombs failed was because of one object. The alarm clocks they used, which usually contain metal, had been switched to a plastic part by the manufacturer. The metal part is what was needed to make the bombs go off.

• This one is quite well known, but there’s a theory that Rachel was doomed regardless. Two years after Columbine, the subway she worked at had two people murdered inside of it- one, an employee, and the other, his girlfriend. They both attended Columbine. The killer was never found, and nobody else was injured. “Subway Murders Columbine” if you’d like to read more about this.

# Thank you for reading! I’m not sure how much of these facts are “lesser known” but I very rarely see people talk about them, if at all, so I thought I’d bring them up. If you have any questions about these, feel free to let me know, I will do my best to answer them. I genuinely have forgotten how to grow a following on here, I’m getting desperate.

[mysaddle]

HORRIBLE SLASH EXCELLENT NEWS EVERONE!1!!

The AWESOME news

Ais merch is here!! The lanyard looks great tbh, I’m leaving it on my bag!! He’s first in line for the merch so stay tuned for more characters !

MY TUMBLRERS GET A 10% DISCOUNT FROM NOW TO THE END OF OCTOBER !!!! =) use the code CHARMED at checkout !!! I’m only running the sale now while I get some first reviews in!!

Btw, if you are international (im shipping from the US) please contact me here instead of going to Etsy!!!

Here’s more pics

Ok now the BAD STUPIFD news..

I farked up so bad on the double charms !!

My beel charms were kinda small, okay? I wanted the design for this one to be more visible so I went a step bigger. Literally 0.5 inches bigger which was the smallest increment you can increase. And it ended up SO BIG THAT THE CHARMS LITERALLY CANT FIT THROUGH THE LOOP AND YOU CANT SECURE IT TO ANYTBING. And im SO DEVESTATED because the Princess charm is SO FREAKING CUTEEE 😭 so, im going to talk to the manufacturer and see if I can get some longer attachments sent to me so they can work!! In the meantime I wanted to show you what the charms look like anyway so you can stay tuned if you’d like. LOOK AT PRINCESS. IM SO SAD I FEEL SO STUPID

[dcdreamblog]

Followup, the Joker has claimed a few times that he was the original Red Hood--do you think there's any credibility to that?

Am I placing much historical stock in one of the many, MANY manifestos written by a murderous sociopath? No honestly I can't say that I am. Thankfully, I do not have to because as any Gothamite will tell you, the Joker is not as slick as he likes to think he is. SO, let's talk some dates and times.

(The Ace Chemical Process Planet located in Gotham City, NJ) The raid/robbery that The Joker cites as his "one bad day" in his manifesto DID happen. That much is a matter of public record. Generally, here is how it went down.

(All times are taken in EST)

2:00 AM: The Gang makes their way, unnoticed into the factory's central processing area

2:02 AM: The Gang's gunmen are spotted by Ace security, a call to the GCPD is made and the security guards open fire against police advice.

2:03-2:15 AM: Most of the Gang members are killed in the resulting firefight before the police arrive outside the building. Leaving only "Red Hood One" the Gang's assumed leader.

2:16 AM: Batman arrives on the scene, breaking through the skylight of the processing area. His presence is noted entering the building by the GCPD and within the plant by Ace security

2:17-2:20 AM: Batman and Red Hood One engage in a short scuffle and chase through the processing plant, eventually ending up on a catwalk overhanging vats of caustic chemicals. Red Hood One is characterized as "nervous", "jittery" and "terrified" by Ace security

2:21 AM: Red Hood One backs up against the railing of the catwalk, seemingly over committing his weight he falls backwards over the railing. Batman lunges forward in an attempt to catch him but Red Hood One's loose evening glove slips free and he tumbles into the vat below.

2:25 AM: GCPD arrives on the scene, all members of the Red Hood Gang are marked DOA by paramedics.

1 Week: The tanks are drained in full, their contents and the drainage pipes, outflow stream and factory grounds are searched. Red Hood One's body is never recovered. Ace Chemical releases a statement saying that full immersion in the chemicals within the vat is "incompatible with human life". On their advice, Red Hood One is declared legally dead, his identity never established.

1 Month: His single evening glove is left in a sealed evidence bag on the desk of Gotham's then new police commissioner, Jim Gordon. This is taken as evidence that even Batman has declared the case cold.

4 Months: The Joker makes his first public appearance, attempting to release toxic chemicals into the Gotham reservoir. After his defeat and arrest, the chemicals are tested. They are the same chemical from the vats at the Ace Chemical Planet where Red Hood One went missing. The chemical is not publically available for purchase and is a controlled substance, meaning it is only purchasable in bulk for corporate and government manufacturing. This means the only missing batch is the one drained from the vats to search for Red Hood One's body.

It's that last detail that I think will leave this door open until the end of time. Famously as it has been noted though, it's impossible to prove beyond circumstantial evidence.

The Joker has no fingerprints (consistent with them being burned off, which is a common enough criminal tactic that it doesn't prove anything), dental and DNA records matching his own do not exist on any public database.

If Red Hood One left skin, hair or prints on the inside of that glove it's not in the case file and Batman's not telling.

[feyhunter78]

Pink Pastels Pt 18

Description: Miguel deals with Todd, and has a late night visitor—you.

Pt 19

The purr of car engines overhead, the slight rattling of the bridge, the coos of pigeons and the soft lapping of the waves fills Miguel's ears as he stares down at the waterlogged corpse at his feet.

“Lyla, how many people know about this?”

“About the mauled body of your new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend?” Lyla smirks, her heart shaped sunglasses low on her nose as she observes the scene.

Miguel sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “Lyla, please just answer my question.”

“Just a few displaced people along the river, the Swedish shipping vessel that reported the sighting, and the Coast Guard has the call record, but since you got lucky with the currents and since I made a few more urgent calls to the Coast Guard, they haven't set eyes on him yet.” She tells him, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Thank you.” He says as he zips up the body bag and tosses it over his shoulder.

“So, what are you going to do with him?” She asks, flickering in and out of his masked vision.

“Acid.”

“Acid? Lame.” Lyla huffs.

He snorts. “It's quick, efficient, and less likely to leave a trace.”

“Yeah, but wasn't he like a total dick to y/n?”

He grunts in response as he swings through the city until he finds the disposal grounds of Janson Inc, the manufacturing company you mentioned Todd works for.

“I mean, I thought you'd go way more psycho than you did.” She says, laughter on the horizon of her tone.

“Lyla” He warns, as he heaves the body bag containing Todd into the acid, watching with no small amount of satisfaction as the fabric, flesh, and bone dissolve.

“Ok, ok, I'm just saying, I think I know you pretty well and-”

“I want him forgotten, I want y/n to forget about him.”

Lyla says nothing for a moment, then sighs heavily. “Miguel…you know it doesn't work like that. You might have been able to easily replace this universe's version of you, but that doesn't mean you can just as easily replace Todd.”

Miguel turns from the acid, the surrounding area bathed in a sickly green glow. “I know.”

“And you know y/n's different from Ana, Xina, Dana, and even Tempest, she cares about you, about Gabi. She really cares about Gabi. She's not just going to jump you now that her ex-boyfriend is gone. She's going to weigh the consequences.”

A smirk tugs at his lips, and for a moment his mind supplies him with the memory of you begging for him, his name on your lips like a fervent plea as you fall apart on his thigh. Of the way your eyes linger on his lips, how you reached for him in the doorway of your apartment.

He grunts in response. He knows you, better than you know he does, better than Todd did, perhaps better than anyone else in the world. You'll weigh the consequences, but that doesn't mean he can't try to lighten the load.

“Okay, Mr. Stupid and Silent, don't believe me. It's your funeral.” Lyla huffs before her form flickers out, and he's left alone in the dark.

Miguel unlocks the door to his apartment and silently pads through the quiet space.

Gabi's asleep, he knows this. You're asleep, he knows this. He should also be asleep, but he's filled with a nameless emotion--an anxious energy raging against the edges of sleep that are threatening to creep in on him.

He sits at his desk, flipping through security feeds, ensuring there's no record of him. He's clean, there's no trace of him or Todd.

He was smart, made sure no one would see when he broke into Todd's apartment and knocked him out.

No one noticed as he carried Todd's unconscious body to an abandoned warehouse, and no one heard Todd's screams as he tore into him, leaving him a mangled mess that Miguel finally dangled him off the bridge.

He watched unflinching as Todd plummeted. The sound of Todd's body slamming into the water echoed off the banks, and Miguel waited until he sank to return to his apartment.

No one would ever know. He got away clean.

“Hey Boss? Y/N's here.” Lyla says, her words hitting him a millisecond before he hears your soft knocking on his door.

He bolts up, running a hand through his hair and checking his appearance in the hall mirror before he swings open the door to see you. Perfect, perfect you.

Your hair is loose, hanging free, and you're clad in fuzzy socks and an oversized sweatshirt.

Are you wearing pants under that? Shorts? Is this a seduction tactic? Because it's working.

“Hey, I'm sorry, I know it's late, but I just...” You wave your hands helplessly, your nails are pink, a pretty pearlescent pink.

He reaches out to catch one of your hands in one of his, squeezing it slightly. “Don't apologize, I’m more than willing to help, whatever it is.”

You give him an embarrassed smile. “Okay, so, it's a new apartment and I swear I keep hearing all these noises, and I know it’s childish but...would you come and take a look? Make sure there's nothing there?”

He's in love with you, fully, completely, unreservedly.

“Of course, y/n, I felt the same way when I moved in. The building is a bit older, there are lots of creaks and groans.”

He follows you to your apartment as he says this, and you look back at him in surprise. “You were scared?”

He chuckles sheepishly. “Actually, Gabi was, I just wanted to make you feel better.”

You smile and duck your head. “I appreciate the effort."

You hold the door open for him, then stand in your lit kitchen, your arms wrapped around yourself. Your bare thighs are exposed by the rising fabric of your sweatshirt, and he averts his eyes. 

He strangles his desire to sink to his knees and grip the soft flesh of your thighs, to wrench them apart and bury his face between them. To watch you come apart on his tongue as the sounds of your pleas and moans fill the air.

“I feel like I heard something near the balcony. You say, tearing him from his thoughts.

“I’ll go check.” He tells you, making his way towards your balcony, his senses on high alert even though he knows there's nothing.

It's an older building, Gabi was scared when they first moved in, that much is true. But there's nothing to be scared of, he's ensured that. In fact, this building, this block might be the safest in all of Nueva York.

Miguel throws open your balcony door and makes a show of checking every inch. He's rewarded by your soft laugh.

“All clear?” You take a half step forward, a smile playing at your lips, the lingering traces of sleep still gracing your expression.

“All clear. Anywhere else you want me to check?”

You nod towards your bedroom. “I swear I heard shuffling in my bathroom.”

He waits at your door, looking back at you. “Through here?”

You breeze past him and sit cross-legged on the edge of your bed. “The door on the left.”

He pushes the door open and flicks on the light. He's seen this room already, through your necklace, but standing there, on your plush, pastel purple bath mat, looking into your mirror, the mirror he's admired your bare body in, sends him into a tailspin.

“You see anything?” You call softly.

He shakes his head. “Nothing, no monsters lurking in between your towels.

“I didn't think there were monsters." You mumble, padding over to him, your scent hitting him like a freight train.

Has it always been this strong, or was it because he's in your home and everything around him screams y/n?

He inhales deeply, his fingers curling around the edge of your sink, his eyes closed as he fights to calm himself.

“Miguel? Are you okay?” You ask, placing a hand on his bicep.

He pulls you forward, pressing your back against the sink, his arms on either side caging you in.

You look up at him with an adorable expression of surprise, as if you hadn't seen his agility when he was disguised as Spiderman. “Miguel?”

He steels himself, even as he feels the plaster of your sink give beneath his fingers. He'll fix that later.

“Pancakes or French Toast?”

“I'm sorry?” You ask stunned.

“For breakfast, cariño, which would you prefer?” He forces the words out, prays they're smooth and unassuming.

You smile up at him, and he feels his stomach flip. It's a childish thing, for a small smile to affect him this way.

“Oh, pancakes please, and I can help you cook if you need.”

You're so sweet.

“No, no, mi vida, I'm cooking. All you need to do is keep me company.”

Your eyes follow the movement of his lips, and his nostrils flare when he smells the arousal wafting off you.

“Are you sure? I really don't mind.” You insist, palms resting against his chest.

He leans down and presses a fleeting kiss to your forehead. “I'm sure, now goodnight y/n.”

Then he leaves you there and heads back to his apartment, his head spinning, your scent still lingering around him.

Taglist: @miggyoharaswife, @badbishsblog, @imisshim2much, @wanderlustingcastaway, @lynn-9703, @sleepyamaya, @erensbbg, @sweetea85, @ilovemiguelohara, @natthernandez, @stxrrielle, @ihateuguys, @jenniferdixon05207, @blep-23, @luvisaaxoxo, @minimari415, @emerald-09, @violet-19999, @kenchosaikuo, @groovycass, @youcantseem3, @lovefks, @nightshxdex, @dusstory, @aesniri, @munsonssecretblog, @kirke-is-my-name, @starbearieee, @chatoicboy, @act1839, @needsleep3000, @totally-not-georgia, @witchy-lizard, @cxmeiloorun7, @justrandomlolidk, @chimpkinnuggies, @alicefallsintotherabbithole, @loser-alert, @wwwellacom, @ryantryan6969, @lollipopin, @youcantseem3, @a-cult-leader, @verexi, @purpleskiesandroses, @they2luv1naia, @sophiaj650, @idolautism, @rheannajrs, @merakiq, @rexs-wife, @sukaretto-n, @twilight-loveer, @f1shb0nez, @callsign-blue, @marcelineormars

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Footage from on the night of February 29th, when the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on thousands of starving Palestinians gathered for humanitarian aid on Al-Rashid street in Gaza City. 118 Palestinian civilians were killed in the massacre and more than 700 others were wounded in the attack.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚨

INVESTIGATION OF ISRAEL'S "FLOUR MASSACRE" CONFIRMS ZIONIST FORCES RESPONSIBLE FOR SHOOTING HUNDREDS OF STARVING PALESTINIANS

An investigation by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (EURO-MED) into the "Flour massacre", which saw 118 starving Palestinian civilians killed and nearly 800 wounded in what the Israeli occupation tried to blame on a "stampede," says it has produced evidence that the majority of casualties were actually caused by the firing of live Israeli bullets.

The Flour massacre occured on February 29th, 2024 near the Nabulsi roundabout on Al-Rashid street in Gaza City, where thousands of hungry Palestinian families gathered for the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy carrying food to starving crowds that desperately needed sustenance.

Soon after the trucks arrived, gunfire erupted, including tracer rounds which could be seen in video evidence taken at the time, causing thousands of civilians to panic, running off in different directions in search for shelter.

The Israeli occupation authorities used heavily edited clips of night vision drone video to argue that nearly a thousand Palestinian casualties were a result of a stampede after Israeli forces fired rifles into the air to defend themselves from defenseless civilians desperate for food, whom they claim were looting the free food being distributed to the crowds.

So senseless was Israel's explanations for the atrocity, that even CNN's Christiane Amanpour, a normally deferential TV commentator who rarely resists the official narratives of the Israeli occupation, had to push back against Israeli officials on U.S. national television.

But a newly published report by the Geneva-based human rights organization, Euro-Med Monitor, says that many of casualties were in fact the result of the firing of live bullets that have been forensically analyzed and found to match those used by Israeli soldiers.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, "Many victims of the massacre" actually suffered injuries from "5.56x45mm NATO bullets," adding that, "this is a type of bullet fired from Israeli army weapons."

"A sample of 200 dead and injured victims revealed that they were indeed hit by this type of bullet, and that the bullets were discovered and examined at the massacre site along with shrapnel found in the bodies of the wounded and dead," Euro-Med said in its report.

After carrying out a forensic analysis of the type of bullets used, Euro-Med says it "discovered that [this type of bullet] is discharged from assault rifles like the M4 and Tavor, along with machine guns," specifically "light machine gun[s] or LMG" such as the "IWI Negev."

Euro-Med says its research "revealed that 5.56×45mm ammunition is a basic FMJ bullet used by the Israeli army."

"This type of bullet is imported from the United Kingdom on occasion, produced in 2020/2022, and licensed for use by the Israeli Ministry of Defense," the human rights organization said of its analysis.

Euro-Med added that the bullet "is also manufactured in Israel by IMI SYSTEMS," an Israeli company which manufactures weapons, ammunition and other military technologies, and "regularly supplies them to the Israeli security forces, including the Israeli army."

Citing testimony by Muhammad Yasser Washah, a local 17-year-old resident of Gaza City's Al-Sabra neighborhood who was present for the Flour massacre, along with its own analysis, Euro-Med said it retrieved a bullet lodged in the youths jacket after going through the bag of flour he had been carrying on the night of the atrocity.

After analyzing the bullet pulled from Washah's jacket, Euro-Med discovered that its "form and dimensions were identical" to the bullets mentioned previously, though this particular bullet is designed to penetrate several millimeters of solid steel.

Euro-Med recorded testimony from several witnesses to the horrific massacre, putting together a timeline for the events of that night.

According to witnesses, the Zionist army began "directly shooting at civilians" as they waited for food aid at "approximately 4:10am" on Thursday, February 29th.

By 5:30am, the Israeli occupation forces "raided the entire gathering, where many people were lying injured, killed or were attempting to flee."

Euro-Med says that many people were taken into custody by the occupation's soldiers, others were forced to flee south, while some "Israeli forces directly executed others and left their bodies on a nearby beach."

According to testimony given by a witness who asked for anonymity, Euro-Med quoted the witness as saying, "We were shocked when Israeli soldiers showed up and took a group of young men from Gaza [City]."

The witness added that “While the majority of them were fleeing to the beach, some were at the Nabulsi roundabout, others were evacuated to the south, and still others were killed and left on the beach.”

The witness also detailed the fate of a doctor named Muhammad Awad who had been detained by Israeli soldiers but was released soon thereafter, “he moved several steps away, they opened fire on him and wounded him in the shoulder…We were under siege until 6:30 am, and the injured were pleading with us not to leave them…The food and flour were covered in blood when I left."

A second witness who works as volunteer paramedic also asked for anonymity fearing retaliation. That witness told Euro-Med “In the hopes of receiving assistance, I went to the Nabulsi roundabout. As a precaution, I brought a first aid bag with me because I knew that similar incidents had resulted in shootings.”

The witness explained how shortly before 4:30am, the humanitarian aid trucks "passed the checkpoint and the Israeli army started firing, throwing stun grenades and smoke bombs" as an Israeli tank advanced towards the crowd.

“I treated several injured people with first aid. I discovered that some had suffered injuries to their chests, while others had suffered injuries to their limbs," the witness recounted, adding that, "while I was trying to pull out one of the injured people, the tank came forward, and I was forced to flee the scene." The witness concluded by saying, “there was a large number of dead and injured people.”

Euro-Med Monitor goes on to lay out four "key pieces of evidence confirming the Israeli army's involvement in the killing and wounding of starving civilians," including signs of injuries on the bodies of the dead and wounded, footage released by the Israeli occupation authorities themselves, as well as "audible evidence of gunfire emenating from Israeli tanks positioned near the coast."

The Human Rights organization also pointed to video evidence published by the Zionist occupation, which despite being heavily edited, shows the "sheer panic and intimidation that struck all of the civilians present - including those relatively far away from the aid trucks - and pushed them to flee in all directions in order to seek shelter."

Euro-Med also warned that Israeli shootings of starving Palestinian civilians attempting to receive humanitarian aid has "become a regular practice."

The organization stated that over the last few weeks, "Israeli forces have directly attacked and killed dozens of people in Gaza City, including on Salah al-Din Street and in the vicinity of the Kuwait roundabout, where it has occurred no less than twice since the Flour Massacre."

The most recent example of this kind of attack came just last night when, according to Euro-Med Monitor, "many civilians were injured by Israeli violence near the Kuwait roundabout."

The Euro-Med report goes on to slam the Israeli occupation for "starving the people of Gaza, killing the starving people, and obstructing the entry and distribution of humanitarian supplies, especially in Gaza City and the northern Strip, demonstrat[ing] Israel’s aim of forcibly displacing the Palestinian people there as part of its genocide, ongoing since 7 October 2023."

The investigation goes on emphasize that the Zionist army's "extrajudicial executions and intentional killings of Palestinian civilians" who have not taken part in the hostilities, "amounts to serious violations of International humanitarian law," and are considered "war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."

"These crimes, which Israel has been committing against the Gaza Strip’s people since 7 October, violate the right of Palestinians to life in accordance with international human rights law, and constitute acts of genocide," the Human Rights group added.

Euro-Med concludes it's report by urging the international community to take action to "force Israel to halt its starvation campaign" against civilians in the Gaza Strip, "in order to prevent the impending catastrophe of mass famine there, and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and grave violations against the Strip and all of its Palestinian residents."

The Geneva-based human rights organization also issued a call for a "more effective and decisive" international intervention to "ensure the safe, complete, and reliable delivery of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip without any hindrance," and "thus guarantee the provision of and access to" basic goods and services desperately needed by the starving population in the Palestinian enclave.

#source

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[adnauseum11]

Operational Risk Management (John Price x Reader)

Kate calls with some bad news.

1k words

CW: swearing, military inaccuracies

This work is part of the S.N.A.F.U. series, master list also pinned to my blog.

Masterlist

Ao3

John’s phone lights up in the center console with an incoming call just as you are returning to the flat. Two hefty shopping bags of new glitter-less decorations are safely secured in the back seat. His patience ran out about half-way back from your excursion, locked in a snarl of holiday traffic. When he began to grumble about the lack of common sense on display, you reminded him that he wanted to tag along with you. The look he gave you afterwards was dark, but you didn’t let it faze you, used as you are to his intermittent grumpiness. Still, you’re happy to claim your spoils and clear off so he can take his phone call in peace, his annoyance doing nothing to dampen your spirit. 

“Hello?” 

John’s tone is curt. The familiar sound of chopper blades swells and then he can hear Kate over the staticky line, immediately picturing her cupping her hand over the bottom of the phone as she clears the rotors. 

“John? Got some news, you aren’t going to like it. Can you talk?” 

She’s moving, likely just landed. John’s brain is leaping ahead, trying to fill in the gaps. 

“Yeah. What happened? Gaz alright?”

Kate cuts straight to the chase, apparently no time to waste on pleasantries. 

“The commander Gaz is working under is a younger brother to man killed in Las Almas - belonged to Shadow Company. He’s leveraged his position with Norris to start knocking on doors to find out what happened to his brother and he’s managed to get enough intel to hold the 141 responsible.”

“Jesus Christ Laswell.”

John’s palm comes down with a slap on the steering wheel, his mood worsening. He can feel his blood pressure rising as Kate’s terse voice washes over him.

“I suspect Norris is feeding him information. We’re going to keep working on that end, see if we can confirm anything. When you turned down the contract and that photo popped up, he tried a different path. The commander did basic training with your girl’s would-be-assailant years ago, before the dishonourable discharge. We think he’s currently switching tack again. Gaz is obviously compromised, and they’re about to ship out.”

“Ah hell Kate.” 

John’s violently pushing his fingers through his hair, the implications of Gaz being in the thick of this commander’s operation making his stomach turn to lead. 

“I didn’t know John, didn’t think Norris’ men needed further vetting. Lesson learned. I’ve got a potential intercept point. Right now, we’re handling some rendezvous communications for them as we’ve got friendlies in the field, Gaz being one. They’re going to be sent to recon a chemical manufacture plant in Lithuania for a potential raid.”

Kate’s tone suggests she’s well aware of her fuck up, and John respects her enough to leave it there, satisfied with her acknowledgement.

“There’s got to be a vulnerability we can exploit to get Gaz to safety.”

John’s instinct is to plan, even without any intel yet.

“Ghost is planning an avenue of approach for the potential intercept point before whatever the commander is up to comes to fruition out there. We urgently could use an extra set of hands in the know, Captain. Timing is critical here. Gaz’s assigned taskforce won’t be expecting us. If we do this correctly, we can bury this for good with no one the wiser.”

John looks up at the flat, can almost picture you flitting around, rearranging items to account for your new prizes. His heart sinks as he makes the only decision his conscience will allow. 

“Yeah, my bag is mostly packed. I can be at the base in a few hours for pick up if you can arrange liaison.”

Kate asks the question he’s been dreading since this conversation started. He can guess at the outcome and is in no hurry to be proven right. 

“Your girl going to be ok with the last-minute change of holiday plans?”

At the mention of you, John’s brain immediately pulls the image of you naked in the shower, flushed from the orgasm he’d just given you, admitting you’re in love. The center of his chest aches at the thought of leaving you alone during the holiday you’re so obviously excited to share with him. At one point, early on, he was confident that he knew exactly what he was doing. His emotions lately tended to be out of control and headlong, almost impossible to moderate. After years of relentlessly telling himself it was better to keep his distance, to stay platonic, he’s finally getting what he’s coveted after all this time. And still, he can’t stop his greedy heart from wanting more. He fights back the uncharacteristic swell of emotion and clears his throat, refocusing on the conversation at hand.

“I’ll handle it. Not leaving anything this volatile for someone else to clean up. I want assurance it’s over.” 

“If you’re sure. You’ve been moving fast with this woman John. I’m assuming you know what you’re doing here.”

His laugh is dark, the sound of a man whose best laid plans are unravelling in front of his eyes. 

“Gaz would do the same. I’ll sort it out on my end, set up the liaison for 19:00.”

John is all business, putting any indecision firmly to rest in short order.

“We appreciate the assist; I’ll debrief you further once you’re on route. And John?”

“Yeah?” 

He’s preoccupied, already trying to work out how to explain what’s about to happen to the woman he loves.

“Good luck, hope you bought her something nice.”

Kate’s tone is a mix of gentle teasing and honest concern. John’s foul mood refuses to rise to the occasion.

“Piss off Laswell.”

John grates out before hanging up the call and sighing deeply, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He shouts a handful of curses into the empty car, grateful for a mostly vacant street to witness his outburst. He takes several deep breaths to gather himself again before stepping out of the car to rejoin you in the flat and break the news.

Next Chapter

Tag list:

@deadbranch @beebeechaos @cadotoast @writeforfandoms @syoddeye @itr-00 @chloepluto1306 @batw3nch

[omflex]

Many customers are concerned about the environmental impact of plastic courier bags. Offering eco-friendly options such as Compostable biodegradable bags can help manufacturers to cater to this market segment. Omflex offer a wide range of products, including tamper-evident bags, deposit bags, coin bags, and currency straps.

[precious-silly-thing]

there is nothing more American than the artist. the artist is the ideal American because for the artist, freedom is the highest expression of human potential. the preponderance of gig labor points to everything becoming art and everyone becoming artists. Free time mutates from a circumstance of leisure necessary to the conditions for making art, into a material one bargains with to secure employment. there is always time to kill. one learns to use their idleness as a weapon. why not learn crochet, take up woodworking, painting, graphic design, tattooing? having multiple bags provides the illusion of overcoming (what we can loosely define as) Marxist alienation. this is what is so desirable about being an artist—sentimentality, nostalgia, and identity falsify a connection with the product of one’s labor. something about one’s story is embedded in the object, surely this differentiates it from the mass-manufactured good. narrative is our greatest nervine, but we are still working to live. the terms of the agreement have shifted but the conditions are the same. historically, the artist is at odds with the worker. the artist pursues all the abandon of youth, the worker forfeits those dreams in the name of rationality and reliability. Bacchanalia never ends for the artist: prolonged intoxication becomes indistinguishable from sobriety. there is nothing more American than making one’s dreams come true. one can’t just stop there: there is nothing more American than living in one’s own dream. all the Americans I know are becoming artists, because the artist is the logical conclusion of the worker: reenchantment with the invention capable of one’s hands.

[littlesliceofimmortality]

got some goodies from a new manufacturing company ive been wanting to try - melodycharms! :-] VERY happy with how they look

longer review & closeups under cut

OKAY so. ive been an avid vograce customer and supporter for the past few years, always recommending it to friends when asked, & have made consistent sales when working with them to make stuff for my shop

the only reason why i wanted to try another company was that their minimum order number is 3 for most products - which is a bit inconvenient when you just wanna get something for yourself

& melodycharms has the option to get only one! i got:

a double sided holographic keychain

a series connection keychain

a rainbow acrylic keychain, &

a "gold edge" keychain

it had a quick turnaround of only about a month, which is impressive considering it shipped from china to america

FIRST IMPRESSIONS : the box was securely packaged & easy to open! the thank you note is super cute ALBIET a bit too large, crinkling the edges. came with a melody sticker as well!

each keychain had a film, was then wrapped in a bag individually, and then they were all put in ANOTHER crinkly bag. lots of trash (fun to open, not as fun for the environment)

DOUBLE SIDED HOLOGRAPHIC KEYCHAIN

i got the broken glass variety only on the front (callums) side, which gives a SUPER cool effect when looking at it from the back. only negative effect is that the colors on the front are a bit duller in comparison, since the acrylic is thicker

SERIES CONNECTION KEYCHAIN

i dont know if i accidentally ordered two or they accidentally gave me two, BUT excellent surprise nonetheless! they look how i imagined, no complaints :-)

RAINBOW ACRYLIC KEYCHAIN

oooh yeah baby. SUPER happy with how this came out. i left the tv screen transparent on the image it sent, and it translated PERFECTLY to the semi transparent background. photos dont do it enough justice 10/10

GOLD EDGE KEYCHAIN

aah this one was less exciting to receive.. on the website, it looks like a raised, metallic edge on the keychain. in real life, its more like a flat outline. it reflects light like the rest of the keychain - but doesnt have the metallic golden look, instead just seeming yellow

additionally, it came without the accessory keychain so i cant hang it on my bag yet :-( i reached out to melody via their live chat, & got a reply within the 24 hours saying theyd send a replacement though

OVERALL : id rate melodycharms a 3.5/5! they get knocked for a mistake, no company is except from a whoopsie daisy - they were very kind and apologetic when i responded which matters more & i appreciate alot

[grunklejam]

NEW TO NOT S&P APPROVED

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A 40mm wooden pin badge made of 4mm thick sustainably sourced wood - with a gold locking pin-back - of Gravity Falls' most iconic location: The Mystery Shack.

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Maple-veneered MDF, sourced from fast-growing, sustainable forests

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Printed backing card with recycled, compostable plastic bag

Manufactured in the UK

[batsplat]

“So funny how again in early 2008 there’s an argument to me made that Valentino was the LEAST annoyed with him of the four” ooh what was the Casey / Jorge beef of 08?? I didn’t think those two had any!! Actually would you be willing to go thru all the Jorge beefs of that year briefly? Ik you’ve done him & Dovi and him & Vale a lot more in depth but I’m curious about Casey and Dani…ik some of the Dani stuff but I don’t really get the WHY of it hahaha

okay I've started and gotten stuck on writing a post about casey and jorge's relationship way too often by this point BUT if we're just localising it to early 2008 that's WAY more doable. jorge lorenzo early 2008 drama corner coming right up

Some people think he's - not a show off, but he's a little bit arrogant. Actually he's a really nice guy, isn't he, he needs that bit of arrogance because - when you're on the edge as he is, that's what makes him the champion, the way he is.

^Qatar 2008 commentary excerpt

just as a quick summary of the time span we're talking about. casey is the defending champion, looks scary good pre-season testing, but ducati gets a bit lost after the opening round and he has some pretty messy races. valentino has made the very very high-profile controversial decision to walk away from the tyre manufacturer that had bagged him all his premier class titles and move to casey's bridgestones, which is what necessitates the wall in the yamaha garage. if this goes wrong, if he just loses to his rivals purely on merit, it might actually be over for him. dani was the bloke who was supposed to have casey's 2007 season on the lighter 800cc bikes everyone believed would favour him, and now has something to prove. jorge and dovi are both rookies in the class, having fought it out for two years in the 250cc class. jorge won both titles, albeit on clearly superior machinery to dovi's

here's the opening few rounds (though most of this will be just about the first four):

jorge secures the first three pole positions of the season and wins his first race in estoril. after three rounds, him and dani are exactly tied in the standings - not just in points, but also in countback since they've both had a p1, a p2, and a p3. valentino had a meh first race at qatar after leading at one point, AND is overtaken on the final lap by dovi... but gradually makes progress with the tyres - and by shanghai, everything's clicked. by contrast, jorge's fortunes take a nosedive in shanghai, with a truly massive highside during practise. he rallies and manages to take a fourth in shanghai and a second in le mans (this is the podium where he's on crutches and valentino ends up sitting on his lap for the podium photo)... but after that things go from bad to worse as he has a series of painful, demoralising and confidence-sapping crashes, including one that forces him to withdraw entirely from his home race at catalunya. by this point, he is firmly out of the title hunt - and catalunya is also the race where the season swings back in casey's favour, with the post-race test doing wonders for the ducati. which is where the build-up to laguna starts in earnest

so! with all that context in mind! here's some photos from pre-season at jerez:

I'm sure the photographers just missed the extensive discussions valentino was having with jorge sitting next to him

right then. let's take them in order. jorge/valentino had quite a bit of attached hype to it, where people looked at jorge, looked at valentino, rubbed their hands and went 'surely this isn't going to go well'. (this would've been me.) this energy, right:

This was all done, of course, because Yamaha were fearing, and MotoGP fans were looking forward to, a potential clash between Lorenzo and his team mate, the equally flamboyant Valentino Rossi. But so far, all has been peace and light in the Yamaha garage, a situation possibly helped by the huge wall splitting the garage in two.

(just to give you a sense of how keen everyone was to get things kicked off between those two, the commentators are talking about valentino edging ahead of jorge on the sighting lap of qatar 2008 to take his grid slot first as "just a bit of psychology". like people were ready for these two to go to war)

and there's plenty of evidence that suggests valentino took an immediate disliking to jorge that went beyond just seeing him as internal competition. it's quite likely valentino tried to keep him out of the factory yamaha team, though probably less nefarious plotting and more 'asking yamaha to please not do it'. once he lost that particular war, however, valentino's approach was mostly just not to engage with jorge at all. no stress, no drama, limit both his levels of personal irritation and jorge's opportunities to learn from him. early 2008 valentino also had very 'we move in silence' energy, he's really just working away at getting to grips with the tyres and generating little drama of his own accord. doesn't panic at the adjustment period to the bridgestones or about how his rookie teammate seems to have the better of him in the early rounds... it's obvious by his reaction to winning the race at shanghai how much this meant to him, but he's mostly been shutting up and getting on with it. and while jorge was going on his little drama tour, he was actually at pains not to be publicly starting shit with valentino:

Lorenzo was much kinder to the man he was expected to be at war with. “I see the press and hear what people say, and they have already decided to bury him,” said Lorenzo. “He finished 5th on tires which, apparently, weren’t going very well in the conditions. I think he will be fighting for the win at Jerez, and will be winning races soon enough. I don’t believe that he has dropped his game.”

though obviously valentino won't have been particularly thrilled by jorge getting a win before he did - and I suspect jorge did secretly think he might already have the better of his legendary teammate... way more on that teammate dynamic here, including context for the dynamic headed into 2008

^Post-Estoril 2008

tbh the vibe you get from watching 2008 is that valentino wasn't really thinking about jorge all that much, even during the first few races of the season. if anything, his delight at jerez and estoril kinda makes you feel like he was still primarily preoccupied with casey's results. as long as he felt like he was making progress on the tyres and casey wasn't building up an unassailable points lead, everything else could work itself out

Some say there's bad blood between them, they both say they get on fine together - I've seen them chatting in press conferences all right, but I think there is a little bit of needle between the two of them.

^Qatar 2008 commentary excerpt

moving on. jorge/dovi didn't have anything specific early 2008, but I just sort of assume dovi had this constant low level of annoyance towards jorge - especially immediately off the back of two title fights. he beats out valentino in this list by having had more actual encounters with jorge and more time to build up genuine antipathy. reading between the lines for their dynamic that year... well, they were competing to be the best rookie in the class - and you could argue that contest was way closer than it had any right to be, given the disparity in machinery. jorge the chosen boy on a factory yamaha, dovi scrapping it out on a satellite honda (interestingly, the disparity is described here as lesser than what they had in 250cc). also, fun fact: jorge's first race crash in motogp comes when he's fighting dovi at mugello. dovi had a front row seat, wonder if he enjoyed that

on to casey/jorge. so, I'm going to present these tidbits in a sensible chronological fashion, but I just want to say that I came across them in a completely different order. very different experience. I read casey's autobiography early enough in my motogp journey that I just sort of took him at his word with way too much of what he was saying. so my initial reaction to the early 2008 jorge stuff was going 'lol jorge what a prat' and going about my business. anyways. just thought I'd mention that!

anyhow, obviously these two had already had a few run-ins in the lower categories, including that assen 2004 incident where jorge kinda runs casey off track during the last lap that casey did not take kindly to. AND perhaps the first record we've got of valentino acknowledging casey and jorge's existence!! really fond of that clip idk, something about his 'those crazy kids' energy obviously is a bit ironic with benefit of hindsight

moving on to 2008. here's casey on jorge's chances of making an immediate impact, around a week before qatar:

Ducati’s Casey Stoner, who won 10 races in a dominant 2007 season, said: “We’ll have to see what happens with Jorge. “He has proven himself very fast in 250s by being double world champion. He is obviously a very fast rider and he is learning very quickly with the Yamaha. “But I think it is also very, very difficult to beat what Dani did in his first race in MotoGP. “To finish second in your first race is truly amazing, so I think it is very difficult.”

nothing egregious, I think we can all agree. though the direct comparison with dani probably won't have been particularly welcome. but just keep this in mind when you read the next few bits!

and here, from the qatar 2008 commentary:

And Stoner actually talked about Lorenzo, didn't he, in the pre-event conference - saying, I'm not sure Lorenzo will be able to challenge for the title. He may change his opinion about that after seeing the race here today, but he felt the challenge was more from Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

ended up being correct, but did he HAVE to say it... aged poorly for the first month or so, you'd have to say. knowing jorge, I don't feel like it's a stretch to say he was motivaed to prove casey wrong lol

as we've already established from this clip, unlike dani and jorge they were at least on speaking terms at jerez

^Jerez 2008 pre-event press conference

casey has a messy pair of races at jerez and estoril, which brings us to shanghai - where, as said at the top, jorge and dani were joint championship leaders. let's bring in a press conference clip!

The season started in Qatar. [...] points - anyway, the riders that do not have good results, they say it starts now. The riders that started good... say that, what I am saying, so... For sure for Casey, starts now.

oh no. jorge. oh you've really done it now. off-hand remark right at the end... bit of hesitation but he just can't help himself. you CANNOT say something like that about casey. he will literally never forget this

and luckily, we know that casey would never forget this - because this incident makes it all the way to his autobiography! here we go:

Despite my first impressions of Jorge in the 125ccs I got on pretty well with him during our days together in the 250cc class but after winning the World Championship in that category twice he seemed to me to have become arrogant beyond belief. I remember after Estoril he said something to Livio like, 'What happened to Stoner? A problem with the head?' He seemed to think he'd broken me in that race and that I was weak minded. He thought his success was the reason for my poor results and clearly had no idea about the problems we had with the camera, not to mention the bike. A couple of weeks later we were in the pre-event conference in Shanghai and Jorge made a smart remark like, 'Maybe the championship starts now for Stoner.' I couldn't believe it and I'd never known such arrogance before. But what Jorge didn't realise at the time was that his confidence, generated by his impressively fast adjustment to riding a MotoGP bike, was a big reason he was so quick in those early races. Confidence is an incredibly powerful tool in elite level sport but it can also be very dangerous, especially in motorcycle racing. He hadn't learnt that yet, but he would.

okay. so. obviously jorge had managed to accidentally stumble across the number one way to get under casey's skin - by implying he was mentally weak. pretty much the worst thing you can say about casey, like yeah you've found the thing he's most sensitive about. congrats. and the shanghai remark was probably not a good idea. but if you watch that clip... I mean. it's a dumb throwaway line isn't it. this is a dumb twenty year old being a bit of a brat. high on his own success in his first few races in the premier class. now just picture casey sitting next to him, thinking that he'd NEVER KNOWN SUCH ARROGANCE BEFORE. casey, he's a rookie, you're the defending champion. and you said he probably wasn't going to be able to compete with you!! HE probably thinks YOU started it

^Shanghai 2008 pre-event press conference

and as it happens, casey doesn't stop there. because this story is what prompts a couple more paragraphs on casey's feelings on the subject of confidence in motorcycle racing, essentially using jorge's rookie season as a case study of sorts into how it can all go wrong. here's how it continues:

When a rider starts to build confidence they push the limits of the bike further and further until they find speed they thought they never had, speed that other riders find it impossible to live with. It is a fine line though. The problem is that as the level of confidence continues to increase so does the level of risk and before a rider knows it he is past the limit. Sooner or later reality bites and in motorcycle racing it bites hard. This is why I am careful to be a realist. If I know I have the tool to get the job done then I can be confident, but I am careful never to ride on confidence alone. Unfortunately for Jorge, just 48 hours after he made those remarks in China it became clear he was in over his head, literally, and he suffered one of the biggest crashes I have ever seen. In the split second he hit the ground and fractured both of his ankles he also shattered the one thing that had taken him to the top of the championship. Once his confidence was gone he had nothing left to fall back on and he couldn't have copped any more of a beating than he did that season. He had crash after crash, bringing him back to earth so hard that he seemed to become scared of the bike. For a while his results were pretty ordinary, considering the equipment he was on.

... okay. I get that they're competitors, and I get that you probably get quite desensitised to crashes if you're a motogp rider. but. uh. this does read... just a wee bit satisfied that jorge had been brought 'back to earth' by way of a series of very very nasty crashes. "clear he was in over his head, LITERALLY" is such a wild way to describe a horrendous highside. you do get just a tinge of schadenfreude about the whole thing, right. slight vibe that casey thought karmic justice had come for jorge after he'd been so arrogant towards casey

should be noted that in the next autobiography passage, casey is quite nice about jorge and essentially said he'd learned from his mistakes and become more pleasant later - plus that casey felt they were both misunderstood in different ways. given all that, though, it is interesting and fun that casey in no way backs down from his initial impression of jorge's behaviour (or if this is him backing down, it's still pretty harsh). you agree he gets misunderstood, you know he was a bit of a mess back then, but you're STILL talking about him like this! never known such arrogance before uh huh

there's also one specific story I'm choosing to leave out here beyond a brief mention - because it is pretty nasty and I'm not sure it entirely passes my own standard of evidence for a story like that. the sparknotes version is that a commentator said casey told him jorge was faking the extent of his shanghai injuries in rather forthright a manner. not out of the realm of possibility given we know casey was pissed at jorge that weekend, we know casey spoke to that commentator that weekend, and we know casey can be a bit weird about his competitors' injuries. but yeah, idk, it's so completely anecdotal that I'm not going to properly include it

and here, just to round things off, is what casey said about jorge before the le mans round:

Stoner, who raced Lorenzo previously in the 125 class, said: “I’ve been racing against the rookies for years, I know they are fast. “There is a lot testing compared to the past so when you arrive at the first race you’ve already done half a season so if they are not comfortable with the bikes by then there is something wrong. Jorge has done a good job so far but I expected this.”

did you expect this?? DID YOU EXPECT THIS?? going from saying 'yeah idk jorge probably won't be able to do what dani did' to saying 'well if he WASN'T fast already then there'd be something WRONG with him' is just classic stuff. never change, casey

on jorge's end, my sense is that he really wasn't thinking all that much about casey pre circa 2010. this is just a vibe, but I kinda feel like jorge's tell for when he doesn't really know what to make of someone is when he doesn't really talk about them all that much... including in that biography of his - where casey features comically little, given how he is like. the defending champion during jorge's rookie season. dovi gets mentioned a reasonable amount given he's kinda unavoidable, but both him and casey massively lose out when compared to dani and valentino. those latter two have Designated Roles in the jorge lorenzo story, whereas jorge just... doesn't know what to do with dovi and casey

an impression I feel is backed up by how jorge frames his viewing experience of the 2008 catalunya race in the biography

 Having watched the race from my room I would like to congratulate Dani Pedrosa for a great race. He rode the best from the start and had a perfect race. I also thought it was a nice touch that Dani showed his support for the anti-guardrail campaign. I had also planned to support the initiative because it is a great cause. Valentino also deserves congratulations for such a great fight back. I’m keen to fight for victory with both of them and if I manage to beat them one day, ‘mano a mano’, I will feel very proud. The pair of them are as different as they are difficult to beat.

who. who was valentino fighting for that second place. who was he fighting for basically the entire race in a repeat of their dramatic duel the previous year. who was the third person on that podium, jorge. who was the defending champion when you were watching that race. jorge. WHO WAS IT

that being said, we do get one short bit in jorge's biography about his early impressions of casey. and it's just too good not to include here:

'The first time I saw Stoner was in the CEV, back in 2000,' recalls Jorge. 'We looked down the entry list and spotted this really young Australian, riding a Honda. Since there were two groups we were able to take a look at him from the control tower at Albacete. He was really fast but at the same time he looked out of control. He was running wide but he kept on the throttle, giving it full gas, the bike swerving all over the place. He is aggressive, very brave and extremely talented, and he rides without fear of crashing. Having said that I think he could get a little more out of what he is doing if he was a bit more lively - if he was more in touch with the fans. He's like Doohan in that respect, but he's happy that way and each to his own, I guess.'

young jorge looking at young casey and going ?? why isn't he working to build his CHARACTER to appeal to the FANS ?? is just so beautifully in-character for both of them

anyway, yeah, that was their early 2008 vibe. jorge being kinda confused by casey but also wanting to prove himself against the defending champion - not as much as he did against dani and valentino, but he was way warier of starting shit with valentino and would never ever have said something like the shanghai thing about him. and casey with plenty of resentment in his heart, maybe chafing at jorge's golden boy status and how everyone was falling over themselves to praise jorge, consistently reserved in his own assessment of jorge - first downplaying his chances and then suggesting jorge had basically been doing the bare minimum. it's pretty likely that jorge would not remember that shanghai press remark if you asked him about it today, but there is absolutely zero chance casey doesn't. and for all that their later relationship considerably warmed later on, in part due to a shared antipathy towards valentino, that's not the kind of thing casey ever quite forgets

MOVING ON to the big guns. now, look, we're not going to get into a full history of the dani/jorge rivalry, it'd take way too long. here is another jorge biography excerpt about the early bitchiness in 2005, you've got stuff in this post about how the rivalry fit into the context of the puig/amatriain rivalry, dani also featured heavily in the motegi 2005 controversy, plus there's that time in early 2006 when mr zero world championships said "I am better than pedrosa and time will judge if I am right or not" and "maybe my rivals are a little scared of me". again, this isn't a full chronology, but they already obviously disliked each other headed into 2008

it's this dynamic of two young athletes vying for the love of their nation... with dani reserved and businesslike and very much influenced by his mentor puig (see also the puig description in this post), coming up against jorge in all his loud-mouthed brashness who is gagging for attention from anyone willing to provide it. the worst thing dani could do was ignore jorge, which is what he was always inclined to do... and jorge unsurprisingly never reacted well

In fact, the constant comparisons with Pedrosa had occasionally got to him. 'Why does Dani Pedrosa, with his boy next door image, get such good press yet I don't?' he'd asked Miguel Angel Violan. 'He used to hate that,' remembers Violan. Juanito Llansa has his own views on the matter. 'Jorge and Dani Pedrosa are completely different. They are poles apart. Dani is cold, impassive, while Jorge is vivacious, sometimes too extroverted. The thing is that Pedrosa started winning before Jorge did and we [Spain] had been going through something of a drought in terms of titles, so people had started watching motorcycle racing again because of Pedrosa. Naturally, the fans had taken to Dani more. When Jorge emerged on the scene, and started winning too, people had got used to Dani's character and thought that Jorge was too cocky. But that's just the way he is! The fans already had their hero, but then somebody totally different came along. Now the fans had to be shared out between the two.'

^Excerpt from Riveras Tobia's 'Jorge Lorenzo: My Story So Far'

'boy next door image' hm

which is how we get to early 2008, where jorge starts off his premier class career by securing pole position. and then follows that up by beating (an injured) dani to second place in the race. at which point dani commits the grievous insult of not shaking jorge's hand (x)

So it came as no surprise that Lorenzo fanned the flames of old divisions this week, complaining bitterly to the Spanish daily AS.com that Pedrosa refused to congratulate him on the podium at Qatar. “I have no interest in causing controversy,” the Spaniard told AS.com, without a hint of irony, “but if I see something that’s wrong, I say it publicly, without hesitation. I don’t like the fact that he didn’t congratulate me, but each man must do what he thinks is right. If I’d been in his place, I would have congratulated a rider who had managed to finish in 2nd place in his first race. But then, I’m not Dani Pedrosa.”

'without a hint of irony' lol get him again

and here from the biography:

ER: Jorge, you were on the podium with Dani Pedrosa. Did you say anything to each other? Did you shake hands? JL: In Qatar everybody who saw me on the track - mechanics, riders and race officials - congratulated me on my performance. But Dani Pedrosa didn't. He didn't say a word to me, didn't look my way, didn't congratulate me. He didn't even wave or hold his hand out at the end of the race. ER: And do you think he was supposed to be congratulating you and not the other way round? JL: When somebody finishes their first MotoGP race on the podium, the least he can expect is a wave. I'm not talking about friendship, just a simple raised hand. It's a question of good manners. Everybody is responsible for what they say and do. If I was him I'd have been congratulating a rookie who finished second. Dani Pedrosa disappointed me.

dani DISAPPOINTED jorge :((

which is how you get to jerez 2008, second race of the season, and ofc the presser from which this clip stems

^Jerez 2008 pre-event press conference

by which point the qatar handshake thing had obviously become a big controversy. here, again from the biography:

A mere handshake had become a matter of national debate. Everybody had an opinion on the subject — and since Lorenzo was the only one prepared to speak publicly about it, with Pedrosa opting to state his case silently, Jorge bore the brunt of the pressure. Even members of his own team were telling, him to take the sting out of the situation as soon as possible, 'it always seemed that it had to be him who took the first step,' says Javi Ullate. 'I also made the mistake of thinking that it was down to him to sort it out. It was another unnecessary problem. It was a ridiculous situation, that wasn't getting anybody anywhere. I asked myself, if rivals can't greet each other, then how is it that Pedrosa can greet other riders? He is civil with Rossi and Stoner, but not with Lorenzo. 

all this over a HANDSHAKE mind u

jorge once again secured pole position at jerez - but this time dani took the win well ahead of jorge, whose expected race pace had failed to materialise. jorge ended up finishing third behind valentino

which was obviously followed by the infamous moment where the spanish king forces the two of them to shake hands:

really fond of dani looking at his hand like it doesn't belong to him while jorge sucks at his lollipop

the pair of them have obviously discussed this moment in a great amount of detail since, which we're not going to cover in full. but just to give something closer to the time, here's more from jorge's biography:

'Yeah I'd do it again because I believe that it gives off a bad image when two riders from the same country, representing millions of people, can't get on. Trying to shake hands with Pedrosa isn't a bad thing. It is a good thing, for the sport and for the country. At the time I thought it was pretty unpleasant that he didn't want to shake my hand but it's not the biggest worry in my life. I would like our relationship to be cordial because we're both putting our lives at risk on the track, we're battling fairing to fairing and yes, it is good that there's a rivalry on the track, but off it we should be presenting a picture of the good sportsmen that we are. '

he goes on like this at length. SO committed to the image of it all, to being honourable, respectful competitors... he wants blood in his rivalry but also DIGNITY, man-to-man taking each other on in the heat of battle... again, a dozen films playing in his head, all of which are of extremely little interest to his irritable rivals

anyhow, it's a podium with fun awkward vibes. you've got dani and valentino palling around:

and jorge and dani existing in each other's vicinity:

just continually refusing to acknowledge in each other's presence

which gives us what I find a tragically ignored funny dani moment where he like?? visibly seems uncomfortable with the idea that he's only got jorge close to him before the podium photo, looks over to valentino (currently engaged in extensive shenanigans with the nearest camera), beckons him over, eyes fully glued on him as he makes it to the top step of the podium, leaves precisely fuck all space for jorge, at which point jorge physically pushes dani to the side a bit so that he can stand on the podium without in any way standing close to dani

I'm sorry but this is comical. why does nobody ever talk about this. what are they doing

and lastly we get to estoril, the final race before jorge goes on his injury spree. as stated up front, it's jorge's first win, leaving him tied with dani at the top of the standings. there's not any real CONTROVERSY here beyond the continuation of the general wretched vibes. this time it's dani who looks like he's been force fed half a dozen lemons while jorge is enjoying life to the fullest

and valentino remains proudly committed to Just Vibing

but this race had to get a mention primarily for the follow-up to the jerez podium photo. where valentino is once again the last to stop faffing about, which unfortunately leaves him in a bit of an awkward position when he realises jorge and dani are standing like. a metre apart. and just ends up having to get very close to jorge to make it work. which gives us a very evenly placed podium photo

the beauties of third-wheeling a feud. finally valentino too gets to experience having to navigate two people who loathe each other

anyway! that's your lot. one little baby rookie who has many of his rivals wanting to strangle him after four race weekends. 'flamboyant' 'arrogant' whatever you want to call him... but. y'know. I am obviously a little bit of a jorge lorenzo defender for this time period, and not just because I feel very strongly that he needed a responsible adult in his life and maybe also a hug. dani could have shaken his hand!! casey could have been a bit more chill!! valentino could have spoken more than two words to him!! but that's the fun of it... jorge was annoying, so were his rivals, what a great constellation of irritating blokes. just this little brat rocking up to the premier class and immediately making an impact by pissing off everyone around him. really spiced up the early 2008 season too, gave everyone something to talk about before valentino got back into the plotting and scheming business. we thank jorge for his service

[inquartata30]

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - thirty-five | what a feeling

You were glad that security didn’t randomly decide to stop you because they would have asked a bunch of questions, such as: why do you have a bunch of tools that look like you’re planning on building a bomb? Or sabotaging an elevator? Or driving a bus over 55 mph for most of a movie starring Keanu Reeves? Or doing some other heinous act?

And then you’d have to explain that - like a lot of musicians - you liked a particular set of pickups, and you liked replacing them yourself, and you liked your tools, and you were going to be a goblin and take them all the way from your house to your job just to do it. Would it have been easier to take the bass home and do it?

Who the fuck knows? Maybe.

But it wouldn’t be nearly as fast.

You had to stop yourself from skipping at the thought of a new instrument as you walked down the hall to the studio, where you knew your bass would be, shiny and brand new.

You walked into the recording room to find no one inside. Surprising. Unsurprising was finding your bass on the table as Maddox said he had left it.

You smiled and put your stuff down quickly, excited like a kid on christmas. You always loved getting a new instrument, and you loved pulling it apart even more.

You ripped open the box hurriedly, getting stabbed by one of the extra large staples that held it shut. But that didn't deter you since you had all your shots and tetanus couldn’t touch you. You put your finger in your mouth to clean the blood.

You pulled the bass out and turned it around. A classic Fender Precision Bass in a sparkling custom sage green color. Something sturdy for the many hours it would be played on hundreds of tracks in the future. Such a beautiful color, such lovely flecks that made it glitter in the light, you had researched for hours and already knew what it was going to sound like…

Now to take it apart.

You took your bag of bass-modding tricks out of your backpack and opened it. Whoever invented the battery powered electric drill was a genius. You revved it for no one in particular: the sound of fun. You made short work of all the screws that held the pickguard on and set them aside; you’d need them for the new pickguard you bought. You checked the potentiometers as you pulled them out of their holes on the pickguard. You were thankful that the manufacturers hadn’t cut the wires too short, since that always made them a pain in the ass when it came time to put the whole thing back together. In your mind, you thanked whoever cut the wires, what an absolute gem of an individual. The soldering looked good, that was always a good sign; nothing worse than having bad soldering come apart in the middle of playing a song.

Too bad you had to get rid of it, you smiled to yourself. A+ for soldering though, whoever did it, they had done a really good job. Nice and clean.

You took out the new pickguard you had and unwrapped it. You had actually had it sitting in the bottom of your closet for a while now since you bought it on a whim and had no bass to put it on. It was a purple faux mother of pearl number that reflected the light beautifully and would look gorgeous against the sage green body of this bass. You pulled the knobs off the potentiometers, put them through the pickguard, put the knobs back on, and unsoldered the spots where the wires of the pickups were soldered to the potentiometers. You were glad the ventilation in the room was so good and hoped that no one got mad at you for doing this. With the potentiometers unsoldered and cleaned up, you set it aside so you could fuck with the pickups. Easy peasy.

You unboxed the pickups you bought and looked them over, unwrapping the wires so they were straight and put them down. You - as carefully as you could - took the factory pickups out of the bass, and held them up against each other. There was a marked difference, you felt. You rooted in your bag of stuff for the multimeter you brought with you. You were always curious about this kind of thing: you checked the voltage of the factory pickups… 10.35k ohms, that was pretty normal. And you checked your new ones… 10.67. Little bit better. But while the magnets in the factory ones had wider diameters, the ones you bought were heavier.

You laughed to yourself. Time for it’s glow up.

Of course you were going to replace them.

Your phone, having sat on the table this whole time, inert, lit up with a message.

You laughed. Of course he had a crush on Jennifer Beals as a kid. Of course.

You got back to your bass, you were almost done.

You took the screws that came in the box and screwed the new ones into place and soldered their wires to the potentiometers. It was excruciatingly difficult to wait patiently for it to cool, you were excited to see it all put back together and be able to play it. After a few minutes of waiting, you put the new pickguard back and screwed it on. You put all the strings back, and grabbed the small amp by the wall and plugged it in: it made noise, so you were successful, now you just needed to tune it.

Whatever many minutes of tuning later, you could finally play it and played a song.

Someone knocked on the door.

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