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madamepestilence · 5 months ago

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About My Blog

This is a remade version of the old post, "Welcome to my blog!" both to update information and because the prior one was cluttered.

Note for Palestinian blogs:

I'm currently in poverty and unable to donate, but I'm willing to share fundraisers. If at all possible, please include a link to where it's been verified; thank you!

Note: I do understand if it's difficult to get a post vetted, especially with false scam flags. It's okay it you can't get it verified for a while - I would rather reblog from someone siphoning funds than deprive someone in a genocide of assistance.

Table of Contents

About Me

Donation Link

Current Projects

Special Tags

Political Philosophy and Heoism

Other Notices

Art Showoff

Israel and Palestine

Since it has to be said, I would like to publicly display my stance. Israel is a fascist government quite literally mimicking the Nazi party - the government of Israel using Judaism as a shield is inherently contributing to increasing antisemitism.

Israel does not have the safety or interests of Jews in mind, especially with how they treat Orthodox Jews.

At time of writing, Israel is committing a genocide in Falastine with heavy military and economic support from the increasingly fascist United States of America, as well as receiving additional support from the United Kingdom and Germany.

Falastine is not an Islamic monolith - especially given one of its more notable characteristics is having the oldest community of Christians. This was never about religion, and the actions of Israel are not to be pinned onto Judaism.

Oppressed people have a right to violence, and therefore Falastine has every right to resist. While their government may be heavily flawed, that does not mean its people deserve to be victims of a Holocaust. Never again means NEVER AGAIN.

Zionists are unwelcome on my page. Jews do not, "have to be a Zionist," to be a, "true Jew," nor are Jews a monolith. It should be rather clear that defending the actions of Israel as inherently Jewish is only going to bolster antisemitism.

The fall of Israel will liberate Falastine and the people within Israel as well. Both Israel and the United States need to be held accountable for their actions, and they should not be above international law.

About Me

I'm a queer, transfem Communist. I use she/her or She/Her pronouns, and you can call me Holly.

I'm autistic with the common combination of also having ADHD. I came from a christofascist family that practiced within a cult based on Baptist Christianity.

My experiences with this combined with the real world outside of helicopter parenting, extreme poverty, and my father encouraging me to read The Communist Manifesto heavily backfiring, I've become a massive Communist.

Donation Link

I'm pretty constantly dealing with poverty, so if you'd like to help out, you can donate to my Ko-Fi here. It currently goes through PayPal, so keep in mind that I lose ~10% of all payments between KoFi and PayPal fees.

Current Projects

Note: Due to a struggle to maintain focus on projects and frequent burnout, these are worked on incredibly slowly. As such, I can't guarantee any time frames.

The New Communist Manifesto

Not to be confused with New Communism.

I feel that while Marx's and Engels' work The Communist Manifesto was a very important development of Communist political philosophy, the manifesto being 200 years old makes it difficult for the modern proletarian to relate to lost historical context.

Hypixel Skyblock but it's played by an idiot

Currently on hiatus

A YouTube series documenting my very slow progress in Hypixel Skyblock. I am very bad.

Video Essays

I have several video essays I'd like to create for YouTube. These will range from serious topics to gaming analyses. Video essays take an extremely long time to research, write, record, edit, and subtitle.

Minecraft Misc

I occasionally make Minecraft skins, resource packs, and am currently researching how to make Fabric mods due to their greater efficiency, small mods pool, and separating from CurseForge, whose parent company Curse donates to Israel.

I may look into making Minecraft maps, and I quite like working with obscure redstone mechanics.

Special Tags

#mdmp art, #mdmp art (year) - A rarely-used set of tags where I may put my art into occasionally

#fav - I use this tag to help me find posts I'd like to come back to later

Political Philosophy and Heoism

I'm an amateur (i.e. unpaid) Communist political philosopher heavily influenced by the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Malcolm X.

When I discuss Communism, I'm talking about a stateless[1], classless[2], moneyless[3] society. When I discuss Socialism, I'm talking about the transition stage between capitalism and Communism.

[1] A stateless society in this context refers to a political milieu[4] in which the government, i.e. state, does not fundamentally hold power over its people. The job of the state has transitioned from controlling the people to providing human rights for them, and is completely at the whims of democratic control by the people.

Members of the state can be voted out of their positions at any time, and inversely, snap elections can be held at any time to replace political candidates.

This is fundamentally compatible with Anarchism, a milieu in which there is no state at all, wherein people self-organize and self-govern according to commonly agreed rules. (Note: Anarchy is most compatible with Neotribalism, and may suffer on a global scale)

[2] A classless society in this context refers to a socioeconomic milieu in which class systems have been completely broken down, allowing all people to be on an equitable field. As Karl Marx wrote, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

This will be the longest stage of transition from Socialism to Communism - a stage of transition which will take years, and may possibly extends decades or centuries down the line.

To achieve a classless society, all people must be provided their needs, prejudices must be fully shed, and we must be at a political stage in which we can work out our differences with fundamentally incompatible cultures.

If you would like a direct example of this, I highly recommend analyzing the government of the Federation of Planets set in the sci-fi series Star Trek, in which a post-WWIII human society decides to shed capitalism entirely and migrate into Communism.

This society has many ways of cooperating with incompatible cultures (Deep Space 9 navigates a post-fascist previously slave-ship and the tensions of shedding a racial hierarchy, Voyager navigates maintenance, morale, and growth when separated from one's mother country, The Next Generation navigates using political philosophy and diplomacy to prevent wars, etc.) and isn't afraid to show that it's not perfect.

Even the Ferengi, who are meant to be a criticism and reflection of modern capitalist humanity, grow throughout Star Trek, most notably granting women's rights, increasing democracy, Quark unionizing and gradually putting morals before capital, and Rom becoming a Communist in Deep Space 9.

[3] Contrary to how right-wing media portrays it, moneyless does not refer to poverty in this context. Instead, it refers to the socioeconomic milieu in which all human rights are provided directly to people, and people work for societal and their own personal growth.

This disincentivizes the need for money, which breaks poverty barriers by eliminating capitalist classism entirely. People democratically elect employee positions, collectively own their businesses, and can leave their jobs at any time to demand greater worker rights or find more fulfilling work.

[4] A person's social environment

Other Notices

US 2024 Election

Joe Biden is directly participating in a genocide and has lied about every policy he promised. Biden is a fascist. I will not tolerate those who justify voting for a fascist committing a Holocaust.

"Those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil." - Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship, Arendt, 1964

While I previously supported Dr. Cornel West, it has become painfully clear that he does not have enough ballot access. However, a backup candidate I previously advocated for, Dr. Jill Stein, at time of writing has ballot access in 22 states and Washington, D.C., meaning she can achieve 279 electoral votes.

For Biden apologists who still believe Biden can actually win this election, I implore you to consult the evidence demonstrating otherwise. For some context, FiveThirtyEight is conducting meta-analyses, i.e. data from all known polls, not just one.

Additionally, 270toWin shows that the only demonstrable change between the 2020 and 2024 elections is that Biden is now less popular, with 1 less electoral vote to Biden and 3 more electoral votes to Trump.

This means that we have two options: let Trump win the election, or fight hard as hell to replace the Democratic Party with the Green Party.

For those curious about how the fourth (bottom right) chart would cause a Green Party win, this would move the voting process to Congress, where the House of Representatives would vote between the three highest vote-receiving candidates.

With Dr. Stein in the lead, they would have the pressure of the threat of mass rioting to vote Dr. Stein into office.

Your key demographic is primarily converting non-voters into voters, but you should also talk to Biden voters and get them to vote for Dr. Stein instead. If possible, attend protests and raise awareness for Dr. Stein.

You may feel free to use the two images at the top of this section to promote Dr. Stein. Even if you believe that Dr. Stein would be blocked by Congress and unable to enact policies, she would at minimum be able to make the immediate improvement of halting all military aid to Israel as Commander-in-Chief of US militaries.

To increase ballot access for Jill Stein, here are the requirements (at time of writing, 1 July 2024) for the following states:

Alabama: 3,000 more signatures needed, deadline 15 August 2024

Alaska: Complete, awaiting confirmation

Connecticut: 3,250 more signatures needed, deadline 7 August 2024

Delaware: 41 more signatures needed, deadline 17 August 2024

Illinois: Deadline missed, 13,000 signatures short

Indiana: Deadline missed, 11,944 signatures short

Iowa: 3,350 more signatures needed, deadline 29 July 2024

Kansas: 4,330 more signatures needed, deadline 5 August 2024

Kentucky: 4,800 more signatures needed, deadline 6 September 2024

Maryland: 3,000 more signatures needed, deadline 5 August 2024

Massachusetts: 5,700 more signatures needed, deadline 30 July 2024

Minnesota: 2,000 signatures needed, deadline 20 August 2024

Missouri: Complete, needs submitted

Nebraska: 2,500 signatures needed, deadline 1 August 2024

New Hampshire: 3,000 signatures needed, deadline 7 August 2024

New Jersey: Complete, needs submitted

New York: Deadline missed, 5,000 signatures short

North Dakota: 4,000 signatures needed, deadline 2 September 2024

Ohio: Complete, needs submitted

Pennsylvania: 700 more signatures needed, deadline 1 August 2024

Rhode Island: 1,000 signatures needed, deadline 6 September 2024

South Dakota: 3,502 signatures needed, deadline 6 August 2024

Tennessee: 125 more signatures needed, deadline 15 August 2024

Washington: 900 more signatures needed, deadline 27 July 2024

Wyoming: 3,891 signatures needed, deadline 26 August 2024

Vermont: 590 more signatures needed, deadline 1 August 2024

Virginia: 4,100 more signatures needed, deadline 23 August 2024

It is entirely possible to grant Dr. Stein 24 more states for a total of 46 states and D.C. for a combined potential of 473 eligible electoral votes with a likely cap of 256 electoral votes.

Jill Stein ballot access if all eligible states gain enough petition signatures

Jill Stein maximum vote likelihood (discards Republican majority states and does not include currently Republican swing states)

We absolutely have the capability to do this. We need to organize. Don't give up, and don't give the same we'll try next time platitude. We should, need to, and can do this right now.

You can find state-specific ballot information for Dr. Stein here.

Art Showoff

Here's some random stuff I've made that I'm proud of

#about me #madamepestilence #mdmp #lgbt #lesbian #gay #bisexual #trans #transgender #transfem #trans woman #queer #communism #socialism #leftism #leftblr

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vinegar-on-main · 6 months ago

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Kurokami masterpost

After months of deliberation, I've decided to refurbish the Original Post that served as the masterlist for my OC.

All details will be under the cut. Happy reading!

Biography and Appearance

This is Kurokami. ...Well sort of. Kurokami is both a name and general umbrella. She has three forms, all of which take increasing amounts of time to manifest, and all have their own separate set of rules, which I'll get into with another section.

When out and about, Kurokami uses three separate names to differentiate each form.

As given by her titles (seen later) She has control of, and is aligned towards overseeing the cycle of death and rebirth that happens within the Void that surrounds the Multiverse.

Regardless of her official stated duty, she likes to wander around worlds and experience life there. She enjoys experiencing humans and their stories. Her philosophy for doing so is that if she were to not do this, she would go mad with boredom and loneliness. It would turn her into exactly the kind of creature you would expect to be of darkness, cold and unforgiving.

She will make it clear that her presence is not a sign that the world will be consumed by Void. It will consume when it wishes. She is merely a supervisor when things get Bad, which it usually doesn't.

She is kind to those she loves, and vindictive to those she hates. Her personality is temperamental, and a bit of a prankster, but she has a good heart in the end, who cares very deeply.

Backstory

Before Kurokami, there was a Guardian. Guardians are creatures that oversee the flow of time, and events that may happen during it, making sure that all events are fated to happen at their points. They are not to interfere, show their face to inhabitants, or guide any of them into learning of the nature of the multiverse.

Guardians are exceptionally powerful creatures, which could freely shapeshift, view the nature and shape of a beings soul, invoke Names, etc, with no limits besides the three rules listed above.

She was one of the more powerful Guardians. But soon she doubted her position after a series of three assignments:

First was the Trickster, who sowed the seed.

Second was the Detective, who cultivated it.

Third was the Martyr, who made it bloom.

Soon after this, she began tirelessly searching for anything that would help her cut ties. She wanted out. And eventually, she found it. Descending deep into Hallownest's corpse, she found the still waters of the Void Sea and fell in.

There she was remade and reborn into Kurokami. There the Abyss was split into two versions: one which held Siblings that enjoyed their eternal rest, content in the banishment of the Old Light; and one with Siblings that wished to join their new Big Sister.

It was rough going then, memories of her Guardianship mixed with memories of the Void's injustice from the Pale King, not to mention her already fraying form from repeated attempts to regain at least a humanoid form.

It was long before she began traveling, and she started with something small, to close a loop.

Eventually it blossomed out into bigger, better things. Direct interference wasn't exactly in her vocabulary, but she would finally be able to descend and walk amongst the humans she so enjoyed observing.

I'll be outlining her personal timeline later, but earlier entries are a bit spotty when it Isn't after TMA, as that one is more extensively documented.

Powers

Oh boy she has a LOT of these. I'll be sorting these into their own sub-categories, so lets start with a couple of the ones she had at the start, and others she got throughout her journeys.

Soul Searching and Direct Interfacing

An artifact of her previous life, Kurokami is able to view being's souls. From this she can gather a variety of information, such as a general overview of their personality, Name, and Arcana (Its not important for anything, i like putting characters in boxes is all.)

Direct Interfacing is an expansion on this, which she can use to directly order the soul in question to give her information she needs. Its usually formatted in a style similar to Parahuman's Entities, but with my own spin on it. Kurokami hates doing this, as it is incredibly invasive, but she concedes that is is very effective.

Name invoking

Another artifact of her previous life, Kurokami is able to invoke the Name of any creature with a consciousness to control them. This can either be subtle like granting passive thoughts, or extremely direct, like forcing someone to perform an action. She dislikes doing this, but if it has to be done, she will do it.

Dream viewing and weaving

As a result of the Dream No More ending, Kurokami has a role in the world of dreams. Power vacuums were taken advantage of, and it just became something she was able to do.

When weaving, she tends to focus on a small list of vivid memories to construct around.

Void manipulation and related topics

Because of her ascension, Kurokami is able to bend the formless Void to her will.

Shadows work as a sort of doorstep into her Abyss, letting her channel Void through them.

Kurokami is able to hop between shadows and "ride" them to places. this is how she usually gets around. As you can expect, when Night hits things are especially good for her travel. The only indicator of her being inside a shadow is said shadow becoming slightly darker than normal.

Void channeled through shadows can either become constructs (see below,) or lash out as thick tendrils, which act as extensions of herself.

Constructs

Kurokami can make any object out of Void, with the only rules being that she must know the object, and the object in question must be colored in only black and white.

Voices

Kurokami can use the voice of any person she has heard the Name of. Her favorites are young and powerful sounding women like Hornet, Sae Nijima, Mitsuru Kirijo, Airachnid, etc. But she does use male voices when she wants to.

Talents

Kurokami is exceptionally talented with any form of instrument, and is able to channel the shadows around her to act as an impromptu orchestra to play along with her. She has full access to my music library at any time, which is expansive.

Misconception

Named after the song of the same name, this would be listed under the same category as Name Invoking, but is complicated by one simple thing: Jojo.

She is able to summon and wield up to 2 stands at once. and summons each by Naming the original user, as well as the stands Name. If possible, she uses the voice of the original user, but that's mostly for style points. Note: I only know the abilities of stands from parts 1-5.

Sentient stands are shown to still have their original mind, and have varying opinions on her, but most haven't been used at all.

Her personal favorite stand to use and abuse is The World, which everyone knows stops time. She doesn't have the same issues with stamina as the original user, so she is able to extend the usage indefinitely.

Yes, Heavens Door is an option, but she considers it something far, far more invasive than Direct Interfacing, and is mostly used to issue permanent commands to a person, as well as serving as another way to gather information about a person if she wishes to use that part.

Hacking Prowess

In simple terms, Kurokami made a deal with Rafael Esquivel (A character from Transformers prime) To share his prowess of technology with her for the price of giving Bumblebee a new coat of paint during the beginning of Season 3. Considering this kid has the skill to hack into the Pentagon, I think that gives her a free pass on any and all skill checks involving technology.

Kuzè, Kuma, and Kurokami

This area is sort of a sub-category of the rules, but it needs to have its own little category to list all of the separate Names and their quirks.

All forms except Kuzè don't care about pronouns too much, but they strenuously object to being referred to as an It, as that is what the Pale King and his court referred to his children as.

Changing forms is simple, but the more complex the body, the longer it takes to form. But forming back into Kurokami is as easy as melting the form. (Unless she feels like exploding for Drama)

She often uses bynames, of which could be evocative of her domains or the color white.

Killing any of the forms is almost impossible, as she has a limitless amount of darkness to draw from.

Going to put the image here so you don't have to scroll up all the way again.

(Left to right, Kuzè, Kuma, Kurokami)

Kurokami

Void Given Mind, Shepherd of Shadows, Mistress of Shades, Great Spirit of Void, and The One Who Stares Back.

The original and progenitor of all these forms, Kurokami is the most powerful aspect of her, and is almost limitless in its power. She can use any and all of the stated abilities above, with little limit.

A very imposing figure, standing at a minimum height of 7' (213cm), with eye level at 6'5" (195cm).

She speaks very clearly, using unshortened contractions and Names when needed. Also uses we/our/us instead of I/my/me. Cannot physically lie, but that doesn't stop her from fucking around. She likes to "play" with different voices, having many speak, just one, or multiple in a faux conversation.

No discernible mouth can be seen, but like this post, it can flip open to show a frightening assortment of teeth.

Kuma

Vessel of all the above.

This is more of a performative one. She doesn't use this form often unless needed. Less powerful than Kurokami, but only slightly less.

Stands at 6'2" (188cm), with an eye level at 5'11" (180cm).

To an untrained eye, she looks like a very dedicated cosplayer in a suit of beautiful armor. The illusion is broken as soon as she moves, and if you think about it harder. The body plates have a matte sheen, and the eyes emote despite the rigid mask. If viewed in front of a silver-backed mirror, Kurokami shines through, Silhouetting her appearance.

They cannot speak normally, opting to echo words she last heard.

* This has been a recent development, and there’s some docs out there that have her speaking normally in this form.

When fighting, she uses a Needle and thread.

Kuzè

Avatar of all the above.

This is the name for any and all human forms she uses. Pronouns are variable, and depend on the gender she's presenting as.

The form is highly customizable, and can appear as any race in any clothing. The only rules being that the hair must be white, black eyes, almost porcelain skin, and gray-black clothes. Eyes can be fully black for intimidation purposes, or just to be plain spooky. Either way, her eyes do not reflect light. If viewed in front of a silver-backed mirror, Kurokami shines through, Silhouetting her appearance.

She likes to make up her own form, unless if specifically modelling herself after someone she knows.

If hurt, skin will not scrape and cut. Rather chipping and cracking, letting black Void seep through if not treated.

When fighting, she uses the same weapon as Kuma, adjusted for size.

Msc. Info and Trivia

Her personal symbol is a Black Lotus.

She started out as a HK oc, but then fused with another and turned into this beast.

Spotify playlist

Kuzé’s body temperature is the same as the air around her, like all Void constructs. Pure Void and Kurokami herself are cold enough to produce a shiver down one’s spine.

All incarnations of Kuzé have an Ace ring. (Black ring on right middle finger)

After returning from a particular dimension, she ends up telling all of her siblings stories based on her exploits and what she saw happened. She likes to be as accurate as possible, so it’s why she likes to collect Names.

More to be added.

Rough Personal Timeline

This is by no means a cohesive list.

Jojo's Bizzare Adventure (parts 1-6)

Transformers Prime

The Magnus Archives

Octopath Traveler 2

Shin Megami Tensei IV (Briefly, kinda stumbled in there and hung out for a week before moving onto...)

Revisit of Persona 3, 4, and 5 Royal. Along with some light Persona 2 for flavor.

Shin Megami Tensei IV (For real this time)

Splatoon (a brief visit for the Zombies/Skeleton/Ghost Splatfest)

Pokemon X

Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse (In Progress)

Tokyo Debunker (In Progress)

Okay, thats it. This took a whole two days to write up, and now I gotta go make that other post with the Inbox Fic table of contents...

#Void Speaks #Takes a Tumble #OC #Oc lore

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lovelysublimeconnoisseur · 2 years ago

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Das Buch Jezira, die älteste kabalistische Urkunde der Hebräer, Nebst den zweyunddreyßig Wegen der Weisheit. /Hebräisch und Teutsch, mit Einleitung, erläuternden Anmerkungen und einem punktirten Glossarium der rabbinischen Wörter. Herausgegen von Joh. Friedrich v. Meyer, Leipzig: C.H.Reclam, 1830.

[The Book (Sefer) Yetzirah, the Oldest Kabbalistic Document of the Hebrews, along with the Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom./ Hebrew and German, with Introduction, Commentary, and Glossary of Rabbinical Terms by Joh. Friedrich Meyer, Leipzig: C. H. Reclam, 1830.]

This is the book that German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel mentions as forthcoming in his concise entry on "Kabbalah and Gnosticism" in his three-volume History of Philosophy (on this tumblr post below).

Meyer's translation of the Sefer Yetzirah was the first translation into a European vernacular language. Prior to 1830 it had only been known in Latin and Hebrew. ---SJT

******

The American, Isador Kalisch, whose translation of Sefer Yetzirah in 1877 was the first in English, translated the following paragraph from Meyer's 1830 German preface.

"This book is for two reasons highly important: in the first place, that the real Cabala, or mystical doctrine of the Jews, which must be carefully distinguished from its excrescences, is in close connection and perfect accord with the Old and New Testaments; and in the second place, that the knowledge of it is of great importance to the philosophical inquirers, and can not be put aside. Like a cloud permeated by beams of light which makes one infer that there is more light behind it, so do the contents of this book, enveloped in ob scurity, abound in coruscations of thought, reveal to the mind that there is a still more effulgent light lurking somewhere, and thus inviting us to a further contemplation and investigation, and at the same time demonstrating the danger of a superficial investigation, which is is so prevalent in modern times, rejecting that which can not be understood at first sight." ––Joh. Friedrich v. Meyer, 1830 (trans. Rabbi Isador Kalisch, –Studies in Ancient and Modern Judaism, New York, 1928, 345-346).

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bookhavenblog · 3 days ago

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Exploring Knowledge: The Case for Reading Books

In a world where information is at our fingertips, it’s easy to assume that everything we need to know can be found online. With the rise of search engines, databases, and digital content, it might feel like the vast expanse of human knowledge is just a click away. But here’s the truth: some of the most important, profound, and life-changing knowledge isn’t on the internet. It’s still locked away in books. Yes, even in 2024, books remain an essential, irreplaceable source of wisdom, history, and insight. The Limitations of the Internet The internet has revolutionized how we learn and access information, but it has its limits. Quick Google searches and online articles are great for fast answers, but they often lack depth. So much of what’s online is designed for convenience—short, bite-sized pieces of information to be consumed quickly. But what happens when you want more than just a surface-level understanding? Books, on the other hand, allow for deep dives into topics, offering historical context, personal insights, and extensive analysis that the internet simply can’t replicate. Think of the great works of literature, philosophy, and science—many of which are hundreds of pages long, filled with detailed arguments and ideas that would be impossible to reduce to a 500-word blog post. The Knowledge Not Yet Online Another important fact to consider is that not all knowledge has been digitized. Despite the vast growth of eBooks and online content, there are still countless books that remain confined to physical pages, their ideas yet to make their way to the digital realm. Some classic works, rare texts, and specialized academic research remain largely inaccessible unless you seek them out in libraries or through personal collections. This means that for all the power of the internet, there are still huge gaps in what we can learn unless we turn to books. What’s missing online? Books on esoteric knowledge, older philosophical arguments, original historical documents, and deep explorations of specific cultures or periods often remain outside the reach of a Google search. They are hidden gems, often untouched in physical libraries, waiting to be discovered by those willing to open their pages. Why Books Matter for Humanity’s Future Books do more than provide information—they shape our minds, our culture, and our future. Many of the world’s greatest breakthroughs—whether in science, philosophy, or art—came from ideas that were discussed in books long before they became common knowledge. The exploration of human existence, the ethical debates around right and wrong, and the historical context that shapes our current events often remain best explored through literature, memoirs, and non-fiction books. Reading these works is essential for the good of humanity. Books are where you find the nuance, context, and depth that the fast-paced world of online media tends to overlook. They encourage critical thinking, empathy, and reflection. When you read a book, you’re not just absorbing facts—you’re engaging in a conversation with the author, grappling with complex ideas, and reflecting on the connections between past and present. Consider classic books like Les Misérables by Victor Hugo or War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. These novels aren't just stories—they are profound explorations of human nature, politics, and morality that remain relevant today. They provide context for the struggles we still face in modern society, but you won’t find these intricate ideas fully laid out in an online article. To truly understand them, you have to commit to the experience of reading the book itself. Books as a Path to Deeper Understanding Beyond the classic works, even more recent books offer in-depth explorations of topics that online articles or videos can only skim the surface of. Take Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning or even Tara Westover’s memoir Educated. These books explore human resilience, identity, and the power of education in ways that are deeply personal and introspective—something that simply cannot be captured in a short online summary. The internet may provide quick information, but books give us the chance to slow down and really think. When we read a book, we’re invited to sit with ideas for longer, to revisit passages, and to let the weight of the content sink in. This kind of engagement is essential for developing critical thinking and empathy, two things the world desperately needs more of. What Are We Losing by Not Reading Books? As we rely more on the internet for our knowledge, there’s a real danger of losing the depth of understanding that books provide. When we neglect to read books—especially those that offer historical context, philosophical insights, or complex arguments—we risk losing touch with the wisdom of the past. Books that shaped revolutions, inspired social change, and pushed scientific boundaries remain invaluable. Are we really willing to lose that? For Beginning Readers: - The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner This classic series follows four orphaned siblings who make a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar. It promotes strong family values, hard work, and resourcefulness without any controversial content. The simple, heartwarming stories make it a perfect choice for young readers. - Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder This timeless series chronicles the adventures of the Ingalls family as they settle in the American frontier. It’s a great introduction to history and family life, with themes of perseverance, family unity, and faith. The stories are wholesome and engaging, making them ideal for young readers. - Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White This classic tale of friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a spider named Charlotte teaches values like kindness, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. It’s beautifully written and encourages empathy without containing any inappropriate or strange content. Books to Get Kids Into Reading: - The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall The Penderwicks series follows four sisters and their family as they embark on summer adventures and face everyday challenges. The books are full of charm, humor, and a sense of innocence, making them great for kids who enjoy stories about family and friendship without any unusual or controversial elements. - The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart This clever and adventurous series centers on a group of gifted children who are recruited to save the world from an evil mastermind. It promotes teamwork, intelligence, and problem-solving, with plenty of suspense but nothing inappropriate for young readers. - The Green Ember by S.D. Smith The Green Ember series is an adventure-filled, fantasy series featuring rabbits with swords, epic battles, and heroic quests. It emphasizes themes of loyalty, bravery, and hope, while maintaining a clean narrative that’s appropriate for younger readers. Join the Discussion: What Books Should Everyone Read? This brings us to an important question: What books should everyone be reading for the good of humanity? Which stories or texts have changed your perspective on the world or offered you deeper insight than any online article ever could? I want to know which books you think still hold the key to understanding human nature, ethics, and the world we live in. Maybe it’s an old classic, like 1984 by George Orwell or The Republic by Plato, or maybe it’s a lesser-known book that you think more people need to discover. Whatever it is, share your thoughts in the comments below! Let’s start a conversation about the books we all need to read, and why they’re so essential—especially in a world where quick information is replacing deep knowledge. Your recommendations might just inspire someone to pick up a book that will change their life. Let’s keep the tradition of reading alive, one book at a time. Read the full article

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sganalytics · 1 month ago

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Effective Fund Marketing Strategies: How to Attract and Retain Investors

Mostly, the key to the success of investment funds is getting and retaining investors. Today, more and more opportunities for investment are arising, and fund managers need to come up with the best marketing strategies to stand out from the rest while also building trust and credibility. Marketing a fund is not just about showing the financial performance. It also prioritizes telling an excellent story, building relationships, and adding value to both potential investors and existing investors. This post will discuss the strategies for effectively marketing a fund and, ultimately, strengthening investor relationships.

To Attract and Retain Investors, Use These Fund Marketing Strategies

1. Enhance Brand

Any successful strategy to market a fund begins and evolves with a clear branding approach that is easily recognizable. A well-articulated brand powered by exceptional fund marketing solutions boosts the confidence and credibility potential investors need when making investment decisions. Your brand will reflect your fund’s values, mission, and investment philosophy, clearly defining what makes your fund unique in the marketplace.

Consistency is key. Make sure your branding is uniform across all platforms. Do not include contradictory or irregularly updated information on your website, investor presentations, or social media profiles. A clear, professional, and coherent brand presence helps people gain confidence in the organization’s stability and long-term vision of the fund.

2. Devise an Irresistible Value Proposition

There is always the danger of having too many options. Therefore, it is quite important to have a clear and compelling value proposition that could give your fund an edge. Consider the following inspection components.

What makes an investor choose one fund over another?

What unique advantages or opportunities does your fund offer?

How has your fund countered seismic market threats due to frequent trend shifts?

Your answers to these queries will be specific differentiators that will help distinguish your fund in the marketplace. Accordingly, the fund requires a well-optimized strategy for investment accompanied by a relevant track record. You want to reinforce your risk management approach with appropriate seismic support or even some special knowledge about a certain sector.

At all costs, ensure that you communicate how these differentiators will be aligned with the goals and preferences of your target investor base.

3. Data-Driven Marketing

Data-driven marketing is the way forward in the contemporary pro-digitalization landscape. It is leveraged mainly to understand investor behavior, preferences, and engagement. Use that information to tailor your marketing efforts. Doing so will allow you to deliver targeted, personalized content that would resonate with specific investor segments.

For instance, asset class-specific or sector-specific campaigns may be deployed according to particular investors’ interests. As a result, fund managers will have better chances of investor engagement and conversion. In addition to that, tracking website traffic, downloads, and interactions might help identify which campaigns prove to be successful. Later, you can tweak your strategy for the best outcomes.

4. Engage Through Digital Channels

Digital marketing channels directly and efficiently reach potential and current investors. Your fund must have a solid online presence assured through optimized and easily accessible websites. After all, these resources help centralize fund-related information regarding the performance, strategy, and updates.

Clearly include calls-to-action, and make more detailed documents available to share crucial updates about your fund, its performance reports, and other materials that a logged-in investor may want to view.

Furthermore, leveraging social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube is an excellent way to reach new audiences and connect with one’s investor universe. Building awareness and trust in an investor universe can be done through insightful content, discussions relevant to finance, and active presence in social communities.

Conclusion

Funds must attract and retain lots of investors with a strategic approach that fosters branding power without authority issues. Later, you want to pair this with some great digital marketing techniques along with transparent investor intelligence assets. Through clear communication regarding value within your unique fund, the power of the content, and marketing data insights, you will be able to form lasting bonds with investors.

The current investment landscape is tough, and successful marketing of your fund is not a numbers game. It is a story and formation of a trusted partnership with your investors based on effective fund marketing strategies.

#fund marketing #fund support #fund marketing solutions

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sida-wang · 8 months ago

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DAY 1

Date: March 21, 2024

Time: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Location: 5 Comber St, Paddington NSW 2021

Participants: Francis, Zinnia, Sida

Overview:

Today marks the beginning of my internship at Studio 13 Sydney under the guidance of Francis Cai. The focus of the day is on familiarizing myself with the studio, actively engaging in activities, networking with studio peers, and applying newfound insights to personal growth.

Chronological Entries:

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM: Introduction

- Francis provided an overview of studio operations, and safety protocols.

- Discussed current studio progress, future projects, and my potential involvement.

- Set up the day's agenda, including printer operations, layout design, and photography tasks.

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM: Printer Operations

- Downloaded and installed Canon Professional Printer & Layout software.

- Learned various format settings for color and black-and-white printing, manual paper loading, and ink cartridge replacement.

1:00 PM - 1:20 PM: Profile Photo Shooting

- Learned to use the Hasselblad x2D, focusing on manual focus and aperture selection.

1:20 PM - 5:30 PM: Indesign AVALON Layout

- Determined page dimensions, bleeding, and margins.

- Under Francis's guidance, organized static images into a cohesive layout using InDesign, covering aspects like cover pages, font selection, image arrangement, and acknowledgment page design.

- Set up parent pages, paragraph styles, and text styles to facilitate uniform modifications.

- Packaged project files according to industry standards for backup and final revisions next week.

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM: Break

- Engaged in discussions with Francis about creative philosophies and specialized areas.

- Inquired about specific shooting techniques, post-processing workflows, and commonly used tools.

5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Indesign Roomsheet Layout

- Compiled Zinnia's provided text into a complete exhibition invitation, exported for printing and email distribution.

Skills Learned and Application:

During today's internship, I strengthened my skills in InDesign layout. However, encountering an error while exporting the Roomsheet as a PDF caused a delay for everyone. Consequently, I discovered that InDesign may not be as convenient and efficient as PowerPoint and Word for producing timely, easily editable, and shareable documents such as posters, notices, and roomsheets. Instead of spending extensive time on fine-tuning each text format, it might be more effective to quickly arrange content in PowerPoint to achieve the goal of disseminating information. This is a mistake I need to avoid in future work, as the purpose of tools should be to serve production rather than proving one's proficiency in the field.

Analysis of Interviews:

In conversation with Francis, he raised an important point about student works often lacking depth and continuity. This resonates with me as I possess a broad but undistinguished skill set. Over the past few years, my focus on completing assignments has led to a scattered portfolio with insufficient depth of research, making it challenging to develop my own complete "series" or "exhibitions", not to mention a distinctive personal style. This serves as a reminder that while it's beneficial to explore various fields in the early stages of learning, it's essential to gradually narrow down and specialize in one or two modules where I excel, forming my standout strengths. Moreover, completion of a work does not signify its end; it can be the beginning of a series or the foundation for a new series' development.

Reflections on Experiences:

Overall, today's internship was busy yet fulfilling. It provided me with my first insight into the operational dynamics of an independent artist's shared workspace, strengthening my determination to establish my studio. Working with Francis was a delightful experience as we approached tasks as equals, aiming for collaborative problem-solving and enhanced task management. I'm also excited to be credited for graphic design in Francis's upcoming AVALON collection, marking a significant step into the industry.

Next week, I will assist Francis in completing the collection's design and explore the utilization of Adobe Aero. Additionally, I intend to seek advice from Zinnia on strategies for funding support for the studio and effective communication with galleries.

#6004 #IndustryPlacement

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fastx123 · 11 months ago

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FastX is transforming logistics through customer-centric delivery

FastX is building a space for itself in the fast-paced world of logistics, where speed and efficiency frequently take center stage, by putting customer pleasure first. FastX is revolutionizing the logistics experience through a customer-focused delivery approach, driver empowerment program with a commitment to understanding and addressing the specific demands of its consumers. In this post, we'll look at how FastX is breaking new ground by emphasizing its customers' requirements and preferences, making every delivery a personalized and positive experience.

Tailored Services for Diverse Needs

FastX understands that each customer has specific needs, whether it's a time-sensitive document, a surprise gift, or a full-service house transfer. The customer-focused delivery approach of the organization begins with a variety of bespoke special shipment services services geared to fulfill these various needs. FastX has a solution for every logistical difficulty, from quick document delivery to delicate gift handling and efficient house transfers.

User-Friendly Platform

A user-friendly platform that simplifies the logistics process is at the heart of FastX's customer-focused delivery. Customers may simply order services, track deliveries in real time, and contact with the FastX staff thanks to the user-friendly interface. This focus cutting-edge delivery platform on a seamless and user-centric experience ensures that customers feel in control and well-informed throughout the trip.

Transparent and Upfront Communication

FastX excels in communication, which is essential for a pleasant client experience. The organization promotes open and honest contact with consumers, providing them with detailed information about the entire delivery process. From price data to real-time tracking updates, FastX keeps clients informed, fostering trust and confidence in the service.

Flexible Scheduling for Convenience

FastX provides various scheduling alternatives because it recognizes the importance of flexibility in today's fast-paced society. Customers may arrange pickups and deliveries at their leisure, ensuring that the logistics service fits around their hectic schedules driver revenue sharing rather than the other way around. This customer-centric strategy takes into account the users' time limits and priorities.

Professional Handling with a Personal Touch

In its approach to item handling, FastX mixes professionalism with a human touch. Professionals that are well-trained and experienced assure the safe and secure delivery of products. Whether it's a fragile gift or the contents of an entire household, FastX understands the emotional and practical value of each item and handles them with care, providing customers with peace of mind.

Responsive Customer Support

FastX is proud of its responsive customer service team. The customer support team exemplifies the company's commitment to going the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction, as they are available to answer questions, provide updates, and assist customers throughout the entire process. FastX thinks that a great and responsive customer support experience is just as important as the actual delivery.

FastX's customer-focused delivery approach is more than just a service; it is a philosophy that governs all aspects of the company's operations. FastX is setting a new standard in the logistics industry by tailoring services to diverse needs, providing a dependable logistics solutions user-friendly platform, prioritizing transparent communication, offering flexible scheduling, ensuring professional handling with a personal touch, and maintaining responsive customer support. In a world where personalized and efficient services are becoming increasingly important.

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samueldays · 4 years ago

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Skinsuit mindset, or how Buddhism gets pwned too

1. Identify a respected institution. 2. kill it. 3. gut it. 4. wear its carcass as a skin suit, while demanding respect.

-@iowahawkblog

(The full tweet in question adds #lefties, but I’ve increasingly come to feel that the left wasn’t the monster itself, just the most prominent suit worn by the Skinsuit Monster at the time.)

Today’s case of skinsuiting comes to us courtesy of the MIT Technology Review, which posted this dumb tweet:

Originally I was just going to share it with my friends on ephemeral media and have a small chuckle about how this was omnicide-bait and MIT Technology Review really should have thought out their phrasing better. No man, no problem, as Rybakov put it. (often attributed to Stalin)

Then I read the full article, “What Buddhism can do for AI ethics”, and had a feeling of [screaming internally] before falling into cynicism. It’s not just the twit who tweeted omnicide-bait. The full article repeatedly tees up the case for omnicide and hardly seems to notice.

Buddhism proposes a way of thinking about ethics based on the assumption that all sentient beings want to avoid pain. Thus, the Buddha teaches that an action is good if it leads to freedom from suffering.

The Buddha also taught a way of thinking about how best for everyone to die and stay dead (not reincarnate), because all life on Earth would inevitably involve suffering. A substantial chunk of Buddhist meditation is oriented to becoming a zombie of sorts: walking dead, not feeling suffering because you’re not feeling life. If you gave an archetypal Buddhist a lasting killswitch for Earth, he’d press it. I contend this would be an important subject to cover in an article on AI ethics -- if you gave a fuck about Buddhist teachings rather than being a monster wearing Buddhism as a skinsuit, doubly so when you’re halfway to making the case for the killswitch yourself.

A Buddhist-inspired AI ethics would also understand that living by these principles requires self-cultivation. This means that those who are involved with AI should continuously train themselves to get closer to the goal of totally eliminating suffering.

A Buddhist-inspired AI ethics would also understand that the best way of totally eliminating suffering is, again, omnicide. This is a controversial implication that Soraj Hongladarom should wrestle with!

But it’s not merely the unfortunate implications of the writer which leads me to cry “Skinsuit”. It’s the way the author so blithely skims over these implications as though he never thought of them. Whether this was by knowing more about Buddhism and what it advocates, or knowing more about Yudkowskyism and what it warns about, or knowing more about pop culture and the constant Robot Rebellions in fiction looking to end human suffering by ending humanity, or knowing something about moral philosophy... I’m sure there are other ways of noticing the problem here, I’m an internet commenter and I thought of four on the spot.

I don’t demand that he should have reached any particular conclusion. But if you’re a professor of philosophy, as Hongladarom supposedly is, and you’re going to write a longform article about the potential influence of Buddhism on AI ethics, I feel it’s grossly negligent not to even mention the possibility that this might imply or lead the AI towards a conclusion of omnicide.

But the Skinsuit Monster doesn’t know or care. The Skinsuit Monster is content to just gut Buddhism and gut the MIT Technology Review for new skin to wear as it continues monstering. (Demonstrating, we might say. The etymology of monster is an attention-grabbing spectacle, just like the modern mass-protest.) And the bloody claw of the Skinsuit Monster sticks out here:

Using technology to discriminate against people, or to surveil and repress them, would clearly be unethical.

“Discriminate” is a bait and switch word. Means-testing is discrimination. Progressive taxation is discrimination. Age limits are discrimination. Take your pick; some discrimination is clearly ethical - and the switch is something like “discriminate unethically”, which it is uselessly tautological to call unethical.

And here:

For any of this to be possible, companies and government agencies that develop or use AI must be accountable to the public. Accountability is also a Buddhist teaching, and in the context of AI ethics it requires effective legal and political mechanisms as well as judicial independence.

When the Skinsuit Monster says that such-and-such must be accountable, what it means is something like obedient. And when the Skinsuit Monster claims that some millennia-old philosophy happens to require public accountability and antidiscrimination and judicial independence too, you can see the whole suit tearing. This has fuck-all to do with Buddhism. This is someone using Buddhism as a meatpuppet to get a second vote for what he wants.

If you don’t like the skinsuit analogy, try the framing from @raggedjackscarlet:

there’s more intellectual integrity in “I met Cthulhu and he told me the world should be ruled by zombie flamingos from Neptune” than in “I met Cthulhu and he told me to vote for Hillary”

Buddhism isn’t exactly Cthulhu, but Buddhism is far weirder than MIT Technology Review gives it credit for. Which is extra ironic when Soraj Hongladarom, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, is playing the part of the put-upon foreigner trying to ensure his native traditions get a say in the face of the overwhelming West-

Many groups have discussed and proposed ethical guidelines for how AI should be developed or deployed: IEEE, a global professional organization for engineers, has issued a 280-page document on the subject (to which I contributed), and the European Union has published its own framework. The AI Ethics Guidelines Global Inventory has compiled more than 160 such guidelines from around the world.Unfortunately, most of these guidelines are developed by groups or organizations concentrated in North America and Europe: a survey published by social scientist Anna Jobin and her colleagues found 21 in the US, 19 in the EU, 13 in the UK, four in Japan, and one each from the United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, and South Korea.Guidelines reflect the values of the people who issue them. That most AI ethics guidelines are being written in Western countries means that the field is dominated by Western values such as respect for autonomy and the rights of individuals, especially since the few guidelines issued in other countries mostly reflect those in the West.

-only to turn right around and endorse another flavor of Westernism, now in Thai skinsuit. Where’s your flamingo, Hongladarom? I don’t see you advocating a single uniquely Buddhist goal. Barely anything novel or interesting, let alone controversial. Your article might as well have been titled “How Buddhism Can Be A Loyal Handmaid To Western Progressivism.”

AI ethics guidelines should draw on the rich diversity of thought from the world’s many cultures to reflect a wider variety of traditions and ideas about how to approach ethical problems.

Gandhi is said to have answered “What do you think of Western civilization?” with the barb “I think that would be a good idea”. True or not, that exchange nicely sums up how I feel about Hongladarom here. Some diversity of thought would be a good idea, and I’m not seeing any.

Finally, lemme back up to a phrase I skimmed past earlier:

Accountability is also a Buddhist teaching

This is false.

There is indeed a Buddhist teaching which is often translated to English as “responsibility” or “accountability” in the headline summary. But the content of that teaching is along the lines of: ‘I own my actions, I bring consequences upon myself, I do things and I am responsible for what results...’

This is a far cry from Hongladarom’s call for accountability to the ‘public’, with the public of course being interpreted through appropriate political mechanisms.

Further reading: Moldbug’s How Dawkins got pwned series, if you have a few days.

#all #longpost #essaying #buddhism #moldbuggery #journalism delenda est #the death of expertise #or perhaps the death of credentialism #rectification of names #skinsuit

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n7punk · 4 years ago

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Hey Fendt, In your recent writing process post you elaborated how you write several projects at the same time, their documents being open with you bouncing. Just to get an impression, how many documents are we talking about? Is it like you’ve got on average 4 documents open, less/more? Either way its super impressive! Thanks for your patience!

Ah, I suppose I should clarify this further. This isn’t a “full” extra, but it is about my writing process.

I only work on one fic at a time. It is part of my writing philosophy to not move on to a new project until I’ve finished my current one because then I worry I won’t finish it and just move onto my new idea. However, if I get an idea for another fic I will pull up its document, note it down, and then close the document again.

I keep my current fic open at all times and bounce between anything else I might do in a day (my browser and other programs) and that file.

I didn’t get into this before because it is kind of getting deep into logistics, but every fic has two files. The first file is just the fic (AKA where I actually write), while the second is the notes/outlines for the fic. For example, right now I have two documents open: “all she gives (not enough)” and “all she gives (not enough) planning”.

This is what the main fic document looks like:

I have a page break between every chapter, and they all start off with the notes and chapter title like that. I also have a custom dictionary titled “She-ra” that has all the character names and their possessive forms from the show, plus location names and similar words that come up in fics (Etheria, Eternian, Grayskull, etc).

My “planning” document has taken a lot of forms. I used to just use one word doc for this across all my fics (called “snippets”, which I still have and use to preserve story ideas and cut scenes for use in other fics down the line, plus to keep track of all my AUs) but I have since switched to using a bespoke Word doc for each fic and deleting it when I’m done with the fic (the Word doc titled “all she gives (not enough) planning” in this case). I have experimented with using Scrivener, but honestly it is kinda hard on my eyes, so now I’m just using Word and taking advantage of the outline feature. I also like Word’s built-in proofing over the proofing in other programs I have tried.

Right now, the ASGNE planning doc is split into parts: fic extras (where I write out all the fic extras I post), fic notes (because if I save it as a drafted post on tumblr like I used to, it gets buried), timeline (check out the SLAS extras to see what this looks like, linked on my meta page), outline (this takes various forms between fics because they have varied levels of written outlines), and cut content (to be reused later, or perhaps posted as a bonus. Often I keep these scenes until I have replaced their purpose/content in the story and they have become redundant).

Here is a screenshot of that document in outline mode with the headings collapsed so you can see how it is broken down (I don’t use it in outline mode, this just shows you the breakdown well). When I’m not using a section, I just collapse it.

I’m someone who hates a cluttered desktop, so usually I just have the two Word docs I’m using for my current fic open. I’ve tried many other programs, but in the end, I like writing in Word the best for familiarity (my first book I wrote at age 11 was in Word, even if the program has evolved over time), features, proofing, autosave, and the built-in cloud backups (became VERY important during the power blackouts).

#ficmeta #all fics #writing process #katra-connor #ask

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atlafan · 5 years ago

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Take it Slow - Part Forty-Nine

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Smut, Fluff, and a wee bit of Angst.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

“Morning, Harry.” Isaac smiles at Harry as he walks in.

“Mornin’.” He says going right to his office. He was extremely groggy. He barely got any sleep thinking about a future with you. He was just too excited at the thought of you someday being the mother of his children.

“Have a good weekend?”

“Mm.” He says, not really being awake enough to talk yet.

He goes into his office and sits down. His phone buzzes, a notification from Instagram. You had posted some pictures from Saturday. He smiles when he swipes to see the picture of the two of you, and then some from the photo booth. You also added a funny one of you and Niall, and a decent picture of the four of you. He double taps to like it, and sets his phone aside. Julia knocks on his door.

“Hi Harry.”

“Hi.”

“Doing the coffee rounds.”

“Julia.” He sighs. “I ask for the same thing every mornin’, do ya think we could skip this part and just go straight to when you actually give me the coffee from now on?”

“Um…sure, Harry, I could do that.”

“I’d really appreciate it.”

She smiles and leaves. He knew she looked forward to that first interaction every day, but he just needed the time to settle in without being interrupted. He grabs a camera and head down to the set up he’d be working with for the day. Mariah joins him a couple minutes later. They chat about the weekend and he shows her the pictures you posted. Julia comes over with their coffees.

“Ah, thanks, love.” Harry says without really thinking about it, taking a sip of his coffee. Her face heats up.

“You’re welcome.” She smiles at him.

“Right, well, have fun with Myk today.”

She turns and leaves them alone. Later when he feel puckish for a snack he bumps into Paige in the breakroom.

“Hey, H.” She says.

“Hi Paige, good weekend?”

“Yeah it was alright, went by way too fast.”

“Agreed.” He grabs a protein bar from a cabinet. “How are things with Dana?”

“Really good actually, she’s a fast learner. It’s been nice having some help, I’ve been able to get a lot more work done since I’ve been letting her handle some more of the mundane tasks. Thanks again for telling Ryan to have her work with me.”

“So you haven’t been annoyed at all?”

“I was at first, but once I realized that she was actually helping I was totally over it.” She smiles.

“Good, glad I could help.” He smiles back.

Harry’s day is easy for the most part. No one really interrupted him which he greatly appreciated. There were a fuck ton of pictures and shots he needed to take. He was exhausted by the time he needed to leave to meet Niall.

“Have a good evening, H.” Isaac says as he leaves.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Always have such a bright smile on your face? I have to say it always helps me leave here with a good mood.” Harry smiles at him and leaves.

“Oh my god.” Isaac says to himself, feeling slightly flustered.

Harry meets Niall at the storage unit, and they take a couple of trips bringing things back and forth. After work you went home to pack up a bunch of things. You also wanted to make dinner for Harry since you knew he’d be hungry after doing so much heavy lifting. When he got home he was sweaty and tired. He took his shirt off the second he was able to hang his coat up. He was desperate for a shower, and you.

You were bent over cleaning something up off the floor, tears streaming down your cheeks. Harry rushes over to you, and you stand up.

“Hi.” You sniffle, and then look at him surprised. “Where’s your shirt?”

“I just took it off, what happened?”

“I was taking dinner out of the oven and I burnt myself and then I dropped everything on the floor. I feel really bad because I know you did a ton of work tonight and I just wanted to have a nice dinner made for you.” You wipe your eyes.

“Where’d you get burnt, babe.”

“My wrist, look.” You hold your wrist out to him. He leads you over to the sink and runs a paper towel under some warm water. You raise an eyebrow at him.

“It’s better to run a burn under warm water, cold water will make it scar.” He dabs your wrist with the paper towel and you wince, but relax at the way he touches you. “I’m sorry this happened.”

“I just finished cleaning everything up. I’ll have to dive into our frozen meals, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, love.” He continues to press the paper towel to your wrist. He removes it and brings your wrist up to his mouth for a kiss. “There, all better.” He kisses the top of your head. “A frozen meal is just fine, do ya mind poppin that pizza we got in the oven? I’m desperate for a shower. I probably smell like a goat.” You giggle.

“You smell just fine, and yeah I can make that for us.”

“Thanks.”

He goes into the bathroom and gets in the shower. He stands there for a while just letting the warm water cascade over him. You pop the pizza into the oven, and go sit on the couch with your laptop. You wanted to start your first assignment for class. You had to read a few chapters out of your book and then post in a forum. You had two different high lighters out so you could color code. Harry comes out in just a pair of boxers, his hair still damp. He sits down next to you. You had the TV on while you were reading and high lighting. He watched as your lips mouthed the words you were reading.

“How can you concentrate with the TV on?”

“Hm?” You look at him. “I don’t know, I need the background noise. I usually have the TV on or listen to music while I do my homework. Are you one of those people that need it silent?”

“No, I used to listen to music, just couldn’t read with the TV on.”

“Well, I already read what questions she wants answered in the forum, so I’m just skimming for quotes.”

“Cheatin’ the system a bit?” He smirks.

“I learned a long time ago, it’s all about learning how the teacher teaches. I’m taking in all of the content, but I also know how to play the game. I’m not going to put in a crazy amount of effort if I don’t need to.”

“What happened to givin’ your all?”

“I still am.” You shrug. “I still fully intend to get an A, I’m just doing it the way I know how.”

“How come you have two high lighters?”

“I code while I read, it helps me remember things when I go back to study later.”

“What-“

“Harry.” You sigh. “TV is one thing, but you talking isn’t really helping me read.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I can go into the bedroom if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. Do your readin’ here.” He smiles.

You get back to it and find what you need for quotes. You grab your laptop and open up a word document. You had a word limit you needed to hit and you wanted to hit it well. Harry steals glances of you. You looked so concentrated. He couldn’t believe how fast you were typing away while you answered your questions. The timer went off on the oven, so he got up to take it out. He let it cool for a few minutes and then sliced it up. He brought two pieces on a plate over for you and set it on the coffee table. You copied everything from the document into the forum and posted.

“Finally.” You sigh and grab the pizza. “In a couple days I have to respond two people, and then I’ll be done for the week.”

“Seems tedious.”

“Very, but it’s easy so I’m not complaining.”

“What’s this class about?”

“It’s a philosophy, ethics, and education course. I think I want to teach at a collegiate level someday so getting an MEd is the route I think I’m going to take.”

“Hm, Professor Y/L/N, I like the sound of that.”

“Me too, I especially like the way it sounds coming from you.” You give him a peck on the cheek and dive into your pizza.

“I don’t think I’d survive one of your classes.”

“Why’s that?”

“The combination of how strict you’d probably be with how sexy you’d look teachin’ would just be disastrous. I’d probably have to come to your office for extra help, and then who knows what would happen?” You shake your head at him.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“It’s true! I wonder what options you’d give me for extra credit.”

“Who says you’d even take one of my classes?” You get up and put both of your plates in the sink. He follows you around.

“If I saw you on campus, I’d sign up for any class you’d be teachin’.”

“That’s only because you know me.”

“Not true.”

“Are you saying there was a hot professor at your school that you took every class with?”

“God no, I don’t think I had a single young, hot professor.” He laughs. “I typically stuck with the grad assistants.” You roll your eyes at him. “Kidding! Yikes, lighten up.” He smirks.

“Harry, I would literally not be surprised to find out if you fucked every single woman at both of your universities.”

“Not all of ‘em, didn’t fuck anyone that had a boyfriend.”

“My, how considerate of you.” You say sarcastically.

“What about me? If I were a professor at your university, would you have had a crush on me?”

“Harry, I think in any universe I would have a crush on you.” His cheeks heat up. He wasn’t expecting such an honest answer. You walk away from him and plop back down on the couch.

“Don’t get too comfy, c’mon.” You turn your head up to look at him.

“What?”

“Bedroom, let’s go.” You cross your arms and turn your attention back to the TV. “Y/N.”

“Aren’t you too tired?”

“Caught a second wind. Nothin’ on the TV is more important right now.”

“Says you.” You point to the TV. “The Bachelor is just about to start.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Harry, the season of The Bachelor starts tonight, and I’d like to watch.” He comes over to sit next to you.

“Please, tell me you’re joking.”

“No, and in fact…” Your phone goes off, you have a FaceTime request from Niall. Your face lights up as you answer. “Hey!”

“Tell me you’re watchin’!”

“Yes! And you’re friend here doesn’t seem to understand the importance.”

“Next Monday we are gettin’ together to watch, just like last season.”

“Yes! Please, I need you here. Can you believe they went with Peter over Mike?”

“I’m still not over it.” Harry bends over and puts his face in his hands.

“I cannot fucking believe this.”

“You can either sit and watch or go to another room. This is my guilty pleasure and I’m allowed to have it.”

“Can’t you just record it?”

“And be spoiled by all the people on Twitter, I don’t think so.”

“What else is so important?” Niall asks. You give him a telling look and he starts laughing. “Keep it in your pants mate!”

“That seems to be how it’s going to be this evening.”

You and Niall decide to just text each other during the episode so Harry is slightly less annoyed. He grabbed his laptop and put his headphones in so he didn’t have to fully watch. He’d glance up at you when he’d hear you gasp or start laughing hysterically.

“What a dumb bitch!”

“Oh god, I really don’t like any of these girls.”

“Peter! You’re horny stop!”

Harry took his headphones off when he heard you say that. He looks at the screen and sees two people heavily making out.

“What in the fuck are you actually watching?”

“This is how The Bachelor is! This guy last season, he fucked this girl four times! Four times! He just wants to bone, I don’t know if he’s ready for marriage, I just don’t see it.”

“How long is this?”

“Usually it’s two hours, but because it’s the premiere, it’s three hours tonight. It’s live.”

“Three hours?!”

“You don’t have to stay up the whole time with me if you don’t want, babe.” It was already 9:30.

“No, I…”

“What?”

“I don’t wanna go to bed at a different time than you.” You turn to look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think it’s good when couple’s go to bed at different times. Like, I could already be asleep when you come to bed. Then we wouldn’t really be able to enjoy a cuddle. What’s the fun in that?”

“My parents never went to bed at the same time, it’s a perfectly normal thing.”

“Yeah? Look at how well that turned out.” Both of your eyebrows raise in a snap, and you pause the TV.

“What the fuck did you just say to me? Are you telling me that because my parents didn’t go to bed at the same time that that’s why they aren’t together?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…that came out wrong.”

“Don’t know how else you could’ve meant it Harry.” You hit play on the TV and turn your attention back to it. “Maybe you should go to bed now.”

“Can’t go to bed with you mad at me.” You sigh heavily.

“Not mad.”

“Yeah you are, I just pissed ya off. I’m sorry, I-“

“I can’t fucking hear the TV! Please, I just want to watch this!”

“It’d a fuckin’ reality show! Fuck!” He slams his laptop shut and stands up. “Don’t worry I’ll leave you and Niall to you’re textin’.”

“Good, it’s all I wanted, thanks.” You say snappily.

“You know, you didn’t even say thanks for all the shit I had to do after work today.” He crosses his arms. You pause the TV again.

“Yes I did. I tried cooking you dinner, and then I fucked it up. I appreciate everything you did this evening, okay? Would you like a cookie to go along with the thank you? Perhaps another prize of some kind?”

“Note to self, never bother you again when this stupid fuckin’ show is on or else I’ll get bitched out.” He huffs.

“You literally just threw my parent’s separation in my fucking face because I want to stay up late! You’re being psychotic Harry, it’s one night that I’m not going to go to bed with you at the same time, fuck, you’re such a baby sometimes!”

What was happening right now? He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but now you were cutting deep.

“Psychotic? A baby?”

“Yup and yup. Did you ever stop to think maybe I had a stressful day, and maybe I was looking forward to watching my stupid fuckin’ show all day? I’m sorry, Harry, but you’re wrong. Now leave me alone.”

“I’m not bein’ psychotic.” He pouts.

“Oh my god!” You stand up and turn the TV off. You whip the remote on the couch and stomp off to the bedroom.

“What are you doin’?” He follows you to the bedroom.

“This is what you wanted right? I’m going to bed with you. I’ll just watch the rest during my lunch break tomorrow. Now I have to text Niall not to tell me who Peter’s sending home.” You were texting him furiously. You go into the bathroom and slam the door shut. You come back out after finish your routine and get into the bed.

“Now you’re going to bed upset with me.” He says sitting up in the bed.

“I can’t fucking win with you tonight!” You feel tears prick at your eyes. “Do you want me to go to sleep with you or not?!”

“I wanted to have sex earlier and you wanted to watch TV instead.” You grab the pillow behind you and scream into it, then set it back behind you.

“Harry, I didn’t feel like it.” His mouth forms into a straight line. He really couldn’t comprehend it.

“Because you wanted to watch another guy make out with over twenty women?” You pinch the bridge of your nose with your thumb and forefinger.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” You sigh heavily again. “You’re exhausting, you really are. I’m here, in the bed with you, just like how you wanted.”

“S’not how I wanted.” You blink at him, and turn over. You grab your earbuds and plug them into your phone and put them in your ears. “What are you doin’?”

You don’t say anything, you put on one of your playlists, and start scrolling on your phone.

“Hello? Really, the silent treatment over something so stupid?”

You feel tears roll down your cheeks. You hear him groan and he turns the light off. He stays sitting up in bed with his arms crossed. He could faintly hear your music, but couldn’t quite make it out. He was acting like a baby. He was exhausted and you had denied him. He wanted attention, and you didn’t give it to him. He was wrong to have said that about your parents, but you’re not the only one to have parents that were split up. Although something tells Harry he grew up in a much happier home than you did. Great, now he feels terrible. He hears you sniffle. Fuck. He made you cry.

“Babe?” He places a hand on your hip.

“Go to bed, Harry.”

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” You switch your phone to your Hulu app so you can keep watching the show.

You went to bed with Harry, but he didn’t get his proper cuddle. He knew it was his fault. You fell asleep with your headphones in, and woke up with them tangled around you. You put them and your phone on your night table. It was around four in the morning. Harry was asleep facing you. You turn to face him. You felt bad about getting so worked up earlier in the night. You lightly brush his cheek with your hand, and snuggle up next to him.

You rest your forehead against his chest, and your hand on his hip. You feel his arm drape over you. You put one of your legs over his, and he moves his leg between yours.

“Hi.” He says opening his eyes.

“Hi…I hope you don’t think I think a TV show is more important than you.”

“No…I’m sorry about all of it. I shouldn’t have said that about your parents.”

“It’s alright.” You snuggle into him further.

“I know I can be kind of…needy sometimes. And I was bein’ cranky from just bein’ tired.”

“But I like how you are, I like when you want me. You’re so cute.”

“You called me a baby…” He pouts.

“I did…it’s not a lie, you are a baby, but you’re my baby.” You sigh into him. You feel him chuckle against you.

“Just don’t say it in such a mean way again.”

“Okay.”

He moves his hand and tilts your chin up so you look at him. You close your eyes and kiss him. He pulls you closer and deepens the kiss. You roll your hips against his thigh and groan into his mouth.

“Harry, please make love to me.” You whisper.

“Won’t you be too tired for work later?”

“Don’t care.”

You roll over onto your back and pull him with you. He kisses you again, and nips at your jaw and neck. He plants wet kisses on you while his hand roams between your legs. He rubs up and down your slit, getting you nice and wet. He pushes your legs apart as you give his hard cock a few quick pumps. You guide him in and he pushes inside. Your hands reach for his so you can intertwine your fingers. He rests them up above your head on either side your pillow. He slowly pumps in and out of you, and you wrap your legs around his waist. His thrusts were so and sloppy, and you were incredibly turned on. His head is buried in the crook of your neck.

“I hate when we fight.” You say into his year.

“Me too.”

“I love you so much, Harry.”

“I love you too. I’m sorry I was an asshole.” He grits is teeth when you start to move your hips along with his rhythm.

“I’m sorry I acted like a brat.”

He presses up hard into you, and stops moving so you can just grind back and forth on him. You squeeze your hands tightly on his as you feel your stomach start to tighten.

“Ah, fuck, Harry, Harry, shit!” Your release comes and he presses harder into you as you ride it out. You were full on panting. You tighten around him to hold on to your orgasm as long as you can.

“You like when I do that?”

“Yes, feels so good. Love the way I can really feel how hard you are.”

He bites down on your neck and your back arches. His hands tighten around yours as he thrusts in and out of you, chasing his own release. Every moan and groan that leaves his lips and goes into your year sends you. You feel your legs start to shake, and you come at the same time as him. He collapses on top of you and lets go of your hands. You go right for his hair and play with. He slowly pulls out of you and moves to lay on his side facing you. It was around 4:45 in the morning. You sigh and decide to just get up and shower. He grabs onto your hips and you giggle as he pulls your back to his chest.

“I need to pee.”

“Just stay and cuddle a minute, I didn’t go down on ya so you don’t need to be paranoid like ya usually are.” He nuzzles into your hair.

“Alright.” You feel your eyes flutter closed, but they soon open back up when you hear your alarm go off. You get up and turn it off. You groan as you shuffle into the bathroom to take a shower.

You were just washing your hair when you heard the door click open and the curtain shuffle open. Harry steps into the shower as you scrub the rest of the shampoo out of your hair. He waits for you to finish and you step aside to let him step into the water. He looks up at the shower head.

“Ever use tha’ before?” His voice was still raspy from the sleep and the sex. It was so sexy.

“Use what babe?”

“The shower head?” You blink at him, confused.

“You just saw me use it to wash my hair.”

“Not there, there.” He points to your crotch and your cheeks flush.

“Harry, I do not have time for this, I-“

“Just answer the question.”

“No I have not used my showerhead on to get off.”

“Would you like to?”

“Harry, out of all the time we’ve taken a shower together, why are you doing this now? I don’t want to rush to work?”

“It’s not even six yet, you have plenty of time.”

“But, I’ll need to blow dry my hair, and-“

“You didn’t answer my question.” He crosses his arms.

“Would I like to use it to get off? No, not really. Why are you offering to do it for me?” He grins at you and nods. “You just got me off, I’m good for the morning.”

“Good for the mornin’?” He chuckles. “You’re funny. C’mere.”

“Harry…”

“If you’re late to work I give you full permission to be mad at me all day and I won’t make a fuss of it, now.” He grabs your shoulders and moves you. He takes the shower head down and moves towards you.

You nearly ripped the shower curtain off the rod as you had one of the most intense orgasms ever. You thought using a showerhead was only something that worked in movies or porn. The way Harry maneuvered it was astounding. You got out of the shower and left him in there to do his thing. You put a simple outfit together, and started to dry your hair just as Harry was getting out of the shower. He punched your bum as he walked into the bedroom. He went into the kitchen to make a smoothie for the both of you. You end up only partially drying your hair. You braid back some of it and get it all in a ponytail. You put on some make up quickly and walk quickly into the kitchen. You smile when you see the smoothie.

“Mm, thank you.” You say as you take a sip. Harry wraps his arms around you and kisses you tenderly. “I really need to go. It’s my day to get coffee.”

“When did this little tradition of your start?”

“Pretty much when I first started. We both realized we were going to the same coffee shop, so we just started taking turns.” You shrug. You kiss him one more time.

“Do ya ever wanna play hooky?”

“Oh no, no, no.” You step away from him. “You’ve had enough influence over me today. I’m saving my vacation days for the move, remember? Another ten days and we’ll have a whole week off together in our new place.” You grab your smoothie and keys. “I’ll be home late, therapy session today.”

“Alright, have a good day, love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

You get to work on time, somehow, and give Niall his coffee. He pulls you into his office quickly.

“What?”

“Your neck! Did you forget a scarf?” Your eyes grow wide and you take out your phone to look. You clamp your hand over the spot.

“Shit! I didn’t even notice. It happened really early this morning.”

“I have one you can wear, but it might look goofy.”

“I’ll try it. I don’t even have makeup with me to cover it up.” You groan. “Maybe I am getting too old for this.” He chuckles and hands you the scarf he wears with his jacket.

“Thanks, this’ll work fine.” You wrap it around your neck.

“Early mornin’ romp?” He smirks.

“Maybe.” You giggle. “We had a little fight last night, and we went to bed upset.”

“Oh yeah, you mentioned that when ya texted me. Did you see the rest of the episode?”

“Yes! So dramatic.”

“As always.”

“I was texting the girls too. We should all get together to watch it.”

“Great idea! Everyone can come to my place Monday.”

“I can’t wait to move and have a few days off to unpack.”

“You know if you need a couple days to work from home this week, I’m sure that would be fine. You’ve got a lot goin’ on with the move, class, and Harry’s birthday this weekend. Where are ya takin’ him again?”

“To where we went on our first date.”

“Oh my god, he’s gonne die.”

“I know! I can’t wait to take him out.”

Harry was sitting in a staff meeting, trying his hardest not to fall asleep. It’s not that he was bored, he was just genuinely tired.

“H, you could look a little more interested, you know?” His supervisor Christin says.

“Hm? Sorry, I had a long night.”

“Well perk up. You could at least act to be happy that we’re sending you down to Florida in the middle of winter.”

“I’m sorry what? I…I thought I wasn’t travelin’ much anymore.”

“Sorry, H, but I need you on this one. The assignment’s in the folder I handed out.” He looks around to everyone.

“When do I leave?” He sighs.

“In two weeks.”

“See, the thing is, I’m in the middle of movin’, and I had some vacation time put in-“

“We’re giving it back to you, and you can use it at another time.”

“Is there any particular reason I can’t go, and Harry can stay here?” Mariah asks.

“I need you hear on another assignment.”

“But, Harry really doesn’t want to travel. Him and his girlfriend-“

“Mariah, I don’t need to know about Harry’s personal life, neither does anyone else in this room. Harry, I know it’s not ideal, but I need you on this.”

“How long am I gone for?”

“About a week.” His heart sinks into his stomach. He just wanted to have the time off with you. And the thought of you spending the first night in your new place alone crushed him. He thought he was going to be sick. Everyone could see it on his face, except Christin.

“Okay.” He says looking down.

“H, listen, you’re going to be in Florida, try to perk up, hm?”

“Yeah.” He was biting the inside of his cheek, he needed to get out of there.

After the meeting he went right to his office and looked over the full assignment. He was actually going to be taking pictures of some really cool vegetation, the timing was just terrible. He wondered if he could ask to bring you with him, but he was sure that wouldn’t go over well. He could always pay for a plane ticket for you. He was so frustrated. He put his face in his hands at he started crying. Isaac noticed what was happening and made a call.

“Hi Trish, what’s up?”

“There’s a man on the phone for you from Plant Geo, his name is Isaac, do you want me to transfer him?” You’re slightly confused, and a little concerned.

“Um, yeah.” You wait a moment for the transfer to go through. “Hello?”

“Hi…Y/N?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Isaac, I work reception at Plant Geo.”

“Yes, I know. Is everything okay?”

“I think Harry could use you. He just got an assignment and he’s not taking it well.”

“Oh no! What kind of assignment?”

“I think they’re making him travel somewhere. He’s, um, crying.”

“Oh god, okay…um…I’m there. Thank you. How did you find my office number?”

“He’s mentioned where you worked before, just tried my luck with Google.”

You hang up and run down to Niall’s office.

“I’m taking an early lunch, something came up.”

“Everythin’ alright?”

“I’m not sure yet, I’ll keep you updated.”

You sprint down to your car and speed over to Harry’s studio. You get there in about twenty minutes. Harry had calmed down a little, but his eyes were red and puffy as he began working. Everyone knew to leave him alone. You park and get up the elevator. You wave to Isaac as you go right for Harry’s office. You don’t knock you just go right in.

“Oi, it’s polite to knock.” He looks over at you, and his face completely changes.

“Sorry ‘bout that Mr. Styles, I won’t do it again.” You give him a small smile. “What’s wrong baby?” You sit on his desk.

“How did you? I’m so confused.”

“Isaac called me at work, he said you were upset.” Harry looks over in Isaac’s direction.

“Tattle tale.” He sighs and looks at you. “I have to go to Florida the same week we were supposed to have off together.” He starts sniffling. “And I’m upset because I can’t stand the thought of you there all by yourself when we were supposed to be unpackin’ together.” He buries his head in your stomach and you stroke his hair.

“Harry, honey, it’s okay. I understand.” You try to soothe him as best you can. “You don’t need to feel bad. Maybe I can fly down too, what part of Florida are you going to?”

“Um.” He lifts his head and looks at the papers in the folder. “Near Port St. Lucie, I’ll be near the manatee habitat.”

“Hmm, on the east coast. Well, I could fly down and spend a few days with Nannie, and then I could come meet you or you could come to us.”

“But what about us unpacking and gettin’ everything together?”

“Harry, we can still fully move in when we planned to. And I don’t mind unpacking a bit without you.”

“But…I’ll miss our first night together there.”

“I’ll leave for Florida when you do.” You shrug.

“But the last minute ticket will be really expensive.”

“I can afford it. I have the time off already anyways, and getting out of the cold sounds nice. It’s nothing to be upset over.” You run your thumbs over his cheeks to wipe his tears away.

“You don’t mind that things are gettin’ a little messed up?”

“It’s not ideal timing, but I’ll take any excuse to go visit my grandmother.”

“Where’s she again?”

“On the west coast, in North Port. Only a couple hours from where you’ll be.”

He stands up and wraps his arms around you. You hug him close to you and just stand there hugging.

“You’re amazing, thank you for being so flexible.”

“Of course.” You kiss him on the cheek. “Don’t get mad at Isaac, I’m glad he called.”

“I would’ve just come to see you in a couple hours.”

“Yeah, but you would’ve been upset for that much longer.”

Christin comes walking over to Harry’s office.

“What the hell is going on?” You whip your head around to look at the woman.

“Christin, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.”

“Didn’t realize it was social hour.” She crosses her arms.

“Sorry, it was my fault, um, I grabbed something of his by accident this morning and I needed to drop it off.” You smile at her. “I’ll see you tonight, Harry.” You give his hand a squeeze and leave his office. You nod at Isaac on your way out.

“Heard she’s been coming around here a lot.”

“Only on lunch breaks, and it’s been like two times.” He crosses his arms at well. “Did you need somethin’?”

“We need to go over Florida.”

“We?”

“Yeah, I’m going too.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m your supervisor and I’m supervising the assignment.”

“Are your kids comin’ too?”

“I’m going to have my husband take the girls to Orlando and I plan to meet them there later on.”

“How nice for you.”

“Harry, if you hate it here so much, why don’t you quit?”

“I don’t hate it here, I just hate travelin’.”

“You used to love it.”

“People change, I don’t like it anymore.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Nothing specific.” He shrugs. “It’s fine, it’ll be fine, this is just a sort of stressful time. You could act a little more sympathetic ya know. There is such a thing as work-life balance.”

“You’re right, I didn’t mean to be insensitive. As long as I’ve known you, you never really had someone in your life you seemed to care about so much…I didn’t realize how serious this was.”

“I don’t exactly go around spilling my nonsense around. Her grandmother lives in Florida, she’s going to try to find a flight to go down there too and then we’re going to meet up.”

“That’ll be nice.”

“Well at least they’re not makin’ him go this weekend.” Niall says, diving into his lunch.

“I know…he was acting like it was the end of world. It’s really not a big deal.”

“He probably just felt like he was lettin’ ya down. It’s good you were able to get over there,”

“His supervisor wasn’t thrilled to see me.”

“Christin can be kind of shrill…I think she forgets what it’s like to be young sometimes.”

“She didn’t seem that much older.”

“She’s like thirty-five.”

“Ah.”

“Do you think you’ll need some extra vacation time?”

“Depends on the flights I’m able to book. I’m secretly kind of happy, I can’t wait to call Nannie to tell her.”

“She’s gonna be so happy to see you. So when will you guys actually move?”

“The plan was to be fully out of my place by next weekend, and then spend the week unpacking. He was really torn up about me sleeping there alone.” Niall’s face falls.

“That wouldn’t upset you?”

“Well, it’s not ideal, but it is what it is. He and I will be able to unpack and set up pretty easily since all of the boxes are clearly labeled.”

“Was your family plannin’ to help too?”

“My brother is coming with his truck, and my mom said she could help unpack the kitchen, so I’m really not worried about it. Just need to book flights now. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive with it being sort of last minute.”

“I have plenty of miles built up if-“

“Save them, please. Very kind of you though.” You smile at him. You sigh. “Do you think Harry will ever just freelance full time like Louis does?”

“No idea. I know he wants to do it eventually, but there’s so much uncertainty. His busy seasons are great, but when it’s slow, it’s slow. He’d have to do a lot to really keep the business goin’, he’d have to lease a studio space.”

“Our loft could easily be set up as a home studio.”

“Yeah, maybe for small projects, but do you really want a ton of strangers comin’ in and out?”

“Good point.”

“Real-estate isn’t cheap in this area. He’d need to put together a whole business plan, not that he doesn’t know how to do that.”

“He just seems to no enjoy his work.”

“He enjoys the work, just not the people.”

“It sucks how the people you work with can make you hate what you’re passionate about. It shouldn’t be that way. You and I are so lucky we have each other.”

“Grateful for it every day.”

You can’t wait to get home to Harry after your appointment with Dr. Mara. It was a great session. When you walk in, Harry was packing boxes according to your very specific list.

“Hi baby.” He turns around to look at you.

“Hey.” He comes over and wraps his arms around you.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” He kisses your cheek. “He was Dr. Mara?”

“Good! She says hi.” You giggle and let go of him. “What do you feel like eating tonight?” You ask, walking into the kitchen. He follows you and sits at the island. “Well? I’ll make whatever you want.”

“Really only one thing I’d like to eat right now.” He rests his chin on his palm.

“Okay, well if it’s takeout that’s fine. I can pick up whatever.” You weren’t picking up on what he was putting down. He sighs. “What?”

“Babe.” He gives you his bedroom eyes and your face flushes immediately.

“Oh!” You look at him and then the fridge. “Okay, but I’m legitimately hungry…”

“We can have food after.”

“Okay.” He perks up. “Where do you want me?”

“Take your pants off and go lay on the sofa.”

You do as he says. He comes over to you, and just admire your body. His thumbs spread you apart, and your hips buck up when you first feel his tongue on you. You felt bad, you should be the one tasting him, but he wanted to forget about everything and get lost in you. You feel yourself get even more turned on when you hear him groan against you. His tongue licks a flat stipe up your center, and then he lick up into you. Your hands grasp at his hair.

“Fuck.” You gasp as he swirls his tongue around inside you.

His thumb moves up to your clit and rubs slow circles on it. He was taking his time with you. That was the thing about Harry, he knew how to get you off quick, and he knew how to move at an agonizingly slow pace to get you there just the same. This was one of those time where he just wanted to savor every last bit of you. You looked down to see him nose deep, and totally in another state of mind. He pressed harder on your clit as he rubbed on it and you started to grind against his tongue.

“Feels so good babe.” You moan, throwing your head back. His free hand presses down on your stomach adding to the pressure of it all. “Harry.” You start panting his name. “Harry.” It’s music to his ears. If he could hear one sound for the rest of his life, it would be this. “Harry!”

Everything goes white for a moment, and stars come into your vision. He doesn’t let up though, he continues to suck on you. He gulped up every last bit of your release, and was hoping to give you another one until your phone rang. You saw it was your Nannie.

“Harry, fuck, I need to answer that.” He slowly lifts from between your legs and sighs. You clear your throat before answering. “Hi Nannie!”

“Hi precious girl, I got your message.”

“Will that week work for you? I know it’s short notice.”

“Nannie’s actually going to have company for a few days that week, so I don’t think it’ll work. But, if you wanna come the week after?” Your face falls.

“That won’t work, I only have this particular week off…”

“I’m sorry baby, your cousin and his kids are coming to visit, it’s their school vacation.”

“That’s alright, I’m glad they’ll get to see you.”

“Maybe you could come to Aruba again this year.”

“I didn’t think you had fully committed to going.” You perk up.

“I decided a little while ago. You should come if you can, I think your mom is planning on it too.”

“It’ll be just like last year! Okay, I’ll talk to mom. I’d need to book that like now.”

“Yeah, the airfares are decent now, I can text you the dates.”

“Okay! This’ll be so much fun, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Sorry we won’t see each other this month.”

“It’s okay, really. Aruba sounds amazing right now anyways.”

“Okay sweetie, well I need to go, but I love you.”

“Love you too!” You sigh and look at Harry. “So…I’m not going to Florida, I’m sorry. My cousins are visiting with her that week.”

“You could come with me, and stay at my hotel.” You put your hand on his shoulder.

“Harry, I would be bored out of my mind while you worked all day. It’s really short notice, I’ll just stay here.”

“What was that about Aruba?”

“She’s going again this April, and she wants me to come, so I think I will. It’s so much fun.” You stand up and pull your underwear and pants back on. “It’s not the end of the world. I won’t unpack anything you don’t want me to.”

“That’s not the point.” He sighs.

“I know. Sometimes we can’t always get what we want though, babe. Besides, it’ll be nice for us to miss each other a little, don’t you think.” You go over to the fridge and take out some carrot sticks to munch on.

“I miss you enough during the day as it is.” He pouts.

“Harry…”

“I know, I’m actin’ like a baby.”

“It’s only a week. We can FaceTime every night if you want. I can walk you through the apartment, and we can leave our phones on until we fall asleep. You can even still read to me if you want.”

“Do you have enough vacation time to go away in April?”

“Yeah, I have plenty.”

“My family is probably comin’ in April for Easter.”

“That’s usually when we’re in Aruba.”

“Will you have enough vacation time for the summer? I want you to come back to England with me for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah I should have enough. Besides, they’d probably let me flex time if I didn’t have enough. I could just work remotely over there.”

“How do you stay so calm about all this?”

“In the grand scheme it’s not a big deal.” You shrug, chomping on another carrot. “I’ll miss seeing your mom and Gemma when they come. But at least we’ll have a nice guest space for them!” You say cheerily.

“Suppose you’re right. C’mon, can’t have eatin’ carrots for dinner. How bout I make us some soup?”

“You’ve had a long day. Why don’t I make dinner, and you go play a video game or something?”

“That’d be great, some of my friends might be online.” You give him a quick kiss and get to work.

You had heard someone jokingly say once that your boyfriend or husband was essentially your first baby. You always that that was a weird thing to say because a man should be able to take care of himself. But today Harry literally felt like your baby. You felt this overwhelming need to protect him at all costs, and you knew you’d pounce on anyone what tried to hurt him.

“Oh Harry!”

“Yeah babe?” He says from the couch.

“After dinner, I’d like to return the favor.” You wink at him.

“Best kind of dessert there is, isn’t it?”

#harry styles #take it slow #harry styles x reader #harry styles y/n #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #harry styles imagine #fluff #smut #angst #harry styles fluff fic #harry styles smut fic #this was long for like no reason sorry #the next part is really good im excited

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yamayuandadu · 4 years ago

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Rider of Clouds (again)

After going through more sources on Ugaritic mythology and the “storm god versus the sea” motif as a whole in Anatolia, Levant, Egypt and Mesopotamia, I decided to post about the characters meant for my loose Baal Cycle retelling again.

Baal (middle) – the eponymous Rider of Clouds, a young weather deity born to Dagon and Shalash, largely retired agricultural gods who settled in Ugarit shortly before Baal's birth. While the mythical Baal Hadad is male, my version is a woman – the idea started as a joke about conflating Baal from the Baal cycle with Baalat Gebal, a female figure associated with another levantine bronze age city (BG's actual identity is an object of much scholarly debate) being more valid than conflating him with much later Baal Hammon from Carthage, which happens a lot online, but I got attached to it (a certain artifact which is variously interpreted as representing either a short-haired noblewoman or a prince was a factor too) so now here we are. She nonetheless uses a male title inherited from her father, much like a few historical female rulers did. In my version “Hadad” is only a nickname, and her real name is actually Hebat, who is a goddess mentioned in one inscription as Dagan's daughter. As the levantine/syrian Hebat lacks a defined character in real mythology (another Hebat was regarded as the Hittite storm god's wife but was replaced in this role by the sun goddess of Arinna and that's about it) it should be fine to conflate her with Dagan's best attested divine child, I think. Baal is impulsive and follows a moral code which, depending on the point of view, might be either naive or heroic, which means she's not exactly the optimal person to get involved in n-dimensional divine politics, but that's not enough to stop her from trying. The story documents her rise to the position of the head god of Ugarit's pantheon. Astarte (right) – a goddess of uncertain origin and no particularly well defined attributes, who attaches herself to Baal initially in hopes of advancing own career, though the two eventually develop a more genuine relationship. She patterns herself after the much more famous Mesopotamian Inanna, seeing her as an ideal to strive for – especially when it comes to trickery. While Baal has the name recognition and disposition fitting for a major deity, Astarte is the part of the duo actually capable of navigating politics, and takes the title of Face of Baal, negotiating support for Baal's bid with other gods. The image of Baal she projects differs slightly from reality, though not enough for most onlookers to notice. Ignore the crescent moon diadem, it'll be replaced as soon as I'll draw her again. Anat (left) – the younger daughter of Ugarit's head god, El. Her philosophy differs greatly from her parents' and as a result she isn't really seriously considered for succession. Her hobbies include bladed weapons, gambling and heroic epics; in the past she attempted writing her own self insert one. She's deeply invested in Baal's ascendance, and is probably the god Astarte wants to recruit for their cause the most.

El and Asherah – the ruling couple of Ugarit, currently pondering retirement, which stirs many contenders to the throne into action. El is a lifelong opportunist changing views and allegiances as he sees fit, though he pretty consistently favors Yam as his main underling. His wife (image tbd) generally holds similar views, though has some qualms about Yam's rise to power.

Kothar-wa-Khasis – a craftsman god who, by own admission, only works part time in Ugarit and travels the world for the rest of it. He's kind and dependable and his wares are both affordable and of great quality, but his real motives are hard to ascertain. His real identity is likewise a subject of much speculation among other gods – while his preferred manner of clothing hints at an egyptian origin, nothing is known for sure. He's also a talented musician. Shapash – El's firstborn daughter, serving as “the torch of the gods”, guaranteeing Ugarit gets its fair share of sunlight. Her political allegiance is unknown.

Yam – a sea monster more than a god, presiding over the nearby section of the sea and all that dwells in it, including the sea slugs important for the human inhabitants of the area. He's also the son of the influential Anatolian god Kumarbi, banished to the underworld by the current head god Teshub. As a result of his influence, he gained El's support and received many titles, which de facto makes him the most likely to succeed El as the king of local pantheon. He's capricious and inconsiderate, but maintains a larger than life public image meant to make him palatable to potential backers. The circumstances of his arrival in Ugarit are shrouded in mystery, and may or may not be relate for his unusually strong hatred of Baal. Ashtar (image tbd) – an opportunist who sides with Yam, hoping to receive a share in the gains he's making thanks to El's blessings. He's pretty content with playing the role of a toady though his aspirations might be different, as evidenced by his gaudy fashion preferences. Yam’s messenger (image tbd) – an attempt at developing an obscure figure from the original myth, Yam's nameless and seemingly rather rude and infuriating messenger, into a full blown character. His real identity is a mystery. He interned under a variety of famous mythical villains in order to gain a greater understanding of their ways, and currently serves as Yam's messenger, adviser, doorkeeper and punching bag. Mot – profoundly unpleasant and unsociable being tasked with maintaining Ugarit's very own underworld. While his equivalents in neighboring cultures generally view themselves as impartial judges or a necessary evil, Mot gets his kicks from posing as a personification of death itself, and is notoriously corrupt.

Marduk – the tutelary deity of Babylon, reigning as the king of gods of most of Mesopotamia and its neighbors. While technically Ugarit isn't directly under his control, he still is the god whose confirmation is necessary to rise to the position of the head of a local pantheon. He doesn't have a unified mythical narrative about himself yet at this point in time, despite his position, which is a source of insecurity for him. During travels, he's assisted by his personal aide and biographer, Nabu, and his pet. Seth – in real life, ancient Egyptians equated many gods of their neighbors with Seth; therefore in Rider of Clouds Seth serves as an ambassador of the Egyptian pantheon. While ultimately Marduk's judgment matters the most, Seth gets the right to veto his decisions when it comes to validating claims to local thrones. On good terms with Kothar-wa-Khasis, which is a subject of much gossip among other gods. Teshub – the head of the Hittite and Hurrian pantheon, technically capable of projecting the most power in Ugarit's politics; however, as the gods of Ugarit share closer affinity with Mesopotamia than Hatti, he competes with Marduk for political influence. As he and Baal are a very similar type of god, he's the most outspoken supporter of Baal's ascension to the throne out of all 3 foreign dignitaries. Ignore the ?, it’s just Baal. Gupan and Ugar – two minor gods who might be some of the only allies Baal recruited herself rather than with Astarte's help. They play a minor role in the story as her messengers and heralds. They're also a couple. Kubaba – a pretender to the throne of the head deity of the pantheon of Carchemish, a city-state close to Ugarit. Involved with the Hittite Sun Goddess of the Underworld in some capacity. This is, however, not their story. If you follow my oc posts you can probably guess which one is about them.

#rider of clouds #homegrown esoterica

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akathecentimetre · 5 years ago

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Hey there, so I really like history as a subject, and I'm pretty good at it. The thing is, I don't know what my career options would be if I studied it, or if I would be able to make money. My parents are heavily discouraging me from taking it as a major. As a 'historian' in training' what's your take? Thank you

Hi there! Sorry for the delay, ‘tis the hectic season…

Oh man, I have so many thoughts for you. Full disclosure: this is something I have worked on a LOT over the course of my graduate career both at my uni and on a national level; most of my advice, however, comes from a PhD candidate’s perspective and may not be directly helpful to an undergraduate, and I should also emphasize that everything I can say on this is very firmly based on the U.S. market only. That being said, a lot of what I can say can be universally applied, so here we go -

The number of history undergraduates in the U.S. has plummeted in the last decade or so, from it previously being one of the most popular majors. There are many interacting reasons for this: a changeover from older to younger, better-trained, energetic professors who draw in and retain students has been very slow to occur, partly because of a lack of a mandatory retirement age; the humanities have been systematically demonized and minimized in favor of the development of STEM subjects, to the occasional benefit of students of color and women but to the detriment of critical public discourse and historical perspective on current events; with many liberal arts colleges going under financially and the enormous expansion of academic bureaucracy everywhere, resources are definitely being diverted away from social and human studies towards fields which are perceived to pay better or perceived, as mentioned in the article above, as being more ‘practical.’ (We do need a ton more healthcare workers/specialists, but that’s a different conversation to have.) But now I feel like quoting a certain Jedi Master: everything your parents say is wrong. Let’s dive into why being a historian is a positive thing for you both as a person and as a professional -

You will be a good reader. As you learn to decipher documents and efficiently and thoroughly read secondary literature, you will develop a particular talent for understanding what is important about any piece of writing or evidence (and this can go for visual and aural evidence as well). This will serve you well in any position in which you are collecting/collating information and reporting to colleagues or superiors, and evaluating the worth of resources. Specific example - editorial staff at publishing houses either private or academic, magazines, etc.

You will be a good writer. This will get you a good job at tons of places; don’t underestimate it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been astonished (not in a punitive way, of course, but definitely with a sense of befuddlement) by how badly some of my Ivy-league students can write. Good writing is hard, good writing is rare, and good writing is a breath of fresh air to any employer who puts a high premium upon it in their staff. History in principle is the study of change; history in practice is presenting information in a logical, interesting, and persuasive manner. Any sort of institution which asks you to write reports, summaries, copy, etc. etc. will appreciate your skills.

You will be a good researcher. This sounds like a given, but it’s an underappreciated and vital skill. Historians work as consultants. Historians work in government - almost every department has an Office of the Historian - and in companies, writing company histories and maintaining institutional archives. A strong research profile will also serve you well if you want to go on to work in museum studies and in libraries public or private/academic. As a historian, you will know not just where to find information, but what questions you have to ask to get to the answer of how to tackle, deconstruct, and solve a problem. This is relevant to almost any career path.

You will provide perspective. Historians react to current events in newspapers and online - not just on politics, but culture as well (my favorite article of this week is about the historicity of The Aeronauts). Historians act as expert witnesses in court proceedings. Historians write books, good books, not just meant for academic audiences but for millions upon millions of readers who need thoughtful, intelligent respite from the present. Historians work for thinktanks, providing policy analysis and development (a colleague of mine is an expert on current events of war in Mali and works for multiple thinktanks and organizations because of it). Historians work for nonprofits or lobbying groups on issues of poverty, environmental safety, climate change, and minority and indigenous rights. In a world when Texas school textbooks push the states’ rights narrative, historians remind us that the Civil War was about slavery. Historians remind us that women and people of color have always existed. In this time and world where STEM subjects are (supposedly) flooding the job market, we need careful historical perspective more than ever. We need useful reactions to the 2016 election, to the immigration travesties on display at the southern border, to the strengthening of right-wing parties in Europe - and history classes, or thoughtfully historical classes on philosophy and political science, are one of the few places STEM and business students gain the basic ability to participate in those conversations. [One of my brightest and most wonderful students from last year, just to provide an anecdote, is an astrophysics major who complained to me in a friendly conversation this semester that she never got the chance to talk about ‘deep’ things anymore once she had passed through our uni’s centralized general curriculum, which has a heavy focus on humanities subjects.]

You will be an educator. Teaching is a profession which has myriad challenges in and of itself, but in my experience of working with educators there is a desperate need for secondary-school teachers in particular to have actual content training in history as opposed to simply being pushed into classrooms with degrees which focus only on pedagogical technique. If teaching is a vocation you are actually interested in, getting a history degree is not a bad place to start at all. And elementary/high schools aside, you will be teaching someone something in every interaction you have concerning your subject of choice. Social media is a really important venue now for historians to get their work out into the world and correct misconceptions in the public sphere, and is a place where you can hone a public and instructive voice. You could also be involved in educational policy, assessment/test development (my husband’s field, with a PhD in History from NYU), or educational activism.

If some of this sounds kind of woolly and abstract, that’s because it is. Putting yourself out there on the job market is literally a marketing game, and it can feel really silly to take your experience of 'Two years of being a Teaching Assistant for European History 1500-1750’ and mutate it to 'Facilitated group discussions, evaluated written work from students [clients], and ran content training sessions on complex subjects.’ But this sort of translation is just another skill - one that can be learned, improved, and manipulated to whatever situation you need it to fit.

Will you make money? That’s a question only you can answer, because only you know what you think is enough money. That being said, many of the types of careers I’ve mentioned already are not low-paying; in my experience expertise is, if you find the right workplace and the rewarding path, usually pretty well-remunerated.

Specific advice? Hone your craft. Curate an active public presence as a historian, an expert, a patient teacher, and as as person enthusiastic about your subject. Read everything and anything. Acknowledge and insist upon complexity, and celebrate it when you can.

And finally - will any of what I’ve said here make it easy? No, because no job search and no university experience is easy these days. It’s a crazy world and there are a lot of awful companies, bosses, and projects out there. But I do very firmly believe that you can find something, somewhere, that will suit your skills, and, hopefully, your passions too.

Resources for you: the American Historical Association has a breakdown of their skills-based approach to the job market, reports on the job market(s) for history PhDs collectively called ‘Where Historians Work,’ and a mentorship program, Career Contacts, which could connect you with professional historians in various workplaces. There is a very active community of historians on Twitter; search for #twitterstorians. For historians who identify as female, Women Also Know History is a newer site which collates #herstorian bios and publications to make it easier for journalists to contact them for expert opinions. ImaginePhD provides career development tools and exercises for graduate students, but could probably be applied to undergrads as well. The Gilder Lehrman Institute is one of the premier nonprofits which develops and promotes historical training for secondary school teachers and classroom resources (U.S. history only). Job listings are available via the AHA, the National Council on Public History, and the IHE, as well as the usual job sites. And there’s an awful lot more out there, of course - anyone who reads or reblogs this post is welcome to add field-specific or resource-specific info.

I hope this helps, Anon, or at least provides you with a way to argue in favor of it to your parents if it comes to that. Chin up!

#replies #anon #history #academia #education #career diversity #grad school #Caz rambles

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nopperediting · 5 years ago

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Tamara K. Nopper Editing tnopper.editing AT gmail

Hiring an editor is an investment in both your intellectual project and your professional advancement.

Many people dedicate extensive time, skills, and emotions to exploring ideas and trying to pose and answer intellectual questions in writing and want to be published. Ideas are meaningful and so is the time and work put into committing them to the page. Getting published can also impact earning an income or landing or keeping a job. Taken together, getting published is about fulfilling our intellectual vision and purpose as well as meeting professional obligations and goals. But many struggle to express themselves as writers or to complete projects. And at times, this struggle can have negative consequences for careers. The stakes are high and the publishing industry is just that, an industry. So too is academia.

As an editor, I can help. And as a researcher and writer who has had my work reviewed and published, I can relate. Unlike a friend or colleague, who may read primarily for interesting content or intellectual merit, I read for all of this and engage in the series of tasks necessary for improving the quality of writing and having the document as publishable as possible.

I draw from my extensive experience in research, writing, editing, reading, teaching, and curriculum development to help authors complete their writing projects and stay focused on deadlines and long-term writing and career goals. And I am really good at what I do. Some people may write well or read and understand what was written. Many may have interesting ideas and be great verbal interlocutors. But they cannot always explain to others how to strengthen their writing, the mechanics, logic, and steps of getting from one stage to another, or how to situate work in intellectual conversations or the market. Nor can they always help someone organize and complete an entire book. I can.

Along with my skills, experience, and knowledge of the publishing industry, I bring to my editing a key principle: I don’t edit and tell, i.e., I am discreet. While an editor is not a friend, being privy to sensitive information (doubts you may have about your research and writing or how you feel about your boss, your colleagues, your department chair, someone whose work you are writing about, or a co-author) is often part of the editing process and being able to trust your editor is important for your writing and the completion of your project.

In this spirit, I do not post the names of my authors on my website. I have positive reviews from my authors and, with their permission, I may provide their information for references.

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I specialize in working with (but not limited to) academic and non-fiction authors. Along with working with authors published by trade presses, I have collaborated with scholars working on their first book for tenure and those writing their second or third books post-tenure, with scholars submitting articles for peer-reviewed journals, scholars writing case studies, and graduate students working on dissertations. My academic clients represent and engage various disciplines, including Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy, History, Africana Studies, Anthropology, Public Health, Urban Studies, Education, Ethnic Studies, Religion, Women’s and Gender Studies, Asian American Studies, English, Science and Technology, and Business. The home institutions of these authors include Columbia University, University of California Berkeley, University of California Irvine, University of California Riverside, Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Toledo, Morehouse College, DePaul University, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, The City College of New York, Northwestern University, Georgia State University, The University of Colorado Boulder, Roger Williams University, Princeton University, Drexel University, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Oregon, Wesleyan University, Rhodes College, Villanova University, University of Southern California, and San Jose State University.

I have also worked on trade press books, some by authors who have a strong cultural imprint through other mediums. Some trade press books I’ve worked on are post-tenure books written by academics w looking to expand their audiences, reach, and writing style.

Regardless of the type of book or press, I work with my authors to meet their stated research, publishing, and career goals. In this vein, I consider what future publications may be generated from what they have written thus far and how their current projects fit in with their larger professional goals. I also bring to bear my knowledge of the industries of publishing and higher education. Basically, when I read and edit I pay attention to both the intellectual contributions and marketing opportunities.

Additionally, I have freelanced for several trade presses. My work with them includes serving as a liaison between authors and publishers, developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, and permissions.

Finally, I have worked with authors, particularly scholars, on making their research and academic writing more accessible to a broad readership in terms of writing, presentation, and formatting. Most recently, I collaborated with The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2) on the major project Top Ten, which involved working closely with faculty authors on book chapters, facilitating writing workshops, and presenting to the board of SP2.

Editing and writing experience:

I have written academic and non-academic publications. Additionally, I have guest edited academic journals and edited and co-written community organization newsletters, magazines, and brochures, taught as a professor of writing intensive courses at universities, developed writing curriculum for university certification, and was employed as a tutor at the Temple University Writing Center. I have also been employed as an international business consultant for the Temple University Small Business Development Center, conducting research and writing extensive reports for U.S. small firms with international operations; these reports detailed foreign markets, relevant foreign government offices and policies, global banking, industry and business forecasts, and entry strategies. At the Fox School of Business at Temple University, I trained students in the International Business Practicum to conduct this type of business research and write reports for small firms with international operations.

As a well-published author, I have experience working with editors for a variety of publications (academic and non-academic), including proposing special issue journals and individual submissions, writing and submitting articles and chapters for consideration, and responding to editorial comments and reviews. I also serve as a reviewer for academic journals.

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Please contact me at tnopper.editing AT gmail to schedule a brief, free consultation to discuss your editing needs and pricing.

#editing #edits #books #articles #writers #writing #winning

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a-wandering-fool · 6 years ago

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A pair of Utah high school seniors lost a debate round because they read quotes from Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro and clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, who were deemed “white supremacists” by the judge.

Layton High School senior Michael Moreno and his debate partner, whom The Daily Wire will not name, were participating in a round with a topic relating to immigration. The specific topic of the round was “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce restrictions on legal immigration.” Moreno and his partner were arguing in the negative, meaning they were arguing against the other team’s plan to reduce restrictions on legal immigration.

Instead of arguing in the affirmative, Moreno told The Daily Wire, the other team read a “slam poem” about how terms like “legal” and “illegal” are dehumanizing. In documents provided to The Daily Wire, these students quoted from numerous professors critical of assimilation and the notion that immigrants must act American to live “the good life.”

“Promises of citizenship and the ‘good life’ force non-normative subjects into a slow death, working towards the unbelievable goal of the American dream," the students said.

Moreno and his partner responded by arguing the other team did not actually articulate a position. The structure of this debate allowed for the affirmative to propose a plan and then have the negative argue against that plan. Since the other team did not propose solutions to reduce restrictions on legal immigration, Moreno said, his team had nothing to argue against and claimed this was unfair.

“We argue that this is bad for debate as it's unfair to us, that we came here as the negative to argue against substantially reducing restrictions on legal immigration, not their slam poem,” Moreno said.

The other team, during the cross-examination section of the debate, said Moreno and his partner could not talk about fairness because they were “white males.” Moreno said he then speed-read through quotes from Shapiro and Peterson pertaining to identity politics. He specifically cited comments Shapiro made at the University of Connecticut on January 24, 2018, where he said: ‘Evil things are still evil even if I’m a white well-off religious man and good things are still good even if I’m a white well-off religious man …. My identity has nothing to do with what is right or wrong.”

Moreno also quoted Peterson saying, “It goes along with this idea of class guilt; Because your group membership is the most important thing, if your group at some point in the past did something reprehensible – which of course every group has done – then you’re de facto responsible for that.”

At this point, Moreno began recording the debate, and posted the video to YouTubewith the faces of the other debaters blurred. The judge ended the round after Moreno’s quotes from Shapiro and Peterson, as the other team continued to affirm that they had no standing as “white males.”

The judge, who before the round told each team not to be racist, claimed Moreno and his partner’s “evidence” and “saying things like ‘your identity doesn’t matter'” were actually racist. The judge then joined the opposing team in claiming it was Moreno and his partner who turned the debate into a discussion of “identity politics” and claimed Shapiro and Peterson are “racists.”

After another 10 minutes of this kind of back and forth, the judge said Moreno and his partner lost the round.

Moreno then spoke to the tournament directors, who both work for Arizona State University (The Daily Wire will not name them as they did not respond to a request for comment). These two affirmed that the team has a “legitimate gripe” over their treatment, but that Moreno and his partner were there to debate for that particular judge, and their arguments failed to persuade him, whether he was impartial or not.

“I think you are totally right that [the judge] overstepped a little bit by stopping the debate and deciding, but I also think it’s incredibly obvious that – regardless of how many ways you try to couch this argument in front of that judge – the bar for the other team to respond to it was going to be so low that the argumentative content that you chose, the strategy that you chose, for that judge and for his stated philosophy, was a poor choice on your part,” one of the directors tells Moreno in the video.

Neither of the directors responded to a Daily Wire inquiry about what is going on in the debate community that allows one side to just yell “racism” and end the debate.

You can watch the video for yourself below:

youtube

===================

Apparently there’s nothing more frightening than a 5′7″ Jewish, libertarian man.

Watch the video. The dude is amazing and right on everything. The other team calls them racists, white supremacists, etc. for simply challenging their position and claiming they didn’t put forth an argument.

Holy shit

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aroaceassociates · 6 years ago

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Baudelaire & Quagmire Headcanons

School’s started up again so I haven’t had much time for writing up ASoUE/ATWQ content, but now I’m back at it with some thoughts on the younger sibling trios of the series! The importance placed on the relationship between the Baudelaire kids and the Quagmire triplets is one of my favorite things about ASoUE. Regardless of what romantic feelings readers (or viewers; hello, movie/Netflix fans!) believe Violet may or may not have for Quigley, or Duncan for Klaus, or Isadora for Violet, etc., their shared role as a found family of friends is given precedence by the narrative, which was always something that really stuck with me as a young aromantic person—this idea that friendship could be written to be more significant than potential romantic relationships. (At least, that was my interpretation; I don’t expect everyone to have read the series in the same light. We all take away different meanings from stories, and if the idea of Violet and Isadora dating when they’re older is important to you, that’s totally cool!) In honor of that, here’s a few headcanons about the friendships that form the backbone of the second half of the series. Some of these take a few liberties in terms of assuming a world where the Quagmires and Baudelaires had more time together, most likely post-The End. Under a cut because this got pretty long.

Duncan and Violet

The epitome of the “anything is science if you write it down” philosophy. Duncan’s fascination with uncovering stories and Violet’s mechanical interest in the way the world works combine into an unstoppable force of curiosity. They’re constantly experimenting and documenting the results. In a modern setting, they’d probably have a YouTube channel where they make DIY videos to teach people about cool hacks for daily life, give how-to guides on crafts and contraptions, and talk about new developments in accessible technology.

Sunny and Duncan

Usually, Sunny can’t stand being treated like the young child she is, because coming from most people that means being patronized and spoken down to as though she knew nothing about the world. But being treated like she’s older is worse—she’s already had to go through so much, and the last thing she needs is more weight on her shoulders or, say, a secretarial job. Duncan always seems to know how to walk that line in the middle. He’s one of the few people Sunny is actually willing to play make-believe games with, which usually double as a much-needed reminder for both of them that it’s okay to be the kids they are. Between his penchant for storytelling and her ability to ad-lib her way through any scenario, they always have a good time. When they’re older, they probably both get into collaborative world-building and tabletop rpgs.

Duncan and Klaus

These two are an academic force to be reckoned with, dealing out scathing commentaries on improperly researched articles (and scathing commentaries on terrible movies, but that’s another matter). They’re probably co-writing a non-fiction book. They’re also the most ridiculously overpowered trivia team the world has ever known. On multiple occasions now they’ve managed to take down the combined force of Violet, Isadora, Sunny, and Quigley on trivia nights. Nowadays they play on different teams to make it more fair for everyone. (Although they make up for it by being the worst team when it comes to any luck-based games—one time after Klaus rolled his third two in a row, they both swore that someone, probably Sunny, must have given them loaded dice.)

Violet and Isadora

While all of the Baudelaires and Quagmires are relatively politically active when they’re older, Isadora and Violet are the two that are most involved when it comes to things like volunteering for campaigns, writing letters to representatives, and attending protests. Isadora considers running for office herself, when she’s older. Violet does not—she would be good at it, she knows, but she’s learning that just because she can do something doesn’t always mean she’s obligated to. Sometimes her own health and happiness come first. (Isadora is proud of her when Violet says this, just as Violet is proud later when Isadora announces her intention to run.) Violet and Isadora have both been fighting for far too long, but it doesn’t seem so bad now that they’re fighting side by side and have each other to lean on.

Isadora and Sunny

Isadora tells the best bedtime stories, and that’s just a fact. Sunny loves hearing Klaus read to her or Violet tell stories about their parents, but Isadora is the one she asks for when she wants something light-hearted or spooky or adventurous or hilarious made up on the fly. Sunny is also the first audience for a lot of Isadora’s poems; she has a good ear for rhyme and rhythm, and when Isadora wants to polish a draft up before showing it to anyone else, she’ll get Sunny’s opinion first. She’s thrilled when Sunny (at a slightly older age) starts writing some poetry of her own, mostly nonsense verse and limericks, and helps her grow more comfortable with writing in general.

Isadora and Klaus

While Duncan and Klaus are academic writing buddies, and Isadora and Sunny bond over poetry, Klaus and Isadora are the collaborative fictional geniuses that their world’s bestseller lists will never see coming. Klaus never did much dabbling in creative writing when he was younger, aside schoolwork and the occasional short story (although he found creative non-fiction fascinating, and read a lot of it). Isadora has a lot of experience with creative writing, but it’s mostly all been in the poetry department. So neither of them are quite sure how they started collaborating on a novel, but late one night it happens, and when Violet walks in at three in the morning they’re still excitedly scribbling notes about world-building and tossing plot twists back and forth. The first draft takes only a few months to write. The second draft takes a year. The third draft, even longer. But eventually, they’re happy with how it stands, and send it off to a kind editor. It’s a story of hardships, and family, and pushing back against the world; a whole generation of kids grow up loving it.

Violet and Quigley

Adventure buddies? Adventure buddies! Look, these kids have been through a lot—more than anyone should ever have to. Even when it’s all over (as over as it can be), sometimes they just need to get away. Away from the City, away from other people, away from everything that reminds them of their past. Quigley and Violet can both tell when the other has hit that point. They’ll let one of their siblings know where they’re going before grabbing a pair of backpacks, two sets of hiking boots, and plenty of food and water, turning to the other and saying “let’s go.” And go they do—exploring natural and human-made landscapes alike, spelunking, climbing, just walking for hours. Sometimes physical exertion is the best reliever of internal worries, and even though others often praise them for their intellectual capabilities, it’s important to recall that these two are strong in every meaning of the word. (After all, they met Quigley halfway up a mountain, and Violet’s essentially a freelance mechanic, for crying out loud—that’s a job that tends to build up physical strength.)

Quigley and Sunny

Sunny and Quigley take a lot of quiet hikes through local parks and forests, Quigley often carrying her on his shoulders after she starts to grow tired. The two of them sing while they walk—old jazz melodies, showtunes, improvised lyrics to classical songs. When Sunny gets older, she learns to play the piano, later branching out to other instruments. Quigley teaches her what he knows about music, but when they’ve hit that limit, he helps Violet and Klaus find her a new instructor. He makes sure that there’s always music playing in the kitchen, too—Quigley often helps Sunny when she needs a set of hands to help cut vegetables or retrieve dishes from tall shelves. Admittedly, a good part of his motivation is being able to claim taste-testing rights when the food is first pulled out of the oven, but he genuinely enjoys helping and taking part in such a comforting task.

Klaus and Quigley

Quigley and Klaus both have a tendency to bring out the other’s more...whimsical side. To put it one way, if any two members of this family were to go full-on corkboard conspiracy theory, it would be them. (Although "conspiracy” is a bit unfair—after all, they’re both practical, dedicated researchers. While they might have fun pinning newspaper clippings and maps to a wall, whatever conclusions they draw are likely accurate.) To fall back on typical X-Files terminology, Quigley is the believer and Klaus the skeptic. Together, they two of them have investigated a lot of strange happenings, particularly concerning the Great Unknown. They push each other to look harder, learn more, and question everything except for their family’s love and trust. That, they both know they can always count on.

BONUS: The Quagmires & Bea Baudelaire II

When a young girl shows up on the Quagmires’ doorstep, a picture of her family clutched in her hand and the name “Baudelaire” on her lips, the Quagmires feel like they’ve been pulled back through time. But even before she’s done telling her story, before they’ve told her their own, agreed to help her, taken her under their wings—before she’s traced a finger across Quigley’s hand-drawn map of the City, learned the words to several of Isadora’s sonnets by heart, been given a new commonplace notebook by Duncan with an inscription on the front page urging her to “write your own story, find your own truth”—the Quagmires know that they’ll love her just as fiercely as the other Baudelaires. And together, they put their family back together.

#asoue #the baudelaires & the quagmires #platonic/familial relationships #duncan quagmire #isadora quagmire #quigley quagmire #violet baudelaire #klaus baudelaire #sunny baudelaire #bea baudelaire ii

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