#one would spend 5 years getting a law degree. otherwise you have 3 years to get a ba degree and then you sign up for a masters program

[asbestos-11]

it always gets to me how cyno is technically in the judicial branch of the govt, so like in a modern setting he'd be a law major. here's your 5 years of college, masters guaranteed

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

Michael/Calum (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

bring your body here (ao3) - shrdmdnssftw michael/calum E, 1k

Summary: When you’re sharing a room with another dude, long term, sharing a house with your mates, there’s honestly not much difference between jerking it under the covers at night and reaching over to give your mate a hand.

Coffee Boy (ao3) - Jay_isnotokay M, 12k

Summary: Calum Hood has a crush on a barista, plenty of coffee making ensues.

Everything is never as it seems. (ao3) - orphan_account M, 20k

Summary: Calum thought he knew which type of people belonged in each Hogwarts house. It wasn't until he met a certain Hufflepuff that he started to change his perception.

everything will glow for you (ao3) - mukelftv T, 695

Summary: michael and calum have a soft morning.

flower king (ao3) - prophecygrl, punchinginadream E, 3k

Summary: It was three in the morning when Calum’s phone rang. He didn’t bother looking at the name on the screen, figuring it must have been important. If he had bothered, he probably wouldn’t have picked up (yes he would have.)

OR

Calum helps dye Michael's hair at 3 in the morning and then they get sexy.

I'll give you what you called for (ao3) - orphan_account E, 4k

Summary: The one where Calum bought lingerie because he likes to feel pretty and surprised Michael with it.

It must be Magic (ao3) - tigerlily_sunshine T, 120k

Summary: It’s only Calum’s words playing on repeat in his mind, "Michael’s my friend," that keeps Michael firmly planted in place. He doesn’t quite believe them. He hasn’t really spoken to Calum since the first few months of their first year at Hogwarts when they finally realized what everybody’d been telling them all along: Slytherins can’t be friends with other houses.

(In which Michael is a friendless Slytherin who doesn't really belong anywhere, but Calum is bound and determined to prove him otherwise.)

I Wanna Sleep Next To You… (ao3) - milecgv T, 54k

Summary: Calum gets the opportunity to live out his dreams in New York City but it proves too much for him, and on a lonely night he ends up calling the professional cuddle service he swore he’d never call.

stick to the status quo (ao3) - cliffakitten M, 29k

Summary: It's weird. Luke knows it's weird. He's very much aware of the degree of weirdness that he is being right now. Very, painfully aware. Which is why he's wearing a black beanie and sunglasses inside in the middle of spring. Inside the school theatre to be exact, sure to anyone else it wasn't exactly a place which requires a friggin disguise to be in. But Luke was a football player, by the ancient and all knowing laws of high school he shouldn't even know where the theatre is, never mind sneaking in through the lighting booth to stand in the back of it. ~ Or, the one where Luke is on the football team but has a mahooosive crush on this kid in the theatre club with the big hazel eyes and emo fringe.

Summer Days (ao3) - malumsmermaid G, 1k

Summary: Michael and Calum are spending their summer off from college working at a local summer camp in their college town.

Tempest (ao3) - merlypops E, 314k

Summary: Calum's best friends are falling apart, Mali is gone, and Calum just wants to be perfect.

that’s why you like it (ao3) - merlypops michael/calum E, 69k

Summary: Calum starts doing workouts in the garden over the summer and Michael spends the whole time with his hand down his pants (until Calum takes matters into his own hands).

The Best Thing (the way it’s supposed to be) (ao3) - gravityinglass M, 87k

Summary: Or, the story of how 5 Seconds of Summer became a band (starting from the beginning) and how Michael Clifford realized he’d always been in love with Calum Hood (not starting from the beginning, not even close), and how taking on the world turned out to be less daunting than it seemed.

the light in your eyes (ao3) - cashcakeplz N/R, 137k

Summary: Or the one where Calum is beautiful and beaten, Michael is in love with his best friend, Luke is lost, and Ashton just wants everyone to be happy.

the surprise ending i'm depending on (ao3) - diets0dasociety T, 15k

Summary: It seems the most obvious escape route: that he’s panicking over nothing and three years has a peculiar way of tweaking certain memories and it’s completely understandable that he’d see a similar phrase and make a connection in his head. It’s probably nothing, probably just another high-profile event he’ll get pleasantly tipsy whilst attending and forget about within a few weeks, once the hangover’s disappeared and unwanted texts from random numbers he’s obtained throughout the night stop filtering in.

And yet.

or, Calum receives an invitation that opens up a window to his past.

Tough Times (ao3) - orphan_account N/R, 1k

Summary: Michael and Calum were a odd couple. Michael was a loud Alpha and Calum was a quiet omega.

What Was Not Expected (ao3) - xxsilverlist M, 61k

Summary: Jessie had the once in a lifetime chance to meet 5SOS, unexpectedly she finds herself friends with the boys. Soon the secrets begin to pour out. And maybe Luke really likes her.

Or the one where Michael and Calum are secretly dating, Luke falls in love, and Ashton keeps things from the boys.

When It Rains It Pours (ao3) - magicalmadhatter G, 11k

Summary: No two pregnancies are exactly the same, and for Michael and Luke that is very different.

would you lie with me and just forget the world? (ao3) - mukelftv G, 1k

Summary: It’s far too early in the morning for the alarm to be going off, Michael thinks as he hears it going off. He reaches over to grab his phone, turning off the blaring noise as he looks at the time. He sighs a little bit, knowing that he should get up, because he has work, and that’s something that’s important for him not to miss.

---

Or, a lazy morning with Calum and Michael.

you keep eternity (ao3) - merlypops E, 77k

Summary: Luke crashes into Ashton's life like a shooting star, Calum shows Michael that he's still beautiful, and maybe things don't feel so dark anymore.

[forestwater87]

How did you become a university Librarian? Did you do an English degree? Sorry if this is a weird question it just really interests me as I’m not sure what to do when I’m older

Eeee I got really excited about this question! 

Okay, the fun thing about librarianship is that all roads can lead to it: as long as you get an ALA-approved (assuming you’re American; if you aren’t I cannot help you) graduate degree you can do just about anything for undergrad. English majors are extremely common, just by the nature of who’s into the job, but literally it doesn’t matter; in fact, weirder and more specialized degrees can actually help in certain jobs, because they give you a ton of background info and qualifications than most of your contemporaries have.

I fell into it because I worked at a library in high school and fell in love with the environment, and when I realized I’d rather die than work in publishing (my previous life’s goal) I gravitated toward library school. I knew from the beginning that I’d need a Master’s -- and a very specific one at that -- so mostly my undergrad was just “grab a foundational degree and have fun with it.” That was really freeing, honestly. I had a ton of fun in undergrad.

Now, if you, Anon, were interested in getting into librarianship I’d have a handful of recommendations. These are all based on my very American experience, and there are probably smarter people than me with better advice but I’m the only one on this blog so heeeeerrreeeee we goooooooooo!

Undergrad

You need a 4-year degree. Full-stop. It doesn’t matter what kind, but you gotta have one to get into grad school.

Like I said, you can do just about anything for an undergraduate degree. Most of the time English is the BA of choice, because librarians love them some books, but some far less common ones that I think would be hugely helpful to a hopeful librarian would be:

Computer Science: Oh my god you need at least a baseline competency in computers/technology please you don’t have to code but you need to be able to turn a computer on and navigate just about any website/office application on just about any device at the very least you need to know how to Google

Business/Marketing: Particularly if you want to work in public libraries, where a bunch of your funding comes from begging politicians and convincing taxpayers to donate/vote to give you money

Law: If you want to be a law librarian

Medical . . . whatever, I don’t know what fields of medicine there are: If you want to work in a hospital or other medical library

History or Art History: If you’re interested in archives or museum librarianship

Education: School librarians in my state require you to be a certified teacher, and no matter what kind of library you end up in, you’ll end up teaching someone something a decent amount of the time

Communications: You’ll be doing a lot of it. Public speaking, too

Spanish/ASL/any not-the-common language: Hey, you never know what your patrons speak

Literally fucking anything I promise it doesn’t matter what you major in you will use it in a library at some point

Just be aware that you will need more than an undergrad degree. You’ll need probably 2 years of postsecondary schooling (more for certain types of librarianship), so get yourself comfortable with the idea of college.

If you’re like me (please don’t be like me), you might toy with the idea of getting a minor or two/double majoring to round out your skill set. Honestly I’d encourage it if you’re comfortable with the workload and have the time or money; like I said, there are no skills or educational background that won’t come in handy at some point. I promise. We see it all.

Along those lines, a wide expanse of hobbies can be hugely helpful too! You never know when your encyclopedic knowledge of Minecraft will be useful to a patron, but it absolutely will be.

Graduate School

All right, you’ve got your lovely little Bachelor’s Degree, maybe in something weird and esoteric for the fun of it . . . now you’re off to do more school!

It’s a bit complicated, because there are a handful of different titles an appropriate degree could have; my school called it “a Master of Science in Information Science” (MSIS), but other schools might just go with “Master’s of Information Science” (MIS), “Master’s of Library Science” (MLS), “Master’s of Library and Information Science” (MLIS) . . . it’s a mess. 

What you need to do is make sure the degree is approved by the American Library Association, who decides if a program is good enough to make you a librarian in the States. (Again, if you’re not American, good luck.)

Here’s a list of ALA-accredited programs and the schools that offer them.

The nice thing is accreditation has to be renewed at least every few years, so that means your program is always updated to make sure it’s in line with national standards. I’m not promising you’ll learn everything you need to be a librarian in grad school (oh my god you so won’t not even close hahahaha), but at least in theory you’ll be learning the most up-to-date information and methods.

(I’m curious to see how things have changed; when I was in school from 2015-17, the hot topics in library science were makerspaces (especially 3D printing), turning the library into the community’s “third space,” and learning how to incorporate video games into library cataloging and programming. No idea if those are still the main hot-button issues or if we’ve moved on to something else; I imagine information literacy and fake news are a pretty big one for current library students.)

Anyway! You pick a school, you might have to take a test or two to get in -- I had to take the GRE, which is like the SATs but longer -- almost certainly have to do all that annoying stuff like references and cover letters and all that, but assuming you’re in: now what?

There are a couple options depending on the school and the program, but I’m going to base my discussion around the way my school organized their program at the time, because that’s what I know dammit and I will share my outdated information because I want to.

My school broke the degree down into 5 specializations, which you chose upon application to the program:

Archives & Records Administration: For working in archives! I took some classes here when I was flirting with the idea, and it’s a lot of book preservation, organizing and caring for old documents and non-book media, and digitization. Dovetails nicely into museum work. It’s a very specific skillset, which means there will be jobs that absolutely need what you specifically can do but also means there aren’t as many of them. It makes you whatever the opposite of a “jack of all trades” is. You’re likely to be pretty isolated, so if you want to spend all your time with books this might be a good call; it’s actually one of the few library-related options that doesn’t require a significant amount of public-facing work. 

Library & Information Services: For preparation to work in public or academic (college) libraries. Lots of focus on reference services, some cataloging, and general interacting-with-the-public. You have to like people to go into library services in general, heads up.

Information Management & Technology: Essentially meaningless, but you could in theory work as like a business consultant or otherwise do information-related things with corporations or other organizations.

Information Storage & Retrieval: Data analytics, database . . . stuff. I don’t really know. Computers or something. Numbers 3 and 4 really have nothing to do with libraries, but our school was attempting to branch out into more tech-friendly directions. That being said, both this and #3 could definitely be useful in a library! Libraries have a lot of tech, and in some ways business acumen could be helpful. All roads lead to libraries; remember that.

Library & Information Services / School Library Media Specialist: This was the big kahuna. To be a school librarian -- at least in my state -- you need to be both a certified librarian and a certified teacher, which means Master’s degrees in both fields. What our school did was basically smushed them together into a combined degree; you took a slightly expanded, insanely rigorous 2-2.5 years (instead of the traditional 1.5-2) and you came out of it with two degrees and two certifications, ready to throw your butt into an elementary, middle/junior high, or high school library. Lots of focus on education. I started here before realizing I don’t like kids at all, then panicked and left. Back in 2017 this was the best one for job security, because our state had just passed a law requiring all school librarians to be certified with a MSIS/MLS/whatever degree. So lots of people already in school libraries were desperately flinging themselves at this program, and every school was looking for someone that was qualified. No idea if that’s changed in time.

No matter what concentration you went in with, you automatically graduated with a state certification to be a librarian, which was neat. You didn’t automatically get civil service status, though; for some public libraries you need to be put on a civil service list, which means . . . something, I’m not entirely sure. It involves taking exams that are only available at certain times of the year and I gave up on it because it looked hard. 

No one did more than 1 concentration, which is dumb because I wanted to do them all, but it takes a lot of time and money to take all the classes associated with all of them so I personally did #2, which was on the upper end of mid-tier popularity. School library and database services were far and away the most popular, and literally no one did the business one because it was basically useless, so library and archives were the middle children of which the library one was prettier.

THAT BEING SAID! Some forms of librarianship require a lot more education. A few of those are:

Law librarians: At least in my state, you gotta be a certified librarian and have a J.D. This is where the “big bucks” are -- though let’s be real, if you want to be a librarian you have zero interest in big bucks; reconcile yourself to being solidly middle-class and living paycheck-to-paycheck for the rest of your life or marrying rich -- which I guess is why it requires the most work.

School librarians: Like I mentioned, depending on the state you might need two degrees, and not all schools smush them into one. You might need to get a separate Master’s in education.

College librarians: Now, this depends on the college and the job; some colleges just need an all-access librarian, like mine. I didn’t need to specialize in anything, I just showed up with my degree and they took me. (Note: these sorts of entry-level positions tend to pay piss. Like, even more piss than most library gigs. Just a heads-up.) However, if you’re looking to get into a library of a higher-end university, you might be asked to have a second Master’s-level or higher degree just to prove you’re academic enough to party at their school. (Let’s be real, Harvard is almost certainly gonna want someone with a Ph.D. at the very least. That’s just how they roll.) Alternatively, the position might be for a specialty librarian, someone in charge of a field-specific library or field-specific reference services; if you’re being asked to head up the Science & Engineering Library at Masshole University, it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll be bringing a degree in engineering or some sort of science to the table. Colleges have so many different needs that predicting what kind of experience/education you should get is a bit of a challenge. Good luck. Some schools will help you out a bit with this; my grad school had dual degree programs where you could share credits between the MSIS and either an English or History Master’s so you could graduate with both in less time. I . . . started this, and then panicked at the thought of more school/writing a thesis and bailed, but it’s great if you’re into that idea!

What’s the point of the Information/Library Science degree?

You have to have the degree. If you don’t have the degree, you don’t get the job and you don’t make-a the money. Resign yourself to getting a Master’s degree or you’re gonna be bummed out and unemployed.

In terms of what you learn? Well, obviously it depends on the program, but I found that a lot of what I learned was only theoretically related to what I do on a daily basis. My instructors were lovely (well, the adjuncts anyway; the full-timers really didn’t want to be there and wanted to be off doing research and shit), but every library is so idiosyncratic and there’s such a massive umbrella of jobs you could get in one -- god, I didn’t even get into things like metadata services, which I learned basically nothing about in grad school but are super important to some positions -- that it’s hard to learn anything practical in a classroom.

However, besides the piece of paper that lets you make-a the money, there are two important things you should get from your grad school education:

Research skills: My god, you’re going to be doing so much research. If you’re a public librarian, you need to know how to Google just about anything. And if you’re a college librarian, being able to navigate a library database and find, evaluate, and cite sources . . . I mean, you’re going to be doing so much of that, showing students how to do that. Like a ridiculous amount of my day is showing students how to find articles in the virtual library. Get good at finding things, because much like Hufflepuffs, librarians need to be great finders.

Internship(s): Just about every library program will require an internship -- usually but not always in replacement of a thesis -- and if the one you’re looking at doesn’t, dump it like James Marsden in a romantic comedy. Internships are hugely important not only because they look good on a resume and give you some of those delicious, delicious references, but they are a snapshot of what your job is going to look like on a day-in, day-out basis; if nothing else, you’ll learn really fast what does and doesn’t appeal to you. As I mentioned, I wanted to be a school librarian for about half a semester. You know what changed my mind? My class required like 40 hours of interning at schools of each level. Being plopped into that environment like a play you’re suddenly acting in? Super helpful in determining whether or not this shit is for you.

What else should I learn, then?

Besides how to research basically anything? Here are some useful skills in just about any library:

Copyright law. Holy shit, do yourself a favor and learn about publishing/distribution laws in your state. Do you wanna show a movie as a fun program? You need to buy a license and follow super specific rules or it’s illegal! Does an instructor want to make copies of their textbook to give to the students? Make sure you know how much they can copy before it’s no longer fair use! Everything in my life would be easier if I’d taken the time to learn anything about copyright. I did not, and now I’m sad. (I lost out on a job opportunity because they wanted the librarian to be particularly knowledgeable in that kinda thing, and I was very not.)

Metadata and cataloging. In theory, you should learn this in grad school, but I was only given the bare basics and it wasn’t enough. Dublin Core, MARC-21, RDF -- there are so many different kinds of metadata schema, and I took a 6-week class in this and still don’t understand any of the words I just used in this sentence. But basically, to add items to a library catalog you often need to know how to input them into your library’s system; to an extent that’ll be idiosyncratic to your library’s software, but some of it will be based on a larger cataloging framework, so familiarity with those is very useful.

Public speaking and education. You’re gonna do a lot of it. Learn how to deal.

General tech savviness. Again, we’re not talking about coding but if you can navigate a WordPress website? If you know how to troubleshoot just about any issue with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc.? If you can unjam printers and install software and use social media you’re going to be a much happier person. At the very least, know how to google tutorials and fake your way through; your IT person can only do so much, and a lot of it is probably going to fall on you.

Social work, diplomacy, general human relations kinda stuff. You’re going to be dealing with all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, with every political view, personal problem, and life experience under the sun. You need to get very good at being respectful of diversity -- even diversity you don’t like* -- and besides separating your own personal views and biases from your work, you’ll be much better equipped to roll with the punches if you have, for example, conflict resolution training. Shit’s gonna get weird sometimes, I promise. (Once a student came in swinging around butterfly knives and making ninja noises. You know who knew how to deal with that? Not me!)

Standard English writing and mechanics. It’s not fair, but in general librarians are expected to have a competent grasp on the Standard English dialect, and others are less likely to be appreciated by the general populace. Obviously this differs based on your community and environment, and colloquialisms are sometimes useful or even necessary, but as a rule of thumb it’s a good call to be able to write “properly,” even if that concept is imperialist bullshit.

*I don’t mean Nazis. Obviously I don’t mean Nazis. Though there is a robust debate in the library community about whether Nazis or TERFs or whatever should be allowed to like, use library facilities for their own group meetings or whatever. I tend to fall on the “I don’t think so” side of the conversation, but there’s a valid argument to be made about not impeding people’s access to information -- even wrong or harmful information. 

Any other advice?

Of course! I love to talk. Let’s see . . .

Get really passionate about freedom of information and access: A library’s main reason for existing is to help people get ahold of information (including fiction) that they couldn’t otherwise access. If you’re a public librarian, you have to care a lot about making sure people can access information you probably hate. (If you’re an academic librarian it’s a little more tricky, because the resources should meet a certain scholarly threshold, and if you’re a school librarian there are issues of appropriateness to deal with, but in general more info to more people is always the direction to push.) Get ready to defend your library purchases to angry patrons or even coworkers; get ready to defend your refusal to purchase something, if that’s necessary. Get ready to hold your nose and cringe while you add American Sniper to your library collection, because damn it, your patrons deserve access to the damn stupid book. Get really excited about finding new perspectives and minority representation, because that’s also something your patrons deserve access to. Get really excited about how technology can make access easier for certain patrons, and figure out how to make it happen in your library. Care about this; it’s essential that you’re passionate about information -- helping your patrons find it, making sure they can access it, evaluating it, citing it . . . all of it. Get ranty about it. Just do it.

Be prepared to move if necessary: One of my professors told us that there was one thing that would always guarantee you a job that paid well -- this was in 2016 but still -- that as long as you had it you could do whatever you wanted. And that was a suitcase. Maybe where you live is an oversaturated market (thanks for having 6 library schools in a 4-hour radius, my state). Maybe something something economic factors I don’t really understand; the point is that going into this field, you should probably make peace with the idea that you’ll probably either end up taking a job that doesn’t make enough money or struggle a lot to even find one . . . or you’re going to have to go where the jobs are. It’s a small field. Just know that might be a compromise you have to make, unless you can get a strictly remote job.

Read: This sounds stupidly obvious but it’s true! Read things that aren’t your genre, aren’t your age range; patrons are going to ask you for reading advice all the goddamn time, especially if you’re a public librarian, so the more you can be knowledgeable about whatever your patrons might ask you about, the easier your life will be. If you’re considering librarianship you probably love to read anyway, so just ride that pony as hard as you possibly can.

Learn to be okay with weeding -- even things you don’t think deserve it: You are going to have to recycle books. You’re going to have to throw away books. You’re going to have to take books out of the collection and make them disappear in some fashion or another. There are a lot of reasons -- damage and lack of readership are big ones -- and there’s no bigger red flag to a librarian than someone saying “I could never destroy a book.” That kind of nonsense is said by people who’ve never had to fit 500 books onto a shelf built for 450. Archivists are different, of course, as are historians, and everyone should have a healthy respect for books both as physical objects and as sources of information, but you’re going to have to get rid of them sometimes, and you’re just going to have to learn how to do that dispassionately.

Have fun! No one gets into this because they want money; if you want to be a librarian, or work in any library-adjacent field, it’s because you really care about the values of librarianship, or the people in your community, or preserving and sharing as great a wealth of information as possible. Your job will often be thankless and it’ll sometimes be exhausting. There will be times where it’s actually scary. And unless you’re rich as balls, it will make you stare at your student loans and sigh with despair. (You may be living in your parents’ basement while you sigh at your loans because you can’t afford to live on your own, for an example that has zero relevance to any authors of this blog, living or dead.)  I can’t tell you if it’s worth it -- though you’ll probably find out pretty quickly during your internship, because that’s what internships are for. All I can say is that I love it, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

[eroticcannibal]

Common myths and misconceptions about home education

So in case anyone has somehow missed it, I have recently become a Big supporter of home education in a very lefty way, which has meant I have had to challenge a lot of views I have previously held about home education and that I know a lot of other lefties hold too. I am of the opinion that embracing home education, not as a last resort, but as the primary form of education for as many children as possible, is a vital part of achieving the required shifts in society needed to meet the goals of most leftists. So I am taking it on myself to convince you all that it is a very good thing, and also to clear up some misconceptions people have about home education that may make them feel they are unable to do it.

(A note, I am from the UK and shall be using UK terminology and specifics regarding law, policy and other such things will be from a UK perspective. I shall be using the term home education, as that is the legal term in the UK and is distinct from home schooling, which is the term for what school children have been doing during the pandemic.)

And I would also like to extend a quick thanks to Education Otherwise and the mods at Home education and your local authority for teaching me A LOT.

Have any questions about anything I’ve not covered here? Just let me know!

1. “Home education is illegal.”

- Sadly, home education is illegal or restricted to the point of inaccessibility in most of the world. From the research I have done, it seems that only the US and the UK have reasonable laws around home education (if I am using a very broad definition of reasonable, it is still not great). I do hope I can change this section soon, and I would *heavily* encourage people to campaign for the right to home educate post pandemic, perhaps cite any benefits learning at home has provided to children, perhaps???

2. “Home education is a tool used by religious fundamentalists to brainwash children!”

- This is a view many hold, and for good reason. For many of us, when we think of home education, we think of christian fundamentalists in the deep south of America, pulling their children out of school to avoid the liberal agenda. The truth is, anything can be used as a tool of indoctrination. This can happen in home education, and it can happen and has happened in schools too. In my own communities we have had instances of schools being a site of religious radicalization of children. The reality is this is far too complex and deep an issue to be solved by deeming any particular form of education as “bad”. I am not an expert on how best to deal with such issues, but I do feel that things like outreach and building a healthy community with otherwise more isolated religious groups would be a better way to address these issues.

3. “You need to have x qualification to home educate.”

- Again, a reasonable view to hold, given that state run and private education does require educators to hold certain qualifications, but in practice it quickly becomes evident the same does not necessarily have to apply with home education. Educational qualifications are very much focused on delivering an education in a classroom, which is a far cry from home education. During our home education of our child, my partner, who is a qualified SEN TA, has struggled far more than I have with educating our SEN child, despite the fact I hold no qualifications.

We live in amazing times when it comes to education. There are many things that parents and communities have to teach a child, and there are many things a child can teach to themself if given the tools to do so. You can even learn together! Their are endless resources available, books and games and documentaries, and even home education groups and private tutors if you feel that is the right fit for your child. You don’t need a piece of paper for your child to spend a day with their nose buried in a book, or to help the neighbor with his vegetable patch, or to cuddle up on the sofa while watching Planet Earth.

4. “You are required to follow the national curriculum.”

- This does vary by country (that allows home education). As a general rule, the stricter a country is about who can home educate, the stricter they are about what must be taught. In the UK, you are not required to follow the national curriculum. Education must be “efficient” and suited to the child’s “age, aptitude and ability”, and LAs do require that english and maths are covered. Other than that, you are allowed to tailor the content of education to the child and their interests. We have recently dropped geography for now and are only just picking up history again. It has also given us the freedom to focus on areas our child needs that would not be covered in mainstream education, such as anxiety management, trauma processing, self care and hygiene.

5. “Home education looks like school/is just filling out workbooks/etc”

- The thing you will always hear from experienced home educators when you begin home education is “home education doesn’t need to be school at home”. Much like you can tailor the content of the learning to the child, you can also tailor the delivery to the child. Some child need structure, timetable, instructions. Some need freedom and to bounce between topics. Some need to have an hour learning maths and only maths, some need to go dig up your garden “for science”. Some want to learn every day, some will need extended breaks.

Learning happens all the time, from the moment they wake to the moment they sleep. As an example, at home we have some workbooks, as both me and my child have ADHD and need someone to go “ok learn this” rather than us having to work out for ourselves what we need to cover for core subjects like english and maths. For the rest of most days my child is left to their own devices to binge youtube and netflix and work on their art. We try and go for a woodland walk every few days, where we have Deep Discussions about all kinds of topics, and we are also working on growing edible plants and baking cakes from around the world. We are more hands-off at the moment, due to the current bout of anxiety, but when that settles again we will get back to history themed crafts and STEM activities. Post-pandemic, we will be signing our kid up for swimming classes and “after school” clubs, and looking at sending them down to my mum for the home ed groups where she lives, like the forest school. A lot of home education outside of a pandemic is in groups and community based, or will make use of libraries and museums and other public learning opportunities. Frequently very little will happen at home.

In fact many home educators will advise new families to “deschool” for a while before jumping in to learning. This is a period where you “get school out of your system”, and just exist. Learning does not have to be intentional, you will be surprised how much you can achieve by just having fun.

6. “Home education is expensive.”

- It can be, ask my bank account. However, it is perfectly possible to deliver a quality education with little to no money. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s doable. Their are many online resources for free (check out oak academy), and libraries have plenty available too. Even paid resources can be very cheap if you know where to look. (psst, if your kid thrives with worksheets and powerpoints, get yourself a twinkl subscription, download everything you need for a year then cancel it.)

(This does not apply to exams. Get saving!)

7. “Home educated children are not properly socialised.”

- This is only really true during the pandemic. The rest of the time, home educated children are free to socialise whenever they want, with whoever they want, in whatever setting they choose. Socialisation while home educating is in the opinions of many of a higher quality, as they are not limited to groups of a similar age and background. Many home educating families form groups for their children to socialise together too. For ND children especially, socialising while home educated can be far less stressful and far more fulfilling than in school.

8. “Home educated children won’t get qualifications.”

- Just plain not true. Arranging qualifications can be costly and time consuming, but it is possible and regularly done. Some children may return to school or college to access exams for free, and I have heard of a handful of cases where individuals were able to secure prestigious university places without any qualifications. Home education also allows for more freedom with how exams and qualifications are approached, for example, many home educated children will pick one GCSE to focus on at a time, rather than covering numerous topics over 2 years and having exams for all of them at once like children in school will.

9. “Home education is a safeguarding risk/is used to cover up abuse/home educated children are not seen.”

- In the UK at least, home education is not considered a safeguarding risk, no matter what authorities may tell you, nor are home educated “not seen”. They still visit medical professionals, they still engage with their communities.

Now I shall add the relevant paper here should I find it again, but the idea that home education is used to cover up abuse to a statistically significant degree, or that home educated children are at more risk of abuse, is false. Home educating families do face a significantly higher risk of social services involvement than other families, but far less abuse is found in comparison to other families. It is also worth considering, when talking about social services involvement, that many families pursue home education due to failures by schools regarding a child’s vulnerabilities. In most cases, especially the Big Ones, where a home educated child is abused, the child was already known to authorities as a victim of abuse, therefore home educating did nothing to hide said abuse.

Children are also routinely abused in schools, which is another common reason for home educating.

10. “Home education has to be monitored or approved.”

- Depends on the country, I know in Japan home education is monitored by schools, however in the UK, monitoring is not lawful. Local authorities may make informal enquiries to ensure a suitable education is being facilitated (keep EVERYTHING in writing and please go straight to “home education and your local authority” group on FB for advice, you WILL need it!). In England, if your child is in mainstream education, you can deregister at will, from a special school will require LA approval. In Scotland deregistering requires LA approval. (Again, head to the aforementioned group for advice).

11. “You can’t work/get an education while home educating”

- It is hard to balance work, education and educating your child, but it is possible, people do it every day. Obviously, having at least one parent free to educate unhindered at all times is an ideal situation, but in the real world it often does not work that way. Parents may have to home educate regardless of their other commitments if a child truly needs to escape the school system. Many parents work or learn from home, and sometimes it is even possible to combine these activities with home education. Professional artists and crafters can pass down their skills while working, distance learners can invite their children to sit in on lectures. The really great thing about home education is it is flexible. Do you have a whole day of meetings? Let the kid play minecraft all day! Going to be in the office all day? Drop the kid off at the local forest school or something else they can do all day. Drop them with the grandparents to help with the gardening!

12. “Home educated are behind/achieve less than school children.”

- Their is no evidence that home education is of a lower quality than school education. Many children are home educated specifically because the school environment was detrimental to their education, and thrive with home education. Plenty of children are able to learn more simply by having 1-to-1 attention, without the distraction of an entire class. And others may well be “behind”, and are educated at home because of their specific needs that mean they will never thrive in an academic setting, so they are allowed to focus on learning skills that will allow them to live independently.

[thinking-in-symbols]

Quinquennial Life Assessment

So, it’s been a few years.  When I was 19 I posted a sort of “roadmap” for the evolution of my life on this blog.  Today I thought I’d revisit that.  I want to take a look back and see what progress I’ve made, and then in a separate post I want to turn to the future, think about how my vision for it has changed, and consider how I can reincorporate these goals into that vision.

This is the list of things I wanted to get done in varying time frames.  I’ve crossed off the things I’ve done to get a sense of my progress:

1 year:

At 19, my hopes were to accomplish the following things by age 20:

- Joined, and consistently participated in, at least 2 campus organizations that suit my interests, at least 1 of which should be competitive in nature - well, I joined the ISO and KVRX, my college radio station!  Neither of those were competitive, but in retrospect I don’t really care about that :-)

- Made concrete plans to study abroad - Nope, unfortunately I never did this.  I’m not quite sure I regret that, all things considered - I traded that experience for other things.  I did make plans to spend a few months abroad of my own accord, and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling global pandemic.  But as it stands I haven’t done this.

- Learned C++ and python to proficiency - Hm.  “Proficient” is a relative term.  But I think I have a tendency to downplay my skills, so in the interest of counteracting that I’m going to count myself as “proficient” in these languages.  I think that’s fair.

- Gone on at least a several day road trip with at least 1 friend - I’ve gone on several trips with @meeshbug​, my very lovely girlfriend and best friend in the world :-)

- Decided on a concentration beyond the extremely vague umbrella of “computer science” - Unfortunately as far as my education is concerned I never really did this.  If anything my interests have *broadened* rather than becoming more focused.  More on this later...

- Made meaningful, ongoing contributions to an open-source project - You know what?  I’ve published the source of everything I’ve ever made, and I’ve gotten to the point where I can make stuff that’s not trivial.  So I’m giving myself credit for this one.

- Learned to cook enough meals to eat in most days and not get sick of my own food - I wish.  I’ve learned to cook a fair amount of stuff but I still get way too depressed and lethargic to apply that consistently.  Whether I consider myself to have achieved this honestly depends on the month.

- Learned to keep my living area clean - I’m much better at this than I was at 19, but at 19 I could barely clear a path to walk across my room.  So there’s more work to do.  More on these last two later.

- Gotten a pet - Meesh and I have a dog named Courage (after the dog of cowardly fame) and a cat named Jax!

2 years:

- Independently written a piece of software to completion and deployed it publicly - I’ve always pretty bad at actually seeing projects through to completion, but I do have a few full, independent projects under my belt at this point.  I’ve built a simple game engine, a pathtracer, plugins for games I like, and some other stuff.

- purchased and begun regularly using some basic amateur radio equipment - Ah man.  I got my license but I still haven’t gotten any equipment.  I guess I have to get on that...

- purchased and begun experimenting with some basic music recording equipment - This one I’ve done, but I haven’t done as much experimenting as I’d like.

- hosted a party - I did this for my 21st birthday and it’s one of my favorite memories!  Honestly this was probably the last time I had all my really close friends in one place.  I’m actually getting kind of emotional about that.

- done some kind of hallucinogen - I have now done this.  I definitely did get something out of it, albeit not what I expected.  This is something I actually only did pretty recently and it’s still having a pretty profound effect.  Maybe I’ll write a separate post about this.

- Gone camping with friends - Despite my best efforts, this hasn’t happened yet.  Pretty fucked up.

3 years:

- learned to play another instrument besides the piano (guitar?) - I don’t feel comfortable crossing this one off quite yet, but I went ahead and bought myself some guitar equipment and have been messing around with it lately :-) I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay for lessons if I’m serious about this, which I am.

- Written and recorded a song - Damn, I can’t believe it’s been 5 years and I haven’t even done this.

- Met a group of people I can play music with - nope

- Owned a leather jacket.  I can’t believe I’ve still never even owned a leather jacket - I’ve done this and wore it frankly too much.  Kinda cringe.

- Worked as a professional software developer - Yep!  Worked as a software developer for a retail company for a couple years.  I’m actually not working as a software developer right now, though; I’m working in a sort of adjacent position.  More on this later.

- Participated in research related to my field - That’s pretty ambitious.  Not sure I’ll ever do this, unfortunately.  But we’ll see.

- Been to a film festival - Oh shit, I totally forgot about having written this.  That’s a cool idea.  I should do this, it’s not like it’s hard (well, at least in principle.  I guess covid kind of changes the situation).

- Gotten a dog - Courage is one of those, I think, although he might also be part rat.

- collected 50 records - Lol, my dumb ass really thought I was going to buy $1,000 worth of records on college money.  No, I haven’t done this, but I’m on my way there.

- Purchased a desktop computer - Well, my dad gave me his old desktop.  That’s not really a purchase but I think it counts.

5 years:

- Begun accepting freelance development gigs - haven’t gotten here yet and I’m not totally sure this is a direction I want to go in my career.  Freelancing has its own stressors as I’ve come to learn from others.  No career path is sunshine and roses and I’m trying to internalize this fact.

- Participated in a student film - Nope.  I don’t even know why I wrote this down to be honest.

- Gotten laid by solving a 5x5 Rubik’s Cube in front of a girl because surely that’s gonna have to work on someone eventually, otherwise I wasted a lot of time - These are getting weird.  Surely I didn’t really expect this to happen, right?  Well, either way I now have a long-term girlfriend, so I don’t - wait, Meesh has seen me solve a Rubik’s cube and she saw it before we started dating.  So actually I’m going to give myself credit for it.  I’m the one who makes the rules here.

- Fleshed out my political opinions - Yes, I now know everything about politics and can answer 100% of questions on political issues.  Just kidding.  But I know where I stand.

- Participated in a protest or some other kind of political event - Done!  Went to a few protests as part of the ISO, participated in lots of their events, and attended some protests with friends as well.

- Studied abroad - Nope :-/

- Learned a language other than Spanish - I took a semester of French!  But I don’t quite want to give myself credit for this one because I really would like to learn a different language to something resembling fluency.

- Run a marathon - Lmao.  I am in much worse shape now than I was when I wrote this post, and even at that time I could probably do like 7 miles if I really pushed myself.  How sad.

- Gone hiking outside of texas - This is weird because I’d literally already done this when I wrote this post.  But I’ve done it more since then, so hey!

- Been out of the country with a friend - This I had also already done.  I guess the point is to have done it without “adult supervision” or whatever.  I haven’t done this since writing this list so I guess I have to leave it uncrossed.

10 years:

- Lived with a girl for an extended period of time - Meesh 🥰

- Spent at least 6 months living on the road in an RV, preferably with a dog and a girl - God, I am so close to being able to do this.  I don’t want it to be an RV anymore - those things are expensive.  But a van?  Still pricey, but doable, especially if I’m willing to sacrifice some comfort.  This has actually been front-of-mind for a while.  I’ll let you know when I get the balls to pull the trigger.

- Started making Real Money - Well, yep, I have gotten to that point.  I do have other thoughts on this, though.  Money is weird, man.

- Lived in a long-term living space outside of Texas (i.e. not including RV time) - How long is long-term?  Three months?  If so, I’ve done this by living in Boston with Meesh for a few months after she went there for law school.  However, I anticipate staying there much longer in the near future, so I’ll wait on this crossing this one off.

- Written a book about something, idk - Not yet.  I’m halfway to the deadline on this one and I have some ideas, but ideas aren’t worth all that much, especially to me, who rarely sees them through.  We’ll see where this goes.  It’s not exactly a priority and historically I struggle to get even my priorities done.  It might make more sense to replace this with recording a concept or narrative album, for which I also have ideas that I happen to take more seriously.

- Learned to solve a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Gotten laid by solving a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Lived in an apartment where I pay all the rent - Yes!  :-))) We love independence

- Earned an advanced degree (this one’s iffy) - This hasn’t happened, and whether it will ever happen is something I’ve been thinking a lot about.  I sort of decided half-way through college that I would be totally burned out on school by the time I graduated.  But in retrospect it takes way less time to burn out on work than it does to burn out on school, and grad degrees are a different kind of thing.  So it’s worth revisiting.’

- Given a best man speech (Sam, this means you have to get married within the next 10 years.  Good luck out there.) - Holy shit, Sam, you maniac, you actually did it!  Sam got married back in 2019 and I gave his best man speech! It’s another one of my favorite memories :-) 

- Gone on a cruise with someone I’m dating - Hmm, not yet.  I’ve gone on cool trips, but none on a boat.  Maybe that’s something to aim for after the pandemic passes :-)

Retrospective:

1yr: Completed: 5/9

More than half isn’t bad!  I’m not gonna worry too much about whether I got these things done within their assigned “time-frame”.  I’m a procrastinator in my heart and I don’t see any reason to put that kind of pressure on myself.  The point is, they got done.  That’s enough for me.

The things I did best in in this category were academic things, and things to do with relationships.  I’m proud of the academic achievements, I really feel like doing them has increased my belief in myself and my sense that I’m good at the thing I’ve spent the last four years studying.  And of course, I am so happy to be in a loving, fulfilling relationship that brings so many good things into my life.  I almost feel like the things I accomplished sort of fell into my lap - of course I’m gonna do programming stuff as a programming student, and getting pets / going on road trips are things I did as a result of my relationship with Meesh.  I don’t say that to downplay the accomplishments, but I do think it’s worth noting.

The things I haven’t done are more to do with personal development, which is disappointing.  I would like to be able to say, 5 years down the road, that I’ve done the personal development I expected to do in just a single year, but maybe that’s a lot to expect.  These are problems I’ve dealt with my whole life.  I think what this means is that I can’t expect everything to fall into my lap.  Those things are going to take real concerted effort to change.  I’m not quite sure how to go about that, though.

2yrs: Completed: 4/6

Two-thirds!  Even better!

Lots of these are one-time accomplishments, not so much long-term commitments to personal development.  The good news is, I did them, and I think those resulted in some development in their own right :-)

Again, though, the things I didn’t do so well are the things that require long-term, concerted effort.  For instance, while I crossed off the one about experimenting with music, it’s really only the initial investment that I’ve really done at this point.  It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to follow through on the commitment to actually experiment and learn.

3yrs: Completed: 4/10

This category also follows the same pattern I’ve noticed with the last two.  The other thing I’m noticing is that so, so much of my effort over the past few years has been going towards developing a very particular skill: programming / computer science.  Music and art are so important to me, but I’ve done very little real development in those areas.  I mean, I’ve done some.  But not as much as I would have hoped for half a decade.

5yrs: Completed: 4/10

This is getting a little more fun because less of my goals have to do explicitly with my degree.  I’m starting to think beyond college, which is good, because the stage of life I’m in right now requires me to start thinking about the kind of life I want to build now that I’m done with school.  Also, I’m at the deadline for this one right now!  So this is a particularly interesting category because it really shows where I thought I’d be by this time.

The goals I accomplished in this timeframe are, again, mostly things I’ve done through my relationship, but politics also feature pretty prominently on this part of the list.  I spent a lot of time reading and researching political issues during college and really did look for ways to participate.  I honestly made politics a pretty big part of my identity over the last 5 years, and I think it will stay that way forever, but I’ve gotten to the point where I think I need to devote less of my mental energy to knowing more.  I know what I need to know.  It’s time to think about other things.

10yrs: Completed: 4/11 (and counting!)

There’s some career stuff in this section that I’ve been able to do, which is good news.  I’ve always been scared about entering the working world.  All things told, it’s gone more smoothly than it could have.  But I also have lots of lingering doubts about what I want to do in the long term.  So one of the most pressing goals I should aim for is to resolve those doubts.

Ultimately, I have a lot of time left, and I’m not even done with this time frame, so I’m not gonna spend much time dissecting the things I haven’t done.  What I’ll do instead is say that while I didn’t do everything on this list, I feel proud of the things I have accomplished.  I said when I first wrote this list that it’s sometimes hard for me to feel that my life is moving in any particular direction, and I’m still feeling like that five years later, to be honest.  But looking back on these things has helped me see that I actually am making progress in my life.  Not in all the ways I want to, but that’s OK.  There’s still time.

In the next couple days I want to come back to this and reorganize this list into an updated set of goals, for the same time frames.  Maybe that will help me think through exactly what it is I want out of the next five-ten years, with the benefit of having analyzed the things that I did and didn’t do well over the previous five.

[inkprintedfox]

OC Study

Tagged by @advena87 to fill out -THIS- OC question prompt.

I tag @starsandskies @1orweth @kanawolf

This is time consuming so I can understand if you guys don't want to do it, so no pressure. I spent roughly a week and a half, almost two weeks on this? No regrets, mostly took so long for me because I work full time and I tend to space out a lot and ramble. Lol

It is quite a bit of fun and a good exercise to help develop your characters so I do recommend It! Don't recommend doing more than three OCs at a time though, three was hard for me and usually I'm an over-achiever. Go easy and dont burn yourself out! Also would be a good exercise if you're writing with a canon character and want to get a handle on working with them.

I wanted to answer this in character originally but it would have been twice as long and probably taken me a month or more. 😅 Perhaps I'll do something like that one day....

Dragon Age OCs per usual for me.

Warden-Commander and Hero of Fereldan (DAO & DAOA)

Growing up in the Denerim Alienage has made Feiell a very bitter, angry, and agressive person. Biting and scrabbling to survive she also had to fight to keep her family and neighbors safe from the rich humans that liked to exploit the destitute elves. She gained a reputation as a protector but also a very hard woman.

She redibly accepted her conscription into the Grey Wardens, not only to escape the persecution of the law, but also to escape the narrow world of the Alianage. Collecting the people that would later be affectionately called "The Blight Brigade" exposed her to many new adventures as well as lifelong friendships, love, and personal growth that could not have happened otherwise.

The Champion of Kirkwall (DA2)

Laid-back, vain, and honestly somewhat lazy, Aiden has never wanted to be anyone's savior let alone a whole city's. Family has been the only thing that mattered in his life and after his father's death, he naturally took on the role of protector and main provider for his mother and siblings. This also made it very natural to take in the stray band of misfits that became almost like family and also why it is so natural for Aiden to constantly help people, even at times he would rather not.

His bleeding heart drags Aiden into the center of conflict far more often than he likes and he constantly berates himself for it. This automatic altruism has jaded him which fuels his sarcastic and sometimes bitter, self-deprecating humor. A tad over dramatic at times means that while he rarely, it ever, says no to aiding someone in need, it certainly doesn't mean he has to be quiet about it either.

The Inqusitor (DAI)

Max has been fortunate for most of his life, from growing up in the wealthy Trevelyan family, to his good looks and, quiet frankly, fantastic smile it's easy to assume he'd be another spoiled rich brat. You'd be giving in to a stereotype that doesn't, quiet, fit him though. From a young age Max has always been outgoing and adventurous which made him a handful to raise. His father frequently grappled with finding things to keep his youngest son occupied in ways that he hadn't had to do with his previous three children.

Born with a naturally sharp mind and quick wit, Max picks up new concepts quickly and with ease. Which means he often grew board with tutors, burned through the family library in a handful of years, quickly became very competent on horseback as well as the breeding and rearing of them (part of the family business), and often terrorized his siblings as well as the hired staff. Once he exhausted most of the interesting things at home he started running off to search for new adventures. Boredom and frequent arguments with his father often lead to habitual bouts of running away from home. Hence where Max got to truly learn about the world and open his eyes to the kind of privilege he's been so lucky to be born with. Unfortunately this also has ingrained his habit of running away from problems he doesn't see a forward solution to. (*cough*theinqusiton*cough*)

OC Study

Featuring:

Warden-Commander Feiell “Fe" Tabris

Champion of Kirkwall Aiden Hawke

Inquisitor Maxwell “Max" Trevelyan

1. Is your OC easily bothered by things?

Feiell – Small things don’t really bother her but she is a tad hot-headed so if you give her a hard time you might not be in for the best experience. She also has zero tolerance for idiots or assholes.

Aiden – He’s a petty bitch that mostly whines and complains to annoy his friends. Also whining about petty things is a good cover for the bigger worries and anxieties he hides underneath.

Max – Mostly an easygoing, carefree type. It takes the numerous responsibilities of the Inquisition weighing down on him all at once before he starts cracking.

2. How easily does your OC make friends?

Feiell – Most defiantly not a people person. Her natural stoic demure and biting sarcasm keeps people at bay. You have to spend quite a bit of time around her before she warms up to you.

Aiden – For reasons he doesn’t really understand people like Aiden. It’s probably his easy smile and sense of humor which he uses to get what he wants or needs out of them. Not really manipulative just doesn’t feel like he deserves the attention. The humor mostly hides his pain and keeps people at arms length, mostly unintentionally. He hates to burden those he loves.

Max – Max loves people, mostly entertaining, or teasing them. His signature charming smile and good looks usually put people at ease which makes him very likable. It also lets him get away with the mischief he often gets into.

3. Does your OC go beyond what they have to do or do they usually do just enough work to get by?

Feiell – Has almost literally killed herself to get where she is. Her work ethic is legendary and she’ll do almost anything to support her family and friends.

Aiden – Will do the barest minimum to get by. Her lazy as hell, even though he is incapable of saying no when someone needs help.

Max – Believes in doing things right the first time and if not the first time then defiantly the second time. Whatever the job needs to get done he willing to do and if it’s a favorite project he can lose himself in it indefinitely.

4. Is your OC respectful of others?

Feiell – She will be as respectful to you as you are to her, but will out match you if you’re a dick to her or her friends.

Aiden – Respectful enough to not cause trouble and get people to leave him alone.

Max – Perfect manners, and ridiculously charming. He believes everyone deserves respect unless they prove otherwise.

5. Is your OC imaginative or more down-to-earth?

Feiell – Defiantly no-nonsense and down-to-earth. She believes in hard work to active your goals.

Aiden – More of a day-dreamer but pulls a practical side together to care for and help family and friends. Dreams are nice but plans put food on the table.

Max – Total idealist, truly believes even the most impossible is attainable if you work at it long enough. Most of that idealistic optimism is broken after Trespasser, but that’s a long story.

6. Is your OC comfortable with themselves?

Feiell – She’s always been comfortable with who she is and has never felt any shame for it. She owes that to her parents and cousin.

Aiden – Feels like a constant failure and a burden despite how hard he tries not to. Doesn’t feel comfortable with opening up about his feelings and weighing others down with them. Is also terrible with expressing more painful emotions.

Max – Is mostly comfortable with himself. Always felt like a disappointment to his family because he never had the kind of goals for his life he thought they would want from him. Also never really saw himself as reliable but the Inquisition changed all that.

7. Does your OC plan things and stick to it or do they make it up as their go?

Feiell – Always has a plan and is a master of adjusting things on the fly if needed. Prefers to stick to the plan but has accepted how rarely that can happen.

Aiden – He’s been winging his whole life and it somehow hasn’t killed him yet.

Max – Usually has more of an outline than a hard plan. Trial & error are his best friends and somehow he’s still alive, that’s probably because he uses educated guesses more that throwing things to the wind.

8. Was their life eventful before the start of the story, or was it more dull?

Feiell – Depends if living in poverty and oppression is dull to you. I guess since it was normal for her it was boring.

Aiden – The stress of hiding a mage father and sister was more than Aiden ever wanted. He would have preferred boring.

Max – While the constant mischief Max got himself into means things were never dull they certainly seem boring when compared to life in the Inquisition. Josephine certainly had her hands full going through all of Max’s past exploits.

9. Do they have the habit to insult other people?

Feiell – Is a salty, little bitch so defiantly yes. She has a sharp tongue.

Aiden – Bit of a smart-ass and occasionally he can’t help it so it gets him in trouble.

Max – Mostly no, it takes quite a bit to get on his nerves enough to make him snap at you. Usually very polite.

10. Would your OC be described as “the life of the party”?

Feiell – She can be described as the death of the party.

Aiden – Likes to think he is.

Max – Is the actual life of the party if he wants to be. Usually he is.

11. Are they critical of others?

Feiell – To a degree, yes

Aiden - Mostly critical of himself

Max – Not really, he’s pretty non-judgmental

12. Do they like art? what is their favorite type (paintings, songs, fashion, etc)?

Feiell – The art of war perhaps, but music is good too.

Aiden – He considers Fenris a work of art if that counts.

Max – Paintings, music, nature, pretty clothes (mostly on Dorian), Max loves it all. He was especially fond of watching Solar paint his murals.

13. Are they more accepting or more controlling of the people in their life?

Feiell – As long as you’re not bothering her and no one gets hurt she doesn’t really care what people do.

Aiden – He has no control over his own life let alone any one else.

Max – Very accepting of people but not above a subtle nudge to do things he feels might benefit them.

14. Is your OC a good listener?

Feiell – She listens more than she talks, so yes.

Aiden – The one who’s always there to listen when you need him.

Max - Yes, he also has a great memory so he's very good at keeping track of all the drama in life. Lol

15. Are they opinionated or more willing to change their minds?

Feiell – Pretty opinionated but not impossible to change her mind, not that it is easy to do so mind you.

Aiden – Too changeable at times and mostly keeps his opinions to himself.

Max – A few solid moral opinions that he won’t move on but open-minded on nearly everything else.

16. Are they the kind of person who’s always on the defensive?

Feiell – Much less than she use to be but definitely yes.

Aiden – Only when he feels blamed for everything, which he is often.

Max – No, he dose his best to own up to his mistakes and rarely takes things personally.

17. Do people like hanging around them? do they have a positive, friendly energy?

Feiell – I will file this under HELL NO. She scares the crap out of most people if she doesn’t piss them off. It can take quite awhile for friends to warm up to her, if at all.

Aiden – People love Aiden, but the older he gets the less Aiden likes people. They demand too much from him but he’ll never be able to say no, or miss a chance at a passive-aggressive joke. Or a regular bad joke for that matter.

Max – People love Max almost from the moment they meet him. There is just something about him that puts everyone at ease and makes it easier to trust and smile. Must be the charming smile, yeah, has to be. He’s not bad looking either.

18. Is your OC a procrastinator? if they are, what’s an example of how much?

Feiell – People die if she puts things off, so no. Some days she wishes she could put many things off though. Like dying anytime soon, there’s too much to accomplish.

Aiden – What is productivity? If nobody is dying or it’s not dragging him, kicking and screaming, by the hair then its probably not getting done. At least no time soon. Guilt trip him hard to speed things up.

Max – Important things get done but if it’s not a pressing issue then it often can be temporarily abandoned for more enjoyable activities. Even if it’s set aside, the thing will still be done in a reasonable amount of time. Unless he forgets, which can happen frequently.

19. Do they tend to panic in certain situations or are they more calm?

Feiell – Always calm, if something bothers her you’ll never know.

Aiden – Panics constantly. Somewhat hides it well…somewhat…

Max – Takes most things in stride, the sudden dump of responsibility and people’s lives was really stressful but he adjusted to it.

20. Are they vengeful?

Feiell – I literally made a post of her being a deity of vengeance lol.

Aiden – Petty or bitter, perhaps, but not full on vengeful.

Max – Yes, touch the people he loves and see a whole different side of him.

21. What are some skills your OC has a talent for and what are some that they worked for?

Feiell – She’s has a natural flair for swordsmanship, her mother started training her and Fe kept up the practice even after her mother’s passing. Her leadership skills were…a little more rough. She had to learn how to organize and lead people on the fly because of the Blight but luckily she learns quickly.

Aiden – He’s scary good at lying, not even Varric can catch him in one. (Honestly most of his book is just Varric's best guess on Aiden's thoughts) Knife throwing took quite a bit of practice though. He can now nail someone at 100 pages and is unmatched at darts.

Max – Politics and navigating the Great Game are weirdly natural for Max even though he kinda hates it. His archery skill is something he is extremely proud of because he’s practiced relentlessly to be as good as he is. And he really is good, until a natural like Sera comes and shatters his ego. Lol

22. Are they more socially awkward or socially confident?

Feiell – Awkward, but in the way that she doesn’t care what people do or say. She dose her own thing and ignores everyone else.

Aiden – Smooth on the outside, tired wreak on the inside. Not that anyone will ever know.

Max – Social chameleon, and life of the party. Until he slips away unnoticed somehow.

23. What is something really dumb that irritates your OC a lot?

Feiell – Dumb questions about her hair: “How long is it?”, “Why do you keep it that long?”, “Is it really that red?”. Usually answered with “Why do you care so much, it’s not your hair.” Also people touching her constantly, she doesn’t see the need to constantly clap people on the shoulder or grab their arms when somethings funny.

Aiden – Orlesians, if you don’t know anything about DA then I’m sorry, this probably doesn’t make sense to you.

Max – Assuming he's stupid or that because of his wealth that he doesn't do any work. He's a natural busy-body so assuming he sits on his are all day is really irritating.

24. Do they tend to see the good in people?

Feiell – No, she’s had too many bad experiences before so distrust is her default until proven otherwise.

Aiden – Sometimes, mostly sees people in shades of grey. No one is 100% good or bad.

Max – He sees the good in people as often as he can and tries to pull some good out of those who are sometimes a little lost.

25. What does it take for your OC to trust someone?

Feiell – Doing what you say you will, not hiding things, sticking up for others when it clearly has no benefit for you, and give it a few weeks….or months and she may trust you.

Aiden – Help him out in a hard spot, or help family/friends.

Max – If you’re not openly malicious or he doesn’t feel like you’re lying/hiding anything his default if to trust until proven otherwise.

26. Do they have a lot of mood swings?

Feiell – Not really, she’s not a very emotional person. Unless you count her temper which can light like a matchstick.

Aiden - Known to be moody, to the point of it being a well known joke among friends. On bad days he can even out do Anders.

Max – Only if the stress is overwhelming him or he’s pretty sick. Otherwise he’s pretty even tempered.

27. Do they like to be the center of attention or do they prefer to be in the background?

Feiell – Hates being the center of attention and would rather be left alone. Unfortunately she’s had to get use to the attention after becoming Warden-Commander.

Aiden – If people could forget who he is it would be really nice. Likes being the center of attention among friends and family, doesn’t like it with crowds of strangers.

Max – Loves entertaining people and making them laugh which makes him great for parties. He grew up attending big gatherings and is an expert at navigating them, which means he's also very good at slipping away from them when he tires of the crowds.

28. Do people think they’re pretentious?

Feiell – Sometimes, her natural expression can give that impression but most of those people that make this mistake are racist shems that don’t like the power she has. Or the fact that she could kill them without breaking a sweat.

Aiden – No, his face is too friendly and if that doesn’t do it the self-deprecating jokes do.

Max – Yes, it’s easy for people to assume that since he comes from money. He’s never thought himself better than anyone though and tries to dispel that impression, but you can’t control what people want to think of you.

29. Is your OC detail oriented or do they focus more on the big picture?

Feiell – Details, details, you add them all up and that’s how you get a bigger picture. Other words, very detail oriented.

Aiden – Big picture. How you get there is a mystery though.

Max – Big picture first then an outline of the main details to get there.

30. Which high school movie stereotype would they fit best?

Feiell – The ice queen/The strict, scary teacher.

Aiden – Class clown/Troublemaker/Weird but laid back teacher

Max – The jock that befriends the weird kid/Hot science teacher

31. Are they good giving advice?

Feiell – Defiantly not, she’s better at giving orders.

Aiden – Only ask if you want to get in trouble. Ok, that’s not completely true, occasionally he can give good advice. Particularly to help cheer someone up.

Max – I would say yes, he’s gotten quite a bit of good advice over the years and likes to pass it on.

32. Which one of the 7 deadly sins fit your OC more? do they see it as a flaw?

Feiell – Wrath: Only a flaw if you think beating your enemies is a bad thing.

Aiden - Sloth: Regrets this flaw. If he had acted sooner on many things they might not have escalated the way they did.

Max – Pride: A flaw he has worked hard to temper over the years. Was more of a problem when he was younger than now.

33. Is your OC more likely to keep their feelings to themselves or to share them?

Feiell – Keeps them mostly to herself. A couple close friends may get a glimpse but only Zevran knows her well. He’s learned when to prod to get her to open up.

Aiden – Doesn’t like to burden others so keeps his feelings to himself even when he shouldn’t.

Max – His oldest sister is his best friend and confidant, she gets to hear everything. Max has started to lean on Dorian in this way too. Basically immediate family and good friends will know what’s up.

[misslisterkeepsajournal]

1826 Tuesday 14 March

7 1/2 11 25/60

Went into the stable - Sent off my letter to 'Mrs. Betsy Harrison Mr. Fisher's, Petergate, York' - Went out at 8 3/4 to James Sykes for a few minutes - at 9 down the o.b. [old bank] to H-x [Halifax] 1/4 hour with Mr. Parker giving him directions for advertising Northgate house with or without the whole or part of six days work of land or ten if wanted (taking the 2 fields Thomas Greenwood has) - to be let from year to year or for a term of years - to be advertised twice in the Leeds Intelligencer and Leeds Mercury - then asked Mr. Parker to consider of the best means to recover the £66 odd from the commissioners of the Brighouse and Denholme Gate road - mentioned seizing the tolls - Mr. P- [Parker] thought the law would not bear us out in this - said it was my fathers proposing - bade him speak to my father on the subject -

Got home in 54 minutes Went down to Jackman preparing to begin wearing at the great bend in the brook at the bottom of the Dolt wood - Came in to breakfast at 10 50/60 - Mr. Carr came a little before 12 - He will take my price £160 per days work for the quantity of land we wanted yesterday - Mr. Samuel Washington to come over and stake out and measure for us as soon as possible - Staid perhaps 10 minutes with Mr. Carr, then talked it over with my aunt - she seems quite satisfied - Including this purchase and the ground at Northgate and the cottage building there, I do not think, if we borrow the money (about £1400) at 5 percent, it make a loss of income of more than £35 a year - came up stairs a little before one - Calculating what money we should probably receive and probably spend before the next rent day - the receipts ought to be about £300, the expenses will be about £2000 - I hope we can do with borrowing £1500 - If this be the case, I think we shall have about £950 a year - then wrote the above of today - all this has done me good -

On coming in from H-x [Halifax], found a letter from Mrs. Milne (Langton) - read it at the breakfast table my aunt saw that something was the matter and at last inquired - I merely mentioned from whom I had heard - and my aunt began innocently wishing I had no friends etc. etc. they never left me at rest, etc. etc. - I felt as if I could not say much, or think much on any subject - would write immediately even tho I felt it would be wisest to drop the matter here and write no more my heart misgave me I did not expect just such an answer and yet she was right the first page and two lines on the second were probably seen by Charlotte thanks for the regles d'ecarte 'of which I cant understand one word' etc. etc. 'I am full of astonishment at Mariana's hop'....Mrs. N- [Norcliffe] hopes she will make Langton in her way, etc. etc. then on the second page as follows

Langton March thirteenth strange and inconsistent but I have done never more shall letter of mine hurt your eye or wound your heart you have indeed with a ruthless hand snatched and destroyed the blossoms you yourself planted in my bosom but it is ever so with me it matters not however a few short moments of weal or woe and this scene must close on the wretched and on the happy I have it under your own hand otherwise no power could make me believe that my friendship and love could make such desolation forgive me the mischief was unintentional your happiness not your misery was my hope and prayer but I have done best best loved tho latest known farewell for ever

the copying this letter makes me feel a strange sinking at heart how pathetic brevity affects us I know her all her scrapes with others and have been taught she has no heart nor principle and yet my heart is sad and her lines affect me she is indeed a dangerous woman at this moment I could kneel to her yet have I before said to myself she is a bad one she would only make a fool of me or Pi [Mariana] has often told me so it must be true how could indifference turn to such love so soon I will take no notice of this letter the matter shall rest where it is let us see what she will do she will give me up now and give herself no more trouble about me she cannot in reality care much and by and by I shall forget her and all this will be the best for us both surely there is not much harm done yet yet I catch myself sighing deeply what means it I will quit the subject and my journal for the present -

Had just finished the above of today at 2 25/60 - then went down to my  aunt for 1/2 hour - Told her I thought we should manage very well - that I had been calculated, and, at all rates, we should have, as I said, £900 a year, and should not borrow more than £2000 - Came upstairs and from 3 to 5 wrote 3 pages and the ends, and crossed the 1st page to Miss Mc.L- [Maclean] said I had written to MacDonald - hoped Miss Mc.L- [Maclean] would bring her down with her - Fearing she has had some unpleasant news from Mrs. Bury 'for me there is no peace between the prudence of some, and the fatal imprudence of others' observed in answer .....

'Be thankful for the extreme that is on the right side; and bless their sister's prudence, tho' it be sometimes clad in all the cautious coldness of reserve - Send your heart to me, my love and leave the rest to jog on with the world, as its own pace - yes! yes! we know each other by letter, at all events; and, thro' all these years, as all my pages that are kept can prove, my sentiments of esteem and admiration, and regard, have been, like everlasting, fresh at their latest as their earliest hour - Go where I may, Sibbella, a nameless charm will wrap you round my memory for ever - I have often mentally blessed our drive to Otley - our meeting at Esholt completely changed the style of my regard - I wish I had been present when you wrote this: - it was the moment, above all others, which I should have chosen for 'peeping into your heart' - I have often thought of, and wished I could scarce define what - that drive to Otley was indeed 'a delightful dream', too delightful to be dreamed of before it came'.......

Then from 5 to 5 10/60 wrote 2 1/2 pages to Miss Pickford thanking her for her inquiries after my aunt - she is worse - 'more enfeebled and worse than she was a 12 month ago' - ask if she can 'give us any hints for our journey on the Continent our place of settlement for the winter is still undetermined - Let us have your opinion as to climate comforts, etc.' - In my 1st page I had mentioned going to Buxton in July and August for 5 or 6 weeks, and 'Thence to the South of France, or some good climate for the winter' ask her as well as Miss Mc.L- [Maclean] 'By the way, do you think you can, by any convenient means, get us what might turn out a pleasant introduction to any one abroad' -

Dressed - dinner at 6 1/4 - Cold, rather hazy rawish morning - began to rain about 10 1/2 - a smartish shower and continued till between 12 and 1, when it gradually abated, and, from about 2, was fine for the rest of the day - Barometer 1/2 degree below changeable Fahrenheit 43° at 9 55/60 p.m. at which hour came up to bed E..O.. - Read from page 17 to 25 Quarterly review no. [number] 65 on the Reformation in England 'Mr. Todd (vide this no. [number] of the Quarterly review page 19) 'in his able preface to the republication of Cranmer's work on the Sacrament, has hunted Dr. Linyard thro' his many mistatements with severe and unrelenting vigilance' -  

Reference: SH:7/ML/E/9/0070 - SH:7/ML/E/9/0071

[caladhel-iarian]

Introduction: Dhel, Vocalist for Dysphoria

full name.  Caladhel Ia’rian.

pronunciation.  CULL-uh-DELL. YAH-ree-ON.

nicknames.

Dhel 

This is both his stage name and a family nickname.

Dek

This is a family nickname only. His grandmothers, his parents, and his siblings typically call him this.

Professor [Ia’rian].

His more ambitious students and his colleagues address him by this title.

Master [Caladhel].

It may seem trite, but Dhel has his reasons for enjoying this title beyond, “I’m a big, bad Dom, now get on your knees.” 

Hardass 

His students call him this behind his back. Unfortunately for them, while his vision may not be great, he has excellent hearing.

The Ice Prince

Would-be wives and ex-girlfriends call him this, usually with wistful sighs and a glint in their eyes that says they want to be the one to melt that ice.

Smokestack

Thanks, Ji.

Dull. 

An obscure pronunciation of Dhel, you probably shouldn’t call him this if you like yourself the shape you currently are.

Daddy. 

A lot of people seem to want to call him this, but if you enjoy his company and want to continue to enjoy it, I can’t recommend this. Dhel hates this and likely any woman who tries to address him this way. Use this term in bed and he’ll probably toss you straight out the window without bothering to open it first. Did I mention he lives in the penthouse on the top floor?

Various other silly endearments his brothers come up with on the fly.

Usually some form of alliteration.

height.  8′. He’s a big boy.

age.  305. Roughly equivalent to a human in his mid-to-late 30′s.

zodiac. Scorpio, with many of the negative traits said to come with the sign.

languages. If it’s a language, he probably has some passing familiarity with it, at least enough to ask for directions. He has native-speaker-fluency in Thalassian, Darnassian (ancient and modern), Shalassian, and Common. 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour. Thick, silky, and blacker than a crow’s wing with azure highlights in the sun. Mostly straight, though the jagged ends often sweep out in all directions. He has two long strands that drape over his shoulders and touch his abs, shaggy bangs, and the rest is a choppy mess.

eye colour.  Beneath the lime green glow, his irises are a rich chocolate brown with gold flecks. They resemble a deeper, darker tiger’s eye held up to light.

skin tone.  Olive with gold undertones.

body type.  Enormous, broad-shouldered, and covered in lean, ropy muscle, Dhel has the athletic build of a man who could outswim a shark on cocaine. 

accent.  Shalassian. He sounds like a cross between someone who speaks a Slavic tongue and an eastern Asian tongue.

dominant hand.  Ambidextrous, but he’s a southpaw naturally.

posture. Tall. Stately. Proud. Self-assured. Dhel walks like a man who knows exactly where he belongs in this world: in charge of it.

scars.

Thick, knotty scars cover his ankles, his heels, and his soles. They appear to be the results of clumsy hands wielding serrated knives.

The rest of his body bears the typical scars earned through childhood adventure:

A long, thin scar runs up the back of his left calf as a result of a tree-climbing accident.

His knuckles bear the marks from a stupid game of “does it hurt?” he played with his brothers and other students. The game involves rubbing a pencil eraser over the knuckles until the victim either cries uncle or bleeds.

A thin scar spans the length of his left palm. Made by Bren’s treasured pocket knife, it’s the reminder of a blood pact he made with his brothers as children.

tattoos.

Left arm:

Family crest on the inside of his forearm. It’s a massive wisteria tree on a hill with the sun rising behind it.

Infinity symbol curling around his wrist. It looks like a musical staff with several notes.

A trio of fox kits chase a red butterfly down the outside of his forearm.

Musical staff around his bicep. The staff contains notation and a few lyrics written in ancient Darnassian.

Lyrics:

Canary, I want to break your wings but if I do, will you ever sing again? Canary, here is all I can give you. You can have everything as long as you promise to stay in my gilded cage...

Oh, sweet Alice, who do you love? How many suitors do I have to get rid of?

Right arm:

Azure cloud serpent Ouroboros on the outside of his forearm.

Slumping marionette with severed strings on the outside of his bicep.

Fleur de lis on the inside of his wrist.

A Punch ‘n Judy stage with the titular characters on the inside of his bicep.

Words from his favourite poem on the inside of his forearm.

The poem reads:

If I freed you now, to whom next would you fly? I’d rather watch you wither under these hands than see you tamed by a snake who can only slither in the dirt, belly-down and ambitions no higher than his eye level. I’d decapitate every liar who approached you with sweet words. I’m not better than a devil who slept so long without you that my bed forgot your shape and my trembling fingers nurture the weeds that grew in the home I made for you where your sunshine still lingers.

Full body:

From his jawline to his toes, he is covered in runic tattoos that are only visible when he uses magic. They glow a vivid violet during his spellcasting and should you catch a glimpse of them, the runes come from a language thought long dead. 

most noticeable features.

An expression that says he wakes every morning to find someone has pissed in his shoes.

A lower lip piercing that he usually only wears onstage and for photo shoots.

His height. The man is enormous.

Glasses. If he’s not wearing contacts, he’s wearing his glasses. Otherwise, he can’t see his hand in front of his face.

A glacial glare, harder than diamonds and sharper than the edge of an obsidian blade.

Tattoos. Many, many tattoos.

His cheeks dimple when he smiles and his smile is crooked; the left side of his mouth pulls up higher.

Dhel is a chainsmoker. You’ll rarely see him without a cigarette and a cloud of purple smoke hanging around him.

The air around him is a good 3-5 degrees colder than the rest of his surroundings and if you touch his skin, you’ll find it cool as a cucumber. When he’s angry, the temperature drops even further and he’s been known to sprout ice crystals.

CHILDHOOD

place of birth.  Sunset Palace on Skyfire Isle. The palace sits at the end of Morning Glory Lane in the eastern part of the capital city, Berl’din Mor. Skyfire Isle is a massive island about fifty leagues to the northeast of Quel’danas.

hometown.  Berl’din Mor, Skyfire Isle.

birth weight / height. 8 lbs. 23 inches.

manner of birth. He was the second of the triplets born to first-time parents, Taenaran and Sumire Ia’rian. His brother, Calaglin, preceded him by two minutes and his other brother, Calabren, followed Caladhel two minutes later. Sumire gave birth to her first three children in the royal family’s wing of the palace with her mother (Mienari Ker’anith) and her mother-in-law (Tekkele Ia’rian) attending her alongside the midwives.

first words.  “Mm-mh.�� (He couldn’t quite say “no” yet, so this was a suitable substitute for him.) “Ann’da.”

Dhel with his tired baby brothers, Yenchul (red shirt) and Tevryn (blue shirt).

siblings.

Calaglin Ia’rian 

Elder twin brother by two minutes.

Lin.

305 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in his mid-to-late 30′s.

Calabren Ia’rian

Younger twin brother by two minutes.

Bren.

305 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in his mid-to-late 30′s.

Ylinderwyn Ia’rian

Eldest sister.

Wynnie.

218 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in her mid 20′s.

Kethian Ia’rian

Sister.

Kethy.

149 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in her early 20′s.

Istaunna Ia’rian

Sister.

Ista.

84 years.

Roughly equivalent to a 14 year old human.

Kouwin Ia’rian 

Brother and older twin of Kouyuu by five minutes.

Kou.

68 years.

Roughly equivalent to a 9/10 year old human.

Kouyuu Ia’rian 

Brother and younger twin of Kouwin by five minutes.

Yuu.

68 years.

Roughly equivalent to a 9/10 year old human.

Yenchul Ia’rian

Brother and adopted twin of Tevryn.

Yen.

25 years.

Roughly equivalent to a 6 year old human.

Tevryn Ia’rian

Adopted brother and twin of Yenchul.

Tev.

25 years.

Roughly equivalent to a 6 year old human.

Phirayaela Ia’rian

Sister.

Phiya.

3 years.

parents.

Taenaran Ia’rian

Current monarch of Skyfire Isle.

Elder twin brother of Taenorin Ia’rian (deceased).

722 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in his 40′s.

Sumire Ia’rian nee Ker’anith

Current empress of Skyfire Isle.

621 years.

Roughly equivalent to a human in her late 30′s to mid-40′s.

parental involvement. High. His parents love their children and, despite having governesses and tutors to aid in watching their large brood, both Taenaran and Sumire made it a point to spend as much time with their kids as they could. The entire family is close-knit and protective of one another, and they always spend the holidays together. Not to mention, each of the older children has a comm device and the family keeps in regular contact.

ADULT LIFE

occupation.

Vocalist, lyricist, and pianist for Dysphoria.

Crown prince and heir apparent.

Adjunct professor at both the Sunfury Spire (Silvermoon) and the Violet Academy (Dalaran).

He teaches:

World Mythology (fall term).

Ancient Runes (fall term).

Advanced Evocation (spring term).

General education (both terms).

He only teaches general education to students 12 and younger.

On occasion, he also teaches ballroom dancing as an afterschool club elective.

close friends. Dhel is a private, moody man and if you aren’t part of his family, he’s more likely to shove you an arm’s length away than welcome you into his embrace--and he has a wingspan greater than seven feet. But he does have a few people who have managed to get reasonably close to him. They include:

Lin @calaglin-iarian

Bren @calabren-iarian

Eldya @eldya

Ji @puppet-master-jihye

Kearhyn @kearhyn

and Amorette, @amorette-frostsong

Reikandalin Ia’non (who doesn’t have a Tumblr)

Ishikilan Phyr’yl (who also doesn’t have a Tumblr).

He needs more friends. 

relationship status. Although he’ll tell you he’s married to his work, Dhel isn’t actually committed and doesn’t even seem to be dating anyone. But honestly, with his acid tongue and icy nature, that probably isn’t surprising. At this point, I’m not sure anyone could put up with him long enough to actually want to start a romantic relationship. When it comes to warming up to people, he moves slower than a glacier. A romance with Dhel takes time and effort, but in return, you’ll get a devoted elf who will move the universe for you.

financial status. Wealthy. Although a teacher’s salary won’t usually afford you a lavish life, Dhel is a prince from two long lines of royalty and noble blood... which means he has plenty of access to the family coffers. He also offers private tutoring for promising students and fronts a popular rock band during the summer and winter semesters.

driver’s license. I don’t think Azeroth really requires a driver’s license, but if it did--or if he were transplanted to modern day Earth--he would certainly make it a point to get his license. And probably be heavily invested in car mechanics.

criminal record.

Dhel has never been suspected of, charged, nor convicted for any crimes; his record is cleaner than a fresh sheet. But he is certainly guilty of several less-than-savoury activities, including (but not limited to):

Illegal drug use.

Blackmail and bribery.

Torture.

Homicide.

Human trafficking and false imprisonment.

Use (and abuse) of fel magic.

Forgery.

Grand larceny and looting.

Assault and battery.

Arson.

Stalking.

He is a careful planner who takes precautions to hide his tracks. Royalty can be dethroned.

Vices.

With more vices than the sky has stars, I’ll provide a few of his more prominent vices and a link to a complete list of his personality problems for those interested in seeing it.

Addiction (painkillers and cigarettes).

Wrathful.

Callous.

Condescending.

Ill-tempered.

Suspicious.

Workaholic.

Antagonistic.

Full list of Dhel’s vices can be found here.

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.  Heteroflexible, sapiosexual, and demisexual. If you want Dhel’s attention, bring a strong personality and a brain. You can have the prettiest face and most perfect body in the world, but if you don’t have anything more than cotton candy or air inside your skull, Dhel will not be interested. romantic orientation.  Once again, heteroflexible, sapiosexual, and demisexual. Want to romance him or encourage him to romance you? Banter with him. Few things draw his attention more readily than a person who can keep up with him and go verbal blow for blow. His idea of flirting is bickering to test the waters.

preferred emotional role.  Dominant. Wholly dominant. Follow his lead or he will make you follow his lead.

preferred sexual role.  Dominant. Dhel typically has zero percent interest in allowing others to orchestrate any part of his life and that definitely includes the bedroom.

libido.  High, though he’s picky and doesn’t always indulge his baser wants. 

turn on’s. Intelligence. Guts. Strong personalities. Smart mouths. Dark, dry humour. Curiosity and willingness to learn. Talented people with a passion for their craft. Brats that must be broken. Creativity. Stubborn submissiveness. Adventure. Dominating others. Complete control. BDSM. His favourite riding crop. Poetry. Class (elegance). Loyalty. Obsession. Brunettes. Curves. People who can respect his solitude. Power play. Tears.

turn off’s.  Willful ignorance. People who waste his time. Wishy-washy people. Conceit. People who display evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Stupidity. Listlessness, laziness. Nosiness. People with pudding spines. Infidelity. Women who try to dirty talk during sex--they inevitably say something that kills his mood. Blondes. Skin and bones. Those who haven’t figured themselves out enough to be consistent personalities. Being touched. Loss of control.

love language.  Acts of service. Gifts. Quality time.

relationship tendencies.  While he won’t hesitate to make his move for a one-night stand, Dhel is extremely picky when it comes to relationships. When he manages to land himself in a romance, he tends to think of his partner the same way a spoiled kid thinks of his favourite toy during show and tell--he wants to keep it to himself, wants to hide it away so no one else can play with it or break it. For his brothers and his family, he is wholly generous and willing to go out of his way to please them... but with a romantic partner, he looks for someone who will martyr themselves for him the same way he feels he plays the martyr for his loved ones. He seeks out those who like pain, those who have abandonment or connection issues so he can wind them around his finger and force them to be completely reliant on him. It’s another form of having control and Dhel is one bajillion percent a control freak.

And if you don’t have those issues? 

You will.

MISCELLANEOUS.

hobbies to pass the time.

Snowboarding and ice skating. He loves winter sports. 

Polar bearing with his brothers, much to their mother’s concern.

Tinkering with engineering. He likes building clockwork golems and toys, and his little siblings’ rooms are full of his experiments; the music boxes and robotic dinosaurs sit on the shelves alongside the dolls Bren creates.

Ice sculpting. His mother has a private garden dedicated to all the sculptures he’s made over the years.

Collecting books. The man could rent out his houses as libraries and if he’s traveling, you can bet he’s probably stopping in every bookstore he comes across.

Reading everything he can get his hands on. Doesn’t matter what it is, he’ll read it. You can never have too much knowledge.

Traveling and urban exploration. Dhel enjoys the strange peace he finds in the ruins of past civilizations.

Baiting people with biting banter. It’s how he vets them and uncovers those he deems worthy of his time.

Tea ceremony. Tea is his drink of choice and, as with anything he enjoys, he takes great care to learn everything he can about it. He is certified to teach the tea ceremony and has given demonstrations as an afterschool activity for those students who are interested.

Playing piano. As a child, he and his brothers were encouraged to study everything, including the arts. The triplets were allowed to choose their instruments and Dhel chose piano. He certainly has the fingers for it.

Making paper lanterns and origami. Folding the paper in such careful lines gives him a measure of peace and control; crafting soothes him in much the same way teaching does. 

Astronomy. He’s insanely curious about the stars and the worlds that lie beyond his own. One of his goals involves visiting foreign planets, especially when he visits the Consortium and hears their tales of strange places light-years away.

Hide-and-seek. As a kid, he was the hide-and-seek champion and he still enjoys playing with his younger siblings, his nieces, nephews, and small cousins.

mental illnesses.

Clinical depression.

PTSD. Thanks, Dalaran.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder. His OCD manifests in:

Unwanted acts of aggression (the urge to harm people)

The need for exactness or being as close to correct as possible.

Excessive cleanliness. Everything must be clean.

Hoarding objects gifted to him by loved ones (with the idea that if he can hold onto these things, he can hold onto the people).

Checking, double- and quintuple-checking his private possessions to ensure no one has touched or even seen them.

Dacryphilia. 

He gets turned on by making his partners cry.

Impostor Syndrome.

Insomnia.

Paranoid Personality Disorder.

physical illnesses.  While these aren’t exactly illnesses, they do cause him great physical stress. Dhel’s runic tattoos are actually a terrible curse etched into his skin and any time he channels magic of any variety, his body suffers excruciating agony of the sort that makes a person pray for death. When the weather is bad, his ankles cause him tremendous pain and he becomes even grouchier than usual while he struggles to keep himself from limping in front of other people.

left or right brained.  A pretty even mixture of both. He’s coldly logical but capable of great creativity and emotion.

fears.

Losing any members of his family or his few friends.

Never being good enough for anyone or anything.

Intimacy.

Invasive thoughts and existential crises.

Betrayal.

Watching his brothers crumble under the weight of their own issues and being powerless to do anything to help them.

Failing his people as a leader.

Unrequited love. He watched it come far too close to destroying Lin.

self confidence level.  Dhel comes across as perfectly at home in his own skin and, for the most part, he is. It’s the stuff behind the attractive curtains he worries people will see, but he keeps those curtains glued together.

vulnerabilities.  Thanks to his curse, he isn’t able to sustain extended spellcasting. If you can exhaust him magically, then he’ll be forced to fight you physically. His ankles and feet are a weak spot. His family, though he takes great pains to ensure their safety behind the scenes because he’s a suspicious asshole.

Tagged by: @loveherdekay and @snowfallen-nymph (Thank you both for the tag; I really appreciate it!) 

Tagging: @kolabooc @sanasunbringer @amorette-frostsong @eldya @dae-shadowvale @latildarommel @veleanthe @valishoneybee @nymm-wildseeker @sanguinesorceress @susan-gampre @duraxxor @silvertonguedaggermaw and anyone else who wants to do this thing. If you do it, please tag me in it so I’ll be sure to see it.

[becauseyouremybigbrother]

Headcanon - Sex & Shipping

(This is a LONG and pointless post for most people, so don’t bother reading unless you’re interested in shipping with Sammy in any verse outside of Wincest. Even then, I just wanted to get it written out for myself, and like, the two other people who are interested.)

(Main Verse related only; Wincest verses are separate entities) 

If there’s one thing John Winchester did not raise his little girl to be, it was a timid wallflower. Sam is confident in who she is (some might say too much so in the trouble it brings her at those times she refuses to listen to anyone else), and what she wants. That confidence has always guided her through life, from walking away from her family to go to college, believing she knew how best to stop Lilith, trusting that she would be strong enough to overpower Lucifer and throw herself into the pit, to releasing the Darkness in order to save her brother or promising a small group of refugees she and Dean would be able to find a way to save their world.

As protective as her father and older brother were of her when she was a young woman, it never precluded John from teaching his daughter from a very early age the most important lesson: How to deal with people who tried to take something to which she didn’t give them permission. When she was seven, she was suspended her first day at a new school for giving a nine-year old boy a black eye because he’d tried to kiss her. That was when John had to teach her lesson number two: Don’t get caught. 

Having felt she never needed her father and brother’s protection led to a lot of her resentment when it came to the restrictions placed on her. She rebelled because she could; because she thought it proved something. Sometimes she got caught, and usually Dean paid the price for not being where he was supposed to be to protect her. Most of the time, she didn’t. She was smart, determined, and John had maybe taught his little girl how to be resourceful a little too well. She had sex for the first time when she was fifteen, about two hours before packing up and leaving that town behind for the next one (a good thing too, as it counts as her most awkward and uncomfortable experience since the boy had no idea what he was doing, and Sam really never, ever wanted to have to lay eyes on him again. Like, ever.) She’d planned that timing, though. Better for her father to never find out and end up blaming an innocent boy, who simply fell prey to Sam’s keener curiosity.

By college, the sex was far better. The guys knew what they were doing, and Sam knew what she wanted. More importantly, she was finally allowed to start letting sex and emotions intertwine with one another. She could let herself take the time to get to know someone, like how they made her laugh or made her feel when they were around, and actually start considering things like the future when it came to being with someone. Falling in love with Jesse had come almost too easily. Finally, Sam could let herself imagine a ‘someday’, with a home and a family of her own. Not a life on the road where everyone was suspect, and only her father and brother could be trusted, but a life where she had a special someone she could give all of her heart. She became a normal girl, who secretly waited for the moment when Jesse would propose to her.

But Azazel began the change to all of that the night he murdered Jesse.

Building a relationship with Sammy is heavily predicated on the point at which it happens in her life. So if you and your muse are interested in shipping with her, please keep the following points in mind. Sam’s vulnerability (ie, how alone she is at the time) plays heavily into how easily she will open up to trusting and giving herself to someone else.

ETA: You’re never going to hear Sam claim that she wishes she were more attractive or had a different nose or any other complaints about her looks. Sure, as a teenager she had issues with being too tall but even beyond the confidence she bears, Sam just doesn’t have time to worry about her looks. She knows she’s attractive, and that’s kind of where thoughts about it all end. There are monsters in the world who don’t care what you look like before they kill you, so Sam just can’t be bothered with that kind of stuff. And she’s just as confident in her sexuality. She’ll make the first move without hesitation if she gets the sense that the other party is just as interested. Her default is dominant and aggressive, particularly throughout the earlier seasons. This ends up passing quite a bit by Season 8. The more life beats her down, the more hits she takes to her heart, the more out of control she feels with everything around her, the more Sam longs for someone else to take the wheel for a time. To hold her, lie to her that everything is going to work out, and just let her rest for a little bit.

Pre-college - Don’t plan on it lasting beyond the moment her father moves them on to the next town. Though I suppose someone has to help her experience her first school dance.

College years - Very open and easy time period. Sam has rose-colored glasses when it comes to what the future holds for her. She can even be caught looking through the occasional bridal magazine. She’s imagined names for her future children. Picked out the home she wants to live in with her husband over in Sausalito (it has a beautiful view of the Bay, and just a quick drive over the Golden Gate to the law firm where she’ll one day work).

Season 1-Season 2: Heaven and Hell haven’t beaten her down yet. Sam still holds onto the belief that once she and Dean track down and kill the yellow-eyed demon, a normal life is still possible. Though Jesse’s loss lingers, she’s open to loving someone again. She still wants to get married, have children---things she’ll never admit to her brother. But she’s certain that once their family gets the revenge they’ve been searching for all of her life, they can both move forward.

Season 3: Sam’s focus is saving her brother. She can’t see much beyond that, so one night stands are preferable to letting anyone else get close. The Trickster is the first person to hone in and point out that Dean is her weakness. Unfortunately, the cruelty of the lesson detracts from the importance of the vulnerability losing Dean creates for Sam---the Trickster never shows her how to deal with it. Taught with a bit more care, Season 4 might’ve gone very differently.

Pre-Season 4-Season 5: The four months that Dean spends in Hell are exactly what the Trickster warned her about. Sam is alone, and vulnerable, and Ruby takes advantage of that to a degree that no one expects. Unlike her brother, Sam isn’t afraid of being alone. But being on her own is when Sam’s emotions tend to drive her. When the Trickster kills Dean, Sam’s anger and need for revenge drives her to murder a man with the face of her surrogate father. She may have convinced herself it was the Trickster, but it was her anger that drove her to murder a man who looked and behaved just like Bobby. 

Post-Season 5-mid-Season 6: Ah, soulless!Sam. You are totally welcome to give this one a try. After all, she’s open to sex with just about anyone as long as it promises to be a good time. 

Mid-Season 6-Season 7: She’s a bit of a head case. Okay, she’s a total head case, and there are monsters who eat people. She doesn’t even want to have sex with you because YOU COULD BE A LEVIATHAN. Or the Devil. She’s not keen on either.

Post Season 7-Pre-Season 8: Sam is on her own, and vulnerable and open to her emotions once again. Unlike the prior times she lost Dean (first to the Trickster, and then to Hell), Sam isn’t being guided by anger or revenge. She’s lost, directionless, and simply searching for an anchor. The idea of loving someone terrifies her, but she literally has nothing and no one left. She’s about as vulnerable as she’s ever been for the year that Dean spends in Purgatory, and maybe its to her credit she no longer hunts, instead allowing her focus and emotions to turn to normal pursuits. An excellent time for ships outside of the SPN fandom.

Season 8-Season 9: Possibly the most strenuous and difficult years of the siblings’ relationship. Dean begins putting his faith and trust in monsters over his own sister because she has failed him one too many times. Sam, having trouble acknowledging her own culpability in the problems between them, lashes out irrationally in return. She’s not in a good head space, and likely any relationship she attempted during these years would turn toxic. Also, there’s the whole angel inside of her thing for a good portion of it. Three’s a crowd, unless you’re good with poly. ;)

S10-onward: Chances of a romantic relationship with Sam in later seasons are extremely rare. Not impossible, just unlikely. One night stands are pretty much her go-to by this point. Ships happening at this time of her life are not to be taken lightly--if she lets her walls down enough for it to happen, its kind of a huge deal. Sam’s learned too many hard lessons about letting anyone close, about caring for someone, and then having their blood on her hands. Anyone who knows the Winchesters understand that getting too close doesn’t end well.

Most importantly, Sam’s let her brother down too many times, lost him too many times, hurt him with what she knows to be her own selfish choices. She never plans on making those mistakes again. She’ll burn the world down around them before ever letting her brother go without a fight again, and she never plans on letting Dean ever believe otherwise. Giving her heart to someone else in the midst of that? It would mean having to make an impossible choice. By refusing to give her heart, she never has to hurt someone by choosing her brother over them.  And as much as she’d like to believe that would never be a choice she’d have to make, Sam has accepted the truth. 

Winchesters don’t get happy endings.

[melisettastudies]

How I finished my first year of law school with a first - Starting law school advice (pt 1)

Soooo...I’ve been spending the past few days replying to people on all platforms asking for advice on starting Law at university so I thought I’d give my experience and methods on how I finished my first year of university with a First (which like the top grade for people who don’t understand the system). It’s a long post but I’m going to include FAQs and my top tips. (Ps: I’m in my second year of university now)

FAQs:

1) I didn’t study law at A-level, am I at a disadvantage? 

Fun Fact, I actually went to Medical school for a week before deciding it was too much for me, meaning my A-levels were centred around science and medicine. This meant I started Law school having no experience in ‘essay based’ subjects such as Law. I had to completely adapt and adjust my way of learning and from experience was at no disadvantage to my peers who had studied law. If anything, I noticed my teachers preferred it when students have no law knowledge, so they can start Uni level content without needing to dwell on the difference between A-level and Degree level content (obviously, at A-level law wouldn’t be in as much detail as it would be at a Degree level). 

So no, you wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, and no matter what you studied before starting uni, you just need to be able to transfer the skills you picked up during your pre-uni studies to your degree. Plus, many people wouldn’t have studied law at A-level, at least, I haven’t met many anyway.

2) What is the difference between a lecture and a seminar?

This one is pretty easy to explain. A lecture is when there are hundreds of people in a big lecture theatre having the teacher explaining the content and teaching the syllabus. I’m not sure at other unis but at mine, you don’t really get to ask many questions during lectures because they’re not long but this may vary from one university to the other. So generally, a lecture is where you learn the information from a professor. A seminar is much smaller, more like a normal classroom where you will be applying your knowledge; this will be where you are likely to be trying exam questions and problem questions and this is where you get to ask all your questions. 

3) Will I have any time to socialise? 

YESSSSS!!! The legal profession is a veeeeeery social one; you will be attending things like law fairs and events where you will be meeting lawyers, judges and other important people (known as Networking events) where you need to be able to charm them and make them know your name. If you’re looking at becoming a lawyer of any kind, you need connections especially for after graduation, and this means loooooots of networking events, lots of parties and dinners and lots of socialising. Your studies, if managed well, will not hinder you from having a social life with your friends, and you need that aspect to help you with the professional side of things (awesome right?!). Fun Fact: I managed to get work experience from having won over a Barrister at a Networking event; and if they ask for your Linked In at any fairs, you make sure they get your username! That social networking site is a Godsend when you need to learn about someone or want to gather everything about yourself.

4) How do I make notes?

I will be making a whole post about how I personally take notes, but briefly, it is all trial and error until you find what works for you. Some chapters will be a lot more content heavy, others can be summarised in bullet points; it’s all a matter of figuring it out as you go. 

As for whether you type or hand write your notes that’s totally up to you, I do both so I have the information multiple times: First I type full notes (which I sell, meaning if you need motivation, just remember you can make money off your notes that’s enough to motivate me soooo...). Next, I type summaries, then I hand-write the chapter summarised further (which is my favourite part because I can make those pretty notes that you see on here). I do like to also make flashcards, but I tend to do that closer to assessments or between chapters (so I’ll finish Chapter 1 and start Chapter 2, midway, I’ll review my knowledge on Chapter 1 and make pretty flashcards. 

All of this sounds really long, but I promise, as long as you work efficiently, it’s actually manageable plus I do everything as I go along - I will also be making a post on this in more detail soon too :D. 

5) Aside from studies, what else should I do during law school?

Well, the only thing I want to put emphasis on here, is that whilst law school is supposed to be enjoyable, and you are supposed to have some fun, it is important to work hard so that you can find a job after you graduate...

The legal profession is suuuuuuper competitive, it’s not enough to just get a first anymore, you do need to have a CV that stands out from all the rest. My top tips:

Get work experience - apply to things like Pro-Bono, help at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, shadow lawyers, attend court hearings, etc. Experience is absolutely crucial in the field! 

If you speak another language, GET A QUALIFICATION IN IT! - I know 7 languages, and as such, I have done 3 A-levels in 3 languages and the rest, I did an equivalent qualification through my uni. This is important as you have something of substance to show to employers when you come to apply for a job and mention this skill. It really makes you stand out, even if it’s a single language and it’s SUPER helpful if like me, you want to work internationally. If you don’t know another language, move onto the next bullet point:

If you don’t speak another language, you can learn one OR Pick your strongest skill and capitalise on it! - this means, if you’re good at a sport, join a team and show dedication, these things count when impressing employers, they’ll see you as a team player with discipline and that ALWAYS looks super appealing. It’s super useful if you are able to show why your skill should be appreciated in the career (for example: if your experience/skill is to be an awesome cashier, you can say you’ve dealt with embarrassing situations like a rejected card, which gave you the skill of knowing how to handle these scenarios SO, when you have a customer, and they have something they are ashamed of or uncomfortable to discuss, you know what to do. See? easy peasy.)

So, that’s enough FAQs, now onto my top tips:

PREPARE FOR YOUR LECTURES AND SEMINARS - do NOT be the student that can’t contribute, you will not get enough out of those lessons. 

If there’s consolidation work, DO IT! - it really helps you understand where you’re confused and what you need to work on. 

Don’t study for longer than 30 mins at a time with 5-15 minute breaks - Law requires a lot of reading, which means a lot of eye strain, crouching and very little movement.

Do yoga - as the above bullet point highlights, you need to stretch your limbs, back and neck, otherwise you’ll be in a lot of pain. Also, stretch your wrists, you’ll save yourself a lot of pain.

Exercise - maintaining a healthy lifestyle means you’ll have energy and power to keep going. Even just 15 minutes of active time a day really helps relieve some stress. 

Remember that nobody is perfect, you can’t maintain a constant perfect studious attitude and should never put that sort of pressure on yourself. Balance is everything. (i’ll also be discussing my experience with mental health in my first year at law school and how I dealt with depression and anxiety). 

Drink water - I know, it’s a cliche, but it’s actually important because you’ll be reading so much, you increase the likelihood of a headache if you’re dehydrated, so keep hydrated kids! 

Never, ever feel bad for sharing your successes - if you’re proud of something you’ve achieved share it! just stay humble, and don’t  rub it in people’s faces.

have a diary and carry a notebook with you at all times - track meetings, notes and to do lists to make sure you’re on top of everything. 

Wake up earlier - I wake up at 5am and get some work done, but if you wake up earlier, you have more time to wake up slowly, and not stress yourself from the morning. Take time to do your makeup or hair, take time to meditate or exercise or read, or even do work, but start your day slowly and not rushing around getting things done. 

and finally, please please PLEASE remember to actually make time for yourself, make night time routine where you take time to do a skincare routine or wind-down time or simply lounge around and watch Netflix. If you know you have the time to do this, you’re less likely to procrastinate!

Enjoy law school guys, it’s actually an amazing experience with pretty cool people! 

- Mel x

[fredenglish]

Hello, #FeatureFriday friends! It’s been a while, but we’re back for an interview with Iclal Vanwesenbeeck: English professor, translator, and world traveler! We talked to her about her time with the department, how her experiences around the world have affected her, and the study abroad program to Iceland that she’s gearing up for. (Admissions are still open!)

1) What do you think the most rewarding part of your time as a professor at SUNY Fredonia has been?

My students. I’ve gotten to know so many beautiful minds. I’ve had the privilege of mentoring students. That’s been the most rewarding part of my life teaching here or anywhere. And I think they have helped me as much as I’ve helped them! 

I have a sense of what I want to teach that semester but it just so happens that the minute you step foot in the classroom, and you see in front of you people with emotions and thoughts and hopes and ideas,  you have to be open-minded and compassionate. And I think in some ways I find my teaching rewarding because I never compromise that. I was always someone who took an interest in students’ wellbeing, who was curious about what they thought, and never tyrannical about “Oh, I’m going to teach you this!” And now, ten years, twelve years later, I still have students who contact me, drive up to have coffee with me, invite me to their weddings. I’m happy!

2) Which of the courses that you have taught do you think students connected the most with? Which do you think you connect the most with?

My favorite subjects to teach are war and love. And I have to say, even though I sometimes hesitate teaching it, love and war in the context of Middle Eastern literature has been an intriguing experience for me as much as it has been for the students. I’ve done some interesting work where, for example, I had US veterans, US veteran writers visit my class. And we read about the Iraq War from the perspective of Iraqis, refugees. And I have to say, in the classes I teach, I have students that have those eureka moments, but never so much as in Middle Eastern lit. Because it’s a generational thing, they’ve grown up with an image of the Middle East. They’ve heard about the Iraq War, they have family members who have fought or  deployed. And it’s been a part of their lives. But for some reason I think, for more than half of my students, that hadn’t been rendered visible. Just how much the Middle East has been a part of their lives, in the post-Cold War era.

So, to render that, to make that appear to students and to ask them to echo an ongoing discourse, and invite them to be a part of the dialogue? That has been intriguing for me. And I applied some of what I do in love, romance literature, and taught exclusively love stories from Middle Eastern lit in order to de-center this idea that Middle Eastern people don’t love, don’t laugh.

That’s a very wordy way of saying: war and love. War stories and love stories.

3) What advice do you have for prospective and/or current English students?

Let’s see… [Pause] I’m not good at giving advice! But I would say to be open minded. Everyone already has something they want to study and yet I see college as an opportunity to also reach out to distant shores. So maybe learn a new language, maybe they want to study literature at Oxford for a year. Aim high, and be idealistic.

4) A big potion of your work as an academic revolves around the translation of historical works. What do you think brought you to have such an interest in translation?

Oh, thank you for that question! Um, personal reasons. And curiosity. And also, my belief in peace, and peacemaking. The reason why I translate the works of some of the American veteran writers, for example, is because I want them to be read in other languages, I want their stories to be told in other languages. Because we need that polyphony to understand war. And it is, I believe, only possible through translation otherwise you have that barrier, since you can’t be face-to-face all the time with everybody who has experienced war. Those stories have to migrate. And I don’t think there’s any other way besides translation.

As I migrate between languages and I travel, sometimes I feel homesick for my native tongue. And that makes me want to sit down and translate, to use that vocabulary. Sometimes I just spend an hour looking through a dictionary, just to see if I will catch a word that I would like to remember. That is important in life, and… [Pause] it helps me. 

5) You’ve travelled quite a bit throughout your life. How do you think your experience of travel has affected you as both a person and as an academic?

I was born in Turkey, and I was raised in Turkey. And I came to the US for my graduate degree program. And I stayed here. And in the meantime, yes, I travel often. And it so happens that my life is an intersection of three cultures and three countries and three languages: Belgium, Turkey, and the United States.

So being in Belgium, or in Ghana, or in Russia or in Iceland… I don’t see those countries as entities with borders that then determine how I should act or interact with people. When I travel, I like connecting with people and landscapes. That’s what I’m interested in the most when I travel.

But I also want to refer back to a Renaissance philosopher that I adore, Montaigne. Something he wrote, has always stuck with me: “The very act of rubbing your head against the head of others.” That you become wise as you travel. I’ve seen in the past that that is not true for all people; in fact, a critical mass of people that I see when I travel are only interested in living somebody else’s Instagram page. They want the same pictures, the same selfies, the same food. 

But for me? It has almost become a lifestyle. And I don’t see how I could give it up.

6) You’re the faculty leader of the Iceland study program. What is it about Iceland that you think makes it such a good location to study abroad?

Iceland is a sub-arctic island. It is quite remote from many locations. It is a country of 350,000 people, most people live around the capital city, so the island is not homogeneously populated. To me, it is a country that brings together modernity and tradition. In terms of landscape, it brings together  extreme urban architecture and beautiful pastoral scenery. On one hand, it has these most progressive laws towards the LGBT+ community and pay equality. On the other hand, it has a committee for baby names. Certain names aren’t allowed for babies. It’s a country that doesn’t have, from what I can say from my own research, a single stolen item in their museums. Not a single item that’s been questionably curated or smuggled. And in terms of problem-solving, and democracy, and lifestyles, it is a country that can help students do comparative analyses. 

In terms of environmental issues, in terms of equality, we have, I think, a subset of global issues that we face. If you go to Bangladesh, you will see them dealing with water pollution. In Flint, Michigan, they deal with water pollution. So we have a subset of global issues anyway. But everybody seems to find different solutions to these problems. And it seems to me that Iceland, maybe because they are a small country, maybe because of the way that their democracy and politics work, maybe because of the culture, their decision making and their problem-solving may help students analyze their own. It’s for that reason that I think that Iceland is a near-perfect place for the students to go to tackle the issues that they have studied in the classroom, and heard about for all of their young adult lives.

One example: my generation did not read about glaciers in the newspaper every two days. Your generation, almost every week there is news about glaciers. They’ve become a part of our political and environmental issues. And we have a glacier hike on the Iceland trip for students — with very responsible behavior [towards environmental impact] — to see the glacier, and understand their life cycle, and what they mean for the planet, and understand that when glaciers melt in the Arctic, we feel it in the Mediterranean. Our world, as Jacques Cousteau said: “Everything is connected.” To get these insights, you have to travel. You have to develop perspective.

For aesthetic reasons, too, Iceland is a special place to study. It’s a breathtaking country. Arresting scenery. Captivating. If you have a poet or a painter in you, it comes out in Iceland. You cannot be indifferent to the Icelandic landscape. And every time we go, from the moment we get on the airport bus, to the second we depart, students are captivated.

7) Finally: what would you say is the most important lesson that literature can teach us?

[Long pause] It hasn’t taught me any lessons. Because, then we have to see literature as almost being didactic all the time. I had questions. And literature has helped me understand my own questions and listen to how others have asked similar questions. You may not feel like you need to read in your twenties, but I bet in your fifties you will feel that urge to read. For anybody who wants to understand existence, it’s there for you.  It takes away your loneliness. It hears your questions, and it gives you more questions. For anybody who wants to understand existence, it’s there for you.

[This interview has been edited and condensed for length, with input from the subject]

[ohmahree-blog]

99 IMPORTANT CHARACTER QUESTIONS

PART 1: THE BASICS

What is your full name? Omari Rashad Beckham

Where and when were you born? 3/18/1993

Who are your parents? Rodney Beckham; Rodney is an established real estate agent. He’s a firm believer in discipline and earning everything w/ no handouts. Though he’s stern on me, he’s a gentle giant to my mama. Giselle Beckham; She’s an elementary school teacher with tons of patience. She's very vocal and has an answer to everything. Though she’s molded me to be her very own mama’s boy, she still allowed my dad to make me into a man.

Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like? My brother, Demetrius, passed when I was 14 and he was 15 from drowning. He was my best friend, my partner in crime and even my role model despite the closeness in our age. Our dad taught us to always have each other’s back and we never strayed from that lesson. Demetrius was more rebellious but I was never one to say no to the adventures, including our last mischievous episode where we snuck out to hang with friends at the lake.

Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people. I currently live in a 3-bedroom 2-story home in Los Angeles that was sold to me by my dad with a small ass discount. It’s not a massive house but it’s my own sanctuary for myself, my shoes and my Frenchy.

What is your occupation? I am a retired drug dealer shoe store owner.

Write a full physical description of yourself.  A meal. Too many tattoos to count. Several marks from a curious childhood.

To which social class do you belong? Lower middle class.

Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? I’m allergic to kiwi and I’m honestly lactose intolerant but I often ignore it.

Are you right- or left-handed? Right-handed

What does your voice sound like? I wouldn’t know how to describe it tbh.

What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently? “Honestly” & “and shit”

What do you have in your pockets? Nothing.

Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics? I have to count steps on when taking stairs. I laugh alot, no matter the emotion I’m feeling, I laugh. I stare people in the eyes when they talk to me, I don’t like not seeing a person’s face when they’re physically in my presence talking to me.

PART 2: GROWING UP

How would you describe your childhood in general? It was a typically decent childhood. I had a strict ass father, but that didn’t stop me and my brother from rebelling and doing our own thing.

What is your earliest memory? Being dropped off at a daycare and crying like a lil’ bitch until my mama sat down on the carpet with me. I think she snuck out on me at one point though.

How much schooling have you had? Despite all my setbacks, I graduated college with my bachelor’s degree.

Did you enjoy school? Yeah, bitches, sports and I was the plug on campus. Even though all of that got me in trouble with the laws a few times.

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities? My dad, my brother, the streets.

While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them. My brother, he was fearless and he was wise beyond his time. He put me onto hella game. My father as well. Even though we bumped heads alot, he taught me valuable lessons and also left me to learn a few lessons on my own.

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family? No chaos here, typical teenage angst at times but it was fine once the dust settled.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A professional football player.

As a child, what were your favorite activities? Playing sports, real life and on game consoles.

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display? I was a curious child. I also liked to test my limits and boundaries, what’s the word for that? I was a follower, but only to my brother.

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like? Of course I was. Isaiah was one of my first best friends after we beat each other the fuck up. He was territorial and a smart ass. Still is. But he was loyal and a host of other things. My brother was another one. The rest were just friends in passing. People knowing me but me not knowing them was common.

When and with whom was your first kiss? This big booty bitch named Stacy in 5th grade. She was in 7th. I counted her as my first kiss because them other lil kisses was nothing compared to that.

Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? Absolutely not. I lost it in 8th grade to my homeboy’s big sister.

Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today. After my brother died, I shut down. Nothing was worth experiencing without my him with me. I briefly dropped out of school unbeknownst to my parents and that’s when I got introduced to the trap. I started doing runs for the big guy and the money was good. That lasted for almost 8 years until the last time my parents had to bail me out of jail and gave me an ultimatum that was far worse than the one from the judge.

PART 3: PAST INFLUENCES

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? The grand opening of my shoe store.

Who has had the most influence on you? My family

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Graduating from college

What is your greatest regret? Letting my dad down and making my mama cry.

What is the most evil thing you have ever done? I can’t say.

Do you have a criminal record of any kind? Absolutely.

When was the time you were the most frightened? When I thought I would get 10 years in the feds.

What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you? I had a wet dream while taking a nap at school and messed up my pants.

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why? I’d have my brother here with me to make life worth living.

What is your best memory? Going to Disneyland when I was like 10 with my family.

What is your worst memory? I have too many.

PART 4: BELIEFS & OPINIONS

Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? Optimistic

What is your greatest fear? My parents dying, because then I’d really be alone.

What are your religious views? Organized religion isn’t for me, but I believe in the higher power.

What are your political views? I’m for what’s right.

What are your views on sex? Sex is a choice and should never be anything otherwise.

Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable? Yes. Various reasons but most importantly to protect.

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do? Hurt a child.

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? Yeah eventually

What do you believe makes a successful life? Being able to change another person’s life.

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)? Depends on the recipient and the circumstance

Do you have any biases or prejudices? Of course.

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it? Yeah, I still have a conscience and I believe in karma.

Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)? My family.

PART 5: RELATIONSHIPS W/OTHERS

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how? I’m good to people as long as they’re good to me. My vibe depends on yours.

Who is the most important person in your life, and why? My mom, she’s a gem.

Who is the person you respect the most, and why? My father, he deserves it.

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people. Isaiah & Hendrix. They’re my greater thirds. They get me.

Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person. My wife’s name is Krystal. She’s amazing and beautiful and patient and I don’t deserve her.

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened. Yeah, but then the government told us to cut that shit short.

What do you look for in a potential lover? Everything I see between my parents. Patience, love, sacrifice, honesty, shit like that.

How close are you to your family? Very, they’re all I have.

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not? No, not yet and I just haven’t found the right person or it just wasn’t the right time. But soon.

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help? Hendrix

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why? Not really. I would say my parents but I feel like they’ve done all the protecting they could.

If you died or went missing, who would miss you? I wish I knew.

Who is the person you despise the most, and why? Nobody that I can think of.

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict? I avoid conflict. I know what I’m capable of when upset, so it’s always best for me to avoid.

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations? Somewhat. Just depends if I become too uncomfortable I have to do something to fix it then.

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not? No, I have to people watch in order to become comfortable in social settings. I can’t watch too many people.

Do you care what others think of you? Only those that I love.

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes? I like to draw now, spend time with my peeps, try different strains of weed, nap.

What is your most treasured possession? My store, Urban Soles

What is your favorite color? Black

What is your favorite food? Anything with shrimp. or wings.

What, if anything, do you like to read? The 48 Laws of Power

What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)? Music of course, I love watching movies. If I watch a series it has to have completed seasons, if I can’t binge I dont want it.

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit? I smoke weed and drink when I’m out. It’s not out of control but I don’t plan on stopping.

How do you spend a typical Saturday night? If I’m not with my wife now, I’m out with the boys, probably at Zay’s club.

What makes you laugh? Any and everything to be honest.

What, if anything, shocks or offends you? Rude mfs, bullies, people that are just unnecessarily disrespectful.

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself? Wake up my wife. Watch Netflix. Eat. Scroll social media.

How do you deal with stress? Smoke, drink, sleep.

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan? Spontaneous.

What are your pet peeves? People eating crunchy things, metal scraping metal, crowded spaces, poorly laced shoes, my time being wasted, people that are late on my time.

PART 7: SELF IMAGES & OTHER

Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted? I wake up bout 8 or 9. Check emails for the most part. Stuff my face. Go to the store and handle bidness. Make time for food a few times throughout the day and then come back home.

What is your greatest strength as a person? I’m reliable and always come through.

What is your greatest weakness? I don’t always know how to say no.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My temper.

Are you generally introverted or extroverted? I’m in between.

Are you generally organized or messy? Organized for the most part.

Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at. I’m good at getting my way, making others happy annnnd drawing. I’m terrible at lying, singing and admitting when I’m wrong.

Do you like yourself? Yeah, I’m cool.

What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime? Franchising my business.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? I see myself being a father, happily married. Having a second store, maybe 3rd. Happy, healthy.

If you could choose, how would you want to die? Peacefully in my sleep.

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left. Update my will, write letters to everyone I love, sleep.

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death? My big heart.

What three words best describe your personality? Random, Spontaneous, Protective

What three words would others probably use to describe you? Annoying, Funny, Mannish

If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? Don’t be scared to be who you supposed to be. If they don’t fuck with it, fuck em.

[saviomsoftware]

Why Resource Scheduling Solution Is Crucial For Consultancy Firms

Please Note: This article appeared in saviom and has been published here with permission. Over the years, the consulting industry has grown substantially. As per Business Wire,

“The global management consulting services market is expected to expand from $819.79 billion in 2020 to $1201.06 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8%.”

With the growth of the sector, the value for its resources/consultants has also increased multifold. They are one of the most valuable assets in the consulting industry and contribute significantly to organizational success.

As most of the consultants work on an hourly basis, their overall billable time becomes very expensive for the clients. So firms must use them efficiently. However, most firms fall short when it comes to effective resource scheduling. They rely on spreadsheets or homegrown solutions for scheduling resources. These solutions can not prevent the idle time of these external resources and unnecessarily increase the cost.

In this blog, we discuss how consultancy firms can benefit from a robust resource scheduling solution.

But before digging deep into it, let’s understand everything about consulting firms and what they do.

1. What are consultancy firms?

Consulting firms are business entities that offer professional advice, ideas, and solutions to companies undergoing crises that their in-house resources cannot solve. In simple words, when a company requires a specialized skill to address an immediate problem, it contacts a relevant consulting firm to provide a quick solution. These firms play a crucial role in providing strategic direction to businesses across various departments such as manufacturing, sales, and marketing, or human resources.

Consulting firms provide industry-specific personals or subject-matter experts, known as consultants, to analyze a specific problem at hand and find multiple options to provide a solution. The following are some of the ways how consultants can help a business:

Construct business models.

Assist with problem-solving.

Provide cost-effective solutions.

Predict risk and innovate products

Strengthen talent management processes.

2. Types of consultancy firms and what they do

Consulting firms are present in more or less for every industry. Here are a few examples:

IT consultancy firms

IT Consulting companies help clients businesses to design and implement information technology (IT) systems and infrastructure. The objective of seeking IT consulting services is to provide guidance in simplifying various business and technology functions by introducing robust software and solutions.

Audit and Accounting consultancy firms

These consultancy firms help organize and manage the company’s cash flow to avoid issuing money into unfavorable ventures. They also conduct regular audits annually to investigate all financial aspects of a company’s business. Also, these firms advise on tax obligations, the implications of new tax legislation, and tax mitigation strategies.

Engineering consultancy firms

Engineering consultancy firms provide engineering services and expertise to companies in need of a specialized skill-set. Generally, they have experienced engineers to provide short-term technical advice for a fee. These firms have expertise across many sectors, including civil engineering, rail, telecommunications, energy, automotive, space, and defense.

Construction consultancy firms

Construction firms help companies construct a wide variety of buildings, developments, housing, path, pavement, roads, motorways, and other types of construction projects. They offer extensive analysis of the environmental factors to ensure that the structure is durable, sustainable, and functional.

Law firms

A few experienced lawyers come together and form a law firm to engage in the practice of law. Law firm consultants advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities. These consultants even represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice is sought.

Now that we know the different consultancy types and functions, let’s understand how resource scheduling is necessary for consultancy firms.

3. How is resource scheduling different for consultancy firms?

Most consultancy projects are of short duration, and clients are billed on an hourly basis. Thus, the managers need to keep track of every resource and where they are spending their time. Otherwise, it will result in poor resource utilization.

For example, let’s assume a client hired a lawyer for a specific purpose. As per the agreement, the lawyer would work for 3 hours on the project. Now another client booked the same lawyer for a much larger project with a demand of 6 hours per day.

Now, the lawyer hired for the two projects spends much of his/her time on the larger project and does not provide attention to the smaller project. It results in poor utilization and client dissatisfaction. Moreover, it leads to poor productivity, and the firm loses its money and reputation.

A resource scheduling solution enables you to track resource utilization and optimize resources as per requirement. It also lets you see all the consultants with clear visibility of their skills, location, availability, cost, and other relevant information for competent resource allocation.

4. Significance of resource scheduling for consultancy firms

Consulting firms cater to multiple clients at once. They need to have transparency on their resource profiles, project demands, and more. This is why resource scheduling is critical.

A resource scheduling solution provides data-driven foresight into various resource metrics like resource availability, capacity vs. demand gap, utilization, and more. Based on this, managers can implement the proper resourcing measures and eliminate potential project challenges.

Besides, it shaves off large amounts of time wasted collecting, analyzing, and presenting the data. It reduces the stress that managers experience in dealing with large amounts of information that can often become confusing.

It also improves the overall communication of the company’s consulting staff by presenting resource plans and data in a way that is simple yet powerful to understand.

5. Benefits of resource scheduling solution for consultancy firms

Here is a rundown of the top benefits of a resource scheduling solution for a consultancy firm:

Gain complete visibility across the organization

As mentioned before, a consultancy firm may have competencies spanning numerous countries. Based on that, resources can have multiple reporting lines. For multidimensional scheduling capabilities, firms need overall visibility across the enterprise.

Resource scheduling solution integrates all resource-related information on a centralized system. It keeps one informed of all allocations and availabilities and manages the whole process effortlessly. Also, it captures the updates when employees take a vacation, family leaves, or public holidays.

Moreover, 360-degree visibility helps to identify and leverage cost-effective global resources across boundaries. You can access every data, be it project-related or non-project-related.

Deploy right resources to right tasks

As every resource data is available on a single platform, one can assign competent resources to practical tasks. You can find the right resource using advanced filters such as skills, qualifications, experience, location, availability, cost rate, and so on.

Moreover, it maintains real-time competency information to match skill set proficiency with the right task. Employees can even update their competencies themselves, and supervisors can validate the authenticity of the same.

You can distribute resources based on the requirement of the projects. Resource scheduling enables you to replace high-cost local resources with low-cost global resources. That way, you can facilitate the best resource allocation for maximum profitability.

Maximize billable and strategic utilization

Consultants charge their rates on an hourly basis. Thus, billable utilization is a critical KPI for a consultancy firm to ensure profitability and sustainability.

A resource scheduling solution can help track resource utilization. Managers can get a comprehensive view of the actual number of hours logged in by the employees against the planned ones. If there is an anomaly, they can take remedial measures to control the situation.

Furthermore, it can forecast billable and strategic utilization of the workforce ahead of time. You can also compare the actual utilization rates against forecasted ones and take remedial actions such as mobilizing resources from non-billable to billable work.

Moreover, resources can view their utilization and increase their productivity accordingly. The resource heatmaps provide them with a glimpse of their usage. Also, stakeholders can view utilization rates and make data-driven decisions to improve the organization’s health index.

Deliver projects within the deadline

Assigning the right person with the right skills is crucial for a project to finish within budgeted time without disrupting the quality. A resource scheduling solution lets you foresee the project demand. So, with enterprise-wide visibility, you have the chance to allocate a competent resource at the right time, ensuring timely delivery.

A resource scheduling software negates the chances of allocating under or overqualified resources on tasks. Underqualified resources feel frustrated and often delay delivery timelines. On the other hand, overqualified resources experience boredom and feel deprived. In both cases, employee engagement and, subsequently, productivity are adversely affected, resulting in project overruns.

The centralized solution enables managers to consider the employee’s skills and interests before task allocation. It maximizes the chances of successful delivery within the duration.

Optimize resources through leveling and smoothing

In a consultancy firm, you are unlikely to have resources all the time. But it would help if you made adjustments to cater to the numerous client demands. The client requirements also can change suddenly.

A resource scheduling solution can help you optimize resources based on the needs. For instance, when a project has a specific deadline, you can exercise resource smoothing. By assessing the resources’ workload, you will be able to know if they are overutilized. This way, you can redistribute their workload or pull in additional resources to balance it out.

Otherwise, if the project deadlines are flexible, you have the liberty to move around the timeline to match the resources’ schedule. That way, you can level the work as per the resources’ schedules and guarantee optimal utilization.

Minimize project costs with real-time reports

A resource scheduling solution can track critical financial indicators for a project like resourcing cost, revenue, profit margins, and overheads. You can take control of project costs ahead of time with forecasted cost reports, forecast vs. actual utilization reports, and so on. Also, you can assess current financial conditions and take corrective actions.

By implementing a resource scheduling solution, managers can drastically reduce project costs. Here’s how:

Eliminate under/over skilled resources on projects and reduce excess cost.

Utilize cost-effective global resources without compromising quality.

Reduce unplanned attrition with corrective schedules.

Improve productivity by multi skill-building through job rotation strategy

Minimize last-minute hiring costs with visibility into pipeline project demands

Frequent hiring/firing creates a negative image for the organization. It takes up a lot of money and also affects the existing employees’ morale. Forecasting enables proactive smoothening of project workload and reskilling employees. That way, you are saved from making last-minute hiring/firing decisions.

6. Conclusion

Resource scheduling can enhance the productivity of the consultancy firm’s resources through effective allocation. It helps in improving billable and effective resource utilization for the profitability and sustainability of these firms. Moreover, it helps in the successful delivery of projects, thereby enhancing client satisfaction and market reputation.

7. Saviom Solution

SAVIOM has over 20 years of experience helping multinational clients manage their resources efficiently and effectively. With over 20 years of experience, this Australian-based MNC has a global presence across 50 countries and has helped 100+ clients meet their specific business goals. Saviom also provides tools for project portfolio management, professional service automation, and workforce planning software. So, SAVIOM can help your business to establish an efficient system geared towards your specific business challenges.

[expatimes]

African genomics: The scientists unlocking cures encoded in DNA

Dr Ambroise Wonkam carries hundreds of thousands of years of history in his blood. The impacts of pathogens, migration, environment and geography are written into the braids of DNA he inherited from tens of thousands of generations of ancestors.

This richness, he remarks, is not unique. It is a shared legacy for more than one billion people: in South Africa, where he works; in Cameroon, where he is from; and across the African continent – the most genetically diverse landmass on earth. With such wealth all around him, how could he not spend his life studying it?

Wonkam is one of several scientists from Africa who made significant gains in 2020 towards understanding diseases that affect millions – and are not novel pandemic viruses. He and others lead large experiments that analyse whole genome data from thousands of African volunteers in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and beyond.

The knowledge these scientists are collecting is broadening humanity’s reference genetic archive, the libraries scientists around the world use to identify and compare genomic information. It is filling in blind spots in a field that has been dominated for a generation by institutions in the Global North and in data that has historically not included African participants. Despite lockdowns and working from home, 2020 was a productive year for Wonkam and his peers.

Dr Ambroise Wonkam presenting his work to the 2018 American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting, in San Diego, US

The power of place

Humans diverged from chimpanzees 5 to 6 million years ago in East Africa. Modern humans appeared just 300,000 to 200,000 years ago, and some time after that (about 100,000 years ago, though the evidence is still being interpreted), our species started migrating beyond Africa, probably over several attempts. As we walked, humans homogenised, sharing traits, discarding others and becoming more similar the further we went.

“We are all African,” Wonkam said from Cape Town. “But ancestral Africans, like me, who have stayed on the continent for a very long time, have at least 300,000 years of human genetic history in their blood, which makes the variation in the African population thousands of times higher than in any other populations in the world.”

When presented on a chart, the data shows the exodus effect: a plot of genetic diversity among humans against distance from East Africa looks like a slender, almost 45-degree line sloping downwards, through the Middle East, Europe, Asia and, finally at the tail end, the Americas, where populations tend to be the most genetically similar.

Africa’s rich, varied dataset is attractive to scientists, and also to companies and health institutes abroad. Over the years, several have exploited lax patient privacy laws and left scandal and mistrust in their wake. A drug company settled a high-profile lawsuit after running trials that were poorly explained to its African participants; one health technology company shut down a product after a whistle-blower revealed it would be sold against the agreements of volunteers whose data was used to produce it; and during and after the West Africa Ebola epidemic, certain European governments were accused of “biological colonialism” after allegations that blood samples extracted from survivors could not be requested back by their home countries for research purposes. The legacies of these missteps persist, and investigators today must work hard to instil trust and accountability into their process.

Equipment used inside a DNA lab in China

Solving sickle cell

Dr Wonkam’s lab at the University of Cape Town studies the genetics of people living with sickle cell disease, a congenital misshaping of the blood cells that affects how effectively they transport oxygen. The disease is prevalent in Africans and some people of African ancestry.

Having one of the genes that cause sickle cell disease confers some natural resistance to malaria, a parasite that targets the blood and is also often fatal. This was a nudge by evolution to relieve pressure from the parasite on early humans. But when the gene is inherited from both parents, the resulting condition is brutal. Sickle cell disease can cause anaemia, frequent pain, increased illnesses due to a weakened immune system, and vision and growth problems. It can lead to a life of complications that ends too early, before the age of 50 in developed countries. Across Africa, 2 to 3 percent of babies are born with it, but the mortality rate before the age of five is more than 50 percent.

“ years ago.”

The US is a leader in medical research, but also a place of well-documented racial disparities in access to healthcare. Sickle cell disease, which affects Black Americans almost exclusively, received far lower federal research funding per patient than cystic fibrosis, which mostly affects white children, a 2020 study showed. The study also cited a similar inquiry from 40 years ago, which showed the same disparities.

At the start of his career, Wonkam saw the inequity in medical research and vowed to correct it from within Africa. “There is a lack of interest by researchers, or by funders, and someone had to take the battle somewhere. Fortunately, we have a network on the continent that is getting stronger and stronger.”

A researcher injects DNA material onto a laboratory dish at a genomics lab in Shenzhen, China

Wonkam’s laboratory sequences entire exomes – the parts of DNA that code proteins – from hundreds of Africans who have lived past the age of 50 with sickle cell disease – so-called “long survivors” – and compares the results to those patients who have experienced stroke or shock, as well as a control group. Volunteers in the five-year-long study were mainly from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where sickle cell is more prevalent – fewer people in South Africa are born with the disease.

Each volunteer signed a consent form that offered options: allow their genetic data to be studied solely within the context of the experiment, for other experiments as well, or more broadly (anonymously) as part of a global dataset. Wonkam’s lab drew blood and extracted the DNA in Africa, sent the condensed samples to a sequencing facility in the US, and returned the data to Cape Town where his team did a sort of mathematical “brute-force analysis”. They looked as wide as they could, without bias, at the activity of every gene on the genome, trying to glimpse unique differences that might be keeping these long survivors alive. They found much more than they were looking for.

The results were curious. Some confirmed pathways that were known to be implicated in sickle cell disease, such as the body’s production lines for Vitamin B, anticoagulants or nitrous oxide. But other findings surprised the researchers. “The pathway we could not anticipate at all was low blood pressure. Most sickle cell disease patients tend to have lower blood pressure already,” Wonkam said, so why would an otherwise unhealthy tendency for lower blood pressure be associated with rare long-term survival? That is a question the researchers are trying to answer. Additionally, some genes associated with insulin, which processes starches in the body, were mutated in the long-term survivor group, meaning that this pathway is connected to their overall longevity. Wonkam’s findings have kicked open the door for future analysis.

“What we found is that if you look at what nature ,” he said.

Dr Ambroise Wonkam and his research team at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa

The study, published in June 2020, revealed a dozen mutated genes that were shared across the volunteer group; genes that were different, often by only one letter, from the general population and, as a result, built abnormal proteins. “Basically, every single discovery we found in that paper might be a route for a new treatment for sickle cell disease.”

Wonkam intends to build a cohort of patients and follow them for life. His data will add to large repositories of other human genomic data held in facilities in Europe, the US and, now, in Africa. This, he said, is vital.

“Without an African population database, at least 10 percent of variation is not present,” in global archives. He was referring to a 2018 study carried out with Johns Hopkins University, that showed up to 300 million base pairs – or a tenth of the human genome – appearing in unique forms in Africans compared with the references from the Human Genome Project, which largely excluded Africans. “Every variation discovered in Africa more genomic sequencing in the public database, and that has a value for all studies – not just African studies, but all studies.”

Siren’s call

In 2016, while filming and producing a report on DNA research for Al Jazeera, I visited the stroke clinic at the Korle Bu teaching hospital in Accra, Ghana. At the clinic, a man was learning to move again. Slowly, he pulled himself onto a low rung of a wooden ladder while a physical therapist held his arm. He had lost basic motor skills in an instant when a stroke hit deep in his brain, and his rehabilitation was expected to take weeks or years. He was not yet 50.

Dr Albert Akpalu was doing rounds through the clinic and told us about a future in which this patient’s treatment could be improved by tailoring medications to his genetic profile. Akpalu was running one part of the SIREN stroke study collaboration with colleagues in Nigeria and within a consortium called Human Heredity and Health (H3) Africa that stretches across the continent – and is jointly supported by the UK’s Wellcome Trust and the US’s National Institute of Health.

Were it not for COVID, SIREN might have published its most comprehensive findings yet in 2020. “To make a genetic inference, you need a sample power of more than 3,000 ,” Akpalu explained from Accra in December. “We’re getting close to that.”

Dr Rufus Akinyemi, right, with Samuel Diala, the SIREN biorepository manager, measuring DNA samples

Akpalu works closely with Dr Rufus Akinyemi, a stroke specialist in Ibadan, Nigeria. In addition to running experiments, Akinyemi oversees several biobanks – storage centres that keep hundreds of thousands of samples of patient blood, serum, DNA and tissue at subfreezing temperatures – in Nigeria and Ghana.

A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain is blocked, suddenly choking oxygen to neurons, which often leads to loss of function, dementia or death. Stroke is the leading cause of neurological emergency in Africa, Akinyemi said, though granular detail is not as well recorded as in other regions.

Africa maintains a higher incidence rate of stroke than the US – according to overviews from 2015 and 2016 – and strokes probably kill at least 300,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa every year, according to one review.

Akinyemi began his career studying the cognitive impairments like dementia that so often follow a stroke. “I realised that if I study this, the risk factors and the genomics, I would be tackling one of the greatest disease burdens in Africa,” he said.

Over four years, SIREN colleagues collected samples from stroke survivors and control-group, non-stroke volunteers in West Africa. Now they have nearly 4,000 of each – enough to run a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) to identify genes linked to the condition, its risks and recovery. “The initial findings,” Akinyemi said, “are looking exciting.”

Akinyemi, Akpalu and their colleagues hope to build bedside tools. “We want to develop Afrocentric risk scores that can help us predict stroke. We have these for populations of European descent, but for people of African ancestry, they do not give very accurate results. We need these for populations in Africa to correctly predict the chances of stroke.”

Hundreds of thousands of human biological samples like blood, DNA, serum and tissue must be kept at -80 degrees C, even when the power cuts, necessitating a cold chain that stretches from Ghana to Nigeria

The genomics of stroke have been studied before. Previous analyses have described the genetics of the disease, but are often based on data gathered from mostly caucasian volunteers. A June 2020 study in the US, Canada and Europe looked at the genomes of 22,000 people of African descent, identifying genes implicated in the disease. The SIREN study focuses on Africans in Africa, where it will be the first and the largest yet.

“One thing the consortium has done is develop a very unique chip that is enriched in African content, derived from African populations,” Akinyemi explained. Built by the H3 Africa network in partnership with Illumina, the American genomics company, the card-sized gene chip is an array of tiny wells that hold thousands of genes and genetic variations that are more prevalent in Africa. Introduced just a few years ago as a not-for-profit tool, and developed from early H3 studies, it allows researchers to capture a broad snapshot of the genetics at work in a chosen sample, tailored for populations on the continent.

H3 Africa ensures that genomic data collected will be added to accessible global databases. “We do hope that the findings from this study will unmask some novel variants,” Akinyemi concluded, “perhaps genetic variants that are associated with ischaemic stroke that have not been previously reported in other populations … which will benefit not just African patients, but all global stroke patients in terms of prevention, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation.”

Three million unique variants

Dr Nicola Mulder thumbs through her notes when I ask how many human genome samples from Africa have been added to global databases over recent years. She is a scientist, so it is an unfair prompt on a Zoom call, but she accepts, tabulating aloud “…We put in 348 sequences, additional exome sequences, 10,000 samples on the genotyping array, exomes from Botswana, shotgun metagenomic studies, deep-sequencing of neurological diseases … we’re getting a flood of data…” She makes an estimate: “If I look briefly, I would say maybe 11 or 12 thousand samples for which we have genomic data in the repository, which is significantly different to what we had before. This is probably over the past three years.”

Mulder is the principal investigator for H3ABioNet at the University of Cape Town, a bioinformaticist overseeing a team of 50, working with a network of 28 institutions spread across the continent. “We do all the support: data collection, some analysis, processing, submission, and training to analyse the data,” she said from Cape Town. Although Mulder works with Dr Wonkam, his sickle cell study was conducted independently of H3Africa.

A forensic doctor examines DNA samples in a lab in Bogota, Colombia

In October, Mulder co-authored a paper in the journal, Nature, that combined some of the most intriguing genomic findings from across the continent.

Mulder and colleagues looked for unique single-letter changes in genes and compared these anomalies to public datasets. “In other studies you’re looking for signals that jump from the noise. In this study, we’re looking for something that doesn’t exist elsewhere,” she explained. The work produced 300 terabytes of genetic sequence data, enough to make the problem of sending it all from the US to South Africa a three-month project.

The analysis revealed the undocumented richness of genetics in Africa in one bold headline: three million unique genetic variants, letters along DNA’s thread that had never been seen where they were being seen; each one found, named and recorded. Only more interesting was the small size of the volunteer group they studied. The team had analysed just over 400 people from 13 countries, covering 50 ethnolinguistic groups – Africa is not only the most genetically diverse continent, it also hosts the highest number of languages spoken on earth.

“Three million is a lot,” Mulder said when asked about what that number meant to her as a bioinformaticist, the type of specialist who deals with large datasets. “We never hit a plateau, we just keep finding novel variants. These are variants that have never been seen, but some populations are walking around with many people having it. The number is quite significant.”

Blood samples waiting to be processed

Within the data, more links. Some of the unique variants revealed evidence of the pressures that diseases have exerted on populations since the dawn of the species. Others indicated tendencies towards decreased mortality for certain infectious diseases like flu. There were dozens of genetic locations that were undergoing “strong selection”, areas that are still actively evolving today. A wider look at the dataset showed the history of migration between populations, revealing evidence of movements and geographical stopovers that were lost to archaeology, but etched into the genome.

The study pointed to a wide horizon yet to be explored, and piqued the curiosity of institutions around the world.

Where to now? Some of the genomics hardware these researchers rely on was repurposed during the coronavirus pandemic to identify unique variants of COVID-19 as they appeared. In South Africa, Wonkam’s lab was working from home for several months before instituting an office-return schedule. Patient recruitment was delayed in Ghana but has begun again.

Now colleagues, funders and startup genomics companies are watching closely, designing the experiments they will embark on as the continent opens up again.

#technology Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=16293&feed_id=26266 #africa #features #health #scienceandtechnology

[glorfindel-of-imladris]

I think it's grad school anxiety and legit work burnout that's causing the writer's block... among other things. Bear with me, all I can manage these days are these memes. OtL (Bless the ones who tag me, though. You angels give me something to do.)

Tagged by @chiefcouncilor-erestor. Sorry I missed this one! I didn't get the notif and only caught this when I was loitering in your blog. :P

1. What are your favourite and least favourite things about where you live?

The country itself is beautiful and you can choose not to leave it and still live a full life. It's a tropical archipelago ffs, it is an absolute dream!

Least favourite things: the politicians? Also, we are a country of jaywalkers! Seriously, people, stop jaywalking. Traffic lights are there for a reason. Stay safe for the love of God.

2. What was your favourite tv show as a child?

I was crazy for Yuu Yuu Hakusho. Crazy.

3. When did you discover Tolkien, how long have you been with us, and why do you stay?

I think I discovered Tolkien early in my college years. So that's... about 12 years? I stay for the majesty of the legendarium, which even now still has loads of things for me to explore and discover. I just love studying the world of Arda and it inspires me so much to be creative. It is my restful place from my otherwise busy life.

4. What did you major in in college, would you change majors if you could? (If you’re still in high school/didn’t go to college, what is/was your best subject?)

I have a double degree in marketing and psychology. I think I said before that I would probably just have taken a bachelor of science in psychology and made my way to a doctorate in clinical psychology.

(yikes but these are dangerous thoughts though because clinical is just one form away from me but shit am I tired of grad school lmao)

5. What would be the ideal job for you, if real world struggles were not of import?

If compensation is not an issue, then I would be happily living my life as a university professor who does counselling on the side.

6. What is your favourite font and why?

Maybe... Arial Narrow? Or Century Gothic. Any thin sans-serif font is good, actually. I like my text clean and practical.

7. What are your top 3 apps on your phone (favourite or most used, up to you)? (If you don’t have a smart phone, then 3 favs on your computer).

Journey (which I totally misuse for writing lol), Uber, and Tumblr

8. Describe the perfect day - any day - but the most epic/beautiful/fantastic/warming/happy day you can think of.

Right now, a perfect day would be in that cove I visited a couple of years ago, where the mountains meet the sea. We only have tents set up on the beach (mountain trail behind us) because there are no other accommodations otherwise. The beach is full of pine trees and it looks so beautiful and bizarre because that's not where our pine trees normally grow. I'd be in my hammock in that state between waking and sleeping, doing nothing.

Meanwhile, my darling would be somewhere behind me noisily trudging on the sand and complaining about the grime on her shorts and how she's hungry af and she wished I would cook soon because omg how do you even start the grill oh no the grill attacked her and she hurt herself and now it's her enemy and this fucking place has no signal and we could die come evening.

Yep, that sounds about right.

9. Which Tolkien character do you think you are most like? Which would you like to be most like? Why the difference?

I project a lot on Glorfindel when I write, but basing things on actual canon, I think my best answer is Finrod. He wages along in a world filled with crazy angry mofos (most of whom are his relatives, which to me is also so accurate) but he is on the look-out for pockets of peace and beauty in a sometimes unforgiving world. He falls in love with the people he encounters and spends his days in songs, meaningful conversations, and adventures for the sake of those he loves. He can be wise some days, but his optimism sometimes makes him also a bit naïve. There are things he does not know but he clings to the hope that somewhere out there is a higher power that cares and aims for the good of everyone at the end of the day.

On the other hand, I'd most like to be like Gandalf. In terms of character I think Finrod and Gandalf are pretty similar (both are lawful good, lol), but Gandalf I think was wiser and had both his feet on the ground. Despite being able to see things as they are (sometimes bleak and the challenges too great), he still always chooses to help Middle-Earth to the best of his abilities. I wish I had Gandalf's patience and determination, and most of all his capacity to love the children of Eru even if so many of them are fucking morons.

10. What are your thoughts on bagged milk?

Lmao, what even is bagged milk?

11. Tell me something about yourself.

I am one of those "loud" introverts? I am pretty bold and shameless even in RL, but my extroversion score is actually very low, meaning my energy comes from within and people do tire me out. It took a while for my colleagues to get used to me wanting to eat by myself on occasion (especially in our culture where eating is very much a social activity and not wanting to eat with somebody can cause offense), but the truth is that I actually need a lot of alone time. I do this often at work where I suddenly just "disappear" during lunch breaks. :)