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#negotiation
grandmoments · 1 year
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I'm in love with this chaos!
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
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pratchettquotes · 4 months
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A Personal Note: Celebrating 4,000 Followers*
Lord Vetinari walked out of the room and back into the main hall, with Vimes trailing behind. "However," he said, "in order to keep the peace, the golem will have to be destroyed."
"No, sir."
"Allow me to repeat my instruction."
"No, sir."
"I'm sure I just gave you an order, Commander. I distinctly felt my lips move."
"No, sir. He's alive, sir."
"He's just made out of clay, Vimes."
"Aren't we all, sir? According to them pamphlets Constable Visit keeps handing out. Anyway, he thinks he's alive, and that's good enough for me."
The Patrician waved a hand towards the stairs and his office full of paper. "Nevertheless, Commander, I've had no less than nine missives from leading religious figures declaring that he is an abomination."
"Yes, sir. I've given that viewpoint a lot of thought, sir, and reached the following conclusion: arseholes to the lot of 'em, sir."
The Patrician's hand covered his mouth for a moment. "Sir Samuel, you are a harsh negotiator. Surely you can give and take?"
"Couldn't say, sir."
Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay
*A Rare Personal Note: This exchange comes after what may be one of the most famous Discworld moments of all time: the conversation where Vimes and Vetinari first discuss the age old question, "Who watches the Watch?", which becomes one of the central threads of Vimes' character progression. But the end of the conversation, which involves the fate of the newly christened Constable Dorfl, strikes me powerfully today. This marks one of the few times in canon that Vimes explicitly rejects one of Vetinari's commands on moral grounds. It also marks a rare moment when Vimes and Vetinari (who are often complex foils for each other) seem to agree on a fundamental point of morality: that a person must be treated as a person, whatever the cost, even if we do not understand them. On the last day of 2023, this seems more important to me than ever. We 4,000 Pratchett fans who share the quotes that fill this blog likely share very little else: If we met on the street we would not agree about politics, religion, the weather, or the correct storage of Battle Bread. But I think that Sir Terry would perhaps want us to remember that, even when we are at our most opposed, we are all made out of clay -- and that is something worth protecting. Happy New Year, my friends. May we all continue to learn what must be given, and what can never be taken.
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mypastnow · 28 days
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mirohtron · 1 year
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Hero dropped down to their knees, keeping their gaze locked onto the villain’s, refusing to let go.
Their eyes were wide, and begging as they spoke. “Help me.”
Villain’s lip twitched into a smirk. “Say it again.”
The hero shivered, their voice breaking.
“Help me.”
“One more time.”
prompt by @avvail :>
Shame burned acridly in the hero's throat. They were stained with blood and dirt and soot. Gravel was embedded in their cuts. Their body was bruised and beaten and aching.
It frustrated the hero to no end, that before they’d come to the villain’s doorstep, the villain had probably thought that the hero was dead, and instead of seeming relieved that they were alive they were forcing them to beg. 
Still.
"Help me." They willed the villain not to hear it.
The villain's smirk burst into a cruel grin. Their gloved hand snaked out and landed on their throat, squeezing, like they were going to choke the hero. They glanced at the small sliver of skin that the glove exposed at their wrist, the thin, raised line following the green of their vein. 
The villain was out of their suit, since the hero hadn’t been expected. They doubted the villain was relieved that their biggest problem had shown up to their doorstep completely fine and only a little roughed up.
The villain's thumb grazed the bump of their voice box, pressing down just slightly.
It took everything in the hero not to move. The muscles in their arms flexed. Their fists stayed clutched at their sides.
Slowly, the villain stroked the dips along the line of the hero's collarbone, then went up their throat. The hero bared it for them, because they knew the villain would like it.
A dimple appeared on the villain's cheek. Their eyes crinkled. They looked wolfish. "So good," they said, then curled their hand around to take them by the back of their neck. "So tame. Oh, I could just eat you up."
The hero's breath hitched and they knew the villain caught it. They chuckled. Humiliation bubbled inside them.
"This concerns you, too," said the hero, and right after they said it the villain's hand squeezed harder. They dropped the grin, shushed them gently, as though they were looking to soothe.
"I know, doll." The grin came on again, delighted. Similar to the look a thief got, looking at a vulnerable person walking down a deserted street. Eager to take. Twitching to take, to grab at any open seam.
The news was on every single channel there was, the hero was sure. They estimated ninety per cent of the city's heroes had been pronounced dead in the last ten hours
The villain continued. "I know. It must seem completely out of character, doll, but I did expect your little superhero to turn rogue eventually. I kept tabs. Noted every little tick."
The hero's breath hitched again, a harsher sound this time, wanting to rage. They kept themselves from asking—why didn't you let me know? But they shouldn't have expected any magnanimity from the villain. As for expecting the attack...
It still hadn't entirely registered in their head, they didn't think. They didn't believe the superhero was straight up evil. But they definitely weren't in their right mind, either. They were off the rocks. Wrong.
Today had started off like any other day. Everyone had gathered in the common room, chattering. The superhero had walked in, looked around once, and just... razed the whole place down.
"They're being controlled." It was the best explanation that the hero could give.
"Or maybe they've just realised the good side isn't all that good. Maybe they'll come for you next."
The hero's spine straightened. "Maybe they'll come for you first. You didn't see them firsthand. They went on a rampage." They'd torn the head off an innocent worker in the building, haloed by the fire, and stared straight at the hero. Feral. Rabid. Angry? Mad? Looking to take something the world had taken from them? The hero no longer knew. It all turned into one moment and the next.
A gloved hand made its way to their soot-stained hair. The villain peeled strands of sweaty hair away from the hero's forehead with their other hand.
With no answer from the villain, the hero grew twitchy. They rubbed the pads of their fingers raw. Dug crescent moons into their palm.
"You're smart," the hero tried eventually, reaching for something that would give in the villain. "Clever, strong."
"Dubious, greedy. Oh, and don't forget evil."
"Help me stop them." The hero's bare hand cupped the villain's own, gloved, tangled in their hair. They leaned forward. "If not to help me then for your safety."
“So sweet.”
“You know a rogue, indestructible hero will doom the city. You must’ve seen the news? The wrecked blocks?” The hero’s fingers slipped down to the scar on their wrist, fingertips slipping beneath their sleeve. The villain’s eyes flashed dangerously, but they pressed on. “I know what they’ve done to you—”
The villain's grip tightened on the hero's hair, forcing them to bare their throat. Their smile went mirthless and dangerous. The hero left their hands, kept them hanging harmlessly beside their head. "Quiet."
"I'm just saying."
The villain's voice dipped low, down to a delicate whisper, far away from that wolfish grin. "I know, doll, you're just saying. But you don't know me that way, do you?" Their free hand went to roam the hero's side. Their wrist flicked, and the cool edge of one of the villain's many knives pressed to their side. The hero's fists turned white-knuckled. "Do you?"
"No."
"Good." The knife disappeared. The villain pushed the hero's head away. "I miss when you were helpless. Tell me that again. Tell me what you need from me."
The hero steeled their jaw. They wiped dirt and soot from their cheek and didn't look at the villain.
"Tell me," the villain repeated. "Ask for it."
"Help me."
"Nicely."
"Please help me."
"Good." The villain grinned again. It wasn’t the same. "You'll do a job for me before I help you."
The hero went to protest. The villain's hand snaked out again, pressing a thumb to their lips, the side of their index finger cradling their chin. The scar on their wrist flashed in the low light. "I know, doll. I know. Smart, clever, strong. But evil."
The villain drank up every emotion that flitted past the hero. The hesitation. The consideration. The reluctance. The capitulation.
"I'll do it, and then you'll help. To stop superhero."
The villain tilted their head. "Of course, doll," they said. "Anything if you ask nicely."
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jokingluna · 5 months
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davidaugust · 6 months
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Being friendly isn’t how big groups of workers get what they need. Unions get what they need by working as one, a collective effort. Together we bargain, alone we beg.
From his insightful thread: https://x.com/slack2thefuture/status/1719841172645093551
#ActorsStrike #SAGAFTRAstrike #SAGAFTRAstrong #UnionStrong #union #unions #u1 #negotiations
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gingerly-writing · 1 year
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Prompt #3397
“You’ve never cared about anyone before. Not enough to make a deal for them.”
“I don’t care about [thief] either. But they’re too much of an investment to let you keep them locked away for the next decade. So let’s talk.”
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lacetop · 1 year
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easy simple soft dom formula
1. find out what being Good means for your sub. it can be: discipline, obedience, entertainment, endurance, service, &c. it can be multiple things, situational, & change!
2. put that thing in a Situation where they are set up for success to be Good*
3. praise & encourage, rinse & repeat
4. profit (happy sub)
* sometimes the scene doesn't work out, for whatever reason. that's fine - make sure they know that being Good also includes knowing & communicating their situational limits, giving it a solid try within those limits, and being patient & gentle with themselves if it just doesn't happen.
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get-back-homeward · 2 years
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January 24, 1962: The Beatles sign their first contract with Brian Epstein
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Paul then raised a late objection to Brian’s commission rate. The typed contract stated 10 percent, rising to 20 if their individual gross annual earnings exceeded £1,500, and Paul would later recall how his objection was based on the old tactic of holding out for less no matter what was being asked.
“He asked for 20 percent and I argued with him. I said, ‘Twenty, man? I thought managers only took 10 percent.’ He said, ‘No, it’s 20 these days.’ I said, ‘OK, maybe I’m not very modern.’”
It was a point on which Brian was prepared to concede. As signed, the contract has a penned amendment: 20 was crossed out and 15 written instead as the upper limit.
At 10 rising to 20 percent this would already have been a generous contract; at 10 rising to 15 it was a steal for the Beatles, and they’d no idea how much. It was standard for artists to pay two sets of commission, having not only a management contract but, separately an agency agreement; the managers took their cut for managing, agents took a further 10 percent for fixing all the paid work. Brian was shooting to do both jobs, providing the Beatles with this ambitious, all-inclusive service for the single 10–15 percent commission.
From Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In (Ch. 24) [x]
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newsmutproject · 8 months
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The decision [to have sex] is not static, because sex is not static, because social interactions are not static, and nor are people. Sex is not something into which we are locked, once and for all. This is only difficult to countenance if we endorse a model of sex as the extraction of a good; as the seeing through of a promise which, once made, cannot be renegotiated without legitimate criticism and anger. But sex is not an object. Sex is not something to be given and taken.
Sex is an interaction, resolutely social and interpersonal - far closer to other social phenomena than it is unlike them. Sex, like anything social, is a process,a development, an unfolding. Sex is a conversation, and like any conversation, can be promising, and can yield on that promise - or it can disappoint.
Catherine Angel, Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again
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haggishlyhagging · 4 months
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People have called me naive for not being "pragmatic" enough to accommodate the so-called "political realities" of compromise and concession making in my work. But like Douglass, Luther King, Shakur, and Malcolm X taught —institutions do not respond to negotiation, they respond to pressure. Their positions are not based on best practice theory or innocent misunderstandings, but on investment and attachment to power. So, in my view, it is the tactic of polite political negotiation that is based on assumptions that I would call naïve, because political negotiation assumes that politicians and institutions respond to reason and negotiation at all—that they are interested in things like common ground, good-will, good ideas and coherent thinking. They are not.
When we build a movement based on negotiation, it hurts us in two main ways: firstly, because it ignores the way that institutions truly operate. Transgenderism and its denial of biological sex and female existence has turned the statement "women are female" into a political one. What this statement (which used to be a mere fact) now represents, is not an argument or a piece of information, but the reassertion of a boundary that is being violated in the interests of power. When feminists make the now-political assertion that "women are female," but make concessions in the process of negotiating with the powerful (for instance by referring to "transwomen," or "trans rights," in campaigns against sex self-identification laws, by calling men who wear feminine clothing "she" out of "respect," or by shunning women who don't comply with these compromises), these concessions undermine the very boundary that their political truth telling was intended to assert in the first place. We will not get very far, for very long, like that.
-Renée Gerlich, “On Twenty-First Century Patriarchy, and the Place of Women's Hearts in Women's Movement” in Spinning And Weaving: Radical Feminism for the 21st Century
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pratchettquotes · 1 month
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"Anyway, it'll be int'resting to see if it works."
"Yes, but it's wrong," said Granny.
"Not for these parts, it seems," said Nanny.
"Besides," said Magrat virtuously, "it can't be bad if we're doing it. We're the good ones."
"Oh yes, so we is," said Granny, "and there was me forgetting it for a minute there."
Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad
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projectbluearcadia · 10 months
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Fear Nothing And Advance, Run Run Run
Diavolo: Barbatos, please, this is unnecessary...
Barbatos: My lord, I don’t think you understand the depths of just how bad this is. 
Diavolo: There’s no reason to talk about “disposing” of Anne like she’s a threat. 
Barbatos: The previous demon lord had people like her killed! Have you ever stopped to consider why that might be!?
Barbatos’ tail thrashes even as Diavolo’s eyes narrow. 
Diavolo: I don’t base my decisions off of his. 
Barbatos: I know how you feel about him. But a very long time ago, the entire Devildom was nearly enslaved by a Queen Succubus, and he took measures to stop it. 
Diavolo: So what? Was she a good ruler?
Barbatos: That’s irrelevant. My lord, you cannot be subjugated by her. 
Diavolo: I fail to see the problem. 
Barbatos: Listen to yourself! You’re undermining your authority as prince! Don’t you realize that she could tell you to die, and the Devildom would be left without its ruler?! Your dreams would fall to dust! For the Devildom’s sake, you don’t even have an heir! 
Diavolo: ...
Diavolo stares down at the table. 
Diavolo: You... really don’t trust Annelie, do you?
Barbatos: Why would I? Her loyalty lies with Lucifer, not with you. If it ever happens that she has to choose between you two, she will inevitably choose him. 
Diavolo: ...
Barbatos: Belphegor, stop eavesdropping and get in here. 
Belphie: Geez, do you have eyes in the back of your head or something? Actually, no, don’t answer that. 
Diavolo: Belphegor? 
Belphie yawns and steps into the room, still in a maid uniform.  
Belphie: Hi. 
Diavolo: Did both of you recover?
Belphie: No, Barbatos just cut my balls off. 
Diavolo: He what?
Belphie: I’m kidding. Though I almost wish he’d done that instead, honestly. That tea he made was hellish. 
Barbatos: And it only lasts a week, so go back to the library. 
Belphie: Well, about that. I think the last demon lord was pretty adamant that Queen Succubus records were destroyed, because there’s nothing in that library. 
Barbatos: Nothing?
Belphie shakes his head, and Barbatos places his hand against his eyes and turns his head towards the ceiling with a sigh. 
Barbatos: How are we supposed to receive an exchange student in this state...
Belphie: An exchange student?
Diavolo: You fell asleep during the meeting again, didn’t you?
Belphie: I haven’t been at the student council meetings in the past month, remember?
Diavolo: Ah... sorry. Well, I’m planning on bringing a normal human here. 
Belphie: Define normal. 
Diavolo: One that hasn’t been surgically altered by Solomon’s magic. 
Belphie: Ah. 
Diavolo: And the human exchange program will go on as planned. We’ve already pushed it back once, and I won’t have it delayed further. Anne’s name is still hot with gossip as a former human that earned her way into the court, and I fully intend to strike while they’re still talking about how attractive she is in her Devilgram photos. 
Barbatos: But—
Diavolo: Annelie has nothing to do with this. We bring the candidate in by the end of next week. 
Barbatos hesitates before he sighs. 
Barbatos: I understand. 
Diavolo: And bring me the paperwork to form the HDRA. Solomon can talk to me, but Anne stays in charge of the project. And I want you to tell her. 
Barbatos: Nice try. She’s not getting her hands on me. 
Belphie: ...text her, idiot. 
Diavolo: That is what I meant. 
Barbatos: ...apologies.
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mirohtron · 1 year
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The supervillain dug their talons deep into the hyperventilating villain's neck. This was unbelievable—the villain was nothing, nothing, how did they sneak in?
"I should kill you," they said coldly.
The villain made a noise wholly born of fright. "Please, please, don't, I want to make a deal—hah!" They choked down a sob, bit down on their lip to do it, when one of the supervillain's sharp talons scraped down their skin. "They wouldn't let me in, you have to believe me. You can't possibly think I was trying to sneak in to, like, steal—"
The supervillain yanked them up, so they were sitting on their desk. A bottle of ink had spilled and matted part of their brown hair black. The villain didn't dare move, tensing up every muscle in their body.
The supervillain clenched their jaw and squeezed the villain's neck, making them whimper in fright. "Tell me how you broke in," they said lowly and through their teeth, "from where you broke in, and why you thought sneaking up behind me was worth a deal I could reject."
"Let me tell you about the deal first!" the villain said, and then screamed when the supervillain raked sharp talons down their skin. "Flowers! Flowers. I brought sleepy poppies to the back guards and acted smitten and said I wanted to give it to you. They sniffed it and were out like a light in minutes. And then—I used their fingerprints and keycards and stuff to get in."
"Sleepy poppies?"
The villain sniffled. "I grew them experimentally. They're mine."
The supervillain rolled their tongue, beyond furious that a stupid thing like them could trick their guards. Somebody was going to die tonight.
"There's people constantly on watch," they said. "Constantly at work. You will tell me exactly how you got inside my office."
The villain pointed up, to the open vent. They dug in their pocket and took out a pen. "Heated the grates off. I didn't wanna make noise."
The supervillain yanked the pen out of their grip. They took the cap off and found a piece of metal that was in a similar shape as the cigarette lighters in cars inside.
The villain sobbed in panic when they glared. "Why are you mad? I was—I wasn't going to do anything bad—" they shut up when the vampire sneered.
"You're not even in gear."
The villain's voice came out in a loud, panicked shout. "Because I wasn't going to fight you!"
"Shut up!" The supervillain yanked them close. The villain's eyes were wide, their chest rising up and down unsteadily, their knuckles white as their hands turned to fists. "You come into my lair, my office, with nothing but a piece of metal that can get hot and flowers, and you think I should appreciate your brain because you got past a couple useless guards?"
Blood was already dripping from the shallow wounds the supervillain had given them on their neck, scented sweet. It would be so, so easy to just squeeze and stop their whining. The villain's face twisted. "I didn't come here to make a useless deal!"
"Then why, pray tell, did you come here? To join me?"
"I came here because superhero's gonna kill you!"
The supervillain froze. For a moment all the anger and arrogance left them as they stood there to process. The villain was red-cheeked and panting, and the part of their hair matted with ink was drying into a solid clump.
Slowly, the supervillain turned their talons back to their cold fingers. "Nobody can kill me."
The villain half-scoffed half-laughed, and it came out halfway broken. "You're a vampire."
The su—the vampire froze, once more. The villain was clutching the edge of their expensive desk now. The ink bottle had a dark pool around its mouth, staining the mahogany.
"I'm no vampire."
"Silver hurts you! And—" the villain took a breath too big and coughed. "And your hands are cold," they said miserably, as though temperature was their biggest worry right now.
"Silver doesn't hurt me, I wear silver jewellery. What are you—"
The villain slipped their hand under the vampire's sleeve and held their wrist, and immediately the vampire's skin burned. And it wasn't like their skin heated up, no. It was like blue fire had touched their skin, like their nerve endings were sizzling.
The vampire screamed. The villain went pale and started to snatch their hand back, but the vampire took it and slammed them back down on the table.
In rage the vampire caught their face in their fingers, digging their human nails into the hollows of their cheek. The villain took their turn to scream in fear. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, my ring is silver and—I'd been careful not to—"
"Fine," the vampire gritted out. "Fine. I'm a god damn vampire. How did you find out?"
The villain took a remarkably steady breath, visibly swallowing down all of their sobs and hiccups and the rest of their pathetic crying. "You don't appear on camera. Your body is cold. I came here before, way back before I became a villain, as some else's arm candy. I noticed you didn't have a single thing that was real silver. Gold, brass, steel, bronze, diamond—you had everything except silver. I..." The villain's breath hitched.
"Go on."
The villain took a breath halfway through their nose before they realised it came as an annoying sniffle, and took in the rest through their mouth. "I kept notes. I theorised that your weakness was silver. You kept it hidden well but..."
"And the superhero now knows?" The vampire squeezed the villain's jaw. "She knows because you told her, didn't you? And she's going to kill both of us now because you couldn't keep your fucking mouth shut?"
The villain frantically shook their head. The spilled bottle of ink was right by their head. "They broke into my place and went through my stuff." They lifted the arm of theirs that wasn't pinned down to the table and shook it to shimmy down the sleeve. The vampire turned their head and saw the beginning of what looked like a deep cut that just missed their vein. "I've got these all over me. They found out my theories on you and kept me alive just because they thought I had something that could kill you. I lied and said I did."
"How did you escape?"
The villain's face twisted in anxious frustration. "Why does it matter? Why does it matter at all—I ran when they weren't looking!" They curled away from the villain's sharp talons. "Please, please, I promise I only came here to warn you."
"And?"
The villain looked at them tearily. "And for protection from heroes."
The vampire gritted their teeth. They'd kept the silver thing hidden well, and for so long. If the villain had figured it out just because they happened to connect a few dots...
Well, it seemed like they were slacking off. And as cowardly and weak as the villain was, they'd clearly been silently observing a lot of people, and they were also resourceful and intelligent.
The vampire brought them up again. "I don't care about you, let's make that clear."
"Well, I don't care about you either." The villain frowned childishly, sniffling. The vampire laughed in amusement.
"Good, so this relationship is purely professional. You must know what the superhero's weakness are."
"Some," the villain said. "She's good at hiding it if something hurts her, but she's always shocked first." The vampire caught them flexing their ringed hand. "As strong people always are."
The vampire looked back at the villain. The villain quickly realised that the vampire had clocked that movement and paled, and then quickly flushed and opened their mouth to no doubt apologise, but the vampire ignored them.
"Work with my men," they said. They let go of the villain's neck, which was now red and bleeding, and placed a finger over their chest. "Co-operate. They will send me periodic reports on you."
The villain's features lifted in shock, and then they took in a relieved breath. "So you'll offer me protection?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, oh my God, thank you. I was so scared you wouldn't, I'm so grateful and I...I..." They trailed off as the vampire began to make their way to their office doors.
"Be gone from my office by the time I come back," the vampire said, hand on the door handle. "I need to sort things out and fire a couple guards."
The vampire left.
The villain wiped off all traces of their act from their face, and twisted their silver ring around their finger.
They took that stupid bottle of ink and threw it to the ground, and then put their head in their hands and groaned.
God, if they were busted, they'd so dead.
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fieriframes · 1 year
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[What in the world?! [ Exhales sharply ] In negotiation, he who cares the least wins. He. I have never, in my history of doing barbecue, seen this done. Really?]
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Statement made.... #creative #results #broker #thedeal #strategic #negotiation #script #sitdown #watching #enjoying #unfolding #candidphotography #entertainmentindustry #development #integrity #loyaltyiseverything #trust #team #support #leadbyfollowing #learn #humble (at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cem0SSlNTw4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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