#are industries really trying to remove white people from advertising or did you just see one mixed-race family and then search for more

[phoenixyfriend]

Is this minority shoveling their identity down your throat, or did you grab that trowel yourself?

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 8

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER EIGHT

Bucky entered the bar wearing a neat, black expensive suit, a Rolex sticking out of his left sleeve. He unfastened two buttons by his waist and flung both sides of the suit in the air before sitting down on the stool. He rolled up his sleeves, his lean forearms in plain sight under the incandescent lights hanging by the counter.

Your eyes lingered longer than they should have so you shook your head and ignored his gaze, getting back to work.

"Fancy seeing you back here, James." Out of nowhere, a slight giggle came out from your mouth, pushing the tap handle up and briskly pushing Bucky's hand away. Your eyes found his, whilst you waited for the liquid to fill the beer mug. "I'll get back on you later. I have to give this beer to that son of a bitch over there."

You glanced at the man from earlier who was still giving you a death-like stare.

Bucky responded with a short chuckle and waited for you to finish. You opened your mouth to call Nick but decided against it, calling for Nat instead, who was holding a tray of chicken wings. Nat usually only had three shifts a week but since you were understaffed this week, she had the decency to help out.

"By the way, is Peter here?" Bucky asked.

You glanced at Peter's briefcase. "Yes, he came here straight from an urgent work thing. He just needed to go to the toilet."

"Good, good, that's good." He kept nodding his head, staring at absolutely nothing at all.

You waved your hand in front of his face. "Bucky? You okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm good." He answered but you weren't convinced. He looked at Peter's briefcase and the beer bottle beside it. "Is that Peter's drink?"

The realization dawned on you once those words slipped out of his mouth. You pursed your lips then nodded. "I tried talking him out of it before but he never listened. You know how Peter is. Stubborn as a damn rock."

"That he is."

"Are you going to talk to him about it?"

"I think so, but not now. I think now's not the right time." He replied. "So, how about that drink, doll?" He asked, swiftly changing the subject.

You ignored the shivers starting to slither on your skin when you heard his little nickname for you. You have been called other nicknames in the bar, including doll, but not one had an effect on you.

Except Bucky.

While grabbing a glass on the counter, you continued to stare at him you felt absolutely nothing. "I feel like you're more of an old-fashioned guy." you commented.

Bucky didn't say anything but a smile formed on his pink plump lips as you made him a glass of old-fashioned. Besides, you can never go wrong with the original cocktail.

Once you were finished, he held the glass near his face, his nose hovering above the drink.

"You know, I've had so many old-fashioned. Smells nothing like this." Then, he took a tiny sip, released a puff of breath and clicked his tongue. "But damn, if it isn't the best old-fashioned I ever had."

You suppressed a giggle. Instead, you smirked at him. "You're not the only one who can make a mean drink, Bucky Barnes."

He chuckled and went on to say that his was still better since it was his own drink and not a classic one. You weren't much of the condescending type so you agreed with him. You could never make your own drink; only the ones you've learned from Steve from the past year.

By the time Bucky devoured the whole drink, Peter had arrived. He was so loud that everyone in the bar turned their heads towards Peter who practically jumped on Bucky from a feet from where he was standing.

"Parker, keep it the fuck down." You scolded Peter like how a mother scolds a child. But with the curses.

Peter gave you an apologetic look as he sat down on the high stool. "Oh, wait, guess who came by the office today," before he could even let you guess, he jumped straight to the answer, "Wanda."

Your actions stopped the moment you heard Wanda's name but moved on eventually. You ignored Peter's eyes while you wiped the counter table, even though it was already squeaky clean. "Maximoff?"

"Yes, Wanda Maximoff! Our team got her as the head photographer for the clothing line account we landed on." He stated.

"Who's Wanda?" Bucky interrupted, curious about the whole thing.

"She's this friend of y/n's who used to tag along with her almost everyday in NYU." Peter replied. "She's also a photographer."

Peter went on about the whole clothing line account for a few minutes. It was mostly about how he and his team landed a "cool photographer" like Wanda. Sunday was the only time Wanda was free so they took an opportunity to talk to her.

Must be nice to be so busy all the damn time.

Peter proceeded to talk so highly of her and all the work she'd done in just a shy of a  year in the industry. If you remembered correctly, the only time Peter and Wanda ever spoke to one another was when Wanda came to borrow something of yours and asked Peter if you were home. Now, he talked about her as if he'd known her for years.

Your eyes lazily wandered to the photographs you've shown Bucky this morning on the wall. Suddenly, it was eerily silent inside your head. No jukebox noise, no television noise, no rowdy noise; nothing.

It had been three years and you haven't accomplished anything that could fill your heart's content. No photos in magazines, not even on the damn streets. They were just here on the bar, camouflaged among the walls.

When your eyes found Peter and Bucky's, Peter had just finished his little story with Wanda starting to work with them for the next few weeks. "This is the biggest account my team has ever gotten. I am so excited!"

"I'm glad everything has been working out for you, Peter." Bucky placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, patting him.

"I just want to be like you, Buck."

Bucky glanced at you for a second. He let go of Peter's shoulder. He didn't respond to him. He just offered Peter a smile.

The two talked the whole night while you were pulled in every direction as more people came. You were making drinks left and right. The people by the counter had their eyes set on somewhere else. The television right above the counter. The billiards table. The jukebox. People dancing by the jukebox. Good-looking ladies being jeered at by single men, and vice-versa.

But only a pair of eyes was watching you move around: Bucky's.

You had caught him staring quite a few times the whole four hours you were working at the bar even though he was conversing with Peter. The whole time making and handing drinks to people, you kept thinking if Peter and Bucky were talking about you. Usually, you would eavesdrop in other people's conversations — of course, these were strangers. You didn't think you could do that to both Peter and Bucky. You shut your ears whenever you'd come near them but it wasn't as if they could be heard, anyway. You could barely hear the conversation with the television on, the jukebox playing and all the people buzzing in the bar — but you did catch some words like "Stark", "White Wolf", "home", and some country names.

All of a sudden, you stopped obsessing on the subject of their conversation. Your mind was then wrapped around with thoughts on Wanda and how, in just one year, she had already accomplished so much in her career whilst you were still here, juggling two jobs. You weren't the jealous type but the more you thought about it, the more those ugly feelings grew. Your photos on the damn walls were not much of a help. They just reminded you that you were a failure, that this was what you get for being a mediocre photographer and for settling for a menial job.

But you had to do what you needed to do in order to survive in this cruel world.

You did try and apply for some big advertising and business companies while working in the bar but luck was never on your side. There were always better ones, or ones who had connections. The latter one was just one of the many reasons why you hated big corporations.

"Who's the rich guy?" Whisking you from your train of thoughts was Nat. She was holding a tray full of canned beers and some fries, and caught up with you.

You walked towards the booth together.

"That's Bucky. Peter's stepbrother." You and Nat gave the food and beverage to the people in the booth.

"He'd been eyeing you for the past few hours." She hugged her tray on her chest as you walked back to the counter. "And you know what I think, y/n?"

"Nat — "

"He wants a piece of you."

You and Nat weren't as close as people would think you were. You only hung out in the workplace. And by hang out, you meant talking (even gossiping) while working.

"Please, he's so much older than me."

"That's what makes it hotter, dumbass."

"When was it ever hot?"

"Duh, those lingering stares he'd been giving you." She raised an eyebrow, stopping at the edge of the counter. "I'm telling you, he wants you."

"He's Peter's stepbrother, Nat. It's inappropriate!"

"It's not like he's his biological brother. And besides, I think it's..." She leaned in and whispered. "Thrilling."

You rolled your eyes. "And I think you're delusional."

"Think whatever you want to think." Nat chuckled. "But the facts are right there. He wants to get a taste of you, and you of him. Ciao, bitch."

And with that, she spun around, her red hair lost in the sea of strangers.

By the time your shift was ending, you removed the apron and hung it on the coat rack near Steve's office at the back. Your instinct was to go to Steve's office and let him know that your shift was over but you just remembered that he was in Rhode Island with his family. You lost the grip on the knob then went back to the counter and tapped Peter's shoulder, interrupting his conversation with Bucky.

"Already?" Peter asked in disbelief. "Wow, it's true what they say. Time flies by when people are catching up."

You squinted your eyes at him. "I literally have never heard someone say that, Parker."

"Really, never?"

"Never." You replied, opening the passthrough. "Now, let's go."

"Wait," Peter said, "I have to go to the toilet real quick."

"Our apartment is right above this bar. You can just go there."

"Sorry, y/n. This can't wait." He sped towards the toilet, practically flying. You sighed and took his seat, facing Bucky.

"Hey, doll." He said in a voice that could make any woman swoon and fall on the floor. Bucky's voice was raspier than you remembered, breath with a hint of whiskey mixed with beer. "Haven't spoken to you in a while."

"Sunday nights can be busy as well."

"So, I've seen." He hummed. "This is your everyday life, huh?"

"Except Mondays. We're closed on Mondays. And except when I have some photography gig." You replied then whispered the next part: "Which I haven't been getting lately."

"Isn't Sunday," he laughed, "supposed to be a rest day?"

"In our bible, it's Monday."

Before Bucky could even speak, Peter came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your shoulders. "If you just accepted that job offer at our company, we would've been working together, y/n."

You playfully shrugged him off. "You were thinking about that while peeing? Weirdo. Plus, Wanda has a lot more experience than I have."

"But — "

"Come on, let's go. You're drunk." You lifted off his arm and turned towards Bucky. "You take him. He's a bit hard to handle when he's this drunk."

Bucky walked ahead, guiding Peter towards the door. Before you could even follow the two, Nat patted your shoulder. You spun around, meeting her suggestive eyes. Without even a second thought, she pulled your tight v-top even lower and spilled some drink on your exposed cleavage.

"Nat, what the damn hell!" You hissed.

"Trust me on this, babe." She scrunched up her nose. "Go get some rich dick." She twirled your body so easily then slapped your ass. You wanted to shout at Nat but you didn't want to cause a scene in the bar and the moment had already passed as she disappeared amongst the crowd once again.

You caught up towards Bucky and Peter, opening the door for them.

The walk towards the apartment unit was tedious and was accompanied by Peter's hilarious commentaries about every little thing he saw on the way. As Bucky's arm was getting sore, you helped lift Peter up as the elevator doors closed behind you.

You felt Bucky's eyes on you as you lifted Peter's right arm, slinging it across your shoulders. You came face to face with Bucky, his eyes somewhere underneath your neck. You cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Uh," he stammered, "you got some alcohol on your... uh..."

"Oh, yeah. Don't mind that. Some idiot spilled on me." Nat really was some idiot.

A genius idiot.

Peter immediately hugged his pillow once we placed him on his bed. You leaned in and kissed his forehead good night. "I hope you have a heavy hangover tomorrow, Parker."

You turned around only to be blocked by Bucky's towering figure. "Sorry." You mumbled, looking down on your feet.

"It's alright, doll." He replied, making some space for you to walk on.

You headed towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water and Bucky followed suit, tossing his suit jacket on the couch as if he was living in your place.

"You should go get changed." He spoke.

You rolled your eyes, finishing up your water.

"Okay, daddy." Of course, you meant it as a joke as it sounded so much funnier in your head — not so much said out loud.

Bucky's eyes lit up with curiosity, walking towards you. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." You replied quickly. "I absolutely said nothing."

He just continued to stare as he strode towards you. You just stayed frozen in your place, unable to process what was about to happen. You backed away from Bucky as he neared you, your back hitting the fridge. He stopped right in front of you. He looked so much different when you first saw him. His eyes had become darker and stared with so much intensity and intention.

"You know, you're something else." He licked his lower lip.

"I don't know what you mean, Bucky."

He traced your jawline with his finger and tilted your chin up. "I can't quite put my finger on you, doll, but you're really something else."

You weren't ready for something to happen so you walked as quickly as you could towards your bedroom, locked the door behind me and leaned against it. Your breathing was quite uneven and your heart thudded like fast bullets on the ground.

You looked down on your sticky chest that reeked of vodka. You pursed your lips together. "Natasha Romanoff, you son of a bitch."

[nothing-fancy94]

TDR Valentines Special

Hey guys! Whew! I made it before the day ended! Here’s a special little gift, exclusive to my tumblr followers. A little bitter sweet short story of Amy while in the cadet program. I wrote this quickly and didn’t proof read, so my apologies for the errors. Hope you enjoy!

And if you’re new to my stories check them out on Fanfiction, here’s a link to the one this short is taken from: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13221856/1/Team-Dark-s-Rose

...

Valentine’s Special

~Valentines Day - 7 months ago~

The sun had set early, but that hadn’t stopped the throngs of Mobian lovers from clogging the streets of Station Square like a fat heart’s artery. Amy Rose glared at the passing couples as they giggled in their respective pink bubbles. She was sitting at a cafe, books and papers laid out around her as she studied for her next exam at G.U.N. and she now regretted leaving the cadet dormitories. She hadn’t wanted to stay there with the possibility of her roommate distracting her, but now she would take the incessant chatter of tech and inventions any day over the mewlings and giggles that filtered through the air.

She had forgotten… She Amy Rose, the love sick Sonic fanatic had forgotten it was Valentine’s Day. She sighed and closed the book in front of her, it was obvious she wasn’t going to be getting anything done. She packed up her study materials, ordered a latte to go, and took to the streets taking small sips of the hot beverage. As she passed window display after window display of pink and red hearts, she wondered how it was possible that the holiday had approached without so much as a thought in her mind. The commercial industry literally shoved it down consumers throats beginning in January, and the buzz of the female agents would’ve been focused on who was asking who out to see the new Needlemouse Movie that was debuting tonight. She had somehow managed not to hear any of it, or hadn’t registered the meaning.

Or I was deliberately avoiding the subject.

The thought hit her like a sledgehammer, and she paused in her walk. That’s right… it hadn’t been that she wasn’t exposed to it, she had blocked it entirely from her mind, due to certain events in her life. Mainly the subject of her affection hating her. It was only two years ago that she had spent the whole month of February planning extravagant presents and formulating a plan of attack to get Sonic the Hedgehog to go on a date with her. Last year she had found some time to leave him gifts at his headquarters, but this year she couldn’t even do that. Not after the fight they’d just had… not after she had completely pushed him away. Burning any chance she had at even being his friend.

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, and she wanted to fall into the ground, she wanted these feelings to go numb. She wouldn’t even care if it meant she could never love again, because what she was feeling now felt like dark, heavy clouds of despair that just would not dissipate. She wanted to scream, wanted to punch that couple that sat just a few feet from her. Wanted them to feel the same pain as her, because how dare they get to have something that was forever out of her reach.

The couple must’ve sensed the murderous aura because the girl looked over and her eyes widened in fear. Amy’s face was twisted in a devious grin, and her eyes were brimming with tears, but she looked anything but sad. She looked more like an insane person ready to tear apart the next person who gave her a side glance. The girl whipped her head around and tugged aggressively at her boyfriend’s sleeve before urging them to leave.

Amy watched them go, a thick armor of anger protecting her from feeling anything else. Once they were out of sight, she tossed her half drunk latte into the trash, and shoved her hands into the grey G.U.N. hoodie she wore. This was pathetic, here she was, moping around and acting like a mental patient. She turned and was about to head back to the barracks when a bright neon sign caught her eye. It was a human holding a bat, and hitting a small white ball. The words read ‘Batting Cage,’ and below it was a sign that was black with red writing.

‘Single and bitter? Join us for Solo Hits! Break last year’s record and earn a prize! Singles Only!’

Amy stared at it for a  moment and then she grinned, an evil light glinting within. This seemed interesting… at least it would kill some time before she returned.

She entered the establishment, and walked up to the teenage rat that was leaning casually behind the counter. His bare muzzle was a minefield of angry zits, and his whiskers were tangled and oily from lack of care. Amy walked up to the counter and slammed some paper rings onto the counter and tapped her foot impatiently. The rat was wearing a green polo and shorts, and when he saw her - an attractive female hedgehog - he straightened up and patted at the wrinkles in his shirt. Flecks of unknown food crumbs fell to the floor. 

“How can I help you miss?”

Amy smiled as sweetly as she could muster and pointed to the sign behind him that advertised their single night deal.

“I’d like to participate in the single challenge.”

The rodent looked her up and down, obviously doubting that she was alone, but when no male companion walked through the doors, he reached below the counter and pulled out a helmet and pink bat. 

“Here ya go miss, don’t worry about the high score, I can just give you a prize anyway.”

He winked, and tried at a smizing smile that came off as a sneer. Amy wanted to curse his snide little face. How dare he assume she couldn’t do as well as any male in the place. She was tired of people looking down on her abilities, so she decided to teach this little asshole and any other male watching, that she wasn’t some weak girl in need of handouts. Amy narrowed her eyes slightly, and started to put her long quills into a ponytail. Still smiling with fake honey, she giggled,

“Oh I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble…”

“It’s nothing at all miss,” The rat said, his chest puffing out, easily falling into her trick. She giggled again, her high pitched tone reaching into the depths of the place. Suddenly the sharp tings! of balls hitting metal bats slowed until several single males were peeking out from their cages, their animal instincts reacting to her feminane presence. 

“Oh you’re so silly!” She exclaimed, and put the helmet on, and grabbing the bat, “Just out of curiosity, what is the score? I’ll try to get close so you won’t get in too much trouble.”

“15,000 points miss, you get 50 points for a hit and 100 for a home run. But if you get 3 strikes you’re out.”

“I see,” Amy freigned disappointment at the impossible odds, and the males around her started to feel a bit antsy.

“Don’t worry little gal,” a large armadillo interjected from the cage next to the one she was standing by, “I’ve gotten the closest, 7,350. I know I’ll get it this round, my prize will be yours.”

Amy turned, her eyes wide and sparkling, “Really? You’d do that for me?”

The armadillo blushed, and scratched the back of his head, “Oh it’s no thing at all. Though I wouldn’t mind if the little lady would join me after for a drink.”

Amy smiled sweetly, and entered her batting cage, leaning her bat against the fence that separated them. “Well aren’t you just a gentleman.”

Her voice was light and bubbly but as her face angled away from him, a dark smirk wrinkled her muzzle and she took off her helmet to remove her hoodie, not wanting to become hot and uncomfortable. The males in the immediate area completely left their cages and crowded around with wide eyes and drooling mouths. All Amy had on beneath her hoodie was a workout bra, as she had planned to hit the GYM after studying, and her body was sculpted to perfection from the past year of training.

Amy turned and looked at the armadillo who looked as though a meteorite had just fallen from the sky in front of him.

“I have a better idea. Let’s make a bet, if I don’t break the record then I’ll go out for a drink with you. But if I do, then you have to fulfill my wish.”

The male blinked for a second, before a shit eating grin developed on his face. To him this was a piece of cake. There was no way this small hedgehog girl could break the record, and even if she did, there was no way she wouldn’t ask for something that was easy to fulfill.

“Okay then doll, you got a deal!”

“Oh wonderful!” Amy jumped up with enthusiasm, her ponytail bouncing and the eyes of several males went up and down to follow her path. 

She put her helmet on once more, and lifted the bat, putting it on one shoulder and then the other. Then she turned to the males watching and awkwardly smiled, “Aww, jeez… this is my first time.”

This caused a roll of laughter to filter through the place, and the armadillo smiled triumphantly. Amy tapped the opposite side of the plate, and crouched down, waiting for the ball to come whizzing past the plate. When it did, it flew by without even the threat of a swing and slammed into the backboard. She heard chuckles from behind her, and a male say, “Wow dude! Looks like you’re gonna get luuuuucky tonight!”

Amy smiled, and waited as the second ball came, but this time she purposely waited until the ball passed the plate before swinging.

“Oh Chaos! This is hard! Can I take back my bet?” She asked innocently looking behind her at the armadillo. The brown male folded his arms, and shook his head his mouth split in a smile from ear to ear.

“No take backs sweetheart. You’re only as good as your word.”

“You’re mean,” Amy huffed, and the surrounding men mockingly joined her with sympathy. She turned and began to wag the bat as she waited for the third ball. This time she hit it, and it went flying out of sight. She stood on her tip toes as she watched it soar through the air and hit the large red wall that marked the home run area. Her score board flashed and the words ‘Homerun!’ flashed in pale yellow lights. This time there was silence behind her, and she smirked in glee. 

“Wow! Is that good?”

The males mumbled and the armadillo nervously chuckled, “Yeah doll… but don't get your hopes up. It was probably beginner's lu -”

TING! 

Another homerun. Amy wanted to laugh out loud at the hushed exclamations of disbelief behind her, but she had a record that needed breaking. She settled in and got to work.

...

“156,200 points! New record!”

TING!

“156,300 Points! New record!”

Amy was beginning to feel a little worn out so she decided it was time to stop. Besides she’d blown the record out of the water. She stepped back and fanned herself as the ball flew harmlessly across the plate and a voice came over the intercom, “Strike 3, you’re outta here!”

She huffed, and pulled the helmet from her head, her jade eyes bright and her quills splayed in a sweaty mess behind her. 

“Whew!” She exclaimed, and continued to fan herself as she excited her cage, walking past the throngs of males that had gathered around her. They parted like the red sea as the little pink hedgehog walked through, her tail wagging happily. The batting cages were the quietest they had been since it’s opening; not a single metal ting could be heard. Amy walked up to the counter, the teenage rat stood with his mouth wide open and his whiskers twitching in disbelief. Behind him stood a large skunk male who had a managers pin on his broad chest.

Amy stood at the counter, and slammed the bat and helmet on the table. She smiled genuinely, and felt elated at her accomplishment. She hadn't felt this good in years.

"So… I believe I'm owed a prize."

The manager made a sound that was close to a coughing chuckle and he walked forward.

"Well little lady, I do believe you are."

The male was smirking and he pulled out a gold ring from the cash register. It had a baseball embedded in it.

"This allows you to come here for free as long as your record holds… and by my guess, that's going to be quite a while."

The skunk was smiling knowingly and his blue eyes sparkled with humor. Amy smiled back, took the ring and stuck out her hand.

"Name's Amy Rose, just wanted to introduce myself to you since I'll probably be seeing you a lot from now on."

His grin widened and he took her hand in his, "Its a pleasure Ms Rose. My name is Ronni, and if any of these knuckle heads give you trouble, you let me know. Hey! Randy, get your ass over here!"

The armadillo cautiously made his way through the crowd, his hands rubbing against each other nervously.

"Yeah Ronni?"

The skunk smiled and crossed his arms.

"I do believe you owe this miss a wish. And I hope you won't back out."

"That's right," Amy said mischievously, "No take backs, and you're only as good as your word."

The armadillo gulped, visible sweat glistening on his temple. He tried at a smile but his voice cracked as he spoke.

"W-what is it that you want?"

Amy smiled her jade eyes brighter than the sun. 

"Well, if you'd be so kind as to follow me to the tattoo parlor next door, I'll tell ya."

...

Amy was practically skipping down the street, her lips split in a wide grin, and her ponytail swinging wildly. If she looked insane before because of her anger, she now looked completely mental with a flower growing out of her head. She couldn't get the image of Randy's face as he stared at his new tattoo on his chest, a red rose with the words 'I lost to Amy Rose,' around it. 

Without realizing it, her feet had lead her to the one place she never thought she'd find herself. Instantly the smile melted from her face, and her eyes went blank. All her early joy was instantly sucked out of her chest and she was left standing before the large building with colorful circles like an empty husk. There were piles of presents and boxes, stuffed Sonics and flowers, piles of letters that surely confessed many a females love. 

She felt her stomach do flip flops, and her throat twist. Curse this heart that only beat for a blue blur, curse these feet that always led her back to him. Back to the one who could cause her to feel higher than the moon, and lower than the dirt with just a word. 

She wanted to just leave, to just go home and forget she was ever there. But then the door opened and her heart screamed to run across the street. Sonic stood outside the headquarters, his jean jacket hanging on his arm. He was looking around in what seemed to be shock, but then he started to move through the piles. He tossed boxes behind him, flipped over envelopes looking at names, and when he had finished making his way through all the piles he stood back with an unreadable expression on his face. 

She couldn't look away, people passed her, cars moved and honked between them, but she felt like she was right next to him. She closed her eyes and she could smell him, feel his breath on the chilly night air and hear his chuckle as she presented him with some extravagant gift. She slowly opened her eyes once more, but he was gone, disappeared into the night.

Amy sighed, and turned but against her wishes she felt her body moving across the street. Her backpack slowly moved to the front, and she didn't take her eyes off the doors while her hands riffled through the contents of her back. Fingers grasping hesitantly on a pen, and a crumpled corner of a scrape piece of paper.

She reached the doors, and crouched down, her fingers trembling as she scribbled out three words. She didn't sign it, she didn't leave anything else, she didn't want him to know it was her. For the first time in her life, she didn't want him to know her feelings. She stood when it was finished, and ran from the building, a tear finally falling from her eye, those words pasted to the inside of her eyelids. Words she knew she would never be able to speak out loud again... not to Sonic, not to anyone.

I love you.

[lostinfic]

2. Indonesia, summer (cont’d)

Summary: She writes for magazines about luxurious resorts in exotic places and five-star hotels in glamorous cities. He’s photographed devastated war zones, refugee camps and child soldiers. For both of them travel is an escape, but he’s had enough of this grim reality, and she’s had enough of this disconnected fantasy. Perhaps together they can find something in between, something real, and stop running from themselves. Each season, a new destination and a chance to grow closer.

Pairing: Alec Hardy x Hannah Baxter Rating: Mature~ish (for now) Word count: 2.6k

Prologue  |  Chap. 1  |  Ao3  

The sun had sunk halfway down the Indian ocean. On the beach, the hotel staff were retrieving lounge chairs and parasols for the night. Only a few couples lingered on the shore. The distant echo of conversation and clanking dishes came from the terraces of the hotel’s restaurants.

Sun-heated sand slipped into Hannah’s sandals and splashed against her calves. She removed her shoes and walked in shallow water instead.

Hardy walked fast, ahead of her, as if ashamed to be seen with her, but he still sporadically checked on her over his shoulder. “Watch out, there’s a crab.”

They didn’t exchange more than a few words. She didn’t peg him as the small talk kind anyway, so she didn’t make an effort. He scanned the beach, eyes narrowed, serious dimples in his cheeks. He kept his hands poised on the camera hanging around his neck. This was no romantic stroll. They were colleagues, out on the prowl, chasing a scoop— and she loved it.

They were looking for that bunker-like structure Hannah had seen in the background of her selfie, from the sailboat excursion. Despite declaring she could guide him there, she had only a vague idea of where it might be located. Hardy had a real, old-school compass to guide them westward, but darkness would make it harder to find.

The main structure of the resort faded into impressionist patches of light. They still passed by smaller buildings— private villas, storage, kayak rental kiosk— but they were fewer and farther in between.

“I think it’s on the other side of that,” Hannah said. She pointed at a rock formation ahead. It was much taller than a human, came form inland and dipped into the sea, essentially blocking the whole width of the beach. She was no geologist, but it looked like volcanic rock to her, like fat rolls of lava descended from the center of the island. At low tide, barnacles and sea grapes clung to its side. A line of orange buoys extended from it, far into the sea to mark out the end of the resort’s beach.

By the time they reached the rock, only the full moon illuminated their path. Hardy shined a tiny LED flashlight over its surface.

Hannah thought she could skirt around it in the water and cross over the buoys. Hardy wasn’t too keen on trudging through water and opted to hike over the rock instead. Hannah walked farther into the sea. It was deeper than she’d anticipated. She was in up to mid-thighs before even reaching the buoys. She retreated and climbed behind Hardy. Her sandals slid over the slimy rock. He offered his hand. She held on to it tightly as he hauled her up on top of the rock formation.

“Wow!”

In the bay, on the other side, the shore sparkled with thousands of tiny electric-blue dots, like something out of a science-fiction movie. The ebb and flow of the water stirred and alighted them. Everything else around was dark.

Hannah grinned, in all her trips, she’d never seen anything like it.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“Bioluminescent plankton,” Hardy supplied.

They climbed down the other side, his hand at her elbow in case she slipped.

“D’you think I can touch it?”

He shrugged. “It’s always in the water, you just don’t usually see it.”

She kicked off her sandals once more and tiptoed into the sea. She giggled like a child, each step generated more blue dots.

“It lights up when it’s agitated,” Hardy explained. “There must be some strong current around here.”

Hannah kicked the water, propelling a luminous arc of plankton in the air. She heard the camera shutter, and glanced at Hardy over her shoulder.

“Perv,” she joked.

He chuckled, and she wished she could see his smile.

“Why is it only on this side—eeww!”

Something slimy covered her ankle. Panicked, she kicked it off but lost balance. Hardy caught her in the nick of time. She grasped his shoulders until she was steady again, and then they hopped out of the water.

“Thanks,” she said out of breath, heart still hammering. His arms remained around her. “Christ, what was that?”

Hardy shone his torchlight on the water. There was a squid, dead, decomposing even. The flashlight revealed more dead fish floating on the surface. Hannah shivered with disgust and hid her face against Hardy’s shoulder.

“We must be close to something,” he said. “Bioluminescence can indicate harmful algae in the water.”

“You could have said before.”

“You alright?” He aimed the light at her legs.

“I’m fine.”

Truth be told, all she wanted now was to go back to her room and take a shower. But, remembering Duncan’s grating “stick to what you’re good at” comment, she persevered. A sigh puffed up her cheeks, and she took off after Hardy.

“Did you come here specifically to investigate?” she asked him.

“Aye. A former colleague called me. You?”

“I’m working but I wasn’t sent here for this. I’m writing a piece on the resort for Elite Travelers.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “Thought you said you’re a journalist.”

“I am a journalist.”

He scoffed. “That’s a liberal use of the word.”

Hannah gaped in outrage. How dare he? Before she could reply, he started walking again, faster.

“And who do you work for?”

“Depends.”

“Don’t give out everything, it’s embarrassing,” she said sarcastically.

“This is freelance work.”

“But who have you worked for before? Name one if you’re so much better than me.”

“The Broadchurch Echo… The New York Times.”

“Alright, well, it doesn’t matter, I want to expose this sham as much as you.”

“No.” He stopped walking, and she nearly bumped into him. “This is my job, my life, you’re just—“

“My readers will care.”

“Your readers?” he all but squeaked. “They’re the problem.”

“I’m trying to learn here, okay?”

“You gotta do more than that.”

“I just— Urgh! I don’t want to get too involved, people start expecting things from you and I can’t— I can’t do that.”

They started walking again. She thought he’d dropped the subject, but ten minutes later, he asked: “Who pays for your stay here? And the article you’re writing. Who’s paying you?”

“What? The magazine, of course.”

“Right, who’s paying them?”

“Do I really need to explain this to you? Subscriptions, advertisement…”

“The owners of the resort? The local government?”

“No, it’s not like that,” she replied.

“How can you be sure, uh? This, your magazine, your article, it’s nothing more than propaganda.”

God, that man was infuriating. But he had sowed doubt in her mind. Was that why Duncan didn’t want her to cover ecotourism? What if she was just a tool?

She breathed audibly out of her nose and stalked past Hardy. “I’m gonna find that bloody bunker,” she muttered.

Not long after, they saw the bunker-like building in the distance, inland. An industrial spotlight hung above its metal door. It cast an artificial white light over its surroundings. Flies and moths buzzed around it. There was one security camera too, and they tried to stay out of its scope.

“Out-bloody-standing,” Hardy whispered. He clapped her too hard on the shoulder. “You found it.” He raised his camera and took several pictures.

It was still almost ten feet away and then bushes blocked the path. As they approached, a sound of water, distinct from the waves, grew louder. There was some kind of river behind the vegetation. She rose on her tiptoes, to look over the narrow hedge. She couldn’t quite see the river and she realized this was because it was at the bottom of a ravine. The water was maybe twelve feet below, between steep walls of rock and soil. It created a natural moat around the building. There seemed to be no way around it, and the rest of the building was protected by an electric fence.

“What now? We can’t get any closer,” she said.

“Yes, we can.”

She watched, aghast, as he waded through the bushes to the ravine. What was he doing? It was too wide to jump over. He crouched on the edge. His foot slipped and rocks tumbled below with a delayed echo.

“You’re not thinking of climbing down, are you?” He didn’t answer. “Hardy?”

Hannah cursed under her breath and trudged through the thorny bushes. She shivered at the thought of all the creepy crawlies in there. When she joined him, he was testing the strength of a branch to rappel down the ravine.

“You’ll kill yourself,” she said.

“If that’s what it takes.”

They stared at each other, his eyes defiant. The color drain from her face.

“What?”

“Maybe if a white man dies people will finally care about what’s happening here.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. “Oh no, you’re not doing this to me.” Hardy was in a too precarious position to resist her tug, but Hannah expected him to fight back. So she pulled with all her strength and weight, and they stumbled backwards. Her foot caught in a root. They fell to the ground, Hardy landed on top of her. His camera knocked her on the jaw.

“OW!”

His eyes widened. “Sorry.” He touched her jaw lightly, and it struck her how a man so careless with himself, could be so gentle with her. Their eyes met, and she became very aware of his body covering hers.

“Berhenti! Berhenti!” yelled a security guard, running towards them. Their argument must have alerted him.

“Bollocks.”

They stood up.

The man’s cap flew off his head as he ran faster. They could outrun him for sure, but Hardy didn’t budge. The security guard was a middle-age Indonesian man with small sticky-out ears. Upon noticing they were not locals, he switched to English. “Stop! You cannot be here. Forbidden. You come with me.”

Arms crossed, Hardy towered over him. “What are you hiding, uh? Who are you protecting?”

“You come with me.” He grabbed a walkie-talkie from his utility belt, to call for back-up perhaps. He had a stun gun too.

“They’re destroying your island, your birthplace,” Hardy continued. “Report us to your management and this will go on. But we can help change this situation that’s—”

“Look, we were not doing anything wrong,” Hannah intervened before Hardy got them in trouble. She looped her arm through his. “Just wandering, exploring. It’s such a romantic place, we got carried away…”

She fluttered her eyelashes at Hardy, but he made no attempt at playing along. The security guard lowered his walkie-talkie.

“I understand it’s important that we don’t come here. I’m sure there’s a good reason, it looks dangerous. Really, it’s our fault, we shouldn’t be trespassing.”

Hardy finally looked at her, appalled by her apologies. Hannah continued, taking on a honeyed voice and offering her nicest smile.

“We don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss. I mean, you would, wouldn’t you? Be in trouble that is, if your boss knew we’d wandered all the way here by accident.”

It took a moment for Hannah’s words to sink in, after a few blinks, the security guard’s blank stare turned into a smile.

“Yes, yes. Okay. You leave, I”— he mimed zipping and locking his mouth— “no trouble for you. Thank you for me, okay?”

She nudged Hardy. “Give him some money.”

“I’m not participating in corruption.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She had a few Rupiahs folded in her phone case, and she handed them all to the man. “Can you show us the way back? I think we got a little lost. Thank you, you’re very kind.”

The security guard escorted them back to the lobby. The concierge noticed them arriving together, but the guard lied and said he’d found them lost. It reassured Hannah that he wouldn’t talk. Under no suspicion, she would be free to continue investigating. If only Hardy hadn’t gotten on his high horse, they could already have proof of the resort’s scam.

As they walked towards the south wing of the hotel, Hannah kept glancing at him expectantly.

“Wha’?”

“Aren’t you going to thank me for saving your arse?” she said.

“Sorry? Saving my arse! He could’ve helped us more if you hadn’t bribed him. If I’d had time to convince him—”

“Not with the way you were talking to him. You’re just so fucking condescending.”

He crossed his arms and clenched his jaw.

“So the hotel’s not very good for the environment. Is it really worth risking your life for?” Hannah asked.

He huffed impatiently and took her aside. He told her everything he knew: the foreign investors, the Navy evicting families, the corruption, the threats to his journalist friend, the destruction of mangroves and fields. It was so much bigger than she’d imagined. Overwhelmingly so. He told her about the Tirrand family. How the father tried to protect his farm and received five bullets to the chest. In front of his own daughter. Hannah thought of that little girl with the fierce eyes, dauntless now that she’d already seen the worst possible thing.

Hannah felt suddenly very cold. She cared about what had happened. And then she didn’t. She turned her gaze towards the window and the starlit sea.

“It would be a shame not to share such beauty with the world,” she said in a voice that seemed to come from outside herself. “I don’t like how it happened, but why should they keep this island to themselves?”

“What are you on about?”

“I’m just saying, what’s done is done,” she continued without looking at him. “They can’t go back, the resort’s built, might as well make the best of it.”

She was aware of the strain in her cheeks as she smiled.

“You need some rest,” he said.

What a pretentious wanker, she hoped to never see him again.

______

Chapter 3: Singapore

[constant-fandom-migrator]

Sweetwater Revenge: A Choni AU

A Riverdale AU in which the Blossoms are a very old vampire family and the serpents are vampire hunters. With a peace treaty between the Blossoms and the serpents, all seems calm. That is until the ghoulies, an insane breed of vampires, begin to push their way into town. Shocking murders rock the town, but is it vampires, or is it someone out for revenge? On the other side of things is the Lodge family, still buying up land with a different, but sinister, plan.

Choni is the main focus of the story, enemies to lovers type deal. All other characters are treated appropriately.

ao3

CHAPTER 1

Riverdale was the town with pep! At least that’s what the faded sign on the town border said. In reality, the town was far more ominous than advertised. Darkness clung to everything in sight. The people, the places and, of course, all the ill formed alliances, were all shrouded in mystery. That mystery being several hundred years in the making.

Over the years the town became divided as more people failed to see eye to eye. It was understandable, given the circumstances. While most towns grappleed only with politics and poverty, Riverdale was forced to deal with something far more sinister, death.

The sprawling Thornhill Mansion on the highest hill served as a constant reminder of the terrible truth. Etched on the rusting gates was the phrase“Radices Currere Abyssi.” It was an old Latin phrase for Roots Run Deep. Those roots were deeper than anyone but the Blossom’s knew. As the founders of the town, the Blossom family owned much of the town, including Thornhill.

Most people considered Thornhill to be a home of horrors, haunted not by ghosts, but by the living. Though, some would disagree with the word living. It didn’t really apply, at least not to the Blossoms.

The town, and more specifically the residents of Thornhill had a secret. Vampires were not only real, but they owned most of the town. They weren’t vampires in the sense that they glittered in the sun and were tentative friends with werewolves. Rather, they were the sort that had a blood cellar instead of a wine cellar, and were remarkably old. No one had an exact number, but they founded Riverdale nearly 250 years prior. They also had been rumored to be around several centuries before then.

This was a difficult concept for newcomers to grasp. As such, most of the town consisted of the original families that settled there just after Riverdale’s founding.

The main families were the Blossoms, Coopers, Andrews and Lodges. The Lodge family was the sole family to actually leave Riverdale, but like most others they returned.

Riverdale was a magnet forged by demons themselves. It didn't matter that most town’s didn't have vampires or mysterious deaths. It was a town comparable to no other, a piece of it living inside each resident. No one stayed gone, not for long.

                                                         * * *

It was an exciting day for the people of Riverdale. The high school specifically was abuzz with rumours of the new arrivals. The Lodge family, though one of the original families of Riverdale, had been in New York for nearly twenty years. It marked the longest departure of the original families.

Hermione and Hiram Lodge had a daughter, Veronica, while in New York. After some legal trouble, the disgraced family decided to return to their humble roots. That's what was exciting people the most. The older folks in town knew Hermione and Hiram, but no one knew what to expect from Veronica.

Betty, of the Cooper family, was first to break the news in the school paper. It didn't take long before all of Riverdale followed the peppy blonde’s lead, trading rumours like it was a new form of currency.

It was no secret that the Blossom family both owned and ran the small town, located on the scenic edge of Sweetwater River. However, the Lodges had made a name for themselves in New York, and a showdown was inevitable.

People already knew a lot about the Lodges. For instance, Hiram and his wife started Lodge Industries together. Carefully and over time, they wove a tangled webb of various businesses, some legitimate, some not.

It was some of their earlier businesses that finally caught up with them, landing Hiram behind bars. Though, just like with everything else, money was key. After only six months in jail, he was released. Following the advice of their many lawyers, they decided to start over in Riverdale.

It wasn’t until eight thirty a.m on a breezy Tuesday morning that the news finally felt real. With the front door to Riverdale High slammed open, in came a girl with dark black hair, a neatly pressed skirt matched with a ruffled blouse and elegant string of pearls around her neck. Veronica Lodge had arrived.

Silence engulfed the crowd of onlookers until Betty stepped up with an outstretched hand and her swinging signature ponytail.

The two could not have appeared more differently. Betty with her pink cardigan and comfortable jeans, next to Veronica and her oversized sunglasses and razor sharp high heels. Anyone who knew Betty would tell you she wasn’t afraid of anything. So with a smile, she announced, “Hello, I’m Betty. Welcome to Riverdale.”  

Veronica made a show of removing her glasses and gripping Betty’s outstretched hand. “Hello to you. As I’m sure you know, I’m Veronica Lodge.”

With a smile, Betty released her hand. “Yes, we were expecting you today. Can I take you to the office? You can pick up your schedule and locker number there.”

“Of course” She responded quickly, with an eye on something behind Betty. “Maybe along the way you could tell me about that red hunk of handsome.”

Turning, Betty saw none other than Archie Andrews. He was her best friend and nextdoor neighbour. He was sweet, and the closest thing to selfless a person could be. She didn’t much like the idea of introducing the two just yet.

On the way to the office, they ran intoto Kevin Keller, king of snappy comebacks and stating the obvious. He was a good friend of Betty’s, but as Veronica so animatedly offered to take him in as her best gay, she grew quickly weary of the newcomer.

It wasn't until after escorting her to the office that they ran into her worst fear, Cheryl Blossom.

Everybody was aware of who and what the Blossoms were, but generally didn’t speak on it. It was best to stay out of their way and, when necessary, give them what they wanted.

Cheryl’s striking red hair seemed to light her milky white skin on fire while her eyes felt as if they went through anything she chose to glance at. She moved abnormally quickly, but not enough to make obvious what she was.

What gave her away the most was the way she seemed to float rather than walk. Sure her fit actually touched the ground, but did so in a way that Cheryl appeared weightless.

Stepping to the side, in order to not be between them, Betty made quick introductions.

“Veronica, this is Cheryl. She is captain of the vixens, our decorated cheer squad.”

Cheryl chuckled menacingly, lacing her fingers together. “Oh sweet Betty, you know I’m far more than a mere cheer captain. I run this school and my family runs this town. Be warned, daughter of a sleazy conman, no one gets in my way.”

Crossing her arms, Veronica fired back, “I didn’t realize you and the rest of your blood thieving family could even venture outside during the day.”

“There is a lot you don’t know about my family, and if I were you, I would keep it that way.”

Neither looked like they were going to back down when, like a saint on a mission, Jughead Jones swooped in. Flannel shirt around his waist and pin decorated beanie cut in the shape of a crown, made him stand out in a crowd. His distracting presence was sorely needed.

“Whats up ladies?”

“No one was talking to you, hobo.” Cheryl replied coldly.

Veronica took a different route, with a sickly sweet voice and fluttering eyelashes.

“You are a welcome break from the Anne Rice novel I seem to have gotten stuck in. Hello there, I’m Veronica.”

“Charmed” Jughead said, failing to hide the sarcasm. “Betty, are we still on for Pop’s later?”

“I’ve lost interest in this sidebar.” Cheryl flipped her hair and floated away.

Betty chose to ignore them and only answer Jug, “Yeah, and how’s your dad?”

“Oh he’s fine, you know him, not even a Ghoulie can take him out.”

“That’s good Jug, I’ll see you later. I’m going to show Veronica to her first class.”

“Yes, dogooder Betty, on her first mission of the day.” Jughead gave an awkward bow and narrowly avoided Betty’s playful smack.

When they finally arrived at the classroom, Veronica boldly asked, “What’s a ghoulie?”

Betty thought for a moment, trying to figure out a short but accurate answer. “They are like the Blossoms, but much worse. Compared to them, the Blossoms are basically as human as you or I.”

Veronica nodded, but still looked confused, as she should be. Even Betty, who lived in Riverdale her whole life, couldn't fully explain or understand the ghoulies. They were vile, insane creatures that masquerades as a local gang. Of course they were not to be confused with the serpents. Sure they also wore leather and caused their fare share of chaos, but they were human and,  most, had morals.

For the moment, that was all Veronica needed to know. After all, she was new and not many people should be trusted in Riverdale.

                                                         * * *

Toni’s day was going much like any other. Wake up, go to school, cause a bit of mayhem, and end up at the south side bar, The Whyt Wyrm. Even being in the serpents had become more about going through the motions than anything else.

She had been lured into the gang because of her grandpa’s tall tales of vampires running wild and the small group of indigenous people that fought back with the only known weapon, the venom of a massasauga. Only the venom of that particular serpent could take down even the strongest vampire. For safety, a group of men began to gather regularly and used to the venom to take out any vampire preying on their tribe. They called themselves the serpents and her history began.

After the peace treaty with the Blossoms, nearly forty years prior, things quieted for the serpents. The peace treaty only covered the Blossom family, all other vampires that came near their land were still up for grabs.

Toni had never met a Blossom, mostly because the peace treaty only meant a cease fire, not that old wounds were healed or that there was even any understanding. They were still the enemy, and that was fine by her.

The ghoulies were both a whole different story and breed. While the Blossoms drank only from blood bags and willing donors, the ghoulies drained anything human. Whether it was a man, woman or child, they weren’t picky and never left an ounce of blood to spare.

The serpents managed to keep them out of Riverdale, both the north and south side up until that point. Rumours of them growing restless, however, had been confirmed when several ghoulies were spotted circling the perimeter of Riverdale.  For the moment, all the serpents could do was keep a close eye on them. Some members wanted to go after them, but most realized their dwindling numbers would not produce a victory for them.

Her days of checking on ghoulies and pouring beers were shaken up when FP, king of the serpents, announced they had been paid off for a simple job. They were asked to takeover and trash the drive in theater. It was true that the job wasn’t exactly usual for them, but it seemed simple enough and they were all low on cash. Toni figured it was as good a job as any. She could use a break from the monotony, and trouble was her favorite extra curricular.

For the north side, there was nothing better to do than a movie at the drive in and a milkshake at Pop’s. For the south side, there was nothing better to do than bother the north side. They had a funny relationship that way.

Unlike a lot of the southside, Toni didn’t hold any ill will against the people of the north side. Sure they were annoying, stuck up and had a nasty case of tunnel-vision, but they never did anything specifically against her.

So while she was happy to pester them in the name of fun, thats where Toni drew the line. She joined the serpents to protect people from the ghoulies, not deal drugs and rob the north side. The serpents had lost their way, and she wasn’t yet in a position to point that out.

Instead, like the good soldier she was, Toni marched into the drive in, large bucket of popcorn to toss and orders to bug as many people as possible.

[maritzaerwin]

What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women

Knowing exactly what to wear for an interview can be a real conundrum, especially when the company you are applying to has a mix of formal and informal dress codes. A front-of-house role may require wearing a more formal suit to work each day, so an interviewer may expect to see this reflected in your choice of an interview outfit.

But what if the position you are applying for will see you buried deep in the back office of the IT department? Smart but casual may be better for an interview of this sort. 

Ultimately, you have three styles to decide between:

Business formal

Business casual

Smart casual 

The tips below should help you make the right call! 

What to Wear to an Interview: 5 Quick Tips to Help You Decide

Do Your Research First 

As the popular lore tells, you should always dress for your job interview as if you already have the job. Thus, it can be helpful to do a bit of research before your interview on the company dress code. 

First of all, the type of organization that you are applying to will already tell you a lot about the likely dress code. For instance, you’d be better off wearing corporate classic attire (formal suite, neutral shirt, tie) if you are applying to a law firm. Or if you are interviewing at a creative advertising agency, wearing business casual or a fully casual creative outfit will be more appropriate. 

To get a better sense of what may work, browse staff pictures on social media or corporate website. These days many workplaces have relaxed dress codes where everyone is seen wearing shorts and t-shirts to work. This can often make an interviewee feel uncomfortable when they wear a smart suit for an interview, but find that the employer is dressed far more casually. You want to create a good first impression, but you also want to project the image that you would fit in well with the workplace culture and be seen as ‘one of the guys’.

Alternatively, can go past the employer building at the beginning or end of the day as the workers arrive or leave. This will give you an idea about what is acceptable and then aiming a little bit higher for your interview outfit.

Assess the Role You are After

The higher you aim – the more “dressed” you should be. Most senior-level positions will assume a higher degree of formality. On the other hand, coming overdressed for a lower-level position can also create the wrong impression. 

As one HRs recounts, a man applying for a position as a meat slicer at a deli came to the interview wearing a three-piece suit, a new tie, and a snazzy pair of shoes. The deli owner immediately contacted the recruiter saying that “he did not think this person was willing to get his hands dirty in the job.”

When In Doubt, Go With a Suite 

A suit is the most universal business professional attire that’s almost always appropriate. In fact, a recent survey by Randstad US states that even though most workplaces now have casual dress codes, 65% of employees still think it’s important to suit up for the job interview. HRs agree too with 33% saying that candidates should always wear a business formal suit to a job interview. 

But 37% also strengthened that the interview outfit choice should correlate with the position/department the person is applying to, plus the industry they work in. For instance, formal suits are preferred by 44% of HRs in finance, insurance, and real estate industries. However, only 23% of managers expect retail candidates to show up in one. All of this brings us to point one – always do your research!

Work from Backwards: What Not to Wear to an Interview

While most offices today are pretty lax and informal, allowing the folks to dress the way they like, there are still some big universal no-nos when it comes to your interview attire. The same Randstad survey indicates:

76% of respondents name ripped jeans inappropriate as workwear.

56% think the same about leggings.

55% name high heels (over three inches high) as unprofessional.

40% have the same feeling about open-toed shoes of any type. 

In addition to that, you should avoid:

Flashy jewelry and designer logos unless you want the interviewer to involuntary to obsess over these. 

Loud, busy prints. Just as logos, big patterns can steal the spotlight from you. 

Non-seasonal clothing – a fluffy sweater in mid-summer makes the other person question your choices. 

Poorly fitted clothes that are either too tight or too loose since these make you look sloppier and unprofessional.

Anything wrinkled for the same reason as above. 

Anything revealing as this will likely make the opposite party feel uncomfortable, plus send the wrong message about you. 

Ask About The Dress Code In Advance 

Lastly, if you cannot find enough information to guide you then it wouldn’t seem impolite to ask. You will need to confirm your invitation for the interview anyway, so add a quick note about the attire. Your question can go like this: 

Hello [Name],

Just wanted to confirm the interview on Thursday, February 9th at 1:00 pm. I’d be promptly on time, waiting for you in the lobby as you’ve previously noted. 

Could you also please advise me on the appropriate dress code at your company? 

Thank you very much in advance.

What to Wear to an Interview: Men Edition 

Once you’ve decided whether you want to go business formal, business casual, or smart casual, your further choice boils down to the details. 

Suit: For the guys, it is more traditional to go for dark and sober shades such as black, navy blue, or dark grey. While suits never really go out of fashion, it would help to choose a smart suit in a muted shade. Rock stars and celebrities may be able to get away with wearing shiny suits made from a material that could coat a frying pan, but you certainly should never wear one for a job interview!

Cotton material is preferable as linen tends to crease too easily leading you to look overly crumpled for your interview. During colder weather, opt for a wool/tweed suit and wear a formal coat over it or a warmer neutral colored sweater beneath. 

Shirt and tie: Again, opt for neutral colors – white, blue, beige, brown – that complement your complexion well. If your sense of fashion is limited, choose a plain shirt or one with small, non-busy patterns. 

The same goes for the tie. Your tie should complement your whole outfit, not stand out from it. So try to avoid distracting the interviewer by wearing a garish, bright tie. Also, if you are going with business casual, it’s OK to drop a tie unless you are aiming at the highest degree of formality. 

Shoes: Yours should be dark, plain, and polished. Nothing creates a bad impression like a scuffed and tatty looking pair of shoes – no matter how smart your suit is!

Belt and socks: Match it to the color of your shoes. Same for socks – avoid flashy colorful patterns unless they are an integral part of your creative smart casual outfit. But remember: not everyone can successfully pull off a Justin Trudeau!

What to Wear to an Interview: Women Edition 

Gals have more options! First, of all, you have a choice of wearing a skirt or trousers for a job formal interview. As a general rule, the skirt hemline shouldn’t be too short. Most skirt suits you can buy off the peg tend to have the skirt cut to about 2 inches above the knee, but you can buy suits with longer skirt lengths too.

Trousers should be well-fitted, but not too tight. Also, choose your pantyhose and lingerie carefully to avoid any awkward lines. 

Suit or Jacket. If you want to get dressed in business formal style, opt for a conservative suit/jacket in dark colors – black, grey, navy, or dark brown. Depending on the season, it is perfectly acceptable to wear a lighter shade of suit, especially during the spring or summer. 

Avoid cheap synthetic materials as these typically don’t fit well, plus have an awkward shine. Cotton, wool, and tweed mixes typically work best.

For formal interviews, it is wise to keep suits plain, but you can add a dash of interest with a patterned scarf or elegant jewelry piece. 

If you opt for a business casual or smart casual look, you can replace the jacket with a cardigan, paired with a skirt, pants, or a business dress. Again, opt for something neutrally colored without many adornments. Also avoid wearing those huge, wooly, and fluffy cardigans even if the weather’s chilly. 

Shirt or top. For formal interviews, choose a neutral colored button-up that doesn’t reveal any cleavage. Silk blouses will certainly look more elegant, but they wrinkle a lot, so make sure yours is freshly pressed. Otherwise, opt for a standard cotton shirt or top. 

Turtlenecks and pullover sweaters in neutral colors are a good alternative for colder weather. Again, make sure that you choose a well-fitted garment without any bright patterns or “pills”.

Shoes should also be kept at a sensible heel height and be quite regular in design. Avoid stacked heels and bejeweled toes – leave those for a night out with the girls. Flats are alight for a business casual/smart casual outfit. 

Accessories. Opt for dainty jewelry, instead of bling pieces. Consider removing ring/bracelet stacks unless they are part of your ‘signature’ creative style that works well with the rest of your outfit.

Bring a professional leather purse or briefcase to stack all the tidbits you need to bring for the job interview. Ideally, it’s best to avoid anything with flash logos unless you are certain that your statement bag will convey an extra ‘power’ message to the recruiter. 

To Conclude 

Plan your interview outfit the day ahead and make sure that all your items are clean, well-ironed, and looking good together. 

If you are still in doubt after giving your interview outfit that final check, take it one step further on the formal side. It’s always best to appear one notch above the people you are interviewing with than a tad underdressed for the occasion!

This article has been originally published on September 28, 2016 and has been extensively revised and updated on January 7, 2021.

The post What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women appeared first on Freesumes.com.

What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

[landenuhiz933-blog]

4 Dirty Little Secrets About The Restaurant Window Decals Industry

The Ultimate Guide To Business Window Stickers

Table of ContentsThe smart Trick of Shop Window Decals That Nobody is DiscussingEverything about Business Window StickersA Biased View of Window Decal Business

Our "Signage 101" series aids you make feeling of the globe of signage as well as all of its different alternatives (Large Format Vinyl Sticker Printing). We have actually formerly created a video on vinyl banners and chatted regarding every last point you'll ever before need to find out about grommets. Today we'll tackle signage alternatives for windows. Whether as an individual or an entrepreneur, the probabilities are respectable that the sign you're designing or wanting to acquire will certainly be positioned on a home window.

Also inside businesses there's ample opportunity to make use of the types of window indicators detailed listed below. Analogue Output Arduino. Meanwhile it's not unusual to see some type of no soliciting indication on the home windows of property residences in an effort to get rid of the never ever ending stream of pesky sales people. So without more trouble allow's take a look at the different kinds of window signs, their distinctions, usages and also even more.

This is an usual concern as well as facet that causes the most confusion. Their respective definitions and glue properties are as laid out listed below: A sticker label is equally as it seems. An once use material that will not have the ability to be rearranged. "Sticker labels" in this feeling are frequently swapped with the word "decal" in the signage market.

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This can be done on the outside, the inside or perhaps from the inside encountering out (this last choice is called "inside glass" and is explained listed below). This glue material suggests that your real window indication is "semi-permanent." This simply suggests that when mounting the decal there will be some wiggle area to adjust it as needed once the decal's sticky starts it will certainly be exceptionally difficult to reposition. Shop Window Graphics.

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So if you're trying to find something that can be walked around as well as is a non-window alternative then jump on over to our wall decals web page.) These sorts of window decals can be found in three various types which are laid out listed below (Banner Signs And Graphics). Your decal will certainly be clear all over that the layout itself is not published.

Likewise, make certain that any design on these sorts of decals has a strong contrasting color to ensure smaller sized stickers can be seen from a range if so desired. Nontransparent decals unknown exposure from either side of the home window. Different Types Of Photo Lamination. Rather than having "clear" sections of your sign, wherever the layout does not cover it will be an opaque white.

What Does Office Window Stickers Do?

While it isn't totally passed out the exposure via these is obscured by the opacity of the non-printed location. Custom Bar Signs. Perforated home window decals are made to allow one-way exposure. To put it simply, these are signs that allow you to see from the within your organisation to the outside yet not the other way around.

Consumers approaching your store will certainly have the ability to see the decals clearly yet will not be able to see within the store. This is achieved by publishing onto a product on one side of the indicator that is perforated with tiny openings (Gbc Creative Laminator). These perforations won't influence the visual appeals of your indication while creating one-way exposure that numerous company proprietors desire.

See This Report on Business Window Stickers

Instead, they attach via the fixed cost of the indication itself as well as the home window. These indications are quickly removed and also reapplied in different scenarios. They are typically made use of in such locations as a sneeze guard inside a dining establishment in order to market offers or soups of the days. Fixed clings can likewise be clear or opaque in nature.

The other major distinction in between a stick and a sticker is what was mentioned above clings are repositionable while decals are, essentially, not - Custom Gate Signs. This makes clings much simpler to mount and much more forgiving if you need to place them in different ways than you initially did. This can be an important factor to consider depending upon the ultimate usage of your sign.

Stickers will in some cases call for a razor blade and also soapy water to remove any type of residual sticky similar to when removing sticker labels. Full Color Yard Signs. Clings simply peel off away from the window disappearing behind as well as needing no tidy up. As detailed over both clings and also stickers have their advantages and disadvantages. Inevitably when you are trying to find a home window authorize the very first point you need to figure out is what will be completion use the indication? Just how you are mosting likely to utilize the indicator is going to dictate what type of sign you require to utilize.

( The various other choice being a wall sticker, but again, wall surface decals as well as clings are extremely various - Large Format Ecotank Printer. Wall decals stick as a result of the glue material while clings have no adhesive.) If the indication you plan on utilizing is a lot more permanent or mosting likely to be made use of outside after that a sticker is normally a far better option.

Restaurant Window Decals Can Be Fun For Anyone

Table of ContentsLittle Known Facts About Business Window Stickers.Fascination About Personalized Window DecalsThe 5-Minute Rule for Restaurant Window DecalsNot known Factual Statements About Business Window Stickers

As detailed over clings normally function far better inside as well as on glass yet can be made use of outside too. They will not hold on to wall surfaces (wall surface decals is what you desire) nor to block, metal, or various other non-glass like surfaces. Stickers, relying on the type, can be made use of on glass and also glass like surface areas.

Window stickers of all kinds tend to be more costly than static clings. Custom House Name Signs. In order, the most budget-friendly decals are clear, opaque and perforated. Perforated is the most costly as Frosted Sticker a result of the micro slits that create the one method exposure. Real pricing can be seen on our Indicator Cost Calculator or by transforming the "sign kind" and also size in our on the internet design device.

A lot of these indicator types have every one of these options offered except as noted below. Business Signs Near Me. Inside glass, or second surface as it is in some cases called within the signs industry, suggests that the static stick or window decal will certainly be reverse published to make sure that the indication can be put on the interior of the glass however encounter out - Window Clings For Cars.

Shop hours, offers and also promos, branded stickers and a lot more can be utilized in this style. One Way Sticker For Glass. For decals this implies that the style will certainly be published on the behind of the sticker to make sure that the front sticky side can still be related to the within the glass and deal with out.

Getting My Office Window Stickers To Work

The same relates to opaque window clings. If you want an inside glass decal that looks opaque, just make use of a clear sticker or stick, yet load the background in with a color or graphic (Gbc Fusion 1000l). Any one of the cling or decal indication types can be "Personalized With Border" (previously called or in some cases called "halo cut").

lots of stick or decal indicator types can be custom shape (formerly called or often referred to as "contour cut"). This suggests that the style of the indication will certainly be reduced precisely to the boundary of the indicator - Cheap Yard Signs No Minimum. The most vital point to bear in mind here is that if your sign is all message that you really desire what is called "vinyl lettering" or "reduced plastic".

We do not presently supply this on the site yet can produce it. You simply need to call us if this is what you are trying to find. When it is a straightforward non-text layout, it is cut to the precise shape without any type of boundary as the halo cut alternative entails - 3d Ceiling Murals. We've summarized what indication type you need to pick, the distinctions as well as the visibility and cut alternatives in the visuals below.

The red part of the indication is the only part of the graphic that is published. The white is the default shade of the material without any type of ink (Static Cling Window Decals). Site visitors from outdoors would see the graphic and would certainly not be able to see right into the store (this is often called one-way vision).

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The 6-Minute Rule for Office Window Stickers

Presuming the red part of the indication was the only shade on the visuals, the rest of the indication would certainly be transparent. A "Personalized with Boundary" would indicate that your red circular sale decal would have a little border of about 1/4 inch left around the boundary of the decal.

If the style weren't circular however instead a collection of individual pieces then this would certainly be reduced plastic or plastic text. These private pieces would be cut exactly to shape without boundary and afterwards could be applied to the appropriate surface area as private items instead of a solitary decal. Laminate Paper.

By Foam Core Print May 19, 2019 15 Comments Among the locations of published advertising that boosted one of the most throughout current years has been window graphics. More effective techniques were developed, improving the quality of the end product (Vinyl Truck Lettering Near Me). Both window marketing decals as well as home window clings are among one of the most available resources.

Business Window Decals for Beginners

The only problem is that they look comparable, so the line to distinction both is thin. The majority of people can not conceptualize the numerous distinctions in between these home window graphics. At FoamCorePrint, we want all our customers to recognize what specifically they contend hand to make their jobs a reality. We must start with the home window sticker labels which are normally vinyl home window stickers, which are the most prominent kind of home window graphics around.

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They serve well as detachable vehicle window decals and even auto home window clings. Likewise called window stickers, stickers are top notch products with exceptional printing options. There is practically no distinction between decals and also plastic (vynal) window stickers they coincide and also usually made use of interchangeably. Nonetheless, some argue that there is a difference with stickers vs decals.

Restaurant Window Decals Fundamentals Explained

Table of ContentsWhat Does Restaurant Window Decals Do?Excitement About Best Window DecalsNot known Details About Office Window Stickers Getting My Business Window Decals To Work

Fact be told, only business that function with low-quality materials suffer from this. At FoamCorePrint, we use the finest materials in town, so no glue elements stay on the glass after the elimination. Cheap Signs And Banners. Prior to talking regarding home window sticks for cars and trucks, it's necessary to state that there are two predominant types of home window stickers: clear window graphics and custom plastic sticker labels as well as you can print them both.Clear home window graphics is a huge sticker with the graphics published on a background, which is typically transparent. Van Lettering Near Me.

Perforated home window films are good options also that permits one means visibility - Static Tinted Window Film. We contrast perforated home window movies with stickers here. While they're excellent options they do not have the exact same versatility as clear or clear stickers. While they seem alike, home window clings are very various from the detachable window sticker labels we addressed in the past.

[bambamramfan]

“protagonist, audience, and critics”

Last Dead Freddie post for a while (ie, recovering pieces of deBoer’s writing that were killed by his website hack). Mostly this was a really good piece about antiheroes in prestige television, and I wanted to endorse its good points, and engage with the fundamental errors of artistic criticism it has towards the end.

I’ll post my response later, since this is enough to read on its own.

Edit: the title of the post included the word “audience” not “author”, but either could work.

That the early parts of the Golden Age of Television were dominated by antiheroes is an idea that’s by now as cliché and tired as, well, the phrase “Golden Age of Television.” From Tony Soprano to Walter White to Don Draper to the various self-destructive cops and criminals in The Wire, the rise of high-production-values, critically-lauded narrative television was attended by stories told from the perspective of people who weren’t very nice. The essayist Brett Martin’s book on this period, in fact, was titled Difficult Men. In recent years, we’ve seen a growing diversity of perspectives on HBO and AMC and the like, with more racial and gender diversity, a greater range of themes and issues, and less reliance on the tropes of antihero fiction. Thankfully, for those of us who think that art should reflect the full diversity of human experience, the obsession with those difficult men seems to have subsided.

And yet I think that, as much as the antihero has been discussed to death in recent years, the concept could stand to be connected in a deeper way to a broader context: the tangled relationship between protagonists, the audience’s empathy for them, and the moral intent of the artists who create them.

Prestige TV – a term I find viscerally distasteful, but never mind – has famously engendered a cottage industry of analysis, recaps and reviews and explainers by the thousands. The structural incentives for such coverage is obvious; high-profile shows drive clicks for publications, and the regular episodic nature of television provides writers with steady work, a reliable income source of a kind that’s essential for the career of a freelancer. And though I’ve occasionally teased producers of this stuff – how many fresh takes, really, can there be on the same episodes of television, with dozens or hundreds of people doing it? – it’s good for art and for audiences for a robust critical conversation to occur alongside these shows. Not all of the takes will be novel, interesting, or convincing. (Indeed, given the nature of things, a majority won’t be.) But communally digging around and exploring in the text will often provide us with some useful insight.

And yet it’s important to remember that the vast majority of viewers of these shows won’t engage in the text in this way. I don’t just mean that most people who watch shows don’t write or read about them. I mean that, for the average viewer, the concept of treating a show as a kind of intellectual challenge, a puzzle to be disassembled and reassembled again, probably defies the point of watching in the first place. Distraction is a very valid reason for watching television, after all, and after coming home from a long day of work, many of us naturally want to turn off the analytical part of the brain and just enjoy the straight narrative of a given series. But what happens when the series is asking you to analyze? What happens when the basic moral work of the art you’re enjoying requires a deeper consideration of the tension between what’s depicted and what morals are intended?

I want to argue that the tension between fiction as entertainment and fiction as object of analysis – the difference between consuming a story straightforwardly and reading that story against the grain for more complex moral lessons – takes on added weight when so much of what’s depicted in our popular culture is not meant to be emulated or celebrated. I’m not trying to establish some sort of hierarchy of tastes here – the first purpose of art is to entertain, and no one should ever apologize for engaging with commercial art on the level of surface enjoyment. But the prevalence of antiheroes and immoral protagonists in contemporary narrative art leaves me profoundly nervous about the actual ethical impact of such work. There’s reason to believe that too many people are taking entirely the wrong lessons from the shows, video games, and movies they love.

YouTube clips from popular shows offer obvious, depressing examples of what I’m talking about. The Sopranos is exemplary in this regard. Hundreds of clips of Tony Soprano and various other bad actors on the show are presented as role models for life, their grim pursuit of (what they believe to be) their own self-interest and their capacity for violence valorized in video titles, descriptions, and comments. A particularly egregious example states that Tony tells it like it is when it comes to what really matters: family. The clip (since removed from YouTube, likely due to copyright issues) was of a self-aggrandizing Tony Soprano waxing on about the importance of family and how family members are the only ones you can really trust. This should be, to anyone with even a minimal knowledge of the show’s plot, a moment dripping with irony and indictment: Tony is comprehensively terrible to his family. He is a lousy father, a cheating husband, and a bullying and obnoxious sibling. He tries to kill his own mother and succeeds in killing his cousin and nephew. It’s hard to imagine a point more consistently established in the show than that Tony Soprano is an awful family man.

Yet such is the power of the protagonist (and the charisma of James Gandolfini) that the person who uploaded the video and dozens of commenters were convinced that Tony’s speech amounted to the show imparting a life lesson. And this general attitude, that Tony is someone to emulate rather than to despise, is replicated again and again online, with thousands of people taking his oafish violence, sexual aggression, and total indifference to the well-being of others as some sort of exemplar of masculine real-keeping. It’s here where the power of the protagonist is truly revealed, the way that simple depiction of a character’s point of view seems to overwhelm everything else we know about them. It’s as if the human power of identification is too strong, at least in art; we forgive in our protagonists things we know should never be forgiven in real life.

David Chase, the creator of the Sopranos, has talked about this frustrating tendency himself many times, betraying his irritation with audience members who seem intent on seeing the show as little more than a wish fulfillment fantasy for those who would like to be able to whack their annoying coworkers.

In another clip that’s favored by people looking to draw life lessons on masculinity, Mad Men’s Don Draper dispenses with a young rival at his advertising firm with a cutting putdown. “I feel sorry for you,” says gifted young copywriter Michael Ginsberg. “I don’t think about you at all,” replies Draper, asserting his masculine dominance via the Principle of Least Interest. In an age when “giving no fucks” is taken as a Zen-like state of effortless superiority, this is the ultimate alpha male moment. The clip is summarized by the person who uploaded it: “Don Draper puts Michael Ginsberg in his place. He’s still the boss.”

Except that the show has gone out of its way, that entire episode, to demonstrate that Draper is thinking about Ginsberg. Incessantly. Over and over, the episode establishes that Don can’t stop thinking about Ginsberg and the threat he represents. It’s a classic tale of the wounded pride of an aging worker who feels threatened by the younger, sharper, hungrier counterpart. Sure, Don looks cool when he dismisses Ginsberg. But the limits of looking cool is one of the most relentlessly depicted themes in Mad Men, all of the sharply tailored suits and gorgeous midcentury modern design hiding alcoholism, bigotry, and failed relationships. The essential dramatic tension of the show lies in contrasting Don Draper the myth with Don Draper the reality. During the sixth season, when the character devolved deeper into addiction and failure, his façade of control and professional mastery slipping away, many devoted viewers complained that they wanted “the old Don” back – the cool, sexy, invulnerable Don. But in doing so, they were denying the central message of the show, the essential point both in plot terms and thematically: Don Draper does not exist. The ideal is not possible. Both the man himself and the icons he represents are myths. To see the show as simply a depiction of a gorgeous and powerful figure of old guard masculinity means denying its most obvious thematic message.

Reflecting on the divide between authorial signaling and audience interpretation through the example of Walter White of Breaking Bad – a truly reprehensible figure – Isaac Butler writes,

With Breaking Bad, the major, unresolved issue was the character of Walter White. What sort of man was he? And how were we supposed to feel about him? And how did the creators feel about him?…

For many watching Breaking Bad, Walter White was in a morality play, and thus would be sufficiently punished by the time the finale concluded. For an odious group known as Team Walt, Breaking Bad was wish fulfillment, and Walter would in some way be rewarded for his awesomeness. For another group—one I belonged to—Walter was the anti-hero protagonist of a classical tragedy.

A classical tragedy, that is, in the sense that the point is not the Manichean moralism of an episode of Law and Order SVU but the challenge of seeing our own potential flaws in a work of art, to better understand ourselves. What troubles Butler is the show’s moral relationship to its own characters and its audience, and in particular those who are bent on seeing genuinely evil characters as badass instead of bankrupt. And the question I constantly ask myself is whether, in a culture that has so habitually depicts violence as cool and cathartic, that group will always outnumber those who respond to violence with horror.

The point is not that we should take some sort of blanket critical approach to protagonists, but that we should recognize the complexity and nuance in their depiction. The critical reaction to Fight Club shows how both an unthinking acceptance of protagonist behavior, and an overactive judgment of same, can both sand away the subtleties that are essential a movie. Yes, indeed, there are far too many “How to Be As Cool as Tyler Durden” articles and videos online. (Step one: look as good as Brad Pitt circa 1999.) The phenomenon of fans of that movie or book over-identifying with Tyler Durden and the narrator has come in for some deserved mockery, with many pointing out that starting your own fight club – or, even worse, your own Project Mayhem – is a ridiculous exercise, one that clearly misses the satirical and critical aspects of the story. (You should make your own soap, though, it’s fun.) The entire second half of the film depicts the narrator’s gradual realization that he has become involved in something far more destructive than he imagined.

Yet it would be easy to fall too far on the other side of the equation, and to see the narrator’s distaste for the triviality and consumerism of contemporary American life as itself pathological instead of natural. Yes, the violent nihilism he and his alter ego develop in response to that culture is childish and ineffective, but we shouldn’t take that to mean that the world of corporate speak, consumerist conformity, and IKEA aren’t worth rejecting. It means that part of the point of the narrative is precisely the difficulty in channeling legitimate distaste for the way things are into productive avenues.

The last shot of the movie, pregnant with emotional power, demonstrates the closest thing to a message for how to actually live in the film: finding a partner who is equally willing to look past your own flaws to navigate a world that seems bent on destroying the things that make us feel authentically human. Endorsing the romantic ideal as a potential cure for modern disaffection isn’t particularly novel, but the execution of getting there strikes me as the basic point, the recognition of the seduction of nihilism and its impediments to real human connection. You don’t have to think the movie pulls that off, mind you – many people don’t – but failing to really parse out the nuances of the film’s relationship to its protagonist means missing its artistic foundations. The presumption that depiction means endorsement kills drama.

The film and TV writer Matt Zoller Seitz, a great critic who sometimes strikes me as too concerned with whether the films he reviews conform to contemporary liberal social norms, demonstrated the perils of a certain politicized literalism in how we treat the prerogatives of the protagonist when reviewing last year’s Ghostbusters reboot. In contrast to the workaholic women of the newer film, he chastises the original film’s leading character, Bill Murray’s Peter Venkmann, as “a deadpan hipster who fakes most of the knowledge he claims to have,” complaining that he is part of “a long tradition of anti-authority posturing by straight white male characters who act as if the world’s indifference to their happiness is a personal affront.” But what, exactly, is the alternative that Seitz would prefer? That Venkmann conform to the stuffy dictates of elite academia, which he (accurately) sees as full of bullshit? Become a Company Man, another Reaganite yuppie content to play within the system without irony? Yes, it’s definitely true that women and other marginalized groups have traditionally had less ability to subvert the social and economic structures around them. But the response to that should not be to insist that everyone play by the rules, but that we spread the privilege Venkmann enjoys to everyone. It’s a strange form of progressivism that would compel a movie character to drop his sardonic critique of the way things are and get to work on those TPS reports already.

More to the point, if Venkmann was more of a tryhard game-player, going along with the conventional plan, Ghostbusters wouldn’t be much of a movie. Of course there’s a lot of male fantasy in the original Ghostbusters; the question is whether showing such a fantasy for enjoyment necessarily entails seeing the fantasy as a goal worth pursuing. Again, there’s an implicit assumption that artistic depiction presumes that the audience should want to emulate the protagonist. Comedy is full of smirking subversives not because everyone should act like those characters – no one is that clever or funny, and not everyone can be an iconoclast – but because everyone recognizes the need for subversion, the steady drumbeat of absurdities and indignities piled on us by the systems around us.

(Seitz also, incidentally, claims that Murray’s character has an attitude of “The only part of this that excites me is the prospect of getting laid by a demon-possessed Sigourney Weaver,” despite the explicit plot point of a possessed Weaver propositioning Murray and him turning her down, which seems remarkably uncharitable for a thoughtful critic like Seitz.)

The power of identification in art leads to bad political readings of music as well. In recent years, the Beatles tune “Run For Your Life” has been singled out as #PROBLEMATIC for its threatening message to the unnamed romantic partner in the song. (This is made somewhat more disturbing by the fact that John Lennon, the song’s author and singer, admitted to abusing his wife, which is of course inexcusable.) The lyrics are indeed disturbing. What’s strange is the belief that the song, or people who enjoy it, are somehow endorsing threats or violence against women. Depiction is not endorsement, not even in music, perhaps the art form we are most likely to feel intimately inside of ourselves. Lennon felt things that would be rightfully impermissible to express directly. That’s precisely why he embedded them in his music. To argue for the legitimacy of the song as art is no more an endorsement of violence against women than singing the praises of Lolita is an endorsement of pedophilia.

The prevalence of obsession and possessiveness in songs about love reveals one of the cherished functions of art: to depict that which is human that cannot be defended by the rational mind. We are, after all, animals. We remain defiantly irrational creatures. We lust, we feel jealousy, we fantasize, we yearn for revenge, we imagine ourselves as beings of impossible power, and we do it all out of proportion with what is reasonable. My conscious mind, which is what guides my behavior, wants to be a loving and respectful partner to someone, a partner that recognizes the autonomy and independence of that someone and reacts to their adult desires for space and time apart appropriately. My emotional self is filled with an unjustifiable need to possess. That is not an attempt to rationalize or defend jealous romantic behaviors in a relationship. It is a statement of the permanent irrationality of human emotions.

When Nicki Minaj releases a music video depicting herself as a fascist dictator, to considerable controversy, her critics are misunderstanding the basic nature of fantasy. Who hasn’t imagined themselves, at times, in a position of autocratic power? We can pretend that such fantasies don’t exist, thanks to their obvious political problems, or we can express them in art where they do less harm. When Selena Gomez depicts herself as a stalker breaking into a celebrity’s home in a music video, she’s not romanticizing actual stalking but exploring the animal intensity of human emotion and its uncomfortable outcomes in truly obsessive behaviors. Romantic obsession is a commonplace in music because it is in music where those powerful, ubiquitous human emotions can be explored safely.

The contemporary attitude that we must run all of our thoughts and feelings through a political litmus test before we express them in art simply means that many shared thoughts and feelings will go undiscussed. The heart is not woke, and it never will be, and to remove that which is unconsciously felt but consciously impermissible from art simply leaves us less aware of the human condition. Worse, such a condition leaves us bereft of the kind of understanding we need to navigate our tangled feelings for the Tony Sopranos – the ability to recognize that the power fantasies we might enjoy while watching such characters are natural, but that actually valorizing those behaviors is contrary to the public good.

I’m not too worried that the average viewer will take up a life of crime in emulation of Tony Soprano and Walter White, though I cringe to think of how such unthinking appreciation of them deepens the association between masculinity and the capacity for violence. I’m far more worried about our continued inability to recognize the ethical failings of the wealthy and the system that empowers them. Our culture is rife with depictions of wealth that straightforwardly valorize money and those who have it, the shameless promotion of luxury on HGTV and celebrity gossip magazines. Lots of movies and television shows attempt to correct for that by showing the moral rot and personal destruction underneath all that ostentation. But sometimes, the depiction of wealth and glamour is so emotionally compelling that the critical and satirical elements are undone. This is the Wolf of Wall Street conundrum.

I have no doubt that Martin Scorsese and the others involved in the production of the film intended to indict Jordan Belfort and his actions. But I don’t think they achieved such an indictment artistically. When the film’s defenders argue that it was intended as a critical depiction, they’re defending intent rather than execution, which is no more useful than defending a film’s intent at realism, emotional catharsis, humor, or drama. Scorsese’s work has always drawn from the productive tension between how arresting his characters are and how destructive their behavior is. At its best, this leads to a kind of fascinated revulsion, the way that Travis Bickle is both a contemptible figure and an impossibly magnetic one, the light in which the glamor and cool of Howard Hughes in The Aviator were cast by the intensity of his mental illness. For me, The Wolf of Wall Street simply didn’t provoke that same queasiness; the cars were too fast, the suits too well-tailored, the women too hot, the glee on the part of Jordan Belfort too palpable. The intent may have been satirical, but a cursory examination of the internet’s collective opinion on the film shows that for many of its ardent fans, its effect was salutary. And we really don’t need more affection for Wall Street sharks.

You can, of course, argue that Fight Club fails in the same sense, or that Wolf of Wall Street actually achieves its critical intent. At some level we are simply talking about differing subjective takes on the quality of different works of fiction. And you might well ding me for arguing both ways at once – saying that audiences need to do the work of excavating implied critiques of protagonist behavior and also that creators have a responsibility to make those critiques apparent. If nothing else, I am saying that the role of the protagonist seems to inspire deep sympathy regardless of the actions depicted, particularly over the very long haul afforded by a television series, to a degree that many artists seem unprepared for. I imagine this power is even more compelling in video games, where the player literally directs the main character through the story, occupying their point of view. And in a critical world where more and more people are explicitly subordinating aesthetics to politics – where more and more critics are erasing any distinction at all between a work’s aesthetic value and its perceived effectiveness in delivering progressive political morals – the relationship between what is depicted and what lessons are imparted become even more fraught, more pregnant with meaning. We should take care with such things.

The sophisticate’s take on this question has typically been to insist that no artist should be held to account for the misreading of their audience, and of course I agree, in a limited sense. Still, I am at this point profoundly ambivalent towards the concept of the antihero or unsympathetic protagonist in art. These tropes have been mined to great effect for centuries in various artistic genres and media, and I value much of that work. But the consistency with which devoted fans of antihero fiction completely miss the thematic purpose of that fiction makes it hard for me to enjoy it, these days. Authorial intent is, obviously, contested and uneasy ground, and getting invested in parsing it rarely a productive activity. But I cannot help but observe the frequency with which implied moral positions in contemporary artwork seem to completely bypass large parts of their audiences, often to the point of leaving them with the exact opposite lesson that was seemingly intended.

Perhaps, then, the exhaustion with antiheroes and flawed protagonists came at just the right time. Perhaps the fad fizzled out when it most needed to. There will always be antiheroes, and I will no doubt find myself following with interest the stories of protagonists who are not good people. But simple depictions of flawed characters attempting to do their best for others and acting in ways we associate with morality seems like fertile ground. Hell, at this point, the story of good people doing good might seem downright subversive.

[jonathanraychapman]

Marseille / mCable Review

I recently bought the Marseille Inc. mCable Gaming Edition 3-foot HDMI cable to use with my retrogaming setup.  The cable promises to uprez older-generation game consoles - with the sweet spot being 720p - into 1080p with crisper colors.  It also seems to do some anti-aliasing and filtering (though without making everything blurry).   It’s kind of a miracle that these cables exist at all - given their limited use these days.

This is not a cable you’re going to need with newer consoles that already output 1080p or higher resolutions.  I’m also aware that this is going to do nothing for 16-bit and 8-bit consoles so I just keep those separate as well (RGB going through a Framemeister or an OSSC is the solution there).

I tested this cable with various systems and games and below are my results.  I’m not going to take screenshots or anything for this written review.  I’m just posting my results in case anyone is interested.  I will say up front that if you’re going to use this able with a HDMI switch box, have some way to remove the cable from the pipeline at times (as it will sometimes result in weird artifacting or just no output).  This is kind of annoying; I’m not going to lie.

Please note that my retrogaming setup using an older LG LCD TV that supports 1080p and has pretty low lag from what I’ve experienced.  Newer TVs do their own filtering and add additional lag, so of course your mileage may vary.

Xbox - Most Xbox games are naturally 480p or 720p (or with a modded console you can even disable 1080i) so once you have a way to getting HDMI output, this makes this cable a really good fit.  On top of that, the Pound HDMI cable (from my experience) results in the colors being less vibrant than Component (and maybe the screen a tad bit fuzzy).  So the mCable seemingly solves both problems.  I played some Soul Calibur II (as I’m most familiar with it) and it looks amazing.  I didn’t detect any issues playing that game.  If I had to buy this cable just to play my Xbox (which I truly love) in this manner, I’d be happy with it I guess.  

PS3 - I ran into some issues with the PS3 (which is odd since it’s actually advertised with the mCable on amazon).  I’m actually listing my experience with several games here to document my findings.  The one thing I found off the bat is that any intermediary PS3 menus (i.e. any system prompts about downloading/creating trophies) result in a resolution that the mCable won’t output - resulting in no output going to my TV.  It kind of freaked me out the first time it happened.  I thought I had broken the cable somehow.  Nope.  It was just not carrying through the signal for whatever resolution was being passed to the cable for those menus.

Tekken 3 (PS3, Physical Disc) - The first game I tried was for PS1 (the physical Tekken 3 disc) using the PS3 Super Slim’s built-in emulator.  I tried with and without filtering.  Honestly, it looks pretty horrible.  The cable is trying to accentuate the pixelated nature of the menus and it looks really bad.  The gameplay itself is also a jumbled mess visually - it looks like its interleaving even though the source is 60fps without interleaving.  There’s something detrimental going on with the mCable in this setup.  I’m guessing the frame-rate is key to what’s going on - as Tekken 3 is a 60fps game.  I cannot recommend Mcable for this use.

R4 Ridge Racer (PS3, PSN purchase) - Interestingly, this game looks and plays great - unlike Tekken 3.  I played this on the same Super Slim using a downloaded PSN purchase instead of the physical disc.  Again, I think part of what’s going on is that Tekken outputs at 60fps and maybe this game doesn't.  Anyways, the game looks decent for a PS1 title using these cables.  It’s not quite as great as PS1 emulators make it look, but still a good experience.  So it looks like your mileage may vary based on which game you play.

Darkstalkers Chronicle (PS3 remaster) - Next I tried this Darkstalkers compilation (because 2D is not really what the mCable is made to help with), and it looks really great (no issues there).  I think what’s really happening is that this is outputting at 1080p and the cable had just turned off and is acting as a pass-through.  So the mCable is probably not doing anything.

Daytona USA (PS3 remaster) - Daytona looks amazing using the cables (of course the HD remake on the PS3 looks great anyways).  It seems from what I found online that this game runs in 720p so given the cell-shaded look, this is the poster child for what the MCable can accomplish and I believe it really does make this game look great.

Soul Calibur HD (PS3 remaster) - I also tried Soul Calibur HD and this is where - surprisingly - things really fell apart.  Some of the intermediary menus to the combat apparently output a resolution that the mCable just doesn’t support and it causes my TV not to display anything.  I was not expecting this and it’s really not acceptable.

Xbox 360 - So I tried Soul Calibur HD on my 360 and it works just fine with the mCable.  I just had the demo, but it was nice to see this working correctly.  Again, I think that the cable is just passing through the signal so nothing really more to say here.

Alan Wake (XB360 - Physical Disc) I also tried Alan Wake (a game that outputs in 720p) and that’s where things got really weird.  Part of the Alan Wake game is that there’s this trailing blur behind a lot of the character motion (at least in the part I was playing).  With the mCable, I’d get this little red pixel/dot effect around those cloudy parts.  It’s sort of like the cable (with its edge-detection) can’t work correctly with clouds or fog/blurring effects and just kind of freaks out a little.  It’s not making the game unplayable, but it’s certainly less enjoyable with this cable.  Again, I’d figure out an easy way to remove the 360 from the pipeline in cases like these.

Geometry Wars (XB360 - Digital Purchase) - I also tried Geometry Wars on my 360 and kind of got the same thing where the little energy/wave effect that goes outward from your ship would appear as a red-dot pixelated mess.

Wii - Most games on this console are 480p.  I hooked up an original Wii using one of those generic HDMI plugs on the back through the mCable and I didn’t have any issues while playing Mario Kart Wii.  Everything was vibrant and the lines looked fine.  I believe the mCable is doing its job just fine here.  It’s also true that Mario Kart is probably the best-case scenario (as is any game with that cell-shaded type of look).

Gamecube - I have one of the Insurrection Industries Gamecube HDMI plugs (which I believe outputs 480p) and I tried playing Need for Speed Carbon with the mCable.  Even though the game has blurring effects, the mCable handles it just fine.  Everything looks great for a Gamecube game.  So no complaints here.

Dreamcast - I own a Behar Bros Akura HDMI box (which outputs 480p) and tried playing Soul Calibur and it looks as great as the Soul Calibur HD remake on the PS3.  I did notice that the white on the Dreamcast bios/boot screen looks pink (not sure what’s responsible for that in my setup).  Once in the game, everything looks crisp enough.  I can recommend the cable being used here as well.

So is this cable worth the money?  I don’t really think so.  It’s a neat processing trick and if you’re a real enthusiast, you might enjoy what it does but I think most of the people out there won’t really get their $100+ out of the cable.  I hope that the price will drop given its niche market.

[maritzaerwin]

What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women

Knowing exactly what to wear for an interview can be a real conundrum, especially when the company you are applying to has a mix of formal and informal dress codes. A front-of-house role may require wearing a more formal suit to work each day, so an interviewer may expect to see this reflected in your choice of an interview outfit.

But what if the position you are applying for will see you buried deep in the back office of the IT department? Smart but casual may be better for an interview of this sort. 

Ultimately, you have three styles to decide between:

Business formal

Business casual

Smart casual 

The tips below should help you make the right call! 

What to Wear to an Interview: 5 Quick Tips to Help You Decide

Do Your Research First 

As the popular lore tells, you should always dress for your job interview as if you already have the job. Thus, it can be helpful to do a bit of research before your interview on the company dress code. 

First of all, the type of organization that you are applying to will already tell you a lot about the likely dress code. For instance, you’d be better off wearing corporate classic attire (formal suite, neutral shirt, tie) if you are applying to a law firm. Or if you are interviewing at a creative advertising agency, wearing business casual or a fully casual creative outfit will be more appropriate. 

To get a better sense of what may work, browse staff pictures on social media or corporate website. These days many workplaces have relaxed dress codes where everyone is seen wearing shorts and t-shirts to work. This can often make an interviewee feel uncomfortable when they wear a smart suit for an interview, but find that the employer is dressed far more casually. You want to create a good first impression, but you also want to project the image that you would fit in well with the workplace culture and be seen as ‘one of the guys’.

Alternatively, can go past the employer building at the beginning or end of the day as the workers arrive or leave. This will give you an idea about what is acceptable and then aiming a little bit higher for your interview outfit.

Assess the Role You are After

The higher you aim – the more “dressed” you should be. Most senior-level positions will assume a higher degree of formality. On the other hand, coming overdressed for a lower-level position can also create the wrong impression. 

As one HRs recounts, a man applying for a position as a meat slicer at a deli came to the interview wearing a three-piece suit, a new tie, and a snazzy pair of shoes. The deli owner immediately contacted the recruiter saying that “he did not think this person was willing to get his hands dirty in the job.”

When In Doubt, Go With a Suite 

A suit is the most universal business professional attire that’s almost always appropriate. In fact, a recent survey by Randstad US states that even though most workplaces now have casual dress codes, 65% of employees still think it’s important to suit up for the job interview. HRs agree too with 33% saying that candidates should always wear a business formal suit to a job interview. 

But 37% also strengthened that the interview outfit choice should correlate with the position/department the person is applying to, plus the industry they work in. For instance, formal suits are preferred by 44% of HRs in finance, insurance, and real estate industries. However, only 23% of managers expect retail candidates to show up in one. All of this brings us to point one – always do your research!

Work from Backwards: What Not to Wear to an Interview

While most offices today are pretty lax and informal, allowing the folks to dress the way they like, there are still some big universal no-nos when it comes to your interview attire. The same Randstad survey indicates:

76% of respondents name ripped jeans inappropriate as workwear.

56% think the same about leggings.

55% name high heels (over three inches high) as unprofessional.

40% have the same feeling about open-toed shoes of any type. 

In addition to that, you should avoid:

Flashy jewelry and designer logos unless you want the interviewer to involuntary to obsess over these. 

Loud, busy prints. Just as logos, big patterns can steal the spotlight from you. 

Non-seasonal clothing – a fluffy sweater in mid-summer makes the other person question your choices. 

Poorly fitted clothes that are either too tight or too loose since these make you look sloppier and unprofessional.

Anything wrinkled for the same reason as above. 

Anything revealing as this will likely make the opposite party feel uncomfortable, plus send the wrong message about you. 

Ask About The Dress Code In Advance 

Lastly, if you cannot find enough information to guide you then it wouldn’t seem impolite to ask. You will need to confirm your invitation for the interview anyway, so add a quick note about the attire. Your question can go like this: 

Hello [Name],

Just wanted to confirm the interview on Thursday, February 9th at 1:00 pm. I’d be promptly on time, waiting for you in the lobby as you’ve previously noted. 

Could you also please advise me on the appropriate dress code at your company? 

Thank you very much in advance.

What to Wear to an Interview: Men Edition 

Once you’ve decided whether you want to go business formal, business casual, or smart casual, your further choice boils down to the details. 

Suit: For the guys, it is more traditional to go for dark and sober shades such as black, navy blue, or dark grey. While suits never really go out of fashion, it would help to choose a smart suit in a muted shade. Rock stars and celebrities may be able to get away with wearing shiny suits made from a material that could coat a frying pan, but you certainly should never wear one for a job interview!

Cotton material is preferable as linen tends to crease too easily leading you to look overly crumpled for your interview. During colder weather, opt for a wool/tweed suit and wear a formal coat over it or a warmer neutral colored sweater beneath. 

Shirt and tie: Again, opt for neutral colors – white, blue, beige, brown – that complement your complexion well. If your sense of fashion is limited, choose a plain shirt or one with small, non-busy patterns. 

The same goes for the tie. Your tie should complement your whole outfit, not stand out from it. So try to avoid distracting the interviewer by wearing a garish, bright tie. Also, if you are going with business casual, it’s OK to drop a tie unless you are aiming at the highest degree of formality. 

Shoes: Yours should be dark, plain, and polished. Nothing creates a bad impression like a scuffed and tatty looking pair of shoes – no matter how smart your suit is!

Belt and socks: Match it to the color of your shoes. Same for socks – avoid flashy colorful patterns unless they are an integral part of your creative smart casual outfit. But remember: not everyone can successfully pull off a Justin Trudeau!

What to Wear to an Interview: Women Edition 

Gals have more options! First, of all, you have a choice of wearing a skirt or trousers for a job formal interview. As a general rule, the skirt hemline shouldn’t be too short. Most skirt suits you can buy off the peg tend to have the skirt cut to about 2 inches above the knee, but you can buy suits with longer skirt lengths too.

Trousers should be well-fitted, but not too tight. Also, choose your pantyhose and lingerie carefully to avoid any awkward lines. 

Suit or Jacket. If you want to get dressed in business formal style, opt for a conservative suit/jacket in dark colors – black, grey, navy, or dark brown. Depending on the season, it is perfectly acceptable to wear a lighter shade of suit, especially during the spring or summer. 

Avoid cheap synthetic materials as these typically don’t fit well, plus have an awkward shine. Cotton, wool, and tweed mixes typically work best.

For formal interviews, it is wise to keep suits plain, but you can add a dash of interest with a patterned scarf or elegant jewelry piece. 

If you opt for a business casual or smart casual look, you can replace the jacket with a cardigan, paired with a skirt, pants, or a business dress. Again, opt for something neutrally colored without many adornments. Also avoid wearing those huge, wooly, and fluffy cardigans even if the weather’s chilly. 

Shirt or top. For formal interviews, choose a neutral colored button-up that doesn’t reveal any cleavage. Silk blouses will certainly look more elegant, but they wrinkle a lot, so make sure yours is freshly pressed. Otherwise, opt for a standard cotton shirt or top. 

Turtlenecks and pullover sweaters in neutral colors are a good alternative for colder weather. Again, make sure that you choose a well-fitted garment without any bright patterns or “pills”.

Shoes should also be kept at a sensible heel height and be quite regular in design. Avoid stacked heels and bejeweled toes – leave those for a night out with the girls. Flats are alight for a business casual/smart casual outfit. 

Accessories. Opt for dainty jewelry, instead of bling pieces. Consider removing ring/bracelet stacks unless they are part of your ‘signature’ creative style that works well with the rest of your outfit.

Bring a professional leather purse or briefcase to stack all the tidbits you need to bring for the job interview. Ideally, it’s best to avoid anything with flash logos unless you are certain that your statement bag will convey an extra ‘power’ message to the recruiter. 

To Conclude 

Plan your interview outfit the day ahead and make sure that all your items are clean, well-ironed, and looking good together. 

If you are still in doubt after giving your interview outfit that final check, take it one step further on the formal side. It’s always best to appear one notch above the people you are interviewing with than a tad underdressed for the occasion!

This article has been originally published on September 28, 2016 and has been extensively revised and updated on January 7, 2021.

The post What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women appeared first on Freesumes.com.

What to Wear to an Interview: Quick Dressing Guide for Men and Women published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

[endenogatai]

Applied gets $2M to make hiring fairer — using algorithms, not AI

London-based startup Applied has bagged £1.5M (~$2M) in seed funding for a fresh, diversity-sensitive approach to recruitment that deconstructs and reworks the traditional CV-bound process, drawing on behavioural science to level the playing field and help employers fill vacancies with skilled candidates they might otherwise have overlooked.

Fairer hiring is the pitch. “If you’re hiring for a product lead, for example, it’s true that loads and loads of product leads are straight, white men with beards. How do we get people to see well what is it actually that this job entails?” founder and CEO Kate Glazebrook tells us. “It might actually be the case that if I don’t know any of the demographic background I discover somebody who I would have otherwise overlooked.”

Applied launched its software as a service recruitment platform in 2016, and Glazebrook says so far it’s been used by more than 55 employers to recruit candidates for more than 2,000 jobs. While more than 50,000 candidates have applied via Applied to date.

The employers themselves are also a diverse bunch, not just the usual suspects from the charitable sector, with both public and private sector organizations, small and large, and from a range of industries, from book publishing to construction, signed up to Applied’s approach. “We’ve been pleased to see it’s not just the sort of thing that the kind of employers you would expect to care about care about,” says Glazebrook.

Applied’s own investor Blackbird Ventures, which is leading the seed round, is another customer — and ended up turning one investment associate vacancy, advertised via the platform, into two roles — hiring both an ethnic minority woman and a man with a startup background as a result of “not focusing on did they have the traditional profile we were expecting”, says Glazebrook.

“They discovered these people were fantastic and had the skills — just a really different set of background characteristics than they were expecting,” she adds.

Other investors in the seed include Skip Capital, Angel Academe, Giant Leap and Impact Generation Partners, plus some unnamed angels. Prior investors include the entity Applied was originally spun out of (Behavioural Insights Team, a “social purpose company” jointly owned by the UK government, innovation charity Nesta, and its own employees), as well as gender advocate and businesswoman Carol Schwartz, and Wharton Professor Adam Grant.

Applied’s approach to recruitment employs plenty of algorithms — including for scoring candidates (its process involves chunking up applications and also getting candidates to answer questions that reflect “what a day in the job actually looks like”), and also anonymizing applications to further strip away bias risks, presenting the numbered candidates in a random order too.

But it does not involve any AI-based matching. If you want to make hiring fairer, AI doesn’t look like a great fit. Last week, for example, Reuters reported how in 2014 ecommerce giant Amazon built and then later scrapped a machine learning based recruitment tool, after it failed to rate candidates in a gender-neutral way — apparently reflecting wider industry biases.

“We’re really clear that we don’t do AI,” says Glazebrook. “We don’t fall into the traps that [companies like] Amazon did. Because it’s not that we’re parsing existing data-sets and saying ‘this is what you hired for last time so we’ll match candidates to that’. That’s exactly where you get this problem of replication of bias. So what we’ve done instead is say ‘actually what we should do is change what you see and how you see it so that you’re only focusing on the things that really matter’.

“So that levels the playing field for all candidates. All candidates are assessed on the basis of their skill, not whether or not they fit the historic profile of people you’ve previously hired. We avoid a lot of those pitfalls because we’re not doing AI-based or algorithmic hiring — we’re doing algorithms that reshape the information you see, not the prediction that you have to arrive at.”

In practice this means Applied must and does take over the entire recruitment process, including writing the job spec itself — to remove things like gendered language which could introduce bias into the process — and slicing and dicing the application process to be able to score and compare candidates and fill in any missing bits of data via role-specific skills tests.

Its approach can be thought of as entirely deconstructing the CV — to not just remove extraneous details and bits of information which can bias the process (such as names, education institutions attended, hobbies etc) but also to actively harvest data on the skills being sought, with employers using the platform to set tests to measure capacities and capabilities they’re after.

“We manage the hiring process right from the design of an inclusive job description, right through to the point of making a hiring decision and all of the selection that happens beneath that,” says Glazebrook. “So we use over 30 behavioural science nudges throughout the process to try and improve conversion and inclusivity — so that includes everything from removal of gendered language in jobs descriptions to anonymization of applications to testing candidates on job preview based assessments, rather than based on their CVs.”

“We also help people to run more evidence-based structured interviews and then make the hiring decision,” she adds. “From a behavioral science standpoint I guess our USP is we’ve redesigned the shortlisting process.”

The platform also provides jobseekers with greater visibility into the assessment process by providing them with feedback — “so candidates get to see where their strengths and weaknesses were” — so it’s not simply creating a new recruitment blackbox process that keeps people in the dark about the assessments being made about them. Which is important from an algorithmic accountability point of view, even without any AI involved. Because vanilla algorithms can still sum up to dumb decisions.

From the outside looking in, Applied’s approach might sound highly manual and high maintenance, given how necessarily involved the platform is in each and every hire, but Glazebrook says in fact it’s “all been baked into the tech” — so the platform takes the strain of the restructuring by automating the hand-holding involved in debiasing job ads and judgements, letting employers self-serve to step them through a reconstructed recruitment process.

“From the job description design, for example, there are eight different characteristics that are automatically picked out, so it’s all self-serve stuff,” explains Glazebrook, noting that the platform will do things like automatically flag words to watch out for in job descriptions or the length of the job ad itself.

“All with that totally automated. And client self-serve as well, so they use a library of questions — saying I’m looking for this particular skill-set and we can say well if you look through the library we’ll find you some questions which have worked well for testing that skill set before.”

“They do all of the assessment themselves, through the platform, so it’s basically like saying rather than having your recruiting team sifting through paper forms of CVs, we have them online scoring candidates through this redesigned process,” she adds.

Employers themselves need to commit to a new way of doing things, of course. Though Applied’s claim is that ultimately a fairer approach also saves time, as well as delivering great hires.

“In many ways, one of the things that we’ve discovered through many customers is that it’s actually saved them loads of time because the shortlisting process is devised in a way that it previously hasn’t been and more importantly they have data and reporting that they’ve never previously had,” she says. “So they now know, through the platform, which of the seven places that they placed the job actually found them the highest quality candidates and also found people who were from more diverse backgrounds because we could automatically pull the data.”

Applied ran its own comparative study of its reshaped process vs a traditional sifting of CVs and Glazebrook says it discovered “statistically significant differences” in the resulting candidate choices — claiming that over half of the pool of 700+ candidates “wouldn’t have got the job if we’d been looking at their CVs”.

They also looked at the differences between the choices made in the study and also found statistically significant differences “particularly in educational and economic background” — “so we were diversifying the people we were hiring by those metrics”.

“We also saw directional evidence around improvements in diversity on disability status and ethnicity,” she adds. “And some interesting stuff around gender as well.”

Applied wants to go further on the proof front, and Glazebrook says it is now automatically collecting performance data while candidates are on the job — “so that we can do an even better job of proving here is a person that you hired and you did a really good job of identifying the skill-sets that they are proving they have when they’re on the job”.

She says it will be feeding this intel back into the platform — “to build a better feedback loop the next time you’re looking to hire that particular role”.

“At the moment, what is astonishing, is that most HR departments 1) have terrible data anyway to answer these important questions, and 2) to the extent they have them they don’t pair those data sets in a way that allows them to prove — so they don’t know ‘did we hire them because of X or Y’ and ‘did that help us to actually replicate what was working well and jettison what wasn’t’,” she adds.

The seed funding will go on further developing these sorts of data science predictions, and also on updates to Applied’s gendered language tool and inclusive job description tool — as well as on sales and marketing to generally grow the business.

Commenting on the funding in a statement, Nick Crocker, general partner at Blackbird Ventures said: “Our mission is to find the most ambitious founders, and support them through every stage of their company journey. Kate and the team blew us away with the depth of their insight, the thoughtfulness of their product, and a mission that we’re obsessed with.”

In another supporting statement, Owain Service, CEO of BI Ventures, added: “Applied uses the latest behavioural science research to help companies find the best talent. We ourselves have recruited over 130 people through the platform. This investment represents an exciting next step to supporting more organisations to remove bias from their recruitment processes, in exactly the same way that we do.”

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[theinvinciblenoob]

London-based startup Applied has bagged £1.5M (~$2M) in seed funding for a fresh, diversity-sensitive approach to recruitment that deconstructs and reworks the traditional CV-bound process, drawing on behavioural science to level the playing field and help employers fill vacancies with skilled candidates they might otherwise have overlooked.

Fairer hiring is the pitch. “If you’re hiring for a product lead, for example, it’s true that loads and loads of product leads are straight, white men with beards. How do we get people to see well what is it actually that this job entails?” founder and CEO Kate Glazebrook tells us. “It might actually be the case that if I don’t know any of the demographic background I discover somebody who I would have otherwise overlooked.”

Applied launched its software as a service recruitment platform in 2016, and Glazebrook says so far it’s been used by more than 55 employers to recruit candidates for more than 2,000 jobs. While more than 50,000 candidates have applied via Applied to date.

The employers themselves are also a diverse bunch, not just the usual suspects from the charitable sector, with both public and private sector organizations, small and large, and from a range of industries, from book publishing to construction, signed up to Applied’s approach. “We’ve been pleased to see it’s not just the sort of thing that the kind of employers you would expect to care about care about,” says Glazebrook.

Applied’s own investor Blackbird Ventures, which is leading the seed round, is another customer — and ended up turning one investment associate vacancy, advertised via the platform, into two roles — hiring both an ethnic minority woman and a man with a startup background as a result of “not focusing on did they have the traditional profile we were expecting”, says Glazebrook.

“They discovered these people were fantastic and had the skills — just a really different set of background characteristics than they were expecting,” she adds.

Other investors in the seed include Skip Capital, Angel Academe, Giant Leap and Impact Generation Partners, plus some unnamed angels. Prior investors include the entity Applied was originally spun out of (Behavioural Insights Team, a “social purpose company” jointly owned by the UK government, innovation charity Nesta, and its own employees), as well as gender advocate and businesswoman Carol Schwartz, and Wharton Professor Adam Grant.

Applied’s approach to recruitment employs plenty of algorithms — including for scoring candidates (its process involves chunking up applications and also getting candidates to answer questions that reflect “what a day in the job actually looks like”), and also anonymizing applications to further strip away bias risks, presenting the numbered candidates in a random order too.

But it does not involve any AI-based matching. If you want to make hiring fairer, AI doesn’t look like a great fit. Last week, for example, Reuters reported how in 2014 ecommerce giant Amazon built and then later scrapped a machine learning based recruitment tool, after it failed to rate candidates in a gender-neutral way — apparently reflecting wider industry biases.

“We’re really clear that we don’t do AI,” says Glazebrook. “We don’t fall into the traps that [companies like] Amazon did. Because it’s not that we’re parsing existing data-sets and saying ‘this is what you hired for last time so we’ll match candidates to that’. That’s exactly where you get this problem of replication of bias. So what we’ve done instead is say ‘actually what we should do is change what you see and how you see it so that you’re only focusing on the things that really matter’.

“So that levels the playing field for all candidates. All candidates are assessed on the basis of their skill, not whether or not they fit the historic profile of people you’ve previously hired. We avoid a lot of those pitfalls because we’re not doing AI-based or algorithmic hiring — we’re doing algorithms that reshape the information you see, not the prediction that you have to arrive at.”

In practice this means Applied must and does take over the entire recruitment process, including writing the job spec itself — to remove things like gendered language which could introduce bias into the process — and slicing and dicing the application process to be able to score and compare candidates and fill in any missing bits of data via role-specific skills tests.

Its approach can be thought of as entirely deconstructing the CV — to not just remove extraneous details and bits of information which can bias the process (such as names, education institutions attended, hobbies etc) but also to actively harvest data on the skills being sought, with employers using the platform to set tests to measure capacities and capabilities they’re after.

“We manage the hiring process right from the design of an inclusive job description, right through to the point of making a hiring decision and all of the selection that happens beneath that,” says Glazebrook. “So we use over 30 behavioural science nudges throughout the process to try and improve conversion and inclusivity — so that includes everything from removal of gendered language in jobs descriptions to anonymization of applications to testing candidates on job preview based assessments, rather than based on their CVs.”

“We also help people to run more evidence-based structured interviews and then make the hiring decision,” she adds. “From a behavioral science standpoint I guess our USP is we’ve redesigned the shortlisting process.”

The platform also provides jobseekers with greater visibility into the assessment process by providing them with feedback — “so candidates get to see where their strengths and weaknesses were” — so it’s not simply creating a new recruitment blackbox process that keeps people in the dark about the assessments being made about them. Which is important from an algorithmic accountability point of view, even without any AI involved. Because vanilla algorithms can still sum up to dumb decisions.

From the outside looking in, Applied’s approach might sound highly manual and high maintenance, given how necessarily involved the platform is in each and every hire, but Glazebrook says in fact it’s “all been baked into the tech” — so the platform takes the strain of the restructuring by automating the hand-holding involved in debiasing job ads and judgements, letting employers self-serve to step them through a reconstructed recruitment process.

“From the job description design, for example, there are eight different characteristics that are automatically picked out, so it’s all self-serve stuff,” explains Glazebrook, noting that the platform will do things like automatically flag words to watch out for in job descriptions or the length of the job ad itself.

“All with that totally automated. And client self-serve as well, so they use a library of questions — saying I’m looking for this particular skill-set and we can say well if you look through the library we’ll find you some questions which have worked well for testing that skill set before.”

“They do all of the assessment themselves, through the platform, so it’s basically like saying rather than having your recruiting team sifting through paper forms of CVs, we have them online scoring candidates through this redesigned process,” she adds.

Employers themselves need to commit to a new way of doing things, of course. Though Applied’s claim is that ultimately a fairer approach also saves time, as well as delivering great hires.

“In many ways, one of the things that we’ve discovered through many customers is that it’s actually saved them loads of time because the shortlisting process is devised in a way that it previously hasn’t been and more importantly they have data and reporting that they’ve never previously had,” she says. “So they now know, through the platform, which of the seven places that they placed the job actually found them the highest quality candidates and also found people who were from more diverse backgrounds because we could automatically pull the data.”

Applied ran its own comparative study of its reshaped process vs a traditional sifting of CVs and Glazebrook says it discovered “statistically significant differences” in the resulting candidate choices — claiming that over half of the pool of 700+ candidates “wouldn’t have got the job if we’d been looking at their CVs”.

They also looked at the differences between the choices made in the study and also found statistically significant differences “particularly in educational and economic background” — “so we were diversifying the people we were hiring by those metrics”.

“We also saw directional evidence around improvements in diversity on disability status and ethnicity,” she adds. “And some interesting stuff around gender as well.”

Applied wants to go further on the proof front, and Glazebrook says it is now automatically collecting performance data while candidates are on the job — “so that we can do an even better job of proving here is a person that you hired and you did a really good job of identifying the skill-sets that they are proving they have when they’re on the job”.

She says it will be feeding this intel back into the platform — “to build a better feedback loop the next time you’re looking to hire that particular role”.

“At the moment, what is astonishing, is that most HR departments 1) have terrible data anyway to answer these important questions, and 2) to the extent they have them they don’t pair those data sets in a way that allows them to prove — so they don’t know ‘did we hire them because of X or Y’ and ‘did that help us to actually replicate what was working well and jettison what wasn’t’,” she adds.

The seed funding will go on further developing these sorts of data science predictions, and also on updates to Applied’s gendered language tool and inclusive job description tool — as well as on sales and marketing to generally grow the business.

Commenting on the funding in a statement, Nick Crocker, general partner at Blackbird Ventures said: “Our mission is to find the most ambitious founders, and support them through every stage of their company journey. Kate and the team blew us away with the depth of their insight, the thoughtfulness of their product, and a mission that we’re obsessed with.”

In another supporting statement, Owain Service, CEO of BI Ventures, added: “Applied uses the latest behavioural science research to help companies find the best talent. We ourselves have recruited over 130 people through the platform. This investment represents an exciting next step to supporting more organisations to remove bias from their recruitment processes, in exactly the same way that we do.”

via TechCrunch

[charly-ra]

7 Ways to Make Retargeting More Effective

Everybody leaves. Well, most everybody.

Despite all your hard work, the vast majority of people who come to your site will leave without taking any action.

I’m not talking about 70 percent of the people. I mean like 95-98 percent of the people – the vast majority.

This has to sting, at least a little. You worked really hard to get those people to come to your site. Their clicks are precious. You either paid for them, or created content for them, or did something like an event or a podcast or a webinar.

Those clicks are the final step in a long process.

But for 97 percent (or more) of your visitors, that precious click – that brief visit – is the last time you’ll ever see them.

Unless you use retargeting.

Just so we’re all on the same page, when I say “retargeting” I mean retargeting as a subset of remarketing. “Remarketing” includes all the possible channels you could send messages through – everything from postcards to billboards, emails and events. Retargeting is a subset of that. It refers expressly to online advertising.

And it is exceptionally effective. So much so that marketers named retargeting and remarketing as the most effective tactics for social media and search advertising earlier this year. They also came in as the second easiest tactics to implement.

Most of the smart kids know this already, and they are rigorously applying the knowledge. High revenue companies are nearly twice as likely to invest in retargeting as low revenue companies:

And the odds are good you already know all this, too. And that you’re already using retargeting. But we wanted to help you kick your game up a notch. Here are 7 ideas for how to do your retargeting better.

1. Retarget from links.

The traditional way for retargeting to work is that you place a pixel (a tracking pixel) on your site. Whenever someone comes to your site, as they download the other elements of your page or pages, they’ll download that pixel as well. Once that pixel is downloaded, it works like a cookie so that whenever the user goes to any other website, there’s a little tag on that browser’s history that says, “I once visited Company XYZ’s Widgets page!”

But you don’t actually have to use a pixel. With the right tools (like MeteorLink or similar), you can do retargeting via a link.

Any link, actually. A link in an email, or a social media post, in a quest post link, or in a PDF document, or a Kindle book, or … wherever else you might want to embed a link.

After someone clicks that link, you can show them content around the web that is complementary to the link they clicked on.

If they clicked on a link within a guest post you wrote, even if that click goes to a third-party site, you can later show the person who clicked that link a complementary ad… like a white paper that’s a deeper dive into the same subject the guest blog post was about. Or you could show them an ad that promotes the services your company offers, which your guest blog post could only mention in passing.

2. Use negative matching audiences.

One of the principles behind why retargeting works is that it lets you laser-target your advertising resources. Instead of spending a ton of money advertising to every person who goes to the industry hub site XYZ.com, you can advertise only to people who go to XYZ.com and that have also been on your site.

This is a great start, but you can take it further.

You can take that limited number of people – people who go to XYZ.com and have been on your site – and you can narrow that audience down. You can use a negative matching audience to screen out people who have, for instance, viewed your job offerings page.

Or you can screen out people who are just on your site to use a calculator. Whichever page visitors you want to screen out, you can. Which will leave you with an even more targeted audience, and a way to stretch your advertising budget even further.

To do this, you’ll need a retargeting provider that lets you add “negative audiences” or that lets you exclude audiences. AdWords has this functionality; there’s a good video for how to exclude an audience on either the Search or Display networks here.

For remarketing providers besides AdWords, if you want to exclude people you’ll probably need to tie these website visitors’ sessions to an email address, an IP address, or some other unique identifier. That identifier will have to be something your targeting provider can recognize and use to screen those people out with.

If your system isn’t that smart or just doesn’t work that way, you could also create your own list to be used as a negative audience. For example, you could make a list of everyone who has already signed up for the webinar you’re promoting. Then you could remove those people from your universal list before you launch the retargeting campaign promoting that webinar. It’s extra work, sure. But it will reduce your advertising costs.

Note that this sort of filtering could also benefit from machine learning. A smart algorithm might be able to crunch the data on thousands of visits and tell you which particular pages (maybe even in what order) your highest-value, most likely customers view.

You could then apply that algorithm’s learnings to your ad buy, and maybe get the sort of ROAS (return on ad spend) that marketers dream about – not just the 300% ROAS which retargeting often delivers, but a ROAS like 3000%.

  3. Test CRM Retargeting.

Got data? We bet you do. Most B2B marketers have a tremendous amount of data… and some of the best of it is in their CRM software.

With the right retargeting software (or the right integration with your retargeting software), it is now possible to hook up the two systems. So you can show ads based on CRM data like scheduled demos, email clicks, phone calls – every possible way you could communicate with a prospect or a customer.

This lets you evolve your advertising from a one-message-fits-all model to something truly adaptive. This “behavioral targeting” or “targeted advertising” could let you create as sophisticated a system of ads as you have for your triggered emails.

Retargeting can be used with marketing automation.

This point just takes “behavioral targeting”/ “targeted advertising” and automates it.

Basically, with a good marketing automation system, you can segment your prospect and customer databases. Then you can use the email addresses within those segments to create targeted audiences. Then you can use those targeted audiences for retargeting campaigns.

Here’s a simple example of how it might work, and the rules you’d have to set up in your marketing automation system:

4. Use AdWords Frequency Reports to avoid ad fatigue.

Ever had a retargeting ad follow you around forever? It’s annoying. The worst example of this I’ve experienced was when my dog was dying, and somehow I got targeted with an animal cemetery ad. That ad followed me around the internet for weeks – several weeks after the dog was dead and buried.

I’m sure your ads will never cause that much angst, but there’s a way to make sure they don’t: Limit how often you show them. This makes for a better experience for your prospects and customers, but it could also save you a lot of money.

One survey of consumers found that one of the top reasons people dislike retargeting ads is how they can persist long after a prospect has lost interest. We can presume that B2B buyers probably have the same problem.

But the challenge, of course, is to know when your B2B buyers have lost interest. This could be gleaned by studying your reports enough to see when the effectiveness of your ads is falling off. Or it could also be another opportunity for machine learning or AI. An algorithm might be able to do a better assessment of this data than a human could, especially if you’ve got a lot of different personas and buyer journey paths.

However, you come to find the limit of interest for your ads, please find their limit. Because advertising to people beyond that window is just wasting money.

When you do know the time limit, change the settings in your retargeting accounts.

For AdWords users, this is fairly easy. Just head into the AdWords Frequency Report and take a look at when engagement is dropping off. Then limit the frequency cap accordingly.

You can get somewhat similar information about your ads in Facebook by looking at Delivery Insights. These appear at the ad set level in your campaigns. They can show you how many times your audience has seen your ads.

Unfortunately, Delivery Insights won’t actually tell you that your response rates are dropping off after, say three impressions. You may need to create a tiny test audience and monitor it closely to figure out when to stop showing retargeting ads to people. Or just when to swap out the creative.

6. Use “smart burn” pixels and pages.

We don’t need to show ads to people who have already taken the action those ads are trying to incite.

This is pretty obvious, yet it’s a mistake many advertisers make. Even email marketers make this error – I routinely get webinar invitation emails for webinars I’ve already signed up for.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Just set a ��smart burn” pixel or page for each of your retargeting campaigns. This is just a setting that tells your ad platform to stop showing ads after a user has completed a given conversion action.

If you’ve got a well-defined customer journey, you could also use conversion actions to move people into a different retargeting segment. So – for example – once they’ve signed up for the webinar, you could urge them to go complete an online assessment. And then, with the information you learned about them from the assessment, you could customize the advertising they see even further.

7. Don’t spend money nudging people who don’t need a nudge.

The advertising company Nanigans published an infographic earlier this year about “optimizing for incrementality”. It asserts that “U.S. retailers are leaving $5 billion on the table” because they spend their retargeting budgets advertising to people who would have bought from them anyway.

The way to save this $5 billion dollars, they say, is to “optimize for incrementality”, which means to show ads only to people who need a nudge to make a purchase.

This principle would probably apply to B2B buyers, too. And while it might be tricky to figure out who needs a nudge and who doesn’t, you could start to figure that out by watching how quickly each prospect goes through the triggers of your buyer’s journey.

For example: If a prospect spends more than half an hour on your website the first time they visit, and they download three resources while they’re there, that might be someone who doesn’t need you to spend $50 in ads to get them to finish the assessment.

A truly advanced retargeting program (or an algorithm) might be able to assess prospects not just on where they are in the buyer’s journey, but how fast they’ve moved through to that point.

Rapid triggers (buyer’s journey “velocity”?) could tell your retargeting system to conserve ad spend on this particular prospect, as the prospect may be so keen to buy that they don’t need any additional advertising. Instead of showing them more ads, have a sales rep call them.

Final Thoughts

Retargeting can be a sophisticated way to reach prospects and customers with highly targeted messages. If you’d been doing retargeting, but haven’t yet started segmenting your ads or – even better – using automated systems to show specific groups specific messages, it’s time to upgrade your game. The technology exists for all of us to get way more strategic about how we advertise.

          from http://bit.ly/2MPSNin

[raystart]

Craig Oldham on When Your Dream Job Becomes Just Another Job

“When I was studying, ‘the industry’ felt like a tangible, physical thing that I had to break or find a gap in to access,” says Craig Oldham, designer and author of Oh Sh*t What Now?! (Laurence King). “Once you’re in it, you look out and realize it’s really permeable. There’s such a hypocrisy in how each side of that fence interacts with the other.”

His new book debunks the various myth associated with design practice, and offers hard-won advice for graphic designers at the very beginning of their careers. Oldham takes on everything from job placements, creative process, and career pivots, to avoiding all things “nice,” the “idle-ized” gap year, and not wasting time on work you don’t believe in.

“I definitely identified with [the industry] as a holy grail, and the more I operate within it, the less I want to be associated with it” says Oldham. “Everyone has that Wizard of Oz moment, when they realize ‘the industry’ isn’t that important, it’s just another job—a job that you care about, which is what makes it different, but it’s still a job. If you look at the bigger picture, you realize there’s a lot of work happening outside of ‘the industry’ as we recognize it, and the sooner people are exposed to that, the better. It’ll demystify and enrich it.”

And demystifying is exactly the aim of the book. It stems from Oldham’s experience in education, as both a student and lecturer. “Since graduating from Falmouth University, I’ve lead a split existence—half rice, half chips—as a designer and as a lecturer, trying to share what I learn in real time. When I was studying, we’d have the great and the good visiting us every Friday to give a talk on their practice; you’d see all this amazing work, but have pangs of self-doubt, thinking you could never be as good as them. I decided that if I ever had the privilege of sharing my experience, I’d remove that ‘veil’ and talk about the human experience. I wouldn’t show my work—I get bored of the work. I’d talk about what I’ve learnt.”

For his first lecture, Oldham printed his notes as a broadsheet publication and gave it to his students for free. “I wanted to take into account that people learn differently—some by reading, others by listening—and the idea snowballed into essentially doing publishing for education. I did a few projects like that, and it’s culminated in this book.”

The book is a sort of contradiction in terms. It’s hardbound and weighty, suggesting a level of assurance that Oldham derides, but it’s also bright and bold, set with large, impactful typography printed in neon pink and green. “I wanted the book to be playful. As a person, I’m happy to be wrong, and I was happy for the book to open up questions. Early in my career a friend of mine said, ‘I can’t wait for you to contradict yourself in print,’ and I still hear that ringing in my ears. He’s right: people change, and rather than trying to be a figurehead crusader, why not just say, ‘I don’t know, this is just what I’ve experienced.’ Advice is just a form of nostalgia.”

Although its primary audience is likely to be recent graduates, Oldham was keen to address later crises. “There’s no advice out there for getting your second job. I found it terrifying. You can so easily get tunnel vision and stick to a train track of your own making. Working out what you do next is part of a constant educational cycle, and I really wanted to pull the curtains down on that. You don’t stop learning as soon as you leave university—that’s just the start of everything.”

Not only do you not stop learning as soon as you leave university, but maybe the trick is never fully leaving education. A graphic design practice, like most creative work, is very much an internal process. “As you work, you build up your own tastes and belief system as a designer. When you teach, it forces you to explain it all to someone who isn’t privy to your back-catalogue of references. It forces you to articulate yourself better, evaluate your process, and make you more aware of how and why you do things.”

Keeping a broad frame of reference, and not making self-referential ‘design for designers’ projects is, in Oldham’s opinion, key. “When you see graphic design projects about graphic design, they are so boring. My mum, who appears a lot in the book, doesn’t get any of that. She isn’t interested in Pantone puns. I think it’s a shame when you have a captive audience to just go from A to A. Is that all you’ve got? You’re not going to try to persuade anybody, to enforce your taste in the world, or engage in a debate that’s bigger than yourself?”

Both in the book and in our conversation, Oldham suggests that graphic design, in and of itself, isn’t interesting. “Everything else around it is what’s interesting. You’ve got to draw from other things, disciplines, areas; it’s all got to get in there, because graphic design is a means, not an end. A lot of people forget that, and that’s when you end up with, ‘Look at the white space on that!’”

That doesn’t mean graphic design isn’t complex, though. “You’re not just there to air dress. It’s actually not that visual, most of it is problem-solving. Your task is to pull everything together, to assemble parts that communicate, which are engaging and clear.

“I was always taught that if you get the idea right, how it looks will present itself. I thought if I crack that, no one can argue with how it looks. It takes it away from being an arbitrary, visual discipline, and removes the fight of ‘I don’t like pink.’” But this isn’t to suggest the creation and massaging of a wall of mysticism around the creative process: “People get really romantic when they talk about creativity, and even more romantic when they talk about the power of education. I do as well. Knowledge is key, but you need to be able to apply it, and you’ll probably need to have a degree of commercial practice in order to pay your rent. It’s all well and good being a romantic, experimental creative genius, but if no one’s going to see it or experience it, what’s the point? Even that notion we have of the artist—just doing whatever they want—they still have to be amazing sales people to do that, they still need to have an audience, and fulfil their needs. It’s all the same, and my whole mantra for education is that it offers up a perfect storm in which to find out what version of that you are.”

Essentially, Oldham sees graphic design as a democratic profession. “It’s communication and every human does that, so you’re not special just because you’re a designer. People can find their way into the industry through various routes and learning experiences, with a variety of abilities and desires.” For him, a traditional design education was the right route. “I’d have been nothing without a design education, I just wasn’t confident enough at that age, and I wasn’t aware of the industry enough to know about particular roles. I came from a benign, mining town in the middle of Yorkshire, and I wasn’t exposed to a media-savvy creative city like London.

This, he posits, is where the problem lies. “People hire in their own image instead of hiring people who are better than or different to them” remarks Oldham. “A lot of it is vanity, it’s people believing their own hype and wanting people who flatter rather than challenge them. It flies in in the face of everything people at the helms of design or advertising agencies say about being creative.”

“To engage in the debate and not make active changes, in a lot of ways that’s worse than not being engaged at all. It boils me, it really does.”

“It’s a systemic problem in the creative industries that those who aren’t party to it’s inner sanctum, or the people occupying it, are often excluded from taking part in creative work, or benefitting from it. Access, whether that be in a professional context, in education or simply as a participant or viewer is limited both consciously and unconsciously by those at the reins.

“The problems we have in diversity—race, gender, class—would all be helped if we stopped considering graphic design education and practice as having single definitions that everyone can subscribe to” says Oldham. “People would be able to find their own way into it much easier, and we’ll be able to attract a richer source to it, from all kinds of backgrounds, because that’s what’s going to make it better. A behavior change of how we operate within the industry is the only way we’ll ever address the issues that have become poisonous. We’re at toxic levels now, and it needs to be addressed. I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers, but I have a pretty good grasp of what I need to do as an individual. Collectively making a change has to start from individuals doing what they need to do.

“We need to not perpetuate ideas about graphic design being a boys club. We need to get rid of the idea that it’s a middle-class playground—we’re in danger of going back to the dark ages of working class people not being able to go to university in the UK, and it’s just going to be super toffs. And we need to readdress the role of the intern, and get rid of this whole ‘rite of passage’ thing. When we rise up through the industry ranks, we need to clear the way, not build the wall back up. We’ll progress so much further if young people don’t have to deal with all this.”

[hollywoodjuliorivas]

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OPINION Advertisement SundayReview | OPINION Sarah Polley: The Men You Meet Making Movies By SARAH POLLEYOCT. 14, 2017 Continue reading the main storyShare This Page Share Tweet Email More Save 328 Photo Sarah Polley (right) making her documentary “Stories We Tell.” Credit Ken Woroner/Roadside Attractions One day, when I was 19 years old, I was in the middle of a photo shoot for a Miramax film when I was suddenly told it was time to leave. I was wearing a little black dress, showing a lot of cleavage, lying seductively on my side and looking slyly at the camera. The part I had played in the movie, “Guinevere,” could not have been more removed from this pose. My character was an awkward girl, bumbling, in fact, who wore sweatshirts and jeans, and had little sense of her sexual power. But this was how they were going to sell the movie, and at a certain point, I was tired of being a problem, which is how a female actor is invariably treated whenever she points out that she is being objectified or not respected. I was pulled out of the photo shoot abruptly. The publicist said that we needed to be in Harvey Weinstein’s office in 20 minutes. “Are we done here?” I asked. “No” was the answer. “But Harvey wants you there now.” In the taxi, the publicist looked at me and said: “I’m going in with you. And I’m not leaving your side.” I knew everything I needed to know in that moment, and I was grateful. When I got there, Mr. Weinstein wasted no time. He told me, in front of the publicist and a co-worker beside him, that a famous star, a few years my senior, had once sat across from him in the chair I was in now. Because of his “very close relationship” with this actress, she had gone on to play leading roles and win awards. If he and I had that kind of “close relationship,” I could have a similar career. “That’s how it works,” I remember him telling me. The implication wasn’t subtle. I replied that I wasn’t very ambitious or interested in acting, which was true. He then asked me about my political activism and went on to recast himself as a left-wing activist, which was among the funniest things I’d ever heard. I indicated that he was wasting his time. We probably wouldn’t be friends or have a “close relationship.” I just didn’t care that much about an acting career. I loved acting, still do, but I knew, after 14 years of working professionally, that it wasn’t worth it to me, and the reasons were not unconnected to the tone of that meeting almost 20 years ago. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story On sets, I saw women constantly pressured to exploit their sexuality and then chastised as sluts for doing so. Women in technical jobs were almost nonexistent, and when they were there, they were constantly being tested to see if they really knew what they were doing. You felt alone, in a sea of men. I noticed my own tendency to want to be “one of the boys,” to distance myself from the humiliation of being a woman on a film set, where there were so few of us. Then came the photo shoots in which you were treated like a model with no other function than to sell your sexuality, regardless of the nature of the film you were promoting. I’ve often wondered how I would have behaved in the meeting with Harvey Weinstein had I been more ambitious as an actor. I was sitting in front of a man who wielded enormous power. If you were interested in being in movies directed by interesting filmmakers, he wasn’t someone you wanted to alienate. How would one have left that meeting, or those hotel rooms, which have been described by others, with that relationship intact, when he displayed such entitlement and was famous for such anger? I was purely lucky that I didn’t care. Shortly afterward, I started writing and directing short films. I had no idea, until then, how little respect I had been shown as an actor. Now there were no assistant directors trying to cajole me into sitting on their laps, no groups of men standing around to assess how I looked in a particular piece of clothing. I could decide what I felt was important to say, how to film a woman, without her sexuality being a central focus without context. In my mid-20s, I made my first feature film, “Away From Her.” Newsletter Sign UpContinue reading the main story Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. SEE SAMPLE MANAGE EMAIL PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME While working on “Away From Her,” I had the privilege of working with Julie Christie, who, while maintaining her vision for her character, was deeply committed to collaboration and could shift her performance on a dime when given direction. It was an amazing gift for a director, still learning the ropes. I realized that in the past, whether I’d known it or not, some part of me had been afraid of direction. I vowed to go back to acting with my newfound understanding of collaboration. I would be more pliable. I was excited to give my whole, unfettered self to a director, the way Julie Christie had done for me. But I had forgotten a key ingredient of the acting process. Most directors are insensitive men. And while I’ve met quite a few humane, kind, sensitive male directors and producers in my life, sadly they are the exception and not the rule. This industry doesn’t tend to attract the most gentle and principled among us. I had two experiences in the same year in which I went into a film as an actor with an open heart and was humiliated, violated, dismissed and then, in one instance, called overly sensitive when I complained. One producer, when I mentioned I didn’t feel a rape scene was being handled sensitively, barked that Dakota Fanning had done a rape scene when she was 12 — “And she’s fine!” A debatable conjecture, surely. I’m not naming names in all of these instances. And that invites criticism for some reason. Which is funny, because when women do name names, they are criticized for that, too. There’s no one right way to do any of this. In your own time, on your own terms, is a notion I cling to, when it comes to talking about experiences of powerlessness. I haven’t acted for almost 10 years now. Lately I’ve thought of trying to rediscover what once made it seem worthwhile. It’s a beautiful job, after all, built on empathy and human connection, and it seems strange to turn your back on something you did for so long. But for a long time, I felt that it wasn’t worth it to me to open my heart and make myself so vulnerable in an industry that makes its disdain for women evident everywhere I turn. ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Several years ago, I approached a couple of successful female actors in Hollywood about an idea I had for a comedy project: We would write, direct and star in a short film about the craziest, worst experience we’d ever had on a set. We told our stories to one another, thinking they would be hysterically funny. We were full of zeal for this project. But the stories, when we told them, left us in tears and bewildered at how casually we had taken these horror stories and tried to make them into comedy. They were stories of assault. When they were spoken out loud, it was impossible to reframe them any other way. This is how we’d normalized the trauma, tried to integrate it, by making comedy out of it. We abandoned the film, but not the project of unearthing the weight of these stories, which we’d previously hidden from ourselves. Harvey Weinstein may be the central-casting version of a Hollywood predator, but he was just one festering pustule in a diseased industry. The only thing that shocked most people in the film industry about the Harvey Weinstein story was that suddenly, for some reason, people seemed to care. That knowledge alone allowed a lot of us to breathe for the first time in ages. Here is an unsettling problem that I am left with now: Like so many, I knew about him. And not just from my comparatively tame meeting with him. For years, I heard the horrible stories that are now chilling so many people to their core. Like so many, I didn’t know what to do with all of it. I’ve grown up in this industry, surrounded by predatory behavior, and the idea of making people care about it seemed as distant an ambition as pulling the sun out of the sky. I want to believe that the intense wave of disgust at this sort of behavior will lead to real change. I have to think that many people in high places will be a little more careful. But I hope that when this moment of noisy sisterhood dissipates, it doesn’t end with a woman in a courtroom, being made to look crazy, as these stories so often do. 328 COMMENTS I hope that the ways in which women are degraded, both obvious and subtle, begin to seem like a thing of the past. For that to happen, I think we need to look at what scares us the most. We need to look at ourselves. What have we been willing to accept, out of fear, helplessness, a sense that things can’t be changed? What else are we turning a blind eye to, in all aspects of our lives? What else have we accepted that, somewhere within us, we know is deeply unacceptable? And what, now, will we do about it?

[kalachand97-blog]

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Laptop Gaming Weekly: Nicely met, folks!

Nicely met, and welcome to GamesBeat’s first Pc Gaming Weekly publication. Thanks for joining us on our multiplied dive into the industry’s’ first and most various platform.

And we’re going to start this adventure via speak approximately one of the giants of Pc gaming, who lately introduced his retirement plans just days following the discharge of one of the first-class video games of his 36-12 months career.

Brian Fargo stated that he’s preparing for the subsequent chapter of his lifestyles after his studio, Inside Enjoyment, ships the postapocalyptic position-playing game Wilderness 3 in 2019. He didn’t say what he’s doing next, but he’s a stakeholder in Fig, the crowdfunding employer that offers backers equity in the game. He’s obsessed with crowdfunding, choosing it to back Inxile’s initiatives since 2014’s Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, which came out an ultimate month and, in my view, is one of the nice RPGs of the beyond 20 years … and maybe the first-class recreation he’s helped make.

I ought to understand. I’ve been gambling Brian’s video games for as long as he’s been making them.

Whilst old farts like me think about the RPGs of the 1980s, we communicate about Ultima, Wizardry, or maybe Would possibly and Magic. Those are the building-blocks for games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Age. however after I think about the games of my children, it’s one in every of Fargo’s classics that warms my heart: The Bard’s Story. This collection was just like Wizardry and may and Magic, however, Fargo’s improvements came from the magic music of the Bard class, a town complete with dungeons and traps, and a few silly humor (like battles with 4 agencies of ninety-nine Berserkers). His Interaction studio went on to make 3 Bard’s Tales games, and that I admit I spent more homework time than I have to have to explore These worlds.

The Bard’s Tale helped foster my lifelong love of role-gambling games, helping me make buddies and inform stories. Thanks for the magic, Brian.

Microsoft is persevering with to make massive moves with its Minecraft emblem, and that might lead to a few even bigger modifications inside the destiny. On this week’s GamesBeat Decides podcast, host Jeffrey Grubb and co-host Mike Minotti pass over the information from the last week. Then within the 2nd half of the show, they speculate on […]

Suitable and Bad in Gaming

Gaming is one in every of the biggest interests and even careers within the world. Humans play games for fun or mastering whilst others file videos approximately the games. In this newsletter, I will recognition more on gaming itself and not so much the side of the way to make gaming movies. Game enthusiasts are available in all special ages, genders, religions, places and shapes. The backgrounds of folks who are Gamers make gaming that rather more a laugh.

Backgrounds of Gamers can play a part in the form of games that Human beings play. There are all forms of mixtures for distinct categories relating to the sort of video games and sort of Gamers. You really need to study the game’s website to get all the pertinent records earlier to shopping for.

There are numerous online structures where you could purchase video games from inclusive of Steam or Humble Package deal. The ones sites will come up with the description, videos through the organisation, pictures, person and non-person tags, critiques, internet site, company and their social account(s). Be conscious the sport’s internet site might not show you the entirety you want to understand. At the least, a gaming organization will show a brief income pitch description, small quantity of pics (five at first-class), one or two movies by them and their social accounts. The maximum they will offer is an informative description, their social bills, person opinions and movies with the aid of them.

Let’s dive right into what is perceived as negative approximately gaming. Most of the people of the poor things about video games come from the actual existence Human beings on The ones games, the form of video games and the types of video games for the wrong man or woman. A sport can be poorly made but it is no longer always the case wherein the sport itself is Horrific. It is able to be wherein it was the wrong type of sport for the wrong person. That is where the kinds are available. perhaps a recreation has a chunk of violence. That does not make it Bad; it simply makes it the wrong kind of game for a seven yr old. Or perhaps you obtain a puzzle game for someone who loves motion kind games. So the action loving individual may not experience it, however That does not make the puzzle recreation Terrible!

The forms of video games are countless from nudity, pills and alcohol, horror, playing with cash and greater. These different types are wrong for teenagers Gamers in addition to wrong for individuals who do not like seeing such matters.

Gaming has Good and Awful sides just like the whole lot else. The key is how Correct and Bad are Those aspects. For example, a few video games have a Awful facet with players that like to fight loads. That is commonplace in video games. Recognize for numerous Gamers this isn’t always a massive deal; but, for teens who are new to the game or even gaming in preferred this will be irritating. There are instances while you need to keep away from the Horrific facts all together. There are instances While the good outweighs the Terrible. If this takes place and there aren’t any problems with the game itself; then the Awful fact is simply that one little fly in your room which isn’t any large deal. Warning: If the Horrific outweighs the good, I’d strongly advocate averting that sport.

Every other thing that Human beings will nag a sport developer or writer approximately is representation. must I say, a loss of illustration which isn’t restrained to race, frame kind and message in the sport. In case you are able to customize your character, then of direction you will no longer have a problem with illustration. There may be a problem in some video games where they do not represent robust and clever females, minority women and males, large, small, tall, and quick ladies and males. Notice how I did not positioned “males” after girl for robust? It really is due to the fact adult males in video games are constantly represented as robust and clever.

In games that display a male strong and clever, he will often likely be white, tall, thin, movie megastar looking and buff. you may hardly ever see him be a minority, short, obese, not buff, nerdy looking, whilst nevertheless being strong and clever. You see this even Much less for girls. a few ladies in video games are also white, tall, thin and robust at the same time as showing pores and skin like no day after today. You only see Those women in MMO video games (Hugely Multiplayer online function playing game) though. RPG video games are intended for Myth worlds in which you ordinarily fight Humans and monsters. Of course the ladies’ stats can be strong but they may not appearance strong.

In most games, after they add a person to be able to play they continually upload a white male first, then a white lady, then a black male, and then a black woman. They do not even actually upload individuals who are mixes of races or in between. On the subject of the black characters they only upload one colour of “black” or “African-American” and now not each black person on this planet is that shade.

In case you do not trust me go have a look at today’s Tv suggests, films, advertisements, and video games. A display to have a look at for Accurate representation is Milo Murphy’s Regulation. two video games to observe as a reference for Suitable illustration are OverWatch and Atlas Reactor. Now in Those fields it has gotten higher for illustration in particular gender, race and simply now beginning body kind (specially in this order). some video games even add robots and creatures as playable characters to keep away from having problems with representation. This removes the problem of users trying a person to represent their real or preferred gender, race, or frame kind because now There is a character most customers can agree on. In the end, you can’t please absolutely everyone.

Very well, now that I ranted and got the Terrible stuff out of the manner; Let’s get into the best components of gaming! You’ve got Gamers as young as 3 years antique and as old as ninety+! Irrespective of your age, race, gender, religion, lifestyle, or area gaming may be Good for everybody. Gaming can’t most effective be a laugh, but beneficial and academic.

A benefit with gaming is it can help youngsters have extra confidence in themselves and be greater social. In the event that they play a web multiplayer game and communicate to different players around the world, this could help then get used to speak to different People except circle of relatives and they benefit self belief in what they’re announcing. They could cross from an introvert to a social fanatic! it can appear rapid or slowly. Even if it’s now not a game however an area for Gamers, artists, style designers, car fanatic, and so on. to speak; it’ll nonetheless assist them be extra social. Preserve in thoughts even though, typing to someone and then voice chatting to a person are two special reviews. adolescents may be very social When typing but very shy While voice chatting.